If You Know Any Capitalists, You Will Understand This To Be True…

Bain Capital; good? or bad?

Has anyone asked anyone from these companies Bain has taken over?

Why, yes! They have…

Meet Senor Hayler… He ran a photo book shop for Bain in South Carolina.

“They’re somewhat cutthroat. I’ve worked for a lot of managers over my years but they were almost an angry bunch….They were yellers. They were screamers. There were just huge demands.”

So how does Bain achieve its turnaround profits?

“One of their ways to cut costs was not to pay bills,” said Hayler, who was ultimately fired and moved to North Carolina. “There were raw materials we couldn’t get because they hadn’t paid for the last bunch….A lot of stuff was coming in C.O.D. [cash on delivery]. I had to meet people on the loading dock with petty cash. It had deteriorated in my view to a very sad operation.”

“Bain was big on consultants. I remember entertaining a lot of consultants who would come in, create stacks of paper, and leave.”

Managers from Bain sent Hayler, a vice president for manufacturing at Holson Burnes, to run the new Gaffney factory soon after it opened. He was under orders to cut the unit costs of production, either by ramping up volume or by reducing labor costs.

“My job was to get rid of some people down there — either make it more productive or cut labor,” Hayler said.

A few months later, according to Hayler, Bain abruptly cut off the year’s severance pay he was entitled to under his contract. “They said I’d had enough time to look for a new job,” he said, leading him to sue and eventually win a settlement.

To the uninitiated, this may sound horribly immoral. However, that is how most business is done in America… Bills don’t get paid, people get cut for no reason, and contracts don’t get fulfilled until a court of law requires them to… I would say 99% of America’s business is handled that way. It is our dirty little secret.

That may be a way to run a business, where if you get fired, you can always go to another… But, America seriously needs to understand what will happen to it, if it decides to be run the way of Bain Capital Enterprises…..

It may seem nice for a couple of hours, but the herpes last forever…….

8 Votes….

So what does it prove?

Nothing, absolutely nothing… But there is some clarity if one steps back a bit….

There is, a three way split in the Iowian Republican party. There is the moderate wing, who went exclusively for Romney. There is the libertarian wing, who went for Ron Paul… And there is the conservative wing, who split their votes up between Santorium (8 votes shy), Gingrich, Perry, and Bachmann. Had some of those lesser candidates dropped out, that conservative wing would have carried the election by a lot more than 8 votes…

So obviously, Conservatives are the dominate group in Iowa Republican politics. In a bastion of weak conservative candidates, the votes went to the last one standing: the untested one….

Santorium, has not been tested by fire yet. He has a lot of baggage too, just as did Gingrich, Cain, Perry, and Bachmann… While hes sat under 5% all election season, his competitors like at a turkey shoot, got pegged as soon as their heads stuck out too high….

”I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money and provide for themselves and their families.”

“I was in Indianola a few months ago and I was talking to someone who works in the Department of Public Welfare here, and she told me that the state of Iowa is going to get fined if they don’t sign up more people under the Medicaid program,” Santorum said. ”They’re just pushing harder and harder to get more and more of you dependent upon them so they can get your vote. That’s what the bottom line is.”

He said on Monday that he believes states should have the right to outlaw birth control and sodomy without the interference of the Supreme Court

Rick says that poor children should have to suffer hunger and other ills to prevent them from developing the sense of entitlement that comes from relying on government social programs…

Rick Santorum once said the “pursuit of happiness” was harming America,

“The reason Social Security is in big trouble is we don’t have enough workers to support the retirees. A third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion, because one in three pregnancies end in abortion.”
– Rick Santorum, 3/29/11

[John McCain] doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they’re broken, they become cooperative. And that’s when we got this information. And one thing led to another, and led to another, and that’s how we ended up with bin Laden.” (John McCain was a prisoner of war himself who was himself tortured to glean information) 5/17/11

“A lesbian woman came up to me and said, ‘why are you denying me my right?’ I said, ‘well, because it’s not a right.’ It’s a privilege that society recognizes because society sees intrinsic value to that relationship over any other relationship.” 5/3/11

“Is anyone saying same-sex couples can’t love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?” 5/22/2008

“I don’t think it works. I think it’s harmful to women, I think it’s harmful to our society to have a society that says that sex outside of marriage is something that should be encouraged or tolerated, particularly among the young. I think it has, as we’ve seen, very harmful long-term consequences for society. So birth control to me enables that and I don’t think it’s a healthy thing for our country.”07/28/05

“The notion that college education is a cost-effective way to help poor, low-skill, unmarried mothers with high school diplomas or GEDs move up the economic ladder is just wrong.” It Takes a Family, Pg. 138, July 2005.

“Many women have told me, and surveys have shown, that they find it easier, more “professionally” gratifying, and certainly more socially affirming, to work outside the home than to give up their careers to take care of their children. Think about that for a moment…Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism, one of the core philosophies of the village elders.” It Takes a Family, Pg. 95, July 2005.

“But unlike abortion today, in most states even the slaveholder did not have the unlimited right to kill his slave.” It Takes a Family, Pg. 241, July 2005.

“It’s amazing that so many kids turn out to be fairly normal, considering the weird socialization they get in public schools.” . It Takes a Family, Pg. 386, July 2005.

“In this case, what we’re talking about, basically, is priests who were having sexual relations with post-pubescent men. We’re not talking about priests with 3-year-olds, or 5-year-olds. We’re talking about a basic homosexual relationship. Which, again, according to the world view sense is a perfectly fine relationship as long as it’s consensual between people. If you view the world that way, and you say that’s fine, you would assume that you would see more of it.” Associated Press interview, April 2003.

“And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn’t exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution, Associated Press interview, April 2003.

“Marriage is not about affirming somebody’s love for somebody else. It’s about uniting together to be open to children, to further civilization in our society.” “Fox News Sunday”, Fox News Channel, August 3, 2003.

He won because no one has yet taken a look at what he’s said… Once you do, it is kinda hard to take him seriously…. even though he won Iowa, despite losing by 8 votes….

The campaign trail is scattered with Republican carcasses that got nixed for far less serious offenses than those proffered by Santorum…..

(I Owe Ya) ……… or I-O-WA

I attack the bastion that Iowa should be the first primary… For one, it is not a primary. For two, it is not indicative of the whole United States, and three, it has been hyperbolated far beyond it’s own net worth.. In essence, both Iowa and New Hampshire, are harmful to the American voting process…. very harmful.

Essentially we allow less than 100,000 campaign volunteers, to determine the front runner. Not even close to the population of one entire state… The Iowa Caucus is not a contest that determines who is the best candidate for our nation. It is a contest of whom can organize the most of their supporters… buy them outright, if need be…..Hitler would win Iowa. Obviously the candidate who states, I will protect the wealthy’s money, has quite an edge….

How many is 100,000……?

And how does that compare to the entire USA?

(right click on picture to display full image)

The stats are as follows…

100,000 / 307,000,000 = 0.00033 or 0.033%….

African Americans make up just 2.8% of Iowa’s population. Worse, when Reagan won, in 1980 they were below 1.4%…

Iowa was ranked number two, behind Wisconsin as the worst place for blacks to live…

Latinos make up 5% of the Iowa’s population.

On a better note, 11.4% of Iowa’s are represented by unions… compared to the national average of 11.4%…

Iowa was estimated to be 56% metropolitan in 2007. Meaning 44% of it’s population is non metropolitan… The national rural/urban split is 21/79%.

In 2008, estimated $51,593,849 was spent by candidates on the 2008 Iowa Caucus. The 16 candidates for the 2008 presidential election raised and spent a grand total of $457,802,866 by the end of 2007, with the winners continuing on to spend in future races.

If there ever was an situation set up perfectly where an election could be bought, Iowa would become the perfect model.

Which could explain the extreme and excessive variables that Iowa has shown this cycle… First it was Michelle Bachmann who was hot… Then she disappeared as Rick Perry waltzed across the stage… Even his jobs record became outshown by the devil’s plan turned upside down, .. 999.… Until a too cocky Cain, resigned.. Gingrich lurched into favoritism… until he too discorporated … Suddenly a surge swept up number 2, Ron Paul.. but now, with the endorsement of a two single preachers, Rick Santorium, who I believe was originally under the 1% threshold at the beginning, is now rumored by ABC News to be able to win it all!!..

This is madness. This is Iowa. This is why we do not get qualified people into office… (from either party.) Are Iowa people dumb? Can Iowa people not make up their mind? Are Iowa people that uninformed? Are Iowa people that crazy? ….

Or,

…. are Iowa people being played by the press, and hoopla, and rest of the nations is stuck with their decisions…..

It is time another state issues a challenge to the prognosis that New Hampshire and Iowa need to be first.

ideally it would be state that was the first to ratify the Constitution. Ideally it would be a state that mirrors the national statistics a little better than some of the others. ideally it would be a state that has no television station. Ideally it would be a state where no one listens to the radio. Ideally it would be a state where one-on-one contact was possible with a large proportion of that state’s population. Ideally it would be a state with 11.9% of its workers represented by unions, equivalent to the national average of 11.9% of its workers represented by unions. Ideally its rural/urban split at 22/78% would mirror the nations rural/urban split at 21/79%… Ideally its African American mix (21.4%) would mirror that of America, 12.4%… Ideally its Hispanic population would do the same…. (8.2%/16.3%) and most particularly, in order to be representative of America as a whole, the non Hispancic white race should mirror that of the nation as a whole… 65.3% to 63.5%

There is a state that is far more similar to any pre campaign state out there.. it is the first state to ratify the Constitution….

It is time for courage to take over the wheel.. Those timid party reps who cow at the the National Political Machines, when it is nothing more than a self bloated paper tiger, need replaced by human beings who deeply care about the country.

Delaware losing representation at a convention, will make little difference in that convention’s outcome.. But sticking to our small state’s guns, and making Delaware the first state to hold a primary, would put a voice of reason, a system of control, and even sanity, back into our electoral process. It would also inspired a national media Maddow conversion, named after her experience in the Deer Park Tavern last cycle, where she was blown away that there existed a state, who’s citizens actually were well informed by sources other than commercials and the main stream media, and actually knew what was happening…. For it was a revelation: like “duh, common people aren’t stupid after all.” Perhaps the sanity that is Delaware, needs to become more mainstream… after all…

Looking at Iowa this year, it sure as hell couldn’t hurt….

Taxes and The Wealthy

Right click to open full image… Pictograph Courtesy of Viral..

So, can someone tell me again, why we shouldn’t tax the rich, and instead, balance the budget on the backs of everyone else?…….

I seem to be missing that little detail where that all makes sense……

Students Prove Republican Logic Only Works in Vacuum

Michele Bachmann essentially gave college students a Conservative 101 on the economy, national and foreign affairs and other important issues on Thursday in Iowa at Drake University.

Throughout her comments, Bachmann tailored her delivery seemingly to suit her young audience. “How many of you, this will be your very first presidential election to vote in? Let me see your hands,” the candidate asked, receiving several raised arms from the students.

“We just heard that some of the (upcoming manditory) cuts would mean the military, which just took $400 billion in cuts, would take another $600 billion in cuts,” Bachmann said. “The current Defense Secretary [Leon] Panetta said that would be like taking a bullet to the head.”

When Bachmann opened the session to questions, some students asked relatively tame questions on what the U.S. position on Syria should be and where Bachmann stood on campaign finance reform. Some others pounced.

“You used the line of ‘bullet to the head’ for the American military,” one student said. “Part of the super committee, is that there would be mandatory cuts on either side – on entitlement programs and the military spending aspect of it. I would classify it as a bullet to the American family’s head if our entitlement programs in this country were cut drastically,” the student added. “For the people who depend on that – that are in an unemployed situation where they need federal aid, they’re the most vulnerable.”

Bachmann responded by reiterating that the nation is spending too much.

Another student asked: “You said that you wanted to increase offshore drilling and just drilling in general for oil. So that you could decrease the price of oil in the near future. Don’t you think that would kind of just be beating a dead horse instead of trying to find a reasonable solution for the long term?”

Bachmann reiterated her stance that the U.S. has tremendous energy resources, “But the problem is, even our own Department of Energy, won’t let us access them.”

Another student questioned Bachmann on national service programs, such as AmeriCorps: “You’ve gone on record as opposing those. So just wondering, if elected president, you might make that a part of your agenda? And if you think it’s a good idea, during this economy, to take away opportunities for young people to serve their country?”

“Well it isn’t the idea of young people not serving their country,” Bachmann said. “The point is, we’re broke. I don’t know if you all have gotten that message yet from me this morning,” Bachmann said.

As she criticized specifics of the nation’s health care law, one student shouted: “So screw the sick and homeless?”

“Who said that?” Bachmann asked.

“You have,” the student said.

“You could not be further from the truth,” Bachmann shot back. “You’re looking at someone who lived below poverty. Have you ever lived at that?”

Bachmann continued: “I know what I had to do. I got a job. That’s what you need to do. You need to figure out how to get a job and make your way.”

Bet when she was working the unemployment wasn’t a whopping 25-30% for recent college graduates?

Republican philosophy cannot take pressure from real facts and real life situations. It caves instantly.

The Big Fix

The current party system is broken. Gridlock ties up DC, even to the point where the Republican Party will filibuster a bill that they themselves proposed when both houses were Republican. The filibuster is only pursued because if passed it will be considered by us, the public, to be a success for the standing president.

You can’t blame Republicans. They are just trying to survive. Tying up Washington so that nothing gets done, is the only option they have.

Which leaves us with a choice… Should WE the voters continue this same gridlock? Or shall we take matters into our own hands and do something about it?

If we split our votes, the Gridlock continues.

The only way to prevent future gridlock is to make the penalty for doing so, so severe that any future party treads very lightly if it dares try using gridlock as a political weapon again….

That penalty needs to be that the party obstructing all activity in Congress, not receive any votes to return.

Let’s examine this proposition…

Assume all Democrats and no Republicans return to Congress starting 2013. The House would be completely 100% Democratic, and the Senate Republicans would drop down to 36 if all 11 Republicans up this year lost and all Democrats won.

We would have a one party system… or would we?

The Democratic party would soon split. The Progressives from the Blue Dogs… We would continue to have two parties in Congress. It’s just that that they wouldn’t be jockeying around for political points against the other side.

Instead we’d have what Congress was supposed to do. Debate bills on their merits, and once all facts are on the table, vote them either up or down based on the personal convictions of each Senator or House Member…

We’d still have the same debates as the powerful lobbyists swirled around those who would most likely represent their interests…

But if would be as if America took one step to the left. As if the entire political tone of Congress, just shifted left.

Would the same thing work if the Republicans are put into all seats they run for?

No, and here is why. Republican policy is what got us in this mess. Phil Gramm deregulated derivatives. Eventually that caused the enitire markets to catch up to where Enron went earlier, and collapse. It was the Republicans who decided over Democrats objections, to not raise taxes on the wealthy in order to pay as we went for two wars. So now, we we have a bill coming titled “Payment Due,” for those two wars plus interest. It was Republicans who because we had a surplus, decided to stop that money coming into the Treasury that was paying off our debt. So under them, we added debt on, and stopped paying our payments. No wonder the deficit is so high.

They are the wrong person to put into unlimited power.. simply for when they were there, the got to exercise with impunity all their dreams. We are bankrupt now…

Harken back to the era of Clinton, and everyone was making money… whether you were poor, middle, or rich… You made money and had more left over to spend on yourself, than you do now…

That simple comparison is why we need to go to an all Democratic Congress and not an all Republican one.

We will always have divided government. It is just that when it becomse divided along party lines, and not along the lines of the American people, that we get the gridlock we see happening daily today…

Republicans are the cause.. Their elimination (no offense to the nice Republicans I know) will be the beginning of a new day for America.

The last time we eliminated Republicans was in 1932. It took 64 years for them to return. Those were the best years America has ever had.

Feedback on Republican’s Point of View

Obama made the economy worse?

Facts. May 2007.. unemployment was at 4.4%. It soared during George W Bush’s last year to a level of 7.8% at hand off of the presidential baton. It peaked that October (2009) at 10.1, and since then it has held flat at 9%.

So no. The Bush economy raised unemployment levels 3.4%….. President Obama inherited it during it’s steepest climb, slowed and stopped it’s rise at only 2.2% (1.2% less than Bush); then dropped it since then, 1% from peak.

So if one is being picky, Bush lost 3.4%… since his swearing in, Obama 1.2%….

So just looking at facts, ie, the number of people who are working, Obama’s Keynesian economics work far better than those very ones proposed by the Chicago School of Business and followed by Republicans.

However criticism that Obama has not done enough is valid. It HAS been two years, and corporate America is NOT spending their $1.7 Trillion dollars of profit here….

Were there a 40% Capital Gains tax and a 40% top marginal rate, that surplus wouldn’t be happening. It would have been reinvested into America to keep it out of the hands of the IRS.

Facts are: corporate America did rather well this past quarter. It wasn’t Obama’s administration that shackled them with taxes and regulation that caused jobs to remain low. The exact opposite occurred. Under him, they prospered!!!!!! It was the Corporations themselves, whose own will it was to cut 8.2 million jobs out of America and hire 8.2 million jobs overseas in underdeveloped countries.

According to all Republicans, religion is a core value to all “true” Americans. The problem with that argument is that it totally excludes Muslims, the world’s second largest religion. What is not said is that, when these people use the word “religion”, they are narrowly defining it as only the religion “they” grew up in.

So will Republicans support the wearing of burkha’s on airplanes and public buildings? None of them said so….

And do those religious family values extend to homosexual relationships? Gay marriage is out. Far better to raise an abused child in the home of an abusive heterosexual marriage, than in a house of love, between to people who happen to be the same gender. In Republicans eyes, if you happen to love your own gender, you’re weird and sick. Still! (Even if you are heterosexually married to one!)

Right to life among those running, trumps the Constitutional rights of any mother. Females are secondary to whatever is growing in their womb. One can sympathize with the antipathy that comes from a killing of the unborn. But Republican’s efforts would be far better spent on providing education against, as opposed to the eradication of a women’s right to abortion.

Yes, out of necessity, all Republicans knocked “Obama-care” as it is now called, all conveniently forgetting it was originally “Romney-care” when implemented in Massachusetts, or “Republican-care” when sketched out in Congress, before Obama borrowed it from the very Republican plan that mandated everyone had to buy health insurance to keep citizens from gaming the system. Now, those exact same Republicans, say it is unconstitutional..

The duplicity, in saying one thing, but doing another, is the Republicans undoing. How can it be bad if you were gung-ho for it, that is until your opponents championed it, and you immediately came out against it? How can anyone believe you?

Obviously, it must be a “good” plan if you are so emphatically against it. So “good”, you Republicans are worried sick that it might succeed, making life “better” for the American people, who in turn will give Democrats all the credit!

Republican often discuss removal of red tape to free energy outsourcing and create 9 million more jobs… That red tape is what prevents them from drilling in Yellowstone and other national parks.

But the word most thrown around this republican convention, is “liberty”.

But that liberty however does not include your liberty to demand more money from your boss. Nor does it include giving you to sue your boss, if your “liberties” are dispensed. Your corporate executives can pay you a little as they want, and if you don’t like it, you’d better walk before they move your job overseas….

Low wages may help him, but that type of “liberty” does very little good for the nation as whole…..

For example, Sub-Zero, the freezer and refrigerator manufacturer, told workers last year that factories in Wisconsin would have to be shut down, with 500 employees losing their jobs, unless staff took a 20 percent pay cut, The New York Times reported.

Workers were expected to put in more hours without overtime pay, while staff facing fewer hours of work due to furloughs were expected to do as much as they would have in a full workday, according to NPR. Some liberty, huh?

But the biggest hypocrisy perpetuated by the Republicans in Ames, was their slobbering over themselves at honoring those Iowans sons and daughters who serve in the armed forces, but, their recalcitrance in believing that any sacrifice, fiscal or otherwise, is warranted from the top 1% or giant corporations. You can give up your child, but don’t dare ask for one more dollar from a multi-trillion corporation.

One Republican candidate even says corporations are people too…..

Bottom line is Republican policies scuttle and sank America. Those are facts, facts, facts. Because of that, they are catering to a smaller and smaller group of them each year. Those few get tinier in number, and weirder and weirder every year.

Take Rick Perry: bragging that 37% of America’s new jobs since the recession ended, were in his state of Texas. But…..

…his state unemployment has remained at an 8% high….
… companies are relocating strictly to lower the human cost: both tort and labor
… Whereas 153 businesses move into Texas; 92 moved out…
… $119 million that went to new companies, but made no new jobs.
… $16 million went to Perry’s largest campaign donors.
… Texas overall prosperity growth was the eighth slowest
… Texas has the highest proportion of minimum-wage jobs.
… Perry’s state has the lowest median wage in the country.
… Texas productivity is slower than 37 other states.
… Perry brags he is using taxpayer’s money to bring business to his state, ones that make products that benefit the world, even if money has a negligible affect on the unemployment rate or overall per capita prosperity. Ironically, that is exactly what a lot of Republicans and Tea Partiers are criticising Obama for……

Bottom line, Republicans may be nice people, but they haven’t a clue and certainly haven’t got a plan…

Fallout from Ames; Michelle Bachman

The first event is cast. Find out the local take here…..

Michelle outworked the other candidates. Unlimited campaigning across Iowa the past 48 days, coupled with being born, raised, and educated in Iowa, made her the hometown queen…

She also has boobs, a device that consistently always garners Republican votes.

Her campaign speech was weak on ideas… Instead she spoke to Iowa, about her growing up, her life, her values.

The ideas came from three people… Ron Paul, re-trot his ideas from last time. Herman Cain, probably walked the finest line nearest the center right, and walked off with a surprising fifth place. The third, Thaddeus McCotter, representative from Michigan, droned support with some surprising populism, and was remarkably (considering the delivery of his message), able to garner 35 votes out of the 16892 cast……

The surprise, is not Michelle Bachman. It is that with one speech, unknown businessman Hermain Cain, was able to garner more support than Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, and Thaddeus McCotter, all put together….

it is hard to imagine this person going “head” to head against the premier of China. It is equally hard to imagine this person putting us back on the gold standard….

There are over 600,000 Republicans registered in Iowa.

Which is why, one must not really put too much into someone who can finance the rounding up of 0.8 of 1% of the Iowa Republican Party, and persuade them to vote for them….

One must ask, so they voted, but at what price?

Focus needs to be not on who won, but on what was said……
Best line made, was that big banks need to be forced to loan their trillions of profits out to create jobs and a new economy….

Oh Well, It Wasn’t For Lack of Trying

If you just happen to look at the Des Moines Register opinion page on New Year’s Eve, you would have seen this.

(Right click, then click ‘View Image’; Click once to magnify)

Apparently the top three most clicked sites are automatically posted in the reader recommended category. I don’t know who that guy is, but it looks like he pulled a hat trick.

In retrospect I wish Iowa had run a primary instead of a caucus. By the time you add 38, 30, and 30, there is only 2% left as crumbs. Since 15% is the minimum required, its over before it begins…..

The caucus system has weeded out all but three of the Democrats. I guess after a year of campaigning and debates, it is probably time to trim the branches. At least the Republicans can still have fun. They have a few more candidates still in the running, including the likes of Ron Paul.

Sad as it is, we can be buoyed by the fact, that our local guy is a real class act. Whether speaking to millions, or to one lady with a microphone at a senior center, our guy is the true Teddy Roosevelt of the bunch………

Across the nation there are a lot of sad people tonight………..America has taken off in a new direction. Where it goes now we shall see.

Outside the Perimeter: Post T’ Weekend

Courtesy of Department of Defense

Whether due to the holiday, due to Del States attempt to unseat UD, due to early morning Holiday shopping, or just too much alcohol,… there was “Little” on the local blog scenes this week…..

DWA has this interchange with Dana and Maria Evans, as well as this. Dana has this, this, this, this, and this. FSP has this, and this. Nancy had this “little” bit to say. Del Liberal adds this
There seems to be “Little” else

I have often seen Independent parties collapse on such short notice. The national Reform Party, basically due to such shennigans in 96, became a non player, as soon as Perot walked away….The independent’s have ideals, often untarnished by years of political fighting, and sometimes they can do well, if they pull a candidate who stands above the competition…. They just do not seem to be able to convince the average voter to undo years of conditioning, and vote for a color other than those two making up purple…….Also they appear strongest at a campaigns beginning, due I think to the overall dissatisfaction with either of the two main parties…. But as deadlines approach, their lack of a campaign structure to support them, causes them to flap in the wind….I guess since we already know what a Democrat or Republican stand for…..we just have to decide whether that those individual persons will meet our expectations. But with an Independent, we have to learn from scratch what they will do once elected, and to be honest……that is just too much work……….

So to paraphrase William Shakespeare, even though “Much Ado about Little” dominated discourse this holiday weekend, it could have, and should have been expected to fall short, and wind up to be “much ado about nothing…..” against whomever the major parties decide upon for their candidate……(Denn takes it).

So what else? Del State? Several comments, mostly from Del Liberal, were posted on that outcome…..As could be expected, some calls of racism were bound to arise…..But police or no police, power salute or no power salute, Delaware had 66.6 % of its universities in the NCAA playoffs. What other state can match a percentage like that? Not everything is bigger in Texas……

It was an incredible Thanksgiving….as well as the anniversary of JFK’s demise…..The day was warm, almost balmy. The night was cold, almost freezing….and the wind blew….While I ate Thanksgiving dinner, my neighbors fiery orange maple, lost ALL its leaves….Fall turned to winter, as the very late foliage fell. Mike M carries some of this fall’s memories among his Musings

Thanksgiving brought several pictorial representations across the net. Dana improvised on the early American theme song, “Turkey in the Straw”, with this “Tale of Two Turkeys; (one in a bush).” Donviti’s photo may make some political hacks angry……Other Thanksgiving pictures could be found on The Colussus, the Curmudgeon, Soapbox, and Tommywonk, and Northington.

As we pull away from Thanksgiving, our eyes turn to the “real” holidays…..During this time, much will happen….Wind will be settled, December 18th. The final jostling for the Iowa caucuses will take place out of sight, as most of us fight our ways though malls, or use our heads and shop on line…..Perhaps unknown to many, but thanks to Dana and this link, we can see some of Ms. Korn’s Delaware’s artwork on display now at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington. At DelLib, Donviti shows us some of his artwork as well. Another form of art, music, gives us insight into the mind of Jason330. likewise, a smattering of poetry appears, first from Alan and then from Shirley V., our favorite Curmudgeon. But the best introduction to a new art form, would be that of Matt from the Soapbox, and Dana with the link, showing us the lovely Liz Allen, demonstrating to all the gracious “art of interviewing.”

Speaking of Liz Allen, Hube, in a very nice gesture, offers up Liberals in his Thanksgiving prayer….Although amusing it touches on a common theme that those of us in Delaware’s blogosphere are familiar with….And that is that we are only as good as those we argue against…..For it is only as good as our adversaries challenge us, that we become…If it weren’t for those people who pushed us along as we developed our blogging skills, we would be half the persons we are today…..And if one looks though every other state’s blog role, provided to us all by Daily Delaware, we can see how much better our group is in quality of content, than other states who, living in the Stone(d) Age, rarely “Rove” off topic and still blog off of “talking points.”

From Delaware’s voice of Libertarianism, besides a voter’s guide, we have a new look. FSP sports another new look as well, (fall being almost over….and it has nothing to do with Mitt Romney’s 4th place standing in the national polls.)

One senses America’s infatuation with the glitz of Republican politicos like Romney has somewhat dimmed, as Shirley and those commenting describe their feelings surrounding an invitation to Republicanize the rich and powerful…..I think this piece nails just why Republicans, if lucky, may still win 5% of 2008’s votes……..

This piece by Duffy also tackles the Americans’ given right to assemble.

Finally, Delaware’s favorite son, made several showings based on his better than expected performance, each time the cameras focus on him….Daily Delaware has three: here, here, and here….
Now at least someone credible has taken on Cheney and the “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran” squad…..

Sadly with all of this going on, Vision 2015 took a hit….Kilroy has more on that topic…..It seems that when one takes limited resources, and splits them up between corporations and education, the score comes out to a respective 44- 7. With or without a power salute, the kids just cannot win. Perhaps they should sue the state for not extending their education far enough……..hell it works for developers?

In the end, we can be thankful for each other, and this small state that draws us closer…..As each of us plugs forward to the beginning of 08, take a minute to look back and see just how far all of us have come in 07.