Open Thread
In honor of our new Speaker of the House, a sign from the Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington D.C.
h/t Mudflatter RB for the picture
December 18, 2024
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The Quitter Returns! -Monday, March 21, 2022
Putting the goober in gubernatorial -Friday, January 28, 2022
In honor of our new Speaker of the House, a sign from the Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington D.C.
h/t Mudflatter RB for the picture
dowl, I could not have said it better!
Thank you ‘flatters. Thank you AKM for this part of cyberspace. Still we rise. Because we can.
beautiful dowl….still we rise.
We all need some laughter and cheer (me included)!
Just got done watching Letterman tonight (Thursday) and he had on one of the Chilean miners and an interpreter. They were wonderful! His optimism, his zest for laugh shone! The interpreter added her humor as well. Absolutely loved his singing Elvis!
Sorry, don’t have the link, but hopefully it will be up on Letterman’s site or on youtube!
Yes!!
Patty Murray won!!!! Whew.
Whew! Back to you, Moose Pucky. Now the president has his fire wall with her and Boxer from California. The folks from Massachusettes voted dem all the way around afte being duped by the new guy (Scott Brown who disguised hisself as a tea bagger until election night) Now the Bachman nutjobs in the house have him in their cross hairs.
Therefore too again also then again.
I understand the disappointment but: http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/
OMG
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/sarah-palin-complains_n_779146.html
She is soooo presidential!
Get some sleep bubbles
PO…it is ok to be a black man and be angry.
no Irishgirl. not in this country. it is the specter of angry Black man that terrifies bigots/racists.
stupid isn’t it? the fact of the matter is, that the anger of Black men is usually turned inward or outward to harm his own community.
i would say that the ‘angry black woman’ is who the Teabaggers and their ilk need to stay away from. far, far away….now i am going back to bed with more lemon tea.
Oh dear God……I will have to return to NY and discuss this.
My thinking is that it is time for him to get angry. Forget about the stereotypes….it is time for us to do it our way and lay the rules.
Black men still get lynched in this country – the one that made big headlines recently was in 1998 – at least two Good Ol’ boys dragged James Byrd, Jr., by the neck and shoulders behind their truck in Jasper, Texas, June 7, 1998.
The grand jury’s first indictment was for John William King, 23, of Jasper and Lawrence Russell Brewer, 31, of Sulphur Springs of capital murder. A second indictment by the grand jury names Shawn Allen Berry, 23, of Jasper.
So yes, racism/bigotry is very much alive and the Tea Party is it’s body and $arah Palin is it’s face.
“So yes, racism/bigotry is very much alive and the Tea Party is it’s body and $arah Palin is it’s face.”
Precisely.
No, Bretta, she is their heart.
yup- and someone needs to them to an emergency room cuz they are courting cardiac arrest
When the political news starts to get me down, 🙁 I remind myself of two important facts:
1. The election of 2008 saw more young people become involved in politics for the first time than any period in recent history. They are the future, and each generation is learning to be less racist, homophobic, angry and frightened than the previous ones (hopefully, because we’re teaching them to be!).
2. Based on the number of Hoverounds, Rascal Scooters and angry white-haired people with signs telling the government to stay out of their Medicare that were seen at the Tea Party rallies, health care town hall meetings and the GlennBeckapaloooza, there will be fewer and fewer people with tea bags hanging from their hats as we get closer to 2012 and beyond!
The future is listing to the left…we just need to hang on ’till it gets here! 🙂
🙂
Best post-election wrap up ever. Helen and Margaret:
http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/oh-happy-day/#comment-48689
My favorite part of M&H’s take on the new regime:
“”And teen pregnancies are a thing of the past. Teens will no longer have sex. Except the Palins. The Palins will abandon teen pregnancies as easily as a camel will pass through the eye of an early pregnancy test stick. No. The Palins will continue to give birth to abstinence only babies. That we know for sure.
Abortion? Well everyone knows that was just a luxury American women really couldn’t afford anyway. And government will now be small enough to actually fit inside a woman’s uterus, so all women with unwanted pregnancies have left, presumably to join the French Army.””
Margaret and Helen are the best.
election
I have not watched or listened to the news since the elecion. I need time to regroup!!
Awwww, po’ wittle Sow-a, having her privacy invaded by someone other than the reality show cameras…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/sarah-palin-complains_n_779146.html
A little good news. Mike Bennet defeats Ken Buck in Colorado!!
I am neither fearful nor angry. I’ve been voting since 1972 when, despite my vote and efforts, Tricky Dick Nixon was re-elected in a landslide. I never miss an election; primary, general, runoff, no matter, I do my civic duty and vote. Much of the time, I support neither candidate, and vote for the lesser of two evils (usually the Democrat); or vote Green to keep them on the ballot, hoping that someday they’ll be a viable party in this country (as they are elsewhere). In my lifetime, I’ve only voted *for* two presidents. One was Jimmy Carter, the other is Barack Obama. (I consider Bill Clinton the best Republican president we’ve had during my life; by my lights, he was never a Democrat, but that’s just one woman’s opinion.)
Breathe deeply, people. During mealtimes, keep the news off (in fact, unless it’s something uplifting, keep the TV off altogether while you eat). During meals, put the newspaper away (the crossword puzzle’s OK if you must have it). Same for radio; turn it off during meals unless it’s something humorous or uplifting.
Prepare your food with love as the first ingredient, and express your gratitude for every hand that helped bring it to your plate. This includes the people who grew it, harvested it, drove it to market, stocked it on the shelf, and the clerk at the register who sold it to you. Even feel gratitude for your employer, who pays your salary (I know this can be hard because many of us are exploited workers who are underappreciated and underpaid, but many are out of work and struggling to find a job; any job, no matter how menial or degrading).
Every day, feel gratitude for every blessing you have; friends, family (even the ones you think are nuts or the ones who think you’re nuts; they all helped make you who you are), a roof over your head, clothes to keep the weather off your skin, potable water, etc.. Stay in contact with the natural world, especially if you live in a city (pets, houseplants, birdwatching, or walks in the park or near a river will do, if that’s the closest to nature you can get).
And thanks to AKM for giving us a virtual gathering place, to celebrate our victories and console each other for our losses. Community is a blessing, one of our greatest.
I am a messenger of health and peace, in that order, because health is a prerequisite for peace. Healthy people don’t want to kill and steal. Lightworkers, get to work and spread the light!
Thanks Zyx: Just what I needed to hear. I will go run my dogs on newly fallen snow and let my tears and anger go into the cosmos. sobbing, breathing, sobbing, breathing…..
I so loved reading this!
Zyxomma, Millie and LoveMyDogs, I can’t remember which Psalm I read, but it mentions something about…..and I’m paraphrasing….” Why are you weeping when the wicked flourish? It is so that they may be destroyed forever.”
Therefore too again also then again.
And now, something that works! We have to remind ourselves that by and large, we do a pretty good job.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1104/Comet-Hartley-2-NASA-rendezvous-a-success-even-better-pics-on-the-way
Thanks Desa, I really needed that!!
Califpa6t, we need each other! I’m so happy about Barbara Boxer! Now that Patti Murray won, Obama has his firewall around him. Hooray!
Therefore too again also then again.
Palin’s ugliness comes oozing out:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/11/a-palin-approved-sign.html
Wait ’til they find out Jesus was black *and* a Jew.
Good one!
Palin told them to “man up”, and they are (but I don’t think she’s gonna like it….)
http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/1110/Kondracke_Palins_a_joke.html
Wow, he said she was a joke in the Ronald Reagan building?!
Here is the web site for Mitch McConnel.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44491.html
Heard Mitch McConnell (R) speak today, and from what I heard from him, doesn’t sound encouraging. I look for him to stall any progress for the next two years. They are just going to sit there and do Nothing.
I wish you were wrong, Lacy Lady. Their sole purpose will be to impeach Obama. They’ll waste two years doing the subpeona thingy. During that time, they’ll have to vote on the budget. They have to vote to increase it. Since they will be caught between a hard place and a hard place, the gov’t. will be shut down. Then…..watch the sh*t hit the fan. They’ll attempt to place the blame on Obame.
The ONLY reason Boehner and McConnel get up every morning is to stick it to the president.
Hey, all you Mudpuppies! Quit it! This is NOT you! No Mudpuppy worth their mud would give up now. Not now. Not ever. If you do, the refudicans have won. You might as well lay down and say, “Sarah, kick me, beat me, make me write bum checks.” You’re not quitters like her. We’re just getting warmed up!
Whenever I feel down, I remind myself of a story of a painting:
The painting was a chess board with its pieces on the board, seemingly placed insignificantly The painting hung for years in an office. NObody paid any attention to it. After many years, an old minister walked into the office and became excited when he saw the painting. He knew the significance of it!
(Mud note) Let me mention that Sarah Palin is nothing more than the reincarnation of the old testament queen, Jezebel. Google it if you don’t believe me. Jezebel was a wicked ruler who married a weak husband/king. (sound familiar?) He was wimpy, so she ruled in his stead. She had her own form of religion and ruled dishonestly. That wasn’t bad enough. She did wicked sh*t in the Name of the King, with his Seal of Office. The conclusion of this old testament gospel was Government Without God. Or pretending to love the Almighty, preying…err..praying in His Name, while commiting vile acts. She stole in the Name of the King what rightfully belonged to another. In the end the weakling husband’s blood was lapped up by dogs and her rotten kids died with their reputations ruined. (End of Mud note)
The conclusion to the story of the painting of the chess board…….the old minister told the others the significance of the painting. The pieces were placed in such a way, the old minister knew the significance of where the chess pieces were standing.
It meant, THE KING HAS ONE MORE MOVE.
Now you Mudpuppies…….dust yourself off, clean you keyboard, put your false teeth back in, suck in your gut and GET BACK IN THE MUD!
<3 <3 <3 !!!
I'm with you, Desa!
Despair sucks, fellow mudpups. Whoever thought we'd be able to ungird our loins, has NOT been paying attention!
MonaLisa, we’re with you folks in Connecticut too again therefore also than again.
Here’s my impression of Christine O’Donnel:
” I’m not a senator. I’m you. “
(*high-fives Desa*)
Back at you, MonaLisa(inCT)
Therefore too again then again also.
Teeth back in Desa!! Thank you and Lee for bringing us back to reality.
Also, too…..Palin cost the GOP the senate.
What is that I hear in the background….the sharpening of knives maybe?
Irishgirl, McQuittyPants DID cost the GOBP the senate. Now watch those mindless kooks form a circular firing squad.
Therefore too also then again.
No, Irishgirl, what you hear is McQuittyPant filing her teeth.
Therefore too again also then again.
Thanks, Desa. I needed that rant 🙂 You have put me into a much better mood.
1smartcanerican, you’re veddy welcome. I ain’t letting no tea gagger get the best of me. Good news! Patty Murray won in Washington!! If that doesn’t make your day, nothing will.
By the by, has it ever occured to you that these bums won so that they can “be turned over to themselves?” Sometimes that’s how it works. My late husband said it like this: ” If it’s so important to you to be like that or do things like that….then here…..here you are…now go have a ball.” ( usually a demise occurs shortly therein.)
You have no idea how good I feel about Joe the Tea Gagger here in Alaska. He fell like his mentor, McQuittyPants. At his goofy rally here in Anchorage Demint and Bachmann appeared via the boob toob. Former Lt. Governor of Alaska Loren Leman was there with the aging starlet from Northern Exposure as the drawing card and McQuittyPants herself, along with the repudican chair, Randy Ruedrich, Baby Eddie (Sarah’s Baby Eddie, that is) and the “patriots” were there.
So….guess how many showed up at this place which holds 4500? 350 at the most!!!! They had to turn down the perimeter lights to make the room appear fuller. One could see the carpet! All those republican “stars” drew about 60 people per star. (chuckle)
Therefore too also then again.
That’s right!! Are we a cackle of rads or not?
Yeah, we bad, boodog, we bad. A cackle a’ rads we are.
Before I forget, boodog, did you get your bumper sticker from Emily’s List? I got mine and it looks good.
Therefore too again also then again.
LOVE IT!!!
Woof Woof!
Someone pointed out earlier that the Republicans vote their fears (and anger)….the primitive fight or flight response….the product of the limbic system instead of the rational cortex.
All the doom and gloom emanating from many of the comments on this post originate from that same emotional nexus…..the fear/anger cascade of the limbic system. Frankly, I don’t see much difference between Republicans voting their fears, and many liberals reacting with fear (and thoughts of flight to other countries) to the outcome of the latest election.
I must admit on the “fight or flight” decision that I am and have always been a fighter. As Russ Feingold said so spiritedly at the end of his concession speech: “On to the next fight! On to the next battle!”
With that said….time for some cortical thinking to kick in. The midterm elections are not a cause for panic for several different reasons:
–More often than not, the party in power in the White House loses seats in the midterms. In fact, Reagan and Clinton both had huge losses in the midterms after two years in office, and both went on to second terms.
–The worst economic conditions since the Great Depression were the backdrop to the 2010 midterms, and yet the Democrats retained the Senate. Recent polls show that a majority of people don’t believe that PO is actually responsible for the origins of this recession.
–Tea Baggers and the GOP have been screaming their heads off for over a year that Obama was “cramming socialism down our throats.” They have been on fire to get back to the polls to rewrite the ’08 election. It’s no surprise that older, white conservatives turned out in droves to vote against the policies of PO and the Democratic party.
–PO and the Democrats actually did get a lot of legislation which reflected their values passed in that golden opportunity where they controlled the WH, House, and Senate, despite the virulent obstructionism of the “Party of No.” Google the myriad of legislative successes passed by the 111th Congress, and check out the following Daily Kos diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/26/879555/-Rachel-Maddow-Compares-Obamas-Legislative-Record-to-FDR-
–Societies grow and change in fits and starts. Nothing in the turbulent history of our country points to a seamless and smooth advance of progress. Battles have been fought over and over…..but progress has been made over time.
–The demographics of our country are changing. By 2040 or so, it’s predicted that whites will no longer be the majority in this country. Long before that time, voter demographics will be changing. The older, white conservative voter which was so prominent in the 2010 midterms won’t be around. Meanwhile, the younger generation doesn’t hold the same rigid conservative outlook, especially on cultural issues, which seems to so readily galvanize the older generation to vote Republican.
–Mrs. Palin is a creature whose creation was prompted by the election of our first Black Democratic president. Period. Whereas racists are openly bold in their racism, bigots are sly with little courage in their bigotry. It’s no accident that the bigots have used a white woman as a mouthpiece to harangue and demonize our Black male president. She will ultimately pay the price for that role, although she, in her hubris, believes that she’s been the one in control all this time.
As can be seen, there’s actually much reason for optimism if people use their cortical functions first…..And when the limbic system kicks in occasionally…..FIGHT, instead of flee.
“–Mrs. Palin is a creature whose creation was prompted by the election of our first Black Democratic president. Period. Whereas racists are openly bold in their racism, bigots are sly with little courage in their bigotry. It’s no accident that the bigots have used a white woman as a mouthpiece to harangue and demonize our Black male president. She will ultimately pay the price for that role, although she, in her hubris, believes that she’s been the one in control all this time.”
Wasn’t she quoted as having said, “Sambo beat the b!tch”? That’s hardly subtle, or classy. Certainly characteristic of her though.
Okay, it’s still undetermined. But we’ve seen and heard enough of her over the past several years; I believe it. http://www.snopes.com/politics/palin/sambo.asp
“Racists” and “bigots” are terms which can’t be used in a strict classification system like Linnaean taxonomy. Obviously there’s a spectrum of beliefs and ideas with no clear-cut demarcation between the two terms. Human personality/beliefs are complex, and as a consequence defy strict classification. In fact, it can be argued that racists and bigots are the same animal, with the former just having bolder stripes.
For the purposes of discussion, racists are openly bold with their beliefs (Aryan Nation, Skin Heads etc.) whereas bigots are more sly and cowardly about their beliefs (“PO is a Muslim, socialist, anti-colonial Kenyan”).
BOTH are very destructive in a civil society.
My main point was that bigots, whether they are her fans or her backers, are using Mrs. Palin as a means to attack and demonize PO for their own cowardly ends. She’s just stupid and fatalistic enough to do it…….”If I die, I die” (per Sarah Palin). Is Mrs. Palin a bigot/racist? She sure sounds like it to me.
Just to hearten you a little bit, I’ve copied and pasted a few exchanges between a self-identified tea partier and others.
Tea Partier
I agree with you that cutting entitlements should be the first step. You say that red states don’t pay their fair share in taxes. I would like to point out that many red states have family farms and small businesses which get hit with the Federal Estate tax when the owner dies, so the family ends up having to sell the farm or business to pay the estate taxes. We shouldn’t subsidize corn production so it can be used for producing ethanol. We need that corn for food for the world. It is insanity to take land for food out of production and use it to power our cars. We have plenty of oil, and we need to start using it, not keep buying it from dictatorships so we keep them in power. That would reduce our balance of trade deficit, and make us more self sufficient. It all fits together.
Just Me:
Using the republican model (and that of the teaparty) we should not be subsidizing ANY business (family or otherwise) because that would be anti-competitive. If you truly believe in less government and the “invisible hand” of the marketplace, then these businesses should be allowed to fail if they are not able to make it on their own. IF, however, you are arguing for socialism – in the form of subsidies and entitlements to these people- then that’s just feeding your sacred cow, at my expense, while demanding that my sacred cow be gored.
=========================================================
Tea Partier
The reason Republicans object to Obama’s wanting “tax cuts for the rich” to run out is because that is not how you end a recession. History has shown time & time again that lowering taxes results in MORE economic growth, and raising taxes results in LESS economic growth. The most prosperous states are the ones with no income tax, (Texas, Florida) and the least prosperous states are the ones with the highest tax rates. We have far too many “intellectual elites” in Washington who have been raised on Keynesian economics. John Maynard Keynes was a Marxist. Karl Marx was the founder of Communism. Marxism & Communism have NEVER worked as an economic model regardless of where they have been tried, because it goes against human nature, and violates 2 of the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not steal, & Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s property. When you forcibly take what someone has earned and give it to someone else, whether to buy their vote or make yourself look charitable, that isn’t compassion, it’s theft. You can’t be charitable with someone else’s money. Charity must begin within the individual. Social Justice is just another term for Marxism.
Just me
Actually, you are misinformed on the issue of tax cuts always yielding a better economy or even increasing tax revenue. The Bush tax cuts, for example, did NOTHING to stimulate the creation of jobs. Employers did not raise wages and they did not buy PP&E. Any growth in the economy was as a result of the borrow and spend practices of the public, not the richest two percent. The reason it didn’t continue is that the housing bubble collapsed, and suddenly everyone had to live within their means again. The Reagan tax cuts worked because they were performed in conjunction with an overhaul of the tax code. In so far as the religious axioms you have chosen to sprinkle into the conversation, it has no place in any serious conversation about government policy. In the matter of socialism and theft… you do realize that most liberal (blue) states pay more into the federal tax system than they receive in pork, subsidies, and entitlements, and most conservative states (red) pay far less than they receive. If, as you argue this is theft and socialism then what does it say that it seems to occur most heavily in the states where people decry it most loudly?
I have heard the arguments about Reagan and Clinton BUT there is a crucial difference. They were both white men. There is a distinct difference here. I point this out because I know people (whom I used to consider my friends and, unfortunately, those I still have to call my relatives) who do NOT care about anything other than “getting the black man out of the white house”. They are not thinking about how bad things are for anyone. ALL they care about is the color of Obama’s skin and the fact that they feel he is “uppity” and needs to “be put in his place”. All of their screaming about socialism, blah, blah, blah is just a very thin veil for their very real and deep racism. The determination to “see him fail” at all costs is very real. They stand around and grin and joke about it. It has made me sick to the very core of my being. They are terrified of 2040 (which I probably won’t live to see or I will be old and blind). I may be “thinking” with the limbic portion of my brain but right now my frontal cortex has shut down. I may need to wallow in it a bit longer because, right now, anger is the only “fight” I have left in me.
And THIS is why I love Lee323!
And so do I. This is the discussion I needed to hear today. Thank you Lee323 and other great ‘flatter. Lee323, are you also the Lee of a different number or Huffpost? Thoughtful comments make the brain grow for those who are not pretending to be asleep.
And so do I. This is the discussion I needed to hear today. Thank you Lee323 and other great ‘flatters. Lee323, are you also the Lee of a different number on Huffpost? Thoughtful comments make the brain grow for those who are not pretending to be asleep.
I posted a comment on the open thread yesterday that came from very much the same perspective as yours. I am choosing to look at the positives of this situation. The Republicans now hold much more responsibility for the success or failure of this country and, because of winning the House, they can no longer blame the Obama administration and the Democrats for everything that’s wrong. They’ll certainly try, but will have much less justification!
With the Democrats still controlling the White House and Senate, the damage the Repubs can do will be tempered, but they will show the voters exactly what their priorities are…their own power and whatever benefits the corporations and the wealthy. By 2012, there will be a more ammunition for the Dems to use against them…let’s hope they learn how to use it!
Growing pains. We are still a relatively young nation. But that doesn’t mean I relish the thought of so many American lives being diminished and literally wasted. American lives being thrown to the insurance/corporation-wolves because our politicians are having piss’in contest . Also the Lives over seas being off’d for what? To establish democracy in the Middle east? Let them try and figure it out. Repubs keep the Boogey man alive so we will stupidly think our soldiers are fighting for something…… Enough, let’s keep our tax dollars here, more importantly our soldiers.
((Breathe)) I’m spent right now.
Boehner should be executed for treason against the President of the United States on November 5th, Guy Fawkes Day.
Along with Mitch McConnell and Rush and Beck and all the rest.
Your mouth to god’s ears.
I like the sound of that….
Chill, peeps. ‘Tried for treason’ first, k? This is America, not ‘Murrika.
LOL – I always skip steps. tnx
(((Bretta)))
I posted this yesterday but late last night so I will repost it here. I don’t feel any different today.
I waited 24 hours to try to get the fuming out of my system but, alas, it is not to be.
So I am sorry mudpups but my kumbayah is gone. I have HAD it! I wanted my President (whom I worked hard to get elected and have supported through thick and thin) to come out with the gloves off today and he didn’t. He may be a statesman but for f*#k’s sake dude, a part of me wanted him to say “F8%k it. I’ll just veto everything”. If he plays nice with them they will slit his throat. They can play it that this happens at midterms during hard times but it is different. He is the first black president and I want him to be GREAT! I want to put all of the racists in their freaking place!
The pundits were not aknowledging that $Ps picks lost last night. They were falling all over themselves to dub her “the kingmaker”. WTF America???
Another part of me is sickly hoping that Joe the teabagger pulls this off in the end because I want all of these people who wanted him there and those that turned their backs on a better choice to have to live with the consequences. I feel the same way about the Rubio and Paul supporters. That’s what standing on a streetcorner with 2 other people with Scott McAdams signs and waving and smiling only to get flipped off will make you feel. I am NOT a turn the other cheek person when it goes this far.
And Boner crying on TV like the end of the world had been diverted? Yon Dung calling for Obama to be replaced??? These people have NO SHAME.
Let their schools and roads and bridges fall down while the fiddler plays in Washington. End SS and Medicare and Medicaid and Denali Kid Care. We don’t need any help. We can all do it on our own. Ethics? Sanity? We don’t need any of that either. Let the teachers and firefighters lose their jobs. We don’t need no stinking government in our lives. Except for reproductive rights and women getting equal pay and people being able to serve in the military and marry whomever they want. Can’t have that. Let those people who can’t find a job or don’t have a roof over their head or are dying from some disease that their healthcare plan won’t cover just suffer. It’s their fault you know. Or maybe some church will deign to help them if they are willing to convert. Don’t want kids?? Tough. You HAVE to have them if you have sex and your birth control fails. But we aren’t gonna help you if you need it once the kid is born. You should have kept your legs together.
And don’t even get me started on the environment. We have lots of land up here. Take it back from the stinking feds and drill, mine, rape it to the fullest. We are the white men and we have a born right to do whatever the hell we want. If you lived here first? Tough. It has happened to all indigenous people throughout history so that somehow makes it OK. And we will even convince you that it is in your interest. Their twisted version of survival of the fittest. We don’t need sustainable resources when we can mine gold, coal and molybdenum and drill in our oceans for oil and not regulate any of it. Oil spills???? Acts of nature. No one will notice. Whoopee–oil went up to $85/barrel this morning. Not invested in oil? Too bad for you.
This country is made up of political alcoholics. We’ve fallen off the wagon and we’re going to enjoy our binge and blame it all on the Dems in 2012. How far down is the bottom? Will we find it? Will it be Pres Palin? Or will we all have fallen off the cliff by then?
Alaska hasn’t changed one bit politically and probably never will. I’m not sure that I can take it anymore. People may hate Harry Reid but he seemed to be the only one who had any fight left in him last night. I think most of the country has gone completely insane and I feel like checking out.
Thanks for listening. Sorry for the rant. I am just soooooo stinking angry.
This political stuff has been very unhealthy for me and mine. Sorry ‘Hope’, I don’t have anything left in me for this business. I do not have hope that it will get better. I do not have hope that two so very polarized sides can come together on anything. It isn’t about compromise for anyone anymore. That requires that both sides are willing to give and take, and things are so bad that each side is screaming that their answers are the only answers. I am no better. I am NOT willing to compromise on my core beliefs.
It doesn’t work. There is no compromise on such things as ending DADT, ending wars, protecting the environment from those who believe that “progress” is more important than living, breathing beings and affordable healthcare for everyone. There is no compromise on taking care of our elders and ensuring that everyone has a choice in how they live and how they die. There is no compromise on civil rights be you female, LGBT, or any other color than white. Either you believe that these things are righteous and just or you don’t. Either people are willing to suffer together for the greater good or they aren’t. So, for now, I am done. I truely believe that our economy may completely collapse this time. Because the idiots are at the helm now. The populace has gone over the brink.
I will continue to try to help my neighbors (even if I think they are complete idiots) because that is just how I am. Beyond that, I may just sit back and watch it all collapse on us because maybe that is the way it has to be.
This might make you feel a wee bit better… I hope!?
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/roll-calls-morton-kondracke-on-sarah-palin-shes-a-joke-within-her-own-party/
– KatieAnnieOakley
I know, I know–people are bonkers, aren’t they?
Let the post-election hangover subside. Remember, the house is where there is a LOT of heat generated and slops around, the Senate is where it cools off.
But I really don’t want Joe Miller hanging around DC. We just don’t NEED another layer of craziness around here.
I wonder if he got a refund on those drapes he pre-ordered for his Senate office. He’s such a horrible little person.
Those drapes should have gone into McAdams new Senate office!
Dagain, Po’ Joe the McQuittyPants Clone will go into hiding because he’s too embarassed to show his stubbled face in public after getting caught behaving like his lyin’ mentor.
I have a Blue Ticket for him.
Therefore too again also then again.
I so know how you feel. Currently, I feel bipolar: up one minute then so far down the next that I can’t even see up. I am angry that there are so many stupid, uneducated, non-thinking voters in this country who vote in idiots like Rand Paul, Scott in FL, and so many others I can’t think of at this moment of anger. These voters are voting against their own interests – and mine! – while they help the disintegration of our once great country.
I probably need a very long break from all things political. Maybe I’ll start now.
We all feel your caring and concern.
We feel your anguish and pain.
We are sad, we are mad.
We will unite again……We will fight again…
Our youth that did not vote, will get wiser…., will get wisdom…..,
Our youth that did not vote is our Hope,
It’s sad that our youth that did not vote is smoking dope,
It’s sad that our youth is getting drunk on money and glory,
It’s sad that our youth is channeled into war, programed into no pain no gain.
Hit them hard we teach them, throw the bomb, attack the front line, a strong defense is a strong offense, take them out of the game…… Go Fight Win Kill! Get out there an hit them! This is the American way, this is the corporate way. We are the winners and you are the losers.
Golden moose pucky award for the best post-election rant ever.
((((LoveMyDogs)))) I agree with you wholeheartedly. |I’m beginning to despair with PO. While I do acknowledge that he has achieved a great deal….the man needs to get off the fence, stop reaching across the aisle and do what he was elected to do.
He has a duty to those who elected him…. and the people who elected him did not expect him to pander to the GOP. He needs to come out loud and clear, and explain to people that a vote for the corporations is a vote against their own self interest. It’s not that fecking hard to get that message across.
I imagined Obama actually taking the advice in this article, and felt better. Whether he ever will or not, who knows.
“Give ‘Em Hell, Barry: What Barack Obama can learn from Harry Truman’s inspired use of partisanship” http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=give_em_hell_barry
If nothing else, you’ll feel good about Harry Truman.
Reading this was encouraging. Whether Obama takes this advice, who knows. It’s from last April, but it still fits. “Give ‘Em —-, Barry: What Barack Obama can learn from Harry Truman’s inspired use of partisanship.” Right now I can’t get the url past the spam filter because the blank word in the title is spelled out, but go to http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles , search for the author “Kuttner” and it’s halfway down the first page.
If nothing else, you’ll feel good about Harry Truman.
LoveMyDogs, you have expressed my feelings exactly. And I feel like the political stuff is unhealthy for me, too. Reagan, Bush 1, the “Contract on America,” Supreme Court “appointment” of Bush 2 followed by 8 yrs of his idiocy — it’s been a long run and I’m just out of steam (or adrenaline!) for it all.
I care very much… but I don’t want it to kill me. Since yesterday morning I keep getting all these Democratic Party emails that say “stand up and fight,” but I don’t have any energy left for fighting. I feel like I have to find something positive to focus on… for a while anyhow!
And it bothers me muchly to know that so many in my extended family gulp down the Republican Kool-Aide and voted for these morons.
Couldn’t agree more with your post! Only thing to add is that global warming is not going to get addressed in the U.S.so we can look forward to a crazy ride to a hot earth.
I’m feeling it too. We all are.
When our psyche gets walloped, we need a little recovery. After I scrape my brain off the ceiling and pull my heart out of my stomach, I’m going to be more creative and even more productive.
LMD, my dog says us Mudpups should give you sloppy dog kisses till you start howling with laughter. (((smooches))))
/—/
{‘ ‘} Woof.
`(“)`
oops,
/—/
{‘ ‘}
`(“)` Woof.
(never tried to do a dog on computer )
I’m still trying to rationalize how we could have been so off with regard to Lisa winning a write-in campaign. All of the historical facts that suggested she would be unsuccessful were solid and I think few people disputed them. So what happened? Were we hit by a 1-in-a-million political meteor strike? How did Lisa pull off the impossible? (This is all assuming she is the unnamed write-in candidate, or course).
When you add the SuperPAC, Lisa was able to saturate the media with three messages: “Joe Miller is rilly, rilly scary”, “I am not Mitch McConnell’s political b*tch, I am really a sweet, wonderful person who is independent” and “Scott McAdams is inexperienced”. $3.0 M spent in 8 weeks to persuade 302,000 voters. $1,000 per voter.
Sounds about right, thanks for your input, Elstun!
$1.2 million from AFN. Defections from Alaska Democrats–Kookesh the most egregious. Others also. Division of Elections. AK Supreme Court.
McAdams could have won. He did win in several communities.
Thanks for your reply, I think you are right. At least Scott did pull a few communities who voted their values, not their fears. *waves at Homer*
Please wave at us in Juneau downtown/Douglas too!!!!
We voted our values too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Huge wave to Juneau from Anchorage*
you guys rocked too! 🙂
Doyon Ltd (regional Native corp here) ran a prominent ad in the NewsMiner the day before the election, with a big group of people holding Lisa signs. As for Benedict Arnold Kookesh, I have no words. He and Mallott pretty much own Lisa now.
You’re wrong, North of the Range. Benedict Arnold Kookesh is owned by Little Lisa. Mallot is owned by the highest bidder.
Therefore too again also then again.
I’ve been sick and off the site for a few days, but I noticed a lot of people at HuffPo are asking why the handcount of the ballots won’t start until 11/10. Does anybody know? Thanks for helping me catch up!
Wallflower: They are required by regulations to wait for mail-in ballots from overseas. 11/10 is the earliest date that they can count the write-ins.
Elstun and Wallflower, the Lt. Governor announced that the count will begin on Wednesday. Hooray! It’ll be like seeing Joe the Liar/Gamer/Grifter/FakeChristian/Tea Gagger getting slapped twice by a girl.
Therefore too again also then again.
Sorry, folks, as long as we have Harper type conservatives, Canada’s not safe either.
hope he never gets a majority…don’t trust him one bit
Can they repeal your healthcare? That is a right we do not have, never did. Our once great country has slowly devolved into USA Incorporated. America Inc.. Every country has it’s whack-jobs, us more than others.
What will the GOP do with Boehner as there speaker?
Looks like drilling for black gold, coal, gas, nuclear power plants, war toys, weapons of mass destruction, job out sourcing, tax cuts for the rich, no health care for Americans, pro -life rallies, walls around our country, more prisoner, more fear, more our God is better than your God tea parties, no cap and trade, no environmental protection, and no green economy in America.
Will the GOP help create a steady state of balance,health and peace on the planet or in the United States of America?
Please oh please let this be the door cracking open for Palin…to leave politics. Even “The Hill” is cautiously casting pebbles in her direction. Some of the comments are quick to jump to their queen’s defense…others, not so much.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/campaign/127515-the-palin-factor-
I must add that I support President Obama wholeheartedly but know that the American electorate is, at times, crazy (anybody watch the election results?). I do not, under any circumstance want him to run against Palin. She is not fit to shine his shoes. Therefore, I want the President to run against someone who is in many respects his equal for the good of the country should the voters cast their ballots against him rather than for his opponent (as they have been known to do). Obama has brought back the exceptional qualities that the world expects to see in a US President (after the blistering failures of his predecessor). Having Palin even share that stage is a national disgrace and a dangerous one at that.
OMG, you are absolutely correct. IMO, Sarah Palin cluelessly felt that because John McCain ‘tapped’ her for VP, somehow that magically made her important to our POTUS. There is tape of Sarah speaking with someone from CNN (I don’t remember) after the 2008 election and she stated that she was willing to work with ‘Obama.’ That she would be available for him to ‘tap’ into her energy expertise (or some such nonsense).
Just as silly Sarah thought that as VP that her role was to tell the control the senate (thell them how to vote), I believe that she expected to minimally be asked to be a part of the newly elected president’s cabinet. Delusion is a terrible thing–Sarah is deluded.
President Obama never (to my knowledge) ever called her to personally ask for her excellent advice on even the weather in Wasilla. She was also insulted that it was President Obama that defended her and her pregnant daughter by stating that pregant, unmarried teen daughters were off-limits.
Because Sarah feels that she lost to our POTUS, that he personally, deliberately, and without acknowledging her wonderfulness, dismissed her. Sarah will never (until it happens) rest until the world sees her as a ‘worthy’ opponent of Barack Hussein Obama AND she has calculated that ‘her base’ feels the same way.
The false equivalency of Palin having the background and experience of POTUS is sickening and a big distraction to the those with the attention span of a gnat and amorality of those who grift of gold in the name of God.
I should have proofed better. I did not, sorry.
Did I hear Obama say he was willing to “compromise” with the Republicans on extending the Bush-era tax cuts”?
How’s that going to reduce the deficit and balance the budget?
OMG, that would be awful. What the you-know-what is he thinking?
Why is he so caught up in compromising with these idiots? They won’t compromise with him.
Actually, I think “compromise” as regards Republican demands should now be seen for what it is: a one-way street for giving in.
I feel he was very smart for saying he would compromise. Imagine what the R’s would be screeching if he said otherwise. As someone said last night its up to others to stand firm and tall! How wonderful that he can be so gracious even under these conditions. I think if the base had been more supportive instead of whining the results would have been very different. After all, he never said he could do it ALONE!!!
ENOUGH WITH THE “…OBAMA WILL HAVE TO MOVE TOWARD THE ‘CENTER’ BULLSH*T!” I heard that by some so-called ‘political expert’ on NPR this morning. I yelled so loudly at the car radio that the panhandler on the corner of Minnesota and Northern Lights jumped. You want the f*cking CENTER? Look for Obama! He’s there. OBAMA IS THE CENTER, DUDE.
Now what this ‘expert’ on NPR was REALLY saying was that in order to satisfy the G_d-dammed Republicans (Who want to cut NPR’s funding b/t/w)–Obama has to put on a gimp suit and collar and hand the leash to Boehner. THAT is what it will take to satisfy Eric Cantor and his list of 22 gotta haves.
F*ck the Republicans and F*ck the ‘political experts’ on NPR!
Think national corporate media has some tax cuts waiting in the wings?
I am with you 100 percent, Elstun. President Obama needs to stand up for the progressive values we voted him in to act upon. He’s already compromised enough. Any further “center” and he will be a Republican.
I really am proud of and respect President Obama, but he needs to get with the program more actively – our program. We’ve given in far too often and far too much. That NPR “expert” interviewee is probably not a progressive, and I would have reacted the same way had I heard the interview. Enough is enough – we need to start demanding that our views count as much as those right-wing blowhards. Thank you for feeling such passion! I hope more people start feeling it as well and use that passion to start the 2012 election build-up with increased vigor and dedication.
I see your outrage – and raise you a furious. The pundits are really pi$$ing me off!
BS, I’ll raise you a quittypants. Oops…they don’t have a full house ’cause they’re not playng with a full deck.
hahahaha…burn!
Oh, Mr. Elstun… you said it well! Looking forward to your next posts! Ing
Elstun, EVERY, and I mean EVERY tea gagger within a year is going to deny ever being a tea gagger. ‘Know why?
BECAUSE THEY ELECTED THE SAME ONES WHO GOT THIS COUNTRY INTO THE MESS IT’S IN.
(shudder..) Shout it out to everyone….Little w is back in the house.
Amen to that!
Only 2 years ago the Republican party was considered dead. Look at what happened. This happened because Democrats let them write the script of the campaign. They tried to run away from their successes and the president. That worked well for the Republicans. Democrats need to stand with their beliefs and successes and their president.
A lot will happen in two years. We can sweep everything again. The Republicans are just too lacking ideas and solutions. The old energy policies and transportation policies and war policies are not going to capture the voters.
You are right. Actually, as much as I hate to admit this, I am glad half of the Blue Dog Dems are gone. We need to replace them with progressives in two years. I don’t think the Rethugs who got in their seats will be seen as worth keeping.
We also need to do a better job at getting our own message out and using emotional tags to do it just like the Rethugs — make it clear: jobs bill not stimulus, e.g.
((((AKRaven and Sunflower))) thank you. nicely said.
I found this to be terribly funny. And terrible too. In a mean moment, I will point to this as yet another example of Palin parenting. An adult child who doesn’t vote. Sheesh.
(In an interview Tuesday after the latest results show of “Dancing with the Stars,” in which Bristol is competing, the teenager confessed to celebrity suck-up show “Inside Edition” she had neglected to send in her absentee ballot.)
Haw-haw. It’s been noticed by others.
Associated Press
Thursday, November 4, 2010
ANCHORAGE — Bristol Palin has been so busy practicing her moves for ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” she apparently forgot to send in her absentee ballot.
The 20-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin — the former Alaska governor who campaigned for candidates across the nation in this election — told the syndicated TV show “Inside Edition” after Tuesday’s night show: “I did not send in my absentee ballot in Alaska. I’m going to be in trouble. Sorry, Mom!”
Bristol Palin also voiced her opinion on whether she thinks her mom should run for president in 2012: “Of course I do. I know that she’s great, and she’d be great for our country.”
The younger Palin will be one of five competitors returning to dance next week on the show.
Maybe she didn’t send it in because she forgot how to spell Lisa’s last name.
No, I want to believe that she was going to vote for Scott McAdams. I am also going to believe that she would exercise her nascent adulthood and maturity and TELL her parents that too.
For my next trick, I will cure male-pattern baldness.
*waves her star on a stick*
I feel hair growing! Thanks, Dagian!
🙂
ks sunflower, or Bristol didn’t know how to fill in the oval. She’s probably still out on the dance floor looking for it.
Megan McCain was on Jay Leno’s tonight show last night. She thinks the witch will run, and didn’t show any “love”. The possibility of her being president, blows my mind. She would probably appoint people like, Bachman (sp?), R Paul, and a few other ding bats. Total nightmare!!!!!!
With the new Reps coming into office this January, we will see a preview of whats to come. OMG!!!! Help Us!
Until then, we will see “Pretty Boy” wheel and deal . Then and only then, the voters who elected these wing nuts, will realize they made a very big mistake? Or will they?
The only goal of the Reps——-Stop Obama from winning in 2012.
After this mid-term election, I am convinced that people do not listen to the canidates who are running. I can’t believe that any sane person would vote for these people. M. Bachman said on CNN last night, that Obama’s trip overseas coming up, will cost the taxpayers $200 million a day!
That statement alone shows that she doesn’t know crap! And yet, people voted for her.
Dan Quale’s son who just won in (forget what state) said that B. Obama is the worse president we have ever had. With an attitude like that——what is he going to do on the hill? Is tearing down the president of the United States of America the right attitude in making our laws? And yet, people voted for him. I haven’t heard one positive idea. At least the people in Nevada were smart enough to give Harry Reid another go at it. Happy to see that Jerry Brown won in California and Como in New York.
Yes, racism is alive and well in many… the only way to feel superior… it is sickening.
This is what so many of the Rs and TPers appealing to, the lowest common denominator.
… or should I say “alive and unwell”? Probably a better way to put it.
I saw a clip on MSNBC this morning where Lisa M said that–if she is indeed elected–she will caucus with the Republicans. She also stated that she would not support Palin for President. No surprise that she wouldn’t support her under the circumstances, but at least someone in “the party” is willing to say it out loud in front of camera and microphone. Maybe more will man-up and follow suit.
Palin has an enemy there. Murkowski can fill in all those republicans in Washington about the real Sarah.
We’ll see how many republicans actually love their country by telling the people that they believe that Sarah Palin is unqualified for the Presidency. Many have talked around the point by praising her ability to rally the base but until more step forward and tell the truth about this fraud then in my mind they are traitors to the Founding Fathers and their principles.
Agreed.
And I’ll just bet, with her connections and family history, she’s got ALL sorts of dirt on the Quitter Queen that nobody else even dreams of!
Palin takes credit for GOP success (building on her brand as king or queen maker/ Presidential hopeful). As she basks in her own glow, others point to the less than stellar results of a Palin endorsement.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/11/despite-mixed-r.php
It is important to note that in many races (Iowa Governor for instance) where the candidate she endorsed did win, she endorsed them in the last days of the election after their victory was already a foregone conclusion. And as even the GOP knows, if it wasn’t for Palin’s push for O’Donnell and Angle, the Republicans would have taken the Senate as well.
Richard Cohen (in Tuesday’s Washington Post) calls her a demogogue and says the GOP leadership thinks her “unelectable and uneducable” !!!
How to get the genie back into the bottle after McCain’s ‘political recklessness’ unleashed her?
Maybe tell her that the bottle is actually the set for her new reality show and the hair and makeup folks are waiting for her inside??? 😉
The absentee ballots do get countred in Washington state, as this year all but one county voted by mail. So even though it looks like Patty Murray will win, we can’t be sure for another week or two.
I’ve figured out why the rethugs win and the dems don’t. Democrats at least try to address the issues with facts, which means they sometimes admit things aren’t as wonderful as they should be and we could have done better. Republicans aren’t better at messaging, they are just better at lying. They look straight at the voters and into the cameras and say whatever they want reality to be and then they never back down. I think it is really scarier thinking of how many good liars there will be in Congress this time around. And why is it that so many of the tea party candidates sound like they’ve had one too many. Rand Paul never sounds sober to me – that’s not a normal southern accent.
I’ve heard people say they’d like to see the rethugs run Sarah for president, because it would assure Obama another term. Well, two things there: one, if that’s the only way he can win, then I don’t want him to, and two, she might actually win given the stupidity of some voters and the amount of money corporations can pour into a campaign and then where would we be. After all, we got Bush – twice. Be careful what you wish for.
Ooops that should be “counted”.
Exactly. We don’t want her near the WH. We want her gone, the sooner the better.
I normally agree with you but I don’t here.
The Dems as a whole are on shifting ground as the party has been just as much of an architect of what we have built as the Reps.
In it’s own way.
The moving away from a liberal economic policy toward the neoliberal form was accepted by the Dems without a whole lot of thought.
Rather than accept it as a temporary measure and push to have it all rolled back after the hard times of the late 70s the Dems have let it trundle on…
“A final summary definition of neoliberalism as a philosophy is this:
Neoliberalism is a philosophy in which the existence and operation of a market are valued in themselves, separately from any previous relationship with the production of goods and services, and without any attempt to justify them in terms of their effect on the production of goods and services; and where the operation of a market or market-like structure is seen as an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for all human action, and substituting for all previously existing ethical beliefs.”
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/neoliberalism.html
Until we can find a way back from this the Dems are on shifting ground…
The Reps are happy on this rock, the Dems are not…
Waht are we going to do to change it?
Well…
and WHAT are we going to do to change it… also too?
The upshot of accepting markets as “capable of acting as a guide for all human action, and substituting for all previously existing ethical beliefs.” leaves everyday people as only free to discharge their civic duty in the realm of economic behavior and divorces us from any meaningful notion of community.
We can sit out here and squawk about community but until we do something to breathe life back into it philosophically there is no tag to pin it to which will resonate with the far-too-many who have bought the world view that their only responsibility is to their own lil selves.
“ELIMINATING THE CONCEPT OF “THE PUBLIC GOOD” or “COMMUNITY” and replacing it with “individual responsibility.” Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves — then blaming them, if they fail, as “lazy.” ‘
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376
We have work to do!
One of the key reforms against the neo-lib and neo-con agendas has to be the reversal of the move toward “corporate citizenship”. It has been getting more and more extreme since the first rulings in the last 1800’s, rulings that extended rights to corporations. Companies seem to get rights (such as 1st Amendment free speech), without any responsibilities. And corporations now pay a significantly lower percentage of the taxes that support our society. We’ve got to roll back the laws protecting companies, and allow extreme punishment (e.g., “death” of corporations) for companies that break laws, destroy the environment, and harm real people.
Remember the old People’s Bank commercial: “member of the human race”? No, they are not!
PascoBill, you make good sense. If corporations are to treated like individuals, then they need to pay taxes like individuals. They need to have the same responsibilities as individuals and held as strictly to the same laws. I’d like to see fines for things such as environmental violations be set in percentages of income, not at static dollar amounts, or perhaps set at full restitution amounts of the damages done. I’d also like to see the end of the “corporate veil” which protects the people running the damn things. Their personal assets should be one of the first things at stake if they are the primary decision makers.
I’d also like to see a redefinition of “small business” from the number of owners to the monetary profit or number of employees. I am really tired of Republicans touting “small” businesses when they really mean some mega-corporations owned by just a few people.
Ok, so this is interesting. I don’t know how I have gone this long without hearing or knowing this. It explains so much! Yelling into the wind of this isn’t doing any good. It’s just more yelling and more wind. So how can we start actually talking and working together in an organized, and eventually powerful way to make the conversation work for people and for America in a timely fashion? Even our own “assemblies” always have this quality of frantic, fearful chaos rather than digging and planting and growing.
I have FELT for a long time this need, but didn’t understand how it had come to be this way. How do we begin to right it? I get over a dozen frantic emails every day telling me to demand this and stand up to that and “Tell the president” the other thing as if my voice makes a difference, and if this, that or the other thing doesn’t happen, it’s because I didn’t demand it. And sometimes I do, but I really do feel it’s all just yelling and wind and hubris — even though I mostly agree with what they’re saying.
I think there are many things we Dems want that would benefit everyone, not just the Dems, but what is the source of those things? How can we gather and move together to make them make sense to each other, and then the others who will also benefit by them? That may be what this next two years can be for us so inclined — not firing off petitions and demands into the hurricane of pain and anger and hatred, but getting together quietly to look at the bigger deeper picture and get clear on what is happening and how to move toward our vision on solid ground instead of fighting all the chaos and its battles on its own terms.
I had a moment when it felt like that during an open house for Diane Benson down here on the Peninsula. For a few minutes it really felt we were talking together honestly and deeply about what matters! And we really cared together! That’s what I feel about President Obama most of the time. And it is very powerful to me. Many things I’ve heard from Scott McAdams’s campaign have this robust, compelling, earthy quality of digging in and getting at the truth and the substance of things and standing solidly on it. How can we harness that compassionate caring and bring it to the table with a profound sense of connection and Truth? That’s what will re-engage those millions who are not voting because they have given up or don’t believe it will do any good – or don’t believe in the system any more. I believe it is what brought the landslide vote for Obama. How can we do that now together, and stop shouting into the wind of ignorance and self-interest all alone in hopes of some accumulated community of like-minds? If there are those out there reading this who would like to do that, please let me know. That’s the thing I’m interested in doing.
HOPE!
If corporations are “individuals”, then they should also be “individually liable”.
The big monied interests (like corporations or – worse – 501 c 4 non-profits that don’t have to disclose their donars) know that when ‘regular’ people unite they have more power. Which is why they demonize unions.
Now if they can sell this Rugged Individual Myth and alter the meaning of Community they will have us in a permanent state of confusion, and more easily controlled by the messenger.
I agree with you Alaska Pi, We have work to do!
“Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves — then blaming them, if they fail, as “lazy.” ‘
Once again, the so-called ‘Christians’ pray their knees raw on Sunday morning and as soon as church is finished, they set out to do exactly the opposite of what the preacher read from the ‘Good Book’. Somehow, they seem to feel that the high decibel level of their praying compensates for their greed, lust for power and complete lack of compassion for their fellow human being.
I’m all for personal responsibility, but there are circumstances beyond the control of many people that cause them to require assistance. The kindness of strangers is a wonderful thing, but as the richest nation on earth (at least for the next few months!), we have an obligation to insure that EVERYONE has the basic necessities of life.
Of course, by “so-called Christians”, I was referring to the hypocritical ones, not the folks who actually live their faith!
Yes, Ma’m… I agree, see my posts above. We cannot be complacent, because the “gut feeling” appeals are much more difficult to dislodge than the ones which target the thinking brain.
“Aside from her impression, Fey also poked fun at Fox News for referring to Palin as “Governor Palin” when she appears on the network.
“That’s like calling me ‘Dairy Queen Employee,'” Fey joked. “I was once, but I quit!””
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/tina-fey-letterman-palin_n_778795.html
Tina Fey, always a pleasure!
What happens to all the APSENTEE ballots that are sent in? Are they ever counted in races??? It seems with all close races a winner is accepted too often, and in a lot of states the apsentee votes are not even looked at. The winners are based on the machine votes. I remember in the Bush/ Gore in Florida that was a problem. If there are enough of Alaskans who voted that way maybe the outcome would be totally different.
I guess what I mean is Do apsentee ballots get counted at all???
here, they do get counted.
Mr Begich became our Senator after the absentee vote was counted.
It drug on forever but that’s how it all shook out…
The news is filled with Palin for President what-ifs. What I find disturbing is that the GOP does not want her to run because they believe that she can not win against Obama. Their real concern, and the concern of anyone in the world who cares about America’s future, should be that she might win. In fact, everyone in the country needs to recognize that possibility and understand the true terror of a President Palin.
That is the difference between the Rethugs and the Dems. With the Rethugs it is all about the win. That is why they were perfectly willing to back terribly flawed candidates. All that matters is that the person has an R after their name.
If Palin wins the nomination the Rethus and their Corporate masters will go all out to get her elected.
Sorry “Rethugs”
Mitch McConnell’s message today is that they want Obama out. Nothing about moving the country forward, helping the jobless, improving the economy. They don’t even try to hide it anymore. They care nothing about America or Americans. They have one goal and one goal only: power. You broke this country Rethugs, you can have it. It’s Mexico for us.
laprofesora: the problem is this: you can run, but you cannot hide. Each country has its own set of problems with governments being the “best that money can buy”. Unfortunately it is the hunger for power, fame and fortune that always has been the bane of human interaction.
As I explained above my understandings of why the reps’ message resonates and probably cannot be overcome, I still hope to educate those few “grains of sand” around me so that they each can do the same with those who surround them…. call it a “pebble effect”… making a difference one grain at the time.
I do not have too many years left in this life, but I agree with “margaret and helen”, and will continue as long as possible.
Did you hear about Sidney Harman? He’s a very young 92 yrs old wealthy, retired electronics maganet , who’s just bought Newsweek . At 92, he’s just beginning a new career. This man is a wonder!
We are lucky people indeed to have people like you, Helen and Margaret (two hoots and a holler) also too, to have an effect on people, I just learned how to spell ‘demagoguery’. You have a wonderful way with words and a concise manner of explaining complex subjects. Keep on keeping.
Belize for me. Already have the condo and heading there in a couple weeks.
Can I go? Please?
Yep- I agree they are all about the win- I think they are mostly about campaigning and not so much on governing. I feel that they have been campaigning ever since the last election.
I think $P is a very good example of how one can succeed while being a quitter and a loser and still get the attention she wants while running all the way to bank.
They sure did provide their own stimulus with the amount of money that was spent during the mid-terms and thats only the amounts that we know about…thanks to the USSC ruling that the corps have the same rights … boy the next 2 years ought to be history making …again… for election campaign spending. Wish campaign reform would be a priority.
Campaigning doesn’t require thought, just sound bites… if a sound bite is challenged , just balme it on a speech writer or a junior staffer..GOVERNING requires thought and reflection, and being held accountable, The Repubs don’t know how to govern..
If a sound bite is challenged, just blame the lamestream media… or handcuff the guy who asks a question… or to really drive the point home; just stomp on a challenger’s head. That ought to do it.
Your right, the Repubs don’t know how to govern. They act like this is just another Superbowl and that ring -oval office- is the trophy. Citizens are mere spectators expected to applaud and wave their team’s flag , then go home and drink a beer and watch TV.
Well, as we have seen with this election cycle, where the dark secret money bought seats in Congress across the country, because of the Citizen’s United ruling, forces interested in using the vapid Sarah Palin as a tool to gain back the Presidency, coupled with her blind ambition to rule the country as a Theocrat, is a very real, very scary possibility.
Thank you, LibertyLover, my sentiment entirely!
Palin said on Fox News from a report I received, that ‘they’ are trying to take her down! Rush Limbaugh is promoting her on his show – she being more experience than President Obama. This is frightening folks!
OMG, a committee for McQuittyPants will be formed. It’ll be called C.R.E.E.P.P.
Conservative REpublicans to Elect Palin President.
If you’re with a youth group, it’ll be called CREEPY.
If you’re with the staff, it’ll be called CREEPS
The rest of the country will call it CREEP SHOW.
LOL!
Impeach Palin and her little dog Todd, also too. Just practicing….
😆
I’m tending in my thoughts that the next two years are going to be a lot of stalemate(s), the death of the TP’ers through a lack of ability to accomplish their agenda, and general incivility. The TP’ers are going to learn that no one (including the Reps) wants them to actually do what they said they were going to do. Mr. Speaker will find that however he tries to make government smaller, no one will be happy on any side, and the debt will not get smaller on his watch.
It ain’t gonna be pretty folks.
Oh, and Scott should run for Yon Dung’s seat in two years…you betcha!
I have to admit I am fed up and giving up. Republicans have prove once again that they know how to win and the Dems don’t, at least not with any consistency. (and I am speaking as a lifelong Dem).
Those who think that the Rethug House will screw up and then there will be a Dem tide are fooling themselves. Yes, the House will screw up royally, but the Rethugs are better at messaging then the Dems, so the narrative will become that it is Obama and the Senate’s fault. And since the Dems are too polite or too spineless to do what it takes to convince an electorate with shockingly short attention spans and memories to vote for them, the Rethugs will win in 2012.
Particularly if the economy is still bad. The President virtually always loses when the economy is bad. (The only modern exception being FDR). And given the horrible policies the Rethugs are proposing, I don’t see the economy improving very much except by simple luck.
The only way the Dems retain the Whitehouse is if the Rethugs nominate an absolutely horrible candidate and I am not even sure Sister Sarah would be bad enough.
My husband and I are actually talking about going to look at property in Canada this Spring.
I don’t want to imply it will be easy to overcome this, no, it will be difficult. Boehner keeps talking about jobs, but how is he going to do it? Since the Rethugs imply that government should have no role in job creation other than to unleash capitalism, how do they do it? The hard-cord corporate capitalists will demand their pound of flesh, but will it be given?
Agree about the messaging. It is a real testament to how well the Repubs get their message out, that so many people vote against their own best interest.
How the heck can a crowd of middle Americans cheer when a rich politician says she/he will repeal the “death tax”? No one in the crowd is going to inherit the $millions that it takes to be hit by the estate tax. And WA State voted against an income tax for those making over $400,000 – that initiative would have reduced every home-owner’s property taxes. Extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich? Another cheer from folks who will never make a quarter $million a year. Wow. Just wow.
Now let’s get rid of Social Security and Medicare, and those Repub voters will really have something to cheer about!
I have to admit that I feel the same way. Republicans absolutely get their message out better than Democrats. If Sarah does not run than a certain amount of the attention goes away. She will not let that happen. The media loves how she gets attention and stories about her get ratings, so they won’t tell the ugly truth about her. I have no doubt that the media will ride the wave of rating dollars to a Palin presidential run without ever taking an ounce of responsibility to report the truth.
We are talking about Nova Scotia.
Laurie… on running the danger of repeating myself and once again bending everyone’s ears, here is my take on it all:
The republicans are using the time honored technique of demagoguery, of addressing not the reasoning mind but the emotional “gut feeling”.
Those proverbial gut feelings harbor our fears, our sense of inadequacy, and when skilled orators address those emotions, the original, ancient flight or fight reaction kicks in and reasoning is short circuited.
It does not matter to these orators whether they make sense to those who reason, by appealing to a higher power in one sentence and demonizing their opponents on the other.
The longer and more convoluted the word salads, the more fervent the following.
The republicans have studied not merely the demagogues of the 20th century, they also are quite cynically using the religious text of the paternalistic religions to great advantage.
We cannot beat them at their game and the only way to even attempt to overcome this menace is to educate whenever and wherever we can.
oops, there is a part of a sentence missing:
“… by appealing to a higher power in one sentence and demonizing their opponents in the other, they succeed.”
I agree with your assessment of the Republicans, but sadly I no longer feel that we can overcome their tactics. Most people don’t want to think, they want their fears justified. Anything that takes longer than a sound bite to explain they won’t listen to.
I can no longer envision a strategy by which our message gets received and more importantly understood by the masses. AS noted by PASCOBILL, these people (many of whom are in danger of falling out of the middle class) keep voting for programs that help the uberwealthy, which they can never reasonably expect to be.
I agree with your assessment of the current situation. However, all things change, and I do not believe that the politics of fear will always be with us. People will some day once again believe in science, in common goals, and that the policy of NO will not be productive. We just have to put up with this nonsense for a bit. Certainly seeing that the TP candidates mostly went down in flames is a positive sign. Sarah’s head had to explode over that one!
You know – I’m hearing that more and more from folks around me. “If Sarah Palin were elected, we’ll get the hell outta Dodge!” I wonder how many U.S. citizens Canada would actually take?
Heard from a friend in Europe and she really is questioning what is going on in the U.S….said we look like we are nuts!
Canada might have to build a wall/fence on the border to keep us all out.
Are we looking the way Germany looked in the early 1930s? Hummers and armed marchers in the streets? Attempting to blame our problems on foreigners among us? Displaying more and more flags, as if flags could solve our problems?
Is the US invasion of Iraq any different than the German invasion of Poland in 1939 (marketed as a “defensive war”)?
Europe should recognize the symptoms of nascent fascism.
Crunk Petrol, DON’T DO IT. WE NEED YOU HERE…NOW! If you quit, you’d be just like McQuittyPants.
I for one, am not going to let the likes of Michelle Bachmann, Boehnner run me outta town. Did you see him on election night….drunk and really into a crying jag He needs to check into the bed next to Charlie Sheen.
We all need to muster up. It isn’t going to be pretty when the country goes into the tank big time.
I want Scott McAdams for Governor of Alaska!
Bretta, Scott for Governor or he can beat Don Young! I’m a voter registrar. Let’s start now!
Repubs will likely hand lucrative no-bid jobs to the highest bidder.
I like your “unleash capitalism”, how true, and with little or no regulations/laws. If they screw up, they deny deny deny, then tell us to sue ’em and with all their billions and all the time in the world… we will continue to eat dirt. (Blackwater is the epitome of repuke-corporate greed who flaunt the laws and continue to suffer no consequences ).
I wish we had politicians who valued their citizens over their Corporate Overlords. Apparently the bigboys like McDonalds, Insurance companies, Murdoch Inc.,Koch Bros. and the rest of their ilk should just be crowned our governing Kings. Their shareholders are their only citizens, the rest of us are indentured servants just somehow getting by.
Dems and independents really need to learn brand their ideas and messages better. And fight like Muhammed Ali when they’ve crafted a doable bill.
We need to ” Fly like a Butterfly- Sting like a Bee” cause I’m tired of getting “tread on” by invisible corporate-monsters.
Looking for some silver lining here…DH Happy reports that we got lots of much needed rain yesterday (may it wash away the dust and grime of this election cycle!) so things are “greening” and refreshed.
Meeting many authors of young adult books, and like-minded librarians, went a long way to restore my sanity yesterday. and swimming several laps around the lazy river at the Hilton Bonnet Creek resort helped re-energize me, too…pretty uptown for this backcountrycrow…
And those 4 glasses of wine in the company of witty women helped wash the bitter taste of election aftermath out of my mouth and mind, also, too.
Off to many meetings…so far, my elastic is holding up just fine…
🙂
thatcrowwoman
thatcrowwoman: I decided much the same thing this morning.
Yesterday was our assigned day for moaning and groaning, but this morning I put on my big girl overs and unders and move forward. I am a progressive after all and have much more educating to do between now and the next “Big One” a couple of years hence.
Never mind the elastic… if it stretches, I shall just step out of it and carry on…
Great attitude ftd! I like the stepping out and carrying on part best 🙂
…so do I! There is something to be said for leaving oneself emotionally “nekkid” and vulnerable. After all, that is how we are birthed into this world. Guess that willingness comes with old age.
That sounds wonderful!
nothing like some good gallows humour LOL, if nothing else it ought to be interesting in the next few years
Also , too.
http://images2.memegenerator.net/Philosoraptor/ImageMacro/3458996/If-the-opposite-of-pro-is-con-is-the-opposite-of-progress-congress.jpg
Thanks, austin! That was fun.
Thanks to you, too, AKM.
Sadly, I’m afraid that sign is all too accurate.
Spot on.
Oh, NO!! lol!
Literally true for the country?
Dear President Obama,
I believed in you, I worked for you – and I worked hard. Lots of good folks worked hard for you because you stood for “Change We Can Believe In”.
You started out by deciding to not prosecute the people who tortured and lied. That was strike one.
You continued to give lip service to bipartisanship when you (and all we believed you to be) were trashed by those you said could be won over by compromise. Strike two – that went on far too long when it was obvious to all that they were just running over you, and us, gleefully because you gave them no consequences.
You did not gather the Democratically led Congress into a cohesive group with a clear vision, and they deserted us to save their own skins. Strike three.
We ended up with a butchered Health Care bill which no one understands, and the insurance corporations are quite easily side stepping. I still talk to people who have no real idea what really happened there, including myself. You wanted Congress to figure it out, and they felt abandoned and under attack. You ignored the welling up of ignorance, fear and hatred which we in the trenches fought every day in newspapers, blogs, and attempted conversations with friends, families and neighbors. Strike four.
We are still in two wars, and to tell you the truth – I have absolutely no idea why we are, or what the plan is. I can’t even defend us on that one – I’m clueless as to what we are doing. Strike five.
We turned to the fake news shows hosted by brilliant comedians as the only sane commentary and perspective. You ignored the Dominionist slime who want to send the country back to the stone age, and left us to defend you over and over against Fox sound bites and fear mongering. Strike six.
Once again, you announce you will work with the Republicans. They don’t work – there is nothing to work WITH. They only whine, destroy and lie. All with no consequences. Strike seven.
I didn’t expect you to be perfect, and I know you inherited a mess. I didn’t expect to stop working hard. I know you have done a lot, including restoring global faith in America, for awhile. But what about us inside America? Where is our faith now? Who is leading us now? What are we doing? Where are we headed? What is your plan? I have no idea. Strike eight.
You went on the Daily Show and Jon Stewart seemed more dynamic and presidential than you. Strike nine.
I am a good worker bee. I need a head bee I can believe in. I need a head bee who can lead. I need a head bee who continues to inspire. You went to the White House with your lovely and smart family. You got a dog, you planted a garden, you did a ton of other folksy, sweet and American things. I’m glad you did those things, but in the process, you stopped listening to your worker bees. You tried to lead from afar even though we had your back when you needed us the most. We can’t see you anymore, we can’t reach you, we can’t get your attention. You are breaking this bee’s heart. Strike ten.
Mr. President,
What she said. (MUYS ^). Letting a jigsaw puzzle (our Congress and Senate) figure itself out– ain’t ever going to happen. We need you to delegate with a firm hand.
MUYS, I got the sads too. 🙁 . But I still believe some of our representatives are not all corporatists and will draft somemore great ideas on Healthcare (for all) and also draft into legislature ideas to create jobs (windmill farms, electric/solar/hydrogen cars, lightning fast monorails, infastructure repairs to dams/roads/leevees etc.) (((( hugs)))))). sniff.