Originally Posted by KaiserD2

I am scratching my head at this wondering if Pittsburgh really deserves to be considered part of Appalachia. It has, after all, a world-class symphony orchestra and three professional sports teams. Perhaps it is a capital of a part of Appalachia. Certainly I was a fish out of water there for the ten years I lived there.

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

My dad was from around the Pittsburgh area and I had cousins there for a long time. I agree that it's part of Greater Appalachia. The professional sports teams don't make it any less so. The symphony orchestra and other cultural amenities are more or less expected of any city in any region, though I'm glad to know they're there.

Albuquerque has a symphony orchestra, several live theater venues, and other such amenities and we're down here in El Norte, home of red & green chile, lowriders, and everything else that goes with Norteno culture. (As someone told me last night, there's a reason Breaking Bad was filmed in Albuquerque!). I'm sure there are people who would move here and say "Duh? I've moved to Bordertown?" and I scratch my head ans say "No, it's nothing of the sort - it's just a regular city, with everything you'd expect from a city."

It may depend on where you live in the Pittsburgh area. Allegheny County is primarily of the Midland culture, while some of the neighboring counties to the south are Appalachian.

Had an interesting heated discussion with Ron Paul supporters the other day outside the San Jose public library. All Millennials. I don't see them out there now, so perhaps Paul is finally pulling in his horns. I don't know. He certainly isn't going to get the GOP nomination. What remains unclear is whether he will run a third party campaign. I don't think he's going to be the Libertarian nominee either.

Anyway, this provoked a thought regarding one of the areas where I sort of agree with Paul, namely in regard to pulling back from empire. But even there, I realize I don't agree with him fully. While we need to do this pronto, we can't do it instantly. If we do it before we are further along in transitioning away from oil, we will leave ourselves vulnerable to manipulation by OPEC, and if we simply chuck it all rather than handing off power to a chosen successor, we create a power vacuum and there will be a struggle to fill it probably involving China, Russia, and the EU, and possibly including India as well. It would be extremely ugly. The transition has to be managed.

Originally Posted by Brian Rush

Had an interesting heated discussion with Ron Paul supporters the other day outside the San Jose public library. All Millennials. I don't see them out there now, so perhaps Paul is finally pulling in his horns. I don't know. He certainly isn't going to get the GOP nomination. What remains unclear is whether he will run a third party campaign. I don't think he's going to be the Libertarian nominee either.

One word why Paul won't run third party -- Rand. He's not going to want to trash his son's political career.

I was going to vote for Ron Paul and think he would make an excellent president but unfortantely due to his low delegate numbers, he probably doesn't have any chances at winning. So, I'm voting for Romney. But I think Obama's going to win again anyway.

Where is media?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23789746/53777_n.jpeg

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

One word why Paul won't run third party -- Rand. He's not going to want to trash his son's political career.

Good point. That means he's probably going to hang it up pretty soon, at latest after the convention. I suspect he'll soft-pedal his campaign now. Why waste money when he can't win?

Originally Posted by Brian Rush

Good point. That means he's probably going to hang it up pretty soon, at latest after the convention. I suspect he'll soft-pedal his campaign now. Why waste money when he can't win?

He wants a nice speaking slot at the convention and to get his message out.

My Millie (92) son plans to vote for Obama rather than Romney who he views as a "douchbag". He feels that by running Romney, the GOP has proven they have no ideological integrity. He would vote for Ron Paul as he is more libertarian however, he feels he does not have a chance and is only running for publicity. At any rate, he feels Obama has governed from center-right despite the propaganda pushed by radio hosts and Fox News.

Originally Posted by Kate

At any rate, he feels Obama has governed from center-right despite the propaganda pushed by radio hosts and Fox News.

Indeed. Obama has been our best moderate Republican president since Clinton. And Clinton was our best moderate Republican president since Ford, who really was a registered Republican.

This thread is supposed to be about the 2012 U.S. election, but in fact the 2012 French election which just concluded, and which tossed Sarkozy, restored the Socialists to power, and strongly rebuked austerity, may show the way the wind is blowing globally.

Originally Posted by Brian Rush

This thread is supposed to be about the 2012 U.S. election, but in fact the 2012 French election which just concluded, and which tossed Sarkozy, restored the Socialists to power, and strongly rebuked austerity, may show the way the wind is blowing globally.

Indeed. The austerity while maintaining the profits of the finance industry platform isn't likely to be changed by the US election, but a socialist France might push for things like a transaction tax. The Occupy movement seems to be going nowhere on this side of The Pond, but Europe might not be so solidly stagnant as it used to be.

Originally Posted by Brian Rush

This thread is supposed to be about the 2012 U.S. election, but in fact the 2012 French election which just concluded, and which tossed Sarkozy, restored the Socialists to power, and strongly rebuked austerity, may show the way the wind is blowing globally.

Vive La France!!!

Originally Posted by Wes84

It may depend on where you live in the Pittsburgh area. Allegheny County is primarily of the Midland culture, while some of the neighboring counties to the south are Appalachian.

Dunno about Central PA, but my Dad was from Erie, about halfway between Niagara Falls and Cleveland. He was pretty darn Midwestern, with a fondness for German-derived phrases such as "Gesundheit!!!" (when someone sneezed). Not Appalachian in the slightest.

Originally Posted by B Butler

Indeed. The austerity while maintaining the profits of the finance industry platform isn't likely to be changed by the US election, but a socialist France might push for things like a transaction tax. The Occupy movement seems to be going nowhere on this side of The Pond, but Europe might not be so solidly stagnant as it used to be.

I wouldn't assume that Occupy isn't going anywhere here. Let's see what happens in this year's election first before we draw any conclusions, and also let's see what happens after the election in government and in popular action. Remember, there were plenty of people who wrote Europe off as "austerity forever" (whether they celebrated or mourned that situation). Things can and do change.

Originally Posted by Brian Rush

This thread is supposed to be about the 2012 U.S. election, but in fact the 2012 French election which just concluded, and which tossed Sarkozy, restored the Socialists to power, and strongly rebuked austerity, may show the way the wind is blowing globally.

America has no significant heritage of a well-defined socialist or social-democratic Party. American economic elites have long used consumerism (including mass low culture) as an 'opiate of the masses'. That may no longer work. Religion isn't as safe and reliable an opiate as Karl Marx described it; thoughtful religion might promote a conscience and a desire for justice incompatible with exploitation and oppression. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. headed an organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Committee... and it was very Christian in its ethical vision.

This Crisis Era may be sorting out the sordid from the honorable in American life, and not only in politics. Bad practices in business, politics, culture, and education will need to be scrapped.

Originally Posted by B Butler

Indeed. The austerity while maintaining the profits of the finance industry platform isn't likely to be changed by the US election, but a socialist France might push for things like a transaction tax. The Occupy movement seems to be going nowhere on this side of The Pond, but Europe might not be so solidly stagnant as it used to be.

The truth is that the financial industry is at best a method of hedging risk (insurance), determining which borrowers are most suitable users of loans (retail banking), and deciding what giant businesses can float loans (investment banking). The financial industry at its best exists more for the conservation of capital than for the promotion of business. It is necessary for industry and large-scale consumer spending in the sense that good brakes are necessary for high-speed driving.

Most people understand insurance to some extent because they know about auto accidents, cancer, household fires, and sudden death as random events. They understand banking to some extent because of their auto loans and perhaps home loans as customers. Investment banking? That is bigger and far more subtle -- and far more arcane. This is where corporate bond sales and the formation of new giant businesses is done. The financial crisis of the Double-Zero decade ravaged that industry; founding a giant business as a giant entity with IPOs and large issues of new corporate bonds will be difficult in the absence of competent entities in that business. Lehman Brothers used to be such an entity until it tried to make even more income by packaging fecal loans to sell to suckers.

The French Socialist Party is not very socialist any more, but its victory is a highly significant event since it signals a change in the austerity binge in Europe. The Conservatives in Britain aren't doing very well either. And these things are felt on this side of the Atlantic.

Republican Silent Richard Lugar is now the underdog in tomorrow's Indiana Republican Primary against a more conservative Boomer. If I am not mistaken, that would cut the number of genuine Republican moderates to perhaps two, Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts--or am I forgetting some one?

Originally Posted by KaiserD2

The French Socialist Party is not very socialist any more, but its victory is a highly significant event since it signals a change in the austerity binge in Europe. The Conservatives in Britain aren't doing very well either. And these things are felt on this side of the Atlantic.

I don't think American voters pay much attention to European politics or European opinion.

Originally Posted by Exile 67'

I don't think American voters pay much attention to European politics or European opinion.

You speak for yourself alone. This Crisis may force America to a political pattern vastly different from what it us now. "National identity" is no excuse for political depravity.

Originally Posted by KaiserD2

Republican Silent Richard Lugar is now the underdog in tomorrow's Indiana Republican Primary against a more conservative Boomer. If I am not mistaken, that would cut the number of genuine Republican moderates to perhaps two, Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts--or am I forgetting some one?

He lost.

Lugar was defeated in today’s Republican primary election by Treasurer Richard Mourdock, ending his bid for a seventh term in the U.S. Senate.

Mourdock will face Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly and Libertarian Andy Horning in the November election.

Lugar is an Indiana icon who has influenced everything from the political makeup of Indianapolis to global nuclear proliferation. As mayor of Indianapolis, he led the effort to create Unigov, combining city and county government. And as the GOP leader in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he’s played a lead role in combatting the spread of nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union.

But while voters may have appreciated those things, in the end he was seen as a figure from the past who didn’t have a place in the Republican Party’s future.

Voters cited his age, 80; his Virginia address where he’d lived since 1977; his votes for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees and his support for keeping earmarks in the hands of the legislative branch rather than surrender that power to the White House. And party insiders noted that Lugar had been a distant figure, not bothering to come to party events in Indiana until this year, when it was too late to kindle the relationships that could help him win.

Mourdock, over and over, pounded home the message that it was time for a change. And a drive through Indiana’s countryside would find as many, if not more, “Retire Lugar” yard signs than signs calling for him to be re-elected.

People in both parties said this election was a referendum on Lugar, and not even the backing of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who got his start in politics working for Lugar, could save him.

Mourdock originally was seen as a upstart candidate with little chance of winning. But he came out of the gate with the backing of a majority of state party leaders around the state, plus tea party activists who coalesced around his candidacy. With no other challenger to Lugar, and with the help of outside groups who targeted Lugar with millions of dollars in negative ads and mailings, it became clear in the final days of the campaign that Lugar would lose.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2012...t|IndyStar.com

Apparently the way to win within the Republican Party is to take the most extreme position offered by the money-dealing puppeteers.

If the paymasters told the politicians to bring back slavery because slave trafficking because it would generate profits... they would.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

...



http://www.indystar.com/article/20120508/NEWS0502/120508042/Indiana-Senate-Richard-Mourdock-topples-veteran-Richard-Lugar-Republican-primary?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com

Apparently the way to win within the Republican Party is to take the most extreme position offered by the money-dealing puppeteers.

If the paymasters told the politicians to bring back slavery because slave trafficking because it would generate profits... they would.

Hyperbole, I hope.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

He lost.



http://www.indystar.com/article/2012...t|IndyStar.com

Apparently the way to win within the Republican Party is to take the most extreme position offered by the money-dealing puppeteers.

If the paymasters told the politicians to bring back slavery because slave trafficking because it would generate profits... they would.

Yes, I know.

It will be interesting if Donnelly can beat Mourdock--that is what happened last time in Delaware and in Nevada and this doesn't figure to be quite as big a Republican year. On the other hand, Obama is not likely to win Indiana again.

Nate Silver identifies eight moderate Republicans remaining in the Senate: McCain, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa. I think Cochran is a stretch and Grassley isn't a lot better. In fact I'm not sure how many of these have ever voted with the Democrats in the last year.