Speakeasy forum: I want a November Surprise !!! I want the whole GOP

with a sledgehammer attributing only one motive, despite my already excluding the vast majority of Republicans in the post itself.

You confuse anger and strong feelings with hate. I Hate No one

I do not hate Republicans. Some of them are my family members, for God's sake. What I do hate is the group who have taken control of the Republican Party, who probably constitute less than 1% of registered Republicans. For 40 years now, the professional managers of the Republican Party have been pushing it Rightward, and attacking anyone who expresses reservations or opposition.

I do despise, as oppose to hate, those extremely privileged and wealthy old men who exert appalling influence on a party which is supposed to express a range of opinion. This is not the Republican Party, based around a set of shared values i.e. a platform. It is a Party being dictated to by extremists whose primary influence is money. It is the Norquist Koch Coors Adelson (can I buy a non Teutonic name here?) Consortium who use the Republican candidate as a hand puppet. In your heart of hearts, do you think that George W Bush was in control of the party he led? It is clear that Obama is the leader of his party, but it is not clear that Reagan, W and Romney were leaders or merely convenient figureheads. In fact I'd say that most Republicans didn't trust Romney but were reassured by Paul Ryan on the ticket. Paul Ryan has a backbone. His opinions may not be comforting or even accepted by the majority of Republicans, but he has a core, a firm centre.

Mutt Romney has changed position so often nobody knows where he stands on anything, they only know what he says from moment to moment. That provably untrue "47%" comment, and various other gaffes eroded any confidence people had in him. Obama's response to Sandy, was in stark contrast to Bush's response to Katrina and to 9/11. He moved decisively back to Washington to await a storm aimed at DC.

Bush possessed no hint of true leadership. If he had, he'd have been out of that chair in the Grade 1 class, and made an apology that he had been called away by an emergency in New York City, thus localizing the problem and eliminating anything scary from the kids minds, like nuclear war or danger in Florida.

Indeed what has become dimly apparent in this election cycle is that the Extremists are not having it all their own way. Romney's "opinions" as dictated to him by Norquist Koch and company, alienate the swing voter, and even cause discomfort among what moderate Republicans are left.

If you've drunk the Kool Aid Steve, I am sorry. You are smarter than that.

I've had occasion recently to re-read Eisenhower's farewell address from 1961, and to contrast it with the extreme positions being bellowed from the ConservaTeaParty Republican looney Right who in 1961 were proto John Birchers. It is a fine document, which warns against precisely the problems that have developed, the Military Industrial Congressional Complex. (Bet you didn't know that Eisenhower decided at the last minute not to alienate Congress by deleting that reference) It was an early reference to what we now call the Beltway Bubble which isolates Washington from the remainder of the country and disconnects elected Representatives from their Constituencies. It all becomes about positioning in the Washington hierarchy, and making connections to guarantee funding for the next election.

The Founding Fathers made a mistake when they ordered elections every 2 years, not in the context of 18th or 19th Century Politics, but in the context of late 20th and early 21st Century politics, where every Congressman having run for office is now permanently running on a treadmill to generate enough money to stand to be re-elected. Ditto Senators despite their 6 year terms. They are chained to their big donors not to their States or constituents. That is deeply and profoundly wrong, and would promote projectile vomitting among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress and the members of every party up to the Republican Party of 1918. Have you forgotten the Harding Administration, and Tea Pot Dome, a party bought and paid for by speculators which made Harding a one term wonder.

Have you no sense of history Steven? Can you not make the connections between things that went wrong in the past and things that are going wrong now? You're a bright guy, that's clear in your longer posts.
That Address line Tweet was uncharacteristic of you.

Rob

slam you. I think one line responses to larger ideas and Tweeting are glib and ill advised. I have slammed people here, who clearly have an agenda which they will push regardless of evidence or the will of the American electorate. I see you as a mainstream Republican rather than an extremist, and thus as worthy of respect and will disagree but not slam.

What I meant to include in that first sentence was a reference to Tweeting as what passes for thought in the US today. Had I included that, it would not have been directed at you, it would have been directed at people who do think that complex issues can be reduced to however many characters a Tweet will support.

The only one liners I consistently appreciate came from the Algonquin Round Table in the 1920's. "Brevity is the soul of lingerie. As the camisole said to the chemise." A play on the truism "Brevity is the soul of wit."
Or "If all the girls at the Harvard ball were laid end to end, I wouldn't be in the least surprised." Both of those are Dorothy Parker. One was written as a caption for a Photograph in Vogue and probably took hours of thought (or not). The other was a conversational gambit, as was "One more drink and I'll be under the host." In all cases, these were usually witticisms honed and polished for years before they were dropped with exquisite timing into the conversation or an article or review.

I can't help that I think in paragraphs and several interconnected and hopefully reinforcing ideas, and not in terms of quick shots. I distrust shots from the hip in a political discussion viz "There you go again ...." Dismissive without substance or evidence.

As for how I write, it's how I was educated. In conversation I may come out with one-liners, but put me at a keyboard and I'm in writer mode. Blame Grad School.

I may disagree with you Steven, but I respect your opinions enough to try to explain why I disagree rather than perpetuate a "you take a shot at me, I take a shot at you" form of dialogue.

With honest best wishes,
Rob

You see the result. True Liberals give of their own and don't demand others follow suit, but may try and persuade them willing to join them in giving and helping. Psuedo Liberals give of what belongs to others which they've taken from them and then take credit for themselves. Many Democrats call themselves Liberals but in truth are False, and many of them also are instead arrogant demanding beggars hiding behind the label "Liberal".

could split into a group of 5 and another group of 4 other and agree to meet up later somewhere.

More than anyone else in these forums.