The Back Alley Archives

an african-american republican.

I was actually thinking Jindal....he's not black but he's certainly brown enough to fit the bill, IMO....AND he's done a superb job so far governing one of the most backwards states in the nation.

Pawlenty is another option.

Content of one's character > Color of one's skin

Ring a bell?

Content of one's character > Color of one's skin

Ring a bell?

*cough* affirmative action *cough*

I keep telling people Palin wouldn't make it past the primaries.

I think it's WAY too early to be predicting the 2012 Republican nominee, but I don't think Palin will run.

an african-american republican.

And who precisely will that be? Seriously. Are there any? None that I know of.

I will give money to a Palin 2012 campaign. That would be hilarious!

Are there any? None that I know of.

I think this is the best example of the idiocy of the two party system I've ever seen. And I don't think you're an idiot slide and no you didn't say anything idiotic. But there's something idiotic about our system and it's embodied in the quote above.

the two party system and career politicians are road blocks to the advancement of america imo.

imo there should be term limits in all the branches in the federal gov't. it would at least start to change the thinking from "what will get me elected" to "what is the right thing to do".

We already have term limits in government - its called voting.

We already have term limits in government - its called voting.

Great, a system in which the incumbent wins over 90% of the time! What a system!

Tell me, slider, do you support the repeal of the 22nd Amendment? Why or why not?

Palin's on mah teevee right now. Please please please run her for prez in 2012!!!

Isn't Palin going to start a WWE career?

Well I won't bother defending Palin to you all, but we'll see what she does over the next four years. I'm not convinced 12 will be her time, but I hope she helps to get us energy independent.

I will add to the list Michael Steele...AA Republican. What do you think of him Doc since he's from your state?

I'm not up on my Michael Steele knowledge, so right now I don't have any opinion. I think he ran for Lt. Gov. with Bob Ehrlich last election.

I voted Libertarian that year because Ehrlich pulled some shit that I thought only Democrats did: he bussed homeless people in to canvas polling places (and possibly vote). That kind of pissed me off.

We already have term limits in government - its called voting.

Great, a system in which the incumbent wins over 90% of the time! What a system!

Tell me, slider, do you support the repeal of the 22nd Amendment? Why or why not?

I never said the system was perfect. I said that we already have term limits.

I am against ALL term limits, including the 22nd Amendment. I disagree with them in principle. I think they are simplistic and simple minded solutions to the problem of campaign finance. And believe it or not, there are actually some good politicinas out there. Should we kick them out too in an attempt to get rid of the bad ones?

The biggest complaint I have against term limits is that it abdicates the voter from the responsibility of voting.

I also advocate public financing of campaigns. That way we can curtail the money and lobbyist influence from campaigns.

I hadn't really thought about the campaign finance aspect to it, but I suppose that has a pretty big impact on the incumbency rate as well.

I actually agree with you on the public financing of campaigns, although it presents a problem for third-party candidates - who decides which candidates are worthy of financing?

When you have a 90% reelection rate coupled with very low Congressional approval rate, you have to scratch your head. Do people really love their own Congressmen that much? I certainly don't.

The incumbent has all kinds of advantages, not the least of which (as you pointed out) is the backing of his party. There's also the Congressional franking privilege - even though this has been curtailed, I still get regular pamphlets from my guy praising himself for spending my money and telling me how good for me he's been.

Name recognition can't be ignored, either. Everyone who is the least bit interested in politics knows who their representatives are but often the opposition is a relative unknown.

Anyway, I guess you and I have a fundamental disagreement. I don't know ANY "good" national politicians. To me, they're all just lesser evils. I would like to see the return of the citizen-statesman. You know, like Cincinnatus.

Incumbants do have many advantages. And it is a common phenomenon that people hate Congress but love the Representatives.

I can think of several good politicians. My Congressman, Lloyd Doggett, is an excellent Congressman -he is a good progressive politician who is on the right side of the issues I care about. I have a lot of respect for Henry Waxman for his dogged pursuit of corruption. Joe Biden has been a great Senator and a good example of a public servant. While I didn't vote vote for him and disagreed with him on many issues, I thought Bob Dole was a competant Senator who interested in getting things done - most of the time at least when he wasn't in partisan mode. I'm sure I can think of more if I had the time.

I disagree with you that all politicians are lesser evils. It is my opinion, that there many politicians who got into politics for the right reasons - public service.

I actually have a Word document where I write ideas for bills and policies I want to see changed. If I ever ran for office and won, I have about 12 bills that I coudl start off with. I think you and I might actually agree on most of them.

I have tattooed a new Constitution on the underside of my dick, and once I am elected, y'all are gonna be fluffing me just to check the rules.

I have tattooed a new Constitution on the underside of my dick, and once I am elected, y'all are gonna be fluffing me just to check the rules.

Toothy is thanking God for micro-dot technology. Otherwise, they'd have had to start using his balls once they got past the first few words.

there is zero chance of Palin. She was possibly the worst pick McCain could've made for VP and she would possibly be the worst nominee the republicans could put forward.