Compassion, LT. Their world is much darker than yours with far less real joy.

Also, carry a big stick.

In conversation today with sympathetic dems (Black married couple) - the thought came to the three of us - no matter what the outcome, could we be looking at riots after the results are in? Either way? Somewhere, somehow. Everyone is on edge. Brr.

Rainbabydoll - that exact thought has not only occurred to me, but the weirder one is whether or not I'd join them.

I can't equate the bovine swagger with the lack of thought in these people tonight, I want to stand on top of my booth and scream, "Goddamnit! Stop being so selfish! Thinking Of Others As A Matter Of Public Policy Is NOT A BAD THING!"

I was thinking the same thing the other day, rainbaby. And i do understand the feelings of doom so many of us are having and how hard it is to tolerate the position of the "other side."

I was wondering today about how the next 4 years, if Obama wins, will be the nastiest darkest I've seen people get. The Right is going to be pissed to no end and those people scare the crap out of me. I feel like I'm waiting for a siren to warn me to hit the hills.

I don't even want to think about how it's gonna be if Obama looses the election - for whatever reason.

Well, the GOP is going to claim voter fraud after Obama wins, that's a given. They're laying the groundwork now with all the hype about ACORN.... never mind that ACORN itself is the one being ripped off by any registration fraud that's gone on.

Riots? I don't think so... they'll all just by typing furiously on the internet for several years, I think.

WHAT'S WORSE IS MR. LIBERTARIAN KEEPS FARTING INTO MY BOOTH!

I'm with BoringPostcards, I doubt there'll be riots. Just lots of angry people venting on the internet. So really, nothing will change even if everything changes.

Man, there's got to be a way you can get out of there and go somewhere else.

Oh and GO RAYS! (that's me farting into your post :-D)

(I don't believe TPS can fart anything but sparkely rainbows and pink kittens.)

could we be looking at riots after the results are in? Either way? Somewhere, somehow.

Ehhhh -- riots? I don't know about that.

smaller-scale confrontations in real life? That may or may not make the papers?

Possibly.

I smell Peppermint! Goddamnit, Triangle!

Well, my minty fresh farts didn't help, the Rays lost. The good news is that now there will be a game 7, and my Dad has tickets!

LT, maybe this will cheer you up. My wife and I were out canvasing in a pretty rundown mixed race neighborhood on the northside of Pittsburgh today and talked to this white guy who looked like he was an extra from American History X. Shaved head, lots of arm and neck tatoos, Steeler's shirt, heavy local accent, etc. We started our campaign spiel and he started into a long rant about how Obama was his man and there was no way that he'd vote for McCain and put up with four more years of bullshit. We gave him a fold out window poster and he said, "I want to just paint the whole side of the house with a big Obama sign." That just made my day, if Obama can connect with that guy, McCain is toast.

"I'm with BoringPostcards, I doubt there'll be riots." I agree.

"Just lots of angry people venting on the internet." I really doubt that. Most ($ wise) of the U.S. philanthropies and think tanks that fund social research and media studies are still right leaning and unless Obama does 8 years and another Dem gets in and there is a rash of deaths among the right leaning SCOTUS judges the SCOTUS may swing well right in the next 15-20 years.

Also, let's not forget that while Obama and the Dems may be much nicer than Rove's progeny, they are still riding the Chicago School bus.

Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June's long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You've seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you've heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth's scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the grey feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.

Adam Zagajewski

just happened to stumble across this poem this morning - so it's my little hug to you. :)

no matter what the outcome, could we be looking at riots after the results are in?

Gosh, no.

Really, that's too much for most Americans over something as abstract as politics. We didn't have riots. Ranting, grumbling, and cranky letters to the editor will be the first result. Some quiet defections to other countries - at least on the side I'm on - may follow.

Seriously, my mom made this great observation the other night. In 2004 we kind of mocked people who talked about leaving America if Bush won again. I mean, come on - you're American. Leaving your nation of birth, your cultural home, and your actual home is a pretty big deal. But this time around I've heard more than one serious and normally calm person saying the thought had crossed their mind. And as my mom suddenly realized: "This country was founded and built by people who...left their own countries because they couldn't accept the conditions there."

And huh, that's true.

But anyway, I wouldn't expect riots. The Libertarian thugs are blustering at a bar. They might be unhappy if they don't win, but one thing Libertarians can't do to save their lives is organize. They will continue to bluster, hang out on their message boards, listen to right wing talk radio pathetically rail, and maybe take it out on people in their personal lives.

conservative Libertarian

Huh? That's an oxymoron.

That just made my day, if Obama can connect with that guy, McCain is toast.

I was phone banking maybe a week and a half ago, and I had the oddest call... I think my brain almost melted from it.
"I didn't want to vote for a [n word], but damnit, McCain will destroy this country even more. so yeah, obama has my vote."

I had no idea HOW to respond to that. Do you say thank you? I mean, what the fuck?

But really, if McCain is losing the RACIST VOTE he's got to be way more screwed than the polls would lead us to believe.

Except that, when it comes time to actually cast their vote, people tend to go with their instinct rather than their intellect, so I'm not all that confident. Hopeful, but not confident.

i think the majority of racists don't vote. It's just the part that does that you really gonna watch, if you can stand it.
i hate that Republicans are somehow allowed to put on the dizzy idiot face in the face of a bald lie. Liberal media, my ass. In trying to be even handed and somewhat objective, when there's a major fuck up, they're always too lenient on the poor stupid, deluded Republicans, who should know what they did is wrong, gosh darn it.

If felons could vote, how many do you think would?

i wouldn't mind a few white riots. We don't have to identify them later if they stand up and scream.
i am afraid that if Obama gets elected, he'll be under constant threat of assassination. i just imagine nutballs rolling out of the woodwork, yelling something about Arabs.
All the people at the rallies look half conscious or hyper awake, and sound worse. You know, it's because i watched part of the first season of 24 (before they sent in the cougar), which is typical Republican fear mongering.

If felons could vote, how many do you think would?

In some places they can. When I was registering in PA we were told convicted felons CAN vote there, as long as they have fully completed their sentence (including any parole or probation).
I only had one person ask, but he seemed very excited when I told him that. I suspect there's a lot of people who aren't aware that they can vote who wouldn't be comfortable saying "I'm a convicted felon, I can't register" to a stranger.

Someone told me that they heard that the other day, but i'd never heard it before.
i wonder how often it's pursued.