The future of the Republican Party.

[1001001]

"The rulling class" was in the tank for Obama before he was famous.

Seeing as how Obama lost his first couple of elections, had to contend with a serious threat in Republican Jack Ryan (ex-husband of Jeri!), the interference of Jesse Jacksons Jr. and Sr., and how everyone thought Joe Biden, John Edwards, and most powerfully Hilary Clinton would utterly beat Obama in the Democratic nomination, I fail to see how anyone was in the tank for Obama before he became famous.

The Hilary Clinton/Barack Obama race that ran neck and neck for months alone disputes any sort of conspiracy that Obama was maneuvered into an Illuminati-like stake for the presidency. It's quite easy to map out his rise in popularity: when Jack Ryan dropped out, Illinois Republicans needed someone to compete. They pulled up carpetbagger Alan Keyes, who stood no chance whatsoever since he was not only an extremist, he was also a non-native sent to IL specifically to run for the Senate. Obama won the race by an incredibly large margin as a result. And because of such an overwhelming victory, he was invited to be the keynote speaker at the DNC, increasing the national spotlight.

Consider this: had Jack Ryan not dropped out (or, y'know, have a torrid sex scandal to begin with) or had Republicans put even the slightest bit of sense in choosing Ryan's replacement, they either would have won at best or allow Obama to win with a far smaller, more traditional margin (say, within 10%), thus preventing Obama from being thrust into the spotlight. If the Republicans didn't pull off one massive blunder after another, Obama probably wouldn't be president today for any given reason. At the Senate level they handed Obama victory on a silver platter. But no, Republicans can do no wrong, and somehow someway this was all some sort of elaborate, decades-long conspiracy to get a guy named Barack into office.

There were a lot of "ifs" in Obama's election.

For instance, if Michigan and Florida hadn't moved up their primaries too far and lost their delegates, Clinton would have won both easily and had a commanding early lead. Obama won the Democratic nomination having lost in New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and California.

Hardly seems like a good conspiracy plan....



People were tired of the Clintons, of the "old guard"...

And of course, McCain selecting Palin as his running mate is what sealed the general election for Obama. Had he picked any kind of decent running mate....who knows...it might have been different.

 

[Lindley]

I would love to but some people think this is the TNZ.

Here's a hint: The "T" in TNZ stands for "The". You don't need to repeat it.

 

[137th Gebirg]

And of course, McCain selecting Palin as his running mate is what sealed the general election for Obama. Had he picked any kind of decent running mate....who knows...it might have been different.

That's the one I never understood. Usually, political maneuvering is pretty easy to look through. I honestly still don't get why she was tapped. Was it because she was simply an unknown quantity that nobody vetted ahead of time (including her own party), without any perceived political baggage (nationally)? Was it in anticipation to the possibility of an Obama/Clinton ticket and they needed a conservative woman on the other side to offset Hillary (pre-Bachman and Delaware "I'm not a witch" girl)? Was it an attempt to appeal to younger folks and draw them into the Republican Party? All of the above? None of the above? I honestly don't know.

I just remember bringing up Drudge Report the morning the news broke and thinking...

Who the hell is this Palin person?!? She's kinda cute, and certainly not an ice-queen like Hillary, but V.P.? Really?? WTF are they thinking???

 

[137th Gebirg]

Is your tinfoil hat extraordinarily comfortable? Must be, since you seem to have been wearing it night and day for a long time.

Well, to be fair, the race between Hillary and Obama was pretty brutal, as we may all recollect. Neck-and-neck in a relative dead-heat up til several days before the DNC. H & O met with the Bilderbergs in Dulles, VA (not far from where I used to work). A few days later, when the DNC convened and everyone was predicting a blood-bath on the convention floor, Hillary made her grand announcement - all smiles and without any enmity - asking for the delegates to put their full support behind Obama.

I would have given my left nut to find out what was discussed in THAT meeting. The Bildees don't just call presidential candidates into their chambers for tea and crumpets. Those boys have been king-makers for centuries.

 

[E-DUB]

I'm a resident of Michigan and I don't think that Hillary would have necessarily won here if the primary hadn't been moved up. And if her and Obama had split MI/FL no real difference.

Obama spoke at the '04 convention before winning the US senate seat. He was invited to do so because he was, young, articulate, and exactly the kind of figure that JFK (Whoops, make that John Forbes Kerry) wanted people to see as the future of the party. He was simply identified as "on his way up", though nobody knew quite how fast that was going to happen.

Regarding the Palin pick. I think that a lot of folks were thinking that if she's a Governor she couldn't be a total braindead case, because she wouldn't have made it past the state voters. But they don't know Alaska, because it's cold and way up there and not even attached to the real USA anyway.

McCains VP pick was always going to get extra scrutiny (due to his age and health) so when they blew it, the effect was magnified.

 

[1001001]

Well, the Michigan primary was a total clusterfuck. If they had just moved it to one week after the New Hampshire primary, it would have counted and I think based on polling at the time Clinton would have certainly won. If it had been held much later, maybe things would have been different. With Obama not even on the ballot when they did half-ass the vote, who knows. The whole thing was stoopid.

They held the Florida primary (such as it was) and Clinton won big there.

As for Palin, my first thought was "they took the only advantage they had (experienced, tested leadership vs. naive, uncertain leadership) and flushed it down the toilet."

 

[Yevetha]

I would love to but some people think this is the TNZ.

Here's a hint: The "T" in TNZ stands for "The". You don't need to repeat it.

I like the sound of it.

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ Heh... kind-of like THE Ohio State University. I still cringe when I hear an NFL player say that during the 1Q intro segment...

 

[Alpha Romeo]

Culpability would be for the court to decide. Under what "duly constituted authority" does any criminal commit his/her crimes?

He has no constitutional authority. So how can he make enforcable decisions that would lead to criminal culpability? Unless you are arguing that is participation in discussions that lead to decisions by the president are/were criminal?

 

[Yevetha]

Cant we lock him up for his hunting accident?

Murder because of negligence or something?

 

[Cyke101]

He was part of the Hamilton Project. He had links to Bob Rubin from Goldman Sachs long before the elections of 08.
http://reddragon62.blogspot.com/2010/02/corporate-rights-takeover-of-democratic.html

Obama spoke at their first session, the only senator who spoke. They created the ilusions of a grassrrots campaing then stabbed the left in the back. Why did he get Wall Street money before he was a frontrunner.

The Hilary Clinton/Barack Obama race that ran neck and neck for months alone disputes any sort of conspiracy that Obama was maneuvered into an Illuminati-like stake for the presidency. It's quite easy to map out his rise in popularity

Oligarchs do compete between eachother.

That's a false argument - *everybody* who has a decent shot at the presidency gets Wall Street money, no matter what party, and long before the nomination is secured. Romney is currently their most relevant candidate. Keep in mind, in '08 Goldman Sachs also had McCain on their side, too -- between Obama and McCain, they essentially placed bets across the table, which is legal.

But yes, as evil as Goldman Sachs may be, do you honestly think they set up Jack Ryan to take a fall so that he'd get out of Obama's way? Oligarchs nothing, the way you frame your conspiracy makes it sound as if a grand plan from a single group was behind Obama all along. If that's the case, then that means they maneuvered Hilary Clinton and John McCain into credible threats as well. Let's remember that, at times, McCain was outpolling Obama. Even with Palin, it was really only the bad timing of the financial crash that ultimately ruined McCain's chances of getting close.

As mentioned before, Romney is the most famous GS candidate in the GOP race right now. Let's say he wins the nomination and beats Obama -- if he's linked with GS and if he beats Obama and Obama is powered by the GS conspiracy, then doesn't that mean GS undoes their own mythical five-to-ten year investment? Sounds like fickle, poor planning to me.

 

[Yevetha]

As mentioned before, Romney is the most famous GS candidate in the GOP race right now. Let's say he wins the nomination and beats Obama -- if he's linked with GS and if he beats Obama and Obama is powered by the GS conspiracy, then doesn't that mean GS undoes their own mythical five-to-ten year investment? Sounds like fickle, poor planning to me.

But yes, as evil as Goldman Sachs may be, do you honestly think they set up Jack Ryan to take a fall so that he'd get out of Obama's way?

Its a possibility but i have no idea if they had hand in it.
GS does not care who is it as long as its on their side.

That's a false argument - *everybody* who has a decent shot at the presidency gets Wall Street money, no matter what party, and long before the nomination is secured. Romney is currently their most relevant candidate. Keep in mind, in '08 Goldman Sachs also had McCain on their side, too -- between Obama and McCain, they essentially placed bets across the table, which is legal.

But big Wall Street firms rarely give to people who dont have much chance at the beginning.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

Cant we lock him up for his hunting accident?

Murder because of negligence or something?

 

[1001001]

As for the GOP's immediate future, I think Santorum just put the final nail in his own coffin.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/rick-santorum-wants-ban-hardcore-pornography-222833811.html



He's going to take pornography off the internet. Exactly how does he plan to do that?

Again, a great example, IMHO, of how religious zealots have twisted the GOP's original values. What consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes is no one else's business. Get big government off our backs, right fellas?

Right?

 

[E-DUB]

And for his next trick he'll put toothpaste back in the tube.

 

[MANT!]

Wow Ol Rick has quite a history of saying the wrong thing..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/rick-santorum-single-mothers-unwed-moms_n_1333302.html

 

[iguana_tonante]

Being a Machiavellian Realist does not make me a conspiracy theorist.

Lulz.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Wow Ol Rick has quite a history of saying the wrong thing..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/rick-santorum-single-mothers-unwed-moms_n_1333302.html

Good heavens. This rabbit hole goes mighty deep, doesn't it! He's even more extreme than I thought.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Wow Ol Rick has quite a history of saying the wrong thing..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/rick-santorum-single-mothers-unwed-moms_n_1333302.html

Good heavens. This rabbit hole goes mighty deep, doesn't it! He's even more extreme than I thought.

Yes, he's a nut. Here are some more amusing words of wit and wisdom from Ricky the Vest http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Santorum

 

[cooleddie74]

Being a Machiavellian Realist does not make me a conspiracy theorist.

You have repeatedly stated that Barack Obama is really a Republican and no different from his predecessor. You have repeatedly stated that Iran having a nuclear arsenal is no threat or concern. You have repeatedly stated that the social safety net and military need to be slashed and gutted. And you insist that Ron Paul's paranoid, reactionary campaign is the only one with a "positive" outlook for America.

Dude, the Reality Train left the station a long time ago...and not only did you miss it, you didn't even have a ticket to sit in the back of the coach.