US Elections 2012 Part II: The Conventions, Debates and Election results

[totoum]

Originally Posted by flying ^

25) Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography, and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.

I like how you post stuff like this when you yourself visit websites such a Sankaku complex

[FDW]

Originally Posted by Theo

At the core of this, the Republicans have to learn in order to win. We sure as hell haven't been seeing that since and we won't expect it in 2016.

Lesse we got: Newt Gingrich (heh), Rick Santorum, (heheh) Herman Cain(Hah!), Bachmann (Hahah!), Rick Perry(HAHAHAHAHA!), RON PAUL (HUEHUEHUEUHHUEHUEEHUEUHUE)

I suppose Bobby Jindal or Christie or someone else could give it a shot.

Jindal I can see running, and he has the advantage of having largely stayed far far away from the 2012 clusterfuck known as Republican Primaries.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Theo

Lesse we got: Newt Gingrich (heh), Rick Santorum, (heheh) Herman Cain(Hah!), Bachmann (Hahah!), Rick Perry(HAHAHAHAHA!), RON PAUL (HUEHUEHUEUHHUEHUEEHUEUHUE)

I suppose Bobby Jindal or Christie or someone else could give it a shot.

Newt should probably retire - to his moon colony, Santorum should stick to thumbing the bible in his sweater, Herman Cain should think about a career switch to comedian, Bachmann....should join Newt on the moon, or better yet be strapped on a probe to chase down Voyager 1, the farther from Earth the better. Perry can go hunting or do whatever, as long as it doesn't involve him talking, and therefore putting his foot in his mouth.

Ron Paul has some good ideas, though many would never be accepted by the general population today, but I applaud his integrity and character to keep to his ideals. The one GOP candidate I really wanted to see to more this time around was Huntsman, too bad he, like Ron Paul, was too sane to make it through the primary.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by kyp275

The one GOP candidate I really wanted to see to more this time around was Huntsman, too bad he, like Ron Paul, was too sane to make it through the primary.

Agreed about both,while I wouldn't vote for him I do really respect Ron Paul and wish Huntsman will return and he'd be listened to more next time.

[flying ^]

Originally Posted by Theo

At the core of this, the Republicans have to learn in order to win. We sure as hell haven't been seeing that since and we won't expect it in 2016.

Lesse we got: Newt Gingrich (heh), Rick Santorum, (heheh) Herman Cain(Hah!), Bachmann (Hahah!), Rick Perry(HAHAHAHAHA!), RON PAUL (HUEHUEHUEUHHUEHUEEHUEUHUE)

How to make GOP more palatable?

I have it envisioned!

It doesn't matter who they run, they MUST ACCEPT ABORTION as part of the republican platform and be proactive in minority communities.
Get on board with that, they have a fight with the d's. To win an election this day and age, you have to be willing to kill the unborn and play with &.... maybe... give free stuff and phones to certain demographic(s)

[Vexx]

Here's a fascinating graph that shows some things have more connection in history than one might think. It wasn't that long ago ... it isn't reflecting racism so much as the deep class society in historical slave regions -- the idea of aristocracy over peasants is deeply embedded into the culture of the South and the midwest. Crap, I should know - I spent the first half of my life there (Texas).

[Sugetsu]

^ Are you guys convinced that Flying is trolling you yet?

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

^ Are you guys convinced that Flying is trolling you yet?

It is impossible to tell. I once visited a GOP forum and the people there are 10 times crazier than Flying. There is no difference between trolling replies and the modern GOP.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

It is impossible to tell. I once visited a GOP forum and the people there are 10 times crazier than Flying. There is no difference between trolling replies and the modern GOP.

Aye, you don't want to hear the crazy noises I'm getting on FB from some friends of friends o.O

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Here's a fascinating graph that shows some things have more connection in history than one might think. It wasn't that long ago ... it isn't reflecting racism so much as the deep class society in historical slave regions -- the idea of aristocracy over peasants is deeply embedded into the culture of the South and the midwest. Crap, I should know - I spent the first half of my life there (Texas).

<snip>

Wait, so you mean the GOP likes to enslave people?

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Wait, so you mean the GOP likes to enslave people?

only lolis

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Here's a fascinating graph that shows some things have more connection in history than one might think. It wasn't that long ago ... it isn't reflecting racism so much as the deep class society in historical slave regions -- the idea of aristocracy over peasants is deeply embedded into the culture of the South and the midwest. Crap, I should know - I spent the first half of my life there (Texas).

Careful with that interpretation though, Vexx-jijii, I think demographic shifts are starting to transform the United States' old regional loyalties and it will only grow more dramatic in the coming decades.

The electoral college system did after all hide the fact that President's Obama victory this time around is not nearly as large as the electoral college mandate suggests. More importantly, it blatantly hides the observation that, like human gene pools, the differences within a State can be much larger than between States. If anything, the urban-rural divide is more fundamentally true -- "blue" counties tend to be the more urban, sometimes the "only blue county in the state" is the biggest city around -- and more natural, anyway, given comparisons worldwide. For example, this is the Washington Post data for 2008. Notice the red rural counties of California and in the Northeast, the line of "thin" blue going down the Mississippi river valley, Southern Texas urban centers, the heavily contested Virginia, the city of Atlanta in the heart of the South, and so on. Or, indeed, the successful Democratic "flip" of Nevada almost entirely through the highly populated, ethnically diverse Clark County (i.e. Las Vegas) alone.

So while Americans still self-identify by State, the growing mobility of the American population is starting to seriously disrupt this identification. Are you Texan or Californian if you were born in Compton but now live and work in Austin, especially if you voted Democratic this time and is a pro-gay marriage atheist? Why is Virginia, the historic Queen of the South, now a heavily contested swing state?

[aohige]

Well, I can't speak for other states, but for the majority, Texas hasn't changed a lick in the twenty years I've known her.
With the exception of Austin.

[Solace]

None of my schools ever used the version of the pledge that included God. Here's what we recited:

"I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America,
And to the Republic, for which it stands,
One nation, indivisible, for liberty and justice, for all."

Now there were some complaints about enforcing nationalism in schools, but God was never included in them. We did have discussions in class about the pledge, of course. Was it right? Should children do it? What does it promote? What about separation of church and state?

As much as I complained as a kid, I'm quite glad most of my teachers forced me to think about the world I lived in.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

the differences within a State can be much larger than between States. If anything, the urban-rural divide is more fundamentally true -- "blue" counties tend to be the more urban, sometimes the "only blue county in the state" is the biggest city around -- and more natural, anyway, given comparisons worldwide. For example, this is the Washington Post data for 2008. Notice the red rural counties of California and in the Northeast, the line of "thin" blue going down the Mississippi river valley, Southern Texas urban centers, the heavily contested Virginia, the city of Atlanta in the heart of the South, and so on. Or, indeed, the successful Democratic "flip" of Nevada almost entirely through the highly populated, ethnically diverse Clark County (i.e. Las Vegas) alone.

Completely agree , not as fancy but here's the 2012 version,Obama took Ohio and Pennsylvania but coloring them all blue is misleading,the people in rural areas still voted Romney and those aren't former slave states.

I experienced this when I lived in California,at first I lived in the quite liberal Marin County (this year Obama got 74 % of the vote) to the conservative Calaveras County (this year Romney got 57% of the vote).

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Solace

None of my schools ever used the version of the pledge that included God. Here's what we recited:

"I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America,
And to the Republic, for which it stands,
One nation, indivisible, for liberty and justice, for all."

Now there were some complaints about enforcing nationalism in schools, but God was never included in them. We did have discussions in class about the pledge, of course. Was it right? Should children do it? What does it promote? What about separation of church and state?

As much as I complained as a kid, I'm quite glad most of my teachers forced me to think about the world I lived in.

Now, education system promoting patrioism I don't have a problem with.
A citizen of a country is encouraged to be loyal to their nation, and if the nation strays, it is the duty of those living there to practice their rights to correct it.
Obviously this isn't the same as blind nationalism, which a lot of sensitive people jump to conclusion to.

Religion is an entirely different problem, a person may be a citizen, but not forced to a specific religious belief. The religious right wants the Church to be central focal to morality, but they never seem to get the point that ther church is not necessary the same as others.

[Sheba]

As a frenchman who have been observing this election from afar, I can grasp how could the GOP possibly lost. And I think it is "almost" for the same reason as why Sarkozy's party did. What Sarkozy's party did over five years had been spreading hate and fear, dividing the french instead of trying to unite them.

That hate and fear spreading by the GoP against the Obamacare, the gays, Obama himself, the theory of evolution, etc, ultimately have been a disservice against the GoP, which, in the world, have been percieved as some kind of obscurantist party that only works for the richest.

Not to deny a certain charisma of Obama, but in the end, a part of the election had been a reaction against fear and hate mongering when people want speech about union and hope.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Careful with that interpretation though, Vexx-jijii, I think demographic shifts are starting to transform the United States' old regional loyalties and it will only grow more dramatic in the coming decades.

The electoral college system did after all hide the fact that President's Obama victory this time around is not nearly as large as the electoral college mandate suggests. More importantly, it blatantly hides the observation that, like human gene pools, the differences within a State can be much larger than between States. If anything, the urban-rural divide is more fundamentally true -- "blue" counties tend to be the more urban, sometimes the "only blue county in the state" is the biggest city around -- and more natural, anyway, given comparisons worldwide. For example, this is the Washington Post data for 2008. Notice the red rural counties of California and in the Northeast, the line of "thin" blue going down the Mississippi river valley, Southern Texas urban centers, the heavily contested Virginia, the city of Atlanta in the heart of the South, and so on. Or, indeed, the successful Democratic "flip" of Nevada almost entirely through the highly populated, ethnically diverse Clark County (i.e. Las Vegas) alone.

So while Americans still self-identify by State, the growing mobility of the American population is starting to seriously disrupt this identification. Are you Texan or Californian if you were born in Compton but now live and work in Austin, especially if you voted Democratic this time and is a pro-gay marriage atheist? Why is Virginia, the historic Queen of the South, now a heavily contested swing state?

I threw the map up somewhat in jest in response to the recent nonsense posts. I'm a 7th gen Texan who moved to Oregon in 1992 (after 35 years or a bit less in Texas). But even though there's a lot of mobility in the US, the local cultures are hard to sway. In Texas and the South, there's still a very heavy invisible class structure, more noticeable outside the major urban areas. It has been diminished but pull up to any random family restaurant, gas station, truck stop, or church in a small town and you'll start to notice some of the "old culture" lurking about. It hits me in the face every time I go back.

Here on the West Coast, the atmosphere is quite different. There's still a lot of "us them" but it is arranged differently.

However, I completely agree with the "metro-retro" problem (there used to be a website that analyzed the cultural divide that way but I can't find it any more).

[GDB]

Originally Posted by james0246

plainly, there was no version of this episode in which Obama actually lost the election

I don't know, they probably had an alternate ending if he had lost where they don't burn the votes.

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

B-but....but....I love ALL of those things!!


Lelouch so totally IS.

You might be in trouble then

Go google online and read about what conservative Christians say about

Harry-Indoctrinate all of us to witchcraft
Dungeon or Dragons (God father of all RPG)-Lead us to Satan Worship)
Anime-See above
Other argument include idolship. You like Kirito is technically betraying yourself from Christ.

So, (Pitchfork)