NASA's Venus Transit Flickr pool
Wisconsin recall results by county.
Tom Barrett gets slapped by an angry supporter.
What the Walker victory may mean for the Left.
One bright spot for Wisconsin Democrats: they may have taken the Wisconsin Senate.
Other election results to note: dueling Democrats in New Jersey, Birther Orly Taitz's dashed hopes in California, Big Tobacco appears to be winning its fight against a cigarette tax in California, and 2 California cities vote to slash public worker pensions.
Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Scott Brown agree to debate.
Vote fraud is pretty rare in Florida.
Did you watch the Transit of Venus? I watched NASA's livestream while in transit myself.
NJ Transit of Venus
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Hopefully, the voting count holds and the Dems are able to take over control of the Wisconsin state senate as a result so at least it shuts down Walker from being able to further his agenda for now---you know he sure as hell would like to be able to do as he pleases now that he "has a clear mandate from the people" that what he is up to is all well and good!!
I can tell you he (Walker) didn't get my vote...I am really happy to hear that the senate is now back in the hands of the Dems. I can tell you they have no love at all for Walker and will stop him cold.
Citizens United is like inviting Bill Gates to your Friday Night poker game. It doesn't matter how well you play or how poorly he plays, sooner or later he will have everyone's money.
Wait until they have completely pulled the teeth of all unions. Then the working class will discover that even if they didn't belong to one, it was the unions setting the bottom line on pay. Now non-union employers won't feel any pressure to keep wages and benefits up to forestall union organizing; result will be lower wages for everyone, and of course more money for that second yacht for the boss.
The Transit of Venus was awesome. Though I know the numbers they are abstractions so what struck me most was the visual showing how very small Venus is vis a vis the Sun and we are essentially the same size -- yet we think ourselves so important.
Money can't buy love, but it for sure can buy elections. When we wake up it will be right at the end of a six day work week with no health insurance in a barracks.
Yes it is D-day in Wisconsin and D doesn't stand for Democrat, or democracy - it stands for decimation - the decimation of the working class, the natural resources, education.... It stands for deficit - the deficit Walker claims to have made disappear, that will only become larger and reappear in the years to come. It stands for depressing - depressing to see the State handed over to the Koch bothers on a silver platter carried by Walker. And it stands for dead last, where Wisconsin will be on jobs numbers, on education, on all the things that make a society good. And it stands for drain - where all the values Wisconsin has held over the years have gone... down the drain. Yes, it is D-day in Wisconsin but the battle has not been won...and the war is just beginning.
wonderful result in Wisconsin--a wake up call for the nation that elections are for OPENLY for sale and that voters must at long last think for themselves or be dragged into a scheme that will benefit few at the expense of many- would you really have spent $2 Trillion to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is it really wise to elect Republicans because we have no jobs when they have spent four years trying to take away old and new jobs? Or better yet, let us look at the past four years and ask what have Republicans done to make our economy grow--and no--millionaires are not the job creators--it is you and I--the people who spend money on cars, food, clothing, education --we are the job creators--and GOP what have you done for US?
why would the GOP try and eliminate jobs? for dems, eliminating jobs means dependence on government for charity and that dependence results in re-elections. i understand why dems want to eliminate jobs, but why would republicans? there's nothing for them to gain if they do ...
I'm so depressed... What are all those people thinking?????
I wish I knew and I voted for Barrett. I can tell you that most people don't give their information from forums or blogs. They get their information from local television and with 8 times more ads from walker and most of them either lies or at best half truths you can see why he won. I counted 4 straight ads from walker or his backers in a row and it happened more than once the past 6 or so weeks. Not an excuse but most of the country didn't see all the ads which projected walker as this savior of our state. (a complete lie)
Answer: They are not thinking.
Next Question Please.
I am demoralized. A loss I expected, but this wide a margin I did not. I hope tonight Rachel will review the graphic with the large nonprofit organizational donors, which shows that the big money for the Democrats comes from unions. Without that money, the Democrats will flounder economically and then politically. The Republicans' attacks on unions are a direct attack on the Democratic party, or what's left of it. Meanwhile, national-level Democrats are getting more money from big corporations than ever - is it any wonder the DNC has turned into Republicans Lite?
I'm holding out hope that the Dems in my state, Maryland, can hold on to office while continuing to stand for core Democratic principles like civil rights, economic opportunity for all, and public education. It's clear other Democrat strongholds, such as the upper-Midwest states, have completely lost their political compasses.
Oh, and I agree with those who are holding out hope that the Wisconsin State Senate can put the brakes on Walker (assuming he doesn't get indicted first). We'll just call them Obi Wan - they're our only hope.
Considering that 900,000 signatures were achieved to initiate the recall election of Scott Walker and his victory by a margin of approximately 200,000 votes is troubling. I can not help but to wonder about the percentages of those whom signed the petition and those how did not. Despite the magnificent ground game against Walker, could these numbers be a cautionary tale for the Democrats? It may serve as yet another warning of why it is necessary to show up and vote, especially when the opposition has virtually unlimited funds to buy the election.
Just days before the election, the Republican party took the lists of people who signed the recall petitions with their address and phone numbers. They made robocalls to these people advising them that if they had signed the petition, they did not have to vote yesterday. That their signature on the petition would count as a vote. The number from which the calls came was directly traced back to the Republican party. That's only one of the dirty tricks they played in this election.
Rachel referred to Orly Taitz as "Moldovan," but let's not forget that she lived several years in Israel and is a huge supporter of that [parasitic] country, and that likely informs her negative views of Obama.
This republican victory and all the insane noise emitted by the rest of the party, serve no other purpose than to give cover to carl rove in the event he must steal yet another national election. Don't agree? Just read what wisconsin voters are saying about this one. They did not care about the issues, they seem to care only about the validity of recall elections. They will still vote for Pres, Obama in the fall. HUH???? Americans are throwing away their democratic rights with both hands. Even up here in safe, sleepy Canada we are starting to notice that America is getting very creepy. C'mon Yankees THINK!
man there's some angst out there ... the pie charts are cute and show that SOOO much money came from out of state and that there was a huge financial interest on the side of republicans. true.
now do some quick math sheeple ... MONEY COMING IN FOR WALKER WITHIN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN TOTALED OVER $10 MILLION. THAT'S THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE GIVING TO WALKER'S CAMPAIGN. MONEY COMING IN FOR BARRETT WITHIN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN TOTALED LESS THAN $3 MILLION. THAT'S THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE REFUSING TO BACK BARRETT.
heavy liberal/democratic precincts reported 119% voting (not a fox statistic). The people of WI donated 3x the money to Walker.
time to get over your loss of extravagant benefits and join the real working class ... either the days of the handouts come to an end or we collectively come to an end ... voters choice ...
and oh yeah .. they did ...
This.
This is what you, the left/progressive/liberal, have to overcome in order to swing the country away from the shift toward right-side politics.
People who are willing to transfer power from elected representation and public accountability to the barely-concealed financial overlords who heavily influence your elections.
People who are willing to trade any remaining power and rights that an assembly of workers have for any low-wage, no-health care job.
People who are willing to trade away social safety nets.
People, feeling that if they're going to suffer, so should everyone else.
You see, the Winconsin recall vote showed that the sleeping giant isn't the moderate/independent left; it's the moderate/conservative right that will wake up when the votes are needed. Political wisdom says the majority of the country is moderate right, and you will see the results of that in the remaining year.
You're going to see a conservative-leaning Supreme Court strike down Health Care reform as convoluted government overreach.
You're going to see the Elizabeth Warren lose to Scott Brown. Comparing the Walker-Barrett pre-vote polls with the results, your faith in polls has to be shaken, and democratic Massachusettes voters can no longer be complacent in their activism.
You're going to see the both the House and Senate controlled by the Republicans as an overall repudiation of Congress, who will then enact austerity measures similar to what you're seeing in Europe, to similar effect, in the name of balancing the budget while redistributing money to the wealthy.
Finally, you're going to see a Romney presidency. Too much opposition money exponentially weights against an Obama base that's not as fired up, because hope is giving way to disillusionment. He toyed around too much with the middle and right, sacrificing the idealism of the left, so that resignation fuels any remaining Democratic vote, not passion.
The message of the Occupy movements, protesting financial irresponsibility and abuse, was neutered and muddied by the same power-brokers that organize and mobilize the Tea Party unrest. Left and center media cannot be heard over the noise of the conservative talk radio web, and frankly, Fox News dominates the ratings over MSNBC and CNN. MSNBC pundits (and that includes you, Rachael), when your echo chamber is small, you need to seek new avenues. Even when MSNBC broadcasts progressive political ads, Comcast then broadcasts conservative/Republican ads for local advertising. CurrentTV is a bust, and Keith Olbermann has been silenced, while Rush Limbaugh cackles at it all on a bed of money.
And this isn't even the worst of it. If the conservative right manages to provide a compelling faith-based argument, even if they have to give the slightest concession for equality and immigration, you'll see a migration of Latino and Black voters, both massive Democratic voting blocs, swing toward the right for religious reasons.
So, Democrat, Liberal, and Progressive voters and media pundits, the Winsconsin recall was your latest clarion call. Doing nothing, and doing the same thing will not stop the incoming Right Wave. How will you reach people like midwestautoworker, if they don't visit sites like these?
Never be surprised at the stupidity of the American voter, they will usually vote against their own self interest whenever they have the chance. It doesn't matter what their income is, what their educational level is, or even what their IQ is, most of them really believe that someday they will be among the elite. Jay Gould, one of the 19th centuries greatest robber barons once boasted that he could hire 1/2 the working class to kill the other half. Midwestautoworker just proved it.
Indeed - excellent response. I would, however, disagree regarding educational level. I believe the data indicates it does make a difference.
sorry guys ... mba in accounting ... ms in management and a bs in multicultural studies ... and the difference is, i'm not working to be part of the elite. i'm working and voting to be able to determine my own future and to determine what to do with my own resources, those i've worked for ... i'm not interested in working for those like jay gould ... i'm interested in working for myself ...
additionally, i noticed the responses are focused on "you're stupid" rather than commenting on the facts highlighted in the msnbc article? classic libs ....