Fuck the Electoral College

Recent Mistakes

With the depressing news that Trump is running again I reassured myself that he didn't win the popular vote last time and updated my page on the national popular vote interstate compact. We've inched ever so slightly closer to electing the President based on the will of the people but we're still not close enough. Based on 2021 Census population estimates a vote in Wyoming is worth four times as much as a vote in Texas. That should infuriate you regardless of your political persuasion. The President should be accountable to every state. Sign a petition, call your representatives, donate - do everything listed here - and don't let this happen again.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Fuck the Electoral College #politics ##resist #trump A vote for president in Wyoming is now worth four times as much as a vote in Texas. Stop this insanity now! )

I'm with Him

Updated on Wednesday, October 14, 2020

I'm with Him

Please vote for Biden. Do it as early as you can so Trump is crushed on election day and we don't have to suffer through weeks or months of uncertainty and possible election stealing.

I'm endorsing Biden because of these 923 reasons (and counting) and the 20,055 lies (and counting). Trump has likely killed tens of thousands of Americans, possibly hundreds of thousands before he leaves office. I wasn't a fan before the pandemic either.

Voting in the presidential election from California sucks. While the largest state burns, Climate Change is #32 on on Biden's list of policies. He's against the Green New Deal (the one that would pay for itself). Our broken electoral system means that the best possible outcome is a milquetoast centrist caretaker who probably won't do too much harm until it's someone else's turn. But make no mistake, it is the best possible outcome so I'll suck it up and vote.

Here's my list from January:

"I'd go Warren, Sanders, Kloubuchar, Biden, Yang, Buttigeg, Steyer, Bloomberg and (sorry again) Gabbard. Although, full disclosure, if it would get rid of Trump I'd vote for a McConnell/Graham ticket."

So at least it isn't McConnell.

We need a National Popular Vote, a representative Congress and more than two viable parties. But before that, we need Biden.

(Previously: I'm with Her)

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(Published to the Fediverse as: I'm with Him #politics #election #biden #trump ##resist ITHCWY endorses Joe Biden for President in the 2020 election. )

Fixing the Washington Post Democratic Candidates Quiz

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The Washington Post has a fun quiz that asks you 19 questions and then tells you which Democratic candidates you agree with the most. I took it last year and it said Warren, which I agreed with, but they have just updated it:

"Since we first published this guide in November, new candidates have joined the race and several others have dropped out. We have included everyone polling at least 1 percent in The Post’s national polling average. This new version adds questions on such topics as gun control and the criminal justice system."

Taking the quiz it now thinks I'm in the Yang Gang, even though I gave a thumbs down to universal basic income (my objection is that as much as I'd like $1,000 a month from the government I don't need it, there are much better things to spend it on). My full breakdown was Yang, Warren, Buttigeg, Sanders, Klobuchar, Steyer, Bloomberg, Biden and finally as a last resort Gabbard.

I think the problem with this sort of quiz is that it doesn't let you indicate how much you care about each issue. I'm totally fine with legalizing marijuana at the federal level but it's not the first thing I'd want any democratic president to work on. So I downloaded my results and fixed this by force-ranking the scale. My #1 was eliminating the electoral college and #19 was letting all prisoners vote (I agree with Sanders here, but he should work on it after he fixes the pot law which is #18 on my list). Once weighted on this scale my #1 issue is worth 1.00 points and #19 is just 0.05.

With this list Warren is restored to the top spot. In order I now have Warren, Yang, Buttigeg, Kloubuchar, Steyer, Sanders, Bloomberg, Biden and again if some form of green room food poisoning kills the top eight, Gabbard.

I'm a little surprised that Buttigeg is so high up this list and very surprised that Sanders (who I voted for in the last primary) is so low. Without any policy assistance from WaPo I'd go Warren, Sanders, Kloubuchar, Biden, Yang, Buttigeg, Steyer, Bloomberg and (sorry again) Gabbard. Although, full disclosure, if it would get rid of Trump I'd vote for a McConnell/Graham ticket.

If you want to try this and save a few minutes here's my spreadsheet. Add your quiz result in columns B through J and then rank the issues in column L from 1 to 19 where 1 is the most important to you.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Fixing the Washington Post Democratic Candidates Quiz #politics #election ##resist How to rank policy issues by importance to fix the Washington Post which democratic candidate do you agree with most quiz and discover who you should vote for in the 2020 primary. )

Open letter to Nancy Pelosi

Sent to Speaker Pelosi today:

As an American, constituent and supporter I am writing to ask you to investigate President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors and to pass articles of impeachment in the House.

You have said that impeachment must to be bipartisan. That would certainly need to be the end result in order for the effort to succeed. It does not make sense as a precondition for starting the process, especially if as you also said impeachment should not be started or avoided for a political reason.

You have also said that impeachment must wait for the completion of the Special Counsel investigation. Any crimes revealed by the investigation would be icing on the cake. By imposing this condition you are making the case that obstruction of justice by the President is normal, that violations of campaign finance law are minor and that using the office for personal enrichment is only to be expected. The President deserves to be tried in the Senate for these charges. The future of our democracy depends on us not accepting this behavior.

Disagreements on policy and personality should be resolved by the electorate. High crimes and misdemeanors are your job. Please do it.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Open letter to Nancy Pelosi #politics #trump #impeach ##resist #pelosi Disagreements on policy and personality should be resolved by the electorate. High crimes and misdemeanors are your job. Please do it. (Open letter to Nancy Pelosi) )

Resist Report

Updated on Saturday, October 21, 2017

Resist Report

My February resolution was to do something to #Resist Trump every day. Here's the breakdown:

Calls to Congress: 77

Non-profits donated to: 15

Failing media subscriptions: 4

Protests attended: 2

Advocacy sites launched and promoted: 1

I'll ease off a bit and try something else in March. But the routine of doing something every day has been really helpful. I've gone from saying I really should do something to actually getting in the habit of actively resisting.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Resist Report #politics ##resist Breakdown of a month of daily resistance to the presidency of Donald Trump. )

#Resist

Updated on Saturday, October 21, 2017

February resolution: do something to resist Trump every day.

Today I renewed my membership with KQED (which I had shamefully allowed to lapse after moving house) and for the first time ever subscribed to the failing, fake news New York Times.

Out of interest the signup flow for a LastPass devotee with a reasonable password policy is:

"Please provide a password that is between 5 and 15 characters in length."

Fiddle with settings...

"Passwords can contain only letters, numbers, periods, underscores, and hyphens."

Fiddle with settings...

"We're sorry, but we're having a technical issue right now. If you continue to have problems, please call Customer Care at 855-698-8545."

So my NYT password is a bit retro and easy to guess. Maybe Trump is on to something with this one...

Updated 2017-02-03 00:10:

Today I called my Senators (Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris) to oppose the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Updated 2017-02-03 21:00:

Donated to the ACLU.

Then doubled it via donation matching at work. And tripled it via matchingdonations.us. Satisfying!

(Turns out to not be a tax deduction and not eligible for matching, so only doubled. But no regrets.)

Updated 2017-02-04 21:53:

#Resist

No Ban No Wall

Updated 2017-02-05 20:41:

Donated to IRC, doubled with work donation matching.

Updated 2017-02-06 23:38:

Donated to Planned Parenthood. Again, doubled via the magic of work matching.

Updated 2017-02-07 21:07:

Called Representatives Matt Gaetz, Thomas Massie, Steven Palazzo and Barry Loudermilk to ask them to withdraw HR 861, a bill that would terminate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Updated 2017-02-09 00:42:

Donated the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Doubled with work matching.

Updated 2017-02-09 15:52:

Contacted my Representative (Nancy Pelosi) to oppose HR634, the Electoral Assistance Commission Termination Act. Read more here.

Updated 2017-02-10 13:56:

Today's action is a little self serving, but they might just goad Trump into impeachment: purchased season 42 of Saturday Night Live.

Updated 2017-02-11 19:49:

Resist Trump - Now!

Resist Trump - Now! at Ocean Beach.

Updated 2017-02-12 23:55:

Donated to Let America Vote.

Updated 2017-02-13 21:14:

Donated to FairVote and doubled with work matching.

Updated 2017-02-15 00:24:

Launched democracy.vision, an advocacy site for the National Popular Vote.

Updated 2017-02-15 21:13:

Via the magic of Fancy Hands called all the Republican members of the House Oversight Committee and asked them if they'd care to investigate  the circumstances leading to Michael Flynn having contact with Russia’s Ambassador and the Trump campaign’s alleged contact with Russia last year.

That's Representatives Jason Chaffetz, John Duncan, Darrell Issa, Jim Jordan, Mark Sanford, Justin Amash, Paul Gosar, Scott Desjarlais, Trey Gowdy, Blake Farenthold, Virginia Foxx, Thomas Massie, Mark Meadows, Ron Desantis, Dennis Ross, Mark Walker, Rod Blum, Jody Hice, Steve Russell, Glenn Grothman, William Hurd, Gary Palmer, James Comer and Paul Mitchell.

I was expecting and mostly got either a refusal to comment, or the party line that the Intelligence Committee should be the one to investigate. There were some more promising responses though.

Representative Rod Blum's office said "The Oversight Committee's priority is to investigate Michael Flynn. Since this is a fairly new occurrence in the last 48 hours, no statement has been released with details."

Representative Jody Hice's office said "A hearing will take place on the matter."

Representative Steve Russell's office said "It will be all over the news once it comes out."

This is my people talking to their people so third hand intel at best, but maybe something will happen.

Updated 2017-02-16 23:10:

Just donated to the Natural Resources Defense Council. And of course doubled with work matching.

Updated 2017-02-17 21:08:

Called the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to oppose the appointment of Steve Bannon to the National Security Council.

Updated 2017-02-18 21:07:

Donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This is a good one as you can donate in honor of someone and have them mail a card. You might be able to guess where mine went. Also doubled via work matching.

Updated 2017-02-19 18:24:

Donated to the League of Women Voters.

Updated 2017-02-20 20:14:

Just donated to the Sierra Club.

Updated 2017-02-21 23:50:

Donated to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and doubled with work matching.

Updated 2017-02-22 22:59:

Donated to the International Refugee Assistance Project, doubled with work matching.

Updated 2017-02-23 23:45:

Donated to Trans Lifeline (and yes, doubled).

Updated 2017-02-24 21:00:

Called Representatives Bob Goodlatte, Jim Sensenbrenner, Lamar Smith, Steve Chabot, Darrell Issa, Steve King, Trent Franks, Louie Gohmert, Jim Jordan, Ted Poe, Jason Chaffetz, Tom Marino, Trey Gordy, Raul Labrador, Blake Farenthold, Doug Collins, Ron Desantis, Andy Biggs, Mike Johnson, Ken Buck, John Radcliffe, Martha Roby and Matt Gaetz to ask them to support Jerrold Nadler’s Resolution of Inquiry into President Trump’s potential ties to Russia. Which apparently they're going to try and bury on Tuesday.

That's every Republican serving on the House Judiciary Committee. Thanks again to Fancy Hands.

Updated 2017-02-26 19:30:

This one is for yesterday, because sometimes you just drink too much Tannat and then forget to resist for one night. Subscribed to The Washington Post.

Updated 2017-02-26 19:35:

Donated to Human Rights Campaign.

Updated 2017-02-27 23:58:

Donated to NORML.

Updated 2017-02-28 11:00:

End of February finale - one more push to actually investigate Trump's ties to Russia. Representative Darrell Issa actually came through on this so the list is one name shorter. Called Representatives Bob Goodlatte, Jim Sensenbrenner, Lamar Smith, Steve Chabot, Steve King, Trent Franks, Louie Gohmert, Jim Jordan, Ted Poe, Jason Chaffetz, Tom Marino, Trey Gordy, Raul Labrador, Blake Farenthold, Doug Collins, Ron Desantis, Andy Biggs, Mike Johnson, Ken Buck, John Radcliffe, Martha Roby and Matt Gaetz to ask them to follow Representative Darrell Issa's lead and appoint a special prosecutor.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: #Resist #politics ##resist #kqed #nyt #lastpass #password #scotus #aclu #irc #plannedparenthood #epa #hr861 #diannefeinstein #kamalaharris #mattgaetz #thomasmassie #stevenpalazzo #barryloudermilk #eff #hr634 #nancypelosi #snl #letamericavote #fairvote #democracy.vision #fancyhands #michaelflynn #jasonchaffetz #johnduncan #darrellissa #jimjordan #marksanford #justinamash #paulgosar #scottdesjarlais #treygowdy #blakefarenthold #virginiafoxx #thomasmassie #markmeadows #rondesantis #dennisross #markwalker #rodblum #jodyhice #steverussell #glenngrothman #williamhurd #garypalmer #jamescomer #paulmitchell #sierraclub #leagueofwomenvoters #stevebannon #nsc #splc #nrdc #cair #irap #translifeline #bobgoodlatte #jimsensenbrenner #lamarsmith #stevechabot #steveking #trentfranks #louiegohmert #tedpoe #tommarino #treygordy #raullabrador #dougcollins #andybiggs #mikejohnson #kenbuck #johnradcliffe #martharoby #hrc February resolution: 28 days of resistance to Donald Trump. Donations, phone calls and protests. #resist! )

Recount

Updated on Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Recount

I'm on a donation spree. This time to the Jill Stein recount effort. I believe that this will change the outcome of the election as much as I believe that there are real questions about vaccines and autism. But this is clearly making Trump mad. And the madder he gets the sooner he is likely to get himself impeached. Why not help out?

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Recount #politics #election ##resist Recount the 2016 election - not because it's going to work, just to make Trump mad. )

National Popular Vote

Updated on Wednesday, February 1, 2017

National Popular Vote

I just donated to the National Popular Vote campaign. The idea is that if enough states pass enabling legislation they will all throw their electoral college votes behind the popular vote winner. Electoral college neatly short-circuited without any constitutional amendment needed. California is already signed up for this. You can check your state here.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: National Popular Vote #politics #election ##resist Support the National Popular Vote campaign and elect the US President based on individual votes and not the Electoral College. )