So, I had a "Politics Free Zone" in my back yard last night . . .

[Inazone]

There was a time in my early 20s when I really got fired up about politics, but as the years go by, I just can't get very interested in it anymore. My wife, on the other hand, ought to be a political activist. She could go on and on, to the point where we'd already agreed to disagree and not debate politics at home. I vote Republican or independent depending on my options, and my wife is a "Hillary Democrat" who was pretty bummed out going into this election. A couple days ago, I suggested that we designate our back yard as a "Politics Free Zone" and spend Tuesday evening hanging out in the back yard in front of a bonfire rather than looking at a TV or monitor while the "experts" babbled about the election.

Best idea ever. I think it needs to become an election year tradition. Mrs. Zone already had the fire going when I got home from work, with beer and brats (Woodchuck Hard Cider actually) ready almost immediately. It wasn't until this morning that I knew who won, and only then because Yahoo insists on cluttering up their email login screen with news headlines. It's not that I don't care, but I wasn't about to spend the last night of a proper Minnesota autumn go to waste.

Anyone else ignore the election information overload in favor of something entertaining and/or delicious?

[rjohnstone]

I didn't flip on the TV until after 9PM. I just wanted to know the results and I knew that enough of them should have been in by that time.
It was exactly as I expected it to be, so I went to bed.

[Cleveland Metal]

Yeah, I'm done too. Can't take it anymore. Just waiting to see where we end up, and hope my son doesn't suffer because of the American public's choices.

[SEEGERMANY]

I flipped the channel after The Shield, got the results, took the dog out and watched her pinch a loaf, then went to bed.

[guitarsjb]

Our band had practice last night. Got home just in time to see McCains concession speech. That was about it.

[guitarzan2]

I'm not very happy to be an American today.

[Razor]

Kid and I watched hockey last night. My wife must be Mrs. Zone's long lost sister because she could be a political activist now too. Wife stayed tuned to MSNBC all last night. I gave her hell, she wasted a perfectly good evening.

I'm like you, back in my late teens/early 20's I really thought it meant something to know about this party and that. Now the middle aged reality is I've got more important things to worry about than staying glued to MSNBC on the boob tube, reading US News and World Report or the paper. I'll do my part and vote for who I feel is best and be done with it.

Cleveland, I agree with you. The waters are uncharted from here on out.

[AlexL]

I enjoyed the Minnesota autumn evening by inviting a couple neighbors over to have a beer in the hot tub.

I didn't feel like a night full of politics either.


- E.

[Strangletooth]

I was actually just checking the board this am to made sure J got it going and saw this. I could go on and on and on and.... well u get the point but I'll leave it as short as possible.

I too didn't want to watch a fuggin thing about the election on Tues and I've been a political junky for the last 6 months or so. Being a small business owner, this one "really" affects me directly in numerous ways. Not to mention the others I know here that are in the same boat. But I'm truly glad it's over!!! I got so tired of hearing the same negative rhetoric, it was making my 7yr old nuts, not to mention me!

I opt'd for NCAA football and making $200!

For all of you Obama supporters, Congrat's on a win first of all. But do me/yourself a favor. Take a snapshot of your life as it is today, take note of gas prices, bread, milk, etc, items you purchase as it pertains to your life. Now put it somewhere safe for 12-18 months. Sometime in that time frame, open it up and see how your life's been affected by President-Elect Obama and see where he's at with all of his campaign promises.

I'd be very curious to see how their vote turned out.

~P

[Cleveland Metal]

I think we know how their vote will turn out... All to vividly....

[hippietim]

But do me/yourself a favor. Take a snapshot of your life as it is today, take note of gas prices, bread, milk, etc, items you purchase as it pertains to your life. Now put it somewhere safe for 12-18 months. Sometime in that time frame, open it up and see how your life's been affected by President-Elect Obama and see where he's at with all of his campaign promises.

Pat, that's a good idea. We should do that. Now go back and do that retroactively with Bush. I make substantially more money now than I did when he took office but it sure doesn't feel that way. Not even close. He didn't lower my taxes. My federal income taxes are high as fuck. My state income taxes are high as fuck. My property taxes are high as fuck. Where is all this goddamn tax relief these fuckers were promising when they took office? I got one ridiculous $500 rebate check in 8 years. You call that a tax break? Fuck you George Bush. And don't get me started on my 401k.

The truth of the matter is I really wouldn't mind paying the high taxes that I do if I felt I was getting my money's worth. But what actually happens is I see politicians abusing their office horrendously with lavish expenses and my kid's teachers have to work at Rite Aid in the evenings to make ends meet. Roads don't get finished but remodeling governmental executive offices is no problem. We have run away fuel prices and oil companies are posting unimaginable profits and my government decides they need tax relief. My family, friends, and neighbors are being laid off weekly and my government is giving additionaly incentives to companies that outsource their jobs.

Large corporations kill small business. They're far from the only reason of course but they are a substantial reason. These large companies crush the little guy because the bigger they are the more incentives they get from both state and federal government and they are for the most part very predatory. Not to mention they have better buying pull in China. Etc.

I live in a state that used to make a substantial amount of the furniture and textiles produced in the US. There were all these cool small/medium/large companies that produced some fantastic stuff. Now the factories are just warehouses for substandard imported Chinese junk and towns like Thomasville feel like ghost towns.

Oh, and these fucking chain stores are driving me nuts. We have plazas popping up everywhere with these so-called "anchor" stores. Fuck them. I think it is glorious that Circuit City is crumbling. They can take Home Depot, WalMart, Best Buy, Linens and Things, Borders, etc. with them.

I am so tired of everything being homogenized and just so fucking mediocre.

So....

Obama isn't perfect. In fact, he's nowhere near ideal. But dammit, you folks that voted for Bush have got nothing to be proud of. And if McCain has shown us anything in the last 8 years, he would do no better at all. He pales in comparison to the John McCain of 15-20 years ago. That John McCain was worthy.

Obama is a gamble for sure. McCain is a known. Known bad, that is.

[shreddermon]

Not to mention that 12 to 18 months from now, Obama's policies will have had little to no effect on the economy. We'll still be feeling the tail end of the impact of the Bush years then.

Heck, a sitting president's impact on the economy (any sitting president's! Bush Obama, whoever) is so little it's not even funny. Business is what drives the economy. Not government.

Do government policies - taxes, regulation, monetary policy, etc - have an impact on how businesses conduct themselves? Absolutely. But - in the grand scheme of things - it's a very minor piece of the pie, as compared to their own business decisions. That's what drives the economy's performance.

When politicians run for office claiming they'll "fix the economy" and blame their opponent's/predecessor's policies for the nation's poor economic performance, it's just about the biggest lie that a politician can make. And many of them are fool enough to believe it themselves, too.

[StukaJU87]

When politicians run for office claiming they'll "fix the economy" and blame their opponent's/predecessor's policies for the nation's poor economic performance, it's just about the biggest lie that a politician can make.

Wasn't that Obama's biggest claim? If I had to hear him say, "8 years of failed economic policies" one more time, I would have screamed.:ROTF:

Oh, and he started his backpedal the moment he won the election. Now all of a sudden his "sound policies" are going to take more than "one term".

[hippietim]

Eight years of failed economic policies.

Scream away Scott!

[shreddermon]

Wasn't that Obama's biggest claim? If I had to hear him say, "8 years of failed economic policies" one more time, I would have screamed.:ROTF:

And it was Bush's too, 8 years before him. They're all BS f**kin' liars, dude. Especially about the economy. And most of the population don't know any better than to believe it.