In a parallel universe, somewhere in space, somewhen in time,

[MineralMan]

The Democratic primaries are going differently than they are in this one. But there's no way to get there from here. We're locked into this universe. In fact, as far as we can determine, it is the only one that exists.

But people can dream of other universes. Yes, they can. Humans have that capability.

[immoderate]

1. I bet there's a parallel universe where Hillary has won the nomination.

--imm

[MariaThinks]

22. does that even make any sense to you? or is this conversation inside a sandbox.

[immoderate]

24. It even does!

--imm

[Hortensis]

25. Your delusional state says you must have left

the safety of DU for the mind-sucking dangers of the Real World. Fool!!!

[immoderate]

28. I have to admit...

That would explain it.

--imm

[BootinUp]

2. Cortexiphan info...

http://fringepedia.net/wiki/Cortexiphan

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. My favorite alternate universe is Marvel's Earth-616, where most of their stories take place.

But I know it is fictional.

[JonLeibowitz]

4. I wished I lived in the parallel universe where the likely nominee is not a hawkish liar.

I imagine that would be a much better world to live in indeed.

[MineralMan]

5. Just tap your heels together three times...

It's worth a try, I suppose.

[JonLeibowitz]

6. Didn't work. Any other suggestions? I think a time machine to 2002 would be more helpful though.

[MineralMan]

8. Sorry. That's the only way I could come up with at the moment.

It worked for Dorothy, though...

[JonLeibowitz]

17. Damn. n/t

[MineralMan]

36. As I remember, though, Dorothy wasn't really in OZ.

Instead, she was delirious with a high fever and dreamed it all. It seems as though all alternative universes are dreamlike in some way or another. We appear to be stuck with the reality we have.

[polly7]

9. You take so lightly the legitimate fears that people have for themselves and

their loved ones. What is wrong with you? Can you imagine the fear and loathing from all those in Libya and the tens of thousands trying to escape and drowning at sea because of her policies and 'keep em coming Blumenthal'? Do you laugh at them, too? How about those in Iraq she KNEW posed no danger to anyone because of Bill's long history with them, the PNAC plan and 7 countries in 5 years anyone in politics who actually cared, obviously knew of? How about Honduras, Haiti, Syria, Ukraine - do you laugh at people there who suffered under her tenure as SoS as well? That would be completely fucking sick ... and worse, that you care so little about the people in your own country with loved ones being sent to fight these bogus wars and coups for corporations and the 1% who value human life so little. Do you have children, nieces, nephews who will be sent over for the next one? She's hate-talking tough against Iran and Russia, has already claimed the U.S. right to China's seas, wants the same 'no-fly zone for Syria' intervention that destroyed Libya, another sovereign nation. Why are you so intolerant of people who just cannot stand the thought of more bloody war?

[MineralMan]

11. Do I? Have we met?

My dear Polly, I have just one vote in this universe, just the same as you...

You don't know me, I'm certain.

[polly7]

12. I've read your screeds and opinions, you trot them out often enough. nt.

[MineralMan]

13. Well, I'm honored that you take the time to do that.

That justifies my continued efforts.

[JonLeibowitz]

15. There is such a thing as hate-reading. I agree with almost nothing you write.

However, it is good to see various perspectives to challenge and perhaps reaffirm my beliefs.

[MineralMan]

27. Well, I don't get to choose who reads my posts, but a number of readers

regularly post replies to them, so I can tell who's reading, more or less. Whether they hate me or agree with me has little to do with what I write, though. Everyone chooses what they read and what they write.

[JonLeibowitz]

29. I don't hate you, personally, of course. Just what you write. Please don't take it personally.

I read Paul Krugman & David Brooks as well with the intent to violently disagree.

[polly7]

20. I appreciate being able to point out how heartless they are.

Always. Snarky, unfeeling and so fucking self-important. To hell with anyone who fears the next 'intervention'.

[MineralMan]

31. It's good of you to tell me how you feel about what I write.

Thanks. All feedback gets considered.

[polly7]

34. No, it doesn't. You couldn't care less. nt.

[MineralMan]

40. Again, I have to ask whether you know me, somehow.

You claim to know what and how I think. Now, some people I know very well can do that with some success, but I'd think it would be difficult for a stranger to be so sure about what I care about and don't care about.

So, maybe you do know me and I don't know your actual identity. I don't think so, though, since you get it wrong so often when you try to interpret what I write.

Still, I know many people, so you could be one of them.

[polly7]

43. I know what you've written, over and over. Why do you write snarky, unfeeling posts

that completely ignore the legitimate fears and concerns of people if you don't want replies? No, I don't have to know anyone personally to figure out - by their own words - just how little someone cares about anything but maintaining the status quo and all the suffering that involves - for people all over the world.

[MineralMan]

48. OK, polly7...

Good luck...

[polly7]

51. It's not me that need those wishes - it's all those who will be next affected by

regime-change, coups and the vacuums left behind to be filled by the brutes who burn people alive and cause a migrant crisis that's drowning tens of thousands at sea.

Not to mention the internal policies in your own country that will maintain more of the same - that same that is causing the collapse of the middle class into a class of those just scraping by and those not making it at all.

Save your 'good luck' for all of them.

[MariaThinks]

21. Actually, i agree with most of your posts

[Scootaloo]

33. MineralMan might want to reconsider some of his positions now that he knows that n/t

[MineralMan]

42. Probably not. My positions are not influenced much by the

positions of others. I try to come to my own conclusions.

[Desert805]

7. In that universe, I hope America can do better than a Clinton/Trump race to the bottom.

They'd be hard pressed to do worse.

Remind me of her favorable and trustworthiness numbers again? And now what are his again?

[MineralMan]

10. We'll never know, will we?

Wherever you go, there you are, I guess.

[Hortensis]

30. There you are? Good, god! Could it be that some

will never leave this place? Have they marinated their brains in the GD-P miasma too long? Could a Nurse Ratched hiding in one of the little forums I've never visited?

[MineralMan]

50. Nurse Ratched is omnipresent.

You will find her everywhere, I'm afraid.

[Tavarious Jackson]

14. Bernie has had very little vetting

Hillary has been a champion fighter for decades. Bernie has stayed in a safe place, not challenged, where there was no need to be vetted. He has not been as truthful or as ethical as some think though. I think you know that.

[Desert805]

16. I read your posts as pure political satire, which I'm a big fan of, so thank you!

Where did I mention Senator Sanders?

[Tavarious Jackson]

19. You didn't

I guess I wanted to throw him in the mix. If you take a good look at Senator Sander's career you will see.. There is nothing favorable about him.

[Desert805]

23. awesome post!

this Senator Sanders sounds like a real monster!



Anyway, yeah. What I originally said.

[Hortensis]

41. No, but he is a real mediocrity, morally, ethically,

and by record. Although everyone agrees he has been rigidly true to his ideology, which requires him to despise everyone else's, his integrity is highly in question.

Normal intrinsically corrupt people like Democrats, of course, wouldn't blame him for doing what he had to hang onto a great gig like U.S. Senator. As a mediocrity, it wasn't much -- just sell his beliefs down the river and please his constituents by voting with the Democrats over 96% of the time for 25 years.

[bravenak]

35. Nothing. It's an act

[Tavarious Jackson]

37. He brings nothing but hate and contempt to the table. nt

[bravenak]

39. Mostly contempt

For all and sundry!! None of us are good, we are all corrupt confederates!

[Tavarious Jackson]

44. Corrupt confederates...

That about sums it up! That is how he sees us.

[opiate69]

45. ....

[Scootaloo]

32. Tavarious Jackson isn't here to talk about Clinton, despite presumably being a Clinton supporter

You'll get used to that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Yup and in the multiverse Hitler did win WW2 as well

Meanwhile in this reality she is already worrying those who matter. Free clue, that is neither you or me

[Scootaloo]

26. The multiverse theory is actually pretty solid

Whether they mirror our universe in any way is, of course, pure fantasy and speculation. For all we know the next universe over never developed an element heavier than lithium. It's just a big cloud of helium, hydrogen, and lithium swirling around.

But since we're looking at this sort of scale.. .you do realize that four to eight years in one country on our planet really don't fucking matter at all, right? At all. It's not even an ant fart in the universe. The oscillation of the electron to your immediate left (your other left) is of more import to the universe, because it will continue to oscillate long after our central star has reduced us all to carbon particulate.

Which is going to happen sooner than you think, by the way.

Have a nice day!

[MineralMan]

46. My scale is small. It's limited on most issues to the precinct I live in

here in St. Paul, MN. I do look at global issues and national issues sometimes, but it is my neighbors who concern me most. And for them, four to eight years could be the rest of their lifetimes. At age 70, they could be the rest of my lifetime, for that matter.

We all live in a subjective reality for all intents and purposes. While we may be aware of a broader reality, our lives, for the most part, revolve around things that affect us more directly, especially in terms of just a few years.

Who gets elected as President does, indeed, matter in that regard. I think that either Hillary or Bernie would not disturb the lives and plans of those of most concern to me. On the other hand, Donald Trump could materially destroy the lives of some people I know and am concerned about.

So, you see, the binary choice in November is far more important to me than the one in the Democratic primaries. I couldn't count the number of times I've stated that either of our Democratic candidates will have my vote and support. Neither will drastically alter the course of progress, and both might help a bit. The opposition party candidate, however, will do much harm in my little precinct. My neighbors include Muslims from Africa, Hmong immigrants and Hispanic immigrants, not all of whom have ideal paperwork for being here.

So, I do take a rather narrow view of Presidential elections. I've seen a number of Presidents, starting with Eisenhower. In general, we do better with a Democrat in the White House. So, I hope to help elect a Democrat. Looks like it will be Hillary Clinton. I can work with that. I'll explain to my neighbors as I'm canvassing what the differences are between her and Trump. I'm pretty good at doing that.

[RKP5637]

38. I would like to have multiple universes selected like the push buttons on an

old AM car radio. Five will do for me! Of course, listening to the likes of AM talk radio today, maybe that's been done!

[MineralMan]

47. Cool. Especially if you could tune in the stations you like, then

pull out one of the buttons and push it back in to set that station. That's what I remember doing way back when. Every button let you listen to something you liked. Make it so!

[RKP5637]

53. Here you go! Here's the prototype. We just gotta work a little more on what's behind the push buttons

[MineralMan]

54. The South Koreans are working the spacetime warp

circuitry as we speak. Look for that radio to be standard equipment in the 2019 Kia Soul.

[longship]

49. Let's start with the warped universe where all presidential primaries are closed.

Which is a universe where everybody has a goatee.

Open primaries are the only way to go, the only way one does not disenfranchise voters. Arguing any other way is to argue for democracy only for the exclusive club members, presumably those with goatees.

I dream of a universe where everybody gets to have a say.
In MM's view one has to have a goatee to be able to select a presidential candidate.

So sad.

[MineralMan]

52. A goatee? No thanks.

What could the point of having a goatee be? In 1969, after finishing my enlistment in the USAF, I woke up and noticed that I was spending five minutes every morning shaving my face. I stopped doing that and saved that five minutes each day. I haven't actually calculated how many hours I've saved by stopping shaving.

A goatee requires its wearer to continue to shave, and that mundane task takes even longer than shaving one's entire face.

I always wonder what most men truly look like. Shaving is altering one's appearance. I prefer to look as I am, so my beard grows as it grows. Every three or four months, I trust my barber to shorten it to about 1" overall. But, I will never shave my face again. It's such a waste of time.