"The Republicans. You know why I have rarely voted Republican in my life? Because in general they sell out the working class to the interests of the corporations while giving into the worst instincts of the culture wars to try to keep their base happy. "
I guess this is the time and place: I was born a Democrat was pretty liberal most of my adult life. I don't mean to patronize anyone but my Dad was a young college professor and had some cool diverse - which was not a thing in the early- and mid-70s - hip young college professor friends. By default we hated guns, were disappointed in BigFedGov for Vietnam - my 19-year old next door neighbor was deployed and I know is 8-year old sister was super scared (when I was 9 I think) but they moved before he came back and I don't know what happened to him. Then we moved to the country in 1975. I didn't realize it at the time but The Diversity had gotten just a little too close (the new neighbors in Soldier-Sister anecdote house were black; super nice, pretty pretty girl a year older than I, Dads liked each other pretty a lot I thought, but... you know)
TL;DR - I heard an interview on PBS (told you I was liberal) with Steven Levitt, author of the book 'Freakonmics,' now an active FAQ site and subscription service for stats that demonstrate things that you might be absolutely sure about ain't necessarily so. https://freakonomics.com/
The money quote was "If you have a pool in your backyard and a gun in your house, someone in your family is One Hundred Times more likely to die in the pool." I stopped at the Barnes & Noble in greater downtown Bel Air, MD sometime that very afternoon c.1997-8.
Since then, I've been Unaffiliated (indie in MDese) but have voted all over the place since then, including in several cases registering to be a Republican (2008, 2012 to vote for Ron Paul in Primaries). I was a Dem from '84 (voted for Mondale *hangs head*) until about I found out what a libertarian was. Ron Paul made sense to me in the late 90s.
I read Freakonomics years ago. It was eyeopening. There is much to be questioned in the world.
I always find we’re always trading evils. I hope if Trump does win that he and the people around him make an honest effort to fulfill some base promises rather than the Republican Party thinking they have a mandate to do “Republican” things. I don’t think the Republican Party has really changed. The question is really if different people can hijack it enough to turn things around.
I've found Freakonomics to be a bit hit or miss for me personally, but I still think their work is a net positive. Gell-Mann amnesia is a real thing.
You're definitely on the money that a Trump win would only be the shot from the starting gun. He'd have to not sell out his election team like he did in 2016, make appropriate cabinet appointments, and then do thing he said he was going to do. Although hearing things like Pompeo possibly returning makes me think that thing could easily just go back to the way they were before. Even though he has mobilized more of the civil libertarians, or his opponents pushed them away, his bluster about constitutional violations seems less sever than it was before.
This is really what distinguishes The Clerisy from those of use Not of the Manor Born: Because they got straight As in Journalism or Business or Sociology they're pretty certain they know for sure how Hurricanes are Formed, and that Every Person Should Be Able to Decide For Themselves What They Can Put Into or Take Out of Their Own Bodies - Except for THAT. Nope, not THAT.
And they expect We the Little People to just do what they expect. Then Elon bought TwiXer and things were learned.
a Trump win would only be the shot from the starting gun.""
"And this is the thing. I don't think we're voting for a Person." We're not even choosing between Republicans or Democrats. The Clerisy = Uniparty. That's not what divides us. Trump's not really a Republican.
In some ways he's more Libertarian. In others he's a bit, shall we say, unpredictable. But I think he really loves America, and he really loves Americans - even the ones that came here from other countries lawfully. I kinda think the same: I don't think you have to be Born in the USA to Be American. And that means no censorship, and people who do harm are not permitted, one way or another, to keep doing harm.
I think that's what Team Summer of Brat Joy, Oh crap - Quick Caall Lorne Michaels We're Melting! will bring. Harm.
Ron Paul makes a lot of sense, IMHO. His son is doing a pretty good job as a senator as well. I think I've said before that I was a Kennedy democrat, which seems to be more of a cross between libertarian and republican these days. But I probably lean more to the libertarian side, just because, like Lillia says in her article, the GOPe has always let me down in one way or another. Sometimes just by not fighting for what they supposedly believe in.
Perhaps my favorite Ron Paul moment was from his 1988 appearance on Firing Line, where when asked about regime-change wars and why he wouldn't prefer dictators favorable to American interests, to which he responded: "I think it's a contradiction to talk about a dictator who's a friend of America."
That was an awesome answer. I've not seen that clip - I'll look - but that's in part what I was shooting for when I was trying to define Being American.
'Read that last line: “This has all been exacerbated by the disappearance of gatekeepers and overall quality control within the post-establishmentarian right.”
Yes, Chris Rufo is all for censorship of things that he deems harmful to his own cause, and Chris Rufo is hardly an outlier.'
I think you're reading too much into that line. Nothing in Rufo's article alarms me regarding his stance on free speech. He's merely pointing out a fact--the freeing up of X has allowed right-wing zealots to "gain traction." He wants to "restrain their growth" but does not argue how this might be accomplished, and he certainly doesn't claim that they need to be censored from X or anywhere else.
His thesis might reassure you: "We are blessed to live in a country where people can succeed when they work hard and put their talent to good use. It is imperative that we fight to maintain a narrative that reflects this reality, rather than capitulating to pessimistic ideologies divorced from the facts."
Nowhere does he suggest that such a "narrative" can or should gain prominence by silencing anyone who might object to seeing their "pessimistic ideologies" fail.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt concerning censorship, considering everything he's done to shed light on the corruption of our institutions by elements of the left.
I'm glad you used the upper case 'r' when referring to the GOPe, oka establishment or even more accurate, Uniparty members who are the GOP's delegation to its caucuses in the HoR, and the Senate. Thank you!
Sadly, they far outnumber the republicans in either or both chamber(s).
More later — I'm trying to get out to cast my ballot.
My polling place is 5 minutes from home, and I was gone a total of 20 minutes when I went to vote. We had long lines here in Indiana over the weekend, even tho we have been able to vote early for a few weeks. No idea why people would wait until the last weekend, then stand in line, when they could have just voted today with little to no wait.
Same here. Well, 10 mins to the Elementary School in the Suburbs of Pretty Boy. I walked in and was third at Check-in. I knew how I wanted to vote and filled in my bubbles - Paper Ballots, bitches! - and was back on the road in about 20. And that included stopping at The Pretty Boy Market (I totally swear) to pick up some Caramel Cremes and a Stewart's Orange 'n Cream.
I think Trump if he wins will do his best to keep us out of wars. But who can say for sure, and Israel seems to be trying their best to start a world war in the Middle East. I will not stay up tonight in hopes of learning the winner, but I hope that it will be a decisive win that's too big to steal. Staying up at all would only feed my anxiety, and as it is I need several drinks or a gummy to get to sleep.
Well the upside for Trump is that he is in many ways the living embodiment of Nixon's madman theory. The idea being that Trump's mercurial nature makes him unpredictable, so other countries give him a wide berth, not because they highly respect him, but because they can't predict him.
May the votes and counts land true, may the election stand free and fair, and may we get the results in a timely fashion. Election nights, crazy as they are, are still only one night. Election weeks are overrated.
This question: Was there an election for eastern Ukraine to become part of Russia?
resulted in over 67,000 results. Had the USA not interfered, there would never have been a war. Trump will explain Zelensky's options and he will accept Trump's terms by January. In the meantime, Hamas and Hezbollah will be destroyed as ISIS was during Trump's first administration. Wray and Garland will see their reputations and careers going down the toilet of history.
"The Republicans. You know why I have rarely voted Republican in my life? Because in general they sell out the working class to the interests of the corporations while giving into the worst instincts of the culture wars to try to keep their base happy. "
I guess this is the time and place: I was born a Democrat was pretty liberal most of my adult life. I don't mean to patronize anyone but my Dad was a young college professor and had some cool diverse - which was not a thing in the early- and mid-70s - hip young college professor friends. By default we hated guns, were disappointed in BigFedGov for Vietnam - my 19-year old next door neighbor was deployed and I know is 8-year old sister was super scared (when I was 9 I think) but they moved before he came back and I don't know what happened to him. Then we moved to the country in 1975. I didn't realize it at the time but The Diversity had gotten just a little too close (the new neighbors in Soldier-Sister anecdote house were black; super nice, pretty pretty girl a year older than I, Dads liked each other pretty a lot I thought, but... you know)
Sheesh, the setup was a bit Hi-jacky...\
TL;DR - I heard an interview on PBS (told you I was liberal) with Steven Levitt, author of the book 'Freakonmics,' now an active FAQ site and subscription service for stats that demonstrate things that you might be absolutely sure about ain't necessarily so. https://freakonomics.com/
The money quote was "If you have a pool in your backyard and a gun in your house, someone in your family is One Hundred Times more likely to die in the pool." I stopped at the Barnes & Noble in greater downtown Bel Air, MD sometime that very afternoon c.1997-8.
Since then, I've been Unaffiliated (indie in MDese) but have voted all over the place since then, including in several cases registering to be a Republican (2008, 2012 to vote for Ron Paul in Primaries). I was a Dem from '84 (voted for Mondale *hangs head*) until about I found out what a libertarian was. Ron Paul made sense to me in the late 90s.
And here we are.
I read Freakonomics years ago. It was eyeopening. There is much to be questioned in the world.
I always find we’re always trading evils. I hope if Trump does win that he and the people around him make an honest effort to fulfill some base promises rather than the Republican Party thinking they have a mandate to do “Republican” things. I don’t think the Republican Party has really changed. The question is really if different people can hijack it enough to turn things around.
I've found Freakonomics to be a bit hit or miss for me personally, but I still think their work is a net positive. Gell-Mann amnesia is a real thing.
You're definitely on the money that a Trump win would only be the shot from the starting gun. He'd have to not sell out his election team like he did in 2016, make appropriate cabinet appointments, and then do thing he said he was going to do. Although hearing things like Pompeo possibly returning makes me think that thing could easily just go back to the way they were before. Even though he has mobilized more of the civil libertarians, or his opponents pushed them away, his bluster about constitutional violations seems less sever than it was before.
"Gell-Mann amnesia is a real thing."
This is really what distinguishes The Clerisy from those of use Not of the Manor Born: Because they got straight As in Journalism or Business or Sociology they're pretty certain they know for sure how Hurricanes are Formed, and that Every Person Should Be Able to Decide For Themselves What They Can Put Into or Take Out of Their Own Bodies - Except for THAT. Nope, not THAT.
And they expect We the Little People to just do what they expect. Then Elon bought TwiXer and things were learned.
a Trump win would only be the shot from the starting gun.""
"And this is the thing. I don't think we're voting for a Person." We're not even choosing between Republicans or Democrats. The Clerisy = Uniparty. That's not what divides us. Trump's not really a Republican.
In some ways he's more Libertarian. In others he's a bit, shall we say, unpredictable. But I think he really loves America, and he really loves Americans - even the ones that came here from other countries lawfully. I kinda think the same: I don't think you have to be Born in the USA to Be American. And that means no censorship, and people who do harm are not permitted, one way or another, to keep doing harm.
I think that's what Team Summer of Brat Joy, Oh crap - Quick Caall Lorne Michaels We're Melting! will bring. Harm.
"I always find we’re always trading evils."
"There are no solutions. Only tradeoffs."
- That Sowell Guy
Ron Paul makes a lot of sense, IMHO. His son is doing a pretty good job as a senator as well. I think I've said before that I was a Kennedy democrat, which seems to be more of a cross between libertarian and republican these days. But I probably lean more to the libertarian side, just because, like Lillia says in her article, the GOPe has always let me down in one way or another. Sometimes just by not fighting for what they supposedly believe in.
Perhaps my favorite Ron Paul moment was from his 1988 appearance on Firing Line, where when asked about regime-change wars and why he wouldn't prefer dictators favorable to American interests, to which he responded: "I think it's a contradiction to talk about a dictator who's a friend of America."
That was an awesome answer. I've not seen that clip - I'll look - but that's in part what I was shooting for when I was trying to define Being American.
https://youtu.be/ImyFyZJ0BNo?feature=shared&t=2586
'Read that last line: “This has all been exacerbated by the disappearance of gatekeepers and overall quality control within the post-establishmentarian right.”
Yes, Chris Rufo is all for censorship of things that he deems harmful to his own cause, and Chris Rufo is hardly an outlier.'
I think you're reading too much into that line. Nothing in Rufo's article alarms me regarding his stance on free speech. He's merely pointing out a fact--the freeing up of X has allowed right-wing zealots to "gain traction." He wants to "restrain their growth" but does not argue how this might be accomplished, and he certainly doesn't claim that they need to be censored from X or anywhere else.
His thesis might reassure you: "We are blessed to live in a country where people can succeed when they work hard and put their talent to good use. It is imperative that we fight to maintain a narrative that reflects this reality, rather than capitulating to pessimistic ideologies divorced from the facts."
Nowhere does he suggest that such a "narrative" can or should gain prominence by silencing anyone who might object to seeing their "pessimistic ideologies" fail.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt concerning censorship, considering everything he's done to shed light on the corruption of our institutions by elements of the left.
Good point.
Nice analysis.
I'm glad you used the upper case 'r' when referring to the GOPe, oka establishment or even more accurate, Uniparty members who are the GOP's delegation to its caucuses in the HoR, and the Senate. Thank you!
Sadly, they far outnumber the republicans in either or both chamber(s).
More later — I'm trying to get out to cast my ballot.
My polling place is 5 minutes from home, and I was gone a total of 20 minutes when I went to vote. We had long lines here in Indiana over the weekend, even tho we have been able to vote early for a few weeks. No idea why people would wait until the last weekend, then stand in line, when they could have just voted today with little to no wait.
No idea why it can't be a federal holiday either.
Same here. Well, 10 mins to the Elementary School in the Suburbs of Pretty Boy. I walked in and was third at Check-in. I knew how I wanted to vote and filled in my bubbles - Paper Ballots, bitches! - and was back on the road in about 20. And that included stopping at The Pretty Boy Market (I totally swear) to pick up some Caramel Cremes and a Stewart's Orange 'n Cream.
About 45 mins all told.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pu8ACTUUKFvVuR318
Making a day of it. I like it.
I take Caramel Cremes seriously.
Huh, don't usually see the House abbreviated as HoR, it has an unsavory phonetic homophone. Though perhaps that was the idea.
I didn't see the unsavory. Now I can't I see it.
The giggling is spontaneous. Sorry.
Thanks for pointing out some reasons for optimism! (And FYI, I'll be sleeping).
I think Trump if he wins will do his best to keep us out of wars. But who can say for sure, and Israel seems to be trying their best to start a world war in the Middle East. I will not stay up tonight in hopes of learning the winner, but I hope that it will be a decisive win that's too big to steal. Staying up at all would only feed my anxiety, and as it is I need several drinks or a gummy to get to sleep.
Well the upside for Trump is that he is in many ways the living embodiment of Nixon's madman theory. The idea being that Trump's mercurial nature makes him unpredictable, so other countries give him a wide berth, not because they highly respect him, but because they can't predict him.
Good point, and I think that's to our country's advantage, big time!
May the votes and counts land true, may the election stand free and fair, and may we get the results in a timely fashion. Election nights, crazy as they are, are still only one night. Election weeks are overrated.
May God give you, for every storm, a rainbow; for every tear, a smile. For every sorrow, a joy.
I don't have a TV in my house, so it'll be a big surprise for me tomorrow. Honestly, I'm not expecting anything to be resolved.
"But do I trust him to avoid getting us back in the Middle East if war breaks out between Iran and Israel?"
Dag, I hope so. As a libertarian, I'd say his ability to have kept us out of conflict is my favorite attribute.
We'll see. I have the same hope, but . . . it's pretty thinly grounded.
"We’re a banana peel republic"
I don't care who you are. That right there's funny.
This question: Was there an election for eastern Ukraine to become part of Russia?
resulted in over 67,000 results. Had the USA not interfered, there would never have been a war. Trump will explain Zelensky's options and he will accept Trump's terms by January. In the meantime, Hamas and Hezbollah will be destroyed as ISIS was during Trump's first administration. Wray and Garland will see their reputations and careers going down the toilet of history.
A lot to like in there.
I bet she does too🤪
And nothing about why you’re not voting for Kamala? Oh wait, that’s obvious DUH 🙄