Jeebizz

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I don't know who else watched the VP debates last night, especially those across the pond who were actually crazy enough to stay up and watch, but all I know is I lost count how many times Palin kept saying 'nucular' instead of nuclear. What a dumb bitch. (I won't take that back).

gnashley

In spanish the jacket itself is called a 'smoking'!
I'm still waiting to see if Bush decalres a state of emergency in order to stick around and inflict still more damage. When he was nominated as the republican candidate in 1999, I predicted that he would be the last President of the US. Said prediction seems to have been pretty close on the mark...

mostlyharmless

Well, as someone who tries to vote in every election, I can't really understand why someone would complain about the elected officials in power but not participate in the process. It'd be like complaining about open source but never contributing there either. I try not to have too many illusions about the process, but just because you don't like the guys in office or your guys never seem to win does not mean your vote does not count. It just means other people had more votes.

XavierP

brianL, without the brandy, pipe and smoking jacket, you may not be able to fully participate. And no, a roll up, a flat cap and a whippet don't count

brianL

Eee, I nearly choked on my John Smith's Smooth Bitter then. All you upper-crust lot had better make sure your smoking jackets are bullet proof come The Revolution.

easuter

Yep.
Not to mention the number of times she spoke about making the USA energy independent, and then in the same breath said that they need to do more drilling.
She is about as coherent as Miss South Carolina.

Damn. What is it with americans trying to elect morons?
Sorry if this is inflammatory, but its the god damn USA we are talking about! the leaders you elect have a profound impact on the fate of the rest of the world.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Gore had won the 2000 elections...

rickh

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if George Washington had lost the Revolutionary War. No worse than it is now, I'll bet.

Chromezero

One major concern I have is the whole "My team" mentality. Most, not all, but most Americans tend to vote for one party or the other, regardless of their actual beliefs. What I mean is, if a person considers themselves a democrat, they will vote for the democrat, without any consideration for anyone else who may be more qualified. And the politicians will disregard their own beliefs simply because their "party" takes a stance to own side or the other on an issue. I don't want to pick a red shirt or a blue shirt. I want to pick the one that fits best, regardless of which "team/party" they're from. Also, get rid of lobbyists. It's the very definition of government corruption in my book...

brianL

Interesting speculation. America as a Commonwealth country. Quite a few alternative history novels have been written, but I don't know if that scenario has been covered.

XavierP

The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove & Richard Dreyfuss
http://turtledove.wikia.com/wiki/The_Two_Georges_(novel)

pinniped

Hey, don't insult Ms South Carolina by comparing her with that mad cow Palin! Palin's just in there for the tit-votes and the religious nutcase votes. Now, let's all join Palin and pray away the gay ...

Why do you guys from other countries vote for morons too? It's a fault inherent in any modern democracy; in Plato's discourse on a republic (and Aristotle's as well, although the english translations of Aristotle seem to all be written by people who don't know english), the only people who could vote were those who had a particular education - I guess even in ancient Greece they had a problem with idiots voting for idiots. The US Federal voting system is pretty complicated. Going back the early days when literacy rates were lower (it's hard to believe that literacy could be lower, eh) and the telegraph wasn't invented yet, the government sought to provide equal representation for the citizens of the union in electing the president. Rather than attempt to count all votes to determine the president, it was decided that it would be neater to have people elect their representatives who would take that long drive to DC in a horse-drawn carriage and vote on their behalf. A state got as much representation in the voting as they got in congress. So people elected the people who voted - and the people elected to vote usually voted for the candidate they were saying they'd vote for, but they are not compelled to do so and there have been a few instances when they've voted for the other candidate. Now how is a presidential nominee chosen? Well, they were always appointed by a political faction. In the early 20th century people were complaining that they weren't receiving fair representation, so the primary caucus vote was invented. Regular voters registered with a political party now got to vote for that party's presidential nominee and also vote for *some* of the people who actually voted on the nominee - similar to the way that people get to vote for the president (a vote which is always discarded) as well as vote for the people who get to vote for the president. The "popular" vote is always discarded and there are also numerous people who *actually* vote for the nominee who are not elected by popular vote. Maybe you're thinking "this sounds like a scam to merely give the appearance of having a say" - and you'd be right. In the earliest days of the primary caucus, T. Roosevelt and W.H. Taft were fighting for control of the GOP. Roosevelt had a huge majority win in the popular vote - but Taft was elected presidential candidate (which wasn't so bad anyway). So the party system (now a puppet of lobbyists) still maintains absolute control over who they get to put forward for the presidency, while voters get to pretend they had a say in things. Just look at the silly games played in Florida - a Republican puppet in the state's electoral system arbitrarily voided the votes of many citizens, robbing them of their constitutional right - and the filthy cow was rewarded by her master Dubbyah.

In the modern era, technology can now give us an opportunity for a direct vote; this is feared by all parties since they lose control when the system becomes a genuinely fair system; at the very least, the true views of the American voters will be more evident. In fact, it seems that the Diebold corporation (huge supporters of the Republican party) even rig their voting machines (you have to wonder what they do to the ATMs). But going back to how people vote - they tend to vote for whichever party they grew up with. Republican households train their children to believe that the democrats are Stalin's own party, and Democrat households train their children to believe that the Republican party is the only party that's fascist.

If Gore had won the elections, I can't imagine things would be much different. We'd still have the loan scams and this current payola. Maybe we'd have all our forces in Afghanistan and actually win the war rather than having a skeleton crew in Afghanistan and starting a war in Iraq as well. The US president really has severely limited powers; Dubbyah is actually one of the most influential presidents and has consistently had his way with things - more wars, this current payola, and so on. So Dubbyah will go down in history as one of the presidents who had actually accomplished many things - or at least started many things - and hardly any of them any good.

rickh

A story is here that LXer just picked up.
Judge Suppresses Report on Voting Machine Security.

It is pretty much a given that every national election is rigged, but still people, even here, say it's important to vote. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. I am a voter, but I have not voted Rep. or Dem. since Jimmy Carter. I take special pride that for 30 years or so, I have stood numbered among the intelligentsia who realize that the War Party is simply pretending to allow us any choice whatsoever.

This is a particularly significant year in that it's possible that the combination of non-voters and 3rd Party voters may reach 51%. That would shake the bastards to the quick. Do your part.

Votes for Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, or Chuck Baldwin are the only patriotic choices. Voters for McBama are suckers, pure and simple.

brianL

If they get elected, do you really think any party or politician cares about how many didn't vote? Over here the average turn out for local and general elections hovers between 30 to 40%, but it makes no difference to how the winners perform. Once they're in they can just sit back, forget any promises they made to seduce the gullible, and do what they want.

gnashley

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Gore had won the 2000 elections..."
Don't forget -He did!

I think Palin drops the ball with the religious zealots when she mentions 'Joe six-pack'. The zealots I know no doubt cringe when they hear that -I hope she says it a lot more...

jiml8

Well, it is pretty clear that the idiotic idealogues have taken over the thread. That didn't take long.

But, would you care to explain exactly how USA energy independence and more drilling are contradictory?