Beto O'Rourke is our next president.
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Timsup2nothin
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Well, first off consider I'm talking about my first wife. It took a lot more effort to find out what Ronald Reagan and GHWBush were about than it takes to find out about Trump. Reaganomics, or voodoo economics? How was she supposed to decide who was right? Hell, I wasn't sure I was right, and told her so, but I studied up a bit first. Then there was a massive campaign of lies against Carter, but there were truths mixed in as well. What could honestly be blamed on the president, what was campaign rhetoric? What could he legitimately claim, and what 'accomplishments' were just things that happened to happen? Again, I studied up, wasn't sure I was right, and told her so.
I could have just followed my family and voted Republican. Her family tree included a US senator only two generations back and until she married me she had a pretty unique last name that was widely honored in the Democratic party (still is, though time has dimmed the memories). If neither of us felt like really investigating we could have just split votes on heritage and called it good. If either of us had said "I'll abandon heritage and vote with you even if you don't do any research either" that would have been disappointing, but that's not what happened.
And there are a whole lot of things between president and local judge's bench. In California the hardest decisions to make are usually the propositions, but they are, in my opinion anyway, usually the most important.
They rig it in Illinois that no real propositions make it to the ballot. It's limited to two and the dem always put two meaningless ones on so non-partisan redistricting and term limits never seem to make it on despite overwhelming support in the state. Our state is run by a schmuck who only needs about 15000 votes and has been doing it for over 40 years.
Timsup2nothin
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Wrong democrat...and she isn't a descendant. The Senator was her father's uncle.
Tim married Spessard Holland's grandniece confirmed.
EDIT: Actually, Senator Holland only has a weird first name, doesn't he? I still think it's a fun name though, and often bust out him and Mayo Purple in conversation.
Timsup2nothin
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We could turn this into a guessing game I suppose.
[edit] Actually, in respect for her family's privacy, we really shouldn't.
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I vote we just make this a thread about politicians with weird names.
My favourite is Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazalo
Truthy
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I can relate with Tim and don't think he's in the wrong here. I was more knowledgeable about politics than my ex-girlfriend. We had a lot of political conversations and I often persuaded her of my views. I never told her what to think or how to vote, but I've always been into politics and history. She liked talking about these topics, but wouldn't, say, read a book about them or go digging around to do research. And I saw her as an intellectual equal for sure. If anything, she was the smarter one--she was just more interested in other things and wasn't the kind of person to dig in and do research; she liked learning things by talking to people.
Narz
keeping it real
Its a bit insulting to women to think that over 100 million of them only chose the candidate they chose because they were too spineless to oppose their husbands. It's not like redneck men are voting FOR their own interests. Stupidity is without gender.
I agree with you, but I find it amusing that; "hey, women are stupid too" is actually a compliment in this thread.
Bamspeedy
CheeseBob
My wife was in no hurry to get her citizenship (waited close to 7 years instead of the 3 required) until Trump won, then she pursued it with passion as if she was going to single handedly vote him out by herself.
Then came the naturalization ceremony and there was a booth for all the new citizens to register to vote. She asked me if she should do it then or wait until later. I informed her that as soon as she's registered to vote she could be called for jury duty. That wiped most of the motivation out of her wanting to vote. I suggested she wait to register until she knows for sure she is going to vote.
Last time I voted I was called for jury duty within a month, making me feel it sure wasn't random and they really wanted new blood in the jury pool. I guess the proposal from whatever state that was to automatically register people to vote when getting/renewing drivers license would get rid of that excuse for not voting.
Then came the naturalization ceremony and there was a booth for all the new citizens to register to vote. She asked me if she should do it then or wait until later. I informed her that as soon as she's registered to vote she could be called for jury duty. That wiped most of the motivation out of her wanting to vote. I suggested she wait to register until she knows for sure she is going to vote.
Last time I voted I was called for jury duty within a month, making me feel it sure wasn't random and they really wanted new blood in the jury pool. I guess the proposal from whatever state that was to automatically register people to vote when getting/renewing drivers license would get rid of that excuse for not voting.
Narz
keeping it real
The idea that people are smart enuf to know what's good for them has been proven false again & again. Many say people just need to be better educated. We have all the information at our fingertips but that doesn't stop anyone from believing only what they want to. I've said b4 we need AI overlords to keep us on track.
I don't disagree, but who will program the AI? It would surely have to be an actual intelligence, and I'm wary that any actual intelligence would simply destroy us because we are too much of a threat. It's a pipe dream or apocalyptic dystopia
Timsup2nothin
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I just watched I, Robot tonight. Sort of corner of the eye while I was playing a game since I've seen it a few times. It provides fuel for a good laugh, because people talking about the "control the AI" problem almost invariably will mention Asimov's 'three laws of robotics' as if they offer a hint of an answer, when the core concept of Asimov's robot series of stories is that the failure of the three laws is inevitable.
Dekker
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But as we have seen even by the anecdotes in this thread it's not just conservative women based on their husband, most of the guys who shared their story was deciding the vote, even if the reaaons differ from Mary's observation of falling in line. The fact is however this usually jappens because of the historical roots of women being expected to not vote/fall in line with husbands/be less informed and even when not nefarious in more egaltarian ouples like possibly those who shared here it is still an overral disservice to, well, women, because by not being as informed they are largely not ensuring their full views and needs are heard, and as Narz points out, many are voting against their interests often enough. But it's not insulting to women when they are raised and conditioned by society to be like this without either gender really realizing it, where everyone usually consciously think its because of the rational reasons as shared by Tim etc.
Cheetah
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I don't have anything much to contribute on the topic, though O'Rourke's policies seem quite decent, on a whole.
But I will add this one to your discussion about women voting as their husbands tell them to:
The vote is secret. Every single example that have been mentioned can perfectly well state a certain position to everyone they meet, and still have voted completely different.
But I will add this one to your discussion about women voting as their husbands tell them to:
The vote is secret. Every single example that have been mentioned can perfectly well state a certain position to everyone they meet, and still have voted completely different.
With privilege comes responsibility. Out of the 45 years I've been voting, I've probably only been called to jury duty around 8 times and only actually served on a jury a couple of time. If you can't handle that minor responsibility then maybe you don't deserve to have a say in government. Just saying.
Lexicus
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See I don't get this. Where the hell did this idea that voting should be treated as a privilege in any way, shape or form come from? "Oh if you can't even go to the trouble of registering to vote, you shouldn't be allowed to vote!" The US should have automatic voter registration and compulsory voting. The idea that voting is a privilege is cancer.
OK, Maybe right is the better word. I'll agree on the automatic registration but not on the compulsory voting. I do wish they'd make it a national holiday or spread it across and entire week to not inconvenience anybody. And I have no respect for the strategy of not registering so you never get asked to do jury duty.
