The Democrat Thread

[StrangeSox]

have a meltdown?

[lostfan]

have a meltdown?

panic, s*** pants, piss down leg, overreact, and then develop an effective strategy to counter it like a week too late.

[StrangeSox]

Yeah but that kinda assumes NPR is just some dumb left-wing blog or something, not a national organization which leans left but has pretty high journalistic integrity and standards.

[lostfan]

Yeah but that kinda assumes NPR is just some dumb left-wing blog or something, not a national organization which leans left but has pretty high journalistic integrity and standards.

Yeah, I know, but my snark wasn't going to work if I said all that. lol. NPR is nothing like the right-wing caricature of it (actually, what IS like the right-wing caricature of it)?

 

To me the thing about conservatives' indignation about what dude said about Tea Partiers is that it's hilariously hypocritical, Fox News says equivalent things and much worse on Beck, Hannity, etc. pretty much all day long... they don't wait until they're in private, they just say it out loud.

[StrangeSox]

That's what the unedited video shows, too. This guy was repeating what two "top-level Republicans" said about the Tea Party. It's sad/hilarious.

 

I thought everyone would take this buffoon with a little more caution after it was shown how much he distorted and lied with ACORN and then we he tried to lure a CNN reporter onto a sex boat, but then again a sizable portion of people instantly jumped on the "ZOMG! OBMA SPENDS $200 TRILLION AN HOUR IN INDIA!" s***. Confirmation bias an an endemic problem in politics.

[Y2HH]

That's what the unedited video shows, too. This guy was repeating what two "top-level Republicans" said about the Tea Party. It's sad/hilarious.

 

I thought everyone would take this buffoon with a little more caution after it was shown how much he distorted and lied with ACORN and then we he tried to lure a CNN reporter onto a sex boat, but then again a sizable portion of people instantly jumped on the "ZOMG! OBMA SPENDS $200 TRILLION AN HOUR IN INDIA!" s***. Confirmation bias an an endemic problem in politics.

 

Yea, he distorted and lied about acorn, that's why congress disbanded their funding, they were duped! Wake up already, if acorn was a setup as you and the demos claim, nothing would have come of it, honestly already, if it were that easy to destroy an organization with millions of dollars, you'd see a lot more of them falling apart...so seriously, give up the acorn was innocent bulls*** already, because it makes you look like an idiot, along with everyone else that spews conspiracy innocence crap. Acorn was a corrupt organization and they got what was coming to them, and so did this f***ing moron. Just stop with the acorn was innocent garbage, because they weren't innocent...just stop it. Innocent organizations with public favor and millions in funding do NOT fall apart in the light of trash journalism unless there is a good reason.

 

You and the rest of the intelligent morons can ignore reality all you want because it seems to make you feel better, but anyone that still belives acorn did no wrong is a f***ing jackass, and there is no other way for me to put it.

Edited March 12, 2011 by Y2HH

[StrangeSox]

O'Keefe heavily distorted and lied about what the ACORN videos showed through very selective editing.

 

I'm not sure what your rant has to do with that fact, really.

[Y2HH]

O'Keefe heavily distorted and lied about what the ACORN videos showed through very selective editing.

 

I'm not sure what your rant has to do with that fact, really.

 

He may have, personally I thought the videos, and this new video are rediculous. That said, if a simple video with obvious selective editing that anyone can see was doctored is all it takes to sink an entire organization then I think we'd see many more of them falling apart. Same goes for the republicans when I hear them talk about how the left leaning groups caused Sarah Palin to "have to quit as govonor" because of their public slandering and lies. If that's all it takes to get a person to quit their government post, then we would be seeing a lot more politicians quitting over nothing.

[StrangeSox]

I didn't defend ACORN there, that was my point.

 

But look at the wikipedia page detailing the investigations by the GAO, a couple of AG's and another governmental office and then the part on the media coverage after it. There's absolutely nothing to defend with respect to O'Keefe, Breitbart, Hannity and the rest of the dumbasses at Fox News.

[StrangeSox]

Lost in the Wisconsin mess are the terrible bills being passed by Republicans in Michigan and Ohio, like this one where they're taxing pensions to pay for corporate tax cuts.

 

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/20...get_delive.html

 

 

[mr_genius]

Lost in the Wisconsin mess are the terrible bills being passed by Republicans in Michigan and Ohio, like this one where they're taxing pensions to pay for corporate tax cuts.

 

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/20...get_delive.html

 

better than than the Illinois solution

[Balta1701]

In an article seemingly placed so that both no one and everyone would find a way to notice it, some guy with a muslim-name has an op-ed piece in the Arizona Star on gun control.

[lostfan]

In an article seemingly placed so that both no one and everyone would find a way to notice it, some guy with a muslim-name has an op-ed piece in the Arizona Star on gun control.

lol he said the 2nd Amendment was an individual right and the commenters are still flipping the f*** out.

[BigSqwert]

Finally! Doing something to create jobs. I'm relieved to hear that Congress finally gets it.

[Balta1701]

Ezra Klein's bit on Evan Bayh is a pleasure to read and incredibly disheartening about the state of government. I'd just suggest reading the whole thing.

In our last interview, Bayh complained of the poor opinion the public had of him and his colleagues. “They look at us like we’re worse than used-car salesmen.” Yes. They do. And this is why.

[southsider2k5]

Ezra Klein's bit on Evan Bayh is a pleasure to read and incredibly disheartening about the state of government. I'd just suggest reading the whole thing.

 

To be fair, my poor opinion of Evan Bayh is completely and 100% because he decided blowing off a group of high school students was more important than treating them with any kind of respect.

[StrangeSox]

I'm glad that this useless Senator is out of office.

[StrangeSox]

Obama continues his terrible positions on civil rights.

 

I probably won't be voting for him in 2012 but only because I have the luxury of living in Illinois.

 

 

The White House today proposed sweeping revisions to U.S. copyright law, including making "illegal streaming" of audio or video a federal felony and allowing FBI agents to wiretap suspected infringers.

[...]

Under federal law, wiretaps may only be conducted in investigations of serious crimes, a list that was expanded by the 2001 Patriot Act to include offenses such as material support of terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction. The administration is proposing to add copyright and trademark infringement, arguing that move "would assist U.S. law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate those offenses."

Edited March 16, 2011 by StrangeSox

[Balta1701]

I really liked this post. I was actually tempted to turn on CNN while eating breakfast this morning to see if the reactor had been evacuated (it was, temporarily during the night), but then I thought I was probably going to learn more coming to Soxtalk and turning on NPR on the way in. I was right.

I never watch TV "news." Ever.

 

But last night and this morning, I did.

 

There's this heartbreaking and horrible catastrophe taking place in Japan. As the nuclear crisis seemed to be taking a turn very much for the even worse, I wanted to catch the latest. So I turned on CNN. Which once was the best at live coverage. Except last night it wasn't live. It was Anderson Cooper, the first hour of his show apparently being repeated because, as I discovered by returning to Daily Kos and reading a comment thread, he had left the area due to the potential danger from the nuclear crisis seeming to be taking a turn very much for the even worse. Apparently, he had tweeted it. But CNN wasn't reporting it. They were re-running the first hour of his show, not bothering to notify the viewers that it wasn't live, and not reporting that the nuclear crisis seemed to be taking a turn very much for the even worse.

 

I didn't learn.

 

This morning, I again tuned in. I wanted to know the latest. I hadn't learned that the last place to learn the latest is on TV. On CNN. Which once was the best at live reporting.

 

CNN had Wolf Blitzer in Egypt, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The banner at the bottom even told us that Wolf Blitzer was in Egypt, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As if that's what matters. Wolf Blitzer is in Egypt with Hillary Clinton. Not what the Secretary of State is doing in Egypt, but that Wolf Blitzer is in Egypt with her. The perpetually timid Wolf Blitzer. The always promoting false equivalencies Wolf Blitzer. The so determined to present even the illusion of balance that if (when?) the Republicans went flat-Earther he'd "report" it as a budding new controversy over the shape of the planet Wolf Blitzer. In Egypt. With Hillary Clinton. Which is what matters. Not what's happening in Egypt, but that Wolf Blitzer is in Egypt with Hillary Clinton. Which is the most important thing happening in Egypt. According to CNN.

 

And then they broke for commercial.

 

And then they came back.

 

And it wasn't about Japan. It was to report that the actor who voiced the AFLAC duck has been fired for tweeting jokes. The reporting of which was astonishing enough. And then they began to interview someone about the actor who voiced the AFLAC duck being fired for tweeting jokes.

 

And I turned off my TV. Enough. Enough TV "news." For the next several years. At least.

[BigSqwert]

That Damn Wikileaks

 

Have you noticed how almost every single big story in the last few months has been buttressed by something found in the Wikileaks trove of government cables? The latest:

A U

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y cable obtained by the Wi

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iLea

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web

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ite and

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een by The Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed expert who expre

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ed concern that guidance on how to protect nuclear power

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tation

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from earthqua

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e

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had only been updated three time

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in the pa

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t 35 year

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. The document

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tate

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:

"He [the IAEA official] explained that

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afety guide

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for

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ei

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mic

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afety have only been revi

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ed three time

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in the la

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t 35 year

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and that the IAEA i

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now re-examining them. Al

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o, the pre

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enter noted recent earthqua

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in

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ome ca

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e

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have exceeded the de

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ign ba

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i

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for

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ome nuclear plant

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, and that thi

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eriou

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problem that i

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now driving

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ei

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afety wor

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."

The cable

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al

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o di

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clo

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e how the Japane

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e government oppo

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ed a court order to

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hut down another nuclear power plant in we

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tern Japan becau

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e of concern

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it could not with

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tand powerful earthqua

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e

s

.

Damn information. Whatever happens, the public must be protected from it.

[Jenksismyhero]

I really liked this post. I was actually tempted to turn on CNN while eating breakfast this morning to see if the reactor had been evacuated (it was, temporarily during the night), but then I thought I was probably going to learn more coming to Soxtalk and turning on NPR on the way in. I was right.

 

I've been saying for years that cable "news" has been one of the worst things to happen to the world in the last 15-20 years.

[BigSqwert]

I've been saying for years that cable "news" has been one of the worst things to happen to the world in the last 15-20 years.

Because of Reagan's abolishing of the Fairness Doctrine.

[Soxbadger]

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_...-wikileaks.html

 

That article makes no sense. The presentation was clearly made to multiple countries including the US, why should the comments and inner thoughts of the US diplomat or member of the US embassy be revealed to the world?

 

I still have yet to hear a good reason why emails and personal thoughts/impressions should be public knowledge. I sure know that I wouldnt want people obtaining my personal and work email and then letting the world see it. Those emails are unfiltered and often contain off the cuff remarks and initial impressions. Things can easily be taken out of context and there is a reason why we have privacy.

 

Just because they work for the govt does not mean that they should be subject to this type of scrutiny.

[Balta1701]

I've been saying for years that cable "news" has been one of the worst things to happen to the world in the last 15-20 years.

Interesting choice of dates...because 20 years ago was 1991, perhaps the single greatest moment of Cable News...CNN's broadcasts from Baghdad.

[Jenksismyhero]

Interesting choice of dates...because 20 years ago was 1991, perhaps the single greatest moment of Cable News...CNN's broadcasts from Baghdad.

 

Maybe it started ok, but the problem is the various networks have become entertainment networks, not news networks. They're basically 24/7 now, which means they have a ton of time to fill, and they normally fill it by having worthless debate about worthless topics that are clearly geared towards their selective audiences.