October 24, 2016

Bob Kerrey says Trump is putting out "the geezer cynic" message that you shouldn't get involved because the voting is rigged.

Former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey was on CNN's "State of the Union" yesterday. The host Jake Tapper had asked him whether election rigging was "something you worried about... except from the other side of the aisle." I think that translates to: Did you ever worry about Democrats rigging elections?
KERREY: I mean, the big thing you always worry about whether people will register and get out to vote. No, never worried about rigging of any election I've ever been a part of.
Another guest, Dana Loesch (of The Blaze) observed that if a candidate (like Trump) says the vote is rigged, it might make your own supporters feel that they shouldn't bother voting. This prompts Kerrey to say something that made me want to write this blog post:
KERREY: There's also sort of a tendency of older people, and I can speak on behalf of older people in this town.... There's a tendency as you go through life to become bitter. The one thing I don't like is when you listen to old people telling young people, don't get involved. Don't participate. The whole system is rigged. It isn't rigged. It's terrific to get involved. There's great opportunity to be involved. Both Republican and Democrat. I've rarely talked to anybody that got involved in politics who said it was (INAUDIBLE). So the central message [Trump]'s putting out there is sort of the geezer cynic don't get involved because the whole thing does work. It does work.
1. I'd put a hyphen between "geezer" and "cynic" because (I think) it's used as an adjective. Trump is putting out a geezer-cynic message.

2. Is "it's all rigged" the kind of belief that should be associated with old and cynical people? It is something Bernie Sanders has also said this year, and though he himself is an old man, his message was appealing to young people.

3. Should young people turn away from a message because it is the sort of thing that older people come to believe? Does that make it toxic or, at least, dubious? Or can the young look upon older people as experienced and possibly a good source of information and wisdom?

4. Is prejudice against the old pernicious and something to be ashamed of or is it okay for Bob Kerrey to use the term "geezer" in mockery? Kerry identifies himself as one of the old people, so perhaps he's claiming a privilege to put old people down because he's one of them. But he's not embracing the ideas he's ascribing to the "geezer cynic." He expresses optimism, and he never refers to himself as a "geezer optimist."

5. Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people? If that is what is happening, why see it as cynicism if old people withdraw?

75 comments:

traditionalguy said...

The word play is used to confuse us.

Voter impersonation at the polling place is rare and is called "vote fraud." It requires bussing in human bodies.

Adding in many boxes of stored absentee paper ballots is the "stealing of an election" such as LBJ's case. It requires complicit officials.

Then we get to today's "rigging of an election." That uses a computer code that supplies the planned count, and it is undetecable without a line by line examination of the code that is installed in the system. It only requires a secret shadow government.

David Begley said...

Being a Nebraskan and kind of knowing Cosmic Bob, of course there is no voter fraud in Nebraska. Only 1.8m people here and maybe 500k voters and about 200k in rural areas. The ballots are all optical read, fill in the oval types. And get this, even the Dems here are mostly honest. No opportunity or ability to cheat on any scale!

But let's talk about his last Senate race where he got badly whipped. (2012?) He bought a house in Dundee (about a mile from Warren Buffet) and then after he lost, Susie Buffet bought it from him at an over-market price and sweet profit for Cosmic Bob.

Go away Bob.

Vet66 said...

I'm a so-called 'Geezer' and when a politician lies to me it affirms my efforts to get involved and bring the matter up to anyone who will listen. The voting is 'rigged' and the democrats are shamelessly turning the process into an art form. The Republicans do it behind closed doors. It all depends on where the voters want to be stabbed; in the back or in the front looking you in the eye.

David Begley said...

And I regret my participation in politics on behalf of Ben Nelson when he ran for Governor of Nebraska. I regret being a Democrat.

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rhhardin said...

Kerrey is putting out any anti-Trump message he can think up. He's a Democrat.

As for what geezers do, they're happy to train their replacements. Look at anybody near retirement.

rhhardin said...

There isn't a geezer effect so much as a moron-young effect.

The cutoff for having no heart and having no brains is 40, on the liberal-conservative scale.

Hardly a geezer age.

damikesc said...

2. Is "it's all rigged" the kind of belief that should be associated with old and cynical people? It is something Bernie Sanders has also said this year, and though he himself is an old man, his message was appealing to young people?

Based on his actions since the primary, I don't think Bernie really thinks the system is rigged. Otherwise, he wouldn't be kissing the ass of Hillary.

3. Should young people turn away from a message because it is the sort of thing that older people come to believe? Does that make it toxic or, at least, dubious? Or can the young look upon older people as experienced and possibly a good source of information and wisdom?

I'd question anybody who has a high level of faith in our elections at this point. With the shenanigans opposing any form of voter ID, the constant "finding new votes for Democrats" during recounts, etc., the whole thing looks sketchy as all hell.

4. Is prejudice against the old pernicious and something to be ashamed of or is it okay for Bob Kerrey to use the term "geezer" in mockery? Kerry identifies himself as one of the old people, so perhaps he's claiming a privilege to put old people down because he's one of them. But he's not embracing the ideas he's ascribing to the "geezer cynic." He expresses optimism, and he never refers to himself as a "geezer optimist."

It's always OK to use slurs for the group that the elite don't like. The elderly tend to vote Republican so the Dems feel free in slurring them. But this happens everywhere.

For example, my wife went to Charlotte for a convention this weekend. They went to a Mexican restaurant where they had a "Gringo Special". This is unbelievably racist, but because it's against whites, it is actually acceptable.

5. Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people? If that is what is happening, why see it as cynicism if old people withdraw?

I'd argue that if you see sketchy elections for long enough, you'd have to be a fool to not be a cynic. I've seen Rossi vs Gregoire and Franken vs Coleman. I've read on LBJ's first big electoral win in the 1940's. I remember the nonsense about how judges kept St Louis polling places in 2000 open for hours beyond their actual closing times. I remember the idiocy of permitting same day voter registration.

How can anybody have faith in this system?

Sebastian said...

"4. Is prejudice against the old pernicious and something to be ashamed of or is it okay for Bob Kerrey to use the term "geezer" in mockery?" Faux questions, right? I mean, you know the answer. Prejudice against the old is okay if used by a Dem for prog purposes, otherwise it isn't. Prog linguistics and prog morality are entirely situational.

"5. Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people? If that is what is happening, why see it as cynicism if old people withdraw?" Same old, same old. Progs will "see" old withdrawal as cynicism when it serves their polemical purposes, otherwise they won't. Next month, next year, they will ask for money to subsidize senior withdrawal, or celebrate a rise in assisted suicide, or any other prog fad that involves such withdrawal. The advantage of being a middle-aged cynical conservative is that no one will label your "withdrawal" an act of cynicism.

Bob Ellison said...

Nebraskan politics deserve a close analysis. Strange stuff going on there: Bob Kerrey, Ben Nelson. Middle states sometimes do weird political things, and a talented actor like Bill Clinton can rise up like a firework.

bbkingfish said...

As to #5...

Kerrey did not cite old people for cynicism because they withdraw from affairs of the world and leave the field to younger people. He cited them for the cynicism inherent in their tendency to get bitter and then advise younger people that they shouldn't get involved because the system is rigged.

It's one thing to get out the trusty OED to perform some linguistic hocus-pocus. But these days, I'm wondering why you even bother to quote the subjects of your posts.

rhhardin said...

What a non-young person knows about is perverse consequences.

The young see only intentions and direct action.

William said...

Show me a system, and I'll show you someone trying to rig it. Every system from evolution to oil prices has been successfully hijacked and rigged by someone at some time. Why would voting and the election process be the one system that is impervious to fraud and rigging?

Eleanor said...

"Don't buy a single vote more than you need to. I don't want to pay for a landslide." Joseph Kennedy, 1960.

That was the first election I remember. I didn't have to get old to believe elections were rigged. It's just got so much easier to do it on a large scale. I don't know how much Hillary Clinton would have to win by for me to believe she really won the election. It would have to be yuuuuge. Given the potential for computer fraud, even inking everyone's finger who votes wouldn't protect the vote enough. When the results of an election depend more on who counts the vote than who votes, democracy is already dead. We're just living through the death rattle.

traditionalguy said...

And how old is Kerry?

Thinking straight from actual facts is a talent, and once learned is not age restricted until you get to an age of brain impairment, like Alzheimers disease and Parkison's disease cause.

Anonymous said...

Kerry describes an older segment of the population that hasn't been terribly successful in life and is bitter about it instead of taking responsibility for their failures. These types of people are so bereft of joy they will attempt to bring down the hopes and dreams and aspirations of anyone who believes in possibilities. Old angry bitter people like Trump who blames all his own personal failures on others and can't fathom why he failed, so he creates a scenario in which no one can succeed if they are of the same dark place he dwells in. He doesn't see that place as dark, another failure.

grimson said...

The whole premise of Kerrey's comment is absurd. Older voters are not dissuading younger voters from getting involved for any reason--they are more than capable of doing that on their own.

In Presidential elections from 1988 through 2012, participation of adults 65 and older was generally 70% or higher; for adults 18 to 24, it varies more--between 35% to 48%--but that is still significantly lower.

The peaks were in 1992, 2004, and 2008. In 2008 their participation rate was 48% (Obama!), but in 2012, the bloom had faded and participation dropped to 41%. It seems likely that it will continue to fall for Mrs. Clinton--maybe it can reach a new low.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"rigged" is a lame word.

How about - Democrats cheat. They cheat with a biased press. They cheat by killing voter ID laws. They cheat in numerous ways (busing in the fake, lying, fixing, dead people on the voter rolls.) Every time a vote is close, there are always magic boxes of votes for democrats that appear, and the D wins the re-count every time. We all know it.

Anonymous said...

When Elizabeth Warren said the financial system was rigged these same people treated her with derision.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

#5.

I think so. Also, the over-whelming progressive culture that young people participate in, and older generations do not. Like SNL viewers. Young people like socialism, it has the word "social" in it.


Anonymous said...

I'd love to know what is in the RNC's emails. I'll refrain from encouraging Russia hacking them.

sinz52 said...

Althouse: "Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people?"

Not quite.

There is a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world AND to demand that young people follow in his footsteps.

The elderly have been jealous of the young since at least the beginning of recorded history. Why shouldn't they be? The young will get to see and experience new things that the elderly will never get to see, because they'll be dead by then.

Hence the elderly would much prefer that the young follow in their footsteps and eschew novel ideas and experiences. If the future is just like the past and present, the elderly won't be missing anything when they die.

sinz52 said...

damikesc says: "How can anybody have faith in this system?"

Because America is still the most powerful, most successful nation on earth. So we must have been doing something right, to have survived and prospered for 230 years with the same Constitution. We outlasted so many others: the British Empire, a couple of German Reichs, the Weimar Republic, four French Republics, the Soviet Union, imperial Japan, etc.

Like I said, we must be doing something right. And if so, there's gotta be something there to have some faith in.

traditionalguy said...

A top down corruption has ruled in DC since before 1992. But it is a Shadow Government installed in Federal Agencies by the Clinton cronies that we are dealing with today. It uses the threat of prosecution for hoax crimes accusations and loss of Pensions for the old guys. Queen of Mean Hillary created it and she demands her election by it.

If you don't see the certainty of a rigged election coming from that group it is because you refuse to look.

A quick refresher course in Clinton Style governance is outlined in a new book, TWA 800 by Jack Cashill.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Everyone should feel unease about the level of corruption Hillary will institutionalize. It's that bad.

Anonymous said...

"Hence the elderly would much prefer that the young follow in their footsteps and eschew novel ideas and experiences. If the future is just like the past and present, the elderly won't be missing anything when they die."

This is the epitome of conservatism.

Big Mike said...

1. I'd put a hyphen between "geezer" and "cynic" because (I think) it's used as an adjective. Trump is putting out a geezer-cynic message.

I think you're right about the language issue. I think Kerrey is wrong about the appeal to geezers like me (like Kerrey, I'm in my 70s). People younger than I have heard stories about voting machines where the voter selected Romney but the machine showed his vote as a vote for Obama. If Kerrey really wanted to set people's minds at ease he'd provide facts to knock the stories down. A Democrat pooh-poohing concerns about voter fraud is not credible -- if there are any stories about Republican ballot box stuffing they have to be at least fifty years in the rear view mirror.

2. Is "it's all rigged" the kind of belief that should be associated with old and cynical people? It is something Bernie Sanders has also said this year, and though he himself is an old man, his message was appealing to young people?

I can assure you that it is not a belief that is associated primarily with old people. With cynical people, perhaps. Are you and Meade aware of any recent trends (like the FBI declining to prosecute a candidate despite her breaking a basketful of laws regarding document retention and security of classified information) that might make ordinary people very cynical?

3. Should young people turn away from a message because it is the sort of thing that older people come to believe? Does that make it toxic or, at least, dubious? Or can the young look upon older people as experienced and possibly a good source of information and wisdom?

Well, Glenn Reynolds is scarcely a geezer, and he has expressed his concerns about vote rigging.

4. Is prejudice against the old pernicious and something to be ashamed of or is it okay for Bob Kerrey to use the term "geezer" in mockery? Kerry identifies himself as one of the old people, so perhaps he's claiming a privilege to put old people down because he's one of them. But he's not embracing the ideas he's ascribing to the "geezer cynic." He expresses optimism, and he never refers to himself as a "geezer optimist."

Kerrey may be in his 70s, but he scarcely speaks for us. He's a well-connected, well-to-do individual who has few concerns about weathering economic storms. Not that many of us are so well off that we can say the same.

5. Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people?

No. Not unless you include dementia and Alzheimer's as "natural processes." Many of the people who serve as election judges and precinct captains are getting on in years. We're still engaged.

PB said...

More misdirection. It's the Democrats who are going all out to tell Republicans the election is over via polls that over-sample their supporters.

TreeJoe said...

There is this malicious belief that because we haven't found millions of votes to be fraudulent in any one election, that massive voter fraud doesn't exist.

But that's never been the point. The point is that smart electioneers are able to target super close counties that carry entire states and insert a few hundred votes in the right place at the right time. That's all it takes and there is AMPLE evidence of that happening - which is why you see stories like Virginia, or the veritas videos.

If this didn't hold meaningful opportunity to influence elections, you wouldn't see it.

Why are NO real conversations about what this means happening? I've seen ample coverage of "russia meddling" - as if Russia is going to meddle through the release of bulk e-mail dumps - but not at all of our own failings.

mccullough said...

Kerrey is a wealthy lobbyist. Politics is a lucrative industry.

mccullough said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve M. Galbraith said...

The loudest message I've heard claiming that the system is rigged and don't get involved comes from the liberal/left who scream that "white privilege" and the wealthy control America and your voice doesn't count and blah blah blah.

That is much more of a cynical message than anything Trump has done. Not that he's not done it too.

Darrell said...

Trump is saying that everyone has to come out and vote for him to counter the Democrat's vote fraud. Obama said that Democrats control all the voting machines.

Darrell said...

The Left is trying to get Trump voters to stay home. Further proof that Trump is way ahead.

David said...

I'm old and I know that fools are going to be in charge of the government. I've always believed that the people were resilient enough to overcome that. I'm far less confident in this belief now.

David said...

"Further proof that Trump is way ahead."

Hey, the delusion about result vote is with him.

He is not way ahead.

Michael K said...

" I don't think Bernie really thinks the system is rigged. Otherwise, he wouldn't be kissing the ass of Hillary."

A $600 thousand beach house can quell a lot of anger. Bernie got bought.

Inga knows a lot about getting old as a failure and is happy to tell us about it.

mockturtle said...

If I'm not mistaken, we 'geezers' vote more than does any other voting bloc. Cynical, yes, because we've been around longer and seen a lot more. But definitely not disengaged.

Original Mike said...

"Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people?"

I am starting to think that the young are the ones who are going to have to live with this shit, so let them have what they want. In 30 years they'll figure out what a mistake they've made but will be unable to do anything about it.

Karma's a bitch.

Darrell said...

Hillary threw a fit yesterday for fifteen minutes. I bet it was because of good news.

Derve Swanson said...

Hence the elderly would much prefer that the young follow in their footsteps and eschew novel ideas and experiences. If the future is just like the past and present, the elderly won't be missing anything when they die.
-----------

Pretty sure the geezer generation made their choices and paid for them, themselves.

They resent having to pay for YOUR choices, choices they would not make themselves, and if they did, did not ask anyone else to pay for...

Geezers are independent.

StephenFearby said...

Althouse asked:

"Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people?"


Yes. It's called age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Also called "gettin' squirrely".

A Google Scholar search yields 290,000 scholarly articles & patents (24,100 just in 2016!).

Your tax dollars at work.






Wilbur said...

(With the proviso, I didn't have time to read any comments)

I have a lifelong friend who teaches finance at an Ohio university. He urges all young people to vote for Democrats because he figures the USA still has enough debt ratio left to be able to keep borrowing until he and I are at death age (another 25-30 years), said borrowing needed of course for our sacred Boomer Gen entitlements.

His tongue is firmly in cheek.

damikesc said...

Every time a vote is close, there are always magic boxes of votes for democrats that appear, and the D wins the re-count every time. We all know it.

The ONE time they didn't that I can think was in that WI Supreme Court election, where one conservative city had a typo or something and reported a number far lower than was real and, when corrected, obliterated the vote gain of the opponent.

wildswan said...

"Is there a natural process in aging that causes a person to distance himself from the affairs of the world and to begin to cede the decisions to younger people?"

Yes, it's called the kids growing up and having children and a life on their own.

No, the people running the affairs of the world are mostly in their late sixties/early seventies. see Hillary 68 and Trump 70.

It isn't cynical to think that some periods in history are more corrupt; it's only cynical to think that nothing can be done when you live in such an age. This is an era of change accompanied by colossal, mega-corruption and something must be done. The globalists want to rule by regulation, not legislation and to stay in power with an appearance of support from the people. These two goals are best achieved by rigging the vote in novel industrial strength ways. And this is what Hillary and the Democrats stand for. The American thing to do is to work for government of the people, by the people and for the people and that includes acknowledging and exposing election rigging in all its forms as it now exists and not accepting it. "There will be an answer; let it be." And be sure to vote for Trump, today; other work, for tomorrow.

damikesc said...

A $600 thousand beach house can quell a lot of anger. Bernie got bought.

It's a bit sad, really. His followers REALLY believed him. Truly. I believe they felt his ideas would save the country. They wouldn't, but they really deeply believed they would.

He was bought. He treated them all like total suckers. And then kissed the ass of the woman who fucked him over.

I don't see how anybody can respect that.

Earnest Prole said...

A great theory, spoiled only by the fact that in practice, old people are far more engaged than young people in the affairs of the world.

Original Mike said...

I'd love to see his tax returns.

Big Mike said...

Because America is still the most powerful, most successful nation on earth. So we must have been doing something right, to have survived and prospered for 230 years with the same Constitution.

But give Hillary and the Democrats time. They've been using their surrogates in the media to push the notion that the Constitution is a worthless document written by old, white men and totally outmoded by the modern world.

SukieTawdry said...

I'm a skeptic, not a cynic, and I cede jack to younger people.

Matt said...

Nothing is rigged. Get over it and stop whining. Get a better candidate and maybe Republicans will win the White House again some day.

SukieTawdry said...

The elderly have been jealous of the young since at least the beginning of recorded history. Why shouldn't they be? The young will get to see and experience new things that the elderly will never get to see, because they'll be dead by then.

Oh, horseshit. The elderly, no matter what era, will have experienced and seen new things their entire lives. My grandmother's life spanned most of the 20th century. Imagine the kinds of things she saw and experienced. She was not jealous of me because I would continue to experience new things after she was gone but I was sometimes a little jealous of her for some of the things she had experienced.

effinayright said...

Geezers drop out of political life?

Funny, I remember a helluva lot of old folks at Tea Party rallies.......

effinayright said...

wholelottasplainin' said...
Matt said...
"Nothing is rigged. Get over it and stop whining. Get a better candidate and maybe Republicans will win the White House again some day."
***********

Yeah, Lyndon Johnson didn't see it that he won the 1948 Senate election he lost.
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/11/us/how-johnson-won-election-he-d-lost.html

Yeah, Illinois and W. VA voter fraud didn't give the election to Kennedy over Nixon in 1960...

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-09-26-jfk-chicago-politics_N.htm

Yeah, Al Gore and FL Democrats didn't try like hell to ignore state election law after the 2000 election.

http://thefederalist.com/2016/10/19/8-times-liberals-claimed-election-stolen-rigged/

Yeah, Hillary has always thought elections were fair. She never said T Bush was "selected not elected" by the Supremes..

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/441269/hillary-clinton-2002-george-w-bush-was-selected-not-elected


Yeah, Kerry didn't "whine" about Ohio voter fraud costing him the 2004 election.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/15/john-kerry-thinks-bush-rigged-the-2004-election/


Face it, Matt: you're either a low-information voter (aka "Democrat") or just another lying and vicious partisan hack (also aka "Democrat")


buwaya said...

Matt,

"Nothing is rigged. "

Every last thing is rigged.

campy said...

"Nothing is rigged. Get over it and stop whining. Get a better candidate and maybe Republicans will win the White House again some day."

Where are rethuglicans ever going to find moral and intellectual titans such as the Clintons and Obama?

Big Mike said...

Dick Nixon made a number of mistakes, but one his worst was not contesting the stolen election in 1960. Fighting back might have saved this country from a number of later mistakes, and not just the Berlin Wall in the 60's but also Al Franken in the Senate (and thus Obamacare in its present form.

Static Ping said...

I have no problem with Kerrey using "geezer" assuming he is using it in fun and good faith. I tend to believe the "fun" part. I do not believe the "good faith" part. It is hard to imagine to me that a Democrat of such importance and longevity as Kerrey is unaware of any sort of ballot cheating by his party during his lifetime. Heck, this year one would have to be willfully ignorant to be unaware; we have a Democratic operative on tape inciting violence and multiple reports of vote fraud already. This is the sort of use of "geezer" that is meant to belittle a position he does not want to address because addressing it would become very awkward. Either that or he is ignorant, in which case his opinion can be permanently disregarded.

As to the "gringo special" I would definitely eat there. That's in good faith.

Big Mike said...

@Matt, Mitt Romney is the counter-argument to your specious comment (1:27).

gadfly said...

According to Noah Rothman at Commentary:

A new ABC News survey released on Sunday showed that the GOP is losing its interest in the election. Last week’s ABC News/Washington Post poll found a dramatic 12-point drop in enthusiasm to vote among Trump-backing Republicans who supported a different candidate in the primary. “Intended participation now has followed,” read Langer Research’s dispatch. “The share of registered Republicans who are likely to vote is down 7 points since mid-October.”

The Republican conservative base buried Romney in 2012 because the religious right would not abide a Mormon and the GOP base will bring down Trump because of his immorality and because he is not likeable. If there was a doubt, the latest video exposing his misogyny has significantly weakened his female support. Looks like a win for the NeverTrump faction - with lots of help from the septuagenarian adolescent.

gadfly said...

@wholelottasplainin' said...

Yeah, Illinois and W. VA voter fraud didn't give the election to Kennedy over Nixon in 1960...

On April 27, 1960 when John F. Kennedy arrived in West Virginia's southernmost county to campaign for President - bearing monetary gifts for the coal miners who lived there. West Virginians who voted in that election (including me for the first time, but not in McDowell County) knew that Senator Kennedy was openly paying for votes. Earlier, he had paid $35,000 to bring the Logan County Hubert Humphrey supporters over to his side and then he "joked" about it in Welch.

JFK was an hour late to one rally at the McDowell County Courthouse, having lingered at a coal mine where he sat against a rail car and talked with miners between shifts. When he arrived in Welch, the crowd was so big — including shrieking teenage girls — that he had his sound truck pull outside the parking garage, despite a gathering windstorm. He hopped on top, reached in his suit pocket and pulled out what he said was a telegram from his father, tycoon Joseph P. Kennedy, who had been accused of trying to buy his son the election.

“‘Don’t buy one more vote than necessary,’” Kennedy read. “‘Damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.’” The candidate smiled; the crowd roared.

effinayright said...

." Looks like a win for the NeverTrump faction - with lots of help from the septuagenarian adolescent."

********************

Such a NeverTrump "win" will destroy the current GOP, because the issues Trump raised will continue to drive his supporters even (and especially ) if he loses.

Some "win".

In the South, it's called "pissing into your own whiskey."

Yancey Ward said...

If you want to limit the fraud here is what you do:

(1) No absentee ballots of any kind. No early voting. All votes must be cast in person on election day.

(2) Nothing but paper ballots. No electronic voting. Optical scan is ok, but the ballots must preserved for hand-counting.

(3) Photo ID mandatory to check against the voter rolls.

(4) Count checks against those entering the polling place to vote and the ballots used at the end of the day. The parties involved can do this count at the door together.

Big Mike said...

@gadfly, the lack of enthusiasm is partially explained by Hillary's maintaining a low profile. You have to see her to remember why you hate her.

Real American said...

the fucking system is rigged! Proof of that is that the top 2 candidates left are a crooked and ill lying criminal and a Donald Trump, who also lies, possibly manhandles women and doesn't seem to know shit about the job or any policy.

No reasonable Democrat ran for the job. They were all afraid. The best the Dems could do was to import a socialist retard who never worked a day in his life just to make it seem competitive. OF course, the structure of the party had Hillary set up to win no matter what. RIGGED!

By the time the primary got to California, the largest fucking state in our country, Trump and Jim Gilmore were the only active candidates on the GOP primary ballot. What fucking choices to do we even get? We have no say in who the candidates are, the system is fucking rigged!

And why to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina get all of the fucking say in picking the nomination? Who anointed them? The riggers, that's who!

Most house races aren't competitive. Gerrymandering and campaign finance laws ensure that. Rigged!

Plus, there's the illegals voting, the illegals becoming citizens without statutory authority, the dead people voting, the multiple voting by students and retirees, the efforts to kill anti-vote fraud measures, the early balloting, plus a media is so in tank for a fucking corrupt politician who sells government actions for money that they don't bother to hide their bootlicking anymore.

Now tell me again how this shit ain't rigged.

walter said...

KERREY: There's also sort of a tendency of older people, and I can speak on behalf of older people in this town.... There's a tendency as you go through life to become bitter. The one thing I don't like is when you listen to old people telling young people, don't get involved. Don't participate. The whole system is rigged.
--
Nice. I wonder how many folks he has decided he could speak on behalf of are pissed at him now.
I'm not buying his characterization though. I can imagine an apathy developing over time. But this idea that they are actively trying to dissuade others from participating just doesn't seem real to me..and doesn't match up with my interactions with "geezers".
I do think though that we should not be blindly advocating for people to vote. If you need to be cajoled into it, you're probably uninformed.

hombre said...

As I got older and wiser I went from being a Democrat to despising Democrats. Of course, they have become more transparent, so even today's younger people should be able to see them for what they are - a party of grifters.

The realization does not make old people want to stay home. Quite the contrary. Unfortunately, we have reached the critical mass touched on by Jefferson. A significant number of the voting population are grifters and parasites. Add in the morons and we are on the verge of becoming a one-party - the Evil Party - country for presidential elections.

Trump, as lame as he is, is probably our last chance to stop the corruption and moral deterioration of our country.

Rusty said...

Unknown said...
"Hence the elderly would much prefer that the young follow in their footsteps and eschew novel ideas and experiences. If the future is just like the past and present, the elderly won't be missing anything when they die."

"This is the epitome of conservatism."

No. This is what You believe is the epitome of conservatism.

narciso said...

one notes that abc is deleting commenters that are pointing the borscht in their sample, but gadfly likes borscht,

Fen said...

2. Is "it's all rigged" the kind of belief that should be associated with experienced people?

/fixed

You are developing a pattern for asking the wrong questions. We know you are smarter than this, you know we know you are smarter than this. So why? I'm going to pretend it was rhetorical and that you really know better.

narciso said...

they only sampled 27% republicans, fuggetaboutit,

Fen said...

To dove with Bob, ObamaCare is entering a death spiral, we need to throw some Americans overboard. So let's Other those old geezers that use up so many medical resources. Time to die grandpa. Think of all the lives you will be saving, you grumpy bitter cynic.

hombre said...

Blogger Unknown said...
"Kerry [sic.] describes an older segment of the population that hasn't been terribly successful in life and is bitter about it instead of taking responsibility for their failures."

How foolish can you be? Take a look around you. The resorts, the cruises, the expensive restaurants, the gated communities, etc., are filled with older Americans, often to the exclusion of younger people. Do you think those folks can't see the corruption in our country? And then to include Trump the billionaire in the category of "not terribly successful people? Seriously?

Peggy Noonan had you in mind when she recently wrote it is a "big fact" of American life now that we are "patronized by our inferiors."

damikesc said...

Nothing is rigged.

Then why the pressing NEED to overturn Citizens United?
Why do need campaign finance reform AT ALL? Why have ANY campaign finance laws, since nothing is rigged?

jg said...

It's the easiest thing in the world to test the hypothesis that trump's "rigged" messaging is costing him votes. Because it's not obviously one-sided (clearly 'rigged' motivates his support to power through strategically negative poll dumps, a documented hillary tactic), I refuse to talk about it until someone rigorously poll-tests. Or we can just wait for the results. Trump's running on intuition but I'll take his over the commentariat.