W.J. Astore
So many people vote for a Democrat or Republican without having a clue what their candidate stands for. Politicians are adept at refusing to take positions; profiles in courage they are not. This is one big reason why I respect Matthew Hoh, candidate for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. He takes firm stances based on his personal convictions and principles. Here, courtesy of INDY Week in North Carolina, is an article that details these. Not surprisingly, the Democratic and Republican candidates chose not to answer these questions.
My suggestion: Find a candidate in your district who’s willing to go on the record with strong stances that you believe in. If you can’t find such a candidate, write someone in, or don’t vote for that office, or (big ask) consider running for office yourself in the future, or consider joining new parties that seek to break the corrupt hold on our politics that the Democrats and Republicans have enjoyed for far too long.
Candidate Questionnaire: Matthew Hoh, US Senate
Name as it appears on the ballot: Matthew Hoh
Age: 49
Party affiliation: Green
Campaign website: https://www.matt4senate.org
Occupation & employer: Disabled veteran
Years lived in North Carolina: 9
1) What are your primary concerns for the State of North Carolina?
I have been to all parts of North Carolina throughout the campaign, and the three things I hear everywhere are healthcare, housing, and drugs.
Millions of people in NC live without healthcare due to being uninsured or underinsured, while more than 20% of NC adults are in collections for medical debt. Housing is unaffordable across the state. Home prices are out of reach for most working families, while rents have increased at a criminally staggering rate of 25-50%. Individuals, families and communities, particularly Black, Latino, and Native American communities, have been devastated by the War on Drugs. Every day 12 North Carolinian lives are lost from fatal overdoses. At the same time, the mass incarceration and prohibition policies of Republicans and Democrats have ruined lives and wrecked families, destroyed neighborhoods, and sustained cycles of crime.
These are the same issues I see in my life. My family, friends and neighbors suffer and are hurt by these deliberate bipartisan policies. I’m running to make sure there is a voice in this race for Medicare for All and not for for-profit healthcare; that there are meaningful, affordable housing policies that are not simply tax breaks and subsidies for developers and banks; and that we end the War on Drugs and treat substance abuse and addiction as public health matters rather than as crimes.
2) What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of this state effectively? What would you cite as your biggest career accomplishments?
I’m a disabled Marine Corps combat veteran. I live paycheck to paycheck, often solely on my veteran disability payments. Due to my disability, I went five years unable to earn an income. This, more than anything else, has prepared me to represent working families in Washington, DC.
In 2009, I resigned my position with the State Department in Afghanistan in protest over the escalation of that war. I’ve worked in Washington, DC with members of Congress and their staff for over a decade on war and peace, veterans issues and foreign policy. I’m very familiar with how Congress and the DC establishment operate, and this, perhaps, is the best explanation as to why I am running with the Green Party and not as a Democrat or Republican.
Locally, I have done peer support in the veterans and homeless communities.
If elected, what three policies would you prioritize and how would you work across the aisle to enact those initiatives?
I believe there are Democrats who are willing to break with their party and support meaningful climate and healthcare legislation (not giveaways to the fossil fuel industry and healthcare insurance companies such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Affordable Care Act.) At the same time, some Democrats and Republicans are willing to reduce the bloated military-industrial complex, rein in the gross violations of constitutional rights and liberties by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and end corporate subsidies. I look forward to working with progressives and libertarians on ending the War on Drugs, protecting and expanding civil liberties, particularly LGTBQIA+ rights, and ending our militarized foreign policy.
To accomplish this, I will work in a manner similar to how Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have operated these past two years. However, rather than my efforts being for the benefit of fossil fuel companies and hedge fund managers, as with Senators Manchin and Sinema, my efforts will be for the working and middle classes. I have said repeatedly: no one will get $15 billion aircraft carriers unless our people get healthcare.
3) More than 1 million Americans have died due to COVID-19 and millions more are struggling with astronomical medical bills. Do you believe the American health system is working? What is your plan for making sure health care is affordable and accessible to all American citizens? Are you in favor of a single-payer option?
I’m running because I have many people in my life, people I love, that must check their bank account before calling their doctor. Around a third of all COVID deaths occurred due to people’s inability to afford medical care. That is a consequence of our for-profit healthcare system and a legacy of the Affordable Care Act. Before the pandemic, tens of thousands of Americans were dying each year as a result of not being able to pay for healthcare. I support Medicare for All, which would provide people with affordable and quality healthcare under a single-payer system. This would save our society hundreds of billions of dollars annually while ensuring everyone can get the healthcare they need. I’m also in favor of canceling all medical debt.
4) What factors are fueling the country’s growing political polarization and how will you work to mend it?
Politicians in both parties have increasingly relied on culture war rhetoric to maintain voter loyalty, despite taking millions of dollars from corporations who couldn’t care less about issues like LGBTQ rights or religious freedom. Additionally, partisan gerrymandering has increasingly resulted in noncompetitive districts, denying voters the chance to support candidates from other parties. I support reforms like ranked-choice voting, proportional representation for legislatures, and public campaign financing. These improvements would take the pressure off voters not to “split the vote” and allow them to vote for candidates based on issues and policies and not party identity.
Rent, property taxes, and home sale prices have generally been rising over the past several years. What, if anything, should the federal government do to address this growing affordability crisis?
The federal government plays a dominant role in housing as it backs loans and mortgages, subsidizes development and construction, and provides grants to developers. This allows the federal government to institute rent control, which should be done. Public banking would allow working families to qualify for home loans based on their rental histories. Corporations, banks, and investment firms should be banned from purchasing single-family homes. Housing policy, like other areas of the economy, needs a reversal of the decades of bi-partisan support for corporations, banks and the wealthy at the expense of the working and middle classes. Our homeless epidemic, a massive moral failing, is the direct consequence of this choice to prioritize profit over people.
5) Do you believe the federal minimum wage should be increased? If, by how much? If not, why?
I support a federal living wage that annually increases to match inflation and the rising cost of living, particularly housing costs. That would currently equal around $22 an hour. I fully support the right of workers to organize through unions for higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Additionally, we need to incentivize employee ownership, cooperatives and workplace democracy.
6) What specific policies or programs do you endorse or would pursue to combat inflation? Do you foresee the US heading into a larger economic recession and if so, what is the best way for Congress to address it?
Food and energy price increases are a result of climate change and war. Droughts, floods, and wildfires will continue to impact our economy, as will foreign wars, while our dependence on fossil fuels will keep us at the mercy of US and foreign oil companies. We need a Real Green New Deal to address these causes.
Supply chain shortages, resulting from decades of infrastructure neglect, are another reason for inflation. Most significantly, however, the current inflation rate is driven by corporate greed and price gouging, not labor costs or productivity issues. Fed interest rate hikes, meant to cause unemployment and which will fully push us into a recession, are not the answer.
Economic inequality has devastated the working and middle classes. This has resulted from deliberate policies over decades meant to ensure those at the top not only remain at the top but see their wealth grow. Working families have been squeezed to the point that 60% of us now live paycheck to paycheck while a third of families can’t make ends meet, with that number rising to more than half of Black and Latino families. I’m the only candidate in the race for US Senate calling for Medicare for All, rent control, public banking, universal public education from pre-K through university, including vocational and trade schools, and living wages adjusted annually for cost of living increases. These measures will substantially and fundamentally address economic inequality and establish healthcare, housing, education and jobs as human rights.
7) The US Supreme Court issued a ruling this summer overturning Roe v. Wade. Do you believe abortion should be a fundamental human right? If elected, would you support a federal ban on abortion? What role, if any, should Congress play in restricting or expanding access to abortion?
Abortion, like other reproductive rights, is healthcare, and healthcare is a human right. Abortion is ultimately the sole decision of a woman. Like all other forms of healthcare, abortion should be available through a universal single-payer healthcare system available to all people without cost at the point of service. Abortion should be available without conditions and judgment. We must ensure women and their families have all the resources they need for healthy and productive lives, and we must protect abortion seekers and providers from violence.
8) Please state three specific policies you support to address climate change.
Ban fossil fuel extraction techniques and infrastructure, such as fracking, offshore drilling, and oil and gas pipelines. Invest in green energy tech, industry, transportation, agriculture and infrastructure to decrease and end our dependence on fossil fuels. Support training programs to help workers in fields like mining and farming transition to high-paying jobs in sustainable energy and agriculture. These and other actions to mitigate the climate collapse and to assimilate to our changing world, particularly transforming and strengthening our economic and societal infrastructure, are key elements of the Green Party’s Green New Deal.
9) What more, if anything, should Congress do to regulate firearms?
I carried rifles and pistols in combat. The American people have the right to use firearms for self-defense and hunting. Still, measures like background checks, proper training standards, and mandatory waiting periods need to be implemented so that these weapons don’t end up in the hands of people who plan to harm others. A thorough in-person licensing and training program should be a requirement for possessing a firearm, especially outside the home. These measures must be consistent across states. We must also work to dismantle the gun lobby, whose continued obstruction of common sense gun regulations puts us all in danger.
Prohibition and poverty are and have long been, the primary root causes of crime. End the decades-long, failed, counterproductive and shameful War on Drugs. We must address the deep state of poverty by ensuring all people are paid a living wage and have healthcare and access to free public education from pre-K through college (including trade/vocational programs.)
10) Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address?
Environment: I’ve lost track of the number of NC communities that can’t drink their water. The poisoning of our air, land and water by corporations backed and protected by Democrat and Republican politicians is a mass environmental catastrophe that has caused immense environmental harm, devastated wildlife and sickened and killed North Carolinians.
Immigration: My grandparents were immigrants. If any other nation were treating people at its border the way the US treats people at its southern border, we would decry it as a crime against humanity. The bipartisan Democrat and Republican border policies have not only been failures but are massive human rights violations. We must treat all people with dignity and address the systemic reasons why people leave their home countries.
This nation needs immigrants to grow and develop our economy. There is no reason we cannot achieve an immigration policy that treats people humanely, allows for a pathway to citizenship, and provides economic benefits to our society. It’s simply a question of choosing to do so rather than continuing decades of racist fearmongering for political gain.
Democracy: Voting should be expanded, strengthened and made more inclusive. We need to make voting more accessible and easier for individual voters and we must update and modernize our political process.
A Pew poll found that 70% of Americans support the need for more political parties. Voters should have more options. I support ranked choice voting, proportional representation, abolishing the electoral college, ending gerrymandering, establishing term limits and fighting continuously to get money out of politics.
This past summer, the North Carolina Green Party and my campaign had to go to federal court to participate in this election. This was necessary because of a well-funded legal campaign by the Democratic Party to keep the Green Party off the ballot. At all levels, the Green Party prevailed (multiple county boards of elections, NC State Boards of Elections, Wake County Superior Court, US District Court and US Federal Appeals Court); however, the effect on our ability to participate in elections and to represent voters who otherwise would not be represented was dramatically impacted. Voter suppression occurs in multiple forms by both of the major parties.
Reparations: I support Black and Indigenous-led efforts to provide reparations.
Bracing Views 
Here in CA I am definitely voting Green or Peace and Justice, because I have given up on the Dems since none have opposed Biden’s terrifying policy re Ukraine and nuclear war against Russia.
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I don’t want oil and gas pipelines banned. I get the natural gas that heats my home via a pipeline. The gasoline I use in my car gets pipelined to a terminal about 70 miles away after which it gets trucked to the gas stations in my city. Hoh seems to be unaware of such things. Perhaps he thinks if he becomes part of the Senatorial elite he won’t have to worry about them. He may be right about that.
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One thing is certain: there’s no candidate you’ll always agree with. There’s no perfect candidate.
But give me a guy or gal (or Gal Gadot) willing to speak truth and take strong stands in defense of regular folk like us — that’s the candidate I want.
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My guess is that a lot of regular folk get basic necessities via pipeline. Hoh seems to want to be a populist and an elitist at the same time.
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Donald J Trump will in his 2nd term be able to achieve about 33% of what Matt Hoh says he believes in.
Matt Hoh, and all credit to this great guy, will be able to achieve 0% of what he says he believes in.
Maybe 5% if he gets elected – which is highly unlikely.
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Which 33% of what Hoh says he believes in would Trump be able to achieve if returned to the Oval Office?
More specifically: Which of anything Hoh says he believes in would Trump even be interested in attempting to achieve during a second term?
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This is going to make me unpopular on Bracing Views…
Matt Hoh is a dreamer. And that’s great. We certainly need dreamers
But he has no track record of achieving anything as a politician. Respectfully, doing peer support in the veterans and homeless communities and fifty cents will buy you a cup of coffee.*
And goals like employee ownership and cooperatives, eliminating partisan gerrymandering, instituting federal government rent control, changing the Federal Reserves policies, universal public education from pre-K through university(including vocational and trade schools), dismantling the gun lobby, and federally mandating the rights of workers to organize through unionization, and canceling all medical debt are pie in the sky.
And “rather than my efforts being for the benefit of fossil fuel companies and hedge fund managers, as with Senators Manchin and Sinema, my efforts will be for the working and middle classes”.
I wish you all the luck in the world with that Matt. Pattie Murray, “the Mom in tennis shoes”, now the Senator for Boeing, had exactly the same goals in 1992. Thirty years later, running for her 6th term, the going has been not too productive for WA’s working and middle classes. But great for Boeing shareholders.
Sorry for being such a doom and gloomer today.
*I will have to admit that the Senator for Boeing worked as a pre-school teacher and as a parenting teacher at a Community College. LOL
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Yes, he has no track record as a politician. He does have a track record as a Marine and as a diplomat as part of the State Department. He courageously resigned in 2009 against the failed Obama surge in Afghanistan.
Hoh was right; Obama and the generals were wrong. But Hoh is the “dreamer”?
You can tell he’s more than a “dreamer” by all the enemies he’s made in the Democratic Party.
If we keep voting for the usual suspects when we’re offered better ones like Hoh, nothing will ever change, Dennis.
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Yes, and Obama’s “hope and change” had not just the good folk of North Carolina wildly optimistic, but the whole nation! My wife and I were dancing in the street for the dreamer! And right off the bat he caved in to the big Insurance Companies on Universal HealthCare when he had the Presidency, and the Senate and House. And will go down in history as being a huge disappointment in his two terms.
And Obama was not “the usual suspects”. What difference did voting for him make at the end of the day?
And we wonder why 6 in 10 Washingtonians choose the George Carlin option on voting day – they stay home.
And BTW who is Matt going to caucus with if all the Democrats are his enemies? Who is going to support cosponser his Bills? Republicans?
Bill, I hate to be playing the doom and gloomer here, but pragmatically, in a sensible way and not based on lofty philosophical ideals, Matt doesn’t have an iceberg’s chance in hell of achieving any of his noble goals. I am a great admirer of Ralph Nader, and he didn’t even make a chink in the armor of the establishment. And he had huge name recognition and established reputation for taking on the powerful.
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You could say this about so many protesters, dissidents, and activists throughout history. Rosa Parks: How dare she stand up for her rights and refuse to go to the back of the bus! She has no chance in hell of changing the system.
Pragmatism can be defeatism if you always go along with the system because the system is allegedly too powerful to resist.
No one, Matt Hoh included, is saying that change is going to happen overnight. Hoh himself knows he’s not going to win — this time. That doesn’t mean you give up and keep going to the back of the bus because Whitey says so. You keep fighting because you never know … if you surrender, then you do know.
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Bill please, I know from hard experience working in large corporations, you are never going to get anywhere being loaner fighting the system. No matter how “right” you are. You have to fight within the system. A 3rd party candidate in the US is not within the system and has NEVER achieved anything.
No third-party candidate has won the presidency since the Republican Party became a major party in the mid-19th century. Since that time, only in five elections (1892, 1912, 1924, 1948, and 1968) has a third-party candidate carried any state, and only in one of them (1912) did that candidate come out in second place nationally or electorally. Over 100-years of failure!
So when does one surrender from flogging a dead horse?
If the chance is 0.05% in your lifetime, do you just keep flogging that poor old horse?
Rosa Parks had a chance. A 3rd party candidate in the US – does not have a chance.
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It seems your choice is this: 0.00% chance with Democrats or Republicans and 0.05% chance with a candidate like Matt Hoh. Guess I’ll take Hoh.
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And BTW, with all this HOORAH nonsense flaunted by Marines…anything or everything except no…. I know many of my friends and colleagues who roll their eyes, and are of the mind that such attitudes would not translate very well into politics, or even in their workplace!
And as a diplomat as part of the State Department, “advancing U.S. hegemonic national security, promoting US economic interests (at the point of a gun), and reaffirming the US’s exceptional role in the World” – school is out for me as to whether that’s a good selling point on your resume in this day and age.
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Well Bill,
As they say in New Zealand (did you know Kiwi’s refer to New Zealand as Godzone)…
…”good on yuh mate! No worries”
Cheers
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BTW Bill, reading Matts answers again in the INDY Week candidates’ questionnaire he said….”we must update and modernize our political process”.
Maybe that’s a Project for you, Matt, and our friend Jeff can start on after Matt is looking for another challenge (that might take a while) next summer. In the meantime, I think I will undertake updating and modernizing the New Zealand political process. Give Jacinda some respite, a short period of rest or relief from something difficult.
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….”It seems your choice is this: 0.00% chance with Democrats or Republicans and 0.05% chance with a candidate like Matt Hoh. Guess I’ll take Hoh”
Which gets me right back to where we were a few weeks ago – YOU ARE WASTING YOUR VOTE.
But ..”no worries”.
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And what was Your boy Trump’s experience other than knowing how to screw his Creditors with all his bankruptcies? Altho, that skill would probably come in handy when America defaults on its Debt.
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Why were You or anybody else surprised by what Obama did, Dennis?
The following shows the Top 20 Contributors to Obama from 2003 to 2008, from the time of his run for the Senate up to his run for the White House. An interesting pattern emerges when you look for it. One wonders why the business press (ie, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, etc) is so frothed about the prospect of an Obama Presidency.
It seems pretty safe to say that, at least for the Prime Movers and Shakers on Wall Street, he’s Da Boy; one of Da Main Boyz, in fact.
And, as a Boy, that he’s been one of Da Boyz since even before he was sent to Washington. God Only Knows how much money these folks have given him since he announced for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; or, especially, since “The ¢ri$i$.” Or ~ even more significantly ~ how much is unreported. At any rate, here are The Numbers:
Goldman Sachs $748,880
University of California $625,911
JPMorgan Chase & Co $493,469
Harvard University $473,669
Citigroup Inc $467,849
Google Inc $426,174
University of Chicago $424,539
UBS AG $423,045
Skadden, Arps et al $394,335
Lehman Brothers $393,324
National Amusements Inc $385,803
Microsoft Corp $380,735
Sidley Austin LLP $379,802
Kirkland & Ellis $376,164
Moveon.org $347,463
Morgan Stanley $341,320
Time Warner $338,677
Wilmerhale LLP $335,398
Exelon Corp $314,063
Latham & Watkins $299,650
SOURCE: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638 (accessed 31oct08)
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Under Trump, who has a greater chance of becoming President, than a 3rd party candidate has of becoming a Congressional bench warmer, we might even be friends with Russia. We might even drop out of Nato. It’s about time! We might even pull all troops out of the middle east. Syria for example. And get Universal healthcare like all other civilized countries have. And stop the F35 bleeding. And facilitate states wanting to raise the minimum wage.
Back in 2000, Trump advocated for Universal healthcare. And will have the power of the President to fight the vulture blood sucking insurance companies. Something Matt Hoh could only dream of….
“We must have universal health care. Just imagine the improved quality of life for our society as a whole,” Trump wrote, adding: “The Canadian-style, single-payer system in which all payments for medical care are made to a single agency (as opposed to the large number of HMOs and insurance companies with their diverse rules, claim forms and deductibles) … helps Canadians live longer and healthier than Americans.”
Under the Trump administration Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics for the last three years of the Trump administration, recommended to the Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown, that the Air Force reduce the number of F35’s purchased from 1,763 to about 800. Roper questioned the cost of the jet.
On raising the Federal minimum wage: “I think it should be a state option. Alabama is different than New York. New York is different from Vermont. Every state is different. It should be a state option. Some places, $15 is not so bad. In other places, other states, $15 would be ruinous.”
You think a Congressional newcomer can achieve any of these goals?
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Heh, And what did the Secretaries of Defense and the Air Force, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force have to say about Mr Roper and his questions and recommendations about the F-35?
And far more importantly: What did Trump actually, really DO about the F-35 Goat Rope?
And if he actually said that about the Minimum Wage, that’s one of the few intelligent and sensible things he has ever said.
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Really I think it’s six of one, half dozen of the other. The power in Washington is in the hands of a few people – President, House Speaker, Senate Majority leader. If you’re not one of those you have to play go-along get-along. At most you get to have “input” to the people in power. And what fun is that (although it may be financially lucrative)? Nancy Pelosi said as much when she commented that if she lost her Speakership she would just as soon become the Ambassador to Italy. Ah the sun, the food, the wine – E bello in Italia. So support your most preferred candidate or support one only from the major party. Or none at all. No difference.
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Alex, it’s a tough road for a progressive challenger in North Carolina. In the 117th Congress, the state is represented by five Democratic and eight Republican Members of Congress, with one vacancy. The state’s U.S. Senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, are both Republicans.
Matt Hoh could not of picked a more toxic environment to pedal his “lefty” progressive agenda.
And North Carolina is one of those weird schizoid states like Wisconsin. North Carolina has voted for the Republican candidate in nine of the last 10 presidential elections. Conversely, has mostly elected Democratic governors in its history; only four Republican governors have been elected since Reconstruction.
President George W. Bush carried North Carolina by double-digit percentages in 2000 and 2004. But in 2008, a strong year for the Democratic Party, its presidential candidate Barack Obama narrowly defeated Republican candidate John McCain in North Carolina, 49.7% to 49.4%, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the state in 32 years.
In 2012, North Carolina returned to the Republican column with Mitt Romney defeating Obama 50.3% to 48.3%. Currently Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, both Republicans, represent the state in the US Senate. Signaling a swing to “righties” in the last decade.
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Another tidbit for political junkies: North Carolina’s Richard Burr was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict in Trump’s second impeachment trial. The North Carolina Republican Party censured him for the vote.
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Survey USA Poll, October 2nd. WRAL-TV (Raleigh, N.C.)
Beasley 46%
Budd 42%
Bray 2%
Hoh 0%
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Of the 12+ credible polls on the internet today – no others even show a result for Bray or Hoh.
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WA State Senate Race.
Murray(D) 49%
Smiley (R) 41%
All others 3%
Casting a vote for any other 3rd Party candidates – voted your conscience…but to what end eh?
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And in North Carolina if you vote 3rd party you risk giving your state to REPUBLICANS.
The downside of voting your conscience in a really tight race.
As of todays polling.
North Carolinian’s are risking their state going to the Republicons!
Budd(R) 48.4%
Beasley (D) 44.2%
Hoh (G) 0.7%
Geeting close to the same thing in Washington State. Murray’s position is looking shakey.
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As it stands today: Sadly, a vote for the noble Matthew Hoh is looking like being a vote for the Republicans.
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And that is exactly why voters in North Carolina and every other State should write in “None Of These Candidates” on November 8. See at https://bracingviews.com/2022/04/10/reforming-americas-elections-the-notc-way for details.
It would be a great way to set the tone for Election2024.
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Sixty years ago today, President Kennedy addressed the nation on what became known as “The Cuban Missile Crisis.” And sixty years later, the Bullshit that is America’s relationship with Cuba has continued virtually unchanged… :
JFK’S ADDRESS ON CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS SHOCKS THE NATION by This Day In History, History.com
In a televised speech of extraordinary gravity, President John F. Kennedy announces on October 22, 1962 that U.S. spy planes have discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. These missile sites—under construction but nearing completion—housed medium-range missiles capable of striking a number of major cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C.
Kennedy announced that he was ordering a naval “quarantine” of Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from transporting any more offensive weapons to the island and explained that the United States would not tolerate the existence of the missile sites currently in place. The president made it clear that America would not stop short of military action to end what he called a “clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world peace.”
Continued at https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cuban-missile-crisis?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2022-1022-10222022&om_rid=
A film of Kennedy’s complete address is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgdUgzAWcrw .
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i was a high school Junior that nite, and remember very distinctly walking out onto the football practice field the next day and wondering if this coming weekend’s Homecoming Game against our bitter cross-town rival would be cancelled because of a Nuclear War.
And the episodic Air Raid Drills where we took shelter under our desks from a nuclear bomb blast made that question all the more urgent. And challenging.
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Meanwhile, in Other News… . It is definitely shaping up to be a very interesting Winter for Everybody.
$200 DIESEL PUTS BIDEN IN AN UGLY CORNER: American Stockpiles Of Distillate Fuel Are Exceptionally Low, Which Could Mean Higher Costs For Everything From Trucking To Farming To Construction. by Javier Blas
What do Joe Biden and Harry S. Truman have in common?
Both presidents ran the US when American stockpiles of distillate fuel were exceptionally low. Currently, the US has just 106 million barrels of diesel and heating oil in commercial stocks; THE LAST TIME INVENTORIES WERE THAT LOW IN MID-OCTOBER WAS IN 1951, when Truman was in the White House. Typically, INVENTORIES SHOULD BE 30% HIGHER THIS TIME OF THE YEAR.
Such low levels are alarming because diesel is the workhorse of the global economy. It powers trucks and vans, excavators, freight trains and ships. A shortage would mean higher costs for everything from trucking to farming to construction.
The diesel crisis leaves the Biden administration facing very difficult choices. If he leaves the market alone, prices are likely to rise further before they drop; if he intervenes, either setting up minimum inventory levels or restricting exports, price increases will likely be felt elsewhere into the world. EITHER ROUTE WILL HAVE BIG IMPLICATIONS FOR INFLATION AT HOME AND FOR ENERGY SECURITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND EUROPE.
Continued at https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-10-18/diesel-price-over-200-a-barrel-leaving-biden-with-ugly-choices [EMPHASIS added.]
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And finally….. :
On the Real Meaning of MAGA
[Note: Anyone who is in the least confused or surprised by anything that has happened over these past six plus years since the dawn of The Age Of Trump obviously missed this interview with then-President-Elect Trump by al-Jazeera, back shortly after 11/9.]
President-Elect Trump On “Making America Great Again” [from the al-Jazeera Interview, late-November, 2016]
~ 1. What, exactly, do You mean, Mr Trump, actually, really mean by “Great”?
~ 2. When, exactly, did America become “Great”?
~ 3. Exactly How and Why did it become “Great”?
~ 4. When, exactly, did America stop being “Great”?
~ 5. Exactly How and Why did it stop being “Great”?
~ 6. How, exactly, will the American people and the world know that America is “Great Again”?
~ 7. And What, exactly, will a “Great Again America” actually, really Be, for Americans; and for the world?
When posed these questions during a recent exclusive interview with a reporter from al-Jazeera [the Muslim-owned and -operated, Doha, Qatar-based, global news network], President-Elect Trump responded as follows:
Trump: “‘What is… ?’ ‘When did…?’ ‘How did… ?’; Jeeezus… . That has to qualify as one of the, if not the, lamest… no, make that the stupidest and most irrelevant set of questions any soon-to-be-ex-reporter has ever asked the next President of the United States. Ever.
“Anybody who could even think up such a dumb bunch of questions like that wouldn’t, because they couldn’t, understand my answer, anyway. But, because I like Muslims…, no…, I really do. Because I like you folks, I’ll try and answer you.
“The question is not what ‘Great’ is; or when America got or stopped being ‘Great’; or even what it will be like when it’s ‘Great Again.’ Americans, real Americans i mean, don’t care about all that stuff. And neither should you Muslims, or anybody else in the world. The real question is, ‘When will America be Great Again?’
“Because, mark my podium-pounding words: It Will Be. And that’s so easy to answer that even you folks might understand it.
“America will be Great Again when I am President. When I am President, America will be Great Again because I, its President, am Great. Is that clear? Now, you may ask: ‘How do I know that?’
“I know that because I always have been, am now, and will always be Great. And further, because everything I have ever done, am doing, and always will do has always been, is now, and always will be Great. And finally, because anything and everybody, and anybody and everything that has ever had, now has, or ever will ever have anything to do with me has always been, now is, and always will be Great, as well.
“For example, my empire of skyscrapers, golf courses, super-malls and condos, strip malls and slum flats; my casinos, University, and donations to veterans; my trophy wives; and, of course, my reality-tv shows [in one of which You are a role-playing, bit-extra right now, even as we speak]. Hell… come to think of it, even my bankruptcies have been, are, and will be great; especially for the stiffs…. heh…. .
“All Great. All Great, just like me. And do you want to know Why they were, are, and will be Great? Because they are mine. All mine. I made them; I created them. All of them. All in my own image. And That’s exactly why they’re Great.
“And when I move my corporate headquarters from the Trump Towers down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue [‘and the White House up to New York ~ or over to Mar-a-Lago ~ for the weekends,’ he added, parenthetically], America will be Great Again. Because it will be mine. To create, or in this case, re-create in my own image.
“Does that answer your question?”
al-Jazeera: “Almost. Can you give us at least some examples of what America will be like when it is ‘Great Again'”?
Trump: “Sure. When America is Great Again, anybody that I, The President, don’t like or don’t want in my country will either be thrown out, or won’t be allowed to get in here in the first place. Sort of like Obama killing anybody he doesn’t like with drones; or Bush torturing anybody who crossed him. Only better because truly preemptive, and much less costly, in both blood or treasure.
“When America is Great Again, all our financial, fiscal, monetary, and budgetary problems will be over after I screw all those losers who have bought, paid for, and invested in our nation’s public debts at all levels: federal, state, and local. I have lots of real-world ~ and not just some Harvard Business School jerk-…, classroom ~ experience with that sort of thing, and know how to ‘Get ‘er Done,’ as they say in the parlance.
“When America is Great Again, all them punks in Beijing, Bonn, Brussels, and Basel, and Elsewhere, and all them prevert Muslim jihadist terrorists and their mullahs, ayatollahs, and sheikhs of Arabi, and anybody else with an attitude, will come face-to-face with the reality that you don’t fu~…, mess with The Donald. Or His country. Or his embassies or flag. Anywhere. Anytime. For any reason.
“When America is Great Again, we will put OurSelves, the U S of A, Number One again, and get rid of all those bull~…, bullshit rules and regulations that say that and what we can and can’t do to whatever we want to do to the land, the water, and the air, anywhere, anytime. Or for that matter, to people, too.
We may only be, what is it, 4 percent of the world’s population; but, as Great Again Americans, we need, want, demand, and, by God, have and will take our God-given Right to consume more than just our fair share of, what is it, 20 percent of the world’s resources, or to create 25 or 30 percent of its garbage and pollution.
“You’ll know that America is Great Again when I build a 3-hole golf course on the White House grounds, and open it up to the public, for a modest greens fee, of course. The plan is to have it ready to go in time for spring, when the weather breaks. I’m also exploring putting in an 18-hole PGA Championship course and lodge out at Camp David.
“Does that help you any?”
al-Jazeera: “It certainly does, Mr Trump. One other follow-up question before moving on to our other subjects: How soon do you think it will be before you’re on Mount Rushmore?”
Trump: “How’d you know about that? … Well, the plan is to unveil it just in time for my re-election Inaugural Ball in 2021.”
al-Jazeera: “Ahhhh. Thank you, Mr Trump. Now…, what about Russia?”
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BIDEN UNVEILS PLAN TO PAY OFF NATIONAL DEBT BEFORE MIDTERMS
According to SNN financial correspondent Chumppe Change, President Joe Biden has a plan to eliminate the national debt of 31 Trillion dollars before the midterm elections on November 8th this year.
Ms. Change states that she obtained an exclusive interview with Mr. Biden at a recent bail-raising cocktail party for his son Hunter.
Mr. Biden said, “In the 1960’s President Kennedy said ‘ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’ That time is now for every American, and I’ve got just the thing for you to do for your country.”
Mr. Biden continued, “Our national debt has reached the 31 trillion dollar mark. We need to pay it off. According to the latest census figures there are 332,403,650 American citizens. We are asking all Americans to pay their fair share, which is $93,260.11 per person. If every American will simply send in a check for that amount immediately, we will be home free.”
Ms. Change reminded the President that most Americans don’t have that kind of money just laying around. Mr. Biden stated that any citizen who needs to can obtain a new low-interest loan from the government for that purpose.
He said that everyone who wishes to pay by credit card can use the website usgov-gimme-dat-ding.gov. Those paying by check or money or der can just make it out to “Joe.”
by Ted Holland, Dis patches from SNN [Slobovian News Net work]
https://www.humortimes.com/104043/biden-unveils-plan-national-debt/
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SHOCKING! REVELATIONS ON WHY TRUMP STOLE TOP SECRET DOCUMENTS: Anonymous Insider Reveals The Real Reason Trump Stole Classified Top Secret Documents by Ralph Lombard
Ever since the August 8th FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, there has been much speculation as to why Donald Trump stole classified top secret documents. Some have supposed that he was planning to sell them to the highest-bidder or to use them for blackmail, while others have guessed that he kept them as “trophies” of his crime in office.
Now, in a bombshell revelation, an anonymous Trump insider known only as “Shallow Throat” is claiming that the ex-presidential loser intended using the top-secret documents as his own personal toilet paper.
[Note: See https://www.humortimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/45972539785_00bccede57_c-e1665814006320-400×345.jpg for accompanying visual.]
“It all goes back to a traumatic incident Trump suffered in his youth,” Shallow Throat explained, “when he challenged a roll of toilet paper to an IQ contest and lost. Of course, he later claimed that he had really won because the roll sheeted, but no one believed him. It left the young Trump shaken.”
Continued at https://www.humortimes.com/103949/shocking-revelations-reveal-why-trump-stole-top-secret-documents/
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22- comments with JG MOEBUS rants in my overnite eh Jeff!
All ripping someone a new one!
Not one complimenting the efforts of a fellow American trying to serve his/her country.
Everyone is dead meat to you.
And only one comment in both threads addressing government and the pro/cons of voting for a 3rd party candidate – the topic of the threads.
I read the first few lines of each comment – and decided reading them would be very depressing.
So I gave them all a miss.
And when you repeat dross like Trump averaged 21-lies a day – I turn off.
And I see Trump still lives in your head rent free – which I feel sorry for you about.
Cheers mate. Have a good one.
Dennis
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i offered an alternative to voting 3d party, Dennis: Vote “None Of These Candidates.” Apparently You missed that. Of course, that happens when one only reads the first few words, Especially if is in disagreement with something that reader said earlier.
And save Your sympathy for somebody who needs it: Like all Your fellow MAGAt Trumpatistas.
Have a Great day.
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Heh. Are You jealous because You only have 17 comments?
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I’m going to issue a “comment tax.” $10 per comment at Bracing Views if your name is MSGT Jeff or KIWI Dennis.
Finally, I’ll make some money off this gig. Or the comments will dry up. Which will happen? 🙂
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Heh. i guess that will depend on how important i think the Comment is. Do You accept bitcoin? Or credit cards? Or cash only?
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