voting
Postmortems of voting woes, disenfranchisement, and how countries around the world elect government officials.
Hey Liberals: California COULD easily go red...
This week California will undergo its second recall election, which will determine whether or not democratic governor Gavin Newsom remains in office or is replaced by a republican challenger.
Lee AnthonyPublished 10 days ago in The Swamp
Bay of Pigs
When John F. Kennedy became President of the United States on January 20, 1961, he inherited every policy decision that Eisenhower had yet to carry out. (1) One of these was the planned invasion of Cuba to depose Fidel Castro and the 26th of July Movement. The Central Intelligence Agency had recruited and trained Cuban exiles to conduct the invasion. The operation became known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion after the point that the Cuban exiles made their landing. The planning of the invasion began with the 1959 defeat of Fulgencio Batista, the former president of Cuba. The CIA believed that the use of Cuban exiles would work because of their perceived success in the 1954 coup against President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala. In the 1954 coup against Arbenz, the CIA had used disgruntled Guatemalan military officers and Agency provided air support to aid in the coup. In the Bay of Pigs, there would be no such saving graces. The air and artillery support the US promised was either canceled or so delayed that Castro's forces easily repelled the invading forces. Additionally, the CIA had no understanding of the environment in which they were operating. In Guatemala, there had been differing factions to exploit within Arbenz's government. In 1961 Cuba there were no such factions left on the island. This was due to any that had opposed the 26th of July Movement fleeing the island in the wake of losing their benefactor. This meant that the invaders had no support to meet them once they arrived. This led to the spectacular failure that is now associated with the Bay of Pigs. By 1961, the CIA had grown confident enough in its abilities to conduct such an operation. However, they operated with undeserved confidence, as they had not learned how to conduct such operations in hostile nations. It is by looking at the CIA's overconfidence in their ability to pull off the Bay of Pigs Invasion that we see how Fidel Castro and the Cuban government were able to assert their sovereignty, and become a regional power despite the lopsided odds stacked against them.
Eric AndersonPublished 16 days ago in The Swamp
A Lesson from Buffalo Bill, Pawnee Bill and the New York Suffragists
Skirts aswirl, fourteen New York suffragists strode through Madison Square Garden. Among them were prominent society members such as the Misses Portia Willis, Harriet May Mills, Gertrude Lee, and Helen Benson. These were women far more familiar with Victorian silver choices than life in the open air. Entering the mess hall that April evening in 1913, they spied their quarry in the corner and beetled over. The two white-haired men were hunkered down over a meal of roast beef, corned beef and cabbage, lima beans, potatoes, and rice pudding. Maybe a little heavy on the starch, but Colonel Cody and Major Lillie had survived on much worse. And they couldn’t be too picky now either. Edison’s moving picture shows had eaten into the Wild West business. Old pals Cody and Lillie had thrown in together to create the “Buffalo Bill Wild West and Pawnee Bill Far East” Show. By autumn they’d be bankrupt, but for tonight they were still in the game.
Diane HelentjarisPublished 2 months ago in The Swamp
Voters Head To The Polls In UK Local Elections
Voters across the UK have been heading to the polls to elect MP's who will represent their interests in their local area. This comes in as part of the UK local elections which had to be postponed from last year due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
Ashish PrabhuPublished 5 months ago in The Swamp
Counting the votes
The political process in the United Kingdom is steeped in tradition, and no part of it is more traditional than the actual process of counting the votes and declaring the result. During a General Election this will happen across the country on election night, with the media anxious to catch each constituency’s declaration and calculate the “swings” that can be used to predict the overall result.
John WelfordPublished 6 months ago in The SwampVote! Before It's Too Late
I have always hated politics. When I became eligible to vote before the 2012 presidential election, I had no intention of voting. In fact, I did not even know who was even running against Barack Obama.
Alana RisterPublished 7 months ago in The Swamp
Sanitizing Our Politics: People Over 60 Should Not Vote!
In terms of percentages, senior citizens are more committed to voting than youthful citizens. The main reason for this is because old people feel attached to their neighborhoods and country due to their long (mostly permanent) duration of residence. They are true patriots- we have to give them that! But besides wanting “what is best” for the country and humanity as a whole, most old people are also less educated, mentally unstable, and completely out of touch with the modern and future worlds. Their political views are mostly idiosyncratic and their take on morality is totally offensive to younger, productive generations. We cannot trust people who don’t exactly understand the social context of the modern world to decide “what is best” for us.
Robert GitauPublished 9 months ago in The Swamp
Georgia won't let election go
The Georgia legislature will be forced to deal with the after-effects of the 2020 election regardless of who ends up in the Oval Office.
Melody DareingPublished 10 months ago in The Swamp
The Selection of the President in the USA. How Electoral College Works?
The candidate winning the majority electoral votes in one state gets all the votes of that state except in Maine and Nebraska.
Eli MshomiPublished 10 months ago in The Swamp
The Power of Our Vote
I was driving with my wife down Main Street when we heard over the radio that Joseph Biden was Elected at the 46th President of the United States. As I continued to drive, I began to cry. The feeling of anxiety I have been feeling for the past few months was finally lifted. Knowing that the possibility of having a President who will not continually use social media to deliver hate, lies and throw feces against the wall will be gone.
Joseph Williams JrPublished 10 months ago in The Swamp
Donald Trump Should Never Run for Office Again
The Fairest Election Ever This year was one of the most highly contested presidential elections of all time. It was also one of the most difficult due to the COVID-19 epidemic which caused states to make drastic changes to their voting processes. Fortunately, this was realized early enough that most states had enough time to make the changes necessary to have a smooth and fair election. This should go down as Donald Trump's greatest achievement as president.
Thomas BlackshearPublished 10 months ago in The Swamp
Why The Detroit Vote Was Legit
Detroit is an easy city for conservatives (and everyone else) to hate. It brings together all the negative urban stereotypes and makes them real in one place. Out of control crime plagues the city. The school system has been a slow-motion trainwreck for decades. City corruption is legendary; just seven years ago former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick went to jail for 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering.
Brian E. WishPublished 10 months ago in The Swamp
