NC's 13th Congressional District

Lacking any enthusiasm for both major party candidates, I decided to go with a different tack: Who will be the most beneficial for the arts?

Both Ted Budd and Kathy Manning are disastrous for the arts community.

The case against Budd is that he represents almost everything that I’m against—a reliable rubber stamp for the president, he’s a disciple of Grover Norquist and his economic philosophy (IOW, a reliable rightist). He also enthusiastically supported the dreadful tax law which includes a provision that adversely affects musicians. If Trump wants a budget to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, Budd will back it without reservations.

The latter is one of the chief architects of the STPAC boondoggle, which will decimate local arts by further widening the gap between the haves and have nots. Once the venue is up and running, Manning’s big money pals will have (even) less time for unconventional art projects.

On a side note, the Downtown Greensboro clique Manning remind me too much of Southwest Raleigh residents that I had to deal with during my days as a student at NC State: Arrogant, elitist, and dismissive of anyone deemed “lesser” than them.

Either Tom Bailey (Libertarian) or Robert Corriher (Green) would be better for Congress but I decided to back the latter since a vote for him would be a vote for something better than merely casting a protest vote against an ancient two party system. Also, it is not my responsibility to bail out a party that doesn't want to save itself merely because the majority party is so vile. It was that type of thinking that resulted in enough voters staying home two years ago.

Supreme Farce

These links accurately sum up my views on the Brett Kavanaugh hearings:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/09/11/the-kavanaugh-hearing-is-about-political-posturing-not-keeping-a-political-hack-off-the-high-court/
https://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-kavanaugh-farce

Welcome to a new age of regression

From the time Trump named him, Kavanaugh being the next justice was a done deal. Instead of the handwringing over abortion, my main concern was the new justice will eradicate what’s left of Civil Rights Era laws like affirmative action.
Kavanaugh’s past should have been enough to disqualify him but then, I realized who was running the show in D.C.—a president who has his own sexual skeletons in the closet.

Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him

The president’s quote along with the GOP’s “we heard you but we’re not listening” attitude demonstrates that it isn't an issue of being tone deaf, it’s really a matter of them being arrogant.
Trump could have nominated any right wing blowhard hellbent on overturning Roe vs Wade, rendering anti-discrimination laws useless and eviscerating environmental laws but the fact that he stuck with Kavanaugh is the truest reflection of his character.

Sports analogy

Under Anthony Kennedy, 5-4 votes were like Game 7s that were dramatic at times. Under Kavanaugh, those same 5-4 votes will now resemble Game 7 blowouts.

I was naive enough to believe that Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of BNSF in 2009 would lead to the railroad returning to the passenger rail business. As it turns out, this Nation expose makes a lot of sense as to why I was way off.

As it turns out, the wealthy are more interested in concentrating monopoly power than they are encouraging any kind of of true competition (for example, the newspaper industry has taken a hard blow as a result).

So, it's well past time to stop taking advice from people who want to use the capitalist system to revert America to an era where monopolies dominated the marketplace.