loquacius posted:

I think one of the main problems he had in 2008 is that "Huckabee" is a silly-sounding name and it's impossible to take anyone named "President Huckabee" seriously. Eight years later it's not gonna be any less silly.

Hobologist posted:

So how do you explain that after the spike in gun deaths there was a reversal for a couple of years. Did people just murder defend themselves from all the people they wanted to shoot and had to wait for the supply to build up again?

JT Jag posted:

I don't know, if you repeat something enough times it'll just start losing its meaning.

If we elected a Senator Cockmangle to the Presidency it'd probably be hilarious a couple years, and then everyone would just start saying Cockmangle with a straight face like it's a normal name. Hell, if he's good enough maybe Cockmangle would become synonymous with the concept good governance!

_{^{I may have stolen this bit wholesale from Family Guy}}

quote:

...DuMond received his second sexual assault conviction from a rape perpetrated in Arkansas in 1984. The victim, Ashley Stevens, was a 17-year-old cheerleader and a third cousin of then-Governor Bill Clinton.[11] Although she is much younger than Clinton, they share the same set of great-great-grandparents.

...

[DuMond's case] "...became a cause celebre among some evangelical Christians in Arkansas after DuMond claimed to have undergone a religious conversion. DuMond's supporters argued that he was not being treated fairly because one of his alleged victims was a distant cousin of Bill Clinton. They accused Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, of preventing DuMond's release from prison in defiance of the wishes of his own parole board."[18]

...

Huckabee, addressing DuMond as "Dear Wayne," wrote to DuMond in January 1997: "My desire is that you be released from prison."[19] The letter explained why the governor had denied commutation but instead was recommending parole on the grounds that parole would result in supervision, which Huckabee was said to have felt was important.

The details of how much assistance Huckabee provided to DuMond remain uncertain, in part because the governor met in "executive session" with five of the seven parole board members to discuss the issue, and the administrator who normally took notes was removed from the room. This is a violation of Arkansas law as such secret executive sessions are limited by statute to discussions regarding personnel decisions, specifically to avoid the appearance of undue influence from the Governor's office.

...

Following his 1999 parole, DuMond moved to Missouri in August 2000, where he married Terry Sue, a member of a church group who visited him while he was incarcerated in Arkansas. On June 22, 2001, DuMond was arrested and charged with the September 20, 2000, rape and murder of Carol Sue Shields.[24] DuMond was convicted in the summer of 2003.[25]

loquacius posted:

You realize you are saying you agree that being frisked by the TSA is equivalent to or worse than anything the North Korean government does. Because that's what he said.

Rap Record Hoarder posted:

IIRC, they realized that a spike in murders didn't look good on paper and reclassified deaths where SYG was invoked to count as "accidents caused by self-defense" instead of straight-up murder.

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

What scares me about him particularly is that unlike, well, all other Republican candidates, he seems to generally avoid unforced errors. All of the clown car candidates from 2012 had an amazing ability to shoot themselves in the foot by saying stupid things; Obama didn't have to actually beat them, he could let them beat themselves. Huckabee is sharp enough that he can generally avoid that and put a positive spin on his crazy. In a presidential election that's a *really* important skill to have.

Rexicon1 posted:

Uncle Sugar
http://youtu.be/GhIx5Q7-iCk

loquacius posted:

I think one of the main problems he had in 2008 is that "Huckabee" is a silly-sounding name and it's impossible to take anyone named "President Huckabee" seriously. Eight years later it's not gonna be any less silly.

DeusExMachinima posted:

Politics involved hyperbole film at 11.

JT Jag posted:

I don't know, if you repeat something enough times it'll just start losing its meaning.

If we elected a Senator Cockmangle to the Presidency it'd probably be hilarious a couple years, and then everyone would just start saying Cockmangle with a straight face like it's a normal name. Hell, if he's good enough maybe Cockmangle would become synonymous with the concept good governance!

_{^{I may have stolen this bit wholesale from Family Guy}}

menino posted:

You're saying that all hyperbole is acceptable when talking about politics?

DeusExMachinima posted:

Yes and anyone who disagrees is literally Hitler.

mcmagic posted:

Anybody see this:

http://americablog.com/2010/10/teabaggers-joe-the-plumber-phyllis-schlafly-join-to-stop-anti-puppy-mill-bill.html

These people are just cartoonishly evil, aren't they...

made of bees posted:

I didn't even realize Phyllis Schafly was still alive, I associate her with Religious Right stuff from the 70s and 80s.

made of bees posted:

I didn't even realize Phyllis Schafly was still alive, I associate her with Religious Right stuff from the 70s and 80s.

A Winner is Jew posted:

Scalia, Antonin

fool_of_sound posted:

Scalia is actually a Native American trickster spirit enacting revenge against the invaders.

Mr. Stingly posted:

Is the purpose of voting in a democracy/republic to vote your interests ONLY, or must you always take into consideration the consequences of executed policy on your neighbors?

And I know this forum says the GOP is yourself only, and the democratic party is altruistic in nature, but stripped of all the bullshit is that actually the case? Not speaking to who actually rules so there's no copout about your vote doesn't matter, the only vote that counts is the oligarchy's etc.

For a hypothetical citizen who is in the voting booth, should she try to vote for what would make her life better, or everyone's life better? Did the authors of the constitution have much to say about this?

I feel like this binary choice is the entire crazy fulcrum on which western democracy tilts and it's always danced around, never attacked head on. What is your responsibility as a voting citizen of the U.S.?

Mr. Stingly posted:

Is the purpose of voting in a democracy/republic to vote your interests ONLY, or must you always take into consideration the consequences of executed policy on your neighbors?

And I know this forum says the GOP is yourself only, and the democratic party is altruistic in nature, but stripped of all the bullshit is that actually the case? Not speaking to who actually rules so there's no copout about your vote doesn't matter, the only vote that counts is the oligarchy's etc.

For a hypothetical citizen who is in the voting booth, should she try to vote for what would make her life better, or everyone's life better? Did the authors of the constitution have much to say about this?

I feel like this binary choice is the entire crazy fulcrum on which western democracy tilts and it's always danced around, never attacked head on. What is your responsibility as a voting citizen of the U.S.?

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

I think that question is less relevant than it might at first appear because most voters aren't voting based on rational self-interest at all, but rather on team identity politics. Republican policies don't benefit Republican voters, they benefit the top 1% of society -- that's about 46% of the country that's voting Republican but isn't seeing any benefit.

I think if everyone were actually voting in their own best interest the country would be much better off -- we'd have universal health care, for example, and quite probably a guaranteed minimum income. We'd still have problems of course but we'd be a lot more like Sweden and a lot less like Somalia.

XMNN posted:

Well, for most people, voting for your own interests will be the same as voting in the best interests of the majority of people because you are part of that majority.

Mr. Stingly posted:

Right, but strip away the amniotic political stews that republican and democratic voters swim in, and focus on what they think they're doing in the voting both. Do the identity politics they adhere to motivate them by appealing to their need to feel personally secure, or their belief that Republican party platforms are what is best for everyone?

Gumbel2Gumbel posted:

Yeah it seems that everyone has forgotten that we elected Barack Hussein Obama twice.

zoux posted:

quote:

Former Graham County, Ariz. Sheriff Richard Mack, currently with the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, is concerned about the possibility of federal agents returning with even more force. Hundreds of protesters – consisting primarily of cowboys and state militia members – arrived en masse to form a human barrier against the BLM onslaught.

“It was a ploy to get people to back off, to get people out of the way,” he said of Saturday’s retreat. “They weren’t expecting us to get this amount of people here.”

When officers ultimately returned the cattle seized during the standoff, Mack said up to 800 protesters were on the scene.

“They were surprised by the numbers and so they wanted a way to get us out of here,” he reasoned. “This was a ploy to get us out of here and then they’re going after the Bundys.”

Protesters, worried about the possibility of federal agents opening fire on the assembled group of protesters, began to put some of the most vulnerable activists among them near the front. This tactic, they presumed, would force armed officers to consider the consequences of instigating violence. Mack, however, said he would gladly stand on the front lines.

“I would’ve gone next,” he said. “I would’ve been the next one to be killed. I’m not afraid to die here.”

He concluded that bloodshed is all but guaranteed should the government initiate a raid of the ranch, which the Bundy family has operated since 1877. Clark County, which was reportedly once home to 53 ranches, now consists of just the Bundy Ranch.

DemeaninDemon posted:

If only there were some sort of person or company you could hire to do taxes for you.

zoux posted:

Oh he did employ tax attorneys but apparently US tax law is so utterly byzantine even they have no idea if they are doing their jobs right.

Rexicon1 posted:

I hope Rumsfeld gets put in jail for tax evasion and being a smug rich piece of poo poo