Something for our readers to ponder as we move into a new week:

Veterans Day.  A day, put aside to honor our veterans who have risked their lives and sacrificed their lives and livelihoods in order to  preserve our freedom and our way of life.  Let’s reflect, for a moment on the unseen tolls that are taken on the veterans and their families.  Barbara VanDahlen, PhD writes this today, in HuffPo.

In addition to the thousands who must deal with physical injuries, many of our returning troops are coming home with the invisible — but expected — injuries of war including post traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, depression and anxiety. Some studies suggest that as many as 35 percent of those who experience combat will eventually develop some symptoms of post traumatic stress. In addition, approximately 20 percent of those coming home will experience a traumatic brain injury as a result of their service. Sadly, a large number of those who suffer these invisible injuries fail to seek the care that they so need and deserve.

Unfortunately, the stigma associated with seeking mental health care — in addition to our cultural reluctance to admit mental health concerns — prevent many of the brave men and women in our armed forces from obtaining proper treatment.

She points us to the HBO documentary, Wartorn, to facilitate our understanding of these afflictions which haunt our returning military men and women.  You can watch it tonight at 9pm.

It’s the least we can do to acknowledge their sacrifice.

In the aftermath of a dismally depressing election season, one winning candidate provides hope for the progressives by opposing Marcellus Shale hydrofraking in a big way.  From Ithaca Journal :

Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat who handily defeated Republican gas-drilling supporter Dan Donovan on Tuesday, has said he will sue to stop the controversial drilling process of hydraulic fracturing — until it is proven safe — and aggressively go after drillers who break the rules.”As Attorney General, I will build on the strong Cuomo environmental record and ensure that the office’s environmental bureau remains active and engaged to investigate and protect our water supply,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “Neither the state nor the federal government has determined that hydrofracking is a safe practice, and I will sue to make sure that no drilling takes place until those determinations have been made.”

The fear, of course, is here that the state and federal governments, bought and payed for by BIG ENERGY, will determine that hydrofraking is a safe practice.  If so, there’s not a damn thing that the AG can do to stop it.  Indeed, he would then have to defend the state’s position if it were challenged in court.

Drilling in the state’s portion of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation is essentially off limits while the Department of Environmental Conservation reviews its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, which will guide the permitting process going forward.Environmental groups have been highly critical of the SGEIS and could mount a legal challenge against the DEC when a final version of the 800-page document — which has been under review since July 2008 — is finally released.

No guarantees, our ray of sunshine could easily be obscured by one big sucker dark cloud.

As much as I would love to see it happen, Howard Dean has uncategorically denied that he will primary Obama.

Still, the Obama administration is keeping their eye on Dean.  They don’t trust the former presidential candidate/former DNC chair.

Dean is different. He has run for president before — albeit briefly — which is not essential but can be very helpful. He is still a hero to many young people for his pioneering use of the Internet as a political tool. Most important, he appeals to liberals for his dramatic challenge to Democrats to stop being wimps and rolling over for George W. Bush. In 2003, Dean said he represented “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,” a call that might sound appealing now to liberals who fear Obama will compromise even further with Republicans. And Dean, a doctor, was a champion of the health care public option, which Obama abandoned.

And, as appealing that it would be to progressives (liberal) like me, Dean has no intention of primarying the president. He knows that it would only weaken the party, which currently has the backbone of a chocolate eclair (to coin another great president)

I find it disturbing that the Obama administration holds Howard Dean, the orchestrator of the huge Democratic win of 2008 with his 50 state strategy, in such disdain. For me, that’s just another black mark on this administration’s record. Sure, I’ll vote for Obama in 2012, but work for him if his trend of illusive bipartisanship and unforgivable compromise continues- not a chance.

Coming down to the wire, waiting for Absentee results in NY’s 25th district, the most recent results have Ann Marie Buerkle up by 684 votes.  Robert Harding gives us the latest and breaks down the potential absentee results by county:

Buerkle won two counties (Cayuga and Wayne) with over 60 percent of the vote and she won Monroe County by 10 percentage points. If the percentages hold up in the absentees, Buerkle will win. That is possible, but it’s also possible for the votes to break for Maffei.

With the current absentee numbers, if the percentages stay the same, this is how the vote totals will break down:

• CAYUGA: Buerkle - 76 votes  Maffei - 41 votes
• MONROE: Buerkle - 684 votes  Maffei - 559 votes
• ONONDAGA: Maffei - 3,109 votes  Buerkle - 2,649 votes
• WAYNE: Buerkle - 783 votes  Maffei - 460 votes

If you add those votes on to the unofficial results from Tuesday, Buerkle will have 103,775 votes and Maffei will have 103,068 votes.

My personal hope is that most of the absentee ballots are from college students away at school.  I think that the educated are much less likely to vote against their own best interests.  From syracuse.com (my bold):

Buerkle maintained that Maffei was too liberal to represent the district. Maffei, 42, of DeWitt, maintained that Buerkle was a right-wing ideologue who wants to repeal health care reform, privatize Social Security for future recipients and shut down the U.S. Department of Education.

I mean, really, this is what you’re looking for to represent you?

Oh boy - The D&C news team out did themselves this time.  See, Carl Paladino lost because - well, here is the headline:

Carl Paladino’s gaffes, lack of focus cost him at end of campaign

Really - Lack of focus and gaffes?  Only at the end of the campaign?  That assumes there was a piece of the campaign where Paladino was gaffe-less and focused.  Gaffes is euphemistic for not ready for the political stage.  Here is how the some of those gaffes were characterized in this paragraph:

… His campaign came to be defined by a videotaped altercation he had with New York Post columnist Fred Dicker, by racist and sexist e-mails he is said to have sent before the campaign began, and by his own anger.

I’m pretty sure those emails did get sent by Mr Paladino.  I don’t think he ever denied it.  However, this is bigger than racial and pornographic emails.  It is about lack of a plan.  See, he didn’t have one and, as disengaged as the electorate is sometimes, they saw right through Mr Paladino.  Check out this quote from a tea party guy:

Paladino’s slogan — “I’m mad too Carl” — was printed on thousands of black and orange signs across New York. It became a rallying cry but needed substance behind it, said Steven Poyzer, a member of the Victor 9.12 Tea Party.

“You can still come out and say ‘Yeah, I’m frustrated, but here’s what I’m going to do about it,’” Poyzer said. “I think had he done that, it would have been a whole other campaign.”

Carl Couldn’t do that because he didn’t have a plan other than insult, well, almost everyone.   Basically, the GOP nominated someone who pissed in the wind.  How did that work out for them?

Where I’m disappointed in the article is this:  Take away the insults, barbs and gaffes, heck, even lack of a plan, did anyone know Carl Paladino in the densely populated part of  the state?  How was an unknown going to overcome Cuomo’s name recognition.  I mean, this was not a level playing field from the start.  Yet, no mention of that anywhere.

Instead, we have Bill Nojay saying the way for Paladino to win was for Cuomo to stumble.

In the end, there is no substance behind Carl Paladino.  A candidate that was embraced by the Republican Party and the Conservative Party.  I think the bigger issue is that those parties aren’t looking for substance.

Carl can now go back and continue to use the system that helped make him wealthy.

The New York State Senate looks quite possibly like it is going to flip back to the GOP after only two years of a tenuous Democratic majority. On Tuesday, Democrats picked up two Senate seats from Republicans: Tony Avella ousted 38-year State Senator Frank Padavan from Queens and David Carlucci took over the seat of the late Republican Senator Tom Morahan in Rockland County.

Republicans, meanwhile, won two pickups of their own: Senator Brian Foley lost to teabagger Lee Zeldin on Long Island and Senator Darrel Aubertine was defeated in the North Country. There are three races that are still too close to call: SD-7 in Long Island, SD-37 in Westchester and SD-60 in Buffalo. All three are currently held by Democratic incumbents. Two of the three — SD-7 and SD-60 — have the Republican challengers leading the Democrats. All three contests also have margins within several hundred votes, so the absentee ballots will provide the ultimate difference. Even then, there are certain to be recounts.

So of the 62 Senate seats, 30 have been called for Republicans, 29 for Democrats, and three still outstanding. Remember, also, if there is a 31-31 tie, Democrats keep the majority as Lieutenant Governor-elect Bob Duffy will be the tiebreaker.  But that’s assuming Dems can hold on to senators like Ruben Diaz, who has already made it clear that he hasn’t decided on who he will caucus with when the legislature reconvenes in January.

Senate Republicans are wasting no time in declaring victory and blaming Paladino for hampering their efforts statewide. Outgoing-Gov. Paterson seems to agree with that sentiment, despite Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson claiming that all three incumbents in too-close-to-call races will eventually be victorious after the absentee ballots are taken into consideration.

The question therefore is: with a Democratic governor and a solid majority in the Assembly, will the party be able to complete the three-legged stool and cling to the Senate?

Saw this over @ Think Progress.   Given the new members of Congress, here is where they stand.  I think it is going to be amateur hour.

A snapshot of the GOP Class of 2010’s extremism:

ENVIRONMENT

- 50% deny the existence of manmade climate change
- 86% are opposed to any climate change legislation that increases government revenue

IMMIGRATION

- 39% have already declared their intention to end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship
- 32% want to reduce legal immigration

TAXES/SPENDING

- 91% have sworn to never allow an income tax increase on any individual or business – regardless of deficits or war
- 79% have pledged to permanently repeal the estate tax
- 48% are pushing for a balanced budget amendment

Locally, we have Tom Reed.  Who famously said that given the absence of a Congressional Representative in the NY-29, voters were denied a vote in the confirmation of Elana Keegan (Yes he did.  Conveniently forgetting that Senators vote not Representatives.)  Then there was the Freshman 50 pledge - Promises he can’t keep which center on constitutional amendments and amendment repeal.  Yeah, have fun with that too.

Ugh.

The change I want to see.

Might want to review this.  Point here is that the political cover provided by Blue Dog Dems to the GOP in the form of assumed bipartisanship will not be there in the 112th Congress.

What does this mean?  The GOP nonsense about to be passed by the House won’t look bipartisan so the GOP will get the appropriate credit for it.  (my bold)

More than half the caucus, including two of its leaders, will thus be gone when the 112th Congress is seated in January. The reconstituted caucus will comprise only 13 percent of the Democrats in the House as compared with the 21 percent it does now.

Since the 79-member Progressive Caucus saw only four of its members defeated, the partisan divide likely will be sharper than in the current House and  Speaker John Boehner will find fewer allies across the aisle willing to give cover to Republican initiatives.

…

Blue Dogs hoping their dilute-everything, obstructionist “moderation” would persuade voters to keep them in office found out that works as well as seeking bipartisan harmony with the current crop of elected Republicans. But the silver lining is that those Republicans - now in the majority - have a year or so to make good on their ludicrous vows to fix the economy they deny having done so much to wreck and to make all the other magical fixes they implicitly promised in the just-finished campaign.

yeah, have fun with that. 

My take from the state elections is simply this:  People are fed up with Albany, however the problem is centered around someone else’s representative because they generally act as if “my Incumbent is just fine.”

1.  No surprises here - Cuomo, Schneidermann, etc. At least, Carl Paladino delivered his promise to take out the trash by taking himself out.  Anyone see Carl Paladino’s concession speech?  Enough with the bats.   Ugh.  Trouble with Palidino and all that baggage that came with him is that he was a distraction from Albany and how we got to where we are.

2.  New York State Senate - I think it is still too close to call.  Let’s hope that the GOP does not gain any seats.  Come on, there has to be a bright spot somewhere.

3.  I heard somewhere that the Green Party earned over 50,000 votes and a ballot line for the next 4 years.  How about the other minor party candidates?

4.  Not sure local candidates fared well here in Monroe County.   No Dem judges?  None?  I’m surprised.  Harry Bronson won for the Assembly open seat, but when I went to bed - there was little if any good news. Now that I’m awake - Still none.  David Koon lost, who, I think was the only State Legislature local incumbent from our area to lose.  I’m sure lots of people were fed up with Albany.  Apparently, they were not that fed up.

5.  Voting machines.  Not a lot of problems.  The new machines are a good thing.

Again - off to work - have at it.

Ouch - Well, WOW. The election, save for a few races, is over - the Democrats generally were crushed.  So what do you think?

A couple of things -

1.  Congress - the Democrats were crushed in the House.  Many of those being crushed were Blue Dog Democrats.  Yep.  Blue Dog Democrats.  From my perspective - what is the difference between a blue dog and a Republican?  Not a lot. Some time back I wrote somewhere that there were really three parties in the House, the Dems, GOP and Blue Dogs.  Well - Now there is closer to 2.

2.  What Obama needs to learn - start with this. (via the NYT)

The question is: Will either side draw the right lessons from this midterm election?

Mr. Obama, and his party, have to do a far better job of explaining their vision and their policies. Mr. Obama needs to break his habits of neglecting his base voters and of sitting on the sidelines and allowing others to shape the debate. He needs to do a much better job of stiffening the spines of his own party’s leaders.

3.  The GOP?  same article from above.

John Boehner, the likely speaker of the House, has not provided a clue of how his party will begin to cut the deficit, which Republicans say is their top priority. One of the few specific promises he has made would dig an even deeper hole: extending all of the Bush-era tax cuts.

…

Anticipating a big win on Tuesday, leading Republicans haven’t been talking about substance, only more obstructionism. Mr. Boehner said the other day that the president was welcome to support Republican programs. But as for Mr. Obama’s agenda, he said, “We’re going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”

I’m off to work so I have to stop now meaning this isn’t a comprehensive post.  So have at it.

What is your take?

The polls have opened until 9 pm, so it’s time for us to go vote. It’s a right that thousands of Americans have suffered and died for — please don’t throw it away. You can find you polling place with the help of the League of Women Voters’ Poll Finder.

With that, I’ll let Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights hero, make the conclusion:

Don’t forget, those of you who are voting in NY’s 29th Congressional District, you need to cast your vote for Zeller twice.  One vote is for the 2 months left on Eric Massa’s term and the other is for the new term, starting in January.

For voters in the 29th Congressional District, column nine is for the full two-year term, starting January first. Column ten is for the unexpired term left vacant by Eric Massa. The winner of that race will be sworn-in as soon as the race is certified by the Board.

Found at Daily Kos:

Watch this to the end and vote tomorrow like your life depended on it.

Bernie Sanders, speaking at a Senate Hearing on Social Security tells it like it is.  This speech should be watched by everybody in this nation:

Raising retirement age to 70?

The 2nd Bush administration will go down in history as the worst thing that ever happened to this country.  I am appalled by the statistics quoted by Senator Sanders.  Twice we voted this evil empire in.  Is the American Electorate so ignorant as to bring the sniveling Republicans back into power after 8 years of destruction?