when parties fall apart they are usually replace by something more 'extreme'. the reason for a party's dissolution is usually that there is a need or an issue of its potential sympathizers that isn't being voiced as well as they'd like
― goole, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:31 (twelve years ago) link
Rich ppl between age 55 and death still run nearly everything. Too bad they live so damn long.
Well, something more "extreme" is mandatory to convert us from an economy entirely focused on the limitless gobbling of resources. One party refuses to acknowledge the possibility of such a move, the other barely does.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:34 (twelve years ago) link
when parties fall apart they are usually replaced by something more 'extreme'. the reason for a party's dissolution is usually that there is a need or an issue of its potential sympathizers that isn't being voiced as well as they'd like
well atm the gop is in a process of whittling itself down to the extremist right ~30% of america and in the process throwing a lot of elections it can win - including this one. plus is boxed in by long-term demographics. that's really not sustainable 2nd party in the longer-term...it doesn't really need a single issue.
also morbs otm unfortunately
― iatee, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:48 (twelve years ago) link
politics can probably stay irrational longer than manhattan can stay above water
― iatee, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:51 (twelve years ago) link
when parties fall apart they are usually replaced by something more 'extreme'.
Is this true? Examples?
― L'ennui, cette maladie de tous les (Michael White), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:51 (twelve years ago) link
whigs/know-nothings and the birth of the republicans, both dems and the GOP + wallace in the 60s
― goole, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
at a very rough guess i'd say the atrophy of british liberals and the rise of labour but i'm really talking out of my ass there
― goole, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:04 (twelve years ago) link
that's a small sample set and one that doesn't compare super well to american politics in 2012, I think.
― iatee, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
the Republicans were more extreme than the Know Nothings?
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
opposition to slavery was 'extreme' and totally unserved by any political party at the time until the republicans showed up. know-nothings served the interests of northern laborers via nativism; republicans followed by expressing that anxiety contra 'the slave power'
― goole, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:15 (twelve years ago) link
well, the Dems didn't replace themselves in the '60s! They "evolved," partly out of necessity when the most extreme Southern racists began to leave.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:26 (twelve years ago) link
yup
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Party_System
ppl disagree as to whether we are still in this or not
― goole, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:29 (twelve years ago) link
I say this a lot but comparing politics today to politics in the 1800s seems pretty fruitless.
one thing you can say is that the party system changes (nominally) v. infrequently.
another thing you can say is that the gop's politics just simply cannot sell on a national level forever + at the same time the only people left in the party are people who have had second helpings of kool aid.
― iatee, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:40 (twelve years ago) link
For the GOP's policies, see also the Dem's actions.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
Maybe not forever, but as I mentioned above, it's working pretty well for them now in many states and in parts of the US govt.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:54 (twelve years ago) link
well some states have a lot of kool aid, the massive economic downturn gave the gop a lot of cover, and the american political system allows a minority senate to fuck shit up. but that doesn't mean the gop hasn't boxed itself into a really poor place nationally.
― iatee, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:56 (twelve years ago) link
Forbes columnist analysis! Warning: Quotes Rasmussen polls as truth
http://douglasschoen.com/why-president-obama-is-unlikely-to-significantly-improve-his-standing-among-male-voters/
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
Also warning: considers comparing poll results over the last 30 years to be in any way useful - oh yeah some of you guys love that shit.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:50 (twelve years ago) link
rasmussen proves male voters are dumber, more racist, anti-obama
― wolves in our wounds (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 17:24 (twelve years ago) link
2 conservative House Dems lose their primaries to more liberal opponents, primarily because of their opposition to healthcare and climate change legislation
― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 26 April 2012 15:40 (eleven years ago) link
^^^in Pennsylvania btw
well, also because of redistricting
― iatee, Thursday, 26 April 2012 15:48 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/robert-draper-anti-obama-campaign_n_1452899.html
almost feel like there's a lesson here...
― goole, Thursday, 26 April 2012 17:23 (eleven years ago) link
"I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana – and the reason is, because it’s against federal law. I can’t nullify congressional law. I can’t ask the Justice Department to say, “Ignore completely a federal law that’s on the books” . . . .
The same person who directed the DOJ to shield torturers and illegal government eavesdroppers from criminal investigation, and who voted to retroactively immunize the nation’s largest telecom giants when they got caught enabling criminal spying on Americans, and whose DOJ has failed to indict a single Wall Street executive in connection with the 2008 financial crisis or mortgage fraud scandal, suddenly discovers the imperatives of The Rule of Law when it comes to those, in accordance with state law, providing medical marijuana to sick people with a prescription.
http://www.salon.com/2012/04/26/obama_justice_and_medical_marijuana/
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 27 April 2012 14:52 (eleven years ago) link
This f'in guy etc.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/04/samuel_joe_the_plumber_wurzelb.html
Ohio congressional candidate Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher first gained national attention after querying presidential candidate Barack Obama’s about tax policy during a televised 2008 campaign appearance in the Toledo area.As the GOP nominee to challenge Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 2012 election, Wurzelbacher recently made news again when the Christian Broadcasting Network website published a letter he wrote about Obama’s religious faith as well as his own Christian beliefs. Wurzelbacher told the website he plans to distribute the letter titled: ‘I’m Blessed to be a Christian," to churches during his upcoming congressional campaign.Wurzelbacher’s letter doesn’t address Kaptur. It mostly dwells on Obama. Wurzelbacher says he believes Obama is a Christian, and it’s not Christian for people to say otherwise.Wurzelbacher’s letter also provided a colorful rendition of Obama’s background:"Imagine being the child of a mixed-race marriage - especially in the turbulent 60’s and free-wheeling 70’s," his letter said. "And when you throw in that dad was a Muslim and mom an atheist - you know it could not have been easy - and they were communists for crying out loud!"
As the GOP nominee to challenge Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 2012 election, Wurzelbacher recently made news again when the Christian Broadcasting Network website published a letter he wrote about Obama’s religious faith as well as his own Christian beliefs. Wurzelbacher told the website he plans to distribute the letter titled: ‘I’m Blessed to be a Christian," to churches during his upcoming congressional campaign.
Wurzelbacher’s letter doesn’t address Kaptur. It mostly dwells on Obama. Wurzelbacher says he believes Obama is a Christian, and it’s not Christian for people to say otherwise.
Wurzelbacher’s letter also provided a colorful rendition of Obama’s background:
"Imagine being the child of a mixed-race marriage - especially in the turbulent 60’s and free-wheeling 70’s," his letter said. "And when you throw in that dad was a Muslim and mom an atheist - you know it could not have been easy - and they were communists for crying out loud!"
Yes, please, run against Obama instead of your opponent.
― i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Friday, 27 April 2012 15:30 (eleven years ago) link
grr medical marijuana thing is so irritating
― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 April 2012 15:35 (eleven years ago) link
And Mike Lofgren, a veteran Republican congressional staffer, wrote an anguished diatribe last year about why he was ending his career on the Hill after nearly three decades. “The Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe,” he wrote on the Truthout Web site.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html
― iatee, Friday, 27 April 2012 23:51 (eleven years ago) link
sigh:
Al Armendariz, a mid-level official at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 2009, resigned this week after conservatives expressed outrage at a metaphor he invoked at a town hall meeting nearly two years ago.Armendariz, who took leave from Southern Methodist University to join the administration, commented at a meeting back in 2010 that the EPA’s enforcement policy was to find “people who are not compliant with the law, and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them.”“It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean,” he said. “They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people who are in this case not compliant with the law.”Critics focused on the “crucify” comment after climate-change skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R) posted the video on to his web site. The calls for Armendariz’s resignation soon followed. On Sunday, he obliged.
Armendariz, who took leave from Southern Methodist University to join the administration, commented at a meeting back in 2010 that the EPA’s enforcement policy was to find “people who are not compliant with the law, and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them.”
“It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean,” he said. “They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people who are in this case not compliant with the law.”
Critics focused on the “crucify” comment after climate-change skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R) posted the video on to his web site. The calls for Armendariz’s resignation soon followed. On Sunday, he obliged.
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:00 (eleven years ago) link
A "mid-level" official? He's the administrator of EPA Region 6 (NM, TX, OK, AR and LA)!
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:02 (eleven years ago) link
I hear some people even wear crucifixes around their neck constantly, the sickos....
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:03 (eleven years ago) link
although i'm looking to replacing my tired "job-killer" self-references with "job-crucifying"
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:03 (eleven years ago) link
god, i'd love to clock out but i have to crucify at least 2 more dozen jobs to meet my quota for the week
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:04 (eleven years ago) link
you'd think polluters would leap at the chance to be associated with Jesus
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:04 (eleven years ago) link
In other news, I don't know if I'm the only one (maybe Morbz) who's disgusted when Dems start acting like macho shitheads.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:06 (eleven years ago) link
xpost of course, Armendariz' original sin (....sorry) was coming to the conclusion that the oil and gas industry are major polluters - shocking!
When President Obama appointed SMU prof Al Armendariz to the EPA regional post in Dallas back in 2009, it was to the sound of collective groaning from the energy industry and Republican politicos. Only months before, he'd authored a study citing oil and gas production as a major source of air pollution in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. And now he was supposed to regulate them?Ever since, everyone from the industry right on down to the chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Railroad Commission of Texas and Gov. Rick Perry has looked for an excuse to call for his head.
Ever since, everyone from the industry right on down to the chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Railroad Commission of Texas and Gov. Rick Perry has looked for an excuse to call for his head.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/04/did_epa_regional_chief_armenda.php
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:09 (eleven years ago) link
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
I bet this guy is a laugh riot
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:09 (eleven years ago) link
There's really nothing macho about being the world's most heavily protected warlord, Alfred.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:13 (eleven years ago) link
Romney has said earlier in the day Monday that “even Jimmy Carter” would have made the same call.
lol
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:16 (eleven years ago) link
on several levels
reminds me when Mondale accused Reagan (!) of being soft on the Commies.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
exactly
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:21 (eleven years ago) link
probably already posted somewhere, but:
http://voteview.com/images/polar_House_Means.jpghttp://voteview.com/images/Polar_Senate_Means.jpg
http://voteview.com/political_polarization.asp
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:49 (eleven years ago) link
Can we get Tori Amos's "Crucify" named official song of the EPA?
― i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:53 (eleven years ago) link
i will nominate it at the next all hands meeting
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:55 (eleven years ago) link
so, unexpected televised speech from afghanistan at 7:30pm (EST) tonight?
https://twitter.com/#!/natlsecuritycnn/statuses/197400468731871232
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 20:55 (eleven years ago) link
It's one year since Bin laden was killed and Obama wants to remind folks
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/obama-make-televised-speech-afghanistan-730-pm/story?id=16255583
Obama, whose secrecy-shrouded trip came on the one-year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, met in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The two leaders signed a long-term partnership agreement that governs the United States' role in Afghanistan after NATO-led combat forces leave in 2014. NATO leaders are due in Chicago in late May for a summit at which they are expected to spell out how the alliance's troops will hand over security duties to Afghan security forces throughout 2013.
Obama's trip also carried a strong political flavor: He has been using the May 1, 2011 bin Laden raid to pummel presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 21:07 (eleven years ago) link
Have received emails from two different entities asking me to pester Pelosi re her recent Simpson-Bowles comments:
We need to speak out now to stop House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi from agreeing to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Recently, Leader Pelosi expressed support for the Bowles-Simpson plan that would have slashed Social Security benefits — a plan that when it came out she rightly deemed "simply unacceptable."1
And the Washington Post reported that last year she agreed to a "grand bargain" President Obama negotiated with John Boehner that would have slashed benefits not just for Social Security, but for Medicare and Medicaid too.2
We've learned from past battles that preemptive concessions by Democrats can lead to disastrous outcomes
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 3 May 2012 16:52 (eleven years ago) link
hmm, that seems worth pestering her about. I wonder what kind of calculation she's making there. (fwiw I can't see the GOP getting behind the Bowles-Simpson plan at all so there's that...)
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 3 May 2012 17:00 (eleven years ago) link
has everyone read that Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann piece about why shit's so bad between the political parties? Matt Steinglass at The Economist wrote a good response.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:37 (eleven years ago) link
SHEEPLE ALERT at Alfred's link:
MommyBoy, Dude...we compromised when government was 15% of GDP and it grew to 20%...we compromised again and it hit 25%...we compromised again and it hit 30%....call us crazy...but compromised yet again and it grew to 35%. Today? It's 41% of GDP. Dude...Are you one of the sheeple? Do you not see what's happening? Wake up.
― i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:40 (eleven years ago) link