A screed about the GOP field is the Post of the Day!
Note from Dan: The comment below is a slightly cleaned-up version of something dave posted on another thread. Didn’t want it to get buried there. IMHO he’s bending over backwards with kindness for these guys. And dave, you forgot Ron Paul!
“The quality and trustworthiness of the three top dogs on the GOP presidential primary comedy tour have never been better demonstrated than by the events of the past few days.
First, Romney’s chief campaign spokesperson says what we have all observed in candidate Romney is true. He will say whatever it takes to try to win the nomination whether he believes it or not. In the general election we will “hit the reset button.” Everything will change It’s sort of like an Etch-a-Sketch game.
Then Rick Santorum implies that if Romney is the GOP candidate we’d be just as well off sticking with what we have. He stands on the steps of the Supreme Court and tells the world Romney can’t win because of his responsibility for “Obamneycare” And four hours later he tells a group of supporters that he would be open to running for Vice President on the Romney ticket.
And finally, Newt Gingrich, who has amply illustrated throughout this campaign that he is in it for all the money he can and will eventually make, emphasizes that fact once again by telling his supporters he’d be delighted to pose for individual pictures with them. All they have to do is bring their checkbook and write a check fo $50.
These are the best the GOP has to offer? Sadly, that appears to be true.”
March 27, 2012 - 4:39 PM
This summary of the GOP wannabes is why I have been saying that Obama will win easily this fall.
dave sums it up nicely. Can you say…President Obama?
I really think what we need now is…less spending. That’s the ticket, less spending and government intervention in reproductive rights. Toss in some highly targeted bombing in Syria, you know the non lethal type (for us that is). And mix in a pinch, or actually a lot, of drilling on all federal land, stir in the Keystone Pipeline and you have a perfect recipe…for a freakin’ disaster in November! I personally detest this recipe but the GOP seems to love it and I am soooo glad they do.
Dan
I left out Ron Paul for three reasons:
1. He is clearly a lbertarian and not a Republican and is just using the primary as a platform to introduce his far out ideas to the public.
2. His theories about economics and foreign policy are so far from the mainstream that he has no chance of being on the ticket in any capacity.This is clearly evidenced by the fact that of all the candidates, he has never been the flavor of the month.
3. He is consistent. He says the same things, however nutty they mat be, day after day after day without posing as the son of Flipper.
Yes someday someone will notice that if you can mandate a sonogram be purchased, you can mandate that insurance be purchased.
That the SCOTUS can carry an agenda will someday bother you when it is no longer your agenda and you just need to remember to stay quiet when that day comes.
Also those who insist it is about state’s rights except when you want to strike down Roe V Wade. Insist it is about state’s rights when it is insurance but not when you need to enshrine marriage. Just wear your hypocrite badge proudly as your lack of principle is exposed.
The road the GOP has decided to travel this election cycle shows a total miscalculation of the mood of the country. It’s like the GOP thinks the election is in the bag and now is the time to roll back 100 years of social change in America. Their attitude is women can’t make decisions on their own. Blacks or the elderly shouldn’t be allowed to vote and only the wealthy should have competent health care. Oh, and just in case the little folks don’t like it, let’s make sure it’s ok to shoot someone if there’s even a wiff you feel threatened.
Crazy stuff. November will be interesting. We will see how many have been brainwashed into believing the crap the GOP is running on.
I think the Dems will be in control of the presidency, the house and the senate.
Today was a pretty rough day for the Democrats, as it appears 0bamacare is going down in flames. This sounds like a last desperate gasp from someone who knows his moron candidate is DOA.
I wouldn’t be throwing too many stones after NObama was caught on camera whispering “this is my last election. after I’m elected I’ll have a lot more flexibility.”
Now if this were my guy, how could I have any confidence that if I voted for him he would actually do what he indicated he would do? Sounds to me much like someone who is intentionally saying what people want to hear with no intention of sticking to it.
“someone who is intentionally saying what people want to hear with no intention of sticking to it.”
Bug just described Mitt Romney. Good job, guy.
Newt is now “scaling back” his campaign. I will agree with him on that point. His campaign has beem sort of scaly, as befits his personality.
Aws for Obama’s conversation with Medvedev, recognizing that accomplishing anything in the poisonous atmosphere of this campaign wheen the traitorous Republicans would yell at the top of their lungs in an effort to undermine sensible decisions, that is simply taking a realistic position. Republicans are already taking indefensible and extreme positions on interference in Syria, bombing Iran and making long term committments in Afghanistan that are insane. They surely would contribute
nothing of substance to discssions on reducing tensions and getting rid of costly, dangerous, and excessive nuclear weapons capacity.
@Dave- Ron Paul’s “far out” ideas? You mean where he states that we should stay out of other nation’s internal business, reduce our bloated military spending and stop sending our young men and women off to war? Or where Ron thinks we should have a sound monetary policy backed by some reasonable facsimile of value? Or maybe the crazy idea that citizens should be allowed to live lives unencumbered by invasive government intervention?
Yea what a total whacko!
You may press “delete” now Mr Casey.
Good question Jack, Willard Romney or Dick Santorum ARE “your guy” and you tell us, how can you have any confidence that either would actually do what he indicated he would do? Face it, Dick Santorum is an unstable zealot and Willard Romney will say anything to get the job and what on earth gives anyone the idea the pandering will stop there? Your candidates are the epitome of “someone who is intentionally saying what people want to hear with no intention of sticking to it” and everyone knows it. The trouble with bashing “my guy” is that “your guy” is no day at the beach either. If America is in such dire trouble and this is the best the TP/GOP can offer, may God have mercy. OBAMA 2012!
Ed,
Why should I press delete?
This has been one terrible week for President Idiot Boy.
1. His ‘health care’ bill is in grave danger.
2. He got caught making a shady side deal with the Russian on missiles.
3. The Trayvon Martin case is blowing up after Obama’s blatant race-baiting.
Note all three of these mishaps are the direct result of Obama’s dishonesty. God really does exact revenge in neat ways.
@14: Is everyone on your planet a racist knownothing?
I see that suzie’s favorite conservative engineering school, Virginia Tech, is hosting Michele Obama as graduation speaker.
“God really does exact revenge in neat ways.”
Correction on previous post:
Is that why you weren’t blessed with children?
C’mon, Suzie! Answer my question! How about this one: what part of your Christian doctrine allows for using racist epithets? I really do want to know.
@Dan Casey: Well there does seem to be a shortage of enlightened conservative opinion on here. Is there censorship? Perhaps the dearth is related to the limited number of sensible options for a GOP candidate in this election.
I am dyed-in-the-wool and I will confess that, and not in decades has there been such internal acrimony. My option of voting for President Obama sounds counter-intuitive, but perhaps it would be for the best given the scarcity of logic and cohesiveness presented on the GOP’s behalf.
Ed,
It’s true that there’s a dearth of enlightened conservative opinion on this blog. But that’s not because I censor anything conservative that actually sounds sensible, to make the other side look bad.
They look bad all on their own selves.
@11 Ed, glad someone responded to the comments @3 that Ron Paul is nutty. Ron Paul is the only candidate who is sane — and noty bought by certain zealots who cannot legally be identified.
@19 “voting for President Obama sounds counter-intuitive, but perhaps it would be for the best given the scarcity of logic and cohesiveness presented on the GOP’s behalf.”
That smells a little propagandish. Theres nothing more dysfunctional and crazy as there is in the President. I voted for the President, but another 4 years and nothing but green lights, true colors? No thanks. He’s like Bush Light.
Ed
I will concede that there are parts of Ron Paul’s philodophy that are
appealing and make sense. But when he essentially seeks to dismantle the federal govt., do away with the depts. of commerce, energy, education,
labor, qand virtually everything except for some infrastructure and basic defense, I think he goes beyond common sense and slips into the nutty category. Doing away with the federal reserve with no central bank, basically withdraweing from the world and becoming isolationist cannot work and would simply leave us as a second class nation. And it would abdicate our responsibility to promote the general welfare of our people as our constitution aspires for us to do. The ultimate result of his philosophy is anarchy and every man for himself and that is not what I believe we are about as a nation.
the constitution aspires for us to do.
Ed,IMO intelligent conservatives read what the blogs conservative regulars on here write, and they don’t wnat to be associated with them. They run away as fast as they can.
Ron Paul said: “The regulations are much tougher in a free market, because you cannot commit fraud, you cannot steal, you cannot hurt people, and the failure has come that government wouldn’t enforce this. In the Industrial Revolution there was a collusion and you could pollute and they got away with it. But in a true free market in a libertarian society you can’t do that. You have to be responsible. So the regulations would be tougher.”
“I’ve been told not to talk, but these stooges don’t scare me. Threats or no threats, I’ve laid bare the coming race war in our big cities. The federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS (my training as a physician helps me see through this one.) The Bohemian Grove–perverted, pagan playground of the powerful. Skull & Bones: the demonic fraternity that includes George Bush and leftist Senator John Kerry, Congress’s Mr. New Money. The Israeli lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica.”
And then there is his newsletter: http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/republicans/a/Ron-Paul-Quotes.htm
Sorry, he is nuts.
Ed, you have hit on a theme of mine (who says the two sides cannot find common ground?). If the nation is in such dire condition and Obama is such an awful leader, why would any group that proposes to love this nation come up with Gingrich, Santorum and Romney and say any of them are a better choice? Frankly that is insulting to anyone’s intelligence, Republicans more so than Democrats, but insulting nonetheless. Ron Paul is the kind of pol both sides need calling them to account, but he will never be President.
“IMO intelligent conservatives read what the blogs conservative regulars on here write, and they don’t wnat to be associated with them. They run away as fast as they can.”
That is funny, Debbie. Of course, there are certain exceptions: Michael Howdyshell is but one . . . terps is quite intelligent, even if that is not in full display in the stuff he posts here. And there are others. . . .
So Dan, are you saying they post the stuff they do just to get a rise and they really are not like that? Who the hell would want to project that, even from anonymity? I confess I do not get that kind of person. Or you are just wrong.
I was with Ron Paul all the way through the end of the first paragraph in Sandi’s post.
And then I got to the second. Holy bicycle, Batman!
On a more serious note, a True Libertarian Society could never exist. Because the people with the money are always going to be spending that money to game the system in their favor. True, they do that now, quite successfully. But in a TLS, there would be no regulatory framework to prevent that, AND all judges would be elected. Who do you think would finance their election? The people who can afford to game the system.
It would be like Citizens United on steroids.
There are always exceptions, Dan.
They weren’t the regulars I was thinking of.
I didn’t even notice the “wnat” typo. Make that want.
It is always great to hear a politician talk about the free market. If the free market this and the free market that. They seldom mention that the free market theory only works if there is a perfect free market worldwide. Nor do they discuss that in the World there are anything but free markets. Lastly, they fail to discuss that free market theory may take years to work if indeed there was such a thing. I don’t know about you, but a market correction happening ten years from now will not do me much good as I like to eat on a daily basis.
Conservatives talk about free market to get you to believe that is what they are doing, when in fact they are manipulating and regulating and gaming the market to take advantage. They know full well it does not work in the world as it exists.
Ron Paul’s Austrian Economic Theory did not work when it was formulated, will not work today. It is but a pipe dream of perfection that always fails imperfect people and nations.
dave on Ron Paul:
“Doing away with the federal reserve with no central bank”
Past presidents let its charter expire twice. Jackson got rid of it the second time and was, to my knowledge, the last president that had the counrty completely out of debt. We don’t need the fed.
“On a more serious note, a True Libertarian Society could never exist.”
I think it could and that you just can’t fathom it. Fair warning, a whole lot of natural selection would have to run its course first and there are too many voters that have the system propping up either them or their standard of living to want to see that happen.
I, for one, am willing to make the necessary sacrifices that so few are to get rid of the debt, which is one of the bigger over-arching problems that contributes to the rest.
Actually, true-blue conservatives HATE a free market.
They are FOR every kind of regulation that is advantageous to them, such as tort reform. And they like it that the taxes on their (passive) dividend income has been regulated to be much lower than taxes on ordinary income.
The garbage they spew about regulation is total BS. Because they are the beneficiaries of a huge amount of special-interest regulation.
Dan, please tell us your thoughts on the second paragraph….
“the coming race war in our big cities.”
Check.
“The federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS”
I don’t know and don’t pretent to, but am curious about AIDS’ dubious origins.
“leftist Senator John Kerry”
Check
“The Israeli lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica.”
Check
35.”Actually, true-blue conservatives HATE a free market.
They are FOR every kind of regulation that is advantageous to them”
Yes, they do. They’d scream about a tax on Bibles, but lobby for a tax on porn. You either honor the Constitution, liberty, and a fair free market or you don’t. Gotta play fair to earn my respect.
I don’t know what bat-chit stuff Paul is spewing about the coming race war. That’s no check in my book.
John Kerry is not a leftist senator. He’s a centrist. And he never would have won the Democratic Party nomination in 2004 if he wasn’t. The fact that some RW nutcases consider him a leftist doesn’t change that.
There is no federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS. That is crazy talk.
Israel’s lobby is too powerful to my liking, no question. But it’s not like everyone in Congress is a total whore to them.
The Bohemian Grove and Skull and Bones is what really got me.
“Fair warning, a whole lot of natural selection would have to run its course first and there are too many voters that have the system propping up either them or their standard of living to want to see that happen.”
John Wilburn, I don’t think you’re talking about “natural selection” in the conventional sense. You’re talking about it at the point of a gun.
They are FOR every kind of regulation that is advantageous to them, such as tort reform.
This is like saying passing laws to punish thieves who break into a business and steal it blind, is “regulation that is advantageous to business”.
Not a dman thing “natural” about it Dan.
You left yourself wide open John Wilburn, but in the spirit of camaraderie I will not take it and beat you with it. This time.
It’s true that there’s a dearth of enlightened conservative opinion on this blog. But that’s not because I censor anything conservative that actually sounds sensible, to make the other side look bad.
They look bad all on their own selves.
Not exactly true. Dan will block some posts that make liberals look bad. I have examples saved in a folder.
“John Wilburn, I don’t think you’re talking about “natural selection” in the conventional sense. You’re talking about it at the point of a gun.”
Dan, I really want peace but the system IS going to break according to the path we’re on. If the day ever comes that the welfare checks quit rolling off the press because the government cannot fund them OR if the tax payers get their backs broken from the taxes to fund those checks and go to the welfare side of the equation themselves, either way, something’s got to give and things are going to get ugly. I’ve said for some time that society is 9 meals from anarchy, Hurricane Katrina showed that New Orleans was just 6 meals from anarchy. At some point, your neighbor will want your food to feed his family and kill you if that’s what it takes.
If things ever get to THAT point, then yes, you are correct. That’s why I work hard and lobby for responsibility so that they don’t and I think we both hope they never do.
“Not exactly true. Dan will block some posts that make liberals look bad. I have examples saved in a folder.”
Remember, folks, when she threatened to pick up her ball and go home if I trashed any more of her posts? Well I did (none of which made conservatives look good).
And she lied, ha!
I would like for anyone to defend “this is my last election. once I’m elected I’ll have a lot more flexibility.”
Please try to spin it, not in comparing it to anyone else, just in its own context.
Anyone????
Beuler….Beuler….
None are so blind as those who refuse to see
#42 most ill-informed…compared to your posts, it would be impossible for any liberals to “look bad”.
Your posting standards are so low that a third grader with a crayon could assume your name and avatar and no one would notice the difference…
Not exactly true. Dan will block some posts that make liberals look bad. I have examples saved in a folder.
Comment by Suzie — March 28, 2012 @ 8:10 pm
That is seriously sad. I do not mean that sarcastically.
(o\ ! /o),
Easy. The president of the United State is playing a delaying game with Russia. He’s not the first US president to use that tactic, and he won’t be the last.
There’s no “gotcha” here.
“You left yourself wide open John Wilburn, but in the spirit of camaraderie I will not take it and beat you with it. This time.”
Sandi, this isn’t a NASCAR race where I’m trying not to leave you room on the inside to pass or some equally tough competition event. I’m just glad you are showing a spirit of camraderie… today.
(o\ ! /o), was that a serious question? Your desperation is showing.
“The president of the United State is playing a delaying game with Russia.”
That makes since since he’s palying a delaying game with everything else too. Delaying is the friend of chaos. The longer our issues simmer, the harder or less possible it will be to remedy them.
I think she’s hoping to turn me into the troll-protecting police.
John Wilburn, has your brain trust figured out how that one turns out?
John Wilburn,
You’re not on your game tonight. I mean that sincerely.
Oh and you are offering “remedies” now? Funny.
Not a NASCAR fan but if you mean it is not a competition, you are correct. It is an issue of credibility and you throw yours around entirely too casually.
Sure thing, back to the surface stuff it is.
@19
Folks, we just got a rare look at an endangered species, Republicanis Moderatii.
Here’s how it will work. If a post of mine is deleted that is clearly not a violation of the rules in my eyes, and Dan announces to the room that he deleted it, so that I know it’s not a technical goof-up by the system, then I am the hell gone. Just like I was gone last time until the posts were magically restored. That way everyone will know what happened and why.
John, you are misunderstanding. The issues are not the problem. The positions you take on them are. No need to keep to the “surface”, or troll baiting and wit swapping, but if you are going to claim one thing on one issue and something else on another, do not expect me to pull my punches. That is all I am trying to tell you and the last time I am going to tell you. My email is vademsandi@yahoo.com if you ever want to discuss anything outside of the blog.
#36, John Wilburn said: “I don’t know and don’t pretend to, but am curious about AIDS’ dubious origins”
John, for one who has usually shown a preference for rationality, I’m seriously disappointed by this show of irrational paranoia. My charitable interpretation is that you’re simply unaware of our current knowledge of the HIV viral family, rather than that you are a Lake Claytor-ish denier of the validity of genetic science.
It is well established, by actual genotypic tracing and not mere speculation, that HIV emerged in a cross-species transfer from chimp to man, and remained at an isolated, low incidence level for many years before shifts in human patterns accelerated it’s spread.
Here is a summary from Craig Timberg, the former Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post, who with his co-author Daniel Halperin, an AIDS expert currently at the University of North Carolina, explores the history of the HIV virus and efforts to fight the AIDS epidemic in his book “Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It”:
“(A) biologist at the University of Arizona had found a piece of virus that had been circulating in the capital of Congo back in 1960, and he compared it to a second piece that existed from that same era. And when you look at how different those pieces of virus are, you can sort of do the math and figure out what the origin is. And by looking at the pace with which viruses evolved, you can reverse engineer your way back into a date range. His research suggests that the key year was around 1908, but the range is a bit wider — 1884 to 1924. Somewhere in there, the first HIV is loose in the world, has come out of the chimp population and is infecting humans.
“…the simian version of HIV — which is called SIV — has been around for thousands of years. It was only when colonial powers migrated across parts of Africa — where the SIV virus existed among the chimps — that the virus started to spread among humans.
In the past 100 years, 99 percent of all of the world’s deaths from AIDS have come from a strain of the virus called HIV-1 group M, which first appeared in remote parts of Cameroon, where African porters worked a century ago cutting paths across dense brush in places where humans had never before traveled.
“… [There was] human movement in areas where humans didn’t live in great density before colonialism arrived — you had the arrival of the rubber trade and the ivory trade, and suddenly you had to go into these very deep parts of the forest that were not hospitable to humans before and since.”
From Cameroon, strains of HIV migrated down into other parts of central Africa and then into Leopoldville, which is now called Kinshasa. Leopoldville was a Belgian territory and by 1920 had become the capital of the Belgian Congo — complete with factories, shipyards, railways and single-sex dormitories for the workers, who were thrust into urban living conditions.
In 1960, the Belgians gave up Congo, which then became an independent country again. At that point, 1,000 to 2,000 people likely had HIV, says Timberg.
“But you have to bear in mind, when HIV progresses into AIDS, it looks like a lot of other diseases,” he says. “You have diarrhea, you have fevers, you have wasting. So there’s not much evidence that anybody at the time had any evidence that there was a new sickness.”
An entire interview with Timberg can be heard here:
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/27/147491878/tinderbox-how-the-west-fueled-the-aids-epidemic
56.”Not a NASCAR fan but if you mean it is not a competition, you are correct. It is an issue of credibility and you throw yours around entirely too casually.”
I see what you’re saying becuase if you get too far out of the mainstream LW or RW talking points, people do tend to write you off. Kind of like when Ron Paul referenced buying a gallon of gas for 10 cents, with a silver dime. He was right and it was a great currency value example but very few people got it and that was way past the cookie-cutter stuff folks want to talk about. So, I guess I’ll continue to remark about the little day-to-day stuff and leave the big issues we can’t really touch on the blog laying. I have no thirst for popularity, so I don’t care if there’s a place for me here or not.
#44 You can’t mean it, Dan. suzie lied??? I’m stunned.
What about it, suzie? You said you were leaving if Dan blocked any more posts for no reason. He blocked. You’re still here. What’s up with that?
#45 Bug, this is really beneath your usual standards. Every incumbent blocks or changes or delays or speeds up things to try to help with re-election. Abraham Lincoln was doing it. Standard practice, and it’s never going away.
“If a post of mine is deleted that is clearly not a violation of the rules in my eyes, and Dan announces to the room that he deleted it, so that I know it’s not a technical goof-up by the system, then I am the hell gone.”
Ha ha ha. Suzie won’t leave. She can’t do it. For fun, it beats running that car-rental stand up at the airport.
She will never leave. She can’t. She’s become a slave to reading, and responding to, commenters on a blog who she considers dimwits.
Think about that for a minute, and you’ll realize it’s sad in a way.
“John, for one who has usually shown a preference for rationality, I’m seriously disappointed by this show of irrational paranoia”
Warren, I was concerned by admitting that I didn’t have a good knowledge of that, that I might be condemned for it. There was no Pat Robertson-ish implications in there. It was on the list, so I just rolled with it, instead of making it conspicuous by its abscence. Please at least give me credit for not buying into religious ignorance and instead leaning on science; that’s wahy I said I didn’t even pretend to know. They say the dumbest question is the one not asked. The dumb answers…. well we read all kinds of those everyday, don’t we. Thanks for the primer.
“I am the hell gone”
You don’t have the balls, oh wait…
Dan..
She has notions of grandiosity..
That is fairly apparent, Even if she
has to be a leech to convince the inner
voices that its her RIGHTful throne.
If this keeps her out of the gun stores
and such maybe you are providing a service..
Perhaps triage..or maybe background for the NWII guys
..then you are providing a valuable service and distraction.
NWII…(Nuts We-re Interestesd In)
Oh ..I guess I left out one UTR group..The scribes of
PWDG2FA,,,
People We Dont Give 2 Flocks About.
OK Dan.she just gave you another shot at calling her out with deletion of a specific post and general acknowledgement of it to the blog. It’s time for her to put up or shut up!
“Suzie says:
Here’s how it will work. If a post of mine is deleted that is clearly not a violation of the rules in my eyes, and Dan announces to the room that he deleted it, so that I know it’s not a technical goof-up by the system, then I am the hell gone. Just like I was gone last time until the posts were magically restored. That way everyone will know what happened and why.
Posted on March 28th, 2012″
Screwzie lied the first time she said she would take her toys and go home, so now she’s pulling the ‘I’m the decider!’ card.
“a violation of the rules in my eyes”
Will you be using the same rationale that allows you to lie to get on a jury to determine what constitutes a violation? It’s Dan’s blog, baby. If he wants to set up a whole different set of rules for you and block every single post of yours, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. You can whine about it to your Facebook friends, but we won’t care, because we’ll be like Limpballs–we won’t be able to hear it.
“That way everyone will know what happened and why.”
To reiterate, we won’t care. We’ll just be glad you’re gone. Surely, it won’t be the first time you’ve experienced that.
Here’s how it will work. The ‘block user’ function will be implemented and everyone will block you. Except me. You’ll tire pretty quickly of me and then you’ll be the hell gone. At that point, I’ll announce to the group, with Dan’s verification, that you are the hell gone and the Gonzos will meet up somewhere for drinks and food and music to celebrate Screwzie Is The Hell Gone Day. First round’s on Wilburn.
Arlen Specter on Mitt Romney:
“He changes positions more often than a pornographic film queen.”
#59:
Don’t let the door hit ya’ in the a$$ on the way out.
John at #67, what an honest and rational reply…Are you sure you’re in the right place? If you keep that up you’ll risk not being misunderestimated…
“First round’s on Wilburn.”
I don’t drink Contra, but how about a full, extended mag for a high powered handgun or assault rifle? She stays gone two months or more and I’ll hook you up with that. I’ll even do it on a non-class day so we can let it all hang out with “non-traditional” targets.
.
Sounds good to me, if you’re up to hanging out with a gun novice. I’ve got very little experience with guns.
Of course, you don’t have to drink alcohol to buy a round for everyone else, Just sayin’….
“if you’re up to hanging out with a gun novice.”
Why not? I hang out with about 90-100 of them each year. You could take my class and learn a lot. Everybody walks away with more knowledge and confidence. Something tells me you would be a hoot in discussions to boot!
“Of course, you don’t have to drink alcohol to buy a round for everyone else, Just sayin’….”
Believe it or not, the drinks are much cheaper than a mag full of 10mm, 7.62, or other large caliber. If you want something to sip on, it MUST be after class. Of course, all of this depends upon your ability ot get rid of the troll. You know she’ll eat up the attention of having a bounty put on her.
Does anyone else on here take this blog so seriously that they save comments in a folder?
“can’t we all just get along”
Dave, thanks for clarifying your remarks about Ron Paul. I am not completely sold with Paul’s agenda, but against the stark contrast of the remainder of the GOP candidates’ buffoonery, he seems to have the big issues covered to my satisfaction. I also admire Ron for his candor and for what seems to be an inviolable consistency.
And I am not worried about him actually becoming President. I am smart enough to know he is a little too radical in some of his ideas to be accepted by the public at large. As to Paul’s obvious disdain for the federal system, well that’s just his take on the classic Jeffersonian vs. Hamiltonian political dichotomy. As I recall from college, T. Jefferson held a similar view as an anti-federalist. I agree with you, the federal system needs to be more than the Ayn Randian position of minimalism. But offhand, I can’t think of too many things the feds have done lately that didn’t reek of some form of logical myopia. Maybe things would work better if administered primarily at the state level?
And as to the comment by Sandi Saunders (post 25)
Ron has distanced himself considerably from the more radical remarks like those and they were said well over 20 years ago. We all say stupid things at some point in our life! When I was a teenager, I told my parents I knew everything and didn’t need their help anymore. Within 2 years, I moved back home and ate mucho crowage. It sure beat beenie weenies for my 3 squares though. The point being Sandi, if the worst soundbyte you can dredge up on Ron is some ancient misguided, non-contexted remarks then so be it. Paul’s recent commentary seems to be lucid and humorous enough to convince me he’s a different breed and not just another congressional robot.
The newsletters appear to be Paul’s skeleton in the closet, and he did not take vetting their contents written by others very seriously- much to his later dismay, I am sure. I recall President Obama has some radicalized activity and friends in his past, such as the “esteemed” Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Didn’t seem to hurt him too much. And don’t even get me started on the statements of his goofball VP Joe Biden. I would say there are “sharper tools in the shed” but geesh, Biden’s not even in the shed!
Maybe I am ready to change my status from conservative to moderate, maybe I was all along. I am somewhat beholden to my father’s political views, as many of us are. I don’t want be an elephant anymore, yet I don’t want to be a donkey either. I want to be an American, making my choice without consideration of past party allegiances or voting habits.
I cannot even consider voting for Romney or Santorum, so what are my options? Not vote? Never. I don’t dislike Obama. He is a very charismatic man and his intellect is as sharp as his wit. If he had fired Eric Holder after the gunwalking fiasco denial, he would have won my confidence. But maybe we all need to vote for Obama to let the GOP know that we think the bulk of their selection of candidates in 2012 is “replete with stinkiosity.”
We seem to all be at odds with each other like never before. There is always somebody playing the ends against the middle. Maybe the media is to blame. Perhaps we have too much information these days. I can imagine voters, in say the FDR generation, seeing the stream of conflicting stories we have access to now and I imagine they would all puke or faint. Maybe both. I long for an era when intelligent political discourse is not an oxymoron.
I am late for work already, gotta go kids. Be good.
As per usual, Suzie changes the parameters and redefines what she “meant”. How pitiful can she get? I think we will find out in the days before we get the tool of the ages and never have to see her name or bile again.
Contrasuzie, I caught a new show last night “Bent”, and they actually have a character named “Screwsie”. I laughed out loud!
I agree a meet and celebrate will be in order on the happy, happy day!
#58- “Folks, we just got a rare look at an endangered species, Republicanis Moderatii.”
Hey Art, thanks for tagging him. I’ll alert these people…
“WASHINGTON—Saying the now critically endangered species of politician is at high risk for complete extinction within the next 10 years, Beltway-area conservationists announced plans Monday for a new captive breeding program designed to save moderate Republicans.
According to members of the Initiative to Protect the Political Middle (IPPM), centrist Republicans, who once freely roamed the nation calling for both economic deregulation and a return to Reagan-era tax rates on the wealthy, are in dire need of protection, having lost large portions of their natural terrain to the highly territorial Evangelical and Tea Party breeds.”
New Breeding Program Aimed at Keeping Moderate Republicans from Going Extinct
Magpie, welcome back!
#79- Debbie, when I used to frequent this blog I would sometimes save comments from Ron, OJ and others if they had good links and/or something that I wanted to read or research further when when I had more time. Anything else? No. It’s easy enough to Google a past thread if you wanted to recall something.
Magpie,
I think Debbie was asking whether you save your own comments in a folder, not others’ . . .
#83- Thanks, Dan. I just came back today, because a friend mentioned that you all were getting a “block” feature. I see that hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll check back in when and if it does.
You’re right, Dan.
#80- One last thing before I go. Ed, I agree completely with your post. Hopefully the RT will get a “block” element. It’s not that I want to block people I disagree with. Anyone who remembers me from before knows that I’ll try and discuss things in a reasonable manner with just about anyone. I’d like the ability to sift out those who aren’t here for intelligent discourse or civil conversation though. I’m not going to waste anymore time on people who just want to lob bombs for no other reason than to garner attention in a childish way, and having to sort through all the muck to find the reasonable ones are too time consuming.
Hey Magpie, I am glad to see you here too, please do check back when we get the block, I miss you!
Ed, I hope you can stay too, you are obviously intelligent, thoughtful and not rabid to insult anyone who disagrees with you. You would add to this blog.
Once we get the block trolls feature we might actually be able to have conversations, even heated discussions, without it turning into a complete epithet hurling pig wallow. I am so hoping that is true.
It is not necessary for us all to agree or see something the same way, it is only necessary for us to respect how someone else sees it. If you can refrain from insulting me, I will return the favor.
Dan, tell the techs to get on it, customer demand is high!
Hey Ed, as to your remarks in #80: I did not really go digging for Ron Paul dirt. He is not a real threat or consideration for president, and while I do not consider him any kind of total package, I freely admit he is right about some things, entirely too simplistic on some things and totally wrong about some things. He takes away too many groups “candy”.
There is no great politician on the horizon IMO. Obama has many strengths, and as you say, charisma, but he, like the Clintons has so many people who just get apoplectic with hate that he cannot be the effective leader this nation is looking for. We are looking for an FDR, Thomas Jefferson, or even a better Reagan, but do you not think we would chew them up and spit them out too?
Would the TP/GOP even follow Reagan today? The real Reagan, not the one they have created, that is. I don’t think so. It is as if they almost all became unhinged in 2008 and cannot get back on track.
Romney and Santorum would both only damage this nation further and while 4 more years of ODS will be hard, I see no other course.
Personally, I would like to see Biden retire and Mark Warner run with Obama in 2012. I think it would go a long way toward creating a new dynamic that this nation sorely needs.
I never save my comments and doubt seriously that I would notice if you blocked one most of the time. In big threads, I will only go back a few posts to keep things flowing and I dislike checking back for comments once a thread is off the page unless someone else comments on it and draws me back in.
Face it, she could be banned on several levels, not the least of which is public demand.
And, I will add, if you lost an intelligent and worthwhile poster like Magpie due to the climate of this blog and the troll controlling it, that is a sad sad thing.
Thanks Sandi and Magpie for your kind words.
I left a pretty active blog life on Huffington Post because of all the bickering and infighting. It’s not productive and there are no shortage of trolls and other odious ranters on all the bigger sites either. I thought some smaller digs might be in order. But much to my chagrin, I appear to have stumbled upon a similar scenario here. I am reminded of the unique irony of a statement during the first inaugural address of G.W. Bush, where he said and I quote:
“Today, we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation’s promise through civility, courage, compassion and character.”
His speech was/is very moving to me, and I highly recommend it to read. Sadly, I don’t think Bush ever actually carried many of those profound thoughts through to their logical application.
Ed Levine
“He takes away too many groups “candy”.”
This attitude is why the country can’t get out of debt. Gratuitous social spending on “candy” MUST be hacked away.
So when the government is foreclosed upon, will be like a house? Walk away from te debt and in 7 years, it’ll be like it never happened? This is serious business.
#90 Sandi posted “Would the TP/GOP even follow Reagan today?”
Probably not with this remarkable statement by Ronald Reagan:
“We in the United States, above all, must remember that lesson, for we were founded as a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. And so we must remain. Our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism. We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate.” Ronald Reagan, Speech to Temple Hillel and Community Leaders in Valley Stream (October 26, 1984)
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/RR10_26_84.html
ED
Yes, please stick around. There are many areas I think we agree on and many that we could argue about intelligently and in a civil manner. For
example, re: leaving much to the states. I think so many issues have become so complex, that leaving them up to the whims of state legislatures (especially like the one we have now in Va.) would be counter productive to our function as a nation. At the same time, I believe that in many areas (ex. education), once a broad national framework has been established and steps taken to secure at least adequate mininmum funding, then most decisions about functional operation would be best left to states or even better to local govts.
So Ed thinks that the smart conservative comments are being edited out?
“The federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS”
Smart commentary like this? I thought Paul was a little nutty, but I misunderestimated him. He’s a full on freak. Thank god there are real doctors out there who have committed to creating humane long-term treatment of this horrible disease.
Obama2012, because the rest of them are loonbags. Well, Romney’s not a loonbag, he’s just a corporate thing entirely. As opposed to Obama, who’s probably 30% corporate thing.
@ John Wilburn
Do you really offer a class that meets the requirement for a concealed carry permit? Seems I saw mention of that in one of your posts. I may be interested.
Mark
Yes, Mark in Pulaski. The website is http://chpclass.com. My phone number and e-mail are on the site too if you want to contact me. The next class will be mid April, exact date TBA.
Hi Ed Levine! Fancy seeing your name in here!
Mark in Pulaski #98, click on his name for a link to his CHP page.
@Dave: Glad to be here and looking forward to it. I agree we have some common ground to build upon. Interested in the federal/state matters, it seems there is much duplication of services and waste at both levels, a hybrid approach on authority level by some Departments may be the best answer. I am probably more concerned on the rampant corruption and cronyism at the federal level. In particular, I believe agencies like the EPA have perhaps become worse than the problem they were intended to solve.
I call particular attention to the 2005 EPA suppression of California’s more stringent fuel mileage standards in lieu of a politicized approach that disregarded the EPA’s own internal scientific evaluation. I have additional talking points to support my EPA beef, which I will be happy to offer at some time. But 11:40pm on a Thursday night is not that moment. I am as sharp at the present as a stick of butter.
@John Wilburn: If you are referring to the foodie blogger,I am not that Ed. I would love to have his bank account, but not the cholesterol level. Floyd County native here.
One additional point to Dan Casey: Dan, would it be possible to institute a reply to comment feature, so someone can attach their reply in closer physical proximity to the original comment?
It is difficult, at best, to try and connect to the associated commentary when it is located so far away on the page from where the original poster commented. Just a thought.
Ed, that’s on the list of updated features Roanoke.com is considering. And welcome to the blog!
“Here’s how it will work. If a post of mine is deleted that is clearly not a violation of the rules in my eyes,” blah,blah, blah. You don’t get it moron. We don’t give a crap if you leave you not. Actually we a praying that you do. Leave. Now. Don’t come back.
Very well and thank you Dan, and I am glad to have found your page. I must confess I lurked about on here without commenting for a month or so. My moderate leanings seem to put me in the crosshairs more often than not. It does get a little crazy here. Keep up the good work “warden.”
Sandi, on your comment #90, agreed and well spoken. But I think the GOP first became unhinged when H.W. Bush lost the election to Clinton. And I am not a big Ronnie Reagan fan. I was at the time, but in hindsight, the tripling of the national debt during his era accelerated us down this path to being a debtor nation. He had some very admirable qualities and I do credit him with a major role in the dismantling of communist Russia.
Ed, you’re right about the timing of when the GOP became unhinged. Note that this coincides neatly with Limbaugh’s show going national. I’d say he’s responsible for a lot of the polarization.
Don’t forget the contributions of the late Lee Atwood to the divisive strategy than spawned people like Karl Rove & others of that ilk. Certainly Mr. Limbaugh served his role, but he had others leading the way and throwing the gas on the fires.
Doubtless, Lee Atwater and his pupil Karl Rove had a big hand in the tenor of politics today, but no one makes anyone else say something derogatory, dishonest or distorted. That is a personal choice and it is always part of the problem.
Ed, I personally love moderates. We need more of them here. I can be as rational (and even kind believe it or not) as anyone when I do not feel disrespected or insulted for having my beliefs. The moment you need to denigrate someone else’s position to make yours seem superior, you have declared war, whether that was deliberate or just arrogant does not matter.
FlimFlambaugh has been a purveyor of hate and doing the GOP dirty work for a very very long time and people have become desensitized to hate IMO. It rolls off the tongue easily. Now the left is trying to outdo him. What a sad thing.
Sandi, that was a classic I had not heard yet. “FlimFlambaugh” kind of rolls off the tongue like a good loogie.
There was actually a time when Rush was not the extremist ideologue he is today. That was a brief period and what he has become is a sad indictment of the kidnapping of the sensible conservative agenda.
Rush has indeed become the ambassador for smear merchants everywhere. But he may have crossed a Rubicon of sorts with his recent tirade against Sandra Fluke. Dan, I read the remarkably concise timeline you did on him and I laughed out loud when I got to the chart about his paid ad revenue decline. It made a nice “X” there at about March 7th, rather symbolic wouldn’t you say?
Stop sugar coating things, tell us how you really feel!
And Ron, you are correct- Atwater and Rove had a major hand in taking civility out of politics. The 1988 Presidential race was particularly brutal on his behalf. Rove has taken the role of co-lead instigator with Rush. Rove was a brilliant campaign strategist, and I have to credit him for not being quite the incendiary figure that Rush is in my opinion. But read Rove’s
recent WSJ article “The Road We’ve Traveled” and you will see his invective speech against Obama at its finest hour. Lather, rinse, repeat, ad nauseum.
Sandi, I am struggling to reconcile the way we conduct politics today. It’s just not a gentleman’s occupation anymore. Indeed, where is the next great statesman? Probably in hiding somewhere waiting for calmer waters. Somewhere on the way to 11 the volume knob of rhetoric broke off and started freewheeling.
Risking another attack by my misguided brethren on the far right, let me say that the Dems seem to be a tad more on the civil side. But when they go heels, they do it well. Reference the remarks from Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee last year in comparing the Republican opposition to healthcare reform as Nazi tactics.
So both parties are to blame to their varying degrees. Not to sound like too much of a conspiracist, but we are all victims of a false two party dichotomy that keeps us obedient little serfs to the power hungry corporations and bankers that own us.
Ok, I am off the soapbox now I promise.
It’s a beautiful Spring day in The ‘Noke and I am off to Hanging Rock to lose another round. Have a great weekend folks!