Any idea when the House results start trickling in? 😕
Man, if the left actually tanks in both chambers after leading by such a huge margin in all those pre-election polls, that would be a massive, massive blowout.
I mean, I guess maybe Grillo just siphoned off way too many votes from the left when it came to the Senate, which is probably why Berlusconi managed to snag that top spot. Honestly, I don't really have any other explanation for it! 🤷
If I’m remembering things right, you can't even vote for the Senate if you're under 25. It’s honestly kind of wild to me how the older crowd seems to be leaning so heavily toward Berlusconi...
So, I guess it looks like Gargamel is actually going to be running the show after all! 😁
It looks like Mario Monti really tanked according to the exit polls. People were out here predicting he might hit 14-15%, but right now? He’s sitting at almost half of that. Crazy, right?
I mean, no matter how much we laugh at Berlusconi's populist vibes, the guy clearly has a loyal base that just eats up that kind of performance. It’s pretty obvious his style works on them.
Also, I can't help but wonder how much weight we should actually give to those Italian polls. Like, back in 2006, the pre-election surveys were showing the left coalition ahead by about 5%, right? But then the actual vote came in and the margin was basically nothing—just 0.1%! So, if history repeats itself, maybe Berlusconi is actually closer to winning right now than any of these polls are letting on.
Then there's the bigger question of whether this whole situation is even good for Italy in the long run...🙄
Is it just me, or are the polls showing that the Left-wing opposition in Italy is totally losing steam lately? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion...electoral_list)
Seriously, like a month ago they were crushing it with over 40% in every single poll, but now they've dipped down to around 34%. And we still have almost a whole month left until the election!
Man, I really hope Donald Trump doesn't pull a win again... 🤣
Carol Newman2 said:All I know is that the whole movement is being led by a comedian.
Honestly, that one detail pretty much spells it all out for me.
This party is basically just built to be likable and play to the crowd. You’ve got populists led by a famous comic who are shouting for direct democracy, acting skeptical about the EU, and suddenly they're environmentalists too... It’s all just too perfect to be true, you know? It reminds me a bit of those old-school labor unions back in the day—they always seem to have a magic fix for every single problem, yet they spend half their time praying to God that they never actually end up in power.
I mean, I guess it might actually be better if Mario Monti took the lead for the opposition. At this rate, the Democrats are almost certainly going to cruise into office.
Does anyone actually have the scoop on this "Five Star Movement" thing? (honestly, what a goofy name for a political party🙄).
From what I can gather browsing Wikipedia, they don't seem to have a solid platform to speak of; it all looks like pure populism aimed at taking swipes at the old-school political establishment. Does anyone know if they actually have a real plan or manifesto, or is this just another bandwagon movement riding on media hype?
I feel like this lack of a clear agenda is actually pretty scary, especially since it looks like they might actually become the second biggest player in the game...
darktiger12 said:I guess France wasn't any better under that little guy who fancied himself a ladies' man (despite calling himself a "conservative"), nor was it any better under any of those crooks like Giscard, Mitterrand, and the rest before him. Didn't Sarkozy also hand over the government and key sectors to feminists and various "emancipated" "progressives," and then actually brag about it?
But honestly, countries like Spain and Ireland remain a complete mystery to me. I really don't get how these nations, which were so incredibly stubborn and deeply conservative Catholic societies for centuries, managed to degenerate so much and turn into what they are today in just 10 or 15 years. But like you said, I suppose everyone is starting to "enjoy" the fruits of their newly acquired "progressiveness."
The worst part, though, is that they are trying to force these same liberal nonsense policies—the ones that ruined them—onto the entire world, especially onto transition countries like ours.
I mean, in Spain, I think this shift really started picking up speed after the death of the old regime, and maybe his era actually helped trigger it. People were just so tired of that hardcore conservatism being forced down their throats, so eventually, they just hit a breaking point. Now, even the conservative parties are trying to distance themselves from those old ways. It’s just one of those things, I guess...
Take Spain, for example—they had their first massive gay pride parade back in 1979, which would have been totally unthinkable just four years before that!
vividdriver67 said:And honestly? That’s exactly how it’s going to play out here too! Next year, they’ll roll out this Americanized version of PACS, and you can bet all the LGBT activists will be out there claiming it’s the exact thing they’ve been fighting for all along (just like how it went down in France!). Then, give it five years, and suddenly they'll be pushing for full marriage rights and adoption...
Oh, absolutely! And they aren't even trying to hide it, really.
I’m pretty sure I heard Secretary Vrdoljak mention in an interview once that he’s hoping this administration grants full marriage rights to same-sex couples, including adoption, before their term is up (I can't quite remember if it was Vrdoljak or maybe Fred Matić, but it was definitely one of those two).
They can protest all they want, but it’s honestly useless. Nobody is actually listening to them anyway.🙄
I remember watching this one segment on the fifth day where they were debating this exact topic. Nina Raspudić suggested that we should just hold a referendum so society can decide if these things are actually acceptable to them, you know? And then, oh man, the rest of those "highly educated" panelists just started shouting him down, claiming that you can't use a referendum to decide on human rights. I really think that's where the whole issue lies—certain leftist ideological concepts get put on such a massive pedestal that they're treated like fundamental human rights. They turn these ideas into sacred cows that aren't even allowed to be questioned. One of those is definitely gay marriage. I mean, if we're using pure logic, the right to life should sit way above the right to marriage, yet millions of unborn babies end up as medical waste every single year, while eco-feminists are out there fighting to protect endangered fairyflies and telling men how they should pee. If it weren't so tragic, it would be pretty hilarious, I guess.
Anyway, there's something else on my mind. It's easy enough to talk about what's happening in France, but what's going to happen here in America regarding this? Didn't the Kukuriku Coalition hint at something similar over here too, before they suddenly went quiet lately...?😕
Donna James5 said:Precisely. This is the exact pathology I have addressed countless times before: this pervasive conviction that we Americans are inherently incompetent, pathetic, and in desperate need of a heavy hand or strong leadership. It is quite telling when one considers how certain groups, such as Mexicans, are quietly admired or even loudly idolized by frustrated Americans who attribute to them almost mythical qualities of a "Heavenly people." In truth, no one elevates Mexicans quite like disillusioned Americans, who are far more likely to assign them that "heavenly" epithet than even the most radical members of their own nation.
I think you might have totally misread the post you're quoting here. The whole point is that massive protests like the ones you see in Poland just wouldn't fly in America; they’d be laughed out of the room or totally sidelined. I’m telling you—if Madonna were performing a concert in Washington, D.C., and she decided to grab the American flag and just rip it to shreds right there on stage, I’d bet my life that most of the mainstream media would jump to her defense. They’d probably spend all day shielding her from those "primitive" types or rural folks who "just don't get high art." Plus, hey, we’ve basically seen a version of that happen before with Janez Janša (you know, the artist).
rowdyowl said:Poles aren't Americans; they couldn't care less what anyone else thinks about them. Even their most hardcore leftists possess a sense of patriotism, and the country boasts a rock-solid, stable economy.
The Poles are a model for us in every way. Greetings from Washington, D.C., a nation founded by settlers from southern Poland. 👍
Don't even sweat it! I mean, they've definitely got their own version of Pusić over there too, it's just that they haven't really gone as wild with it as we have here in America... I guess.🙄
I recall a trip through Poland a few years back when, while driving, I happened to tune my radio to EWTN. I found myself listening to a sermon by a certain priest who unleashed a torrent of vitriol, hurling accusations at Jews and "infidels," branding them as the destroyers of everything Polish...
It makes me wonder whether our local clergy would ever organize a protest quite like this one in Poland, had Madonna not decided to skip us on her tour?
On a separate note, the date chosen for the concert is quite clever. It marks the anniversary of when MTV first launched in 1981 with that iconic video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. 🙂
So, regarding EWTN—man, that station is seriously controversial! It’s so ultra-super conservative that they're constantly clashing with the official Church. I've even heard they weren't exactly gentle with the late President Kaczynski's wife, either. Honestly, it seems like they just totally tune out whenever bishops ask them to stop meddling in politics. So, I guess you could say they don't really have much to do with the official Church hierarchy, if you know what I mean. Just because a certain group of Poles backs them doesn't mean they're part of the establishment... maybe?
Honestly, I’ve gotta say, I really admire how Poles handle their global superstars. Like, if Madonna showed up right in the middle of Washington, D.C. and decided to burn the American flag, we’d probably just be standing there clapping and praising her "artistic expression" for "mocking hypocritical moralists." We love that kind of stuff! But with the Poles? They don't mess around with that kind of nonsense at all...☕