American Political Thread

[deathnight]

Romney making a frivolous 10,000 dollar public bet with Perry, for something he knew Perry was right about in the first place...

Most people would not agree that Perry was right in the first place.   Factcheck.org says Perry's accusation was false.  PolitiFact includes the debate transcript, the text of both books, and also says the accusation was false. And the LA times says Romney would have won the bet. 

Still making the bet probably wasn't a good idea at any rate.

[Synthesis]

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/12/mitt-romneys-mek-slip

I don't think I could vote for a sorcerer-king who doesn't know what a mek is.

[Aruven]

I've been a ron paul fan since I read his books. I loved stewart finally pointing out the media is ignoring him. However, its really hard to imagine him winning, because he's apparently not a 'front runner'. People tend to view constitutionalists as too eccentric. That said, the man's been involved in politics for forty something years now if I'm not mistaken. That's a lot more experience than a lot of people have up there.

[brytta.leofa]

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/12/mitt-romneys-mek-slip

I don't think I could vote for a sorcerer-king who doesn't know what a mek is.

C'mon, man, I didn't even know what that was.  (The morally dubious enemies of our enemy, not the creature that tried to bite my PC's head off while he was laid out in the salt flats tripping on venom. Yes, I did successfully run back in and rescue my mount and ride off and hide in a cave with a linkdead Red Fang whom I treated as a hallucination.)

[brytta.leofa]

Newt.

Peggy Noonan sometimes tries a little too desperately to be insightful, but folks seem to be liking this one.

[musashi]

My favorite quote from brytta's article.

What they fear is that he will show just enough discipline over the next few months, just enough focus, to win the nomination. And then, in the fall of 2012, once party leaders have come around and the GOP is fully behind him, he will begin baying at the moon. He will start saying wild things and promising that he may bomb Iran but he may send a special SEAL team in at night to secretly dig Iran up, and fly it to Detroit, where we can keep it under guard, and Detroiters can all get jobs as guards, "solving two problems at once." They're afraid he'll start saying, "John Paul was great, but most of that happened after I explained the Gospels to him," and "Sure, Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize, but only after I explained how people can think fast, slow and at warp speed. He owes me everything."

In reference to said article, I'm in the camp of people who could never vote for Newt because I know too much about him.

[brytta.leofa]

In reference to said article, I'm in the camp of people who could never vote for Newt because I know too much about him.

From personal involvement in politics, or from carefully following the news?

[valeria]

Newt Gingrich, on putting mirrors in space.  I read parts of this out loud to Zoltan and he kept trying to tell me it had to be a hoax 

[brytta.leofa]

That's the most awesome thing an American politician has proposed since Ben Franklin branched string lightning.

I think it's intended to be selective; you would turn on the light for an urban area, say, for part of the evening, and allow natural darkness during a good part of the night.  We already do this with street lights and such, but, by employing idle Michiganders to guard the uplinks, we can solve two problems at once.

[musashi]

In reference to said article, I'm in the camp of people who could never vote for Newt because I know too much about him.

From personal involvement in politics, or from carefully following the news?

Just from perusing his political history.

... ... although a moon colony and space mirrors would be fucking awesome.

[lordcooper]

...Gingrich ftw?

[TheBadSeed]

I love Ron Paul, but he is completely unelectable. Candidates need to be able to play the wings and idealogues to garner base support in the primaries, then miraculously move to the center in the general election to get elected. Ron Paul will never find a way to the center.

Newt? Not a chance. Most people with memories of the 90's will never forgive him for single-handedly turning the US government into the laughing stock of the world, and creating the bitter partisan rhetoric that's been the national anthem for the past two decades. Numerous government shut-downs for political posturing, partisan impeachment of a sitting president over an affair. I'm sure there are plenty of powers in Washington that would love to see Newt come into power, just so they can torture him, but it absolutely won't happen.

No president gets elected (for the first time) in this day and age without looking like a shiny penny, and the luster left Newt decades ago.

[brytta.leofa]

National Review has all but endorsed Romney: http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/285862

(Officially, it's "Huntsman, Romney, or Santorum.")

[boog]

National Review has all but endorsed Romney: http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/285862

(Officially, it's "Huntsman, Romney, or Santorum.")

If Santorum wins the nom, I am seeking political asylum in another country. Seriously. As some lovely lady suggested, I will put that I fear that the right to be able to do with my lady parts what I wish will be at stake.

And, well. lol. President Santorum. Anal juice.

[Cutthroat]

I was hoping to see Gingrich and Santorum duke it out on The Apprentice: Presidential Edition in Donald Trump's debate, but it got canceled. Low Nielsen ratings, I guess.

[brytta.leofa]

(Language warning, superfluous though it seems.)

[brytta.leofa]

I'm curious what y'all actually do think about Romney, since he's supposed to be the electable one.

[muddy]

Living in a state so far to the left, Im free to vote third party without a second thought. If Ron Paul ran third party and some one like Kucinich ran fourth party, people could vote without having the guilt thats pushed on them making them think of their candidate as a vote stealer. Then Paul could replace the Fed with the Mises Institute.

[Marauder Moe]

I'm curious what y'all actually do think about Romney, since he's supposed to be the electable one.

I used to think he was decently decent and moderately moderate.

Then I started to pay attention to his current platform and statements and am starting to believe he cares more about power/prestige than principles.  He'll say anything to get elected, and apparently has an ego big enough that he gets really pissed when called on it.  His interview with Fox's Bret Baier was very telling of his character, IMO.

[adrien]

at the rate that Republican screw ups come i bet people will finally look at ron paul, because he hasn't screwed up his words yet to boot he helps perry remember his lines....

Romney hasn't screwed up enough, yet.  but it would be funny if you find out he has a 2nd family

[musashi]

I'm curious what y'all actually do think about Romney, since he's supposed to be the electable one.

I don't think anyone in the GOP wants to vote for Romney. It looks like he stays right around 2nd place in the polls because he has so much corporate money stuffed into his campaign that the media is willing to keep him afloat.

But I have this sneaking suspicion that the wild rises and falls of the other nominees in the race is due to the GOP voting base just desperately looking for anyone other than him to vote for.

I hope it's Ron Paul ... when the musical chairs dance ends. Sure he's half crazy ... but I'll take half crazy and principled over a sane unprincipled liar.

I'm pretty pissed at Obama ... not enough to vote for Newt, Romney, or any of the other sell-outs from the right, but I am pissed at him enough to vote for Ron Paul.

[muddy]

Seeing that Darth Bader Ginsburg is getting older by the day, Id take any of he GOP (To bad a Classical Liberal/ Libertarian wont win).
 Funny how some want a living, breathing constitution that grows in meaning, until a corporations becomes more a person than the unborn. 

[Synthesis]

Yeah, because the people who support the Roe v. Wade decision are totally the same people who support the doctrine of corporate personhood.

Hint: if only people are people, then fetuses and corporations aren't people.  It makes sense, trust me.

[Synthesis]

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/gingrich-capitol-police-could-arrest-radical-judges.php?ref=fpa

[brytta.leofa]

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/gingrich-capitol-police-could-arrest-radical-judges.php?ref=fpa

I can tell from just the URL that this is going to be even more awesome than steerable space mirrors.