I don’t agree with your assumption that geniuses are necessarily focused on the long term. Nor should we imagine geniuses to be without flaws even in their particular area. Einstein famously refused to consider the possibility that chance was such an important part of the foundation of the universe as the modern theories posit.
Rove got Bush elected. And got him reelected with only minor sops to popular opinion: NCLB and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. And their superwealthy clients got plenty in return. Billions. Do you imagine they will just give that money back if the Dems win control?
I find this mostly incomprehensible. Would you care to try to reword it? For myself, I’m not admiring the principles of the GOP but rather their willingness to stand on them even if it costs them electoral support.
I would say that the GOP has done plenty of things that will become unpopular indeed once the results are in though for now it is merely the war and Katrina that have come home to roost. The Katrina disaster certainly was a policy decision. They decided disaster relief wasn’t all that important and it came back to bite them on the ass. I predict there will be plenty more of that in the future as America finds out how much damage the Bushies have done to our government. Hopefully it won’t be on the same scale.
But really, I was actually looking at it the other way around. That is, if the Republicans had done things that were popular then they would have more credit with the electorate. Things like fighting to keep American manufacturing jobs at home and immigration reform.
Certainly there is evidence. Elections aren’t exactly sacrosanct in America. We have a long history of electoral shenanigans including the ( nonelectronic ) GOP efforts in Florida and Ohio in the last 2 presidential elections. We have seen that the electoral systems are vulnerable despite the claims of their Republican-sympathizing builders. This isn’t proof but that doesn’t mean there is no evidence.
Exactly. You have put forth the theory that the theories in question are ridiculous. We are still waiting for you to produce evidence to back that up.
The first sentence is true but the second is not. There is no reason to abandon a theory unless there is evidence to the contrary. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. And the first sentence might be construed as an attempt to “move the bars”. You have not asserted that the theories are groundless; you have said they are ridiculous. Simply because there is no proof does not make something implausible.
Just because you think otherwise does not mean these things do not happen. And stop trying to shift the burden of proof. I have not claimed either of the conspiracies were true. It is you who have made the positive assertion that they are ridiculous. Please stick to the point.
Do you honestly doubt that both parties have been guilty of electoral fraud many times in the past?
How convenient for wannabe cheaters. There is no way to know if an election was hacked without an investigation and yet no investigation is warrented unless we know an election was hacked.
Well, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. And it was plausible. You might have just kept quiet and no one would have known the difference.
“The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.”
I would say that the GOP has done plenty of things that will become unpopular indeed once the results are in though for now it is merely the war and Katrina that have come home to roost. The Katrina disaster certainly was a policy decision. They decided disaster relief wasn’t all that important and it came back to bite them on the ass. I predict there will be plenty more of that in the future as America finds out how much damage the Bushies have done to our government. Hopefully it won’t be on the same scale.
But really, I was actually looking at it the other way around. That is, if the Republicans had done things that were popular then they would have more credit with the electorate. Things like fighting to keep American manufacturing jobs at home and immigration reform.
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What don’t you understand?
You said the GOP is being principled. If the whole party was united behind those principles, they would not be having so many problems. It seems to me that they are alienating Republicans, which is stupid, not principled.
I am talking about actions that were unpopular at the time they took them. Sometimes popular programs become unpopular, but it doesn’t take any principles to do something that is already popular - like invading Iraq.
Appointing Michael Brown and ignoring the situation, I think, could not be described as policy.
Then, again, they’ve been stupid. They managed to get most of the electorate to support them by making promises about what they would do and how they would do it. Since the Republicans are pretty unpopular now, I would say the public feels they haven’t delivered. Why would they choose to be principled all of a sudden, when they already had popular support?
Political parties in America are so diverse that there simply aren’t any principles that virtually everyone in them can agree on. Or at least, none that the opposition party can’t agree on as well. The principle that I am mainly talking about here is the desire to make the rich richer.
Yes, I know. You missed the point.
Do you really believe that the directorship of FEMA was the only dumping ground for unqualified cronies? The Republicans don’t believe in much government so it is less important to them to make sure it works properly. They don’t expect it to work and their policies reflect that.
Again you seem to have missed the point. I’m saying that they did what they wanted to do all along even though they knew if they kowtowed to public pressure they could be in a much better position going into these elections.
Well, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. And it was plausible. You might have just kept quiet and no one would have known the difference.