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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

DrunkGirlfriend from Castle Geekhaven Since: Jan, 2011
#62201: Aug 26th 2013 at 7:05:26 PM

I was 20 when I got my photo ID, and I certainly had jobs before then. It was also a massive pain in the ass to get, because they were always closed on my days off.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62202: Aug 26th 2013 at 7:10:14 PM

Part of the fun is that red states are gerrymandered in such a way as to give the Republicans a House majority when they command less than a majority of the popular vote.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#62203: Aug 26th 2013 at 7:34:16 PM

I think we covered several pages back that this can often work in both ways. It's not exclusively a Republican trait.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62204: Aug 26th 2013 at 7:38:20 PM

When was the last time it presented an issue on the opposite side, though? Potential for abuse is not the same as actual abuse.

I mean, both sides may engage in voting shenanigans from time to time, but you can't take one party's national agenda and declare in the absence of evidence that the other side engages in the same acts, washing your hands of responsibility for the problem thereby.

edited 26th Aug '13 7:41:19 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Barkey Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#62205: Aug 26th 2013 at 7:52:40 PM

The same goes for you however. You can't handwave Democratic gerrymandering because the Republicans do it as well.

You know, like how Illinois has two of the most textbook college used Democratic gerrymandered districts in the country. The same ones that let your party strangle the shit out of an entire state on behalf of Chicago?

Some Maryland for good measure.

Gerrymandering is a problem across the board that needs to be addressed, but specifically bitching about one side doing it when your side does it just as much is rather disingenuous. I just sometimes get an overwhelming tune from you of "Well the Democrats are obviously the good guys, so when they do the same skeevy things as the Republicans it's not as bad, because the GOP are outright evil."

Newsflash, the Democrats and the Republicans are both out to fuck us. They aren't all that different at the end of the day, and the end doesn't justify the means. What we need to be doing is getting pissed off about it and trying to change things. If we could fix the system, then the people who are responsible for addressing our problems might actually address them.

edited 26th Aug '13 7:55:15 PM by Barkey

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62206: Aug 26th 2013 at 7:55:05 PM

I am in favor of across-the-board solutions to it, in case it wasn't clear. If the makeup of the House does not reflect the demographics of the nation, there is something wrong.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
RadicalTaoist scratching at .8, just hopin' from the #GUniverse Since: Jan, 2001
scratching at .8, just hopin'
#62208: Aug 27th 2013 at 5:29:25 AM

Mostly because it means the GOP establishment, which is showing some willingness to change in recent times, will bitch slap the Tea Party types into line, and if they don't fall in line, they'll be replaced.
I don't think the establishment can. They created the Base, and the Base has been conditioned for decades to go for the most rightward candidate ever in all situations. Telling them what to do just makes the Base angrier.
If there's anything the GOP knows how to do most of the time, it's organize its people to vote in lockstep and work on the same overall plan. It's one of their strategic strengths as a party. Members who don't do that will get knocked out of office by their next re-election attempt. Tea Party candidates by themselves don't have the horsepower to survive on their own.
They do, however, have the horsepower to fuck up GOP primaries for the next decade or so. It's like an inversion of your description of the NRA: the loonies go with the relatively pragmatic leadership, who rely on those loonies because no one else will make them leader.

On a more historical note:

Newsflash, the Democrats and the Republicans are both out to fuck us. They aren't all that different at the end of the day, and the end doesn't justify the means.
When you look at the record, a pattern has emerged since the days of FDR. The Democrats are intent on quietly consolidating power while the Republicans seize it at all costs. While the Republican model of power concentration is something like the robber baron towns of the 1800s where the company owned the whole town and was backed by churches telling people that was God's way, the Democrat model of power concentration is something like the Boston Brahmins enjoy, nice neighbourhoods for the wealthy and everyone else gets enough bread and circuses to sit down and play nice. The catch is, that means the Republicans will double down when challenged (case in point, what GOP state legislatures and governors have been doing since 2010) while the Democrats will wuss out and back down when popular outrage reaches a certain peak. It's a point I've made before. Remember, FDR didn't implement the New Deal because he was a progressive visionary; he implemented it because an anarchist revolt was around the corner unless things didn't improve.

This is an argument I've advanced before. It's also why my recommendation for progress is elect Democrats, and then cow them into submission with direct action (strikes, protests, community organization, and boycotts, in order of increasing frequency).

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62209: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:06:05 AM

So in a sense, Republicans in power answer to a vocal minority with extremist views, whereas Democrats in power answer to a much broader base of constituents, but neither can be trusted to run things without being reminded of who they serve on a regular basis.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62213: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:23:27 AM

Please provide context for your links. And that's hardly anything new. Superpower status isn't all it's cracked up to be, and we can't be the world's mommy forever.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Thorn14 Gunpla is amazing! Since: Aug, 2010
Gunpla is amazing!
#62214: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:36:37 AM

I think we're starting to see we can't be the world police anymore. (And realizing no one one wanted us to be.)

soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#62215: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:46:23 AM

We can still be the world police. The reason we became the world police was that there was another super power and everyone had to fall into line on one side or another.

Thorn14 Gunpla is amazing! Since: Aug, 2010
Gunpla is amazing!
#62216: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:48:34 AM

Well the cold war is over.

And again, I'm pretty sure a lot of our modern problems are because we kept putting ourself in places we don't belong.

edited 27th Aug '13 9:49:00 AM by Thorn14

soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#62217: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:49:32 AM

It is, and we are seeing a slow return to us not policing the world.

Most problems are caused by that. However, a few are caused by the fact that appeasement does not work in all cases.

edited 27th Aug '13 9:50:14 AM by soban

Thorn14 Gunpla is amazing! Since: Aug, 2010
Gunpla is amazing!
#62218: Aug 27th 2013 at 9:59:15 AM

Which is why I'm glad I'm not the president.

What a tight rope.

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#62219: Aug 27th 2013 at 10:01:19 AM

It's no wonder why every president comes out of the presidency looking much older than they should. I personally couldn't handle all that stress.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62220: Aug 27th 2013 at 10:03:06 AM

Frankly, the job seems designed to ensure that the President does as little of actual substance as possible.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Thorn14 Gunpla is amazing! Since: Aug, 2010
Gunpla is amazing!
#62221: Aug 27th 2013 at 11:00:26 AM

But gets all the blame.

IConfuseMe from Washington, DC Since: Jan, 2010
#62223: Aug 27th 2013 at 2:17:21 PM

The US no longer being the world's undisputed superpower doesn't particularly bother me as, by sheer virtue of size and population, the US will always have a voice in the world.

What does worry me is the idea of NO superpower.I don't care who sits the throne , so long as someone does it. Multipolarty has not worked out to well for the world in the past.

soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#62224: Aug 27th 2013 at 2:19:09 PM

If someone has to sit on the throne, might as well be us.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#62225: Aug 27th 2013 at 2:19:42 PM

... so said every other country. Why do we have a lock on knowing what's best for the planet?

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

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