Open Thread – Michele, One L
I’ve been saving this one for a good weekend chuckle, so nobody gets in trouble for laughing too loud at an inappropriate time at work. Enjoy!
[h/t Mudflatter DinkleJim]
December 24, 2024
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The Quitter Returns! -Monday, March 21, 2022
Putting the goober in gubernatorial -Friday, January 28, 2022
I’ve been saving this one for a good weekend chuckle, so nobody gets in trouble for laughing too loud at an inappropriate time at work. Enjoy!
[h/t Mudflatter DinkleJim]
Does anyone else long for the days when nutjobs like Bachmann, Perry, Cain, and, yes, our dear Princess Quittypants, would have been laughed out of contention before the race even began? There have always been a few odd ones out on the fringes, but now some of the wackiest ones are the front runners!
I may have voted against some Republicans years ago and been nervous about their policies, but I’ve never been as frightened of a group of candidates as I am this time around.
What happened to my country???
The Southern Evangelical Right became organized and motivated during the Reagan Years; learned that they could get elected at the local level. then the State level and ultimately have a major role in National Politics. During the Bush Years, with the use of effective Fear tactics, wrapping themselves in the Patriotism Flag and implying that you were not a True American if you spoke out against the Admin Policies, the shills for the Corporate Powers have played on the Evangelicals desire to see their viewpoint and morals as the offical policies for the Nation.
These people for years were Democratic Party members, but shifted to the Republican side once the Civil Rights Act was the law of the land. Biblically and culturally, Southern Whites do not view minorities as their equals, regardless of education and accomplishments, especially those of lower income classification. To compound this, those who move to the Southern States will find themselves shifting to this viewpoint after time due to subtle and not so subtle conditioning. I watched my mom, a Conn native , shift from having black women friends over in the 60’s to speaking against them in the 90’s.. my brothers having black friends over to play as pre-teens, to speaking in extreme negative terms as adults.
As the Evangelicals have migrated across the Nation, so too does their effect on local and State politics….their viewpoint of “If you’re not one of US, then anything goes” negates any rational discourse on a topic… because you are not “One of Them”, you are automatically wrong; you haven’t been Saved by their standards, and should be ignored or shouted down. It’s OK to lie about you, because you don’t count..you are less than nothing to them..
Look at what’s happening in Anchorage, with Dan S and his cronies, or Mr,Provo.. remember the ability for the out of town evangelicals to speak up in Anchorage on LBGT rights ? You can probably find these same type of events across the nation…
It’s FEAR that has the most effect on people, and if that FEAR of someone being different from you is played on, especially if it used to threaten your cushy little world where you know and worship with a group that are JUST LIKE YOU.. then you dig in your heels, and try to mold the outside world to match your little world…
I’ll get off my soapbox…
PS… the above has been said with a BROAD Paint Brush… I’m certain that not all evangelicals are as hidebound or nasty as I have indicated,( yes, I know some that are true Christians in the way they live their lives) but there appears to enough to create a lot of drama for the rest of us to deal with.. and certainly enough to gum up the works in Congress on both sides of the aisle… My apologies to those who live without prejudice of their fellow man and have compassion for those less fortunate then themselves
Sigh…
It’s just so discouraging that, with the election of Barack Obama as our first AA President, our nation took a giant leap forward, but we seemed to simultaneously take three giant leaps backwards. The racism and hatred in this country that had previously been carefully hidden from everyone who wasn’t of like mind suddenly became acceptable to proudly wear as badge of honor and shout from the highest rooftops.
Politics, and the aspects of American society that are so strongly influenced by it, have gotten so ugly I hardly recognize my country any more. I was but a wee child during the civil rights years of the 60s and anti-war demonstrations of the 70s but I wonder how we got from organizing FOR something to working AGAINST everything; against the middle class, the poor, minorities, women, non-evangelical-Christians, LGBTs, education, unions, the environment…and on and on and on.
More importantly, how do we turn things around and start making positive changes instead of trying to drag our society back to the middle ages?
I suppose the one positive bit of all this negativity is that we can more easily expose and fight the hatred if it’s out in the open. It makes me even more grateful for places like the Mudflats where I can come for an intelligent discussion, diverse points of view and a virtual hug when things get a bit too depressing. Oh, and some good chuckles and a visit with Brian on occasion, too!
Well, for one thing, during the civil rights era, there were plenty of people organized against civil rights. People lost their lives, including Dr. King. The outcome was by no means certain. We can look back and chart the inevitable march forward, but we couldn’t see it then. If you think hatred is worn proudly today you have no idea what it was like then. Same with the war protests.
Electing Obama was a great step forward, but it brought out the racists who would rather see anything than a black person succeed. There are fewer of this type now than there were. But they’re still with us.
What I don’t get is why we aren’t seeing more college campus protests. In the 60’s there weren’t environmental regulations. But if there had been and a president had caved like this, I think there would have been huge demonstrations.
There is a great (but depressing) essay on truthout.org about how and why the GOP changed and what its plans are for the US. It’s not just the obvious nuts – its the whole party these days.
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779
LaniN …excellent essay!!
He said it ALL !!!
Don’t despair LaniN !
I think some of the answers reside in questions we must ask ourselves as Democrats.
We do have some responsibility in all this. I personally think centrist philosophy has harmed us. It accepts deindustrialization and financialization as givens which must be supported. it increasingly supports neoliberal economic policies which rob us of voice and action .
from the editorial you referenced:
“Historical circumstances produced the raw material: the deindustrialization and financialization of America since about 1970 has spawned an increasingly downscale white middle class – without job security (or even without jobs), with pensions and health benefits evaporating and with their principal asset deflating in the collapse of the housing bubble. Their fears are not imaginary; their standard of living is shrinking.
What do the Democrats offer these people? Essentially nothing. Democratic Leadership Council-style “centrist” Democrats were among the biggest promoters of disastrous trade deals in the 1990s that outsourced jobs abroad: NAFTA, World Trade Organization, permanent most-favored-nation status for China. ”
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779
It has become all too easy to revile and deride low information voters and the fatalist mentality of many non-voters when I think we need to pay way more attention to what and why they are where they are. We have a part in all that which must be addressed if we are to yard all of ourselves out from under the mess the current GOP is gleefully building up.
There is a portion of the population which does deserve derision and revulsion but it doesn’t and hasn’t worked to ignore so many others’ plight as we Democrats have done.
OMG!
Palin spent so much time stuffing gym socks into her lingerie and making sure her jacket caresses them–so much so that it looks like she’s running her hands seductively over her b00bs even though she isn’t–that she forgot to take the detritus-filled mop off of her head. This may be her worst hair day ever, which gives me this chance to perseverate on my favorite subject. What a gift! Someone, please send her a comb and some shampoo. Perhaps when she threw a can at her fridge, it exploded all over her head.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/03/sarah-palin-iowa-tea-party-speech_n_947722.html
Draft Hilary:
Here’s a petition to sign saying you want Hilary.
http://www.petition2congress.com/4606
and here’s a youtube touting the petition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZgmU1vuHio
Respectfully, I didn’t want Ms Clinton then and I don’t want her now.
As upset as I am with President Obama on so many levels, I am not interested in the casting about for a fresh face yet, nor am I interested in shifting to someone known whom I disagree with on so many levels.
However, I am interested in making the Democratic party machine respond to we Democrats who feel and think the party has caved way too many times.
I am interested in having centrists explain to me why I am frozen out over and over again in favor of all these “clear signal” dealies.
“Centrist Democrats welcomed Mr. Daley’s appointment. Jonathan Cowan, president of Third Way, a moderate Democratic think tank, said the move sends a “clear signal that [Mr. Obama] intends to govern and campaign from the center over the next two years.” ”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/6/business-community-lauds-obamas-new-chief-of-staff/
I am still ticked at Mr Daley – who pretty much Pfffttt-ed his tongue at far too many of us in favor of the centrist meme.
http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/William_Daley?loadTab=2
Also, too , even and as well, I have never felt comfortable with
the centrist stance that they occupy THE center between poles.
I have been concerned for years and am growing alarmed at the level at which centrist dogma and thought dominates conversation with very little inspection of what it could be said to mean , embody, or advance.
“The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies.[1] Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as representing a centrist reconciliation between capitalism and state socialist command economy.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way_(centrism)
Accepting right wing economic models / policies as the foil to build left wing social policies toward, for, in relation to…?
Oh pffft, pfooey, and phlut! i think right wing neoliberal economic policies have harmed us but we cannot even question that stuff anymore?
I participated in a “de-briefing” as a McAdams campaign volunteer which consisted of multiple teleconference calls. I recognize I am considerably more left-left than most Dems here so I quite often just listen so I don’t stifle conversation. As the calls, over weeks, turned from discussion of why LM-won towards strategies for future campaigns and elections I realized that I was not really a desired participant. Daley’s big-tent does not include me, not even as a fly in the ointment.
Pi… you’ll always be wanted here !!
On top of all that, what passes for the center keeps sliding ever rightward. I care about my fellow humans, and care even more about having a planet fit for all of us, where we can breathe and drink water. My views just don’t seem to count; I’m too ‘green’ for the US.
All that is needed now to elect a Republican to the White House is a split among Democrats. Unfortunately that is something that Democrats are rather good at. It is always dangerous and is especially so before the 2012 election. What this country and the rest of the world needs now is for Democrats to remain united and to work unstintingly to elect a Democratic Senate that is above the 60 vote level (inserted by the Republicans while Bush was president by the way), a Democratic Democrats to whine their way out of power.
Respectfully, please say more about what you think united means?
I find little or no common ground with many, many current Democrats beyond a desire to push what passes currently as Republican goals out the door.
If you really don’t align with the ideals of the democratic party, find sane republicans and vote for them. That is if the tea party will allow them on a ticket.
I’d be happy if we could get some grown ups elected who stay out of people’s personal lives and get busy working on the problems we send them to solve.
sane republicans?
I do not align with what the Democratic party has become in the almost 40 years I have been a registered Democrat but I don’t see anything appealing in the Republican party either.
I am increasingly frustrated with centrist philosophy being hailed as a moderate’s response to issues. It accepts far too many ideals as givens which have harmed us.
What a tragedy that a once respectable political party (despite their history of refusing to care for the poor and infirm, they did once include some mighty intellects, like William Buckley and William Safire) has drunk the Kool-Ade (it isn’t tea, that doesn’t make one stupid). Teahadists, all of them.
I was never as impressed by William Buckley or William Safire as they were. I usually disagreed with most of what they had to say.
I disagreed with virtually everything they had to say, too, but I did love the way they said it. William Safire’s ‘On Language’ in the Times was terrific. He loved language, although he did abuse it to benefit his R masters (he was responsible for the “effete snobs” that was widely regarded as a gaffe).
Well, I’ve always thought Obama had a plan, that he would double down and get some more stuff done. Yes, a lot got done in the beginning, but health care hasn’t really kicked in, he’s done nothing lately about jobs (his upcoming jobs speech and actions had better be darned good) and now this EPA stuff. I only sent $20 to his campaign, but I couldn’t afford it then and certainly can’t afford it now. I want my $$ back.
Hilary, I was backing you ‘way back when. Are you going to run again? Pleeeeeeze? I don’t agree with you on some things, but, by golly, I think you’re the only person with the ability to stand up to the nincompoops trying to ruin our country. Obviously, b*!!z aren’t necessary to doing this.
Hilary won’t run this time around- She won’t split the party .. look for her to try again in 2016, if her health is still good. I think she’s better at the political in-fighting, and would be a STRONGER candidate than any other Dem OR Rep – Senator, Sec of State, Bill REALLY in the background/out of sight…
Even John Hughes has a little speculation on this point.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/John-Hughes/2011/0902/If-Obama-looks-as-if-he-ll-lose-in-2012-what-about-Hillary-Clinton/(page)/2
That was great. I was afraid when I saw her face I’d have to listen to her voice.
I’d heard most of the nutty things she has said. But the one that I hadn’t heard was about Terri Schiavo. She was a healthy woman with brain damage. Um, yeah, I’d like to hear the medical explanation for that one. I hope that little clip starts making the rounds on the media. People need to know just what a lunatic she is.
Clearly, having a law degree does not necessarily equate to one’s intelligence and is definitely not a measure of common sense.
There is a clip for former rethuglican Senator Trent Lott telling a reporter that it was time to drop the Schiavo story as they had milked it for all its political value. Of course the defense was his words were taken out of context,even when played back at him. It isn’t like we don’t already know rethugs don’t care about you if you aren’t wealthy,it is that so many nutters refuse to believe their lying eyes and ears. Calgon,take me away.(I get paid to say that) (not really)
Yeah, the republithugs talk a lot about “big government should stop interfering in our lives” then they wrote a special law to interfere in Terri Schiavo’s life.
Take that as a warning about what Perry or Bachman would do if elected.
Say, the music in that video reminds me of a song I heard once. Can’t quite place it . . .
I heard that Michele’s “Law Degree” was from a questionable and non-accredited school that has a questionable reputation. I’d like to know more about that if the mainstream media can take a break from checking on “pro-America or anti-America” candidates and check into it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama
gee…. she went to Princeton for her undergrad degree, and Harvard Law school for her JD… was REALLY hard to check on it….
I think SS was asking about the Michele with one L 🙂
Which is also easy to find info about…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Bachmann
Oral Roberts University
Working for John Eidsmoe as a research assistant on his book Christianity and the constotution… sigh.
The Michelle with 2 Ls is much more sensible and intelligent.
Dang, Alaska Pi, you beat me by three minutes.
Yeah, well, only because I skipped spell checking 🙂
…and the Constitution.
ooops ! my apologies…
Michelle Obama’s credentials have never been in question. We all know that she has a good quality education. Bachmann however, managed to get a law degree but it’s her undergrad work at a right wing extremist Christian college that is the problem. A lot of the cockamaimy ideas that she spouts sounds like what I used to hear coming from Oral Roberts when I was growing up in Kansas.
Ben, I think SuzySnowflake was wondering about “one L” Michele Bachman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Bachmann
1978 B.A. Winona State University.
1979 O. W. Coburn School of Law, then a part of Oral Roberts University.
Oral Roberts is not known for being a first-rate law school.
SP is speaking on CNN Now
Countdown with Keith Olbermann 09-02-2011 4 – Palin’ In Comparison, with Wayne Slater
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kz-aHiyM6s
I was unable to view the video on this nut case. But have heard enough of her viewpoints on what is wrong in America. You would think she is running for Pope, with all this religious stuff of hers.
SP will be speaking in Iowa today. Maybe we will at last know if she is, or is she not.
And then maybe be rid of her once and for all.
Michele-one-l is as crazy as Sarah Palin. Strange that they both have eye disorders. Maybe it has distorted their view of reality.
Instead of “weaning” older Americans from Social Security and Medicare, we should “wean” Michele Bachmann and her husband of all of their government perks.
It would be so wonderful to have a national election in this country during which both major parties put forth candidates who !) cared about all of the people, 2) were not tied to special interests, 3) were intelligent enough to understand that the art of government involves lots of compromise, and 4) were interested in debating substantively. Unfortunately the Republican Party is tied to its corporate interests and lacks anyone credible enough to lead it intelligently. How sad for all of us to have to endure the John McCains, Sarah Palins, Michele-one-l Bachmanns, Rick Perrys, Mitt Romneys, etc.
When Kantor made his remarks about budget cuts to pay for FEMA relief, my immediate thought response was to take all federal dollars earmarked for his district, and send it to FEMA… See how long he stays in office when the cuts affect HIS voters/Corp sponsers FIRST !!
awesome!!! the quote from “michelle… one L” with an unintended allusion to George Orwell: “Not all cultures are equal.” Yikes indeed. Funny… and scary how dumb her constituents are to fall for her hyperbole.
The Tea Party: new home of fruits and nuts (sorry California)
Thanks for the laughs…
Just when it seems we might be able to rid ourselves of a particular nutcase prominent in the news in 2008/2009, we get another one for 2010/2011.
YES! LOL
Here’s one for $carah, with apologies to Mick and the boys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS-NQ5UXCPc
She is a straight-up nut job. She is the end result of a fundamental Christian education. These schools breed an arrogance that is breathtakingly terrifying.
They breed a certainty into their children that is stupifying… when there is so much still unknown about our world that science might eventually be able to explain… these people have no curiosity about things that I find disturbing in the least and horrifying when exhibited in someone with political power.
an arrogance and a likewise terrifying ignorance also too
That was enjoyable.
I bet Sir Paul would laugh, too, and heartily approve of this.
Except it reminds me when he sung it to our beautiful 2-Ls in concert at the White House!
Great! Now I’m going to have that song stuck in my head all day and I have to work! 😀
😉 You can sing it to yourself to make the time pass more quickly while earning overtime!
I caught myself whistling this song twice tonight at work. I think I’ll play it again in the morning before I go back. Off to bed now.
OK. I was first, which I think is a first, so now I can really comment!
Bravo! Well done! This woman is a walking hardware store–full of nuts and screws.
yeah… but none of the hardware fits together…. classic example of a mixed bag of nuts….
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!