Comments | hymnia: Avatar love; Election angst

hymnia

Avatar love; Election angst

Oct 26, 2008 22:24

I should be getting ready for bed, but instead I'm typing an LJ entry. 'Cause I just feel like it.

So first off, I want to say that Avatar: The Last Airbender is pretty much rocking my world right now. I am very nearly done with the series now--about halfway through Book 3, just after ( tiny spoiler )

avatar, politics

Comments 17

major_dallas October 27 2008, 02:42:54 UTC

Well if Obama wins and gets his Super-Majority, the Repubs will not be able to Filibuster FOCA at all, so no, it'll pass and only you can decide for yourself if that's OK. You know how I feel on the subject.

As to Obama being a more capable leader, well giving good speeches is one thing, merely saying I'll be here if you need me is another. I've seen glimpses of his Leadership abilities, I'm not impressed...

meahtsingan October 27 2008, 03:02:51 UTC

Would such a thing really be able to pass all the checks and balances of the U.S government?

It's possible, particularly with the current make-up of the Supreme Court, that it wouldn't pass constitutional muster. A LOT of federal legislation is found constitutional under Congress's authority to regulate commerce, and that authority has been interpreted expansively by the Court since the New Deal. A few recent decisions have indicated that the current Court is likely trying to pull back Congressional authority under the Commerce Clause. But it's hard to say where they might draw the line in any given situation since we don't have a lot of examples yet.

ETA: And, as Kim says below, Avatar is love :-D

orcapotter October 27 2008, 03:23:09 UTC

... Avatar is pure love. So much so, our group is doing a Fire Nation cosplay next year ^_^

solusfides October 27 2008, 03:30:50 UTC

I knew there'd be a good number of folks doing this.
let me know if you need any long-haired guys for dai-li or fire nation characters.
I may know some Tai Chi, so I could be of help as a waterbender, even though my complexion doesn't quite match the water tribe. If I could get my tai chi teacher to teach me a bit of Kung Fu, I'd be much more in line for fire nation.

orcapotter October 27 2008, 03:40:04 UTC

That would rock hardcore :-D So far we have Fire Nation Katara, Zuko, and Toph. We hope to have Katara and Zuko for Megacon, if not for Anime Festival Orlando. We'd love for more people to join the group!

hymnia October 27 2008, 16:33:11 UTC

I've been leaning toward doing Mai or Ty Lee. Can I get in on it with you guys if I do?

Thread 5

BWA-HAA HAA HAAAAA! solusfides October 27 2008, 03:24:58 UTC

Glad to hear you caught on to Avatar. I thought you'd like it!
I haven't had enough time to really do some full digging, but there is actually an entire magazine issue (I believe it is Nickelodeon magazine) that was dedicated to an Avatar comic/manga. It covers the period of time between the second and third seasons, specifically the sparking of certain relationships and the move into the midst of their location at the beginning of the third season (I'm remaining vague for the sake of any other readers who may not be up to the third season). I would very much like to read it, and plugged it into your mind in case you happen upon it before I do.
I will be glad to geek out with you on this topic if you ever have the need to.

Re: BWA-HAA HAA HAAAAA! orcapotter October 27 2008, 03:42:27 UTC

I didn't know about the magazine until after the third season started, and I was like "dude, wtf?" when certain things were revealed that were *not* alluded to in the second season. I don't think it's available anymore, though I might think of scanning it. (Once I find it, I hope I didn't lose it). Definitely worth checking out, though!

Re: BWA-HAA HAA HAAAAA! hymnia October 27 2008, 20:36:28 UTC

It covers the period of time between the second and third seasons, specifically the sparking of certain relationships and the move into the midst of their location at the beginning of the third season

Mmm...*wants it*

warrioreowyn October 27 2008, 04:39:55 UTC

I don't like FOCA at all. Whether it would pass or not basically depends on the number of anti-abortion Democrats and pro-abortion Republicans in the Senate, and how the Senate races turn out.

I may be misjudging Obama, but I don't think he'd put a top priority on passing it, because he's said what his top priorities are - middle-class tax cut, ending Bush's tax cuts for people making +$250,000/yr, creating "green" jobs, health care reform, and fixing the education system. He's going to need a lot of political capital to get those things passed, and immediately creating tension by passing things like FOCA right off the bat just seems unwise.

On the first question, only you can really answer that. What impressed me is that McCain in the debates seemed to lean more towards basically saying "trust me, I know what I'm doing, I can deal with this" on a range of subjects, while Obama was laying out detailed plans for what he was going to do.

major_dallas October 27 2008, 05:24:59 UTC

yeah, cuz a politician saying one thing to get elected and then not following through once elected has never happened before in American Presidential Politics, except for the last 3 guys that is...

warrioreowyn October 28 2008, 00:40:23 UTC

I've read an awful lot about Obama, including both his books and his main speeches, and I think I've got his measure fairly well. A focus on education and innovation in the economy are priorites; intensifying the culture wars is not one.

And your logic applies to McCain as well - he's changed his mind on big things before (the immigration reform bill, the Bush tax cuts, running a clean campaign). If you want to vote on policy, you've ultimately got to suspend your disbelief enough to think candidates will do roughly what they've said they'll do.