The Many Faces of US Politics...

[J70]

rhet·o·ric
ˈredərik/
noun
the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
synonyms:   oratory, eloquence, command of language, way with words
"a form of rhetoric"
language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.
"all we have from the opposition is empty rhetoric"
synonyms:   bombast, turgidity, grandiloquence, magniloquence, pomposity, extravagant language, purple prose; More

Your use of the word rhetoric alone implies an idle threat

Really?

By your own post, that is one of several interpretations. And your example even has to include the word "empty" to illustrate that interpretation.

From OED: rhetoric, n. 1. a. The art of using language effectively so as to persuade or influence others, esp. the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques to this end; the study of principles and rules to be followed by a speaker or writer striving for eloquence, esp. as formulated by ancient Greek and Roman writers.

But fixate on a selected meaning if you want.

My point stands, and I'm pretty sure you understand what I meant.

[heganboy]

I'd be more of a Christie or Kasich supporter, but I dont live in a swing state so my vote doesn't count

Christie withdrew from the race last week.

Kasich-( is I think anyways) a dark horse in the Republican race. I don't believe that Cruz Rubio or Trump can win the nomination, and I think Bush is carrying too much family baggage.

The level of vitriol against Clinton is a sight to behold. I thought the Republicans were fired up against Obama, but this time around its a whole new ball game. Stew is seen here as very heavy handed with his remarks, but he is tame compared to some folks I was chatting to this weekend.

As a non voter resident alien in the US, the campaigns being waged in the press are interesting, but they have been more or less the same the last 3 presidential cycles, what you don't see is the campaign being fought in the social media.

The PACs are spending tens of millions of dollars in big data analysis, and the creation of "news" stories in some cases around their clients, but more usually the positioning of outrageously fake stories around the opposition. The campaigns candidates are waging against other nominees is a sight to behold. Some of the brightest techies are having money thrown at them by PACs for 6 month contracts.

And then there are the attack campaigns being fought against the two Democratic nominees by some of the Republican PACs, and let me tell you, you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait for the timing of the release of a bunch of "stories" against to a lesser extent Saunders, but the weaponry being drafted in the anti- Clinton campaign is absolutely frightening.

The social media campaigns have no need for truth, or factual representation of any kind, and they are enormously effective in swaying voters, they become incredibly localized and tailored very explicitly by locality and habit, Facebook and twitter feeds as influencers, very personalized. This summer and autumn/ fall you will see a lot of technology let loose that you have seen in (bad) movies and science fiction. It will be  social experiment for the ages, but my view (again) is that the funding on the Republican side will give them an edge in deployment, the question will be whether the Dems will have enough time/ resources to begin to dispel the effect.

The other issue that is very relevant, is that I think the Republicans need to be very, very careful about how they handle the Supreme Court nomination. If it is seen as going too far, they will further reduce the slim chance they have of an elephant in 1600 any time soon.

The interesting thing is that they do not have (as yet) any data from voters as to how far they can push the court issue, however the polling and Facebook and twitter feeds are being crunched as we speak to start to find out just exactly what the lay of the land is. And just so you know, this forum gets crunched. And millions just like it. If there were enough american IPs on this board, that were in swing states, new members would be arriving, creating polls, ads would appear, and it would look like we got popular, but there wouldn't be a human in sight...

The rise of the machines. We often wondered about the lifting of the contribution caps, and just how much money in ads and campaigns could sway the vote, and til now it has been interesting, but the next 6 months, the application of all of that (not) hard earned (or taxed) money is about to change the shape of elections in the US.

[Dalquen]

Its always amusing listening to Irish leftists getting all high and mighty about the so-called right wing of US, UK or European politics. Ireland is one of the most homogenous countries in Europe. The only time we have been confronted with some of the issues other countries face we have implemented ethnic cleansing (of protestants after independence) or banished a minority to the lowest socio-economic rung (travellers)..and yet you lads think its grand to lecture americans for resisting cultural changes that threaten their interests...or dismiss "extremists"  from the likes of Bradford that have seen their town transform into a suburb of Karachi in their lifetime.

You lads need to get real. Globalization and cultural warfare is relentless. What we have seen in the last 20 years is merely the elbow of an exponential curve of change. It will be interesting to see how Irish people react when they are confronted with real cultural change not the trickle of change we have seen up to this point.

Who knows someday in the not too far distant future the GAA may be seen as a "white" enclave that needs "cultural enrichment"

[gallsman]

Stew, please please please please please try to move to Switzerland and see what happens! I'll set up deckchairs on the border and get the popcorn ready.

How's that respect you have for women coming along? Sad little man.

[Dalquen]

Switzerland is a very impressive country. They have managed to protect their cultural identity while, for the most part, avoiding the opprobrium other countries have attracted for attempting the same thing. They even voted to ban minarets!!

They are the poster child for a country taking control of their own future. I think not being a member of the EU probably helps in this regard.   

[seafoid]

I'd be more of a Christie or Kasich supporter, but I dont live in a swing state so my vote doesn't count

Christie withdrew from the race last week.

Kasich-( is I think anyways) a dark horse in the Republican race. I don't believe that Cruz Rubio or Trump can win the nomination, and I think Bush is carrying too much family baggage.

The level of vitriol against Clinton is a sight to behold. I thought the Republicans were fired up against Obama, but this time around its a whole new ball game. Stew is seen here as very heavy handed with his remarks, but he is tame compared to some folks I was chatting to this weekend.

As a non voter resident alien in the US, the campaigns being waged in the press are interesting, but they have been more or less the same the last 3 presidential cycles, what you don't see is the campaign being fought in the social media.

The PACs are spending tens of millions of dollars in big data analysis, and the creation of "news" stories in some cases around their clients, but more usually the positioning of outrageously fake stories around the opposition. The campaigns candidates are waging against other nominees is a sight to behold. Some of the brightest techies are having money thrown at them by PACs for 6 month contracts.

And then there are the attack campaigns being fought against the two Democratic nominees by some of the Republican PACs, and let me tell you, you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait for the timing of the release of a bunch of "stories" against to a lesser extent Saunders, but the weaponry being drafted in the anti- Clinton campaign is absolutely frightening.

The social media campaigns have no need for truth, or factual representation of any kind, and they are enormously effective in swaying voters, they become incredibly localized and tailored very explicitly by locality and habit, Facebook and twitter feeds as influencers, very personalized. This summer and autumn/ fall you will see a lot of technology let loose that you have seen in (bad) movies and science fiction. It will be  social experiment for the ages, but my view (again) is that the funding on the Republican side will give them an edge in deployment, the question will be whether the Dems will have enough time/ resources to begin to dispel the effect.

The other issue that is very relevant, is that I think the Republicans need to be very, very careful about how they handle the Supreme Court nomination. If it is seen as going too far, they will further reduce the slim chance they have of an elephant in 1600 any time soon.

The interesting thing is that they do not have (as yet) any data from voters as to how far they can push the court issue, however the polling and Facebook and twitter feeds are being crunched as we speak to start to find out just exactly what the lay of the land is. And just so you know, this forum gets crunched. And millions just like it. If there were enough american IPs on this board, that were in swing states, new members would be arriving, creating polls, ads would appear, and it would look like we got popular, but there wouldn't be a human in sight...

The rise of the machines. We often wondered about the lifting of the contribution caps, and just how much money in ads and campaigns could sway the vote, and til now it has been interesting, but the next 6 months, the application of all of that (not) hard earned (or taxed) money is about to change the shape of elections in the US.

Great post. Citizens United means GOP money is unlimited. But the economic situation means this election is limited. One third of Americans now work without permanent contracts. Average earnings $28 per hour which isn't much. Real wages are 10% lower than in the 70s. Wages are being driven down. Muintir Trump feel this and resent it. Trump plámáses them. Sanders talks about the big picture. Clinton is disadvantaged. Trump can't attract the 20% of floating voters. I just don't think the GOP can address the big issue of income inequality.

[Dalquen]

Stop the nonsense. America will never elect sanders for two reasons. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous.

[Declan]

The social media campaigns have no need for truth, or factual representation of any kind, and they are enormously effective in swaying voters, they become incredibly localized and tailored very explicitly by locality and habit, Facebook and twitter feeds as influencers, very personalized

This is what Trump's National Spokesperson came out with recently

https://twitter.com/KatrinaPierson/status/246383643499577344

[Dalquen]

Trump is primarily a counterweight to cultural forces such as "black lives matter" which is why he is gaining such traction. He will stumble eventually but it sets the stage for the general election. Clinton will have to do the right thing and accede to the majority position if she wants to get elected.

[stew]

Stew, I don't think I was picking anyone's bones, but I'm not exactly heartbroken given his judicial decisions.  If I thought his family we're regulars on this board I would probably temper my remarks.

Sorry, too, that I gave the impression that I would vote for a conservative.  Not a chance of that happening. Better chance of the Browns winning Super Bowl LI (and, given this field, I'd love to know what a decent conservative is).

Can't wait for the Senate to drag its heels when Obama nominates a new justice,  as is his constitutional duty.  They do love the Constitution.

Hope you're not freezing in the Great White North.

He is w**king himself to throw a lib would be nominee under the bus, tell the truth, when was the last time a supreme court judge got elected when a sitting president had ten months left to f**k up the country? A hundred maybe?

So is his term only really seven years then? Are the rest of his duties to be similarly curtailed in his last year?

How about the Senate? Shouldn't those 24 GOP senators whose terms are winding down be similarly told to f**k off and forget about their duties, thus leaving their opinions on this issue irrelevant?

When was the last time the issue came up? Besides Reagan and Anthony Kennedy. And LBJ and his failed pick, who at least got a hearing.

As for "f**king up the country", things are a hell of a lot better than they were when he took over.

No thanks to the GOP.

Get off the drugs son, more people live below the poverty line than when he took office, Putin has him in his pocket and he us the main reason europe is flooded with Muslim refugees, some of whom are terrorists, worldwide he is seen as a weakling and to be he will go down as a disastrous president due to his inability to Govern, well in fairness, he did cut his teeth in the most corrupt liberal shithole in the USA, Illinois, he fit right in there.

The right need to get back in and kick these bleeding hrsrt, nsmby pamby liberal fuckwits to the curb and right the ship, eight mire years of a balloon like we have had under Obamination and the country is proper fucked.

[stew]

If the shoe was on the other foot the Democrats would be doing exactly the same


Come to think of it.....they did when Bush was coming towards the end of his term

http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/14/flashback-in-2007-schumer-called-for-blocking-all-bush-supreme-court-nominations/

We will never know if they would have followed through on Schumer's rhetoric.

What we do know is that never before have so many judicial, and other, appointments been blocked for naked, partisan political reasons, even before Scalia died. Why the hell would the Dems have otherwise have had to push through all those judges a couple of years back on a technicality to get around GOP obstructionism, even before they took the Senate back? And its only got worse since.

Well, the shoe will be on the other foot again, soon enough.

Vacant court seats, even at the supreme level, will become the norm, in both liberal and conservative circuits.

American politics is sick. All the way down to the grass roots.

lol-so when Demcrats proposed doing the same thing on W, it was just meaningless rhetoric??

Stop being smart whitey, they don't like it when you point out their hypocrisy.

[gallsman]

Obama is the reason Europe is "flooded" with refugees... Wow. I know you struggle to grasp a lot of the stuff that goes on here, but that one was breathtaking.

Tell me more about how you'd move to Switzerland where, of course, you'd be such a wonderful cultural fit.

[whitey]

rhet·o·ric
ˈredərik/
noun
the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
synonyms:   oratory, eloquence, command of language, way with words
"a form of rhetoric"
language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.
"all we have from the opposition is empty rhetoric"
synonyms:   bombast, turgidity, grandiloquence, magniloquence, pomposity, extravagant language, purple prose; More

Your use of the word rhetoric alone implies an idle threat

Really?

By your own post, that is one of several interpretations. And your example even has to include the word "empty" to illustrate that interpretation.

From OED: rhetoric, n. 1. a. The art of using language effectively so as to persuade or influence others, esp. the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques to this end; the study of principles and rules to be followed by a speaker or writer striving for eloquence, esp. as formulated by ancient Greek and Roman writers.

But fixate on a selected meaning if you want.

My point stands, and I'm pretty sure you understand what I meant.

I understand exactly what you mean.....Republicans are bad and Democrats are good

[whitey]

I'd be more of a Christie or Kasich supporter, but I dont live in a swing state so my vote doesn't count

Christie withdrew from the race last week.

Kasich-( is I think anyways) a dark horse in the Republican race. I don't believe that Cruz Rubio or Trump can win the nomination, and I think Bush is carrying too much family baggage.

The level of vitriol against Clinton is a sight to behold. I thought the Republicans were fired up against Obama, but this time around its a whole new ball game. Stew is seen here as very heavy handed with his remarks, but he is tame compared to some folks I was chatting to this weekend.

As a non voter resident alien in the US, the campaigns being waged in the press are interesting, but they have been more or less the same the last 3 presidential cycles, what you don't see is the campaign being fought in the social media.

The PACs are spending tens of millions of dollars in big data analysis, and the creation of "news" stories in some cases around their clients, but more usually the positioning of outrageously fake stories around the opposition. The campaigns candidates are waging against other nominees is a sight to behold. Some of the brightest techies are having money thrown at them by PACs for 6 month contracts.

And then there are the attack campaigns being fought against the two Democratic nominees by some of the Republican PACs, and let me tell you, you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait for the timing of the release of a bunch of "stories" against to a lesser extent Saunders, but the weaponry being drafted in the anti- Clinton campaign is absolutely frightening.

The social media campaigns have no need for truth, or factual representation of any kind, and they are enormously effective in swaying voters, they become incredibly localized and tailored very explicitly by locality and habit, Facebook and twitter feeds as influencers, very personalized. This summer and autumn/ fall you will see a lot of technology let loose that you have seen in (bad) movies and science fiction. It will be  social experiment for the ages, but my view (again) is that the funding on the Republican side will give them an edge in deployment, the question will be whether the Dems will have enough time/ resources to begin to dispel the effect.

The other issue that is very relevant, is that I think the Republicans need to be very, very careful about how they handle the Supreme Court nomination. If it is seen as going too far, they will further reduce the slim chance they have of an elephant in 1600 any time soon.

The interesting thing is that they do not have (as yet) any data from voters as to how far they can push the court issue, however the polling and Facebook and twitter feeds are being crunched as we speak to start to find out just exactly what the lay of the land is. And just so you know, this forum gets crunched. And millions just like it. If there were enough american IPs on this board, that were in swing states, new members would be arriving, creating polls, ads would appear, and it would look like we got popular, but there wouldn't be a human in sight...

The rise of the machines. We often wondered about the lifting of the contribution caps, and just how much money in ads and campaigns could sway the vote, and til now it has been interesting, but the next 6 months, the application of all of that (not) hard earned (or taxed) money is about to change the shape of elections in the US.

Great post. Citizens United means GOP money is unlimited. But the economic situation means this election is limited. One third of Americans now work without permanent contracts. Average earnings $28 per hour which isn't much. Real wages are 10% lower than in the 70s. Wages are being driven down. Muintir Trump feel this and resent it. Trump plámáses them. Sanders talks about the big picture. Clinton is disadvantaged. Trump can't attract the 20% of floating voters. I just don't think the GOP can address the big issue of income inequality.

Hmmmmm........The old Citizens United line

No mention of the Billions and Billions Democrats get pumped in by the Unions. Citizens United merely leveled the playing field


http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmith/2012/07/10/if-big-money-in-politics-offends-you-then-you-must-loathe-labor-unions/#2bfa184049c1

[stew]

Obama is the reason Europe is "flooded" with refugees... Wow. I know you struggle to grasp a lot of the stuff that goes on here, but that one was breathtaking.

Tell me more about how you'd move to Switzerland where, of course, you'd be such a wonderful cultural fit.

For a man who was so out of touch with American politics, ( think about trump self funding )it makes perfect sense that you cannot see that obamination  failed to take up the advice of his own Generals and have a safe haven for Syrians in their own country, under a no fly zone strictly enforced by the us military.

See Gallstone, if a Republican had have been in the white house not one Syrian would have left the country, no Paris attacks, no rapes and molestation on German women and other women in countries around the world.

Galls Russia has a leader called Putin, your hero Obama is afraid of this former kgb alleged rapist and that is why we have Muslims from all over the middle east converging on Europe, take your time son and let that info sink in.