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Thread: 2012 Elections - Page 492







Post#12276 at 11-08-2012 10:35 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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Quote Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon View Post
So, impurity at its essense. If you want it to be different, you'll have to live in a less dominant nation. I recommended Canada to Justin in an earlier post. I've often considered it myself.
Maybe we could get a group rate.
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#12277 at 11-08-2012 10:38 PM by Ragnar๖k_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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Quote Originally Posted by Classic-X'er View Post
Who provided all of that for me? Was it the government or the people?
Easy. It's the people who work for/at the government. Feel free to take your pick of the two prepositions. "The government" is like most other things in society. It is composed of people. To keep it simple, government (in the US) works as follows wrt people.
1. People who work for/at the government receive paychecks whose origin is tax revenue.
2. People who receive services are everyone in the jurisdiction of a particular government. City, county, state, and federal boernment have different jurisdictions.
3. Dependents: People who receive money from a government based on some criteria. Age or disability are examples.
4. Moochers. Welfare cheats, banks, assorted special interest groups like big agriculture, house builders, real estate agents, defense contractors, and *"vulture capitalists". [ It is this group that is a problem. While governments do make some effort to root out outright fraud, say Medicare, OTOH, "concentrated interests" always win over "diffuse interests". An example is real estate interests. They howl like wolves if their swill is threatened, so garbage like FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD, and perhaps a bunch of shit I don't know about is there, sucking up money and other resources which could be put to better use: Say a mass transit system that is better the 3rd world type we have now. Bulgaria puts us to shame in that department. It's also why Obamacare is a kludge. Nobody could boot the insurance companies out or put the reigns on big pharma. So for me, cops work for the government, while everyone at Fannie Mae works AT the government.Fannie Mae employees work FOR real estate interests. HTH

* With all due apologies to actual vultures which do useful things like cleaning up disease carrying carrion.
Last edited by Ragnar๖k_62; 11-08-2012 at 10:42 PM.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#12278 at 11-08-2012 10:52 PM by Ragnar๖k_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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Quote Originally Posted by Classic-X'er View Post
Wow! The economy will be running 6T higher than the 20T national debt with 20 million out there looking for jobs while 7.5% are dealing with the recent loss of their jobs.

Infrastructure projects are certainly needed. Our power grid is a joke. I don't know about you, but I don't like power outages. No TeeVee or computers. So yeah, delete/nuke programs for the moochers as outlined in prior posts and use that money for something useful for a change. I'd go back to the 1980 tax structure to bring in tax revenue for the difference. I like compromise. However, I'm not sure about M&L's inflation. I can go with it on one condition. Since I live in Oklahoma, I want the price of oil to go to $350.00/barrel. M&L gets the inflation he wants and I get a state with a stupendous oil boom. Again, compromise. It's the only way to do politics.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#12279 at 11-08-2012 11:13 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 Classic-X'er View Post
Wow! The economy will be running 6T higher than the 20T national debt with 20 million out there looking for jobs while 7.5% are dealing with the recent loss of their jobs.
Economic activity creates economic activity. Why we got away from that basic piece of knowledge is a mystery, but reality is starting to dawn ... again. A $4T shot in the arm will create about $8T to $12T of activity, when you account for the multiplier effect.

The only reason it works is, there is a huge backlog of public projects that have been ignored, so the work is there to keep everyone busy, well beyond the 2016 end date. By then, the righteous cycle will either be established or it never will, so the risk is minimal. Even failure, unlikely as it is, will be no worse than what exists now.

If we're lucky, inflation will rise to about 3%, so the need for this kind of intervention will cease. We'll be back to the Fed reigning in inflation when it gets too high. Of course, first we have to get there.
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#12280 at 11-08-2012 11:38 PM by JohnMc82 [at Back in Jax joined Jan 2011 #posts 1,962]
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Quote Originally Posted by Ragnar๖k_62 View Post
However, I'm not sure about M&L's inflation. I can go with it on one condition. Since I live in Oklahoma, I want the price of oil to go to $350.00/barrel. M&L gets the inflation he wants and I get a state with a stupendous oil boom. Again, compromise. It's the only way to do politics.
I object!



And if the Federal Reserve weren't messing around with interest rates, bailouts, and other unprecedented investor subsidies, there wouldn't be so much inflationary pressure on industrial inputs scaring off attempts at fiscal stimulus and depressing real economic activity.
Those words, "temperate and moderate", are words either of political cowardice, or of cunning, or seduction. A thing, moderately good, is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice.

'82 - Once & always independent







Post#12281 at 11-09-2012 01:22 AM by Ragnar๖k_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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Quote Originally Posted by JohnMc82 View Post
I object!
1. I'm sure others also object. Though, I think I can get Eric to go along with the coalition.
2. In any event, I rather doubt you have much to worry about. My *uraninite crystals tell me that my chances in the political arena are pretty much zilch.TM

*Eric has astrology/crystal ball woo-woo and I have quantum field interaction woo-woo wrt predicting the future.

And if the Federal Reserve weren't messing around with interest rates, bailouts, and other unprecedented investor subsidies, there wouldn't be so much inflationary pressure on industrial inputs scaring off attempts at fiscal stimulus and depressing real economic activity.
You won't get argument from me on that one. The Fed is also screwing up pension fund returns with its ZIRP crap. I think ZIRP is actually deflationary since those of use who get interest income are getting clobbered. So yeah, it's actually bi-flation. Asset inflation cojoined with wage/real investment deflation.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#12282 at 11-09-2012 09:49 AM by JohnMc82 [at Back in Jax joined Jan 2011 #posts 1,962]
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Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
I'm actually okay on the drinking, but this sex addiction is really tough. Can you help me out with that?

Please note, I'm not looking for a cure.
Hey uh, I think it's not a disorder until it has a negative effect on your quality of life.
Those words, "temperate and moderate", are words either of political cowardice, or of cunning, or seduction. A thing, moderately good, is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice.

'82 - Once & always independent







Post#12283 at 11-09-2012 04:31 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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In 2012 turnout was down, and it was almost entirely if not totally white voters who had voted for Obama in 2008 who stayed home. Some were disappointed that Obama did not go far left enough on things like the public option and his supporting of NDAA and his drone attacks. But most were disappointed in Obama's handling of the economy, and some were turned off by Obama's supposedly "big government" programs like Obamacare and its mandate, but they still didn't buy Romney's proposed solution of going back to the policies of the past, or of offering nothing but personal claims that "I can do it better." They were also turned off by Romney's history at Bain Capital and by his insensitivity to the 47% who don't pay income taxes. And many women were turned off by the Republican attacks on them.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#12284 at 11-09-2012 05:09 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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Quote Originally Posted by Eric the Green View Post
In 2012 turnout was down, and it was almost entirely if not totally white voters who had voted for Obama in 2008 who stayed home. Some were disappointed that Obama did not go far left enough on things like the public option and his supporting of NDAA and his drone attacks. But most were disappointed in Obama's handling of the economy, and some were turned off by Obama's supposedly "big government" programs like Obamacare and its mandate, but they still didn't buy Romney's proposed solution of going back to the policies of the past, or of offering nothing but personal claims that "I can do it better." They were also turned off by Romney's history at Bain Capital and by his insensitivity to the 47% who don't pay income taxes. And many women were turned off by the Republican attacks on them.
IMHO, Obama won by default.Super wealthy Romney as the presidential candidate, was sure to lose. I mean, how many average Americans, especially the poor and shrinking middle class, would relate to this upper crust? Why would people vote for someone they saw as aloof and far removed from their class? While Obama's campaign did a good job at marketing him as the populist, Romney just couldn't hide his top hat and Cuban cigars. Oh, and his car elevator and prancing show horse was a real appeal to the struggling masses.
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#12285 at 11-09-2012 06:37 PM by Classic-X'er [at joined Sep 2012 #posts 1,789]
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Quote Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon View Post
Economic activity creates economic activity. Why we got away from that basic piece of knowledge is a mystery, but reality is starting to dawn ... again. A $4T shot in the arm will create about $8T to $12T of activity, when you account for the multiplier effect.

The only reason it works is, there is a huge backlog of public projects that have been ignored, so the work is there to keep everyone busy, well beyond the 2016 end date. By then, the righteous cycle will either be established or it never will, so the risk is minimal. Even failure, unlikely as it is, will be no worse than what exists now.

If we're lucky, inflation will rise to about 3%, so the need for this kind of intervention will cease. We'll be back to the Fed reigning in inflation when it gets too high. Of course, first we have to get there.
The Manhattan's (Playdudes) aren't guided by coventional wisdom or grounded with common sense.







Post#12286 at 11-09-2012 06:43 PM by Classic-X'er [at joined Sep 2012 #posts 1,789]
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Quote Originally Posted by Ragnar๖k_62 View Post
Infrastructure projects are certainly needed. Our power grid is a joke. I don't know about you, but I don't like power outages. No TeeVee or computers. So yeah, delete/nuke programs for the moochers as outlined in prior posts and use that money for something useful for a change. I'd go back to the 1980 tax structure to bring in tax revenue for the difference. I like compromise. However, I'm not sure about M&L's inflation. I can go with it on one condition. Since I live in Oklahoma, I want the price of oil to go to $350.00/barrel. M&L gets the inflation he wants and I get a state with a stupendous oil boom. Again, compromise. It's the only way to do politics.
Can you afford $10 loafs of bread because that's what you're going to see when oil costs $350.00 a barrel.







Post#12287 at 11-09-2012 08:27 PM by Ragnar๖k_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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Quote Originally Posted by Classic-X'er View Post
Can you afford $10 loafs of bread because that's what you're going to see when oil costs $350.00 a barrel.
Yup. I have some Exxon-Mobile stock stashed in my IRA. Mind you, this state of affairs is a Joneser thing. A nice mix of Xer pragmatism of "this company has no debt and pays a dividend" and a Boomer attitude of I DESERVE a decent return on my investments damn it!
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#12288 at 11-09-2012 11:31 PM by annla899 [at joined Sep 2008 #posts 2,860]
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Here's a very smart comment from a blog on The Atlantic. Although I tend to think that we too often think everything should be run like a business, even those enterprises with different goals than businesses, this commenter makes some great points about the Obama and Romney strategies.

Looking at the list of states and their vote differences, we were struck by the fact that other than North Carolina, Romney didn't win a single state by fewer than 8%, whereas the President had 10 states, with a total of 125 votes, in that range. Most of the attention that night was on the really close contests: Florida, Ohio, NC and Virginia, three of which Obama won, but what struck me were the other seven, states that he won without a lot of votes to spare, but with a comfortable enough margin that he didn't have to sweat them.

The reason I mention that here... if I'm in business school and looking at this as a case study, I look at Romney vote totals and say, there is a "business" that squandered its goodwill by racking up 22% leads in Kansas and Alabama, when those votes would have been so much more valuable in Colorado and Pennsylvania.
That assumes that you can trade votes... and you can. That's something a businessman should know. He should know that against an opponent like Obama, the key isn't shoring up the "base" it's battling it out for the center. He got that at the end, but it was too late.
Was there anybody who looked at the field of jokers in the Republican debates and didn't know that Romney would be the eventual nominee? If he had confidence in that, he could have chosen a path that would have made him seem more reasonable to the general electorate early on. He could have pandered to hate a little less and reached out to Latino voters a tiny bit more. If that cost him two votes in Arizona for every one he picked up in Colorado and Nevada, he might have won all three states.
He could have said that he believes in the sanctity of life but he also feels that Todd Akin is a horse's ass and we should make an exception in the case of rape or incest.
Meanwhile, you look at the vote spread for Obama and it's an MBA's dream. Every vote carried just the right amount of weight. And it wasn't by accident.
Some didn't want him to bail out the carmakers, but it turned out okay and it sure paid dividends in Ohio three years later. Some cringed at the thought of gaffe-machine Joe Biden being front and center, but I bet his act went over big in his home town of Scranton and I bet it went a long way toward securing former battleground state Pennsylvania. Some thought Bill Clinton outshone the President at the convention. Some will tell you that's a mistake. But that mistake probably won him Virginia and made him competitive in North Carolina.
That's managing your resources. That's a saavy businessman. He just happens to be in the business of governance.







Post#12289 at 11-09-2012 11:50 PM by JustPassingThrough [at joined Dec 2006 #posts 5,196]
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Although I'm not pleased with the outcome of the election, I am definitely glad it's over. The economy is already getting worse in response to Obama's re-election, as I knew it would. The Dow has dropped 450 points since Tuesday, and many businesses that had been holding off cuts in the hope that Obama would lose (and particularly that Obamacare would not go into effect) have started laying people off. As bad as it is and is going to be, at least I know what the future holds now and can plan accordingly. The uncertainty and interminable politics are over for a few years. Things are going to be bad, but at least it's decided.
"I see you got your fist out, say your peace and get out. Yeah I get the gist of it, but it's alright." - Jerry Garcia, 1987







Post#12290 at 11-10-2012 06:09 AM by '58 Flat [at Hardhat From Central Jersey joined Jul 2001 #posts 3,300]
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Quote Originally Posted by Classic-X'er View Post
The Manhattan's (Playdudes) aren't guided by coventional wisdom or grounded with common sense.

Ah, but the Staten Island's are!
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!







Post#12291 at 11-10-2012 12:18 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by JustPassingThrough View Post
Although I'm not pleased with the outcome of the election, I am definitely glad it's over. The economy is already getting worse in response to Obama's re-election, as I knew it would. The Dow has dropped 450 points since Tuesday, and many businesses that had been holding off cuts in the hope that Obama would lose (and particularly that Obamacare would not go into effect) have started laying people off. As bad as it is and is going to be, at least I know what the future holds now and can plan accordingly. The uncertainty and interminable politics are over for a few years. Things are going to be bad, but at least it's decided.
LMAO, in what universe???
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#12292 at 11-10-2012 12:28 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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"The really dangerous American fascist... is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence.

His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power...

They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest.

Their final objective, toward which all their deceit is directed, is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."


~ U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, quoted in the New York Times, April 9, 1944

Last edited by Odin; 11-10-2012 at 12:35 PM.
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#12293 at 11-10-2012 12:43 PM by JDG 66 [at joined Aug 2010 #posts 2,106]
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
~ U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, quoted in the New York Times, April 9, 1944

-Yeah. Henry Wallace, the best unpaid agent the Soviets ever had.

Great source.







Post#12294 at 11-10-2012 01:02 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by JDG 66 View Post
-Yeah. Henry Wallace, the best unpaid agent the Soviets ever had.

Great source.
Wallace was a great American who happened to be naive when it came to foreign policy.
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#12295 at 11-10-2012 01:11 PM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,014]
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
"The really dangerous American fascist... is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence.

His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power...

They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest.

Their final objective, toward which all their deceit is directed, is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."


~ U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, quoted in the New York Times, April 9, 1944

Thanks. I just got a signature for use in another, unrelated Forum.
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#12296 at 11-10-2012 01:40 PM by JDG 66 [at joined Aug 2010 #posts 2,106]
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
Wallace was a great American who happened to be naive when it came to foreign policy.
-And naive when it came to his Communist staff? And from your quote, paranoid when it came to his internal policy.

Quote Originally Posted by pbrower2a View Post
..."Democracy, in short, is a form of collectivism, which denies individual rights: the majority can do whatever it wants with no restrictions. In principle, the democratic government is all-powerful. Democracy is a totalitarian manifestation; it is not a form of freedom." -- Ayn Rand, ideological idol of Paul Ryan, presumptive Republican nominee for Vice-President of the United States.
-Actually, Rand and (presumably, Ryan) are both correct. In an unrestricted democracy, 51% of the population can vote the other 49% into slavery. That's why we have restirctions on what representatives and referendums can do.

If you don't believe me, ask Socrates.
Last edited by JDG 66; 11-10-2012 at 01:44 PM.







Post#12297 at 11-10-2012 02:29 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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..........


Oh, but anyone who criticizes this state of affairs is accused as being "jealous" and "envious" of the rich.
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#12298 at 11-10-2012 02:44 PM by annla899 [at joined Sep 2008 #posts 2,860]
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Quote Originally Posted by Odin View Post
..........


Oh, but anyone who criticizes this state of affairs is accused as being "jealous" and "envious" of the rich.
I'm certainly not jealous of his execrable taste.







Post#12299 at 11-10-2012 03:32 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Republican right weeps over Obama's victory – then begins internal civil war
The clash between diehard conservatives and modernisers will dictate the fate of a party which increasingly seems to appeal only to angry, older white Americans

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...-conservatives

....................Last week the Romney campaign in the key swing state of Iowa held a "victory" party in the capital, Des Moines. Right in the American heartland, in the very state that gave birth to Obama's presidential ambitions in 2008, the great and good of the local Republican party gathered in a downtown hotel ballroom to celebrate their side's expected win.

But shortly after the local TV station announced Obama had won Iowa – in the end by a hefty six percentage points – Fox News said that the White House also would remain in Democratic hands. The mood of the almost entirely white gathering of several hundred rapidly deflated. Some headed to the exits. One woman muttered angrily to her companion: "It is the dumbing down of America."

This is the side of the Republican party that has dominated its internal politics for four years. It is a party that almost seems to exist in its own vacuum of rightwing thought. Infused with Tea Party radicals, it has backed hardline immigration laws in states such as Arizona that many Hispanics see as racist. It boasted two Senate candidates who made tone-deaf comments about rape that cost them otherwise easy victories. It is still male-dominated, yet finds time to take hardline ideological stances on female contraception and abortion. This is the party that appears implacably hostile to gay Americans even as last week four more states held ballots on gay marriage and all voted in favour. "Does social conservatism continue to be a albatross around the neck of the party?" said Professor Gerard Alexander of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

But it is not just social issues. On economics the Republican party plays host to a powerful and vocal wing of libertarians who wish to slash and burn government spending. They cling to a conservative world view that has forced previously extreme stances – such as abolishing the federal Department of Education and returning the dollar to the gold standard – into the heart of Republican thought. Not even the vast amount of cash that Republican big money operators poured into the 2012 race was able to have a major impact. Of the top 10 Senate candidates that political guru Karl Rove's American Crossroads group spent the most on, just one resulted in a Democratic defeat. Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson backed eight candidates – including Romney – with around $60m over the whole election cycle. None of them won.

To many observers, the Republicans are turning into a party that cannot win office. It has been dominated by the punditocracy of Fox News and the enormous influence of rightwing media stars such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. It believes it does not need to change, but must maintain ideological purity and run a true conservative candidate. In Romney it sees the failure of a moderate who did not really believe the conservative values he had to espouse to win his party's nomination.They point out Obama's victory was built on a superior ground game, which turned out its base. They can even say Obama only beat Romney by 50% to 48% – a sliver that only grows large in the undemocratic electoral college.............
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#12300 at 11-10-2012 05:07 PM by pbrower2a [at "Michigrim" joined May 2005 #posts 15,014]
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Quote Originally Posted by JDG 66 View Post

(to me)

..."Democracy, in short, is a form of collectivism, which denies individual rights: the majority can do whatever it wants with no restrictions. In principle, the democratic government is all-powerful. Democracy is a totalitarian manifestation; it is not a form of freedom." -- Ayn Rand, ideological idol of Paul Ryan, presumptive Republican nominee for Vice-President of the United States.




-Actually, Rand and (presumably, Ryan) are both correct. In an unrestricted democracy, 51% of the population can vote the other 49% into slavery. That's why we have restirctions on what representatives and referendums can do.

If you don't believe me, ask Socrates.
Did I ever say that I despise checks and balances? The absence of checks and balances gave the Soviet Union such a nasty system. Without them one has lynch mobs for courts and legislation that destroys all freedoms. Totalitarian systems consider checks and balances impediments to revolution. Revolution effectively throws the b@stards out, but it is a poor way to get the incremental change and workable institutions necessary for the next stage of history.
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
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