We began noticing nearly a month ago that - although it's only 2011 - there has been significantly less talk about the 2012 Elections than was the case four years ago. Yes, there's been the inevitable speculation surrounding individuals who never have the courage to run - or would simply quit if they ever did win because the job is too tough. Actual candidates who have the courage to step up and announce, however, have been few and far between - and we're ok with that.
The fact is though, for those people who are involved in the area of media and politics - and that includes us - we do have to begin looking at factors that are molding the upcoming political contests next year.
One of the components that is shaping the vote at all levels in 2012 is what pundits are calling the hispanic factor.
We're not saying that all persons of hispanic background vote the same way, any more than all African-Americans, or all "White People" (who are really many different ethnicities). Each voter is an individual, and ethnic groups do not vote as blocks. That being said, statistics prove there are larger correlating factors within certain ethnic, racial, social, and economic groups than across the American public as a whole.
What the latest poll on hispanic voters and the 2012 Presidential race says isn't positive news for the Republican Party. The GOP's recent history of heavy pandering to the racist, nativist, fringe elements on the American political right looks extremely likely to come back and bite them in the backside next year. And their future beyond 2012 doesn't look any better regarding the latino vote.
The census numbers in places like traditionally Republican-heavy Nebraska bear that out. Over two-thirds of the population growth in the State of Nebraska over the last decade came from latinos. Most of the population growth occurred in and around Nebraska's larger cities, Omaha or Lincoln - cities which already lean toward Democratic voters. The likelihood that the hispanic population growth in those areas will fuel more wins by stronger Democratic candidates in Nebraska next year seems all but certain.
The national poll released in February, and conducted by impreMedia and Latino Decisions, seems to only further reinforce that position. It points out that hispanic Americans of all types overwhelmingly do NOT vote for or with Republican candidates, or for Republican causes - but they aren't necessarily voting in favor of Democratic candidates or causes either. Hispanic voters are often simply voting AGAINST Republicans.
This continued appearance of support of left-leaning politics by hispanic voters isn't because President Obama or Congress effectively and properly tackled immigration problems in the last two-plus years. On the contrary, immigration reform is an area where members of Congress failed to accomplish the goals the President set out for them - and an area where they will almost certainly not pass any effective legislation before the 2012 vote.
The reason this trend is continuing is because at every opportunity to change the historical perception of the Republican Party from an exclusively rich, white, male-dominated political group, the GOP hasn't budged. Instead, those nominal Republicans who have fringe ideas, sometimes bordering on racism, have been allowed to take control of their party's reins of power, and force GOP party-line support for issues like Arizona's race-baiting and questionably legal anti-immigrant bill.
The GOP can't say it's never been warned about hispanic voters and other immigrants being turned off by their political policies over the last decade. We've said it before, as well.
You reap what you sow.
Enjoy the harvest in 2012.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Friday Funday: Spring Cleanup? Already?!
While the calendar does say March, we realize it's technically too early to truly be talking about Spring, without potentially bringing on one last freak blast of Winter.
We're so sick of Winter this year, however, that we're willing to take the risk.
With the above freezing temps in both of our main locations, and and little bit of springtime weather in the air, we've decided to do some cleanup today, answer a couple e-mail questions from our readers, and pass along something we think you should see, before we all officially head slowly and steadily into the season of spring.
First, the questions.
We've been asked recently, more than once, where you, our readers, can see the previously released Daily Felltoon cartoons, after they slide off the Daily Felltoon page - or away from the pages of media sources like NPR - and the main page of PaulFellCartoons.com.
Once a Daily Felltoon cartoon slides off the main page of PaulFellCartoons.com, it goes into the monthly archive, in the "Editorial Cartoons" section, under "Artizans Toons." Each cartoon there is grouped by month, and has its own URL. You can find your favorite cartoon, copy and paste the link, and send it to anyone.
Along that same line of thinking, we've also been asked recently if we're still looking at adding a tool to each cartoon, which would allow you to click on it, and post your favorite cartoon in Facebook or Twitter or other social networking programs.
The short answer to that second question is, yes - we're still planning on that. Our web guru has been getting settled into his new job recently - and now his job is moving locations. Thus he hasn't exactly had a lot of extra time to add more functions to the website. Still, the groundwork has already been laid for adding a sharing tool to each cartoon, and we'll be seeing if Shawn has time to add that function before summer arrives.
Finally, something we think that more people should see.
An animation from a company known as Cognitive Media was passed around by a few people we know a few weeks ago. It features the voiceover work of acclaimed journalist, author and political activist, Barbara Ehrenreich. It's an animated piece, based on a presentation given by Ehrenreich for The RSA, in January 2010, about optimism and unemployment - and the limits of optimism on the economy and unemployment. Frankly, we think you should just watch the animation yourself, whether you have gainful employment right now or not, and see what you can learn from the video.
We're aware that things appear to be getting better for a growing number of Americans - the economy, the jobless rate, the weather, and more.
We just hope you don't mistake a false day of improvement - in the weather or otherwise - for a wholesale instant change. Things are getting better for most people, slowly and patiently, just like the changing of the seasons.
The best way to enjoy the new improvements in the world is to clean up your own life now, so when things really do blossom, you'll be able to have the time to enjoy them.
We're so sick of Winter this year, however, that we're willing to take the risk.
With the above freezing temps in both of our main locations, and and little bit of springtime weather in the air, we've decided to do some cleanup today, answer a couple e-mail questions from our readers, and pass along something we think you should see, before we all officially head slowly and steadily into the season of spring.
First, the questions.
We've been asked recently, more than once, where you, our readers, can see the previously released Daily Felltoon cartoons, after they slide off the Daily Felltoon page - or away from the pages of media sources like NPR - and the main page of PaulFellCartoons.com.
Once a Daily Felltoon cartoon slides off the main page of PaulFellCartoons.com, it goes into the monthly archive, in the "Editorial Cartoons" section, under "Artizans Toons." Each cartoon there is grouped by month, and has its own URL. You can find your favorite cartoon, copy and paste the link, and send it to anyone.
Along that same line of thinking, we've also been asked recently if we're still looking at adding a tool to each cartoon, which would allow you to click on it, and post your favorite cartoon in Facebook or Twitter or other social networking programs.
The short answer to that second question is, yes - we're still planning on that. Our web guru has been getting settled into his new job recently - and now his job is moving locations. Thus he hasn't exactly had a lot of extra time to add more functions to the website. Still, the groundwork has already been laid for adding a sharing tool to each cartoon, and we'll be seeing if Shawn has time to add that function before summer arrives.
Finally, something we think that more people should see.
An animation from a company known as Cognitive Media was passed around by a few people we know a few weeks ago. It features the voiceover work of acclaimed journalist, author and political activist, Barbara Ehrenreich. It's an animated piece, based on a presentation given by Ehrenreich for The RSA, in January 2010, about optimism and unemployment - and the limits of optimism on the economy and unemployment. Frankly, we think you should just watch the animation yourself, whether you have gainful employment right now or not, and see what you can learn from the video.
We're aware that things appear to be getting better for a growing number of Americans - the economy, the jobless rate, the weather, and more.
We just hope you don't mistake a false day of improvement - in the weather or otherwise - for a wholesale instant change. Things are getting better for most people, slowly and patiently, just like the changing of the seasons.
The best way to enjoy the new improvements in the world is to clean up your own life now, so when things really do blossom, you'll be able to have the time to enjoy them.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
'No Other Way': Crocodile Tears And Other Lies Kids Won't Believe
It's amazing how stupid some adults think kids are.
No, we're not talking about Charlie Sheen. For all the "news" he's made lately, he seems to be a surprisingly good father in some ways. At least when he put his kids in their car seats he didn't lie to them, and tell them he'd see them tomorrow.
Political hacks attacking workers and unions, however, don't seem to be as bright, or have as high an ethical standard as Charlie Sheen.
While continuing to lie to Wisconsinites and other Americans about what his real goal is in Wisconsin, Gov. Walker this week released his state budget for 2012 which contained $834 million worth of cuts to his state's public schools. Walker continues to claim that he's doing what both Wisconsinites and Americans want. However, the overwhelming facts - including the latest poll from the Wall Street Journal - say Americans strongly oppose attacks on unionized workers, meaning Walker's words are just more lies.
His state's GOP-led Senate also quite obviously doesn't seem to care about the desire of the people to find an effective compromise. A GOP-ONLY group of Senate Republicans passed a resolution in the Wisconsin state senate Wednesday that will now fine the senate Democratic lawmakers $100 for every day they miss in the legislature after the first two absences.
Ohio's GOP-led state Senate didn't do much better, passing a bill Wednesday that would gut the collective bargaining rights of public workers, and attempts to strip away their right to strike - a right we've already noted in previous commentaries that has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in other states.
It isn't that we lack concern for the budget problems of the states or that we have no empathy for states, legislators, and governors who face massive budget deficits created during the last decade. We simply have no patience for those arrogant imbeciles who seem to think that if they wield a bigger ideological hammer, they can still force a square peg into a round hole of a smaller size.
We've quoted Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on this issue previously: "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." And so they are.
Nowhere, in any legally binding document in this country, does it say that businesses and the wealthy are exempted from paying taxes which would keep roving bands of homeless people from killing said business owners. On the contrary, taxes are levied, as Justice Holmes noted, to keep things running that maintain a civil society.
There are those that believe the wealthy should pay more in taxes - including us. We have also said, however, that before more taxes are imposed, states - like Wisconsin - should be FAR more responsible in collecting the taxes they say they already impose, but really don't.
We're not against the idea of budget cutting, and we've made that clear in the past. We've also made it crystal clear that we think ideas that unions and workers have continued to support - like being willing to contribute more to their pension funds - aren't necessarily bad.
The idea that is truly bad is the one that insane conservatives are continuing to chase - that the budget problems of America's states and cities can be solved exclusively by cutting spending far beyond the point of sensibility, while continuing to drive tax levels below what they were 20, 30, 40 or more years ago.
They are robbing from the futures of our children and lying about it the whole time. From our perspective, they are doing so unwisely. Some day those children will be adults and vote - and will be taking care of the parents and grandparents who robbed them blind, and then lied and cried about it.
No, we're not talking about Charlie Sheen. For all the "news" he's made lately, he seems to be a surprisingly good father in some ways. At least when he put his kids in their car seats he didn't lie to them, and tell them he'd see them tomorrow.
Political hacks attacking workers and unions, however, don't seem to be as bright, or have as high an ethical standard as Charlie Sheen.
While continuing to lie to Wisconsinites and other Americans about what his real goal is in Wisconsin, Gov. Walker this week released his state budget for 2012 which contained $834 million worth of cuts to his state's public schools. Walker continues to claim that he's doing what both Wisconsinites and Americans want. However, the overwhelming facts - including the latest poll from the Wall Street Journal - say Americans strongly oppose attacks on unionized workers, meaning Walker's words are just more lies.
His state's GOP-led Senate also quite obviously doesn't seem to care about the desire of the people to find an effective compromise. A GOP-ONLY group of Senate Republicans passed a resolution in the Wisconsin state senate Wednesday that will now fine the senate Democratic lawmakers $100 for every day they miss in the legislature after the first two absences.
Ohio's GOP-led state Senate didn't do much better, passing a bill Wednesday that would gut the collective bargaining rights of public workers, and attempts to strip away their right to strike - a right we've already noted in previous commentaries that has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in other states.
It isn't that we lack concern for the budget problems of the states or that we have no empathy for states, legislators, and governors who face massive budget deficits created during the last decade. We simply have no patience for those arrogant imbeciles who seem to think that if they wield a bigger ideological hammer, they can still force a square peg into a round hole of a smaller size.
We've quoted Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on this issue previously: "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." And so they are.
Nowhere, in any legally binding document in this country, does it say that businesses and the wealthy are exempted from paying taxes which would keep roving bands of homeless people from killing said business owners. On the contrary, taxes are levied, as Justice Holmes noted, to keep things running that maintain a civil society.
There are those that believe the wealthy should pay more in taxes - including us. We have also said, however, that before more taxes are imposed, states - like Wisconsin - should be FAR more responsible in collecting the taxes they say they already impose, but really don't.
We're not against the idea of budget cutting, and we've made that clear in the past. We've also made it crystal clear that we think ideas that unions and workers have continued to support - like being willing to contribute more to their pension funds - aren't necessarily bad.
The idea that is truly bad is the one that insane conservatives are continuing to chase - that the budget problems of America's states and cities can be solved exclusively by cutting spending far beyond the point of sensibility, while continuing to drive tax levels below what they were 20, 30, 40 or more years ago.
They are robbing from the futures of our children and lying about it the whole time. From our perspective, they are doing so unwisely. Some day those children will be adults and vote - and will be taking care of the parents and grandparents who robbed them blind, and then lied and cried about it.
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