US Presidental Elections, Economic Disasters, Gaming and a basket of rats

[tcpip]

If it couldn't get any worse for the Republicans, the inquiry into Palin has revealed that she did abuse her power in the "troopergate" affair - interesting to note that the Alaskan legislature voted unanimously to make the report public. I'm going out on a bit of a limb here as a psephologist and make the claim that the McCain/Palin pretty much can't win. The RCP Electoral College map shows that even if they win all the states that are in doubt, they will still lose - and that would be reversing a trend which is currently 77-26 in favour of Obama in the "toss up" states. This lead is likely to increase as Obama is intending to spend big on the last weeks of the election. Given that the Republicans are largely sunk, there is some sense in Libertarians who normally vote Republican to vote for their favoured third-party; I normally don't make such recommendations given the way that the US electoral system works (first-past-the-post, winner-takes-all), which effectively limits voting choice to the least disliked of two options. But in this case, given that the Republican cannot win, Libertarians should take the opportunity to give the anti-secular moral conservatives a swift kick to the rear.

Last week the Dow fell 18% as emergency G-20 summits are called. National debt in the United States is now $11 trillion and the clock runs out of digits; competing in orders of magnitude, Zimbabwe's inflation rate is 231 million percent. The British strategy is to punish top executives and to purchase preferential shares. Would anyone be terribly surprised if it I pointed out that housingestate prices are falling at record rates?.

Usual D&D 3.x Fantasy Australia game on Thursday. Played a great game of Middle Earth Role Playing on Friday night (thank you Michael) and on Saturday wrote an alternative Fourth Age article for Other Minds entitled "White Hand Rising" (go on, guess what that's about). On Sunday played imajica_lj's Call of Cthulhu game. Thank you for all your very kind comments on Scoundrel's departure. Our household couldn't remain ratless for long and on Saturday, courtesy of a lovely lass named Sarah we picked up three new boys, born on the 14th of August. Welcome to (top-down) Mischief, Calamity and Trouble.

Comments

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

Hopefully the statistical makeup of people who actually turn out to vote is identical or more favourable to Obama/Biden than the polls... it would be shocking and awful if things got ruined by purged electoral rolls and other such problems.

[i-amthecosmos.livejournal.com]

Agreed with the above comment, also, the Republican mood is getting uglier and uglier as they face losing to Obama.

I predict some truly nasty racial politics, if not a bomb threat.

[madame-mage.livejournal.com]

I must have missed the post about Scoundrel! Im sorry for your loss my friend, as you already know I love ratties with a passion. Sweet enough to have 3 Leo male ratties vying for your attentions! Life is going to be interesting enough I think!

Sarah Palin.....*long drawn out breath* criticizing this sorry excuse for a politician is like shooting fish in a barrel..she's not going very far and I've heard whispers about the "L" word for Obama's camp....LANDSLIDE votes!

We as a country are weary and in pain over the financial tatters the Bush Gov't has left us in. Time for a change? We are sick and tired of the Repugs.

[cluebyfour.livejournal.com]

Please accept my belated sympathies on Scoundrel's passing, and congrats on the new ratties.

The Palin story is interesting. Apparently her high approval rating among Alaskan voters didn't resonate with the state legislature; their report is what we would call throwing someone under the bus.

Of course even if Palin wasn't pulling down the Republican ticket, McCain's performances in the debates would be enough to sink him. Unless he turns in an absolutely mesmerizing performance at the next debate (and it will be critical, with its focus on economic issues) I think the GOP is toast. And his campaign ads have grown more stridently negative, another sign of the Republicans' desperation.

As for Libertarians going third-party, the problem is that many of them can't stand their own party nominee. If Bob Barr had made any attempt to reach out to the legion of Ron Paul supporters, he might have had a real impact on the election. He certainly would have given McCain fits in the swing states. But he blew Paul off when Paul got together with Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney and Chuck Baldwin and encouraged voters to go third-party, thus ensuring the LP is once again rendered irrelevant.

This, among other reasons, is why I'm staying home this election. As you pointed out, the U. S. system is rigged by design to ensure the major parties remain in power, and as an anarchist I can't bring myself to play that game. I'm under no illusion that I'm not still making a choice by not voting, but unless there's a fundamental change in the electoral process or a "None of the Above" option appears on the ballot, I see no point in wasting my time at the polls.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_fustian/]

Zimbabwe's inflation rate is 231 million percent.

Which means their new $50K note, in 2006 (first) currency, would be worth five hundred quadrillion dollars. (Saying that aloud several times in a Doctor Evil voice just now has annoyed wildilocks.)

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

Lovely new little boys. Their names remind me of two of our original cats, Frenzy and Mayhem. =)

As for the rest, I'm scared about this election. I'm physically anxious. I'm still in shock, almost 4 years later, that the W got a second term, and I can't imagine the catastrophe that a McCain Palin win would bring upon us. Or maybe I can, and that's what's causing the fear.

And I still have to contend with coworkers who think that Palin is the best thing since sliced bread.

It's going to be a long 3 and a half weeks. Pass the Xanax, please.

[darknova666.livejournal.com]

yeah its great to see the republicans doing badly - but some scary comments by some repub voters - kill him etc

[antayla.livejournal.com]

You know, within the last two weeks, the value of the US dollar to the Aussie dollar has gone from 1 : 1.20 to 1 : 1.55. I'm coming to visit again (my friend paid my way there, what a dear!) and I bought my currency two weeks ago :(. I'm really kicking myself now (but it looked like it was going the other way sooooo...) The $700bn hasn't hit the bank yet.

US Presidental Elections, Economic Disasters, Gaming and a basket of rats

[castleclear.livejournal.com]

Very nice news summary! The gaming sounds mega-fun, and congrats on the new rodent friends!

[ninboydean.livejournal.com]

I've been playing D&D again, too. It's been refreshing.

[tentacularone.livejournal.com]

Off topic, I was curious to hear your thoughts on the upcoming internet restrictions being implemented in Australia. I only just heard about it, but I assume you've probably known it was coming for some time. I'm curious how it came to pass, as such restrictions would be far too unpopular to start in the US (at least, I hope that's the case).

[spinner.livejournal.com]

Alas, it was liberal farce. Eight of twelve on the panel were Democrats, which doesn't entirely diminish the verdict (there were four republicans, afterall), but does leave it to be called into refute.

This campaign is making me weary - God knows how a genuine, earnest US voter must feel at this point.