Campaign 2016

[Jim V.]

 "Your average white, middle-aged lady...the kind that hates Obama....probably think he's a Muslim."

 Dude - Your thinking has become increasingly stereotypical. You are putting people in boxes of your own construction. Do you have data to suggest most white middle aged women hate Obama or is this but another example of the "identity politics" mindset that has crippled independent thinking today in the United States??

Let me clarify. I do in fact know the lady I was talking about. She is a customer at my business. I make it a point not to talk politics with my customers for obvious reasons, but of course you still get the odd reference to "the n***** in the White House" or "Obama raised my taxes" even though the person in question then asks if they can use EBT.

Anyway, I know for a fact that she hates President Obama. She's said as much before. The only thing I'm unsure about was whether she thinks he's a Muslim, which is why I said "probably" on that issue. I just find it amusing that there are people like this lady and others who are decrying Obama while using their EBT cards and complaining that their Social Security check hasn't come quickly enough. Apparently socialism is fine with them, as long as its....ya know....for THEM.

And by the way, many middle-aged white women I know actually like President Obama quite a bit. So I was not in any way saying that all think the same way. Now if you asked the same about most of our southern-born male customers, I might have a different answer.

[SMiLE Brian]

Let's have bean and sweetdudejim meet up at a bar and debate Sam Adams style!

[Jim V.]

Let's have bean and sweetdudejim meet up at a bar and debate Sam Adams style!

Sounds good to me SMiLE Brian! However, noticing how ol' Bags seems to disappear around these parts when things get rough, I have a feeling he wouldn't show up for said debate!

[filledeplage]

Let's have bean and sweetdudejim meet up at a bar and debate Sam Adams style!

Sounds good to me SMiLE Brian! However, noticing how ol' Bags seems to disappear around these parts when things get rough, I have a feeling he wouldn't show up for said debate!

We're all in different time zones, here. This whole "disappearing act" is getting very offensive.

People get called out for not responding in "your time zone?" Or, on "your" schedule.  We're all on our own schedules and check a "message board" - "whenever." 

[the captain]

Larry David as Sen. Sanders. Alec Baldwin as Sen. Webb. I had a few good laughs. (It actually did a nice job of capturing the gist of the "debate"...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmwGAd1L-o

[Rocky Raccoon]

Larry David as Sen. Sanders. Alec Baldwin as Sen. Webb. I had a few good laughs. (It actually did a nice job of capturing the gist of the "debate"...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmwGAd1L-o

That was pretty funny.  Larry David as Bernie Sanders is inspired casting to say the least.  And Kate McKinnon's portrayal of Hillary Clinton just keeps getting better.  She's one of the few reasons to watch SNL these days.

As for the debate itself, I thought Hillary and Bernie both made pretty convincing cases.  I'm probably voting for Bernie in the primaries but I really wouldn't be disappointed if (or when) Hillary makes it.  I thought Martin O'Malley did a surprisingly fine job as well.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him picked as a running mate for either candidate (though like the sketch implies, people are pretty sure of a Clinton/Sanders ticket already).

[Douchepool]

I don't see Sanders getting any part of the Democratic nomination for either president or vice president. I don't see the Democrats EVER nominating a Jewish man for any presidential office. If Hillary were to choose him as a running mate she had probably better not count on the Sanders supporters voting for her because I've seen little positive feelings for her out of his camp. Jim Webb won the debate with his "25 percent of Congress" statement with regard to failed foreign policy. Imagine that...he was the only Democrat in that debate who DIDN'T come off as a crazy isolationist.

[Rocky Raccoon]

Jim Webb won the debate with his "25 percent of Congress" statement with regard to failed foreign policy. Imagine that...he was the only Democrat in that debate who DIDN'T come off as a crazy isolationist.

You're the first person I've ever heard say that Jim Webb won the debate.  His complaining about how they weren't giving him enough time to speak just made him look petty and actually ended up wasting more of his time, he completely missed the point of "Black Lives Matter" and made himself look ignorant in regards to the movement, only saying that he's worked closely with the African American "situation" which couldn't be more vague and he pretty much defended the NRA with some nonsense about how the middle class should openly carry guns because they can't afford bodyguards.  Maybe that appeals to conservatives but running in the Democratic primaries isn't doing him any favors.

[KDS]

Larry David as Sen. Sanders. Alec Baldwin as Sen. Webb. I had a few good laughs. (It actually did a nice job of capturing the gist of the "debate"...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmwGAd1L-o

That was pretty funny.  Larry David as Bernie Sanders is inspired casting to say the least.  And Kate McKinnon's portrayal of Hillary Clinton just keeps getting better.  She's one of the few reasons to watch SNL these days.

As for the debate itself, I thought Hillary and Bernie both made pretty convincing cases.  I'm probably voting for Bernie in the primaries but I really wouldn't be disappointed if (or when) Hillary makes it.  I thought Martin O'Malley did a surprisingly fine job as well.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him picked as a running mate for either candidate (though like the sketch implies, people are pretty sure of a Clinton/Sanders ticket already).

As an overtaxed president of the state of Maryland, I can tell you that any support towards Martin O'Malley would be a gigantic mistake.  The man took a budget surplus and turned it into a huge deficit almost overnight.  What was his solution?  Taxes.  Raise the sales tax, gas tax, property tax, and my personal favorite, the rain tax (which was repealed by Governor Larry Hogan). 

[Douchepool]

Owe'Malley won't make it past the primaries. His supporters are like Jill Stein supporters in 2012 - endlessly myopic and offering little besides buzzwords.

[KDS]

Owe'Malley won't make it past the primaries. His supporters are like Jill Stein supporters in 2012 - endlessly myopic and offering little besides buzzwords.

I hope you're right.  Just in case, I actually changed my affiliation from Republican to Democrat for the sole purpose of voting against Owe Malley in the primaries. 

[Douchepool]

A friend of mine is a major supporter of his. She also thinks there is such a thing as "rape culture." The stupid burns and it follows both parties' respective acolytes.

[Bean Bag]

That Democrat "debate" was like a play. A jolly little skip through the park at club Fantasy Island.  Holding hands and acting like they were all angry for my benefit.  Just a bunch of cluess rich boobs, angry at imaginary shadows -- which included other rich people (besides them) the "climate" and the National Rifle Organization.

It was more entertaining than I was expexting. Don't all lives matter? Only one could answer!  

[the captain]

I don't think it was any more pathetic than the Republican debates have been (which were, of course, extremely pathetic). None of them are substantive in the least, but more importantly, none of them are debates. We've had more fireworks at the Republican ones, I guess. But fireworks aren't substantive, necessarily, either. (Usually the opposite.) The Republicans haven't pre-approved their candidate, which is nice. But the eventual candidate will inevitably suck, which isn't. The Democrats have, which isn't nice. And she will, which isn't. And as usual, Americans will get to plug their noses and vote for the candidate who wins the "slightly less offensive to my taste" prize. Huzzah.

[bluesno1fann]

I genuinely hope that Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic nomination. I think America would be best off with him, and I agree with the views he has.

[alf wiedersehen]

I typed in "What would happen if" as part of a Google search, but stopped there to read what other people had been searching. The fourth one that came up was "What would happen if Trump won."

[bluesno1fann]

I typed in "What would happen if" as part of a Google search, but stopped there to read what other people had been searching. The fourth one that came up was "What would happen if Trump won."

Honestly, I and virtually everyone I know view Trump as an eccentric joke. Like an American Clive Palmer 

[the captain]

I would caution people from taking the possibility too lightly. I say that from experience: in my state (Minnesota), nobody--NOBODY--thought a boa-wearing former pro wrestler was seriously going to become governor ... until Jesse "The Body" Ventura beat both capital-city mayor Norm Coleman (Republican) and political-family powerhouse Skip Humphrey (Democrat) for the office, mostly by playing up outsider status and feeding a cult of personality. It can happen.

The reality is (and I'm not sure who on the national stage realizes this), Ventura was a precursor to the near-libertarian populism we see now. Circa '98, that didn't seem to be happening anywhere, but this wrestler / suburban mayor (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) was preaching low taxes, smaller government, and social / personal liberty. He was a statewide kind of Ron Paul phenomenon. Except, you know, with pink feather boas, wraparound sunglasses, doo-rags, and crazy biceps. Not my political cup of tea, but he absolutely (as he said at the time) "shocked the world."

[Bean Bag]

Honestly, I and virtually everyone I know view Trump as an eccentric joke. Like an American Clive Palmer 

You might wanna ax the Republican Party if Donald Trump is an eccentric joke.  (They're still betting on that by the way).  One might expect the Media/Crats to eventually take The Donald more seriously, but as of now.... they're stuck on the Island.

You didn't hear this from me... but as I was topping off Jeb's pitcher, I saw Bern and Hillary checking in!  Complete with Hawaiian shirts, umbrella drinks.  Last I heard they was talking about how there's gonna be free college (or collage, if you're already a college student) for everyone.

[Douchepool]

This is going to be my final word on #FeelTheBern and socialism in general. I cannot summarize it better than this.

"Demagoguery flourishes where something can be said in a few catchy words that would take volumes to disprove." - Thomas Sowell

Such is why someone like Bernie Sanders commands the attention of so many of the "oppressed proletariat" - people who are not really oppressed but who are ignorant by choice enough to believe anything if it confirms their bias. This explains ninety-nine percent of anti-capitalist rhetoric.

Comparing low-wage workers to slaves is insulting to people who were or are actually slaves (meaning held against their will without any way to defend their person). People who work as package handlers are performing low-skilled work. Low-skilled labor is widely available (as anyone can pick up and move a few boxes), therefore the price for the labor is cheaper. The rarer and more in-demand the skill, the higher the cost for the labor. Supply and demand is really a simple concept; neither any amount of government distortion nor the cries of people peddling sound bites will change supply and demand as the one and only thing that determines prices, including those for labor.

If someone is working a job as a package handler while having children after college age without any other marketable skills, then there is a major problem. If people do not have marketable skills, how do they expect to get by in life? Sure, we can argue all we want about "a fair wage" or "a living wage" but at the end of the day, if someone is not worth anything to a potential employer, there's something wrong and it's not the fault of capitalism or the one percent. Capitalism is a system that depends on participation and voluntary exchange. The worker must make himself valuable to his employer, not the other way around - and especially if the worker expects his employer to pay a princely sum for his work. The employer could easily hire any number of equally or better-qualified candidates. Socialism may sound good on paper but it is in the domain of fairy tales or the most utopian of science fiction. There will never be "post-scarcity" because scarcity will ALWAYS exist. And the idea of "I worked hard on this" means nothing. The labor theory of value, much like socialism itself, is also the hallmark of fairy tales. No one cares if someone worked hard on something. They only care if the work enriches them. The worker got paid for the work to begin with; why should people care if said worker worked hard on it? Are they paying the worker? Yes? The fact that they're paying the worker means that the work is already valued and it doesn't matter "how hard" it was worked on - just that it was done.

People who live in the U.S. are part of the GLOBAL one percent. How come only the rich in this country should share their wealth? I bet people in Bangladesh would love to have the greedy American ninety-nine percenters share their wealth with them. People in the Third World subsist on far less per day than the "oppressed proletariat" here. How are the "oppressed proletariat" oppressed in this country? Notwithstanding their iPhones, Starbucks diets, Netflix subscriptions, high-speed internet, large-screen televisions, a library of video games and a high-end computer, kids born out of wedlock thanks to bad decision-making, closets full of "nothing to wear," and most likely a nice check from the state every so often, of course.

If the American "oppressed proletariat" lived in Bangladesh with their cries of "we are the ninety-nine percent," the Bangladeshi poor would loot, rape, and murder them all in their sleep because the American "oppressed proletariat" are not only greedy; they are vain and arrogant in their thinking. They think they're owed something. For what? Just because? Doesn't work that way. No one is owed anything - not respect, not validation, not consideration, not compensation, NOTHING. That is not how the world works. Those who think otherwise are selling something. There will never be such a thing as an egalitarian society because egalitarianism goes against human liberty.

[Bean Bag]

Debate tonight.  It will be far more substantive than the sloganeering and pretend anger we got from the Democrat's little pep rally of a "debate."

[alf wiedersehen]

I recently talked to some friends who legitimately thought Donald Trump is a Democrat in disguise and that his goal is to make a mockery of the Republican Party.

[Douchepool]

Honestly, given his long history of donating to Democrats (particularly Hillary Clinton) it's not too far off as far as conspiracy theories go. That said, he has about as much hope of getting the Republican nomination as Bernie Sanders has of getting the Democratic nomination - not a hope in hell. Thou shalt not besmirch the good old boys of Washington.

[the captain]

Well, the JV team's debate is over. It, uh, happened.

I'd love to see pre-general election multiparty debates. I'd love to see more formal debates. I'd love to see non-debate conversations. I'd love to see minor-party candidates being the questioners of major-party candidates. Something. Anything. The nonsense we get is just atrocious. This isn't pointed specifically to the GOP debates. This is both parties' problem. Don't get me wrong it was pleasant to hear Santorum and Graham joke about who is the better beer-loving candidate, or Jindal talk about how he has improved Louisiana's economy. And nobody loves total non-answers more than I do. f*** the question, say what you wanted to say (again)...

It would be nice to say I'm looking forward to the varsity team's event tonight, but thank goodness there is NBA basketball in season again. I'll flip back and forth between the comedy and the sports until the Wolves' season opener, to which I'll dedicate my attention. Sadly I don't anticipate a great game, partly because both teams (they're in LA against the formerly Minneapolis Lakers) are bad, and mostly because of the death of president / coach Flip Saunders over the weekend. (With the unexpected epilepsy-driven midseason retirement of U of MN football coach Jerry Kill this morning, it's been a shitty week for Minnesota sports.) But I digress. In closing, enjoy the nonsensical soundbites that rouse the simple and dim.

[the captain]

Cruz is so pathetic. Asked a specific policy question, he nonanswers with a cliched Gingrichian "media is so liberal and trying to play gotcha" joke. Then when first warned his time is running out, then when his time has run out, he begins whining that they won't let him answer the question he'd just spent well over a minute not answering. Sen. Cruz is a joke. Sadly just like almost everyone on both parties' stages.