America Accepts Pedophiles And Pussy Grabbers

The problem with guys who win elections despite being known as pedophiles or pussy grabbers is that WE elect them, they do not elect themselves.

I could end this post there and add a background to make it a meme, but Alabama has an opportunity to be better than America was. Alabama, the unofficial ambassador state of racial division, is now expected to do something that the rest of us in America failed or succeeded at, depending on the side you stand.

No matter which side you stand, the truth is that WE allow sexual depravity from men so pervasively that women start "me too" campaigns to try to shine a light on just how pervasive this problem really is. I call it a problem realizing that way too many people decided that it didn't matter enough to vote for a Democrat or a woman instead of against the problem, so maybe it isn't a problem at all. In essence, some voted for "more of the same" instead of  "me too" as it relates to where their sympathy lies. The recent stories of Congressional lawmakers molesting and paying off women are staggering to the point of investigation worthy, Jeff Sessions.

Hopefully, former Senator and current Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, was able to fill America's justice department that he leads with the most race and gender-sensitive white men in America because white men represent 81% of what you will find in a group photo of Jeff Session's staff.

 Blacks represent zero.

I do credit Sessions, however, for being very reluctant to investigate Hillary Clinton. In part, because I am fatigued from the women bashing of late, but mostly because it would speak poorly of our post-election politics if retribution became a norm. On the other hand, Sessions is just as shaky as the rest of the GOP on calling out the pedophile from his home state of Alabama.

This is not to say that some Republicans haven't treated potential victims with the reverence of innocent until proven guilty like we tend to do for their abusers only, but the Republican party in Alabama continues to fund their pedophile Senate candidate, Roy Moore. Win or lose, Moore's deeds become reflective of the character of every person who finds his actions acceptable enough to elect him. But they also reflect on those of us who didn't fight hard enough to stop him just as Donald Trump reflects on every American that couldn't figure out a way to stop him from becoming our national shame.

While we tend to hold Trump to task for so many failures, we have to take a moment a think about the wave of opposition we've seen against him, and the diversity we've gained in politics across the board by virtue of our passions to stop Trump in his tracks.

Virginia's recent election results might be a great sign of the voice of that opposition, but Virginia ain't Alabama. For Alabama to either elect a Democrat or mobilize to elect a write-in not named Roy Moore would be, in both cases, unlikely. Moore is mostly reticent to step away because he understands the divided state he represents and believes that Alabama is Moore in favor of a Republican pedophile over any Democrat. He is mobilizing to put that catchy phrase on a yard sign as we speak.

This is that moment of integrity for Alabama that comes on the heels of electing our last ass grabbing accident. Alabama has an opportunity to do what Moore wants or place principle over politics and send a resounding message to their daughters.

It would be a nice message to their sons as well.

Does Beating The Patriots Justify That Superbowl Window Or Is John Elway Just Making Us Sick?

I might be tired of caring about the good fortunes of my own team. No, I am not like those who wrote off the Broncos for firing Art Shell and currently rep the Raiders, but potentially like that, because Elway seems to hate Colin Kaepernick and Kaep's cause more than he likes winning. Soon, John will be forced to quick-chop another black head off just to avoid the loss of his own.

I would like to make this article about some concern for the impending premature scapegoat removal of a first-year black coach because I am truly concerned that Vance Joseph never had a chance in hell to pull off the El-way that sucks, versus the Kubiak way that won a crown. But, to be honest, actually giving a damn about Vance would require knowing for certain that he can actually coach.

I do not.

Besides, I am a Broncos fan first and foremost. I understand how touchy criticism of my Orange and Blue can get. This is not my Donna Brazile denunciation of the Democrats, however, my malaise with my own ballclub made me unconcerned with uncovering a reason why the Denver Broncos could beat the Philadelphia Eagles a week ago, even if I was hoping like hell desperation would be that reason.

Now, the Broncos are truly desperate enough to beat every team except that Philly club, which includes the New England Patriots on Sunday,  although they must overcome the best quarterback to ever lace them up if they are to get it done.

Yes, I said it. I don't care who your favorite quarterback of all-time is. I don't really care that Brady's not my favorite or that he's a long time nemesis of my beloved Broncos.


He's the best to do it, and he's still doing it the best.

This week, however, Brady's resume is beside the point. Denver fans may find comfort that Brady hasn't won much in Denver, but that too should be of little consolation to a struggling team that shouldn't be counting on history to fix their problems. The hope to win is quickly clouding the view of who we really are and where we are heading if we don't look introspectively.

As we fans force feed this team down our own throats simply because we love them too much to leave them when times get tough, the truth is simply the truth. To viewing eyes and opposing defenses, these Broncos taste like a recognizably predictable flavor. You can't quite say what it is, but it is super sour and kind of bitter, and several coaching changes has yet to sweeten the flavor of this offense, even the year when they won it all.

If we are honest and don't just assume Donna and I are doing this for the money, we'd admit that more than half of Broncos nation exited a Superbowl 50 victory with a happy smirk because they were upset with the decision to return to a putridly playing Peyton Manning over bumbling Brock Osweiler.  When a Brock loving John Elway lost his last coach, and when Denver lost Brock, I believe it was seeded in that moment of decision.

While most of that remains a rumor, it was proven the moment Elway brought in Vance Joseph and the new coach's first declaration to the world was that he could put some more JUICE into this offense- a code word for Kubiak's juice wasn't either plentiful or sweet enough even if it proved to be the right flavor for success.

Other than the Offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy and former Offensive coordinator turned QB coach, Bill Musgrave, most of the coaches beneath Joseph are carry-overs that were already in the fold. How a former defensive coordinator could be expected to sweeten the juice on offense as a first-year coach seemed odd until you realized the plethora of offensive coaches that Elway would provide- or force-feed- to compensate for the inexperience of his head guy.

As I look at my own beloved team, I can't help but wonder does Joseph really have control of the offense with McCoy, Musgrave, and Elway in the building? Does Elway ever call McCoy to share his own view of things or is Joseph always the go-between as he deserves to be? Most importantly, who makes the final call on plays now with so many offensive minds and a head coach who questions his own team's identity?

Half the season is over, and it appears that not allowing the new head coach to put his fingerprint on the offense has him describing his own team as identity-free as if we are a juice without sugar.  It also seems that Elway's hand-picking of Joseph was a weird move intended to fulfill Elway's own  Superbowl windowed view of things instead of hiring a coach he trusted enough to bring an outsiders view of things and chart a way forward on his own merit and ability.

Elway wears his own championship rings thanks to the "do whatever it takes" mantra of Pat Bowlen. But he is not Pat Bowlen even if he wants to buy our team one day and pretend to be Pat while interfering like Jerry. I am not saying that Elway can never become another Pat Bowlen, but even Bowlen came to be through the trials and errors of trying and failing to get it done amidst the constant internal tug-o-war of when to be hands-on or hands-off. In essence, Bowlen needed the exact same thing that Elway and our young'ish quarterbacks require. Time to develop.

Nothing.  I repeat. NOTHING is more unhealthy to the development of a young quarterback, a young coach or a rebuilding organization than the draft of an open Superbowl Window.

It should go without saying that every team is fighting to be the best they can be every year. Undoubtedly, each team hopes their best equals Superbowl championships when the season is done, whether they say it through unspoken drive or display it through Superbowl window mistakes.

As a folk hero among Broncos nation, we might have taken more comfort in the presence of Elway than we had any right to do. Afterall, he is nearly as unproven as an executive himself, evidenced by these mediocre quarterbacks he hired to help push the Broncos through that Superbowl window of his. At the risk of sounding like a revisionist, I am more and more inclined to agree with those who consider our Superbowl 50 success somewhat lucky, including Elway himself who encouraged Kubiak to do it in a juicier way. Whether that Superbowl victory meant Elway deserved a new contract and a bigger role within the organization is a subject under official review right now. In hindsight, Elway might have only had a toe on the line while Kubiak had his entire foot in that game and gameplan.

Now, the Broncos appear to be stuck with a former legendary quarterback GM who displays a ravenous view of the future and a short view of the past, a past that included Elway himself being doubted by the Broncos faithful as a young player, and ridiculed as a seasoned veteran who never won the big one by himself. To this day, some believe John's HOF friend and former teammate, Terrell Davis, deserves more credit for the rings on John's fingers than John does.

The hiring of a first-year coach to juice an offense beyond that of a Superbowl winning, well-tenured coach and friend in Gary Kubiak, was the first sign I needed that Vance Joseph was merely a hole-filler with the specific assignment of making Elway look right instead of looking interested in saving his own job or building on the salvage worthy parts and pieces of this team to create a new and improved Superbowl winning model. I doubt that Joseph felt as confident as he sounded about the idea of picking a quarterback mid-way through the preseason instead of appointing the previous starter and making the other quarterbacks beat him out like you do at every other position on the football field.

Is Osweiler just another sign that Elway thinks his team can still
win it all? Is John missing on a chance to play Pax?

If I was Elway, I would have made the mediocre first-round draft pick, Paxton Lynch play so that we know by now instead of forcing last year's mediocre starter and team captain, Trevor Siemian to publicly prove himself better than Lynch. To put either of these mediocre quarterbacks through a process that questions your trust of them leaves you, in the end, with a couple of mediocre quarterbacks absent the trust of the coach and GM to help their confidence a bit. John was clearly forcing his new coach to not act in his own best interest, all the while making savvy Broncos fans question the intelligence and integrity of the new head coach.


This article is not about beating a dead bronco or kicking the horse when it's down because my Broncos are not deceased yet, just on life support, and nobody kicks hospitalized animals. But I will remind everyone that the GM and VP of Operations- who I called a Bitch in a preseason article- has chosen to pretend himself Bowlen and verbally commit to chasing after the crown each and every year instead of closing that Superbowl window and his mouth and Just Win Baby before we lose another wave of fans to the Raiders, rebuilding or his politics which we shouldn't even know about since we never knew Pat's.

What we do need to know is how Elway intends to make this team better. Spending millions on diva receivers and then trying to justify those millions- as if the opposing defense can't diagnose your plan based on payroll alone- is a formula for success that doesn't comport with the reality of the NFL in which teams rarely win the crown with so much money dedicated to wide-outs.

Check the history books. If a big name receiver does have a ring, it is almost never when they also had the high-end paycheck too. The truth is, receivers take pay cuts to play for champions or they get cut from champions for the sake of more depth on the roster. Soon enough- which I hope soon means now- the Broncos will not be able to justify the money they are spending on Demarius Thomas,
Emmanual Sanders or maybe even Von Miller if they are being realistic about what it will take to win again. Soon enough, they too will admit that just one of these valued players could be the additional draft pick- or 10- that fixes this problem.

I said all of that to say this.

I'm concerned that beating the Patriots will only make Broncos nation think we are actually still in the hunt. I get it. Making the playoffs and exiting early could still be a dream for a season that started great but looks to be headed towards something much worse than even last year's near miss of the playoffs. In the wildest dreams of  John Elway, these players and many fans, this season remains wide open, just like our Superbowl window. 

Sure, dreams do come true. But so do nightmares if you stay asleep too long. Wake up Elway and Broncos fans. It's time to shut that damn window.

Does Anybody Know WTF A Republican Is Anymore?

Forgive me for the salacious headline. The Twitterverse won't read any further, so you gotta stick and move these days. Nonetheless, WTF is a Republican?

No really.

In the post-mortem of Tuesday's election, the Ed Gillespie story is as telling as any story there is. Gillespie was never known as an alt-right Republican prior to being pegged for Virginia's governor race but left looking more alt-right than Trump himself. While we may never really know if Gillespie was more of a victim of his embrace of Trump or of his disdain towards him since the race he ran seemed to involve a fair dose of both, we know the exit poll data and it isn't positive for the GOP.

While Trump himself criticized Gillespie for not being Trumpian enough and losing as a result, I am left to wonder what sign should we look towards as it relates to identity politics if we hope to consider the Republican candidate in 2018 and moving forward? This is not a question for the Republicans that vote (R) because that is all they know to do. I'm referring to those (R)'s that really appreciate their new-found access to healthcare and don't really wish to risk their lives on a party loyalty line.

As it turns out, most of the people around the nation were inspired on Tuesday by the need to save their own healthcare against the wiles of the (R)'s who are destroying it only because they don't really know what else to do. If you predict healthcare's implosion, sometimes you must also be willing to pour a little gas on the sparks to speed things along. Despite Trump's slashing of the budget to market ACA enrollment, record numbers of Americans are enrolling anyway.

Now the (R)'s are trying like crazy to scratch the back of rich people while making average Americans think it is their back being scratched. Two things that can no longer be confused is the feeling of a political back rubbing or the efficacy of a bill not scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). America never knew what those letters meant prior to the Trumpian takeover. Now, they don't stop to listen to your idea until the CBO can delineate what is in it for them.

It is not impossible to imagine the GOP accomplishing some form of a tax bill, but it is close to impossible to see it achieving anything substantive for average Americans. Trickle down never really has fulfilled its promise, and ObamaCare is more hopeful than whatever existed before. The best I can tell, the GOP is mostly stuck with the idea of building a wall because even a ban on assault weapons is supported by the majority of America, gun owners included.

In fact, doing something about our broken immigration system has had majority appeal in America from way back when Eric Cantor was still the Speaker of the House. The Obama era push and catastrophic weather events have most Americans waiting on a far-reaching infrastructure bill that seems to need a huge wave of collapsed bridge deaths to finally get approved for some odd reason.

By virtue of identity, the only elements that uniquely come to mind when thinking of today's Republican party are titled tax plans, Muslim hatred, "blood and soil" and tiki torches. I know a lot of really good people who still consider themselves Republican have never considered marching with a tiki torch and are upset that they are now being connected to such evil, hatred and our twit of a president. Yet, what else is there to help us identify a modern day Republican?

What the Twitter-in Chief has made abundantly clear is that the GOP has lost its way enough to be easily taken over by a twit. Surprisingly, plenty of twit love remains despite enduring a highly embattled presidency, but it seems there was not enough to have made a difference this past Tuesday.

The best I can tell, the GOP will soon need to adopt progressive policies as their own in order to offer ideas that reasonable people consider reasonable. Walls and rolling back healthcare, and tax cuts for rich people and unresolved immigration questions, and climate denial or broken accords and partnerships, or LGBTQ bans, Muslim bans but repeal of the ban on the mentally ill getting guns, is simply not reasonable anymore.

Democrats Fight Gerrymandering. Is It Too Late?

Keep your eyes open for this big time push from the DGA (Democratic Governors Association) and the NDRC (National Democratic Redistricting Committee), founded and lead by former President Barack Obama and former AG Eric Holder. This issue represents a major reason I no longer register as a Democrat.
              ________________________

https://unrigthemap.com/

....this is a lot like that Colin Kaepernick issue and the NFL.

..a curse you bring on yourself.
            
            ___________________  



I won't claim to already know who started with this gerrymandering nonsense, though I could probably Google it. I feel utter disappointment, however, when I discovered how often both parties have misused it over the years. The fact that the Republicans have taken our national shame called gerrymandering to a new level of shamefulness makes me mad at the system and ALL of those who proliferated it, not just the current beneficiaries and better players of the game.


I actually started registering independent when Al Gore helped us to discover the electoral college hustle that can override wilful votes and lawful recounts if it so chooses.


Upon backing a non-inspiring guy like Gore against George W. Bush, I found myself indignant and more inspired to caucus for stronger candidates that I support. I discovered, however, that I potentially need to choose these candidates before I even know them if I want to take part in supporting said candidate via caucuses or primaries, as both parties block you out of the process unless you register well in advance of the caucus or primary for a candidate who interests you.


I get more and more convinced of my decision to NOT tout either of these two party labels with every passing day. Did either party realize how dangerous opening the pandora's box of gerrymandering would be? Did they care?

Furthermore, doesn't either party have interest in pulling voters who don't already agree with them via label? Don't Republicans and Democrats practice political segregation and fear of the corrupted caucus or primary to their own demise? How hard could it be to send out a caucus voucher that allows each voter into one caucus per election season? Do we really fear political corruption and outsider inclusion over desiring political involvement which is severely lacking? In this current version of our two-party system, each party is only interested in you if they think you support them already.


With that in mind, I support this effort by the Democrats to fix something that needed fixing long ago. I'll admit though, that this is a lot like that Colin Kaepernick issue and the NFL. I find no sympathy for any losing team that is currently playing a QB worse than Kaep', even my own team. Gerrymandering (and hiring collusion too) has always been like dabbling with black magic; a curse you bring on yourself. 

Independence Must Be More Than Another Political Label

The recent book release announcement of former DNC chair, Donna Brazile, has ignited a firestorm of debate verging on a Civil war that the Republicans have to be enjoying, even if only for its diversion from their own problems. I, unlike Brazile, am no longer a registered Democrat but an Independent, which I realize is somewhat a joke even though I (independent voters) might be the reason Brazile wrote the book in the first place, not reliably voting Democrats.

If you are someone truly open to the notion of change in America, you realize that more of the same is unlikely to garner the change WE seek. Sure, we’ve accomplished much in our history as a nation, but seldom with a bi-partisan accord.  When the Senate voted 98-2 to sanction Trump and Putin for disrupting the sanctity of our overly partisan attempt at democracy, it felt like the beginning of change. Those two Senate hold-outs, however, must be confused about the seriousness of this moment, or maybe I am confused about the change.

An article about a poltical change in America is tough because our partisan reality typically means getting the other side to finally see how they are flawed as the change most of us seek. Afterall, who really wants to take another chance at trickle down economics?

People who have a reasonable excess of resources but want more, that’s who still believes in trickle down.

Conversely, hand-outs that barely keep poor people above water seem to drown more people than they teach to swim. The conservatives who read that last sentence applauded while the progressives frowned at the notion that our collected taxes can also be considered a handout.

My view is, who cares what you call it, it simply is not working well enough. No plan that lacked sufficient agreement at inception ever really does achieve its purpose in general perception or reality, which are invariably the same.

In other words, political change WE seek is never going to be achieved absent bi-partisan agreement because the other side will nitpick the bad to prove a point they already believed. Each of our perceptions becomes our collective bi-partisan political reality....facts be damned.

My knee-jerk reaction to the Brazile indictments against Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the DNC is to defend Brazile- who just so happens to be echoing criticisms I made long before she did, so take my view with that disclaimer in mind. Those currently defending Clinton have mostly done the same as me, which amounts to the challenge WE face in politics and society overall.

How do we achieve lasting change when we’ve made partisan decisions on what change looks like?

Brazile might be seemingly the starter of a fight, but reasonable people think that fight started with the progressive movement led by Bernie Sanders during the campaign and Brazile is simply pointing it out. This problem amongst progressives is much deeper than how we vote and what labels we allow ourselves to be connected with. In many ways, the intense effort for independence as voters- and people- has inspired the massive effort to toss each of us in a bucket whether we want to be there or not.

Search engines and website cookies leave crumbs of evidence about who we are and how we might vote even when we choose to not use our face on Facebook, or log into social media at all.

Today, simple GPS tracking can decide who we are, how we vote, purchase products and everything else. We have to turn ourselves off altogether to hide what we do because everything we do speaks- in part- to how we are likely to vote.

Unfortunately, whether we choose to carry party labels or not, our partisanship is predictable, even for those who think they don't care one way or the other. Our ability to challenge the GPS tracker of our lives and frequent the untracked street vendor versus the retail outlet that speaks to our tendencies is just as difficult as telling the people we support they are wrong and probably need to see things another way. Disrupting the grid and challenging our own orthodoxy are both needed practices for political and societal change.

Was Brazile declaring an intention to join Bernie or become an independent if the Democrats don’t figure things out? She says she considered Joe Biden, who wasn’t running, over Bernie who was as a replacement for a potential health stricken Hillary, so I doubt that Brazile's book is a threat of secession.

As for me?

I am not a Democrat. I’m THE Conservative Socialist who registers independently.I don’t care to be predictable to the unseen trackers in life or politics if I can help it because there is very little hope for change in that approach. I love street vendors and yet to be discovered entrepreneurs. I also hate political labels even though I realize my political voice labels me just as all of our thoughts, opinions, shared memes and websites visited tell a story we wish could remain unknown at times. 

          If change is what we seek, being a truly independent thinker and not just another predictable partisan can help, but it must involve real examination of issues including self-examinations and incriminations in the face of failures.

More of the same is unlikely to work.