President . . . SHARPTON???
 

Thought for sure there'd be an amusing exchange in the wake of Al Sharpton's announcing his candidacy for US Presidency.

When nothing appeared here, I thought that maybe I'd dreamed his announcement, so I hit Google and came up with the ususal news sources, but also this site, which makes some of the most conservative cellar-dwellars look like commie-pinko fags.

I wonder how much of this dreck would be dragged out into the light of day if the Sharpton run gets any real notice? Perhaps the only good that can come out of his efforts is for normal, mainstream folks to realize that crap like this masquerades as intelligent discourse (on a board that has about 30 times the membership and usership of this one) all over the United States. Could some of these neanderthals be my co-workers? Neighbors? Friends?

Sheesh, I feel so naive. And a little depressed.

Interesting. Looks like they have members all over the world, though.

All right! I can hook up with white supremacists in my very own state! What's more, I can drive just an hour east and check out the current headquarters of the KKK! Oh man, I've really got it made down here. I'm in panacea, and I didn't even know it.

With luck, I could even start up my very own cell! Wow. Distributed people networks. Who knew that Napster and Al-Quada had so much in common?

Sharpton has about as much chance of winning the nomination (much less the Presidency) as Rip Taylor does. Joe Lieberman is looking at Sharpton's candidacy and thinking "Whew, there's SOMEBODY I can beat."

Too bad you're so happily married -- skinheadhottie4life sounds like a major babe!

So I'm not the only person here who was unaware that this white supremacist stuff is so prevalent? I mean, I was aware of its existence, of course, but not its proliferation.

Scary.

The Democrats can run virtually anyone and be guaranteed a victory against Bush this election. GWB has as much chance at getting elected as Gary Condit. (Notice I didn't say re-elected, because you have to be elected to be re-elected)

Sounds like a wagering man, would you give odds? You're so certain that 3 to 1 seems like a bargain. I'll put $100 on Bush, you put $300 on the D, winner takes the lot. What do you say?

I'm in...
 

Put me down for a hundred.

Brian

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it acts as a gathering point for all types of people, allowing them to communicate and organize over vastly greater distances than would be possible in Real Life.

The terrible thing about the Internet is that it acts as a gathering point for all types of people, allowing them to communicate and organize over vastly greater distances than would be possible in Real Life.

Honestly, I don't even blink at the existence of web sites such as StormWatch. White supremacism is but one flavor of such organized discontent; name a race, creed, gender, ethnicity, religion or any other distinguishing characteristic, and you'll be able to dig up four or five hate sites with a minimum of effort.

The PEOPLE who buy into prejudicial, racist swill are out there in vast numbers; the Internet merely gives them a better communication medium than newsletters or local meetings, and provides a reasonable amount of anonymity for the participants. Squashing their websites is no more effective than attempting to squash any other underground -- one goes down, and four more pop up elsewhere to take its place. It's on a personal, hearts-and-minds level that the battle must be waged.

AS FOR the Democrats' prospects... it's far, far too early to tell. A lot depends on which yahoo emerges with the Democratic nomination; if it's a clown like Lieberman or Gephardt, I'd wager the college fund on Dubya in a heartbeat. A lot depends on what blows up (both in Iraq and in the US) this year and next; things that go boom have an unfortunate tendency to raise Presidential approval ratings. A lot depends on what kind of campaign the Democratic nominee wages -- will he go on the attack to distinguish himself from the far right, or run another "Republican-Lite" campaign to chase moderate votes? And a lot, as always, depends on what games are played with voting machines across the nation.

Very few have ever gone broke overestimating the stupidity of the American public.

I doubt there's a huge white supremacist movement. A lot of the Americans from the site seem to be from the South. I've lived in the South for 24 years, and I've never met a single one of these type of people(to my knowledge). I'd say that 95% of the people here are not racist. That 5% (or whatever), though, can add up to an awful lot when they're able to organize online.

Also, if you look at their main forums, they have active forums for nearly every country in the world. It seems like about half their members aren't even American. That makes the percentage of racists in each population even smaller.

<hr width=20% noshade>

One other thing I noticed while reading the forums -- new people to white supremacy often seek out more experienced tutors that will teach them the way of things. Many cults operate the same way. It's like, once this single tutor becomes your sole giver of truth, you stop going to other sources for verification. He then helps you construct a filter through which you can start viewing the world.

Very interesting.

I grew up for most of my life in Las Vegas. I'm not a betting man.

Even though I don't like Democrats I don't see how they can lose against a mentally deficient treasonous imperialistic traitor to America and violator of our constitution who attacks Americans in the name of their security.

Even if Bush is elected, I doubt he'd live very long.

Precisely. 5% of 280 million adds up pretty quickly, and ten geographically-scattered people with a well-designed website can make more of an impact than a hundred without one.

Keep in mind, too, that not everyone who holds those views expresses them openly. There are a lot of people who would hold their tongues in public, but have much less hesitation about venting their spleen about Uppity Negras on some message board where their real names aren't displayed.

(insert your own Rush Limbaugh/Fox News Channel joke here)

Wow, was that a threat? Are you about to be carted off by the Secret Service a la The State (old show on MTV)?

So Radar, do you believe that a majority of voting Americans believes as you believe?

I'd only bet on 2 things when it comes to the 2004 elections and they are that GWB will win Montana, and that Montana's govenor will be a Democrat unless another Republican runs rather than Judy Martz. When it comes things that actually matter I have no idea. ;)