Video: Obama Wins and Nothing Changes; The Wildly Unpopular Status Quo Is Ratified!

"After four years of a crappy economy, bipartisan dissatisfaction with bailout economics, and populous revolts on the right and the left, we are seeing basically the exact same government we had on November 6th," says Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch. "The status quo, which has never been less popular, has just been ratified."

And yet, says Welch, big wins on marijuana legalization and gay marriage give limited government types a lot to be happy about.

Approximately 1.45 minutes.

Shot and edited by Jim Epstein.

Comments

[Bingo]

Matt Welch, keeping it real.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Nope. I cant find anything good to come out of this. Social issues dont matter when you have a central-planning socialist senate and president given the "OK" from the dumbed down electorate. Take a look at the exit polls. This country has gone full-fucking left wing. Several tea partiers and fiscal conservatives lost their seats, and Reason writers ,of all people , have the balls to say this election was good for small govt? Puh-leez.

[Bingo]

Part of the issue is that all of Matt's good points are negated by the fact that the increasingly over-reaching feds don't give a flying fuck about State governments or Congress.

Legalized weed in CO? Eric Holder will slap his dick on that state and law enforcement will suck it.

[Corning]

Eric Holder will slap his dick on that state and law enforcement will suck it.

We will see.

The same voters who voted for pot in Washington also elected a Governor and gave Obama 12 electoral votes.

I don't know about Colorado's Governor but they also gave Obama 9 electoral votes.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

i would say that i can't wait to see the naysayers proven wrong, but the naysayers just move on.

we've legalized mj in WA and CO. we, the people of WA, are not rolling over for the feds. the feds can suck it

i look forward to going to a call in the near future (still out on sick leave but hopefully be back soon) and see some guy light up a joint inside the house while i am taking a burg report or whatnot. pretty fucking cool. the naysayers and the gloom and doomers will continue to wallow in their world of self imposed shit, but out here in the real world, we are recognizing a robust victory for a libertarian principle - that the war on MJ has been a miserable failure and that we should legalize it.

the law passed soundly . that means soccer moms, and the average janes and joes have come to the conclusion that the war on MJ was bad policy. that's a HUGE ideological as well as practical victory

this is an important historical moment. it's up there with heller

[Bingo]

I look forward to you actually being ethical, but since you are law enforcement it's a small probability.

[Corning]

I don't think Washington will roll over...still we will see.

We might not roll over but if we are pushed enough we can fall over.

this is an important historical moment. it's up there with heller

I do agree with this though...they may be able to push over Washington this year or next...but in the mid term of say 10 years the feds cannot keep this down. Here or nation wide.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

exactly. we WILL see.

the feds can't keep us down. the bottle's been uncorked. the writing's on the wall. jesus, it's driving me to cliche's

the people have fucking spoken. period. this isn't the loons, and all the cranks that we usually see in the legalization movement. this is soccer moms and stuff. salt of the earth people passing these initiatives.

we may see some setbacks, JUST like we did with RKBA, but the tide has turned.

and the naysayers will do what they do, but it won't change this wonderful reality.

[Bingo]

how many people have you locked up? how many lives have you ruined?

This "we" stuff is sickening. Go back to your blue line.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

we can continue to move this country forward and ride the arc as it moves towards liberty. you can climb aboard or continue to wallow as a nattering nabob of negativism

[Bingo]

I just want to know what sort of person you are. I'm honestly not impressed. I'm the least negative of anyone, my ideology is pretty good if you ever want to join.

[General Butt Naked]

I was checking out WA state firearm laws and yours are pretty good. Coupled with the new weed law, the Pacific NW is lookin' pretty good for liberty.

I noticed that for a conceal license they don't have the onerous 'any drug conviction ever' disqualifier. Here in PA you can be adjudicated delinquent for indecent assault at 17 and get a permit at 27, but get caught with a weed pipe at 18 and it's 6 mos probation, fines, drug rehab, and worst of all a lifetime ban on getting a license to carry. Also, we just elected an AG that wants to crack down on people with minor drug convictions getting Fla permits and taking advantage of reciprocity. She wants to end a bunch of our agreements. Fuck.

While I applaud the people of Washington in their vote, for some of us the next few years look tough.

Oh yeah, what are they going to do with the people serving time/parole/probation that were convicted under the old weed laws? Seems unfair to do a bit for something legal.

[Mr Whipple]

Legalized weed in CO? Eric Holder will slap his dick on that state and law enforcement will suck it.

Oh, I don't know. If the feds arrest someone, where do they try him? In CO, with a CO jury pool?

Good luck with dat.

[widget]

CA voters raise their own taxes. Hair shirts, anyone?

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07113b.htm

[A Serious Man]

I knew it, I'm surrounded by assholes.

[General Butt Naked]

Love that movie.

What's the matter Colonel Sanders?
Chicken?!

[Omni]

Last I saw prop 30 was losing, and people around where whining. Just noticed it passed...that really sucks. Best part? from http://www.mercurynews.com/ele.....that-would

"It's going to preclude us having to make massive cuts next year," he said. But he noted that it won't solve the district's financial problems.

They haven't even finished counting the votes yet, and already they are trying to set the table to ask for even more money.

[VG Zaytsev]

Naturally.

[Brandybuck]

I got a double whammy, as my county voted to increase my sales tax by 1%

[Palin's Buttplug]

Senate final D +2.

LMAO.

Fucking GOP puts their worst shit out in IN, MO, ND, and blows a 21-10 advantage.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

never fails... the gloom and doom reasonoid train. reminds me of that cartoon with the character that drones "we're all doomed..."

we have seen massive expansions of liberty recently on several fronts... RKBA and MJ.

in many respects, MJ has already been to a large extent de facto if not de jure decrim'd. in my court system you have to work REALLY REALLY hard to get even a day or two in jail, for instance, for MJ possession

NOW, it's actually LEGALIZED. this is a great victory for freedom, but of course the cynical "we're all doomed" naysayers will doom and gloom all over yet another victory for liberty.

fuck that!

welch is spot on, and as usual, the cynics are wrong. there is a lot to be happy about.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

just to clarify, the gloomers i am referring to are commenters... such as the claim that these advances are "negated"... cmon. puhleez.

we've seen massive expansions in liberty on the war on MJ over the last several years. de facto decrim, de jure decrim, medical marijuana, and now outright legalization. and we have also seen massive expansion in RKBA. in some states (like mine), we have seen massive contractions in state search and seizure power. these are of course glossed over by the naysayers

welch is spot on.

[Bingo]

You've fully admitted you concede all authority and morality to whatever legislature passes your way. You aren't even a man, you're an automaton enforcing the whims of whatever rulers happens to be there.

You are a weak piece of shit at best.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

why am i not surprised? when your ideas are questioned or criticized, you instantly devolve into a childish, frothing, petulant personal attack

adults can discuss ideas without doing so

[Bingo]

Ohhh the adults table? You mad? You have no ethics. You would be the first tackle your mother if it meant that you could barely keep your job. You're a joke.

[Bingo]

I will stop dooming and glooming the moment that faggots like you stop being the legislature's bitch.

Beauty in every post is my new goal.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://s12.postimage.org/6drdy4jgb/1888.jpg

[Bingo]

Come at me bro

[Rich]

PSA: NSFW

[Dunphy (the real one)]

"faggots?"

like i said. you take a discussion of ideas and devolve into childish petulant personal attacks... and seriously? "faggot?"

face it. liberty has expanded. apparently, you would rather wallow in gloom and doom, no matter how fact averse you have to be to do so, than recognize that we have achieved some pretty great victories.

LEGAL MARIJUANA. that's a good thing.

[Bingo]

HAHAHAHA pretend you're better than what I said. It still stands. If Eric Holder came up to you and told you to raid a building you would dribble some pee beneath your legs and proudly shout "YES SIR!". You are a weak piece of shit.

[Res Publica Americana]

Shit might not be deathly awful, but it's pretty bad. I think I'll just keep drinking.

[alan_s]

^This

[widget]

Hairshirts and condoms.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/n.....73761.html

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Oh, and remember Alan Grayson? Florida, and indeed this country, has gone off their rocker.

[Palin's Buttplug]

BTW-

Nate Silver says to fuck all you GOP bubble-dwellers.

[Res Publica Americana]

I don't recall anybody dwelling in a bubble. He was the incumbent, dumbass -- everybody knew he might have won.

Doesn't mean we have to like it.

[Corning]

I am not GOP.

Still thought Romney was going to win.

Also did Silver overshoot or undershoot?

I only scanned one article of his and if I remember right he gave Obama a much bigger win then he actually got.

On the flip side we should never listen to Dick Morris ever again...about anything.

[Graphite]

So far it's looking like Silver may have called every single state correctly. I'm not sure if he had any kind of prediction for the popular vote, but I would imagine it had to be pretty close to get the state-level calls so perfect. He had put Obama's odds of victory at 90% yesterday.

Basically sabermetrics owns. Maybe they'll make a Moneyball II pitting Silver against all the media dickheads who wanted to make this seem like a tight race.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

Looks that way. I'm not going over there, though, because Silver's a smarmy prick and his acolytes are worse.

The real tests are how close Silver came to the percentage splits, and how he did compared to a blind averaging of the polls. Because if all he did was say "Obama's up in the Ohio polls, so he wins Ohio," then who cares? He hasn't actually added any value.

When picking an investment advisor, you want someone who can beat the market. Otherwise you just buy an index fund. Did Silver beat the market, or did he just repeat what anyone could have gotten off of RCP?

[Graphite]

Intrade had Obama's odds at 65-70% heading into today, so he at least beat that market, in the sense of assigning higher odds to the outcome that actually obtained. Although Intrade bettors tend to skew Republican so inefficiencies and mispricing are common there.

[widget]

CA Prop 34 fails.

CA keeps the death penalty, executes no one, and pays through the balls to keep the legal processes going.

[Another David]

On a completely unrelated note, California has no fucking money.

[Corning]

"There is no reason why a fiscal conservative must be a social conservative"

Shit I would be happy if Missouri could field one of those who wasn't bat shit insane.

Wasn't there a tea party primary challenger in that race who almost won?

[Masturbatin' Pete]

When someone tells you that he's a fiscal conservative but "social liberal" or "social moderate," he's lying.

Those issues that we define as being "socially moderate/liberal" involve spending government money.

[Another David]

Being against the drug war is socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Same-sex marriage is not quite fiscally neutral due to tax incentives to marry, but the overall effect is hard to determine and not anybody's reason for supporting/opposing.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

No, being against the drug war is socially libertarian. The socially liberal approach to the drug war can involve legalization or continued prohibition. But what it definitely involves is spending money on needle exchanges, treatment programs, etc.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

despite some of our craptastic statists in govt. WA is a pretty libertarian state.

1) no income tax
2) no permit needed to openly carry a firearm
3) shall issue permits for concealed carry
4) powerful initiative process, and initiative law trumps legislative law per our system
5) VERY powerful right to privacy in our state constitution. law enforcement is very limited in search and seizure compared to other stats. for example, no search of a motor vehicle interior "incident" to arrest. pretext searches are also illegal. no DUI roadblocks because they are unconstitutional (as to our state constitution)

and NOW!!!!

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA

fucking a!

the negative nancy's can wank all they want, but it's pretty awesome.

[Bingo]

Yeah but who actually comes thru with this? If the feds dictate the WA police an order they will follow in lockstep. You've said as much here, as a non-official person just posting.

[Bingo]

Basically you are Eric Holder's bitch.

[Bingo]

Seriously, no response? Are you that wedded to the state?

[Killazontherun]

I don't get the recriminations. Did opponents of communism in the Soviet Union blame one another for the dominance of the Communist party? Yes, at the start, after the fall out of the Mensheviks and the White Army there was much in the way of finger pointing. But by then, it was too late and a futile gesture. Speaking of futile gestures, the Republicans did what they could, they were far more enthusiastic this year than Obama supporters. He couldn't even fill half a stadium the other day with Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z on stage with hi, yet he still won. The Republican vote was just as meaningless as the libertarian one. Suck it up and realize, it's a brand new fucking Soviet day, and adjust accordingly.

[Killazontherun]

And yes,

we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions -- BHO

we just reelected a communist in the strictest, most etymon, sense of the word.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Holy Fuck, I must have missed that.

[Bingo]

it's a brand new fucking Soviet day, and adjust accordingly.U wot? You're assuming the exact same shit about the US system as the Soviet system.

[Killazontherun]

The Republican brand name is toast on the West Coast. With that in the Democrat's pocket, they have the ability to leverage that to their advantage for our entire life times. I fully expect a democrat to win after Obama in 2016 now that they know the formula for success.

Anyone should have been able to beat Obama. If Jimmy Carter switched parties and got the GOP nomination he should have been able to beat Obama just on the basis of being a more competent executive with a better record.

You are still thinking like a tsarist after 1917. It is a different day now. The Dhimmis have a machine now that is every bit as effective as the Communist Party of the old soviet Union with the time line being closer to '57 than '89.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

The fact is that there are more Democrats than Republicans, and that gap will grow. It's just a question of motivation. The Democrats are harder to motivate but they'll come out for presidential elections. I don't see much of a chance of that changing.

[XM]

Even if drugs are legalized across the nation and Obama comes out in support of it, I'm not sure the cartels will just give up on what I'm pretty sure is a lucrative market for them. There's still some incentive to sell drugs to minors. The black market will exist for unregulated stuff that's not approved by the government.

We'll see what happens. I tend to think the media is tilts to sensationalism when it comes to drugs and steroid related issues.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Oh yeah, we have a big problem with mexicans selling Corona to minors.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Uh, there's not a cigarette and alcohol cartel despite restrictions on sales to minors. There is a black market, to be sure, but it's much smaller and less violent.

[VG Zaytsev]

The real stake through the hearts of the cartels is individuals growing for their own use and selling to neighbors for a few bucks.

[Bingo]

Dunphy sucks, nya nya.

[Mr Whipple]

Well, when the economy crashes, people won't be able to blame "capitalism".....or Bush.

[Fatty Bolger]

Sure they will.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

Well, when the economy crashes, people won't be able to blame "capitalism".....or Bush.

They'll definitely blame capitalism. You're forgetting Masturbatin' Pete's First Law of Regulation:

"Any failure of a regulated industry is successfully blamed on that portion of the industry that remains unregulated."

While we're at it, don't forget Masturbatin' Pete's Second Law of Regulation:

"Unintended consequences have never been regulated out of existence, but this time is different because we're smart and virtuous."

[VG Zaytsev]

The Chi Comms blamed capitalists in the darkest days of their cultural revolution. When their hadn't been any capitalists in rural China - ever; and the communists had been in complete control of the country for more than a decade.

[hotsy totsy]

I'm betting we'll hear a lot of "they just won't leave Obama alone so he can govern"

[Graphite]

Some of the hyperventilating here reminds me of the Democrats who circulated that "United States of Canada" vs "Jesusland" map in 2004. I was in the College Republicans at the time and can vividly recall all the sucking of Karl Rove's cock that was going, and the talk of a "permanent Republican majority" in the country.

The political fortunes of the Democrats will eventually wane just as the Republicans' did. Frankly, given where the stock market and the economy are relative to when Obama took office, it's remarkable that he didn't win more of the vote than he did.

I'm more worried over the fact that it seems we can't vote out an incumbent POTUS anymore.

[Killazontherun]

Call it what you want, 'hyperventilating', 'doom and gloom', whatever, but the word GOP is about as acceptable as KKK in circles, West Coast cities and 'burbs, indoctrinated youth, minorities, guilt ridden white baby boomers, that now determine our national elections. I'm not doing a Shikha Dalmia here because for all of the GOP's faults, Barack Obama just got reelected when that should have been impossible. The one positive you listed doesn't amount to shit when you have unemployment and energy prices at record high levels, and middle class wealth in a steep decline in spite of those Wall Street high numbers.

[Killazontherun]

BTW, include in that list the turn to Blue State status for Virginia. I have thought that likely since after 9-11 when Bush decided the best response to it was to bring the era of big government back with a vengeance. Turned out to be the worst response, who knew? Mark Shields had a permanent woody in those glorious days when it was obvious DC was starting a new growth spurt. So, yeah, blame Bush.

[free2booze]

the word GOP is about as acceptable as KKK in circles

The Bush years did real damage to the GOP brand. I think that this shows that the masses aren't ready to put their trust into the Republican party. Obama successfully linked Romney to the Bush years, and Romney wasn't able to do anything to separate himself from that. Long story short, as fucked as the country has become under Obama, the impression of the center of this country is that Bush fucked them more, and Romney represented more Bush.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Nice to see some refreshing honesty here.

[Graphite]

It's fucking amazing to me that after the 2008 drubbing, in 2012 the GOP completely punted on the chance to nominate a candidate who would distinguish himself from Obama on issues like Wall Street bailouts, foreign policy interventionism, and the deficit (where Romney's promises to cut never carried one shred of credibility). By doing so they could have nominated a more conservative candidate, jettisoned the Bush baggage, and I think gotten a greater share of the popular vote and maybe won the election.

I mean, I get that the establishment GOP is basically a corrupt corporatist cesspool, but why not at least nominate a guy who would lie about all these issues and then reverse himself once he takes office, like Obama has done?

[Masturbatin' Pete]

Okay, I'll bite: who would that be?

Ron Paul? Sorry, I like the guy, but the MSM would hang the racist newsletters thing around his neck and we'd be looking at a reprise of 1964.

Johnson? The abortion thing is a deal-breaker. The evangelicals and Catholics will stay home.

[nicole]

I'm starting to seriously wonder how much of a deal-breaker it is. All I heard on the news since the weekend was a bunch of pro-life women getting very serious about the "sanctity of life and sanctity of marriage" before deciding to come down for Obama.

Free stuff beats everything else.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Johnson isn't offering free stuff.

[VG Zaytsev]

Gingrich would have done better than Romney.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

The political fortunes of the Democrats will eventually wane just as the Republicans' did.

Everything crumbles eventually. But the fact is that the Democrats have a built-in advantage of about 0.75 points per election cycle thanks to the increase in minority populations. And while they might not show up for the mid-terms, they do show up for the president.

Meanwhile, the Republican party has some real conflicts. It's easy to say that the party needs to shed social conservatism, but moving to the center means giving up voters on the right.

I don't know how the Democrats manage to hold their coalition together. The unions shouldn't like Captain Cap-N-Trade, but they do. The unions shouldn't be in favor of open borders, but they are. Any group that wants a dollar from the government is competing with all the other groups that want dollars from the government. And yet pretty much every four years on election day they manage to piece together a popular vote majority.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

I don't know how the Democrats manage to hold their coalition together.

Identity politics, class warfare, and buying people off with taxpayer money. There's a reason why most democratic govts in the world are even more left wing than the Dems in the US.

Any group that wants a dollar from the government is competing with all the other groups that want dollars from the government.

It's not a zero sum game when the Ds ramp up spending like crazy.

[ThatSkepticGuy]

Given that Obama's idiot voter base is STILL insisting on acting as though this is his first time running, what are the odds they try to run him for a 'second' term in 2018?

[ThatSkepticGuy]

*2016. The graveyard shift, a sixpack and a lack of an edit feature'll do that.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Wailing and teeth gnashing. Where's John so I can revel in my schadenfruende? Romney was a singularly loathable character (as was his opponent) but without the sense of inevitability. My joy will be short lived though as the bureaucracy tightens the screws on businesses. Oh, tonight we drink, for tomorrow we die.

[Warty]

John has been entirely sane. See Tulpa if you want hilarious tears.

[JW]

Matt--It doesn't matter a gnat's ass what Americans tell pollsters, when they vote the exact opposite message.

Free ponies trumps EVRYTHING. Venality FTW.

[JW]

And yes, I do understand that some small-l liberty measures passed yesterday, but that's small fucking comfort compared to the evil and death that will be perpetuated in the name of the welfare state.

[Alice Bowie]

Face it, Obama was a crappy president. Romney is a moderate.
Practically EVERY WHITE MAN I know in NYC that is NOT RICH
wanted to vote for ROMNEY. The entire RELIGIOUS RIGHT with
religious latinos and blacks voted for ROMNEY. The TEA PARTY
voted for ROMNEY. The Anti-Gay, Anti-Black, Anti-Latino,
Anti-Imigrant, Anti-Drug, Anti-poor, Anti-entitlements all
voted for ROMNEY...AND LOST.

Why are all u people surprised that in an Economic disaster like
the one we are experiencing the people in need vote LIBERAL?

Did you truly expect that people falling out of the middle-class
to vote for the guy that would cut their SAFETY NETS?
That these people would elect the philosphy tht created Walmat,
the nigger-job with no benefits or change for mobility, and
shipped all the good jobs out?

AS ALL THESE THINGS HAPPEN, less people will vote
LIBERTARIAN....I PROMISE.
The upward mobility is not happening the way it use to happen.
Yea, we have a lot of millionaires but too many people broke.

If AMERICA doesn't want Yugo Chavez, Barak Obama, and the like elected,
Conservatives/libertarians should lighten up on cutting entitlements.
Stick to economic and personal freedoms.
Stick to ending the wars...all of them.
Lay off on the killing of safety nets.
WE NEED the ENTITLEMENTS.

Just as the republicans need to lose the religious right,
we all need to lose the mean-guy attitude to the bottom 45%.
And maybe they would vote for you.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Your tears are so yummy sweet

[Whiterun Guard]

I think Yugo Chavez would be an awesome forum name.

[rho]

Needs moar CAPS

[Jeff]

Conservatives/libertarians should lighten up on cutting entitlements.
Stick to economic and personal freedoms.

Because not having your things taken away and given to others is not an economic or personal freedom, right? This is even stoopider than the time you claimed Confederate soldiers died in the name of the Articles of Confederation, Alice.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Regarding weed, this is definitely a holy fucking shit moment. I can't imagine that the feds will take it laying down. Colorado is a big state. I don't think the feds can afford to keep a pig in Lake City or Silverthorne just in case some hippy lights up.

But still, two states have legalized. If the feds don't blackmail highway funds or something like that, I think once the weed tourism dollars start pouring in, and they will, then other states will reconsider.

[JW]

California is even larger and that hasn't even slowed down the federalistas.

[Whiterun Guard]

Yeah, but look at it this way, USADAs and DEA scum WANT to live in Cali, and there are higher density and higher visibility targets for them there. It's easy since they don't have to travel (believe me, they spend all their travel funds on conferences and 'training' - the LAST thing they're going to do when they travel is actually work) they can bust high visibility stuff right next door.

Now in CO, at least, the targets aren't going to be nearly as high viz, and it's much more spread out, and they probably have much less in the way of assets there than their Cali brothers have.

Then again, they may go out of their way to bust everything they possibly can just to beef up their record so they can get new positions in better places. But I figured they were doing that anyway.

[JW]

Then again, they may go out of their way to bust everything they possibly can just to beef up their record so they can get new positions in better places. But I figured they were doing that anyway.

True dat. But, Coloradoans just painted a nice, juicy target on their state.

If I thought they were laying a big-swinging balls trap for the DEA of COME AT ME BRO, I'd be proud of them, but instead, they're just pissing into the wind.

[Lord Humungus]

news from the Michigan front:

Justin Amash is still my rep

All the proposals went down, including the evil Prop 2 which would put collective bargaining into the constitution. Some yummy sweet union tears: Collective bargaining advocates "were unable to overcome the flood of corporate special interest money spent on ads riddled with lies, distortions and scare tactics meant to mislead voters," said Dan Lijana, a spokesman for the Proposal 2 campaign.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/art.....ls-go-down

and amazingly - considering how conservative this town is: Decriminalization of marijuana passes in Grand Rapids
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/art.....and-Rapids

so yes, on the national level, we're still stuck with the same jackass, but some minor victories take away some of the bite. FORWARD!

[Whiterun Guard]

Hey, congrats on still doing the Monster Amash, and on the (realistically irrelevant, but spiritually heartening) MJ verdict.

Perhaps a joyride in the militarized dune buggy is called for, despite keeping the mildly pro-gay socialist instead of instilling the mildly-anti-gay socialist.

[sarcasmic]

"Prohibitions against same sex marriage have ended"

I wasn't aware that anyone was in prison for violating the prohibition against same sex marriage.

Oh, you mean it wasn't recognized?

It doesn't exist unless it is given the blessing of the God-State?

That's not the same as being prohibited.

And here I thought you were a libertarian.

[JW]

It just gets harder every year for you to maintain that facade, doesn't it?

[cavalier973]

You're not really married until the government says you are.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

big wins on marijuana legalization and gay marriage give limited government types a lot to be happy about.

Extending government goodies to a broader class of relationships is a win for limited government?

[sarcasmic]

Nothing is more libertarian than using government force to redefine a word.

[SugarFree]

Like making "citizen" apply to 16-cell clumps in the uterus of raped woman?

[sarcasmic]

Straw man much?

[SugarFree]

So you don't think the protections of citizenship start at conception?

[sarcasmic]

Nice overalls. The scarf is a nice touch.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, I didn't think you had a leg to stand on.

[sarcasmic]

Red herrings are red.

[SugarFree]

Cool story, bro.

[sarcasmic]

You're asking me to defend an argument I have never made. Classic straw man, bro.

[SugarFree]

So you don't think personhood begins at conception?

It's really a very simple question.

[sarcasmic]

The red herring did it! The red herring did it!

[sarcasmic]

Just curious, SF, but do you still beat your wife?

It's really a very simple question.

[cavalier973]

And a simple "Yes" or "No" will do.

[Joe Esty]

Wrong, people DO WANT government to run their lives and the economy. Go through an airport and you'll see people actually thanking the TSA. Ask people if laissez faire was the cause of the last recession and they'll answer yes.

Ask if we need more regulation, and you'll get a "yes."

[rho]

Puerto Rico opted for statehood.

Buying new flags will be good for the economy, I say yes.

[Proprietist]

Interesting!

Bad news from PR, though - Fortuno was ousted. One of the better governors...

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

No way the Rs will allow PR to come in unbalanced.

[Proprietist]

I'm taking a fairly different opinion - that the status quo of the past two years hasn't been that bad in the scheme of things. What major legislation has Obama passed since 2010? All that jumps out to me is the debt ceiling legislation, which will hopefully kick in with the 10% across the board cuts to government spending, which is awesome. As long as a rabidly oppositionist GOP holds the House, it's kind of hard for Obama and Reid to get much of anything they want done. Right now the goal of Republicans should be to win the Senate in 2014 and hope no Supreme Court nominations come in before that.

And it's also good from another angle - I still think Obama is slightly less likely to start a full scale war with Iran than Romney would have been, considering the differences between their advisors. I think Romney would have been slightly less likely to drag us deeper into debt, but honestly spending is far more in the purview of Congress, whereas the military is more under the purview of the President.

Always look on the bright side of life...

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

The Dream Act by executive order.

CO2 regulation by executive order.

Assault weapons restrictions in border states by executive order.

Shall I go on?

[Proprietist]

Give me unfunded executive orders any day over more TARPs, stimuli, Patriot Acts and Obamacares. It's been a quiet two years all in all, which is the best we can hope for with government gridlock.

Plus the libertarians in the GOP can remain influential or even gain influence as the principled voice of opposition to government growth. You should be thrilled - had they won the Presidency and Senate, these liberepublicans would quickly become pariahs for not falling in line.

[ThatSkepticGuy]

":Give me unfunded executive orders any day over more TARPs, stimuli, Patriot Acts and Obamacares."

Well, good news, you're about to be slammed upside the back of the head repeatedly with both ad infinitum.

[Epicdelusion]

Proprietist-- do you post on the Liberal Forum?

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

What does gay marriage have to do with limited government?

[Proprietist]

Removing discriminatory and arbitrary gender designations for consenting adults = less government social engineering.

Removing the ability of government to treat gays differently from straights inherently shrinks government powers.

[R C Dean]

Perhaps. I can't but noticing, though, that gays have the ability to duplicate almost all the benefits of marriage (inheritance, health care decisionmaking, etc.) via contract, so that the expansion of marriage really only expands the state-provided benefits of marriage.

Whether this counts as shrinking the state, I'm not sure.

[dsc9wfree]

Welcome to the USSA (United Socialist States of America). I am thinking about moving to Hong Kong or New Zealand.

[Locris]

After I get an email reply from the head of the libertarian party of Ohio stating that he would have voted for Obama if Johnson wasn't running says it all. Libertarians advocating for the person that has presided over the greatest increase of welfare recipients.
Perhaps it is over, more people in the cart than pulling it.

May be Johnson should have offered "free" i phones for everybody.

[Epicdelusion]

I couldn't hear the bullshit over all the praise. Did Obama win? I hate to see people so happy over something so stupid. Shut the fuck up, your life isn't going to get better. YOU have to do something to change your own life. Put some effort into an accomplishment of your own. These fuckin' cocksuckers are some arrogant little bastards too. IN YOUR FACE style. Why are you cheering for a big government that is going to ruin this country? Like poodles happy as shit thinking they're going to the groomers when really they're going to the vet to be put to death.