Gingrich verse Romney

[Jorodryn]

I swear every time we get closer a presidential election I keep thinking to myself how is it people keep choosing between the Rs and the Ds.

Kinda makes me think along the lines that people are trying to decide between Stalin and Hitler... which is the lesser of two evils?

[Kea]

Dude, that's an extreme analogy. Enough with the murderous dictators already. I think it's more like a choice between a deep fried Twinkie and a deep fried stick of butter.

And here's the latest weird thing from Santorum. Are his speeches written by someone from The Onion?

Santorum calls Obama a snob for (allegedly) wanting everybody to go to college.

Does he not see the logical inconsistency in that statement? Obama wants to popularize higher education! That makes him an elitist!

[Jorodryn]

It was the best evil I could think of at the time. I don't consider deep fried twinkies necessarily evil.

[Kea]

That's my point. I don't think that American politicians are evil. I feel that bar for evil has fallen too low in political discourse.
I think American politicians are foolish, short-sighted, full of empty calories, and really bad for you. Like a deep-fried Twinkie.

[weatherwax]

Yeah, I heard that Santorum comment, and also heard some reaction from Michigan Republicans who agreed with him. They were old, but still, what? Since when is it MORE elitist to want every child to have a shot at higher education (including really great trade schools) than it is to tell the lower classes that they're trapped down there forever?

[Silly Green Monkey]

I got it here: http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=7915991&postcount=60.

Anecdotal of course.

[LeoChopper]

I feel that bar for evil has fallen too low in political discourse.

I wonder. There are no Stalins or Hitlers here, by a long shot. But look at what issues we're talking about: racism, sexism, and homophobia. Outright lying to and defrauding of the public. Imprisoning people without trial, and torture. Those aren't just bad decisions like eating too many twinkies, they're things that should be met with moral disgust.

[arcosh]

If you consider abstaining from educational ventures as valid and admireable cultural trait, then indeed coercing education of education on such cultural groups is an insulting disregard of their cultural values.

I just wonder if Santorum has the same opinion about thoose, whose cultural values also consists of talking ebonics and listening to rap music.


And as irrelevant but amusing sidenote, in German "Sodomie" means bestiality. I looked it up after getting pretty much confused by an article discussing gay groups attempts to remove laws against sodomy.

[Weremensh]

I feel that bar for evil has fallen too low in political discourse.

I wonder. There are no Stalins or Hitlers here, by a long shot. But look at what issues we're talking about: racism, sexism, and homophobia. Outright lying to and defrauding of the public. Imprisoning people without trial, and torture. Those aren't just bad decisions like eating too many twinkies, they're things that should be met with moral disgust.

We've got folks who took bribes in order to allow spontaneous abortion inducing bacteria into the American food supply, and who lost a war because they couldn't stop stealing chump change long enough to steal an entire country, all happily counting their loot and plotting how to get the power to do it all again.

Without discussing just where the bar is, there is real evil in the American political system.

[Kea]

Over here, we have a government that covered up a train accident by having the wreckage buried in a pit before all the bodies were recovered. Officially, those people are "missing", not dead.

US politics is full of greed, mendacity and incompetence for sure, but it's too early to drag out Godwin's Law.

[arcosh]

I know this subtopic of this meandring thread has died by now and became mostly irrelevant, due to not really linked to a candidate, but since no one mentioned ityet and it gives me a "am i in the right movie?" felling.

It would be completly inconsistent for social conservatives to argue "orgasm -> not rape". Deranged Hippie psychopaths might consitently argue that an orgasm is such a great thing, that you should be happy if someone forces it on you, even though i disagree. But it is a cornerstone of social conservatism, that under most circumstances you should not take part in sexual activities, even if you expect an enjoyable orgasm from it. So if someone forces such an activity on you, and your and your hormones betray you, so what?

(Just for the record, the difference between my position and what i consider the consistent social conservative position in that matter, is mainly that i see way fewer circumstances, where abstaining from sexual activities is a moral imperative)

[Grillick]

It's not that inconsistent, actually arcosh. You see, the fact that she enjoyed it (which you apparently can tell from the fact that she got pregnant? [citation needed]) implies that she's morally deficient, so obviously she got what's coming to her.

[arcosh]

So you enjoy candy. There is candy, you very much like, but it is reserved for children, so moral person that you are refrain from eating it. Or you refrain from eating it because of health reasons. But then some evil gunman comes, and threatens to kill you (and propably the children the candy is reserved for), unless you eat it. So you eat the candy, and if you develop the salvia appropriate for eating candy you like, it means you enjoyed eating the candy, and have not really been forced, but should be considered as someone, who steals from candy from children or someone who does not care about health effects of food, and anyway you should not complain, salvia means you liked it.

Do you agree to that, or where do you see the difference to a rape that leads to orgasm situation.

[drachefly]

I think the issue is that we disagree with the claim, much as you do.

[Persephone]

I believe that the argument is that only a brazen hussy would enjoy candy in the first place, regardless of whether or not they abstain. So if you salivate when you are force fed candy, it's because you're a slutty, candy-enjoying whore, and you had it coming. We all know that you wanted that candy.