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2010 Midterm Elections, or: Barnum Was Right

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    wobblyheadedbobwobblyheadedbob Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    I can see a stopped police car easily being voter intimidation in a lot of areas in Georgia.
    Maybe in 1965. But in 2010? It doesn't seem like a reasonable conclusion for someone to make that the local sheriff's deputy is there to suppress minority votes, barring some other evidence.

    You must not live in the South.
    Technically, I've been living in the South since 2002.

    Heck, I'm a Republican in DC, which is a one-party state. And if there was a police force to be scared of, it would be the DC PD. But I've never given any thought to whether a police office near a polling place is trying to intimidate me. It just strikes me as paranoia.

    DC is not the south.

    wobblyheadedbob on
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    wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    I can see a stopped police car easily being voter intimidation in a lot of areas in Georgia.
    Maybe in 1965. But in 2010? It doesn't seem like a reasonable conclusion for someone to make that the local sheriff's deputy is there to suppress minority votes, barring some other evidence.

    You must not live in the South.
    Technically, I've been living in the South since 2002.

    Heck, I'm a Republican in DC, which is a one-party state. And if there was a police force to be scared of, it would be the DC PD. But I've never given any thought to whether a police office near a polling place is trying to intimidate me. It just strikes me as paranoia.

    It's because you're white and affluent. Which I said 10 posts ago.

    wwtMask on
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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Really all you have to do is go to a few Ingles then a few Krogers to see segregation still working its magic.

    Wal-Mart is the most diverse place here. It's cosmopolitan in comparison.

    MKR on
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    SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    I can see a stopped police car easily being voter intimidation in a lot of areas in Georgia.
    Maybe in 1965. But in 2010? It doesn't seem like a reasonable conclusion for someone to make that the local sheriff's deputy is there to suppress minority votes, barring some other evidence.

    You clearly are not the recipient every two years of a flier warning African Americans that attempting to vote without being properly and currently registered and without being able to provide all the required documentation (without listing what that documentation might be) is a crime for which you can be arrested. Which also happened in the same congressional district that same year. You get a threatening flier in your mail box, you see a police officer outside the polling station, you say to yourself, "what if I'm not actually registered? I think I registered, but I'm not sure," and you get back in your car and drive home without voting.

    In this particular case the police officer wasn't complicit in voter intimidation; he was simply stupid. While he was assigned every day to be a friendly police presence in the school which also happened to be where the polling location is held, and he forgot that he was supposed to get dropped off in plain clothes on election day. Nevertheless, the degree to which black voters started complaining to poll watchers and canvassers that the police were there to arrest black people was both real and startling.

    Edit: Also LOL, DC is not "the South." You can't get a decent cool glass of sweet iced tea anywhere within fifty miles of here. And as every good Southern boy knows, it ain't the south unless you have to specify that you want your iced tea unsweetened -- twice -- lest you be served a delicious beverage that tastes almost syrupy with a spritz of lemon and a hint of diabetes.

    SammyF on
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    dojangodojango Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    wwtMask wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    I can see a stopped police car easily being voter intimidation in a lot of areas in Georgia.
    Maybe in 1965. But in 2010? It doesn't seem like a reasonable conclusion for someone to make that the local sheriff's deputy is there to suppress minority votes, barring some other evidence.

    You must not live in the South.
    Technically, I've been living in the South since 2002.

    Heck, I'm a Republican in DC, which is a one-party state. And if there was a police force to be scared of, it would be the DC PD. But I've never given any thought to whether a police office near a polling place is trying to intimidate me. It just strikes me as paranoia.

    It's because you're white and affluent. Which I said 10 posts ago.

    there are still places, where in living memory, the state police and government apparatus was used to prevent 'certain types' from exercising the right to vote, assemble, etc. The voting rights act allows the DoJ to take a much closer look at activities in those states than in other states. Sure, the voter suppression is a lot more subtle now, and usually doesn't directly involve the government (other than the 'real ID' act or whatever), but it doesn't hurt to be too careful when monitoring those areas for overt acts of voter intimidation.

    dojango on
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    wobblyheadedbobwobblyheadedbob Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    MKR wrote: »
    Come down to Georgia and go a little bit outside a big city.

    For real. I moved to North Carolina 8 months ago. My gf and I were all like, "We're gonna get to know all of these people and see them for the complex human beings they are. We'll all be better people for it."

    Now we're saving up to get the hell out of here. The Fayatteville Observer recently had an editorial on how to talk to your kids about the"War of Northern Aggression."

    It's batshit insane, and I'm only in North Carolina

    wobblyheadedbob on
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    Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    SammyF wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    I can see a stopped police car easily being voter intimidation in a lot of areas in Georgia.
    Maybe in 1965. But in 2010? It doesn't seem like a reasonable conclusion for someone to make that the local sheriff's deputy is there to suppress minority votes, barring some other evidence.

    You clearly are not the recipient every two years of a flier warning African Americans that attempting to vote without being properly and currently registered and without being able to provide all the required documentation (without listing what that documentation might be) is a crime for which you can be arrested. Which also happened in the same congressional district that same year. You get a threatening flier in your mail box, you see a police officer outside the polling station, you say to yourself, "what if I'm not actually registered? I think I registered, but I'm not sure," and you get back in your car and drive home without voting.
    So, go after the people sending out these fliers. If they're incorrectly describing the law in question in an attempt to suppress voter turnout, it seems like a pretty slamdunk case.

    I'm not losing any sleep over the cop having to move a block down or whatever. It just seems ludicrous and paranoid for people in 2010 to think a cop near a polling place is there to intimidate voters.

    Modern Man on
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    Rigorous Scholarship

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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    A lot of things still happen in 2010 that aren't addressed because too many people don't think it's a real issue.

    MKR on
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    IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    It just seems ludicrous and paranoid for people in 2010 to think a cop near a polling place is there to intimidate voters.

    Things have gotten a lot better since the 60s, but man not a damned one of the horrible things is 100% gone.

    Incenjucar on
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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    "It's not real if it doesn't happen to me" is the worst kind of thinking.

    MKR on
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    CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I have heard people working for prosecutors admit that certain areas are quite willing to consider a black person guilty.

    Couscous on
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    NailbunnyPDNailbunnyPD Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    MM, your statement is quite ignorant. Of course you are not losing any sleep over it. It doesn't affect you specifically, and you probably aren't anywhere near associated with anyone who it would affect. The least you could do is respect the fact that it does have an affect on people that are not you; people that, through historical reference, have a valid reason to be affected by it. Those affects will never go away as long as your party reinforces it.

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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    To put it in perspective, I'm substantially safer in Georgia being an atheist liberal than a black person is being black. Even if I were some kind of celebrity where those attributes are known.

    MKR on
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    SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    I'm not losing any sleep over the cop having to move a block down or whatever. It just seems ludicrous and paranoid for people in 2010 to think a cop near a polling place is there to intimidate voters.

    I also would have thought that it was ludicrous and paranoid to think that sworn law enforcement officers in Louisiana would blockade a bridge to prevent black citizens from a devastated city from fleeing to a mostly-white suburban Parish across the river, but lo and behold. Shit does sometimes happen.

    SammyF on
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    Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    MM, your statement is quite ignorant. Of course you are not losing any sleep over it. It doesn't affect you specifically, and you probably aren't anywhere near associated with anyone who it would affect. The least you could do is respect the fact that it does have an affect on people that are not you; people that, through historical reference, have a valid reason to be affected by it. Those affects will never go away as long as your party reinforces it.
    Sure, people may have leftover fears from previous times, and those fears were legitimate back in the day. But I'm not aware of any evidence that there is a general campaign of minority voter supression involving police. Even in the Old South, those days are long past.

    The only real example of such a thing may be Sheriff Joe's little fiefdom.

    So, yeah, I'm sure there are people in this country who get nervous when they see a cop near a polling station. But that fear is unfounded and paranoid.

    Modern Man on
    Aetian Jupiter - 41 Gunslinger - The Old Republic
    Rigorous Scholarship

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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    :?

    :(

    MKR on
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    mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    MKR wrote: »
    "It's not real if it doesn't happen to me" is the worst kind of thinking.

    It's the kind of thinking that makes me with bad things upon people, if only because then they'll believe in them.
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Couscous wrote: »
    I can see a stopped police car easily being voter intimidation in a lot of areas in Georgia.

    Maybe in 1965. But in 2010? It doesn't seem like a reasonable conclusion for someone to make that the local sheriff's deputy is there to suppress minority votes, barring some other evidence.

    Whether the explicit intent is to suppress minority votes or not, them being there will do so.

    I really shouldn't have to start throwing out videos of cops beating, tasing, or just straight-up shooting people (often minorities) to make this point.
    Xeddicus wrote: »
    Is the entire 'story' about Christine Odonell that she didn't have sex with some guy at some party 3 years ago? Or is there actually something damning involved? She doesn't seem to have a chance in hell, so why are they spinning a non-story like this?

    In her world this is something damning. That's what makes it a story. This...this is irony right? I get confused sometimes, that Alanis bitch got me all turned around.

    mcdermott on
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    mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    So, yeah, I'm sure there are people in this country who get nervous when they see a cop near a polling station. But that fear is unfounded and paranoid.

    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    mcdermott on
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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Segregation and intimidation have been so ingrained in to the culture that it requires little or no overt effort at this point.

    MKR on
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    SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Even in the Old South, those days are long past.

    You kind of lost the ability to make the argument that you have any idea what goes on in the South when you said that DC qualifies as part of it, I'm afraid.

    SammyF on
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    Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited October 2010
    mcdermott wrote: »
    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    Ditto, mostly. Mcdermott likely gets paid more than I do.

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
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    Muse Among MenMuse Among Men Suburban Bunny Princess? Its time for a new shtick Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I guess I've missed out on a chunk of the thread but reading this last few pages amounts to, "The South." Highlights, yeah, perhaps, but this is making me pretty sad.

    Moderman, where do you live? That could help.

    Muse Among Men on
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    Just_Bri_ThanksJust_Bri_Thanks Seething with rage from a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited October 2010
    He said DC

    Just_Bri_Thanks on
    ...and when you are done with that; take a folding
    chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
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    IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    mcdermott wrote: »
    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    Ditto, mostly. Mcdermott likely gets paid more than I do.

    In Seattle, it's actually fairly reasonable to be nervous of the police. They have an extremely bad record of escalating toward violence; punched a girl for jaywalking and shot a man dead for having a whittling knife (he was a whittler). And then you have that guy in Portland who shot a girl point-blank in the leg with a sandbag AFTER she was on the ground. And this is in the liberal North West.

    Incenjucar on
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    Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    SammyF wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Even in the Old South, those days are long past.

    You kind of lost the ability to make the argument that you have any idea what goes on in the South when you said that DC qualifies as part of it, I'm afraid.
    Please feel free to provide evidence that there is a general campaign of minority voter suppression involving Southern cops, then.

    Modern Man on
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    Rigorous Scholarship

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    SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    SammyF wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Even in the Old South, those days are long past.

    You kind of lost the ability to make the argument that you have any idea what goes on in the South when you said that DC qualifies as part of it, I'm afraid.
    Please feel free to provide evidence that there is a general campaign of minority voter suppression involving Southern cops, then.

    Jesus Christ, dude. Can I get you some Motrin or an ice compress? Did you throw out your back moving the goal posts like that?

    SammyF on
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    DeebaserDeebaser on my way to work in a suit and a tie Ahhhh...come on fucking guyRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I guess it's just my outlook from not living in the shithole that apparently is "Real America", but really, cops parked by a polling place would scare people into not voting?

    Last week there were cops with dogs* at my train station and I don't think it prevented anyone from going to work.

    (I'm fucking terrified of dogs)

    Deebaser on
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    KastanjKastanj __BANNED USERS regular
    edited October 2010
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.

    Kastanj on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    Z0reZ0re Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Deebaser wrote: »
    I guess it's just my outlook from not living in the shithole that apparently is "Real America", but really, cops parked by a polling place would scare people into not voting?

    Last week there were cops with dogs* at my train station and I don't think it prevented anyone from going to work.

    (I'm fucking terrified of dogs)

    Are you a visible minority? Do the cops in your area have a history or racist violence against people who look like you? Did you get vaguely threatening letters in the mail about how people like you need to be 'checked' so they can ensure no voter fraud is happening? This is the situation in many southern states, especially in rural areas.

    Z0re on
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    CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    MKR wrote: »
    Segregation and intimidation have been so ingrained in to the culture that it requires little or no overt effort at this point.

    http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120301/met_7985657.html
    Segregation is alive and well.

    Couscous on
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    JragghenJragghen Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    mcdermott wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    So, yeah, I'm sure there are people in this country who get nervous when they see a cop near a polling station. But that fear is unfounded and paranoid.

    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    Ditto.

    Largely because of all the cases where police have used unnecessary force within the last couple years, killing people and getting off scot free.

    Jragghen on
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    Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?)

    Not really sure what it has to do with the discussion on voter suppression, though.

    Modern Man on
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    Rigorous Scholarship

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    KastanjKastanj __BANNED USERS regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?)

    Not really sure what it has to do with the discussion on voter suppression, though.

    It has to do with the fact that you are self-entitled, self-compassionate and resentful to a ridiculous level, something that is exhibited in threads apart from this one.

    Kastanj on
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    JepheryJephery Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?).

    Its a little bit of a hyperbole, but not that far off. The Republican Party was marginalized by the Great Depression, and didn't come back as real opposition to the Democratic party until the South realigned with it after the Civil Rights Act was passed by Johnson and the New Deal Coalition broke down. Reagan's term is when the South solidly shifted to the Republican party.

    Jephery on
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    JragghenJragghen Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?)

    Not really sure what it has to do with the discussion on voter suppression, though.

    1980: 242 Dem/192 Rep; 53 Rep/46 Dem + 1 Ind
    1978: 277 Dem/158 Rep; 62 Dem/38 Rep
    1976: 292 Dem/143 Rep; 61 Dem + 1 Ind/38 Rep
    1974: 291 Dem/144 Rep; 61 + 1 Ind/38 Rep


    While hardly "small," they were still seriously outnumbered in the House/Senate for a long while before Reagan came along

    Jragghen on
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    Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Incenjucar wrote: »
    mcdermott wrote: »
    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    Ditto, mostly. Mcdermott likely gets paid more than I do.

    In Seattle, it's actually fairly reasonable to be nervous of the police. They have an extremely bad record of escalating toward violence; punched a girl for jaywalking and shot a man dead for having a whittling knife (he was a whittler). And then you have that guy in Portland who shot a girl point-blank in the leg with a sandbag AFTER she was on the ground. And this is in the liberal North West.

    Spokane says hi.

    Styrofoam Sammich on
    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
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    DeebaserDeebaser on my way to work in a suit and a tie Ahhhh...come on fucking guyRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Incenjucar wrote: »
    mcdermott wrote: »
    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    Ditto, mostly. Mcdermott likely gets paid more than I do.

    In Seattle, it's actually fairly reasonable to be nervous of the police. They have an extremely bad record of escalating toward violence; punched a girl for jaywalking and shot a man dead for having a whittling knife (he was a whittler). And then you have that guy in Portland who shot a girl point-blank in the leg with a sandbag AFTER she was on the ground. And this is in the liberal North West.

    If we're thinking of the same incident, no one was punched for jaywalking. Stupid kids assaulted an officer.

    Deebaser on
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    DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Incenjucar wrote: »
    mcdermott wrote: »
    I get nervous when I see a cop anywhere. Only a little, but then I'm white and middle class.

    Ditto, mostly. Mcdermott likely gets paid more than I do.

    In Seattle, it's actually fairly reasonable to be nervous of the police. They have an extremely bad record of escalating toward violence; punched a girl for jaywalking and shot a man dead for having a whittling knife (he was a whittler). And then you have that guy in Portland who shot a girl point-blank in the leg with a sandbag AFTER she was on the ground. And this is in the liberal North West.

    Spokane says hi.

    Spokane wants to be a part of Idaho. We should let it.

    DoctorArch on
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    Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?)

    Not really sure what it has to do with the discussion on voter suppression, though.

    It has to do with the fact that you are self-entitled, self-compassionate and resentful to a ridiculous level, something that is exhibited in threads apart from this one.
    Oh, no. Kastanj thinks I'm a terrible person. Whatever shall I do? :cry:

    Modern Man on
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    Rigorous Scholarship

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    Captain CarrotCaptain Carrot Alexandria, VARegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Jragghen wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?)

    Not really sure what it has to do with the discussion on voter suppression, though.

    1980: 242 Dem/192 Rep; 53 Rep/46 Dem + 1 Ind
    1978: 277 Dem/158 Rep; 62 Dem/38 Rep
    1976: 292 Dem/143 Rep; 61 Dem + 1 Ind/38 Rep
    1974: 291 Dem/144 Rep; 61 + 1 Ind/38 Rep


    While hardly "small," they were still seriously outnumbered in the House/Senate for a long while before Reagan came along
    Southern Democrats voted Republican on many matters anyway. It was to a large extent a paper majority, especially on civil rights.
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Modern Man wrote: »
    Kastanj wrote: »
    Damn Modern Man I didn't know you let Esquire do a psychological profile on you.
    Nice article, I guess. It's full of the usual strawmen and ignorance of history (the Republican party was a small party before Reagan came around, really?)

    Not really sure what it has to do with the discussion on voter suppression, though.

    It has to do with the fact that you are self-entitled, self-compassionate and resentful to a ridiculous level, something that is exhibited in threads apart from this one.
    Oh, no. Kastanj thinks I'm a terrible person. Whatever shall I do? :cry:
    Most of us do, actually. It's possible to be a conservative and not an asshole, but you've so far failed to do so.

    Captain Carrot on
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