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[Bohandas]

You really think that you can predict every one of the next 8 elections and say that the GOP doesn't tack to the center in any of them?  If so, I'm going to ask where you got your crystal ball.

A prediction is by definition capable of being wrong, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't make it.

The GOP is different now than it has ever been before, because the GOP has become the party of Jesus and the Free Market God. You would not see this kind of theocratic rhetoric they've been pushing more and more ever since Reagan took office at any other point in their history, relative to the religiosity of the public. They've gone beyond compromise and moderation because they think, they honestly and truly think that the omnipotent creator of our universe is on their side and they must enact what they see as his will at all cost. They won't endorse anyone who doesn't fit that mold.

That is why I think the GOP is dying. They could tack to center if they had a different motivation, and hell, they probably could have won this election had they done so. But their primary motivation doesn't allow for change or compromise these days. At this point it is clear that the GOP is going to have to undergo a paradigm shift if they want to survive, but I don't think they will. Conservatives don't lend themselves to rapid changes like that.

They've stopped playing to the moderate and they are going to pay for it, because not playing to the moderate is the mortal sin of American politics.

They're the American Taliban.

[mainiac]

Everyone always feels like the other side is beyond the pale.  Right now I guarantee you there are conservatives on some board posting how the democratic party won't exist in 10 years.

You say that the GOP doesn't reach out to moderates but the GOP in the days before the election was obsessed about the idea of appealing to swing voters.  They repeated endlessly that they were winning self identified independents and that was important.  Turns out they did win self identified independents but that group was not the same thing as swing voters.  Conservative pundits spent a lot of time after the election lamenting how they weren't appealing to Hispanics and women.

And I'm sorry but you are wrong to think that parties can't make about faces over the objections of the base.  The GOP has done it not once but three times in the past 100 years alone.  In 1936 they tacked sharply to the left and nominated a new dealer.  In 1968 they rejected the Goldwater conservatives from the previous election.  In 1952 they went with Eisenhower even though he was a godless new dealer who supported integration.

[Aqizzar]

Wow, this thread is getting a little uncomfortable.  I was going to deliver some diatribe about what this election proved about some things, but eh.  Effort.

Something interesting that I just stumbled across while checking my email.  Up in Alaska they just tapped into a unique form of methane crystals with some high energy density.  Nothing particularly interesting about it, except for these lines near the top:

With the boom in production from hydraulic fracturing, the United States is awash in natural gas for the near future and is considering exporting it, but the DOE wants to be ready with methane if there's a need.

"If you wait until you need it, and then you have 20 years of research to do, that's not a good plan," said Ray Boswell, technology manager for methane hydrates within the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Huh, check out the big brain on Boswell.  Forethought in energy production, what an obviously good idea.

[Sheb]

That's one thing I dislike about American interviews: the journalist re-write everything instead of posting a clean question-and-answer list. In this case, I'm pretty sure the guy was asked "Why do you do that thing if we got fracking?"

Also, methane hydrates gives me the creep. There's tons of that stuff all over the sea, and it's sensitive enough that a change in ocean temperature could trigger a mass release of methane. It's like a friggin' sword of Damocles. And I'm glad the DOE is researching them, if only so that we know if/when it's going to fall down on our head.

[Aqizzar]

That's one thing I dislike about American interviews: the journalist re-write everything instead of posting a clean question-and-answer list. In this case, I'm pretty sure the guy was asked "Why do you do that thing if we got fracking?"

Uh... What?  I was just pointing out the irony of a methane hydrates scientist saying exactly what you'd expect from a green energy scientist.

[Osmosis Jones]

Strange crystals, which hold huge potential promise for the human race both economically, but which likewise may cause irrepairable damage to the biosphere...

Okay, who spilt Command & Conquer in my reality >:/

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Methane hydrates are not self-propagating possibly-sentient alien bioweapons.

[Descan]

Man, crazy ass sci-fi stuff has been popping out of the woodwork in the last 3 months. FTL, crystal energy (of a sort), practical synthetic hydrocarbons.

Christ, what's next? Cracking immortality by 2013?

[Sheb]

Okay, Aquizzar. but you won't blunt my deep, cold, seething hatred for US interviews so easily! :p

Still, I don't really see it as ironic. What was the guy supposed to say? "Yeah, it' actually useless. But hey, your tax dollars fund research on electroejaculation in the giant panda, so let me have my fun with methane hydrates." ?

[misko27]

Man, crazy ass sci-fi stuff has been popping out of the woodwork in the last 3 months. FTL, crystal energy (of a sort), practical synthetic hydrocarbons.

Christ, what's next? Cracking immortality by 2013?

Well, they DID reverse aging in Mice, so, Within, say, 20 years, it could be possible. Not immortality mind you. That is completly impossible. Just long lasting. You'd have to exercise alot more to stay in shape. No more "Well, who cares when I'm 50?" because it will be one of the things that ACTUALLY kill you.

[Osmosis Jones]

Methane hydrates are not self-propagating possibly-sentient alien bioweapons.

Sure, and next you'll say Elvis actually died, and we really landed on the moon. Bah, you crazy conspiracy theorists!

[Rolan7]

Everyone always feels like the other side is beyond the pale.  Right now I guarantee you there are conservatives on some board posting how the democratic party won't exist in 10 years.

Specifically they're submitting petitions for state secession.  I have a pastor in my family who is legitimately hoping Texas secedes so that he can move there.  Browsing the news, it seems mostly to be empty blustering, but still.  I'm a poor judge but maybe in Texas's case it's an actual threat?

"Petitions have been filed for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas."

Remember how they chanted "USA USA USA" over any opposition in 2000 and 2004?  Whether one agrees with the Democrat platform or not, there is a real difference in how the two parties react when threatened.  Democrats hedge, Republicans get angry.

[misko27]

It's a joke. The moment I read New York in that article I went ballistic. WHO THE HELL CARES IF 5 PEOPLE LIVING IN A HOVEL UPSTATE THINK SO?
 
Besides, A friend of mine just posted a 4chan thread about how they are all voting for all of them. Your point is still valid, but just keep in mind.

[Mego]

Everyone always feels like the other side is beyond the pale.  Right now I guarantee you there are conservatives on some board posting how the democratic party won't exist in 10 years.

Specifically they're submitting petitions for state secession.  I have a pastor in my family who is legitimately hoping Texas secedes so that he can move there.  Browsing the news, it seems mostly to be empty blustering, but still.  I'm a poor judge but maybe in Texas's case it's an actual threat?

"Petitions have been filed for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas."

Remember how they chanted "USA USA USA" over any opposition in 2000 and 2004?  Whether one agrees with the Democrat platform or not, there is a real difference in how the two parties react when threatened.  Democrats hedge, Republicans get angry.

And here I am again, responding to a post about the secession movements.

This is a very interesting read.

Those petitions are interesting, but they won't get anywhere. Secession is not a legal right of the states. The Supreme Court made it clear in Texas v. White that it wasn't. A whole war was fought over the concept, and those in favor of it lost. If this continues, then they will be unequivocally rejected by the federal government. Either we'll get another civil war (unlikely, given how the last one turned out and what we're capable of now), or the GOP will get laughed out of existence for trying to organize a mass-secession. Either way, as was said before in this thread, the next century or so will be a very interesting time for American politics. We're about due for a party fracture/realignment.

Also, there's that episode of Boston Legal that I mentioned earlier. Patriot Acts, S4E20. It's relevant, entertaining, and informational.

[Dragor23]

Boston Legal is in general entertaining and informational.