US Politics, October 2018: next week will be even longer

xpost, Certain people have always seen "others" as extras without any value. It only gets shocking sometimes when people find it so easy to say it aloud.

“Witches”? That word seems to have a pretty elastic definition for Trump followers. At least the “rigged witch hunt” has a high chance of success.

impressive staying power for 'commie' as an epithet. someone needs to bring back 'copperhead' or 'hessian' imo

My dad called me a commie once. It was pretty hilarious. (and confusing)

bring back “pinko”

We've already brought back the "know-nothing" movement, but we forgot to bring back its name.

it was one of the many things we didn't know

This should probably be on another thread but this idea that some people see other humans as extras without value in some people’s tiny bubble of a world view is terrifying, disgusting and says a lot about why we are so totally fucked.

― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Wednesday, October 17, 2018 2:58 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would modify this myself and say that the extent to which we allow this become an acceptable means of discourse is the extent to which we're totally fucked. Sociopathy was always a thing, the extent to which its expression was tolerated or validated maybe not so much.

Meh. Debasing yr. political opposition is as old as the hills. Hoi Polloi. Rabble. Mob. Lumpenproletariat. Ragtail and bob. Riffraff. Trash. Scum of the Earth. Redshirts. Unwashed masses. Them.

i think the gleeful cruelty of current discourse is really something else on another level though, and the ease w/which you'll find people who will cheer on your cruelty.

otm, the cruelty is the point as per that Atlantic article

fwiw, my point in bringing up hegel and making reference to patriarchy and racial supremacy theory was in part to suggest that there is nothing remotely new about people dehumanizing other people and refusing to imagine them as independent beings with agency over their own lives or politics. it was expressed, tolerated, and validated as essentially the baseline assumptions undergirding imperialism among many other forms of domination. this is important because it's not unrelated to the current moment: reactionary politics promises to turn back the clock to the "great" era when among other things it was not merely "tolerated or validated" but normative to approach the world this way.

someone needs to bring back 'copperhead' or 'hessian' imo

Hessian never went away - it just means headbanger now.

Doc otm

xp

nothing is new, everything must be fought again

the rhetorical move of designating groups of people as literally sub- or non-human is not new, but I'm not sure it's ever been deployed in a population with such ready access to lethal weapons

I refer you to the American south during slavery

thankfully no ar-15s back then but yes i guess you're right. we could also say "they didn't have 4chan" but i imagine white landowners and those invested in their success had their own "social networks" that were as pernicious and gameable

I think they were called cotillions or country clubs or somesuch

Jesus, the dude in that video is about as pathetic and sad as it gets.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 17:51 (three hours ago) Permalink

That "beta male" guy on the talk show really depressed me. His comments are like a mise-en-abime of cynicism. First of all, the whole glib tone of the show (and many others besides) is already a horror—treating politics like this game, in which most of the people speaking don't even much care what they're saying, and in which the substance of policy and its effects is completely forgotten.
Second, the very basis of his comment--the "beta male" thing--not only is predicated on a ridiculous, grotesque (as the woman put it, "gross") idea about human behavior that I doubt he himself even believes .
Third, the guy can't even articulate what the hell he means in applying this idea to O'Rourke, and when pushed even slightly just stammers a bunch of 4chan memes and empty clichés.
It's like, in order to even get from wherever this guy is talking from, to somewhere that is actually meaningful and considers politics in terms of the lives of constituents and how they might be helped, you have to wade through numerous levels of absolute disingneuous bullshit, such that even contemplating it makes me exhausted. Kudos to the second woman for trying to call him out, and a pox on the host for charging in with the "civility" penalty flag.
In sum, "beta male" guy needs to stick his head in a Vitamix and turn it up to top speed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republican-narrow-lead-tennessee-u-senate-race-poll-104107134.html

looks to me like what's gonna happen in the Senate is maybe the Dems lose Heitkamp but pick up Heller, with the rest being a wash/status quo

Beto isnt polling worse than trump was before the election. Maybe he is but I am not a numbers guy. I still believe.

Beto becomes a bad pun in certain hands , particularly if you miss spell it.

Is that where the idea came from?

Doh I'm republican don't know the difference between an o or an a

xp you mean Rosen? I hope Jackie Rosen beats Dean Heller and I hope Kyrsten Sinema beats Martha McSally , but not so sure about either anymore

it would also be really nice if Phil Bredesen beat Marsha Blackburn

The beta/alpha/cuck stuff is the most disgusting discourse i’ve ever seen.

ever?

wait a few days

ah right sorry I meant Rosen.

Sinema is polling ahead of McSally last time I checked.

Bredesen is behind though.

xp

Heller's barely ahead of Rosen. swap out Heller for Sinema in my original post

I know it's not that likely but I'm still hoping for a wave that sweeps Sinema, Rosen, Bredesen and O'Rourke into office and that holds the seats occupied by Heitkamp, McCaskill, Donnelly, Manchin and Nelson

I’m just bracing for the GOP to hold the House by one seat, no way I’m letting my hopes get higher.

that doesn't look very likely

they are being massively outspent by the Dems

I feel certain the house is a done deal. Dems may pick up one in the Senate or not. Beto winning would be a miracle, but I'm optimistic he'll push some close down ballot races over the top.

w any luck McConnell will keep fucking up and putting his flipper in his blobfishmouth https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mcconnell-gop-may-take-another-shot-at-repealing-obamacare-after-the-midterms/2018/10/17/7a0e7c70-d23c-11e8-8c22-fa2ef74bd6d6_story.html?utm_term=.190cd3ef7750

Beto isnt polling worse than trump was before the election. Maybe he is but I am not a numbers guy. I still believe.

I feel certain the house is a done deal.

She had worse odds than Barack going into election day on 538

That wasn't the mainstream opinion though. Heck, I've even seen her winning celebration video*.
* not really relevant but who on earth would I brag about this to otherwise?

barack in 08 or 12? xp

lads

12.

Yknow jinxes aren't real folx rite

Yeah, there is still a statistical chance dems won't win the house, but its lower than Trump's odds of beating Hillary. And I think momentum is very much on the Democrats side.

Beto basically needs to mobilize a huge # of voters who either haven't voted before and/or haven't been been reached by the national pollsters (read: Millennials) and hope that cancels out any GOP galvanization.

Or I guess I mean enthusiasm

xp to meeeeee

Beto needs a significant change in the direction of his race to have any kind of real chance.

It really doesn't look good for him

Admittedly I'm in Austin, but there's definitely an energy around his campaign that I've never seen here before.

i don't think polls can tell you who is actually gonna show up. cruz is relying on people being afraid of liberals, socialists, and illegal aliens. that was his message in the debates -- a negative one, against beto. he knows that he himself is not an attractive character, which seems like a weakness.

there are such things as upset victories. they do happen. it's probably not good for me, personally, to count on too many of them happening all at once, or any of them really. but i've been wanting to skip ahead to november 2018 ever since november 2016 and i'm feeling that anxiety now more than ever.

personally I think we've gone so far down the toilet that it will be a generation before we wind some of this crap back if ever