The Republican Thread

[StrangeSox]

Just to be accurate, Boy Scouts has never excluded a youth member for being gay that I am aware of. Also, you can count on one hand, with some fingers left over, how many gay adults have been removed. Basically it's "don't ask, don't tell". I think most everyone here knows how I feel about it, and it is which is the better vantage point to help change, from within, or from outside. I've always felt both.

 

And it is only in a couple of the programs that either issue comes into play. BSA has several divisions, including the fastest growing, that do allow gays and atheists, (and girls). We have excluded adults with felonies, drunk driving convictions, molestation accusations, pornography, etc.

 

I wasn't really attacking the Boy Scouts (I used to be one and my gay, atheist brother is an Eagle Scout!), just providing a directly comparable example that the Supreme Court has already ruled on. I dislike the "don't ask, don't tell" policies in regards to both homosexuality and religious belief, but I don't have a problem with the organization as a whole. These policies apply to both leaders and youth members as far as I'm aware.

Edited November 25, 2008 by StrangeSox

[Texsox]

I wasn't really attacking the Boy Scouts (I used to be one and my gay, atheist brother is an Eagle Scout!), just providing a directly comparable example that the Supreme Court has already ruled on. I dislike the "don't ask, don't tell" policies in regards to both homosexuality and religious belief, but I don't have a problem with the organization as a whole. These policies apply to both leaders and youth members as far as I'm aware.

 

I didn't see it as an attack and trust me, I've seen a few of those.

 

BSA units are primarily chartered by religious groups (AKA customers). BSA performs a youth ministry function in most units. So believing in a higher power seems reasonable.

 

My biggest complaint I have are the BSA members that turn around and cry when other organizations cut off funding, stop allowing BSA access, etc. because they are standing up for their values. If you want people to respect your organization and values, then you have to respect theirs.

 

And finally, Boy Scouts are not a uniquely American institution. The World Organization of Scouting Movements (WOSM) was started in England a hundred years ago. In most countries there are multiple Scouting Associations, each with its own membership standard. Even in countries with one association, it is usually co-ed and without some of the draconian measures we follow in the US.

[Cknolls]

50 More pieces of s*** flushed down the toilet. NICE!!! to our brave Marines.

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Ledeen highlights this stirring account of Marines fighting in Afghanistan:

 

FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.

 

Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.

 

The city is home to several major insurgent leaders. Reports indicate that more than 250 full time fighters reside in the city and in the surrounding villages.

 

Shewan had been a thorn in the side of Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan throughout the Marines' deployment here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, because it controls an important supply route into the Bala Baluk district. Opening the route was key to continuing combat operations in the area.

 

"The day started out with a 10-kilometer patrol with elements mounted and dismounted, so by the time we got to Shewan, we were pretty beat," said a designated marksman who requested to remain unidentified. "Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our 'humvees' was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast."

 

The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades. After recovering the Marines trapped in the kill zone, another platoon sergeant personally led numerous attacks on enemy fortified positions while the platoon fought house to house and trench to trench in order to clear through the enemy ambush site.

 

"The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can accomplish when they're given the opportunity to fight," the sniper said. "A small group of Marines met a numerically superior force and embarrassed them in their own backyard. The insurgents told the townspeople that they were stronger than the Americans, and that day we showed them they were wrong."

 

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn't miss any shots, despite the enemies' rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

 

"I was in my own little world," the young corporal said. "I wasn't even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target."

 

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies' spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.

 

"I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured."

 

 

[mr_genius]

question of the day:

 

is FOX news going to stop running Sarah Palin intreviews 24/7 or am i going to have to put them on my ignore list?

[lostfan]

question of the day:

 

is FOX news going to stop running Sarah Palin intreviews 24/7 or am i going to have to put them on my ignore list?

Not as long as she's good for ratings.

[mr_genius]

Not as long as she's good for ratings.

 

yea i suppose thats true.

 

[YASNY]

yea i suppose thats true.

 

It's the night before Thanksgiving and Greta wants to spend the evening with her family. By the way, O'Reilly is rerunning an interview with Obama.

[lostfan]

It's the night before Thanksgiving and Greta wants to spend the evening with her family. By the way, O'Reilly is rerunning an interview with Obama.

The same one or a new one? I imagine that interview drew pretty high ratings.

 

edit: nm you said "re-running"

Edited November 26, 2008 by lostfan

[mr_genius]

It's the night before Thanksgiving and Greta wants to spend the evening with her family. By the way, O'Reilly is rerunning an interview with Obama.

 

I've turned on FOX and seen a Sarah Palin interview or some segment about her way too many times this month. It's getting out of control IMO. But they can program whatever they want, I realize this. Palin just has nothing of value to say as far as I'm concerned.

Edited November 26, 2008 by mr_genius

[mr_genius]

Meet the Press is a complete joke now. This Ted Turner interview is horrible, and Brokaw is just lousy.

 

update: David Gregory is to be announced the new Meet the Press moderator. NBC has now turned what was once one of the best political shows on TV into a MSNBC laugh fest.

Edited December 2, 2008 by mr_genius

[southsider2k5]

Harry Reid, man of the people.

 

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Ye...12_02_2008.html

 

Reid: We won't smell the tourists anymore

 

By Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin

 

POSTED December 2, 2008 | 11:00 AM

 

The Capitol Visitors Center, which opened this morning, may have tripled its original budget and fallen years behind schedule, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a silver lining for members of Congress: tourists won't offend them with their B.O. anymore.

 

"My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway," said Reid in his remarks. "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."

 

But it's no longer going to be true, noted Reid, thanks to the air conditioned, indoor space.

 

And that's not all. "We have many bathrooms here, as you can see," Reid continued. "Souvenirs are available."

 

$621 million well spent.

[mr_genius]

And that's not all. "We have many bathrooms here, as you can see," Reid continued. "Souvenirs are available."

 

$621 million well spent.

 

[Texsox]

A woman, married three times, walked into a bridal shop one day and

told the sales clerk that she was looking for a wedding gown for her

fourth wedding

 

'Of course, madam,' replied the sales clerk, 'exactly what type and

color are you looking for?'

 

The bride to be said: 'A long frilly white dress with a veil.'

 

The sales clerk hesitated a bit, then said, 'Please don't take this the

wrong way, but gowns of that nature are considered more appropriate for

brides who are being married the first time - for those who are a bit

more innocent, if you know what I mean? Perhaps ivory or sky blue would

be nice?'

 

'Well,' replied the customer, a little peeved at the clerk's directness,

'I can assure you that a white gown would be quite appropriate. Believe

it or not, despite all my marriages, I remain as innocent as a first

time bride.

 

You see, my first husband was so excited about our wedding, he died as

we were checking into our hotel. My second husband and I got into such a

terrible fight in the limo on our way to our honeymoon that we had that

wedding annulled immediately and never spoke to each other again.'

 

'What about your third husband?' asked the sales clerk.

 

'That one was a Democrat,' said the woman, 'and every night for four

years, he just sat on the edge of the bed and told me how good it was

going to be, but nothing ever happened...'

[southsider2k5]

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/200...on-obama-twice/

 

Florida Congresswoman hangs up on Obama - twice

By Jimmy Orr | 12.04.08

 

Nothing is more annoying than getting prank phone calls, calls from telemarketers, and calls from President-elect Barack Obama.

 

Barack Obama?

 

No time for you

 

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen received a phone call from Obama yesterday to wish her congratulations on her re-election and to convey other political-type niceties — like the importance of working together.

 

Problem was, she didn’t believe it was him. She thought it was one of those wacky radio station stunts wherein a DJ gets you to believe he is someone famous. You know, like when Sarah Palin was spoofed into thinking she was talking to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

 

Determined not to be “Palin-ized,” Ros-Lehtinen hung up on him.

 

Strike two

 

So Obama’s head honcho Rahm Emanuel got involved and called her back. She promptly hung up on him too.

 

”I thought it was one of the radio stations in South Florida playing an incredible, elaborate, terrific prank on me,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Miami Herald. “They got Fidel Castro to go along. They’ve gotten Hugo Chavez and others to fall for their tricks. I said, ‘Oh, no, I won’t be punked’.”

 

Third time’s the charm

 

It finally took Representative Howard Berman to get involved before she would believe Obama wanted to talk to her. Berman called his colleague, but she was wary of him too.

 

In fact, she demanded that Berman share a private joke they share to convince her that Berman was actually Berman.

 

No details of the private joke has emerged but that top-secret intelligence was enough for Ros-Lehtinen to believe that this was all for real.

 

She then told Berman to tell Obama to try again.

 

“I know this sounds very presumptuous, but please tell President-elect Obama he can call me now and I will take his call,” she said.

 

A big laugh

 

How’d the call go?

 

She said the two of them had fun when they finally connected.

 

“He was having a good laugh,” she told CNN. “He said Michelle will get a kick out of this. Because she likes to pinch my ego — bring it down a notch.”

 

She said he later told her lightheartedly that he would always remember her for the incident.

 

“Trust me, Ileana,” she recounted him saying. “You will always be remembered by me, because I have made many of these calls and never once has anyone ever hung up on me. And never once has anyone hung up on me twice.”

[lostfan]

Rofl that is hilarious.

[Balta1701]

Politico

Between 2004 and 2007, Rep. Charles Rangel steered nearly $80,000 in campaign cash to an Internet company run by his son — paying lavishly for a pair of political websites so poorly designed an expert estimated one should have cost no more than $100 to create.

 

The payments are apparently legal under federal law, but their disclosure raises new questions about the Ways and Means Committee chairman as he faces House ethics committee probes into his failure to pay taxes on rental income and his alleged use of House stationery to solicit contributions for a public policy center that bears his name.

 

Rangel’s leadership PAC and congressional committee shelled out $79,560 to Edisonian Innovative Works for “websites,” according to Federal Election Commission filings.

 

Edisonian Innovative Works, which lists several clients on its homepage — none of them politicians — was founded by Rangel’s son, Steven Charles Rangel, 40, of Greenbelt, Md.

 

“This is probably legal but is definitely wrong,” said Meredith McGehee of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that monitors compliance with electoral law.

[EvilMonkey]

Politico

I have no problem with politicians steering business to friends etc. for work, provided that they actually are QUALIFIED to do the work, DO the work adequately and do it for a market price. But most politicians have no little voice in their head that tells them that somethng looks wrong, especially if it benefits themselves.

[mr_genius]

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the bill's collapse "a loss for the country," adding: "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight."

 

it's up right now, Harry. like propping up corrupt unions is going to be a big boost to the markets. if anything, a passed bailout would have caused a drop.

 

 

[StrangeSox]

it's up right now, Harry. like propping up corrupt unions is going to be a big boost to the markets. if anything, a passed bailout would have caused a drop.

 

It was down several hundred until talk of the White House not letting them fail began to circulate.

[mr_genius]

It was down several hundred until talk of the White House not letting them fail began to circulate.

 

So if GW Bush busts out the magic deficit spending pen (as usual) and the market goes down then I can come back and gloat i suppose. Say I was right, a internet tradition.

 

 

[StrangeSox]

So if GW Bush busts out the magic deficit spending pen (as usual) and the market goes down then I can come back and gloat i suppose. Say I was right, a internet tradition.

 

 

Just saying that the immediate market reaction isn't really a good indicator.

[EvilMonkey]

OK, just check oout the first line in this story about Obama:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBA...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

Obama faces heady challenges, and they're growing

 

By LIZ SIDOTI

Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama, relatively young and inexperienced, is facing a rapidly growing list of monumental challenges as he prepares to take the reins of a nation in turmoil.

 

NOW they tell us. All this time I thought he was just fresh and dynamic, full of hopey and changy?

 

 

[kapkomet]

OK, just check oout the first line in this story about Obama:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBA...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

 

 

NOW they tell us. All this time I thought he was just fresh and dynamic, full of hopey and changy?

I have seen more about "inexperience" and "Obama" in the same sentance from our oh-so-glorious main stream media since election day then "Bush" "sucks" and "Iraq" from 2003 on.

 

It cracks me up how all of a sudden, he's no longer the messiah. Keep the expectations low, you know.

 

[southsider2k5]

I have seen more about "inexperience" and "Obama" in the same sentance from our oh-so-glorious main stream media since election day then "Bush" "sucks" and "Iraq" from 2003 on.

 

It cracks me up how all of a sudden, he's no longer the messiah. Keep the expectations low, you know.

 

I have also heard I don't know how many times in the last six weeks about how Obama wasn't really detailed when offering his opinion on [insert issue here], which we never really heard before November 4th either...

[lostfan]

I have also heard I don't know how many times in the last six weeks about how Obama wasn't really detailed when offering his opinion on [insert issue here], which we never really heard before November 4th either...

When it came to economics, Obama would get a free pass on the gray areas because when he didn't go into detail, McCain would be even less detailed. His (and Palin's) standard response was to call Obama a socialist and pimp out Joe the Plumber which ordinarlily would be fine as a lead-in to something else, but was never followed up with anything. substantive Yet another reason McCain should've picked someone like Romney.

 

In other words: Don't blame the MSM if Obama didn't get specific enough on the campaign trail, blame McCain for his strategy that never made him do it.