"BTW, Happy meals banned in parts of California. unconstitutional? YES. sorry, that just makes me angry"

Does pizza being counted as a 'vegetable' in school lunches make you angry?

yes. that's stupid.

Fast food needs to be put out of business.

Well, the best aren't running. Mitch Daniels, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, the remarkably underrated Speaker Boehner, and Rand Paul all come to my mind when I think of Republicans of statesmen quality who represent a rational view willing to compromise to get the best deal for the country. Once Romney gets the nomination after people really remember what a bastard Gingrich is I'm certain those people will play a big role in policy making.

But if you're Putin33 they're all evil and no Republican can ever be the answer ever. I actually really like Joe Biden.

Bobby Jindal! Represent! Louisiana! real name Piyush by the way

"Fast food needs to be put out of business."

Yeah, God forbid we let people choose what they want to eat. Better we just ban it. That works so well with drugs and hand guns.

I actually considered not voting for Obama when he picked Biden, but thankfully Biden has been marginalized in this administration and we got the benefit of having removed him from the Senate Foreign Affairs committee.

I suppose it figures you think Boehner, Rubio, Ryan, and *Rand Paul* are the 'rational' wing of the party while attempting to portray yourself as some kind of deal-making compromiser. That says a lot about how far-right your point of reference is.

"That works so well with drugs and hand guns."

It does actually. People actually abide by the laws outside of your fraternity circles, believe-it-or-not.

Is there anything to libertarian conservatism other than "you're not the boss of me" bluster? Anytime these people are actually questioned about how their policies would work in practice they don't respond.

Not true. Look at Cato of the National Review or any of a host of conservative/libertarian think tanks and serious publications. I'll freely admit that there can be eye-popping stupidity on the right, but the exact same thing can be said for the left.

You're jsut wrong, Putin33. I'm sure in the echo chamber of the academy you get the impression that leftism in unconquerable, but the fact is that about 40% of the country will vote for a bad of rocks with a D on it for president, around 35% will vote for a sandwich with an R on the wrapper, and the rest can be swayed by argument. Intelligent and moronic arguments exist on both sides. That's how it is. Live with it.

Continue your anti-intellectual attacks on education. That's par for the course when it comes your ilk and their hatred of science, academia, and anything education related. How long are you people going to go on smearing teachers and scientists in order to pander to the lowest common denominator among your base?

You don't even know what the demographics are. 25% of country identifies as liberal, 40% conservative, and the rest neither. But that doesn't mean that your batshit candidates are appealing to a majority of Americans. You, like the media, portray every discussion as a sporting contest with two equally valid sides, even if one side does nothing but make an ass of itself. False equivalency is all you have to cling on to. Just because you identify as conservative doesn't mean you have anything in common with the proudly dumb candidates the GOP keeps churning out.

National Review is libertarian now? I didn't know the defenders of Jim Crow had moved in that direction.

Whenever any of these "cut cut cut" types are ever questioned about how, for example, environmental regulation would work in the absence of the EPA, especially when it comes to inter-state disputes about pollution, the silence is deafening. All they know how to do is destroy and tear down.

Cue your baseless personal attacks.

It is a sporting contest between two equally valid sides. I think the Democrats are wrong about a lot, but their opinions are valid. How very like the Stalinist you are to de-legitimize any dissent from the wider lefty narrative.

By saying EVERYONE who isn't in your ideological sphere is an idiot you show that you're one of the people in your own who is one.

@ Invictus
Been away from the convo for a while but to follow up on my question to you... You said you'd be comfortable with Romney as the nomination. Doesn't his (sorry to use the phrase) flip-flopping make you nervous? He seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth. Even more so than most politicians.

He has even flip flopped on flip flopping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Dgl9acPZo

The Democrats aren't anywhere close to my ideological sphere. I have respect for some Republicans like Senator Lugar. But I don't think trotting out token Republicans that I have respect for really matters because I'm not an opportunist like you who pretends to be a moderate when you're really an uber-partisan.

"Seriously how far gone do you have to be to defend this ridiculous statement that Bachman would close down the US embassy in Iran if President"
I didn't know the exact quote, mind you. I was going off what i guessed you would be going after: a little mistake. Sorry.

"Or really 99% of the criticisms by the GOP. "
Really? A source? Please?

Notice the # of posts before me, and then after me. I wish I could shake off this cloud. *joke*

"You said you'd be comfortable with Romney as the nomination. Doesn't his (sorry to use the phrase) flip-flopping make you nervous? He seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth. Even more so than most politicians."

I've been forced into it. As I said, Gingrich is a bastard so I can't vote for him. I think Ron Paul's right on about 70% of the issues, and while normally that would be enough he's just TOO wrong on issues like Iran. Perry hasn't shown himself to be presidential material. I'm proud to say I never fell for Cain or Bachmann.

Romney would be fine. Sure he flip flops, but I don't think it's quiet as bad as it's made out. I think he's really changed his mind on abortion but is just bowing to political expediency on whether Romneycare should be a model for other states, for instance. He's no Mitch Daniels, but he'll do. Then he'll lose to Cuomo in 2016.

And Putin33, I'm not pretending to be a moderate. What I'm doing is acknowledging that other opinions can be valid, even when I think they're wrong. Sometimes I think that the best thing about you is that there are so few people like you.

@Adam - A quick google search of Bachmann Iran would have told you exactly what she said. Next time, a little research before you respond might help. But don't feel bad. We all shoot from the hip on ocassion.

"I'm sure in the echo chamber of the academy you get the impression that leftism in unconquerable"

Actually, in my experience, you get just the opposite impression. Evil tends to win.

"Well, the best aren't running."

I wonder why. As you have shown, your party sees intelligence as a undesired trait for a president.

"What I'm doing is acknowledging that other opinions can be valid, even when I think they're wrong."

HPV vaccines causing mental retardation is not a valid opinion. Poor people having no work ethic is not a valid opinion. Mexican immigrants being electrocuted is not a valid opinion. The point which you seem never to understand is that it's not as if weirdo fringe opinions are a marginalized voice within the GOP. They *are* the mainstream of the GOP. The "oh both sides are equally crazy" line that you continue to trot out doesn't work. The Democratic Party hates its base and hates the left.

And the thing is, there are many conservative commentators who recognize that their candidates are super extreme, but you continue to pretend as if they're mostly reasonable.

" Sometimes I think that the best thing about you is that there are so few people like you."

The best thing about you is your ability to be a rank hypocrite without blinking. You complain about supposed personal attacks and yet we can't have a four post conversation without you getting nasty and personal.

Fag-Naur posted,"...I'm a republican mind you..."
##################################################################

That explains SO much.

I can't believe the American people let Herman Cain slip through their fingers. Who now will protect us from big potato moths?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE5xZKszXMQ

Romney can't even tolerate a Fox News interview, and people think he's going to be able to sustain a Presidential campaign if he wins the nomination? Good luck.