tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post133911613049334293..comments2024-03-18T14:20:19.438-04:00Comments on Ramona's Voices: An already belligerent 21st Century enters its TeensRamona Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07160614050077886238noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-12843016108431437962013-01-09T18:59:51.812-05:002013-01-09T18:59:51.812-05:00Aaw, jeez. Why'd you have to go and say a thi...Aaw, jeez. Why'd you have to go and say a thing like that? (Blush)<br />Ramona Grigghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160614050077886238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-53953353485408948032013-01-08T23:13:41.706-05:002013-01-08T23:13:41.706-05:00Mona, one final thought: There is nothing common a...Mona, one final thought: There is nothing common about the way you think or the way you write. You have a gifted mind and an exceptional talent.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12697488354381359795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-51271187326599394462013-01-08T14:51:31.799-05:002013-01-08T14:51:31.799-05:00Thanks for your vote, K. I have forgotten about &...Thanks for your vote, K. I have forgotten about "Constant Comment" tea. I never understood what it had to do with tea, anyway, so it was easy to forget.<br /><br />But from one Yooper to another--what the hell is going on with that bridge? The fares keep going up and up and they never stop working on it. I don't get why it's still a toll bridge, anyway. It's a link on the federal highway system and should be maintained by the Feds, like every other bridge on the system. If I recall, there wasn't supposed to be a toll once the bridge was paid for. (I think we can thank the trucking industry for the toll raises. They put up such a stink every time anyone suggests they might pay more since they and they alone cause the most damage to roads and bridges. What are they going to do? Boycott the U.P?)<br /><br />I love your idea about raising the fare northbound and making it free southbound, though. People should have to pay to come to God's country. And if we have to leave, we shouldn't be punished by having to pay when we do. Great idea! Who do we call to get it done?Ramona Grigghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160614050077886238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-65882235850003181712013-01-08T10:49:20.188-05:002013-01-08T10:49:20.188-05:00Thanks for your input, Louis, Never thought about...Thanks for your input, Louis, Never thought about RV as being showbizzy! I like that!<br /><br />Yes, I do like that word "vigilant". No telling what they're going to come up with in the next couple of years, and they still have loads of money behind them. It won't matter much if the Tea Party dies out--they may be the most vocal but it's the Fat Cats we need to worry about. They can't afford to let the Republican party die out as long as the Republicans are willing to give them everything they want.<br /><br />So here we go. Bumpy ride. But we can do it.Ramona Grigghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160614050077886238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-733252650631178952013-01-08T10:40:34.314-05:002013-01-08T10:40:34.314-05:00I vote for leaving the blog title the way it is. Y...I vote for leaving the blog title the way it is. Your new title kinda confuses me and has me thinking about a cup of tea.<br /><br />Your point about the century being in its teens does make one think. Altho, too many politicians are acting more like toddlers than teens. It's like the "Terrible Twos" and the temper tantrums.<br /> <br /><br />Your thing about looking back at the 20th century with fondness is right on. I never in my life thought Nixon would be looking good, but now he does. He signed into law a bunch of good things, EPA, OSHA, Earned Income Tax Credit, etc. Now he is looking like a bleeding heart liberal instead of the sleazy crook that he was. He also did wage and price freezes that screwed most of the people.<br /><br />I still remember things pretty good and one of the things I'm still pissed about after 40 years is when they jacked up the license plate fees to lower the fare on the Mackinac Bridge. They should have raised the fare Northbound and made it free Southbound.Kulkurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09198195648066700925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-87180579246180034392013-01-08T09:48:27.005-05:002013-01-08T09:48:27.005-05:00Hi R,
Don't change the name of your blog. I lo...Hi R,<br />Don't change the name of your blog. I love RV, it has a certain ring to it, kinda showbiz. I agree that we must be vigilant. It seems everyday the Republicans hoist some stupid crap on the American people. So the word for 2013 is VIGILANT!! Louis de Piterahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11571705847604688260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-41833009769359529142013-01-08T09:32:31.146-05:002013-01-08T09:32:31.146-05:00Whew, Linda, you've presented some pretty star...Whew, Linda, you've presented some pretty startling reasons for keeping on. (Glad you're on our side!) Both the electoral college and gerrymandering are ridiculous tools and have nothing whatever to do any more with ensuring good government, but proportional voting is just nuts! I've heard the arguments against one person, one vote but I'm not convinced it wouldn't be the best for us. Something has to change to give the hoi polloi more power.<br /><br />It's clear the Republicans are already gearing up for 2014 and aren't going to give up on annihilating the Democrats any which way they can. Even after all of their antics in 2012, they're still all too powerful. I go from being confident we can take them in 2014 to lamenting the clear fact that it can't and won't happen. I see the articles on the demise of the Tea Party and the embarrassing poll numbers for the Republicans and I'm still wary of any chances for us. It could be that I'm remembering the Reagan years and the GWB years, where their successes never should have happened, but did.<br /><br />I latched onto "Constant Commoner" as a possible new blog title because I think now is the time to be proud of who we are and where we came from. (Most of us, that is.) We are the commoners and any wins in these battles will have to come from us. It reminds me of the "Black is Beautiful" campaign during the civil rights movement. It was a stunning turnaround and I, a white person through and through, embraced it as if it were my own. Even now the thought of it makes me want to cry. How that must have resonated with blacks who had been held down for years by their own feelings of inadequacy. From that moment they began dressing as they chose, stopped straightening their hair, and began to give their babies names that were never heard on the plantation.<br /><br />It could be that "Les Miz" has been an influence, too, I don't know. Or it could be that as a liberal and a Democrat I'm tired of being called "the elite" when that's so far from the truth it's laughable.<br /><br />It could be, too, that since I have no real education to speak of, and since I'm blue collar, that makes me as common as dirt. And I like it that way. (Not so much the lack of education; I do envy the college-educated and wish I had had the same opportunities. There are such huge gaps in my knowledge bank it can be pretty embarrassing at times. lol)<br /><br />Anyway, I need to think more about this and it could be that I won't change anything! It is the New Year, after all, when thoughts of change are hovering over us all. LOL<br /><br />Thanks again, Linda. I really do love that you're here.<br />Mona Ramona Grigghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160614050077886238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772956368752433326.post-86031813985507022972013-01-08T06:57:40.877-05:002013-01-08T06:57:40.877-05:00"Constant Commoner" is good, but so is &..."Constant Commoner" is good, but so is "Ramona's Voices." One of my early editors used to stomp around the newsroom muttering, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." You will have to be the judge of its state of disrepair. But I will say that, for me, your proposed new blog name brings to mind, "The Constant Weader," a popular liberal commenter on the NYTimes.com.<br /><br />It also reminds me of the wonderful Ralph Fiennes film, "The Constant Gardener." But don't change anything because of me; marketing was never my specialty. And I'll like your posts regardless.<br /><br />In other news...your talk of this belligerent century entering its troubled teen years reminds me that one of the big stories soon to come will be G.O.P. ongoing efforts to win elections by cheating. These right-wing vandals will use any means necessary to rig vote outcomes. Far from abandoning their voter-suppression efforts and other shenanigans from 2012, they'll be embracing new, more odious, ideas.<br /><br />For example, Republicans in Ohio and Pennsylvania are determined to change their states' electoral-college votes from winner-take-all to proportional distribution. As far as I can tell, there's nothing to stop them from doing it. Neither state is subject to the special rules under the Voting Rights Act that, say, Florida and Texas are. If it gets to the U.S. Supreme Court, I think there would be little surprise which side would prevail.<br /><br />This would be a very troubling turn of events for Democrats. As it stands now, gerrymandering has given the G.O.P. influence in Congress it simply doesn't deserve; manipulating the Electoral College means they could steal the White House (again).<br /><br />Now I personally think the Electoral College has reached its shelf date. But replacing it with proportional voting based on Republican-drawn Congressional Districts doesn't seem equitable either. And applying it in some states but (strategically) not others isn't fair either. We need to go to a popular-vote reckoning, but I don't know where the political will for that comes from. *Sigh.*<br /><br />You're right. We need to be vigilant. Anyone who doesn't see the ruthlessness of today's Republican Party just isn't paying attention. That's why I'll be one of your voices "rising up!" no matter what you call your blog.<br /><br />Happy New Year, Mona, and many many returns! <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12697488354381359795noreply@blogger.com