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PoliGAF 2013 |OT2| Worth 77% of OT1
- Thread starter The Librarian
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hipsterpants
Member
I figured this would be the best place to ask this so...
Ever since I've come up to college for this semester I've been totally out of the loop in terms of politics and news. Like, not only do I seem to stay uninformed but I find it hard to get motivated and look this stuff up. It's really bizarre because when I'm back at home I spend a lot of time reading about politics and take a large interest in it, getting in a lot of discussions with my dad. Anyone else ever experience something like this? Any advice?
Ever since I've come up to college for this semester I've been totally out of the loop in terms of politics and news. Like, not only do I seem to stay uninformed but I find it hard to get motivated and look this stuff up. It's really bizarre because when I'm back at home I spend a lot of time reading about politics and take a large interest in it, getting in a lot of discussions with my dad. Anyone else ever experience something like this? Any advice?
Because that's the only way this ends before the debt ceiling and as much as he and his party deserves all the hate they get, a lot of innocent people are getting hurt because of all this.
That's the logic at play. We know it's the Tea Party's fault, but they're morons who don't know what they're doing.
I don't agree with this, I think Boehner has to fold and his party needs to learn a lesson, but I do understand the desire to see all the harm this shutdown is doing end.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Ouch, that's quite a harsh, sad profile. This has been a slow motion car crash for him thus far. And if/when republicans fail, it'll also be a pretty blatant case of them going deep into the playbook and still getting embarrassed.
1.Grandstanding and false outrage, ie the WWII vets stunt
2. A news network completely regurgitating talking points, including group tested rhetoric ("slimdown")
3. Orwellian misdirection on who "wants" the shutdown, despite multiple cases of Bachman and others saying they're happy about the shutdown.
etc
This reasoning is bullshit. The media needs to put pressure on a Boehner to put the clean CR up for a vote. Obama has to be strong on this and break them now or it will happen again in a few weeks
I agree with you, and to their credit they have been doing that as well. Today is the first day I have ever heard about the media wanting Dems to give Boehner an out.
empty vessel
Member
Yep. We'll know if the fever is broken if the next CR goes smoothly. If it doesn't, rinse and repeat. No more negotiations as far as I'm concerned, except for on Democratic demands to increase spending. And I will suffer personally for it, but that's okay.
Could you imagine if the Republicans force another shutdown? Could they even gather enough support for a next time? They have to see this is killing them.
One quick hit from the Republican voter breakdown (which you really should read -- in fact, I'll repost the link from earlier: http://www.democracycorps.com/attachments/article/954/dcor rpp fg memo 100313 final.pdf):
itshappening.gif
itshappening.gif
They'd be dead if they tried it again. After this it's too close to the midterms for them to try this shit again.
It should already be too close. I can't feel sorry for anyone that votes these idiots in again.
PhoenixDark
Banned
link isn't working breh
Thatonemoor
Member
Do we have any idea how the nation is looking at this? Or more people blaming the Dems or the Reps?
Polls seem to heavily point the blame at Republicans/The GOP.
Some goes to Obama. Very little to Democrats in general.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
At this point with the piece meal continuing resolutions the republicans look like a kid toying with its food, pushing apart the vegetables and eating the potatoes.
jamesinclair
Banned
Elections are a month away, is the shutdown affecting the polls at all?
I doubt it, I don't think anyone in the House or Senate is up for reelection until next year.
What are your guys' thoughts on A People's History of the United States? I'm about halfway through with it and loving it. I'm not sure I completely agree with Zinn's interpretation of Lincoln and the Civil War but other than that it's incredibly refreshing. Should be required reading in American history classes.
Some teachers are using it in their classes. I know a guy who is basically using it as the main textbook in his class (he uses the other one, but not nearly as much).
Personally I also like it a whole lot.
I'm not sure I see any kind of strategy here. The public isn't buying that a Senate vote against these is proof that Dems are against vets, cancer kids, and disaster victims.
It's just making them look like they aren't aren't listening by trying effectively the same thing over and over again.
As you suggest, they look like children, petulant children.
jamesinclair
Banned
Booker is up in two weeks. And the big cheese right after.
PhoenixDark
Banned
The Virginia race is the big one. The right is already making excuses about the shutdown dooming Cuccinelli but that's nonsense: he's been down 4-6 points for months. As expected, he's too extreme for the state. Meanwhile the religious right is ready to dismiss the loss on the grounds of establishment business republicans supporting McAuliffe over Cuccinelli, thus kneecapping him. Meh.
They'll always have an excuse for when they lose.
You could follow the journalists you like on twitter that way you don't have to do any active searching when you're busy.
I got it a while ago, it's a nice read. I'm only up to the ninth or tenth chapter, but I did "cheat" and read the last two. The moment where I hit that ten page or so mark, and read the pages regarding his stance on historical portrayal and the intent of the historian, that was very refreshing, considering the largely whitewashed curriculum I remember getting in school. It was better to get the political nature of being a historian out in the open and avoid the pretense of pure objectivity (and I feel that People's History is given validity especially contra to the whitewashing in teaching, which IIRC it was explicitly designed to do), but having just come form a small feminist book that touched on the sometimes political nature of academe, it wasn't a total shock.
I do wish he gave a little more text to the Boston Tea Party, but other than that, I'm happy. A bounty of accompanying sources for each chapter, too.
Sounds like different activity levels, possibly a lack of someone to regularly discuss with. Maybe you are quite committed in school or hang out a lot. When I was in college the pattern for me was similar to you; it was harder to keep up on the news because I'd be goofing off or hanging out, working, and etc. etc., and when I ended up back home it'd be easier for me to read. Especially since where I'm from is a little sleepier than where I went to school.
I loved scheduling. I checked the news in the morning even if only for a bit, and sometimes at night. I'd try to remember some of what I'd read in the morning throughout the day. If you know anyone else who is interested in politics and the news hang out with them--sometimes I'd learn something by talking to them or checking out the weekly debate halls. This is great if they cover a blind spot of yours interest-wise, but even if they don't it's good just to bounce opinions off of the same topic. Keep in mind I had a moderate interest in politics at the time though.
So consider:
1) setting aside time and making habits of it (I often reserved Sundays for checking out longer pieces of literature/videos, besides my checking up in the morning)
2) meeting other people/going to places where they congregate or issues are discussed
3) stopping by the library cafe every so often where CNN or something is playing, just to see if something develops
4) perhaps you may want to consider podcasts if you're very on-the-go. I don't listen to podcasts at all but I know others have posted here about good podcasts to check out
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This is a little old, but I'll be watching to see how this unfolds:
Gayle McLaughlin, mayor of Richmond, California, plan to use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages and aid homeowners with a special plan
It seems highly unlikely to pan out as well as she wants, but it's not yet clear to me why one shouldn't root for her. I wonder how severe the consequences of people not buying municipal bonds will be, or how realistic such a scenario is (beyond the one already cited.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
Isn't that close to what the polls were saying before the shutdown? I wonder if the damage to moderates has already been done and there's not much more damage to be seen with that for the time being. In that case the damage to their base is all that's left for them to care about, but chances are they're not going to salvage that either if they pass a clean CR.
I love how republicans seemed to find a way to get both the moderates and their base pissed at them at the same time.
When your base is so far right that they make Romney and Obama look like Lenin and Trotsky, you know there's a problem.
Remember that scene in George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' where Members of the Party gather for the Two Minutes Hate? Where they show the enemy of the state Emmanuel Goldstein on the big screen, and members of the party froth at the moth, curse and howl and enter into uncontrobble fits of rage?
This is what reading Tea Party reactions to Obama are like.
Fox News poll time -
Who is to blame for the shutdown?
25% Republicans (like Boehner)
24% President Obama
17% Tea Partiers (like Cruz)
The screen ticker during the rest of the analysis segment reads
"Shutdown Showdown
Poll: 25% blame GOP, 24% blame President"
Public divided on shutdown blame!
Who is to blame for the shutdown?
25% Republicans (like Boehner)
24% President Obama
17% Tea Partiers (like Cruz)
The screen ticker during the rest of the analysis segment reads
"Shutdown Showdown
Poll: 25% blame GOP, 24% blame President"
Public divided on shutdown blame!
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
Damn that is pretty accurate.
I've been thinking about a way for the democrats to win at least a little on the budget : could the democrats propose accepting paul ryan's earlier budget suggestion? It's higher than what they're fighting for now, and by attaching paul ryan's name to it, it makes republicans look even more unreasonable when they shriek about it.
I like how Cruz is somehow not a Republican now.
Avon Barksdale
Member
So 42% blame Republicans.
Yup. But got to have thay Fox news, "America hates Obama!" Spin.
Most of the country can clearly see who the idiots are that are ruining things.
Great Poster
Member
As a federal worker this is a huge relief.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303722604579117282938242994.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303722604579117282938242994.html
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
And I imagine when the GOP engine engages against Hillary with their usual vitriol it will only drive those moderate women closer to her
TacticalFox88
Banned
Yeah. If Hillary doesn't run, I have ZERO doubt in my mind that she's going to feel a personal regret for not doing so.
Manmademan
Member
I can't see anything short of being six feet under that would stop hillary from running.
Maybe she may not want to be President anymore. I mean, look at the shit she'd have to deal with.
I think, if any of that was going to stop her, it would have been from when her husband was President. She saw it all first hand and then some.
I think she'll run, and probably win. I can't see anyone the Republicans can bring up to challenge her.
Though, speaking of, this reminds me of that Disney movie, Zenon, that talked about Chelsea Clinton being president.
TacticalFox88
Banned
But she'd be credited with (along with Obama) putting the nail in the coffin of the Republican party.
The two national parties being liberal dems and conservatively sane dems would be so fucking awesome.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I'm just imagining it now...the same media engine that turned Obama into a sleazy, lying anti-Christ from Kenya turns full bore on Hillary and as a result moderate Republican women, half of a faction that's a third of the party, 7.5 percent of the population, look at it with horror and go "what the fuck?"
It's got to be nothing but those 2am phone call ads hilary ran herself, but re-enacted with the Benghazi attack. Nonstop for a year. " Hilary will answer the phone, and Americans will die"
NYCmetsfan
Banned
Congressman YOLO.
http://m.washingtonpost.com/politic...b5aa8c-2c3c-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_print.html
^-really confidence inducing article.
empty vessel
Member
That is unbelievable. I had to look up to his bio to see what schools to make sure I never send any children I have to.
Talk about strapping on the suicide vests. This is who the Dems are supposed to negotiate with?
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