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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 186 responses total. |
mcnally
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response 75 of 186:
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Jan 19 02:43 UTC 2006 |
I never pretended it wasn't a sucker bet, in fact I say exactly that
in #73. My point is that despite widespread dissatisfaction with
current officeholders in the legislative and executive branches that
I nevertheless expect very little to change as a result of the 2006
Congressional elections. The wager offer is a way of driving that
point home and I'm not at all surprised that you wouldn't want to take
me up on the offer.
Things are not going to change unless people get a whole lot angrier
than they are now, and even then the change will not be revolutionary.
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richard
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response 76 of 186:
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Jan 19 03:03 UTC 2006 |
re #75 things will change just as they did in 1994. That was the "anti-
incumbent" bias sprang up, and this wellspring of anger chased the
democrats out of control of the House for the first time in forty
years. It happened in '94, it could happen again. If enough young
americans die overseas and we are losing the war, if there is
corruption scandal upon corruption scandal, if gas prices keep going
through the roof and the defecit keeps skyrocketing and we have another
recession. People WILL get angry. Only this time the GOP is in power,
they are the ones in the position to be blamed, and they will be the
ones thrown out.
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richard
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response 77 of 186:
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Jan 19 03:04 UTC 2006 |
And yes there will still be GOP bastions like Delay's Texas heartland,
but in middle america, michigan, ohio, missouri, florida, the midwest,
the rockies, those are centerist regions fully capable of voting either
way the wind is blowing.
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mcnally
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response 78 of 186:
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Jan 19 06:30 UTC 2006 |
No, you don't get it. Michigan, as a state, might be damn close to
a 50/50 split, but the congressional districts are almost all drawn
so that they're 60/40 or 65/35. It'd take a 30 point swing to change
the party representing one of the latter districts. The liberal and
conservative voters in each state aren't distributed evenly, they're
grouped, somewhat, into more and less affluent areas, more urban or
more rural, older vs. newer, etc.. And while districts have always
been drawn to benefit the party in power in the past several redrawing
cycles the parties have gotten a great deal better at it.
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klg
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response 79 of 186:
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Jan 19 11:56 UTC 2006 |
Blatant anti-semitism is often later excused as "cheap shots."
First, RW is certain of Democratic electoral victories, then in his
next response he uses up his quota of "if"s for the next 3 years?
Which is it, oh the great prognosticator?? Are you still sure Howard
Dean will take the White House in '04?
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happyboy
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response 80 of 186:
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Jan 19 19:11 UTC 2006 |
oh anne, it's cute when you blabber and your
adam's apple starts bobbin!
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bhelliom
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response 81 of 186:
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Jan 20 07:28 UTC 2006 |
resp:61 - You said you were jewish, which I consider to be a minority
group. I've said this already. Quit being so obtuse.
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tod
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response 82 of 186:
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Jan 20 07:56 UTC 2006 |
Twenex's new Yiddish nickname is Obtusawitz
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naftee
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response 83 of 186:
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Jan 21 04:24 UTC 2006 |
I'll still call him a gay knob
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bhelliom
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response 84 of 186:
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Jan 21 15:24 UTC 2006 |
resp:68 - I'm basing my findings on the experiences of other African
Americans studying in Europe, as well as research on the status of
minorities in European countries. As for the case of my friends, it
didn't matter that they had a facility with the language of the coutry
in which they were based. On a few occassions, they were told that they
would not be served at a restaurant they would select for a meal. I
have no problem with traveling to Europe and finding out for myself, I
just feel that I'd have less of a chance making something of myself
across the pond than I would here.
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bhelliom
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response 85 of 186:
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Jan 21 15:28 UTC 2006 |
'Blatant anti-semitism is often later excused as "cheap shots."'
Whose is that in response to, klg? I'm trying to find somehting from
recent user posts, and I can't find anything.
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slynne
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response 86 of 186:
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Jan 21 17:00 UTC 2006 |
re: racism in Europe. It probably depends on the country too. I have
some African American friends who went to Germany with me and they found
that people were shocked to see them because there simply were not *any*
black people where we were (Hamburg). I dont think anyone outright
treated them badly but people stared a lot. I have had African American
friends describe similar experiences in Sweden and Denmark.
In countries like France and England where there are a lot of black
immigrants, things might be different.
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twenex
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response 87 of 186:
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Jan 21 17:04 UTC 2006 |
I suspect an African American would be shunned these days in Europe not for
being African, but for being American.
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nharmon
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response 88 of 186:
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Jan 21 17:20 UTC 2006 |
Oh brother.
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bhelliom
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response 89 of 186:
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Jan 21 17:22 UTC 2006 |
resp:87 - It's certainly very likely, or at the very least would not be
surprising.
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keesan
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response 90 of 186:
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Jan 21 18:33 UTC 2006 |
A Sudanese neighbor of mine in a dorm in Macedonia, dental student who fixed
one of my teeth when I was a student there, married a Macedonian woman and
they were planning to move to Germany because they would be treated normally
there. A Polish roommate of mine married to a Nigerian student in Warsaw said
she could not go to the store with him because people would assume she was
a prostitute, and they were planning to move to his country after graduation.
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richard
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response 91 of 186:
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Jan 21 19:32 UTC 2006 |
slynne wrote in #86:
"In countries like France and England where there are a lot of black
immigrants, things might be different.
Have you been to France or watched the news about there recently? They
are having race riots in France, bad ones. France has long welcomed
the citizens of their former French African colonies to move there, and
now France is very multi-ethnic in certain areas, and a certain segment
of the locals DO NOT like it. There's as much racism in Europe as
there is in America, lets not kid ourselves.
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naftee
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response 92 of 186:
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Jan 21 21:42 UTC 2006 |
racism in france is due to long-standing French families feeling alienated
by the new immigrants. don't forget that the people who started the fires
were younger, second generation immigrant-french citizens.
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slynne
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response 93 of 186:
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Jan 21 22:34 UTC 2006 |
As it happens, I have both been to France and have heard the news about
the riots in the Paris suburbs. That is why I said that things in France
*might* be different. There is hostility in France towards black African
immigrants but that does not necessarily mean that such hostility would
apply to African-American tourists. I simply dont know if it would or
wouldnt.
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naftee
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response 94 of 186:
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Jan 22 02:58 UTC 2006 |
i've never been to france :(
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bhelliom
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response 95 of 186:
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Jan 22 06:07 UTC 2006 |
I suspect that the cases I know about may have been in part due to these
students being mistaken for Africans, but I don't recall my friends
making such an connection.
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albaugh
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response 96 of 186:
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Jan 23 21:36 UTC 2006 |
As a white when visiting the Philippines I get noticed, perhaps even stared
at, a lot, and frequently called Joe. That doesn't make Filipinos racist,
just naturally curious.
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tod
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response 97 of 186:
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Jan 23 23:12 UTC 2006 |
They don't get to see a nightlite that often.
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gull
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response 98 of 186:
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Jan 24 02:19 UTC 2006 |
Re resp:26: Well, considering that the religious right's chant has been
"No more Souters," and Bush really needs to give them a nod right now,
I think we at least have a pretty good idea of the kind of questions he
would ask a nominee before sending them to the Judicial Committee.
I'm not thrilled with the farce judicial hearings have become, where
people are transparently nominated based on their views on issues but
Senators aren't allowed to get answers about those views.
Re resp:32: I hope so. Though in my darker moments I worry that with
the courts decisively on the side of the conservatives, the odds of a
fair election have gone down considerably. The fix may be in.
Re resp:37: I'm actually curious who the Republicans will nominate for
2008, because to me there's no really obvious candidate. McCain looks
like the most likely, right now. He's recently made some effort to mend
his relationship with the religious right, which will be essential if
he's going to get the nomination.
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happyboy
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response 99 of 186:
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Jan 24 02:59 UTC 2006 |
condi "fancyboots" rice.
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