tvashtarkatena

If the GOP dropped marriage and abortion from the agenda, and vowed to end the War on Drugs (and the Dems didn't), I'd switch parties tomorrow.

It could. We have to continue to pressure the feds to amend the Controlled Substances Act. Hey, its a fight, no doubt about it.

The guy's a single dad. The son goes to foster care if he goes to prison. He obeyed state law in letter and spirit. I'd like to hear anyone who supports the War on Drugs explain why this is a better outcome for anyone.

A law abiding citizen faces life in prison

For the GOP, I'd advise: Bolstering the fiscal argument by eliminating the military's blank check. Strong defense can be had for a lot less money. Demand that value. Drop abortion and marriage. It's none of their business, and the country has already moved on. This cost the GOP big this time around. Real big. The GOP told itself it's all about the economy. Voters disagreed. Divorce the Born Agains by pushing a true separation of church and state agenda. After all, they're a captive base. Who else are they gonna vote for? This would allow the above to happen. The GOP's world wouldn't suddenly end. Accept progressive taxation in exchange for lower deficits. Push to end the Drug War under the guise of government waste and personal liberty. Cut that budget! Stop lying so much. Its a turn off, and it doesn't work these days as well as it used to. End tax exemptions for superPACs that do not disclose donations and churches who openly play partisan politics. Close those loopholes - increase revenue. Again, this is an image/trust issue for the GOP - a big one. Soften the zero tolerance immigration bullshit. It turns their new target constituencies: hispanics and women, off.

Now GGK, he just puts five common words in a blender with the lid off, tosses in a stray pig or a dog, hits 'chop', and out pops a sentence.

How am I supposed to know your favorite brand when it always comes in the same old crinkly Aquafina bottle?

If ya make yer own cake ya don't have ta pay it as much.

Ivan mixes Olde, Middle, and Hunterglish to concoct an unholy lexical gumbo that only a Chaucer on acid could fully decipher. This is what can happen when Beowulf and Kerouac schedule a play date at a Franzia winery.

Reckon they're about as friendly as with his fellow climbers. Zen Mind, Beginner Mind, my brothuhz. Love that after-election glow... Most self described libertarians I've spoken with (the definitive measure of truth!) are fairly moderate in their views. Yeah, the survivalists get some press, but mostly that's just a manifestation of people with a big hole in there lives they're attempting to fill - a disease most Americans are afflicted with to some degree. The Armaggedonauts have just turned it up to 11.

When I was a kid growing up in Utah, my parents acquired a se of the top secret "temple garmonts" from an ex-mormon. They always joked of dressing one of us kids up in them to go trick or treating around our very mormon neighborhood but figured that may be a bit too insulting so they just stuck with giving our next door neighbors 13 kids ice tea and other caffinated beverages. I'm sure they will burn in hell for those transgressions... A former squash partner wore em. He didn't seem too concerned with secrecy when changing in the locker room. Hey, to each his own. I've got a problem with the religious talling others what to do, but if somebody wants to rock the holy underwear, thas coo.

I try to take a Zen mind approach to meeting people - assume nothing, listen, engage. Seems to work OK. I don't tolerate open belligerence while speaking on a topic - its not fair to the rest of the audience, but those situations are quite rare. Even then, I offer to discuss things afterwards with the heckler. I've run into kooky, but not out in out evil. I wasn't on the Titanic, so I can't comment on the lifeboat situation. I've spoken to some pretty right wing folks and gotten compliments afterwards. They come armed with the typical anti-ACLU propaganda, but that's pretty easy to disarm with a few simple questions. Once they realize you're for real, they engage, just like anybody else. Once so engaged, I can learn something from them. Find common ground, work outwards from there. You don't do that by condemning someone's motives before you've even attempted to figure out who you're dealing with. It's more fun to speak with someone who doesn't already agree with your point of view sometimes. Keeps your brain and spirit from stewing in its own bullshit. Stay friendly and you can plant an idea and maybe get one in return. Insult them and you've confirmed their propaganda. Anyway, you never know what they've been through. Maybe their believe in self reliance because they had to raise their drug addict kid sister? Maybe, just maybe, there's something there to be admired.

A lot of libertarians I know are from smaller communities where self reliance is a must. Walk a few feet in their shoes and their beliefs and values make a bit more sense.

I was dubious about the auto bailout at the time - didn't trust the automakers much at the time, but I turned out to be wrong on that issue. Hindsight is not a proxy for IQ. The uncertainty and corporate scandals at the time made bailing out the auto makers (who arrived to their hearing in corporate jets, as I recall) a tough call to make for the average Joe.

Well, I talk to folks one by one, and they seem to vary in their opinions and experiences a fair bit. Always something to learn there for a pair of open ears. Never addressed all Libertarians in a borg like mass, so maybe you're right - maybe they do zombiefy when a critical mass is reached. Cherry pick the dumbest sound bites from any movement and you're not set up for a very long conversation, I expect.

That's normal. Nazareth thought Jebus was full of it, too.

My experience with 'libertarians' , and its been pretty extensive at this point, is that its not a group - its an ideology that encompasses a broad range of ideas, some kooky, some pretty damn sound. Self reliance, personal responsibility, personal liberty, and privacy are all part of the libertarian spectrum - they seem like pretty good ideas to me. Like any idea, they can be taken to a ridiculous extreme, but many folks I've talked with who espouse them are more complex and considered in their views. Personally, I haven't found it difficult to connect with and have a pretty good time with self described libertarians - and I always learn seem to learn something from the encounter. Maybe fewer labels and a greater appreciation that people are more complicated than those labels, which are mainly for the media anyway, imply would lead to a bit more innovation regarding public policy.

Treat voters like intelligent adults and they reward you with votes. Many folks off all political stripes voted for gay weed...more for weed (a surprise to me), but no matter. Both campaigns stuck to the facts, were open and honest, and respected differences of opinion. In the end, WA got done what other states could not. It might be appropriate to drop some partisan cliches and recognize how lucky we are to live in a state that's leading the rest of the country forward. More importantly, I 502 and 74 will hopefully serve as models for how campaigns SHOULD be run - no attack ads, no bullshit, no out of context sound bites, no bait and switch, no partisan bickering. Voters deserve a lot better than what they've been getting.

Perhaps that makes two of us, no?

I'm a Republican? Shit...I just got done getting out the vote for the wrong party. I need to check me voter registration card more often. How bout you, GGK? Didja hit the streets this election to work off some of that nervous energy?

Oh my, you were so right fucking on- as usual. I predicted the same. It's all in good fun, no?

Myths die hard. Look around you at all the crosses. The Teabaggers take away here is that Romney wasn't hard core enough. They are now busy drafting an agenda they call "No Excuses" for heir legislatures. I leave you to imagine how different and flexible its going to be compared to their efforts to date. The rest of the country will simply need to move around them like the pilons they are - it seems they are so 'right' that self-reform isn't going to happen. Eventually, the country will tire of them collecting a paycheck and not showing up for work, and gut them in future elections, but that could take a while. This is what happens when you try to save a country for a guy who probably never existed 2000 years ago, I guess.

and tax cuts for the rich.

The Krobar lies fallow, wanting of visitors and a reason for a quick sprucing up.

Or celebrate the emergence of a brighter future with friends. Attitude really is everything.