Well, the US election has come and gone, and I for one will miss it. I won't miss the partisan attack ads, I won't miss the superPAC ads, but, I will miss reading fiverthirtyeight.com every day. In episode 31 we tackle the US election, the future of US elections and the unwillingness of some (we're looking at you pundits, and you FOX news) to accept reality. We don't mean on political opinions. We mean you know, like how polls can be accurate and Nate Silver can figure out results, or say climate change, or evolution, well, you get the idea. We bring in some history of course (Dewey Defeats Truman!) as well as our usual dash of science fiction. We hope you enjoy episode 31
Sunday, November 11, 2012
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3 comments:
I'm not sure if we mentioned it, but to celebrate before we podcasted, we watched Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome. Just like old times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT79x4qM4FE
Third party? An successful national third party is. I think, systemically impossible in the US, because we have winner-take-all elections. This means there is no way for a third party to slowly grow and garner power and funding on the national level.
The only successful third parties in US history (ones that turned into a major national party) were either parties that moved into a power vaccuum (like the Whig Party, which arose in opposition to Andrew Jackson following the one-party-rule Era of Good Feelings), or the splitting of the largest major party, as when both the Democratic-Republican and Whig parties split into pro- and anti-slavery factions, which realigned as the current Democratic and Republican Parties.
You mentioned the Tea Party, I think in the context of right-wing grass roots? (If I misremember, I apologize.) But the Tea Party is in no sense a grass-roots movement. It was funded by the Koch brothers (and Rupert Murdoch, but he's not as rich) in order to get more legislation advantageous to the interests of the super-wealth passed. (See this Op-Ed piece by Frank Rich.)
Please, please, could we have a Canadian-style health care system? Please? (Could someone--anyone--explain 1) Why having an extra layer of profit-making between patient and provider will save money, and 2) In what conceivable way could the government be more intrusive or harder to navigate or more corrupt than the health insurance industry?)
(My twitter is @REReader. :) But I follow several hundred people, so it's probably not the best way to find any of you guys!)
(I'm signed in as REReader, but I'm Rachel. I'm one or the other--or both--everywhere.)
A third party?
Okay, how about this; one arises from legalized Mexican immigrants/descendants, and Mexican nationals running like hell from the failed Nation of Mexico. Running on the dual platform of amnesty for illegals in the country, and shutting down the borders combined with a liberal policy for new immigrants to become citizens.
Not enough on it's own for a majority vote, the principles attract votes from both the democratic and republican parties to swell their ranks. The northern states aren't wild about it, but Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California - where such issues already exist and are front-page news (if we still used news-papers)- think it's a great idea.
-jim
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