American politics

With Hillary announcing the worst kept secret in the world, is that aspect of American democracy (the identity of their leader) now fundamentally flawed?
Provided she wins the nomination (looks like a near sure thing) and the presidency (she at least has a decent chance), then omitting the Obama years, the prospect of just two families dominating the white house from 1988 until 2024 is a possibility. I would argue that this would not be healthy for any country, least of all a superpower like the US.

Salomé wrote:

With Hillary announcing the worst kept secret in the world, is that aspect of American democracy (the identify of their leader) now fundamentally flawed?
Provided she wins the nomination (looks like a near sure thing) and the presidency (she at least has a decent chance), then omitting the Obama years, the prospect of just two families dominating the white house from 1988 until 2024 is a possibility. I would argue that this would not be healthy for any country, least of all a superpower like the US.

Agreed, I've had enough of these political dynasties in the United States.

Salomé wrote:

With Hillary announcing the worst kept secret in the world, is that aspect of American democracy (the identity of their leader) now fundamentally flawed?
Provided she wins the nomination (looks like a near sure thing) and the presidency (she at least has a decent chance), then omitting the Obama years, the prospect of just two families dominating the white house from 1988 until 2024 is a possibility. I would argue that this would not be healthy for any country, least of all a superpower like the US.

Professional politicians who only know government as opposed to people who actually live in the real world is a basic problem in the UK but once you start extending that to families I think you really compound the issue. In some ways it is a reflection of the constraints that a voter faces, we are faced with two colours to pick from...neither wholly satisfactory and both more than willing to lie/cheat and steal their way to power, the faces behind those colours only have peripheral effect on the outcome I fear which really lays down the foundation for a profession solely about the pursuit of that power - one that almost by default necessitates it should never be given it.

Anyways I smell a soap opera in the making......

It was pointed out to me on YouTube Hillary (sorry, Hilo as the user put it) is too old for the office. Still, I await Bill Clinton's return to the White House. Or rather, the interns do.

Hilly KCMG wrote:

It was pointed out to me on YouTube Hillary (sorry, Hilo as the user put it) is too old for the office.

Is she? Bob Dole was 73 when he vied for the Presidency in 1996.

bitchcraft wrote:

Hilly KCMG wrote:

It was pointed out to me on YouTube Hillary (sorry, Hilo as the user put it) is too old for the office.

Is she? Bob Dole was 73 when he vied for the Presidency in 1996.

If elected, she would become the second oldest 1st term president after Ronald Reagan.

x

I wonder how much of a chance she has at the GOP nomination?
She certainly seems to have great credentials, especially compared to some of her (rumored) rivals.

x

Can someone explain the Ben Carson thing? I've seen more charisma and intelligence in rocks.

I saw a daytime made-for-TV (by the looks of it) movie about his life a few years back. He went from #thuglyfe to chopping up people's brains. Inspiring.

Vesper wrote:

Can someone explain the Ben Carson thing? I've seen more charisma and intelligence in rocks.

The Ben Carson thing cannot be explained. The pyramids can be, though.

http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/11/aliens-pyramids-and-granaries-what-on-earth-was-ben-carson-thinking/414301/

Bring back Herman Cain.

Control wrote:

Vesper wrote:

Can someone explain the Ben Carson thing? I've seen more charisma and intelligence in rocks.

The Ben Carson thing cannot be explained. The pyramids can be, though.

http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/11/aliens-pyramids-and-granaries-what-on-earth-was-ben-carson-thinking/414301/

Guy is onto something. Next 9/11 was done by UFOs, but we all know that already.

Vesper wrote:

Can someone explain the Ben Carson thing? I've seen more charisma and intelligence in rocks.

I notice the buzzword around him seems to be outsider. Him, Trump and Fiorina have been the top contenders so far because they aren't career politicians and are considered outsiders because of it.

Personally I think that Millard Fillmore looks like has a dandy chance at taking this race.

CJB wrote:

Bring back Herman Cain.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Control wrote:

Vesper wrote:

Can someone explain the Ben Carson thing? I've seen more charisma and intelligence in rocks.

The Ben Carson thing cannot be explained. The pyramids can be, though.

http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/11/aliens-pyramids-and-granaries-what-on-earth-was-ben-carson-thinking/414301/

Guy is onto something. Next 9/11 was done by UFOs, but we all know that already.

Fiorina comes across as very credible (though isn't she really running for VP?) and Trump, while absurd, is an intelligent provocateur.

Carson is just actually dumb. The mind boggles.

Control wrote:

Bush conspired with UFOs. Better get Alex Jones on top of this.

Wow! I mean....wow! Where to begin?!?

#1 American colleges are a tragic joke.

#2 Several generations of Americans (but particularly the Millenials) have an entitlement mentality; cannot cope with not getting their way; cannot cope with differing opinions.

#3 American society has not had to struggle with the hardships that generations before it did, and will tear itself apart very quickly when the inevitable economic collapse occurs because it cannot cope; these college-aged twats have no coping skills; they've been coddled and babied by their parents and the education system for years; have no idea how to function in the real world.

#4 I thought of this video today when I was in the grocery store and saw a grown man with a little dog on a leash; he wasn't blind. Normally animals aren't permitted in a grocery store or restaurant, but this guy had a permit (I guess) because his dog had on a vest that said "Emotional Companion". We're not even talking about a war veteran suffering from PTSD. We're talking about a mid-40's or 50's guy that wants to take his dog with him anywhere and everywhere and will pitch a temper-tantrum and act psychotic if he doesn't get his way (and then we wonder why Millenials are such douche-bags). I wonder how the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy or set foot upon the Moon...or discovered The New World...would relate to a culture such as ours? A culture that insists upon "safe spaces" and is quick to take offense at anything; a culture that relishes in its victimhood.

This bitch thinks it's the headmaster's job to "create a safe space" for her ass? What about his "safe space" as she was taking off her backpack, invading his space, and getting in his face? Colleges, once upon a time, used to be about learning, but now that college and high school is less about learning and more about changing society and culture, this guy finds himself on the outside looking in.

And I have no sympathy for the headmaster (is it even politically correct to use the term "master" anymore with a such a "diverse" student body?) or whatever he is, because his fellow professors have for decades been creating the sort of politically correct nonsense this woman is spouting off, and now it's coming back on the very people who gave birth to it. In the four videos that have been posted, he looks like a wimp...bending over backwards to accommodate a group of people who latently despise him because he's male and white, and he just appears to be too clueless to get that. This young "social justice warrior" puts this guy on his heels; she's a bully. But he's an enabler; he's partially to blame for being bullied. He's the Martin O'Malley of the faculty; basically apologizing for even being alive.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

#4 I thought of this video today when I was in the grocery store and saw a grown man with a little dog on a leash; he wasn't blind. Normally animals aren't permitted in a grocery store or restaurant, but this guy had a permit (I guess) because his dog had on a vest that said "Emotional Companion". We're not even talking about a war veteran suffering from PTSD. We're talking about a mid-40's or 50's guy that wants to take his dog with him anywhere and everywhere and will pitch a temper-tantrum and act psychotic if he doesn't get his way (and then we wonder why Millenials are such douche-bags).

Control wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

#4 I thought of this video today when I was in the grocery store and saw a grown man with a little dog on a leash; he wasn't blind. Normally animals aren't permitted in a grocery store or restaurant, but this guy had a permit (I guess) because his dog had on a vest that said "Emotional Companion". We're not even talking about a war veteran suffering from PTSD. We're talking about a mid-40's or 50's guy that wants to take his dog with him anywhere and everywhere and will pitch a temper-tantrum and act psychotic if he doesn't get his way (and then we wonder why Millenials are such douche-bags).

Whatever happened to working through adversity? Pushing forward? Hard work? Bucking up? Keeping your chin up? Soldiering on?

In the late 50's/early 60's, students were shown where to find a quick and local "safe space" in case the Russians launched a nuclear missile strike. In 2015, college students want a "safe space" in case they see a Halloween costume they deem offensive. That's what American society has devolved to.

What I find particularly galling about this "social justice warrior" is that she thinks not only that she deserves a "safe space", but that it's also the job of someone else to give it to her and she's furious with him for not providing something he was never able to give her in the first place. "Safe spaces" are for babies...for children. When you become an adult you are expected to adjust to a world that is not safe; but let's be completely clear: her definition of a "safe space" is: not having to see, know, acknowledge or be generally aware of any ideas, images, thoughts or concepts that she disagrees with/finds objectionable. She does not want to have to be bothered knowing that other people may not think like she does on every subject, or engaging in behavior she deems controversial or "phobic" or racist.

Her meltdown came from an internal email by that professor who told people that they *might* have to actually see somebody wearing a Halloween costume that they might disagree with, and to remember not to be overly sensitive or hysterical. And yet that's exactly what these "social justice warriors" did: got hysterical and hyper-sensitive. All this over a Halloween costume? A HALLOWEEN COSTUME???!??!? If you're 19 or 20 years old, it may be time to quit wearing costumes. Halloween is for kids, not pussified college students.

American society is doomed and imploding at an alarmingly rapid pace.

America: where kids tell the adults what to do.

She went back to her single apartment (paid for by her parents) and watched an episode GIRLS on HBOGo (paid for by her parents).

Is it possible to have a safe space free of SJWs? We can call this safe space 'Western civilization' and the SJWs will be free to dwell in Africa, the Middle East, and the DPRK with nary a white cis-male in sight.

I work in the mental health sphere (not in treatment, but in awareness-raising), and one of the great tragedies, in my view, is that the decreased stigma and more open environment to discuss mental health frankly has led to overdiagnosis (and more often than not self-diagnosed) of cases of behaviour that is bluntly pretty normal. Worse, the people with the least-bad cases in my experience tend to be the people who rely on their diagnosis as an excuse to be lazy, treat people poorly, 'treat themselves' or to be entitled to special treatment rather than working through tough obstacles to function in society.

Some incredible people I know have had severe issues of anxiety, depression, psychosis and eating disorders. But they worked to overcome it and certainly don't blather on about it on social media. They see it as a bad phase in their life that they've overcome and are wary to repeat. They don't wallow in it and the sympathy it attracts.

I wonder if anything will happen to Nicholas Christakis. If there is any justice the young harridan who shrieked at him will be severely disciplined, but that kind of common sense response seems unlikely in the current climate.

I remember several years ago while I was an undergrad, a PhD student was rusticated for seven terms (over two years) after having heckled the Universities minister - who had been invited by the university to give an address on policy. Of course that sentence was commuted to a single term after pressure from other burnouts (whose opinions should count for absolutely nothing) and also a number of academics. I wouldn't be surprised if the pendulum has swung so far by now that the actual victim in this case will be punished for the ignorance and prejudice of his students, while the delinquent is given some kind of academic prize for bravery.

Grav, you are totally right that these institutions have in large measure ceased to be focused on genuine scholarship and have become arenas for political activism. I wonder how long we need to wait before one of his colleagues joins this mob in calling for his scalp.