Democracy and postmodernism

[head-case]

  I know.  The bizarre thing is that elsewhere Kucinich & Gravel would be considered just run-of-the-mill social democrats elsewhere.  But here in the US, they are just a bunch of looney leftists not even worthy of consideration, just as the Green party.  It strikes me as odd that Clinton or Obama could even be considered liberal at all...

He's a member of Congress, so there must be people who don't consider him looney.  To return to the original point, the point that Americans lean to the right politically doesn't have anything to do with the form of government or the two party system. 

If the major Parties are coalitions then it is because the first-past-the-post system forces them to be so.

And what's wrong with that?  Point in fact, McCain is having trouble because conservative republicans don't consider him conservative enough, Rush Limbaugh accused him of being the darling of the "republican establishment" and psycho-conservative Ann Coulter said she would vote for Hillary Clinton over McCain.  Another phenomena is that "evangelicals" who have sided with Republicans because of the social issues such as gay rights and abortion rights have shown signs of shifting towards the democrats because they are attracted to "green" candidates and anti-poverty candidates. 

[Sean]

We need to go back to something like a monarchy: there were some good Kings and Queens- but the hereditory stuff needs to be abolished.

I'm bowing out of this discussion because the concepts involved are too complex to be bothered with. They're ones I've thought a lot about and have many notes on but you'll have to wait a few months until I've finished my chapter Democracy and postmodernism (followed by Digitization and the media, The Loss of art, and The West).

[Ephemerid]

I'm bowing out of this discussion because the concepts involved are too complex to be bothered with.

Ruling the world can be a pain, eh?

[MishaK]

  I know.  The bizarre thing is that elsewhere Kucinich & Gravel would be considered just run-of-the-mill social democrats elsewhere.  But here in the US, they are just a bunch of looney leftists not even worthy of consideration, just as the Green party.  It strikes me as odd that Clinton or Obama could even be considered liberal at all...

Yeah, they look a lot like Christian Democrats by European standards. Though, after eight years of proto-fascism, I'm ready for some good old Christian Democrats.

[Ephemerid]

Ann Coulter just said if McCain gets the Republican nomination, she'll endorse Hillary Clinton.   

My head is spinning.

[MishaK]

Ann Coulter just said if McCain gets the Republican nomination, she'll endorse Hillary Clinton.   

That in and of itself is reason enough to vote for Obama.

[orbital]

That in and of itself is reason enough to vote for Obama. Would you have a link to this Coulter statement, BTW?

Am I too naive to think that nobody in their right mind would make a decision on whatever trash comes out of that woman's mouth? 

At best, it is a poor diversion tactic, at worst it is her mediacentric personality disorder acting up again 

[Ephemerid]

O Mensch: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/01/coulter-wants-clinton-over-mccain/

(every time I see your screen name I think of Laurie Anderson's "Oh Superman" -- her vocoder voice instantly starts up in my head LOL)

I did post it in the Clinton/Obama/Hot poker thread, just forgot to here (looks like you may have found it tho).

[MishaK]

Yes, I did. Let's keep that discussion over there. It's getting too confusing on two threads.