Crazy people and my worries.
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S
Soliloquy
Yeah, American politics have verged on the crazy side of things many times in the past. Trouble is, this is the wrong time to have the crazies prevail over the level-headed ones. We're at war, out of money, losing jobs, and or currency's probably going to lose its place as the world standard.
It's things like this that bring out the doomsayer in me.
It's things like this that bring out the doomsayer in me.
GasBandit
Staff member
More or less, I suppose. The GOP used to be about those things, and, in a lot of ways, still is in NY, parts of NJ, and Connecticut.
I guess what rubs me the wrong way the most about the national GOP's behavior intervention in elections like NY-23 is that the idea that a person has to pass a belief-oriented litmus test to be part of a political party, when it really should be the other way around.[/QUOTE]
Indeed it should be the other way around. Barry Goldwater, where art thou?
Well, of course it was. It was CAMPUS libertarians.
Well, as we're reminded every day around here, every party has its wackjobs. All you can really do is look at what each party purports to stand for, and how well they back it up. Currently the Republican party, which has pretended to conservatism for decades, is vastly hypocritical - completely failing to live up to what they claim to stand for. In the 90s they squandered a legislative majority by wasting a year on attempting to impeach Clinton, forgetting the "contract with america" that put them there in the first place. They enjoyed a majority for most of the Bush years, but instead of taking the opportunity to reduce spending and enact their professed agenda, they "spent like drunken Democrats" in the words of many commentators, and completely forfeited the last shred of their political sway with true conservatives. What is a true conservative, you may ask? Well, let me put it this way... if you vote Republican because of abortion, gays, or Jesus, you're not a conservative.
North_Ranger
Staff member
I prefer not to talk politics with my family.
Until recently (after having a talk with her), my Mom thought all Roma (Gypsies) were horsethieves.
When Finland passed civil union legislation for gay people, my Dad muttered something about Sodom and Gomorrah.
My uncle and my cousin's husband are vocally racist, and I shudder to think they may have voted for our regional version of Glenn Beck in the last parliamentary elections.
Until recently (after having a talk with her), my Mom thought all Roma (Gypsies) were horsethieves.
When Finland passed civil union legislation for gay people, my Dad muttered something about Sodom and Gomorrah.
My uncle and my cousin's husband are vocally racist, and I shudder to think they may have voted for our regional version of Glenn Beck in the last parliamentary elections.
I've spent some time in Europe and I always got the impression that in general the Roma are just looked at poorly. Is that true?
S
Soliloquy
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?[/QUOTE]
No... instead we have:
- Grand Theft Auto (Horse Thievery)
- Emmiment Domain (State Sponsored Claim Jumping)
- Gang Wars (Shootouts at High Noon)
S
Soliloquy
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?[/QUOTE]
No... instead we have:
- Grand Theft Auto (Horse Thievery)
- Emmiment Domain (State Sponsored Claim Jumping)
- Gang Wars (Shootouts at High Noon)[/QUOTE]
Friggin' Gypsies.
I
Iaculus
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?[/QUOTE]
There are bits of Finland past the Arctic Circle.
Every hour of the day is high noon there, baby.
North_Ranger
Staff member
I've spent some time in Europe and I always got the impression that in general the Roma are just looked at poorly. Is that true?[/QUOTE]
I'm hesitant to make any general statements. After all, we are talking about a region with over 500m. people, dozens of languages, distinct cultures and belief systems.
But it is my understanding that at least in Eastern Europe the Roma are pretty much treated as second-class citizens. Here in Finland they are treated with some level of suspicion, mostly because the Roma here are pretty conservative and stick to their own traditions and own social circles. The few places of contact with what they call valkolaiset, 'whitelings' or the rest of the society (though the term is also used for translating the Yiddish term goy), is usually through music, horse racing or elementary schools.
---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?[/QUOTE]
Hey, Finland was a predominantly agrarian society until the Second World War, so horses were pretty damn valuable. It's a figure of speech. Kinda liking associating Mexicans with guys sleeping against walls in ponchos and sombreros. It's an anachronistic image, but it's still recognizable.
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 PM ----------
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?[/QUOTE]
There are bits of Finland past the Arctic Circle.
Every hour of the day is high noon there, baby.
[/QUOTE]Not right now, it ain't. We are currently in kaamos, or the dark time of the year. It starts to get dark around 3pm, and I live pretty much in the southernmost parts of Finland.
K
Kitty Sinatra
Well, obviously you can't think he's the anti-Christ since you don't think there's an actual-Christ.
K
Kitty Sinatra
That shouldn't require a whole heck of a lot of respect. 
GasBandit
Staff member
Is...is horse thievery even a problem anymore?
Do you also have problems with train robbery, claim jumping, and shootouts at high noon?[/quote]
No... instead we have:
- Grand Theft Auto (Horse Thievery)
- Emmiment Domain (State Sponsored Claim Jumping)
- Gang Wars (Shootouts at High Noon)[/QUOTE]
Ahh, remember the days when Horse Thievin' was a hangin' offense?
C
Cuyval Dar
Good thing, too. I'm all set to do some cattle rustlin'.
I just hope that our resident Mountie isn't watching this thread.
I just hope that our resident Mountie isn't watching this thread.
Ahhh, the wonders of two-party politics. This is why a two party system is fundamentally undemocratic and why it WILL fail. (note: I believe all political systems are doomed to fail and face a revolution sooner or later.) I just find it scary how every year, Heinlein's Future History comes closer and closer (in that timeline, the US turns into a theocracy in the 2020s because of right-wing christians taking over all houses and the presidency and stacking all the courts etc with their people.
A multiple party system would allow for different parties with different views - a moderate one, a more extreme one, etc. It'd open up the possibility for the moderate conservatives to team up with the Christian Coalition one term, team up with the Libertarians another year, yet later with the moderate liberals,... More flexible, better representation.
Because, in the end, currently the party leaderships pretty much runs their parties as oligarchies - they choose who even gets the option to be nominated, and millions blindly follow. On both sides, of course.
A multiple party system would allow for different parties with different views - a moderate one, a more extreme one, etc. It'd open up the possibility for the moderate conservatives to team up with the Christian Coalition one term, team up with the Libertarians another year, yet later with the moderate liberals,... More flexible, better representation.
Because, in the end, currently the party leaderships pretty much runs their parties as oligarchies - they choose who even gets the option to be nominated, and millions blindly follow. On both sides, of course.
Troll: I have more arguements; and my main gripe isn't that it's corporate-run. Politologically, a two-party system is pretty much the same in a lot of ways as a one-party system. They're virtually identical save for some small redeeming qualities.
Mathk: yes, but imagine we had *only* a left party, and a right party. One party with CD&V, VLD, VB,N-VA, and one party with SPA, Groen!, SLP. Who would be leading the country, and in what direction?
Mathk: yes, but imagine we had *only* a left party, and a right party. One party with CD&V, VLD, VB,N-VA, and one party with SPA, Groen!, SLP. Who would be leading the country, and in what direction?
S
Soliloquy
You realize that the argument that comic makes is "the idea is popular on the internet, and therefore false," right?I've been waiting for an excuse to post this.
You realize that the argument that comic makes is "the idea is popular on the internet, and therefore false," right?[/QUOTE]I've been waiting for an excuse to post this.
You realize it's just supposed to be a lighthearted jab and not a serious statement, right?
S
Soliloquy
You realize that the argument that comic makes is "the idea is popular on the internet, and therefore false," right?[/QUOTE]I've been waiting for an excuse to post this.
You realize it's just supposed to be a lighthearted jab and not a serious statement, right?[/QUOTE]
You realize that nothing in a politics forum will ever not be taken seriously, right?
That's not true! There's a lot of people and the things they say I don't take seriously in the politics forum.
I
Iaculus
That's not true! There's a lot of people and the things they say I don't take seriously in the politics forum.[/QUOTE]
Sir, you wound me. :waah:
R
RealBigNuke
Don't be fooled. The internet is serious business.
My dad is the long haired hippy of his side of the family....because he wants the government to be as responsible and accountable as possible but recognizes that sometimes the government does need to involve itself in things like health care to protect the people with no way of fairly fighting trillion dollar corporations. He's more like a conservative Democrat but he wishes that he could vote Republican, but the crazies to conservatives ratio is not in a good enough balance.
Meanwhile, his brother is a devoted Bill O'Reily fan and my grandma just doesn't like Obama because.......it's a gut thing. And death panels.
Meanwhile, his brother is a devoted Bill O'Reily fan and my grandma just doesn't like Obama because.......it's a gut thing. And death panels.
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