Bill Thompson, this is to continue my response begun yesterday:

   5) I cited "Know Nothings" for the sociological component of fear. I generalized about the attitude of the "tea party"—again, I argue, a rather vague concept—that I have seen expressed on signs at rallies or in quotes from supporters. What you see as a "limited, legal immigration process," such as that you say the "tea party" favors, I see as a wall built along our border with Mexico and draconian laws enacted that…

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Thank you, Bill Thompson, for the civil response to my blog. Let me respond, point-by-point.

   1) The origins of the "tea party" may go back to rallies held in 2007. Rick Santelli ranted on CNBC about bailouts of underwater mortgage holders. As The New York Times has written,:"The tea party agenda is not well defined, though it is anti-government, anti-spending, anti-immigration and anti-compromise politics."  (9/26/10) Given that several organizations claim to be "tea party"…

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   Paul Ogden has written that the so-called tea party has to re-define its message and return to its roots as a populist economic movement. He wrote yesterday that the "tea party" has been made, unfairly, a scapegoat for Mitt Romney’s loss in the November 6 election. As Paul wrote:

   "I am not saying my Tea Party friends shouldn’t be pro-life, against immigration reform, or even against same sex marriage.  Again, everyone has issues that bring them to the conservative table where…

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   On December 1 the hiatus of "Civil Discourse Now" will be over, with discussion of the ways in which the presidential primary system has corrupted the way in which candidates for our nation’s highest office are selected. On December 15 the topic will be "World Peace." I shall be "for" the concept of World Peace.

   Some Republicans have stated their party received a "mandate" from the voters in the November 6 election because the Republicans retained control of the United States House of Representatives. "Mandate," in this context, is defined as "the instruction as to policy given or supposed to be given by the electors to a legislative body or to one or more of its members."  The American College Dictionary, 1962 ed.

   As I wrote last week, Indiana’s delegation in U.S. House is a…

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  This the second part of a series of blogs about how the Libertarian Party can become more relevant.

   I want to clarify why I have chosen to write on this topic.

   I am not a member of the Libertarian Party. I voted for Ed Clark in 1980 because I thought he wanted to legalize drugs and where I lived (Indiana) was going to vote for Reagan anyway. My vote was a statement. I did not know who the Koch brothers were or that one of them was Clark’s running mate.

   My…

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   The Libertarian Party has seemed to be an also-ran in elections in Indiana, and other States. This year the Libertarians ran Rupert Boneham for Governor and Brad Klopfenstein for Lieutenant Governor. Rupert impressed me as intelligent, thoughtful, and caring. He is not fine-polished as a public speaker, but makes up for that in sincerity and smarts. (Brad’s smart, too, but the focus was on the lead on the ticket.) Still, Rupert garnered only some four percent (4%) of the vote.

  …

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Where in the United States Constitution is there a requirement that a bill pass the Senate with at least 60 votes? Hint: there is no indication the Framers discussed filibusters.

In 2009, the Democratic Party held 57 seats in the United States Senate. Two independents (Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut) regularly, but not always, voted with the Democrats. Al Franken’s victory in Minnesota was held up for several months as his and his opponent’s lawyers wrangled in… Continue

   Republicans hold seven of Indiana’s nine seats in the United States House of Representatives.

   The votes cast this past Tuesday would indicate those numbers are not representative of the votes cast, by party.

   According to the numbers issued by the office of the Indiana Secretary of State, 2,473,264 votes were cast in the nine Congressional District races. 1,313,845 votes (53.12%) were cast for Republican candidates. 1,100,327 votes (44.49%) were cast for Democratic…

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   Four years ago, many of us celebrated the victory of Barack Obama in the election for the office of President of the United States. The "change" that was promised was stymied soon after the inauguration, in part by maneuvers in the United States Senate. Still, something similar to national healthcare was enacted. 

   Today we can look forward to four years without Mitt Romney in the Oval Office. We also perhaps will see as many as (or more than) four justices of the United States…

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   Here are some thoughts on today’s election. With three elections’ experience at the polls—not a lot, but enough

   1) If there is any question about your ability to get to the polls, get there ASAP. Because the number of satellite sites for early voting were reduced, a lot of people may have to scramble for transportation today. See if someone can give you a lift.

   2) Make sure you know where your polling site is. If you do not, go to the Marion County Voter Information…

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The Saturday, November 3 show can be viewed by hitting the "UStream" tab. We shot seven segments. The first four were with Judge Jim Gray, Libertarian Party candidate for Vice President of the United States. The last three segments were election predictions of our panel of Jon Easter, Matt Stone, and Jeff Cox, as well as hosts Mark Small and Paul Ogden.

   Guest: Libertarian Party candidate for Vice-President of the United States, Judge Jim Gray.

   Today’s (November 3, 2012) Show: 

   Place: Rupert for Governor HQ at 129 East Market Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America, Planet Earth. (That we are shooting at Rupert’s (Libertarian Party) HQ does not mean The Show endorses any Libertarian Party candidates. However, the Libertarian Party was gracious and courteous enough to allow us to shoot there.)

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   Election predictions time!

   On Saturday’s Show we welcome guest panelists bloggers and political savants Jon Easter (IndyDemocrat dot blogspot dot com), Jeff Cox (no-boxes-allowed dot blogspot dot com) and Matt Stone (IndyStudent), to stream live at 11 a.m. to discuss Tuesday’s elections.

   (I have kept a close eye on the various races for Coroner around the State. How does one "actively" campaign for that job?)

   Members of the panel will prognosticate about the…

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