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Open thread
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted Jan. 10, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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36 Comments
Quote of the Day:
H. L. Mencken:
The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth
Viva la Raza Blanco!!
“The Nov. 6 National Review includes a brief article by American Enterprise Institute scholar Kevin Hassett titled “Where Clinton W.” The editors easily could have devoted an entire issue to the subject. Hassett’s specific topic is federal jobs, which shrank by 200,000 under Bill Clinton but have grown by 79,000 under George W. Bush. “Strange as it sounds,” Hassett writes, “Clinton’s record in this particular area is exemplary next to Bush’s.” Does it really sound so strange? After six years of reckless statism under Bush — the consequences of which have been documented in National Review articles and AEI studies, among other places — it is now almost routine to see conservatives draw unfavorable comparisons between him and his predecessor. The near-nostalgia for Clinton among Republicans who reviled him speaks volumes about conservative disgust with the Bush administration, which could depress turnout enough to result in a Democratic takeover of one or both houses of Congress on Nov. 7. …I know, I know: Bush cut taxes. But cutting taxes without restraining spending just postpones the pain, imposing a burden on future taxpayers who did not even make the mistake of trusting Republicans. …Federal spending as a share of GDP, which fell under Clinton to 18.5 percent, is again above 20 percent. Discretionary spending has increased faster under Bush than it did under Lyndon Johnson, no slouch in doling out taxpayer dollars. Earmarks have reached record levels, and the abuse of emergency spending bills is rampant. …Far from reforming entitlement programs, the Republicans compassionately created an exorbitant Medicare drug benefit that will add trillions of dollars to the program’s long-term shortfall — the gift that keeps on taking. Far from reducing the federal government’s scope, they have extended its reach into state and local matters such as education, abortion, marriage law and end-of-life medical decisions. Bush has either actively sought bigger government, as with the Medicare bill and the No Child Left Behind Act, or acquiesced in it, as with transportation spending and farm subsidies. …As the Cato Institute’s William Niskanen points out, the only extended periods of fiscal restraint since World War II occurred during the Eisenhower and Clinton administrations, when different parties controlled the executive and legislative branches. “Government spending has increased an average of only 1.73 percent annually during periods of divided government,” he writes in the October Washington Monthly. “This number more than triples, to 5.26 percent, for periods of unified government.”
I guess I need to know more about your guy Swensen. At least in this paragraph, he gets it.
Goddamn. A republican who gets it? WTF?
He is so RIGHT ON in this statement:
“New and expanding businesses search for locations with the best workers. Labor is the largest expense for most businesses. In comparison, business taxes are modest. So it makes sense for Kansas to build our foundation for the future by preparing the brightest, smartest and most talented work force in the nation.
There are many other important issues to debate — compassionate and quality care for our elderly and disabled, making health care accessible for everyone, and water quality and quantity, to name a few.”
Dude, at least in this editorial comment, YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, so how many legislators to go before both houses GET IT?
I heard on NPR that Bush is going to acknowledge during tonight’s speech that the were not enough troops used in the initial invasion of Iraq.
That means he’s only 4 years behind the learning curve!
That’s real progress, huh?
And Ian, today, at least for once :) I like your quote at the top of this thread.
We like to blame the politicians, but in the end, WE are the ones who vote them in or out.
Seems like, at least for the last six years, we have preferred the honey coated lies instead of the vinegar tasting truth.
Nice quote Ian.
KSFG,I wish we could live in the comfort of the knowledge that we elect our officials. Our elections are bought and sold like day old bread. Take a peek at ‘Hacking Democracy’ for starters. Then look at the Florida elections in November. 18,000 votes WERE NOT COUNTED. This was on the republican side, but the same happens for both sides of the fence.
The touch screen ballots are the worst. If you use them PROTEST. Call your officials. Anything you can think of to get them removed. Too much to go into here.
Even the paper ballots can be faked. At least until a good re-count can be made. Also, keep an eye on how many voting booths there are at given locations. Do the Dems have to stand in line for 6 hours to vote while the repubs walk right in (in their respective districts that is) or vice versa?
I just read in the Salina Journal an associated press story about a Wichita man and woman who turned their 3 & 10 year old kids into police because they simply didn’t want them anymore. The father had been raising them, said he couldn’t afford to do it- took the children to their mother, and she didn’t want them either.
So they’re now in Foster care.
That is what happens to unwanted kids. All I can say is at least they turned them in instead of something worse.
Pol_Mom,Like killing them? Whoops, no abortion debates in open threads. My bad.
Is it really good policy in a DA position to fire all the people on staff? I can understand it going into a political position, but this is a criminal prosecuting position. Makes me wonder if Phill Kline is getting rid of anyone who isn’t staunchly anti-woman.
Abortion stops a beating…or abandonment.
OOPs sorry. slipped.
Solly, if the elections are dirty, then “we the people” need to get on it. It is that way because we let it be that way.
Rights are like anything else. If you dont use them, you lose them.
KSFG,I totally agree with you. My Dad lives in Florida. He is a liberal and volunteered to work on the re-count. Total smoke and mirrors job (the touch screen booths have no paper audit trail) I watched ‘Hacking Democracy’ and was appalled.
I have posted this same stuff here before with no response. A) What do we do to take elections back? And B) How do we get the people informed that their votes don’t count?
Solly… That name sounds like an Asian person apologizing =)
Two words
Poll watchers
Poll watchers won’t make a hill of beans difference if the elections are being screwed with no way to track them after the fact.
Paper trail, is the only way to go.
Sorry for my ignorance, but what are poll watchers and how can they help.
Hang on, I think I can find a video of an election’s results being changed in under two minutes.
Here is part of it anyway
CRAP!!!Here it is…
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012101051.html
100% of Democrats vote FOR implementing ALL the 9/11 commission’s recomendations.
Here’s the list that voted AGAINST implementation:AderholtAkinBachmannBachusBakerBarrett (SC)Bartlett (MD)Barton (TX)BiggertBilbrayBishop (UT)BlackburnBluntBoehnerBonnerBoozmanBoustanyBrady (TX)Brown (SC)BurgessBurton (IN)CalvertCampbell (CA)CannonCantorCobleCole (OK)ConawayCrenshawCubinCulbersonDavis (KY)Davis, DavidDavis, Jo AnnDavis, TomDeal (GA)DrakeDreierDuncanEhlersEmersonEnglish (PA)EverettFallinFeeneyFlakeForbesFoxxFranks (AZ)Garrett (NJ)GilchrestGingreyGohmertGoodeGoodlatteGravesHastertHensarlingHergerHoekstraHunterInglis (SC)IssaJohnson, SamJordanKing (IA)KingstonKline (MN)LambornLathamLewis (CA)Lewis (KY)LinderLucasLungren, Daniel E.ManzulloMcCarthy (CA)McHenryMcKeonMicaMiller (FL)Miller, GaryMusgraveMyrickNeugebauerNunesPaulPearcePencePeterson (PA)PetriPickeringPittsPoePrice (GA)PutnamRadanovichRehbergRenziReynoldsRogers (KY)RohrabacherRoyceSaliSaxtonSensenbrennerSessionsShadeggShusterSmith (NE)SouderStearnsSullivanTancredoTerryThornberryTiahrtWalbergWampWeldon (FL)WestmorelandWhitfieldWickerWilson (NM)Wilson (SC)WolfYoung (AK)Young (FL)
Looks like it’s a done deal:
WASHINGTON – President Bush will tell the nation Wednesday night he will send more than 20,000 additional American forces to Iraq, acknowledging that it was a mistake earlier not to have more American and Iraqi troops fighting the war.
*********
From rumors I’ve heard and can’t verify, a majority of those troops have already been sent and are sitting in Kuwait.
Bush doesn’t listen to the people, advisors, or anyone else…except maybe his oil buddies.
RD- Don’t forget “the Voices” and Barney!
gster – Barney is bad but he’s not THAT bad!
I really hope he does listen to Barney- it’s got to be better than what has been heard before!
And still, no one seems to care….
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/2004votefraud.html
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0310/S00211.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_U.S._presidential_election_controversy_and_irregularities
http://www.nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html
Ah, I saw all the posts telling Ian he had a good quote – which in the context you all are taking it, it is a good quote. However, when I first read it, I have to tell you, I took it in his “racially motivated” context – and if you intrepret it that way (i.e. that racism is good) I think it is not nearly as good of a quote…
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
George Orwell
“The man that has picked up a tomcat by the tail knows more about cats than the man that hasn’t”
Samual Clements
Wendy,
All of my quotes of the day are desugned to provoke and get folks to think. Since you impuned my motives, I will endeavor to make my future quotes of the day overtly racial in nature. I wouldn’t want to let down my fans. :)
Viva la Revolucion Blanco!!
Of special interest to bloggers.
By MediaChannel.
We’ve been following the story of ‘Spocko’, the blogger who launched a successful campaign to turn advertisers away from right-wing talk radio on northern California’s KSFO. While Speaker Nancy Pelosi is repeatedly accused of bringing “liberal San Francisco values” to the national government, Spocko’s website was accused of pirating KSFO’s conservative San Francisco values by offering clips on his web site. Spocko called it fair use, but Disney got his hosting company to shut down the site.
Now Crooks and Liars, among others, hosts an mp3 montage of KSFO hosts in heir finest moments, and reading various commercials. The blogospere has risen to Spocko’s defense, as Tom Siebert writes in MediaPost:
What they heard was drive-time hosts endorse torture, insult Muslims and enact the execution of journalists. When some advertisers fled, the Disney legal department briefly killed the messenger with a cease-and-desist order, alleging copyright violation.
But less than 48 hours after Spocko’s case was brought to light on the progressive news blog “The Daily Kos,” several new Web hosts, including YouTube, Blogintegrity and Firedoglake, stepped up to provide access to audio files from KSFO. Instead of one ISP to threaten, there were now many‚Äìbasically challenging MouseCorp to sue all of them.
The latest old/new media scuffle showed a traditional media conglomerate employing a quick-hit tactic to bully new media into submission. But once the obvious central issue became known to the blogosphere‚Äìthat Disney was trying to hide behind the copyright infringement argument rather than confront the hate-mongering‚Äìthe online community rallied to Spocko’s defense.
Disney is now left with the option of playing a virtual game of “Whack A Mole,” as the Rodent Empire’s lawyers will need to slap citations against a series of sites as swiftly as they pop up. Plus, it may only be a matter of time before the mainstream media rides the story for at least one new cycle. That’s got to be Disney’s worst nightmare: 24 hours where “Disney” and “Hate Speech” are both part of the topic line.
The KSFO PR debacle is the latest black eye for Disney, and another straw on the camel’s back as the company nears the tipping point: being branded in the public’s mind as a tool of the right wing, just as that political brand is falling out of fashion.
In her news conference, why did Rep. Boyda prohibit tape recorders? Easier to assert she was misquoted? Why wasn’t this reported in the story?
Well, it seems to me, Ian, that if your quotes of the day are to provoke thought – then it worked quite well for you. BTW, Impugn also means “to question” – which seems to be, as you said, the purpose for your quote. Simply because I took a different interpretation on it, based on my experiences with you, should have no bearing on that, and should not get your panties in a twist – but by all means, if you would like to spew more of your racist views, it is a free country after all… AND I did state that, taken in the context of politics, as many of the bloggers on this site did, it is a good quote… Maybe YOU should read my whole statement before you “impugn” me :)
HA FOulston investigated ON HER OWN that these kids who were on Klines list, ALL of them were reported for abuse.
I told you so, I freaking told you so.
Well P Mom, I read the article and I just have to ask; Do you think that this will shut Klline up now?
My guess is no – but it does shut up the critics of Foulston and Clark.
BROWNBACK OPPOSES etc.
That sleasy Catholic whore !! Nothing more to say.
No it won’t stop Kline in JoCo, and it won’t stop those fanatics who are hell bent on demonizing Tiller. But at least it is likely to ease the minds of those who aren’t so divided on the issue.
P Mom – You are right, of course, but I can’t wait to read the opinion line Op Rescue folks tomorrow that claim that the WHOLE WORLD is protecting rapists and child molesters vis a vis Killer Tiller.