Super-Everything must GO! Tuesday!

[Soontir C'boath]

I voted for Obama about two hours ago. I don't know how they decided the order for listing the candidates this time around but they had Hillary on the top and Obama second to last which I think was very disingenuous.

[Dargos]

Uh, yes? Just about every single handgun in use today is semiautomatic. Pull the trigger once, one bullet is fired. Extremely simple for self-defense, rather than having to cock the hammer of a revolver back after every shot.

Emphasis mine. You've never fired modern revolvers before have you?

On topic. Voted Obama.

[Darth Wong]

What is the rationale to have semiauto weapons anyway? Is this so worrying to people who own guns?

Uh, yes? Just about every single handgun in use today is semiautomatic ...

The semi-auto rule is a restriction to prevent the ownership of fully automatic weapons, isn't it?

[Glocksman]

What is the rationale to have semiauto weapons anyway? Is this so worrying to people who own guns?

Uh, yes? Just about every single handgun in use today is semiautomatic ...

The semi-auto rule is a restriction to prevent the ownership of fully automatic weapons, isn't it?

No.
Those are regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act.

The semiauto bans have nothing to do with full autos..

What the late, unlamented 1994 AWB banned were combinations of certain cosmetic features (pistol grips, folding stocks, bayonet lugs, etc) and newly manufactured (existing ones were grandfathered in) magazines that held more than 10 rounds.

The states that have AWB bans of their own broadly follow the expired Federal rules, but add unique wrinkles (In CA for example, the law is so badly written that a Colt made AR 15 is banned, but AR's made using 'off list' receivers are not), but again, those bans have nothing to do with machine guns either.


Back on subject, what we're seeing right now in the Republican party is the splintering of the base.
The big question is going to be if the eventual nominee can patch the splits and get them in his corner.

I posted this on another board, and I think it sums up what's going on with the Republicans.

The real value of the fundamentalists and social conservatives wasn't in their numbers, but in the fact they did a lot of the GOP's ground level organizing and 'get out the vote' work.
In essence they do for the Republicans what the unions do for the Democrats; go door to door, man the phone banks, assemble the flyers for mailing, hold local fundraisers, etc.

What led to McCain's revival was the fracturing of the Republican right among various candidates.
For example, the 'national security' or pro Iraq war ones split between McCain and Giuliani, with most of them going with McCain after Giuliani screwed the pooch.
The economic conservatives like Romney, with Fred Thompson a distant second, and they distrust McCain and despise Huckabee.
The 'Christian' right favors Huckabee, but there is a strong minority of them that don't trust him and grudgingly favor Romney or McCain.
The non-Christian social right grudgingly supports Romney, but don't really trust him because of all the well known flip flops. However, they dislike Huckabee because of his social liberalism on some issues and hate McCain because he's thrown them under the bus one too many times.

Combine the fragmenting with the party Establishment solidly backing McCain, and is it any wonder that he's ahead?
Don't think the conservatives aren't aware of this. They are and that's why you have pundits like Limbaugh coming right out and telling his listeners that 'a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain'.

Another sign of the split is the 'Republicans for Obama' phenomenon.
It's not happening because they love Obama's policies, but because all of the other choices on both sides are unpalatable.

[mingo]

The semi-auto rule is a restriction to prevent the ownership of fully automatic weapons, isn't it?

I think that's the rationale. Pro gun forces see it as the slippery slope to confiscation of all guns. Practically it would be VERY difficult to get anywhere near all the LEGAL semi-autos out there and impossible to get the Illegal ones.

Regarding the revolvers, "single action" revolvers must have the hammer cocked for each shot, "double action" revolvers you can pull the trigger and the hammer cocks itself as you do. This requires more force to be applied with the trigger pull and tends to throw off the aim. Both types are still made today.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I voted for Obama about two hours ago. I don't know how they decided the order for listing the candidates this time around but they had Hillary on the top and Obama second to last which I think was very disingenuous.

Alphabetical by last name?

[Jadeite]

What is the rationale to have semiauto weapons anyway? Is this so worrying to people who own guns?

Yes. For example, if semiautos were to be banned, all of my collection (which includes a WWI era 1911) would be illegal except for a crappy old bolt action .22. Thankfully Democrats seem to have finally realized that gun control is a losing issue for them, because it helps give the Republican's talking points, and it pisses off their own voter base that isn't on the coasts (and quite frankly, we can afford to piss off the Democratic coastal strongholds here and there because its not like they're going to vote Republican).

Anyway, now that Richardson dropped out, I'm hoping Obama will win.

[Big Phil]

I voted for Obama about two hours ago. I don't know how they decided the order for listing the candidates this time around but they had Hillary on the top and Obama second to last which I think was very disingenuous.

Alphabetical by last name?

My wife and I voted for Obama last night (absentee ballot) here in Washington state. Both the Democrats and Republicans were listed alphabetically by last name, and all of them (even those who've dropped out) were on the ballot. So if I'd really wanted to, I could have voted for Dennis Kucinich (or his ginger wife).

[FireNexus]

So if I'd really wanted to, I could have voted for Dennis Kucinich (or his ginger wife).

By the by, my girlfriend referred to her as a "FLILF" (First Lady I'd Like to Fuck). I thought it was hysterical and arousing all at once.

[That NOS Guy]

By the by, my girlfriend referred to her as a "FLILF" (First Lady I'd Like to Fuck). I thought it was hysterical and arousing all at once.

The problem is, of course, she's probably quite batty.

On topic, the Pennsylvania primary (and other late primaries) might actually mean something if this outing comes off as a tie or as closely as it's being predicted. Hooray?

[Darth Wong]

The FLILF thing was a gag on the Daily Show.

To be honest, while she does indeed look quite hot, there's something vaguely creepy about her. I can't put my finger on it; it's as if her eyes are dead or something, or she might suddenly turn into a zombie.

[Molyneux]

I voted for Obama about two hours ago. I don't know how they decided the order for listing the candidates this time around but they had Hillary on the top and Obama second to last which I think was very disingenuous.

Alphabetical by last name?

Kucinich was listed after Obama. I don't know how the hell they organized them.

I voted for Obama, but I'm getting seriously fed up with the Democratic organization in my state; they lost my fucking registration. I wasn't in the book, had to sit on the phone with them for twenty minutes to get any kind of straight answer out of them, and in the end I had to use a paper ballot.

[Civil War Man]

Here's hoping that after tonight, Hlllary really has something to cry about. I don't want it to be close. At least with Obama, there's a possibility of change, even if it doesn't pan out. All the other candidates have too much invested in the status quo. Any of them get elected, and we're guaranteed business-as-usual.

[Darth Wong]

What really bugs me about Hillary is the path she has taken to power. The very methodical way she has manipulated her situation in order to curry favour with the party's political power elite and build a broad base of support reminds me of every soulless ladder-climbing asshole I ever knew in the corporate world.

[CaptainChewbacca]

The FLILF thing was a gag on the Daily Show.

To be honest, while she does indeed look quite hot, there's something vaguely creepy about her. I can't put my finger on it; it's as if her eyes are dead or something, or she might suddenly turn into a zombie.

Its her eyes, they're too wide-apart. Its rather unsettling and hard to define.

In primary news, they're calling West Virginia for Huckabee. Looks like he's not going quietly into that good night. We're not gonna know anything until the last vote is counted in California, Romney and McCain are that close.

[Big Phil]

both look to be equally wrong on energy and healthcare.

How so?

[Glocksman]

I voted for Obama about two hours ago. I don't know how they decided the order for listing the candidates this time around but they had Hillary on the top and Obama second to last which I think was very disingenuous.

Alphabetical by last name?

Kucinich was listed after Obama. I don't know how the hell they organized them.

I voted for Obama, but I'm getting seriously fed up with the Democratic organization in my state; they lost my fucking registration. I wasn't in the book, had to sit on the phone with them for twenty minutes to get any kind of straight answer out of them, and in the end I had to use a paper ballot.

I recall reading that some states list the names in random order on each ballot*, so as to remove the perceived advantages of being listed first.

Maybe NYS is one of them.



*For example, one ballot in the pile may list Clinton first, the next ballot may list Obama first, and so on through the entire list of candidates.

[Starglider]

The healthcare thing is wrong because it will end up pouring more money into a fundamentally broken system. If Kucinich was still in the going, he would have my vote today simply because he supports ripping the private system up and replacing it with a sane, fiscally responsible, and compassionate system: a full coverage, single payer system that everybody would get.

That isn't politically feasible in the US at present; the relevant bills would never pass. In the short term, incremental progress is as good as you're going to get.

We already have a technology that solves the problem: nuclear power.

Unfortunately advocating nuclear powers loses you a lot more voters than it gains (right now, the answer may change if and when the US is hit by persistent rolling blackouts).

[Gerald Tarrant]

This is odd,

2) Mitt Romney. I'm still deeply weirded out by the dog on the roof thing . . . but not as weirded out as I am by McCain-Feingold. Romney's instincts strike me as more libertarian. McCain is still way too captive to the military model--he seems not so much against elitism and authoritarianism, as convinced that the wrong people are running things. Romney's economic advisor is not only a highly-regarded Harvard professor of economics, but also a first-class blogger, suggesting a certain openness to the future. Plus Romney lacks McCain's charisma, which means that when he has bad ideas, he'll have more limited ability to enact them.

from here

Romney lacking McCain's charisma is good? Weird.

[Big Phil]

SNIP

Obama already said in one of the debates that, if designing a system from scratch, he would go with a single payer system. Blowing up the current health system and starting from scratch is both political suicide and unfeasible. Even if they were to stand up to the HMO's and pharmas, the American populace would reject a single payer plan. As a result, both Clinton and Obama are suggesting incremental changes, rather than an entirely new system.

Nuclear is one of several good options moving forward, but talking about conservation, wind energy, etc., makes the environmentalists happy, while nuclear scares them. Both Obama and Clinton are in agreement that a new energy policy is needed, but the details of that policy are still up for discussion.

Talking about Republicans taking a pro-nuclear stance, haven't you noticed that the Republicans are virtually copying the Democratic positions on this? Conservation, moving away from foreign oil, new energy sources, etc. NOBODY is talking seriously about nuclear.

[RedImperator]

I voted Ron Paul (New Jersey has a closed primary and I didn't change my registration in time) for the express purpose of encouraging him to take the Libertarian nomination and stealing ~10% of the Republican vote in November.

[LadyTevar]

In primary news, they're calling West Virginia for Huckabee. Looks like he's not going quietly into that good night. We're not gonna know anything until the last vote is counted in California, Romney and McCain are that close.

Yeah, he got 62% of the Republi-tard votes here.

I hope next year the WV Democrats are allowed to do our Primary on SuperTuesday like the Republicans were.

[A-Wing_Slash]

I voted for Obama this morning. It was the first time I'd ever voted, and I was really excited, but I don't think Obama can pull out a win in NJ.

[Starglider]

I hope next year the WV Democrats are allowed to do our Primary on SuperTuesday like the Republicans were.

As I understand it both the Republican and Democratic primaries for that state are on May 13th. But most of the Republican delegates are assigned by a winner-takes-all (!?) closed convention instead, which was moved forward to today in a desperate attempt to be relevant.

[DrMckay]

My first time voting- I voted for Obama. I'm still young ewnough to be idealistic, and he looked like the least bad candidate. I took the option of voting on paper, because I don't trust those electronic machines.

I called my dad later and found out he had voted for Hilderbeast. We had a good laugh about that one....