Jim DeRosa notes that Zero made two great speeches recently, but went on to note that he never follows through and does anything about the issues he discusses in his speeches.

I have never heard any of Zero’s speeches, as I, by choice, only read the text. Accomplished speakers can hide a lot by the way they deliver the content of a speech, but the text provides the easiest way of determining what was really said, and not what the audience thinks they heard.

Digby noticed that some of what he said amounts to historical revisionism. Zero edited out his part in the austerity movement, and laid the blame on Congress.

As Jim noted, a few ‘great speeches’ is a pretty thin foundation for any legacy that Zero might imagine.

Dave Johnson makes an important point – if you don’t vote you are invisible to politicians.

A good example of this is the way that young people just got mugged by Congress over the interest on student loans. They wouldn’t have dared to screw over people like that if they voted.

Seniors have a lot of power. The reason they have the power is because they always vote, and politicians know that if they mess with issues that are important to seniors they are going to have trouble in the next election.

There really are enough young people to form an important voting bloc if they would just vote at least in every Federal election, although they really should vote in every election to solidify their power.

If you don’t like the major candidates, vote for minor party candidates. You can usually vote for whoever is opposing the incumbent if you don’t think your wishes are being addressed. The important thing is to have the fact that you vote registered. You don’t have to donate to candidates or canvas, or even join a political party, but you have to make the politicians aware that you exist, and you intend to vote for your own interests.

Position: 19.6N 150.2W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [265°] near 18 mph [30 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [110 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius:160 miles [260 km].
Minimum central pressure: 996 mb.

Currently about 320 miles [ 515 km] East of Hilo, Hawaii.

The current track has the center of the storm just grazing the north coast of the Big Island [Hawaii], but the wind field is large enough to slam Kahoolawe to the North.

The storm is being tracked by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on Hawaii because it is a Central Pacific storm.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, and Kahoolawe.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Kauai and Niihau.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]