Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[lineygoblue]

China got caught in its research to use viruses as a weapon.

[Hannibal]

I just looked at Kevin McCarthy's favorable/unfavorable rating -- it's about halfway between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

[Jeff Buchanan]

A NYT's piece (consider the source) got all whiney about a new and potentially "do nothing Congress" held "hostage" by an extreme right Republican caucus. According to the article, R's want to reduce the size of the US government and the spendthrift ways of the Biden administration and spending bills coming from his previous D control of the House.

OMG! traditional conservative values have now become the "extreme, radical right."

I don't always agree with Hannibal about the trends in America that have been fashioned by the left. But it's hard for me to dismiss them entirely. Unfortunately, the spread of leftist ideologies in America is due to R weakness in numbers which would allow conservatives to stand up and oppose instead of give in to them. The cause of that weakness in numbers is in large measure the result of otherwise rational conservative voters flocking to Independent or D candidates as they reject candidates for federal office that campaign on unpopular populist movement defined by Trumpism and election deniers.

Like Hanni, I'm no longer convinced the trend is reversible.

[CGVT]

I'm no longer convinced the trend is reversible

Good

[froot loops]

A NYT's piece (consider the source) got all whiney about a new and potentially "do nothing Congress" held "hostage" by an extreme right Republican caucus. According to the article, R's want to reduce the size of the US government and the spendthrift ways of the Biden administration and spending bills coming from his previous D control of the House.

OMG! traditional conservative values have now become the "extreme, radical right."

I don't always agree with Hannibal about the trends in America that have been fashioned by the left. But it's hard for me to dismiss them entirely. Unfortunately, the spread of leftist ideologies in America is due to R weakness in numbers which would allow conservatives to stand up and oppose instead of give in to them. The cause of that weakness in numbers is in large measure the result of otherwise rational conservative voters flocking to Independent or D candidates as they reject candidates for federal office that campaign on unpopular populist movement defined by Trumpism and election deniers.

Like Hanni, I'm no longer convinced the trend is reversible.

The Republicans always talk a much bigger game about reducing spending when they don't have power. When they have power, they don't do shit. But as long as guys like Jeff Buchanan believe they are sincere in reducing spending, they will always get his vote.

Just a reminder, Trump won in 2016 by pledging not to touch medicare and social security. He dropkicked the unpopular parts of the Romney/Ryan agenda and got Obama voters to cross over. It's why he won.

[Mike]

Good

Yeah, individual liberty and American values are highly overrated.

[Hannibal]

Yeah, individual liberty and American values are highly overrated.

Woke is a religion and you can't argue logically with these people. You're living in a theocracy now. Left Wing nut cases have occupied the country and they are eating away at it like maggots on a fucking corpse.

[Da Geezer]

"Cisheteropatriachal" is a made up word with no real meaning, just like the theories on which it is based. Maybe these clearly very smart people should focus on language first before they try to tackle math's inherent racism.

Anything that can be accurately measured is racist.

[THE_WIZARD_]

That was a racist post Geezer.

[Hannibal]

A NYT's piece (consider the source) got all whiney about a new and potentially "do nothing Congress" held "hostage" by an extreme right Republican caucus. According to the article, R's want to reduce the size of the US government and the spendthrift ways of the Biden administration and spending bills coming from his previous D control of the House..

This is a good window into the Left's world view. They genuinely have no idea where the Overton Window is and where they lie on the political spectrum. If we returned fully to the governance of 1995, it would be like Nazi Germany again for them. They exist in echo chambers where opposing viewpoints are completely silenced or ignored. This is also a great window into how the Left has been winning. They ram their Left Wing kook ideas down everyone's throat, and then declare victory and that they are on the "right side of history". Once they have established a new normal, yesterday's governance is considered "facism". Narrative control is hugely important.

Newsweek did a poll a couple of years back on CRT. CRT was underwater in its "approval rating" by 18 points. Homeschooling has skyrocketed because people around the country are sick and tired of their kids getting indoctrinated with Left Wing bullshit. But banning CRT is considered Right Wing "Extremisim" So is homeschooling kids for moral/religious reasons. Homeschooling has more than tripled in the past decade. You would think that the people doing the public schooling would partake in a little bit of introspection and self evaluation because of this trend. But instead they just double down.

Another outfit did a poll on BurnLootMurder in late 2021 and they found that the country is split essentially down the middle on the movement (and that's with the media heaping massive amounts of praise on hem). Yet both parties almost to a man do nothing but praise them, and so does all of academia and Corporate America. Not a single Republican in Washington has the courage to speak out against them, lest they be branded with the dreaded "R" word. Police departments took a knee for them all over the country while our cities burned and they did nothing. Mitt Romney even marched with them. And BLM is an organization that was literally founded by Communists and has "ending the nuclear family" as one of its goals.

Support for Black Lives Matter movement is declining, according to new poll (nbcnews.com)

Voter photo ID has massively overwhelming support among the population (80%!), yet it is opposed by 100% of Democrats. Opposing photo voter ID is actual extremism. Abortion bans would have more popular support than opposition to voter photo ID. Let that sink in for a minute.

There are tons of issues like this where the Republicans could easily wield a mandate but don't. Then if somebody tries to primary one of these RINOs, the party establishment attacks them like a hive of angry bees. Then after they sabotage their campaigns, they smugly say "see, we told you so!" The real hostage situation are assholes like Mitch McConnell and Ronna McDaniel holding the party hostage -- and they'll execute a hostage if you dare nominate somebody who actually wants to represent Conservative America. What you saw last week was that 10% of the Republicans who actually want to represent their voter base finally saying "enough". But it's only 10% Even Marjorie Taylor-Green went RINO when the chips were down.

Lack of Republican courage is why so many of us are excited to see what Ron DeSantis will do. It appears that he actually listens to his constituents. He's considered "Right Wing', but the funny thing is, he's basically a centrist on most positions -- but he refuses to cave in to the Left on stuff that used to be considered complete insanity. I've cooled on my enthusiasm for Ron lately though as he has been doing some ominous signalling. We'll see.

If you value the founding principles of the country and you want to live in an economically prosperous country with abundant liberty and thriving culture, then you might as well just accept that you have no representation in Washington. We're becoming a failed state. In three years, we'll hit the 250 year life expectancy of a Republic and we're right on schedule to collapse. It might not happen in my lifetime but it will happen this century. And it's going to be incredibly ugly. Picture Yugoslavia combined with Weimar Germany. People need to flush the mentality that we are somehow immune to history. We aren't.

[Jeff Buchanan]

We're becoming a failed state.

Great post, Hanni, except the line above. The momentum of the classic American Republic - although it may be under assault - may carry us through the current mess. I know you very likely think, "not this time." I'm not prepared to accept that view quiet yet.

The US government continues to remain both functional and legitimate. IMO, it is far from "becoming a failed state." I do agree with you that trends in some areas of the American democracy are troubling. "Defund the police" for example got some traction but trials of it in liberal states were quickly rejected by voters. Trends in public and private education are also troubling but none of this is particularly new - for as long as I can recall in modern times, there has been constant bickering over curricula at all levels. OTH, the most troubling trend, and I'm pretty sure we'd agree, is the trends in politically motivated violence - burning and looting under the direction of radical elements within the leftist BLM movement and the events of January 6th spurred on by radical elements of the right are examples. But the implications as they relate to the life of the republic, IMO, have waned, YMMV.

By some definitions, failed states can't provide security (external and internal), basic services and legitimacy. The US remains pretty strong wrt all of those qualifiers. Moreover, IMO, it isn't possible to relate the fall of the Roman Empire to the undermining trends present in the American Republic. There is some similarity in social trends that involve political violence and wealth distribution but the circumstances present in Rome and those present in modern day America are vastly different.

[Mike]

Hanni, I agree with your overall assessment of the direction of the country, and by extension the West in general. But I don't think we'll ever find agreement on why the Rs underperformed expectations so badly this year. The Trumpy candidates did poorly. There's not much debate to be had there. You argue that they did poorly because they didn't receive adequate support from the GOP. I think there were just several kooky candidates in key races. At the end of the day, candidates have to win the middle to win. Or at least make inroads there.

Mastriano dragged down the Rs in Pennsylvania. Dixon did the same in Michigan. Walker is a bumbling buffoon. R's like DeSantis and Kemp who are actually more concerned with governing than being a fucking celebrity were rewarded with landslide victories. Thank god the election to replace Stabenow wasn't this past November.

[iam416]

Better to be ideologically pure than win.

[Hannibal]

Hanni, I agree with your overall assessment of the direction of the country, and by extension the West in general. But I don't think we'll ever find agreement on why the Rs underperformed expectations so badly this year. The Trumpy candidates did poorly. There's not much debate to be had there. You argue that they did poorly because they didn't receive adequate support from the GOP. I think there were just several kooky candidates in key races. At the end of the day, candidates have to win the middle to win. Or at least make inroads there.

Mastriano dragged down the Rs in Pennsylvania. Dixon did the same in Michigan. Walker is a bumbling buffoon. R's like DeSantis and Kemp who are actually more concerned with governing than being a fucking celebrity were rewarded with landslide victories. Thank god the election to replace Stabenow wasn't this past November.

Walker was awful, but let's not pretend that he only won his nomination because of Trump's endorsement. He beat the nearest guy by 55 points in the primary. That was both a Trumpian and a party failure.

Candidates can't win in a vacuum. They need the support of the machine. Right now the Republican machine is thoroughly broken. Con Inc wants cuckservatism. Anyone who breaks from this is going to look like a "bad candidate" (e.g. Kari Lake, Blake Masters).

You blame "kooky candidates" for losses. How come the Democrats can win with kooky candidates? They don't get kookier than John Fetterman. His political positions are miles further from the Pennsylvania center than Oz's are. He is a lifelong lazy Socialist bum who is full on woke and has the same poltical positions as AOC and Bernie Sanders. On top of that, he had major health issues that precluded him from campaigning or doing fund raisers. How did he win? If the only answer that you have is "Trump" then you're going to be very disappointed when Trump is finally gone and the Republican Party still can't get anything done.

[Hannibal]

Better to be ideologically pure than win.

Oz was anything but ideologically pure. Maybe he would have won more of Trump's base if he had been. I guess we'll never know.