Political Conventions 1860 v 2012

~ Building in Chicago where 1860 Rep. Convention was held...

We're not going to talk much about the political conventions this week, or really at any point in the future.  It would be like a local newspaper sending a correspondent to cover the local High School football team's pep rally then covering the opponent's...

'Yay Elephants -- Beat Donkeys!' ~ ~  'Yay Donkeys -- Beat Elephants!'

Historically, the conventions used to matter..  Political candidates were Actually chosen there after the wealthy and influential power-players negotiated back room deals and 'secret' ballot votes' to ween the candidates down to one who would represent the party best.

Now its just speeches--  not even long speeches anymore... just efficient speeches meant to start promptly when national TV begins its coverage and efficiently to wrap up with 5minutes to spare.

And the speeches say nothing...  'Elect me and I promise this...and I promise that..  and my opponent will lead us to this bad place, or that awful period...'

Have you ever wondered how Abraham Lincoln was nominated to represent the Republican Party in 1860?

Its an interesting story and one that shows in many respects how times have changed (and yet in certain ways, how politics really hasn't)

A brief background of the Republican party back then:  The Reps used to be the Whig Party. They did not possess quite the same meaning or value systems as Britain's Whig Party, but obviously the name was taken from them.

After the 1852 Election, the Whigs had disbanded as a political party.  Two years later in 1854, the Republican party was formed to fill the void, to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous modernization of the economy.

The party had almost no presence in the South, but in the North it enlisted former Whigs and former Free Soil Democrats to form majorities, by 1858, in nearly every Northern state.

1860 was the first year the Republicans were going to seriously put up a challenge to win the Presidency and obviously as we all know, Lincoln did win even though he was not on the ballot in any Southern state.  He was able to secure victory in that general election because the Democrats had splintered off into supporting three distinct candidates.

That's quite an interesting piece of history in itself but we're going to stay focused just on how Lincoln, who despite the 'Lincoln-Douglas' debates of a few years prior,  was not a household name outside of Illinois, was able to secure the nomination...

The Republican National Convention met in mid-May 1860 in Chicago, after the Democrats had been forced to adjourn the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina without a nominee due to deep, contentious differences over the slavery question and other economic matters.

The Dems would later re-convene in Baltimore, Maryland to disastrous results

~ 1860 Political poster (Lincoln did not yet have his famous chin beard)

With the Democrats in disarray and with a sweep of the Northern states possible, the Republicans were very confident going into their convention. William H. Seward of New York (who eventually would serve as Lincoln's Secretary of State) was considered the front runner, followed by Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio (who served as Lincoln's Treasury Secretary), and Missouri's Edward Bates (served as Lincoln's Atty Gen. for his first term)

As the convention developed, however, it was revealed that Seward, Chase, and Bates had each alienated factions of the Republican Party. Delegates were concerned that Seward was too closely identified with the radical wing of the party, and his moves toward the center had alienated the radicals.

Chase, a former Democrat, had alienated many of the former Whigs by his coalition with the Democrats in the late 1840s, had opposed tariffs demanded by Pennsylvania, and critically, had opposition from his own delegation from Ohio.

Bates outlined his positions on extension of slavery into the territories and equal constitutional rights for all citizens, positions that alienated his supporters in the border states and southern conservatives. German-Americans in the party opposed Bates because of his past association with the Know-Nothings (The Nativist, anti-foreigner & anti-Catholic party actually called themselves the American Party  [the term 'Know-Nothings' was given by outsiders]).

Since it was essential to carry the West, and because Lincoln had a national reputation from his debates and speeches as the most articulate moderate, he won the party's nomination on the third ballot on May 18, 1860.

Back then Vice Presidents were not chosen by the nominee.  Like the Presidential nominee, the VP nominee was voted upon by the party power-brokers.  On the 2nd ballot, a man named Hannibal Hamlin would be his VP on the ticket and for Lincoln's first Administration  (VP and future President Andrew Johnson would be nominated onto the ticket for the 1864 Convention)

Hard to say honestly which method is better.. allowing the Party or the candidate to select?

So many billions of dollars pissed away by candidates representing both parties-- the vast majority going to court voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.  And usually its all decided by March even though many states do not have primaries till May or June.

All this of course to save money for the media bombardment of the general election.

So if you're going to watch the DNC do their little thing, then enjoy.  We're not watching.. We didn't watch last week either except for Clint Eastwood's speech which once we realized was full of intentional pauses, thought it was quite refreshing in its uniqueness.

In the future, we hope celebrities take a page from Tom Hanks in 'Castaway' and just speak instead to a volleyball with a smiley face imprint on it.

Spiritual Impotence

Its Tuesday.. For millions of Americans its back to work after a three day Labor Day vacation.

Perhaps the holiday should be renamed Happy Part-Time Labor Day, or more accurately Happy Temp Day!

Of course for tens of millions of Americans, there is no job to go to; just another day of dreariness as they submit resumes, wait for call-backs that never come, and wonder how they're going to make it another month.

Those people really don't get talked about much on TV.

You don't see the news coverage of people living in their cars; living on the streets.  The stories about how lower-middle class families are surviving when their wages have dramatically decreased or disappeared entirely; what its like to live in a world with zero savings and little to no hope things are getting better..

Nah, Too dreary-- hard to sell and push 'Recovery' if those people are given a voice; hard for advertisers to counter reality with their fake-cheeriness.  Plus if you see too much suffering, you're likely to blame the current administration and dare to vote the opposition, which is really not what the media wants.

So instead, the media presents success stories and focuses on the market.

Ahh.. That worthless stock market.  Funny how something so impotent keeps rising.  We guess you can lift just about anything with long enough puppet strings.

We thought what happened Friday was an absolute farce and proof-positive of how much it Deserves a fierce market crash (hopefully this autumn).

So here's what happened:  The bottom feeders had their plates out for some 'meat'; some QE3... 'This is going to be It!  We're going to get it boys!'.. and they waited for the bearded Bastard to speak... and he said things aren't great and needs to improve, blah blah...

Then by the time his speech was concluded, there was no commitment to QE3 coming... NONE...

And the plates were empty; meatless.  The roaches and rats were upset... BUT... something remarkable (and disingenuous) happened..

Some of the filth who make their living in this field said 'Heyy... Don't you rats get it??  Bernanke tipped his hand.. Yesss!!  He's saying that QE3 is coming in a couple weeks...  Let's keep the Rally going!!'

And from absolutely Nothing real or encouraging, came a 100pt rally within the first hour of his speech.

And that's how this finance con game is played.  The average American imbecile knows nothing about finance..they just see the market and if it rises, then its a good day for America, and if it drops, not so much.

Yesterday's market news was "Global shares gain on central bank hopes, eyes on ECB" -- Reuters.  In other words... all it takes for markets to rise is someone in a position of power simply making an empty promise or infer of help on the way..

All someone from Europe or the US has to say is 'We're monitoring the situation closely' or 'We have plenty of tools left at our disposal'  or 'We will do what is necessary..' and that's good enough...

No one expects real action so no one seeks it..

Profits and dividends always come first to the bottom feeders

When the stock market crashes (hopefully) in a couple months, that will knock down this illusionary house of cards fraud called the global economy.

And perhaps if the crash is serious enough and the scum-investors finally admit that the governments and central backs are completely impotent to fix the economy solely by focusing on benefiting those at the top, maybe... just maybe governments will start enacting public policy that seeks to bring up all classes of people, and not just the well-to-do.

Remember, as horrible and 'depressing' the Great Depression was,  without it, there'd be no unemployment welfare, no Social Security, no Medicare...  and there would have been no impetus to get millions of people of every walk of life and educational background working..

It would have continued to be a pre-FDR government policy of 'Live or Die.. you're on your own'.  And while many heartless fiscal conservatives would prefer it be that way, trust us, its not ever going to go back to that without a major fight on their soft, pampered hands.

This is how we see America--as a "home" that is more and more inhabitable due to devastation, rot and intentional neglect.  Its making the inhabitants sick.  Ultimately a new home needs to be built upon the foundation that is sturdy and lasts.  But one can not build something new upon something old and decrepit.

And as long as few to no one in the 'family' demand a better 'home', the longer everyone makes due living in squalor while some members of the family i.e. the decision makers, live in luxury.

People.. we luv ya lotz,  But you better wake up...

The reason you don't have a job (or a job as good paying today vs 2008) is because no one in political office has done a thing to make it so.  No one has passed any legislation or forced companies to hire you.   And no corporation will ever pay someone a fair wage when there's others more hungry and desperate who will do your job for less.

The reason your home values keep dropping is because no one really cares to pass legislation to stabilize the housing market.  Its more important the banks don't keep getting hit with losses.  Its more important new homes are built which simply glut the market and put buyers in the driver's seat to determine purchase price.

And the only reason most have not felt the true affects of this recession is because they have credit cards to buffer the pain, and a nest egg which is constantly dwindling.

Too many people simply sit on their collective asses, bitch and moan about things then perhaps get up just enough to vote every 4 years for the choices of 'crap' vs 'shit'.   Its less and less acceptable anymore.

If you think both parties are rotten to the core (as we do) you need to figure productive ways how to fight back..  Perhaps to support 3rd party candidates... Perhaps to gather like-minded people and create your own PAC (political action committee [and its shockingly easy to set one up]) and donate the bulk funds to the candidate who will be most likely to implement your ideas.

Or start your own blog.. or write comments to every newspaper and mainstream news source you find where you feel they are outright lying to you...

If you are happy with the status quo, then fine.  But if you're not and you do nothing but bitch and moan at the dinner table, you're spiritually impotent.