Most people are politically retarded

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Cisco

I met a guy the other day who assured me that Obama was personally crafting Arizona’s concealed carry statutes. Which would instantly be law when he was done, by very nature of having been dictated by Obama.

Obama is Tim Tebow!

Obama is so awesome, God tells people he is guided by Obama.
Obama is so scary, monsters check under the bed for Obama.

And so on.

[foolsguinea]

@athelas

I didn’t bother responding to the rest of the OP, but it’s basically the same old status-seeking anti-populist pablum without a bit of serious critical thought.

I thought it was quite seriously thought out, actually.

@CyclopticXander

As for the difference between parties, right now it is pretty big and shows no sign of shrinking. Of course you have to keep this in perspective, the more stable the state the lesser the differences between its parties because the people generally share more base values and culture for the divergence to splinter from. We are a very stable country in that we all generally agree what is good (democracy, freedom, mom’s apple pie) and we disagree on how to get there. Sure there are countries that have much more varied parties in the mainstream, but this is because they have less commonality and therefore less stability.

Phhht! Apple pie is far inferior to cherry! But you’re right, the establishment parties buy into a mainstream culture.

It is possible I suppose for the parties to just get so close that they are barely distinguishable, although it would be more Utopian than it would be terrible. If people were ever truly happy to argue for a sliver of difference without splintering creating a new party system then we would have reached a kind of national agreement that is hard to imagine. That’s not where we’re at.

Interesting point.

[saoirse]

@Captain_Carrot

Official independent parties tend to be idiots, because they mostly run candidates for the highest office available, such as Senator, Governor, and President. Unless you’re in Maine, Vermont, or Minnesota, good luck with that. Try having an independent Sheriff or state house representative first.

Actually, it’s much harder to run on the issues for Sheriff in most years. People wind up voting party ID or name recognition. The reason independent/third parties run at the state level or higher is that’s where the debates are over issues that concern the role of government, and the implementation of those beliefs. The old saying is: there’s no partisan way to collect trash.

[marshmallow]

If you follow politics in good faith (as opposed to low brow entertainment) you’re retarded.

[Knorf]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

If anything proves the OP’s point, it’s that Congress has a 90% incumbency rate but a 30% median approval rating. People are retarded.

I think the feeling is something like “Congress is incompetent, but my Congresscritter is just great!”

[The_Tao_s_Revenge]

Sam Stone, if refusing to educate yourself before voting is such a good substitute, explain Bush, Limbaugh, and Carl Rove’s manipulations.

Pretend the families of the hundreds of thousands of dead, the torture victims, Katrina victims, and victims of the economic crash are reading this thread. What do you say to them?