2020 US Election (Part One)

[Patine]

Actually, I was thinking about Tropico and trying to come up with a simple way to examine real world states and wound up only continuing the former.

That's unfortunate. I try to be a global thinker, and thus I can often rub against parochial thinkers a lot.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

That's unfortunate. I try to be a global thinker, and thus I can often rub against parochial thinkers a lot.

I have a globe. It is quite hollow. Attractive though, and entertaining to spin.

 

[Patine]

I have a globe. It is quite hollow. Attractive though, and entertaining to spin.

Don't give up your day job. The improv audiences are heartless and merciless to new blood on the comedy circuit with no name recognition.

 

[Sommerswerd]

In effort to reply to main points I have to try to summarize them. I am attempting to do so accurately and not misrepresent you. Any mistakes made are honest ones.

Point one-Biden vilified his opponents when the chips were down after Iowa and it worked, so trying to immunize him against a similar strategy is unfair.

From the article linked the example of "sharpened attacks" on Buttigieg consisted of pointing out that at present his experience consists of being mayor in a moderate sized city. As you touched on, that can be called true, because it just flatly is. It is also not "vilification" in any sense of the word. I'd actually expect that Buttigieg would take it as encouragement to build his resume and try again.

I also don't see where Biden used any "red scare" attacks on Sanders. He was quoted talking about electability and how the GOP would use Sanders self identification as a socialist against not only Sanders but every Democrat down the ballot in November. Again, this can be called true because it just flatly is. Saying "if you hand them a club they will hit you with it" isn't vilifying. It isn't really even saying that the club is in itself a bad thing. It is just acknowledging the existence of the club and the reality that the opposition will use it if they have the chance.

Point two- the US electorate needs to get over the cold war and embrace the reality of socialism.

Probably so, but acknowledging the need does not justify a pretense that it has happened. The socialism "scare word" has and still does work in USian politics. It isn't "red scare" because clearly we have collectively relegated Russia into 'vanquished enemy' status and don't really worry all that much about 'a member of the US communist party is just a spy for the USSR.' What it is though is a widespread identification of socialist economic theory as 'failed.' Correctly or incorrectly, USians in the electorate predominantly attach 'socialism' as 'communism' as USSR and credit that economic theory as how the USSR lost the cold war. They are also constantly grasping onto every anecdote of a European country nationalizing anything and experiencing a bad consequence, and every anecdote where such nationalization "had to be given up as a failure." The only solution I see here is widespread education in economics applied over generations, not any sort of "embrace the self declared socialist and see if he can make a magical turnaround happen."

Point three- the pending revolt of disappointed youth.

It may very well seem like this is "right around the corner" and that these youth and their movement are so singularly put out and their issues so singularly critical that action to appease them has to be taken immediately before the whole place goes up in flames. I absolutely agreed with every word of that idea, and every argument presented in support of that idea. I hunkered down ready to eagerly support the pending revolution when it inevitably happened as a result of the pending irrefutable evidence that the electoral system was totally broken.

But somehow 1973 came and went and there was no youth revolution to be found. The person I heard those arguments from dropped out of the electorate in disgust, but showed less enthusiasm for an actual bloody revolution than I had. He reentered the electorate in the 90s as a Republican.

Conclusion...the guy on the street corner with the sandwich boards saying "the end is near" might be right. When the end does come there will undoubtedly have been one of those guys and we need to credit him for it. But there definitely will be one of those guys at the time because there always is, and all the rest of them will still have been wrong.

Age old wisdom... "The Revolution will not be Televised" ... in spirit... those who want a revolution can't sit at home waiting for the TV (or internet) to tell them it's happening! so come join!...

Unless you're in the streets with an AK-47 shooting down "the establishment" like dogs... there ain't gonna be no revolution...

so consider voting for the lesser of two evils instead.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Age old wisdom... "The Revolution will not be Televised" ... in spirit... those who want a revolution can't sit at home waiting for the TV (or internet) to tell the it is happening, come join... unless you're in the streets with an AK-47 shooting down "the establishment" like dogs... there ain't gonna be no revolution... so consider voting for the lesser of two evils.

Well, the only time I was really gung ho for the revolution I was twelve ...so...

My brother was sure convincing that if McGovern lost it was proof the electoral approach was irredeemable and that he would be right there in the front lines though. Then there was perhaps the most convincing argument in US history that an election really had been stolen and he and his front line were nowhere to be found. Disappointing, to say the least. Even more disappointing, my father had said that if it came to that he wouldn't even fight because life in such a state wouldn't be worth living so he'd just lay down and die and I was really looking forward to that.

 

[Patine]

Well, the only time I was really gung ho for the revolution I was twelve ...so...

My brother was sure convincing that if McGovern lost it was proof the electoral approach was irredeemable and that he would be right there in the front lines though. Then there was perhaps the most convincing argument in US history that an election really had been stolen and he and his front line were nowhere to be found. Disappointing, to say the least. Even more disappointing, my father had said that if it came to that he wouldn't even fight because life in such a state wouldn't be worth living so he'd just lay down and die and I was really looking forward to that.

Even though there was no revolution, and you and your brother found no front lines, he was still correct about the American electoral system, and that still hasn't changed...

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Even though there was no revolution, and you and your brother found no front lines, he was still correct about the American electoral system, and that still hasn't changed...

I didn't find them because there weren't any...and I was twelve. He didn't find any because neither he nor anyone else actually went looking...so clearly he was wrong about the upcoming revolution being "all there was left."

Don't give up your day job.

First rule of comedy is to know your audience and accept that they decide what is funny and what isn't. I've been playing this room for a few years and I can pretty much assure you that if we polled the audience we would find out that was funny. But since this is an unpaid gig I wouldn't be quitting my day job anyway, even if I had one.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Real Revolution was in the air in 1968 and the young were ready to take on the establishment. We marched and stood toe to toe with "The Man" to end the hated war in Vietnam. For my part I attended Nixon's anti inaugural in DC. Cops on horses are pretty formidable, let me tell you. We failed and there was no bloody revolution beyond the die hards that went underground or attended Kent State. That is all a footnote in history. But we did get our revenge as we overturned the status quo culturally with blue jeans, music, hair and marijuana. How many years did the Grateful Dead keep on Truckin'? How many enjoyed their shows to the end?

All you election- frustrated Millennials just need to recognize what your real power is and put it to work. I'll give you a clue: it's digital and its power is in your your hands. Use what you know to change the future more to your liking. old boomers have no way to stop you.

You only have a decade or two window to make your mark. Get going.

Sadly, Disco was the boomers last real musical push. We went too far.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Sadly, Disco was the boomers last real musical push. We went too far.

Isn't there some way to duck responsibility for that?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Isn't there some way to duck responsibility for that?

I wish, but the BeeGees were a huge part of it. I know they were Aussies, but back then that was still British.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I wish, but the BeeGees were a huge part of it. I know they were Aussies, but back then that was still British.

<sigh>

My effort to duck responsibility collapses entirely as I recall that I did indeed own a Bee Gees album.

 

[Birdjaguar]

<sigh>

My effort to duck responsibility collapses entirely as I recall that I did indeed own a Bee Gees album.

If it was pre Disco, then you are OK. Lots of their stuff from earlier is actually pretty good.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Disco music can be pretty great tho

 

[Broken_Erika]

Disco music can be pretty great tho

What heresy is this?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Disco music can be pretty great tho sucks!

FTFY

 

[Zardnaar]

Isn't there some way to duck responsibility for that?

Don't feel to bad, generation X came up with Nu Metal.

 

[Zardnaar]

How accurate is this article?

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5e659767c5b68d616456502d

No surprise Trump has done this. MAGA lol my ass.

Any recommendations for a US free political coverage site?

 

[Sommerswerd]

Don't feel to bad, generation X came up with Nu Metal.

and Rap/Hip-Hop so don't blame us...

 

[Zardnaar]

and Rap/Hip-Hop so don't blame us...

Point.

 

[Camikaze]

I don't know how anyone can look at Biden today and assume he has his faculties in working order

I don't really buy into the idea that he is becoming senile. I'm lucky enough to have had 4 grandparents last until my early twenties, with varying degrees of cognitive decline, including two with severe Alzheimers (one rapid, one slow). I don't see that in Biden's speech. What I do see a bit of is something like my dad's dyslexia. A lot of mix-ups in his speech are when he is reading off a teleprompter. I would be curious to hear what a speech therapist has to say about his issues.

I am also extremely reluctant to just go along with the armchair diagnosis when it's clearly being harnessed by Trump misinformation as well (see the 'manipulated media' video).