U.S. politics isolation tank

[DeepGreenEyes]

Okay...some people don't care, have actual lives or live in places where football doesn't involve pads and helmets.

So I offer this thread as an option for channeling the collective national bickering into a BDSM Cafe spot more stable than our national politics.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

So Obama thumped McCain, came in and did pretzel-yoga bending over backwards to involve the minority party. From day one, the GOP strategy was to obstruct, resist and stall at every point possible, in order to regain power. It was a risky strategy, because the Republicans could've suffered at the hands of moderate and liberal voters angry that they're the cow in the road, refusing to move.

But it's worked brilliantly for them. The strategy has made their base more volcanic as they celebrate every "win," and the progressive base is discouraged, or like a lot of people I know, angry at the Dems for not pushing harder. Of course, if unemployment were 5% instead of 10%, it'd be a different story. So, as described here, Obstructionism works. And I think, as every moderate is purged from the GOP, the room for compromise gets smaller. I hesitate to think how Democrats finds common ground with Teabagger congressmen.

I think it's very bad for our country. But I have to say that, I hope to fuck the Dems remember this next time a Republican wins the Oval Office.

 

[intothewoods]

Bring back the Hillary thread! I think it was before your time DGE, but it was going strong long after HRC dropped out.

 

[intothewoods]

I have a lot of questions about the tea party. I can't remember if I posted this on this board elsewhere, but I heard an interview with some author on NPR who wrote a book on the various tea party groups. Evidently the main unifying theme is really financial policy rather than social. The big beef is with the various bailouts and stimulus. Ok, but I can't think of a prominent tea party candidate who isn't socially conservative. I think if you actually had a party that was focused on minimal government involvement in both fiscal and social matters, you might have a serious contender. Then again, how's that libertarian party doing these days.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

Bring back the Hillary thread! I think it was before your time DGE, but it was going strong long after HRC dropped out.

I do remember that. I heard her the other day, denying the rumor that she'll replace Biden on the 2012 ticket, and frankly, she sounded just a biiiiiiiit unconvincing.

I have a lot of questions about the tea party. I can't remember if I posted this on this board elsewhere, but I heard an interview with some author on NPR who wrote a book on the various tea party groups. Evidently the main unifying theme is really financial policy rather than social. The big beef is with the various bailouts and stimulus. Ok, but I can't think of a prominent tea party candidate who isn't socially conservative. I think if you actually had a party that was focused on minimal government involvement in both fiscal and social matters, you might have a serious contender. Then again, how's that libertarian party doing these days.

It is an interesting mix of philosophies that the GOP has to meld: the social and fiscal conservatives, and sometimes they feud. I saw this poll the other day about tea party membership, and was interested to see that there is a 50 percent overlap with the religious right. Yeah, I think the bailouts and the stimulus are the fuel, but I also think it's a response to the feeling that, especially on the right (but also for average people of all or no political stripe) that Things Are Out of Control, culturally and economically. I think it's hard for people to see right now, what their lives or their country will look like in ten years, and that's very unsettling.

 

[midwestyankee]

I do remember that. I heard her the other day, denying the rumor that she'll replace Biden on the 2012 ticket, and frankly, she sounded just a biiiiiiiit unconvincing.



It is an interesting mix of philosophies that the GOP has to meld: the social and political conservatives, and sometimes they feud. I saw this poll the other day about tea party membership, and was interested to see that there is a 50 percent overlap with the religious right. Yeah, I think the bailouts and the stimulus are the fuel, but I also think it's a response to the feeling that, especially on the right (but also for average people of all or no political stripe) that Things Are Out of Control, culturally and economically. I think it's hard for people to see right now, what their lives or their country will look like in ten years, and that's very unsettling.

Honestly I have a real issue with the analysis that the bailouts, eht enlargement of government, and and the stimulus plan were the real motivations for starting the so-called tea party movement. If fiscal conservatism were the true energy behind these people, they would have become active when GWBush launched his famous warrantless wire-appping campaign and exploded the deficit to conduct his overpriced bullying campaign in the Middle East.

I think that the bulk of the motivation comes from a range of concerns about President Obama. That he's a Democrat, that he's an African American, that he is yet another Harvard-educated member of the elite, and of course that he was born to a blonde communist on the planet Kenya and is not even fully human.

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

Honestly I have a real issue with the analysis that the bailouts, eht enlargement of government, and and the stimulus plan were the real motivations for starting the so-called tea party movement. If fiscal conservatism were the true energy behind these people, they would have become active when GWBush launched his famous warrantless wire-appping campaign and exploded the deficit to conduct his overpriced bullying campaign in the Middle East.

I think that the bulk of the motivation comes from a range of concerns about President Obama. That he's a Democrat, that he's an African American, that he is yet another Harvard-educated member of the elite, and of course that he was born to a blonde communist on the planet Kenya and is not even fully human.

Yep, I think that is a big factor.

The world is ending. And Palin is really perfectly poised to take advantage of that:"I'm a conservative rural white evangelical Christian woman, a non-intellectual and proudly untainted by political experience." The kind of person that America used to be for, but now it's being taken over."

 

[midwestyankee]

Yep, I think that is a big factor.

The world is ending. And Palin is really perfectly poised to take advantage of that:"I'm a conservative rural white evangelical Christian woman, a non-intellectual and proudly untainted by political experience." The kind of person that America used to be for, but now it's being taken over."

Exactly, because the management of a government that serves over 300 million people in hundreds of different ways is no more difficult that fucking up a town of 5,000.

 

[ImOnIt]

I would buy a cake and share it with strangers on the day an opposition party says... yeah, the government is totally right on this issue and we fully support them.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I would buy a cake and share it with strangers on the day an opposition party says... yeah, the government is totally right on this issue and we fully support them.

That's money the bakery will never take from you.

 

[WriterDom]

There were tea parties all over the country before Obama was even nominated. I went to one in Clarksville Ga. Population:1,248. For whatever reason they stopped having nationwide meetings in the summer of 2008.

To me they seem like single issue voters. That being spending at the federal level. Then Obama comes in and spends more than the entire Iraq War before W's farts are even out of the Oval Office. Hence, the pissed off mood. But it will all come out in the wash I guess.

Funny thing is that as I travel around Georgia and South Carolina, I haven't seen anything that proves the tea party exists. Not one sign, bumper sticker, T shirt, or conversation. Just code for pissed off people I guess.

 

[Netzach]

Dudes, my east coast travels were an eye-opener, I hit both DC and Albany and I forgot what it's like to be in a truly political town.

My Aunt is the only other person in my family with her degree, she stopped just a piss shy of a Master's. In Geology. She now believes that the moon landing may not have happened and there are FEMA death camps and vaccinations are meant to kill us. She is a tea party participant, 10th-er and infowars tin foil hat spoting nutcase. We got along ok because I asked the moon landing question and I said "I see exactly where you are coming from now."

I don't know what kind of middle class white woman malaise this is, but the minute her daughter went off to school it dropped hardcore. I just think enough people need the drama of EVERYTHING AS WE KNOW IT IS ENDING to get through the day.

 

[Keroin]

*sits on the sidelines, watching thread and eating back bacon dipped in maple syrup*

 

[midwestyankee]

Dudes, my east coast travels were an eye-opener, I hit both DC and Albany and I forgot what it's like to be in a truly political town.

My Aunt is the only other person in my family with her degree, she stopped just a piss shy of a Master's. In Geology. She now believes that the moon landing may not have happened and there are FEMA death camps and vaccinations are meant to kill us. She is a tea party participant, 10th-er and infowars tin foil hat spoting nutcase. We got along ok because I asked the moon landing question and I said "I see exactly where you are coming from now."

I don't know what kind of middle class white woman malaise this is, but the minute her daughter went off to school it dropped hardcore. I just think enough people need the drama of EVERYTHING AS WE KNOW IT IS ENDING to get through the day.

Jeebus, whatever happened to mother's little helpers?

 

[Miss Diva]

*sits on the sidelines, watching thread and eating back bacon dipped in maple syrup*

Can i join you with poutine and a smoked meat sandwich, This will be a fun ride

 

[ImOnIt]

I don't know what kind of middle class white woman malaise this is, but the minute her daughter went off to school it dropped hardcore. I just think enough people need the drama of EVERYTHING AS WE KNOW IT IS ENDING to get through the day.

I am fucking terrified of people like this.

 

[Keroin]

Can i join you with poutine and a smoked meat sandwich, This will be a fun ride

Please do! Nice toque, by the way.

 

[sb2009]

So, I get that the economy is fucked now.

But honestly, and I am not an optimist in the least - I'm a fucking Eeyore of a depressed person, to be honest - why on earth does everyone insist the sky is falling?

I grew up being told that Communists/Democrats/People In General were out to make me stop believing in Jesus....and when I left that shit behind, I was done.

I like politics, I enjoy it, and I just don't understand why smart educated people who don't want to shove their morals down anyone's throat are the Sign of the End Times. Or whatever.

 

[intothewoods]

There were tea parties all over the country before Obama was even nominated. I went to one in Clarksville Ga. Population:1,248. For whatever reason they stopped having nationwide meetings in the summer of 2008.

To me they seem like single issue voters. That being spending at the federal level. Then Obama comes in and spends more than the entire Iraq War before W's farts are even out of the Oval Office. Hence, the pissed off mood. But it will all come out in the wash I guess.

Funny thing is that as I travel around Georgia and South Carolina, I haven't seen anything that proves the tea party exists. Not one sign, bumper sticker, T shirt, or conversation. Just code for pissed off people I guess.

Lol, you're right, they don't exist!

There isn't one tea party of course. Now, as for when they started, well, I think the movement started after the first bailout, which would have been when Bush was still in office. I really don't think they're single issue voters though. The more public voices appear to get that fiscal issues resonate better than social ones.

Dudes, my east coast travels were an eye-opener, I hit both DC and Albany and I forgot what it's like to be in a truly political town.

My Aunt is the only other person in my family with her degree, she stopped just a piss shy of a Master's. In Geology. She now believes that the moon landing may not have happened and there are FEMA death camps and vaccinations are meant to kill us. She is a tea party participant, 10th-er and infowars tin foil hat spoting nutcase. We got along ok because I asked the moon landing question and I said "I see exactly where you are coming from now."

I don't know what kind of middle class white woman malaise this is, but the minute her daughter went off to school it dropped hardcore. I just think enough people need the drama of EVERYTHING AS WE KNOW IT IS ENDING to get through the day.

So I guess we've always had conspiracy theorists but it's kooky to see these points of view validated by candidates. I guess we've had that too before though. But I mean I think that validation is sort of fuel to the flames here.

It's interesting that this vaccination thing has taken hold. I think the distrust of science is really sad. Oh, and yes, bored stay at home moms are a big driving force in the tea party, so said the author I heard interviewed. Sometimes I think blogs are the worst thing to have ever happened in the world.

*sits on the sidelines, watching thread and eating back bacon dipped in maple syrup*

I have been meaning to make candied bacon...bad Keroin!

 

[MasterPhoenix]

I have a lot of questions about the tea party. I can't remember if I posted this on this board elsewhere, but I heard an interview with some author on NPR who wrote a book on the various tea party groups. Evidently the main unifying theme is really financial policy rather than social. The big beef is with the various bailouts and stimulus. Ok, but I can't think of a prominent tea party candidate who isn't socially conservative. I think if you actually had a party that was focused on minimal government involvement in both fiscal and social matters, you might have a serious contender. Then again, how's that libertarian party doing these days.

The mainline tea parties are actually a front group fully funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers.

Sarah Palin takes her marching orders from them. It is a bloodless right wing coup d'etat that will destroy the American Republic and concentrate the power in the hands of a billionaire oligarchy. Those who can afford it will get "privatized" education, security, fire services, etc... those who can't afford it will become serfs.

The US is going to become a third world country thanks to the right wing agenda.

A damming New Yorker article on the Koch Brothers.

 

[MasterPhoenix]

I am fucking terrified of people like this.

There was a guy over the summer who was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol, and they ended up getting into a shootout. He was on his way to shoot up a small non-profit in the Bay Area that he heard Glenn Beck rip on.

Sharron Angle says, "If congress keeps going like its going people are going to turn to second amendment remedies....Harry Reid needs to be taken out."

Sarah Palin, "Don't retreat, reload."

Dude, there is a good reason to be terrified of these nutjobs. Once upon a time it was called suborning murder or inciting revolution.

 

[MasterPhoenix]

Writer Dom or anyone else on the right wing in the US, I have always wanted to ask a right winger this question:

How do you reconcile the concept of being against big government with calls to discriminate against the GLBT community, outlaw abortion, marijuana use, expansion of the military, etc?

It seems to be a contradiction.

For the record, I am not spooling for a fight, nor am I saying you toe that exact line. I am saying that is the standard operating procedure of the the right wing agenda and as I said, I see it as a contradiction.

Honestly, I had respect, in disagreement, with Rand Paul's libertarian beliefs, until he went all anti-abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. His take against the Civil Rights Act, I didn't see him as a racist, just an Ayn Rand disciple. I respected his consistency and honesty in an unpopular and easily demagogued issue.

I am more than happy to answer any questions you want to pose to a left winger. I would like to keep it to a standard of decorum and respect from both sides.

Respectful discourse could be fun and enlightening for both of us...

Although, if you want to go Rush Limbaugh on me, I'll happily counter... but I would rather keep it a respectful discussion.

 

[chy_girl]

The mainline tea parties are actually a front group fully funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers.

Sarah Palin takes her marching orders from them. It is a bloodless right wing coup d'etat that will destroy the American Republic and concentrate the power in the hands of a billionaire oligarchy. Those who can afford it will get "privatized" education, security, fire services, etc... those who can't afford it will become serfs.

The US is going to become a third world country thanks to the right wing agenda.

A damming New Yorker article on the Koch Brothers.

*raises her hand*
I thought it was the left wing agenda that was supposed to turn the almighty USA into an international eunuch destined to become the bitch of some communist country or another?

(And I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I'm honestly asking when the Dems and Reps changed sides of the field... If they did. It's been a few years since I've had enough time for following politics very closely.)

 

[WriterDom]

Writer Dom or anyone else on the right wing in the US, I have always wanted to ask a right winger this question:

How do you reconcile the concept of being against big government with calls to discriminate against the GLBT community, outlaw abortion, marijuana use, expansion of the military, etc?
.

My position is the same as Obama on gay rights. Entitled to civil unions but not calling it marriage. Abortion is not a hot button topic with me. But these are social issues and not fiscal issues in my mind not related to big government.

Marijuana I would tax. But when we have and soon to be in the past tense, democrats who can push through anything in the congress because of shear numbers and a president who would sign the bill, and they don't have the political balls to even address the Marijuana issue, well, that day might never come.

I'm not for or against military spending per say. It it has to be matched with the projected missions and threats around the world. If I were to err it would be on the side of strength rather than weakness. Because humans by nature are a warring people. I'd like to pretend otherwise and sit around the campfire with everyone singing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX6233Nig18. But I'm a realist.

 

[sb2009]

So, I have this question: Whenever I *individually* get a response from someone who self-identifies as a conservative or the like...the answer is always similiar to WD's - that he's not so much into the social conservatism.

So why all the posturing about morals and the decline of society from the people who *appear* to be the face of the conservative party?