Last updated on November 7th, 2014 at 11:27 pm
This will be my last mid-term general election contribution. At least in my state of South Carolina, it ain’t pretty.
“Sheheen (Vincent, an attorney) is a liberal trial lawyer whose sole mission is to carry the flag for Obama.” That’s the line incumbent Governor Nikki Haley repeats ad infinitum to every crowd gathering and media interview in the state and it matters not that she’s arguably the most blundering and disingenuous governor in the country, though indicted Texan, Rick Perry, might give her a run for her money. .
The right-wing mind control consultants have done a masterful job in reducing consideration of their extremist’s candidates to its lowest common denominator. Pick a word or phrase of little or no meaning and application and use the propagandists, bought and paid for, right-wing media to stuff this tripe down the throats of people who view facts and research as dirty words.
A trial lawyer is who you turn to if you lose a leg to an improperly maintained machine within one of those union-hating, tax-avoidance, multi-national, multi-billionaire companies “headquartered” on an obscure island in the Mediterranean and manned by a guy in khakis and a “Go Tide” t-shirt. A trial lawyer is your source of justice for being the victim of medical malpractice where a horrific mistake can cost you half your thinking processes or, tragically, your life, after which legal action is taken up by your survivors. That may be the case with Joan Rivers for example.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been at the forefront of savaging even the tiniest morsel of fairness for the underdog in our legal system with their laughable misnomer, “Tort Reform.” Haley continues to be an enthusiastic member of ALEC dating back to her days in the state legislature.
Her Department of Social Services (DSS) has been justifiably pilloried by Sheheen. In a recent three-year period under Haley, the turnover rate for caseworkers in DSS was 65% according to a Legislative Audit Council Report. Over a four-year-period, county director turnover was 58%. When a child dies under questionable circumstances, DSS is legally bound to turn over that fact to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). A total of 152 Haley-era cases did not follow that mandate.
I’ve pretty well covered Haley’s other governing deficits in prior submissions and they’re a never-ending cycle. Right-wing local voters don’t care. She remains, in every legitimate poll, ahead by double-digits.
Then there’s a guy named Cole in State House District 32. People are dying as a direct result of massive, decades-long pollution in 32. Not a word during the Cole campaign. Sadly, little is heard on the subject from the incumbent either. This Democrat should be screaming from the highest rooftops; he’s not. A lot of it is money. The Democrat has raised a little over $3,000, Cole $68,000, mostly from PAC after PAC after PAC. Cole still has $58K lying around; the Democrat, $162.00. Like the District 32 Democratic challenger, other state Democrats candidates are out-funded by huge margins. With his money, tight-lipped indifference to his districts deadly pollution, notwithstanding, the current seat-holder will win by about a 70-30 count.
I use these examples because in virtually all red states, there will be similar disgusting parallels and similar disgusting results. Thank goodness for T-Rav for comic relief in South Carolina.
The Democrats might snag a few more governorships and there may be a Congressional seat or two that changes hands in favor of the good guys and gals, but, make no mistake, the house remains an impenetrable Republican fortress blocking everything demanded of the vox populi. The Senate will be in Republican hands as well, though by a skinny margin. Just enough combined votes to pass some horrible legislation in concert with the House.
So why shouldn’t I be terrified of what’s coming out of the Congressional sewer system? Because, it doesn’t make any difference. We have a superhero in the White House, VETOMAN!!! The purchased press and the most radical Congress in recent memory can whine and propagandize to their heart’s content, VETOMAN will save the day.
For those who care about facts, meaning Democrats (Republicans, you may continue your fact-challenged slumber), here’s how a veto works. There must be a 2/3rds vote in both chambers to override a presidential veto. Here are the numbers required for that to happen. The House must have 290 of it’s members voting in favor of the veto to override. A number they might theoretically reach depending on Blue Dogs, but I doubt it ever happens. In the Senate, the number to override is a practical near-impossibility; 67. Most polling has the Republicans controlling 52 Senate seats, give or take a seat or two. Including Independents, there’s no way right-wingers are going to dig up the differential.
So, even if the Democratic Congressional losses pile up, there’s nothing to fear other than more gridlock and loony Republican legislation, right? Well, I guess I’m contradicting myself, but yes, there is plenty to fear. Not from the fed DC Congress, but from the real homes of the uber-extremists…state legislatures, where the most damage to the citizenry can occur.
States, with South Carolina being the perfect exemplar, will pass anything that counters the president’s agenda. No decent wages, continued serial lying about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) accompanied by attempts to repeal all or part of it, bowing and scraping before tax-avoidance, pathetic pay multi-nationals, pro, yes, PRO-pollution legislation and little to no regulations. Like Kardashian nitwittery, the list goes on and on.
Those are my predictions for the 2014, November 4th general election. I don’t pretend to be a master of prognostication. I’d love to be wrong. A McConnell defeat would certainly be tasty. One thing Democratic leadership is doing in my state and I assume yours, is putting on a full-court GOTV press. If the party can Get Out The Votes, there can be some major surprises, and, in truth, there are still plenty of close races to be won.
My overarching strategy remains. Take a deep breath November 5th and start planning for a tremendous revival in 2016. Give yourself a month or two to rest, then, get busy.
Speaking of GOTV – VOTE!!!
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