A WaPo headline.
Did that much really happen? There's Matt Bevin, elected governor in Kentucky, and there's the failure of the Houston Equal Right Ordinance, but what else? Ohio's rejection of the weird marijuana legalization scheme wasn't necessarily a conservative matter, because of the odd way it would have empowered an elite group of growers. Democrats in Virginia couldn't pick up even one seat to get to a majority in the state Senate, and San Francisco voted out the sheriff who stood for the "sanctuary city" policy.
Is that so huge? The linked article offers "eight takeaways" from the Bevin victory, which I'll summarize as briefly as I can: 1. outsider, 2. Kim Davis, 3. The South!, 4. Rand Paul, 5. Right to Work, 6. maybe not that radical, 7. pollsters wrong, 8. low turnout.
That 8th point seems to explain why a bunch of liberal victories are tucked away down at the bottom of the article. Readers are supposed to panic.
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129 comments:
I think you're right, Professor, nothing huge at all. Nothing to see here.
Professor with all due respect, the Kentucky election was definitely the most-watched and most significant. And it seemed to be one of the best examples -- on a growing list -- of polling failures. Failures in which social conservatives of varying stripes do better than predicted by the pollsters.
I guess Kentucky hasn't elected a Republican in decades, and then there's the culture war battles in Houston and Ohio, which have huge national implications.
More, 'Houston's Transsexual Bathroom Ordinance Massively Repudiated at the Ballot Box (VIDEO)'.
It sure was big percentage wise.
If you look over at Hotair, the Matt Bevin election was a tea party election. The GOP had set him up as yet another tea party candidate who lost.
Yet, he won.
So it is no big deal that Democrats have been so deflated by the Obama presidency that they have given up voting?
Low voter turnout is an easy effect on which to lay blame. But what of the root causes, Althouse?
Kentucky has had exactly one Republican governor in my lifetime. Despite the overwhelmingly "red" turn KY has taken in federal elections, Frankfort has always been a one-party Democrat town. After last night, all statewide constitutional offices but two will be held by the GOP, including the governor's mansion. The two Dems who won held on by the skin of their teeth and by having famous names. The state Senate is overwhelmingly Republican and the Dems only have a 10 seat majority in the House. Change is coming to Frankfort and it is long overdue.
Rand Paul is now almost a mortal lock for re-election next year to the Senate once he drops out of the presidential race.
Bevin ran on school choice and ending KYnect, KY's Obamacare plan, and he and his black, female Lt. Gov. campaigned heavily in urban Louisville areas, as well as in traditional Republican areas. The party unified behind him in the closing days and they helped offset some of his tremendous financial disadvantage against the Dems.
This was an ass-whipping and a huge wake-up call to the Dems for next year. Predictably, however, the usual suspects on the left are not heeding the warning.
In VA, the pro-gun control forces spent millions and got...nothing. Yet, Hillary is out today pimping gun control. They never learn.
Bevin is 47 years old, owns his own business, and has nine kids, 4 adopted from Africa, and home schools. He and his running mate are both ex-military and prominent Tea Party activists. He is part of the new generation of Republican candidates, similar to what we saw winning big races last year.
Rubio and Cruz are the same type of candidates in the presidential field.
Ryan is that kind of office-holder in the House. Change is coming. Hard. And the Democrats are the party of old, rich, tired, white people, baby boomers.
2016 is going to be a hell of a ride.
Apart from the deep Blue coastal states, the Conservatives and Republicans have been dominating state and local elections for years. The Age of Obama will be seen as the hollowing out of the Democratic Party.
In my little village in Westchester County the incumbent Bolsheviks were swept out of office by the Menshevik ticket. Is that worth noting?
The Republicans could really make some headway with a "No Penises in Girls Locker Rooms" platform plank next year. (I'm serious about that.)
In my small northern NJ town, two Republicans beat two incumbent Democrats. On the County level, the Democrat incumbents won.
"Well, they better get rid of "VERITAS" too, because y'know... Latin >> Romans >> Slaves."
Sorry, you're just misinformed. Slavery has never existed anywhere in the world other than white-settled North America.
"The Republicans could really make some headway with a "No Penises in Girls Locker Rooms" platform plank next year. (I'm serious about that.)"
It would play well in black churches, mosques and other locked up left arenas.
Here in the Soviet of Seattle, the billion dollar transportation proposition appears to be passing. The city clowncil has sent a rent control resolution to Olympia, and at the same time, raised property taxes with the proposition.
People here just can't connect the dots.
A Trump is sounding out over the land.
I assume you missed the proglodyte sheriff in San Francisco who kicked the murdering illegal immigrant loose shown to the curb.
If low Dumbocrat turnout is an is issue now, wait until Hillary is heading the ticket
Another schadenfreudifragalisticexpialidocious takeaway is the Mitch McConnell genuinely hates Matt Bevin since the Tea Party peasant actually had the temerity to run against him. Now Mitch is left blinking in reptilian incomprehension as his machine fails him.
"A Trump is sounding out over the land."
Huge: Trump messing with headline writers' heads.
Dammit... accidentally posted on the wrong thread. Need more coffee.
Yeah, Kentucky and Mississippi shouldn't be surprising--it'd be far more surprising if the Dems won in either of those states (and might have said more about a re-emergence of conservative Dems, rather than a general Democratic resurgence).
Pot legalization is more libertarian than left wing.
Speaking as someone who supports pot legalization in general, I'm glad that that heinous state enforced oligopoly idea was shot down. What the hell were they thinking? It's almost like they wanted it to fail.
Blogger Brando said...
Yeah, Kentucky and Mississippi shouldn't be surprising--it'd be far more surprising if the Dems won in either of those states
You don't know what you're talking about. A Republican winning the governor seat in Kentucky is huge.
@Nonapod:What the hell were they thinking? It's almost like they wanted it to fail.
California's overreached, in favor of pot smokers, and failed too.
I prefer half a loaf of freedom to none, provided that the half doesn't somehow lock you out of eventually getting the whole.
About Mitch McConnell, mentioned just above.
Mitch gets a lot of grief from the Tea Party but of all the guys in Washington Republican leadership, he's one of the better Movement Conservatives. He gets a very bad and largely unfair rap for being some sort of RINO, which I think is wrong. Who else had the balls to say that they'd work to make Obama a one-term president?
McConnell did oppose Rand Paul in his first primary. But the guy McConnell endorsed would have been a good conservative Senator. He was no Charlie Crist. And McConnell and Paul seem to have made up.
I listened to Rush today and he made the point (valid or not) that these election results are contrary to what the pre-election polls were predicting.
Here in the Soviet of Seattle, the billion dollar transportation proposition appears to be passing. The city clowncil has sent a rent control resolution to Olympia, and at the same time, raised property taxes with the proposition.
You'll soon see the middle class Progressives (talk about voting against one's interests) complaining that they cannot afford to live in Seattle anymore and just like that Austin resident from last year ("I voted for every progressive policy and now it's too expensive to live here"), will never be able to connect the dots why.
"I listened to Rush today and he made the point (valid or not) that these election results are contrary to what the pre-election polls were predicting."
That's probably the most useful takeaway--the polls were showing Bevin losing in Kentucky and he won handily, so the big question going into next year is why the polling was so far off, and whether they can adjust for the 2016 election.
"You don't know what you're talking about. A Republican winning the governor seat in Kentucky is huge."
Why is that? Kentucky has been getting steadily redder over the years. The Democrats who won the governorship recently are the outliers. It would be like Massachusetts getting a Democrat back in their governor's mansion (and likewise, the anomaly there was that they've only had one Democrat who could win since the 1980s).
the polls were showing Bevin losing in Kentucky and he won handily
You mean the polls conducted by leftwing media organizations that could influence the results of the race?
I can't figure it out either......
Brando,
The 'why' is because Kentucky has only been "redder" with respect to national elections. At the state level, Democrats continued to win the state house and the governor's mansion. The same has been true for West Virginia, which shares a culture across a border.
But let's just call the majority of state history an "anomaly" and pretend you are right all along.
Here in Missoula, we managed to elect one fiscal conservative Voice in the Wilderness to replace the outgoing fiscal conservative Voice in the Wilderness.
So at least we still have one out of 12.
The signs are there. Trump whether he wins or loses has given the people who want something different someone to rally to. Nobody will openly support cronyism or open borders. They have to lie about what they are doing. But that is all we get from DC.
This has been building up for decades. Perot was a harbinger. DC needs to be brought low and most of the people out here know it. Trump is going to outperform his polls. Carson and Cruz will carry forward as long as they stick to the anti-elite message.
Carthage must be destroyed.
In re polls:
According to Pew survey response is less than 10%.
"The percentage of households in a sample that are successfully interviewed – the response rate – has fallen dramatically. At Pew Research, the response rate of a typical telephone survey was 36% in 1997 and is just 9% today."
http://www.people-press.org/2012/05/15/assessing-the-representativeness-of-public-opinion-surveys/
There is a mysterious self-selection bias that has made traditional polling as unreliable as on-line polls.
From the Team Red perspective, I would have said the fact that they held the Virginia State Senate in spite of pitched battles in 7-8 districts was more important than the Matt Bevin victory.
From the Team Blue perspective, the fact that they swept all three seats up in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and took the governing majority, was a big, big victory.
Public sector unions had a huge victory in the Jefferson County, Colorado (Jeffco) school board elections. This is the 2nd biggest school district in Colorado. A conservative governing majority took over two years ago and began to implement most of the playbook of conservative education reform ideas. The same thing has happened in a few other larger CO school districts. The unions organized a recall against the three conservatives on the board in the majority and swept them all out and, in addition, elected two others to open seats.
This matters because the fight between Team Blue and Team Red is increasingly showing up in elections like that, and the public sector unions needed a victory to show they know how to manage situations like this. On the other side, this puts a question mark on the ability of conservative education reformers to enact their playbook by electing governing majorities to school boards.
Here are the other elections we thought mattered the most:
http://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2015
The Republicans could really make some headway with a "No Penises in Girls Locker Rooms" platform plank next year. (I'm serious about that.)
"Everybody should be treated with kindness and compassion. That includes the 99.7% of the U.S. population that do not identify as transgender..."
Now Mitch is left blinking in reptilian incomprehension as his machine fails him.
I suppose you missed the part where Mitch McConnell a) endorsed Bevin for Governor, b) agressively fundraised for him, and c) campaigned with Bevin and Hampton across the state by plane the day before the election?
Kentucky is clearly a red state now and some of those in the know are suggesting that some of the conservative Democrats in the House will flip to Republican.
"In fact, observers say they'll not be surprised to see some conservative Democrats switch parties
“I think there are people in the state House now that are ready to flip, to become Republican,” said Jackson."
http://www.wdrb.com/story/30435313/bevin-begins-first-full-day-as-governor-elect-while-dems-look-to-hold-on-to-state-house
"Now Mitch is left blinking in reptilian incomprehension as his machine fails him."
The fact is Mitch McConnell's longtime goal of building a strong dominate Republican party in Ky is finally coming to fruition.
@Althouse: Please, Please, PLEASE persuade the liberals and Democrats not to worry about the results of these off-year elections. It's all business as usual. No need to change anything. Look at the roll the libs and dems have been on since 2008! It's all good, it's all good. Don't worry. Be happy.
My theory on the polls:
The lower the overall turnout, the more that each side's turnout of its own voters matters.
And pollsters are having a hard time figuring out not just what a voter believes about issues and candidates, but how likely he is to vote.
Their usual approach is to ask about "enthusiasm": "How certain are you that you will vote?" They will weight the projections based on which side is more "enthusiastic."
But enthusiasm is a fickle thing. If you've got the flu or you just got laid off or you're groggy from insomnia the night before or you just hate pollsters, you're probably not enthusiastic about anything.
What pollsters should do is what the Census has done: Followup interviews on a monthly basis to catch transient moods and assess whether you're getting more or less enthusiastic over time.
Since Obama took office in 2009 Republicans have flipped 13 Governorships and I don't know how many state houses, won back the house and senate. Yet the WaPo finds space to write about a freekin school board in Colorado?
@sinz52, and that's the deal with Hillary Clinton -- come November 2016 there will be people who will climb out of their death beds and wade five miles through chest-deep snow to vote against her and there will be no one who will do the same to vote for her (except Sid Blumethal).
No Penises in Girls Locker Rooms
Please, please can we call it a "tallywhacker"? Penis is so ppp... penis is so personal.
Re #3 on the list and Prof. Althouse's summary of it reading "The South!":
Speaking as someone who's been a Houstonian since 1980 and who's supported SSM since the 1990s, long before either Clinton or Obama:
Supporters of gay/trans rights claim that the voter's repeal of the Houston Equal Right Ordinance ("HERO") — passed by a sharply divided city council after much bitterness and litigation — is all about bigotry. That's ridiculous, as evidenced by the fact that Houston elected in 2009, and then reelected in 2013, an openly lesbian mayor.
In fact, the ordinance was not mostly about bathroom rights of people self-identifying with a gender different from their biology. It was a statist power-grab that would have created a vast new regulatory complaint scheme, administrative investigations and fines, and criminal penalties for purely private-party conduct in which someone feels somehow aggrieved.
Houston's not anti-gay — far from it. Houston's an incredibly tolerant and open city that has long been justifiably famous for being willing to assimilate anyone, regardless of who your daddy is or what kind of private-part rubbing you like best. But we don't want some city officials trying to use political correctness standards to micro-manage our private lives or our private commercial transactions, which is exactly what this ordinance was all about.
And the pro-HERO forces spectacularly misplayed and overplayed their hands. This was the same crowd that were telling you in 2013 that come 2014, Texas was going to turn purple and elect Wendy Davis as governor. This turned out about like that.
They are starting to talk like Trump. Huuuuuuuugeeeee!
Beldar, I've been in South Carolina for 11 years now and I keep looking for these bigoted racist aggressive hateful Evangelicals. The search continues. They must be out there somewhere. Probably hiding behind our female Governor Nicki Haley (born--in India--Nimrata Nikki Randhawa).
Speaking of victories: ISIS 224, Putin 0.
What a strategic genius that man is. Keeping the Russia people safe, just like Bush Jr.
Actually Haley was born in SC, so she could be a veep pick. (Though that's not looking too likely). Her *folks* were born in India.
Only ARM could chortle over 224 people being blown out of the sky by a bomb. Only ARM.
I think you're right, Professor, nothing huge at all. Nothing to see here.
Yup. Move along please. Keep running people out of business for refusing to violate their moral conscience. Keep forcing your gay Nazi values down everyone's throat. The people just haven't gotten the message yet...
Just push harder. I'm sure there will be a SJW-Libtard election wave just around the corner. So double down.
How Democrats Suppress The Vote
Off-year elections have much lower turnout, and Democrats prefer it that way
(From Nate Silver's 538 blog)
Looks like it didn't work out for the donks this time.
Big Mike said...
Only ARM
could see how mind numbingly stupid the hero worship of Putin was.
ARM
"Speaking of victories: ISIS 224, Putin 0.
What a strategic genius that man is. Keeping the Russia people safe, just like Bush Jr."
Dude. Sick. Not to mention a stupid simile.
"Speaking of victories: ISIS 224, Putin 0.
What a strategic genius that man is. Keeping the Russia people safe, just like Bush Jr."
Yes, and they're just the JV.
I guess we are just going to have keep waiting for those ARM links which will prove that conservatives\republicans think putin is a strategic genius vs making the obvious observation that putin is a strategic genius only when compared with obambi.
This is clearly ARM attempting his own stray voltage tactic in order to shield dear leader from criticism for an undeniably failed set of policies.
Its becoming clear that the obambi minions are becoming more and more upset that obambis boyfriend is treating him this way.
And to think of how hard obambi has worked to be super duper flexible for his far away kremlin pal! Its an outrage!
riding squirrels isn't he, bevin had been given up for dead, as cuccinelli was two years ago,
"From the Team Blue perspective, the fact that they swept all three seats up in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and took the governing majority, was a big, big victory."
Pennsylvania has become two states: East/Pittsburgh vs. West/Middle.
Where's all the liberal worms such as "Once", the lame one-note that call conservatives "Althouse Hillbillies"...
Nothing smart to say, Garage? No Cookie? What happened guys, leaving it to ARM to change the subject to Putin?'
It's HILLBILLIES all the way down.
Suck it libs, the country is painted RED. Hillbillies all the way DOWN.
I don't think I ever left the subject of Putin. Of all the idiotic things wingers force themselves to believe in order to hate Obama even more than last month the idea that Putin is anything other than the desperate despotic ruler of a country that is bleeding capital and its best and brightest has to be the most farcical. Russia is more likely to become a failed state than a global hegemon, thanks in large part to the 'strategic brilliance' of Putin.
I guess we will simply have to continue waiting for all those links from ARM which demonstrate the point he is trying to make.
Gee, it's almost like ARM realizes he must spin harder and harder and in greater and greater ambiguous ways to hide the reality of what obambi has done.
Keep up the "good" work ARM. It's not exciting stuff, but someone on the left has got to do it.
As for the election victories "coast to coast" for conservatives, a few of those races/initiatives certainly do qualify as "huge".
The biggest being sanctuary-city man. In that locale, you'd think it was a point of pride to be run on and leveraged to easy victory.
I guess that just because garage might enjoy the thought of attractive young blondes with bright futures getting whacked by illegals packing heat, perhaps we crossed a line where many on the left realize that they will have to soft-pedal that a bit more until their super-majority is realized.
AReasonableMan said...
"I don't think I ever left the subject of Putin. Of all the idiotic things wingers force themselves to believe in order to hate Obama even more than last month the idea that Putin is anything other than the desperate despotic ruler of a country that is bleeding capital and its best and brightest has to be the most farcical. Russia is more likely to become a failed state than a global hegemon, thanks in large part to the 'strategic brilliance' of Putin."
We don't want Putin to succeed. That is why we dislike Obama because Obama has helped Putin succeed by being an idiot and foisting on us stupid policies. Hillary was the one who pushed the reset button. In fact to Hillary Republicans are still the enemies she is most proud of even when you include ISIS, Iran, and Russia. Progressives have utterly failed.
But to say that is Putin hero worship. You are a disgusting loser.
What a wonderful country we have... so many people so generous that they will willingly vote against their own interests! It's heart-warming. I sure hope all these changes that won't benefit them at all are enjoyed by the people on whose behalf the voters just voted. It's as cute as watching a child come up to an adult with a toy to "give away" to you.
All I know is that once I have my millions, I will tell a conservative that I appreciate him being dumb enough to have prioritized my finances in his voting patterns over the things that might have actually done him some good in his own life. I mean, I won't understand it. And I'd pity the hell out of him. But when a lemming threatens to kill you if you don't get out of his way toward the cliff, you've got to let him jump.
Yes, Republicans/conservatives keep winning elections, yet-
The liberals demand your 13 yr.old daughter undress in front on some swinging dick that thinks he's a girl.
"Policy" and "Judges" will insure that happens in the name of "diversity" and "civil rights".
So, yea--keep winning elections. They laugh in your face.
It means nothing.
Achilles said...
we dislike Obama because Obama has helped Putin succeed
On what fucking planet is Putin 'succeeding'?
He just got 224 of his countrymen killed and he is wasting what little capital he has propping up a failed dictator, who at best will end up controlling a small fraction of the former state of Syria.
"Policy" and "Judges" will insure that happens in the name of "diversity" and "civil rights".
So, yea--keep winning elections. They laugh in your face.
It means nothing.
Hey, don't worry, Browndog. I mean, Trump has some really, really good, really smart, possibly HUGE lawyers looking into that whole 14th amendment thing - and trying to figure out how the phrase, "All persons born... in the United States," might NOT apply to some persons born in the United States. At least, not if we don't like what their parents did.
And Trump gets what he wants. He always does.
If he doesn't, he just whines until you give him what he wants anyway.
Just ask all those Republican primary voters and Ben Carson voters.
So never fear. Threaten to have better lawyers and the Republicans will believe that you, too, can buy your own judges and policy.
I mean, Republicans believe that they can buy their way into everything else. So maybe the Trump approach has some merit.
There's video circulating which shows the Democratic concession speech in Kentucky. The speech was made by a man named Stumbo and includes a soon to be classic interpretation of the Bible explaining that Jesus would have been a Democrat had the option been available and we know this because the Bible in its allegorical way shows us that Mary did not ride into Bethlehem on an elephant. Stumbo developed the theme with the vigor of St. Paul just after the lightening struck "Go into your churches to tomorrow (that would be Wednesday, Stumbo) and tell them you are the the moral one."
And Stumbo swept on to glorious vision in which a horse named Arkansas Traveler ridden by a woman jockey is riding toward Kentucky and this jockey will build a new Jerusalem for Democrats only.
And what I liked was the way he told the truth about the Democrats because the Arkansas Traveler is a song about a man fiddling in a shack while rain pours in through his leaky roof. A passerby asks him why he doesn't fix the leak but he says he can't because it's raining. Well, says the passerby, then fix it when the rain stops. But the fiddler never stops fiddling, only remarking "My cabin doesn't leak when it doesn't rain." Yes! that is Hilary and all of DC and it IS travelling toward Kentucky.
Dear "Balls"-
You left out "under the jurisdiction thereof"
Wonder why-
Not me. Liberals are never honest in debate. That's what makes them liberals.
Um, because it's totally not relevant to anything Browndog, you goofy Trump/Republican voter you.
Only ARM
could see how mind numbingly stupid the hero worship of Putin was.
Which hero worship is that? One doesn't have to imagine that Vlad Putin is anything special as a leader to note the obvious: that he is beating Barack Obama like a rented mule as far as international policy is concerned.
As a community organizer Barack Obama learned how to "negotiate" by listing his demands and saying "or else." Comes a point where that doesn't work very well.
Dear "Rhythm"-
It was a nice day today. Why so...unpleasant?
The most basic, as in high-school level, understanding of law and history inevitably concludes that the phrase about being subject to jurisdiction had to do with states enforcing laws against people without granting them citizenship status or anything else that abridged their rights and privileges as citizens. This would include the way Southern states wanted to treat former slaves after emancipation. Totally irrelevant to any nugget of brain turd emanating from whatever lies beneath Trump's orange wig.
I guess you didn't get that memo. Don't tell me, are you a Trump voter, by any chance?
Obviously a Republican, in any case. Only a Republican in 2015 would not understand the context of the 14th amendment or deliberately misread it.
Why so...unpleasant?
Sorry. It's not you. It's me.
I find unknowledgeable partisans less blissful than some people might.
. Only a Republican in 2015 would not understand the context of the 14th amendment or deliberately misread it.
Ah, Only a liberal would make such sweeping, definitive statements---while being dead fucking wrong.
I'm so glad Ben Carson's in the race. Check out his theory on the pyramids.
Ben and Don. The nice side of stupid and the belligerent side of stupid.
This is the kind of stupidity that will save the country.
We should be happy about that.
Ah, Only a liberal would make such sweeping, definitive statements---while being dead fucking wrong.
Hey! You're the one implying that states could make an ex post facto determination to neglect application of the 14 amendment privileges and rights to people just because their parents acted undesirably!
But I apologize for being so harsh. I realize that the only defining characteristic of a Republican any more is denying any responsibility for what he or she says.
I apologize. I applied the soft bigotry of high expectations to you and assumed you'd be able to take responsibility for the words in your own comment.
I won't do it again. Say anything and pretend it will mean anything and no liberal or moderate or pragmatist or realist will ever hold it to account again.
Just put at the bottom a disclaimer: These words were uttered by a Republican, and as such cannot be vouched for in any way having to do with veracity, honesty, truthfulness or usefulness. They served an entirely partisan, entertainment purpose and cannot be used to vouch for the integrity of the person saying them insofar as concerns his/her views on life in the real world.
Since Obama was sworn in, Dems have lost:
14 Senate seats, 12 governorships, 69 House seats, 913 state legislative seats, and 30 state legislative chambers.
Yep, he's fundamentally changed America, alright - from blue to red.
And the MSM will keep writing those stories about how the "GOP is in disarray".
After all, that's what John Kyl (R-Arizona) did.
To be clear-
I'm kinda bored at the moment, which is why I engaged in this thread.
Mr. Rhythm, if you cannot engage beyond 8th grade insults....you'll be stuck here arguing with yourself. Again, still.
Since Obama was sworn in, Dems have lost:
14 Senate seats, 12 governorships, 69 House seats, 913 state legislative seats, and 30 state legislative chambers.
Yep, he's fundamentally changed America, alright - from blue to red.
And the MSM will keep writing those stories about how the "GOP is in disarray".
Nope, not disarray.
Just realizing that their true talents lie in being the kind of dishonest, anything-to-win politicians that they think all politicians should be.
Big Mike said...
he is beating Barack Obama like a rented mule as far as international policy is concerned.
This is lunacy. Putin is currently losing a war with the comically inept Ukrainians and is already behind the eight ball in Syria. The biggest problem Russia poses to US interests is that their economy will become so hopelessly sclerotic that we will end up having to help them defend their eastern border from the Chinese.
I'm bored too. But that's why I look to the 2016 Republican primary for excitement! The lengths they're willing to go to.... So fun!
I didn't realize that you'd find even that boring.
My apologies.
Since you insist-
Putin is putting Russia back on the map, and in short order, on every part of the globe, less China.
Browndog said...
Putin is putting Russia back on the map, and in short order, on every part of the globe, less China.
No one is this stupid. You are just trolling.
Mr. Balls-
Nothing more exciting that Hillary!
Clinton that is...
Yes, another--the same--only different--Clinton.
Why so...unpleasant?
'Cause that's who he is, and that's all he's capable of.
Eventually, the Alhouse comments section will consist entirely of Shouty Thomas, Ritmo, Garage Mahal, and Crazy Mary, all screeching at each other. And then she will shut it down.
No one is this stupid. You are just trolling.
Set me straight-
Where am I wrong?
what is the real difference between Sid Vicious or David Brock, and the trolls but the pay scale,
"Why so...unpleasant?"
'Cause that's who he is, and that's all he's capable of.
Right. Said by someone who presents himself to the world thusly! Prying open his skin in a display of vivisection!
Man, are you gross.
Me, I just hate stupidity. I have less tolerance of it than you do.
But then, if you hated stupidity, you couldn't get through life.
Making fun of the stupid is fun. Imagine all the indoor, reclusive hobbies you partake of, and the joy they fill you with.
I get that out of ridiculing stupidity.
I also get that out of a lot of other things, as well.
But I can't look a gift horse in the mouth when the opportunity is so rich and all around me.
Rhythm and Balls. AKA one more ball in the name than 'tween the legs.
And then she will shut it down.
I don't think so. After the last time,I think she understands the comments are what make the blog. That is, intelligent, informative comments.
Most people, like myself, hardly ever comment, but gain far more perspective via the comments than anything the Professor can do with her "set-up" blog entry.
Making fun of the stupid is fun
I get that's an honest statement, but maybe, just maybe...ah, never mind.
the comments are what make the blog.
Or, conversely, un-make it. I fear the signal/noise ratio has been decreasing in the past few years.
As part of that decreasing signal, I must take some responsibility, I realize.
As part of that decreasing signal, I must take some responsibility, I realize.
As should I.
Oh God ! The day shift at MacDonalds let out.
Bye.
I say the value of this blog is 70 percent comments, 40 percent Ann, and -10 percent Shouty/Garage/R&Balls/Oncebittens. The key is if the Shouty types get to the -20 or-30 and just take over the blog dies.
Perhaps there could be a limit of 5 comments per topic, unless called out. Like the debates, you get to respond if called out, but otherwise get your point in in 5 comments and please just let it go.
well the links are interesting, the feedback is as well, discus is a substandard platform for weeding out trolls,
On what fucking planet is Putin 'succeeding'?
He just got 224 of his countrymen killed
I think you've read a book or two, haven't you? What makes you think that any Russian leader in history has ever cared about dead Russians except as how they are useful to him either as tragedy or statistic?
I don't say that the Russian people are totally indifferent to human life, but all Russian governments are and always have been. It's as if human life was an obstacle, getting in the way of whatever their government really wants to be doing. At best the Russian people are tools, supplies to their masters, their blood to grease the wheels of Progress!or whatever.
Cook, please just shut up. The only thing you ever do is to bleat like a sheep that the US is just as bad if not worse, and in this particular case that is not only so untrue but so ignorant that I would really just have to take a day off and make it my mission to hunt you down.
And who was it that said that we should defend Russia against China? Really? Never, at least not without some awesome quid pro quo. We already defended Russia once. I'm not happy. And please don't Nazi bait me. Russia has been very happy to play footsie with both the Chinese and the Iranians, and having sowed that wind, I am very happy for them to reap that whirlwind.
Excuse me, I'm willing to presume that Yeltsin cared to some degree, when sober. What an unhappy land.
well they are in partnership, after that big gas deal last fall, Volodya was part of the looting party in St. Petersburg almost from the beginning, and it continued when he moved to Moscow, it's somewhat akin to the Chicago to Washington trek,
We are gonna step on you liberal like a bug in 2016.
And what goes around, comes around.
Hope for some real change in 2016.
Make the Democrat party the Bull Moose party of 2016.
"Just realizing that their true talents lie in being the kind of dishonest, anything-to-win politicians that they think all politicians should be."
That may be your biggest projection ever. SInce it's your guy who's done what you accuse the Rs of.
"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor."
"The average family will save $2500 a year."
"This plan won't increase the deficit one dime or I'll veto it."
"The stimulus will go for shovel-ready projects."
"Benghazi was a spontaneous protest over a video."
"GM is alive and al Qaeda is dead."
Need I go on?
Rhythm and Balls said...
"Just realizing that their true talents lie in being the kind of dishonest, anything-to-win politicians that they think all politicians should be."
Are you describing Hillary? Or Obama? How many lies did Obama tell while getting Obamacare through? You can keep your doctor? Your insurance? Gun control is predicated on lies and deception. New laws and regulations will by definition only affect law abiding citizens ergo the only reason to pass such laws are to take my guns and freedom.
You are thinking unconsciously. You are doing a lot of projection. Out of all the lefties here you might have the self awareness to deal with that.
republicanyankee said...
"I say the value of this blog is 70 percent comments, 40 percent Ann, and -10 percent Shouty/Garage/R&Balls/Oncebittens. The key is if the Shouty types get to the -20 or-30 and just take over the blog dies."
This is wrong. The reason I come to this blog is that it is as reasonable a discussion area as possible. I am immediately banned on places like Huffpo. The Atlantic has a terrible comment system. I spend all of my commenting time on Instapundit railing on Ed Driscoll who has become an absurd GOPe tool lately. I only go to Powerline when I am grumpy and want to abuse Romney supporters.
I wish for more of those people here. R&B is particularly interesting. The statist GOPers are not bad either. The funny thing is if you ask people here what they want the results to be they will mostly all say the same things. The key is pulling people out of the us vs. them crap which you are diving into with this post.
He just got 224 of his countrymen killed and he is wasting what little capital he has propping up a failed dictator, who at best will end up controlling a small fraction of the former state of Syria
1) The Russian government does not, and never has, given a shit over the death of it's subjects. Hell, half the time they're deliberately starving them to death.
2) What is this "little capital" you speak of? Putin is dominating the world stage both political and militarily.
3) You mean the "failed dictator" that the leader of the most powerful nation in the world proclaimed must go years ago, and hasn't gone?
4) I bet Assad ends up with more of Syria than the Iraqis end up with Iraq.
I think it's gonna be all ok. Y'all should not be buying bullets.
Leave that to me.
Have you ever owned fireworks and not set them off?
Me either.
Ritmo: "so many people so generous that they will willingly vote against their own interests"
Snort. Here we go again with the "people are too stupid to vote the way I want"
Ever consider that maybe they aren't the stupid ones? LOL.
Hey maybe you just need to insult them more with your "flyover country" bigotry?
"The 'why' is because Kentucky has only been "redder" with respect to national elections. At the state level, Democrats continued to win the state house and the governor's mansion. The same has been true for West Virginia, which shares a culture across a border."
Kentucky is following the same pattern as all red states, gradually replacing its Democrats with Republicans. It's more surprising that it took them until 2015 than it is that this is happening at all. I wouldn't read too much into this, any more than someone should have read into Deval Patrick's 2006 victory in the Massachusetts governor's race.
The classy Left in Houston is threatening to request the NFL pull the Super Bowl from Houston. Because their terrible bill lost.
Gahrie said...
2) What is this "little capital" you speak of? Putin is dominating the world stage both political and militarily.
This is completely delusional. Russia is going broke, capital is pouring out of the country as are its best and brightest. He will not be able to sustain Russia's military strength with that level of economic and intellectual weakness. Russia is now closer to becoming a failed state than a superpower. Anybody who genuinely cannot see this is unhinged by panic or partisan hatred of Obama.
I don't think "transformational presidents" preside over the destruction of their own party. Its hilarious watching the left convince itself that Obama is their answer to Reagan. I don't think Reagan left the presidency with the republicans struggling to hold on to statehouses or remain relevant outside a bi-coastal enclave.
Things are very clear to Brando with 20/20 hindsight. To act like everybody should feel the same ego-protecting way is where the differing lies.
If Brando can predict how many red states get redder by how much before the election in 2016 or any time in the future that is impressive.
But it won't happen, is my prediction. Only after the race is completed are the "obvious of course" reasons mentioned in a way screaming "I am smart because I could have (and didn't only to keep it interesting for you amateurs) told you this exactly, 100% absolute result was bound to happen after considering only briefly the trajectory and the history and my omniscience."
This is why I praised Althouse for saying she thinks Hillary will win. If that turns out to be accurate Althouse can* trace it to October 2015 and say "tipping point not breached: full Hillary! ahead!" was the correct measure of the motivations which substantially affected the result.
*Stopped clock can be accurate daily also yet not telling time as designed but due to mere coincidence. Doyle Brunson was wise to say "Yeah I sure am just lucky" as opposed to "I won because like Frank I plotted each careful damn step along the damn byway." Time tells.
ADDED: ARM won't defend himself against my accusation of his improper human/collie relations because it is idiotic, yet people who claim they don't support Putin or consider him a genius keep denying the same things over and over. Why? Why does this work on you? If purple penguin starts saying you are robbing graves at night to feed your snake-oil addiction you don't get defensive, but when racism is diagnosed the chorus of denial is a symphony to Alinsky's and Ritno's and Sunsong's ears.
Each denial creates more suspicion of a dishonest coverup and furthers the conversation into rhetoric and the difficulty decent folks have accepting some people just want the world to burn, not exchange ideas or arguments with an eye toward improvement all around, optimistically, epistemological-wise.
"AReasonableMan" thinks capital outflows and outflows of the best and brightest are measures of Russian failure.
If only one were able to reasonably evaluate those same things w/rt America.
Meaning I know how those things are measured. And the picture for America is bleak.
If only the Leftists could recognize the trends.
@Brando, the problem for Democrats in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia is Obama's war on coal. The UMW rank and file know which party is responsible for their loss of jobs and it isn't the GOP. The southwestern corner of Virginia has gone from reliably blue to incandescent red. Only northern Virginia, where the electorate is largely composed of people who work inside or for the vast federal bureaucracy, keeps the state purple. West Virginia went from bellwether state to blue only in the southern third of the state to all red. Of Kentucky's coal-producing area, only three counties (out of 31) went for Conway. I don't know how the Democrats will get those voters back (nor do I care, frankly).
"Things are very clear to Brando with 20/20 hindsight. To act like everybody should feel the same ego-protecting way is where the differing lies.
If Brando can predict how many red states get redder by how much before the election in 2016 or any time in the future that is impressive."
Who's claiming any special foresight here? Noting that the trend over the past three decades has been aligning conservatives to the GOP and the left to the Dems--which is why red states are getting redder and blue states are getting bluer--is hardly prophetic. If you were genuinely shocked by Kentucky electing a Republican governor, then you're in for a lot of genuine shocks over the next several elections. Here's another crazy prediction--Maryland's next Senator to replace Mikulski will be a Democrat. You heard it here first!
"@Brando, the problem for Democrats in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia is Obama's war on coal. The UMW rank and file know which party is responsible for their loss of jobs and it isn't the GOP. The southwestern corner of Virginia has gone from reliably blue to incandescent red. Only northern Virginia, where the electorate is largely composed of people who work inside or for the vast federal bureaucracy, keeps the state purple. West Virginia went from bellwether state to blue only in the southern third of the state to all red. Of Kentucky's coal-producing area, only three counties (out of 31) went for Conway. I don't know how the Democrats will get those voters back (nor do I care, frankly)."
Yeah, I'm not seeing the Appalachian states going to the Democrats anytime soon--not unless there's some big shift like VA had with the population increase in the DC suburbs. The Dems are hoping for something similar in GA, with the growth of the Atlanta metro area, but it will take a while before that turns GA purple.
Hillary's strident anti-gun strategy is interesting, and I think idiotic. She's doing it to try and get around Sanders' left in the primary (completely pointless, as Sanders is basically not even challenging her for her coronation) but is writing off gun supporters nationwide. Perhaps she assumed she wouldn't get their votes in the general, but then this stuff helps boost pro-gun turnout (and may even turn off some moderates). Electorally, she's written off rural areas and the entire South, excepting perhaps VA and FL. The GOP may have an opening if they can exploit it.
Also, let's give some props to the new Lt. Governor of Kentucky, Jenean Hampton. Takes guts to be a black Republican, because the Left and its enablers will go full out to slander and/or marginalize them (see, Thomas, Clarence confirmation hearings, 1991).
Utah - Mia Love
South Carolina -- Tim Scott
Texas - Will Hurd
Kentucky - Jenean Hampton
Maryland -- Boyd Rutherford (Lt. Gov)
If 20-25% of blacks start voting GOP (as they naturally should), the ugly, Left-wing Democrat machine will slowly be dismantled.
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