their spouses, their 30-second TV spots -- let alone the pundits and the pollsters -- to say. Tuesday -- finally, after a two-year campaign -- belongs to the voters.

...Everyone should have their 30 second of fame, after all. Even the voters.

"...sick, stupid, evil human beings who don't deserve to live. Don't give them any candy. "

Word. :D

You know.. if you people are worried about the image of americans in general, please consider the following: we know you are idiots. There's no way to hide this. In every country you can fly to with a plane from the US, five- year olds know more about international law than the US President does after eight years in office. And there's no hiding that half of the country doesn't even have an opinion on whether that is good or bad, either.

So if you really want to improve your image, and broadcast your political awareness - you could try, yes, getting involved somehow. And I say that without qualification - it's hugely more likely to result in a belated reflection if you are a die- hard moron on the right, or a militant douchebag on the left, compared to if you just stand around chanting for the guy with the best hair - or gods help me, donating money to someone because they remind them of a mythical father- figure that will deliver them from harm -- and usher in a new eternally positive attitude, that will reinvigorate the market and produce more jobs - by magic *sprinkling sounds*.

Of course - when you actually learn in school that what currently passes for "sound business" and a "healthy economy" in the US is an all- powerful natural state of affairs, about as constant as white Christian bestness and goodness.. that keeps the world from spinning into chaos by a strange coincidence as well - then what can you expect, except exactly what's going on right now? Namely an emotional and unflattering - even in american terms - exposition on the level of political debate?

And no, you're not going to change anything by just following your bleeding heart and "doing the right thing" this time.

Instead, you'd need to question your own candidates on policies - in order to ensure that they are holding well- reflected and consistent positions. Aggressively argue for such and such issues, and why your candidate is an ass for not siding with you. Because YOU BASTARDS ARE ENTITLED TO THE RESPECT OF YOUR OWN REPRESENTATIVES, NOT EVERYONE ELSE'S AROUND THE WORLD DO YOU UNDERSTAND! THAT'S CALLED DEMOCRACY!

Oh, and terrorism is really cool. I loves me some terrorism.

..this was very good. I guess it's nice to see how this particular explanation of current events is turning into something else than "just a narrative" in american media terms. In the sense that arguments suddenly describe something real - so the arguments turn substantial, instead of just accusatory.

But then - what does "substantial" mean? In this case it means documenting the one thing that envigorated american political culture in a non- violent way since Vietnam, which is the meltdown of the right.

And unfortunately, what the vast majority of you are still doing is passively describing what is going on - in the same way that the previous eight years were described - and framing every single event within the bubble of american political life, without actually analyzing the events or the context you're in.

That, Kamiya, is the failure of the Right - to be unable to describe their own context and change when it (inevitably) fails - just as you accurately describe it.

But then, the first step to healing yourself is pointing out the failure in others... or something. That's what my crazy aunt used to say, anyway.

...so did we discover things in this thread, such as: 1. There could be a reason why people are "off base" on certain issues? And that 2. using wrong words might not always make the point any less valid?

Let's draw up a thought- experiment: imagine a bunch of angry white people railing on about how blacks and mexicans are the scourge of the world (read: "the US") in less than erudite language. Could there be actual issues hiding underneath here? Is it imaginable that it could be worthwhile to discover what those issues are?

Or is it merely an automatic reality of the real world that this sentiment should be exploited politically? Or, to borrow different nomenclature from this thread: it is simply what the people want, so therefore Congress should respond?

Let's take another one: imagine angry leftist morons screaming their heads off about government conspiracies and corrupt politicians... etc.