Author Topic: Politics  (Read 511277 times)

Think_Long

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #300 on: August 29, 2008, 04:25:09 PM »
there are lots of definitions of populist i think. the one i tend to go by is a politician who has no genuine beliefs, but goes by what is most popular at the time - whatever that may be.

i'm not saying that's obama, i'm just postulating where i think some of the hate may come from.  i can understand feeling a lot of anger towards obama if you truly believe he is being disingenuous.

lise

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #301 on: August 29, 2008, 04:33:58 PM »
I guess so i mean I am angry at mccain for the same thing. His change to be more electable is real not just a hypothetical. With obama it seems that people don't think he can actually believe what he says, with mccain he's really changed in terms of his voting record and his alignment with lobbyists. I think this would be a much different election if it were the mccain that ran 8 years ago. With Obama I actually think he believes what he says... and that makes a difference to me.

On a somewhat unrelated note --- did anyone else see that Palin is under an ethics investigation in Alaska.
Strikeouts are boring - besides that, they're fascist.  Throw some ground balls.  More democratic.

¡Keith!

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #302 on: August 29, 2008, 05:12:38 PM »
also - soulless monster was not a shot at marty or anyone who votes for Obama, it was a comment on how I would see myself if I vote for him feeling the way I do about him.

Colleen, I'm right there with you on the despicable demonization of a group of people.  That is why McCain's "agents of intollerance" line still resonates with me.  That is not something you can put back in the bag and he lost an election because of it.  This is why I have no problem with an uneasy political truce.  I don't think he's changed his views just how and when (if) they are expressed.  This is also my problem with the primary system - you have to win the support of the extreme zealots in order to get nominated so the best people either lose or lie.  Look what the dem's and their bloggers did to Lieberman.

speaking of republican dirty tricks though - Palin's Wikipedia page was massively overhauled last night ahead of the announcement to put a more positive spin on her career. ::)

Wowser

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #303 on: August 29, 2008, 05:28:59 PM »
Is anyone siding with Gore Vidal on Obama?

¡Keith!

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #304 on: August 29, 2008, 05:33:35 PM »
Is anyone siding with Gore Vidal on Obama?

in that there will be black riots if he doesn't win?

Wowser

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #305 on: August 29, 2008, 05:37:29 PM »
Heh, I'm thinking of the smear campaign waged by the Goppies (my term) to prevent him even entering office. I love his rants! On America: "Culture? We never even had a civilisation to begin with!"

mañana

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #306 on: August 29, 2008, 09:28:34 PM »
there are lots of definitions of populist i think. the one i tend to go by is a politician who has no genuine beliefs, but goes by what is most popular at the time - whatever that may be.

i'm not saying that's obama, i'm just postulating where i think some of the hate may come from.  i can understand feeling a lot of anger towards obama if you truly believe he is being disingenuous.

I guess that is part of populism, but more specifically a populist politician is one that portrays him/herself as "one of you". It is anti-enlist perspective and a celebration of ordinary people. Extreme cases get bogged down in conspiracy theories (an elite few control the country), but really every successful politician has to be a populist to some degree; a "I feel your pain" kind of thing. Obama's Whole Foods arugula statement was about as far from populism as you can get.

Conservatives (W for instance) and liberals (the Clintons' support among the working class) convey populist values, and to my mind that in itself is not really a problem. I suppose this issue is if it's genuine or not, does the politician really have the interests of ordinary people in mind?

When you talk about "a politician who has no genuine beliefs, but goes by what is most popular at the time", that is populism I suppose, but that is really common among brokerage systems, whether the candidate is a populist or not.

     
« Last Edit: August 29, 2008, 09:32:53 PM by matt the movie watcher »
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Junior

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #307 on: August 29, 2008, 09:42:48 PM »
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St. Martin the Bald

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #308 on: August 30, 2008, 12:05:59 AM »
Quote
Look what the dem's and their bloggers did to Lieberman.

  What did "they" do to him that he hadn't already done to himself?
  His unswerving support of GWB foreign policy (specifically middle eastern change through regime change) led him to lose his own primary - people are sick of this war, they were sick of it 2 yrs ago when he ran for reelection - he still won his election but he turned his back on the values that his original constituency wanted him to hold - he had to change his base and now - his party. Good riddance. ;)
« Last Edit: August 30, 2008, 12:08:08 AM by St. Martin the Bald »
Hey, nice marmot!

Junior

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Re: US Elections 2008 Edition
« Reply #309 on: August 30, 2008, 10:37:40 AM »
Joe Lieberman sucks. Hard.
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