Guard Dog

GD does this mean the Libertarian party will become a permanent political party and voting option going forward in the USA? Like Amentep said they are already a permanent political party. But not a very large or wealthy one. The LP relies almost entirely on individual contributions and membership dues. But as far as becoming an actual political force in the US, maybe, maybe not. A good performance in this election will help. Ballot access is a huge undertaking for the LP. It requires a lot of money and a lot of man hours. If Johnson/Weld can pull in 5% of the popular vote the LP candidate in 2020 will automatically be on the ballot. That is big. But 5% of the vote would not be all that impressive with two weak candidates like we have now. 10% or better or even winning one State would go a long way to carving out a niche as the real "3rd Party". That would change the dynamic in other areas too. Right now some 3k political positions in the US are held by Libertarians. But not one at the Federal level or in any State Senate and only four in State Houses. That has to change. Success for Johnson/Weld would look like this IMO: 1) Get into the debates. If this doesn't happen, nothing else does. 2) Perform well enough there to raise brand awareness. Too many people still don't know who or what the party stands for. I would say most Americans like the Democrats on some things and the Republicans on others. The LP message of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness Free from Government Intrusion (or assistance) might be just the mix folks will respond to.3) Get at least 5% of the popular vote. Hopefully a lot more. 15% to 20% would make the news everywhere and that will help with candidacies in congressional, state and local elections in 2018. This has happened before. The Republicans in 1854, the Progressive Party in 1912 and The Reform Party in 1992. The former went on to win the Presidency and most of Congress in 1860. The latter two flamed out and were gone within 10 years. The LP won't disappear they way they did but it may implode back to a movement no one gives a crap about. I'm hoping it follows the path of the Republicans. Right now the LP is the only and I do mean ONLY party that is talking about limited government and out of control spending right now. It is the only party talking about disentangling ourselves from combat in the middle east. That needs to happen. We need that voice on the national stage. I do not want to see the Republicans go the way of the Whigs. I'd like to see all three healthy and competitive. The Green Party too. The Democrats have long since abandoned their voters. They have never had full ballot access but if they did they should have a voice also.

I do hope that they do invoke some sort half unknown protocol and disown him and put forward their own candidate, like Kasich. That way people will know that no true dissent is allowed, even if the guy got more votes than any republican candidate in history. Ron Paul? ****ed Bernie Sanders? ****ed Donald Trump? ****ed Give or take a few years and you guys will experience fire and blood beyond your wildest comprehension all while being smug on your humanities degrees, sipping a latté outside your governmental offices. Don't worry, the guys on whose interest you are working for with all the money, power and connections have already transferred their assets to New Zealand, Malta and other safe havens where they can relax during the storm. //EDIT: whops, i forgot what i was going to originally post. Enjoy! At least they are dropping any pretense now. This is taken out of context, the " media " like CNN is more supportive of Hilary but there are numerous reasons for this like the fact Trump constantly attacks the media and has been very rude to many journalists Ah yes. The perfect reason for abandoning the ethics of your profession "He was mean to me". If you dealt with a customer who was rude and difficult would you use information you gained from their IT systems to help their competition? Somehow I think not.

In other news Gary Johnson/Bill Weld has hit the magic number of 15% in two of the five major polls. In fact Pew Research has them at 22% among the largest voting demographic. If he gets on that debate stage with Donald "Why can't we use nukes" Trump and Hillary "tax them all let God sort them out" Clinton we might have a real horse race. .

By the lizardman conspiracy. No no no that's just what they WANT you to think

Never mind. I looked it up myself.

I'm curious. Does anyone else here know what the acronyms WSHTF & TEOTWAWKI mean (besides me). Without Googling them! Might be relevant in a year or two.

It was photo shopped.

I use steel ice cubes now. They work great and don't dilute your drink. They don't float or make that wonderful soft clink that ice makes in your glass... but there have to be some trade offs.

I watched Johnson and Weld on CNN last night. They are more Libertarian-ish than I'd like but then again, this was CNN. They have to sell themselves to a left of center audience. I thought they did OK.

Bruce, you were asking why we don't trust the media? READ THE PREVIOUS POST!

Just got home from work. Going to make a micrwave pizza then pack up the pups and go work on the townhouse. I'm fixing drywall and paint prep tonight.

The three poll aggregate Red Alert Politics uses now has Gary Johnson ahead of Donald Trump with Millennials (voters under 30). HC is still in front with that group but I think this is encouraging. In the National aggregate Johnson is around 9-10%. We MUST come up with that extra 5% somewhere. http://redalertpolitics.com/2016/08/02/post-dnc-poll-gary-johnson-beats-donald-trump-among-millennials/ You know ballot access really should be the determining factor of being in the debates. If you are not on all 50 ballots you cannot win. Period. But if you are then at least you should be taken seriosuly enough to be in the debates because it is at least "possible". There is a path to victory.

Yeah I thought about that too. Change of plans anyway. Still going with ceramic tile downstairs but the stairs and bedroom are getting carpet. I found a place that will do the whole house both carpet and tile for $4.50 per square foot. I figure that is only $900 over my original budget for the floor and all I have to do is give them the keys. Avoiding the back soreness alone is probably worth the $900.

Hollande really shouldn't talk like this. If Americans get the idea in our heads that electing Trump will annoy Europe it is probably as good as done. The best way to get Americans to do what you want is to pretend not to give a damn what we do. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-02/hollande-labels-trump-s-excesses-in-election-race-as-sickening

The contrast in this video is pretty stark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs448eq1k9M

Woodford Reserve is an excellent bourbon. It's very sharp and clean with light apricot overtones. They use apricot extract in the wort. I'm becoming a fan of Four Roses Single Barrel. It actually does use a rye mash in the wort which gives it a taste and aroma I'd describe as "spicy"

Only the humorous ones. Hey I've avoided all the "Johnson" double entendre ones. And good lord are there a lot of them. In all seriousness this election does offer an exciting opportunity for the LP to have some actual electoral success. By that I mean getting 5% of the vote which seems like a make able goal. That will of course guarantee ballot access in 2020 and it has a few other benefits. There is also a chance to appear in the debates which would be very interesting.

I've actually seen her long political career argued as a point against her, because you can bet with a fair degree of certainty that she had some involvement in many of the current portions of government and legislation that people take issue with. Yes it can used against her, same is true for all career politicians. But for some people it is also positive trait. Beg your pardon, but this whole argument is rather worthless for me and for many others that are practically asking to be convinced to vote for Hillary. One moment the argument is "because Trump is bad," which fails to objectively review the proposed alternative at all, the next argument is "some people would like the status quo." I'm not some people, and the status quo is quite literally in danger of killing us, either economically or on a global scale if we severely underestimate the threats of climate change. What are your arguments then for voting Trump? That's completely besides the point, and that is exactly the problem with this election: both candidates point the finger at one another and argue why that other candidate shouldn't be elected. If I own a restaurant and I need a new manager for the dayshift, then two applicants come in and can't show any meaningful credentials or past work experience referrals, but they gladly spend the entire interview telling me how the person that came before/after them is a coke addict and a registered sex offender, guess what I'm doing? I'm considering maybe the dayshift would be better off on autopilot, or maybe I'll find the time to do it myself. Now you may sit here and argue for the sake of the analogy, these are the only two applicants and I'm desperate for a manager, but that is besides the point: you should be capable of motivating people to leave their own homes, take time out of their day and cast a vote for you. That neither Trump nor Hillary can manage anything beyond "I'm not the other guy" as justification...? They may as well flip a god damned coin on election day, because neither are proving themselves competent in ANY capacity, and who wins is really gonna come down to which party is feeling less suicidal on election day. Then you have your answer, look for third party candidate that actually offers you something that you like. When our discussion was initially about Hillary and winds up being about how I should vote third party, that speaks volumes about her. Never in the past has it been so difficult to defend the two major party candidates to the point such a discussion reliably results in someone conceding that third parties are the answer. You asked positive redeemable qualities about her I listed some, you dismissed them as worthless to you, so I asked if you have reason to vote Trump and you indicate that you aren't any more willing to vote for him and you think that both Clinton and Trump have done bad job to explain why you should vote them, so there really isn't any other logical conclusion than that you should look for third party candidate that you think is worth of your vote.

Oh please. Would you allow Casey Anthony to babysit your kids? After all she was acquitted. The sad thing is being irredeemably corrupt and being an effective President are not mutually exclusive but let's not kid ourselves about who and what Hillary Clinton is. Anyone who wants to vote for her should of course do so but they should know what they are buying. A they shouldn't piss down the rest if our backs and tell us it's rain. Now it will come as no surprise she will never get my vote and it would not matter if she was the most honest and upright politician in the history of the trade. Her political philosophy is the exact opposite of mine in just about every subject. Which is the best reason in the world not to vote for someone IMO.

I shopped around the internet for tile today. I'm going to put ceramic tile down stairs and laminate flooring on the stairs and 2nd floor bedrooms. I'll hire out the tile work because f--k that. The laminate is pretty easy so I'll do that myself.

Seriously, my lower back has formed a labor union of pain, broken-off talks with management, and is threatening to strike. I know how you feel. I had forgotten how heavy rolled up carpet can be.

You probably already know this but a word to the wise Mr Dog, choose your tennants carefully! I've been renting out a three bedroom house for the last ten years or so and though making a decent profit...well the work i've had to put into repair after digging out certain tennants, it was expensive, time consuming and a little tiring mentally. I honestly wondered to myself how people could live like that, and why they'd want to? It may seem intrusive and not something one wishes to partake in but you might wish to conduct regular inspections of your property. Way ahead of you. The realtor who handled the sale offered her services as a leasing agent. I'm inclined to take her up on it. They will do the screening, lease contract and enforcement for 1 year for a $1k flat fee. I'm going to shop around a bit but that sounds like the way to go.

I know it's a week late but it's too funny not to share: