Bort
What do you expect them to say? As noted in the tags, this was a British program and this is satire; the British were (and are) appalled by American racism.

Meanwhile, a good two generations later, we're still fighting the battle of the Civil Rights Act: the good guys took the hill (so to speak), and are still fighting to hold it. The Civil Rights Act is the best thing that ever happened to the Republicans, even better than 9/11, because it's allowed them easy victories in half the country for nearly 50 years now.

That fact alone, by the way, is reason enough for me to vote straight Democrat for at least the next 10 years; it's either that or be ruled by the worst the GOP has to offer. I live in Kucinich's district right now, but come January my new representative could be Joe the Plumber. That's what I've got to look forward to.

kingarthur
Fight it as hard as you can. There are a few of us in the Deep South that try to vote out the crazy right wing and blue dogs, but they often run unopposed. It's a shambling behemoth of stupid and hate and you really have to work hard not to let it get you down. That's what we tell ourselves as we huddle together for warmth in our tiny little Occupy meetings and miniscule Unitarian churches...

kingarthur
Eventually, there will be a real left candidate out of the Deep South for a major office. The problem right now is that if you come out as seriously left, you risk your career down here.

memedumpster
Now I understand you more, Bort. You live in Kucinich land, he's really awesome, I envy you.

He is not typical of Democrats, who are largely scumbags who dream of a day when they can be right wingers like Emperor Reaganbush Obama.

Bort
Kucinich is all right; he wins Cleveland easily just by saying, "Hey, remember Muny Light? It's still in public hands; I went through hell saving it for you, and you're welcome." His campaign posters sometimes consist of little more than the word "Kucinich" and a light bulb, because that's all that needs to be said.

Of course, Kucinich is gone next year, because in 2010, so-called "Progressives" didn't see fit to vote, so Republicans took over, and they redistricted Kucinich's district out of existence. Come 2012 I'll be in the district currently held by Marcy Kaptur (and possibly by Joe the Plumber after the elections).

Kucinich is out of a job, and you know whom I blame, memedumpster? "Progressives" who were so stupidly pissed at Obama, they let Republican shambling horrors into office as their form of protest. I understand disappointment with the Democrats, but Jesus, don't let that make you lose perspective. Yeah, Democrats can be bad and many need to clean up their acts, but I have yet to meet the Democrat even half as bad as the Republican he's up against ... there is simply no equivalent to the Norquist pledge or the Ryan budgets on the Democratic side.

If you've heard anything at all about the state-level shenanigans Republicans in Ohio have been pulling, perhaps you can also understand better why I consider keeping the Republicans out of office the very first duty of any liberal. The second duty is improving the Democrats, but if you can't accomplish that first duty, the second one doesn't matter.

baleen
I'm still a Democrat despite my many issues with Obama... I am also a political pragmatist, which makes me unglamorous. The gerrymandering the GOP is doing in Ohio and elsewhere is reason enough to be terrified. Most Americans don't care about gerrymandering or even know what it means... Democrats do the same damn thing, but thanks to whiny leftists who stayed home in 2010, we lost the most valuable governor-assembly flushes in America and thus the right to redraw the political map for the next 20 years.

But hey who needs health care or a balanced budget, right?

2010 was a critically important election for district drawing, and everybody who whines about how ineffective the Democrats are tend to be the people that didn't bother to vote in it.

CrimsonHyperSloth
Interesting perspectives, the US political scene is such a black box to me it's neat to get your opinions on the matter down there.

Though I'm not sure if well defined people break the magic of screen names of this site.

Bort
About those "ineffective" Democrats ... at least they bother to show up for work every day; that's more than I can say for the whiny types who sit out elections. In the 2010 election, the overall turnout was only 41%, with "Progressives" turning out likewise at 41%. Really, three out of five "Progressives"? You couldn't even roll out of bed that day, but you're going to bitch because Obama didn't give you single payer?

In May, there was an election in North Carolina that included Amendment 1, which was an amendment to screw over LGBT residents even harder than they're already screwed, for no other reason than conservatives enjoy that sort of thing. Overall turnout was 34%, with the highest proportion coming from conservatives, so "Progressive" turnout was no higher than 34% (I don't know the exact figure). So, where the hell were "Progressives"? For every three "Progressives", only one voted; what were the other two doing that was so important they couldn't get around to protecting their LGBT brethren and sistren? Can't blame that one on Obama, that's for sure.

I keep using the term "Progressives" in quotes because, the way I see it, a great majority of these folks have no claim to that title. True Progressives -- or as we used to call them, liberals, until the mean radio man demonized the word -- understand that you don't refuse an opportunity to work through the system, even if neither candidate is ideal. Then again, if you occupy the far left of the political spectrum, you should probably expect you're going to be to the left almost all your fellow citizens, whom politicians have to appeal to. So your job is to turn out in numbers and steer things your direction, even if you don't get exactly what you want. Representative democracy is a pain that way.