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Fall US Elections

Which word in the OP is giving you guys trouble?

Fall? We're referring to "autumn". Election day this year, as with all but special elections and local elections, is at just about the mid-point in what is referred to as "fall".

US? That's an abbreviation of United States (of America).

Elections? That's the ritual by which we elect our representatives in the Republic.

Put them altogether and we'd have a nice neat thread for discussing of the mid-term elections, the battle for control of the Senate, the traditional off-year opposition pick-ups, the effect of gerrymandering (er, district realignment).

It's not that I'm not interested in your navel gazing. I'm just not interested in it in this thread.
 
Thanks, guys. I think the topic should be interesting unto itself. I'm not usually against thread drift, but I'm an election-junkie and my concern is that each little news tidbit might wind up in a sparsely attended thread if this one is seen to be mired in a How Many Libertarians Can Dance on the Head of a Pin discussion.

Back on topic. Nate Silver's "GOP to Take the Senate" raised a lot of eyebrows several months ago, but he really only started his usual in-depth tracking this month. In the three weeks since it opened, the probability has gone from 64 to 58.5% (that the GOP will have a majority in the upper house).
 
Well, the right wing rant from around here is:

1) We're gonna take the Senate
2) The house is going to vote to impeach both Pres. and V.P.
3) The Senate will make them both step down
4) The Senate will delay the trials until they can shut down Romneycare and Social Security, and cut open season on illegals
5) Have the trial fail, but blame the Democrats for it all like they're already doing.
6) Elect the likes of Santorum, Cruz, or Bachman in 2 years.
To which I add
7) (after "magic happens") the 1% take over as dictators.

The actual authority for this, however, is to be debated. The assumption is that the 5 catholics will go for it.
 
jj said:
Well, the right wing rant from around here is:

1) We're gonna take the Senate
2) The house is going to vote to impeach both Pres. and V.P.
3) The Senate will make them both step down
4) The Senate will delay the trials until they can shut down Romneycare and Social Security, and cut open season on illegals
5) Have the trial fail, but blame the Democrats for it all like they're already doing.
6) Elect the likes of Santorum, Cruz, or Bachman in 2 years.
To which I add
7) (after "magic happens") the 1% take over as dictators.

The actual authority for this, however, is to be debated. The assumption is that the 5 catholics will go for it.
Click to expand...

And is this right-wing ranting being done by elected officials on the floor of a state senate or is this right-wing ranting being done on Facebook pages and chain letters?
 
Ladewig said:
And is this right-wing ranting being done by elected officials on the floor of a state senate or is this right-wing ranting being done on Facebook pages and chain letters?
Click to expand...

Coffeeshop in downtown Redmond.
 
RCP is trending GOP for the Senate. The trending in CO is heavily away from Udall, while Land is getting the bounce from the local media coverage of her bus tour of the grassroots in MI, and Landrieu and Bergich have done nothing to cut into the new leads of the GOP candidates.

TV spending is going to come into play now, though. So as Silver says, while they're unsexy questions, the next reports on who raised the most and has the most in the piggy bank are going to be important. With a little over 30 days to go, they checkbooks come out, starting this coming week.

Does anyone know what happens with the terms of the Special Elections in SC and OK? Are they going to be on four-year (partial) terms, or will those states now have both Sen elections in the same year, like this year? (Sorry, I couldn't find anything with a quick Google and my browser is cranky since the Junta took over... just a coincidence, I'm sure.)
 
jj said:
Coffeeshop in downtown Redmond.
Click to expand...

Live and in person?

So many possible responses to someone saying that crap.
Of course, the downside might be getting punched in the face for being too frank and forward in commenting on such a silly forecast.

You don't want me standing next to you in that situation, I have impulse control issues.

...........

Please tell me the guy saying it was not wearing a LEO uniform.
 
Ladewig said:
Live and in person?

So many possible responses to someone saying that crap.
Of course, the downside might be getting punched in the face for being too frank and forward in commenting on such a silly forecast.

You don't want me standing next to you in that situation, I have impulse control issues.

...........

Please tell me the guy saying it was not wearing a LEO uniform.
Click to expand...

Yeah, live and in person, not to me. He glared rather nastily at me when I started to hum "Deutschland Uber Alles" in line behind him and his bud, and he and his bud walked outside. Actually, you'd be perfectly welcome to be next to me when that happened, by the way. I did manage to only hum a tune.

I must note I wasn't the only customer who looked askance at them. It's pretty easy to tell sometimes when certain fingers are suddenly raised.

No, not law enforcement, thankfully.
 
jj said:
Well, the right wing rant from around here is:

1) We're gonna take the Senate
Click to expand...

Yes.

2) The house is going to vote to impeach both Pres. and V.P.
Click to expand...

Nope. I don't like either of them, but I don't think they have done anything remotely worthy of impeachment.

3) The Senate will make them both step down
Click to expand...

Are you aware of what the vote hurdle is in the Senate to convict an impeached President?

4) The Senate will delay the trials until they can shut down Romneycare and Social Security, and cut open season on illegals
5) Have the trial fail, but blame the Democrats for it all like they're already doing.
6) Elect the likes of Santorum, Cruz, or Bachman in 2 years.
To which I add
7) (after "magic happens") the 1% take over as dictators.

The actual authority for this, however, is to be debated. The assumption is that the 5 catholics will go for it.
Click to expand...

You have an active fantasy life. What color is the sky in your world?
 
jj said:
Yeah, live and in person, not to me. He glared rather nastily at me when I started to hum "Deutschland Uber Alles" in line behind him and his bud, and he and his bud walked outside.
Click to expand...

I see. Maybe I don't want to stand next to you.

(Fortunately, my singing voice is so awful that I would never attempt "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," as popularized in "Cabaret.")

...........

The whole thing does seem like a strange bit of role reversal.
You frequently warn that political extremists can become suddenly violent with little warning, while I go on about how rare that is.
Here, I am the one anxiously concerned about political extremists becoming suddenly violent while you talk about publicly mocking them.
 
Ladewig said:
I see. Maybe I don't want to stand next to you.

(Fortunately, my singing voice is so awful that I would never attempt "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," as popularized in "Cabaret.")
Click to expand...


Oh, you can be sure the thought (Tomorrow ...) occurred to me. I don't sing very well either, but the point still gets across.

It all depends on where I am, as far as safety. I wouldn't try that in Northern Idaho.

Quite aside from that, these types feed on fear. I ain't feedin' them.
 
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It is clear that a lot of money is being spent to defeat Colorado Senator Mark Udall. Local TV stations are saturated with attack ads implying Udall was responsible for all sorts of terrible acts. The ads are not based on reality, but that doesn't really matter. We have become a nation where moneyed interests can fund this kind of garbage in secret. Secure in the knowledge corporate reputations will not be affected by this manure spreading.
 
Brainster said:
I don't like either of them, but I don't think they have done anything remotely worthy of impeachment.
Click to expand...
1. Refusal to enforce the work requirement for welfare. Waivers in Obamacare. The President is our employee. We hire administrators to enforce the law.
2. Illegal, undeclared war against the government of Muammar Gadhafi.
3. Illegal, undeclared war against Mexico (Fast and Furious weapons to Mexican gangs).
The gutless overseers in Congress will do nothing about it.
 
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I think people are forgetting the importance of the coffee cup scandal. Let me also remind people of his disrespect of the lapel flag pin. His forgetting to salute a marine. His past as a member of an American hating Christian Church. A Kenyan born radical Muslim. A golf playing, basket ball playing, vacation taking guy who Donald Trump says was either a bad student or he never even went to Harvard.
 
Malcolm Kirkpatrick said:
1. Refusal to enforce the work requirement for welfare. Waivers in Obamacare. The President is our employee. We hire administrators to enforce the law.
2. Illegal, undeclared war against the government of Muammar Gadhafi.
3. Illegal, undeclared war against Mexico (Fast and Furious weapons to Mexican gangs).
The gutless overseers in Congress will do nothing about it.
Click to expand...

Wow, how did you feel about the previous President, then?

Failure to support separation of church and state.
Failure to nominate responsible SCOTUS justices.
Two illegal wars, one based on overt, obvious lies.
The establishment of a secret police force.

I could go on and on. But somehow you focus on Obama, who's at least gone to some effort to clean up the **** sandwich he was left.
 
jj said:
Yeah, live and in person, not to me. He glared rather nastily at me when I started to hum "Deutschland Uber Alles" in line behind him and his bud, and he and his bud walked outside. Actually, you'd be perfectly welcome to be next to me when that happened, by the way. I did manage to only hum a tune.
Click to expand...

So you tried to interrupt a conversation between two people minding their own business, and they're the crazy ones?

By the way, if you were just humming, the song is indistinguishable from the current national anthem of Germany. Germans don't use the words from the first stanza anymore (the "Deutscheland Uber Alles" part), but the 3rd stanza, which they do use, is the same tune.

Still, even if the intended slanderous comparison to the Nazis was lost on them, I have no doubt that loudly humming to yourself in a coffee shop line successfully conveyed a clear picture of where you were coming from.
 
sunmaster14 said:
So you tried to interrupt a conversation between two people minding their own business, and they're the crazy ones?
Click to expand...
Straw man, counter to facts, and assumptions of fact not in evidence.
By the way, if you were just humming, the song is indistinguishable from the current national anthem of Germany. Germans don't use the words from the first stanza anymore (the "Deutscheland Uber Alles" part), but the 3rd stanza, which they do use, is the same tune.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know that. It was interesting, how these two people, who were having a LOUD conversation, clearly intended to be heard from a distance, recognized the tune so quickly as to very nearly jump with surprise, too. Perhaps you should not accuse others of rudeness until you know all of the facts.

Still, even if the intended slanderous comparison to the Nazis was lost on them, I have no doubt that loudly humming to yourself in a coffee shop line successfully conveyed a clear picture of where you were coming from.
Click to expand...

Ignoring the idiocy involved in threatening a lawsuit based on political speech, and ignoring the attempt to intimidate, yes, they clearly exhibited where they were coming from, too.

Perhaps you could have been there, since you speak with such presumed expertise? Is this how you claim standing to publicly accuse someone of slander?

Were you one of the people? Are you about 5'11" tall, white, dark hair, wearing khaki trousers and shirt, or perhaps about 6'2" tall, white, dark hair, ditto clothing. Both short hair, clean shaven, a bit of stubble. Both wearing black work boots with red laces? Both medium build, a bit scraggly around the edges?

Was that you? Or are you just making up what you have authoritatively claimed actually happened in this context?
 
jj said:
Wow, how did you feel about the previous President, then?
Failure to support separation of church and state1.
Failure to nominate responsible SCOTUS justices2.
Two illegal wars, one based on overt, obvious lies3.
The establishment of a secret police force4.

I could go on and on5.
Click to expand...
1. How so? Most of the cases are de minimus in my opinion (the valedictorian mentions Jehovah, prayers at football games, etc.).
2. No crime. The remedy is "advise and consent". I'm a fan of Alito. Not Roberts after the ruling on the ACA.
3. False on two counts. 1. Congress authorized both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars (unlike Obama's Libya campaign). 2(a). The intelligence on WMD did not change between the Clinton and Bush administrations, so it wasn't that Bush II cooked the books or leaned on the CIA analysts. 2(b). If the WMD reports were such "overt, obvious lies" why did WJ Clinton, HR Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Harry Reid, Al Gore, and others, assert the existence of WMD in Iraq? Here, for a small sample.
4. Bush initially opposed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. What other "secret police force" emerged during the Bush II administration?
5. You will, jj. You will.

How do I feel about Bush II? I favored Forbes in the 2000 GOP primaries. I opposed the AIG and GM bailouts. He didn't restrain the big spenders in his party. He didn't use his authority over four K-12 school systems (BIA schools, DOD schools, US Embassy schools, DC schools) and five post-secondary school (US Air Force Academy, US Coast Guard Academy, US Merchant Marine Academy, US Military Academy, US Naval Academy), to reduce the cost of credentials. His judicial appointments and the response to the 9-11 event (including both wars) are about the only things I liked about the Bush II administration.
 
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