Courtesy of Slate, see how long it takes Mitt Romney to earn your salary. (Hint: it’s less time than the amount of time you have in your head right now.)
Hilarious + Depressing. (Hileprous? Deprarious? Whatever.)
Gingrich promised a U.S. moon base by the end of his second term as president. And he has plans for its statehood.
A vote for Gingrich is a vote for silver jumpsuits and flying cars.
(I’m George Jetson and I approve this message.)
Dear [Congressman],
I urge you to vote no on PIPA. As a developing artist who relies upon the freedom and creativity of the Internet to prosper, I cannot emphasize enough the damaging effect this bill would have upon myself and others of my profession.
We have to believe that censorship and unilateralism is not the best that America can do in fighting Internet piracy. If silencing the freedom of speech is truly the only way to protect industry, then haven’t we lost something integral to who we are as a nation?
This is a country of dreamers who make their visions concrete. Please vote no on S.968, in hopes that we, united, can find another way to protect the interests of businesspeople; one which does not sacrifice the liberties of those whose creative work serves as the inspiration to continue striving higher.
Sincerely,
David Somerville
I need to look further into Jon Huntsman’s politics, but I’m rooting for him to do well in New Hampshire today … because I’m positive that if Kerry Romney goes up against Obama, he will lose.
Hey, politically-minded readers (this will be a fun test to see if I have any) … what do you think about Jon Huntsman for the Republican candidate? Yes/No/Maybe/Well…?
I ask because the Boston Globe just endorsed Huntsman for 2012.
[Edit, after listening to crickets for a day or two: .....Got it, so no political readers. That's good to know!]
– From Fareed Zakaria, June 30th 2011 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, NPR –
Q. If you were running for office, do you think you would even be able to say what you say in the book, which is that we’re moving toward a post-American world, and this period is about the rise of the rest?
A. That’s a very good question. It is an awkward thing to say if you are running for office in the United States because, you know, the nature of a campaign tends to be about how the United States is number one, rah, rah, rah.
But you can’t fight facts. The fact of the matter is that by almost every measure, other countries are moving up, and they’re moving up into space that used to be dominated by the United States and the Western world. So I don’t know how you can fight those facts. They are very awkward, and it’s very difficult to have to accept that we are going to have to share power.
Sometimes the way I like to put it is, we have to remember that the United States has been a beacon of hope and liberty. It has been an incredibly prosperous and vibrant society for many, many decades before 1945.
You know, we were not always the absolute supreme power in the world, and we were still an unusual, distinctive, wonderful country. I’m not predicting that we’re going to go all the way back to that, but I think it’s important to understand that the nature of America, our DNA as a society is not bound up with being a world empire.
So, this blog started out as just an art blog, and it still is, for the most part; really, it’s just a catch-all place where I can jot down notes so they’re not running through my head. And as I’ve watched the political landscape over the past few years, I’ve got to admit that political questions are consuming more and more of my thoughts.
So, full disclosure: my main political leaning is towards small government. I’m registered as Republican, but like many Republicans, I’m not feeling oodles of loyalty to a political party right now. (I considered registering as Democrat just to keep myself honest at voting time.)
I posted a week ago that I’ll be much more likely to vote for anyone who’s willing to move power down the food chain, from the federal government to states, from states to local government, and from local government to other institutions such as the family, the church, etc. I’d love to see the de-polarization of the country, which I think in many ways could be accomplished by taking many of our conversations off the national table and addressing them according to the context of the local culture. I feel strongly about certain moral issues, but believe that one-issue voting is a misuse of our responsibility as free people with the right to elect our government.
Annnnyhoo. All of that to give a little background to why I occasionally post political rumblings on this otherwise art-oriented blog. (Most of the people reading probably skipped this post in the first place, since you came here to see pretty pictures, so I’m just talking to myself. Which is fine.)
All of this gets back to the title of this post, and my basic question… if anyone’s actually gotten down this far, I’d love to hear your thoughts: which would be more beneficial to the United States of America — for the Tea Party (or some such libertarian-oriented entity) to lean all the way into its own party, or for there to be sweeping Republican reform?
To be clear, I understand that a libertarian offshoot of conservatives would mean losses in elections this cycle; as long as Democrats stay as one solid voting block, it’s 2-year or 4-year suicide to split conservatives into two groups. But after those 2 years or 4 years, even if we lost, would it be worth it to break up the establishment as it is?
Since my main leaning is towards the decentralization of power, the idea of breaking up the sumo match of Democrats and Republicans is appealing to me… but would it actually be productive?
Typically, I avoid long, wordy posts on here. Who has the time to read a long, rambling, political piece while you’re grabbing your daily muffin and hitting Google Reader? You were probably just hoping for a YouTube video or some pencil sketches (see below). But in case anyone HAS stuck with me, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I don’t have answers, but I believe that there are answers out there, and would greatly love to be part of a productive conversation towards a solution.
“Come on boffins, let’s really bang our heads together!”
Dear Politician,
If you can show me that you plan to transfer authority, money, and decisions from the federal government to state governments, I will be 5x more likely to vote for you, regardless of your party.
Sincerely,
Smrvl
Told you these were random.
This from NPR:
Ticket Tax Being Proposed To Help Close D.C. Budget Gap
May 05, 2010 – By Stephanie Kaye
A new “ticket” tax is being proposed in D.C. It would increase prices for arts and cultural events in the District.
The proposal is being circulated by the Fair Budget Coalition, a group of human services providers who are trying to avoid cuts to programs for the neediest of the city’s population.
The D.C. City Council is considering the ticket tax, among many others, in order to close a $550 million budget gap. The tax would apply to club memberships and tickets for cultural events hosted by for- and not-for-profit organizations, tacking on a 6 to 8 percent fee.
The Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, a non-profit group that supports local arts organizations, says leaders in the city’s arts and culture scene are vehemently opposed; that tickets are already priced at the level most patrons are willing to pay, and that an increase could mean smaller audiences.
I understand the thought behind this: the people who can most afford to pay for increased taxes are the ones who can afford the luxury of going to arts & cultural activities. The impoverished citizenry who’s just trying to make ends meet wouldn’t be going anyway, and won’t be affected.
Except that my opinion is that the arts nourish the soul. I think this is a terrible idea. I’d rather see a tax on cable subscriptions or purchases of gaming systems.
I find myself struggling with whoever suggested this tax… I envision him as a soulless man who was once an accounting major* in college. Trying not to judge.
*For the record, most of the accounting majors that I’ve met have had souls.
