Successfully competed...........................

 

...........................my civic duty this morning:

On voting....................

The Licking County Board of Elections has their "A" game working.  Lots of people helping lots of people vote.  Ample spacing for those worried about getting too close to people.  Easy traffic flow.  Machines that are easy to operate, let you double check your vote, and generate a paper ballot.  What more could you ask for.*

*that was a rhetorical question, but if I could get what I asked for, it would be to be delivered from any further political advertising for the next month.

Reins...................................

The Constitution’s separation of powers is premised in part on each branch being “jealous” of its own powers. What the Founders failed to plan for was a Congress eager to ditch its load onto the Executive.

-follow the link here

Gerrymandering in the year 1882..........

     In the end he captured the nomination without difficulty, but the general election proved more troublesome.  The initial vote count gave him a victory of just eight votes, and he headed to Washington as an incumbent.   But well into his new term, a review panel dominated by Democrats awarded the seat to his opponent.  So he returned to Canton a defeated politician.  On top of that, the Democratic legislature once again reconstituted his district, giving Democrats an estimated registration advantage of some 900 votes.

-Robert W. Merry,  President McKinley:  Architect of the American Century

Not sure much has been learned..........

Elites today have no idea how to speak to the public, or what to say to it.  They have shown little interest in trying.  The hyper-educated individuals who ran the Clinton campaign were utterly indifferent to public opinion:  they believed in big data.  An algorithm nicknamed "Ada" delivered "simulations" of opinion to the campaign staff.  Ada was the public as elites wish it would be:  safe, clean, and speaking only when spoken to.  The voter in the flesh was clearly perceived by this group as an alien and frightening brute.  His very existence was deplorable.  The shock of election day followed naturally from such distortions of distance.

-Martin Gurri,   The Revolt Of The Public

Civic responsibility fulfilled..............

Voting early...................

The great state of Ohio makes early voting easy.  Took advantage of that today and voted in favor of the renewal of the Newark School levy.

Show up.....................

“Every election is determined by the people who show up.” 


-Larry J. Sabato

Voted early again this year.   A skimpy ballot to be sure, but I wanted to vote for the County's Children's Services levy.  The need is dire.  I hope you will vote for it.

Choose your facts wisely...........

Interested in a deep dive into the "irrationality" of voters?   Some science on the issue may be found here.  A wee excerpt here:

You can say whatever you want about the rationality or irrationality of Trump himself, but cognitive science does not support the claim that his voters were irrational—or, more specifically, that they were any less rational than the Clinton voters. Politics is not the place to look for objective rightness or wrongness—and that is what judgments about the rationality of voting entail. Our judgments in this domain are uniquely susceptible to myside bias.

Many of our most contentious political issues hinge on values and culture rather than facts. That may be a good thing. It could be signalling that our society has already handled the easiest issues—those that can be solved by educating everyone to accept the same facts and then implementing the obvious solution that follows from these facts. 

via

Silly me................................

Voted (early) today to increase our property taxes.  Only things on my ballot were a renewal of the Licking Park District levy and a new levy to provide funding for the Countywide 9-1-1 system.  I will cheerfully pay for both (assuming the majority of voters concur) next time our property tax bills arrive.

Next time there is a Presidential..............

.........................................Election, I'm voting for Scott Adams.

We really do need more messiness.......

"We have become less and less interested in either policy or politics, and more interested in finding some loophole in the rules that will allow one party or the other to impose its will on the country without the messy business of gathering votes and building public support. It started with the courts, but it certainly has not ended there."

-Megan McArdle, as excerpted from here

The glory of elections.........................

Having the White House alternate between two wealthy, familiar political families may reassure corporate lobbies, Wall Street banks, and billionaire donors, but it turns out that this modified version of hereditary monarchy has very little appeal among American voters.


The voters, we have learned, have a different conception of democracy than the donor class. Ordinary Americans think of elections not as chances to passively ratify the candidates already chosen by party elites, but as opportunities to choose the candidates they prefer. Where this populist idea of genuine voter power came from is not clear, but it now seems to be widespread.


-Michael Lind, as excerpted from here


via

Elections have consequences...........................?

...................Issue 64 approved by a wide margin in California

If you say so...................................

A worthy sentiment..............................

"I'm keeping my privacy about how I voted, so don't even ask. I wish the best for my fellow Americans and hope that whatever happens, you'll be able to handle it."


-Ann Althouse, as excerpted from here

A time for judging.....................

"Judgement is given to men that they may use it."

-John Stuart Mill

Just write it in.............................

Don't Ask, Don't Tell............................

It is difficult penciling in those oval blanks on the ballot with one hand holding your nose, but...... the task is done.

Well actually, you could..............

via