Oppolitics

"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw) 08/04/2016 at 12:59 • Filed to: politics

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I vote fantastic new superhero, Studebaker Hoch!

Stolen from Reddit:

This too:

George Carlin said it best:

“Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain’t going to do any good; you’re just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There’s a nice campaign slogan for somebody: ‘The Public Sucks. Fuck Hope.”

Please don’t take any of this seriously. I’ve been watching and reading a lot of stuff on the consolidation of power and wealth in this country, and have decided that when shit sucks, laughter is a useful tool.

LongbowMkII > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:07

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Continued-

“….I have solved this political dilemma in a very direct way: I don’t vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain.

Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, “If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain”, but where’s the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain.

I, on the other hand, who did not vote — who did not even leave the house on Election Day — am in no way responsible for that these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created. That I didn’t have anything to do with.

So when you’re having one of those swell elections that you like so much…on that day I will be doing essentially the same as you…the only difference is when I get done masturbating I’ll have a little something to show for it.”

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:09

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I do not agree with George Carlin on this. I think that one thing that Donald Trump is (occasionally) correct about is that the system is rigged and this contributes greatly to Americans electing jackasses.

EL_ULY > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:12

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ALL HAIL THE DARK LORD!

our new anthem \m/

RallyWrench > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/04/2016 at 13:15

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Bernie too, and more consistently. I feel the same, but a Carlin quote is always good, and there is a significant portion of the electorate that can’t be trusted to make informed, rational decisions (on either side) and just vote party line without a second thought, so it seems appropriate.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:20

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I appreciate what you are saying. I am reserved about Carlin in general. He presents as a guru of language and irony, but from what place?

RallyWrench > LongbowMkII 08/04/2016 at 13:21

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Yep. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t vote though, even though it doesn’t really matter in my state’s case because we’re one of the last to report and the Electoral College ruins everything by just counting blue or red. The problem is, with so many states having closed primaries, if you’re not registered Democrat or Republican you get no voice until the general election.

LongbowMkII > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:26

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I vote, but I don't complain. I just complain about a lack of choices. But when hildawg bombs a poor brown country I can't be surprised.

RallyWrench > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/04/2016 at 13:28

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Um... the 60's, man? I don’t have a good answer for that, but I appreciate a sharp and humorous take on social issues. Also, Wyld Stallyns.

OPPOsaurus WRX > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:40

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too many people are taking this like another reality TV show.

RallyWrench > OPPOsaurus WRX 08/04/2016 at 13:43

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And that’s a problem, because people are dumb enough to actually believe that shit.

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:50

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That gif is awesome. I love it.

and... don’t vote. At least not for corrupt politicians at the national level.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 13:56

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Are the 60s relevant today? I’m asking. I do not have an answer.

For sharp and humorous take relevant to what’s going on today, Jon Stewart is my man.

RallyWrench > luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! 08/04/2016 at 13:57

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The Electoral College ensures that your vote doesn’t matter at that level anyway.

Sam > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 14:12

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Go vote for the rest of the positions up for election. Those are the ones that really matter. If you need to fill in your presidential vote, and can’t write in Cthulu or Giant Meteor, vote Stein or Johnson. Neither of them will win anyways, so may as well use them to throw your vote away.

RallyWrench > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/04/2016 at 14:29

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Stewart is the man, I’m an unashamed fanboy and I hope he continues to speak out. I’d vote for him.

I wasn’t alive then, but I think the 60's are relevant today because they were another time of very tumultuous politics and polarization, really building the foundations of our major parties as we know them. A lot of the lessons the civil rights movement taught our country seem to have been forgotten, we’ve now been at war for longer than Vietnam, and the ongoing debate about surveillance in this day and age harks back to the same debate when the FBI was running rampant through the 50's and 60's. There are significant parallels, in my opinion.

It reminds me of the quote about those who forget history being doomed to repeat it. I don’t know how any of this applies to comedians and social commentary over the decades, but there’s a lot we can learn from the past in the current climate, and if we can inject a little humor into an otherwise dire discourse, why the hell not?

RallyWrench > Sam 08/04/2016 at 14:39

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Start with local and state politics, exactly. Johnson is slightly less out there than Stein, her anti-vax shit is not going to fly with me, but I actually like a lot of what Johnson has to say. It just feels like the Libertarian party has otherwise been hijacked by a bunch of racist doomsday prepping gun nuts (which I differentiate from responsible gun owners). I’m seriously considering Giant Meteor, he seems like a nice fella.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RallyWrench 08/04/2016 at 16:45

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Agreed.

IanZ - limited-slip indifferential > EL_ULY 08/04/2016 at 23:05

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Oh, human sacrifice is illegal?

...oops

Jobjoris > RallyWrench 08/06/2016 at 04:11

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Love the Studebaker, laugh about that two-party system you’re lumbered with. What is that about?

We’ve got the complete opposite which doesn’t work either: with about 20 parties (I’ve lost count) competing it’s hard to come up with a decent coalition in the first place.

Too bad you don’t speak Dutch, otherwise this would have put a smile on your face:

About the “Party against civilians”. With the tagline: “Just get lost”. To prove we definitely got lost in the process...

RallyWrench > Jobjoris 08/06/2016 at 09:54

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It’s about limiting our options. Theoretically we still have multiple parties, but anything but the main two are marginalized both by our campaign finance system and closed primaries that limit our choices. It’s more than a little depressing, hence the need for humor!

I’m glad we’re not the only ones that are broken, but I think we’ve taken it to a new level.

Jobjoris > RallyWrench 08/06/2016 at 10:24

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Oh we could use some limitations, I’d suggest a “kiesdrempel”, an election threshold. Every party with less then 5% (debatable) of the votes not to get into parliament in the first place. So only the biggest 6 or 7 (give and take) parties matter after elections, making coalitions way easier.

RallyWrench > Jobjoris 08/06/2016 at 11:50

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That’s sensible, and would keep the troublemaking fringes out.