Wife and I voted in person. We voted at 8 AM. We were 3rd in line, waited maybe 5 minutes. We live in rural Oklahoma, maybe 500 people in precient.
Surprisingly, Last night CNN projeced Trump winning Oklahoma, literally in less than 2 minutes after the Polls closed.
Oklahoma is deep ruby red, ultra conservative. Amazingly, we live in a state that has Casinos and medical marijuana. Over 100 casinos and marijuana dispensories seen everywhere.
cjen opines: "Oklahoma is deep ruby red, ultra conservative. Amazingly, we live in a state that has Casinos and medical marijuana. Over 100 casinos and marijuana dispensories seen everywhere."
cjen describes a society closer to libertarianism than conservative polices.
e.g. "Our aim is to keep the Republicans out of your bedroom and the Democrats out of your pockets, so that you can make your own choices and live your life as you choose.”
Ref: Libertarian Polices [n.b. not a definitive list]
Unfortunately, "real" politics is more about politicians applying the powers they have to retain/expand those powers, as opposed to governing so as to perpetuate individual freedoms.
While I agree with much of the libertarian philosophy, it is too reliant on the "government bad" mantra. There are many things that can only be done with a strong and competent government. Treating with other nations is an obvious example. So is regulating interstate commerce. (Imagine how business would grind to a halt if every company had to deal with 50 different sets of rules and regulations for shipping and payment.)
Furthermore, some markets are vital but fail when they are exclusively private. For example, the auto insurance market would fail if private insurers were not regulated. Likewise, the health insurance market would collapse if left solely to the insurers and providers--they would only insure those who posed the least risk, and that number would shrink every year (insurance market failures are commonly known by the colorful term, "death spiral").
As far as "perpetuating individual freedoms" is concerned---freedoms can be abused, and for that reason cannot be absolute. I do NOT, for example, want my neighbor to have the "freedom" to set off explosives in his back yard or fire guns into the air. I do NOT want him to have the "freedom" to abuse other people or to discriminate against them based on their gender, race, religion, etc.. I do NOT want the company he works for to have the "freedom" to pollute the air or foul the water. Et cetera.
I think that one of the strongest arguments against libertarianism is illustrated by the continuing refusal of the public to wear masks. This "I will do as I please, because I have FREEDUMB" philosophy has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Our actions affect others. We should not, in fact, have absolute freedom or anything close to it. Nor should we listen to conservatives who bleat that every single rule and regulation is a heinous, pernicious assault on our sacred 'Murrican freedoms founding fathers Hillary sent emails blah blah blah belch grunt snort.
Biden has pulled ahead in Georgia. It is going to go blue.
I am getting ready to leave for the day, but I had to post this late-breaking news.
Biden ahead in Pennsylvania now. (◔‿◔)
President-elect Joe Biden
The media has called the election for Biden. Meanwhile, Trump is getting ready to hold a presser at a landscapeing business.
I'm starting to think that whiny little bitch Trump may not have the energy or the inclination to keep up his futile fight for very long. His lackeys, handlers, enablers, and stooges are all quietly crafting their exit strategies. If they want to have any career or political future, the best thing to do is tiptoe quietly away from the Orange Asshole while murmuring comforting words.
We will see more irrationality, spiteful destruction, and nastiness from the White House in the next couple of months. But maybe not much--some are saying that Trump will probably just say "screw it" and go play golf, as he doesn't want to hang around and be reminded that he's a LOSER.
I just watched President-Elect Biden's victory speech.
Didn't look sleepy at all.
Liberate the White House!
