What Is The Republican Path To Victory?

[Geilinor]

The 14th Amendment was a Constitutional override of Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857); repeal it and Dred Scott once more becomes the law of the land.

I think that's the whole point.

Obama would also become a non-citizen, so they could impeach him.

[Akoz]

Use the military to oust the democratic president on charges of voter fraud and being a godless communist. Establish martial law, deal with dangerous elements in society, then put a sympathetic general in the white house.

Well, that escalated quickly....

[Maineiacs]

Use the military to oust the democratic president on charges of voter fraud and being a godless communist. Establish martial law, deal with dangerous elements in society, then put a sympathetic general in the white house.

Well, that escalated quickly....

You're new. Trust me, it gets much, much worse.

[Alien Space Bats]

An uneducated and unproductive poor class is crippling this country through the vote and entitlement consumption.

Actually, what's crippling this country are levels of wealth and income concentration unprecedented in American history. As both wealth and income become more concentrated, our economy becomes ever harder to sustain; social mobility vanishes; and those at the top develop an increasing sense of political entitlement — i.e., a sense that this is their country and that they and they alone have the right to rule it, with the rest of us as their "little playthings", whose fate and indeed very lives are theirs to control — or end — as the spirit moves them.

The Framers of our Constitution may not have been fond of mass democracy (and the myth that land ownership was a universal requirement for voting throughout the colonies is, in fact, a myth; the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which expressed the collective opinion of the Second Continental Congress [the body responsible both for declaring our independence from the British Crown, establishing our first government in the form of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, and then organizing the Philadelphia Convention to write our Constitution] established universal male suffrage within the Northwest Territory irrespective of land ownership, and continued this legal tradition in each of the Organic Acts by which the Territory was reorganized prior to the establishment of each of the States that came from it. The South, dominated by planter culture, may well have required land ownership of voters; but the South was not (and is not today) synonymous with America, much as some people like to pretend it is. America consisted of 13 States rather than just Virginia and Some Other Insignificant Places, and through New England a tradition of universal male suffrage had already taken root well before the Ratification of the Constitution.

If America has embraced this latter tradition and expanded it, that is not a perversion of this country's values, as certain vile Neo-Confederates believe; it is indeed a natural outgrowth of that tradition, which spread from the town halls of New England to the Northwest Territory, and eventually across the Great Plains to the whole of the Nation.

The recent changes in our economic fabric threaten that tradition. The champions of wealthy privilege would take us back not to some utopia that they allege existed at the time of independence, but to the Middle Ages. Theirs is a dream of aristocracy, in which wealth is handed down from generation to generation, creating a class of supermen who lord over the rest of us in this country of "theirs". They would take away every means by which the humble could strive to raise themselves up from the bottom, and then they could go further and drive wages down below subsistence levels. They would tell the rest of us to live with less so that they could have everything; they believe this is proper because they believe they are better and DESERVE everything.

The Republican Party is fast becoming the vehicle of these people's interests, and it seeks to an ever greater degree to justify their dominance over the rest of us. This has led it into a corner where it can't even promise Americans a fair chance at a better life; all it can promise is longer hours for lower wages and less hope of ever getting off the floor.

The thing is, some Republicans increasingly sense that this situation is unsustainable. Thus, in this thread, we are seeing increasing calls for Republicans to maintain their political viability through franchise reduction. Rather than the voters choosing their government, they would have a government of their making choose the voters, all with an eye towards guaranteeing that their power cannot be challenged.

But that power MUST be challenged. If the poor cannot be trusted with the vote lest they use it to enrich themselves at the expense of the wealthy, then the wealthy cannot be trusted with it either, lest they use it to enslave the poor for THEIR enrichment. People will not gladly work harder for less; they will not gladly surrender their future to the wealthy; thus, their voices must be taken away from them so that they can be forced to do so.

We are told that we cannot live without the rich, because they alone have the genius to produce wealth. That is pure horseshit. If a virus took everybody earning over a quarter million dollars a year, we'd recover and be back on our feet in no time; there are lots and lots of bright and imaginative people in society's lower ranks who could easily take the place of the rich if push came to shove. They are NOT irreplaceable.

If, on the other hand, a virus came and took everybody earning under a quarter million dollars a year, the rich would be royally screwed. They need our labor, they need our business, they need our support. Without us, they are nothing.

For that reason, it is the height of arrogance to propose the disenfranchisement of the poor for the sake of the Nation; rather, the only reason for disenfranchising the poor is to solidify the position of the rich, so that their hold on society becomes unchallengeable.

[Luveria]

An uneducated and unproductive poor class is crippling this country through the vote and entitlement consumption.

Vaz 2.0?

[Gauthier]

An uneducated and unproductive poor class is crippling this country through the vote and entitlement consumption.

Actually, what's crippling this country are levels of wealth and income concentration unprecedented in American history. As both wealth and income become more concentrated, our economy becomes ever harder to sustain; social mobility vanishes; and those at the top develop an increasing sense of political entitlement — i.e., a sense that this is their country and that they and they alone have the right to rule it, with the rest of us as their "little playthings", whose fate and indeed very lives are theirs to control — or end — as the spirit moves them.

The Framers of our Constitution may not have been fond of mass democracy (and the myth that land ownership was a universal requirement for voting throughout the colonies is, in fact, a myth; the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which expressed the collective opinion of the Second Continental Congress [the body responsible both for declaring our independence from the British Crown, establishing our first government in the form of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, and then organizing the Philadelphia Convention to write our Constitution] established universal male suffrage within the Northwest Territory irrespective of land ownership, and continued this legal tradition in each of the Organic Acts by which the Territory was reorganized prior to the establishment of each of the States that came from it. The South, dominated by planter culture, may well have required land ownership of voters; but the South was not (and is not today) synonymous with America, much as some people like to pretend it is. America consisted of 13 States rather than just Virginia and Some Other Insignificant Places, and through New England a tradition of universal male suffrage had already taken root well before the Ratification of the Constitution.

If America has embraced this latter tradition and expanded it, that is not a perversion of this country's values, as certain vile Neo-Confederates believe; it is indeed a natural outgrowth of that tradition, which spread from the town halls of New England to the Northwest Territory, and eventually across the Great Plains to the whole of the Nation.

The recent changes in our economic fabric threaten that tradition. The champions of wealthy privilege would take us back not to some utopia that they allege existed at the time of independence, but to the Middle Ages. Theirs is a dream of aristocracy, in which wealth is handed down from generation to generation, creating a class of supermen who lord over the rest of us in this country of "theirs". They would take away every means by which the humble could strive to raise themselves up from the bottom, and then they could go further and drive wages down below subsistence levels. They would tell the rest of us to live with less so that they could have everything; they believe this is proper because they believe they are better and DESERVE everything.

The Republican Party is fast becoming the vehicle of these people's interests, and it seeks to an ever greater degree to justify their dominance over the rest of us. This has led it into a corner where it can't even promise Americans a fair chance at a better life; all it can promise is longer hours for lower wages and less hope of ever getting off the floor.

The thing is, some Republicans increasingly sense that this situation is unsustainable. Thus, in this thread, we are seeing increasing calls for Republicans to maintain their political viability through franchise reduction. Rather than the voters choosing their government, they would have a government of their making choose the voters, all with an eye towards guaranteeing that their power cannot be challenged.

But that power MUST be challenged. If the poor cannot be trusted with the vote lest they use it to enrich themselves at the expense of the wealthy, then the wealthy cannot be trusted with it either, lest they use it to enslave the poor for THEIR enrichment. People will not gladly work harder for less; they will not gladly surrender their future to the wealthy; thus, their voices must be taken away from them so that they can be forced to do so.

We are told that we cannot live without the rich, because they alone have the genius to produce wealth. That is pure horseshit. If a virus took everybody earning over a quarter million dollars a year, we'd recover and be back on our feet in no time; there are lots and lots of bright and imaginative people in society's lower ranks who could easily take the place of the rich if push came to shove. They are NOT irreplaceable.

If, on the other hand, a virus came and took everybody earning under a quarter million dollars a year, the rich would be royally screwed. They need our labor, they need our business, they need our support. Without us, they are nothing.

For that reason, it is the height of arrogance to propose the disenfranchisement of the poor for the sake of the Nation; rather, the only reason for disenfranchising the poor is to solidify the position of the rich, so that their hold on society becomes unchallengeable.

All Hail Her Majesty Queen Paris Hilton!!

[New Chalcedon]

*snip of excellence*

This. A hundred times this, and I would add the following: Besides needing our labor, business and support, they also need our willing participation to fight, kill and die in wars to defend their interests overseas. They need our willingness to pay taxes that go to support their firms and enterprises. They, in short, need us far, far more than we'll ever need them.

Hence my current sig, to some extent. Never thought I'd quote the Pope in my sig, but...there it is.

An uneducated and unproductive poor class is crippling this country through the vote and entitlement consumption.

Vaz 2.0?

Oh, he finally got DEATed, did he? I was wondering how long the Mods would put up with his constant trolling and the like.

All Hail Her Majesty Queen Paris Hilton!!

Good; quite the proper attitude from one of the peasantry to the modern-day royalty.

In all seriousness, the attitude of the wealthy (here I speak collectively; any group has exceptions) is starkly similar to the pre-Revolution attitudes of the ancien regime aristocracy of France.

They owned the land, the mills, the fields, the roads....if you wanted to do anything with any of them, they'd make damn sure you paid their fees and tolls. What's that? A famine? Too bad, peasant - where are their taxes?!

This attitude by the elite of any society - eat the food whilst beating the farmers - only survives until the masses are aware that there's an alternative. Thus far, the ingrained hysteria about "Socialism" has saved the wealthy from the masses reaching that realisation....but that cannot last forever.

[Shaggai]

Vaz 2.0?

Oh, he finally got DEATed, did he? I was wondering how long the Mods would put up with his constant trolling and the like.

Nope, he's still here. Luveria probably meant UD was another Vaz.

[Luveria]

Oh, he finally got DEATed, did he? I was wondering how long the Mods would put up with his constant trolling and the like.

Nope, he's still here. Luveria probably meant UD was another Vaz.

That is why I said Vaz 2.0, and not Return of the Vaz.

[Alien Space Bats]

Actually, most consumer demand in the United States only helps the economies of our trade partners, as we import virtually everything. Welfare does not increase demand for the goods we do produce, which are primarily capital and tech intensive and out of the reach of the consumers of entitlements.

Bullshit.

Imports constitute less that 14% of U.S. GDP; exports constitute less than 10% of U.S. GDP. Only a total fool or a liar could claim that "we import virtually everything", or that virtually all of the goods and services we produce are "out of the reach of the consumers of entitlements".

In short, you're so ridiculously wrong as to be pathetic.

[Alien Space Bats]

Never thought I'd quote the Pope in my sig, but...there it is.

The Commie Pope?

Speaking of the Republican Path to Victory™, I can't imagine that conservative wailing about Francis' latest statements is going to help their political fortunes much. "This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope?” Seriously, Mr. Limbaugh?!?

The wailing over how the Cardinals should have chosen a European Pope isn't going to help conservatives in the eyes of Latinos; now all the need to do is begin asserting that Francis was born in Cuba, and demand to see his baptismal certificate...

Que Donald Trump in 5, 4, 3, 2...

[New Chalcedon]

Never thought I'd quote the Pope in my sig, but...there it is.

The Commie Pope?

Speaking of the Republican Path to Victory™, I can't imagine that conservative wailing about Francis' latest statements is going to help their political fortunes much. "This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope?” Seriously, Mr. Limbaugh?!?

The wailing over how the Cardinals should have chosen a European Pope isn't going to help conservatives in the eyes of Latinos; now all the need to do is begin asserting that Francis was born in Cuba, and demand to see his baptismal certificate...

Que Donald Trump in 5, 4, 3, 2...

Heh. On a different note, what do you think of my comparison of attitudes between the elites of today vis-a-vis 1785?

EDIT: They've actually come out into the open and claimed that the Conclave should have elected a European Pope? O.o

[Alien Space Bats]

They've actually come out into the open and claimed that the Conclave should have elected a European Pope? O.o

I've heard a comment or two on television. Sadly, nothing I can cite... YET.

Heh. On a different note, what do you think of my comparison of attitudes between the elites of today vis-a-vis 1785?

I think it's apt. Today's wealthy are more and more obsessed with position in society and more and more prone to rent-seeking behavior. There's also the same sort of short-sighted thinking, in which life is seen through an "I-win-you-lose" lens rather than a "Let's-all-work-together-to-do-better" one.

Of course, analogies can be dangerous, so I'm not keen on pushing this one all that far. Then, too, there are elements of the other side of the French Revolution that I've already noted in this thread: The Tea Party very much resembles the Paris Commune, and in many ways Rush Limbaugh is their Madame Defarge.

[Gauthier]

The wailing over how the Cardinals should have chosen a European Pope isn't going to help conservatives in the eyes of Latinos; now all the need to do is begin asserting that Francis was born in Cuba, and demand to see his baptismal certificate...

Que Donald Trump in 5, 4, 3, 2...

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

[Yumyumsuppertime]

The wailing over how the Cardinals should have chosen a European Pope isn't going to help conservatives in the eyes of Latinos; now all the need to do is begin asserting that Francis was born in Cuba, and demand to see his baptismal certificate...

Que Donald Trump in 5, 4, 3, 2...

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

I was thinking that that must date back to The Bay Of Pigs, but realized that even in the years before that, one of the most successful shows of its era or any other featured a Cuban bandleader married to a white American redhead.

[Libertarian California]

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

I was thinking that that must date back to The Bay Of Pigs, but realized that even in the years before that, one of the most successful shows of its era or any other featured a Cuban bandleader married to a white American redhead.

For a long time, Cuba was considered a potential state.

[Alien Space Bats]

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

Damn, what was I thinking?!?

Venezuela, then. They have oil anyway, so that means they must be closet Muslims. Everybody who lives on top of an oil field's likely to be a Muslim, right?

<looks at Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and Sarah Palin>

Oh, damn...

[Gauthier]

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

Damn, what was I thinking?!?

Venezuela, then. They have oil anyway, so that means they must be closet Muslims. Everybody who lives on top of an oil field's likely to be a Muslim, right?

<looks at Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and Sarah Palin>

Oh, damn...

Michelle Bawcawchmann was right about Muslim Brotherhood infiltration. She was just looking at the wrong side for it.

[Divair]

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

Damn, what was I thinking?!?

Venezuela, then. They have oil anyway, so that means they must be closet Muslims. Everybody who lives on top of an oil field's likely to be a Muslim, right?

<looks at Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and Sarah Palin>

Oh, damn...

[Blakk Metal]

Nah, it'd be some other Latino country. Cubans are considered Honorary Whites by the Republican Party (see: Rubio, Marco; Cruz, Rafael)

Damn, what was I thinking?!?

Venezuela, then. They have oil anyway, so that means they must be closet Muslims. Everybody who lives on top of an oil field's likely to be a Muslim, right?

[Alien Space Bats]

YOU MEAN THE BEACH BOYS WERE MUSLIM?!?!?

[Genivaria]

Hey guys what's u-

YOU MEAN THE BEACH BOYS WERE MUSLIM?!?!?

......what

[Franklin Delano Bluth]

YOU MEAN THE BEACH BOYS WERE MUSLIM?!?!?

When Brian Wilson wrote "Surf City" for Jan and Dean, it was originally "seventy-two girls for every boy."

They made him change it.

[Minnysota]

Abandon the Tea Party. They'll be weaker on the regional scale, but far stronger on the national scale.

In other news, make voting a privilege~

[Kelinfort]

1.Abandon the Tea Party. They'll be weaker on the regional scale, but far stronger on the national scale.

2.In other news, make voting a privilege~

1. Agreed, then again I completely disagree with the Tea party's ideology so...
2. Please don't be serious...regardless, it is a privilege-you have to be a citizen to vote.