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[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Cogendism.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Agree with him or not, he fought for a cause he thought was right and he spent his life doing it.  That's something everyone can and should respect.  RIP

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

He would be the best GOP nominee for 2016 and win in many scenarios

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Chillax on the beach. I don't understand these Hawaiians that are working so hard just so that they can go live in DC.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Definite freedom music.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Oops

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I've always pronounced it just as Be-gick, but the 2nd option I think is how it's actually pronounced. Though mispronouncing Begich's last name is nowhere near as bad as those who accidentally refer to his Senate colleague Murkowski as Mikulski.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

On a serious note, I sometimes think that if one girl bothered to have pity sex with him, then maybe those six people would still be alive today.

That's beyond disgusting.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

bobloblaw

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

1976



James Carter: 306 (+9)
Gerald Ford: 232 (-9)

As it turns out, Carter manages to expand his electoral map a bit. He even manages to break Ford's complete domination over the western half of the country by carrying Pacific and California. His victory would seem a less embarrassingly close, though still not particularly impressive considering his early lead in the polls. Carter benefits particularly from the splits in California (which, as mentioned, allows him to carry 2 of the 3 States) and in Illinois (with a mere 1500-vote lead over Ford, he manages to take Chicago's 19 electoral votes). These gains are partly counterbalanced by Ford's victories in Adirondack, Jefferson and Ohio, but Ford's narrow defeat in Allegheny and the disadvantage accumulated by New England and Lincoln's mergers eventually tip the balance in Carter's favor. These changes also have the side-effect of altering the balance of States won without an absolute majority, while IRL, Carter won 3 of them and Ford 7, now Carter wins 6 and Ford 4. Interestingly, their overall number is unchanged, indicating that the State splits have created as many close States as they have destroyed.

PVI map:


Ford: 291 (+7)
Carter: 247 (-7)

Indeed, the PVI map shows how many States narrowly won by Carter would switch to Ford if a uniform swing brought the national popular vote to a tie. It is the flip side of Carter's expanded victory: Ford already had a slight structural advantage IRL, and these alterations of the electoral maps slightly increase it. This time, Ford benefits from the PA split by taking Allegheny, limits the damage in the West by taking California, and actually gains a little with the IL split. Thus, we end up with as many as 11 States with a slight Republican lean. Just like IRL, this election remains one of the least polarized of recent history, with a impressive number of States very close to the median.

Swing/trend map:


Not much is changed here, in what is largely a North vs South divide (where the upper limits of South encompass Kansas, Missouri and Maryland). Southerners fall in love with Carter, while the rest of the country (while still moving away from the GOP) is more lukewarm toward him. Still, we end up with a second exception to this near-perfect pattern (the first being Hawaii). Indeed, New York actually ends up trending Democrat. I was really surprised to find this out, especially because this is unique to the NYC-centric State and other very urban States like Chicago or Pennsylvania moved in the opposite direction (OK, it's only a 1-point trend, but still). Maybe Nixon overperformed in the NY area in 1972? Or maybe there's something about Carter that New Yorkers really like? Or something happened to the area in between these two elections? I have no idea, but it's pretty interesting. Apart from that, there's no big surprise. Worth pointing out that Pacific ends up being the second most R-trending State. Clearly West Coast liberals really loved McGovern but weren't much thrilled by Carter.

State Data:
- Most Democratic: Georgia (PVI +31.72)
- Most Republican: Utah (PVI -30.85)
- Closest: Chicago (margin +0.05)
- Bellwether: California (PVI -0.11)
- Tipping point: Wisconsin (PVI -0.52), after CA and MS
- Strongest Democratic Trend: Georgia (trend +58.96)
- Strongest Republican Trend: Alaska (trend -23.95)
- Most Stable (absolute): Alaska (swing +1.26)
- Most Stable (relative): Indiana (trend -0.34)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The one who's (somewhat) competent enough to realize that fighting the gay rights movement is a lost cause for their party.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Why the hell does marriage still exist? It's the bloody 21st century!

Several American posters (Simfan the chief among them) try to pepper their posts with British slang and/or spelling conventions and it's really cringeworthy.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Once I had this dream where I was in this sheepskin tent on a white sand beach laying down next to an extremely hot and naked black haired white woman in her early thirties (I guess we had sex or something before then, damn why wasn't the dream about that?) and outside the tent I could hear some awkward grunting and chuckling.  Suddenly the woman wakes up and yells "NOOOOOOOOOO!" and bolts out of the tent at FULL SPEED.  I get up and put some pants on and then run off after her.  That is when I notice off in the distance Liu Kang doing Doyle McPoyle (from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) doggy style.  I get closer just to make sure I am not high or hallucinating when the woman yells "get out of him, you sick bastard!" and she pulls Liu Kang out of Doyle McPoyle and then she opens his legs and freaking stomps on his balls.  I mean she freaking stomps on them.

This dream has always puzzled me.  My friend who thinks he is a dream expert tried to say that this dream represents my sexual insecurities.  I disagree.  It seemed to be about me having a weirdass dream that included two fictional male characters doing the nasty and a random very homophobic MILF who I don't remember sleeping with.  To this day I've always wondered why the hot woman was so homophobic.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Eminem? And Beck? What year is it? 2005?

I don't understand what the year has to do with anything. Creative fecundity lasting a decade is admirable and wouldn't be particularly confusing in any other industry.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I don't want to do fast food, because I don't think I could lift the grease pans without spilling grease all over the floor.

...wat

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey/Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas - 516 Electoral Votes
Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin/Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts - 22 Electoral Votes

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Maggie is my Queen.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What the f**k is wrong with this country.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

It's always been Joe Biden.

What the f**k is wrong with this country.

Wait, I thought you were a fan of Bibi?

No, I want to avoid WWIII if at all possible, or at least survive it . Bibi is the idol of the Israel firsters who I despise.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I know this pic may offend some of you, but LOVE is LOVE.



You go straight boy! Have pride in that different-gender kiss!

Disgusting. How dare you pollute the forum with this smut. Reported.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I enjoy deprecating my own ideological inclination.

That's news to me. Positive news, mind you.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

RIP FF.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

No (literally normal)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Probably like this:

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Are they really on his ass about having someone who served as White House Chief of Staff under Reagan and Bush I, Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan, and Secretary of State under Bush I serving as a foreign policy advisor!?

This is [inks]ing crazy.