As conceived, the Federal government wasn't democratic — it's very much a republic. The people have their say in the House. The Senate represented the interests of state governments, with senators as quasi-ambassadors to Washington. It wasn't until later that popular vote = pledged electors.

What needs to be said more often is that *the election is happening, right now*. Every four years, a greater proportion of the electorate votes early or by mail. Wouldn't be surprised if twelve years from now, 60% of ballots are cast before Election Day.

No way, bro. If you want the canned food running mate, you get the loose cannon Mixed Vegetables from Wet Hot American Summer.

Real conservatism isn't complicated: separation of powers, rule of law, real currency (no Fed Reserve fiat bullshit), federalism, spending caps, love of liberty. Problem is, it's extraordinarily difficult to diffuse political & economic power once it's been consolidated.

"Shakey Gave No Fucks" needs to be the name of a book of essays about him.

Eh, the Fed was the prime mover (as usual), but shitty bills and agencies helped funnel the funny-money to housing as opposed to other assets.

"Not enough adults in the house" is as good a summary as any of my problem not only with government, but corporate America too. Obama is an adult, and sadly that in and of itself sets him apart.

Being "difficult to work with" seems like the kiss of death in Hollywood, especially once your shit stops selling at the box office.

What's even better than both of these sketches are the outtakes where Larry David loses it trying to play Kevin Roberts.

Fuck, has Nixon's soul escaped from hell and possessed Donald Trump? That level of paranoia is…disturbing.

The list of people who've publicly shamed Trump where it hurts is hilarious. Colbert and Oliver with the Emmys, Warren Buffett with his enormous, legit fortune and tax-returns. Everyone with normal, adult-sized hands. Well, except for Uncle Jack.

And then they both laugh, high-five, and freeze frame as the credits roll to a rollicking rendition of "Hail to the Chief."

*Sees PvZ screenshot, gets theme stuck in head*

The Princeton Election Consortium guy said that, looking back, the biggest surprise will be that people ever said the race was 'close' to begin with. But dammit, I want this election to be over with already.

Yeah, that's the weakest criticism of Clinton. I don't begrudge people for being politicians. Compromises, getting votes, and reelection are all part of it.

The best way to oppose nuclear power is on economic grounds. Between solar, wind, and nat gas, it's really not cost-competitive without massive, massive subsidies.

People forget that Bernie is still a politician who knows which way the wind blows. Listening to some of his blowhard supporters, you'd think he was just some wise old man from the farmer's co-op who's above this shit, let me tell you what.

No, I don't think he's a plant. But I do think the Clintons have steered things, e.g., there's talk that Bill encouraged Trump to run.

Playing around with 270towin shows that ANY Republican in the age of identity politics has an uphill battle for the presidency. Hillary's "worst-case win" (273 votes) is almost assured barring an unprecedented polling miss or late-October surprise. In short, there are way more ways for Hillary to win than to lose…

It reminds me of those weird Garry's Mod 'sketches' on YouTube — there's even a Half-Life 2 mod where you stand around in an elevator as it stops on random floors where weird, inexplicable shit happens. https://www.youtube.com/wat…