US Presidential Elections 2008 (1 Viewer)

[Froog]

oh man, classic google ads:

black single parents
meet black women
black women in thongs
asian american women

 

[the strange guy]

Google Ads is by far the biggest prick on Thumped.
It doesn't stop them being hilarious, though.

 

[the strange guy]

I dunno, this is the thing. Because there *are* Republicans waking up and going, "Fuuuuuck, how long was I high for?" and voting for Obama.

There are also Clinton supporters who are -- sadly -- made up of well-off middle-aged ladies who just thought it was their turn to have an imaginary golf buddy in the White House, who have decided to vote for McCain. Because even if a lady was president, it still means a nice white couple are in charge of the garden parties. A black guy? Oh god. I mean, he talks nice with his subject-verb agreement, but what about his friends? Do we really want to see Krunk in the Rose Garden? Or have the presidential tree replaced with a Kwanzaa bush? Or have the Lincoln bedroom draped in kinte cloth? Nothing racist, of course -- just tradition.

I don't know are there genuinely enough of those to account for McCain's success so far. But sadly, there are a lot of these so-called 'commonsense' types out there, people -- mostly white guys and a slightly smaller number of white women along with a miscellaneous mixed bag of pricks with inexplicable self-loathing -- who think that civil rights, feminism, gay rights, well, they all had their day, and now it's time to cut the crap and get down to business. Sure, white lesbos and black homos can be part of the operations, so long as they don't want 'special rights', like getting married or not getting fired for getting pregnant.

White guys who went to medium sized and mid-ranked universities where they were B/C students and who haven't really ever pulled their heads out of their arses or their arses out of college; neoconservative Stanfordites who saw Condi talk at convocation and really 'got' the neoconservative 'commonsense' approach because only liberalism is ideology; barbecue-happy suburban dads whose wives 'chose' to give up work, miserable suburban women whose husbands insist that they 'chose' to stay home with the kids; happy women who work in nice mid- to high-income jobs who are either too old or too young to know or remember firsthand what it's like to be told you're not getting a job because you might go get pregnant (i.e., who are still comfortable and unbothered enough to believe the world is a meritocracy) or to have an abortion or to not be safe inside or outside their homes; families on benefits who think that 'welfare reform' genuinely means that they'll get access to jobs (not, in fact, that they'll simply be left out in the cold instead); white trash types who think it's great that McCain would rather be at a bike rally than surrounded by adoring mobs in a country where they don't use deodorant; idiots with goatees and Ford pickups and associates degrees who work on commission and drink in the local sports bar with their buddies and admire McCain's 'straight talking' style because it mirrors the way they never did a fucking thing in school except mock the kids who tried hard.

People who don't give a shite about anyone but themselves, who care about their communities only for as long as it takes them to move to one with a lock on its gate, and who've managed to convince themselves that McCain cares about 'their' kind -- the no-bullshit, no-sympathy-for-the-weak (because people in vunerable positions are only there 'cause they is TOO WEAK and PUSSY), straight-shooting asshole with a flattop. That guy. There's a female version of him, a nicely tanned, preened, moderately-educated woman who doesn't recognise her privilege, either. They think McCain cares about them because he's 'like' them. Just like Bush did.

Then McCain turns around and accuses Obama of being elitist because he went to Harvard. Then Obama has to spend energy defending that accusation, and then they accuse him of trying too hard to be a man of the people. And then That Guy, well, he can't figure out why Obama is trying so damn hard when if he really had the balls to back it up, he wouldn't talk so damn much. And of course, McCain went to a private boarding school and then to USNA -- the most fucking privileged school in the country, where you have to be appointed by a senator or member of congress to even get a fucking look in. Not elitist, though. Not in the slightest. USNA partyboy (they all fucking are, though) versus Guy Who Earned Every Second He Spent At Harvard. Hm.

There are about 40 million of That Guy in the US, and he works in every industry, lives in every town and in every state. And That Guy feels like he doesn't have a voice, even though he's got more respect than he deserves but because he gets it by default, he doesn't notice it. He feels like girls and blacks are getting handouts they don't deserve, even though he still managed to graduate high school without trying because he could throw a good pass and his dad got him out of any scrapes with the law.

Did That Guy even want to go to Yale? Not fucking likely. And yet That Guy still frets about affirmative action, not because it undermines his rights, just feels like a threat to his sense of entitlement as a white guy whose idea of the world relies on his belief that he lives in a meritocracy -- to believe he has any privilege at all would undermine the sense of achievement on which his self-worth relies.

Does That Guy want to be a dad at 21? Not really, but he'll just make a few phone calls and take care of that problem from the frat party. It's other girls who are the problem, who use abortion as an excuse to be whores. And whores are fine as long as it's That Guy they're fucking. Does he want to fuck a stripper? Hell yeah! Does he want to help fund her survival when she gets pregnant and has to take time off to have a kid because she couldn't afford an education and stripping pays the bills? No fucking way. She should get herself a real job, not be a sponge off the state. Does he want to die in a war? No, but even if he got sent there, he knows how to take care of himself, and he'd never lose sight of his buddies or the goal: liberate Iraq from its non-American tendencies. But he's not going to die in a war. He's not going to be on the front lines because he's just that *little bit* more connected. Because when you have a college degree, you start at a higher rank and are less likely to end up as cannon fodder because hey, you might have a skill beyond lending your guts to a landmine.

There's a shitload of them. You might not notice them too much, but That Guy tends to be the very sort of Guy who gets on my tits. I encounter them more often than maybe a lot of white guys who don't rock the boat do, but they tend to bust the chops of anyone who does anything that they can't relate to directly. That Guy. That Guy who thinks that because he's doing just fine, and he worked hard to get there, that anyone who works hard will do just fine, and anyone who's not doing just fine simply isn't working hard enough.

That Guy thinks he's all common sense, but his common sense only applies to a very limited view of reality, mainly the relatively comfortable, prosperous and healthy lives of the other middle-class suburbanites or rich pricks who think it's fine for blacks and whites to go to school together, but aren't so sure they want to let them into the club. Nothing personal -- it's just, you know, tradition.

Some of That Guy and That Gal have decided to vote for Obama, but most of them don't see what the big deal is about a black guy who can talk good. They're not voting for him precisely because they are *not* racist and then went to college with some black kids who didn't like affirmative action. They haul out their token black friends as a way of showcasing their non-racism. They facebook-poke their black acquaintances from college, just so they can do this. They think it's all a load of hype, him doing his travelling Obama show, humping every rostrum he can find, when in fact, McCain hasn't said fucking SHIT over the last two months.

The Irish equivalent of That Guy is the guy that thinks Kevin Myers or John Waters has a point. The guy who thinks that Ian O'Doherty is funny because he 'tells it like it is' (which is code for 'makes me feel better about being the cunt that I am'). That Guy who isn't racist, but we can't have all these immigrants coming here and wrecking our national identity you know, because we only just got it back from the English. And then That Guy gets into a fucking screaming match with a guy about Chelsea vs Arsenal.

They think of themselves as 'moderates' or 'centrists', when in reality, they just don't have any politics outside themselves. McCain is -- sadly -- like most of the fucking people on this earth, and this majority in the middle control the outcome of the election. Which is why he's getting so many damn votes.

Most people don't have any personal politics, and they only really think about shit during election time, which means that whoever appeals the most to the people who are the least political wins the game.

OMG. I can't shut up. I'm sorry.

My screen just cracked under the mighty weight of this post.
There's letters and punctuation marks all over the floor now.

Not being funny, but has/will anyone read all of this?

 

[Mormon Nailer]

My screen just cracked under the mighty weight of this post.
There's letters and punctuation marks all over the floor now.

Not being funny, but has/will anyone read all of this?

I did.
Actually it's worth a read - so I won't join in the "slag Jane for the long post" routine this time.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Here Jane, shellshock was recognised long before PTSD was coined as a term. Just sayin' loike.

 

[pete]

Here Jane, shellshock was recognised long before PTSD was coined as a term. Just sayin' loike.

Shooting the shellshocked for cowardice was what made the Great War so great.

 

[jane]

Here Jane, shellshock was recognised long before PTSD was coined as a term. Just sayin' loike.

This is true.

It wasn't just giving it a new name, though -- at first they thought it was actual nerve damage from heavy artillery, and therefore would not be suffered by, say, a guy being held captive in a tiger cage unless he was around big giant guns going 'boom'.

They started to understand it better mainly because of Vietnam, but I don't think it was really codified for a while, nor were they able to determine what the symptoms were for the subtler manifestations of it.

I think it also has something to do with a beginning in the shift from blaming the victim of it for cowardice, to a more sympathetic view, that humans who experience trauma are not necessarily sissies. But basically, it took them a long time to get their heads around what was happening to people, and why these symptoms would turn up outside of wartime situations as well.

Here's the thing I was listening to recently: http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2007/03/02/02 You can play it off the site, too.

 

[Unicron]

Ian O'Doherty is like a young Kevin Myers. Only kinda worse. Also with the Indo, although I think mainly the Sindo.

Used to be with the Herald, shite to the power of shite.

 

[Unicron]

Thigs are getting unpleasent outside the DNC convention.

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[Jrad (BFB.ie)]

George Bush is a dickhead.

I could have seen the wreckage of the plane that John McCain was shot down in in Vietnam but I was only told about it on the train when leaving the place where it was.

 

[egg_]

Not being funny, but has/will anyone read all of this?

Yep.
It's a good post. thumped says I gave jane rep to recently to rep her again for it

 

[jane]

Yep.
It's a good post. thumped says I gave jane rep to recently to rep her again for it

Thanks dude and dudes and dudettes. I just get very angry sometimes when I think about the kinds of people who adopt these 'commonsense' positions that are really just 'realistic' for those who are the beneficiaries of certain types of privilege. And then that a lot of us, because we're educated, Western, etc, we also have that privilege -- so I don't see any excuse for abusing our privilege.

Tax cuts are all well and good if you make enough money for tax cuts to matter. The majority of Americans don't make enough because the majority of Americans work in industries that rely on cheap labour to produce cheap goods.

Anyway, watching clips of the DNC is making me kind of weirdly emotional. Fucking hell, you know, it's a big-ass deal right now: we have a black nominee and I think that's absolutely fucking amazing and I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime.

I know McCain might win, but I think I'd rather be disappointed than cynical, so I'm just going to keep on believing things could be okay. Crossing my fingers, though, and probably going to start striking bargains with a higher power that I don't even really believe in.

 

[the strange guy]

Yep.
It's a good post. thumped says I gave jane rep to recently to rep her again for it

Fair play to everyone who read it!
I think it's just me who has an aversion to megaton posts.
Nothing personal Jane, maybe I just need glasses!

 

[jane]

Fuckin' A. Check out this footage from the DNC.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sbbkwFuJWg"]YouTube - Be Excellent To Each Other & Party On Dudes!!![/ame]

 

[plug]

hey, jane's epic posts are great. increasing the font size and sitting back about a metre sometimes helps.

Thigs are getting unpleasent outside the DNC convention.

YouTube - DNC Protests: Police slam CodePink protester to the ground

some pretty fucked up comments to go along with that fucked up clip.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

I think it's a great post. Post of the Year awards coming up as well.

 

[the strange guy]

My upcoming new year's resolution

HIGHER RESOLUTION!

 

[pete]

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.

Putin told CNN his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush -- although he presented no evidence to back it up.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/28/russia.georgia.cold.war/index.html

 

[flashback]

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/28/russia.georgia.cold.war/index.html

Well since Putin is no longer the President of the Russian Fed, what he says hardly matters, right?

Right? Because, you know, Putin's term is over now. Now there's a new guy in charge.

 

[pete]

Apparently so.