Via skippy you will discover a Driftglass response to a Kevin Drum post.

First off I would like to commend Kevin for knowing the difference between ‘rein’ and ‘reign’ and using the proper word. Then I would make a minor correction to his numbers – Zero received 51% of the popular vote, Rmoney received 48%, and other candidates received 1%.

First off the popular vote totals are not relevant to the election of the President. Zero received 62% of the 538 electors who actually get to vote for President, while Rmoney only received 38%. Winning the popular vote looks good on your resume, but isn’t a requirement to become President.

Apparently Kevin thinks that winning the election makes this an ideal time to surrender to the Republicans, rather than pushing Democratic programs.

The problems facing the US are all solved if you get people back to work. Tax revenue increases and the cost of support systems like unemployment insurance and food stamps go down when people have jobs and paychecks. Government is the only entity that can kick start the system, and strengthening and rebuilding the infrastructure is the fastest way of getting the economy moving again.

People didn’t vote to continue the charade of the ‘Grand Bargain’, and if that is all the Democrats offer them, don’t expect them to vote for Democrats again. The Democrats will lose seats in Congress and the Senate in 2014 if they don’t do something in the next year. The ‘Grand Bargain’ and austerity will push the US back into recession, just as has happened in Europe. This is no time to play nice with the whackoes.

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns fell silent. The Great War, The War to End All Wars, was over…for a couple of decades.

The red poppies of Flanders fields became a symbol of that war and the veterans that returned from it. Known as Remembrance Day in much of the world, the poppies will be in evidence. Remembrance Day observances have more in common with the American Memorial Day as a day to honor those who have died in war.

First called Armistice Day in the United States, the name was changed to Veterans Day, and its purpose changed to honoring those who are serving, or have served in the military. The change was made to avoid a conflict with the existing Memorial Day observance that goes back to the Civil War era.

A heart felt salute to everyone who managed to survive basic training. We can hope that sooner, rather than later, there will be no need for another generation to put on uniforms.