Tag Archives: political platforms

What Republican Voters Want …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

If I were running for public office today, say president or a member of either chamber of Congress, I think my platform would include some combination of the following:

  • Environment – promote renewable energy sources and work toward ending reliance on fossil fuels; significantly reduce the use of single-use plastics; reward companies for new innovation to help reduce our carbon emissions.
  • Civil/Human Rights – pass legislation to restore women’s rights to their bodily autonomy; pass legislation to protect the LGBTQ community, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and Indigenous People from discrimination.
  • Separation of Church and State – solidify the idea that the U.S. is a secular nation, that religious freedom includes a separation of church and state, that there is NO state-sponsored religion, that every person has a right to choose the religion of their choice or NO religion.  Freedom of religion must also mean freedom from religion such that no one religion can force its ideology on the entire nation.
  • Voting Rights – do whatever is necessary to ensure that EVERY person 18 years of age and older can easily register to vote and cast a vote. Pass federal legislation to provide for no excuse absentee voting, longer polling times, more secure drop boxes, and allow others to transport those in need of transportation to the polls, to name just a few.
  • Education – ensure that every aspect of history is being taught in our schools – the good, the bad, and the ugly; remove most all book bans; ensure that every eligible student has an opportunity for a college education, whether through government subsidies, low-cost long term student loans, or other sources.
  • Financial Equality – a ground-up restructuring of the federal income tax structure that ensures the wealthiest pay the bulk of the taxes and that everyone pays according to their ability, their income, their net worth.
  • Guns – work to establish sensible gun laws that include waiting periods, background checks, a ban on military-style assault weapons, federal licensing requirements that must be renewed every two years, gun bans for those credibly accused of any form of violence.

There are other issues I would plan to address, but these are the ones that I see as being the most critical at present.   Now, last I knew, the Republican Party had no platform whatsoever, but I understand that Republican voters responded to a poll a few months ago and told the Republicans running for office next year what they want.  Let’s take a look …

Um … I don’t really know what to say.  More than half only care about someone who can make liberals angry???  It appears that Republican voters don’t much care about such things as the environment, education, the economy, voting rights, human rights, the lives of school children, etc.  They don’t want their elected officials to try to  unite the country, but rather to further divide it.  And they don’t want educated, thinking people in office, but rather would be happier with brawlers.  I think this speaks volumes about what is wrong in this country today.  I rest my case.

492 Days … 🙄

Posted on by under Election 2020, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

There is a slow burn starting somewhere in my gut tonight, and I think it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a full-blown rage.  Thus, this morning’s post is a rant, complete with, in all likelihood, a few words not fit for the children’s ears.  Why is Filosofa angry?  Because, there are more than 16 months until election day 2020, and already the bullshit, the ugliness, the utter nastiness has started.  I. Am. Sick. Of. It.  Already … and there are still 492 days (that’s 11,808 hours) to have to listen to the trash talk.  So far, it’s all on the republican side, but soon enough it will be on both, no doubt.  Two episodes in yesterday’s news stand out and set my hair on edge.

The Trumps are really nasty people, y’know?  When I was a child, the grown-ups always cautioned, “If you can’t say anything nice about somebody, then say nothing at all”.  Apparently, nobody bothered to say that to any of the Trump clan, for they are the filthiest people I know.  So, it started yesterday morning with Junior, who is a chip off the block of ugly, when he re-tweeted a tweet by a right-wing commentator …

“Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period.”

Who the Sam Hell died and left Junior in charge of authenticating the ethnicity of anybody, let alone a woman who is far more intelligent and honest than he???

It is heartening, though, to see fellow-democrats, those against whom she is competing, come to the defense of one of their own …

“Donald Trump Jr. is a racist too. Shocker.” – Senator Bernie Sanders

“The presidential competitive field is stronger because Kamala Harris has been powerfully voicing her Black American experience. Her first-generation story embodies the American dream. It’s long past time to end these racist, birther-style attacks.” – South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg

“The attacks against @KamalaHarris are racist and ugly. We all have an obligation to speak out and say so. And it’s within the power and obligation of tech companies to stop these vile lies dead in their tracks.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren

“@KamalaHarris doesn’t have shit to prove” – Senator Cory Booker

“The coordinated smear campaign on Senator @KamalaHarris is racist and vile. The Trump family is peddling birtherism again and it’s incumbent on all of us to speak out against it.” – Washington Governor Jay Inslee

“These troll-fueled racist attacks on Senator @KamalaHarris are unacceptable. We are better than this (Russia is not) and stand united against this type of vile behavior.” – Senator Amy Klobuchar

Perhaps Junior unwittingly did the Democratic Party a favour, for this pulling together, this unity, is what we must have in order to effect change in 2020.  It doesn’t, however, make me inclined to forgive him for being every bit as much of a scumbag as his father and the rest of his family.  Frankly, I would ask him which side of his family was related to Adolph Hitler.

Patrick Mauldin … remember that name.  He and his brother Ryan are techno-geeks working on Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.  I don’t know what rubbish heap Trump found them in, but they fit perfectly with the rest of his cadre of deplorables.Patrick-MauldinMr. Mauldin makes videos and other digital content for President Trump’s re-election campaign, and along with his brother, they run a Republican political consulting firm in Austin whose website opens with the line “We Kick” followed by the image of a donkey — the Democratic Party symbol often called an ass.kick-ass.pngMauldin created a fake Joe Biden website that looks at a glance like the real deal, but is, in fact, laden with disinformation and outright lies.  In addition to some doctored photos and videos, the site proclaims Biden to be …

  • Against same-sex marriage
  • For mass incarceration
  • Against abortion rights
  • Against school busing
  • For the Iraq war
  • For the death penalty and harsh drug sentences

At the very bottom, barely noticeable, in grey-on-grey lettering, is the disclaimer …

This site is political commentary and parody of Joe Biden’s Presidential campaign website. This is not Joe Biden’s actual website.

It is intended for entertainment and political commentary only and is therefore protected under fair use.

It is not paid for by any candidate, committee, organization, or PAC. It is a project BY AN American citizen FOR American citizens. Self-Funded.

Trouble is, see, it is set up in such a way as to look like a legitimate site for Joe Biden, and the address, joebiden.info, would sound legit to those who may not be tech-savvy.  And, despite the disclaimer, despite the obvious bullshit, there are those who aren’t going to question, who will blindly believe whatever they read, regardless of source.  This is the danger.  This was the same sort of tactics used by the Trump campaign in collusion with the Russians to trash Hillary Clinton in 2016.  It is the ONLY damn reason we have a loony bird in the Oval Office today!  I will not take another 4 years of Bozo the Maniacal Clown!!!

More than 16 months of this, and I am already tired … exhausted, actually.  If wishes could only come true, I would ask for …

  • A shortened election season … no more than four months prior to the election. Until that time, no advertisements, no debates, no campaign rallies … NOTHING!
  • Platform-based campaigns. No, “Build that wall” and “Lock her up” do not constitute a political platform.  Proposals for feeding the poor, health care, foreign policy, social issues such as discrimination in housing and employment, etc. are what comprise a political platform.  I want to hear what the candidates believe, how they think, how they view We the People.
  • No mention of “the other side” in any advertisements … save it for the rallies. I refuse to view any political ads for that very reason.  The candidates waste a golden opportunity to promote themselves, but instead they spend their time and money slamming their opponents with lies and rhetoric.

We the People includes every man, woman and child in this nation, citizen and non-citizen, white and black, Latino, Muslim, Christian, gay and straight, male and female, republican or democrat or neither.  We the People deserve much better than we are getting from either side.  The democratic debates this past week were, in my book, garbage.  Make them worthwhile, or don’t have them at all.  And yes, I have better ideas for how to conduct meaningful, enlightening debates, but that is a subject for another day.

Every adult in this nation should sit down tonight and write their will.  And in that document, they should write that if they die of any stress-related illness between now and 03 November 2020, their estate may and will file suit in federal court against either or both political parties for wrongful and untimely death, to the tune of $5 million.  I think most of us with an ounce of intelligence, thinkers who understand what is happening to the political process in this nation, can feel the heart attack, stroke, or bleeding ulcers just waiting to strike.  It isn’t fun anymore, folks … it’s dirty, it’s disgusting, and it is literally sickening.  Bah Humbug.  End of rant.

By Hook or By Crook …

Posted on by under Election 2018, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

There are a couple of ways to win an election.  One can work hard, put together a sincere platform that addresses the concerns of the people, talk to the people, make sure your name and platform are well advertised and hope for the best.  Or … you can spread lies and ‘disinformation’, pick and choose your audience, take money from special interest groups to bombard the airwaves and social media with your ads, and if all else fails, make sure those who wouldn’t vote for you don’t get to vote.  It is my opinion that if you have a viable platform and reasonable ideas for improving the welfare of the nation and its people, your best bet is the first method.  However, if you have no real platform for your plan is to profit from the office you seek, if you care not a whit about the ‘average Joe’, then you will likely choose the second path.

Throughout history, there have been crooked politicians in both parties, and that will likely never change.  However, in this, the 21st century, corruption runs rampant mostly in the Republican Party.  It is republicans who are in the pockets of the NRA.  It is republicans who deny climate change and instead support the fossil fuel industries, for that is where they get their large donations.  It is republicans who aim to cut social safety net programs and who fight against subsidized health care in any form or fashion. And it is mainly republicans who have redistricted their states in order to minimize the effect of the minority vote.  It was the republican candidate running for president in 2016 who encouraged the tapping into private information of his opponent and making it public.

There is an all-important election coming up in just over 17 months, and the republicans are already hard at work.  Not, mind you, developing strong ideologies and working on plans to help the poor and working classes be successful in their lives.  Not working on a plan to improve our failing education system.  Not working on plans to develop renewable energy sources or clean up the environment.  But rather, among other things, they are working on ways to keep ‘the other side’, the democrats, away from the polls.

Texas is one state that has a two-week ‘early voting’ period, and in the past, mobile polling stations have been used in areas where residents might not otherwise be able to access a polling place.  Elderly, poor, and college students are among those for whom access is often difficult, so these mobile polling stations would set up shop in places like assisted living communities, food banks, college campuses, and even office buildings.  However, this week, a bill has been passed by both chambers of the state legislature that would ban the mobile polling stations.  Initially, the bill would have exempted nursing homes and retirement homes from the ban, but the state senate blocked the exemption.  The bill is now on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s desk awaiting his signature.

The ‘justification’ for this bill … “Supporters of the bill say it keeps authorities from giving some people an easier way to vote, while excluding others from that opportunity.” Is that not the biggest crock of you-know-what???  The true reason can be none other than to keep the elderly, disabled, poor, and college-students from voting.  Those groups tend to be more likely to vote for a democrat, for their interests are more closely tied to humanitarian causes than republicans.  I call foul on this one.

I now turn from Texas to Florida …

In 2018, after years of the Republican-dominated state legislature’s resistance to the idea, Floridians included a referendum measure, Amendment 4, in the statewide midterm ballot that would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons once their sentence has been served (except those convicted of murder and sexual offenses).  The people of Florida overwhelmingly approved the measure with a 65% majority.  In fact, Amendment 4 received more “yes” votes (5.1 million) than any single candidate in the state last November.

However, the state legislature has now passed a bill that is only awaiting Governor DeSantis’ signature, that would place an additional requirement on those returning to society … they must fully pay any and all restitution and court fees before being allowed to vote.  Think about this one … they’ve been in prison, so they have no job and it will be difficult for them to get one, but in order to restore their rights as a citizen, they must come up with sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.  First, it was likely their poverty that led them to whatever crime they committed, and now they are even poorer with no means to even rent an apartment or buy food, but they are expected to pay fees that they may not have even known existed.  Again, just like the Texas law, this law would disproportionately affect the poor and minorities.

Those are just two of the current attempts to disenfranchise the people who are most likely to vote for a democrat.  Restrictive voter ID laws, gerrymandering, closing or reducing the hours of polling places in poor and minority neighborhoods are happening all around the country.  I can only conclude that the Republican Party has no viable platform on which to run honest campaigns, thus they must resort to all manners of trickery.  GOP once stood for Grand Ol’ Party.  No longer is there anything ‘grand’ about them.

Ramblings from a Bouncing Mind …

Posted on by under Election 2018, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

I came across an OpEd in The Washington Post a few days ago, the title of which intrigued me, so I read on.

People Don’t Vote for What They Want. They Vote for Who They Are.

Kwame

Kwame Appiah

The article, by Kwame Anthony Appiah, was interesting and well worth the read, but merely served as a springboard for the ideas that form this post.    It speaks of and attempts to explain the concept of ‘identity politics’ and ‘tribalism’.  Not being an anthropologist, psychologist nor philosopher, I don’t attempt to pick apart the concepts of the article.  But what struck me most, I think, is the title.  Is it true that we have set aside ideologies and instead vote based on … for the lack of a more apt word … tribes?

I really dislike the word ‘tribes’, for the first thing it brings to mind is killing, and the next thing it brings to mind is exclusivity.  Neither are positive images.  But to get to the point (yes, I saw you rolling your eyes and wondering if I actually had a point!), I question whether we … and by ‘we’ I mean all of us who are old enough to be even remotely political animals … republican, democrat or independent … have forgotten or set aside our ideology, our platforms, our very beliefs in favour of political party.

As I often do, I settled in for a conversation between me, myself and I.  I, of course, pooh-pooh-ed the idea, thinking that no, the whole point is the ideology, the things that I believe are right, such as protection of the environment, global cooperation, taking care of the poor, eliminating bigotry, support of diversity, etc.  But then ‘me’ popped up and asked a question that made me think:

“Isn’t everything you write these days simply a reaction to something Trump or his cronies has done?  Do you look at candidates’ platforms to see what they support and whether you agree with them?  Are you operating on an intellectual basis, or an emotional one?”

Doggone it … sometimes ‘me’ is smarter than I am.  This reminded me of a snippet from the article …

“… political cleavages are not so much “I disagree with your views” as “I hate your stupid face.” You can be an ideologue without ideology.”

Have we devolved to “I hate your stupid face”, or were we always this way?  When I voted on 08 November 2016, did I vote for Hillary Clinton, or against Donald Trump?  I had studied Hillary’s platform and agreed with about 99% of it, so it wasn’t as if I were an uneducated voter, taking my opinions from some Facebook meme.  But, myself asks, “Would you have voted even for Attila the Hun rather than Donald Trump?”  And that is a question I cannot seem to answer.

But perhaps the answer is less important than the question.  Perhaps the important thing is that we question ourselves, hold our own feet to the fire, search our own souls, as it were.  I can’t say that I would have voted for Attila, but would I have voted for a lesser candidate than Hillary?  Yes, I would have voted for almost anybody other than Trump.  And now comes the tough question:

Did I vote against Trump because he is an arrogant and obnoxious person, or because I disliked his political ideas?  In this case, I think I can answer clearly:  both.  But if he were the same obnoxious character he is, but had political ideas that I agreed with?  Then I don’t know, and that is the question, I think, that supersedes all others in this conversation with me and myself.  In that case, would I have voted for a lesser candidate who was more sophisticated, more … acceptable?

I don’t know all the answers, but my conclusion is that I think we need to be careful about falling into the trap of voting simply because a person is a democrat or republican, black or white, Christian, Muslim or atheist, or shares some other “tribal trait” that we admire.  I think this was the mentality that enabled Donald Trump to win in 2016 … too many saw Hillary as “not of [their] tribe”, as being ‘other’.  Why?  I mean, she is white, Christian, all those things some people seem to place so much value on these days.  But … she had the misfortune of being … woman.  Just as I believe that the majority of the hatred toward President Obama was race-based, I believe the hatred toward Hillary was primarily gender-based.  It made it easy for Trump to accuse her, unjustly, of being responsible for Benghazi, and even blaming her for her husband’s affairs, all the while screeching “Lock her up!”  And the masses quickly believed, for they were only looking for an excuse to hate her, and Trump gave them one.

As you have likely figured out by now, I have no idea where I was going with this post.  I started it a few nights ago, and every time I re-visit it, I realize that it lacks focus.  This is simply how my mind works when it’s under duress and decides to break loose from its moorings and bounce for a bit.  I can only hope that some part of this rambling post made sense.

Dear Candidate …

Posted on by under Election 2018, Political commentary

Political campaign ads do not have to be nasty, crude, cruel, vicious, and ugly. They do not have to be attack ads.  More and more, however, that is exactly what they are.  I do not watch television, so I am spared the worst of it and see only what flits across my radar on the internet, which is bad enough.  Take, for example, this one …

Disgusting, isn’t it?  But it seems to me that in general, candidates are making a huge mistake, because they are not focusing on themselves, rather are focusing on putting down their opponents.  This is pointless.  So, I composed the following letter:

Dear 2018 Candidate,

I sit here, some six months before the November mid-term elections, and I am assessing the candidates, not only in my own state/district, but across the nation.  In attempting this exercise, I find it very difficult to like you, and thus will almost certainly find it difficult to vote for you in November.  Please listen to what I have to say, for I believe that I speak for the majority of We The People.  You remember us, right?  We are the ones whose votes you need and to whom you will be held accountable if you should be elected, just in case you have already forgotten.

Don’t tell me why I should not like your opponent, tell me instead why I should like you!  And I don’t mean that you should be wearing a butt-ugly shirt made from a U.S. flag, for that is a turn-off in itself.  And I don’t mean that you should have a gun strapped to your belt … another definite turn-off.  You will not impress me with tough talk, or by riding your horse into town. And you do not need to raise your voice!  Yes, I am hard of hearing, but I have closed-captioning on all my devices, so I can know what you are saying without you screeching like a banshee.

Now, what would I like to hear from you?  I would like to hear your views on the issues facing the nation today:  gun regulation, immigration, taxes, education, foreign policy, poverty, health care, the economy, and a number of others.  I would like you to use your words, as we tell our children, to help me understand what your platform is.  My vote, either for or against you, will be based on how closely your views match my own, and if you don’t use your face time to put forth your views, I cannot know what you think, thus I cannot and will not vote for you.

When your entire campaign is based on criticizing your opponent(s), it indicates to me that you do not have a very strong platform, or perhaps have no platform at all.  Perhaps, rather than spend your time trying to dig up ‘dirt’ on your opponent, you should spend that time thinking about how you would improve our public schools, how you would vote on a health care bill that cut funding for children living in poverty, or how you would consider a tax bill that benefits mainly the already-wealthy.  These are the things I care about.

I also care about your own values.  I am interested in knowing where all this money you are spending on television ads is coming from.  Are you beholden to the NRA?  To the fossil fuel industry?  Are you likely to be vulnerable to blackmail for a string of past sexual affairs?  Or worse yet, are you likely to be accused by women (or men) of sexual harassment?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should just go home now, for you are not fit to sit in the Capitol. 

If you only want the votes of those who are not well-educated enough or politically savvy enough to understand a political agenda, then you are on the right path.  But if you want the votes of the thinkers, the people who understand how government works, who have read the U.S. Constitution, then you need to change your ways.  If you believe – honestly believe – that you can make a difference, that you can do some good for this nation, then please do us all a favour and set on a path to prove it.  Design serious ads, don’t mention your opposition, tell us who you are, how you think, and why you believe you are qualified for this job.

This is my advice … take it or leave it.  But be advised that I will not vote for you if the focus of your campaign is putting down another candidate.  I will not vote for you unless I have a good feeling about who you are and what you stand for.  And not only will I not vote for you, but I will do my best to discourage others from voting for you as well.

Good luck.

During the 2016 presidential election, I did have a television in my bedroom, and I turned it on first thing every morning, as soon as I got my glasses on so I could find the remote.  By the time I got dressed and made it downstairs for my coffee, I was already outraged by the inanity of the political ads on both sides of the fence.  I thought it was about time somebody tells these people that mud-slinging is not savvy campaigning.  Your thoughts?

I Am Confused …

Posted on by under Political commentary

I am a bit confused about the GOP candidates for president this year (2016). There are two main points on which my confusion is founded. First, they all seem to have the same “platforms” (to the extent that it can be said they have any platform at all), and second that they all seem to think they are running against Barack Obama. Certainly there are other points on which I am confused, such as why they think we are all deaf and must be screamed at, why they think we are all stupid and will fall for every lie they tell us, why they all forget that they cannot win the general election by winning only republican votes, why they think that Christian evangelicals are the only votes that count, and the list goes on. But the two main points really have me scratching my head.

The republican candidates all want the same thing, or at least they claim to. Every one has claimed that they would repeal Obamacare on their first day in office (there is actually a process required to repeal a law, and as we all know, processes take time, so this is really nothing more than tough talk, but hey … they are republicans, so what do you expect?) Each and every one is committed to de-funding Planned Parenthood (another stupid move, but again … we are talking about republicans). Every single one has a “plan” for keeping Muslim refugees out of the country (another stupid … well, you get the picture by now, right?) Every one of them believes that the solution to terrorism is to bomb ISIL, never mind the collateral damage because in their eyes there is no such thing as an innocent Middle-Easterner. Every republican candidate supports the NRA unconditionally and opposes any new form of gun control, supporting nearly unlimited access to any type of firearm, calling it their “2nd amendment right”. For the most part they deny that climate change exists and each one, even those who acknowledge climate change, claim they will not support any measures to limit the effects of climate change if said measures would negatively affect the economy (might I just say it one more time … stupid). These are only a few of the issues, and yes, if you study their rhetoric you will find slight variations between candidates, but the overall beliefs are pretty generic, which must make it difficult for republicans to figure out which is actually the lesser of all evils. I think this may explain the otherwise inexplicable popularity of the tycoon buffoon … his voice is the loudest and his facial gestures the scariest.

The Twenty-second Amendment (Amendment XXII) of the United States Constitution sets a term limit for election and overall time of service to the office of President of the United States. Congress passed the amendment on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by the requisite 36 of the then-48 states on February 27, 1951. According to the terms of this amendment, no U.S. president may serve more than two terms. President Obama served his first term from January 2009 thru January 2013, and is currently serving his second term which began in January 2013 and is set to expire in January 2017. This is the reason we will be holding a presidential election in November of this year (2016), to elect a new president to replace President Obama. Unless the Constitution were to be further amended within the next 11 months, there is no way that President Obama can serve another term. So … could somebody please explain to me why all the republican candidates … each and every single one of them … seem to feel that they are running against President Obama in this election??? A few examples from the anti-Obama hate-spewing rhetoric machine:

• “We need to remove the self-imposed constraints President Obama has placed on our intelligence community and military, and we need to put in place an aggressive strategy to defeat ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism as I have proposed.” – Jeb Bush
• “Vintage Obama: No strategy, no leadership,” Carly Fiorina tweeted. “Politics as usual.”
• “There are answers here to make our nation [is] safe, but once again the President seems incapable of finding them.” – Rand Paul
• “Live by the pen, and die by the pen,” Mr. Cruz likes to say. “Every illegal executive action that he puts in place can be undone in an instant.” (Wanna bet? Let’s see you give that one a try)

The candidates merely start with the Affordable Care Act as a target. Carly Fiorina vows to erase President Obama’s Clean Power Plan limiting carbon emissions. Senator Lindsey Graham pledges to “shut down the embassy” that President Obama recently reopened in Cuba. Senator Marco Rubio calls for repealing the Dodd-Frank law that overhauled financial regulation. Gov. Scott Walker says he would scrap the Iran nuclear deal on his first day in office. Senator Ted Cruz blasts President Obama’s order shielding some undocumented immigrants from deportation as “patently unconstitutional,” promising to roll back that and much more. “Most of the policies candidates say they’ll overturn are much more entrenched than that,” said William Galston, domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. “People are sobered up fast by the reality of what it means to actually be president, as opposed to running for president.” Running against Barack Obama is not a sound strategy to overcome a candidate who has no strategy of his/her own other than to undo that which Obama has done. Wake up, republicans and ask your candidates what they will actually do, rather than what they plan to undo!

So, while I am not a republican, and do not support the far-right ideas that the GOP represents, I still think it would make for a more interesting, not to mention intelligent, election year if the current crop of candidates could come up with some original platforms and let the voters know what they realistically hope to accomplish if they should be elected, and not just parrot one another and slam President Obama. Is that too much to ask?