A socialist revolution is inevitable in all countries. Just look at last year's elections in Germany. The world has been trending towards socialism since 1873; I had hoped the end of the Great Depression would reverse the tide, but it has not. It is a cold, irrefutable mathematical fact; when the franchise is expanded to the proletariat, they will vote themselves revolution. If you put a piece of candy before a child, will he not take it? And so, if you put the vote, and through the vote power, before the coal miner, the factory hand, the dock worker, will he not vote to overthrow the capitalist system and take for himself the luxuries of the bourgeois? It astonishes me how anyone could think, or could have expected, otherwise.

If capitalists had wanted to preserve free enterprise, they should have opposed universal suffrage. Now, I fear it is too late. The very fact that we are even now debating womens' suffrage proves that universal manhood suffrage can never be overturned. It turns out that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction after all; not as Marx predicted, through violence, but through the very system of elections it created. I only fear what a future without free enterprise and collective ownership of all the means of production will mean.

Germany, no doubt, and perhaps a few other countries as well. But I cannot see a country like Russia undergoing a communist revolution.

How about making Wayne County one city (the way it happened with Indianapolis (it was called unigov, and was effected by Lugar when he was mayor there)? Sure, it will be hated by many (the folks in Livonia for example will have a heart attack, along with the Gross Pointes), but cities like Detroit just don't have the economic base to support itself. The folks don't make much money, their need for services is high, crime is high, and retail business thin on the ground, including no appliance stores in the city I have read.  Plus, it is more likely that better politicians will be elected.

Maybe in the long run, the city will be largely torn down (much of it is already), and it will reach the point where it may become attractive in certain areas to build new housing, or big box distribution centers that take a lot of land (dirt cheap), or whatever. Job one is to get its crime down. Crime kills cities. And to attract higher income folks, adequate educational options will need to be provided.

A lovely idea, Torie, but you really underestimate the sheer amount of wank that that would cause in Canton Township and the Grosse Pointes and Dearborn and every other city in the area.  The sheer hatred for the city of Detroit in the Michigan suburbs is palpable.  The best you can get is a vague, faded nostalgia on the part of people born ever so slightly before my parents were born and earlier.  (And the opposite is true, too; Detroiters will [probably correctly] perceive this as an attempt to force outsiders on them and hate the suburbs with an equal passion.)

Can't the Michigan Legislature just force it on them?

Madigan is kind of terrifying. As an outsider, I wonder just how much he's shaped Illinois politics in his nearly 30 years as speaker? Voting for him because the others seem weak and shifty, as opposed to the merely shifty that Madigan is.

And wow, you Illinoisans have a lot of dynastic politicians. My state doesn't have nearly as many as you do. Daleys, Madigans, you've probably got several more.

No, Lisa Madigan, the Attorney General (and his daughter). Not quite as bad.

1.
2.
3.

Aye

1. Marokai/Duke
2. Kalwejt/Wolfentoad
3. Cathcon/Spamage
MW Senate
1. Snowstalker

We don't need to convince the pro-gun crowd. They already have the minds made up. We need to go after the forever undecided moderate hero 20% of the population. Gun safety laws will play a lot better to them than gun control, which sounds more authoritarian. You can hear their wheels turning: Who could be opposed to gun safety?

Those who realize that "gun safety" and "gun control" are one and the same (i.e., restrictions on gun rights)?

Moderate and conservative Democrats are going to be crushed in 2014 if the liberal wing of the Democratic Party gets their way on guns. Give it enough time, and this always happens one way or another, I guess.

Just like Mitt Romney crushed Obama?

What is the great Jack E. Robinson up to these days?

Running as an Independent.

The Kel Tec Sub-2000?!

Isn't it hypocritical for politicians, who surround themselves with guards armed with machine guns, to tell us we need to throw away the Second Amendment?

No, because most Americans don't get thousands of death threats. Also, my impression is that the Second Amendment, like the rest of the Bill of Rights, has limits. The 1st has no yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater, the 2nd, in my opinion, doesn't guarantee a right to an assault weapon.

Something I dont understand after reading about Israeli politics, why is it a given that Arab parties would not be invited into a coalition? With 20% of Israeli citizens being Arab it seems strange. No surprise Arab turnout is low.

The Arab parties wouldn't want to join the government, and the government doesn't want them. All the Arab parties have irreconcilably different views that would make it impossible to work together with any government.

I get why they wouldn't want to join with Likud. But why was it a given that they wouldn't join a center left government led by Lapid? Are their views any more extreme than some of the ultra right parties?

The Jewish Home Party is being talked about as a potential coalition partner with Likud even though they advocate annexing most of the West Bank and expelling the resident Palestinians...that seems pretty extreme.

From an ignorant outsider point of view it just seems odd. Is it at all controversial within Israel?

JH might want to annex some land, but they have no problem joining a government which won't do this. The Arab parties wouldn't spend a day in a government that controls the West Bank. If there was an Arab party that said that they will leave the Palestinian issue to the government and that what they care about is more funds for Arab Israelis, they would probably find themselves in the government.

Of course, that sort of party would get about 5 votes nationwide.

Sounds good to me.

[BYL]

[BYL Seriously, the Politburo? We're not communists. But other than that, seems pretty good.

This was an great show. I only found out about it a year ago, and I've seen a bit more of Joel, but what I've seen of Joel is better than what I've seen of Mike.

Either Alliance or the Greens, I guess. Probably Alliance, if only because they're the ones that can do better.

Labor because they're the only successful pro-peace party.

Who's going to win the second round?

Plus, they were ignoring the Israeli Supreme Court. Also, according to Haaretz, this was private Palestinian land. Danny, as an Israeli, what is your opinion on this?

And Netanyahu is once again ruining Israel's reputation and making most Israelis look bad, showing that the current government has no interest in peace at Bab Al-Shams. I mean, I support Israel generally, but these people are non-violent protestors.

49.91 is the one used by most sources, because 50.01 does not count some write-in votes from Florida, which were not certified, but if it was written in and was not thrown out, shouldn't the vote count?

Hmm…
Antonio, do you also believe that gay marriage should be illegal nationwide until Congress and/or the Supreme Court get around to legalizing it?
Because this pick-and-choose kind of mentality that exists on both sides of the aisle is pretty irritating.

What's starting to get pretty irritating is your newfound Moderate Hero "pepul r so meen" persona.

Anyway, I never claimed that everything should be of federal competence. My claim is against people who oppose good laws who actually make things better and concern things of critical importance (like the CRA, the VOWA) etc in the name of something as mundane and superficial as States Rights. And I oppose DOMA because it's a bad law, not because I think the Federal Government has no business regulating marriage.

DOMA also violates the Full Faith and Credit Clause.

[a]

In the 1824 election, for all states and the national results, William Crawford's name is spelled "Crawofrd". Also, Henry Clay's running mate's name is Nathan Sanford, not Nathon Sanford, as it is spelled in the results.

[Obama won a clear mandate for his policies 55 f**king days ago]

Both sides caved, somewhat equally. However, considering that the Democratic initial position was already fairly moderate while the GOP's was incoherent teabagger nonsense, and considering the little technicality that Obama won a clear mandate for his policies 55 f**king days ago, the Democrats clearly lost.

You realize that the GOP, not the American people, control a house of congress. It would be great if Obama could get $250,000 through, but he can't.

He doesn't have to. It has already happened automatically.

The problem with that is that it also raises taxes on everyone below $250,000.

Susana Martinez's dad seems to be dying.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/official-susana-martinezs-father-gravely-ill-el-pa/nThmj/

For practical purposes, this does mean she'll have fewer forces tying her down when it comes time to think of a national run in 2015...

Classy.

[Obama won a clear mandate for his policies 55 f**king days ago]

Both sides caved, somewhat equally. However, considering that the Democratic initial position was already fairly moderate while the GOP's was incoherent teabagger nonsense, and considering the little technicality that Obama won a clear mandate for his policies 55 f**king days ago, the Democrats clearly lost.

You realize that the GOP, not the American people, control a house of congress. It would be great if Obama could get $250,000 through, but he can't. There's not enough votes. And with the sequester threatening the economy, and the unemployment benefits ready to expire, a deal needs to get done. Also, I don't think it's a bad deal for the Democrats. They get quite a few tax increases, relatively little spending cuts, and defense cuts. They also get a 20% capital gains tax. Compromises involve not getting everything either side wants, not one side getting everything.

I got
1. Labor
2. Ha'tunah
3. Meretz