The Democrat Thread

[BigSqwert]

RNC Clown College

[HuskyCaucasian]

Cantor Bows to Rush... Again.

Cantor on

S

unday:

"What we're trying to do here today i

s

k

ic

k

off a

s

erie

s

of town hall forum

s

s

o that we can get bac

k

to li

s

tening to the people"

 

Mitt Romney:

"Li

s

tening to people can ma

k

e a difference, that'

s

what we're tal

k

ing about here, we're li

s

tening to people."

 

Jeb Bu

s

h:

"I'm actually optimi

s

tic [about the future], if we have the humility to

s

tart li

s

tening and learning..."

 

Ru

s

h on Monday:

"We do not need a li

s

tening tour. We need a teaching tour. That i

s

what the Republican Party, or,

s

la

s

h, the con

s

ervative movement need

s

to focu

s

on. Li

s

tening tour ain't it."

 

Cantor on Wedne

s

day Morning:

"You

k

now, Joe, really, thi

s

i

s

not a li

s

tening tour."

 

Edited May 6, 2009 by Athomeboy_2000

[GoSox05]

RNC Clown College

 

s*** is that scary. The Michele Bachmann one will give me nightmares.

Edited May 6, 2009 by GoSox05

[HuskyCaucasian]

HA!

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Wasn't sure where to put this. I happened to click through to a CNN article (brief) about Rush Limbaugh going after Colin Powell (saying he endorsed Obama solely based on race, etc.).

 

But that wasn't the interesting part. Read this article, then read the comments below. It absolutely amazes me the level of political discourse among the populus is this horrid - filled with hate, misinformation, apparently complete lack of knowledge of history or politics, pettiness and just plain stupidity - from both parties AND independents. I hope, really hope, these comments are not an accurate sampling of our voting populus.

[BigSqwert]

Wasn't sure where to put this. I happened to click through to a CNN article (brief) about Rush Limbaugh going after Colin Powell (saying he endorsed Obama solely based on race, etc.).

 

But that wasn't the interesting part. Read this article, then read the comments below. It absolutely amazes me the level of political discourse among the populus is this horrid - filled with hate, misinformation, apparently complete lack of knowledge of history or politics, pettiness and just plain stupidity - from both parties AND independents. I hope, really hope, these comments are not an accurate sampling of our voting populus.

I stopped reading the user comments on cnn.com a long time ago. They embarrassed me to be associated with the human race.

[bmags]

I stopped reading the user comments on cnn.com a long time ago. They embarrassed me to be associated with the human race.

 

Any mass publication's comments tend to be quite awful, and frankly, shouldn't have commenting. The more niche sites are where comments can be quite informative and actually helpful to the writers and readers.

[lostfan]

Any mass publication's comments tend to be quite awful, and frankly, shouldn't have commenting. The more niche sites are where comments can be quite informative and actually helpful to the writers and readers.

Yes. Agreed. On CNN, I might as well be reading comments on a Youtube video. Same with Fox, or any major media site.

[HuskyCaucasian]

You know it's bad when Joe the Plummer ditches the GOP...

Is Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher really quitting the Republican Party? That's what a new Time article on the current sad state of the GOP says.

 

"Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party -- and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience," the article says.

 

Mr. The Plumber has been a figurehead among Republican activists since last October, when a chance encounter with Barack Obama and the active promotion by McCain campaign turned him into the face of blue-collar conservatism. If he's not willing to call himself a Republican, they're really in trouble.

 

But even here on spending, there's a catch when it comes to the ideological purity: "But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid -- which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits."

 

Huh???

 

[lostfan]

But even here on spending, there's a catch when it comes to the ideological purity: "But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid -- which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits."

DING DING DING DING DING

 

So, what exactly do you want to cut? I've been saying this for about a year now. If you can't cut it, it needs major reform, and nobody wants to do that.

[lostfan]

I find this piece here incredibly annoying, it's like they're desperate for something to talk about.

 

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/08/dont...es-under-obama/

 

Yeah... an officer admitted being gay and got discharged from the Army... well no s***, it hasn't been repealed yet, whenever it happens it will be a pretty substantial change. Holy s***, we must really have ADD in this country really bad. Obama has over 3 1/2 years left in this term to repeal DADT. They're already coming after him as if he flip-flopped.

[Balta1701]

I find this piece here incredibly annoying, it's like they're desperate for something to talk about.

 

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/08/dont...es-under-obama/

 

Yeah... an officer admitted being gay and got discharged from the Army... well no s***, it hasn't been repealed yet, whenever it happens it will be a pretty substantial change. Holy s***, we must really have ADD in this country really bad. Obama has over 3 1/2 years left in this term to repeal DADT. They're already coming after him as if he flip-flopped.

The problem of course is that the President has the authority to end that problem any day he wants to with a simple executive order...he doesn't need to push it through Congress IIRC. So basically, the Arab linguist just dismissed yesterday was out because the President doesn't want to expend political capital on this issue yet.

[lostfan]

The problem of course is that the President has the authority to end that problem any day he wants to with a simple executive order...he doesn't need to push it through Congress IIRC. So basically, the Arab linguist just dismissed yesterday was out because the President doesn't want to expend political capital on this issue yet.

That's fair to say but this is really kind of making a mountain out of a molehill. I think it's pretty obvious he's had other priorities. The other XO's he gave were pretty low-impact and symbolic, with the exception of Guantanamo which wasn't even an immediate change, more like an announcement of intentions.

[NorthSideSox72]

I do hope they get rid of DADT. The military needs to join the laws of the rest of the country, as they've been for some time now, in not criminalizing or penalizing sexual preference and acts (not talking about marriage here). The military had to be forced into racial integration, it had problems along the way, but it happened and worked. Same with women in the military, although that is still happening. This one should be no different.

 

[Balta1701]

That's fair to say but this is really kind of making a mountain out of a molehill. I think it's pretty obvious he's had other priorities.

The reason I take issue with this is that negative things are continuing to happen while the President waits. That's my problem. I totally understand politically why he's waiting, the longer he waits the stronger his position is going to be, but it also is hurting the country while he waits.

[lostfan]

I do hope they get rid of DADT. The military needs to join the laws of the rest of the country, as they've been for some time now, in not criminalizing or penalizing sexual preference and acts (not talking about marriage here). The military had to be forced into racial integration, it had problems along the way, but it happened and worked. Same with women in the military, although that is still happening. This one should be no different.

You know what I found kind of odd - in the military you can crack gay jokes at will with no repercussions whatsoever, but you can't make any racist/sexist/religious etc. jokes or you get in big trouble. Then I took a corporate-type job, but in the exact same environment - cracking a gay joke at the wrong time can get you fired, just like the rest of America.

[KipWellsFan]

I watched the Rachel Maddow segment on this yesterday and I still can't believe this. I see no excuse why Obama hasn't changed this if it is within his powers. It's shameful, and embarassing. Why doesn't the constitution stop this?

[lostfan]

I watched the Rachel Maddow segment on this yesterday and I still can't believe this. I see no excuse why Obama hasn't changed this if it is within his powers. It's shameful, and embarassing. Why doesn't the constitution stop this?

As far as the Constitution, the president is commander-in-chief of the military, he can do what he wants.

 

He's going to change it... I mean I could see if we were 2 years into his presidency and there was no movement onto this, but he's only been in office 3 months.

[BigSqwert]

I fail to see the logic in waiting 2 years to act.

[lostfan]

Not what I said.

[BigSqwert]

Not what I said.

I know. Just don't see any logic in the inaction to date.

[NorthSideSox72]

I know. Just don't see any logic in the inaction to date.

Two reasons (though I am not saying I agree with them per se).

 

1. There are higher priorities that are taking most of his time right now.

 

2. In order for this to stick, and work well, he needs to time it right and land on top of the political wave. Do it at the wrong time, and the backlash could make things worse for all involved.

 

[lostfan]

Well, I know that all it takes is a stroke of his pen, but it's actually a really big deal in practice and it's going to cause a lot of noise when he does it. It's going to start a national dialogue/argument (read: expend political capital) which he can't afford when his #1 priority is still the economy and his #2 priority is Afpak. I suppose I'll concede that giving it extra attention isn't hurting anything, but I'm sure he still has every intention of allowing gays to serve (saying "repeal DADT" is a misnomer, since it's not like Clinton actually banned gays from serving, if it was repealed then we'd go back to having people being court-martialed) until he tells us otherwise.

[southsider2k5]

I find this piece here incredibly annoying, it's like they're desperate for something to talk about.

 

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/08/dont...es-under-obama/

 

Yeah... an officer admitted being gay and got discharged from the Army... well no s***, it hasn't been repealed yet, whenever it happens it will be a pretty substantial change. Holy s***, we must really have ADD in this country really bad. Obama has over 3 1/2 years left in this term to repeal DADT. They're already coming after him as if he flip-flopped.

 

 

IIRC wasn't Obama pretty quiet on most of these issues in the campaign? I mean he spoke the company line and all, but I seem to remember him getting criticism for this not being a bigger issue for him, with him being a minority himself.

[lostfan]

IIRC wasn't Obama pretty quiet on most of these issues in the campaign? I mean he spoke the company line and all, but I seem to remember him getting criticism for this not being a bigger issue for him, with him being a minority himself.

It was something he said he was going to do, but it wasn't like a big campaign promise or anything.