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Some thoughts on this election thing.

Started by AFK, September 27, 2012, 11:03:39 AM

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AFK

In the past, I've written, I will be bold and say, some fairly strong rants around the Presidential Election.  It's been a topic that has tended to elicit some kind of opinion or feeling from me.  This time around, all that boils up is a big  :kingmeh: .


And not just because Obama and Romney have fairly ho-hum personalities, but because, does it really matter?  Yeah, okay, I can hear some of you screaming now,about how a Republican presidency will set us back to the stone age, or some such blather.  I don't happen to buy it, I think he is just Status Quo in a suit, just like Obama. He's running for President because he wants to be President, because it's "his turn".  It's a trophy for his mantle, a plaque for the wall, a blue ribbon for his scrapbook, he doesn't give a fuck about making anything better for us OR his base.  He throws out red meat because he wants to be elected.  Does anyone seriously think he truly believes in ANYTHING he says?  He's just another lifeless, pathetic banker who wants to accumulate status and wealth. 


Obama, if re-elected, will be more of the same, which frankly has been a snooze-fest.  Well, unless you are the unlucky brown, smudgy person to find yourself in the shadow of a drone.  He isn't going to make anything better for anyone because he doesn't have the temerity or drive.  He's very good at BECOMING the President.  He just isn't very good at BEING the President.


So, while I know I should give a fuck, I don't.  No matter who wins, it will continue to be a Washington DC of clusterfuck gridlock and political butthurt.  Nothing will happen, nothing will change, and we'll continue to be holding the bag.


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Cain

What will happen if Obama gets re-elected: bankers will continue to steal billions, people in the provinces will eat each other out of desperation and boredom.  Bankers will freak out a little bit, since Obama called them "fat-cats", but otherwise business will continue as normal.

What will happen if Romney gets elected: bankers will continue to steal billions, people in the provinces will eat each other out of desperation and boredom.  Liberals will freak out a little bit, but then get on with writing "The Big Book of Romneyisms" and business will continue as normal.

LMNO

Would you say that the House and Senate races are more important, due to things like passing/repealing laws, and selecting Supreme Court justices?

Cain

 :lol: no.

Congress exists for Republicans to express outrage at a black man being elected President through repeated obstructionism, and for everyone to shovel as much pork into their districts as possible.

Verbal Mike

Nate Silver's model says the Dems will most likely have a majority in Senate, but that it will be a slim majority. So yeah, more of the same.
Unless stated otherwise, feel free to copy or reproduce any text I post anywhere and any way you like. I will never throw a hissy-fit over it, promise.

tyrannosaurus vex

One of the few things that matter is that the next president is likely to appoint at least two Supreme Court justices. Obama and Romney might be more of the same but the Supreme Court will make a difference in the long run.
Evil and Unfeeling Arse-Flenser From The City of the Damned.

LMNO

But with a split House and Senate, combined with the Overton Window, any SCOTUS candidate will necessarily skew right, no matter who the president nominates.



Did I get that right?  It sounds smart.

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Rev. What's-His-Name? on September 27, 2012, 11:03:39 AM
Obama, if re-elected, will be more of the same, which frankly has been a snooze-fest.  Well, unless you are the unlucky brown, smudgy person to find yourself in the shadow of a drone.  He isn't going to make anything better for anyone because he doesn't have the temerity or drive.  He's very good at BECOMING the President.  He just isn't very good at BEING the President.

While I'm not about to run out and put a bumper sticker on my car, I have to say that Clinton also did fuck all during his first term, and went berserk during his second term.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
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- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Pope Pixie Pickle

Not an American- but I if I were it would be a cold day in hell before I voted Republican.

The whole abortion and reproductive rights issue is why I'd probably vote for Obama. I don't want thr religious right fucking with my uterus.

P3nT4gR4m

I'd vote if you paid me to vote. And not that indirect "we promise to suck your balls if we get elected" bullshit that invariably turns out to be exactly that - bullshit. I'm talking cold hard cash. Stick a hundred bucks in my hand and I'll vote for whichever flavour of status quo you desire. Even better, lets make it an auction. I'll vote for the highest bidder.

Failing that - I have less than zero incentive to play guess the fuhrer. There's no prize, even if you guess right. :argh!:

I'm up to my arse in Brexit Numpties, but I want more.  Target-rich environments are the new sexy.
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tyrannosaurus vex

Of course it is exactly this kind of "who cares man, they're all the same anyway" kind of thinking that causes them to be all the same. If the 50% of Americans who can't be arsed to vote actually decided to start giving noticeable numbers of fucks about things, they'd be a political force to be reckoned with, and politicians would be forced to do something. Hell, if the 50% of people who do vote would quit throwing their votes at anyone who made them feel more secure in their comfort zones, it would change politics forever.

That won't happen though, because "democracy is a sham." That's true but only because we allow them to be true, by virtue of not giving enough fucks. Maybe there aren't enough fucks to give. Even in places where people give large fucks like Spain and Greece, it isn't enough to stop the wheels of the machine, so I'm not entirely convinced that Americans are even capable of comprehending the enormous back-breaking fuck they would have to give.

Ultimately, it isn't the government's fault, it's our fault. It's a cliché but we are the government, and when we refuse to exercise our duties as self-governing bipeds, somebody's going to do it for us.
Evil and Unfeeling Arse-Flenser From The City of the Damned.

Verbal Mike

That's true in a sense, but a bit simplistic. There are all kinds of dynamics in play geared against the giving of fucks. To name one example, because I can't type for long, whenever enough fucks are given and the rulers end up actually improving people's situation a bit, those who have already given several fucks feel they "fixed" things, and lean back on their couch, ceasing to give fucks and content that they did their part. And that's cyclical.

I also think it's important to point out that the situation in countries like Greece and Spain is quite different from that in the USA. Both countries were under actual, total authoritarian rule just a few decades ago, and in addition, or as a result, their political systems are corrupt in ways that are impossible on the national level in the United States. Or so, at least, I am led to believe.

I'd write more but I really gotta go.
Unless stated otherwise, feel free to copy or reproduce any text I post anywhere and any way you like. I will never throw a hissy-fit over it, promise.

Verbal Mike

Okay one more example, because I can't help myself: when writing letters to representatives is rare (as it usually is on the EU level, for example) it is also highly effective (as it was in stopping ACTA, for example.) But when a lot of fucks are given and a lot of letters are sent, no sane representative can have their staff pay attention to all the fucking letters, and the letters become less effective. So people stop sending them, and some of them get exasperated. And then they're rare, and effective, and the cycle begins again.
Unless stated otherwise, feel free to copy or reproduce any text I post anywhere and any way you like. I will never throw a hissy-fit over it, promise.

Juana

TBH, I'm a bit concerned about what would happen if Mittens got in. He'd almost certainly sign any weird-ass fundie shit that gets through (if only to ensure his 2016 election), should projections be wrong and we end up with Republican congress. I think Obama, while not someone I'm happy with, can at least be trusted not to sign terrible fundie shit.
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The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Secret Agent GARBO on September 27, 2012, 05:25:07 PM
TBH, I'm a bit concerned about what would happen if Mittens got in. He'd almost certainly sign any weird-ass fundie shit that gets through (if only to ensure his 2016 election), should projections be wrong and we end up with Republican congress. I think Obama, while not someone I'm happy with, can at least be trusted not to sign terrible fundie shit.

Bottom line:  I have a mother, a sister, a wife, and a daughter.  I'm not handing them over to GOP rape freaks.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.