MERGED: The Politics Thread

[pedonbio]

The Atlantic Wire: "Mitt Romney Tells a Gay Vet Why He Opposes Gay Marriage"

I simply cannot believe that this set of clowns is the best that the Grand Old Party can produce to run for President. It totally boggles my mind.

In a way it was inevitable. I've been reading Kevin Phillips ever since 1965. In the depths (for Republicans) of 1964 he wrote The Emerging Republican Majority. From the heights (for Republicans) of the first Bush Administration he started writing about the coming Republican collapse. Like Goldwater, he saw the danger of mixing politics and religion.

[rtpoe]

Piling on the stupidity....

On "The Learning Channel", there is a documentary show (funny how they call documentaries 'reality' shows these days, even though they have nothing to do with that scripted and staged crap) called "All-American Muslim", which looks at Muslim-Americans in Dearborn, Michigan. It's a nice look at how Muslims of various stripes go about their daily lives and deal with the issues and problems that we all deal with.

Nothing stupid there, right?

Well, a group calling itself the "Florida Family Association" doesn't think it's stupid - just utterly wrong. You see, according to them, ALL Muslims are terrorists. So this show is nothing but LIES designed to make us all complacent and forgetful of the REAL THREAT POSED TO OUR WAY OF LIFE BY ALL OF ISLAM EVERYWHERE. Let me see if I get this straight. If Muslims aren't being portrayed as EEEvil, then they are EEEvil because they aren't EEEvil.... I think my head is about to explode.

Anyway, these nutjobs would have been ignored except that they wrote some letters.... And Lowe's, the home-improvement store, listened to their rantings, and pulled all their ads from the show.

Okay, now my head really did explode...

Jon Stewart naturally had a field day with this story. Back in November, Anderson Cooper had two of the couples from the show on his own talk show, where he found one woman in the audience who thought "All-American Muslim" should be cancelled.

I find myself agreeing with the New Yorker's Amy Davidson: "Sharia law really has come to America: it’s just that its enforcers are people who don’t like Islam."

[TheZookie007]

What's even more annoying is that there are probably more people in the BEA chatroom right now than are in the entire so-called Florida Family Association. Which is to say, not many at all.

And it gets worse:

Reuters: "Kayak: We Stopped 'All-American Muslim' Ads Because the Show 'Sucked'"

Kayak says it will stop advertising on TLC's All-American Muslim not because of pressure from conservatives, but, in the words of Kayak's chief marketing officer, because the show "sucked."

Hardware chain Lowe's has taken criticism for pulling its ads from the series after the conservative evangelical group Florida Family Association called on advertisers to stop  supporting the series.

The FFA claims the show is "propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims."

Robert Birge, chief marketing officer for travel Web site Kayak, said his company received "angry emails" about its decision to advertise on the show, which prompted him to look into it. He didn't like what he saw, he said -- and it had nothing to do with "propaganda" or pressure from outside groups.

"I watched the first two episodes. Mostly, I just thought the show sucked," Birge wrote on Kayak's corporate blog. "Based on our dealings with TLC and the simple assessment of the show, I decided we should put our money elsewhere."

He said TLC had misrepresented the series when pitching it to Kayak. Rather than pulling its ads, Birge said, Kayak decided not to re-up when the show returns in January.

"The first thing I discovered was that TLC was not upfront with us about the nature of this show," Birge wrote. "As I said, it's a worthy topic, but blather blather blather

[DruulEmpire]

rtpoe, thanks for the Amy Davidson quote.

Actually, Jon Stewart himself was suggesting that the show quite possibly sucked, in the sense of being boring, in the sense of being just about regular people going about regular lives -- but you know what, even that is a positive.  For once, a reality show about relatively ordinary people who aren't named Kardashian.  If the title "All-American Muslim" is what it takes to make that happen, I say, Yay Islam!

V in response to Nina below: Hot dang.  Allah akbar!

[TheZookie007]

I watched a number of episodes of the show, and I rather like it. It has its faults -- for instance, why choose to focus only on Arab Muslims in Dearborn, and no South Asian or black African Muslims (who are a larger demographic in this country)? -- but I enjoy a nice normal view of nice normal Americans who just happen to be Muslim.

Oh, and seeing Nina in low-cut tops is a nice bonus.

[SamV]

I don't have cable, just an old humping big VHF/UHF antenna on my roof (remember them? ) so I don't usually comment on shows, or cable networks that I've never seen or have little knowledge about. But if the TLC cable network's acronym states it's purpose to be "The Learning Channel" then it's obvious the FFA has failed to understand this by being so narrow and closed minded they seem hardly capable of being taught anything.

Sam "one must open one's mind first in order to learn anything, even how to be a jerk" V

[pedonbio]

Jim Sensenbrenner's theme song:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ImZTwYwCug

[DruulEmpire]

Today I find myself pleasantly confused by the Tea Party.  Given their transparently contradictory and ultimately futile resistance of continuing the middle class tax cut, and the ongoing weakness of GOP candidates, are they now actually trying to make Obama look great by comparison?  Or is this is a "Let's lull the Dems into a false sense of security and then REALLY nail 'em come 2016" strategy?

[TheZookie007]

That would require forethought...and the Tea Partiers have rarely been accused of thinking.

[mastert]

Today I find myself pleasantly confused by the Tea Party.  Given their transparently contradictory and ultimately futile resistance of continuing the middle class tax cut, and the ongoing weakness of GOP candidates, are they now actually trying to make Obama look great by comparison?  Or is this is a "Let's lull the Dems into a false sense of security and then REALLY nail 'em come 2016" strategy?

Given the average age of a tea partier, half of them may not be alive by 2016

[pedonbio]

Given the average age of a tea partier, half of them may not be alive by 2016

One of the less-advertised details of the Occupy movement is that, while young people have been apparent, the average age of the Zucotti Park occupiers was 50. The spokesperson of our Seattle group, Dorli Raines, is 84. What surprised me is what lousy shape the Tea Partiers were in. They didn't have marches because even the young ones couldn't walk that far.

[pedonbio]

 

[DruulEmpire]

Excellent, bio.  In fact, on the subject of corporations, I see you and raise you the following (and be forewarned, everyone, it's 54 minutes but worth it, even the follow-up questions are good):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=53RYrvaq874

There was once a theater in my neighborhood that was a kind of living TCM, showing really old movies.  It was called the Guild.  In my own way, like Eugene McCarraher, I miss the Guild.

[pedonbio]

"Santorum Surges Behind Romney"

[Siliconex]

Pals,

what do you think about Mr. Sowell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqnNO0tFEVM

Also Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5L-FBrEDY

Bruce Thornton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0HIXUWRjrE

I like these guys!

[DruulEmpire]

Si (may I call you Si?), the last two are pretty weak tea.  The one doesn't really give me any sense of what Hanson is or what he's about, he simply makes one excellent statement towards someone saying flatly "Bush knew 9-11 was coming" and I daresay the majority of us here are already sensible enough to agree with Hanson.  As for Thornton, might I just point out that we shot bin Laden, likewise cleaned out the major ranks of al-Qaeda, and supported the eventual killing of Qadhafi by his own people -- and all this on the watch of Obama, not Bush 43 -- so when someone complains "When will we ever take seriously terror from out of the Muslim world!?", I feel as alienated from the complainer as Hanson was by the "Bush was in on 9-11" caller.  The only clip of any substance is Sowell with the typical rallying cry of "Never mind a decade we just spent in Iraq and Afghanistan -- which was still not long enough -- we must now immediately fight Iran."  I would gently point out that our planet Earth is thankful that we never directly went to war with a Soviet Union pointing many thousands of nuclear missiles at us for over forty years, and that there was plenty of Sowell-like counsel back then which we blessedly never followed.  I do give Hanson (what little you show of him, anyway) and Sowell points for being thoughtful.  I just find Thornton and Sowell's thoughts wrong.

[TheZookie007]

The Young Turks: "Ron Paul Hits Gingrich With Chickenhawk Label At Debate"

...and for good reason. What kind of lame-o excuse is that? "My daddy went off to war but I got deferments and dodged the draft because, well, I had kids! And was married to my (first) wife (out of the three I would eventually have, including one that I divorced as she was battling cancer)!" GTFO, Gingrich. You have zero credibility with your racist, classist ass.

[pedonbio]

Pals,

what do you think about Mr. Sowell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqnNO0tFEVM

Also Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5L-FBrEDY

Bruce Thornton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0HIXUWRjrE

I like these guys!

What a bizarre question. Sowell is an incredible lightweight who has been trading on his relationships for fifty years and has contributed nothing to his field. He is a polemicist and nothing more. Sarah Palin says he is a deep thinker, which tells you a lot.

I know nothing of Hanson, except that he appears to have a television program and he listens patiently to idiots on the telephone.

Thornton teaches at a junior college somewhere, doesn't he, and pimps for right wing nuts?

Si, spending too much time around the Hoover Institute makes you get progressively dumber. Remember, Hoover admitted that he could never figure out why he was the most hated man in America.

EDIT: Those three videos are seven minutes I will never get back!

[TheZookie007]

So bye-bye Jon Huntsman. That was quick.

Meanwhile, check this out:

"...given the enormity of what he inherited, and given what he explicitly promised, it remains simply a fact that Obama has delivered in a way that the unhinged right and purist left have yet to understand or absorb. Their short-term outbursts have missed Obama's long-term game — and why his reelection remains, in my view, as essential for this country's future as his original election in 2008...

If George Bush had taken out bin Laden, wiped out al Qaeda's leadership, and gathered a treasure trove of real intelligence by a daring raid, he'd be on Mount Rushmore by now. But where Bush talked tough and acted counterproductively, Obama has simply, quietly, relentlessly decimated our real enemies, while winning the broader propaganda war...

If I sound biased, that’s because I am. Biased toward the actual record, not the spin; biased toward a president who has conducted himself with grace and calm under incredible pressure, who has had to manage crises not seen since the Second World War and the Depression, and who as yet has not had a single significant scandal to his name. "To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle," George Orwell once wrote. What I see in front of my nose is a president whose character, record, and promise remain as grotesquely underappreciated now as they were absurdly hyped in 2008. And I feel confident that sooner rather than later, the American people will come to see his first term from the same calm, sane perspective. And decide to finish what they started."

-- Andrew Sullivan in Newsweek: "How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics"

[Siliconex]

Well, folks,

after being revealed as a "bizarrist",
more reason is enclosed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN3K1Wsd-I0

Live long and prosper!

Si

[rtpoe]

MR. PAUL: You have stated that you wish to close a number of government departments. How, in this time where jobs are scarce, can you justify putting thousands of people out of work?

MR. ROMNEY: President Obama's health care plan took its most important elements from the plan you implemented while governor of Massachusetts. One of your party's key goals is the outright repeal of "Obamacare". Do you agree with this goal? Why or why not?

TO ALL CANDIDATES: When you are elected, you will be president for everyone in the U.S., not just the people who voted for you. How will you serve the millions of people who voted *against* you, and see that their needs, desires, hopes, and dreams are met?

[3deroticer]

Interesting you quoted George Orwell, Zookie!

What's your take on shutting down filesharing site recently, while the SOPA and PIPA was scrap, while a new bill surfacing that will require all ISP to keep all your online financial record for 18 month?

[rtpoe]

Question for Mr. Gingrich:

You were the first Speaker of the House to have been formally censured for ethics violations. This led to your being pressured out of that office by your fellow Republicans. What did you learn from that experience?

[Robin_K]

Gingrich opened up the possibility of the moon becoming the 51st state [by 2020], something he believes could happen once a permanent settlement reaches a population of 13,000 Americans.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/newt-gingrich-promises-build-moon-colony-2020-u-211103078.html

Ummm . . . not quite what I had in mind. Nor Neal Amstrong, I think. Claiming a whole planet? Well, at least a moon.

"We came in peace for all mankind" is now, "We came in peace for ourselves."

[pedonbio]

Gingrich opened up the possibility of the moon becoming the 51st state [by 2020], something he believes could happen once a permanent settlement reaches a population of 13,000 Americans.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/newt-gingrich-promises-build-moon-colony-2020-u-211103078.html

Ummm . . . not quite what I had in mind. Nor Neal Amstrong, I think. Claiming a whole planet? Well, at least a moon.

"We came in peace for all mankind" is now, "We came in peace for ourselves."

He read a story about how hot Moon Women are, and how they love fat, jowelly old Earth Politicians. That's about as realistic as his various policies. Newt is a walking example of untreated A.D.D. without the H.

[TheZookie007]

"...Yes, that's how Mitt Romney rolls. Straight Outta Salt Lake. Get Equity, Or Die Tryin'."

[pedonbio]

.

[rtpoe]

He read a story about how hot Moon Women are, and how they love fat, jowelly old Earth Politicians.

Well, as far as the Moon Women know, Sonny Tufts is the epitome of human masculinity...

[pedonbio]

.

[rtpoe]

One of my favorite blogs ("The Art of Manliness") had a recent essay on "The 4 Qualities of a True Statesman". At the end, they asked for comments on who today might be considered a true/great statesman according to the four criteria.

By the time they got over 100 replies, about one-third of them were from people nominating Ron Paul as a "great statesman".

HUH??

This is a guy who cannot even get support in his own party, and he's a "great statesman"? I didn't think that the Paulists (Paulites? RonPaulicans?) would be around what I find to be an intelligent, erudite blog. Clearly, I was wrong.

Frankly, while Paul may be a decent person and a competent legislator, his ideas and proposals are badly thought out and too far from the mainstream.

From what I've read about him, here's what I think he'd be like if he was giving car repair advice:

US: Geez, my car really needs a lot of work. There's a little oil leak, a hole in the muffler, body rot on a fender, and the wipers don't work on intermittent. I can't afford to fix everything now; what do you suggest I get taken care of first?

PAUL: Get rid of the car. It's a piece of crap.

US: But I can't afford a new one!

PAUL: Get rid of it. You don't need a car.

US: But how will I get around?

PAUL: Use mass transit.

US: Mass transit in my area sucks! I *need* a car!

PAUL: No you don't. You can get rides from friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

US: Everytime I need to go shopping, take the kids to school activities, in addition to commuting?

PAUL: Certainly. You can also get a bike; it's good exercise.

US: You, sir, are an idiot....

[PregNut]

Paulists (Paulites? RonPaulicans?)

We prefer to call them "Paulsies" but "Ronmulans" is also acceptable.

[TheZookie007]

Huffington Post: "Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama"


Three comments on this article:

Koch brothers and friends must believe that Obama is changing the political calculus in Washington­. There is no other rational reason on Earth for them to pledge such vast amounts of money to defeat Obama -- except racial hatred and these folks have too much money to waste time playing a poor man’s game.

People that do not fear you do not spend this kind of money to defeat you, unless you have something they want. All of you fence dwellers take a hard look at the very, very rich clearing their throats to send a chill down the backs of employees everywhere­. Blink and they’ll convince many of you to return to Bush era policies. Stare them down and stop them from buying the next election and influence.

Yep, they're scared. If there's anything the past few months have shown, collective power trump corrupt power and political manipulati­on. Obama's been ridiculed for being a "community organizer,­" but when you raise $100 million to try and take him down, you're pretty much acknowledg­ing the power of the community.

cant this money be put to better use? dont they have better things to do with a $100 million than try and bring down the President? these are the same group that moan and groan endlessly about their taxes but yet are willing to cough up $100 million for this project!

[3deroticer]

The best slam on the class warfare I have seen! Even use the warcraft font!
http://front.moveon.org/jon-stewart-f_ck-the-poor/

[rtpoe]

Pink Ribbons and Objectifying Women

Any lover of women's breasts (and the women who have them) has probably been following the whole flap about the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood.

It was fun watching the Pink Ribbon Brigade spin like mad when people came to the defense of Planned Parenthood, even giving them much more money than Komen ever did.

The stated reason was that they won't contribute to any organization that's the subject of a congressional investigation. And Planned Parenthood happens to be under investigation by avowed Pro-Life congressman Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), on totally bullshit grounds.

Well, if they really don't want to have anything to do with organizations under investigation, then they really ought to cut ties with Bank of America, which is currently under investigation in New York, Arizona, California and Nevada for foreclosure and mortgage fraud.

Oh, but BoA is *giving* them money, rather than the other way around.

Heaven knows Komen needs all the money it can get! I mean, when your key executives are pulling down over $400,000 a year, you don't want to have to cut corners!

Percentage of funding spent on research "for the cure"

2008: 29%
2009: 17%
2010: 17%
2011: 15%

Source

And they are really, really protective of their "For the Cure" slogan and the whole pink ribbon thing. Can't afford for people to get confused!

Nevertheless, it's quite clear that Komen has the health of women in mind.

Which is why there were pink-ribbon-branded handguns and shotgun shells.

We've all heard feminists saying that "Porn" objectifies women. They never mention that the adult entertainment industry employs menas well, who no doubt "suffer" from the same objectification, but let that pass.

How can that be worse than how these organizations and politicians are treating women as nothing more than cash cows or walking wombs?

[TheZookie007]

Good point, rtpoe. Susan B. Komen is a shameful organization. They are as pro-women as the Taliban are.

Meanwhile, "the Donald" just doesn't know when to STFU about things he has no idea about. Fortunately, we have Larry O'Donnell here to set him straight.

MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell: "Mitt Romney Wouldn't Even Let You Wash His Car"

And here is his take on the unfortunate actress who portrayed the worst form of xenophobic stereotypes in a political ad made by a man who wasn't even born in this country.