U.S. Politics

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Tempted to watch the Republican debate later. This race is mighty entertaining.

On another note, what does the US public and meeja think of Sanders anyway? I saw he gave a speech at Liberty university this week, which was an interesting move.

[Marka Ragnos]

Tempted to watch the Republican debate later. This race is mighty entertaining.

On another note, what does the US public and meeja think of Sanders anyway? I saw he gave a speech at Liberty university this week, which was an interesting move.

The country is more polarized than I've ever seen it. Apart from Hillary, political moderates are mocked/ignored/discouraged at every turn. Sanders is our Jeremy, and I can only see a very polarized electorate choosing him in the end. But that's what we've got atm, and sadly, Hillary has a lot of ethical baggage (although to my mind that's been exaggerated) to prosper as an alternative. Trump is frightening.

The US just isn't set up for a "big government" approach. It works in Vermont and Massachusetts and places like Oregon, sometimes, but there are ENORMOUS swathes of the country where someone like Sanders is going to be seen, forever, as an extremist. I don't think he's realistically credible, as much as I like and admire him.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

I do get the distinct impression that the US would sooner elect a racist than a socialist.

The case of the Republican party is interesting. It has pretty much been made unelectable thanks to the infiltration of the Christian Right. I didn't watch the debate (3 hours long at 1am, no thanks!) but I caught up on it afterwards and the pandering to Christian voters was appalling. Of the nominees I'd say Rand Paul is the only one who has any idea of what the US stands for and appears in many ways to be a throwback to the days before the party became obsessed with wombs, and I say this despite disagreeing on him on a lot of issues.

That the largest Christian university is called 'Liberty' encapsulates the central issue: they have no awareness that their brand of politics is nothing short of religious authoritarianism.

[Jarpie]

John McAfee 4 Prez!

 

[Marka Ragnos]

I do get the distinct impression that the US would sooner elect a racist than a socialist.

The case of the Republican party is interesting. It has pretty much been made unelectable thanks to the infiltration of the Christian Right. I didn't watch the debate (3 hours long at 1am, no thanks!) but I caught up on it afterwards and the pandering to Christian voters was appalling. Of the nominees I'd say Rand Paul is the only one who has any idea of what the US stands for and appears in many ways to be a throwback to the days before the party became obsessed with wombs, and I say this despite disagreeing on him on a lot of issues.

That the largest Christian university is called 'Liberty' encapsulates the central issue: they have no awareness that their brand of politics is nothing short of religious authoritarianism.

The problem with the religionists in the States is that they have high ideals and alley cat behavior. As this map of US divorce rates shows, "God's Country" (the deep south) is a place where the sacred institutions of family, etc. are treated with the most contempt. It seems that most of the religious candidates implode sooner or later in a blaze of scandal. (Except when they don't, and you get a George Bush.)

Edited September 18, 2015 by Plastic Man

[HanoiVillan]

In general I agree with you, but don't equate 'getting divorced' with 'being immoral'. 

[villakram]

Lorry == Truck

Footpath == Sidewalk

Socialist == Communist

Bliss == Ignorance

....

[villakram]

Tempted to watch the Republican debate later. This race is mighty entertaining.

On another note, what does the US public and meeja think of Sanders anyway? I saw he gave a speech at Liberty university this week, which was an interesting move.

  

They've tried to completely ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist like they did to Ron Paul last time around. But slowly but surely he is creating some momentum as people are beginning to almost grasp the ridiculousness of another Clinton vs Bush thing. Now whether the people's opinion matters is another thing entirely as the big money is firmly behind those two.

The liberty thing was interesting as the audience comments after appear to contain a lot of tolerance and surprise that Democrat != baby killing devil. The whole 1% are not just trying but are actively pursuing goals in direct opposition to you/family/friends best interests also appears to have made some inroads. 

Saying all that, I'll be astonished if it's not Bush vs Clinton. The USA is anything but a democracy as Brits or Irish people are accustomed to.

 

 

 

 

 

[Marka Ragnos]

In general I agree with you, but don't equate 'getting divorced' with 'being immoral'. 

I don't either. But THEY do.

Worse, YOUR divorce is immoral. THEIRS is always merely the fault of a good person.

The moralists the world over are always the same.

 

[HanoiVillan]

Yes, hypocrisy is the default position of moralists. The southern states generally do worse on basically every quality-of-life indicator you can think of. These days they tend to do better on some economic indicators, like growth rates and unemployment rates, but it's mainly down to starting from a worse starting point. 

[MakemineVanilla]

I do get the distinct impression that the US would sooner elect a racist than a socialist.

The case of the Republican party is interesting. It has pretty much been made unelectable thanks to the infiltration of the Christian Right. I didn't watch the debate (3 hours long at 1am, no thanks!) but I caught up on it afterwards and the pandering to Christian voters was appalling. Of the nominees I'd say Rand Paul is the only one who has any idea of what the US stands for and appears in many ways to be a throwback to the days before the party became obsessed with wombs, and I say this despite disagreeing on him on a lot of issues.

That the largest Christian university is called 'Liberty' encapsulates the central issue: they have no awareness that their brand of politics is nothing short of religious authoritarianism.

The problem with the religionists in the States is that they have high ideals and alley cat behavior. As this map of US divorce rates shows, "God's Country" (the deep south) is a place where the sacred institutions of family, etc. are treated with the most contempt. It seems that most of the religious candidates implode sooner or later in a blaze of scandal. (Except when they don't, and you get a George Bush.)

So are they religious in Alaska and Maine?

My guess would be that the highest divorce rates are probably in states where more people decide to get married but their relationships fail at the same rate as everyone else.

 

 

 

 

 

[Marka Ragnos]

I do get the distinct impression that the US would sooner elect a racist than a socialist.

The case of the Republican party is interesting. It has pretty much been made unelectable thanks to the infiltration of the Christian Right. I didn't watch the debate (3 hours long at 1am, no thanks!) but I caught up on it afterwards and the pandering to Christian voters was appalling. Of the nominees I'd say Rand Paul is the only one who has any idea of what the US stands for and appears in many ways to be a throwback to the days before the party became obsessed with wombs, and I say this despite disagreeing on him on a lot of issues.

That the largest Christian university is called 'Liberty' encapsulates the central issue: they have no awareness that their brand of politics is nothing short of religious authoritarianism.

The problem with the religionists in the States is that they have high ideals and alley cat behavior. As this map of US divorce rates shows, "God's Country" (the deep south) is a place where the sacred institutions of family, etc. are treated with the most contempt. It seems that most of the religious candidates implode sooner or later in a blaze of scandal. (Except when they don't, and you get a George Bush.)

So are they religious in Alaska and Maine?

My guess would be that the highest divorce rates are probably in states where more people decide to get married but their relationships fail at the same rate as everyone else.

 

 

 

 

 

I blame the moose (meese? always want to say that). Something both those places have in common. 

 

[Marka Ragnos]

Another GOP candidate goes way off the deep end. Ben Carson said today that no Muslim should be president. Most of what he says is so utterly forgettable, I guess he decided to say something outrageous because no one's listening to him.

[MakemineVanilla]

Another GOP candidate goes way off the deep end. Ben Carson said today that no Muslim should be president. Most of what he says is so utterly forgettable, I guess he decided to say something outrageous because no one's listening to him.

He's not on VT is he?

[Marka Ragnos]

Another GOP candidate goes way off the deep end. Ben Carson said today that no Muslim should be president. Most of what he says is so utterly forgettable, I guess he decided to say something outrageous because no one's listening to him.

He's not on VT is he?

Exactly. It's political equiv of trolling. 

[HanoiVillan]

Another GOP candidate goes way off the deep end. Ben Carson said today that no Muslim should be president. Most of what he says is so utterly forgettable, I guess he decided to say something outrageous because no one's listening to him.

Have you read Matt Taibbi's article at Rolling Stone called 'Inside the GOP Clown Car'? It's very good on the dynamics of saying something outrageous just in order to get noticed. It's also very funny. Anyway, a small extract:

Huckabee launched his campaign on May 5th, running on a carefully crafted and somewhat unconventional Republican platform centered around economic populism, vowing to end "stagnant wages" and help people reach a "higher ground."

But emphasizing economic populism is the kind of wonky policy nuance that doesn't do much to earn notice in the Twitter age. After an early bump pushed him briefly up to fourth place, Huckabee began a steady slide in the polls as the unrestrained lunacy of Trump began seizing control of the race. By late July, Huckabee's numbers had fallen, and he had to be worrying that he would land out of the top 10.

But then, on July 25th, Huckabee gave an interview to Breitbart News in which he shamelessly invoked Godwin's Law, saying that Barack Obama's deal with Iran "would take the Israelis and basically march them to the door of the oven."

The quote hit the airwaves like a thunderclap. Virtually everyone in the English-speaking world with an IQ over nine shrieked in disgust. The Huckster's "ovens" rant brought MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski to near-tears on air. Huckabee even prompted an Israeli transportation minister to exclaim, Dirty Dancing-style, "Nobody marches the Jews to ovens anymore."

[. . .]

Huckabee had stumbled into the truth that has been driving the support for the Trump campaign: That in this intensely media-driven race, inspiring genuine horror and disgust among the right people is worth a lot of votes in certain quarters, irrespective of how you go about it.

 

 

[Marka Ragnos]

Perfect -- will have to read!

[Marka Ragnos]

Scott Walker out now. Union-busting college drop-out with the charisma of a brick.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

It's going to be Trump, isn't it?

 

[HanoiVillan]

Au contraire, every establishment politician that drops out ultimately damages Trump. He's benefiting right now from the ludicrous number of candidates, but we're starting to see the winnowing process now. By the end of November, we'll be down nearly ten more IMO.