Not to be outdone or anything but bills ramping up election security funding and a subpoena for the translator at the Helsinki summit were also shot down by GOP. Because I guess they want to be seen as entirely complicit in this complete fucking shitshow. After all this is done, not a single republican can claim to be the party of law and order or whateverthefuck they like to say. Not when they unabashedly support child molesters and people who protect them. After the NYT story last night about how Trump was shown direct evidence of what Putin himself did straight from most likely now dead Russian sources, he still sat there and lied every single day, more and more. And each Republican just sits there quietly.
So, the Rock's new movie has not done well. He once said he "couldn't do both," referring to his acting career and running for President. https://variety.com/2017/politics/news/dwayne-johnson-the-rock-president-2024-1202640132/ For the last presidential election, the American people were give two horrible choices as the main candidates. (I am happy that I didn't vote for either one of them, but not happy that I had to vote for someone else.) Third party candidates historically can't win because they are either nutball crazy and are running on the Sweet Moonrock ticket, or they are actually a Republican or Democrat running as an "independent." But, now, what about an actual independent? Not The Rock, per se, but someone like that? Could they win?* Are the actual voters so fractured and far apart that the greatest percentage will only pull the lever (look it up kids) for an R or a D? Or, is the greatest percentage more middle--of-the-road and the scales are tipped by how big of the fringes show up? I think the only way it's going to get all torn down is if a decent candidate, who is also a decent person, can win. Well, that and all the lobbyists on K Street die in a fire. Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama may have had political views that bothered opponents, but at least they weren't terrible people. * That's my actual question, here.
Man I posted that two pages ago. Peak Idiocracy. Hell no, not ever. The Trumpers are loyal to a fault, I really do think he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and they'd call it 4D Chess as they sipped from their "lib'rul tears" coffee mugs. And the Democrats? I'll be generous and say 50% of them now realize the importance of actually showing up, but maybe 40% are hellbent on getting Bernie his crown that Evil Witch Hillary "stole". There just wouldn't be any votes left for some third party candidate, even one with sociopath-level charisma.
One of the biggest reasons that third parties fail is because they show up every four years to throw a loon at the Presidency and other than that don't do much. It's a strategy intended to get their ideas into the debate, not to win elections. If they actually cared about governing, they'd start by running for city councils and state legislature seats and build up from there. You can't win a national or even statewide campaign without significant support, which comes from having actual butts in elected seats.
The closest we came was Gary Johnson who is well-intentioned but is a plain fucking idiot. The minute he is questioned about the details of his policy plans, it completely falls apart. We don’t have a parliamentary system where many groups can be represented although they do follow parliamentary procedure on the floor.
It’s always been that way and won’t change without some major overhauls. The system is setup to cater to two parties. With a plurality vote and winner-takes-all, effective third parties are extremely rare. The last major third party breakout was the Republican Party.
That's part of it, but I think I two-party system can work. It's just broken right now. What I'd like to see torn down is the ridiculous disaster that is currently masquerading as representation right now. There are lots of congressmen and women, so not all of them are terrible people. But, because the elected Joe Republican is accused of sexual misconduct or 8th term John Democrat cheated on his taxes doesn't mean that every Republican voter is or supports rape. Or that every Democrat voter is trying hide bond revenue in the Caymans. Lack of term limits, crazy benefits, unethical lobbyists, terrible people holding office, not even having to hold themselves to the same standards they force on the American people; passing more laws that "help" the people, when all they do is create their own job security - those are some of the things I'd like to be torn down. The best and the brightest successful doctors, engineers, attorneys, counselors, ministers - those people should be running for office, bringing their ideas and enthusiasm to congress and then move on. Instead, you can graduate from college, run for local office, run for state office, run for national office, and make a full career out of being a politician. I don't think there is any way to get genuine representation out of people like that. So, you end up with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in an election where people feel that have to vote for one or the other, despite the fact they're awful. There are certainly some of these, but there are more who would rather support someone else. At least, in my anecdotal experience. ymmv (More percentage of Republicans voted for somebody other than Trump in the 2016 election in the Georgia primary. In the general election of 2012, 2.1 million people voted for Romney. In 2016, 2.1 million people voted for Trump.) Which is part of my point - people feel forced to support Trump not because he's great, like the way Reagan got support, but because they think the alternative to supporting him is a worse option.
Part of the problem, at least for some well intentioned people, is that they try to do exactly that. They start by running for their city council. But then immediately they are confronted by the "good old boy" network who are seemingly surgically connected to their seat at the meetings, entrenched in the "well we've always done it this way" mentality. They're there for the stipend or insurance, and for a little test of what they perceive to be power. Name recognition or personal favors keeps them in office. Often time someone who wants to make a positive change in their community is chased out or quickly goes along to get along. And nothing changes. If they do stick around, and they decide to move up the ladder a little, it just gets worse from there. You have to really not like yourself to put yourself in that position. Most intelligent people tap out pretty quick. I dipped my toes in the water here in my town, and quickly said "fuck that". People I'd known all my life turned on me the instant I even politely disagreed with them. A family member who went ahead and did it has been met with nothing but resistance to any ideas and accusations of overstepping his authority. Nevermind the shit he's gotten accomplished for the betterment of the community.
This, right here. Whenever I ask people for meaningful advice on how to change things, they say "GET INVOLVED ON THE LOCAL LEVEL!" Politics in my area is as crooked as a dog's hind leg. About 15 years ago, I tried to help a friend get elected to the local school board, because the current members were misusing funds. As a relative unknown with no political ties, he got nowhere.
So...how are y’all tonight? I’m good. Ya know...just contemplating the implications of a nuclear attack on Iran.
I'm having a more low-key evening watching an elected member of the Georgia House pull down his pants and yell the N word.
That was fucking insane. How he still has a job after that is beyond me. The Chinese tourist impression where he yelled Japanese things was pretty funny though.
Spoiler: Who is America S1E02 Cohen's Mossad character is teaching the state rep various anti-terrorist techniques. They include: Using a cameraphone on a selfie-stick while pretending to be an Chinese tourist to take upskirt photos of women in burkas to prove they are not terrorists. The rep practices this technique with a painful "ching chong"-style imitation of a Chinese tourist that includes clearly Japanese vocabulary. Yelling the N word as loudly as possible in the event of an attempted kidnapping. The rep repeatedly yells the word while practicing the "technique." Pulling down your pants and literally bum-rushing a terrorist because they fear touching your ass will make them gay. Rep drops trou and does it. He also got the rep to film a PSA where he refers to Muslims as "sand-niggers" and threatens to cut off their dicks and stuff them in their mouths.