The photos of the "crowds" at the tank parade remind me of when Bill Hicks would come on stage in an almost-empty club, scan the room slowly, and announce "I've had more people in bed than this" ...
When the president sends a cabinet member on TV to announce "We are using the military to liberate an American city from its elected leaders," where do you go from there. What is left to say. The idea of that being anything short of a near-universal "Wait, what the fuck is going on" moment proves how far we've backslid.
This is from 2022 but it was absolutely right. The practiced buffoonery of Trump 1, all the "just kiddings" and "seriously but not literallys" absolutely succeeded in desensitizing people who are hardly paying any attention to the harder stuff they always intended to do next. ...
The basic fallacy in chasing votes by being "tough on immigration" is that the modal American's position on the issue is "Deport the Bad ones and keep the Good ones," and they alone know who is which, and that simply does not translate into workable policy. So this kind of gestapo stuff horrifies some of the same people who cheered when Trump promised to do it. There are true sociopaths who love this, but "No, I meant only the BAD immigrants! Not my coworker/friend/neighbor!" is as likely a reaction as enthusiasm. You cannot do immigration policy that satisfies these people because what they want is nonsensical.
So by the time center-left parties fully commit to chasing the far right by "getting tough" on immigration, the backlash has already begun to build and they walk right into it. "I thought you people wanted this!" No, they want something impossible and convinced themselves they'd could have it - the "eat whatever you want AND lose weight!" of immigration policies.
It is hard to grasp but large masses of Americans are both racist/xenophobic AND not racist/xenophobic enough to applaud what Trump is doing. It's goldilocks shit, they want a level of racism/xenophobia calibrated exactly to their personal preferences, and you just can't make that policy. Don't try. ...
AP: Trump extends olive branch, invites Musk to White House cellar to taste some brand new amontillado ...
The Man, The Myth says:
I'll look forward to it. I'm not sure what bb was talking about in the last post. Shit I don't want to have Republicans win… I do concur with whoever it was in the last posts who commented about the lurching of different ideologies/parties every 2 years. See you tomorrow at some point.
HoosierPoli says:
One of my professors said, "I used to invite all my grad students over to watch the election, but I tend to get so angry that it's best I'm not around other people".
Neal Deesit says:
Dick jokes? Is Cheney running for something?
eau says:
@hoosier – one of your professors was The Hulk?
Cool…
eau says:
@Neal – Is there anything left to say after the headline "Dick Unloads in Hunting Buddy's Face"?
Can't remember where I read that, but i do remember that I very nearly soiled myself.
Mrs. Chili says:
I'll check in. I'm good at swearing…
anotherbozo says:
Oh goodie, I'll be here. Something about Wolf Blitzer gets me swearing before I've even heard what he wants to say…
marismae says:
Since my daughter will not allow us to watch anything other then Nick Jr… I'll be here. Lurking, probably :)
Expatriesse says:
I'll be over here…weeping for my country. I haven't felt this depressed before an election since 2004.
Parrotlover77 says:
THIS!!!!! http://www.whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/
And then vote.
Chris says:
I would just like to state that I voted against Mike Pence a.k.a. giant douche today: it was one of the greatest moments in my life.
Monkey Business says:
So, who's joining me for a drink to mourn the death of the Republic tonight?
glf says:
@Parrotlover77: checked out the website. It was great to have it all listed in one place. Now I know why the republicans/teabaggers hate Obama so much – look at all the things he's done for the most vulnerable and needy. Compared to all that "socialism", guess he's done very little (other than the bailouts) to enrich those who are already rich or the wannabe rich.
Elder Futhark says:
A little ray of hope and sunshine. What the hell? Those who enjoy the movie Idiocracy should perhaps take a moment to realize that, fortunately for us, IQ is only partially determined by genetics. Otherwise, we'd still be banging rocks together and catching our fur on fire.
If you want to see real Idiocracy in action, go read a history book. Just one fucking psychotic after another. Just an undending parade of massive dipshittery as far as the eye can encompass. Sargon, Alexander the Great, Xerxes, Caesar, Charlemagne, Napolean, Hitler, Stalin, Douggie MacArthur, Bush, jr, Evil Cyborg Killbot Cheney etc.etc. you name it.
As the youngsters say, not only epic fail, but stupendous colossal galactic fail. On the part of not only them, but the glorified chimp stooges and cronies and all the gappy-toothed, squinch-brained, narrow-pated populi that put up with their shit.
Old Jimmy Madison may not quite have been Wile. E. Coyote supergenius smart, but he was at least savvy enough to realize that the greatest enemy of democracy is the people. tha tis why things are set up to avoid, if possible, not the tyranny of government (they were the govt) but the tyranny of the majority.
The cool thing is, since the universe itself changes from day to day, and so is automatically Liberal, the majority also changes.
that is our only hope. Things change. Whether you want them to or not. It is inevitable. I do not count on youngsters for change. I count on them to keep their balance.
Now stay the fuck off my lawn!
ts46064 says:
Chris
"I would just like to state that I voted against Mike Pence a.k.a. giant douche today: it was one of the greatest moments in my life."
What he said.
John says:
I dunno about the swearing so much, Ed. I already know Republicans are going to win a number of seats because they've waged a successful campaign of "Democrats didn't fix the problems we caused in two years, therefore they are bad". That doesn't surprise me.
The only races that would make me swear would be cases like Delaware and Nevada. And in those cases, it's not so much swearing as leaving a country that is clearly doomed with no hope of salvage.
ts46064 says:
@John
Add Wisconsin to the list.
Monkey Business says:
@Eldar Futhark:
We're pretty much the only species on Earth to evolutionarily fail forward.
But hey, what do you expect from the retarded offspring of five monkeys having buttsex with a fish-squirrel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NhRZ1hK7A4
J. Dryden says:
I did my part. My in-laws and I don't…get along. Yet they live in Nevada. And so I phoned up and begged and cajoled them into voting for, as I was forced to put it, "the much, much lesser of two evils." Seriously, watch what happens to the hairs on the back of your neck when you read this:
Senator Sharon Angle
Spooky, wasn't it?
comrade x says:
Apparently swing voters are going to throw the dems out… like they threw out the Republicans two years earlier.
The more people are stupid, the more things stay the same.
Hobbes says:
Voted for Russ Feingold this morning. Here's hoping many of my fellow Wisconsinites did the same, or that bottle of wine on my kitchen counter is going to be gone come tomorrow morning.
anotherbozo says:
Maybe the special session here tonight deserves a name. ("The Ed Show' is taken) How about one of the following?
"Ship of Fools" – no lifeboats, might as well enjoy the ride down
"Confederacy of Dunces" – the US of A
"Parliament of Whores" – Congress, more specifically
OK, I'm not a wit. other suggestions?
Fifth Dentist says:
Fuck, I think I'll just start that fucking swearing shit now. (I'm working so I can't start drinking and yelling at the TV yet).