FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: John Junk 2.0 on August 26, 2008, 08:07:08 PM
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If you glance at "Obama-Biden" it reads "Osama Bin Laden" in your brain.
Just sayin'.
And no, I'm not a Fox News shill.
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That sounds like counter-revolutionary propaganda, comrade.
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weird, my brain doesn't do that.
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I think they might lose because the sheriff is a .....
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I suspect it more likely that he'd lose because he's not an old white man.
(Not being a smart ass, just, you know... real talk and all that.)
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weird, my brain doesn't do that.
You're not reading fast enough.
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That sounds like counter-revolutionary propaganda, comrade.
PURGE!! PURGE!! PURGE!!!
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I have to admit the whole thing is a vaguely surreal turn of events, though.
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I think they might lose because the sheriff is a .....
I know. People have been telling me the "Bradley Effect" has not been a factor in some of the last major elections,like Virginia's goobernatorial, but I'm afraid.
I do hope to see lots of Obama ads tying McCain to Bush. To my unsophisticated eyes/brain, that = success.
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When I read the title of this thread really fast, I just see "Diebold Voting Machines"
Funny how the mind plays tricks on you.
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chances are no matter what company makes the voting machines, the owner of the company will be a republican.
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Oh I don't care who made them as much as I care that they're built on what is basically a hackable access database, and they're fucked up... there are repairs that have to be made (because the machines drop votes, etc.) but Diebold is saying that it will take 2 years to get the changes approved by the elections committee or something.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/08/26/diebold-admits-flaw-in-voting-machine-for-a-decade/1
And why would you build a voting machine that includes a function that gives a coder (or admin) the ability to delete or change a vote. That should never even be an option!
I just think between that, and voters in poorer communities not being able to get to the polls (4 hours in line to vote in Ohio?), a close election like this can't be won by the dems.
This too: http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=18097
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I want all my voting machines to be old 486s running Windows 98.
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democrats will lose because they are losers. period, end of story.
But none of them could be assassinated with a cheeseburger. That matters down the line.
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I just think between that, and voters in poorer communities not being able to get to the polls
Every lower-middle/lower-class citizen I've ever spoken with about politics absolutely loves characters like Reagan and Bush. Does it seem contradictory? Sure. But there shouldn't be an assumption that 'disenfranchised' voters are going to vote Democratic.
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I'm sorry. I should have said poorer urban communities. I can guarantee that many of them will vote democratic. At least in the northeast and western parts of the country.
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Understood. But their voting habits are also countered by the massive 'heartland'. What's the Matter with Kansas? addresses all this with fairly depressing conclusions -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_Matter_with_Kansas
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True, but the states with the big electoral pull (FL, OH) have all had some major major problems allowing people to get to the polls...
The last two elections have scarred me. I honestly hope that Obama wins, but I don't think he will. It's just too much of a mess.
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That would definitely suck if the third election in a row came down to 51%/49% electoral margins and weird recounts. Ugh, let's hope not.
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It all depends on if the poor, urban communities go vote. I don't know if Obama has promised enough to those communities to get high participation. I hope I'm wrong.
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2008 Democratic National Convention > 2008 Olympics
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I just don't get how Clinton supporters can't get behind Obama and will vote McCain. Could it be that they are so selfish that they'll take four years of McCain to give Hilary another shot in 2012? It's too bad Bloomberg didn't run because at least a lot of those lost votes wouldn't have gone to McCain.
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I think it's because when Clinton supports read "McCain" really fast they see "Clinton".
(And Bloomberg would never win b/c people always misread his name as Boogieman)
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I think it's because when Clinton supports read "McCain" really fast they see "Clinton".
Totally. Plus, even a Clinton supporter doesn't want to vote for Osama Bin Laden.
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David Duke would never win because a lot of people hate Duke basketball.
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No, no, that's way too obvious. Give the people a little credit here!
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Wait, does this mean since my name is Gilly Hitler, I have no chance to ever gain political office? >:(
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No, since Hitler can be misread as Hilton, you have a pretty good shot.
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Wait, does this mean since my name is Gilly Hitler
There's no such thing as bad publici... ah, okay maybe there is.
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No, since Hitler can be misread as Hilton, you have a pretty good shot.
Only if the John McClane political ad backfires!
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Paris Hitler is pretty hot.
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As a registered member of The Anti-Masonic Party, I think this whole debate is bullshit.
"Take Back Our Pyramids!*"
*Registered Trademark of the Anti-Masonic Party
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It's a Know Nothing Whig conspiracy!!
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2008 Democratic National Convention > 2008 Olympics
After being subjected to Melissa Etheridge's horrendous medly blasting at top volume while I was sitting in a rest stop eating a terrible fast-food meal, I might have to disagree with that.
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I'm not really a fan of Melissa Etheridge's music, I'm sure she's a delightful person, but anything on TV would be unappealing while eating horrible fast food at a interstate rest stop.
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Oh, yeah, I'm not denouncing her personality in any way. But that medley was terrible. The fast food just added to the torture.
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Sarah Palin?
Who's that?
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Stevie Wonder sounded perkier than usual.
I can't wait to see the NOOJ with special guest Tom Selleck, singing "Proud to be an American" at the Republican convention.
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Sarah Palin?
Who's that?
You have to forgive her, she's from Alaska. News that a second political party exists hasn't even reached that state yet.
Either way, it leaves her suitably out of touch for the Republican ticket.
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Sarah Palin?
Who's that?
Also, when I read the name I see "Paris Stalin" who is just as hot as Paris Hitler.
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Sarah Palin?
Who's that?
Also, when I read the name I see "Paris Stalin" who is just as hot as Paris Hitler.
I just assumed she was the sister of Michael and they were courting the Python vote.
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Sarah Palin?
Who's that?
Also, when I read the name I see "Paris Stalin" who is just as hot as Paris Hitler.
I'm googling her Miss Alaska contestant pics. Oohh, I like this Republican Party. All is forgiven for the past eight years.
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This is a really gutsy pick, although it seems a little cynical to select a woman to court the angry female voters, Sarah Palin is a person of impeccable integrity, has a son in Iraq and can speak to energy issues. Though I have a feeling that the contrast between the elderly McCain and the youthful (and not to mention really attractive) Palin might pose a problem.
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This is a really gutsy pick, although it seems a little cynical to select a woman to court the angry female voters, Sarah Palin is a person of impeccable integrity, has a son in Iraq and can speak to energy issues. Though I have a feeling that the contrast between the elderly McCain and the youthful (and not to mention really attractive) Palin might pose a problem.
McCain picked Michael Palin as his running mate? He's wrested the geek vote away from Obama!
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This picture is really not helping so I'm not even gonna post it aw fuck it
(http://cache.gawker.com/assets/stills/obamajeep.gif)
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I hope the
rest of the country idiotic women/men who vote according to gender misread "Palin" as "plain" and "Obama" as "woman".
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Sarah Palin is a person of impeccable integrity,
Is that why one of the first things I read about her was "ethics investigation?"
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Not sure what this would do for the angry female voter.
Republican
Vice President
Settling for second best sort of defeats the point, don't ya think?
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Not sure what this would do for the angry female voter.
Republican
Vice President
Settling for second best sort of defeats the point, don't ya think?
Yeah, plus the fact that Palin is outspokenly against abortion rights. PLUS, according to some blogger from Alaska I just read in my superficial web-trawling for info (yeah - I know - not exactly hard evidence), there are tapes that have emerged that support these ethics charges against her.
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Sarah Palin is a person of impeccable integrity,
Is that why one of the first things I read about her was "ethics investigation?"
If I'm not mistaken she's done a lot to advance ethics in the otherwise notoriously corrupt Alaska, pushing through ethics bills, eliminating wasteful spending, as well as resigning from the oil commission because of her fellow party members' 'lack of ethics'.
The only thing I've read about her that smacks of impropriety is her pressuring for the firing a state trooper that was going through a divorce with her sister.
I'm sure we'll hear everything and thensome in the coming days.
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I've had just about enough of big salmon.
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Sarah Palin IS A PAWN!
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I've never heard of Sarah Palin until I looked at this thread this morning. Holy shit, now I'm getting my news from the FOT message board. This is bad. I need to start watching the Daily Show again.
This is a very perplexing pick. Philly Boy Roy told me that Alaska ain't even part of the United States. And it's 10 miles away from Russia! John McClane is secretly working for 'nem Russians! It's sick. I don't like it.
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It's easy to be pro-life in Alaska. Half the women in the state do not reasonably have access to the procedure in the first place and probably married the guy the first or second guy they met.
Alaskan values and realities do NOT translate to the lower 48.
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I've never heard of Sarah Palin until I looked at this thread this morning. Holy shit, now I'm getting my news from the FOT message board. This is bad. I need to start watching the Daily Show again.
I had the same reaction. :-[ In my defense, things have been more than a bit chaotic.
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Not sure what this would do for the angry female voter.
Republican
Vice President
Settling for second best sort of defeats the point, don't ya think?
You might have a point there... this kind of gambit didn't exactly work for even a Democrat like Walter Mondale in 1984.
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Certainly makes you think McCain didn't buy into his own "lack of experience" rhetoric.
Oh crap, a flip flop!
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you guys crack me up.
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I've never heard of Sarah Palin until I looked at this thread this morning. Holy shit, now I'm getting my news from the FOT message board. This is bad. I need to start watching the Daily Show again.
This is a very perplexing pick. Philly Boy Roy told me that Alaska ain't even part of the United States. And it's 10 miles away from Russia! John McClane is secretly working for 'nem Russians! It's sick. I don't like it.
If you depend on the Daily Show, you would not hear about this until Tuesday. Depend on the FOT message board, it is our only hope!
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dwzk3g-lB0[/youtube]
to be fair, I'm not exactly sure myself.
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I've never heard of Sarah Palin until I looked at this thread this morning. Holy shit, now I'm getting my news from the FOT message board. This is bad. I need to start watching the Daily Show again.
I had the same reaction. :-[ In my defense, things have been more than a bit chaotic.
Me too! I know who she is, but didn't know she was running until I came in here. There was an article about her a few months ago in Vogue or Vanity Fair or one of those magazines and the only thing I remember is that the author said she could be "Tina Fey's older, sexier sister."
Not happy about this.
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Me too! I know who she is, but didn't know she was running until I came in here. There was an article about her a few months ago in Vogue or Vanity Fair or one of those magazines and the only thing I remember is that the author said she could be "Tina Fey's older, sexier sister."
Not happy about this.
I totally thought of Tina Fey when I looked up pics of Sarah Palin. Wouldn't be surprised if Tina does a guest spot portraying her on SNL this fall. Not sure why Vanity Fair had to dis Tina Fey with the "sexier" description of Palin. INTO THE HATE PIT, Vanity Fair! (You buncha snobs ...)
"What is it exactly that the VP does?"
Currently he runs the whole fuckin' country from an underground bunker. But hopefuly that won't be allowed to happen again ...
I've never heard of Sarah Palin until I looked at this thread this morning. Holy shit, now I'm getting my news from the FOT message board. This is bad. I need to start watching the Daily Show again.
If you depend on the Daily Show, you would not hear about this until Tuesday. Depend on the FOT message board, it is our only hope!
Thank you DFK ... I can always depend on you to put things in perspective.
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Maybe it's just me, but I'm not seeing the hotness.
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I'm with you, Beth.
Also, I think McCain's ready to teach me about the Power of Intention.
(http://www.insidesuccessradio.com/images/people/Dyer-Wayne%20Dyer.jpg)
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I have been addicted to reading the comments on this blog for the past few days:
http://blog.pumapac.org/
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FOTchan schooled me on how lousy women are at judging hotness, Beth.
If some Hillary supporters vote for McCain simply because of his running mate, they should be shot. On the bright side, women-hating Republicans may be disgusted by the choice; after all, it's a hell of a lot more possible that Palin could ascend to the throne than Biden. Barring assassination, of course.
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http://blog.pumapac.org/
^That site is pants-on-head stupid and every comment thread starts with grown women actually saying, "First!".
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FOTchan schooled me on how lousy women are at judging hotness, Beth.
If some Hillary supporters vote for McCain simply because of his running mate, they should be shot. On the bright side, women-hating Republicans may be disgusted by the choice; after all, it's a hell of a lot more possible that Palin could ascend to the throne than Biden. Barring assassination, of course.
Wow, there was quite a lot of violent imagery in that post.
And yes, a few women I've talked to today also have said they don't see how men find Gov. Palin 'hot'. There's something about drawn up hair and glasses on a woman with a brilliant smile that strikes me as beautiful... but then again, I'm also a geek.
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http://blog.pumapac.org/
^That site is pants-on-head stupid and every comment thread starts with grown women actually saying, "First!".
(http://blog.pumapac.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/obamatoga.jpeg)
Nice, um, coloration on the hand there.
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Now, not only are the Republican's feeding Fox with their news, they're pitching reality shows by picking America's Hottest Governor!
I'll be here all night.
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I thought I had broken my Rapture Ready (http://rr-bb.com) habit, but I just had to see what they had to say about this:
Just remember, God places people for a reason. And wouldn't it be an awesome testimony for God if the rapture happened during this time and she, as a known christian--whether she becomes vp or not...is raptured away?
Makes me wonder what God is up to! This is incredible that she has been given this opportunity....a real opportunity for witness.
Im so pumped up about this election now I could go beat up some Nephilim.
She cant be too much of a feminist, she has a husband.
The ones who aggravate me are the ones who hate men.
In other words, we're screwed. If Rapture Ready can't find a fanatical Jesus misinterpretation to justify hating someone, the less insane conservatives are sure to follow.
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Clearly McCain is aiming for the David Duchovny vote here.
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I've been scouring the internet for responses to the news and in most of the places I've seen, the response from women has been 'lets wait and see' or 'this is insulting'. Now most of the internet that I know of (honestly someone has to make an internet guide thats better than google, i want to find intelligent republican and/or moderate message boards and places to blog and google is no good at that), is pretty pro-Obama or Democrat leaning.
What are the chances that the women that McCain is trying to lure are turned off and/or insulted by the desperation of this move?
As for the hotness thing, I don't exactly get it. She is nice-looking, sure, but not that pretty. Far less pretty than Obama is handsome. She looks a bit like Tina Fey I guess, but the way normal people look like celebrities. The difference in attractiveness between her and Hillary is not very big, not noteworthy. I guess people are making a big deal about it because of the beauty queen thing, but thats an Alaskan beauty contest. Alaska has by far the highest male-female ratio and thats not including the thousands of mostly men who go there to work. To say that Alaska is not a state of lookers would be an understatement.
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She cant be too much of a feminist, she has a husband.
The ones who aggravate me are the ones who hate men.
Wow! Even Spike likes this lady!
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I think the decision is much more multi-faceted than simply to mooch Hillary supporters (which is an ill attempt at best).
As far as hotness, meh... there are a lot of attractive women out there. Beautiful politically powerful women aren't as new as people are acting.
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Someone posted this on Digg... don't know if it came from another source or if it's their own, but it makes 10 pretty convincing arguments why Palin is a good pick. When you think about it, McCain really had nobody to choose from other than Romney that could have gone toe to toe with Biden. It seems like he chose somebody that's going to attract the people that don't give a crap about debates.
1) Unlike the extremely uninspiring choice of Joe Biden by Barack Obama, the choice of Sarah Palin is absolutely electrifying the Republican base. In the minds of many Republicans this is a game changing choice, and the Republicans have not had something like this to get excited about in ages.
2) Sarah Palin is a mother of five, and this will help the Republicans to do much better with "soccer moms" which is always a key demographic.
3) Sarah Palin could also draw in some of the Hillary Clinton supporters who felt incredibly snubbed and disrespected by Barack Obama.
4) Sarah Palin's husband is a union member, and that will help McCain's campaign with blue collar workers who will be so key in states like Michigan and Ohio.
5) On September 11, 2007, the Sarah Palin's eldest son Track joined the Army. He serves in an infantry brigade and will be deployed to Iraq in September 2008. This will help McCain among the military and among military families.
6) On April 18, 2008, Sarah Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome. This will help McCain's campaign with groups that advocate for the disabled. Plus there is the sympathy factor.
7) McCain now has a chance to get social conservatives excited. Many social conservatives have been very suspicious of McCain, but Palin is strongly pro-life, a supporter of capital punishment, and belongs to Feminists for Life, and this will give social conservatives much more of a reason to come into McCain's camp.
8) In 1984, Palin was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, and as much as that shouldn't count, Americans are more shallow than ever. Americans prefer good looking people, and as sad as it is, the fact that she is attractive will win votes.
9) A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%. She has had consistently high approval ratings in Alaska, and that is a huge difference from the Republicans in Washington.
10) Speaking of the Republicans in Washington, this choice signals even more of a move away form the Bush administration, and this can only help McCain.
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I'm going to have as many children as possible so that each one of them will have one quality that I can usurp as a signifying quality of my own, which will then make me an attractive vice president choice when I decide to become a politician.
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Her children are named Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. Discuss.
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Buzzwords for 8/29/08
News Media - Experience, Pro-Choice, Soccer Mom.
Internet - Tina Fey, Tard Daughter, MILF.
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Her children are named Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. Discuss.
Wow. Rock stars and movie stars are notorious for naming their kids after things that evoke astrology, mysticism and "exotic" cultures.
This is like the UltraCaucasian UltraChristian bizarro opposite of that naming trend.
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Yeah, can we stop with the drooling over Tina Fey already? She's not all that sexy and we all know it. It's like nobody can handle a woman being smart, funny, and better-than-Roseanne in the looks category. Get over it!
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The biggest thing this nomination has succeeded in is stealing the media/gossip thunder of what by all accounts was a masterful speech by Obama and turned the discourse into lockerroom boy talk.
"Big election about little things", the Republicans are freaking masters of this as demonstrated again.
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Yeah, can we stop with the drooling over Tina Fey already? She's not all that sexy and we all know it. It's like nobody can handle a woman being smart, funny, and better-than-Roseanne in the looks category. Get over it!
She's not all that funny either.
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yeah, but lots of guys find nerdy girls in glasses sexy. i got on a big glasses porn kick once. i found a dvd series called 'specs appeal.' it was pretty good.
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Yeah, can we stop with the drooling over Tina Fey already? She's not all that sexy and we all know it. It's like nobody can handle a woman being smart, funny, and better-than-Roseanne in the looks category. Get over it!
Respectfully, Tina Fey has been my go-to hottie for going on 6 years. You can have your Meg Whites, your Amy Winehouse's, I will take an attractive woman who shaves her pits.
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Yeah, can we stop with the drooling over Tina Fey already? She's not all that sexy and we all know it. It's like nobody can handle a woman being smart, funny, and better-than-Roseanne in the looks category. Get over it!
I don't care about Tina Fey, I just want Liz Lemon
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-- Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,700? Really? She'd be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
-- "Hot" if you'd like some "discipline" from a schoolmarmish woman. And even if you felt that way, are looks any basis from which to elect a Vice President? (I'm probably making this argument in vain; I think I already know the answer.) Also, you know what they say about Anchorage: "The odds are good, but the goods are odd." That's supposed to refer to the surplus of men there and yet, paradoxically, their relative ineligibility.
-- Another Christian conservative in the White House?
We'd all be advised to think carefully.
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You can have your Meg Whites, your Amy Winehouse's, I will take an attractive woman who shaves her pits.
I'd rather not have these either, thanks. That's why I'm trying to give them to you. Come on, please?
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(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/08/29/us/30palin3.large.jpg)
This woman's office looks like one of those "What's Wrong With This Picture?" games on the video poker machines at bars.
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Her couch is part bear?
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Last night I had a dream that I was taking a walk in a strange city I didn't live in, and I walked by a Catholic nursery school where, in my dream reality, I was friends with one of the nuns that ran the school. All the sudden this guy comes up in a cheap, tacky turquoise and leopard print track suit, and then I realize it's George W. Bush. He tells me that if I wanna help him out anytime with some projects, well, he can't say exactly but it could work out well for me in the long run. I start considering this, but figure being complicit in the schemes of the W is too low even for me. But anyway, in order to give me an idea of what he's talking about he tells me how he used to have a car with a sun roof and there was a period of time where he'd be sleeping in his car because he was on the outs with his wife, and I guess the car would be parked in George H.W. Bush's garage or something, and his dad didn't like to see him drunk or something, so he said that he got someone to build a two-tiered system of platforms and mirrors so that if you looked down through the sun-roof from above (like from H.W.'s bedroom window) it looked like the car was completely empty. ( "meanwhile I'd be sleeping in there in my underwear!" -the W.) So that was the kind of project he'd put me on if I wanted to help him out. He said something like "Stay in school" to one of the kids, and then walked off, looking more like a drifter than one of the most powerful people on Earth. I whispered to the kid "Hey! Can you keep a secret? That was the president of the United States, and he's out of his mind!"
I think this vision of the W. in my dream represents the future of the Republican party. Which is not to say they're not going to keep winning elections.
Just thought I'd share!
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hmm Kurt Vonnegut-y.
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Her children are named Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. Discuss.
What gets me is that Track is now 19 years old, which means she named her kid that back when stupid names were something that weren't all the rage.
I like Sarah Palin, I just think she doesn't have any sort of national experience. Say what you want about Obama, he knows his shit. If William Kristol started talking at him about the rationale for the war in Iraq, he'd more than hold his own. Palin doesn't have any sort of understanding of foreign affairs, macroeconomics, inner city crime, farming, manufacturing, etc (though I'm sure she's getting a crash course as we speak). In four years time, she'd be an excellent candidate. As it is now, it is way too early, and the idea that John McCain has had melanomas and is two years older than his dad was when he died scares me. As Andrew Sullivan put it, picking Palin (after meeting her exactly once) tells us more about how serious John McCain is about the war than anything else.
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I don't want to vote for Obama for personal reasons. He's about the same as every other politician and he went after one of my favorite people to get attention for himself. Obama really disappointed me and I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ. He seems so wonderful only because he's handsome, his wife is pretty, and he's not a republican. I feel like it's my duty to vote for him and I'd rather not vote than vote for McCain, but it's hard to be excited. Clinton would have done a better job than either McCain or Obama.
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I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ.
I don't agree with you about Hillary but I agree with you on this one. You don't need to be religious to know that if you place high amounts of faith in human beings you're going to be let down. I see all these people hanging on his every word and seeing him as America's savior. I think it's kind of sad, mostly because people are so unhappy with the country right now that they believe one man can save us.
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I don't want to vote for Obama for personal reasons. He's about the same as every other politician and he went after one of my favorite people to get attention for himself. Obama really disappointed me and I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ. He seems so wonderful only because he's handsome, his wife is pretty, and he's not a republican. I feel like it's my duty to vote for him and I'd rather not vote than vote for McCain, but it's hard to be excited. Clinton would have done a better job than either McCain or Obama.
Who did he go after?
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As an outsider, it really seems entirely obvious to vote for Obama. I really hope y'all do.
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I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ.
I don't agree with you about Hillary but I agree with you on this one. You don't need to be religious to know that if you place high amounts of faith in human beings you're going to be let down. I see all these people hanging on his every word and seeing him as America's savior. I think it's kind of sad, mostly because people are so unhappy with the country right now that they believe one man can save us.
How can we be good americans if we can't criticize the government? It's our duty as citizens. I remember saying something about the patriot act taking away our freedom when I was in school, and the entire class attacked me! I think Obama's supporters are just as childish. He's a person, so naturally there are negative things to say about him. And besides that, he's not going to fix all of the problems in our country. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. Jimmy Carter is a great man, and he didn't fix everything. Everyone should watch Being There if they want to see the perfect president.
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I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ.
I don't agree with you about Hillary but I agree with you on this one. You don't need to be religious to know that if you place high amounts of faith in human beings you're going to be let down. I see all these people hanging on his every word and seeing him as America's savior. I think it's kind of sad, mostly because people are so unhappy with the country right now that they believe one man can save us.
It's not what Obama can do for you, it's what Obama inspires you to do for your country.
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Who did he go after?
The details aren't important. There was an investigation and people were cleared of responsibility before he got involved. He was wasting the time of people who really do have important things to do and really do care about people because he wanted publicity. I'm sure no one can blame him for that. That's what politicians do and he's only a politician. I don't care how he's being marketed to us, he is nothing but what we usually get. Still, I don't think he's going to lose and if people have to be blind to vote for him, then I hope people stay blind.
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If he wins, I'm thinking Obama's going to have a really tough time in about 2 years when things haven't changed and it's seen as not fulfilling his campaign promises.
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The whole "HE'S JESUS CHRIST" thing is a republican talking point. Even the most ardent Obama supporters I know will preface their praise with "For a politician, he's..."
The people making the "Obama isn't Jesus!" argument remind me of indie kids distancing themselves from a band the second they get popular - it has nothing to do with his message, his politics, or even his marketing strategy, it's an argument against his perception among a group of people that do not exist.
If you've got something you actually don't like about him, that's fine - I do too. But please stop with this "HE'S OVERRATED" bullshit, because it's as empty as any other smear.
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The details aren't important.
I'll be the judge of that.
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(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/davebucket68/tomTomorrow.jpg)
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I just wanted to thank everyone so far for eight pages of insightful, original, and often hilarious comments on this year's election. Some of you may want to take Tom's recent advice to East Village Cynthia to heart and add "allegedly" to the edgy, lidblowing statements you've made.
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How can we be good americans if we can't criticize the government? It's our duty as citizens. I remember saying something about the patriot act taking away our freedom when I was in school, and the entire class attacked me! I think Obama's supporters are just as childish. He's a person, so naturally there are negative things to say about him. And besides that, he's not going to fix all of the problems in our country. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. Jimmy Carter is a great man, and he didn't fix everything. Everyone should watch Being There if they want to see the perfect president.
So when's the trip to Oklahoma, young patriot?
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Commander-in-Chief didn't even last a full season so clearly America isn't ready for a lady VP to ascend to the Presidency.
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I don't want to vote for Obama for personal reasons. He's about the same as every other politician and he went after one of my favorite people to get attention for himself. Obama really disappointed me and I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ. He seems so wonderful only because he's handsome, his wife is pretty, and he's not a republican. I feel like it's my duty to vote for him and I'd rather not vote than vote for McCain, but it's hard to be excited. Clinton would have done a better job than either McCain or Obama.
Peter Sellers is cute.
your dogs mouth isnt that cute though.
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I don't want to vote for Obama for personal reasons. He's about the same as every other politician and he went after one of my favorite people to get attention for himself. Obama really disappointed me and I hate talking to people who talk about him like he's Jesus Christ. He seems so wonderful only because he's handsome, his wife is pretty, and he's not a republican. I feel like it's my duty to vote for him and I'd rather not vote than vote for McCain, but it's hard to be excited. Clinton would have done a better job than either McCain or Obama.
Peter Sellers is cute.
your dogs mouth isnt that cute though.
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That is NOT muh doug
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The whole "HE'S JESUS CHRIST" thing is a republican talking point. Even the most ardent Obama supporters I know will preface their praise with "For a politician, he's..."
The people making the "Obama isn't Jesus!" argument remind me of indie kids distancing themselves from a band the second they get popular - it has nothing to do with his message, his politics, or even his marketing strategy, it's an argument against his perception among a group of people that do not exist.
If you've got something you actually don't like about him, that's fine - I do too. But please stop with this "HE'S OVERRATED" bullshit, because it's as empty as any other smear.
I totally agree. There are admittedly some people who had blind faith in him and were easily disappointed, but certainly the majority are in the "for a politician..." camp.
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I totally disagree. You guys are obviously not on Facebook to read your friends status updates.
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Peter Sellers is cute.
your dogs mouth isnt that cute though.
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Peter Sellers is dead.
my dog's snout is cute.
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How can we be good americans if we can't criticize the government? It's our duty as citizens. I remember saying something about the patriot act taking away our freedom when I was in school, and the entire class attacked me! I think Obama's supporters are just as childish. He's a person, so naturally there are negative things to say about him. And besides that, he's not going to fix all of the problems in our country. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. Jimmy Carter is a great man, and he didn't fix everything. Everyone should watch Being There if they want to see the perfect president.
So when's the trip to Oklahoma, young patriot?
The stuff about being a good citizen was for everyone else. But why would I go to Oklahoma, anyway? I've been to Kansas and to Texas, and I probably won't go back to either of those places unless I have to. I don't have anything against them or against Oklahoma, but they're like Hawaii or Alabama and only exist for me when someone reminds me that they exist.
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I totally disagree. You guys are obviously not on Facebook to read your friends status updates.
All of the following comments are based solely on my interactions with friends and while they obviously can't be applied to everyone in their late teens/early 20s, I'm sure there are many others in similar situations.
This is the thing that worries me most about people my age voting for Obama (probably the way that I will also be voting). For many of them, this will be their first time voting. Most of them couldn't care less about politics but they've decided to vote this year and it has everything to do with the wave of Obama support coming from young voters. It doesn't really matter what his positions are, they'll vote for him anyways, if for no other reason than fear of being left out of the group. I saw this firsthand last summer when I saw Obama speak in Iowa City. It was very apparent that a lot of people were just there because it was the cool place to be. Granted, this was before even the most informed people knew very much about the detailed positions of his campaign. Obviously he's an electric speaker and a very charismatic man and I have no doubt that he would do a great job running the country. It just worries me a little when people are so trusting of politicians, especially with everything that has gone on the last few years (Spitzer seems like the prime example).
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Hate to say it, but I vote based on party just about every time. All I really care about is more government involvement in schools and healthcare (It's needed, no matter what libertarians will try to tell you... something needs to even both those playing fields or the social-economic gaps will just continue to grow. They are the basis of a strong country.) so I vote Dem every time. At least for presidential elections and senators.
So basically, cookie monster could be running against McCain and I'd still vote for him.
That said, I do believe Obama could do a good job. I think no matter who gets into office is going to be seen as a fuckup though, for not fixing these unfixable problems in the next two years. The country is just too fucked at this point for anything to happen quickly enough to appease the media and republican dirtbags if/once we have a Dem in office.
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Hate to say it, but I vote based on party just about every time. All I really care about is more government involvement in schools and healthcare (It's needed, no matter what libertarians will try to tell you... something needs to even both those playing fields or the social-economic gaps will just continue to grow. They are the basis of a strong country.) so I vote Dem every time. At least for presidential elections and senators.
So basically, cookie monster could be running against McCain and I'd still vote for him.
Amazing! And all this time, EfB, I thought I had you pegged as a religious conservative Republican. How wrong I was!
yukyukyuk
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It's easy to be pro-life in Alaska. Half the women in the state
Which is like, 4 people, including the governor.
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yeah, but lots of guys find nerdy girls in glasses sexy. i got on a big glasses porn kick once. i found a dvd series called 'specs appeal.' it was pretty good.
What was it about?
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"With all due respect, again, to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years. He's been able, but undistinguished. I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th-largest city in America. And, again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it's smaller than Chula Vista, California, Aurora, Colorado, Mesa or Gilbert, Arizona, North Las Vegas, or Henderson, Nevada. It's not a big town. If he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice, where he's said, 'You know what? I'm really not first and foremost concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States? What I'm concerned about is, can he bring me the electoral votes of the state of Virginia, the 13 electoral votes in Virginia?'"
Karl Rove on Face the Nation, August 11
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A blogger is speculating that Sarah Palin's child is actually her grandchild -
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137/486/580223
Is it me or are we seeing signs of partisanship creeping into the DailyKos website?
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Is it me or are we seeing signs of partisanship creeping into the DailyKos website?
Dunno, but the video of Juneau was an interesting watch (not for the Governor, for the city).
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HOLD UP!
Palin's 17 year-old-daughter is pregnant?
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/palins-17-year-old-daughter-is-pregnant/?hp (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/palins-17-year-old-daughter-is-pregnant/?hp)
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HOLD UP!
Palin's 17 year-old-daughter is pregnant?
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/palins-17-year-old-daughter-is-pregnant/?hp (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/palins-17-year-old-daughter-is-pregnant/?hp)
I was just about to post this!
I love US elections. They're so much more Days Of Our Lives than ours.
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Daily Kos? I misread it as Daily Hos
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/hippocatgeek/dilyhos.jpg)
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Juneau/Juno
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
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Poor girl.
For her sake (and for every other reason I can think of), I hope her mom loses the election.
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
I hope the republican crowd will remember their idiotic abstinence-only programs they want in every school. Being this is America it's only idiotic, when they ship those programs overseas to areas where the people have no means then it becomes criminally immoral.
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
Yes, but Barack Obama's grandmother wasn't running for vice-president of a party whose conservative members currently frown on teen sexual intercourse.
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
Yes, but Barack Obama's grandmother wasn't running for vice-president of a party whose conservative members currently frown on teen sexual intercourse.
I totally agree that the fact that she's socially conservative and her daughter's circumstances makes this ironic and somewhat newsworthy, but I just find the kind of gleeful twittering about candidate's family matters in general distasteful. And I'm sure Republicans would be reacting in a similar political way if a Democrat candidate's child made scandalous news contrary to liberal orthodoxy. I guess what I was trying to point out is that these kind of things aren't necessarily anything new, and effect families on both sides of the aisle.
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I don't think Palin or McCain's view on abstinence has changed any, so I don't get why this is a big deal. Teaching abstinence only in schools is dumb but it's the daughter who made the "mistake" not Sarah Palin. It can be used to attack what's taught to teens but I don't think it should be used against Palin. I'd say it's a non-issue.
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
Yes, but Barack Obama's grandmother wasn't running for vice-president of a party whose conservative members currently frown on teen sexual intercourse.
I totally agree that the fact that she's socially conservative and her daughter's circumstances makes this ironic and somewhat newsworthy, but I just find the kind of gleeful twittering about candidate's family matters in general distasteful. And I'm sure Republicans would be reacting in a similar political way if a Democrat candidate's child made scandalous news contrary to liberal orthodoxy. I guess what I was trying to point out is that these kind of things aren't necessarily anything new, and effect families on both sides of the aisle.
Not me! Nothing makes me happier than watching conservatives take a bite of the shit-sandwich they made for themselves.
I'm still a little baffled by all of this. It's been less than a week and Palin is already being torn to shreds - what the hell was McCain's campaign thinking? Once the VP debate rolls around, Palin is going to be calling up Harriet Myers to get the number for her therapist.
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
Yes, but Barack Obama's grandmother wasn't running for vice-president of a party whose conservative members currently frown on teen sexual intercourse.
I totally agree that the fact that she's socially conservative and her daughter's circumstances makes this ironic and somewhat newsworthy, but I just find the kind of gleeful twittering about candidate's family matters in general distasteful. And I'm sure Republicans would be reacting in a similar political way if a Democrat candidate's child made scandalous news contrary to liberal orthodoxy. I guess what I was trying to point out is that these kind of things aren't necessarily anything new, and effect families on both sides of the aisle.
Not me! Nothing makes me happier than watching conservatives take a bite of the shit-sandwich they made for themselves.
I'm still a little baffled by all of this. It's been less than a week and Palin is already being torn to shreds - what the hell was McCain's campaign thinking? Once the VP debate rolls around, Palin is going to be calling up Harriet Myers to get the number for her therapist.
It reminds me of when Cheney's daughter was discovered to be a lesbian, years after rumors had circulated about it in the gay community. It didn't seem to have much impact on him, and this probably won't either. Hypocritical and anti-gay, yes, but consequential? It didn't seem like it, and sure didn't cause any soul-searching in the Republican ranks as far as I could see. Lynn Cheney seemed to dig in her heels and tried to play victim over how "tastelessly and hurtfully" the Democrats were trying to use it. Fair game, I thought, for a homophobic VP and party platform. In fact, Kerry got some s-hit for bringing it up during a debate.
The disclosure about the Palin girl does raise some questions about the kind of vetting that the McCain campaign did, but then I haven't read the articles about this yet. So maybe I should shut up and read.
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I don't think Palin or McCain's view on abstinence has changed any, so I don't get why this is a big deal. Teaching abstinence only in schools is dumb but it's the daughter who made the "mistake" not Sarah Palin. It can be used to attack what's taught to teens but I don't think it should be used against Palin. I'd say it's a non-issue.
Because she's the one promoting what's taught to teens. It disproves her own policy.
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I read that McCain allegedly already knew the daughter was pregnant. Don't know if I believe that though. But if I did, there's a conspiracy theorist in me that thinks it's all part of some grand design, a weird baiting of Democrats and the left wing to jump on her and then to yell "For Shame" from the right wing when they do. That seemed to be the tone of the article I read on CNN this morning.
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I don't think Palin or McCain's view on abstinence has changed any, so I don't get why this is a big deal. Teaching abstinence only in schools is dumb but it's the daughter who made the "mistake" not Sarah Palin. It can be used to attack what's taught to teens but I don't think it should be used against Palin. I'd say it's a non-issue.
Because she's the one promoting what's taught to teens. It disproves her own policy.
Not to be too academic here, but one case of anecdotal evidence, even in the politician's own family, doesn't disprove an entire policy. Sound research saying abstinence only education is ineffective however...
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That doesn't really matter though. Voters can decide if they agree with abstinence only teaching and vote accordingly- Palin isn't going to change her stance on it because her daughter is pregnant. What people are trying to do is try to sway people who think like Palin and try to convince them that she isn't who she says. But, that's not true at all, just because her daughter is having a baby doesn't mean she's not going to stand firm on her policies. If anything this is going to boost McCain's cred with pro-lifers.
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this is another perfect example of how BOTH SIDES use diversionary tactics to keep us from noticing what a shitty job they're all doing running our country.
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I wonder if the Daily Kos crowd will remember that Barack Obama's mother was unwed and not much older than Bristol Palin when she was pregnant with him.
Yes, but Barack Obama's grandmother wasn't running for vice-president of a party whose conservative members currently frown on teen sexual intercourse.
OK, but how do you KNOW that?
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Juneau/Juno
Make with the Photoshoppery there, sonny boy!
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I read that McCain allegedly already knew the daughter was pregnant. Don't know if I believe that though. But if I did, there's a conspiracy theorist in me that thinks it's all part of some grand design, a weird baiting of Democrats and the left wing to jump on her and then to yell "For Shame" from the right wing when they do. That seemed to be the tone of the article I read on CNN this morning.
That's exactly what I thought. And maybe a handful of sympathy votes could be marshaled from the whole thing?
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That's why I can't talk politics anyone, trying to draw a parallel between abstinence-only programs and legitimate sexual education I can't politely tell you to piss-off I can only tell you to piss ALL the way off down the road.
Abstinence-only in the class room and creationism aren't legitimate points of disagreement where we can just agree to disagree and nobody is wrong or right. That a giant man in the sky made the universe 6000 years ago or that people feel sexual urges because lack of morals isn't a legitimate debate and it's so beneath me to even pretend it is.
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I don't think Palin or McCain's view on abstinence has changed any, so I don't get why this is a big deal. Teaching abstinence only in schools is dumb but it's the daughter who made the "mistake" not Sarah Palin. It can be used to attack what's taught to teens but I don't think it should be used against Palin. I'd say it's a non-issue.
Because she's the one promoting what's taught to teens. It disproves her own policy.
Not to be too academic here, but one case of anecdotal evidence, even in the politician's own family, doesn't disprove an entire policy. Sound research saying abstinence only education is ineffective however...
I guess what I mean is "contradict" more than "disprove." Bad word choice on my part.
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Juneau/Juno
Make with the Photoshoppery there, sonny boy!
Haven't seen this yet? It's not mine:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/alembic14/1220319894439.jpg)
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That's why I can't talk politics anyone, trying to draw a parallel between abstinence-only programs and legitimate sexual education I can't politely tell you to piss-off I can only tell you to piss ALL the way off down the road.
Abstinence-only in the class room and creationism aren't legitimate points of disagreement where we can just agree to disagree and nobody is wrong or right. That a giant man in the sky made the universe 6000 years ago or that people feel sexual urges because lack of morals isn't a legitimate debate and it's so beneath me to even pretend it is.
How many people are you talking to that actually believes that creationism should be taught in the classroom? I don't know many Christian's who believe that....
I have a question that I never considered until now... Is the religious right against all forms of birth control? I always thought that was a Catholic thing but the religious right is not known to be Catholic. I grew up Baptist and I was never taught that in church or youth group events and my parents never said anything against condoms or pills either. But, I thought I read that Palin was against all forms of birth control. I might be mistaken.
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Best I could do -
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2592/junozl2.jpg)
I'm trying to think of a good text bubble/caption for what Juno would be saying. Something about the wiggedty wackedness of the situation.
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That's why I can't talk politics anyone, trying to draw a parallel between abstinence-only programs and legitimate sexual education I can't politely tell you to piss-off I can only tell you to piss ALL the way off down the road.
Abstinence-only in the class room and creationism aren't legitimate points of disagreement where we can just agree to disagree and nobody is wrong or right. That a giant man in the sky made the universe 6000 years ago or that people feel sexual urges because lack of morals isn't a legitimate debate and it's so beneath me to even pretend it is.
How many people are you talking to that actually believes that creationism should be taught in the classroom? I don't know many Christian's who believe that....
I have a question that I never considered until now... Is the religious right against all forms of birth control? I always thought that was a Catholic thing but the religious right is not known to be Catholic. I grew up Baptist and I was never taught that in church or youth group events and my parents never said anything against condoms or pills either. But, I thought I read that Palin was against all forms of birth control. I might be mistaken.
Palin's come out and said she wants creationism taught alongside evolution in schools. I don't care what people believe in their homes but when it comes to teaching kids facts or anybody really I don't want the guys designing my airplanes thinking it's fairy dust that keeps shit afloat. Way too much equivocation to republicans and their nutso base is why the country is in the condition it is now.
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How many people are you talking to that actually believes that creationism should be taught in the classroom? I don't know many Christian's who believe that....
Gilly, you and I may not know many Christians who believe creationism should be taught in the classroom, but there are legions and legions of Christians who do believe it. I am Christian and I am certainly not one of them. However, many school districts have fought over this, and in fact a major Supreme Court decision regarding the teaching of creationism in classrooms in a small Pennsylvania town considered and rejected that proposition sometime in the last year. This is a pitched battle in some parts of the country, perhaps not in New York City or more enlightened enclaves in the Upper Midwest or on the west coast.
Further, support for the teaching of creationism in public schools (even the removal of evolution in favor of creationism only in classrooms) has broad support in recent polls. This from Wikipedia (and I don't wanna hear any cracks from any of you wisenheimers about how lazy I am, going straight to Wikipedia):
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In 2000, a poll by People For the American Way[71] estimated that:
20% of Americans believe public schools should teach evolution only;
17% of Americans believe that only evolution should be taught in science classes—religious explanations should be taught in another class;
29% of Americans believe that Creationism should be discussed in science class as a 'belief,' not a scientific theory;
13% of Americans believe that Creationism and evolution should be taught as 'scientific theories' in science class;
16% of Americans believe that only Creationism should be taught;
According to a study published in Science, between 1985 and 2005 the number of adult Americans who accept evolution declined from 45% to 40%, the number of adults who reject evolution declined from 48% to 39% and the number of people who were unsure increased from 7% to 21%. Besides the United States the study also compared data from 32 European countries, Turkey, and Japan. The only country where acceptance of evolution was lower than in the United States was Turkey (25%).[74] (See the chart)
Less-direct anecdotal evidence of the popularity of creationism is reflected in the response of IMAX theaters to the availability of Volcanoes of the Deep Sea, an IMAX film which makes a connection between human DNA and microbes inside undersea volcanoes. The film's distributor reported that the only U.S. states with theaters which chose not to show the film were Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina:
"We've got to pick a film that's going to sell in our area. If it's not going to sell, we're not going to take it," said the director of an IMAX theater in Charleston that is not showing the movie. "Many people here believe in creationism, not evolution."
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I don't mean to come off as preachy in any way, just to show some stats that indicate how widespread this phenomenon is. I was amazed, since I don't exactly talk about this issue around the water cooler at work or rub elbows, as far as I know, with many of creationism's proponents on a regular basis.
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That's why I can't talk politics anyone, trying to draw a parallel between abstinence-only programs and legitimate sexual education I can't politely tell you to piss-off I can only tell you to piss ALL the way off down the road.
Abstinence-only in the class room and creationism aren't legitimate points of disagreement where we can just agree to disagree and nobody is wrong or right. That a giant man in the sky made the universe 6000 years ago or that people feel sexual urges because lack of morals isn't a legitimate debate and it's so beneath me to even pretend it is.
How many people are you talking to that actually believes that creationism should be taught in the classroom? I don't know many Christian's who believe that....
Are you kiddin' me? There are tons and tons and tons of people who believe that.
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How many people are you talking to that actually believes that creationism should be taught in the classroom? I don't know many Christian's who believe that....
Are you kiddin' me? There are tons and tons and tons of people who believe that.
Definitely. There's lot of them , Gilly. If there weren't a substantial bloc of people who felt this way, we wouldn't have a president who felt confident enough to say things like this in public:
"Well, the jury is still out on evolution, you know..." GW Bush, September 2005.
"I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught." Asked again by a reporter whether he believed that both sides in the debate between evolution and intelligent design should be taught in the schools, Mr. Bush replied that he did, "so people can understand what the debate is about." (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/politics/03bush.html)
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How many people are you talking to that actually believes that creationism should be taught in the classroom? I don't know many Christian's who believe that....
Are you kiddin' me? There are tons and tons and tons of people who believe that.
What's to teach?? It's like one chapter in the Old Testament and then all further inquiry is shrugged with some aloof form of "wisdom".
"Because that's just the way it is."
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I think the people who are fighting for creationism to be taught in public schools have their kids in private schools or are living in small towns where everyone agrees with them and are teaching it anyway. On a national level, they're fighting a losing battle because everybody else thinks they're insane. Sure, there are a lot of people who think the Bible belongs in the school, but they don't outnumber rational thinkers and I don't think we'll ever see the day where it's standard in the public school system.
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What's to teach?? It's like one chapter in the Old Testament and then all further inquiry is shrugged with some aloof form of "wisdom".
"Because that's just the way it is."
Yeah, but they go a lot further than that. They've spent the last few decades inventing a bullshit "science" out of whole cloth. And they're pretty savvy about marketing it. There's a market out there ... all the people buying those "Left Behind" books, for example. They've got a pretty sweet Creation Museum (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) in the Cincinnati/Kentucky area. Looks like a nice day out for the family.
My stepdad recently retired from the engineering department at Virginia Tech, which is pretty well-respected for engineering. He had a couple of colleagues he complained about because they were advocates of the whole creationist thing. Granted, engineering isn't the same thing as the biological sciences ... but still, these guys are supposed to have some respect for the basic tenets of scientific inquiry, right? Right?? ?
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The Left Behind books/Christian marketing and teaching creation in the classroom are two entirely different things. Christians can read and buy whatever they want, it just shouldn't be taught as fact. I have no problem with the book of Genesis or the Left Behind books being read in a literature class. Not that Lahaye/Jenkins would ever be taught in American Lit 101.
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The Left Behind books/Christian marketing and teaching creation in the classroom are two entirely different things. Christians can read and buy whatever they want, it just shouldn't be taught as fact. I have no problem with the book of Genesis or the Left Behind books being read in a literature class. Not that Lahaye/Jenkins would ever be taught in American Lit 101.
I'm just saying that if the people who want creationism in the schools want to recruit soldiers to their cause ... they'll find them and put them to work. And they can do it very effectively. The "Left Behind" demographic is just one of many places they can go. These folks are NOT stupid when it comes to outreach. As Fido and Trembling Eagle pointed out, they've already made a lot of progress in pushing this agenda.
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They've got a pretty sweet Creation Museum (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) in the Cincinnati/Kentucky area. Looks like a nice day out for the family.
My girlfriend's family actually moved a few minutes away from the Creation Museum, so it's only a matter of time before I go there out of curiosity. Last time I was in the area, if I had gone, I could have been their 500,000 visitor. It looks like they have some pretty sweet animatronic dinos and I'm curious about the Noah's Ark musical. The saddest part is, it's probably 100x better than the Cincinnati Natural History Museum, which might be the saddest museum I've ever seen.
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As an additional resource, please see the film "A Flock of Dodos".
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They've got a pretty sweet Creation Museum (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) in the Cincinnati/Kentucky area. Looks like a nice day out for the family.
I'd go just for the gift shop, which is available online for anyone who wants to have a peek. Scary scary.
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I read that McCain allegedly already knew the daughter was pregnant. Don't know if I believe that though. But if I did, there's a conspiracy theorist in me that thinks it's all part of some grand design, a weird baiting of Democrats and the left wing to jump on her and then to yell "For Shame" from the right wing when they do. That seemed to be the tone of the article I read on CNN this morning.
I can't believe McCain's people knew about this. If you're going to pick someone that no one's heard of before, with little appropriate experience, specifically to appeal to the family values crowd, you'll want to pick someone who can play the role PERFECTLY. It just makes them look better to say they knew. I think it's just hilariously bad timing.
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They've spent the last few decades inventing a bullshit "science" out of whole cloth.
Or gold out of lead. Whole thing sounds like institutionalized alchemy to me. Maybe they'll teach the kids how to find the Elixir of Life too.
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They've spent the last few decades inventing a bullshit "science" out of whole cloth.
Maybe they'll teach the kids how to find the Elixir of Life too.
I think it may be at the top of 'nem escuhlator.
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Maybe they'll teach the kids how to find the Elixir of Life too.
Dude, I've already found it!
(http://boozeteam.co.uk/shop/images/goldschlager.jpg)
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I enjoyed Jerry Jenkins' work on "Gil Thorp."
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That stuff is soooo much better than Leadschläger!
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Maybe they'll teach the kids how to find the Elixir of Life too.
Dude, I've already found it!
(http://boozeteam.co.uk/shop/images/goldschlager.jpg)
Who don't know that?
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Maybe they'll teach the kids how to find the Elixir of Life too.
Dude, I've already found it!
(http://boozeteam.co.uk/shop/images/goldschlager.jpg)
Who don't know that?
But will it make my poop sparkle?
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Maybe they'll teach the kids how to find the Elixir of Life too.
Dude, I've already found it!
(http://boozeteam.co.uk/shop/images/goldschlager.jpg)
Who don't know that?
But will it make my poop sparkle?
Yes! It can serve as a guiding beacon if you're lost in the forest!
Man, I sure do love talking about politics!!
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glittering turds always make me think of politics.
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I will gild an elephant in them.
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Apparently an Obama supporter was inspired by Tom suggesting McCain use a theremin.
(http://www.democraticstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BT23707-2T.jpg)
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Apparently an Obama supporter was inspired by Tom suggesting McCain use a theremin.
(http://www.democraticstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BT23707-2T.jpg)
I can't believe they found a photo from Obama's brief stint in Fishbone.
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Apparently an Obama supporter was inspired by Tom suggesting McCain use a theremin.
(http://www.democraticstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BT23707-2T.jpg)
I can't believe they found a photo from Obama's brief stint in Fishbone.
I think you mean Lothar and the Hand People.
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Apparently an Obama supporter was inspired by Tom suggesting McCain use a theremin.
(http://www.democraticstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BT23707-2T.jpg)
I can't believe they found a photo from Obama's brief stint in Fishbone.
I think you mean Lothar and the Hand People.
Dr. James Page would be proud!
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Dr. James Page would be proud!
If you caught Jimmy Page + Leona Lewis at the Olympic ceremony, you'll know that pride and dignity are no longer a distraction.
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00677/jimmy-page192_677310e.jpg)
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Someone in New York slap Guiliani when he gets back in town. What an ass.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2478038099_f7e5ca003c.jpg)
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Apparently an Obama supporter was inspired by Tom suggesting McCain use a theremin.
(http://www.democraticstuff.com/v/vspfiles/photos/BT23707-2T.jpg)
I can't believe they found a photo from Obama's brief stint in Fishbone.
Party at Ground Zero!
[youtube]MJCaFe1yamg[/youtube]
T-40 related content, Bobo.
Warning: This video is 9000 minutes in length.
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Someone in New York slap Guiliani when he gets back in town. What an ass.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2478038099_f7e5ca003c.jpg)
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Just remember, a vote for Obama is a vote for Philly D:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64vYxdLceQ[/youtube]
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Apparently an Obama supporter was inspired by Tom suggesting McCain use a theremin.
I can't believe they found a photo from Obama's brief stint in Fishbone.
Party at Ground Zero!
[youtube]MJCaFe1yamg[/youtube]
T-40 related content, Bobo.
Warning: This video is 9000 minutes in length.
Fishbone were an astounding live band back in the day.
But you'd never know from this video, which looks like Mummenshanz. Fishenshanz.
Okay, I really liked Mummenshanz also, when I saw them live. But I was like 12 years old at the time.
Man. I LOVE talking about politics!
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Because of stories like this:
http://theotherpaper.com/articles/2008/09/04/front/doc48bef91589826866922098.txt
Do me proud, Columbus!
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Projection Behind McCain not Walter Reed Army Medical Center but Walter Reed Junior High School in North Hollywood. (http://dcist.com/2008/09/05/was_mccains_speech_backdrop_the_wro.php)
:D :D :D >:(
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Lost in all the political coverage was the best thing to happen in the history of political conventions:
Andrea Mitchell being attacked by dozens of balloons. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26553254#26553594)
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Projection Behind McCain not Walter Reed Army Medical Center but Walter Reed Junior High School in North Hollywood. (http://dcist.com/2008/09/05/was_mccains_speech_backdrop_the_wro.php)
:D :D :D >:(
Nice to know Washington is just pulling shit off Google too, huh? :D
Or maybe not.
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Looks like the ladies of Heart weren't too thrilled with "Barracuda" being Sarah Palin's theme song. (http://wonkette.com/402578/heart-did-not-give-rnc-permission-to-use-barracuda) I'll always love Nancy and Ann Wilson. Always.
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Nice zinger at the end:
eventually be reduced to playing the entire Chuck Berry catalog again and again. Ha ha just kidding, Chuck Berry is still alive, so he will also be calling John McCain soon.
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I've been out of the loop for a bit, but I thought this thread was going to be about that crazy barn-themed podium at the DNC (and I'm not searching all 13 pages to realize it isn't). I hate to call out my own party over such a small issue, but it's an elephant in the room!
I still haven't heard mention of it in any news sources, even after Palin openly mocked the styrofoam pillars the Dem's used. From where I'm standing, the columns were actually quite subtle in comparison to a podium that could easily be a leftover prop from James and the Giant Peach. What is the theme here? He is descending from the American Mt. Olympus to speak to the people living out behind a cartoon woodshed? Did they hire Beetlejuice as a set designer? It made so little sense in conjunction with such an amazing, historic event, I still can't stop thinking about it (obviously).
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KILL ME NOW
(http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/6595/capt8c9acf68d5f849218d6zc1.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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Oh, no.
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KILL ME NOW
(http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/6595/capt8c9acf68d5f849218d6zc1.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
http://www.zazzle.com/pd/find/qs-palin (http://www.zazzle.com/pd/find/qs-palin)
me too plz.
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Look at it this way: it might alienate some traditionalists because it makes her look so butch.
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I love how in politics, there are only two categories that every woman must fall into:
1) Just one of 'da boyz!
2) Shrill cunt
Women being boiled down to two bullshit stereotypes is almost as sexist as them never being nominated at all...
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The joys of being a woman, 2008.
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That kind of dichotomy/stereotyping happens with male politicians:
a) Tough, straight-talking man's man
vs.
b) Wishy-washy, effete weenie
It's the nature of public figures. Everyone looks at them through the lens of their own political beliefs, and it usually only boils down to 2-3 stereotypes.
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No, there are more stereotypes for men. Obama is viewed as a weenie by some, but I'd say the general perception is that he's a stoic leader, Kennedy-style. Biden isn't a straight-talking mans man either, he's considered more of a backroom wheeler-and-dealer.
There are stereotypes, but men are given more options. Which isn't really a surprise, I just think it's kind of pathetic.
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Women Demand Equal Amounts of Stereotypes Now!
What's up with this?:
http://www.zazzle.com/sarah_palin_joke_shirt-235451500103542361
I can't figure out who the joke is on.
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http://www.zazzle.com/mccain_palin_2008_shirt-235656454046454299 (http://www.zazzle.com/mccain_palin_2008_shirt-235656454046454299)
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Palin Billed State for 312 Days Spent at Home (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?hpid=topnews)
That's it, I wanna be a Governor.
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Palin Billed State for 312 Days Spent at Home (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?hpid=topnews)
That's it, I wanna be a Governor.
Just imagine, you would be the dungeon master of an entire state.
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I'm supporting a Bill Haverchuck/Carlos the Dwarf ticket this year.
[youtube]hJAGxAeV7YU[/youtube]
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Obama is viewed as a weenie by some, but I'd say the general perception is that he's a stoic leader, Kennedy-style.
There doesn't seem to be any 'general' perception, or else there wouldn't be a 50/50 split between McCain and Obama currently. Among Democrats, Obama may be seen as Kennedy-like. Among conservatives, he's a classic elitist type, which they have stated (http://www.google.com/search?q=obama+%2Belitist&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-37,GGGL:en) loudly this past year, putting him squarely in column B.
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(http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/1892/facest4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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There doesn't seem to be any 'general' perception, or else there wouldn't be a 50/50 split between McCain and Obama currently.
It's simply incomprehensible to me that we have sat at a clean 50/50% split of public opinion between two parties for a decade. Not to be all conspiracy theorist, but doesn't that just seem mindboggling to anyone else?
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(http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/1892/facest4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
That will be burned on the inside of my eyelids forever and ever.
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I know I'm an outsider looking in on this American politics thing, but I frequently enjoy reading The Rude Pundit's thoughts on the campaign, etc. Like today:
The truly aggravating thing is watching opportunity after opportunity pass by the Obama campaign. Here's some advice to them: you are not living in subtle times. You are living in an era in our nation where people only react if you use a fucking mallet, not a stiletto, to get your point across. The choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate was a brilliant read of the national zeitgeist. She's like the winner of America's Next Top Model, not a qualified politician, and as such, idiot America thinks they relate.
The rest. (http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2008/09/note-to-barack-obama-use-sex-ad-to.html)
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There doesn't seem to be any 'general' perception, or else there wouldn't be a 50/50 split between McCain and Obama currently.
It's simply incomprehensible to me that we have sat at a clean 50/50% split of public opinion between two parties for a decade. Not to be all conspiracy theorist, but doesn't that just seem mindboggling to anyone else?
I think Americas' unique pedigree accounts for some of it, a puritanical streak
mixed with founders that were rebel/intellectuals add some slavery voila! If America were a person what would she look like?
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When one of the parties starts to pull ahead, the one that's behind just adopts enough of the other's ideas in order to bring things back into balance. Notice that Republicans are now the party of big spending-- it wins votes! And notice how Obama goes on about "tax relief," not to mention Clintonian centrism.
Also any party that has been in power long enough begins to be seen as (and to actually be) a lot more corrupt, and the party out of power brands itself as the party of "reform" or "change." So they trade back and forth on that, too. Basically both the parties are too smart and agile to let history pass them by, and as long as we have a "first past the post" electoral system, we will only ever have two parties.
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If America were a person what would she look like?
(http://anyeventuality.files.wordpress.com/2006/04/Bianche%20Two-Face%20Cropped%2080pc.JPG)
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When one of the parties starts to pull ahead, the one that's behind just adopts enough of the other's ideas in order to bring things back into balance. Notice that Republicans are now the party of big spending-- it wins votes! And notice how Obama goes on about "tax relief," not to mention Clintonian centrism.
Also any party that has been in power long enough begins to be seen as (and to actually be) a lot more corrupt, and the party out of power brands itself as the party of "reform" or "change." So they trade back and forth on that, too. Basically both the parties are too smart and agile to let history pass them by, and as long as we have a "first past the post" electoral system, we will only ever have two parties.
There was also a law passed in 1948 - the name escapes me now, but it was named after a couple of congressmen - that makes it virtually impossible for third parties to get any real traction. The performance of third-party like Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, or Ross Perot was more of a historical blip than, say, the impressive performance of Teddy Roosevelt in 1918 or whenever it was he ran in the Bull Moose Party. If you look at the electoral map in that year, the GOP only won 2 states.
I'm like if your history teacher had brain damage!
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I definitely believe that a third party can emerge and eventually replace a currently existing party as a dominant party, I just don't think that a 3 party situation would be stable given our electoral system. Though I didn't take too many poli sci courses, I seem to recall that first-past-the-post/plurality systems tend to generate two party systems, and that multi party systems tend to need proportionality. Not that I think that the parliamentary model of, say, an Italy is to be emulated.
I keep expecting/hoping the Huckabee evangelical/anti-capitalism faction will split from the Rs but it hasn't happened.
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I keep expecting/hoping the Huckabee evangelical/anti-capitalism faction will split from the Rs but it hasn't happened.
It would be interesting to see if the Bible Belt would go with them or stick with their traditional Republican. Neo-Cons would then be able to run pro-choice leaving them as the true middle ground and they might end up taking enough Democratic votes away to make up for the ones they lost to the Evangelicals. In the end, people would go back to the Republican party and we'd be back to square one.
How many votes do you think Obama would lose if he ran on a strong pro-life ticket while keeping everything else the same? I think he'd gain more than he'd lose... I think the only 3rd party that could really take off is a pro-life/Democratic ideals party because they'd take a lot of votes away from both sides if they ran a strong candidate.
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All the Republicans I know are Federalist society/lawyer/public policy nerd types, and they are pretty open about their personal disdain for the bible belt crowd. That's the biggest tension I see. (Even the more religious ones tend to be "high church" types---the Catholic church is becoming hegemonically dominant among some intellectual conservatives---but I'm not totally convinced that they sincerely believe in the Deep Magic rather than trying to anchor themselves in the West.)
I sense some unease between more internationally oriented, and more "America first" oriented Democrats. However, overall it seems they've been better able to reconcile the different interest groups that make up their base.
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All the Republicans I know are Federalist society/lawyer/public policy nerd types, and they are pretty open about their personal disdain for the bible belt crowd.
Many who identify that way also claim 'South Park Republican' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_Republican) beliefs. My stepdad is that way. I can tell he wants to rip on fundamentalist conservatives just as much, but he's more comfortable ripping on airheaded celebrity liberals (http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/).
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I get more and more nervous about this election every day.
Here's a pretty good editorial about its international implications:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/10/uselections2008.barackobama
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(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/hippocatgeek/obamaknockyouout.jpg)
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(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/hippocatgeek/obamaknockyouout.jpg)
Follow through, Barack. Follow through.
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Imagine the shower of powdery bone dust that would cover everyone if Obama followed through.
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(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/hippocatgeek/obamaknockyouout.jpg)
Events immediately preceding this photo:
- Obama tells McCain that McCain has earned his respect, is tired of being enemies
- Obama extends hand of friendship, wary McCain does not trust Obama, looks back and forth to crowd for advice
- Crowd cheers for McCain to shake Obama's hand
- McCain and Obama shake hands and smile to delight of crowd
- McCain turns to walk away but Obama does not release handshake
- Obama stops smiling, pulls McCain back towards him
A textbook Randall Savage Handshake Attack from Obama.
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In an all-out fistfight between these two, I'd pick Obama, but in reality he's way too much of a gentleman for that. I could see McCain starting a fistfight.
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In an all-out fistfight between these two, I'd pick Obama, but in reality he's way too much of a gentleman for that. I could see McCain starting a fistfight.
I thought McCain only attempted to fight elderly women in wheelchairs. OOOH SMEAR!
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I agree that Obama would be too much of a gentleman...In a perfect world, they would resolve their issues in a Jules Verne, "Around the World in Eighty Days" style with hot air balloons, elephant rides and such.
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There's still time for that!
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yeah, they may need to do an abbreviated one...like "Around the World in 53 days." It would fit well between "Hole in the Wall" and "Do Not Disturb" on Fox.
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Man, Clinton looks like he's 70. Just think what McCain would look like after a presidency.
(http://ap.google.com/media/ALeqM5iebk_Pz_hDEqnVYrZcLEZPx-SNFQ?size=m)
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I agree that Obama would be too much of a gentleman...In a perfect world, they would resolve their issues in a Jules Verne, "Around the World in Eighty Days" style with hot air balloons, elephant rides and such.
That would be awesome.
You know what I'd like to see? A completely unfair fight, like "Dueling Lecturers in American Constitutional Law" featuring Obama and McCain. Instead of having a fourth debate, there would be an on-the-spot, extemporaneous lecture on some aspect of Con Law, like the history of the Commerce Clause, school desegregation or the Lochner era. The topic would be drawn from a hat by Nina Totenberg, with five minutes of preparation for each candidate. That would be even awesomer.
Then both candidates would be thrown into the pit of lime green jello, and made to climb their way out.
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It really isn't the lack of a third party that gets me, it's the decade of heavy, heavy shit going down and through it all we can't budge a 50/50 ideological deadlock?? Mind boggling.
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It really isn't the lack of a third party that gets me, it's the decade of heavy, heavy shit going down and through it all we can't budge a 50/50 ideological deadlock?? Mind boggling.
People aren't quick to budge on moral and human rights issues.
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(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/hippocatgeek/obamaknockyouout.jpg)
Events immediately preceding this photo:
- Obama tells McCain that McCain has earned his respect, is tired of being enemies
- Obama extends hand of friendship, wary McCain does not trust Obama, looks back and forth to crowd for advice
- Crowd cheers for McCain to shake Obama's hand
- McCain and Obama shake hands and smile to delight of crowd
- McCain turns to walk away but Obama does not release handshake
- Obama stops smiling, pulls McCain back towards him
A textbook Randall Savage Handshake Attack from Obama.
I think Obama just said, "Hey John, ever had a hertz donut?"
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(http://images.cafepress.com/product/242767796v1_240x240_Front_Color-Black.jpg)
That's a really badly drawn fist. Did a Republican draw that?
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I think Obama just said, "Hey John, ever had a hertz donut?"
I totally did the "want to get your palm red?" trick to my ladyfriend recently.
I am also a fan of the "planting tulips" joke, viz., "plant your two lips right here."
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(http://images.cafepress.com/product/242767796v1_240x240_Front_Color-Black.jpg)
That's a really badly drawn fist. Did a Republican draw that?
I believe that the sentiment is that Obama and his supporter's fingernails are too long to make a proper fist.
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Local ABC affiliate in Maine sticks it to the man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q6LMsc7iic
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This "McCain can't use a computer" ad is what they mean by taking the gloves off? After the mindboggling lies and hypocrisy of the past week? WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
Then again, I thought that "celebrity" ad was dopey but it had an effect, so I don't know anymore (or ever, really).
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(http://images.cafepress.com/product/242767796v1_240x240_Front_Color-Black.jpg)
That's a really badly drawn fist. Did a Republican draw that?
I believe that the sentiment is that Obama and his supporter's fingernails are too long to make a proper fist.
It's clearly an elitist fist.
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(http://images.cafepress.com/product/242767796v1_240x240_Front_Color-Black.jpg)
That's a really badly drawn fist. Did a Republican draw that?
I believe that the sentiment is that Obama and his supporter's fingernails are too long to make a proper fist.
It's clearly an elitist fist.
It's in mid-terrorist fist jab.
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Barack poster my friends and I put around SF:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2426923465_482b5637ed.jpg)
Also, nobody seems to be talking about the Ron Paul factor. He is McCain's Nader!
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Nah, he's our Nader too. Trust me. I have lots of liberally-leaning friends that go for Ron Paul for some reason I can't quite explain.
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Just forward them R.P.'s classic quote:
"Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions."
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Nah, he's our Nader too. Trust me. I have lots of liberally-leaning friends that go for Ron Paul for some reason I can't quite explain.
I kind of like him. I don't agree with most of his positions (e.g., the quote above), but in terms of foreign policy, he's just about the only candidate I've heard who seems prepared to fully engage with reality.
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Yeah, a flat tax makes more sense, right??
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Yeah, a flat tax makes more sense, right??
Um, no.
I don't agree with most of his positions (e.g., the quote above), but in terms of foreign policy, he's just about the only candidate I've heard who seems prepared to fully engage with reality.
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oh... oops.
But regardless of that, if he can't engage with reality on domestic issues, there's no way he can do it in his foreign policy.
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Having Ron Paul around is great on a practical level. His presence in American politics has saved me a lot of time. Now I don't have to engage morons in a debate to know if they're full of shit - their homemade bumper stickers do the talking for them!
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Ron Paul is the candidate that conservatives who are upset with Neo-Conservatism should be voting for. There's not even a question.... he's a classic Republican who has adapted to the times without destroying the constitution. I look at those in my family who vote Republican... they're well off but not top 5 percent. Ron Paul is the kind of politician they should get behind.
People get behind a guy like Ron Paul because he actually doesn't just talk change, he shows how he wants to make the change. Why are they morons for supporting somebody who is sick of the way our country has been run? Better question, who's the bigger moron, someone who backs a guy who has unattainable plan for change or someone who believes that one of the major party candidates is actually going to change things? I'll be the moron voting for Obama but I'm a huge fan of the way Ron Paul goes about his business.
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(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/09/12/us/mccain_view_533.2.jpg)
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/the-view-couch-not-so-cozy-for-mccain/ (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/the-view-couch-not-so-cozy-for-mccain/)
This picture cracks me up. It looks like they're discussing Weight Watchers points or something. But actually, I kind of applaud Whoopi Goldberg a little???
On the topic of abortion, Mr. McCain said that Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973, was “a very bad decision.” He said he would not impose a litmus test on any of his nominations to the Supreme Court “because that’s not fair to the American people.” But, he said, he would nominate justices who would interpret the constitution as it was written and not legislate from the bench.
This prompted Whoopi Goldberg to worry that if he wanted to return to the constitution as it was written, and not as it was amended, she would be returned to slavery.
ZING!
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Yeah, I watched most of that interview here this morning.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/mccain-grilled-on-the-vie_n_125972.html
I was actually very impressed with their grilling of him. They really had him looking like a shifty creep. Not that he needs any help.
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(1) I was going to rant on about Paul but suffice to say he's an ideologue, and that's dangerous.
(2) Whoopi's point is really, really stupid.
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(1) I was going to rant on about Paul but suffice to say he's an ideologue, and that's dangerous.
(2) Whoopi's point is really, really stupid.
I don't think it was really a point, but rather a joke. And I found it slightly humorous. Hence I applaud her, because I normally don't even smile when she cracks a joke.
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Ron Paul is the candidate that conservatives who are upset with Neo-Conservatism should be voting for. There's not even a question.... he's a classic Republican who has adapted to the times without destroying the constitution. I look at those in my family who vote Republican... they're well off but not top 5 percent. Ron Paul is the kind of politician they should get behind.
People get behind a guy like Ron Paul because he actually doesn't just talk change, he shows how he wants to make the change. Why are they morons for supporting somebody who is sick of the way our country has been run? Better question, who's the bigger moron, someone who backs a guy who has unattainable plan for change or someone who believes that one of the major party candidates is actually going to change things? I'll be the moron voting for Obama but I'm a huge fan of the way Ron Paul goes about his business.
The way he goes about his business is something to be admired, I guess... but his "business" is the ugliest amalgamation of libertarian "starve the beast" tax policy and social conservatism. His pro-life libertarian (a complete clusterfuck of a contradiction) bullshit is as paper thin as any other fake libertarian.
Libertarianism has become an umbrella for disaffected republicans. They're usually crackpots who insist abolishing healthcare and schools will lead to some private enterprise utopia, and "people who get behind a guy like Ron Paul" are the political equivalent of that guy in philosophy class who WON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT AYN RAND.
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I agree with how backwards his platform is, but he never claimed to be Libertarian. I'm also not willing to moan about the kids who are excited about him because I think any interest in the political system is a good thing. I'm not a fan of Ron Paul because of his ideals, I'm a fan because he's ignited a spark in a lot of kids (and adults) who would have let this election fly over their head. I don't think he knew he was going to do that, but it's not that surprising that it happened.
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Anyone who thinks privatization will solve all of our problems should try out the rail system in England.
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I agree with how backwards his platform is, but he never claimed to be Libertarian. I'm also not willing to moan about the kids who are excited about him because I think any interest in the political system is a good thing. I'm not a fan of Ron Paul because of his ideals, I'm a fan because he's ignited a spark in a lot of kids (and adults) who would have let this election fly over their head. I don't think he knew he was going to do that, but it's not that surprising that it happened.
I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree. The only good vote for Ron Paul in my mind is one that would've gone to McCain otherwise (which is most).
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I bet Weev supports Ron Paul.
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Anyone who thinks privatization will solve all of our problems should try out the rail system in England.
Word.
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I bet Weev supports Ron Paul.
Absolutely. But I bet Weev didn't care about politics before Ron Paul and that's what matters. Do we only want kids to care about politics as long as they support liberal thought or at least the two major parties? I don't think so. My idealogy is that 100 percent of this country votes for whoever they feel like voting for. Ron Paul ignited something in people who would have never voted before because he represented something that wasn't just talk.
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Gilly, I totally agree with your point. I just hold all those newly-involved younguns don't get turned off the whole thing when they realize that no one ever gets a politician they can be happy with. I'm not sure that the virtues of incrementalism have many defenders among the commenters on Digg.com.
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Gilly, I totally agree with your point. I just hold all those newly-involved younguns don't get turned off the whole thing when they realize that no one ever gets a politician they can be happy with.
Right on. That's why I think it becomes silly to threaten the canada move all the time. What if Obama wins? Then it may as well be like "If Obama doesn't openly support gay marriage, I'm moving to Canada!" You should probably move to Canada because you want to move to Canada and not because you're mad at the voting habits of other Americans.
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I think when people make that threat--or even carry it out--it often has less to do with pique at their fellow citizens than with terror at what they think their country is about to become.
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There's only one thing that could get me to move to Canada: if the Expos left Montreal.
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I think when people make that threat--or even carry it out--it often has less to do with pique at their fellow citizens than with terror at what they think their country is about to become.
Depends on what form of terror the country is about to become. Sort of like if someone said "These Nazi's scare me, I'm moving to Poland!"
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And that's why my parents moved to New Zealand.
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I have a friend who moved to New Zealand because he couldn't become a citizen in the U.S., and I've had more than one moment where I've thought that wasn't such a bad deal for him after all. And I'm not from the school of "if this crazed right-wing zealot is elected, I'm leaving the states." New Zealand sounds like a great place, even if it is one of the most isolated places on earth. I miss my friend though.
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Canada's not so bad. We're even having our own little election here! Were you aware? There is some Serious Shit going down, and by that I mean our terrifying prime minister has been putting on sweater vests and playing the piano a lot. It is like your election would be if everyone was taking a lot of prozac and also no one cared.
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canada is silly.
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canada is silly.
Naw. Our despicable politicians are just a little more openly lame than yours.
Republicans:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK4oWay1VbE&feature=user[/youtube]
Conservatives:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZfHe2LMRb0[/youtube]
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canada is silly.
I like silliness. If Canada is really silly, it's for me!!
Nah, just kidding, Canada isn't silly. What's silly is people giving up on the United States so early. So a huge mass of crazed religious zealots and crackpots have hijacked one of the major political parties (the one in power). Doesn't that mean we should fight back and try to bring better governance to our country? (There are still about 7 weeks until the election.) Maybe if one doesn't really have strong feelings about America one way or the other, moving would be a fine idea. To me, that seems silly.
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I feel like the more explicitly non-representative the government gets, the weaker it becomes, which means you could eventually find yourself in a different, post-revolution country altogether without changing citizenship if you just stuck around long enough. I mean, if it's true that the electorate is split down the middle, and it's also true we don't even have a majority of the country voting anyway, what does that say about our alleged "representatives" in government? It's like we have an official country on television and then the phantom, actual country that is not being documented.
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Conservatives:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZfHe2LMRb0[/youtube]
Emma, I've been trying to think of some appropriate context for posting that Harper video. I salute you for coming up with one.
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It is just so completely fucking weird! I am still not entirely sure it isn't a parody ad.
Hopefully the next ad they come out with will be a tape of him and his son "jamming."
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Weird? I dunno - it makes me see that Stephen Harper is a regular dad. Just like my dad!
... if my dad had tiny evil eyes, and he enforced arbitrarily cruel federal policies, and if he told lies about "jamming" with me in television commercials.
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I feel like the more explicitly non-representative the government gets, the weaker it becomes
Like that weak-ass China!
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Maybe I don't speak Canadian... but who or what is this "dod" that this guy's kid doesn't want to spend time with?
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I feel like the more explicitly non-representative the government gets, the weaker it American Democracy becomes
Like that weak-ass China!
I fixed it to reflect more what I was trying to say, Mr. Ironic Political Smarty Pants.
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I feel like the more explicitly non-representative the government gets, the weaker it American Democracy becomes
Like that weak-ass China!
I fixed it to reflect more what I was trying to say, Mr. Ironic Political Smarty Pants.
It is my right as an American to take your statements out of context in order to distort them.
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Conservatives:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZfHe2LMRb0[/youtube]
That made me do that weird laugh you do when you are shocked at how ridiculous something is. Then I felt like a cynical American asshole for thinking that was a weak add because there was no political spin/attacks involved.
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Apparently, we've entered the era when you can lie shamelessly, over and over, and know that it's a highly effective campaign strategy. I hope voters prove this to be untrue, but I don't see it happening. I guess in some people's calculations, it's better to vote for a liar than a black man?
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Did you miss a word in the first sentence?
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it's better to vote for a liar liker than a black man?
fixed!
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it's better to vote for a liar liker than a black man?
fixed!
That's not how you spell licker
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Apparently, we've entered the era when you can like shamelessly, over and over, and know that it's a highly effective campaign strategy. I hope voters prove this to be untrue, but I don't see it happening. I guess in some people's calculations, it's better to vote for a liar than a black man?
I think the effective framing of the "liberal media" over the course of the last decade+ proves how effective these people are at twisting reality and using repetition to make it stick in people's minds as a truth.
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That made me do that weird laugh you do when you are shocked at how ridiculous something is. Then I felt like a cynical American asshole for thinking that was a weak add because there was no political spin/attacks involved.
The Canadians keep their political spin and attacks online with sites like this one (http://notaleader.ca/)... a few days ago the Puffin seen flying by Dion was actually crapping on his shoulder.
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a few days ago the Puffin seen flying by Dion was actually crapping on his shoulder.
You stay classy, Conservative party.
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Like, fixed. My bad.
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Is anybody else worried about The Bradley Effect?
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What's that?
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The Bradley effect worries me a little, but I don't think it's a huge problem. McCain and Obama are so ideologically different that I can't imagine many people would say they were voting for Obama and then actually vote for McCain because they are a secret racist. I think the Bradley effect is more of a factor in primaries, when the candidates have similar views and it might be more PC to say you're going to vote for the black guy instead of the white guy.
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I think Obama has to worry about turnout among young people and African Americans more than The Bradley effect... I'm admittedly a geek and ran down to my city hall to register and fill out an absentee ballot on my eighteenth birthday, but turnout among normal people under thirty is pretty low. Obama's got something like a 30 point lead among people my age. Sometimes I wonder how much effort it takes that many people to get up and overcome inertia and vote for the very first time.
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I don't know about what the Obama campaign is factoring in, but I'm hearing pundits still mentioning the Bradley Effect an awful lot, if not by that name. I would think that the longer the campaign goes on, and it's gone on a long time, the less of a factor it will be in polling, as people disinclined to pull the lever for Obama would have plenty of reasons they could vote for McCain anyway, as lame as those reasons might be. I dunno.
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What's that?
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It's when people tell pollsters they're voting for a black candidate (to avoid appearing racist) but in fact do not.
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20% of people between the age 18-34 will probably be too busy playing World of Warcraft while the polls are open.
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Tom will cause a massive delay in his precinct, causing hundreds if not thousands of Obama voters to have to wait on him while he makes a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of each candidate in his voting booth, an effort which will require hours, thereby throwing New Jersey to the Republicans, and therefore the entire nation.
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I just spent an hour trying to convince a lady I barely knew in high school why she shouldn't vote for John McCain, like she vows to.
This is a lady who's pro-choice, pro-gay, and anti-war.
It seems like it would be the easiest argument of all time to make, but she was having NONE of it.
Stupid Facebook. Stupid politics.
Trembling Eagle, let me know if you need a roommate in Toronto. Or do they call it "flatmate"?
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Trembling Eagle, let me know if you need a roommate in Toronto. Or do they call it "flatmate"?
Igloomate.
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I just spent an hour trying to convince a lady I barely knew in high school why she shouldn't vote for John McCain, like she vows to.
This is a lady who's pro-choice, pro-gay, and anti-war.
It seems like it would be the easiest argument of all time to make, but she was having NONE of it.
Stupid Facebook. Stupid politics.
Trembling Eagle, let me know if you need a roommate in Toronto. Or do they call it "flatmate"?
$100
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I don't know what that meant but I don't like it.
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Wait, I think I do like it.
I like it, right?
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20% of people between the age 18-34 will probably be too busy playing World of Warcraft while the polls are open.
fuck yeah... I'm working on my Warlock right now, trying to get her up to 70 just to keep up with everything... it's a changing World, come Wrath. Politically though, I'm a complete jackass, I probably won't even take the time to vote, given my dumb-ass demographic. I'm a careless fuck, democracy-wise!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ
COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He's also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about — the need to reform government.
COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you ya'.
Lady looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown.
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You know it's bad when you're getting taken to pieces by Katie Couric. I actually felt bad for Palin for a minute while that was happening.
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You know it's bad when you're getting taken to pieces by Katie Couric. I actually felt bad for Palin for a minute while that was happening.
At this point I think the question everyone is wondering is just how hard Biden will/should tear into her.
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We'll see. But Letterman did a pretty good job. (Worth watching the whole thing, trust me)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E[/youtube]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ
COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He's also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about — the need to reform government.
COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you ya'.
Lady looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown.
she is so fucking stupid
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she looked great though.
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Dang, Letterman is TICKED. (And not out of line at all.)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ
COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He's also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about — the need to reform government.
COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you ya'.
Lady looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown.
she is so fucking stupid
I hate the way she keeps referring to "Amer'ca" as if she weren't a part of it. Like, "well, this could happen to youze guys if you're not careful, and if it does, good luck to ya."
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Dang, Letterman is TICKED. (And not out of line at all.)
I don't know, it seemed really petty to me. Letterman has a legendary ego and temper and he let the ugliness that I've seen live at tapings show on camera. Whether his motives for suspending his campaign are sincere or not, McCain would have been roundly criticized for going on a late night talk show yucking it up when the vote for the bailout is taking place. It's probably more appropriate for McCain to do a the evening news instead of sharing the stage with a Dave and a washed up Sportscaster like Olbermann. I'm sure Katie Couric isn't too happy to be lumped in with Rachael Ray either.
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You know it's bad when you're getting taken to pieces by Katie Couric. I actually felt bad for Palin for a minute while that was happening.
With all due respects, this is exactly the reaction they are counting on to help win. Feel it, my comrade, but let it be the pity that dare not speak aloud.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ
COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He's also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about — the need to reform government.
COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you ya'.
Lady looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown.
She sort of sounds like this guy:
[youtube]TR3QHoqfhX8[/youtube]
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You know it's bad when you're getting taken to pieces by Katie Couric. I actually felt bad for Palin for a minute while that was happening.
With all due respects, this is exactly the reaction they are counting on to help win. Feel it, my comrade, but let it be the pity that dare not speak aloud.
That's what I'm afraid of.
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She sort of sounds like this guy:
[youtube]TR3QHoqfhX8[/youtube]
I love Bubbles so.
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She sort of sounds like this guy:
[youtube]TR3QHoqfhX8[/youtube]
I love Bubbles so.
Ricky/Bubbles '08! We don't need another Jim Lahey in office! Kitties for all! Hemp fuel! Pot in every home and a jerky in every mouth!
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Julian and Bubbles--that would be a ticket I could get behind.
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Agreed.
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"I believe they have postponed the debate on Friday, because John McCain... is a pussy, and his running mate is Hitler."
- Louis CK, on why people should go see his show on Friday instead of watching the debate
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she looked great though.
Wait, what does "great" mean again?
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Dang, Letterman is TICKED. (And not out of line at all.)
I don't know, it seemed really petty to me. Letterman has a legendary ego and temper and he let the ugliness that I've seen live at tapings show on camera. Whether his motives for suspending his campaign are sincere or not, McCain would have been roundly criticized for going on a late night talk show yucking it up when the vote for the bailout is taking place. It's probably more appropriate for McCain to do a the evening news instead of sharing the stage with a Dave and a washed up Sportscaster like Olbermann. I'm sure Katie Couric isn't too happy to be lumped in with Rachael Ray either.
Perhaps he was unfair, but it's his show. He can do what he wants. Letterman's pissiness is a big reason people enjoy his show. Had Leno been put in this situation, he would have been very diplomatic and very boring.
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Dang, Letterman is TICKED. (And not out of line at all.)
I don't know, it seemed really petty to me. Letterman has a legendary ego and temper and he let the ugliness that I've seen live at tapings show on camera. Whether his motives for suspending his campaign are sincere or not, McCain would have been roundly criticized for going on a late night talk show yucking it up when the vote for the bailout is taking place. It's probably more appropriate for McCain to do a the evening news instead of sharing the stage with a Dave and a washed up Sportscaster like Olbermann. I'm sure Katie Couric isn't too happy to be lumped in with Rachael Ray either.
Perhaps he was unfair, but it's his show. He can do what he wants. Letterman's pissiness is a big reason people enjoy his show. Had Leno been put in this situation, he would have been very diplomatic and very boring.
does anyone really still enjoy Letterman?
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Letterman's kind of a tool, but he has a point about Sarah Palin. A few of my Republican friends who are abstaining from voting this year have already said it--she's a good reason not to vote for McCain.
I think the issue here is more that McCain's campaign said that he was "rushing off to Washington" and then he appeared on a news show instead. Not the validity of the news show (although let's face it, they're all kind of a joke).
From a person who identifies as neither Democrat nor Republican, this whole "calling off the campaign" thing seems to me like a big stunt. A president should be capable of doing two things at once, and the idea of calling off the debate is even more ridiculous. I want to hear, ASAP (in a public, pressured forum) what these two guys have to say about how they will heal the economy, and how they will rearrange their proposed budget plans if this 700 billion dollar bailout passes.
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From a person who identifies as neither Democrat nor Republican, this whole "calling off the campaign" thing seems to me like a big stunt. A president should be capable of doing two things at once, and the idea of calling off the debate is even more ridiculous.
I agree. Another senator, I forget who, made the obvious point that #1, McCain is not on any of the relevant committees anyway, and #2, what exactly does he think the Congress will be busy doing at 9pm on a Friday night?
I've got so much more I'd like to go off on, but Mike is giving me the hi-sign - I've gotta move on.
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So since McCain suspended his campaign, does that mean that Obama wins?
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obama can have his fun mugging for the tv cameras.
johnny mac's going to washington to take care of business.
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obama can have his fun mugging for the tv cameras.
johnny mac's going to washington to take care of business.
Yes, but the way he "takes care of business" is all-too-similar to the way Lil' Georgie Jr. and his crew have been taking care of business. And at this point, Raad_Man, a lot of your fellow Republicans are starting to admit that the Bush Administration business plan ain't working anymore.
(If you ask me, it never worked. But that's just me).
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both parties are shit at this point.
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both parties This country is are shit at this point.
I fix.
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obama can have his fun mugging for the tv cameras.
johnny mac's going to washington to take care of business.
Just like his brother Freddie.
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Wasn't John McCain still in New York as of today, attending some kind of environmental function? Now that Congress has a plan they're going ahead with, that means everything's been done before McCain even showed his face in Washington. The "suspension" of his campaign will backfire in a huge way, if it hasn't already begun. It'll be interesting to see if he still tries to get out of the debate. He can't continue to try and disrupt the entire election process because he and his running mate aren't prepared. He knows he's lost; he may as well take his lumps and maintain whatever dignity he has left.
I should mention I know next to nothing about politics. Full disclosure!
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Wasn't John McCain still in New York as of today, attending some kind of environmental function? Now that Congress has a plan they're going ahead with, that means everything's been done before McCain even showed his face in Washington. The "suspension" of his campaign will backfire in a huge way, if it hasn't already begun. It'll be interesting to see if he still tries to get out of the debate. He can't continue to try and disrupt the entire election process because he and his running mate aren't prepared. He knows he's lost; he may as well take his lumps and maintain whatever dignity he has left.
I should mention I know next to nothing about politics. Full disclosure!
I think McCain has been pushing for more debates for some time now.
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Wasn't John McCain still in New York as of today, attending some kind of environmental function? Now that Congress has a plan they're going ahead with, that means everything's been done before McCain even showed his face in Washington. The "suspension" of his campaign will backfire in a huge way, if it hasn't already begun. It'll be interesting to see if he still tries to get out of the debate. He can't continue to try and disrupt the entire election process because he and his running mate aren't prepared. He knows he's lost; he may as well take his lumps and maintain whatever dignity he has left.
I should mention I know next to nothing about politics. Full disclosure!
I think McCain has been pushing for more debates for some time now.
That's the problem - he only wants to debate on his terms. If you're talking about the whole town hall meeting idea, that was a ploy to get Obama dancing to McCain's tune, nothing more and nothing less. Obama was smart in not taking the bait, just as he was smart to go on television yesterday and say Friday's debate is still on. McCain keeps trying to pretend he has some say over how the debates and election should happen, and he doesn't - no Presidential candidate should. Obama continually takes the power out of McCain's hands by not playing ball.
There are only a handful of opportunities to see both candidates on the same stage, and a debate is too important to put off or cancel. On a purely superficial level, McCain has to realize that he suffers if he's placed next to Obama - Obama has kept his cool throughout this financial thingie, while McCain went on television yesterday looking like the Crypt Keeper.
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I agree, if you want to run for president, then fucking run for president. Shit or get off the president pot.
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I suspect that lazy, blanket cynicism has poisoned the political atmosphere of this country just as badly as partisan bickering at this point.
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Some of it's not lazy. Some of it took a lot of hard work and learning to acquire.
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I suspect that lazy, blanket cynicism has poisoned the political atmosphere of this country just as badly as partisan bickering at this point.
Yes. I wouldn't say the whiny, conspiracy-obsessed "blogosphere" has helped matters either.
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I wish that Letterman would have made it less about Letterman being snubbed and more about his actual thoughts. He made his case but it was buried in a temper tantrum... he could have had a Craig Ferguson moment (that people actually saw ;D).
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both parties are shit at this point.
both parties This country is are shit at this point.
I fix.
Yeah, Yeah. The country's in the terlet and we're all gonna die (eventually). I know Barack's not our savior, despite his boyishly handsome good looks. But let's at least try changing the oil and rotating the tires. Let's rotate the tires on this terlet. Let's puree the hell out of this metaphor.
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she looked great though.
Wait, what does "great" mean again?
She's pretty and she's well dressed every time I see her, c'mon u guys gotta admit
she looks great.
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I can't admit
no such
thing
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I can't admit
no such
thing
Double negative. That means you admit it.
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I suspect that lazy, blanket cynicism has poisoned the political atmosphere of this country just as badly as partisan bickering at this point.
Yes. I wouldn't say the whiny, conspiracy-obsessed "blogosphere" has helped matters either.
The speed of the dialogue/information too, lends itself towards political hypersensitivity. (I know I'm guilty of getting suckered in/wrapped up in it sometimes.)
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www.youtube.com/v/AgHHX9R4Qtk
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"BOth love your grandkids... all your friends are dying..."
I giggled!
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"McCain Decides to Participate in Debate"
Decides?!!?
Ridiculous.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/us/politics/27debatecnd.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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"McCain Decides to Participate in Debate"
Decides?!!?
Ridiculous.
72 year old drama queen.
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Ha!
My Super Sweet Presidential Debate!
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/hippocatgeek/McCain16.jpg)
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Does anyone else notice that his left eye is droopy? Is that a new thing? Is this man running for president and having strokes at the same time?
I just noticed that. Maybe it has been there all along...
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That line on the bottom of the screen showing partisan reaction was stupid and distracting.
That debate was so meh. I'm way more exited for the Palin/Biden debate. I've developed a sort of grotesque obsession with Sarah Palin. Will she freeze like a deer in headlights, or will she find some debate skils and "bring em to ya?" Stay tuned.
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I dunno, but I am buying my first bottle of hard liquor in a good long time, and every time Palin starts off a reply with "but John McCain is the maverick", I am going to hit my girlfriend in the head with the bottle. Not exactly the drinking game my gf would want, but desperate times call for...
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The Dems might lose because as much as John McCain is Bush, he doesn't come across as an idiot. I was expecting Obama to clean up but that was a wash.
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Were there people that thought McCain was outright stupid? I know he was in the 99.44% percentile of his class, but he does know foreign policy. The surprise for me was how crisp and unrelenting Obama was. I never expected him to be as dull as the media thought he would be, but he outmaneuvered McCain in several ways.
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it was a nice try by obama. but john mccain didn't suck, ,which means he was great. it was touching when he talked about soldiers who love to serve and the bracelet that he got from that woman and how important it is not to lose wars. you'd think that would be obvious to most people. sometimes it takes an old war hero to remind you. i don't even care about politics really but i loved saving private ryan.
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it was touching when he talked about soldiers who love to serve and the bracelet that he got from that woman and how important it is not to lose wars. you'd think that would be obvious to most people...
Sometimes it's important to bring the bloodletting to an end. Ours AND theirs. Especially when the war wasn't justified to begin with. At a certain point you have to decide whether that's more important than any abstract concept of victory. What the fuck would constitute a "victory" in Iraq at this point? Seriously, what does that even mean?
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A victory in Iraq would be a secure, stable government, and that isn't going to happen while we are there. This war wasn't supposed to be about spreading democracy, but of course it was (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century). We're fighting a war on TERROR. What happens when Iran gets nuclear weapons? When Pakistan breaks into instability? When Afghanistan gets even worse? What's better, executing a planned, gradual withdrawal or a hasty one that comes in a time of crisis?
The world is in the terlet. We can't afford to spend all our money, manpower and credibility on Iraq.
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I've developed a sort of grotesque obsession with Sarah Palin.
Oh, me too. This whole fiasco is a trainwreck in slow motion and it is both incredibly difficult to look away and impossible to not appreciate if for no other reason than the sheer comedy of it all. America is so focking weird sometimes. haha
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it was a nice try by obama. but john mccain didn't suck, ,which means he was great.
Wrong. Foreign policy is (supposedly) McCain's strong point, which means the foreign policy debate was supposed to be his chance to put Obama against the ropes. He absolutely did not. I'd say neither one scored a decisive victory, but the advantage goes to Obama.
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Ahmed
din
E
Jad
5 syllables
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Ummm.... did McCain actually say "second Holocaust" when referring to Iran vs Israel? Cuz I think Israel could blow them up in a heartbeat. They don't NEED our help.
And frankly, as a Jew, I'm tired of people voting for president of this country based on their support for another. I have family members who do that and it makes me absolutely nuts. Israel just isn't worth having another George Bush in office. They can take care of themselves just fine and I don't necessarily agree with the way they've handled things anyway.
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I went to my friends house to watch the debate. I was pissed, so I don't remember anything specific except that McCain kept lying. I couldn't be quiet, so my husband made me go home because there was a no talking rule.
Anyway, am I the only person who thinks McCain is really working for Obama's campaign?
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The surprise for me was how crisp and unrelenting Obama was. I never expected him to be as dull as the media thought he would be, but he outmaneuvered McCain in several ways.
Yes, me too. And he spoke right to John McCain, he looked at him and addressed him directly every time. McCain talked about Obama like he wasn't in the room at all, which was, for lack of a better word, pussy.
And boy, is Jim Lehrer is getting on in years. He looked exhausted.
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The surprise for me was how crisp and unrelenting Obama was. I never expected him to be as dull as the media thought he would be, but he outmaneuvered McCain in several ways.
Yes, me too. And he spoke right to John McCain, he looked at him and addressed him directly every time. McCain talked about Obama like he wasn't in the room at all, which was, for lack of a better word, pussy.
And boy, is Jim Lehrer is getting on in years. He looked exhausted.
McCain seems to have already thrown in the towel. He didn't even seem to believe what was coming out of his mouth!
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I totally disagree, McCain came off as an expert on foreign affairs even though he's completely wrong... and they both told their half-truths but both parties portrayed their platform pretty accurately. I'm surprised that Obama is showing up in polls as the winner... that's encouraging because it shows that the independents might have been with him before the debate even started.
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I secretly suspect that McCain doesn't really want the job, he's just stuck in it. Probably last spring, when he had some time to reflect while Obama and Clinton were still fighting, he realized he'd be spending a big chunk of his remaining years in the most unforgiving, demanding job in the world. At a time when it will almost assuredly be really rough in this country. The convention and Sarah Palin seemed to energize him for a time by letting him run the way he wanted to run, but now she has lost even some of her apologists (read this National Review article (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE) if you haven't) and he's starting to get hammered in the polls and the press for saying one thing, doing another thing, then saying yet another thing. Which is what he has been doing his entire career, but it's never been scrutinized and he's never had to worry about holding onto conservatives.
Watching his run has been fascinating, because it has obliterated his entire image and public goodwill. Last fall, his campaign put together this fake future news article that talked about how McCain was able to beat Hillary because he stole the change issue away and ran a clean campaign. Which is either the saddest or funniest thing you've ever heard, depending on your opinion of hubris.
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I totally disagree, McCain came off as an expert on foreign affairs even though he's completely wrong... and they both told their half-truths but both parties portrayed their platform pretty accurately. I'm surprised that Obama is showing up in polls as the winner... that's encouraging because it shows that the independents might have been with him before the debate even started.
People who want to hear a real discussion on the issues made up their minds after the convention or before. They've been following the news and have looked online a couple of times. People undecided before the debates don't give a damn about issues, they go by the feeling they get from the candidates and who they think has integrity. Who seems "presidential" and who they want to see interrupting American Idol for the next four years. We'll see what happens in the next few days, though.
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Obama said orgy!
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And now you're going to vote for him, right?
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88% of responders to the Fox News poll said that McCain won the debate. Sounds like a pretty decisive victory.
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88% of responders to the Fox News poll said that McCain won the debate. Sounds like a pretty decisive victory.
Consider the source.
If anybody won, it was Obama. McCain was plenty fiesty and made a lot of attacks, but he didn't personalize them. Obama was constantly looking at McCain and saying, "John, you're wrong." McCain never threw it back in his face; he was constantly saying, "Senator Obama doesn't understand." If he had slipped "you" in there, I think he would have come off a lot better. It didn't help that McCain didn't look Obama in the eye except for the handshakes before and after the debate. He wasn't willing to engage on the level Obama was, and I think he suffered for that.
McCain won some points from me when he finally copped to the fact that it was his party who - for the most part - led us into this mess. He needed to clear the air and he made a noble attempt at it. However, any points he might've won from me were taken back minutes later, when he whined about how having access to billions of pork dollars "corrupts" politicians. Um, it corrupts you only if you let it. Apparently the American people are at fault for not electing people of more noble character, people with a backbone who could resist the temptations of all that money. Whatever "personal accountability" angle he was pushing forward slid wildly out of control on that one, for me at least. It seemed like a pretty pathetic thing to say.
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I secretly suspect that McCain doesn't really want the job, he's just stuck in it.
I absolutely agree with this and I'm so glad to hear it expressed. I can't help thinking that John McCain has become more disillusioned with his country and party than he ever expected he would be, making his internal thoughts sound a lot like Gob Bluth's "I've made a huuuge mistake." Everything about his campaign has been so geared towards gaining poll numbers in the short term, with so little long term thinking, and I think McCain would have had it be so much different, if he was truly in control of his own run for office.
Aside from that, I cant help thinking of him as David Cross' character in this Mr. Show sketch (http://www.metacrawler.com/clickserver/_iceUrlFlag=1?rawURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-K_eQBGkV8s&0=&1=0&4=72.53.194.53&5=67.171.37.118&9=6815d7c8b5f348559d5b5ea86e20c901&10=1&11=info.metac&13=search&14=239138&15=main-title&17=4&18=1&19=0&20=3&21=1&22=XVXuIY1ethk%3D&23=0&40=aNYjKJU2lFX05fnkk6ZBqA%3D%3D&_IceUrl=true). No more news!
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I thought it was a draw and was quite surprised that they didn't go into extra time or sudden death penalties.
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he whined about how having access to billions of pork dollars "corrupts" politicians. Um, it corrupts you only if you let it. Apparently the American people are at fault for not electing people of more noble character, people with a backbone who could resist the temptations of all that money.
Joe Biden. 36 years. Big pork guy. Maximum net worth: $277,997.
Robert Byrd. Oldest member and most notorious pork barrel spender in the Senate. Maximum net worth: $350,000.
Pork barrel spending usually isn't about the person asking for it so much as it is about the place that they serve. Nothing wrong with it as long as it's transparent. Pork barrel spending creates jobs, enhances communities, fixes roads and bridges. Each project should be better evaluated and kept in the open, but it's not something that needs to be stopped.
I think McCain would have had it be so much different, if he was truly in control of his own run for office.
In an odd way, I think that's what made him pick Palin. It was him making a stand and refusing to go with the safe candidates chosen for him. Unfortunately, it appears as if it will blow up in his face. It's so sad. Had he won in 2000, we'd probably be a whole lot better off. But he was right for 2000, not now.
Of course, we all gotta give Obama some damn credit. If we were asked in 2004 who would be running in 2008, we ALL would have said it'd be Hillary running against McCain. We might not have been certain it would have been McCain, but we would have been certain it would be Hillary. Obama is on the verge of pulling off two of the biggest upsets in political history.
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Or to put it another way, if John McCain were in the Senate with Mr. Smith, he would be lambasting him for wanting to build a public park with federal funds.
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John McCain likes the phrase "pork barrell" too much. "Pork barrell" this "pork barrell" that.
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John McCain likes the phrase "pork barrell" too much. "Pork barrell" this "pork barrell" that.
It makes me think of delicious pork burritos, so there's that.
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Interesting sidenote: The origin of the phrase "pork-barrel spending" is too disgusting to mention in polite conversation.
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quit being so polite.
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Clearly, it was a Tor Halversom win.
Also liked that Obama said "orgy," and that McCain said "existential."
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I liked how much taller Obama was than McCain, and I liked running into Jason Grote on the street today.
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If given the opportunity, I would totally dig into a barrel of pork. bbq.
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Just make sure it's not actually Arby-Q. Because those are gross.
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The Dems might lose if McCain can change the subject from the economy. Something like this, from the LA Times, might just do the trick:
* * * * *
UCLA mathematicians discover a 13-million-digit prime number
The mathematicians have found the first verified Mersenne prime number with more than 10 million digits, putting them in line to win a six-digit prize from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 27, 2008
UCLA mathematicians appear to have won a $100,000 prize from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for discovering a 13-million-digit prime number that has long been sought by computer users.
While the prize money is nothing special, the bragging rights for discovering the 46th known Mersenne prime are huge.
"We're delighted," said UCLA's Edson Smith, leader of the effort. "Now we're looking for the next one, despite the odds," which are thought to be about one in 150,000 that any number tested will be a Mersenne prime.
Prime numbers are those, like three, seven and 11, that are divisible only by themselves and one. Mersenne primes, named after the 17th century French mathematician Marin Mersenne, who discovered them, take the form 2P - 1, where P is also a prime number.
In the new UCLA prime, P = 43,112,609.
Thousands of people around the world have been participating in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, or GIMPS, in which underused computing power is harnessed to perform the complex and tedious calculations needed to find and verify Mersenne primes. The prize is being offered for finding the first Mersenne prime with more than 10 million digits.
Smith and his UCLA colleagues have, since last fall, harnessed the power of the 75 machines in the university's Program in Computing/Math Computer Lab, which is used by students for computer projects. Smith, a system administrator, realized that the lab was using only a fraction of its available CPU power. Rather than let it go to waste, he and his colleagues decided to use it for the GIMPS project.
The new Mersenne prime was discovered Aug. 23 on a Dell Optiplex 745 running Windows XP. The number was verified by a different computer system running a different algorithm.
The new prime is the eighth Mersenne prime discovered at UCLA. In 1952, mathematician Raphael Robinson found five of them using UCLA's Standards Western Automatic Computer. They were the 13th through 17th Mersenne primes discovered, the first ones found in more than 75 years, and the first to be discovered using a digital computer. Each had a few hundred digits.
In 1961, mathematician Alexander Hurwitz discovered two more, each with more than 1,200 digits, on the university's IBM 7090 mainframe.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an activist group supporting individual rights on the Web. The group established a series of prizes in 1999 to promote cooperative computing on the Web.
The prize will be awarded when the new prime is published, probably next year. By prearrangement, half of the money will go to UCLA, a quarter of it will go to charity and the rest will go to other GIMPS participants and the organization itself.
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That discovery caused riots in the streets of Lubec.
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Also liked that Obama said "orgy," and that McCain said "existential."
I'm sure it's a total egghead move, but McCain's use of the word existential rubbed me the wrong way. Existential crisis is a spiritual crisis of meaning, so to say Israel's enemies pose a "crisis of meaning" seemed like a complete misappropriation of the term, when what he really meant to say is that they want to physically destroy them.
/nerd
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I heard that CalTech was completely up in arms that this discovery took place at UCLA. Cars were turned over and set on fire. There were riots that had to be disbanded by a battalion of National Guard forces, who teargassed and violently beat back the angry, nihilistic mathematicians. It's a sad tragedy when such an important discovery is met with violence, destruction and mayhem. I also heard that Rodney King was interviewed, and reiterated his famous question, "Why can't we all just get along?"
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I liked how much taller Obama was than McCain, and I liked running into Jason Grote on the street today.
I liked running into you, too - and I totally noticed that height thing. I was bothered by the fact that I could see the top of McCain's podium but not Obama's. Clearly, the only fair solution would be to shoot both candidates from the same height, so that McCain would have a few more inches of blue background over his head than Obama, and the network logo would be placed over McCain's chin and lower lip. How else are Americans supposed to decide?
Also liked that Obama said "orgy," and that McCain said "existential."
I'm sure it's a total egghead move, but McCain's use of the word existential rubbed me the wrong way. Existential crisis is a spiritual crisis of meaning, so to say Israel's enemies pose a "crisis of meaning" seemed like a complete misappropriation of the term, when what he really meant to say is that they want to physically destroy them.
/nerd
Allow me to way out-nerd you. In diplomatic-speak, an "existential threat" is one where an entire state might get wiped out. It has nothing to do with Sartre and Camus.
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Joe Biden misuses the word "literally" literally everytime I hear him speak. Drives me nuts. Come on, Joe.
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Well, I thought of Sartre and Camus, and it really threw me off my game at that point in the debate.
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Also liked that Obama said "orgy," and that McCain said "existential."
I'm sure it's a total egghead move, but McCain's use of the word existential rubbed me the wrong way. Existential crisis is a spiritual crisis of meaning, so to say Israel's enemies pose a "crisis of meaning" seemed like a complete misappropriation of the term, when what he really meant to say is that they want to physically destroy them.
/nerd
It seemed to me that he wanted to say 'external' or some such derivative.
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did it?
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Also liked that Obama said "orgy," and that McCain said "existential."
I'm sure it's a total egghead move, but McCain's use of the word existential rubbed me the wrong way. Existential crisis is a spiritual crisis of meaning, so to say Israel's enemies pose a "crisis of meaning" seemed like a complete misappropriation of the term, when what he really meant to say is that they want to physically destroy them.
/nerd
It seemed to me that he wanted to say 'external' or some such derivative.
No, he meant existential, which makes perfect sense in the way he used it. It's a very common term and is used like this all the time, not sure why you guys are so confused by it.
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Joe Biden misuses the word "literally" literally everytime I hear him speak. Drives me nuts. Come on, Joe.
I know! He's literally done that, like, a hundred thousand times!
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I thought it was a draw and was quite surprised that they didn't go into extra time or sudden death penalties.
Pistols at dawn.
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“She's very skilled and she'll be well-prepared,” said Barack Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod Sunday night, flying with Biden back to Delaware to help him get ready.
“As you saw at the convention she can be very good. So, I think it would be foolish to assume that this isn’t going to be a really challenging debate. We're preparing for that, on that assumption.”
Taking it one step farther, Biden spokesman David Wade later added, “He's going in here to debate a leviathan of forensics, who has debated five times and she's undefeated.”
Literally!
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I thought it was a draw and was quite surprised that they didn't go into extra time or sudden death penalties.
Pistols at dawn.
This election can obviously only end with a Hamilton/Burr style duel. I'd pay to see Obama and McCain have a gunfight in Weehawken, wouldn't you?
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If Obama was smart, he'd choose a weapon that he knew he could win with, like Cheeseburgers at Denny's. He'd win by surviving Red State cuisine, making him their undisputed leader.
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This Bailout thing is a bigger motivation for me to move out of this country than any election. Seriously, this Bailout is full-on bullshit unless this company (Edit: Company! I meant to write "COUNTRY". Freudian slip!!) suddenly decides to go socialist (which I would fully support). I don't want my kids to grow up in a dump like this. This country is going to the birds.
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I don't make any claims to know a ton about economics issues, but it seems to me that the bailout would be the worst thing that could happen. Not only are taxpayers on the line for 700 billion+ dollars (that won't go back into their pockets, that's for sure) but the dollar depreciates at the same time. Lose-lose, right? It seems like the best move is to let these pieces fall and if anything has value somebody will buy it, and if it doesn't we would have been paying all that money to fund companies that aren't worth anything and they'd only struggle again. I don't get why anybody is for that but maybe I'm missing something.
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I thought it was a draw and was quite surprised that they didn't go into extra time or sudden death penalties.
Pistols at dawn.
This election can obviously only end with a Hamilton/Burr style duel. I'd pay to see Obama and McCain have a gunfight in Weehawken, wouldn't you?
You can afford to say that Emma, sittin' up there in Toronto, all smug and having a good laugh at the Americans and their foolishness. Oh, I bet you and your compadres are having a few good belly laughs right about now. And I can't blame you. I would too, if I were you.
Well, times are hard this side of the border and they're about to get a whole lot harder. We need a real president, not a pretender/incompetent/fool. I think there might be a decent one among these two, but I'm not sure and I know there's only one way to find out.
So a gun battle? No ma'am. Not just now. But paintball? Hell yeah. That would be awesome. I'd even agree to rubber bullets, with the appropriate eyewear being worn, because I have a strong hunch that McCain is the better shot.
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Canadians are silly.
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Andy is the king of the terse post.
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Tell me if I'm crazy, or if this is a possible October Surprise scenario. The bailout/rescue bill died. The market responds negatively, even malevolently. This course of events continues for a few days. Blame is assigned by congressional Republicans to their Democratic colleagues and vice versa.
Congressional Republicans fashion a new package, sufficiently similar to the last one, feign dissatisfaction yet manage in the process to obtain substantial Democratic support. John McCain rides into Washington and pretends to summon substantial Republican support after Democratic votes on the new package are tallied, and the bill is passed. The president signs it, and he and Republican congressional leaders commend him with the strongest possible praise for saving the day. This tips the election in McCain's favor at the last minute. The Democrats and Obama have been faked out and wrest defeat from the jaws of victory. Implausible?
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now you're thinking in the right direction. the US Political System is the new WWF.
(http://www.guresmania.net/pics/duggan/04.jpg)
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Some guy from Texas complained that the bill puts us on the "slippery slope" toward socialism. But I like socialism. Socialism would be great. I think it just accentuates how all us little folk are just becoming peasants in a weak-but-tyrannical Christian fascist state whose shots are actually gonna be called by a centralized corporate oligarchy that runs the entire world. That, or China is gonna have our ass. Either way.
I guess the election is starting to get me riled up after all.
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October Surprise: Bristol Palin's Shotgun Wedding! Everyone loves a wedding, right?
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Socialism rocks. It'd be like living in Sweden, only warmer.
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The Swedish bailout of 1992, which worked like a charm and arguably more than paid for itself, isn't too far from what just got voted down. I'm as wary as socializing risk and privatizing gain as the next guy, but I'd be careful just automatically assuming that bailouts are always bad. A lot of the rhetoric around this is very "cut off my nose to spite my face"-y, but I don't think it's worth having a depression just to prove a point or to teach fat cats a lesson.
Now what'll happen is that a much more left wing bill will pass, without the republicans even needed but with more support from leftier Ds. In other words the Republicans who voted against the bill have ensured what is a worse outcome according to their principals in order to score some political points by being able to claim they opposed something which was unpopular. Ah, democracy.
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neither side has any principals.
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now you're thinking in the right direction. the US Political System is the new WWF.
(http://www.guresmania.net/pics/duggan/04.jpg)
is that Sarah Palin's husband?
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I agree with your first paragraph yesno, but I'm not sure about the second. There's a lot of misinformation circulating about this, but also a great deal of fair skepticism about the ability to sell assets and recoup their value at some future point. I believe it's not only possible but likely, and probably possible at a substantial profit. That's how the bill needed to be sold in my opinion, but apparently few were willing to stick their necks out that far, leaving the "bailing out Wall Street" theme the more prominent one, and the "corporate socialism" crowd apparently crowed loudly enough to swing the bill in what was, I believe, the wrong direction.
As for the Democrats' ability to pass a different rescue bill on their own, I'd need lots of persuading that that could happen a month away from house elections. It would also have to be signed by The Moron In The White House.
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now you're thinking in the right direction. the US Political System is the new WWF.
(http://www.guresmania.net/pics/duggan/04.jpg)
is that Sarah Palin's husband?
Unlikely, I hear he's a separatist.
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but I don't think it's worth having a depression just to prove a point or to teach fat cats a lesson.
Do you really think we would have a depression though? I don't. These are businesses that sucked at what they do and failed. There's still some worth in them so let other businesses who are good at what they do buy them and if they don't want to it means the failed businesses were worthless anyway. Throwing a trillion dollars at failed businesses seems like a horrific idea especially when it's not just the trillion, it's also our dollar looking worse off than before, something I didn't think was possible. I'm just glad I don't own anything or have any kind of savings.
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The collapse of short term credit markets and pension funds etc would be bad for a lot of innocent people and honest businesses, but I agree that "depression" is probably overstated.
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We understand the function of the central bank a lot better than we did in the 1930s, and our economy has corrective mechanisms (e.g. unemployment compensation, the tax system) that either didn't exist then or weren't designed in a way to accommodate such a crisis. We also have a Fed Chairman whose career has centered around the study of the Great Depression, which should be worth something should the worst happen.
A depression seems very unlikely, but a long, deep, painful recession might not be.
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I can see some companies not being able to make payroll and having to lay off people. But, I think that might happen no matter what. I don't see not voting for the bailout as trying to prove a point, I see it as not wanting to throw money at a serious problem. Instead, we need to work through a recession and deal with the consequences of what's happened because if the bailout doesn't work we're right back where we were with a dollar that's worth next to nothing. Then we'll be talking depression.
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My main problem with the bailout (and I'm really not that well-versed on this, so bear with me) is that it seems to me that if the taxpayers have 700 billion dollars to throw around, then the taxpayers should be able to spend that 700 billion on themselves in the event of a really bad recession, rather than using it to bail out predatory and incompetent corporate entities that did most of the work that put them in the really bad recession.
Also, Our country has been running on these "You fuck up you die" economic principles for so long that it is uniquely and specifically offensive and insane at this historical moment in this country to be bailing out these corporations, essentially saying "There is a completely different standard for corporations then there are for the little people." This bailout may actually be the right thing to do, but, unlike Sweden, we have been living in economic conditions that are totally opposed to government intervention, and if they're going to intervene in this, then they better follow it up with, or at least start talking about, some kind of investment in social assistance down the line for people who need it.
Also, the taxpayers actually don't have 700 billion dollars to throw around, so NO.
Also (and somewhat related to what I just said) wouldn't any corporate exec worth their salt start streamlining the shit out of their corporations with or without the bailout? I mean, doesn't it stand to reason that the fear itself is enough to create the conditions we're wishing to avoid even if a bailout gets passed? And then if there's no self-correction that occurs, what's to keep this from becoming the new pattern; people get hyper-rich on speculation, taxpayers bail them out on borrowed money. That's like paying off your Visa with your Mastercard every month. How many times can we do that before our entire country is foreclosed on by all the other countries that bought all our debt?
I got a lot of questions, yesno.
I feel like this crisis ought to be the final death-knell for the insanity of Reaganomics, but my fear is that this bailout will happen and then the impulse will be to simply carry on as if nothing just happened. I can't even begin to understand what that would mean for the country.
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I just don't understand why Democrats are for the bailout. It seems so backwards and the fact that both McCain and Obama tiptoed around the bailout questions at the debate make me think they're both fine with how the economy is being run right now and don't really want to change it. Only the real Republicans are really making sense right now. I guess if somebody can tell me why every Democrat seems to think that spending 700 billion dollars to support what probably equates to the top 5 percent is a good thing, I'll listen. But as for now, it baffles me how all of the liberals are on board with this while Obama attacks McCain for taxing the middle class and not the rich... What's going on here?
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Lobbyists.
Also, in terms of core principals, it could be argued that the bailout would mean more government oversight of markets in the future, which is a totally Democrat thing.
The govt. bailing anybody (little guy OR big guy) out is more in line with Democratic core principals then Republican core principals. So Pelosi says Dems'll support the bailout only if there's stuff in their that Democrats supposedly believe in (govt. owns the deed so the govt. can create programs to help people keep their houses instead of just recycling them into the stock market or whatever the fuck is happening now). For republicans, it's not about bundling it with social programs, because they hate social programs. For them, they're actually so politically bankrupt due to the Bush Admin. getting them into this mess, and the general principal of the bailout being against their core principals, that it actually benefits them more to be obstructionist on this because distancing themselves from the Bush Admin. is literally the last thing they can do before becoming completely irrelevant. Maybe(?)
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The Republicans who are voting this down aren't Bush/McCain neo-cons. They're old guard republicans that will always vote against government bailouts. I wish those Republicans were still in the majority. I don't know if I'd vote for them but America would be in a better spot if that was the kind of Republican running the country. I know that Democrats like to throw money at problems (along with neo-cons) but still, throwing money at the rich seems to be the last thing they should be doing right now.
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I tend to agree with the sentiment of Nancy Pelosi's statement today: how has this been allowed to get this far before doing anything about it?
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Well, she's speaker of the house so where was she?
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now you're thinking in the right direction. the US Political System is the new WWF.
(http://www.guresmania.net/pics/duggan/04.jpg)
is that Sarah Palin's husband?
Unlikely, I hear he's a separatist.
I think that's her son, Genesis.
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I think the idea is that the system is being bailed out. The fact that some bad actors are saved is an unfortunate side effect. And the owners of companies that fuck up usually get little out of bailouts-- the idea is to preserve the ongoing operations of the entity, not to keep investors from going broke.
I don't think that the morality/fairness arguments coming from the left or the economic ideology arguments from the right are contributing much.
I think most Democrats support the plan because it's a good idea. It makes pragmatic sense. In my mind it's more like bailing out a company that provides essential infrastructure like an electric company. No matter how greedy, corrupt, and mismanaged the company was, nevertheless the lights can't go out. Couple that with the fact that the plan might make the government money, either directly or through increased(or higher than they otherwise would be) tax revenues down the road, it seems like a pretty good idea given the circumstances.
Republicans by and large don't support it because they think that the "market" is this independent, naturally occurring entity that exists outside of government, and all that government can ever do is interfere with it for good or ill. But contracts, rights, property, and money only exist to the extent that the government says they do, and markets always operate on a foundation of rules that are set by the political process. Which is my cumbersome way of saying that being opposed to government intervention in markets just because is silly. Why not get rid of the government intervention that is limited liability corporations? Then creditors can recoup their losses by simply suing shareholders individually. Some of them are bound to be rich.
Overall I think that government intervention to short circuit market death spirals can be a good idea. Sellers crowding the market drives prices down which in turn devalues the assets companies weren't selling, which makes them have to sell more to raise more cash, and down and down everything goes. Governments have the ability to hold onto assets until they regain a more normal value. Everything would eventually work out without the government as savvy people bought up the depressed assets and later make a killing, but the point is to avoid the hassle that attends whole sectors of the economy going bankrupt. Again, you don't want the electric company to turn out the lights even if some investor in 2 months would eventually get things back up and running.
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I don't agree with that thought at all then. If a couple companies are bringing the system down, let them falter. It might bring a painful recession, but it will be quick. What the bailout will bring is a long, mid-level recession with the dollar in the gutter when we get out and if Obama gets elected, that will be his legacy...
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yesno, I appreciate your last post. I'm inclined to agree with you because in general you seem way smarter and better informed than me. On the other hand, I just have so little faith that it will actually be worth it if executed by the particular group of assholes running this particular country at this particular moment in time.
I think the point of a lot of the outrage stuff is that they pushed for something so fast, seemingly out of nowhere, that people like me haven't even had time to figure out what the fuck is going on, and in a so-called democracy, that's very upsetting. So you need like more than a week and for something to happen that actually dramatically shits on the stock market and makes everyone mad before someone like me can actually be bothered to go and research and digest what is actually going on with the bailout thing. I think there was a panic in the way this was proposed and brought to the American people, and I think, rightfully so, that the American people are just not fucking buying it from this Administration anymore. There's just no more trust left (little bit of parroting of washington post happening right now on my part). Okay, that's all.
I guess I have to admit that I'd rather have a bailout then to have my dad never be able to retire.
The thing that fucking sucks is that in the supposed "good times" of a year ago, my dad's retirement was not entirely guaranteed then either. That's the bullshit I mean.
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From what I've learned the bailout is just a patch and a guess. If it doesn't work we're going to be in a real bad place for an extended period of time. We know what we're getting if we don't bailout... it's going to be real bad for a little bit, but we get the chance to clean things up and when we get out of it America will be better off. I'd rather take a near certainty than a gamble when it comes to this because I don't think anything is going to change if the bailout happens. Our country should be doing a lot better than it is but it's not because we keep patching things so we can live above our means. I think to get out of Reaganomics you have to let it implode on itself to make people realize this system hasn't worked for years. We can keep saying we need to do this first, we need to let these people retire first, some people need to get paid first. But, it's not going to change until we come to the realization that our economy sucks, stop patching it up and take the necessary steps to fix it.
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
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Trickle down economics...
it's all based on hating black people.
It's crazy how deep the hate goes, and they were the ones wronged.
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I heard somebody yesterday (I think it was Robert Scheer) mention that fat cats will argue 364 days a year about the need for de-regulation and the importance of "letting the market work", but on that 1 other day, when they've destroyed the market, they want to be pulled into your boat, arguing that otherwise, America's economy will collapse.
It's as if your neighbors came over to your house with pick-axes and begin to beat away at the base of your house, telling you after 3 or 4 days that you'd better pay them to prevent further damage to your home, when what you really should do is just shoot the bastards.
Only 1 billion dollars worth of mortgages fall per day; 700 billion would float failing home-owners, who were welcomed into loans they could not handle, every day for 2 years. And since every dollar injected into the economy is supposedly worth seven dollars by the time it's changed hands throughout its life cycle, that path would inject the equivalent of 7 billion a day into the economy every single day.
Or we could give it all to Pat Paulson.
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Yeah, if Trig had been female, the name they picked was Sussudio.
now you're thinking in the right direction. the US Political System is the new WWF.
(http://www.guresmania.net/pics/duggan/04.jpg)
is that Sarah Palin's husband?
Unlikely, I hear he's a separatist.
I think that's her son, Genesis.
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Now that Drudge's headline is not red I no longer think the issue is urgent.
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Yeah, if Trig had been female, the name they picked was Sussudio.
now you're thinking in the right direction. the US Political System is the new WWF.
(http://www.guresmania.net/pics/duggan/04.jpg)
is that Sarah Palin's husband?
Unlikely, I hear he's a separatist.
I think that's her son, Genesis.
Isn't this one of the Geico cavemen?
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Trickle down economics...
it's all based on hating black people.
It's crazy how deep the hate goes, and they were the ones wronged.
You're not actually voting in this election, are you?
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You can afford to say that Emma, sittin' up there in Toronto, all smug and having a good laugh at the Americans and their foolishness. Oh, I bet you and your compadres are having a few good belly laughs right about now. And I can't blame you. I would too, if I were you.
Well, times are hard this side of the border and they're about to get a whole lot harder.
I'd say most Canadians are just about as worried about the U.S. elections as U.S. citizens are. We depend on you, and we like you, so we take it all pretty personally.
Plus, we're embroiled in our own nasty little election, and up here, the good guys have about ZERO chance of winning. Our Prime Minister is a G.W.B. Jr., and he's in the process of solidifying his power here. So that pretty much sucks.
BUT, at least hoagies are finally getting their due in election coverage:
CHEESESTEAKS, PAKISTAN AND DEBATES
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Palin ventured out for cheesesteaks Saturday night, taking a break from her debate prep to get the city's specialty sandwich, wit whiz.
Palin went to Tony Luke's in South Philly, bypassing two better known establishments: Pat's, where John Kerry asked for a cheesesteak with provolone in 2004, and Geno's, which has run afoul of local groups for a sign on its exterior demanding patrons order in English.
Palin ordered a cheesesteak for herself and daughter Willow, with Cheez Whiz and fried onions. She told a pool reporter she watched Friday's debate.
“McCain did awesome," she said. "He was great. He was absolutely on his game.”
She also said she was excited for her debate with Biden on Thursday.
“Look forward to it," she said. "Look forward to getting to speak to Americans through that debate, absolutely.”
Palin spoke to one patron's friend on his cell phone, and answered a couple of questions on Pakistan from another. Michael Rovito asked her specifically whether U.S. forces should cross the border from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
“If that’s what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," she said.
[...]
On Pakistan, McCain had to answer for them on ABC’s This Week. "This business of, in all due respect, people going around and -- with sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's -- that's a person's position, this is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitive policy statement made by Governor Palin,” McCain said. “And I would hope you wouldn't, either."
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/28/1462079.aspx
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It might bring a painful recession, but it will be quick. What the bailout will bring is a long, mid-level recession with the dollar in the gutter when we get out and if Obama gets elected, that will be his legacy...
On what basis do you claim that the recession will be "quick?"
And one what basis do you claim that the bailout will bring a "long, mid-level recession?"
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BUT, at least hoagies are finally getting their due in election coverage:
Including the time when John Kerry ordered his Cheesesteak with Swiss Cheese, Hoagies and Steaks have always been a factor in politics in The Birthplace of America:
(http://www.extrememortman.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Kerry%20cheesesteak.jpg) (http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/images/2008/04/22/cheesteak.jpg) (http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0005bMI3OV6lQ/610x.jpg)
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Pelosi's speech (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4852384.ece) seemed to have had more impact than originally thought:
It was perhaps the costliest ad lib in political history, 90 seconds of ill-judged, ill-timed bile that helped to kill off any hope of consensus on Capitol Hill.
That was the charge against Nancy Pelosi after Congress’s rejection of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan yesterday, a rejection that Republicans blamed directly on her aggressive and overtly partisan speech shortly before the vote.
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Isn't that just partisan nonsense? The content of her speech wasn't terribly controversial. The Republicans are just trying to blame the Dems for this mess. Weak.
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Wait wait wait... a political party blaming another political party!? I am shocked and appalled!
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Are you nuts? They'd never let us in.
Lucky.
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(http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/images/2008/04/22/cheesteak.jpg)
Caption: Alright, get your picture folks. Because you KNOW I'm not gonna eat this disgusting thing. You're aware that I have 0% body fat, right?
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(http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/images/2008/04/22/cheesteak.jpg)
looks like a ringing endorsement for Philly Boy Roy if you ask me.
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Eh, no thanks. I already have an IKEA by my house.
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It might bring a painful recession, but it will be quick. What the bailout will bring is a long, mid-level recession with the dollar in the gutter when we get out and if Obama gets elected, that will be his legacy...
On what basis do you claim that the recession will be "quick?"
And one what basis do you claim that the bailout will bring a "long, mid-level recession?"
That's just what I've been reading man. I have no basis but it makes sense to me. Letting them fall will bring upon quick change to bring us out of a painful recession. Bailing them out is business as usual, a patch if you will, to keep operating like we are right now (which already can be called a recession) but with 700 billion dollars to account for. Option #1 will hurt everybody for a short period of time until the economy gets fixed, option #2 hurts middle class Americans for a long period of time even though the economy has been patched. I guess where you stand on the bailout all depends on how much you believe in the current system and I think both Democrats and Neo-Cons have a strong belief that the current system works.
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You can afford to say that Emma, sittin' up there in Toronto, all smug and having a good laugh at the Americans and their foolishness. Oh, I bet you and your compadres are having a few good belly laughs right about now. And I can't blame you. I would too, if I were you.
Well, times are hard this side of the border and they're about to get a whole lot harder.
I'd say most Canadians are just about as worried about the U.S. elections as U.S. citizens are. We depend on you, and we like you, so we take it all pretty personally.
Plus, we're embroiled in our own nasty little election, and up here, the good guys have about ZERO chance of winning. Our Prime Minister is a G.W.B. Jr., and he's in the process of solidifying his power here. So that pretty much sucks.
We love you too Bryan. And we're really gratified that you still, somehow, don't hate us like the rest of the world does.
We've heard about the Canadian election, but in typical American self-absorbed fashion, there isn't much mention of it in the US media, is there? Or am I failing to read things I should? I learned more about the election in a two-day visit to Canada than I possibly could have by staying at home.
Who says the world is getting smaller? I say it's getting lazier and stupider.
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Eh, no thanks. I already have an IKEA by my house.
When I was in New York in April, some people I met were thrilled that I was from Sweden. "We love IKEA!" they said. And then they asked, "Do you have IKEA in Sweden?"
TRUE STORY
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Hey bailout fans, check out Paul Krugman's comment on the NY Times site today. You might have to read it a couple of times to get it to stick like I did, but it goes a long way to understanding what the government is really proposing to do. It's not so much a matter of making a big gift to Wall Street firms and commercial banks (although that might happen in effect, it's not the objective). He argues that it's not even a matter of getting foreigners to buy US treasuries -- I get what he means, but I'm not sure it's quite that easy.
If everyone in America read this, I'm sure they'd be confused as hell, but at least we'd stop with the nonsense about this bailout being socialism.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/where-will-the-money-come-from/ (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/where-will-the-money-come-from/)
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Eh, no thanks. I already have an IKEA by my house.
When I was in New York in April, some people I met were thrilled that I was from Sweden. "We love IKEA!" they said. And then they asked, "Do you have IKEA in Sweden?"
TRUE STORY
I need closure on that anecdote.
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I kind of wish he would ask why the Democrat's are backing this plan but Michael Moore despises the bailout as well.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=235 (http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=235)
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I kind of wish he would ask why the Democrat's are backing this plan but Michael Moore despises the bailout as well.
I couldn't make it through the overheated hyperbole of just his first paragraph... I'm sorry, I'm sure there are good points hiding in there.
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so in the NYT example, what happens if the insitutions that are issued the bonds in exchange for equity continue to go about business as usual? Nothing changes, right? Except that now the US govt owns a piece of the shitty companies and the bonds eventually get sold to make their balance sheets look better at some future date? And if the companies do well, what is the likelihood that the taxpayers actually share in the good fortune of the company/govt (and I'm talking about the people who pay their taxes and their mortgages, not the people who cannot pay their ridiculous ARM's)
In that scenario, what's the end game for the govt? When do they disconnect themselves from the scenario? Why should we think that interjecting our inefficient govt into these companies will make them run any better/more efficiently? Or are we just turning the money over and letting the industry that got us into this mess keep running wild?
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Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.
Way to go out on a limb, there.
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I was just putting it out there, I'm not a huge fan of the guy. It's just weird that he's the first liberal I've heard (that isn't an average citizen) who thinks this bailout is a load of crap. I think he's right that once again the Dems are getting played by fear and confusion.
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I agree. I think what he's saying is right, but I also think he's piggy backing his other causes (which is obviously his right, it's his blog)
I heard the bailout wouldn't have been needed if GM had stayed in Flint Michigan.
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Eh, no thanks. I already have an IKEA by my house.
When I was in New York in April, some people I met were thrilled that I was from Sweden. "We love IKEA!" they said. And then they asked, "Do you have IKEA in Sweden?"
TRUE STORY
Well, do you?
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I was just putting it out there, I'm not a huge fan of the guy. It's just weird that he's the first liberal I've heard (that isn't an average citizen) who thinks this bailout is a load of crap. I think he's right that once again the Dems are getting played by fear and confusion.
You're referring to Michael Moore, right?
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Eh, no thanks. I already have an IKEA by my house.
When I was in New York in April, some people I met were thrilled that I was from Sweden. "We love IKEA!" they said. And then they asked, "Do you have IKEA in Sweden?"
TRUE STORY
I need closure on that anecdote.
Yes, we do have IKEA warehouses in Sweden.
The same people asked me whether we had any farms in Sweden. (Yes.)
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Bottom line: Sweden! Sweden! Sweden!
Right?
Eh, no thanks. I already have an IKEA by my house.
When I was in New York in April, some people I met were thrilled that I was from Sweden. "We love IKEA!" they said. And then they asked, "Do you have IKEA in Sweden?"
TRUE STORY
I need closure on that anecdote.
Yes, we do have IKEA warehouses in Sweden.
The same people asked me whether we had any farms in Sweden. (Yes.)
Running water? Electricity? We just got it out here a few months back. Junior keeps sticking his finger in the socket.
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If anyone else is like me, and finds that obsessive trawling for election analysis is eating up their time, this is a pretty great site:
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
It provides a daily round-up of polls, news and analysis. Get it all in 10 minutes!
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Hey Gilly, I offered up a sort of answer to your bailout question here:
http://jasongrote.blogspot.com/2008/10/quick-and-dirty-bailout-thoughts.html
I'll spare everyone the copy-and-paste. It's longish.
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Why can't we regulate AND get rid of failures? This bill should be all about regulation, not how much money taxpayers are going to have to give Wall Street. Wall Street will pick itself up without the taxpayers help, and with regulation this won't happen again. Also, throwing 700 billion into failed companies and then trying to tackle housing and health care isn't going to work nor should those two issues be tacked on to an already complicated bill. Health care is such a delicate issue, and while I'm without it and wishing there were a cost effective way for me to get it, I don't know if forcing American families to pay around 600 dollars in taxes every month to get health care is right. I like that Obama has health care as a top priority but it needs to be well thought out and debated heavily so it doesn't hurt Americans more than help them. It definitely should be completely isolated from a bailout bill even as a negotiation tool. Maybe, you just meant that once this is done, the average American citizen needs to be first and foremost on the priority list in DC. If that's the case, I agree with that. You make some great points about the inner-workings of it all and where both sides lie, but relief isn't going to come anytime soon if we bail them out.
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I think the issue is far greater than a few bad apples, Gilly. I won't pretend to understand all the details, but it's more about making sure that there's credit available for the economy in general to expand. It's not like we can just let a few asshole corporations die out and the good ones will survive, and the rest of the economy will be the better for it. It's more like, no one anywhere can get significant credit and no one can start small businesses or make large purchases (like cars and houses) and even big corporations can't finance their operations effectively. Farmers (the family kind and the factory kind) can't buy the following year's seeds and such. Eventually the fallout hits everybody, there are mass layoffs and senseless shortages and so on. It won't be as bad as the Great Depression because, even through all the deregulation mania from Carter to Bush2, we still have some kind of safety net. But it will still be pretty bad.
Believe me, I hate these corporate fucks more than anyone, but capitalism didn't exist in its current form until there was credit. Once it ceases to become available, the economy starts to contract, and then we're screwed. Again, I don't know how exactly it works, but it's more or less what's happened in the past.
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Im sorry, I have to add some humor to this thread.
Former best show fill in Sam Seder and Marc Maron have a funny live video show at Air America. The station they were both fired from!
Lots of informative banter about the bailout and some hate for Dane Cook.
1st episode
http://blip.tv/play/AdDDa4+_JA (http://blip.tv/play/AdDDa4+_JA)
www.mvslive.com (http://www.mvslive.com)
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Here's some GREAT humor. Seriously, you can't make this shit up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBt0r9Exv2I
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Why did John change the name of this thread?
Oh, and here's some humor:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=67077201&blogID=437317010&Mytoken=B1440D2C-7863-4
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Why did John change the name of this thread?
It's a tribute to Josh. I don't like it as much as the original title, though. Maybe I'll change it back.
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Why did John change the name of this thread?
Oh, and here's some humor:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=67077201&blogID=437317010&Mytoken=B1440D2C-7863-4
I love how Patton's missive is repeated in its entirety on five separate pages.
The new title of this thread is good, since there needs to also be a humorous politics thread. I think it should be called "Humorful politics thread." And we should make it have lots of laffs, contributed by us all and that it should show our tremendous diversity as a community of Friends of Tom members, since I mean we all do come from different states and countries and different walks of life. You know, we don't all think the same things about everything and what's great about that is that you know, we can have different ways of thinking that we can express in our humor, which should make our humor a lot more funny. It can be serious sometimes, and funny on other occasions. We definitely shouldn't be humorless all the time, we should be more humorful sometimes too. But when we talk about serious things, we can mix in humor and vice versa. Dammit, I still have to go to the store to get some stuff I forgot to get. But anyway, we should try that in the future soon.
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Why did John change the name of this thread?
Oh, and here's some humor:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=67077201&blogID=437317010&Mytoken=B1440D2C-7863-4
I love how Patton's missive is repeated in its entirety on five separate pages.
The new title of this thread is good, since there needs to also be a humorous politics thread. I think it should be called "Humorful politics thread." And we should make it have lots of laffs, contributed by us all and that it should show our tremendous diversity as a community of Friends of Tom members, since I mean we all do come from different states and countries and different walks of life. You know, we don't all think the same things about everything and what's great about that is that you know, we can have different ways of thinking that we can express in our humor, which should make our humor a lot more funny. It can be serious sometimes, and funny on other occasions. We definitely shouldn't be humorless all the time, we should be more humorful sometimes too. But when we talk about serious things, we can mix in humor and vice versa. Dammit, I still have to go to the store to get some stuff I forgot to get. But anyway, we should try that in the future soon.
I strongly disagree!!!
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SPOILERS FOR TONIGHT
Biden makes several sensible unplagiarised points
Palin does a gee shucks downhome ain't we just the experienced party bit + a horrendously forced/scripted putdown which goes over well; Biden attacks back, falls on face.
Papers tomorrow scrap all debate over hottest broad ever and declare Palin the thinkin', drinkin' and workin' man's bit of crumpet.
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Debate is minutes away!
Bible Spice!
Bible Spice!
Bible Spice!
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New Yorkers, how do you feel about Mayor Bloomberg's trying to change the law governing term limits?
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Mixed, to say the least. He's turned out to be quite a competent mayor. I never dreamed that I'd be saying that I'm glad he was elected and re-elected, as someone who voted against him twice.
However, there are strong arguments both for and against term limits. I've come to think that Bloomberg himself is kind of a one-man argument against them, given his record as a two-term mayor and despite his past support for them. Part of me thinks that the commitment that's been made to them in this city shouldn't be sacrificed for the political expediency of allowing Bloomberg to run once again for mayor. Another part of me thinks that bad times are ahead, and he's exactly the man for the job once again, and that no one else could function as capably as he could in the role of mayor. (Another part of me wishes that if we were to be stuck with a McCain presidency, that Michael Bloomberg were going to be his No. 2, but that would probably just open up a can of worms.)
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I don't know anything about Bloomberg, but if I were living in NYC I'd be scared.
RANT: A so-called body language expert just appeared on MSNBC. When asked to analyze Biden's b.l. when he choked up during the debate while he was talking about the death of his wife and daughter and the injuries of his sons, all he could talk about was how by keeping controlling his emotions Biden lost a chance to "connect" with the viewers. Talking about Palin during one of her many maverick maunderings, the "expert" noted how sincere she was when she wrinkled her nose ("that's what mavericks do--it shows that they think something literally stinks" [I paraphrase]) and frowned (to show she was angry!). And here I was finding Palin's every expression and gesture fake, consciously intended to manipulate and deceive and impressed by Biden's dignity and self-control when he refused to pander by breaking down when alluding to the damage to his family. How could I have been so wrong?
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Yeah, well fuck that guy.
I can't believe how people thought Palin looked "real" and "sincere". She looked like a goddarn' robot, and spoke like one too. (That's what I meant with my Uncanny Valley comment in some other thread, though I suspect it didn't come through.)
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("that's what mavericks do--it shows that they think something literally stinks" [I paraphrase])
Translation: As a so-called expert, MSNBC paid me to say stuff that sounds like it makes sense. The maverick->stuff stinks explanation will resonate with people who make loose associations and don't think very carefully about the stuff they read. A win/win!
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Palin is a walking pile of signifiers. She is not a human being.
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Yeah, well fuck that guy.
I can't believe how people thought Palin looked "real" and "sincere". She looked like a goddarn' robot, and spoke like one too. (That's what I meant with my Uncanny Valley comment in some other thread, though I suspect it didn't come through.)
there are as many people out there in the US who have a hard time admitting that republicans can do anything wrong as there are people on this board who have a hard time admitting that they can ever do anything right. there's as much unconditional love for them in the US as there is unconditional hate here.
I hate both sides equally.
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The thing is, Andy, my hatred and fear of Sarah Palin are much more fierce than what's usual for me. The way people respond to her so-called folksiness reminds me way too much of how they fell for Reagan, and if anything I think Palin--if it were ever necessary to take her truly seriously--would be more dangerous than he was. I think she's ruthless, and that combined with her extreme religious beliefs scares the bejesus out of me.
Dagnabit.
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I don't see the ruthlessness, but maybe I'm missing something. I see her as the annoying, gossipy ladies at my church who have nothing better to do than get involved in church politics even though they're just rattling off everything their husband tells them without a mind of their own.
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I can acknowledge when the more libertarian-leaning Republicans promote specific ideas I agree with (marijuana decriminalization, more open borders). I think the problem now is that those guys are way, way outweighed by the Palin types, and there are just as many if not more Democrats who also hold the same views.
Gilly, what I see in Palin is an especially fierce know-nothingism. A jock-like disdain for nerds who actually care about policies and facts and nuance. We're not electing the professor in chief but that attitude scares me.
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I think she's ruthless, and that combined with her extreme religious beliefs
I've heard bits about her former church and former pastor, but still not clear on what qualifies as her own 'religious extremism'. She said this in a recent interview (http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/0c03d39e-df44-41fc-af7d-f2f9a7f56b68):
HH: Do you think the mainstream media and the left understands your religious faith, Governor Palin?
SP: I think that there’s a lot of mocking of my personal faith, and my personal faith is very, very simple. I don’t belong to any church. I do have a strong belief in God, and I believe that I’m a heck of a lot better off putting my life in God’s hands, and saying hey, you know, guide me. What else do we have but guidance that we would seek from a Creator? That’s about as simple as it gets with my faith, and I think that there is a lot of mocking of that. And you know, so bet it, though I do have respect for those who have differing views than I do on faith, on religion. I’m not going to mock them, and I would hope that they would kind of I guess give me the same courtesy through this of not mocking a person’s faith, but maybe perhaps even trying to understand a little bit of it.
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just so that its clear, I hate, hate, hate palin.
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I thought a lot of Palin's faux-folksy charm rubbed off when, after Biden almost broke down when describing his wife's death and child's injury, she merely plowed right back into her "McCain will provide change" talking points. Not very neighborly, that.
I know a lot of folks don't like Keith Olbermann, but I saw an interesting bit on his show last night where he attempted to connect the McCain/Palin campaign with some of the stuff Bush did in 2000, like talking about trying to reform government, "reaching across the aisle," and showing a photo/poster of Bush (standing alongside Giuliani) with the words "A reformer with results" in the background. etc. He even found a clip of Bush identifying himself as a "Washington outsider." I just hope people know about/remember this when the McCain campaign is spewing their "maverick" and "reformer" nonsense.
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I don't see the ruthlessness, but maybe I'm missing something. I see her as the annoying, gossipy ladies at my church who have nothing better to do than get involved in church politics even though they're just rattling off everything their husband tells them without a mind of their own.
Argh! AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!
Read about her actual political career.
Also, your impression of her, though pretty sexist, would still suggest a horrible and scary person to have running the country.
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Do you think I'm voting McCain/Palin JJ? No. You don't need to convince me of anything. There was nothing sexist about what I said either, that's exactly who she is right now. I think you need to chill out.
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I don't see the ruthlessness, but maybe I'm missing something.
Gilly, what I see in Palin is an especially fierce know-nothingism. A jock-like disdain for nerds who actually care about policies and facts and nuance. We're not electing the professor in chief but that attitude scares me.
What I sense in her is the ruthlessness possessed by people with an unshakable belief in their correctness, despite mountains and mountains of evidence to the contrary. A characteristic she shares with our current president.
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I can acknowledge when the more libertarian-leaning Republicans promote specific ideas I agree with (marijuana decriminalization, more open borders). I think the problem now is that those guys are way, way outweighed by the Palin types, and there are just as many if not more Democrats who also hold the same views.
Gilly, what I see in Palin is an especially fierce know-nothingism. A jock-like disdain for nerds who actually care about policies and facts and nuance. We're not electing the professor in chief but that attitude scares me.
This sums it up for me pretty well too, yesno. In addition to agreeing with libertarian-minded Republicans, I've also supported moderate or liberal Republicans in the past, where the Democrat who was running was basically corrupt or incompetent (e.g., Marion Barry, an Ohio Attorney General whose name escapes me now). Or in instances where a Republican was really more of a competent technocrat than a conservative -- e.g. Mike Bloomberg, who was a registered Republican until earlier this year, when he registered as an independent.
The problem with Republicans for me has become their commitment to far-right ideology 24/7, disavowing the Republican moderates in their midst, and particularly the dominance of the party by social conservatives. Oh, and their efforts to make the tax structure more regressive. I can't say I'm so thrilled with Democrats all the time that I'd never support Republican candidates in the future with more moderate positions.
Don't get me started on Palin. It's already been said above in this thread anyway, and more eloquently. And there's an old Jacques Tati movie on. A perfect antedote to the humorless politics thread.
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Libertarians make me angry, but that Penn Jillette is one mighty talented magician and ballroom dancer, so I'm on the fence.
Much more important to me is the fact that mutant former-moderator Jason and I have a $100 bet on this election!
I can't wait to take his dumb bald money.
I plan to either donate my winnings to a charity of Lauries's choice, or put it towards that psychological evaluation FOTchan still wishes for me.
Either way, things are looking up!
U-S-A! U-S-A!
(http://www.highimpactwrestling.com/Hacksaw%20Jim%20Duggan%20website%20pic.jpg)
-Dorvid (the real one, not Jason or Regular Joe posting on Fotchan under my former username. Screw you both!)
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-Dorvid (the real one, not Jason or Regular Joe posting on Fotchan under my former username. Screw you both!)
I've never done that, and therefore patently reject your screwing! I do nothing but defend all of you. ALL OF YOU! If it wasn't for me and me alone, every thread on the excellent www.fotchan.com website would be a complete consensus of mutant hatred. Yet, I'll defend them too!
I say welcome back, wild-man. You never should have left!
(http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1364/junkyarddogkk6.jpg)
PS: The thing I agree with most on this thread is "Palin is a walking pile of signifiers. She is not a human being", but I believe that applies to the entire ticket. McCain lost his appeal before he even began, and Palin is just the hand model paid to distract people from a lotion that when rubbed into their hands gives them the cancer.
- Joe 6-Pack
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Do you think I'm voting McCain/Palin JJ? No. You don't need to convince me of anything. There was nothing sexist about what I said either, that's exactly who she is right now. I think you need to chill out.
JJ was "ARRRGGGHH"ing because you said you don't see the ruthlessness. Some of the shit she did while rising the ranks in Alaska was pretty cutthroat, and I believe that is what he was referring to.
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I don't see the ruthlessness, but maybe I'm missing something. I see her as the annoying, gossipy ladies at my church who have nothing better to do than get involved in church politics even though they're just rattling off everything their husband tells them without a mind of their own.
Say amen, somebody!
I am right there with you, Gilly. My own church has dozens of this exact woman.
How do I get my wife to be this way? All that independent thinking of hers is a real bee in my bonnet.
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So men wear bonnets down there in Knoxvul? Y'all are setting some fashion trends!
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One last (probably) comment on the VP debate: Both candidates and the moderator all mangled the English language to the point where it was sometimes hard to figure out what the hell they were trying to say. I don't expect spoken English to be perfect, but the speech of these three was at times garbled beyond the point of decoding. Back when I edited bad books, I used to say I sometimes had to lay my hands on the page (yup, this was in the olden days, when one put pencil to paper to edit) and divine what the author was trying to say. The VP debate often required similar leaps in intuition.
P.S. Don't ask me for specific examples, because I didn't write any of them down while I was watching. I just know I spent much of the hour and a half spluttering over the misuse of language.
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Do you think I'm voting McCain/Palin JJ? No. You don't need to convince me of anything. There was nothing sexist about what I said either, that's exactly who she is right now. I think you need to chill out.
I stand by what I said, but I probably didn't need to scream-type. I apologize for that.
Sarah, --that's a good point. At times they seemed to say, like, the opposite of what they actually meant, but everyone sort of agreed that they understood, more or less, what the other person was saying. Should make for interesting out-of-context quotes down the line.
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Do you think I'm voting McCain/Palin JJ? No. You don't need to convince me of anything. There was nothing sexist about what I said either, that's exactly who she is right now. I think you need to chill out.
JJ was "ARRRGGGHH"ing because you said you don't see the ruthlessness. Some of the shit she did while rising the ranks in Alaska was pretty cutthroat, and I believe that is what he was referring to.
As a Chicago-based politician, Obama is certainly guilty of his own share of cutthroat rising in the ranks. There's such a rich history of corruption in the state on both sides that part of me can never totally trust him. Of course corruption is pretty much a given with politics anyways, so I don't know what I'm worried about.
All that being said, I'd rather have someone who's only had a few years to be corrupted than decades.
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Totally trusting a politician? Is that even possible?
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Possible, but not recommended.
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Totally trusting a politician? Is that even possible for anyone with a minimum of intelligence and sense?
Fixed.
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Totally trusting a politician? Is that even possible for anyone with a minimum of intelligence and sense?
Fixed.
What I meant by "trust" was the way that a lot of hardcore Obama supporters (at least the ones I know) think he's going to sweep into the White House and everything is instantly going to be fixed, when obviously it's just not that simple.
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I've probably said this before, but I think Obama supporters' blind trust is being overestimated. I hear people complaining about how he's a charismatic cult figure much more than I see people regarding him that way. Even the most excessively fervent Obama supporters I know will readily admit that they don't love everything about him or expect him to behave in a way radically different from any politician.
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The people declaring Obama a cult figure are the same media jerks who oozed "tonight was Sarah Palin's night!!" after the debate she clearly lost. They live primarily to sensationalize stuff.
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I've probably said this before, but I think Obama supporters' blind trust is being overestimated. I hear people complaining about how he's a charismatic cult figure much more than I see people regarding him that way. Even the most excessively fervent Obama supporters I know will readily admit that they don't love everything about him or expect him to behave in a way radically different from any politician.
I'd agree that Fox News is certainly pushing the blind faith aspect way too hard but I do have several very politically active friends whose support approaches those levels. I will say that it seems to have dipped slightly since the end of the primaries.
Either way, November can't come soon enough.
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She's now (mis) quoting Starbucks cups to try and gain the support of female voters.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/palin-misquotes-albright_n_131967.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/palin-misquotes-albright_n_131967.html)
(http://ideiasemdesalinho.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/Embarrassed%20chimpanzee_Tim%20Davis.jpg)
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This lady is a mega bitch.
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I heard her say something this morning along the lines of "I'm glad that I'm providing work for Tina Fey". Yes, the rise of Sarah Palin has lifted Emmy-winner Tina Fey from the depths of obscurity.
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I heard her say something this morning along the lines of "I'm glad that I'm providing work for Tina Fey". Yes, the rise of Sarah Palin has lifted Emmy-winner Tina Fey from the depths of obscurity.
Not only that, but they may actually be looking to "spoof" Tina Fey now (http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1203739,CST-FTR-fey05.article) (David Zucker-style?). Who says she holds grudges?
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I heard her say something this morning along the lines of "I'm glad that I'm providing work for Tina Fey". Yes, the rise of Sarah Palin has lifted Emmy-winner Tina Fey from the depths of obscurity.
Not only that, but they may actually be looking to "spoof" Tina Fey now (http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1203739,CST-FTR-fey05.article) (David Zucker-style?). Who says she holds grudges?
Ugh. Real-life politicians joking around with the people spoofing them is right up there with spoofs of Napolean Dynamite in my "Book of Worst Things".
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I heard her say something this morning along the lines of "I'm glad that I'm providing work for Tina Fey". Yes, the rise of Sarah Palin has lifted Emmy-winner Tina Fey from the depths of obscurity.
You see, being a Mayor is sort of like being the head writer on a TV show, except that you have actual responsiblilities.
Not only that, but they may actually be looking to "spoof" Tina Fey now (http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1203739,CST-FTR-fey05.article) (David Zucker-style?). Who says she holds grudges?
It's looking more and more likely that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will appear on ''Saturday Night Live'' -- to have some fun with Tina Fey.
Please don't do that, SNL. The only thing that could redeem that scenario is Tina punching Sarah in the face.
The first skit (Tina & Amy as Sarah & Hillary) was brilliant ... but SNL does have a tendency to take a good thing, run it into the ground ...
... and then continue to burrow into the dirt until it's six feet under
... and then continue to burrow further, and fuhthuh, and fuhthuh.
(Hey Mawky, do you like my use of eclipses?)
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The first skit (Tina & Amy as Sarah & Hillary) was brilliant ... but SNL does have a tendency to take a good thing, run it into the ground ...
... and then continue to burrow into the dirt until it's six feet under
... and then continue to burrow further, and fuhthuh, and fuhthuh.
I think the Palin stuff is still pretty funny. The debate sketch had a lot of good stuff in it, including the devastating line: "I believe marriage is a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers."
I can see why Palin would want to hit back, but I agree that SNL should resist having her on. It would almost surely be horrible.
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The first skit (Tina & Amy as Sarah & Hillary) was brilliant ... but SNL does have a tendency to take a good thing, run it into the ground ...
... and then continue to burrow into the dirt until it's six feet under
... and then continue to burrow further, and fuhthuh, and fuhthuh.
I think the Palin stuff is still pretty funny. The debate sketch had a lot of good stuff in it, including the devastating line: "I believe marriage is a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers."
I can see why Palin would want to hit back, but I agree that SNL should resist having her on. It would almost surely be horrible.
It might be horrible, but you know everyone would watch it. Plus it just gives the O'Reilly types more ammunition that the liberal media isn't being fair to poor little Sarah.
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It might be horrible, but you know everyone would watch it.
I'd be compelled to seek it out, in the same way Tom has a sick compulsion to see every Kevin Smith movie.
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I can see why Palin would want to hit back, but I agree that SNL should resist having her on. It would almost surely be horrible.
It would be more uncomfortable than if Nixon showed up and tried to clown around with Dan Aykroyd. I'm of course talking about Nixon now.
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Don't worry, this isn't from the Vegan (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/40/31_40_bm_palin_mockery.html).
(http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/31/40/31_40_palinbanner02_z.jpg)
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I can see why Palin would want to hit back, but I agree that SNL should resist having her on. It would almost surely be horrible.
It would be more uncomfortable than if Nixon showed up and tried to clown around with Dan Aykroyd. I'm of course talking about Nixon now.
First they'd have to revive the corpse. I'm of course talking about Dan Ackroyd.
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It might be horrible, but you know everyone would watch it.
I'd be compelled to seek it out, in the same way Tom has a sick compulsion to see every Kevin Smith movie.
Oh yeah, of course. Me too.
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SNL shouldn't ever have politicians guest on the show.
The whole little tradition of that should stop.
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Let's form a human chain around 30 Rock to prevent Palin from entering the building.
Bryan, I just watched the Tina Fey debate sketch ... you're right, that was great. The guy portraying Biden was surprisingly good ... he was wise enough to go for broad caricature rather than try and do an exact imitation. I'm glad they got somebody besides Darrell Hammond to do it.
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Yeah, I agree the guy doing Biden was really good. Darrell Hammond's impressions of politicians are actually more boring and over-studied than the actual politicians. He's in that Live From Saturday Night book talking about how he studies really hard for his impressions and it's like No Shit, I feel like I'm watching a schizophrenic's audition for Juilliard when I see your Bill Clinton. It's not funny, it's stilted and kinda scary.
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It is true what you say.
This is quite possibly the worst of all things:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyYi_l9MfmM
I heard her say something this morning along the lines of "I'm glad that I'm providing work for Tina Fey". Yes, the rise of Sarah Palin has lifted Emmy-winner Tina Fey from the depths of obscurity.
Not only that, but they may actually be looking to "spoof" Tina Fey now (http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1203739,CST-FTR-fey05.article) (David Zucker-style?). Who says she holds grudges?
Ugh. Real-life politicians joking around with the people spoofing them is right up there with spoofs of Napolean Dynamite in my "Book of Worst Things".
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This is pretty scary:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_4zij8[/youtube]
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who are "they"?
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Speaking of the Biden impression, what does Armisen need to do to improve his Obama? Because his current take on it is pretty awful.
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Our choice tonight is between the show and the debate. Which will you choose?
I'm listening to the Best Show.
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Our choice tonight is between the show and the debate. Which will you choose?
I'm listening to the Best Show.
I'm hoping for a running commentary by Spike.
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Our choice tonight is between the show and the debate. Which will you choose?
I'm listening to the Best Show.
If it were a regular debate, then the debate. But a "town hall"? Best Show by a mile.
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Our country is at war, the financial markets are crashing, and this is possibly the most important election of my life thus far.
I'm choosing the debate.
(How's that for humorless?)
Also, read this: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Vote2008/story?id=5963751&page=1
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I'll be forgoing all but the last half hour of the show, but only because otherwise I'd have to listen to the debate afterward in order to be able to participate properly in the backseat punditry with which my sister and I fill the early morning hours.
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The problem with the debate is that it's humorless. Politics are fine, but they should be funny at all times, and lately that hasn't been happening.
I'm planning to listen to the Best Show and watch the debate with the sound turned down. That should maximize the entertainment value, while minimizing the information level.
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I don't want to give the impression that I'm not interested in the debate, but I can check it out later if the highlights that I'll see 8,000,000 times compel me. I'm pretty stressed out for all the obvious reasons and a few laughs are just what I need.
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I just can't stand the kind of cringe-inducing questions I expect at town hall style events. I do not like to cringe.
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Our country is at war, the financial markets are crashing, and this is possibly the most important election of my life thus far.
I'm choosing the debate.
(How's that for humorless?)
Also, read this: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Vote2008/story?id=5963751&page=1
are you still undecided about who you're going to vote for?
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No. But I just need to see this thing pan out. I don't really know why, but I think it's important to tune into these things.
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who are "they"?
Admittedly, I don't know this either.
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who are "they"?
Admittedly, I don't know this either.
If this in reference to my post, I was referring to the McCain campaign the shadowy consortium that controls political cameos in sketch comedy.
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Ohhh I thought it was in reference to that youtube clip I posted.
But Chris L "the man" is right about the political cameos...
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I was talking about the youtube clip.
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Chris L., how dare you inject an inappropriate note of humor into this thread. Tsk, tsk.
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Chris L., how dare you inject an inappropriate note of humor into this thread. Tsk, tsk.
EXACTLY!!!!!!
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Chris L., how dare you inject an inappropriate note of humor into this thread. Tsk, tsk.
EXACTLY!!!!!!
Sorry, but I reinvented myself as a maverick, once I saw that was becoming popular.
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Are you tryin to tell me that the heels are on and the gloves are off? Is that what you're sayin?
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Are you tryin to tell me that the heels are on and the gloves are off? Is that what you're sayin?
I'm saying I'm wearing nothing but heels. Sorry if that wasn't clear, I've only been at this for, what, five hours?
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jpeg, plz
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Chris L., how dare you inject an inappropriate note of humor into this thread. Tsk, tsk.
EXACTLY!!!!!!
Sorry, but I reinvented myself as a maverick, once I saw that was becoming popular.
I've started winking at everyone I meet. I'll let you know how it's going.
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Our choice tonight is between the show and the debate. Which will you choose?
I'm listening to the Best Show.
If it were a regular debate, then the debate. But a "town hall"? Best Show by a mile.
Not only a "town hall", but one in which any questions from "regular citizens" were provided to the candidates in advance.
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Our choice tonight is between the show and the debate. Which will you choose?
I'm listening to the Best Show.
If it were a regular debate, then the debate. But a "town hall"? Best Show by a mile.
Not only a "town hall", but one in which any questions from "regular citizens" were provided to the candidates in advance.
...via youtube. Filmed on Main Street.
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I ended up watching the debate. Sounds like I missed a good show.
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You guys, I'm writing a paper right now and I used the phrase "fundamental difference." I'm thinking about putting something else. Ugh. That, along with "Now, Look" and "My Friends" are phrases I never want to hear again after this election is over.
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I ended up watching the debate. Sounds like I missed a good show.
I watched the debate, too, and afterwards felt like I should have listened to TBS instead. There's always the podcast.
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I know why I listened to the debate now. It wasn't because we're at war and all that other stuff I said yesterday. It's just that I want to see what kind of lies McCain is telling up there... I like to see what kind of BS the candidates put out first-hand instead of via the news.
So, in short, I'm a masochist.
But I can always listen to the archive today at work and it'll undoubtedly make my day go that much faster :)
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"That One" ended up a comfortable winner. How about the whole "not shaking hands" thing at the end?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0iIOqPGak
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That was a great move. I initially thought he just pulled a Belichick there, but it was much slicker. I'm going to try that this week, when somebody goes for a handshake, I'll give that curt nod and point to someone next to me and give the "No, you're shaking that hand" signal instead. This is a handshake gamechanger.
What does he say after that? He says something, and Obama nods, acknowledging that the handshake isn't coming. 'I just sneezed'? 'I've lost all feeling in that hand'?
Watching it again, I think what he actually does is pull that move where you tap somebody's shoulder from behind on the opposite side, and when they turn to look, you go all "Nope, wasn't me!" Classic. I would have turned my approval dial through the roof on that one. I hope he does the one where you walk up behind somebody and hit your knees into the backs of their knees so they almost fall at the last debate.
Has anybody found any photos with the guy who looks like Jackie Martling with a moustache over Obama's shoulder yet?
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It was odd how Obama stuck around and chatted with some of the audience members, while McCain left fairly abruptly after the debate, and some of the audience mentioned that afterwards. It seems like something that shouldn't matter, but considering that a lot of those people will be interviewed in coming days, it's probably a lesson learned for future candidates at events like this one.
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It's just that I want to see what kind of lies McCain is telling up there...
Don't hold me to this, but I'm willing to bet that Obama lied also.
But that's cool he stuck around. I listened on the radio, so I obviously didn't see that.
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Yeah... but I tend to think of Obama's as just a little bullshitting vs bold-faced lies. Which makes me some sort of bleeding heart who doesn't care much about double standards or the true definition of "bullshit" ;)
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Elections are nothing but bullshitting and pandering, but I do think that I'd rather have Obama and Biden in the White House than McCain and Palin. I didn't really care enough about either candidate before her nomination, but the idea of Sarah Palin being that close to the presidency frightens me SO much.
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Elections are nothing but bullshitting and pandering, but I do think that I'd rather have Obama and Biden in the White House than McCain and Palin. I didn't really care enough about either candidate before her nomination, but the idea of Sarah Palin being that close to the presidency frightens me SO much.
what are you, anti-woman?
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Elections are nothing but bullshitting and pandering, but I do think that I'd rather have Obama and Biden in the White House than McCain and Palin. I didn't really care enough about either candidate before her nomination, but the idea of Sarah Palin being that close to the presidency frightens me SO much.
what are you, anti-woman?
I'll have you know that there's a special place in hell for women who don't support other women.
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(http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/images/2008/10/07/thatonesk9_2.jpg)
(Jacked from the Washington Post website, and I think they jacked it from elsewhere).
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I thought the reaction to the "That One" was kind of humorless. Much like this thread! Who cares, really? No, he probably doesn't like Obama much personally, sees him as a young smooth operator. Whatever, leave it at that.
What I'm surprised by is how McCain said to that (black) audience member who asked a question, "I bet you never heard of Fannie and Freddie until this crisis came along."
I was like, what?!? Dude might have heard of them, might not. Might be a financial analyst or an economist who understands the economy better than you, old man. Why ask the question?
My conclusion about McCain: not very socially sensitive, and probably not a good host of cocktail parties.
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It was odd how Obama stuck around and chatted with some of the audience members, while McCain left fairly abruptly after the debate, and some of the audience mentioned that afterwards. It seems like something that shouldn't matter, but considering that a lot of those people will be interviewed in coming days, it's probably a lesson learned for future candidates at events like this one.
My sister came up with a plausible explanation for this: he desperately needed to take a piss.
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the dude that hacked palin's email last month was - and i'm not implying anything here - a Dave. from Knoxville.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93MDSE80&show_article=1
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What I'm surprised by is how McCain said to that (black) audience member who asked a question, "I bet you never heard of Fannie and Freddie until this crisis came along."
I was like, wait, whauuuuuuut?!?
Fixed.
I bet the piss theory is correct.
I think it's way past time for me to get serious about my work. Later skaters.
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the dude that hacked palin's email last month was - and i'm not implying anything here - a Dave. from Knoxville.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93MDSE80&show_article=1
Christ, you think this guy had never heard of running Tor through free public WiFi on a computer with a forged MAC address.
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McCain seemed doddering and stiff and old mansy.
Obama just seems cooler. In all senses of the word. I like how McCain was like "He hasn't said how much that fee's gonna be!" after Obama talked about his health plan and Obama just drank some water with a body language that exuded "Fuck off."
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Plus there's the fact that the whole "fine" thing was a fabrication.
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Another good one is the whole "Speak softly and carry a big stick" malarchy. WTF was he talking about? That didn't make sense. "This guy is saying he's gonna be tough on them. Now they're gonna know that he's gonna be tough on them! What I'm gonna do is pretend I'm not gonna be tough on them, but then be REALLY tough on them, and they'll never know! The way he does it, they're gonna know! It's a good thing I'm not on the radio.... Wait, Whuuuuuuut??"
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I thought the reaction to the "That One" was kind of humorless. Much like this thread! Who cares, really? No, he probably doesn't like Obama much personally, sees him as a young smooth operator. Whatever, leave it at that.
What I'm surprised by is how McCain said to that (black) audience member who asked a question, "I bet you never heard of Fannie and Freddie until this crisis came along."
I was like, what?!? Dude might have heard of them, might not. Might be a financial analyst or an economist who understands the economy better than you, old man. Why ask the question?
My conclusion about McCain: not very socially sensitive, and probably not a good host of cocktail parties President.
Fixed
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the dude that hacked palin's email last month was - and i'm not implying anything here - a Dave. from Knoxville.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93MDSE80&show_article=1
Wait'll you see what I've got planned for Trig
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It was odd how Obama stuck around and chatted with some of the audience members, while McCain left fairly abruptly after the debate, and some of the audience mentioned that afterwards. It seems like something that shouldn't matter, but considering that a lot of those people will be interviewed in coming days, it's probably a lesson learned for future candidates at events like this one.
My sister came up with a plausible explanation for this: he desperately needed to take a piss.
One word: sundowning.
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It was odd how Obama stuck around and chatted with some of the audience members, while McCain left fairly abruptly after the debate, and some of the audience mentioned that afterwards. It seems like something that shouldn't matter, but considering that a lot of those people will be interviewed in coming days, it's probably a lesson learned for future candidates at events like this one.
My sister came up with a plausible explanation for this: he desperately needed to take a piss.
Doesn't he have a bag for that?
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Not yet...
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Another good one is the whole "Speak softly and carry a big stick" malarchy. WTF was he talking about? That didn't make sense. "This guy is saying he's gonna be tough on them. Now they're gonna know that he's gonna be tough on them! What I'm gonna do is pretend I'm not gonna be tough on them, but then be REALLY tough on them, and they'll never know! The way he does it, they're gonna know! It's a good thing I'm not on the radio.... Wait, Whuuuuuuut??"
Sort of like the whole "if I say yes, I re-ignite the Cold War" nonsense. Why even put that on the table, even in jest? I found that more disconcerting than anything Obama said about Pakistan.
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Another good one is the whole "Speak softly and carry a big stick" malarchy. WTF was he talking about? That didn't make sense. "This guy is saying he's gonna be tough on them. Now they're gonna know that he's gonna be tough on them! What I'm gonna do is pretend I'm not gonna be tough on them, but then be REALLY tough on them, and they'll never know! The way he does it, they're gonna know! It's a good thing I'm not on the radio.... Wait, Whuuuuuuut??"
Sort of like the whole "if I say yes, I re-ignite the Cold War" nonsense. Why even put that on the table, even in jest? I found that more disconcerting than anything Obama said about Pakistan.
Yeah, and that was after he said there would never be a second Cold War. Well, unless he says one thing.
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Well, unless he says one thing.
I know, huh?? Power trip much, nominee McCain? Lord knows the Kremlin is hanging on every word the guy in second place says.
Didn't Russia accuse one of our Presidential nominees of aggitating the situation in Georgia, though? Didn't hear any more about that. The Russians are liars, but it wouldn't entirely surprise me if there was some truth to it either.
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(http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/1535/undecidedwb6.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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that graph doesn't show the portion of "stupid" that count as "tiger petters", my personal favourite demographic.
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(http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/928/tigerpetterszj9.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
There's also this:
(http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/589/undecided2lv9.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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I knew I could rely on you, ex-crimestick!
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[youtube]iz4Z6L4u8E4[/youtube].
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I'm sure you all know this already, but I have to chortle. First, "For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."
Also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
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I'm sure you all know this already, but I have to chortle. First, "For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."
Also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
Oh man. McCain's like, "Please, Republican base, can you please stop being openly racist? Please? Just for this one month?"
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Also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
Wow. I try and try not to be an effete blue-state snob, but then I see footage like this where representatives of "the base" turn out to support their guy. And sometimes members of the base are pretty fucking base.
Also: If McCain cares so much about maintaining a respectful tone, why did he pull that shitty avoiding-Obama's-handshake move at the end of the last debate?
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http://www.thatone08.com/ (http://www.thatone08.com/)
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That woman? The upper midwest's version of stupid w**** t**sh. I know the type.
This has not been a good week for Wisconsin, among other things.
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McCain: "You don't have to be scared."
Crowd: *booooo*
WTF, we WANT TO BE SCARED McCain.
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McCain: "You don't have to be scared."
Crowd: *booooo*
WTF, we WANT TO BE SCARED McCain.
McCain is too decent and human to run on the GOP ticket. WTF. He doesn't even want to win.
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I'm sure you all know this already, but I have to chortle. First, "For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."
Also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
"I've read about him and he's an Arab."
Even if Obama was an Arab. I mean are all Arabs bad? Some people complain about supposed racism against foreigners in Japan, and given what little there is it's no where even close to that stupidity.
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To those people, Arab = terrorist. And has ever since the Iranian hostage crisis, really. The irony that they are also the party and ideological brethren of Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh escapes them.
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McCain is too decent and human to run on the GOP ticket. WTF. He doesn't even want to win.
I think he has his flaws (his temper) but I also think he's compromised his own integrity along this path and is regretting it deep down. I suspect you're right. Some day he'll look back on this and come clean about being feeling that he lost control of his campaign.
Personally, I can forgive and forget down the road when it comes to this guy. Just don't want him to win. Nothing personal.
Palin, not so much. She's a nut and always will be.
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That woman? The upper midwest's version of stupid w**** t**sh. I know the type.
Yeah, we've got our share up here, too. That woman was a very familiar type.
It's so handy for McCain/Palin that it is considered semilegitimate to fear Arabs/Muslims these days. Otherwise, they'd be forced to be racist in the more obvious way, which would fly far less well.
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To those people, Arab = terrorist. And has ever since the Iranian hostage crisis, really. The irony that they are also the party and ideological brethren of Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh escapes them.
I doubt they remember the pre-OK city bombing days of AM talk radio with its successionists. I remember the station that had Art Bell back then (KOGO 600, San Deigo) had this completely insane dood syndicated from Medford, OR. The stuff he said then couldn't fly now, but I bet those same people calling Obama a terrorist were all for this guy back in 93.
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Fully agree. Trying not to be lulled into a false sense of security by what increasingly seems like McCain's effort to throw the election. Also, 2004 almost thoroughly erased my ability to feel optimistic about the future. All this shortly after the birth of my child. So actually, for me it is personal, I suppose.
McCain is too decent and human to run on the GOP ticket. WTF. He doesn't even want to win.
I think he has his flaws (his temper) but I also think he's compromised his own integrity along this path and is regretting it deep down. I suspect you're right. Some day he'll look back on this and come clean about being feeling that he lost control of his campaign.
Personally, I can forgive and forget down the road when it comes to this guy. Just don't want him to win. Nothing personal.
Palin, not so much. She's a nut and always will be.
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And so the spinning begins. During the portion of the stump speech I heard today, Palin said not one word about Troopergate and spoke more specifically than ever before about McCain's plans for rescuing the economy. More, she is being refashioned as a new Madonna, mother of the holy infant Trig and patron goddess of the disabled. I suspect anyone who alludes to the virulent hate mongering of the past week or the finding that Palin acted unethically in her campaign to get Wooten fired will be scolded for once again looking to the past instead of the future. It makes me sick at heart.
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Don't worry, Sarah. It's being noticed in Alaska, I'm sure. And once she goes back there, I bet they'll have more questions that she won't be able to duck quite so easily. That's the problem with picking a two-year governor, really. High approval ratings are commonplace in two years time for someone runnin as a "reformer". It takes time to properly flame out.
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Don't worry, Sarah. It's being noticed in Alaska, I'm sure. And once she goes back there, I bet they'll have more questions that she won't be able to duck quite so easily. That's the problem with picking a two-year governor, really. High approval ratings are commonplace in two years time for someone runnin as a "reformer". It takes time to properly flame out.
Alaska is a pretty red state though, would most people mind?
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I'm sure you all know this already, but I have to chortle. First, "For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."
Also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
It just occured to me that maybe Tom is to FOT vs. Shut Up Weirdo as McCain is to GOP vs. Obama.
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It just occured to me that maybe Tom is to FOT vs. Shut Up Weirdo as McCain is to GOP vs. Obama.
That old woman was about to start talking about her dog before McCain heave ho'd her.
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It just occured to me that maybe Tom is to FOT vs. Shut Up Weirdo as McCain is to GOP vs. Obama.
I thought the same thing yesterday, JJ! Which means that Tom thinks he has some loose cannons among his partisans, which is kind of funny, but maybe not off-base.
I'm worried about our economy, but not too worried about the scary McCain fringe elements. America has encountered and rejected ideologues at many times in its history, and I still think we're capable of doing so in the future, as long as our economy doesn't completely hit the skids, which hasn't happened just yet.
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That woman? The upper midwest's version of stupid w**** t**sh. I know the type.
Yeah, we've got our share up here, too. That woman was a very familiar type.
I'm related to women like her. In fact, if asked, I would imagine my grandparents would say something similar. Which is why I haven't asked.
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You'll be glad to hear the happy results of a poll of one I conducted yesterday: a young woman of my acquaintance, a pretty mainstream type, fairly politically apathetic but conservative/Republican by habit, told me yesterday she's voting for Obama. When I asked her why, she said, "Because we don't need more of what we've had for eight years." When I asked what she thinks of Palin, she said, "She's an idiot--I mean, 'I can see Russia from my house'?" I was cheered.
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I had dinner with my mom yesterday. She told me she saw some couple on tv who lost their home because of medical bills, and she said, "Tough shit! Why should the government pay for their mortgage because someone in their family had cancer?" She thinks the bad economy is a good thing because Americans need to get away from having so much stuff and get back to family values. Fuck if I know what she means by family values, though! Small towns in Ohio are full of people who might not be crazy as my mom, but who think along the same lines, and Ohio is important in not electing a republican. I was feeling pretty good about the outcome because usually Cincinnati is covered with yard signs and bumper stickers for Republican candidates and I've only seen two. Now I'm nervous.
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I had dinner with my mom yesterday. She told me she saw some couple on tv who lost their home because of medical bills, and she said, "Tough shit! Why should the government pay for their mortgage because someone in their family had cancer?" She thinks the bad economy is a good thing because Americans need to get away from having so much stuff and get back to family values. Fuck if I know what she means by family values, though! Small towns in Ohio are full of people who might not be crazy as my mom, but who think along the same lines, and Ohio is important in not electing a republican. I was feeling pretty good about the outcome because usually Cincinnati is covered with yard signs and bumper stickers for Republican candidates and I've only seen two. Now I'm nervous.
Maybe it's because I'm a pinko liberal left-wing factonista (and British, even worse), but this kind of attitude strikes me as absolutely insane.
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Cincinnati is usually overwhelming Republican. In my experience, the rural areas and the southern half of the state are typically red while the cities in the central and northern parts of the state (Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo) are typically blue. I'd be surprised if Cincinnati (where my afore-mentioned grandparents live, not to mention my uncle who still sends me "Obama is a muslim" emails) votes Democrat.
I had dinner with my mom yesterday. She told me she saw some couple on tv who lost their home because of medical bills, and she said, "Tough shit! Why should the government pay for their mortgage because someone in their family had cancer?" She thinks the bad economy is a good thing because Americans need to get away from having so much stuff and get back to family values. Fuck if I know what she means by family values, though! Small towns in Ohio are full of people who might not be crazy as my mom, but who think along the same lines, and Ohio is important in not electing a republican. I was feeling pretty good about the outcome because usually Cincinnati is covered with yard signs and bumper stickers for Republican candidates and I've only seen two. Now I'm nervous.
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Every right wing type I know over here wouldn't say something so heartless. "Am I not my brother's keeper?"
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You'll be glad to hear the happy results of a poll of one I conducted yesterday: a young woman of my acquaintance, a pretty mainstream type, fairly politically apathetic but conservative/Republican by habit, told me yesterday she's voting for Obama. When I asked her why, she said, "Because we don't need more of what we've had for eight years." When I asked what she thinks of Palin, she said, "She's an idiot--I mean, 'I can see Russia from my house'?" I was cheered.
My boyfriend's sister is got married yesterday, into a relatively conservative family. At the reception, I talked to a woman maybe 7 or 8 years older than me who lived in Florida (in fact, she was glued to the Gators/LSU game while I was talking to her!) and she told me that although she was a registered Republican, she was leaning toward Obama. She also told me that Palin scared her and was "too conservative for me, and I'm a Republican!" I also have another friend who was gung-ho for McCain and then got extremely turned off when he picked Palin.
I think that the McCain campaign underestimated its voters by a lot when they chose her. I mean, Bush's approval rating is down in the 30s right now. Picking someone so folksy and conservative as Palin may just be reminding people of Bush. Not everyone thinks like that woman in the town hall video. People are smart enough to see that she's not qualified for the presidency, and that she's simply being used by the McCain's campaign to reel in voters with winks and
"betcha"s. I think many people feel a bit insulted by this, and it's created resentment.
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It's really bizarre watching McCain defend Obama's character to those folks at his own rally, and get booed.
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It's really bizarre watching McCain defend Obama's character to those folks at his own rally, and get booed.
I'm sure it's confusing for them since his campaign just spent the last week telling them essentially the opposite.
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Maybe it's because I'm a pinko liberal left-wing factonista (and British, even worse), but this kind of attitude strikes me as absolutely insane.
It is absolutely insane, but not very uncommon where my mom lives. I suppose when you live in the middle of nowhere and almost everyone thinks like you, it's easy to be absolutely insane. And it's not so much a Republican thing as much as an ignorant, right-wing Christian thing.
If Philly Boy Roy was born again, he would be my mother.
I'd be surprised if Cincinnati (where my afore-mentioned grandparents live, not to mention my uncle who still sends me "Obama is a muslim" emails) votes Democrat.
I will not be very surprised if Cincinnati votes Democrat. I'm kind of enjoying watching conservative Republicans become disillusioned. They all aren't changing, but it seems like a lot of them are fed up enough to vote for Obama or to not vote at all. But I thought the same thing about John Kerry.
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I think many people feel a bit insulted by this, and it's created resentment.
Yeah, the woman I mentioned said this specifically.
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It's really bizarre watching McCain defend Obama's character to those folks at his own rally, and get booed.
I'm sure it's confusing for them since his campaign just spent the last week telling them essentially the opposite.
Yeah. Which is why I don't feel sorry for McCain in that situation. Sweet, sweet irony.
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i'm a mccain supporter and a republican, but here's what i don't get... they go around telling us obama's a terrorist, but then act surprised when we get pissed off at him like we get pissed off at other terrorists. i mean, for fucks sake -- this whole war on terror, all we've been hearing is how terrorists are the ultimate evil who want to destroy america. mccain and palin then make it pretty clear that obama is a terrorist/terrorist supporter, and we're not supposed to be outraged? wtf? a terrorist bcoming president isn't enough to get you all riled up?!
whey the fuck didn't johnny mac take obama's terror loving ass to the floor during the debate? we can debate boring ass policy differences until the cows come home, but that debate could have been over in a second if he's just said 'yeah, yeah, yeah socialism is great, obama... now vote for me because i'm the only presidential candidate who is not a terrorist." you see how well that shit goes over in political rallies, right? now imagine if the rest of the country/world got a chance to hear that same info. debate over. campaign over. final score, america: 1, terrorist: 0.
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I love that people say that Obama is a terrorist. After years of growing up on food stamps, helping the local community, working hard to get a good education, becoming a politician, fighting some of the most bitter elections in recent times, is he just going to turn around and go, "GOTCHA, I'm a terrorist!"?
Even if that were true, what would he do? Order the execution of all non-muslims? Blow himself up on the Whitehouse lawn?
This guy has been a better citizen and servant for his country than most and this is how people treat him.
At least have the balls to come out and say that its because he's black, cause deep down inside people really know that the Harvard-educated, christian politician from Chicago is not a radical muslim terrorist.
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The thing that really amuses me are that the same folks who think he's a muslim extremist are also the people who are upset about his attending a so-called racist (Christian) church. If he's a muslim, why would he spend 20 years attending a Christian church? You can't have it both ways.
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The thing that really amuses me are that the same folks who think he's a muslim extremist are also the people who are upset about his attending a so-called racist (Christian) church. If he's a muslim, why would he spend 20 years attending a Christian church? You can't have it both ways.
Deep cover?
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I don't like him because he's a lawyer. does that make me a racist?
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
especially Vietnam Vets. Always whining about how they were mistreated when they came home as well.
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
Dude totally pals around with prisoners and other assorted lowlifes.
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One wonders: how would Dutch vote in this election?
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
seriously, from what I hear he was set up in the presidential suite of some swanky hilton property
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
seriously, from what I hear he was set up in the presidential suite of some swanky hilton property
Jesus, what a phony. Just imagine what he'd do for those terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. He'd probably give them all X-Boxes.
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Pointless observation: "Obama" spelled backward means "I will love" in Latin.
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Pointless observation: "Obama" spelled backward means "I will love" in Latin.
And, as everybody knows, the opposite of love is terrorism.
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But what about the future tense? Why not "I love"? Aren't we lovable now? Is this name implying that America needs to change in order to be loved? Treason!
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maybe "love" is speaking of the physical act of love? in which case it is "I will fuck"?
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Pointless observation: "Obama" spelled backward means "I will love" in Latin.
I bet it would make Maureen Dowd's day to hear that.
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(in fact, she was glued to the Gators/LSU game while I was talking to her!)
Go Gators!
Actually, driving home after said game, one guy rolled down his window just to yell at me "You know who's going in the right direction? McCain and Palin!" and then when I sort of laughed and nodded, another guy in the same car said, about me, "He doesn't look like a supporter. I can tell".
I guess that's good? Never been judged on my political beliefs in traffic before.
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(in fact, she was glued to the Gators/LSU game while I was talking to her!)
Go Gators!
Actually, driving home after said game, one guy rolled down his window just to yell at me "You know who's going in the right direction? McCain and Palin!" and then when I sort of laughed and nodded, another guy in the same car said, about me, "He doesn't look like a supporter. I can tell".
I guess that's good? Never been judged on my political beliefs in traffic before.
Well you know, u probably don't look like one of "us"
and by us I mean them.
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(in fact, she was glued to the Gators/LSU game while I was talking to her!)
Go Gators!
Actually, driving home after said game, one guy rolled down his window just to yell at me "You know who's going in the right direction? McCain and Palin!" and then when I sort of laughed and nodded, another guy in the same car said, about me, "He doesn't look like a supporter. I can tell".
I guess that's good? Never been judged on my political beliefs in traffic before.
It was probably your derby, monocle, and little delicate tea cup. Europeans are "in the tank" for Obama.
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(in fact, she was glued to the Gators/LSU game while I was talking to her!)
Go Gators!
Actually, driving home after said game, one guy rolled down his window just to yell at me "You know who's going in the right direction? McCain and Palin!" and then when I sort of laughed and nodded, another guy in the same car said, about me, "He doesn't look like a supporter. I can tell".
I guess that's good? Never been judged on my political beliefs in traffic before.
You should've adopted a fake Louisiana accent and told them not to talk that way to the governor.
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(in fact, she was glued to the Gators/LSU game while I was talking to her!)
Go Gators!
Actually, driving home after said game, one guy rolled down his window just to yell at me "You know who's going in the right direction? McCain and Palin!" and then when I sort of laughed and nodded, another guy in the same car said, about me, "He doesn't look like a supporter. I can tell".
I guess that's good? Never been judged on my political beliefs in traffic before.
That was actually a test run for the new McCain marketing campaign, but the guy was doing it incorrectly. The way it's supposed to work is, they would be driving on the wrong side of the road, into incoming traffic, and when you get their attention and scream "Look out, you're going the wrong way," they yell back "But you know who's going the right way? McCain and Palin!"
Ideally, they then veer out of the way of the oncoming traffic, but they're still working the bugs out of that part.
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I love it. Very French Connection!
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Articulate lunatic Christopher Hitchens and former Bush I speechwriter/funny novelist/son of William F. Christopher Buckley have endorsed Obama recently.
People are tripping over their feet to distance themselves from that trainwreck.
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You should've adopted a fake Louisiana accent and told them not to talk that way to the governor.
I can see it. That guy is kind of a dink, though.
(http://www.nilacharal.com/enter/celeb/images/BobbyJindal.jpg)(http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v338/28/31/5204758/n5204758_46821836_6014.jpg)
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Never seen a picture of Bobby Jindal before. Is his face made out of silly putty? That smile of his is kind of tilting five directions simultaneously.
Also, Samir, do you always balance a teacup on your head when you're making phone calls?
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Not always.
And that's actually a cup of salsa.
From my first night in NYC last month. We took a lot of stupid photos that night.
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(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2940326897_d599a12aca_o.jpg)
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You should've adopted a fake Louisiana accent and told them not to talk that way to the governor.
I can see it. That guy is kind of a dink, though.
(http://www.nilacharal.com/enter/celeb/images/BobbyJindal.jpg)(http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v338/28/31/5204758/n5204758_46821836_6014.jpg)
Oh, he's a total dink. And I don't think you really look like him. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that these particular guys wouldn't *necessarily* be able to make that distinction, and they would probably offer you all the beer you could drink if they thought you were that fella.
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(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2940326897_d599a12aca_o.jpg)
Haha! Wow that took me a moment.
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I don't know who that is.
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the original bikini rifle girl.
(http://www.wowowow.com/files/imagecache/530x353/slideshow/2008_0903_featured.jpg)
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Clever!
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
Dude totally pals around with prisoners and other assorted lowlifes.
McCain consorts with Lieberman. Isn't that enough?
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I usually vote Republican, but I hate McCain because he's a former P.O.W. Those guys drive me nuts!
Dude totally pals around with prisoners and other assorted lowlifes.
McCain consorts with Lieberman Droopy Dog. Isn't that enough?
I fix.
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Teddy Rockstar gets interviewed on political stuff, and the Wonkette commenters flail confusedly against it with fists of ham. (http://wonkette.com/403508/famous-dc-rock-star-doesnt-like-sarah-palin#comments)
Ugh, I bet this dude eats Two Boots pizza and likes it.
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Clever!
Is that meant to be as sarcastic as it seems?
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Looks that way to me, but given the climate of our angry nation, who knows? However, this is wonkette, so I'm guessing so.
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I think John was referring to Martin's "Clever!" remark.
That said, the Two Boots comment on Wonkette made me laugh.
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Wonkette is like Gawker for ugly people.
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Wonkette is like Gawker for ugly people.
SURELY you're not suggesting that politicians are unattractive?!
(http://www.leveesnotwar.org/Images/LNW_HillMcCain2.jpg)
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I hate to say it, but it does remind me of Gawker too. Gawker is fun occasionally, but so is playing video games and eating ice cream.
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Teddy Rockstar gets interviewed on political stuff, and the Wonkette commenters flail confusedly against it with fists of ham. (http://wonkette.com/403508/famous-dc-rock-star-doesnt-like-sarah-palin#comments)
Ugh, I bet this dude eats Two Boots pizza and likes it.
Have you ever tried Two Boots Pizza? Horrifying.
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man I like Ted Leo more and more
see how he got talking about Palin? That's how I get talking about about any right wing position
No abortion even in cases of rape or incest? *I proceed to lose my shit*
Only difference, I have no talent.
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Clever!
Is that meant to be as sarcastic as it seems?
No! Clever, as in "actually clever"! I just didn't get it at first.
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I have no talent.
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man I like Ted Leo more and more
I think it is impossible not to.
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Teddy Rockstar gets interviewed on political stuff, and the Wonkette commenters flail confusedly against it with fists of ham. (http://wonkette.com/403508/famous-dc-rock-star-doesnt-like-sarah-palin#comments)
Ugh, I bet this dude eats Two Boots pizza and likes it.
I'm not familiar with that Wonkette site at all, so I have a dumb question. Who wrote this part:
Here’s one for the children of Washington, D.C., with Wonkette’s own Liz Glover interviewing famous local hero rock star Ted Leo of the wonderful elitist band Ted Leo & The Pharmacists outside a Black Cat show last week. He talks about some obscure album someone made once, because that is what indie rock people do whenever they hear a fleeting reference to anything music-related. Then Liz asks about Sarah Palin and he gets “all emo” and start talking about “bullets in bellies.” Why does Ted Leo hate the troops?
This kind of writing is T H E W O R S T, especially coming from someone who clearly doesn't really understand what the fuck they're talking about. Emo? Elitist? Indie rock? It's like watching my parents try to be "internet snarky."
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http://www.palinaspresident.com/
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I wonder what Sarah Palin thinks oil is.
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Teddy Rockstar gets interviewed on political stuff, and the Wonkette commenters flail confusedly against it with fists of ham. (http://wonkette.com/403508/famous-dc-rock-star-doesnt-like-sarah-palin#comments)
Ugh, I bet this dude eats Two Boots pizza and likes it.
I'm not familiar with that Wonkette site at all, so I have a dumb question. Who wrote this part:
Here’s one for the children of Washington, D.C., with Wonkette’s own Liz Glover interviewing famous local hero rock star Ted Leo of the wonderful elitist band Ted Leo & The Pharmacists outside a Black Cat show last week. He talks about some obscure album someone made once, because that is what indie rock people do whenever they hear a fleeting reference to anything music-related. Then Liz asks about Sarah Palin and he gets “all emo” and start talking about “bullets in bellies.” Why does Ted Leo hate the troops?
This kind of writing is T H E W O R S T, especially coming from someone who clearly doesn't really understand what the fuck they're talking about. Emo? Elitist? Indie rock? It's like watching my parents try to be "internet snarky."
Even I got that it was tongue in cheek.
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Teddy Rockstar gets interviewed on political stuff, and the Wonkette commenters flail confusedly against it with fists of ham. (http://wonkette.com/403508/famous-dc-rock-star-doesnt-like-sarah-palin#comments)
Ugh, I bet this dude eats Two Boots pizza and likes it.
I'm not familiar with that Wonkette site at all, so I have a dumb question. Who wrote this part:
Here’s one for the children of Washington, D.C., with Wonkette’s own Liz Glover interviewing famous local hero rock star Ted Leo of the wonderful elitist band Ted Leo & The Pharmacists outside a Black Cat show last week. He talks about some obscure album someone made once, because that is what indie rock people do whenever they hear a fleeting reference to anything music-related. Then Liz asks about Sarah Palin and he gets “all emo” and start talking about “bullets in bellies.” Why does Ted Leo hate the troops?
This kind of writing is T H E W O R S T, especially coming from someone who clearly doesn't really understand what the fuck they're talking about. Emo? Elitist? Indie rock? It's like watching my parents try to be "internet snarky."
They're using over-worked buzzwords. That's why it's ironic, which is what they were going for, knowing Wonkette.
I have more fun on Wonkette than Gawker, probably because they have more of a sense of humor about themselves. The site that makes me fume on Gawker the most is Jezebel. I used to read it all the time but they do this awful pretentious third wave fun-feminist thing that irritates me sooo much.
We think other gossip blogs are shallow and sexist!! Now we're going to post a picture of Lindsay Lohan for you to judge. Oh and it was cool that Roman Polanski raped a 13 year old girl because she was into it, and there was a Bikini Kill song called "I Like Fucking!" We're the FEMINIST gossip blog. Yeah!
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I get that it's supposed to be winking and ironic, but it's not even good at doing that. The things it chooses to be ironic about are so obvious and boring.
Comedian Aziz Ansari kind of told some jokes in that indie comedian “not actually really telling jokes” way.
Alternative comics don't actually tell jokes! Ho-ho-ho, that is some scathing satire, Wonkette!
The brave high school dropout who impregnated Sarah Palin’s daughter talked with an AP reporter, in his driveway. He spoke in complete sentences, unlike his future mother-in-law!
Ugh!
This is mom humor!
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Todd, your mom is much more caustic and in-the-know than mine, apparently.
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Todd, your mom is much more caustic and in-the-know than mine, apparently.
No but if your mom tried to be caustic, this is how it would come out.
Thumbs down, Wonkette. Waaaayyy down.
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No but if your mom tried to be caustic, this is how it would come out.
That's the whitest "mama joke" ever.
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Ha Ha.
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Your mother is so gauche, she ate her cucumber sandwich with her LEFT hand while reaching for a PAPER DOILY to wipe her mouth.
Oh, goodness, snap.
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Oh crap. Roe v. Wade had to be brought up sometime.
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After Heart and Foo Fighters, now Bon Jovi has objected to the McCain/Palin campaigns using their song at rallies.
http://www.nme.com/news/bon-jovi/40468
Don't these fuckers think of this BEFORE selecting a song? it seems very shoot-in-foot to always have people saying "we don't endorse this!" It's not like they're ever going to run out of Hank 3 songs, is it.
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Todd, your mom is much more caustic and in-the-know than mine, apparently.
Just go back and read the quotes in the voice of the mother from Freaks and Geeks.
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After Heart and Foo Fighters, now Bon Jovi has objected to the McCain/Palin campaigns using their song at rallies.
http://www.nme.com/news/bon-jovi/40468
Don't these fuckers think of this BEFORE selecting a song? it seems very shoot-in-foot to always have people saying "we don't endorse this!" It's not like they're ever going to run out of Hank 3 songs, is it.
These artists gave up their right to complain about people they don't like doing public performances of their songs when they started cashing those ASCAP checks.
Actually, they can complain all they want, but it annoys me when bands like Heart get lawyers involved given that they don't have a legal leg to stand on. (Using a song in an ad is a different story of course.)
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After Heart and Foo Fighters, now Bon Jovi has objected to the McCain/Palin campaigns using their song at rallies.
http://www.nme.com/news/bon-jovi/40468
Don't these fuckers think of this BEFORE selecting a song? it seems very shoot-in-foot to always have people saying "we don't endorse this!" It's not like they're ever going to run out of Hank 3 songs, is it.
These artists gave up their right to complain about people they don't like doing public performances of their songs when they started cashing those ASCAP checks.
Actually, they can complain all they want, but it annoys me when bands like Heart get lawyers involved given that they don't have a legal leg to stand on. (Using a song in an ad is a different story of course.)
Hmmm ... Maybe as a symbolic move, Heart and all those other bands could write out a check to the McCain campaign, representing their ASCAP share for the play of their song at a McCain Nuremberg rally event. I'm sure it would be a very piddling amount. Pennies.
The next move would be to multiply that figure by 666 and issue a check for that amount to the Obama campaign.
(Is it just a coincidence that YesNo's comment on this topic is the 666th post on this thread?)
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(Is it just a coincidence that YesNo's comment on this topic is the 666th post on this thread?)
No.
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I've been thinking that maybe the liberal media filter had been exaggerating the shocking behavior at Republican rallies. Then I saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0
Wow. Scary stuff, and weird. Al-Jazeera reporting from Ohio? Imagine if those interviewees knew they'd been talking to an Al-Jazeera reporter - they would have torn him limb from limb!
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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=561782528#/pages/Joe-Wurzelbacher/34957461388?ref=nf
The Plumber already has his own fanpage.
Hoo boy.
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http://twitter.com/joetheplumber
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(http://i36.tinypic.com/27wyaae.jpg)
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(http://i36.tinypic.com/27wyaae.jpg)
(http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/original/bush-door-china.jpg)
Coincidence?
I THINK NOT.
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(http://i36.tinypic.com/27wyaae.jpg)
(http://www.robocoparchive.com/wide/emil2.jpg)
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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2jr2cWLjZn4/SMVxZgE-B0I/AAAAAAAAAMM/IO5anSdQpGQ/s1600-h/Emobama.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2jr2cWLjZn4/SMVxZgE-B0I/AAAAAAAAAMM/IO5anSdQpGQ/s1600-h/Emobama.jpg)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2jr2cWLjZn4/SMVxZgE-B0I/AAAAAAAAAMM/IO5anSdQpGQ/s1600-h/Emobama.jpg)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0OajeJs9uQ&feature=related
Dramatic McCain!
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I've been thinking that maybe the liberal media filter had been exaggerating the shocking behavior at Republican rallies.
There's a reason this guy won a Nobel Prize for literature. America is still very much like the America he observed.
(http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/14300000/14303305.JPG)
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It's funny, I used to stop in the town that Sinclair Lewis grew up in every time I drove home or back to college, and they regard him as a town hero. Maybe they haven't read the book.
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It was always my understanding that Sauk Centre felt ill of him at first, but got over it once he'd garnered world-wide celebration.
"in America most of us — not readers alone, but even writers — are still afraid of any literature which is not a glorification of everything American, a glorification of our faults as well as our virtues," and that America is "the most contradictory, the most depressing, the most stirring, of any land in the world today."
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Sauk Center is still a pretty small Midwestern town, just a bedroom community for the bustling metropolis of St. Cloud. So it really doesn't matter very much.
(Kidding, kidding..)
It doesn't sound like Chicago has let go of its anger for Nelson Algren either, after the hatchet jobs he did on it.
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(http://img29.picoodle.com/img/img29/3/10/17/f_evolutionDAm_d82c101.jpg)
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Am I embarassingly out of it for... wait, let me finish... for never having heard of this Alfred E. Smith white tie (creepy) dinner McCain and Obama attended, where the people that rule the world apparently get together and roast each other shortly before the election? If only we'd heard something similar before the Newbridge election! I don't think Marky Ramone would respond well to being roasted though.
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
lying sack of crap = typical republican
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Am I embarassingly out of it for... wait, let me finish... for never having heard of this Alfred E. Smith white tie (creepy) dinner McCain and Obama attended, where the people that rule the world apparently get together and roast each other shortly before the election?
I wouldn't say that you are out of it, just not in it.
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I've never heard of it either.
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
lying sack of crap = typical republican
good point.
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
d) very small-business savvy at all
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
He's not not named Joe?
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
He's not not named Joe?
Joe is his middle name.
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
He's not not named Joe?
No.
-os
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Hey Ohio, stop letting the GOP push you around already.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27238980/
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
He's not not named Joe?
No.
-os
Look, let's not get into a pipe wrench fight over it! I said some things, you said some things... in the end, who can say who is right? Can't we just moveon.org already? Jeez.
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You're going to get an ass full of pipe wrench Joe the Plumber.
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Racist Ohioan Mike Lunsford Hangs Obama Effigy from Noose in Tree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbbcVNOMqSk
Ew Buoy.
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So what's everyone going to do when the Republicans steal the election this time? I'm hoping for revolution myself. Or at least mass civil disobedience--say, everyone who voted for Obama refusing to pay his/her taxes come next April. What do you think?
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So what's everyone going to do when the Republicans steal the election this time? I'm hoping for revolution myself. Or at least mass civil disobedience--say, everyone who voted for Obama refusing to pay his/her taxes come next April. What do you think?
I'm going to refuse to pay for anything at all. This protest will dovetail nicely with my financial destitution.
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You jest, but another of my notions has to do with a moratorium on all spending plus a general strike. On top of not paying taxes. Just a downright refusal to do anything but the barest minimum necessary for survival.
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Racist Ohioan Mike Lunsford Hangs Obama Effigy from Noose in Tree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbbcVNOMqSk
Ew Buoy.
Nasty!
I have to confess, every time something like this comes out of Ohio ppl in Indiana breathe a sigh of relief. Not that we don't have nutjobs aplenty.
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I have to confess, every time something like this comes out of Ohio ppl in Indiana breathe a sigh of relief. Not that we don't have nutjobs aplenty.
I guess you're hyperventilating these days.
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So what's everyone going to do when the Republicans steal the election this time? I'm hoping for revolution myself. Or at least mass civil disobedience--say, everyone who voted for Obama refusing to pay his/her taxes come next April. What do you think?
CHAAAAIIIINNN FIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!
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with who?
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I have to confess, every time something like this comes out of Ohio ppl in Indiana breathe a sigh of relief. Not that we don't have nutjobs aplenty.
I guess you're hyperventilating these days.
And in danger of getting hooked on the pain relievers to treat the strain from patting myself on the back, yeah.
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Racist Ohioan Mike Lunsford Hangs Obama Effigy from Noose in Tree
Ew Buoy.
Nasty!
I have to confess, every time something like this comes out of Ohio ppl in Indiana breathe a sigh of relief. Not that we don't have nutjobs aplenty.
This goes double for those of us in the South. I am not alone among Southerners in having met much more virulently racist people from the Northern part of the country than the South, but, unfortunately Southerners are the ones in the black-and-white videos with the dogs, the axe handles and the firehoses.
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
He's not not named Joe?
Joe is his middle name.
It's funny, I was driving to Cincinnati this weekend and accidentally picked up Rush Limbaugh and he was talking about how Joe was the guy's middle name. He then went on to say that this isn't a big deal because some people aren't afraid to reveal their middle names, unlike Barack Hussein Obama. And then he went on and on about how McCain killed at that roast dinner and Obama just seemed bitter the whole time. Of course seeing the video of it today, Obama was laughing plenty and seemed to have done just as well as McCain.
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So Joe is apparently not
a) a plumber
b) earning the kinds of money he claimed
c) not named Joe!
???
He's not not named Joe?
Joe is his middle name.
It's funny, I was driving to Cincinnati this weekend and accidentally picked up Rush Limbaugh and he was talking about how Joe was the guy's middle name. He then went on to say that this isn't a big deal because some people aren't afraid to reveal their middle names, unlike Barack Hussein Obama. And then he went on and on about how McCain killed at that roast dinner and Obama just seemed bitter the whole time. Of course seeing the video of it today, Obama was laughing plenty and seemed to have done just as well as McCain.
I thought Obama's "John McCain is older than Bea Arthur's dick" joke was over the line.
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I have to confess, every time something like this comes out of Ohio ppl in Indiana breathe a sigh of relief. Not that we don't have nutjobs aplenty.
At this point, I hope that Ohio goes to McCain and it doesn't make any goddamn difference. I'm sick of every election hanging on such an emo state.
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If Obama takes Ohio and he wins the election, can we get the credit for the victory since we've had to take the blame for Bush's victory?
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Yes.
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I thought Obama's "John McCain is older than Bea Arthur's dick" joke was over the line.
I love it, Junk. Picture me spewing a mouthful of martini like at a Dean Martin Roast. No, don't. On second thought, just picture me laughing.
Boy, am I tired of guys like that talk show dude saying McCain killed and Obama wasn't funny and seemed bitter. Now that's the definition of humorless politics. They were both funny at various moments. Also, does anyone else think J. the P. sounds like he's listened to WAAAAYYYY too much talk radio?
Mo Udall was kinda funny in his day, which is long before I was born. He probably wouldn't be considered funny now. He was kind of McCain's mentor in politics actually. Now his kids are running for/in the US Senate. Why can't we have more guys like him?
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So Sarah Palin was on SNL. I know there's an SNL thread, but I thought this one had a more appropriate title.
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So Sarah Palin was on SNL. I know there's an SNL thread, but I thought this one had a more appropriate title.
All it managed to do was remind me that 30 Rock isn't on for another 2 weeks. Ridiculous.
Although I chuckled when Marky Mark showed up.
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(http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/2931/palinzm0qz7.gif)
I want to do naughty things to her
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/18/sarah-palin-on-snl-with-t_n_135887.html
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu_fHWTofcs&eurl=http://friendsoftom.com
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Not really sure what Palin proved by doing this. Alec Baldwin basically echoed my sentiments (which was amusing) up until the point where he starts kissing her butt. :D
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She's trying to prove she's a good sport who can take a joke at her expense. I believe the hope is that, if people believe this, they will forgive her for championing ignorance and mongering hate.
I hate to say it, but I'm really worried about Maine. A few weeks ago, I had faith in this surprisingly Democratic state, but I had forgotten the deep streak of racism that flows within the average Mainer. I had forgotten the numerous arguments I've had with young white men here who complain about people of various hues taking their jobs--a particularly jaw-droppingly stupid claim given that there are only about seven blacks and Hispanics in the state. I had forgotten that when Jesse Jackson won here it was semimeaningless, since caucuses attract only the most active Democrats. Now I'm hearing that McCain-Palin signs are everywhere. Worse, when someone is asked what s/he thinks of Obama, the response all too often is, "Oh, he seems like a nice guy, but . . ." Mostly no one dares complete the sentence, but its conclusion is clear.
If Obama loses (and more and more I'm thinking he will), anyone who attributes this to anything but race (or "cultural differences," as the code now goes) is naive, dumb, or a big fat liar.
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If Obama loses (and more and more I'm thinking he will)
why do u say this?
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Because I have a low opinion of the human race, my dear. I think McCain/Palin's hate campaign is going to scare some people enough to vote for them. I think when it comes down to it a lot of assholes are not going to vote for Obama because of his skin. And I think that in the grand tradition begun in 2000 (well, earlier, but that was such a biggie) the Republicans are going to steal the election regardless of how we vote.
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I'm hoping that the lazy and guilt/fear-ridden racists will simply stay home. If McCain cannot adequately inspire or infuriate enough people (which I don't really think he can), this is somewhat more likely.
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Don't get all worked up over anecdotal stuff, the cold hard numbers look good.
(http://s.wsj.net/media/obamastlouis_Q_20081018135311.jpg)
This was right over by the court house that decided the Dredd Scott Supreme Court case. The good guys can win one.
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Racist Ohioan Mike Lunsford Hangs Obama Effigy from Noose in Tree
Ew Buoy.
Nasty!
I have to confess, every time something like this comes out of Ohio ppl in Indiana breathe a sigh of relief. Not that we don't have nutjobs aplenty.
This goes double for those of us in the South. I am not alone among Southerners in having met much more virulently racist people from the Northern part of the country than the South, but, unfortunately Southerners are the ones in the black-and-white videos with the dogs, the axe handles and the firehoses.
Preach it brother guff! Sadly, while we're not all racists down here, way too many of us are.
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She's trying to prove she's a good sport who can take a joke at her expense. I believe the hope is that, if people believe this, they will forgive her for championing ignorance and mongering hate.
I hate to say it, but I'm really worried about Maine. A few weeks ago, I had faith in this surprisingly Democratic state, but I had forgotten the deep streak of racism that flows within the average Mainer. I had forgotten the numerous arguments I've had with young white men here who complain about people of various hues taking their jobs--a particularly jaw-droppingly stupid claim given that there are only about seven blacks and Hispanics in the state. I had forgotten that when Jesse Jackson won here it was semimeaningless, since caucuses attract only the most active Democrats. Now I'm hearing that McCain-Palin signs are everywhere. Worse, when someone is asked what s/he thinks of Obama, the response all too often is, "Oh, he seems like a nice guy, but . . ." Mostly no one dares complete the sentence, but its conclusion is clear.
If Obama loses (and more and more I'm thinking he will), anyone who attributes this to anything but race (or "cultural differences," as the code now goes) is naive, dumb, or a big fat liar.
Guess how I feel about Tennessee.
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She's trying to prove she's a good sport who can take a joke at her expense. I believe the hope is that, if people believe this, they will forgive her for championing ignorance and mongering hate.
I hate to say it, but I'm really worried about Maine. A few weeks ago, I had faith in this surprisingly Democratic state, but I had forgotten the deep streak of racism that flows within the average Mainer. I had forgotten the numerous arguments I've had with young white men here who complain about people of various hues taking their jobs--a particularly jaw-droppingly stupid claim given that there are only about seven blacks and Hispanics in the state. I had forgotten that when Jesse Jackson won here it was semimeaningless, since caucuses attract only the most active Democrats. Now I'm hearing that McCain-Palin signs are everywhere. Worse, when someone is asked what s/he thinks of Obama, the response all too often is, "Oh, he seems like a nice guy, but . . ." Mostly no one dares complete the sentence, but its conclusion is clear.
If Obama loses (and more and more I'm thinking he will), anyone who attributes this to anything but race (or "cultural differences," as the code now goes) is naive, dumb, or a big fat liar.
Guess how I feel about Tennessee.
damn
dems are some beaten down mofos
si se puede people
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Whether he wins or not I'm just happy I can cast my vote (for the first time) without sighing and feeling like I'm choosing the lesser of two evils or voting just to vote against the republicans. I actually truly believe in my candidate. I don't hang my head when I watch the debates, waiting for him to embarrass himself and the rest of the democratic party. It's so refreshing.
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damn
dems are some beaten down mofos
It's less that I'm a Dem than that I'm aging and infirm, Tee(h)E(e). At this point, I'm banking on the sweet naivety of the young'uns who are still unbruised enough to be hopeful.
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(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2832750064_a1dd298f37.jpg)
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I am not reassured.
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Now is not the time for negativity or doubt! Now is the time for optimism and hope! Just for like 16 days. You can do it!
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I'm not just being optimistic for the sake of hope or change or blah blah blah. I actually like the man's policies and the character he displayed in [at least two of the three] debates.
In fact, I'm not optimistic that he'll win at all. I think he'll lose because the voting systems are fucked. But I'm glad to be voting for someone who's politics I agree with and who's personality I don't despise. I couldn't tell what Kerry was all about and Gore was an embarrassment in the public eye.
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I couldn't tell what Kerry was all about and Gore was an embarrassment in the public eye.
I like Gore a lot more than I did in 2000. He's become a lot more mellow and human-seeming. No doubt the lack of pressure, or maybe it was that retreat he went on in 2002 with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
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Oh absolutely. I grew to like Gore when he wasn't being over-handled or separating himself from Clinton like he was the devil...
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Oh absolutely. I grew to like Gore when he wasn't being over-handled or separating himself from Clinton like he was the devil...
Hey Erika that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is member of the tribe?
something about her seems a little .....urban to me.
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Now is not the time for negativity or doubt! Now is the time for optimism and hope! Just for like 16 days. You can do it!
No, I can't.
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Oh absolutely. I grew to like Gore when he wasn't being over-handled or separating himself from Clinton like he was the devil...
Hey Erika that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is member of the tribe?
something about her seems a little .....urban to me.
I'm with Tom... I don't know what to make of TE. He's one of a kind. Thank God.
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Oh absolutely. I grew to like Gore when he wasn't being over-handled or separating himself from Clinton like he was the devil...
Hey Erika that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is member of the tribe?
something about her seems a little .....urban to me.
I'm with Tom... I don't know what to make of TE. He's one of a kind. Thank God.
c'mon.....I'm the only one that sees it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEd_Ev2vZYY
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What on earth does that have to do with anything?
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i'm no fan of obama, but this guy kinda makes me consider voting for him...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrqeTyEcZPg
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Hey Erika that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is member of the tribe?
something about her seems a little .....urban to me.
Does she seem just a little too cosmopolitan for your taste TE? A bit rootless?
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I somehow doubt that TE is an anti-Semite, but that would be an awesome addition to the list. TE, correct me if I'm wrong, and feel free to add, but so far I've got:
-Mixed martial arts fan
-Anarchist
-Lover of Native Tongues hip-hop
-Anti-Scientologist
-Lusts after Sarah Palin
-African-American bodybuilder
-Anti-imperialist historical revisionist
-Harper's reader
-Supporter of euthanasia for the disabled
-Dislikes capital letters
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I somehow doubt that TE is an anti-Semite, but that would be an awesome addition to the list. TE, correct me if I'm wrong, and feel free to add, but so far I've got:
-Mixed martial arts fan
-Anarchist
-Lover of Native Tongues hip-hop
-Anti-Scientologist
-Lusts after Sarah Palin
-African-American bodybuilder
-Anti-imperialist historical revisionist
-Harper's reader
-Supporter of euthanasia for the disabled
-Dislikes capital letters
-Likes Coldplay
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I somehow doubt that TE is an anti-Semite, but that would be an awesome addition to the list. TE, correct me if I'm wrong, and feel free to add, but so far I've got:
-Mixed martial arts fan
-Anarchist
-Lover of Native Tongues hip-hop
-Anti-Scientologist
-Lusts after Sarah Palin
-African-American bodybuilder
-Anti-imperialist historical revisionist
-Harper's reader
-Supporter of euthanasia for the disabled
-Dislikes capital letters
-Likes Coldplay
-Hater of Lil' Wayne, Liker of You-Know-Who
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I somehow doubt that TE is an anti-Semite, but that would be an awesome addition to the list. TE, correct me if I'm wrong, and feel free to add, but so far I've got:
-Mixed martial arts fan
-Anarchist
-Lover of Native Tongues hip-hop
-Anti-Scientologist
-Lusts after Sarah Palin
-African-American bodybuilder
-Anti-imperialist historical revisionist
-Harper's reader
-Supporter of euthanasia for the disabled
-Dislikes capital letters
-Likes Coldplay
-Hater of Lil' Wayne, Liker of You-Know-Who
- Maintains the blog at cakewrecks.blogspot.com
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Well now that I can have some respect for...
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I'm taking the subject of this thread at face value. This guy has a certain Brian Cox-like affect.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7382297202053077236&hl=en
More angry tenured communists, please.
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I somehow doubt that TE is an anti-Semite, but that would be an awesome addition to the list. TE, correct me if I'm wrong, and feel free to add, but so far I've got:
-Mixed martial arts fan
-Anarchist
-Lover of Native Tongues hip-hop
-Anti-Scientologist
-Lusts after Sarah Palin
-African-American bodybuilder
-Anti-imperialist historical revisionist
-Harper's reader
-Supporter of euthanasia for the disabled
-Dislikes capital letters
sweet baby jebus
this is so funny 'cause it's so true.
But f'real
that Wasserman-Schultz has some kinda of Harry Connick Jr. Vin Diesel thing going on. Not that there's anything wrong with that...in fact I love it.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ
Wait for it...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ
Wait for it...
That's fucked up.
Not in a good way.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ
Wait for it...
that was the best thing i've seen EVER
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But f'real
that Wasserman-Schultz has some kinda of Harry Connick Jr. Vin Diesel thing going on. Not that there's anything wrong with that...in fact I love it.
In an attempt to clarify his position, TE pulls some profoundly dissonant reference points out of the murky ether. To paraphrase Tina Fey, I am lost in the corn maze. (http://www.film.com/features/story/tina-fey-breaks-down-her/23654516) But it's all good ... keep doing what you're doing TE. I support it ... I think??
P.S. I think what Trembling Eagle is trying to say is that Debbie Wassermann Schulz uses a voice modulator.
P.P.S. Had anybody else heard of Ms. Schulz before TE brought her name up? Is TE positioning her for a Vice Presidential run in 2012?
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She's been on MSNBC a lot lately as a kind of Democratic congressional spokesperson. I think she comes across pretty well usually. So yeah, I had heard of her, but only in this election campaign. I'd have to say I'm a fan.
I don't get it though... urban? Vin Diesel/Harry Connick? Can you clarify, TE? I'm dying to know.
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She's been on MSNBC a lot lately as a kind of Democratic congressional spokesperson. I think she comes across pretty well usually. So yeah, I had heard of her, but only in this election campaign. I'd have to say I'm a fan.
I don't get it though... urban? Vin Diesel/Harry Connick? Can you clarify, TE? I'm dying to know.
eh, forget it.
I must just be imagining it.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ
Wait for it...
That's fucked up.
Not in a good way.
You have to at least respect that editing. Prett-y impressive.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ
Wait for it...
that was the best thing i've seen EVER
Wow, I guess all that Reebok money from 2003 finally ran out.
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She's been on MSNBC a lot lately as a kind of Democratic congressional spokesperson. I think she comes across pretty well usually. So yeah, I had heard of her, but only in this election campaign. I'd have to say I'm a fan.
I don't get it though... urban? Vin Diesel/Harry Connick? Can you clarify, TE? I'm dying to know.
eh, forget it.
I must just be imagining it.
Oh, come on. The reasons for your saying what you said are apparent. I have a notion that people are worried that you posted about it to draw out hidden racism and that's why they are responding as they are. (I will now await the lynch mob.)
On another note: I voted yesterday. Glad to get that over and done with.
Finally, this
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7382297202053077236&hl=en
Good stuff.
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Whatever you want, Sarah:
(http://www.heavyharmonies.com/bandpics/lynchmob.jpg)
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She's been on MSNBC a lot lately as a kind of Democratic congressional spokesperson. I think she comes across pretty well usually. So yeah, I had heard of her, but only in this election campaign. I'd have to say I'm a fan.
I don't get it though... urban? Vin Diesel/Harry Connick? Can you clarify, TE? I'm dying to know.
eh, forget it.
I must just be imagining it.
Oh, come on. The reasons for your saying what you said are apparent. I have a notion that people are worried that you posted about it to draw out hidden racism and that's why they are responding as they are. (I will now await the lynch mob.)
On another note: I voted yesterday. Glad to get that over and done with.
Finally, this
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7382297202053077236&hl=en
Good stuff.
Nice call, Sarah. I genuinely couldn't figure out what was going on, but smelled a rat. By the way, who is the speaker in the video? It's nice to hear from folks who will never be seen on CNN at a time like this.
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Head O State (http://headostate.com/)
(NSFW)
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These have been posted to death but I like this montage:
(http://www.erasing.org/img/obama-buttons.png)
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7382297202053077236&hl=en
It's nice to hear from folks who will never be seen on CNN at a time like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_D._Wolff
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Now to play loose with the subject of this thread to balance out my previous tweedy post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLKzgpdVOKk&eurl=http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=46107
This is the main reason that any conservative friends I have are voting Democrat this year.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eubvRXQ7y4
wait for it...
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(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j287/timetorockout82/zeke.jpg)
"Joe Who?"
-Zeke the Plumber, Bob Barr Victory 2008 supporter
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I saw that Eagleburger interview yesterday and thought, "What a senile old evasive loon."
On the bright side, Maine is dark blue again: 53% to 38% (http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/maine.html). That made me happy this morning.
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Future Best Show guest John Hodgman on politics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tuLCiClb6k
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I saw that Eagleburger interview yesterday and thought, "What a senile old evasive loon."
On the bright side, Maine is dark blue again: 53% to 38% (http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/maine.html). That made me happy this morning.
That was the prototypical grumpy old codger right there. Even better than Pat Buchanan. The expression on his face was just perfect!
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Yeah, it's just a slip of the tongue, and god knows I do worse on a daily basis, but still good for a larf:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLVSURlFoQs
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Yeah, it's just a slip of the tongue, and god knows I do worse on a daily basis, but still good for a larf:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLVSURlFoQs
He's sleepwalking his way to defeat (I hope I hope I hope ...)
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I can't believe all the uproar over Sarah Palin spending $150,000 on her wardrobe. What's she supposed to wear, a sack? Jesus!
Look, maybe this won't sit well with all those "Georgetown cocktail party" conservatives or "latte-sipping" liberals, but real Americans frequently drop AT LEAST $60,000 a year on clothing. IT'S JUST COMMON SENSE.
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The headline on today's Wall Street Journal: "Obama Opens Double-Digit Lead." That made my morning, but the election isn't over yet.
But here's the fat lady singing:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RhriAN7jME[/youtube]
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Yeah, it's just a slip of the tongue, and god knows I do worse on a daily basis, but still good for a larf:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLVSURlFoQs
Yeah, but his save was garbage. Come on, man. Pull yourself together.
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The headline on today's Wall Street Journal: "Obama Opens Double-Digit Lead." That made my morning, but the election isn't over yet.
I just looked on MSNBC and they said a new poll has the candidates tied up. Who to believe?
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Who to believe?
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
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The headline on today's Wall Street Journal: "Obama Opens Double-Digit Lead." That made my morning, but the election isn't over yet.
I just looked on MSNBC and they said a new poll has the candidates tied up. Who to believe?
I think you must have either misread something, MoS.
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The headline on today's Wall Street Journal: "Obama Opens Double-Digit Lead." That made my morning, but the election isn't over yet.
I just looked on MSNBC and they said a new poll has the candidates tied up. Who to believe?
I think you must have either misread something, MoS.
nope. it was an AP article that was on the front page earlier. I'm having trouble finding it. Basically stating that with the margin of error from most polls it was looking 44% Obama and 43% Mccain.
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Ah. Nobody seems to be making much of a fuss about it.
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
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The headline on today's Wall Street Journal: "Obama Opens Double-Digit Lead." That made my morning, but the election isn't over yet.
I just looked on MSNBC and they said a new poll has the candidates tied up. Who to believe?
I think you must have either misread something, MoS.
nope. it was an AP article that was on the front page earlier. I'm having trouble finding it. Basically stating that with the margin of error from most polls it was looking 44% Obama and 43% Mccain.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27324419/
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realclearpolitics is a insane rightwing website
but I like their aggregate polls
I won't even dignify them with a link
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I can't believe all the uproar over Sarah Palin spending $150,000 on her wardrobe. What's she supposed to wear, a sack? Jesus!
Look, maybe this won't sit well with all those "Georgetown cocktail party" conservatives or "latte-sipping" liberals, but real Americans frequently drop AT LEAST $60,000 a year on clothing. IT'S JUST COMMON SENSE.
She looks freaking hot in them
and better they waste money on that than on more slanderous ad's and robocalls
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
Well I know for a fact Boston is historically more patriotic than any other place in America. We started this patriot shit and this is the thanks we get?
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
Well I know for a fact Boston is historically more patriotic than any other place in America. We started this patriot shit and this is the thanks we get?
Hey, do you like the Dropkick Murphy's? I was just listening to "Shipping up to Boston"
damn, that song rox
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-9VW4ewI1M
sweet Jesus are they just gonna keep sending republican bimbos to Chris Matthews to ravish?
how do I get that job?
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In the AP poll that has been cited, 44% of its respondents identified themselves explicitly as evangelical Christians. So not too unusual that it would be so far towards McCain. Particularly when their likely voter model is also far more skewed towards 2004 numbers than what we see now from actual polls of the electorate. From registered voters, their numbers hit +5. From all adults, their numbers hit +10.
To put the problem of using the 2004 numbers for likely voters, Rasmussen's numbers, which are done from weekly tracking polls that survey 21,000 people over a period of six weeks, gives the Dems a 6.7 point advantage, which was NOT the case in 2004.
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You know, I find Chris Matthews obnoxious, but I kinda wish I felt that way about more journalists. At least he'll say "stop changing the subject" or "you are wrong" to someones face instead of politely smiling like Katie Couric and every other spineless journalist on television.
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You know, I find Chris Matthews obnoxious, but I kinda wish I felt that way about more journalists. At least he'll say "stop changing the subject" or "you are wrong" to someones face instead of politely smiling like Katie Couric and every other spineless journalist on television.
I'm not a big fan of Couric, but she did a good job of letting Palin hang herself with her own rope. Had Matthews interviewed Palin, he'd probably try to get a date with her.
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You know, I find Chris Matthews obnoxious, but I kinda wish I felt that way about more journalists. At least he'll say "stop changing the subject" or "you are wrong" to someones face instead of politely smiling like Katie Couric and every other spineless journalist on television.
I'm not a big fan of Couric, but she did a good job of letting Palin hang herself with her own rope. Had Matthews interviewed Palin, he'd probably try to get a date with her.
Matthews was surprisingly restrained when letting Michele Bachmann hang herself on his show last week when she accused Barack Obama and other (liberal) members of Congress of being "Anti-American." He stayed away from his usual tactics of overtalking and "louder = better" interviewing.
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(http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2008/10/18.jpg)
One thing Bush and Obama have in common, is that they're both in really good shape. (Or at least Bush was 7 years ago. Barry Obama might look like Barry Dworkin after 2 terms.)
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
Number of seconds it took for Michelle Obama to pander to the locals with the Gator Chomp?
Fifteen (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/84/11/2004290/n2004290_51385594_361.jpg).
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
Number of seconds it took for Michelle Obama to pander to the locals with the Gator Chomp?
Fifteen (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/84/11/2004290/n2004290_51385594_361.jpg).
You should have seen Obama in Boulder (http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m188/Bushwack_2006/obama-smoking1.jpg).
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Isn't Photo Shop the best thing since sliced bread? I mean, look at the red they added to Obama's eyes in that picture.
So Trembling Eagle, Sarah Palin must be like some kind of femme fatale to you. Mad hot but totally evil, right?
All that winking shit she did in that debate just made me think of her as some kind of cheesy pinup girl you'd have expected to see in a warehouse office circa 1970. But oh, I forgot, many well-respected pundits repeatedly warn that people like me vastly underestimate her, at my own peril.
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
Well I know for a fact Boston is historically more patriotic than any other place in America. We started this patriot shit and this is the thanks we get?
Hey, do you like the Dropkick Murphy's? I was just listening to "Shipping up to Boston"
damn, that song rox
This is a not so shocking development in the M.O. of the Trembling Eagle character.
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So Trembling Eagle, Sarah Palin must be like some kind of femme fatale to you. Mad hot but totally evil, right?
precisely.
I'm really taken with her as a female, disgusted by her politics and wary of her as a person.
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I know it's been said by FOT before, but I suspect that at this point, not only has McCain ceased really wanting this, so has the GOP.
They need to go lick their wounds and get their mess of a political party in order.
No Cavalry Coming For McCain
Republicans attuned to conservative third-party efforts say that with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the prospects for any 11th-hour, anti-Obama ad campaign are highly unlikely.
Many in the party, including inside the McCain campaign, have held out hope that a deep-pocketed benefactor would emerge to bankroll ads in the campaign’s final days - spots that might, for example, resurrect the most incendiary clips from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
But thanks largely to lack of passion for McCain within the conservative base, diminished hopes that he can win and a sharp decline in the stock market that has badly pinched donors’ pockets, veteran Republican operatives say it appears almost certain that what could be the most damaging line of attack against the Democratic nominee will be left on the shelf.
..
“Republican donors at the end of day aren’t stupid,” said another Republican familiar with third-party activities this cycle. “They’re not going to throw good money after bad news.”
And it wasn’t just the economic bad news - McCain did little to help his own cause.
..
These sources said that after McCain didn’t use the Nashville debate to aggressively go after Obama, one prominent conservative financier remarked: “I’m not going to bother investing anymore.”
And donors were always fearful they would be rebuked by their party’s notoriously unpredictable nominee if they underwrote a major effort.
“McCain never gave a real wink and said, ‘Go ahead boys,’ ” explained one operative close to a third-party group this year.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/22/politics/politico/main4538433.shtml
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
Number of seconds it took for Michelle Obama to pander to the locals with the Gator Chomp?
Fifteen (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/84/11/2004290/n2004290_51385594_361.jpg).
Speaking of PhotoShop, remove Michelle's lower arm and you have one Hitler-saluting potential first lady.
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
Well I know for a fact Boston is historically more patriotic than any other place in America. We started this patriot shit and this is the thanks we get?
Hey, do you like the Dropkick Murphy's? I was just listening to "Shipping up to Boston"
damn, that song rox
The Dropkick Murphy's represent everything I hate about this city. They are a disgrace.
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
Number of seconds it took for Michelle Obama to pander to the locals with the Gator Chomp?
Fifteen (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/84/11/2004290/n2004290_51385594_361.jpg).
Speaking of PhotoShop, remove Michelle's lower arm and you have one Hitler-saluting potential first lady.
Dude... she's a socialist not a facist!
God...
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
Well I know for a fact Boston is historically more patriotic than any other place in America. We started this patriot shit and this is the thanks we get?
Hey, do you like the Dropkick Murphy's? I was just listening to "Shipping up to Boston"
damn, that song rox
The Dropkick Murphy's represent everything I hate about this city. They are a disgrace.
rocking song though
u got to admit
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
Number of seconds it took for Michelle Obama to pander to the locals with the Gator Chomp?
Fifteen (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/84/11/2004290/n2004290_51385594_361.jpg).
Speaking of PhotoShop, remove Michelle's lower arm and you have one Hitler-saluting potential first lady.
Dude... she's a socialist not a facist!
God...
Try telling that to Jonah Goldberg.
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(http://personal.cobleskill.edu/student/lewerjm/goldberg.jpg)
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So Trembling Eagle, Sarah Palin must be like some kind of femme fatale to you. Mad hot but totally evil, right?
precisely.
I'm really taken with her as a female, disgusted by her politics and wary of her as a person.
If I were so inclined I might politely point out that there is no difference between a female and a person.
But you know that already.
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(http://personal.cobleskill.edu/student/lewerjm/goldberg.jpg)
My hero!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8fXaJmDbsY
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8fXaJmDbsY
That was pretty funny!
The John Woo one could have used a few more explosions and some white doves.
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the "x town is more patriotic than y town" shit needs to stop.
I'd expect to hear that from someone living in Gainesville.
Number of seconds it took for Michelle Obama to pander to the locals with the Gator Chomp?
Fifteen (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/84/11/2004290/n2004290_51385594_361.jpg).
Speaking of PhotoShop, remove Michelle's lower arm and you have one Hitler-saluting potential first lady.
Keep it under your hat, Martin. You might be giving the enemy some (PhotoShop) ideas.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8fXaJmDbsY
That was pretty funny!
The John Woo one could have used a few more explosions and some white doves.
I expected the pieces of the constitution to come fluttering down endlessly like a slow motion blizzard of feathers.
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In my day, yokels were limited to "stop animation" for their clever little videos. All we had was "Hardware Wars" and we loved it, even though we didn't really know what a waffle iron was anymore.
The Wes Anderson one is the best. "Probably not."
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That video could have been 10000x more fun with a proper budget, but what are you gonna do? I also kept waiting for doves.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB5CLV18NBw
There is basically no difference between Fonz in this video and the Gorch.
Also, I once cited Fonzie's inability to say "I was wrong" in a paper.
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(http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9693/mccainlogo3ly2.png) (http://imageshack.us)
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(http://images.scripting.com/archiveScriptingCom/2005/03/16/opie.jpg)
*sniff*
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So Trembling Eagle, Sarah Palin must be like some kind of femme fatale to you. Mad hot but totally evil, right?
precisely.
I'm really taken with her as a female, disgusted by her politics and wary of her as a person.
If I were so inclined I might politely point out that there is no difference between a female and a person.
But you know that already.
don't be silly
everybody knows women aint people.
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(http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9693/mccainlogo3ly2.png) (http://imageshack.us)
I look at this sign and I hear him punctuating it with that horrible "Heh" sound that (mayubanatorial candidate) Todd Palin and everybody else hates so much.
"You don't judge me, HEHH?! I judge you, HEHH?! How 'bout that Governor Palin, HEHHHHH?!"
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OBAMA- JUST LIKE A REALLY HOT CHICK WITH CHLAMYDIA!
From Fox News' Blog:
So yesterday, during an ideas meeting, a staffer pitched a story about Sarah Palin, focusing on how little we know about her time in college.
My blood pressure spiked, because naturally her history — or lack thereof — is far less murkier than Barack Obama’s. But it didn’t seem to matter, because no matter what you have against the man, it just doesn’t stick.
Seriously, the man isn’t a presidential candidate, he’s a really hot chick. You know what I mean, right?
You know how when a friend starts dating some girl, let’s say a stripper with top of the line implants, he overlooks everything else. She could be spreading Chlamydia like a Jehovah’s Witness unloading a case of Watchtower pamphlets, and it won’t matter.
Blinded by beauty, he lets her get away with everything, until your buddy is left broken and broke, riddled with disease, sleeping in your garage and convinced a mob boyfriend wants him dead.
I’m not saying Barack is that harmful. I’m just saying that when it comes to the media, he possesses a force field that every hot chick has and no matter what you say or do to convince obsessed fans otherwise, it’s pointless.
Face it: If you found out that your new girlfriend, who happened to be Megan Fox, worked with ACORN, hung around with Bill Ayers and used to do coke back in college, would you care?
Of course you wouldn’t! It’s Megan Fox!
Congratulations. You’re now The New York Times.
And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Hitler.
Oh, I forgot to give credit to the author Greg Gutfield. He hosts a show on Fox News called "Red Eye". Never seen it, but it sounds awful.
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You know how when a friend starts dating some girl, let’s say a stripper with top of the line implants, he overlooks everything else. She could be spreading Chlamydia like a Jehovah’s Witness unloading a case of Watchtower pamphlets, and it won’t matter.
Ugh, what is this, Tucker Max?
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OBAMA- JUST LIKE A REALLY HOT CHICK WITH CHLAMYDIA!
McCain's next speech: "Friends, I'm here to tell you that my opponent's tax policies will spread the chlamydia of socialism throughout this land."
Blinded by beauty, he lets her get away with everything, until your buddy is left broken and broke, riddled with disease, sleeping in your garage and convinced a mob boyfriend wants him dead.
I’m not saying Barack is that harmful...
Of course you're not saying that, Fox hack! Where would anybody get that idea?
Also, why are these right wingers so wound up about people who work with acorns?
(http://www.heatherdonohue.com/crafts/images/necklace_acorn_gseedbeads.jpg) (http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A1475/147554/300_147554.jpg)
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You know how when a friend starts dating some girl, let’s say a stripper with top of the line implants, he overlooks everything else. She could be spreading Chlamydia like a Jehovah’s Witness unloading a case of Watchtower pamphlets, and it won’t matter.
Ugh, what is this, Tucker Max?
I, for one, would like to offer my congratulations to raad_man on his new job writing for the Fox news blog!
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Face it: If you found out that your new girlfriend, who happened to be Megan Fox, worked with ACORN, hung around with Bill Ayers and used to do coke back in college, would you care?
Of course you wouldn’t! It’s Megan Fox!
Maybe so, but then you'd see this dumb tattoo and you'd have to dump her anyway.
(http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/lamb/files/images/megan-fox-mtv-movie-awards-2007-54.preview.jpg)
Also, as if Megan Fox isn't still using cocaine.
Also, as if Greg Gutfield isn't still using cocaine
(http://www.foxnews.com/images/297660/1_61_320_gutfeld_greg.jpg)
In conclusion, here's Gutfield inexplicably helping Stephen Malkmus promote his mostly-bad new album:
http://stereogum.com/archives/video/stephen-malkmus-visits-fox-news-red-eye_008644.html
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This is why I refuse to have sex with Barack Obama under any circumstances.
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Also, as if Greg Gutfield isn't still using cocaine
(http://www.foxnews.com/images/297660/1_61_320_gutfeld_greg.jpg)
In conclusion, here's Gutfield inexplicably helping Stephen Malkmus promote his mostly-bad new album:
http://stereogum.com/archives/video/stephen-malkmus-visits-fox-news-red-eye_008644.html
This douchetard once had Gibby Haynes as a guest as well
http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/20935958/gibby_haynes.htm?pageid=23167 (http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/20935958/gibby_haynes.htm?pageid=23167)
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This is a check list from Rob Riggle's tour of NYC, given to "Real Americans" on last night's Daily Show:
(http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/297/riggleye4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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It was nice of (Pre-Op Tranny) John Oliver to plug S&W this week.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8Uc5BFogE&eurl=http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=46386
nice.
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Face it: If you found out that your new girlfriend, who happened to be Megan Fox, worked with ACORN, hung around with Bill Ayers and used to do coke back in college, would you care?
Of course you wouldn’t! It’s Megan Fox!
Maybe so, but then you'd see this dumb tattoo and you'd have to dump her anyway.
Also, as if Megan Fox isn't still using cocaine.
Wait wait, we don't have to dump her right away, do we?
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(http://kucinich.us/images/izzard2.jpg)
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(http://kucinich.us/images/izzard2.jpg)
THIS CAN NOT BE REAL.
They'd better take this on tour, or I will be so sad.
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Eddie Izzard should do the cross dressing more
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As should Dennis Kucinich.
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I want to see them to address the crowd in matching silver platforms soooooooo badly.
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As should Dennis Kucinich.
no, he should stay home and send the wife
(http://aquadoc.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/10/0_61_kucinich_elizabeth_3.jpg)
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(http://kucinich.us/images/izzard2.jpg)
If they swung by Machias, I'd actually go.
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I'm just wondering if any of you have spoken with Obama detractors who continually seek to make a connection between his tax policies and class warfare/communism. Living in Hudson County -- where the Obama vote is more than safe -- I'm troubled by the number of middle-class white working people I have spoken to in the last few weeks who voice concerns about Obama "giving money to the unemployed" and using "our money" to "help people on welfare." While these statements don't add up factually, I fear they are indicators of something awful lurking beneath an impending Obama election.
Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I feel this may be precipitating a much larger, much dirtier clash between ignorant groups of all walks of life in American metropolitan cities -- especially the white people who can't stand the sight of a black man in power. Any thoughts on this subject? Any experience speaking to those scared of a sound bottom-up economic construct?
I almost forgot to mention:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/376291
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It was nice of (Pre-Op Tranny) John Oliver to plug S&W this week.
when was that?
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I'm just wondering if any of you have spoken with Obama detractors who continually seek to make a connection between his tax policies and class warfare/communism. Living in Hudson County -- where the Obama vote is more than safe -- I'm troubled by the number of middle-class white working people I have spoken to in the last few weeks who voice concerns about Obama "giving money to the unemployed" and using "our money" to "help people on welfare." While these statements don't add up factually, I fear they are indicators of something awful lurking beneath an impending Obama election.
Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I feel this may be precipitating a much larger, much dirtier clash between ignorant groups of all walks of life in American metropolitan cities -- especially the white people who can't stand the sight of a black man in power. Any thoughts on this subject? Any experience speaking to those scared of a sound bottom-up economic construct?
I almost forgot to mention:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/376291
As far as I can tell, being a republican in my life time has always equated with being afraid of black people and all the rhetoric about values and supply-side economics are just thinly veiled testaments to that. Never for a second did I think anyone really believed any of that horseshit. Are you saying you are worried about civil unrest though as it relates to the political climate now? I always get the feeling people talk a lot of shit but they aint really gonna do squat, right or left. Although I for sure am going to Canada if the repugs steal another one.
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Once Obama is elected, things will settle down. He really isn't anywhere close to that kind of politician. If it makes you feel better, I talked to a friend of my mother's the other day, and she told me in a whisper that she was voting for Obama. She didn't want to tell her husband, and she told me not to tell my mom, but she felt like Obama would be a good leader. What's funny is, it had nothing to do with race. It's about him being a "liberal".
That's been happening for awhile now, long before Obama. Conservatives have been spoonfed that socialism bullshit for about 15 years now, and a lot of them have forgotten that it is only hyperbole. Even that psycho in Pittsburgh that deliberately created a race-baiting scenario... that had less to do with race than with trying to stop "liberals".
I'm not worried personally, though. I dunno if you remember, but a big part of that race speech after Rev. Wright was acknowledging that perhaps some white people had a legitimate reason to be disgruntled over reverse discrimination.That was one of the first things that truly impressed me about Obama, because it was a level of honesty that we don't typically get from our politicians. In a lot of ways, this "liberal" thing is exactly the same type of prejudice. We'll get past it.
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It was nice of (Pre-Op Tranny) John Oliver to plug S&W this week.
when was that?
http://www.friendsoftom.com/forum/index.php/topic,3783.msg88236.html#msg88236
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Even that psycho in Pittsburgh that deliberately created a race-baiting scenario... that had less to do with race than with trying to stop "liberals".
oh please
let's just ignore the entirety of American history.
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You know what I'd love to see? Trembling Eagle and Raad_Man in a Lincoln-Douglas style debate/Mixed Martial Arts bout set in The Octagon. Winner: everyone.
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As far as I can tell, being a republican in my life time has always equated with being afraid of black people and all the rhetoric about values and supply-side economics are just thinly veiled testaments to that. Never for a second did I think anyone really believed any of that horseshit.
I know a gay Republican who is kind of the opposite of scared of big black guys. And I'm pretty sure he is the kind of guy who read Hayek before going to sleep. People are complicated.
But I'd say that the Republican establishment and media just about fits that description nowadays. The National Review's "Corner" blog has replaced the PUMA PAC blog as my daily go-to for sour grapes/panicked ramblings. Their race-baiting reaction to the Ashley Todd story confirms this. Either these nutters are going to be in charge of the Republican party after Obama wins or they are going to get kicked out. Watching them tear themselves apart is going to be very entertaining.
Meanwhile, back in reality, McCain is on record as saying things that are just as "socialist" as Obama ever said. See
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122454768040352279.html?mod=googlenews_wsj . There's also a clip somewhere of McCain saying that it's only fair for people who make more money to pay more in taxes. Damn Marxist.
By the way, something like 66% of professional economists are supporting Obama (http://econ4obama.blogspot.com/). Republicans like to pretend like economics forces you to accept their positions which is, of course, bullshit. I don't have the figures at hand but most financial professionals and silicon valley entrepreneurs support Obama as well. Also, about 30 states are net receivers of federal spending, with the rest net payers of federal taxes. This study is old -- http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/faculty/hweisberg/conference/Lacy-OSUConf.PDF -- but it discusses how the majority of states that actually pay taxes voted for Gore, while the majority of states that suck on the federal teat voted for Bush. It's the productive parts of the country that support the US economy that tend to be the most "socialist." Weird. (It's not really a fair conclusion, because generally cities and suburbs pay taxes which go to support rural areas, and the only difference between red states and blue states tends to be how urban they are-- parts of New Jersey are redder than Alabama and parts of Mississippi are as blue as Berkeley. But it's a fun counter to Republicans who start to go on about "real America.")
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You know what I'd love to see? Trembling Eagle and Raad_Man in a slap fight Lincoln-Douglas style debate/Mixed Martial Arts bout set in The NonaOctagon. Winner: everyone.
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My money would be on Trembling Eagle.
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hate, hate, hate.
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I know a gay Republican who is kind of the opposite of scared of big black guys. And I'm pretty sure he is the kind of guy who read Hayek before going to sleep. People are complicated.
Andrew Sullivan writes well about this particular brand psychological disorder
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/
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and :41 secs in the entirety of republican politics for the past 50 years is summed up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF5ZkgNNBQE
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Even that psycho in Pittsburgh that deliberately created a race-baiting scenario... that had less to do with race than with trying to stop "liberals".
oh please
let's just ignore the entirety of American history.
Racism was just the vessel. The ultimate goal was to keep liberals from running the country. She didn't give a damn about a black man being President, but a liberal in charge scares the shit out of her and others like her. A man in Tennessee walked into a Unitarian church earlier this year and just started shooting people with a shotgun, and he did it because he thought liberals were destroying the country. I wish I could believe that it was a one-time thing, but I can't.
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Even that psycho in Pittsburgh that deliberately created a race-baiting scenario... that had less to do with race than with trying to stop "liberals".
oh please
let's just ignore the entirety of American history.
Racism was just the vessel. The ultimate goal was to keep liberals from running the country. She didn't give a damn about a black man being President, but a liberal in charge scares the shit out of her and others like her. A man in Tennessee walked into a Unitarian church earlier this year and just started shooting people with a shotgun, and he did it because he thought liberals were destroying the country. I wish I could believe that it was a one-time thing, but I can't.
to me it's just the cultural decedents of the confederacy (not even kidding)
their goal has always been to take control and dissolve the American Union
and they may get their wish yet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar71V0MS1jg
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I know a gay Republican who is kind of the opposite of scared of big black guys.
This really made me laugh.
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Even that psycho in Pittsburgh that deliberately created a race-baiting scenario... that had less to do with race than with trying to stop "liberals".
oh please
let's just ignore the entirety of American history.
Racism was just the vessel. The ultimate goal was to keep liberals from running the country. She didn't give a damn about a black man being President, but a liberal in charge scares the shit out of her and others like her. A man in Tennessee walked into a Unitarian church earlier this year and just started shooting people with a shotgun, and he did it because he thought liberals were destroying the country. I wish I could believe that it was a one-time thing, but I can't.
to me it's just the cultural decedents of the confederacy (not even kidding)
their goal has always been to take control and dissolve the American Union
and they may get their wish yet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar71V0MS1jg
Okay, that was a little scary. But not all Republicans are like that. However, most of the people I know who are Republicans are not voting this year because they're so pissed about Sarah Palin.
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Okay, that was a little scary. But not all Republicans are like that. However, most of the people I know who are Republicans are not voting this year because they're so pissed about Sarah Palin.
To me, that's the primary scary thing about that video. All the intelligent, sensible republicans are now preparing themselves in a crash position, leaving all the zombies they inspired with their bullshit Regan centric rhetoric to roam the whole airplane, still angry and fear-drenched, but now with no even halfway sensible agenda to guide them. From a people whose modus operandi in the past has mainly been "kill em all and let god sort it out", it's more terrifying than any highly edited "Jaywalking" segment.
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Ahhh poor Republicans who vote against their own interests. I always like to imagine them at their $9-an-hour ditch-digging job, contemplating their shitty education, no health insurance, no growth potential, no union to improve their standard of living... and they're thinking to themselves, "Socialists are ruining this country."
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hate, hate, hate.
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Ahhh poor Republicans who vote against their own interests. I always like to imagine them at their $9-an-hour ditch-digging job, contemplating their shitty education, no health insurance, no growth potential, no union to improve their standard of living... and they're thinking to themselves, "Socialists are ruining this country."
Yeah, I always love this. "They wanna take my money and give it to poor people".
Umm... no offense, but you ARE POOR.
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Ahhh poor Republicans who vote against their own interests. I always like to imagine them at their $9-an-hour ditch-digging job, contemplating their shitty education, no health insurance, no growth potential, no union to improve their standard of living... and they're thinking to themselves, "Socialists are ruining this country."
Yeah, I always love this. "They wanna take my money and give it to poor people".
Umm... no offense, but you ARE POOR.
That's the silver-lining to this global economic meltdown, I guess. The same idiots that carried Republicans on their shoulders for the past 25 years are now the ones melting down their gold teeth for grocery money.
I hope their lives get harder and harder and worse and worse and GOD DAMN IT I'M SO ANGRY. FUCK YOU GUYS.
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"GOING ROGUE"
I hate her, but now I kind of love her ... because she's going against McCain's handlers and doing whatever the hell she wants. She's gonna make sure the ship sinks. She's slashing the tires of the Straight Talk Express. She's a maniac! She don't care!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else".
Wow. Someone in the campaign staff really, really doesn't like her. Throwing in that bit about "her family" ... that's pretty harsh.
But this source acknowledged that Palin is trying to take more control of her message, pointing to last week's impromptu news conference on a Colorado tarmac.
Tracey Schmitt, Palin's press secretary, was urgently called over after Palin wandered over to the press and started talking. Schmitt tried several times to end the unscheduled session.
Tee-hee! I love it!
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I hope their lives get harder and harder and worse and worse and GOD DAMN IT I'M SO ANGRY. FUCK YOU GUYS.
Let Joe Biden alleviate a little of that anger with his stellar performance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXcImQfubM
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Ahhh poor Republicans who vote against their own interests. I always like to imagine them at their $9-an-hour ditch-digging job, contemplating their shitty education, no health insurance, no growth potential, no union to improve their standard of living... and they're thinking to themselves, "Socialists are ruining this country."
Yeah, I always love this. "They wanna take my money and give it to poor people".
Umm... no offense, but you ARE POOR.
That's the silver-lining to this global economic meltdown, I guess. The same idiots that carried Republicans on their shoulders for the past 25 years are now the ones melting down their gold teeth for grocery money.
I hope their lives get harder and harder and worse and worse and GOD DAMN IT I'M SO ANGRY. FUCK YOU GUYS.
Those people will NEVER make the connection between their shitty circumstances and the political movement they support, the lacuna of republican politics. I don't know if people are just now getting it because republican hypocrisy is just so in your face nowadays (150K on clothes) but I said years ago to be a republican you either have to be dumb and/or evil. Dumb, because you just don't know, sad as that is we can all be lied to or be ignorant of facts. Evil, are the ones that are fully aware of their fucked up policies and become apologists for it. I just don't see a principled reason for following the GOP. Not to say one can't be conservative in ideals of culture of fiscal matters, but the modern GOP is neither of these in anything but rhetoric.
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Who is that awful woman? And did she also ask him when he stopped beating his wife?
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I hope their lives get harder and harder and worse and worse and GOD DAMN IT I'M SO ANGRY. FUCK YOU GUYS.
Let Joe Biden alleviate a little of that anger with his stellar performance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXcImQfubM
She's married to a GOP consultant or something. I'd say this was an audition for Fox, but she didn't interrupt him enough.
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hate, hate, hate.
Is this a cheer or like a tsk tsk tsk.
I picture it like a cheer.
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Definitely tsk tsk tsk, right Andy?
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Awww since when is Andy anti-hate?
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I'm not, I just don't like misdirected hate.
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I agree with you Andy. It's not fair to blame a guy who digs a ditch for 9 bucks an hour for the state of his party.
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It's misdirected to blame a guy for voting against his own best interest?
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My point was that Republicans always seem to blame non-existent enemies like socialists or people worse off than them instead of directing their anger at people who are actually in power. And it just hurts themselves and their bottom-rung compatriots.
I'm mad at them for their stupidity, but the lion's share of my hate is directed to the scumbags at the top.
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There are enough people pandering to misinformed voters like Joe the Plumber as it is. At some point someone needs to just come out and tell the man he's an idiot.
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I agree with you Andy. It's not fair to blame a guy who digs a ditch for 9 bucks an hour for the state of his party.
The world needs... those guys too.
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It's misdirected to blame a guy for voting against his own best interest?
it depends on his motives. in your simple world, the answer is probably yes.
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My point was that Republicans always seem to blame non-existent enemies like socialists or people worse off than them instead of directing their anger at people who are actually in power. And it just hurts themselves and their bottom-rung compatriots.
I'm mad at them for their stupidity, but the lion's share of my hate is directed to the scumbags at the top.
sound like it:
Ahhh poor Republicans who vote against their own interests. I always like to imagine them at their $9-an-hour ditch-digging job, contemplating their shitty education, no health insurance, no growth potential, no union to improve their standard of living... and they're thinking to themselves, "Socialists are ruining this country."
just in case there is anyone who wants to be reasonable: the only reasonable answer I can see is that both sides are full of scumbags and you're really just picking the lesser of two evils. anyone championing either side is kidding themself.
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It's misdirected to blame a guy for voting against his own best interest?
it depends on his motives. in your simple world, the answer is probably yes.
*cough*bullshit*cough*
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It's misdirected to blame a guy for voting against his own best interest?
it depends on his motives. in your simple world, the answer is probably yes.
*cough*bullshit*cough*
good point.
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My point was that Republicans always seem to blame non-existent enemies like socialists or people worse off than them instead of directing their anger at people who are actually in power. And it just hurts themselves and their bottom-rung compatriots.
I'm mad at them for their stupidity, but the lion's share of my hate is directed to the scumbags at the top.
sound like it:
Ahhh poor Republicans who vote against their own interests. I always like to imagine them at their $9-an-hour ditch-digging job, contemplating their shitty education, no health insurance, no growth potential, no union to improve their standard of living... and they're thinking to themselves, "Socialists are ruining this country."
just in case there is anyone who wants to be reasonable: the only reasonable answer I can see is that both sides are full of scumbags and you're really just picking the lesser of two evils. anyone championing either side is kidding themself.
Well, uh, I guess if you focus on that one post as the sole measure of my seething hatred (and ignore my other 20 replies in this thread), you might think I'm throwing all the blame on the slobs. Buuuuuuuuuut that would be pretty myopic and stupid.
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Living in such a rural part of the country, I know a lot of the guys/ladies who are dead-set on McCain/Palin. And they are kind, decent people who have been brainwashed by rhetoric of the right. The left does it too. I've met people who think Barack Obama will start some kind of revolution or something( I believe that he'll be a decent president, but I don't think he's going to save the world). And how about all of the LGBT groups that are endorsing the Obama/Biden ticket, even though both men are staunchly anti-gay marriage? Talk about voting against your own interests. In general, people vote with the party they have always voted with because they feel secure about it, and it's really not something new or something they should be blamed for.
just in case there is anyone who wants to be reasonable: the only reasonable answer I can see is that both sides are full of scumbags and you're really just picking the lesser of two evils. anyone championing either side is kidding themself.
Yes. The main reason I'm voting for Obama rather than a third party person is to keep Palin out. She made the other side a little more evil.
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I'm against gay marriage, too. But that's just because I'm against marriage in general. Buncha saps, all of yez.
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That whole "poor Republicans are stupid because they vote against their own interests" angle is ridiculous. I haven't read "What's the Matter with Kansas" so I don't know how nuanced Thomas Frank is, but I'd hope he is more sophisticated than claiming that unless you vote yourself more government entitlements, you're stupid. The same line of thinking would also say that rich people are supposed to vote against aid to the poor, otherwise they're stupid, because it's against their self interest.
(If you really believe in free markets and economic liberalism, then the problem for you should really be that Republicans haven't delivered, given that they're the party that likes to pretend like "helping particular powerful industries and companies" is the same as "helping capitalism.")
I could just as easily reframe the issue as "Look at those noble Republicans, voting in the best interest of their country rather in their own narrow self interest." Or, "Look at how they vote for their own long-term interests rather than for short-term gain." I wouldn't vote for a "give me a free pony" platform even though I want a pony. Of course, if you believe whatever it is the Republicans are saying, you might believe that you *are* voting in your self interest. Republicans have been very successful at selling the myth of unlimited social mobility.
I support confiscatory inheritance taxes and free education at every level based solely on academic ability and not ability to pay, as well as universal health care and a guaranteed minimum income. All well to the left of Obama, I might add. (And I'm sure I'm to the right of him on other issues.) But not because I think it's mostly in the interests of one class or another, but because I think it's what is in the interest of the country. And I try to acknowledge that people who disagree with me might just do so because they think that their ideas are in the best interest of the country, not because they are evil or stupid. Like Joe Biden says, question people's judgement, but don't be so quick to denigrate their motives.
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That whole "poor Republicans are stupid because they vote against their own interests" angle is ridiculous. I haven't read "What's the Matter with Kansas" so I don't know how nuanced Thomas Frank is, but I'd hope he is more sophisticated than claiming that unless you vote yourself more government entitlements, you're stupid. The same line of thinking would also say that rich people are supposed to vote against aid to the poor, otherwise they're stupid, because it's against their self interest.
(If you really believe in free markets and economic liberalism, then the problem for you should really be that Republicans haven't delivered, given that they're the party that likes to pretend like "helping particular powerful industries and companies" is the same as "helping capitalism.")
I could just as easily reframe the issue as "Look at those noble Republicans, voting in the best interest of their country rather in their own narrow self interest." Or, "Look at how they vote for their own long-term interests rather than for short-term gain." I wouldn't vote for a "give me a free pony" platform even though I want a pony. Of course, if you believe whatever it is the Republicans are saying, you might believe that you *are* voting in your self interest. Republicans have been very successful at selling the myth of unlimited social mobility.
I support confiscatory inheritance taxes and free education at every level based solely on academic ability and not ability to pay, as well as universal health care and a guaranteed minimum income. All well to the left of Obama, I might add. (And I'm sure I'm to the right of him on other issues.) But not because I think it's mostly in the interests of one class or another, but because I think it's what is in the interest of the country. And I try to acknowledge that people who disagree with me might just do so because they think that their ideas are in the best interest of the country, not because they are evil or stupid. Like Joe Biden says, question people's judgement, but don't be so quick to denigrate their motives.
I think the proper reply would be:
**raises roof**
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That whole "poor Republicans are stupid because they vote against their own interests" angle is ridiculous. I haven't read "What's the Matter with Kansas" so I don't know how nuanced Thomas Frank is, but I'd hope he is more sophisticated than claiming that unless you vote yourself more government entitlements, you're stupid. The same line of thinking would also say that rich people are supposed to vote against aid to the poor, otherwise they're stupid, because it's against their self interest.
This suggests the only thing Democrats offer poor people over Republicans is government entitlements. Which isn't the case at all.
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That whole "poor Republicans are stupid because they vote against their own interests" angle is ridiculous. I haven't read "What's the Matter with Kansas" so I don't know how nuanced Thomas Frank is, but I'd hope he is more sophisticated than claiming that unless you vote yourself more government entitlements, you're stupid. The same line of thinking would also say that rich people are supposed to vote against aid to the poor, otherwise they're stupid, because it's against their self interest.
(If you really believe in free markets and economic liberalism, then the problem for you should really be that Republicans haven't delivered, given that they're the party that likes to pretend like "helping particular powerful industries and companies" is the same as "helping capitalism.")
I could just as easily reframe the issue as "Look at those noble Republicans, voting in the best interest of their country rather in their own narrow self interest." Or, "Look at how they vote for their own long-term interests rather than for short-term gain." I wouldn't vote for a "give me a free pony" platform even though I want a pony. Of course, if you believe whatever it is the Republicans are saying, you might believe that you *are* voting in your self interest. Republicans have been very successful at selling the myth of unlimited social mobility.
I support confiscatory inheritance taxes and free education at every level based solely on academic ability and not ability to pay, as well as universal health care and a guaranteed minimum income. All well to the left of Obama, I might add. (And I'm sure I'm to the right of him on other issues.) But not because I think it's mostly in the interests of one class or another, but because I think it's what is in the interest of the country. And I try to acknowledge that people who disagree with me might just do so because they think that their ideas are in the best interest of the country, not because they are evil or stupid. Like Joe Biden says, question people's judgement, but don't be so quick to denigrate their motives.
I think the proper reply would be:
**raises roof**
Yes, hear hear. Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to imply that people were stupid for voting against their own interests, but rather pointing out that it's a common occurrence on both sides of the spectrum, and that people shouldn't be blamed for it. I also think that an attitude of anger and hatred from liberals toward working class conservative Republicans does nothing except divide Americans and create a general bitterness that we really don't need right now. I know we can't all hold hands right away, but we can at least try to be respectful of each other. To his credit, Obama does appear to be maintaining positivity at rallies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-pelosi/we-dont-need-that---we-ne_b_136527.html
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-pelosi/we-dont-need-that---we-ne_b_136527.html)
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That whole "poor Republicans are stupid because they vote against their own interests" angle is ridiculous. I haven't read "What's the Matter with Kansas" so I don't know how nuanced Thomas Frank is, but I'd hope he is more sophisticated than claiming that unless you vote yourself more government entitlements, you're stupid. The same line of thinking would also say that rich people are supposed to vote against aid to the poor, otherwise they're stupid, because it's against their self interest.
This suggests the only thing Democrats offer poor people over Republicans is government entitlements. Which isn't the case at all.
I agree. But now you need a really sophisticated argument to justify why your side is right and the other side is wrong. And frankly, the intellectual firepower on both sides is really high. When you've got Henry Hazlitt and Friedrich Hayek on one side (not to mention Edmund fucking Burke) you need to bring a little more to the table than, "What's a matter, you? Don't you see that you're just wrong? Isn't it obvious?"
As a matter of fact just thinking that one side is self-evidently correct and the other barely worthy of consideration is a symptom of ideology trumping rationality. Republicans have argued for years that Democratic social programs have increased and worsened poverty. They have charts and graphs and everything. At least some of them really honestly believe it. I think they're wrong, but it's more than just Republicans stupidly voting against their own interests because they're blinded by culture war non-issues.
How the hell to convey all this in the space of a thirty second political ad, I have no idea.
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I am a moderate. I trend left on social issues, but also find the left naive on the issue of national defense and don't think either party offers much for the ailing economy. I suppose I'd vote for a third party if one existed that was not populated by fringe types. What this means is that, as Howard Devoto suggested decades ago, I'm going to get shot by both sides.
Still, Tom's parting comments really bugged me, and I usually don't mind his political humor. It's a bit much to explicitly advise one's listeners to either vote Obama or don't vote at all. If Obama's supposedly got the lead, why worry about the Republican vote if the Dem candidate is going to take it anyway? If nothing else, having an opponent means you've got to try that much harder to put out a clear message. Can you imagine the accusations of voter suppression if Irwin or someone said the same thing about McCain?
But I think everyone's a little nutty at this point. It's been a tough campaign season. It'll be nice to have the election over and done.
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How the hell to convey all this in the space of a thirty second political ad, I have no idea.
Well, yeah. That's a symptom of a general dumbing down in politics. Read speeches from 50 years ago and you're amazed how much smarter everyone sounds.
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That whole "poor Republicans are stupid because they vote against their own interests" angle is ridiculous. I haven't read "What's the Matter with Kansas" so I don't know how nuanced Thomas Frank is, but I'd hope he is more sophisticated than claiming that unless you vote yourself more government entitlements, you're stupid. The same line of thinking would also say that rich people are supposed to vote against aid to the poor, otherwise they're stupid, because it's against their self interest.
This suggests the only thing Democrats offer poor people over Republicans is government entitlements. Which isn't the case at all.
I agree. But now you need a really sophisticated argument to justify why your side is right and the other side is wrong. And frankly, the intellectual firepower on both sides is really high. When you've got Henry Hazlitt and Friedrich Hayek on one side (not to mention Edmund fucking Burke) you need to bring a little more to the table than, "What's a matter, you? Don't you see that you're just wrong? Isn't it obvious?"
As a matter of fact just thinking that one side is self-evidently correct and the other barely worthy of consideration is a symptom of ideology trumping rationality. Republicans have argued for years that Democratic social programs have increased and worsened poverty. They have charts and graphs and everything. At least some of them really honestly believe it. I think they're wrong, but it's more than just Republicans stupidly voting against their own interests because they're blinded by culture war non-issues.
How the hell to convey all this in the space of a thirty second political ad, I have no idea.
I agree with you. But I think this year I'm allowed to be a little more strident. Anyone who says they think Palin is an acceptable Vice Presidential candidate is either stupid or intellectually dishonest, I think. She is truly dangerous and insulting. That has kind of pushed this election from a "disagreement among pals" to a "what the fuck is wrong with you?" situation.
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I agree. But now you need a really sophisticated argument to justify why your side is right and the other side is wrong. And frankly, the intellectual firepower on both sides is really high. When you've got Henry Hazlitt and Friedrich Hayek on one side (not to mention Edmund fucking Burke) you need to bring a little more to the table than, "What's a matter, you? Don't you see that you're just wrong? Isn't it obvious?"
Who are some impressive contemporary conservative intellectuals? Anytime I try to read or listen to contemporary conservative thought, it always seems nutty, dumb, mean-spirited or just like a big pack of lies. I know I'm a lefty, and some of my response is just my bias, but the big names that I'm aware of (Jonah Goldberg, David Horowitz, David Frum) are just awful.
Surely there are some better thinkers than that?
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I agree. But now you need a really sophisticated argument to justify why your side is right and the other side is wrong. And frankly, the intellectual firepower on both sides is really high. When you've got Henry Hazlitt and Friedrich Hayek on one side (not to mention Edmund fucking Burke) you need to bring a little more to the table than, "What's a matter, you? Don't you see that you're just wrong? Isn't it obvious?"
Who are some impressive contemporary conservative intellectuals? Anytime I try to read or listen to contemporary conservative thought, it always seems nutty, dumb, mean-spirited or just like a big pack of lies. I know I'm a lefty, and some of my response is just my bias, but the big names that I'm aware of (Jonah Goldberg, David Horowitz, David Frum) are just awful.
Surely there are some better thinkers than that?
I'm not super-familiar with his stuff, but I hear a lot of people mention George Will. He's a conservative but he's been heavily critical of both George W. Bush and McCain's choice of running mate.
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You can put that "McCain is the bomb!" video up next to the will.i.am "Yes We Can" video and I can't decide which group of people are more hateful. Weirdly, both videos are made by Obama supporters.
I don't see how people can even pretend to legitimately argue that Obama is a socialist when he has declined public funding for his campaign and is running the most pimped out campaign in history. On this point, Obama is way more free market than McCain. I assume they're trying to demonize the impulse that a lot of people (like me) are feeling, which is "Actually, socialism doesn't seem so bad". I honestly don't get how "spread the wealth" all the sudden is supposed to be a scary communist slogan. It's also weird that Biden (who was awesome in that interview) said something like "we don't want to spread the wealth UP", essentially trying to invert the inversion of meaning of that sound bite.
Also, WTF is wrong with being like Sweden?
When right wingers try to paint Obama as a scary liberal, it's funny, because they're basically painting a picture of someone like me. And I'm not scary at all.
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Also, WTF is wrong with being like Sweden?
THANK YOU.
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The only other thing I can think is that Republicans are more visually sophisticated than people realize and are finally making the connection that those Shepard Fairey posters are in a style that initially parodied socialist/communist propaganda and now are being employed unironically to support Obama, which any graphic designer who actually had a fucking brain in his head would realize is a problematic visual decision, and republicans are consciously or unconsciously connecting the dots and are like "Charismatic centralizing figure = red revolution!"
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Also, WTF is wrong with being like Sweden?
THANK YOU.
I know! I love how that's always bandied around as a threat. "You don't want the USA to turn into Sweden, do you?"
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Also, WTF is wrong with being like Sweden?
THANK YOU.
So... cold!
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I agree. But now you need a really sophisticated argument to justify why your side is right and the other side is wrong. And frankly, the intellectual firepower on both sides is really high. When you've got Henry Hazlitt and Friedrich Hayek on one side (not to mention Edmund fucking Burke) you need to bring a little more to the table than, "What's a matter, you? Don't you see that you're just wrong? Isn't it obvious?"
Who are some impressive contemporary conservative intellectuals? Anytime I try to read or listen to contemporary conservative thought, it always seems nutty, dumb, mean-spirited or just like a big pack of lies. I know I'm a lefty, and some of my response is just my bias, but the big names that I'm aware of (Jonah Goldberg, David Horowitz, David Frum) are just awful.
Surely there are some better thinkers than that?
Michael Savage?
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Also, WTF is wrong with being like Sweden?
THANK YOU.
So... cold!
Good point. But thanks to the wonders of Global Warming, it's just a matter of time til it's like the Mediterranean!
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I'm not very knowledgeable, but I always liked David Brooks on the NPR segments I've heard. He's a conservative but seems to know his shit.
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also, I was kidding about Michael Savage (obviously)
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Surely there are some better thinkers than that?
I guess from the values/traditionalist side, Theodore Dalrymple. I used to respect Victor Davis Hanson but he lost his mind. Mark Helprin is responsible for the great quote: "Modern literature is all cool and detached, even though a lot of modern writers are passionate about their politics. To me, passion should be for literature, and reason and detachment for politics." John McWhorter is good when he talks about language. (Popular linguist Mario Pei was also an arch-conservative on the side.)
The problem with those guys I think is that they have devoted their life to defeating a bogey-man: their invented notion that the left is dedicated to burning and destroying all that's good about western civilization. But I like their pessimism and misanthropy.
Richard Posner is brilliant, but he's so politically weird. He's really, really not a conservative in the least. He's more like Richard Rorty's evil twin.
Defenders of unfettered capitalism are more likely to be found among the libertarians. I like reading Reason magazine. But I'd have to note that most of them have turned on the Republicans (for instance, "Why the Republicans Must Lose"-- http://reason.com/news/show/129599.html). Their thinking on stuff like health care is pretty awful but they're to be commended for opposing the Iraq war.
I try not to read too many "pundits" even though it is hard in this election. So I tend to be out of date. Richard Weaver? Uhhhh.... T.S. Eliot? David Mamet (http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/374064)?
To be fair, I wouldn't put Markos Moulitsas or even Paul Krugman up against John Rawls or John Kenneth Galbraith.
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I'm not very knowledgeable, but I always liked David Brooks on the NPR segments I've heard. He's a conservative but seems to know his shit.
I was going to mention him sarcastically. :(
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I just woke up from a nap and read my favorite erratic alcoholic lunatic:
http://slate.com/id/2203120
which reminded me of the fact that a lot of republicans really are idiots who deserve to be mocked. Not for their misguided views on economics and the role of the state, but for their religion and fear of science. So carry on todd.
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I'm not very knowledgeable, but I always liked David Brooks on the NPR segments I've heard. He's a conservative but seems to know his shit.
I was going to mention him sarcastically. :(
He could be an idiot, I'm really really not very smart when it comes to this stuff. I just know when he's on NPR he doesn't seem to tow the party line nonstop.
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I agree. But now you need a really sophisticated argument to justify why your side is right and the other side is wrong. And frankly, the intellectual firepower on both sides is really high. When you've got Henry Hazlitt and Friedrich Hayek on one side (not to mention Edmund fucking Burke) you need to bring a little more to the table than, "What's a matter, you? Don't you see that you're just wrong? Isn't it obvious?"
Who are some impressive contemporary conservative intellectuals? Anytime I try to read or listen to contemporary conservative thought, it always seems nutty, dumb, mean-spirited or just like a big pack of lies. I know I'm a lefty, and some of my response is just my bias, but the big names that I'm aware of (Jonah Goldberg, David Horowitz, David Frum) are just awful.
Surely there are some better thinkers than that?
I'm basically a bleeding-heart liberal, but I stumbled upon and have been reading Daniel Larison's blog almost daily, and I think he's one of the most intelligent and thoughtful folks around of any political stripe. He's a "paleo-con" however, meaning that he's completely opposed to a huge chunk of what the Republican party currently stands for, especially foreign policy. People like Goldberg, Horowitz and Frum would probably consider him a heretic or something. Definately recommended if you're interested in someone coming from a different perspective who's far from being a partisan hack.
http://www.amconmag.com/larison/
David Brooks is obviously really smart, but what bugs me about him is that I don't think he's very honest. If you contrast what he says on TV panels and on the radio with his New York Times columns, he comes across as much more open and unguarded in the former, while his columns are much more partisan in tone and even frequently contradict things he says on those talking head shows.
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You can put that "McCain is the bomb!" video up next to the will.i.am "Yes We Can" video and I can't decide which group of people are more hateful.
Oh yeah the video of the nut threatening physical harm to Obama if he "took our jobsss" is the same thing as the goofy rap video.
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Sweden has a state church and only 2% actually attend. I wouldn't want to see that in America.
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You can put that "McCain is the bomb!" video up next to the will.i.am "Yes We Can" video and I can't decide which group of people are more hateful.
Oh yeah the video of the nut threatening physical harm to Obama if he "took our jobsss" is the same thing as the goofy rap video.
I'm not judging them as real people, but as characters in low-memory, small-screen entertainments. And as such they both make me want to murder somebody (not obama, though).
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Sweden has a state church and only 2% actually attend. I wouldn't want to see that in America.
That is true. However, since 2000 we have separation between church and state.
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Sweden has a state church and only 2% actually attend. I wouldn't want to see that in America.
That is true. However, since 2000 we have separation between church and state.
We used to have that.
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The problem with looking for conservative intellectuals is that many of the people who espouse genuinely conservative ideals have long ago given up the fight. People like Goldberg, Krauthammer and Kristol have hijacked the conservative intellectual hemisphere with their brand of neoconservativism, which is actually far closer to both liberalism and fascism than Goldberg would like to admit. And in doing so, they completely intertwined themselves with the absolute worst sort of people, people like Pat Robertson, William Bennett or James Dobson who call themselves social conservatives because it sounds better than fear-mongering profiteer. To see someone like Bill Kristol so strongly championing someone like Sarah Palin is just fascinating in its implications. The only sane logic behind it is that he honestly believes that his party is either too stupid or too indifferent to demand serious or honest leaders. He thinks all they need is a gun and a cross and they'll fall in line. She is his Manchurian candidate, and she will drive him into oblivion.
The other conservative voices listed here are great. I like Andrew Sullivan, too, as eyebrow-raising as he can be. But if you are looking for intelligent, reasonable commentary from anyone who would still claim that the last eight years were in the right direction, you're dreaming.
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There are no principled republicans.
if any violence befalls Obama I place the blame squarely on McCain-Palin and their puppet masters.
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There are no principled republicans.
How about Chuck Hagel, Republican and likely Obama appointee as Secretary of Defense?
Oh, never mind.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW5X1eaozxQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px8EJwEm654
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZqHfxePsTc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oS3W7vRAs
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"people with hats, people with funny hats"
"While Omari was waiting, he got hungry and ate the string of his press pass."
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"people with hats, people with funny hats"
"While Omari was waiting, he got hungry and ate the string of his press pass."
"I forgot to turn my mic on. Now I'll always remember to turn my mic on."
These are great!
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it's totally obvious who that little kid is voting for.
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Damon Weaver has pulled miles ahead of the Olberman/Matthews fight as my favorite election coverage moment of 2008. I love that kid.
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My only complaint? He needs to say his own name more clearly. Otherwise, I hope he never changes.
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I love it.
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It would be amusing if people confused "Senator" with "Governor" -
McCain Says Alaska Senator Should Resign (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/us/politics/29stevens.html?hp)
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it's totally obvious who that little kid is voting for.
Because little kids can vote.
My question is when did the lead singer of Everclear become governor of Florida?
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it's totally obvious who that little kid is voting for.
Because little kids can vote.
did you think I was being serious?
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Ummm look at your avatar, Andy. How could we think you were being anything but serious?
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Is it me or is post-fotchan Andy a more bullshit-walks kinda guy? I like it.
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Andy has no outlet! Two-fisted, Serious Cat posting!
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seriously, fotchan was an outlet for a lot of my snarkiness.
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Coldcut sums up the election:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6Lz264wOAg
Somewhat heavy-handed, but I'm a sucker for their video collages.
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theres a new sign o the crosstown here in okc. a billboard with a pic of mccain saluting and the text "patriotism matters: google obama salute for more info". it appears to be purchased by a pac or something.
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This sounds like a terrible, horrible, awful idea.
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I can't wait for next Wednesday.
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I can't wait for next Wednesday.
I'm literally losing sleep over this election. I've never been so on edge.
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What do I do in my dreams lately? Watch MSNBC.
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I remarked at a meeting yesterday that I felt like everything in the world is in stasis until the election is over. But that's just silly. It's just due to the fact that we've been way too fixated on it for weeks now, really months. Plenty of things in the world are still going on:
1. Shitty weather
2. Psychotic financial markets
3. The U.S. (possibly world) recession
4. A new Nickelback release coming soon
5. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
6. Widespread job losses
7. Global warming
My advice to everyone I meet is to keep things in perspective. Don't be so negative! Things could be a lot worse. For example, inflation could be high.
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But my dad was all "did you see how close the poll was on drudge" (he's a mccain man) and I was all "yes but the electoral college"
I think things are going to be just fine:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/
Anyway I'm looking forward to it all being signed and sealed, but I think Obama has this baby:
http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/trading/t_index.jsp?selConID=409933
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3. The U.S. (possibly world) recession
I'm not disagreeing with you or even starting a dialogue with you, but this point reminded me of something I wanted to write. I think the myth that politics and the economy are so related really has to be dispelled at this point.
For example, many of europe's stock markets beat the US markets over the past ten years. So right-wingers who think the left leaners are going to destroy things don't really have much basis for their argument, since europe is more left that we were. But likewise, I had so many clients in the Bay Area where I am who thought the US was going to hell and that international markets were going to be a place of refuge and that is proving to be colossally untrue - that's assuming down markets are a leading indicator of a recession.
Anyway.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8OBA6_62kI[/youtube]
Obviously Trembling Eagle is the first person that comes to mind after seeing this video.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8OBA6_62kI[/youtube]
Obviously Trembling Eagle is the first person that comes to mind after seeing this video.
Didn't he or someone else already post this? Or a version of this with less stellar production values?
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8OBA6_62kI[/youtube]
Obviously Trembling Eagle is the first person that comes to mind after seeing this video.
Didn't he or someone else already post this? Or a version of this with less stellar production values?
Could be, I haven't looked at all the videos that have been posted.
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yeah I posted back when it was just a mp3 leak. The young man did well! I've been humming that chorus to myself for at least a month. He managed to even get a message in there without being preachy ("part of God's plan?/ ask the kids in the coffin"). Overall, fun, I like it.
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The Economist endorsed Obama today.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12511171&fsrc=rss
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Joe the NO SHOW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1TT7gt5F0w
This is such an awkward moment. I cringed at the end when he says
"You're all Joe the Plumber, so GET UP AND SAY..................I thank you."
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Joe has an agent now. I dread every day the prospect of popping open Huffington Post and seeing those erotic trading cards.
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Plumber no-show wasn't the funniest clip of the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaOCWYpPk4
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8OBA6_62kI[/youtube]
Obviously Trembling Eagle is the first person that comes to mind after seeing this video.
Holy shit, that's John Brown from The White Rapper Show! He got robbed. HALLELUJAH HOLLA BACK!
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Obviously Trembling Eagle is the first person that comes to mind after seeing this video.
Holy shit, that's John Brown from The White Rapper Show! He got robbed. HALLELUJAH HOLLA BACK!
Yes, I was very excited that his ghetto revival is still in effect.
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Plumber no-show wasn't the funniest clip of the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaOCWYpPk4
Who is the number two anti-Semite? I'm left to think that he can't name one.
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Plumber no-show wasn't the funniest clip of the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCaOCWYpPk4
Who is the number two anti-Semite? I'm left to think that he can't name one.
Hitler?
Why did that guy tell Goldfarb he really appreciated him coming by?
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The #2 Anti-Semite he is referring to is Jeremiah Wright. But if he says the name, he immediately gets his campaign in trouble for bringing up something they swore they wouldn't. Rick Sanchez completely knew what was happening and was being very, very mean. But funny.
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The #2 Anti-Semite he is referring to is Jeremiah Wright. But if he says the name, he immediately gets his campaign in trouble for bringing up something they swore they wouldn't. Rick Sanchez completely knew what was happening and was being very, very mean. But funny.
::)
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Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
(http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2008/mayjun/images/pc/PC-MADDOW.jpg)
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
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Khaldi himself isn't anti-Semitic, he just has the audacity to say it would be nice if Israel stopped murdering Palestinians willy nilly
it is so insane unless you swear allegiance to the state of Israel unquestioningly you are anti-Semitic
not to put too fine a point on it but Arabs are themselves Semitic peoples!
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I like you, Trembling Eagle.
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I like you, Trembling Eagle.
with u & my mom that makes two
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8OBA6_62kI[/youtube]
Obviously Trembling Eagle is the first person that comes to mind after seeing this video.
Holy shit, that's John Brown from The White Rapper Show! He got robbed. HALLELUJAH HOLLA BACK!
King of the Burbs! Bask in the Hate!
Yeah, good to see he's still doin' his thing.
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Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
(http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2008/mayjun/images/pc/PC-MADDOW.jpg)
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
Maddow and Olberman kick ass
NBC just sells ad space for GE
who makes light bulbs and bombs
btw is it ok to be attracted to butch looking women?
???
*does pushups*
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Maddow and Olberman kick ass
NBC just sells ad space for GE
who makes light bulbs and bombs
btw is it ok to be attracted to butch looking women?
???
*does pushups*
It's okay, TE. She's just not attracted to you just like every other woman.
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It's okay, TE. She's just not attracted to you just like every other woman.
oh...I don't know about that
*heh*
nudge nudge
(http://www.geocities.com/fang_club/nudge_nudge2.jpg)
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The ABA Journal lists Richard Danzig as a potential Secretary of Defense nominee under Obama.
I really, really hope we end up with a Secretary of Defense Danzig.
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The #2 Anti-Semite he is referring to is Jeremiah Wright. But if he says the name, he immediately gets his campaign in trouble for bringing up something they swore they wouldn't. Rick Sanchez completely knew what was happening and was being very, very mean. But funny.
Noooow I get it. I suspected Wright (who else?) but didn't understand why the guy didn't say anything.
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The #2 Anti-Semite he is referring to is Jeremiah Wright. But if he says the name, he immediately gets his campaign in trouble for bringing up something they swore they wouldn't. Rick Sanchez completely knew what was happening and was being very, very mean. But funny.
Noooow I get it. I suspected Wright (who else?) but didn't understand why the guy didn't say anything.
It's pretty fucking stupid. That just seems to suggest that McCain's control over his own campaign is totally tenuous and symbolic at best.
Anti-Israel and Anti-Semite really do need to be separated with more rigor.
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Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
(http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2008/mayjun/images/pc/PC-MADDOW.jpg)
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
Maddow and Olberman kick ass
NBC just sells ad space for GE
who makes light bulbs and bombs
btw is it ok to be attracted to butch looking women?
???
*does pushups*
I totally have a crush on Rachel Maddow.
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Who is the number two anti-Semite? I'm left to think that he can't name one.
Joe Lieberman?
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"I don't want my money going to people on welfare."
"People are only voting for [Obama] because it's the latest trend. Same thing with this whole interracial thing. You gotta hear these parents who say, 'My interracial baby is going to be beautiful.'"
"Obama's gonna f-$@ over the white people."
"Do you see any black people voting for McCain?!?!?"
"I'll f(#%*%^ kill Obama, he wants to take my money."
-Some whoppers I've heard over the last few days of election discussions in HUDSON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. Yes, America's original melting pot. A place I call home and treasure for its ethnic and ideological diversity. I just didn't expect such ignorance.
Sorry, I had to let this out somewhere.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv6lvACMJBo[/youtube]
Tito the Builder speaks to Hannity & Colmes wearing some bitchin' sunglasses. When the campaign actually begins to feature a character that calls himself Tito the Builder, at what point do we have to rename this thread? And is it too late to start a write-in mayubernatorial campaign for Tito?
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Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
I'm all for Barack, but I had a small problem with Maddow when she was on that panel during the primaries with some of her insensitivity about Mormonism (re: Romney.) I can certainly understand being against Romney, but maybe I'm just too sensitive about that Mormon issue.
One other minor issue:
"Maddow did not own a television before starting the show"
-
Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
(http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2008/mayjun/images/pc/PC-MADDOW.jpg)
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
Maddow and Olberman kick ass
NBC just sells ad space for GE
who makes light bulbs and bombs
btw is it ok to be attracted to butch looking women?
???
*does pushups*
I totally have a crush on Rachel Maddow.
I'm 100% in love with her.
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Yeah, I like Rachel Maddow a lot more than Keith Older Man. Did you read her mini-interview in the NY Times Magazine? (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/magazine/19wwln-domains-t.html?scp=1&sq=rachel%20maddow&st=cse)
Keith is better at thundering denunciations, though.
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Republicans are using an American Idol approach to their campaign. This Tito The Builder guy is like a fucking cartoon character. Why don't they just cgi some kind of mascot character made out of oil and tax breaks to go around and call Obama the Antichrist.
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I just think the Republicans need to get some sweet jingles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va5Btg4kkUE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nplm1G7t5UE&feature=related
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I just think the Republicans need to get some sweet jingles.
Those were marathon political commercials back in nem days; much better than the political commercials now.
And I guess if the Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy song has to have the line "to be elected president no matter what his creed" then Mormon's and Muslim's probably have a looooong way to go.
JP
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And I guess if the Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy song has to have the line "to be elected president no matter what his creed" then Mormon's and Muslim's probably have a looooong way to go.
The first Catholic presidential nominee Al Smith was met with burning crosses across America in the 1920s.
Fast forward 85 or so years and Opus Dei (in conjunction with Skull & Bones, Jewish bankers, and reverse vampires) controls America! So there's hope.
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Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
I'm all for Barack, but I had a small problem with Maddow when she was on that panel during the primaries with some of her insensitivity about Mormonism (re: Romney.) I can certainly understand being against Romney, but maybe I'm just too sensitive about that Mormon issue.
One other minor issue:
"Maddow did not own a television before starting the show"
Prior to 1975 the official LDS position was that blacks couldn't hold positions in their clergy and couldn't get to heaven because they were descendants of Ham and/or the devil. Just like Scientology you can have your nutty beliefs but expect to be called on them, by me anyway.
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Watching Barack Obama on Rachel Maddow's show tonight renewed my faith both in American Politics and in American Journalism.
MSNBC kicks ass, am I right, sheeple?
I'm all for Barack, but I had a small problem with Maddow when she was on that panel during the primaries with some of her insensitivity about Mormonism (re: Romney.) I can certainly understand being against Romney, but maybe I'm just too sensitive about that Mormon issue.
One other minor issue:
"Maddow did not own a television before starting the show"
Prior to 1975 the official LDS position was that blacks couldn't hold positions in their clergy and couldn't get to heaven because they were descendants of Ham and/or the devil. Just like Scientology you can have your nutty beliefs but expect to be called on them, by me anyway.
Mmm... ham.
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Yeah, I like Rachel Maddow a lot more than Keith Older Man. Did you read her mini-interview in the NY Times Magazine? (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/magazine/19wwln-domains-t.html?scp=1&sq=rachel%20maddow&st=cse)
Keith is better at thundering denunciations, though.
His special comment about Joe the Plumber the other night made me crack up.
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it's totally obvious who that little kid is voting for.
http://youtube.com/?v=nVl0FRzldxI
Here are some more:
http://youtube.com/?v=A-pW7qjG7f4
http://youtube.com/?v=oVUyONXzFpU
http://youtube.com/?v=S_SliWNgVZE
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it's totally obvious who that little kid is voting for.
http://youtube.com/?v=nVl0FRzldxI
It's a shame there wasn't a Best Show on Tuesday. If there were, maybe Damon Weaver would have thrown his little microphone into the ring for the 2008 Newbridge Mayubernatorial Election. He would've had my vote.
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Prior to 1975 the official LDS position was that blacks couldn't hold positions in their clergy and couldn't get to heaven because they were descendants of Ham and/or the devil. Just like Scientology you can have your nutty beliefs but expect to be called on them, by me anyway.
OK, to clarify what you're saying:
1. That mormons are on par with scientologists in terms of irrational beliefs?
2. That mormons have a racist past?
3. That you would write off any mormon politician based on your (limited) understanding
of items 1. and 2. ?
Anyway, I've heard it all before, but you show the insensitivity / intolerance / ignorance that mormons will probably face for a long time.
-
Prior to 1975 the official LDS position was that blacks couldn't hold positions in their clergy and couldn't get to heaven because they were descendants of Ham and/or the devil. Just like Scientology you can have your nutty beliefs but expect to be called on them, by me anyway.
OK, to clarify what you're saying:
1. That mormons are on par with scientologists in terms of irrational beliefs?
2. That mormons have a racist past?
3. That you would write off any mormon politician based on your (limited) understanding
of items 1. and 2. ?
Anyway, I've heard it all before, but you show the insensitivity / intolerance / ignorance that mormons will probably face for a long time.
1. yes, of course with the planets and the female and male Gods even the origin with the golden tablets, native Americans as Jews. shit is wacky.
2. This isn't even a point of contention, it's recent history. The only real question is to what degree prominent Mormons like Romney disavow the churches old policy and teachings. *video of him doing some careful sidestepping of the issue*
3. I don't care much about peoples religious beliefs in regards to politics UNLESS they use their beliefs to inform their policies. Then it's fair game. For example if someone is opposed to gay marriage, women's reproductive rights, banning sex ed or condoms, teaching creationism solely on some religious authority.....then they are more than fair game. The second your pretend world starts to hurt people it becomes a huge issue.
Yeah, well poor Mormons my heart weeps. Being an offshoot of protestant Christianity I'm sure they relish being persecuted.
******
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcw0woPX5VY
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Prior to 1975 the official LDS position was that blacks couldn't hold positions in their clergy and couldn't get to heaven because they were descendants of Ham and/or the devil. Just like Scientology you can have your nutty beliefs but expect to be called on them, by me anyway.
OK, to clarify what you're saying:
1. That mormons are on par with scientologists in terms of irrational beliefs?
2. That mormons have a racist past?
3. That you would write off any mormon politician based on your (limited) understanding
of items 1. and 2. ?
Anyway, I've heard it all before, but you show the insensitivity / intolerance / ignorance that mormons will probably face for a long time.
Not sure what was insensitive, ignorant, or intolerant of bringing up the year this stuff went down.
-
God, I hate religion.
Question: I've never understood Ronald Reagan's appeal and now am especially mystified by the widespread claims that he was a great president. Would one of you knowledgeable types explain to me what he is supposed to have done that is so great?
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Question: I've never understood Ronald Reagan's appeal and now am especially mystified by the widespread claims that he was a great president. Would one of you knowledgeable types explain to me what he is supposed to have done that is so great?
He's purported to have brought down the "Evil Empire" with his profligate military spending and aggressive diplomatic stance. I also think having an articulate, avuncular movie star president gave 80's America a big self-esteem boost. But then again, Jimmy Carter wasn't exactly a hard act to follow.
Come to think of it, I could definitely see Obama as a Democrat Reagan at the end of his term. The parallels are there: hapless predecessor, faltering economy, eloquent speaker. There were also hints of "It's Morning in America" in his infomercial Wednesday night.
-
So you're saying pretty much what I've been thinking, and it's really as simple-minded as that: his current reputation is based on his supposed role in ending the Cold War. Apparently, people choose to forget about his irresponsible and destructive economic policies, as well as all the other noxious shit that happened during his presidency.
By the way, I think Ronald Reagan as a speaker was far more like Sarah Palin than Barack Obama. He was not eloquent but slick, folksy, and dumb-enough-seeming to make people feel comfy.
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By the way, I think Ronald Reagan as a speaker was far more like Sarah Palin than Barack Obama. He was not eloquent but slick, folksy, and dumb-enough-seeming to make people feel comfy.
Yeah, it seems like he was kind of the start of the whole idea that smarter does not equal better in politics. Say what you will about Jimmy Carter's presidency, but he was a very intelligent man. In fact, Reagan did something during their debate that Palin tried to do in her debate with Biden (though he was successful and she wasn't) - when Carter was giving facts and figures, Reagan shook his head and said "There you go again" (or something to that effect). Lee Atwater deserves a lot of the credit/blame for the success of this sort of thinking - he really sold the folksy/simple man stuff and sort of created what is now thought of as the Republican base.
-
Reagan is also given credit for the 80s economic boom. It makes as little sense to give him credit for that, as it does to blame Bush for the bubble-creating policies which started with Greenspan under Clinton, but that's how it goes.
Trick or treaters should not flashily display their cleavage: an observation.
I think Reagan's Challenger speech was pretty good. If Obama wins (insha' Allah) I hope he drops some literary references into his speeches. I'd really hope he takes FDR's Madison square gardens speech as a model but that's not gonna happen.
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I'd really hope he takes FDR's Madison square gardens speech as a model but that's not gonna happen.
That's the one where he said "If it wasn't for people like you, there could never be people like us," right?
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People love Reagan because he filled their streets with colorful shizophrenic "characters" that were formerly relegated to mental health hospitals where their folksy charm was wasted on dour nurses and cold, unfeeling psychiatrists.
I'd like to suggest that, if this Mormonism discussion continue, it be the flagship issue on a new Humorless Religion Thread.
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I'd really hope he takes FDR's Madison square gardens speech as a model but that's not gonna happen.
That's the one where he said "If it wasn't for people like you, there could never be people like us," right?
Yeah, and it's where he coined the phrase "My friends."
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People love Reagan because he filled their streets with colorful shizophrenic "characters" that were formerly relegated to mental health hospitals where their folksy charm was wasted on dour nurses and cold, unfeeling psychiatrists.
Ah yes, how well I remember those days. All of a sudden the streets of Boston overflowed with damaged people with rosy cheeks. A side-effect of certain antipsychotic drugs, it conferred a certain Santalike cheer on their distracted visages.
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This is regarding Palin in New Port Richey:
"Joe Biden calls taxes patriotic," Palin said with disdain, punctuated with boos from the audience.
"Doggone, government is the problem, not the solution," Palin said.
Obama and Democrats had been spreading fear that Republicans might try to cut Medicare. "We will not cut a single Medicare benefit," Palin said.
This is a funny couple of lines, cause it's like
"Boo! Taxes"
"Government is the Problem Not the Solution!"
"...except when it's the solution and that solution is paid for by taxes. We're not going to cut any of the solutions the government offers that are paid for by taxes but we are going to cut as many taxes as we can. GOT IT?"
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Not sure what was insensitive, ignorant, or intolerant of bringing up the year this stuff went down.
Nobody said bringing up the "year [it] went" down was any of those things. I was referring to the the "nutty" and "scientology" parts. Did "shit is wacky" add any weight to my argument?
I just hopped that fellow free thinking people would begin to have shown a progressive attitude on religious issues. Mormons are just too easy to bully I guess because in the US they appear fairly well enfranchised, but a bit (or a lot as you may see it) "different." I just know more restraint is shown by liberal thinkers for Sikhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Vodou, Hinduism, Budhism, most forms of Animism, or other "different" ideas.
Anyway. I don't think anybody actually wants a religion thread so I'm willing to drop it, but in the off chance anyone is interested, they can PM me.
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Not sure what was insensitive, ignorant, or intolerant of bringing up the year this stuff went down.
Nobody said bringing up the "year [it] went" down was any of those things. I was referring to the the "nutty" and "scientology" parts. Did "shit is wacky" add any weight to my argument?
I just hopped that fellow free thinking people would begin to have shown a progressive attitude on religious issues. Mormons are just too easy to bully I guess because in the US they appear fairly well enfranchised, but a bit (or a lot as you may see it) "different." I just know more restraint is shown by liberal thinkers for Sikhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Vodou, Hinduism, Budhism, most forms of Animism, or other "different" ideas.
Anyway. I don't think anybody actually wants a religion thread so I'm willing to drop it, but in the off chance anyone is interested, they can PM me.
You like Romney are skirting the essential issue which is it was the policy of the LDS church that blacks were (are?) subhuman decedents of the biblical character Ham and as such were unfit to serve in the clergy and couldn't (can't?) go to heaven.
Neat little mental Jiu-Jitsu there painting someone who criticizes an organization with ideas like this as the small minded one.
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McCain and Palin did a great job of motivating me to get off my ass and do some volunteer work for the Obama campaign, anyway.
Big night-n-day difference between what you see at the Palin rallies and what you see at Obama campaign HQ.
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Not sure what was insensitive, ignorant, or intolerant of bringing up the year this stuff went down.
Nobody said bringing up the "year [it] went" down was any of those things. I was referring to the the "nutty" and "scientology" parts. Did "shit is wacky" add any weight to my argument?
I just hopped that fellow free thinking people would begin to have shown a progressive attitude on religious issues. Mormons are just too easy to bully I guess because in the US they appear fairly well enfranchised, but a bit (or a lot as you may see it) "different." I just know more restraint is shown by liberal thinkers for Sikhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Vodou, Hinduism, Budhism, most forms of Animism, or other "different" ideas.
Anyway. I don't think anybody actually wants a religion thread so I'm willing to drop it, but in the off chance anyone is interested, they can PM me.
You like Romney are skirting the essential issue which is it was the policy of the LDS church that blacks were (are?) subhuman decedents of the biblical character Ham and as such were unfit to serve in the clergy and couldn't (can't?) go to heaven.
I'm generally sympathetic to charges of discrimination on the basis of religion, which is something that usually sucks. But of course plenty of religious groups practice discrimination themselves or worse.
Regarding Mormons, I just don't get terribly sympathetic feelings when charges of anti-Mormon discrimination are bandied about. I tend to think about all the gay kids who have grown up in Mormon homes and been made to feel like they are diseased and less than worthy human beings. That's just wrong. Also I remember that my cousin (who is not Mormon), while she lived in a predominantly Mormon town in Wyoming, really felt ostracized. There are worse things than that I suppose, but it's effectively the same kind of religious discrimination.
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If Obama wins (insha' Allah) I hope he drops some literary references into his speeches.
I got a big kick out the inshallah thing, yesno. I'd like to hear literary references but I'll settle for great eloquence. I'm greatly looking forward to (the possibility of, inshallah) an Obama presidency for that reason but concerned about how he'd fare in practically every other respect, given how f-ed up things are now.
Question: has Bush-as-crappy-president managed to lower expectations dramatically for the next president?
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Question: has Bush-as-crappy-president managed to lower expectations dramatically for the next president?
for sure McCain or Obama will get a year or more I think
not from Fox News if it's Obama but real media I think is going to be somewhat forgiving.
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I just now HULU'd McCain's SNL appearance. Amazing. He essentially gave his defeat speech three nights early.
Cold open with "Tina Faylin": You know what I sensed in McCain? I saw a palpable sense of relief that pretty soon he's gonna be allowed to start acting like a human being again.
Weekend Update appearance: That was a pretty good Darell Hammond impression.
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a palpable sense of relief that pretty soon he's gonna be allowed to start acting like a human being again.
This, I think, also accounts for the marked improvement in his mood on the campaign trail.
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a palpable sense of relief that pretty soon he's gonna be allowed to start acting like a human being again.
This, I think, also accounts for the marked improvement in his mood on the campaign trail.
How has it felt to have the name "Sarah" become so ubiquitous the past month?
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Terrible. I was talking about it to another Sarah just yesterday. We both agreed that we'd feel better if at least Ms. Palin's first name had no final "h." Also too, though, since each of us can see a foreign country from her house, we figured we're as qualified as she is.
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Terrible. I was talking about it to another Sarah just yesterday. We both agreed that we'd feel better if at least Ms. Palin's first name had no final "h." Also too, though, since each of us can see a foreign country from her house, we figured we're as qualified as she is.
what about her sartorial style?
(http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/46761/thumbs/s-PALIN-large.jpg)
win or lose
I hope that look takes off
*crosses fingers*
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Yo TE, It's not her style. They bought the clothes.
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Yo TE, It's not her style. They bought the clothes.
I dunno but I realised I'm really into dangle-ly stuff: shiny earrings and bangles that clank together.
It's bizarre I find that appealing I wonder if there is some evolutionary significance to it.
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Babies are powerfully attracted to shiny, dangly jewelry, TE.
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It's bizarre I find that appealing I wonder if there is some evolutionary significance to it.
No.
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Babies are powerfully attracted to shiny, dangly jewelry, TE.
intriguing...
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So are monkeys. (And me as well...)
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It's bizarre I find that appealing I wonder if there is some evolutionary significance to it.
HAHAHAHAHA
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Terrible. I was talking about it to another Sarah just yesterday. We both agreed that we'd feel better if at least Ms. Palin's first name had no final "h." Also too, though, since each of us can see a foreign country from her house, we figured we're as qualified as she is.
From reading your many posts, you're far more qualified than Palin is.
I expect our vice president to be at least as smart as I am. That's not asking much.
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Terrible. I was talking about it to another Sarah just yesterday. We both agreed that we'd feel better if at least Ms. Palin's first name had no final "h." Also too, though, since each of us can see a foreign country from her house, we figured we're as qualified as she is.
From reading your many posts, you're far more qualified than Palin is.
I expect our vice president to be at least as smart as I am. That's not asking much.
But the reason I like her is because she's just like me and my friends!
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(http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/images/usa/virginia.jpg)
You're Welcome!
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In California, Prop 8 would essentially repeal the right for gay couples to marry in the state.
Et tu, instantrimshot.com?!
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/3001383189_51ff9ac954_o.jpg)
get off my bookmarks bar!!
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=32216
and the LDS is the main backer of the Prop 8, I can't think of one time that organization has been so wrong on a social issue.....oh, wait.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=32216
and the LDS is the main backer of the Prop 8, I can't think of one time that organization has been so wrong on a social issue.....oh, wait.
Christian sect is anti-gay = yesterday's papers.
Weird novelty gag website is anti-gay = perplexing and creepy.
NOW... novelty gag website invented by anti-gay Christian sect in order to get people hooked on their novelty product while occasionally slipping in anti-gay stuff around election time = believable yet dumb conspiracy theory I just came up with = interesting for five seconds. To me.
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In the last few days I've seen a number of different sites post disclaimers that "Yes on Prop 8" ads are generated by whatever ad service they use, which the owner of the site doesn't control. I'm guessing that's the case here.
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That's just what they want you to think, man...
:P
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In the last few days I've seen a number of different sites post disclaimers that "Yes on Prop 8" ads are generated by whatever ad service they use, which the owner of the site doesn't control. I'm guessing that's the case here.
Sort of like those ads I get on fivethirtyeight.com prompting me to "Invest in Victory" (McCain) despite the fact the site mathematically outlines the improbability of McCain's campaign heading anywhere near victory.
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Saw this mural a couple of blocks from my house:
(http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/506/ush2384160418a9134589tn2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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Saw this mural a couple of blocks from my house:
(http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/506/ush2384160418a9134589tn2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Uh, Bush don't leave til January. FACT CHECK'D!
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Bush is just keeping the seat warm for President McKinney -
(http://iusbvision.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/cynthia_mckinney.jpg)
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it just took me any easy hour to vote in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I learned a couple of things in the process:
-know your voting district. the first line you encounter will probably be the information line to find out you district if you don't know it. if you know the district you can skip that line an go straight to district check in.
-at the district area there might be a couple of lines. one for checking in, which might be split in two alphabetically by last name. check to make sure you are in the right one.
-once you check in, you'll get a card with a number in the upper right. they may not be handed out sequentially. once you get in line, try to order yourself correctly with the people around you. you have to vote in numerical order, and if a number can't be found it causes 10 minutes of chaos and shouting.
-by the time you get there, people are probably going to be pretty testy. I found that figuring out the system and spreading the word to the friendlier seeming people around you helped things move better. (telling people what line to stand, etc.)
-remember, the only thing better than a casino fight is a poll worker fight. be prepared to be entertained.
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I cut in line. 8) :P :-X ;) :D
Edit - according to Wikipedia it was a covert cut, which is "usually more acceptable". So it was okay.
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I want to know about the Robin Hood .jpg on your desktop, Junk.
Looks like Instant Rimshot is going to have to be one of my guilty pleasures, like Starbucks, or shopping at Target. I'm not about to give it up.
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Saw this mural a couple of blocks from my house:
(http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/506/ush2384160418a9134589tn2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
I love it!
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We early voted on Saturday at the court house here in Tallahassee, the line was ridiculously long but it was worth it! :D
Such an exciting election!
Florida is also trying to pass a stupid amendment that hurts gay and non-married couples. You should consider voting NO on 2 if you live in this State. http://votenoon2.com/ (http://votenoon2.com/)
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By the way - anyone else in NY (city or state) who is concerned about their vote making a difference can vote for Obama on Row E, the Working Families line. It still counts just as much. Because of a loophole in NY (and about 10 other states), candidates can run on fusion tickets - both Giuliani and Bloomberg got significant chunks of their victory margins from 3rd parties. The WF party isn't perfect, but they're mostly good hardhat types who press NY Democrats towards progressive stances on quality-of-life issues.
Also, in case anyone needed anything else to keep them awake at night, Bush just authorized training for a US Army unit to operate on US soil - The Army Times says they might be used to put down civil unrest.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/7/us_army_denies_unit_will_be
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Time it took to vote in Springfield, VA: 4 minutes
Time it took to get free Starbucks coffee afterwards: 8 minutes
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http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/rove-predicts-obama-landslide/
When I see Karl Rove predict that Obama will win in a 338-200 landslide, it makes me think it's all part of a big plot to lull Obama supporters into not voting.
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I want to know about the Robin Hood .jpg on your desktop, Junk.
It's research. Not very interesting:
(http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g268/clickerman/robin_hood_films.jpg)
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"Why The Dems Might Lose" thread, officially DEAD.
GOOD GUYS WIN
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this rules. But who won the Mayubinatorial election?
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"Why The Dems Might Lose" thread, officially DEAD.
GOOD GUYS WIN
YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!
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Now I can start worrying in earnest.
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Yeesh. Proud of America and ashamed of this guy. It's like the inverse of 2000!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dIo
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(http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/photos/CNN%27s-hologram.jpg)
When I saw this, I finally knew what Oppenheimer and the rest of the Manhattan Project must have felt when they watched that atomic bomb go off in Alamogordo. So fascinating, so horrifying. It was like being one of the Nazis at the end of Raiders, staring at the beautiful spirits in wonder, then seeing them turn into the awesome, destructive, face-melting terror of a holographic dude from the Black Eyed Peas.
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(http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/photos/CNN%27s-hologram.jpg)
When I saw this, I finally knew what Oppenheimer and the rest of the Manhattan Project must have felt when they watched that atomic bomb go off in Alamogordo. So fascinating, so horrifying. It was like being one of the Nazis at the end of Raiders, staring at the beautiful spirits in wonder, then seeing them turn into the awesome, destructive, face-melting terror of a holographic dude from the Black Eyed Peas.
You said it. After that interview, Anderson Cooper assured his viewers: "Lots more holograms coming up..." Dear god, I hope this becomes the MAIN way they interview people on CNN.
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I'm really hoping the holograms spread past the news, although I'm not sure in what capacity.
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Maybe I'll go to the record fair yet.
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Although there is much to be happy about today, I'd just like to say BOOO on the Proposition 8 approval. What the fuck.
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Here's one for TE:
Palin Once Greeted McCain Staff Wearing Only A Towel (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-once-greeted-mccain_n_141394.html)
As some already have pointed out, the GOP tries to put a lot of blame on Palin (which is weird if you consider her a future presidential candidate). About her shopping spree:
An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.
Let the self-destruction begin!
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Here's one for TE:
Palin Once Greeted McCain Staff Wearing Only A Towel (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-once-greeted-mccain_n_141394.html)
As some already have pointed out, the GOP tries to put a lot of blame on Palin (which is weird if you consider her a future presidential candidate). About her shopping spree:
An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.
Let the self-destruction begin!
ah man I just posted that
I think people were a little delusional planning for her future
everything coming out shows she needs a HELL of a lot more seasoning
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Although there is much to be happy about today, I'd just like to say BOOO on the Proposition 8 approval. What the fuck.
Lots of Obama supporters must have voted for it. People are really hung up on the word "marriage," but seem willing to give gay couples all of the legal rights that attend marriage. Voodoo thinking.
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sad ron paul needs a puppy.
(http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5751/1225890455052st0.jpg)
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(http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/photos/CNN%27s-hologram.jpg)
When I saw this, I finally knew what Oppenheimer and the rest of the Manhattan Project must have felt when they watched that atomic bomb go off in Alamogordo. So fascinating, so horrifying. It was like being one of the Nazis at the end of Raiders, staring at the beautiful spirits in wonder, then seeing them turn into the awesome, destructive, face-melting terror of a holographic dude from the Black Eyed Peas.
You said it. After that interview, Anderson Cooper assured his viewers: "Lots more holograms coming up..." Dear god, I hope this becomes the MAIN way they interview people on CNN.
"Performer & Obama Supporter"
AND A FUCKING HOLOGRAM!!!1!
Wil.I.(Hologr)am
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Although there is much to be happy about today, I'd just like to say BOOO on the Proposition 8 approval. What the fuck.
Lots of Obama supporters must have voted for it. People are really hung up on the word "marriage," but seem willing to give gay couples all of the legal rights that attend marriage. Voodoo thinking.
Every silver lining needs a dark cloud. Somehow, I'm optimistic. Must be the Obama effect.
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Hangovers at work really suck.
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Yeesh. Proud of America and ashamed of this guy. It's like the inverse of 2000!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dIo
Seriously Nader, what the hell.
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Now that it's all over
I rarely see you any longer
I plug myself in
I am a hologram a hologram a hologram a hologram
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sad ron paul needs a puppy.
(http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5751/1225890455052st0.jpg)
Look at the shoes! What the fuck, in my opinion.
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[/quote]
Look at the shoes! What the fuck, in my opinion.
[/quote]
I think those are orthopedic shoes.
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Yeesh. Proud of America and ashamed of this guy. It's like the inverse of 2000!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dIo
Oh Ralphie ... you've hit your nadir. Brilliant man, and I wouldn't say that he's destroyed his legacy because of one stupid statement. But still ... jesus fucking christ, this guy is totally tone-deaf when it comes to interacting with other humans. If you want to be a politician, part of the job is being good with people. And having some fucking sensitivity about other people's feelings. Ralph scores 0 out of 100 on that one.
He should be working behind the scenes, working up position papers and plotting campaign strategy for a candidate who won't depress the hell out of everybody. I don't wanna see his sad-sack face on TV anymore.
There's a phrase I've seen in biographical sketches of Woodrow Wilson and other historical figures: "He loved humanity, but he hated people". That's Ralph. If you're in politics you have to have at least a little bit of the common touch, some good bedside manner. George W. was sort of a retarded caricature of the common touch but ... you know what I mean. Right?
Noam Chomsky also. Brilliant man, but what a cold fish. Has there ever been a colder fish than Noam Chomsky?
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Johnny Ramone?
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Yeesh. Proud of America and ashamed of this guy. It's like the inverse of 2000!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dIo
Seriously Nader, what the hell.
That was not only a dumb thing to say on the obvious level, it barely makes sense when you think about. It's like the choice of wording in that is completely structured around him being able to say "Uncle Tom". He's using the figure of Uncle Sam like as if people actually have positive associations with it. The only thing people affiliate Uncle Sam with is that "uncle sam wants YOU" poster, which is barely positive. It's like nader's ability to win any battles is so far in the past that he just says stupid shit like this and does videos with obama girl. He's become a total joke.
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Yeesh. Proud of America and ashamed of this guy. It's like the inverse of 2000!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibsP6XN2dIo
Seriously Nader, what the hell.
That was not only a dumb thing to say on the obvious level, it barely makes sense when you think about. It's like the choice of wording in that is completely structured around him being able to say "Uncle Tom". He's using the figure of Uncle Sam like as if people actually have positive associations with it. The only thing people affiliate Uncle Sam with is that "uncle sam wants YOU" poster, which is barely positive. It's like nader's ability to win any battles is so far in the past that he just says stupid shit like this and does videos with obama girl. He's become a total joke.
This and the "talking white" comment. He's just using racially charged language to get attention from the media. I didn't even know about the Obama girl video but I just watched and was cringing.
I've really lost so much respect for Nader over the past 8 years.
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The gift that keeps giving
Palin didn't know Africa is a continent
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html
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The gift that keeps giving
Palin didn't know Africa is a continent
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html
I thought it was a state of mind.
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These are the counties that voted *more* for McCain than for Bush in 2004.
McCain himself is no hardcore social conservative, having called the religious right "agents of intolerance."
I wonder why, then, these areas voted for McCain at levels greater than their support for Bush. Like Matthew Yglesias said, "You can see why John McCain’s principled stand against higher taxes on the wealthy would have a special resonance in this region. Liberals who thought race had something to do with those appeals should be ashamed of themselves."
(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/mccain.jpg)
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(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/mccain.jpg)
aka places I don't want my car to break down in
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The gift that keeps giving
Palin didn't know Africa is a continent
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html
Insane. Just mindblowing.
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(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/mccain.jpg)
aka places I don't want my car to break down in
AKA A lot of Hurricane country. It's sad, a part of the country that has basically been screwed by the Republicans repeatedly and then every 4 years gets whipped in a frenzy by Rove nonsense about abortion and gay marriage so they can get screwed a bit more.
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Re Palin, I love that O'Reilly and others always said, "Oh, she can learn--she's not a dumb woman," when confronted with evidence of Palin's lack of knowledge. The fact is if you still don't know at the age of forty-two that Africa is a continent, you're quite possibly dumb and at the least guilty of willing ignorance.
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(http://images.newsmax.com/headline_vertical/bought(2).jpg)
Source: newsmax.com
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Joe the Plumber's not over yet.
Asked if he still plans to buy a plumbing business, as he originally stated, or to run for elected office, Joe said he could “better serve my fellow man by working with a new watchdog group I’m coming up with,” called Secure Our Dream.com, “that essentially will hold politicians accountable and make them remember that they actually got into this business to serve their fellow man, and not themselves.”
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/joe_the_plumber/2008/11/05/148122.html
Pre-order his not-yet-written book at http://www.secureourdream.com/index.html
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Re Palin, I love that O'Reilly and others always said, "Oh, she can learn--she's not a dumb woman," when confronted with evidence of Palin's lack of knowledge. The fact is if you still don't know at the age of forty-two that Africa is a continent, you're quite possibly dumb and at the least guilty of willing ignorance.
In all fairness, Africa isn't visible from the coast of Alaska, so that's probably why she didn't know about it.
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I bet the manager of the Johannesburg Neiman Marcus is disappointed.
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I think she should start dressing up in dashikis as an act of contrition.
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Or she should give birth to her next baby in Ghana.
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adopting from Malawi is also quite cool.
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(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/mccain.jpg)
aka places I don't want my car to break down in
AKA A lot of Hurricane country. It's sad, a part of the country that has basically been screwed by the Republicans repeatedly and then every 4 years gets whipped in a frenzy by Rove nonsense about abortion and gay marriage so they can get screwed a bit more.
That isn't really hurricane country so much ~ it is the heart of the Bible Belt. I don't think it has so much to do with McCain specifically though as it does with the trends in the GOP towards batshit insane.
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Is it wrong for me to be annoyed by the woman in the cubicle next to me shopping for "clever" anti-Bush merchandise with only 2.5 months left? I should probably add that she's reading them all out loud and saying "that is so funny because it is so true".
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(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/mccain.jpg)
aka places I don't want my car to break down in
AKA A lot of Hurricane country. It's sad, a part of the country that has basically been screwed by the Republicans repeatedly and then every 4 years gets whipped in a frenzy by Rove nonsense about abortion and gay marriage so they can get screwed a bit more.
That isn't really hurricane country so much ~ it is the heart of the Bible Belt. I don't think it has so much to do with McCain specifically though as it does with the trends in the GOP towards batshit insane.
my reaction was, it looks like the intersection of hillbilly country and Appalachia.
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Don't get me wrong. I'm going to Arkansas next month to visit my dad, who is also a firm Republican and who I love dearly. The people there are nice (to me). I just have trouble relating to them and wish they'd come to their senses.
(There are counties down there where you can't even buy a beer, for crying out loud.)
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(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/mccain.jpg)
aka places I don't want my car to break down in
AKA A lot of Hurricane country. It's sad, a part of the country that has basically been screwed by the Republicans repeatedly and then every 4 years gets whipped in a frenzy by Rove nonsense about abortion and gay marriage so they can get screwed a bit more.
I'm very surprised. Utah, Idaho, Montana, Eastern Washington and Wyoming are *very* anti gay marriage and anti abortion so I don't think that explains it. Also, mccain is a "western states republican" whereas bush was a "southern states republican."
I wonder if race was an issue for people in that southern part of the country?
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What a daring proposition.
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And interviewing a hologram? How cool was that? As the great Canadian director Guy Maddin just e-mailed me: "Even Will.I.Am appeared confused tonight when Anderson told him he was a hologram. It's only going to get better with future elections -- the best reason reason to live to 106!"
I love the fact that Ebert and Maddin were just as excited about the holograms as the rest of the nation.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/okay_okay_already_i_wont_watch.html#more
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Wow, Ebert's post is pretty amusing! And I do think the CNN holograms are a mild national emergency. Sort of like the discovery of alien lifeforms amongst us. OH DAMN, A HOLOGRAM!!
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With another VP, I think McCain would have won Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina and who knows what might have happened in other battleground states. A lot of Neo-cons are looking at this as a death blow and I do hope the party gets back to classic conservatism, but things might have been a lot different with another VP... neo-conservatism is still very strong IMO.
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Newsweek just posted a further description of the "towel incident" (to be said [or not] with Olbermann-like relish).
At the convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys'-club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Schmidt and Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said. Salter tried to strike up a conversation. He knew that Todd was half native Alaskan and a championship snow-machine racer.
"So what's the difference between a snowmobile and a snow machine, anyway?" Salter asked. "They're the same thing," Todd replied. "Right, so why not call it a snowmobile?" Salter joshed. "Because it's a snow machine," came the reply.
Later, Schmidt and Salter went outside so that Salter could have a cigarette. "So how about the Eskimo? Is he on the level?" Schmidt asked. Salter just shrugged and took another drag.
"Because it's a snow machine. Why?"
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her laconic husband, Todd
I love this.
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The dirt coming out about the McCain campaign is hilarious and terrifying considering this level of undisciplined chaos and incompetence came as close to power as it did.
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The dirt coming out about the McCain campaign is hilarious and terrifying considering this level of undisciplined chaos and incompetence came as close to power as it did.
True. Who knows what could have happened if a corrupt and incompetent administration took over the White House!
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The dirt coming out about the McCain campaign is hilarious and terrifying considering this level of undisciplined chaos and incompetence came as close to power as it did.
True. Who knows what could have happened if a corrupt and incompetent administration took over the White House! (http://www.instantrimshot.com)
Fixed!
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I'm totally buying this issue of Newsweek when it comes out.
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The book(s) about the McCain/Palin campaign will be absolutely spectacular. It'll be like the last couple chapters of every "massive success followed by hubris" biography, only it'll be 500 pages of "here's where it went wrong" instead of the last 80. Like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls if it was entirely about 'The Last Movie' and 'Sorceror'.
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I would point out that Arkansas, Tennessee and especially Oklahoma are only kind of Southern. For the most part, the Southeastern states did right in this election, considering where they were 30, 20 and even 4 years ago. Virginia, Florida and North Carolina for Obama. Mary Landrieu in Louisiana. New Democratic Senators in Virginia and North Carolina.
Having grown up with Jesse Helms as my Senator, I couldn't be prouder of my state, which just turned out the reprehensible Elizabeth Dole, electing a woman in her place; elected it's first female governor ever; and casting its electoral votes for a black man for President.
I don't want to hear anyone talking about Klan meetings in North Carolina. We represented strong.
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I'm proud of North Carolina. Indiana too. Maybe we can even invite Indiana back into the Midwest again. :)
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The book(s) about the McCain/Palin campaign will be absolutely spectacular. It'll be like the last couple chapters of every "massive success followed by hubris" biography, only it'll be 500 pages of "here's where it went wrong" instead of the last 80. Like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls if it was entirely about 'The Last Movie' and 'Sorceror'.
I want to read this (http://pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spew&id=90) book about McCain. Who's gonna write it?
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I'm totally in agreement that Prop 8 is basically "Prop Hate". I'm not trying to defend it. And I certainly don't want to defend anyone who initiated it, but in the same way that we continue to consider ourselves americans and participate in elections even after the u.s. government has been historically, and recently, proven to be behind and/or cool with slavery, torture, imperialism, genocide, etc., we still call ourselves americans and don't equate people like ourselves with people that are ignorant, or who advocate for "nuke 'em all, let god sort 'em out" bullshit. Why we would hold our own selves to this standard in our relationship to our belief in the Democratic system ad the United States government, but then lump all Catholics or Mormons into one lumpen mass and assume they all share the same views as what are in fact their most marginal or extreme members is beyond me. There's a total double standard at work here and it's irritating. Stop trying to scapegoat "The Religious". The majority voted yes on this proposition, so the majority are against gay marriage, and if the majority of californians are crazy, frothing LDS and Catholic child rapists, then I'll retract my entire argument. Maybe the institution of marriage itself needs to be re-thought. Something that people associate with ceremonies at churches, synagogues, etc. is always going to summon up the least progressive reactions from people.
I'm sorry if I'm pissing people off.
Gobama!!
Nevermind.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQVP2BV9LP0
Humorless?
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And interviewing a hologram? How cool was that? As the great Canadian director Guy Maddin just e-mailed me: "Even Will.I.Am appeared confused tonight when Anderson told him he was a hologram. It's only going to get better with future elections -- the best reason reason to live to 106!"
I love the fact that Ebert and Maddin were just as excited about the holograms as the rest of the nation.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/okay_okay_already_i_wont_watch.html#more
It's neither humorless or political, but who'dathought that Ebert would make such a hilarious blogger? His piece on rice cookers had me laughing out loud. For example:
The eternal dilemma: Which rice? Minute Rice cooks fine in the Pot, if you will but follow the exact instructions on the box. Later, I will instruct you not to read instructions. That's further down. For now, read the Minute Rice box! It is called Minute Rice for a reason. If you let it Cook or Warm for half an hour, you are going to be poking around your Pot looking for your rice. Minute Rice is for when you're in a big hurry and nutrition be damned. Minute Rice has been painstakingly deprived of its vitamins and things, which are fed to boars and captive chickens. Use real rice. Brown rice is good for you. Basmati is nice. Don't overlook other grains and pastas. [Note: Someone wrote in saying oh, oh, I can't eat this or that kind of rice! I'm allergic! Then don't eat it. Do you think I want to give you the hives?]
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I'm proud of North Carolina. Indiana too. Maybe we can even invite Indiana back into the Midwest again. :)
Yeah man, we turned Indiana blue.
Big respect to Fla, NC and Ohio, too.
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John Cusack is moved to verse (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-cusack/real-shock-and-awe_b_141536.html) by Obama's victory:
More powerful than was imaginable,
We are almost in a state of collective shock/awe.
The promise -- Antigone before the king comes to mind -- wonderfully hard to process.
He looked as a man with providence; the opposite mirror of Bush.
There was humility inside it.
He was even careful not to get too frenzied -- gave a soft landing.
Sober, reflective, determined... emotional beyond words.
The world looked to America... we showed our best.
For one night at least, the world was sane.
The planet sighs in relief and deserves a righteous party.
We have beaten back the worst in ourselves, the old and inevitable forces of cynicism and greed.
No more patriotic primates to rule the roost.
Real change will take sacrifice, vigilance and will.
The bailout of Wall Street, the wars and the final gorge of the right wing must be stopped now, a return to Keynesian balance.
Bottom up instead of top down.
The gold standard that every human has value -- be awarded respect, dignity and opportunity --
The currency of grace.
A wave of renewal and possibility.
And now the real work begins.
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I didn't realize the bailout of wall street was strictly a right wing thing.
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John Cusack is moved to verse (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-cusack/real-shock-and-awe_b_141536.html) by Obama's victory:
More powerful than was imaginable,
We are almost in a state of collective shock/awe.
The promise -- Antigone before the king comes to mind -- wonderfully hard to process.
He looked as a man with providence; the opposite mirror of Bush.
There was humility inside it.
He was even careful not to get too frenzied -- gave a soft landing.
Sober, reflective, determined... emotional beyond words.
The world looked to America... we showed our best.
For one night at least, the world was sane.
The planet sighs in relief and deserves a righteous party.
We have beaten back the worst in ourselves, the old and inevitable forces of cynicism and greed.
No more patriotic primates to rule the roost.
Real change will take sacrifice, vigilance and will.
The bailout of Wall Street, the wars and the final gorge of the right wing must be stopped now, a return to Keynesian balance.
Bottom up instead of top down.
The gold standard that every human has value -- be awarded respect, dignity and opportunity --
The currency of grace.
A wave of renewal and possibility.
And now the real work begins.
Whoever has me as their secret santa this year is getting this on a plaque.
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Are we doing Secret Santa this year?
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I didn't realize the bailout of wall street was strictly a right wing thing.
I don't think he said it was.
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he implied it if he didn't come right out and say it.
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he implied it if he didn't come right out and say it.
if you can decipher the subtext of this poetic disaster, you're a far better reader than I
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if you can decipher the subtext of this poetic disaster, you're a far better reader than I
You poetic primate.
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he implied it if he didn't come right out and say it.
He also doesn't appear to understand what "Keynesian" means.
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Are we doing Secret Santa this year?
I sure hope so. I'm in this year, that should get people all excited and shit.
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John Cusack is moved to verse (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-cusack/real-shock-and-awe_b_141536.html) by Obama's victory:
More powerful than was imaginable,
We are almost in a state of collective shock/awe.
The promise -- Antigone before the king comes to mind -- wonderfully hard to process.
He looked as a man with providence; the opposite mirror of Bush.
There was humility inside it.
He was even careful not to get too frenzied -- gave a soft landing.
Sober, reflective, determined... emotional beyond words.
The world looked to America... we showed our best.
For one night at least, the world was sane.
The planet sighs in relief and deserves a righteous party.
We have beaten back the worst in ourselves, the old and inevitable forces of cynicism and greed.
No more patriotic primates to rule the roost.
Real change will take sacrifice, vigilance and will.
The bailout of Wall Street, the wars and the final gorge of the right wing must be stopped now, a return to Keynesian balance.
Bottom up instead of top down.
The gold standard that every human has value -- be awarded respect, dignity and opportunity --
The currency of grace.
A wave of renewal and possibility.
And now the real work begins.
Whoever has me as their secret santa this year is getting this on a plaque.
Haha.
I wonder if his poetry is like his acting, like he used to write good poems in the 1980s and 90s and just suddenly and mysteriously got awful.
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Old Crazy Eyes (Mike Huckabee) shows a bit of class -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449425,00.html
Or maybe like so many other right-wing pundits he's distancing himself from Bush in spastic fashion and supporting the Smart Multiracial President, lest he get caught on the wrong side of history.
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(http://img3.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/598/486/22935641.jpg)
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(http://img3.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/598/486/22935641.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRLwV2xafpk
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(http://img3.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/598/486/22935641.jpg)
Now we just have to tell them to stop smoking weed for a couple hours and/or log out of World of Warcraft for an hour once a year and get off their apathetic butts and vote. :D
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WTF Oklahoma?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRLwV2xafpk
Has anyone seen this movie? Could it possibly be as awesome as it looks?
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Of course I've seen it. More than once. It's very silly--indeed, was so when it came out--and entertaining. I'd like to see it again.
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WTF Oklahoma?
I think the OKC Bombing left them paranoid about... everything??
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A seventy-five-year-old friend of mine who was born in Oklahoma and keeps in touch with friends and family there assures me that it was and continues to be one of the most racist states in which he's ever lived--and he's lived in many.
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A seventy-five-year-old friend of mine who was born in Oklahoma and keeps in touch with friends and family there assures me that it was and continues to be one of the most racist states in which he's ever lived--and he's lived in many.
all that means is that your friend's family and friends are racists.
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No, it also means that he found the town where he grew up in the thirties and forties to be generally racist and further found Oklahoma City to be the same when he worked there in the seventies. Don't be so damn touchy, Andy. (Or perhaps I'm being touchy, in which case, apologies.)
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No, it also means that he found the town where he grew up in the thirties and forties to be generally racist and further found Oklahoma City to be the same when he worked there in the seventies. Don't be so damn touchy, Andy. (Or perhaps I'm being touchy, in which case, apologies.)
Racist or not, they vote like shit and are thus DEAD TO ME. Join 51% of Missouri in my hate pit, Okie scum!
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Wild In The Streets is kinda great but also extremely poorly acted. That trailer pretty much sums up the whole thing. It has also inspired people like conceptual artist Dan Graham, who made a puppet show musical version of it in collaboration with Tony Oursler, Paul McCarthy, Rodney Graham, Japanther, Kim Gordon, and Thurston Moore. Also, Ian Svenonius covered a song from it in the David Candy album. Highly reccomended viewing. Definitely over the top.
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"Fifteen or fight!"
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Missouri is the new purple. I call that progress.
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While listening to the first Kenny Dupree call, I stumbled across THIS:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6353033&page=1
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I'm saddened by the news that the dynamic duo of Hannity & Colmes are splitting up. First Mike & Mad Dog and now this, what's next?
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I'm saddened by the news that the dynamic duo of Hannity & Colmes are splitting up. First Mike & Mad Dog and now this, what's next?
Goodbye Ken Freedman
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This made moi LOL.
I googled 'tor hershman oh osama' to find the quickest link and this site lists me wee parody as song 666.
http://bandcage.com/trackdetails.html?s=666
Stay on groovin' safari,
:o Tor :o
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Good speech in Cairo, eh?
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Good speech in Cairo, eh?
"He's no Ronald Reagan"-Sean Hannity
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Thank heaven.
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I thought it was an excellent speech. I liked the magnanimous tone of the speech and I don't believe he said anything out of turn.
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As my sister commented to me, it was awful nice to hear a president say that Iran has a right to pursue peaceful nuclear power (not that I'm a fan of nuclear power, mind, but why shouldn't Iran have it if others do?) and that the Palestinians were entitled to their own state. Imagine Reagan saying that!
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ಠ_ಠ
Whoa, lotta obamabots in here.
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As my sister commented to me, it was awful nice to hear a president say that Iran has a right to pursue peaceful nuclear power (not that I'm a fan of nuclear power, mind, but why shouldn't Iran have it if others do?) and that the Palestinians were entitled to their own state. Imagine Reagan saying that!
I strongly disagree with the first point, and mildly disagree with "are entitled to" in the second. I'm no neocon, but global politics ain't beanbag.
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ಠ_ಠ
Whoa, lotta obamabots in here.
Not me. There are more than a few things that Obama has done that I disagree with. However, I did like the speech yesterday. I think that the U.S. has to take a different tact with regards to its foreign policy. The threats and incendiary rhetoric espoused by prior administrations aren't going to cut it anymore.
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As my sister commented to me, it was awful nice to hear a president say that Iran has a right to pursue peaceful nuclear power (not that I'm a fan of nuclear power, mind, but why shouldn't Iran have it if others do?) and that the Palestinians were entitled to their own state. Imagine Reagan saying that!
I strongly disagree with the first point
Hey, I don't think anyone should have nuclear power; I just don't see why Iran can't when we can.
and mildly disagree with "are entitled to" in the second.
As entitled as the Israelis are, anyway.
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You're not making any sense. Nobody should have nuclear power, but everybody has the right to have it and should?
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Use your thinking parts, son. I don't approve of nuclear power, but the technology exists, people use it, and I don't see why some should be allowed to while others aren't.
Criminy.
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You're not making any sense. Nobody should have nuclear power, but everybody has the right to have it and should?
I'm curious, where do you come down on this issue Pidgeon?
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You're not making any sense. Nobody should have nuclear power, but everybody has the right to have it and should?
I'm curious, where do you come down on this issue Pidgeon?
On whichever side he thinks will rile people up. He's outrageous!
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Use your thinking parts, son. I don't approve of nuclear power, but the technology exists, people use it, and I don't see why some should be allowed to while others aren't.
Criminy.
So the number of countries with nuclear power should increase, even though you don't approve of it?
Don't give me that smug BS, you know your opinion has holes in it.
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I don't like where this is going. Calm down everyone. We all have a right to our own opinion.
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I don't think anyone has a right to anything.
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Use your thinking parts, son. I don't approve of nuclear power, but the technology exists, people use it, and I don't see why some should be allowed to while others aren't.
Criminy.
So the number of countries with nuclear power should increase, even though you don't approve of it?
Don't give me that smug BS, you know your opinion has holes in it.
What's your opinion on the matter, Pidgeon?
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As my sister commented to me, it was awful nice to hear a president say that Iran has a right to pursue peaceful nuclear power (not that I'm a fan of nuclear power, mind, but why shouldn't Iran have it if others do?) and that the Palestinians were entitled to their own state. Imagine Reagan saying that!
I strongly disagree with the first point
Hey, I don't think anyone should have nuclear power; I just don't see why Iran can't when we can.
and mildly disagree with "are entitled to" in the second.
As entitled as the Israelis are, anyway.
I'm more of a realpolitikcian. It goes along with my Utilitarianism. If you think that Iran is less than or just equally likely to *use* nuclear power in an offensive weapon as, say, France, then I think you're wrong, but I understand your opinion. If you're couching global issues in terms of "fairness," we might as well quit discussing this now.
I'm going to leave the Israel-Palestine question alone. I believe there's just no point in discussing that in this forum, period.
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Yeah, I can't be bothered, either.
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Yeah, I can't be bothered, either.
Why can't you be bothered when I can be bothered whenever stuff that bothers me starts happening?
It's not fair.
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Maybe Tom can nuke this thread (from orbit).
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Maybe Tom can nuke this thread (from orbit).
I don't know that I would necessarily be opposed to this.
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I love this thread, keep it going 8)
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Ok ok ok, I apologize for whatever.
I still stand by what I said, but I really am not that educated on the matter. I was just going by common sense.
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I laughed when I read that the CIA never told anyone about what meetings Cheney attended regarding torture.
Even though he is no longer in office.
What happened to the records of G.W.'s dad's time in office.
Does Iran/Contra ring a bell for anyone but me?
And Alex Jones?
"The illusion of objectivity made Richard Nixon possible"
(Terrible paraphrase of something H.S. Thompson said a while back.)
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Yeah, I can't be bothered, either.
Why can't you be bothered when I can be bothered whenever stuff that bothers me starts happening?
It's not fair.
It'll come, don't worry. Give it a couple or three decades.
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Yeah, I can't be bothered, either.
Why can't you be bothered when I can be bothered whenever stuff that bothers me starts happening?
It's not fair.
It'll come, don't worry. Give it a couple or three decades.
boom. in your face, sonny.
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I meant no slight. 'Twas merely a reference to the numbing effects of age and infirmity.
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Whoa, lotta obamabots in here.
So the number of countries with nuclear power should increase, even though you don't approve of it?
Ok ok ok, I apologize for whatever.
I still stand by what I said, but I really am not that educated on the matter.
Are you training for the Moron Olympics or something?
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Whoa, lotta obamabots in here.
So the number of countries with nuclear power should increase, even though you don't approve of it?
Ok ok ok, I apologize for whatever.
I still stand by what I said, but I really am not that educated on the matter.
Are you training for the Moron Olympics or something?
Explain to me exactly how I'm wrong.
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We're missing the real story here.
Poor John Junk 2.0 offed his online self!
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The question of whether Iran should or should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons is not up for debate. Iran is not our 5 year old son, and we can't take away their XBOX and make it better. Ain't one thing we can do that will change the fact that Iran is getting nuclear weapons. Likewise, the question of what they would do with nuclear weapons is also not a point of logical debate. Nobody knows that, perhaps not even the Iranian leaders.
The question up for discussion is what we can actually do. Whether we should start or participate in a preemptive war with Iran in the hopes that we might possibly be able to destroy their ability to get weapons. Whether you think we can make it to that point and still keep the world from collapsing. I doubt that.
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The question of whether Iran should or should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons is not up for debate. Iran is not our 5 year old son, and we can't take away their XBOX and make it better. Ain't one thing we can do that will change the fact that Iran is getting nuclear weapons. Likewise, the question of what they would do with nuclear weapons is also not a point of logical debate. Nobody knows that, perhaps not even the Iranian leaders.
The question up for discussion is what we can actually do. Whether we should start or participate in a preemptive war with Iran in the hopes that we might possibly be able to destroy their ability to get weapons. Whether you think we can make it to that point and still keep the world from collapsing. I doubt that.
You're wrong about this. In Iran, and especially North Korea, the United States' technological advantage (and, honestly, Russia's and China's and, wrt Iran, Israel's) is large enough that air strikes would be more than sufficient. You may call this a "preemptive war," but this type of thing has been done a lot without open or extended wars breaking out.
What's missing is the will to do it, and the international cooperation needed to prevent rogue states (and, if you find Iran and NK's governments and policies are the moral equivalent of other countries, I believe you are misguided) from successfully acquiring nuclear weapons.
I read a fascinating Gwynn Dyer column the other day that suggested that the reason Russia and the United States don't destroy NK's nuclear capability is that China cannot afford to let its people see a totalitarian government fall.
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You can say we would be able to precisely pinpoint these sites, but I remain extremely doubtful. For one, military strikes are by no means foolproof. And it would be REALLY bad to miss. Secondly, Iran has had a very long time to prepare for these targets to be struck. Unless they're complete and total morons, they've taken action to ensure their work won't be destroyed by strikes on these facilities. This isn't like the Syrian strike that caught everyone off guard. Third, there's no coming back from that kind of thing. It's an act of war. What, they're going to just shake their fists like Dr. Claw and vow that they'll get us back someday? Pakistan is so close to the brink of chaos, is it any better to see an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities lead to instantly seeing an actual weapon fall into the hands of extremists somewhere else?
I don't like or respect the Iranian government. I would be absolutely thrilled to see it overthrown to create an actual Dem. I don't have any illusions about their intentions either. But a military strike without any actual provocation is irresponsible and short-sighted (much like just about all of Israel's foreign policy). If there's no international political will for a strike beforehand, it definitely won't be there afterwards. Even if all parties involved ARE secretly hoping for it, it still won't prevent them from reacting in an extremely hostile manner. From a pragmatic perspective, our best option is to wait for Israel to do this and then immediately join the rest of the world in condemning it.
If you think I'm wrong, what do you think the consequences of a strike would actually be?
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Honestly? I think the effect would be similar to the Libyan airstrikes in the 1980s. That is, people who only understand the language of the playground will respond to playground behavior by acting like prototypical bullies who get their faces smashed in by even bigger kids. They only behave outside the acceptable behavior of nations because the rest of the world lets them.
Again, I'm not a neocon. I don't see every issue in the world as a nail waiting for the American hammer. Preventing nightmare states from achieving nuclear capability is issue #1 on the things that I think should be addressed.
I respect beliefs to the opposite. What I find a hard time accepting is the concept that somehow Iran has the same "right" to nuclear capability that "the rest of us" do, as though the nations of the world are somehow analagous to the members of a neighborhood association.
* This thread is becoming even more humorless than its moniker implies. I'm sorry!
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I respect beliefs to the opposite. What I find a hard time accepting is the concept that somehow Iran has the same "right" to nuclear capability that "the rest of us" do, as though the nations of the world are somehow analagous to the members of a neighborhood association.
* This thread is becoming even more humorless than its moniker implies. I'm sorry!
Buff,
There is only one country that has used nukes on another country.
Hint: It's not located in the Middle East.
FoNPR
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I respect beliefs to the opposite. What I find a hard time accepting is the concept that somehow Iran has the same "right" to nuclear capability that "the rest of us" do, as though the nations of the world are somehow analagous to the members of a neighborhood association.
* This thread is becoming even more humorless than its moniker implies. I'm sorry!
Buff,
There is one one country that has used nukes on another country.
Hint: It's not located in the Middle East.
FoNPR
"Blame America First" much? I think you do!
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If the Bomb fits.....
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Would you rather the first country to have used nuclear weapons be Germany or Russia? It was a decision that showed everyone the consequences of nuclear weapons and ensured that it would be an eternal threat. Someone was going to use them.
But in response to buffcoat, there's a big big distance between where we stood with the world in the 1980s and where we are now. I'm not worried about how Iran will react, I'm worried about how Russia or China will react. If China is looking for an opportunity to assert themselves as a force to be reckoned with (and they are), they'll have it. That being said, we're clearly more on the same page than I had originally thought. I just think Iraq and Bush not only CAUSED the situation with Iran by empowering the extremists, they made it almost impossible for us to get the support we need to militarily take on a third country in the region (fourth if you count Pakistan).
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Would you rather the first country to have used nuclear weapons be Germany or Russia?
Morally and Karmic-wise I would have to say yes.
Same with torture.
Genocide.
It would make feel more comfortable about us being the country deciding which others can have nukes.
Speaking of which Pakistan has got a few of their own.
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Would you rather the first country to have used nuclear weapons be Germany or Russia?
Morally and Karmic-wise I would have to say yes.
Same with torture.
Genocide.
It would make feel more comfortable about us being the country deciding which others can have nukes.
Speaking of which Pakistan has got a few of their own.
Almost daily I pray China will drop one so we don't have to have that empty all-alone feeling anymore.
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Modern America is not responsible for genocide. You can bring up what this country did to Native Americans if you want, but it has no real impact on who we are as a people for the last fifty years or so.
And torture isn't the same thing. Dick Cheney and his advisors knew what they were doing. We know the methods of torture and what comes of them. They got exactly what they wanted, confessions. The true effects of the bomb and the implications of what was to come were unknown to all. All I'll say about the bomb is that it's really easy to make a moral choice from sixty years in the future.
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Modern America is not responsible for genocide. You can bring up what this country did to Native Americans if you want, but it has no real impact on who we are as a people for the last fifty years or so.
And torture isn't the same thing. Dick Cheney and his advisors knew what they were doing. We know the methods of torture and what comes of them. They got exactly what they wanted, confessions. All I'll say about the bomb is that it's really easy to make a moral choice from sixty years in the future.
We definitely agree more than we disagree, wwwes.*
* I got that out of a quote at the back of "Commentary" magazine.
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Native American death rates soar as most people are living longer
Babies die at a rate 44% higher than decade ago
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/403196_tribes12.html
"In 2004, a Civil Rights Commission report found the government spent more on health care per capita for federal prisoners and Medicaid patients than for Native Americans."
The genocide still continues.
WWWES I wish this wasn't so.
But once you know, you must speak.
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I copied this from Grotefaced Killah elsewhere in this forum and thought it belonged here (I highlighted what I found most apropos) so here it is:
In March 2003, Rumsfeld engaged in a little bit of amateur philosophizing about the relationship between the known and the unknown: "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know." What he forgot to add was the crucial fourth term: the "unknown knowns," the things we don't know that we know-which is precisely, the Freudian unconscious, the "knowledge which doesn't know itself," as Lacan used to say.
If Rumsfeld thinks that the main dangers in the confrontation with Iraq were the "unknown unknowns," that is, the threats from Saddam whose nature we cannot even suspect, then the Abu Ghraib scandal shows that the main dangers lie in the "unknown knowns" - the disavowed beliefs, suppositions and obscene practices we pretend not to know about, even though they form the background of our public values.
Thus, Bush was wrong. What we get when we see the photos of humiliated Iraqi prisoners is precisely a direct insight into "American values," into the core of an obscene enjoyment that sustains the American way of life.
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I like you, Fred.
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Love "it" or leave "it."
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I'm going to get all like Bob Dole (http://is.gd/111fc) in this piece and say it was a Democrat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#Presidency_1945.E2.80.931953) who dropped the only Atomic Bombs.
Genocide's also at least 2,000 years old. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Punic_War)
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From what I can tell, the Native American health problem resembles nothing even remotely related to genocide. It's a problem of healthcare, which affects everyone. Perhaps it affects them more strongly, but to claim that it amounts to genocide would be laughable if it wasn't so awful.
And the torture is not an eye into American values, it's an aberration that we didn't know happened. Did you watch Funny Games last week or something? There is a subculture in America that approves of such actions, but it isn't a majority, it's a dying breed. Most people don't know that Dick Cheney's administration directly instructed the use of the techniques we saw at Abu Ghraib. It just doesn't get reported.
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I admire your optimism, wwwes, but I strongly disagree with your conclusions.
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Fair enough. Say, has anyone else heard that Tehran is on fire?
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From what I can tell, the Native American health problem resembles nothing even remotely related to genocide. It's a problem of healthcare, which affects everyone. Perhaps it affects them more strongly, but to claim that it amounts to genocide would be laughable if it wasn't so awful.
"We" destroyed an entire nation of people and we never have done enough to correct. Casinos? Bah.
Indian women are raped regularly and no one investigates.
The rapes are perpetrated primarily by men from outside the reservations and they are rarely (if ever) prosecuted.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12203114
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I see a whole lot of convincin' goin' on.
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Genocide would imply killing a race of people. Last I checked, plenty of Native Americans do not live on a reservation (that by definition is not governed by the majority of our laws) and have integrated into society. We do not hunt them down, round them up or allow other people to beat them indiscriminately.
So no, your use of the term genocide to describe our current relationship with Native Americans is not valid.
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We do not hunt them down, round them up or allow other people to beat them indiscriminately.
So no, your use of the term genocide to describe our current relationship with Native Americans is not valid.
You are either misinterpreting or misrepresenting what I am "trying" to get at.
"We" have committed genocide and the legacy is still with us.
And if you had listened to the NPR piece Native American women are being hunted down and beaten/ raped and our government is doing very little about it.
You're beginning to remind of William "Billy" Kristol, "Wes".
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I read that story a long time ago, actually. It's an awful situation. It's a humanitarian disaster and an extreme example of the limits of our current system for putting money where it is most needed. It is also indicative of a political atmosphere where saying you want to give millions more to the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be mocked as wasteful spending because it isn't one of the roughly half-dozen things Republicans think you are "allowed" to spend money on.
But this is what genocide means: "The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group." And this ain't that.
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This thread is "living" up to its name.
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I would suggest we "stop," unless anyone has anything "new" to "say."
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Somewhat more positive news from Iran. Democracy is not lying down. Twitter (http://tweetgrid.com/grid?l=0&q1=%23iranelection&an=n) is the only news source with anything to learn about it. Which is just... insane. What happens now, Shaq gets a Pulitzer?
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Somewhat more positive news from Iran. Democracy is not lying down. Twitter (http://tweetgrid.com/grid?l=0&q1=%23iranelection&an=n) is the only news source with anything to learn about it. Which is just... insane. What happens now, Shaq gets a Pulitzer?
So I finally get my wardrobe schedule for the month all straightened out, and we're suddenly supposed to wear green tomorrow? No dice, Iran. No dice.
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It's weird and sad that I've been getting updates about the Iranian riots and election from Twitter last night and this morning instead of from the US media because of how shit it is. Instead, every time I checked CNN or MSNBC there would be Sarah Palin or some bullshit about Bono's relative getting a sex-change.
And it's not really a testament to how great Twitter is, it was just the only thing that the Iranian government was having trouble blocking.
here are some pics from the riots:
http://twitpic.com/photos/madyar
don't look if you're squeamish with blood and a possible dead student
it's turning more and more violent
One thing that restores a bit of my faith in humanity was the two instances I've seen of rioters catching a policeman, him being beaten by some with rocks or whatever, and then other rioters shielding the policemen with their own bodies and taking them to safety.
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Bono has never been the same since he ran into that tree.
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It's weird and sad that I've been getting updates about the Iranian riots and election from Twitter last night and this morning instead of from the US media because of how shit it is. Instead, every time I checked CNN or MSNBC there would be Sarah Palin or some bullshit about Bono's relative getting a sex-change.
And it's not really a testament to how great Twitter is, it was just the only thing that the Iranian government was having trouble blocking.
here are some pics from the riots:
http://twitpic.com/photos/madyar
don't look if you're squeamish with blood and a possible dead student
it's turning more and more violent
One thing that restores a bit of my faith in humanity was the two instances I've seen of rioters catching a policeman, him being beaten by some with rocks or whatever, and then other rioters shielding the policemen with their own bodies and taking them to safety.
Where they are hung by their achilles tendons from acid-soaked electrified meat hooks.
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lol
or something
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Reports of police riding around on motorcycles and beating people with chains. Tom should have stopped the Gorch when he had the chance.
On a less humorous note, I would be greatly appreciative of our President if he were at least to wear a green tie tomorrow. Or if he thinks he can't, maybe Michelle could do it for him. Frankly, both branches of government should be dressed like leprechauns tomorrow.
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Reports of police riding around on motorcycles and beating people with chains. Tom should have stopped the Gorch when he had the chance.
On a less humorous note, I would be greatly appreciative of our President if he were at least to wear a green tie tomorrow. Or if he thinks he can't, maybe Michelle could do it for him. Frankly, both branches of government should be dressed like leprechauns tomorrow.
Humor has no place in this thread, citizen.
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<blockquote>And it's not really a testament to how great Twitter is, it was just the only thing that the Iranian government was having trouble blocking.</blockquote>
Actually, that IS a testament to how great Twitter is. The reason they cannot block it is because it is open for use by just about any hardware and any software. There are literally infinite ways one can update their account because all you have to send is 140 characters of text, so any past, present or future technologies that can access a data connection in any way could get a version of a Tweet system. Even the BBS system that existed before the world wide web could handle a site like Twitter.
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actually, the government finally succeeded in blocking twitter during that night
the ones who had used it up till then found glacial slow proxies and used tor servers
After thinking about it, though, you're right. I was getting my hatred of how 99.999999% of people use Twitter in the way of just looking at it like a tool.
edit: also, the rally is inspiring:
(http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/.a/6a00d83451c45669e201157114ecdd970b-800wi)
Is that a prosthetic leg crowd surfing in the center right of the pic?
and people gathering
(http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1619/12542532a1e0b17f35ba2fb.jpg)
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better pic of it:
http://twitpic.com/7h3r5/full
a BBC reporter supposedly said it's in the millions instead of thousands
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and CNN just showed a picture of a dead protester who was shot in the head
christ
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Yeah, that election wasn't rigged or anything. ::)
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lots of pics
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html
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Is that a prosthetic leg crowd surfing in the center right of the pic?
It's one of the facts of life that prosthetic legs know how to have fun.
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No words for this: (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/before-the-battle.html)
"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."
Meanwhile, in Williamsburg, a group of young people are gathering to do an 8-ball in a public park.
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No words for this: (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/before-the-battle.html)
"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."
Meanwhile, in Williamsburg, a group of young people are gathering to do an 8-ball in a public park.
Which, let's be fair, isn't without its own set of sacrifices. I mean, 8-balls are expensive. And they could get caught!
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I had a teacher berate our class for not doing enough to keep Bush from getting elected for Round 2. I think I said something smart-assed like "what, and risk getting arrested and missing this class?"
I thought that guy was an asshole, but after looking at these pictures of Iranian protests, I'm feeling pretty stupid.
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An Iranian girl talking over the rooftop chanting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZfmYq7O0WU
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The puppeteers have spoken
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/media/01feud.html?_r=1&hp (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/media/01feud.html?_r=1&hp)
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No words for this: (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/before-the-battle.html)
"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."
Meanwhile, in Williamsburg, a group of young people are gathering to do an 8-ball in a public park.
Which, let's be fair, isn't without its own set of sacrifices. I mean, 8-balls are expensive. And they could get caught!
I remember when an eight ball was 1) a pool ball 2) a crappy mid-70s novelty fortune teller and 3) a bottle of a specific malt liquor.
The times they are a-changin'. Back.
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No words for this: (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/before-the-battle.html)
"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."
Meanwhile, in Williamsburg, a group of young people are gathering to do an 8-ball in a public park.
Which, let's be fair, isn't without its own set of sacrifices. I mean, 8-balls are expensive. And they could get caught!
I remember when an eight ball was 1) a pool ball 2) a crappy mid-70s novelty fortune teller and 3) a bottle of a specific malt liquor.
The times they are a-changin'. Back.
Buffcoat, your name wouldn't happen to be Bob Roberts, by any chance?
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Nah, but I did lift it from there.
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The next Republican president in 2012 should hope there's somehow a Democrat supermajority in place when they're elected. There's no end to what he'll/she'll be able to accomplish!
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I'm trying to see the bright side of this Scott Brown situation. Maybe this'll spur Obama into action on jobs, he'll get some easy points on the board and the Dems might pick up a couple seats in November, and be bold with it this time around.
More likely, the system is just completely broken. Which wouldn't be so bad, if we weren't facing actual existential threats like climate change, etc.
My greatest hope is that we can still get a climate/energy bill this year. It looks like Reid is committed to getting it done, and maybe Lindsey Graham can get some Republicans to go along.
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I'm trying to see the bright side of this Scott Brown situation. Maybe this'll spur Obama into action on jobs, he'll get some easy points on the board and the Dems might pick up a couple seats in November, and be bold with it this time around.
Nope.
More likely, the system is just completely broken. Which wouldn't be so bad, if we weren't facing actual existential threats like climate change, etc.
Yep.
My greatest hope is that we can still get a climate/energy bill this year. It looks like Reid is committed to getting it done, and maybe Lindsey Graham can get some Republicans to go along.
Nope.
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"People are stupid, and there is no hope."
"Not just stupid but right."
--in honor of Scott Brown's election, January 2010
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Well, I guess I stocked up on sleeping aids for a reason.
Goodbye, everybody!
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Got any spares?
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Got any spares?
You never know how many this sort of thing requires, so I'll say "No" to be on the safe side. I'm sure they're in stock at your local supermarket, however.
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You guys are right, it's terrible that our representatives are elected by popular vote.
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Well, I wouldn't hold up the Senate as a shining exemplar of "one man, one vote."
I do have one gripe. Too many people vote on the basis of the person rather than the party. In legislatures, with our system, that's usually irrational, as majorities pass laws and not individuals, majorities decide who controls committees, etc. Go ahead and vote for President based on whatever standards. But with legislatures, whatever the person you're voting for has to say is irrelevant, as it's the party platform you're endorsing.
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You guys are right, it's terrible that our representatives are elected by popular vote.
I've been saying this for years, no matter who won.
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You guys are right, it's terrible that our representatives are elected by popular vote.
I've been saying this for years, no matter who won.
I vote crackpot and/or 3rd party, always. The 2 party lock down has to be broken! You think I'm nuts? Less than 200 years ago there were Whigs in this country!
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get this shit: In Oklahoma you cannot vote for 3rd party candidates in the federal elections. It's fucked up.
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get this shit: In Oklahoma you cannot vote for 3rd party candidates in the federal elections. It's fucked up.
That sucks. 2008 was the first time in 20 years I didn't vote for a third party candidate.
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You guys are right, it's terrible that our representatives are elected by popular vote.
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Too many people vote on the basis of the person rather than the party.
BUT THAT LADY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPORTS TEAMS! I think we need to simplify it even more for the dummies, so there are only two choices and they don't even printed names on the ballots. I propose everyone just mark their preference between "milk chocolate" and "dark chocolate". DARK CHOCOLATE IN 2010! We're better for your health!
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get this shit: In Oklahoma you cannot vote for 3rd party candidates in the federal elections. It's fucked up.
How is that even legal?
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I propose everyone just mark their preference between "milk chocolate" and "dark chocolate". DARK CHOCOLATE IN 2010! We're better for your health!
Unfair fight. Milk chocolate would nearly always win, and my candidate, as usual, would almost always lose.
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I think it has to do with electoral college
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Someone said this somewhere, and I largely agree: career politicians are one of the major cancers on our political system. Instead of viewing politics as a public service, people try to make a career out of it. So, instead of voting how they actually feel on any given issue, a career politician votes solely to ensure their own job security. A lot of potential progress gets thrown out the window in this way.
I guess it boils down to the trifecta of Career Politicians/Campaign Finance/Lobbyists. An opposition completely unwilling to engage in the lawmaking process and our piss-poor media just exacerbate things.
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Someone said this somewhere, and I largely agree: career politicians are one of the major cancers on our political system. Instead of viewing politics as a public service, people try to make a career out of it. So, instead of voting how they actually feel on any given issue, a career politician votes solely to ensure their own job security. A lot of potential progress gets thrown out the window in this way.
I guess it boils down to the trifecta of Career Politicians/Campaign Finance/Lobbyists. An opposition completely unwilling to engage in the lawmaking process and our piss-poor media just exacerbate things.
That's why I says vote crackpot!
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Someone said this somewhere, and I largely agree: career politicians are one of the major cancers on our political system. Instead of viewing politics as a public service, people try to make a career out of it. So, instead of voting how they actually feel on any given issue, a career politician votes solely to ensure their own job security. A lot of potential progress gets thrown out the window in this way.
Just to play devil's advocate here, what's the alternative tough - "amateur" politicians? Politicians that have other careers or sources of income outside of politics? Even if the politician's career isn't politics per se, wouldn't they be just as tempted to vote for their own job security on issues affecting whatever their other career is anyway? It seems like no matter what, in a representative democracy there's always going to be the risk of representatives voting for their own interests vs those of their constituents.
I don't know what the real answer is, here. I'm just thinking as I'm typing.
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I guess the real solution would be to undo millions of years of human evolution and learn to think within the context of the "greater good".
Or maybe all the politicians should just be more like Bulworth.
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The Supreme Court just made me vomit in my lap: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/political-fallout-from-the-supreme-court-ruling/?hp (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/political-fallout-from-the-supreme-court-ruling/?hp)
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What a dynamic political system we have. President Scott Brown was recalled in only two days and replaced with President Exxon-Mobil.
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The Supreme Court just made me vomit in my lap: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/political-fallout-from-the-supreme-court-ruling/?hp (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/political-fallout-from-the-supreme-court-ruling/?hp)
Couple that with the fact the corporations are only allowed to make expenditures that are in their financial interest and a lack of meaningful shareholder control (via anti-shareholder biases in places like Delaware and institutional separation via public pension funds), and the "owners" of the companies whose free speech rights are supposedly protected at the end of the day have no knowledge or control over whether the corporation is acting in their overall interest, and little ability to change the corporation's tune even if they found out that it was.
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Mo' money, mo' free speech.
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The Supreme Court just made me vomit in my lap: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/political-fallout-from-the-supreme-court-ruling/?hp (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/political-fallout-from-the-supreme-court-ruling/?hp)
Couple that with the fact the corporations are only allowed to make expenditures that are in their financial interest and a lack of meaningful shareholder control (via anti-shareholder biases in places like Delaware and institutional separation via public pension funds), and the "owners" of the companies whose free speech rights are supposedly protected at the end of the day have no knowledge or control over whether the corporation is acting in their overall interest, and little ability to change the corporation's tune even if they found out that it was.
The Republicans on the court even went out of their way to say there's no disclosure. So if a foreign country set up a front company in America they could funnel a billion dollars into the Republican party and no one could ever know. I'm sure that will happen now.
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Please don't mind me breaking the thread rule.
http://trueslant.com/davidrees/2010/01/21/5-jokes-about-the-apparent-eagerness-of-certain-democratic-members-of-congress-to-abandon-health-care-reform-in-light-of-scott-browns-electoral-victory/
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Please don't mind me breaking the thread rule.
http://trueslant.com/davidrees/2010/01/21/5-jokes-about-the-apparent-eagerness-of-certain-democratic-members-of-congress-to-abandon-health-care-reform-in-light-of-scott-browns-electoral-victory/
These are worth repeating.
What a waste.
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I propose everyone just mark their preference between "milk chocolate" and "dark chocolate". DARK CHOCOLATE IN 2010! We're better for your health!
Unfair fight. Milk chocolate would nearly always win, and my candidate, as usual, would almost always lose.
Milk chocolate proponents crumble when you ask them to imagine milk chocolate for chips in chocolate chip cookies.
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I'm voting for semisweet, the Nader of chocolate.
I read that the disclosure thing was just Clarence Thomas, that even the other conservatives agreed to leave that in. This sucks, though.
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Air America just folded.
conservatives just want IT more.
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So...
Massachusetts, Conan/Leno, the Supreme Court thing, Air America.
What's next?
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Thank God at least the kids are taking to the streets, protesting... NBC.
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Air America just folded.
conservatives just want IT more.
Republicans like to listen to each other rant. Many democrats just don't... that's why I've always thought they had such listenership problems. That, and syndication.
And who thinks Randi Rhodes is easy to listen to, anyway? Ugh.
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And who thinks Randi Rhodes is easy to listen to, anyway? Ugh.
He was AWESOME on "Crazy Train." Too bad about that airplane house buzzing bit.
Too... soon?
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Air America just folded.
conservatives just want IT more.
Republicans like to listen to each other rant. Many democrats just don't... that's why I've always thought they had such listenership problems. That, and syndication.
And who thinks Randi Rhodes is easy to listen to, anyway? Ugh.
Libs aren't like conservatives, the issues really are secondary it's like a difference in brain chemistry.
Whether it was slavery, woman's suffrage, social security, wars, health care etc. It's a different way of looking at the world.
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Air America just folded.
conservatives just want IT more.
Republicans like to listen to each other rant. Many democrats just don't... that's why I've always thought they had such listenership problems. That, and syndication.
And who thinks Randi Rhodes is easy to listen to, anyway? Ugh.
Libs aren't like conservatives, the issues really are secondary it's like a difference in brain chemistry.
Whether it was slavery, woman's suffrage, social security, wars, health care etc. It's a different way of looking at the world.
A quote someone told me that's sadly true, especially in light of the last week's events (I'm paraphrasing - I don't remember the exact quote):
In the event of a fight, the Democrats are standing there thumbing through the Marquess de Queensberry rules while the Republicans are kneeing them in the balls.
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So...
Massachusetts, Conan/Leno, the Supreme Court thing, Air America.
What's next?
I think you know what's next, Martin. I think you know.
So why are you keeping it from us? We can take it.
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So...
Massachusetts, Conan/Leno, the Supreme Court thing, Air America.
What's next?
I think you know what's next, Martin. I think you know.
So why are you keeping it from us? We can take it.
With all the "Good guys win in 2010" talk (WHICH I SUPPORT) January has been a lousy start.
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With all the "Good guys win in 2010" talk (WHICH I SUPPORT) January has been a lousy start.
Maybe we're like Rocky when he's gone too fancy with his robot and nice car and mansion. We need to take some lumps before we go run up that mountain in Russia and chase wild chickens to get back in the ring and WIN against the Dragos of 2010.
Or January just blows.
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As far as the Supreme Court, we're just going to reach the point where everyone gets sick of it and there's a huge backlash, even moreso than before. Politicians are many things, but they are not subtle in the slightest. And when this extra money means we are getting waterboarded (sorry, it's an appropriate metaphor) with ads, it will piss off both parties. The only thing I like about the tea party people is that most of the people on the ground are just as anti-corporate as liberal Democrats, they just haven't realized it yet.
As far as Democrats go, they deserve to lose in the worst way imaginable. I just wish we could find some way to slam into their pointy little heads that the votes they WOULD HAVE gotten are more important than the votes they were never going to get.
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The sky is falling.
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The sky is falling.
boy you don't drop the cynicism thing for even a second, do you
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The sky is falling.
boy you don't drop the cynicism thing for even a second, do you
It's true - Andy's very hard-boiled. He knows that only sissies care about politics.
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Is it too soon to take credit for killing this thread?
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I think the credit goes to politics, not you. Sorry.
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Rick Perry reminds me of the guy who rides a nuclear bomb at the end of Dr. Strangelove, yelling "yee-haw" and waving his ten-gallon hat. Is this what we have to look forward to in 2013? After this guy finishes his term in office, will the U.S. be a nuclear wasteland or simply a country in which large maximum-security prisons have mostly replaced towns and cities?
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I keep thinking "surely not" every time I see Rick Perry, but I've been very wrong before.
I'm a pro-business Democrat from the South, so Mick Romnee, in his rare non-pandering moments, isn't the worst thing in the world (and Jon Huntsman would have been fine with me, for the most part - his miserable showing demonstrates quite clearly to me the extraordinary lack of anyone with "hey, let's get along" as a campaign slogan appealing to any part of the American public).
However, I need my president to wield the veto pen on these nihilistic psychos in the House (and simple math says they'll almost certainly control the Senate after this election no matter who wins the presidency). So I'm voting Democrat, just like every other time.
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Huntsman seems like a decent guy, but the economic plan he just put out, which would remove the capital gains tax completely, while putting taxes on veterans benefits and Social Security benefits, is something only an asshole could come up with.
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I can't see that Perry is electable in any fashion. In fact, if you're rooting for a Democrat to win the election, I'd say the Republicans nominating either Bachmann or Perry is something you should root for. Despite the high level of frustration with Obama, even among his supporters, I can't see anyone the Republicans have come up with so far beating him in a general election.
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I can't see that Perry is electable in any fashion. In fact, if you're rooting for a Democrat to win the election, I'd say the Republicans nominating either Bachmann or Perry is something you should root for. Despite the high level of frustration with Obama, even among his supporters, I can't see anyone the Republicans have come up with so far beating him in a general election.
I think that Republicans will vote for Perry en masse, Democrats might be motivated to vote for Obama simply because of Perry, but many of them will be too dejected to go to the polls, and independents will vote for Perry because Obama "hasn't worked." Perry is a kook, but I'm sure he can tone down his stupidity, just as Bush did, and win the election. The "Social Security and Medicare are Ponzi schemes" thing might haunt him, but Obama is going to have his own Medicare/Social Security baggage if entitlements get cut this November. There's also a growing meme in the media that supporting policies that do severe harm to the middle class and the poor in the name of "fiscal responsibility" makes you "serious," which should work to Perry's advantage. Texas's high teen pregnancy rate, abysmal high school drop-out rate, and very low ranking in standardized testing scores should matter but probably won't. People will hear about the "Texas Miracle" and think he was some sort of economic savant. They'll also find it refreshing that there's someone they can vote for who isn't so namby-pamby about getting things done.
Bachmann, of course, would never have a chance. She's legitimately crazy, and this would be made obvious to everyone during the general election. The only way I could see her winning even the nomination is if Perry had to drop out of the race due to a scandal (I'm sure the Romney and Bachmann teams are going to put a lot of energy into finding out if there's any truth to those rumors about Perry being gay).
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My pessimistic gut tells me most of what Kormod says is all too possible, and yet, and yet---if Perry can really withstand having called Social Security not only a Ponzi scheme but immoral and unconstitutional in his own book--published this year, then that will represent a truly amazing sea change in politics--Social Security going from the untouchable "third rail" to some kind of disposable luxury item that only Reagan's fictional welfare queens benefit from.
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I keep thinking "surely not" every time I see Rick Perry, but I've been very wrong before.
I'm a pro-business Democrat from the South, so Mick Romnee, in his rare non-pandering moments, isn't the worst thing in the world (and Jon Huntsman would have been fine with me, for the most part - his miserable showing demonstrates quite clearly to me the extraordinary lack of anyone with "hey, let's get along" as a campaign slogan appealing to any part of the American public).
However, I need my president to wield the veto pen on these nihilistic psychos in the House (and simple math says they'll almost certainly control the Senate after this election no matter who wins the presidency). So I'm voting Democrat, just like every other time.
I saw Huntsman and thought, wow, it's a guy who seems reasonable and intelligent, he is so very doomed in the GOP race. In his case it's not only his 'hey, let's get along' attitude that kills him but also his 'hey, I accept the work of scientists in the past 100 years' attitude that worked against him. Damn shame, really.
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In his case it's not only his 'hey, let's get along' attitude that kills him but also his 'hey, I accept the work of scientists in the past 100 years' attitude that worked against him. Damn shame, really.
Yes, but when you look at his actual policy positions, he really isn't much closer to the center than the rest of them. I tend to think he said that thing about accepting the science on climate change mainly so that, if by some miracle he were to become president, he could say "I believe it but I'm not going to do anything about it. Hey, it could have been worse, you could have gotten one of those dorks who don't even believe it."
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Don't be fooled -- Huntsman isn't interested in protecting the environment (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576544703176083600.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576544703176083600.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)):
Mr. Huntsman says he'd also bring to heel the hyper-regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and the National Labor Relations Board, all of which are suppressing job-creation. The Huntsman energy policy promises to block impediments to producing oil in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska (see editorial above), while encouraging the safe deployment of fracking for natural gas in the states. Mr. Huntsman dabbled with green energy subsidies as Governor when those were the political fashion, but perhaps he's learned watching the failures of the last two years.
I guess he's saying that man-made global warming exists just to gain some sort of intellectual credibility? Politically, it doesn't make much sense, given that the majority of Republican voters dismiss the belief completely.
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I can't see that Perry is electable in any fashion. In fact, if you're rooting for a Democrat to win the election, I'd say the Republicans nominating either Bachmann or Perry is something you should root for. Despite the high level of frustration with Obama, even among his supporters, I can't see anyone the Republicans have come up with so far beating him in a general election.
I think that Republicans will vote for Perry en masse, Democrats might be motivated to vote for Obama simply because of Perry, but many of them will be too dejected to go to the polls, and independents will vote for Perry because Obama "hasn't worked." Perry is a kook, but I'm sure he can tone down his stupidity, just as Bush did, and win the election. The "Social Security and Medicare are Ponzi schemes" thing might haunt him, but Obama is going to have his own Medicare/Social Security baggage if entitlements get cut this November. There's also a growing meme in the media that supporting policies that do severe harm to the middle class and the poor in the name of "fiscal responsibility" makes you "serious," which should work to Perry's advantage. Texas's high teen pregnancy rate, abysmal high school drop-out rate, and very low ranking in standardized testing scores should matter but probably won't. People will hear about the "Texas Miracle" and think he was some sort of economic savant. They'll also find it refreshing that there's someone they can vote for who isn't so namby-pamby about getting things done.
I'm generally a pessimist about presidential politics (thanks largely to the last decade plus), but in the end I think Perry's extremism will scare away the independents.
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I guess he's saying that man-made global warming exists just to gain some sort of intellectual credibility? Politically, it doesn't make much sense, given that the majority of Republican voters dismiss the belief completely.
Politically, it's just plain suicidal, and his 1% ratings among Republican primary voters seem to bear that out. Some people speculate that he's setting himself up for 2016--that if the Republicans nominate a total wingnut and lose, they'll be open to someone who appears more centrist next time around.
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I guess he's saying that man-made global warming exists just to gain some sort of intellectual credibility? Politically, it doesn't make much sense, given that the majority of Republican voters dismiss the belief completely.
Politically, it's just plain suicidal, and his 1% ratings among Republican primary voters seem to bear that out. Some people speculate that he's setting himself up for 2016--that if the Republicans nominate a total wingnut and lose, they'll be open to someone who appears more centrist next time around.
They might want someone who's closer to the center than Perry -- if he indeed wins the nomination in 2012 and then loses the general -- but Huntsman is foolish if he thinks Republicans are going to start believing in man-made global warming between now and 2015. Even if this miraculously happened, they probably wouldn't care about the fact that he believed it in 2011. He's a terrible politician and a terrible person to boot, and deserves being tied with Thadeus McCotter in the polls (admittedly, all of them deserve being tied with Thadeus McCotter in the polls). Also, if Obama wins a second term, Chris Christie (ugh) is going to be unbeatable in 2016, so Huntsman should just forget about it.
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Don't be fooled -- Huntsman isn't interested in protecting the environment (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576544703176083600.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576544703176083600.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)):
Mr. Huntsman says he'd also bring to heel the hyper-regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and the National Labor Relations Board, all of which are suppressing job-creation. The Huntsman energy policy promises to block impediments to producing oil in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska (see editorial above), while encouraging the safe deployment of fracking for natural gas in the states. Mr. Huntsman dabbled with green energy subsidies as Governor when those were the political fashion, but perhaps he's learned watching the failures of the last two years.
I guess he's saying that man-made global warming exists just to gain some sort of intellectual credibility? Politically, it doesn't make much sense, given that the majority of Republican voters dismiss the belief completely.
Hyper-regulators. Ugh. Damn those job-creation suppressing people at the FDA!
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Probably some of you saw a few weeks ago that Huntsman tweeted about liking Captain Beefheart. One journalist actually decided to press him on details:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/09/06/jon_huntsman_passes_the_captain_beefheart_test.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/09/06/jon_huntsman_passes_the_captain_beefheart_test.html)
Hmf. He comes through credibly enough, except for telescoping "China Pig" and "Orange Claw Hammer" into a single, non-existent song; referring to Antennae Jimmy Semens as "Mascara Jimmy;" and referring to Bat Chain Puller as if that album were ever actually released.
Not that it matters, Rick Perry could start pledging fealty to the Shaggs and it could be revealed that early Half Japanese provides the background music for Michelle's and Marcus's diaper sessions and I still wouldn't vote for any of 'em.
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Of course, Mitt Romney's favorite music, movies, and TV shows (according to his Facebook page) seem as though they were picked by a focus group:
Favourite music
Roy Orbison, The Beatles, The Eagles, Clint Black, Randy Travis, Johnny Cash,
Favourite films
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Henry V
Favourite TV programmes
Seinfeld, Modern Family, Friday Night Lights, Justified, 30 Rock, American Idol
Seinfeld and 30 Rock, I guess, were chosen to attract swing voters.
I'd love it if someone quizzed him on the main plot points of Friday Night Lights. If he knows his Matt Saracen from his Tim Riggins, I'd be very surprised.
Favourite books
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Adventures of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Battlefield Earth by Ron Hubbard
This list looks a bit more authentic. I can't imagine how Battlefield Earth works politically, unless Romney's campaign staff looked at all those "best novels" lists (the ones voted on by readers rather than critics) and didn't realize Battlefield Earth is always at the top of them (usually along with Ayn Rand's novels) because crazy Scientologists flood the polls with votes.
Jon Huntsman, unfortunately, doesn't have many specifics on his Facebook page. His favorite music is simply listed as "progressive rock."
As a side note, I looked up "favorite conservative TV shows" and discovered that the contributors at Conservapedia have a weird respect for the Office. They put it at #2, just below Family Ties, on their Greatest Conservative TV Shows list (http://conservapedia.com/Essay:Greatest_Conservative_TV_Shows (http://conservapedia.com/Essay:Greatest_Conservative_TV_Shows)):
The Office: mockery of liberal political correctness and corporate socialism in an office setting, without a laugh track. The character of Ryan in particular is a lampoon of liberal arrogance and immorality. The show was most popular when it mocked liberals.
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Ender's Game: the best book about justifying genocide ever!
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Mitt's Battleship Earth fandom actually came up during the 2008 primaries. Maybe it's just his way of reminding people that there are other churches just as nutty as the Mormons.
As for Huntsman, I seem to have heard somewhere that in college he belonged to a prog band named "Wizard." Isn't that the proggiest name ever for a proggy prog band?
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Rick Perry Struggles to answer Question on Abstinence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngiJhmoFKkw#ws)
What a dummy.
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Rick Perry Struggles to answer Question on Abstinence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngiJhmoFKkw#ws)
What a dummy.
That was the most non sequitor-filled answer I've heard in quite a while. He has the gift of appearing to be self-possessed while mentally scrambling around in the dark.
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Read this, it's really depressing:
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779 (http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779)
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Read this, it's really depressing:
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779 (http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779)
The one consolation I have is that the country is really starting to sour on the Tea Party, and "the Tea Party" is almost starting to become a toxic label. The latest polls show that despite Obama's low approval ratings, the Tea Party is much more unpopular than he is, and have had about a 15 point drop in popularity since February. We can only hope that the popularity of these turkeys continues to flag.
After watching parts of the Republican debate tonight, I think Perry is in a considerable amount of trouble. He didn't back away from his comments about Social Security AT ALL, and said that it was a Ponzi scheme several times. The crowd didn't seem to like this, and, to give you a sense of how conservative they were, they cheered voraciously when Brian William stated that 234 people were executed during Perry's term as governor. If Perry backpedaled hard on what he wrote in Fed Up!, I think his views on Social Security would have only been a medium-sized problem for him, but after tonight's statements, he should probably kiss his 10 point lead over Romney goodbye.
But who knows? Maybe people will buy into this jive bullshit about Social Security being a Ponzi scheme. I don't think so though.
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Just in case anyone is on the fence about this issue, or has friends or relatives who are:
(https://motherjones.com/files/images/venn-diagram-social-security-ponzi-scheme-630.png)
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Just in case anyone is on the fence about this issue, or has friends or relatives who are:
(https://motherjones.com/files/images/venn-diagram-social-security-ponzi-scheme-630.png)
I still can't believe he's sticking with this. He could have backpedaled on only this claim and simply toned down the other crazy ones, and still have had a good chance at winning the election. My guess is that he's being pushed hard to do this by the billionaire jerks backing his campaign, who want this social insurance stuff done away with NOW NOW NOW.
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My guess is that he's being pushed hard to do this by the billionaire jerks backing his campaign, who want this social insurance stuff done away with NOW NOW NOW.
Koch anyone?
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From a tweet I read:
All I know is Ponzi would have been pissed if the feds kept robbing his scheme to pay for tax cuts for the koch brothers
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Rick Perry Struggles to answer Question on Abstinence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngiJhmoFKkw#ws)
What a dummy.
It works because it works.
He really reminds me of 43 in this answer. Good Lord, can I go through 4 or 8 more years of that?
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Perry, in schoolyard bully mode, picking on a helpless old man:
(http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Rick-Perry-Ron-Paul.jpg)
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What is it about Ron Paul that gets internet twenty year olds so excited? I mean he holds some truly horrible ideas in that old noggin of his.
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I think it's 'cause he's a rebel, man.
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What is it about Ron Paul that gets internet twenty year olds so excited? I mean he holds some truly horrible ideas in that old noggin of his.
I have no idea. It seems that they love him for wanting to end the war on drugs and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but there are other "fringe" presidential candidates, like Ralph Nader, who share these views and don't at the same time want to overturn Roe v. Wade, do nothing about global warming (because "it's a hoax"), get rid of most, if not all, government regulations, and abolish Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Despite the amusement he's currently providing by being Perry's gadfly, I hope we stop hearing about this weird old man once he retires from Congress in 2012.
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Libertarians are Republicans who want to smoke dope and get laid. I'm in favor of drug legalization, but if I were one of these dweebs for whom that trumps every other issue, I guess he'd be my guy too.
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As far as libertarians wanting to get laid goes, emphasis on "wanting to." If talking endlessly about an old man who looks like an 1880s gold prospector ever becomes an aphrodisiac, we're in serious trouble.
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Hearing Paul talk about why everything but abortion is not the government's purview is the same as hearing Scalia talk about how the states' rights are all-encompassing except when it comes to marijuana.
I DESPISE unconscious hypocrisy. Own that sucker.
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I think there's noob appeal in his (overly) simple solutions.
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Rick Perry Struggles to answer Question on Abstinence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngiJhmoFKkw#ws)
What a dummy.
That was the most non sequitor-filled answer I've heard in quite a while. He has the gift of appearing to be self-possessed while mentally scrambling around in the dark.
He sounds so much like George W that it's nightmarish. Take the visuals away and it really sounds like W. I feel like I'm experiencing PTSD just listening to that voice.
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In regards to Ron Paul and his 20-30 something internet fanbase: That age group has lived basically their entire life watching two parties fight and run the country into the ground. They probably voted for Obama or at the very least were intrigued by his anti-Wall Street stance. They've graduated from college in the past decade and have no other option but to work a corporate dead end job to try to live a shadow of whatever the American dream is these days. So, while I wouldn't vote for Ron Paul, you're blind to state of American youth if you don't understand why they rally around him.
What I can't believe is that more older conservatives don't love him. My dad likes him a lot and he's a 60 year old moderate who's voted Democrat the past 20 years because he's rational enough to know how terrible neo-conservatism is. You don't have to like Ron Paul's ideas and you don't have to vote for him, but we could do a lot worse and have done a lot worse than Ron Paul as the Republican nominee. At least his campaign is based on ideas, right?
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First of all, I am one of America's youth so I think I have an idea what the state of them is.
Second, yeah, his campaign is based on ideas. However, those ideas are more extreme and foolish and not based in reality than most of the other Republicans.
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The thing about Paul is that he's what a lot of conservatives actually want. They vote for the electable guy because moderates would never vote for a non-mainstream candidate but Paul is what a good chunk of conservatives have been begging for. A guy who will screw everyone over in the name of the economy. But, if Paul was elected, it might be the last time a Republican gets elected for a long time because conservatism is all well and good until it hits your own home, and Paul's ideas would hit a lot of Republican homes that never have seen the ugly side of the conservatism and have turned a blind eye to it.
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I dislike Paul, but I can't help but root for him when he gets into a foreign policy dispute with a jingoist like Rick Santorum:
Ron Paul Booed at CNN - Tea Party Debate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfBKKh0C2eo#)
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I remember that moment from the debate, and when it happened, all of a sudden I warmed up to Ron Paul quite a bit. He was the only one willing to talk about foreign policy in a way that connected with reality.
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I can't believe people booed what they booed. Well, I can, of course.
It was nice to hear someone say something off script for a change.
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In regards to Ron Paul and his 20-30 something internet fanbase: That age group has lived basically their entire life watching two parties fight and run the country into the ground. They probably voted for Obama or at the very least were intrigued by his anti-Wall Street stance. They've graduated from college in the past decade and have no other option but to work a corporate dead end job to try to live a shadow of whatever the American dream is these days. So, while I wouldn't vote for Ron Paul, you're blind to state of American youth if you don't understand why they rally around him.
What I can't believe is that more older conservatives don't love him. My dad likes him a lot and he's a 60 year old moderate who's voted Democrat the past 20 years because he's rational enough to know how terrible neo-conservatism is. You don't have to like Ron Paul's ideas and you don't have to vote for him, but we could do a lot worse and have done a lot worse than Ron Paul as the Republican nominee. At least his campaign is based on ideas, right?
Two reasons:
1. He's perceived to be weak in the area of national defense, which is a huge black eye against him in the minds of many conservatives. The isolationist foreign policy that Paul espouses may have won him favor in the Republican Party of 70 years ago. But in the hawkish GOP of today, it's rendered him a pariah.
2. Rightly or wrongly, he's perceived to be on the wrong side of certain social and cultural issues (i.e. marijuana decriminalization, prostitution, etc.) While social issues aren't going to dominate this coming election cycle (as they did in 2000 and 2004), the social conservatives still wield a great deal of influence in the Republican Party. And his stances on those issues aren't going to win him many supporters within the socially conservative wing of the GOP.
Those two things seem to be the principal points of contention when it comes to Ron Paul. At least that's what I've gathered from reading various conservative blogs over the last few years.
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You don't have to like Ron Paul's ideas and you don't have to vote for him, but we could do a lot worse and have done a lot worse than Ron Paul as the Republican nominee. At least his campaign is based on ideas, right?
It's kind of a wash when for every good idea he has, he has two absolutely horrible ones. While I appreciate his honestly and passion, he might be even more dangerous to the country than your generic Republican. Then again, he wouldn't be able to do much legislatively, so maybe not. And some of the things a president has power over, like wars and the DOJ being able to stop the drug war, I'm in favor of.
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In regards to Ron Paul and his 20-30 something internet fanbase: That age group has lived basically their entire life watching two parties fight and run the country into the ground. They probably voted for Obama or at the very least were intrigued by his anti-Wall Street stance. They've graduated from college in the past decade and have no other option but to work a corporate dead end job to try to live a shadow of whatever the American dream is these days. So, while I wouldn't vote for Ron Paul, you're blind to state of American youth if you don't understand why they rally around him.
What I can't believe is that more older conservatives don't love him. My dad likes him a lot and he's a 60 year old moderate who's voted Democrat the past 20 years because he's rational enough to know how terrible neo-conservatism is. You don't have to like Ron Paul's ideas and you don't have to vote for him, but we could do a lot worse and have done a lot worse than Ron Paul as the Republican nominee. At least his campaign is based on ideas, right?
I graduated high school in 2007, during the heat of the Ron Paul ReLOVEution. A few of my friends jumped onto his campaign, but not necessarily for the reasons you mentioned. They like pot a lot and he was the only candidate was for legalization. They then picked up the rest of the baggage that goes with right wing libertarianism. The friends I have that are actually interested in politics moved farther to the left, especially as the 2 major parties moved farther to the right over the last 5 years or so.
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New Palin biography (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/sarah-palin-alleged-cocaine-marijuana-book) makes me hope that Todd calls the Best Show again soon:
The book, scheduled for release in the US next week, quotes a Palin family friend as alleging that Palin's husband, Todd, also used cocaine and that he was "on the end of the straw plenty".
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Unlike probably all of you, I've gone back and forth on capital punishment over the years, but this simply takes the cake:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/texas-executions-controversial-cases?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/texas-executions-controversial-cases?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487)
This MF wants to be president of the United States? And might well be in January 2013. This is a guy who has to be overruled by a Supreme Court that hates with a passion to overrule death penalty cases. His bloodthirstiness seems to know absolutely no bounds.
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Unlike probably all of you, I've gone back and forth on capital punishment over the years, but this simply takes the cake:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/texas-executions-controversial-cases?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/texas-executions-controversial-cases?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487)
This MF wants to be president of the United States? And might well be in January 2013. This is a guy who has to be overruled by a Supreme Court that hates with a passion to overrule death penalty cases. His bloodthirstiness seems to know absolutely no bounds.
It may surpise you to know, I too, have gone back and forth on the death penalty. It is expensive to lock someone up for life. Why should we spend the money on someone who is not going to be rehabilitated or released?
Ultimately, I end up opposing it. If one innocent person is put to death then the whole idea crumbles. I'm certain that has happened more than once.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/gop-debate-audience-cheers-perrys-execution- (http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/gop-debate-audience-cheers-perrys-execution-)
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Unlike probably all of you, I've gone back and forth on capital punishment over the years, but this simply takes the cake:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/texas-executions-controversial-cases?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/15/texas-executions-controversial-cases?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487)
This MF wants to be president of the United States? And might well be in January 2013. This is a guy who has to be overruled by a Supreme Court that hates with a passion to overrule death penalty cases. His bloodthirstiness seems to know absolutely no bounds.
It may surpise you to know, I too, have gone back and forth on the death penalty. It is expensive to lock someone up for life. Why should we spend the money on someone who is not going to be rehabilitated or released?
Ultimately, I end up opposing it. If one innocent person is put to death then the whole idea crumbles. I'm certain that has happened more than once.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/gop-debate-audience-cheers-perrys-execution- (http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/gop-debate-audience-cheers-perrys-execution-)
Sentencing someone to death is actually more expensive than sentencing someone to life in prison (in other words, the overall cost of a Death Row inmate from sentencing until death is greater than the overall cost of an inmate who's in prison for life) (http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42 (http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42)):
The High Cost of the Death Penalty
The death penalty is much more expensive than life without parole because the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases. This process is needed in order to ensure that innocent men and woman are not executed for crimes they did not commit, and even with these protections the risk of executing an innocent person can not be completely eliminated.
If the death penalty was replaced with a sentence of Life Without the Possibility of Parole*, which costs millions less and also ensures that the public is protected while eliminating the risk of an irreversible mistake, the money saved could be spent on programs that actually improve the communities in which we live. The millions of dollars in savings could be spent on: education, roads, police officers and public safety programs, after-school programs, drug and alcohol treatment, child abuse prevention programs, mental health services, and services for crime victims and their families.
*More than 3500 men and woman have received this sentence in California since 1978 and NOT ONE has been released, except those few individuals who were able to prove their innocence.
California could save $1 billion over five years by replacing the death penalty with permanent imprisonment.
California taxpayers pay $90,000 more per death row prisoner each year than on prisoners in regular confinement.
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I think there are people who commit crimes so heinous that they forfeit their right to live. But I can't conceive of a justice system infallible enough to be trusted with taking it away from them. Lock 'em up for life, it's not like prison is a big ol' ice cream party.
What appalls me is when someone builds a political career on saying "Government sucks! Government can't do anything right!" and then claims we should trust the government's spotless inerrancy when it comes to executing people.
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I consider "Rick Perry is elected president" to be the second most likely outcome, looking today, of the 2012 election, after "Barack Obama is reelected" but before "Mitt Romney is elected president."
At this point I would probably put the sum of options 2 & 3 at about the same number as option 1. I am appalled at this idea.
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I think there are people who commit crimes so heinous that they forfeit their right to live. But I can't conceive of a justice system infallible enough to be trusted with taking it away from them. Lock 'em up for life, it's not like prison is a big ol' ice cream party.
What appalls me is when someone builds a political career on saying "Government sucks! Government can't do anything right!" and then claims we should trust the government's spotless inerrancy when it comes to executing people.
Conservatives shamelessly pick and choose which areas of the government they consider "the government." The army isn't the government, police officers and firefighters aren't the government, the justice system is only the government when it does things that conservatives don't like ("activist judges" are the government, while heroes like Scalia aren't), and Republican government officials, of course, are not the government. A wrongly convicted person getting sent to the electric chair wouldn't even register with them as a failing of the government, unless they could find a way to blame the wrongful execution on a part of the government they don't like (e.g., "If it weren't for big government bureaucracies, they would have found the real killer!).
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What appalls me is when someone builds a political career on saying "Government sucks! Government can't do anything right!" and then claims we should trust the government's spotless inerrancy when it comes to executing people.
Exceptional sentence. May I quote you?
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I consider "Rick Perry is elected president" to be the second most likely outcome, looking today, of the 2012 election, after "Barack Obama is reelected" but before "Mitt Romney is elected president."
At this point I would probably put the sum of options 2 & 3 at about the same number as option 1. I am appalled at this idea.
The only way I can see Obama winning in 2012 is if A) he whips the country into a furor over the House Republicans not wanting to do anything about unemployment, the House then passes the jobs bill, and the economy improves as a result, making Obama popular enough to win the election (this is probably the least likely possibility -- the chances of the bill passing, even with massive public pressure put on the Republicans, is next to nil), B) Rick Perry is the nominee and "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme" becomes a huge problem for him or C) Rick Perry is the nominee and there's a career-ending scandal (evidence comes out that he's gay, for example). I'd list "the economy improves on its own" as a fourth possibility, but that seems as likely as "Mitt Romney dies in a car accident."
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We may not have to "worry" about the election results much longer, anyway.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/gop-electoral-college-plan-beat-obama-2012 (http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/gop-electoral-college-plan-beat-obama-2012)
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the chances of the bill passing, even with massive public pressure put on the Republicans, is next to nil)
This is an exaggeration. If Obama starts sticking it to these jerks and gets public opinion on his side, I bet some of them will roll over and vote for the bill. At the moment, though, it seems unlikely. The Republicans and the "Blue Dogs" have been doing a pretty good job so far framing the bill as a dumb political thing that won't decrease unemployment (http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/584793/201109141832/Jobs-Bill-Gets-The-Pink-Slip.htm (http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/584793/201109141832/Jobs-Bill-Gets-The-Pink-Slip.htm)).
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Exceptional sentence. May I quote you?
Why the hell not, I steal most of the stuff I post anyway.
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We may not have to "worry" about the election results much longer, anyway.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/gop-electoral-college-plan-beat-obama-2012 (http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/gop-electoral-college-plan-beat-obama-2012)
Not surprisingly, Rick Perry is doing this too: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Texas-redistricting-trial-wraps-up-without-ruling-2174411.php (http://www.chron.com/news/article/Texas-redistricting-trial-wraps-up-without-ruling-2174411.php)
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You people are trying to kill me.
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I seriously dislike Corbett and what he is doing to PA.
I did have breakfast with him (along with other people) in the state dining room this summer. The food was good, the politics were bad.
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I just can't see enough moderates voting for Perry. Palin probably lost McCain the election because of her crazy ranting. At the very least, it would have been a lot closer. I just feel there are more people are turned off by that garbage than those who get excited about it. Romney would win pretty handily in my opinion, because despite any hangups about religion, life long GOPers are still going to vote for him and he's definitely the candidate that would bring the most moderates over. But the Republicans will probably nominate Perry and Obama will win.
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If one innocent person is put to death then the whole idea crumbles. I'm certain that has happened more than once.
This New Yorker article from a few years back makes a pretty much airtight case showing that in all likelihood an innocent man was very recently executed under Perry's watch.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all)
And it turns out that the committee formed in the wake of this debacle to help improve the standards of evidence in similar cases in Texas was thoroughly and consciously sabotaged by Perry. From an article yesterday in Slate: 'when Texas' "thoughtful, clear process" for capital punishment created a commission to investigate flawed arson science used in criminal trials, Perry scuppered its work by removing and replacing three members, just as the commission was preparing to announce that the Willingham case had been tainted by error.'
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I can't remember the case off the top of my head, but there were a lot of "rotten districts" back in the day, particularly in the South. This meant that there would be a Congressional district, with a small white population, and a district with a large black population, and they would have equal representation in Congress. But at least the districts themselves tended to reflect actual geographic or political lines.
The Supreme Court ruled that districts had to be redrawn so that the were, as close as possible, "one person one vote." Seems like a good idea, but this gave states license to make arbitrarily-shaped districts as long as they had roughly the same number of people in them. Maybe we're better off under widespread gerrymandering than under unbalanced districts, but it shows that good intentions can go awry. I think we'd be better off with fixed, rationally-shaped electoral districts with only rough population equality, or no districts at all and electing all representatives at large from the state as a whole with preference voting, than with state legislatures given the opportunity to re-draw electoral districts every ten years.
Another side-effect of gerrymandering, too, is that the conservativedistricts tend to be far to the right of center AND the liberal districts tend to be far to the left of center, making political compromise much more difficult.
This whole issue is one of my pet peeves, and most Democrats don't help the issue since they gerrymander just as much when they're in power. Even when the gerrymandering is well-intentioned, for example to ensure that minorities have proportional representation in a state's delegation, I still think it's a bad idea. Electoral districts ought to have some underlying basis besides number of people in them, or shouldn't exist.
This is one of my political pet issues.
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Speaking of which, has anyone seen this?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1241319/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1241319/)
Gerrymandering - DocTalk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XevN8IR_PA#)
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"Even when the gerrymandering is well-intentioned, for example to ensure that minorities have proportional representation in a state's delegation, I still think it's a bad idea."
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Some judge up in New York a couple of years ago ordered that there be at-large representation and some system that allows people to concentrate their votes (for example, there are three at large positions and you can vote for one guy three times if you like). Can't be bothered to google. At-large representation and the right voting system can do a lot that gerrymandered majority-minority districts can't--for instance, it can allow geographically disperse groups (political, ethnic, whatever) to pool their votes.
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(http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/wall-street-protest-begins-with-demonstrators-blocked/ (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/wall-street-protest-begins-with-demonstrators-blocked/)):
(Edit: Despite the quotes from people outside the city, the NY Times article makes this protest look like a dumb Williamsburg thing -- which it probably was. Other articles said that the protest had a decent turnout and that the protests would continue into at least Monday (both of which seem kind of unlikely); "#takewallstreet" was also trending on Twitter for a while.)
I'm really hoping this photo from Al-Jazeera isn't an accurate representation of what's going on at the protest: http://i.imgur.com/28qnW.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/28qnW.jpg)
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David Cross was right about this back in 2000. You have to look the part to be taken seriously. Which should be the point, after all.
What in the world are those hipsters doing? Cat-cow stretches?
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Yeah, stupid hipsters. Don't they know that if you want to get taken seriously by the media and middle America, you have to dress like you're from Colonial Williamsburg.
I'm waiting for the dopey anti-hipster sentiment in this country to get picked up by the right as an auxiliary part of their "snooty left-wing cultural elites" talking point. Stuff White People Like has already met them halfway; all Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have to do is drop a few disparaging references to Whole Foods or "ironic anti-values" to get the ball rolling.
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I'm sure "ironic anti-values" is way beyond their comprehension, but at one time Jonah Goldberg intended his book Liberal Fascism to have the subtitle From Mussolini to Whole Foods.
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Doing pilates while wearing a V for Vendetta mask might not be as dumb as wearing a tri-corn hat and waving around a bell, but it's still pretty dumb. The left needs a radical protest movement that can be taken seriously, not one that is only marginally less stupid than the Tea Party.
I can't see hipsters becoming a focal point for right-wing cultural resentment any time soon -- too many hipsters are libertarians and the right already has enough trouble getting young people to vote Republican.
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The left needs a radical protest movement that can be taken seriously, not one that is only marginally less stupid than the Tea Party.
At the time, it seemed like that radical protest movement from the left was Obama's campaign and election. But, just like all movements, most people dropped out after the election was won.
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Doing pilates while wearing a V for Vendetta mask might not be as dumb as wearing a tri-corn hat and waving around a bell, but it's still pretty dumb.
The former is pure nonsense look-at-me theater but the latter is at the very least a (however disingenuous) nod to a pivotal moment in US history. I never thought I'd say this, but... advantage Tea Party?
Also, this guy -
(http://www.theawl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Screen-shot-2011-09-19-at-12.39.19-PM.jpg)
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At least this guy has the right idea -
(http://www.theawl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Screen-shot-2011-09-19-at-12.40.05-PM-e1316451009849.jpg)
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Nobody remarked on my clever reference to yoga... sniff. Although that seems more like a yuppie thing than a hipster thing. It still ranks among things Regular America Doesn't Understand.
Stupe, I don't think you need to worry. The anti-hipster sentiment is clearly native to - and restricted to - failed-potential hipsters who either consciously rejected the idea of hipsterdom or were rejected by a hipster girl at some point. Or both.
Regular America runs in fear from tall bikes and tight, stripey pants. Because the hipsters' politics are so incomprehensible, I don't think smacking them around is ever going to be seen as a winning play.
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Stupe, I don't think you need to worry. The anti-hipster sentiment is clearly native to - and restricted to - failed-potential hipsters who either consciously rejected the idea of hipsterdom or were rejected by a hipster girl at some point. Or both.
Regular America runs in fear from tall bikes and tight, stripey pants. Because the hipsters' politics are so incomprehensible, I don't think smacking them around is ever going to be seen as a winning play.
I'd like to think so, but I don't know. To us, it's goofing on tall bikes and '70s relief pitcher facial hair, but in the "outside" world I've seen the same kind of eye-rolling directed at anyone who likes anything even remotely obscure. Sort of like how "emo" somehow turned into into "anyone who ever feels bad". Hang around any website largely populated by twentysomethings who go for the cheap laugh, whether they're New York snark-bloggers or mid-American "geek culture" Reddit-baiters, and you'll see "it's real obscure, you probably haven't heard of it" as an easy go-to punchline more often than you could imagine. It's pretty easy to see how the 20-something conservatarian geek crowd could pick up that ball and run with it politically -- case in point (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/08/31/steven-crowder-hipsters-al-qaeda-usama-bin-laden-terrorists-consumerism/).
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“Islamic terrorists wouldn’t want to kill us if we just left them alone and stopped being so arrogant....We don’t own the world!”
I am a hipster.
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That "23-year-old comedian" Steven Crowder is going places. Check out his YouTube videos if you don't believe me. Potential Best Show guest?
I don't think it makes much difference if they add hipsters to their hate list; it's already so long that another item more or less is hardly noticeable. Let' em foam at the mouth over narrow-brimmed hats, it's at least a little more up-to-date than white wine and arugula.
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Potential Best Show guest?
I'd like to see this kid become the new Milo:
Jonathan Krohn - CPAC - The Future Of Conservatism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOUbkdwpZ2o#)
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Potential Best Show guest?
I'd like to see this kid become the new Milo:
Jonathan Krohn - CPAC - The Future Of Conservatism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOUbkdwpZ2o#)
If we could just find a few more like him, I would pay good money to see a Bugsy Malone-style Republican debate featuring only pre-teens.
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The argument about "trying to be taken seriously" has been going around and around forever. Todd Gitlin has made an entire career out of it. If you look at old photos of the early gay 60s rights movement, they deliberately looked conservative and establishment in an attempt to be taken seriously. A far cry from the pride parades of the past 20 years, but who would argue that things are worse for gay people now (and yeah, that Onion headline about pride parades setting gay rights back is funny, it's but not really true)?
I did a lot of activism around public space in NYC in the 90s, and the big knock on "the left" at that point was that it was humorless and self-serious (lots of vegan/New Age/anarchist cracks). So we would pull off goofy street theater stunts and in the space of a few years the knock was that WTO/IMF meetings were like Dead shows and the global justice movement wasn't "serious." Both critiques had some basis in fact, but ultimately media perception hardly makes a difference. For whatever reason (corporate ownership, the fact that most movements don't turn out to be newsworthy, the general elitist bias of the Ivy League types who make up the media) most movements aren't taken very seriously until after they achieve something. And when they do achieve anything, it's usually because the stakes are high enough for people to put themselves at risk, like in the Arab Spring movements (or the anti-nuclear, anti-apartheid, or gay rights movements -- three successful campaigns that took place in the Reagan era). If things get so bad that American young people are really out of options, that encampment is just going to get bigger. If not, it won't. In the former case, it will be taken seriously, even if it's full of hippies wearing V masks. If it's the latter, it probably won't, no matter who shows up.
As far as the Tea Party goes, it was a genuine grassroots movement, but it was a fraction of the size of the anti-Iraq-war protests in 2003. But unlike the antiwar protests, it was kept alive by constant media attention (from the NYT and WaPo as well as Fox and CNBC) and large sums of money from people like the Koch brothers. The antiwar protests were briefly covered, then ignored, and most people just went back to their lives. I did too. People are busy, and there is no draft.
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When I was about to go to college, there were liberal protesters camped out in The Pit in tents to show solidarity with the Palestinians who'd been sent to live in tents in the desert. The Palestinians had been there for, I think, 400 days, in tents in the desert.
The liberal protesters got mad because the Undergraduate Library wouldn't stay open all night to let them use the bathroom. I thought, way to suffer alongside your brothers, my man.
Then the conservatives came through with water balloons, yelled "SCUD attack" and threw them at the tents. I thought, these are the people who glorify war and want us to invade Iraq. Which we did shortly thereafter. They were treating war like a joke because they knew that they'd never have to serve in one, even if there WAS a draft, because their daddies would get them out of it. Two of these bastards are now North Carolina state representatives. Guess which way they voted on the recently passed anti-gay marriage amendment?
At that point I became inured to protests in the United States. I'm sure they were impactful in the 1960s and 1970s. I wonder if the American standard of living is too high to make them effective now or something.
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A far cry from the pride parades of the past 20 years, but who would argue that things are worse for gay people now (and yeah, that Onion headline about pride parades setting gay rights back is funny, it's but not really true)?
As Julie Klausner recently pointed out, the movie Bruno set back gay rights 1,000 years.
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Does anyone else dig the awfulness of Mike Lester?
(http://i36.tinypic.com/b3twd0.jpg)
Some other good ones:
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/mikelester/2011/04/19/86820 (http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/mikelester/2011/04/19/86820)
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/mikelester/2011/04/12/86584 (http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/mikelester/2011/04/12/86584)
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/mikelester/2011/04/06/86378 (http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/mikelester/2011/04/06/86378)
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It took me a while to get that, but then I remembered this:
(http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/6-legacy/images/rockwell.jpg)
You have to admit, the guy has a point.
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Currently that painting hangs outside the Oval Office.
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Does anyone else dig the awfulness of Mike Lester?
Uh, sad. He's probably among the less untalented graphic artists to produce hateful, Der Sturmer-esque propaganda for the outer reaches of American wingnuttery, but do I "dig" it? Nuh-uh.
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Wow. Never heard of this Mike Lester before. I'd say he's the political Jack Chick, except Chick at least has credibility as a visual artist.
But I must say, some of these cartoons made me LOL due to their psychotically bizarre sheer badness. So I guess I'm "digging" him on that level.
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Does anyone else dig the awfulness of Mike Lester?
Uh, sad. He's probably among the less untalented graphic artists to produce hateful, Der Sturmer-esque propaganda for the outer reaches of American wingnuttery, but do I "dig" it? Nuh-uh.
Eh, you're the real racist.
This most likely isn't "real" conservative propaganda, but it's funny nonetheless:
http://www.ep.tc/tea-party-comix/ (http://www.ep.tc/tea-party-comix/)
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Does anyone else dig the awfulness of Mike Lester?
Uh, sad. He's probably among the less untalented graphic artists to produce hateful, Der Sturmer-esque propaganda for the outer reaches of American wingnuttery, but do I "dig" it? Nuh-uh.
Eh, you're the real racist.
This most likely isn't "real" conservative propaganda, but it's funny nonetheless:
http://www.ep.tc/tea-party-comix/ (http://www.ep.tc/tea-party-comix/)
Those... oh my god. Those are amazing.
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Mitt, Rick? Time to pack it in, fellas, it's over:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/dennis-miller-endorses-herman-cain-plans-headline-fundraiser-172148125.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/dennis-miller-endorses-herman-cain-plans-headline-fundraiser-172148125.html)
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Really belongs in "Worst Song Ever," but if you start putting white, Republican-themed "rap" songs in there, there'll never be any point in posting anything else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uJYgvg7u00c# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uJYgvg7u00c#)!
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I miss the days when only the somewhat talented and the children of the elite had access to recording equipment.
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Really belongs in "Worst Song Ever," but if you start putting white, Republican-themed "rap" songs in there, there'll never be any point in posting anything else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uJYgvg7u00c# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uJYgvg7u00c#)!
She got her furcoat directly from the free market. UHH.
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So, thankfully, that protest yoga atrocity wasn't an accurate representation of the Wall Street protests as a whole, and the protests have actually turned out to be something of a success, getting continual coverage over the past couple weeks on MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times, etc. The NYPD arrested about 700 protesters today (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44742659/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44742659/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/)) after corralling the protesters onto the Brooklyn Bridge and then accusing them of obstructing bridge traffic, and local dirtbag Mike Bloomberg has been grousing about them during his press conferences -- so feathers are being ruffled. Sizable "Occupy" protests have also been popping up in other cities all over the country. Can't wait to see where things go from here.
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Unrelated -
I'm curious to hear from NJ residents - what are the main pros and cons of Chris Christie? A lot of liberals seem to hate him even though his record is pretty socially liberal and overall moderate.
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New Jersey politics are weird. People are generally pro-choice and don't mind gay people, but there's a lot of Orange County-ish anti-tax sentiment. There's lots of racism, but it tends toward standard NIMBY suburban stuff. In the 80s, lots of middle-class Asians and Latin Americans were moving into my area (suburban Mercer County) and were harassed pretty much relentlessly, but that seems to have let up once people started to realize that their new neighbors were not a threat to their standard of living. That, or the demographics just changed. NJ now has the largest population of South Asians outside of Asia, outnumbering even Britain, and a lot of the jerky white people I knew back then moved to the South.
I think Christie's been pretty clever about positioning himself as bipartisan, when he's really not. The first thing that put him on the map was his prosecution of a Republican county executive when he was a U.S. Attorney, but evidently he fell in line with Karl Rove immediately afterward and started political investigations of NJ Democrats. One of them was U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, which made headlines right before the 2006 elections, but which turned out to be baseless. He has aligned himself with a South Jersey Democratic power broker who is fairly conservative and had a long-standing rivalry with the North Jersey Democratic machine, so it's a kind of fake bipartisanship.
The biggest knocks on Christie seem to be his bullying style and his shredding of education and the public sector in NJ. Much of the state, especially North Jersey, is made up of ex-New Yorkers and/or migrants from other states who move to NJ because the schools are some of the best in the Northeast. Christie swore during the 2009 election that he wouldn't cut the education budget, but of course he did. Now the schools are either struggling, or property taxes are skyrocketing to make up for the shortfall. NJ also has the highest proportion of millionaires in America, so it's unfair among many other things.
My own big beef with him is that he slashed my job right before my son was born, and made my life hell for a year. Things ultimately turned out OK for me, but I'll never forgive that fat fucker.
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Unrelated -
I'm curious to hear from NJ residents - what are the main pros and cons of Chris Christie? A lot of liberals seem to hate him even though his record is pretty socially liberal and overall moderate.
He might seem moderate since he doesn't come across like a brainwashed zealot like the people running for the Republican nomination, but in terms of his positions he's not moderate at all. He loves budget cuts, including cuts to education, was strongly opposed to a tax on the wealthy, hates the state's teachers union, hates the NJ EPA, believes abortion should be illegal, is against gay marriage, thinks "entitlements" should be cut, and acts like a schoolyard bully when people disagree with him. He's also friends with the biggest creeps in the country: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/audio-chris-christie-koch-brothers-seminar (http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/audio-chris-christie-koch-brothers-seminar)
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That "23-year-old comedian" Steven Crowder is going places. Check out his YouTube videos if you don't believe me. Potential Best Show guest?
I don't think it makes much difference if they add hipsters to their hate list; it's already so long that another item more or less is hardly noticeable. Let' em foam at the mouth over narrow-brimmed hats, it's at least a little more up-to-date than white wine and arugula.
He's horrible.
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He's horrible.
(blinking) What?
If you think material like this isn't gonna carry this boy to the top, well, just get outta the way, Grampa:
If you were to ask the modern hipster, he… I mean she… Sorry, IT is likely under the impression that Usama Bin Laden is wearing skinny jeans in his cave, currently listening to Animal Collective as he throws back cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
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Mitt Romney and Herman Cain provide some insight into the Occupy Wall Street protests (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cain-tells-occupy-wall-street-protesters-blame/story?id=14674829 (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cain-tells-occupy-wall-street-protesters-blame/story?id=14674829)):
"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself!" Cain said. "It is not a person's fault because they succeeded, it is a person's fault if they failed. And so this is why I don't understand these demonstrations and what is it that they're looking for."
At a campaign stop in Florida Tuesday, Mitt Romney said the demonstrations were "dangerous" and "class warfare."
When ABC's Emily Friedman asked Romney today about the protests, the GOP front-runner declined to elaborate on his previous comments, saying "I'm just trying to get myself to occupy the White House."
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It's your fault your dad wasn't a governor. There must be a hundred living governors at any time - you just didn't want it bad enough, kid.
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Apropos of this thread's title, politics got a lot more humorless tonight, as Sarah Palin has decided to withhold from us the comedy gold of a run for the White House.
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Apropos of this thread's title, politics got a lot more humorless tonight, as Sarah Palin has decided to withhold from us the comedy gold of a run for the White House.
That just means the sex tape's going to drop soon.
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Palin running for president would have been classic. But her popularity for the past year or so has been based entirely on the "will she, won't she?" speculation surrounding a prospective presidential run, so watching her now desperately try to get attention despite no one caring anymore should be pretty entertaining.
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I am unsure of how to feel about the fact that Rick Perry - RICK PERRY - is not going to win the nomination because he is not heartless enough for the average Republican primary voter.
Just thinking that: "Rick Perry, who gleefully or uncaringly watched as his state put to death hundreds of people, with him as the only resort of people who were mentally retarded, or children, or probably innocent - Rick Perry is not heartless enough to win the Republican primary. Oh, yeah, and he's too progressive on social issues."
Have they turned the party over to the Yahoo! Commenters Alliance?
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I am unsure of how to feel about the fact that Rick Perry - RICK PERRY - is not going to win the nomination because he is not heartless enough for the average Republican primary voter.
Just thinking that: "Rick Perry, who gleefully or uncaringly watched as his state put to death hundreds of people, with him as the only resort of people who were mentally retarded, or children, or probably innocent - Rick Perry is not heartless enough to win the Republican primary. Oh, yeah, and he's too progressive on social issues."
Have they turned the party over to the Yahoo! Commenters Alliance?
Corporations aren't people until Perry executes one.
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Bring back Sarah.
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I am unsure of how to feel about the fact that Rick Perry - RICK PERRY - is not going to win the nomination because he is not heartless enough for the average Republican primary voter.
Just thinking that: "Rick Perry, who gleefully or uncaringly watched as his state put to death hundreds of people, with him as the only resort of people who were mentally retarded, or children, or probably innocent - Rick Perry is not heartless enough to win the Republican primary. Oh, yeah, and he's too progressive on social issues."
Have they turned the party over to the Yahoo! Commenters Alliance?
Who do you think will win the primary then? Romney is far more "liberal" than Perry.
On an unrelated note, this video of Ron Paul is hilarious (0:20-0:25 especially):
Ron Paul: Wheels Up to the White House (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvWo8KC-5Ko#ws)
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I still think Romney will win. He's not really trying to win over the people who thought Rick Perry wasn't mean enough. The upside of having a "Burn the Witch" segment of your party is that they're never really going to get solidly behind anyone who can even win the primary.
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I am unsure of how to feel about the fact that Rick Perry - RICK PERRY - is not going to win the nomination because he is not heartless enough for the average Republican primary voter.
Just thinking that: "Rick Perry, who gleefully or uncaringly watched as his state put to death hundreds of people, with him as the only resort of people who were mentally retarded, or children, or probably innocent - Rick Perry is not heartless enough to win the Republican primary. Oh, yeah, and he's too progressive on social issues."
Have they turned the party over to the Yahoo! Commenters Alliance?
Who do you think will win the primary then? Romney is far more "liberal" than Perry.
On an unrelated note, this video of Ron Paul is hilarious (0:20-0:25 especially):
Ron Paul: Wheels Up to the White House (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvWo8KC-5Ko#ws)
I didn't spot the funny here. What was it?
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I am unsure of how to feel about the fact that Rick Perry - RICK PERRY - is not going to win the nomination because he is not heartless enough for the average Republican primary voter.
Just thinking that: "Rick Perry, who gleefully or uncaringly watched as his state put to death hundreds of people, with him as the only resort of people who were mentally retarded, or children, or probably innocent - Rick Perry is not heartless enough to win the Republican primary. Oh, yeah, and he's too progressive on social issues."
Have they turned the party over to the Yahoo! Commenters Alliance?
Who do you think will win the primary then? Romney is far more "liberal" than Perry.
On an unrelated note, this video of Ron Paul is hilarious (0:20-0:25 especially):
Ron Paul: Wheels Up to the White House (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvWo8KC-5Ko#ws)
I didn't spot the funny here. What was it?
The part where he says "yeah, "Wheels Up," I guess, I don't know, whatever" and then rides away. I guess it's more cute than it is funny. I guess, I don't know, whatever.
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Glenn Beck tries to one up Herman Cain and Mitt Romney (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/glenn-beck-occupy-wall-street-kill-everybody_n_1004016.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/glenn-beck-occupy-wall-street-kill-everybody_n_1004016.html)):
Glenn Beck made several gruesome predictions about where the Occupy Wall Street movement is headed.
Speaking on his radio show Monday, Beck made his already-crystal-clear disdain for the protests, which have spread across the U.S., even more plain. He took a slightly surprising turn, though, in warning establishment Democrats like Nancy Pelosi (who has voiced her support for the movement) as well as any rich backers of the protests not to trust anyone in Occupy Wall Street.
"Nancy Pelosi, you really think these people are your friends?" Beck asked. "Are you that stupid? People around Nancy Pelosi, are you this stupid? Do you really think that you're going to be able to somehow or another control these people?"
Beck then made the first of his dark analogies. Saying that the only thing that could control the movement would be a forceful crushing from "the top," he added, "It will be the Night of Long Knives. It will be a purging of this country." This was a seeming reference to the political murders carried out by the Nazis in 1934.
Beck then turned to "capitalists," and here his warning was even starker and more graphic:
"Capitalists, if you think that you can play footsies with these people, you're wrong. They will come for you and drag you into the streets and kill you...they're Marxist radicals...these guys are worse than Robespierre from the French Revolution...they'll kill everybody."
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Seriously, would anybody be surprised at the headline that Glenn Beck had killed somebody?
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"It will be the Night of Long Knives. It will be a purging of this country." This was a seeming reference to the political murders carried out by the Nazis in 1934.
"Seeming?" Uh, how many different Nights of the Long Knives can you think of in history, just off the top of your head?
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Glenn Beck thinks Robes Pierre is the French Sith Lord.
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Skip to 0:35.
Herman Cain Sings Lennon's Imagine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NknF4n44OCg#)
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Skip to 0:35.
Herman Cain Sings Lennon's Imagine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NknF4n44OCg#)
If I lived in the states he'd have my vote.
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The Case for Ron Paul for President (at Least the Republican nomination...Right?).
1. He supports the legalization of ALL drugs at the federal level.
2. He wants to END the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and rages against the Military Industrial Complex. He's the ONLY candidate to say that the call for war against Iran is simply Warmongering (which it is). Also, Ron Paul has received MORE donations from active duty Military men and woman than all the other republican candidates COMBINED! Paul has also gotton more donations form our soldiers than Obama.
3. He is AGAINST the death penalty, calling it a racist system, and highly inaccurate.
4. He wants to END THE FED (please, allow me to explain before you have a heart attack). For years, Ron Paul has said the Fed is to secret, and needs much more oversight. He recently passed a partial audit of the Fed, which revealed that the Fed had printed and handed out 16 TRILLION DOLLARS to foreign and domestic Banks WITH NO OVERSIGHT OR SCRUTINY WHAT SO EVER! He has also said that the big banks on wall street would not of performed the horrible business practices which caused the economic crash, if the Federal Reserve wasn't there to BAIL THEM OUT WITH UNLIMITED PRINTING PRESS MONEY. The Federal Reserve and the big banks are much closer then people realise. Yes, Paul has said that in a perfect world he would END THE FED. But even if he became president, it would be impossible to do this, because it would need approval from congress. Ron Paul calls for MUCH stricter over sight, and regulations for the Fed... This what he believes. People like to attack him on it because they do not understand the issue at hand.
5. Ralf Nader seems to really like him. Also, he has gotten the HIGHLY coveted endorsement of Barry Manilow! It's true!! Search it on Youtube. ;D
6. He doesn't take money from corporations and he doesn't meet with lobbyists. He's a truly honest man. You may think I'm stupid, or foolish, but I really belieave this. Listion to what he says, listion to how he talks, nobody would belieave the things he does if he was bought out by the two major parties or corporations.
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Also, I forgot to mention.
7. He is on the record for predicting the housing bubble in 2005!!! Look it up!!
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5. Ralf Nader seems to really like him. Also, he has gotten the HIGHLY coveted endorsement of Barry Manilow! It's true!! Search it on Youtube. ;D
I'm not typically swayed by celebrity endorsements, but if Ron Paul is good enough for Barry Manilow, then by gosh, Ron Paul is good enough for me!
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I'm actually swayed by the endorsement of That Kid Who Calls From The Bathroom.
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Conservatives might complain about how, despite whatever electoral success they have had in the past their small government utopia did not come to pass, but I certainly don't think the problem was ever the lack of sincerity of the politicians. Dear God do these people belive. I don't think Ron Paul represents some special Libertarianism that is independent of conservatism as such. The man really is a very conservative person, even a 'social conservative'. On some issues this is clear, like abortion where he calls himself a 'pro-life champion' (called it the most important issue of our age) and also comes out for typical conservative nationalism on immigration and ending birthright citizenship on his website, and his 'skepticism' of global warming and evolution. Otherwise his conservatism does not take the shape of outward moralism but a kind of internal nationalistic retreat to fortress America, 'states rights', and property. Leave not just Afghanistan but the UN! Go back to the gold standard! Turn the schools and hospitals back over to the churches! Also, it is significant that he would decriminalize drugs at the federal level. Of course there is frustration with the status quo but most of the prosecutions take place at the state level. His agenda would still have to go through Congress and get support from the GOP there, and I'm guessing the parts that got through would be not the ones that charmed Ralph Nader.
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Counterpoint: He thinks gold is money.
Gold ain't money. Try to buy a hoagie with gold. Hell, try to buy GOLD with gold.
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Crack open a Ron Paul bio? Sure doesn't sound like you have!!!
1. Global Warming: Admittedly Ron Paul used to have doubts about this years ago. If you watch interviews from 2000 to today you'll see the evolution happen. I recently saw an interviewer ask him if he thought global warming was real, and he said yes, the only question he had was to what extent. (Admittedly I have a much more progressive view on this matter, But he does say it's real and man made)
2. Social Conservative: Yes PERSONALLY he is very socially Conservative, he doesn't do drugs, he's not gay, and he doesn't have abortions. But as long as you don't force your belieaves on him, he won't force his belieaves on you.
1. Pro-Life: Ron Paul was a doctor that worked in the OBGYN, and delivered over 4000 babies, he belieaves life begins at conception. He is for the morning after pill in cases of rape. But what you must understand is that this is his PERSONAL belieave!!! He thinks this should be a state issue and he would not legislate from the white house!!
2. He wants ALL drugs legal at the Federal Level.
3. He thinks gay marrage should be a state issue.
3. Immigration: Ron Paul has a much more moderate view on this then the other repub candidates...... In all honesty, I'm not sure what he belieaves about this. Look it up your self! I can't do EVERYTHING for you.
4. Gold Standard: OMG!! RON PAUL DOESN'T TRUST POLITICANS TO SPEND WITH IN OUR MEANS!! OMG He thinks that Corrupt politicians having the ability to print unrestrained amounts of money is a VERY DANGREOUS POWER THAT NOBODY SHOULD HAVE!!! OMG Ron Paul doesn't like that the dollar has lost 81 percent of its value since 1971!!! OMG He thinks that since Gold WAS money until 1971 when Nixon took us off the Gold Standard, He must be CRAZY! Please, You only show your ignorance when you try to run with the wolf pack, SON!
You Just got owned by Bathroom Boy
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Crack open a Ron Paul bio? Sure doesn't sound like you have!!!
1. Global Warming: Admittedly Ron Paul used to have doubts about this years ago. If you watch interviews from 2000 to today you'll see the evolution happen. I recently saw an interviewer ask him if he thought global warming was real, and he said yes, the only question he had was to what extent. (Admittedly I have a much more progressive view on this matter, But he does say it's real and man made)
His current position on global warming is that it's a hoax: http://www.ronpaul.com/on-the-issues/global-warming/ (http://www.ronpaul.com/on-the-issues/global-warming/). And speaking of evolution happening, he doesn't believe in that either: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/29/scitech/main20098876.shtml (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/29/scitech/main20098876.shtml)
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Ron Paul is a screen onto which people (especially young people - you're all so cute!) project what they want someone to be saying. That no one is saying.
I wish someone WERE actually saying what many people want Ron Paul to be saying, but no one is actually saying it.
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I wish there were some kind of Rick Perry babble translator so I could understand what the man is trying to say.
Honestly, Perry is the worst debater I've ever seen. That's three (or is it four) debates where he's come across as an absolute dunce.
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Leaving abortion to the states would be a disaster for poor women, which is of course why it's a popular idea among conservatives and glibertarians.
A return to the gold standard, however, would be just plain disastrous for everyone, which is why not even the most pro-austerity traditional conservatives support it. Megan McArdle, the libertarian-leaning conservative economics blogger for The Atlantic, is not someone I agree with much, but she has a simple explanation of why it's a bad idea here: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2007/09/there-apos-s-gold-in-them-thar-standards/1858/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2007/09/there-apos-s-gold-in-them-thar-standards/1858/)
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Ron Paul blah blah blah, but I'll tell you one thing, Haunter is NOT the best Pokemon ever.
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I wish there were some kind of Rick Perry babble translator so I could understand what the man is trying to say.
Honestly, Perry is the worst debater I've ever seen. That's three (or is it four) debates where he's come across as an absolute dunce.
It's not normal for a healthy man in his 50s to experience sundowning.
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This is the LAST time I'm posting about about Ron Paul, it's taking up to much of my life. Plus, I have some Pokemon Recorded on my Dvr that need watching! Can you say chips and dip!!
1. Dear Buffcoat: I'm NOT just cute, I'm F@King adorable.
2. Who cares about evolution? Ron Paul could be Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or Christian ( which he is). It should not matter. Ever heard of separation of church and state? Religion should play NO rule in government. It's a none issue.
3. Global Warming: That link is to some fanboy site with quotes that are YEARS old. During the summer I KNOW I heard him say to a reporter that Global Warming was real, and humans played some rule in it, he only questioned how much. I am NOT tech savvy at all, and I don't know how to create links to web sites, I'm sorry, but I can only give you my word on this.
4. Gold Standard: I belieave our government has proven itself completely untrustworthy of spending with in our means. We have a debt of almost 15 TRILLION DOLLARS. With a partial gold standard, we could not nation build in Iraq and Afghanistan, we could not have 900 military bases in 135 countries. Our economy would grow at a slow and sustainable pace, which would keep boom and bust times from occurring (right now we're in a bust). By the way, this would help with global warming. We could not bail out "to big to fail banks" (who have CEO which should be thrown in jail). If our government wants to increase spending, they should come to us, explain what the want to do, and tell us how much they want to raise our taxes to pay for it. Right now we have a false sense of euphoria, we get tons of government benefits, a massive military, and we don't pay for any of it. Why? BACAUSE WE CAN JUST PRINT MORE MONEY! We have been putting everything on our credit card and the bill is due. Americas credit rating was NOT lowered because we had a debate about our debt, it was lowered because WE HAVE THE DEBT. I don't trust our congress to be rational with the printing press, at least a PARTIAL gold standard would help keep them honest.
5. Abortion: Ron Paul's Pro-Life stance is a PERSONAL belieave. He does not want to impose them on other people, he wants it to be a state issue. He belieaves in the morning after pill in cases of rape, and things of that nature. To say this would hurt poor people is stupid. Do poor people not know of birth control, condoms, the morning after pill? And if that fails, they can give the baby up to adoption. There are LOTS of people who can not have children, and would want to adopt a beautiful baby.
6. Dear Shaggy 2 Grote: I still belieave Haunter is the best Pokemon, but I still have room in my heart for Kadabra and Weeving. What's your fav Pokemon?
Sincerely, Bathroom Boy RON PAUL 2012!!!
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My favorite Pokemon is Ron Paulicizer.
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This is the LAST time I'm posting about about Ron Paul, it's taking up to much of my life.
PLEASE keep going.
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
Thanks for coming to the Paul side! ;D I honestly can't stop laughing from all this!
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Do poor people not know of birth control, condoms, the morning after pill? And if that fails, they can give the baby up to adoption. There are LOTS of people who can not have children, and would want to adopt a beautiful baby.
Golly, this makes it all sound so simple, it's amazing there's any controversy about abortion at all!
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Well, now I at least have a legit reason to dislike Bathroom Boy other than that his voice grates on me and he seems to suffer from some sort of social awkwardness disorder.
Who'd have thunk a guy who was entirely too pleased with himself for calling a grocery bagger "son" would have infantile and naive political views?
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Ah, I remember when I believed things. Those were the days.
Also, kids of today don't understand, but massive boom times are fudging awesome.
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At this point, I believe everything and nothing.
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2. Who cares about evolution? Ron Paul could be Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or Christian ( which he is). It should not matter. Ever heard of separation of church and state? Religion should play NO rule in government. It's a none issue.
3. Global Warming: That link is to some fanboy site with quotes that are YEARS old. During the summer I KNOW I heard him say to a reporter that Global Warming was real, and humans played some rule in it, he only questioned how much. I am NOT tech savvy at all, and I don't know how to create links to web sites, I'm sorry, but I can only give you my word on this.
2) It's not a non-issue. For the past decade or so conservatives, including Ron Paul, have been trying to get creationism taught in public schools alongside evolution or instead of evolution. That's clearly a problem.
3) That quote isn't "YEARS old." It's from 2009. I did make the mistake, though, of thinking that ronpaul.com was his official site -- so I can't say for sure that he still maintains the same position on global warming. I could have sworn, however, that he repeated the "global warming is the biggest hoax I've ever seen" statement during one of the recent debates.
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2. Who cares about evolution? Ron Paul could be Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or Christian ( which he is). It should not matter. Ever heard of separation of church and state? Religion should play NO rule in government. It's a none issue.
3. Global Warming: That link is to some fanboy site with quotes that are YEARS old. During the summer I KNOW I heard him say to a reporter that Global Warming was real, and humans played some rule in it, he only questioned how much. I am NOT tech savvy at all, and I don't know how to create links to web sites, I'm sorry, but I can only give you my word on this.
2) It's not a non-issue. For the past decade or so conservatives, including Ron Paul, have been trying to get creationism taught in public schools alongside evolution or instead of evolution. That's clearly a problem.
3) That quote isn't "YEARS old." It's from 2009. I did make the mistake, though, of thinking that ronpaul.com was his official site -- so I can't say for sure that he still maintains the same position on global warming. I could have sworn, however, that he repeated the "global warming is the biggest hoax I've ever seen" statement during one of the recent debates.
This is kind of related but perhaps overly local, but I know that doesn't present a problem for any of us. Back in 1999-2000, I worked with a hardcore Libertarian individual. We had what you might call irreconcilable differences, these and other factors leading me to take a better job elsewhere, but I'd get reports of him besmirching my name and generally being a jackass. Anyhow, in 2000 he got the nod from the Libertarian Party to run for Senator. He had an official campaign site, <hisname>.org, but he did not register <hisname>.com, being technologically savvy and understanding that .com is for businesses, not for political campaigns and the like.
Anyhow, the first thing I did on realizing this was register <hisname>.com and put up a not very flattering parody type site. Because not very technologically savvy people assume all urls end in .com, people including his coworkers ended up going to that site instead of the real one, and I got reports of everybody in the office spreading the word (actually nobody in the office was really a fan of his) about the site and how I successfully got his goat.
So what I'm saying is yeah, maybe ronpaul.com WASN'T his site...
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Ah, I remember when I believed things. Those were the days.
Also, kids of today don't understand, but massive boom times are fudging awesome.
Boom times are beautiful things. I'm forever grateful my 20s coincided with the 90s. They were pretty much giving jobs and money away for a while.
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
Thanks for coming to the Paul side! ;D I honestly can't stop laughing from all this!
I will never support Ron Paul. I have exclusively been a Herman Cain supporter since 1979.
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
Thanks for coming to the Paul side! ;D I honestly can't stop laughing from all this!
I will never support Ron Paul. I have exclusively been a Herman Cain supporter since 1979.
1979? That's when he killed his brother!
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I wish there were some kind of Rick Perry babble translator so I could understand what the man is trying to say.
Honestly, Perry is the worst debater I've ever seen. That's three (or is it four) debates where he's come across as an absolute dunce.
(http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/4601/1110191romneyperryledea.jpg)
He is surprisingly terrible! Romney smacked him down hard over hiring immigrants, so of course he made the same weak accusation 10 minutes later.
Still hoping a Tru Conservative comes out of this group. And maybe Newt is next in line for flavor of the month?
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
Thanks for coming to the Paul side! ;D I honestly can't stop laughing from all this!
I will never support Ron Paul. I have exclusively been a Herman Cain supporter since 1979.
1979? That's when he killed his brother!
I hated that guy.
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
I've seen the light! After having a nervous break down ( do to my social awkwardness disorder), I arouse like a Phoenix knowing what I must do. I'm going to vote for Herman Cain!
Cain Paul 2012! It does the heart good!!!
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I arouse like a Phoenix
Gross!!!
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I arouse like a Phoenix
Gross!!!
He must have posted that from Newbridge.
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OMG Sorry, that was a mistake! :-X I meant to say arose!! ::)
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
Thanks for coming to the Paul side! ;D I honestly can't stop laughing from all this!
I will never support Ron Paul. I have exclusively been a Herman Cain supporter since 1979.
1979? That's when he killed his brother!
That was -3979
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Dear Shaggy 2 Grote,
Thanks for coming to the Paul side! ;D I honestly can't stop laughing from all this!
I will never support Ron Paul. I have exclusively been a Herman Cain supporter since 1979.
1979? That's when he killed his brother!
That was -3979
Gotta admit he looks good for his age.
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(http://williampowhida.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/philo_4.jpg)
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I arouse like a Phoenix
Do you ever!!!
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Martin thinks your name is too long.
Personally, I don't mind. At all!
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Your little sister sure knows a lot about Ron Paul.
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Wait--how do we know you're not the little sister and the other posts weren't by the real James???
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If I accidentally told an 11-year-old girl she aroused like a phoenix, I apologize.
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Whoah, this SE Pennsylvania dual-identity stuff is getting too weird. Let's talk about Cookie Monster. This is topical & politically relevant, I promise:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/10/guy_called_cookie_monster_offe.php (http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/10/guy_called_cookie_monster_offe.php)
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Could this be the little sister!?
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_sd4aOA0Ur-I/Sas9P7FNjoI/AAAAAAAAFAM/WDKKSHFtpB4/mmpol01_AtlantaGA[5].jpg)
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Is that letterpress? Fancy!
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All this support of a man who named his child after Ayn Rand. And now I find it comes from an 11-year-old girl? I was guessing 13-year-old boy.
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All this support of a man who named his child after Ayn Rand.
Um - is this true? Jesus.
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All this support of a man who named his child after Ayn Rand.
Um - is this true? Jesus.
Yep. Rand's philosophies were very dominant among certain political types during Ron Paul's formative years. There's very little that he proposes that can't be linked to ideas from The Fountainhead and/or Atlas Shrugged. He's not quite the true believer he was in the fifties and sixties, but he's way out there in support of her "ideas". Think of naming his son "Rand" as a form of intellectual sacrifice to her movement.
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All this support of a man who named his child after Ayn Rand.
Um - is this true? Jesus.
Yep. Rand's philosophies were very dominant among certain political types during Ron Paul's formative years. There's very little that he proposes that can't be linked to ideas from The Fountainhead and/or Atlas Shrugged. He's not quite the true believer he was in the fifties and sixties, but he's way out there in support of her "ideas". Think of naming his son "Rand" as a form of intellectual sacrifice to her movement.
I thought this too, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually just short for "Randal." He was called "Randy" growing up and didn't go by "Rand" until much later on in life.
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In regards to Dave from Knoxville calling me a 13 year old boy, I'M SEVENTEEN! Get your facts straight. Nothing against you though, you're one of my favorite callers. Also, I haven't asked her, but I assume my sister looked up most of that Ron Paul stuff online. I'm a big politics junkie, and I think some of that brushed off on her. We've watched EVERY SINGLE republican debate together.
She thinks denigrating my name to the FOT is the funniest thing ever. she won't stop talking about it to me.
Peace Out, JFSEP
Laugh with her, JFSEP. It's good exercise!
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All this support of a man who named his child after Ayn Rand.
Um - is this true? Jesus.
Yep. Rand's philosophies were very dominant among certain political types during Ron Paul's formative years. There's very little that he proposes that can't be linked to ideas from The Fountainhead and/or Atlas Shrugged. He's not quite the true believer he was in the fifties and sixties, but he's way out there in support of her "ideas". Think of naming his son "Rand" as a form of intellectual sacrifice to her movement.
I thought this too, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually just short for "Randal." He was called "Randy" growing up and didn't go by "Rand" until much later on in life.
They say that now.
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This starts out weird enough, but at :40 it basically switches into Tim & Eric mode.
Now is the time for action! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM#ws)
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I've seen quite a few of his weird videos and this one might be the weirdest.
He Carried Yellow Flowers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSlC7BxmSqY&feature=channel_video_title#ws)
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But the smoking Cain staffer ad is definitely the funniest one. And the music kind of reminded me of the Drive soundtrack. Maybe this dude will end up taking Santorum out with a hammer.
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In regards to Dave from Knoxville calling me a 13 year old boy, I'M SEVENTEEN! Get your facts straight. Nothing against you though, you're one of my favorite callers. Also, I haven't asked her, but I assume my sister looked up most of that Ron Paul stuff online. I'm a big politics junkie, and I think some of that brushed off on her. We've watched EVERY SINGLE republican debate together.
She thinks denigrating my name to the FOT is the funniest thing ever. she won't stop talking about it to me.
Peace Out, JFSEP
She has got to call the show!
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This starts out weird enough, but at :40 it basically switches into Tim & Eric mode.
Now is the time for action! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM#ws)
His little head twitch at :21 gets me.
And the song at the end
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But the smoking Cain staffer ad is definitely the funniest one. And the music kind of reminded me of the Drive soundtrack. Maybe this dude will end up taking Santorum out with a hammer.
Cain's slowly developing smile at the end looks like he's being told somebody took Santorum out with a hammer.
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I've seen quite a few of his weird videos and this one might be the weirdest.
He Carried Yellow Flowers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSlC7BxmSqY&feature=channel_video_title#ws)
Almost a full two minutes in, I started to think, wait, I thought this was a Herman Cain video. I guess I misread the order of the posts. And then I kept watching just to see what the hell it was, and it turned out to be a Herman Cain video.
Also: "what are you guys, liberals?" and "no eye contact."
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This starts out weird enough, but at :40 it basically switches into Tim & Eric mode.
Now is the time for action! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM#ws)
The strangest part to me, oddly enough, was the line "He'll put the United back in United States," given that one of the Right's top directives is to minimize the United and put all of the focus on States.
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I guess in honor of all the comparisons made between his work and "CTV," Tim Heidecker made his own Herman Cain ad:
cain train: Herman Cain Campaign Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF9dr-FItR8#ws)
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This one is actually kind of awesome!
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Romney Perry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhQVAviVbg4&feature=player_embedded#ws)
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I guess in honor of all the comparisons made between his work and "CTV," Tim Heidecker made his own Herman Cain ad:
cain train: Herman Cain Campaign Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF9dr-FItR8#ws)
A bit too on the nose, there, Tim!
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Also, regardless of any other outcome, the Rise and Spectacular Flameout of Rick Perry will be one of the enduring stories of this election. It would kill me if I were him to know that and to be able to do nothing to stop it.
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Also, regardless of any other outcome, the Rise and Spectacular Flameout of Rick Perry will be one of the enduring stories of this election. It would kill me if I were him to know that and to be able to do nothing to stop it.
At least he hasn't gotten desperate (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rick-perry-raises-birther-issue-casting-doubt-about-obamas-birthplace/2011/10/25/gIQA9G70GM_story.html) yet.
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I really enjoyed Colbert's take on Cain ...
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/400682/october-25-2011/herman-cain-s-campaign-ad (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/400682/october-25-2011/herman-cain-s-campaign-ad)
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Also, regardless of any other outcome, the Rise and Spectacular Flameout of Rick Perry will be one of the enduring stories of this election. It would kill me if I were him to know that and to be able to do nothing to stop it.
Agreed.
Rick Perry is the Kevin Maas of political candidates.
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All this support of a man who named his child after Ayn Rand.
Um - is this true? Jesus.
Yep. Rand's philosophies were very dominant among certain political types during Ron Paul's formative years. There's very little that he proposes that can't be linked to ideas from The Fountainhead and/or Atlas Shrugged. He's not quite the true believer he was in the fifties and sixties, but he's way out there in support of her "ideas". Think of naming his son "Rand" as a form of intellectual sacrifice to her movement.
I thought this too, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually just short for "Randal." He was called "Randy" growing up and didn't go by "Rand" until much later on in life.
They say that now.
Ron Paul discusses Ayn Rand (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjwuGHPilwI#)
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Gary Johnson is a much, much better candidate than Ron Paul to do most of the stuff that Ron Paul would want to do (the significantly less insane things), but no one on earth is listening to him or cares at all.
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Thanks for the heads up, Newt: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/newt-gingrich-occupy-wall-street_n_1032731.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/newt-gingrich-occupy-wall-street_n_1032731.html)
Meanwhile: http://tiny.cc/5w5n6 (http://tiny.cc/5w5n6)
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(http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/gallery-newtgingrich1.jpg)
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Those two really have no idea how creepy and weird they are, do they?
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Sweet Land of Liberty Trailer Starring Callista Gingrich & Ellis the Elephant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_oCjWKnGKo#ws)
I'd like to echo one of the questions asked in the comments section for this video -- is that Newt in the elephant costume?
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That is quietly the most insane haircut I've ever seen. The punks with their mohawks had no idea what rank amateurs they were.
I consider myself a relatively normal person in terms of the way I look and talk. Would being in the spotlight, particularly being in one ideological part of the spotlight, make me do that type of thing to myself? Or was Callista Gingrich that way before and now that she's (relatively) famous she just gets a larger audience for it?
There is something to the argument that wanting to be president (or first spouse) should disqualify you from ever being president or first spouse.
Man, that haircut though. The people in her life must really hate her to let that shit keep going on.
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http://www.esquire.com/print-this/newt-gingrich-0910?page=all (http://www.esquire.com/print-this/newt-gingrich-0910?page=all)
Then another neat young man comes and leads you down a series of halls, telling you that Gingrich is the kind of guy who loves McDonald's and never stands on ceremony, has five ideas before breakfast, and tweets "because he understands it's the future."
And there's Newt Gingrich with his big square head. His features are surprisingly small and precise, and his deep-set eyes have a cool distance that feels vaguely scientific.
"There's a large part of me that's four years old," he tells you. "I wake up in the morning and I know that somewhere there's a cookie. I don't know where it is but I know it's mine and I have to go find it. That's how I live my life. My life is amazingly filled with fun."
By the time he was fifteen, Gingrich dedicated his life, he says, "to understanding what it takes for a free people to survive." By the time he was eighteen, he was dating his high school geometry teacher.
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Well, here's what she looked like around the time they got married, in 2000 (Notice the prominently displayed wedding ring--finally):
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6-IIXAF5HOE/TGtM6zmKG3I/AAAAAAAAKL0/V0NveealQWk/s800/NewtCallista.jpg)
and, as a bonus, here's what she would look like now as drawn by Ernie Bushmiller:
(http://j-walk.com/images/CallistaByErnie_6107/NancyCallista.jpg)
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(http://j-walk.com/images/CallistaByErnie_6107/NancyCallista.jpg)
That looks more like Newt, actually.
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The 2000 hair is not carefree, but the 2011 hair is somehow... savage. Hateful. It casts
asperngeons aspungeons aspersions on life itself and the free exercise thereof.
I usually don't spend this much time discussing people's haircuts but this one has wounded me somehow... for humanity.
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Sweet Land of Liberty Trailer Starring Callista Gingrich & Ellis the Elephant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_oCjWKnGKo#ws)
I'd like to echo one of the questions asked in the comments section for this video -- is that Newt in the elephant costume?
The elephant looks even more surprised than she does.
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(http://i.imgur.com/cHjlll.jpg)
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This "Humorless Politics Thread" is in danger of becoming pretty humorous. Grim up, people!
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There is something to the argument that wanting to be president (or first spouse) should disqualify you from ever being president or first spouse.
No one who wants power should be allowed to have it. (Humorless enough?)
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This post just made me accidentally wake up my whole family.
Well, here's what she looked like around the time they got married, in 2000 (Notice the prominently displayed wedding ring--finally):
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6-IIXAF5HOE/TGtM6zmKG3I/AAAAAAAAKL0/V0NveealQWk/s800/NewtCallista.jpg)
and, as a bonus, here's what she would look like now as drawn by Ernie Bushmiller:
(http://j-walk.com/images/CallistaByErnie_6107/NancyCallista.jpg)
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I AM NOT MOVING - Short Film - Occupy Wall Street (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGRXCgMdz9A&feature=related#ws)
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Oh Fredericks, I am ready to join your church.
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Oh Fredericks, I am ready to join your church.
I don't have a church, Dave.
I'm a secular humorist.
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I got something that will leech all the humor from this thread. This guy could be on your teevee for the next nine years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M4gz97Y9W8&feature=player_embedded# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M4gz97Y9W8&feature=player_embedded#)!
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O MY GOD. I just realised fonpr is Fredricks! My mind has been blown! :o Hi Fredricks! I'm your biggest fan!!
In replie to that Rick Perry video, if he becomes president, I'm calling it quits and moving to Brazil. I watched a segment about there BOOMING economy on 60 minutes recently. It seems like such a nice place.
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Typically good Matt Taibbi scare piece on Rick Perry. "Perry is a human price tag – Being There meets Left Behind. And sometimes there's nothing more dangerous than nothing at all."
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/rick-perry-the-best-little-whore-in-texas-20111026 (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/rick-perry-the-best-little-whore-in-texas-20111026)
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"But what I respect about Mark as a smoker ... he never smokes around me or smokes around anyone else. He goes outside."
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O MY GOD. I just realised fonpr is Fredricks! My mind has been blown! :o Hi Fredricks! I'm your biggest fan!!
In replie to that Rick Perry video, if he becomes president, I'm calling it quits and moving to Brazil. I watched a segment about there BOOMING economy on 60 minutes recently. It seems like such a nice place.
I don't see Perry making it out of the primaries.
It's Romney or bust, IMO.
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I think they keep on with this debate charade until the summer, when they whip out the REAL candidate. Maybe at the convention. It'd be a good reality TV twist and we could watch Romney's face fall as they give the nomination to somebody else at the convention.
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Colin Powell?
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http://gawker.com/5854701/herman-cain-the-sexual-harassment-claims (http://gawker.com/5854701/herman-cain-the-sexual-harassment-claims)
Sorry about the source but interesting development.
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This will sell more of his books, which is why he's running in the first place. Every time I talk about Cain I get a pizza jones.
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CREEPY SCARY HERMAN CAIN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CJCFVqtuGrU#ws)
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The ad at the bottom the the video is for The Godfather -Five Families.
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I started a new blog tonight -
http://stuffhermancainsays.tumblr.com/ (http://stuffhermancainsays.tumblr.com/)
Let me know if I missed anything.
I'd be interested to see, a year from how, how many of these batshit quotes actually have traction, how many are forgotten about, and how many are ignored deliberately because it doesn't matter to his presidency so long as he "can create jobs."
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I think you cut off the "Ubeki-beki-beki" quote a little too soon. I love it that he said "You know, I don't know. Do you know?" He thinks that's such a devastating zinger, as if the hypothetical interviewer were running for president.
You also should include his totally nutty discourse on abortion, transcribed here: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/From-the-Wires/2011/1024/Herman-Cain-What-did-he-say-about-abortion. (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/From-the-Wires/2011/1024/Herman-Cain-What-did-he-say-about-abortion.) He starts off by saying he's against abortion in all circumstances, then somehow gets his wingnut talking points confused and starts going down a completely different road as if he were talking about some other issue where no big government bureaucrat should be interfering with individual choice
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Whaddya know, I went from this page directly to a news item about how Cain says China is a military threat because they're "pursuing nuclear capability." China tested its first nuclear device in 1964: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/herman-cain-warns-china-is-seeking-nuclear-capability.php?ref=fpb (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/herman-cain-warns-china-is-seeking-nuclear-capability.php?ref=fpb)
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Maybe he meant to say 'perfecting'. Gotcha media strikes again.
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Whaddya know, I went from this page directly to a news item about how Cain says China is a military threat because they're "pursuing nuclear capability." China tested its first nuclear device in 1964: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/herman-cain-warns-china-is-seeking-nuclear-capability.php?ref=fpb (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/herman-cain-warns-china-is-seeking-nuclear-capability.php?ref=fpb)
If elected, one of Herman Cain's first objectives will be to get the DoD to develop a nuclear bomb that can fit inside a standard pizza box.
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GOP12.com: Cain: "I'm their brother from another mother!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lv4GGbK60J8#)
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Which is scarier/sadder? The fact that in a USA Today poll, Rick Perry gets 44 percent of the national vote in a head to head match up against Obama? OR that Hermain Cain gets 45 percent in the same poll?! I think it's Rick Perry, but I could be wrong.
Also, I HOPE AND PRAY that those women are able to get out of their confidentiality agreements. Sadly, it seems the Herminators support has not gone down from the scandal. If people could put a HUMAN FACE with the accusations, he would crumble like a freshly baked cookie.
Has anybody noticed that the scandal in question happened on 1999? coincidence? I think not.
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This might interest you and your little sister: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/herman-cain-pok-mon (http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/herman-cain-pok-mon)
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I'm not going to lie. Herman Cain's campaign theme song is really starting to grow on me.
I Am America (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0heL2Czeraw#ws)
I am America.
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Where do I go to get back the IQ points I lost from watching the first 1:05 of that????
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zUA2rDVrmNg#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zUA2rDVrmNg#!)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zUA2rDVrmNg#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zUA2rDVrmNg#!)
You can't spell moron without the letters P-E-R-R-Y.
Well, maybe you can, but that's besides the point.
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Sometimes I feel as though the fate of the United States is in the hands of people who can't spell "moron" with or without the letters P-E-R-R-Y.
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(http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/newsfeed/000/026/479/morans.jpg?1318992465)
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From Perry's Twitter:
GovernorPerry Rick Perry
Really glad I wore my boots 2nite because I stepped in it out there. I did still name 2 agencies to eliminate. Obama has never done that!
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All Perry had to do was act out his Lonesome Rhodes routine in a semi-coherent fashion and the nomination would have been his. What a flop.
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From Perry's Twitter:
GovernorPerry Rick Perry
Really glad I wore my boots 2nite because I stepped in it out there. I did still name 2 agencies to eliminate. Obama has never done that!
He also drew up plans for a spaceship to go to Mars, and I don't see Obama's.
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Everybody's talking about Perry's brainfreeze, but really my favorite moment belonged to Herman Cain: For every woman who's accused me of sexual harrassment, there have been thousands who didn't!
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By the way, can we retire the meme that Rick Perry is “handsome”? To me, he looks like the manager of a Ramada Inn in Amarillo flayed the skin off Ronald Reagan’s withered head and is wearing it as a mask, like Leatherface.
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To me, he looks like the manager of a Ramada Inn in Amarillo flayed the skin off Ronald Reagan’s withered head and is wearing it as a mask, like Leatherface.
+100
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I realize this is by no means a shocking observation, but it dawned on me recently that the relative extremism of this crop of Republican candidates has been in part the result of Obama's willingness to 'play ball' with the GOP on major policy issues. It's like the Overton Window idea in reverse - by moving toward the middle Obama inadvertantly pushed his detractors to take ever more extreme positions.
Were it not so clear that he really wants to govern from the middle, you would almost think he planned it all just to win reelection.
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There might be something to that, but the Republican party itself has moved so far to the right--in a process that predated Obama but does seem to have accelerated with his election, I kinda suspect because he's b-l-a-c-k--that I don't see where many less nutty candidates would have come from. For me, the difference between Pawlenty or Christie or Daniels and this clown parade isn't all that significant, but there are those who claim them to be more "centrist"--but it's obvious that the primary votes just aren't there for them in the party as it's now constructed.
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I think the rightward stampede by both Democrats and Republicans will only be halted once Congress passes laws that prevent corporations from buying elections. I don't see how this will ever happen, since most members of Congress greatly benefit from the current campaign finance laws.
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(https://p.twimg.com/Ad-_doACMAAu22M.jpg)
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Can Herman Cain please win the nomination?
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From a politics blog I read called Rumproast:
If they’re familiar with Joseph Heller, future historians may one day summarize the 2012 GOP presidential field’s terrible dilemma thusly:
There was only one catch and that was Catch-12, which specified that a tendency to rationally analyze the country’s many real and immediate dangers and propose realistic solutions was the process of a rational mind and thus disqualified the candidate in the eyes of the crazy base but made him or her viable among the general electorate. Cain, Perry, Bachmann, Paul, Gingrich and Santorum were crazy and were thus qualified in the eyes of the base but disqualified by the country at large. They had to be crazy to succeed in the primary race and sane to be taken seriously in the general. If they ran successfully in the primary, they were crazy and weren’t qualified for the general; but if they acknowledged they were babbling nonsense to the base, they were sane and thus disqualified to win the primary. The American people were moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-12 and let out a respectful whistle.
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Someone posted this on another message board. It's a metaphor for the Republican primary. Luigi is Romney, obviously.
(http://i.imgur.com/BFZD3.gif)
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I hadn't realized Romney hasn't done a Sunday show in close to 2 years! (Bonus: he attempts interaction with a human in this clip)
Scared Mittless (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpt3esd93jo#ws)
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"I just don't take questions unless we're doing a press conference." Wow, really?
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Apologies for putting this in the Humorless Politics Thread, but this gave me my best laugh since Vance's British accent:
http://twitter.com/# (http://twitter.com/#)!/ppppolls/status/136112955732406272
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http://twitter.com/# (http://twitter.com/#)!/ppppolls/status/136112955732406272
Does Romney's opposition research team even need to try with this one?
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From GQ's interview with Herman Cain about pizza:
Chris Heath: What can you tell about a man by the type of pizza that he likes?
Herman Cain: [repeats the question aloud, then pauses for a long moment] The more toppings a man has on his pizza, I believe the more manly he is.
Chris Heath: Why is that?
Herman Cain: Because the more manly man is not afraid of abundance. [laughs]
Devin Gordon: Is that purely a meat question?
Herman Cain: A manly man don't want it piled high with vegetables! He would call that a sissy pizza.
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201111/herman-cain-interview-alan-richman-chris-heath-devin-gordon?printable=true¤tPage=3 (http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201111/herman-cain-interview-alan-richman-chris-heath-devin-gordon?printable=true¤tPage=3)
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Herman Cain on Libya (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_nDFKAmCo&feature=youtu.be#ws)
Don't make fun of this, you guys. The man has a lot of stuff twirling around in his head. Twirling. Stuff. In his head.
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On a less sophisticated board, someone would post the Billy Madison quote here.
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AndrewNBCNews Andrew Rafferty
When I asked Cain if today's Libya gaffe builds on idea he doesn't have in depth knowledge of foreign policy, he simply said, "999"
2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
AndrewNBCNews Andrew Rafferty
To clarify: My previous tweet was NOT a joke.
2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
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I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for the Herman Cain/Larry Pervison debate.
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They can compare the merits of each one's sexy jobs plan for the ladies.
Next up: Wackiman/Perry.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for the Herman Cain/Larry Pervison debate.
'I bring the foreign policy knowledge he lacks, dere'.
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Iowa should be interesting. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/romney-two-way-race-is-now-four-way-republican-dead-heat-in-iowa-caucuses.html (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/romney-two-way-race-is-now-four-way-republican-dead-heat-in-iowa-caucuses.html)
Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are in a dead heat as the top choices for Iowans likely to attend the Jan. 3 Republican presidential caucuses.
A Bloomberg News poll shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent among the likely attendees with the caucuses that start the nominating contests seven weeks away.
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Let the chaos begin!
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A Bloomberg News poll shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent among the likely attendees with the caucuses that start the nominating contests seven weeks away.
[/quote]
Plus or minus what percent?
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A Bloomberg News poll shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent among the likely attendees with the caucuses that start the nominating contests seven weeks away.
Plus or minus what percent?
The margin of error is 4 percent, so yeah, it could be an aberration.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for the Herman Cain/Larry Pervison debate.
Herman Cain has his 999 plan. Larry D. Perv would have da 6969 plan dere.
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Santorum and Huntsman are feeling left out, but I guess there's still time for them
(http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/4086/couch780210.jpg)
Here's a handy reference for The Idea Man's ideas, as compiled by a Ron Paul supporter
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?329010-Comprehensive-list-of-Newt-Gingrich-positions (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?329010-Comprehensive-list-of-Newt-Gingrich-positions)
09/25/1996 - Introduced H.R. 4170, demanded life-sentence or execution for someone bringing 2 ounces of marijuana across the border.
08/03/2010 - Advocates attacks on Iran & North Korea.
03/09/2011 - He blames his infidelity to multiple wives on his passion for the country.
03/25/2011 - He plans to sign as many as 200 executive orders on his first day as president.
03/27/2011 - He says that America is under attack by atheist Islamists.
10/07/2011 - He said he'd ignore the Supreme Court if need be.
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Santorum and Huntsman are feeling left out, but I guess there's still time for them
Glenn Beck recently referred to Rick Santorum as "the next George Washington," so there is some hope for him. Huntsman, on the other hand...
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Santorum and Huntsman are feeling left out, but I guess there's still time for them
(http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/4086/couch780210.jpg)
Here's a handy reference for The Idea Man's ideas, as compiled by a Ron Paul supporter
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?329010-Comprehensive-list-of-Newt-Gingrich-positions (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?329010-Comprehensive-list-of-Newt-Gingrich-positions)
09/25/1996 - Introduced H.R. 4170, demanded life-sentence or execution for someone bringing 2 ounces of marijuana across the border.
08/03/2010 - Advocates attacks on Iran & North Korea.
03/09/2011 - He blames his infidelity to multiple wives on his passion for the country.
03/25/2011 - He plans to sign as many as 200 executive orders on his first day as president.
03/27/2011 - He says that America is under attack by atheist Islamists.
10/07/2011 - He said he'd ignore the Supreme Court if need be.
- Supported the National Endowment for the Arts;
Jeez, what a nut.
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PolitiChicks: Gays, Muslims & Gay Muslims (Ep 1) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcCvvJWyx4c&feature=youtu.be#ws)
Could have also cross-posted this into the Stuff You Hate thread.
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Waste of time.
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PolitiChicks: Gays, Muslims & Gay Muslims (Ep 1) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcCvvJWyx4c&feature=youtu.be#ws)
Could have also cross-posted this into the Stuff You Hate thread.
It's an old fashioned Crazy-Off!! Best episode of The View yet!
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/herman-cain-says-medical-marijuana-regulation-should-be-left-to-the-states_n_1097657.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/herman-cain-says-medical-marijuana-regulation-should-be-left-to-the-states_n_1097657.html)
Is anyone surprised by this?
Legalized marijuana = huge cash windfall for the pizza industry
I can't blame the Hermanator for looking out for his own best self-interest.
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I have a feeling that marijuana would only serve to accentuate the terribleness of Godfather's pizza.
PolitiChicks: Gays, Muslims & Gay Muslims (Ep 1) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcCvvJWyx4c&feature=youtu.be#ws)
Got a few minutes in and then had to bail, for the sake of mental self-preservation. Victoria said something about George Soros owning snopes.com, which can be disproven in about three mouse-clicks.
The other ladies are PAINFULLY uncomfortable around Ms. Jackson.
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Victoria Jackson has always sounded like Kermit T. Frog to me.
There is a reason that there is no conservative alternative to the View. Just like there's no young person alternative version of The Tonight Show that's exactly like The Tonight Show except with Justin Bieber references.
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Victoria Jackson is a buffoon and an embarrassment, but the dark-haired broad at the left of the screen gave me the most shivers. Dull stupidity coupled with seething hatred. She, most of all, talked about "them." Victoria Jackson is a buffoon; you could run into that dark-haired horror in the grocery store: she is legion.
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I didn't realize part of the conservative agenda was getting us to hate women.
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Has anyone seen the GBTV version of The Daily Show? I've seen a few clips and it feels like a cheap knock off
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"Not all Muslims are terrorists; it's just, all terrorists are Muslims. It's just the facts"
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Timothy McVeigh was a secret Muslim!
Was Timothy McVeigh Working for Bin Laden & Al Qaeda? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Q3L6x9PjU#)
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Has anyone seen the GBTV version of The Daily Show? I've seen a few clips and it feels like a cheap knock off
I just watched some clips of it on the GBTV website. It's almost as bad as that short-lived "comic news program" that aired on Fox News. I believe it was called the "1/2 Hour News Hour."
I don't know why, but conservative humor always seems to be lacking...actual humor.
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Has anyone seen the GBTV version of The Daily Show? I've seen a few clips and it feels like a cheap knock off
I just watched some clips of it on the GBTV website. It's almost as bad as that short-lived "comic news program" that aired on Fox News. I believe it was called the "1/2 Hour News Hour."
I don't know why, but conservative humor always seems to be lacking...actual humor.
A comedian who mostly talked about other stuff but occasionally talked about things that conservatives liked might or might not be funny.
American liberalism is a much looser set of beliefs and seems to require substantially less orthodoxy (with a few, very specific areas of serious orthodoxy) than American conservatism.
The trouble is that conservative comedians seem to feel like comedians who are also liberal are actually liberal comedians. There don't seem to be many (any?) comedians who are also conservative. Perhaps they feel too persecuted to do just a normal act.
Maybe you could count some of the Blue Collar Comedians in there? Not my cup of tea, to be sure, but people like them. That racist puppet guy, too, man.
What was I saying again?
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What was I saying again?
Something about puppets.
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Has anyone seen the GBTV version of The Daily Show? I've seen a few clips and it feels like a cheap knock off
I just watched some clips of it on the GBTV website. It's almost as bad as that short-lived "comic news program" that aired on Fox News. I believe it was called the "1/2 Hour News Hour."
I don't know why, but conservative humor always seems to be lacking...actual humor.
A comedian who mostly talked about other stuff but occasionally talked about things that conservatives liked might or might not be funny.
American liberalism is a much looser set of beliefs and seems to require substantially less orthodoxy (with a few, very specific areas of serious orthodoxy) than American conservatism.
The trouble is that conservative comedians seem to feel like comedians who are also liberal are actually liberal comedians. There don't seem to be many (any?) comedians who are also conservative. Perhaps they feel too persecuted to do just a normal act.
Maybe you could count some of the Blue Collar Comedians in there? Not my cup of tea, to be sure, but people like them. That racist puppet guy, too, man.
What was I saying again?
Isn't Dennis Miller a conservative comedian? He's the only one I can think of.
If conservatives want to have a Daily Show type show they should do their own thing instead of making a cheap copy.
I also read that GBTV also wants to make conservative Simpsons type show. Is that what this channel is going to be, conservative versions of already established programs?
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Jackie Mason has been funny at times over his long career, but is mostly just a bitter old right-wing crank now. Colin Quinn is conservative. He used to do a show directly after Jon Stewart that was just...such a painful contrast. He and Dennis Miller should do an unfunny-off sometime. Not a comedian, but some say PJ O'Rourke is a funny writer; I have yet to be convinced. I have no doubt that Dice Clay votes Republican, if he votes. (There are also programatically liberal comedians that are not funny, like Will Durst.) Maybe it's that a conservative mindset blocks the kind of unexpected associations and reversals-of-perspective that make for humor; it seems to me equally possible that the kind of literal, unnuanced, black-and-white mindset that generally seems to make a sense of humor unlikely also makes one more likely to be conservative. These are all very broad generalizations, of course. I have a conservative Republican brother who is a very funny man.
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It should also be noted that while Herman Cain has been a mathematician, restauranteur, CEO, motivational speaker, and author, when the current campaign is over I think standup comedy would be a logical next step for him:
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/cain-we-need-a-leader-not-a-reader.php?ref=fpb (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/cain-we-need-a-leader-not-a-reader.php?ref=fpb)
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You guys forgot these idiots:
(http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/about/creators.jpg)
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You guys forgot these idiots:
(http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/about/creators.jpg)
See, I consider them more libertarian/wishy-washy centrists. They never take a clear stance on anything other than "anyone who feels a lot about something is annoying".
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They aren't my favorites, but I think Doug Stanhope and South Park are both funny. I don't think libertarianism is mutually exclusive to comedy.
I wish I was smarter. That way I could find a way to connect Bertolt Brecht's theories on catharsis in theatre to the world of comedy. Basically, I want to say that all entertainment is conservative because it pacifies us from destroying the conservatives in power who keep us down; and so arguing about which comedians are or aren't conservative is moot. But I don't think I'm smart enough to find a way to say that where I don't come across as crazy.
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Best Show favorite Nick DiPaolo is conservative, if his appearances on Louie are based in reality (which I think they are).
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I did not mean to imply that I don't find South Park funny. I do. I just find their inability to take a clear stance on seemingly every political subject tiring.
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Not a comedian, but some say PJ O'Rourke is a funny writer
I listened to the CEO of the Sofa on tape. Pretty good stuff.
Contained a laugh out loud take on laughing.
Very interesting examination of Fear and Loathing.
Introduced some hard to shake ideas as well.
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I think Mallard Fillmore would qualify as a conservative comic, right?
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I think Mallard Fillmore would qualify as a conservative comic, right?
In the same sense that a black hole showing up on your doorstep is a "positive development."
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Andy Breckman is a Republican. Also, longtime SNL writer Jim Downey is conservative.
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Conservative humor: '...take poor people who signed up for loans they couldn't pay and brought down the economy all by themselves - PLEASE!'
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Conservative humor: What's the deal with this Mainstream, liberal media? I'm I right folks? That guy know what I'm talking about!
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(http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2938/redeyefoxburningman.jpg)
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(http://www.politisink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/fox-news-poor-households-fridge.jpg)
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Also:
(http://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/images/item/fnan-20090506-peds.jpg)
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Ha ha, although Red Eye is supposed to be funny. It looks like Louie CK does the show?
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(http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2938/redeyefoxburningman.jpg)
That could be a problem.
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The Idea Man grants us another pearl of wisdom:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/from-gingrich-an-unconventional-view-of-education/ (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/from-gingrich-an-unconventional-view-of-education/)
4:57 p.m. | Updated Newt Gingrich has some unconventional ideas about education reform. He wants every state to open a work-study college where students work 20 hours a week during the school year and full-time in the summer and then graduate debt-free.
In poverty stricken K-12 districts, Mr. Gingrich said that schools should enlist students as young as 9 to14 to mop hallways and bathrooms, and pay them a wage. Currently child-labor laws and unions keep poor students from bootstrapping their way into middle class, Mr. Gingrich said.
“This is something that no liberal wants to deal with,” he told an audience at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard on Friday, according to Politico.
“You say to somebody, you shouldn’t go to work before you’re what, 14, 16 years of age, fine,” Mr. Gingrich said. “You’re totally poor. You’re in a school that is failing with a teacher that is failing. I’ve tried for years to have a very simple model. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”
Mr. Gingrich, who back in 1994 proposed bringing back orphanages for children on welfare, was quickly labeled “Dickensian” by people commenting on Twitter.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called Mr. Gingrich’s proposal “absurd.”
“Who in their right mind would lay off janitors and replace them with disadvantaged children — who should be in school, and not cleaning schools,” Ms. Weingarten said. “And who would start backtracking on laws designed to halt the exploitation of children?”
At Harvard Mr. Gingrich promised, “You’re going to see from me extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in America and give people a chance to rise very rapidly.”
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Rarely do you see an article with so many absolutely true statements:
“This is something that no liberal wants to deal with,”
“Who in their right mind would lay off janitors and replace them with disadvantaged children?"
“You’re going to see from me extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in America."
Check, check, and check.
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I realize this is just piling on at this point, but:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/herman-cain-muslim-doctor.html (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/herman-cain-muslim-doctor.html)
When you make people at a Christian theme park uncomfortable with your denunciation of Muslims, you've jumped, as they say, the shark.
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After watching last night's debate, it's become abundantly clear that the GOP field is down to only two viable candidates, Romney and the Newtster.
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"I said to his physician assistant, I said, 'That sounds foreign — not that I had anything against foreign doctors — but it sounded too foreign," Sorry Doctor, thanks for trying to save my life and all but, you're just too foreign.
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Wrong, wrong, wrong. The name was just a red flag.
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Re: Newt's plan: Fire Dad, hire 12-year old Junior at a lower wage. Sounds like a winner!
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It would jump-start the economy.
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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/c-span-battle-historian-shouts-down-congressman-hearing-220846049.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/c-span-battle-historian-shouts-down-congressman-hearing-220846049.html)
How on earth is this sort of thing allowed? Because Alaskans like to think of themselves as stupid and rude?
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"Foo paz."
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"Foo paz."
I noticed that, too.
Can Alex from Anchorage shed some light on Don Young?
Ted Stevens and Don Young, and that's without getting to Sarah Palin. What's going on, AK?
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I AM MAKNG A PREDICTION!!!
Herman Cain will do "Dancing with the Stars" after the election.
Just you wait and see. ;)
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I AM MAKNG A PREDICTION!!!
Herman Cain will do "Dancing with the Stars" after the election.
Just you wait and see. ;)
WHOA, good call. I could totally see that happening.
Has Blogoyavich (sp) done it yet?
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He did "Celebrity Apprentice", but not "Dancing with the Stars". I wouldn't be surprised if he did it when he got out of jail. I wonder when that is?
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That's right, I forgot about Celebrity Apprentice.
He was also in a Wonderful pistachios commercial. All of those commercials scare me, frankly. They're like the commercials in RoboCop showing how lousy society becomes.
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This guy's good.
Fox News Misreports Pepper Spray Legality? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N6mBckWAGw#ws)
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I wish Chris Hedges didn't refuse to appear on Fox News. His takedown of that free-market creep on CBC (link (http://y2u.be/MAhHPIuTQ5k)) was pretty amazing, and I'd love to see him do the same thing to O'Reilly.
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I like the way O'Leary tried to pretend there's some massive difference between "nutbar" and "nutcase."
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I can understand not appearing on Fox News. Fox News is like a gangrenous leg, best to cut the thing off and be done with it, there's nothing you can do for it.
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http://wapo.st/uFCDS8 (http://wapo.st/uFCDS8)
Kind of obvious, but the idea of a teenager using toilet talk in a tweet is a whole lot less surprising or troubling than the idea of a Governor's staff trolling around for insults on Twitter and ratting her out to her principal :o
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I like the way O'Leary tried to pretend there's some massive difference between "nutbar" and "nutcase."
O'Leary is one of the panelists on the CBC TV series 'Dragon's Den' (on which four venture capitalists are presented with often ridiculous investment opportunities by hopeful entrepeneurs), where he consistently stands out as the one who who most loves grinding hopeless losers' faces in their own failure.
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The world according to Herman Cain (http://www.hermancain.com/issue/foreign_policy_national_security (http://www.hermancain.com/issue/foreign_policy_national_security)):
(http://i.imgur.com/kHWPSl.jpg)
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I like the way O'Leary tried to pretend there's some massive difference between "nutbar" and "nutcase."
O'Leary is one of the panelists on the CBC TV series 'Dragon's Den' (on which four venture capitalists are presented with often ridiculous investment opportunities by hopeful entrepeneurs), where he consistently stands out as the one who who most loves grinding hopeless losers' faces in their own failure.
There was a reference to Dragon's Den in an 'IT Crowd' episode. It must be a UK and Canada thing.
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I'm looking forward to this:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/trump-to-moderate-republican-debate/?smid=tw-thecaucus&seid=auto (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/trump-to-moderate-republican-debate/?smid=tw-thecaucus&seid=auto)
It’s officially a reality television Republican primary now.
Donald Trump is pairing up with Newsmax, the conservative magazine and news Web site, to moderate a presidential debate in Des Moines on Dec. 27.
“Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump,” said Christopher Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media. “They may not agree with
him on everything, but they don’t see him as owned by the Washington establishment, the media establishment.”
Mr. Trump’s role in the debate, which will be broadcast on the cable network Ion Television, is sure to be one of the more memorable moments in a primary season that has already delivered its fair share of circus-like spectacle.
Mr. Trump’s own flirtation with running for president this year seems almost quaint (whose birth certificate was he all worked up about?) compared with more recent distractions – like allegations of adultery and sexual harassment, gaffes that seemed scripted from a late-night comedy show, and a six-figure line of credit at Tiffany & Co.
But despite being derided by liberals – President Obama likened Mr. Trump to a “carnival barker” for his repeated assertions that the president was actually foreign-born – the real estate mogul is seriously influential in many Republican Party circles. And that sway seems especially deep with the party’s conservative base, which will be a decisive factor in the early primaries that are likely to determine the nominee. The debate, which unlike many recent ones will not be limited to a specific topic like national security or the economy, is set to happen just a week before the Iowa caucuses.
Newsmax sent candidates the invitation on Friday afternoon. It began, “We are pleased to cordially invite you to “The Newsmax Ion Television 2012 Presidential Debate,” moderated by a truly great American, Mr. Donald J. Trump.” Spokesmen for several candidates did not immediately respond to questions from The New York Times about whether they would accept.
Though presidential candidates may initially balk at the idea of appearing in a debate where Mr. Trump – with his bombast and The Hair – is the one posing the questions, they may ultimately see it as an invitation they can’t refuse. In fact many of the candidates have already met with him, some more publicly than others. Representative Michele Bachmann has sat down with Mr. Trump several times this year. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas had dinner with him at Jean Georges, the posh Manhattan restaurant. And Mitt Romney paid a visit but carefully avoided being photographed.
Also, it looks like Cain might be out: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9169851-cain-to-make-major-announcement-saturday (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9169851-cain-to-make-major-announcement-saturday)
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"Moderated by a truly great American, Donald J. Trump." A real patriot, I tells ya. I know it's been said a million times before, but do we even need satire at this point? I don't know how SNL could possibly improve on that "truly great American" line.
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I don't know whether Huntsman's people were the first to call this the "Presidential Apprentice," but props to whoever came up with it:
The Huntsman campaign has declined an invitation to participate in a GOP primary debate moderated by Donald Trump on December 27 with the following statement: “we have declined to participate in the ‘Presidential Apprentice’ Debate with The Donald. The Republican Party deserves a serious discussion of the issues so voters can choose a leader they trust to defeat President Obama and turn our economy around.”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/2366 (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/2366)
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Ooh, this is even better (Buddy Roemer is in the race now, though? Really???):
I asked Buddy Roemer, the former governor of Louisiana who's unexpectedly become a gadfly candidate, whether he'd show up for the debate. It would be his first.
"Yes," he said, "driving a clown car with a bumper sticker that reads, 'Really people? Is this what the debates have come to!?'"
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/02/the_great_trump_debate.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/02/the_great_trump_debate.html)
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Yeah, he's been in the race for a couple months now. The only reason I know this is because he was at OWS a few times. Despite being a Republican, he has some enlightened views on campaign finance -- he wants to limit the amount of money people can donate to political campaigns and doesn't accept campaign contributions above $100 (it's not like anyone's itching to pour money into this guy's campaign, but it's the thought that counts, I guess).
In other news, it's a near certainty that Cain will drop out of the race today. So long, you crazy bastard.
(http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad346/jakesteel1/Ron%20Paul/5bd33d76.gif)
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He was a treasure. He will be missed.
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Too bad Newt deleted this Spanish apology video, it looks hilarious
Newt Gingrich Pandering to the Latino Vote (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og0HqSZVKqA#)
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Too bad Newt deleted this Spanish apology video, it looks hilarious
Newt Gingrich Pandering to the Latino Vote (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og0HqSZVKqA#)
That might be the funniest thing I've ever seen.
New York Magazine put out an article yesterday on Newt's love of the words "fundamental" and "fundamentally": http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/fundamentally-newt-gingrichs-favorite-word.html (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/11/fundamentally-newt-gingrichs-favorite-word.html). It features a 400+ item list cataloguing all the different ways Newt's used the two words in recent months. Definitely worth checking out.
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(http://i.imgur.com/AndZu.jpg)
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Ron Paul's ready to blow shit up, folks:
New Ron Paul Ad - BIG DOG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXCZVmQ74OA#ws)
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No appearance by Robosaurus. What a letdown.
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The fact that Ron Paul approves that message is enough to establish he is batshit crazy.
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He was a treasure. He will be missed.
I'll miss him too.
Making fun of Rick Perry just isn't the same.
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You may have seen it (we're on page 105), but the issue of the Ron Paul Political Report on the 1992 LA Riots is...interesting.
http://www.mrdestructo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-political-report-special-issue.html (http://www.mrdestructo.com/2011/12/ron-paul-political-report-special-issue.html)
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Strong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA#ws)
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Where's the pitch for the Country Time Lemonade?
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That video has 3,580 likes and 164,395 dislikes. Clearly the doing of Anonymous/4chan, but pretty heartening nonetheless.
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It's OLD FASHIONED GUY! And equally as craaaaaazy!
Old Fashioned Guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpiw-ng5wkQ#)
(via @scratchbomb)
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Zorgo? Or Zork!
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Fuckin' fire, how does it work?
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J.O.K.E. is comin'.
So I guess it's now Gingrich's turn to make a bizarre campaign ad that ends up going viral. I hope he can pull out enough crazy to top Perry's Brokeback Mountain thing.
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Rick Perry referred to Solyndra as a country yesterday, but frankly I'm having a harder and harder time laughing at this shit.
If you want to cheer up your morning, here is a commentary on the Republican frontrunner's theories on the inutility of child labor laws, illustrated by some gut-wrenching Lewis Hine photographs: http://agonyin8fits.blogspot.com/2011/12/for-their-own-good.html (http://agonyin8fits.blogspot.com/2011/12/for-their-own-good.html)
Have a nice day!
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http://www.towleroad.com/2011/12/romneyvet.html (http://www.towleroad.com/2011/12/romneyvet.html)
"UH, EXCUSE ME, GAY MARRIAGE WAS ILLEGAL WHEN THE CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN" is pretty much the worst argument ever. I have to admit, as much as I hate Romney for cowardly retreating, it was his only option at that point.
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OK, I can't keep up any more. Yesterday Gingrich fired at Romney for making millions by closing businesses and putting people out of work. Today, Glenn Beck said that Teabaggers who prefer Gingrich to Obama must be racist: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/glenn-beck-tea-partiers-who-support-newt-are-racist.php?ref=fpb. (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/glenn-beck-tea-partiers-who-support-newt-are-racist.php?ref=fpb.) These guys are becoming so unhinged that they'll even reach for Democratic-sounding soundbites if it seems they might stick.
Oh yeah, and Michael Savage offered Gingrich a cool million to drop out of the race: http://www.michaelsavage.wnd.com/2011/12/savage-offers-gingrich-1-million-to-drop-out-of-the-race-will-announce-on-show-today/ (http://www.michaelsavage.wnd.com/2011/12/savage-offers-gingrich-1-million-to-drop-out-of-the-race-will-announce-on-show-today/)
At this point, I believe everything and nothing.
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I think Savage is forgetting the fact that Newt is making a ton of money from his book tour/campaign for president.
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Oh yeah, a million is peanuts to Newt. He plans on taking a pay cut briefly by putting in his time to be president, then raking in the mega-megabucks on the lecture circuit. This is a completely ineffective gesture by Savage, but it will be funny seeing him walk it back if Gingrich runs against Obama. That is, if anything is funny at that point.
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Oh, and Savage's reasons for opposing Gingrich are of course completely full of shit, but this is sweet (caps in original):
IN A PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE AGAINST OBAMA, REGARDLESS OF HOW WELL HE DOES, ON TELEVISION, HE WILL COME OFF BADLY COMPARED TO OBAMA AND LOOK LIKE NOTHING MORE THAN WHAT HE IS: A FAT, OLD, WHITE MAN.
Aren't flat-out racist wingnuts like Savage supposed to get upset when people are disparaged as "white"?
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He's just being a realist. A member of a persecuted people (our generation's Cherokee Indians) could never become president.
"HE CALLED THE REPUBLICAN PLAN TO REFORM MEDICARE “RIGHT WING SOCIAL ENGINEERING." -- I like how these knuckleheads don't realize that supporting "the Ryan Plan" (which is basically the "fuck you, we're getting rid of Medicare so we can pay for these tax cuts" plan) is going to be toxic for any politician who has to win over non-wingnuts to get elected.
Also: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/12/pajama-clad-gary-busey-endorses-newt-gingrich/46046/ (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/12/pajama-clad-gary-busey-endorses-newt-gingrich/46046/).
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You had me at "pajama-clad." I don't even need to read the article.
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No, but you do need to see the photo.
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I would pull for Beck ten thousand times over Andrew Breitbart. Beck is a crazy, preening, self-destructive nutcase, which makes him a loose cannon. Andrew Breitbart is a pusillanimous asshole who is also preening.
Beck is no longer a danger to the Republic - he's a danger to the Republicans. Viva la Glenn.
Also, check out those ads on the bottom of the Michael Savage WND page. How can even Ma and Pa Kettle take that place seriously?
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Unfortunately, the article was corrected: Gary Busey was not wearing pajamas when he endorsed Newt Gingrich.
Dennis Miller is still mum about which candidate he's going to give his highly coveted endorsement to now that Cain is out of the race.
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/11/17/dennis-miller-jumps-cain-train (http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/11/17/dennis-miller-jumps-cain-train)
MILLER: Well, listen, I don't know where I'm quite going yet. I might stop at Newtville. I might go to Planet Ron Paul. I have a feeling, like everybody else, I might end up at Romney Acres eventually. But those are the three right now, I think, because of this. Romney makes it hard for them to hit. Newt hits back. And Ron Paul doesn't even know he's been hit.
Stop teasing us, Miller!
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Unfortunately, the article was corrected: Gary Busey was not wearing pajamas when he endorsed Newt Gingrich.
Dennis Miller is still mum about which candidate he's going to give his highly coveted endorsement to now that Cain is out of the race.
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/11/17/dennis-miller-jumps-cain-train (http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/11/17/dennis-miller-jumps-cain-train)
MILLER: Well, listen, I don't know where I'm quite going yet. I might stop at Newtville. I might go to Planet Ron Paul. I have a feeling, like everybody else, I might end up at Romney Acres eventually. But those are the three right now, I think, because of this. Romney makes it hard for them to hit. Newt hits back. And Ron Paul doesn't even know he's been hit.
Stop teasing us, Miller!
Or better yet, go eff yourself.
I can't believe the guy who gave us Koko the French Clown has been reduced to this. The years can be unkind.
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His schtick isn't even believable:
"I think the left hate her -- mostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life." He continued, "I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since [Norman] Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s."
If you're going to praise an anti-intellectual like Sarah Palin, you might want to refrain from making Norman Mailer references while doing so. I hope the paycheck is worth it, dude.
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At this point, it appears the R nomination is going to either Romney or Gingrich. I've said all along that I think it's going to be Romney, and I think Obama will win regardless of which one gets it, but if you want to be assured of an easy Obama victory, then you should be rooting for Gingrich to get the nomination.
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Another reason to root for Newt (hey! that rhymed!) is that when Obama beats him, it makes Chris Christie look less viable for 2016. When the parties already lost one by giving the nomination to a fat guy, they're less likely to go down that road twice in a row.
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At this point, it appears the R nomination is going to either Romney or Gingrich. I've said all along that I think it's going to be Romney, and I think Obama will win regardless of which one gets it, but if you want to be assured of an easy Obama victory, then you should be rooting for Gingrich to get the nomination.
We can sign up and vote at the Republican primaries, right?
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At this point, it appears the R nomination is going to either Romney or Gingrich. I've said all along that I think it's going to be Romney, and I think Obama will win regardless of which one gets it, but if you want to be assured of an easy Obama victory, then you should be rooting for Gingrich to get the nomination.
Couldn't have said it any better myself.
Another scenario that could virtually guarantee an Obama win is if Ron Paul decides to run as a third party candidate.
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If you believe the Internet comment machine (and who doesn't!), we're going to see an enormous rise in heart attacks and rage-fueled strokes the day after a (hypothetical at this point) Obama reelection.
There's a herd that could use some thinning.
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If you believe the Internet comment machine (and who doesn't!), we're going to see an enormous rise in heart attacks and rage-fueled strokes the day after a (hypothetical at this point) Obama reelection.
There's a herd that could use some thinning.
The meltdown that would ensue on Free Republic would make Chernobyl look fairly minor by comparison.
And for that reason alone, I'm hoping that Obama wins a second term in office.
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If you believe the Internet comment machine (and who doesn't!), we're going to see an enormous rise in heart attacks and rage-fueled strokes the day after a (hypothetical at this point) Obama reelection.
There's a herd that could use some thinning.
The meltdown that would ensue on Free Republic would make Chernobyl look fairly minor by comparison.
And for that reason alone, I'm hoping that Obama wins a second term in office.
All kidding aside, I believed/hoped the same thing about Clinton's reelection in 1996. They mostly just came up for excuses why it happened (not that people preferred Clinton to their choice, oh, heavens no!) and then fell back into "wait till next time."
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I'm pretty bullish on Newt. He doesn't have the money/organization Romney does and there's a good chance of a career-ending scandal or gaffe that puts him out of the race, but if somehow the first doesn't matter as much as people think it does and the second doesn't happen, I think he has the nomination sewn up.
Anyone watching the debate on Saturday knows that Newt is one slick motherfucker when under attack -- the dude somehow turned a defense of his child labor stance into an applause line and despite the entire debate being a Newt pile-on (in which many very justifiable objections to Newt being the nominee were brought up), he came out of it the winner. Romney was smooth (albeit robotic sounding) when delivering talking points, but he sputtered and lost his cool once he started arguing with Newt. The debates are already more important to this primary race than maybe any before it (I mean, because of the debates Gingrich has become the frontrunner in Iowa without even having a proper campaign staff in Iowa) and are going to become increasingly so once D-listers like Santorum drop out and they more or less become Romney vs. Newt slugfests. And in the bizarro Republican world where logic and truth don't matter, and all anyone cares about is how confident you sound and how well you can deliver applause lines, Newt wins. Of course, once Newt exits the insane asylum, things change dramatically.
Like everyone else, I'm rooting for Newt to win the nomination. Anyone who follows American politics and isn't crazy is going to enjoy the schadenfreude once Newt loses by a wide margin and the Yahoo! commenters who harped on about how "DAFFY DUCK COULD BEAT OBAMA" don't know what to do.
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I'm pretty bullish on Newt. He doesn't have the money/organization Romney does and there's a good chance of a career-ending scandal or gaffe that puts him out of the race, but if somehow the first doesn't matter as much as people think it does and the second doesn't happen, I think he has the nomination sewn up.
Anyone watching the debate on Saturday knows that Newt is one slick motherfucker when under attack -- the dude somehow turned a defense of his child labor stance into an applause line and despite the entire debate being a Newt pile-on (in which many very justifiable objections to Newt being the nominee were brought up), he came out of it the winner. Romney was smooth (albeit robotic sounding) when delivering talking points, but he sputtered and lost his cool once he started arguing with Newt. The debates are already more important to this primary race than maybe any before it (I mean, because of the debates Gingrich has become the frontrunner in Iowa without even having a proper campaign staff in Iowa) and are going to become increasingly so once D-listers like Santorum drop out and they more or less become Romney vs. Newt slugfests. And in the bizarro Republican world where logic and truth don't matter, and all anyone cares about is how confident you sound and how well you can deliver applause lines, Newt wins. Of course, once Newt exits the insane asylum, things change dramatically.
Like everyone else, I'm rooting for Newt to win the nomination. Anyone who follows American politics and isn't crazy is going to enjoy the schadenfreude once Newt loses by a wide margin and the Yahoo! commenters who harped on about how "DAFFY DUCK COULD BEAT OBAMA" don't know what to do.
What they'll do is, they'll carry on from that point on saying that Daffy Duck did in fact beat Obama, and eventually they will all actually believe it is true.
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slick motherfucker
Superchunk should do a song with this title.
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Talk about a tease!!!
Actor Gary Busey is withdrawing his endorsement of Newt Gingrich for president.
"It is not time for me to be endorsing anyone at this time! When there are the two final candidates, then I will endorse," Busey said Wednesday in a statement released through his representative.
Busey endorsed the former speaker's presidential campaign on Saturday in an exclusive interview with The Hill.
"I've never met Newt but I know what he stands for," Busey said.
Asked why Busey was withdrawing his endorsement, the actor's spokesman said Busey "likes" Gingrich but "he is not endorsing anyone at this time."
http://thehill.com/capital-living/in-the-know/199375-gary-busey-withdraws-gingrich-endorsement (http://thehill.com/capital-living/in-the-know/199375-gary-busey-withdraws-gingrich-endorsement)
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Hahaha.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/fox-news-fail-graphics-obama-gop-poll_n_1149388.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/fox-news-fail-graphics-obama-gop-poll_n_1149388.html)
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/438943/FOX-NEWS-FAIL.jpg)
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Hahaha.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/fox-news-fail-graphics-obama-gop-poll_n_1149388.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/fox-news-fail-graphics-obama-gop-poll_n_1149388.html)
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/438943/FOX-NEWS-FAIL.jpg)
I suspect that was not an error.
Pavlovian association.
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Yeah, Fox News makes a lot of "errors" that dovetail too nicely with their narrative to actually be errors. Another recent example:
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/387888_10150415470736167_26595441166_8856090_123132026_n.jpg)
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I suspect that was not an error.
Pavlovian association.
Hey!
Rick Perry finally cracked the 10% threshold.
Why is Rick Perry still in the race?
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Hahaha.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/fox-news-fail-graphics-obama-gop-poll_n_1149388.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/fox-news-fail-graphics-obama-gop-poll_n_1149388.html)
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/438943/FOX-NEWS-FAIL.jpg)
I suspect that was not an error.
Agreed. I'm not saying the network on the whole was onboard, but there are enough lunatics there for something like this to slip through on purpose.
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OK, now this photo, which is apparently unfaked, is pretty funny:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0yXLEqyECN4/TufGb6q-c2I/AAAAAAABNPk/eja2hPsr1R8/s400/BadSign.jpg)
...and if you don't see why, you apparently haven't Googled "Santorum" in the last couple of years.
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The worst part of Santorum is that he looks identical to one of my uncles that I like.
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A Christmas classic:
http://mises.org/daily/573 (http://mises.org/daily/573)
It's Christmas again, time to celebrate the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge. You know the ritual: boo the curmudgeon initially encountered in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, then cheer the sweetie pie he becomes in the end. It's too bad no one notices that the curmudgeon had a point—quite a few points, in fact.
To appreciate them, it is necessary first to distinguish Scrooge's outlook on life from his disagreeable persona. He is said to have a pointed nose and a harsh voice, but not all hardheaded businessmen are so lamentably endowed, nor are their feckless nephews (remember Fred?) alwavs "ruddy and handsome," and possessed of pretty wives. These touches of the storyteller's art only bias the issue.
So let's look without preconceptions at Scrooge's allegedly underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit. The fact is, if Cratchit's skills were worth more to anyone than the fifteen shillings Scrooge pays him weekly, there would be someone glad to offer it to him. Since no one has, and since Cratchit's profit-maximizing boss is hardly a man to pay for nothing, Cratchit must be worth exactly his present wages.
No doubt Cratchit needs—i.e., wants—more, to support his family and care for Tiny Tim. But Scrooge did not force Cratchit to father children he is having difficulty supporting. If Cratchit had children while suspecting he would be unable to afford them, he, not Scrooge, is responsible for their plight. And if Cratchit didn't know how expensive they would be, why must Scrooge assume the burden of Cratchit's misjudgment?
As for that one lump of coal Scrooge allows him, it bears emphasis that Cratchit has not been chained to his chilly desk. If he stays there, he shows by his behavior that he prefers his present wages-plus-comfort package to any other he has found, or supposes himself likely to find. Actions speak louder than grumbling, and the reader can hardly complain about what Cratchit evidently finds satisfactory.
More notorious even than his miserly ways are Scrooge's cynical words. "Are there no prisons," he jibes when solicited for charity, "and the Union workhouses?"
Terrible, right? Lacking in compassion?
Not necessarily. As Scrooge observes, he supports those institutions with his taxes. Already forced to help those who can't or won't help themselves, it is not unreasonable for him to balk at volunteering additional funds for their extra comfort.
Scrooge is skeptical that many would prefer death to the workhouse, and he is unmoved by talk of the workhouse's cheerlessness. He is right to be unmoved, for society's provisions for the poor must be, well, Dickensian. The more pleasant the alternatives to gainful employment, the greater will be the number of people who seek these alternatives, and the fewer there will be who engage in productive labor. If society expects anyone to work, work had better be a lot more attractive than idleness.
The normally taciturn Scrooge lets himself go a bit when Cratchit hints that he would like a paid Christmas holiday. "It's not fair," Scrooge objects, a charge not met by Cratchet's patently irrelevant protest that Christmas comes but once a year. Unfair it is, for Cratchit would doubtless object to a request for a day's uncompensated labor, "and yet," as Scrooge shrewdly points out, "you don't think me ill used when I pay a day's wages for no work."
Cratchit has apparently forgotten the golden rule. (Or is it that Scrooge has so much more than Cratchit that the golden rule does not come into play? But Scrooge doesn't think he has that much, and shouldn't he have a say in the matter?)
Scrooge's first employer, good old Fezziwig, was a lot freer with a guinea—he throws his employees a Christmas party. What the Ghost of Christmas Past does not explain is how Fezziwig afforded it. Did he attempt to pass the added costs to his customers? Or did young Scrooge pay for it anyway by working for marginally lower wages?
The biggest of the Big Lies about Scrooge is the pointlessness of his pursuit of money. "Wealth is of no use to him. He doesn't do any good with it," opines ruddy nephew Fred.
Wrong on both counts. Scrooge apparently lends money, and to discover the good he does one need only inquire of the borrowers. Here is a homeowner with a new roof, and there a merchant able to finance a shipment of tea, bringing profit to himself and happiness to tea drinkers, all thanks to Scrooge.
Dickens doesn't mention Scrooge's satisfied customers, but there must have been plenty of them for Scrooge to have gotten so rich.
Scrooge is said to hound debtors so relentlessly that—as the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Be is able to show him—an indebted couple rejoices at his demise. The mere delay while their debt is transferred will avert the ruin Scrooge would have imposed.
This canard is triply absurd. First, a businessman as keen as Scrooge would prefer to delay payment to protect his investment rather than take possession of possibly useless collateral. (No bank wants developers to fail and leave it the proud possessor of a half-built shopping mall.) Second, the fretful couple knew and agreed to the terms on which Scrooge insisted. By reneging on the deal, they are effectively engaged in theft. Third, most important, and completely overlooked by Ghost and by Dickens, there are hopefuls whose own plans turn on borrowing the money returned to Scrooge from his old accounts. Scrooge can't relend what Caroline and her unnamed husband don't pay up, and he won't make a penny unless he puts the money to use after he gets it back.
The hard case, of course, is a payment due from Bob Cratchit, who needs the money for an emergency operation on Tiny Tim. (Here I depart from the text, but Dickens characters are so familiar to us they can be pressed into unfamiliar roles.) If you think it is heartless of Scrooge to demand payment, think of Sickly Sid, who needs an operation even more urgently than Tim does, and whose father is waiting to finance that operation by borrowing the money Cratchit is expected to pay up.
Is Tim's life more valuable than Sid's just because we've met him? And how do we explain to Sid's father that his son won't be able to have the operation after all, because Scrooge, as Christmas generosity, is allowing Cratchit to reschedule his debt? Scrooge does not circulate money from altruism, to be sure, but his motives, whatever they are, are congruent with the public good.
But what about those motives? Scrooge doesn't seem to get much satisfaction from the services he may inadvertently perform, and that seems to be part of Dickens's point. But who, apart from Dickens, says that Scrooge is not enjoying himself? He spends all his time at his business, likes to count his money, and has no outside interests.
At the same time, Scrooge is not given to brooding and shows absolutely no sign of depression or conflict. Whether he wished to or not, Dickens has made Scrooge by far the most intelligent character in his fable, and Dickens credits his creation with having nothing "fancy" about him. So we conclude that, in his undemonstrative way, Scrooge is productive and satisfied with his lot, which is to say happy.
There can be no arguing with Dickens's wish to show the spiritual advantages of love. But there was no need to make the object of his lesson an entrepreneur whose ideas and practices benefit his employees, society at large, and himself. Must such a man expect no fairer a fate than to die scorned and alone? Bah, I say. Humbug.
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And it looks like my hopes are fading:
Not so fast, Newt Gingrich. A new Rasmussen poll shows the former House speaker sinking below Mitt Romney in the firm’s latest survey of likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa.
Mr. Gingrich is now at 20 percent, down from 32 percent a month ago, reports pollster Scott Rasmussen. Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is at 23 percent, and Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas is at 18 percent. With a four-point margin of error, the poll points to a bunch-up that could spell potential victory for any of those three candidates.
Those three, plus Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah meet in Iowa Thursday night (9 p.m. EST) for their final debate before the state’s GOP caucuses on Jan. 3.
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I'm not saying the network on the whole was onboard
Really? Did you miss Kormod's graph post above.
Or is that some joker as well?
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I feel like a total idiot, but I can't figure out whats wrong with that Fox News unemployment graph. As soon as somebody points it out to me, I now it will immediately appear obvious. ???
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Look at the numbers. Then look at the line. Why does the line say unemployment is up at the end of the period when the numbers say something else?
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Duh! Thanks, I had a senior moment at 17 years old. ::) One of these days, Fox News will have to fade away, because all of their viewers are 70 years old, and will be going on to their great reward.
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all of their viewers are 70 years old, and will be going on to their great reward.
I bet it ain't going to be so great.
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Duh! Thanks, I had a senior moment at 17 years old. ::) One of these days, Fox News will have to fade away, because all of their viewers are 70 years old, and will be going on to their great reward.
But the machines will still be left to inherit the earth.
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Duh! Thanks, I had a senior moment at 17 years old. ::) One of these days, Fox News will have to fade away, because all of their viewers are 70 years old, and will be going on to their great reward.
The Silent Generation cranks will simply be replaced with Baby Boomer cranks. It's a never-ending cycle; much of Generation Y, who, according to polls, are generally liberal, will probably be watching The Steven Crowder Factor once they become septuagenarians.
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SOPA is absolutely nightmarish and I hope you all have contacted your congressperson and asked them to vote no if it comes to a floor vote.
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SOPA is absolutely nightmarish and I hope you all have contacted your congressperson and asked them to vote no if it comes to a floor vote.
We are moving into a post-legal society.
Stop Oppressing People Assholes.
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Donald robbed me at Trump Plaza last night in AC.
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Ugh, really?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/dec/20/lie-year-democrats-claims-republicans-voted-end-me/ (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/dec/20/lie-year-democrats-claims-republicans-voted-end-me/)
Lie of the Year 2011: 'Republicans voted to end Medicare'
With a few small tweaks to their attack lines, Democrats could have been factually correct, said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "I actually think there is no need to cut out the qualifiers and exaggerate," he said.
At times, Democrats and liberal groups were careful to characterize the Republican plan more accurately. Another claim in the ad from the Agenda Project said the plan would "privatize" Medicare, which received a Mostly True rating from PolitiFact. President Barack Obama was also more precise with his words, saying the Medicare proposal "would voucherize the program and you potentially have senior citizens paying $6,000 more."
But more often, Democrats and liberals overreached:
• They ignored the fact that the Ryan plan would not affect people currently in Medicare -- or even the people 55 to 65 who would join the program in the next 10 years.
• They used harsh terms such as "end" and "kill" when the program would still exist, although in a privatized system.
• They used pictures and video of elderly people who clearly were too old to be affected by the Ryan plan. The DCCC video that aired four days after the vote featured an elderly man who had to take a job as a stripper to pay his medical bills.
"Both parties use entitlements as political weapons," Ryan said in an interview with PolitiFact. "Republicans do it to Democrats; Democrats do it to Republicans. So I knew that this would be a political weapon that the other side would use against us."
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• They used harsh terms such as "end" and "kill" when the program would still exist, although in a privatized system.
That's ending it in everything but name?
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Motherfuckers. Politifact is dead to me.
They came up with the "Lie of the Year" by choosing ten of the stories they'd published in 2011 and then opening it up to a vote. Obviously all the right-wing blogs herded their readers over there to vote for this one. Didn't they kind of abdicate their responsibility to judge which of the "lies" they'd exposed was most egregious?
While the voting was going on, you could vote for "other" and write in your own choice. I wrote in "'Democrats' claim that Republicans voted to end Medicare is a lie'--Politifact." Obviously I didn't carry the day.
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Jesus, it gets worse.
It wasn't only right-wing bloggers who urged on their minions--Paul Ryan himself e-mailed his PAC to stuff the ballot box: http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/07/paul_ryan_wants_you_to_goose_the_lie_of_the_year_vote.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/07/paul_ryan_wants_you_to_goose_the_lie_of_the_year_vote.html)
But check this out: According to Politifact's own poll results, two "lies" outpolled "Republicans voted to end Medicare." "The economic stimulus created 'zero jobs'" by eight percentage points. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/dec/20/lie-year-2011-readers-poll-results/ (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/dec/20/lie-year-2011-readers-poll-results/)
So Politifact didn't shirk their responsibility after all. Even though "Republicans voted to end Medicare" only landed third place in the reader's poll, they exercised their own independent judgment and made it "Lie of the Year." After all, it was so much more mendacious than, say, "Abortion services are 'well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does.'"
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Newt or Supervillain? I would say this quiz is surprisingly difficult (I got 40% right), except that I guess it isn't really that surprising.
http://supervillainornewt.com/ (http://supervillainornewt.com/)
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http://www.newtgingrich.com (http://www.newtgingrich.com)
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American Story (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEKAsMdIiZA#ws)
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Oh, this is too good:
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/12/gay_marriage_amy_koch_michael_brodkorb.php (http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/12/gay_marriage_amy_koch_michael_brodkorb.php)
The gay and lesbian community of Minnesota has issued a letter of apology to recently resigned Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch for ruining the institution of marriage and causing her to stray from her husband and engage in an "inappropriate relationship."
"On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community's successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage," reads the letter from John Medeiros. "We apologize that our selfish requests to marry those we love has cheapened and degraded traditional marriage so much that we caused you to stray from your own holy union for something more cheap and tawdry."
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Maybe the (now second-)funniest thing about that scandal was the Star Tribune creating this headline juxtaposition (http://practicalobscurity.tumblr.com/post/14424263441).
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Just when you thought they couldn't get any lower:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201112220024 (http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201112220024)
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Further proof that Ron Paul is insane:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/23/_the_ron_paul_survival_kit_comes_in_an_official_world_war_ii_u_s_army_ammo_holder_.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/23/_the_ron_paul_survival_kit_comes_in_an_official_world_war_ii_u_s_army_ammo_holder_.html)
(http://i.imgur.com/xixzo.jpg)
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... for people who can't multiply and then add.
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Eat it, haters:
Newt Gingrich: A Merry Christmas Video from NewtHampshire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLl7SiGOGAg&feature=player_detailpage#ws)
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More from the Ron Paul blooper reel:
http://www.mrdestructo.com/2011/12/game-over-scans-of-over-50-ron-paul.html (http://www.mrdestructo.com/2011/12/game-over-scans-of-over-50-ron-paul.html)
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That video must be part of the campaign's decision to start playing up Newt's "fun side": http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/gingrich-to-campaign-with-pets-and-music/ (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/gingrich-to-campaign-with-pets-and-music/)
I love how their idea of showing his "fun side" includes "involving Callista more in the campaign." She looks like a fun gal!
(http://callistagingrichpeckedoutmyeyes.com/callista.gif)
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Final prediction time for the Iowa caucuses, folks. I've given this a lot of thought, and I really think you're all going to be surprised when the Cain Train pulls into the station.
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Final prediction time for the Iowa caucuses, folks. I've given this a lot of thought, and I really think you're all going to be surprised when the Cain Train pulls into the station.
I think Lyndon LaRouche is going pull this one out, personally.
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Keep an eye on Perot.
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Silvio Berlusconi. You heard it here first.
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I think there's a Santorum Surprise a-brewing. Ron Paul better put on his raincoat.
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I think there's a Santorum Surprise a-brewing. Ron Paul better put on his raincoat.
Right this second I'm listening to a John Birch Society report on the U.N.. Ron Paul is featured!
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I think there's a Santorum Surprise a-brewing. Ron Paul better put on his raincoat.
Given his fairly unpalatable "Google problem," I don't like the idea of a "Santorum Surprise" one little bit.
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Does Rachel Maddow deserve your ire? Seems she's more interested in defending Paul from Fox News than she is in trashing him for the newsletters:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/rachel-maddow-ron-paul-fox-news_n_1172501.html?ref=media (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/rachel-maddow-ron-paul-fox-news_n_1172501.html?ref=media)
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Does Rachel Maddow deserve your ire? Seems she's more interested in defending Paul from Fox News than she is in trashing him for the newsletters:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/rachel-maddow-ron-paul-fox-news_n_1172501.html?ref=media (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/rachel-maddow-ron-paul-fox-news_n_1172501.html?ref=media)
I think Ms. R. Maddow is most interested in tweaking the GOP Powers that Be, and defending Ron Paul is a good effort in that direction.
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He doesn't want to drown him in a bath tub, but Mitt Romney said Wednesday that if he's elected president, Big Bird will have to sing for his seed.
"We're not going to kill Big Bird, but Big Bird is going to have advertisements," Romney said, while speaking at Homer's Deli in Clinton, Iowa.
Like virtually every other conservative candidate, Romney has had it -- had it! -- with government expenditures like public broadcasting, and he wants to save taxpayers money by cutting federal funding to programs like PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
On the campaign trail Wednesday in Iowa, Romney declared that if he is elected president, PBS and the NEA will lose federal funding.
Instead, the man from the private sector will turn to -- where else? -- the private sector to support them.
So what's Romney's test for which programs warrant federal support.
"Is a program so critical that it's worth borrowing from China to pay for it?"
Can someone just sock this guy in the face?
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The most depressing thing is that we're now beyond the point where something useful can actually happen.
Romney knows that cutting PBS and the NEA will have exactly no effect on the deficit, much less the debt, but he can't talk about what actually needs to be done because people want their easy ideas and don't want to suffer even the slightest privation. And that's if you completely accept the idea that what the US must do RIGHT NOW is balance the budget.
The president is also hemmed in. He knows that the health care plan is a pretty terrible way to go, worse than either a one-payer system or a strongly private system, but it's the only thing he could get through (and it's better than what's in place now).
American politics is crippled. The next president (or a second-term Obama) will be more popular because the economy will probably be somewhat better, but he (sorry Michele) won't be able to do much to change anything real. If you get Romney you're going to get a bunch of new and stupid rules about abortion and illegal immigration that don't actually do anything. Have fun with that, Tea Party.
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The most depressing thing is that we're now beyond the point where something useful can actually happen.
Romney knows that cutting PBS and the NEA will have exactly no effect on the deficit, much less the debt, but he can't talk about what actually needs to be done because people want their easy ideas and don't want to suffer even the slightest privation. And that's if you completely accept the idea that what the US must do RIGHT NOW is balance the budget.
The president is also hemmed in. He knows that the health care plan is a pretty terrible way to go, worse than either a one-payer system or a strongly private system, but it's the only thing he could get through (and it's better than what's in place now).
American politics is crippled. The next president (or a second-term Obama) will be more popular because the economy will probably be somewhat better, but he (sorry Michele) won't be able to do much to change anything real. If you get Romney you're going to get a bunch of new and stupid rules about abortion and illegal immigration that don't actually do anything. Have fun with that, Tea Party.
Bingo.
Romney will say and do anything to get elected. He's an absolute phony who is concerned only about his own political self-preservation. He won't dare broach that so-called "third rail" of American politics (the trinity of entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security), at least not while he's in campaign mode.
And like you, I continue to be amused by those individuals that believe by cutting funding to PBS, ending foreign aid and eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse" all of our debt problems will somehow magically disappear. Those things are only a drop in the proverbial bucket; they're only a nominal (and that's being generous) part of the federal budget. If we want to make a significant dent in current and future federal spending outlays, then there has to be some type of meaningful reform of these government entitlement programs, Medicare in particular. Putting your hands over your ears and screaming "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!" isn't going to solve anything. Some of these Tea Partiers don't seem to understand that. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
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The most depressing thing is that we're now beyond the point where something useful can actually happen.
Romney knows that cutting PBS and the NEA will have exactly no effect on the deficit, much less the debt, but he can't talk about what actually needs to be done because people want their easy ideas and don't want to suffer even the slightest privation. And that's if you completely accept the idea that what the US must do RIGHT NOW is balance the budget.
The president is also hemmed in. He knows that the health care plan is a pretty terrible way to go, worse than either a one-payer system or a strongly private system, but it's the only thing he could get through (and it's better than what's in place now).
American politics is crippled. The next president (or a second-term Obama) will be more popular because the economy will probably be somewhat better, but he (sorry Michele) won't be able to do much to change anything real. If you get Romney you're going to get a bunch of new and stupid rules about abortion and illegal immigration that don't actually do anything. Have fun with that, Tea Party.
Bingo.
Romney will say and do anything to get elected. He's an absolute phony who is concerned only about his own political self-preservation. He won't dare broach that so-called "third rail" of American politics (the trinity of entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security), at least not while he's in campaign mode.
And like you, I continue to be amused by those individuals that believe by cutting funding to PBS, ending foreign aid and eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse" all of our debt problems will somehow magically disappear. Those things are only a drop in the proverbial bucket; they're only a nominal (and that's being generous) part of the federal budget. If we want to make a significant dent in current and future federal spending outlays, then there has to be some type of meaningful reform of these government entitlement programs, Medicare in particular. Putting your hands over your ears and screaming "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!" isn't going to solve anything. Some of these Tea Partiers don't seem to understand that. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
I guess war/defense doesn't cost much. Seven hundred over-seas bases seem a tad much though.
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The most depressing thing is that we're now beyond the point where something useful can actually happen.
Romney knows that cutting PBS and the NEA will have exactly no effect on the deficit, much less the debt, but he can't talk about what actually needs to be done because people want their easy ideas and don't want to suffer even the slightest privation. And that's if you completely accept the idea that what the US must do RIGHT NOW is balance the budget.
The president is also hemmed in. He knows that the health care plan is a pretty terrible way to go, worse than either a one-payer system or a strongly private system, but it's the only thing he could get through (and it's better than what's in place now).
American politics is crippled. The next president (or a second-term Obama) will be more popular because the economy will probably be somewhat better, but he (sorry Michele) won't be able to do much to change anything real. If you get Romney you're going to get a bunch of new and stupid rules about abortion and illegal immigration that don't actually do anything. Have fun with that, Tea Party.
Bingo.
Romney will say and do anything to get elected. He's an absolute phony who is concerned only about his own political self-preservation. He won't dare broach that so-called "third rail" of American politics (the trinity of entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security), at least not while he's in campaign mode.
And like you, I continue to be amused by those individuals that believe by cutting funding to PBS, ending foreign aid and eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse" all of our debt problems will somehow magically disappear. Those things are only a drop in the proverbial bucket; they're only a nominal (and that's being generous) part of the federal budget. If we want to make a significant dent in current and future federal spending outlays, then there has to be some type of meaningful reform of these government entitlement programs, Medicare in particular. Putting your hands over your ears and screaming "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!" isn't going to solve anything. Some of these Tea Partiers don't seem to understand that. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
I guess war/defense doesn't cost much. Seven hundred over-seas bases seem a tad much though.
Absolutely, Fredericks.
America's current national defense structure isn't sustainable any longer. Defense spending HAS to be targeted.
Another government program that needs to be reformed, or eliminated outright, is the utterly insane War on Drugs. If anything epitomizes government waste, that's it.
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Re: Medicare reform, Romney supports the Ryan Plan. I don't even want to go into how horrible that thing is.
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Re: Medicare reform, Romney supports the Ryan Plan. I don't even want to go into how horrible that thing is.
It's so bad that even Ryan doesn't support it.
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Can I just throw in here that after having so often seen the band Fucked Up euphemized as "F'ed Up" on this board, I now see references to the title of Rick Perry's book "Fed Up" and think for a moment that it's real title is "Fucked Up"?
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Maybe he could write a sequel to that book, using the same cover but adding in the apostrophe. If what he's been doing for the past four months isn't f'ing up, I don't know what is.
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This is what his campaign has come to:
Game Show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XApvbISkJeE#ws)
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I think there's a Santorum Surprise a-brewing. Ron Paul better put on his raincoat.
As is usual in this primary, the joke is becoming a reality:
But the four-day results don't reflect just how quickly momentum is shifting in a race that has remained highly fluid for months. If the final two days of polling are considered separately, Santorum rises to second place, with 21%, pushing Paul to third, at 18%. Romney remains the same, at 24%.
"Momentum's name is Rick Santorum," said the Register's pollster, J. Ann Selzer.
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Serious prediction: Bachmann, Huntsman and Perry drop out after South Carolina, if not New Hampshire. Who does that leave? Paul, Romney, Gingrich, Santorum? Am I missing anyone?
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I think that's everyone.
I just want these idiots to coalesce around Newt again, as he's the only not-Romney "likable" enough to get the nomination. Wiener dogs like Santorum are an obnoxious distraction and do nothing but split the kook vote.
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Serious prediction: Bachmann, Huntsman and Perry drop out after South Carolina, if not New Hampshire. Who does that leave? Paul, Romney, Gingrich, Santorum? Am I missing anyone?
I think Perry will stick around for a while longer. His war chest is large enough to sustain his campaign for a few more months. Might as well milk it.
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What do you guys think of this video?
Do Black Americans Believe Ron Paul Is Racist? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej5_rZof7MA#ws)
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It makes me think that Bernie Sanders needs to step up his game and start running for president every four years so people who want to vote for an honest politician can throw their support behind one that isn't completely crazy.
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I'm not going to give eleven minutes of my time to watching it, but I wonder whether the phrase "1964 Civil Rights Act" is mentioned even once.
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I think they would acknowledge his position on it and tell you the good outweighs the bad. Imagine seeing Paul and Obama debate foreign policy? The Nobel Peace Prize recipient has a lot to answer for, and no other Republican is in a position to challenge him.
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I think they would acknowledge his position on it and tell you the good outweighs the bad. Imagine seeing Paul and Obama debate foreign policy?
You think they would? You didn't watch it either, I guess.
That's a debate I wouldn't want to have happen (no worries, it won't), because all too many people I normally would consider allies would be with Paul all the way on that particular set of issues. Shoot, I probably would be mostly too. But I don't people distracted from the fact that the man is the walking avatar of a disastrous idea of government.
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I read Paul's book on tape (that's right) a couple of years ago. I knew less then than I do now about economics, I currently know very little about economics, and I still could recognise that dude crazy. So he's not getting the much sought after Barry In Ireland endorsement.
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I think they would acknowledge his position on it and tell you the good outweighs the bad. Imagine seeing Paul and Obama debate foreign policy?
That's a debate I wouldn't want to have happen (no worries, it won't)
There very well could be a Romney-Obama-Paul debate if Paul runs as an independent. Hilariously, a Romney-Obama-Trump debate isn't out of the question either.
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(http://www.sl-webs.com/custimages/dd395-express-site.jpg)
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(http://www.sl-webs.com/custimages/dd395-express-site.jpg)
What the...?
I can see why many people are creeped out by the Paulbots/Paulistas/Paulistinians. I don't ever recall a political candidate inspiring this kind of fervent cult following. This is the end result.
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Generally, I am glad that this thread isn't overrun with links to blog posts--people who want those have plenty of other places to go--but this, by Ta-Nehesi Coates, really deserves to be the last word on Ron Paul and race, and for that matter on Ron Paul, period: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/the-messenger/250685/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/the-messenger/250685/)
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What the...?
I can see why many people are creeped out by the Paulbots/Paulistas/Paulistinians. I don't ever recall a political candidate inspiring this kind of fervent cult following. This is the end. result.
Fixed.
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Generally, I am glad that this thread isn't overrun with links to blog posts--people who want those have plenty of other places to go--but this, by Ta-Nehesi Coates, really deserves to be the last word on Ron Paul and race, and for that matter on Ron Paul, period: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/the-messenger/250685/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/the-messenger/250685/)
This is a great find. The most salient point is the last one, in my opinion: Ron Paul wants to end all these things, presumably immediately, and certainly within 4 years. Do his backers really think this is realistic? What would happen if the Fed, or the TSA, or the War on Drugs disappeared tomorrow?
To one extent or another, I wouldn't miss any of those things. But the ratchet effect is real, damn it, and pretending it's not is stupid. Regardless of whether you supported (or support) the welfare reform of the 90s, that's the damn way you back government off things, and that's something the Paulistas have no interest in. That and, um, reality.
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Come on, evangelicals, fundamentals, fox news-ites, tea partiers, the blonde weirdo from
Snl voting for an anti-war candidate? It's too rich to pass up!
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The Perry Train is pulling into South Carolina!
Question:
Why?
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The Perry Train is pulling into South Carolina!
Question:
Why?
One of two reasons (or both), I think:
1) Perry realizes that Santorum almost winning Iowa means that, in this race, shit just doesn't make sense and that there's still a possibility he could win a state or two (which would help people forget the embarrassing debate performances and commercials, thus restoring some dignity to the Perry brand). As someone said earlier in this thread, he has the money to continue campaigning, so why not?
2) Perry's being paid off by Romney and co. to split the Tea Party vote.
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How long has Piers Morgan lived here? On CNN he assumed the role of a veteran caucus junkie.
I plan to watch more FNC next primary, the cosmetics model and ponderous goofball are oddly endearing.
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How long has Piers Morgan lived here?
3 months max. Dude needs to be deported.
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The Perry Train is pulling into South Carolina!
Question:
Why?
One of two reasons (or both), I think:
1) Perry realizes that Santorum almost winning Iowa means that, in this race, shit just doesn't make sense and that there's still a possibility he could win a state or two (which would help people forget the embarrassing debate performances and commercials, thus restoring some dignity to the Perry brand). As someone said earlier in this thread, he has the money to continue campaigning, so why not?
2) Perry's being paid off by Romney and co. to split the Tea Party vote.
If you've followed his campaign over the last few weeks, you'll notice that Perry has started to emphasize issues like school prayer, gay marriage, abortion, etc. I think this is a pretty deliberate effort on his part to appeal to voters in the Bible Belt. He believes that his schtick might be more effective in the deep South, so he's gonna take one last shot at it. It's pretty clear, however, that South Carolina is Perry's last stand. If he doesn't finish in the top 3 there, then he might as well pack it up and go back to Austin.
Ultimately, this was a wasted opportunity for Perry. I don't think people really understand how strong the anti-Romney sentiment is within many corners of the conservative movement. Perry could have been the anti-Mitt Romney. He fit the profile to a tee, in fact. But those lackluster (and that's being kind) debate performances really destroyed his campaign.
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How long has Piers Morgan lived here?
3 months max. Dude needs to be deported.
You guys read on Huffington about his Twitter war with Keith Olbermann? Keith seems like he's imploding, to be honest.
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I think the entrance polls from yesterday show that Santorum is going to be Huckabee 2.0 where all he can really do is bring in the evangelical voters and that's not going to be enough.... thankfully. Romney is going to run away with it unless Paul can gain a little more momentum outside of the 35 and under voters but I don't think that can happen. The best thing that could happen for Obama is for more close races like yesterday to create confusion, but don't you get that feeling that Romney is going to be the presumed candidate sooner rather than later? I'm desperately hoping for a couple independent candidates to gain some steam on both sides of the fence.
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I think Romney's going to win, pretty easily when it's all over. My own hope is that some combination of people stay in the race long enough that the story ends up being "Romney is the nominee, but 60% of Republicans don't like him."
Many people in the more evangelical-dominated regions of the country will have a brutal time walking in and voting for someone who they believe is going to hell. They also believe Obama is going to hell, but they think he's going because he's secretly not what they call a Christian. Romney is openly, proudly what they call not a Christian. Some of them will be able to live with that hypocrisy, some won't.
The election will be close because Obama is genuinely unpopular with a lot of people and the people who won it for him are not enthusiastic. I think he's been a disappointing president. But I also think he can successfully make the argument that he's likely to be the only thing standing between our governing system and the complete and utter violence that the people who control the GOP want to unleash upon it. And I say that as a very disaffected centrist Democrat.
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I think Romney's going to win, pretty easily when it's all over. My own hope is that some combination of people stay in the race long enough that the story ends up being "Romney is the nominee, but 60% of Republicans don't like him."
Many people in the more evangelical-dominated regions of the country will have a brutal time walking in and voting for someone who they believe is going to hell. They also believe Obama is going to hell, but they think he's going because he's secretly not what they call a Christian. Romney is openly, proudly what they call not a Christian. Some of them will be able to live with that hypocrisy, some won't.
The election will be close because Obama is genuinely unpopular with a lot of people and the people who won it for him are not enthusiastic. I think he's been a disappointing president. But I also think he can successfully make the argument that he's likely to be the only thing standing between our governing system and the complete and utter violence that the people who control the GOP want to unleash upon it. And I say that as a very disaffected centrist Democrat.
You're spot on with that final paragraph. I've been profoundly disappointed by Obama for any number of reasons. But I'm going to have to likely hold my nose and vote for the guy again in November, simply because the alternative is so much worse.
I think your point about the schism between Romney and the religious right is valid. However, at the end of the day, I think conservatives, by and large, will fall in line behind whomever the GOP candidate is, even if it's Romney. While they may loathe Mitt's religious beliefs, and many of his liberal policy inclinations, they hate Obama even more. Moreover, if Romney gets a "true conservative" as his running mate-say someone like Marco Rubio or Paul Ryan-the anti-Romney people may have a much easier time voting for him.
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I visited the Mormon headquarters in September. It was pretty creepy.
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I think some of the conservatives will stay home rather than vote for a Mormon. You're right about the VP pick. Paul Ryan has almost no charisma and will come across as a pencil neck (though a Ryan-Biden debate will be ugly one way or another).
The candidate who brings the most fear is Marco Rubio, who is very charismatic to the type of person who wants to pretend they don't hate Mexicans by voting for a Cuban.
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Marco Rubio on Social Security and Medicare:
These programs actually weakened us as a people. You see, almost forever, it was institutions in society that assumed the role of taking care of one another. If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them. If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them. You saved for your retirement and your future because you had to. We took these things upon ourselves in our communities, our families, and our homes, and our churches and our synagogues. But all that changed when the government began to assume those responsibilities. All of a sudden, for an increasing number of people in our nation, it was no longer necessary to worry about saving for security because that was the government’s job.
Sounds good, Romney. Pick him as your running mate.
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Marco Rubio on Social Security and Medicare:
These programs actually weakened us as a people. You see, almost forever, it was institutions in society that assumed the role of taking care of one another. If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them. If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them. You saved for your retirement and your future because you had to. We took these things upon ourselves in our communities, our families, and our homes, and our churches and our synagogues. But all that changed when the government began to assume those responsibilities. All of a sudden, for an increasing number of people in our nation, it was no longer necessary to worry about saving for security because that was the government’s job.
Sounds good, Romney. Pick him as your running mate.
We've seen repeatedly that I'm the most "fiscally conservative" poster in this thread, but my answer to Rubio would be: "Yes. And people also used to starve to death in the United States. Are you comfortable with that, too?"
Remember that the people who advocate for the destruction - not reform but obliteration - of the social safety net are looking back fondly on the early days of the Great Depression and saying, "good times, good times."
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We've seen repeatedly that I'm the most "fiscally conservative" poster in this thread,
Really?
Oh, you said thread.
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Who else on the board, Frdrrrrrrxxxxxx?
There was that Utah guy who was actually a conservative, albeit a friendly one. Everybody else has seemed very to very very left of the average Iowa voter. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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Who else on the board, Frdrrrrrrxxxxxx?
Me.
I'm with Ron Paul regarding foreign wars and the drug war.
Negotiating drug prices could save the government huge amounts of money.
Are you politically aligned with the average Iowa voter?
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There was that Utah guy who was actually a conservative, albeit a friendly one.
Orrin Hatch is an FOT?
(And with that I've just crossed the 2000 post threshold. Figures that said post would be an unfunny joke)
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Who else on the board, Frdrrrrrrxxxxxx?
Me.
I'm with Ron Paul regarding foreign wars and the drug war.
Negotiating drug prices could save the government huge amounts of money.
Are you politically aligned with the average Iowa voter?
Freddy, those first two are more libertarian positions than fiscal conservative ones. The third one is a fiscal liberal position and more socialist than capitalist (I'm not being judgmental about either of those words).
Fiscal conservatives, as people seem to talk about, are in favor of lower tax rates, lower or no capital gains tax rates, getting rid of the inheritance tax, seriously reducing the government's budget, reducing the size of the welfare state, so on and so forth. It has also been expanded to include drilling for oil everywhere and by every means possible, deregulating and trusting companies to do what's right, allowing interlocking boards of directors, so on and so forth. The concept of corporations as people is a new-style fiscally conservative idea.
I'm to the left of the average North Carolina voter, but probably to the right of the average New York voter. God knows what the average Florida voter is.
I haven't moved my political positions much in the past few years; however, the people who think of themselves as the True Warriors of Fiscal Conservatism have moved that bar so far to the right that I can't legitimately identify myself that way anymore.
I'm for a realistic recalibration of entitlement programs designed to make them last (things like raising the retirement age, means testing, cutting some benefits). That doesn't cut it anymore: to be what the GOP calls fiscal conservative, you have to support privatization of Social Security, for example. I can't get on board with that at all.
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Who else on the board, Frdrrrrrrxxxxxx?
Me.
I'm with Ron Paul regarding foreign wars and the drug war.
Negotiating drug prices could save the government huge amounts of money.
Are you politically aligned with the average Iowa voter?
Freddy, those first two are more libertarian positions than fiscal conservative ones. The third one is a fiscal liberal position and more socialist than capitalist (I'm not being judgmental about either of those words).
Fiscal conservatives, as people seem to talk about, are in favor of lower tax rates, lower or no capital gains tax rates, getting rid of the inheritance tax, seriously reducing the government's budget, reducing the size of the welfare state, so on and so forth. It has also been expanded to include drilling for oil everywhere and by every means possible, deregulating and trusting companies to do what's right, allowing interlocking boards of directors, so on and so forth. The concept of corporations as people is a new-style fiscally conservative idea.
I'm to the left of the average North Carolina voter, but probably to the right of the average New York voter. God knows what the average Florida voter is.
I haven't moved my political positions much in the past few years; however, the people who think of themselves as the True Warriors of Fiscal Conservatism have moved that bar so far to the right that I can't legitimately identify myself that way anymore.
I'm for a realistic recalibration of entitlement programs designed to make them last (things like raising the retirement age, means testing, cutting some benefits). That doesn't cut it anymore: to be what the GOP calls fiscal conservative, you have to support privatization of Social Security, for example. I can't get on board with that at all.
Semantics, Buff.
The GOP is a sham. A sham with a great deal of money available for advertising.
True Conservatives believe in conservation.
Conserve energy, water, money, individual liberty and community.
I'm with you on means testing for entitlements (I don't like that word).
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Sorry to barge in on an actually substantive exchange, but: 25 People Who Just Googled "Santorum" for the First Time.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-first-time (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-first-time)
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Sorry to barge in on an actually substantive exchange, but: 25 People Who Just Googled "Santorum" for the First Time.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-first-time (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-first-time)
Page Not Found
Sorry, we couldn’t find the page you requested.
Try searching for what you want:
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Sorry to barge in on an actually substantive exchange, but: 25 People Who Just Googled "Santorum" for the First Time.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-first-time (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-first-time)
Page Not Found
Sorry, we couldn’t find the page you requested.
Try searching for what you want:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-firs (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-firs)
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I remember when all that happened. Couldn't be for a nicer guy.
Do you think even the Republicans want to elect someone who wants to outlaw birth control? How can they be for "states' rights" or "smaller government" and still want to elect a Bush-type, super-hawk, "compassionate conservative" who is almost entirely focused on social issues?
This is the weirdest campaign ever, seriously, even counting the ones in the mid-1800s when nobody wanted to be president.
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http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-firs (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattcherette/25-people-who-just-googled-santorum-for-the-firs)
Yeesh.
I had the same reaction after I googled Santorum for the first time. In a way, I almost feel bad for Rick Santorum because I know I wouldn't want my name associated with that "stuff."
I honestly couldn't care less about what gays do behind closed doors. As long as it's not hurting anyone, then by all means, go ahead and do it. What consenting adults do is none of my business.
The same goes for the other so-called "hot button" social issues. They're just not all that important to me.
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(http://static01.mediaite.com/med/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dave-tweet-santorum.jpg)
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(http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/mccainmitt8.jpg)
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Yeah, McCain hates Romney. In Game Change, a tell-all book (soon to be a made-for-tv movie!) about the 2008 presidential race, there's a classic scene where McCain and some other dudes running for the nomination were talking shit about Romney in the men's room at one of the debates, and then Romney walked in (and presumably went up to the urinal that was between the ones Fred Thompson and Ron Paul were at) and an awkward silence ensued.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2012/0109/Chris-Christie-wows-New-Hampshire-crowd.-Romney-Christie-ticket-anyone-video (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2012/0109/Chris-Christie-wows-New-Hampshire-crowd.-Romney-Christie-ticket-anyone-video)
Any New Hampshire voters pining away for a more charismatic contender in their Republican primary may have had a few pangs Sunday night if they were in Exeter.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who resisted repeated entreaties to jump into the 2012 presidential race, joined New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney on stage at Exeter High School – and was soon competing for attention with hecklers shouting “Mitt kills jobs.”
Without missing a beat, Governor Christie defanged the protesters, Jersey style.
When the hecklers switched from “Mitt kills jobs” to “Christie kills jobs,” the larger-than-life governor stopped in his tracks. “Really?” The packed gymnasium erupted in laughter. “You know, something may go down tonight but it ain’t gonna be jobs, sweetheart,” Governor Christie shot back. The crowd roared.
Christie 1, Hecklers 0.
Christie's gonna getcha. Not sure whether he's implying rape or murder here.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2012/0109/Chris-Christie-wows-New-Hampshire-crowd.-Romney-Christie-ticket-anyone-video (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2012/0109/Chris-Christie-wows-New-Hampshire-crowd.-Romney-Christie-ticket-anyone-video)
Any New Hampshire voters pining away for a more charismatic contender in their Republican primary may have had a few pangs Sunday night if they were in Exeter.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who resisted repeated entreaties to jump into the 2012 presidential race, joined New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney on stage at Exeter High School – and was soon competing for attention with hecklers shouting “Mitt kills jobs.”
Without missing a beat, Governor Christie defanged the protesters, Jersey style.
When the hecklers switched from “Mitt kills jobs” to “Christie kills jobs,” the larger-than-life governor stopped in his tracks. “Really?” The packed gymnasium erupted in laughter. “You know, something may go down tonight but it ain’t gonna be jobs, sweetheart,” Governor Christie shot back. The crowd roared.
Christie 1, Hecklers 0.
Christie's gonna getcha. Not sure whether he's implying rape or murder here.
Where is @BabsGrey when you need her?
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I'm sure that reporter didn't mean anything snarky with "larger-than-life." Anyway, the New Jersey legislature is all set to introduce a same-sex marriage bill, so the Buffet Wrecker will have the chance shortly either to stand athwart history or disqualify himself as Veep. Has he ever expressed himself on the issue?
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More weddings in New Jersey could contribute to an increase of his cake intake.
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Gary Johnson 2012
I wish he could gain some traction nationally. I love his views on foreign policy, war on drugs, and civil liberties. The guy was a very popular two term governor, why is nobody paying attention to him? I would be open minded to voting for him.
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James! Your sister is posting under your name again!
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More weddings in New Jersey could contribute to an increase of his cake intake.
Christie's love of cake notwithstanding:
"I am not a fan of same-sex marriage," said Christie last year. "That's my view and that'll be the view of our state, because I wouldn't sign a bill like the one that was in New York."
Even if he had been "a fan of same-sex marriage," I'm sure he'd have changed his position to appease the GOP, given the VP and 2016 speculation.
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Gary Johnson 2012
I wish he could gain some traction nationally. I love his views on foreign policy, war on drugs, and civil liberties. The guy was a very popular two term governor, why is nobody paying attention to him? I would be open minded to voting for him.
No one's paying attention to him because he's boring and more or less has the same beliefs as Ron Paul. He's also an idiot for running for president instead of running for the open Senate seat in New Mexico, which he could easily win.
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I love that fox news is now defending pissing on dead bodies:
http://mediamatters.org/iphone/mmtv/201201160001 (http://mediamatters.org/iphone/mmtv/201201160001)
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This whole thing will have been almost worth it to see the satisfying end to Rick Perry's aspirations.
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I enjoy the thought of Newt's butthurt too, though I'm sorry he neither will be the candidate nor went bankrupt running.
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I love that fox news is now defending pissing on dead bodies:
http://mediamatters.org/iphone/mmtv/201201160001 (http://mediamatters.org/iphone/mmtv/201201160001)
Don't follow links back to Brad Stine's ("God's Comic") website because it will lead you this giant publicity photo (http://www.bradstine.com/_images/_about/_publicity/BradStine_BWClose.jpg).
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From Frank Conniff last night 'GOP says no to Golden Rule, yes to Golden Showers'
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You may have been asking yourselves, "Where can I find some G-rated Rick Perry fan fiction?"
Well, no need to be afraid that it doesn’t exist. I have found it for you. "Srsly," as the kids used to say.
http://rickperryreport.com/article/2012-01-12/interview-president-rick-perry-2020-part-1 (http://rickperryreport.com/article/2012-01-12/interview-president-rick-perry-2020-part-1)
A 2% unemployment rate is impossible, you say? Economics doesn't work that way, you say? For God's sake Rick Perry is a complete moron, you say?
You probably also find it impossible that Perry's oopses and gaffes were in fact part of a brilliant strategy to win the campaign, too. Shame on you.
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Perry's apparent stupidity is just part of a long con that will result in him getting the entirety of a rich elderly widow's life savings.
Anyway, I'm hoping Gingrich wins on Saturday.
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You may have been asking yourselves, "Where can I find some G-rated Rick Perry fan fiction?"
Well, no need to be afraid that it doesn’t exist. I have found it for you. "Srsly," as the kids used to say.
http://rickperryreport.com/article/2012-01-12/interview-president-rick-perry-2020-part-1 (http://rickperryreport.com/article/2012-01-12/interview-president-rick-perry-2020-part-1)
A 2% unemployment rate is impossible, you say? Economics doesn't work that way, you say? For God's sake Rick Perry is a complete moron, you say?
You probably also find it impossible that Perry's oopses and gaffes were in fact part of a brilliant strategy to win the campaign, too. Shame on you.
That website is some kind of elaborate joke, right?
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After a long and painful battle with terminal illness, Irony finally expired today when Sarah Palin said this:
"I want more debates, more vetting of candidates, because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago with having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree that he should have been."
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We ended up electing a crony capitalist! Never again! Let's elect Mitt Romney!
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After a long and painful battle with terminal illness, Irony finally expired today when Sarah Palin said this:
"I want more debates, more vetting of candidates, because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago with having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree that he should have been."
I can't decide which is more ironic (real irony, imagine that): Sarah Palin believing someone hadn't been vetted enough, or believing that Barack Obama hadn't been vetted to the degree he should have been.
Seriously: what has come out about Obama SINCE the election? Jeremiah Wright was before. Saul Alinsky was before. The birth certificate was before. Hell, even that dude who claimed Obama gave him a blowjob was before.
You can make the argument that those things should have prevented people from voting for Obama, but you cannot make the argument that there was a bunch of stuff we have since found out about him that we didn't know - or "know" - before.
Everything that the right hates about Obama was either known before the election or has to do with how he has governed, which by definition could not have been known before the election.
Of course, I am applying logic, facts and reason here, which is a mistake.
PS That Rick Perry website is totally real, and I guarantee you that despite the attitude and... hopefulness displayed there it was not done by a child.
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logic, facts and reason
Useless.
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Isn't the point of her statement, though, to give her dopey fans a lie to promulgate when someone points out that she wasn't vetted before McCain picked her as his running mate? You know -- "Are you serious!??! If you want to talk about unvetted, look at Obozo!!!" It doesn't seem to matter that "Obama was unvetted!" doesn't really have any factual basis -- it's all about deflecting criticism of Sarah.
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When Jerry Springer Came to Fox News (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WNTdbfyURE#)
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Isn't the point of her statement, though, to give her dopey fans a lie to promulgate when someone points out that she wasn't vetted before McCain picked her as his running mate? You know -- "Are you serious!??! If you want to talk about unvetted, look at Obozo!!!" It doesn't seem to matter that "Obama was unvetted!" doesn't really have any factual basis -- it's all about deflecting criticism of Sarah.
I doubt it was that calculated. The dig at Obama was just her being the usual dick; the talking with a straight face about other candidates going unvetted was just her usual nonexistent self-awareness.
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I really thought Perry was going to triumph in the end.
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I doubt it was that calculated. The dig at Obama was just her being the usual dick; the talking with a straight face about other candidates going unvetted was just her usual nonexistent self-awareness.
My 2011 New Year's Resolution was to stop clicking links to stories about the Palins. I was mostly successful. It was among the better initiatives I've ever taken towards better mental health.
I could read about Rick Perry all day, though. Dude's hilarious.
(http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/B/D/4/rick-perry-gun-photo.jpg)
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Here's hoping Newt can masterfully spin the "open marriage" story and go on to win South Carolina. I'm skeptical though.
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1) Ah, that story is just another effort by the LIEberal media to bring down a conservative warrior; and
2) Looks like Perry is dropping out and will endorse Poot. (I have been dropping the ball with Spikenames of late.) This on top of Palin's endorsement yesterday. I think he's on a roll!
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Newt Gingrich, even if he wins the presidency, would be better than Romney. Romney will not propose much and will automatically sign whatever craziness comes out of the GOP Congress (I'm assuming that if Romney wins, the GOP would take the Senate).
President Gingrich would propose a lot that the GOP congresspeople would refuse to support, and he would have no problem using an ego-driven veto of GOP legislation for inexplicable and arcane reasons. I would predict an orderly conservative government under Romney and a free-for-all under Gingrich. Of those two choices, I prefer the free-for-all.
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From Frank Conniff last night 'GOP says no to Golden Rule, yes to Golden Showers'
Actually it was WFMUs Benjamen Walker making that crack. Have to give credit to the right guy.
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After a long and painful battle with terminal illness, Irony finally expired today when Sarah Palin said this:
"I want more debates, more vetting of candidates, because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago with having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree that he should have been."
I can't decide which is more ironic (real irony, imagine that): Sarah Palin believing someone hadn't been vetted enough, or believing that Barack Obama hadn't been vetted to the degree he should have been.
Seriously: what has come out about Obama SINCE the election? Jeremiah Wright was before. Saul Alinsky was before. The birth certificate was before. Hell, even that dude who claimed Obama gave him a blowjob was before.
You can make the argument that those things should have prevented people from voting for Obama, but you cannot make the argument that there was a bunch of stuff we have since found out about him that we didn't know - or "know" - before.
Everything that the right hates about Obama was either known before the election or has to do with how he has governed, which by definition could not have been known before the election.
Of course, I am applying logic, facts and reason here, which is a mistake.
PS That Rick Perry website is totally real, and I guarantee you that despite the attitude and... hopefulness displayed there it was not done by a child.
The only thing I can think of people trying to pin on Obama since the election was that Solyndra business. Some people really gave it the college try, but it more or less dropped off the radar it seemed. No sooner do I type that than I think to check if anybody cares about Solyndra anymore, and find this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/obama-begins-2012-push-talking-solyndra (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/obama-begins-2012-push-talking-solyndra)
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The Fox News crew still talk about the failure of Solyndra on a frequent basis, and my conservative relatives rant about it as if it were as big a deal as the Watergate scandal. Not sure if people other than wingnuts care about it though.
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I am puzzling over why I kind of miss that crazy bastard Herman Cain, and yet am totally happy to see the last of that smirking Texan dumbshit. I think it's because Herm was a constant reminder of the human capacity for bizarre comedy (and still is! Did you catch his "endorsement" the other day?), while Perry is just a constant reminder of the human capacity for ignorant turdism.
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Cain was only cynical in a humorous way. By the time he really thought he was going to win, he was already lost.
Everything that Rick Perry did in this race was done in the most cynical way possible. Years from now, people are still going to be scratching their heads over how he managed to lose - he is exactly what the GOP primary voters want.
The answer is that while he was willing to do and say literally anything to get elected, he 1) figured out too late just how close the primary voters take their revenge-America-on-all-Mexicans-all-the-time-even-if-it-doesn't-make-sense plank and 2) was actually too dumb for them to select him.
I think they got snookered a little bit by the media on that second point. He's plenty dumb, but I disagree that he's too dumb for this crowd to pick him.
If Gingrich wins South Carolina Tuesday, you're about to see the ugliest single campaign of any type run in our lifetimes. It will make Clinton-Obama look like a Sunday school picnic.
PS Please, please let that happen.
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If Gingrich wins South Carolina Tuesday, you're about to see the ugliest single campaign of any type run in our lifetimes. It will make Clinton-Obama look like a Sunday school picnic.
The primary's actually tomorrow. (An election on a Saturday!? When people don't have work!? That's crazy!)
At this point, I see Newt winning South Carolina. Romney's performance at the debate last night was terrible, and Gingrich did a good job spinning the Marianne Gingrich thing as being just another liberal hit job.
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Further proof that Ron Paul isn't a racist:
Ron Paul explains his support for the South re: Civil War (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMK0TRRlEM4#)
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/keith-ablow-fox-news-newt-gingrich-marriages_n_1220761.html?ref=media (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/keith-ablow-fox-news-newt-gingrich-marriages_n_1220761.html?ref=media)
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I like how Huffington Post refers to him as a "Fox News Psychiatrist." Everyone knows the mark of a distinguished professional is having "Fox News" prepended to your job title.
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It's official. Newt Gingrich has more lives than Keith Richards.
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And many, many more chins.
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Hey Florida,
They're comin' to your town
They'll help you party down
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Newt vs. Obama is much more entertaining than Romney vs. Obama.
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http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/gingrich-wins-florida-poll/2012/01/22/id/425086 (http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/gingrich-wins-florida-poll/2012/01/22/id/425086)
Newt Gingrich has now surged to a significant lead over Mitt Romney in Florida, leading the former front-runner now by 8 points, according to a new poll by InsiderAdvantage completed Sunday night of likely Republican primary voters.
The InsiderAdvantage poll of of 557 registered Republican voters is one of the first polls taken in Florida in the aftermath of Gingrich's double-digit win in the South Carolina primary Saturday.
The poll results follow:
Gingrich: 34%
Romney: 26%
Paul: 13%
Santorum: 11%
Other: 2%
No opinion: 14%
Read more on Newsmax.com: Newt Surges to Lead in Fla., Romney Trails by 8 Points
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
Don't screw this up, Newt.
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InsiderAdvantage was the second to least accurate pollster in 2010. PPP, which is a really good poll, had Gingrich and Romney tied today.
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The Florida primary isn't the only area where Newt is surging:
http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contest/us-favorability-gingrich?ref=fpblg (http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contest/us-favorability-gingrich?ref=fpblg)
It's a pretty bad sign when David Frum is writing a piece this scathing about a Republican candidate:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/opinion/frum-gingrich-enthusiasm/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/opinion/frum-gingrich-enthusiasm/index.html?hpt=hp_t2)
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(http://dailydish.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451c45669e20162ffff38d3970d)
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Glad to see the gov't is finally holding people accountable (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cia-officer-charged-20120124,0,2883556.story) for torture and waterboarding
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N.J. activist James O'Keefe is knucklehead of the week
New Jersey’s homegrown gotcha artist is back in the news again — this time for committing voter fraud while trying to prove that dead people regularly vote in New Hampshire’s elections. That state’s attorney general is investigating O’Keefe — a Bergen County native and Rutgers grad — for having members of his group, Project Veritas, attempt to vote in the Granite State’s primary by assuming the ID of the recently deceased.
Read the rest of the article… (http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2012/01/nj_artist_james_okeefe_is_knuc.html)
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Don't worry, O'Keefe's got this:
JamesOKeefeIII James O'Keefe
This isn't just bias anymore, @StarLedger, it's actionable. "By Star-Ledger Staff" or not. I am talking to counsel.
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Oooh, "talking to counsel." That'll show 'em.
How many successful libel suits against newspapers lately, Jimbo?
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Yes and the 'I broke the rules to show how easy they are to break' defense doesn't have the best track record.
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I thought Gingrich was way out of this thing, but I am kind of shocked that Democrats are cheering him on so Pres. Obama can crush him. To me, he's the most electable candidate they have. He has the craziness that the party seems to like right now and he's not a female. He doesn't come off as a rich guy even though he is and will protect other rich people. Basically, the same economic plans as Romney but he's not going to lose any Republican votes for looking and acting like a rich dude. Plus, I think he'd have the best chance of sticking with Pres. Obama in the debates. I think Obama would kill Romney in the debates. If I were a Democrat, I'd be very scared about the possibility of Newt as the nominee.
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Gingrich's favorability ratings are in the terlet, he's more or less a crook, and he's way too much of a right-wing kook to win over moderates and swing voters. If he's the nominee, Obama will probably win in a landslide.
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Maybe it's because I'm from the Midwest that I feel that way. I don't think Pres. Obama is going to defeat anyone in a landslide, and I don't feel that Romney really plays well to middle class, middle America people and those are the people who win elections. He is a right wing kook, but if you give that kook a platform at the highest stage he'll stir up emotions in people and he's shown that he can do that in the Republican debates. Right wingers would say the same thing about Obama last election. I think everybody is vastly underestimating how electable Newt is.
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Don't worry, O'Keefe's got this:
JamesOKeefeIII James O'Keefe
This isn't just bias anymore, @StarLedger, it's actionable. "By Star-Ledger Staff" or not. I am talking to counsel.
He's so efficient with his investigations because there are three of him out there.
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Help me, I plan on voting in the Republican primary. Ron Paul or Newt?
Mitt is too rich for my tastes.
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Fredericks: Hear me. If you want to self-express, vote for the Libertarian douche with no chance of being seriously in the running in November.
If you want to make your vote actively fuck around with the opposition to Obama, vote for Gnoot.
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Fredericks: Hear me. If you want to self-express, vote for the Libertarian douche with no chance of being seriously in the running in November.
If you want to make your vote actively fuck around with the opposition to Obama, vote for Gnoot.
I truly appreciate the input.
Messing with the oppostion sounds fun.
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(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu6ibVy0FPM&feature=player_embedded)
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Help me, I plan on voting in the Republican primary. Ron Paul or Newt?
Mitt is too rich for my tastes.
I was thinking of doing this myself. However, by the time the Indiana primary rolls around, it kind of doesn't matter at all.
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(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu6ibVy0FPM&feature=player_embedded)
I like how this serves two purposes:
1) It tells the truth in as blunt a way as possible.
2) It pisses off the Republicans and makes them want to nominate Newt even more.
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Maybe it's because I'm from the Midwest that I feel that way. I don't think Pres. Obama is going to defeat anyone in a landslide, and I don't feel that Romney really plays well to middle class, middle America people and those are the people who win elections. He is a right wing kook, but if you give that kook a platform at the highest stage he'll stir up emotions in people and he's shown that he can do that in the Republican debates. Right wingers would say the same thing about Obama last election. I think everybody is vastly underestimating how electable Newt is.
Ah, the wingnut wager of Limbaugh et al: Only a "true conservative" candidate is supposed to be able to lead a "truly conservative campaign" that will be able to inspire the heartland and win the masses. It's basically the opposite approach of those favoring Romney or "moderates" (as if there are any in the GOP these days) who think that the teabaggers will scare off the independents in the general election.
Personally, I don't think Newt is going to win the nomination. It's simply Romney's turn, and the good old boys still control the party. All that the base will achieve is drive Romney further towards appealing to their resentments in order to secure victory.
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Hey Fredericks, I like Paul the most of the four, but I'd vote for Newt in this particular primary.
Paul gets no delegates unless he wins Florida.
The longer Newt stays in the race, the more fun it will be to watch. And if someone that unlikeable actually gets nominated, there could be more opportunity for a third party candidate.
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Hey Fredericks, I like Paul the most of the four, but I'd vote for Newt in this particular primary.
Paul gets no delegates unless he wins Florida.
The longer Newt stays in the race, the more fun it will be to watch. And if someone that unlikeable actually gets nominated, there could be more opportunity for a third party candidate.
Newt it is!
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Warren Buffett just came up with the greatest ever riposte to Republicans' yapping about "class war":
“If this is a war, my side has the nuclear bomb,” Buffett said.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/warren-buffett-and-his-secretary-talk-taxes/ (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/warren-buffett-and-his-secretary-talk-taxes/)
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Also, Gnoot pledged to have a permanent US base on the moon by the end of his second term, and a state senator in Oklahoma introduced a bill to prohibit the use of aborted human fetuses in food. It's a wacky woild.
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Reading the comments section of that Warren Buffett article literally gave me a headache.
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Lately, reading comments anywhere gives me a headache. I kind of worry that as I'm increasingly turned off by all of this, I'm increasingly unaware of what's going on.
On the other hand: Moonbases!
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Bob Dole warns against nominating Gingrich:
Gingrich had a new idea every minute and most of them were off the wall. He loved picking a fight with Bill Clinton because he knew this would get the attention of the press. This and a myriad of other specifics helped to topple Gingrich in 1998.
In my run for the presidency in 1996 the Democrats greeted me with a number of negative TV ads and in every one of them Newt was in the ad. He was very unpopular and I am not only certain that this did not help me, but that it also cost House seats that year. Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand -- that was a symbol of some sort for him -- and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.
In my opinion if we want to avoid an Obama landslide in November, Republicans should nominate Gov. Romney as our standard bearer. He has the requisite experience in the public and private sectors. He would be a president we could have confidence in.
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Also, Gnoot pledged to have a permanent US base on the moon by the end of his second term, and a state senator in Oklahoma introduced a bill to prohibit the use of aborted human fetuses in food. It's a wacky woild.
That Senator is just in the pocket of the makers of Tofetus (TM), the vegetarian alternative to fetus.
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Maher's closing speech was awesome tonight.
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http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Yes-Virginia-There-is-a-Republican-Establishment (http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Yes-Virginia-There-is-a-Republican-Establishment)
I say this by way of introducing a bit of information I received yesterday from a very well-placed source. A veteran member of the House Republican Caucus recently received a phone call from within the RNC (it was not disclosed to me who placed the call) soliciting his help in convincing Newt Gingrich to step aside and clear a path to the nomination for Mitt Romney. Whoever cooked up this idea was not exactly firing on all cylinders, since (A) the member in question, despite considerable seniority, is far from influential and (B) attempting to stand athwart Newt Gingrich's ambition is like sticking your head in a howitzer.
Remarkably, the member actually agreed to place the call. Gingrich's response? Well, it was a three-word phrase that began with "go" and ended with "yourself." I'd say Newt's insurgent bona fides are still intact.
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Chris Wallace gives Congressman Ryan a birthday cake with a dollar sign on it:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201201290001 (http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201201290001)
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Well, we all know how much money Gene Simmons has in his wallet, so this is maybe not a surprise:
Gene Simmons On The Republican Primary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKH2Fc-aanU&feature=player_embedded#ws)
Plus, we get to hear him utter the work "shmekel."
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Very insightful. I hope we hear more from him as the race progresses.
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Very insightful. I hope we hear more from him as the race progresses.
The human race?
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(http://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Akg_EfcCIAEhZ28.jpg)
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(http://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Akg_EfcCIAEhZ28.jpg)
Looks like they are feeling really "blah".
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(http://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Akg_EfcCIAEhZ28.jpg)
Looks like they are feeling really "blah".
I see them as half 'blah', half of them stifling laughter.
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The ascendancy of Mitt Romney in Florida once again proves that in the realm of politics, pragmatism will always trump principles.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-usa-campaign-exitpoll-idUSTRE8100AJ20120201 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-usa-campaign-exitpoll-idUSTRE8100AJ20120201)
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The ascendancy of Mitt Romney in Florida once again proves that in the realm of politics, pragmatism will always trump principles.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-usa-campaign-exitpoll-idUSTRE8100AJ20120201 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-usa-campaign-exitpoll-idUSTRE8100AJ20120201)
Susan MacManus is a wonderful resource.
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Glitter Bombed Romney Singing "America The Beautiful" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZSrb0i0uE4#ws)
This is the second time he's done this in the past week or so. Is this his thing now?
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Glitter Bombed Romney Singing "America The Beautiful" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZSrb0i0uE4#ws)
This is the second time he's done this in the past week or so. Is this his thing now?
"Glitter Bombed Romney Sing..."
This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement from claimants including:
CNBC LLC
CNN
Big Think
Sorry about that.
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Damn you, CNN. Anyway, the video was of Romney doing this (except with glitter in his hair):
Mitt Romney Sings "America The Beautiful" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4eLx_V5Xkg#ws)
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Ever since Herman Cain's pizza song the thing has turned into karaoke night. At least Cain and John Ashcroft wrote their own songs.
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He keeps his hand in his pocket to indicate that he doesn't actually care and takes it out when he half-assedly wants people to know "God shed his grace on thee". "I love this country," but not enough to sing it with feeling! Sheesh.
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Mitt Romney today:
There are some things that you just can't imagine happening in your life — this is one of them.
Wow! You've got my attention, Mitt! Tell us, what has you so excited?
Being in Donald Trump's magnificent hotel and having his endorsement is a delight. I'm so honored and pleased to have his endorsement.
(SFX: Sad Trombone)
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A seemingly autistic "pickup artist" gives conservatives dating advice at CPAC:
Conservative Dating Session, CPAC, 2/9/12 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va9M9_Qqs9s#ws)
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/professional-pick-up-artist-teaches-cpac-crowd-how-to-run-game.php?ref=fpnewsfeed (http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/professional-pick-up-artist-teaches-cpac-crowd-how-to-run-game.php?ref=fpnewsfeed)
“‘I was thinking about how sexy it would be to kiss you,’” world renowned pickup artist Wayne Elise told a group of young Rick Santorum fans. “You can say that [to a girl], it’s cool.”
Elise, better known by his handle “Juggler” from Neil Strauss’ notorious pickup memoir The Game, was offering advice to attendees at conservative mega-conference CPAC on how to improve their dating game. Remember that old VH1 reality show The Pickup Artist with that lanky host called “Mystery” teaching people how to insult girls then hit on them when their self esteem is shattered? This is one of his top rivals, charging upwards of $5,000 for a one-day private session.
But on Thursday, young socially conservative activists got it for free. One tip, he noted, was to introduce sensuality into early conversations with girls — like the above quote — to keep from falling into the platonic zone with your target.
“Most guys fall into the category of not being sexual enough, so that girls will easily see them as friend material and the guys have a hard time getting out of that,” he said. “I think one of my ideas that connects to conservatives is that it’s OK to wait but you definitely want to show the person you’re sexual and sensual.”
A crowd of a couple dozen people, mostly media, but with a handful of genuinely rapt fresh-faced conservatives of both sexes thrown in, hung on to his every word. Sometimes they threw in their own advice and observations. As Elise joked about which Republicans were the “hottest,” two giggling college girls with Santorum stickers shouted in perfect unison “MItt Romney’s sons!” Shortly afterwards, Elise asked a slick-haired Republican to describe his perfect girl. His answer: 5”7, good hair, nice skin, and “works for FOX News.”
The breakout session, sponsored by TeaParty.net, was billed as an opportunity to “learn everything from how to avoid scaring away your own personal Dagny Taggart in the first five minutes of the conversation, to whether Tea Partiers and Occupiers can share something more than a dislike for bailouts.” But in practice, Elise mostly stuck to his tried and true methods for dating in general. In comparison to “Mystery,” who promotes using memorized pickup lines, Elise instead espouses broader tips and tricks.
Like the following four examples:
1.”How do you make them feel comfortable? You talk about your weaknesses,” Elise said. One audience member chimed in with a good one liner to lighten the mood: “I’m Rush Limbaugh’s drug dealer.”
2. On dates, “try to outlaw questions,” Elise said, prompting some quizzical looks from participants. “Say ‘I’m not going to do any questions, I’m going to make statements.’ Why? Because statements say something about you.”
3. Here’s a tip: “When you walk up and you’re talking to the cute girl in a group don’t just talk to the girl. Bring other people in.” In a related tactic, should you see a hot girl in a bar do not approach — instead befriend a less attractive group and then recruit them to help you seduce her.
4. Good date idea? “Tell her you want to take a polaroid camera, walk around Soho in New York or somewhere comparable here, Georgetown maybe, and take pictures together — that’s a fun date.” But one Republican consultant from Sag Harbor, New York had a better one. “A gun club works really well for that thing,” he said. “It’s conservative, it’s fun, most women haven’t done that before…you get to look like you know what you’re doing.”
Still, at the audience’s prompting, he offered at least some conservative-specific ideas from his own experience as a libertarian in Los Angeles.
“The problem with conservatives on dating: we’re too uptight!” he said. “Liberals have the reputation for being fun, we have to go on the date and have fun without smoking pot.”
By far the biggest question on participants’ mind was whether true bipartisan love was possible. On this point, there was some surprising optimism in the room: Andrew Simon, a blogger for African American GOP site “HipHopRepublican.com,” suggested it might even be easier.
“You save yourself form those godawful dates where you see someone and they’re both conservatives and it becomes one giant pecking contest to see who has the coolest contacts,” he said. The audience wasn’t sold, though. “DC,” one muttered dismissively.
At the very least, the session was an opportunity to acknowledge one of the less discussed dynamics of CPAC. Unlike most conservative gatherings, which often resemble Bingo night at the retirement home, the annual conference is usually dominated by college Republicans who bus in en masse. That means the dating scene is sizzling.
I asked Adam Tilsley, a student in from the University of Maine, whether he thought he heard any news he could use at CPAC.
“Oh yeah without a doubt,” he said. “Who knows, I might have a secret admirer.”
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I can't watch that. I can't watch large groups of conservative young people.
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Mitt Romney today:
There are some things that you just can't imagine happening in your life — this is one of them.
Wow! You've got my attention, Mitt! Tell us, what has you so excited?
Being in Donald Trump's magnificent hotel and having his endorsement is a delight. I'm so honored and pleased to have his endorsement.
(SFX: Sad Trombone)
Being in Donald Trump's hotel is a delight? I've been in hotels better than Trump's dumps, and I'm nowhere near as rich as Romney...
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http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/santorum-surges-into-the-lead.html (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/santorum-surges-into-the-lead.html)
Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul.
Part of the reason for Santorum's surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. Romney's favorability is barely above water at 44/43, representing a 23 point net decline from our December national poll when he was +24 (55/31). Gingrich has fallen even further. A 44% plurality of GOP voters now hold a negative opinion of him to only 42% with a positive one. That's a 34 point drop from 2 months ago when he was at +32 (60/28).
Santorum is now completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate, especially the most right leaning parts of the party. With those describing themselves as 'very conservative,' he's now winning a majority of voters at 53% to 20% for Gingrich and 15% for Romney. Santorum gets a majority with Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals he falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney.
It used to be that Gingrich was leading with all these groups and Romney was staying competitive enough with them to hold the overall lead. No more- a consensus conservative candidate finally seems to be emerging and it's Santorum.
The best thing Romney might have going for him right now is Gingrich's continued presence in the race. If Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul. Santorum gets to 50% in the Newt free field to 28% for Romney and 15% for Paul.
Of course if there's been one constant theme in this GOP race it's that once you get to the top you tend to start heading back down. Only 48% of voters say they're solidly committed to their current candidate choice, while 52% say they're open to changing their minds. Santorum's support isn't that solid and when Romney uses his superior resources to pulverize him, we could see this lead evaporate just as quickly as it was built up. But for now there's been a stunning reversal in the race and Santorum's your new leader.
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http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/santorum-surges-into-the-lead.html (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/santorum-surges-into-the-lead.html)
Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul.
Part of the reason for Santorum's surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. Romney's favorability is barely above water at 44/43, representing a 23 point net decline from our December national poll when he was +24 (55/31). Gingrich has fallen even further. A 44% plurality of GOP voters now hold a negative opinion of him to only 42% with a positive one. That's a 34 point drop from 2 months ago when he was at +32 (60/28).
Santorum is now completely dominating with several key segments of the electorate, especially the most right leaning parts of the party. With those describing themselves as 'very conservative,' he's now winning a majority of voters at 53% to 20% for Gingrich and 15% for Romney. Santorum gets a majority with Tea Party voters as well at 51% to 24% for Gingrich and 12% for Romney. And with Evangelicals he falls just short of a majority with 45% to 21% for Gingrich and 18% for Romney.
It used to be that Gingrich was leading with all these groups and Romney was staying competitive enough with them to hold the overall lead. No more- a consensus conservative candidate finally seems to be emerging and it's Santorum.
The best thing Romney might have going for him right now is Gingrich's continued presence in the race. If Gingrich dropped out 58% of his supporters say they would move to Santorum, while 22% would go to Romney and 17% to Paul. Santorum gets to 50% in the Newt free field to 28% for Romney and 15% for Paul.
Of course if there's been one constant theme in this GOP race it's that once you get to the top you tend to start heading back down. Only 48% of voters say they're solidly committed to their current candidate choice, while 52% say they're open to changing their minds. Santorum's support isn't that solid and when Romney uses his superior resources to pulverize him, we could see this lead evaporate just as quickly as it was built up. But for now there's been a stunning reversal in the race and Santorum's your new leader.
Every night before he goes to bed, Barack Obama should get down his knees and pray that Rick Santorum wins the GOP nomination. If he does, Obama will win in a Reagan '84-esque landslide. It'll absolutely be that bad.
The question is, why are so many Republicans eager to commit the political equivalent of harakiri?
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The question is, why are so many Republicans eager to commit the political equivalent of harakiri?
The unconscious drive of the death instinct.
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Fredrixxxxxxxxxcks, I think you're right.
They hate the Not Them so much that they're willing to nominate someone who doesn't even share a lot of their views (isolationism, total hatred of immigrants) just because he shares their anger at what Not Them has done to Their Country.
Never mind that Not Them kind of doesn't exist, and there doesn't exist the power or coordination to accomplish something like that.
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Every night before he goes to bed, Barack Obama should get down his knees and pray that Rick Santorum wins the GOP nomination. If he does, Obama will win in a Reagan '84-esque landslide. It'll absolutely be that bad.
You've got that right. He has no moderate pull at all.
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You've got that right. He has no moderate pull at all.
Strange you should say that, for the last two weeks all I've been hearing is how the most important issue of 2012 is making sure women don't get birth control. Surely Rick Sanitarium is a man for our time.
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That's maybe an important issue for conservatives but they were voting Republican anyway. I highly doubt that moderates have that issue even in their top 5 in terms of importance.
I feel, and I might be very wrong, that moderates are finally starting to lean progressive when it comes to gay marriage which really is the only wedge issue that could really make a difference this election. Maybe that's the liberal/optimist in me but I just think that Republicans are way off on where non-committed voters stand on gay marriage. We know where conservatives stand especially in the Midwest and the South but once you enter all voters into the fold, I think it's going to be a rude awakening for the Christian right and hopefully a huge turning point for civil rights.
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Yeah, I know, I was merely fooling and pretending. I have to say, I've loved the last two weeks of Republicans trying to outdo each other on who hates birth control most.
Incidentally, as soon as I typed Santorum's Spikeified name, I realized that really, thanks to the fine efforts of Dan Savage, no Spikeifying is actually needed. At this point, the most pejorative name possible for Rick Santorum is "Santorum."
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I'm not sure if Santorum or Romney could beat John Kerry in a general election, much less Obama.
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I hope you crazy dreamers are right. I am surrounded by buffoons that are absolutely convinced that Obama can't can't win against these paragons of God-backed righteousness.
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I've said it before, but I'll repeat it here: I don't see how Obama can possibly lose to any of these clowns. Romney has the best chance of beating him, and the fact that his own party keeps picking a new front-runner every week or two is testament to just how much conservate voters don't like him. His poll numbers are very low among conservatives, and while I realize a lot of them will hold their nose and vote for him when the time comes, I just don't think he's likable enough to pull the number of moderates he needs to win the general election.
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I hope you crazy dreamers are right. I am surrounded by buffoons that are absolutely convinced that Obama can't can't win against these paragons of God-backed righteousness.
Dave, if it's any comfort, they were probably convinced of the same thing at this point in 2008. The Inland South is the most non-Obama-Country part of the nation.
If this election were decided by people who have the time to comment on every news story that shows up in the middle of the day, Obama would lose by a landslide.
In the meantime, you can amuse yourself by reading about all the people who hate government so much that they can't stop taking thousands of dollars a year in subsidies and handouts:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html)
I heard a slogan I'd never heard before last week. Abortion opponents are against abortion except in cases of "rape, life, and me." This is what I keep seeing across all the issues.
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In case you needed any more convincing that the functional definition of "conservative" is now "someone who opposes anything--anything-- they suspect liberals might like:"
Over half of self-described conservatives do not like freely-available breast cancer screenings. http://jezebel.com/5884503/half-of-conservatives-are-now-against-breast-cancer-screenings (http://jezebel.com/5884503/half-of-conservatives-are-now-against-breast-cancer-screenings)
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It continues!
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/santorum-moves-ahead-in-michigan.html (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/santorum-moves-ahead-in-michigan.html)
Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary. He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich.
Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity (a stellar 67/23 favorability) and GOP voters increasingly souring on Gingrich. Santorum's becoming something closer and closer to a consensus conservative candidate as Gingrich bleeds support.
Santorum's winning an outright majority of the Tea Party vote with 53% to 22% for Romney and 10% for Gingrich. He comes close to one with Evangelicals as well at 48% to 20% for Romney and 12% for Gingrich. And he cracks the 50% line with voters identifying as 'very conservative' at 51% to 20% for Romney and 10% for Gingrich.
Santorum's benefiting from the open nature of Michigan's primary as well. He's only up by 12 points with actual Republican voters, but he has a 40-21 advantage with the Democrats and independents planning to vote that pushes his overall lead up to 15 points. Santorum is winning by a healthy margin in every region of the state except for Oakland County, where Romney has a 40-26 advantage, and the area around Lansing where Paul actually has an advantage at 30% to 27% for both Romney and Santorum.
Republican voters aren't just declining to vote for Gingrich at this point- they don't even like him anymore. Just 38% have a favorable opinion of him to 47% with a negative one. His numbers are inching back closer to what they were before his surge in the polls began in November. His continued presence in the race is a boost to Romney though. 54% of his supporters would go to Santorum if he dropped out, compared to only 21% for Romney and 14% for Paul. Santorum's lead in a Newt-less field would expand to 21 points with him at 48% to 27% for Romney and 13% for Paul. So every day Gingrich stays in is a saving grace for Romney's hopes.
Michigan is perceived as a state where Romney really has a home field advantage, but only 26% of primary voters actually consider him to be a Michigander while 62% do not. Only 39% have a favorable opinion of George Romney with a 46% plurality having no opinion about him. Romney really doesn't have some great reservoir of goodwill in Michigan to fall back on. Only 49% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 39% with a negative one. That's down a net 28 points from our last poll of Michigan in July when he was at +38 (61/23).
For all that, Santorum probably shouldn't get too comfortable. There is a lot of potential for fluidity in the Michigan race, with only 47% of voters saying they're strongly committed to their candidate while 53% are open to changing their minds in the next two weeks.
Romney's support is a little more firm with 52% of his voters saying they'll definitely end up supporting him compared to 46% who say that for Santorum. This situation is reminiscent of what happened in Florida right after Newt Gingrich's big win in South Carolina- he took the lead then quickly lost it in a big way after coming under attack by Romney. Given how open voters are to changing their minds a repeat of that in Michigan would not be a huge surprise.
It's pretty likely, though, that Romney will carpet bomb the state with negative ads ("RICK SANTORUM VOTED TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING!!! HE'S FOR BIG GUBMINT!!!") and pull out a win. One of the reasons Gingrich was able to win South Carolina is that he spent a lot of money on advertising there, and the reason Santorum was able to win those three states last week is that Romney didn't put out many, if any, ads in any of them. Santorum, as far as I know, doesn't have much money at all, and even if he had a couple million dollars to blow on ads, Romney could still easily outspend him 5:1.
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As a young Michigander lad, I shook George Romney's hand once. He was a decent Republican who really deserved a better son.
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http://www.liberalsloveromney.com/ (http://www.liberalsloveromney.com/)
I love "(MOUSE OVER THE LIBERALS TO VIEW)."
I had no idea that Mitt Romney endorsed Rocky Anderson and vice versa. Anderson's more or less in the same area of the political spectrum as Bernie Sanders and Ralph Nader. Santorum or Gingrich could make a pretty effective negative ad out of this, if anybody knew who the hell Rocky Anderson was.
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Santorum or Gingrich could make a pretty effective negative ad out of this, if anybody knew who the hell Rocky Anderson was.
Nobody knows who Saul Alinsky is but that doesn't stop Gingrich from desperately trying to connect him to Obama at every possible moment.
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Santorum or Gingrich could make a pretty effective negative ad out of this, if anybody knew who the hell Rocky Anderson was.
Nobody knows who Saul Alinsky is but that doesn't stop Gingrich from desperately trying to connect him to Obama at every possible moment.
That's different though. Unlike "Rocky Anderson," "Saul Alinsky" sounds Jewish, which is enough.
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Newt's Dream Team (from his official website -- this isn't something someone made as a goof):
(http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/Team Newt.php.jpg)
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Newt's Dream Team (from his official website -- this isn't something someone made as a goof):
(http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/Team Newt.php.jpg)
Chuck Norris' head looks superimposed as all hell. And I wouldn't be surprised if that Fred Thompson shot is a still from the Law & Order opening credits.
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Is that Judith Light?
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Whoa, is JC Watts still on planet Earth?
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Whoa, is JC Watts still on planet Earth?
No, he's already set up headquarters in Permanent Moonbase.
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http://www.liberalsloveromney.com/ (http://www.liberalsloveromney.com/)
I love "(MOUSE OVER THE LIBERALS TO VIEW)."
I had no idea that Mitt Romney endorsed Rocky Anderson and vice versa. Anderson's more or less in the same area of the political spectrum as Bernie Sanders and Ralph Nader. Santorum or Gingrich could make a pretty effective negative ad out of this, if anybody knew who the hell Rocky Anderson was.
He's the guy from the 13th Floor Elevators, duh.
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I have no problem with nuanced political satire, but I find this caricature to be a little bit over the top ... oh wait, this is a REAL PERSON???
Santorum Backer Friess Suggests "Aspirin Between Their Knees" As Contraception (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOI7fokqkFc&feature=share#)
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I'm calling bullshit. What real person has a name like "Foster Friess"? (Californians will recognize this transparently bogus monicker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosters_Freeze (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosters_Freeze))
The line about jihadist camps in Latin America is the tell.
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I have no problem with nuanced political satire, but I find this caricature to be a little bit over the top ... oh wait, this is a REAL PERSON???
Santorum Backer Friess Suggests "Aspirin Between Their Knees" As Contraception (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOI7fokqkFc&feature=share#)
Truly humorless.
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Santorum Backer Friess Suggests "Aspirin Between Their Knees" As Contraception (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsF7PXTDoeM&feature=related#)
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How did Newt just raise two million dollars in California? Who the hell would give him money aside from that Sheldon dude?
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Further proof that Ronald Reagan was an exemplary human being:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Reagan)
Michael grew up with the Reagan family in Beverly Hills, California, and later nearby Pacific Palisades. One childhood story he has told that introduced him to politics was how at the age of 8, he asked his father for a raise in his allowance. At the time, around 1953, his allowance was $1 a week. Ronald Reagan said that since he was paying 90 percent of his earnings to the federal government as income tax, he was not able to increase Michael's allowance. Mr. Reagan further said that when the president would give him a tax cut, then he could give his son an increase in his allowance. This, according to Michael, was how he was introduced to the subject of tax cuts and how that affected people.
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Well, for one thing, in 1953 the top marginal tax rate was 90%, but he wasn't taxed at that rate on his entire income. So not only did he cheap-ass his son, he lied about why.
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It's also possible that Reagan didn't understand the concept of a marginal tax rate.
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It's also possible probable that Reagan didn't understand the concept of a marginal tax rate anything.
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http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-might-lose-this-thing-after-all (http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-might-lose-this-thing-after-all)
Romney Might Lose This Thing After All
A reliable GOP source sends along the results of a poll conducted in Michigan last night showing Rick Santorum with a lead in the state among Republicans.
From the source:
Santorum- 33%
Romney- 28%
Gingrich- 12%
Paul- 6%
This lends more credence to the theory that Romney will lose the popular night, though may still do well on the delegate front.
Ha ha, Romney sucks.
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Sometimes I get this unaccountable feeling that Mitt Romney is kind of an asshole:
Mr. Romney’s Florida trip might have seemed like an odd, if confident, detour from states that will be voting on Tuesday. But Michigan has an ample share of Nascar fans. And the campaign hoped that images of Mr. Romney at the speedway would circulate widely through the Southern states that vote on March 6.
But the crowd initially booed Mr. Romney, who occasionally struck a discordant note, as when he approached a group of fans wearing plastic ponchos. “I like those fancy raincoats you bought,” he said. “Really sprung for the big bucks.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/us/politics/santorum-makes-case-for-religion-in-public-sphere.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2 (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/us/politics/santorum-makes-case-for-religion-in-public-sphere.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2)
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Good find, Cavorting, what a prick!
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Not to mention his attempt to connect with NASCAR fans:
"I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners."
I believe this is what is referred to as "having a tin ear," which is not desirable in one's nominee for President. Reminds me of Bush 1992.
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'Some of my best friends are NASCAR team owners.' It's almost like anyone below owner level (except the drivers, who represent laborers who have to be grudgingly tolerated) doesn't exist for him.
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What the hell?
Andrew Breitbart, the conservative firebrand and web publisher, has died, according to his Big Government website.
In a brief post, the site said he died at age 43 of natural causes. His death was confirmed to msnbc.com by the Los Angeles Coroner's Office.
Breitbart, in addition to publishing a number of websites devoted to repudiating what he saw as the liberal-dominated coverage of politics and culture, once served as an editor for the Drudge Report and helped Arianna Huffington launch the Huffington Post website.
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Wow, he was a loathesome scumbag, but 43 is too young nonetheless.
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For your consideration:
Andrew Breitbart, a Washington Times columnist who oversees Breitbart.com and BigHollywood.com, tapped into the anti-Kennedy vein in the hours after the senator’s death was announced, posting a series of Twitter messages in which he called Kennedy a “villain,” a “duplicitous bastard” and a “prick.”
"I'm more than willing to go off decorum to ensure THIS MAN is not beatified,” Breitbart wrote. “Sorry, he destroyed lives. And he knew it."
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He had young kids, so I'm sad for them.
Until I think that maybe escaping the fate of being raised by a rageaholic, verbally abusive drunk isn't such a bad thing after all.
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And Free Republic is already crying secret Soviet-style assassination:
OMG! Just heard this on Glenn Beck. I hope to God it was completely natural causes. If their is even a hint of foul play, then we may have a bigger tyrant in the Whitehouse than we even know.
To: NavyCanDo
we may have a bigger tyrant in the Whitehouse than we even know.
What more evidence do you need? He is a Liar sent forth from the Father of Lies.
I would not doubt that there is evil involved here. I also don't doubt that we will never know the real story.
7 posted on Thursday, March 01, 2012 10:42:59 AM by jtal (Runnin' a World in Need with White Folks' Greed - since 1492)
To: OUTKAST
I can’t get my head around this. This has to be foul play. Too young. Way too young and way too deep in Obama’s sludge. We are talking Soviet-style elimination here.
9 posted on Thursday, March 01, 2012 10:45:35 AM by InsidiousMongo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]
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http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/people-who-think-president-obama-killed-andrew-bre (http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/people-who-think-president-obama-killed-andrew-bre)
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/3/1/10/enhanced-buzz-25643-1330615409-28.jpg)
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/3/1/10/enhanced-buzz-5133-1330615659-15.jpg)
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/3/1/10/enhanced-buzz-25498-1330615796-31.jpg)
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web04/2012/3/1/10/enhanced-buzz-18331-1330615904-37.jpg)
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/3/1/10/enhanced-buzz-5133-1330616375-23.jpg)
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http://www.drudgereport.com/ (http://www.drudgereport.com/)
DEAR READER: In the first decade of the DRUDGEREPORT Andrew Breitbart was a constant source of energy, passion and commitment. We shared a love of headlines, a love of the news, an excitement about what's happening. I don't think there was a single day during that time when we did not flash each other or laugh with each other, or challenge each other. I still see him in my mind's eye in Venice Beach, the sunny day I met him. He was in his mid 20's. It was all there. He had a wonderful, loving family and we all feel great sadness for them today... MDRUDGE
What!?
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Can we really say at this point that the Internet is a good idea?
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http://www.drudgereport.com/ (http://www.drudgereport.com/)
DEAR READER: In the first decade of the DRUDGEREPORT Andrew Breitbart was a constant source of energy, passion and commitment. We shared a love of headlines, a love of the news, an excitement about what's happening. I don't think there was a single day during that time when we did not flash each other or laugh with each other, or challenge each other. I still see him in my mind's eye in Venice Beach, the sunny day I met him. He was in his mid 20's. It was all there. He had a wonderful, loving family and we all feel great sadness for them today... MDRUDGE
What!?
:o
I had long suspected that Drudge was a strange cat. This letter all but confirms it.
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Wow, he was a loathesome scumbag, but 43 is too young nonetheless.
Scumbags can do a lot of damage even in 40 years or less.
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(http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/notcool.jpg)
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His kid's name is Tagg?
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His kid's name is Tagg?
http://romneyfamilynamegenerator.com/ (http://romneyfamilynamegenerator.com/)
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A delighted Mitt Romney introduced Kid Rock at his campaign rally last night, as the Detroit rocker played his song "Born Free," which has become the campaign's anthem.
Romney explained to the crowd that he met with Kid Rock to talk about Michigan.
"He said, 'Mitt, if you're elected president, will you help me help the state of Michigan?' And I said I would. He said, 'If you're elected president, will you help me help the city of Detroit?' I said I would," Romney stated, “And then I turned to him, and I said, ‘By the way, given the fact that I’m willing to do those things, will you come here and perform a concert tonight for my friends?’ and he said he would.”
According to the Associated Press, Romney visited with Kid Rock at his house for about an hour.
Thank God Kid Rock is looking out for Detroit. I can't wait to see what he and Mitt (and hopefully Tagg!) have in store for the city once Mitt becomes president.
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"The economy is getting better, so the Republicans go to Plan B: calling women whores." - Bill Maher
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According to the Associated Press, Romney visited with Kid Rock at his house for about an hour.
And according to Nugent's tweet, he had a "long heart and soul talk" with the candidate. Uh, doesn't Mitt Romney have more important things to do than hold long bull sessions with rock 'n' roll douchebags? Or are they just the only ones who will talk to him?
Also, when do Insane Clown Posse join the other great Detroit musicians on Team Mitt? Will he have to talk to them for two hours since there are two of them?
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Also, when do Insane Clown Posse join the other great Detroit musicians on Team Mitt? Will he have to talk to them for two hours since there are two of them?
If those dunces aren't Google Ron Paul Ron Paul rEVOLution Google white pride Doctor Ron Paul fans, I'll eat my hat.
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Don't be surprised if this is the payback:
Official Romney White House Soda: Faygo.
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Romney: first sitting president to attend the Gathering?
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(http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/andrew-breitbart-heaven-political-cartoon-mar-1-2012.jpg)
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That must be a special Heaven reserved for people who deceptively edit videos to get black people fired.
I also don't get the "joke." Texas is a place where the cliche says that everything is big. Who's ever said that about Heaven?
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That must be a special Heaven reserved for people who deceptively edit videos to get black people fired.
I also don't get the "joke." Texas is a place where the cliche says that everything is big. Who's ever said that about Heaven?
Conservatives are a lot of things, but they aren't funny.
Not intentionally, anyway.
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I looked up "breitbart big" on Google and apparently a lot of his websites have the word "big" in their names. I guess that's what St. Peter is referring to. Pretty hysterical.
This is great:
(http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/new-yorker-cover-santorum-as-dog.jpg)
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Ann Romney: 'I Don't Consider Myself Wealthy' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR4aXOth9hQ#ws)
Wow. It seems like no amount of campaign prep can help these people.
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If Ron Paul wins the nomination, will the war-hawk Republicans switch sides in order to have a pro-war president?
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I'm pretty sure they're incapable of doing that. They'd probably have a collective meltdown and then desperately try to run some douche under a third-party banner.
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Admittedly, $250 million isn't a lot of money anymore.
Srsly, though, how much damage is Rush Limbaugh going to suffer this time? Imus eventually came most of the way down, I guess, though he still has a show (?)
The transcript for Limbaugh's obsession with this thing is really creepy, though it doesn't sound any different from what I imagine to be the internal monologue of most people who hate women.
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I heard Imus say he's on more affiliates than ever, but people always ask him when he'll be back on the radio.
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The transcript for Limbaugh's obsession with this thing is really creepy, though it doesn't sound any different from what I imagine to be the internal monologue of most people who hate women.
The transcript is indeed creepy--I think the part where he starts delving into her presumed need for contraceptives when she was in sixth grade is the nadir, though the solicitation to post homemade porn online is down there too. But I'd read those words for a week before actually seeing clips of him delivering them live, on Stewart and Colbert, and it's about eleven dimensions of creep beyond the mere transcript. You really have to see or at least hear him saying those words to appreciate the sheer crudity, brutality and sexualized hatred that vibrate from that man.
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Speaking of Limball, the Missouri state legislature is having a bust of his porcine head put up in their Capitol building (alongside a bust of Dred Scott, of course):
http://www.thegrio.com/politics/rush-limbaugh-to-be-honored-alongside-dred-scott.php (http://www.thegrio.com/politics/rush-limbaugh-to-be-honored-alongside-dred-scott.php)
Conservative shock jock Rush Limbaugh will be honored in May alongside Dred Scott, according to Missouri Republican House Speaker Steven Tilley. Both men's busts will be added to the Hall of Famous Missourians in the Capitol rotunda.
One hundred fifty-five years ago to the day, Dred Scott lost his fight to win freedom in a ruling by the United States Supreme Court. The Chief Justice at the time wrote in his majority decision that blacks "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."
Today in black history: The Dred Scott decision 155 years later
Limbaugh, who's been in the news recently for his crude attacks on a Georgetown Law School student, has led a career typified by controversy surrounding race.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that in 2009, Limbaugh said, "I mean, let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back; I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."
A Kansas City sculptor confirmed on his site that he was commissioned to create busts of Limbaugh and Scott, pointing out the contrast in the two men. "What do these two guys have in common you ask?" the sculptor wrote under pictures of Limbaugh and Scott. "Well, turns out that they are both in the process of being sculpted by E. Spencer Schubert for the Hall of Famous Missourians."
Advocacy group, Progress Missouri, has launched an online petition urging Rep. Tilley to reconsider his plans to induct Limbaugh in light of his most recent scandal. Yet Tilley has no plans to call off the ceremony, where Limbaugh's reportedly $10,000 bronze bust will be included to a gallery of other famous Missourians such as Negro League baseball great John "Buck" O'Neil and jazz icon Charlie Parker.
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Reporter Caught sleeping (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oshz-pMttAU&feature=player_embedded#ws)
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http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201203080019 (http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201203080019)
Can someone translate what these two dingbats are talking about?
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http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201203080019 (http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201203080019)
Can someone translate what these two dingbats are talking about?
I like how Hannity throws Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) on his list of nefarious characters Obama associated with when he was "community organizing."
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That's the most nonsensical stuff she's spewed to date.
Maybe the imminent showing of Game Change short circuited something in her cerebral cortex.
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That's the most nonsensical stuff she's spewed to date.
Maybe the imminent showing of Game Change short circuited something in her cerebral cortex.
Thank goodness! I came this >< close to clicking on that link before you clarified it was about Sarah Palin. That would have spoiled my day/weekend irreparably.
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Joe Arpaio continues to thumb his nose at fancy pants lieberal establishment BS.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/steven_seagal_joe_arpaio_deputies_sued_for_reality.php (http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/steven_seagal_joe_arpaio_deputies_sued_for_reality.php)
Actor Steven Seagal and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office are facing a lawsuit for allegedly conducting an “improper” raid on a man’s home and driving a tank through his front gate, while filming an episode of the reality show Steven Seagal: Lawman.
Jesus Llovera has filed a civil lawsuit against Seagal and members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for a raid conducted in March, 2011, based on allegations that Llovera was involved in cockfighting. Llovera filed a claim over the incident last fall.
Llovera, who previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of being present at a cockfight, was suspected of raising roosters and chickens on his property to fight, a felony, and also a violation of his probation.
The Sheriff’s Office, which used “a tank, a bomb robot and 40 deputies,” according to the Arizona Republic, accidentally killed over 100 of Llovera’s roosters and his 11-month old dog during the course of the raid.
Several cameras were there to film the incident for the A&E program. Afterwards, producers tried to get Llovera to sign a release for the episode. He refused.
Llovera’s suit claims that the raid was conducted for the purposes of the show, and is part of a pattern of Arpaio “arresting and prosecuting individuals without probable cause solely for the selfish and improper purposes of achieving personal and political gain through publicity,” the Republic reports.
“The search warrant was going to occur with or without Seagal,” sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dave Trombi previously said. “The search warrant was not based at all on the needs of the production company.”
The episode was supposed to air on A&E on January 4, but was pulled from the schedule.
Ed note: An earlier version of this piece said Llovera’s earlier claim was separate from the recently filed lawsuit. It was filed as part of the same process.
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Five minutes of dead air on Rush Limbaugh's show. Please let this be the end.
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(http://www.mittromney.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/1_oho_940px/Romney-2012-Happy-Birthday-Mitt-Deploy-03.jpg)
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I found out yesterday that Mitt is a huge fan of O BROTHER ,WHERE ART THOU. Maybe because of all the pomade jokes.
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Still no word from ICP, but Mitt continues to lock down the brain-truster vote with the endorsement of---Jeff Foxworthy! There's an "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" joke in there somewhere, but I'm not gonna be the schmoe who makes it.
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I found out yesterday that Mitt is a huge fan of O BROTHER ,WHERE ART THOU. Maybe because of all the pomade jokes.
Based on the rednecks in my high school's love of that movie, I've found that many people watch that movie for the old time music and Southern setting. Most miss the typical Coen wit and satire.
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http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/281471/candidates-favorite-flicks-tevi-troy (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/281471/candidates-favorite-flicks-tevi-troy)
James Frazier has a piece in today’s Washington Times on the favorite movies of our presidential candidates. For what it’s worth, the choices, in the order in which they appear in the article, are:
Herman Cain: The Godfather
Michele Bachmann: Braveheart, “or maybe Saving Private Ryan”
Newt Gingrich: “Probably” Casablanca
Rick Santorum: Field of Dreams
Ron Paul: “I don’t watch many movies”
Gary Johnson: Dr. Zhivago
Mitt Romney: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Rick Perry: Immortal Beloved
Barack Obama: Casablanca, The Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Herman Cain's trolling is hilarious.
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Perry's choice made me LOL.
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San Diego Chargers quarterback and NC State alum Philip Rivers has endorsed Rick Santorum.
“I am supporting Rick Santorum for president because of his stance on issues that attack vital Christian values our country was founded upon: no abortion, upholding traditional marriage, defending religious freedom, no euthanasia,” Rivers said in a statement.
Now that the election is over, what should we talk about?
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http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/11/santorums-war-on-teleprompters/ (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/11/santorums-war-on-teleprompters/)
Santorum's war on teleprompters
Posted by
CNN's Chris Welch
Gulfport, Mississippi (CNN) - Republican Rick Santorum has for quite a while taken issue with candidates on the trail who use a teleprompter. It's a dig on President Barack Obama, and more recently has been used to attack Mitt Romney - a man who's also been known to use a prompter or two.
But campaigning along the Gulf Coast in the Tuesday primary state of Mississippi, Santorum took it a step further, saying use of the digital word machine should be outlawed.
"See, I always believed that when you run for president of the United States, it should be illegal to read off a teleprompter," Santorum said at a Gulfport restaurant. "Because all you're doing is reading someone else's words to people."
He continued to elaborate on why he believes prompters should have no place in politics, saying that people should know that a candidate's words haven't been "focus-grouped" and that the words are the candidate's - not those of "pollsters and speechwriters."
"You're voting for someone who is going to be the leader of our government," Santorum said. "It's important for you to understand who that person is in their own words, see them, look them in the eye...hear what's (in their) heart."
"You're choosing a leader. A leader isn't just about what's written on a piece of paper."
Santorum is in the middle of a two-day campaign swing through Mississippi and Alabama - two states that hold their early nominating contests Tuesday.
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Keepin' it real.
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Santorum probably felt the same disappointment and disillusionment I did when I was told it wasn't really the Dukes Of Hazard driving that car.
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Being a moderate and a centrist is hard sometimes:
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-poll-obamas-a-muslim-to-many-gop-voters-in-alabama-mississippi-20120312,0,334348.story (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-poll-obamas-a-muslim-to-many-gop-voters-in-alabama-mississippi-20120312,0,334348.story)
What's the moderate position on "Obama is a Muslim"?
Where is the political center on "black people and white people shouldn't be able to marry each other"?
I mean, I'm still frustrated with "the liberal Chapel Hill town council's anti-business policies has caused two Wal-Marts to be erected outside of but within view of the Orange County line, showing a shocking lack of understanding of economics," don't get me wrong.
I just find it hard to equate that position with "interracial marriage should be against the law in 2012."
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The liberal Chapel Hill town government sent heavily armed and armored cops after a few peaceful squatters in a building that's been abandoned for years.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/13/1641362/activists-take-over-vacant-franklin.html (http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/13/1641362/activists-take-over-vacant-franklin.html)
Carrboro rules Chapel Hill drools
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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/11/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/ (http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/11/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/)
States receiving the most federal funding per tax dollar paid:
1. New Mexico: $2.63
2. West Virginia: $2.57
3. Mississippi: $2.47
4. District of Colombia: $2.41
5. Hawaii: $2.38
6. Alabama: $2.03
7. Alaska: $1.93
8. Montana: $1.92
9. South Carolina: $1.92
10. Maine: $1.78
It'd be cool if Obama had a spigot handle next to his desk labeled "federal funding to Mississippi and Alabama," but, unfortunately, he doesn't.
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There was a significant story last year about the amount of government assistance collected by those most against government assistance.
There's a line among pro-choicers that most pro-lifers are ok with abortion in cases of "rape, life of the mother, and me." That applies to most people who are vehemently against others.
In fact, the Tea Partiers react most strongly to government aid going to people they feel don't deserve it rather than the idea of government aid itself.
Look in the mirror, jerks.
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What's the moderate position on "Obama is a Muslim"?
In order for Obama to be Muslim, he'd have to be religious. The man is a closet agnostic. "That's above my pay grade."
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What's the moderate position on "Obama is a Muslim"?
In order for Obama to be Muslim, he'd have to be religious. The man is a closet agnostic. "That's above my pay grade."
Good point. I suppose in actuality I believe he is *nominally* Christian. Inasmuch as I believe most highly educated Americans are only nominally religious, to avoid the approbation that comes from declaring their actual feelings. I think his comments about the strength of his faith are pandering (not that that makes him unique among politicians).
The real answer, though, is that "I don't give a damn" is vastly insufficient to describe the level of how much I don't care and how unimportant this issue is to me. And further, that I am unbelievably annoyed that it seems to be so f*cking important to such a large swath of my fellow Americans.
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Kind of hilarious that those people are going to have to choose between two non-Christians (a Muslim and a Mormon) come election day.
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What's the moderate position on "Obama is a Muslim"?
In order for Obama to be Muslim, he'd have to be religious. The man is a closet agnostic. "That's above my pay grade."
Good point. I suppose in actuality I believe he is *nominally* Christian. Inasmuch as I believe most highly educated Americans are only nominally religious, to avoid the approbation that comes from declaring their actual feelings. I think his comments about the strength of his faith are pandering (not that that makes him unique among politicians).
The thing that's most amusing to me about the "Obama is a Muslim" is the fact that the people saying this were probably the same people complaining about the inflammatory Jeremiah Wright comments that came to light during the 2008 election. I don't think anybody's mistaking that guy for a Muslim, and everyone seemed OK with Obama being a Christian if it meant placing him in that church when Wright was saying those things, so what I want to ask those people is "Which is it?"
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What's the moderate position on "Obama is a Muslim"?
In order for Obama to be Muslim, he'd have to be religious. The man is a closet agnostic. "That's above my pay grade."
Good point. I suppose in actuality I believe he is *nominally* Christian. Inasmuch as I believe most highly educated Americans are only nominally religious, to avoid the approbation that comes from declaring their actual feelings. I think his comments about the strength of his faith are pandering (not that that makes him unique among politicians).
The thing that's most amusing to me about the "Obama is a Muslim" is the fact that the people saying this were probably the same people complaining about the inflammatory Jeremiah Wright comments that came to light during the 2008 election. I don't think anybody's mistaking that guy for a Muslim, and everyone seemed OK with Obama being a Christian if it meant placing him in that church when Wright was saying those things, so what I want to ask those people is "Which is it?"
That answer of course is "Secret Muslim".
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I suspect they probably do think Rev. Wright was a "Muslim" masquerading as a Christian. Here's the key: "Muslim" is less a matter of religious allegiances for them than it is a word for people they don't like who are b-l-a-c-k.
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Wright "dabbled in Islam" in the '60s (link (http://books.google.com/books?id=bmFZl4KAqA0C&pg=PA282&dq="dabbling+with+liquor,+Islam,+and+black+nationalism"&hl=en#v=onepage&q="dabbling with liquor%2C Islam%2C and black nationalism"&f=false)). I think that's enough for any self-respecting conservative to label Trinity United Church of Christ a mosque.
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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/11/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/ (http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/11/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/)
States receiving the most federal funding per tax dollar paid:
1. New Mexico: $2.63
2. West Virginia: $2.57
3. Mississippi: $2.47
4. District of Colombia: $2.41
5. Hawaii: $2.38
6. Alabama: $2.03
7. Alaska: $1.93
8. Montana: $1.92
9. South Carolina: $1.92
10. Maine: $1.78
It'd be cool if Obama had a spigot handle next to his desk labeled "federal funding to Mississippi and Alabama," but, unfortunately, he doesn't.
I don't get this, from that article: "Republican states, on average, received $1.46 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid; Democratic states, on average, received $1.16." Huh?
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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/11/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/ (http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/11/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/)
States receiving the most federal funding per tax dollar paid:
1. New Mexico: $2.63
2. West Virginia: $2.57
3. Mississippi: $2.47
4. District of Colombia: $2.41
5. Hawaii: $2.38
6. Alabama: $2.03
7. Alaska: $1.93
8. Montana: $1.92
9. South Carolina: $1.92
10. Maine: $1.78
It'd be cool if Obama had a spigot handle next to his desk labeled "federal funding to Mississippi and Alabama," but, unfortunately, he doesn't.
I don't get this, from that article: "Republican states, on average, received $1.46 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid; Democratic states, on average, received $1.16." Huh?
Yeah, the ratio between dollars received and dollars paid is pretty lop-sided; but I think the data was taken from 2009 -- when the unemployment rate (from what I remember) went above 10% -- so it's not that unbelievable.
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But I am talking about the fact that in all cases, for every dollar taken in, more than a dollar is dispensed. Even this old out-of-touch liberal understands that can't go on for more than a few minutes.
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I think low-population states are skewing the averages. California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachussetts, New Jersey, etc. all receive less than $1 for every tax dollar put in.
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Also, deficit spending, yeah? I don't think all 50 states are greater than 1, but the numbers don't have to add up exactly depending on what you count as "money sent to the states" when the United States as a whole is spending a pretty good clip more than it takes in in taxes.
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I think low-population states are skewing the averages. California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachussetts, New Jersey, etc. all receive less than $1 for every tax dollar put in.
I understand that, but all of these states are either Democratic states or Republican states. So in the AGGREGATE, according to the figures, all states collectively receive more than they pay. As a math teacher, I feel it necessary to say that renders the article incorrect.
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I think low-population states are skewing the averages. California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachussetts, New Jersey, etc. all receive less than $1 for every tax dollar put in.
I understand that, but all of these states are either Democratic states or Republican states. So in the AGGREGATE, according to the figures, all states collectively receive more than they pay. As a math teacher, I feel it necessary to say that renders the article incorrect.
This is as far as I followed the material back to the source: http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22685.html (http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22685.html) – technically, you could dig even deeper and try to make sense out of the government data. I am sure the Tax Foundation, which the Mother Jones article cites for its figures, has its own agenda and POV…
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I think low-population states are skewing the averages. California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachussetts, New Jersey, etc. all receive less than $1 for every tax dollar put in.
I understand that, but all of these states are either Democratic states or Republican states. So in the AGGREGATE, according to the figures, all states collectively receive more than they pay. As a math teacher, I feel it necessary to say that renders the article incorrect.
I'm not sure I understand. States that take in more than they give may be more numerous, but because the population in states that give more is so large, the overall federal intake will be about equal to its spending. Like, Alaska is counted as a single entity on par with California, whose population far exceeds it.
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Speaking of Mississippi:
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/a_romney_runs_through_us_03142012/ (http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/a_romney_runs_through_us_03142012/)
Campaigning in Mississippi last week, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney set off a mini-firestorm in our offices. Sometime between joking about grits and forking up some hay, down-south style, Romney uttered words that made us nearly sputter in response: "If the federal government were run more like here in Mississippi, the whole country would be a lot better off." Say what, Gov. Romney?!
See, we JFP folks cover the state government, and we watch it very closely up here in the capital city. How can we say this nicely? It's a bona fide mess. We were so astounded that four of our staffers launched a round of Twitter satire using hashtag #runitlikeMississippi to make the point that this state is no model for running anything, much less the federal government (here are our favorites).
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I think low-population states are skewing the averages. California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachussetts, New Jersey, etc. all receive less than $1 for every tax dollar put in.
I understand that, but all of these states are either Democratic states or Republican states. So in the AGGREGATE, according to the figures, all states collectively receive more than they pay. As a math teacher, I feel it necessary to say that renders the article incorrect.
I'm not sure I understand. States that take in more than they give may be more numerous, but because the population in states that give more is so large, the overall federal intake will be about equal to its spending. Like, Alaska is counted as a single entity on par with California, whose population far exceeds it.
I guess I am the one who doesn't understand. Say we're at a big party where 50 men and 50 women are present. We ask each person at the party to give us one dollar. Then we give every man in the room 2 dollars, and we give every woman in the room 3 dollars. How is this sustainable? And how is it different from giving Democratic states more than they pay in, and giving Republican states more than they pay in?
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I've been thinking that this problem might stem from confusing and/or mixing up relations (ratio of dollars received to dollars paid) with absolute numbers (absolute number of dollars received from the federal pool versus absolute number of dollars paid into the federal pool). Could that be it?
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Is this the year that the Christian right breaks from the Republican party at least for an election? I can't see Dobson supporting Romney, nor do I think he will stay quiet. I look at family members who are hardcore Republicans because they believe it is the Christian party and I just can't see them voting for a Mormon. That said, a Christian 3rd party would have no chance of winning, and Obama would win in what would probably be the biggest landslide ever if it wasn't going to be already.
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Rick Santorum Mentioned on the Sopranos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ZGi3bDkOM#ws)
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Is this the year that the Christian right breaks from the Republican party at least for an election? I can't see Dobson supporting Romney, nor do I think he will stay quiet. I look at family members who are hardcore Republicans because they believe it is the Christian party and I just can't see them voting for a Mormon. That said, a Christian 3rd party would have no chance of winning, and Obama would win in what would probably be the biggest landslide ever if it wasn't going to be already.
They'll vote for a Mormon over a Muslim. They may not like Romney, but evangelical Christians will hold their nose and vote for him in the general election.
I'm actually more surprised that so many evangelicals are willing to vote so enthusiastically for a Catholic. My family is Baptist and growing up all I used to hear was how horrible Catholics are.
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Is this the year that the Christian right breaks from the Republican party at least for an election? I can't see Dobson supporting Romney, nor do I think he will stay quiet. I look at family members who are hardcore Republicans because they believe it is the Christian party and I just can't see them voting for a Mormon. That said, a Christian 3rd party would have no chance of winning, and Obama would win in what would probably be the biggest landslide ever if it wasn't going to be already.
They'll vote for a Mormon over a Muslim. They may not like Romney, but evangelical Christians will hold their nose and vote for him in the general election.
I'm actually more surprised that so many evangelicals are willing to vote so enthusiastically for a Catholic. My family is Baptist and growing up all I used to hear was how horrible Catholics are.
I think the thing that allows them to do it is a little technique called Total Hypocrisy. Throw in some Fundamental Attribution Error, Reflexive Denial and Doublethink and you have social conservatism in a nutshell.
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Yeah, I grew up Baptist as well, and Catholicism was a cult. Praying to Mary and needing humans to talk to God, extra books of the Bible and all that. It is surprising that fundamentalists aren't batting an eye at Santorum's religion.
I just can't see my grandparents voting for Romney. They sure as heck aren't going to vote Obama. I really believe that there will be a 3rd party candidate... I don't think it will be Santorum because of the implications it would bring to his career, but somebody will pop up for people who won't vote for Romney due to his religion.
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I was on the other side of it, I grew up Catholic and certain kids weren't allowed to play with us. Their houses were also dark on Halloween, which I kind of thought was a shame.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/22/santorum-might-as-well-have-obama-over-romney/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/22/santorum-might-as-well-have-obama-over-romney/)
SAN ANTONIO – Presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isn't the GOP nominee and for a second day compared rival Mitt Romney to an Etch A Sketch toy.
Santorum reiterated an argument he has made before: The former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast.
"You win by giving people a choice," Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. "You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who's just going to be a little different than the person in there."
Santorum added: "If they're going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future."
And he's probably going to end up endorsing Romney after all this is over with. The backpedaling should be hilarious.
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And he's probably going to end up endorsing Romney after all this is over with. The backpedaling should be hilarious.
Maybe there's a third party candidate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_third_party_and_independent_presidential_candidates,_2012) he'll endorse. Constitution Party, anyone?
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Speaking of the Catholic Church:
Dutch Catholic Church Castrated Abused Children for ‘Homosexual Behavior’
At least one boy under the age of 16 was castrated to ‘help’ his homosexual feelings while in Catholic church care in the 1950s, the NRC reported on Saturday.
But there are indications at least 10 other boys were also castrated, the paper said. The claims were not included in the Deetman report on sexual abuse within the Catholic church published at the end of last year.
The paper says the one confirmed case concerned a boy - Henk Heithuis - who reported being sexually abused by priests to the police in 1956. After giving evidence, he was placed in a Catholic-run psychiatric institution where he was then castrated because of his ‘homosexual behaviour’
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/03/catholic_church_abuse_at_least.php (http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/03/catholic_church_abuse_at_least.php)
See also http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/world/europe/dutch-church-accused-of-castrating-10-young-men.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/world/europe/dutch-church-accused-of-castrating-10-young-men.html)
Quick, talk about Shariah some more!
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How long has Piers Morgan lived here?
3 months max. Dude needs to be deported.
You guys read on Huffington about his Twitter war with Keith Olbermann? Keith seems like he's imploding, to be honest.
Keith isn't imploding by the way, it's just that the surrounding universe is expanding so it gives Keith the appearence of imploding.
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I swear I saw Olbermann wearing a sweatshirt on his Current show before the Treyvon Martin murder happened. It looked like he was starting to give up.
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I understand Keith is in negotiations with WFMU.
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I understand Keith is in negotiations with WFMU.
He can be the next Weev (Weave?)
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Aw, I was glad to see him go but this almost makes me miss the dumb bastard:
A bad back doomed any chance Perry stood to break through. It became an open secret that he was using painkillers in sufficient dosages to keep him standing through the two-hour debates. The manager of a rival campaign was at a urinal in an empty bathroom in Hanover, New Hampshire, before the Bloomberg News debate on October 11, when he heard someone come through the door loudly singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Wondering who was making all the noise, the campaign manager turned his head and saw, to his surprise, the governor of Texas. Perry came down the row of about twenty urinals and stood companionably close by. Nonplussed, the campaign manager made a hasty exit; as the bathroom door closed, he could hear Perry still merrily singing away: "I-I-I've been working on the ra-a-i-i-l-road, all-l-l the live-long day . . ."
http://gawker.com/5898350/is-rick-perry-a-creepy-pee+er-or-just-high-on-pills (http://gawker.com/5898350/is-rick-perry-a-creepy-pee+er-or-just-high-on-pills)
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The only song Rick Perry knows, like Alex De Large and "Singin' in the Rain."
Some more Romney weirdness:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/quoted-ann-romney-wants-to-unzip-the-real-mitt/2012/04/02/gIQASROBrS_blog.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/quoted-ann-romney-wants-to-unzip-the-real-mitt/2012/04/02/gIQASROBrS_blog.html)
“I guess we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out.”
— Ann Romney refuting the notion that her husband is “stiff,” in an interview with Baltimore’s WBAL radio Monday. “He is not,” she said. “He’s funny, he’s engaging he’s witty. He is always playing jokes. When I met him as a teenager, he was the life of the party. . . That’s part of what I am doing, is letting people see the other side of Mitt.”
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The only song Rick Perry knows, like Alex De Large and "Singin' in the Rain."
Some more Romney weirdness:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/quoted-ann-romney-wants-to-unzip-the-real-mitt/2012/04/02/gIQASROBrS_blog.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/quoted-ann-romney-wants-to-unzip-the-real-mitt/2012/04/02/gIQASROBrS_blog.html)
“I guess we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out.”
— Ann Romney refuting the notion that her husband is “stiff,” in an interview with Baltimore’s WBAL radio Monday. “He is not,” she said. “He’s funny, he’s engaging he’s witty. He is always playing jokes. When I met him as a teenager, he was the life of the party. . . That’s part of what I am doing, is letting people see the other side of Mitt.”
People who 'like to play jokes' are almost never funny. 'I switched your cell phone to Spanish, haha.'
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Jokester Mitt:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/mitt-romney-wisconsin-humorous-story_n_1386383.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/mitt-romney-wisconsin-humorous-story_n_1386383.html)
One of [the] most humorous I think relates to my father. You may remember my father, George Romney, was president of an automobile company called American Motors. ... They had a factory in Michigan, and they had a factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and another one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And as the president of the company he decided to close the factory in Michigan and move all the production to Wisconsin. Now later he decided to run for governor of Michigan and so you can imagine that having closed the factory and moved all the production to Wisconsin was a very sensitive issue to him, for his campaign.
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Jokester Mitt:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/mitt-romney-wisconsin-humorous-story_n_1386383.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/mitt-romney-wisconsin-humorous-story_n_1386383.html)
One of [the] most humorous I think relates to my father. You may remember my father, George Romney, was president of an automobile company called American Motors. ... They had a factory in Michigan, and they had a factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and another one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And as the president of the company he decided to close the factory in Michigan and move all the production to Wisconsin. Now later he decided to run for governor of Michigan and so you can imagine that having closed the factory and moved all the production to Wisconsin was a very sensitive issue to him, for his campaign.
LOL
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Reminds me of the hilarious story of when my grandma was sick and I mispronounced 'preexisting condition' after hearing the grownups say it.
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A Fox News anchor tweeting a link to a groundbreaking story:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5348/7043089975_dd33ccf9ec.jpg)
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Hot dang, Heather, you got yourself a real lid-blower there! That's some real journalism ... And also she's a pretty blond lady! Can you believe it?
I did not follow the link to "Godfather politics". Is that Herman Cain related?
Ms. Childers has learned well from her employers: As long you phrase your libelous fictional bullshit in the form of a question, it's all good.
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I wonder if it was Gibbs or Axelrod who made the call to Chelsea.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/04/17/ted-nugent-declares-i-will-either-be-dead-or-in-jail-if-obama-is-re-elected/ (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/04/17/ted-nugent-declares-i-will-either-be-dead-or-in-jail-if-obama-is-re-elected/)
Ted Nugent is hitting the pavement for GOP president hopeful Mitt Romney. The rocker called for attendees of the National Rifle Association’s convention to go out and recruit thousands of people to vote for Romney in the coming election. Nugent said, ”Our government is wiping its a– with the Constitution.” During an on-site interview, he also told the crowd, ”We’ve got four Supreme Court justices who don’t believe in the Constitution. Does everybody here know that four of the Supreme Court justices not only determined you don’t have the right to keep and bear arms, four Supreme Court justices signed their name to a declaration that Americans have no fundamental right to self-defense? That sounds like a stoned hippie. That doesn’t sound like a Supreme Court anything.” The musician went on to say: ”If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” A representative for Nugent didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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”If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”
Yet another reason to vote for Obama. Come on, people, do your part!
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So Ted's got a Secret Service detail on him now. Gary covered this topic pretty well on his show tonite.
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”If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”
Yet another reason to vote for Obama. Come on, people, do your part!
+10000000000000000000000000000
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”If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”
Yet another reason to vote for Obama. Come on, people, do your part!
+10000000000000000000000000000
%
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In a campaign stop Tuesday outside Pittsburgh, Mitt Romney made what many locals considered a tasteless remark about cookies from a local landmark bakery.
With a plate of cookies in front of him, Mitt Romney speaks at a Tax Day roundtable event at the Bethel Park Community Center on April 17, 2012 in Bethel Park, Pa. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, met with four couples at the Bethel Park Community Center to talk about the deficit, health care and education. The meeting got off to a rocky start, however, when the governor sat down at a picnic table set with food and made an apparent attempt at humor.
“I’m not sure about these cookies,” Mr. Romney said. “They don’t look like you made them,” he said turning to one of the women at the table. “Did you make those cookies? You didn’t, did you? No. No. They came from the local 7-Eleven bakery or wherever.” (The video from the local CBS station is here.)
The cookies, in fact, were donated from the popular Bethel Bakery around the corner from the community center, and once Mr. Romney’s comment was broadcast on local airwaves offended residents took to Facebook and Twitter to complain. The episode was inevitably called “CookieGate.” The bakery is offering a CookieGate special Wednesday and Thursday: free half dozen cookies with every dozen purchased.
“Initially, we were incensed that he would think that Bethel Bakery is comparable to the 7-Eleven,” said bakery owner John Walsh, a Republican. Mr. Walsh, whose parents opened the bakery in 1955, said he thinks the comment was made in jest and would like Gov. Romney to try the bakery’s offerings in the future.
But some bitterness remained. “Let him eat cake next time,” Mr. Walsh said.
Margaret Chabris, a 7-Eleven spokeswoman, said people at the company got “a chuckle” out of the incident and didn’t take Mr. Romney’s remarks as being critical of the chain. “Actually Mitt Romney got it right,” she said. “There are bakeries dedicated to making cookies every day for our 5,500 stores.”
Haha. What a dick.
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Forgive me, but that article started out promising and let me down bigtime.
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Natural politician, that guy.
It doesn't matter if they serve you stale Lorna Doone shortbread cookies smeared with e. coli--you flash a big smile and gush about the delicious home-baked cookies, you dolt.
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A dystopian comic book, starring a one-eyed, half-cyborg Sean Hannity:
(http://accstudios.com/i/lfa_1_page12.jpg)
(http://www.the-trades.com/hprice/Comics/LiberalityCover3.jpg)
(http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2006/03/12/357841/lfa2page24.jpg)
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(http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sleepingstudent.png)
Mitt Romney electrifies the Otterbein University student body with a barn-burner about how they should stop whining about the rates on their student loans and go borrow 20 G's from their parents to start a business, like his good friend Jimmy John, of Jimmy John's fame, did.
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"Oh, and one more thing--I'm bringing back the draft. That oughta wake you little punks up. Iran in '13, bitches!"
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I remember him saying a couple months ago that anyone could find an affordable college if they just "shopped around" (he said that this was proof that the free market worked), and if you somehow couldn't afford college, you could just get a scholarship by serving in the military. So many amazing options.
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More on Mitt's Otterbein stem-winder:
The central theme Romney drove home was the fact that “sometimes appearances do not conform with the facts or reality,” and he applied it to such topics as the office supply industry, the intricacies of tax filing law and Dodd-Frank financial legislation.
“I have several examples of disparity between appearance and reality,” Romney said, launching into a lengthy monologue about his time as a private equity investor, when he discovered — to his critics’ chagrin! — that potential annual savings on office supplies were significant enough to justify an investment in bigger stores that could make their profits on higher sales volume rather than bigger mark-ups.
“What we found was they were spending a lot more than that I thought on copy paper and toner and supplies and software and so forth,” he said.
I hope the Otterbein University suicide hotline is staffing up, because once those heedless nappers start waking up and finding out what they missed, call volume is going to spike through the roof.
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He probably realizes that when he's speaking in front of college students, going after Obama like a vicious attack dog won't go over too well, so his only option is to resort to sleep-inducing tales about office supplies. Sucks for the college students. I'm sure most of them would rather just listen to his paranoid wingnut routine, given how painfully boring the alternative is.
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You think? I dunno, if it were me, as soon as a speaker announced as his thesis that “sometimes appearances do not conform with the facts or reality," my ears would be all pricked up, like "OK, Bub, you've got my attention now--let's see you pull this one off!"
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I would like to announce that I am voting against the NC anti-everything but one man-one woman marriage amendment. I imagine that other Tar Heel and transplanted Tar Heel FOTs will be doing the same.
I suspect it's going to pass, but by a lot less than it would have even a year ago. And that it will be overturned in the next, oh, 15 years.
If it fails, that will be the proudest I've ever been of my fellow citizens, and I love North Carolina.
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Hear, hear. My carpetbagger vote counts as much as the others. I've heard more people have a negative view of the amendment than I thought. There is always hope!
And we can always look forward to this:
Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Ted Nugent Concert in Charlotte on May 17 at 7 p.m. (Up to 49% Off). Two Options Available.
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Salute!
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The further good news is that somewhere between several and many prominent local conservatives have taken positions against the amendment because of its overly broad language, which will kill the idea of civil unions for both gays and straights, as well as make life difficult for companies and municipalities that want to offer benefits.
Many people who are for the amendment are also for civil unions - they just don't understand what the amendment does. And 10% of likely voters believe the amendment will LEGALIZE gay marriage.
One key learning here is that it should be harder to alter the North Carolina Constitution. However, in all fairness, all this is driven by the GOP takeover in 2010. The NC Democrats picked the worst year ever (redistricting, a weak governor) to give up decades of one party rule.
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Paul vs. Paul: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/91689761/ (http://www.bloomberg.com/video/91689761/)
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Mitt Romney saved someone's daughter:
Saved (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5WI1FrUNzA&feature=youtu.be#ws)
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However, in all fairness, all this is driven by the GOP takeover in 2010. The NC Democrats picked the worst year ever (redistricting, a weak governor) to give up decades of one party rule.
I've been surprised to find that a lot of the Southern States have been Democratic until not very long ago. A lot went Republican from the late 1990s on out.
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However, in all fairness, all this is driven by the GOP takeover in 2010. The NC Democrats picked the worst year ever (redistricting, a weak governor) to give up decades of one party rule.
I've been surprised to find that a lot of the Southern States have been Democratic until not very long ago. A lot went Republican from the late 1990s on out.
That's because the Democratic Party was the Party of Horrible Racism in the South until the 1970s - because of Lincoln. Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond were Democrats until the 70s.
North Carolina is still more conservative than, say, the Northeast, but 1) an influx of people from around the country and the world, 2) rising urbanization, and, 3) let's face it, the daily dying off of people who were once segregationists and birth of people for whom gay rights is just common sense have moved us in a more moderate direction.
Also, North Carolina in specific was more chill than the other states throughout the Civil Rights era - NC is associated with (successful) lunch-counter sit-ins rather than fire hoses. Even the angry oldsters are mostly on-board with maintaining some of that reputation.
Still...
N.C. Preacher Tells Parents to Crack Wrists, Punch Effeminate Children (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfOr8rnc6Yk#ws)
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Jim Hightower says:
Stand Up for Main Street gives you a chance to join some real characters — funny folks like Ray Romano, Marc Maron, Dana Gould, Wendy Liebman, Rick Overton, Erik Rivera and Morgan Murphy — in support of Public Citizen’s fight against the corporate greedheads and the political boneheads.
It’s all happening this coming Sunday, April 29, in Los Angeles, California.
Last year, the event sold out, so rustle up your tickets right now!
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Jim Hightower says:
Stand Up for Main Street gives you a chance to join some real characters — funny folks like Ray Romano, Marc Maron, Dana Gould, Wendy Liebman, Rick Overton, Erik Rivera and Morgan Murphy — in support of Public Citizen’s fight against the corporate greedheads and the political boneheads.
It’s all happening this coming Sunday, April 29, in Los Angeles, California.
Last year, the event sold out, so rustle up your tickets right now!
Uhhhh....
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Jim Hightower says:
Stand Up for Main Street gives you a chance to join some real characters — funny folks like Ray Romano, Marc Maron, Dana Gould, Wendy Liebman, Rick Overton, Erik Rivera and Morgan Murphy — in support of Public Citizen’s fight against the corporate greedheads and the political boneheads.
It’s all happening this coming Sunday, April 29, in Los Angeles, California.
Last year, the event sold out, so rustle up your tickets right now!
Uhhhh....
Haven't you heard of time machines? Jeez.
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Jim Hightower says:
Stand Up for Main Street gives you a chance to join some real characters — funny folks like Ray Romano, Marc Maron, Dana Gould, Wendy Liebman, Rick Overton, Erik Rivera and Morgan Murphy — in support of Public Citizen’s fight against the corporate greedheads and the political boneheads.
It’s all happening this coming Sunday, April 29, in Los Angeles, California.
Last year, the event sold out, so rustle up your tickets right now!
Uhhhh....
My paste is very slow.
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Fair enough. Sometimes I leave tabs open for weeks before getting back to them.
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Re: the North Carolina marriage amendment and our failed experiment in democracy:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/05/marriage-amendment-still-leads-by-14.html (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/05/marriage-amendment-still-leads-by-14.html)
Facepalm quote:
The problem for opponents is that only 40% of voters actually know that the amendment bans both gay marriage and civil unions. With those voters the amendment is failing by a 60-38 margin. But with voters who think all the amendment does is ban gay marriage, 27% of the electorate, it's passing by a 72-27 margin. And with voters who admit they don't actually know what the amendment does, 26% of the electorate, it leads by a 64-28 margin. The more voters understand the full implications of the amendment the less likely they are to support it, but the clock is ticking.
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Further, 10% of voters believe it will *legalize* gay marriage. That is not a joke.
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Well, finally some good news! Florida justices seem finally to be showing some doubts about the principle behind that "Stand Your Ground" law!
Uh...when the shooter is black, that is. And the victim is her abusive husband: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/justice/ac360-stand-your-ground-law/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/justice/ac360-stand-your-ground-law/index.html)
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Well, finally some good news! Florida justices seem finally to be showing some doubts about the principle behind that "Stand Your Ground" law!
Uh...when the shooter is black, that is. And the victim is her abusive husband: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/justice/ac360-stand-your-ground-law/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/justice/ac360-stand-your-ground-law/index.html)
On the plus side, her ex-husband sounds like a real peach.
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NC'ers, get out and vote on Prop 1 NOW! Polls close at 7:00 PM and I have no catty comment to follow up with.
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I voted in the Indiana Republican primary yesterday, mainly to vote against the Tea Party challenger to Lugar, Mourdock (actually I like Lugar on his own merits). A lot of good that did, the Indiana GOP dumped Lugar, perhaps swayed by Mourdock attack ads pointing out that disco was popular when Lugar was first elected.
I voted for Ron Paul for president, too, which was kind of fun. Now I get to vote against Romney twice.
I left every other box unchecked. I could have voted for a Jake 'the Snake' for one of the offices, but opted not to.
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I had early-voted agin' our famous Amendment. It ended up passing 61-39, which is pretty vast. You can't overcome that sort of gap by comfortably thinking to yourself "well, they didn't know what it meant" or "we'll reverse that in 4 years."
At the same time, my own region was the only significant region to vote against, along with the counties that have major college presences. The single most statistically relevant factor in predicting how a person voted on the amendment was level of education - more than age, more than party, more than religious preference.
I don't correlate education with intelligence, necessarily. I correlate it with experience of worldviews beyond your own, and with mixing with all types of people. There were no "gay people" at my high school in the early 90s (like there are no gay people in Iran), and I went to high school in a relatively progressive community. Now there are plenty of gay people there and it's no big deal. I bet there are "zero" gay people in a lot of the towns that voted overwhelmingly for the amendment.
I'm convinced, based on demographic trends, that we will all get there eventually. Although Alabama just took its anti-miscegenation law off the books in the 2000s.
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Plus, you are still allowed to pick up road kill off the street in Tennessee and take it home and eat it.
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I am angry at people who are angry at people for being angry with other peoples' politics.
Just FYI.
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I'm a fan of the show, and I thought I'd share that I just launched a website called http://the99percentvotes.com (http://the99percentvotes.com) for people to propose, discuss, and submit on public policy ideas.
If it catches on, I think it can make a big difference in getting government to work for the people. Check it up, sign up, and let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Greg
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Holy hell...my head hurts from watching this.
Bigoted Church Member Defends Pastor Worley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUXDKnL4xGE#ws)
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There is a certain price you pay when you turn your beliefs and your mind over to someone or something else.
I wonder - seriously - if it's worth it. It must offer something for so many people to do it.
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There is a certain price you pay when you turn your beliefs and your mind over to someone or something else.
I wonder - seriously - if it's worth it. It must offer something for so many people to do it.
It's so much easier than thinking
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There is a certain price you pay when you turn your beliefs and your mind over to someone or something else.
I wonder - seriously - if it's worth it. It must offer something for so many people to do it.
It's so much easier than thinking
Ya think?
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Is there anything that the modern conservative movement has to offer regarding politics & policies to take on today's problems?
Serious question.
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However, in all fairness, all this is driven by the GOP takeover in 2010. The NC Democrats picked the worst year ever (redistricting, a weak governor) to give up decades of one party rule.
I've been surprised to find that a lot of the Southern States have been Democratic until not very long ago. A lot went Republican from the late 1990s on out.
That's because the Democratic Party was the Party of Horrible Racism in the South until the 1970s - because of Lincoln. Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond were Democrats until the 70s.
North Carolina is still more conservative than, say, the Northeast, but 1) an influx of people from around the country and the world, 2) rising urbanization, and, 3) let's face it, the daily dying off of people who were once segregationists and birth of people for whom gay rights is just common sense have moved us in a more moderate direction.
Also, North Carolina in specific was more chill than the other states throughout the Civil Rights era - NC is associated with (successful) lunch-counter sit-ins rather than fire hoses. Even the angry oldsters are mostly on-board with maintaining some of that reputation.
Still...
Yeah, I knew this. Still astounding that the transformation that started in the late 1960s with Dems vis-à-vis the GOP with respect to changing places in being champions of liberalism/conservatism took about three decades to complete in the South. A lot was still Dem land in the South until the late 1990s.
In that vein, that history is still rewritten: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/05/national-review-civil-rights-williamson (http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/05/national-review-civil-rights-williamson)
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Holy hell...my head hurts from watching this.
Bigoted Church Member Defends Pastor Worley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUXDKnL4xGE#ws)
Bless her tiny little heart.
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Mitt Romney Is Amazed By WaWa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvJPG6KURV8#)
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Hate Romney, but that WaWa thing only proves people's point about how the media creates their own narrative by selective editing. There are so many things to hit Romney with, this isn't one of them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/msnbc-faces-pressure-on-romneys-wawa-moment/2012/06/19/gJQApHH0nV_blog.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/msnbc-faces-pressure-on-romneys-wawa-moment/2012/06/19/gJQApHH0nV_blog.html)
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True enough, if there's a story there it should have been the congenital liar's bullshit story about an optometrist having to fill out a 33-page form to change his address. That doesn't even pass the laugh test, but Mediaite went ahead and checked. The form is two pages long: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbcs-andrea-mitchell-doesnt-apologize-for-romney-wawa-editing/ (http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbcs-andrea-mitchell-doesnt-apologize-for-romney-wawa-editing/)
But big media would much rather get snarky about a candidate's eccentricities than come out and call him a liar. They think that gets them credit for being "plucky" without having to deal with the blowback that would come from actually affirming facts.
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There is a certain price you pay when you turn your beliefs and your mind over to someone or something else.
I wonder - seriously - if it's worth it. It must offer something for so many people to do it.
It's worth it if you've studied the Bible and have made a well thought out decision to believe. The problem is a large number of Christians only have a Sunday School knowledge of a faith they are basing their life on and then telling people they need to live that way as well.
My mother in law was adamant that we get our son baptized. We did just because it didn't matter either way to us, but she told us we had to because John 3:16 said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him and is baptized shall not perish but have eternal life." Yeah, that's not how the verse goes. It says nothing about being baptized and especially nothing about infant baptism. But this is how it is. People have this very basic knowledge of the Bible and have never really studied it let alone read more than the Easter and Christmas story and feel they can tell other people that they should live by it.
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Yes. For the record (and I suppose that on the Internet one needs to be clear about these things), I was referring to the particular woman in the particular broadcast, who seemed to be unable to do anything but parrot what her vicious preacher had said.
I was not intending to tar the entire Christian faith - or, writ larger, all people who belong to a faith - with that brush. I think people get where they're going in all kinds of ways. Not my business.
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It's worth it if you've studied the Bible and have made a well thought out decision to believe. The problem is a large number of Christians only have a Sunday School knowledge of a faith they are basing their life on and then telling people they need to live that way as well.
This implies a superiority I find offensive.
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It's worth it if you've studied the Bible and have made a well thought out decision to believe. The problem is a large number of Christians only have a Sunday School knowledge of a faith they are basing their life on and then telling people they need to live that way as well.
This implies a superiority I find offensive.
Get right or get left behind, Fred.
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It's worth it if you've studied the Bible and have made a well thought out decision to believe. The problem is a large number of Christians only have a Sunday School knowledge of a faith they are basing their life on and then telling people they need to live that way as well.
This implies a superiority I find offensive.
How do you mean? What I am implying is that the vast majority of Christians have only a basic knowledge of their faith and then some of these people want to impose their beliefs on others even though they probably have no idea if their beliefs are actually Bible based. Christianity is basically a folktale for them, they just know what was passed down to them. It's one thing to have childlike faith, but then again a child isn't going to be going to the voting booth to tell someone they can't live their lives like they want to.
The Westboros, the Terry Jones, the Pat Robertson's of the world need to have some of the blame placed on them but it's just like politics. People have these firm beliefs and they aren't based on anything but hearsay. They don't read the Bible to see what things actually say, they don't read the Constitution when they spout off how things are unconstitutional.
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I'm with you Gilly.
People who have read less of their holy book than I have, somehow think they have a spiritual superiority.
And from that postion of superiority feel they must "save me" from my less rightous path.
I'd tell them to go to hell but I don't believe in it.
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Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says (http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/28/nation/la-na-religion-survey-20100928)
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I'd still say there are more Christians that know the Christian faith better than atheists and agnostics, but percentage wise it probably goes to the latter.
But in terms of knowing about religion as a broad term, I'd definitely agree. I went to a Baptist church growing up that wasn't progressive but it wasn't your typical conservative Baptist church either. My youth pastor took 2 months taking us to different churches of other denominations and holy places of other religions. We came back to our church and discussed the differences, but never once did anybody teaching us say how they were wrong. I remember some parents being upset, I think one family left the church if I remember right, but most thought it was a fantastic idea. It's important to know how your faith differs from others, but most churches just take an us vs. them approach.
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Westboro sounds kind of like Westeros
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The people's favorite! Dig that Applause Face.
Mitt Romney Gets A Round Of Applause (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSmIvQOGHOc#ws)
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The people's favorite! Dig that Applause Face.
I'll bet you everybody makes the same sort of face in such a situation.
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The people's favorite! Dig that Applause Face.
I'll bet you everybody makes the same sort of face in such a situation.
It's a shame there's no way to verify that. If only there were a network of machines capable of showing us videos of people being applauded!
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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8157339/view/full/qa-batman-beetlejuice-star-michael-keaton-mister-rogers-fly-fishing-roles-turned-more (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8157339/view/full/qa-batman-beetlejuice-star-michael-keaton-mister-rogers-fly-fishing-roles-turned-more)
Daniel: All right. (3) You ever meet a president?
Michael: Clinton and Obama and … uh … didn't meet Carter. Clinton and Obama.
Daniel: And?
Michael: Yeah, first words out of Obama's mouth — and again, I was just meeting the man who was about to become the leader of the free world. He's walking down the hallway, arms outstretched like this to greet me — and his first sentence to me was, "Why don't you make more movies?"
[Both laugh.]
Michael: And you have to backpedal a bit, like, whoa man, I thought we were going to talk about a whole bunch of other stuff.
Daniel: He probably wants to talk about movies; you want to talk about politics.
Michael: Exactly, exactly. He's a huge Beetlejuice fan, a huge fan actually. "Man, you've got to keep making movies, how come you're not doing it?" I had to talk about that for a minute and then say, "Hey I want to talk to you about this environmental thing, [laughs] but by that time, he's thinking, Oh man, that's a drag, I want to talk about movies.
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I heard Obama was very high when he watched Beetlejuice (and perhaps when he met Keaton as well).
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(http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/romney-pins-olympics.jpg)
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(http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/romney-pins-olympics.jpg)
I've seen those pins pop up on eBay from time to time. A bit creepy if you ask me.
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I've seen those pins pop up on eBay from time to time. A bit creepy if you ask me.
They seem to be modeled after those 1970s and 80s saturday morning cartoons that were entirely soulless, devoid of joy, and crafted in complete contempt of their target audience.
So, pretty appropriate really ...
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...as parodied by Robert Smigel's 'TV Funhouse' that was on SNL, exactly.
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(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/c48.0.403.403/p403x403/481930_455445231156789_1684219871_n.jpg)
Good God, what is Obama doing!?
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(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/c48.0.403.403/p403x403/481930_455445231156789_1684219871_n.jpg)
Good God, what is Obama doing!?
In no possible world is that a reasonable graphic representation. Will there ever be a backlash against things like this, or is this just how it is from now on?
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Math is hard! Let's go to the mall!
(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/c48.0.403.403/p403x403/481930_455445231156789_1684219871_n.jpg)
Good God, what is Obama doing!?
In no possible world is that a reasonable graphic representation. Will there ever be a backlash against things like this, or is this just how it is from now on?
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So Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan as his VP candidate. This could either be an incredible stroke of genius or one of the dumber moves in recent political history. It doesn't seem like there's any in-between here.
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Can't see this being anything but a disaster. Obama's going to have a field day with RyanCare.
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Can't see this being anything but a disaster. Obama's going to have a field day with RyanCare.
It seems as if this selection was a calculated move intended to fire up the far right base of the party. The thing is, Republicans were going to vote for Romney regardless of who he picked for VP. With Paul Ryan, Romney may have just alienated a huge chunk of the senior voting bloc. And if there's anything seniors love more than voting, it's their Medicare. Ultimately, I believe Romney has a lot more to lose than gain with this pick.
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John McCain and others who for some reason feel obliged to defend the Sarah Palin pick like to say she "fired up the party's base." Yeah--then the other voters saw what your party's base looks like when it's fired up, and headed the other way in droves.
This was a train wreck. Romney wanted to talk about how (or at least give the impression that) he was going to create prosperity in 2013; now he's going to spend the next three months talking about how important it is to gut Social Security in 2023.
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His tax plan is pretty awesome too.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/files/2012/08/cbpp-ryan.jpeg.jpg)
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Not to mention his commitment to cutting the deficit!
(http://m.static.newsvine.com/servista/imagesizer?file=salgentileC1E6F6B7-00D6-A356-3043-9C378CAF89C7.jpg&width=600)
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(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/578723_335109469911855_357191177_n.jpg)
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I think I should rent a bus and give senior citizens rides to the polls on election day.
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I think I should rent a bus and give senior citizens rides to the polls on election day.
Yea!
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I think I should rent a bus and give senior citizens rides to the polls on election day.
Whatever you do, make sure that they bring their ID's with them.
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The only thing that the Paul Ryan pick achieves that probably no other choice would is that, because of the sheer absurdity of the Ryan Plan, it puts someone other than Romney in the spotlight. Rubio or Christie or even Scott Walker, as "exciting" as they are, probably wouldn't get people to stop talking about the tax returns. Maybe all Romney wants at this point is for people to just shut up about his "personal finances" (maybe he feels it's damaging the prestigious Romney name) -- he'll let Ryan take center stage, hope the Democrats find the Ryan Plan more interesting than his tax returns, lose this thing quietly, and retreat back to his mansion.
Or maybe he's just really stupid and thinks Paul Ryan is going to help him win the election.
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Also: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/mitt-romney-would-pay-082-percent-in-taxes-under-paul-ryans-plan/261027/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/mitt-romney-would-pay-082-percent-in-taxes-under-paul-ryans-plan/261027/)
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(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/391383_335120253244110_998245434_n.jpg)
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/)
* Ryan listens to Rage Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin
Wait, what?
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(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/484538_335151649907637_1392268787_n.jpg)
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/)
* Ryan listens to Rage Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin
Wait, what?
He is also a catfish noodler and bowhunter. Also, I am going to entirely check out from reality from this point forward. If I was made of stronger stuff, I would. There is a big part of me that never wants to look at a newspaper (or the online equivalent of a newspaper) again.
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Apparently Mitt has no problem rooting through someone else's tax returns.
http://mediamatters.org/mobile/video/2012/08/12/stephanopoulos-grills-pawlenty-over-the-several/189287 (http://mediamatters.org/mobile/video/2012/08/12/stephanopoulos-grills-pawlenty-over-the-several/189287)
Good one George!
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"20 year old tax returns." What a dishonest piece of garbage.
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Catfish noodler?
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Gotcha questions rock. Has Stephanopoulos had other moments like this over the years?
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https://twitter.com/PaulRyanGosling
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As the FOTs resident more-conservative-than-you-but-who-has-still-never-voted-for-a-republican-ever, I am suspicious of your one-voice unanimity in condemning the Ryan pick.
However.
I can't see how Ryan makes more sense than Portman or Rubio, or even Pawlenty. So what if safe Romney goes with a safe pick? That's what he's supposed to do.
I'm not certain, but I think the Ryan pick means Florida, with all its seniors, moves from toss up to leans Obama, which is just about the kiss of death for Romney. Portman might not have won Ohio for Romney, but he couldn't have hurt. Ryan at most puts Wisconsin into play - so what?
They say VPs don't decide elections, but I'd much rather have Rubio, even if he's a bit untested and might piss off the most reactionary conservatives on immigration, stumping for me in Florida than Ryan stumping for me... where? Places I'm already going to win?
Seniors are going to want to kill this guy on his looks alone. Wait till they read up on his plans. Which actually wouldn't hurt them in particular that much, but it's not going to matter.
I don't get it, and I'm glad I don't get it.
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I have a gut feeling it may have been a panic response to conservatives' calling for heads to roll last week when Andrea Saul spoke favorably of Romneycare. Either that, or a clutch of big-spending donors got together and told Twit to pick Ryan if he knew what was good for him. Something like that--something that doesn't speak well of Willard's spinal rectitude.
I'm sure Portman and Pawlenty are heartbroken that they won't be going down on this Titanic.
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Romney Ryan ticket: Mitt chooses VP running mate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIRBBQACtmU&feature=youtube_gdata_player#ws)
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I'm sure Portman and Pawlenty are heartbroken that they won't be going down on this Titanic.
They probably are. VP selection = future Fox News gig!
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Well, regarding my last post and the search for an explanation for this weird pick, a far wiser man than I probably nails it here:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/romneyryan-the-real-target/ (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/romneyryan-the-real-target/)
"So that’s the constituency Romney is targeting: not a large segment of the electorate, but a few hundred at most editors, reporters, programmers, and pundits. His hope is that Ryan’s unjustified reputation for honest wonkery will transfer to the ticket as a whole."
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I saw a Wisconsin primary event on CSPAN and was struck by how naturally comfortable Ryan and Romney were together. I think Romney gets along very well with Ryan, probably not so much with others prospectives.
According to Ben Smith, most of Romney's advisers wanted someone else.
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I wonder if Romney also likes Ayn Rand and the two of them exchange John Galt fanfiction.
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Welcome to the Police State:
Tampa is watching you at the 2012 RNC.
View the camera map. It's very comforting.
http://rncctv.com/ (http://rncctv.com/)
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Somehow there's always a huge pile of money for this type of
safety measure racket.
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(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/182140_336753963080739_1931966259_n.jpg)
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http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/romney-i-never-paid-less-than-13-percent (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/romney-i-never-paid-less-than-13-percent)
Mitt Romney said he has never paid less than a 13 percent tax rate in the past 10 years during a press availability in South Carolina Thursday. Romney said that he thought the fascination with his taxes was small-minded compared with the the bigger issues of the campaign. He said he recently went back and looked at his taxes and verified that it was never under 13 percent.
Earlier this week, Ann Romney reaffirmed that the campaign will not release more tax returns.
Why does he keep doing this? It's hilarious.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/)
* Ryan listens to Rage Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin
Wait, what?
Tom Morello noticed:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-paul-ryan-is-the-embodiment-of-the-machine-our-music-rages-against-20120816#ixzz23o6DJswL (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-paul-ryan-is-the-embodiment-of-the-machine-our-music-rages-against-20120816#ixzz23o6DJswL)
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/)
* Ryan listens to Rage Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin
Wait, what?
Tom Morello noticed:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-paul-ryan-is-the-embodiment-of-the-machine-our-music-rages-against-20120816#ixzz23o6DJswL (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-paul-ryan-is-the-embodiment-of-the-machine-our-music-rages-against-20120816#ixzz23o6DJswL)
Now Page and Plant need to tell him that "Immigrant Song" isn't about border patrols.
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He's a national sex symbol now. He can and will play by his own rules.
http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/08/17/hannity-paul-ryan-has-become-a-national-sex-sym/189420 (http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/08/17/hannity-paul-ryan-has-become-a-national-sex-sym/189420)
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http://instagram.com/p/OeLTtXzAiL/ (http://instagram.com/p/OeLTtXzAiL/)
Please, just kill me now.
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I have decided to be a single issue voter this year: How did Paul Ryan feel about Audioslave?
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/08/19/todd-akin-gop-senate-candidate-legitimate-rape-rarely-causes-pregnancy/ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/08/19/todd-akin-gop-senate-candidate-legitimate-rape-rarely-causes-pregnancy/)
To call this a "gaffe" would be a tremendous understatement.
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Rumor is that the RINOs are making him withdraw tomorrow. It'll be sad to see such a noble patriot leave the race.
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Oh my god, if this really sticks in your craw like it does mine, please email letters@newsweek to ask for multiple corrections:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/19/niall-ferguson-on-why-barack-obama-needs-to-go.html (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/19/niall-ferguson-on-why-barack-obama-needs-to-go.html)
And a good takedown of it:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/a-full-factcheck-of-niall-fergusons-very-bad-argument-against-obama/261306/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/a-full-factcheck-of-niall-fergusons-very-bad-argument-against-obama/261306/)
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I prank-called his offices this morning. Not really proud of it, but his staff should find a decent human to work for.
Apparently he's going to withdraw, which means someone will step in who believes the same stuff but is cagier about saying it out loud and probably win the seat. Maybe the left should have used a little more ju-jitsu, like less "You are a noxious turd who has no place in public life" and more "Do tell, Rep. Akin! Fascinating! Please, tell us more!" right up through November.
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I prank-called his offices this morning. Not really proud of it, but his staff should find a decent human to work for.
Apparently he's going to withdraw, which means someone will step in who believes the same stuff but is cagier about saying it out loud and probably win the seat. Maybe the left should have used a little more ju-jitsu, like less "You are a noxious turd who has no place in public life" and more "Do tell, Rep. Akin! Fascinating! Please, tell us more!" right up through November.
I, too, would rather see him stay in the race. It's good to see that there IS a limit that the national GOP will set on this issue, I guess. Henry Aldridge, the guy from NC who said a similar thing in the mid-90s ("the juices don't flow"), didn't have to resign, though he went to his eternal reward (punishment?) not too long afterward.
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I prank-called his offices this morning. Not really proud of it, but his staff should find a decent human to work for.
Please tell me this prank involved Artie Lange/Arnold Schwarzeneggar soundboards.
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more "Do tell, Rep. Akin! Fascinating! Please, tell us more!" right up through November.
I really like this program. Give them the rope to hang themselves and all that. Also I approve of the pranking. What did you do?
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It wasn't really very funny. I told them I had a daughter who had been raped four years ago & I thought she was faking the depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts, so I asked whether since Rep. Akin had so much expertise in the area he could help me figure out whether she'd been "legitimately" or "illegitimately" raped. Probably out of line, but I was pissed.
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Rumor is that the RINOs are making him withdraw tomorrow. It'll be sad to see such a noble patriot leave the race.
I was hoping he'd be giving the keynote address.
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Rumor is that the RINOs are making him withdraw tomorrow. It'll be sad to see such a noble patriot leave the race.
I was hoping he'd be giving the keynote address.
We still have "Newt University" and an on-stage interaction between Donald Trump and a Barack Obama impersonator to look forward to.
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Looks like he might not drop out after all. Hilarious.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/todd-akin-rape-apology-ad-/1 (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/todd-akin-rape-apology-ad-/1)
Amid growing GOP pressure to quit the Missouri Senate race, Rep. Todd Akin has recorded a new TV ad seeking forgiveness for his controversial comments about "legitimate rape."
"Rape is an evil act. I used the wrong words in the wrong way and for that I apologize," Akin says in the ad. "As the father of two daughters, I want tough justice for predators. I have a compassionate heart for the victims of sexual assault. I pray for them."
The ad was first reported this morning by Politico. More from Akin's script:
The fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. The truth is, rape has many victims. The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness.
Akin, a six-term House member, touched off a firestorm Sunday with his comments to a St. Louis TV station saying pregnancy could be prevented in the case of "legitimate rape" because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
His comments have been widely denounced, from President Obama to GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. The reaction to Akin's rape comments -- and their impact on the battle for power in the U.S. Senate -- dominated the news just a week before Republicans gather in Tampa for their national convention.
Akin won the Senate GOP nomination on Aug. 7 to take on Democrat Claire McCaskill, one of the most vulnerable incumbents in her party. Republicans have high hopes of defeating McCaskill in their bid to claim four seats and control power in the Senate.
But with Akin under fire, party stalwarts are increasing pressure to get him to stand aside by 5 p.m. CT today so that another Republican can take his place on the ballot. If he doesn't withdraw by the Tuesday deadline, then Missouri law says Akin would need a court order to be removed from the ballot and he would have to pay for reprinting of ballots.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has said it will pull $5 million in advertising if Akin stays in. Crossroads GPS, a major GOP super PAC, said it will withdraw from Missouri even though it has already spent millions targeting McCaskill.
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Well, if he does stay in and the national GOP makes good on their threats to pull all their support, it will be fascinating study in the effect of late money in a statewide election.
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Akin serves on the House Committee on Science and Technology. For real. Because he knows lots of scientific stuff about science.
http://blogs.plos.org/takeasdirected/2012/08/19/rep-todd-akin-r-mo-serves-on-house-committee-on-science-space-and-technology/ (http://blogs.plos.org/takeasdirected/2012/08/19/rep-todd-akin-r-mo-serves-on-house-committee-on-science-space-and-technology/)
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Akin serves on the House Committee on Science and Technology. For real. Because he knows lots of scientific stuff about science.
http://blogs.plos.org/takeasdirected/2012/08/19/rep-todd-akin-r-mo-serves-on-house-committee-on-science-space-and-technology/ (http://blogs.plos.org/takeasdirected/2012/08/19/rep-todd-akin-r-mo-serves-on-house-committee-on-science-space-and-technology/)
Political satire is obsolete.
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Akin has until 5:00 to withdraw from the race.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
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You'll find out sooner than that!
Gov. Mike Huckabee @GovMikeHuckabee
Todd Akin will return to The Mike Huckabee Radio Show in the next 30 minutes to announce his final decision on if he's staying in the race.
Erpdate:
Gov. Mike Huckabee @GovMikeHuckabee
EXCLUSIVE: Todd Akin announces on my radio show that he will remain in the Missouri Senate Race.
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Dear RNC, Crossroads, & other groups that have said you won't be sending this turd any funds:
No takebacks!
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It wasn't really very funny. I told them I had a daughter who had been raped four years ago & I thought she was faking the depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts, so I asked whether since Rep. Akin had so much expertise in the area he could help me figure out whether she'd been "legitimately" or "illegitimately" raped. Probably out of line, but I was pissed.
It was pretty horrible what he said, so he deserved a lot of griefing.
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Looks like he's in it to win it. Technically, he could still withdraw but apparently it gets a lot more complicated--court order required.
My favorite news of the day is that an hour before the deadline, Mitt the Twit put on his clown shoes and officially changed his position from "Er, um, I don't agree with Akin" to "I think he should step down." No word yet on whether the McCaskill campaign sent Willard some flowers as a thank-you for writing their ads for them.
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Favorite Spy-style epithets for Akin from Wonkette: "Vaginal magic expert Todd Akin;" "Serial fact-raper Todd Akin."
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In addition to Hannity pressuring Akin to drop out, he also doubted poll numbers favoring him. Must be a first for him to say that about a Republican.
Todd Akin to Mitt Romney: You run your race, I'll run mine. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0LwiaP8aV4#ws)
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"To Fail to Plan Is to Plan to Fail" Dept:
Texas Judge/County Commissioner says a small tax increase necessary to strengthen law enforcement to prepare for civil war in case of Obama's re-election:
“I’m thinking worst case scenario now,” Head said during an appearance on FOX 34 in Lubbock. “Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war, maybe. And we’re not talking just a few riots here and demonstrations, we’re talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.”
The judge spun the elaborate conspiracy theory while calling for a 1.7 cent hike per $100 on property taxes in Lubbock County, a measure being considered by the commission there. He said he feared Obama would hand over sovereignty of the United States to the United Nations and the unrest would naturally follow.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/tom_head_civil_war.php?ref=fpblg (http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/tom_head_civil_war.php?ref=fpblg)
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The Rascal Scooter riots of 2013 will be devastating.
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Akin staying in the race could be good news for other (http://youtu.be/_fm0slS54bY) close Senate races.
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http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719 (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719)
Can't stop thinking about global warming, FOTs. Dem's should talk about that, right, since it affects us all?
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Hannity's just getting weird.
http://mediamatters.org/mobile/video/2012/08/24/foxs-hannity-some-supporters-in-trance-state-wo/189570 (http://mediamatters.org/mobile/video/2012/08/24/foxs-hannity-some-supporters-in-trance-state-wo/189570)
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If you want to throw away your vote in November, you could do worse than Rocky Anderson.
http://www.justicepartyusa.org/ (http://www.justicepartyusa.org/)
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. --Frederick Douglass
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....But please don't throw your vote away, especially if you live a swing state.
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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/reagan-hologram-real-planned-rnc-debut-203919642--election.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/reagan-hologram-real-planned-rnc-debut-203919642--election.html)
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....But please don't throw your vote away, especially if you live a swing state.
Throwing my vote away would be voting for a candidate who will continue corporate personhood, will still spend billions of dollars on wars, will still uphold the Patriot Act, will still be financed by corporations and will still have corporate interests in mind at every step. They will not address the job market for college graduates or those underemployed. They will raid pot dispensaries. Will my vote change marriage equality? Will Bush tax cuts end? Who knows? How is voting for a candidate like this not throwing my vote away?
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....But please don't throw your vote away, especially if you live a swing state.
Throwing my vote away would be voting for a candidate who will continue corporate personhood, will still spend billions of dollars on wars, will still uphold the Patriot Act, will still be financed by corporations and will still have corporate interests in mind at every step. They will not address the job market for college graduates or those underemployed. They will raid pot dispensaries. Will my vote change marriage equality? Will Bush tax cuts end? Who knows? How is voting for a candidate like this not throwing my vote away?
Because you're voting for a candidate that has zero chance of winning and makes it possible that the more heinous of the two with a chance of winning will win. Symbolically, voting 3rd party makes perfect sense. However, the person who wins the presidency will select 2 or 3 Supreme Court justices. Who would you rather see making those selections?
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8 years of GWB thanks to 537 votes in Florida and there are still people who think it doesn't matter which of the two possible winners you vote for?
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Ladies and Gentlemen, your next president, Mort Rimbley.
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8 years of GWB thanks to 537 votes in Florida and there are still people who think it doesn't matter which of the two possible winners you vote for?
Oh, I think my vote makes a difference on who wins. I just don't think it matters who the winner is. Maybe Obama will get marriage equality passed and with the two justices, it will be upheld, but the justices will also be those who have corporate interests at heart. So, we get a bone thrown to us for another social issue at the expense of the continuation of corporate America and the continued building of a police state. Not a fair trade.
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That's not to take lightly what marriage equality would mean for the country and the people who have been denied equality. There just has to be a better way to get it.
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I know it's hard to accept, but corporate America really isn't going anywhere anytime soon. In the meantime, women you know are or aren't going to be able to make their own health and family-planning decisions, 35 million people are or aren't going to have even minimal healthcare coverage short of the emergency room, seniors are or aren't going to have Medicare replaced with coupons of steadily diminishing value, same-sex couples are or aren't going to continue as second-class citizens. If you're waiting for an electable candidate who intends to blow up the entire edifice of international capitalism, it will be a long wait, but in the meantime there are real matters of importance to people that hang in the balance.
Voting isn't writing a beautiful poem, it's not an expression of your noble sentiments. Go on, get a little corruption in your veins, compromise the purity of your awesome vision of how things should be. Vote for the lesser of two evils, it won't hurt you and it will actually help some people.
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I don't want somebody to blow it up, I just want a politician who acknowledges that there is a problem and is at least willing to take a stand for us rather than a stand for corporations. Obama acknowledges there is a problem with who has the money, but neither party really seem to get why that is, or they don't care to acknowledge it at the very least. I don't want to hear about corporations given bailouts and then not creating jobs. That's their business. I want to hear why we allowed corporations to take all the jobs that were just fine in the hands of the public less than 20 years ago. I just want it addressed because I think it's the biggest issue. How can I place a vote for a person who doesn't even address my biggest issue? More importantly, why would I vote for a person who places a corporate "personhood" over my actual personhood? I sound like a 19 year old, taking this stand against the man, but I'm 32 and just sick of the whims of a few taking priority over the needs of the rest. I just can't vote for that with good conscience even though I know that a Romney presidency would be pretty bad.
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Isn't a constitutional amendment to completely throw out Citizens United something that Obama routinely calls for? I think he did so latest in his Reddit AMA. So to say he stands up for corporate personhood is not entirely true. Not to mention, without corporate personhood, individual citizens would be unable to sue them for bad shit they've done.
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The problem, I think, is jerks.
Also, a lot of corporations try to make it very difficult to sue them. Some methods include: suing you first and draining you of all your money, arbitration clauses in contracts, trying to disallow class action lawsuits. In theory, corporate personhood might make it easier for you to sue a corporation, but the aforementioned jerks don't want that.
Jerks, in my opinion, undermine most political philosophies. Doesn't help that a lot of political philosophers also strike me as jerks.
I get the feeling that part of what's slowing down the economic rebound is that a lot of industries are unwilling or unable to adapt to the needs of the people or to the current economic climate. Examples: the arguably moribund print industry, and oil companies impeding the greening of America (which I bet would create a whole lotta jobs). Regardless, I think that the paying off of America's debts would be slower given that current tax rates are lower than the 90's (right?).
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The problem, I think, is jerks.
Taxes are lower now than in the nineties and way lower than in the fifties and sixties.
Please define "jerks".
Thank you.
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I think jerks are people who lack empathy and compassion for others. They take advantage of existing power structures and use them solely for their own personal gain. Maybe they'll use lax or absent regulations as an excuse to do something that would otherwise be illegal, like misleading potential investors in a manner that leads to the systematic collapse of an entire industry. Maybe I'm not being empathetic enough toward jerks. "hurt people hurt people" Are these wounded birds? Regardless, what I mean is that people figure out ways to abuse the power they have in ways that are usually unforeseen. Hard to keep jerks out of anything, let alone government.
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I think jerks are people who lack empathy and compassion for others. They take advantage of existing power structures and use them solely for their own personal gain. Maybe they'll use lax or absent regulations as an excuse to do something that would otherwise be illegal, like misleading potential investors in a manner that leads to the systematic collapse of an entire industry. Maybe I'm not being empathetic enough toward jerks. "hurt people hurt people" Are these wounded birds? Regardless, what I mean is that people figure out ways to abuse the power they have in ways that are usually unforeseen. Hard to keep jerks out of anything, let alone government.
Jerks = The immoral and unethical.
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Oh God, as an ex-political journalist, the Friends of Tom board is where I come to escape from Daily Kos-style assessments of why holding on to my ideals is monstrous. It's one thing to debate if someone is who you want to vote for or not. But I'm uncomfortable with this idea of telling individual Americans they're not allowed to choose their own criteria for who they like and don't like. Someone can vote for or against Obama because he's into Jay-Z. Politicians are there to try and get your vote by behaving themselves. Let them worry about it.
Anyway can this BBS software somehow prevent the Humorless Politics Thread from showing up in "View the Most Recent Posts"? I just want a feed of Gary The Squirrel-related content.
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Hey, Um... fuck you.
Expressing a strong opinion and trying to persuade others is not "telling" anyone they're "not allowed" to do anything.
I have no interest in sports, so I skip the sports-related threads here and keep it to myself. Suggest you do the same.
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Oh God, as an ex-political journalist, the Friends of Tom board is where I come to escape from Daily Kos-style assessments of why holding on to my ideals is monstrous. It's one thing to debate if someone is who you want to vote for or not. But I'm uncomfortable with this idea of telling individual Americans they're not allowed to choose their own criteria for who they like and don't like. Someone can vote for or against Obama because he's into Jay-Z. Politicians are there to try and get your vote by behaving themselves. Let them worry about it.
Anyway can this BBS software somehow prevent the Humorless Politics Thread from showing up in "View the Most Recent Posts"? I just want a feed of Gary The Squirrel-related content.
Please define "jerk".
Thank you.
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Yeah, I have no problem with the discourse in here, I knew full well that this thread is 99% staunch Democrats so I knew I'd get some backlash on what I said.
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....But please don't throw your vote away, especially if you live a swing state.
Throwing my vote away would be voting for a candidate who will continue corporate personhood, will still spend billions of dollars on wars, will still uphold the Patriot Act, will still be financed by corporations and will still have corporate interests in mind at every step. They will not address the job market for college graduates or those underemployed. They will raid pot dispensaries. Will my vote change marriage equality? Will Bush tax cuts end? Who knows? How is voting for a candidate like this not throwing my vote away?
I empathize with your position, because I feel almost the exact same way. I'll probably cast a decidedly unenthusiastic vote for Obama in November, but only because I feel as if he's the lesser two of evils. The reality is that both parties have been hijacked by lobbyists and corporate interests and neither party really has the best interest of the American constituency in mind, so it's hard for me to begrudge anyone who wants to exercise their conscience and vote for a third party. As you said, you're probably throwing your vote away, regardless of who you cast a ballot for. It's sad, but that's the way it is.
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It is sad and it doesn't need to be that way. I think almost everyone feels this way, and unlike other countries we don't need a coup to change things, we just need to vote. Money shouldn't be able to buy elections in the US, we still get to go to the polls and tell them where they can stick their money. But hardly anyone does and that's really sad and upsetting. They've played us all like a violin making us think it's an us vs. them power struggle and everybody who knows better has just shrugged their shoulders and have said , "What can you do". That's a bunch of crap IMO.
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Until you find a way to kick the lobbyists and other moneyed interests out of Washington, something which will never happen, nothing will change. Yes, there are some politicians who actually have integrity and try to do right by the electorate, but the vast majority of them are there only to advance their own self-interests. When they're running for election, every politician says that he or she will try to change the system. But what happens when they're actually elected? They get corrupted.
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Yeah, I have no problem with the discourse in here, I knew full well that this thread is 99% staunch Democrats so I knew I'd get some backlash on what I said.
I don't think 99% means what you think it does.
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Oh God, as an ex-political journalist, the Friends of Tom board is where I come to escape from Daily Kos-style assessments of why holding on to my ideals is monstrous. It's one thing to debate if someone is who you want to vote for or not. But I'm uncomfortable with this idea of telling individual Americans they're not allowed to choose their own criteria for who they like and don't like. Someone can vote for or against Obama because he's into Jay-Z. Politicians are there to try and get your vote by behaving themselves. Let them worry about it.
Anyway can this BBS software somehow prevent the Humorless Politics Thread from showing up in "View the Most Recent Posts"? I just want a feed of Gary The Squirrel-related content.
Please define "jerk".
Thank you.
I think jerks are people who try to dictate what can and cannot be discussed on an unrestricted general topic forum.
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Yeah, I have no problem with the discourse in here, I knew full well that this thread is 99% staunch Democrats so I knew I'd get some backlash on what I said.
I don't think 99% means what you think it does.
Well, 100% liberals of some stripe, not just the thread but the whole community. I'm just the least liberal of us liberals.
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They've played us all like a violin making us think it's an us vs. them power struggle and everybody who knows better has just shrugged their shoulders and have said , "What can you do".
Hüsker Dü - Divide and Conquer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSqZGTNrPi8#ws)
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Yeah, I have no problem with the discourse in here, I knew full well that this thread is 99% staunch Democrats so I knew I'd get some backlash on what I said.
Hey Gilly, I'm a RINO!
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Bob Mould sounds like Mojo Nixon.
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Bob Mould sounds like Mojo Nixon.
Lyrically or vocally?
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/us/politics/obama-plays-to-win-in-politics-and-everything-else.html?pagewanted=all (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/us/politics/obama-plays-to-win-in-politics-and-everything-else.html?pagewanted=all)
No matter what moves Mr. Romney made, the president said, he and his team were going to cut him off and block him at every turn. “We’re the Miami Heat, and he’s Jeremy Lin,” Mr. Obama said, according to the aide.
An interesting sports analogy. I hope Romney hits back.
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Bob Mould sounds like Mojo Nixon.
Lyrically or vocally?
Vocally, Fredericksxx.
Congrats on the quote thing this time! This post should be your model.
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Different things happen at different times.
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Different things happen at different times.
Sometimes Fredericks reminds me of Peter Fonda in Easy Rider.
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Oh God, as an ex-political journalist, the Friends of Tom board is where I come to escape from Daily Kos-style assessments of why holding on to my ideals is monstrous. It's one thing to debate if someone is who you want to vote for or not. But I'm uncomfortable with this idea of telling individual Americans they're not allowed to choose their own criteria for who they like and don't like. Someone can vote for or against Obama because he's into Jay-Z. Politicians are there to try and get your vote by behaving themselves. Let them worry about it.
Anyway can this BBS software somehow prevent the Humorless Politics Thread from showing up in "View the Most Recent Posts"? I just want a feed of Gary The Squirrel-related content.
Shut your mouth, you creep.
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Different things happen at different times.
Sometimes Fredericks reminds me of Peter Fonda in Easy Rider.
Lyrically or vocally?
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The Ultimate Mitt Romney Flip-Flop Collection (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W_pgfWK3sxw#)
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Vice President Joe Biden, Kal Penn and the Aviator Fist Bump: Watch the Full Interview September 6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YW-n3lBAks#ws)
Those aviators are smooth as hell. I kinda wish Biden was president instead of Obama.
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New Morning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oye4rhUa2Fk&feature=youtu.be#ws)
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I really expected that to go in a very different direction after the 20-second mark.
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I expected it to go in a really, really different direction after the 20 second mark.
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When the DNC chose Charlotte, didn't they realize that it was Wall Street South with horrible accommodation options?
Raleigh would have been a better choice if they thought it would help them with North Carolina:
Surrounded by universities
Lots of high-tech companies
Higher population of transplants from blue states
Just my 2 cents
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When the DNC chose Charlotte, didn't they realize that it was Wall Street South with horrible accommodation options?
Raleigh would have been a better choice if they thought it would help them with North Carolina:
Surrounded by universities
Lots of high-tech companies
Higher population of transplants from blue states
Just my 2 cents
I, of course, agree. However, I think the population difference was too much for them to make that choice.
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New Morning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oye4rhUa2Fk&feature=youtu.be#ws)
At first, I thought this was a "Funny or Die" video. But no, it's actually 100% serious.
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When the DNC chose Charlotte, didn't they realize that it was Wall Street South with horrible accommodation options?
Raleigh would have been a better choice if they thought it would help them with North Carolina:
Surrounded by universities
Lots of high-tech companies
Higher population of transplants from blue states
Just my 2 cents
I, of course, agree. However, I think the population difference was too much for them to make that choice.
Or go to Boone or Ashville and partay!
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Vice President Biden bird-dogs biker chick:
(http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/biden-biker-ap.jpg)
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There's also a picture from yesterday of him kissing an elderly black woman on the lips. Lemme see if I can find it.
Here we go:
(http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Screen-Shot-2012-09-09-at-5.08.58-PM-620x393.png)
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Those Biden pics are veering dangerously close to 'humorful' territory!
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I know, I would have posted mine in the Picture Thread but I didn't want to step on the stained-glass mouse dude's moment of glory. Anyway, I love the expressions on the two Sons of Anarchy flanking Joe. Either they're trying to signal each other: "Dude, there's Secret Service in the room--don't do anything that's gonna get us searched," or they just know they're being smoked by Joe!
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The Republican primaries, I think, dashed any hopes of this thread maintaining its humorlessness.
If it was ever humorless. I actually have no idea what went on in it before page 70 or so.
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(http://i.imgur.com/PAkso.png)
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The disgruntled sommelier who recorded that video deserves a medal.
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Of course:
Erick Erickson @EWErickson
Dammit! I'm just now seeing these Romney secret videos. We need that guy on the campaign trail!
Here's the link if you haven't seen it: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser)
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Yeah, somehow I don't think that video will have quite the negative effect on Romney's campaign that some on the left believe it will. If anything, he may have just won some people over. Case in point, Leif Erickson.
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I'd like to think that calling 47% of Americans parasitic deadbeats would be politically damaging, but maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm not.
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And the nastiness and disdain with which he describes these people makes him look like such an asshole.
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I'd like to think that calling 47% of Americans parasitic deadbeats would be politically damaging, but maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm not.
I agree that what he said was contemptible. And I'm no fan of Mitt Romney. But I do think that there's a fairly significant portion of the American electorate that happens to share those beliefs. If there weren't, then we'd have no Tea Party. That's a movement that's almost entirely predicated on the belief that the government is taking money away from hard-working people and redistributing it to the undeserving moocher class. I think that's who Romney is trying to appeal to, that group of hardcore conservatives that, heretofore, has been very lukewarm to his candidacy.
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I'd like to think that calling 47% of Americans parasitic deadbeats would be politically damaging, but maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm not.
I agree that what he said was contemptible. And I'm no fan of Mitt Romney. But I do think that there's a fairly significant portion of the American electorate that happens to share those beliefs. If there weren't, then we'd have no Tea Party. That's a movement that's almost entirely predicated on the belief that the government is taking money away from hard-working people and redistributing it to the undeserving moocher class. I think that's who Romney is trying to appeal to, that group of hardcore conservatives that, heretofore, has been very lukewarm to his candidacy.
Don't forget, though, that the Tea Party is a very small (but very vocal) minority of the electorate. You'd never know if it you watch cable news, which caters almost exclusively to the screaming minorities, but in reality there aren't that many of them.
How this affects Romney's candidacy depends on how extensively it's covered. I don't have high hopes that it will damage his campaign at all, but I guess the news could surprise me and actually cover this thing.
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This meme may be deader than Romney's campaign, but somebody dragged it out Weekend-at-Bernie's style for another curtain call, and I gotta say it made me laugh:
http://meemsy.com/v/3721 (http://meemsy.com/v/3721)
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Dead link, repost pls!
Hmm, it works for me. Mebbe just paste the url into your browser?
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Seth Myers doing a halfway decent Jon Stewart impression.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/snl-what-are-you-doing-seth-meyers-obama-weekend-update_n_1907204.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/snl-what-are-you-doing-seth-meyers-obama-weekend-update_n_1907204.html)
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I hadn't seen this before but it's a great read: Tom Scharpling on Obamacare:
http://90days90reasons.com/47.php (http://90days90reasons.com/47.php)
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I hadn't seen this before but it's a great read: Tom Scharpling on Obamacare:
http://90days90reasons.com/47.php (http://90days90reasons.com/47.php)
Well said, Tom.
I too have my issues with President Obama, but the alternative is so repellent that it's not even worth discussing.
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I don't get why most people feel that way and we don't do anything about it because if we could just drop this us vs. them mentality something really powerful could happen. Politicians aren't willing to stop the divide, but most people really can't stand either party but end up voting for one anyway. Occupy Wall Street had it wrong... once again they made it us vs. them and ended up giving a lot of people who should have been in the "us" camp a reason to stand up for the 1%. The only thing that should matter is that politicians don't work for us, it's a sentiment almost everyone can get behind, and it's a sentiment a lot of people think about every day of their life. If people went to the streets shouting that without a partisan message, a lot of people would get behind that and we'd have some real progress. Maybe we'd still have a two party system, but this us vs. them garbage might finally be put to rest.
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I would be interested to hear a single example of a policy proposal that would bring everyone together without partisan rancor and represent real progress.
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Policy doesn't even need to be on the table. I would argue that at least 75 percent of Americans are fed up with the childish fighting in Washington. People want that to end, and people from all walks of life would back a movement saying so. Policy doesn't matter because we're led to believe that there is no compromise. Change that line of thinking, change policy in general. Maybe leftys and rightys won't get behind it, but as much as they want to believe it they don't come close to being the majority, they're just the loudest. If the majority takes that voice back we'll see some positive change.
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This all seems incredibly vague and ungrounded. How is policy not going to be on the table? If you want to solve a problem--say, the increasing unaffordability of healthcare--you actually have to put a proposal forward. Merely wishing that the people who believe that government should address that problem will come to some compromise with the people who think that anything but leaving it to the free market is the road to communism, or thinking that will magically happen if "the majority takes that voice back," seems goofy to me on a nearly Zach-from-Richmond level.
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where are the ass kicking republicans? mitt romney sucks. i wish it wasn't too late to just pick the oldest general in the army and let us vote for him. he's gotta be better than any of the republicans we got to choose from this time.
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where are the ass kicking republicans? mitt romney sucks. i wish it wasn't too late to just pick the oldest general in the army and let us vote for him. he's gotta be better than any of the republicans we got to choose from this time.
Best post ever.
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It's not about policy anymore. It's ridiculous how much of a struggle it is even to achieve change in policy, so I think taking it off the table and asking our leaders to work together would be the best change we could ever hope for. But, people aren't asking for that. There's plenty of complaining about it, but there isn't a centralized effort to bring that type of change to Washington and honestly, you can take to the streets about policy but as long as there is an us vs. them mentality it's not going to change. Again, take a look at Occupy. That was an effort that should have really energized the entire country, but it was about policies and money, two things that are easy to divide people on. As soon as we stop looking to divide and start looking to show our leaders that the majority of us aren't that far apart politically, we'll see positive change. People on the far ends of the political spectrum or completely tied to a political party will never understand that I guess.
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The only way we'll get more than two viable parties is if we move to proportional representation. Even then, you can end up with useless coalition governments a la David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
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Work together on what? Maybe we are using the term "policy" two different ways, but it sounds to me like what you're saying is that the people should rise up and say "OK you guys, we want you to work together. But not on anything specific, because once you start addressing specific issues, you might start coming up with specific proposals, and we're taking those off the table."
As for Occupy, I'm a little gobsmacked by the idea that it would have been more successful if it hadn't been about money. What do you think "We are the 99%" refers to exactly?
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I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not saying government needs to stop worrying about creating policy. Obviously that's insane. What I'm saying is that people need to stop worrying about policy and start getting more involved with an non-partisan effort to get government to work again. It really doesn't matter what the policies are because there's still going to be a divide, and to me that divide is artificially created. The majority of people aren't that far apart when it comes to the major issues, but politicians and news will tell them different. If you rip policy out of protest, you're going to get a lot more people receptive to your issues because there won't be a debate- the majority of people think both parties are doing a terrible job and compromise is obviously a big reason why people believe that way. People are going to get behind that movement.
Obviously, Occupy had to talk about money, what I'm saying is, the reason it didn't reach more people is because money divides people ideologically. It was a pointless protest because it could never reach the amount of people it needed to. Again, if you take the policy out of public protest, you get down to main issue which the majority agree with. Why isn't government working?
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Why isn't government working?
It is working, Gilly, for those who own it.
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Why isn't government working?
It is working, Gilly, for those who own it.
They own public emotion, that's for sure.
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Start getting more involved with an non-partisan effort to get government to work again.
This sounds good. What efforts are you involved in?
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Start getting more involved with an non-partisan effort to get government to work again.
This sounds good. What efforts are you involved in?
Hehe.
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Start getting more involved with an non-partisan effort to get government to work again.
This sounds good. What efforts are you involved in?
A couple PACs in the past few years, the major one being a non-partisan effort to get Michelle Bachmann out of office (I live in her district) and a promise to myself to not vote for either of the two parties.
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Start getting more involved with an non-partisan effort to get government to work again.
This sounds good. What efforts are you involved in?
This group is trying to help out around these parts: http://www.integrityfl.org/ (http://www.integrityfl.org/)
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Why don't conservatives get upset with their leaders lying so much (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#49188501)?
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[This sounds good. What efforts are you involved in?
[/quote]
A couple PACs in the past few years, the major one being a non-partisan effort to get Michelle Bachmann out of office (I live in her district) and a promise to myself to not vote for either of the two parties.
[/quote]
I don't necessarily disagree with what you want as an ends. But its the means I think I disagree with. I disagree with a TON of Democratic policies and decisions. But they have created meaningful, REAL change in public policy. People will be better off under the heath care changes, IF we have Dems in power to let those changes roll out. The republicans have not even moved a finger to try. There is no comparing them. Our best hope for a more fair political system is to do what is actually happening; continue (hopefully!) to crush the republicans in national elections until we weaken them to a point where they must change. They are sick right now, and wont give up their old school, hardline, racist, sexist, homophobic, classist, all around bigoted rhetoric. I mean, Romney had a chance to at least compete, if not win, this election by being reasonable and moderate, but no, he went all out PSYCHO. Obama's rhetoric, by comparison, has gotten even more bleeding heart and compassionate. And the crux of this whole thing is; he can actually deliver on that. Not miracles, but at least moving us closer to where this country needs to be.
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OK, now this is funny. From the New York Times:
Mr. Romney’s team has concluded that debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers that he has memorized and has been practicing on aides since August.
The comedy stylings of Mitt Romney, coming this Wednesday!
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I'm too lazy to look at the schedule, but I hope none of these are on a Tuesday. Like last time.
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I hope he does "There you go again."
Shit, how long will I have to fill out these CAPTCHA things to get my posts go through? I can never make out the letters.
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Zingers! I knew Andy Breckman was a Republican, but he hasn't been writing for thus guy, has he?
(The first one is this Wednesday BTW)
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I just checked. None of them are on Tuesday. Hooray!
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There are just as many people on the other side of the fence thinking that Romney sucks but Obama is detestable. Voting against a candidate instead of for one is just a ridiculous way to vote in my opinion because what are we really getting in the end? A government that nobody has any confidence in?
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There are just as many people on the other side of the fence thinking that Romney sucks but Obama is detestable. Voting against a candidate instead of for one is just a ridiculous way to vote in my opinion because what are we really getting in the end? A government that nobody has any confidence in?
Nader got me to vote for him in, 2000, using this logic: Would you rather vote for what you don't want and get it or vote for what you want and not get it?
I'm voting for Obama and bitching about him endlessly.
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There are just as many people on the other side of the fence thinking that Romney sucks but Obama is detestable.
Which proves what? News Flash: People Disagree.
Voting against a candidate instead of for one is just a ridiculous way to vote in my opinion because what are we really getting in the end? A government that nobody has any confidence in?
1. Did you not say you were involved in a "non-partisan" effort to unseat Michelle Bachmann? Laudable goal in my view, but what is that if not an effort to get people to vote against a candidate?
2. While it is true that not everyone has lots of confidence in the government we have on every issue, it is demonstrable that we do not have a government that nobody has any confidence in. I have substantial confidence that the Obama administration, for all its faults, will avoid many disasters that would be distinctly thinkable were its opponents in the White House. On the other hand, I have no confidence whatever that the Republican-led House will ever do the right thing, but that isn't because they got there because people voted against Democrats rather than for them; it's because they are wretched, evil people.
3. Here in the real world, there are are very few choices any of us ever make that don't come down to some version of the lesser of two evils. What fairy gumdrop land do you live in where that isn't the case?
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Would you rather vote for what you don't want and get it or vote for what you want and not get it?
I note that you've renounced this, Fredericks, but I will point out anyway that it's a really juvenile way of thinking.
You know who makes everything revolve around getting what they want, and makes it the fucking end of the world when they don't get it all? Infants.
I'd rather make a calculated choice about which vote is likely in the real world to do the most good and avoid the most harm.
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There are just as many people on the other side of the fence thinking that Romney sucks but Obama is detestable. Voting against a candidate instead of for one is just a ridiculous way to vote in my opinion because what are we really getting in the end? A government that nobody has any confidence in?
Nader got me to vote for him in, 2000, using this logic: Would you rather vote for what you don't want and get it or vote for what you want and not get it?
I'm voting for Obama and bitching about him endlessly.
That was a bold move. In 2000 it was easy enough for me to vote for Nader: I was in Indiana so my vote wouldn't have made a bit of difference either way. In Florida, though, different story...
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1. Did you not say you were involved in a "non-partisan" effort to unseat Michelle Bachmann? Laudable goal in my view, but what is that if not an effort to get people to vote against a candidate?
2. While it is true that not everyone has lots of confidence in the government we have on every issue, it is demonstrable that we do not have a government that nobody has any confidence in. I have substantial confidence that the Obama administration, for all its faults, will avoid many disasters that would be distinctly thinkable were its opponents in the White House. On the other hand, I have no confidence whatever that the Republican-led House will ever do the right thing, but that isn't because they got there because people voted against Democrats rather than for them; it's because they are wretched, evil people.
3. Here in the real world, there are are very few choices any of us ever make that don't come down to some version of the lesser of two evils. What fairy gumdrop land do you live in where that isn't the case?
It was an effort to vote against a candidate, but it wasn't an effort to get people to vote for the other guy. My contributions to the PAC included making the website less of a demonizing of Bachmann and more about the issues and how we could better inform people of alternative options other just saying Bachmann was evil. Because by saying that, we sounded partisan, that we wanted voters to choose the Democrat. Which gets you nowhere in a conservative district. The best plan for change is to champion the alternatives, but too many politicos get caught up in the us vs. them. But, I've beat that to death, not worth getting into that again.
As for the lesser of two evils, I don't know if I agree with that statement. Yes, there are a lot of hard choices that do come down to that, but very rarely am I narrowed down to two... and if I have two choices that I am not fond of, you better believe I'm looking for alternatives. If the alternatives aren't realistic, yes, I go back to those two choices. But, how long do you keep going to those options that aren't all that great before you take a chance on something outside the box?
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I guess I've also never understood why conceding is the adult thing to do. Most adults do it though.
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It was an effort to vote against a candidate, but it wasn't an effort to get people to vote for the other guy. My contributions to the PAC included making the website less of a demonizing of Bachmann and more about the issues and how we could better inform people of alternative options other just saying Bachmann was evil. Because by saying that, we sounded partisan, that we wanted voters to choose the Democrat.
Well, I simply don't understand this at all. Can I see a link to the website? Because it seems to me that if you're telling people there is a serious, constructive way to unseat Michelle Bachmann that doesn't involve voting for her Democratic opponent, you're misinforming them.
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You guys are spelling her name wrong. Only one "l." SMDH.
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The website doesn't exist anymore, but you need to understand the 6th district of MN to understand the logic. Any other Republican would win in a landslide there, it's one of the most conservative districts in the state. The fact is that while she has a following, most conservatives don't really like her and think she's crazy but would never vote for a Democrat. My goal wasn't to convert conservatives into liberals because that's a pipe dream in the 6th. Unfortunately the independent candidate was a little crazy himself, with a quick temper and seemed to be disinterested in the campaign. Even more unfortunate was that our financial backing desired a smear campaign which is the reason I ended up leaving.
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The fundamental question here is, why do Third Way efforts inevitably fail? Why is it so hard for us to wean ourselves away from the constraints of our two party system? It seems that achieving some degree of compromise would clearly be in our best interests, but our adherence to rigid political dogmatism keeps us from doing so.
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Again, our two party system exists purely as a result of the winner-take-all voting system.
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I just don't think runoffs would help much. The two parties are so far into America's pysche it's incredible.
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I don't see how that's the case at all. In general, Americans hate their two political parties. Run-off elections would be welcomed. But neither the Republicans nor the Democrats want them, so we'll never have them.
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The fundamental question here is, why do Third Way efforts inevitably fail?
Ask the League of Women Voters, they used to put on the debates, but no longer do so.
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The fundamental question here is, why do Third Way efforts inevitably fail?
Ask the League of Women Voters, they used to put on the debates, but no longer do so.
Spot on, Fredericks. When the Women Voters held the debates, it was an indepedent source. Now, the debates are completely run by a corporation that is 50/50 Democrat and Republican. There is no chance of a third party candidate being allowed into any of those debates.
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Again, our two party system exists purely as a result of the winner-take-all voting system.
This is correct. No other outcome is possible - it used to be possible for one of the two parties to degrade and be replaced (again, by exactly one party), but now the parties have become excellent at co-opting the easiest-to-co-opt parts of new movements.
Without very unlikely systemic reform, we have the Republican and Democratic Parties forever.
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Not trolling here, but genuinely interested: what are some actual 3rd party candidates that people against voting for Obama would vote for?
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I usually vote Green, they always run somebody who represents where I stand on about 80-90 percent of the issues.
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Not trolling here, but genuinely interested: what are some actual 3rd party candidates that people against voting for Obama would vote for?
Try this: http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/08/21/justice-party-presidential-candidate-rocky-anderson-on-transparency-the-rule-of-law-under-obama/ (http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/08/21/justice-party-presidential-candidate-rocky-anderson-on-transparency-the-rule-of-law-under-obama/)
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thanks guys....Don't get me wrong, I'm voting for Obama, but interested in what the left has as far as other options right now. I feel like 2000 was the last time I knew a lot about what was going on in that scene.
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(http://imageshack.us/a/img694/5315/poco2012.png)
Here's another measure of the alternatives.
And I fully agree the debates need to be opened up. This campaign has been vacuous enough already. Hopefully more debate sponsors will withdraw their support.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/09/philips-pulls-presidential-debate-sponsorship-137053.html (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/09/philips-pulls-presidential-debate-sponsorship-137053.html)
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I don't see how that's the case at all. In general, Americans hate their two political parties. Run-off elections would be welcomed. But neither the Republicans nor the Democrats want them, so we'll never have them.
My hunch is that it's more accurate--of course, not contradictory--to say that generally speaking, Americans don't like politics much (certainly our rate of participation is much lower than in other Western democracies). Consequently: 1.) the institutions that already stand soak up almost all of the energy that would be available for the enormous organizational task of creating a viable third party; and 2.) the vast majority of citizens simply lack the interest to imagine real alternatives. Ask people what they imagine when they hear the phrase "third party" and I'll bet 90% of them would say "Oh, you mean like 'fiscally conservative but socially liberal, like a Bloomberg type thing? Might be OK.' That or some version of free-market libertarianism, the premises of which don't withstand even grazing up against inspection.
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(http://imageshack.us/a/img694/5315/poco2012.png)
Here's another measure of the alternatives.
And I fully agree the debates need to be opened up. This campaign has been vacuous enough already. Hopefully more debate sponsors will withdraw their support.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/09/philips-pulls-presidential-debate-sponsorship-137053.html (http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/09/philips-pulls-presidential-debate-sponsorship-137053.html)
The debates have become a joke, nice that sponsorship pulling might bring some more light to this.
-I guess my take on a graph like that is that the distance that Stein is from Obama, compared to Obama to Romney might just be rhetorical. I feel like 3rd party candidates have the leeway to speak what they purely believe in an abstract sense. Abstractly speaking, I think Obama is not far from Stein at all, as far as what he believes behind closed doors. If she actually won, I think once the reality of running the exec. branch hit, she would have to move right, or get absolutely nothing done. Although my point is moot since for her to win we would probably live in an age where there are not only viable 3rd party presidential candidates, but also viable Senate and House ones as well, so she might have more to work with. strictly hypothetical though.
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I think that's definitely the case in regards to interest. I didn't understand that for a long time but even my interest in U.S. politics has declined over the years because of the state of government and political news. I can totally understand why a person would want nothing to do with this.
But, I also think the lack of interest in issues is also due to a big problem America has with selfishness, personal gain and lack of compassion. It feels like the average American doesn't get worked up about anything until it hits their own home. There are still a lot of people who haven't been truly affected by the poor economy. Most people don't have a close relationship with somebody who is gay. I would bet the majority of people who don't vote are refraining just because they don't care about the issues because their lives are the same today as they were 8 years ago and really couldn't care less about everyone else.
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That graph is nonsense.
It's my least favorite kind of logical error - or lie. "Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's positions are closer than people think. Let me show that on a graph. Oh, wait, they're not looking as close as I want them to. Let me just tweak the questions I consider a little bit."
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Um, yeah. Given their differences on same-sex marriage and abortion, and the number of citizens those potentially impact, I think the distance between them on the authoritarian/libertarian axis might be just a leetle larger than 2 or 3 percentage points.
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The Political Compass questions are the same they were as four years ago, but they admit their limitations
Obama poses something of a challenge to The Political Compass, because he's a man of so few fixed principles.
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The Political Compass questions are so loaded that I don't trust my own score.
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Imagine my surprise when it spit out this result:
The Political Figure who best represents your views is: Zach from Mit Hamine
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Imagine my surprise when it spit out this result:
The Political Figure who best represents your views is: Zach from Mit Hamine
NOOO!!!!!!
Although let's throw him on stage into one of the debates....
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But, I also think the lack of interest in issues is also due to a big problem America has with selfishness, personal gain and lack of compassion. It feels like the average American doesn't get worked up about anything until it hits their own home. There are still a lot of people who haven't been truly affected by the poor economy. Most people don't have a close relationship with somebody who is gay.
Nor are they close to anyone who might die in our overseas conflicts.
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I am voting for Jill Stein.
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I am voting for Jill Stein.
Don't you fear throwing your joke vote away?
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Voting for Obama in Tennessee would be throwing your vote away regardless.
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Not necessarily. Although we have the Electoral college, I suspect the popular vote numbers count as far as building legitimacy (recall Bush in 2000), although some people are never going to be swayed even in the event of a landslide.
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Well, that was dispiriting. I hope Obama gets a lot better at debating between now and the next one (moderated by Candy Crowley!). Also, I suspect Romney did drugs before going on stage. Cheater.
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Well, that was dispiriting. I hope Obama gets a lot better at debating between now and the next one (moderated by Candy Crowley!). Also, I suspect Romney did drugs before going on stage. Cheater.
How do you only have 10 posts all of a sudden?
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obama is such a pussy. i never liked mitt romney, but i like him now.
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Well, that was dispiriting. I hope Obama gets a lot better at debating between now and the next one (moderated by Candy Crowley!). Also, I suspect Romney did drugs before going on stage. Cheater.
How do you only have 10 posts all of a sudden?
I deleted my account.
obama is such a pussy.
Agreed. Obama needs to grow a pair.
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obama is such a pussy. i never liked mitt romney, but i like him now.
Thank god our election is determined by who the alpha male is in a dog-like ass sniffing competition. Whoever is strongest, loudest man wins!
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Sidebar: Did I really miss an episode of Toilet Wars for this last night?!?
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obama is such a pussy. i never liked mitt romney, but i like him now.
Thank god our election is determined by who the alpha male is in a dog-like ass sniffing competition. Whoever is strongest, loudest man wins!
At least that's how the winner of last night's debate was determined. Romney said nothing but nonsense, but he was louder and more aggressive, so he was the clear winner. Obama needs to watch some old Michael Jordan clips or listen to Big L or something to prep for the next debate. Instead of writing "Dad" before debates (which Mitt Romney isn't doing anyway -- that's all bullshit), he should be writing something along the lines of "KILL" or "MURDER." He needs to awaken that killer instinct or be prepared to join the one-termer club alongside snoozes like GHWB and Carter (the one-termer club blows -- you don't get invited to the same parties).
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Romney said nothing but nonsense, but he was louder and more aggressive, so he was the clear winner.
Good thing Bill Oh'Really is not running.
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obama is such a pussy. i never liked mitt romney, but i like him now.
I know everyone is generally nice around the FOT board but shut the fuck up. That kind of shit has no place in rational adult conversation.
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He's speaking his mind. Leave him alone.
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Tom needs to get on the phone to Obama, stat. I remember one of the very first Best Shows I heard that made me start listening regularly, when Z-Man was talking about how he was working on this puppet, getting all po-faced about how he could never reach the heights accomplished by Fozzie Bear. Tom was all, "Listen, you've gotta get hungry. You've gotta take that puppet and run laps with it. You stand in front of the mirror every morning and say 'Fozzie Bear is nothing. Fozzie Bear is garbage to us.'"
That said, Jim Lehrer was a disgrace, these "debates" have become worthless charades that achieve nothing except afford news-media figures the chance to preen and spin, and I am not convinced that that thing last night really changed any minds, though our gallant mainstream media is doing their damnedest to make it so.
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obama is such a pussy. i never liked mitt romney, but i like him now.
I know everyone is generally nice around the FOT board but shut the fuck up. That kind of shit has no place in rational adult conversation.
Oh my god, look up some of Raad Man's old posts, this guy is either the longest running under the radar troll in FOT history or the biggest moron.
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obama is such a pussy. i never liked mitt romney, but i like him now.
I know everyone is generally nice around the FOT board but shut the fuck up. That kind of shit has no place in rational adult conversation.
Oh my god, look up some of Raad Man's old posts, this guy is either the longest running under the radar troll in FOT history or the biggest moron.
"That said, Jim Lehrer was a disgrace, these "debates" have become worthless charades that achieve nothing except afford news-media figures the chance to preen and spin, and I am not convinced that that thing last night really changed any minds, though our gallant mainstream media is doing their damnedest to make it so."
This is what really drives me crazy. The media is a money making machine that needs this election to be closer, so it seems like they were predetermined to declare Romney the winner.
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Romney said nothing but nonsense, but he was louder and more aggressive, so he was the clear winner.
Good thing Bill Oh'Really is not running.
He'd probably make a good candidate. Wouldn't be surprised if half the class of 2016 or 2020 were right-wing pundits.
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This is being said by someone who did not watch the Republican debates: Last night, Obama faced -what seemed to be- a different Romney, more focused and aggressive. The president's debate trainers will adapt. The Romney stand-in will reflect these new characteristics and Obama will be prepared for the next round.
Keep in mind the President hasn't debated, in public, since 2007. Romney has participated in 19 this year alone.
Jill Stein debated Rocky Anderson: http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2012/10/4/expanding_the_debate_exclusive_third_party (http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2012/10/4/expanding_the_debate_exclusive_third_party)
Keep hope alive!
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This is being said by someone who did not watch the Republican debates: Last night, Obama faced -what seemed to be- a different Romney, more focused and aggressive.
He was like this during only one primary debate -- the one in Florida after Newt whooped him in South Carolina. Romney's clutch.
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I really wanted Mitt to do a handstand at the end of the debate to show off his pant lump.
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One thing Romney has going for him behind his creepy, bad guy from a movie looks is his kind voice. Even when he's aggressive towards Obama, he says it in a disappointed dad sort of way. It works. Although I think his foreign policy would stink, I think he'd be a great negotiator. But, that's really the only thing I see from him that I like just to make the record clear.
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Well, I think Romney's whole "disappointed dad" shtick is maximally obnoxious. Calling your adult sons a bunch of liars and then equating the POTUS to one of them--it's the same old arrogant, insulting Romney, just a little subtler than usual.
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At least one good thing came out of last night:
https://twitter.com/ericgrant/status/253673901698199552
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And who would have guessed that Obama would be the one making embarrassing zingers? That Donald Trump joke was atrocious.
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Well, Romney's "You're entitled to your own house and your own plane but not your own facts" was total fail. 1) Unoriginal. 2.) Obama's plane isn't his plane, it's the gov'ts. Presumably Mitt can't conceive of someone not owning their own plane.
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People are being too damn sour. Obama wasn't that terrible. If you seriously have the blues over this, you could do worse than to read this Wonkette post and the comments:
http://wonkette.com/485901/oh-no-democrats-it-is-time-to-for-your-mass-suicide (http://wonkette.com/485901/oh-no-democrats-it-is-time-to-for-your-mass-suicide)
There is some solid level-headedness there amidst a few laffs.
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Here's my take on the debate, it's both insightful and humorous, and answers the question "how would the debate be different if Jon Wurster was the moderator?"
http://www.mostlymeat.com/archive_201210.php#201210041 (http://www.mostlymeat.com/archive_201210.php#201210041)
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Here's my take on the debate, it's both insightful and humorous, and answers the question "how would the debate be different if Jon Wurster was the moderator?"
http://www.mostlymeat.com/archive_201210.php#201210041 (http://www.mostlymeat.com/archive_201210.php#201210041)
Uncanny.
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People are being too damn sour. Obama wasn't that terrible. If you seriously have the blues over this, you could do worse than to read this Wonkette post and the comments:
http://wonkette.com/485901/oh-no-democrats-it-is-time-to-for-your-mass-suicide (http://wonkette.com/485901/oh-no-democrats-it-is-time-to-for-your-mass-suicide)
There is some solid level-headedness there amidst a few laffs.
I recommend David Brin's take (http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2012/10/romneys-etch-sketch-moment.html?spref=tw):
In fact, what we were witnessing during the last week was brilliant prep work, perfectly timed, for his Wednesday night veer and hard charge toward the center. When Romney flat-out denied holding ANY of the beliefs or policies cited above! Not only that, but he blamed the president for failure to unleash the CFPB on Wall Street with more vigor!
With panache you just had to admire, Romney moved from chutzpah… claiming that - because of his three-day-old new tax policy he had never ruled out revenue increases or asking the rich to pay more or ever proposed a vast supply-side gift of trillions to the top 1%…
…all the way to flat-out lying. For example that ObamaCare is not directly modeled on the health care system he and the Democratic legislature enacted in his home state, when he was governor, down to the details of actual language in the bill. As more and more elements of Obamacare have come into action, and proved publicly popular, those portions have come into Mitt’s category of “oh, well, I’ll keep THAT part, of course.” And each time, he gets away with claiming that it is not a reversal.
Or his claim that Obama’s 90 billion dollars of aid to sustainable energy was fifty times the 3-4 billions per year of tax breaks given to the oil industry… when that 90 billion is mostly not expenditure but loan guarantees resulting in much lower costs, and is spread across many years.
I was reminded of an old Saturday Night Live sketch, in which a wife comes home to find her husband in bed with a bimbo and screams “what’s this?” To which he replies: “What’s what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He keeps up his denial while calmly getting dressed and the bimbo dresses and departs. Stonewalling her rage, he maintains the counterfactual with such puzzled calm and patronizing panache, while making coffee and suggesting that the wife is having blithering fantasies, that she winds up just sitting at the table with him, letting him change the subject to how her day went.
Seriously. Are we that stupid? And is Obama such a klutz he will just stare at the lies, in pole-axed surprise?
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That supposed SNL sketch was actually Joey Bishop in A Guide for the Married Man. Pretty funny, in a sniggering, sexist way. It used to be on YouTube but seems to have been taken down.
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Snoop Lion justifies his vote:
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/803219/thumbs/o-SNOOP-OBAMA-ROMNEY-570.jpg?1)
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Patton Oswalt nails it:
(http://i.imgur.com/42KAS.jpg)
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Snoop Lion justifies his vote:
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/803219/thumbs/o-SNOOP-OBAMA-ROMNEY-570.jpg?1)
Newports suck. If I found out Romney smoked Marlboro Reds, I'd probably vote for him.
In case anyone gives a rip: Snoop Lion didn't actually write that list. Also, here's a picture of him wearing a Count von Count costume:
(http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfade/snoopdogglistlead.jpg)
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"Paul Ryan's Video Diary" — A Bad Lip Reading of Paul Ryan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewP01X5x9Nw&hd=1#ws)
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The Rumble 2012: Bill O'Reilly vs Jon Stewart (Full) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A051B-uPopM#ws)
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Mitt Romney debates himself, Healthcare, Education, Taxes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWgYEkArxos#ws)
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Why Obama Now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9G8XREyG0Q#ws)
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Inspired by a recent rant of Tom's on the Best Show:
Night People, October 11, 2012: Revolution Explained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/47748)
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Lehrer gets a do-over:
Jim Lehrer: Badass Moderator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67L20-tBBG0&feature=player_embedded#ws)
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Dear fot community,
Yes it is me, James from southeast Pa, aka Pokemonfan, aka The Thrilla in Philla, aka lean mean Vegan, aka Cat guy, aka Dr Oz's Chore Boy, and yes those are all real screen names I am currently using on differint message boards.
I come before you asking for forgiveness for the troll/creep/ idiot I acted like roughly a year ago on this forum. The way I acted was embarrassing and immature, and it's kept me from being a positive contributor to The Best Show and the fot community.
In all honesty, I did think that Ron Paul was the best REPUBLICAN in the race, but after a year of growing and maturing I see that the beliefs I imbued on this forum were very misguided. I don't want to say that I've gained some all knowing knowledge now that I'm eighteen, but a lot has happend to me in the last 12 months.
Yesterday, when I went back and read the things I wrote, I was horribly embarrassed and could not let THAT be how I'm known.
So, I come here and ask for forgiveness, and politely ask if I can please come back to the fot community without shame. I would love nothing more than to occasionally post witty remarks about the things I love: Pokemon, Rachael Ray, Cats, Vegan/Animal Rights, and occasionally The Best Show! WWTD? - What Would Tom Do?
Thank You, Sincerly James from SouthEast Pa/ Pokemonfan
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Dear fot community,
Yes it is me, James from southeast Pa, aka Pokemonfan, aka The Thrilla in Philla, aka lean mean Vegan, aka Cat guy, aka Dr Oz's Chore Boy, and yes those are all real screen names I am currently using on differint message boards.
I come before you asking for forgiveness for the troll/creep/ idiot I acted like roughly a year ago on this forum. The way I acted was embarrassing and immature, and it's kept me from being a positive contributor to The Best Show and the fot community.
In all honesty, I did think that Ron Paul was the best REPUBLICAN in the race, but after a year of growing and maturing I see that the beliefs I imbued on this forum were very misguided. I don't want to say that I've gained some all knowing knowledge now that I'm eighteen, but a lot has happend to me in the last 12 months.
Yesterday, when I went back and read the things I wrote, I was horribly embarrassed and could not let THAT be how I'm known.
So, I come here and ask for forgiveness, and politely ask if I can please come back to the fot community without shame. I would love nothing more than to occasionally post witty remarks about the things I love: Pokemon, Rachael Ray, Cats, Vegan/Animal Rights, and occasionally The Best Show! WWTD? - What Would Tom Do?
Thank You, Sincerly James from SouthEast Pa/ Pokemonfan
You are welcomed back with open arms, sir.
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This is pretty sweet:
http://www.romneytaxplan.com/ (http://www.romneytaxplan.com/)
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Hilarious. I'd read earlier that the DNC had created a site mocking Romney's tax plan, but figured it would be something a lot more dull.
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I thought it was hardly an Obama victory (as it seems the dumb media are making it out to be), but at least he held his ground and didn't manage to start any Internet memes (like Romney did with "binders full of women").
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Heard good stuff about this site:
http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz (http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz)
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Heard good stuff about this site:
http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz (http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz)
I'm 99% Green.
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I'm 87% Green. You win, Fredericks.
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I don't completely trust quizzes like that because I know I manipulate the answers to come up with the result I want.
That said, I'm 93% Green and wouldn't vote for the Green candidate if you offered me free beer for life.
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How much difference can there really be between the Greens and the Democrats if the same guy (me) is 93% Green and 90% Democrat?
Update: Oops, I misread my results. I'm 93% for Stein and 90% for Obama, but am 94% Green and 99% Democrat.
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I thought it was hardly an Obama victory (as it seems the dumb media are making it out to be), but at least he held his ground and didn't manage to start any Internet memes (like Romney did with "binders full of women").
Seems like the reverse, the media is trying to play it like a slight victory or draw, but Obama rolled him...not even close.
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That said, I'm 93% Green and wouldn't vote for the Green candidate if you offered me free beer for life.
Even if it was Dog Fish Head?
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Even if it was Dog Fish Head?
Not even the 120 Minute.
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Someone better tell Wally and Gary. I don't think Vance would go though: http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=767928 (http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=767928)
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Really good quiz 8)
Obama 81% Democrat
Jill Stein 79% Green
Gary Johnson 68% Libertarian
Who you side with by party:
Democrat 88% Green 75% Libertarian 39% Republican 10%
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Also, I hope Zack from Virginia (Mitahmin) takes the quiz. It would be cool to see his results. Is there an anarchist party?
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(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/58304_494623430555976_1967470615_n.jpg)
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Vote Smart gave me Jill Stein by a landslide, but with this one I ended up with Gary Johnson. I thought the questions were a little better on this one and gave more credit to how important an issue was to me.
Gary Johnson- 86%
Jill Stein- 74%
Rocky Anderson- 67%
Barack Obama- 55%
Mitt Romney- 37%
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http://www.truethevote.org/about/ (http://www.truethevote.org/about/)
Our initiatives include:
Mobilizing and training volunteers who are willing to work as election monitors
Aggressively pursuing fraud reports to ensure prosecution when appropriate
Providing a support system for our volunteers that includes live and online training, quick reference guides, a call bank to phone in problem reports, information on videotaping at polling places, and security as necessary
Creating documentaries and instructional videos for use in recruiting and training
Raising awareness of the problem through strategic outreach efforts including advertising, social networking, media relations, and relational marketing
Voter registration programs and efforts to validate existing registration lists, including the use of pattern recognition software to detect problem areas
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No President Romney. Please.
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Obama will win. I am staking my entire reputation as a truth-teller and an authority on this board on this eventuality.
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Obama will win. I am staking my entire reputation as a truth-teller and an authority on this board on this eventuality.
If only the election were being held on your side of the pond.
(http://i.imgur.com/7HzTm.gif)
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how come obama's not more popular in mexico?
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Israel wasn't polled?
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how come obama's not more popular in mexico?
Or Kenya?
(http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/c0.0.403.403/p403x403/222490_297999033639437_1881464778_n.jpg)
On a related note, this NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/politics/strident-anti-obama-messages-flood-key-states.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1&) has a Wurster character come to life:
The film is the work of Joel Gilbert, whose previous claims include having tracked down Elvis Presley in the witness protection program and discovering that Paul McCartney is in fact dead. (...) He also blamed the mainstream media for not looking deeper into the story he uncovered, telling The New York Times, “I hope you’re not angry or jealous that I beat you to it and might win the Pulitzer Prize.”
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The American Decline (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=642KbtSiMbA#ws)
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No, this is the American Decline:
(http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/romney-meatloaf-ap-embed.jpg)
Mitt Romney and Meat Loaf sing "God Bless America" as he campaigns at the football stadium at Defiance High School in Defiance, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012.
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(http://www.bookwormroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Obama-Romney-and-the-hired-help.jpg)
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Let's get really humorless (not to say sanctimonious) for a moment.
If anyone reading this still really believes that by withholding their vote from Obama they are doing anything whatever that helps this country or leads to any constructive end, I would only ask that you read this: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-case-for-obama-and-against-liberal-despair/264465/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-case-for-obama-and-against-liberal-despair/264465/)
Or then there's this, on the very real differences between a compromised Obama and a monstrous Romney on civil-liberty and national-defense issues: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-case-for-obama-and-against-liberal-despair/264465/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-case-for-obama-and-against-liberal-despair/264465/)
Or then there's this, the one mea culpa of which I am aware written by someone who voted for Nader, in Florida, in 2000: http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/10/01/one-in-1784/ (http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/10/01/one-in-1784/)
Perusing the threads on this topic here and elsewhere, I was struck—as others were—by the resemblance to the arguments I myself advanced in 2000—back when I was the sanctimonious twit saying that there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Bush and Gore. I was wrong. I learned my lesson. In my own defense, all I can say is that the consequences of my casting one of the 1,784 votes in Florida that was the official margin of difference between Bush and Gore were unimaginable at the time, at least to me.
And I’ve regretted it ever since and will until the day I die. Seriously. I number that vote among the worst things I’ve ever done as a human being on this planet, even though I’ve done more stupid and mean things than I care to remember, and despite the fact that my motives in that case were fairly pure.
But then if you're withholding your vote from Obama not because you think it will have any positive effect but because you are simply too pure a soul to defile yourself by voting for someone who doesn't come up 100% to your noble vision of an ideal saviour, then (and here I will cross from sanctimony to just plain old self-righteousness): Please go DIAF.
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Was it OK for me to vote for Jill Stein because she most closely matched my beliefs, in my state where Mitt Romney has 100% chance of winning the state regardless of who I voted for? Should I have had it cleared first?
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Was it OK for me to vote for Jill Stein because she most closely matched my beliefs, in my state where Mitt Romney has 100% chance of winning the state regardless of who I voted for? Should I have had it cleared first?
My god, Dave! Voting for the candidate who most closely matches your political position? In an election year?!
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Was it OK for me to vote for Jill Stein because she most closely matched my beliefs, in my state where Mitt Romney has 100% chance of winning the state regardless of who I voted for? Should I have had it cleared first?
No, it really wasn't. You achieved nothing good for anybody, and Obama needs the mandate of as high a popular vote as he can get.
However, I note that you have the "Waaah, if you express an opinion you're trying to restrict my freedom!" attitude endemic to both right-wingers and lefter-than-thou types down pat. It bespeaks a certain defensiveness.
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It also seems pretty defensive to imagine that anyone not eager to vote for your dude because of, say, horrifying civillian drone executions must have been holding out for a "noble savior." That straw man belongs largely to people who write Republican campaign commercials, not actual voters.
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Yes, Greg, and it's obvious that contributing to a Romney victory will sure enough put a stop to those drone strikes! Probably because Mitt and his crew will just go straight for the nukes. Do you know who John Bolton is? Do you know what he advocated during the last Bush administration and what role he is on deck to play in Romney's? Go ahead, vote for a third party, and you'll quickly realize what a "straw man" we Obama advocates were attacking.
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Oh sorry, I thought that was Greg because of the avatar picture. i already knew "JohnG" was hopeless.
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Oh sorry, I thought that was Greg because of the avatar picture. i already knew "JohnG" was hopeless.
You won't find me posting a damn thing here!
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It also seems pretty defensive to imagine that anyone not eager to vote for your dude because of, say, horrifying civillian drone executions must have been holding out for a "noble savior." That straw man belongs largely to people who write Republican campaign commercials, not actual voters.
Hear hear. And incidentally, I say this as a reformed Nader voter who will be voting for the Democratic candidate in a dark blue state for my third election running.
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Just curious--I know that the posters on this board skew male, but, uh. any women out there who think the most important thing is to express your precious nobility at the ballot box even if it means an ascendent party that regards you as lying jezebels? a Supreme Court that will permanently, until the end of your lifetimes and possibly those of your children, treat you as childbearing vessels and not much more?
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But God knows, the most important thing is to cast a pacifist vote that de facto enables the more bellicose of the two parties that have any chance of winning. Take comfort from that when you are forced to have a child you don't want and can't afford. When we're off to war with Iran and you have no choice over the control of your body, at least you'll know those male voters preserved their delicate honor.
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Guys, be nice.
Voting is just a small part of the political process. Don't overthink it. All the good things the left has ever accomplished -- civil rights, environmental regulation, gay rights, etc -- didn't happen because of complicated reasoning about voting. It came from decades of hard work and lots of teamwork. So if you want something done, go join a dedicated and effective team, do some work, and don't hold your breath.
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See the thing is, Clay, that those righteous causes have an easier time, and require less exhausting effort, when there are sympathetic leaders in Washington. Civil Rights advanced under JFK and LBJ. Women's and LGBT's under almost nobody's but Clinton's and Obama's. But if you are aware of any occasion, ever, where an elected leader has been influenced to do the right thing by being presented with the vote totals of the Green Party, this would be a good time to cite it.
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The only reason I could see myself voting for Obama on Tuesday is that the Green Party doesn't do enough to make a difference. They should be working from the city and state level to get a brand, but their only brand is running on great ideas and then disappearing for four more years. That's irresponsible and I have to decide if it's more irresponsible than two parties who have no clue how to work together. I also don't see Obama making things a whole lot better, but he probably won't make things worse either. I don't necessarily believe this is his fault, but his party has plenty to do with it. He ran on great ideas, and I still think he still believes in those things. I'm not willing to say Republicans caused this mess either because they are only half to blame. Blame both parties for a disfunctional government that holds the next election above the country more than ever.
I also think Romney has the higher potential to make things worse but I don't think it's doom and gloom if he wins. Democrats are still going to have the majority, and it's still going to be insanely difficult to get anything done because of the gridlock. I don't think anybody's going to be invading Iran while the economy's in the tank and while Romney would champion trickle down economy, I don't buy that Obama is going to do anything to change that either. Gay rights are still going to be decided at a state level and on ballots. That's up to the people to decide how fast we want to progress on that issue. Roe v. Wade isn't going to get overturned. If anybody would have overturned Roe v. Wade, Bush and his majority would have and they didn't. The only thing that really scares me about Romney is that he'll bring defense spending back up to Bush levels. That's something I think he'd be able to convince Congress to do. I also think it's positive to have a president that at least champions progressive social movements for awareness sake. But, while Romney has a lot of bad ideas, he's not Bush, he won't have the power Bush had and it wouldn't be doom and gloom if he won. That said, Obama's going to win by a comfortable margin.
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I don't know why green party candidates don't run for lower offices. Could Ralph Nadar really not have been a representative or a senator for Connecticut? I hear a lot about "getting the message out" but I don't see that as a substitute for "getting things done".
Keep in mind, Gilly, Obama is likely to appoint at least one supreme court justice during his second term. That would have big impact on the country!
It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself to vote for Obama, Gilly, but you're in your own way. He's closer to the vision of America that you seem to want. If Romney wins, that vision will become less focused.
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On the Romney campaign's plan to raise holy shit if Obama doesn't get a mandate in the popular vote:
http://nyaltnews.com/2012/11/romney-obama-electoral-vote-popular/36579/ (http://nyaltnews.com/2012/11/romney-obama-electoral-vote-popular/36579/)
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But God knows, the most important thing is to cast a pacifist vote that de facto enables the more bellicose of the two parties that have any chance of winning. Take comfort from that when you are forced to have a child you don't want and can't afford. When we're off to war with Iran and you have no choice over the control of your body, at least you'll know those male voters preserved their delicate honor.
I've given your argument some additional consideration, and I have come to a conclusion. You're kind of a dick.
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Getting pumped; tomorrow night is it! Feel very good about the big show, but hope my state deliver's Warren to the Senate too!
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See the thing is, Clay, that those righteous causes have an easier time, and require less exhausting effort, when there are sympathetic leaders in Washington. Civil Rights advanced under JFK and LBJ. Women's and LGBT's under almost nobody's but Clinton's and Obama's. But if you are aware of any occasion, ever, where an elected leader has been influenced to do the right thing by being presented with the vote totals of the Green Party, this would be a good time to cite it.
Hey dummy, I'm on your side.
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Hey dummy, I'm on your side.
d'Oh! Apologies.
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Was it OK for me to vote for Jill Stein because she most closely matched my beliefs, in my state where Mitt Romney has 100% chance of winning the state regardless of who I voted for? Should I have had it cleared first?
Absolutely, Dave.
This is America. Vote your conscience.
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Guys, be nice.
Voting is just a small part of the political process. Don't overthink it. All the good things the left has ever accomplished -- civil rights, environmental regulation, gay rights, etc -- didn't happen because of complicated reasoning about voting. It came from decades of hard work and lots of teamwork. So if you want something done, go join a dedicated and effective team, do some work, and don't hold your breath.
Love this, well put Clay.
And to steal from Loomis over at the Lawyers, Guns and Money blog:
"Change happens outside the election cycles–elections are for institutionalizing the changes you have attempted to make in the past 4 years.
You want clean hands–organize the American public around the issues you care about. It will take the rest of your life. That is the timeline of real change. "
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I voted for Nader both in '96 and '00. Since I was in Indiana, it didn't really seem to make a difference, but I was completely disillusioned after the outcome of '00 and haven't voted 3rd party at that level since, although I deeply dislike the two-party system (if I lived in VT, I would definitely vote for Bernie Sanders and would like it if more third party types won offices at various levels of government, local, state and federal). To me the idea of voting to increase the popular vote and (hopefully) the legitimacy of a (hopeful) Obama win outweighs other considerations. I am pretty completely anxiety-ridden about tomorrow but we'll see what happens soon enough (or, like in 2000, we won't).
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I don't understand why media outlets are saying this is a close race. Probably to raise drama and create a story, but Obama's going to win by at least 70 electoral points. Even the states that were supposed to be close, aren't all that close anymore. The states that are still considered battleground states won't even matter.
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I don't understand why media outlets are saying this is a close race. Probably to raise drama and create a story, but Obama's going to win by at least 70 electoral points.
I think you do understand!
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I voted for Nader in... '00. I was completely disillusioned after the outcome of '00 and haven't voted 3rd party at that level since.
The above statement resonants deeply with me.
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http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/02/us/politics/paths-to-the-white-house.html?ref=politics (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/02/us/politics/paths-to-the-white-house.html?ref=politics)
You can relax now.
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You could just stay home.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/10/30/opinion/100000001874355/11-excellent-reasons-not-to-vote.html (http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/10/30/opinion/100000001874355/11-excellent-reasons-not-to-vote.html)
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If you wanted complicated reasoning about voting, here you go:
http://rajivsethi.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-rationality-of-voting.html (http://rajivsethi.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-rationality-of-voting.html)
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I had to drop out of that one (Fredericks' link) 90 seconds in. Could not process the bottomless contempt I was feeling for those humans. There might have been some ironic intention in there somewhere. Get back to me later with it.
I am SO FAR from being relaxed, having read what I've read about the beyond-shameless attempts by the governors of Ohio, Florida, and elsewhere to suppress the vote and manipulate the numbers they have to report.
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I had to drop out of that one (Fredericks' link) 90 seconds in. Could not process the bottomless contempt I was feeling for those humans.
Gee, that seems out of character.
(It's actually a pretty sincere argument in favor of voting.)
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Didn't vote today (I early voted weeks ago), but am hearing reports of long lines and fewer machines and booths than is typical. This is in Bloomington, an anomalously liberal town in Indiana (home of the infamous Mourdock). So while the Romney thing is a foregone conclusion, we have a couple nail-biting races going down.
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My hope is, that after last night, both Karl Rove and Dick Morris are consigned to the dustbin of history.
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Congratulations, my American friends! You did it!
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Courtesy of a comment on the Balloon Juice blog: Mitt Romney, cleaning out his campaign office, finds a solitary moment to imagine the cabinet meeting he will never hold:
Jerry Lewis - The Errand Boy (1961) Pantomime (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MA3406YJUg#ws)
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I'm just thankful that my naive and ill-advised vote for Jill Stein didn't cost Obama the election. I've seen what Bartman went through!
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I'm just thankful that my naive and ill-advised vote for Jill Stein didn't cost Obama the election. I've seen what Bartman went through!
I, for one, think that you are an alright dude, Dave.
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I was right about North Carolina all those months ago. It was closer than I had thought it would be.
We had a complete clean sweep by the GOP here, though. Even the crazy Lt. Gov. guy squeaked through. Our state was governed by people too far to the left to reflect the populace for about 30 years - now I suspect it has swung to people too far to the right. With luck, this cycle will be shorter.
A not-completely-off-the-wall guess - Texas will be moderately competitive for President in 2016 and competitive in 2020. If the GOP can't find a way to appeal to Latinos by then, they won't win any more Presidential elections.
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Dick Morris's "explanation" of why his prediction of a Romney landslide turned out to be so amazingly wrongheaded:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/07/dick-morris-explains-why-was-wrong-about-2012-election/ (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/07/dick-morris-explains-why-was-wrong-about-2012-election/)
If you don't feel like wading through his drivel, his reasoning boils down to something like "My prediction should've come true but these minorities insist on voting."
Also, he refers to Obama's victory as a "squeaker." Apparently a margin of nearly 100 electoral votes (probably over 100 once FL is called) and over 2.5 million votes qualifies as a squeaker.
Between Morris, Rove, and new correspondent Adam Carolla, they really are hiring the best and the brightest over there at Fox.
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I was right about North Carolina all those months ago. It was closer than I had thought it would be.
We had a complete clean sweep by the GOP here, though. Even the crazy Lt. Gov. guy squeaked through. Our state was governed by people too far to the left to reflect the populace for about 30 years - now I suspect it has swung to people too far to the right. With luck, this cycle will be shorter.
A not-completely-off-the-wall guess - Texas will be moderately competitive for President in 2016 and competitive in 2020. If the GOP can't find a way to appeal to Latinos by then, they won't win any more Presidential elections.
It's not off the wall at all. In fact, it's 100% accurate. The demographics simply aren't on their side. The GOP simply cannot survive in its current form. It's too far to the right on immigration, foreign policy and sociocultural issues. If it stands any chance of remaining relevant at the national level, it has to become more moderate.
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Also, he refers to Obama's victory as a "squeaker." Apparently a margin of nearly 100 electoral votes (probably over 100 once FL is called) and over 2.5 million votes qualifies as a squeaker.
Well, what makes that especially rich is that the Romney "landslide" he predicted had him winning with 325 electoral votes, whereas Obama winning with what may be 332is a "squeaker." But fuck Dick Morris, may we never hear from him again.
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I wonder how often she and Al Franken crossed paths ...
https://twitter.com/vicjackshow/status/266047430502526976
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I was right about North Carolina all those months ago. It was closer than I had thought it would be.
We had a complete clean sweep by the GOP here, though. Even the crazy Lt. Gov. guy squeaked through. Our state was governed by people too far to the left to reflect the populace for about 30 years - now I suspect it has swung to people too far to the right. With luck, this cycle will be shorter.
A not-completely-off-the-wall guess - Texas will be moderately competitive for President in 2016 and competitive in 2020. If the GOP can't find a way to appeal to Latinos by then, they won't win any more Presidential elections.
It's not off the wall at all. In fact, it's 100% accurate. The demographics simply aren't on their side. The GOP simply cannot survive in its current form. It's too far to the right on immigration, foreign policy and sociocultural issues. If it stands any chance of remaining relevant at the national level, it has to become more moderate.
Well, more moderate on issues that are important to Latinos, anyway.
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If you don't feel like wading through his drivel, his reasoning boils down to something like "My prediction should've come true but these minorities insist on voting."
I spent far too much time yesterday cruising through right-wing websites, gloating at their despair and befuddlement. But also, as always when I wade into the conservative echo chamber, shocked and baffled by their worldview, which seems completely detached from reality. And that's the real reason (insularity and detachment from reality) that they were so shocked by the election results!
Though I guess the same charge could be levelled at me in 2004, the key difference there being that it was the pre-Nate Silver era.
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This is pretty epic: http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html (http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html)
Starting early this morning, I am going to un-friend every single individual on Facebook who voted for Obama, or I even suspect may have Democrat leanings. I will do the same in person. All family and friends, even close family and friends, who I know to be Democrats are hereby dead to me. I vow never to speak to them again for the rest of my life, or have any communications with them. They are in short, the enemies of liberty. They deserve nothing less than hatred and utter contempt.
I strongly urge all other libertarians to do the same. Are you married to someone who voted for Obama, have a girlfriend who voted 'O'. Divorce them. Break up with them without haste. Vow not to attend family functions, Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas for example, if there will be any family members in attendance who are Democrats.
Do you work for someone who voted for Obama? Quit your job. Co-workers who voted for Obama. Simply don't talk to them in the workplace, unless your boss instructs you too for work-related only purposes. Have clients who voted Democrat? Call them up this morning and tell them to take their business elsewhere.
Have a neighbor who votes for Obama? You could take a crap on their lawn. Then again, probably not a good idea since it would be technically illegal to do this. But you could have your dog take care of business. Not your fault if he just happens to choose that particular spot.
If I meet a Democrat in my life from here on out, I will shun them immediately. I will spit on the ground in front of them, being careful not to spit in their general direction so that they can't charge me with some stupid little nuisance law. Then I'll tell them in no un-certain terms: "I do not associate with Democrats. You all are communist pigs, and I have nothing but utter disgust for you. Sir/Madam, you are scum of the earth." Then I'll turn and walk the other way.
Buttons. Boy, you can have a lot of fun with this. I plan to make up a bunch of buttons, and wear them around town, sayings like "Democrats are Communist Pigs," or "Welfare moochers steal from hard-working Americans," "Only Nazis support Seat Belt laws" or "No Smoking Ban: Nanny-Staters go Fuck Yourselves."
For now, off to my first assignment: Telling all my friends and family who voted for Obama to "fuck off, don't ever speak to me again you slimeball mother fuckers." Wish me luck!
"Only Nazis support seat-belt laws."
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"Buttons. Boy, you can have a lot of fun with this."
This guy is doing alot of people a big favor by not talking to them. i also would have a lot of fun with him if he was my "silent" co-worker, would just be incredibly ncie to him everyday.
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For dave, cavorting, and everyone else:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/print/2012/09/why-i-refuse-to-vote-for-barack-obama/262861/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/print/2012/09/why-i-refuse-to-vote-for-barack-obama/262861/)
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If you want to keep that topic open, Flood, this one's for you, Dave, and everyone else: http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2012/11/thoughts-on-the-left-at-the-end-of-an-election-cycle (http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2012/11/thoughts-on-the-left-at-the-end-of-an-election-cycle)
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I think what gets in the way of these friendships is disposition and temperament rather than politics. A lot of times, I think, politics, philosophy, etc is a way for people to code things that they otherwise cannot say. Maybe someone has a lot of anger and resentment issues that they can't work through and they don't feel comfortable talking about those things, so instead they talk about gay marriage, abortion, taxes, etc.
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Oh boy:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/eric-dondero-boycott-democrat-libertarian.html (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/eric-dondero-boycott-democrat-libertarian.html)
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Oh, and Conor Friedersdorf always comes off as a right-wing liberatarian to me, so him not voting for Obama is not really a huge deal.
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Oh boy:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/eric-dondero-boycott-democrat-libertarian.html (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/eric-dondero-boycott-democrat-libertarian.html)
Awesome. My favorite thing in the comments thread:
MEXICAN BRAIN SURGERY Y'ALL
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Oh boy:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/eric-dondero-boycott-democrat-libertarian.html (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/eric-dondero-boycott-democrat-libertarian.html)
Thank God he can still listen to the Lt. Dan Band
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This is pretty epic: http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html (http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html)
Do you work for someone who voted for Obama? Quit your job. Co-workers who voted for Obama. Simply don't talk to them in the workplace, unless your boss instructs you too for work-related only purposes. Have clients who voted Democrat? Call them up this morning and tell them to take their business elsewhere.
I'm just a dirty commie, but didn't he just fail Capitalism at the first hurdle there?
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For dave, cavorting, and everyone else:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/print/2012/09/why-i-refuse-to-vote-for-barack-obama/262861/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/print/2012/09/why-i-refuse-to-vote-for-barack-obama/262861/)
But I don't see many Obama supporters feeling as reluctant as the circumstances warrant.
That's not true. At least not for me and many many others, I suspect. I'm rather lukewarm on Obama myself. He's disappointed me on any number of levels. However, I have no doubt that Mitt Romney would have been far worse on issues such as foreign policy, financial regulation and health care. So yes, I did cast a vote for Obama. But it wasn't something that I was all that enthused about.
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
It is. Gee, he sure is an evil guy, isn't he?
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
It is. Gee, he sure is an evil guy, isn't he?
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxAxQlrmdxmxiVkGEzLIIs0Ya-XtzQxScYsSOw8nhf7RlgoXAo)
Looking at people through this lens tends to dehumanize them.
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
It is. Gee, he sure is an evil guy, isn't he?
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxAxQlrmdxmxiVkGEzLIIs0Ya-XtzQxScYsSOw8nhf7RlgoXAo)
Looking at people through this lens tends to dehumanize them.
Very good point, Inspector.
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
It is. Gee, he sure is an evil guy, isn't he?
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxAxQlrmdxmxiVkGEzLIIs0Ya-XtzQxScYsSOw8nhf7RlgoXAo)
Looking at people through this lens tends to dehumanize them.
Very good point, Inspector.
Sometimes I feel like an oddball in here, living my life between the 40-yard lines.
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
It is. Gee, he sure is an evil guy, isn't he?
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxAxQlrmdxmxiVkGEzLIIs0Ya-XtzQxScYsSOw8nhf7RlgoXAo)
Looking at people through this lens tends to dehumanize them.
Very good point, Inspector.
Sometimes I feel like an oddball in here, living my life between the 40-yard lines.
Killing someone with a knife is much more difficult than killing someone with a gun.
Even with a gun, you have to be in the proximity off your target.
Drones turn the targets of killing into little more than abstractions.
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Although, Fredericks, I've heard the guys doing the drone bombings from offices in Northern Virginia or wherever have rates of PTSD just as high as actual combat soldiers. Perversely, this gives me hope about human nature.
What fascinates me about all this is that the Republican party has been following the same strategy as Rush Limbaugh -- as his audience dies out, instead of trying to find a new audience, he's doubling down on the crazy stuff to get whoever's left to keep listening for longer. Obviously there's no exact equivalent for electoral politics -- maybe a deeper commitment from a smaller and nuttier group of people? I would love to think that the Republicans will become more moderate or disappear, but they're good at gaming the system (the House might be Republican until 2020 because of gerrymandering in 2010), voter turnout is going to be really low in off-years or possibly even the 2016 election, and voters have short memories -- they can run on a platform of hate and then find someone like W., who before 9/11 basically ran as Clinton without the sex, and many people will forget or ignore party affiliation. But part of me hopes the country will become more like California and it'll take the GOP 40 years to smarten up.
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Also: if you read all the way to the end of that NY Mag piece, clearly Eric Dondero doesn't understand how either drowning or gravity work.
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Although, Fredericks, I've heard the guys doing the drone bombings from offices in Northern Virginia or wherever have rates of PTSD just as high as actual combat soldiers. Perversely, this gives me hope about human nature.
I suggest this is due to the power of empathy.
Thanks, mirror neurons!
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Although, Fredericks, I've heard the guys doing the drone bombings from offices in Northern Virginia or wherever have rates of PTSD just as high as actual combat soldiers. Perversely, this gives me hope about human nature.
What fascinates me about all this is that the Republican party has been following the same strategy as Rush Limbaugh -- as his audience dies out, instead of trying to find a new audience, he's doubling down on the crazy stuff to get whoever's left to keep listening for longer. Obviously there's no exact equivalent for electoral politics -- maybe a deeper commitment from a smaller and nuttier group of people? I would love to think that the Republicans will become more moderate or disappear, but they're good at gaming the system (the House might be Republican until 2020 because of gerrymandering in 2010), voter turnout is going to be really low in off-years or possibly even the 2016 election, and voters have short memories -- they can run on a platform of hate and then find someone like W., who before 9/11 basically ran as Clinton without the sex, and many people will forget or ignore party affiliation. But part of me hopes the country will become more like California and it'll take the GOP 40 years to smarten up.
Cogent. I think 2014 is going to be bad for the Democrats. I wouldn't be surprised to see 12-20 years of Democrats winning Presidential years and the GOP winning off years.
The great hope of it all is that people who are 65 this year are much more liberal socially even than people who were 65 last year, and you can play that out until you get to, er, the end. Which is where the (seemingly) sudden national change on gay marriage comes from. Most people don't change their minds - opponents die and proponents become eligible to vote.
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Think this is great: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-cries-as-he-thanks-campaign-staff-after)
It is. Gee, he sure is an evil guy, isn't he?
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxAxQlrmdxmxiVkGEzLIIs0Ya-XtzQxScYsSOw8nhf7RlgoXAo)
Looking at people through this lens tends to dehumanize them.
Very good point, Inspector.
Sometimes I feel like an oddball in here, living my life between the 40-yard lines.
Killing someone with a knife is much more difficult than killing someone with a gun.
Even with a gun, you have to be in the proximity off your target.
Drones turn the targets of killing into little more than abstractions.
Targets of killing were little more than abstractions during strategic bombing campaigns of WWII. They were from that height just a bunch of buildings, and without the connections and quick flow of information and photos we have today, it was very easy for those not directly involved to ignore the reality.
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Targets of killing were little more than abstractions during strategic bombing campaigns of WWII. They were from that height just a bunch of buildings, and without the connections and quick flow of information and photos we have today, it was very easy for those not directly involved to ignore the reality.
Excellent point, SoB.
Perhaps, I should see drones as a more humane way of killing the enemy, less collateral damage.
I don't.
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Targets of killing were little more than abstractions during strategic bombing campaigns of WWII. They were from that height just a bunch of buildings, and without the connections and quick flow of information and photos we have today, it was very easy for those not directly involved to ignore the reality.
Excellent point, SoB.
Perhaps, I should see drones as a more humane way of killing the enemy, less collateral damage.
I don't.
I understand where you are coming from, fonpr. I recently witnessed a discussion where a young engineering type explained that while he always loved airplanes, it seemed most opportunities for making a living would involve working for the military and as a pacifist he just didn't want to pursue it. At this point he was encouraged by another party to be 'ethically flexible' and then a person working for the military explained that 'wars are a lot cleaner now', at which point I pretty much wanted to throw up because the euphemisms and denial were getting out of hand.
With drones I don't see them as 'better' but I confess that following the 'Shock and Awe' cluster bombs of Obama's predecessor as Republicans like to refer to him, or Vietnam-era carpet bombing, I just didn't experience the level of outrage with drones that others do. Perhaps I'm desensitized or being cynical in my own way. Anyhow. Can anybody still hear me over 'Bad Company' at this point?
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Targets of killing were little more than abstractions during strategic bombing campaigns of WWII. They were from that height just a bunch of buildings, and without the connections and quick flow of information and photos we have today, it was very easy for those not directly involved to ignore the reality.
Excellent point, SoB.
Perhaps, I should see drones as a more humane way of killing the enemy, less collateral damage.
I don't.
I understand where you are coming from, fonpr. I recently witnessed a discussion where a young engineering type explained that while he always loved airplanes, it seemed most opportunities for making a living would involve working for the military and as a pacifist he just didn't want to pursue it. At this point he was encouraged by another party to be 'ethically flexible' and then a person working for the military explained that 'wars are a lot cleaner now', at which point I pretty much wanted to throw up because the euphemisms and denial were getting out of hand.
With drones I don't see them as 'better' but I confess that following the 'Shock and Awe' cluster bombs of Obama's predecessor as Republicans like to refer to him, or Vietnam-era carpet bombing, I just didn't experience the level of outrage with drones that others do. Perhaps I'm desensitized or being cynical in my own way. Anyhow. Can anybody still hear me over 'Bad Company' at this point?
I agree. I mean, all I think about is Dresden. So it goes.
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... he was encouraged by another party to be 'ethically flexible' and then a person working for the military explained that 'wars are a lot cleaner now', at which point I pretty much wanted to throw up because the euphemisms and denial were getting out of hand.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/obama-nobel-peace-prize-a_n_386837.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/obama-nobel-peace-prize-a_n_386837.html)
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Look, it's always one damned thing or another. If the left sat on its hands waiting for Jesus to win the primaries we'd never have civil rights, health care, gay rights, etc. There's never been a president without blood on his hands, even the few liberalish ones:
FDR: maintained Jim Crow, Japanese-American internment
Truman: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Johnson: Vietnam
Clinton: Iraq sanctions
Obama: drones
At least the trend is down.
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So, since a precedent has been set for killing innocents, it's OK to continue?
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So, since a precedent has been set for killing innocents, it's OK to continue?
The question is, what are you going to do about it, given that one of two parties is going to control the White House: one that has blood on its hands, or another that positively glories in wading through the stuff? Which of those two do you think is relatively more persuadable on the subject?
If ending drone strikes was a driving passion in my life, one that I was willing to devote a lot of energy and time to, I would vote for the persuadable party and then spend the next four years (or however long it takes) trying to persuade them, through the hard work of organized political pressure.
I'm not that guy. But what I won't do is pretend I contribute anything whatever to the cause by casting a protest vote that may make me feel like a rad, principled dude but is no more real-world consequential than getting a tattoo that says I AM A RAD, PRINCIPLED DUDE.
If I voted for Jill Stein, my vote would simply have been sucked down a hole. I can pretty much guarantee you that right now, not a single person of power or influence, anywhere, is thinking thus: "Well, Obama beat Romney by 4 million votes, but when you add in the 400,000 votes Jill Stein got, he has an even bigger mandate to go progressive than may appear at first!"
If I voted for Obama, even in a solid red or blue state, my vote added to his popular margin, which under present circumstances did mean something. I did not want to see the media clusterfuck that would ensue if, as seemed possible, he won in the electoral but lost in the popular. When the polls all forecast a 70% vote for the Democrats, get back to me about a protest vote for the Greens.
Except even then I wouldn't do it unless their candidate gave me a convincing reason to want her in power--like competence at running a large and complicated organization, a cool hand in a crisis, the ability to deal effectively with a contentious opposition, or at least the intelligence required to edit the Harvard Law Review. Sound instincts aren't the only thing I want in a president.
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At the risk of derailing this conversation (my bad), did anyone catch wind of the new project being organized by friend of the show David Rees? This tumblr post (http://howtosharpenpencils.tumblr.com/post/35285338188/the-peoples-bailout) gives plenty of details but the gist is that personal debt is traded like any other commodity, so it might be a worthwhile experiment (http://rollingjubilee.org/) to buy some up (for cheap!) and then abolish it. You can donate if you're so inclined, and check the links if you are in the NYC area because the benefit they'll be throwing there sounds pretty spectacular.
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At the risk of derailing this conversation (my bad), did anyone catch wind of the new project being organized by friend of the show David Rees? This tumblr post (http://howtosharpenpencils.tumblr.com/post/35285338188/the-peoples-bailout) gives plenty of details but the gist is that personal debt is traded like any other commodity, so it might be a worthwhile experiment (http://rollingjubilee.org/) to buy some up (for cheap!) and then abolish it. You can donate if you're so inclined, and check the links if you are in the NYC area because the benefit they'll be throwing there sounds pretty spectacular.
I saw this too. I haven't done any kind of analysis, but on first blush this sounds brilliant. My guess is that the creditors may come up with something to block this, but I can't say off the top of my head why.
N.B. They can't buy up specific debt, so they're buying in general, at random. I'm interested to see what this means for people. If someone has $200K in debt and they are able to discharge $20K of it, I wonder how much relief that provides. Of course it would be more impactful to discharge $20K of someone's $30K debt, but I think that's not possible at this point - otherwise, parents would pay for their kids debt at $.05 on the dollar.
It seems like a good "stick it to the man" sort of thing - I'm curious to see how it benefits real people (and if the charity or the individuals are able to tell).
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Agreed. First thought: Fucking inspired! Second thought: Too good to be true? But I'll definitely be watching.
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Here's the benefit info:
(http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md6qivQVrK1r47bpd.jpg)
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Cavorting, I understand your argument. I understood it the first time too. I don't understand how your condescending tone makes it any stronger, but I am sincerely sorry I suggested you were being kind of a dick. It was honestly intended more as a punchline than as an insult.
Still, Obama got 60193076 votes (obviously that's slightly off due to early votes not yet counted, but close enough to make the point) out of 117661663 total votes cast. That's good for 51.1577641% of the vote. Without your vote he would have received only 51.1577637% of the vote. So you're right, your vote did make a difference. .00000000415107% of a difference. That suggests that if we observe 240,901,470 elections over the next 963,605,880 years, your vote might be the one.
If only I had voted for Obama, I could have made .00000000415107% of a difference too! I am quite convinced that although both of our votes are insignificant and meaningless, some third rate pundit somewhere on some two-bit cable access political analysis show is a LITTLE (and I mean LITTLE) more likely to notice that Jill Stein got 400,000 votes than they are to notice that Obama's vote percentage is .00000000415107% higher. But I could be wrong, and doesn't matter anyway, no matter which of us is ahead in the I AM A RAD, PRINCIPLED DUDE sweepstakes.
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So since Papa John is saying that he will cut the hours of workers so that he doesn't have to provide health care to them, should we assume that sick people will be making their pizzas?
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So since Papa John is saying that he will cut the hours of workers so that he doesn't have to provide health care to them, should we assume that sick people will be making their pizzas?
They should be fine as long as they're not eating any of the stuff they're making.
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Cavorting, I understand your argument. I understood it the first time too. I don't understand how your condescending tone makes it any stronger, but I am sincerely sorry I suggested you were being kind of a dick. It was honestly intended more as a punchline than as an insult.
Still, Obama got 60193076 votes (obviously that's slightly off due to early votes not yet counted, but close enough to make the point) out of 117661663 total votes cast. That's good for 51.1577641% of the vote. Without your vote he would have received only 51.1577637% of the vote. So you're right, your vote did make a difference. .00000000415107% of a difference. That suggests that if we observe 240,901,470 elections over the next 963,605,880 years, your vote might be the one.
If only I had voted for Obama, I could have made .00000000415107% of a difference too! I am quite convinced that although both of our votes are insignificant and meaningless, some third rate pundit somewhere on some two-bit cable access political analysis show is a LITTLE (and I mean LITTLE) more likely to notice that Jill Stein got 400,000 votes than they are to notice that Obama's vote percentage is .00000000415107% higher. But I could be wrong, and doesn't matter anyway, no matter which of us is ahead in the I AM A RAD, PRINCIPLED DUDE sweepstakes.
The Gary Johnson fans actually made a big deal that they got close to 1% of the popular vote. So yeah, psychological benchmarks are easier to meet by third party candidates.
Also, dave from knoxville, Nate Silver, and all those other math guys restore my faith in humanity that punditry had severely drained.
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The thing is, every pundit, no matter how wrong, will probably continue to have a TV show, or radio show, or whatever, right? Even Karl Rove will live to fleece some other suckers.
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obama-nobel-peace-prize
And while it is hard to conceive of a cause more just than the defeat of the Third Reich and the Axis powers, World War II was a conflict in which the total number of civilians who died exceeded the number of soldiers who perished.
It is a game of percentages!
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(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8186301245_b0d135fc77.jpg)
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Hi Everybody!,
I haven't logged onto the FOT since October. My mom gave birth to a healthy baby boy (named Mathew) and things have been kind of crazy. It was very fun reading all the posts that I had missed!
I'm 18, so this is the first time I ever voted, and I voted for Jill Stein. Ever since I became interested in politics ( some four odd years ago) I have vacillated on a lot of issues, mostly cause of the influence of family members. I hadn't really became my own person until about a year ago.
Despite this, I've always had a deep distrust of of the two party system. I feel both parties are corrupt and owned by companies that manipulate our government to improve their bottom line. However, I do feel that the Democratic party has some honest people who are doing the work of the people. If I lived in Massachusetts, I would of eagerly voted for Warren. But people like her are becoming fewer and far between.
I voted for Jill Stein (the only green party candidate on the ballot), and every Libertarian candidate.
Some people would say that I wasted my vote because these people were not going to win. But my job as a citizen of a democracy is NOT to vote for the candidate with the best chance of winning. It's to make my opinion heard, it's to vote for the person with the closest views as mine, it's to vote for the person who I honestly think would do the best job.
If I voted for Obama, I would of been voting for a lesser of two evils, but that's still voting for evil. With four more years of Obama, the things that are killing our country: the military industrial complex, the war on drugs, the implementation of regulations that favor big corporations and hurt small business, weak regulations for wall street, will continue.
Did anybody here watch the Third party debate on C-span? THAT was a real debate. They talked about real issues like climate change, wall street, the war on drugs, poverty, and drone strikes. Obama did not mention Climate change ONCE in all three debates. That fake puke fest that we call a debate between Romney and Obama made me sick.
We love to talk about how Romney gets money and support from big companies, but Obama got money from Goldmen Sachs, GE etc... These companies want to make a profit, and they know they'll get a return on their money with Obama in office.
I voted in SUPPORT of the things that are important to me, and my voice was heard. And it will be heard the next time I vote for a third party candidate. If that makes me an idealistic, pie in the sky crazy, than that's what I am.
And I'm proud of it.
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I voted in SUPPORT of the things that are important to me, and my voice was heard. And it will be heard the next time I vote for a third party candidate. If that makes me an idealistic, pie in the sky crazy, than that's what I am.
And I'm proud of it.
Here here!
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Hi Everybody!,
I haven't logged onto the FOT since October. My mom gave birth to a healthy baby boy (named Mathew) and things have been kind of crazy. It was very fun reading all the posts that I had missed!
I'm 18, so this is the first time I ever voted, and I voted for Jill Stein. Ever since I became interested in politics ( some four odd years ago) I have vacillated on a lot of issues, mostly cause of the influence of family members. I hadn't really became my own person until about a year ago.
Despite this, I've always had a deep distrust of of the two party system. I feel both parties are corrupt and owned by companies that manipulate our government to improve their bottom line. However, I do feel that the Democratic party has some honest people who are doing the work of the people. If I lived in Massachusetts, I would of eagerly voted for Warren. But people like her are becoming fewer and far between.
I voted for Jill Stein (the only green party candidate on the ballot), and every Libertarian candidate.
Some people would say that I wasted my vote because these people were not going to win. But my job as a citizen of a democracy is NOT to vote for the candidate with the best chance of winning. It's to make my opinion heard, it's to vote for the person with the closest views as mine, it's to vote for the person who I honestly think would do the best job.
If I voted for Obama, I would of been voting for a lesser of two evils, but that's still voting for evil. With four more years of Obama, the things that are killing our country: the military industrial complex, the war on drugs, the implementation of regulations that favor big corporations and hurt small business, weak regulations for wall street, will continue.
Did anybody here watch the Third party debate on C-span? THAT was a real debate. They talked about real issues like climate change, wall street, the war on drugs, poverty, and drone strikes. Obama did not mention Climate change ONCE in all three debates. That fake puke fest that we call a debate between Romney and Obama made me sick.
We love to talk about how Romney gets money and support from big companies, but Obama got money from Goldmen Sachs, GE etc... These companies want to make a profit, and they know they'll get a return on their money with Obama in office.
I voted in SUPPORT of the things that are important to me, and my voice was heard. And it will be heard the next time I vote for a third party candidate. If that makes me an idealistic, pie in the sky crazy, than that's what I am.
And I'm proud of it.
I'm confused. Are you proud of the libertarian votes, or the green vote? What is it that you want to happen?
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Hi Everybody!,
I haven't logged onto the FOT since October. My mom gave birth to a healthy baby boy (named Mathew) and things have been kind of crazy. It was very fun reading all the posts that I had missed!
I'm 18, so this is the first time I ever voted, and I voted for Jill Stein. Ever since I became interested in politics ( some four odd years ago) I have vacillated on a lot of issues, mostly cause of the influence of family members. I hadn't really became my own person until about a year ago.
Despite this, I've always had a deep distrust of of the two party system. I feel both parties are corrupt and owned by companies that manipulate our government to improve their bottom line. However, I do feel that the Democratic party has some honest people who are doing the work of the people. If I lived in Massachusetts, I would of eagerly voted for Warren. But people like her are becoming fewer and far between.
I voted for Jill Stein (the only green party candidate on the ballot), and every Libertarian candidate.
Some people would say that I wasted my vote because these people were not going to win. But my job as a citizen of a democracy is NOT to vote for the candidate with the best chance of winning. It's to make my opinion heard, it's to vote for the person with the closest views as mine, it's to vote for the person who I honestly think would do the best job.
If I voted for Obama, I would of been voting for a lesser of two evils, but that's still voting for evil. With four more years of Obama, the things that are killing our country: the military industrial complex, the war on drugs, the implementation of regulations that favor big corporations and hurt small business, weak regulations for wall street, will continue.
Did anybody here watch the Third party debate on C-span? THAT was a real debate. They talked about real issues like climate change, wall street, the war on drugs, poverty, and drone strikes. Obama did not mention Climate change ONCE in all three debates. That fake puke fest that we call a debate between Romney and Obama made me sick.
We love to talk about how Romney gets money and support from big companies, but Obama got money from Goldmen Sachs, GE etc... These companies want to make a profit, and they know they'll get a return on their money with Obama in office.
I voted in SUPPORT of the things that are important to me, and my voice was heard. And it will be heard the next time I vote for a third party candidate. If that makes me an idealistic, pie in the sky crazy, than that's what I am.
And I'm proud of it.
very interesting take. off topic but do you have any thoughts about organized religion?
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my job as a citizen of a democracy is ...to make my opinion heard, it's to vote for the person with the closest views as mine
That's one way to look at it, but not the only one. Some might say you have a deeper obligation to use your vote in the maximally effective way to benefit your community given the prevailing realities than to use your vote as a form of personal expression.
it's to vote for the person who I honestly think would do the best job.
I really think you may not have thought this through. President Jill Stein would have a constituency in the Congress of precisely zero. The Democrats there would probably cooperate with her where their interests overlapped, but would have no incentive whatever to put themselves out for her to succeed. If you think these are the circumstances under which a president can do an effective job, you must think she has despotic powers or is a magician. You do realize that presidents don't make laws and don't pass budgets, right?
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Hi everybody,
I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed thanksgiving weekend. I stuffed myself with Tofurky and cranberry jelly. In the words of the great Rachel Ray "Yum-O"!
I was really surprised how many people were moved enough to respond to my post. Thanks
OK, in JamesfromSouthEastPa's perfect, hypothetical, crazy world.... Political parties would not exist. A political party is an organized force whose only purpose is to obtain and maintain power at any means necessary. A parties primary agenda is never to do what's best for the people, it's to do what gives them the best odds of getting reelected. We should be voting for individuals, not because somebody has a little R or a little D next to their name. My Grandmom tells me proudly that she's voted straight Republican for the past 30 years. Republicans and Democrats love to tell us how differint they are, but they whole heartedly agree that there should be no competition on the duopoly they have over our government. The debates used to be run by the "League of Women Voters" until it was taken by the Reps and Dems, now they've made it virtually impossible for an independent candidate to get into the debates.
However, when I go to my local polling place, am I to go past the perfectly good Green/ Libertarian/ Justice party candidate? Who am I sopposed to write in to show my distaste for political parties? Alfred E. Newman? In an attempt to be a realist, I've accepted that we're never going to abolish parties. But it is not healthy for a Democracy to have parties that never die. They need to come and go like the changing of the seasons.
I would LOVE for the Republicans and Democrats to be replaced by the Greens and the Libertarians. They are the only ones who MIGHT implement real campaign finance reform. At the end of the day, money is the reason for all of our countires problems. The military industrial complex, tax loop holes etc... The Reps and Dems are owned by companies that want to make a profit. We need to get money out of government, and expecting out current parties to do it is like asking the fox to design the chicken coop. If not this, than I want to have a much stricter definition of a monopoly. If a company is big enough to have a larger influence over our government than an individual, than it's too big. Break it up. But eventually, if the Greens or Libertarians did get power, they would become corrupted just like our current parties ( if they hadn't passed massive campaign finance reform). They would become calcified and corrupted and should die and be replaced just like our current parties.
I admit that if Jill Stein won, there would be friction, and business wouldn't get done. But what is happening now? Our credit rating was lowered because of partisan gridlock. If Stein was elected, at least we would of had a REAL progressive voice speaking her truth too America for four years. She would of had the milk box of the white house to speak about objective issues because she's not getting money from special interests. Oh my GOD, could you imagine what her State of the Union Address would of been like? I would of had an intellectual mind orgasm watching that. The fluff speches that Obama and members of both parties give have devolved into demagoguery about small side issues that do NOTHING but distract Americans from the massive problems that both parties have caused.
I understand that EVERYTHING I just wrote is highly unlikely,( VERY RAMBELING!) and probably isn't going to happen.
But when I say I'm proud, I mean I'm proud to be, at the very least, trying to create an America that I want to live in.
There's no doubt that I use voting as a form of personal expression. I have nothing but respect for other people who vote differently. And maybe I'll change my mind one day and vote differently. But if I had voted for Obama, I wouldn't of been happy with myself.
Man, I hope something I wrote here made any sense.
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cavorting continuing to argue that your vote only counts if you cast it the way he did. Thank God for consistency.
my job as a citizen of a democracy is ...to make my opinion heard, it's to vote for the person with the closest views as mine
That's one way to look at it, but not the only one. Some might say you have a deeper obligation to use your vote in the maximally effective way to benefit your community given the prevailing realities than to use your vote as a form of personal expression.
it's to vote for the person who I honestly think would do the best job.
I really think you may not have thought this through. President Jill Stein would have a constituency in the Congress of precisely zero. The Democrats there would probably cooperate with her where their interests overlapped, but would have no incentive whatever to put themselves out for her to succeed. If you think these are the circumstances under which a president can do an effective job, you must think she has despotic powers or is a magician. You do realize that presidents don't make laws and don't pass budgets, right?
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cavorting continuing to argue that your vote only counts if you cast it the way he did. Thank God for consistency.
This is just crazy talk. There is nothing in the post you quote that could even remotely be construed as meaning that. Aren't you supposed to be some kind of math guy? Like, logic? Rigor?
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Logic and rigor have I none, but this dude's candidate is my father's son.
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You're right though; how could I read "If you think these are the circumstances under which a president can do an effective job, you must think she has despotic powers or is a magician." as anything but tolerant respect for someone else's opinion about how to decide which candidate to vote for?
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Rigor, dude. Impertinent that may have been, but it's a long way from saying "your vote only counts if you cast it the way (I) did." Also, it showed no disrespect for the idea of choosing your candidate on the basis of which one "would do the best job," just for the idea of using that criterion and ending up with Jill Stein. You're not this thin-skinned about everything--what's your problem?
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I'm just teasing. I obviously took it too far. I apologize, sincerely, Truce?
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If only Mr. Woolery would follow your shining example.
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I consider myself to be a Jill Stein-supporting role model.
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Truce?
Well...if it'll get your legions of flying Twitter monkeys off my back with all this "wad" business...Yes.
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This looks like an interesting doc.
Vidal V Buckley TRAILER (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpqqAg8UErk#ws)
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Believe me, I'm not sorry for the restraint that has been shown on this board re: talking about the thing you can't get away from elsewhere, but this is just too rich.
Argument over Sandy Hook shooting ends in gunfire:
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/12/19/man-gets-mad-in-barber-shop-shoots-toward-patron/ (http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/12/19/man-gets-mad-in-barber-shop-shoots-toward-patron/)
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Sucks that the Democrats won the popular vote in the House elections, but we still have these clowns (meaning the clowns with the R's next to their names) running things. And now we're going off some sort of cliff or something? WTF.
Also, this deserves to be posted one last time:
(http://tobefree.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/rpaulexpress_dees.jpg)
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Where is "no abortions for any reason" and "fuck them if they don't have health coverage" on that train? The other side?
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Where is "no abortions for any reason" and "fuck them if they don't have health coverage" on that train? The other side?
You don't want to ask about the other side of that train, Dave.
For extra comedy, read that in HAL voice.
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Where is "no abortions for any reason" and "fuck them if they don't have health coverage" on that train? The other side?
You don't want to ask about the other side of that train, Dave.
For extra comedy, read that in HAL voice.
Excellent suggestion, Buff.
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Completely ignoring the thread title...
Am I the only one who liked 2010 a lot more than 2001?
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I'm glad that POS is retiring. There's no way that curly sue Rand will develop as big a cult following as his old man. He seems weird and corrupt, too. Hopefully he'll get caught with a dead hooker or something.
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Completely ignoring the thread title...
Am I the only one who liked 2010 a lot more than 2001?
(http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ssanty/images/1.gif)
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Ha. Who else liked 2010 better than 2001, Fredericks? I want names.
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2001 is the worst movie on the original AFI list, of which I have seen 98. Kubrick is hit or miss for me, but 2001 is all miss.
To paraphrase the host of this site about things he doesn't enjoy: "Oh, I get what he was trying to do."
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Where is "no abortions for any reason" and "fuck them if they don't have health coverage" on that train? The other side?
You don't want to ask about the other side of that train, Dave.
For extra comedy, read that in HAL voice.
Excellent suggestion, Buff.
I think it's just a set of Ron Paul teats, FROM WHICH NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO NURSE.
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Ha. Who else liked 2010 better than 2001, Fredericks? I want names.
Kevin Kelly
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Where is "no abortions for any reason" and "fuck them if they don't have health coverage" on that train? The other side?
You don't want to ask about the other side of that train, Dave.
For extra comedy, read that in HAL voice.
Excellent suggestion, Buff.
I think it's just a set of Ron Paul teats, FROM WHICH NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO NURSE.
Haha. Ron Paul's titties would be filled with nothing but gall and maybe some freedom. Get your own milk, you fleet-footed loser!
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I love 2001, both book and movie. I have complicated relationships with computers, though.
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Sucks that the Democrats won the popular vote in the House elections, but we still have these clowns (meaning the clowns with the R's next to their names) running things. And now we're going off some sort of cliff or something? WTF.
Also, this deserves to be posted one last time:
(http://tobefree.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/rpaulexpress_dees.jpg)
Aw, the little engine that could. Could blow racist dog whistles like Dizzy Gillespie blowing the trumpet.
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All of this fiscal cliff talk is confusing me. I am glad I have Irwin (http://irwin.wfmu.org/obamateur.html) and his pals (http://irwin.wfmu.org/commentators.html) to rely upon for intelligent commentary and detailed analysis.
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I just get the nagging sense people are playing up the 'Fiscal Cliff' thing for maximum drama and histrionics without addressing the subtleties. I could be wrong about this.
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I am glad I have Irwin (http://irwin.wfmu.org/obamateur.html) and his pals (http://irwin.wfmu.org/commentators.html) to rely upon for intelligent commentary and detailed analysis.
Wha? Is that parody or is Irwin actually that conservative? Thought that's something I would've known about.
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I think he really is that conservative, or at least he's trolling. He certainly does know how to pick those links, though!
While there is no guarantee that calling Romney a flip-flopper would have worked better, the investment of tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads trying to convince Americans that the Republican was a heartless plutocrat who abused dogs, outsourced jobs, killed cancer patients and hated ordinary people set the Democrats up for a fall once their target showed himself to be a likeable and reasonable person. The same tactic failed 32 years ago when it was tried by the Jimmy Carter campaign against Ronald Reagan, and right now that precedent is causing the knots in the stomachs of Obama campaign officials to tighten as they contemplate defeat.
Yes, you read that headline correctly. I am a Las Vegas oddsmaker (and former Libertarian vice presidential candidate) and here's why I am so boldly predicting a Romney landslide.
In November of 2004, only days before the presidential election, I went on CNBC and predicted a Bush victory by 3 points and 30 electoral votes. Every poll at the time showed Kerry in the lead. Bush won by 3 and 35. Newsmax magazine called it the most accurate prediction of 2004.
In October of 2006, I went on Fox News to predict the GOP would get slaughtered in the midterm election and lose Congress. They did.
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I am glad I have Irwin (http://irwin.wfmu.org/obamateur.html) and his pals (http://irwin.wfmu.org/commentators.html) to rely upon for intelligent commentary and detailed analysis.
Wha? Is that parody or is Irwin actually that conservative? Thought that's something I would've known about.
Irwin's been full metal wingnut for years (http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/10/the-libertarian/comments/page/2/), with all the anti-muslim, anti-science, etc. garbage that comes with that. Judging from private conversation I had with him, he's indeed quite sincere about this.
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I am glad I have Irwin (http://irwin.wfmu.org/obamateur.html) and his pals (http://irwin.wfmu.org/commentators.html) to rely upon for intelligent commentary and detailed analysis.
Wha? Is that parody or is Irwin actually that conservative? Thought that's something I would've known about.
Irwin's been full metal wingnut for years (http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/10/the-libertarian/comments/page/2/), with all the anti-muslim, anti-science, etc. garbage that comes with that. Judging from private conversation I had with him, he's indeed quite sincere about this.
Weird! I have been listened to Irwin for years and never picked up on this. But then again, isn't his prickly irascibility what we all love about him in the first place?
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But then again, isn't his prickly irascibility what we all love about him in the first place?
Assumes facts not in evidence.
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When is Obama gonna be put on money? It has to happen eventually right? He is the first black president, served two terms, and has a high personal favorability rating. Would they have him replace somebody who's already on currency ( i.e. put him on the ten and knock of Alexander Hamilten) or create a new tender note or coin? Personally, I think they should make a 75 dollar note ( there's a big cap between the fifty and the hundred) and but Obama on that.
Yes, this is what I think about.
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When is Obama gonna be put on money? It has to happen eventually right? He is the first black president, served two terms, and has a high personal favorability rating. Would they have him replace somebody who's already on currency ( i.e. put him on the ten and knock of Alexander Hamilten) or create a new tender note or coin? Personally, I think they should make a 75 dollar note ( there's a big cap between the fifty and the hundred) and but Obama on that.
Yes, this is what I think about.
Perhaps, he should have his face on the trillion dollar coin.
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If you have a new hundred dollar bill, check it out. You might find a pleasant surprise.
(http://img.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/609/480/92049146-barack-obama.jpg)
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I don't give a rip about payin' for my beer!
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/star-of-2010-gop-campaign-ad-that-went?ref=fpblg (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/star-of-2010-gop-campaign-ad-that-went?ref=fpblg)
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Carn-sarn it, them revenooers!
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The Maple Syrup Mussolini saw this coming! But would we listen? No!
http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-declares-war-scooter-store-165141419--finance.html (http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-declares-war-scooter-store-165141419--finance.html)
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The fight against them candy-ass bureaucrats at Sam's Club continues!
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/03/dale_peterson_gun-toting_ag_co.html (http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/03/dale_peterson_gun-toting_ag_co.html)
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I like how on Twitter he provides the obvious explanation for his arrest: it's all a liberal conspiracy. Should satisfy his supporters.
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Also, I love this: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/fox-freaks-jim-carrey-has-killed-more-peopl (http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/fox-freaks-jim-carrey-has-killed-more-peopl)
GUTFELD: “He is the most pathetic tool on the face of the earth. And I hope his career is dead, and he ends up sleeping in a car the way his life began. This video only made me want to go out and only buy a gun. He thinks this is biting satire and going after rural America and a dead man. Let’s talk about Charlton Heston. Charlton Heston was one of the first actors to be behind the civil rights movement and march. What did this jackass Jim Carrey do? He was behind the anti-vaccine panic. There are what, 165,000 people that died from measles last year, according to the World Health Organization.”
“Jim Carrey has killed more people than all the rifles combined,” Gutfeld continued. “He is a dirty, stinking coward. He is a moral coward. He did a video attacking rural America. But he wouldn’t do video about gangs, which kills way more people with handguns — he wouldn’t do that because he is worried about his career. Such a pathetic, sad, little freak. He is a jiberring mess. He is a modern bigot, he is a modern bigot. He is a bottomless pit of insecurity and the desire for acceptance is why he is doing this, because he knows in his heart he is a fraud.”
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I like how on Twitter he provides the obvious explanation for his arrest: it's all a liberal conspiracy. Should satisfy his supporters.
Horrifying "regular joe" Toronto mayor Rob Ford uses this explanation for every one of his near-daily scandals, and his supporters eat it up.
For non-Canadians who are unfamiliar with Rob Ford, it's really worthwhile to become familiar with him. Here are some highlights of his public life:
- getting drunk at a hockey game and screaming at some tourists seated nearby; suggesting the lady go to the Middle East to get raped
- calling 911 on a CBC comedian who was at his house to shoot a segment
- photographed reading documents as he drove on the highway
- spotted talking on his phone while he drives (illegal in Toronto); gives the middle finger to woman and her small child who chided him for the offence
- allegedly grabbing a female colleague's ass at a party
- arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana in Florida
- multiple domestic 911 calls from wife and in-laws
- photographed with a uniformed neo-Nazi
(http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297291314996_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x)
- less shockingly, but more hilariously, an embarrassing fall during a photo op:
(http://proxy.storify.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimgur.com%2Fh0s0F.gif&resize=1&w=490)
This does not include the many, many less-colorful but more serious infractions (conflict-of-interest, etc.) that he has racked up as city councillor and mayor.
He always just denies these things ever happened (until incontrovertible proof inevitably emerges) and blames it on leftist elites. And it's a winning strategy!
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Boing Boing really has it in for that guy.
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I'm glad/ashamed to hear that he's getting some attention outside of Canada.
He's kind of a tragic figure: too stupid to realize just how out of his depth he truly is, and he's got a narcissistic conviction that he's ALWAYS the victim. And he's got this political base that will support him no matter what because he makes "liberals" furious. I feel some empathy for him - and I enjoy the lulz he provides - but he's been really bad for the city.
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I don't get it. Down here, we tend to think of Canadians generally being somewhat leftisher than us. And big cities tend to be leftishest of all. How does a wingnut base hold sway over the mayoralty of Toronto?
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In the 90s Toronto amalgamated the city and the suburbs/exurbs into a single municipal body - in principle a cost-saving measure. Since then the mayor's office has bounced back and forth between suburban mayors and urban mayors. The 'burbs and the city proper have very different priorities, and this ongoing conflict between the two groups has prevented much-needed progress in many areas. In Mayor Ford's case, it's kind of a blessing that he's so ineffectual, since he can't manage to execute his idiotic schemes.
In general, it's true that Toronto is pretty progressive.
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Pawn Stars Rick Harrison tells Mark Levin Show how the feds are keeping him from filming on govt land (http://www.therightscoop.com/pawn-stars-rick-harrison-on-the-mark-levin-show-tells-how-the-feds-are-keeping-him-from-filming-on-govt-land/)
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In general, it's true that Toronto is pretty progressive.
When he was elected I was reminded of the old Pauline Kael quote about Nixon's reelection. I don't know anybody personally who would have dreamed of voting for him and it almost seemed like a prank at the time.
But it's a very big municipality and when I drive out to the suburbs and even the neighborhoods just outside the city core, most of which are pretty depressing places to spend time, I can see why those people voted for the guy who reflected their resentment of the downtowners.
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Disgraced South Carolina ex-governor and weirdo Mark Sanford "enjoys digging holes on [his] property with his hydraulic excavator to 'unwind.'" This reminds me of something AP Mike once said about how a typical New Jersey boyhood is spent, only he was talking about boys in New Jersey, not adult men of affairs elected to high office. A kid died in one of those holes, too.
http://scsoapbox.com/politics/2013/04/29/what-we-missed-in-mark-sanfords-divorce-papers/ (http://scsoapbox.com/politics/2013/04/29/what-we-missed-in-mark-sanfords-divorce-papers/)
Also of note is that his ex-wife saw fit to include in their divorce agreement that he be enjoined from flying airplanes at children. Yes, that's what it says: "No airplanes will be flown at children."
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Chris Hadfield's great Space Oddity video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo) had me feeling pretty good about being Canadian for awhile. I mean, I kind of want to be too cool to be impressed by this guy, but he makes me swoon. A friend said recently, "As a liberal, I believe that everyone is equal. Except astronauts, who are better than everyone else."
But then Toronto Mayor Ford had to go and get videotaped smoking crack (http://gawker.com/for-sale-a-video-of-toronto-mayor-rob-ford-smoking-cra-507736569). This fuckin guy. He just doesn't stop. Someone compiled a google spreadsheet of Ford's scandals and gaffes (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AhpNgYjOr8FzdGhZNVFocUhERUxzRGJBMFBtVDZHaUE&toomany=true#gid=0). It's pretty impressive, in a way. But in another way, it's totally humiliating that this goon is our mayor.
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I haven't seen BoingBoing since that video surfaced. Cory Doctorow has a real h-on for that guy.
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Someone compiled a google spreadsheet of Ford's scandals and gaffes (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AhpNgYjOr8FzdGhZNVFocUhERUxzRGJBMFBtVDZHaUE&toomany=true#gid=0). It's pretty impressive, in a way. But in another way, it's totally humiliating that this goon is our mayor.
To coin a possible oxymoron, this is a truly epic spreadsheet. Here's a good item from it: "A St. Patrick's Day reveller reports seeing Ford “stumbling down the street … inebriated and sweaty but in a jovial way” and tells him "You're the worst mayor ever." Ford allegedly walks over, kissed her on the forehead, and responds, “I know, but I try.” Ford then heads into a private room in the Bier Markt on the Esplanade, where a staffer describes him as “incoherent” and “hammered.” The DJ working that night reports Ford is fighting and carrying on "like an idiot.” After “storming the dance floor,” Ford is asked to leave and escorted out by his own staff and members of the restaurant's security team".
This dude is Chris Farley, right? I'm thinking Chris Farley faked his death, went underground, and re-emerged as Rob Ford. With that receding hairline, he looks like he could be one of those age-progressed "What would he look like now" photoshop jobs.
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Is Chris Christy secretly a Snorlax with political ambitions in disguise? Am I right everybody?
p.s. Snorlax is a type of Pokémon
p.s.s this was a funny joke ;D
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Is Chris Christy secretly a Snorlax with political ambitions in disguise? Am I right everybody?
p.s. Snorlax is a type of Pokémon
p.s.s this was a funny joke ;D
This entire post went right over my head.
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(http://www.dltk-kids.com/pokemon/adoptions/143.gif)(http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/gty_chris_christie_ll_130507_wg.jpg)
(http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/4/47/Snorlax.jpg)(http://dougernst.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/chris-christie-eating.jpg)
Could be!
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This entire post went right
over under my head.
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This entire post went right over under my head.
These kids, right Freddyrriixxxxxxx?
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How did the campaign to raise enough money to buy the video of Mayor Ford smoking crack go?
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Oh man. Where to start? This story has been consuming me...
After the story broke initially, Mayor Ford went into hiding for about a week. Then the Globe and Mail (Canada's major national daily) wrote a long story about the Ford family's long history with drugs (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/): apparently his brother and current city councillor Doug Ford was a medium-level (pounds, not ounces) hash dealer in the 80s. Also another brother kidnapped someone over a drug debt and their sister was involved with drug dealers and the white power movement.
(http://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/city_hall/2013/05/25/doug_fords_response_to_published_drug_allegations_breaks_with_brothers_silent_strategy/dougford2.jpg.size.xxlarge.promo.jpg)
Councillor Doug Ford today - who would believe this guy was a drug dealer?
Suddenly, Rob Ford re-entered the public eye with a new spring in his step, making bold declarations that no video existed. It was business as usual at Toronto City Hall! And over the next week, six of his senior staffers were fired (for telling him to go to rehab) or resigned (because he refuses to go to rehab). Meanwhile, the media was camped out in front of the Mayor's office, and Ford just kept saying "Everything's great!" and refusing to address any questions about smoking crack.
Gawker met its goal, but the guys with the video had gone underground. Then it came out that people in the Mayor's office had gone to the police because they knew where the video was and they were worried that it was connected to a murder that had occurred. (Two of the guys that are in the widely-circulated photo of Ford were shot in March, one of them died.) Ford continued to deny that such a video existed, but there are reports that he himself was interviewed by the police about the whereabouts of the video...
(http://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/crime/2013/05/30/rob_ford_video_scandal_second_arrest_in_murder_of_man_who_appears_in_photo_with_mayor_rob_ford/anthony_smith_rob_ford_and_muhammad_khattak.jpg.size.xxlarge.promo.jpg)
Then, the address of the apartment that had at one time housed the video became public knowledge. It's a rundown apartment in a highrise that has a lot of drug trade. The National Post (a Ford-friendly paper, in principle) reported that the current resident had seen the video, confirmed its authenticity, and discussed his involvement in a plan to shoot a FAKE Ford/crack video with a lookalike named Slurpy (http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/30/rob-ford-crack-drama-takes-a-surreal-turn-on-dixon-road/) in order to discredit the ACTUAL video. Slurpy, who hasn't been publicly identified, eventually backed out of this plan because he was afraid.
The original owners of the video eventually communicated to Gawker that the video is gone, and they don't want to be involved anymore. Ford is extremely popular in the Somali community, and there apparently has been a ton of pressure on the video owners from their neighbours.
Ford continues to publicly deny that there is a video of him smoking crack, and most people assume that he purchased it himself right around the time that he got his mojo back.
Recently the house in the background of that photo above was identified as belonging to old friends of Ford. And, oh yeah, it's also a crack house (http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/06/07/rob_ford_crack_scandal_resident_of_home_in_photo_trafficked_cocaine.html), more or less.
His approval ratings (which, to be fair are only so-so) haven't budged during the whole thing. But there are new revelations and wrinkles coming out every day. Thank god I'm unemployed, so I can give it the attention it deserves.
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Oh man. Where to start? This story has been consuming me...
[...] Thank god I'm unemployed, so I can give it the attention it deserves.
You should call The Best Show with this.
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This entire post went right over under my head.
These kids, right Freddyrriixxxxxxx?
Quite right. Weird references, funny names and crude humor. No problem.
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Oh man. Where to start? This story has been consuming me...
[...] Thank god I'm unemployed, so I can give it the attention it deserves.
You should call The Best Show with this.
Yeah... it does seem to have a similar trajectory to many of JW's calls. It starts with a slightly seedy, buffoonish character, then all of a sudden the other shoe drops and it just gets progressively crazier and crazier.
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Oh man. Where to start? This story has been consuming me...
[...] Thank god I'm unemployed, so I can give it the attention it deserves.
You should call The Best Show with this.
It is fascinating. I've only been following it peripherally but it's a very entertaining story.
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Oh man. Where to start? This story has been consuming me...
After the story broke initially, Mayor Ford went into hiding for about a week. Then the Globe and Mail (Canada's major national daily) wrote a long story about the Ford family's long history with drugs (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/): apparently his brother and current city councillor Doug Ford was a medium-level (pounds, not ounces) hash dealer in the 80s. Also another brother kidnapped someone over a drug debt and their sister was involved with drug dealers and the white power movement.
(http://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/city_hall/2013/05/25/doug_fords_response_to_published_drug_allegations_breaks_with_brothers_silent_strategy/dougford2.jpg.size.xxlarge.promo.jpg)
Councillor Doug Ford today - who would believe this guy was a drug dealer?
Suddenly, Rob Ford re-entered the public eye with a new spring in his step, making bold declarations that no video existed. It was business as usual at Toronto City Hall! And over the next week, six of his senior staffers were fired (for telling him to go to rehab) or resigned (because he refuses to go to rehab). Meanwhile, the media was camped out in front of the Mayor's office, and Ford just kept saying "Everything's great!" and refusing to address any questions about smoking crack.
Gawker met its goal, but the guys with the video had gone underground. Then it came out that people in the Mayor's office had gone to the police because they knew where the video was and they were worried that it was connected to a murder that had occurred. (Two of the guys that are in the widely-circulated photo of Ford were shot in March, one of them died.) Ford continued to deny that such a video existed, but there are reports that he himself was interviewed by the police about the whereabouts of the video...
(http://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/crime/2013/05/30/rob_ford_video_scandal_second_arrest_in_murder_of_man_who_appears_in_photo_with_mayor_rob_ford/anthony_smith_rob_ford_and_muhammad_khattak.jpg.size.xxlarge.promo.jpg)
Then, the address of the apartment that had at one time housed the video became public knowledge. It's a rundown apartment in a highrise that has a lot of drug trade. The National Post (a Ford-friendly paper, in principle) reported that the current resident had seen the video, confirmed its authenticity, and discussed his involvement in a plan to shoot a FAKE Ford/crack video with a lookalike named Slurpy (http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/30/rob-ford-crack-drama-takes-a-surreal-turn-on-dixon-road/) in order to discredit the ACTUAL video. Slurpy, who hasn't been publicly identified, eventually backed out of this plan because he was afraid.
The original owners of the video eventually communicated to Gawker that the video is gone, and they don't want to be involved anymore. Ford is extremely popular in the Somali community, and there apparently has been a ton of pressure on the video owners from their neighbours.
Ford continues to publicly deny that there is a video of him smoking crack, and most people assume that he purchased it himself right around the time that he got his mojo back.
Recently the house in the background of that photo above was identified as belonging to old friends of Ford. And, oh yeah, it's also a crack house (http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/06/07/rob_ford_crack_scandal_resident_of_home_in_photo_trafficked_cocaine.html), more or less.
His approval ratings (which, to be fair are only so-so) haven't budged during the whole thing. But there are new revelations and wrinkles coming out every day. Thank god I'm unemployed, so I can give it the attention it deserves.
You forgot the part where masked goons with pipes went into the apartment in question and beat the hell out of the current resident.
One of the Toronto papers also had a big piece about Doug Ford (the mayor's brother and councilman) being a hashish dealer of relative repute in the 70s.
We visited Toronto a few summers ago. If you told me that this story were to happen, Toronto would probably be the last place I would ever guess. Every city of note in New Jersey would be one, with Atlantic City or Paterson leading the charge.
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Yeah, this Mayor Ford guy is hilarious. Thank you for turning me on to him, Bryan. I am forever in your debt. I especially love this:
"Having missed several previous weigh-ins and endured both ridicule from his brother Doug and a viral video showing him being heckled while coming out of a Kentucky Fried Chicket outlet, Ford falls short of his stated goal in his “Cut the Waist” challenge, losing no additional weight in his final weigh-in and then stumbling off the scale and twisting his ankle."
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(http://i.imgur.com/h0s0F.gif)
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Yeah, this Mayor Ford guy is hilarious. Thank you for turning me on to him, Bryan. I am forever in your debt. I especially love this:
"Having missed several previous weigh-ins and endured both ridicule from his brother Doug and a viral video showing him being heckled while coming out of a Kentucky Fried Chicket outlet, Ford falls short of his stated goal in his “Cut the Waist” challenge, losing no additional weight in his final weigh-in and then stumbling off the scale and twisting his ankle."
Glad to be spreading the joy.
There's video of his tumble off the scale. It's not quite as great as the football incident, but as the humiliating conclusion to a failed public weight loss campaign, it's still pretty great:
Rob Ford trips up at his final "Cut the Waist" weigh-in (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzI72WrOeA0#ws)
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You forgot the part where masked goons with pipes went into the apartment in question and beat the hell out of the current resident.
Oh yeah, I left out a lot of stuff. There's almost no end to it. I was obsessed with him even before the whole crack story hit the front pages. If anything, the whole drug angle increases my sympathy for the guy. He likes to complain that there's a left-wing conspiracy against him, but it's worth looking back at his record long before he was even mayor to see what a full-blown buffoon he is, and always has been.
This is a longish clip, but it's pretty damn revealing of the guy's maturity and suitability for public office. The payoff is at the end:
Rob Ford Clip from 'Hogtown: the Politics of Policing' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jsLpnZs-NGA#)
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Is this guy's entertainment value the main reason he keeps getting elected to public office? People just enjoy the gross spectacle? Or are the forces of good so weak in Toronto none of them could have won against this character?
From Wikipedia:
For the inauguration ceremony at the first meeting of the new council, Ford had television commentator Don Cherry introduce him and put the chain of office on him. Cherry, known for his audacious suits, wore a pink suit and garnered some controversy with his remarks. Cherry described how Ford had reversed a mistake of city staff cutting down a tree of a Toronto property owner for no good reason and then billing the property owner, who suffered from Alzheimer's. Cherry added "Put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks" and "I’m wearing pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything, I thought I’d get it in."[53]
(http://i.imgur.com/odvM8Vg.jpg)
This guy needs help. Not control over other people.
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This is an actual Wikipedia article:
Timeline of Rob Ford video scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Rob_Ford_video_scandal)
...
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This guy needs help. Not control over other people.
Don Cherry? Couldn't agree more.
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So, uh:
Don't Free Pussy Riot
Last night I saw Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/pussy-riot-a-punk-prayer/index.html), and now I’m convinced that Pussy Riot should be in jail, which I think was not the filmmakers’ intent.
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2013/06/dont-free-pussy-riot.html (http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2013/06/dont-free-pussy-riot.html)
Almost as edgy as http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/10/the-libertarian.html (http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/10/the-libertarian.html)
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So... any FOTs from Newark here?
Cory Booker: the inexorable rise of Newark's neoliberal egomaniac
Eyeing the Senate, the New Jersey mayor turns self-promotion into an art form. His corporate-friendly policies are not so pretty
He may be esteemed by Wall Street tycoons and Hollywood titans, and worshipped by an unserious internet brigade that prefers its politics in GIF form, but Booker has not had a good run of it lately in New Jersey's benighted largest city. Carjackings – the signature Newark crime; they used to call it "the carjack capital" – have gone up for four years in a row. Violent crime, which had been declining in Booker's first years, has spiked again; in summer, things will get worse. Police have been laid off, firefighters too, as Booker has slashed city budgets. And when the mayor recently tried to get an ally of his on the city council, the meeting devolved into a ruckus, with police officers resorting to pepper spray.
[…]
He sleeps in tents. He shovels snow. He brings diapers to stranded mothers. He runs into a burning building, then holds a press conference to celebrate his own heroism. He tried to live on food stamps for a week, which I almost admired – but then he told his story to Face the Nation, and then the Today show, and then the Daily Show, and then Piers Morgan on CNN.
No one other than Vladimir Putin could pull off these bathetic, 360-degree political theatrics – though even Putin would have blanched at Booker's made-for-TV rescue one cold Newark night of a freezing mutt named Cha Cha, bearing the dog in his arms like the Lamb of God. "This dog is shaking really bad," he told an airhead local news reporter – who had earlier arranged the entire pseudo-rescue with him via Twitter. Had she really been concerned, she could have just called the cops or, you know, rescued the dog herself. Instead, she told Booker to meet her at the scene with her camera crew and, when it was all over, even got her picture taken with the man of the hour.
It'd be one thing if the Soviet-style personality cult and let's-come-together Twitter banalities – recent days have seen him post self-help quotations from Bruce Springsteen and the Dalai Lama – were just marketing for a progressive political program. But Booker is a far more conservative figure than the Cult of Cory, which is too busy making Superman or Chuck Norris jokes, may actually realize. He is a long-time advocate of charter schools and, more quietly, of voucher programs: a favorite hobbyhorse of the men of high finance. George Will, the paleoconservative columnist of the Washington Post, is a big fan. Michelle Rhee, the fallen DC schools chancellor whose union-busting, corporatist education reforms resulted in a citywide cheating scandal, is someone Booker calls "a friend of mine" – and we should add that Newark's charter schools were embroiled in a cheating scandal of their own last year.
And of course, Booker has the unwavering support of the big bad industry just across the river from Newark. Since his days as a city councilor, he has hoovered up cash from the financial services sector – but unlike many other tri-state Democrats who seduce the Street in a marriage of a convenience, Booker legitimately thinks that big money knows best and the public sector should do its bidding. When, in May 2012, Booker confessed that he found it "nauseating" for the Obama campaign to impugn Mitt Romney's career in private equity, Democrats were shocked. They shouldn't have been.
Booker's whole career has been a testament to a poisonous financial-corporatist consensus, which dresses up the interests of big money in post-ideological garb. (That helped him win the support this weekend of the most powerful man in New Jersey: George Norcross III, the feared political boss and owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who said he liked Booker because he was "a Democrat that's fiscally conservative yet socially progressive.")
Remember that $100m donation to the Newark schools from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, promoted with its very own Oprah episode? The cash didn't go into the Newark school system; it's controlled by a non-governmental fund, with Booker on the board, and has been so unaccountable that the ACLU had to sue the city to learn what was going on. (Booker's office first denied that the emails the ACLU sought existed; when a judge ordered the emails to be made public, the Booker team released them on Christmas Eve.)
Add to this Booker's privatization of the Newark sanitation department, and his repeated attempts to do the same to the water supply, and the picture becomes clearer. In the world Booker and his cohort inhabit, there are no systemic problems and no class interests. There are only pesky inefficiencies, to be fixed with better data and more money from smart, happy, rich people who can spend their cash far more sensibly than the public sector.
[…]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/cory-booker-newark-neoliberal-egomaniac?CMP=twt_gu (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/cory-booker-newark-neoliberal-egomaniac?CMP=twt_gu)
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Rob Ford must be laughing his ass off today:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/montreal-mayor-arrested-on-corruption-charges?ref=fpblg (http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/montreal-mayor-arrested-on-corruption-charges?ref=fpblg)
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Yeah, Toronto politics is more of a spectacle, but Montreal is way dirtier.
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Wait. Is that free jazz Don Cherry, the father of Neneh?
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I was in Montreal in the late 90s - they'd passed a law that the cabbies had to put on seat belts if they were on the highway, so the cab drivers would put it on the minute they got on the highway, then take it back off the minute they were off. That's my lasting impression.
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Wait. Is that free jazz Don Cherry, the father of Neneh?
Canadian national treasure/embarrassment hockey commentator Don Cherry.
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So... any FOTs from Newark here?
Cory Booker: the inexorable rise of Newark's neoliberal egomaniac
Eyeing the Senate, the New Jersey mayor turns self-promotion into an art form. His corporate-friendly policies are not so pretty
He may be esteemed by Wall Street tycoons and Hollywood titans, and worshipped by an unserious internet brigade that prefers its politics in GIF form, but Booker has not had a good run of it lately in New Jersey's benighted largest city. Carjackings – the signature Newark crime; they used to call it "the carjack capital" – have gone up for four years in a row. Violent crime, which had been declining in Booker's first years, has spiked again; in summer, things will get worse. Police have been laid off, firefighters too, as Booker has slashed city budgets. And when the mayor recently tried to get an ally of his on the city council, the meeting devolved into a ruckus, with police officers resorting to pepper spray.
[…]
He sleeps in tents. He shovels snow. He brings diapers to stranded mothers. He runs into a burning building, then holds a press conference to celebrate his own heroism. He tried to live on food stamps for a week, which I almost admired – but then he told his story to Face the Nation, and then the Today show, and then the Daily Show, and then Piers Morgan on CNN.
No one other than Vladimir Putin could pull off these bathetic, 360-degree political theatrics – though even Putin would have blanched at Booker's made-for-TV rescue one cold Newark night of a freezing mutt named Cha Cha, bearing the dog in his arms like the Lamb of God. "This dog is shaking really bad," he told an airhead local news reporter – who had earlier arranged the entire pseudo-rescue with him via Twitter. Had she really been concerned, she could have just called the cops or, you know, rescued the dog herself. Instead, she told Booker to meet her at the scene with her camera crew and, when it was all over, even got her picture taken with the man of the hour.
It'd be one thing if the Soviet-style personality cult and let's-come-together Twitter banalities – recent days have seen him post self-help quotations from Bruce Springsteen and the Dalai Lama – were just marketing for a progressive political program. But Booker is a far more conservative figure than the Cult of Cory, which is too busy making Superman or Chuck Norris jokes, may actually realize. He is a long-time advocate of charter schools and, more quietly, of voucher programs: a favorite hobbyhorse of the men of high finance. George Will, the paleoconservative columnist of the Washington Post, is a big fan. Michelle Rhee, the fallen DC schools chancellor whose union-busting, corporatist education reforms resulted in a citywide cheating scandal, is someone Booker calls "a friend of mine" – and we should add that Newark's charter schools were embroiled in a cheating scandal of their own last year.
And of course, Booker has the unwavering support of the big bad industry just across the river from Newark. Since his days as a city councilor, he has hoovered up cash from the financial services sector – but unlike many other tri-state Democrats who seduce the Street in a marriage of a convenience, Booker legitimately thinks that big money knows best and the public sector should do its bidding. When, in May 2012, Booker confessed that he found it "nauseating" for the Obama campaign to impugn Mitt Romney's career in private equity, Democrats were shocked. They shouldn't have been.
Booker's whole career has been a testament to a poisonous financial-corporatist consensus, which dresses up the interests of big money in post-ideological garb. (That helped him win the support this weekend of the most powerful man in New Jersey: George Norcross III, the feared political boss and owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who said he liked Booker because he was "a Democrat that's fiscally conservative yet socially progressive.")
Remember that $100m donation to the Newark schools from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, promoted with its very own Oprah episode? The cash didn't go into the Newark school system; it's controlled by a non-governmental fund, with Booker on the board, and has been so unaccountable that the ACLU had to sue the city to learn what was going on. (Booker's office first denied that the emails the ACLU sought existed; when a judge ordered the emails to be made public, the Booker team released them on Christmas Eve.)
Add to this Booker's privatization of the Newark sanitation department, and his repeated attempts to do the same to the water supply, and the picture becomes clearer. In the world Booker and his cohort inhabit, there are no systemic problems and no class interests. There are only pesky inefficiencies, to be fixed with better data and more money from smart, happy, rich people who can spend their cash far more sensibly than the public sector.
[…]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/cory-booker-newark-neoliberal-egomaniac?CMP=twt_gu (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/cory-booker-newark-neoliberal-egomaniac?CMP=twt_gu)
I'm not from Newark but grew up about three or so miles away. My grandfather grew up there. My dad started at Essex Catholic which was located there a few weeks after the riots.
This article is so pompous and ridiculous.
Newark was the absolute most frightening city in the world for a long, long time. You'd have to go down there sometimes because it's the county seat so things like public records or jury duty types of stuff were there. My dad also worked there for a long time so if he had some work emergency we'd have to hang out at his plant.
So much of that area was absolute chaos when in the 90s. East Orange, where the old WFMU station was located, was just as crazy as Newark. Irvington was (and still is) as awful an inner city area you'll find in the country. Orange, which I grew up about a 15 minute walk from, is and was also nuty.
You couldn't park at a red light in the inner city during the 90s. I know that's some common, ridiculous white fear whenever suburbanites have to drive through a black neighborhood but it was a legitimate thing because of the carjackings. The parents of a girl I went to middle school with were killed because of a carjacking.
Basic car thefts were even more prevalent. All those above listed towns led the league in car theft per capita figures. Someone on my block had their car stolen from their locked garage. The thing was, a large percentage of the stolen cars were recovered. It was just kids taking them to joyride around and then they'd dump them a few hours later. Sometimes they'd be wrecked or burned but they weren't chopped for parts. But kids taking them to joyride is even more dangerous, since they were usually 14 or 15 year-olds whipping around I-280.
Also, corruption in Newark city politics (and New Jersey as well) were so rampant and terrible.
Corey Booker is truly great. I mean, he got burned rescuing people from a fire. That stuff is not PR fluff. He legitimately shovels people out of driveways and things like that.
But Corey's good press goes a LONG way in getting people interested in Newark. I have friends who actually moved into Newark since Booker was mayor since they've been priced out of Jersey City. This is completely unthinkable to a lot of people. Rutgers-Newark and NJIT have created a city campus atmosphere.
There's still a lot of poverty and violence in the city but the good vibes of Newark have picked up.
As far as Corey's political ambitions -- he's a New Jersey politician with aspirations, which means he has to deal with the devil(s) in order to get different projects steered his way. He also has a few enemies in the state legislature who are also angling for higher office.
Corey also isn't afraid to walk across party lines. He and Chris Christie are fans of each other, even though they're completely on the opposite sides of the coin politically. But what they both have in common is that they're dripping with competence (re: Sandy) and are both outsiders from the New Jersey political machines who rose to the top of the food chain.
I'm not a fan of Wall Street money headed his way. That's a major strike. But I think the good far outweighs the bad.
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I'm not a fan of Wall Street money headed his way. That's a major strike. But I think the good far outweighs the bad.
That and his comment about the Obama campaign ad against Bain Capital… I do not know too much about the schemes to privatize the commons of Newark that the article alleges (sanitation department successfully, water supply unsuccessfully) but that also smells of neoliberalism.
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AND SPEAKING OF MY HOMETOWN!
This is making the rounds today.
This guy Jake ran for council and didn't get elected. He's one of the town's gadflys. Anyways, he started a website a little while ago called "Westorange.info" that had some generic information about restaurants in town and a message board filled w/ likeminded people.
Anyways, the township attorney (and pretty well-renowned jerk) sent him a cease-and-desist letter asking him to take down the site because it would confuse people w/ the official town website.
Jake had his lawyer write a retort and HERE IT IS! Really great stuff.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/is-this-the-best-response-to-a-cease-and-desist-letter-ever (http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/is-this-the-best-response-to-a-cease-and-desist-letter-ever)
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Jake had his lawyer write a retort and HERE IT IS! Really great stuff.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/is-this-the-best-response-to-a-cease-and-desist-letter-ever (http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/is-this-the-best-response-to-a-cease-and-desist-letter-ever)
I highly concur with the Greggulator. I specifically love the references to modern art, Sam Hill, the "voluminous Township playground rules", and "the laugh test".
PS: Thumbs up for localforums.org, to which Buzzfeed links as a source, using the same obscure "simple machines forum" software as the FOT Forum! :D
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This may be one of the few points in years at which the Humorless Politics Thread takes an actually humorless tack, but I'm really hating the Texas state legislature right now.
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Why? Wendy Davis was awesome.
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Well, when I posted that it appeared certain that they were going to succeed in shutting her down.
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George Zimmerman Defense Attorney Tasteless "Knock Knock" Joke In Trayvon Martin Trial!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cykCfynh36s#ws)
I like his "Nothin'? C'mon" after his joke lies flat. Reminds me of an older Marc Marone.
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Chris Christie is still a creep:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_06/your_semiregular_reminder_chri045560.php (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_06/your_semiregular_reminder_chri045560.php)
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Chris Christie is still a creep:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_06/your_semiregular_reminder_chri045560.php (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_06/your_semiregular_reminder_chri045560.php)
Hear hear.
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MSNBC's Steve Kornacki explains that Chris Christie basically only emerged as successful because he had the backing of Democrats who were fed up with their own (state) party's corruption as a result of New Jersey having moved completely and utterly single-party blue under Bush's watch.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/up/52349670 (http://video.msnbc.msn.com/up/52349670)
I don't know if this is all true or a good explanation or whatever. But I basically agree with the premise that in America's two-party (election) system it's bad for politics in general when one party begins to suck badly because it diminishes incentives for the other party to try very hard (i.e. they get lazy). If the Republicans go full-hog evil, why should the Democrats make any efforts to be more than just marginally better? I think the fact that Republicans are so much worse is a big reason for some fields in which Democrats suck (prison reform, esp. in California; earnest Wall Street reform and prosecution of white collar crime; reform of the post-9/11 security apparatus; health-care reform that is not beholden to the insurance companies and other corporatist special interests, etc.).
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I agree with you about he two-party system, but I think Kornacki is oversimplifying -- there's always been a split between North and South Jersey, which are really wholly different regions, politically and geographically. North Jersey is basically a New York suburb, while South Jersey is part of the Mid-Atlantic region, a lot more like Delaware. The last few (Dem) governors of NJ were North Jerseyans, and because of the way politics are, they marginalized South Jersey politicians, even though they were often in the same party. Christie was savvy enough to realize he could peel off the disaffected portion of the dominant party. Republicans (including Mitt Romney) have used that same strategy successfully in NY and MA as well.
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George Norcross: The Man Who Destroyed Democracy
Underlings fear his wrath. Governors kowtow to his enormous political power. He might even have been prosecuted a decade ago if not for a bungled criminal investigation. But does all that make the new Inquirer owner, you know, a bad guy?
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/george-norcross-man-destroyed-democracy/ (http://www.phillymag.com/articles/george-norcross-man-destroyed-democracy/)
Norcross backs Booker in N.J. Senate race
Newark Mayor Cory Booker scored a major endorsement Sunday night in his bid to become the next U.S. senator from New Jersey.
George E. Norcross III, the insurance executive and hospital chairman who is seen as the most powerful figure in New Jersey Democratic politics, told The Inquirer he was endorsing Booker over two congressmen and a top state legislator expected to run in the August primary.
Norcross is a managing partner of the company that owns The Inquirer. His connections to trade labor unions and business leaders mean he can quickly raise money in the unusual, shortened primary campaign and mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts on and before Election Day.
His endorsement also suggests Democrats across South Jersey, and perhaps the state, will fall in line and support Booker's candidacy.
http://articles.philly.com/2013-06-11/news/39875278_1_newark-mayor-cory-booker-norcross-senate-race (http://articles.philly.com/2013-06-11/news/39875278_1_newark-mayor-cory-booker-norcross-senate-race)
George Norcross keeps it simple with Cory Booker endorsement
TRENTON — Democratic powerbroker George Norcross said the reason he’s supporting Newark Mayor Cory Booker for U.S. Senate is quite simple.
"Because he's going to win," Norcross said a Trenton news conference today.
With the endorsement, Booker gains the support of arguably the most powerful Democrat in the state and the head of a disciplined get-out-the vote machine in South Jersey.
[…]
Norcross also offered other reasons for his support of Booker, saying the two share a political philosophy, particularly on urban education reform.
“Ideologically, Cory and I are much closer than the others," Norcross added. “I think we have found many of the people from our part of the state are fiscally conservative, socially progressive — who believe in advancing the interests of the students within the state."
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/george_norcross_keeps_it_simpl.html (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/george_norcross_keeps_it_simpl.html)
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Six of One - Obamacare vs. The Affordable Care Act (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx2scvIFGjE#)
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He was just another lib from Werido-Wood until one day......
(http://i44.tinypic.com/2dgtkzo.png)
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/01/deuce-bigalow-actor-i-havent-made-a-movie-in-california-in-7-years-because-of-democrats/ (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/01/deuce-bigalow-actor-i-havent-made-a-movie-in-california-in-7-years-because-of-democrats/)
*record scratch*
Everything changed!
Now we'll see what happens when everything goes Left, and one man alone knows how to make things Right.
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Washed-up never-funny douchenozzle says what now?
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I read somewhere that's he's made like four movies in CA in the last 7 years.
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He also thinks flu vaccines cause autism. Seems like a really cool guy.
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He also thinks flu vaccines cause autism. Seems like a really cool guy.
Oh shit, he's one of those? Ugh.
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He was just another lib from Werido-Wood until one day......
(http://i44.tinypic.com/2dgtkzo.png)
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/01/deuce-bigalow-actor-i-havent-made-a-movie-in-california-in-7-years-because-of-democrats/ (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/01/deuce-bigalow-actor-i-havent-made-a-movie-in-california-in-7-years-because-of-democrats/)
*record scratch*
Everything changed!
Now we'll see what happens when everything goes Left, and one man alone knows how to make things Right.
I like how the author of the headline points out there may be other reasons he hasn't made a movie in 7 years.
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My insurance premiums are going down from $1400/month to $700/month next year thanks to Obamacare.
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My insurance premiums are going down from $1400/month to $700/month next year thanks to Obamacare.
Socialist.
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I am so very glad my days as an IT contractor/flunky for Wellpoint are so many years behind me. I imagine they replaced all the TVs showing CNN around the clock with anti-Obamacare propaganda.
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Parenting Advice From Glenn Beck: Push Your Kids Against The Wall (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dVxeGL4kntU#)
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What do you people think will happen post-Obamacare if the AHA proves to be popular? Will conservatives quixotically continue to rail against it as if it were the Devil? Will they cynically refer to as the "Affordable Heathcare Act" and pretend that while the fictitious Obamacare was bad, this Affordable Healthcare Act is all right, because Republicans did such and such to make it work?
I feel that the implementation of Obamacare (if it is indeed popular) would be a death knell to Republicans, and that taking back all the things they said would be so transparent that even the most die-hard conservatives would see through it. They've been harping on how damned evil it is for the past three or so years; if it proves not to be the Worst Thing Ever, then they look like a pack of jackasses funded by rich interest groups. But maybe I underestimate the power of the Republican propaganda machine, and they'll somehow maintain popularity despite having been so vehemently against what turns out to be a popular program.
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The people railing against the ACA are the same people who are still loudly complaining about popular, long-running government programs like Social Security and Medicare. I think what'll happen if the ACA is popular is simply a shift in polling numbers.
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What do you people think will happen post-Obamacare if the AHA proves to be popular? Will conservatives quixotically continue to rail against it as if it were the Devil? Will they cynically refer to as the "Affordable Heathcare Act" and pretend that while the fictitious Obamacare was bad, this Affordable Healthcare Act is all right, because Republicans did such and such to make it work?
I feel that the implementation of Obamacare (if it is indeed popular) would be a death knell to Republicans, and that taking back all the things they said would be so transparent that even the most die-hard conservatives would see through it. They've been harping on how damned evil it is for the past three or so years; if it proves not to be the Worst Thing Ever, then they look like a pack of jackasses funded by rich interest groups. But maybe I underestimate the power of the Republican propaganda machine, and they'll somehow maintain popularity despite having been so vehemently against what turns out to be a popular program.
People still drive around with Confederate flags sticking out of their pick-up trucks.
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People still drive around with Confederate flags sticking out of their pick-up trucks.
Confederate flags? Hell, the other day I saw some douchewagon with a bumper sticker that read MAGNA CARTA = SOSHALIZUM.
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People still drive around with Confederate flags sticking out of their pick-up trucks.
Confederate flags? Hell, the other day I saw some douchewagon with a bumper sticker that read MAGNA CARTA = SOSHALIZUM.
Those barons think they're so great. If you don't like England why don't you go back to Normandy.
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Not that Clay: WINNER.
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(http://i.imgur.com/RKGXf5D.gif)
Thanks, New Jersey.
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Did he do as well as he did because he was not Booker? I find it hard to believe that his actual messages resonated in any significant way.
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Even my grandfather thought that guy was a nutjob, and that's saying a lot.
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Someone compiled a google spreadsheet of Ford's scandals and gaffes (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AhpNgYjOr8FzdGhZNVFocUhERUxzRGJBMFBtVDZHaUE&toomany=true#gid=0).
Hahaha
(http://i.imgur.com/4fpEwzy.png)
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As you would expect, I am monitoring this situation closely. Everyone in Toronto is on tenterhooks, waiting to see how Ford responds to this bombshell (http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/31/rob-ford-crack-video-the-focus-of-investigation-drug-trafficking-search-warrant-documents-say/).
It's not beyond my imagination that he will just ignore it all, hide out for a while, and do his best to maintain business as usual (i.e. show up to work at noon, secretly drink vodka all day, spend all his energy on things like decorating his office for Halloween (http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/28/rob-ford-decorates-office-as-cobweb-strewn-haunted-house-says-im-going-to-invite-some-media-guys-in-there/)...)
The guy has a child's understanding of what Mayoring is all about. He released this video a few weeks ago as a showcase for his summer of triumphs:
Summer of Ford (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_59SOFf0TQ#)
Today's events are my only consolation for the imminent demise of the Best Show!
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This whole story is magnificent and awful.
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What I don't understand is why the guy isn't run out of town with pitchforks, tar and feathers and all. What gives, people of Toronto?
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Until he is actually convicted of a crime, there is no legal means of removing him from office. And he apparently doesn't have the normal human capacity for shame, so it doesn't look like he's going to step down of his own accord. It's not a coincidence the police investigation was called Operation Brazen.
Plus he still has a substantial base, some of whom, shockingly, still support him, and are doing their level best to make it anyone/everyone else's fault. You know, like good conservatives who believe in personal responsibility.
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Not sure how the whole office immunity works, but don't you guys have a monarchy? Have the Queen remove him via the Governor or something! For the love of God!
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Toronto mayor Rob Ford "drunkenly calls radio show" to defend Rob Ford, calling himself "Ian"
http://boingboing.net/2013/11/01/toronto-mayor-rob-ford-drunk.html (http://boingboing.net/2013/11/01/toronto-mayor-rob-ford-drunk.html)
Despite new disclosures in drug investigation, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s approval rating rises to 44 pct. http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/mayor_rob_fords_approval_rating_ticks_upward_with_news_of_crack_video.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/mayor_rob_fords_approval_rating_ticks_upward_with_news_of_crack_video.html)
"According to sources, [Mayor] Ford was running around his office doing football sprints from a “3-point stance.’ ” http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/rob_ford_very_intoxicated_at_city_hall_night_of_st_patricks_day_2012.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/rob_ford_very_intoxicated_at_city_hall_night_of_st_patricks_day_2012.html)
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Despite new disclosures in drug investigation, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s approval rating rises to 44 pct. http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/mayor_rob_fords_approval_rating_ticks_upward_with_news_of_crack_video.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/mayor_rob_fords_approval_rating_ticks_upward_with_news_of_crack_video.html)
This is the really amazing thing. His supporters have a personal relationship with the guy that's quite independent of his behaviour, and certainly independent of his political performance (which is appalling - he rivals the worst of Republicans for ignorance of facts and destructive, wasteful policies.)
The reason this story is so fascinating is that there's truly no way to guess what's going to happen next. Ford doesn't behave like a normal person. He could do anything.
- get busted for impaired driving
- drop dead
- get arrested for beating the shit out of his wife (yes, unfortunately there is a record of 911 calls for domestic "situations" but so far he's always avoided being charged)
- be led out of his office in handcuffs
- do nothing; get re-elected
- go on an epic drunken rampage
... the list just goes on and on, and at this point, almost nothing would be a surprise. There are rumours (yeah - Canadian rumors!) that there is a prostitution scandal coming down the pipeline.
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Going back to America, isn't it odd how Texas has produced a better Democratic gubernatorial candidate than New Jersey?
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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admits to smoking crack
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has admitted to smoking crack cocaine, saying he had done so in a "drunken stupor".
Mr Ford made the confession to reporters at city hall on Tuesday, saying he had taken the drug about a year ago but was not an addict.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24824651 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24824651)
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Amazeballs
(http://i.imgur.com/cSOOica.jpg)
Bonus:
Why Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Can Admit To Smoking Crack And Still Win Reelection (http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/11/05/2893281/rob-ford-smokes-rock/)
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He'll always be the mayor of a Van Down by The River in my heart.
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He'll always be the mayor of a Van Down by The River in my heart.
Oh...that's great.
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Cut to tomorrow and Ford will be angry that everyone's still talking about this. "The past is the past! I said I was sorry!"
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His approval rating went up after the Crack thing.
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/mayor_rob_fords_approval_rating_ticks_upward_with_news_of_crack_video.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/01/mayor_rob_fords_approval_rating_ticks_upward_with_news_of_crack_video.html)
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In general, his approval ratings are totally insane, but there is some doubt as to the accuracy of the widely-reported claim that his poll numbers rose after the police confirmed the existence of the crack video.
For those interested in getting into the data analysis, check out the cut-rate Canadian version of Nate Silver on the subject (http://www.threehundredeight.com/2013/11/ford-now-that-i-have-your-attention.html?spref=tw).
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Rob Ford seems like the kind of guy who'd try and get a cut of the profits if the crack video was put up for sale.
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I know what you mean. He's a total sleaze, but for all his many, many faults, I don't think there's ever really been a suggestion that they guy is trying to line his pockets.
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FOTs, please forgive my endless blather and know-it-alliness on this subject. I've been fascinated with this guy for years, and am just over the moon that he's finally getting widespread attention.
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Don't apologize, it is pretty fascinating.
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Listen to the tunes that get Mayor Ford pumped up for Hockey Night here:
http://songza.com/listen/hockey-night-with-mayor-rob-ford-MayorRobFord/ (http://songza.com/listen/hockey-night-with-mayor-rob-ford-MayorRobFord/)
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Don Vito rides again:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/07/mayor_rob_ford_caught_in_video_rant.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/07/mayor_rob_ford_caught_in_video_rant.html)
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There was a completely hideous interview last night with Ford's mother and sister (neither of whom have ever made a public appearance before) in which it was sickeningly obvious that his whole family is in complete denial, and enabling his behaviour. We already knew this about his thuggish city councillor brother Doug.
Previous to this interview, his sister Kathy was best known for being involved with the KKK, getting shot in the head by a white supremacist drug dealer, and having an ex-husband who broke into the family home threatening the entire Ford clan over drug debts.
Interested parties can find it here: http://www.cp24.com/ (http://www.cp24.com/)
As hilarious as Ford is, it is almost a sure thing that this will only end with him in jail or dead.
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And regarding the "murder rant video" I think it's completely possible that he's goofing around. It seems like it was recorded around the time he met Hulk Hogan, and his repeated use of "brother" is very Hogan-esque. He's obviously out of his mind on booze and (probably) coke, but I think he could just be getting carried away bragging rather than making serious threats.
Besides that, he routinely acts almost that aggressively in City Council chamber. I did not find this video particularly shocking, but I think it may be the thing that finally starts to erode his support with his base.
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As hilarious as Ford is, it is almost a sure thing that this will only end with him in jail or dead.
Well, everything ends with everyone dead, so… but yes.
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Yes, as Keynes observed, in the long run we are all dead.
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Yeah, I guess I feel the need to make some po-faced self-evident statements on this topic once in a while as a kind of moral get out of jail free card, so I can convince myself that I wasn't just cackling in glee as I watched this guy's life falling apart.
If anyone is interested in a sober account of the whole saga, the CBC just aired a pretty great documentary last night, and it is online here:
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2013-2014/the-rob-ford-story (http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2013-2014/the-rob-ford-story)
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Since here in the USA, news both national (OBAMACARE WEBSITE TROUBLES PROVE CRUZ, PAUL, PALIN RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING EVER OMG!!!) and local (NEW JERSEY RADIO HOST CALLS QUITS AFTER 13 YEARS, MASS SUICIDES PREDICTED) is so fucking depressing, may I just say "Thank God for Rob Ford"?
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/13/rob_ford_did_drugs_partied_with_escort_police_document_alleges.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/13/rob_ford_did_drugs_partied_with_escort_police_document_alleges.html)
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I'm surprised there's no American equivalent to this guy. He seems more suited for this dump than Canada.
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Isn't he kinda like their version of Marion Berry?
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Isn't he kinda like their version of Marion Berry?
I dunno--Marion Berry just seemed like more of a downer, maybe because his constituents were already some of the most fucked-over citizens in the US and really needed some righteous governance. And he certainly didn't have Ford's knack for slapstick.
(http://i.imgur.com/nATPNJb.gif)
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And he certainly didn't have Ford's knack for slapstick.
(http://i.imgur.com/nATPNJb.gif)
Yeah. This is the thing about him. When comedians try to take a shot at him, they're just never as funny as the real, unadulterated Ford.
That being said, here in Toronto it's really a "laugh so you don't cry" kind of situation. The domestic assault and chronic drunk driving stuff is not so hilarious.
Nonetheless, I continue to be absolutely spellbound by this trainwreck, and often find myself cackling helplessly at some new revelation (like: he was using that crack house as campaign headquarters!)
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That's the best animated gif I've seen in awhile.
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Has the film of him zooming in been released? Head, face, eyeball that's a Gif worth seeing.
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http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/rob-ford-football-argonauts-jersey/ (http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/rob-ford-football-argonauts-jersey/)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZCit8BCEAAbZXr.jpg)
Jackson Proskow @JProskowGlobal
Mayor Ford in council now. Jersey. Cowboy boots.
9:50 AM - 14 Nov 2013
(http://images.ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-11-14-at-10.52.25-AM.png)
The jersey said “MAYOR FORD” on the back, in case you couldn’t ascertain the identity of the large, red-faced man being followed by all those cameras.
The Argonauts are the reigning CFL champions and play a home playoff game on Sunday. The No. 12 is worn by former Tennessee Volunteers cornerback Demetrice Morley, though it’s likely Ford’s No. 12 is a reference to the Argos’ 2012 Grey Cup win.
After denying specific instances of drug use and allegations that his friend was a prostitute, Ford got down to business at an impromptu Thursday press conference in which he talked a little pregame smack to the Mayor of Hamilton, Bob Bratina.
“The next thing, I want to call Mayor Brittania (sic) in Hamilton and tell him that we’re going to have to spank their little Tiger-Cats,” Ford said.
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At an impromptu press scrum this morning, Ford denied he told a former staffer, Olivia Gondek, that he wanted to “eat her pussy” – an allegation from another former staffer found in a court document released Wednesday.
“I've never said that in my life to her. I would never do that," Ford said. "I'm happily married and I've got more than enough to eat at home."
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/14/renata-ford-rob-ford-wife_n_4275474.html?ref=topbar (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/14/renata-ford-rob-ford-wife_n_4275474.html?ref=topbar)
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Holy SHIT, this guy! Here's another vantage point on the above-mentioned incident.
Rob Ford swearing on live TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKt3gn3tzVs#)
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(http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/ford_video_20131114_topix2.jpg?w=620&h=450)
Today, in city council chamber, after he removed the football jersey and put his Mayor suit back on.
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Dig the expression on his wife's face as a he delivers his "apology":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8TmdGPL9RA#t=24 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8TmdGPL9RA#t=24)
Somebody is so going to bed hungry tonight.
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He might have overdone the gravitas of the apology with that football-patterned tie.
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He might have overdone the gravitas of the apology with that football-patterned tie.
Under the circumstances, he thought better of this one:
(http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2013-11/enhanced/webdr02/8/16/grid-cell-32485-1383946644-20.jpg)
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Article by a guy who does a good Twitter parody account (I was momentarily taken in by the Fake Ford page, before I inspected it more closely).
http://o.canada.com/technology/mayor-rob-frod-true-identity/ (http://o.canada.com/technology/mayor-rob-frod-true-identity/)
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North Carolina's governor is a pale, pale echo of this. Mostly he lies in situations where there's no need to lie and can't understand why people are bothered by him lying.
I don't mean political by which he meant he talked to people *not* at the demonstration as he walked to his office.
Also, repeatedly referring to his resigning Secretary of Public Safety Kieran Shanahan as "Karen" and then "Sharon."
And during the campaign, doing a commercial where he called his dog "Mo" and then "Bo" in *the same video*.
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Are we sure Rob Ford isn't from Newbridge?
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sheesh
https://twitter.com/coolfallenrain/status/401360728030187520
https://twitter.com/TraceyKent/status/401348802763706368
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"The show, named 'Ford Nation,' will air Mondays at 8 p.m. on Sun News Network, beginning Nov. 18". (http://www.salon.com/2013/11/15/toronto_mayor_rob_ford_is_getting_a_reality_tv_show/)
"Ford Nation" aka "How long before Rob or Doug Dies?"
Maybe not that long, judging by the Sun News Network's rush to get this on the air. Hey guys, we've put together a show, and it starts, uh ... three days from now!!
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Unless I misunderstand, this tv show will not (for better or worse) be a reality show, but a talk show where Rob and Doug Ford take pot shots at their enemies, take phone calls from sycophants, and make small talk about sports. Until it was cancelled last week, they had a radio show that fit this template. It was brutally dull and stupid. These two guys are completely inarticulate and witless.
Ford's gaffes and pratfalls are spellbinding, but if you actually have to listen to what the guy says for any length of time, it can make you measurably stupider.
This doesn't make it any less sickening that the Sun News Network (often referred to as "Fox News North") is giving these guys a platform at a time when everyone else is finally stopping the enabling.
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This, from the comment section at Wonkette, can never be topped:
"Canada, Jesus, what the hell? Get your shit together!"
"[sob] I learned it from you, USA. I LEARNED IT FROM YOU."
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Despite a plea from the CFL commissioner to stay away, an upbeat looking Ford showed up to watch his hometown Argonauts take on and lose to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for a berth in next week’s Grey Cup. He also gave an interview with an American media outlet to make his case.
Ford posed for pictures and hugged fellow spectators before taking a seat near a rival fan with a sign stating “Our mayor’s better than yours,” while those sitting behind him looked angry at having their view blocked by the commotion.
He was mobbed by people who mostly seemed supportive as he left the game.
Trembling Eagle Alert:
Ford repeated that he is not an alcoholic or a drug addict, adding that he’s getting professional help and hitting the gym “for two hours every day.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/17/rob-ford-causes-commotion-attending-toronto-cfl-game-he-was-asked-not-to-attend/ (http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/17/rob-ford-causes-commotion-attending-toronto-cfl-game-he-was-asked-not-to-attend/)
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZTG0Q7CQAEkPgO.jpg)
That blank, child-like expression will never not be funny.
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"I drank too much, I smoked some crack sometime. What can I say? I made a mistake."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/18/world/canada-rob-ford-interview/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/18/world/canada-rob-ford-interview/index.html)
Like a BAWS! 8)
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A new poll offers a bit of context for Ford's widely-reported approval ratings:
Police Chief Blair (who confirmed the existence of the crack video a few weeks ago) 80%.
Generic city councillor 74%.
City hall reporters 64%.
City Council generally 57%.
Doug Ford 42%.
Mayor Rob Ford 40%.
When the question is 'trustworthiness' rather than 'approval' the Mayor's number slips to 34%.
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This afternoon, during a city council session in which council is trying to strip Ford of most of his powers as Mayor, he did a drunk driving pantomime aimed towards one of his political enemies who had received a warning for driving under the influence (n.b. that Councillor Ainslie was below the legal limit, and Ford has both been convicted of DUI and admitted to recently driving drunk.)
(http://gamereax.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/fordcouncilmeeting.gif)
Dignified!
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And then this happens:
Mayor Rob Ford knocks over Councillor during November 18 motion of debate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB1dJeMtb08#)
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This afternoon, during a city council session in which council is trying to strip Ford of most of his powers as Mayor, he did a drunk driving pantomime aimed towards one of his political enemies who had received a warning for driving under the influence (n.b. that Councillor Ainslie was below the legal limit, and Ford has both been convicted of DUI and admitted to recently driving drunk.)
(http://gamereax.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/fordcouncilmeeting.gif)
Dignified!
Reminds me of Limbaugh.
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He doesn't have the wit of Limbaugh. The guy is shockingly inarticulate.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZTG0Q7CQAEkPgO.jpg)
That blank, child-like expression will never not be funny.
Which one?
I watched Evocateur last night. Call me elitist (no, seriously, call me elitist) but maybe television (and especially the Internet)'s greatest sin is that we have to listen to this enormous group of troglodytes and pretend that their irrational and entirely-from-prejudice opinions are worth the time it takes to listen to them.
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greatest sin is that we have to listen to this enormous group of troglodytes and pretend that their irrational and entirely-from-prejudice opinions are worth the time it takes to listen to them.
Blame the lamestream media!
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The media is pretty much all Rob Ford all the time by now. I can't even keep up with it, it's one curveball after another. Let it be known that I first read about the dude many months ago here on the FOT Forum, though.
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Yeah, it's hard not to feel proud for spotting his talent early on.
And a public service announcement in the wake of the Ford U.S. media blitzkrieg, just in case it's not totally obvious: Rob and Doug Ford only lie. Pointlessly and indiscriminately. For example: no news outlets ever called Ford 'the White Obama'.
At least part of the reason for their US media tour is that the mainstream media in Canada has turned on them. Even the right-wing AM radio guys either confront them point-blank about their lies, or refuse to talk to them, recognizing that it's an exercise in futility.
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Really? Well, I see here that at least one of Hizzonner's Canadian defenders thinks the "left-wing media" won't be satisfied until he's "dead in a tunnel like Princess Diana:" http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/robford/2013/11/18/ford_nation_hits_the_airwaves.html (http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/robford/2013/11/18/ford_nation_hits_the_airwaves.html) This whole affair has to be the greatest thing to come out of Canadian comedy since SCTV.
Bonus quote: “'I know in my heart everyone has personal problems,' Ford told listeners. 'I urinated in a parking lot . . . what does that have to do with anything?'”
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Oh man, Ezra Levant is one of the biggest creeps in Canada. I dunno who his U.S. counterpart would be. Maybe Jonah Goldberg?
And despite what I just said about Canadian media, the CBC did a major softball interview with the Fords last night.
This video is pretty amazing. It shows in detail the chaos that the Fords initiated during the city council meeting yesterday. It begins with Mayor Ford causing a stir by having his bodyguard photograph "enemies" in the public gallery. Best viewed in fullscreen:
The Brothers Ford Cause Chaos on Toronto City Coun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00iehQ21O2w#)
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Oh man, Ezra Levant is one of the biggest creeps in Canada. I dunno who his U.S. counterpart would be. Maybe Jonah Goldberg?
And despite what I just said about Canadian media, the CBC did a major softball interview with the Fords last night.
This video is pretty amazing. It shows in detail the chaos that the Fords initiated during the city council meeting yesterday. It begins with Mayor Ford causing a stir by having his bodyguard photograph "enemies" in the public gallery. Best viewed in fullscreen:
The Brothers Ford Cause Chaos on Toronto City Coun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00iehQ21O2w#)
This is pro wrestling. Where's Gregulator?
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZTG0Q7CQAEkPgO.jpg)
That blank, child-like expression will never not be funny.
Which one?
I watched Evocateur last night. Call me elitist (no, seriously, call me elitist) but maybe television (and especially the Internet)'s greatest sin is that we have to listen to this enormous group of troglodytes and pretend that their irrational and entirely-from-prejudice opinions are worth the time it takes to listen to them.
Shut up! America is the greatest country in the world!
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZTG0Q7CQAEkPgO.jpg)
That blank, child-like expression will never not be funny.
Which one?
I watched Evocateur last night. Call me elitist (no, seriously, call me elitist) but maybe television (and especially the Internet)'s greatest sin is that we have to listen to this enormous group of troglodytes and pretend that their irrational and entirely-from-prejudice opinions are worth the time it takes to listen to them.
Shut up! America is the greatest country in the world!
Seriously maybe you should move to Russia.
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Well, so much for that ... http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/ford-nation-cancelled-by-sun-news-network-after-one-episode-due-to-costs-1.1550852 (http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/ford-nation-cancelled-by-sun-news-network-after-one-episode-due-to-costs-1.1550852)
Maybe Sun News could just weave together a bunch of ford .gif files and call that a show.
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The media is pretty much all Rob Ford all the time by now. I can't even keep up with it, it's one curveball after another. Let it be known that I first read about the dude many months ago here on the FOT Forum, though.
Me too!
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Rob Ford the Movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUY6lDja-DE#)
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The media is pretty much all Rob Ford all the time by now. I can't even keep up with it, it's one curveball after another. Let it be known that I first read about the dude many months ago here on the FOT Forum, though.
Me too!
Same here.
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Where's Gregulator?
Shopping for sports cars, Jimmy Snuka memorabilia and faberge eggs. His brother is a big famous TV star now.
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I would like to remind everyone that Rob Ford is still a lying sociopath who is incredibly destructive to my city, but he also loves to get tickled. From Toronto City Council's budget meeting yesterday, here are some pictures of RoFo being tickled by Chief Budget Officer Councillor Frank Di Giorgio:
(http://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/RTX181JA-e1391177371707.jpg)
(http://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/RTX181JC-e1391177383970.jpg)
And THAT'S why it's pointless for comedians to try to parody the guy. HE'S FUNNIER THAN THEY ARE.
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(http://i.imgur.com/VGZEycb.jpg)
Rob Ford's Jamaican accent stunt got mentions in two of my favorite podcasts, so yay.
http://soundcloud.com/complexmag/desus-vs-mero-ep-5-bumbaclot (http://soundcloud.com/complexmag/desus-vs-mero-ep-5-bumbaclot)
http://twibiu.libsyn.com/-t-wi-bradio-494-a-word-for-mike-huckabee (http://twibiu.libsyn.com/-t-wi-bradio-494-a-word-for-mike-huckabee)
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Just remembered Tom talking about how when Trump reads a speech he interrupts himself with weird asides. I dying for him to look to the side and say, "It's true, it's true."
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https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/11/rob-ford-crack-video-released-after-charges-dropped-against-sandro-lisi.html (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/11/rob-ford-crack-video-released-after-charges-dropped-against-sandro-lisi.html)
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Corey Pein ripping the national enthusiasm for conspiracy theories: "The Protocols of Moron (http://thebaffler.com/blog/protocols-moron-pein)". Alex Jones and Donald Trump are heavily mentioned.