Meanwhile, it always turns out great for the Commies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad

People can only be one of two extremes! That's some nuanced thinking Doc... NOT!

Yep. Commies and fascists. The only two things a human being can be.

If you're not a fascist you're a commie. If you're not a commie you're a fascist. If you're not a Pepsi you're a Coke, as no other liquids exist. If you're not a cat you're a dog, Earth's only two animals. If you're not Pokemon Sun you're Pokemon Moon. If you're not Superman you're Batman. If you're not apples you're oranges. If you're not PoeTV you're Cakefarts.com.

If you're not Cakefarts.com you're Pokemon Moon. If you're not oranges you're Superman. If you're not fascist you're Pepsi. If you're not Steven Universe you're Adventure Time. If you're not Jake the Dog you're Finn the Human. If you're not Whitesnake's 1982 album "Saints & Sinners," you're a McDonald's extra value meal. If you're not

If you're not with Hillary, you're with Trump!

And you know those fascists, always limiting the power of the government.

I have a close friend who lives in NC. He's a teacher and a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, so life sucks for him living there.

Oh, quite a long time.

Wouldn't you like to be able to go to a Springsteen concert in your own state again?

Again? I've never really been fan of Springsteen before (he's okay I guess).

IFB, if I may ask, what county do you reside in? If you were around pre-2013, do you remember the state under Bev P? Have any thoughts about the Pat years you'd like to share?

For the record I liked Pat. He took the state from a deficit to a surplus and gave the economy a solid kick in the tuccus, not that it was in really terrible shape before.

Cooper doesn't really strike me as a bad guy, nor is he going to be too radically different from Pat. NC as it is right now exists as kind of a microcosm of the American political landscape. The whole HB2 fiasco was a pissing contest that ultimately boiled down to state vs municipality and who would have the last laugh. As it continued to be blown out of proportion and more external actors threw their hats into the fight, Pat decided to stick to his guns and in doing so sealed his fate for what was more or less pride. Well, the ramifications may go a little deeper than that, which may be some of the impetus behind this most recent decision.

> IFB, if I may ask, what county do you reside in?

No, you may not.

> If you were around pre-2013, do you remember the state under Bev P?

Unfortunately, I was caught up in my own problems, going to school and trying to find a job, so I can probably tell you more about what I don't remember. If it counts, I'm sure NC had its share of stupid, but I don't remember a time prior to 2013 being hated by so many people.

> Have any thoughts about the Pat years you'd like to share?

Duke Energy coal ash spill and him jumping in to settle the lawsuits. MFW I find out he was a 28-year employee.
Taking out half a million dollars from the disaster relief fund for purposes of defending HB2. But in his defense, he supposedly hasn't "used" it... yet.
He's cool with fracking, but not with expanding Medicaid... or abortion rights (not that I expected him to be, but he did break a promise).
My state taxes have mysteriously started sucking in the last couple of years.
And if I recall, he was one of the folks who tried to force that voter ID bullshit.
I think it's interesting people talk about how he saved the economy, but nobody ever mentions the details.
I'm not saying he hasn't done anything good, or that he doesn't do his job. There just seems to be more strikes against him than not.

I ask what county you live in because perceptions of Pat vary widely from area to area. It's entirely believable that most people you interact with hate the governor, as per relative to where you livE.

2017 is going to be interesting when the voting districts are redrawn.

Right after they figure out what gender they are...

Mean-spirited covers all the bases.

Believing both parties are the same, now officially a manbaby belief.

"The only real difference between the Democrats and Republicans is the Democrats aren't petty and spiteful when they lose."

Dude, I like and respect you, but this sort of dumbfuckery is way WAY beneath you. We just had a primary season where the Democrats were arguing about exactly how big a minimum wage leap was achievable without causing economic blowback, while the Republicans would like to get rid of minimum wages altogether. You have to have noticed this.

> Can anyone recall a time in recent memory where the Democrats attempted to salt the earth for incoming Republicans?

Well, in 1976 and 1989...

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-pol itics/article121433312.html

Rhetoric is one thing, Bort. What people do once they're in office is another. Even the most radical Democrats become more "pragmatic" once they win office. Many Republicans do that, too. Nobody wants to rock the boat too much.

Democrats, however, don't have a track record of trying to hamstring a public office just because it went to a Republican. (I'm sure, however, that's because they hope to win it back again.) And they certainly don't have a track record of trying to pass oppressive social policies just to "get back" at people they don't like.

As we speak, Republicans are chomping at the bit to reinstate the ironically-named "Defense of Marriage Act" and strike down laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination. They also want to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, deny women the right to an abortion, block immigration and let the fossil fuel energy fuck the environment.

And they seem to be doing it all out of pure spite. None of it is of any real benefit to them. At least with Trump and his Legion of Doom...sorry, I meant his Cabinet...I know their motive. They're rich assholes who want to protect their existing wealth and acquire even more wealth. I don't see what the average Republican-on-the-street has to gain from what they're doing now other than to be cruel to people who pissed them off.

"Even the most radical Democrats become more "pragmatic" once they win office."

Yeah, once they figure out what the limits on what they can actually accomplish are.

You know who are the worst athletes in the world? Football players. Do you really mean to tell me it takes these alleged athletes three or four minutes to run 100 yards? Shouldn't take them more than 30 seconds, if that. It must be that they're totally totally lazy.

I understand them getting resistance from the opposition. I know Obama had a hard time getting things done with the Republican-dominated Congress fighting them the whole way.

What I won't forgive is the way they stop taking their case to the people once they make it into office. The voters are the ones they should be making the point to, not the elected officials. The elected officials ultimately have to answer to us.

True story. A couple years ago, on some Internet Leftie hell-hole, a guy was bitching about, why doesn't Obama speak to the public about suchandsuch issue (I think it was the Syria chemical weapons)? Well it turns out Obama was doing a press conference about that very issue even as the guy was bitching.

You're saying that Democrats don't make their case to the people. Well if you listened to Hillary's speeches you would have heard her talk about jobs and wages an awful lot, but if you relied on the news to summarize it for you (and admit it, you did), all you heard about was email and Benghazi.

"Democrats need to do the thing that they're already doing, but that I am too lazy and ignorant to look for."


oh, Binro