2012 Political Predictions

[Townsend]

[Conan71]

Flavor of the weak.  He won three popularity contests which don't award any delegates.  What is the point of caucuses like that which don't award delegates in the first place?  Seems like a total waste of time.

I keep edging closer to removing that (R) after my last name, how about you Townsend?

[Townsend]

Flavor of the weak.  He won three popularity contests which don't award any delegates.  What is the point of caucuses like that which don't award delegates in the first place?  Seems like a total waste of time.

I keep edging closer to removing that (R) after my last name, how about you Townsend?

It's on mute.

I understand they didn't want to bring out any big guns in a mid-term but damn.  Get a good strong social moderate or they're going to keep having people listen to Trump and Palin.

[RecycleMichael]

Democrats are more fun.

[RecycleMichael]

I heard a comedian once say, "I am a conservative because I want to keep my money, but I am a liberal because I want to spend it on drugs and whores."

[Teatownclown]

I heard a comedian once say, "I am a conservative because I want to keep my money, but I am a liberal because I want to spend it on drugs and whores."

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

Reagan.

[heironymouspasparagus]

It's the confusion of the Democrat party - chaos is always more interesting.

[Townsend]

Americans Increasingly Uneasy When Politicians Talk Religion

Well that could be good news.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/religion/god-in-america/americans-increasingly-uneasy-when-politicians-talk-religion/

A growing number of Americans are uneasy with the amount of religious talk they're hearing from politicians, according to a new poll released by the Pew Research Center yesterday.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that there has been too much expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders — the highest number since Pew began asking the question in 2001. Thirty percent of respondents said there is too little.

The numbers have nearly reversed since Pew last asked the question two years ago, when 37 percent said there was too little religious expression by politicians, while 29 percent said there was too much.

The poll was taken in early March, in the midst of the furor over a federal mandate that insurance companies provide free birth control. A number of religious groups, most prominently the Catholic Conference of Bishops, argued that the move was tantamount to an assault on religious freedom.

Of course, there's nothing new about the debate over the appropriate role of religion in politics and public life, as FRONTLINE and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE explored two years ago, in our joint series God in America. Since the days when the Puritan "city on a hill" beckoned on the horizon of the New World, religious faith and belief have forged America's ideals, molded its identity and shaped its sense of mission at home and abroad — but not without controversy.

The series — which you can watch in full here — examines how religious dissidents helped shape the American concept of religious liberty and the controversial evolution of that ideal in the nation's courts and political arena; how religious freedom and waves of new immigrants and religious revivals fueled competition in the religious marketplace; how movements for social reform — from abolition to civil rights — galvanized men and women to put their faith into political action; and how religious faith influenced conflicts from the American Revolution to the Cold War.

[Conan71]

In the absence of real ideas or solutions, it's always been man's nature to turn to religion.  We must be out of ideas again.

[heironymouspasparagus]

In the absence of real ideas or solutions, it's always been man's nature to turn to religion.  We must be out of ideas again.

Have been for a long time.

And I submit making the US into a theocracy is no idea at all.

[Conan71]

Have been for a long time.

And I submit making the US into a theocracy is no idea at all.

Boy, that's no smile.  The people who think that is a good idea scare me.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Boy, that's no smile.  The people who think that is a good idea scare me.

Me, too!

[nathanm]

Boy, that's no smile.  The people who think that is a good idea scare me.

Thankfully, I think that's something that the vast majority of us TNFers agree with.

[custosnox]

Thankfully, I think that's something that the vast majority of us TNFers agree with.

unfortunately I think that is something that the vast majority of Oklahomans disagree with

[AquaMan]

unfortunately I think that is something that the vast majority of Oklahomans disagree with

I think you are correct there. One has to be very careful in making remarks regarding the separation of church and state at the workplace. There are lots of people who think they are doing God's work to thin out the herd of secular humanism by any means possible. I faced that 25 years ago when I mentioned to a group of co-workers that I didn't think outward displays of religion had any reason to be a part of our sales force workplace. When pressed I also admitted that I thought religion and government should be separated as well. A day later I was in front of my supervisor answering why I had been accused of discrimination against a female on my staff based on her religion and sex. Of course it went nowhere but she was willing to try.  I didn't know anything about her faith and had little interest in her sex.

It was an awakening to me.