Some people want to believe that in a democracy the best people get chosen - but the choices we are allowed to make are usually only on the level of “what is the least bad choice in this situation?”.
Strategic voting already starts at the beginning of nominations and continues to the end of general elections. Principles are for idealists, while pragmatists think about such things as “perceived electability” - here is an illustration:
[quote=“yuli”]Some people want to believe that in a democracy the best people get chosen - but the choices we are allowed to make are usually only on the level of “what is the least bad choice in this situation?”.
[/quote]
I’ve never believed that. Democracy helps make it a bit less likely that the very worst will rise to power, but no system has ever been devised to ensure that the very best are in charge.
This is why government has to be kept within limits. There is no one on the planet who can be trusted with too much power, least of all the sort who seek that sort of power. Trying to elect lightworkers and such nonsense is a delusion. It attacks the problem at the wrong level.
Accept that rulers will be shits and focus on containing the damage they can do. That’s the genius of the Founding Fathers.
Or, to say it in words: exactly!
Democracy? Ha, ha, ha! Only if you use the term in its loosest possible sense. It was once a republic but unfortunately the man behind the curtain has learned to game the system so well by now that it’s nothing more than a system of government in which the people get to pick their masters every four years. (Can I get a shoutout for executive orders, signing statements, civil forfeitures and The Patriot Act!)
The whole circus is fun watching though – from a safe distance. (Can I get a shoutout for living in Taiwan?) It’s perplexing how otherwise intelligent, educated people can think they stand a snowball’s chance in hell of getting anything other than crumbs from the table once the plutocrats, bureaucrats and lobbyists have finished feeding.
So Cruz has soared past Trump in Iowa, mostly by picking up Carson supporters
Cruz- 31%
Trump 21%
Carson 13%
Rubio 10%
So if Cruz takes Iowa, with its heavy Fundamentalist vote, and Trump takes New Hampshire, it gets interesting. Presumably Carson continues to slip, but will most of his Christian Right support go to Cruz? He’s been doing a lot of work among the brethren, many of whom ave a strong distaste for Trump.
“All Politicians Lie. Some Lie More Than Others.”
From Politifact:
nytimes.com/2015/12/13/opini … ef=general
As Krugman said, there’s a pattern here but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Aha- got it!. Politifact is run by a bunch of lying commie lying libtard liars, and you should never trust anything except Breitbart, not even those MSM liars at FOX.
[quote=“MikeN”]“All Politicians Lie. Some Lie More Than Others.”
From Politifact:
nytimes.com/2015/12/13/opini … ef=general
As Krugman said, there’s a pattern here but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Aha- got it!. Politifact is run by a bunch of lying commie lying libtard liars, and you should never trust anything except Breitbart, not even those MSM liars at FOX.[/quote]
I’m amazed that Rand Paul is only at 32. Some of the stuff he says is also pretty outrageous. Maybe instead of a linear index, Politifact also needs a weighted chart, to factor in the ridiculousness.
Maybe it is ALSO important what you lie about not how often you lie. So, say, for example, something really important was at stake and you lied… sorta like committing perjury but only once would that be more serious than lying because you don’t care to do fact checking? These polls remind me, however, of the many that prove, er, rather, “prove” that all Democrat presidents are “smart” and Republicans are “stupid.” That’s why Carter and his presidency was SUCH a success… you see… it was because he was so smart…
And good old Bernie Sanders, he’s been fighting the good fight for a very long time. Remember his speech in 1991 opposing the Iraq war? An empty room, and yet he delivers a speech that eerily foreshadowed events today.
youtube.com/watch?v=B-yR0pKtP7w
youtube.com/watch?v=NdFw1btbkLM
And of course he strongly and vocally opposed the second war as well, in which Hillary supported it. He can’t win against Hillary or a national election, but it’s too bad because he really does have some good judgement and ideas for change on foreign policy, healthcare, education, campaign finance reform, tax reform, etc…
A potentially great President, but too old, too weird, and that hair, wow !
Don’t worry, be happy
[quote] Ignore that guy. Ignore cable, too. America is already great, and it’s getting greater. Not everything is awesome, but in general, things are even more awesome than they were a year ago. The rest of the world can only wish it had our problems.
[/quote]
The Canuckian Candidate!
Cruz’s Mom on list of eligible Canadian voters!
The stealth candidate from Soviet Canuckistan. 
( Insert Dr. Evil laugh, cause I’m not going to type out Bwa-Ha-Ha…)
Single-payer healthcare! Confiscating guns! Abortion on demand! (or, being Canadian, on polite request). Paid maternity leave! Gay Marriage! (What? You already got that? Darn) .
[quote]
Canada Elections Act of 1970, Rule 18 …
Each pair of urban enumerators shall a) exercise the utmost care in preparing the list of electors for the polling division for which they have been appointed; and b) take all necessary precautions to ensure their list, when complete, contains the name, occupation and address of every qualified elector [i.e., voter] in the polling division for which they have been appointed and does not contain the name of any person who is not so qualified.
Second, listen to the account of current Canadian election officials.
According to the director of election operations and communications for Elections Alberta (the province where Calgary is located), here’s how the lists were assembled in the early 1970s (emphasis added)
So when they [would] knock on doors, they ask them: are you Canadian citizens, are you 18 years of age or older, and are you a resident in this facility and how long have you been living here? If they meet all that criteria then they add them to the list, take their name and addresses and anyone else who's living there. And they ask, is anyone else living here a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older? And if they are, then they take their names from them at the door. And that's the way it worked in those days.[/quote]
Er, Canada is not a state. The individual provinces are but not Canada. How would they vote in a U.S. election?
[quote=“MikeN”]Don’t worry, be happy
[quote] Ignore that guy. Ignore cable, too. America is already great, and it’s getting greater. Not everything is awesome, but in general, things are even more awesome than they were a year ago. The rest of the world can only wish it had our problems.
[/quote]
politico.com/magazine/story/ … ome-213505[/quote]
The rest of the world is goign down the tubes because of idiotic US foreign policy as of late. And this guy is in denial about how bad things are in the US after all these years of having a delusional left winger where there should be a president.
In unrelated news, the Cruz campaign has come out with his mom’s birth certificate. He’s way quicker with the documentation than some people I could mention. This birther stuff is looking a bit weak.
[quote=“MikeN”]Don’t worry, be happy
[quote] Ignore that guy. Ignore cable, too. America is already great, and it’s getting greater. Not everything is awesome, but in general, things are even more awesome than they were a year ago. The rest of the world can only wish it had our problems.
[/quote]
politico.com/magazine/story/ … ome-213505[/quote]
Eat at Joe’s Eat at Joe’s …
[quote=“rowland”]
In unrelated news, the Cruz campaign has come out with his mom’s birth certificate. He’s way quicker with the documentation than some people I could mention. This birther stuff is looking a bit weak.[/quote]
Which has absolutely nothing to do with the question raised.
But of course I agree that Cruz is qualified to be president. Anybody who disagrees would have to be as big a delusional idiot as the people who question Obama’s eligibility. I mean, you’d have to be a totally dishonest partisan hack or absolute deluded fool to question either.
I don’t know. I think a case could be made for a chicken or the egg argument when it comes to current idiotic U.S. foreign policy. For example, there’s the enduring symbol of off the rails U.S. foreign policy, the [color=blue]infamous Hanoi Hilton.[/color]. Given the benefit of hindsight, should we see it now as a chicken or an egg?
US presidential candidates claim that, if elected, they will serve the American people but they all serve the interests of big banks and Wall Street.
I see Ted Cruz has been caught lying about his health-care having lapsed, and about having a 50% increase in cost. It does make you wonder which would be worse, him lying about it, or it being true and him being so dumb as to leave his family without coverage for six months when it was easily available.
Sort of like a Harvard-trained constitutional lawyer claiming to not realize being born in Canada would give him Canadian citizenship- dishonest or stupid?
Or a retired neurosurgeon claiming to have solidified his faith after trying to stab a friend of his. Interesting, so you’re trying to convince us that you have a violent temper, and the only thing keeping it in check is a belief in an imaginary sky God that will spank you if you get out of line again? I’m sold, this man needs to be President.