the most important election of your lifetime: 2012 american general election thread

Oh hey, a thousand pages worth of Bain files about Mitt's taxes.

http://gawker.com/5936394/

wow

uh oh

yah but it's Gawker and hence lamestream media

wowwww

Love this Fortune blogger:

https://twitter.com/danprimack

He's basically going "Uh yeah I had these years ago there's nothing interesting there." It doesn't seem to have clicked with him yet.

re: the TNC article, my largest hope for a 2nd Obama term is that, without the need to think of re-election, he actually goes ham on some idiots

^a golden oldie from 1996

Anagram for Elect Obama Biden:

A menace blob tide

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/coates-obamas-perceived-transformation.html?_r=1

Coates' other recent article re President Obama

this is the third time you've posted that article in two days, I think we've all seen it by now

you're right

Actually, WmC, how IS your bro in law taking all this?

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 7:24 PM (2 days ago)

Just to update -- yesterday I found out he's discovered Conservapedia, so... might as well write him off as bad debt, frankly. My only question at this point is whether my stridency pushed him farther to the right.

Hahah oh dear. Just tell him "Yeah, I heard that was a Obama sting operation so they could get your names. I'm sure that's not true."

call him up in the middle of the night and warn him that the black helicopters are on their way to his house

With the black men in them.

I wonder if I could convince him I'm Andy Schlafly and he's needed in Alaska for a very important undercover mission.

"The Walmart there needs cleansing. Pitbull visited."

Uhhh Joe Arpaio is going to speak at the RNC?

That is fucked up.

Hahaha well hell they might as well invite Akin now.

Uhhh Joe Arpaio is going to speak at the RNC?

That is fucked up.

I think you mean "awesome". hoping he's carted off to jail immediately afterwards.

wow, this gawker series is a really impressive piece of journalism and honestly, i've never had warmer feelings for gawker before

At least it's not from the podium:

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1569428&nid=22

lol "I am giving a talk at a zoo"

re: the TNC article, my largest hope for a 2nd Obama term is that, without the need to think of re-election, he actually goes ham on some idiots

― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Thursday, August 23, 2012 12:29 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^a golden oldie from 1996

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Thursday, August 23, 2012 1:01 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya this unfortunately never happens, many of the forces constraining politicians dont really have anything to do w/reelection

there's a reason I said "hope" and not "expectation"

also I am just expressing a desire to see Obama yell at someone

Something like that health care summit where he pwned some fools, but, like, every week for four years.

then he would be angry tho xp

I want another event where GOPers invite him to get barraged by idiocy and he steps up to all their questions.

But then again my mindset is a product of the Enlightenment that is obsessed with accuracy and active, complex cognition, to where it interferes with political effectiveness and expediency. Also, that rational minds thru reason can surmount the hard-wired limitations of actual human brains evolved from off-the-shelf parts for living situations that havent existed for thousands of years before Abraham showed up.

So, yeah, a President actually smarter than me easily able to show up some fools thru the power of his brain and voice alone.

that rational minds thru reason can surmount the hard-wired limitations of actual human brains evolved from off-the-shelf parts for living situations that havent existed for thousands of years before Abraham Lincoln showed up.

^^ fixed

that rational minds thru reason can surmount the hard-wired limitations of actual human brains evolved from off-the-shelf parts for living situations that havent existed for thousands of years before Abraham Simpson showed up.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/Abe_Simpson.png

But he's not yelling at clouds in that pic

I want an event where Obama and GOPers get barraged by questions about the 98% of stuff they are secretly in lockstep on that would smash the "hopelessly divided" cover story.

but but... would the nation survive

98% huh

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/23/bishops_god_votes_republican/

re cardinal dolan's closing benediction at the convention, other recent coziness between gop and church

I want an event where Obama and GOPers get barraged by questions about the 98% of stuff they are secretly in lockstep on that would smash the "hopelessly divided" cover story.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Thursday, August 23, 2012 3:14 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

98% of congress are freemasons

what, freemasons have meetings, you saying they don't disagree about anything at the meetings, that's what happens at meetings

Stonemasons surely

I want an event where Obama and GOPers get barraged by questions about the 98% of stuff they are secretly in lockstep on that would smash the "hopelessly divided" cover story.

I guess when you consider all the possible things they could disagree on, 98% agreement is not too bad. For instance, both sides are in agreement on the feasibility of relocating Congress to Jupiter (not feasible), or whether or not the government should ban turtleneck sweaters (no). Human beings are about 99.9% identical genetically, and yet we still manage to seem pretty diverse.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314718/akin-and-his-critics-mona-charen

So Akin’s views are scandalous and can be used to discredit (however implausibly) other Republicans. But the views of the leaders of the Democratic party — favoring abortion for any (including sex selection) or no reason throughout the nine months of pregnancy — is not controversial. The Democratic party’s support for partial-birth abortion is not worthy of skepticism. The views of the president of the United States — opposing a law providing that a baby accidentally born alive after a botched abortion be protected from the abortionist’s knife — is not shocking. No Democrat has ever, so far as I know, been challenged by a member of the mainstream press to distance himself from the president’s extreme abortion position.

o.nate, u know i don't mean bullshit

Pretty sure Dems and Repubs agree at least 2% on bullshit, the grand unifier.

Once again I'd like to rep for Chris Mooney's new book, The Republican Brain, which lays out why exactly one would want to toss out as much horseshit to bolster one's own group and trash the other, reality be damned.

It seems to me there's some pretty clear differences between the 2 parties this cycle. I know there's a lot of overlap, esp. in areas like foreign policy and national security which tend to be more consensus driven, but on questions about the scope and purpose of government, social welfare, etc., there seem to be pretty stark differences.

there has basically been very little difference between the two party establishments on foreign policy (or 'national security' if you prefer) since the '50s. there are still pretty distinct differences on other subjects.

I'd hate to think this is true (the why more than the what), but, underscoring the Ta-Nehisi Coates piece, it might be.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/08/a_sleeper_issue.php?ref=fpblg

Not to worry! Kevin Williamson says Gawker should mind its own problems with offshore accounts.

I'm surprised he was able to write that without accidentally fondling himself.