Lunatic Fringe
This year for the first time in my life, I decided to watch both political parties' conventions. The Republicans held theirs first in Tampa. Due to Hurricane Isaac, the first night of that convention was cancelled. The rest of the convention was the usual boring fare that you see in these things--our guy is great and is going to do all this wonderful stuff, yaddy-yaddy-yaddy. They made Mittens seem like a nice enough guy even though he is not who I want to be President. (My guy didn't win the nomination.)
Now we're onto the second night of the Democrat convention. I watched the fist night--the whole thing on CSPAN--and I have to say, these people are fucking frightening. I don't know how many times I said out loud that the people in the audience looked like they were bussed in from a psych ward. And all the speakers looked like raving lunatics, literally shouting into the microphone. The message that I came away with was "abortion is the greatest thing EVAR, because of Democrats women now live past 50 years of age(yes, one of the speakers actually said that), and we all belong to the government." WTF? It literally made me sick to my stomach. And all the pandering to blacks and hispanics was sickening and very alienating.
I have been following along with Kevin over at Hillbuzz. He has been live-blogging the thing and helping the rest of us who are following along keep our sanity with his spot on analysis and sense of humor. He has a great summary here. I couldn't put it better myself, and since he already did, I don't have to. Go read for yourself.
posted by Xul at 12:44 PM
6 Comments:
Off topic: some of the links in your article are kaput.
On topic: I haven't seen much of either convention. I don't get to vote in the USA anyway and I have local elections to think about.
I won't ask you if or how you will vote but I do wonder how you see the future of your country.
Okay, I don't know how that blog post got so screwed up. I guess blogger and firefox were having a spat. It's fixed now.
In my industry, I've rubbed shoulders with many politician and I've had a small peek into the inside of politics. I'd say 99% of all politicians are full of shit. All disingenuous shitheads who say nice platitudes and smile in your face and act oh so concerned but really couldn't give one shit about you. All they want is that vote so they can get into a position of power and milk it for all the personal gain it's worth. And as an aside, all these same people are either lawyers or have poli-sci degrees. There are a few decent people who got into politics for the right reasons, but unfortunately, they too get assimilated like the Borg. There is only a miniscule few who don't sell there souls.
Seriously, this country is fucked. We have some of the most disgusting, self serving politicians on the planet. They don't give a shit if the whole country burns as long as they have there million of $$$ secure and they can haul ass outta here to the French Riviera or something.
If I had the means I would get the hell outta here. The country has been intentionally Balkanized over the past 40 years or so and now it's to such a degree that I can't stand it any more. It's not the positive place it was when I was a kid.
this country is fucked
But how fucked is it?
haul ass outta here to the French Riviera
Hey, if they bring their money with them over here then that might give the European economy a boost plus you all get rid of some corrupt politicians. It's a win win scenario! :P
The country has been intentionally Balkanized
I'm not sure I understand you. Could you elaborate on this?
But how fucked is it? When I see how many clueless, dumbass people there are out there, and how corrupt the government is, I have to think that the country is well and truly fucked. I know that there are people out there who aren't assholes and could probably do something to fix things, but it seems like a losing battle.
It's a win win scenario! I think the real win win would be burning the politicians and me sipping some drinks on the Riviera! LOL
Could you elaborate on this? It's this bullshit thing that the media and the politicians do where they deliberately try to compartmentalize people into groups, and then have the various groups fighting and demonizing each other. Identity politics. Only now it's worse than I can ever remember. It all disgusts me. I remember the days when it didn't matter to most people which part someone voted for. Now it's like zombie cult time, where if you don't agree with one particular group, then you are the worst villain who ever walked the planet. It's really deranged and unhealthy. It reminds me of an episode of Babylon 5 with the Drazi green/purple thing.
Identity politics.
I see what you mean. Personally I think the two party political system your country has is also partly to blame for that.
if you don't agree with one particular group, then you are the worst villain who ever walked the planet.
Is that something you've experienced yourself?
It reminds me of an episode of Babylon 5 with the Drazi green/purple thing.
I remember this teacher who conducted an experiment - sort of - on his students by dividing them into 2 groups and giving them colored armbands for identification. The result were quite interesting apparently.
Personally I think the two party political system your country has is also partly to blame for that. I would like to see political parties outlawed as well as lobbyists. I'd like to see people run on their own ideas and people choose the one with the most merit. I'd also like a billion dollars and my own Xul Castle in the old country. ;P Unfortunately, most people are too damn lazy to research candidates. That's one of the reasons I vote by absentee ballot. I get the ballot in the mail a few weeks before election day and it gives me time to research the issues and candidates and make an informed choice. Most people who vote shouldn't be allowed to because of their sheer ignorance. I could go on and on, on and endless rant on this subject.
Is that something you've experienced yourself? I've seen it happen.
The result were quite interesting apparently. Herd mentality? Tribalism? It all gives me a headache. I think I'll go make myself some sauerkraut and sausages and potatoes and think about Bavaria. :)
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