Obama the Moderate

Chomsky on Obama as the moderate Republican I found interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/noam-chomsky-obama_n_2599622.html The fact is, moderate Republicans today need to re-emerge and assert themselves to take the reigns away from the far-right Tea Party-esque escapade that's crippled the legitimacy of the party. There's a slow voter shift happening and something needs to be done to stem the tide on a national level. They're out there somewhere....

At least a conversation on guns?

Last month's horrific shooting should in the very least force people to rationally have a discussion on gun control. What's really necessary? What's actually infringement on our rights, and what's just fancy new assault weapon technology that didn't exist 50 years ago? In California, Republicans, who outnumber Democrats in the House 233-200, would need to jump on board, at least a couple, in order for any changes to take effect. That seems unlikely. But what's really unnerving is the lack of willingness to discuss. One side wants all these changes carte blanche. The other side won't even budge despite extraneous circumstances. Is there a middle ground? At this point probably not, we'll continue with our culture of guns and continue to face the consequences of said culture. No, I don't think it's the guns themselves, but we have to take a hard look at the way we perceive these firearms and whether it's us who have to change, or the legislation. One thing is for sure, nobody NEEDS assault weapons, but the ban on them will unlikely reduce mass shootings. Save lives? Probably, reduce shootings? Doubt it.

Obama Wins

Some lessons to be learned. On temporary hiatus as I process.

Obama Video on Same Sex

Obama's Public Stance on Gay Marriage

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/obama-sex-marriage-legal-16312940 It's a pretty big deal to not just affirm same-sex marriage thru policy or statements, but it's quite another to come out and say, which is precisely what President Obama did. The question is whether this is going to do him more harm than good. Conservative Americans will have a hay-day considering this as an attack on the family. Bigger question is whether that angry will infact sway election results. Considering fewer and fewer Christians fight vehemently to oppose same-sex marriage, and the fact the highest divorce rates are in the states that have the toughest stance against same-sex marriage, well you get the feeling the left hand doesn't even know what left hand is doing. This is a huge public statement, no doubt. If Obama comes back into office we can assume America as a whole has turned 'the corner', sort of speak, on human rights (and to less government intervention fans out there, they should be happy to no?). If not, then we can assume this moment was one of the turning points.

Have we learned anything?

Since Rodney King and the initial acquittal of the police officers involved? Do we get along any better now? Or are we still dealing with the same deep s race issues seen two decades ago? Two decades, California changed forever when the riots hit. Surely things are getting better?

One Horse Race - Newt Takes the Boot

In case anybody noticed, Newt is out of the race. Barring a Ron Paul miracle (that would be interesting news) Mitt Romney is going to be 'the man' come November. Call me the realist, but 'the man' will lose in November too. Nothing really strikes me as 'enough' to pull out a victory. There needs to be a level of charisma to the individual, and one that also leverages good ideas. Yea, ardent Republicans will vote for Mitt, but here's the fact, it's not about the usual suspects.

American politics is fragmented, but it's not down the middle like many would think. There are probably close to equal parts, one Democrat, one Republican, but those parts aren't 50/50. It's more like 25/25, where 20/20 don't vote and the remaining 10% of voters are undecided. That swing will be key.

Im sure there's stats somewhere but I'm too lazy to find them. Post them below if you have some better numbers than my loose estimates.

But back to Mitt. There's little to compel young people to vote, lots to compel the so-called '1%' to get moving, but other than that, so far little to start a 'wave' of support required to win an election. Just my two cents.