Favorite recent post by the previous poster

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Lol at all those votes for AfD and Linke. Pinnacle of Atlas.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MS/GG) - Underground Zone

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I hate mustard.

Yessss. Me too. I hate mustard so much.

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(Note to Scarlet:  Who is Admiral President?)

The "Blue Dog Moderate" guy.

I assumed he knows and was just making reference to the fact that BDM was not one of the selections.
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Scarlet is convinced I'm a rabid R-MI in disguise (she actually said that and there was an argument that went on for at least a week about it), so... yeah. Very mature.

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There are many things I've done (on and especially off atlas)  that I'd call completely insane. Thinking you're a sock doesn't make that list. I'm not saying you are atm, but I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be one (tbh I only suspected you because other people like bagel, liberalrocks, etc were/are making me suspicious already).

i enjoy the wittiness of this post.

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Bliss drops Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket

Good man.  It's vital that Democrats give no quarter to the anti-Semitic Left.

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Peb! for President 2017!

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I'm unsure. On one hand, this has been fairly well covered on the news. On the other hand, many people are just now discovering that Puerto Rico is a US territory and its citizens are American citizens.

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SPECIAL: The 2004 Democratic Primaries Part 1



After nominating former President Bill Clinton as their presidential candidate in the last three cycle, the Democrats in 2004 were ready for a change. Many possible candidates were widely expected to run- from big guns everyone was watching like Senator Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and even Bill Clinton himself, to other popular politicians like Tom Daschle, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, Bob Graham, Joe Lieberman, Bill Bradley and Joe Biden.

Though Howard Dean, a popular, anti-war Vermont Governor who would later gain steam and a big grassroots following, announced an exploratory committee in May 31st of the year 2002, the race is considered to have truly begun in January 1st, 2003, when, in a joint New Year's Eve statement, former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton have both announced that they will not be running for President in 2004. These announcements cleared the field considerably, and caused a lot of jockeying among potential candidates- a day later, both Senators John Edwards (D-NC) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) announced exploratory committees, and they were followed by Former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Massachussetts Senator (January 4th) Senator John Kerry (January 6th), Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (January 11th) and Florida Senator Bob Graham (January 12th).

However, everyone was still waiting for one, major hurdle to potentially get itself out of the way- former Vice President Al Gore was giving mixed signs about his intentions, and many of the more establishment-minded Democrats were anxiously waiting for his announcement. Though most assumed that he would decline to run after saying in a December interview that "the Democrats need a fresh face", he changed his opinion and surprised pundits by declaring a run in January 21st.


Al Gore's announcement in Nashville, Tennessee, surprised many and shook the political world

Gore's decision pulled the rag from beneath the potential candidates, deterring many of them from running. Polls were showing him decisively leading the pack, with his post-Vice Presidential environment advocacy adding grassroots popularity to his already existent establishment support. As a result, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Chris Dodd announced, in the following two weeks, that they would not be running for President, rescinding their exploratory committees.

However, some candidates were not deterred. Into a field populated only by Activist Al Sharpton and Al Gore himself jumped Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) in January 29th, Senator Fmr. Sen. Carol Mosely Braun (D-IL) in February 18th, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) a day after her and finally, Senator Bob Graham in February 28th. Though both had been, de-facto, candidates for quite a while, Howard Dean and John Edwards both announced officially months after the others- Dean in June 23rd and Edwards in September 16th. A day later, September 17th, retired General Wesley Clark also announced his candidacy after many attempts to draft him. And thus, the field was complete, and the race was on.


The 2004 Democratic candidates

At first, as the primary season heated up, the biggest challenger to Al Gore, according to opinion polls, was Former Minority Leader Gephardt, who still had strength within the establishment and some support among grassroots. He was followed by Senator Bob Graham, whose popularity and location in a swingstate gave him a strong appeal. This is an example of a poll conducted during the month of September, that shows the state of the race:

2004 Democratic Primary (National)
Al Gore- 42%
Dick Gephardt- 17%
Bob Graham- 13%
Howard Dean- 7%
Wesley Clark- 6%
John Edwards- 4%
Dennis Kucinich- 2%
Carol Mosely Brown- 2%
Al Sharpton- 1%
Undecided- 6%

However, soon enough, both of Gore's major opponents begun to slip. Lackluster debate performances and an inability to excite the base and find themselves a niche to run on harmed both candidates, and their polling numbers swiftly decreased. Bob Graham dropped out of the race in October 6th, and though he stayed in the race, Rep. Gephardt was no longer that much of a viable contender. A new power rose to challenge Gore in their stead: Governor Howard Dean (D-VT).


Howard Dean swiftly gained grassroots popularity, becoming Al Gore's biggest challenger

With powerful, energetic speeches and a strong internet operation, Dean gained a strong, loyal and enthusiastic grassroots following of anti-war progressives. With that, he became Gore's major opponent, and started gaining endorsements from progressive politicians. Wesley Clark also rose in the polls, his experience as General earning him respect and support from some voters.

In January 13th, the non-binding Washington D.C. primary is won by Dean, though Gore didn't contest it. Braun, who placed third after Dean and Sharpton, withdrew from the race following it. With that contest out of the way, Democrats were ready for the early states to start voting. Gore was still strongly leading the polls, but his lead eroded and Howard Dean was breaking into the twenties:

2004 Democratic Primary (National)
Al Gore- 43%
Howard Dean- 21%
Wesley Clark- 14%
John Edwards- 9%
Dick Gephardt- 8%
Dennis Kucinich- 3%
Al Sharpton- 2%
Undecided- 5%

To be continued...

Looks like a great timeline, ParrotGuy

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Casey Cagle. Keep Georgia (Atlas) blue!

Cagle is awesome

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We should be arming him to the teeth. Instead of bombing him, we should be letting him off the chain.

Do you hate Israel?

Not particularly (I was actually very much against Obama's last minute attempt to screw Israel over at the UNSC), I just don't slavishly put the needs of a borderline apartheid state above those of my own country.

Ignoring the blatantly wrong apartheid thing, do you believe that the Assad regime would be a more beneficial ally to America than Israel? Because... nah.

What has Israel done to combat ISIS? Where is the IDF? Where are the Israeli planes? I get that deploying Israeli ground troops on Arab soil is a bad idea, but they can surely do more.

Meanwhile, Assad remains the only true bulwark against ISIS in Syria, and we should be cooperating with Iran rather than antagonizing them. The idea that Iran is some sort of strict Islamic theocracy is a myth that the neocon's have been perpetrating since the Carter administration. In reality, Iran is really just a flawed democracy with a slightly theocratic bent. In Iran, transpeople are free to live their lives openly and freely, and are able to transition if they so choose. In ISIS held territory, they are flat out killed.

In many ways, Syria and Iran are more western than they are given credit for.

DavidB already responded well to the Iran thing, but let me just add- "fighting ISIS" is not the only parameter for a good ally. ISIS might sound scary but it no longer is, and yes, Iran and Syria fought them, but the Kurds and the American coalition contributed a lot too. The Iranian axis is evil too, so you're replacing evil with another evil, which might be lesser.
Israel, meanwhile, is a solid ally for U.S. interests in the region and is a very good partner in technological and military matters. Do you think Syria can give you that? Yeah, no. You'll be replacing murderous Sunni forces with murderous Shia forces and it won't help you in any way.
As for trans people in Iran- it doesn't come out of tolerance, but out of some cultural aspect or another. Homosexual activity in Iran is still illegal and gays are still being executed there, so praising it as some positive force is insulting.

Great post.

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Atlasian Presidential Election June 2018 if it was with the US Electoral College

House Speaker N.C. Yankee (NC) / Representative Doof (TX): 344 EV
Representative Ninja (NJ) / Governor AZ (MA): 182 EV
Senator Lumine (UT) / Former Senator Siren (NV): 12 EV

The progressive wing of the Democrats is split between the more Neoliberal Ninja and the Unity ticket of the Conservative Lumine and the Progressive Siren. Due to this, the more libertarian ticket of NCY/DFW wins easily.

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HP, but ultimately necessary much of the time, except at the lower echelons or in non-partisan elections.

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I mean, I've got an entire signature full of them.

Here's my full endorsement spreadsheet. Candidates I'm endorsing are in the first column, second column is the district, third column is the incumbent.

Impressed by the detail of your spreadsheet.

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Seriously, this was a thing: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gTq6fLxK4rU

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As I said on AAD, the biggest surprise in that article IMO would have to be The Big Bang Theory being super-popular in Iowa of all states.

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MI-SEN, black vote
James 67
Stabenow 30

MI-SEN, blacks under the age of 30
James 80
Stabenow 16

MI-SEN, white vote
Stabenow 75
James 22

MI-SEN, all voters over 60
Eminem (write-in) 36
Stabenow 34
James 26

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So I just ate more than everyone else in my family and I wake up this morning and am hungry still.

same like always