They've already stopped expanding. Verizon aggressively built-out FIOS for a while and got creamed on Wall Street - so they stopped. The result in my area is that Comcast is a monopoly provider and charges outrageous internet connection fees.

I can't agree with you. Science is completely dependent on falsifying theories. If Einstein made a theory, then it is highly scientific to try and falsify that theory - especially at it's margins and where results have never been confirmed. If it holds up, great! He's right again. If it fails, great! Time for an improved theory. That's the fun thing about science, is that the learning about the natural world never ends. Any result of an experiment always leads to more work, more learning. And no one says what you have to work on... you can work your ass off trying to falsify Einstein, or you can try to come up with a falsifiable string theory and test that instead.

Also, beer is delicious.

That is entirely possible, and still preferable to electing candidates based on wedge issues. Gay marriage - as an example - is going to happen, period, end of discussion. The question is only a matter of WHEN the various governments recognize it in an official capacity. While certainly true that some candidates will allow it sooner rather than later, we are talking on the scale of a few years here - not decades. Eventually, all mainstream candidates will support it, just as all currently support mixed-race marriages.

In other words, if some bigoted asshole was running for congress, but he supported chasing the lobbyists out of Washington - I might really consider voting for him even though his social stance is deplorable. Why? Because he can't really do anything with his bigotry. So it's there, and it certainly isn't good, but it's also mostly harmless. "The ends justify the means" or some such thing.

It's not that I'm arguing that the "easy" stuff is zero-sum. In fact, I am arguing that it is an active deterrent from working on the "hard" stuff. There are billions of dollars and thousands of people involved in a disorganized form of shadow government. So long as the 99.99% remain preoccupied with the "easy" stuff, they are allowing a ridiculously small number of people run the country.

I'm not arguing some grand conspiracy. The fact is that it is easier to get elected by making politics resemble a team sport and making people believe that they are part of something larger. On Facebook today, I see people honestly and truly horrified that the Republicans took Congress - as if it will make any difference in their day-to-day lives. The same people are in charge today that were in charge yesterday. Those people will support whatever horse is winning the race, so long as that horse supports their particular pet cause. And both the Dems and Republicans that actually make it as far as public office have long since passed that particular test.

It's not "easy" if it uses up all of our political capital and energy, and it distracts us from the real stuff that goes on behind closed doors. Further, social issues are never "decided" by a governmental vote. Any win or setback is temporary, and so we end up having the same fight every election cycle. How long will we argue over abortion? Is that an "easy" one? While they distract us with fights over gay rights, abortion, etc, they push their own policies and get whatever they want from whoever is in power.

If we are going down the road of "you just don't care enough", then I sincerely hope that you are never in a wedding party that gets hit by a drone. I hope you never get prosecuted in a secret court using secret evidence. I hope you are never held in a military prison with no constitutional rights or protections. I hope your political enemies never use any of these insanely powerful new powers of surveillance against you. I hope that you are never the victim of a powerful industry that employs lobbyists to get whatever the heck they want from our government.

I'm not trying to brush off the importance of social issues. It's just that the government is not where social issues change. State governments are slowly recognizing gay marriage - not because we have elected politicians who support it - but because society has started to embrace it. That politicians also embrace it is inevitable - voting strictly along this issue will, at best, slightly speed up the process. That said, I have to admit that I personally voted for a politician yesterday almost entirely due to his pro-gay-rights stance. But this is because it was not a federal office but a state rep, and I live in PA - which is behind the curve on gay rights.

I'm not sure what you mean?

The Import-Export Bank is from the Great Depression. It was twice renewed (and became self-sustaining) under Bush, and twice renewed again under Obama - despite the latter claiming that the Bank was "corporate welfare" during his campaign.

US troops were withdrawn from Iraq under Obama, who continued on the Bush timeline after failing to reach a troop extension agreement with the Iraqi government. US troops remain in Afghanistan, with a recent agreement extending the stay. Obama even ordered a "surge" to get the situation there under control upon assuming office.

It is easy for McCain to be a rabble rouser when he isn't in charge - no one knows what he would have done as President. In any event, Obama eventually started bombing Syria (as well as Libya), so it's sort of a moot point.

Russia? George Bush faced an almost identical situation in Georgia and was equally ineffective.

Health care: Obama only changed things slightly, and to do this he used an old Republican proposal. Healthcare was first "socialized" during the 60s when Medicare/Medicaid was implemented. Reagan further "socialized" it by passing the requirement that ERs treat everyone, regardless of the ability to pay. That's an "unfunded mandate", for those keeping score. Bush took up the "socialism" up a notch by providing a drug benefit for Medicare. Obama increased the number of people covered by Medicare by raising the limits, and then added subsidies for private plans while requiring coverage. None of those steps is particularly large in magnitude compared to any of the others, and both Republicans and Democrats were involved in the step-by-step increase in government-provided healthcare.

I'm sorry, but I fail to see a substantial difference on these points.

And Obama fixed that, didn't he? If only he had passed some kind of comprehensive health legislation where he had an opportunity to fix that issue...

-Zippy

Yes, it affects some small fraction of people very seriously. But forgive my seeming lack of empathy when I say that we have Much Bigger Problems.

Yes, like when George Bush started monitoring all of our phone conversations? That sucked - I'm sure glad the Democrats fixed that when they assumed power.

Or when George Bush started "drone diplomacy"? I'm sure glad that Obama put an end to all of those drone attacks.

That huge Wall Street bailout? Yes, I'm sure glad that Obama came in and ended that program.

How about "Gitmo"? Obama really shined when he closed that down.

He got us out of Iraq and Afghanistan, too!

Under Bush, we treated illegal immigrants shamefully, but Obama has really fixed that, too!

I'm sorry, but the difference between Republicans and Democrats in recent history has been a military that is slightly more gay and slightly more people on some kind of government assistance for healthcare (be it Medicaid or an "Obamacare" subsidy). Of course, George Bush enacted Medicare expansion as well, so...

Democrats are just as guilty. There are many, many people who will vote on one side or the other based solely on one or more wedge issues, and Democrats seek these people out just as the Republicans do. As much as I support gay marriage, I cannot tell anyone with a straight face that this is an important issue for the country as a whole.

Where does this "incompetence on Ebola" thing come from? We've had, what? Zero deaths from the disease contracted here? The two (that is 2, 1+1, out of 300,000,000) people who contracted the disease domestically were actively treating a symptomatic patient. More people died from Halloween.

I like a good Presidential roast as much as the next guy, but come ON! The other issues that you list are pretty damn valid, so carry on. -end rant-

I was flabbergasted at just how few people are involved in the fighting in Syria on the Turkish border. For all of the attention it gets in the media, you would think it was two mighty armies. Instead, we are talking about a war where "reinforcements" consist of 150 fighters and two airdrops of bullets and food.

You have to be a little insane to support either party, if all you are talking about is ideology.

If you are a businessman, ideology takes a back seat: gay marriage, abortion, and other wedge issues mean little. The parties are almost identical on all important issues, so you put your money wherever your direct interests lie.

You'd better go change Wikipedia:

8:59:37 (EI+928): Hydraulic pressure, which is required to move the flight control surfaces, was lost at about 8:59:37. At that time, the Master Alarm would have sounded for the loss of hydraulics, and the shuttle began to lose control, beginning to roll and yaw uncontrollably, and the crew would have become aware of the serious problem.[21]
9:00:18 (EI+969): Videos and eyewitness reports by observers on the ground in and near Dallas indicated that the Orbiter had disintegrated overhead, continued to break up into more and smaller pieces, and left multiple contrails, as it continued eastward. In Mission Control, while the loss of signal was a cause for concern, there was no sign of any serious problem. Before the orbiter broke up at 9:00:18, the Columbia cabin pressure was nominal and the crew was capable of conscious actions.[21] The crew module remained mostly intact through the breakup, though it was damaged enough that it lost pressure at a rate fast enough to incapacitate the crew within seconds,[22] and was completely depressurized no later than 9:00:53.
9:00:57 (EI+1008): The crew module, intact to this point, was seen breaking into small subcomponents. It disappeared from view at 9:01:10. The crew, if not already dead, were killed no later than this point.