High Street at Cruelery.com - The Web's Bitter Afterbirth / Fastest internet meme ever.

Emmeran · 2012-10-19 19:06:09

Well Sailor - I suppose this is Obama's fault also and Romney could/would prevent it.

Oh, except his complete lack of tact has pissed off even the conservative Europeans.

(Granted - Romney was born wealthy and knows Europe far better than most of us on Highstreet, but WTF?)

whosasailorthen · 2012-10-19 20:41:49

Well, I don't pretend to think I'll convince or influence anyone here... entrenched are entrenched. I had an open mind 4 years ago and went with O. But not this time around... I feel like I gave him a shot and he didn't do nearly what he could have.

Emmeran · 2012-10-19 21:06:38

whosasailorthen wrote:
Well, I don't pretend to think I'll convince or influence anyone here... entrenched are entrenched. I had an open mind 4 years ago and went with O. But not this time around... I feel like I gave him a shot and he didn't do nearly what he could have.

I feel you're frustration mate, Cali went down harder than any other state - on the other hand we are bouncing back faster. You ought to consider giving it a few more years to level out, you and I both know that four is far too short of a time span with the current media mayhem.

On another note, if I wasn't so familiar with Romney's business and his deals I would probably lean towards him. I just know private equity to well at this point and I have too much knowledge regarding how poorly he ran his company. The problem is that in PE the profits hide bad management; what you have to look at is employee turnover rate and Street Cred. Bain isn't widely admired even amongst the PE crowd.

They surely ain't no Black Rock or Silver Lake.

Bigcat · 2012-10-19 21:12:51

whosasailorthen wrote:
Beg to differ on the economy. Just walk through your local small towns and count the closed stores. For every one of them, count at least 3-4 people out of work. Then count the closed plants in your area, and for them add 20-40 people (at minimum) out of work. It's like that all across America, with minor small pockets that are doing OK and the very rare area that's doing well (because of energy production). It adds up.

The fact is that yes, unemployment numbers are going down - because after a while you get thrown off the rolls, and after 4+ years that's finally coming home to roost with hundreds of thousands no longer able to collect. But the real unemployment is fucking scary. I'm sure there's not a single person that visits this board that doesn't know someone out of work or underemployed.

To say the economy is getting better is horribly naive.

How many of those small towns with closed down stores have a Wal-Mart and Lowes? That is what has killed the independant business.

As a business owner myself, my last 2 years have been my best ever. I have hired 4 new people and pay them well. The only reason most people bitch about the economy is because they hear on T.V. that it is bad. I know very few people who have been negatively impacted. Maybe things were never good enough here for us to know the diff?

Economy bitching has become a catch phrase right along side of "Support our troops" People spout it off but have no idea what it really means. Most people just want to hear themselves talk and they can only mimic what they hear on the idiot box.

whosasailorthen · 2012-10-19 21:54:41

It's not bitching, Big Cat. It depends greatly on the industry. Yes, there are a *few* that are doing OK, but walk through towns here on the east coast and they're decimated.

And Emm, I appreciate the kind words... I truly do... but I'm not looking at how he ran a business. I'm looking at how he ran a government - MA - and from all I've heard he seemed to do pretty damn well. Yes, there will always be those who find fault, but the reality is he got shit done and worked cooperatively with the Democrats. And that counts for a lot with me. I think we need to encourage those who will work with both sides. Otherwise all we end up with is a stalemate, and we'll all suffer for it.

And if you want the Republican party to change - and it HAS to - then you have to elect republican moderates so they can take control of the mess. If Romney loses, then the damned rightwingnuts will say "See! He wasn't RIGHT enough! That's why he lost." ... and they'll own the mess for another 4 years. Please GOD save us from those assholes. Elect moderates from BOTH parties. Move this shit to the center so we can move forward.

Last edited by whosasailorthen (2012-10-19 21:58:49)

Emmeran · 2012-10-19 23:20:18

whosasailorthen wrote:
And if you want the Republican party to change - and it HAS to - then you have to elect republican moderates so they can take control of the mess. If Romney loses, then the damned rightwingnuts will say "See! He wasn't RIGHT enough! That's why he lost." ... and they'll own the mess for another 4 years. Please GOD save us from those assholes. Elect moderates from BOTH parties. Move this shit to the center so we can move forward.

That is a brave and bold stance my friend. I'm not sure it's even an option considering our current state of affairs, I promise I'll contemplate your effort over the next few days.

I'm just not sure that either of these parties can be saved from themselves.

whosasailorthen · 2012-10-20 02:07:58

Thanks for actually listening, Em. That's valuable (and indeed refreshing) in itself.

As to whether it's an option... well, we can make it an option. We just all need to act, as a group, and MAKE it an option. Throw the damned Tea Party assholes out and replace every damned one with a moderate. And at the same time, throw every damned MoveOn asshole out and replace THEM with moderate Democrats. It's the polarization that's killing us. Cut off the fringe extremist ends of both parties and we'll get back to a REPRESENTATIVE government, because most Americans are, indeed, moderates themselves.

Dmtdust · 2012-10-20 13:16:53

One big party, being torn apart by the different wings. I would posit that moveon.org has far less influence than the teaparty, dollar for donuts. There is no left, left in the Democrats Sailor. Not by the standards of the traditional viewpoint, they are all centrist or worse. Obama is to the right of Reagan, so this hemorrhaging is symptomatic of the march to the right.

Emmeran · 2012-10-20 17:20:55

Dmtdust wrote:
One big party, being torn apart by the different wings. I would posit that moveon.org has far less influence than the teaparty, dollar for donuts. There is no left, left in the Democrats Sailor. Not by the standards of the traditional viewpoint, they are all centrist or worse. Obama is to the right of Reagan, so this hemorrhaging is symptomatic of the march to the right.

Only the Germans moved faster to the right than we have, our anti-everything shift is more than a bit scary.