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THE QUOTE
“As people do better, they start voting like Republicans — unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.” — Karl Rove
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LAST TWO DAYS
You can vote this morning at The Curry Building, 214 W. Seventh St. from 8am-noon.
Tomorrow is Election Day. Vote at The Curry Building or your local polling place.
Oh, and do me a big favor — vote for Barack Obama, okay?
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MONEY FOR RIGHTS
No matter who wins the presidential race tomorrow, the American Civil Liberties Union comes out ahead.
I’ve bet a C-note with the radical Chicago lawyer Jerry Boyle on the outcome. He’s certain Willard’s going to take the prize tomorrow and I’ve never wavered in my certainty that Barack Obama will be reelected. If Jerry’s guy wins, I cut a check to the ACLU. If Barack Obama wins — I mean, when Barack Obama wins — Jerry Boyle throws his wallet open.
Click For ACLU Online
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Book it, if you think the ACLU is a danger to this holy land, you and I disagree profoundly about the meaning of freedom.
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THE END OF AN ERA
Tomorrow will mark the end of national elections as we’ve known them since Dick Nixon foisted the Southern Strategy upon us in 1968.
That’s right, it’s been 44 years since Nixon and his gang of furry little mammals realized that the segregationist Democrats of the South and the blue-collar whites of the North could constitute a mighty, dependable bloc of voters for the GOP.
Nixon & His Southern Point Man, Strom Thurmond
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Nixon was a clever man. He realized that the southern Democrats had no interest in being Democrats anymore. He also realized that even though many northern whites were nauseated by Bull Connor and his fire hoses and snarling dogs, they had zero interest in living next door to black families. More important, Nixon knew northern white daddy-os, by and large, were terrified by the prospect of their daughters sitting next to black teenaged boys in high school civics classes.
Sickening — From A Distance
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Playing on these visceral racial fears, Nixon enticed millions of whites in this nation to vote for the man who, they were certain, would protect them from black people.
At the time, white people constituted nearly 80 percent of the electorate.
Since then, fear of a a black planet has been perhaps the single most important underpinning of Republican strategy in every national election. Willie Horton, anybody?
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Even the hysterical aversion of certain pan-troglodytes within the GOP to the idea of a Barack Obama presidency in 2008 indicated that Nixon’s simple formula was falling apart. That year, it was not enough to simply point out that Obama was brown. No, the operative canard used against him was that he was a secret Muslim, an Ay-rab, a mole who’d give his terrorist brethren the high sign that they could now fly airplanes into every skyscraper in every big city in the United States.
…And He’s An Ayatollah!
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Unfortunately for the antediluvian GOP, there are no longer enough southern segregationists and northern racists to swing an election. How many white families can you name that don’t include a brown member by marriage or birth?
Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with a brown niece or a black brother-in-law tends to change one’s outlook on things.
The terror is dissipating.
The numbers are working against that old guard Republicanism.
The US Census Bureau announced in May that minority babies accounted for more than half of all births in the United States in 2011.
That 80 percent is no more. Soon, it’ll be less than half.
If the Republican Party is to survive, it’ll not only drop the fear appeal but it’ll have to draw blacks and browns into its ranks. That’ll be a good thing.
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YOU DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ VOTE
Meanwhile, the old GOP dogs are trying desperately to hold on.
Realizing the numbers are working against them, Republican strategists have been trying to quash the vote.
Take Florida, where the Republican-dominated state legislature last year reduced the number of early voting days by nearly half. Again, the GOP is being clever. They know that most early voters are Dems and minorities.
It must frustrate the GOP that many Floridians are lining up for six to eight hours at a time to cast their ballots.
Miami Voters On Saturday
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The only events listings you need in Bloomington.
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Monday, November 5th, 2012
VOTE ◗ The Curry Building, 214 W. Seventh St.; 8am-Noon
MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — Doctoral Recital: Adam Karfeld on viola; 5pm
CLASS ◗ Sweet Claire Gourmet Bakery — Bread for the Holidays, Learn to make rosca de reyes, stollen, sweet breads, etc.; 6-8pm
VARIETY ◗ Cafe Django — Bloomington Short List, 10-minute acts, Hosted by Taylor McNeeley; 7-9pm
MUSIC ◗ IU Musical Arts Center, Recital Hall — Doctoral Recital: Miji Chae on violin; 7pm
BOOKS ◗ Boxcar Books — Cyberpunk Apocalypse Comix Reading, Presented by Nate McDonough & Dabiel McCloskey; 7-9pm
FILM ◗ IU Cinema — “I Can’t Sleep“; 7pm
MUSIC ◗ IU Ford-Crawford Hall — Piano Student Recital: Students of Lee Phillips; 7pm
MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — Doctoral Recital: Justin Bartlett on piano; 8pm
MUSIC ◗ The Player’s Pub — Songwriter Showcase; 8pm
MUSIC ◗ The Bishop — DJ Jeremy Brightbill; 8pm
MUSIC ◗ IU Ford-Crawford Hall — Student Recital: Kevyn Bailey & Sammy Johnson on clarinets; 8:30pm
MUSIC ◗ The Bluebird — White Denim; 9pm
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ONGOING:
ART ◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:
- “Paragons of Filial Piety,” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi; through December 31st
- “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers,” by Julia Margaret, Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan; through December 31st
- “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century;” through December 31st
- Celebration of Cuban Art & Film: Pop-art by Joe Tilson; through December 31st
- “Threads of Love: Baby Carriers from China’s Minority Nationalities“; through December 23rd
- “Workers of the World, Unite!” through December 31st
- “Embracing Nature,” by Barry Gealt; through December 23rd
- “Pioneers & Exiles: German Expressionism,” through December 23rd
ART ◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits through December 1st:
- “Essentially Human,” By William Fillmore
- “Two Sides to Every Story,” By Barry Barnes
- “Horizons in Pencil and Wax,” By Carol Myers
ART ◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibits through November 16th:
- Buzz Spector: Off the Shelf
- Small Is Big
ART ◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — Exhibits through December 20th:
- “A Place Aside: Artists and Their Partners“
- “Gender Expressions“
ART ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibits:
- “¡Cuba Si! Posters from the Revolution: 1960s and 1970s”
- “From the Big Bang to the World Wide Web: The Origins of Everything”
- “Thoughts, Things, and Theories… What Is Culture?”
- “Picturing Archaeology”
- “Personal Accents: Accessories from Around the World”
- “Blended Harmonies: Music and Religion in Nepal”
- “The Day in Its Color: A Hoosier Photographer’s Journey through Mid-century America”
- “TOYing with Ideas”
- “Living Heritage: Performing Arts of Southeast Asia”
- “On a Wing and a Prayer”
BOOKS ◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibits:
- “The War of 1812 in the Collections of the Lilly Library“; through December 15th
- “A World of Puzzles,” selections from the Slocum Puzzle Collection
ARTIFACTS ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibits:
- Doctors & Dentists: A Look into the Monroe County Medical Professions
- What Is Your Quilting Story?
- Garden Glamour: Floral Fashion Frenzy
- Bloomington Then & Now
- World War II Uniforms
- Limestone Industry in Monroe County