BEHAVE YOURSELVES: Breitbart Memorial LOLconservatives Thread

[dumbfish]

Volleyball in the reflecting pool, kegs at the Jefferson Memorial, whole States of the Union cut and pasted from Kinnock speeches.
I'm in.

[dieblucasdie]

Oh my God, David Brooks is just the worst person:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/opinion/brooks-the-follower-problem.html

I don’t know if America has a leadership problem; it certainly has a followership problem. Vast majorities of Americans don’t trust their institutions. That’s not mostly because our institutions perform much worse than they did in 1925 and 1955, when they were widely trusted. It’s mostly because more people are cynical and like to pretend that they are better than everything else around them. Vanity has more to do with rising distrust than anything else.

The peasants just don't know their place anymore

Also, nice trick using 1925 and 1955 as your examples instead of, you know, 1929 and 1968

[DCDave]

So you guys are all gonna sit at home on election day or is Gary Johnson your man?

Edit: Just kidding do whatever you want!

[dieblucasdie]

I'ma be a broken record on this as I express my displeasure with the Obama administration throughout this election, but I would vote for Obama, no question, if I lived in a state that mattered. As things stand, I recognize that my vote is entirely symbolic, and will treat it as such by doing one of the following:

1) Writing in "Brandon 'Lil B The BasedGod' McCartney."

2) Voting for Obama entirely so I can post the inevitable forthcoming Young Jeezy video on FB in celebration, and because I recognize that a time may come where I will want to be able to tell my grandchildren: "Yeah, I voted for the black dude. Twice." without having to explain to them everything that's fucked up about the world.

Does anyone here even live in a state that matters? Maybe 'cocks, but FLA's going to be less important than the Midwest/Rust Belt this time around. Not jeb, because while it's not impossible that Romney will win WI, if he does, he'll already have run away with OH, MI, CO, FLA, VA. I think even PA would go red before WI. Same with Thermo: Obama could win NC, but if he does it'll be a close along-for-ride state. In a true Bush/Gore or Bush/Kerry scenario: I guess if pollo votes absentee in OH, it might matter under the closest of circumstances?

I will have zero guilt if Romney wins. A plague on both their houses, etc.

[Antero]

I will have hella guilt if Romney wins regardless of circumstances, because in his malleability he will totally enable the most awful people possible.

ugh

but yeah I'm in Cali and Lil B sounds like an appealing option.

[elpollodiablo]

I'ma be a broken record on this as I express my displeasure with the Obama administration throughout this election, but I would vote for Obama, no question, if I lived in a state that mattered. As things stand, I recognize that my vote is entirely symbolic, and will treat it as such by doing one of the following:

1) Writing in "Brandon 'Lil B The BasedGod' McCartney."

2) Voting for Obama entirely so I can post the inevitable forthcoming Young Jeezy video on FB in celebration, and because I recognize that a time may come where I will want to be able to tell my grandchildren: "Yeah, I voted for the black dude. Twice." without having to explain to them everything that's fucked up about the world.

Does anyone here even live in a state that matters? Maybe 'cocks, but FLA's going to be less important than the Midwest/Rust Belt this time around. Not jeb, because while it's not impossible that Romney will win WI, if he does, he'll already have run away with OH, MI, CO, FLA, VA. I think even PA would go red before WI. Same with Thermo: Obama could win NC, but if he does it'll be a close along-for-ride state. In a true Bush/Gore or Bush/Kerry scenario: I guess if pollo votes absentee in OH, it might matter under the closest of circumstances?

I will have zero guilt if Romney wins. A plague on both their houses, etc.

This, minus all the stuff from rap songs I don't know about

[elpollodiablo]

Really for me the last straw was the NY Times piece on the drone program. Every time I think about defending the administration on the basis of the good work done w/r/t PPACA, the stimulus, DADT, the repeal of the torture policies, the Pell grant expansion, etc., I'm struck with an image of him poring over pictures and précised biographies of "terror suspects" and personally authorizing drone strikes in civilian areas, giving the go ahead to kill American citizens abroad, and asking Holder et al for legal justifications that will ensure these kinds of practices continue apace into the next administration.

Also lol @ Dodd-Frank & May's job numbers. Again, I can count to 60! But if the strongest argument in favor of your administration in the face of continued economic blight is "O those obstructionist Republicans..." That just doesn't carry a lot of water with people who are hurting. And there are a lot of people hurting.  And yes there's a very sensible case to be made that those people will be hurting *more* under a Romney administration, but that narrative is 1) more nuanced than your average voter is willing to hear and 2) incapable of inspiring a groundswell of grassroots support. I really think it's only going to take one or two more months of down economic numbers to break the tie in the general poll numbers in Romney's favor. And, short of another big stimulus or massive shovel-ready public works project (pretty much impossible at this point), I don't see how Obama claws his way back up on "It's not my fault, the Republicans, etc."

[dieblucasdie]

I still feel like Obama won't have much trouble as the race wears on. At this point the race is entirely a referendum on him, and it's more or less a tie, with a slight edge to him. If you're a likely voter who hasn't abandoned Obama by this point, I don't think there's anything about Mitt Romney that's going to make you do so. I think his support can only erode as the full public is actually exposed to him, and as people who are displeased with Obama also become displeased with the alternative.

The scenario under which he wins would most likely be the one where he manages to keep the focus on Obama's record (continued bad economic news would certainly help him do this), keeps the race as tight as it is now right up until election day, and relies on voter suppression tactics in key states to tilt things in his favor. But I don't see how he could make a big jump in the polls that he could sustain.

edit: Or, you know, if Romney is able to outspend Obama 2-to-1 or 3-or-1, then he'll just win, no matter what the economy does. But I have to imagine the big gap in last month's fundraising will be closed.

[elpollodiablo]

Yeah but--Super PACs. Campaign fundraising doesn't matter nearly so much any longer. And in that regard, the GOP have the Dems by a wide margin.

Also I wouldn't expect a big jump in the polls for Romney either. I'd expect a steady withering for Obama if things continue as they have been re: the economic numbers.

[elpollodiablo]

I mean nothing is going to be as effective in suppressing the Democratic vote as another jobs report in which we only add 40K new jobs. It just makes the administration look totally ineffectual.

[DCDave]

I mean nothing is going to be as effective in suppressing the Democratic vote as another jobs report in which we only add 40K new jobs. It just makes the administration look totally ineffectual.

9000 more jobs than Bush created in any month, on average.

[elpollodiablo]

That's liable to fire up the base

[DCDave]

That's liable to fire up the base

I think you're misidentifying who the base of the Democratic party is.

[nonotyet]

Does anyone here even live in a state that matters? Maybe 'cocks, but FLA's going to be less important than the Midwest/Rust Belt this time around. Not jeb, because while it's not impossible that Romney will win WI, if he does, he'll already have run away with OH, MI, CO, FLA, VA. I think even PA would go red before WI. Same with Thermo: Obama could win NC, but if he does it'll be a close along-for-ride state. In a true Bush/Gore or Bush/Kerry scenario: I guess if pollo votes absentee in OH, it might matter under the closest of circumstances?

the news is certainly convinced that WI is a red state now, post-recall  

[elpollodiablo]

That's liable to fire up the base

I think you're misidentifying who the base of the Democratic party is.

They don't care about job growth or crushing unemployment?

[DCDave]

Does anyone here even live in a state that matters? Maybe 'cocks, but FLA's going to be less important than the Midwest/Rust Belt this time around. Not jeb, because while it's not impossible that Romney will win WI, if he does, he'll already have run away with OH, MI, CO, FLA, VA. I think even PA would go red before WI. Same with Thermo: Obama could win NC, but if he does it'll be a close along-for-ride state. In a true Bush/Gore or Bush/Kerry scenario: I guess if pollo votes absentee in OH, it might matter under the closest of circumstances?

the news is certainly convinced that WI is a red state now, post-recall  

16% of voters for Walker were Obama supporters who voted for Walker because they believed that recalls shouldn't be used for political pursuits but rather for criminal charges (I thought). Also, isn't Barret extremely unpopular?

[DCDave]

That's liable to fire up the base

I think you're misidentifying who the base of the Democratic party is.

They don't care about job growth or crushing unemployment?

Not in a way that they'd be "fired up" over it. The base, to my mind, is African Americans, Latinos, Women, Gays, and Labor.

[dumbfish]

You've never seen fired up until you've seen a Gay Latino Woman in Labor.

[elpollodiablo]

That's liable to fire up the base

I think you're misidentifying who the base of the Democratic party is.

They don't care about job growth or crushing unemployment?

Not in a way that they'd be "fired up" over it. The base, to my mind, is African Americans, Latinos, Women, Gays, and Labor.

What I meant was "Pointing out that you're doing marginally better at job creation than a lackwit who presided over an economic bubble and 4% unemployment is probably not going to do much for the enthusiasm deficit among your core voting blocks"

Labor being one of them

[dumbfish]

Agreed that this election is gonna be about the economy, but as I understand things, it's pretty unfair. The federal government doesn't have much control over the economy, and the President even less than that, right? He can argue against wrongheaded contractionary policies, but his ability to create private-sector jobs seems pretty limited. Frustrating that the guy's performance evaluation is gonna depend largely on stuff that's out of his control.

[dieblucasdie]

Does anyone here even live in a state that matters? Maybe 'cocks, but FLA's going to be less important than the Midwest/Rust Belt this time around. Not jeb, because while it's not impossible that Romney will win WI, if he does, he'll already have run away with OH, MI, CO, FLA, VA. I think even PA would go red before WI. Same with Thermo: Obama could win NC, but if he does it'll be a close along-for-ride state. In a true Bush/Gore or Bush/Kerry scenario: I guess if pollo votes absentee in OH, it might matter under the closest of circumstances?

the news is certainly convinced that WI is a red state now, post-recall  

16% of voters for Walker were Obama supporters who voted for Walker because they believed that recalls shouldn't be used for political pursuits but rather for criminal charges (I thought). Also, isn't Barret extremely unpopular?

Also Walker outspent Barrett by an astounding amount, and also this:

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/governors-races-can-be-a-contrary-indicator-for-presidential-elections/

Yeah, WI is not going to vote for Romney. If it does, then so with MI and VA and OH and FL and at that point, it doesn't matter.

[Greg Nog]

his ability to create private-sector jobs seems pretty limited.

That's because Obama's not a JOB CREATOR, the race of magical otherworldly beings that must not be spooked lest they stop secreting more private-sector jobs from their pores.

[elpollodiablo]

Agreed that this election is gonna be about the economy, but as I understand things, it's pretty unfair. The federal government doesn't have much control over the economy, and the President even less than that, right? He can argue against wrongheaded contractionary policies, but his ability to create private-sector jobs seems pretty limited. Frustrating that the guy's performance evaluation is gonna depend largely on stuff that's out of his control.

Agreed that it's unfair and illogical. Let's base it on his propensity to expand the national security apparatuses in evil, lethal ways instead

[Thermofusion]

Not in a way that they'd be "fired up" over it. The base, to my mind, is African Americans, Latinos, Women, Gays, and Labor.

That may be his base, but he won NC because he energized the young vote. He won't energize them this time. The 2012 primary showed he pissed off a big swarth of black voters, Latinos view him as the lesser of two evils - not a strong motivator at the polls, women & gay voters will vote for him but as for labor, uh, NC ranks 50th in the US in unionization (51st if you count DC), there is no union culture here so that point is moot. He ain't gonna win NC.

[nonotyet]

Also Walker outspent Barrett by an astounding amount, and also this:

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/governors-races-can-be-a-contrary-indicator-for-presidential-elections/

Yeah, WI is not going to vote for Romney. If it does, then so with MI and VA and OH and FL and at that point, it doesn't matter.

you mean the Koch brothers outspent Barrett by an astounding amount, right

Dave, I think that it is less so that Barrett is extremely unpopular and more that he is really sort of just milquetoast. He is just there.
And Blucas I agree with you mostly, except I am still hell of scared that you're wrong--I was just trying to say that local media is attempting to tell us otherwise. Also I need to turn off Fox on Wednesdays IMMEDIATELY after So You Think You Can Dance.