That's the only reason people are trying to invent time machines...vauge said:Yeah, just imagine - Clinton was not elected by more than 50% of the eloctorate for the first time in US history in the year 1996. :roll:
His presidency must be invalidated. :mrgreen:
It has to do with culture and economics. In the urban areas, you have a high concentration of working-class individuals of all colors of the rainbow, who tend to like things like nicer labor laws and such. At the opposite end, you have rural farmers looking for "conservative" economics like farm subsidies and more profit per acre
It is all economics in practice. But you can't give a New Yorker 1.2 and a Iwoa...nian... whatever, 0.8, because that just plain rips any representation away from Iowa and makes it a rule of the masses.
so design a system that gives them and others like them a greater say and leverage in their local politics, separate them from global political matters where they have little direct stakes and interest and understanding. Many of those simple didn't realize that Bush started a war for a number of reasons supported by his (aids) ideas, the principal one being self-serving--to get re-elected.you have rural farmers looking for "conservative" economics like farm subsidies and more profit per acre
Neither do I. And that would be a good start...Yes.......//That's good, that qualifies...man, you just inherited the bible(Demosthenes will get this, haha)What needs to be done, in my drastic terms, is a Continental Congress to draw up a new Constitution more suited to modern times. I don't profess to know what the election structure should look like...
Yes.Back to the OP, Bush won the first election because both sides were incompetent, no one cared, and *MAYBE* there was a scandal or two behind the scenes.
No. Remeber what was the principal reason for Bush's collecting the votes? Defense, his foreign policy. It is true that Rove and Evangelical radical right wingers and other individual groups did help him to garner crucial extra votes, but then again even if you asked a Nebraskan farmer why he voted for Bush, he'd say he supported his foreign policy. Yes! because no matter how a moron and a failure a commander-in-chief is voters are not to let him down if he is in the process of waging war with, whether a despot or a dictator or an angel, doesnt matter ...GWB was an incumbent president and a war time president. These two are almost always, without exception, sufficient to get re-elected especially if you can veil your poorly planned policies well enough and have planted no ethical/moral seeds having dissenting implications for a large number of voters (Clinton)...War is an excellent diversion!He won the second election because the Democrats are incompetent morons, and the Bush campaign pushed hot button issues Kerry couldn't argue against without losing most of his supporters (gay rights, Freedom, Stay the Course, etc). **POINTLESS PROFANITY REMOVED PER TERMS OF USE - POSTING PROFANITY MAY GET YOU BANNED** Rove.
Personally I don't think any part of the country is any smarter than another part. If anything it depends on income
I understand this. These are important but these are very theoretical and hence outside the scope of the current discussions; it would have diluted the scope of this particular topic if we had gotten into this, and we would end up discussing everything and hence nothing, or nothing ultimately productive.We are interested in causes. Understanding the cause of any situation or social entity is most obviously the way to find intelligent, sensical solutions to any social constuct.
That my be you, and you'd still get a bad exposure stemming from how political tastes are shaped across the board. And no, I am not claiming that you live there in a box; it's not even that I am claiming that many of those 40,000 people are dumb or dumber than a NYer; not at all, they can be superbly smart but in their own ways. They simply don't think all that often about global politics, Bush's international stance and frankly, they don't care all that much if Bush is a moron, stupid and undisciplined as far as global politics is concerned. What they care most is their own local affairs--that is objectively shaped because of their very own exposure and interests and so.. ..so even if they (say they) voted for Bush's "foreign policy" they were in fact thinking (voting) for Bush's strictly local polices, subsidies..most likely.Further, you seem to have the impression that people here live in a complete box- this is untrue. What would you think if I told you that one of good friends is Nigerian, that I buy my morning coffee from a Jordianian man with whom I am also great friends with? How about if I offer that I am also great friends with a chinese family? and all this from a small town in the midwest of about 40,000 people?
says were all just a bunch of dumb hicks. It's a false sterotype and that is what bothers me
That our unfortunatley rather public disagreements only make us stronger and that radical changing of fundamanetal voting law is simply an over reaction. Make no mistake, when Hillary wins in 08' many Republicans will likly be talking the way you are now about her, but I will not join them.
I'm talking about how a true leader, which honestly there are none on either side, will use this to rule. The leader with common sense will deal with foreign leaders based on his experiences and will lead the nation from a position built on a solid foundation. A simply "smart" leader may or may not have this savy which to me is a more important trait by far. Otherwise people like Einstein would always be our leaders, and though he was a great revolutionary in his field he was not qualified to lead the country.
Yes, yes I know. And I think Bush has none of those qualities, and I don't perceive lying to people as a measure toward understanding how people think and work.Your either still missing it, or I haven't really been able to communicate exactly what I mean effectively. Anyone who has become wise to the world or more importantly how people work understands, whether intelligent or not, how to make effective decisions. Simple as that.
Intelligence...and culture and secular charisma and....plethora of things...to me anyone who says Bush is charismatic is being blinded by his "gregarious" nature. Well, a cowboy can be gregarious in riding a hoarse and not only, but in Bushs case that's not relevant to global politics. And Bush is exception to even that rule that applies to your example. He's neither secular and intelligent in this mode of understanding nor an ingenious cowboy in his own ways, based on his extensive knowledge of knowing how the average Joe thinks and works in real life. Bush is a systemic failure of the system.I will go out on a limb here and use the main character from the movie "Forrest Gump" as an example. Now at face value most people who watched that movie saw him as just a lucky, cuckolded idiot. However upon deeper inspection of the character you find a certain kind of innocent genius that you could never quantify as intelligent, yet was still genius. The fact that he was unable to do simple math, for instance, never once affected his ability to judge wrong from right, or indeed his innate understanding of what is true.
Please don't oversimplify. Intelligence alone is simplistic to count.I was simply illistrating that intelligence alone isn't nearly enough.
Sometimes name calling is a shortcut to leading to facts. At least Clinton earned his life in hard ways so I think it is nothing to take cheap shots at unlike a former drug dealer and a failed oil "manager". Ok, I know why you like Bush so much and will tell you at the end of this post.Resorting to partisan cheap shots does not get you anywhere. Refute with fact not name calling. I'm not interested in playground bullying. When I say charisma, I mean charisma. Like it or not, agree with it or not, Bush has charisma. So did Clinton and I could easily take my own cheap shots at a former car salesman...
What kind of loyalty is paramount, any?; blind, bright, secular, cowboy, ANY? And who decides that they are "wrong" or even "so wrong"? People in the authority? Bush and Cheney? They are the ultimate judges? So you either reconcile or else stay quiet and complacent? Was it not nice to have a Secretary of State of color through your re-election and then through with him? Is it not in good taste? Or is it loyalty understood as it should be?Then you need to look deeper than just this presidency. To me loyalty is paramount in everything you do. Even if your friends and allies are wrong, you stand with them. If you feel they are so wrong that you cannot go along with them you approach them privately and handle the matter. If you still cannot reconcile your differences you move on quietly you do not become a shrill voice of dissention that threatens to become something worse and more ominous simply for the underlying purpose of being re-elected.
Fact is they all have buddies who all make money when there guy wins. Now you may claim this is different in this case because of the war; but I would contend, without conceding the point that we shouldn't be there, that Haliburton would have been awarded the lion's share of Iraqi contracts no matter who was in office. It's what they do.
You've said this repeatedly without a comment from anyone else. Fact is we did this a long time ago, we are happy with the outcome. Fact is we did this 92' and 96' also and although we weren't happy with the outcome we lived with the process. Fact is, again, your unhappiness with the outcome is based on purely partisan stances.
Completely anecdotal and still a use of playground name calling in the process. For a positon as complex as the one you've adopted you've yet to offer any reasonable formal case agains the system more sophisticated than "Bush is a monkey". While this may garner laughs from those who agree with you it only alienates those you need to win to your cause because frankly, even though who agree with the propoatison that "Bush is a monkey" aren't going to sign on to your other radical proposals simply on this extremely weak principle.
I have yet to hear a proposal that truly deals with the fundamental human problems that exist universally in any culture or country so that using a partial fix...
First of all, you are keen enough to realize that some of the things I've said are not party line. You'll never hear true ideologues talking the way I'm talking. While it's true I do generally vote Republican, it is not an automatic vote, despite my proclamations of loyalty above I always reserve the right to vote my conscience.
Further, I used to vote for the Democrats, in fact I voted for them throughout my early 20s for many of the same reasons you are now "hating Bush". I just began to realize over time, by keeping an open mind, that many of the alleged "truths" I had been conditioned to accept were hardly that. Of course that is only my anecdotal experience and means little other simply refuting your claim that I am somehow close close minded.
Clinton, as adept a car salesman as he was, correctly read that international will in the matter was lacking and choose to string along the half measures throughout his presidency, leaving the dirty work to someone else. Bush, in a way was a breath of fresh air in that regard- he read the international will just as well as did Clinton, but he was unafraid to go against it and take a more permanent soultion.
You can't. Simple as that. The only way is to listen to blatantly biased programming from the other side and figure that the few things both sides report are going to be true 50% of the time, and will have the need to be taken with a grain of salt the other 50%.
NOW, yes. But can you abandon your foster child because you just learned your wife got pregnant..Fact is, at this point supporting the war means nothing to Bush. He's done regardless.
As to coorporate bias, I can agree to a point that becasue a news organization is run by corporation that it will be biased for itself, and so might tend to ignore non-corporate viewpoints, but really that too is unavoidable in the "global village" we're supposed to be living in.
Holy **POINTLESS PROFANITY REMOVED PER TERMS OF USE - POSTING PROFANITY MAY GET YOU BANNED**! Are you asking my what my sign is? I can honestly say that I now know what women go through...
Now I know why you like sentimental and melancholic Georgie Boy so much, you are both water signs, unlike fiery Clinton, Gore and Kerry--you wouldn't possible like them at a personal level, forget politics, and yes, I am a guy and I married a girl only after I had made sure that we are largely compatible based on our natal charts and I am so happy I did that. I would have never married GWB had he been my age and female, or any other water sign, lol.uhh...are you a guy? If so you just creeped me out. If not...uh...I don't really pay much attention to that kind of thing, but I am a Pisces. But please I'm not interested in discussing Astrology in this thread.
cnredd said:That's the only reason people are trying to invent time machines...
We could change the way Clinton conducted business and GWB wouldn't be in the situation he's got America in now...
yeah, I am slightly pshycotic, like to debate with myself.... I am John Nash, loooooooooooooool. Actually, that was a repost from another forum where I had this looong debate with another guy and he quit upon reading the above post and no one else replied (actully the two of us were debating mostly....lol)Wait a minute.... was there a post deleted? Or is this Curious guy debating himself?????
Navy Pride said:What is ironic is if it was not for Ross Perot we would have never heard of Clinton and Bush 1 would have served 2 terms........
Caine said:Thats an opinion.
The same baseless opinion could be made about Nader running, etc, etc, etc,.
Navy Pride said:Its not and opinion, its a fact.......Perot got 19,000,000 votes most of which would have went to Bush 1......
And as far as Nader foes your right.....Bush probably would not have gotten elected in 2000............So what is your point?
Caine said:A. Its not a fact that all 19 million votes would have went to Bush. Did you poll all 19 million people to determine who they would have voted for? Its pure speculation. And that doesn't make it fact.
B. My "point" is that your comment didn't contribute anything to the debate, it was just throwing baseless opinion out.
C. What was YOUR point of mentioning the Clinton/Perot/Bush election "possibility"???
Navy Pride said:No one is saying that all 19,000,000 would have voted for Bush 1 but historians have said the vast majority would have just as the Majority of voters who voted for Nader in 2000 would have voted for Gore ...
Those are the facts whether you want to accept them or not.......Why is that so hard for you to accept?
Ok. consider a hypothetical situation in which there are only 2 states: NY and TX. Assume, more ppl live in TX than in NY. Assume, more than 1/2 of TX voters vote repuablican and more than half of NY voters vote democratic plus assume that everyone eligible to vote does so. As a result you'll get that unless an average voter drastically changes their preference for some reason accross the state lines a republican candidate always wins because TX gives more electoral votes than NY (that also assumed--because TX is more populous than NY as per our assumption) so that if you win TX by just 1 vote but no one casts his vote in your support in NY you still get elected (you dont have popular vote--the winner takes all--instead). Now assume, there is a third state, say Idaho, which is least populous of the three but you need to win ID as well if you are a *republican* candidate providing you have already won TX at the same time, because the number of electoral votes gained in TX is not enough alone to overpower NY unless you get some extra electoral votes from ID. Now, if you are a *democratic* candidate, it's not necessary to win ID at the same time. It is sufficient to just win NY because you still get enough electoral votes as opposed to a republican candidate needing TX and ID electoral votes combined in order to win. And this happens because, each TX vote counts 0.8 (ID is also less than 1) whereas NY vote is equal to 1.2. By extension, you have more states....(The idea is that the middle of the US lands is vast and they always vote republican...) Is it clear now?Curious,
How would having NY voters counted as 1.2, and Wyoming 0.8, change the outcome of the last election?
You could give NY voters 1000 to 1 and it would not have changed anything. All it would accomplish is to boost overall numbers. Overall numbers nationwide changes nothing. You either win the state and the electoral votes, or not. Everyone in the State of NY could have voted for Kerry and each given a million votes and Kerry still loses the general election.
So, I'm kind of "curious" as to your solution.
curious_ said:Ok. consider a hypothetical situation in which there are only 2 states: NY and TX. Assume, more ppl live in TX than in NY. Assume, more than 1/2 of TX voters vote repuablican and more than half of NY voters vote democratic plus assume that everyone eligible to vote does so. As a result you'll get that unless an average voter drastically changes their preference for some reason accross the state lines a republican candidate always wins because TX gives more electoral votes than NY (that also assumed--because TX is more populous than NY as per our assumption) so that if you win TX by just 1 vote but no one casts his vote in your support in NY you still get elected (you dont have popular vote--the winner takes all--instead). Now assume, there is a third state, say Idaho, which is least populous of the three but you need to win ID as well if you are a *republican* candidate providing you have already won TX at the same time, because the number of electoral votes gained in TX is not enough alone to overpower NY unless you get some extra electoral votes from ID. Now, if you are a *democratic* candidate, it's not necessary to win ID at the same time. It is sufficient to just win NY because you still get enough electoral votes as opposed to a republican candidate needing TX and ID electoral votes combined in order to win. And this happens because, each TX vote counts 0.8 (ID is also less than 1) whereas NY vote is equal to 1.2. By extension, you have more states....(The idea is that the middle of the US lands is vast and they always vote republican...) Is it clear now?
Realizing how inadequate he was, he was told by Karl Rove and his other "star" aids (I am sure he wouldn't even get it by himself) that he needed something big, dramatic, if he was to win. And starting a war was big enough with the assumption that many voters would traditionally exhibit a high propensity to not let down a "war-time president" whether he is a hero or a criminal. In other words, his dirty circle (identified as collective Bush), given the circumstance, made the American people "agree" with him; Bush got what he craved for by appealing to and exploiting the better angels of an average landlocked US citizen who had very little political experience and acumen.And why did it boost his chances? perhaps because the majority of Americans agreed with him that a war was necessary?
You should assess the system on the basis of how reasonable results it produces. The outcome, the product of the system is of major importance! The system per se, or the respect for the system per se is inferior to the principal outcome for which the system has been designed. What many of them saw was a completely wrong outcome--that was easy to discern; the rest, the large part of it who thought otherwise, simply didn't care or remained very detached.So much for Democracy eh?
Yes, not necessarily. The question is, is it more likely? Do we need a new start? Are we complancent with what we already have? If Kerry did not...then he would not...That's true.Being a war hero does not necessarily mean you would make a good commander in chief. If Kerry did not represent the will of the people, he would not make a good command in chief.
No, because political participation and voting have increasing become real-time occupancies that require some requisite skills drawn from one's sustained political engagement, political awareness, broad vision and the capability to isolate important, lasting issues from euphemism and political role playing. Since many view political participation as a transient yet full-time occupancy requiring relevant background and vision on voters' part, it is only in this sense that I insist that people with detached professions such as farmers in the south and elsewhere will be far more susceptible to political manipulation with the result of them either not caring enough or becoming complacent with any electoral outcome.Yeah, because the right choice was to agree with you. right?
Obviously, it's not. No complaints or no complacence?It seems to be working fine so far. No complaints here.
Absolutely! the winner take all system is highly inadequate and as GW Bushes election rounds showed it provides substantial room for disguised, I would say, illicit, manipulation.Get rid of the winner-take-all state electoral college
No, they would not be ignored. They would become more effecitve participants, when their voice becomes part of the larger pool where thir voice would count; otherwise, left in isolation, they are susceptible--inadvertantly or deliberately--to political manipulation and they end up with their votes being ultimately lost.Places like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles would get all the advantages incumbents could shower on them, because that's where the largest concentrations of votes are. This would be at the expense of people living in Augusta, Maine, for example, who would be ignored completely.
YES!the electoral college should equally split their vote, representing a similar ratio as the popular vote. If 75% vote one way and only 25% the other, the electoral college should do the same. This seems much more accurate than the current system.
I will. Thanks!Make sure to watch all the video BTW
Yeah, I wake up every other day thinking what kind of an example this is, I personally do feel insulted in the eyes of the rest of the people both inside of the country and outside. This system needs to be changed because it is biased! Intelligent people all over the US must unite to push for this much needed change!Your post is myopic, which is typical of liberals these days.
curious_ said:You'd here: "it's a shame that one marginal state should decide the fate of US Presidency and to an extent of the world at large"; implying that the election law must be changed.
M14 Shooter said:This is typical of the loony left.
"We lost, so there must be something wrong with the system -- so we must change the system!!"
mike49 said:How about this: Pass the test and your vote is worth one vote, fail and it is half a vote. That would solve the problem as you see it being a lack of intelligence. Unless your test would include political matters which an uneducated person may know and a highly educated one would not have the time to know or the interest required.
Or another way would be for you to bring in a certificate of education. Proof of education. But that could be made up somehow and so may not be a valid solution.
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