The 2012 "Election" thread

[Nordic]

Though if anything were an act of system-legitimizing brilliance, re-electing Obama would be it. Occupy must've taught them. They need us to believe in the system again.

Republican ideology is the new Osama, and Obama just got 'im. I hope Rove gets the full treatment right down to the Navy escort in a fresh pair of cement shoes, but I can't help but feel the warm, velvety tentacles of a reassuringly-comfortable gatekeeping narrative at play. "Mission Accomplished" banner spread triumphantly across the bridge of the U.S.S. Electoral College behind Obama's beaming smile. "In the battle of drastic electoral reform, the old system and its allies are victorious."

Yeah. That.

I don't mean to say "I told you so", but I told you so. There was never any doubt as to an Obama "victory".

And only a tiny percentage of people, even here, seem to have figured it out. The mythos is so strong, the propaganda, so button-pushing, the "I WANT TO BELIEVE" psychology at work so overwhelming, almost everybody falls for the fake horse-race.

And now for the "Fiscal Cliff". They pulled that out of their asses the day after the election. It was everywhere, simultaneously, at first in "quotes", and now without, because they have no established it as a fact. The fiscal cliff. OMFG it's coming. WHAT TO DO?

If anyone doesn't think the media isn't completely scripted, this "fiscal cliff" bullshit is about as obvious as it gets.

[2012 Countdown]

Though if anything were an act of system-legitimizing brilliance, re-electing Obama would be it. Occupy must've taught them. They need us to believe in the system again.

Republican ideology is the new Osama, and Obama just got 'im. I hope Rove gets the full treatment right down to the Navy escort in a fresh pair of cement shoes, but I can't help but feel the warm, velvety tentacles of a reassuringly-comfortable gatekeeping narrative at play. "Mission Accomplished" banner spread triumphantly across the bridge of the U.S.S. Electoral College behind Obama's beaming smile. "In the battle of drastic electoral reform, the old system and its allies are victorious."

Yeah. That.

I don't mean to say "I told you so", but I told you so. There was never any doubt as to an Obama "victory".

And only a tiny percentage of people, even here, seem to have figured it out. The mythos is so strong, the propaganda, so button-pushing, the "I WANT TO BELIEVE" psychology at work so overwhelming, almost everybody falls for the fake horse-race.

And now for the "Fiscal Cliff". They pulled that out of their asses the day after the election. It was everywhere, simultaneously, at first in "quotes", and now without, because they have no established it as a fact. The fiscal cliff. OMFG it's coming. WHAT TO DO?

If anyone doesn't think the media isn't completely scripted, this "fiscal cliff" bullshit is about as obvious as it gets.

The 'show' will soon be over, and by next week the train will be at the next station, moving right along.
I refrained from posting as to not be called a vote suppressor. Not to worry I say, Obama will win. Big deal.

Now we can get on to the more realistic possibility of change with looking toward Dec. 21st.

Still hope Warran, Grayson, etc. get in.

Yes, The 'Fiscal Cliff' is obviously the next train depot station. I didn;t know what the next week would bring, but that is it.
Choo-chooo...

from Russ Feingold's organization:

Dear Xxxxxx,

The "lame duck" session in Congress has started -- and already more than 30,000 progressives have signed our petition demanding Democrats walk away from any deal that doesn't end unfair tax breaks that only go to the wealthiest.

Progressives gave Democrats a mandate to lead on this issue in the last election, but if we stay silent now, right-wing voices will take over.

Will you add your voice to our petition to make sure Democrats walk away from any bad budget deal that continues unfair tax breaks that only benefit the wealthiest?

This petition is vitally important, especially when you look at the politics of the situation.

Democrats have the leverage in this standoff because of two things. First, contrary to the urgency you may have heard, no action is required right away -- we can still wait until January and head off any bad consequences.

As Paul Krugman wrote, "The looming prospect of spending cuts and tax increases isn't a fiscal crisis. It is, instead, a political crisis brought on by the G.O.P.'s attempt to take the economy hostage."

And second, Republicans are feeling pressure now, because in January a bunch of new progressives you and I helped elect will be sworn into Congress -- and that will make it even harder for Republicans.

If you haven't signed our petition yet, sign it now. Democrats don't have to cave on this. They need our voices.

If we stay silent, the Democrats' mandate will disappear -- and with it, our chance to defeat the corporate lobbyists and make the super wealthy pay their fair share.

Thanks for uniting as a progressive,

Josh Orton
Political Director

As was said earlier in another thread, Obama is already actively giving away the queen. Nice try Russ and the rest, and we SHOULD fight, but make no mistake, we have many sell-outs on our side.

[JackRiddler]

And now for the "Fiscal Cliff". They pulled that out of their asses the day after the election.

Untrue. It was programmed in the use of the "catfood commission." The two parties in Congress set up the "fiscal cliff" after the election back in August 2011, calling it "sequestering" with talk of an eventual "grand bargain." It was the main (close to the sole) theme of the first presidential "debate," with moderator and both candidates agreeing on the essentials of What Must Be Done, whether or not the phrase was mentioned. It was always clear what the WSJ and NYT headlines would be right after the election.

[2012 Countdown]

Yes, very true, and in other words, scripted.

[2012 Countdown]

...and now for the fade.

[justdrew]

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/romney-campaign-got-its-it-from-best-buy-staples-and-friends/

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/which-consultants-built-romneys-project-orca-none-of-them/

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/orca-was-no-fail-whale-says-romneys-digital-director/

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/inside-team-romneys-whale-of-an-it-meltdown/

[crikkett]

Note to self: find out how a 4-year-old USB drive can make a record of every computer it's been attached to.

Federal agents seized Bolin’s computers after the felines in the photos were identified, she confirmed to The Daily. “They showed me photos and asked me if those were my cats,” she said. “I remember taking those photos. I told them that when they were there.”

So how did the flash drive — according to Brown, authorities told him it was once also connected to one of his computers — end up in the middle of an extortion plot?

The self-employed web consultant and IT expert is pleading ignorance.

“They have a flash drive that I believe belonged to me four years ago. In my line of work, I use these flash drives all the time. They get lost or they get taken.”

[Belligerent Savant]

.

[Removed my comment as "not applicable" after re-reading crikket's quote above more carefully and realizing i initially misinterpreted/didn't get the entire context the first time around]

Carry on.

[justdrew]

the guy used the drive to recover files for the cat owners. a few cat pictures were left on the drive, I always like to delete unneeded files, but if one were in a hurry, easy to leave some pics behind. Later he took the flash drive to work while working on the old democratic campaign. There the drive was 'procured' (written off by the owner as lost) by a republican operative, or some traitor who sold the flash drive to the republicans. They were like "alright we got a flash drive from the enemy" then found it contained nothing but cat pictures. Disappointing. I hope they paid way too much for it. drive was then kept for possible future use. It then became the perfect route for romney's team to leak with, since it couldn't point back to them.

[kelley]

there's an excellent full-page cartoon in the november 26 issue of the new yorker that shows a family of disgruntled elephants gathered around the holiday table for a meager feast of roasted crow. if anyone can figure out how to post this drawing it's certainly good for a laugh, at least until reality again kicks in.

[justdrew]

can't get a larger version since I'm not a subscriber. but here you go...


Peter de Sève, Artist’s Notebook, “Happy Thanksgiving!,” The New Yorker, November 26, 2012, p. 49

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/featur ... z2CtFJnBWn

they have a nice section on their website of all the weeks cartoons, but that's not a cartoon, but rather an "artist's notebook" feature.

[JackRiddler]

Jill Stein Election Results
http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2012/11/ ... n-results/

November 7, 2012 in Presidential Campaign

While official tallies won’t be certified for weeks, next-day tabulations at Google Election indicate that Jill Stein & Cheri Honkala finished fourth in the Nation with 396,684 votes, or 0.3% of the national total. This is more than twice the total of votes that the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente won in 2008 (161,195), and three times the total of votes that the Green Party’s David Cobb and Pat LaMarche won in 2004 (119,859).

Ballot Access News notes that the Green Party’s best showing was in Maine, where Stein won 1.3% of the vote.

State by state returns:
Alabama – 3,366 (0.2%)
Alaska – 2,089 (1.0%)
Arizona – 5,084 (0.3%)
Arkansas – 9,196 (0.9%)
California – 57,748 (0.6%)
Colorado – 6,850 (0.3%)
Delaware – 1,939 (0.5%)
District of Columbia – 2,045 (0.8%)
Florida – 8,708 (0.1%)
Hawaii – 3,121 (0.7%)
Idaho – 4,330 (0.7%)
Illinois – 29,298 (0.6%)
Iowa – 3,739 (0.2%)
Kentucky – 6,420 (0.4%)
Louisiana – 6,873 (0.4%)
Maine – 7,975 (1.3%)
Maryland – 15,289 (0.6%)
Massachusetts – 19,486 (0.6%)
Michigan – 20,855 (0.5%)
Minnesota – 12,951 (0.4%)
Mississippi – 1,516 (0.1%)
New Jersey – 8,891 (0.3%)
New Mexico – 2,634 (0.3%)
New York – 35,346 (0.6%)
North Dakota – 1,357 (0.4%)
Ohio – 17,657 (0.3%)
Oregon – 15,271 (1.0%)
Pennsylvania – 20,644 (0.4%)
Rhode Island – 2,261 (0.5%)
South Carolina – 5,133 (0.3%)
Tennessee – 6,443 (0.3%)
Texas – 24,450 (0.3%)
Utah – 3,378 (0.4%)
Virginia – 8,366 (0.2%)
Washington – 10,442 (0.5%)
West Virginia – 4,341 (0.7%)
Wisconsin – 7,572 (0.2%)

=========================================

Now if these people all knew each other and coordinated something...

[DrVolin]

Like all moving to Jackson Hole, Wyoming?

[justdrew]

Like all moving to Jackson Hole, Wyoming?

I never want to go near that place again. the Antler Arch is grotesque. IIRC there is other 'antler' construction around too. the vibe of some contained horror lurking just below the surface was palpable.

[8bitagent]

I honestly saw much more awareness for Gary Johnson than Jill Stein. I think more would have voted for her had they known about her, even many who voted for Gary Johnson.
Im surprised more "safe" states like my California didn't vote more for Jill Stein



...it also didn't help you had an endless chorus of liberals bullying other liberals into voting for Obama "or else". Again, especially in safe states, it would have sent a powerful message if she had gotten 3-4% of the vote.