Favorite recent post by the previous poster

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Post your favorite recent post by the previous poster.

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^Now I'm imagining an invasion of German lesbians in the Deep South.

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Context:

Apparently, he was on the forum around ten years ago and subsequently disappeared. But now he's resurfaced. Can he please go back to wherever he was?

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It was an interesting election that showed some of the more fundamental, nuanced divides in the American electorate.  It wasn't simply a battle of "right" vs "left"

Yes, I understand that Trump won a vast majority of conservatives and Hillary a vast majority of liberals; but its interesting that, like the Brexit vote, the 2016 election has helped establish (at least in popular discourse) a top/bottom, globalist/nationalist, insider/outsider dynamic that has never really been exploited by national politicians before.

Say what you want about the candidate's respective performances in affluent suburbs or rural hinterlands compared to previous elections, but the trends clearly demonstrate that the 2016 election was waged on ideological lines that, prior to last year, weren't the most well-demarcated.

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Casey enthusiastically.

This, but Klobuchar makes the ticket more appealing.

When I made that, I had misread your post as Casey unenthusiastically.

-skip-

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The Third Bush Ministry: Part I

The Third Bush Ministry featured a complicated mix of new and old faces

While the negotiations to form a government only took a few days, the negotiations to form a new cabinet took significantly longer. George W. Bush had to balance his new gratitude to the Southern Coalition with the dueling camps of his own Conservative Party. This delicate predicament, combined with the loss of 51 loyal Conservative MPs, led Bush to have to cast a very wide net into the pool of possible ministers.

After several days of negotiations and haggling, Bush unveiled the cabinet of his Third Government in a speech outside of Number 7. The cabinet was a strange hodge-podge of Bush loyalists, Southern Coalition leaders, and members of the two anti-Bush Conservative factions. Observers looked at the announcement and proclaimed the government would be torn apart from the inside before the King’s Speech could be finished being written.

Third Bush Ministry - Elected in 2007
Prime Minister: George W. Bush (Con)
First Secretary of State: Thad Cochran (SoCo)

Foreign Secretary: Connie Mack III (Con)
Chancellor: Orrin Hatch (Con)
Defense Minister: Dick Cheney (Con)
Justice Secretary: Jeff Sessions (SoCo)
Home Secretary: John McCain (Con)
Energy, Business, and Innovation Minister: Lamar Alexander (SoCo)
Labor and Employment Minister: Elizabeth Dole (Con)
Health Secretary: Chuck Grassley (Con)
Education Secretary: Bob Corker (SoCo)
Secretary for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs: Conrad Burns (Con)
Transportation Minister: Pat Buchanan (SoCo)
Work and Pensions Secretary: Lindsey Graham (Con)
Secretary of State for Dixie: Richard Shelby (SoCo)
Secretary of State for the USA: Mitt Romney (Con)
Secretary of State for Texas: Mike Leavitt (Con)
Secretary of State for Cascadia: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Con)

King John II delivered his second King’s Speech

The King’s Speech, written and agreed to by the cabinet in the days following its formation, was a very mild mannered proposal, compared to what Bush was hoping to present when he called the election. The Government proposed “a hearty debate” on the continuation of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a major conciliation to the war-weary factions on the Southern Coalition. It also called for “the implementation of a devolved government in Dixie” within the current parliament, as well as several hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment in Dixie’s infrastructure. Nationally, the Government sought to reduce taxes on businesses and the middle class, while maintaining the current tax rates for the wealthy and lower classes. There was also a vague commitment made to “the reformation of the health care system” in the speech, as well as a promise to “promote the production of American energy sources”.

The vote on the King’s Speech was strictly along party lines, with the 330 members of the Government voting in the affirmative, and the 320 members of the Opposition voting in the negative. The Third Bush Ministry had secured the confidence of the House of the Commons for another term, provided that the 49 Southern Coalition MPs held up their end of the bargain.

Bob Dole and John McCain bonded over their distrust of George W. Bush and their military service

Once the confidence was secured, the anti-Bush Conservative factions began talking amongst themselves about Bush’s future. According to protocol, the removal of a Prime Minister by the members of his own party after the passage of the King’s Speech did not signify the loss of confidence and did not allow the Opposition a chance to form a government. Upon his promotion to Home Secretary, John McCain wrote a letter to his conspirators and wiped his hands of any plotting, leaving the group of 150 MPs agitated, dejected, and without a clear leader.

Bob Dole’s temper was also tamped down by the appointment of his ally Connie Mack III as Foreign Secretary. Although Dole himself was disinvited to cabinet meetings, as he lost his Minister without Portfolio honor, he was not terribly upset, as he reasoned that having Mack as a senior officer of the state would give him more leverage than he would have had as a Minister without Portfolio. While Dole’s group was always smaller than McCain’s, they were more angry and more likely to hold a grudge, as many older folks are, and while they didn’t take their first opportunity to knock Bush down, they kept their options open and always appeared a bit abrasive towards Bush, at least in the public eye.

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Welcome to the world of Trump. No wonder since their president loves the poorly educacted. Sad!

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nothing really, but I guess pick of meme

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Context:

Hubert Humphrey
Hillary Clinton
RFK
Estes Kefauver
Ralph Yarborough

Those are at the top of my head rn

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Yes, I know it's very early but as you all can see that it doesn't bother me much.

Anyways, this title is self-explanatory. Tell which states you're excited to see it's results the most and if you like to explain why.

Here's my map of interesting states marked green:

-Colorado: I think it's pretty obvious to see which way Virginia would swing... Colorado would likely swing the way Virginia did too, but what I'm more curious about is what would the map look like. Would many rural counties like Las Animas County go back into the D column again? How would college educated whites vote relative to last year's election? How many Latinos (rural ones in particular) would stay with Trump (or the GOP period)? A lot of questions indeed.

-Florida: This bellwether shouldn't be overlooked. There were a lot of big swings to Trump in the Panhandle that countered the swings toward Clinton in the Miami area. Cubans still mostly voted for Trump, but I could see them swinging against the GOP more due to the ongoing trend. One interesting that I just noticed from the exit polls was that the electorate was 35% white college-educated and 27% white non-college, yet those who are college educated voted for Trump 62-35 while those without a degree voted for Trump 66-30. Looks like Clinton couldn't appeal to them much, lol. Also, Seniors stuck for Trump heavily, but looking at approval ratings, that could change. Overall, a lot to look out for in the Everglades state.

-Alaska: Simple. Big swings to Democrats for a good # of years in a row and all of that stopped last year. Trump right now isn't looking too hot in such a cold state, however.

-Arizona: Do I need to explain? Trump's underwhelming victory, Flake News, Arpaio, McCain's popularity vs. Trump's, and ACHA. Enough said although more could be said.

-Texas: Sure, 2016 could be just a "fluke", but I think Trump has the potential to do worse. I'm not saying he would lose Texas, but I am saying that with growing urban areas, accelerating demographic changes, not so good approval ratings right now, and, like other states, an economy that may tank it's quite possible and I am pretty sure people are underestimating his ability to underperform last year's results.

-Nebraska-02: Was somewhat close. As we've seen in 2008, it's possible for a Democrat to win it. Yes it was redistricted but I think Omaha's district can flip in the right conditions.

-Pennsylvania: Right now, Trump's falling here, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The next Democratic nominee should really drive turnout up in Philadelphia, keep a lock on it's suburbs, and pick up some "Trump-pivot" counties like Erie and do better throughout the central portion of the state. It is a lot, but it's worth it.

-Indiana: Indiana is a very elastic state and there are a few signs that Trump could underperform here as well...just how big league would the underperformance be? I sorta wonder if Missouri could behave in a similar way. But anyways, Trump was tied in the Gallup average approvals and there are similar patterns throughout the Midwest that show that he might just do worse. Hopefully, if Indiana does become competitive, hopefully the next Dem nominee would seriously make a play for it.

Now what are your thoughts?

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Context:

I thought the Patriot Act was a good idea.

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#DitchMitch2020

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1. Any European who wanted to do so could have followed the election.
2. Most people had a "moment" they knew Hillary would lose - for me, it was about 8:30 EST.

1.) No? You know that there is a thing called time difference and that most Europeans were sleeping as a result of this while the Americans were engrossing themselves in the U.S. elections?

2.) For me it was the moment when Trump was outdistancing Hillary in Pennsylvania.

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GOOD!

Bye bye Flake.

We need to Senators who want to MAGA.

60+ seats in 2018 is possible.

I've always heard terrible things about you, I hoped they were false and you weren't completely embarrassing the party (as much as it isn't already embarrassed by that Orange Moron we call President), I am sad to see that I am completely wrong.  

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Endorsed anyway.

I want the Governor and Secretary of State to take each other to prom.

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There's nothing more ironic than Polish "patriots", who mere just three months ago "proudly commemorated" anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, marching and using neonazi symbols/slogans on the independence day.

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I describe myself as a moderate because I still feel as though I lean to one side (the right-wing), even though I disagree with that side on many issues. My main forms of agreement are economic (pro-lowering taxes, pro-reducing government spending, etc.), while the areas where I feel different are social (pro-choice, pro-LGBT, pro-amnesty, etc.) and environmental (pro-action to fight climate change). There is some overlap, such as my support for some form of increased infrastructure spending and support for school choice.

What I don't feel as "moderate" on, however, are trade-related issues. I believe in instituting more fair trade as opposed to almost unlimited or purely unlimited free trade. In addition, I am against the EU.

I would not consider myself a centrist because I view a centrist as being much more committed to free trade and probably less fiscally conservative.

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Was toying with what a US divided in 5 districts but with all the constituent states forbidden from bordering each other. I got this.

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Nina Turner just called Roy Moore "batshit crazy" on CNN.

Well, she's not wrong.

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Get ready for Speaker Steve King!

Ryan's an HP but I'd be begging him to stay if Cantaloupe Steve is the alternative.

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Even an intervention from God Himself calling Romney a heathen and asking Utah to vote against him couldn't stop him.


Titanium R doesn't give it justice, but it's the best I got.

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Graham wasn't a bad man from what I've heard, but definitely a very Horrible Rule. Treats women as sexual objects and if many people actually obeyed that BS it'd greatly limit women's opportunities to advance in their lives and careers.

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Probably crying, waking up from a nap as an 11-month-old

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If you're hoping/expecting the final count soon... You don't know Australian politics (it took a week and a half last federal election to figure out that the Libs had a majority). Postal votes can be returned until the 13th. That's right, the postal votes only have to be received by the Electoral Commission two and a half weeks after Election Day. We probably won't get the final count (i.e. who won the fifth seats in Bass and Franklin) until next Friday (17th). That's right, we won't know the winner of 8% of the seats for nigh-on 3 weeks
We'll know the final results of the ITALIAN election before then. The ITALIAN ELECTION.