Your Random Pony for 11/12/13 (backdated)

[Leopolds Ghost]

[No Elephants]

1. ((((LEO)))))

Thanks for the pony. I thought that I was going to have to wait until Christmas.

[NYC_SKP]

2. hai!

:hug:

[No Elephants]

3. Hay!

P.S., I really should not attempt bronyspeak. I have no clue and might do something awful while thinking I'm being clever.

So, if that was a wrong thing to post, I apologize.

[Leopolds Ghost]

5. Naw, you got it. :)

[No Elephants]

7. Thanks for the reassurance, Leo.

[Leopolds Ghost]

8. Sorry I been out of the loop

As you know I been struggling with various projects in real life not going as well as hoped, but you take the good with the bad.

Did you hear about the future of a famous peace protest I think I told you about? They're apparently under severe harrassment and since a friend of mine used to volunteer there I wish I could think of a way to help. Just one example...

I wish I could say more or figure out who to ask (although there don't seem to be too many active DUers in my area, surprisingly enough) but I'm not sure how to even help them since people tell me that The Man really wants them to, well, stop protesting and places undue attention on anypony who's involved with their protest. I mean, how do you even ask DUers about something like that when the former peace activists in my area don't support protest, even if it's a long standing thing

On the topic of the OP (not serious, grin)

http://www.nerdcenaries.com/alan-moore-announced-as-new-showrunner-of-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/">Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta) announced as new showrunner of my little pony friendship is magic

“Well, I’ve always been a big fan of the show, you know, it’s monumentally clever in how it blends in all the subtle references to the Kabbalah and unified religion, it really feels like an extension of Promethea..." with the current writer of the comic book adaptation, they had gone to great lengths to “unify themes, so that readers and viewers can clearly see the show and comic effect each other. Terrible deeds in one will almost certainly mean consequences in the other.” Finally, when asked about the “bronies”, self-admitted older male fans of the show, Moore seemed confused..."

Also:

This is the official comic artist again (the real one) who makes me feel it's still proud to be a brony, he also did the two ponies below.

[No Elephants]

10. I believe the biggest DUer is in your area, namely

Skinner.

I don't know which peace protest you mean, but Democrats are not supposed to protest for peace while a Democrat is President. That's oh, so LBJ adminstration.

:sarcasm:

We're all Demford wives now, males and females alike.

Because

Well, I'm not sure.

[Leopolds Ghost]

11. The Admins are cool, but

They wouldn't get involved in a DUer's call for activist help unless it was something that directly benefited the party, I don't think. They can't afford to pick sides in most issues.

I got to meet EarlG once at a meetup... he's cool. I think the reason DU3 is as open to criticism of our elected officials as it is, is because there's plenty of activist Dems who are dissatisfied... it's just not polite to say so... especially if you work in the area... sort of like being a Democrat in Texas.

[No Elephants]

12. Skinner allows a degree of criticism of Dems, especially when it's not "election season."

I think that is good of him. However, you cannot advocate for third parties or suggest voting against a Dem, unless the Dem Party itself is backing someone else, like Lieberman, Crist or Sanders.

This is, after all, a Democratic Party board.

[Leopolds Ghost]

13. The problem is that the progressive movement in this country seems fucked.

The union movement is fucked. (Did you know that less than 10% of manufacturing jobs in the Northeast are union?) And that's the heart of the former progressive coalition (that no longer exists) right there.

(You could cite various ethnic groups, but the black and Jewish communities which were also cited as the backbone of the progressive caucus, have shifted to the right over the past 15 year, especially after 9-11. You have to actually identify specific cities where there's still a strong liberal base in the inner city, such as Cleveland or Oakland -- cities that were largely bypassed by gentrification.)

Obama's people in DC now openly embrace their identity as part of the new "creative class" that they think the party should cater to. I.e. young, hip yuppies with money who live in the city.

I actually attended a design / tech meetup with a bunch of these folks. They actually do exist in real life as a sort of stereotype of the 90's counterculture I grew up with. "We are the creatives!" they crowed. "There's free Pabst at the bar. We're serving only Pabst tonight" (the last part was not a joke)

The new president of the AFL-CIO angrily criticized this in context of an artisan pickle maker (and a bunch of outsourcing biotech firms with no plans to hire any actual workers) being feted as a jobs creator in a recent North Carolina presidential economic summit.

[No Elephants]

14. Union members long ago began moving away from the Democratic Party.

But union leadership remained loyal.

As far as the ethnic groups, there was a time when Republicans were almost 100% WASP. Italians, the largest immigrant group to pass through Ellis Island, were Democrats. So were all ethnics and minorities (except Mormons, I guess).

I keep saying, if you think that neither party is going to do much for you or the nation, the one that keeps promising to cut taxes starts looking better and better.

Anyway, that's my theory of why they switched.

That is way oversimplified, of course.

For example, though first responders in NYC are, I think, majority Republicans, the one potential Presidential candidate not invited to address them in 2008 was Guiliani. Why? They blamed him for the fiasco of 911. They had asked for equipment that allowed all first responders to communicate with each other and he had denied them because he did not want to spend the money. He also lied to them repeated about cleanup of the 911 site being 100% safe.

Anyway, my point is, they can be turned, if they know the facts. But, the Republicans sure aren't going to tell them. For some reason, the Democrats don't seem to, either--and they of all people can work through the union leaders to make sure the facts get out there.

[Leopolds Ghost]

9. BTW hai NYC!

[Enthusiast]

4. High five, Leopolds Ghost!

Or is that, "High one!"?

I kid.

[Leopolds Ghost]

6. I was too slow... or was I!