Political lunchtime thought
 

With so many prominent Republicans wandering around dizzily wondering what the hell happened, I offer this: What many of that side don't seem to understand is that while they shout their views the loudest - their views are not the views of the majority. I think there are many people who are moderate that lean liberally on the social scale, yet conservatively on the fiscal scale. The current Extreme Far Right stance of their party scares the hell out of social liberals, even if they agree with their economic and budgetary views. And the blatantly obvious lying and fear tactics chase away more voters than it brings in.

I know this is the off-topic forum, but this type of discourse can't end well.

We can kill it if it goes badly. I'm not looking into having a discourse about which side is right - left or right, Dem or Rep, etc. More interested in discussing what went wrong for the Republicans in the presidential election, since even the top Repub pundits and analysts are publicly having this very discussion (and I think none of them have stated what I just said, which tells me they are going to stay in trouble until they figure it out).

From what I understand, Romney received less votes than McCain in 2008. If you can't get your base out to vote, you will not win any election. The Obama campaign worked exceptionally well to turn out the voter base on the Democratic side.

Why should it? Read John Kass' column in the Nov.7 Chicago Tribune

They aren't nearly as liberal as they think on social issues, nor nearly as conservative as they think on fiscal issues. Otherwise, they would be voting for candidates closer to the libertarian end of the spectrum.

I think there are a lot more people who are libertarian but either A) don't know it or B) don't vote that way because they are unaware of the great many other people who believe the same as them.

Socially, this country is moving toward the liberal. Toward the accepting. And away from the strict (sometimes religious) viewpoints. There's more "let them do what they want as long as they don't infringe upon my rights" out there taking hold. And to those in the middle, I think for a good chunk of them, this is more important to them than their own fiscal or budgetary views.

Budgetarily, I think a lot of people know that borrowing deeply from our future is bad, conceptually ... but the numbers are so mind-numbingly large that it's just impossible to wrap their head around, so they focus on the more actionable social issues.

MD Longhorn.....
 

Try coming back home.......

Things are left of left here in Maryland.....there is a reason why we call him Owe Malley......however i do agree on your thoughts about being liberal socially and consevatively fiscally, we are a center right country, however personally I do believe that if we continue that way morally we will see a huge moral decline.....go to an inner city basketball game and see how many kids are sitting and playing with their phones during the national anthem....damn that pisses me off !!!!!!!!!

Bob,

So far so good.....great sonversation topic...guys thanks for keeping this above board !!!!

Took me a minute to figure out the coming home part...

MD doesn't stand for Maryland in my moniker. :) Never lived in Maryland. I've lived all the heck over, but grew up mostly in Houston, Dallas, or Austin.

I think there are a lot of people who are libertarian on some issues, and hard line on others. Everyone wants to legislate some level of morality, they just all want to pick and choose (including me).
I'm libertarian on a lot of things, but there are a few issues where I see too much societal harm from so-called "victimless" crimes and I cannot go there.

Sorry MD...from your moniker I assumed you were an ex-Terrapin that moved to the Lone Star State.

That being said, the part of Maryland that I live in would like to take part in the succession movement !!!!!!

The secession movement... brought to you by the same people who claim that they're the only ones who are "true patriots" and "love America" and that anyone who doesn't share their view isn't a "real American".

I've never quite figured that one out.

What is this succession movement you all are talking about and what is it succeeding?

Spelling mistake... (Hey, I flunked spelling in 3rd grade).

You weren't the only once hence why I felt obligated to chime in to see what I was missing. ;)

A petition at I believe whitehouse.gov has been petitioning for Texas' succession from the Union. The petition has crossed the 25,000 signatures within 30 days threshold with by policy means an official review and response from the White House. As over two days ago, the petition has reached over 35,000 signatures. And a few other states have started up their own but haven't reached 25,000 signatures yet.

Growing up in Texas, honestly not surprised about this. Still in a state with over 25,000,000, it's not that hard to get less than one percent who think the state should succeed. I've heard that crap talked about for over a decade.

*EDIT* Seems as though I missed the joke.

succession vs. secession

There are over 90k on that petition. And apparently 20-something other states with similar petitions.

There's also a petition on there to create a law that says if anyone signs a petition to secede from the United States, they must leave the country.

And another from Austin, Texas asking to secede from Texas and remain a part of the United States if Texas secedes.

I don't believe anyone will be succeeding in seceding.

Indeed. It's been a big hit on the news here lately...you know in the state you abandoned. :p

Secession is the same as Alec Baldwin's (empty) promise to leave the country if Bush was elected.

And would those who mock this really miss Texas if they were to secede.

I thought they were all going to move to Canada if Obama won. I guess they found out that Canada has gun laws, legalized gay marriage, and universal health care.

A tell tale sign should have been when Romney lost by a landslide in Michigan, by a double landslide in Massachusetts, and got less of the Mormon vote than Bush.

Can he drop Rush Limbaugh off in Costa Rica?

The trogladytes in Texas should read what they signed that allowed Texas back into the Union after the Civil War.

After the Republican presidential candidates debate, everybody now knows why they called Bush the smart one.

Keep it civil.

Steve/Steven, I sometimes wonder whether you post things just to see if you'll get a reaction out of people....if so, you've got one here...

Be civil

You can't swing a dead cat in here without hitting a moderator.

No, but you can swing one and find a week or so away from the board if you don't keep things civil.

I don't know if his history is available to the new moderators / administrators, but iirc, it wouldn't be the first time he received a week's suspension.

I have full administrative access to the board. Moderators have less access, but not by much. All eight moderators have moderating privileges on the 4 main boards and I'll be expanding that to include this General/Off Topic board, as well once I get around to it.

However, far as I'm concerned, everyone started with a clean slate once we came on board. Those who can't behave (history tends to repeat itself) will quickly move through the progression of discipline -- by the time they hit the "In Time Out" phase, they've already been warned, probably more than once.

bob, if you want to go public, I thought you did poor job of moderating. You let too many slide by. You issued too many free passes so to speak.

It really amazes me that some only want to play the blame game. Excuse me for standing up for myself. I might not be an angel, but I'm not a hypocrite either.

BTW-I did chat with Mick a few times before he passed. He agreed with me on a few points.

It is what it is. All I wanted to do was play by the same set of rules. I'll just leave it at that.

Thank you

Well, Steven, you can't :)

I'm not sure that political posts are such a great idea or not ... but if we are going to have political (or other random topics) discussions here in the Off-Topic section it's definitely going to stoke the fire.

When the mods participate it upsets the balance a bit ... they can say whatever they want, but can also admonish / discipline other users. I think that when we are discussing officiating that never turns into a big deal — but in this setting it could.

Bottom line: Play nice! There's no reason to get personal or attack someone else, regardless of what we are discussing.

Steven — I'm not sure whether or not your comment to Bob about moderating qualifies as a personal attack (that's why I was alerted to this thread) ... but it certainly is mean and unnecessary. Bob did a great job, especially considering that he was the sole moderator —*if there is any blame for the poor moderating then (or now), it rests with me — so feel free to email me any complaints :)

Bob is welcome back anytime — I took over all of the moderator duties for a short time to (1) see how much of a pain in the *** it really was to manage and (2) to force myself to get some other moderators lined up because I knew the job was too much for one person. (So, Bob, anytime you want back in the fray just say so -- I imagine you may be enjoying your time off though :) )

OK ... that is enough of a diatribe for now ... I gotta get back to coding! :)

(I just can't come up with a line under my name as good as Brad's. Every time I see it, I go back and watch the video. "Get away from me, Steve. Get away from me, Steve." It's just priceless.)

I agree with this. I was a bit uncomfortable with the topic, which is why I haven't personally participated. I feel that if I'm going to have a lot of power at the board I also have to have a lot of discretion and sometimes not say some things I'd like to say. It's also why the only comment that was deleted was one that crossed way over the line of good taste (it was just offensive and I'm sure the person who posted it would even agree in a sane moment) and I left some of the other comments in place that would probably get deleted on the other forums.

That said, gang, I think we've all had way too much fun here and I'll just lock it up.

Bob, I can easily set you up if you wish to join in on the fun. Just drop me a note.

"Get away from me, Steve!" is actually a pretty good one! LOL :)

I love discussing politics (as some of the mods will attest to now that we are on Facebook together!) ... however, there is a time and a place ... for me that place is not here —*it corrupts things a little bit instead of just being about officiating. I'd rather have this be a place where we come together with a common goal and common interests. Even just focusing on officiating we have some heated discussions!

For a lot of people officiating is about fun. It's a hobby. An avocation. The vast majority do not do it to support themselves financially ... it's about their enjoyment of being involved in the game and the camaraderie of other officials.

My goal has always been to have this site be an extension of that ... so let's do whatever is best to keep things fun and enjoyable for all.