In this election, the first Buddhist and Hindu Congressmen have been elected

• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-11-08 16:13

  Tuesday's elections brought two historic firsts for religion in American politics: A Buddhist senator and a Hindu representative -- both from Hawaii -- will join Congress.
  
  Democrat Mazie Hirono beat former Gov. Linda Lingle (R), making Hirono the first Buddhist in the Senate. In Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Tulsi Gabbard defeated Republican opponent Kawika Crowley, making Gabbard the first Hindu in Congress.
  
  Both elections were cheered by Hindu and Buddhist Americans, members of two faiths that share a common history that traces back to ancient India.
  
  "These are all signs of dharmic communities being accepted in the country," said Anju Bhargava, founder of Hindu American Seva Charities. "It's all about inclusion and acceptance. The feeling that my faith and my people are accepted. Ultimately, politics comes down to 'how does it impact me?' or 'how am I included?' It will mean so much for the upcoming generations of Hindus and Buddhists."
  
  Hirono, who was born in Japan, practices the Jodo Shinshu tradition of Buddhism. She was first elected to Congress in 2007 to represent Hawaii's 2nd District, the seat that Gabbard won Tuesday. Prior to that, Hirono served 14 years in the Hawaii state legislature and was the state’s lieutenant governor for eight years. She is also the first Asian-American woman senator and the first senator born in Japan.
  
  “I certainly believe in the precepts of Buddhism and that of tolerance of other religions and integrity and honesty," she said when she first joined Congress.
  
  Buddhism, which includes a widely diverse set of spiritual practices, is one of the largest religions in the U.S., but statistics vary on how many Buddhists live in the nation. Surveys have estimated the population between 1.5 and 3 million.
  
  Gabbard, 31, was born in American Samoa, and raised by a Catholic father and a Hindu mother. She moved to Hawaii when she was 2 and in 2002, joined the Hawaii state legislature at age 21. She served in the Hawaii National Guard the next year and, in 2004, went to Baghdad to be a medical operations specialist. In 2008, she was deployed to Kuwait to work with the nation's counterterrorism trainees.
  
  Gabbard chose to embrace the faith after her mother started practicing it when Gabbard was a teen. The congresswoman-elect, whose first name refers to a tree that's sacred to Hindus, follows the Vaishnava branch of Hinduism, which focuses on the Supreme Lord Vishnu and his 10 main incarnations. She relies upon the Bhagavad Gita as her main source of scripture.
  
  In an interview with Religion News Service prior to her election, Gabbard said she hopes to be a bridge between cultures and nations. “Hopefully the presence in Congress of an American who happens to be Hindu will increase America's understanding of India as well as India's understanding of America," she said.
  
  Like Buddhists, estimates of the Hindu-American community in the U.S. also vary. Largely made up of Indian-Americans, the Hindu population is between 600,000 to 2.3 million. Unlike most Hindus, Gabbard is not of Indian heritage. Her father is Samoan and her mother is a convert to Hinduism.
  
  The two best-known Indian-Americans to be elected to office are Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who was raised Hindu but converted to Catholicism, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was raised Sikh but converted to Methodism. Haley had both Christian and Sikh wedding ceremonies, and has said she attends Sikh services on occasion out of respect to her family's culture.
  
  Hirono and Gabbard will join an increasingly diverse Congress. The first Muslim to join the House or Senate, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was first elected in 2006 and reelected for a fourth term on Tuesday. In 2008, Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) was the second Muslim elected to Congress. In 2008, Rep. Hark Johnson (D-Ga.), another Buddhist, also joined Congress, making history with him and Hirono the first Buddhists to be elected to Congress.
  
  More than a century prior, smaller religious groups also made headway into congressional seats for the first time. Lewis Charles Levin of the American Party was the first Jew elected to Congress in 1845, and represented Pennsylvania in the House. The first Mormon was John Milton Bernhisel, who joined Congress in 1851 to represent Utah. The only Sikh congressman, California Democrat Dalip Singh Saund, was elected for three terms beginning in 1957.

  
  
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/buddhist-hindu-congress-mazie-hirono-tulsi-gabbard_n_2088939.html
  
  the GOP crazies are going to be more crazy after this election
  the cat predicts a Republican President in 2016
• Cynic wrote on 2012-11-08 16:20

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;977777:

  
  the cat predicts a Republican President in 2016

  
  
  I'd say it's even more likely since we'll now have had a Democrat in office for two terms. I'd be surprised if we managed to have one for 3 terms in a row.
  
  But aye, we seem to have a lot of firsts this year. First openly gay senator, first asian-american senator, first disabled female veteran representative.. etc.
  It's a good year.
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-11-08 17:00
  The GOP's are already crazy to begin with. They're already in a frenzy over their "Champion" Romney losing. Good to see more religious diversity in this country. Maybe next election, the GOP's will be much more selective and wiser over who the fuck they pick as their nominee for President. They tossed a lot of potentially good candidates during the primaries. They sealed their own fate.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2012-11-08 17:03

  Quote from Kingofrunes;977817:

  The GOP's are already crazy to begin with. They're already in a frenzy over their "Champion" Romney losing. Good to see more religious diversity in this country. Maybe next election, the GOP's will be much more selective and wiser over who the fuck they pick as their nominee for President. They tossed a lot of potentially good candidates during the primaries. They sealed their own fate.

  
  
  None of them actually liked Romney anyways, they just had to go with what they had.
  
  I'm thinking with all the liberal fire burning through the internet the republican popularity might diminish, and if we make enough recovery by the time Obama is done, that could be further incentives for undecided people to pretty much do the whole "Bush 2 term vs Obama 2 term" thing.
  
  So I'd say whether we get a republican or democrat in the house depends entirely on how Obama does.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-11-08 17:15
  possibly, but the crazies in the Republican party are a very vocal plurality
  the majority of Americans are still influenced by their families when it comes to politics
  and they treat the subject as if its debate of beliefs when it's really just a discussion on what we have, what information we gathered, and how do we solve the problem.
  The whole conservative vs. liberalism vs. libertarianism is not very different from Christianity vs. Islam vs. atheism
  
  The Republican party got maddening after Clinton defeated an incumbent Republican
  and then managed to get a Republican president after two terms of dramatic economic growth and budget surplus
  They're likely to do the same again after Obama, especially since the moderate politicians in the Republican parties have dropped Romney after the primaries.
  Jeb, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie are really strong Republican contenders for 2016
  the Democrats would have to go with a dark horse. The cat wish Hillary Clinton was younger but we need new politicians.
  
  Speaking of the economy, it's been growing very slowly. like 2.0% a year slow.
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-11-09 01:40
  Well hopefully 2016 will be a much more interesting and robust election. Something that actually gets me pumped because Neither Obama nor Romney appealed to me. Only one that appealed to me was Gary Johnson.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-11-09 03:18
  Gary Johnson won't run for 2016
  It'll be a bunch of a Republicans
  George P. Bush, Paul Ryan, Rick Sanctorum, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie
• TLCBonaparte wrote on 2012-11-09 03:35
  Lol, only Americans take religious diversity in government as news.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-11-09 05:09

  Quote from TLCBonaparte;978219:

  Lol, only Americans take religious diversity in government as news.

  
  
  First female Prime Minister in the UK was a big thing too.
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-11-09 11:44

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;978210:

  George P. Bush

  
  
  Wut?
  
  Fuck no. Not another Bush.
• Cynic wrote on 2012-11-09 12:56

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;978210:

  Gary Johnson won't run for 2016
  It'll be a bunch of a Republicans
  George P. Bush, Paul Ryan, Rick Sanctorum, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie

  
  
  One can only hope that we have a very good selection of Democrats in 2016.
• TLCBonaparte wrote on 2012-11-09 15:31

  Quote from Kingofrunes;978402:

  Wut?
  
  Fuck no. Not another Bush.

  
  
  Why is the Bush family allow to breed?
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-11-09 16:13
  George P. Bush is going to have the Obama effect combined with the Bush family effect.
  He's half white and half Mexican
  the Latino population in United States is growing fast
  however, he JUST started politics and was an attorney before
  http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/11/09/george-p-bush-throws-hat-in-political-ring/
  Fiscally conservative and maybe socially liberal
  we'll see.
  
  and TLC, religious families are more prominent with breeding
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Bush
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-11-09 16:16

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;978500:

  
  http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/11/09/george-p-bush-throws-hat-in-political-ring/
  Fiscally conservative and maybe socially liberal
  we'll see.

  
  
  Interesting, that actually might work very well. I think I'll give that Bush a shot if that's true. I like that combination. Sounds like he won't be against gay marriage, or any of that stuff and fiscally conservative might get us away from spending too much.
• Phunkie wrote on 2012-11-09 17:47
  The only way Republicans can win in 2016 is if they come back to the center, instead of the far-right.