Otter Limits

For those of you that don’t actually know this. The President of the United States is not elected by you. When you step into the polling booth, and cast your vote, you are not voting for your choice for President. You are actually voting to elect someone called an elector, who actually does the real voting for the President. This person that you voted for, can vote for any candidate that he or she wants, they do not have to vote for the person whom you THINK you are voting for.

This is known as the Electoral College system.

I think this system of selecting the President needs to be done away with. In my opinion, the office of the President should be decided by a direct popular vote, just like our Senators and Representatives are.

With the current system of voting, a person’s individual vote is irrelevant.

If you are a person, for example, living in Washington state, it does not matter who you are voting for because almost all of the electors in the state are going to vote for the candidate for the Democratic party. All of the votes will go toward that candidate, even if the guy is a complete tool (as in the case of our last Presidential election).

Likewise in the state of Oklahoma, all of the electoral votes are going to go toward the Republican candidate, no matter who YOU choose to support.

This is where we get the idea of red states and blue states. It is a ridiculous tradition and needs to stop.

With this system in place, the two party system will continue to thrive and there is no chance for 3rd party candidates.

The system just needs to go away. Our electoral system should be based on the idea of one man one vote.

Sorry couldn’t come up with a better title than this.

So I have been thinking a little bit about my own political affiliation. I began to even somewhat consider changing my political affiliation to the Republican party. I even borrowed a book from the library about the party (see most recent Currently Reading).

I remember that the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln! The party of Theodore Roosevelt! Both Presidents that I admire.

But is the Republican Party of today the same as it was then? I’m not sure. I don’t think so. I have not read much of the book yet so I might post some information about that once I get further in my reading.

But after thinking about it some I kind of came to my senses about affiliating myself with them.

Even though I do agree with the party’s stance on several issues, I can’t bring myself to agree with their stance on other issues.

And quite frankly, I am pretty sure that they would not have me anyway. LOL!

I certainly can’t bring myself to align with the Democrats either. Even thought this was technically the party of Jefferson, another President I admire, it has turned into something totally different. In my opinion, the Democratic Party seems to be okay with big government. That is, that the government is the solution to all of our problems. This is a generalization based on my own experiences within the party of course.

I’m not a Libertarian. Although I do agree with quite a bit of their positions, I think their position on the pro-life issue is not in line with mine and I will not align myself with them base don that principle alone.

So that is why I affiliate myself as an Independent.

I voted for Nader in the last election. Not because I agree with everything he has to say. But because it is my way of ‘flipping the bird’ at the two-party system. I think we could all be better off in most election if we had other choices. Granted, we do have other choices but not to the extend that these other choices would ever hope to get a significant amount of the electoral vote.

Take the last general election for example.

In the Presidential race, we had the ultra-liberal, somewhat shady past, Democrat on one side and the only kinda sorta Republican on the other. No real safe bet there.

And in the Washington gubernatorial race, we had the crook going up against the straight party line lying liberal on the other side. Again, no safe bet.

So as you can see, if we had more “real” choices, we could probably, just maybe, come up with some elected officials that aren’t corrupt businessmen or blind partisans that will do anything to please their party.

We might just get some elected officials that actually do work for the people.

It could happen. Although I am not holding my breath.

So I thought I would post my thoughts on the first 100 days of the Obama administration.

First, I would like to post some facts and figures:

• $235 billion spent between Jan 20 and Apr 20 to bail out the financial institutions.
• $558.4 billion increase in the public debt between Jan 20 and Apr 20.
• 2 million jobs lost between Jan 20 and Apr 20.
• 908,666 homes foreclosed on between Jan 20 and Apr 20.
• 27 bank failures.

So, i understand. It has only been 100 days. I get that. It’s not like any one person can really completely turn things around for our country.

However (dot dot dot)

He promised to do sooo much in his first 100 days while he was on his campaign and in my opinion has done exactly jack squat.
Now I’m not naive. I don’t really believe in the promises of a politician, especially not this one. But I have to think of all of the disenfranchised voters that he bamboozled.

So, has he done ANYTHING at ALL to improve our country?

From my standpoint, all he has proven that he can do is to spend our money. And has not even spend it on anything useful in my opinion.

Hell, I can spend money. We don’t need some elected Washington jerk-off to do THAT!

Well, those are my brief thoughts on his first 100 days.

Any comments?

Here is the plain truth about President Obama and how I have or have not supported him. I am writing this for the benefit of those that might be confused about my attitude toward and about him *wink*

When he first decided he wanted to run for President, I did not support him. In fact, quite simply I did not trust him.

During the primaries, I actually favored several candidates because I just really could not make up my mind who I liked based on what I had read about them. At one point, I supported Fred Thompson. I liked him and I trusted him. But once he left the race, I scrambled and started reading more about the other candidates for both parties. Still didn’t trust Obama. After searching, I briefly supported Mike Huckabee and even more briefly supported Mitt Romney.

However, my feelings of distrust for any of them led me back to how I have usually felt about the two parties and I began looking at the several independent candidates instead. This eventually led me to side with Ralph Nader.

Then, during the Presidential campaign, there was a brief time in which I did in fact support Obama. Honestly, the only thing that compelled me toward him was (1) that I did not trust McCain either, I thought his policies would just be an extension of George W. Bush and I really did not want that; and (2) I had a feeling of not wanting to “waste my vote” by voting for an independent. Bad move on my part.

However, as I said, this was a brief moment and I quickly came back to my senses and went back to support Mr. Nader.

So the election was over. Obama got elected. What is done is done. I did not trust the guy but he is our President now, like it or not. I will support him as the leader of our country until I am given a good reason not to. That does not mean that I will support all of his policies. I will just support him as leader and hope that he does not fail us.

Time will tell what becomes of that hope.

Any questions?

Here I have finally decided to comment on the Inaugural Address of our country’s newest President.

Below are some highlights from it and a bit of commentary on them:

“Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility …..”

Thank goodness someone in power finally pointed it out.

“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recrimination and worn-out dogmas that for far long long have strangled our politics.”

Only time will tell how far this “proclamation” turns out.

“….our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

I agree, I think it is high time our government stop catering to the special interests that represent such a small minority of the country’s population.

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works….”

I love this quote!

He goes on to mention after this bit about restoring the “vital trust between people and their government.” That sounds good in theory but really naive. I am not optimistic enough in ANY elected official to believe they can restore trust between me and the government. That damage was done long ago and quite honestly is beyond repair. Nice sound bite though.

“The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.”

Amen Mr. President!

“And so, to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation, and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity. And we are ready to lead once more.”

It could happen.

“[earlier generations]..understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.”

Amen again!!!

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

I wonder how many citizens of Muslim nations believe that and if so, are they willing to do something about it?

And here is the bit of the speech that I think will be one of those historic bits…

“With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter..”

In general, to be honest, there was not a whole lot about the speech that was really memorable. There wasn’t really any “ask not what your country can do for you…” lines or a “the only thing we have to fear is….” or anything like that. There were some bits that were moving but, again to be honest, it was not really all that memorable and in my opinion sounded more like a campaign speech than by a man who did not need to campaign anymore. Dude! You already got the job!

That’s okay though, the man has some interesting ideas. How about we all forget our petty differences. Forget about our reds and blues. Our Democrats and Republicans. Our conservatives and liberals. Let us all stand together and get behind our new President. At least give him the benefit of the doubt and no matter how much some of us (some more than others apparently *wink*) don’t agree with everything he says, at least stand behind him and see what he can do for our country.

That is all…..for now….

By the way, you can read the entire address here.

In typical partisan fashion, Red says:

“I hope President O fails in everything he attempts since I disagree with everything he has proposed…not it’s not un-American.”

Come on! Really? You hope he fails in EVERYTHING he does?!?

I understand the disagreement part. You are right. Disagreement is not un-American. I don’t know anyone that I have talked to that agrees with EVERYTHING that Obama stands for, myself included, but hoping he fails at everything? Is that really necessary?

That statement is just asinine Red. Can’t you try to be just a little bit optimistic?

As of November 17, we finally have 100% of the votes turned in here in Washington,

On I-985, which wanted to open up HOV lanes to reduce traffic congestion, 60.14% of the voters voted against it.

On I-1000, the death with dignity law, it was supported by 55.77% of the voters.

72.46% of the voters passed I-1029, the initiative regarding long-term care services.

Here are the final results of the Presidential Election:
Obama – 57.44%
McCain – 40.69%
Nader – 0.97% Sad, not even a full percentage point
The other independent candidates took up the rest of the 100% of the votes.

In my Congressional District, District 1:
Jay Inslee took 67.74% of the vote against Larry Ishmael.

For Governor, Gregoire took 53.11% against Dino Rossi.

For the other elections, if you are interested you can view them here.

In regards to voter turnout, out of 3.6 million registered voters, 3.0 million of them actually bothered to vote, accounting for an 82.69% of registered voters.

In Snohomish County, out of 372,636 registered voters, 323,045 of them voted, sounding off at 86.69%.

King County did not do as well. There are 1.1 million registered voters there and only 80.14% voted (888,010).

The highest voter turnout in the state belongs to Jefferson county (the Port Townsend area) at 90.68%.

The lowest goes to Walla Walla county at 75.60%.

Catholics For Obama? Really? I thought they all hated him. Interesting.

This is a group that has said “voting on the basis of only one issue runs afoul of the faith” and that “criminalizing the procedure is less effective in reducing abortions than addressing the social circumstances that lead women to seek them.”

Amen to that! I am glad someone else is finally saying it!

Here is a quote from their website:

“Before he was a devoted husband and father, or U.S. Senator…..[he] took a job working as a community organizer for a group of 8 Catholic parishes in [Chicago]. With funding from the U.S. Bishops and working for 3 years out of an office in a Catholic church rectory, he embarked on a campaign to empower the lives of thousands of people who were suffering through economic circumstances….” — Victoria Reggie Kennedy

I have said it before, there are things out there in politics that are more important than where you stand on the abortion issue. Not to belittle it. Abortion is a serious matter. But there are things going on in the world today that HAVE to take precedence to things like this.

And the idea that a person can be “pro-life” and still be against decriminalizing it is no surprise to me. I have often said that criminalizing something does not stop something.

Here is a way some of your pro-lifers might understand it. Let’s take the gun control issue. You are against gun control laws. You say it does not matter if we outlaw guns, criminals will still have them. Case in point. If you make abortions illegal, people are still going to get abortions. It is that simple.

Chew on that for a while.

Point being, not all religious groups hate Obama.

Keep in mind, I did not vote for the man, nor did I vote for his main opponent. I did not care for either of them. But he is our President-elect now and I am willing for fore go what I did not like about him and give him the benefit of the doubt that he will bring some much needed change to the system. Not too optimistic about it, but it could happen. Only time will tell.

That is it for now. Thanks for reading.

These are the percentages of the vote that Nader gathered in this last election.

1. Washington – 0.9% That’s it?!? We couldn’t even get 1%. Very sad.
   
2. Oregon – 1%
   
3. California – 0.8%
   
4. Alaska – 1.2%
   
5. Hawaii – 0.8%
   
6. Arizona – 0.5%
   
7. Nevada – 0.6%
   
8. Utah – 0.9%
   
9. Idaho – 1.1%
   
10. Montana – 0.7%
    
11. Wyoming – 1%
    
12. Colorado – 0.6%
    
13. New Mexico – 0.6%
    
14. Texas – None
    
15. Oklahoma – None The politicans in Oklahoma did not allow him on the ballot. You are forgiven.
    
16. Kansas – 0.8%
    
17. Nebraska – 0.7%
    
18. South Dakota – 1.1%
    
19. North Dakota – 1.3%
    
20. Minnesota – 1%
    
21. Iowa – 0.5%
    
22. Missouri – 0.6%
    
23. Arkansas – 1.2%
    
24. Louisiana – 0.4%
    
25. Mississippi – 0.3%
    
26. Alabama – 0.3%
    
27. Florida – 0.3%
    
28. Georgia – None
    
29. South Carolina – 0.3%
    
30. North Carolina – None
    
31. Tennessee – 0.4%
    
32. Kentucky – 0.8%
    
33. Illinois – 0.6%
    
34. Michigan – 0.7%
    
35. Wisconsin – 0.6%
    
36. Indiana – None
    
37. Ohio – 0.7%
    
38. West Virginia – 1%
    
39. Virginia – 0.3%
    
40. Maryland – 0.6%
    
41. Pennsylvania – 0.7%
    
42. New York – 0.5%
    
43. New Jersey – 0.6%
    
44. Deleware – 0.6%
    
45. Connecticut – 1.1%
    
46. Rhode Island – 1%
    
47. Massachusetts – 0.9%
    
48. Vermont – 1%
    
49. New Hampshire – 0.5%
    
50. Maine – 1.5%

And overall, he received (as of today’s count) 677,061 votes, which accounts for 0.5% of the popular vote.

Source: Associated Press.

U.S. President
Barack Obama v John McCain
My Vote: Neither, I am voting for Ralph Nader.