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Obama and Netanyahu meet, take five… The two men hold a press avail at noon ET… The meeting comes as the U.S. has more leverage over Israel than it might ever have, and as more Americans than ever say their sympathies lie with the Israelis over the Palestinians… New York $$$ dries up for Democrats… Is Michael Steele still the one?.... Romney hits Obama over START… Blunt and Portman up with new TV ads… And McCain -- yet again -- blasts Hayworth over that infomercial appearance.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Obama and Netanyahu, take five: We’ll see if today’s Obama-Netanyahu meeting goes better than the others have; after all, there’s nowhere to go but up, right? At 11:00 am ET, President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office (closed press) at 11:00 am ET, and the two hold a joint press avail at noon (but it's pooled press only, so questions will be VERY limited). The Washington Post tees up the meeting: “Obama was cool toward Netanyahu during their last meeting, leaving the Israeli leader and his aides in the West Wing alone for hours as a subtle rebuke over Israeli settlement policies… That encounter followed an announcement by Israel, during a visit to the country by Vice President Biden, of a plan to construct 1,600 Jewish homes in a part of East Jerusalem that Palestinians view as their future capital. This next meeting has been promised as ‘a makeup visit.’”
*** Leverage and support: It's worth noting that the Obama administration probably has more leverage over Israel than it has had and may EVER have -- since the U.S., compared with the rest of the international community (including, for instance, even Great Britain), didn’t go out of its way to condemn the Israeli attack on that Gaza-bound flotilla. It’s also worth pointing out that after the flotilla incident, more Americans than ever (61%) said their sympathies are more with the Israelis than the Palestinians, according or our June NBC/WSJ poll. What’s more, nearly two-thirds (65%), said that U.S. relations with Israel are “extremely” or “fairly” important to America’s national interest. Interestingly, support for Israel continues to grow among Republicans. For those with a political memory, that's longer than one or two elections. And it's worth reminding folks that support for Israel used to be a more Democratic position, while Republicans (both elected and self-I.D.-ing) used to express more skepticism about the relationship.
*** Gone in a New York minute: The Washington Post also front-pages that Democratic political contributions from New York are down from two years ago. Besides the economic downturn and the fact that Chuck Schumer is no longer raising money for the DSCC, the Post says the biggest reason for this decline is the congressional activity to re-regulate Wall Street. “The drop in support comes from many of the same bankers, hedge fund executives and financial services chief executives who are most upset about the financial regulatory reform bill that House Democrats passed last week with almost no Republican support. The Senate expects to take up the measure this month.” But as Republicans tout this decline, it’s a double-edged sword – is it politically wise to be on Wall Street side this midterm season? The only folks who are more unpopular than Washington politicians are Wall Street bankers.
*** Steele the one? To put RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s anti-Afghanistan-war comments into perspective -- and how they fundamentally break with GOP orthodoxy -- the equivalent of what Steele said would be if Howard Dean, circa 2005-2006, called for staying the course in Iraq. (In fact, the only Republican who praised Steele was Ron Paul.) Yet Steele’s retraction on Friday afternoon (“The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan”) might have made things even worse for him, because it begs the question why Steele ever said those anti-Afghanistan-war comments in the first place. Steele’s job appears to be safe, given that it’s just four months until the election; given the fact that most Republicans seem resigned to riding out the rest of the chairman’s term; and given that Republicans are donating money to the RGA or NRSC, or are figuring out other ways to fund state party turnout efforts.
*** A Farewell to Arms (treaties): Looking ahead to 2012... Mitt Romney pens a Washington Post op-ed blasting President Obama’s arms treaty with Russia and calls for the Senate not to ratify it. “New-START impedes missile defense, our protection from nuclear-proliferating rogue states such as Iran and North Korea,” Romney writes. “Its preamble links strategic defense with strategic arsenal. It explicitly forbids the United States from converting intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos into missile defense sites. And Russia has expressly reserved the right to walk away from the treaty...” In addition to whacking Obama, Romney’s op-ed also seeks to bolster his foreign-policy credentials (given that the extent of his political service is as a one-term governor of Massachusetts). By the way, there was an expectation that South Dakota GOP Sen. John Thune would use his opposition to START to begin his own flirting with a 2012 bid.
*** Coming to a TV set near you: There are a couple notable new TV ads airing in some of the higher-profile Senate contests. In Missouri, Republican Roy Blunt is up with his first TV spot (get this -- it doesn’t mention his 14 years as a member of Congress). This Blunt ad is designed to make sure he doesn't have to worry about his semi-gadfly primary challenge. And in Ohio, Republican Rob Portman is airing a statewide ad assailing cap-and-trade (even though cap-and-trade isn’t really on the Senate’s agenda). An important reminder: Republicans need to hold both Missouri and Ohio to have a chance to take back the Senate in November.
*** On the road again… : Speaking of Missouri’s Senate race, President Obama is heading to campaign for Robin Carnahan (in Missouri) and Harry Reid (in Nevada) on Thursday and Friday. And Vice President Joe Biden travels to California later in the week to raise money for Sen. Barbara Boxer.
*** Dems are nervous about the Brown campaign: Although Jerry Brown (D) is slightly leading Meg Whitman (R) in the race for California governor, according to polls, state Democrats are voicing their concerns that Brown’s campaign hasn’t been active enough in defending Whitman’s TV air assault. The Los Angeles Times: “The combination of Whitman's wealth and a distinct lack of energy by Brown is making California Democrats nervous about their candidate's prospects in the fall. ‘If you're going to run for governor, you have to do what it takes. You can't tell yourself or tell everyone else there is some special way for you to do this that is completely outside the norms that apply to everyone else,’ said Democratic strategist Garry South.” It's somewhat surprising that Brown is allowing himself to get out-maneuvered on the new media front and with this new news cycle given that Brown had been notable for being an early adapter for populist campaign tactics, like, for instance 800-numbers back during his '92 campaign when that was still "quaint" and intriguing. Brown's campaign today looks like a relic and is making it easier for Whitman to paint him as someone from the past.
*** More midterm news: In Arizona’s GOP Senate primary, John McCain has an ad hammering J.D. Hayworth over his appearance in a get-government-grants infomercial… And in Louisiana, SQ says that despite months of Democratic attacks “Sen. David Vitter continues to look strong in public polling and turn in million dollar fundraising quarters.”
Countdown to AL run-off: 7 days
Countdown to GA primary: 14 days
Countdown to OK primary: 21 days
Countdown to KS and MO primaries: 28 days
Countdown to CO and CT primaries: 35 days
Countdown to Election Day 2010: 119 days
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Poor Michael Steele:
It was a mellow July 2nd 2010. Every one was wishing everyone else a happy and safe Fourth of July. I was friendly to a foe. Feisty and No Jo purred and shared their love of cats. That was last week, today may be a different story.
But politics never rests. Over the weekend Michael Steele stated, “Afghanistan was a war of Obama’s choosing…you don’t engage in a land war in Afghanistan.” OK, so he forgot that Bush 43 chose to send troops into Afghanistan and ground troops is about the only way you can fight in the mountainous region. He forgot that most Republicans supported the war…picky, picky, picky.
So he got caught doing revisionist history. He had great examples in Bush 43’s book, “Decision Points”, Cheney’s WMD’s in Iraq, Condi Rice’s spin on torture. And now right-wing Republicans like Liz Cheney and neoconservative William Kristol want to see him fired. Come on conservatives, if you fired Michael Steele, then you would have to fire the whole previous administration!!
But you know what is amazing? It was OK to go to Hawaii and spend big bucks hanging out in a swanky Hotel, and OK to go to a stripper night club in Hollywood and spend donors money. You don’t get fired for that. But if you follow your leaders and do some revisionist history, then you are in deep trouble. What hypocrites!
I think part of why Mr. Steele got into trouble is because today in politics it is not acceptable to ever agree with the opponent or give them credit for getting anything right. Therefore, if the President has been supporting the war in Afghanistan, Steele must be against it--forgetting, of course, that the war started under a Republican administration and that the Republicans support it more than the Democrats do. The knee-jert negativism just bit Mr. Steele. I do agree with Ron, though, that, it is amazing that Steele has survived his own bad management & PR disasters but could lose his job over this.
P.S. Re: cats--I expect cats could be a topic that would shift all the players here at First Read--I'll bet people who can't agree on anything else could agree on their love of cats or their anti-cat stances. Who ever would have thought Feisty & NoJo would agree on anything?
Good Morning Steeler Fan: Thanks for your comments. I don't believe Michael Steele will resign, it's the best job he has ever had or will have in the future. The Republicans may be stuck with him through November 2010.
Cats: I'm not getting into the cats issue. It's a no win for ol Ron.
BTW: How will those Steelers do this coming year. And their quarterback is...
I agree with you, Ron about Steele voluntarily resigning--I did expect the party to throw him overboard but it seems he may survive yet another gaffe, at least through the election.
Re: Steelers--I think this will be a rebuilding year for them with QB Leftwich starting the season while Ben Roethlisberger hopefully gets his act together. The biggest selling T shirt in the city features a picture of Ben & Tiger Woods taken at a golf outing with the caption "Dumb and Dumber"!
Steeler Fan: What a great T shirt!!! I'd buy one if I didn't already own a bunch of Colts T shirts. Number 18 is the biggest seller in Indy.
I'm allergic to cats! My daughter once asked my wife "when dad dies, can we get a cat?" Yeah - then and only then!
The Steeler fortunes depend more on a defense and O line that both looked porous at times last year. If they hold up, the Steelers could go 4-2 while Ben's out with ME playing quarterback! Troy Polamalu's health may be more critical than who plays quarterback.
STEELE!! Good God!! Every time things look bleak for the Democrats, some Republican forgets to engage their brain before putting their mouth in gear. Take Sharron Angle - PLEASE!!! She needs to take a vow of silence!!
So Auntie Fascist . . . you are a man?
Of course you are! ;o)
lol Nash... Who knew?
Nash: I thought that may be the case. Auntie Fascist posts are generally moderate to progressive. I love the play on words, Anti-Fascist. Today you are THE man. Keep posting.
Auntie Fascist is a play on words. Kinda like Bart Simpson calling Moe's Bar and asking "is there an Al Kaholic there"?
Auntie Fascist--always glad to hear your thoughts--male or female!! My husband is allergic as well but the cat was there before he was!
Re: Republicans with "foot in mouth" disease--it keeps happening but never seems to stick with their base or with reasonable people like Grimey. Just don't get it.
Steelers O line took a hit last week with the loss for the season of Colon with an Achilles tendon injury. Defense will carry us if they stay healthy.
You nailed the GOP on Michael Steele, it is so weird what they ignore. How ironic that suddenly the GOPers like Krystol, Liz Cheney, want to take credit for Afghanistan yet chose to ignore finishing that war to start another in Iraq. I admit to be taken back by Steele's version that Obama chose the Afghan war, it was surreal listening to that clip. Even the smoothest of GOP strategists would have trouble explaining that revisionism since we have been there over 9 years, Obama was not even in the U.S. Senate when it started nor was he thinking about being President--in fact, no one even knew who Barack Obama was except those he represented in the State of Illinois legislature.
Never assume. I, too, thought Auntie Fascist was female but I also thought Steeler Fan was a man. But I also admit that I never really gave much thought to it. I enjoy your posts regardless. BTW -- that's a perfect T-shirt.
Steeler fan is a woman?
Wow, it has been an enlightening day!
(I guess I should have know that all the best "fans" are women! lol)
Now I'm only batting 50-50, It's great to see a lady who knows so much about football. SF, I too thought you were a guy.
Well, if Auntie Fascist can be male, why not admit I'm female?! We are die hard football fans here in Pittsburgh, although as a woman I have found Ben's behavior to be reprehensible. By the way, regular Ben jerseys (the $100 kind) are selling for $5! My husband gave his to Goodwill!
This Land Is Our Land:
I finally got to catch the HBO special 'Gasland' over the holiday weekend. And given the current events of the catastrophe in the Gulf it is a MUST see for anyone who cares about the water supply of this country.
In 2005 the signing of the Bush/Cheney Energy Bill exempted natural gas drilling from the Safe Water Drinking Act! More commonly known as the Halliburton 'loophole'!
The documentary is on the dangers of domestic natural gas drilling also called hydrofacturing drilling or 'fracking'! Also exempted at that time was disclosure of exactly what's in the mixture of over 596 toxic chemicals used in the process!
Some of the contaminants that have been identified so far are Benzene - Tolune - Xylene & Ethylbenzene ALL of which are KNOWN carcinogens to man!
Seems Dick Cheney & Halliburton weren't content enough to only pollute our domestic water supply in this country... They decided to set their sights on something higher... like the Gulf!
I don't care who you are... NO ONE I repeat NO ONE should have their tap water burn when you turn on your kitchen sink! Americans are not freakin guinea pigs!
Bottom line is there is a finite amount of water on this planet and without it MAN does NOT survive! PERIOD!
While we're busy squabbling about socialism - birth certificates & Teleprompters, BIG Corporation & BIG money is destroying this country!
I don't know what it's going to take to WAKE UP America that we cannot sustain our current energy practices...
But I do know that all the money in the world is not going to do a damn bit of good when this planet becomes uninhabitable! Whether you're on the right or left site of the aisle...
http://gaslandthemovie.com/
Please take the time to join this website and contact your representatives to tell them that you support the FRAC Act to repeal this loophole. And if they won't to continue to have a J O B they had better too!
Oh... and did I mention this film was produced PRIOR to the Gulf catastrophe? I wonder which side 'gets' it?
Ps: Happy Belated 12th Birthday to Malia Obama who was born on the 4th of July!
Great post Feisty . . . I keep wondering why more Americans aren't catching on that protectiong our environment is not a fad or a politcal issue . . . if we can't agree on keeping our water clean then we are in worse shape than I thought.
Even my brother, a dedicated Conservative, came to the realization that the Earth will go on. Nothing says we have to be part of it, however.
Terrific post.
HBO has had some really good documentaries which makes me think it's time to fork over the extra dollars to add it to my cable TV. I saw clips of Gasland and those were enough to make me question WHEN will we stop allowing big energy to rule our lives. There have been so many examples of corporate destruction of land and water, proven links to cancers in entire neighborhoods over the years but too often they go unnoticed. If any good can come from the Gulf oil spill, one can hope that the sheer magnitude of the damage will be the final wake up call. Yes, some day solar and wind will be big energy but they do not contaminate our water or air. There will be negatives but it won't be a water facet that ignites into flames.
Very good post. The Earth will recover. It will not be as we presently know and, probably, we as a species will not be here.
Dick Cheney never wants to answer to anyone for anything. Remember he told Senator Leahy to F-U! when asked about Halliburton back during the Bush Administration!
Could be the conscious is acting up and explains Cheney's recent heart problems. I'm giving the former VP a lot of credit because I actually believe he has a conscious!
Maybe he will have a death bed confession and tell the truth about Halliburton, Iraq and a host of other illegal stuff he orchestrated during his reign of terror.
"As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease"; however, we (human) may not survive if we continue destroying much needed resources due to our greed.
Feisty, Sheila and Penny:
I think Natalie Merchant (of 10,000 Maniacs fame) captured it best in the song, "A Campfire Song" (from their In My Tribe cd)
http://www.metrolyrics.com/a-campfire-song-lyrics-10000-maniacs.html
Describes the situation beautifully and Michael Stipes on backup - well how could she go wrong?
Great post Feisty. When it is too late for most of humanity, who will help out? Will those great big corporations give money to help find a solution? Or are they only for the immediate buck now? I think we all know that answer. Whao will make people wake up and see what is happening? Are we so locked into cheap fuels, that we don't care? If we don't care, then why all the fuss about the debt that we are placing on the children/grandchildren. If there is no unpolluted air, no unpolluted water...there will be no children or grandchildren.
Open your eyes and look at what man is doing to this earth. Look at things with an open mind, not just your pocketbook. Annihilation of human kind due to greed and stupidity does nothing for man.
It's not a good idea to disrespect the only true ally we have in a part of the world dominated by a backwards-ass religion, and all the other countries are "governed" by either dictatorships or Islamic theocracies.
The Palistinians celebrated on 9/11. Does that not make anyone mad? If you are an American it should. They teach their children the "glory" of suicide bombing. That tells us a lot about these scumbags.
It is always dangerous to categorize an entire group of people based on one or two incidents you find distateful.
Interesting that you don't condemn yourself everytime someone with the same racial or religious background as yourself commits an atrocity.
I know you are smarter than this comment CU.
Farley,
It's not a good idea to disrespect the only true ally we have in a part of the world dominated by a backwards-ass religion, and all the other countries are "governed" by either dictatorships or Islamic theocracies.
This may be true, but it also doesn't mean Israel should disrespect humanity to the people of Gaza (not talking about hamas), rattle their sabers, disrespect VP Biden, and then expect the US to come to their defense....
Hey Chuckles Doll - do you mean that backwards-ass religion Islam that was copycatted from that backwards-ass religion Christianity that was copycatted from that backwards-ass religion Judaism? Plus talking about teaching their followers terrorist bombers let's not forget your extreme christian milita groups here who want to overthrow our government through violence. Chuckles Doll all religions are backwards-ass religions and those who follow them are also backward-asses.
Eric my friend..... I am a devout Christian.....the one thing I want to remind you is hat this country WAS IS and ALWAYS WILL BE a CHRISTIAN country. You do realize that the Founders based all laws and everything else off the Ten Commandments right?
Also my liberal friend....heres something to get you even more spun up this morning...... did you know that NOWHERE in the constitution is the term "seperation of Church and State" even mentioned? And heres another little tidbit that your liberal textbooks wont tell you..... When Jefferson first used that term (I hope you are ready for this) he used it to let the Danbury Baptist Association (Danbury, Conn) know that the government had no intention of setting up or declaring a national DENOMINATION. Notice the word DENOMINATION in caps....that means a form of Christianity..... (If you doubt me google "Wall of seperation of church and state" or "Danbury Baptist Association -- read the letter they sent to Jefferson and hen read his response letter....)
Also one of the Founders (Jefferson I believe actually wrote something close to: This country is founded as a Christian country but all people are allowed here.
Funny thing is everything I have EVER read about the Founders (the fact that 46 of the signers of the Constitution were Pastors) proves that they were anything but atheists or secular....
But never let something silly like the facts get in your way.
Eric The 8th Grader- Women of all religions in Israel and the USA have rights. Can you say this about Saudi Arabia and Iran? You've gone on record many times in support of Hamas and Hezbollah and their suicide bombings. This is EXTRA disgusting in light of the fact that Hezbollah killed 250 US Marines in Beirut. You have no credibility on this issue since you support Islamic terrorism. So , to put it politely...(shove) off.
Nashville- "One or two incidents I find distasteful?".....You're serious? If I had time I would throw a list on here of all the suicide bombings committed in Israel over the last decade or more. The list would take to long to compile and too long to read. As for the atrocities comitted by people of my "background". Well, correct me if I'm wrong but, after OK City, did people of my background nationwide cheer and celebrate? Did thousands of us dance in the streets? No.
The anti- Israel sentiments repeatedly expressed by "progressives" on this board saddens me. Evidently it is no longer fashionable to criticize (or protest even once) our own "disrespect to humanity", in the many areas occupied by the current administration, as there is nary a word about the daily bloody violence in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
When you call for America to return Texas to Mexico, California to Spain, and they in turn, return what they "stole" from the natives to their rightful owners, then perhaps we will have a platform to tell a country surrounded by those dedicated to it's annihilation how to conduct their internal and foreign policies. The arrogance of those who shouted about the the previous administration whenever civilian casualties occurred, now reserves their ire for Israel.
The unknown Afghan body count
An unwillingness to track the number of Afghan civilians killed undermines attempts to gauge progress in the country
une was a terrible month for the war in Afghanistan. The milestone of the 300th British death was compounded by the most deadly month for the Nato-led mission since the start of the conflict.
The precise compilation of western casualties contrasts with almost criminal neglect in tracking the numbers of Afghan civilians killed since 2001. If Afghanistan is the "good war" then why are we not demanding to be accurately told how many skeletons there are in the Afghan closet?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/04/afghanistan-body-count-civilian-deaths
US attack kills three Afghan civilians
At least three civilians have been killed in an ongoing US military operation in eastern Afghanistan as discontent grows over the civilian casualties in the country.
The civilians were killed in a US attack in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunar on Tuesday.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=132629§ionid=351020403
Drone crew blamed in Afghan civilian deaths
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Inexperienced operators of a U.S. drone aircraft ignored or downplayed signs that Afghan civilians were in a convoy blasted in a deadly American missile attack earlier this year, a military report released Saturday said.
At least TWENTY-THREE people were killed in the Feb. 21 attack in Uruzgan province. It was the deadliest missile strike for Afghan civilians in six months and occurred as NATO forces were redoubling efforts to avoid killing innocents.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-05-29-afghanistan-civilian-deaths_N.htm
CU,
As usual, you ignore half of my comment and deliberately miss the point . . . which is . . . people of ALL ethnicities and religious backgrounds commit attrocities . . . that would include Christians . . . a fact you seem content to ignore.
Another wasted conversation with an all knowing "conservative".
P.S. dangerfield . . . as in most issues . . . there are no completely blameless parties in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict . . . so I do not think the central issue should be whose side we are on . . . but rather . . . can we allow either side to commit attrocities unchecked because of our natural affinity for their point of view? And the answer is no. . . no nation . . . including the US . . . has the inherent right to act as if only their interests and rights are paramount when dealing with other HUMAN BEINGS.
That's my two cents.
Larry my friend, I'm a devout Believer as well, but I must disagree with you about this Country being a Chrsitian nation. More importantly than the phrase '...seperation of Church and State...' not being present in the Constitution, is the absense of the terms Jesus Christ, God the Father, The Holy Spirit, any of the Apostles or any other important figure of the Bible.
From day one of 'foreigners' stepping foot on the North America, it has disrespected life and done much of it under the canopy of religious authority.
We don't have a Christian nation.
Eric - After reading your post. A couple questions came to me. 1. Hate much? 2. Why do you hate America/Americans?
Larry - Read the first amendment. The founders although Christian and infusing some of those ideals into the Declaration of Independence never discuss Christianity or religion in the Constitution, which is the ultimate law of the land. The only place it talks about religion is the first amendment, where it says Congress shall make no law establishing a religion or stop the free exercise of any religion.
From Wikipedia - 1st amendment
Congress shall make no law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
"I do not think the central issue should be whose side we are on."
So we shouldn't take sides to support a fellow democracy? Since when? Do you have other examples of this "policy" It is the scourge of the so called progressive...
There were millions of progressives/isolationists who wanted to stay out of the "Jewish War" in Europe, including the Kennedy Paterfamilias, insisting we not "take sides"
There were hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of American progressives who supported and promoted Josef Stalin and his regime in the 1940's. They said we shouldn't take sides too.
Israel is our ally, albeit flawed. They are a single democratic state surrounded by hostiles devoted to their destruction. I respectfully submit that we not only should take sides, that we must and that until this administration we always have.
Assad's comments today sicken me, as they should you.
The Obama administration’s failure to facilitate change in the Middle East shows that it is weak, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday during a visit to Latin America amid rising regional tensions over last month’s Gaza flotilla incident and increasing efforts to defuse the Iranian threat.
Assad was quoted Monday in the Argentine daily Clarín as saying that Washington did not “seem to be able to manage a peace process from beginning to end.” He added that while the US was capable of pulling “all its weight” to support a peace process, the current administration has so far proved to be impractical and unable to gain the backing of Congress.
“Afghanistan is worse than before,” said Assad, stressing that the situation in Iraq had not changed and ties with Syria remained stagnant despite US President Barack Obama’s announcement that he would dispatch a new ambassador to Damascus.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=180476
dangerfield,
The Obama Administration is weak because it has not solved the long running Israeli/Palestinian crisis in its first 18 months?
Wow.
We have to support everything Israel does because they are a democracy?
Wow.
Your passion has clearly clouded your judgment on this issue. I do not have any personal ax to grind with Israeal OR the Palestinians. I do have a problem with factions on either side thinking they have the RIGHT to MURDER their fellow man in cold blood to make a political point. They don't.
So I am not condeming Israel . . . I am saying that "friendship" is not agreeing with everything your friend does . . . and if a "friend" requires you to support whatever they do in all cases . . . that is not a mutual friendship . . . that is a manipulative arrangement that benefits one "friend" more than the other.
Interesting rant by Larry, and of course, wrong:
"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion..."
The US is not a christian nation, it is a nation where most of the inhabitants are christian. And no where in our Constitution are we stated to be a christian nation. As the above quote shows, the forefathers understood this far better than Larry does.
Even being practical, the 1st commandment says you shall have no other gods, yet the 1st amendment says that you can have whatever (or no) religion you want.
Larry, it is a shame that you have been so poorly educated. Please try to do better.
Larry from Minot is of course WRONG about his interpretation, both of the Jefferson Letter to the Danbury Baptists, as well as Jefferson's beliefs about this nation being Christian. If Larry had actually read the Letter to the Danbury Baptists, he would find that it contains this phrase : "thus building a wall of separation between church and state". That is where the phrase "Separation of Church and State" come from, it is Jefferson's own definition of his intent about this country and religious tolerance. One only has to read Jefferson to understand how deeply held his convictions were that priests (or pastors) never take over the govt. of this country. From a speech in the House of Delegates Nov 1776, he began with a history lesson on the evils of religious establishments. Jefferson posed this question "has the state a right to adopt an opinion in matters of religion? He answers that question thusly: "No, religious conscience was wholly inward and private. It does not depend on civil coercion." From Jefferson's Book Notes on Virginia: The legitimate power of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." Jefferson would never have said that "this is a Christian country, but all people are welcome here." Larry, you need to find a citation for that. Jefferson worked his whole life for that Separation, and would not support what you believe. To prove that, we only have understand that if the Founders WANTED to base this country on the Ten Commandments, they could have replaced the Bill of Rights with them. They didn't.
Nash-
I am somewhat amused by your attempts to characterize my statements to fit your rhetoric.
Israel is our ally, we support and criticize fellow democracies, because they are the only societies that ALLOW dissent and criticism. Perhaps you are unaware that Israel is a country of diverse opinions and a free press? Do you READ any of their magazines, newspapers, op-eds? There is and always has been ample debate between the many (they have more than 2 parties) political factions in Israel. Some even share your viewpoint. They are a sovereign nation and their foreign policy is no more likely to be dictated by us as ours is by them.
Again they are the sole democracy in the area and deserve our support. Not our blind, uncritical support, but at the end of the day, our support.
As a self proclaimed and styled left-wing 100% uncritical supporter of the current administration, references to other posters "judgment" are taken with the proper grain of salt, a necessary electrolyte on a day like today...
And Nash, Those were ASSAD'S comments, not mine, and reflect the thoughts of other mid-east leaders, if their own news outlets are to be believed...
We are a nation of many religions and of none--the Constitution established freedom of religion and freedom from religion. People came to the new world to escape religious persecution; unfortunately, they often forgot what that meant. The Founding Fathers understood that it was important NOT to establish a State religion. We are not a Christian nation but we are a Religious one--there is a difference.
"As a self proclaimed and styled left-wing 100% uncritical supporter of the current administration, references to other posters "judgment" are taken with the proper grain of salt, a necessary electrolyte on a day like today..." - dangerfied
-----------------------------------
You just couldn't resist could ya? lol
So funny since your post basically acknowledges that my viewpoint is a valid one . . . and you conveniently glossed over your attemtpts to condemn the Obama Administration's handling of this decades long quagmire . . . you unrealistic complaints are becoming your trademark my friend.
Well, looky at all the bleeding heart Friends of Israel. Your "Christian" Nation was stolen from my Native American ancestors. G-d must be so proud to have your cross out front and center. Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were Deists.
I am sure there is much here to dispute; but there is much that is valid. Read if you care to learn. Or not if you already know everything you need to know:
http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/ffnc/
Larry the Nodak must have gotten frost bite of the brain last winter.
The founding Fathers were majority Deist, not Christian. All the Abraham religions have a "Ten Commandments".
So that was what you gleaned from my reply?
You ARE a one-sided cheerleader for the Obama administration, aren't you? You really want to dispute that?
What is your "viewpoint"? and which of those papers, mags, etc. are you reading? Your viewpoint is uninformed. It is obvious that you are no scholar when it comes to the geopolitical history of the middle east. That was MY point to you. Look, this is your forum and opportunity to espouse your views, but there should be something substantial, something deeper behind your rhetoric.
You did not say that at the end of the day we should support our ally, so I don't know which part of your "viewpoint" you feel was validated.
And your self deluded self centered, self-congratulatory back slapping, not to mention your utter lack of self awareness about your own rhetoric, confirms your status as a doppelganger for the "righties" you disdain. You can't have a debate or even a civil discourse or conversation with someone whose mind is closed. That the left wing ideologues here are even more irritating than the equally odious right wing extremists ifs only because they are more prevalent.
So, I take your views with that grain of salt-already 94 degrees here and rising...
Another long post, and still no answer:
Try 3:
dangerfield, do you think it is fair to blame the Obama Administration for not solving the Middle East crisis in the past 18 months, when none of the previous Administrations have been able to solve it either?
Very simple question, and no amount of insults from you will substitute for an answer. I never claimed to be a Middle East scholar . . . and clearly you cannout claim to be unbiased on the matter.
No one is unbiased,...that is simply a conceit of the self-righteous...Yet you constantly talk of other's biases without ever clearly acknowledging your own very obvious ones, like the "question" you feel was unanswered, which is a case study in bais...
do you think it is fair to blame the Obama Administration for not solving the Middle East crisis in the past 18 months, when none of the previous Administrations have been able to solve it either?"
So that was your question? Really? Let's begin by saying that your question is disingenuous at best high-school level cleverness at worst and phrased like a true Obama cheerleader who feels that nothing is the president's "fault" so, lets, "break it down" as they say, and try to make sense of your little rhetorical pretzel;
It isn't about blaming the administration for not SOLVING the crisis, and you know it, a SOLUTION will come from the parties directly involved and is nowhere near even the point of direct face-to-face negotiations; the question is have they been following a policy that potentially promotes a positive outcome?
In my opinion the administration's policies have emboldened Israel's enemies and hardened their policies against her. The people of Israel do not see an ally in President Obama.The situation is no better, if not worse than when the Obama administration began. There is time for the administration to correct course, but as of today the administration has been ineffectual in moving the needle at all.
If you want real answers, ask real questions.
dangerfield,
Correction:If I want real answers from yourself, ask 3 times and wade through paragraph after paragraph of personal insults unrelated to the point at hand.
Thank you for your answer, finally.
Good grief.
And a terrific reply...Right back at you..Good Grief is right...
News flash righties-- A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that a whopping
58 percent of Americans agree with President Obama’s stated timeline
To all those who are sweating under the oppresive heat back east, I'm here chilling in Salinas, CA with nice cool high temps in the mid 60's. What heat wave? For those sweltering out East in the heat there's no place like Central California along the coast to beat the heat during the summer. Just love our natural airconditioning fog that keeps our summers nice and temperate.
Bozo Netanyahoo needs to excuse himself and his failed rogue nuclear state for stealing Palestinian land to build their illegal settlements. The new Nazi regime in Israel needs to halt it's call for more Lebensraum and end it's illegal Gaza Concentration Camp before there can ever be peace in the Middle East. After all the welfare we've given this petulant oppressive failed state it's time Israel did something to lessen tensions and get back to the peace table. If not then President Obama needs to keep giving Bozo Netanyahoo the cold shoulder and we should stop giving our hard earned money as aid to this warmongering state. Israel is the problem that keeps us from having Middle East peace and keeps terrorists attacking us.
Despite the fact that you are a simple fringe-irritant, your spittle-spraying anti-Israel rants go beyond the pale. You don't know the history, can't grasp the political dynamic, on any side of the debate, and are so virulent in your hateful rhetoric that you would be an embarrassment to any true progressive. Thank goodness no one takes you the least bit seriously...Your constant usage of terms from Nazi Germany is simply despicable...you are a pariah...
I miss those temperate California days and the cool nights. It has been hot and humid here for the last few days but nothing like in the East right now.
Dangerfield
Are you new to this board? I haven't seen your name before. Perhaps you're a long-time reader, first time poster.
Let me clue you in: NO ONE takes Eric seriously. Very few read his posts.
Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL
Thanks for wishing me an early Happy Birthday. it means a lot that July 8th 1776 was the day the Declaration of Independence was read aloud and the Liberty Bell was rung. Eat your heart out Sean Hannity.
Marco Rubio’s parents, who fled Castro’s Cuba in 1959, got in? Yep, that's right they were granted amnesty.
Leaked Luntz Poll: Majority of Americans don’t support Israeli flotilla raid.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/05/flotilla-pics/
Last December, journalist Spencer Ackerman also discovered that The Israel Project was shopping around an anti-Iran petition loaded up with false signatures
http://washingtonindependent.com/70642/hawkish-pro-israel-lobby-groups-iran-petition-features-lots-of-questionable-names
News flash righties-- A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that a whopping
What Dump Steele, Hire Palin? It just substainates how crazy the right wing is. Stay
Oh, and thanks for your new
The whole nation has the blues thanks to the GOPocalypse. The same people attacking him attack President Obama
. Get rid of the rest of Clowns. Enough with the Party of "NO".58 percentof Americans agree with President Obama’s stated timelinefearlessMicheal Stay. You da Man of Steel you can shrug off the criticism and calls for your resignation. You got rid of RNC money spent at a lesbian-themed gentleman’s club ting-a-ling! You got rid of all that jazz for taking a six-figure salary while accepting speaker’s fees. Dyaaam! Calling out your party on race issues Bam! Your satement about Afghanistan being the "war of Obama’s choosing" shows how much PILE on the man of Steele can flick off; double doozy. Especially, since that was BO (Before Obama). Georgie boy did it. G.W. Bush actually started in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks; but, dropped the ball. that was too big for G.W. Bush, being the Cheney sock puppet he was, to complete. After all, there's black gold in tem there sands.foray into politics with your statement. Your new budget blueprint foresees a $12.2 million drop — 34% in the fund for political operations, as well as lower projections for contributions from both small and major donors. Rand Paul enjoyed your statement too.
58 percent
-- A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that a whopping rightiesNews flash
timeline President Obama’s stated thof Americans agree wi
fearlessMicheal Stay. You da Man of Steel you can shrug off the criticism and calls for your resignation. You got rid of RNC money spent at a lesbian-themed gentleman’s club ting-a-ling
how crazy the right wing is. Stay substainates? It just PalinWhat Dump Steele, Hire
Oh, and thanks for your new there sands.tem. Especially, since that was BO (Before Obama). Georgie boy did it. G.W. Bush actually started in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks; but, dropped the ball. that was too big for G.W. Bush, being the Cheney sock puppet he was, to complete. After all, there's black gold in doozy about Afghanistan being the "war of Obama’s choosing" shows how much PILE on the man of Steele can flick off; double satement! Your Bam! Calling out your party on race issues Dyaaam! You got rid of all that jazz for taking a six-figure salary while accepting speaker’s fees.
foray into politics with your statement. Your new budget blueprint foresees a $12.2 million drop — 34% in the fund for political operations, as well as lower projections for contributions from both small and major donors. Rand Paul enjoyed your statement too.
The whole nation has the blues thanks to the GOPocalypse. The same people attacking him attack President Obama
.
Get rid of the rest of Clowns. Enough with the Party of "NO".
The blind opposition to ANYTHING that might bring our runaway Defense budget under control may still be our undoing. George Washington initially refused to be President because he didn't wish to set a precedent of military leaders running our country. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about the Military Industrial Complex. In the Kennedy administration we had 400 warheads, enough to destroy the entire world multiple times. The Soviets had a like number. Now the very idea of cutting us back to 1500 warheads, each MUCH larger than the 60's era units, is somehow equal to opening up our ports to any tin pot dictator who may take a fancy to invading the US. This career military man http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062502160_pf.html talks more sensibly on any Defense-related subject than anyone I've seen or read.
The Soviet Union didn't fall because they quaked in fear of Ronald Reagan, they collapsed because their economy wasn't able to support their enormous military. Must ours follow suit?
So true John B. . . I heard on NPR this morning that the United States spends as much annually on defense spending as the rest of the world combined.
Wow.
And yet our politicians are allowed to get away with pretending that discontinuing unemployment benefits is the way to balance the budget.
Heaven help us.
Yet with all the defense spending, I don't feel any safer. The biggest threats facing us are terrorists and rogue nuclear materials and I don't feel protected from those. The military is not able to admit that we can't win in Afghanistan. Worse than the money we are wasting is the loss of life of our young people and the injuries that the survivors must bear. Truly a tragedy.
I could not agree more Steeler Fan . . . we are spending more and getting less for the investment it seems. . . but as President Obama said . . . the ship of state does not change course quickly . . . sad but true.
If we spent half the money we do on defense, we'd still be able to wipe out the world. Seems to me we would be a wiser country if we spent less on defense and more on our own people and invested in the country for a stronger economy.
Ok class,
What percentage of our GDP is the defense industry? How many are employed by the defense industry? How many manufacturing jobs are tied to the defense industry? What percentage of EXPORTS are tied to the defense industry?Things tend to be interconnected. Anyone here work in the defense industry?
The answers are easy to locate, and much easier than how we begin to convert our swords into plowshares...
crickets...
dangerfield,
I don't know the answers off the top of my head and haven't had the the time to research it . . . if the answers are essential for the point you are making feel free to fill in the blanks for us. . . you Google expert you. ;o)
4.1% in 2006, What's your point, Dangerfield? Military spending is a notoriously inefficient jobs program and there are clear moral issues with choosing to be the world's armory. There are also costs involved in diverting our treasure from something constructive to something destructive. Plus issues that don't get discussed much, such as funding a major piece of our basic research so it can be classified and kept out of markets where it might be helpful to society at large. Do you ever take a position, or just sit and shots at others?
You are dismissed...with a failing grade, but because I know you're so busy posting MANY other unresearched opinions, maybe an incomplete is better suited to your situation?
Thank God you can't stand people who are snarky and or insulting...Please just play with your friends in the kiddie pool, ok? I won't dignify your posts with a response and you can try to get over being so thin skinned so you don't feel the need to stalk mine with your "bon mots".
dangerfield,
I am interacting with you, not stalking you. If I recall, it was you who initiated our interactions, and the tone of them as well.
I guess your issue is that you want to be able to write the questions and the answers . . . also known as talking to yourself.
I got by this long without talking with you, and as you will see, I can effortlessly end my communications with you as well.
I assure you that I am here to discuss the issues of the day, not to entertain or fight with you.
Sorry if my style is not to your liking . . . but then again . . . its not designed to bring you pleasure but to make you think.
P.S. Every since YOU decided to single ME out as an object of your derision . . . you have gone on and on about me being an "Obama cheerleader".
I am a proud and unaplogetic supporter of President Obama. I feel like he has accomplished quite a bit in a short amount of time. That is my opinion and I am proud to share it and support it with facts when required.
I don't need your permission or approval to support the President . . . he has earned that support and will continue to have it until I feel it is no longer warranted.
You have shown yourself to be a rather thoughtful person who has a low tolerance for dissenting opinions. I enjoy discussing and debating the issues of the day . . . I don't have a problem with differing views . . . I just enjoy those views more when they are backed up with something other than sarcasm and wishful thinking.
And Dangerfield YOU are dismissed. With a failing grade. Debate is NOT the art of making vague statements that your opponent is wrong while failing to engage the argument. You tell others they're wrong without saying what YOU believe to be right. You challenge others to back up their arguments while not only providing no back up for your own position, but without anyone else even knowing your position. You take offense to statements about your beliefs as a Conservative, but attack only Liberals. The only reason I don't already have you on "ignore" is to know why others are fighting with you.
Obama is an idiot! He is not only embarrassing this country, but his failed policies are putting America on a track total fiancial ruin, not to mention our loss of standing as a world leader and political ally. Obama has either insulted or humiliated our allies, embraced our enemies, refuses to protect our borders, denigrated our military and now thinks NASA should be an Islamic operative!!!! God help us all!
Very robotic repeat of the REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTS.
All untrue...but a very nice repeat...word for word.
You guys need to come up with something new.....helping with SOLUTIONS might be nice.
God help YOU! You're sitting on someone's lap having a string in the back of your neck pulled!!
NASA an Islamic operative? Oh, this ought to be good, can someone please explain THAT to me? I'm willing to make popcorn.
Allie F. you're an idiot. The only ones that have embarrassed this country are the tea baggers, birthers and other KKK Republicans. You and your kind make Americans look stupid and ignorant. Instead of wanting to better our relations with the rest of the world, you want to bully the world into thinking that you are superior. That's why Americans are hated, because of people like you. YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
Allie F:
You're an idiot!
Apparently you did not see the international poll that was taken in June that reflects President's Obama's standing in the rest of the world. Europe, Asia and parts of the Middle East gave him high marks. 80 -90% in some countrys in Europe.
Do you want to walk that comment back about how the President has pissed off our Allies.
That is just not true. You probably heard that dribble on Faux News.
The financial problems did not start on Pres Obama's watch. The unfunded spending ran rampant under the GOP for decades. NASA an islamic operative? That's a new one. Got any proof.
Is there any lie you teabaggers won't repeat? Keep it up Allie, the more you nuts tell these lies the more seats you'll lose come November.
Allie F,
You are an embarassement to the country. Grow up and enough with this type of childish tirade. No wonder Beck and company are so rich making millions off your ignorance.
So this morning Im at the gym knocking out my 5 mile run on the treadmill and I switch over to Fox to get a real look at the news and I hear a funny story anout "Dingy" Harry Reid. Apparently Harry Reid set up a fake Sharron Angle website so that he could collect information about people thinking about voting for her.
Of course after he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar he didnt have the decency to appologize for his attempted cheating..... but hey at least he took the website down?
This is the type of gentleman liberals put their faith in? Seriously? If I lived in Nevada I would vote for Sharron Angle based on this alone. But then again if I lived in Nevada I would vote for her because of the fact that she believes in abolishing Social Security and the Dept. of Education.
Thats right..... We need to seriously look into getting rid of SS..... why? Well lets see here.... I pay my hard earned tax dollars into this system and the money Im paying in wont even be there for me when I hit retirement age. So (just like every other gov't entitlement -- AKA Obama money) the government has decided to redistribute my money to someone else? This is why I supported President Bush's idea of partially privatizing SS on a voluntary basis.... I would have had the maximum amount of my tax dollars put in my own account this way at least if it was all lost it would be because of my bad decisions not the governments....
Now looking at the DOE....why do we need the Big Brother teaching children? Oh thats right..... so that Big Brother can indoctrinate my children that big government is best and that America is a terrible country because we are better than everyone else..... The DOE is nothing more than a giant vortex of wasted tax dollars. Private schools offer superior education for less money per child.
But now back to Harry Reid for a second..... this guy tries to cheat his way to re-election....why is he in the Senate at all let alone the Speaker of the House?
Hey Larry,
I think you really SHOULD move to NV. Apparently the Great Upper Midwest has corroded your senses and you might benefit from the desert climate for a while...
Ummm Larry... Harry Reid is the Senate Majority Speaker & Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House!
Don't let your blind hatred get in the way of facts will ya?
lol Larry.
Thanks for coming out to play - I'm still waiting on your answer to my question from our last "conversation" . . . Why do conservatives refuse to hold corporations "personally responsible" for the messes they make? . . . based on that exchange . . . or lack there of . . . I'll let you continue talking to yourself and reassuring yourself that you are right.
P.S. Your inability to hold a conversation or even entertain the possibility that you might not know everything is the reason why we need the Department of Education . . . we cannot rely on folks like yourself to do anything more than keep the stuff they like and ignore the rest . . . thats not being educated, that is being indoctrinated.
Nash,
You just hit the nail squarely on the head! Voted!
Larry, You had me at “Fox” and “real news”.
Feisty...good to see that that is what you pick out to speak to me about..... but then again....thats all your good at.... picking on people and getting pissed off when people fight back..... typical liberal
Nashville
To answer your question...... why should companies bother trying? The government has regulated so much of the economy that we are no longer a free market anyways.....
Dennis I was thinking the EXACT same thing! LMAO!
And Larry don't flatter yourself! Takes someone MUCH better than you to EVER piss me off!
"Nashville
To answer your question...... why should companies bother trying? The government has regulated so much of the economy that we are no longer a free market anyways....."
-----------------------------
Larry,
If you could live through the last two years and come to the conclusion that over regulation is the problem, then you have re-affirmed my decision to not engage you any further.
I refuse to debate the obvious with the willfully ignorant.
Feisty, it would appear that you have another fan. Poor Larry seems to be unable to take feedback.
Is it a free market when corporations abuse their employees and the public. Deregulation of Wall Street, oil, coal, automakers brings out greed and cutting corners. Who gets hurt? We the People. There can be too much regulation but no regulation is equally disastrous--not for the companies but for the rest of us. All those hated regulations brought us 8 hour work days, paid holidays and sick leave, a safe working environment for people, no more child labor or sweat shops, fire exits, an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. Corporations must make money but they cannot do so at the expense of those who make the money for them. If as the Supreme Court decided, Corporations are people, they must be held equally accountable for their mistakes just as is the person who robs a bank.
Larry, if you want to be taken seriously don't start your posts out by quoting Fox. It just shows your a Fox lemming and you'll believe any lie Fox tells you.
Jody: It is worth noting for poor Larry, that Theodore Roosevelt, in his prescient way, saw the danger of corporations gaining too much power in government. In his "New Nationalism" speech he says " The Constitution guarantees protection to property and we must make that promise good. But it does not give the right of sufferance to Corporations". TR would have left the Republican party AGAIN if he could but know what has happened.
Jody..... now my question for you becomes this...... how are the "evil" corporations hurting people?
Lets look at this for a minute.....
If I have a job with ABC corporation and they decide that I am going to work 60 hours a week for $5.00 an hour and I agree to work for them that is my decision correct?
Now if while Im working at ABC Corporation XYZ Inc opens and I apply there and they agree to pay me $10.00 and hour for 40 hours it is then again my decision to either stay in my current position or move to something that may be better in my opinion correct?
And I know what your going to cry....."Well the evil corporations are just after profits!" Well with the evr growing cost of goods corporations must increase their intake of money so that the shareholders continue to be paid at a level that makes them want to stay as shareholders.
Now your going to complain about all the bonuses the suits get on wall st. Well lets look at why the liberal stance on this is wrong (as usual)....
If im a worker (white collar) for a company (whether or notthe company received Obama money) and part of the contract that I signed to work for that company is a bonus (for whatever the reason) and I have met the conditions to receive that bonus why should I not get it? I earned it (and yes I know liberals know nothing about earning anything.... you think we should just take money from those who make "too much" and give it to those who dont make enough -- neve mind working for a living) by doing my job. That means the company is contractually obligated to pay me the bonus. If they dont then they have breached the contract. Now....
Lets look at what Barney the Banking Queen Frank tried to do..... He said "If you big bad corporate guys dont give the money back we will just tax the bonus at 99% so that Big Brother gets it and we will just give itt o someone who did not earn it (Fannie? Freddie?)
So I will ask the question.....If this is what gov't regulation brings why do we want that?
Larry,
Have you ever noticed how all conservative "capitalism fairy tales" start with fictional companies?
Why the ABC company?
Are there no real companies that are serving as a terrific examples of corporate citizenship?
lol
Again to poor Larry: If you read TR's "New Nationalism" speech, you will find that he pretty clearly specifies that duties of the worker as well as the company. It is a complex speech and is probably beyond your ken. I asked you earlier for a cite about your statement that Jefferson (or one of the founders) saying this is a Christian country but all could come here. Would you kindly provide it?
The corporations have been shorting the companies BADLY for at least the last 15 years, this editorial from the NYTimes says it very clearly:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/opinion/06smith.html?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065
Corporations have gone for the short term profits, not putting the money back into the companies in a way that would sustain them and their employees in the long term. Very Sad, and it points directly to where this nation's corporations are failing us and robbing the lifeblood of their workers.
We can see that the Wall Street Criminals are retaliating against Democrats just because the Democrats want to force the WSC into being honest businessmen. We can see that the dopes of nope do the bidding of their Wall Street Criminal masters so they can get the majority of all those bribes to keep the deregulated status quo that caused our massive Double Dip Bush Recession.
So clueless that Crybaby Boehner said that the financial crisis was like an ant and the financial reforms a nuclear weapon to use against that little ant. Crybaby Boehner seems to not notice that the little ant that the dopes of nope created is still kicking our economic behinds. Nope the dopes of nope are now kicking the behinds of the unemployed who are running out of unemployment benefits, 2 million people by next week. Yep the repugnant ones love to kick people when they're down. Then they don't raise a stink about putting another $80 billion of war funding on the Chinese credit card.
Everyone in D.C. knows Afghanistan is a lost cause whether they publicly admit it or not, but instead of doing the right thing and bringing our troops home they will pass another un-funded war appropriation bill for several billion and allow our children to be killed so they can try and save face and look tough. Which should they really be ashamed of?
How can we really expect anything positive from the Republicans today when all they do, with the strong overt and covert support from Special Interests and the select few who they serve, is to use scare tactics and emotional appeals to self-interests aimed to excite and manipulate? How can they solve any of the real problems we have when they won’t even address them and instead only irresponsibly fault and obstruct others efforts? How can we trust them when they literally put their political ambitions above all else and just use subterfuge to rationalize and justify? How can we expect anything constructive from them when all they do/say is aimed at returning to ‘more of the same’ that got us where we are? When Bush-Cheney, with the stubborn and arrogant full support of the Republican Party, spent eight years using their offices and America’s resources for a private agenda to benefit only Special Interests and a select few while giving the majority only apathy, the costs and an abundance of subterfuge to rationalize and to manipulate, how can we now ever realistically trust them to be different? When ‘deregulation’, ‘open markets’ and ‘small’ government is used to rationalize run-away greed, self-indulgence and gross dishonesty as being ‘conservative’ how can we then expect them to really support reform? To ever get the Republicans to once again be the ‘Grand Ole Party’ conscientiously, honestly and responsibly representing the people, which we should really want, we need to firmly reject what they have become, to resist their manipulation and to reject their subterfuge (and the ‘Tea Party’ movement just doesn’t get that as theirs’ is another deceptive manipulation of public opinion like ‘Swiftboat’ was). To accomplish that we really need to be more responsible ourselves by rejecting our own irrational ‘more-for-me-for-nothing’ mentality that feeds into accepting their destructive manipulation and instead be disciplined and objective to then make conscience driven choices.
Exactly . . . we can no longer accept bumper sticker "conservatism" as legitamate any more . . . rhetoric without solutions is dead on arrival.
Right. The only thing the GOP is interested in doing is winning. This past year, they have proven they want Obama to fail and in the process, do not care if the country fails as well. The GOP hasn't been fiscally responsible since Reagan's voodoo economics took root. What frustrates me is that people believe them.
The Party Repubs started and funded the original Used Teabags, but the 'movement' has gotten somewhat away from them and displaced some of their prized, vaunted incumbents and their Party Choices for the mid-term election. The Repubs cried and screamed a lot at nonsense issues and the Used Teabags immediately took it up and went far beyond what the Repubs ever thought would happen. They never seem to do their homework, yet set the match to any brushfire that they can in order to appeal to their so called power base. They badly miscalculated the effect of their rhetoric and are now trying to figure out how to bring the Used Teabags under their control. The Repubs appealed to the baser side of their party, and they have debased their party to the point that a great portion of actual, thinking Americans can see them clearly for the bad joke that they really are. The Used Teabags are the greatest gift to the Dems as they clearly show their ignorance of what Governing this Nation actually entails and the limits that go along with any office. The Repubs will be able to blame only themselves and their Used teabag sycophants when they are removed from any ability to filibuster and/or impede the proper working of the Government. All in all, the joke is on the Repubs, who thought that they could whip up the Extreme Right and ride to power that way, instead, they whipped up the extremely ignorant, who opened their mouths and let America see how idiotic they really are, and the Repubs will ride them down in flames to ignominious defeat this November.
As usual, B. Honest hit the nail squarely. Voted.
Book Club, Summer Reading, 2010, UnSerious Stuff
Eric, oppressive it certainly is. I've been out of the loop all weekend; no tv, no computer; just outside enjoying the hot summer. Reading another spy novel; 700 pages - this one is about Rudolph Hess and the Americans, the Soviets, the Germans and the British tracking down what may or may not be Hess's diary found in the rubble of Spandau after it was knocked down immediately following Hess's suicide. The book goes back and forth between WWII and the years just before the Wall fell.
The real papers on Hess aren't going to be released until 2016, but still the question remains - why did he fly to Scotland in 1941? And why was he imprisoned for the rest of his life, when Speer was out after I think 20 years?
Great spy novel though. The CIA, the KGB, the German Police, the Israeli's and the British all trying to get their hands on this diary. Kidnappings. Lots of murders. Lots of cold snowy dark alleys. Lots of forged papers getting across the border from West to East. Lots of smoking cigarettes. Lots of drinking Wild Turkey. lol
Great summer reading for those of you who love this kind of stuff like I do. Then in the Fall start reading about the settling of the Wild West.
Time for me to update myself on the news, political and otherwise. I hope you're all enjoying the summer. It goes so so so fast!
Pat: when you're done with that, (I read it-could not put it down), try Peter Quinn's "The Hour of the Cat". Similar subject matter-it is a novelized version of true events. Great read!
Fiesty and I have cats, you and I have books-more common ground on here than people would think. . .
no joe; I will look into it; thanks for the recommendation! I know what you mean; I can't put this book down. It's quite a novel. Cheers!
I have done no research other than reading, but I began to notice more than ten year ago that anti-Semitism was creeping into the pages of the New York Times, time, Newsweek, and others. I also began hearing things from relatives and friends who are extremely liberal that I never thought I would hear from them; if anything, 9/11 made them worse. I wonder, therefore, if some of those 'republicans' who are becoming more supportive of Israel are, in fact, former democrats. I do not wonder that there are fewer democrats who are supportive of Israel-I do wonder why it took you so long to notice.
As to your two-edged sword: Republicans highlighting that Democrats are not getting as much Wall Street money cannot possibly hurt them, but will hurt Democrats. How? Well, most people erroneously believe that it is Republicans who get the most money from Wall Street; face it, the media does very little to educate people as to the meaning of the term "Limousine Liberal". So, that two edged sword hurts Dems: first, by cutting their funding, then, by identifying them as the recipients of Wall Street largesse in prior elections.
I notice that you missed two stories making headlines today: the first, that the Obama administration knew that the drilling techniques being used by BP were more dangerous than other methods in 2009-when they went to court to block an environmental groups' lawsuit demanding better contingency plans prior to drilling permits being issued. Think he will stop blaming the 'other guy' now? And, how did you happen to miss that?
The second story comes courtesy of the new head of NASA: on Al Jazeera this weekend, he told viewers that his main duty, as charged by the White House, is outreach to Muslims. NOt space exploration, outreach. Don't we have ambassadors for that?
Ah, why bother reporting on these when Michael Steele has made another idiotic remark. After all, Steele IS the most important person in America, right? I mean, he comes right after Sarah Palin. The fate of the country hangs in the balance of what either of these two nitwits has to say next,does it not?
Well, maybe only in First Read land.
nojoe,
It would be great if you could provide links to the stories you mention so we could read them for ourselves.
Google is a search engine that allows you to type in the words; NASA, Al Jazeera...took me about 1.2 seconds...but here's that link...
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/talktojazeera/2010/07/201071122234471970.html
Nash: both stories are on the realclearpolitics website. Byron York covered the al Jazeera story; "Obama followed Bush drilling policies is on the side banner , (under oil sill)-it showed up today in the Wall Street Journal online.
Before you protest-unlike the Times,WSJ has NEVER been accused, let alone proven, to have made up 'facts', nor published stories that were proven to be made up by reporters. This story has names,dates, and direct quotes from people involved.
It all proves, once again,that Obama is in over his head.
Actually dangerfield, I am very familiar with Google . . . but thanks for the link. . . more signs that you care! ;o)
nojo:
Thanks for the info . . . I will check it out.
Is it anti-Semitism, or is it a recognition that our goals as a nation aren't necessarily the same as the goals of Isreali hard liners? I can't name another nation on Earth with which we are expected to align more closely with in terms of automatically marching lockstep with their goals. Moreover it isn't even Isreal as a whole, but the most militant activists within the Isreali nation. I'd add that the documented tendency of some Americans to identify in this way just because they believe it's a sign of End Times is just creepy and wrong.
Democrats in the U.S. support Israel as much as republicans. Palestinians have rights, too. It's hard to pin anti-Semitism on liberals when white supremacists are far right extremists and always have been.
That said, there is increased chatter overseas which is anti-Jewish but I think that has more to do with Israel's aggressive behavior against Palestinians in recent years. It is less about the religious differences and more about the perceived atrocities inflicted on the Palestinian people. After 9/11 what has been on the increase here is anti-Islamic sentiments--you see that here nearly every day.
"
I notice that you missed two stories making headlines today: the first, that the Obama administration knew that the drilling techniques being used by BP were more dangerous than other methods in 2009-when they went to court to block an environmental groups' lawsuit demanding better contingency plans prior to drilling permits being issued. Think he will stop blaming the 'other guy' now? And, how did you happen to miss that?" - nojoe
===============================================================
Nojoe,
I just read the article that you reference:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704699604575342843359124882.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_3
I found it to be a very interesting chronology of the Obama Administration's attempt to balance environmental concerns against economic ones.
Clearly, the short term goal of the Obama Administration was to get a climate deal using offshore drilling as a "carrot" of sorts to win some concessions from a few Congressional conservatives.
The judgement was made that the pros of such an arrangement outweighed the cons, and based on what had happened up until that point, that was not an unrealistic conclusion.
Clearly, in the clear light of the tremendous disaster in the Gulf, that bargain no longer looks like such a great deal.
However, nowhere in the article did I see anything to support your supposition that "the Obama administration knew that the drilling techniques being used by BP were more dangerous than other methods in 2009"
In the article, it states:
"
The case was brought two years earlier by indigenous Alaskans and a coalition of environmental groups. It challenged a Bush-era plan to lease large chunks of offshore Alaska to oil drilling.
The groups argued the strategy didn't adequately account for the whole range of environmental perils raised by oil drilling on the outer shelf.
The appeals court agreed, ruling that the federal program was based on "irrational" analysis. The government's own assessment, the court found, weighed only the impact of oil washing up on shorelines. In a foreshadowing of the post-spill debate, the court noted that the analysis didn't address the impact of a significant spill further out at sea."
So the issue in dispute was the fact that the environmental impact of a spill was not being fully analyzed . . . the article says nothing about the safety or non-safety of BP drilling practices, as your comment suggests.
The article does clearly show that the government argued against stopping all drilling based on this Alaska case, largely for financial reasons, and the appeals court clarified that their ruling applied specifically to the Alaskan area orignally considered in this specific case.
It is clear that the Obama Administration believed that it had the luxury of continuing current oil drilling practices a little longer to reach what it viewed as the "greater good" of climate legislation.
Clearly, they were wrong in that supposition, but I reject your premise that this was a deliberately and willfully negligent act based on full knowledge of the problems in the BP oil drilling operations..
The evidence you presented does not support that conclusion.
NoJo,
Actually, there has been a lot more anti-Israel rhetoric, based on their actions. Anti Israel is much different than antisemitism, one is stating facts about the actions of an acknowledged State, the other is a racist opinion based on religion and are very different. I am very very much against what the Sate of Israel is doing, but am not at all against Jews in general, yes, I do not like the Ultra-Orthodox Jews because they are just as radical and willfully ignorant, by way of religion, as Al Qaida and the Taliban are...read up on them if you don't believe me. But being against the actions and policies of Israel is not the same as antisemitism so do not mix them up as one being the same as the other. We complain about the policies of America, but we do not go saying that complaints against the Government are AntiChristian. Reason and Honesty MUST Prevail if we are all to survive against the predations of man against man!
B. Honest,
Thank you, I am Jewish and you've stated this better than I could have.
CU - Maybe you should look into why a people, be it Iraqis, Iranians, Gazans, Syrians, Cubans, Pakastanis, Afghanis and of course the Saudis that flew the 9/11 planes hate America so much.
They could give a crap about hating the American 'way of life'.
Maybe its because we are the most succesful country in the history of the world and our standard of living isnt "I have a better cave than you do Ahmed"?
Oh and because were a Christian nation.....
Then again maybe it's because we installed a puppet dictator in Iran rather than allow them to have control of their own oil industry, and back the Israeli government no matter how harsh or unfair they wish to be with the Gazans--people who were considered the natives when we created an Israeli state out of whole cloth only 2 generations ago. I don't think the Cubans hate us. Certainly not the Cuban people. They do have a penny ante dictatorship which maintains power partly through sympathetic reaction to our ineffective boycott. As for the Pakistanis, Afghans, and Saudis, aren't you tarring entire nations based on the blind hatred of a handful of Jihadist crazies? The Jihadists represent minorities even within those countries. Surely it's possible to come up with a anti-terrorist strategy that's as effective as can be managed with such likes around. Destroying the village to save it never works.
And maybe it is because we installed an evil dictator named Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Or could it be that after the first Gulf war, we maintained a military presence in the Middle East which in their view is occupation and a threat to their way of life. I don't think it has anything to do with our freedom and way of life but the idea that they believe we wish to impose our culture on them.
Hope e1 hadda gr8 4th !Have'nt paid attention to politic's for a month, but I can almost tellya whats been happenin. Teleprompter's, Birth Certificates, The Alaskan wild dingBat spewing her venom & Why has'nt President Obama put on his Aquaman suit & singlehandily plugged the Oil leak in the Gulf. Chicken growth in Nevada(crispy or super crispy). The ignorance of many Americans is Comical & sad at the same time.Election time will be upon America b4 long & we'll see if they choose Lipton tea, PornStar Republican's or Democrats, who really care about Your Daily lives. Politicians are all the same, they're nature is to lie, it's just that some lies are bigger than other's. You get what you pay for!
NetenYahoo over here begging our President to give him more time to Destroy the World with thier continued destruction of Palestinians.Isreal's Prime Minister has Accomplished Nothing since being elected but Death of Mankind. I'm surpried Turkey has'nt attacked Isreal over the Flotilia Death's. It was'nt enough that Isreal had e1 but Egypt against them in the Sandbox, they had to go & piss off Turkey, who is More Moderate than Egypt.President Obama need's to twist the yahoo's arm somemore & threaten $$(we need the $$ more than Isreal does)unless yahoo makes a concerted effort to Finally bring Palestine into the fold.
Have at it all you Isreali sypmathizers, cause i'm sick & tired of all the problem's brought forth by Isreal's, they did this so we're gonna do that Attitude!
OH yeah, i'm Back!
Welcome back Rick . . . you were missed! :o)
Hi Rick, KY - nice to see you back with us!
I agree with you that Israel was wrong with the way they handled the flotilla. No way did they have to kill those people. No way. President Obama and the State Department have their work cut out for them on this.
Israel will always be in danger and must take precautions, but their treatment of the Palestinians is unacceptable. Hamas on the other hand cannot ever be trusted. We can't forget that. But Israel isn't helping the situation at all.
The world wants this all to end. Now. It's up to Bibi and his cabinet. Here's hoping for some steps forward from this meeting. Real steps forward.
Great post Rick. I don't think I have had the pleasure of seeing you on here until now, but it is nice to have another sane voice among the din. :)
Welcome Back. You're right. Politics lately could be compared to a TV soap opera--you can skip the show for a few months and still be up to date.
Amen Nashville, well said. The first thought I had while reading the post was "...pot, meet kettle..."
Sorry I hit The submit button before I could edit my comment. This is how it should read:
Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL
Thanks for wishing me an early Happy Birthday. it means a lot that July 8th, 1776 was the day the Declaration of Independence was read aloud and the Liberty Bell was rung. Eat your heart out Sean Hannity.
What Dump Steele, Hire Palin? It just substainates how crazy the right wing is. Stay fearless Micheal Stay. You da Man of Steel you can shrug off the criticism and calls for your resignation. You got rid of RNC money spent at a lesbian-themed gentleman’s club; ting-a-ling! You got rid of all that jazz for taking a six-figure salary while accepting speaker’s fees. Dyaaam! Calling out your party on race issues; Bam! Your satement about Afghanistan being the "war of Obama’s choosing" shows how much PILE on the man of Steele can flick off; double doozy. Especially, since that was BO (Before Obama). Georgie boy did it. G.W. Bush actually started in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks; but, dropped the ball. that was too big for G.W. Bush, being the Cheney sock puppet on a string he was/is, to not complete the mission. After all, there's "black gold" in them there sands.
Ohhh, and thanks for your new foray into political statements. Your new budget blueprint foresees a $12.2 million drop — 34% in the fund for political operations, as well as lower projections for contributions from both small and major donors. Rand Paul enjoyed your statement too.
The whole nation has the blues thanks to the GOPocalypse. The same people attacking him attack President Obama.
Get rid of the rest of Clowns. Enough with the Party of "NO".
29 right Beverly? ;0) Enjoy your day!
Israel. I understand Israel's need to defend itself but at some point it must take a risk toward allowing Palestine a state of its own. Israel should in good faith stop building settlements or the window of opportunity will shut completely and Israel will find itself losing more than it gains by continuing the perpetual war with its neighbors. Israel will not lose its power by allowing Palestinians a place of their own; Israel will still be able to defend itself; the U.S. will continue supporting Israel. Without U.S. money, Israel could not survive--it would seem wise for them to stop bickering over details and just head to the table and talk. A willingness to talk never hurts but always helps.
Mitt Romney. What a dufus. The New Start Treaty will leave the US with enough nuclear weapons to wipe out not just Iran and North Korea but the entire world. As for Missile Defense, we have them. Reagan's Star Wars shield is a waste of tax payer money because enemies will just build better missiles.
Sounds as if Jerry Brown needs to get off the dime or it will be another Massachusetts where Martha Coakley took voters for granted. I realize that people like Whitman can spend their personal money however they choose but when a candidate spends $80 M of personal money on a primary, that candidate has an advantage over often better qualified but financially strapped candidates. Whitman's campaign of spending millions of personal dollars coupled with Corporations allowed to spend like people are two more examples of why we need government-financed campaign reform. As for Jerry Brown, now might be the time for someone from the Obama campaign team, like Plouffe, along with Tim Kaine to meet with him and his team to put a jolt in Brown's strategy.
David Vitter. I can understand voters who ignore personal indiscretions but I wonder why was Vitter given a pass by fellow republicans in the Senate and so was Ensign. The GOP had no problem going after Clinton or other democrats but yet their own are allowed to continue as if nothing happened. It would seem the party of family values would be more boisterous about ALL indiscretions not just the opposing party's.
I sure enjoyed the Revolutionary War documentaries played Saturday and Sunday on The History Channel and The Military Channel. A pity that most of the tea bagging flakes who try to rewrite history didn't watch these uplifting true tales of our Founding Fathers. The New Constitutionalists would discover that our Constitution was not a work of perfection but the best compromise they could come up with at the time and they knew it and expected it to become even more perfect as time wore on.
The tea baggers think that the Boston Tea Party was all about revolting against paying taxes because these newage cheapskate Tory Traitors are too cheap to fund the country they so falsely proclaim they love. Our Founding Fathers revolted because of the right to self determination and the tea tax was merely a convenient excuse they used to begin their revolt for self determination. Our Founding Fathers paid plenty of colonial taxes and didn't complain about paying them. When Liberal Ben Franklin went to Britain to explain the No Taxation Without Representation chant he was under strict orders from the rest of the Founding Fathers to not accept representation at any price. Our Founding Fathers did not revolt against paying taxes, they revolted to earn self determination.
The tea bagging evangelical christian lunatic fringer prancers try to claim jesus wrote our Constitution or that their false god created our Secular Democracy by mistake. They try to claim that Separation of Church and State was a mistaken interpretation of what our mostly Liberal Founding fathers wanted. No our Founding fathers well understood the dangers of allowing religion to guide the state, they weren't too far removed from the Salem Witch Trials so knew the evils of religious nutcases running the political show. We see all too well how the reborn Salem Witch Trial craven cabal acts now as they try to destroy our Secular Democracy in favor of perverting it into a religious tyranny like Iran has.
Separation of Church and State is the Foundation of Our Secular Democracy!
Eric, the Tea Party is about taxation without representation. Our elected officials are not listening to the people that elected them. Our elected officials are supposed to spend our money wisely. If your going to hate a party that you do not agree with a least gets the facts right. BTW, why do libels feel it is okay to waste money? Why has demanding accountability fallen to the Tea Party?
Gary, disagreeing with how our representatives decide to spend money is NOTHING like taxation without representation. At least study up on that before you accuse others of not having their facts straight. I don't know how libels feel, but Liberals are NOT OK with wasting money. We're not OK with Corporate Welfare. We're not OK with ineffective regulation, neutered by the Conservatives. We're not OK with the legalized bribery that comes from defining money as speech. We're not OK with The Long War, an expansion of the Military Industrial Complex that causes us to spend more on Defense than THE REST OF THE WORLD. We want effective government that works for the citizens.
Silly Gary
you know those elections that roll around, oh, about every 2 years? yep
There's your representation for you.
We didn't like what Bush was doing from the day the SC handed him the election. You didn't hear any talk about secession or revolt from us.
Impeachment, yes - at least after he booted the weapons inspectors out of Iraq so he could start his war - but not revolt.
See the main problem the liberals have with Israel is the fact that Israel is doing EXACTLY what it should be doing......
Israel is the land promised to the Jews by GOD they have EVERY right to defend themselves in every manner possible.
Hey Larry - you mean that Israel should steal Palestinian land for their Lebensraum and run their Gaza Concentration Camp and treat Palestinians the way the Nazis treated Jews? Their lying bible and their false god gave them nothing, they lost control of their homeland over 2,000 years ago and that's their tough luck they couldn't get along with their neighbors then or now. Their lying bible is not a valid land contract good for all times, time for them to learn to fairly share Palestine with the Palestinians or they will have to suffer the consequences of them not being able to play nice with the Muslim kids who also think thair false bible says that land is theirs. If Israelis have the right to defend themselves then so do the Palestinians!
Good luck with that too-late in life diet, maybe some day you'll burn off all the fat between your ears and can finally have a coherent thought.
Eric, the Palestinians lost control of their homeland and that's their tough luck.
Remind me again why we need Separation of Church and State?
Hey Mark, Domenico or Ali - would one of you please tell Chuck Todd that Russians do not call SPAM Borsht! Borsht is a delicious cabbage soup and SPAM is well the most disgusting food ever created. Tell Chuck that Russians call SPAM - SPAM! My Russian, that I learned in the Army almost 40 years ago, is rather rusty and I can't come up with a good Russian equivalent but the Russians take English words and use them as such. When it comes to SPAM Russians just say Nyet!
Eric, LOL!!!
Larry, Minot, N.D.
You say "But never let something silly like the facts get in your way." The FACT is you don't understand separation of church and state even after reading the letter Jefferson wrote. That means what you call as religious is just your hypocrisy.
Magic Underwear Romney has no foreign policy credentials other than Bomb Bomb everyone We Can. What a joke that the START missile reduction treaty would have any impact upon being able to defend ourselves against the likes of puny Iran or North Korea. We're talking the big intercontinental missiles of which we'd still have more than enough to wipe out both countries a 100 times over, so no the START treaty will do nothing to degrade our defenses against Iran or North Korea. We'll still have more than 10,000 smaller nuclear warheads that would be far more useful against puny little nuclear powers like Iran (whenever they actually get one) or North Korea.
All this whining is about is little wimps who can't let go of their Cold War mentality or nuclear comfort blanket. All they want to do is hand President Obama a legislative defeat, something they'd had a tough time with the past 1.5 years. Ofcourse Magic Underwear Romney wants to keep these unneeded nukes but doesn't want to pay the extra taxes to maintain them. Killing the START treaty isn't foreign policy credentials, it just shows how petty and partisan this Mormon Moron is.