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(04-25-2020, 02:58 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:44 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Right. I hope this might knock off a point from his job approval rating. This gaffe is getting a lot of traction; deservedly so. But his base is incredibly obtuse, so I dunno.
It may be gaining traction among liberals and liberal media outlets but I'd say most people know sarcasm when they see it and don't take it to serious these days.
Libtards lack a sense of humor so they wouldn't know sarcasm if it danced naked in front of them singing "Sarcastic Sarcasm is over here".
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(04-26-2020, 12:04 AM)Warren Dew Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:58 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:44 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Right. I hope this might knock off a point from his job approval rating. This gaffe is getting a lot of traction; deservedly so. But his base is incredibly obtuse, so I dunno.
It may be gaining traction among liberals and liberal media outlets but I'd say most people know sarcasm when they see it and don't take it to serious these days.
I don't know about that. Reports are that there has since been a significant increase in poisonings in New York City.
Given NYC is hard left, I'd say some of the leftists reading those liberal media outlets actually believed it was serious and took the out of context "advice".
First off I would love to see a source for this.
Second even if true then it would mean that some libtard NYC scumbag poisoned themselves, and hopefully died in the process. Just one less democrat voter to me. Also it would help clean up NYC. Lovely town too bad it is infested with New Yorkers.
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05-15-2020, 08:24 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-16-2020, 09:17 AM by Bob Butler 54.)
Warren prolly made that stuff up. He never did link to a source. The one real article I found had mostly conservative callers calling to ask if what Trump said was right. They got an emphatic no from the poison control centers, but not even the Trump believers were dumb enough not to double check.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
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(05-15-2020, 08:24 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: Warren prolly made that stuff up. He never did link to a source. The one real article I found had mostly conservative callers calling to ask if what Trump said was right. They got an emphatic no from the poison control centers, but not even the Trump believers were dumb enough not to double check.
Too right too, we're Deplorable not Dumb remember. I kinda didn't get my hopes up. But it smelled of Urban Legend to me from the outset.
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(05-15-2020, 07:20 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Libtards lack a sense of humor so they wouldn't know sarcasm if it danced naked in front of them singing "Sarcastic Sarcasm is over here".
Often conservatives trying to make light of death turn them off.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
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(05-15-2020, 07:20 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:58 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:44 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Right. I hope this might knock off a point from his job approval rating. This gaffe is getting a lot of traction; deservedly so. But his base is incredibly obtuse, so I dunno.
It may be gaining traction among liberals and liberal media outlets but I'd say most people know sarcasm when they see it and don't take it to serious these days.
Libtards lack a sense of humor so they wouldn't know sarcasm if it danced naked in front of them singing "Sarcastic Sarcasm is over here".
As one excessively prone to sarcasm as a response to the cruel, absurd, and inexcusable... and I can see no viable alternative to such without breaking into tears or righteous indignation I fault the one who expresses sarcasm incompetently for my failure to get it. Know that this is an ad within a news story.
Bad leaders blame the media and the voters.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
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05-17-2020, 03:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-17-2020, 03:30 PM by Eric the Green.)
(05-17-2020, 01:44 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: (05-15-2020, 07:20 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:58 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: (04-25-2020, 02:44 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Right. I hope this might knock off a point from his job approval rating. This gaffe is getting a lot of traction; deservedly so. But his base is incredibly obtuse, so I dunno.
It may be gaining traction among liberals and liberal media outlets but I'd say most people know sarcasm when they see it and don't take it to serious these days.
Libtards lack a sense of humor so they wouldn't know sarcasm if it danced naked in front of them singing "Sarcastic Sarcasm is over here".
As one excessively prone to sarcasm as a response to the cruel, absurd, and inexcusable... and I can see no viable alternative to such without breaking into tears or righteous indignation I fault the one who expresses sarcasm incompetently for my failure to get it. Know that this is an ad within a news story.
Bad leaders blame the media and the voters.
What would liberal comedians like Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, Semantha Bee, Trevor Noah, etc. do without Donald Trump? Everyone else is losing their shirt during the Trump pandemic, but comics can afford a whole rack of new shirts! Just see the most popular, most viewed thread on this forum!
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(05-17-2020, 12:19 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-15-2020, 07:20 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Libtards lack a sense of humor so they wouldn't know sarcasm if it danced naked in front of them singing "Sarcastic Sarcasm is over here".
Often conservatives trying to make light of death turn them off.
Who said I was a conservative?
Rather, I'd argue that Libtards never had a sense of humor to start with. Humor is in short supply on the left, I know because I spent many years there.
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(05-17-2020, 07:44 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Who said I was a conservative?
Your father whom you so rabidly support is an elite. Even in your Communist days you were in support or the elite's line, as the party controlled the means of production. You have always identified with the elites, not the people.
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(05-17-2020, 07:53 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-17-2020, 07:44 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Who said I was a conservative?
Your father whom you so rabidly support is an elite. Even in your Communist days you were in support or the elite's line, as the party controlled the means of production. You have always identified with the elites, not the people.
Good thing you're not in charge of words then.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservative
1a: of or relating to a philosophy of conservatism?
No. I actually adhere to what I've termed National Capitalism. The ideas behind it would require their own thread and honestly I'm not inclined to debate them with an uninformed mob as is usually present here. Though this book I found to be particularly enlightening:
https://www.amazon.com/National-Capitali...B01LZ332FJ
b
Conservative
: of or constituting a political party professing the principles of conservatism: such as
(1): of or constituting a party of the United Kingdom advocating support of established institutions
(2): PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE
No. I'm not a member of the Tory Party of the UK or any of its diriviatives in the former colonies. Nor the Progressive Conservatives of Canada.
2a: tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : TRADITIONAL
conservative policies
Not really. Were that the case I should be a democrat supporting "Progressive" as that is the "tradition" in which I was raised. Since I am not, I must therefore not be conservative in that sense either.
b: marked by moderation or caution
a conservative estimate
I don't think someone who has with regularity called for the use of the guillotine on his enemies du jour can be said to be in any way moderate.
c: marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners
a conservative suit
a conservative architectural style
I don't think this definition can be applied to people.
3 Conservative : of, relating to, or practicing Conservative Judaism
4: PRESERVATIVE
3 & 4 don't apply either. I'm not now nor ever have been a Jew of any variety and I'm certainly not a chemical substance used to retard the effects of decomposition.
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(05-17-2020, 07:44 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: (05-17-2020, 12:19 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-15-2020, 07:20 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Libtards lack a sense of humor so they wouldn't know sarcasm if it danced naked in front of them singing "Sarcastic Sarcasm is over here".
Often conservatives trying to make light of death turn them off.
Who said I was a conservative?
Rather, I'd argue that Libtards never had a sense of humor to start with. Humor is in short supply on the left, I know because I spent many years there.
As one of those whom you think is a "libtard"... I have an excuse for a lack of humor. I have Asperger's syndrome, and I don't get much that is humorous unless it is really good. It almost has to be slapstick or screwball comedy for me to like it.
Death isn't funny unless someone does something creatively stupid to get himself killed.
I nominated this for a Darwin Award: A 58-year-old man in Detroit, Michigan (OK, he is old enough to know better than what he is about to do) was driving on the Fisher Freeway and onto an interchange when he lost control of his car and was thrown out of the car through the open sunroof and killed on impact. He was watching something on a hand-held device while trying to steer the car. Obviously he didn't have a seat belt on.
Stop there. If he were watching a Billy Graham crusade it would simply be tragic. If he were watching a presentation for a meeting with a customer, then likewise. If it were a family video it would be touching as well as tragic.
No... it was pornography, probably the most distracting material possible. But I would bet that he had his hand on a stick-shift even if his car had an automatic transmission (not mentioned in the news report was whether the car had an automatic transmission.
...as for people on the Left lacking a sense of humor, that is how it is with Stalinists, Maoists, and Trotskyites. Extremists are often so unrighteous that they just don't get humor, which also applies to fascists, Nazis, and Ku Kluxists. It is not that one is offended with something nasty such as handicap jokes or derogatory jokes about ethnic groups.
It is possible to make a clean joke about religion. For example, why does the Red Cross have so many blood drives in Catholic churches but not in Jewish temples?
Because it is much easier to give blood when you see Jesus on a cross while you give blood!
Oh, it is amazing -- the sum of the cubes of the three numbers associated with the most primitive Pythagorean triad (3/4/5) themselves add to a perfect cube, that is the cube of 6...? Amazing, but not very useful.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
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(05-17-2020, 08:28 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Good thing you're not in charge of words then.
I’ve generally been of the Republican / conservative / red against Democrat / progressive / blue labeling school. No reason to change now. If they call themselves conservative, that’s good enough for me. If you have suddenly become a fan of the leader of that faction, you are stuck with the label.
But I sympathize with the dictionary definition of the word being at odds with their actual policies. The problem with being the party of the elites is that there are not enough elites to win an election. You have to grab onto enough populist issues to actually win. Thus you get a weird connections. In the late Gilded Age they were isolationists, but by Bush 43’s time they were Neo Cons pushing Neo Colonialism. In Lincoln’s time they were pushing the northern Robber Baron perspective and black rights. By Nixon’s and Reagan’s time it was the Southern Strategy. In short, they have flip flopped so many times over the years that their approach of winning at all costs has not left them with much in the way of a one word comprehensive strategy.
But the key is that you are an owner. You know who butters your bread. You have always favored the elites over the people. That puts you on the red side, and the red side. It is all natural for one who values green paper more than grandma.
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CNN has an article on the Millennials having to face two once in a generation economic disasters, the 2008 collapse and the COVID 19 collapse. Thus they have much less in reserve than most. I'm sort of wondering what they expected when they are part of electing two Voodoo presidents?
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(05-18-2020, 05:42 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-17-2020, 08:28 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Good thing you're not in charge of words then.
I’ve generally been of the Republican / conservative / red against Democrat / progressive / blue labeling school. No reason to change now. If they call themselves conservative, that’s good enough for me. If you have suddenly become a fan of the leader of that faction, you are stuck with the label.
But I sympathize with the dictionary definition of the word being at odds with their actual policies. The problem with being the party of the elites is that there are not enough elites to win an election. You have to grab onto enough populist issues to actually win. Thus you get a weird connections. In the late Gilded Age they were isolationists, but by Bush 43’s time they were Neo Cons pushing Neo Colonialism. In Lincoln’s time they were pushing the northern Robber Baron perspective and black rights. By Nixon’s and Reagan’s time it was the Southern Strategy. In short, they have flip flopped so many times over the years that their approach of winning at all costs has not left them with much in the way of a one word comprehensive strategy.
But the key is that you are an owner. You know who butters your bread. You have always favored the elites over the people. That puts you on the red side, and the red side. It is all natural for one who values green paper more than grandma.
Then you have a problem because the same is true of the Democratic Party as well. They have flipped and twisted and turned so many times that it makes the head spin. And just like the GOP they have always held the interests of the ruling elite be they Slave holders or the Ku Kluxists or what have you. Yes, the Democrats sometimes have those who are agents of change in their party leadership. Same is true of GOP as well. They typically drag the rest of their coalition kicking and screaming into a new era. Or have you forgotten about your Avatar's Cousin?
If you doubt my reasoning behind my mistrust of the Democrats then perhaps you really really really need to watch Dinesh D'Souza's films on the subject. Otherwise I'm not particularly concerned with defending the Republican Party because to me it is a vehicle to an end and not an end in and of itself. After all, there is much whining from the Redest of the Reds that "Donald Trump isn't a 'true conservative'". And they are right. He isn't. He's a New York City Business Democrat who was disaffected by the "Progressive" identity politics crowd that is now in charge of that Party. His policies are very much that of a Business Democrat. In fact I have already told my mother, much to her chagrin--which is mostly why I used it, that I fully supported the Democratic Nominee Donald J. Trump. Mind you I pretty much consider the President to be running unopposed at this point, if you actually listen to Biden and ignore the fact that he's in the other party and supposedly running for president he sounds like a senile old man.
As for valuing dollars over grandma. Both of my grandmothers are dead. And as such other people's grandmothers are only of interest to me if they are giving me money. However, if granny is under such threat from the Carona then granny perhaps should not go out licking the subway. Consider me to be cruel or whatever, but I expect those with white hair to act with at least some degree of wisdom (or maybe just common sense) and those who can't or won't do that then they would better serve humanity by shucking off their mortal coil. That being said since this disease mostly kills the immune compromised and the elderly I think we should be looking at it as a blessing rather than a curse.
As for your labeling: I don't mind Red. Or even Republican (I am registered as a Republican due to Florida's Primary Election Laws). I am not however a conservative. I simply don't fit the definition the dictionary lays out and the GOP is not a conservative party just like the Democrats are not a liberal/progressive one; the structure of the American Party System simply doesn't lead to clear divisions like Europe has, or even fuzzy edges like Canada.
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(05-18-2020, 05:50 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: CNN has an article on the Millennials having to face two once in a generation economic disasters, the 2008 collapse and the COVID 19 collapse. Thus they have much less in reserve than most. I'm sort of wondering what they expected when they are part of electing two Voodoo presidents?
So Obama is now included along with Trump under the label of "Voodoo President"? I don't think any Millies were even old enough for W. And Obama was mediocre at best as far as Presidents go. Seriously I think some were expecting him to go all Malcolm X on the country (which is needed) and he turned out to be pretty much Steve Urkle. I mean I wasn't surprised at all, but then again I voted for Obama twice only because McCain selected a crazy woman for his VP (He could have found a whore on second avenue that was better if he insisted on a woman), and Romney was as I said before "Too Weird".
I mean I didn't have anything intellectual against Romney, but something about the man rubbed me the wrong way. Much like Ted Cruz to me reminds me of an used car salesman.
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(05-18-2020, 05:42 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-17-2020, 08:28 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Good thing you're not in charge of words then.
I’ve generally been of the Republican / conservative / red against Democrat / progressive / blue labeling school. No reason to change now. If they call themselves conservative, that’s good enough for me. If you have suddenly become a fan of the leader of that faction, you are stuck with the label.
But I sympathize with the dictionary definition of the word being at odds with their actual policies. The problem with being the party of the elites is that there are not enough elites to win an election. You have to grab onto enough populist issues to actually win. Thus you get a weird connections. In the late Gilded Age they were isolationists, but by Bush 43’s time they were Neo Cons pushing Neo Colonialism. In Lincoln’s time they were pushing the northern Robber Baron perspective and black rights. By Nixon’s and Reagan’s time it was the Southern Strategy. In short, they have flip flopped so many times over the years that their approach of winning at all costs has not left them with much in the way of a one word comprehensive strategy.
But the key is that you are an owner. You know who butters your bread. You have always favored the elites over the people. That puts you on the red side, and the red side. It is all natural for one who values green paper more than grandma.
I'll have to agree with Kinser -- a least a little. We're in the midst of a transition to <insert the ideology of choice> on the right. That really means that the right is now just as confused about themselves as the left. Let's agree that neoliberalism has run its course, but powerful neoliberals still control the Democratic Party. This should be their last hurrah, with the only Silent running for President with a real chance of getting there. On the GOP side, its their version of neoliberals and neocons that are in decline, and the hyper nationalists on the rise. That qualifies as a realignment in my book, but its hell-and-gone from complete on either side. Because the GOP is the more regimented party, the transition there has been more sudden and less well planned.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.
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(05-18-2020, 05:50 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: CNN has an article on the Millennials having to face two once in a generation economic disasters, the 2008 collapse and the COVID 19 collapse. Thus they have much less in reserve than most. I'm sort of wondering what they expected when they are part of electing two Voodoo presidents?
Good point. The real question: have they learned anything?
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.
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(05-18-2020, 06:36 AM)David Horn Wrote: (05-18-2020, 05:42 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-17-2020, 08:28 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Good thing you're not in charge of words then.
I’ve generally been of the Republican / conservative / red against Democrat / progressive / blue labeling school. No reason to change now. If they call themselves conservative, that’s good enough for me. If you have suddenly become a fan of the leader of that faction, you are stuck with the label.
But I sympathize with the dictionary definition of the word being at odds with their actual policies. The problem with being the party of the elites is that there are not enough elites to win an election. You have to grab onto enough populist issues to actually win. Thus you get a weird connections. In the late Gilded Age they were isolationists, but by Bush 43’s time they were Neo Cons pushing Neo Colonialism. In Lincoln’s time they were pushing the northern Robber Baron perspective and black rights. By Nixon’s and Reagan’s time it was the Southern Strategy. In short, they have flip flopped so many times over the years that their approach of winning at all costs has not left them with much in the way of a one word comprehensive strategy.
But the key is that you are an owner. You know who butters your bread. You have always favored the elites over the people. That puts you on the red side, and the red side. It is all natural for one who values green paper more than grandma.
I'll have to agree with Kinser -- a least a little. We're in the midst of a transition to <insert the ideology of choice> on the right. That really means that the right is now just as confused about themselves as the left. Let's agree that neoliberalism has run its course, but powerful neoliberals still control the Democratic Party. This should be their last hurrah, with the only Silent running for President with a real chance of getting there. On the GOP side, its their version of neoliberals and neocons that are in decline, and the hyper nationalists on the rise. That qualifies as a realignment in my book, but its hell-and-gone from complete on either side. Because the GOP is the more regimented party, the transition there has been more sudden and less well planned.
I would argue that Left and Right aren't very good fits for the parties either but that being said the GOP tends to be more right than left both historically and currently while the Democrats are and always have been full spectrum, the idea of them being more on the left than the right is a hang over from FDR and not even all that accurate.
I would say that yes both parties are in a state of flux, but when aren't they? In the GOP our factions can be broken down thusly:
Neocons,
Business Republicans,
Religious/Social Conservatives,
American Nationalists, and
Libertarians/Classical Liberals.
The last class is the smallest and best represented by Ron and Rand Paul, this group has been in the Party since the days of Lincoln. The American Nationalists are a growing contingent in the Party as Nationalism is being awoken in Business Republicans and Former Business Democrats are being absorbed into the Party. Religious/Social Conservatives are on the downswing right now as Boomers age out. Xer Republicans may or may not have Religious or Socially Conservative views but those aren't their driving motives--usually Business or Nationalism is however.
The Neocon faction is being excised from the Party, these types are the Bushites and they are either dropping Neo-conservatism or they are decamping to the Democrats. The former is happening for the majority of them though. They are relatively comfortable with the Religious/Social Conservatives and so long as they don't drag us into wars or negatively impact business the Nationalist and Business factions aren't inclined to fight them externally. Internally though...well lets just say I never saw such arguments when a Democrat Club member.
In my particular case I'm an American Nationalist with strong Libertarian/Classical Liberal (Liberal is derived from the word Liberty) leanings. And I do have a not so small business interest. The American Nationalists are a new part of the coalition and were largely brought in by Trump tapping into Tea Party frustrations and others who feel that the Democrats don't offer anything except an America Last policy base.
On the Democrat side we have the following factions:
Social-Justice Warrior types (essentially these replace the Dixiecrat Racists who've all died/aged out; and they are still racists though they just hate white people now)
Socialists
Racial Minorities still holding to New Deal Era Economic and Great Society Civil Rights promises (which will never be fulfilled).
Neo-liberals still are around too but they are aging out and like Neo-Conservatism has been found to be morally and intellectually bankrupt. This is a dying faction, though NeoLib actors may remain active and in the party like with the Neocons they will simply attach themselves to different factions.
Business Democrats (both owners and Union types).
With the Democrats however the Business Democrats are decamping to the GOP, the American Nationalist faction appeals to them. The socialist faction has been around since the days of FDR but are small and honestly the very name socialism turns Americans off...they are going no where. The SJW types will lead to nothing but more internal division and disorganization. They cannot be the basis of a party for long--they are too factious. The Neolibs are dying out.
So that leaves what? Those racial and ethnic minorities? Unfortunately for the Democrats these are their version of Low Information Voters.
Will the Democratic Party survive? Probably. A remnant of the Business Democrats will remain with that party, most likely Silly-Con Valley types and they have the cash to prop it up at least for a while.
At present the only real future for the Democrats to be more than a Left-Coast and North East regional zombie party (much like it was for most of the post Civil War era but in the South) is for them to absorb the Greens but I'm not even sure that will save them. Rather I'm watching the Greens and other left leaning third parties to be a potential replacement.
But barring some disaster of epic proportions Trump will be re-elected in 2020, and a Republican will be elected in 2024. After 2024 the 1T will have started and we'll be in store for the Mega-Crisis that I predicted.
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(05-18-2020, 08:34 AM)Kinser79 Wrote: But barring some disaster of epic proportions Trump will be re-elected in 2020
But what if there is such a disaster of epic proportions? Like the botched handling of a pandemic?
(05-18-2020, 08:34 AM)Kinser79 Wrote: After 2024 the 1T will have started and we'll be in store for the Mega-Crisis that I predicted.
If the economic result of the pandemic is real, the nomads are likely to push materialism, locking down the culture and building infrastructure again. The crisis will happen in the crisis, the high in the high. Just had this discussion with The Nomad.
Not surprising to see people predict what they want to see.
While I could pretty much agree with your description of the Republicans, you description of the Democrats reads more like a list of demonizations the Republicans have come up with. I don't recognize myself at all in most of them.
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05-18-2020, 10:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-18-2020, 04:18 PM by pbrower2a.)
(05-18-2020, 06:13 AM)Kinser79 Wrote: (05-18-2020, 05:42 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (05-17-2020, 08:28 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: Good thing you're not in charge of words then.
I’ve generally been of the Republican / conservative / red against Democrat / progressive / blue labeling school. No reason to change now. If they call themselves conservative, that’s good enough for me. If you have suddenly become a fan of the leader of that faction, you are stuck with the label.
But I sympathize with the dictionary definition of the word being at odds with their actual policies. The problem with being the party of the elites is that there are not enough elites to win an election. You have to grab onto enough populist issues to actually win. Thus you get a weird connections. In the late Gilded Age they were isolationists, but by Bush 43’s time they were Neo Cons pushing Neo Colonialism. In Lincoln’s time they were pushing the northern Robber Baron perspective and black rights. By Nixon’s and Reagan’s time it was the Southern Strategy. In short, they have flip flopped so many times over the years that their approach of winning at all costs has not left them with much in the way of a one word comprehensive strategy.
But the key is that you are an owner. You know who butters your bread. You have always favored the elites over the people. That puts you on the red side, and the red side. It is all natural for one who values green paper more than grandma.
Then you have a problem because the same is true of the Democratic Party as well. They have flipped and twisted and turned so many times that it makes the head spin. And just like the GOP they have always held the interests of the ruling elite be they Slave holders or the Ku Kluxists or what have you. Yes, the Democrats sometimes have those who are agents of change in their party leadership. Same is true of GOP as well. They typically drag the rest of their coalition kicking and screaming into a new era. Or have you forgotten about your Avatar's Cousin?
Not so long ago the Democratic Party in the North was heavily the Party of blue-collar, especially unionized, workers. Such is not an elitist party, or it is at the least a party with a non-elite faction. In recent years the Republican Party has made demagogic appeals to 'racial' concerns, especially in the South, and such may have caused a drift of voters with some of the usual demographics of Republican voters up to the Reagan era into the Democratic Party. The "Eisenhower" and "Rockefeller" Republicans never were compatible with racist demagogues... too unruly, too dangerous, and too offensive.
Surely you have seen my overlay of Eisenhower and Obama elections, right? In 2012 Obama got 332 electoral votes, which isn't a squeaker, but except for one state and one district not voting in the 1950's, Obama did not win a state that Ike did not win twice. This is a better overlay than what Obama did against the biggest landslides of the last century. Obama did win DC (which neither Reagan nor Nixon ever won), Vermont and Maine (which FDR did not win in a 46-state landslide), Minnesota (Reagan's one state loss in 1984), and Massachusetts (Nixon's only state loss in 1972).
Quote:If you doubt my reasoning behind my mistrust of the Democrats then perhaps you really really really need to watch Dinesh D'Souza's films on the subject.
Just another sophisticated crackpot. Yawn!
Quote: Otherwise I'm not particularly concerned with defending the Republican Party because to me it is a vehicle to an end and not an end in and of itself. After all, there is much whining from the Reddest of the Reds that "Donald Trump isn't a 'true conservative'". And they are right. He isn't. He's a New York City Business Democrat who was disaffected by the "Progressive" identity politics crowd that is now in charge of that Party. His policies are very much that of a Business Democrat. In fact I have already told my mother, much to her chagrin--which is mostly why I used it, that I fully supported the Democratic Nominee Donald J. Trump. Mind you I pretty much consider the President to be running unopposed at this point, if you actually listen to Biden and ignore the fact that he's in the other party and supposedly running for president he sounds like a senile old man.
In a way you are right about Trump not being a conservative of the small-government school that demands that the government do nothing except to facilitate business, educate kids for 12 years, enforce the law, and defend the country. He is instead a right-wing Big Government type who sees government as a way of rewarding grafters who support his cause, enforcing the will of monopolists, and punishing opponents. That is fascism which genuine conservatives who prefer free markets to lucrative graft rightly abhor.
So maybe we end up reducing the role of government to defense, mass (if not elite) education, facilitation of commerce, response to disasters, and welfare. Such will imply a compromise, likely 1T, between liberals and free-market types. F--- the grafters!
Quote: As for valuing dollars over grandma. Both of my grandmothers are dead. And as such other people's grandmothers are only of interest to me if they are giving me money. However, if granny is under such threat from the Carona then granny perhaps should not go out licking the subway. Consider me to be cruel or whatever, but I expect those with white hair to act with at least some degree of wisdom (or maybe just common sense) and those who can't or won't do that then they would better serve humanity by shucking off their mortal coil. That being said since this disease mostly kills the immune compromised and the elderly I think we should be looking at it as a blessing rather than a curse.
"Granny" shouldn't be using the subway, as the subway has been one of the most effective spreaders of COVID-19. Likewise city buses, trains, an non-private aircraft. As for someone who used to have the sort of hair shading that women would spend huge amounts to achieve without trying -- forty years ago -- I wear a mask when going to stores and take-out windows. I have done little traveling after finding that there are places to go but nothing to do when one gets there.
I'd be wary of saying that elderly people could do the world much good by shucking off "the mortal coil". Elder wisdom has some value. Now at risk are people who defy stay-at-home orders to attend boisterous "Open America" protests.
Quote:As for your labeling: I don't mind Red. Or even Republican (I am registered as a Republican due to Florida's Primary Election Laws). I am not however a conservative. I simply don't fit the definition the dictionary lays out and the GOP is not a conservative party just like the Democrats are not a liberal/progressive one; the structure of the American Party System simply doesn't lead to clear divisions like Europe has, or even fuzzy edges like Canada.
The GOP has taken long strides toward fascism with Donald Trump as the demagogic vehicle.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
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