"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[Phoenix Dark]

She sure does a good job of surrounding herself with people who think exactly like her. I really can't imagine her running for president and having to participate in debates, real interviews, etc.

[Mandark]

How is that going to work out when their front runner, Mitt Romney, has to run on the platform that he plans on repealing a health insurance bill that is awfully similar to the one he has in his home state?

This is the point that Obama was trying to get across when he was schooling GOP representatives at that Q&A session.  Republican politicians get trapped by their own FUD: if you encourage your constituents' beliefs that Obama's policies are pure evil, that leaves you no room to reach any sort of compromise or to pass similar policies in the future.

I don't think health care will be a huge issue in the 2012 election, actually.  Or at least it won't be the way it's been.  Republican candidates mostly won't run on a promise to repeal (they'd get hammered for wanting to get rid of the popular parts) and by then other debates will have more recently dominated the public's mind.

Remember all the crazy stuff from the campaign?  A lot of it kind of faded (Rev. Wright for example), not because the nutjobs came back to reality, but because they moved on to newer, fresher imaginary outrages.  That's how it works.

This time in two years we'll be talking about the signs people are bringing to anti-amnesty rallies or some shit like that.

[Barry Egan]

For all her talk of folksyness, she's really one of the first post-modern political candidates...objective truth really holds no value for her.

You could say that the NeoCon movement in general is a right wing response to post-modern thought.  Leo Strauss simply did not abide by the idea that rulers should be burdened by truth.  The Bush administration put that idea in to practice.

I remember Mandark once posted an article that presented Palin as what happens when NeoCon FUD eats its own tail.  She was once the willing consumer of disingenuous political positions without the awareness of the Machiavellian political philosophy that generated them.  Now she's the one propagating that FUD.  The chicken is still walking even though its lost its head a while ago.        

[Dickie Dee]

Although since embraced by the left, it's important to remember that "reality-based community" was a term first introduced by the right as a pejorative.

[AdmiralViscen]

Sarah Palin, the first presidential hopeful to use the experience issue against an incumbent president.

Don't forget that he is alienating our allies, aiding our enemies and is a radical socialist! He should be tried for treason, basically!

Daniel Larison's been blogging recently about how hawks are engaging in crazier and crazier fearmongering in response to pretty centrist policies from Obama.  The same applies to domestic issues too.

It's like FUD isn't just their chief tactic anymore.  It's their reason for existing.

So we've reached the point that Republicans can use "military-industrial complex" as something that needs to be defended from Democratic meddling? Awesome

[Stoney Mason]

Although since embraced by the left, it's important to remember that "reality-based community" was a term first introduced by the right as a pejorative.

Democratic party rebrands itself as the Democratic party of Socialist Communists...

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

Palin spent a lot of time on energy, and the tone was fascinating. Details about the location of oil and natural gas reserves, which got a cooler response from the crowd, were quickly spiced up with jokes.

"The administration is locking up even more federal lands that are filled with this God-given, huge reserve," said Palin. The culprit: the "Economic Punishment Agency." Democrats, she said, were not willing to store nuclear waste or build solar panels in the desert. "God forbid, somebody might see it, or a gecko might bump into one."

Really, really, Really?
Obama just opened up huge tracts of land to offshore oil drilling, including scads of territory off the Alaskan coast, like, the state that she's from and its local media has covered the issue incessantly.

To forget what happened only two weeks ago is just astounding.  The Obama administration only did it to throw a bone towards the crazies so their impending energy legislation actually looks like a compromise, but they can't even acknowledge actual, legitimate gains of stuff they actually wanted and got, all because it comes from their sworn enemy.

I'm convinced if Obama actually wanted to outlaw abortion, murder all teh gays, and invade every country full of darkies he'd still be hated by the nutso brigade she leads.

[Cheebs]

Wow. 

http://vimeo.com/10803057

[Brehvolution]

smh

[Himu]

Can someone please tell me about the rise of the libertarian party? Almost every white person I encounter now is some supporter for Ron Paul or some shit.

It's driving me nuts because one of them thinks I'm a libertarian. One day I saw him with a Don't Tread on Me shirt, and I commented on it as it's one of my favorite flags.

He ends up thinking I'm a libertarian and now randomly pulls me to the side at times to discuss politics and shit.

"I'm not a libertarian! I'm a democrat who swings in favor for moderates. I'm NOT a libertarian!"

And he still attempts to talk to me about politics when politics is one of my taboo subjects.

[TakingBackSunday]

Almost every white person I encounter now is some supporter for Ron Paul or some shit.

That's an insult to cool white people, racist!

[Stoney Mason]

The only Ron Paul supporters I encounter are all on the internet. Ask the average American who Ron Paul is and they wouldn't have a clue. Same goes with libertarians in general. In the modern world there are lots of internet phenonmenas that get a lot more play on the internet than they do in real life.

[Cheebs]

Can someone please tell me about the rise of the libertarian party? Almost every white person I encounter now is some supporter for Ron Paul or some shit.

There is no rise. It's all a handful of loud people making it seem like it is. He barely registered at all in the Republican primary in 2008 back when Paul mania as it were was at it's height. Remember FoC's constant predictions of him winning primaries back then?

[Himu]

Damn. Libertarian party has to be crazy in the south then, because I know plenty of people who are libertarians. What the fuck.

...

All of which are college aged, though, so I guess that answers that. And if they aren't libertarian's they're conservatives who worship Ayn Rand.

[Stoney Mason]

The reason you have a lot of (relatively speaking) college aged libertarians is the same reason you have a lot of college aged people who wear Che Guevara t-shirts.

Because it seems like a forbidden ideology that their stodgy parents wouldn't get.

It also has something to do with how unsuccessful Republicans have been in recent history in courting young people because their message has been increasingly viewed as intolerant and not popular.

Lots of hipster conservatives would rather distance themselves from Republicans at the moment. This was not the case in the 80's for example when Republicans were riding high with Reagan.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

In one of my classes last year we were discussing modern political theory or some shit and this nerdy white chick started bitching "bu bu bu politics isn't only Democrats and Republicans! Stop being so closed-minded!" Then the professor asked what party she identified with and she said "I'm a libertarian".

The motherfucker actually laughed and then totally disregarded her comments.

[Himu]

[Mandark]

Chipopo's given me an excuse to post one of my favorite comments on the net again:

What a lot of us realized during the Reagan administration, i.e., as it was happening--and what would be made manifest in 1996, when Falwell, Reed, Dobson, and their ilk blessed the candidacy of Bob Dole (R-ADM)--is that the Snake Handling and Ammo Hoarding constituencies of the Republican party would never, ever, understand they were being played. (Though, in fairness, the Second Amendment crowd pretty much gets what it wants legislatively, due both to an historically less penurious approach to divvying up the weekly offering, and the fact that most government officials live far enough away from the automatic weapons fire that they don't give a fuck. Playing that gang involves the same process, though: 1. Read bumper-sticker slogan. 2. Collect donations.) Palin merely (and I emphasize merely) represents the full flowering of the movement: the Played are now the Players, and the fifteen IQ points that might've saved 'em are now gone like a meth-addict's teeth.

The premise is that the elites of the GOP used to cynically encourage and exploit the cultural fears and resentments of a certain swath of Americans in order to get votes, but now the generation that's spent their whole lives internalizing the spin is in charge.  It's a gross simplification, but I think there's something to it.

See also the "epistemic closure" (fancy talk for "LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU") discussion that Julian Sanchez started which was all over the blogs last week.  The conservative movement's put a lot of time and energy into creating its own reality over the last few decades.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Were EB not such a horrible groupthinky hiveminded circle-jerk, I'd be totally expecting someone to explain how liberals are just as equally biased and stuff as conservatives.

[close]

[The Dark Shake 3000]

I honestly can't understand why any reasonably intelligent person would still claim to be a Republican in this day and age. Maybe you agree with some of their ideals (hopefully not all), but the party itself is just such a fucking joke right now. Democrats ain't perfect, either, but at least they aren't willfully being arrogant fucks getting in the way of any positive social progress to score some political points. Any party against public healthcare isn't a party anyone in this country should identify with; how they have taken platforms that essentially say "keep the rich richer, let the corporations have their way, and oh yeah men kissing men is ruining my day make it stop" and gotten millions of people to cosign this bullshit is sickening.

EDIT - And I used to think of myself as moderate, but lately I'm glad to say that I'm strictly liberal just so no one will even mistake me for sympathizing with the Republican party.

[Cheebs]

You are in the Wikileaks party as far as I can see

[The Dark Shake 3000]

What does that even mean?

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Wow, fuck my posts. That video sums up everything I wanted to say and more perfectly.

[Phoenix Dark]

Wow. 

http://vimeo.com/10803057

holy shit I thought that was the Jurassic Park theme for a second

[Tristam]

American politics must baffle everyone else.

[Cheebs]

American politics must baffle everyone else.

I've been following the upcoming U.K. election pretty closely and they are as fucked up as us.

I mean look at the leader of the conservative party who will most likely be prime minister. He is doing everything he can to copy Obama. 

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[Phoenix Dark]

Presidential hopeful and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R), in an interview with a college magazine, said the country shouldn't "experiment" by allowing gay couples to adopt children.

"I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family," Huckabee told The Perspective, a magazine at The College New Jersey. "And always we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming interest of the adults."

"Children are not puppies," he said. "This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?"

Huckabee also compared gay marriage to drug use, incest and polygamy.

"You don't go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal," he said. "That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them."

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/huckabee-on-gay-adoption-children-are-not-puppies.php?ref=fpb

 :'(

[Cheebs]

Presidential hopeful and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R), in an interview with a college magazine, said the country shouldn't "experiment" by allowing gay couples to adopt children.

"I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family," Huckabee told The Perspective, a magazine at The College New Jersey. "And always we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming interest of the adults."

"Children are not puppies," he said. "This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?"

Huckabee also compared gay marriage to drug use, incest and polygamy.

"You don't go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal," he said. "That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them."

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/huckabee-on-gay-adoption-children-are-not-puppies.php?ref=fpb

 :'(

Experiment? What is he talking about? Gay couples have been adopting for a while now and the kids have turned out just as fine as any other kid.

[Stoney Mason]

Not surprising in the least. This is right in line with earlier comments by him and a lot of Southern Baptists in general.

[Cheebs]

Also how relevant is Huckabee anymore really? He stopped going to all the big conservative events and the like, that scandal involved the released prisoner pretty much lead him to end all his pre-2012 campaigning.

[Brehvolution]

Presidential hopeful and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R), in an interview with a college magazine, said the country shouldn't "experiment" by allowing gay couples to adopt children.

"I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family," Huckabee told The Perspective, a magazine at The College New Jersey. "And always we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming interest of the adults."

"Children are not puppies," he said. "This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?"

Huckabee also compared gay marriage to drug use, incest and polygamy.

"You don't go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal," he said. "That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them."

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/huckabee-on-gay-adoption-children-are-not-puppies.php?ref=fpb

 :'(

And the same reason we shouldn't accommodate those who think the earth is only 6000 years old.

I honestly can't understand why any reasonably intelligent person would still claim to be a Republican in this day and age. Maybe you agree with some of their ideals (hopefully not all), but the party itself is just such a fucking joke right now. Democrats ain't perfect, either, but at least they aren't willfully being arrogant fucks getting in the way of any positive social progress to score some political points. Any party against public healthcare isn't a party anyone in this country should identify with; how they have taken platforms that essentially say "keep the rich richer, let the corporations have their way, and oh yeah men kissing men is ruining my day make it stop" and gotten millions of people to cosign this bullshit is sickening.

EDIT - And I used to think of myself as moderate, but lately I'm glad to say that I'm strictly liberal just so no one will even mistake me for sympathizing with the Republican party.

When republicans and fox news pundits say that Obama is taking away their freedoms, what they really mean is that he is taking away their freedom to get ripped off and enslaved by corporations through higher regulations.

[Phoenix Dark]

[youtube=560,345]F_1U4r8mWXY[/youtube]

[Cheebs]

Lively crowd she has there.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

Jon Voight I bet this motherfucker has an account on stormfront

[Cheebs]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

Jon Voight I bet this motherfucker has an account on stormfront

It's more depressing that Jolie spouts his bullshit as well. Brad Pitt has said he always has arguments with her about Obama because she hates him and thinks he is a socialist.  :'(

It's almost creepy fox news airs this kinda stuff. His calmness makes it all the freakier.

I love the shot of tha audience and they are all old fat white people. 

[Phoenix Dark]

I'll give him a pass since Jolie came from his nuts.

lol @ Obama being the first president to weaken the US. Guess he was sleep during Bush's terms - a typical phenomena within the tea party movement.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Did you know that no terrorist attacks happened on US soil during Bush's presidency, either? Yeah, I've just started hearing that thrown around, too. Delusional repulitards are almost as bad as those conspiracy theorist loose change people.

[Cheebs]

I'll give him a pass since Jolie came from his nuts.

I am not so sure about that. She may be hot but she shares much of her old mans wacko views.

She's into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts. She thinks Obama is really a socialist in disguise.

And the audience which probably doesn't make much money was clapping for a rich man openly whining that he shouldn't share any of his money in taxes is kinda sad.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Eh, if you gave that audience any money they'd probably just spend it on more Big Macs

[Phoenix Dark]

-No terrorist attacks occurred on Bush's watch
-The Civil War wasn't about slavery
-The private economy was 100% private before Obama took over

history revision overload

[The Dark Shake 3000]

I can't wait until Republicans across the country start printing their own altered history books, to compete with the "liberal mainstream" versions

[Cheebs]

I can't wait until Republicans across the country start printing their own altered history books, to compete with the "liberal mainstream" versions

They already are. The Texas school board cut out Thomas Jefferson because he wasn't christian 

[Mandark]

[youtube=560,345]F_1U4r8mWXY[/youtube]

As a big fan of To Kill A Mockingbird, you should be on board with this.

Imagine a poor farmer who can't pay for his antiviral meds in cash, instead leaving a basket of hickory nuts for Dr. Atticus Finch, oncologist.  I tear up just thinking about it.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

She obviously meant "haggle" rather than barter.  It's still dumb, cause an insurance company that represents thousands of people will have more leverage to get lower prices than a single person paying cash.  Try staying at a hospital without insurance and see how much they decide to charge you.

[close]

[Phoenix Dark]

I laughed out loud sir

I can imagine Reid watching the video and thinking "I'm losing to this person?"

[Ichirou]

It's more depressing that Jolie spouts his bullshit as well. Brad Pitt has said he always has arguments with her about Obama because she hates him and thinks he is a socialist.  :'(

I hope they break up soon.

[Akala]

an open, tea party militia?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_re_us/us_tea_party_militia

it begins.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Jesus Christ. 2012 isn't gonna be some crazy act of God, it's gonna be fucktards taking shit over and then nuking the whole world into oblivion out of ignorance and stupidity. :'(

[Cheebs]

Jesus Christ. 2012 isn't gonna be some crazy act of God, it's gonna be fucktards taking shit over and then nuking the whole world into oblivion out of ignorance and stupidity. :'(

Eh, there is not much to worry about. These crazy wackos can have a impact in off year elections like 2010 when nobody votes except for old white people but in presidential elections their strategy will backfire, especially when they see it work in off year elections and embrace it even more fully.

[Brehvolution]

an open, tea party militia?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_on_re_us/us_tea_party_militia

it begins.

The comments are the usual gold. The replies to the dumb comments are lol

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I'm still not so sure that their strategy will work this year.  For like the first time ever, the DNC has got gobs more money to spend then the RNC, and the vulnerable dems might not actually be that vulnerable iffin they're running against Yosemite Sam in every race.

I'd be rather surprised if the elephants make any significant gains this year.

[tiesto]

I can't wait until Republicans across the country start printing their own altered history books, to compete with the "liberal mainstream" versions

Well, aren't they planning on something like this in Texas?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/us/politics/11texas.html

[Stoney Mason]

I'm still not so sure that their strategy will work this year.  For like the first time ever, the DNC has got gobs more money to spend then the RNC, and the vulnerable dems might not actually be that vulnerable iffin they're running against Yosemite Sam in every race.

I'd be rather surprised if the elephants make any significant gains this year.

I definitely believe they will make some significant gains. That's not exactly a bold prediction. The opposition party generally does better in congressional elections. There is also some reality to the myth that angry conservatives are probably more reliable voters than angry liberals.

[Cheebs]

Off year elections are all about the base due to the lower turnout and the GOP base is much more excited. it's pretty simple. It is meaningless looking at 2012 though. GOP did huge in 1994 but Clinton won by a pretty big margin in 1996.

[Stoney Mason]

You definitely can't read in 2012 from 2110 necessarily. Not only because of simply time but because of who votes and the media awareness and build up to any presidential election. It's a completely different beast.

[Cheebs]

You definitely can't read in 2012 from 2110 necessarily. Not only because of simply time but because of who votes and the media awareness and build up to any presidential election. It's a completely different beast.

The media is going to push it hard for 2012 of course. Regardless if the GOP take back either house and it will be painful to listen to.

Though they have their reasons, we all remember how the huge Democratic victory in 1982 really helped Mondale in 1984 against Reagan after all.

[Phoenix Dark]

Good point about the money situation. Steele has really screwed that up. Dems will take heavy losses, but I think they can hold the house and senate unless things get horrible this summer.

Too bad they didn't pass the health care bill earlier so people would have more time to judge the early provisiosn.

[Cheebs]

PD do you think Harry Reid is a goner? 

[Phoenix Dark]

Great article by Ta-Nehisi Coate on the Confederate revision going on

The Ghost of Bobby Lee
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/04/the-ghost-of-bobby-lee/38813/

[Phoenix Dark]

[youtube=560,345]-0suhOSV3TI[/youtube]
Not enough emotes in the world for this

Protecting kids with pre-existing conditions? Sure! Protecting adults with pre-existing conditions? Ha, they made their own bed, why should I pay for it!

Never mind that said pre-existing condition might have been with the adult since he/she was a kid, and have nothing to do with lifestyle decisions. OR maybe the adult got pregnant with a kid, which is considered a pre-existing condition and thus their fault. Pro-life indeed

[Brehvolution]

I"m really interested to see how this plays out. Introducing more paranoia to the ultra paranoid could have a recipe for win.

[Dickie Dee]

I think Megan McArdle came up a few pages back, anyways Total Annihilation, I don't know why I ever got the impression that The Atlantic was anything of quality.