The New Political Ethos

[IMINXTC]

Kinda says it all:  Win the hearts of a hard-bitten constituency by shooting a puppy for no apparent good reason then take to media to brag about it.

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem seems to certainly epitomize todays ideal candidate: one who knows just what to do in the case of the over-zealous.


Something about a woman who can shoot a puppy in the first place that just shouts "God Bless America."

I jest.

No...I don't.

[ProDeo]

I always wondered why America despite 4 years of lies almost reelected Donald Trump, you guys are nuts 

But then the Netherlands once was a very nice country, but last year the Dutch election was won convincingly by an extreme right party whom leader is convicted by the court for racism. He is now leading the negotiations to form a government with 3 other parties and probably the unthinkable will happen that he succeeds.

So we are close to be as nuts as you (and maybe we already passed you) and from now on I can not longer blame you  , the speck has become the log.

[teddyv]

Having been spending some time around Twitter, it is just amazing the need for some to post stuff that no reasonable person would/should feel the need to post about.

[RabbiKnife]

All politicians lie, especially the ones that claim to follow Jesus.  By the time you reach any level of political ascendancy such that your election even matters, you are by nature so compromised that you can justify anything to yourself.

"4 years of lies"... please explain.

How is any politician any different from any other?  They are all about power for the sake of power (see the book 1984). 

[tango]

I always wondered why America despite 4 years of lies almost reelected Donald Trump, you guys are nuts 

But then the Netherlands once was a very nice country, but last year the Dutch election was won convincingly by an extreme right party whom leader is convicted by the court for racism. He is now leading the negotiations to form a government with 3 other parties and probably the unthinkable will happen that he succeeds.

So we are close to be as nuts as you (and maybe we already passed you) and from now on I can not longer blame you  , the speck has become the log.

Did you see the alternative to Trump? It feels like the scene at the end of the original Ghostbusters movie when the ghostbusters are invited to "choose the form of the destroyer".

What is pretty sad is that a country of over 300,000,000 people apparently can't find any better candidates than the two we're offered.

[RabbiKnife]

They don't want a better candidate i.e. a true statesman.

They want a political power that will get them their stuff at the expense of other American's stuff.

So a "good candidate" cannot be elected, as the philosophical, societal, and economic desires are too disparate.

[Oscar_Kipling]

All politicians lie, especially the ones that claim to follow Jesus.  By the time you reach any level of political ascendancy such that your election even matters, you are by nature so compromised that you can justify anything to yourself.

"4 years of lies"... please explain.

How is any politician any different from any other?  They are all about power for the sake of power (see the book 1984).

Every day it feels more and more like the only point of reference for concepts of totalitarianism, oppression and surveillance states that people have is 1984. Its like, perhaps try reading a second book. Maybe something outside of a 75 year old novel. Its not so much that there are no useful ideas and helpful analogies that can be gleaned from the book, its that this highschool staple that should be treated as an accessible introduction to complex topics is instead often presented as the definative work on pathological political systems. It is at the end of the day it is a novel with simplistic representations of people and the morally complex landscape that produces, inhabits, maintains and even overturns pathological political systems. "See 1984" or "Read 1984" isn't informative analysis of our political climate its what people do instead of that to transmit some vague insinuations about how scary it all is. By my reckoning it doesn't lead to a deeper understanding of the dangers posed by whatever item prompted the book recommendation it just pastes over it with some sloganic labels that we can all gawk at,  superficially react to over and exchange like political pokemon cards. That being said, If you really want to understand what I'm talking about you should read an awesome book called "1984".

Anyway those are just some of my personal picadilloes with 1984 recommendations, my true unsolicited criticism is the flattening power of "How is any politician any different from any other?  They are all about power for the sake of power.". Just as people like to assert that "everybody is racist" as if it follows from this rather dubious premise that any and all opposition or sometimes just a particular expression of opposition is hypocritical and is therefore invalid in some way. Even though I think we can all agree that you shouldn't rob a bank, There are more destructive and less destructive ways to go about it. I personally believe that Hank "Murder-Everybody-In-The-Bank" McCoy's style of robbery is susceptible to some vectors of criticism that Gaspar "Hypnotize-The-Manager-Into-Enthusiastically-Relenquishing-The-Cash" Romanov's style isn't. Does that mean that on some level I'm pro bank robbery? I don't think so but to let some folks tell it it does, or at least its a disgusting unjustified double standard worthy of sending me to the pillories to be pelted with spoiled tomatoes and rancid cabbages.

And before you get all huffy, remember that I'm only telling you this because I love you. You see the world defines love as this gushy squishy weak fawning thing, but you and I both know that truly loving someone means saying things that might hurt their feelings in the moment but will ultimately help them grow if they open their hearts to righteous correction. I love you so very much.

[IMINXTC]

In a twist of unfunny irony, the abortion issue will likely serve to sink the GOP (as D. Trump soberly predicted) in November, while advanced leftist policies become even more  entrenched.

"Woman's Reproductive Rights" tops the list of emotionally charged misnomers, while very, very few seem able to grasp or present  the issue in any meaningfull context.

A majority, right or left, wants abortion protected.

[tango]

In a twist of unfunny irony, the abortion issue will likely serve to sink the GOP (as D. Trump soberly predicted) in November, while advanced leftist policies become even more  entrenched.

"Woman's Reproductive Rights" tops the list of emotionally charged misnomers, while very, very few seem able to grasp or present  the issue in any meaningfull context.

A majority, right or left, wants abortion protected.

I wonder if it's at least a bit more complex than just "wants abortion protected". I suspect a reasonable number (maybe even a majority) would be quite happy to ban very late term abortions unless there were compelling medical reasons for it.

The trouble with outright bans on abortions is that they make for such unfriendly headlines, like the one in (I think) Ohio where a 10-year-old rape victim wasn't allowed to abort the resulting pregnancy. It may not be a trendy argument to say that if you consent to sex (i.e. a baby-making activity) you consent to the potential to actually make a baby, but there is merit to it. There's less merit in the argument that the person who never consented to the sex should be stuck with the results of it.

[Cloudwalker]

Personally, I have come to the conclusion that when someone gets into public office, any office, it doesn't matter which office, they have their common sense surgically removed.

[IMINXTC]

Yeah, what for years, since just before Roe, was a consistent, faith-based condemnation of abortion in most cases, has become incohesive at best as states adopt seemingly draconian measures, forbidding even remedial abortions for ectopic pregnancies, which endanger the life of the mother, etc.

From one extreme to another - liberal abortion on demand, including late-term, as mentioned, to the banning of even abortions for urgent medical expediencies and special circumstances too harsh to casually list here.

Each extreme faction frightens the other.

Common sense? Aborted.

[ProDeo]

"4 years of lies"... please explain.

Doesn't character count any longer?

Men like -

Kennedy
Carter
Reagan
Obama

[RabbiKnife]

A serial adulterer and a progressive globalist punk?

I guess two out of four ain’t bad

No, character doesn’t matter anymore

A pagan country cannot be governed by a principled leader

[tango]

Yeah, what for years, since just before Roe, was a consistent, faith-based condemnation of abortion in most cases, has become incohesive at best as states adopt seemingly draconian measures, forbidding even remedial abortions for ectopic pregnancies, which endanger the life of the mother, etc.

From one extreme to another - liberal abortion on demand, including late-term, as mentioned, to the banning of even abortions for urgent medical expediencies and special circumstances too harsh to casually list here.

Each extreme faction frightens the other.

Common sense? Aborted.

I think a major part of the anti-abortion absolutist position that's troublesome is that it so often comes from a place of faith and then seeks to impose that faith by force of law on others regardless of whether they share that belief.

I forget where I read the notion that if we apply the principles used at the end of life to figure when life ends but in reverse to figure out when life begins we can come up with something scientific and coherent, and work from there without any requirement to impose our faith on another. For good measure the principles used to determine the end of life were from a secular scientific organisation so there was no question of trying to sneak in religious convictions by the back door.

Of course if the secular national law allows limited access to abortion based on secular assessments of when life begins the individual is free to choose not to seek an abortion based on their own convictions of whatever nature, but others are free to make a different choice.

But, as you say, common sense got aborted somewhere along the line too.

[ProDeo]

I always wondered why America despite 4 years of lies almost reelected Donald Trump, you guys are nuts 

But then the Netherlands once was a very nice country, but last year the Dutch election was won convincingly by an extreme right party whom leader is convicted by the court for racism. He is now leading the negotiations to form a government with 3 other parties and probably the unthinkable will happen that he succeeds.

So we are close to be as nuts as you (and maybe we already passed you) and from now on I can not longer blame you  , the speck has become the log.

Did you see the alternative to Trump? It feels like the scene at the end of the original Ghostbusters movie when the ghostbusters are invited to "choose the form of the destroyer".

No.

What is pretty sad is that a country of over 300,000,000 people apparently can't find any better candidates than the two we're offered.

Indeed. We are facing a similar problem here and we have about 16-18 parties.