Bhasayate: pontechango: Tremolo: Fark has become has always been the same purveyor of nonsense and sensationalism it used to mocks.

There. I fixed it for you.

No, it's the best place on the internet for rational, well-reasoned conversation and reasonable dialogue among adults.

To be fair it isn't bad compared to Yahoo and Youtube.

Republicans are the Circus Peanuts of political parties. Disagreeable on all sensory levels and basically taking up valuable space. Yet some fools inexplicably like them.

Lenny_da_Hog: They address it like it's a serious issue that endangers everyone somehow.

That was going to be my other point.

Sabyen91: Bhasayate: pontechango: Tremolo: Fark has become has always been the same purveyor of nonsense and sensationalism it used to mocks.

There. I fixed it for you.

No, it's the best place on the internet for rational, well-reasoned conversation and reasonable dialogue among adults.

To be fair it isn't bad compared to Yahoo and Youtube.

That's true.

Mrbogey: (political highground!)

Sorry I can't hear you over the sound of someone telling me that Obama is a Secret Kenyan, Muslim, Commie, Fascist, while telling me not to "re-nig" this November.

culebra: Republicans are the Circus Peanuts of political parties. Disagreeable on all sensory levels and basically taking up valuable space. Yet some fools inexplicably like them.

No, the Republican Party is like the Mary Jane. Nobody admits to liking them except the true believers. Yet enough people buy them to keep them relevant.

Lee Jackson Beauregard: tenpoundsofcheese: yes. disagreement is bad.
trying not to pass bad legislation is bad.
caring about 15,000,000,000,000 in debt is bad.

we all must fall in line behind Comrade 0bama or be risk being called obstructionist!

Are you worried about the deficit?

Are you outraged, even?

GOOD!

NOW WHY WEREN'T YOU OUTRAGED WHEN THAT IDIOT BUSH WAS BEATING THE WAR DRUMS?

I was.
That and the "compassionate conservative" stuff I didn't understand.

Sabyen91:

It is cooler to eat the pension funds of working people than to eat a dog at 6 years old.

.

source that says 0bama was 6 at the time of the dog eating?

Lee Jackson Beauregard: tenpoundsofcheese: yes. disagreement is bad.
trying not to pass bad legislation is bad.
caring about 15,000,000,000,000 in debt is bad.

we all must fall in line behind Comrade 0bama or be risk being called obstructionist!

Are you worried about the deficit?

Are you outraged, even?

GOOD!

NOW WHY WEREN'T YOU OUTRAGED WHEN THAT IDIOT BUSH WAS BEATING THE WAR DRUMS?

He was a liberal. That happened right around the time of the 2008 election. Republicans didn't REALLY vote for him.

Lenny_da_Hog: tenpoundsofcheese: source that says 0bama was 6 at the time of the dog eating?

Does it matter? Truly? You know he was a little kid.

Why would you act as though this is something we need to worry about?

My mom served fish when I was 6. I killed her and ate the dog instead.

Mrbogey: Yes, I get it. It's an election year.

// So we have to see "Republicans are the worst they've ever been" articles
// Next is the "Why can't they be like that guy we hated back in the day" articles

pretty much this....

tenpoundsofcheese: I was.

Please describe your outrage.

relcec: you realize the only reason these people are here is because they can earn significantly here rather than at home?

I came to the United States when I was 4 years old. Still care to lecture me about immigrants?

WhyteRaven74: I came to the United States when I was 4 years old. Still care to lecture me about immigrants?

Yes, but...
Regulating pollution, business cartels, food, safety and health standards = BAD
Regulating families who immigrate for a job = GOOD

pontechango: WhyteRaven74: I came to the United States when I was 4 years old. Still care to lecture me about immigrants?

Yes, but...
Regulating pollution, business cartels, food, safety and health standards = BAD
Regulating families who immigrate for a job = GOOD

Health standards are for pussies!

SpaceyCat: So, are you going to complain about EVERY government employee who works overseas and eats local food? Koreans still eat dog. Cats are fair game in a number of countries in the far east and even in Australia. Gold fish - those lovely little pets that we keep - yeah, those are grown to larger size in Japan and China as a food source. Horse meat is eaten in Japan (Basashi) and in central Asia. It is LEGAL in the US to eat horse meat.

So, what is the "issue" with someone eating food? Or is it just the fact that it is not "American" food that's the problem? Are you going to ban from government anyone who has eaten non-American food? That's stupidity of the highest order.

I never see carp, goldfish, or koi for sale here in Japan. Too bony anyway.

I used to rarely vote republican. Now I never do. I used to occasionaly vote democrat. Now I always do. I've been voting since 1972 and this sure as f*cking hell isn't because both sides are just as bad. The press in this country needs a serious kick in nads, if they have any to kick.

AverageAmericanGuy: SpaceyCat: So, are you going to complain about EVERY government employee who works overseas and eats local food? Koreans still eat dog. Cats are fair game in a number of countries in the far east and even in Australia. Gold fish - those lovely little pets that we keep - yeah, those are grown to larger size in Japan and China as a food source. Horse meat is eaten in Japan (Basashi) and in central Asia. It is LEGAL in the US to eat horse meat.

So, what is the "issue" with someone eating food? Or is it just the fact that it is not "American" food that's the problem? Are you going to ban from government anyone who has eaten non-American food? That's stupidity of the highest order.

I never see carp, goldfish, or koi for sale here for consumption in Japan. Too bony anyway.

Didn't want to give the wrong impression. We have those things, just not for eating.

cryinoutloud: I'm not seeing it.

You know, I never looked at that photo before, but the body is clearly not African, I'm guessing some indigenous Amazonian tribe, ultimately of Mongolian descent. I mean, that's not what they were going for, right? Kenyan witch doctor? Right?

SpaceyCat: Indigenous Australians in the area of Alice Springs roast feral cats on an open fire.

Ah, the way you said it, I thought you meant all Australians (I've had more than one person ask me that). Carry on, then. :)

SpaceyCat: Indigenous Australians in the area of Alice Springs roast feral cats on an open fire. They have also developed recipes for cat stew. Some other inhabitants of the area have also taken up this custom, justified on the grounds that felines are "a serious threat to Australia's native fauna". Scientists warned that eating wild cats could expose humans to harmful bacteria and toxins.[19]

Still sounds better than Vegemite.

Fluorescent Testicle: SpaceyCat: Indigenous Australians in the area of Alice Springs roast feral cats on an open fire.

Ah, the way you said it, I thought you meant all Australians (I've had more than one person ask me that). Carry on, then. :)

Speaking of Australians, that witch doctor photoshop of Obama was actually from Papua New Guinea.

OK, that had nothing to do with Australia, but I thought I should set the record straight. Is that racist?

pontechango: OK, that had nothing to do with Australia, but I thought I should set the record straight. Is that racist?

No, but saying the guy in the pic is probably on a rickety boat to Australia right now, on the other hand, could be construed as racist.

/tying it all together

This crap began with Newt back in '94. He wrote the manifesto commanding his followers to use the language of warfare when talking about political opponents.
Link

This opened the door for douche bags like Rush & Hannity.

Before this time, it was still possible for Congress to compromise and get some shiat done.
I guess he did actually fulfill his destiny of re-shaping the country.

Thanks, Newt!

doglover: NuttierThanEver: there used to at least be some civility to the arguements

[vidya.dyndns.org image 640x474]



There was a time, not too long ago I might add, where politicians went from town to town campaigning and the whole nation didn't give a flying fark, just the local people. Gods only know what was actually said back then, but hyperbole and ad hominim have ever been the watchwords of true political discourse. From the very get go back in Greece to the current incarnation in the US and other countries, democracy has always been about name calling and general schisming.

It used to be a lot more civil than it is now. There was none of this birth certificate nonsense, and the other side tended not to call the President a socialist or secret muslim. Democrat members of Congress were not labeled as communists by their Republican colleagues.

U.S. Republican has no regrets calling Democrats communists

SpaceyCat: No, I wouldn't make that blatantly incorrect statement. That's like saying all Americans LOVE beer, BBQ, and boobs. Sorry for the confusion, brain isn't really functional yet. More caffeine please.

No worries, I probably shouldn't Fark when I've been awake for 42 hours straight anyway. :)

Is anyone arguing that anyone is doing a genuinely good job?

"One of the two major parties, the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier - ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition,"

Too bad they used big words. Not a single conservative would understand a word of what was written.

I love the general rational of conservatives.

Mr Conservative: I will keep making their lives difficult and their jobs almost impossible to do until the other side does it all my way.
Rational person: Doesn't that make it difficult for them to do a good job while you are being obstructionist?
Mr Conservative: I would stop hitting them if they do it all my way, that will be my compromise. Can't you see that they aren't getting anything done?

The authors make no secret of whom they blame for most of the dysfunction in Congress - the Republican Party.

Of course. They are an outdated ideology. The only reason they even keep afloat is because of big money from players like the Koch Brothers who are banking on getting them back in the White House.

kg2095: It used to be a lot more civil than it is now.

Just ask Grover Cleveland.

Lackofname: StopLurkListen: Lackofname: DeltaPunch: "the fact is we've been getting more and more conservative as a nation over the past few decades -- whether we admit it or not, the conservatives in the country are effectively winning."

[Citation needed]

Hate to say it, but it is kinda true. Your guess is as good as any why this dynamic is the way it is. Media influence? Election fundraising methods favoring a biased pool of candidates ? Actual voter preference?

The citation would be an observation that a 'generic Republican' of 1970 would be a middle-of-the-road Democrat today. (Or vice-versa: Today's Democrats are like Republicans of 40 years ago)

In the 70's, Republican President gave us the EPA. Another Republican President signed the Clean Air Act.

In the 90's, a Democratic President gave us Welfare Reform and eliminated Glass-Stegall. Now, we've got onerous personal bankruptcy laws, CISPA/SOPA, Patriot Act ... These Democrats are governing to the *right* of any Republican in the 1970's.

Just some big landmark things off the top of my head. I'm for Obama, so far he's given me about a third of what I want -- disappointing, but is a damn sight better than the nothingburger that Romney would give me.

OK, you mean actual voting habits.

There's evidence that as a whole on many issues the country is moving Left (based on polls, etc). Including issues like Gay marriage, where the country (and especially the under 40) are moving in a more liberal direction.

Yet conservatives are elected more.

You don't know it, but you're deflecting the issue. The issue isn't whether we're getting more conservative or liberal. The issue is what the general populace is being given to choose. As StopLurkListen said, today's Democrats are more conservative than Republicans of 30 years ago. Whether that's due to societal pressure or other pressure, right now, it doesn't matter how liberal the new generation is if they're not being given the choice for their government to be liberal. Or, as I'd prefer, if they don't make their own choice, outside the Republican/Democratic Electoral Machine. As long as that's in place, the tail can keep wagging the dog, and it won't matter what the general populace actually wants; they'll take what the Machine gives them, or they're out of luck. And right now, the Machine is giving us slightly conservative and batshiat crazy extreme rightism.

The reason conservatives are getting elected is because there has not been a true liberal alternative since 1980, except in small fringes like Bernie Sanders, who could only win in a state like Vermont. And it's getting about time that we need to actually do something about it, because the Machine isn't about to change what "works" for them.

235 comments and not a single "Wake up America" comment.

/disappointed

Gyrfalcon: Sabyen91: Gyrfalcon: Sabyen91: pontechango: relcec: it is the democrat party that is beholden to the special interest groups like the mexican lobby

Holy guacamole, that explains all of the fiestas!

Mexican lobby!

/I think I need to add something to my drinking game.

I used to go to a doctor who had a Mexican lobby.

Beautiful building, old adobe. It got destroyed in the Northridge earthquake.

Didn't all the orange and yellow disorient you?

It was my shrink's office, I was already disoriented.

I like Mexican lobbies.

Getting back to the article.. it's not particularly groundbreaking, but the writers are very defensive about making factual statements.

These guys wrote a book not so long ago with damn near the same exact premise, and a similarly trollific title.

The article appears not to mention that. And I found it out just by using the googles.

AverageAmericanGuy: Vote your conscience, man.

It's only natural to hate gay people so much that you vote for Romney.