Batshit Insane 2012

What do you think about the world?
User avatar
Aslanna
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 12372
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:57 pm

Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aslanna »

So... Apparently Michele Bachmann has announced her 2012 nomination bid. Right after Sarah Palin, who I'm sure will also throw her hat in eventually, she's someone I would't want in the White House.
Bachmann told a cheering crowd that America "cannot afford another four years of Barack Obama." She hit the president on his health care reform plan, foreign policy, the housing crisis, and especially jobs.
It's easy to tell us what is wrong. How about giving some solutions!

Not to mention she was a closet birther and only distanced herself from that when Trump started making it an issue. But that was probably to get in with the Teabaggers.

Does anyone see themselves voting for her? If so, why? I'm just curious!
Have You Hugged An Iksar Today?

--
User avatar
miir
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 11501
Joined: July 3, 2002, 3:06 pm
XBL Gamertag: miir1
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by miir »

I hope she wins the nomination.
It will make for an entertaining 'election'
I've got 99 problems and I'm not dealing with any of them - Lay-Z
User avatar
Winnow
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 27525
Joined: July 5, 2002, 1:56 pm
Location: A Special Place in Hell

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Winnow »

miir wrote:I hope she wins the nomination.
It will make for an entertaining 'election'

I'd like to see her go head to head vs some of Canada's leadership!

Image

Weeee!
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

At least it makes the choice easy if she gets the nod.

I don't see anyone out there with the capability to a get the party's approval AND win the election.
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
User avatar
miir
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 11501
Joined: July 3, 2002, 3:06 pm
XBL Gamertag: miir1
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by miir »

Winnow wrote:I'd like to see her go head to head vs some of Canada's leadership!

Image

Weeee!
And this is what he does to protesters who get up in his face.

Image
Wheeeeee!
I've got 99 problems and I'm not dealing with any of them - Lay-Z
User avatar
Leonaerd
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 3023
Joined: January 10, 2005, 10:38 am
Location: Michigan

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Leonaerd »

Until all the old people die + christianity isn't choking all facets of public policy (not in my lifetime), none of this stuff is even worth following.
User avatar
Spang
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4811
Joined: September 23, 2003, 10:34 am
Gender: Male
Location: Tennessee

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Spang »

Michele Bachmann is a threat to anyone who doesn't want four more years of Obama.
Make love, fuck war, peace will save us.
User avatar
Drolgin Steingrinder
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 3510
Joined: July 3, 2002, 5:28 pm
Gender: Male
PSN ID: Drolgin
Location: Århus, Denmark

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Drolgin Steingrinder »

Spang wrote:Michele Bachmann is a threat to anyone who doesn't want four more years of Obama.
Michele Bachmann and nutbags like her are a threat to the US political system.
IT'S HARD TO PUT YOUR FINGER ON IT; SOMETHING IS WRONG
I'M LIKE THE UNCLE WHO HUGGED YOU A LITTLE TOO LONG
Fairweather Pure
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8509
Joined: July 3, 2002, 1:06 pm
XBL Gamertag: SillyEskimo

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Fairweather Pure »

Image

She should team with Palin for a Dumb and Dumber tag team! I hope she gets the nomination too. She' nuttier than Chinese chicken salad. It would be a hoot to watch!
User avatar
Boogahz
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9438
Joined: July 6, 2002, 2:00 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: corin12
PSN ID: boog144
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Boogahz »

too bad that quote is pretty much true

The people wouldn't be able to LIVE off of what they were being paid though...which is kinda what the minimum wage is there to keep from happening
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

The RNC running her, Palin or Trump is the equivalent of throwing in the towel.

"Living" on minimum wage?
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
User avatar
Boogahz
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9438
Joined: July 6, 2002, 2:00 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: corin12
PSN ID: boog144
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Boogahz »

Doesn't say anything about "living" on it. It just says unemployment would be virtually gone. People might make a penny an hour, but they wouldn't be unemployed!
User avatar
Funkmasterr
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9005
Joined: July 7, 2002, 9:12 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: Dandelo19
PSN ID: ToPsHoTTa471

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Funkmasterr »

I can't imagine the republicans would give her the nomination, so it won't matter. Same for Palin.


Edit: To be clear, I wouldn't vote for either of them.
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

The RNC seems to be calling it a loss already.

Talking to a co-worker today, when I pointed out the failings in Bachmans' logic I was accused of 'knowing too much".

Republican economics do make sense on some levels, as long as you don't think about them too much or look at the party history. Which isn't to say the other side of the fence isn't daffy as well.

"Voodoo economics" - Bush v1.
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
Hesten
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 2620
Joined: April 29, 2003, 3:50 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Hesten »

Boogahz wrote:Doesn't say anything about "living" on it. It just says unemployment would be virtually gone. People might make a penny an hour, but they wouldn't be unemployed!
Well, she is correct...after everyone that before was living on minimum wages die of hunger, the unemployment problem will be gone.
"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich"
User avatar
Kilmoll the Sexy
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 5295
Joined: July 3, 2002, 3:31 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: bunkeru2k
Location: Ohio

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Kilmoll the Sexy »

Bachmann and Palin are both instant losses in a White House run. If they did not learn that from last year with Palin just in the VP slot, then someone needs to be fired from the RNC.

The only reason at all to run either (or both of them) on the ticket is if they think they have zero chance of winning and do not want to taint a valid 2016 candidate with a loss in 2012. Obama is extremely vulnerable to any decent candidate and this will be even more so if they can tie him or Holder to the "Fast and Furious" fiasco. I don't see a true strong candidate for the RNC at the moment. There are a few intriguing ones out there, but I don't think you will see any threat unless someone really shines in the GOP primaries.
User avatar
Winnow
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 27525
Joined: July 5, 2002, 1:56 pm
Location: A Special Place in Hell

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Winnow »

I'm feeling a Bachmann/Palin or Palin/Bachmann power ticket in 2012.
Fairweather Pure
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8509
Joined: July 3, 2002, 1:06 pm
XBL Gamertag: SillyEskimo

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Fairweather Pure »

Whoever the RNC nominates in 2012 will be telling. They're throwing that candidate to the wolves and they know it. They're saving their Great White Hope for 2016.
*~*stragi*~*
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 3871
Joined: July 3, 2002, 1:59 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: kimj0ngil
Location: Ahwatukee, Arizona
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by *~*stragi*~* »

I don't think there's a chance for Republicans this year considering the strongest candidate is Romney, at least so far. Add to it this financial reform stonewalling bullshit they are pulling. I feel like it is pretty obvious to the majority of everyone that they are doing it purposely to try to pin it on Obama, but they are being so blatant about it that it's going to backfire. If feels like I'm watching the 2008 McCain campaign all over.
*~*stragi*~*
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 3871
Joined: July 3, 2002, 1:59 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: kimj0ngil
Location: Ahwatukee, Arizona
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by *~*stragi*~* »

Then of course Democrats are going to get a super majority again and sit around thumbing their own asses for two years just like before.
User avatar
masteen
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8197
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:40 pm
Gender: Mangina
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by masteen »

I love how neocons still spout shit like they're the source of fiscal knowledge and responsibility. The last Republican to NOT engage in needless borrowing to fund dogmatic bullshit and actually lower the deficit was fucking Eisenhower.

Anyone who talks about reducing the deficit without including tax increases AND cuts is not serious about actually doing anything.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

*~*stragi*~* wrote:Add to it this financial reform stonewalling bullshit they are pulling. I feel like it is pretty obvious to the majority of everyone that they are doing it purposely to try to pin it on Obama, but they are being so blatant about it that it's going to backfire. If feels like I'm watching the 2008 McCain campaign all over.
Except the the democrats and the "liberal media" (snicker) aren't bright enough to point it out in an understandable fashion.

They, or at least the White House is still dumb enough to believe reasoning with the republicans, especially the tea party is possible.

*Edit - Obama didn't neccesarily need to try and win in 2008, the RNC wasn't trying at all. They couldn't get the ballgame they wanted, so sat back and hoped for an Obama failure.
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
User avatar
Aslanna
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 12372
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:57 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aslanna »

Cuckoo!
Rep. Michele Bachmann is the first Republican presidential candidate to sign the Family Leader pledge disavowing gay marriage, premarital sex, and porn. But perhaps the most outrageous part of the pledge is the section that implies that maybe slavery wasn't all that bad for black families.

Declaring that "nmistakably, the Institution of Marriage in America is in great crisis," the document states:

Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.

Maybe they should get a bit of credit for acknowledging that slavery was "disastrous" for black Americans. But that passage seems to suggest that maybe things actually were better for black Americans then. Yes, being kept as property, forced into marriages arranged by slave masters, and raped by those masters was great for black people. As Jack & Jill Politics also points out, breaking up families to sell off slaves was hardly pro-family values. It's an insensitive comparison that ignores history.

The pledge, which is being promoted by Family Leader president and former Mike Huckabee ally Bob Vander Plaats, asks GOP candidates to committee to 14 vows, including "personal fidelity to my spouse," rejection of Sharia law, and "earnest, bona fide legal advocacy" for the Defense of Marriage Act. So far, Bachmann is the only candidate to sign on.
http://www.thefamilyleader.com/wp-conte ... .7.111.pdf

The Candidate Vow:
Therefore, in any elected or appointed capacity by which I may have the honor of serving our fellow citizens in these United States, I the undersigned do hereby solemnly vow* to honor and to cherish, to defend and to uphold, the Institution of Marriage as only between one man and one woman. I vow to do so through my:

* Personal fidelity to my spouse.
* Respect for the marital bonds of others.
* Official fidelity to the U.S. Constitution, supporting the elevation of none but faithful constitutionalists as judges or justices.
* Vigorous opposition to any redefinition of the Institution of Marriage – faithful monogamy between one man and one woman – through statutory-, bureaucratic-, or court-imposed recognition of intimate unions which are bigamous, polygamous, polyandrous, same-sex, etc.
* Recognition of the overwhelming statistical evidence that married people enjoy better health, better sex, longer lives, greater financial stability, and that children raised by a mother and a father together experience better learning, less addiction, less legal trouble, and less extramarital pregnancy.
* Support for prompt reform of uneconomic, anti-marriage aspects of welfare policy, tax policy, and marital/divorce law, and extended “second chance” or “cooling-off” periods for those seeking a “quickie divorce.”
* Earnest, bona fide legal advocacy for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) at the federal and state levels.
* Steadfast embrace of a federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman in all of the United States.
* Humane protection of women and the innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy – our next generation of American children – from human trafficking, sexual slavery, seduction into promiscuity, and all forms of pornography and prostitution, infanticide, abortion and other types of coercion or stolen innocence.
* Support for the enactment of safeguards for all married and unmarried U.S. Military and National Guard personnel, especially our combat troops, from inappropriate same-gender or opposite-gender sexual harassment, adultery or intrusively intimate commingling among attracteds (restrooms, showers, barracks, tents, etc.); plus prompt termination of military policymakers who would expose American wives and daughters to rape or sexual harassment, torture, enslavement or sexual leveraging by the enemy in forward combat roles.
* Rejection of Sharia Islam and all other anti-woman, anti-human rights forms of totalitarian control.
* Recognition that robust childbearing and reproduction is beneficial to U.S. demographic, economic, strategic and actuarial health and security.
* Commitment to downsizing government and the enormous burden upon American families of the USA‟s $14.3 trillion public debt, its $77 trillion in unfunded liabilities, its $1.5 trillion federal deficit, and its $3.5 trillion federal budget.
* Fierce defense of the First Amendment‟s rights of Religious Liberty and Freedom of Speech, especially against the intolerance of any who would undermine law-abiding American citizens and institutions of faith and conscience for their adherence to, and defense of, faithful heterosexual monogamy.
Children = "innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy". Who writes this stuff!
Have You Hugged An Iksar Today?

--
User avatar
Funkmasterr
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9005
Joined: July 7, 2002, 9:12 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: Dandelo19
PSN ID: ToPsHoTTa471

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Funkmasterr »

Wow... It's so awesome that people like that actually think they're normal. I wonder if she honestly thinks her running for president is anything other than a huge joke for everyone in the world to laugh at?
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

Anyone have a breakdown on what administration caused what debt and how much is interest? I've seen it someplace.
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
User avatar
Boogahz
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9438
Joined: July 6, 2002, 2:00 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: corin12
PSN ID: boog144
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Boogahz »

Those Family Leader Pledge people sound like the idiots that went around shoving flyers about the devil taking over young minds in D&D books.
Fairweather Pure
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8509
Joined: July 3, 2002, 1:06 pm
XBL Gamertag: SillyEskimo

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Fairweather Pure »

Boogahz wrote:Those Family Leader Pledge people sound like the idiots that went around shoving flyers about the devil taking over young minds in D&D books.
Yeah, my first thought was of the Moral Majority from the 80's, which were likely the same crackpots saying D&D was satanic and if you played Ozzy records in reverse it told kids to kill their parents. Organizations that try to justify, then force their ideas of morality onto everyone else are easily my most despised group of people.
User avatar
Aslanna
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 12372
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:57 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aslanna »

Hurricanes and earthquakes have occurred regularly all over the world since before humankind existed. There was a time when they seemed to be the product of God's wrath, but geology and meteorology long ago provided much more plausible explanations. Nevertheless, there are still a few wacky cranks like Robertson to say things like this:
"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."
Whoops! That wasn't Pat Robertson ridiculously claiming that God created a (very minor) earthquake and a (relatively unexceptional) hurricane because he was upset about the government's finances. It was Michele Bachmann. She's running for president.
Have You Hugged An Iksar Today?

--
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

I fully support Bachmann's candidacy for president and hope she wins. I've basically abandoned all forms for logic and reason now and just hope that eventually Americans turn their TV's off and come to a complete understanding about exactly what situation they have put themselves into.

Your political system is such a clown college now that the USA is the laughing stock of the entire world. How such an incredibly wealthy nation allows itself to come to such complete economic ruination will be studied by economists until the heat death of the universe. Why do Americans think it is fair that Billionaires pay less income tax then them? Is some kind of chemical that makes half you into drooling fucking retards being put into the water? Why is Dancing With the Stars more captivating than your actual quality of life?

Even in the middle of a recession your government sits around and fights about letting gay people volunteer for the military (seriously, what the fuck?!). You have people that have a legitimate chance of being nominated for president who think that slavery was pretty cool for black families and that homosexuality is a mental disease, despite the fact her husband is probably the largest closet faggot since Rock Hudson.

I'm only guessing that there is still a silent majority in the US that will eventually realize what is happening to their country and put a stop to it. Although my track record hasn't been great over the last decade or so. I never thought that you'd elect a draft-dodging alcoholic/addict that doesn't read or watch any form of news, much less re-elect him after 4 years of complete and total disaster.
User avatar
Boogahz
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9438
Joined: July 6, 2002, 2:00 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: corin12
PSN ID: boog144
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Boogahz »

regarding the income tax difference, it is because they aren't paying "income tax" like everyone else. Their "income" is based off of returns from investing and such, which "happens" to be taxed at a lower rate.

regarding the US political system, it is a damned joke. Definitely agree there. Neither party should be allowed to be involved in anything that affects the lives of the average person.
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

I understand the mechanics behind why they pay less income tax. I don't understand why you tolerate it.
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

kyoukan wrote:I understand the mechanics behind why they pay less income tax. I don't understand why you tolerate it.
Because people aren't made aware that it's happening. So much for out "liberal" media eh?
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
User avatar
Boogahz
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9438
Joined: July 6, 2002, 2:00 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: corin12
PSN ID: boog144
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Boogahz »

kyoukan wrote:I understand the mechanics behind why they pay less income tax. I don't understand why you tolerate it.
The problem is that it isn't income tax at all. It is mostly (all?) from dividends and capital gains. I agree that it needs to be fixed, but taxing them at the same rate for something that is not "income" would only screw the people that earn money from investments as well as a regular job with pay. I don't think there IS an easy fix without fucking over the same people that are calling for them to be taxed at the same rate, which they technically are.
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

If there was an easy for it I'm sure that even your shitty government might have found it by now. Tax reform is difficult but it has to be done. You cannot just allow the super wealthy to continue to steal from the poor and middle class and expect to compete much longer against so many emerging world economies.
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

Now Bachmann's handlers are trying to explain that she was joking. I'm so glad I'm not helping run a presidential campaign where I have to explain to the country whether or not she is joking or just going off on some whackjob tangent.
Last edited by kyoukan on August 30, 2011, 6:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Aslanna
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 12372
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:57 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aslanna »

Yeah I saw that. You can't backpedal on crazy!

Not to mention.. joking about something that killed 40+ people? I'm not sure which would be worse.
Have You Hugged An Iksar Today?

--
User avatar
Boogahz
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 9438
Joined: July 6, 2002, 2:00 pm
Gender: Male
XBL Gamertag: corin12
PSN ID: boog144
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Boogahz »

Bachmann scares me OMGIAMRETARDEDCAUSEALOTISTWOWORDS (and I left that combined on purpose for her)
Hesten
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 2620
Joined: April 29, 2003, 3:50 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Hesten »

2014:
Bachmann: "hiya China, God dont like you, I'm gonna press the big red button now"
Bachmanns advisors: "Oh fuck, there she goes again"
"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich"
User avatar
masteen
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8197
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:40 pm
Gender: Mangina
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by masteen »

I fear Rick Perry more. At least Bachman is visibly and irrefutably crazy. This guy is just as nuts, but hides it behind his frat-boy, corporate-dickbag image. I cannot express my discontent with the GOP when a whackjob fundy and a guy who got worse grades in college than me are front-runners for the GOP presidential nod.

Which brings me to another point... how in the FUCK can anyone get a D in Intro to Econ? It's the Rocks for Jocks of the b-school.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

Perry isn't electable (neither is Bachmann but whatever). He's brand new to federal politics so he isn't very known, but it won't be long until he starts mouthing off and the media crushes him. The democrats are being quiet about him right now and just waiting for him to start talking. I'm not sure why the GOP keeps pushing away sensible, moderate conservatives like Colin Powell and Michael Steele and keep circling their wagons around these crazies who are completely incapable of governing. John Boehner makes Ronald Reagan look like Wavy Gravy for fuck's sake. He is the most irresponsible politician in the history of America.
User avatar
masteen
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8197
Joined: July 3, 2002, 12:40 pm
Gender: Mangina
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by masteen »

That's exactly the context in which my fear lives. I know that neither of those idiots could win an open election; my fear is what they represent: the ascendancy of the anti-science, anti-intellectual wing of the GOP.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
User avatar
Aabidano
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 4861
Joined: July 19, 2002, 2:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Florida

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Aabidano »

kyoukan wrote:Perry isn't electable (neither is Bachmann but whatever). He's brand new to federal politics so he isn't very known, but it won't be long until he starts mouthing off and the media crushes him. The democrats are being quiet about him right now and just waiting for him to start talking.
He already started and they aren't reporting on it. I don't have high expectations. There might be the concern that the public will get bored and wander off before election time comes around of they start to early. To hear him talk a few weeks ago you'd expect him to start a new theocracy right after the inauguration.

They know the crazy they're selling will never come to pass, it's just to get in office and continue down the failed path we've been on for years.
masteen wrote:That's exactly the context in which my fear lives. I know that neither of those idiots could win an open election; my fear is what they represent: the ascendancy of the anti-science, anti-intellectual wing of the GOP.
I think 2010 showed they've reached the tipping point they've been building towards for 40+ years. An electorate that can absolutely be depended upon to vote against it's own best interests and in favor of the GOP's corporate sponsors.

Lots of people give them complete and unfailing credibility no matter how bizarre the crap they spew. Death Panels, the tea party, etc..
"Life is what happens while you're making plans for later."
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

masteen wrote:That's exactly the context in which my fear lives. I know that neither of those idiots could win an open election; my fear is what they represent: the ascendancy of the anti-science, anti-intellectual wing of the GOP.

What is so anti-intellectual about holding a huge prayer rally to ask God to fix the economy and create jobs?
Hesten
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 2620
Joined: April 29, 2003, 3:50 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Hesten »

kyoukan wrote:
masteen wrote:That's exactly the context in which my fear lives. I know that neither of those idiots could win an open election; my fear is what they represent: the ascendancy of the anti-science, anti-intellectual wing of the GOP.

What is so anti-intellectual about holding a huge prayer rally to ask God to fix the economy and create jobs?
The funniest part is that its the same group that complain about fundamendalistic muslims :)
"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich"
User avatar
Jice Virago
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 1644
Joined: July 4, 2002, 5:47 pm
Gender: Male
PSN ID: quyrean
Location: Orange County

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Jice Virago »

Welcome to the age of apathy. We've lived too well for too long and now we are too fucking lazy to stop the crazy train. I know I really want to move the fuck out of this country (or at least back to rural WI) because I can smell whats comming next, but my wife is content to bury her head in the sand and ignore all the disintigration of the pillars of American civilization. And whats worse is that her fundy parents (who mean well, but ugh..) are part of the problem, willing to ignore all other issues as long as they can vote for whoever can keep teh gayz out of marriage. My wife knows its wrong (hell, one of her sisters is gay), but hey in California you don't rock the boat and don't bother with anything that doesn't directly affect you. The uber crispies and mormons are sure looking forward to everything blowing up, though.
War is an option whose time has passed. Peace is the only option for the future. At present we occupy a treacherous no-man's-land between peace and war, a time of growing fear that our military might has expanded beyond our capacity to control it and our political differences widened beyond our ability to bridge them. . . .

Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war.
--RICHARD M. NIXON, "REAL PEACE" (1983)

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, represents, in the final analysis, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

Dwight Eisenhower
Hesten
Way too much time!
Way too much time!
Posts: 2620
Joined: April 29, 2003, 3:50 pm

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Hesten »

"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich"
Fairweather Pure
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8509
Joined: July 3, 2002, 1:06 pm
XBL Gamertag: SillyEskimo

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Fairweather Pure »

Dawkins had a nice comment on Perry's belief in creationism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on- ... _blog.html
Attention Governor Perry: Evolution is a fact

Q. Texas governor and GOP candidate Rick Perry, at a campaign event this week, told a boy that evolution is ”just a theory” with “gaps” and that in Texas they teach “both creationism and evolution.” Perry later added “God is how we got here.” According to a 2009 Gallup study , only 38 percent of Americans say they believe in evolution. If a majority of Americans are skeptical or unsure about evolution, should schools teach it as a mere “theory”? Why is evolution so threatening to religion?

A. There is nothing unusual about Governor Rick Perry. Uneducated fools can be found in every country and every period of history, and they are not unknown in high office. What is unusual about today’s Republican party (I disavow the ridiculous ‘GOP’ nickname, because the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt has lately forfeited all claim to be considered ‘grand’) is this: In any other party and in any other country, an individual may occasionally rise to the top in spite of being an uneducated ignoramus. In today’s Republican Party ‘in spite of’ is not the phrase we need. Ignorance and lack of education are positive qualifications, bordering on obligatory. Intellect, knowledge and linguistic mastery are mistrusted by Republican voters, who, when choosing a president, would apparently prefer someone like themselves over someone actually qualified for the job.

Any other organization -- a big corporation, say, or a university, or a learned society - -when seeking a new leader, will go to immense trouble over the choice. The CVs of candidates and their portfolios of relevant experience are meticulously scrutinized, their publications are read by a learned committee, references are taken up and scrupulously discussed, the candidates are subjected to rigorous interviews and vetting procedures. Mistakes are still made, but not through lack of serious effort.

The population of the United States is more than 300 million and it includes some of the best and brightest that the human species has to offer, probably more so than any other country in the world. There is surely something wrong with a system for choosing a leader when, given a pool of such talent and a process that occupies more than a year and consumes billions of dollars, what rises to the top of the heap is George W Bush. Or when the likes of Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin can be mentioned as even remote possibilities.

A politician’s attitude to evolution is perhaps not directly important in itself. It can have unfortunate consequences on education and science policy but, compared to Perry’s and the Tea Party’s pronouncements on other topics such as economics, taxation, history and sexual politics, their ignorance of evolutionary science might be overlooked. Except that a politician’s attitude to evolution, however peripheral it might seem, is a surprisingly apposite litmus test of more general inadequacy. This is because unlike, say, string theory where scientific opinion is genuinely divided, there is about the fact of evolution no doubt at all. Evolution is a fact, as securely established as any in science, and he who denies it betrays woeful ignorance and lack of education, which likely extends to other fields as well. Evolution is not some recondite backwater of science, ignorance of which would be pardonable. It is the stunningly simple but elegant explanation of our very existence and the existence of every living creature on the planet. Thanks to Darwin, we now understand why we are here and why we are the way we are. You cannot be ignorant of evolution and be a cultivated and adequate citizen of today.

Darwin’s idea is arguably the most powerful ever to occur to a human mind. The power of a scientific theory may be measured as a ratio: the number of facts that it explains divided by the number of assumptions it needs to postulate in order to do the explaining. A theory that assumes most of what it is trying to explain is a bad theory. That is why the creationist or ‘intelligent design’ theory is such a rotten theory.

What any theory of life needs to explain is functional complexity. Complexity can be measured as statistical improbability, and living things are statistically improbable in a very particular direction: the direction of functional efficiency. The body of a bird is not just a prodigiously complicated machine, with its trillions of cells - each one in itself a marvel of miniaturized complexity - all conspiring together to make muscle or bone, kidney or brain. Its interlocking parts also conspire to make it good for something - in the case of most birds, good for flying. An aero-engineer is struck dumb with admiration for the bird as flying machine: its feathered flight-surfaces and ailerons sensitively adjusted in real time by the on-board computer which is the brain; the breast muscles, which are the engines, the ligaments, tendons and lightweight bony struts all exactly suited to the task. And the whole machine is immensely improbable in the sense that, if you randomly shook up the parts over and over again, never in a million years would they fall into the right shape to fly like a swallow, soar like a vulture, or ride the oceanic up-draughts like a wandering albatross. Any theory of life has to explain how the laws of physics can give rise to a complex flying machine like a bird or a bat or a pterosaur, a complex swimming machine like a tarpon or a dolphin, a complex burrowing machine like a mole, a complex climbing machine like a monkey, or a complex thinking machine like a person.

Darwin explained all of this with one brilliantly simple idea - natural selection, driving gradual evolution over immensities of geological time. His is a good theory because of the huge ratio of what it explains (all the complexity of life) divided by what it needs to assume (simply the nonrandom survival of hereditary information through many generations). The rival theory to explain the functional complexity of life - creationism - is about as bad a theory as has ever been proposed. What it postulates (an intelligent designer) is even more complex, even more statistically improbable than what it explains. In fact it is such a bad theory it doesn’t deserve to be called a theory at all, and it certainly doesn’t deserve to be taught alongside evolution in science classes.

The simplicity of Darwin’s idea, then, is a virtue for three reasons. First, and most important, it is the signature of its immense power as a theory, when compared with the mass of disparate facts that it explains - everything about life including our own existence. Second, it makes it easy for children to understand (in addition to the obvious virtue of being true!), which means that it could be taught in the early years of school. And finally, it makes it extremely beautiful, one of the most beautiful ideas anyone ever had as well as arguably the most powerful. To die in ignorance of its elegance, and power to explain our own existence, is a tragic loss, comparable to dying without ever having experienced great music, great literature, or a beautiful sunset.

There are many reasons to vote against Rick Perry. His fatuous stance on the teaching of evolution in schools is perhaps not the first reason that springs to mind. But maybe it is the most telling litmus test of the other reasons, and it seems to apply not just to him but, lamentably, to all the likely contenders for the Republican nomination. The ‘evolution question’ deserves a prominent place in the list of questions put to candidates in interviews and public debates during the course of the coming election.

Richard Dawkins wrote this response to Governor Perry for On Faith, the Washington Post’s forum for news and opinion on religion and politics.
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

Anti-intellectualism is a serious problem among the right and has been since Reagan was president. Watching people criticize Obama because he's too smart or his speeches are too professorial makes me die a little inside. There is an impetus to keep people uneducated and dumb though; they are easier to manipulate and it is not difficult to pound ideals into them through repetition. Kind of like how you train a dog.

You only have to read this forum and other ones to see this type of behavior. People have strong opinions about conservative ideals but are incapable of putting their opinions into words, so they just repeat themselves or try to be witty and say things like "wow your post was really long and I don't have time to read it!" They indicate that super rich people shouldn't have to pay taxes because they are job creators but are unable to explain why paying income tax translates into the company they work for being unable to hire. They reject hard science for faith-based ideology that even the catholic church does not refute. Stupidity and ignorance is valued among these types of people because it makes their lives easier and they identify with people who are equally stupid.
User avatar
Avestan
Almost 1337
Almost 1337
Posts: 905
Joined: July 4, 2002, 12:45 am
Location: Palo Alto, CA

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by Avestan »

I consider myself an intellectual conservative :)

So is Romney.
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Batshit Insane 2012

Post by kyoukan »

You vote for a political party that supports taxing you to death so billionaires and massive megacorps that don't give a shit about you hardly have to pay and and you consider yourself an intellectual? Really?
Post Reply