The Democrat Thread

[Jake]

Let's name some of the different towns in my congressional district and think about how absurd it is to think that we all have similar interests.

 

Rockford, Dekalb, Princeton, Rochelle, Dixon, Ottawa, Peru, Morris, Streator, Dwight, Pontiac, Fairbury, Watseka, Gibson City

 

It would take several hours to drive Gibson City to Rockford, but of course they're still in the same district!

[Balta1701]

When I vote, I actually DO act on it with my vote. If I think a democratic candidate deserves the job, especially when this decision can be made on past performance, I'll vote for them, same goes for I's and R's.

I'm still annoyed with the Indiana Republicans, Re: Lugar.

[bmags]

I don't understand why people don't call their alderman more often. Makes stuff you think will be hard so much easier.

[Y2HH]

I don't understand why people don't call their alderman more often. Makes stuff you think will be hard so much easier.

 

Like?

[DukeNukeEm]

He doesnt know, hes never called.

[bmags]

Had a water main repair where they never turned back on the water before the weekend. Our alder mans asst. had people over in two hours. My first call to city was just a runaround. Was also able to get extended street parking for rehearsal dinner guests on a two hour street so no one had to leave to repay.

[DukeNukeEm]

Im so glad to be done with Chicago, holy s***.

[StrangeSox]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/us/one-m...tml?hp&_r=0

 

Deanne Westbrook had tried everything to keep her husband, Ronald, in the house.

 

He was 72. Alzheimer’s had erased much of his talent for music and flying airplanes.

 

No one is sure how, in the frigid hours before dawn last Wednesday in this small north Georgia community near the Tennessee border, Mr. Westbrook ended up nearly three miles from home with a handful of other people’s mail, jiggling Joe Hendrix’s doorknob.

 

Mr. Hendrix, 34, stepped onto his porch with a Glock pistol in his hand and his fiancée inside on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. He fired four shots. One hit Mr. Westbrook in the chest.

 

On a cold and damp day Tuesday, Mrs. Westbrook buried her husband of 51 years, his death adding another chapter to the debate over the nation’s patchwork of self-defense laws.

 

Investigators and a district attorney are weighing whether to charge Mr. Hendrix, a decision that exposes the challenge of balancing the right to use deadly force to defend oneself with the imperfect reality of snap decisions.

 

 

What sort of country do we live in where it's even a question whether this man should be charged with murder?

 

[CrimsonWeltall]

What sort of country do we live in where it's even a question whether this man should be charged with murder?

 

Not sure how a confused, elderly man with his arms full of mail can be seen as an imminent threat.

[Jenksismyhero]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/us/one-m...tml?hp&_r=0

 

 

 

 

 

 

What sort of country do we live in where it's even a question whether this man should be charged with murder?

 

Yeah most if not all self defense/SYG laws require a threat to your life before you can respond like that. Seems like an easy charge to me.

[StrangeSox]

Apartheid's Useful Idiots

 

For many years, a large swath of this country failed Nelson Mandela, failed its own alleged morality, and failed the majority of people living in South Africa. We have some experience with this. Still, it's easy to forget William F. Buckley—intellectual founder of the modern right—effectively worked as a press agent for apartheid:

 

Buckley's racket as an American paid propagandist for white supremacy would be repeated over the years in conservative circles. As Sam Kleiner demonstrates in Foreign Policy, apartheid would ultimately draw some of America's most celebrated conservatives into its orbit. The roster includes Grover Norquist, Jack Abramoff, Jesse Helms, and Senator Jeff Flake. Jerry Falwell denounced Desmond Tutu as a "phony" and led a "reinvestment" campaign during the 1980s. At the late hour of 1993, Pat Robertson opined, "I know we don't like apartheid, but the blacks in South Africa, in Soweto, don't have it all that bad."

 

Not all prominent conservatives were so dishonorable. When Congress overrode President Ronald Reagan's veto of sanctions of South Africa, Mitch McConnell, for instance, was forthright—"I think he is wrong ... We have waited long enough for him to come on board." When Falwell embarrassed himself by condemning Tutu, some Republican senators denounced him.

 

But the overall failure of American conservatives to forthrightly deal with South Africa's white-supremacist regime, coming so soon after their failure to deal with the white-supremacist regime in their own country, is part of their heritage, and thus part of our heritage. When you see a Tea Party protestor waving the flag of slavery in front of the home of the first black president, understand that this instinct has been cultivated. It is still, at this very hour, being cultivated:

[Jake]

Then we elect guys like Dick Cheney who still thinks he did the right thing in voting against sanctioning the apartheid regime

[bigruss]

People I know that are trying to "revitalize" Detroit are so crazy. They want the city to thrive again, but then attack any businesses that come in that aren't owned by local black residents.

 

Look, I get that the city is predominantly black (around 80%), but if a white person wants to invest money in Detroit it doesn't mean they are trying to scheme blacks and take advantage of them.

 

I somewhat get the local business support, the city needs more, but still jobs are jobs and Detroit sure needs them. I would worry about supporting local business more once that city gets back on it's feet a bit.

[Jake]

You need people to live there. Urban renewal is a tricky thing and there's little consensus in how to do it, but I think the key thing that hasn't been stressed in Detroit is trying to get people to live there. Hell, several of their big business developments have crowded out neighborhoods. People will care about the town, want things to be there, etc. if they actually live in it. Right now, nobody feels invested in the city's future because they all live outside of the city. They only care about the parts of the city that serve them. When you live there, the entire thing matters. Your neighborhood matters. The drug store down the street matters. The beauty of your home matters.

[StrangeSox]

Obama to skip Olympic games, selects gay athletes for Sochi delegation

[mr_genius]

The Obama regime continues it attacks on the middle class, all while giving out unlimited free stuff and entitlements to billionaires.

 

Facebook, the hot technology company that is earning more than $1 billion in revenue, won’t pay any taxes on its income this year and instead probably will get a major refund from federal taxpayers, according to Sen. Tom Coburn’s annual roundup of wasteful spending.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/d...ct-human-urine/

[Balta1701]

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D- Nev.) was hospitalized early Friday after not feeling well, according to his office.

 

"Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. Tests have been conducted and everything is normal. He is alert, resting and feeling better," according to a statement issued by his office.

[Jake]

Privileges of the well-insured

[StrangeSox]

New Mexico and Utah courts both struck down anti-SSM laws last week, and now it looks like Ohio is jumping on board, too.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-narr...rKDJeek.twitter

 

that wouldn't legalize SSM in Ohio, but it would force Ohio to recognize SSM from other states.

[StrangeSox]

Chicago's Murder Rate Plummeted in 2013, Despite What You May Have Heard

 

Murder rate at its lowest since LBJ, crime rates down in all 22 precincts.

[bmags]

Chicago's Murder Rate Plummeted in 2013, Despite What You May Have Heard

 

Murder rate at its lowest since LBJ, crime rates down in all 22 precincts.

 

I'm glad that's the case. There probably was credence to the heat of 2012 creating a spike, but I'm not sure how much since other metros did not see their drops fall.

 

I don't have a lot of faith in McCarthy or Emanuel, but I hope for the lives of those affected by this violence that we can see Chicago drop to New York levels.

[DukeNukeEm]

You can't trust CPD stats outside homicides and even when it comes to homicides you kind of wonder if there was pressure in the department to classify as many deaths as possible as natural causes to soften the stat sheet. Also, 420 homicides is not an accomplishment in the slightest and the city should still be f***ing humiliated by it.

[Balta1701]

You can't trust CPD stats outside homicides and even when it comes to homicides you kind of wonder if there was pressure in the department to classify as many deaths as possible as natural causes to soften the stat sheet. Also, 420 homicides is not an accomplishment in the slightest and the city should still be f***ing humiliated by it.

Seriously, you're alleging the CPD covers up unsolved homicides to improve statistics and no one notices?

[DukeNukeEm]

Hmmm would Chicago, IL do something catastrophically stupid with serious long term ramifications if it can score some political points in the present?

[Balta1701]

Hmmm would Chicago, IL do something catastrophically stupid with serious long term ramifications if it can score some political points in the present?

I read this post as my evening news was mentioning parents asking M&Ms to change their formula because they believe the coloring affects their children's behavior and immediately thought "well that explains this post".