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25 new of 186 responses total.
richard
response 76 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
richard
response 77 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
mcnally
response 78 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
klg
response 79 of 186: Mark Unseen   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?
happyboy
response 80 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 19 19:11 UTC 2006

oh anne, it's cute when you blabber and your
adam's apple starts bobbin!
bhelliom
response 81 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
tod
response 82 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 20 07:56 UTC 2006

Twenex's new Yiddish nickname is Obtusawitz
naftee
response 83 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 21 04:24 UTC 2006

I'll still call him a gay knob
bhelliom
response 84 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
bhelliom
response 85 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
slynne
response 86 of 186: Mark Unseen   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. 
twenex
response 87 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
nharmon
response 88 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 21 17:20 UTC 2006

Oh brother.
bhelliom
response 89 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 21 17:22 UTC 2006

resp:87 - It's certainly very likely, or at the very least would not be
surprising.
keesan
response 90 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
richard
response 91 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
naftee
response 92 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
slynne
response 93 of 186: Mark Unseen   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. 
naftee
response 94 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 22 02:58 UTC 2006

i've never been to france :(
bhelliom
response 95 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
albaugh
response 96 of 186: Mark Unseen   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.
tod
response 97 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 23 23:12 UTC 2006

They don't get to see a nightlite that often.
gull
response 98 of 186: Mark Unseen   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. 
 
happyboy
response 99 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 24 02:59 UTC 2006

condi "fancyboots" rice.
mcnally
response 100 of 186: Mark Unseen   Jan 24 03:12 UTC 2006

 I can't believe McCain has any credibility left, having knuckled under
 to the Bush camp that smeared him so abominably in the 2000 primaries,
 but I seem to be one of the few who feel that way so perhaps he could
 wind up being the nominee.  I tend to doubt it, though, because despite
 heroic (if that's the word) amounts of ass-kissing he still doesn't 
 seem to be well-thought of by the party apparatus.
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