CanonRay
CanonRay's JournalSo what do we do now, post Russian coup?
This morning I have been reading the astonishing story of Russian government interference in the election of our next President, and the complicit actions by the head of our FBI. As a political science major and lifelong political junkie, I am profoundly shocked on many levels. I believe that this is the greatest crises in the Obama administration, and perhaps the greatest crises to the nation since the Civil War. Our very fate as a democratic nation is in jeopardy.
When a people loses faith in their electoral processes, they have lost faith in their government; it is illegitimate. We are there. The current results of this election are worthless.
I do not know what President Obama is going to do, but he must do something, and quickly. It cannot be business as usual, ho hum, lets just swear him in and see what happens. That gives legitimacy to what is essentially a bloodless Russian sponsored coup.
I think we need to go back and re-count every single vote in every precinct in the country, even if it takes a year and costs 10 billion. What could be more important than our democracy? We also need to hold public hearings on exactly what the Russians did, and how they did it, find out who was complicit and charge them with crimes if necessary, and take steps to see it can never happen again. Perhaps fundamental changes to the way we hold elections, e.g. federal control of the Presidential vote? Perhaps we even need to vote again after having done all this. I don't know and I do not know who runs the country in the meantime. Obama? Some triumvirate? No one? I'm floundering in a sea of questions, and I do not envy our President.
If he takes actions, will the Republicans back him? They never have, but we have never faced a crises of this magnitude. It's time for people to put country ahead of politics. If this goes badly, we may never see free, fair elections in our lifetimes.
This is a constitutional crises of monumental proportions.
My Nephew's Epic Facebook Rant
My nephew posted this yesterday. I've never posted here, but had to share, as it's going viral, apparently.
I am a millennial. I am not soft. And I support Bernie Sanders.
A while back, an acquaintance of mine posted a meme that in addition to likening Bernie Sanders supporters to Nazis, claimed that young people only like Bernie because "the old guy is going to make the government give them free stuff."
I'll leave the Nazi shit alone, it's just stupid, but as for soft young people supporting Bernie cause they want free shit, I'll hit back on that score.
I support Bernie Sanders. I have worked damn near my entire adult life in power plants, hydrogen methane reformers, biomass plants, and waste incinerators. I've made my living by flying pretty much all over the world and venturing into places approaching, and sometimes exceeding, 200 degrees, putting in 70 hour work weeks, and then flying home. I've worked and had prolonged stays on 3 continents, I sweat, I bleed, and I have hands that would make your mechanic uncle look like a Country Crock hand model. I'm a working dude.
I am a millennial. I'm not soft. And I support Bernie Sanders. Not because he'll give me free shit, but because I legitimately believe that he's best for our country, and further, humanity in general.
I support Bernie because in traveling all over the world, I've learned that people are people, I don't care if you're Japanese, German, Czech, or American; Muslim, Christian or agnostic, you're a person; you want a job, security, a meal on your plate, and you probably wanna get laid every now an then. Period. We're all in this together. Jingoism, Nationalism and Racism serve only to smear the fact that we're all HUMAN.
I support Bernie Sanders because I don't feel it's right that damn near everyone my age who went out and got a degree is still paying for it 10 years later. I've also learned 1st hand how important education is. As a 24-year-old working in Rome, Georgia, I was floored when my waitress asked me how many kids I had, not whether or not I had any (shit you not, the next time I went to that little town, I heard that waitress was in jail for possession of meth). Took a while to wrap my mind around the fact that among the less privileged, having kids that young, and single-parenthood in general, is pretty normal. Further, as a younger dude working in heavy industry, I'm always floored, that even now, at 31, I'm almost always the youngest person around. Free, or deeply discounted 2 year degrees, would be the best thing that's happened to our society in years, we are running out of electricians and plumbers and technicians. An accessible 2 year degree would open many doors for many people, and would only help our aging infrastructure.
I support Bernie Sanders because after my time in Europe, it's easy to see how screwed up the American health care system really is. I broke my foot in Europe. A visit to the ER, crutches, a walking boot, and a couple prescriptions set me back $125. 125 bucks, and 3 weeks later I was back at work, no debt, no bullshit.
I support Bernie Sanders because he wants to address health care, the skyrocketing costs of education, and the ridiculous gap between the haves and the have nots. I support Bernie because he acknowledges that climate change is an existential threat, and that muslims in general are anything but.
I'm a millennial, I'm not soft, and I support Bernie Sanders. Not because I want free shit, but because he supports what I believe in.
-Brett
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153975437239098&set=a.10150305667249098.355720.508124097&type=3&theater
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Illinois
Current location: Oregon
Member since: Fri Jul 23, 2004, 10:38 AM
Number of posts: 14,101
