tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post8145237264750394940..comments2024-03-29T05:14:33.223-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Election commentaryUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-86765648375487119152008-02-02T12:24:00.000-08:002008-02-02T12:24:00.000-08:00lv,Right. And the Albegensians believed that the J...lv,<BR/><BR/>Right. And the Albegensians believed that the Jewish God (OT) was Satan while the NT God was, well, God.Audacious Epigonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495507254628580077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-84267475428829172432008-02-01T09:42:00.000-08:002008-02-01T09:42:00.000-08:00I would agree with you if not for Romney's disturb...<I>I would agree with you if not for Romney's disturbing "freedom requires religion" speech to the evangelicals. </I><BR/><BR/>Romney's right about that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-41210063289736001642008-01-31T12:14:00.000-08:002008-01-31T12:14:00.000-08:00Television is overrated. I lived from July of 06 t...Television is overrated. I lived from July of 06 to Aug of 07 living with relatives, who have no cable, in a town where the local TV news reports more in depth on the local junior high girls volleyball team than they do on world affairs. Since I can't stand most network programming, I basically did not watch TV during this time. I think that I logged in about 2 hours of TV watching in all of that time (no exaggeration!). I kept up with the world through the internet, newspapers and magazines. I did not miss a thing. I was as aware of the world as anybody I know. Since moving, and now having cable, I realize that I did not miss a thing. CNN, MSNBC, the Networks, and all the rest just report the canned politically correct hash that they always have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-15754400537310545722008-01-31T11:46:00.000-08:002008-01-31T11:46:00.000-08:00McCain is basically a pragmatist. He wasn't all th...<I>McCain is basically a pragmatist. He wasn't all that gung ho on the Iraq war, but he went along with it for the sake of being a team player </I><BR/><BR/>Say <I>what</I>?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-12162014770244219612008-01-31T07:10:00.000-08:002008-01-31T07:10:00.000-08:00Audacious Epigone: Heh, the comparison was specifi...<B>Audacious Epigone:</B> <I>Heh, the comparison was specifically in reference to 'Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the Devil are brothers?' Huckabee comment.</I><BR/><BR/>But apparently the Mormons DO believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers.<BR/><BR/>Which, as I was saying on another thread here at iSteve, is gonna be kinda hard to square [no pun intended] with traditional Trinitarianism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61445480393525467802008-01-31T01:15:00.001-08:002008-01-31T01:15:00.001-08:00Lucius Vorenus,Heh, the comparison was specificall...Lucius Vorenus,<BR/><BR/>Heh, the comparison was specifically in reference to 'Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the Devil are brothers?' Huckabee comment.<BR/><BR/>SKT,<BR/><BR/>It helped him in Nevada. That's about it. If more than 1-in-3 people express reservations about voting for a Mormon, any Mormon candidate is facing an uphill battle. <BR/><BR/>The pro-Mormon bounce is not going to neutralize this. It comes nowhere near comprising 30% of the Republican primary voters--it can't be higher than ~4%, as only 2% of the country as a whole is Mormon.Audacious Epigonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495507254628580077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-16177006475664860252008-01-31T01:12:00.000-08:002008-01-31T01:12:00.000-08:00I still don't know what will happen when Hillary i...I still don't know what will happen when Hillary is prez.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66115157414809958282008-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:002008-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:00If McCain is the Republican nominee I simply will ...If McCain is the Republican nominee I simply will not vote, period. Better a Democrat for four years than a Republican who will complete the total meltdown of that party. It is mind-boggling how anyone remotely conservative in viewpoint could support McCain, who has time and again shown himself to be a loser in the realm of politics. Get ready for Nixon II.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-52762860136881692442008-01-30T20:47:00.000-08:002008-01-30T20:47:00.000-08:00"In Nevada, 95% of Mormons voted for Romney. This ..."In Nevada, 95% of Mormons voted for Romney. This matters quite a lot."<BR/><BR/>People talk about whether Romney's religion has hurt him. Well, in some ways its actually helped him. He won in Wyoming and Nevada, where Mormons are something like 15-20%. Given the overwhelming affiliation with the Republican party in the Mormon community, plus the overwhelming support for Romney that's something like a 30% voting block at least.<BR/><BR/>The only other place he won was in his native Michigan, where his Dad was the chairman of AMC, and also governor back during the last time Michigan's economy was actually doing well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39253690264253467462008-01-30T20:36:00.000-08:002008-01-30T20:36:00.000-08:00Look, I'm no fan of Mexican illegals. I would hat...Look, I'm no fan of Mexican illegals. I would hate to live in a place like Texas that's infested with them. But I think you guys are completely blinded by this issue. You think any of these guys is going to send them all packing to Mexico, even if they wanted to? Not even Tancredo could accomplish that as President.<BR/><BR/>I think some of you have become blinded by Romney's recent claims that he's the conservative on the issue of illegal immigration and his attacks on McCain for it. But to start saying that McCain is exactly like GWB or that he's a liberal is absurd. McCain is nothing like GWB, and the voters in this election who support GWB are going solidly for Romney. McCain's voting record is solidly conservative.<BR/><BR/>McCain is basically a pragmatist. He wasn't all that gung ho on the Iraq war, but he went along with it for the sake of being a team player (yes, this in spite of his media image of being a Republican spoiler). Then the leader of his party and the President wants to give amnesty to Mexican illegals, so he has to step up to the plate and start crafting that policy in the Senate. That's how party politics works. He was probably lied to and pressured by Karl Rove, et al. Of course it backfired, and since then McCain has been pragmatic and dropped support for Mexican illegals.<BR/><BR/>Romney on the other hand has a solidly liberal record. His positions changes aren't convincing. And he's no anti-Mexican crusader either.<BR/><BR/>I'm not a historic fan of McCain. I actually supported GWB back in 2000, and voted for him in 2004. I previously did not like McCain all that much for his seeming chumminess with Senate Democrats. But when having to make a choice amongst the candidates who are presented, and also having to confront the unpleasant prospect of a Democrat in the Whitehouse (making rules that could hurt me), I have to go with a candidate that I can live with and who can win the election. And that candidate is McCain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-23205695757315813112008-01-30T20:20:00.000-08:002008-01-30T20:20:00.000-08:00When my mother, as non-political and non-demoninat...<I><BR/>When my mother, as non-political and non-demoninational a person as you'll find, won't vote for someone because of his religion, guys like Romney are in trouble.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>I would agree with you if not for Romney's disturbing "freedom requires religion" speech to the evangelicals.<BR/><BR/>And if you want to know why Romney stands for nothing, watch <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNf6ubjdYmc" REL="nofollow"> this </A>Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06585635503423590842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39033267907908821422008-01-30T19:39:00.001-08:002008-01-30T19:39:00.001-08:00"Also, McCain has a good-time Charlie air about hi...<I>"Also, McCain has a good-time Charlie air about him, leading one to suspect that he won’t try to stamp out smoking or make anti-porn crusades the number one priority of the Justice Department (as Bush the Younger did before 9/11 reset priorities). He doesn’t seem like a moral crusader; lots of people like that about him."</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, McCain is a moral crusader. He effectively shutdown competitive mixed martial arts (the original UFC) in the '90's), though arguably the sport is stronger now due to reforms inspired by McCain. McCain also wasted Senate time on his concerns about professional boxing and steroids in baseball.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-29549440401442397342008-01-30T19:39:00.000-08:002008-01-30T19:39:00.000-08:00I think the republican establishment is behind mcc...I think the republican establishment is behind mccain. Romney doesn't owe anyone anything.<BR/><BR/>i still can't believe steve sailer doesn't have CNN. you need a fundraising drive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-45684436114598993122008-01-30T18:27:00.000-08:002008-01-30T18:27:00.000-08:00This may sadden you, but in this book review, Jon ...This may sadden you, but in <A HREF="http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=7184&IBLOCK_ID=35&phrase_id=13910" REL="nofollow">this book review</A>, Jon Dolan raises some doubts about the validity of the claims about Rasputin's death.Elzairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14238151381801715569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-75545092455236325082008-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:002008-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00Audacious Epigone: Mormonism is looked upon as som...<B>Audacious Epigone:</B> <I>Mormonism is looked upon as something akin to Albigensianism</I><BR/><BR/>Okay, I had to look that one up:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigenses" REL="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigenses</A><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm" REL="nofollow">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-26027997821815394732008-01-30T17:16:00.000-08:002008-01-30T17:16:00.000-08:00When's your birthday?We can send you the DVDs.[You...When's your birthday?<BR/><BR/>We can send you the DVDs.<BR/><BR/>[You do have a DVD player, right?]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67286820473873276892008-01-30T15:41:00.000-08:002008-01-30T15:41:00.000-08:00McCain’s public personality is more positive than ...McCain’s public personality is more positive than Romney’s. McCain’s image is that of an irascible but likeable guy who stands up for what he believes, sticks to his beliefs and is a straight-shooter and a man’s man. In public, Romney is a Suit, and lots people don’t like Suits. He looks like a guy who gives a business-jargon-filled Power Point presentation to rationalize laying off thousands of American workers and shipping their jobs overseas. The two images are not exactly opposites – except the part about sticking to one’s beliefs – but McCain’s is complimentary, whereas Romney’s is not. <BR/><BR/>McCain also appeals to people who are generally conservative on social issues but who dislike the intensity of the Christian right. I think McCain is sincere is his pro-life, anti-gay-marriage beliefs, but I don’t think they fill his belly with fire. That is potentially true of Romney as well, but his need to spurn his earlier, more liberal opinions makes it harder to know where he stands. Also, McCain has a good-time Charlie air about him, leading one to suspect that he won’t try to stamp out smoking or make anti-porn crusades the number one priority of the Justice Department (as Bush the Younger did before 9/11 reset priorities). He doesn’t seem like a moral crusader; lots of people like that about him. <BR/><BR/>Finally, there is the matter of electability. Barring disaster, McCain will beat Hillary in a walk. Beyond her fanatical base of middle-aged, upper-middle class feminists, people just don’t like Hillary, and they do like McCain. He might have a harder time against Obama, who has more charisma than either of them.<BR/><BR/>It's laughable to imagine that the paleocon vote will make a difference. First of all, by nature paleocons tend to vote, and they're not going to vote for Hillary. Secondly, they are a tiny fraction of the electorate, far outnumbered by the moderates McCain will draw.<BR/><BR/>Issues? Issues? What are those? No matter who wins: (1) We are not going to pull abruptly out of Iraq. On the other hand, we are not going to war in Iran (unless Baby Bush pulls it off before 1/20/09). (2) We are not going to throw all the illegals out. (3) We are not going to abolish the IRS or have a flat tax or a “fair tax,” nor are we going to abolish Medicare or Social Security. That’s not to say that issues don’t matter at all, but on the issues that seem to fire up most folks hereabouts, the outcome of the election is probably not going to matter much. <BR/><BR/><I>Meanwhile, Romney has the support and endorsements of some genuine conservatives, "Paleocons", such as Bay Buchanan, Tom Tancredo, etc. I suspect that Huckabee supporters have little idea of the intra-party war going on (or even why their guy is aptly called a liberal), but McCain's sure do.</I><BR/><BR/>Indeed. Romney's OK with me; if he gets the nomination, I'll vote for him. However, if the soul of Party is torn between the Bible-thumpers and the Establishment, in the personae of Huckabee and McCain, I'll go with the Establishment every time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71213866176266396672008-01-30T15:25:00.000-08:002008-01-30T15:25:00.000-08:00"And do voters have any idea what anybody really s..."And do voters have any idea what anybody really stands for? I'd like to use Giuliani's flop as a weapon against the neocons -- The voters rejected your man overwhelmingly, proving that your World War IV policies are bankrupt! -- but I have this vague hunch that practically nobody who voted in Florida knew that Giuliani had thrown his lot in with the World War IV crowd anyway. (And the folks who vote in primaries are the hard core public affairs junkies compared to the crowd that turns out in November!)"<BR/><BR/><BR/>It's interesting that no one mentions people are as cluless as you could possibly imagine about every candidate. <BR/><BR/><BR/>I often find it amusing how much you have in common with the skeptical approach of the Left (the real Left, not Democrats).<BR/><BR/>"The third crucial sign of America's failure, he says, is that "there's a huge gap between public opinion and public policy. Both political parties are well to the right of the population on a host of major issues, and the elections that are run are carefully designed so that issues do not arise."<BR/><BR/>But Americans still voted overwhelmingly for either Bush or Kerry in 2004, didn't they? "I don't know if you watched the presidential debates. I didn't but my wife [they have been married since 1949] did. She has a college PhD and taught for 25 years at Harvard and is presumably capable of following arguments. She literally couldn't tell where the candidates stood on issues, and people didn't because the elections are designed that way."<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>"nd that goes straight to the democratic deficit. The U.S. does not have elections in a serious sense. It has advertising campaigns, run by the same industries that sell toothpaste: public relations industry. When they're selling candidates, they don't tell you -- provide you with information about them, any more than they do about lifestyle drugs or cars. What they do is create imagery to delude and deceive. That's what's called an electoral campaign. The result is that people are just unaware of the stands of candidates on issues.<BR/><BR/>So to take one critical example, take, say, the Kyoto Protocols. I mean, they're not the be all and end all, but environmental catastrophe is a serious matter. The public is strongly in favor of the Kyoto Protocols, so strongly in favor that a majority of Bush voters -- Bush voters -- thought that he was in favor of it. They are simply unaware. And it's not because of mental incapacity or a lack of interest. It's because that's the way campaigns are presented. They're presented to keep issues off the agenda. Striking cases.<BR/><BR/>Take, say, healthcare, one of the worst domestic problem -- most serious domestic problems; for most people, a major problem. I mean, it's the most inefficient healthcare system in the world, double the per capita cost of other comparable countries, some of the worst health outcomes, mainly because it is privatized. The public is strongly against it. For a long period the public has been in favor of some kind of national healthcare system.<BR/><BR/>Well, you know, Kerry is supposed to be the candidate of, you know -- speaking for whose constituency calls for social spending, and so on and so forth. The last presidential debate, a couple days before the election, was on domestic issues. And the New York Times had an accurate account of it. It described it as -- it pointed out that Kerry made no mention of any government involvement in any healthcare system. And the reason, according to the Times reporter, is that the idea lacks political support, meaning it only has the support of the overwhelming majority of the population, but it's opposed by the pharmaceutical corporations, the insurance industry, and so on. That's what counts as political support. So Kerry didn't mention it, and the public didn't know his stand on these issues. And so it goes issue after issue. So, these are not real elections. We'd laugh at them, [if] they were [in] some third world country."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-78038845954014322872008-01-30T15:20:00.000-08:002008-01-30T15:20:00.000-08:00"Keep in mind that a major reason why GWB and Gore..."Keep in mind that a major reason why GWB and Gore survived the vetting process in 2000 is that they were rare men in their parties who had never cheated on their wives."<BR/><BR/>Never cheated, or were never caught. Puh-leese; practically all Alpha male types cheat on their wives.Truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17286755693955361308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38988814594956282672008-01-30T14:51:00.000-08:002008-01-30T14:51:00.000-08:00Well, I can't afford cable and TV shows aren't eli...Well, I can't afford cable and TV shows aren't eligible in the AFR voting, so it's moot. But I did see an hour or two of "Rome" in a hotel room on a business trip last year, and it was good.Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-40281306529244653652008-01-30T14:46:00.000-08:002008-01-30T14:46:00.000-08:00Steve, you're a nerd. Romney is liked by nerds bec...Steve, you're a nerd. Romney is liked by nerds because we care about competence and intelligence more than sincerity. In fact, we tend to be suspicious of charismatic 'Big Man' types because they tended to dump us in the trash can before recess.<BR/><BR/>The candidate I've supported has lost in every election, and I've switched parties a few times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19005352243724229632008-01-30T14:30:00.000-08:002008-01-30T14:30:00.000-08:00Steve Sailer: I don't watch TV much other than Ame...<B>Steve Sailer:</B> <I>I don't watch TV much other than American Idol</I><BR/><BR/>Well then how are you going to know that <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384766/" REL="nofollow">HBO's Rome</A> is what you ought to nominate for that <A HREF="http://isteve.blogspot.com/2008/01/help-me-fill-out-my-list-of-best-movies.html" REL="nofollow">American Film Renaissance</A> award?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-16976053976570043702008-01-30T14:26:00.000-08:002008-01-30T14:26:00.000-08:00A WSJ/NBC poll back in March queried people on dif...A WSJ/NBC poll back in March queried people on different demographic attributes in a prospective President they claimed to be have reservations about or be uncomfortable with. Here's how it broke down (category - % of those surveyed who said they had serious reservations):<BR/><BR/>Mormon - 38%<BR/>Female - 23%<BR/>Hispanic - 20%<BR/>Black - 13%<BR/><BR/>In Nevada, 95% of Mormons voted for Romney. This matters quite a lot.<BR/><BR/>Anecdotally, I see it among those at my church. Many of them are socially conservative, but Mormonism is looked upon as something akin to Albigensianism. Among the secular, I think it's thought of more along the lines of white trash chauvinists living in trailer parks while their multiple wives labor barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen(s).<BR/><BR/>Re: the black number, I suspect that if they asked people the same as pertained to white men, it would top the black rate.<BR/><BR/>Also, if you listen to Romney's delivery, he'll probably bring to mind a debate captain unloading facts in a rapid succession, as though afraid he'll leave something out if he doesn't pile it on while he has time. Thus he doesn't sound 'passionate' even though it is apparent that he 'knows his stuff'.Audacious Epigonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07495507254628580077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-42576296587119173342008-01-30T13:26:00.000-08:002008-01-30T13:26:00.000-08:00McCain won because he played identity politics. Mc...McCain won because he played identity politics. McCain's policies: Amnesty/Open Borders, soft-on-terrorists (he courts the press so won't waterboard Osama or listen in on his phone calls, IMs, etc), "religion of peace" PC nonsense was trumped by his playing the "Patriotic White Guy" card aka white identity politics.<BR/><BR/>Identity politics hit the Republican Party, and voters overlooked Lettuce McAmnesty's actual positions and policies for his Identity posturing.<BR/><BR/>Romney is a serious, pro-growth, competent, fairly conservative candidate who is much better than Lettuce McAmnesty. Unlike McCain he has no history of betraying conservative principles to court the press, which btw loathes him. But he's unable to play the Identity Politics card the way Obama does.<BR/><BR/>Steve your obsession with "neocons" and invade-the-world-invite the world is frankly, beneath you and not respondent to reality. ANYTHING Westerners do: Teddy Bears named Mohammed, cartoons, something the Pope said, a Dutch pol tearing pages out of the Koran on the internet, false Korans in a toilet rumors, will set Muslims off world-wide and eventually get a Western city nuked, given widespread nuclear proliferation.<BR/><BR/>Westerners can't control everything people do or say and won't convert to Sharia anytime soon which is the only way to stop Muslims from being constantly enraged. Muslims are tribal, polygamous "Big Man," disorganized people with kin-networks and "honor/shame" cultures, who know only what the see on CNN about the West. Most of their men are denied sex and family and substitute gay sex which they find demeaning, shameful, and enraging. Of the 19 hijackers only one had a relationship, and he almost pulled out (his compatriots pressed him and convinced him his German wife was not a "real Muslim wife.")<BR/><BR/>No candidate has any response for that problem, or will discuss save Obama who thinks his Kenyan granny living in a mud hut will make "Muslims love us." Heck Britain calls jihadist terror "anti-Islamic activity" and has banned Piglet, the Three Little Pigs, Ice Cream swirls, and anything else Muslims rage about and they still have native and Pakistani Muslims blowing things up on their streets.<BR/><BR/>Because Romney is smart he's likely to eventually understand this and spell out "red lines" ala the NATO report <A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,,2244782,00.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>. People in say, Denmark are already scared. One nuke in Copenhagen essentially ends the Danish people. The others including McAmnesty will put being "nice" and being liked by the Press over the national security of the US. <BR/><BR/>Sadly, Identity Politics and the skill with which it can be deployed are key to winning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-83385501911007387202008-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:002008-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00Romney represents brains and class. That's why pe...Romney represents brains and class. That's why people feel threatened by him. He exhibits the traits of elite white males from a by-gone era. Also, he's a bit stiff in his movements due to muscle tone and either a very muscular or short neck. This is where people get the impression of insincerity and, unfortunately, is something that can't be changed.<BR/><BR/>The truth about Romney is that he is a classy guy with the credentials and temperament to make an excellent president. There won't be many more like him in the future. I guess whatever the commenters here decide to contribute to the gene pool will be our intellectual elite but it takes more than the kind of churlishness I've seen around here to lead. I fear your children may be a bit spoiled, feeling entitled and superior based on not much more than SAT scores. Oh yes, and your Darwinian comparisons of value by race. Good luck.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com