Dr. Tom

Ah, but ponder this: The Hippie Movement, or what's left of it, are soon going to transform into a political juggernaut: Senior Citizens. An awful lot of senior citizens live in Florida. Bush won Florida handily. I'm not concerned.

Good move for Kerry. He had about zero mathematical chance of getting the electoral votes he needed. We were looking at the outstanding states here at work, and figured he'd need something like 85% of all outstanding votes nationally (including provisionals, which can be expected to break approximately along party lines) to have a chance, and that just wasn't happening. Props to Kerry for not dragging this out longer than necessary.

I'm not sure, really. They've sold themselves out to the hardcore anti-war crowd and the international community, and those are not values which resonate with most Americans. They basically put everything into this Presidential election, and with Bush's victory a virtual certainty, they've lost a lot. The problem was that Kerry was the best they had to offer, and he was not a good candidate. The days of the tax-and-spend liberal are likely over, and the Democratic Party needs to adjust accordingly. They need actual centrists -- not people like the Clintons who are really socialists in disguise -- with sensible views on the issues and a touch take on terrorism. A candidate like that could do well nationally, though the people who still cling to the hardline leftist ideals in the party would have a problem with such a candidate. I think they're in trouble. The country has shown itself to be increasingly conservative in its values in the past decade-plus. Note that Clinton won re-election in 1996 by running on a platform full of traditional conservative issues, like welfare reform and a balanced budget. The GOP continues to make gains in the House and Senate, which further erodes the Democrats' power base. Some states do traditionall side with the Democrats, but a lot of those old, set-in-their-ways voters, products of the 1930s and 40s, aren't going to be around for many more elections. The Hippie Movement, which caused the Dems to sell out to the anti-war crowd, has been a disaster in recent years. The party clearly needs a more centrist direction. Hard to say. I don't think he was a big help to the Democrats, and if getting rid of him enables some more moderate folks to take the reins of the party, then Daschle's defeat will be the best thing to happen to the Democrats in a long time. If the far left retains control of the party's direction, the same problems will continue. I'm not familiar enough with Dem Senators and Representatives from around the country to answer this. I guess the easy answer is Obama, but he's a neophyte in the Senate, and the party won't rally around him yet. Whoever they pick, the person has to be centrist and moderate. It'll piss off the old hardcore liberals, but their days of political relevance are dwindling fast.

We had touch-screen technology here, replacing the paper system that had been in place since the earth cooled. Some goober working at the polling place asked me if I needed help with the touch-screen tech. I just laughed at him.

I'll go with the Steelers. They just knocked off the Patriots, who are coming into a tough stretch of games with some legit injury concerns, and I think they'll knock off the Eagles this weekend.

Wishing death on someone is not expressly forbidden by the rules. Be aware that there are other rules you could violate in the course of your death wish, but wishing death on another poster is not verboten under the streamlined rules.

Popular Vote: They'll both have under 50%, but Kerry will have the edge Electoral Vote (#) Bush wins, 290-248. Florida: Bush Iowa: Bush Hawaii: Kerry Wisconsin: Bush New Mexico: Kerry

Pinned until the election is resolved. Which better bloody be by the time I go to bed tonight.

Washington, DC party - 10/31/04 2000EDT Please join us at the Spy Lounge in Adams Morgan for a fun Hallowe'en evening of politics, live jazz, and great drinks! This event is open to the public and there is NO entry fee! The host considers sponsoring informative debate not just a civic duty but a privilege, so please consider joining us as our guest! Although the host is a conservative Republican, our more civil and articulate liberal friends are welcome to make their case. Regardless of affiliation, should you choose, you'll have the opportunity to make a short speech (2-3 minutes in length) between jazz numbers - in return for which you'll be given open bar privileges for the rest of the night! (The Spy Lounge features one of the best drinks in the city, and possibly the world - a Dr No's Madness! Standing up to the mike won't feel like a burden after a couple of these!) Guests include retired senior government officials and members of prestigious think tanks in the DC area, as well as politically active college students, representatives of both political parties, and journalists from a variety of national print media. Topics will range from domestic policies to foreign affairs without restriction. Throughout the evening, the highly-regarded Danielle Westphal will be singing classic and modern jazz favorites. She's played at the White House for President Clinton (but we forgive her for that), and frequently performs at the Kennedy Center. At the moment she can be found at a number of venues including the Asia Bistro and the Sala Thai restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, as well as the Bangkok Blues of Falls Church and the Old Town Theater in Alexandria. We hope to see you soon! When: 10/31/04 2000 EDT Where: The Spy Lounge 2406 18th Street NW Washington, DC How: Contact [email protected] for any additional details and to confirm, or just show up! -------- -------- I'd go, but I'm going to be in Columbus, Ohio this coming weekend, so that rules it out for me. I know we have serveral posters in and near the DC area, and those without plans are encouraged to attend. I think all of you know the organizer, at least indirectly, and it sounds like an interesting evening for those who are politically inclined, regardless of affiliation. Relayed at the request of the organizer, whom you know as "Cancer Marney."

So I'm at the gas station filling up the tank. The guy comes up with one of the usual Gas Station Sob Stories. I hear him out, and here's the gist of it: he needs to get home, which is about 30 miles away, and his needle is on E. He said he was with a buddy, and there was another fellow sitting in a car that was kind of randomly parked in front of the store. I happened to have $3 in my pocket from getting change for something earlier. It's extraordinarily rare that I give money to strangers who ask for it (the last, in fact, was a panhandler with a sign that read, "I'll be honest, I just want some beer;" I gave him a couple bucks just for his honesty), but he didn't seem like the usual bum or junkie who asks for money -- decently dressed, and the car he said was his wasn't a jalopy. So, in a rare display of philanthropy to strangers (OMG compassionate conservatism~), I gave him the $3 that was in my pocket. He holds it in his hand, looks at it, then looks back up at me and says, "Man, gas is expensive." I was taken aback for a second. Here I had just given money to a complete stranger with a sob story I insinctually disbelieve, and he's going to say I didn't give him enough? Fuck that noise. Here's the rundown on what happened: Him: (holding money sort of loosely in his hand) Man, gas is expensive. Me: (snatches the money right back out of his hand) Fine, beg someone else for it then. Him: (clearly surprised) What the hell? Me: Beggars can't be choosers. You -- Him: Man, I ain't no beggar! Me: You begged me for money, didn't you? Then you tried to say what I gave you wasn't enough. Fuck you, get out of here. Him: (mumbles and walks off) After he went back to the car, I overheard his buddy yell at him and tell him how stupid he was. I would've shouted my agreement, but the pump clicked off as the tank was full.

Back after my bye week. Clicky-clicky

Considering the impressive leadership the CONSERVATIVE BRIGADE~! has in place, the Liberal Legion or the Commie Coalition or the Happy Hippies, or whatever they're called, will find it impossible to keep up. You shall all be ground beneath my jack-booted heel. MUAHAHAHAHA~! KNEEL BEFORE ZOD~!

One play does not confer tilde-bang status...

so many things wrong with this. 1) the quality of the reference itself is bad. everybody knows it, and it's ridiculously overused. 2) you brought attention to the fact that it was a reference. never ever ever do this; the whole point is for those "in the know" to get it, and for it to fly over the heads of everyone else. when you say "that was a reference," it leaves the former saying "no shit, sherlock" and the latter saying "so what?" 3) you basically congratulated yourself on the reference. even if it WAS a good reference, the self-congratulation makes you look significantly less cool. since this was not a good reference in the first place, it makes you look like eddie deezen, squinting through your coke bottle glasses while you say "hey everybody, look how cool i am" through your nose. Just one thing wrong with this. 1. My not-serious post deserved about one second of analysis. You gave it 50,000 times that.

As long as it was part of pillow talk, I would.

We get the 2000 Election part II. Actually, we're probably getting that anyway. As much as I loathe the Redskins, I have to root for them this weekend. Thankfully, the Packers have a bad rushing defense, so maybe Clinton (OMG another presidential reference~!!!11) Portis can own them on the ground.

To be fair, the Bears ARE worse than the Cardinals...

I give myself an 11. And if you don't get the reference, I give you a 0 for being tragically unhip.

To Die For, obv...

That would be awesome if Kutcher showed up at a Kerry rally doing the rah-rah act, then "punked" Kerry and brought out the Pro-Bush signs and riled everyone up. It would be more awesome still if Kerry's security people shot him in the face for making such a disturbance.

...

Shit, I did. I KNEW I forgot to add something in when I was doing the final writeup with the Monday night stuff added in. Fuck.

Since I haven't followed comics in a few years, how are they reconciling this with the whole Parallax thing in Zero Hour?

Edited for accuracy.

Folks: We're going to be deleting some of the many old threads that are still around. Basically, these old threads are just making everything slower for everyone. By getting rid of them, search times will improve, and the overall performance of the board will be faster. Obviously, this will hit the WWE folder the hardest, since it has so many threads. Basically, if there's something you want to save to your hard drive, from any folder, now is the time. On Tuesday of next week, the thread pruning will take place, so this is fair warning to everyone.