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Not Goode Enough
Yesterday wasn't quite as bad for the GOP, in terms of House and Senate losses, as the polls said it might be. But if you want an example of why the party's long-term problems are worrying, look at Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode.
Goode was elected as a Democrat in 1996 to a district that covers south central Virginia and includes Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia. In 2000 he left the Democratic Party and became an independent. In 2002 became a full-blown Republican. He kept winning re-election fairly easily. It helped that the GOP Senate and Assembly under Gov. Jim Gilmore (R) gerrymandered the state to create a solid majority of Republican House districts.
In 2006, Goode was re-elected easily. He then reacted with horror to the election of Rep. Keith Ellison, a black Muslim from Minneapolis, and his decision to be sworn in on a Koran.
The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.
No one expected Goode to lose this year. His standing in the polls suffered after some late-breaking financial scandals, but he usually won his district easily. But as of right now he's losing. He's down 100 votes, and might turn what was a 8-3 Republican majority in the House delegation into a 6-5 Democratic majority. The Democrats have locked up seats in suburban D.C. and the Chesapeake region.
This is illustrative because of the way the McCain campaign ended. It was a mess. Frustrated that the media beyond talk radio hadn't picked up on the Bill Ayers story, McCain and Sarah Palin accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists" and demanded he reveal the extent of their "relationship." In the final week of the race, the campaign demanded that the L.A. Times release a tape of Obama at an event with Rashid Khalidi, a pretty mainstream (American-born) Palestininan scholar. Over the weekend a 527 blasted the airwaves with ads that rebroadcast Jeremiah Wright's "God DAMN America" quote. On election day the McCain campaign alerted reporters to the freakish story of two "New Black Panthers" standing outside a Philadelpia polling place with nightsticks. Why, I have no idea. Well... I have an idea, but I don't want to say it.
McCain did not run a bigoted campaign. He deliberately pulled punches (like never talking about Wright unless prompted) and he probably feels good about that today: What if he'd sunk into the gutter and lost anyway? Because he would have lost anyway. Karl Rove, whom everyone makes fun of today, was completely right in the 1990s when he realized that America was becoming a less and less white, more and more cosmopolitan country, and that any path for Republican dominance depended on winning the Hispanic vote and pulling some percentage of the black vote. As Steve Sailer (who's controversial but gets this stuff) points out, McCain won a 12-point victory among white voters. But white voters only made up 75 percent of the electorate, and even that number is distorted by the rejection of Obama among Southern whites who also rejected John Kerry by a landslide. In those Appalachian states that were supposed to shred Obama, he did much better. Pennsylvania, Obama lost the white vote by 3 points. In Ohio he lost it by 5 points.
In Michigan, the home of the Reagan Democrats, and of Detroit, whose "hip-hop mayor" Kwame Kilpatrick is going to jail, Obama won the white vote by 4 points.
It's way too easy to write the "Party X will never recover" story that looks silly in two years. I remember Grover Norquist pronouncing the Democrats dead in 2004. But we've got definitive proof that racial politicking is not enough to win an election anymore. Too many white voters reject it, and there are too many non-whites to make it electorally sensible.
Lefiti|11.5.08 @ 12:16PM|#
Libertarians need to recruit more non-whites to have any hope of maintaing their 0.1% standing, that's for sure. There have to be African and Asian Americans out there who are susceptible to a simplistic ideology. Let's get to work!
brandon|11.5.08 @ 12:22PM|#
"Karl Rove, whom everyone makes fun of today, was completely
right in the 1990s when he realized that America was becoming a
less and less white, more and more cosmopolitan country, and that
any path for Republican dominance depended on winning the Hispanic
vote and pulling some percentage of the black vote."
From a strategic standpoint it would have made more sense for the
GOP to keep the Hispanic population from ballooning so large in the
first place. It was foolish to think that leaving the door wide
open and letting in their cousins and uncles would induce them to
vote GOP. They are a poor racial minority. They are destined to
vote Democrat.
Of course now it's too late.
|11.5.08 @ 12:22PM|#
Sorry, but is there something I'm missing? Why is it bad news (for the Republicans or anyone else) that a man who appears to be an inveterate racist might lose his seat?
|11.5.08 @ 12:25PM|#
But we've got definitive proof that racial politicking is
not enough to win an election anymore. Too many white voters reject
it, and there are too many non-whites to make it electorally
sensible.
Definitive proof we would not have had if the Democrats had not
nominated a black candidate.
That, and not some pathological fixation with skin color, is why
anti-racists like myself were so excited about the prospect of
having a black nominee; because this country's original sin isn't
something that's going to be wished and ignored away, but
worked through.
Watching the race-baiting efforts fail is part of that.
So is this:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/confronting-rac.html
Geotpf|11.5.08 @ 12:25PM|#
The Republicans are fucking morons. You know why California is a
blue state today? Prop one-eighty-fucking-seven, the
anti-illegal-immigrant thing that Pete Wilson was pushing in 1994.
Many hispanics in California became citizens and started to vote
directly in response to this proposition-and they, and those
hispanics who were already voters but may have voted for
Republicans in the past-became one huge, solid voting block for the
Democrats.
So what did the Republicans do this year? Basically announced that
they were for the same type of policy, but this time nationwide.
And they did it very, very loudly. Doesn't anybody ever pay
attention to California, which has a reputation for being a
bellwhether for the country for good reasons?
Of course, the idea of the "scary black man" is now also dead as a
successful political idea as well.
The only group you can still bash is apparently the gays, since
Prop 8 appears to be passing. But even that won't last forever.
jtuf|11.5.08 @ 12:26PM|#
Conservatives shot themselves in the foot when they let the immigration debate focus on amnesty. That alienated millions of Americans who know from first hand experience why Socialism and Communism are bad. For the next two years, their slogan should be "tripple legal immigration".
|11.5.08 @ 12:34PM|#
Lefiti, you condescend a lot, which is probably why people seem to think you're Edward.
|11.5.08 @ 12:38PM|#
For the next two years, their slogan should be "tripple
legal immigration"
Ain't gonna happen. The "anti-illegal-immigration" people
they courted with these strategies are really just anti-immigration
in general, and will be turned off by any calls for increases,
whether legal or not.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 12:42PM|#
Goode is a joke. Another Republican Congresscritter in VA, Drake, also went down and no one expected it.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:04PM|#
What if he'd sunk into the gutter and lost
anyway?
Yeah, it would have looked bad if he'd broken a promise to accept
public financing, deliberately disable AVS checks so he could
accept tens of millions in illegal contributions, and helped ACORN
commit massive vote fraud.
Good thing no one did anything like that.
Rashid Khalidi, a pretty mainstream (American-born)
Palestininan scholar
Sure, just your average everyday ordinary mainstream PLO spokesman.
Why, there's one on every block in my neighborhood. Don't see what
the fuss was.
Ashely Todd|11.5.08 @ 1:06PM|#
I know TallDave. I'm so upset over Hussein's win, it makes me want to cut myself!
|11.5.08 @ 1:10PM|#
They are a poor racial minority. They are destined to vote
Democrat.
They're also socially conservative as all get out, religious and
are more likely to own small businesses. Those three reasons are
why they would naturally be inclined to be Republicans.
Arab-Americans are the same way and used to be largely Republican
until the Malkin wing got a hold of the party and started saying
Arab = Muslim = terrorist. What's funny is more often than not, in
the US, Arab = Christian.
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:10PM|#
Sure, just your average everyday ordinary mainstream PLO spokesman. Why, there's one on every block in my neighborhood. Don't see what the fuss was.
We do not negotiate with terrorists.
By which I mean Arabs.
By which I mean Arab organizations the government of the United
States currently supports.
|11.5.08 @ 1:11PM|#
Ooh, I want to know what the guy who's devoting himself to
flogging every story about scary black men since Obama pulled ahead
of Clinton has to say about this issue.
I'm glad there were so many people like you letting your freak
flags fly this election. John McCain obviously wasn't going to go
for it, and we needed somebody to work the Klan angle, so we could
watch it fail.
|11.5.08 @ 1:13PM|#
This is my dream for the oath taking:
Chief Justice Roberts: "Oh, boys! Lookee what I got heyuh."
President Obama: "Hey, where the white women at?"
|11.5.08 @ 1:20PM|#
Sure, just your average everyday ordinary mainstream PLO
spokesman. Why, there's one on every block in my neighborhood.
Don't see what the fuss was.
Yet another benefit of this election: we get to see exactly how
shallow and dishonest the war pigs' commitment to reform in the
Arab world is.
The moment they cease to be useful as a political prop, the neocons
go right back to calling them all terrorists.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:25PM|#
They are a poor racial minority. They are destined to vote
Democrat.
I don't see why they wouldn't vote for the party that promises to
institutionalize benefits tied to their race.
Of course, if whites did that...
BDB|11.5.08 @ 1:27PM|#
This "every racial minority will vote Democrat!" is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy for Republicans.
Elemenope|11.5.08 @ 1:27PM|#
Shit. Crichton produced his share of crap, but also some gems
(Andromeda Strain, in particular, was excellent).
That sucks.
|11.5.08 @ 1:27PM|#
Please, tell us more about racial issues, TallDave.
PS - you drew the B backwards.
Ashley Todd|11.5.08 @ 1:27PM|#
Talk about me, Dave! Scary black men are carving backwards letters into my face!
Elemenope|11.5.08 @ 1:28PM|#
Of course, if whites did that...
Please, by all means finish that sentence. I'm sure its content
will be illuminating.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:28PM|#
MAX,
We negotiate with Libya too, but people generally don't invite
Qaddafi to fundraisers.
That's just because they're racists, of course.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:30PM|#
Ele,
Let's see, what would happen if we passed something whereby whites
received preferential treament based on their race...
Hmmm, no, I can't imgaine what that would be called.
|11.5.08 @ 1:30PM|#
Ele,
I can only imagine the shock of Obama's election killed him. Just
like I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will kill my crusty old fuck
of a neighbor.
Micheal Crichton: secret racist.
short, fat bastard|11.5.08 @ 1:31PM|#
I, for one, embrace our new tall, skinny black overlord . . . . .
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:31PM|#
Damn A-rabs just lookin for handouts.
Like trials before being sent to prison.
Buncha whiners.
Don't see us good decent white folk asking not to be made into
national scapegoats.
But seriously, let's back up. Since when are Arab-Americans, as a
group, "poor?"
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:33PM|#
I have this notion that someday people will be judged on the
content of their character, rather than the color of their
skin.
But it's just a crazy dream I have.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 1:34PM|#
Arabs and Pakistanis in America tend to be upper middle class and educated. They also used to vote Republican.
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:34PM|#
Talldave -
Totally agree. This guy sounds totally out of the mainstream. No
politician who had anything to
do with the guy should be taken seriously.
Pallin' around with terrorists and all that. I done think, if you
ain't with us, you against us. 9-11 done taught me that the only
good A-rabs be dead A-rabs. I am dus-turbed at hearing Al-McCain be
givin money to those who attacked us. Nevar forget!
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:37PM|#
BDB - you don't get it.
If you aren't white, then you're poor, asking for a handout, and
seek racial advancement despite being unqualified. There's only two
options. White, decent Americas, and darky freeloaders. Welcome to
the republican worldview.
Internalize it, and be amazed that minorities don't embrace your
courageous, colorblind stance.
It must be that those people really are just looking for
handouts.
|11.5.08 @ 1:38PM|#
"I have this notion that someday people will be judged on
the content of their character, rather than the color of their
skin."
"I have this notion that somebody people will be judged on the
content of somebody else's character other than themselves, if they
are 'associated' with that person. The color of your skin no longer
matters, so long as you associate with somebody who we say is
radical even though our own guy gave the radical close to a half
million bucks."
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:39PM|#
Max,
Again, funding a program to promote democracy isn't the same as
sitting at a fundraiser with the guy, laughing at the "wipe out
Israel" jokes.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:42PM|#
Lamar,
Yes, we should really stop hunting down Al Qaeda just because
they're associated with the guys who killed 3,000 Americans.
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:43PM|#
laughing at the "wipe out Israel" jokes
I'm sure that totally happened. Because that's just what Arabs do.
All of them.
Hey - weren't we just talking about how republicans have trouble
with minority votes?
|11.5.08 @ 1:44PM|#
"Yes, we should really stop hunting down Al Qaeda just
because they're associated with the guys who killed 3,000
Americans."
Um, they ARE the guys who killed 3,000 Americans.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:44PM|#
If you aren't white, then you're poor, asking for a handout,
and seek racial advancement despite being unqualified. There's only
two options. White, decent Americas, and darky freeloaders. Welcome
to the republican worldview.
That's right, everyone who doesn't vote Dem is an evil white
racist.
That's the cesspool of Dem thought. If you oppose socialism and
racism for other people, you're a greedy racist.
alan|11.5.08 @ 1:44PM|#
short, fat bastard | November 5, 2008, 1:31pm | #
I, for one, embrace our new tall, skinny black overlord . . . .
.
I don't see the big deal here. It is not like we just elected
Yaphet Koto. No, we elected Carlton.
Does that deserve a pat on the back, yes, but until we get Koto, it
ain't quite the other side of the rainbow, just yet.
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:44PM|#
Um, they ARE the guys who killed 3,000 Americans.
No, those guys are pretty dead.
|11.5.08 @ 1:46PM|#
TallDave | November 5, 2008, 1:33pm | #
I have this notion that someday people will be judged on the
content of their character, rather than the color of their
skin./i
...which is why I made of point of linking to every single story
about scary black people I came across, ever since one of them
emerged as the frontrunner for a Democratic nomination.
Really easy quesiton: does somebody who actually dreams that dream
spam threads with links to the Ashley Todd story?
Elemenope|11.5.08 @ 1:48PM|#
I don't see the big deal here. It is not like we just
elected Yaphet Kotto.
"I'm looking for Lt. Giordello."
-Over there.
"What, the guy with the black guy?"
-He *is* the black guy.
"Oh."
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:48PM|#
I'm sure that totally happened. Because that's just what
Arabs do. All of them
Most of us see a difference people belonging to an organization
whose stated goal is to destroy Israel, and other Arabs.
But hey, just calling people racists is so much easier and requires
no thought or reasoning. You should probably stick with that.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 1:48PM|#
This looks so stupid now:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0409.norquist.html
|11.5.08 @ 1:49PM|#
The funniest part is, when someone called ToolDave on what he
was doing, spamming the scary black man story, he replies with "And
now the race-baiting begins."
Just a little background on how seriously to take TallDave's "No,
YOU'RE the racist" shtick.
alan|11.5.08 @ 1:50PM|#
"I'm looking for Lt. Giordello."
-Over there.
"What, the guy with the black guy?"
-He *is* the black guy.
"Oh."
My all time favorite show :)
|11.5.08 @ 1:50PM|#
Most of us see a difference people belonging to an
organization whose stated goal is to destroy Israel, and other
Arabs.
...says the guy who wants to keep sending Americans to die in the
defense of a Dawa/SCIRI government in Baghdad.
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:50PM|#
That's right, everyone who doesn't vote Dem is an evil white racist.
Not at all. But those who think all minorities seek some sort of
racial preference, who think that all nonwhites are poor and seek a
handout, who harp on how hard it is to face the terrible fate of
being white in this society - those guys are racist. I wouldn't peg
that crowd as more than 20% of GOP voters outside the south. It's
there, it's worth commenting on, and it's hilarious because you
obviously represent it, but by no means is racial identity politics
inherent in the GOP character.
|11.5.08 @ 1:51PM|#
Rove was totally right on the Hispanic thing, and Bush polled
well among Hispanics. It was one of the reasons I voted for him in
2000. He looked like he might be a guy who could break the
Republican == racist canard that happened far too often. And he
actually gave it a try, only to get bitch-slapped by his own
base.
So maybe it was less of a canard than I thought.
alan|11.5.08 @ 1:53PM|#
Elemenope,
also, thanks for that subtle correction you did there. I have been
screw up all day on those matters. Classy guy.
Hogan|11.5.08 @ 1:54PM|#
i don't care about khalidi but it was fucked up for the l.a. times to sit on whatever they had. if it was innocuous, release it. if it was damaging to obama, release it. they had already published a summary, might as well release a transcript.
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 1:55PM|#
Most of us see a difference people belonging to an organization whose stated goal is to destroy Israel, and other Arabs.
Most of us don't make up defamatory stories. You said Obama - the
next president of the United States - was laughing at jokes about
the destruction of Israel. Uh, okay, sure. And I'm the one with
racial issues here. Go back to your fantasyland where black guys
terrorize innocent white women who dare support McCain. You're
obviously more comfortable there than with the real world.
|11.5.08 @ 1:55PM|#
"No, those guys are pretty dead."
Oh, you mean like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? He's pretty dead,
right?
If you are saying that Rashid Khalidi is the same as an Al Qaeda
terrorist, then why did McCain's group give him over $400,000? Is
it because McCain supports terrorism? Or is it that Khalidi isn't
as radical as you think?
TallDave|11.5.08 @ 1:58PM|#
But those who think all minorities seek some sort of racial
preference,
I said it was natural that they would vote for it if it was
offered. It would be natural for whites to do the same, except it
won't be offered because racist policies that benefit whites are
not acceptable.
who harp on how hard it is to face the terrible fate of being
white in this society
I never said it was hard. I have a six-figure income and a
beautiful (Filipina) gf. But hard or easy, racist policies are
still wrong.
But hey, just keep calling me a racist for pointing out that racist
policiies are wrong. I love the irony.
MAX HATS|11.5.08 @ 2:02PM|#
TallDave-
Where are Arab Americans asking for handouts. Where are Arab
Americans seeking racial preference? How are Arab Americans
poor?
The racism isn't in opposing preferential treatment. The racism is
assuming the someone wants or needs preferential treatment because
of the color of their skin.
Abdul|11.5.08 @ 2:03PM|#
McCain didn't go as gutter as he could have gone, and that's
probably why he kept his losses down to only 5%. When he was
unveiling his most questionable ads, his polling always went
south.
And Talldave, I rooted for McCain as much as anyone, but Obama won
it pretty fair. You can blame media bias, or the fund-raising
shenannigans, but those things really only helped at the margins.
It wasn't close enough for us to cry "cheater!"
ChrisO|11.5.08 @ 2:03PM|#
Hispanics (and I have some experience with this) are a nightmare for libertarians. If the GOP caters to the Hispanic vote, they will look a lot more Bushian and a lot less libertarian. Perhaps the best idea would be outreach into a community that has good practical reasons to go libertarian, even if the cultural base is illiberal.
|11.5.08 @ 2:07PM|#
Ron Paul endorsed this Goode fella, right?
He was part of the "Liberty" coalition?
Haha.
Elemenope|11.5.08 @ 2:08PM|#
My all time favorite show
Certainly my favorite cop drama...although Life has grown
on me quite a bit recently.
Andre Braugher pwns all, in any event.
|11.5.08 @ 2:15PM|#
Hogan | November 5, 2008, 1:54pm | #
i don't care about khalidi but it was fucked up for the l.a. times
to sit on whatever they had. if it was innocuous, release it. if it
was damaging to obama, release it. they had already published a
summary, might as well release a transcript.
The source who gave them the tape did so with the stipulation that
they not release it, but could report on its contents.
My guess is that the tape - the angles it's shot from, who does and
does not appear in the shots, maybe the background sounds and
conversations - would make it clear who the source was, and he
wanted to keep his anonymity.
As you say, they broke the story, they described the events, so
we're obviously not looking at a coverup here.
|11.5.08 @ 2:16PM|#
But hey, just keep calling me a racist for pointing out that
racist policiies are wrong. I love the irony.
That's almost as funny as the time you called me "THE REAL RACIST"
for not understanding that drinking malt liquor was "a harmless
ethnic activity."
BDB|11.5.08 @ 2:16PM|#
Why is he still flogging October Surprises even though the election is over, and Obama got a decisive win?
|11.5.08 @ 2:16PM|#
although Life has grown on me quite a bit
recently
Word. Although, if they don't start giving Sarah Shahi more to do,
they might as well have Charlie run around with him and help solve
crimes with accountancy.
|11.5.08 @ 2:22PM|#
Now that Obama is the President elect, the main battle in
pro-sovereignty, anti-illegal immigration groups will draw the
battle lines. The Save Act (H.R.4088) www.numbersusa.com is all but
dead, but Judicial Watch legal non-profit, is a battle in itself to
stop propagation of 'Sanctuary cities and states.
www.sanctuarybusters.org/
Outside the Iraq war and the wilting economy, the simmering illegal
immigration issue was promised by Democrats to be placed on the
front burner in Congress. I will, and an army of American citizens
will use their influence to terminate any chance of illegal alien
blanket amnesty. Tuscon Border Patrol has established their are 37
million illegal immigrants in the United States, not 13 MILLION as
the liberal media would like you to think.
US taxpayers cannot support these teeming millions or the next rush
for the border, to pander to business opportunists. As long ago
as1996 study, at Rice University economist estimated that illegal
aliens were then displacing 730,000 American workers a year, (with
an additional half-million coming every year) a massive financial
impact on our economy by importing the worlds poor.
NUMBERSUSA is the only organization that has the iron gauntlet to
confront this massive OVERPOPULATION issue and interdict the
globalist agenda for unceasing cheap labor.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 2:24PM|#
Oh man, the Republicans are going to go even further
right on immigration?
That is how they think they will get back the Southwest next
time?
Jesus H. Christ.
Seward|11.5.08 @ 2:33PM|#
Obama last night invited us to disagree with his policy proposals. I'm not quite sure why anyone isn't taking him up on the offer here. After all, there are number of proposals that I think any libertarian would find problematic - tax credits for hiring in the United States being a glaring example IMHO.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 2:39PM|#
But Seward, Republicans have been telling me for months that
Obama wouldn't let us disagree and would lock is up in
gulags!
You mean he is NOT a Fascist?
Seward|11.5.08 @ 2:40PM|#
FYI: Barr just eclipsed Harry Browne's vote total for 1996 (according to the web sources I am looking at), making his effort the best turnout for a L.P. presidential candidate since 1980.
alan|11.5.08 @ 2:41PM|#
BDB | November 5, 2008, 2:24pm | #
Oh man, the Republicans are going to go even further right on
immigration?
That is how they think they will get back the Southwest next
time?
Jesus H. Christ.
They'll go hard right in the immediate future, and then suddenly
out of nowhere, the Republicans will embrace the Transhuman agenda,
and it will be the Democrats turn to play catch up.
|11.5.08 @ 3:00PM|#
It is always thrilling to see Weigel risk his hipster cred by admitting he reads Sailer. Weigel's association with Sailer is like Obama's association with Wright or Ayers, a bomb that may or may not explode.
Kolohe|11.5.08 @ 3:01PM|#
My all time favorite show
Certainly my favorite cop drama...although Life has grown on me
quite a bit recently.
Andre Braugher pwns all, in any event.
Get thee to a Wire DVD.
(Not that Homicide wasn't really good - as was Braugher - but
Levison was trying too hard to be 'gritty' and it showed. In
contrast, David Simon and the cast he had pulled it off
effortlessly)
Kolohe|11.5.08 @ 3:09PM|#
Brittanicus | November 5, 2008, 2:22pm | #
Frickin John Bull Limey.
(And isn't that a Latin name? And aren't all those immigrants from
Latin America? There's something fishy going on here.)
alan|11.5.08 @ 3:14PM|#
My all time favorite show
Certainly my favorite cop drama...although Life has grown on me
quite a bit recently.
Andre Braugher pwns all, in any event.
Get thee to a Wire DVD.
alan|11.5.08 @ 3:16PM|#
My all time favorite show
Certainly my favorite cop drama...although Life has grown on me
quite a bit recently.
Andre Braugher pwns all, in any event.
Get thee to a Wire DVD..
Of course, I enjoyed The Wire, but for me, Homicide had more stand
out moments, especially in the first two seasons. I recall when
Obama was asked who his favorite The Wire character was, and of
course, he gave the most conventional, safe choice, Omar. I would
have loved to have been in Obama's shoes in that moment, I would
have either said, Chris Paltrow, the sadistic enforcer, or Clive
Davis, the corrupt politician, just to be a bastard about it. Also,
Omar played his hand extremely stupid in the last season. Like
little Kendrick, I find it hard to respect that.
|11.5.08 @ 3:28PM|#
FYI: Barr just eclipsed Harry Browne's vote total for 1996
(according to the web sources I am looking at), making his effort
the best turnout for a L.P. presidential candidate since
1980.
There were 96 million votes in 1996 vs. 133 million this year. Get
more total votes doesn't mean he was more successful. He would have
to get a higher percent of votes. Just because Barr got more votes
than James Madison did (to use an extreme example) doesn't mean he
was more successful.
Kolohe|11.5.08 @ 3:54PM|#
alan-
You're right about Omar. The correct answer to that question is
Stringer Bell.
alan|11.5.08 @ 4:02PM|#
Just between the two of us, Lester is the dude I can most relate, but he is po po; I'd never admit my favorite character is police in an active forum.
|11.5.08 @ 4:05PM|#
You mean he is NOT a Fascist?
Not only that, BDB, but rather than being a socialist, he's
actually been running on a centrist platform, so his popular
victory confirms that this is a center-right country.
You might remember that phrase, "center-right country." It was
popular this fall, as an explanation of why that socialist Obama
was going to lose.
alan|11.5.08 @ 4:10PM|#
Oh, an even better answer coming from Obama would have been Brother Mouzone. That would have been another piece of the puzzle for the wingnuts trying to prove Obama is a Muslim.
Seward|11.5.08 @ 4:15PM|#
BDB,
Is Obama a fascist? I guess that depends on how much he thinks the
government should direct the economy and pick winners and losers in
it. In that case corporatist is probably a more neutral term. I
really have no clear idea of what his overall thinking on
government intervention into the economy, besides a few silly
policies like the one I mentioned above.
joe,
I must disagree. Obama's platform is peppered with populist
rhetoric.
Anyway, I've never been quite sure what "centrist" means outside of
its use as empty political rhetoric.
Seward|11.5.08 @ 4:21PM|#
BDB,
Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that Obama is very unique in
that regard.
Of course I am sure that on Obama's website one could dig down into
a lot of specific information about what his campaign stands for
(and I've done some of that myself), and that's useful, I still
remain unclear on the matter.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 4:30PM|#
Seward--
I'm fine with corporatist. That is fair. But pretty much everybody
in every major party is a corporatist these days.
When I said "Fascist" I mean the idiots like OLS who think he is
going to lock up his political opponents in gulags.
|11.5.08 @ 4:31PM|#
Seward,
I'm teasing. Before yesterday, there were a great many people
declaring that Obama was a socialist who would be rejected by a
center-right American public. Today, the same people are declaring
that Obama ran a cautious, centrist campaign, and that his victory
thus demonstrates that America is a center-right country.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 4:32PM|#
I said all along Obama will be a boring and cautious
President.
The Gov. Wilder of national politics. He HAS to be cautious, cause
he is black.
BDB|11.5.08 @ 4:34PM|#
I like how everyone has totally forgotten about the Bradley Effect less than 24 hours after this election.
Seward|11.5.08 @ 4:36PM|#
BDB,
Well, the gulag was a communist deal. ;)
But pretty much everybody in every major party is a corporatist
these days.
Yes, and it is quite depressing I must say.
Seward|11.5.08 @ 4:39PM|#
BDB,
Well, I assumed we would have a Democratic President no matter who
the Democrats ran (or rather, I saw it as the most likely outcome
of the election). I will say though that the U.S. remains a largely
50/50 nation (with swings a few points to either party depending on
the context of the election).
BDB|11.5.08 @ 4:56PM|#
Seward--
I don't think the ideological composition of the country has
shifted, either. Whats happened is Republicans have lost college
educated whites, suburban voters, and every single minority
group.
It is now the Party of Wilfred Brimley. Its not that the Democrats
won those groups, Republicans lost them by totally alienating them
and the Dems picked em up by default.
|11.5.08 @ 5:23PM|#
I like how everyone has totally forgotten about the Bradley Effect less than 24 hours after this election.
I'll be honest, I thought the "Bradley Effect" thing was kind of stupid in this day and age. "Gosh, I'm afraid to tell this pollster I don't even know (over the phone no less) that I'm actually too scared to vote for Barack Obama simply because he's a scaryblackman".
|11.5.08 @ 7:33PM|#
"""From a strategic standpoint it would have made more sense for
the GOP to keep the Hispanic population from ballooning so large in
the first place""""
Uh, the GOP needs to stop electing pro-immigration Presidents like
Reagan and W.
|11.5.08 @ 9:59PM|#
BDB,
I hear what you're saying about Wilder, and it's a fine point.
But.
The 2010s are not the 1980s, and America in the 2010s is not
Virginia in the 1980s.
yingge|11.5.08 @ 10:41PM|#
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