Desert Political Opinion

Adios, Rush

Administrator — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:09:00 GMT

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Sign our Petition

Send Rush His Boarding Pass

If health care reform passes, Rush Limbaugh says he'll move to Costa Rica.

We have one word for El Rushbo: Adios!

Help Rush take the first step: Send him his boarding pass. We'll deliver a copy in your name to Rush's studio.

It’s time for Rush to drink margaritas on the beach – permanently.

Political Ad of the Day

Administrator — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:42:00 GMT

Political Ad of the Day

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The Third Branch of the United States Government

Administrator — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:21:00 GMT

The Third Branch of the United States Government

Lost Generation

Administrator — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:19:00 GMT

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward.
Some palindromes utilize each word, and some use each line as a unit.
This video is written in the latter.
Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite.

This is only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant.
Make sure you read as well as listen forward and backward.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old.
The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP.
This video won second place.
When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck
and broke into spontaneous applause.
So simple and yet so brilliant.
Take a minute and watch it.

LOST GENERATION

Is Meaningful Change In Washington A Pipe Dream

Desert Observer — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:20:00 GMT

I campaigned and voted for Barack Obama for president and am satisfied he's performing in that role as well or better than any alternative from either party. Nevertheless, because of politics his actual accomplishments have not been as substantive as I, and others who voted for change, had hoped. I lay most of the blame on the legislative branch of government and am resigned to the belief that body will continue to hinder meaningful change and progress throughout his term of office.

The economy, perceived financial favoritism and the perception Washington is doing little to improve the situation is probably the major reason Obama's approval ratings have fallen. The country sees in the nation's capital a legislative body beholden to lobbyists and that favors financial and other interests. There's great resentment about the financial favoritism shown to banks and special interests that's been compounded by the cavalier manner in which many recipients have operated since receipt of public funds. I suspect the single publicity feat any administration could foster would be to take punitive measures against the "too-big-to-fail" and other "big bonus" institutions. Breaking up at least one bank into one of more smaller units, confiscatory taxes against huge bonuses and stock options, and incessant hounding of senior management in those institutions would probably all sit well with the general public. It may well be the time for substantive political populism is at hand and a political party that wholeheartedly adopts that approach could be the one that rises to the top in voter opinion rankings. A significant GOP win in 2010 could serve to make determined populism the only hope for Democrats to hold onto their governing position in 2012.

If Obama proves to be a single term president, and that's a distinct possibility, I would also expect his successor to be one, as well. The nation's dissatisfaction with Washington has been growing and the cause of the discontent is not one the public can easily rectify. It's possible to turn out a President in a national election, but it's not possible for the nation to replace the Senate or the House. Those incumbents are elected on a regional basis and too often constituents believe their representatives are the "good guys" and it's the others who are problems. A discontented national electorate, sick and tired of Washington lobbyists and bought-and-paid-for legislators safe from replacement, may continue to blame the White House incumbent and vent their unhappiness by replacing him or her. However, since they can't change the legislative branch, there's not much chance they'll achieve a goal of meaningful change. Obama could be the first in an age of single term presidents.

Is it time to reconsider our form of elective government and switch to another system? Are there other ways for an aroused electorate to really bring about change in the current system? If the Senate and House can't be turned out en masse, is there any reason to believe meaningful change will ever be possible?

Bond Shands
Palm Springs

A copy of this blog has been posted on MyDesert.com

Another Despicable Human Being

Desert Observer — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:55:00 GMT

Another Despicable Human Being

Radiotalking head Rush Limbaugh, heard weekday mornings locally, reportedlyis urging citizens not to use the White House website to locate"charities via the White House website (because it) puts your money atrisk of not reaching Haitians". Check out the following link:

Limbaugh: 'We've Already Donated To Haiti, It's Called US Income Tax'

TheHaiti situation is a disaster of epic proportions and only a trulydespicable human being would use the sad event for political purposes.

The WhiteHouse.gov site provides options to be linked directly to either the American Red Cross International Response Fund website or CIDI's "Haiti Earthquake Humanitarian Emergency" web page. CIDI is the Center for International Disaster Information.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs

A copy of the above has been posted in the blogging section on MyDesert.com.

Sad News From The North

Administrator — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:43:00 GMT

Measure G Revisited - "Beating a Dead Horse"

Administrator — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Palm Springs ballot Measure G promised a half percent (0.5%) decrease in the local Telephone User Tax rate. In addition to the attractive tax decrease promise, the measure received lots of promotional support. The local newspaper gave its endorsement. The City Manager made the Fire and Police Chiefs available to promote the measure as an emergency services need. The Desert Sun produced more than a half dozen "news" stories clearly slanted in favor of the measure's passage. Is it any wonder it passed with 70% of the vote? One could wonder why it failed to receive 100% of the vote.

My citizen journalist efforts in opposition to Measure G included blogs, flyers, phone calls, a Valley Voice piece in the newspaper and a couple of interviews with small community publications representatives. My purpose was to alert voters to the "hidden agenda" behind Measure G and the deceptive manner in which it had been placed on the ballot and was being marketed by city officials. Here's a summary of that deception.

The City of Palm Springs has been illegally taxing cell and cable phones and it recently became clear they would soon be required to discontinue those collections and refund the back taxes. The ballot measure was needed to legalize the taxes and the back tax collections. The City also wished to update the Telephone User Tax ordinance to cover more phone products, to use the Emergency Services Fee for employee salaries and other general fund purposes, to add a provision for automatic annual tax increases, and to automatically apply the tax to new telephone technologies as they come on the market. None of this "hidden agenda" was adequately disclosed on the ballot or in the official ballot information mailed to registered voters. In order to get Measure G on the ballot it was placed on the Consent Calendar of a City Council meeting where it passed unnoticed and with no debate or discussion. The official voter ballot information provided voters included a misnamed "Impartial Analysis" by the City Attorney and a favorable argument signed by the five City Council members. No argument against the measure was provided and no effort was made to obtain one or otherwise achieve a balanced presentation.

Measure G passed, the election is over, so why am I beating a dead horse? It's because of the unfair, biased treatment accorded opposition to the measure by The Desert Sun newspaper. Eight "news" stories about the measure appeared before the election, another on election day and again after the election in the Palm Springs Sun. None of these "news" stories quoted a local source in opposition to Measure G! The reporter interviewed an out-of-area Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association representative (probably by phone) and quotes from that source were used in the local stories. I was never interviewed, contacted, quoted, or asked for names of others in opposition to the measure! The newspaper treated local opposition to the measure as if it simply didn't exist!

In his "Reflections on Elections" blog, Desert Sun editorial page writer James Folmer wrote "It's a little satisfying that a majority of voters supported every candidate we endorsed ... And .....they supported Palm Springs' Measure G, the telephone users utility tax." That bit of self-congratulatory and smug sense of satisfaction probably sums up the general attitude of those in managerial positions at The Desert Sun newspaper. It's sad they appear unable to comprehend that the 2,018 votes against Measure G probably came from those who ignored the newspaper and made themselves fully aware of what the issue was about. When the paper, and others speak of the need for informed voters, perhaps they should look to the folks who voted against Measure G as the ones who truly care about elections and what they represent. As for me, I continue to lament our sad fate to live in a community with only The Desert Sun as our local newspaper. We deserve better.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs
November 6, 2009

A copy of this post appears on the MyDesert.com blog website.

Palm Springs Fuzzy Math In Election Results Reporting

Administrator — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:46:00 GMT

Palm Springs City Council candidate Ginny Foat was re-elected with approximately 47% support from voters at the polls and Chris Mills, the other re-elected council member, received approximately 43%. Those figures appear different from the 23.96% and 21.64% ones reported in The Desert Sun. Which ones are correct?

The Desert Sun election result reporting is merely a copy of data from the county Registrar of Voters. The figures reported include percentages, provided by the Registrar, which can be misleading. In the Palm Springs City Council race the report indicates 13,612 votes cast! Also missing is a note pointing out the Registrar's percentage totals can be misleading, for each ballot represents up to two votes. In other words, the 13,612 vote total reported came from approximately 6,800 ballots cast. Therefore, the percentages reported need to be doubled in order to arrive at a better approximation of the support each candidate received.

Two letters in today's paper make clear how easily the vote percentage figures provided by the Registrar are misleading. One letter stated "neither incumbent could garner even one in four votes" and the other letter noted "each of them got fewer than 25 percent of the votes". In both cases it appears the writers are under the impression the numbers reported in the newspaper represented percentages of voter support. As noted above, that's not the case.

The Desert Sun would be performing a better service by providing a bit more detail and doing some analysis of information rather than simply copying data from the Registrar of Voters. Information about the number of ballots cast along with the actual percentage of voter support would both be helpful, not only in this race, but also in the Desert Water Agency and Desert Hot Springs election reports.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs
November 5, 2009

A copy of this post appears on the MyDesert.com website.

Palm Springs City Council Race - Incumbents and Challengers

Administrator — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:53:00 GMT

The current Palm Springs city council race is the fourth I've experienced since permanently relocating here in 2002. The 2003 race was a heated affair that pitted Councilmember Ron Odin against incumbent Will Kleindeinst for mayor. Kleindeinst was seen as anti-gay, such views produced a big turnout at the polls, and Odin won handily. Major illness had me sitting out the 2005 race (is "bedding out" correct?), though I did manage a token bit of support for my choice of candidates that year. The 2007 race started early and lasted slightly more than a year. No incumbents were up for reelection and a handful of newcomers really wanted those two council seats. That's the year enough money was spent by candidates that it's fair to say the winners bought and paid for their seats. Two candidates' vote totals were quite close and it's probable the local newspaper endorsement played a decisive role on the winner's behalf.

Here we are, it's 2009, and another city council race is underway. The political atmosphere difference between this year and 2007 is like night and day. If it weren't for all the candidate street signs, it's doubtful many would remember this is election season. There's little excitement and voter's attentions are on other things. One problem is the imbalance between the two incumbents running for reelection, and their ten challengers. The incumbents have name recognition, mailing lists of supporters, a cadre of workers from past elections for help, fundraising expertise, money in the bank, the perks of incumbency, and the endorsement of the local newspaper. The challengers are lacking practically everything in the list. Their only asset is an offer of "fresh blood" as an alternative to the "experience" promise from incumbents. It's just not enough to overcome the incumbents' advantages.

Incumbent politicians generally assert a claim of "experience" as a major reelection asset, but that's also promising "more of the same". The Palm Springs City Council doesn't need "more of the same". Incumbents have grown smug, stale, indifferent, overly self-confidant - even arrogant, and overly proud of their record while in office. It's unrealistic to expect any will adopt a different stance and hopes for betterment rest with the prospect of new faces on the council. There probably aren't going to be any council newcomers after next month's election, but there's genuine talent among the challengers, and perhaps some will stick around and try again. There's no reason why serious candidates shouldn't use 2010 to reach out, attract supporters, develop mailing lists, recruit fundraising support, write Valley Voice pieces for publication in the local paper, join clubs and charities, become city commissioners and do everything possible to establish name recognition and public awareness of their capabilities. I hope they do and that some become council members in 2011.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs
October 25, 2009

A copy of this post appears on the MyDesert.com website.