Council Shifts Leftward

Bendy White, the only lifetime local on the Council, is now the swing vote on development and General Plan issues. He is clearly the most knowledgeable and experienced person at the City on local land use. I am good with that. Great election result. If the Mayor wants a General Plan approved, she is going to have to compromise somewhere about where the Plan is today.

The local Dems should pay attention (and dump Daraka) Murillo ran the same type of race Walter Capps ran when he unseated Marty Stone in that 1st primary for the congressional seat. Chris Weiss ran a campaign for Walter that was underfunded but concentrated on the ground campaign and voter contacts, identifying and getting them to the polls which works. It takes more than a tv ad and direct mail to ensure victory even though she had those as well, she didn't ignore her ground campaign. The other slate(s) candidates seemed to have their campaigns on cruise control and ended up with the results of those actions.

So who did Byrne take votes from Murillo or Self?

Probably both, pointsouth; I have seen quite a few Byrne signs in neighborhoods that would not likely vote for Self. Even so, her positions on at least some issues were those of Self.

Now there are to be two westsiders on the council, Murillo and Schneider, and no representation for the lower-mid eastside. At least, Byrne has a working knowledge of the east side and the effects on the neighborhoods of the homeless shelters.

Great headline Indy-What, you could not bring yourself to instead write:
Progressives Gain Only One Seat Despite Efforts of the Santa Barbara Independent?

Pontsouth: "The local Dems should pay attention (and dump Daraka)"

They should, but they won't. Daraka is guaranteed a spot as the Dem chair & he ain't going anywhere soon, given his SEIU status. Somehow that's seen as a plus, it really ain't.
The longer they keep him in there the more the Dems lose the TRUE Progressive following.
The only people that want Daraka to stay are the "progessives" that push party politics over the people & even then, eventaully, they;ll figure it out.
That guy alienated voters on so many different levels. It was all about the party, NOT the people & I think voters saw that based on their choices.
But of course, this is what happens when you let an academic ivory tower product run a down in the streets/real life campaign. He ran it alright, INTO THE GROUND!
Cathy Murillo, while backed by Daraka, did the smart thing: Distance herself from this loose cannon & it paid off.
Definitely a show of smarts & socio-political savvy on her behalf, has my respect DEFINITELY! :) henry

Paul Wellman always gets the great photos!

I was pretty surpised when Cathy smooched John Palminteri on camera, but I heard Hotchkiss laid one on Rowse too :)

"So who did Byrne take votes from Murillo or Self?"
-- pointssouth

Its interesting to see that the precincts where Byrne made her best showings percentage-wise (~8% of precinct votes) were precincts where Murillo, Falcone, and Schwartz made top-three showings and Self made a poor showing.

So based on my spreadsheets, it doesn't appear that Byrne had that much of an impact on Self.

Based on the latest update from 11:45p last night.

Hank, "spot on" again (re: Daraka).

Well...At least Cruzito Cruz placed almost where he should have. I was hoping all of the other lefties would be down there too. My most insincere congratulations go out to all of the union bosses, bums and gangsters!

I don't understand the vote count, total more than 50,000, more than the registered voters and more than double the ballots counted?

I had that same question Barb, it doesn't make sense.
Whatever her campaign strategy, I think voters were attracted to Murillo's genuine, down to earth demeanor coupled with ideas and wisdom.
The only way to explain Francisco's re-election is Stockholm Syndrome on the part of some voters.

18127 ballots, 3 votes each "vote for three" equals 54381 votes.

This is a well-balanced result. A victory for the Santa Barbara environment. Santa Barbara voters showed a lot of smarts this election keeping away the extremes.

Without a 5-2 majority the high-density developers won't own the general plan and inflect more damage to the downtown, westside, and eastside.

And the 4-3 majority will be able to pass common sense measures like banning the plastic bag.

The greenest candidate was Francisco because he stood up to Das William's high-density plan for Santa Barbara, which would have totally destroyed what little healthy environment is left downtown.

So when all is said and done the working-class who wait on table, wash dishes and the like are going to be able to afford to live in S.B. comfortbably, right?

Georgy explains its' paradox; that suburban low-density automobile-dependent neighborhoods "have totally destroyed what little healthy environment is left downtown."

So without the implementation of the citys' Circulation Element Update and an astute General Plan Update, the degradation will accelerate. The head-in-the-sand scapegoating and ignorant leadership of the O.C. reared Francisco and W.C. reared Rowse team will result in an acceleration of the degradation instilled by the Lodge/Arias era pseudo environmentalism.

That's our DonMcD, enough "progressive" hatred, especially when he doesn't get his way. NICE! :) henry

The downtown environment is urban in its very own style. Adding residential units will only increase business for stores (hopefully locally owned), stabilize rents (sorry landlords who have subprimes); help elinate auto related congestion and pollution (so people like police and fire and waitresses and well a heck of a lot of professions who work in SB but can't live in it); and if done properly will further give SB a cosmopolitan yet classy and modern, sustainable housing stock.
A view is real estate you don't own. And it is far better to perfect development in areas already developed than destroy places like Naples and our precious agricultural land.
Speaking of real estate, there are a lot of emoty spaces, office and retail both on State St. and around town. I should think a smart landlord would appreciate the option of making residential units.

People have come to understand that the "guns and hoses" coalition is not about public safety, it's about compensation, and they voted accordingly.

Emergency services deserve to be properly paid and deserve a pension. These people put their lives on the line. Is everyone of them perfect or honest? No. But you increase the chances of a fully professional force when they can actually live in the town in which they serve.
The laws themselves and judicial cases are another issue altogether.

It's obvious that most people in Santa Barbara truly care about our local environment. Probably the BIGGEST story in the last couple of years here locally has been the split amongst the green crowd. The effect of which has been the split in the local democratic party. This story could use a lot more un-biased press and detailed reporting IMO.

As most local residents know, the two main issues have been the PXP/EDC offshore oil deal and the pro growth-pro density crowd vs. no growth-no density crowd.

Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and/or improvement of the natural environment, and may be referred to as a movement to control pollution.

It appears to me that the pro-density ideology feels they can protect suburban, rural, and agricutural land by concentrating new growth in a core high-density area.

Whereas, the opponents to high-density still want to save what is left of the downtown areas, avoid the social and environmental problems that come with a high-density downtown, and also fight for preservation in the suburban, rural, and agricutural land areas. They adhere to a more no-growth or slow-growth philosophy.

Perhaps both sides could join together again to rally against overpopulation (7 billion), the root cause of all our current environmental problems?

Would they actually increase density to build "affordable housing", or will they allow what happened on lower Chapala? Those were high density housing but sold in the millions and many sold to out of towners as vacation homes, hence they sit empty most time. Since they may only be occupied a few weeks out the year, the owners do not spend money in town as some hoped they would. On the other hand they may spend more in those few weeks than most of us do in a year. Land and building is very expensive, especially downtown so I do not see how it is possible to achieve the goal of affordable housing when people are willing to pay top dollar.

Hey everyone, DonM and KV have got some really interesting ideas for our little town that have never been considered or tried! I bet everyplace, from Berkeley to Santa Monica will jump on our band wagon if we give their suggestions 35+ years to make our lives wonderful!
Oh we already did? Never mind...

"This is a well-balanced result. A victory for the Santa Barbara environment. Santa Barbara voters showed a lot of smarts this election keeping away the extremes."
- Georgy

Keeping away the extremes? Cathy Murillo isn't extreme? Her biggest endorsement was from Dolores Huerta. That's about as lefty as it gets. And, if you think Francisco, Rowse and Self are exteme right wingers, that's laughable. Not even close by any stretch of the imagination. Having a business, trying to curtail gang activity and attempting to keep the transient population from becoming a nuisance, is hardly the qualifications for being a right wing extremist.

Dolores Huerta and Councilwoman-Elect Murillo are extreme than you haven't been paying any attention to the gluttony and hatemongering of some of the incumbents.

*If you think...

Not being a resident of Santa Barbara, my interest in this race was one of an entertained observer. My only comment relates to the density debate. While focusing development in already developed areas may or may not protect outlying open space (jury still out on that assumption), those who believe that increased housing density will decreased automobile use in Southern California are engaging in magical thinking. This is Southern California where we worship our independent mobility and for every apartment or condo built in Santa Barbara the residents will bring at least one car and maybe two or three cars. Furthermore, they will drive those cars almost everytime they leave their cozy little densified homes. That is just the way we are. There has only been one absolutely proven method of getting us to use our cars less, and that is to increase the cost of gasoline to over $5 per gallon and increase the price of parking to over $20 per day. Those measures work, increasing density just adds more people and more cars.

I think artificially increasing parking fees punishes less wealthy people. But Eckerman is unfortunately right about gas prices, this was demonstrated a few years back when fuel oprices skyrocketed. But again is it mainly the less wealthy who suffer and to artificially inflate the price when we should be looking at alternate energy sources would be a tragic mistake.
I do think most people would prefer to live near their places of work. The cars that are added in a density plan would mostly be parked.

Alternate energy, after all, is free.
It costs nothing to put a solar system on your house.
Wind turbines are free as well and a great addition to the urban landscape.
None of us receive electric bills for charging our electric cars that have a maximum range of 75 miles.
Thank goodness we do not need coal and natural gas burning plants to sustain the grid for electricity when the sun does not shine on our solar cells.
We need a tier system for gas pricing: free for poor people and then a price which increases according to income level. We will issue a card from the IRS that you put into the pump before getting your fuel which will determine your special price.
The only exempt group will be illegals since it would be discriminatory to make them have any card that could be used to establish their illegal status.

"Dolores Huerta and Councilwoman-Elect Murillo are extreme than you haven't been paying any attention to the gluttony and hatemongering of some of the incumbents."
- Ken_Volok

If by "hatemongering", you mean that the incumbents don't agree with any of Murillo's failed lefty solutions to Santa Barbara's problems, then I guess they're "hatemongering". But, Santa Barbara will be that much better because of it. And, If you can HONESTLY say that those two lefties (Murillo and Huerta) aren't extreme, you're naive or a liar. Either way, look who's not thinking.

Guess what? Most of us can accurately judge them as extremists, and also know that Huerta has been easily definable as extreme in a number of her views and actions. Like it or not the election results demonstrated that the majority here have the same perspective. Per a previous post I fully support Huerta's right, as an out of town interloper, to come here and attempt to sway an election for her own point of view. I also acknowledge the organized campaign that Murillo ran for her narrow constituency while intelligently aligning herself with a de facto socialist.

"I think artificially increasing parking fees punishes less wealthy people. But Eckerman is unfortunately right about gas prices, this was demonstrated a few years back when fuel oprices skyrocketed." -Ken Volok-

I'm not sure if you mean that we should are shouldn't inflate the gas prices but you're right about how the working-class suffer. I live in Solvang and work in Santa Barbara and even with my 30+mile-per-gallon car the gas is making a huge impact. Add to that the fact that Santa Barbara is unaffordable for the working-class (unless they are willing to live in increasingly third-world conditions) so they are moving away.

It's a "Perfect Storm" where Santa Barbara needs people to be security guards, gas station attendants etc, but because they are increasingly coming from out-of-town (and coincidentally Solvang has many working-class people coming from Lompoc) and Santa Barbara keeps jacking up the prices of parking, rent, and so on we're having an economic meltdown.

I will come out and say it: Greedy unfettered "I-got-mine-and-want-more" capitalism (for example: The art galleries that were driven out of business in Los Olivos by landlords who saw that wine bars could bring them more $$$) *and* Big Government/Socialism where the government keeps hitting us with fees/permits/taxes has created a system where what were once a comfortable working middle-class can no longer survive and poor people have virtually no chance of upward mobility and the result is empty commercial buildings and a failing infrastructure.

While I agree with your last paragraph as an explanation for the Central Coast and the Bay Area(among others), I do not agree that it applies throughout the country. There are vast sections of the midwest, south, and northeast where nice houses can be bought on the wages of working middle class. Some of these are rather nice places, even college towns, and in my experience populated with really nice people.
And despite unemployment being unacceptably high, on average over 90% of people are employed.
Since the artificial housing market bubble burst, housing and land are more affordable than they were 5 years ago.
I would probably not have immigrated to NorCal or the Central Coast today, but would instead of found somewhere more affordable. Like most poor immigrants, I have lived in conditions that now seem unlivable in retrospect. This is not a new phenomena; perhaps simply more intensified today. I don't think the Constitution covers the inalienable right to live wherever one would like, just the opportunity to be able to achieve. I do pretty well now; I have friends that financially make me look woefully insignificant.
Everything that is old is new again...

Conservatives are incredibly sore losers of even one Council seat!

To clarify, inflated gas prices hurt the working/middle class more. The best path is to gradually: introduce alternate energy vehicles, efficient and reliable public transportation that runs 24/7, reign in sub/urban sprawl.
Evolution is not survival of the fittest as many ideologues seem to think , evolution is the survival of those who are willing and can adapt to changing circumstances.

Looking at the details of the election result and reflecting on elections past, it seems the only way any Conservatives are voted in at all is because there's an average 3 Conservatives on the ballot and 8 Liberal/Progressive candidates thus dilluting the vote, and most Conservative candidates in essence win only by default.

Actually it's the "progressives" that win by default. That's what happens when you have a bastion of "progressivism" like Santa Barbara, the dilution is truly in their ranks.
But common sense prevailed in the sense that the only candidate on the "progressive" slate voted in was Cathy Murillo.
I think Santa Barbarans wanted some new blood in there, something much needed in many palces, but didn't want to eliminate the coalition of reason for the sake of "progressivism."
Santa Barbarans also got fed up w/ the "progressive mouthpiece" Daraka & Cathy Murillo did the right thing by distancing herself from him & his whiny rhetoric. Smart move on her part, it paid off, not so for the other 2.
Nobody knows what Cathy Murillo will do, let's see what happens during her tenure, she earned it :) henry

Italiansurg: I don't know how long you've lived in S.B. (And I'm assuming you probably live in S.B. or nearby) but if like me you have been in the area for a long time than you remember that at one time it was affordable for working-class folks.

My parents sold their house for about 24 times the price in 2005 than what they paid for in in 1973. I did a rough estimate in my head comparing minimum wage to the increase in housing and it's something like a 6-1 (conservative estimate) increase in the cost of housing.

Whether or not the constitution says one has a right to live in coastal California is not relevant to the fact that if the working-class is driven out then there will be nobody left to pump the gas, clean the toilets and so on so that is something that people need to think about.

Hopeful-Although I'm not sure who your post was aimed at, I've congratulated the Murillo campaign repeatedly for doing a good job. I've also accurately typified her constituency. No sore loser here; middle of the road sanity prevailed in 2/3 of the vote which is remarkable.

billclausen-I agree with you 100% and I live here. I was amazed that when I arrived, that although there was not much of a middle class it WAS affordable. Not cheap but affordable.
After 3 decades of developing more low cost housing per capita then any other city in CA our problem has gotten worse.
One reason I rail against allowing the 14+ million illegal aliens unfettered access to our system is because they artificially lower the wages for many jobs and avocations which further skews the ratio of wages to housing. And if you consider construction, the jobs that used to pay $25-35 per hour to citizens are now going at under $15 per hour to illegals. Their traditional jobs in agriculture have now been reduced to 10% or less of the illegal workforce due to mechanization.
Of course as a society we need to discuss the problem, but there is no easy answer and I've been frustrated by the Progressives abject failure and the Conservatives refusal of reality.
Contrary to conventional wisdom we will not "wake up one day without the people that make our society run", instead we'll have a slow change, then riff as things get weird, and make incremental good and bad decisions along the way; we're already seeing tradespeople dealing with the downward market forces in a more flexible manner than they were 5 years ago and if we'd roll back the housing eligibility rules to the way they were 20 years ago housing prices would fall like a rock since you would actually have to be qualified to get a loan and the supply side would have to deal with a lower demand.

Italiansurg, your reasoning is a little off. The construction trades pay according to skill level, not by immigration status as you believe. Yes many recent immigrants are young and less experienced and therefore receive lower wages. Also, there are many more experienced workers who receive high wages working in construction regardless of status.
Much of agriculture is mechanized, but in California the biggest cash crop (besides marijuana) is strawberries and machines would obviously smash the strawberries.
Santa Barbara has a large class gap because the predominant source of revenue is tourism. The tourism industry creates low paying jobs such as restaurant and hotel workers and retail workers.
Regardless, you forget that all residents of SB are human being and the amount of money you make, your profession, or your immigration status does not make anyone less of a human being. The more we look after each other and want the best for others, the more healthy our community will become.

sbs124-Your point about construction is 100% incorrect. The single largest increase in illegal alien employment is in construction. Even the nutty U.S. Chamber of Commerce admits wages have gone down due to the over supply of illegals. What were previously journeyman level jobs for legal Americans, paying very good wages, are now at wages
levels for illegals that are not at sustainable levels. In SB and NorCal, it was not uncommon to make $35+ p/h for skilled construction journeyman.
Look, the people that hire illegals should be fined and the legals deported, just don't claim this very low cost and over supplied group of illegals is not lowering wages and taking jobs. Sure, the illegal pushing a broom is making less than the illegal doing the framing, but they're all making less than the legal American was only 10 years ago.
I have never suggested less than human treatment of illegals, clearly as a society we provide healthcare and social services without restriction which is beyond what ANY OTHER country does, we should just deport every illegal alien regardless of race, creed or color. Please remember, I was an immigrant to this country not too many years ago. I did not lie, cheat or steal my way in and I was BROKE but I went through the multi year process and did it correctly.

So we have a Chamber of Commerce problem. Doesn't 3 fingas down Mesa Rat Randy Rowse belong to that organization? I am wondering about all those exotic accents working at his establishment. If you ask for a replacement fork will you get a spoon. Where did all workers come from and under what circumstances and wages? Any benefits? Retirement? Free yacht rides?

Meg Whitman was a special guest of Randy Rowse and we know about her domestic hiring practices. Birds of a Feather? We haven't had a publicized restaurant owners jailing publicized since the China Castle illumination. That was pre-ICE. Was that enough to keep our local Chamber of C. in check? We all know how business people are of the highest integrity. But still with the fox in the hen house how will we ever get things back to the up and up. Remember the business owners chant 'its all for the common good' or the current phrase 'its awwlll gooood.'

I would say Italiansurg's excellent gas plan proposal is most likely far more radical than anything Ms. Huerta has proposed!

Earth to Don-The National Chamber of Commerce is a lobbying group with a spectrum of issues. They are soft on employment verification, The local Chamber, which welcomes every small business owner even if they're left or right wing nuts, is just a bunch of business people that have zero to do with your pseudo point and are not a lobbying group. By your own inverted analysis you should therefore love your version of Rowse because you're for illegal aliens at all cost kind of guy.
KV-One addition to my plan: Progressives pay an extra 20% across the board for their gas since they're so fond of spending money. Stay tuned, I'll have this thing figured out completely in no time, I've already applied for a government grant...

Unfortunately the National Chamber of Commerce is not a collection of Mom and Pops and regional chains but an organization of multint'l corporations that ship jobs outside the US, for starters.
Many also feel that our local Chamber has undo influence in sourcing public dollars to tourist industry related events ect.

I'm not a fan of the National Chamber. Again, the local Chamber takes any business type and it's really a networking group so that people trying to make a living can talk to others in the same situation.
What I don't get is why the Progressives use the affiliation as some type of proof that Randy Rowse is therefore evil?
I'm not sure what "undo influence in sourcing public dollars to tourist industry related events..." means but I suspect when PUEBLO or the anti American illegal apologizers get public funding you're not complaining. Take a look at the public funds and grants that La Raza, MEChA etc. get just to keep their commie doors open.

We know it's a party when the commie epithet gets strung around. A Hitler label must be imminent next.

"Conservatives are sore losers"? Read the hysterical rantings of McDermott for a great counterexample. The man lives in a state of denial.

"Also, there are many more experienced workers who receive high wages working in construction regardless of status."
- sbs124

I'm glad at least some of the lefties are honest enough to admit that illegal aliens aren't just taking the jobs Americans won't do.

"We know it's a party when the commie epithet gets strung around. A Hitler label must be imminent next."
- John_Adams

It's funny, because you always seem to be the one that brings up Hitler first. Do you feel bad because he was a socialist too?

Jesus was a Communist.

Still nothing from the zainy 'conservatives' about Jane Fonda, Castro, Che or Streisand?

If Jesus was in fact a Communist, maybe it took the Son of God to actually get it right. Lord knows that every other person that has tried it en mass has ended up being a dictator/despot/murderer/oppressor.
Jesus, as a historical character and not supernatural figure, pretty much focused on clothing and food for everyone. The Franciscans have been pretty good at furthering this point of of view to the tune of over 4,000 free meals per day in San Francisco WITHOUT ANY public funding.
Anyone that tries to claim Jesus is on their particular side is as nuts as the Muslim Brotherhood claiming they are the vehicle for equal justice and democracy in the Middle East.

Election Analysis Wrap-Up:

The endorsed slate; it was obviously death by cop... The conservative Riviera, San Roque/Samarkand, Mesa Golden Triangle voting block which would normally have produced the winning ticket for the Police Association. The Triangle has had enough. The apex being Arroyo Burro (Hendrys' Beach) this time; the police hit the conservative block too close to home with the finale at Loretto Plaza, a Triangle watering hole tasering.

Even without a trial the Triangle is ready to convict the SBPD of excessive force. But only because it was of a brother of another mother and in their own hood. This type of law enforcement is to be reserved for hoods outside the Triangle. It is to be reserved for others, other neighborhoods, undesirables, not for one who could be considered one of the Triangles' own.

So the Triangle can still rely on 3 fingas down Rowse and Francisco to pursue policies of ganging up on the Westside, Eastside and other-lesser represented sides; improving the Triangle at the expense of the lesser represented.

Proving further this discrimination is the boot to Michael Self, really no different in position from the brothers from another mother Rowse and Francisco. Self should have been a shoe-in. But locally and in conservative circles, bimbos, are allowed for male counterparts but not for female counterparts. Byrne, even though she held the same conservative positions had an extra boot kicking in that she went against the conservative machine.

DonMcD: "3 fingas down"

No, no, NO! You got it all wrong (yet again)! Its 1 FiNgeR Up HoMie!
Jeez, for somebody as pro-gang as you are we figured you'd get the gang signs right.
So-called "progressives" messing up the program since they became, well, "progressives" :) henry

KenV: "Jesus was a Communist."

So you are in fact admitting that Marx & Engells plagarized? The wonders NEVER cease! :) henry

"Still nothing from the zainy 'conservatives' about Jane Fonda, Castro, Che or Streisand?"

DonMcDermott
November 14, 2011 at 10:33 a.m

I like the sound of Barbra (sic) Streisand's voice--when she's not talking about politics.

Oh no. One-finga-up must be for hanks (:( I.V. hood.

The 3 fingas down East Mesa sign was definitely displayed to his "great group of people" and you can see gang banger Randy Rowse doing that here >>> http://santabarbara.granicus.com/Medi...
Skip to item 31. Rowse flashes his gang sign approximately 5 hours and 16 minutes into this official public video. I believe Rowse is also a member of the chamber gang and the downtown parking committee gang an expensive self-serving committee. If Randy Rowse was truly conservative he would have suggested its abolishment long ago. But the business people are their own best special interest.

SO back to Murillo. The Indy's poll suggests a large percentage of people want the Council to focus on gangs. Isn't she a defender of gangs?

She's a coddler of gangs.

"We know it's a party when the commie epithet gets strung around. A Hitler label must be imminent next."
- John_Adams

"Still nothing from the zainy 'conservatives' about Jane Fonda, Castro, Che or Streisand?"
- DonMcDermott

Why should we bring it up, when you lefties are doing such a good job pointing it out (between whacko lefty diatribes) yourselves? It must be a manifestation of that lefty self-loathing.

State sponsored medicinal doughnuts for all lefties, Hamburger Habit albacore sandwiches for waz, italiansurg, BillC, scooter, John Locke, SantaNa & Draxor, that's what I say. Had 1 yesterday, it was SUPERB! :) henry

DonMcD: "Oh no. One-finga-up must be for hanks (:( I.V. hood. The 3 fingas down East Mesa sign was definitely displayed to his "great group of people" and you can see gang banger Randy Rowse doing that here"

Uh, Don, that was a funny-haha I made & therein lies the problem: You "progressives" are so high on yourselves & miserable that you can't even get the slighest joke launched @ you.
Let's look @ the list so-called "progressives" that contribute to my sense of humor on a daily basis:

DonMcDermott
Ken_Volok
Sez_Me
John_Adams

Now here's the list of us typical so-called "racist conservatives" the so-called "progressives" fear & hate as well as try to shout down:

waz
italiansurg
billclausen
hank

What do you notice? The "progressives" always have to use CAPS to start off their screen names. Interesting?
I took a "psychology of writing" seminar/class once that dealt w/ identifiers & what was gained from that was people who use that type of signature on the internet have the following charcteristics:

Grumpy, never satisfied, always blame everyone but themselves for problems, self-absorbed, not willing to accept new ideas, basically high on themselves.

Those that use lower case lettering were described as the following:

Easy going, always out to try something new or daring, rely on a reactive process that involves the consideration of alternate outcomes, put others before themselves, definitely fueled by adrenalin, always joking.

So Don, how much of that 1st description is true of yourself? 1 fiNgEr Up HoMiE! :) henry

Really Hank? I try to shut down people? The modern conservative seems cursed with an inferiority/persecution complex. You don't see me censoring people or artworks, deciding who can marry who and a host of other oppressive measures, behaviors and policies. So much for you not buying into the "Left/Right " paradigm.
If you had paid attention in English class, you would know that proper names are always capitalized.

KenV: "If you had paid attention in English class, you would know that proper names are always capitalized."

Oops, I forgot to add "condescending" to the list of those who capitalize in an informal atmosphere such as a blog. Thank you for proving me correct yet again! :) henry

I didn't know about albacore sandwiches; I think I'll have one.

I have a question for ALL of you: Isn't it a little strange that Binky hasn't been blogging much lately? I wonder if she's ok.

Yeah, noticed that as well. Binky, say something, just want to make sure you're doing alright :) henry

I just hope we can get some common sense.

But you don't wish to address the issue of buying into the "Left/Right" paradigm which your above referenced post illustrates?

KenV: "But you don't wish to address the issue of buying into the "Left/Right" paradigm which your above referenced post illustrates?"

Simply because there's nothing really to address.When I say "progressive" it is meant in a sarcastic sort of way (that's what those little " things @ each end of the word are for) & participants of that descriptive are in a fantasyland that is neither left nor right. In fact, you could see it as a 4th dimension right behind reality.
The ONLY 1 that keeps on about the so-called "Left/Right paradigm" is you.
There is a true left, a true right & a reality (which shall never satisfy the 2), but "progressive" from anyone these days, well, that's where Rodney Dangerfield suggested to the business professor in "Back to school" (a funny 80's movie) that he build his "fictitious factory": FANTASYLAND :) henry

Santa Barbarians at their finest!
Uh oh! - on the Barbary Coast.

"PROGRESSIVE LATINOS" ?

say it ain't so Joe! (Jose!)

Andele pues viejecitos desde la flor de la costa de California. Alto/Escucha/Piensa/Vaya con cuidado!
Esta es uno de los ultimas oportunidades!

jb