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Thread: 2012 Elections - Page 345







Post#8601 at 08-21-2012 04:25 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
So do you take everyone's over-the-top, emotionally-based stupid comments at face value, or just those of people who disagree with your political views?
I know people from Stanardsville. This is not a parody.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#8602 at 08-21-2012 04:29 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by Brian Rush View Post
I have to agree with the Rani here, Odin. In fact, I was thinking the same thing as I read the piece: "This piece of crap is incoherent. I can't even tell what they're talking about doing, apart from not voting for Obama. This is no cause for concern."

I really don't think it is. We already knew there were nut jobs out there among the Tea Party. This is nothing new.
Greene County is very rural, and the 18,000 or so county residents are just about as RW as the militia members in Idaho. Not all of them, of course, but scary many.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#8603 at 08-21-2012 04:36 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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Quote Originally Posted by Lady Vagina View Post
No rape is a legitimate rape. I hope he stays in so that he will be crushed in November.
You have that right!!!!

There is speculation to his staying in the race. UGH! Our State has tons of extremely fundamentalist Christians. It appears that Akin figures there's enough of these people who will vote for him in November. Already some radical pro-lifers have come out in his defense. It was a stratgic move that he announced his staying in the race on Huckabee's far (off the page) Right *Christian* radio program.

The other piece of this is that many neoconservative Missouri residents would rather see a crazy guy like this win, than Claire McCaskill.

This is just how absolutely Looney Toons this election season has become. Even the Tea Party has come out against this insanity.
Last edited by Deb C; 08-21-2012 at 04:38 PM.
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#8604 at 08-21-2012 04:45 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by Lady Vagina View Post
No rape is a legitimate rape. I hope he stays in so that he will be crushed in November.
What if he wns?
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#8605 at 08-21-2012 04:47 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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Todd Akin and Paul Ryan Are More Alike Than You Think

Akin, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who is seeking to unseat Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, is not an outlier. No less than Paul Ryan, the Republican candidate for vice president, shares his views. Ryan, Akin’s colleague in the House, has sponsored legislation with him that also sought to distinguish between types of rape: Instead of “legitimate,” it used the word “forcible.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...you-think.html
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#8606 at 08-21-2012 04:48 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by Deb C View Post
You have that right!!!!

There is speculation to his staying in the race. UGH! Our State has tons of extremely fundamentalist Christians. It appears that Akin figures there's enough of these people who will vote for him in November. Already some radical pro-lifers have come out in his defense. It was a stratgic move that he announced his staying in the race on Huckabee's far (off the page) Right *Christian* radio program.

The other piece of this is that many neoconservative Missouri residents would rather see a crazy guy like this win, than Claire McCaskill.

This is just how absolutely Looney Toons this election season has become. Even the Tea Party has come out against this insanity.
Note to the Tea Party: If you light a wildfire, don't complain if it burns your house down.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#8607 at 08-21-2012 04:52 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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Quote Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon View Post
What if he wns?
PPP's Tom Jensen writes: "75% of Missouri voters think Akin's comments were inappropriate, but they're still voting along party lines."

Poll: Akin Still Ahead Of McCaskill by One Point

GOP Rep. Todd Akin still has the edge over Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri, according to a new snap poll on Monday from Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling — despite a national controversy over Akin's remarks about "legitimate rape" and false claims that rape victims cannot get pregnant, which have led virtually the whole Republican Party to call for him to drop out.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.co...mccaskill-by-1
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#8608 at 08-21-2012 05:03 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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From the Institute of Public Accuracy


Beyond Akin’s Rape Comment: The Republican Platform
August 21, 2012


JODI JACOBSON, jacobsonjodie at gmail.com, @jljacobson
Jacobson is president and editor-in-chief forRH Reality Check. She just wrote the piece“As Romney and Ryan Dissemble, RNC Prepares Radical Anti-Choice Platform Based on Personhood,” which states: “As of today, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan may find themselves in a wee bit of a bind.


“For the past two days, the pair have been running around trying to assure the press and ultimately women voters that they really do believe in ‘real rape,’ not just ‘legitimate rape,’ that they are not as misogynistic as Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, and that, of course, a Romney-Ryan administration would never eliminate rape and incest exceptions for abortion.


“And, now it appears that, all the while, the people really in charge of the GOP — fundamentalist anti-choicers among them — have been writing a party platform that not only makes all of that a lie, but is in effect a promise to make the personhood of fertilized eggs the law of the land.


“The draft official platform strongly supports a ‘a human life amendment’ to the Constitution:
“‘Faithful to the “self-evident” truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,’ the draft platform declares. ‘We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.’
“Let’s be very, very clear that such an amendment — which Mitt Romney has said unequivocally he would sign — would not only criminalize abortions of any kind for any reason, but also would outlaw many forms of contraception, in-vitro fertilization, and treatment of pregnant women with life-threatening conditions such as cancer. Moreover, it would also criminalize miscarriage.”


Also see: “How Anti-Choice Is Paul Ryan? Check the Record.”
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#8609 at 08-21-2012 05:24 PM by Kurt Horner [at joined Oct 2001 #posts 1,656]
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Interesting New Poll

Here's an interesting new poll from WashPost/Kaiser which breaks down voters in categories based on a cluster analysis. The party ID percentages can be found here (with Dems 34%, Reps 25% and Indy/Undecided at 41%).

One thing that jumps out is that crossover voting is very rare, with most groups solidly voting for one party or another, even among the independent groups. Another interesting thing is that the socially conservative but economically liberal swing voter appears to no longer exist in great numbers. Nearly all people who fit that profile have chosen a party and consistently vote for that one party. Swing voters seem to primarily be either liberal-leaning moderates who rarely vote (the Detached) or libertarian-lite (the Deliberators). Also, we can see that conservative independents are actually slightly more conservative than self-identified Republicans.







Post#8610 at 08-21-2012 08:52 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by Kurt Horner View Post
Here's an interesting new poll from WashPost/Kaiser which breaks down voters in categories based on a cluster analysis. The party ID percentages can be found here (with Dems 34%, Reps 25% and Indy/Undecided at 41%).

One thing that jumps out is that crossover voting is very rare, with most groups solidly voting for one party or another, even among the independent groups. Another interesting thing is that the socially conservative but economically liberal swing voter appears to no longer exist in great numbers. Nearly all people who fit that profile have chosen a party and consistently vote for that one party. Swing voters seem to primarily be either liberal-leaning moderates who rarely vote (the Detached) or libertarian-lite (the Deliberators). Also, we can see that conservative independents are actually slightly more conservative than self-identified Republicans.
So much for the Conserva-Dems' "we need to appeal to the (mythical) Middle" nonsense. Interesting that their mythical middle is claimed to like the Neo-Liberal policies the ConservaDems approve of.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#8611 at 08-21-2012 10:29 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Akin has the rest of the Republicans squirming. They want to tell him directly to STFU, but if they say it too harshy they will offend the misogynists who dominate their base.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#8612 at 08-21-2012 10:43 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
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Quote Originally Posted by Deb C View Post
From the Institute of Public Accuracy


Beyond Akin’s Rape Comment: The Republican Platform
August 21, 2012


“The draft official platform strongly supports a ‘a human life amendment’ to the Constitution:
“‘Faithful to the “self-evident” truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,’ the draft platform declares. ‘We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.’
“Let’s be very, very clear that such an amendment — which Mitt Romney has said unequivocally he would sign — would not only criminalize abortions of any kind for any reason, but also would outlaw many forms of contraception, in-vitro fertilization, and treatment of pregnant women with life-threatening conditions such as cancer. Moreover, it would also criminalize miscarriage.”
Got a question for the pro-lifers on this board. What is your stand on terminating an ectopic pregnancy, where the embryo implants itself in the fallopian tube. Such pregnancies are not viable and can pose grave risks to the mother?

This is not a gotcha snark question, but a sincere one.
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#8613 at 08-22-2012 11:13 AM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,014]
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
So much for the Conserva-Dems' "we need to appeal to the (mythical) Middle" nonsense. Interesting that their mythical middle is claimed to like the Neo-Liberal policies the ConservaDems approve of.
Two large constituencies -- "(George) Wallace Democrats" and "Rockefeller Republicans" that defined large wings of the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, have almost completely gone to the other Party. The Wallace Democrats largely gave up on the gutter racism that one used to associate with Ross Barnett, John Stennis, et al., but remain conservative on economic issues except for a willingness to take government largesse (like crop subsidies and such public works as highways), and the Republicans sought them out and got them. But these are vastly different from the "Rockefeller Republicans", almost entirely from the Northeast, Midwest, and Far West who were liberal on civil liberties but more conservative than union-based Democrats on economic issues. They could easily accede to liberals on race, and they were and remain secular in their views.

The ideological descendants of Gilded Age plutocrats and Southern planters have been at each others' throats except during the last Crisis Era and perhaps the Reagan-Bush years before the last political realignment occurred around 1990.

The conspicuous "conservative Democrats" like Sam Ervin and "liberal Republicans" like Hugh Scott have vanished. Americans are now polarized on regional and ideological lines as they have never been since just before the Civil War.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."


― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters







Post#8614 at 08-22-2012 11:31 AM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#8615 at 08-22-2012 12:52 PM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
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Quote Originally Posted by pbrower2a View Post
Two large constituencies -- "(George) Wallace Democrats" and "Rockefeller Republicans" that defined large wings of the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, have almost completely gone to the other Party. The Wallace Democrats largely gave up on the gutter racism that one used to associate with Ross Barnett, John Stennis, et al., but remain conservative on economic issues except for a willingness to take government largesse (like crop subsidies and such public works as highways), and the Republicans sought them out and got them. But these are vastly different from the "Rockefeller Republicans", almost entirely from the Northeast, Midwest, and Far West who were liberal on civil liberties but more conservative than union-based Democrats on economic issues. They could easily accede to liberals on race, and they were and remain secular in their views.

The ideological descendants of Gilded Age plutocrats and Southern planters have been at each others' throats except during the last Crisis Era and perhaps the Reagan-Bush years before the last political realignment occurred around 1990.

The conspicuous "conservative Democrats" like Sam Ervin and "liberal Republicans" like Hugh Scott have vanished. Americans are now polarized on regional and ideological lines as they have never been since just before the Civil War.
Good summing up of where we've come from since the mid awakening.
This is going to be a base election. It's all going to be about the ground game driving turnout. And the GOP knows that. That's why they are passing voter ID laws wherever they can.
The demographics of being poor is going to result in a lower mobilization rate of Democratic voters. It may make a difference in states like OH PA and FL.
Having written this I will add that if Obama wins anyway, especially if he gets a friendly Congress it is likely a big clue that we have our regeneracy.







Post#8616 at 08-22-2012 01:15 PM by edifice [at Denver joined Aug 2012 #posts 46]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Wonkette View Post
Got a question for the pro-lifers on this board. What is your stand on terminating an ectopic pregnancy, where the embryo implants itself in the fallopian tube. Such pregnancies are not viable and can pose grave risks to the mother?

This is not a gotcha snark question, but a sincere one.
I'm pro-life (if only for the sake of personal responsibility - you make it, you own it). I'm also for abortions that are medically necessary and necessary for extreme cases, like incest and rape. In the case of ectopic pregnancy, the priority should be saving the mother's life. If this results in a necessary abortion, so be it.







Post#8617 at 08-22-2012 01:18 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by edifice View Post
I'm pro-life (if only for the sake of personal responsibility - you make it, you own it).
Uh, usually "personal responsibility" in this context is RW code for "pregnancy is punishment for slutty behavior".
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#8618 at 08-22-2012 01:32 PM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,014]
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Quote Originally Posted by herbal tee View Post
Good summing up of where we've come from since the mid awakening.
This is going to be a base election. It's all going to be about the ground game driving turnout. And the GOP knows that. That's why they are passing voter ID laws wherever they can.
The demographics of being poor is going to result in a lower mobilization rate of Democratic voters. It may make a difference in states like OH PA and FL.
Having written this I will add that if Obama wins anyway, especially if he gets a friendly Congress it is likely a big clue that we have our regeneracy.
The Democratic base has likely expanded. It is hard to see a repeat of the electoral demographics that allowed the Tea Party to get so powerful so quickly. The GOP has nothing to offer to the newest group of voters, Millennial adults born between November 1990 and October 1994. Jobs? Sure -- with far lower pay, and most likely in occupations that expand to accommodate the bleeding of public-sector assets and of course in domestic service. Millennial adults are secularists as a group, and the religious fundamentalists aren't gaining support from Millennial voters.

Liberal-to-moderate voters may have learned the hard way that Congress matters as much as does the Presidency. I can see many voters who chose Tea Party pols in 2010 looking at the singularly low achievements of the 112th Congress and especially the excessive emphasis on ideological purity instead of on local issues. Freshman Congressmen who achieve little are always vulnerable in reverse-wave elections. 'One-size-fits-all' politics that an outside Boss might dictate, the sort that offers the same agenda in Jackson, Michigan as in Jackson, Mississippi, can fail fast.

Maybe some conservative Democrats can win some House seats in the South from politicians who talk about abortion all the time... and ignore the local agriculture. I figure that "I am a Democrat so that I can disobey Karl Rove, Grover Norquist... or Barack Obama whenever it is best for you" could be a winning proposition.

In 2008 the Obama campaign positioned itself to make gains late. It organized early and coordinated with union officials and recruited voters on college campuses beginning in September. As it is the Democrats -- even President Obama -- will be able only to break even with "likely voter" models that look much like the electorate of 2010... but Democrats know well enough that if they are to win they must win over the not-so-likely voters, largely new voters, who lean D. (Likely voter models do not always favor Democrats; in 1980 and 1984 (but not 1982) they vastly underestimated the conservative-leaning voting of early-wave voters of Generation X. Almost everyone underestimated how conservative Generation X was and thus the Reagan victories and related wins for Republican pols. Count on President Obama's apparatus to try to register every possible voter who fits the demographics of Democratic-leaning voters as in 2008. Count also on conservative Democrats in the South and Midwest to do much the same -- only to downplay President Obama, who may be a poor cultural match for their districts.

I consider the Tea Party a reversion to 3T politics; it is at most a False Regeneracy. False Regeneracies either implode or bloat into nightmares. Real ones last, and in 2016... several R Senators in anomalous places elected on Tea Party ideology in 2010 will be extremely vulnerable.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."


― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters







Post#8619 at 08-22-2012 01:34 PM by edifice [at Denver joined Aug 2012 #posts 46]
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
Uh, usually "personal responsibility" in this context is RW code for "pregnancy is punishment for slutty behavior".
It's not a punishment for, but more of the result of, irresponsible behavior. If you don't want a kid, either wear a rubber or don't have sex. Pretty simple.







Post#8620 at 08-22-2012 02:25 PM by Lady Vagina [at California joined Jul 2011 #posts 131]
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Quote Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon View Post
What if he wns?
No way. He is toast!







Post#8621 at 08-22-2012 02:28 PM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
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Quote Originally Posted by Lady Vagina View Post
No way. He is toast!
We will see. So far the only poll on this race that has been published since he did his dumb shows no change in the race. He's still one point ahead.
Could a large turn out by women and men concerned about his incompentence to sit on the house Science committee, amongst other things, make a difference, yes.
But will that turn out happen.







Post#8622 at 08-22-2012 02:52 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Republicans are marching in lock step to an extreme right wing ideology. Their policies are almost uniformly wrong. They need to be voted out.

All that is true, I think; not just me being a stubborn boomer. However, it is also true that our party system needs to be changed. Parties themselves are not the only cause of the paralysis of our government. Ideology is primarily responsible, and mostly right-wing ideology. But the party system as it exists today is part of the problem. Legislators especially, but also executives, are at a disadvantage today if they don't stick to the party line. Now that the parties are polarized, that party line is very well-defined, and tends to discourage congress and other elected officials from honestly sitting down together, discussing problems, and deciding on the best possible solutions that would be the best for our country and the people. Instead, it is a war for power and influence between the two major parties. Other viewpoints from other parties are shut out, and independent voices are shut out too, even though today there are more independents than Democrats or Republicans (at least according to voter registrations).

We in California have recently thrown out this party system, for the most part. Districts are drawn up by a non-partisan citizens commission, not by those who benefit from how the districts are drawn (the legislators). Voters can choose whomever they wish in an open primary, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the general election. Some localities also have instant runoff or ranked-choice voting, so that voters don't have to worry about the "spoiler effect" if they vote for whom they really want to vote for as their first choice. If more states and cities would adopt these rules, or even our nation, the stranglehold of the two wealthy parties on our system would be weakened.

These are by no means the only reforms we need. CA for one needs to get rid of its Prop 13 requirement that taxes be approved by a 2/3 vote. It may be that under this new election system, Republicans will lose their 2 or 3 vote veto power they now have under the Prop.13 system, but maybe not. Everywhere, the power of money remains, thanks to Citizens United and other outdated decisions by Republican judges and lawmakers.

For now, Democrats and Greens need to be supported, because although they are also victims of this system, they are more likely to be pressured by the people to change it than Republicans are, whose ideology and enforced party line is "allow business freedom and low taxes, and benefits from job creaters will trickle-down to you." In other words, allow the wealthy to rule unchecked.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#8623 at 08-22-2012 09:22 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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An essay by a 17yo Millie I ran into.

Hey everyone. Awhile back I somewhat introduced myself on a thread as a politically active 17 year old, who, with pretty much everyone else my age and near it, has all the reason to be concerned with the current affairs of our nation. And why not?

We have a political party who has financially ruined our country, turning a Clinton surplus into a massive debt of over 10 trillion dollars, the result of economic mismanagement ranging from cutting taxes on those who had absolutely no need for them and would not do anything with them for the average American to having two unpaid, illegal wars, leaving our generation with the bills, and the last one having more than financial implications.

We have a political party who has announced that "corporations are people", and have aided them in shipping millions of American jobs overseas, jobs our generation severely need, all for the sake of maximizing profits and escaping their duty as technical citizens in paying taxes.

A party whose politicians have engineered the eroding of our Constitution by passing bills such as the Patriot Act, expanding "free speech zones", trying to suppress the vote of citizens by whatever means necessary, attempting to censor the internet and generally viciously attacking anyone who does not parrot their hateful, divisive party line slandering them as communists, fascists, and the like.

Education is clearly not a priority, as perhaps best illustrated by the Texas GOP, which has taken a stand against the horrors of "critical thinking". They favor blocking the teaching of relevant subject material such as evolution, and substituting in its place the completely unscientific alternative of creationism, a symptom of the the pervasive ignorance that ails the party. Let's cut funding while we're at it, we don't need more educated young Americans.

Health care is a privilege, not a right to these people. As long as they can provide for themselves and their families thanks to their own taxpayer-subsidized health care and the millions they make in their own private corrupt bargains, the rest can simply become bankrupt thanks to an illness, disease or condition that they had no desire to contract, maybe even die off in the process. Even better to them, as it reduces the surplus population. I know many young people whose families have suffered because of this. The rest of the industrialized, civilized, if I may, world recognizes the opposite. Why do we continue to the point in the direction of callousness and moral irresponsibility in the face of overwhelming evidence?

They have begun to wage a war on just about every group who is not like them. Women (particularly in these past few days), ethnic minorities, LGBT, the middle class, the poor, the elderly, and everyone else are not safe from their onslaught of stupidity, benightedness, and sheer insanity.

Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Their foreign policy is more or less unchecked "freedom building", being the world police (anything to justify the massive defense budget and the military-industrial complex), and throwing a healthy amount of disrespect at our allies for good measure. Global warming is a liberal hoax, the environment is our playground. To paralyze an entire nation by obstructing progress simply to spite the "liberal muslim marxist" president and attempt to relegate him to one term is acceptable. The list goes on and on.

The Republican Party is this nation's very own modern domestic threat, which is why you, the adults of today, must do all you can to stave off their incessant threat to bring us back to the age long gone of barbaric simplicity and backwardness. But for the future, I have a few bright spots for my generation.

We are young, energetic and full of life. Perhaps as many of you remember in your own youth, we have plenty of idealism and optimism for the future, in spite of the massive challenges we face.

We are the most tolerant generation to date. While bigots certainly and unfortunately exist, for the most part we see each other as what we truly are: fellow Americans. As each succeeding generation dies out and the ignorance they carry goes out with them, this bright spot will only increase.

We are what many consider the technology savvy generation. We are the direct recipients of the massive proliferation of technology, and its incredible advances from the past few decades, all the way to right now. This is what will potentially make or break this generation. If we can somehow harness this massive force for good, from the disseminating of information for education all the way to using it to provide jobs, we can thrive in the future.

Yes, our generation has its problems. Things such as broken families and alcohol and drug abuse are two problems that come to mind. But then again, which generation hasn't had its own obstacles? I believe that if my generation works together to achieve the original promise laid down in the Constitution, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and to work for the betterment of all Americans, it is no exaggeration to say that America's brightest days are still ahead. We are young, we are ambitious, and we love our country and its people. We love the values that it represents, freedom and justice for all, and the belief that with one's sweat and blood, one can prosper. We have faith in the belief that we Americans are forever united as one in the face of adversity, and while that concept may seem more remote in the realities of today, there is no reason why this belief can't be true in the future. In the legendary words of our President, "there is not a liberal America and a conservative America, there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America, there’s the United States of America."

And we, ladies and gentlemen, are Americans, together in this fight. Thank you.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#8624 at 08-22-2012 11:06 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
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08-22-2012, 11:06 PM #8624
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Quote Originally Posted by edifice View Post
It's not a punishment for, but more of the result of, irresponsible behavior. If you don't want a kid, either wear a rubber or don't have sex. Pretty simple.
Rubbers break. A nephew of mine is testament to that. (Fortunately, while unplanned, he was conceived in marriage and was much wanted and is now a productive and happy 25-year-old).
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#8625 at 08-23-2012 08:45 AM by '58 Flat [at Hardhat From Central Jersey joined Jul 2001 #posts 3,300]
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08-23-2012, 08:45 AM #8625
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
Akin has the rest of the Republicans squirming. They want to tell him directly to STFU, but if they say it too harshy they will offend the misogynists who dominate their base.

But even I understand what Akin was actually trying to say: That if a woman is, say, dragged into a dark alley and raped at knifepoint, then yes, she should be permitted to have an abortion; but in a "date rape" type situation, no.

Now mind you, I don't agree with this; just the same, probably a majority of states do punish "date rape" less severely than the dark-alley example I cited, usually by classifying the date rapes as "second-degree rape" and the other kind as "first-degree rape."

That's what Todd Akin's - and Paul Ryan's - "forcible rape" business is really all about; and if I were Rush Limbaugh I would be spinning this to suggest that Akin's blunder was to attempt to make any compromise by exempting even the victim of a "dark alley" rape from a blanket abortion ban (I hope Rush isn't lurking on this board somewhere).
But maybe if the putative Robin Hoods stopped trying to take from law-abiding citizens and give to criminals, take from men and give to women, take from believers and give to anti-believers, take from citizens and give to "undocumented" immigrants, and take from heterosexuals and give to homosexuals, they might have a lot more success in taking from the rich and giving to everyone else.

Don't blame me - I'm a Baby Buster!
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