A.M. Links: Obama Reelected, Republicans Keep House, Democrats Hold Senate, LP Has Best Showing Since 1980, WA and CO Legalize Pot, California Keeps Death Penalty.

• Obama beat Mitt Romney. The President said that "the best is yet to come" in a victory speech to supporters in Chicago. 

• Republicans kept the House and Democrats still hold the Senate, despite many changes. Republicans celebrated the successes of candidates such as Thomas Massie, who won Kentucky's 4th Congressional seat, and mourned the loss of incumbent Sen. Scott Brown, who lost to Elizabeth Warren. 

• The Libertarian Party had its best result since 1980, with Gary Johnson winning one percent of the popular vote. 

• Voters in Colorado and Washington have legalized marijuana for adult possession. Now we just have to wait and see what the DEA does. 

• Maine and Maryland both passed propositions recognizing gay marriage. 

• Californians have voted to keep the death penalty.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The voters have spoken with one singular, glorious voice: Mandate!

[Auric Demonocles]

What are people classifying as a mandate now? Because it seems like getting 60 million votes in a country of over 300 million people shouldn't qualify.

[Ken Shultz]

Obama ran on a promise to raise taxes.

Why wouldn't he raise taxes?

He has a mandate to raise taxes.

If mandates exist at all, Obama has one to raise taxes.

What were you expecting him to do about the fiscal cliff--slash spending?!

[Auric Demonocles]

What the fuck are you talking about? That's got nothing to do with anything I mentioned?

[RBS]

I think Ken's brain broke at some point last night. And yes, claiming a mandate with such numbers is asinine.

[RightNut]

Doesn't matter if he has a "mandate" or not. Presidents that win reelection shove politics in their direction, even if their second term is a disaster(Bush II). Just look at Obama's embrace of the war on terror. Its very likely the 2016 Republican nominee will be forced by the electorate to accept Obamacare and other big government failures.

[Cdr Lytton]

Ken wasn't the only one to break. One of the more prolific hit and runners veered off into Pat Robertson territory in threads last night.

[Ken Shultz]

Pointing out that Obama has a mandate to raise taxes isn't running off the rails.

Just because somebody points out something that you don't want to be true?

Doesn't mean they're wrong.

Obama has a mandate to raise to taxes to address the fiscal cliff--and he's gonna use it.

Deal with it.

[Ken Shultz]

"What are people classifying as a mandate now?"

Obama ran on raising taxes.

Obama promised to raise taxes.

Obama won on raising taxes.

That's what a mandate is. You win on what you ran on, then you have a mandate to do that.

Why is that hard to understand?

Faced with a fiscal cliff, as we are, Obama is going to raise taxes.

Legitimizing an incumbent's campaign promises is what elections are all about for incumbents.

[Auric Demonocles]

So your (unspoken) definition of a mandate is a win by any margin at all?

[Ken Shultz]

"In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative.[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_(politics)

man?date
noun \?man-?d?t\

2: an authorization to act given to a representative.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate

That's what a mandate is--and it isn't about my "unspoken" definition. That's what a mandate is.

If you didn't want Obama to have one, then you should have voted for Romney.

[Don Mynack]

Naw man, a mandate is when you can't get a chick to go with you to the Rush concert, so you take a dude friend instead.

[Ken Shultz]

I knew that was comin'!

[robc]

And he is going to get House support for this how?

[Ken Shultz]

You think John Boehner--the biggest spender in Congress--is gonna stand in Obama's way?!

That's ridiculous.

John Boehner's gonna fold like a lawn chair.

[Question of Auban]

"In truth, in the case of individuals, their actual voting is not to be taken as proof of consent, even for the time being. On the contrary, it is to be considered that, without his consent having ever been asked, a man finds himself environed by a government that he cannot resist; a government that forces him to pay money, render service, and forego the exercise of many of his natural rights, under peril of weighty punishments. He sees, too, that other men practise this tyranny over him by the use of the ballot. He sees further that, if he will but use the ballot himself, he has some chance of relieving himself from this tyranny of others, by subjecting them to his own. In short, he finds himself, without his consent, so situated that, if he use the ballot, he may become a master; if he does not use it, he must become a slave."

Lysander Spooner

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm not convinced that Obama won so much as Romney lost.

This was an election that should have been about the economy. Instead, Team RED turned it in to a major battle in TEH KULTUR WARZ, and lost. Handily.

2 states voted to legalize pot, another 2 gay marriage. If this election teaches us anything, it's that SoConism is dead, and if Team RED doesn't evolve and marginalize the religious right, it too will die.

[Ken Shultz]

They didn't make it about the culture war.

I didn't hear anything about Terry Schaivo shit or gay marriage. Nobody was talking about partial birth abortions or...

This was the least culture war election I've seen in a while.

[Question of Auban]

I live in Florida and there was a "Religous Freedom" amendment to the Florida Constitution on the ballot. Thankfully this amendment failed - had it passed it would have allowed tax dollars to go to religous institutions.

Sadly, another amendment that SHOULD have passed, that would have prevented people from being forced to buy medical insurance, also failed.

We are DOOMED!!!!

[21044]

Once the primaries were over, agreed. My own thoughts are that Santorum (sp?) gained way too much traction, confirming in the minds of many that the Santorum = All Republicans.

Too much is defined as anything greater than zero.

[Cavpitalist]

This was the least culture war election I've seen in a while.

Are you insane? This election was almost entirely about two things - Barack Obama being a Muslim Kenyan Socialist, and Mitt Romney being an anti-woman anti-gay redneck bigot.

Sure, neither is remotely true, but that's what 90% of people were voting on.

You're living in a fantasy world.

[RightNut]

Its also possible that typical voters still associate national republican candidates with Bush II. If that is the case maybe they figure as bad as Obama's been, he hasn't been as bad as Bush. I'd disagree, but I'm not the typical voter.

[RBS]

There were exit polls showing a lot of people still blamed W for the economy.

[sasob]

Traditionally people in this courntry are ignorant of economics - including those elected to govern. It's no wonder really - how much economics is taught in public school? Maybe a required semester of civics and economics in senior high - and made to be as boring and difficult to understand as possible.

[Question of Auban]

Mad libertarian guy,

I agree. The only culture war area for which the Right's position can even make a logical argument is the abortion issue. The other areas are simply opinions that they want to force on others.

[mad libertarian guy]

The only culture war area for which the Right's position can even make a logical argument is the abortion issue.

And even that is dead politically speaking.

[Bobarian]

Neither canidate ran heavily on culture war issues, but a lot of PAC money was spent painting the other guy as the devil.

[Sudden]

The thing is that, while the GOP didn't try to make the national election about cultural issues, the Demoncratic Party did. They ran on the subsidized and coercive birth control mandate, they ran on Lily Ledbetter, they ran on the GOP hating TEH GHEYZ. While the Mitt tried his best to move the issue to things that actually matter and might actually be within the president's ability to change, the damage was done by the Dems.

I remember thinking during that awful Jezbian from HBO commercial that the Dems seriously miscalculated in their consideration of women as being motived strictly by their vaginas, I was the one who miscalculated. I will never overestimate the collective intelligence of women again.

[Mike M.]

When fucking Obamacare fully goes into effect in another 14 months, the average person in this country will have the highest tax burden he has ever had in his lifetime.

D.C. cosmotarian dipshits like Suderman will no doubt be absolutely thrilled.

[Randian]

The Yokeltarian is cranky that the Republican lost.

Maybe Red Tears are just as delicious. Post more, Mike!

[Mike M.]

Hey moron, last night was our last hope to repeal Obamacare. Now it's cast and stone and will become the law of the land forever.

Think about that a little while you're smoking your marijuana desperately trying to escape the harsh realities of modern life.

[robc]

Not if the House GOP had any balls.

But if they had, it would have already been repealed.

Attach repeal to EVERY bill. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

[Ken Shultz]

Last night was our last hope to repeal Obamacare.

I think you're right about that--especially the individual mandate.

Romney promised to sign a repeal of the individual mandate.

Obama? No reason to even send it to his desk.

Also, we're not gonna privatize GM anytime soon. The UAW is still living off of my paycheck, and it will continue to do so for at least another four years.

[ziggy]

Romney would of not repealed Obamacare, or he would of just substituted it for Romneycare

[Ken Shultz]

Romney promised to sign a repeal of the individual mandate.

Obama promised not to.

That's a big difference.

[RightNut]

Its possible the House could delay Obamacare implementation in 2014 enough that it could be repealed by a Republican president in 2016. It's a long-shot though. My guess is that any attempt to repeal Obamacare by then will be met with shrieks of "REPUBLICANS ARE TRYING TO KILL CHILDREN BY TAKING AWAY HEALTHCARE!!!!". And Republicans would then quietly drop the issue of repeal.

[Calidissident]

The Democrats kept control of the senate, so how exactly would Romney have signed a repeal of Obamacare?

[RBS]

The same Suderman who has been railing PPACA since its inception?

[Auric Demonocles]

I like Suderman. Though he's bought my vote by alt-text.

[RBS]

I like him too, I think him a Root write some of the best articles in the print edition.

[RBS]

*and

[Randian]

The same Suderman who has been railing PPACA since its inception?

See, Suderman doesn't write about Obamacare like a ham-fisted retard or Rockwell contributor, which proves he's a secret pinot-swilling Obama lover.

You gotta read waaaaay between the lines with these people, RBS.

[Calidissident]

Randian say what you want about the Rockwellians, but at least they didn't shill for Romney like the people attacking Suderman here are/did

[Ken Shultz]

Feeney said in the survey that Obama would be better than Romney on economic freedom.

Now that's a "libertarian" who needs to explain himself.

[Question of Auban]

"In truth, in the case of individuals, their actual voting is not to be taken as proof of consent, even for the time being. On the contrary, it is to be considered that, without his consent having ever been asked, a man finds himself environed by a government that he cannot resist; a government that forces him to pay money, render service, and forego the exercise of many of his natural rights, under peril of weighty punishments. He sees, too, that other men practise this tyranny over him by the use of the ballot. He sees further that, if he will but use the ballot himself, he has some chance of relieving himself from this tyranny of others, by subjecting them to his own. In short, he finds himself, without his consent, so situated that, if he use the ballot, he may become a master; if he does not use it, he must become a slave."

Lysander Spooner

[Big 'Orra]

What were you expecting him to do about the fiscal cliff...

FORWARD!

[Apatheist ?_??]

It looks like Obama is going to get less votes that McCain did in 2008. Not too impressive.

[Auric Demonocles]

So how was Republican turnout this low?

[Ken Shultz]

Because nobody was voting for Romney.

They were all voting against Obama.

It's easier to get a big turnout when people are actually voting for the candidate instead of voting against the opposition.

[robc]

Proving the point Ive been saying for a while.

Romney ran the same campaign as Kerry 2004. To beat an incumbent, you must run a positive campaign, not just anti.

I thought Romney had a chance because Obama was still running against Bush, but it turns out my initial assessment was right.

[Spoonman.]

I called Romney "Red Kerry" when talking to my wife last night.

[Spoonman.]

I called Romney "Red Kerry" when talking to my wife last night.

[mad libertarian guy]

Because nobody was voting for Romney.

They were all voting against Obama.

There is a good reason for that. The SoConism somehow stole the forefront for Team RED. Fiscal conservatism and small government became back seat players to the culture war. Surely Team BLUE helped in this regard (why shouldn't they? Team RED has demonstrated nothing but utter stupidity in this regard).

Many people who vote Team BLUE don't do so because they want free shit or love big government programs, but because they HATE THE FUCKING SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES that have a tight grip on the Republican party.

It's simple. If Team RED wants to be competitive, they need to kick the religious right to the curb.

[robc]

They nominated Romney, Im trying to figure out how the SoCons are in charge of the party.

Dr Paul is more socially conservative than Romney.

[Calidissident]

Paul might be more personally socially conservative than Romney, but not politically

[Ken Shultz]

Team Blue may have voted for Obama because of the culture war.

But Team Romney wasn't fighting the culture war.

I don't remember Romney ever mentioning a culture war issue.

[VG Zaytsev]

Team Blue was campaigning exclusively on culture war issues.

War on Womyn

Rich white guy not one of us.

Hates minorities

That's all culture war bullshit - just different than christianist culture war bullshit.

[RightNut]

You sure it was? I haven't seen any breakdowns on the popular vote by party ID yet. Its very possible that Republican turnout could be up from 08(a low water mark for sure) and still not equal Democratic turnout.

[Auric Demonocles]

If Apatheist is right and Obama got less votes than McCain did 4 years ago, but still beat Romney, that would require Romney to have a smaller turnout than McCain did 4 years ago.

[RightNut]

MMM. Just from google: Obama 2012 = 59.5 million votes, McCain 08 = 59.9 million votes.

I know voting was extended in a few states hard hit by hurricane Sandy. Could that account for Obama's low numbers?

Also, how the fuck did John McCain get more votes than Romney? I didn't vote for Romney, but by almost any measure 2012 Romney was a better candidate than 2008 McCain.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

I'm going to wait to see the crosstabs on the exit polls and detailed analysis of Congressional districts, but I have an inkling that evangelicals had a problem voting for a Mormon.

[RightNut]

If that were true you would think Romney would have lost a state like North Carolina.

It is kinda funny how wierded out my liberal friends are by Mormonism. They had no problem with Obama having Rev. Wright as his pastor for 20 years though.

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm going to wait to see the crosstabs on the exit polls and detailed analysis of Congressional districts, but I have an inkling that evangelicals had a problem voting for a Mormon.

I'm thinking it's more a case of most people havuing a problem voting for evangelicals.

If last night demonstrated anything, it's that social conservatism is dead. It can no longer win elections of any kind.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

If last night demonstrated anything, it's that social conservatism is dead. It can no longer win elections of any kind.

Oh, sure it can. I'm sure it can win local races, and even statewide races in deep red states.

As for national races, well, you're closer to being right. The difficulty is that although a Republican who embraces social conservatism might not be able to win, a Republican who runs away from social conservatism will lose a chunk of the base. I really don't see a way out for the national GOP at this point.

[robc]

Not that I can tell, here is a random selection of bible belt states.

KY:
McCain 57.4%
Romney 60.5%

TN:
McCain 56.9
Romney 59.5

GA:
McCain 52.2
Romney 53.4

SC:
McCain 53.9
Romney 55.0

MS:
McCain 56.2
Romney 55.4

So 1/5 did Romney get a lower percentage than McCain got. I could check some more, but I think same trend.

In KY, Obama went from winning 8 counties in 2008 to 4 in 2012. He still won the two cities, but went from 6 to 2 in rural counties.

[RightNut]

Ya I doubt Romney's Mormonism hurt him then. It was barely even brought up during either the primaries or the general election.

[Auric Demonocles]

Also, man dates are pretty gay.

[hamilton]

But leag in a few more states, now. (good thing, for clarity).

[hamilton]

Shit. *legal Too many martinis last night.

[Atanarjuat]

I thought "leag" was the new, hip term for cool guys*, similar to the shortifying of aggressive to "aggro".

*I.e., guys who are not as cool as they think they are.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

The voters have spoken with one singular, glorious voice: Mandate!

50.3% of the voters have spoken with one singular, glorious voice: Uh, mandate?

[The Other Kevin]

Damn you Fist. My first comment was going to be: MANDATE! Guess the faster fist won.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That just shows it was an obvious comment. Pedestrian even. You just ruined my day.

[Pro Libertate]

I look to the House to stop everything that isn't a spending cut or a reduction of government. It's time someone said the word "no."

[Auric Demonocles]

So, not to be a prick, but.... Florida. Why'd you give me that false hope of yummy tears?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Because he's a dick! You know how you should know he's a dick? Because he lives in Florida!

And Boehner is chomping at the bit to work with Obama. We'll see how many of the no longer freshmen congressmen of the Tea Party persuasion keep giving the speaker the business or cave to be all bipartisanny.

[Pro Libertate]

Nobody is more surprised than me.

[RBS]

Do you really think they will have they backbone to do it though?

[Question of Auban]

Given that many House Republicans are RINOs probably not, sadly.

[Pro Libertate]

Probably not, but they'll just highlight the reason it just doesn't matter all the more if they don't.

[Stormy Dragon]

So your plan is to continue the strategy that cost them the Presidency, two senate seats, and seven house seats another two years?

The voters, before anything, expect politicians to the job they were hired to do of managing the government. The Republicans need to figure out a way to do that while still pushing their agenda, because threatening to deliberately tank the economy unless you get what you want doesn't help you with the voters.

[ant1sthenes]

I agree. The Republicans should go full retard Democrat. 100% income tax on all incomes above $100k, welfare for everyone, mandatory abortions, ban combustion engines, completely open borders, etc.

It's like making a kid smoke a shitton of cigarettes to teach them not to smoke, except that the kid is an asshole and not yours so it's a win-win whether they learn or die.

[The Hammer]

Where do you get that Democrats are for open borders?

[Pro Libertate]

My plan is that we don't commit fiscal suicide, by whatever means that takes.

[Auric Demonocles]

You have some strange ideas Pro Lib. It's people like you that made the assisted suicide ballot measure fail.

[Pro Libertate]

The only hope for us are major scientific and technological breakthroughs. Please get to work on some extraterrestrial habitats. Thanks.

[Auric Demonocles]

I'd love to. Convince some customers to give us a contract and I'll start designing the control logic.

[Emmerson Biggins]

I want them to balance the budget. First in line for cutting spending would be blatantly unconstitutional things. In other words, I'd like them to pursue a completely different strategy.

[R C Dean]

I guessed wrong. All that big talk about a motivated Repub base turned out to be just talk, and the Dem machine was able to turn out enough takers to carry the day.

Ah well. Status quo it is, then.

I did, however, bet right. The Dean portfolio is up nicely this week, and I have my finger on the trigger for some short plays.

[JW]

Mr. Sulu, set voters to "cunty."

[generic Brand]

Californians have voted to keep the death penalty.

Babs Boxer is first up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and mourned the loss of incumbent Sen. Scott Brown, who lost to Elizabeth Warren.

Massachusettes voters being indian givers with Kennedy's seat!

[LTC(ret) John]

You had to go there...

[Drake]

On the bright side, the election of Warren may have finally convinced my parents to move their residency to FL.

It is stunning that a unbelievably terrible candidate and person is going to be a U.S. Senator.

[Art Vandelay]

Really? I find most US Senators to be terrible candidates and people.

Why should Warren be any different?

[R C Dean]

She's hardly the first to parlay a blatant lie and economic illiteracy into a Senate seat.

[T]

Or the Presidency! Twice, even!

[$park?]

Please allow me to take this moment to gloat about my predictions and to give the finger to all the people who called me an idiot for calling a Warren victory in MA.

[Ken Shultz]

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!

[$park?]

I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean.

[Ken Shultz]

They called you an idiot.

That was extreme.

...but if they did it to defend themselves against Lie-awatha, then maybe that's no vice.

[Jersey Patriot]

Take a day off from the computer, Ken.

[$park?]

Sorry Ken, that still doesn't make any sense. Why would people need to defend themselves against a candidate running for senator?

[Ken Shultz]

It was supposed to be half-funny!

I say extreme shit against Granny Cheekbones all the time!

You want to call her LearJet Lizzy the Limousine Liberal or Warpath Warren, go ahead...

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!

[T]

Let's be fair, Sparky. They could be calling you an idiot for other reasons.

[Lord Humungus]

it's the bowtie.

[$park?]

I'll be honest, there are plenty of other reasons.

[Hyperion]

Brown is no loss at all for liberty, he's just another NE liberal.

However, we did get another Libertarian in Massie to replace RP, so there is that.

[RightNut]

Brown is the absolute best you can possibly get in MA. Are you really arguing that a win for the quintessential statist Warren is not a loss for liberty?

[Drake]

She truly may be the worst thing I've ever seen. Hypocricy, nepotism, nannyism, lying victimhood, and pure statist fascism all wrapped up in one repulsive package.

[RightNut]

The worst thing about her is she's already considered a rising star in the Democratic party. Don't be surprised if she ends up being the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016 or 20202.

[Drake]

It would be fun to see her campaigning in here native Oklahoma to a group of Indians.

[R C Dean]

OK is deep red. She'll never set foot there. Why should she?

[Ray]

Amazingly, the ones in Massachusetts seemed not to care. When Brown brought it up, some local Indian group went all RACISSSSS!!! Folks know where the free wampum's at.

(I, as someone who is 1/32nd Cherokee, compared to her claimed 1/64th, was pretty pissed, since I never attempted to take advantage of racial preferences for anything...)

[bmp1701]

20202? Is that from the Indian Calendar?

[RightNut]

Sorry I was assuming Warren will still be alive in the far future so she can enslave the Eloi and use them as a food source.

[RightNut]

Also not to be a downer, but we now have another Kennedy spawnling in the US. House from MA. So be prepared for his eventual grooming for higher office.

[tarran]

It's a fucking nightmare; that scion attended my high-school, and the high school is spamming us with joy at the news of his entry into the cursus honorum

[fried wylie]

Mayan, you culturally insensitive prick!

[Masturbatin' Pete]

I'd be very surprised if she were to be the nominee in 20202, given that it's not an election year...

[RightNut]

Was a typo, I meant 20204.

[Killazontherun]

That time Warren and Barbara Boxer trapped the hostess at the DC Steakhouse between them and dry humped her against her will is what pushed it over the edge for me in regard to whether she was the worst person to be nominated senator in the United States.

[Killazontherun]

Oh, and her coyote ugly face. You know, if you woke up in the morning with her sleeping beside you and your arm trapped under her, you would rather cut off her head and feed it to coyotes than to let anyone find out that you fucked that if she were to blab.

[tarran]

Brown was a totalitarian piece of shit who was an enemy of freedom.

He's no loss to liberty. One enemy of freedom just bumped off another enemy of freedom. It's like getting upset that Stalin's forced drove Mussolini out of the Balkans.

[RightNut]

Brown was certainly no libertarian saint, but comparing him to Mussolini? WTF. Just curious, but who do you think MA should have in the senate?

[tarran]

Former frequent commenter Heller.

[Hyperion]

No, not arguing that at all. I am not debating that Warren is not worse. She is the worst. But Brown is not a pro liberty guy.

[sarcasmic]

Mom gets $2,500 fine for letting Junior, three, pee in the yard.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-yard.html

[Drake]

I was peeing in the yard and dumping in the woods last week until my power and electric well pump came back.

[Lord Humungus]

$5000 fine! = $2500 * Number 2

[Zeb]

I was peeing in the yard all summer while I had no indoor plumbing.

[Bobarian]

I was peeing in the yard on Saturday because I was too lazy to walk upstairs to the bathroom.

Texas Hold'em and lots of alcohol were involved.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ashley Warden said she is glad police have acknowledged the officer reacted poorly to the situation...

Ha! The coppers have to HATE that spin. I have no doubt the department did not state it quite that way.

[sarcasmic]

How many SWAT team members does it take to evict a 63yr old woman? Ten trucks worth! Complete with fully automatic rifles and grenade launchers! Everyone had a gun pointed at their head! Police orgasmed! Children were conceived that night!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-them.html

[mr simple]

'I think our officers handled themselves just fine,' Snelling said. 'I'll tell you at the end of the day we were prepared to meet any resistance that may have come.'

Better to use a nuke on an anthill than one officer stub his toe.

[sarcasmic]

That's not a basement. THIS is a basement!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....round.html

[John]

That is the big thing now. If you live in some socialist paradise like London or LA where the zoning laws won't let you build or do much to your hourse, you get around that by building down. The huge basement is the new thing to have.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Those plans look fantastic. I would build that even without zoning regs!

Also: I'm glad to see that you made it through the night. Make sure you have a trusted friend on speed-dial today in case you find yourself around a particularly sharp stack of legal briefs.

[RightNut]

I dont understand why the neighbors are mad, how does it effect them at all?

[sarcasmic]

Envy.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I imagine that it will be noisy as the Technodrome hollows out the ground. It may disturb some of their wine-cellars.

[nicole]

I assume the construction will be a bitch for some time.

[Art Vandelay]

It's not fair. If he builds a nice basement for himself, he should have to pay for one for them, too.

[Drake]

"No one needs that much space."

In a just universe, she would have been struck dead on the spot.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

"No one needs that much space."
In a just universe, she would have been struck dead on the spot.

So sorry, the duchess is 3731 miles out of range of anything I have.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Silly self-made man, Greed is for inherited aristocracy.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

And for bloated plutocrats?

[Rich]

"No one needs that many fingers."

/Jack Bauer

[bmp1701]

[redneck] How can you have too much basement?[ /redneck]

[generic Brand]

The duchess said: 'These plans are absolutely monstrous and unnecessary. It's just absolute greed.

No one needs that much space.'

When and how exactly can we tell people who think they know how everyone else should live their lives to fuck off? I thought I was doing that with a GJ vote yesterday, but the message failed to come across how I wanted it to.

[sarcasmic]

When and how exactly can we tell people who think they know how everyone else should live their lives to fuck off?

Never. They outnumber us. They've got support of the people with the last word on violence. Might makes right. We lose.

[Quetzalcoatl]

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." - CS Lewis

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The best CS Lewis quote.

[robc]

2nd best, IMO.

But damn fine.

[nicole]

Extra rich since she is, you know, a fucking duchess.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Beat me to it. But yes the irony and lack of self awareness is amazing.

[sarcasmic]

The Donald is pissed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ction.html

[Shirley Knott]

Good news out of Michigan where Prop 2, the 'collective bargaining' amendment, went down to defeat.
As did all the state level propositions.

[Lord Humungus]

and Grand Rapids, MI decrimed marijuana possession. And Justin Amash kept his seat.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maine and Maryland both passed propositions recognizing gay marriage.

"Two dudes marrying each other? Yep, that's gay."

[Bee Tagger]

Obama beat Mitt Romney.

Will people continue to pay Dick Morris for predictions?

[Ice Nine]

He was tweeting the returns last night. His last tweet, before Ohio was settled, was "don't give up". There has been nothing new on his website since. Someone should go check on him.

[BigT]

Hide the sharp objects.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

"Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there."

Good morning everyone.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Actually, since there will be no tax reform, I will still have a job. At least until everyone is unemployed and don't need to file.

[nicole]

Don't worry, CPA, we'll still have to prove we have qualifying health insurance.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I forgot all about that stupid form. Hooray! Pay me to figure out paperwork!

[nicole]

I forgot all about that stupid form.

Rent-seeking, you're doing it wrong.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Clients are freaking out over the Medicare surtax on net investment and earned income in 2013. That's been keeping us a little busy.

[Stormy Dragon]

The form was a hoax made up by some Repub think tank. The fact it's being treated like an actual tax form is part why the GOP got it's ass paddled last night. The Dems may be wrong on nearly every issue, but at least they don't come across as deranged crazy people.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Um, understood, but there will be a form at some point.

[Cavpitalist]

The Dems may be wrong on nearly every issue, but at least they don't come across as deranged crazy people.

They do to non-Dems.

I guess that's why the Dems got their asses paddled last night (If 50% opposition is an "ass-paddling", I gotta assume 49% is, too).

[Stormy Dragon]

No, losing the presidency and seats in both houses of the legislature is a paddling.

[Cavpitalist]

They didn't lose the Presidency. The Democrats retained it by a tiny margin

Again, to non-Dems, you Dems are crazy and deranged as fuck. Sorry.

[Auric Demonocles]

Are we now doomed to 4 more years of AM Links without alt-text?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It appears to be the only thing getting cut.

[Auric Demonocles]

Alt-text has been shown to have a 1.5 comment multiplier!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It was either PBS or alt-text.

[LTC(ret) John]

But how many characters does it subtract from the Gross Reason Product?

[Auric Demonocles]

That's the thing, it leads to more. Multiplier!

[Drax the Destroyer]

Ahhhhhh what's for breakfast? Red Salty Ham Tears? Meh, they taste the same as the blue tears.

YUMMMY YUMMMY TEARS.

[Randian]

I cannot concur. No one liked Romney (really); Obama worshipers are loathsome individuals.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Eh, I'm a vindictive asshole who will take solace in the fact that you can't shit all over your libertarian "allies" and expect to get away with it.

Plus, it's better if Chairman Maobama presides over shit hitting the fan rather than a "Heartless Free-Market Advocate" like Romney.

[RBS]

There is that, as idiotic as it is Romney would have been seen as some evil libertarian mastermind. Now the collapse is all on the Democrats.

[Drax the Destroyer]

That is where my nearly nonexistent hope lies.

[Killazontherun]

Nope, the people bought 'deregulation tanked the economy' they will buy anything. You are still showing faith in the people. The people have turned into Sid Barret.

Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.

He's gone, man. Save yourself.

[Bobarian]

How many people woke up this morning and said:

WE WON! WE Won! we won... we won? yah?

[Rasilio]

Most of my facebook feed unfortunately.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Hence the "nearly nonexistent" (read as FOOLISH) hope.

[sloopyinca]

I may only punch everyone once in the nuts today since the election was such a downer.

Try this on for size: Three year old OK boy given $2500 ticket for peeing in own front yard in rural area. Police Department not responding to questions.

[sarcasmic]

Beat you to it.

[sloopyinca]

Yeah, but your link is from the Daily Fail, not an American news outlet. Why do you hate the USA, Sarcasmic?

[sarcasmic]

Too many reasons to count.

[T]

Yesterday gave me a few million more.

Oh, wait, that's a few million more Americans to hate, not reasons. I apologize for the confusion.

[db]

Now that's a nut punch.

[BigT]

The best is yet to come.

It seems I've heard that before. Don't help me....

[Drax the Destroyer]

What kills me is the "new-found" talk of bipartisanship this and bipartisanship that from both sides. Fuck bipartisanship. Stop doing stuff you assholes. Anything that can gum up your horseshit Rube Goldbergian systems of theft and violence is a good thing.

I REPEAT: STOP FUCKING DOING STUFF (unless "doing stuff" means repealing bullshit laws).

[Clano'6]

My favorite is all the liberals on FB who have been screaming that Romney is the devil now telling everyone they should be above rhetoric and praying for our president rather than being pissed....I thought liberals didn't want prayer?

[tarran]

Suddenly they're talking about everyone becoming purple staters (get it, red and blue mixed together)

[Clano'6]

I'm suddenly having a flashback to that 1980's Coke commercial... "I'd like to give the world a Coke and keep it company...."

[rac3rx]

I wouldn't mind giving the world some Coke and watching its heart explode out of its chest...

[Chris Mallory]

Is praying the 109th Psalm over Obama what they want?

[Drake]

I wonder if the Republicans in the House will grow the balls to simply not raise the debt limit?

[SFC B]

Nope. Because there is an exactly 0% chance that the large media outlets will represent the situation fairly, let alone accurately. It will be all about the spiteful GOP being willing to let Granny die on the streets just to punish Obama and America for reelecting him.

The Obama Administration has been allowed to skate on killing a couple thousand Mexicans and leaving a group of Americans, including an ambassador, to be killed by Al Qaeda. Why should the GOP expect anyone to honestly report their effort to try and rein in unsustainable spending?

[Drax the Destroyer]

...and leaving a group of Americans, including an ambassador, to be killed by Al Qaeda.

Let's not forget that Obama essentially helped the "Rebels" (Al Qaeda) infest that hellhole. What a cunt.

[Stormy Dragon]

See, this is what's hurting the GOP. The House could have voted against the continuing resolution the authorized the debt to begin with, like responsible adults. Instead they pass that overwhelming we but then want to use a threat to default on the debt to extort what they want.

Why? Because cutting spending in the appropriations bills would require them to take a stand on what to cut. But the debt crises lets them put all the tough choices onto someone else.

The problem is that Americans don't like Republicans deliberately put the voters at financial risk so that the politicians don't have to do their job properly.

[Hyperion]

This. And I just had to watch Fox News last night. That fucktard O'reilly was talking the same type of bipartisan shit, that's how the Republicans will win. Because that's all that matters is that team red wins, even if they have to become team blue to do it.

[Drax the Destroyer]

What was it Hayek said? The worst rise to the top?

The worst people I've known are those that have to win petty bullshit at all costs. Imagine the types of people who want the one ring to rule them all. What the hell would they do to possess it?

[Pro Libertate]

I concur. Undo or do not.

[Whiterun Guard]

PAY ME, RANDIAN!

And no one ever argue with me about Supreme Court decisions or Presidiential Elections ever again.

[generic Brand]

This in my mind is about the only solace I can take out of yesterday's results. I put a $25 bet on Obama to win $30 back when I saw how shitty his competition was gonna be (talking January mid-primaries still). Obama had +130 odds and he seemed like a shoe-in.

Kind of glad he won for my wallet's sake, but kind of super pissed he won for my wallet's sake.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Well at least that $5 will buy you a sixpack.

[generic Brand]

Actually, bet $25 to win $30, but the payout then is $55 (my input plus the winnings). So I could get some supplies for a homebrewed case!

[Bones]

Of shitty beer.

[Randian]

Son of a bitch. I forgot about this second bet.

[Whiterun Guard]

Don't sweat it. Next time you're eating out and there's a waitress that seems sad, give her a $20 tip and say it's from a Libertarian in West Africa.

[LTC(ret) John]

Ha, I love that - I can only imagine the confused, yet happy look she would give Randian as he said that, handing over the Jackson.

[Bee Tagger]

Californians have voted to keep the death penalty.

Death penalty, you oughta be shot. Or stabbed, lose a leg. To be a death penalty, you know? Know what kind of pain you're dealing with. They make psychiatrists get psychoanalyzed before they can get certified, but they don't make a death penalty suffer the death penalty. That seem right to you?

[aelhues]

Jubal Early for the win...

[geo1113]

Lose a leg. Very creative. Can we add put an eye out with a stick.

[BigT]

California is going to get what they deserve, good and hard.

Democrats picked up a supermajority in both houses of the state Legislature Tuesday night, a surprise outcome that gives the party the ability to unilaterally raise taxes and leaves Republicans essentially irrelevant in Sacramento.

http://www.sfgate.com/politics.....015861.php

[John]

But it will still be the Republicans' fault when things fail.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I am so glad I moved out of CA in 2004.

[Art Vandelay]

The taxes will be raised until the economy improves!

[Clano'6]

And unfortunately, when CA goes belly up, we will have to use taxpayer money from the rest of the nation to bail them out.

[Brett L]

Nah. We sell it back to Mexico at a discount.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I went home last night planning on not voting. Then I saw a sample ballot lying on the ground and decided to take a lok-see at the ballot measures. There was a constitutional amendment limiting eminent domain. So I went to vote.

And it passed. So I feel somewhat OK.

I also personally got at least one vote for Senate and one for House.

[generic Brand]

Nice. Your state seems more hopeful than Florida, even with all of DC cronies deciding they like living south of the city rather than in it or north.

[NoVAHockey]

yep. Amendment 1 passed and it wasn't even close.

[Kaptious Kristen]

My delegate was working the lines at my polling place and he told some chick in front of me that the Dems were against the amendment because the state "would never take someone's property for private development". He's either a liar or naive like Kay Corleone.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Liar. You're in the DC zone. He knows exactly the impact it will have on Dems taking property away because they do it all the time.

[Kaptious Kristen]

The amendment was also very, very personal because I have been worried about eminent domain for a few years now. My condo is old (built in 1968, I believe), and sits on 20 acres adjacent to Metro. The potential for getting eminent domained out of my house was pretty high. Now it's slightly less likely that it will happen.

[Killazontherun]

My condo is old (built in 1968, I believe

That's not old. I was under construction in 1968.

[Auric Demonocles]

In a sense, even I was under construction in 1968.

[NoVAHockey]

you're right to be concerned. they draw circles around metro stops and want to turn every one of them into Ballston.

[Kaptious Kristen]

The kicker is we've been working on a redevelopment plan for years, and the county, rather than encourage us and part the red tape sea for us, is making things typically difficult. It would be much easier for a developer to grease some palms in government to get the complex condemned and handed over to the developer than work with us within the confines of county zoning laws and such. the likelihood of that happening just decreased, thank fuck.

But, given that we're also right next to the Beltway and the Wilson Bridge and the Telegraph Rd interchange, the county or commonwealth could still come along and take our home under the guise of ROADZ!, then hand it over to a private concern.

[generic Brand]

I fucking hate Florida

The only amendments that passed were the ones that benefit old people. Either pay your goddamn mortgage or sell the home. Why should they get a fucking tax break just because they are veterans, or seniors, or disabled?

And was I missing something on Amendment 1? I thought Florida was Republican enough to pass the anti-Obamacare amendment, but it got rejected.

[Auric Demonocles]

It wasn't Republican enough to go anti-Obama. Why would it go anti-Obamacare?

[generic Brand]

True. And four years ago... I guess over the last eight years Florida has pretty much stopped pretending they could be Republican. They punished Alan Grayson for his Obamacare vote in 2010 and now he gets elected back into Congress in 2012.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Why should they get a fucking tax break just because they are veterans, or seniors, or disabled?

Because they "fought" and/or "sacrificed" for "your" "freedoms." Maybe I should just puts quotes around the whole sentence...

[BigT]

Was the 'free stuff' part of the deal? Will we continue to owe them from now until eternity?

Let's honor the sanctity of contracts. Vets who are injured deserve our help and support - that's part of the deal. Not the healthy.

[LTC(ret) John]

Indeed - that crap really makes me cringe. I still have my original enlistement contract, and my first commission papers - nothing about
extra free shit" in either of them.

I'd be ashamed to take the break.

[Tim]

Old age is affirmative action for white folks.

[T]

Hey, minorities could get it, too, if they weren't so fleet-footed in the race to the grave.

[Tim]

Life in prison includes free healthcare.

[aelhues]

MO's anti health insurance exchange amendment passed, but idiots put out democrat governor back in office. Makes no sense to me.

[Auric Demonocles]

Why should they get a fucking tax break just because they are veterans

Because they weren't paid anything while active duty... right?

[Cavpitalist]

Not much. At least not if they're enlisted.

I don't think veterans deserve a bunch of free shit, either, but let's be honest...you ain't getting economically comfortable by enlisting in the military.

[Rasilio]

Actually if you are smart you could get VERY economically comfy by enlisting in the military.

Go in at age 18, get stationed overseas and you could put like 75% of your pay for the first decade in the bank because all your housing and food is prettty much covered for you, all you need is a small entertainment budget.

Get married and start having kids in your late 20's/early 30's and move back to the states. With your higher E4 to E5 salary and BAS and BAQ you should still be able to put a good 20 - 25% of your pay in the bank as long as your spouse works.

Retire at age 38 with an E6 or better base pay then move into the GS work force and put in 20 years as a civilian making 2x as much money finally retiring at age 58 with a huge bank account and 2 full government pensions.

[Cavpitalist]

So why would you need to join the military to do any of that?

If we're living in a fantasy world where everything you do is geared toward retirement from the age of 18, there are a lot better ways to go than the military. Kind of misses the whole point, really.

[Rasilio]

And all of them require some combination of either luck of talent. This is entirely based on mere persistance and just not doing anything abnormally stupid to get a Dishonorable discharge.

[Auric Demonocles]

I never said they were getting rich (though they're doing fine if they aren't stupid about it). My point was that they already got the benefits they agreed to when they decided to work for the military.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm actually in shock about Florida. Something weird has happened here. Maybe all of the people moving down here from the Northeast has finally changed things.

What's weird is that the Republicans dominate the state government.

[generic Brand]

This is essentially what I meant when I said that I thought the state was pro-Republican. Vets, vets' spouses, and disabled vets from other states all get property tax exemptions, but the rest of the state can't even get property tax assessments reset to the just value of the home.

Gotta get that cheddah somewhere!

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm actually in shock about Florida. Something weird has happened here. Maybe all of the people moving down here from the Northeast has finally changed things.

If the election were in August, FL would be Team RED all the way. It's the snow birds that fuck things up there.

[Bee Tagger]

Called for a 'revolution' and added that Obama's re-election was a 'disgusting injustice'

What, did NBC preempt their smash new hit from executive producer J.J. Abrams to show election coverage?

[Bee Tagger]

Sorry, sarcasmic. Should have been a reply to your link.

[sarcasmic]

The Donald is angry at you.

[Jerry on the road]

Obama is reelected and all I can feel is apathy.

[Drax the Destroyer]

That is the emotion of a sane man.

[Drake]

Obama will Change your apathy to rage soon enough.

[LTC(ret) John]

I, and many at my work feel dread - we are the number 1 construction coverage, 4 workers comp carrier, etc. There are many long faces as we look at 2-4 more years of stagnation or worse.

[Drake]

I work for a health care company. My wife works for an insurance company. Together we make between $200 to 250k depending on bonuses (which we've already been told are close to zero next year). We live in NJ and are barely breaking even at the current tax rate.

In other words, I'm fucked.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Obamaite Supreme: But you are rich Drake, and you should feel like a horrible person for it. All your money should be given to people too stupid to save and layabouts too lazy to work. In other words, fuck you slave.

[Drax the Destroyer]

On a serious note, it's only a matter of time before "Rich" means anything north of $50K.

[Lord Humungus]

My wife and I have been single income for years. Once she finishes school, we're planning on being double-income. Not looking forward to the extra taxes.

[BigT]

On a serious note, it's only a matter of time before "Rich" means anything north of $50K

FIFY

[Bobarian]

On a serious note, it's only a matter of time before "Rich" means EMPLOYED

FIFY

[sloopyinca]

OK, I lied.

Police use pepper spray on protesters on Oregon because they "felt threatened", even though the protesters did bot initiate any of the contact. PoliceOne commentators react.

Ex 1: Posted by ustwo63
Im thinking an M60 with a few belts of ammo instead of pepper spray but thats just me.

Ex 2: Posted by Tower4guy
Don't know about the M60's but the thought of fixed bayonets did cross my mind, but then that's just me. Anyone want to charge cold steel pointed at them?????? Can you say, shish-ka-bob??? LOL!!!

Stay classy, assholes.

[generic Brand]

Where are they going to get the bayonets though? Don't they know that's not military tech anymore?

[sloopyinca]

I'm sure they'll just apply for and get a rubber-stamped federal grant. After all, they are giving grants to the tune of $125k so a department can hire a new cop because he's a veteran.*

*I'm sure none of that difference between his starting salary and the $125k will be allocated, right? It'll definitely go back to the taxpayers it was confiscated from.

[LTC(ret) John]

God save the places that get former MPs.... because nothing and no one else will. And doubly so if they hire 82nd Airborne - STOP RESISTING will turn into STOP LIVING!

[Slithery D]

The 82nd Airborne is the worst division in the army. Full retard.

[Bee Tagger]

Cosmic GDP crashes! Astronomers have discovered that the rate of formation of new stars in the Universe has drastically reduced to only 1/30th of its peak and that this decline is set to continue.

I know, space just needs some Quantumtative Easing.

[Joe M]

At least that would be finite.

[John]

When you look at the people who voted for Obama, some of them are retard monkey leftists like Shreek or "Obama is going to give me free shit" leaches. But not all of them were. The Obama voters I know who don't fall into those two catagories are all suburban white women and a few really beta men married to said women. And if you talk to them, they are not crazy partisans. They voted for Bush in 2000 because Clinton violated a little snowflake in the White House and again in 2004 because 9-11 made them fear the Muslims and they thought Bush would protect them. This year they voted for Obama. And they did so, or at least the ones I know for two reasons

First, they are obsessed with birth control and abortion. They all live in fear tha their little girl is going get knocked up and they won't be able to take care of it. I kid you not. Second and most important, they have this idea that whoever they vote for for President must care abou them. Not care about the country but care about them personally. Every single one of them will tell you that "Obama cares about me and cares about people".

[John]

If Republicans had ran Ron Paul, he would have made a million reasonable and compelling arguments about how the country is going down the tubes and things need to change, but he would have never connected with those people. They want to feel like they are special and that their President cares about them.

You tell me how you connect with them? The only way I see it happening is if there is another terrorist attack and they all run back to big daddy Republicans to save their little special snow flakes from the Muslims. And that is not a strategy and even if it were it would be a repulsive one.

[Joe M]

You're definitely right on the first post. The exit polls show that Obama had a huge advantage among women, and women vote in greater numbers than men. So appealing to them is has a bigger electoral payout now.

[John]

And the ones who are not completely gone and posting on feministing are totally Oprahfied. It is almost sexual with them. They want to feel special and feel that the President cares. That matters above all else. IF you talk to them they are not crazy leftists. They are concerned about the deficit and the wars and the future. But they won't vote on those issues. They vote on who makes them feel special. I am not kidding.

[Ken Shultz]

"And the ones who are not completely gone and posting on feministing are totally Oprahfied. It is almost sexual with them. They want to feel special and feel that the President cares. That matters above all else."

It's a personality cult.

[Rich]

We care a lot.

[T]

Please tell me that's a link to the greatest Faith No More song of all time.

[Ken Shultz]

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it.

[Rhywun]

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it.

[Rhywun]

D'oh!

[VG Zaytsev]

Those types of voters are motivated by fear. Fear of losing abortion or kkkorpashuns forcing us to eat bad food or muslim terrorists or crime.

Romney didn't get them to fear an Obama relection.

That was his failure.

[Drax the Destroyer]

You are right on that, John. The only way for the GOP to come back is to become even more purple than they already are by at least pretending they favor abortion and are against drug laws and war and shit. You know, like the Democrats.

[John]

In some ways. The funny thing is that you really don't have to do any of that shit when you get in office. You just have to pretend you care and these women will love you. The good news is that they are a very cheap date.

[Drax the Destroyer]

So essentially, a supervillian strategy of lying and kissing babies while secretly drawing up plans for the DOOMLASER is the winning strategy.

Makes me wonder where the hell Obama's DOOMLASER is. The dark side of the moon? Meh, I'm sure the EPA stopped construction due to the environmental impact.

[VG Zaytsev]

So essentially, a supervillian strategy of lying and kissing babies while secretly drawing up plans for the DOOMLASER is the winning strategy.

That was Obama's strategy in 08 and 12.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Hence the query on the status/location of Obama's DOOMLASER (built with Union labor).

[Tim]

Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
Do you love me!?
Will you love me forever!?

[sloopyinca]

You've put a picture of Susan Sarandon in my mind's eye. I hate you now.

[Tim]

Buck up. For the next four years it's Sarandons all the way down.

[Pro Libertate]

The short answer is that things will have to get worse, apparently, for people to wake up. That goes for the Republicans, too, who need to put up candidates who are serious about scaling back government, even if they aren't libertarian by our standards.

I thought the economic problems alone were enough to get Obama ejected, but I suppose too many of us don't understand that we're heading right down the paths that Europe and Japan took. It's distressing to see that pragmatism has taken a back seat to, well, I don't quite understand what.

We seem to like reelecting bad presidents. Nixon got a second term, too.

[VG Zaytsev]

Dude, he's taking us down the path that turned Detroit into a 3rd world shithole. No need to look to Europe or Japan.

What's really amazing is that Detroit and MI still vote D after 40 years of getting ass fucked.

So thinking that people will see the light when things get really bad seems overly optimistic.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

People could leave Detroit. It's going to be harder to leave the USA as a while.

[RightNut]

Harder, but doable. My great-grandfather left the warm, idyllic Italian countryside for the cold, urban, Northeast. I'm sure that wasn't easy, but he did it for better economic opportunities. Americans today would do the same thing.

[Gray Ghost]

...but he did it for better economic opportunities. Americans today would do the same thing.

But where will you go? Estonia? Chile? L5? (If, only.)

It will get a lot worse before it gets better. And if we're judging by increased liberty, I don't think it's going to get better for a very long time.

[Lord Humungus]

^^ ding!

Michigan is strange, considering we finally put a Republican into the governor chair, nixed the pro-union Prop 2 (and many others), but yet went solidly for Obama.

[mr simple]

I thought the economic problems alone were enough to get Obama ejected

I'm starting to think we live in an information bubble and nothing we know gets out. Nightly news has someone on they call an economist that says O's doing the right thing and the free market is to blame and that's good enough for the average voter.

Actually, any of this even comes into play for most. The only important thing is the letter after the candidate's name.

[Drax the Destroyer]

So what you are saying is that the majority of the people who voted for Obama are probably unprincipled pussies...

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Just admit you don't know what you are talking about, John.

Nate Silver went 50 for 50 and you claimed he is an idiot.

Who is the idiot, John?

[John]

You dipshit. And Nate silver is still a moron.

[Randian]

Nate Silver was right and I was wrong. So mea culpa on that.

That said, Silver will be out of business in the next 4-8 years. A lot of people know now that his method works and they'll just either (a) copy him or (b) conduct garbage polls to swamp him out.

Regardless, the GOP is going to have to tone down the perceived 'sexism', even though I agree with John that anyone who thought the Republicans were going to ban abortion and birth control and voted that way are stone cold morons.

[robc]

His method takes about 5 minutes to duplicate.

He over complicates things. BP has replace his pecota projections. Someone will do the same with his political ones too.

It isnt that his dont work, its that he isnt doing anything special.

[Scarcity]

In his defense, he has shown that he is more than capabale of becoming very important in yet another field. He's an open source guy who will always be fine, which I think we should celebrate.

Also, I learned how to play poker in large part from reading his posts on 2+2. Dude is NOT a moron.

[Gray Ghost]

Also, I learned how to play poker in large part from reading his posts on 2+2.

Meh, he's no Pokey, OMG! or DGAF. Seemed like a bright guy, though. Not like I've done anything as rigorous as inventing PECOTA.

He was though, far more right about this election than I was. Glad I didn't take the "over 300 EV" bet, cause I'd have lost my ass. You could have knocked me over with a feather last night (especially after the 2 Bishop's Barrels) when the election got called for O at 10. Thought we'd still be wrangling about this a week or two from now.

[mad libertarian guy]

Regardless, the GOP is going to have to tone down the perceived 'sexism',

They're going to have to give up on social conservatism on the whole. That is their only chance.

Look at the 2010 mid ter elections. Team RED won historic victories. Because they set aside the culture wars and replaced it, however temporarily, with their line on fiscal conservatism. They virtually ignored anything concerning their holy rolling ways, and it worked. There is no reason to think that it won't again.

Team RED actively courted the religious right in the late 70s and 80s in order to secure a voting bloc. In the mean, they've allowed it to take over. They must now rein in that beast.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Yep.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What horrors are the socons actually trying to inflict on the country?

Worst case scenario:

Your state might be able to stop you from killing your kids, you might have to pay for your own birth control, and biology textbooks in some areas might print skeptical disclaimers about evolution.

Not exactly the dark night of fascism, except to someone who thinks social liberalism is the right to dictate to everyone else. Which is exactly what many voters obviously think. To appease these voters, Republicans will have to promise free birth control and abortions, go into rural school districts that their kids don't even attend and overrule curricular decisions, and in general engage in cultural imperialism in the name of liberty.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Spare me. The socons are just as interested in the power of the state as the progressives. They want the throne for themselves, they don't want to get rid of the throne. The Ralph Reed fiasco demonstrated that years ago.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Maybe they want the throne for themselves, but in every conceivable scenario, even a total Tea Party sweep of the elections, what I described is what they'll be able to obtain, even in what for them is a best-case scenario.

We've seen what the socons actually do when they have power - and it's along the lines of what I said. If in their hearts they want to force frog-march gays to Sunday School and sing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," they show no desire to put that into law even when they get the votes to do it.

But we've seen what the social liberals do when *they* have the votes - subsidize abortions, slam private businesses with huge fines for defining marriage in a traditional way, compel religious institutions to pay for abortifacients, birth control and sterilization for employees, etc.

[Calidissident]

Throw in blue laws, outlawing drugs (a lot of progressives support that too, but you're going to see marijuana legalized in states like California, Washington and Colorado (obviously), etc than you are in Alabama or Mississippi), opposition to gay marriage (I would prefer if the government got out of it all together, but if they are going to define marriage I would prefer if they didn't discriminate based on sexual orientation), gambling, prostitution, etc. for the SoCons. And there was quite an outcry from them when Lawrence v. Texas was decided. They're not as harmless as you make them out to be

[RightNut]

I believe Joe Trippi's electoral map was also spot on. And all Trippi did was assume the state polls showing Obama ahead were correct. One election doesn't really say much about Silver's model, especially since this election was not as close as some on the right believed it would be.

[nicole]

They all live in fear tha[t] their little girl is going get knocked up and they won't be able to take care of it. I kid you not.

To some extent, I used to be one of these people. To some extent, I still am--because I sure as hell think people should be able to take care of it. It's just that I don't think there's even a remote chance that going back to a R in the White House would change any of that. Eight years of Bush took my fears away. And since the Ds have proved themselves to care less about ages of consent and prescription requirements than about having everything be "free," there's absolutely no reason for sane pro-choice people to support them either.

[John]

You are right Nicole. That is what I can't figure out. How could anyone not named Tony or Shreek be so stupid as to think the Republicans are going to ban abortion or access to birth control at a national level? But that is what these people believe.

[sarcasmic]

Not only that, but the people who brought us Medicare Part D plan to completely end both Medicare and Social Security.

End them both.

That's after they outlaw abortion and make homosexuality a capital offense.

Rethuglicans are monsters with blood dripping from their fangs.

[John]

A Rockefeller Republican from Massachusetts was going to kill medicare and end FEMA. In our fucking dreams.

[sarcasmic]

A Rockefeller Republican from Massachusetts was going to kill medicare and end FEMA.

Yep. Rethuglicans want to help the rich, end all safety nets, help the rich, ban abortion and homosexuality, help the rich, and help the rich.

Did I mention that they're on the side of the rich?

If something will benefit the poor, the Rethuglicans are against it.

They represent the rich.

[Zeb]

Another funny thing: What advantage to people suppose having people be poorer gives the rich? DO people really think that people get rich by making other people poorer?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yes, that belief is imprinted through cultural evolution. Historically, people with a lot of possessions obtained those possessions by forcibly taking things from others - as pirates, robbers, tax collectors, etc.

The idea of voluntary exchange providing mutual benefit and enriching those who cater to the tastes or needs of the consumer - evolution hasn't had time to imprint that concept on the brains of people. We're still operating in a world where the richest people are simply the most successful robbers. That assumption bleeds over into our attitudes to every rich person, even the ones who get rich by meeting the needs of the public.

[Lord Humungus]

Part of my morning thoughts: Did Sandy save Obama? The rounds of old anti-FEMA comments from Romney + Obama looking chummy (bi-partisan) with Christie.

[Hyperion]

This is all true, but at least we can stop obsessing over the Republicans getting rid of Obamacare if they got the POTUS and the senate, because they weren't going to do it anyway.

[SugarFree]

Well, if they aren't going to, maybe they should just shut the fuck up about it.

It has the same effect of liberals whining on about guns all the time. If they aren't actually going to ban them because the electoral consquences, then shut up about it. (Which, if you notice, they mostly have.)

[John]

They really did. Romney never talked about any of that. The problem is that when any Republican anywhere says anything stupid, the media is able to make it stick to every Republican in the country. Mourdock and Akin did more to lose this election than anyone.

You can't kick evangelicals to the curb. They have too many votes. But you have got to stop letting the particularly wierd and stupid ones run for office.

[SugarFree]

Akin and Mourdock was enough. It also didn't help that the "tea party" Republicans in a lot of states kept up the so-con tactic of barriers to abortion when they knew they couldn't ban it out-right.

Anyone that has to be directly pandered to with impossible positions on abortion and contraception needs to be ditched.

[Randian]

Yep, concur entirely.

I will say, though, that behind the scenes, it was the Democrats who started this particular culture war battle, this time around at least.

[Stormy Dragon]

And why wouldn't they, given how apparently easy it is to draw Republicans into saying stupid things about how great rape is?

PS - It's gonna happen again in four years when the Republicans nominate Santorum for President.

[VG Zaytsev]

But you have got to stop letting the particularly wierd and stupid ones run for office.

It takes even less than that, actually.

Both guys would have won but for uttering one sentence. Maybe that's unfair but it's the way of human nature.

So the take away is 'don't say stupid shit'.

[T]

So the take away is 'don't say stupid shit'

Yup. But that's the problem when you have guys who aren't particularly bright talking way too much. Sooner or later they're gonna fuck up.

[sloopyinca]

Yup. But that's the problem when you have guys who aren't particularly bright talking way too much. Sooner or later they're gonna fuck up.

Then Joe Biden must be one hell of an outlier. Or the citizens of Delaware are all mongoloids. Or both.

[John]

Sloopy.

Biden is a Dem. When a Dem fucks up it is funny and them being folksy. When a Republican says something stupid it is reflective of the evil the heart of everyone on the Righ inlcuding Libertarians.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"So the take away is 'don't say stupid shit'."

Yes, and in Mourdock's case, don't say stuff which they should know will be creatively reinterpreted to fit a Republican-bashing narrative. Life isn't fair - don't discuss theodicy in the context of rape if you don't want to be misconstrued. Just say "rape is bad and I would hang every rapist from the tallest telephone pole I can find."

[nicole]

Well, if they aren't going to, maybe they should just shut the fuck up about it.

Oh, no question. As far as liberals shutting up about guns...sort of. The pols have. The people haven't. And those are the people I actually have contact with in daily life. Makes me feel a little less safe as far as them actually getting sustained power.

[SugarFree]

But were talking about crossover votes. Democrats who want gun bans are not going to abandon the party over not getting enough verbal handjobs on the subject; possible fiscal Republican voters getting turned off by so-con railing is a real problem for the GOP.

[nicole]

Yes. And you'd almost think people hadn't warned them for years that a younger electorate wasn't going to go for that shit.

Also, to your point above about the "barriers"--I think this is actually in some ways worse than their former position, because it makes them look just like massive dicks. "You totally lost, but you're going to get what little revenge you can by sticking ultrasound wands in people against their will? You. Are. Crazy." That's the kind of thing that makes them look obsessed rather than serious.

[Emmerson Biggins]

I think this is actually in some ways worse than their former position, because it makes them look just like massive dicks.

I agree. And I say this as someone who mostly doesn't give a that much of crap about abortion at all. Make it completely illegal, or make it legal all the way to some very ugly point in the third trimester. Whatever. But all these "workarounds" really piss me off and seem 100% against the grain of good government.

[$park?]

possible fiscal Republican voters getting turned off by so-con railing is a real problem for the GOP

Agree. They keep wanting to talk about religion even when the country is clearly moving away. I think there are those SoCons who really think they need to bring religion back to politics.

[mad libertarian guy]

Because so many of those on Team RED have claimed that they will do something about it.

If you don't want abortion to be an issue, stop making it a fucking issue. No republican can get nominated for president if he doesn't meet their moral purity test. And abortion is question #1.

[LTC(ret) John]

Really? Why was Mittens the nominee then, and not Santorum?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yeah, from the standpoint of purity Romney was the least desirable from the prolife point of view. His political history is to take whatever position gets him the most votes. Can't blame the prolifers for that.

[Rasilio]

Um it could have something to do with a good part of the republican party openly wanting to do so and their continued inability to keep their mouths shut about it?

Lets face it the fact that Romney lost this election can be placed squarely on the shoulders of Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock for their idiotic inability to articulate a principaled stance against abortion without coming across as the second coming of Torquemada.

I'd guess that those 2 comments alone cost Romney at least 200k votes but more importantly convincet at least 3x that many apathetic Democrats to show up at the Polls.

[Don Mynack]

Then why are Repubs winning all the damn state elections?

I think the answer is people don't trust the D.C. repub crowd to do anything. They are bunch of McCain/Romney types.

[Clano'6]

I have never before been so embarassed to be a woman. If you want to vote left or right, ok, but to base your vote on some trumped up "war on women" shit and go out screeching about your right to sleep with everything that moves and have the taxpayers pay for your condoms and unwanted pregnancies....I'm done....I'm too pissed to continue.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

You must be one of those thinking women. Weird.

[Clano'6]

Definitely a rarity in white suburbia these days.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I mentioned this last night on the twitter thread, but I went on a FB friend purge after one gal posted that she didn't understand female Romney voters and that they may as well sign over their vaginas to him.

My fault I suppose, I need to abandon MD.

[generic Brand]

I don't get all of the Facebook friend purges that people are already claiming to go on. If the campaign wasn't enough to purge someone, why would one of the candidates winning change your mind?

I relish the Facebook arguments/discussions, even if there is little chance to change minds. I try to limit myself to making a case for individual liberty only on posts that are already skewed political (i.e., I don't say, "Let's hope he can grow up in a world where freedom is actually valued" on someone's newborn baby photo). But running away from opponents has never been my style, and I also don't see the value in it. Even if I can't change the minds of the people I am arguing with, like Tony or PB here, I may be able to make a convincing argument for one of their friends.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The really stupid came out on election day.

[nicole]

But running away from opponents has never been my style, and I also don't see the value in it.

A lot of people just don't want to be political on those sites at all. I have zero interest in politics coming up at all with most of my friends and family. Completely pointless, the only result being fewer friends and family. If I liked Facebook, I'd want to go there and look at some of my buddies' vacation pictures, not hear them rant about politics. I'd just think that was rude and not want it polluting my feed.

[robc]

I purged Facebook back in the spring due to political shit. I dont miss it.

Google Plus is more my speed anyway.

[robc]

And I literally mean "purged Facebook". Not people, the whole damn thing.

I still technically have the account, but I dont log in.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Abandon Facebook for god's sake. It's ground zero for people who need everyone else's approval to get thru the day.

[Hyperion]

Abandoning FB is probably a better move, it never fails to enhance ones sanity at least a bit.

[generic Brand]

Definitely a rarity in white suburbia these days.

FIFY.

[VG Zaytsev]

As a man, I am in awe of democrats convincing women that meaningless consequence free sex is the most important thing in their lives.

[nicole]

Not all of it is meaningless.

[Auric Demonocles]

This war on women stuff was so stupid, and yet it stuck. I wonder how it would have fared if Paul had hypothetically won the nomination.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"The Republican candidate admits that he makes a living putting his hands in women's private areas. Vote against this obvious creep and pervert!"

[Eduard van Haalen]

"And he helps women have babies, but doesn't help them if they want abortions. He obviously wants to keep women barefoot and pregnant!"

[Hyperion]

Obama does care about people. They are called donors.

[Auric Demonocles]

First, they are obsessed with birth control and abortion. They all live in fear tha their little girl is going get knocked up and they won't be able to take care of it. I kid you not.

My Facebook feed suggests that every women I know (who is obnoxious enough to post political shit on Facebook) is convinced that last night just saved them all from being the subject of Congressional vagina investigations.

[Clano'6]

"My Facebook feed suggests that every women I know (who is obnoxious enough to post political shit on Facebook) is convinced that last night just saved them all from being the subject of Congressional vagina investigations."

Thanks for the laugh, I needed that!

[hamilton]

Holy shit, that would be a GREAT idea. C-SPAN viewership would freaking skyrocket.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The GOP deserves that rep.

They've worked long and hard over the last 40 years to develop that reputation by entertaining the likes of Ralph Reed and Jerry Falwell. Who in turn, embraced the the neocons, who lusted for power and domination.

The modern GOP alliance of social/neo-con is dead on arrival now. The brand is dead. They killed it and now they own it.

[VG Zaytsev]

One reason that it's dead is the democrats have embraced the neo-cons foreign policy.

There wouldn't have been a damn bit of difference from the Obama's fp if Romney had won.

[Mr Whipple]

I don't understand it. I live in a county that has been historically very strong Republican. We have a 14.5% unemployment rate, and Obama won the county with 23 percentage points. WTF?

[Auric Demonocles]

Those 14.5% are all on week 98 of their unemployment benefits?

[R C Dean]

We have a 14.5% unemployment rate, and Obama won the county with 23 percentage points. WTF?

With an unemployment rate that high, you've got a lot of people cashing government checks. Those are now Obama voters.

QED.

[Mr Whipple]

I suppose. I guess I'm going to have to find a new business. Maybe a dive bar.

[VG Zaytsev]

First, they are obsessed with birth control and abortion. They all live in fear tha their little girl is going get knocked up and they won't be able to take care of it. I kid you not. Second and most important, they have this idea that whoever they vote for for President must care abou them. Not care about the country but care about them personally.

My wife's relatives in NJ & PA are like this too. When it come to politics, they are easily propagandized idiots. They responded to the fear and smears from Obama and let's face it, Romney didn't counter with his own, probably out of fear of being called a racist.

[John]

Romney didn't counter with his own, probably out of fear of being called a racist.

Yup. Think about it, the last three winning Republican Presidential campaigns have been dirty as shit. Bush basically made Gore and Kerry look like foreign agents. And Bush I destroyed Duke. You have to run dirty. It is the only thing these idiots understand.

[andarm16]

The truth is, with our completely issue void election process, we essentially have two clones battle it out to determine would people would rather have as a father.

[The Late P Brooks]

What's that quote about democracy only surviving until the many discover they can vote to take the stuff of the few?

[BigT]

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.

Attribution disputed. But still the truth.

[Lord Humungus]

hen a monarchy

or Lord of the Wasteland!

I feel the calling.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Cokah-coh! Cokah-coh!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The better de Tocqueville quote:

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.

[nobody]

Wikiquotes says that's a misattribution.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Alrighty then, this one is straight form DIA:

After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

[VG Zaytsev]

American fascism.

[db]

Heinlein said it, but he probably wasn't the first.

[Matrix]

So who's gonna buy stock in Smith & Wesson and Ruger?

[Drake]

You've missed the boat at this point - although I am going to ride the Vice Fund for 4 more years.

[Palin's Buttplug]

SWHC peaked in 07-08.

[Trespassers W]

Which is completely irrelevant, Market Genius.

[Tim]

Mitt Romney gave the concession speech he was born to make. Quiet, polite and dignified. He has fulfilled his destiny.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And now he needs Sarah Connor to lower him into the vat of molten metal.

[Drax the Destroyer]

The one thing to take solace in this inevitable election result/disaster (aside from the delicious tears, YUMMY YUMMY TEARS)is that you can at least smoke a J in CO and WA now...before you are tasered and beaten to death by an ATF hit crew. At least the pigs will leave you alone. Allegedly.

[Auric Demonocles]

Not a hit crew. Drones.

[HazelMeade]

And if you live in Virginia, your property can't be eminent domained and given to a private developer.
Yay!

[Drax the Destroyer]

That is actually pretty sweet.

[sasob]

Well not by the state or local governments anyway. Probably nothing stopping the feds though.

[John]

You are right Drax. Watching this idiot go full retard and act like he just won a 49 state landslide rather than barely won is going to be wildly entertaining. Even good Presidents have disapointing second terms. What happens when a completely incompetant one gets a second term? The failute and the LUTZ are going to be epic.

It is funny, I think liberals deep down know that. They really don't seem particularly happy this morning. Sure they are glad they won and are happy to see team Red lose. But I have yet to sense even a bit of excitment about the coming four years that usually comes with winning election. They are a bit grim for having won.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I'm hoping for a bad collapse(for the Schadenfreude I desperately need to survive), and then we can blame the anti-free market toadies and their policies for all of it. They'll switch the narrative around and the history books will say the Robber Barons of the 21st century destroyed the world, but at least we will have 5 seconds of vindication before they haul us off to the salt mines.

[LTC(ret) John]

I'm holding out for the spice mines, m'self.

[Hyperion]

They are a bit grim for having won.

Of course. Because now they can't go back to being against war and against the decline of civil libertires. They can be for abortion, free birth control, and gay marriage. Everything else, they know their guy is going to continue foreign wars and continue to trample civil rights into the dirt. So that is why they are a little sad. But, free shit!

[John]

They want to live in a fantasy land. And reality is making that increasingly hard to do. They would have been better off if Romney had one. That way they could have spent their lives dreaming of what might have been.

[RBS]

I was expecting a lot more gloating this morning.

[John]

So was I. They really don't seem that happy. Even Tony and Shreek are muted. I think they understand that things are likely to go badly for Obama. What about his first term gives you any confidence?

[T o n y]

I don't gloat.

[Auric Demonocles]

They don't seem to care about that stuff at all. I don't think they're sad about it.

[Hyperion]

They are at least sad about not being able to pretend to care about it. Because they have to defend their guy no matter what he does. We have already seen 4 years of that.

Now Tony is going to post something stupid. Imagine that.

[T o n y]

Whatever helps you get yourself out of bed in the morning.

[John]

Yes Tony, we can all take solace in knowing that only 30% of the people in this country are as hateful and stupid as you are.

[VG Zaytsev]

How long before Obama federalizes CO police forces to keep the drug war rolling?

[Rich]

The President said that "the best is yet to come" in a victory speech

I'll just leave this here.

[$park?]

How about this instead.

[DJF]

What I find interesting is that this retired cop is on medical retirement, yet she is now a body builder and fitness guru. So she gets her medical retirement check and now a million dollars on top of that NO wonder the cities and states are deep in debt.

""""Retired female cop wins more than $1MILLION after 104 officers used official database to look at her licence photo more than 420 TIMES"""'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....photo.html

[HazelMeade]

http://www.mercurynews.com/new.....t-gmo-food

California defeated the ballot measure that would have required labelling on GMOs.
So, Yay for science and economic freedom there.

[Ken Shultz]

California voted in a number of conservative leaning ways--the problem with the Republican Party in California is just branding.

The "Republican" name brand is just FUBAR. They should change the name to something else in California.

[VG Zaytsev]

How about "libertarian" or better yet go full guerilla and call it the liberal party.

[Ken Shultz]

That's fine with me!

Whatever they call themselves, they need to make it something different.

And whatever it is they call themselves, they need to STFU about immigration.

[Lord Humungus]

well so much for my Romney win prediction.

Some initial takeaways:

People love them there gubbimint handouts

Voters are trying to ignore the coming financial cliff, reminding me yet again of the '06 Election in Michigan when Granholm was re-elected.

Overall vote tallies seem to be way down compared to '08? At least the numbers I saw. General apathy? I almost didn't go vote myself, but Prop 02 (guaranteed collective bargaining in MI - that thankfully lost) changed my mind.

I suggest mixing in my "Russian investment" plan - buy luxury goods that can be used for bartering or that will rise with inflation.

What this all holds for the future? I don't know, but as far as libertarianism goes, it's definitely a 'cult' political philosophy for now. "We" (if I can include myself) are a minority of a minority and it's only going to get worse.

The Republic is Dead! Long Live the Republic!

[HazelMeade]

I'm consoling myself with ballot initiatives.

MJ legalized in two states. Gay marriage winning in three. Michigan collective bargaining defeated. GMO labelling defeated in CA. Anti-Kelo eminent domain law passes in Virginia.

Also several states passed (mostly symbolic) anti-ObamaCare initiatives.

It was a pretty good night for libertarians when it comes to ballot initiatives.

[Hyperion]

And don't forget, Massie from KY, so there is one more Libertarian in Congress. So with RP gone, I think it's a no loss for us.

[Lord Humungus]

and Amash won handily, so perhaps he will be a long-term force - one that isn't hopefully consumed by the power of DC.

[Hyperion]

Amash is a good guy. I like Massie a lot also.

[HazelMeade]

Also, to be fair, a Romney victory wasn't exactly going to be joyful news from a libertarian perspective either.

If he had won, it would have been four years of watching him not repeal ObamaCare, blow money on defense contracts, "save" Medicare, and make lots of retarded speeches about God.

[Lord Humungus]

true that... I just wanted a different jackass - this old one is boring.

[John]

But at least the old one will now get the blame. At some point the country will turn on him. And when they do it is going to be wonderful watching him go down.

[$park?]

At some point the country will turn on him.

I wouldn't place any money on that bet. I think he's going to be fine all the way up to the day he sails off into the glorious sunset with the tears of the masses sending him off.

[John]

I am a hopeless optimist Sparky. But look at it this way, he got a lot fewer votes this time and people are much less enthused with him now than they were four yeras ago. That trend will only continue. Some will still love him. Hell, people still loved Nixon. But I suspect he will become a tar baby for a lot of problems.

[rac3rx]

... I suspect he will become a tar baby for a lot of problems.

THAT'S RACIST!

[$park?]

I suspect he will become a tar baby

RAAAACCCCIIIIIIISSSSSTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

[mad libertarian guy]

Anyone else notice that KY is sending libertarinish guys to DC at a pretty quick clip? Rand Paul, now Massie.

KY is NOT one of those deeply indebted to religion states, though everyone may think so. Mostly people just want to be let be.

[Scarcity]

And the statistically-significantly high number of KY'ans on this site proves that KY is libertarian paradise.

(Former KY'an here, so I kinda count.)

[GozWa]

Me too! sorta

[Rasilio]

I think that really depends on where in the state you are.

Really KY is at least 3 seperate states who don't really have all that much in common with each other.

You have Rust Belt Northern and Central KY, Appalachian Eastern KY, and Farmland western KY. I think the religious conservatisim is concentrated in the relatively sparsely populated eastern and western portions of the state, the libertarian pocket is centered around Rust Belt Louisville, Covington, and to a lesser extent Lexington but since that is where the majority of the population is it makes the state appear more open than it really is.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Benton County, Arkansas finally went wet.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

I suggest mixing in my "Russian investment" plan - buy luxury goods that can be used for bartering or that will rise with inflation.

For moderate inflation that's fine, but what if the inflation gets nasty? With the debt as bad as it is, and the deficit accelerating, what's to stop hyperinflation?

[Lord Humungus]

it's no plan for nasty inflation, but perhaps some Kulak would like a Hermes scarf to bundle his food in.

[VG Zaytsev]

what's to stop hyperinflation

The only thing preventing hyper inflation is US military hegemony which undergirds the dollar's reserve currency role.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Instead of being backed by the commodities of gold & silver, it's backed by the commodities of force & favor? I'm going to have to think about that.

The immediate implication is that if we have to cut our military's finances we would be cutting our financial throats.

[VG Zaytsev]

That's not my take on it.

The US is vastly overextended and throughout history overextended empires suffer unexpected military defeats at some point. And a military defeat could break the psychology that makes the dollar the world's reserve currency.

So retrenchment is the safest course for the US at this point in time.

The larger question is whether owning the world's reserve currency is in the long term interest of US citizens. I think that it's not because it has enabled the expansion of freedom crushing government.

[Rasilio]

Um, we could cut our military spending to half of what it is today and still remain the most powerful country on the planet by a significant margin.

[nicole]

I'm feeling a lot closer to getting that "ceci n'est pas une femme" tattoo I keep batting around...

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

ceci n'est pas une femme

I never took French. Looks like, "This is not a woman"?

[nicole]

Right. A play on the famous Magritte. The pipe is not a pipe, but a representation of one. I am not "a woman," but a person, instantiated as a female.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Ah, it seems I'm also shy on French art!

I would contend one (woman) is a subset of the other (human), but I see your point that your subset should not be used to define you politically.

[Zeb]

Magritte is Belgian, man. Come on!

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Magritte is Belgian, man. Come on!

Oops, the Belgian language looks a lot like French!

[$park?]

One of my most favorite commentaries on the nature of reality. Very classy, nicole.

[nicole]

Thank you, $park?! Only problem is having people not get it, of course.

And the fact that yes, I am a woman. But I think my aversion to group identity is greater than my desire to identify as, you know, a member of a group.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

Only problem is having people not get it, of course.

Just means you get to teach. Spread some light in the darkness.

[$park?]

Ah, nicole. If only I had known you long ago. Being labeled is one of the worst things in the world. Keep fighting the good fight.

[hamilton]

Where you put that tatoo could make it even more ironic.

[nicole]

Yes, that is the remaining question...

[Slithery D]

Put a fake scar next to it and you can pull a pretty good tranny prank.

[SugarFree]

Their self-delusion is just so smug.

Warren took a lot of grief in this campaign for having touted her Native American heritage before she became a politician. Surely there will be plenty of jokes tonight about how the United States finally has a Native American in the Senate. To me this has always seemed like a fumble rather than a foul: Warren didn't trade off her minority status for any benefit when she was moving up the ranks in academia. She wasn't an affirmative action hire. She got her job at Harvard because she was stellar. She just repeated a family tale without fact checking it. Maybe that will be the embarrassing footnote in her obituary, but now that she's in the Senate, she'll have the chance to bury it in a heap of accomplishments.

[nicole]

but now that she's in the Senate, she'll have the chance to bury it in a heap of accomplishments.

You know what? I hope this is true. But not in the way she thinks.

[Tim]

Heap? As in "heap big acoomplishments"?

[Mr Whipple]

When the economy crashes, don't blame me. I'm an Agorist....oh wait

http://nobody.zerodays.org/

[sloopyinca]

Cop caught having sex multiple times with a 14 year old girl allowed to resign. Turns up years later as a cop in another jurisdiction after having lied on his application about the "discipline". Has been terminated for perjury and falsifying official documents. He was not criminally charged for any of the behavior and his license to be a peace officer is still intact.

[SugarFree]

This happened in my hometown--or close enough. A 44-year-old cop married a 17-yer-old the day after she graduated from high school. And she had a kid six months later.

[Tim]

And that baby grew up to be Episiarch?

[SugarFree]

Episiarch was not of woman born.

[LTC(ret) John]

And he is Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland too!!

[The Late P Brooks]

That useless cunt Romney. How can you not successfully defend yourself against the sort of flagrant shit-flinging the Democrats engaged in?

Instead, he comes up with stuff like that ridiculously stupid ad about Fiat building Jeeps in China. He should just suicide bomb the RNC today, so his life will not have been a complete waste.

[BigT]

I don't understand why he didn't call Obama on the saving GM shit. GM went bankrupt, but the govt took extra-legal measures in the bankruptcy to help their thug-friends in the UAW. It never got mentioned.

[SugarFree]

Too complicated of an issue to boil down to a sound bite. Much like Fast and Furious and Libya (and the general unwillingness of the GOP to advocating anything that even remotely resembles non-interventionism.)

[DJF]

Non-intervention is dangerous, you start down that path and you end up minding your own business and maybe your business is no longer deep in debt.

[VG Zaytsev]

It's not too complicated. For example:

Obama stole money from retired teachers and gave it to the president of GM (or some other stooge).

The problem is that Romeny believed the goo-goo bullshit about running a positive campaign. Even as he was getting slimed by the dems.

[$park?]

The problem is that Romeny believed the goo-goo bullshit about running a positive campaign.

Sucks that all politicians can't just be ruthless, heartless bastards doesn't it? I actually commend Mitt for trying something that's never been done before.

[VG Zaytsev]

And look how well it worked out for him...and us.

Not only did he lose the presidency but the republicans blew a golden opportunity to take the senate.

An r senate and house with Obama as president is probably the best possible outcome from a liberty perspective. But having socialists in control of the senate completely changes the political dynamic.

[$park?]

I will never agree with you that things would have been better under Romney, just a different kind of bad.

That being said, he seems like a genuinely nice guy and I'll never fault him for that. Same with Scott Brown.

[Randian]

Your commendations and $1.50 will get Mitt a cup of coffee.

[NeonCat]

This is the real trouble with modern politics: everything has to be a soundbite. No one (except for crazy people like us) has the time or desire to really think about where policies will take us. In this hyper-media'd age there are so many signals, so much information coming in all the time that people don't really have a chance to sit down to eat, so to speak, much less digest. So voters walk into the booth knowing that Romney will ban abortion and Obama will give them free healthcare, even though both of those are false.

I don't have a solution. I wish there were a way for the voters to realize it, though.

[$park?]

[phone]

[Delroy]

I was checking the facebook page of the local paper for people's comments on local issues, bond levies, etc. A library improvement levy passed (more property taxes for me - dammit!) and someone posted that they weren't happy about the additional taxes. Some lefty retard responded, comparing not supporting a library levy with "Fahrenheit 451" - I kid you not.

Is there an equivalent to Godwin for making a "Fahrenheit 451" reference? Because not supporting a library levy is equivalent to book burning somehow?!

[Ken Shultz]

I bet that commenter's job depends on that library.

[sloopyinca]

Did he comment under the nom de plume "Saccharine Man"?

[LTC(ret) John]

Aspartame Gentleman?

[The Late P Brooks]

Humungus, you forgot WOMEN ARE STUPID (appy polly loggies to our resident sentient females).

Last night, during my brief foray out in public, I got to hear a stupid cow moaning mournfully about the fact that somebody "she used to think was a great guy" was voting for Romney. Because all she cares about are Womynz Rights.

[nicole]

Like an above commenter, I was never a bigger misogynist until last night when I found out how proud I should be that my vagina won this election.

FUCK IDENTITY POLITICS.

[John]

If have more respect for the "Obama is going to give me a phone" lady than I do for the idiot women who voted for their vagina. Didn't judging women by their sexuality used to be sexist or something?

[Randian]

Even though you know it's stupid and I know it's stupid, obviously we're going to have to pander to these people.

Two simple lines could set the GOP free: "I'm all for choice. I just don't believe others should have to pay for your choice."

That's all that ever need to be said on the subject.

[John]

I agree. But I am not sure that would work to be honest.

[Randian]

Well, obviously what's going on now isn't working, so they could at least give a go.

[VG Zaytsev]

Or they should say Of course I believe in freedom of choice. That's why i support school choice and am against busybodies like my opponent that want to limit what foods you can eat, where you can drive ...etc.

In other words the classic dodge the question and then use verbal judo on your opponent.

[Randian]

Yep.

[NoVAHockey]

too late -- identity politics + free shit = electoral vote win. and free shit for your vagina? an unstoppable political force.

[rac3rx]

Second that Nicole...

[Joe M]

One possible (ha!) silver lining here: perhaps Obama really will scale back the WoD like some hinted he would. I'm interested to see his reaction to WA and CO.

[John]

LOLOLOLOL He will be harming the police unions and the social workers getting rich off of mandated rehab real soon.

[Rich]

I'm interested to see his reaction to WA and CO.

Holder will exhibit the reaction.

[R C Dean]

No reason to think he will react to WA and CO any different than he reacted to CA: with ramped up raids, done jointly with local po-po under the fig leaf of enforcing some other law.

[Ken Shultz]

Obama loves the War on Drugs.

He's shut down more than 600 dispensaries in California alone.

He didn't have to do that.

He did it because he wanted to.

[DJF]

I doubt if Obama even got involved, its nothing to him personally so he just let the bureaucracy do what it does best, mindlessly enforce rules.

[Ken Shultz]

No way!

Obama's a little less brutal about what he does within his own borders than what he is on the drug war in Mexico and Colombia--but not by much.

Obama loves the drug war. He is not a liberal. He is a Progressive with a capital "P", and he believes that keeping drugs criminal is a good thing.

He'd like to spend more money acting against drug offenders if he could--and there is no way he's gonna treat sellers in Colorado better than he's treated medical dispensaries in California.

No. Way.

There isn't anything about Obama that's ever suggested he thinks people should be free to make their own minds up on something like this. That's wishful thinking.

[VG Zaytsev]

One possible (ha!) silver lining here: perhaps Obama really will scale back the WoD like some hinted he would.

His track record says that his administration will do everything possible to escalate the war on drug users in those states.

The only upside is that it will be more visible than his war on CAs medical dispensaries because they've had the fig leaf of convoluted state regulations to justify their assaults.

[Kaptious Kristen]

It's about to be open fucking season by the Feds on pot users in CO and WA. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

[Hyperion]

Look at is this way, the ones of us who voted for GJ. No matter which of the big team fuckheads won, when they fuck shit up even worse, it's not our fault. At least we can feel good about that. And also, a lot of us said that the Romulan wouldn't win and that the GOP were stupid for nominating yet another big government RINO. He did better than I thought, but only because he was running against the worst encumbent ever since Jimmy Carter. I would take Carter over O any day, at least Carter was somewhat sincere.

[John]

Like I said above though, if they had nominated Paul do you really think he would have connected with the "oh my God my vagina" and "Obama cares about me" women? If he would have, I would like to hear how.

[NoVAHockey]

no, but i think we would have liked that fight.

[Hyperion]

Most women vote the same way that they do everything, through emotion. When you think that free birth control is more important that the economy of an entire nation, you have to admit that is pretty fucked up thinking.

Of the few women that I talked to about the election, with the exception of one of them, who really didn't get into politics at all, but was voting for Romney because her husband was, they all thought that abortion rights is the most important issue in the world.

I would really like to think that the reason Romney lost this election is because of the war mongering rhetoric, but sadly I know, it is not that, it's because people want free shit from the government.

[John]

That and women want to feel loved and have convinced themselves that birth control and abortion are the only issues that matter.

[VG Zaytsev]

Most women vote the same way that they do everything, through emotion. When you think that free birth control is more important that the economy of an entire nation, you have to admit that is pretty fucked up thinking.

And the only way to fight emotion is with emotion.

He should have been saying that your going to lose your job and your house if Obama gets re elected.

[Don Mynack]

As an OB/GYN, he probably has much more vaginal knowledge than even Mr. Clinton.

[Emmerson Biggins]

When he want on The View a few years ago I don't think he got killed. He might not have ever been allowed to have a calm conversation about things like that once he got nominated as an R, but still, it demonstrates that he had it in him somewhere. Romney was just a transparent phony flip flopper.

[Jerryskids]

the GOP were stupid for nominating yet another big government RINO

At what point are you going to wake up to the fact that people like Romney and Specter and Lugar and Bush and Dole are definitive Republicans?

Big government Republicans aren't the RINOs - the Pauls and the Amashs and the Massies are the real RINOs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If you will direct your male gazes over to the 24/7 newsfeed, you will see why Chris Matthews is the greatest.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

What a shithead.

[Auric Demonocles]

I did see exit polling for some state that had like 10% of the voters making their decision based on Obama's response to the hurricane.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Right or wrong, I think Christie sunk his chances with hyper partisans on that one.

[John]

That fat fuck is done. He will lose re-election for governor and he has no future outside New Jersey.

[Tim]

Maybe he just recognized where his next gig was coming from.

[Randian]

He's an enemy of the teacher's unions. There isn't a Democrat in sight who is going to nod him into any sort of post anywhere ever.

[John]

He literally doesn't have a friend in the world right now. In just two years he went from shinning star to piraiah. Talk about an epic fuck up.

[Stormy Dragon]

The fact you can go from shining star to pariah because you're more focussed on doing your job than on team loyalty says a lot about why the Republicans deserved to lose last night.

[Randian]

Christie fucked himself, and deservedly so, given that the FEMA response has been Katrina-level FUBAR'd.

[John]

The response has been worse than Katrina. Katrina was fucked up but the whole government got on deck. This is just a nonevent. No one seems excited about it. The whole thing is a shrug. It is just a bunch of typical white people in Staten Island. So who cares? That is pretty much the attitude.

[DJF]

Trusting FEMA for emergency response is stupid, since it does not have any emergency responders. That is done by private individuals and groups and local government. FEMA mostly hands out checks.

[VG Zaytsev]

They also throw up roadblocks.

[Auric Demonocles]

But how stupid do you have to be to base your presidential vote on him showing up for a press conference after some rain, instead of the 4 years of him running the federal government?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Very stupid. Undecided voter stupid.

[rac3rx]

I think they're calling these people "low information voters" now. To me it just sounds like yet another euphemism for "Democrat."

[Mo]

He sunk himself with hyperpartisans when he defended the Muslim judge he appointed and called his opponents Islamophobic crazies.

[Randian]

I honestly don't mean it as an attack, but I don't think anyone nationally has even heard of that.

[Mo]

Andy McCarthy at NRO was still bitching about it. And while it does not matter now, it will sink him in the primary. There's a ton of shit that national Republicans didn't know about 9iu11ani that sunk him the second he hit the primary.

[Stormy Dragon]

The people opposed to Sohail Mohammed did so purely because of his religion; they WERE islamophobic crazies.

[VG Zaytsev]

Right or wrong, I think Christie sunk his chances with hyper partisans on that one.

Yeah, fuck that fat fuck.

The pathetic thing is that Obama needed to help NJ more than NJ needed the help.

Christie had the upper hand and he threw it away and started blowing O right away.

[BigT]

Christie can choke on a ham sandwich. He should have been coolly cordial to Obummer, and made sure to mention Romney while Obummer was standing next to him. Fat fuck.

Christie did not blame Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, for the criticism of him, saying: 'He's been a governor - he knows.'

Instead, he added: 'All this other noise, I think, is coming from know-nothing, disgruntled Romney staffers who, you know, don't like the fact that I said nice things about the president of the United States. Well, that's too bad for them.'

Christie accompanied Obama on a tour of the Jersey Shore in the aftermath of the devastating storm, and publicly thanked the President for the attention he has paid to the region affected by Sandy.

He lashed out whenever he was asked about the storm's political impact, and several times insisted he no longer wanted to be involved in the run-up to the election.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ffers.html

[Bee Tagger]

Global warming may have been angry that Obama never talked about it during the debates, but it's big enough to not let that stop it from helping to get him elected.

[The Late P Brooks]

What we really need to know is this: Who will replace Elizabeth Warren in the Senate when Ginsberg snuffs it while napping in her office and Warren gets called up to the Big league?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I'm going to go kill myself now.

[John]

My liberal friends are telling me Obama is going to put Eric Holder on the court.

Yeah, find the shotgun.

[RBS]

Good lord.

[Randian]

If there were ever a time for an old-timey filibuster with a phone book and sleeping bags, that would be it.

[sloopyinca]

No way Holder survives the confirmation hearings without being indicted, let alone confirmed. Obama would have a better chance of getting Lizzie through. Besides, he can add to his "wise Latina" confirmation by putting the first native American on the court.

[John]

I can't believe he would be that stupid and arrogant. But with Obama the worst assumptions almost always turn out to be true.

[T o n y]

Obama won on demographics. Fewer white people voted, and more Latino and young people voted. That's the story. So John I think we will all be grateful for you to stuff your white guilt stories or whatever the fuck excuses you make. It's demographics, and the GOP has been banking an increasingly smaller white majority, so if they ever want to win the White House again they will have to jettison their strategy of the last 40 years of making people resent minorities enough to vote on the matter.

[John]

You are right Tony. The way to win is get minorities to resent everyone else.

Racial division and hatred is the Chicago way.

[T o n y]

*sigh*

[John]

It is true Tony. The country is more bitterly divded now that it was four years ago. By any objective measure reace relations are worse. Obama has done nothing to bring the country together. He is the most divisive President in history. More divisive than Bush. Bush at least won more votes the second time around. Obama won less. That is your legacy, live with it.

[T o n y]

Yeah, I've heard the Hannity talking points you ridiculous moron.

The Republican party has been taken over by total ideologues who prefer getting nothing to getting 90% of what they want. Blaming Obama for the "division" in this country is like blaming someone's face for getting in the way of a fist.

But you're right that Obama is more "divisive" than Bush. Most everyone hates Bush and thinks he wrecked the country.

[John]

Tony 49% of the country hates Obama. Obama has never gotten a single opposite party vote on anything. Obama is a race bater who told minorities that everyone in the country but him hates them. He is no different than Al Sharpton.

[John]

Obama can't get 30% in many states in this country. That is called being divisive. He openly distains and loaths large sections of the country. You can't have a President who hates even a small minority of the electorate let alone 49% of it.

Think how much you hate Tony. Think how hateful you are of anyone who disagrees with you. You are a perfect Obama soldier. He wants you to hate. It keeps you from thinking.

[T o n y]

I don't hate anyone. I'm a good liberal. I pity the ignorant and otherwise disabled.

[John]

I pity the ignorant and otherwise disabled.

Which is another way of saying you loath and despite anyone who disagrees with you. Thanks for proving my point. I have no doubt Obama feels the same way. And that is what makes him a failed and divisive President.

[T o n y]

Obama does nothing but talk about cooperation John. You are the ones constantly spewing hatred and anger. You are the ones obsessed with division.

Also, you're wrong about everything. Nate Silver got every state right. Peggy Noonan? Not so much. Dumbass.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Why do the ignorant deserve pity? Ignorance is a chosen state of being.

[Tim]

The tank is sliding towards E

[sloopyinca]

But, but, but...it's an electric car!

[Tim]

Dinosaurs weren't done in by an asteroid, they just couldn't appeal to the newly arrived and thriving mammal community.

[Clano'6]

And here I thought my vagina won him the election...

[Randian]

Only Democrats are permitted to reduce you to a series of sexual parts.

[Skomoroh]

This is correct. The story is demographics pure and simple. Add in single women/single mothers and you have an unbeatable statist coalilition.

[T o n y]

Yep it's older white men who tilt toward more personal liberty at the expense of a social safety net.

Gee I wonder why that could be.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Because they're the only ones actually paying for it?

[T o n y]

"White establishment" -- Bill O'Reilly's words, not mine.

Plenty of Republican voters are on the take. Almost nobody cares about a philosophy of government. What animates the right is fear of demographic change and thus the loss of Bill O'Reilly's "white establishment."

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Plenty of Republican voters are on the take. Almost nobody cares about a philosophy of government.

Are you fucking kidding? The progressive philosophy of "Make someone else other than me pay for it" has been the status quo for decades now. And where has it gotten us?

A government that can't even cover its mandatory spending obligations and interest on the debt, to say nothing of everything else it wants to pay for--and that's just at the federal level.

College students and minorities can have all the power they want; it's going to be irrelevant when the dysfunctional system they support can't provide the GIBMEDATS they demand.

[T o n y]

Let me clarify: everyone is on the take. Whether you're getting actual welfare, corporate welfare, or general welfare, or driving on roads, there is no demographic who takes more than another. That is the right's big lie. They want to keep their goodies and take the goodies away from other types of people. There are no John Galts. There are only insufferable narcissists who don't recognize that almost all of their fortune is due to the luck of being born in the right place at the right time as the right gender and color.

[$park?]

almost all of their fortune is due to the luck of being born in the right place at the right time as the right gender and color

The politics of envy is always a winner.

[Trespassers W]

actual welfare, corporate welfare, or general welfare, or driving on roads

Murder, arson, and jaywalking...

[$park?]

Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father
rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And
they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the
bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest
father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me
and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay
$50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench
there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I
said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand,
and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing,
father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

"Murder, rape, arson, and rape."

"You said rape twice"

"I like rape"

"Kinky....."

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Let me clarify: everyone is on the take. Whether you're getting actual welfare, corporate welfare, or general welfare, or driving on roads, there is no demographic who takes more than another. That is the right's big lie.

This is just a red herring. How on earth is "driving on roads" a form of state welfare? How can you possibly equate a function that's been considered a form of basic social governance and community development for centuries to the modern safety net? It's beyond absurd.

The bottom line is that the progressive dream has come true--nearly everyone in this country now is dependant on a government check in some form to survive. And look where we are at. Look where Europe's at, where this whole shitty philosophy took root in the first place. The mathematical truth is that Rich White Men aren't going to keep this charade going much longer, whether they "go Galt" or not. When the last white man in your community is pedaling the bike that keeps the generator going, you'll be crying that he's not pedaling fast enough.

[Calidissident]

Tony has a point here (though of course he overdoes it with the ROADZ and so forth). The three largest expenditures by the federal government are Social Security, Medicare, and the military. All three of those programs benefit groups that primarily vote Republican. Republican voters love free shit too

[Calidissident]

It's not just demographics. Romney lost in swing states like New Hampshire, Iowa, and Wisconsin that are overwhelmingly non-Hispanic white

[VG Zaytsev]

Obama won on demographics. Fewer white people voted, and more Latino and young people voted. That's the story.

I fear that this may be the truth.

Fear, because this path leads to the balkanization of America and that's not good for anyone.

[T o n y]

Yes it was much better when everyone knew his place.

[VG Zaytsev]

Fuck you you race baiting cocksucker.

It's assholes like you that turned Yugoslavia into a war zone hell hole.

[Killazontherun]

He's like a villain straight out of a Rush concept album, isn't he?

[Jordan]

To all the TEAM RED morons blaming libertarians for their loss: Fuck. Off. You ran a shitty, progressive-lite statist dipshit; you are to blame. I voted for Gary Johnson, and would not have voted at all if there was no libertarian on the ballot.

[John]

Who is blaming libertarians? I haven't seen a single person say that.

[Randian]

Me neither. I tried to take credit on Johnson's behalf last night, but none of the GOPers on Facebook are biting. Damn.

[John]

National Review and WSJ are saying no such thing. I haven't seen it anywhere. Johnson didn't win enough votes for that to even be a credible speculation.

[SugarFree]

Give it a little while for the shock to wear off. If libertarians aren't to blame, the GOP might have to take a long look at itself in the mirror and reconsider candidates and policies.

[sarcasmic]

reconsider candidates and policies

Haaaaaaaaa ha ha ha!

That was good!

Will you be here all week?

[SugarFree]

That level of dry sarcasm actually hurt to type. My hands hurt.

[John]

They are already doing that. The problem is the conclusion they are making is that the country is full retard leftist and their only chance is to go with it.

The danger here is that the Republicans will become like the Tories in England. The Tories are fucking awful, a hundred times worse that the worst big government Republicans. And they went from being the party of Thatcher to that in reaction to losing to Tony Blair.

Obama is really an American Blair. Blair totally fucked England. The only good news is he left power in utter disgrace and ill repute. I suspect Obama will do the same.

[Joe M]

Well, as the economy continues to suffer under his misrule, he's eventually going to have to own it instead of blaming Bush.

[sarcasmic]

he's eventually going to have to own it instead of blaming Bush

Nope. Republicans kept the House. He can blame their obstructionism. If they gave him the bills he wanted then he could have saved the economy. But they didn't. It's all the fault of the Republicans.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sure that talk radio will blame that 1% that voted for Johnson for Romney's loss, even though he would still have lost had every Johnson voter supported him.

[Bee Tagger]

Agreed.

[Joe M]

Tulpa was getting his preemptive hate on last night.

[SugarFree]

Yes, Tulpa was doing it all over the place and I didn't even all the overnight threads.

[John]

But Tulpa is an idiot. I knew he was annoying and dumb. But I thought he could do basic math.

[RBS]

You'd think so, isn't he a math professor?

[Warty]

I thought he was a failed math professor. Wasn't he bitching a while ago about not getting tenure or something? He's probably doing something pathetic now, like selling insurance.

[LTC(ret) John]

"He's probably doing something pathetic now, like selling insurance."

HEY?! Somebody has to sell our product!

[Zeb]

Depending on his specialization, it could be a long time since he needed to use much basic math.

[RBS]

It's all your fault libertarians for actively trying to ruin Romney. I did what I could and all of you ruined it!!!!! So I don't want to hear any complaints for the next four years!

/Tulpa

[generic Brand]

My sentiments exactly. Run a better candidate and you would've won handedly.

[Killazontherun]

All they should have needed is to run a better candidate than the one that the Democrats ran. They did, by a huge margin better, still lost.

People are conditioned to expect much more from republicans. No one asks dhimmis to pull lint from their belly buttons and ponder on what it means.

[The Late P Brooks]

I am not "a woman," but a person, instantiated as a female.

Report to the clinic, Nicole, and have that false consciousness removed ASAP.

[nicole]

I guess I'd probably be happier then, wouldn't I?

[Tim]

If you think a vagina controls how you live your life, shit, you don't wanna know about peckers.

[Joe M]

I almost wonder if early speculation that the GOP wasn't even trying this time around was accurate. There were tons of much stronger candidates who stayed on the sidelines this go round in the primaries. 2016 will be a wide open field with a much better set of options, such as obviously Rand Paul for one. I'm sure Paul Ryan will be running directly for the top slot as well at that point.

[Jerry on the road]

How can Ryan remove the taint that is Romney? He cannot suddenly run against Romney's policies in 2016 when he accepted a VP slot in 2012.

[Tim]

At least Romney won't be spinning rumors about Ryan being a nut and a slut and ruining things for him.

[rac3rx]

Aw, dude, really? I'm still trying to get the idea of 4 more years of Obama out of my head and now you up the ante with Romney's taint?

Not a pretty picture, at all...

[RBS]

I was wondering about that on my way to the gym this morning. Even after Romney won the nomination it doesn't seem like they tried all that hard. The stronger candidates seemed like they really wanted no part of this one.

[R C Dean]

Its been pretty clear to me that Romney wouldn't do what needed doing to win.

What a target-rich environment he had, but he simply would not go on the offensive against the crypto-leftism, the incompetence, the corruption, Benghazi, Fast & Furious, all that.

Even the economy, the one thing he tried to run on, he did a crappy job with.

And, of course, the Repubs gave away their number 1 issue, ObamaCare, when they nominated him.

Looks like the concerns in the primaries, that Repubs just won't turn out for a warmed over, "me-too" Massachusetts liberal were correct.

[Killazontherun]

It was odd, given that in politics ambition is rewarded and the most ambitious thing you can accomplish is slaying the current king. This one was wounded, but maybe they figured out the electoral picture early and did not want to get sliced and diced themselves.

[Clich? Bandit]

I was right. For once. I predicted all but Johnson's results correctly. I now rule. That is all.

[Bee Tagger]

You dummy, if you're so good at predicting, try predicting a better result next time. C'mon!

[Hyperion]

Not many here were predicting a Romney victory. I thought he might win the popular vote, but not the electoral.

So now, do we get to listen to the GOP babble on inecessantly about how they will give even more free shit to people than team blue promises, because you know, need to win one for the team. Fuck the people, it's all about the team.

[sarcasmic]

I predicted the results would be the opposite of my ballot, and I was correct.

I plan to unregister here at some point.

Voting is pointless.

[Randian]

Shit. Republicans can either go Gary Johnson-lite, ditch the so-conism, anti-immigrant and anti-gay stuff, or they can just go Tory, like John said.

I say "shit" because I just realized which one is going to happen.

[Joe M]

I just wish the party would break apart. At least that would be interesting.

[John]

We are not quite the UK. The federal system will keep Obama from doing the damage to the US that Blair did to the UK.

I can't Obama getting anything through Congress. He is a lame duck as of today. And the Dems will be facing another horrible headwind in the 14 midterms. This is going to be gridlock with Obama ruling by decree.

The good news is that he will probably have some actual spending cuts shoved down his throat. The fiscal cliff is coming and Obama has no mandate and has shown no ability to move public opinion once in office. He will end up backing down. The bad news is we are going to get Obamacare with both barrells and at least one new Kaganator on the court.

[Mike M.]

The federal system will keep Obama from doing the damage to the US that Blair did to the UK.

I don't think so. It's true that no significant legislation of any kind is going to get passed, but Obama isn't about to let a minor nuisance like the House stop him from completing his radical transformation of the country.

That is going to be done by executive decree, implemented through his minions in the I.R.S., the E.P.A., numerous other three-letter agencies, and his goldbricking allies in the Pentagon who abandon our ambassadors and soldiers on base to be murdered.

[John]

Oh he will do a lot of damage. But all of that shit is easily reversable. The funny thing is that all that shit is going to kill the economy and make the debt crisis that much worse. He is so fucked.

[sarcasmic]

But all of that shit is easily reversable.

Seriously? When has the government ever reversed anything?

all that shit is going to kill the economy and make the debt crisis that much worse

Failures of the free market. Corporations are greedily hoarding cash as they ship jobs overseas. The rich haven't paid their fair share. Republican obstructionism.

He is so fucked.

He's fine. We're the ones who are fucked.

[Trespassers W]

Obama's bulletproof now. What's the worst that can happen to him? Impeachment? Nobody's blinked an eye at the crap that he's pulled off already. His legacy besmirched? He's got an army of apologists waiting.

[Whiterun Guard]

Where's my money, sucker!?

[Randian]

We have to figure out a way for you to get me your address.

[Tim]

Press release from STEVE SMITH:

STEVE DISAPPOINTED WITH ELECTION RESULTS. HOW RAPE CONTINUE TO HAVE MEANING IN A COUNTRY WHERE VICTIMS VOTED TO BE RAPED FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS? STEVE STUCK WITH ONLY RAPING REPUBLICANS, LIBERTARIANS, AND APOLITICAL HIKLERS.

[SugarFree]

STEVE SMITH ONLY SUPPORT LEGITIMATE RAPE!

[Clano'6]

The Republicans want to redefine rape as strictly between a man and a woman, the Democrats want to redefine it in policy and make sure everyone is raped equally.

[The Late P Brooks]

Who will be first to say, "Newkulur Titties would have walked away with this election!"?

We just weren't stupid enough! Yeah, that's it.

[Tim]

I wonder if Rush will be on today. He may have taken his whole stash of painkillers.

[Knutsack]

What? Are you kidding? He will love this! This gives him so much to talk about.

[SugarFree]

Yes, he doesn't have to switch over to defensive mode.

[SugarFree]

The "I wuz right!" sub-thread.

I always said Obama was going to win. There was a persistent groundsmell of support.

[Warty]

I always assumed he would. I also knew that Ohio would hold onto its communist senator, which, to be honest, I'm way more upset about.

[Randian]

Sherrod Brown Delenda Est.

I cannot, cannot stand that fuckface.

I did vote third party on that one too though.

[VG Zaytsev]

Good job.

[ant1sthenes]

Shit, that's the first I heard of that. Fuck Sherrod Brown. What a sad day for Ohio.

[John]

I come and kiss your ring in praise.

[Whiterun Guard]

Mine too. You argued and even forced poor Randian to bet me money.

Now never argue with me again about Supreme Court decisions or Presidential elections.

[John]

Perhaps so.

[SugarFree]

I'm not gloating, more of a Cassandra-esque gentle sob.

[$park?]

How long had I been calling a Warren victory?

[R C Dean]

Yeah, yeah, I was wrong. The triumph of hope over cynicism. I've learned my lesson.

[MJGreen]

I thought he would easily lose.

I also thought Kerry was a shoo-in. Though I was barely into politics in 2004. I should know better today. Never underestimate people's ability to enable failure.

[Knutsack]

I swear I saw a comment here that Norquist's fifteen minutes of fame were up. I don't think anything could be further from reality. He now has another four years to rail on everything.

[T o n y]

*Some* Republicans will unleash themselves from him.

[VG Zaytsev]

Who?

You think taxes are suddenly popular because Obama won the war on womyns.

[T o n y]

Some Republicans don't like being Norquist's poodle. Some of them may feel that he's not a threat to their reelection. Of course they've gerrymandered themselves into safe districts across the country, so that may be more true than ever (and is the reason they held the House in the first place).

[sloopyinca]

Seriously, it's elections like these that make me want to run for office. I just know I could have run a better campaign than Romney, and probably won. I could have done it with nothing but sarcastic responses to Obama's scurrilous ads and proclamations and by promising to be hands-off when it comes to ladyparts (except for Banjos) because the President can't enact legislation on his own, and a factual account of Obama's out of control spending and assault on the Constitution.

A simple formula to victory, and Romney punted every time he had a chance to accurately portray Obama's administration of corruption and immorality.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Romney may have actually dodged a bullet. Mathematically speaking, it doesn't matter if it's Team Red or Team Blue in the White House, because we've become Japan:

In Fiscal Year 2011, the federal government collected $2.303 trillion in tax revenue. Interest on the debt that year totaled $454.4 billion, and mandatory spending totaled $2,025 billion. In sum, mandatory spending plus debt interest totaled $2.479 trillion? exceeding total revenue by $176.4 billion.

For Fiscal Year 2012 which just ended 37 days ago, that shortfall increased 43% to $251.8 billion.

In other words, they could cut the entirety of the Federal Government's discretionary budget? no more military, SEC, FBI, EPA, TSA, DHS, IRS, etc.? and they would still be in the hole by a quarter of a trillion dollars...

Bottom line, the US government is legally bound to spend more money on mandatory entitlements and interest than it can raise in tax revenue. It won't make a difference how high they raise taxes, or even if they cut everything else that remains in government as we know it.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....snt-matter

[John]

I think he did. And when they no longer have the money for all the free shit these people think they are going to get, watch them turn on Obama like wolves.

[Whiterun Guard]

You vastly underestimate their ability to find other scapegoats, and their followers ability to ignore logic and reality.

[Lord Humungus]

Example: Chavez & Venezuela

[VG Zaytsev]

"Mandatory spending" is a bullshit meme.

No spending is mandatory, Congress could cut spending to 0 if they had the balls to do so.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"Mandatory spending" is a bullshit meme

Whether it's bullshit is beside the point--the real issue is that they won't be able to raise taxes enough to pay for the obligations.

Baby boomers are still a potent political force, and you can bet they'll see the country burn before they give up their social security and Medicare. The problem is that we're not in a position to pay for anything else without taking out debt.

[Jersey Patriot]

I spent election night with triumphant liberals, but my Facebook feed was full of hyperventilating conservatives. At least the gin was cold.

[John]

There is nothing to hyperventalate about. The coming budget crisis is gonig to dicate what he does. Give it six months, the liberals won't feel so truimphant.

[Warty]

I hear that budget crisis was caused by free markets and deregulation. You know what the solution to it is, right?

[Tim]

Free birth control?

[Francisco d Anconia]

WW III?

[LTC(ret) John]

Alien invaders breaking windows?

[Randian]

Yeah, math is going to be a stone cold bitch very shortly.

[R C Dean]

The only question is when, not whether, we find out what a real fiscal cliff looks like.

There's another recession coming, pretty soon. It will crater the government's revenues, but of course spending will have to go up because Keynes, so deficits will skyrocket from their current base of $1TT.

We'll find out pretty quickly how long the Fed can monetize debt at that rate. When Fed monetization fails, it all falls down: the currency, the economy, the budget, you name it.

Winter is coming.

[Tim]

That does it! I'm voting Lannister. He shits gold you know.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I'm thinking of buying some property in Chile.

[Joe M]

Investment strategy?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Tools. Real skills. Real estate. Stuff you can barter with.

Plumbers are always going to eat. Lawyers, bankers, stockbrokers, pensioners, etc... are all fucked.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Galt's Gulch.

[R C Dean]

Investment strategy?

The capital markets are so royally fucked up and manipulated right now, I'm really hesitant to put real money into them. I'm looking for opportunities to short, but QE floats all boats, trading is a timing game, and I just don't know when QE will fail.

Every major currency is being debased right now, which means gold should be a good long-term bet. Theoretically, gold miners should also be a good long-term bet, but they might get caught in the downdraft of equities generally.

Me? I've got some gold and silver, some paper gold, a few odd stocks with trailing stops, and am thinking very seriously about how to get out of the capital markets and put my money into something local and concrete.

[Killazontherun]

1) Tax cuts end at the end of the year.
2) The back loaded (for the political purpose of last night's victory) penalties for Dodd/Frank and Obamacare go into full effect over the next two years.
3) The monetary stimulus of QE-infiniti runs its course and down the trough it goes.

We is fucked.

[Killazontherun]

Bwahahaha! Already floating this, the day after --

Obama May Levy Carbon Tax to Cut the U.S. Deficit, HSBC Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-says.html

Expect more of this from English sources for months ahead as a means to keep a hands off approach.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I'm waiting for VAT.

[Killazontherun]

It will get its turn. Geithner is visiting his dad soon for the holidays. Expect it to be floated first by a Hong Kong based newspaper.

[John]

He will introduce it and it will go nowhere in the House. And even if it did would die of filibuster in the Senate. That is a nonstarter.

[Killazontherun]

Floaters usually don't have there purpose to get legislation passed. It is about stirring the pot and making implied threats to pressure negotiations.

[Killazontherun]

their for there switcheroo.

[sloopyinca]

Right, because this time, finally, the American public will wake up to the shell game the government has been playing for decades.

You guys that think a budget crisis is coming, but the printing presses will merely keep devaluing the currency until, voila!, there is no more deficit.

[John]

And viola, all those checks for free shit you get from the government are worthless. Currency devaluation is just another way of cutting spending.

[sloopyinca]

They don't care as long as it lets them kick the can a little further down the road. Besides, the government will cease giving checks for free shit and will go straight to distributing the goods themselves, with the desired and predictable effect of getting more people suckled up to the tit.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

the government will cease giving checks for free shit and will go straight to distributing the goods themselves

That will precipitate a nasty reaction methinks.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

Besides, the government will cease giving checks for free shit and will go straight to distributing the goods themselves, with the desired and predictable effect of getting more people suckled up to the tit.

OBAMA PHONE!

[The Late P Brooks]

Obama loves the drug war. He is not a liberal. He is a Progressive with a capital "P", and he believes that keeping drugs criminal is a good thing.

He'd like to spend more money acting against drug offenders if he could--and there is no way he's gonna treat sellers in Colorado better than he's treated medical dispensaries in California.

I suspect if you could look at Reverend Whaithisname's archived sermons you would find more "Evil Drug Scourge" rhetoric than "God Damn America". The black religious community is hard core anti drug, and 0 knows his audience.

Also- I think the DEA is at this moment establishing a program which will enable them to "prove" state-level marijuana legalization is "unworkable" because of interstate trafficking. Expect major busts of growers selling marijuana which they know, or have reason to know will be distributed in other states. That was one of the claims they made against Montana medical providers.

[John]

The black religious community is hard core anti drug, and 0 knows his audience.

THIS. Libertarians would like to convince themselves black people are against the drug war. Nothing could be further from the truth. The biggest hard core drug warriors I have known have all been black and religious.

[R C Dean]

The black religious community is also hard-core anti-gay marriage.

They're on the plantation, everyone knows it, and so nobody cares what they want.

[Hyperion]

Yep. It was afterall, the progressives who gave us prohibition in the first place. They are the biggest prohibitionists of all, because they are first and foremost, control freaks.

I wouldn't be surprised if they set up random road checks all around the CO and Washington borders looking for people who crossed over with now illegal pot. Then they make them tell where they bought it and use that to go after the legal sellers, because of what you just said.

[Hyperion]

The most important thing that happened in this election is that MJ legalization passed in WA and CO. I would love to a fly on the wall in the DEA headquarters this morning listening to what they are planning. It's going to get really ugly and I think that is only a good thing. Obama will not be able to ignore this(he will try) and is going to be stuck with it. Not that he cares, he can't be reelected and the WOD doesn't fit into the abortion/gay platform that is apparently the new most important issues in the universe with nothing else even coming close.

[sloopyinca]

If anybody on here sees Sidd Finch in the real world, would you please kick him in the balls. He spent all night baiting me into an alcohol-fueled rage with his anti-The Ohio State University football bigotry and hate speech in addition to cheerleading for the entire SEC, as all people from that region are likely to do when you ask them who their team is.

Fuck that motherfucker.

On a lighter note, I did get Warty with a good goatse post last night.

[Warty]

Tonight...you.

[robc]

How's that bowl game gonna be this year?

/Not that I can talk, but we at least still have a chance
//Hell, we are still alive for Coastal title
///Doubly so, if Miami decides to pull a preemptive tOSU and go bowl eligble this year

[robc]

bowl INeligible.

[sloopyinca]

No bowl this year, which is one hell of a penalty for kids trading their private property voluntarily for a good of equal value.

And I think the bowl ban coming this year instead of last was 100% because of the hubris exhibited by Gordon Gee when he shot his fucking mouth off so many times.

[Mesteve]

The Union Republic of California continues to amaze me. Not only did the state increase taxes and solidify the union's power but it will also have a Democrat super-majority in the state assembly and senate. There is nothing stopping them from raising taxes in order to "cover" PubSec Pensions and High Speed Trains. I seriously doubt I'll have a job in a few years as the owner of my company just took another shot to the pants last night. Figured I'd start looking for my next state. Where are we starting Libertopia? I promise to shower the CA stench off before entering.

[Ken Shultz]

The U.S. is on its way to looking just like California.

Same problems.

Same solutions.

[ant1sthenes]

Leave? To where, exactly? When there's nowhere to retreat, there's only one other option.

[R C Dean]

Where are we starting Libertopia?

Mars is probably our best bet at this point.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Where are we starting Libertopia?

15 years ago I would have said MT. After last night, I'm not sure I want to live here anymore.

I hear Chile is high on the most capitalist countries list.

[LibertyWolf]

Actually, living in Washington State it isn't that bad:

Voted to end marijuana prohibition (marijuana at Fred Meyer??)
Privatized liquor sales (whiskey at Fred Meyer!)
Marriages for everyone (would rather no state involvement, but it works)
No state income tax (very good)
Voted to re-affirm the 2/3 majority in legislature to raise taxes (very good)

Now, there's obviously statist qualities as well, but Washington State and the Cascadia area as a whole both have a lot of leave-me-alone types that respond well to small government.

Or we could all just join the FSP and make one last go of it in New Hampshire.

[DK]

The LA County Measure B also passed (condoms required for porn industry).

So, which police boner will be harder? Will cops get sexual favors or will cops start shooting porn stars? Not necessarily mutually exclusive.

[The Late P Brooks]

Romney punted every time he had a chance to accurately portray Obama's administration of corruption and immorality.

Don't you get it?

Using factual information about your opponent's record and stated policy goals is NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING.

What kind of monster are you?

[sloopyinca]

What kind of monster are you?

The kind of monster that would run the most negative fact-based campaign in the history of the Republic. Hell, I wouldn't even acknowledge my opponent by name, ala Woody Hayes, and would refer to him as "that candidate from the far left".

[Auric Demonocles]

If I was running against Obama I don't know if I'd bother saying his name, but I would show a ton of clips of him from 2007 and earlier to expose his lies, broken promises, or flip flops.

[Killazontherun]

Imagine this ad.

Two upper middle class gentleman, one of a slight beige complexion, could be race, could be a robust tan, who knows and does it really matter, Christ, can't we just get passed that, enough already; anyhoo, these gentlemen are out on a boat, and the somewhat more tan guy is at the wheel steering. They are close to a waterfall. This nice enough fellow with all the right intentions shown on his jovial jaw line insist everything is fine. The other gentleman offers to steer, and reluctantly our vaguely described on racial lines antagonist sits down and allows the other to steer. The waterfall is avoided, the end.

Academic papers about its racial coding are written about for two generations to come, but at the time the American people accept it for the mild analogy that was intended.

[Fatty Bolger]

Dow Jones industrial average falls 200 points after Europe slashes economic growth forecast

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Utterly predictable. Europe is going to implode over the next couple of months now that the election is over.

[LTC(ret) John]

And I love working for a European multi-national KORPORASHUN that depends on the US for over half of its profits - I am boned coming and going.

[The Late P Brooks]

For a year, I was completely certain 0 would win, but then I let myself get head-faked by the aftermath of that first debate, and succumbed to wishful thinking.

Fooled, I was.

[NoVAHockey]

same. I just didn't think we were this far gone.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I just didn't think we were this far gone.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, it does look like Obama is going to get about between 8-10 million less votes than last time.

[The Late P Brooks]

Dow Jones industrial average falls 200 points after Europe slashes economic growth forecast

What other possible explanation could there be?

[R C Dean]

Seriously, that probably is it.

The markets lurv them some Bernankebux. So Obama winning and keeping Bernanke and his magical printing press was actually the bullish outcome.

Then they remembered, oh yeah, Europe.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

That big of a drop isn't indicative of something that was widely known to have a 50-50 chance of happening. This is a surprise drop.

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm thinking of buying some property in Chile.

I, too, run a fantasy in my head about that, but I wonder what Chilean Customs and Immigration would say when they got to the crate of handguns.

[R C Dean]

"Thanks for the guns" would be my guess.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Fuck! There goes that fantasy.

[Ken Shultz]

I've looked into Chile extensively.

I really like the area around Barlioche across the border in Argentina, but the Argentinians have a funny thing about people foreigners buying property along the border with Chile.

But across the border in Chile, along the lakes and mountains there, it's beautiful. It's civilized, if that's what you want. Patagonia is right there in your back yard. And it's relatively cheap.

You can get isolated property along the ocean in Chile for cheap, too.

I'm definitely going to Chile to check it out. I meant to go down there when I was in Central America and just never got around to it.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I vacationed in Bariloche in 04. Loved it and considered buying property there. Until I started researching their politics. You are correct about buying property. They actually passed a law that said Americans (specifically) could not purchase property within a specified distance (I think it was like 50 miles ish)from the Andes.

I hear great things about Chile, however.

[Ken Shultz]

My fellow libertarians who think it doesn't matter who the president is are about to exposed as retards.

[Trespassers W]

Oh, we do think it matters. It matters greatly. We just didn't think it mattered whether it was Obama or Romney.

[Ken Shultz]

Well it did.

Even the market thought so!

To the tune of hundreds of points off the Dow, and that's not counting the pop the futures suggest it would have had if Romney had won.

That's right. The market thinks there's a difference between Romney and Obama, why don't you?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Well, the good news is...the price of oil is going down.

[John]

Killing your economy and destroying demand will do that.

[VG Zaytsev]

Don't worry. The price of oil will skyrocket when the EPA kills fracking next year.

[Appalachian Australian]

Considering the tanking stock market, get ready for deflation. I don't think Bernanke has any idea how to actually increase the money supply. He might not even notice anything's wrong as long as inflation is below his magical 2% figure.

[Fatty Bolger]

Market slide continues, DOW now down 335

[Troy muy grande boner]

I wanted to post this again. Benton County Arkansas voted to go wet. So now at least I can get drunk and puke with my salty ham tears.

[Troy muy grande boner]

The Kremlin cheers the election. They know a chump they can push around when they see one.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/he.....-election/

[Lisa]

He has more flexibility now.

[Appalachian Australian]

God help us all. The news media is calling him Obama 2.0

[Pro Libertate]

Bush 3.0 would be more accurate.

[Lisa]

I watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers on Halloween and I find a lot of parallels between that movie and what's happening now in politics. The Republicans have such a hard time taking a stand because every "argument" by the Democrats against anything the Republicans say or do is like the piercing scream by the Pod People. I think conservatives are now more comfortable just melting into the background and trying to hide from the screaming and pointing. Something drastically different has to happen or we'll all become one of them eventually.