WAY, WAY OVER YONDER: Though our attention in this space has traditionally been on local issues, occasionally the ugliness of Americans is hard to ignore.
Though it's been decades since we've set foot on the great prairie it's not as if we're unfamiliar with some of the daft denizens who invariably wind up next to us on a coastal plane trip asking if we've "heard the good news."
Now we're all for freedom of religion as long as there's also freedom from it for us. In other words believe whatever the hell you want to, just keep it to yourself. And that means keep your religion out of women's bodies especially when it comes to abortion.
Our attitude toward abortion goes well beyond the usual "pro choice." We're actually pro-abortion. If you're even thinking of not bringing another mouth to feed into this war-weary half-starving, overpopulated world, we urge you to get an abortion and urge the government to pay for it as an investment in our future. A fetus is not a baby- a baby is a baby.
Unfortunately many of these bible-addled mid-westerners mistakenly think they have some kind of business in taking control over the bodies and lives of women. And in trying explain their opposition scientifically rather than biblically- as if- they've come up with some real doozies like this week's comments by Missouri senatorial candidate, Representative Todd Akin about how after "legitimate rape... the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing (pregnancy) down."
But somehow Akin's Christian fundamentalist brethren in the Republican party have made him their own personal pariah despite the fact that he's only been expressing a "mainstream" contention among anti-abortion zealots.
The mainly Republican movement for a constitutional amendment banning abortion even in the case of rape is not only on the agenda of many of Akin's party but is actually expected to become a plank in their platform at their Presidential Nominating Convention next week in Tampa. And a large part of the justification for not making an exception for rape (along with incest and life or health of the woman) has been pretty much the thoughts expressed- yet somehow now condemned- by those who are suddenly "shocked shocked" to hear that kind of attitude expressed so inelegantly.
The fact that these boneheads- almost all of them men- even have the adjective "legitimate" in their lexicon concerning the verb "rape" tells you all you need to know about their sickness.
In their world- one seemingly stuck in a century far away and long ago- rape must be violent to be "real" rape- a repugnant concept that fortunately was at least conceptually abandoned in courtrooms more than half a century ago. Back then rape convictions in court were difficult to obtain especially with all male juries. Rapists were allowed to claim- and juries were apt to consider- that women were "asking for it" by doing things like dressing provocatively. Even worse, rape defendants were allowed to submit the lack of glaring physical scars on the victim in their defense.
But some of Akin's churchies who are trying to bring back the bad old days where abortion is concerned, are thinking about allowing an exception for this so-called "violent" (legitimate) rape. If some of the more "compassionate" anti-abortion Republicans- and make no mistake, there are some "blue dog" Democrats who agree- have their way, women would have to prove they physically fought off their attackers and put their lives in danger to show rape occurred.
Yes, the same criteria used in the bad old days for rape convictions is apparently being proposed for eligibility for abortion. How much damage is enough- how injured must you be?.. how much hair must the rapist tear out- one clump or two?.. is a broken jaw enough or must a woman lose some teeth too?
How deep must the stab wound be to allow a woman to prevent herself from having to see the face of her attacker every day rather than ridding herself of a rape-caused pregnancy?
And that of course is only half of what these idiots espouse.
According to an article in yesterday's NY Times
The idea that during rape, “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” to prevent pregnancy, as Akin said, has surfaced periodically among anti-abortion advocates over the past two decades, usually involving the term “forcible rape” to refer to what Akin called “legitimate.”
Dr. John C. Willke, a general practitioner with obstetric training and a former president of the National Right to Life Committee, was an early proponent of this view, articulating it in a book originally published in 1985 and again in a 1999 article. He reiterated it in an interview Monday.
“This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.”
The rest of the article is, if possible, even more reprehensible: It says that:
Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, defended Akin on his program “Focal Point,” citing “John Willke, who is an M.D. by the way — a lot of these ignoramuses on Twitter are not.”
He read from Willke’s 1999 article, which described what is “certainly one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that’s physical trauma.”
He continued with the article: “To get and stay pregnant a woman’s body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy.”
So it's not exactly like this was some kind of "poor choice of words" or a "slip up" as not just Akin but many prominent anti-abortion Republicans have stated. The real reason the latter have called on him to withdraw from his senate campaign is because he got caught saying it and it got picked up by that "liberal media" a few days later.
The outrage among many is not only in discovering that these ideas still exist in 2012 but that they are held by many Republican candidates and even current lawmakers who are asking for the power to enact them into law. That and in most cases that alone is the reason why Republicans are calling for Akin's withdrawal from his senate race. It has nothing to do with the actual content which has been almost mainstream among extremist, anti-abortion, evangelical Republicans
Many- including Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan- have been quoted in the media as having made similar statements in explaining why they favor passing a strict "no abortion-no exceptions" constitutional amendment. The fact that he has suddenly disavowed it seems just a little disingenuous.
Unfortunately the showing of video clips juxtaposing back-to-back condemnations of Akin statements with clips of those doing the condemning making the same "points" are not the forte of the corporate press. They will have to wait until next Tuesday when John Stewart’s Daily Show comes back from their current week off.
The faux outrage of those trying to force Akin out of the race has nothing to do with recognizing the insanity of Akin's statement and has everything to do with the fact that women were outraged at hearing that these kinds of attitudes still exist and, as we are finding out, are "mainstream" among the conservative Christians in the bible belt.
We now return you to your regular local program of buffoonish corruption... already in progress.
Full disclosure: Andy Parx is NOT now nor has he ever been a member of the Democratic Party. He has been a member of the Green Party since 1996 and is a former Green National Committee member. He currently serves as an adviser to the US Green Party Media Committee.
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Friday, October 14, 2011
MEET THE NEW BOSS...
MEET THE NEW BOSS...: It wasn't that long ago that we all laughed at the prospect of former Governor Lingle running for senate whether Senator Dan Akaka decided to run again or not.
One debacle after another had left most of the state's voters with a distinct "don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out" attitude toward her future in Hawai`i politics.
And why not? In arguably the most Democratic state in the country she had cozied up to the national Republicans two years earlier, opposing our "native son" in the presidential race. Then she dissed every teacher and somehow every parent in the state too with her "Furlough Fridays" in a manner that belied her usual and notorious PR perfect pitch. She had made a show- one that no one really believed- of trying to convince people her veto of civil unions was a "tough decision." And no one had forgotten the SuperFerry debacle which left both sides blaming her for either trying to force the doomed-from-the-start "H4" down our throats or, in "entitled" Honolulu, bungling the effort.
Yet this week's archetypical Stepford Wife announcement of her candidacy caused not just the usually out-of-touch-with-Hawai`i-politics Cook Political Report to call the race a "toss-up" but had many local pundits treating her candidacy with credibility.
So assuming something changed, what was it? Still the same robotic and vaguely spooky Lingle? Check. Still the same predominately Democratic "fool me twice.. ya can't get fooled again" electorate? Check. Still the same draconian congressional Republican cabal that she cozied up to in '08? Check.
So what's the difference? It well may be the rocky row her replacement has hoed.
As Governor, Neil Abercrombie couldn't have mimicked more of her specific blunders if he tried. Suspending the state's environmental protection laws for fishy reasons? Although declaring an emergency to move Nene geese that had been causing the same problems at Lihu`e Airport for a decade isn't exactly the SuperFerry, it was the same thread of political expediency that runs through both in the minds of the electorate.
But in the one place where Abercrombie could have put a wedge between "what a Democrat in office will do" and "what the Republican did," his tin-ear handling of the teachers' union negotiations left many asking what the difference is.
Abercrombie's now infamous "I'm not your pal" statement to the unions and the viral YouTube screaming match with a nurse were followed by the same imposition of a contract and violation of the tenets of collective bargaining that caused massive protests at state capitols in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio after Republican governors in those states imposed similar anti-union measures.
Even though criticism of the actions of the teachers' union's tactics in fighting Abercrombie's unilaterally-imposed, force-fed contract got most of the press, the antipathy toward Abercrombie still simmers just beneath the surface among the unions whose support will be crucial if either Mazie Hirono or (god no) Ed Case is to send Lingle back out to national Republican pastures.
It's a long time between now and a year from November and it's said voters' memories are long in Hawai`i. But those memories are made not just in broad sweeping brush strokes but in the daily paint splotches and, to mix metaphors, once a crack appears in the veneer it's hard to plaster it over to keep the wood from splitting right down the middle.
Abercrombie would do well to keep, if not a low profile next January when the legislature meets, at least one that doesn't rock his own party's boat. Because if Hirono or Case loses to Lingle many Democratic fingers will be pointing his way and it will be a short two years until the '14 gubernatorial election where he'll need all the party support he can get.
One debacle after another had left most of the state's voters with a distinct "don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out" attitude toward her future in Hawai`i politics.
And why not? In arguably the most Democratic state in the country she had cozied up to the national Republicans two years earlier, opposing our "native son" in the presidential race. Then she dissed every teacher and somehow every parent in the state too with her "Furlough Fridays" in a manner that belied her usual and notorious PR perfect pitch. She had made a show- one that no one really believed- of trying to convince people her veto of civil unions was a "tough decision." And no one had forgotten the SuperFerry debacle which left both sides blaming her for either trying to force the doomed-from-the-start "H4" down our throats or, in "entitled" Honolulu, bungling the effort.
Yet this week's archetypical Stepford Wife announcement of her candidacy caused not just the usually out-of-touch-with-Hawai`i-politics Cook Political Report to call the race a "toss-up" but had many local pundits treating her candidacy with credibility.
So assuming something changed, what was it? Still the same robotic and vaguely spooky Lingle? Check. Still the same predominately Democratic "fool me twice.. ya can't get fooled again" electorate? Check. Still the same draconian congressional Republican cabal that she cozied up to in '08? Check.
So what's the difference? It well may be the rocky row her replacement has hoed.
As Governor, Neil Abercrombie couldn't have mimicked more of her specific blunders if he tried. Suspending the state's environmental protection laws for fishy reasons? Although declaring an emergency to move Nene geese that had been causing the same problems at Lihu`e Airport for a decade isn't exactly the SuperFerry, it was the same thread of political expediency that runs through both in the minds of the electorate.
But in the one place where Abercrombie could have put a wedge between "what a Democrat in office will do" and "what the Republican did," his tin-ear handling of the teachers' union negotiations left many asking what the difference is.
Abercrombie's now infamous "I'm not your pal" statement to the unions and the viral YouTube screaming match with a nurse were followed by the same imposition of a contract and violation of the tenets of collective bargaining that caused massive protests at state capitols in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio after Republican governors in those states imposed similar anti-union measures.
Even though criticism of the actions of the teachers' union's tactics in fighting Abercrombie's unilaterally-imposed, force-fed contract got most of the press, the antipathy toward Abercrombie still simmers just beneath the surface among the unions whose support will be crucial if either Mazie Hirono or (god no) Ed Case is to send Lingle back out to national Republican pastures.
It's a long time between now and a year from November and it's said voters' memories are long in Hawai`i. But those memories are made not just in broad sweeping brush strokes but in the daily paint splotches and, to mix metaphors, once a crack appears in the veneer it's hard to plaster it over to keep the wood from splitting right down the middle.
Abercrombie would do well to keep, if not a low profile next January when the legislature meets, at least one that doesn't rock his own party's boat. Because if Hirono or Case loses to Lingle many Democratic fingers will be pointing his way and it will be a short two years until the '14 gubernatorial election where he'll need all the party support he can get.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
LET’S PLAY STORE
LET’S PLAY STORE: Our bent toward local issues and politics is, in part, derivative of years of thumping head-to-wall regarding concerns over which we ultimately have no say or sway.
But one little matter that’s been sticking in our craw every time it’s thrown out of the spin cycle of the “Bush tax cuts for millionaires” debate is the Republican claim that, since many of those fat cats who will continue to receive the tax cut are business owners, if they have more money they will create jobs.
This has to be the most moronic thing we’ve heard out of Washington pols in a long, long time... and that’s saying a lot.
Where exactly are these business owners who think “oh, look- I have all this money I made and so I’m going to spend it to hire someone I otherwise don’t need?”
We’re not god’s gift to entrepreneurship but we do understand enough to know that you hire people for one reason and one reason alone- that there is more demand for your product than you can currently supply.
If you’re happily making your widgets and find that people like your widgets so much that they are ordering twice as many as you alone can produce, you’d figure out how much you would make if you fill those orders. Then you then figure out how much it would cost to hire someone to stand next to you and help you make widgets.
Then, if the cost to hire your employee is less than the amount above and beyond what you alone make, you hire someone. Otherwise, you don’t.
And, unless you’re a total imbecile- or your wife is badgering you to take your good-for-nothing brother-in-law on as a partner- you don’t just hire someone because you’re making too much profit.
Because that’s what that “tax cut money” is- it’s your profit that you already made, on which you paid income tax.
It’s sitting there in the back and has no bearing whatsoever on whether you would hire someone.
The same goes for triple the widgets or a thousand times more widgets. You hire people to supply the demand for your product or service- not because you have “extra” money sitting around.
Where are these business people who go out and hire more employees simply because they are making too much money?
The answer is that there aren’t any because they all went out of business because they obviously had no business being in business in the first place.
If you’re really a good old capitalist pig and you’re making more money with less employees than you would by hiring people you wouldn’t hire anyone no matter how much you are making. As a matter of fact, if you could make more money by firing people you’d do that.
There, America. Done. Problem solved. Your welcome. We now return you to your regular assortment of local idiots and crooks, which is already in progress.
But one little matter that’s been sticking in our craw every time it’s thrown out of the spin cycle of the “Bush tax cuts for millionaires” debate is the Republican claim that, since many of those fat cats who will continue to receive the tax cut are business owners, if they have more money they will create jobs.
This has to be the most moronic thing we’ve heard out of Washington pols in a long, long time... and that’s saying a lot.
Where exactly are these business owners who think “oh, look- I have all this money I made and so I’m going to spend it to hire someone I otherwise don’t need?”
We’re not god’s gift to entrepreneurship but we do understand enough to know that you hire people for one reason and one reason alone- that there is more demand for your product than you can currently supply.
If you’re happily making your widgets and find that people like your widgets so much that they are ordering twice as many as you alone can produce, you’d figure out how much you would make if you fill those orders. Then you then figure out how much it would cost to hire someone to stand next to you and help you make widgets.
Then, if the cost to hire your employee is less than the amount above and beyond what you alone make, you hire someone. Otherwise, you don’t.
And, unless you’re a total imbecile- or your wife is badgering you to take your good-for-nothing brother-in-law on as a partner- you don’t just hire someone because you’re making too much profit.
Because that’s what that “tax cut money” is- it’s your profit that you already made, on which you paid income tax.
It’s sitting there in the back and has no bearing whatsoever on whether you would hire someone.
The same goes for triple the widgets or a thousand times more widgets. You hire people to supply the demand for your product or service- not because you have “extra” money sitting around.
Where are these business people who go out and hire more employees simply because they are making too much money?
The answer is that there aren’t any because they all went out of business because they obviously had no business being in business in the first place.
If you’re really a good old capitalist pig and you’re making more money with less employees than you would by hiring people you wouldn’t hire anyone no matter how much you are making. As a matter of fact, if you could make more money by firing people you’d do that.
There, America. Done. Problem solved. Your welcome. We now return you to your regular assortment of local idiots and crooks, which is already in progress.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
BRINING IN THE SHEAVES
BRINING IN THE SHEAVES: Since our a.m. agenda failed to materialize we had time to read the sum of the Hawai`i punditry trying to analyze why the Republicans failed so miserably here, not just losing both major races in which they ran allegedly viable candidates but in failing to pick up more state house seats and dropping down to one senate member.
We’re not talking abut the devastating loss in contrast to the national insanity but in terms of Hawai`i politics where the huge margins of the Democratic victories belied the polls that had both the governor and first congressional races neck and neck.
So why the difference?
It’s clear to us that it was the over the top religious statements and affiliations of Republican gubernatorial candidate Duke Aiona and, even worse, the way when Aiona tried to play down his ties to some of the worst of the worst of the evangelical nut job organizations, the International Transformation Network, his party’s Chairman Jonah Ka`auwai, chose to up the ante with his infamous “Duke will win because the Church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS!” essay.
While many look to the way the Aiona campaign and his outside supporters pushed the devilization of Barack Obama or the gravity driven approval ratings of current Republican Governor Linda Lingle those factors might helped but could have been overcome.
We’re not just talking the kind of “my faith is important to me” type of religious mumbo jumbo that can easily slide by but it was the rabid, bible-thumping, nonsensical rantings of the Kaua`i born and bred Ka`auwai that turned what could have been a close race into a runaway for Abercrombie.
With Ka`auwai representing the party in general it not only addled Aiona’s campaign but hurt the party up and down the line with many who might have considered changing over in the current national political climate shying away from supporting the kind of radical Christian agenda represented by the party leadership itself.
Ka`auwai isn’t just one of those “Hawaiian” loyalists who have traditionally been Republicans for a century or even one combined with the 200% Christian element held over from missionary days.
He’s taken that political demographic, which is normally acceptable in the islands, and added the mainland-style, nutcase, religious fanatic element to establish an image in voters’ minds of some kind of Christian Taliban governing though literal interpretations of the bible.
And that’s just too much for multi-cultural Hawai`i voters who just shook their heads and voted Democrat as they have for generations.
Ka`auwai’s time as party boss is over if for no other reason than, when you lose that badly- and do so while the rest of your national party is grabbing power- your welcome is always worn out.
But if the Hawai`i Republican party is smart they’ll run, not walk, away from the brand they’ve been selling this election cycle. Even Eric Ryan might be an improvement.
We’re not talking abut the devastating loss in contrast to the national insanity but in terms of Hawai`i politics where the huge margins of the Democratic victories belied the polls that had both the governor and first congressional races neck and neck.
So why the difference?
It’s clear to us that it was the over the top religious statements and affiliations of Republican gubernatorial candidate Duke Aiona and, even worse, the way when Aiona tried to play down his ties to some of the worst of the worst of the evangelical nut job organizations, the International Transformation Network, his party’s Chairman Jonah Ka`auwai, chose to up the ante with his infamous “Duke will win because the Church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS!” essay.
While many look to the way the Aiona campaign and his outside supporters pushed the devilization of Barack Obama or the gravity driven approval ratings of current Republican Governor Linda Lingle those factors might helped but could have been overcome.
We’re not just talking the kind of “my faith is important to me” type of religious mumbo jumbo that can easily slide by but it was the rabid, bible-thumping, nonsensical rantings of the Kaua`i born and bred Ka`auwai that turned what could have been a close race into a runaway for Abercrombie.
With Ka`auwai representing the party in general it not only addled Aiona’s campaign but hurt the party up and down the line with many who might have considered changing over in the current national political climate shying away from supporting the kind of radical Christian agenda represented by the party leadership itself.
Ka`auwai isn’t just one of those “Hawaiian” loyalists who have traditionally been Republicans for a century or even one combined with the 200% Christian element held over from missionary days.
He’s taken that political demographic, which is normally acceptable in the islands, and added the mainland-style, nutcase, religious fanatic element to establish an image in voters’ minds of some kind of Christian Taliban governing though literal interpretations of the bible.
And that’s just too much for multi-cultural Hawai`i voters who just shook their heads and voted Democrat as they have for generations.
Ka`auwai’s time as party boss is over if for no other reason than, when you lose that badly- and do so while the rest of your national party is grabbing power- your welcome is always worn out.
But if the Hawai`i Republican party is smart they’ll run, not walk, away from the brand they’ve been selling this election cycle. Even Eric Ryan might be an improvement.
Friday, July 23, 2010
BACK ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
BACK ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: We’ve spent the last day or so chuckling over the latest kafuffle caused by the same vague Hawai`i election laws that cause another “dance of the headless chicken” that surrounded the Kirk Caldwell affair last election- a matter we spent in inordinate amount of bandwidth on after the filing deadline in 2008.
It was the first of the numerous bizarre dust-ups caused by the then-new Chief Elections Officer Kevin “King” Cronin who thankfully has skulked back into the hole from whence he came after numerous Louis XIV-style “L'État, c'est moi" decisions.
But leave it to the legislature to fail to try to figure out how to write clear laws or the elections bureau to write clear administrative rules in the interim and now we have a whole new dance to enjoy.
As many have heard by now some slimy little Republican, David Hamman, a Princeville locksmith tried, apparently successfully, to game the system by filing and withdrawing his papers to challenge Representative Mina Morita in the 14th House District actually admitting he did it to extend the deadline so the party could pick a “candidate” after the filing deadline.
We put the word candidate in quotes because the definition of just what that may be is the bone of contention according to Morita who has blogged twice on the subject.
Apparently Scott Nago, the new Chief Elections Officer, is as challenged as his predecessor and okayed the switcheroo and today the Republicans did name a replacement, Harry R. Williams, a Kapa`a contractor.
But it comes down to whether Hamman was ever a candidate for the house because after withdrawing he filed his papers to run for the vacating seat of former State Senator and now Lt. Governor candidature Gary Hooser.
HRS 11-117 says
Withdrawal of candidates; disqualification; death; notice. (a) Any candidate may withdraw not later than 4:30 p.m. on the day immediately following the close of filing for any reason...
On receipt of the notice of death, withdrawal, or upon determination of disqualification, the chief election officer or the clerk shall inform the chairperson of the political party of which the person deceased, withdrawing, or disqualified was a candidate.
And HRS 118 says:
Vacancies; new candidates; insertion of names on ballots. (a) In case of death, withdrawal, or disqualification of any party candidate after filing, the vacancy so caused may be filled by the party....
(b) If the party fills the vacancy, and so notifies the chief election officer or clerk not later than 4:30 p.m. on the third day after the vacancy occurs... the name of the replacement shall be printed in an available and appropriate place on the ballot,
But Hawaii Administrative Rule (HAR) Chapter 3-173-1, defines “candidate” as “an individual who has qualified for placement on the ballot.”
And in Hawai`i no one may be a candidate for two offices.
Under the law apparently only Mina’s party- the Democrats- can file in 5th Circuit Court to overrule Nago’s decision but the point is that with two years to do so, neither the legislature or the elections bureau even attempted to change the law or rules to deal with the ambiguities and write some election laws that are clear and not wide open for manipulation and abuse with loopholes you could drive a Superferry through.
In an email today Morita said she is “still looking at all my options and working with the party” and as of press time we haven’t heard anything about a court filing. But unless and until the election laws regarding election filing deadlines gets a good hard look and some much needed clarifications and indeed changes are made we’ll be right back here in 2012.
It was the first of the numerous bizarre dust-ups caused by the then-new Chief Elections Officer Kevin “King” Cronin who thankfully has skulked back into the hole from whence he came after numerous Louis XIV-style “L'État, c'est moi" decisions.
But leave it to the legislature to fail to try to figure out how to write clear laws or the elections bureau to write clear administrative rules in the interim and now we have a whole new dance to enjoy.
As many have heard by now some slimy little Republican, David Hamman, a Princeville locksmith tried, apparently successfully, to game the system by filing and withdrawing his papers to challenge Representative Mina Morita in the 14th House District actually admitting he did it to extend the deadline so the party could pick a “candidate” after the filing deadline.
We put the word candidate in quotes because the definition of just what that may be is the bone of contention according to Morita who has blogged twice on the subject.
Apparently Scott Nago, the new Chief Elections Officer, is as challenged as his predecessor and okayed the switcheroo and today the Republicans did name a replacement, Harry R. Williams, a Kapa`a contractor.
But it comes down to whether Hamman was ever a candidate for the house because after withdrawing he filed his papers to run for the vacating seat of former State Senator and now Lt. Governor candidature Gary Hooser.
HRS 11-117 says
Withdrawal of candidates; disqualification; death; notice. (a) Any candidate may withdraw not later than 4:30 p.m. on the day immediately following the close of filing for any reason...
On receipt of the notice of death, withdrawal, or upon determination of disqualification, the chief election officer or the clerk shall inform the chairperson of the political party of which the person deceased, withdrawing, or disqualified was a candidate.
And HRS 118 says:
Vacancies; new candidates; insertion of names on ballots. (a) In case of death, withdrawal, or disqualification of any party candidate after filing, the vacancy so caused may be filled by the party....
(b) If the party fills the vacancy, and so notifies the chief election officer or clerk not later than 4:30 p.m. on the third day after the vacancy occurs... the name of the replacement shall be printed in an available and appropriate place on the ballot,
But Hawaii Administrative Rule (HAR) Chapter 3-173-1, defines “candidate” as “an individual who has qualified for placement on the ballot.”
And in Hawai`i no one may be a candidate for two offices.
Under the law apparently only Mina’s party- the Democrats- can file in 5th Circuit Court to overrule Nago’s decision but the point is that with two years to do so, neither the legislature or the elections bureau even attempted to change the law or rules to deal with the ambiguities and write some election laws that are clear and not wide open for manipulation and abuse with loopholes you could drive a Superferry through.
In an email today Morita said she is “still looking at all my options and working with the party” and as of press time we haven’t heard anything about a court filing. But unless and until the election laws regarding election filing deadlines gets a good hard look and some much needed clarifications and indeed changes are made we’ll be right back here in 2012.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
SIMPLE MATH
SIMPLE MATH: Despite the fact our butt sits in the second congressional district we’re heard quite a bit from people mistaking us for a Democrat and asking what we thought about Ed Case’s “surprise” decision to drop out of the 1st CD race.
Of course opinions, as they say, are like assholes in that “everyone has one”... or in the case of Case, “has been one”, in the minds of the Dem faithful.
The problem with those opinions across the Hawai`i punditry class is that most of them see themselves as either Democrats or, very occasionally, Republicans including the self-proclaimed “Independents” who tend to be one or the other but are loathe to admit it for obvious reasons.
That seems to cause of the rash of beans-in-the-ear syndrome causing them to have difficulty in listening carefully to Big Ed’s words when he said his heart told him to stay in the September primary race but his head told him to get the hell out.
Getting inside Case’s head isn’t too difficult if you look at his political record.
Few will deny that he’s made his living as a DINO- Dem in name only. But that is a slightly different type of DINO in Hawai`i where there basically isn’t a viable Republican party. That’s not because they have or haven’t done anything wrong politically but because their policies simply don’t appeal to very many in the state- Linda Lingle playing the “exception that proves the rule” role here.
That’s left a big swimming hole for Case swim in over the years as evidenced by the types of races he’s run, going up against the more progressive Dems and gaining weight by sopping up gravy of the right wingers who basically have had nowhere else to go without running off the side of the political plate.
The problem is that that no matter how hard he tries to bring in the votes of the Democratic base to add to those R’s and R leaning independents he keeps coming up a little short.
Until now his “heart” has told him that all he has to do is try a little harder, bring in a little more money and maybe start his campaign a little earlier.
But now he’s faced with the results in black and white- a 40% showing by Charles Djou. Case’s “head”- a head that has been very adept at self-delusion in the past- now tells him that the little puka at the right end of the Democratic Party that has only been there because Republicans have been a joke in the past, is a sign of changing demographics and won’t be there as for him any longer as actual Republicans, even if RINOs, fill it.
That left him with only two choices if he ever hopes to win another race in Hawai`i- either quit the Dems and go over to the dark side or make kissy-face with those he’s royally pissed off over the years.
While R’s often come to the realization that the very R before their name is an albatross necklace they don’t need and would rather switch than fight, we can’t think if a D that became an R in this state and Ed would have to be dumber than we thought to take that kind of plunge off the deep end.
Leaving him only one choice- stop banging his head against the wall and get it over with- kiss Don Dan’s ring and live to fight another day.
It was one thing to go up against the other Dan and lose in a primary- his supporters stayed with him after he lost and he even gained some R support. With Akaka’s easy win in November it assured there were no lasting consequences other than hurt feelings. But this race was quite another thing.
His presence in the race served as bloody food for Audrey 2- no not some kind of clone of Case’s wife of the same name but sustenance for that now thriving Little Shop of Horrors plant Djou, creating a monster even Dr. Frankenstein couldn’t have contemplated (to mix horror movie metaphors).
Giving up a bruising race that he was bound to lose- especially given his distinct lack of ability to juice his war chest during the campaign- in exchange for support in his next endeavor isn’t, as many have said, “courageous” as much as a decision to politically survive a potential second “Djou debacle” that Democrats would blame him for.
Instead his decision to drop out allows Colleen Hanabusa to keep her financial power dry for the inevitable November showdown with Djou, something donors who now don’t have to pay for an additional primary fight may remember in his next race too.
It’s a mistake to think that Ed Case ever was or is “for” anything other than the one he’s always been for- Ed Case. He did the only thing he could, turning a sows ear into a silk purse to boot.
The only thing “surprising” about his decision is that he did something politically astute, hence out of character for the perennial skunk at the Democratic Garden Party.
Of course opinions, as they say, are like assholes in that “everyone has one”... or in the case of Case, “has been one”, in the minds of the Dem faithful.
The problem with those opinions across the Hawai`i punditry class is that most of them see themselves as either Democrats or, very occasionally, Republicans including the self-proclaimed “Independents” who tend to be one or the other but are loathe to admit it for obvious reasons.
That seems to cause of the rash of beans-in-the-ear syndrome causing them to have difficulty in listening carefully to Big Ed’s words when he said his heart told him to stay in the September primary race but his head told him to get the hell out.
Getting inside Case’s head isn’t too difficult if you look at his political record.
Few will deny that he’s made his living as a DINO- Dem in name only. But that is a slightly different type of DINO in Hawai`i where there basically isn’t a viable Republican party. That’s not because they have or haven’t done anything wrong politically but because their policies simply don’t appeal to very many in the state- Linda Lingle playing the “exception that proves the rule” role here.
That’s left a big swimming hole for Case swim in over the years as evidenced by the types of races he’s run, going up against the more progressive Dems and gaining weight by sopping up gravy of the right wingers who basically have had nowhere else to go without running off the side of the political plate.
The problem is that that no matter how hard he tries to bring in the votes of the Democratic base to add to those R’s and R leaning independents he keeps coming up a little short.
Until now his “heart” has told him that all he has to do is try a little harder, bring in a little more money and maybe start his campaign a little earlier.
But now he’s faced with the results in black and white- a 40% showing by Charles Djou. Case’s “head”- a head that has been very adept at self-delusion in the past- now tells him that the little puka at the right end of the Democratic Party that has only been there because Republicans have been a joke in the past, is a sign of changing demographics and won’t be there as for him any longer as actual Republicans, even if RINOs, fill it.
That left him with only two choices if he ever hopes to win another race in Hawai`i- either quit the Dems and go over to the dark side or make kissy-face with those he’s royally pissed off over the years.
While R’s often come to the realization that the very R before their name is an albatross necklace they don’t need and would rather switch than fight, we can’t think if a D that became an R in this state and Ed would have to be dumber than we thought to take that kind of plunge off the deep end.
Leaving him only one choice- stop banging his head against the wall and get it over with- kiss Don Dan’s ring and live to fight another day.
It was one thing to go up against the other Dan and lose in a primary- his supporters stayed with him after he lost and he even gained some R support. With Akaka’s easy win in November it assured there were no lasting consequences other than hurt feelings. But this race was quite another thing.
His presence in the race served as bloody food for Audrey 2- no not some kind of clone of Case’s wife of the same name but sustenance for that now thriving Little Shop of Horrors plant Djou, creating a monster even Dr. Frankenstein couldn’t have contemplated (to mix horror movie metaphors).
Giving up a bruising race that he was bound to lose- especially given his distinct lack of ability to juice his war chest during the campaign- in exchange for support in his next endeavor isn’t, as many have said, “courageous” as much as a decision to politically survive a potential second “Djou debacle” that Democrats would blame him for.
Instead his decision to drop out allows Colleen Hanabusa to keep her financial power dry for the inevitable November showdown with Djou, something donors who now don’t have to pay for an additional primary fight may remember in his next race too.
It’s a mistake to think that Ed Case ever was or is “for” anything other than the one he’s always been for- Ed Case. He did the only thing he could, turning a sows ear into a silk purse to boot.
The only thing “surprising” about his decision is that he did something politically astute, hence out of character for the perennial skunk at the Democratic Garden Party.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
YOUR MONEY’S NO GOOD HERE
YOUR MONEY’S NO GOOD HERE: We’ve been popping Dramamine since Saturday in order to keep from getting dizzy and heaving from being incessantly spun by the three main candidates in Saturday’s 1st congressional district (CD) election with winner Djou’s and fellow Repugnacan’ts claiming a partisan sea change despite being outpolled by the two Dummocraps combined, Ed Case’s delusional sniveling email about the “dark side of politics” and his contention that he would have won if not for a million bucks in negative ads despite his creepy persona and blue dog credentials in a generally progressive district and Colleen Hanabusa’s disingenuous claim that the “grassroots” put her in second place rather than machinations of the fabled Inouye political apparatus (How’s that for a sentence).
But the results themselves seem to indicate one of two things- either the lemmings didn’t do a cliff dive to abandon Hanabusa for Case in order to try to assure a Dem win as we said might happen almost three weeks ago when the polls came out showing Case leading Hanabusa for second place or, most likely, the polls were wrong.
This is becoming a trend lately with unlisted cell phones and caller-ID-inspired screening and it didn’t help that it’s traditionally hard in Hawai`i to get older voters- especially among Japanese- to declare their preference and thus stay out of the “undecided” column.
Amidst all the post-polling punditry and dissection one factual difference in the way the elections bureau operated during the all-mail election hasn’t been mentioned much and could have really made a difference for Hanabusa and her party’s well oiled and notoriously effective “get out the vote (GOTV)” operation.
Buried deep inside a routine Derrick DePledge Honolulu Advertiser article during the closing days (sorry for the lack of link- just try finding the archives in the 'Tiser these days) was the information that, unlike in other elections, they were not providing lists of those who had voted and who hadn’t so far.
For those who have never seen a well funded party campaign up close- and it’s not just the Dems who do it these days as the ’02 and ‘06 Lingle campaigns will attest- here’s how it works.
Parties have lists of past supporters from other elections, all broken down by demographic info and starting with those lists teams of phone bankers spend their time early in the campaign identifying supporters by basically calling each one and, depending on how much money they have, going out in ever widening circles of possible supporters compiling their own list of “identified supporters” along with undecided “leaners” in their candidate’s direction.
Then, as the election approaches they call back the leaners to try to convince them but more importantly to call back their supporters to encourage them to vote absentee- or in the case of an all mail election to make sure they have voted- or make sure they are able to get to the polls on election day or, if not, offer to provide them with a ride.
Once someone appears on the list of those who have voted they are checked off and the calls end, winnowing down the list to those who haven’t voted for more follow-up calls.
On election day they send out the “poll watchers” to check the lists throughout the day at each polling site to check off those who have voted so the phone backers can make more last minute calls to, as they say, “get out the vote”.
You can see how important those lists are. And although the methodology is a bit different for an all-mail election, if anything the information on who voted and who didn’t can be even more effective in making sure pre-identified supporters send in their ballots if they haven’t already and you don’t waste your time- and therefore money- on those who have voted already.
Widespread press reports indicate that many Hanabusa supporters were angry at the aggressiveness of Hanabusa’s GOTV team, most likely because they had to just keep calling all supporters- even those who had voted- because there was no list available.
Whether the availability of the lists would have put Hanabusa over the top is questionable at best what with a 10% deficit to make up. But it may be a harbinger of a bigger lead going into the Dem primary in late September when she and Case go head to head.
But the results themselves seem to indicate one of two things- either the lemmings didn’t do a cliff dive to abandon Hanabusa for Case in order to try to assure a Dem win as we said might happen almost three weeks ago when the polls came out showing Case leading Hanabusa for second place or, most likely, the polls were wrong.
This is becoming a trend lately with unlisted cell phones and caller-ID-inspired screening and it didn’t help that it’s traditionally hard in Hawai`i to get older voters- especially among Japanese- to declare their preference and thus stay out of the “undecided” column.
Amidst all the post-polling punditry and dissection one factual difference in the way the elections bureau operated during the all-mail election hasn’t been mentioned much and could have really made a difference for Hanabusa and her party’s well oiled and notoriously effective “get out the vote (GOTV)” operation.
Buried deep inside a routine Derrick DePledge Honolulu Advertiser article during the closing days (sorry for the lack of link- just try finding the archives in the 'Tiser these days) was the information that, unlike in other elections, they were not providing lists of those who had voted and who hadn’t so far.
For those who have never seen a well funded party campaign up close- and it’s not just the Dems who do it these days as the ’02 and ‘06 Lingle campaigns will attest- here’s how it works.
Parties have lists of past supporters from other elections, all broken down by demographic info and starting with those lists teams of phone bankers spend their time early in the campaign identifying supporters by basically calling each one and, depending on how much money they have, going out in ever widening circles of possible supporters compiling their own list of “identified supporters” along with undecided “leaners” in their candidate’s direction.
Then, as the election approaches they call back the leaners to try to convince them but more importantly to call back their supporters to encourage them to vote absentee- or in the case of an all mail election to make sure they have voted- or make sure they are able to get to the polls on election day or, if not, offer to provide them with a ride.
Once someone appears on the list of those who have voted they are checked off and the calls end, winnowing down the list to those who haven’t voted for more follow-up calls.
On election day they send out the “poll watchers” to check the lists throughout the day at each polling site to check off those who have voted so the phone backers can make more last minute calls to, as they say, “get out the vote”.
You can see how important those lists are. And although the methodology is a bit different for an all-mail election, if anything the information on who voted and who didn’t can be even more effective in making sure pre-identified supporters send in their ballots if they haven’t already and you don’t waste your time- and therefore money- on those who have voted already.
Widespread press reports indicate that many Hanabusa supporters were angry at the aggressiveness of Hanabusa’s GOTV team, most likely because they had to just keep calling all supporters- even those who had voted- because there was no list available.
Whether the availability of the lists would have put Hanabusa over the top is questionable at best what with a 10% deficit to make up. But it may be a harbinger of a bigger lead going into the Dem primary in late September when she and Case go head to head.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
COMING HOME TO ROOST
COMING HOME TO ROOST: It never fails to amaze us how the level of satisfaction of a “we told you so” moment is inversely proportional to the time elapsed.
Nevertheless it’s another somewhat empty cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face victory today as "Earthjustice" is finally going to sue KIUC for it’s diligent lack of action in protecting endangered Hawaiian petrel and Newell’s shearwater, according to an article in today’s local newspaper.
As the article reports, according to a press release:
(Earthjustice attorney David) Henkin said a “series of recommendations” — such as lowering power lines, attaching lines to bridges, switching from a vertical array of wires to a “traditional” T configuration and planting trees which shield lines — provided to Kaua`i Electric in 1995 have yet to be taken up by KIUC.
And surprise-surprise- KIUC’s response has been to file for permits to continue to kill birds rather than acting on the recommendations.
But whether through the cost of complying with the law or the “$50,000... that each violation of seabird take is subject to” it’s going to cost co-op members a pretty penny.
The irksome part is that we shouldn’t have to be paying for it.
It all harkens back to the original purchase from Kaua`i Electric and the price paid which, even after it was lowered once was still quite obviously as much as twice what it was worth.
And one of the liabilities that the “nitpickers” predicted would come back to bite us in the ass was that very 1995 list of unfollowed recommendations.
As a matter of fact it was at that point that the people fighting for a reduced price were first called “nitpickers” by then Mayor Maryanne Kusaka who had been busy flip-flopping her Republican butt on the purchase because the original board was comprised of Democratic machine honchos and whatever they wanted she didn’t.
The original purchasing board and their slick-talking honcho Gregg Gardiner and his stooge Walt Barnes simply ignored the all research, facts and figures presented by the about a dozen members of the public including the “birds liability” and the facts about members’ potential liability for the cleanup of the toxic waste dump underneath the `Ele`ele power plant, as PNN reported in 2002.
Stay tuned- there are plenty of other little surprises-on-the-rug to come as KIUC continues the be the gift that keeps on taking. As some said at the time of the pig-in-a-poke, “elephant?- what elephant?” purchase, they should have paid us to take KE off their hands.
Nevertheless it’s another somewhat empty cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face victory today as "Earthjustice" is finally going to sue KIUC for it’s diligent lack of action in protecting endangered Hawaiian petrel and Newell’s shearwater, according to an article in today’s local newspaper.
As the article reports, according to a press release:
(Earthjustice attorney David) Henkin said a “series of recommendations” — such as lowering power lines, attaching lines to bridges, switching from a vertical array of wires to a “traditional” T configuration and planting trees which shield lines — provided to Kaua`i Electric in 1995 have yet to be taken up by KIUC.
And surprise-surprise- KIUC’s response has been to file for permits to continue to kill birds rather than acting on the recommendations.
But whether through the cost of complying with the law or the “$50,000... that each violation of seabird take is subject to” it’s going to cost co-op members a pretty penny.
The irksome part is that we shouldn’t have to be paying for it.
It all harkens back to the original purchase from Kaua`i Electric and the price paid which, even after it was lowered once was still quite obviously as much as twice what it was worth.
And one of the liabilities that the “nitpickers” predicted would come back to bite us in the ass was that very 1995 list of unfollowed recommendations.
As a matter of fact it was at that point that the people fighting for a reduced price were first called “nitpickers” by then Mayor Maryanne Kusaka who had been busy flip-flopping her Republican butt on the purchase because the original board was comprised of Democratic machine honchos and whatever they wanted she didn’t.
The original purchasing board and their slick-talking honcho Gregg Gardiner and his stooge Walt Barnes simply ignored the all research, facts and figures presented by the about a dozen members of the public including the “birds liability” and the facts about members’ potential liability for the cleanup of the toxic waste dump underneath the `Ele`ele power plant, as PNN reported in 2002.
Stay tuned- there are plenty of other little surprises-on-the-rug to come as KIUC continues the be the gift that keeps on taking. As some said at the time of the pig-in-a-poke, “elephant?- what elephant?” purchase, they should have paid us to take KE off their hands.
Friday, August 14, 2009
HYDROPHOBIC HYSTERIA
HYDROPHOBIC HYSTERIA: Back during the waning days of the reign of Crawford Texas’ village idiot most of the brain dead, consumerist, greedy, self absorbed Americans figured out what the wise knew in 2000- and Bush’s “popularity” hovered at about 20%.
Most progressives saw this as an encouraging development in that three-in-five of the US’ ditto-headed, brain-dead fat-tubs-of-lard that pass themselves off as human beings had wised up after being been beaten silly for almost eight years due to their own actions at the ballot box.
But really it the most astonishing part of the poll was that there were still 20% of hard core dim-witted knee-jerk “too stupid to live” left tucked away in mega-churches and mini-malls of America the country.
“Who are these people?” we wondered but more importantly “where are they?”
Well we found them this month- the hard core, “don’t confuse me with the facts”, chest-pounding twits- raising gorilla dust at the various health care reform town meetings held recently.
And even though they probably represent only half of those die hard knuckleheads that argued among themselves whether Bush was “a great president or the greatest president”, the media- in their typical “’both’ sides of the issue” coverage- still cling to the notion that this “movement” is really about health care and not just a diminishing clique of white people who see their majority status in the land they stole from brown people slowly disappearing and want to wrest back control of “our” country back from the hands of a black president.
Perhaps the thing that baffles the pea-brained pundits most is where are those 80% of Americans- as polls indicated earlier this year- that demand real health care reform?
Well what the press hasn’t grasped is that those of us who understand that the only form of reform that can demonstrably be launched fully formed- the single payer “Medicare for all” format- gave up on true heath care reform months ago when it was conveniently taken “off the table” by the president and congress.
The noisiest of squeaky wheels have not only gotten the grease they’ve provided the context for lazy, simplistic, easy-answer-seeking reporters to file stories defining the “opposition” as those shrieking drivel in the non-sequitor, talking-point Hannity/ Limbaugh/ Beck echo chamber, as they spew high decibel inanities at their cameras.
The corporate media refuse to think through why there is seemingly little of no support for the “single payer is off the table” non-reform that we’ve been offered.
With their Hobson’s choice loaded-question, in true corporate governance bought-and-paid-for style, it’s just a matter of how much they will allow the insurance industry to continue to screw us in the butt, essentially asking us whether we want our sh-t sandwich on white or wheat.
And they expect us to enthusiastically show up and fight the “keep the government away from my Medicare” crazies for, at best, a kinder gentler insurance industry (yeah, that’ll happen).
The fact is, unless you’re still one of those among the delusionally naive Obama-as-messiah sycophantic minions- a group whose numbers are shrinking daily as they meet the new boss’ war-mongering corporate-kow-towing style- you’ve given up on the centrist Democratic Party’s “bend-over” opposition to the slack-jawed, wing-nut creationist, gun-toting Republicans.
The ribbon placed on the repackaging of the old-boss is but an illusion that we who’ve long since rejected the duopoly warned of when, as always, Tweedledum ran against Tweedledumber.
Health care reform is dead. It died when all the members of congress decided we couldn’t have the only reform that would and could be fair, affordable and cover everyone as we detailed last month because the other 534 corporate lackeys had been bought off by the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
Don’t expect us to stand up and defend the insult to our intelligence that the Democrats are trying to substitute for basic human right to heath care we all want deserve and could have had.
Most progressives saw this as an encouraging development in that three-in-five of the US’ ditto-headed, brain-dead fat-tubs-of-lard that pass themselves off as human beings had wised up after being been beaten silly for almost eight years due to their own actions at the ballot box.
But really it the most astonishing part of the poll was that there were still 20% of hard core dim-witted knee-jerk “too stupid to live” left tucked away in mega-churches and mini-malls of America the country.
“Who are these people?” we wondered but more importantly “where are they?”
Well we found them this month- the hard core, “don’t confuse me with the facts”, chest-pounding twits- raising gorilla dust at the various health care reform town meetings held recently.
And even though they probably represent only half of those die hard knuckleheads that argued among themselves whether Bush was “a great president or the greatest president”, the media- in their typical “’both’ sides of the issue” coverage- still cling to the notion that this “movement” is really about health care and not just a diminishing clique of white people who see their majority status in the land they stole from brown people slowly disappearing and want to wrest back control of “our” country back from the hands of a black president.
Perhaps the thing that baffles the pea-brained pundits most is where are those 80% of Americans- as polls indicated earlier this year- that demand real health care reform?
Well what the press hasn’t grasped is that those of us who understand that the only form of reform that can demonstrably be launched fully formed- the single payer “Medicare for all” format- gave up on true heath care reform months ago when it was conveniently taken “off the table” by the president and congress.
The noisiest of squeaky wheels have not only gotten the grease they’ve provided the context for lazy, simplistic, easy-answer-seeking reporters to file stories defining the “opposition” as those shrieking drivel in the non-sequitor, talking-point Hannity/ Limbaugh/ Beck echo chamber, as they spew high decibel inanities at their cameras.
The corporate media refuse to think through why there is seemingly little of no support for the “single payer is off the table” non-reform that we’ve been offered.
With their Hobson’s choice loaded-question, in true corporate governance bought-and-paid-for style, it’s just a matter of how much they will allow the insurance industry to continue to screw us in the butt, essentially asking us whether we want our sh-t sandwich on white or wheat.
And they expect us to enthusiastically show up and fight the “keep the government away from my Medicare” crazies for, at best, a kinder gentler insurance industry (yeah, that’ll happen).
The fact is, unless you’re still one of those among the delusionally naive Obama-as-messiah sycophantic minions- a group whose numbers are shrinking daily as they meet the new boss’ war-mongering corporate-kow-towing style- you’ve given up on the centrist Democratic Party’s “bend-over” opposition to the slack-jawed, wing-nut creationist, gun-toting Republicans.
The ribbon placed on the repackaging of the old-boss is but an illusion that we who’ve long since rejected the duopoly warned of when, as always, Tweedledum ran against Tweedledumber.
Health care reform is dead. It died when all the members of congress decided we couldn’t have the only reform that would and could be fair, affordable and cover everyone as we detailed last month because the other 534 corporate lackeys had been bought off by the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
Don’t expect us to stand up and defend the insult to our intelligence that the Democrats are trying to substitute for basic human right to heath care we all want deserve and could have had.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
PAGING SENATOR HOWARD, SENATOR FINE, SENATOR HOWARD
PAGING SENATOR HOWARD, SENATOR FINE, SENATOR HOWARD: The so called “debate” over health care is peaking but anyone who thinks we will actually get the meaningful system the public has demanded is either naive or a moron.
Fully 70-80% of Americans, depending on the poll, demand single payer, government run, “Medicare for all” health care according to dozens of polls. Yet the self-absorbed inside-the-beltway media continues to kow-tow to the two duopolistic corporate parties that were already bought and paid for years ago to make sure we will never get the same health care system that the rest of the world enjoys.
The media debate centers around the circle-jerk promulgated by the president and congress and completely ignores the fact that people don’t want anything like the proposed insurance-industry laden health care system- not for the reasons concocted by the right-wing-nuts but because it isn’t the single payer system they thought we were finally going to enact.
According to every mainstream media (MSM) outlet it’s a political battle between a Democratic Party bullsh-t, corporate-endorsed system of tinkering around the edges of a broken system and an even more bullsh-t Republican campaign of fear mongering, misrepresentation and outright lies to stop even the meaningless changes Dems have proposed.
The pundits and reporters fail to even discuss that the real grounds for the lack of popularity of the “Obama Plan” is because both sides embrace what nobody wants- more insurance company control over healthcare... a ghoulish system that reaps profits at the expense of people’s health and even lives.
The die was cast when earlier this year the “word on the street”- presumably Pennsylvania Ave.- as reported by the MSM, was to forget about single payer because no one in congress would ever vote for it.
And yes- ask any senator or representative- they admit it. It’s “politically impossible” they say, to have single payer because the campaign contributions from insurance companies, pharmaceutical giants and their assorted corporate shills have bought off congress.
Oh- so you’re admitting you’re bought and paid for Senator? Well no, it’s not me. I would vote for single payer in a moment. It’s all the others... I just can’t fight them all.
Seemingly both no one and everyone has been legally bribed, eh. If every “not me” was really not them we’d have “us” covered with single payer.
The problem is that the people who support single payer, “Medicare for all” or whatever we’re calling it this week are for the most part Democrats and will take anything Obama and the majority congressional Democrats shove down their throats.
It happens every time. They don’t want to be seen as opposing their own, so it doesn’t matter what kid of crap they’re eating because it’s their crap and they’re willing to hold their nose and swallow it even if it’s not the meal they ordered, just to maintain the apparently useless power they’ve gained.
Their silence in demanding real heath care reform- not that ersatz substitution currently on the table- is deafening.
That leaves the Republicans free to argue against single payer without having to even risk the realization of it. They’ve been planning this PR campaign for years and will attack whatever is proposed as if it were single payer, by making up anything they want to.
The media laps it up because it fits their lazy “black or white”, “A” or “B” sound-bite driven, news delivery system. They prefer to play up the corporate-sponsored and devised attacks as the reason why people don’t like what they’re hearing instead of recognizing the lack of a single payer plan as the raison d'être for the public’s ambivalence.
So what are those lies about single payer and who are the lying liars who lie about them?
First of all is cost. Everyone’s talking taxes and deficits and such trying to squeeze out nickels from Medicare Medicaid and the like that have been bled like an orange for 20 years already.
The facts are that the main cost of health care is insurance company profits and administrative fees.
The real numbers are staggering- the administrative costs for insurance companies is a full 30% of revenue while the administration of Medicare costs 3%. And that 30% doesn’t include their profit which run as high as 25%, sometimes more.
That’s literally half the cost of health care. Eliminate those costs and all the under and uninsured can be covered and then some.
That doesn’t even include the savings to providers in the streamlining of paperwork that one form, one reimbursement system and one payer provides. That’s without the financial costs to everyone inherent in the current insurance system through bankruptcies, foreclosures and resultant unemployment, welfare payments and other governmental costs. And it doesn’t account for the amount the we pay now for the uninsured by paying for acute and emergency treatment, paid at an even more astronomical cost than the insured pay.
And it doesn’t include the savings by having one entity representing everyone which will have the leverage and bargaining power to impose reasonable costs on pharmaceutical and medical supply companies.
None of those savings can or do exist under the insurance company model.
If “paying for health care” is an issue, single payer is a no brainer. The reason why Republicans can attack Democrats for lack of cost control is because Democrats gave up on the system that would provide enough savings to pay for a system of means-tested fees to provide medical care for all.
Another related and similarly idiotic argument is that we’d have to increase taxes to pay for single payer.
We all heard that the Congressional Budget Office found the proposed non-plan would cost a trillion dollars.
But guess what- the statistic we didn’t cite above and no one seems to mention is that we’re already paying inordinate amounts for “insurance”.
If you’re stupid enough not to realize that and complain that you don’t want to pay what would be, at most, the same amount in a “tax”- or presumably less when all the insurance company skinning is taken out of the equation- you’re obviously semantically challenged and need to buy a clue or some critical thinking skills.
So put away the tea bag and do the math.
If we as a county are paying “X” for health care right now including employer contributions, Medicare and Medicaid and of course payments by individuals and we add all the savings single payer provides we’d be paying X minus a small fortune.
Call it a “tax” or call it the current portion of your paycheck noted as an “employer contribution” and “deduction for insurance”- that’s simply a differentiation without a difference.
So where are we... single payer is a no-brainer for cost control and you’re already paying up the wazoo now so you can only pay less no matter what you call it when we take it away from insurance companies.
But even more absurd are some of the characterizations of the single payer delivery systems in place in every other industrialized nation on earth.
Let’s start with this insane notion that some of these “horror” are worse in those single payer countries than under our insurance companies.
Anyone who claims the people there don’t like their system is lying. They may not like some delivery particulars but when you look at any general gripes, they’re even worse here.
Rationing of care? Having to wait for a doctor’s visit? Having to wait for elective procedures?
If you haven’t experienced this under insurance companies you either don’t have insurance, have never had misfortune to really need it or are rich.
Have you tried to make an appointment with a doctor for a non urgent matter in America? You’ll be lucky to get an appointment in a month, a fraction of any clamed wait in Canada or England that opponents love to lie about. Seeing a specialist? How about getting an MRI? Elective knee surgery? Try months- or never if the insurance company says so.
In fact, we not only wait longer here, the determining factor isn’t how sick we are but how much it costs.
Transplant? Experimental procedures? Whereas everyone qualifies under single payer systems, under insurance companies you’re just denied treatment over and over until you’re dead or told you have a “preexisting condition”- including things like not reporting you had a headache in 1987 or some similarly absurd and unrelated minor omission on your application- making you eligible for nothing but having your claim denied, having your premium made more unaffordable than it is now or, more likely, being dropped entirely by your insurance company.
And the questions “do you want a government bureaucrat making a decision on whether you can have care?” is absolutely vapid. Would you rather have an insurance company bureaucratic operative- who gets rewarded financially for denying you care- making the decision?.. well that’s what you’ve got now.
At least under a government system there would presumably be a transparent methodology of approval, based on medical need not someone’s bottom line.
Under most single payer systems across the world there is virtually no such thing as a denial of an established service when a doctor orders it. The claim that there would be such as restriction under single payer is just another fear mongering distortion by those beholden to the insurance companies.
Anyone who saw Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko” knows the horrors of having profit as a motive for granting or denying care. It’s another no-brainer for most of us, even in the face of the health insurance industry’s admitted massive disinformation campaign regarding the film and whistleblower revelations regarding their practices.
One of the more mind-numbing contentions made by Republicans and unrefuted by Democrats- because they won’t stand up for single payer and have already given up the anti-insurance company fight- is that people like the coverage they have now.
There are two types who like their coverage now- those who have never been really sick and those who can afford gold-plated coverage. They may like the standard of care American clinics and hospitals provide- something that isn’t going to change under single payer delivery system- but they don’t like to pay insurance companies half their paycheck to get it.
But for all the Republican obfuscation, PR spin, outright lies and idiocy, it’s the Democratic rank and file who are really to blame for letting their leaders get away with selling our basic human right- yes right- to health care down the river before we even began.
It’s typical of Democrats- they’re willing to swallow the same crap they wouldn’t accept when the Republicans were in charge, just because they don’t want to criticize their side.
And that’s the problem- that silence within the Democratic Party faithful that allows the leaders to ignore the members allows the horse-race. “he said- she said” reporting press to say there are only two “sides”, neither one of which is the side of the people who require health care.
Many think that this idiotic “public option” is way to finagle the single payer they want.
But that’s not gonna happen. The insurance companies have already made it their prime directive to the bought and paid for Dems and Repubs- if there is a public option the final legislation will prevent any evolution to single payer.
If we believe that politicians won’t do what they are saying they’re going to do- make sure single payer is “off the table”- we are officially insane.
The pattern is familiar, especially among Democrats. “Oh, they’re just saying that to get it passed” is just a refrain of the old “they’re just saying that to get elected”. But guess what?- we’ve seen over and over that’s not true and different outcomes never spring from doing the same thing.
We have no one but ourselves to blame when, led by the rings though our noses we button our lips and let them compromise away our rights until the end product is the same no matter who is in charge.
The current deliberation is nothing but a fake debate and hardly bares the attention being paid. Health care will be more expensive and more unattainable under any scenario being considered right now.
The only thing that seems to be agreed upon is that we will now be mandated to pay even more than we’re paying now to insurance companies for the same crappy lack-of-comprehensive coverage we’re getting now.
What you see is what you get. When in the near future we see people dropping like flies all around us because this so-called health care reform was an insurance company scam, it will only be because, by buying into the frame of the current health care debate, we’re established the fact that we’re too dumb to live.
Fully 70-80% of Americans, depending on the poll, demand single payer, government run, “Medicare for all” health care according to dozens of polls. Yet the self-absorbed inside-the-beltway media continues to kow-tow to the two duopolistic corporate parties that were already bought and paid for years ago to make sure we will never get the same health care system that the rest of the world enjoys.
The media debate centers around the circle-jerk promulgated by the president and congress and completely ignores the fact that people don’t want anything like the proposed insurance-industry laden health care system- not for the reasons concocted by the right-wing-nuts but because it isn’t the single payer system they thought we were finally going to enact.
According to every mainstream media (MSM) outlet it’s a political battle between a Democratic Party bullsh-t, corporate-endorsed system of tinkering around the edges of a broken system and an even more bullsh-t Republican campaign of fear mongering, misrepresentation and outright lies to stop even the meaningless changes Dems have proposed.
The pundits and reporters fail to even discuss that the real grounds for the lack of popularity of the “Obama Plan” is because both sides embrace what nobody wants- more insurance company control over healthcare... a ghoulish system that reaps profits at the expense of people’s health and even lives.
The die was cast when earlier this year the “word on the street”- presumably Pennsylvania Ave.- as reported by the MSM, was to forget about single payer because no one in congress would ever vote for it.
And yes- ask any senator or representative- they admit it. It’s “politically impossible” they say, to have single payer because the campaign contributions from insurance companies, pharmaceutical giants and their assorted corporate shills have bought off congress.
Oh- so you’re admitting you’re bought and paid for Senator? Well no, it’s not me. I would vote for single payer in a moment. It’s all the others... I just can’t fight them all.
Seemingly both no one and everyone has been legally bribed, eh. If every “not me” was really not them we’d have “us” covered with single payer.
The problem is that the people who support single payer, “Medicare for all” or whatever we’re calling it this week are for the most part Democrats and will take anything Obama and the majority congressional Democrats shove down their throats.
It happens every time. They don’t want to be seen as opposing their own, so it doesn’t matter what kid of crap they’re eating because it’s their crap and they’re willing to hold their nose and swallow it even if it’s not the meal they ordered, just to maintain the apparently useless power they’ve gained.
Their silence in demanding real heath care reform- not that ersatz substitution currently on the table- is deafening.
That leaves the Republicans free to argue against single payer without having to even risk the realization of it. They’ve been planning this PR campaign for years and will attack whatever is proposed as if it were single payer, by making up anything they want to.
The media laps it up because it fits their lazy “black or white”, “A” or “B” sound-bite driven, news delivery system. They prefer to play up the corporate-sponsored and devised attacks as the reason why people don’t like what they’re hearing instead of recognizing the lack of a single payer plan as the raison d'être for the public’s ambivalence.
So what are those lies about single payer and who are the lying liars who lie about them?
First of all is cost. Everyone’s talking taxes and deficits and such trying to squeeze out nickels from Medicare Medicaid and the like that have been bled like an orange for 20 years already.
The facts are that the main cost of health care is insurance company profits and administrative fees.
The real numbers are staggering- the administrative costs for insurance companies is a full 30% of revenue while the administration of Medicare costs 3%. And that 30% doesn’t include their profit which run as high as 25%, sometimes more.
That’s literally half the cost of health care. Eliminate those costs and all the under and uninsured can be covered and then some.
That doesn’t even include the savings to providers in the streamlining of paperwork that one form, one reimbursement system and one payer provides. That’s without the financial costs to everyone inherent in the current insurance system through bankruptcies, foreclosures and resultant unemployment, welfare payments and other governmental costs. And it doesn’t account for the amount the we pay now for the uninsured by paying for acute and emergency treatment, paid at an even more astronomical cost than the insured pay.
And it doesn’t include the savings by having one entity representing everyone which will have the leverage and bargaining power to impose reasonable costs on pharmaceutical and medical supply companies.
None of those savings can or do exist under the insurance company model.
If “paying for health care” is an issue, single payer is a no brainer. The reason why Republicans can attack Democrats for lack of cost control is because Democrats gave up on the system that would provide enough savings to pay for a system of means-tested fees to provide medical care for all.
Another related and similarly idiotic argument is that we’d have to increase taxes to pay for single payer.
We all heard that the Congressional Budget Office found the proposed non-plan would cost a trillion dollars.
But guess what- the statistic we didn’t cite above and no one seems to mention is that we’re already paying inordinate amounts for “insurance”.
If you’re stupid enough not to realize that and complain that you don’t want to pay what would be, at most, the same amount in a “tax”- or presumably less when all the insurance company skinning is taken out of the equation- you’re obviously semantically challenged and need to buy a clue or some critical thinking skills.
So put away the tea bag and do the math.
If we as a county are paying “X” for health care right now including employer contributions, Medicare and Medicaid and of course payments by individuals and we add all the savings single payer provides we’d be paying X minus a small fortune.
Call it a “tax” or call it the current portion of your paycheck noted as an “employer contribution” and “deduction for insurance”- that’s simply a differentiation without a difference.
So where are we... single payer is a no-brainer for cost control and you’re already paying up the wazoo now so you can only pay less no matter what you call it when we take it away from insurance companies.
But even more absurd are some of the characterizations of the single payer delivery systems in place in every other industrialized nation on earth.
Let’s start with this insane notion that some of these “horror” are worse in those single payer countries than under our insurance companies.
Anyone who claims the people there don’t like their system is lying. They may not like some delivery particulars but when you look at any general gripes, they’re even worse here.
Rationing of care? Having to wait for a doctor’s visit? Having to wait for elective procedures?
If you haven’t experienced this under insurance companies you either don’t have insurance, have never had misfortune to really need it or are rich.
Have you tried to make an appointment with a doctor for a non urgent matter in America? You’ll be lucky to get an appointment in a month, a fraction of any clamed wait in Canada or England that opponents love to lie about. Seeing a specialist? How about getting an MRI? Elective knee surgery? Try months- or never if the insurance company says so.
In fact, we not only wait longer here, the determining factor isn’t how sick we are but how much it costs.
Transplant? Experimental procedures? Whereas everyone qualifies under single payer systems, under insurance companies you’re just denied treatment over and over until you’re dead or told you have a “preexisting condition”- including things like not reporting you had a headache in 1987 or some similarly absurd and unrelated minor omission on your application- making you eligible for nothing but having your claim denied, having your premium made more unaffordable than it is now or, more likely, being dropped entirely by your insurance company.
And the questions “do you want a government bureaucrat making a decision on whether you can have care?” is absolutely vapid. Would you rather have an insurance company bureaucratic operative- who gets rewarded financially for denying you care- making the decision?.. well that’s what you’ve got now.
At least under a government system there would presumably be a transparent methodology of approval, based on medical need not someone’s bottom line.
Under most single payer systems across the world there is virtually no such thing as a denial of an established service when a doctor orders it. The claim that there would be such as restriction under single payer is just another fear mongering distortion by those beholden to the insurance companies.
Anyone who saw Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko” knows the horrors of having profit as a motive for granting or denying care. It’s another no-brainer for most of us, even in the face of the health insurance industry’s admitted massive disinformation campaign regarding the film and whistleblower revelations regarding their practices.
One of the more mind-numbing contentions made by Republicans and unrefuted by Democrats- because they won’t stand up for single payer and have already given up the anti-insurance company fight- is that people like the coverage they have now.
There are two types who like their coverage now- those who have never been really sick and those who can afford gold-plated coverage. They may like the standard of care American clinics and hospitals provide- something that isn’t going to change under single payer delivery system- but they don’t like to pay insurance companies half their paycheck to get it.
But for all the Republican obfuscation, PR spin, outright lies and idiocy, it’s the Democratic rank and file who are really to blame for letting their leaders get away with selling our basic human right- yes right- to health care down the river before we even began.
It’s typical of Democrats- they’re willing to swallow the same crap they wouldn’t accept when the Republicans were in charge, just because they don’t want to criticize their side.
And that’s the problem- that silence within the Democratic Party faithful that allows the leaders to ignore the members allows the horse-race. “he said- she said” reporting press to say there are only two “sides”, neither one of which is the side of the people who require health care.
Many think that this idiotic “public option” is way to finagle the single payer they want.
But that’s not gonna happen. The insurance companies have already made it their prime directive to the bought and paid for Dems and Repubs- if there is a public option the final legislation will prevent any evolution to single payer.
If we believe that politicians won’t do what they are saying they’re going to do- make sure single payer is “off the table”- we are officially insane.
The pattern is familiar, especially among Democrats. “Oh, they’re just saying that to get it passed” is just a refrain of the old “they’re just saying that to get elected”. But guess what?- we’ve seen over and over that’s not true and different outcomes never spring from doing the same thing.
We have no one but ourselves to blame when, led by the rings though our noses we button our lips and let them compromise away our rights until the end product is the same no matter who is in charge.
The current deliberation is nothing but a fake debate and hardly bares the attention being paid. Health care will be more expensive and more unattainable under any scenario being considered right now.
The only thing that seems to be agreed upon is that we will now be mandated to pay even more than we’re paying now to insurance companies for the same crappy lack-of-comprehensive coverage we’re getting now.
What you see is what you get. When in the near future we see people dropping like flies all around us because this so-called health care reform was an insurance company scam, it will only be because, by buying into the frame of the current health care debate, we’re established the fact that we’re too dumb to live.
Friday, July 11, 2008
SNIFFIN’ IT OUT
SNIFFIN’ IT OUT: Our childhood hero liked to say, “we all know how painful that can be.”.
And so we were polled by SMS Research Wednesday night regarding politics on Kaua`i.
Boy did they get the wrong number.
There were four candidates on their list for mayor, including the three announced candidates and Ron Kouchi, who interestingly has not only not stated whether or not he is or is not running but has not, like Jay Furfaro, said he will not announce or has not decided what his decision will be.
We asked about Bruce Pleas and the woman said “who”?
So Bruce wasn’t conducting the polls. Though they would not identify who they were polling for we did ask if it was a commercial marketing or political poll and were strangely enough told marketing.
But it wasn’t about denture-paste or armpit-sweat.
Another question was if we were a Democrat, Republican or independent. When we said “Green” we were answered with “huh?”
“Green- like the Green Party, ya know?”
“Oh, independent.”
“No, Green. If you don’t put down Green I’m gonna put down the phone.”
“OK- Green.”
They obviously didn’t- or more likely couldn’t- pay her enough to deal with us.
The obligatory age, race and length of residency questions were also asked although interestingly enough there was no income question.
Anyway they did ask about the biggest “issues” but didn’t give multiple choices and rather asked us to fill in the blanks. We were up to issue # 8 before she told us that was enough.
That open-ended issue-identifying type question sounds, from our experience, more like an internal campaign type polling call but they said they were SMS and although the call was from an “unknown number” a callback did elicit an answer identifying “SMS”.
They also asked about the 2nd Congressional District posing Maize Hirono against perennial Republican candidate Roger Evans. Now it was our chance to ask “who?”
We thought then it might have been a Republican Party sponsored poll.
But to figure out who would be polling we really have to ask who can afford one. The first-asked Hirono question could have been a ruse to disguise the nature of the poll, something marketing companies routinely do to “throw off” the call recipient.... that’s why they get the big bucks.
We have to look to the war chests. JoAnn’s got one and Ron’s got one... and that’s it. Though this year’s filings aren’t in yet both could have around $20,000 based on 2007 numbers and past performance.
Mel’s appears to be barely solvent but he’s gonna get his especially if he keeps $1000 contributions from Washington D.C. lobbying PACa like the American Resort Development Association, unlike Kouchi and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho who returned the money... although if he keeps getting fined for filing late like he did in 2007 he’ll be $50 poorer each time.
And Bernard’s gonna get more. But for a campaign that hasn’t raised a nickel to poll now doesn’t make sense. There're yard signs and brochures to print and cash-only media buys to lock-in.
But Joann’s been collecting a tidy bundle readying for 2010 since she re-entered politics in 2002. Could she be getting cold feet? Could she see the Council leadership changing and want to grab that as a stage for a 2010 run?
Whoever’s poll it is would have had to have ordered and paid for it before Monday’s Council Chamber performance.
It would make sense that that could be why JoAnn pressured Kaipo he way she did. If he had said he would run in the special election she could have ended the meeting by saying that in deference she wouldn’t challenge him, coming out rose-smelling and in line for the chair- especially if Mel and Shaylene were going bye-bye too- and a free-TV-promoted run in 2010.
The combination of the short mayoral term and the short fuse on the present economic downturn could doom the winner in a quick turnaround election especially if the winner has run on a platform of keeping the same incompetent appointed department heads- as all seem so far to be saying they’d do.
For anyone looking to 2010, the issue of “county government incompetence” is bound to be as central an issue as it is now for many Kauaians. It could look like pretty good pickin’s for anyone looking for to a wedge issue once the blinders come off and the current post-mortem gleam of the Baptiste administration fades.
Carvalho could just be unbeatable in this atmosphere and a loss for the ambitious could pin the loser tail on any donkey who fails in ’08.
Yukimura can only run and win as the anti-Baptiste candidate. If she is skilled enough it’s possible she can do it without driving away those who worshipped Bryan but who aren’t tied to anyone who has had a full time mayoral-appointed job for the 14 years since JoAnn left the mayor’s office.
Is she polling? Nah- it was Ron. He doesn’t just have a campaign war chest, he’s got a storage locker. He just wants to see if there’s any chance at all or whether to sit tight, collect more money and let the others beat each other up and wait a short two years..
-------------------
Honolulu Advertiser Capitol reporter Derrick DePledge is blogging again joining City Hall correspondent Peter Boylan at “The Notebook”. It’s a great place for the political junkie looking for background.
And so we were polled by SMS Research Wednesday night regarding politics on Kaua`i.
Boy did they get the wrong number.
There were four candidates on their list for mayor, including the three announced candidates and Ron Kouchi, who interestingly has not only not stated whether or not he is or is not running but has not, like Jay Furfaro, said he will not announce or has not decided what his decision will be.
We asked about Bruce Pleas and the woman said “who”?
So Bruce wasn’t conducting the polls. Though they would not identify who they were polling for we did ask if it was a commercial marketing or political poll and were strangely enough told marketing.
But it wasn’t about denture-paste or armpit-sweat.
Another question was if we were a Democrat, Republican or independent. When we said “Green” we were answered with “huh?”
“Green- like the Green Party, ya know?”
“Oh, independent.”
“No, Green. If you don’t put down Green I’m gonna put down the phone.”
“OK- Green.”
They obviously didn’t- or more likely couldn’t- pay her enough to deal with us.
The obligatory age, race and length of residency questions were also asked although interestingly enough there was no income question.
Anyway they did ask about the biggest “issues” but didn’t give multiple choices and rather asked us to fill in the blanks. We were up to issue # 8 before she told us that was enough.
That open-ended issue-identifying type question sounds, from our experience, more like an internal campaign type polling call but they said they were SMS and although the call was from an “unknown number” a callback did elicit an answer identifying “SMS”.
They also asked about the 2nd Congressional District posing Maize Hirono against perennial Republican candidate Roger Evans. Now it was our chance to ask “who?”
We thought then it might have been a Republican Party sponsored poll.
But to figure out who would be polling we really have to ask who can afford one. The first-asked Hirono question could have been a ruse to disguise the nature of the poll, something marketing companies routinely do to “throw off” the call recipient.... that’s why they get the big bucks.
We have to look to the war chests. JoAnn’s got one and Ron’s got one... and that’s it. Though this year’s filings aren’t in yet both could have around $20,000 based on 2007 numbers and past performance.
Mel’s appears to be barely solvent but he’s gonna get his especially if he keeps $1000 contributions from Washington D.C. lobbying PACa like the American Resort Development Association, unlike Kouchi and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho who returned the money... although if he keeps getting fined for filing late like he did in 2007 he’ll be $50 poorer each time.
And Bernard’s gonna get more. But for a campaign that hasn’t raised a nickel to poll now doesn’t make sense. There're yard signs and brochures to print and cash-only media buys to lock-in.
But Joann’s been collecting a tidy bundle readying for 2010 since she re-entered politics in 2002. Could she be getting cold feet? Could she see the Council leadership changing and want to grab that as a stage for a 2010 run?
Whoever’s poll it is would have had to have ordered and paid for it before Monday’s Council Chamber performance.
It would make sense that that could be why JoAnn pressured Kaipo he way she did. If he had said he would run in the special election she could have ended the meeting by saying that in deference she wouldn’t challenge him, coming out rose-smelling and in line for the chair- especially if Mel and Shaylene were going bye-bye too- and a free-TV-promoted run in 2010.
The combination of the short mayoral term and the short fuse on the present economic downturn could doom the winner in a quick turnaround election especially if the winner has run on a platform of keeping the same incompetent appointed department heads- as all seem so far to be saying they’d do.
For anyone looking to 2010, the issue of “county government incompetence” is bound to be as central an issue as it is now for many Kauaians. It could look like pretty good pickin’s for anyone looking for to a wedge issue once the blinders come off and the current post-mortem gleam of the Baptiste administration fades.
Carvalho could just be unbeatable in this atmosphere and a loss for the ambitious could pin the loser tail on any donkey who fails in ’08.
Yukimura can only run and win as the anti-Baptiste candidate. If she is skilled enough it’s possible she can do it without driving away those who worshipped Bryan but who aren’t tied to anyone who has had a full time mayoral-appointed job for the 14 years since JoAnn left the mayor’s office.
Is she polling? Nah- it was Ron. He doesn’t just have a campaign war chest, he’s got a storage locker. He just wants to see if there’s any chance at all or whether to sit tight, collect more money and let the others beat each other up and wait a short two years..
-------------------
Honolulu Advertiser Capitol reporter Derrick DePledge is blogging again joining City Hall correspondent Peter Boylan at “The Notebook”. It’s a great place for the political junkie looking for background.
Friday, May 23, 2008
'TIL THE LAST YELLOW DOG DIES
'TIL THE LAST YELLOW DOG DIES: The bullets continue to fly over the disastrous Republicans’ Convention last weekend but you wouldn’t know it to read the Honolulu newspapers.
In addition to the scathing back and forth between party activist and bosses we reported on the other day, new ballistic bombardments and sieve-like shields are still being posted at the Republican’s best and worst friend Malia Zimmerman’s Hawai`i Reporter news service.
Now there’s some new and improved coverage of the debacle with even a video of some of the scripted authoritarian event where the Ron Paul supporters were shut out of the process causing even some of the McCainiac party regulars to swear to never participate again after their leadership ran rough-shod over everyone, abusing not just the process but apparently the delegates themselves.
But the Honolulu Advertiser’s purveyor of the politically obvious Jerry Burris either doesn’t read or research very much- or maybe he wrote the piece before the convention. He certainly didn’t ask anyone who was there in writing in his regular Wednesday column:
And, from those we’ve talked to and what we’ve read , it sure sounds like a similar meltdown might be in store as the Democrats turn to self-destruct in its normal manner at their State Convention this weekend.
It remains to be seen whether the Obamanics will smother dissents from Shrillary Hillary supporters who see misogyny in everyone that doesn’t live in their sound=-proof booth.
According to reports there are still three party bosses- er, Superdelegates- at stake and their appointment goes along with newly elected party leadership positions.
The only question is whether the Dems will allow a battle royale and thus disintegrate into the usual melee they have been famous for or will take a repressive page out of the Republican Convention Playbook thus disillusioning all those wide-eyed new members that came in on Obama’s caucus coattails.
And, surprise- this year there are also some platform issues for Democrats to “discuss”, always a fun time for observers from the other party. This year they come replete with a contentious plank on the one issue that is bound to piss everyone off – Israel and Palestine- with AIPAC throwing their weight around in try to defeat a popular resolution that is none too complementary to the Zionists.
Even nationally pundits seem to have their heads so far up the butts of party leadership that when Howard Dean speaks you can see Richard Cohen’s face between his teeth. They are never talking to the rank and file or even the lower level activists yielding the kind of drivel that drives the horse race coverage and the conventional wisdom- a catch all meaning lazy insular analysis.
Nowhere do you hear the realities of the Democratic race- things like how if there is even a race with the Republican in the fall it is the turnout of new voters and people motivated to vote that will decide the race and that the Obama campaign has done the most incredible grassroots job of precinct by precinct bottom up organizing ever seen.
They brought in community organizers and Democratic Party wannabes last summer and fall and sent them to campaign schools, teaching the basics of “do it on your own” neighborhood organizing.
Then, months later found that, in many states, there were Obama campaign headquarters springing up unbeknownst to the national campaign. The locals were already there when they came to town to campaign in the primaries and caucuses.
That more than anything explains his successes where the corporate pundits had eliminated him early on- something they still haven’t caught onto.
No one sees how the right-wing-despised Hillary Clinton came into the race with electability inside the base of the Democratic constituency.
And, because they only talk to the insiders, none of them talk about how she destroyed any advantage she might have had by creating more hatred on the left than existed for her and Bill on the right by copying Rovian-Atwater-style campaign tactics when she fell behind after Iowa.
It has nothing to do with her being a woman. And as a matter of fact the desirability of tempering the usual masculine aspect guiding our war mongering, male-dominated, power-as-an-aphrodesiac Congress with the feminist aspect and viewpoint is one of the strongest arguments for electing females. . and it’s one that Clinton quite apparently fought hard to dissipate by trying to out-macho the men with her votes in the Senate.
We don’t believe Obama is any different than Clinton- or McCain for that matter- with his opposition of single payer, non corporate, universal health care, his votes for every war funding bill and the new Patriot act, his opposition to impeachment, his support for coal and innumerable untenable positions for true progressives.
But elections are not decided on issues- they are decided on who you’d rather have dinner or a beer with. And Hillary has sickened many on the left, especially among the young and previously disenfranchised, via the campaigning style she has adopted over the past few months.
Will there be a free for all this weekend or can the Hawai`i Democratic “leadership” head it off? And if they head it off will there be acrimony over the process? The one thing that could cut those new 37,000 membership numbers down to a new handful of activists and cause 36,500 that don’t even remember they joined the party would be to make them feel like the “old boys” didn’t give everyone there a fair hearing.
Whatever happens, will it be reported in the newspapers rather than just light up the on-line alternative press and blogs? Doubt it.
The bland penchant-for-the-obvious for political columnists at the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin and their lack of understanding of politics notwithstanding not pissing off the losers is the art of insider party politics.
And it ain’t as easy as it sounds in both cases – last week with the R’s and this week with the D’s- you have a forgone winner and a doomed loser. And a platform debate that will be bound to turn people away if it is allowed but will probably be a lot worse if it’s stifled.
Whatever happens the big question is, if something happens in Hawai`i politics and neither Jerry Burris or the equally lackluster and pedestrianly-mediocre Richard Borroca report it in the corporate newspapers does it make a policy sound?
In addition to the scathing back and forth between party activist and bosses we reported on the other day, new ballistic bombardments and sieve-like shields are still being posted at the Republican’s best and worst friend Malia Zimmerman’s Hawai`i Reporter news service.
Now there’s some new and improved coverage of the debacle with even a video of some of the scripted authoritarian event where the Ron Paul supporters were shut out of the process causing even some of the McCainiac party regulars to swear to never participate again after their leadership ran rough-shod over everyone, abusing not just the process but apparently the delegates themselves.
But the Honolulu Advertiser’s purveyor of the politically obvious Jerry Burris either doesn’t read or research very much- or maybe he wrote the piece before the convention. He certainly didn’t ask anyone who was there in writing in his regular Wednesday column:
“The Republicans ended their convention upbeat and enthused. That's what conventions are for. But the reality is that despite the sparkling individual success of Gov. Linda Lingle, the Hawai'i GOP has yet to find its voice or its home in contemporary local politics.”
And, from those we’ve talked to and what we’ve read , it sure sounds like a similar meltdown might be in store as the Democrats turn to self-destruct in its normal manner at their State Convention this weekend.
It remains to be seen whether the Obamanics will smother dissents from Shrillary Hillary supporters who see misogyny in everyone that doesn’t live in their sound=-proof booth.
According to reports there are still three party bosses- er, Superdelegates- at stake and their appointment goes along with newly elected party leadership positions.
The only question is whether the Dems will allow a battle royale and thus disintegrate into the usual melee they have been famous for or will take a repressive page out of the Republican Convention Playbook thus disillusioning all those wide-eyed new members that came in on Obama’s caucus coattails.
And, surprise- this year there are also some platform issues for Democrats to “discuss”, always a fun time for observers from the other party. This year they come replete with a contentious plank on the one issue that is bound to piss everyone off – Israel and Palestine- with AIPAC throwing their weight around in try to defeat a popular resolution that is none too complementary to the Zionists.
Even nationally pundits seem to have their heads so far up the butts of party leadership that when Howard Dean speaks you can see Richard Cohen’s face between his teeth. They are never talking to the rank and file or even the lower level activists yielding the kind of drivel that drives the horse race coverage and the conventional wisdom- a catch all meaning lazy insular analysis.
Nowhere do you hear the realities of the Democratic race- things like how if there is even a race with the Republican in the fall it is the turnout of new voters and people motivated to vote that will decide the race and that the Obama campaign has done the most incredible grassroots job of precinct by precinct bottom up organizing ever seen.
They brought in community organizers and Democratic Party wannabes last summer and fall and sent them to campaign schools, teaching the basics of “do it on your own” neighborhood organizing.
Then, months later found that, in many states, there were Obama campaign headquarters springing up unbeknownst to the national campaign. The locals were already there when they came to town to campaign in the primaries and caucuses.
That more than anything explains his successes where the corporate pundits had eliminated him early on- something they still haven’t caught onto.
No one sees how the right-wing-despised Hillary Clinton came into the race with electability inside the base of the Democratic constituency.
And, because they only talk to the insiders, none of them talk about how she destroyed any advantage she might have had by creating more hatred on the left than existed for her and Bill on the right by copying Rovian-Atwater-style campaign tactics when she fell behind after Iowa.
It has nothing to do with her being a woman. And as a matter of fact the desirability of tempering the usual masculine aspect guiding our war mongering, male-dominated, power-as-an-aphrodesiac Congress with the feminist aspect and viewpoint is one of the strongest arguments for electing females. . and it’s one that Clinton quite apparently fought hard to dissipate by trying to out-macho the men with her votes in the Senate.
We don’t believe Obama is any different than Clinton- or McCain for that matter- with his opposition of single payer, non corporate, universal health care, his votes for every war funding bill and the new Patriot act, his opposition to impeachment, his support for coal and innumerable untenable positions for true progressives.
But elections are not decided on issues- they are decided on who you’d rather have dinner or a beer with. And Hillary has sickened many on the left, especially among the young and previously disenfranchised, via the campaigning style she has adopted over the past few months.
Will there be a free for all this weekend or can the Hawai`i Democratic “leadership” head it off? And if they head it off will there be acrimony over the process? The one thing that could cut those new 37,000 membership numbers down to a new handful of activists and cause 36,500 that don’t even remember they joined the party would be to make them feel like the “old boys” didn’t give everyone there a fair hearing.
Whatever happens, will it be reported in the newspapers rather than just light up the on-line alternative press and blogs? Doubt it.
The bland penchant-for-the-obvious for political columnists at the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin and their lack of understanding of politics notwithstanding not pissing off the losers is the art of insider party politics.
And it ain’t as easy as it sounds in both cases – last week with the R’s and this week with the D’s- you have a forgone winner and a doomed loser. And a platform debate that will be bound to turn people away if it is allowed but will probably be a lot worse if it’s stifled.
Whatever happens the big question is, if something happens in Hawai`i politics and neither Jerry Burris or the equally lackluster and pedestrianly-mediocre Richard Borroca report it in the corporate newspapers does it make a policy sound?
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A DIFFERENT BREED?
A DIFFERENT BREED?: Though we weren’t invited, from all reports the Republican Convention this weekend was a clash between the true wing-nuts and the Lingle-Wingles and the blogs have exploded with details.
But the irony may be that the “we’re not Republican enough” crowd that is accusing the Cunning Linguists and McCainiacs of being too much like Democrats-Lite have accomplished turning their confab into an affair steeped in the kind of backbiting, infighting and generalize disunity that usually reserved for meetings of the Democrats.
Poinograhper Doug White does a pretty good wrap up with some good links but for some real red meat you need to check out the lengthy post from Republican State Senator Sam Sloam’s main squeeze, “Hawai`i Reporter” Malia Zimmerman.
Zimmy’s a pretty good reporter and doesn’t hide her biases. And though many of them are personally repugnant to this pug-nose she makes it easy to find the facts all the better to judge her presentations in light of full disclosure of her views.... as opposed to many who present news but lie to us using the preposterous “I’m totally objective” laugh line.
At her web site she posts some tomes from both sides with depictions of the depravity of the obviously staged and scripted process where dissidents- mostly .Ron Paul supporters and Akaka bill opponents- and defenses and justifications by the Party establishment http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8be0d031-187e-47e6-b964-cc204f8e5fcc for the iron-fisted way the convention was run- into the ground
But she fails to do what Doug did- give us a link to the spot at Republican blog Mel’s (Ah Ching) Internet Universe where a purloined copy of the actual script is posted along with chief dissident Eric Ryan’s description of events.
The script is tight- every action, word and of course outcome of votes is included, although in an attempt at humor it is noted that the pledge of Allegiance might not go according to script because Sam “shoot-from-the-hip” Sloam was the introducer.
Every actual vote was fully scripted as to outcome including the ones for national committee members and the convention delegates described by having the speaker at the podium say “Raise your right hand for yes. put them down. Raise your left hand for no. Put them down. The ayes have it and the motion is passed. “
The only sort-of vote that wasn’t fully scripted with a forgone conclusion was a call for the question that needed a 2/3 majority. Although the script mentions the possibility of not getting the 2/3 needed to cut off debate it continues as if the no-discussion vote had been “yea”.
Malia’s lengthy piece is priceless- she sure lets her long hair down and let’s it all hang out in a piece headlined “Not A Happy Party”.
Here’s her lead:
She goes into detail on the scripted votes and other tactics that tortured poor Roberts Rules, questioning the ethics of party leaders and saying “(t)he outcome of this convention clearly demonstrates that a change in party leadership must take place at the next convention in 2009”.
She also announces her new Co-Chair position on the “Reform Republican Victory Caucus (RRVC) that has been recently established”
She goes on at length with some interviews with long time and new Republicans who were "appalled”- one couple being 41 year veterans of these events- and bemoans the dearth of Republican legislative candidates this year, even denigrating Lingle heir-apparent Lt. Governor Duke Aiona and his presumed run in 2010.
But buried deep in the story is a story that has perplexed Hawai`i bloggers and even mainstream press for a while now- the identity of the ZeroShibai cartoonist. According to Zimmerman, who has run the cartoons, despite his past denials dissident-in-chief Ryan is the penman- or at least one of them.
As political junkies may already know ZeroShibai appeared on the radar screen a while back with it’s “Cow Inoa” cartoon which lampooned- or a least attempted to - the rights of those of Hawaiian descent. That was followed by a scathing condemnation from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Haunani Apoliona- the very thing the author was apparently looking for- causing the whole matter to wind up on the pages of the Honolulu newspapers.
Although Zimmerman leaves a little wiggle room by saying Ryan only “contributed to http://www.zeroshibai.com,/ where various artists take shots at elected Republicans and party leaders” all the cartoons seem exceptionally similar in artistic style and humor... and Ryan is a graphic artist.
Zimmerman did not name any other possible artists but one must wonder if this “outing” of Ryan was with his knowledge since it is essentially calling him a liar for his earlier public denial of involvement.
Zimmerman is perhaps best known for protecting sources as a reporter working with ABC-TV’s 20/20 in their account of the misdeeds of Jimmy Pflueger which allegedly caused the Ka Loko dam break on Kaua`i “murdering” 7 people, as has been accused.
She has more recently been credited with spurring the successful efforts this year to enact a Reporters’ Shield Law which also covers bloggers who engage in reporting.
Did Malia burn a source to whom she had previously granted anonymity? We’ll have to await a response from Ryan.
But for now it’s exceptionally gratifying to know that with the newly reinvigorated transplantation of mainlanders came a crew seemingly dedicated to the destruction of the Republican party, who are now seemingly joining the Democrats in reflecting the famous Will Rogers statements- “I’m not a member of any organized Party- I’m a Democrat.”
What more could a Green growler ask for- the Circular Firing Squad is apparently bipartisan now.
But the irony may be that the “we’re not Republican enough” crowd that is accusing the Cunning Linguists and McCainiacs of being too much like Democrats-Lite have accomplished turning their confab into an affair steeped in the kind of backbiting, infighting and generalize disunity that usually reserved for meetings of the Democrats.
Poinograhper Doug White does a pretty good wrap up with some good links but for some real red meat you need to check out the lengthy post from Republican State Senator Sam Sloam’s main squeeze, “Hawai`i Reporter” Malia Zimmerman.
Zimmy’s a pretty good reporter and doesn’t hide her biases. And though many of them are personally repugnant to this pug-nose she makes it easy to find the facts all the better to judge her presentations in light of full disclosure of her views.... as opposed to many who present news but lie to us using the preposterous “I’m totally objective” laugh line.
At her web site she posts some tomes from both sides with depictions of the depravity of the obviously staged and scripted process where dissidents- mostly .Ron Paul supporters and Akaka bill opponents- and defenses and justifications by the Party establishment http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?8be0d031-187e-47e6-b964-cc204f8e5fcc for the iron-fisted way the convention was run- into the ground
But she fails to do what Doug did- give us a link to the spot at Republican blog Mel’s (Ah Ching) Internet Universe where a purloined copy of the actual script is posted along with chief dissident Eric Ryan’s description of events.
The script is tight- every action, word and of course outcome of votes is included, although in an attempt at humor it is noted that the pledge of Allegiance might not go according to script because Sam “shoot-from-the-hip” Sloam was the introducer.
Every actual vote was fully scripted as to outcome including the ones for national committee members and the convention delegates described by having the speaker at the podium say “Raise your right hand for yes. put them down. Raise your left hand for no. Put them down. The ayes have it and the motion is passed. “
The only sort-of vote that wasn’t fully scripted with a forgone conclusion was a call for the question that needed a 2/3 majority. Although the script mentions the possibility of not getting the 2/3 needed to cut off debate it continues as if the no-discussion vote had been “yea”.
Malia’s lengthy piece is priceless- she sure lets her long hair down and let’s it all hang out in a piece headlined “Not A Happy Party”.
Here’s her lead:
“This weekend’s state convention was possibly the lowest point of the Hawaii
Republican Party. I have attended many conventions in the past but this was the
first time I have ever witnessed such large scales of impropriety and
malfeasance on the part of the party leadership. While the party leaders
continued to espouse “unity” throughout the convention weekend, there was none
to be found.
“It was also the first time I have seen delegates
weep in regards to the conduct of the party leadership. Many of these delegates
were there to have a wonderful time and enjoy the convention process. The
guerilla tactics used by the McCain campaign and the GOP leadership represent
reprehensible behavior. “
She goes into detail on the scripted votes and other tactics that tortured poor Roberts Rules, questioning the ethics of party leaders and saying “(t)he outcome of this convention clearly demonstrates that a change in party leadership must take place at the next convention in 2009”.
She also announces her new Co-Chair position on the “Reform Republican Victory Caucus (RRVC) that has been recently established”
She goes on at length with some interviews with long time and new Republicans who were "appalled”- one couple being 41 year veterans of these events- and bemoans the dearth of Republican legislative candidates this year, even denigrating Lingle heir-apparent Lt. Governor Duke Aiona and his presumed run in 2010.
But buried deep in the story is a story that has perplexed Hawai`i bloggers and even mainstream press for a while now- the identity of the ZeroShibai cartoonist. According to Zimmerman, who has run the cartoons, despite his past denials dissident-in-chief Ryan is the penman- or at least one of them.
As political junkies may already know ZeroShibai appeared on the radar screen a while back with it’s “Cow Inoa” cartoon which lampooned- or a least attempted to - the rights of those of Hawaiian descent. That was followed by a scathing condemnation from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Haunani Apoliona- the very thing the author was apparently looking for- causing the whole matter to wind up on the pages of the Honolulu newspapers.
Although Zimmerman leaves a little wiggle room by saying Ryan only “contributed to http://www.zeroshibai.com,/ where various artists take shots at elected Republicans and party leaders” all the cartoons seem exceptionally similar in artistic style and humor... and Ryan is a graphic artist.
Zimmerman did not name any other possible artists but one must wonder if this “outing” of Ryan was with his knowledge since it is essentially calling him a liar for his earlier public denial of involvement.
Zimmerman is perhaps best known for protecting sources as a reporter working with ABC-TV’s 20/20 in their account of the misdeeds of Jimmy Pflueger which allegedly caused the Ka Loko dam break on Kaua`i “murdering” 7 people, as has been accused.
She has more recently been credited with spurring the successful efforts this year to enact a Reporters’ Shield Law which also covers bloggers who engage in reporting.
Did Malia burn a source to whom she had previously granted anonymity? We’ll have to await a response from Ryan.
But for now it’s exceptionally gratifying to know that with the newly reinvigorated transplantation of mainlanders came a crew seemingly dedicated to the destruction of the Republican party, who are now seemingly joining the Democrats in reflecting the famous Will Rogers statements- “I’m not a member of any organized Party- I’m a Democrat.”
What more could a Green growler ask for- the Circular Firing Squad is apparently bipartisan now.
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