From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Subject: Re: the US elections...
Organization: LLNL
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 20:55:23 GMT

In article <2AFA012E.23183@news.service.uci.edu> cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese) writes:

>In article <gate.LD0PTB1w165w@pil.UUCP> alizard@pil.UUCP writes:
 
: WE WON!!! ...

	And all the right-wingers can always move to another country
if they don't like it here, ha ha.

	{Satire of right-wing rhetoric}

: Areas to watch in a Clinton Administration:
>
: 1. Gun control. If you feel as I do that it's a bad idea, make a
: habit of contacting the White House...

>I do not feel as you do.  Guns I have no problem with -- but there is no
>reason in HELL why any sane individual should have an assault weapon, or
>why the gov't shouldn't check on you a little, or at least give you a
>handling course.  Jesus, what do they make you go through when you buy a
>car, a mere device to haul your ass from point A to point B? 

	And I fouled up on a tricky driveway and I have to take the
test all over again...

: 2. Censorship. Tipper Gore is the Vice President's wife. She is
: potentially much more dangerous than Marilyn Quayle, especially
: as her husband, unlike Dan Quayle, is going to be allowed input
: at the highest levels of power.

>Al Gore, bless him, has never given me any indication that he carries
>Tipper's politics anywhere near him, or that he uses his position as an
>excuse to push her ideas; though, if a little input DIDN'T occur, I'd be
>frankly surprised.  

>Marilyn Quayle accomplished absolutely nothing, aside from managing her
>husband's sorry-ass campaign for Goddess knows how long.

	In the late 1970's. And it was _that_, and not her children,
that she quit her law career for. So she's hardly the Perfect
Housewife (remember when she said that having careers goes against a
woman's fundamental nature?). Since Danny Boy intends to try to run
for Prez some day, we may not be seeing the last of those two.

I can't expect
>the First Lady But One to be any different now.  Besides, Tipper stirred
>up plenty of trouble before without being any where near the White
>House.  I'm not concerned.  (This, however, is not a shock since I love
>Al Gore.  Read the man's book -- it will make you love him, too!  The
>guy talks in the beginning about learning about all the shit that's
>happening to the env. and trying to talk about it in the Senate and
>getting furious and frustrated as all hell when he realizes that they
>just don't care.  He sounded like Cassandra, with whom I empathize
>greatly.  Unless he moons the audience at the MTV awards, I am not going
>to dislike him.  Tipper is a twerp, but you can't get him without her,
>and I'm willing to take the *minimal* risk to get someone who really cares
>about the planet.)   

	I haven't gotten his book, but I guess I ought to. I looked at
what he had to say about cars, and he said only a little bit. But her
certainly didn't sound like some flaming Chicken Little.

	I don't know what he said about public transit in the book,
but one thing that _has_ to be done is build more rail-transit lines.
A lot of buses almost seem like some car-company conspiracy. That's
one of my fixations, but that's another story, perhaps.

: 3. War on Drugs. In order to keep his promises on crime and the
: budget deficit, we MUST stop the war and bring the boys home. ...

>No, I'm not advocating necessarily legalizing the hard drugs, like
>heroin and crack.

	Another solution would be to develop antidotes, so that
kicking the habit would be a _lot_ less painful.

But I am starting to wonder if, logically, that is
>not the only real long-term solution.  It galls me to have to "give in"
>like that, but fuck gall and fuck pride.  We have a problem to solve.  
>(The soft drugs, like marijuana, have no business being illegal -- and
>you are talking to someone who has NEVER smoked a single joint.  I'm
>starting to think I'm the only human left in North America who hasn't
>smoked or ever been drunk.  Ah, well . . . who cares?) 

	Well, Janis, I would like to assure you that you are not
alone. I have never smoked _anything_ in my life, and I don't intend
to. My only tastes of alcoholic drinks have not been very pleasant; I
am a lifelong teetotaler also.

: This is also, with Bush no longer able to appoint more Supreme
: Court justices, the biggest threat to civil liberties at a
: national level we have left.

>Again, I am not concerned.  Perhaps that simply means I am already
>expecting the worst.  (I think Willie had best take a page from FDR's
>book and find out how the HELL he got re-elected after Hoover got
>bounced.  The economy sure as hell hadn't picked up then, either, and
>four years later, he was right back in.  What did he do, and how can it
>be altered to fit Clinton's needs for today?)  

	Good question.

	One thing that makes _me_ happy is that the Republicans are
getting into the finger-pointing game. I hope they start pointing
their fingers at each other.

: 4. The Religious Right organizations and their stealth candidates
: that they are bringing up at the local levels. Their kind of
: local organization literally took the GOP away from its
: "moderate" majority. They are running for city councils, school
: boards, and other political posts that largely determine how
: local services are delivered, how our schools are run and what
: is taught there, and provide a training ground for candidates for
: higher office. I have no objections for Christian viewpoints
: being represented for candidates for public office. I DO object
: to candidates who have a moderate agenda for a public office and
: a real agenda for the hard core Christians. These people can
: steal our rights while attention is being paid to "top of ticket"
: issues.

>Yaaaaaaggh!  I know.  For me, though, abortion is a top of ticket issue,
>as it is for most women.  If the men tend to ignore it or poo-poo it,
>you can depend on us in the more liberal areas to shove it out in the
>open. 

	_I_ won't ignore the abortion question, despite my gender.

: 5. Independent candidates and new political parties. A
: fundamental principle has been discovered. If an independent
: third party can come up with enough money (note- political
: candidate ad rates are lowest available commericial rates), it
: can buy large blocks of national TV time and get instant
: credibility on a national scale. Perot, Marrou, and even what's
: his name from Natural Law Party became national presences. Look
: for more of this.

>Agreed, adn this may very well sap the strength out of the right-wing.
>Perot got a lot of attention from the moderate conservatives who were
>scared or felt sold-out by Bush's bootlicking and kowtowing to the
>religious right.  If Perot does what he suggested he might -- forms a
>third party -- we could see moderate conservatives (most of them)
>flocking to him in droves, and leaving the Repubs holding the Bible and
>not nearly as much money as they had before.

	And one good thing: reform the election laws to create more
opportunities for third parties: things like runoff elections (the
biggest two go off head-to-head if nobody wins really big), a
preference system (list 1st, 2nd, 3rd preferences, and if your 1st
preference loses, then your 2nd preference will get a vote, and so
forth, until someone comes out clearly ahead), or multiple-candidate
districts (avoids the gerrymandering sometimes done in an attempt to
ensure fair representation, and also allows for third-party
opportunities).

	Maybe with all these Republicans who didn't like the Religious
Right, we _might_ have a chance.

: 6. We need to keep Clinton's feet to the fire on his campaign
: promises... health care, economic growth, targeting R&D...

>I want mostly to see EFFORT on his part here -- real, honest, sincere
>EFFORT.  I don't expect he'll accomplish anything in a mere four years,
>so I don't know how hot the fire should be.  I don't want to fry the
>poor guy's nards, since even a sincere effort could meet with sinking
>(and it will take time for improvements to show), but I want him to
>remember what he said.  AND I want some environmental muck-racking on
>Gore's part; that's a major reason why I voted for them. 

	I agree.

	Clinton and Gore (or at least their speechwriters) have said
many of the right things, now they'll have to deliver.

	Or else.

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