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Liberal/Conservative Divide Only Grows Uglier
It would be easy for me to dismiss Obama supporters as mentally defective but for one inconvenient fact: my mother, sharp as a tack at 92, is voting for him. And so is my sister, a San Francisco attorney who is no slouch in the brains department. I’m not sure where my brother, a municipal employee, stands, but neither am I eager to find out. There is no bridging the political gap between us, and so we simply avoid discussing politics. The same goes for old friends, although newer ones are another matter. One of them walked out on our dinner together in a huff when an innocuous remark I’d made about Abe Lincoln evidently bruised his self-righteously liberal, morally perfect heart . Good riddance. It is far better friends than he that I am worried about. Will they draw the line when I let slip my support for the right to bear arms, even concealed? A few of my wife’s closest friends are unmitigated liberals, and it’s unclear how much longer we’ll be able to tiptoe around the political rough edges when we get together socially.
The truce with my siblings and mother has held, but not without strain. When the latter referred to the eminently decent Mitt Romney as “a jerk,” I returned fire with an over-the-top fusillade of anti-Obama invective. That was a month ago, and we haven’t talked about the election since. Nor do I plan to rub it in after Romney wins on Tuesday — an outcome I believe is inevitable because the nation has been wallowing for nearly five years in an officially undeclared, if not to say brazenly-lied-about, state of recession. Romney voters will have to stifle the hubris, though, since there is no way he will be able to reverse the country’s inexorable slide into economic darkness. To be fair, I should state that Obama is no more culpable for the abysmal state of the economy than Bill Clinton was praiseworthy for its resurgence during his presidency. He got lucky, is all, while Obama inherited a disaster two generations in the making. Economic cycles are far bigger than the presidency, and this one is going to take its ruinous course no matter who is in the White House.
Dating Game’s Top ‘No-No’
In the meantime, the political gap between liberals and conservatives can only continue to widen. And to grow uglier. This unfortunate trend was underscored by a recent Wall Street Journal story that focused on dating services. It seems the matchmaking business has declined in recent years because clients seeking mates are increasingly putting political compatibility at the top of their lists. “In this neck-and-neck, ideologically fraught election season, politically active singles won’t cross party lines,” the Journal noted. “The result is a dating desert populated by reds and blues who refuse to make purple.” So much for romance these days. Time was when smoking, drinking, religion, education level and physical attractiveness were the main concerns of men and women looking for love; now, apparently, a date-seeker’s political views trumps them all.
Until a crisis equal to the Great Depression arrives, liberals and conservatives are unlikely to bury the hatchet. For voters on either side of the divide, the stakes in this election will not seem to have been exaggerated; for they involve nothing less than a fight for the nation’s economic well-being – nay, for its very soul. Over the next four years, and probably long thereafter, moral and financial jeopardy will confront each of us in ways that seem likely to widen political divisions. Putting aside the wild card of Iran, one of the most difficult issues we face will entail putting public employees’ pension and health care benefits on a sound financial basis. The unions will claim, correctly, that there is no legal precedent for denying workers benefits that were promised them when they were hired. Their employers will claim, also correctly, that the money simply isn’t there. But anyone who thinks the Federal Government will be able to “solve” this problem simply by printing money is in for a rude awakening.
The financial liability is in fact so large that attempting to monetize it would be tantamount to hyperinflating. If, say, the Government were to offer lump-sum settlements averaging $150,000, the money could conceivably be worthless on delivery, since the actual disbursement of digital cash would be taken as a sign by the rest of us that Uncle Sam was on the hook for everyone’s financial needs. If the Government were instead to assume responsibility for years of scheduled payments in “real” dollars, taxpayers would eventually riot in the streets. No matter how you work the numbers, there is no easy way out, at least not using monetary shenanigans. The very clear implication is that the “solution” will come in the form of a dramatically lowered standard of living for most Americans.
Pensions Too Big to Bail Out
What is the dollar amount of the unfunded liability? Many hundreds of trillions of dollars, according to some published estimates. Consider that a bankrupt Flint, Michigan, under the direction of a conservator, has cut its budget to the bone to effect annual savings of around $10 million. But the long-term structural shortfall imposed by Flint’s retirement promises is on the order of $600 million dollars over the next 25 years. Of course, Detroit’s long-term problems are orders of magnitude larger, and New York City’s vastly larger still — too big, in the aggregate, for even the U.S. Government to fix. Or rather, pretend to fix, since that’s all that the would-be fixers have been doing all along. Yes, the bailout has been a fraud – a con-game made easier by the fact that most of the bailout “money” has gone to sustain the illusion that the assets of our biggest banks net out to a positive number. But there can be no such shell game when it comes time to send out pension and healthcare checks after the coffers of states and cities have gone empty. Paying for the lives of retired workers will require coughing up real dollars each and every month, not virtual ones such as are posted as “reserves” by the banks. And that’s why it will be impossible for the Federal Government to pretend, as it has with the banks, that the bailout is other than a charade.
Under the circumstances, hostility can only grow between liberals and conservatives, haves and have-nots, public and private workers, taxpayers and recipients. We wish Mr. Romney luck, but he’ll have his hands full merely trying to keep blood from running in the streets, never mind returning America to prosperity.
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How about a baseline of X acres to plow to feed one's family? Isn't the federal government the nation's largest landowner? Why does any money need to change hands to feed people, who by the millions could grow their own food and build their own shelter, within a society already providing education, infrastructure, and health care on other people's dime?
That $300 weekly baseline will all come off a printing press because it can come from nowhere else, unbacked by real production, thus debasing the currency, creating inflation to make ever-more people dependent on Uncle Sugar's social programs to make ends meet.
handing out money by the tens of thousands to individuals is not a solution. It is a punchline to a joke.
conservative? liberal? whatever. The point is, if I spend all summer tending to my orange tree, watering, pruning, pollinating, etc. Then at the end of the summer, I should enjoy the "fruit" of my labor. I don't owe an orange to GreatUncle, or anyone else. I take care of my family, and even my friends, and even my extended tribe (by my definition of tribe, an no one else's...period)
The opposite position is simple. My neighbor who had more land, who's younger, who's in better physical condition choses not to tend to his trees, or any other "labor" of love. The liberal says..."you owe him oranges simply because you have some and he doesn't". This is contrary to natural law. I could care less what he, or you think his baseline should be. At no point, does your self appointed baseline, have the right to confiscate the "fruit" of my labor. period.
I thumbed up your post, but in my experience, it hasn't just been "liberals" that have been confiscating my oranges.
Take the redpill. I never thought i would see this article posted on zerohedge. I thought they saw through this democrat/republican paradigm that we are allowed. Joel Skousen said it well Friday on Alex Jones's radio program. You should vote for Mitt Romney if you live in a swing state otherwise vote a Liberty candidate. He said at least Mitt Romeny being rich and Morman is not part of the inside, corrupted, blackmailed, bought and paid for establishment. He will actually think he is President of the United States and not do the bidding of the Coucil on Foreign Relations, Bilderbergs, Rocefeller, Luciferians, etc like both Bush and Obama. They tried their best to get one of theirs like Gingrich, Santorum, Perry the nomination but failed. So sadly the left/right argument is moot. The argument is someone not controlled and blackmailed versus any candidate that isn't no matter what thier left/right politics. Listen to Joel Skousen yourself and try to see how is wrong. He is on the last hour or so of the podcast at prisonplanet.com.
I am in California and will be voting for Gary Johnson.
"He said at least Mitt Romeny being rich and Morman is not part of the inside, corrupted, blackmailed, bought and paid for establishment"
Sweet mother of god, what a dumbfuck you are.
Smarter than you asshole.
I can almost agree with you with the exception about Mitt not being bought & paid for. Believe me expect little difference on our obedience to israel, M.I.C., COFR, CIA, NDAA, TSA, Wall Street, etc. etc. Obama & Romney are Obamney on that issue.
I agree not to expect any differences on many of the issues you pointed out supersajin. Joel Skousen was just saying that Romeny will actually think he is President and not do everything is is told. Romeny is an outsider and not controlled. Skousen used the example of the Libyan ambassador being killed. He said the secret US government that has been taken over from the American people wanted the ambassador gone. Skousen was guessing he was getting cold feet on giving weapons to Al Queda. So he was set up to die and Obama had nothing to do with it. Obama didn't intervene as he was told. Skousen said a President Romney would have intervened. So if Skousen is correct there might at least be some hope of him doing the right thing at least sometimes. Listen to him yourself on the last hour or so of Friday's show at www.prisonplanet.com. Click on podcast on the right.
Or further to my post above. I don't think you will see a President Romeny greenlighting an Operation Fast and Furious to sell guns to the Sinaloa drug cartel to blame the second amendment.
I'm not voting....because, I get to BITCH at who did vote for either of these assclowns. I'll find out whom they voted for quickly, too, and KEEP UP THE BITCHING.
Voted for the winner? YOU FUCKER - YOU HELPED CAUSE THIS!!!!
Voted for the loser? YOU FUCKER.....YOU DIDN'T RECRUIT ENOUGH OF YOUR KIND TO GET HIM IN - LOSER!
Rick Ackerman is a little whiny bitch.
I never cared much for pussies like you. Come here so I can shove that hat up your cowardly ass.
Richie,
You seem to be on "top" of things. Calling Romney a "decent" man and what-NOT.
Give me one good reason (1 will suffice but it better be good) why Romney is even worth the consideration against the incumbent.
Further, give us all the lowdown on Romney's master plan for the country and the economy. He seems to have a plan. He mentions it alot but nobody seems to know what that plan is.
Hopefully you do. So, go ahead and enlighten us.
P.S. Respect your elders. Your Mom has seen it all, heard it all. Been around the block. And she's voting for Obama. My 74 yr old father-in-law who worked hard all his life. The old geezer never took a handout, never will. He's tougher than Clint Eastwood, talks the talk and walks the walk. He doesn't share, he doesn't care for any moochers. Wants to send them to Alaska with a shovel. He prefers Obama over Romney. Says he can't stand either listening or watching Romney. Not that he gets excited over Obama. But it is what it is.
Nobody likes a fucking cocksucker country club elitist who sounds like a used car salesman. Carter was more interesting than Romney. At least he made his money in peanuts. As boring as he was, he contributed something tangible.
I didn't know you worked for the Obama campaign, should've told us all sooner!
P.S. Respect your elders.
P.S. Respect is earned, and not by trading the future for more handouts like only a selfish if not outright sadistic piece of sociopathic trash would do, such as your father in law and the author's mother. They are gambling with others' lives for their pieces of silver, fuck them all, Uncle Toms every last damn one.
I love listening to Romney lie, he does it very well, full of amateur enthusiasm - amateurish not at lying, but at lying in public. Obama tries too hard to seem plebian and simply comes off as a mixed-up condescending preachy douchebag (which he is, go figure) and his proficiency at the public lie is unparalleled in recent memory, recalling the likes of the titans of lying FDR and Lincoln. The lies are interchangeable, but the delivery and showmanship are not. You sound like a Blue-Dog Democrat trembling at the prospect of the Messiah being dethroned - how could that happen?!?! He's the fucking Messiah!! Romney is a poor man's rich man by any measure, a fine specimen in the American tradition of fourth-rate aristocrats, far more endearing due to pity/comedic value than community organizer Obama the "middle class multimillionaire" with the attitude of a multibillionaire. His schtick was entertaining but it's been four long years - just like Bush - and it's time for some fresh new talent. You know the story remains the same, but the narrator's voice adds that special je ne sais quoi.
re: working for the Obama campaign
Where do I pick up my check? Listen, I wasn't going to get involved this time. I swore that I wouldn't give a shit. I'm not sure if I really do give a shit but when I read articles like this one, I just have to say something. This entire notion of "liberals vs. conservatives" is such a crock of shit. I can't stand listening to it or reading it anymore. It's blatant propaganda from either side and doesn't help Americans get edcuated one bit.
Bla, bla, bla .. "respect is earned" .. do you hear yourself? Obviously Richie's mom at 92 has earned her respect. So has my father-in-law.
They worked, they lived by the rules, they paid into a system they thought was legitimate and they got screwed. They know it. They also know that Romney is going to screw them harder. That's what he does. He screws people.
Give Obama the 2nd term and let's see how badly he's going to do. The country is in shambles. The finances are much like Jersey, under water. How can he possibly do any worse? It's gonna blow up. But I'd rather see that guy in command when it blows up then country club elite religious zealots like Romney.
I stayed put in 2008. Too much hype on Obama and the alternative wasn't electable. Obama was supported by the banks which are now supporting Romney. I don't vote for banking shills.
Now Romney is the banker's puppet and the only logical conclusion for me is to vote Obama to try and mess up their plan. If Obama has lost the bankster's support that is good enough for me to fuck them sideways.
i'm with you. the minute the banks walked out on Obama, I walked in. this time, he owes them NOTHING....and he's got nothing to lose if he takes them on. I know its a long shot, but....he could grow a pair on Wednesday morning, and good night gracey to our market manipulating buddies at JPM, GS, and the Fed. with Romney we've got no shot........you're right, we've been screwed......
and its all about who is tied to the tracks when the trains comes in. something tells me that it won't be the bankers if romney's in charge. it will be the peasantry......
You think Obama is going to control the banks? You REALLY ARE that dumb. I mean I know Romney is worthless but what the hell is wrong with you?
Obamney 2012!! He'll stop the bastards and save us all!
Sorry Rick, your mom IS a mental defective, just like Idiots who are planning to Vote for Ron Paul instead of voting out the serial lying racist socialist trash.....
Folks like you don't get it. It's like trying to teach pigs to sing. Every four years the elites haul out two pieces of shit for us to vote on- folks that will keep the status quo in power. It's an illusion of choice. That's why Obama was installed. The banking elite needed a get out of jail free card. Now that the statute is up, it's Romneys turn to continue the status quo. He is the king of elites...a fucking banker just like the ones that socialized their losses in 2008.
So go ahead and fall for that shit again. Then in another four years- the elites will give you another choice. Then you can spend your time hating on 92 year olds and telling us all how stupid we are while you keep pulling the lever for assholes.
Vote well or not at all. 5% of us voting for Johnson will get the Libertarian Party some funds.
still just don't get it, do you Rick?
ah well, don't worry you will have plenty of company this election day, whilst you and millions of other Americans herd to the polls to contest who will be behind the wheel, driving the car into the ditch, over the cliff and right into the nearest junkyard.
all the while apparently still not realizing that by taking part in this red vs blue farce, the only thing you cast a vote for is to remain a passenger.
real "change" will only come when we finally turn our backs to this absurd illusion, wall of DC entirely and let it rot of it's own corruption and decadence.
because the truth is Washington is no longer representative of, nor of any use to we the people.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/11/03/maher-if-you-vote-...
"Bill Maher on HBO's Real Time Friday might have said one of the most disgraceful things uttered during the 2012 campaign season.
"If you're thinking about voting for Mitt Romney, I would like to make this one plea: black people know who you are and they will come after you""
That cockstuffer does not realize if darky revolts, Maher isn't going to be spared just because he voted for O-Phone.
I'll bet 10$ Maher is a zionista.
Another lefty criminal who, for years, posed as a Libertarian.
Where's Teddy Roosevelt when we need him?
Jesus, that mythical beast, was definitely a liberal.
Just...Keep Calm & Finish Him.
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/files/2012/11/Keep-Calm-snake.gif
Wow. Good call. In the post-mortem for R&R, it will be realized that the Tea Party wingnuts did him in.
O'Barry hasn't mentioned the TP much until recently. The last couple days he mentioned it at least five times.
Kind of weird, the MSM pundits claim its dead ;-)
Pics of pissed off peeps in gas lines never looked purtier, (although only 50 or so would have sufficed).
How do we know god is not a Democrat? If he were, there wouldn't be so many people doing the blue state back stroke.
"How do we know God is not a Democrat?"
Because He has a sense of humor? ;-)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5wStc0K6jhY
Something doesn't compute here. If there were half as many libertarians in Bugtussle, America as there are alledged libertarians posting on ZH, we would run the whole country by now. WTF?
"Liberal/Conservative Divide Only Grows Uglier", as if this were a bad thing. If you rightly observe that smart people in your family are voting for Obama but don't know why, maybe you are not looking at the candidates from the angle that is in fact the point of differentiation. One point of differentiation is the level of socialism, which is the ideology that the more we live at the expense of others, and the more personal liberty we allow government to usurp from us, the better society will be. The next point of differentiation is the extent to which our economy is sustainable when government pays its bills using money created out of thin air or borrowed from China. By these two measures alone, this "divide" only grows wider not because conservatives have changed, but because liberals have. Where Bush expanded Medicare with "Part D" drug payments, Obama gave us ObamaCare. Where Bush authorized TARP once at ~$750 billion, Obama every year spends more than $1,000 billion than government takes in.
You forgot to mention "the real issues" (or so I'm told) such as: abortion and its funding, contraception, sex ed, gay marriage, AGW, science, green jobs (can't say it with a straight face), religious affiliation and zealousness, level of pro-Zionism, degree of pandering to xenophobes and nationalists, wearing of flag pin lapels, and of course, "which you'd rather have a beer with."
"You can't vote for Obama, he's a Muslim!" "You have to vote for Obama, he supports women!"
"You can't vote for Romney, he's a Mormon!" "You have to vote for Romeny, he supports the 2nd Amendment!"
You cannot even begin to attempt to dissect the political beliefs of the majority of the voting public, the sheer ignorance and irrationality is insurmountable. Try to explain that these issues should never have been politicized and should not even exist as political issues in the first place, the response will be incomprehensible idiocy by people whose egos and self-righteousness are just boundless.
And with criteria like those is it any wonder we have the best leadership in the entire world? Remember, Ron Paul "wasn't presidential material" and "didn't look presidential". USA! USA! USA!
Ron Paul spent the last decade keeping the plate spinning for the proposed Sanctity of Life Constitutional Amendment, which seeks to remove a female's right to make decisions about her own body the moment a zygote (sperm meets egg) is formed, irrespective of circumstances, including rape, incest or the woman's health being threatened.
did you know,
http://truthhugger.com/2012/08/24/h-r-1096-sanctity-of-life-act-of-2011-...
but no worries, Paul Ryan is still carrying the torch.
USA! USA! USA!
You shouldn't post things that you don't know to be true. That isn't even close to what Ron Paul has said. But even if he did say that.... How cruel and barbaric that would be.... Taking away a woman's right to rip her live baby into pieces. The nerve it must take for a pro life person to actually care about the suffering of another woman's child more than she does.
I'm sure no one else will help you with the distinction between a zygote, foetus, newborn baby and child - all words used interchangeably here to raise the hysteria stakes in arguments - but however much you bleat, a zygote is not a babee, nor is it a "child" even if you give your 2 hour old cell mass a name, or "personhood" as is the current flavour.
Ron Paul has helped keep the Sanctity of Life Constitutional Amendment alive for years now, faith-fully keeping the plate spinning, despite the recent updating of the wiki info. now I realise this may be difficult for you, as an avowed voter, but here's the way it works - some are around to run the race, and pass the baton to the next team player in the marathon of governance. Conservative Republican Ron Paul, having done his work, has quietly disappeared, and now the focus is on Mittney & that other Paul guy, no, not Rand, he's working towards his future, Paul Ryan, the latest real deal, and HE will run with the Sanctity of Life baton handed him, new updated version, and it will have even sneakier wordage, and will continue to remove HUMAN RIGHTS from the class of people that they seek the most control over - it's an incremental creep, this loss of rights, are you watching?
http://www.isidewith.com/blog/55553441-the-candidates-stances-on-abortion
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rachel-maddow-nails-politifact-on-romneyryan-...
but you can't see this, given your religious beliefs, which conveniently dovetail with the agenda. yes?
oh, and for the record, I don't necessarily agree with any media links posted for the details, and I've never voted as it's so obviously a silly waste of my time to pretend voting matters in a system as corrupted as the one we live under. . .
and I'm done here now, so have fun.
Not true. Do people like you just make this shit up?
On matters such as abortion and drugs...libertarians say give the power back to the states and let them decide. These blanket statements...that all of the GOP support rapists fathering children is absolute bullshit.
Next time come to the gunfight armed with some facts. Show me anywhere where Ron Paul supports life/children fathered by rapists or cho mo's. Abortion is a moot issue anyway. Anyone tell ya the Supreme Court already ruled on it?
Only morons or idiots will vote for Ron Paul because a vote for Ron Paul (at this point) is a vote for Obama.
Untrue. Counterexample: If a state is solidly Republican, a vote for Ron Paul will not change the result in the Electoral College.
Oh well. My vote cannot be stolen from me. If Ron Paul would have been given the same coverage and chance as the others HE would be on the ballot. If Romney had the integrity it takes to earn my vote he would have spoke up and demanded a fair race. My former party acted like cheating dems against one of their own and now I will never trust republicans again. They are the same as liberals to me now. I will vote libertarian for the rest of my life probably but this time I will write in Ron Paul so they know I would rather throw my vote away than let them steal it.
Staying home and not voting will just make me look lazy. I want them to know that I went out of my way to show them that they lost my vote.
I was beginning to think that I was the only one who felt like this. My sentiments exactly. If Romney was a decent man he would have insisted that Ron Paul be given the respect he deserved and tried to reach out to his supporters. This will be the first time I've ever written in my vote.
"The eminently decent Mitt Romney" who rented his cult's tax free status to avoid paying taxes while bankrupting small American businesses for profit. You and I have a different view of "decent".
I will not vote the lesser of two evils.
while getting paid by public and private pension systems!
Hypocrisy is easy!
bro sorry but your family is just retarded. seems to run in the family since you support romney too
If Rick's mom is so smart, why is she voting at all?
Typical sheeple family pretending this election is significant.
Yawn...
Hell, the only reason that I'm voting is to cling to all my guns as long as I possibly can.
Let's enjoy 3 more days of low gas prices (3.09 here).
After the election they'll shoot right back up.
When markets and human freedom are controlled by the government then all human activities become political in nature.
Djee, if true, then the 'americans' made of the human being question a political issue.
Oh, wait, that is exactly what 'americans' did.
There is one thing Romney could do, and must do, to save the country. Fire Ben Bernanke and put Ron Paul in charge of the Federal Reserve. The utter shock and awe of such a move would panic the gold markets and give the dollar some badly needed breathing room.
Otherwise the dollar dies and the Republic dies with it. Federal workers will simply walk off the job when a month's pay can't buy a week's food.