Fear Itself

As we slog toward Tuesday's General Election through the dense, choking fog of angry lies, distortions, and empty rhetoric from Der Furor, I am reminded of the words of one of our greatest presidents, which stand in stark contrast to the words of one of the worst. In his first inaugural address, new President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told a desperate nation hungry for reassurance:

"This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."

Der Furor, on the other hand, pictures our nation as the world's garbage dump. He promises his angry followers a terrifyingly authoritarian regime of economic chaos, racial hatred, and incompetent leadership. His economic proposals, panned by every reputable economist, would wreck the economy and benefit only the wealthy. His entire program is based on lies, distortion, vengeance, and reckless hate. He thunders about the horror of massive voting fraud that would cheat him of his victory, yet he has never ... never ... provided the least scintilla of proof that would stand up in court.  

Another great President, Abraham Lincoln, spoke in his first inaugural address words that would apply to our own fearful time:

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

One candidate in this election - Vice-President Kamala Harris - consistently appeals to the better angels of our nature, presenting a voice of hope, joy, and competence. The other candidate - Der Furor - appeals to the worst demons of our nature, presenting an evidence-free picture of a nation in decline, of crime, disease, anger, and hatred, driven by incompetence and a desire for revenge against those he believes have wronged him.

The choice is clear.

The only thing we have to fear, as President Roosevelt reminded us, is fear itself. 

Look around you, think rationally, examine the evidence, and vote your hopes, rather than your fears.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

An Open Letter to the Democratic Party

As I told you yesterday, I've been working on creating a searchable database of the 5245 posts I've done since I started this blog back in 2006, and found two very topical posts I ran back in 2012.

Yesterday, I updated my November, 2012 post titled "An Open Letter to the GOP." In the interest of balance, today I offer my updated version of 2012's "Open Letter to the Democratic Party" ...

Dear Democratic Party,

My name is Bilbo. I was a staunch Republican for more than 30 years, although I changed my affiliation to “Independent” after the George W. Bush presidency, voted mostly for Democrats ever since, and officially changed my affiliation to “Democratic” in 2023. But I have to tell you that I vote Democratic primarily because I view that party as the lesser of two evils, particularly in the era of Der Furor. I cast my vote for Democrats less because I support all their policies, and more because the Republican party drove me away. If you want to keep my vote in the future, you'll have to earn it - just as the Republicans need to do to win me back*. Here's what you can do ...

- First of all, close your ranks behind Vice President Harris as your candidate now that President Biden has dropped out of the race. Mr Biden has done a masterful job helping the nation recover from the awful years of Der Furor ... he deserves our thanks for a job well done, and has made the right decision. Vice President Harris may not be an ideal candidate, but she’s more rational than Der Furor (a low bar, to be sure) and far more experienced and disciplined than either Der Furor or J.D. Vance, a wholly-unqualified cipher selected only for his slavish gulping of the MAGA Kool-Aid. Your party has a deep bench of potential Vice-Presidential candidates, although few of the brighter lights have been tested on a national stage ... a young, energetic VP candidate like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, or Governors Andy Bashear of Kentucky, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan - all of whom are far more qualified in terms of government service experience and managerial skill than J.D. Vance - may be your best bet. Having gracefully bowed out of the race, President Biden can now apply his decades of government experience to serve as an advisor and mentor to a new generation of Democratic leaders.

Moving on ...

- Will Rogers once said, "I am not a member of an organized political party. I'm a Democrat." He was right then, and he'd be right now. You don't know what you stand for, and so you can't deliver a coherent message. Today's Republicans have questionable** policies, but they're really good at simplifying issues and relentlessly driving home a few memorable bumper-sticker points (just look at their simplistic, all-caps platform for this year’s election). You need to be able to do the same.

- It's good to appeal to minorities, but don't let that lead you to excusing illegality ... illegal immigration is ... well ... illegal - don't sugar coat it with euphemisms like undocumented. What's your realistic plan for revising immigration and asylum laws and ensuring that those who want the benefits of citizenship earn them honestly? You may recall that I have actually proposed and regularly updated a comprehensive plan for immigration reform ... can you do the same?

- Raising taxes on the wealthy and big business*** is necessary, but is not a sound economic policy by itself, any more than is the Republican wet dream that lowering taxes will generate more government income. Republicans are partially right when they say we don't have a revenue problem, but a spending problem. The truth is that we have both problems, and we need to deal with them together. We need a tax system that generates the right amount of revenue and looks like somebody designed it on purpose. What's your plan for reforming the tax code to ensure that it generates sufficient revenue while remaining fair^† at all income levels? And on the spending side, what specific programs are you willing to give up or restructure to fix the present while protecting the future?

- America is evolving. This may provide more potential members to your party, but many of them join more because they are attracted to the social programs and benefits you promise than by what is expected of them as productive citizens. You need a message that reminds your followers that they have responsibilities as well as rights.

- Yes, we need to take care of those who are less fortunate, but we must be able to afford it. I believe the Republicans have grossly overstated their belief in a growing culture of dependency, but there's some truth behind the bluster. The GOP makes too much of it, and you don't make enough. There's no such thing as a free lunch: what is your plan to protect the weak while ensuring that cherished social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security remain solvent?

- Stop catering to your most irresponsible fringe elements. It's stupid for the GOP, and it's stupid for you.

- You and the Republicans both need to stop the pro-life vs pro-choice ass clownery. I believe abortion is wrong, except in the rare cases most sane people recognize (incest, rape, life of the mother) ... but it's the woman's choice, and the real choice needs to be exercised well before an unexpected pregnancy makes abortion an option. What is your plan for educating our children to help them make the choices that will avoid unwanted pregnancies?

- Forget the nanny-nanny-boo-boo, reverse-Golden-Rule approach to negotiation: I'm going to do unto you because you did unto me. The problems we face are too big for schoolyard pettiness - grit your teeth, work with the Republicans, and be ready to compromise when necessary. Republicans, the same applies to you (as I told you in yesterday's post). Both of you need to grow up and act like responsible adults more interested in solving problems than in cheap political advantage.

That'll do for a start. The election is yours to lose, and you will lose it ... even to such a manifestly incompetent and unfit clown as Der Furor ... if you don’t get solidly behind your candidate, polish your policies, and explain why they’re better than the opposition’s. You have all the ammunition you need - push back against the drumbeat of lies and distortions of the other side with provable facts and accomplishments. Acknowledge the failures and pound on the successes. Fight back against the ludicrous rewriting of history that the GOP is carrying out.

The possibility of a second Der Furor administration is terrifying. Get your act together. The nation - and the world - need you to prevail.

Sincerely,

Bilbo

What's your message to the Democratic Party^††? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. See you tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday ... more thoughts then.

Bilbo

* Although, the way things are going, there's not much chance of that.

** At best ... read the Project 2025 paper if you don’t believe me.

*** Or, as it properly ought to be styled, “making sure the rich and big business pay their fair share of the tax burden.”

† Of course, the definition of what's "fair" depends on where you sit on the economic ladder.

†† If all it involves is name-calling, forget it.

An Open Letter to the Republican Party

I've been working on creating a searchable database of the 5244 posts I've done since I started this blog back in 2006, and have discovered a lot of great (IMHO) stuff that I've posted over the years. I'm now working on the year 2012, and discovered a pair of posts I wrote in November of that year that cry out to be updated and re-posted.

Here is my Open Letter to the Republican Party, updated from 2012 to 2024. I'll publish the updated Open Letter to the Democratic Party tomorrow ...

Dear Republican Party,

My name is Bilbo, and I was once a staunch Republican. My first vote in a presidential campaign was cast for Richard Nixon in 1972, and I voted straight Republican until you drove me away.

I hope you heard that ... I voted Republican for more than 30 years, but today's GOP of wingnuts, judicial activists, economic ignorance, outright lies, violent rhetoric, and extreme social policies drove me away. It's clear that you don’t care about what a libtard* like me thinks, but I’ll shout into the wind anyhow ...

- First of all, resist the urge to try using the courts to meddle in the Democratic race now that President Biden has dropped out and endorsed Vice President Harris as the party's candidate. I know that Der Furor loves to manipulate the legal system to avoid answering for his own misdeeds, but trying to legally hamstring the Democrats would be a self-defeating move indicating a lack of confidence in your own position. If you think you have a chance to win on the merits of your ideas (such as they are), go for it. Just don't use the courts to undermine the democratic process. Again**.  

- Moving on ...

- America is changing. It's less conservative, less white, and less conventionally religious than you think. Evolve with it. Understand that you must appeal to a changing electorate with changing expectations of the government policies that affect their lives. You will not appeal to this new electorate if you keep up the asinine antics of the last few years. I'm opposed to illegal immigration, too ... but demonizing immigrants in general is not a way to endear yourself to a rapidly changing electorate. I've actually produced a workable plan to address the problem ... why haven't you?

- Note that I am using the term evolve. If you continue to pander to extremists who deny accepted science in favor of religious dogma, you will continue to march resolutely into the 18th century. When your members openly mock scientific and medical professionals and place religious dogma over cautious, data-based science, you are not poising America for future leadership in science and technology ... you're setting us up to compete with scientific powerhouses like Burkina Faso.

- The basic conservative values of fiscal responsibility, powerful defense, sound family values, and good citizenship have never lost their appeal ... but you do a terrible job of selling them. Xenophobia, religious intolerance, and ignorance of the threat from a rising China and a resurgent and aggressive Russia do not convince people that your ideas have merit. Extreme right-wing vitriol is not a replacement for clear-eyed, honest domestic and international policies.

- Have a real, believable story to tell, and be ready to defend it with facts rather than smoke and mirrors. Don’t get angry and call me stupid when I press you for details of how you plan to fulfill your promises, and you can’t provide or defend them.

- Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they hate America. Democrats don't hate America. They love it every bit as much as you do, but they have a different vision of what America represents. Demonizing your opposition and threatening violence if you don't get your way is no way to get them to agree with you. Presenting a clear, thoughtful, rational alternative to their policies is.

- Stop letting fools ignorant of economic reality lead you around by the nose. Nobody likes to pay taxes, but governments can't function without revenue, and a coherent tax policy that raises the necessary revenue is a requirement of good government. You can't solve the current fiscal crisis simply by eliminating every program you don’t like, just as you can't solve it by jacking up taxes and increasing spending. Sound fiscal policy requires a rational balancing of income (taxes and fees) and control of spending. Start acting like serious financial managers.

- Yes, "job creators" are important. So are workers. If you don't take care of the working/middle class, businesses won't have anyone to manufacture for or sell to, and they'll go out of business ... which won't create many jobs and will keep making you look clueless and uncaring. You need to learn to care for both management and labor. 

- People don't expect free health care ... they expect health care that is available and affordable. The businesses you care so much about won't operate well if their workers are not healthy, and people who have to spend all their money on health care won't be contributing much to the rest of the economy. Don't like the Affordable Care Act? Get off your backsides and offer a better alternative.

- People don’t expect free housing ... they expect housing they can afford on the wages they earn. What’s your plan for making sure every American earns enough to have a roof over their heads, affordable medical care, enough to eat, and enough left over to enjoy the benefits of life in this great nation? Hint: tax cuts for big business and the top 1% aren't going to do it ... nothing has ever "trickled-down."

- Not all regulation of business, industry, and the economy is evil and job-killing. Much of it is needed to enforce standards of workplace safety, protect the rights of workers, protect our health (you do like safe food and medicines and protection from deadly diseases, don’t you?), and protect the environment (you do like air that's breathable and water that's drinkable, don't you?). Yes, regulations should be updated and adjusted as needed and jettisoned if no longer necessary, but don't be stupid and throw out the baby with the regulatory bathwater. Don’t destroy the future to increase quarterly profits in the present.

- You believe in God. Good for you. Feel free to go to church and worship as you want, but quit trying to force your beliefs down my throat. The Constitution provides for freedom of worship (check out the First Amendment) ... which does not mean that you can impose your system of belief on everyone else. Want to live in a theocracy? See how well it works in garden spots like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran.

- You and the Democrats both need to stop the pro-life vs pro-choice ass clownery. I believe abortion is wrong, except in the rare cases most sane people recognize (incest, rape, life of the mother) ... but it's the woman's choice, and the real choice should be exercised well before an unexpected pregnancy makes abortion an option. What is your plan for educating our children to help them make the choices that will avoid unwanted pregnancies? 

- You talk endlessly about your rights. They're fundamental, and they're guaranteed by the Constitution and by what we once called the Rule of Law. But how about talking about the responsibilities that go with those rights? Take the unrestricted gun ownership that's your right under the Second Amendment. Fine, but what are the responsibilities of gun owners to ensure their fellow citizens don't die on the altar of their right to pack iron? 

- Drop the fantasy that the whole government is weaponized against you. If you can't deal with obvious wrongdoing and convictions in a court of law on charges based on actual evidence, you have no business characterizing yourselves as the party of law and order.

- Forget the nanny-nanny-boo-boo, reverse-Golden-Rule approach to negotiation: I'm going to do unto you because you did unto me. The problems we face are too big for schoolyard pettiness - grit your teeth, work with the Democrats, and be ready to compromise when necessary. Democrats, the same applies to you. Both of you need to grow up and act like responsible adults more interested in solving problems than in jockeying for cheap political advantage.

I could go on, but you get the idea. You, GOP, have driven me away with your all-or-nothing, xenophobic, violent, intemperate attitudes and your apparent belief that I am stupid because I realize that your emperor has no workable policy clothes. “Project 2025” or “Plan 47” or whatever you choose to call it is an undemocratic and un-American screed that rewrites history and subverts our government in the service of raw political power. Quit the my-way-or-the-highway approach to governance, work with the Democrats, and start acting like the party to which I was once proud to belong.

Sincerely,

Bilbo

What's your message to the GOP^***? Leave a comment.

Tomorrow, in the interest of fairness, we'll update my 2012 open letter to the Democrats.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* And isn't that a great nickname guaranteed to convince voters to join your side?

** Having seen how you reacted to losing the last election, you will probably want to keep your stable of lawyers fresh.

*** If all it involves is name-calling, forget it. Call me names if you want, but if you can't tell me what your specific plans are and why they're better than mine, don't waste your time.

Super Tuesday

Today is Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 - "Super Tuesday" - on which 16 states and territories (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and American Samoa) hold their presidential primary elections. Because roughly a third of all nominating delegates is at stake, and because the states in play represent a geographic and demographic cross-section of the country, candidates must appeal to a broad range of competing interests ... farmers, miners, tech workers, federal employees, etc.

It's a big deal.

As you read this blog post, I will be working as an Election Officer at my local precinct. In order to become an EO, I had to go through a great deal of training and swear an oath to uphold the law. Because I'm also a Same-Day Registration Specialist*, I had to have extra training above and beyond the normal EO skill set. Finally, all EOs must adhere to the Election Officer Code of Conduct**, shown here - 

When you hear someone screaming about all the fraud and chicanery they claim is preventing their candidate from being elected, ask them whether they have undergone any training in the procedures for managing elections. Ask them if they have sworn an oath to uphold election law. Ask them what experience they have actually working as an election officer that gives them any authority to make their accusations. 

I think we all know what the answer to each question will be.

If you are living in a Super Tuesday state or territory, vote today. Even more important, vote in November. And when you vote, remember that a small army of well-trained, professional people is sworn to make sure your vote is legally cast and accurately counted. And if you can't answer "yes" to the questions I listed above, cast your vote, sit down, and shut up.

Have a good day. Vote - it's your right and your duty.  

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* Virginia law provides a process by which persons can register to vote and cast a provisional ballot on election day. The number of people who want to vote on election day, but either haven't registered or have changed their residences since the last election, is large enough that the Office of Elections trains and designates certain EOs as specialists to process their applications.  

** At least we have a Code of Conduct, unlike the Supreme Court.

Guidelines for Door-to-Door Political Campaign Representatives

With the completion on Monday of the Iowa caucuses - a massive snow job in every sense of the word - the 2024 presidential campaign season is upon us. And you thought the plagues visited upon Egypt were bad ... 

One of the things that a presidential campaign brings with it is hordes of campaign representatives who go door-to-door to flack for their candidate of choice. Some are better than others, being well-informed about their candidate's policies and positions and eager to engage in productive discussion aimed at changing your mind. Most, however, are simply armed with talking points and scripts they are able quickly to regurgitate, but not so quickly to explain or defend. These people get upset when you ask them questions that they interpret as your failure to understand the incalculable excellence of their candidate and the despicable shortcomings of his/her opponent. During the first Obama campaign, a Republican door-knocker actually told me to my face that I was stupid if I voted for that person ... hardly a move likely to convince me I was backing the wrong horse.

I don't mind if people come to my door during election season, but if they do, I expect them to be ready to engage in reasoned debate on the basis of facts and logic. As you might expect, I am frequently disappointed. As a result, I have decided to save time and aggravation by developing a set of guidelines which I provide to candidate representatives before engaging in any discussion ...

Guidelines

for

Door-to-Door Political Candidate Representatives

1. I get one vote. Your job is to convince me to give it to your candidate or party. It is not your job to convince me to vote against anyone else. See #3 below.

2. All I want to hear from you is specific information on your candidate's or party’s policy proposals and stands on issues. If you can't answer detailed questions about them, go away and send back someone who can. Don't waste my time.

3. Don't say anything about any other candidate or party ... I do not care in the least about your opinion. The other candidate's or party’s representative can tell me about him or her ... all I want to hear from you is what I specified in #2 above. I am perfectly capable of comparing information I get from the two of you and making decisions on my own.

4. Don't get mad at me when I ask you detailed questions and try to pin down evasive answers. My experience shows that you will probably interpret probing questions as attacks on your candidate, rather than as attempts to gain information you should have at your fingertips and be prepared to defend. If that's your attitude, go away and waste someone else's time.

5. With respect to #4 above: detailed questions about your candidate or party do not equate to support for any other candidate or party. You should be prepared to answer such questions and engage in debate based on facts and logic. If you accuse me of being stupid or supporting another candidate or party just because I want better information about yours, be sure your nose is far enough away from the door to avoid being hurt when I slam it shut.

Feel free to use this handout, and to modify it according to your own style and preferences. It's fun watching some of these campaign reps struggle to actually present cogent arguments rather than parrot bumper-sticker slogans.

Have a good day. Remember that you get one vote - make it count, especially in a year like this.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo