GatewayRedbirds.com

I don't want to hear or see Palin ever again after the election is over. I would be shocked if she became a prominent figure in the party in the future. You can't polish stupid. She's had what three months and she still can't grasp basic things, I'm not sure what is going to change in a few years.

Jocephus wrote:

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It kills me where he backpedals and says "In times of crisis, that's where government needs to intervene. Back in 2004 "when everything was going well" sic, there's no need to intervene". Hello, how about moderating and regulating to prevent the high highs and low lows?

pop_haines wrote:

Radbird wrote:

pop_haines wrote:

Arthur Dent wrote:

jim wrote:A viable 3rd party would do wonders for this country.

The Constitution makes that nearly impossible.

And yet if the two parties split into 4 or 5 parties
that would be realistic and excellent.

It could/should happen.

So what happens under that scenario when no one gets to 270?

"270" is totally arbitrary.

Canada and Europe have this and do fairly well.

I'm frankly sick and tired of the dominance of the two party
system where I have to settle because I have no real choice.

Democrats would split into a corporate/centrist wing and a
an actual lefty/progressive wing. Republicans would split into
a fiscal conservative wing and a "legislate morality" wing.
Much, much better, as all of these groups make strange
bedfellows.

No group could possibly dominate.

So how do you address the non-representation issue? At least in the current system you can usually say 50%+ of the population endorses you. It seems almost scary that the far right could be better organized and more cohesive in their views to win an election. All these party splinters you speak of could end up more divisive than intended.

If anyone is interested in a close, honest look at the growing inequality in America, head over to Daily Kos (ooh, Kos-bot!). I would be more than interested to read someone's thoughtful retort as long as it goes deeper than "those poor d-bags need to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and work hard!"

planet pujolsian wrote:How's Obama's grandmother? I haven't heard anything since he returned to the campaign trail.

I cannot stand to listen to Palin speak.

I know today (Sun) is her birthday, other than that I don't know. Most just say seriously or gravely ill. I think I heard on Friday that they (Obama's family) hope she'll live to election day.

GatewaySnayke wrote:I can't watch those right now, but my mom told me McCain opened with a real smartass remark. She didn't clarify if he was joking or not.

I haven't seen it yet, either. But my husband watched a bit of it this morning and told me the same thing. Something like, "McCain is being an *ss to Brokaw right now." I thought he just didn't like what McCain was saying.

pop_haines wrote:

Radbird wrote:

pop_haines wrote:

Arthur Dent wrote:

jim wrote:A viable 3rd party would do wonders for this country.

The Constitution makes that nearly impossible.

And yet if the two parties split into 4 or 5 parties
that would be realistic and excellent.

It could/should happen.

So what happens under that scenario when no one gets to 270?

"270" is totally arbitrary.

Canada and Europe have this and do fairly well.

I'm frankly sick and tired of the dominance of the two party
system where I have to settle because I have no real choice.

Democrats would split into a corporate/centrist wing and a
an actual lefty/progressive wing. Republicans would split into
a fiscal conservative wing and a "legislate morality" wing.
Much, much better, as all of these groups make strange
bedfellows.

No group could possibly dominate.

I definitely would be in full favor of breaking up the 2 party system. There's aspects of each party that I really can't stand.

pop_haines wrote:

Radbird wrote:

pop_haines wrote:

Arthur Dent wrote:

jim wrote:A viable 3rd party would do wonders for this country.

The Constitution makes that nearly impossible.

And yet if the two parties split into 4 or 5 parties
that would be realistic and excellent.

It could/should happen.

So what happens under that scenario when no one gets to 270?

"270" is totally arbitrary.

Canada and Europe have this and do fairly well.

Except when they've done things like elect Adolf Hitler.

I understand why progressives and libertarians want a third party, but I'm rather happy with a system that favors bland centrists like Obama.

Last night at dinner I met someone who worked for John McCain for about 3 years in the early part of this decade. I was really intrigued to hear more about him so I asked a lot of questions. Some of the main points he made:

- John McCain is a great guy; really nice and friendly to everyone and has a genuinely good sense of humor
- He's shocked at how lucid and healthy he appears on the campaign trail because when he was working with him he looked very old and unhealthy with lots of shakes; he said the amount of makeup he is wearing must be enormous and he even wondered if he's being sedated to control some of the physical manifestations of his ailments/age
- He can't believe how much energy he has to do all this campaigning given his age and health
- He confirmed his reputation as being erratic and quick to fly off the handle; he said he would often just come out of nowhere with an idea or change his mind on something completely that would take everyone else by surprise

pop_haines wrote:

greenback44 wrote: Except when they've done things like elect Adolf Hitler.

I understand why progressives and libertarians want a third party, but I'm rather happy with a system that favors bland centrists like Obama.

Heck, we've had Dick Cheney for the last eight years.

How's that worked for us?

We've been a whisper from martial law for the last four years.
Torture, no habeus corpus, no posse commitatus, illegal war,
and spying on American citizens. Maybe not Hitler material,
but certainly not the America I thought I knew.

I'm pretty sure the US government has spying on citizens for longer than 8 years. It just gets more press when a Republican administration does it. Do you really think it's going away when Obama gets elected?