Principia Discordia

Principia Discordia => Or Kill Me => Topic started by: AFK on September 27, 2012, 11:03:39 AM

Title: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: AFK on September 27, 2012, 11:03:39 AM
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.


If you want your life to get better, you are on your own.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Cain on September 27, 2012, 02:00:06 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: LMNO on September 27, 2012, 02:10:15 PM
Would you say that the House and Senate races are more important, due to things like passing/repealing laws, and selecting Supreme Court justices?
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Cain on September 27, 2012, 02:17:30 PM
 :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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Verbal Mike on September 27, 2012, 02:22:03 PM
Nate Silver's model says (http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com) the Dems will most likely have a majority in Senate, but that it will be a slim majority. So yeah, more of the same.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: tyrannosaurus vex on September 27, 2012, 02:42:50 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: LMNO on September 27, 2012, 02:45:46 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on September 27, 2012, 02:56:46 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Pope Pixie Pickle on September 27, 2012, 03:20:23 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on September 27, 2012, 03:50:31 PM
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!:
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: tyrannosaurus vex on September 27, 2012, 04:43:12 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Verbal Mike on September 27, 2012, 05:09:15 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Verbal Mike on September 27, 2012, 05:14:04 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Juana 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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: The Good Reverend Roger on September 27, 2012, 05:50:21 PM
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.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Salty on September 27, 2012, 06:59:30 PM
Quote from: v3x on September 27, 2012, 04:43:12 PM
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.

I disagree for two reasons. 1. Most people who are apathetic don't think "it's all a shame" they think "Man, I hope I don't miss that new episode of Breaking Bad." They just don't care at all, could not even begin to care because they are so far behind the curve of being able to process our political landscape into something their shriveled brains can grasp.

2. It isn't that kind of mindset that makes candidates similar. It's their policies. I remember a young liberal who came up to me in the last election and said, "OMG aren't you excited about Obama." I said, "Uh, no." Lots of people were excited about him, far from apathetic. And yet...

As for voting power, I am inclined to agree that if people did actually give a damn, and were capable of making informed decisions and using the machinery of democracy to their own benefit, which I think was the original idea, things might be different. I guess we will never know.

And even if The People, all of them, did stand up and say, "Hey we are going to take back our country now!" well then... I actually can't stop laughing at the thought of that. What would Justin Bierber do with all that time on his hands?
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Anna Mae Bollocks on September 27, 2012, 07:50:50 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on September 27, 2012, 05:50:21 PM
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.

THIS.

The lesser evil is still an evil, yeah, but the GOP is just BATSHIT. */obvious*
Not sure what happened - repubs used to be more like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pill_(song)).
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: P3nT4gR4m on September 28, 2012, 07:59:47 AM
We got the best of both worlds over here. All our candidates won the last election. Newspapers were on the street corners helping the sandwich board homeless guys to get their "end of the world is nigh" message out.

As far as I can tell nothing changed. Country is still a fucking shambles. Thing is we might vote for a candidate but corporate buy them. Whoever gets in. I'd vote for a unicorn with the integrity not to be bought but I've a feeling I'd be signing the dudes death warrant.
Title: Re: Some thoughts on this election thing.
Post by: Anna Mae Bollocks on October 05, 2012, 09:56:45 PM
WHY SNOOP DOGG IS VOTING FOR OBAMA (http://www.tmz.com/2012/10/05/snoop-dogg-mitt-romney-top-ten-list-barack-obama-white/)

(http://imageshack.us/a/img824/285/1005snoopvotes23.jpg)

:lulz: :lulz: :lulz: