U.S.A. 2016 General Election

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Grand Old Party?

Or Grand Ol' Opry?

[Easy Bakes 253]

Much rather Have Carson then anyone else on either ballot

[Sabretooth78 808]

Is the republican party's future Rubio or Trump?  Let's hope it is.  Perhaps the best thing that could happen here would be for the GOP to disintegrate, let everybody fully see how full of sh** the democrat wing of the politicians' union really is and then maybe we can start over.  As I see it, the republican party's abdication of its supposed principles into an obstructionist force on only the best days is perhaps the single greatest reason why things are the way they are.  I can't pinpoint when in time it actually happened, but wouldn't doubt that it might have something to do with Tricky Dick's vice presidency during Ike's administration.

As an aside and to channel some George Carlin into this thread, has anybody ever noticed how "conservative" / republican (I don't really like using those words in the same context) American icons of the past 20-40 years often seem to have names which are or could be easily slurred into primary or secondary sex characteristics?  Bush, Dick, Boehner, Koch, etc.  I'm not sure if that's important, but it seems like more than coincidence.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The apparent decadence of the Republican party is an indicator.  It is time for a general change when you can get mountebanks like Donald Trump being taken seriously.  The TEA party is about as anti-American as it gets.  Most of them should be jailed for civil rights offences.

Many Americans have forgotten the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.

[Duke87 1,070]

The comparison the OP article makes to the Democrats in the 1970s is interesting, although it remains to be seen whether it is apt.

It is, however, difficult to question that the current schism/purification drive within the Republican party is a source of trouble for them (house divided against itself and all that), and that changes in demographics will not be in their favor if they maintain their current platform.

Nonetheless, as has been pointed out (this article gives a nice rundown), the legislative structure of the US gives more power relatively speaking to rural areas than to urban areas, and politically rural areas tend to elect Republicans while urban areas tend to elect Democrats. In both 2012 and 2014, Republicans have won a greater percentage of seats in congress than they have received as a percentage of congressional votes nationwide, simply because the voters are not evenly distributed geographically. Even without gerrymandering, have geographically compact districts would favor rural areas and therefore favor Republicans. Consider for example the following map, which shows by county who won a majority of votes for president in 2012:

Note how by area, most of the country voted red, while the blue candidate actually got the most votes and won. But if you look at who won what state it becomes quickly apparent that there are more large red areas in overall blue states than there are large blue areas in overall red states. Given this it would require deliberate effort to draw districts in a way that didn't overall favor the Republican party.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Interestingly enough, if red is republican, this is a contradiction in the usual terms, the republicans being right of centre.  The left is usually given the designation red and blue being the right of centre in normal parlance.  Remember the old maxim "I'd rather be Red than dead"?  Well, some may very well get their wish.

The current congressional deadlock with a 'red' congress against a 'blue' administration is an indicator of something really wrong with the system.  It is probable that the tripartite system is a failure because the President doesn't sit in either of the houses of congress, yet his role is more than ceremonial.  The governing power should be accessible to the legislature on a daily basis, so there appears to be some failing in the set up.  This is essentially the same set up as the Roman Republic, and it allowed the Romans to wind up with a dictatorship.

We also have a tripartite system with one difference:  The Prime Minister must have a seat in the House of Commons.  He has the governing power, but is not the head of state.  The head of state is the Governor General, which is a mostly ceremonial position except:  The Prime Minister reports to him; he controls Parliament and reads the speech from the throne setting the legislative agenda;  he is the head of the armed forces; and looks after all the diplomatic niceties and ceremonial duties that fall otherwise to POTUS.  The Governor General is appointed for five years by the Crown with the advice of the government.  The Governor General is apolitical.  I think whoever becomes POTUS next year has too much on his plate and no way to really get some action from congress except by grovelling.

[Sabretooth78 808]

Regarding red vs. blue; this is the same country that largely thinks liberalism means socialism, which itself is just another word for communism.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Regarding red vs. blue; this is the same country that largely thinks liberalism means socialism, which itself is just another word for communism.

This, however, is more descriptive of the democrats who are true blue?

I think we are seeing a real dose of parochialism throughout the population of those (dis)United States.

[Sabretooth78 808]

I think we are seeing a real dose of parochialism throughout the population of those (dis)United States.

Funny you should say that.  I was just thinking yesterday about how calling this nation "the United States" is a relatively new invention (new as in about a century ago), prior to which it was "these United States" (i.e. not singular).  Probably just semantics, but I can't help but think it's representative of something else.  I've also thought before about how "boring" and "generic" our name really is.  Oh well, what's in a name.  At least you guys didn't actually end up naming yourselves Transatlantica or Efisga.

Interestingly, I've read Obama has had a verbal tic where he'll say "these".

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well, what's in a name.  Here is a list of Canadian provincial and territorial origins.  Some of these remain in dispute.  Canada itself was named by the British corrupted from some native word (Upper Canada, Lower Canada) after the conquest.  Before that, the whole shebang was called New France.  Then like topsy, we 'jest growed'.  The provisions of the Treaty of Ghent (War of 1812) put the borders back to the status quo ante and screwed Tecumseh and the Original Canadians out of their territories they hoped they'd get for helping the British, so we had to give back Fort Detroit and the Straits of Mackinac   By the way, it was the war of 1812 that confirmed the American settlers at Muddy York (Toronto) that they really were Canadians due to the behaviour of the U.S. invading troops.  It confirmed why they had moved to the north side of Lake Ontario.  Up to then, things were more or less neutral.

But we are straying from the current circus.  I, for one, can hardly believe the disunity in the Republican Party.  All those TEA party fools should be expelled to form their own party.  The G.O.P. needs to clean house.  The Democrats need an overhaul too, when the front runner is a scofflaw.

[Larks2242 251]

Regarding red vs. blue; this is the same country that largely thinks liberalism means socialism, which itself is just another word for communism.

This, however, is more descriptive of the democrats who are true blue?

I think we are seeing a real dose of parochialism throughout the population of those (dis)United States.

Democrats complained back around the McCarthy era of being connected with socialism and communism so the media forced a change in color, If you go back far enough the colors were the opposite.

[Duke87 1,070]

The exact reasons why we ended up with red=Republican and blue=Democrat are unclear. What is known is that for the 2000 election, these happened to be the colors the major news networks chose to use for their maps, and the prolonged coverage due to the recount issue resulted in the colors getting burned into the brains of the American public. Prior to that, different sources used different colors in different years, there was no consistent scheme.

It's worth noting that the donkey and elephant logos of both parties have both been red, white, and blue for quite some time. Neither major party created an image for itself around a particular color, they merely took on the colors that became popularized after 2000.

 

[Meg 368]

Weird election video of the day:   a clip of a random woman singing "Ben" to Ben Carson.   Might sound like a logical thing unless you know the song's origin.   It's from the movie Willard.  Michael Jackson sang it.  It's basically a love song to a killer rat.

(Side note:  Personally, I believe that is the point when Michael Jackson's life starting going sideways but that's beyond the scope of this thread.)

If this song becomes a thing in his campaign, I imagine I won't be the only one cringing.   But I also imagine there are many people who don't know the connection and won't care.

 

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

It is really a pity that the American people are going to be distracted by more than a year of campaigning yet again.  What do American politicians do when they are not running for office? 

I deplore the whole fixed time for elections scenario, but then I have not much use for the Roman Republic style of government and far prefer the Westminster model.  It is a good thing for the first minister and the cabinet to face the music every day the legislature sits.

No "representative democracy" system works well, but ours seems to be the one that works least worst.  Look at the current results.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Every time I come across election news, stupid memes in my Facebook news feed, and all the insipid mud slinging and issue-dodging that goes along with this nonsense, I wish I was back in Japan.  I may still head back next year, I mean, why not at this point?  None of the candidates are particularly appealing and I dislike the feeling of being stuck between two large groups of people pointing at each other and hurling insults and allegations of being evil at, uh, each other.

[Odainsaker 2,136]

Yikes, it must be bad when returning to an irradiated island being overflown by crazy Kim Jong-un's tantrum missiles is the better prospect!

We are still a year away from the elections, and we haven't even reached the wild antics yet of Hillary on stage facing off against Trump...or Cruz...or Trump and Cruz...  Last time's great fear-stoking was over the rhymes-with-witch and the Arab Kenyan terrorist...it hasn't gotten any better, the candidates have gotten even kookier, and this election season promises be a shrill one!

 

[Sabretooth78 808]

I'm going to ignore the whole process and then show up on Election Day to vote Libertarian or any other 3rd party.  I might even write in Mickey Mouse.  Hard to envision how that's worse than what everyone else will be doing there.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Ignorance.

If the Republican Party can't do better than this, then they really do deserve another four years wishing for whatever it is they think they want.

[Sabretooth78 808]

https://radio.foxnews.com/2015/11/05/ron-paul-im-scared-to-death-trump-will-win-the-nomination/

Generally speaking, history has rather consistently proven Ron correct.  Too bad we decided to throw our eggs into the McCain and Romney baskets the last few go-arounds.

[Duke87 1,070]

You can’t run a country like you run a business. They’re two entirely different things.

Oh look, Ron Paul said something quite intelligent. Must be that point in the day when the broken clock happens to coincide with the current time.

[AkemiAzula 280]

If I was Donald I'd fire Mr Carson.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

It is correct.  A government is not a business.  A government produces no valuta, is totally non-productive, and can never make a profit.  A government is an agency of the people to provide services the people have agreed to collectively fund.  Governments are accountable to the people (in theory).  When was the last time anyone saw a true statement from any government of the source and application of funds?

[raynev1 1,886]

I agree with Nonny . The government is suppose to be working for the people , as representatives and budgeteers  . Though they tend to do whatever their campaign sponsors want . How much funds other than taxes did you all contribute to them and did they do what you wanted them to do ? Do they not receive a wage for their position ? Full accountability should be asked by the people . 

[Ocram's Razr 964]

... broken clock coincides with the time 

Funny! Anyway, I will vote for Bernie Sanders as a write-in if he doesn't get the Democratic ticket. 

[Sabretooth78 808]

... broken clock coincides with the time 

Funny! Anyway, I will vote for Bernie Sanders as a write-in if he doesn't get the Democratic ticket. 

I'll take a socialist over an authoritarian any day of the week.

And people wonder how Hitler got elected...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

^ Hitler got elected by using thugism, a downtrodden electorate that was impoverished by the Treaty of Versailles, and just plain shouting.  He gave hope where there was none.

The present Republican circus shows how quickly a mountebank can charm the sheeple.

[Jasoncw 11,946]

I have to say, the gold standard is only slightly less crazy than grain pyramids. The difference though is that Ted Cruz is a very intelligent and educated person. Cruz is a con man and Carson is genuinely wacky.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Gold standard?  Utterly impossible.  It would cause a serious period of deflation and a general crash.  There isn't enough gold in the world to back any of the currency that's floating around.  Has someone been reading the book of Ezekiel?  The whole system is run by faith.

[CapTon 592]

I've been following this whole thing intently, and have gotten myself into quite a few debates over key and controversial issues.

Do you guys have an ideal candidate? As in if you had to choose one, which would you choose?

Mine is Donald Trump. Hate me all you want, but his viewpoints and ideas are very similar to mine. Ben Carson is a close second, though.

[MintberryCrunch 83]

Trump is a pandering blowhard, and Carson is an illusion.

Kasich appeals to me somewhat, but then again, so does Sanders. Clinton doesn't resonate with me at all, and neither does Jeb Bush. They are both bland nothings.

Glad I'm not old enough to vote--this election is a mess.