I need to admit something. I'm actually somewhat rooting for a candidate. I kinda want Bernie to win or get Iowa like finishes in Nevada and South Carolina and double his minority support. He won't survive March, but it's like everywhere I go politics-based is on the edge of peak fuckery. The amount of teeth-gnashing Bernie threads on GAF is par for the course.
I'm on a private forum with some academics of varying levels and there's been like an endless flamewar going this last week. I have no idea why Hillary people are going nuts.
There's a long tenured poli sci professor who opens all his classes by boasting that he's a "proud Marxist" but is otherwise sane and he's gone nuts he's savaging Sanders supporters as betrayers to "the cause" started by FDR and LBJ. Not because of the whole "won't vote for Hillary in general" but that they're going to vote Bernie in the primaries "WHICH IS DIVIDING THE PARTY AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME!"
At least Obama was a serious political force in 2008, Bernie's more like Bill Bradley in 2000.
I was chatting with one of my Marxist friends (an early key question he asked of me that made clear it would become a friendship: "wait...how do you know about Bob Avakian?") from that forum on Steam about how silly it seems like it's getting and I realized that Democrats basically, outside of 2008 haven't had a true "battle" since 1988. 2004 was mostly unified against Bush, 1992 was a shit field overshadowed by Perot, 1996/2000/2012/2016 had incumbents or defacto incumbents.
Then to go back to GAF, like those fellers on there all came of political age during the Obama presidency it seems like, they're used to a GOP war for the nomination every cycle, not a Democratic one.
This is really just musing gibberish.
It did make me go back and dredge up some old 2008 stuff regarding Ron Paul, Bob Barr, Obama, the Libertarian Party, etc. I must have blocked that all out. One of the reason threads I came across was nuts as fuck. Eight years of a Democratic President have made people slightly more favorable to the GOP in general just because they're the opposition, but back then Bush hatred was high, and Obama was saying promising things, McCain was despised, Bob Barr was a phony, Ron Paul was a sellout for running in the GOP primaries, oh, and reason was secretly a left-wing plot for investigating Ron Paul's newsletters dooming his candidacy.
And then...THIS:
Since their archives are so easy to draw from, I'll just drag out the reason posts/comment links:
http://reason.com/blog/2007/05/15/the-mayor-in-the-plastic-bubblhttp://reason.com/blog/2007/05/16/blowback-from-the-blowback-debhttp://reason.com/blog/2007/05/16/blowback-texas-styleI am this morning, declaring my candidacy for Congress in the GOP primaries against Ron Paul. If he does not resign his seat, and if another Republican candidate does not declare against him, I will run a balls-to-the-wall campaign for Congress in Texas CD 14.
I am the guy that got Ron Paul elected to Congress in 1996. I can and will defeat him in 2008.
Eric Dondero, Fmr. Senior Aide
US Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
1997-2003
http://reason.com/blog/2007/05/16/rudy-on-ron-paul-five-minuteshttp://reason.com/blog/2007/05/17/gop-to-ron-paul-drop-deadMichigan party chairman Saul Anuzis said he will circulate a petition among Republican National Committee members to ban Paul from more debates. At a GOP candidates’ debate Tuesday night, Paul drew attacks from all sides, most forcefully from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, when he linked the terror attacks to U.S. bombings.
..."I think he would have felt much more comfortable on the stage with the Democrats in what he said last night. And I think that he is a distraction in the Republican primary and he does not represent the base and he does not represent the party,” Anuzis said during an RNC state leadership meeting.
“Given what he said last night it was just so off the wall and out of whack that I think it was more detrimental than helpful.”
Anuzis said his petition would go to debate sponsors and broadcasters to discourage inviting Paul.
Saul Anuzis is one of the biggest fucking dicks ever, and not because of his politics, I speak from personal experience. PD might have even heard about how much he sucks.
http://reason.com/blog/2007/05/18/fox-news-conspiracy-theoriesGIBSON: According to a recent Rasmussen Report poll, 35 percent of Democrats think President Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks beforehand. The so-called 9/11 Truth Movement has already infected people like Rosie O'Donnell and one in three Democrats, and many other people, Americans evidently, including Congressman Ron Paul. With me now is FOX News contributor and syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin.
So, Michelle, this stuns me. It wouldn't have stunned me had it come up in the Democratic debate, but it's a jaw-dropper to see it in the Republican debate.
MICHELLE MALKIN: It is and it doesn't belong here. And I'm glad that this moment provided great TV for FOX News — it was a very instructive exchange — but Ron Paul really has no business being on stage as a legitimate representative of Republicans, because the 9/11 truth virus is something that infects only a very small proportion of people that would identify themselves as conservative or Republican. And as you say, John, this is far more prevalent, this strain of 9/11 truth virus, on the left, and in much of the mainstream of the Democratic Party as that Rasmussen poll showed.
You know, I try not to spend too much time in these cesspools, but it is worth taking a visit to places like, you know, these WTC7 sites and Students and Scholars for Truth, and I note that Ron Paul has basically allied himself with these people. He appears with Students for Truth on campus and he's appeared on radio shows like 9/11 conspiracy nut Alex Jones.
Anyway, sorry for the didn't read lol.
EDIT: lol, from these archives, I forgot there was a short lived "Bill Richardson, a market libertarian-leaning Democrat?!?" boomlet.
