Political Randomness

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Re: Political Randomness

Post by ImLawBoy »

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:20 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:56 pm I think he has a better chance of it than your typical Republican, since he'll be representing a deep red state that really despises Trump.
I think "really despises" is probably a bit strong, tbh. Trump clashes strongly with LDS values, but he still has a ton of support simply because there's an R next to his name.

I never thought I'd see the day where I'm relieved that I'd be represented by Mitt Romney in any capacity. Yet, given the alternative (Hatch, or worse), the fact that Romney seems mostly sane (even if I disagree with him on nearly everything), and his lean towards an anti-Trump stance (or at least lip service to it), I find myself in that camp. It's really just...weird.
You'd know the attitude in Utah better than me - sounds like I was overstating it. I still think he will have more leeway to resist Trump than a Republican from, say, Mississippi.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Fitzy »

Defiant wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:50 pm Based on the "I cut, you choose" method of splitting some cake:

There’s another way to solve gerrymandering. It’s as simple as cake.

The first party divides the state into eight districts (in a way that satisfies all legal requirements) and hands the map to the second party. The second party freezes one of the eight districts drawn by the first party and then divides the unfrozen part of the state into seven new districts. The second party then returns the map to the first party, which then freezes one of the seven new districts, draws six more and hands it back to the second party. This process continues until, after seven rounds, all eight districts have been frozen.

Why is the “I cut, you freeze” protocol fair to both parties? Intuitively, neither party is able to unilaterally shape districts, as each party can only freeze districts drawn by the other party. In fact, we establish mathematically that this protocol can prevent one party from packing a targeted group of voters into a district. This property holds when both parties employ their best possible strategies, which might make use of sophisticated algorithms and detailed information about voters.
The article does point out that it has problems with states with two (or very few) districts (and probably also for the last two districts of any state. But it does look like a reasonable solution (at least, to solve the problem of preventing one party or another from biasing the map to a large degree, anyway)
This is how my brother and I ate pizza growing up, is this seriously where we are in our political climate?
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by El Guapo »

ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:33 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:20 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:56 pm I think he has a better chance of it than your typical Republican, since he'll be representing a deep red state that really despises Trump.
I think "really despises" is probably a bit strong, tbh. Trump clashes strongly with LDS values, but he still has a ton of support simply because there's an R next to his name.

I never thought I'd see the day where I'm relieved that I'd be represented by Mitt Romney in any capacity. Yet, given the alternative (Hatch, or worse), the fact that Romney seems mostly sane (even if I disagree with him on nearly everything), and his lean towards an anti-Trump stance (or at least lip service to it), I find myself in that camp. It's really just...weird.
You'd know the attitude in Utah better than me - sounds like I was overstating it. I still think he will have more leeway to resist Trump than a Republican from, say, Mississippi.


A much lower percentage of Utah Republicans voted for Trump than elsewhere, although still most of them.

Bottom line being that there's a much stronger coalition for anti-Trump Republicanism in Utah than elsewhere (combining anti-Trump Republicans with independents and moderate democrats), so being hostile to Trump is at least less of a political difficulty for Senator Romney than other Republican senators. Will that be enough, who knows.

The other unknown is what exactly Romney's long-term ambitions are. Does he still aspire to run for President? If so, would he try to prepare himself as an anti-Trump candidate (and bank on Trump collapsing / getting impeached within the next few years), or does he want to leave open the possibility of running as a successor to Trump? If he doesn't aspire to be president, is he content being Utah senator for the rest of his career? Does he aspire to shape the direction of the Republican Party more broadly?

ALSO: North Carolina Republicans are out-crazying even South Carolina Republicans, which is no small feat.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »

El Guapo wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:30 pm The other unknown is what exactly Romney's long-term ambitions are. Does he still aspire to run for President? If so, would he try to prepare himself as an anti-Trump candidate (and bank on Trump collapsing / getting impeached within the next few years), or does he want to leave open the possibility of running as a successor to Trump? If he doesn't aspire to be president, is he content being Utah senator for the rest of his career? Does he aspire to shape the direction of the Republican Party more broadly?
The Republican party is still so pro-Trump that there's no way an openly anti-Trump candidate will gain their enthusiasm. If Trump wants 2020's nomination, it's his. If he declines to run, the GOP's best bet is Pence, who can claim to have been part of the MAGA revolution while subtly implying that he's more conservative than Trump knew how to be.

So Romney's earliest chance at the presidency will be 2024, when he'll again be running against an incumbent Dem who succeeded a disastrous Republican. Only this time he'll be 77 years old. (Romney is actually older than Hillary Clinton.)

The senate it is.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Isgrimnur »

Did you ever hear the tragedy of Senator Plagueis The Wise?
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by El Guapo »

Holman wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:41 pm
El Guapo wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:30 pm The other unknown is what exactly Romney's long-term ambitions are. Does he still aspire to run for President? If so, would he try to prepare himself as an anti-Trump candidate (and bank on Trump collapsing / getting impeached within the next few years), or does he want to leave open the possibility of running as a successor to Trump? If he doesn't aspire to be president, is he content being Utah senator for the rest of his career? Does he aspire to shape the direction of the Republican Party more broadly?
The Republican party is still so pro-Trump that there's no way an openly anti-Trump candidate will gain their enthusiasm. If Trump wants 2020's nomination, it's his. If he declines to run, the GOP's best bet is Pence, who can claim to have been part of the MAGA revolution while subtly implying that he's more conservative than Trump knew how to be.

So Romney's earliest chance at the presidency will be 2024, when he'll again be running against an incumbent Dem who succeeded a disastrous Republican. Only this time he'll be 77 years old. (Romney is actually older than Hillary Clinton.)

The senate it is.
The presidential option would really be only on the tail end of what might happen with Trump and investigations of him - like, things go really south and he winds up in jail, and completely disgraced, before the end of 2019. I don't think that's likely, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility, and Romney may want to set himself up to pick up the pieces if that happens.

If it doesn't, then I agree that Romney would have no shot and I assume that he would be disinclined to try.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »



link

Mitt's gonna Mitt. Disgusting.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Skinypupy »

Idaho lawmaker threatens to call police on students after cancelling meeting.
A state senator shouted Monday at University of Idaho students affiliated with Planned Parenthood, trying to schedule a meeting with him to discuss birth control and sex education.

Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, said he would call law enforcement officials if they attempted to visit his office at the Capitol again.

The students, who had traveled nearly 300 miles from the Moscow campus to participate in a Boise lobbying event, were trying to schedule a meeting with Foreman.

The Republican canceled at the last minute. The students left him a note and condoms in his office before moving on to other scheduled meetings.

The students and Foreman passed in a hallway. He emphatically refused to speak with them in an exchange that several people recorded on camera.

“Abortion is murder. I stand against it,” Foreman says in the short clips, posted on Facebook. “I am a Roman Catholic. I am a conservative Republican. I think what you guys do stinks.”

After a further exchange, Foreman then walks through an office door. “The next time you walk in my office, you’re going to be dealing with ISP,” he says.
A little further down in the article:
Dillon added that the other meetings were peaceful even if the lawmakers disagreed with their talking points.

For example, Dillon said Sen. Bob Nonini, a Republican from Coeur d’Alene, waved a rosary while talking to students about abstinence but did not shout or demean the students.
WTF, Idaho?
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Defiant »

Skinypupy wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:54 am
Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow,
I see what you did there. :ninja:

Edit: or not, since that was in the original article.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Kraken »

Holman wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:02 am

link

Mitt's gonna Mitt. Disgusting.
Regardless of whether he cozies up to Trump or distances himself, there's no question that he will win the support and endorsement of the people of UT, right? If he's a shoe-in he will naturally take the path of no resistance, at least until such time as he sees an advantage to doing otherwise.

That's our Mitt.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »

Flip-flopping on Trump would be Peak Romney.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by LordMortis »

Fox Nation? Is that conceding that watching news that mirrors you political standing is like declaring you are some pseudo tribe rooting for a sports team?
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Rip »

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/ta ... 350963002/
1. Alaska
Taxes paid as pct. of income: 6.5%
Income per capita: $55,646 (8th highest)
Income tax collections per capita: $0 (tied — the lowest)
Property tax collections per capita: $2,639 (4th highest)
General sales tax collections per capita: $0 (tied — the lowest)

2. Wyoming
Taxes paid as pct. of income: 7.1%
Income per capita: $55,116 (9th highest)
Income tax collections per capita: $0 (tied — the lowest)
Property tax collections per capita: $2,109 (9th highest)
General sales tax collections per capita: $1,384 (5th highest)

3. South Dakota
Taxes paid as pct. of income: 7.1%
Income per capita: $47,834 (22nd highest)
Income tax collections per capita: $0 (tied — the lowest)
Property tax collections per capita: $1,301 (24th lowest)
General sales tax collections per capita: $1,131 (9th highest)

4. Tennessee
Taxes paid as pct. of income: 7.3%
Income per capita: $43,326 (18th lowest)
Income tax collections per capita: $46 (8th lowest)
Property tax collections per capita: $830 (7th lowest)
General sales tax collections per capita: $992 (18th highest)

5. Louisiana
Taxes paid as pct. of income: 7.6%
Income per capita: $42,298 (13th lowest)
Income tax collections per capita: $639 (12th lowest)
Property tax collections per capita: $839 (8th lowest)
General sales tax collections per capita: $627 (12th lowest)
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »

Ah. The states best known for American greatness.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Pyperkub »

Don't forget that year-round Alaska residents get an Oil/Gas extraction payment every year (I think it's between 1k-2k/annually). So technically their taxes are a lot lower than that.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Moliere »

D.C. Public School Chief Resigns After Sneaking His Kids Into Top School
The top public school administrator in Washington, D.C., resigned his position Tuesday, four days after it was revealed that he had conspired with another official to place his daughter in the district's highest-performing public high school. In the process, Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson bypassed the rules governing placement of district students in schools outside their own neighborhoods.

The other official, Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles, was forced to resign last week.

Wilson is the second consecutive chancellor to be embroiled in a school placement scandal. Last May, The Washington Post obtained a report from the city's inspector general revealing that his predecessor, Kaya Henderson, had helped influential D.C. officials get their children directly into the most desirable schools by bypassing the lottery system with so-called "discretionary placements." By the time the report became public, Henderson had already left the school system following a five-year stint in the top job.

On one level, this is maddening malfeasance. District residents have now had two consecutive chancellors, both of whom promised to be champions of reform and good governance, caught abusing their positions for personal gain in the same way. Families across the city with many fewer resources than these officials face the school lottery's notoriously long odds every year. Often, it's their only chance to avoid dismally underperforming neighborhood schools. That the people responsible for maintaining and operating that system are apparently unwilling to play by the rules they enforce is inexcusable and grotesque.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Kurth »

Holman wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:49 pm Flip-flopping on Trump would be Peak Romney.
Yep. I don’t hate Romney, but he is the ultimate weather vane. Enduring his time as Governor of MA only to later reject everything he said and did and, honestly, turn on the people of MA during his presidential run was enough to make me sick.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

ICE agents arrest man at immigration status meeting -- which was granted.

ICE is completely reprehensible at this point. The US Government's position is now bifurcated between two agencies. One is that he should be deported and the other granted a green card to live with his husband. Ridiculous, pointless, and cruel.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Moliere »

Earlier that day:



"With @EricGreitens, the people of Missouri have a leader in office focused on returning money to the pockets of taxpayers – not government"
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »


Federal courts reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote:I just saw MO Gov. Eric Greitens being led away in the custody of the St. Louis Sheriff.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Freyland »

Released on his own reconnaissance, I believe the first article said.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »



Ted Cruz at CPAC: "“I think the Democrats are the party of Lisa Simpson, and the Republicans are, happily, the party of Homer and Bart and Maggie and Marge.”

Imagine wanting to be the party of Homer and thinking Lisa was the problem.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Unagi »

And Maggie and Marge are all like, wtf?
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Combustible Lemur »

Holman wrote:

Ted Cruz at CPAC: "“I think the Democrats are the party of Lisa Simpson, and the Republicans are, happily, the party of Homer and Bart and Maggie and Marge.”

Imagine wanting to be the party of Homer and thinking Lisa was the problem.
The irony here is Lisa is the only intelligent fully functioning decent person other than Marge in the family.
A lazy incompetent laborer, with alcoholism, and a tenuous relationship with the law
A wife who enables all the criminality of the family while wagging a finger.
A failure turning to vandalism and bullying
And a drooling welfare queen with dependence issues and an oral fixation.

Poster children for the Republican party.

The Democrat, art practicing, educated, socially conscious, type A, that has a future including public service and leadership

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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Moliere »

Politicians should avoid pop culture references. They generally don't know what they're talking about.

Kind of like Reagan wanting to use Born in the USA as a campaign theme song.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Skinypupy »

So...CPAC seems to be going well.

Immigration panel goes off the rails
As David Bier, a policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute, attempted to lay out research proving that immigrants actually have lower crime rates than native-born Americans, contribute significantly to the economy and are assimilating just as well or better than past generations of immigrants, his fellow panelists derided his statements as “nutty” and angry audience members shouted him down.

“Sweetie, you’re too young to know,” one woman called out as Bier said that the economy has historically done well during periods of high immigration to the United States.

When he noted that the U.S. proportionally takes in very few immigrants and refugees compared to other nations, a man interjected, “You’re a dreamer!” and much of the crowd broke out in applause and jeers.

During a heated question and answer session during the immigration panel, a man from Four Corners, Virginia went on an extended diatribe about a Latino man who once crashed his car in front of his house.

“I had to go down to court to testify, and I was the only white face in the crowd other than the lawyers being paid to translate for these people,” he said. “You can go down to Four Corners Park and see obvious illegal immigrants defecating in the woods, fornicating in the woods, and on and on and on. These people are not the immigrants of the 20s and 30s. They will never be able to get good jobs here and be good citizens. Is that in your study?”
Race debate goes sideways after slavery slur
The session's moderator, K Carl Smith, described himself as a "Frederick Douglass Republican", an audience member interjected. "When Douglass came through slavery … he [wrote] a letter to his former slave master and said: 'I forgive you for all the things you did to me'," Smith said.

From the floor, Scott Terry, pictured, asked: "For giving him shelter and food for all those years?"

After the session, Terry, 30, claimed to the Guardian that he was a direct descendant of former confederate president Jefferson Davis, and that he was "not prepared to throw all my ancestors under the bus".

Asked if he disagreed with slavery, Terry described it as a "complicated issue. I can't make one broad statement that categorically it was evil all the time because that's not true". Asked to clarify his comments about "shelter and food", Terry said: "The slaves couldn't just work without being supplied quarters and all that. And you couldn't just … it's not legal to murder a slave. Slaves even had rights under the old south."
So, it's basically a racist convention then? Got it.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by El Guapo »

Holman wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:17 pm
Federal courts reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote:I just saw MO Gov. Eric Greitens being led away in the custody of the St. Louis Sheriff.
Turns out that this is all the fault of the Jews, just like usual.

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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:47 pm So...CPAC seems to be going well.
So, it's basically a racist convention then? Got it.
Good lord - this stuff is ugly. When Cato is part of the liberal conspiracy you know the wheels have really come off.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Enough »

malchior wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 4:41 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:47 pm So...CPAC seems to be going well.
So, it's basically a racist convention then? Got it.
Good lord - this stuff is ugly. When Cato is part of the liberal conspiracy you know the wheels have really come off.
How about the NRA awarding Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai the “Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award” at CPAC?
The NRA-sponsored award was given to Pai in recognition of months of heavy criticism over his successful push to repeal the agency’s net neutrality rules. Pai led the push to repeal the rules, which were overwhelmingly supported by the public, in December.

"Ajit Pai is the most courageous, heroic person that I know,” said Dan Schneider, the executive director of the American Conservative Union, while introducing the FCC chairman.

“He has received countless death threats. His property has been invaded by the George Soros crowd. He has a family, and his family has been abused in different ways. Chairman Pai, thank you for everything you’ve done."

Pai’s award is a handmade Kentucky long gun, which will be housed in the NRA’s museum in Fairfax, Va.

Previous winners have included Vice President Pence and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by tjg_marantz »

CPAC communications director: we hired Richard Steele because he's black and that was a mistake...
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »

Yesterday the CPAC crowd booed when citizenship naturalization ceremonies were mentioned. They literally booed foreigners becoming American citizens.

Trump has created a white nationalist party, plain and simple. They're not coming back.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Chaz »

Trump didn't create it. He's the culmination of work that's been going on for decades. He's just managed to crystallize it and make them feel like it's now okay to say this stuff out loud.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Isgrimnur »

The Hill
A West Virginia judge dismissed a coal mogul’s defamation lawsuit this week against cable television host John Oliver and HBO.

In a decision dated Wednesday, West Virginia Judge Jeffrey Cramer accepted HBO’s argument that Bob Murray, CEO of coal mining giant Murray Energy Corp., failed to show that Oliver had defamed him according to the law.
...
“The fact that Murray found this speech embarrassing or disagreeable does not remove it from the broad protection of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has stated time and again that the type of speech at issue here — news and commentary about public figures and issues of public importance — ‘occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values, and is entitled to special protection,’ ” the company said in asking the West Virginia judge to dismiss the case.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Jaymann »

Can't wait to see Oliver's mockery of the lawsuit.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by malchior »

Chaz wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2018 10:54 am Trump didn't create it. He's the culmination of work that's been going on for decades. He's just managed to crystallize it and make them feel like it's now okay to say this stuff out loud.
Agreed. I think it is relatively provable at this point that the Republicans have been on this trajectory since the mid-90s. Trump has long been suspected as a racist and he just lucked into a movement that was inflamed by a black President. It didn't hurt that they don't mind that he is a huge fucking moron on top. As long as brown people are being pushed out the door, they can clutch their guns, and bankrupt their grandchildren to enrich themselves - everything is all good.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Holman »

But Trump has moved the fringe to the center of the party. If they'd nominated Jeb or even Rubio, GOP racism would have been kept to the margins of expression and forced to wait in the hall like usual, at least at the national level. With Trump, racists and nationalists are not only enjoying the spotlight but literally setting policy.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Pyperkub »

Holman wrote:But Trump has moved the fringe to the center of the party. If they'd nominated Jeb or even Rubio, GOP racism would have been kept to the margins of expression and forced to wait in the hall like usual, at least at the national level. With Trump, racists and nationalists are not only enjoying the spotlight but literally setting policy.
The Tea Party paved the way, as they brought all of the right wing conspiracy theories to the mainstream GOP first. Trump just latched on and exploited it (as did the Russians), but it was always going to be a factor in 2016.

However, I don't think Jeb or Marco would have been able to amplify it the way Trump did. Cruz may have, but I think even he couldn't have ginned up enough Hilary hate to win. At least, not until 2020.
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Pyperkub wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:02 amThe Tea Party paved the way,
Agree with everything you said, but particularly this. Those asshats are to blame for what we are currently dealing with. They have completely taken over conservative politics in this country, for the worse, in my opinion. Trump is just the lucky piece of shit that is the culmination of years of right wing extremism in the party pulling harder and harder to the right.

I wonder where the ACTUAL conservatives in this country will go now they have no party?
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YellowKing
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Re: Political Randomness

Post by YellowKing »

Carpet_pissr wrote:I wonder where the ACTUAL conservatives in this country will go now they have no party?
Well there has been some movement towards registering as Independents, as those numbers have increased significantly since Trump took office. Unfortunately, I think the lion's share of actual conservatives have just decided to drink the Kool-Aid and join the cult. I know a ton of people who I thought were old-fashioned fiscal conservatives who would "never in a million years" vote for Trump now applauding everything he does. Oh, they may occasionally grumble at a controversial tweet, but for all intents and purposes they're in lockstep.
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