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Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#97026: Jul 24th 2015 at 12:53:07 PM

I'm getting a 404 and then once I fix the link an article about the women's 1,500 meters.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#97028: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:12:16 PM

In depressing news, Trump is officially the Republican front-runner, and by a 10-point margin at that.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
EruditeEsotericist Since: May, 2015
#97029: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:15:46 PM

Good, he's the best candidate the Democrats have.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#97030: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:19:59 PM

This is what Republicans deserve. They've earned it through hard work and gumption and, by God Almighty, blessed be His name, we should let them enjoy the fruits of their labor!

edited 24th Jul '15 1:20:16 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
EruditeEsotericist Since: May, 2015
#97031: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:25:25 PM

I despair that people would ever vote for that man but I get the feeling that the GOP truly need to dive off a cliff and discover electoral oblivion at the bottom before there's any hope of them. I'm talking clean Democrat sweep of the states a la Reagan, not the so-called landslides Obama got.

edited 24th Jul '15 1:27:51 PM by EruditeEsotericist

Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#97032: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:35:48 PM

That article linked last page about people not really caring about John Mccain is telling. Maybe i have overestimated the Republican base...

Edit: Reagan's sweep isn't really possible. 1984 was while we were still in flux from the Southern Strategy, so the Republicans still had a lot of inertia from the century before when they were the dominant party of the Great Lakes, New England, and the West Coast, while the Southern Strategy was old enough that they had a good amount of pull down south, allowing a sufficiently strong candidate to pull a sweep.

It would be nigh impossible for a Republican or a Democrat to pull that off today. Even in the "live boy/dead girl" scenario (the so-called doomsday scandals), you couldn't get Utah or Alabama to vote for a democratic president or get Rhode Island or Vermont to vote for a Republican.

edited 24th Jul '15 1:40:27 PM by Ogodei

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#97033: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:38:47 PM

I think you have overestimated the Republican establishment. For a long time they have managed to pretend, mostly successfully, that their values are shared by their constituents. Trump is shining the light on their dark secrets: nobody really cares about McCain's military service or Bush's dynasty or Rubio's race. They want raw meat that their leaders keep not giving them, and Trump's dripping blood in the water.

Long ago, Ronald Reagan promised to make the hate of the hard right acceptable to express in public through a secret language: "welfare queens" and such. Unfortunately, despite his efforts, we're still making progress on civil rights, still taxing white people to pay for the education of black people (and white people, but who cares about that?), still letting minorities vote. While it has had some success in terms of economic ideology, the movement conservative revolution has largely failed on social issues, succeeding mainly at sticking its fingers into the leaky dike in a vain effort to plug it.

So, now those hungry voters, baited with Reagan's dog whistle politics, are clamoring for the real thing. They want someone who will stand up for their hatred of everything that is not white. They want someone who actually will deport the Mexicans and keep the blacks in their ghettos and kill all the evil Muslims and run the liberals out of town. They want someone who will let them fly the Confederate flag with pride.

edited 24th Jul '15 2:28:28 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#97034: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:47:00 PM

I want Trump to win the nomination. If he does then we have two scenarios:

  • Scenario 1: Trump somehow wins the presidency and the chaos he causes is the final nail in the coffin for the modern Republican party.

  • Scenario 2: He loses and the shock at seeing a conservatvie darling get eviscerated in the polls convince the Republican constituency it's time to kick the wingnuts out.

edited 24th Jul '15 1:47:32 PM by Kostya

3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#97035: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:50:29 PM

Scenario 3: He looses and the GOP decides he wasn't "conservative enough"

Scenario 4: He looses and the Wingnuts take over Alaska and secede.

"You can reply to this Message!"
Ogodei Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers from The front lines Since: Jan, 2011
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
#97036: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:52:02 PM

The base is too far gone for that, frankly. Although the paleoconservative set has always been a part of the American political landscape, they were not catered to by the major parties until Nixon woke the sleeping giant. Ironically, the wingnuts were called off the bench the same time that black voters were (having been a political non-entity at the national level between the end of reconstruction and the Voting Rights Act). So what could happen is that political discourse will simply begin to ignore the crazies again.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#97037: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:53:35 PM

[up][up]Scenario 3 isn't likely. Trump is the conservative darling. He's everything they want. That argument was used because Mc Cain and Romney were establishment candidates.

PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#97038: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:57:14 PM

I think you have overestimated the Republican establishment. For a long time they have managed to pretend, mostly successfully, that their values are shared by their constituents. Trump is shining the light on their dark secrets: nobody really cares about Mc Cain's military service or Bush's dynasty or Rubio's race. They want raw meat that their leaders keep not giving them, and Trump's dripping blood in the water.
Reminder, this is probably more limited to the general "Hard Cores" who vote in the primaries, I expect. There's still a large number of Republicans who just want lower taxes or are your well meant aunts and uncles who think the Republicans are just blowing smoke for a bunch of Horse-Race following nuts, and would never have positions that hard.

But Trump is definitely the man of the really really hard core hyper-right wing Primary types.

Now is he the man of the general Republican electorate? That's a good question. Remember, recent Republicans have been turning off women who have been long fought Republican die-hards for decades.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#97039: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:00:52 PM

Scenario 666, Trump wins. The Seventh Seal has been broken.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#97040: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:05:12 PM

[up][up] Well, if Republican primaries keep being dominated by those red-meat voters, then we will continue to deal with a never-ending stream of Trumps. If the non-crazy voters don't stand up and get counted as being opposed to the crazy, then they are complicit in it.

If you claim to be a Republican, and you do not like Trump, then you had damn well better make your opinion known in the primaries and the polls, otherwise what you identify with will come to stand for Trump's politics.

edited 24th Jul '15 2:06:48 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#97041: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:10:14 PM

[up]Who are they going to vote for though? Bush, the guy that wants to cut Medicare? Christie, the guy that's facing corruption charges? I don't think there are any sane GOP candidates in the running.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#97042: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:11:47 PM

Vote for me. I will join the pool. I will do something crazy to satisfy Rep crazies. Like. Wear sandals and socks, or something.

Aszur 2016

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#97043: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:12:17 PM

[up][up]There could be, if it weren't for the fact that the primary system is rigged against sane Republicans. That is the tragedy of the party, and one that I don't see any real answer to unless the big money interests start to push on Fox News to moderate itself.

Even this strangely elusive group of "moderates" seems to be dominated by the Fox disinformation empire, with memorized lies that could be easily disproven by a small step outside. Sometimes they come here and we can help them.

edited 24th Jul '15 2:13:49 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#97044: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:14:56 PM

I know which is why I'm not going to begrudge Republicans that complain about the party but don't vote in the primary. They really don't have anyone that's worth supporting.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#97045: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:15:28 PM

Walker is pretty good at playing the moderate and his skin has basically been Teflon when it comes to scandals.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
PotatoesRock Since: Oct, 2012
#97046: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:16:43 PM

dominated by the Fox disinformation empire
An empire that no longer takes marching orders from Murdoch, and has gone full maverick.

The dog has gone feral.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#97047: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:19:55 PM

[up][up] Walker is good at pretending to be moderate, but he's slime through and through. Republicans who vote for him get what they deserve.

[up][up][up] I don't know if "begrudge" is the right word. Pity? They're trapped in a dogmatic sinkhole not of their own creation, but they have acceded to it through complacency. The average Republican voter is just as disenfranchised as the average Democratic voter thanks to Citizens United, but the latter isn't saddled with a party leadership that actively tries to lie to them, at least most of the time.

Ultimately, I do pity them, but that emotion isn't going to do anything to solve our problems.

edited 24th Jul '15 2:23:50 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#97048: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:29:39 PM

A lot of the saner non-teaparty ones I know have said that if Trump gets the nomination they're protest-voting for Hillary (Among the moderate repubs she's seen as a kind of a Bill Clinton the 2nd, so for them it's a Better the Devil You Know kind of attitude). Though, I'd imagine that their crowd would just abstain altogether if Sanders somehow gets the Dem. ticket.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#97049: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:31:08 PM

[up] I'd be curious to hear whom they favor in the primary, and whether they plan to vote in it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#97050: Jul 24th 2015 at 2:40:51 PM

Purely among the one's I'm familiar with here in NC, I don't think the moderates really like any of the current crop of candidates. The one's I'd consider "moderates" usually have one or two pet issues that lean towards a particular candidate; stuff like abortion, gun rights, tax rates, etc etc while remaining comfortable with other points on the conservative spectrum without devolving into the rabid lunacy of the tea party.

Jeb Bush maybe, but even then that's a really sour "maybe". His opposition to medicare is likely to bite him in the ass given a fair portion of his potential base is partaking in it.

All in all, the entire situation seems to have our state legislators rather worried. I've heard a few state officials express serious concern about the party fracturing itself into oblivion if they lose this round.


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