Election 2018 Thread (An Adult Finally Has the Gavel)

[Springfield]

Nancy Pelosi is going to be speaker, so I’d get over that as quick as possible.  I’d rather she not, but the Democrats have proven that they don’t have any qualms about nominating unlikable people to power.

 

People are also wrong about the democrat party becoming more moderate.  These people (the rural conservatives) aren’t going to vote for you, so **** them.  Support policies that help cities.  Health care, gun control, environmental protections, etc.  Give the city folks what they want and tell the yokels to go screw.

[Cooked Crack]

 Was called for Herrell last night.

 

 

[TheGreatBuzz]

4 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Give the city folks what they want and tell the yokels to go screw.

Hope those city folks are capable of growing every morsel of food they want to consume.

[Springfield]

1 minute ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Hope those city folks are capable of growing every morsel of food they want to consume.

 

Why?  Our rich city folk taxes subsidize their jobs anyhow.

[PeterMP]

10 hours ago, NoCalMike said:

The way the GOP has been able to seize control of most of the Government despite lessening actual support from the people is the most worrisome thing.  I understand our system was setup with protecting the minority against the majority in mind, and for good reason, but fast forward to present time and it feels like what was originally a well intended system design, has turned into a way for the minority to rule over the majority, which also should not be happening.  

 

Of course it never helps that "record turnout" still ends up as a pathetic amount of people voting % wise.

 

Realistically, at the national level, we've never really practice government as described in the post-1960s Civics books.

 

We had a sort of a managed oligarchy.

 

Candidates were managed by a combination the limitations of access to the media and the value and cost of that access and the cost and issues with organizing large scale (even state wide for most states) campaigns.

 

Something like Bernie Sanders as an independent entering the Democratic primary and being the 2nd most popular candidate doesn't happen 20 years ago.  He couldn't have built a national organization.  He would have gotten essentially no help from the party apparatus or the non-official party people, but Democratic money people.  And if he'd complained, the press wouldn't have given him 10 minutes.  Now, there's so much media/press competition every story is a story to some demographic and somebody is willing to tell the story to appeal to them.

 

No way Trump wins the Republican nomination 20 years ago.

 

Going back further, candidates for things like President, Senate, and Governor (in many states) from the major parties were really the result of back room deals.

 

Going even further back, there were pretty rigorous restrictions on who could vote and how could run (e.g. land owners).

 

We're really for the first time seeing the real Civics textbook version of our government in action.

 

And what we've learned is that a lot of people are really stupid.

 

(Okay, maybe not stupid..  What we've learned is that the human species can be very xenophobic, and if you can tap into that xeonphobia, then the associated fear is a very powerful motivator.)

[Cooked Crack]

9 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Nancy Pelosi is going to be speaker, so I’d get over that as quick as possible.  I’d rather she not, but the Democrats have proven that they don’t have any qualms about nominating unlikable people to power.

I think more people should be talking about Schumer. His plan to save red state Dems was a failure and he has no fight in him. He's not a wartime consigliere. Gimme Dick Durbin or bring back Harry Reid.

[Burgold]

6 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Hope those city folks are capable of growing every morsel of food they want to consume.

Eh, rural folks don't actually grow food anymore. They subcontract it all to illegal aliens

[TheGreatBuzz]

9 minutes ago, Springfield said:

 

Why?  Our rich city folk taxes subsidize their jobs anyhow.

Because when you tell them all to go screw and things start getting messy, one demographic is more prepared to self sustain than others.  And I doubt the city folk are capable of self sustaining. 

 

Maybe this is just because of my grim forecast of how society plays out in the next 5-10 years (if we are lucky to make it that long).

[PeterMP]

6 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Because when you tell them all to go screw and things start getting messy, one demographic is more prepared to self sustain than others.  And I doubt the city folk are capable of self sustaining. 

 

Maybe this is just because of my grim forecast of how society plays out in the next 5-10 years (if we are lucky to make it that long).

 

Food is bought and sold on a global market today.  It isn't like rural areas can afford not to sell their product.  Whether they sell it to the urban US areas is essentially irrelevant.  If anything, food prices would probably drop because without government controls, the ag industry in this country has a long history of over producing to the point where farming (in the US) isn't economical.

 

[No Excuses]

Agrotech is advancing enough that we are perhaps not too far off from cities with indoors farms in close proximity. Tech has kind of spared agriculture so far. But with CRISPR we can seriously start tweaking plants and fruits to grow in controlled environments. 

 

Also look at the low-key fights going on between the meat industry and new start ups in the “clean meat” industry. We are not far off from a future in which most people in cities switch to cruelty-free meat.

 

At some point tech is going to disrupt agriculture in a big way.

[Springfield]

7 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Because when you tell them all to go screw and things start getting messy, one demographic is more prepared to self sustain than others.  And I doubt the city folk are capable of self sustaining. 

 

Maybe this is just because of my grim forecast of how society plays out in the next 5-10 years (if we are lucky to make it that long).

 

Well, you don’t tell them to go screw literally. You just stop pretending to be a party that’s trying to embrace some conservative values. Stop being a bunch of ******* and give benefits to things that city folks value without saying, hey we are ****ing over the rural whites.  Kinda like how all of these right wing barriers to vote help republicans without actually saying that they’re only trying to help republicans.

 

Blue states should start their own weapons bans.  Start their own single payer.

 

Just throwing thoughts out there.  They’re never going to get the rural vote, why bother. Try and get MORE of the city vote.

[twa]

3 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

 

 

Also look at the low-key fights going on between the meat industry and new start ups in the “clean meat” industry. We are not far off from a future in which most people in cities switch to cruelty-free meat.

 

At some point tech is going to disrupt agriculture in a big way.

 

I'm working on those toilet worm taquerias as we speak.

 

Clean is relative,

[PeterMP]

5 minutes ago, No Excuses said:

Agrotech is advancing enough that we are perhaps not too far off from cities with indoors farms in close proximity. Tech has kind of spared agriculture so far. But with CRISPR we can seriously start tweaking plants and fruits to grow in controlled environments. 

 

Also look at the low-key fights going on between the meat industry and new start ups in the “clean meat” industry. We are not far off from a future in which most people in cities switch to cruelty-free meat.

 

At some point tech is going to disrupt agriculture in a big way.

 

Eh we could already globally feed the world have food left over.  The only issue is economics and will.  The US dairy industry and throwing product away.

 

And we're still paying farmers not to plant (and other things associated with propping up the market).

 

http://nebraska.farmergoestomarket.com/index.php/food-technology/341-translating-food-technology-why-do-farmers-get-paid-not-to-grow-crops

 

(Though meat substitutes in terms of health and ethics are absolutely coming.)

[No Excuses]

3 minutes ago, Springfield said:

 

Well, you don’t tell them to go screw literally. You just stop pretending to be a party that’s trying to embrace some conservative values. Stop being a bunch of ******* and give benefits to things that city folks value without saying, hey we are ****ing over the rural whites.  Kinda like how all of these right wing barriers to vote help republicans without actually saying that they’re only trying to help republicans.

 

Blue states should start their own weapons bans.  Start their own single payer.

 

Just throwing thoughts out there.  They’re never going to get the rural vote, why bother. Try and get MORE of the city vote.

 

This is already happening to some extent in blue states. 

 

Broad expansion of voting rights and access, marijuana legalization, criminal justice reforms, minimum wage hikes, healthcare access expansion. California has instituted sweeping data privacy laws for its residents. Paid family leave policies are active in many blue states. 

 

There are many liberal groups getting ready to tackle housing affordability.

 

Policy priorities are completely different in blue and red America. WV and AL passed referendums on banning abortions yesterday. For most sensible people, the choice has to be glaringly obvious on which side tackles 21st century issues.

[Mr. Sinister]

8 minutes ago, Springfield said:

 

Well, you don’t tell them to go screw literally. You just stop pretending to be a party that’s trying to embrace some conservative values. Stop being a bunch of ******* and give benefits to things that city folks value without saying, hey we are ****ing over the rural whites.  Kinda like how all of these right wing barriers to vote help republicans without actually saying that they’re only trying to help republicans.

 

Blue states should start their own weapons bans.  Start their own single payer.

 

Just throwing thoughts out there.  They’re never going to get the rural vote, why bother. Try and get MORE of the city vote.

 

Tell them to go screw (literally). When things get messy, just sit on the roof of your flat in your cozy artist village and chill, and set your watch.

 

I'd give it about 48 hrs before half of them collapse and die from brain death, being cut off for too long from from the host signal (FoxNews).

[TheGreatBuzz]

11 minutes ago, Springfield said:

ust throwing thoughts out there.  They’re never going to get the rural vote, why bother. Try and get MORE of the city vote

I get what you're saying and don't even disagree.  As someone that considers themselves a real conservative and not a Republican, I get the frustration.  I have not hidden my opinion that I think our society will tear itself apart in the near future.  My point was that telling rural America to screw themselves would be bad for urban folk because rural folk at least know how to grow food and take care of themselves.  

[Fresh8686]

1 minute ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

I get what you're saying and don't even disagree.  As someone that considers themselves a real conservative and not a Republican, I get the frustration.  I have not hidden my opinion that I think our society will tear itself apart in the near future.  My point was that telling rural America to screw themselves would be bad for urban folk because rural folk at least know how to grow food and take care of themselves.  

Man have you been around all these yuppy ass people's neighborhoods lately? It's trendy to grow things nowadays. They ain't throwing hands with anybody, but they can grow some basil and arugula.

[LD0506]

Double edged sword there Buzz, if the blue coasts stop subsidizing the reds, they can afford to buy Canadian or Brazilian crops, do we REALLY wanna play that game of chicken?

[TheGreatBuzz]

2 minutes ago, LD0506 said:

Double edged sword there Buzz, if the blue coasts stop subsidizing the reds, they can afford to buy Canadian or Brazilian crops, do we REALLY wanna play that game of chicken?

Absolutely not.  In the world of global politics any game of chicken is a bad idea.  But if stuff in America gets too weird, are you sure other countries will sell food to our urban areas and sure they will still afford it?

 

Rural folk are more adapt to survive without outside help.  I don't think anyone argues that.  And that is why America shouldn't tell their rural citizens to shut up and take whatever because they don't have enough bodies to pull a popular vote. 

[88Comrade2000]

12 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

I get the anger.  I feel it too, intensely.  I'm a liberal from the part of the state that's as red as the devil's asshole.  I grew up in a small, very pale blue bubble within that big sea of lava, so I got a little bit of a more worldly perspective.  But I feel like I understand that part of the state better than most of the other Virginia liberals here.  It's an honor culture there.  They care about symbolism and family and racial pride/heritage.  Most have been living in the same place for generations--far longer than mainstream suburban/urban liberals live in their own communities for the most part.  They have longer memories.  They care about the culture more than they care about the specifics of policy.  @tshile is absolutely right that if you insult them, they will hate you and look for someone who is against you to side with.  @Kilmer17 is right that the path to winning these peoples' votes is to do what Manchin did, keep your politics local, stick to the issues, and don't fight culture battles that aren't worth the cost of winning.  Like it or not, I would bet anything that a significant part of Corey Stewart's support came from **** like defending Confederate monuments.  Getting railroaded by Nova liberals on issues like this is going to be a source of perpetual conflict and grievance.

Manchin won because the GOP nominated someone who couldn't win in WV.  The progressives despise Manchin but they voted for him anyway, since there was no option. If the GOP nominated an acceptable candidate; Manchin would've lost. 

[Captain Wiggles]

I love the idea that rural folks are the ones that know how to take care of themselves. What a joke. Their entire rural empire is propped up by serious government subsidies. 

[No Excuses]

2 minutes ago, clietas said:

I love the idea that rural folks are the ones that know how to take care of themselves. What a joke. Their entire rural empire is propped up by serious government subsidies. 

 

A welfare system unlike any other. If there is affirmative action in this country, it is the structural bias towards propping up the rural economy at the cost of the majority.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

I had a hot dog w/ no bun and a bowl of frosted mini-wheats for brunch today. Can I still get that without the rural folk?

 

If I get desperate, I guess I'll just have to start eating some hillbillies.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Rural folks live off McDonalds and Applebee’s.  Their obesity and diabetes rates are vastly higher than urban or suburban Americans.

 

https://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/obesity-health-news-505/obesity-plagues-rural-america-734973.html

 

 

[Captain Wiggles]

2% of the American populous are farmers. There's no reason to worry. #BuildRobots