Monotreme is an unabashedly liberal dog lover, writer, and former scientist who now teaches at a University in an almost-square state out West somewhere. http://www.logarchism.com | http://www.sevendeadlysynapses.com
Can I just say that Canadians are the nicest people, ever?Canadian couple gives away lottery winnings.What does this have to do with politics or polling? Not much. I just thought it was a nice story.
I’ve been waiting for a FFF so I could post this… Freepers Think Liberals (Literally) Stink. Just read the comments. They’re both hilarious and kind of depressing… especially all the racist crap.There really are Two Solitudes in America, aren’t there?
Re: Free Republic on personal hygeineI found it ironic that one of the posters used a picture of Donald Sutherland at the end of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.Of course, the movie was an allegorical tale of the rise of McCarthyism in the 1950s, but this is just further evidence that Irony Is Dead.
Monotreme,No, Irony is not dead. It’s everybody else who is suffering from hemachromatosis.It’s Satire that’s dead, leaving Sarcasm lonely and bitter. But then, Sarcasm was always bitter.Your pedantic pedant,S.PS: I’ve always liked Canadians, but the ones I’ve met have been Winnepegians, hey.
I said this on the previous thread, but the more I read on this blog the more I realize what a brilliant observation is was. 🙂 And it’s FFF. You all on the left need to have a victim. Your entire political world depends on it. I think that’s why fili spends so much time at Freeperville. She can go there and find where Freepers are victimizing someone so she can support her liberal ideas.
@GROG..You all on the left need to have a victim. Your entire political world depends on it. Please clarify.You mean we need a victim as in somebody we can torment? Or a victim as in somebody whose cause we can espouse?
I have always thought of Kevin Kline’s Paden in “Silverado” as the ultimate liberal.Cobb: Let me tell you about your friend Paden. A long time ago, me, Paden, Tyree, and a couple of other fellas did a lot of riding together. On business, and business was pretty good. We moved around a lot, the way you have to in that line of work. Somewhere along the way, we picked up this dog. One of us took to feeding it, so it followed us everywhere. Well, one day we’re leaving this little Missouri town, in kind of a hurry with a bunch of the locals hot on our tail. Somehow this dog got tied up with Tyree’s horse. Tyree went flyin’.[laughs]Cobb: Well, Tyree was pretty mad when he got up, and, being Tyree, he shot the dog. Didn’t kill him, though. The next thing you know, Paden’s down off his horse, and he’s holdin’ this dog, sayin’ we should go on without him. I thought he was kidding, except he wasn’t. Tyree was ready to plug ’em both – all this with the posse ridin’ down on us.[Paden has entered]Cobb: I thought we were pals after all that riding we did together. All of a sudden he’s worried about some mutt. Well, we did like he asked. We left him, and he went to jail for a dog. You want to hear the funny part? Paden didn’t even like that damn dog.Paden: It evened out in the end. They locked me up; the dog sprung me.[Cobb laughs]Stella: Where’s the dog now?Paden: He left me.
Hey GROG… what makes you different from other righties?(This is a serious question.)Most of them don’t like talking to liberals. We enjoy having conservatives here because we like arguing and hashing out ideas (and we have an actual fondness for most of our righties, shiloh notwithstanding 😉 but most conservatives genuinely dislike liberals. They don’t want liberals visiting their sites, they don’t even like the way liberals think. (or stink ;-)But I get the feeling you DO kind of like us, even though you are undeniably right-wing.Why is that, do you think… how come you’re over here fraternizing when most of your army would frown on such behavior? Are you just a rebel?
@fili,I know what I believe. I don’t need an echo chamber to reiterate my beliefs. Plus, I really do like you guys. Some of my best friends and best people I know are liberals. I like liberals.But I stand by assertion. Liberalism needs victims. And I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily, but liberlism needs the downtrodden. You need the victimized so you can come to the rescue.I do think, however, that a lot of the “victimization” is made up or used soley for the purpose of pushing an agenda. “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”Just an observation.
@GROG Liberalism needs victims. And I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily, but liberlism needs the downtrodden. You need the victimized so you can come to the rescue.Now, that’s interesting. (You sly dog, you KNOW I can’t resist a conversation like this ;-)And while I think we could agree that “coming to the rescue of the downtrodden” is not a BAD thing… right… after all, somebody’s got to do it… I’m not sure that’s what animates liberals, any more than one could generalize and say that “conservatism needs an enemy”… though one would certainly get that impression from hanging out with the Freepers. They LOVE having enemies. I think if I had to put it in simple terms, I’d say that liberals are animated by fairness. Thy want everybody to at least (in as much as possible) have the same chance at success in the game, and they believe the way to do that is by trying, as a nation, to create a level playing field.Is that so bad?
GROG,How do you ascertain a “need”? The normal way would be to observe, in the absence of the needful, a decline. But in the world as it presently is, there is no shortage of “victims”, and likely to be a larger number in the near future, as the GOP tries to reduce the national debt by passing even more of the wealth into the hands of the wealthy.For my part, I need fresh air, sunshine, and time to enjoy them. Victims? No thanks, keep them with my blessing.
@GROG,I disagree that liberalism needs victims. As shortchain points out, it would mean that, in a victimless world, liberalism would disappear. However, almost all of my liberal beliefs would remain absent victims.But what I find especially delicious about your assertion is this: the “victims’ rights” movement was started and remains supported by conservatives. Perhaps you righties need victims too?
hmm, trying to determine if folk talkin’ about you re: said pandering from another thread is in fact a certain kind of pandering in and of itself. ;)Actually, while you guys were talkin’ pandering I was pandering to smilies in the previous thread.Uh oh… shiloh will be along any minute now to accuse you of pandering.After checking w/my buddy realist 😉 don’t think accuse would be the right word as my main point was enough already! er diminishing returns re: my other buddy Jeffrey. :DAnd yes, ever since 1980 er Reagan, Canada and Canadians are looking better and better every day, eh.Oh Canada!Our home and native land!>btw, if I’m a Rep because I was raised by loving, caring, intelligent parents who provided me w/all the tools to make a successful life ie helping me attain my (2) college degrees … btw, my wife has (3) degrees as I can’t emphasize enough how successful my life truly is Jeffrey never makes another 538 post, I won’t skip a beat!Shocking, eh.and please, let the pandering, intended and unintended, continue.>Find it kind of amusing if by going against the flow at any political blog one tends to stand out and strike a nerve ie not become a member of any clique. Again, consider myself an independent contractor er equal opportunity annoyer.As a friend of mine at Joker’s, Marley, would say: That’s how I roll … B)I know, I know, shocking that I had a friend! 😛
@RealistBut what I find especially delicious about your assertion is this: the “victims’ rights” movement was started and remains supported by conservatives. Perhaps you righties need victims too?What I think is the deal is that righties see themselves as victims. Their country is being stolen, the left-wing media lies about them, their guns are about to be taken away, they may have to pay some taxes who might wing up in the pockets of undeserving and lazy poor people, etc., etc. And they can’t imagine why us liberals, who love to protect victims, aren’t protecting them.Of course, we know it’s because 1) they don’t understand liberals, and 2) conservatives are hardly victims.Whether or not it’s true that liberals need victims, it does seem to be true that conservatives need victimhood.
So, Rasmussen proves to be the least accurate and most biased of the major pollsters. Do you suppose 1) they will improve their methodology, or 2) people will stop quoting them as the world’s most accurate pollster?
Speaking of That’s how I roll. and marchin’ to the beat of her own drummer, would like to give a shout out to Nancy Pelosi, one of the most successful Speakers in American history, despite the wimp Dems she had to deal w/in the senate.Oh the irony, the Dems lost the House and not the Senate.Indeed, truly a female politician w/balls as opposed to that lipstick on a pig fraud from AK who couldn’t cope w/governing 700k so she quit her job half way thru because she was overwhelmed by stress …You bet’cha!Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way! ~ Thomas Paine
it’s now time for more of my professional insights and analysis. hilarious. now Nate Silver is declaring Rasmussen polls were biased. Uh, that’s what I’ve been telling you for many weeks Nate. And you just now figured it out, after Election Day? the media is absurd. They kept ranting and raving how many house seats republicans picked up. Never heard anything about the house seats republicans lost. Louisiana 2, Hawaii 1, and Delaware AL. but if you think that’s something, the governors races were even worse. They kept talking about all of the governors seats the republicans won, again, trying to spin as a huge Obama backlash, just like they’ve done with everything else.hmm, let’s see. The republicans lost several governor’s seats they held going into Election day-LOST California-LOST Hawaii-LOST Rhode Island-LOST Vermont-LOST Connecticut -LOST Minnesotaand after all that, the republican gains are reduced to a few seats. Feel the GOP Wave, LOL!!
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Update from the Editor
538Refugees has been parked since the 2012 election. Given the current election activity commentary may resume however the site name and format will change and these articles will exist as an archive on the new site.
Can I just say that Canadians are the nicest people, ever?Canadian couple gives away lottery winnings.What does this have to do with politics or polling? Not much. I just thought it was a nice story.
I’ve been waiting for a FFF so I could post this… Freepers Think Liberals (Literally) Stink. Just read the comments. They’re both hilarious and kind of depressing… especially all the racist crap.There really are Two Solitudes in America, aren’t there?
Thank God! In even better news I have company coming over for happy hour! I suppose politically there is that whole Pelosi thing.
Can I just say that Canadians are the nicest people, ever?Uh oh… shiloh will be along any minute now to accuse you of pandering. :-PB-)
@Fili: Very funny
Who, me? Why on earth would I pander to our favorite charming, cheerful Canadian?;-)
“It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.” — Dizzy Dean”It ain’t panderin’ if it’s true.” — Monotreme
Re: Free Republic on personal hygeineI found it ironic that one of the posters used a picture of Donald Sutherland at the end of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.Of course, the movie was an allegorical tale of the rise of McCarthyism in the 1950s, but this is just further evidence that Irony Is Dead.
Monotreme,No, Irony is not dead. It’s everybody else who is suffering from hemachromatosis.It’s Satire that’s dead, leaving Sarcasm lonely and bitter. But then, Sarcasm was always bitter.Your pedantic pedant,S.PS: I’ve always liked Canadians, but the ones I’ve met have been Winnepegians, hey.
Winnipeg is what Winnie the Pooh was named for.
I said this on the previous thread, but the more I read on this blog the more I realize what a brilliant observation is was. 🙂 And it’s FFF. You all on the left need to have a victim. Your entire political world depends on it. I think that’s why fili spends so much time at Freeperville. She can go there and find where Freepers are victimizing someone so she can support her liberal ideas.
@GROG,You all on the left need to have a victim.Funny, I’m on the left and I hardly need a victim. Care to restate your opinion a little better?
GROG,Do us all a favor and look up “psychological projection”. You exhibit it on almost every thread you comment on.And it gets tiresome.
@GROG..You all on the left need to have a victim. Your entire political world depends on it. Please clarify.You mean we need a victim as in somebody we can torment? Or a victim as in somebody whose cause we can espouse?
I have always thought of Kevin Kline’s Paden in “Silverado” as the ultimate liberal.Cobb: Let me tell you about your friend Paden. A long time ago, me, Paden, Tyree, and a couple of other fellas did a lot of riding together. On business, and business was pretty good. We moved around a lot, the way you have to in that line of work. Somewhere along the way, we picked up this dog. One of us took to feeding it, so it followed us everywhere. Well, one day we’re leaving this little Missouri town, in kind of a hurry with a bunch of the locals hot on our tail. Somehow this dog got tied up with Tyree’s horse. Tyree went flyin’.[laughs]Cobb: Well, Tyree was pretty mad when he got up, and, being Tyree, he shot the dog. Didn’t kill him, though. The next thing you know, Paden’s down off his horse, and he’s holdin’ this dog, sayin’ we should go on without him. I thought he was kidding, except he wasn’t. Tyree was ready to plug ’em both – all this with the posse ridin’ down on us.[Paden has entered]Cobb: I thought we were pals after all that riding we did together. All of a sudden he’s worried about some mutt. Well, we did like he asked. We left him, and he went to jail for a dog. You want to hear the funny part? Paden didn’t even like that damn dog.Paden: It evened out in the end. They locked me up; the dog sprung me.[Cobb laughs]Stella: Where’s the dog now?Paden: He left me.
@mclever.. Why on earth would I pander to our favorite charming, cheerful Canadian?LOL…. what’s the smiley for “tongue in cheek?”
Nate puts the big smackdown on Rassmusen. Yowsaa!
Hey GROG… what makes you different from other righties?(This is a serious question.)Most of them don’t like talking to liberals. We enjoy having conservatives here because we like arguing and hashing out ideas (and we have an actual fondness for most of our righties, shiloh notwithstanding 😉 but most conservatives genuinely dislike liberals. They don’t want liberals visiting their sites, they don’t even like the way liberals think. (or stink ;-)But I get the feeling you DO kind of like us, even though you are undeniably right-wing.Why is that, do you think… how come you’re over here fraternizing when most of your army would frown on such behavior? Are you just a rebel?
Bipartisanship, or bisectedneckisanship?http://voices.washingtonpost.com/tomtoles/2010/11/friday_rant_pipe_wrench_editio.html
Silverado. Actually a prettygood western in a time when they were out of vogue.
@fili,I know what I believe. I don’t need an echo chamber to reiterate my beliefs. Plus, I really do like you guys. Some of my best friends and best people I know are liberals. I like liberals.But I stand by assertion. Liberalism needs victims. And I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily, but liberlism needs the downtrodden. You need the victimized so you can come to the rescue.I do think, however, that a lot of the “victimization” is made up or used soley for the purpose of pushing an agenda. “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”Just an observation.
@GROG Liberalism needs victims. And I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily, but liberlism needs the downtrodden. You need the victimized so you can come to the rescue.Now, that’s interesting. (You sly dog, you KNOW I can’t resist a conversation like this ;-)And while I think we could agree that “coming to the rescue of the downtrodden” is not a BAD thing… right… after all, somebody’s got to do it… I’m not sure that’s what animates liberals, any more than one could generalize and say that “conservatism needs an enemy”… though one would certainly get that impression from hanging out with the Freepers. They LOVE having enemies. I think if I had to put it in simple terms, I’d say that liberals are animated by fairness. Thy want everybody to at least (in as much as possible) have the same chance at success in the game, and they believe the way to do that is by trying, as a nation, to create a level playing field.Is that so bad?
GROG,How do you ascertain a “need”? The normal way would be to observe, in the absence of the needful, a decline. But in the world as it presently is, there is no shortage of “victims”, and likely to be a larger number in the near future, as the GOP tries to reduce the national debt by passing even more of the wealth into the hands of the wealthy.For my part, I need fresh air, sunshine, and time to enjoy them. Victims? No thanks, keep them with my blessing.
@GROG,I disagree that liberalism needs victims. As shortchain points out, it would mean that, in a victimless world, liberalism would disappear. However, almost all of my liberal beliefs would remain absent victims.But what I find especially delicious about your assertion is this: the “victims’ rights” movement was started and remains supported by conservatives. Perhaps you righties need victims too?
hmm, trying to determine if folk talkin’ about you re: said pandering from another thread is in fact a certain kind of pandering in and of itself. ;)Actually, while you guys were talkin’ pandering I was pandering to smilies in the previous thread.Uh oh… shiloh will be along any minute now to accuse you of pandering.After checking w/my buddy realist 😉 don’t think accuse would be the right word as my main point was enough already! er diminishing returns re: my other buddy Jeffrey. :DAnd yes, ever since 1980 er Reagan, Canada and Canadians are looking better and better every day, eh.Oh Canada!Our home and native land!>btw, if I’m a Rep because I was raised by loving, caring, intelligent parents who provided me w/all the tools to make a successful life ie helping me attain my (2) college degrees … btw, my wife has (3) degrees as I can’t emphasize enough how successful my life truly is Jeffrey never makes another 538 post, I won’t skip a beat!Shocking, eh.and please, let the pandering, intended and unintended, continue.>Find it kind of amusing if by going against the flow at any political blog one tends to stand out and strike a nerve ie not become a member of any clique. Again, consider myself an independent contractor er equal opportunity annoyer.As a friend of mine at Joker’s, Marley, would say: That’s how I roll … B)I know, I know, shocking that I had a friend! 😛
@RealistBut what I find especially delicious about your assertion is this: the “victims’ rights” movement was started and remains supported by conservatives. Perhaps you righties need victims too?What I think is the deal is that righties see themselves as victims. Their country is being stolen, the left-wing media lies about them, their guns are about to be taken away, they may have to pay some taxes who might wing up in the pockets of undeserving and lazy poor people, etc., etc. And they can’t imagine why us liberals, who love to protect victims, aren’t protecting them.Of course, we know it’s because 1) they don’t understand liberals, and 2) conservatives are hardly victims.Whether or not it’s true that liberals need victims, it does seem to be true that conservatives need victimhood.
So, Rasmussen proves to be the least accurate and most biased of the major pollsters. Do you suppose 1) they will improve their methodology, or 2) people will stop quoting them as the world’s most accurate pollster?
Speaking of That’s how I roll. and marchin’ to the beat of her own drummer, would like to give a shout out to Nancy Pelosi, one of the most successful Speakers in American history, despite the wimp Dems she had to deal w/in the senate.Oh the irony, the Dems lost the House and not the Senate.Indeed, truly a female politician w/balls as opposed to that lipstick on a pig fraud from AK who couldn’t cope w/governing 700k so she quit her job half way thru because she was overwhelmed by stress …You bet’cha!Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way! ~ Thomas Paine
mclever,re: Can I just say that Canadians are the nicest people, ever?”A Canadian is merely an unarmed American with health care.” John Wing
it’s now time for more of my professional insights and analysis. hilarious. now Nate Silver is declaring Rasmussen polls were biased. Uh, that’s what I’ve been telling you for many weeks Nate. And you just now figured it out, after Election Day? the media is absurd. They kept ranting and raving how many house seats republicans picked up. Never heard anything about the house seats republicans lost. Louisiana 2, Hawaii 1, and Delaware AL. but if you think that’s something, the governors races were even worse. They kept talking about all of the governors seats the republicans won, again, trying to spin as a huge Obama backlash, just like they’ve done with everything else.hmm, let’s see. The republicans lost several governor’s seats they held going into Election day-LOST California-LOST Hawaii-LOST Rhode Island-LOST Vermont-LOST Connecticut -LOST Minnesotaand after all that, the republican gains are reduced to a few seats. Feel the GOP Wave, LOL!!