Bible-Thumper Roy Moore Accused of Hanky-Panky

[pErvinalia]

"Failed state" is next..

[JimC]

Is there now a deeper, more intransigent political divide within the US than at any other time in its history?

Well, there was the Civil War. The civil rights era was pretty tumultuous. The Trump era is definitely up there. This is certainly the worst it's been in my lifetime.

And the dividing lines in the Civil War, the civil rights era and now have quite a lot of similarity, I suspect...

[Tero]

guns babies jesus/ socialist welfare healthcare

[Seabass]

Is there now a deeper, more intransigent political divide within the US than at any other time in its history?

Well, there was the Civil War. The civil rights era was pretty tumultuous. The Trump era is definitely up there. This is certainly the worst it's been in my lifetime.

And the dividing lines in the Civil War, the civil rights era and now have quite a lot of similarity, I suspect...

[Rum]

Are the issues the same? The South was rich on the back of slavery and didn't want to give it up. The North these days is much richer, far more sophisticated and better educated. The South seems stuck with religious right wing ignorance - also stuck in relative poverty.

I sometimes think the dividing lines in the USA now are wilful ignorance, exploited and encouraged by vested interests versus a rather more liberal pluralist north (and west coast perhaps).

Of course there is a tendency to try to simplify American politics in order to understand it more clearly. I have come to realise that the USA is a rather more complex country than I once thought.

[Tero]

Perhaps it is time? Why did this last even as long as it did through the 1900s? I might blame the dumbing down of folks in general. They get their shit job and stick to small familiar things for comfort. No clear understanding of the forces that control us?

[Seabass]

Are the issues the same? The South was rich on the back of slavery and didn't want to give it up. The North these days is much richer, far more sophisticated and better educated. The South seems stuck with religious right wing ignorance - also stuck in relative poverty.

I sometimes think the dividing lines in the USA now are wilful ignorance, exploited and encouraged by vested interests versus a rather more liberal pluralist north (and west coast perhaps).

Of course there is a tendency to try to simplify American politics in order to understand it more clearly. I have come to realise that the USA is a rather more complex country than I once thought.

One might say that the South has been somewhat dysfunctional since the Civil War. The war devastated the South in terms of its economy, infrastructure, and morale. The battles took place almost entirely in the South, so countless farms, buildings, railroads, etc. were destroyed. Both sides saw a lot of casualties, but the South suffered most of the civilian deaths. The war left the South destitute and the slave economy was uprooted, so they had to more or less rebuild an economy from scratch. The ensuing military occupation was a source of anger and resentment. A largely racist population being forced to enfranchise and live side by side with freed slaves was another source of anger and resentment.

If you want a shotgun overview of how the war affected the South, you can read about Sherman's March and The Reconstruction:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman%2 ... to_the_Sea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Era
While by no means comprehensive, you can get a general sense of the devastation and aftermath of the Civil War and the reasons behind the South's hostility toward the federal government and the tension that exists between the South and the rest of the country.
(Bear in mind when reading about the Civil War that at the time, the Democrats were the racists and the Republicans were abolitionist. The southern racists switched to the Republican party when JFK and LBJ took on civil rights in the '60s.)

The reasons for the deep religiosity in the South are less obvious. People tend to find solace in religion in difficult times, so that's probably part of it. I suspect another reason might be that many found in piety a way to offset the guilt and shame associated with having fought on the side of slavery. But that's just a theory.

Of course, as you say, it's not all simple and black and white—the coasts have our share of idiots and racists, and there's vibrant culture and kind people to be found in the South—but there is a deep divide and its roots are in the Civil War.

[Joe]

When I was growing up in Texas and Arkansas, the "War of Northern Aggression" loomed large in the culture. Plenty of people had the Stars and Bars in the back window of their trucks, and romanticized old Dixie. I'm leery of generalizing though, because there has been a lot of migration since the Civil War, and people change as time passes. This is especially true in the cities, and I've heard a lot about our divide being between the rural and urban areas.

Not being a sociologist and living in a conservative city, I have to figure it's more complicated than that, but it seems to correlate to how we vote pretty well. This was largely true in the Alabama election.

I'd reference some scholarly work, but this is really not my area, so I'll rely on a comedian instead for, if not clarification, at least a laugh.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Despite the dastardly theft of the election by 'Muslims and Marxists,' and refusing to concede his loss, Roy Moore will not be getting a seat in the US Senate. Certification of the results expected in a couple of days.

'Roy Moore melts down over Muslims, Marxists and "Doug Jones’s gay son" in wake of humiliating defeat'

In a pair of Facebook posts that have gone up over the past two days, Moore has promoted an article from conspiracy theory website World Net Daily that alleges “a coalition of Muslim and Marxist-led groups” was instrumental in defeating Moore’s Senate candidacy.

'Hey, remember Roy Moore? Two weeks later, he still hasn’t conceded'

On Friday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said he would officially certify the election results in Jones' favor on Dec. 28.

Moore had pinned his fading on provisional ballots and votes submitted from members of the military who were stationed overseas. On Wednesday, Merrill announced that the total number of such ballots was 5,333, far fewer than the margin of 20,715 votes separating Jones and Moore.

[Brian Peacock]

Remember Alabama - a vote for a Democrat is a vote for Satan.

[JimC]

Remember Alabama - a vote for a Democrat is a vote for Satan.

[Brian Peacock]

Republican Roy Moore has filed a lawsuit to try to stop Alabama from certifying Democrat Doug Jones as the winner of the state’s special Senate election on 12 December.

The court filing occurred about 14 hours before Thursday’s meeting of a state canvassing board to officially declare Jones the winner. Jones defeated Moore by about 20,000 votes.

Moore’s attorney wrote in the complaint, filed late on Wednesday, that he believed there were irregularities during the election and said there should be a fraud investigation and eventually a new election.

“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, as election integrity should matter to everyone,” Moore said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... _clipboard

[pErvinalia]

Fuck off, you twat. Fucken conservatives and their "born to rule" attitude. Go and die of cancer you giant cunt!

[L'Emmerdeur]

The Alabama Secretary of State (a Republican), who is responsible for certifying election results, will not give any air to Moore's desperation tactics.

"Alabama's top election official rejects Roy Moore's 'election fraud' complaint and promises to certify the results"

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, the state's chief elections officer, said on Thursday that he will certify the results of this month's special US Senate election despite calls from Roy Moore to delay the process.

A complaint filed on behalf of the Moore campaign alleged that "election fraud" contributed to Moore's loss to Democrat Doug Jones. A statement posted on the Moore campaign's Facebook page late Wednesday night called on Merrill to delay certification of the election results until the claim could be investigated.

When asked whether Moore's challenge will affect anything, Merrill told CNN on Thursday that "the short answer to that is no."

Merrill said he would meet later with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and the state Attorney General Steve Marshall to officially certify the results and confirm that Jones will be sworn in as the state's next senator when Congress returns from recess in January.

[pErvinalia]

Time for the people to take up arms to defend Jesus and the paedophile loser!