Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts

Friday, November 9, 2018

The State of Social Media Today & Our Complicity

The state of social media and "grassroots" journalism by well-meaning Americans and Brits can only be described as a tragicomedy of Shakespearean proportions. 
The man in question is wearing a shirt with a noose--signifying a lynching--over an old Southern flag and the words, "Mississippi Justice." For most discerning folks, the noose, not the flag, is the main issue. After all, Mississippi's official state flag includes the Confederate "Southern cross," and I've seen several stores in Asia selling Confederate flag merchandise to young buyers who probably discovered "Sweet Home Alabama" on Spotify. Here, we have no way of knowing--without further investigation--whether the man wearing it actually advocates vigilantism or racism. 

Basic logic ought to tell us that without due process--a seemingly forgotten value along with its cousin, humility--we don't know if the shirt was his father's and a keepsake, or whether he was wearing it as a reminder of Southern history. Wearing a diamond ring doesn't mean its wearer supports "blood diamonds" and African exploitation, just as driving a gasoline-powered car doesn't mean you hate the environment. 

Unfortunately, in this case, the reasoning is most likely simple: Mr. Clayton Hickey, a former Memphis police officer who resigned after a questionable situation involving a 17 year-old girl, probably just liked the shirt. I wouldn't want my local police officer anywhere near a noose, but my greater concern is we've accepted a society where we cannot easily access his law enforcement conduct--done on the taxpayers' dime--and yet, his voting behavior--which is supposed to be private--was the cause of his downfall. 

Mr. Hickey is an easy target. He has a stereotypically white name, a controversial history, and an apparently large presence. Yet, he seems to have reformed himself as a male nurse, and nowhere do we see any indication his nursing skills were deficient or discriminatory. I wonder if we realize it is the Mr. Hickeys of the world the law and due process are supposed to protect, just as they should if he were named Mr. Daquan Johnson with a juvenile criminal conviction, voting in a booth wearing an N.W.A. shirt. 

Once upon a time, as an employment lawyer, I believed in the law's ability to protect minorities; to protect employee off-the-job behavior irrelevant to one's position; and especially to keep the mob from jumping to conclusions before all the facts were in. Today, I wonder what anyone can really do when the mob is all of us: the hospital that fired him, the man who posted the photo without actually speaking to him, and every online commentator who twists the knife further into the coffin of the once-cherished value of American due process. Have we no shame? Or at least the decency to spend our time on something worthwhile? 

Bonus: most Americans are unaware American hospitals are tied closely to government policies and funding. "State governments became the largest single source of funds for virtually every major hospital in the country, giving them the power to influence--or even dictate--the policy decisions made by these hospitals." -- John Steele Gordon, Imprimis, 9/2018

Monday, May 21, 2018

Santa Clara County Voting Suggestions (2018)

This year's ballot is extremely complicated because so many different candidates are running. I used a new "test" to choose candidates this year: whomever had the most humble written statement got my vote. 

As for measures/propositions, I usually vote "No," but this year's options contained a few interesting ones, including a local measure on affordable housing. 

Governor: J. Bribiesca ["I was a homeless child." This candidate is a Mexican immigrant and retired medical doctor (perfusionist). Fascinating statement. By the way, another candidate's statement simply reads, "Why not!"] 

Lt. Governor: Jeff Bleich [One of the best-written statements. Ends with, "I'd be grateful to have your vote."] 

Secretary of State: C.T. Weber [No chance to win, but most interesting and most humble statement.]

Controller: Konstantinos Roditis [Pledges to audit the California High-Speed Rail System's finances, which seem to run over budget constantly, despite numerous sales tax increases.] 

Treasurer: Jack M. Guerrero [Both an underdog and overqualified. Stanford and Harvard graduate. Lecturer in statistics. Son of Mexican immigrants--"farmworkers and later, factory workers who settled in Los Angeles." Of all the candidates, I'm rooting most for him.] 

Attorney General: Xavier Becerra 

Insurance Commissioner: Asif Mahmood 

Member, State Board of Equalization, District 2: Cathleen Galgiani

U.S. Senator: President Obama endorsed Dianne Feinstein. (If you're not a Democrat, Derrick Michael Reid had my favorite profile.) [The strangest candidate statements--including several scary ones--were in this section.]

U.S. Representative: Anna G. Eshoo

State Assembly Member: Evan Low

Recall Aaron Persky? Yes. [He ran his campaign on judicial independence, but no lawyer has refuted my argument: rubber-stamping the probation officer's recommendation is the opposite of independent activity.]  I chose Angela F. Storey to succeed him.

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Marshall Tuck 

County Member, Board of Supervisors, District 4: I don't think anyone available is particularly honorable, but I detest smear campaigns, and Pierluigi Oliverio is the victim of one this year.

Sheriff: Laurie Smith

Mayor of San Jose: Sam Liccardo [Disclosure: I was a low-level, unpaid volunteer for Liccardo on his first mayoral campaign.] 

Measures

Measure 68: No

Measure 69: No

Measure 70: Yes 

Measure 71: Yes 

Measure 72: Yes 

Regional Measure 3: Do you want to pay higher tolls for potentially better public transportation? Then vote yes; otherwise, vote no. 

San Jose Measure B: No 

San Jose Measure C: Yes (affordable housing) 

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Idiocracy

California-based voters who focus on social issues are like students who study hardest for the class in which they already have an A- (sociology) while ignoring the class in which they are failing (economics).

Monday, June 7, 2010

Voting is Tomorrow/Tuesday, June 8, 2010

If you are fiscally conservative and socially liberal, you may want to consider the following candidates:

Superintendent Gloria Romero

Senator Tom Campbell

Governor Meg Whitman (Over the past decade, pension costs for public employees increased 2,000%. State revenues increased only 24% over the same period. California recently spent 3 billion dollars on pension costs in just one year. Ms. Whitman is not perfect, but she will try to fix the pension problem and can use her veto power against unreasonable public sector union spending.)

SJ City Council: Sam Liccardo

SJ City Council: David Clancy

SJ City Council: Magdalena Carrasco (I don't know her, but a friend tells me she knows Ms. Carrasco well and can vouch her.)

I suggest voting "Yes" on Props 13, 14, and 15; and "No" on Props 16 and 17. I usually vote no on all the propositions, but this year is unique. By the way, on November 2, 2010, Californians will vote on whether they want to legalize and tax marijuana. It will be interesting to see how libertarian most Californians are.