Jim (Con't): I want to start with C.I. We're a truest statement short now. We've got one but we had two. A director --
C.I.: Don't say the name.
Jim: Okay. A film director that we know through you, your friends with the director, got a truest. In fact, we were headlining it "Truest statement of the year." You said, "Kill it." And we were puzzled. Ty was pointing out how you had said the same thing. And then I said, "Save it for the roundtable! I know there's a story here."
C.I.: It's not a big story. The director was voicing an opinion I share in that quote. Sadly, the director is also on Twitter. Sadly the director that feels we should all be respectful and not say mean things and the director who wasn't going to tell you who to vote for has a Twitter account.
Jim: And?
C.I.: The statement we were going to dub "truest"? I agree with it. But I don't see applauding the director who's already put in nasty Tweets about Paul Ryan and re-Tweeted attacks on the Romney-Ryan campaign. I wish the director had meant what they stated. I truly do. I happen to agree with that statement that, in the arts, we need to appeal to as many as possible and not piss off one section of the population because of a vote. But those are weak words from a director who has been active on Twitter in attacking one campaign.
Jim: I knew there was a reason. So Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are going all over these days, trying to shore up votes in a close election -- or what's thought to be a close election. Marcia, any thoughts?
Marcia: I am still in shock over a get-out-the-vote ad that I'll be kind and not name who did it but, damn, don't spray on 'hair.' Get a wig. And get a wig to cover the frontal bald spot. Don't think you can spray it on. Right now, someone's probably think, "There's that radical lesbian Marcia! Attacking the men again!" I'm talking about a woman! With a bald spot and not enough sense to put a wig on.
Jim: I'm laughing because I know who you mean. This week, you and Mike both made endorsements. Let's start with you, Marcia.
Marcia: I'm voting for Mitt Romney. A number of supposed 'liberal's and 'lefties' felt the need to attack Stacey Dash on Twitter. Stacey is an actress and she is Black. She came out in support of the Romney-Ryan ticket. That's her opinion. I might have said, "That's her opinion, good for her." I might have said that and nothing more. But the hatred aimed at this woman? No, no, no. Calling her the n-word? These are Barack supporters? Oh my God. Calling a Black woman the n-word on Twitter. And think that's acceptable? Along with that, there were death threats and death wishes and calling her a bitch and worse. I'm just not in the damn mood. I wasn't voting for Barack. Jill Stein strikes me as way too cowardly in the last six weeks. I'll take Mitt for the block, as the saying does.
Jim: Okay. Mike, you had an endorsement as well.
Mike: Right. I'm voting for Jerry White.
Jim: Which is interesting because at one point you weren't voting for him. You said he wasn't on enough ballots.
Mike: And he's still not. But there was a piece at WSWS and I was reading it and thinking, "Well I could write him in." This has a lot to do with a conversation we had here last week. Where Ava and C.I. were explaining why they were not reviewing the third party debate.
Jim: That got intense and Jess got very angry.
Jess: I did get angry. I cooled down. I even see their point now. Ava?
Ava: Okay, we have a lot to do, C.I. and I. We write columns for the community newsletters, we write here, we're on the road speaking out against the wars, C.I.'s got three entries a day to do at The Common Ills Monday through Friday, I've got my baby on the road with us. And we're tired. We're tried of doing while others don't. Meaning we're tired of being the ones to call this crap out while the lefties on a campus before us and after us visited to whore for Barack. So our time is valuable to us. And should we cover a third party debate? I understand Jess' attitude that it should have been. But C.I. and my attitude is: Things don't get better via bad imitation. Meaning there was a chance for a real third party debate. It could have included anyone listed on any state's ballot. Could have and should have. Instead, given the choice to open the debates -- something Jill Stein keeps whining about -- she and others chose to keep other presidential candidates -- like Jerry White -- out of the debate. They proved to be as offensive as the Democrats and the Republicans.
Jess: And I get that and I agree. I was partly not listening last week and partly getting upset that the Greens were being shut out. But, yes, if you're going to whine that you're shut out of the network debates and then a non-network comes along to offer a debate, you should make sure anyone running on any state's ballot is invited. If not, you shouldn't participate.
Mike: My reluctance with Jerry White, Socialist Equality Party, was that I don't believe in write-ins. That's because there's no way in hell that Ralph Nader got credit for all of his write-ins in 2008. That number should have been much higher. And Gina and Krista demonstrated that via Florida, how just counting Florida community members who voted for Ralph and going to the data after the election, the Ralph votes were not present. So I'm not a fan of write-in. But the reality is that Jerry White, every position he's taken, it's where I would stand. I wish he were on all the ballots. Or even just in my state. He's not. But I can write him in and there's never been a candidate I've felt was such a perfect match for what I believe in. So he's got my vote because he really did earn it. I support all of his stands and positions. That's the candidate I should vote for -- even if I have to write him in.
Jim: Alright. We're happy for Marcia and Mike. Now Hurricane Sandy swept the east and conventional wisdom is: "It helps Barack!" Anybody want to grab this?
Dona: I will. How does it help Barack? G. Dunkel (Workers World) reports today, "While the image of Manhattan is that of sleek, modern, extremely high-priced apartments, many poor and working people live in the city’s public housing on either the western or eastern edges of the island. Now they have to try to get by without water." It's also being reported that when asked yesterday about the people of Staten Island being frustrated, "He did not respond." Now the media may go ahead and give him a pass -- again -- but the relief effort is not going A+ well. It's struggling and he's the one who claimed he'd see to it that people received what they needed.
Jim: And Barack dialed it down, the I'm-the-one-to-help-you. Yesterday, in his weekly address, he was talking about how "recovery will be a long, hard road for many communities."
Ty: Like the economy? In which case, Staten Island better get ready to wait over four years before they see any improvement. I really will look back on this election as the worst time in my life.
Jim: Honestly?
Ty: Honestly. The candidates offered were bad enough. But in addition to that, the whores wouldn't allow a leftist critique. In fact, that's really the whole four years. We led on the leftist critique here. That's fine. We can take the attacks. But for four years there has been no left critique as Barack has declared he can kill any American citizen, as he's pissed all over the War Powers Act, just go down the list. He is a dirty whore and the only thing dirtier than him are the cheap hookers who lie for him. If we'd had Hillary in office for four years, you better believe bitch-boy Tom Hayden would have been holding her feet to the fire and calling her out publicly. We never got the left critique we needed. We have lost four years to the third term of George W. Bush. How the Katrina vanden Heuvels and Matthew Rothschilds live with themselves, I will never know. They have done real damage and should shut their damn mouths. They should announce their retirement and step aside to let someone else attempt to offer leadership.
Dona: I would support Ty on that 100%. We don't usually get Ty upset and angry in these roundtables.
Jim: I think it's because Ty takes a page from Ava and C.I. and tries to speak as little as possible to let others speak. Am I wrong, Ty?
Ty: No, you're right. Usually, we have a lot higher participation. But when Jim announced it was a roundtable on the election, you had groans and a lot of people took a pass. Betty didn't take a pass. She's with her family in Georgia this weekend for a wedding anniversary, she and her kids flew to Georgia for that, so she was only able to help with one piece we did here. Which is fine. But everyone's so damn sick of the election.
Jess: It's gone on forever and ever and ever.
Marcia: As bad as it seems to you, try writing about it. Once a week, for Jess, Jim, Dona and Ty, you're writing about it in an article or two. But there are days when even though I hate NBC's Revolution, I'm thrilled to blog about it just because it's something other than the election.
Jim: You also blog about Benghazi.
Marcia: I do and that's an important topic.
Jim: Biggest development there last week?
Marcia: I think there will be more revelations in the coming weeks and months. So instead of focusing on that, I want to point out that a small percentage of the media -- not nearly enough -- finally grasped how insulting it is to say "attack that killed Chris Stevens and three others . . ."
Dona: Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and Chris Stevens. That's the four. And, honestly, I know that only because C.I. and Marcia have repeatedly not just mentioned all four but made a point to call out reducing four to "Chris Stevens and three others."
Marcia: So it was nice to see a few news outlets last week suddenly discover the names of the other three Americans who were killed.
Jim: Mike, what happens after the election?
Mike: With Benghazi? I think it heats up. I think even an in-the-tank for Barack press can't keep a lid on this, they have to address it.
Jim: And any predictions for Tuesday.
Mike: Is this closing thoughts?
Jim: Yeah and it's just you due to time limitations.
Mike: Okay. In 2004, I voted for John Kerry. I don't regret that vote. I did think, however, I'm a Democrat and the Democrats have my vote and anyone else would be stealing it. One of the things I'm most grateful for about The Common Ills community is that we had C.I. online for eight years -- this month is eight years! -- and she wasn't telling you, "Vote Democrat!" Or vote any party. She was telling you that you owned your vote, that you could use it as you saw fit. Even if that means not voting. She made it clear that it was your vote, not a political party's vote. It belonged to you and if a politician earned it, you could vote for that politician. And it didn't matter if no one else agreed with you, it didn't even matter if she agreed with you, the only person you needed to please with your vote was yourself. In the last eight years, we've been hit with one message after another of "You must vote ___" however. So it was really great that we had one strong voice online who talked about who really owned a vote: We do.
Jim: We do need to wrap up but I'll add for any wondering, Mike's benediction there? We're waiting to figure out if we close shop or go on six more months. C.I. hasn't decided if she wants to continue or not. So that's the benediction nature of Mike's closing thoughts. Benediction or not, I agree with the points Mike made. This has been a rush transcript.