Looks like I picked a good day to spend on the road away from the computer, since nothing eventful happened. Here is an open thread to discuss how to can food and how to clean water in a fallout bunker.
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Phyllis
Burying the cash in the backyard was good enough for my Granddaddy. Just following tradition.
Violet
Grow my own food. Probably not enough protein, but I can get chickens. Harvest rainwater. Setting up a distiller isn’t too hard and would work if you needed clean water.
Don’t have a gun, though. Might need one of those if it gets really bad.
Are we at the start of our version of the French Revolution yet?
eastriver
Yawn. The Dow goes up, it goes down.
Yevgraf
You don’t can food. You take your Second Amendment Freedom Guarantor (there are several hundred million firearms in this country, since we love freedom so much) and you steal it from fat, pasty-faced exurban bootstrapping teatard businessmen before shooting them in the head and taking off with their tasty, plastic surgified women. Sure, you might get a couple of scrapes and bruises from when they throw their gold coins at you, but when the shit hits the fan, your average exurban teatard really can’t function without working electricity, running water, roads, gasoline and an internet that he can post his stupidity on.
At three days without the megabroadcasts of Rush Limbaugh and some conservative chatrooms, that exurban teatard will fold like a cheap chair under the 300 pound woman at the church picnic.
JPL
Am I the only one thinking about buying a few blue chip stocks? Not a good sign I guess.
Steeplejack
Wonder if the fallout shelter is still in working order at the old folks’ place.
Violet
Okay, what word put me into moderation? Trying again:
Grow my own food. Probably not enough protein, but I can get chickens. Harvest rainwater. Setting up a dis tiller isn’t too hard and would work if you needed clean water.
Don’t have a g u n, though. Might need one of those if it gets really bad.
Are we at the start of our version of the French Re vol ution yet?
Yevgraf
You don’t can food. You take your Second Amendment Freedom Guarantor (there are several hundred million firearms in this country, since we love freedom so much) and you steal it from fat, pasty-faced exurban bootstrapping teatard businessmen before shooting them in the head and taking off with their tasty, plastic surgified women. Sure, you might get a couple of scrapes and bruises from when they throw their go1d coins at you, but when the shit hits the fan, your average exurban teatard really can’t function without working electricity, running water, roads, gasoline and an internet that he can post his stupidity on.
At three days without the megabroadcasts of Rush Limbaugh or the cameradie of conservative chatrooms, that exurban teatard will fold like a cheap chair under the 300 pound woman at the church picnic
Steeplejack
Wonder if the fallout shelter is still in working order at the old folks’ place.
The Worst Person In the World
Back out of bed from your bender, Cole?
me
@Phyllis: Can’t eat cash. Shouldn’t you bury Glenn Beck’s seed bank instead?
Violet
@JPL:
I am thinking it’s getting close to time to buy stocks.
Corner Stone
Silver!
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Sorry for the (possible) duplicate post. This comment dropped into moderation. WTF?! FYWP!
Thought it might be the word fallout, but apparently not.
Tom Hilton
First day at work after a week off (backpacking, dayhikes, & wildflower-spotting in the Klamath Mountains). Ugh. Worse still: some woman on the bus this morning was humming the Ode to Joy. I almost asked if she would mind humming something a little more gloomy.
Still processing the photos from my trip, but I do have a bunch of them up here.
Mutaman
Don’t blame me, I voted for Hillary. I tried to tell you, you didn’t want to listen.
BGinCHI
When do we start drinking our own urine?
I don’t want to jump the gun on that.
Violet
@Steeplejack:
Mine went into mod too, and no reason why. None of the usual word suspects and no links, so it’s not that.
RareSanity
@eastriver:
You can’t explain that.
The only subject O’Reilly could have actually made that statement about and everyone not think he was an idiot.
dmsilev
Via the GOS, this is either sad or hilarious:
A RedState conference? Really?
Poopyman
@BGinCHI: You go first and let us know how you make out.
lamh34
If ya’ll have a yen for a good movie, I’d recommend Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was way better and funnier than I thought it would be. Steve Carell was his usual fabulous self, Marisa Tomei was beauty (my God that woman ages well), Julianne Moore was her usual greatness, and I’ve never considered Ryan Gosling sexy, but this movie turned that around for me (btw, can anyone tell me when tight suits became the “thing”. man, that dudes suit were tight, that’s the first thing I thought, the next thing was dayum when he took off his shirt…bu anyway).
Like I said, I enjoyed it and it is def NOT ur run of the mill “Sandra Bullock”-like RomCom so dont’ let that keep ya from seeing it.
Poopyman
@RareSanity:
And never a miscommunication, don’t forget.
Violet
@dmsilev:
Went to Red State to check it out. Saw this from Ewik:
They call it The Gathering. That sounds vaguely creepy. Do they wear robes and have secret handshakes?
Alex S.
I think the Dow is good at 10000.
Geoduck
@JPL:
I suspect the market hasn’t quite bottomed out yet..
RareSanity
@Poopyman:
Except for those fucking bond vigilantes…they don’t know what the fuck they want!
trollhattan
In which Ubergenius “historian” Victor Davis Hanson assures us agribusiness is a “victim” and should get all the goddamn water they want. Screw you, salmon, salmon-loving hippies and dry river beds!
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hanson-california-water-wars-ce20110807,0,6896021.story
Also, too, keep delivering that federal water at highly subsidized prices, m’kay?
Yevgraf
I only do it because I enjoy the flavor.
Hunter Gathers
Imagine my dismay that when I went to trade in my 10 month old son and I was told he was only worth a 2 liter of Mountain Dew and 3 Taco Bell tacos. You know shit is bad when white infants no longer bring a premium on the open market. Now I’m stuck changing diapers and feeding his non-productive ass until someone meets my new asking price of a 2 liter of Live Wire and 4 Taco Bell Taco Supremes.
Hugh
@BGinCHI:
It really is so easy to jump the gun on that.
Ken Chappell
We were fisted by the invisible hand of the free market today.
jl
Cole can laugh all he wants. He’s got Rosie to go out and forage for him. He will be thin, since Rosie will have eaten most of it by the time she gets back, but Cole will suck enough marrow out of the bones to make it.
But what will become of us soft liberals in the coming everythingbadolypse?
Derf
Cole sarcasm translation:
“I’m all spunked out from all the gloom porn in the news today.”
BGinCHI
@Poopyman: Because it is bitter, and because it is my urine.
My favorite Joyce Carol Oates novel.
JPL
@Violet: Mine was in moderation… word press is not happy today
Derf
@eastriver: Yawn, people sell when I buy. People buy when I sell. People get poor I get rich….yawn
Yevgraf
@Hunter Gathers:
Why can’t the little squab scratch out his own living? Surely you’re doing a better job of raising a non-moocher, non-looter than that.
There’s gotta be something he can do, even if it is just cleaning the industrial floor of shavings by crawling around and eating them….
Tom Hilton
@trollhattan: Hanson is from Fresno, so in his case it’s not just wingnut kneejerk anti-environmentalism; it’s also provincial interest based kneejerk anti-environmentalism.
The Populist
@dmsilev:
I hope good hair runs. It will give us all an opportunity to grill him on his secession comments. If he hates being part of America, why run for president?
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet:
Yes, they do. White bedsheets. With pointy hats.
JGabriel
@JPL:
Meh. The DJIA is still at 10,810. Call me when it goes below 9k. And after I win the lottery, so I have some money to invest.
.
lamh34
@Hunter Gathers: Haven’t you heard, according the Hollyweird, African babies are in…see also Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock, Madonna to name a few.
Yevgraf
Not me – I’m out. Cash comes in, cash pays down debt, cash is saved.
No mas casino for me.
Villago Delenda Est
@Tom Hilton:
The thing is, it’s basically “my government subsidized livelihood is more important than YOUR government subsidized livelihood.”
But he’s not intellectually honest enough to admit that, quelle surprise!
TK-421
I would like to know how this is all Jane Hamsher’s or Adam Green’s or the PCCC’s fault. Maybe ABL can help us out.
jnfr
@Violet:
I figure with all the excess pigeons and Canada geese around it’ll be a while before we’re hurting for protein.
Yevgraf
Not me – I’m out. Cash comes in, cash pays down debt, cash is saved.
No mas cas!no for me.
RossInDetroit
Over the winter, weather depression made me think that the American middle class would be a mid 20th century phenomenon that came and went.
I’m not so sure. We may not be completely screwed by our overlords. If we can beat back the idiocy for one more election, liberals, the only people who have managed to govern this country and bring prosperity, will have 4 years to turn things around. I think it’s doable. It’s not hopeless.
Yevgraf
@jnfr:
Not me – I’m heading straight for the families of every listed officer, director and analyst employed by or affiliated with S&P. I’m sure they will comprise some fiiiiiine protein.
Ken Chappell
@Yevgraf: I’d like to live that way. Unfortunately the wife and I need to play the slots a bit for retirement funds. Today was ugly.
Ken Chappell
@TK-421: It’s also Greenwald’s fault, and the professional left’s.
askew
@Mutaman:
Man, am I sick of moronic PUMAS crawling out of the woodwork everytime something goes bad for Obama. And they have boo to say when Obama has success.
dmsilev
@Yevgraf:
Have you seen some of those people? Very high in saturated fats. I think I’ll stick with trapping the neighborhood squirrels.
Lolis
@Violet:
My dad said Greenspan said it will takes at least a couple months before the market bottoms. I would wait. Even though Greenspan doesn’t have the best accuracy record, I know. Considering I have money in the market now I need to buy more at better prices to help recover my losses. I earn a shit salary so stocks are the way I try to boost my retirement options.
beltane
@Yevgraf: They are well-marbled and tender. Won’t require the same amount of braising as the geese.
trollhattan
@Tom Hilton:
I did not know he hailed from Fresburg. Doesn’t that basically precancel anything he says or writes? Maybe he was once frigntened by the San Joaquin River, back when it held water.
My demented rescue dog is also from Fresno. Jess sayin’ (Admittedly, she can levitate.)
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6019/5897408271_ee716ede48_b.jpg
hhex65
gee, Repubs win back the house and crash the economy again– what a surprise.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@TK-421: As long as its not the Tea Party’s fault, amirite?
Tonal Crow
Mouse pie. It’s what’s for dinner. IF you’ve been treating your kitty well.
chopper
canning food is easy. I’m teaching a class on canning in a month, and if i can can do it anyone can can.
Roger Moore
@Violet:
I was hoping they’d start screaming “There can be only one!” and decapitating each other.
Tom Hilton
@Villago Delenda Est: Exactly right.
(That said, we should never let people forget that all livelihoods and all wealth are subsidized by the government; agribusiness is just a case in which there are particularly obvious subsidies above and beyond the basic subsidization of all economic activity.)
@trollhattan:
Anything about agribusiness, certainly.
What he says on all other subjects is basically precancelled by the fact that he’s a useless fucking tool.
ETA: Ha! at Superdog. Great shot.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@chopper: My bride canned fig preserves all damn weekend!
lacp
Fuck that. You ain’t gonna catch me eating any fucking cans. I’m sticking with good, honest, American garbage and industrial waste.
MikeBoyScout
Civil Defense Booklets [Paperback]
“Civil Defense Booklets” is the 2nd volume in The Red Dog Nuclear Survival Series. The book contains four official U.S. government civil defense booklets spanning the course of the cold war. Clearly written and richly illustrated, it serves as an essential information resource for those learning to survive the effects of nuclear weapons. Topics covered include tips on surviving the blastwave; the use of shielding against radiation; how to build fallout shelters; assembling shelter supplies; coping with the problems of shelter living; dealing with radiation sickness; and the practical steps needed for recovery across the community. Includes a range of shelter designs.
JPL
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Did you see this
Murphy, however, is done for the season after suffering a Grade 2 strain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He will not need surgery and is expected to be ready for spring training next year, Alderson said.
It wasn’t the cleats.
Hal
Something occurred to me in reading Drew Weston’s NY Times piece on Obama.
Is the expectation from Weston and many others on the left that if Obama had been a Gunslinging, draw a line in the sand guy we would now have:
1. A multi-trillion dollar stimulus
2. Full healthcare with a public option
3. No DADT or DOMA (within) the first few months
4. Complete overhaul of our financial systems and wall street
5. Revenue in the form of the end of the Bush tax cuts
6. An end to the the wars…
On that last point, that is something Obama could do on his own, but the others seem to be a complete fantasy, especially within the first few months or couple of years.
I just can’t imagine anyone capable of that much change that quickly, especially with so many of the dems that were in office in 2008.
And if Obama had been President Shaft, isn’t it more likely that the GOP would have been even more unbendable and if; a year or two later, Obama had very little legislation to talk about because of a stalemate, would we really be talking about Obama the hero, or Obama the total loser who can’t get anything done, and why is he so obstinate, and isn’t he supposed to work with everyone?
It just seems that what some of us are really arguing is more political idealism than political reality. That doesn’t mean Obama couldn’t do many things differently, but so many things so many of us want to see strike as years in the making, not something that will happen in a couple of years, or a term or two.
When Obama was elected he said as much, and most seemed to agree with that. So what happened between 2009 and now? Is it as simple as Obama not living up to expectations, or are our expections too unrealistic?
eemom
I STILL can’t get over how bad that post from this morning sucked.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
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The Michelle Bachmann is TOO DAMN HIGH!
.
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gogol's wife
I wrote to the Public Editor at the NYTimes to complain about their latest round of Obama-bashing headed by Drew Westen’s article headlined “What Happened to Obama?” I explained that what happened to Obama was that the American people elected a bunch of crazy people to the House of Representatives in Nov. 2010, and when Joe Nocera pointed that out, he apparently was then forced to publish a retraction because he was impolitely speaking the truth. The response from the editor’s assistant was that in his “almost a year” on the job, he’d never seen such an outpouring of positive response to an op-ed from both ends of the political spectrum. Even mainlining Shirley Temple is not going to help me get out of my depression/Depression.
BGinCHI
@Hal: Did you see Benen’s take on the Westen piece?
Really good.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: Never was, I was watching and saw all the angles. The cleats did catch the bag and bend his knee back so when his foot popped off it went into Murph’s thigh with great force. I think it’s a shame but the idea that it was intentional is plain stupid.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
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@TK-421:
You forgot Glenn Greenwald. Oh, but he’s on vacation, so I guess A BLoviatrix must indeed hand down her ruling.
.
.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@BGinCHI: Linky?
Mattsky
I guess even the nutroots stopped paying attention when Obama makes an address on TV. But Wall Street noticed. The Dow went down 634.76 points today.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Hal: “Shut yo mouth. . . “!
Martin
Purifying water is pretty easy these days as well, though not without setup cost.
$300 for 10,000L of water ($.11 per gallon), $400 for 20,000 ($0.08 per gallon). Filters down to 15nm, so it can filter out viruses – any living contaminant.
TK-421
@askew:
Yes, how dare people bitch about the piss poor economy and how everyone in Washington, the Obama Admin included, refuses to substantively address that. How.Dare.We?
Look, here’s the reality: people do NOT like their government officials when the economy is in the shitter and it looks like they don’t care. When I say “people,” I’m including liberals in that group too because they’re also scared and pissed about their job prospects, their debt, their health care, etc.
No matter what lists of achievements you or others produce, the economy trumps all other issues on reelection. Right or wrong, that’s the reality. This is not new, and this is not rocket science.
BGinCHI
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): You lazy Classic City bastard, here you is:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_08/the_westen_piece031388.php
Now, send me some figs!
Mutaman
“And they have boo to say when Obama has success.”
As soon as it happens, I be the first to offer Kudos.
TK-421
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
I’m not sure why it’s either/or. It can be a lot of people’s fault without having that assertion devolve into High Broderism.
If you want to pretend that the Obama Administration is absolutely positively on the wrong track on economic policy, go ahead. If you want to pretend that it’s ONLY the Tea Partiers that are advocating for deficit cutting and Austerity, go ahead. But I don’t think the American people or those coveted “independents” in general are going to be impressed with fingerpointing, and slightly dishonest fingerpointing at that.
If the Obama Administration wants to separate themselves from Republicans on economic policy, then they’ve got to do more than say “well, we agree in concept, but we don’t want to go THAT far…” That’s horrible branding and, again, horrible economic policy.
And yet what did you just do there? Heckuva job.
HyperIon
@eemom wrote:
which post? i can’t keep up.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@TK-421:
Especially the Obama administration. First, foremost, and always to the exclusion of everything else the Obama administration. Tea Party? What Tea Party?
General Stuck
Your fresh daily Hummingbird pic
jwb
@gogol’s wife: No surprise there. That article was the perfect complement to Bobo’s work.
jwb
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Cole’s got you covered.
eemom
heh heh. Look at this.
It’s official, ladies and gentlemen. There are no sharks left for her to jump here in deecee, so back to Hollywood she goes.
Tom Hilton
@Hal: If you haven’t already read it, you should read Jonathan Chait’s brutal smackdown of that op-ed piece.
JPL
@General Stuck: Beautiful.
Montysano
@ John Cole
Dr. Strangelove said something about how men in the bunker would be expected to do “prodigious service”.
So at least there’s that…
JC
Am I the only one tired of the circular firing squad here?
Where can we go to elect people who will sign on to publicly funding campaigns? Nothing changes unless we elect congresspeople who 100% commit to this, and bring it up, day after day, after day.
General Stuck
@Montysano:
Mineshaft Gap
JPL
@eemom: From the same article
If you’re not an FDL member, you can join now for as little as $45 per year.
hahaha
gnomedad
@The Populist:
That’s what amazes me about wingers. They call themselves patriots, but they hate real-life America, and the Constitution except for the 2nd Amendment.
JC
Brad Delong financial recommendations
Thoughts on this? He is correct, in that people who were RIGHT ON THE STIMULUS, with a deep grasp of liquidity trap economics, seem to have left the Obama Economics team.
trollhattan
@gnomedad:
The 2nd renders all others unnecessary, moot and sissified, nomsayn’?
Elie
@jl:
LOL — funny image with Cole and Rosie, there..
Well, I’m out in rural Whatcom Co WA and can easily turn my garage into a chicken coop and get a couple of goats and such. Have plenty of dairy around and pretty good land for an eadible garden (there goes our fancy new landscaping)
What a great day this has been. Found out that one of my job prospects has fallen through due to “market conditions” — at least that is what they said..
sigh. Picked a bad day to quit sniffing glue…
TK-421
@Hal:
I think you’re forgetting that the first two years of the Obama Administration the Democrats had control of both Houses. Yes, the Senate was (and is) a dysfunctional mess, but I have a hard time believing the Obama Administration couldn’t have passed a bigger Stimulus if they wanted it. Specifically, I have a hard time believing they couldn’t have overcome a filibuster if they wanted to.
They wanted the Stimulus they got. Former Administration officials have basically admitted this. I am too lazy to provide a link.
The only people left arguing the Stimulus was the Most Biggest Possible are people on the internets who for some reason can’t admit that Team Obama made a massive mistake here. The effect of that mistake isn’t going away and may fundamentally affect their reelection chances. Why is that so hard to admit?
I have to wonder if some people here are even capable of conceding that the Obama Administration, like every Administration before, has made mistakes. It’s almost as if their own pride and self-identity is wrapped up in the perceptions of a politician(!) they voted for that one or two times back in 2008. Very weird.
Elie
@General Stuck:
thank you so much for this, Stuck. Wow — what a shot…
Our hummers, (Rufous) are pretty much ready to go back south. They come here very early in March/April, nest, wait for the bugs, tank up then return to points south all the way to Mexico. They are a gas and I hope one year to attract Ana’s but so far, no.
Lolis
@eemom:
Just sad. I am a little surprised Michael Moore is willing to publicly say he would support Matt Damon for president. I guess finding a new hero is easier than doing actual work to help the president we have achieve better outcomes. What a bunch of retards.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@TK-421:
And somehow Holy Joe and Ben Nelson and all the other Blue Dogs get a free pass. I’m sensing a trend here. Hmmmmmmmm.
TK-421
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
First, in general I’m not crazy at pointing fingers at the other guys when I know “my” guy is wrong too. I’d rather make sure “my” guy was right before I started yelling at other people. Stones, glass houses, etc.
I live amongst Teabaggers, so I don’t feel the need to yell at them on the internets. I used to criticize them to their faces, but they’re not listening and they don’t care. The 27% crowd is beyond hope and always has been. The Obama Administration, OTOH, can still be reached and thus should be criticized.
And I especially don’t feel the need to point fingers at Tea Partiers on a liberal blog, where I’m pretty sure they’re NOT. But, if you think there are Tea Partiers here (maybe Derf?), then feel free to point them out.
Lolis
@TK-421:
Who here has said Obama has not made a mistake? Nice straw man. We all wish we had a 2 trillion stimulus that revived our economy last year. That would have been awesome. It didn’t happen. It is time for everyone to figure out what we can do now.
SiubhanDuinne
@trollhattan:
Whenever I see that name I always think of the Chicken Soup for the Soul guy.
Elie
@TK-421:
The Obama administration has DEFINITELY made mistakes. The question for me to you is why THOSE mistakes are the only thing that we can build on in your eyes? Do you ever — EVAH see the Republicans talking ONLY about one of their President’s MISTAKES? Well, no.
As I said on another comment thread, I hope you all get what you deserve and unfortunately that is going to fuck up my life but I am going to tell you to STFU everytime one of you starts up the whine about what President crazy eyes or one of the other freaks have done to you.
General Stuck
@TK-421:
What’s weird are people that say they are on the left, ruminating all day, every day on real or perceived mistakes, like the bullshit of neverending navel gazing on the size of the stimulus. People like you that post drivel shot through with presumption and motive readings al la a Glenn Greenwald style polemic drek.
And after the stream of half baked bullshit is complete, then sentence is pronounced of failure. Why do you keep doing this? This blog is full of smart informed people that have seen this crap regurgitated here for three years now. We do have our quota of morons, but that is like you preaching to the choir.
I don’t think you and others like you do what you do for any kind of healthy analysis. We have seen way too much of it for that to remain a viable observation. You are trying to build a narrative of failure for the presidency of Barack Obama, and now are plumbing the depths of wankery with passive aggressive nonsense like this comment of yours.
Roger Moore
@JC:
Where can we go to get a Supreme Court that will let it by? Perhaps you failed to notice, but the USSC decided that the First Amendment allows unlimited campaign spending by third parties. What good does public financing do if the real money can bypass it?
freelancer
@JPL:
At least here at BJ, we can get some nice swag for $45.
TK-421
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
Sigh, I guess I have to whip out my credentials or something and talk about how much financial support I offered Ned Lamont and whatshisname in Arkansas and how I supported ejecting Holy Joe from his chairmanship (guess who disagreed with me on that?) and how I hated Harry Reid for being a pussy and not reforming the filibuster after the 2007-8 congressional session. I guess I have to talk about how much I yelled at Heath Shuler during the ACA debate. Because that will make things better, I guess.
And as for the Teabaggers, they’re defiantly ignorant nihilists, and are beyond hope…precisely what do you hope to gain by endlessly bitching about them on a liberal blog? Again, they’re beyond hope- wouldn’t it be better to work on the people who are NOT beyond hope?
The Obama Admin is on the wrong track on the economy. Period. Unless and until they get better on the economy in the eyes of the American people, their reelection is going to be a little iffy. Constantly fingerpointing at the firebaggers isn’t going to change that. The American people and those coveted independents tune that shit out.
But definitely, criticizing others who refuse to waste time on pointing fingers at the teabaggers, oh yeah that will make things soooo much better.
Josie
This is possibly one of the most ill informed statements I have seen in these comments. The combination of the “moderate” Republicans and Blue Dogs that the administration had to win over in order to overcome the filibuster pretty much guaranteed that they had to pare down the stimulus. If you can’t back up your statement with actual quotes, it isn’t worth shit.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@TK-421:
Yes, because making sure our guy is ‘right’ on our preferred policies is a higher priority than the union-busting vote-gating god-bothering fuckers on the other side of the aisle that would gladly drive this country completely into the ditch if given a chance. Its nice to see where your priorities are at.
Its too hard to stop the twenty-seven percenters, so aim low and go for the Democrats instead! A+
Wow. On a liberal blog where we mock the Tea Party and organize congresscritter calls and blegs you come… to poke at the blog’s said choice of candidate.
But its too hard to work against the Tea Party.
Right.
Martin
@JC: But I’m not sure what he’s getting at. He’s reiterated this common trait:
So, okay, we did that and the Fed did that independent of Congress. There’s no shortage of money out there at the top end of the economy – profits are sky high, the banks are stable enough to be getting sued left and right, people are saving again. The problem seems to be that consumers are not deficit spending like they were in 2007, and we’re supposed to want a return to that? We’ve cut middle class tax rates, and arbitrarily dumping short-term money into people’s pocket isn’t a realistic solution.
It seems to me that there’s only 2 really solid solutions here, neither of which the folks that left the WH were advocating:
1) Policy changes that will shift payroll from the top to the bottom, narrowing the income disparity as a means to generate demand from the much, much larger pool of below median workers rather than the much, much smaller pool of executives. There’s a host of mechanisms to do this, and all are radioactive to Congress.
2) Policy and tax changes that will shift manufacturing and services from overseas to the US. We’ve done a lot of work on trade deals to help stimulate other economies and free up trade, but we’ve sabotaged our own effort through stupid tax policy and incentives so that rather than create export opportunities for the US we’ve merely stimulated job growth overseas. That’s helping certain parts of the professional labor force, but not enough to justify the harm done elsewhere in the labor market. And I have a hard time seeing Congress doing anything here either because it’s hard and politically dangerous.
I just don’t see how monetary policy and quantitative easing and shit like that is going to do anything other than put more money in the bank accounts of companies that already aren’t hiring with the profits they’re earning. So I don’t know what Brad expects to have happen.
Scott Alloway
@Violet: Nice reference. Maybe Duncan MacLeod will show up and take out the lot. As the Watcher said, In the end, there can be only one.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Elie:
@General Stuck:
I have my thoughts, but I’m trying to be a kinder gentler sheriff.
Steeplejack
This political craziness is killing me, though I am dutifully following along.
On a more useful note, can someone point me to a favorite (free) program to edit the header information on MP3 files? I have been cleaning up a lot of MP3 files and copying songs to my phone (Droid Incredible, which I love, love, love), and I’d like to edit the song title, artist and other info so that it makes more sense when it shows up on the phone.
I have consulted the Google and see some possibilities, but I’m looking for something that someone has actually used and likes a lot.
My computer is running Windows XT.
James E. Powell
@Hal:
I’m neither an O-Bot nor a firebagger and I’m inclined to give the president a lot of slack. But, from day one, neither the White House nor the Democratic “leadership” were focused on the only goal that mattered: holding onto the house & senate.
Roger Moore
@TK-421:
Do you actually remember the stimulus fight? It was clear from the very beginning that the Senate was going to be a problem, and a bipartisan group of Senators took it upon themselves to cut a bunch of money out of the stimulus just to prove they could. Does that sound like a situation where Obama could have gotten more money if he had just tried harder, because it doesn’t to me.
The only way Obama could have gotten much more done is if Harry Reid had the guts to eliminate the filibuster. Once the Senate agreed to rules that let 41 Republicans block anything they felt like, everything was an uphill battle. If you’re going to criticize Obama for any by strategic mistake it was not convincing Reid to kill the filibuster.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Martin:
We upgrade China to Super Duper Most Favored Nation trade status?
The Dangerman
@Violet:
They’re not really handshakes; they’re traditionally called reach arounds.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@jwb:
So he does! The man is truly an aristocrat among bloggers.
.
.
becca
We are building a family compound in anticipation of the coming Hiatus From Civilization.
The new back house will feature a gun turret and I’m beginning to appreciate the ominous aesthetic of barbed wire and search lights.
Elie
Man, I am just so tired of these so called prog “elitists”. I truly think now that you are worse than the Republicans because you are so demoralizing, unctious and unwilling to see anything but absolutist kant that would be most at home with the Republicans. Please PLEASE go join them. Stop coming here to spread your crap. Great. Don’t like Obama or what has been accomplished in just two years, fine. Keep it to your fucked up selves and go lick Grover’s ass like the dogs you are. I wish that I felt most of you were paid. You aren’t. You are just clueless, dense morons who are going to help send us back to Republican hell…and I will hate you and all the negative, morale busting, inaccurate bullshit that you help give to our REAL opposition — you know, the ones you completely ignore.
Samara Morgan
@TK-421: where is your warrior soul, firebagger? think you can get away from meh?
Cole should get a little taste of this….after all he loosed freddie the pompous little glibertarian whorebag on the front page.
wasnt the Humiliation of Kain enough for you Cole?
JC
@Roger Moore:
Hey, I got a reply button! Whoo!
Yes, I know that – but if we elect more who sign on to this, this, step by step, will help
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Roger Moore:
I remain ambivalent if it was a lack of guts or an attempt at staving off the inevitable.
Elie
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
Well I am sure we are all thinking “those thoughts”. I just refuse to be driven away by their offal — the fuckers are fucking with the wrong broad.. I am mean and will stay mean till the last dog dies…these folks are affecting OUR future with their bullshit.
ChrisNYC
You know what makes me crazy wrt the downgrade. All these fund managers saying, “Well harumphhh of course DC is dysfunctional — and it has been for a decade.” Well, Mr. Moneybags, why not use some of your capital to help? How about you bankroll a serious campaign to get money out of politics? Grrr. Over over people in power say, “Not my job.” Really gross.
Samara Morgan
hmmm….mebbe TK-421 has the same psycho-sexual issues with Obama as dumb donut and freddie.
They subliminate their fears into concerntrolling Obama like the teabaggers subliminated theirs into birtherism.
:)
WaterGirl
Finding Steve Benen has been the one bright spot for me in these past few weeks.
Okay, as I was typing that I realized that no, there have been two bright spots. I also really liked that Obama looked pissed today, not scared.
Seriously, whether the man has disappointed you or not… Is there anyone else you would rather have driving the bus during these crazy times than Barack Obama. If yes, please name names.
JPL
Well I might wait a few days before I buy stock
» Japan’s Nikkei Average futures fall 4.4% on SGX in premarket trade, tracking U.S. meltdown
@Elie: Tell us how you really feel.. I will admit that something is amiss when Naral sends out emails touting the coverage of birth control and pumas are still yelling but Hillary………………….
Samara Morgan
@Elie: i think TK-421 has psycho-sexual issues with Obama.
The de Bore- TK-421 Axiom of Firebagger/teabagger Isomorphism.
Firebaggers sublimate their pyscho-sexual jealously of Obama into concerntrolling and scolding liberals. Teabaggers subliminate their psycho-sexual jealously into birtherism and illegitimism.
Hamsher corrollary: Jane Hamsher doesn’t have a pen1s, but she relly, relly wants one.
Roger Moore
@James E. Powell:
No, no, no! Winning elections doesn’t mean shit unless you take advantage of it to implement your policy preferences. Obama was 100% right to try to pass as much of his agenda as he could while he could. He might have bungled the execution or been undermined by intransigence in the Senate, but there’s no point to winning an election if it comes at the cost of giving up your policy goals.
KG
@Violet:
Why would you waste a perfectly fine still on water? Especially with this bunch?
Baud
@WaterGirl: Ditto on Benen. I just discovered his blog as well (thanks to BJ).
TK-421
@Lolis:
Actually, that was cute what you did there. You pretended that of course the Obama Administration has made mistakes, but, by stating a larger Stimulus was a “wish”) tried to imply the Stimulus was not one of them.
Let’s remember that the Obama Administration itself admitted it made a mistake on the Stimulus. I find it weird that refusing to admit or examine past mistakes is perceived by some here as useless or counterproductive. Uh, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I tend to learn the most from my mistakes. IMO, accountability and learning require examining past mistakes…yet for some people, it’s just too painful to do so. Or something, I don’t get it.
And if you’ve read Brad DeLong’s piece today, you’d understand that the people inside the Admin who were even vaguely right about the Stimulus are gone, and the people inside the Admin who were wrong about the Stimulus are still there. So if you’re asking “well what do we do now?,” well, I’m not sure there are answers that are plausible and right. Theoretically the right thing to do would be for President Obama to sack and replace all these people who’ve been wrong (and put him in this precarious position), but I don’t think that’s realistic. I suppose we could just cross our fingers and hope these idiots get a clue and start pulling some unorthodox stimulus levers, but hope isn’t a plan or a strategy (and this community seems pretty intent on mocking and opposing the unorthodox stuff anyway, so I don’t see the point in debating them).
As I said, the “right” solutions are not easy, and because of that they will not get done. That’s not my fault, that’s not my problem to solve, and I feel no guilt or shame in criticizing politicians who are either unwilling or unable to do the “right” thing.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@ChrisNYC: No joke, I saw Mike Bloomberg in a banner ad here earler today. Granted, it was for some org working towards getting away from coal, but it had his mug plastered across the middle.
Martin
@TK-421:
Well, it’s not lazy. The link would be quickly contradicted.
1) The administrations initial request for stimulus was dialed back 20% by Congress. So no, they didn’t get the stimulus they wanted.
2) The administration and Congress were focused on projects where funding could be put to use immediately, not 5 years out. There was a lack of such projects. Basically, they put forward funding for everything that could be identified at the time.
3) The administration said from day one that they’d go back for more stimulus if more was needed. Things were proceeding well and the first real indications that more was clearly needed came in 2010. By then Brown had replaced Kennedy, and we were fighting tooth and nail for unemployment benefit extensions, which were the more effective form of stimulus. The 2010 budget fight that everyone is so eager to blame Obama for caving on over the debt ceiling and the Bush tax cuts was a stimulus fight – it got us unemployment benefits expansion and other social programs and it got an extension of the middle class tax cuts – all stimulus outcomes. Based on how hard that fight was, there wasn’t going to be anything more out of Congress.
Elie
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
How can you stand it? Really. You are so much more civil about it. I am just seeing red and having steam explode from my ears. I.just.dont.want.these.people.around. I am fine with blocking them from commenting here. fuck free speech
Josie
@WaterGirl: This is exactly the question I challenge the whiners with – who would you put in charge instead? There is always a curious lack of suggestions.
Constance
@gogol’s wife: I couldn’t find Nocera’s retraction. Point me to it and I’ll phone the NYT.
Elie
@Baud:
Well you would not have loved the comments there today, trust me. Steve’s posts are great, but like here, even more so I think, you get some of the worst firebagger comments ever. And no pie filter either.
General Stuck
@TK-421:
How much longer will your spastic episode of mental masturbation go on. And when should we call 911?
Roger Moore
@Samara Morgan:
I think TK-421 needs to go back to his post. I have yet to get a satisfactory answer to the simple question, “TK-421, why aren’t you at your post? TK-421, do you copy?” and I still haven’t gotten it.
Samara Morgan
@Elie: well Cole encourages it.
he front pages firebaggers and Obama concerntrolls.
im the only one that gets timeouts here.
and only for pointing out the truth.
:)
Tonal Crow
And on a lighter note, Palin’s movie is fading to black. In the 3+ weeks since it was released, it’s grossed a total of $113,123.
The free market has spoken.
Anne Laurie
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Actual line from Terry Prachett’s The Truth: You can live on figs, but it’ll make you wish you hadn’t.
I was thinking about proposing The Truth for the next Book Chat, but after last weekend I may switch to Guards! Guards! instead…
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Elie:
At the end of the day, its a lot of storm and wind, signifying very little. Dissenters will inevitably abhor.
The nation will make its own decision on whether we go forward with Obama or backwards with Bachmann or Perry, the best we can do is donate, call, and work to convince those we can reach.
Baud
@Elie: I rarely read his comment section, and didn’t today, so no prob.
PeakVT
@JC: Delong admits he was wrong – again – and them promptly shows he has learned nothing by recommending Larry Summers for Fed Chair. And the policy prescriptions are hardly new, though they remain worth pursuing.
Samara Morgan
@Roger Moore: well i ax freddie who is he going to support after i read this on his blog.
i think TK and freddie went to the EDK School for Cowards.
Linnaeus
Our neofeudal moment is approaching. I know I probably throw that term around a bit casually, but shit’s going down. And it’s not good.
Baud
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-: Damn, that’s way to zen for a blog comment.
Elie
@Samara Morgan:
I see that. I do. I don like but there is no solidly progressive site that doesn’t allow or seem to encourage the negativos… its like infectious cancer…and like cancer its going to kill this presidency and the progressives and perhaps this country. Love to see what we all look like after a term or two of crazy eyes or the Texas Jesus freak.
Elie
@Linnaeus:
Anything specific in mind new, or just the stuff that we are already burning the coals for…please expand.
Samara Morgan
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-: until the demographic timer hits.
until then the country is still half bubba.
and in spite of Cole, DougJ, mistermix and glibertarian koombayah c1rcle jerkers everywhere,
WE ARE NOT THE SAME.
Svensker
@General Stuck:
Thought you were talking about hummingbird pie, which might be tasty but you would need so many to get full. Still, if the economy goes completely blooey….
darkmatter
Guess what is making a comeback in 2011? http://www.screened.com/trailer-the-artist/128-735/
Elie
@Baud:
good idea. you would not like it.
Where are we as progressives when we can’t read the comments on progressive web sites because our own side hates us and our party so much they would rather spend time condemming us than the Republicans?
TK-421
@Roger Moore:
As I said somewhere else, I don’t know if the Obama Admin could have gotten a bigger stimulus. But if that’s true, then the Obama Administration’s political strategy in the wake of a possibly too small stimulus was a mistake.
Let me pose a hypothetical: suppose you’re a Democratic Administration, and you’ve inherited a Depression. Econ 102 tells you that you need expansionary fiscal policy, and your advisors have calculated that the expansion needs to be in the neighborhood of $1.2 trillion and the risk of doing too much is minimal compared to doing too little.
You go to the Democratic House, and the Speaker says she can deliver the votes for you. You go to the Senate, and there’s a problem and you just can’t get the money you need.
(pause: do you remember the Obama Administration doing this? I don’t. If someone never asks for something, did they ever want it to begin with?)
So, okay, you can’t get what you really believe you need, but you can maybe get 2/3 of it and oh BTW a lot of it has to be tax cuts and stabilizers and very little actual stimulus. Your advisers are worried about the too small risk, independent economists are REALLY worried about the too small risk, but no matter because all you can get is about 2/3 and it’s not very expansionary. Now what?
Obviously, you take what you can get and the bill is signed into law, but remember that there is a distinct possibility you’re going to need more. What do you do to help yourself get that second stimulus down the road? Now what?
Do you stand up and proclaim this possibly too small stimulus as the Best Thing Ever? Is that the best way to get another round of stimulus?
(pause: do you remember the Obama Administration doing this? I do. Was that really an indication that they knew it was too small and they were just taking what they could get?)
I suppose one could argue that there was never going to be any more money available in the future, ever (which BTW the Obama Administration disagreed with you), but then the question becomes even more important: how do you maintain your credibility with the American people, who are mired in a deep Recession, if you know there’s a possibility your only chance at helping them won’t actually help enough? What do you do?
And again, I find it odd that while the Obama Administration itself admitted they made a mistake on the Stimulus and that it was too small, commenters on the internet know better and declare that the Obama Administration did the best they could and any criticism is unfair and shut up. Very bizarre.
Baud
@Elie: I think we need to realize that some of these folks are just as opposed to us as the tea partiers are. We’re not on the same side.
jwb
@Baud: There’s a reason Jane Hamsher made an alliance with Grover Norquist.
eastriver
@RareSanity:
???
The Dow does indeed go up. Yes? And the Dow does indeed go down. Yes?
And the Dow will go up again.
The Dow is a meter for fear and greed.
Linnaeus
@Elie:
I’m just observing the increased inequality, concentration of wealth, the rigging of government for the benefit of corporations, the delegitmation of government as a force that can be effective and serve the people in socially vital ways. This isn’t new, as you know. The trend’s been going on for a while. It seems to me that we’re seeing a more explicit iteration of that trend in recent years.
Jenny
Meh. It’s not the stock market that matters, it’s he credit/money market.
As long as there’s liquidity a drop Dow is minimal.
For example, some of you may be old enough to remember the greatest stock market crash in October 1987 (13 months before the election). In one day alone, the Dow dropped a record 23%, and yet unemployment rate fell steadily from 6% to 5% over the next 17 months.
General Stuck
@TK-421:
I think this particular concern troll is on a directed, or paid mission to disrupt or convert to opposing Obama. It is full of shit and should be ignored, or spanked. and nothing more
jwb
@General Stuck: TK-421 writes too much in each comment to be paid.
TK-421
@Samara Morgan:
As much as you like to crow, I don’t know what the problem is here. I responded to this like a week or so ago. I don’t know what your taunting is for, nor do I understand what you think you’re getting out of it.
Baud
@jwb: The enemy of my enemy….
Samara Morgan
@Elie: the cancer is the “we are all the same metavirus.”
demographically, 2012 may be the last time conservatives can take the WH.
But sadly, they do not have a candidate.
the smarter ones won’t run, like Rubio and Huck, because O has incumbent advantage.
you cannot reason with Team Reaver.
you can trick them (like O just did), or you can wipe them out demographically (coming).
but you can’t out-reaver them. liberals cant do that, inspite of all the elitist prog scolding and firebaggerery.
But Team Reaver’s corporate overlords have lost control of them….that is apparent in the debt debacle.
the tiger is turning to eat its rider out of the saddle.
should be entertaining.
Roger Moore
@TK-421:
TK-421, why aren’t you at your post?
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Jenny: Not just that. Last I heard, oil was at $88 a barrel.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
May very well be my enemy, too.
moe99
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Kuo8lb6Bg&feature=youtu.be
Thank you Tea Party. This youtube is worth posting and reposting. And sharing with all your friends.
Samara Morgan
@TK-421: oh my. i missed it.
could you supply a link plz?
and who are you voting for, after you get done scolding liberals and concerntrolling Obama?
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
I would be down with that. I read most of the Pratchett novels in a rush a year or two ago (on the recommendation of Tattoosydney and others here), and I realized a few weeks ago that I’d like to go back and reread some of them in the wake of having gotten the big (Discworld) picture, so to speak.
I was talking with a friend, a mid-20s graduate student working on her M.A. in English, trying to get her to try a few of the Pratchett novels, and I realized two things: (1) I couldn’t really get across how good the books are without making them sound like some sort of nerd-geek cult thing; and (2) it took Pratchett a little while to really get going, and almost without fail the first novel in each of the Discworld subseries (e.g., Guards! Guards! for the Night Watch series) is not a good indicator of how good the later ones are. But I don’t want to recommend one of the “great” later novels with all the back-story missing.
All of which is to say that I would enjoy going through Guards! Guards! with the Balloon Juice crew. It would be interesting.
jwb
@Baud: Yes, and, so who’s her enemy: it’s not the teabaggers, and it’s not the Republicans. And Norquist is not stupid: he knows an effective weapon (and a gullible mark) when he sees one.
Jenny
Some fun news.
Jackie Kennedy’s audio-diaries reveal she believed LBJ killed her husband. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3739218/Jackie-Onassis-believed-Johnson-killed-John-F-Kennedy.html
It’s interesting that LBJ (the catalyst of the Vietnam disaster) has emerged as a liberal icon in recent years. As if 3.9 million Vietnamese never died.
jwb
@Samara Morgan: If it doesn’t eat us as well. These are the types of situations that lead to authoritarian regimes, in which case we could easily be looking at 50 years before pressures build sufficiently for change.
Samara Morgan
@TK-421: the Obama Administration did the best they could
well, yes. obviouso.
why are you whining? why are you still firebagging?
ah. but you can’t maintain credibility with Reavers. they dont have the substrate. like i said, you can trick them, like Obama did. or you can wipe them out, disenfranchise them in the electorate.
we just arent there yet.
Are you really so bloody stupid that you dont get it? Team Reaver tried to burn down the house.
its what they wanted.
Jenny
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-: Very true. Gas prices are far more lethal to a recovery/expansion than stock prices.
Baud
@jwb: I’m convinced that a lot of far left types view the Democrats as the greater enemy because they see Democrats as mitigating the impetus for the prophesied People’s Revolution. Conservative governance in contrast leads to social and economic conditions that foment the revolutionary spirit.
Jenny
When will the blogosphere stop fighting over the 2008 primaries? Hillary lost, get over it.
It’s like reading about Japanese soldiers on isolated islands still fighting years after V-J day, because they never got official word that things ended.
Will the 2016 primaries be as annoying? If Schweitzer wins, will Gilibrand’s supporters dig in and wage a 4 year rear guard campaign against Schweitzer’s border collie?
Roger Moore
@Baud:
And I’ll use my favorite analogy again: fomenting revolution as a way to start social reform is like setting your living room on fire to as a way start your home redecorating project. It may be the fastest way of clearing out the impediments, but the risk of collateral damage is more than any sane person would tolerate.
Emma
Totally OT, but did anyone notice that the administration has moved to eviscerate some of the stupidest requirements of the No Child Left Behind mess? here
cs
@Hal:
Even though I like the show, your list of what liberals fantasize about has almost convinced me West Wing and Sorkin are part of the vast right wing conspiracy. The show is a counter-propaganda effort designed to demoralize the left and/or push them into unproductive political efforts.
Jenny
@Roger Moore:
Weren’t the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle a success?
Elie
@cs:
Got that right , bro. got that absolutely right.
But it won’t work for me, fuckers. I am dug in.
Samara Morgan
@Emma: oh thank you Emma.
The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik
Since we’re rearguing it all, and I’m too frazzed to bother typing up another thing, I’m just going to repost what I said earlier on it all:
On top of that, I’ll add this: I do not blame Obama for the problems we’re having. I’m blaming the feckless idiots of the Democratic Party that are supposed to represent us, of which sadly Obama is included. He is not the be-all, end-all to blame, but he is still part of the problem. Unfortunately, this is why I’m also not on the ‘We shoulda had Hill!’ or ‘Primary Obama Now!’ bandwagon: the bullshit is endemic in the party as a whole, save a few bright spots like Pelosi (and even she jumped on the austerity wagon late in the game).
Elie
@Samara Morgan:
As long as we can minimize the collaterals — I got old folks to protect and the weak in my community. They are running on food pantries and a few social progs like WIC and food stamps. Wanna see sad? I am black, and lord knows I am familiar with black people suffering, but my heart breaks in two watching old, scrawny white women struggle with a couple of shopping bags to get on a bus that comes round maybe once or twice a day. We have tons of white old folks in rural WA living in trailer homes or fragile frame cottages. Nobody gives a fuck. We have thousands of the mentally ill, homeless, unable to grok how to help themselves and too unstable to get their meds regularly.
I cannot stand this. And instead of helping us form the picture and talk to the people about how to change this, my elitist liberal colleagues are trying to figure out how to defeat the slim thread of respite in Obama. You ask me if I can love my fellow left wing asshole that blogs here. They are traitors in every fundamental and meaningful way. They don’t help us with what I just talked about. They won’t advocate for anything that means anything except their sense of pointless ideological perfectionism. I wish them to bloody rot.
gogol's wife
@Constance:
It was in whatever his last column was on the op-ed page, maybe Friday?
Samara Morgan
@Elie: They won’t advocate for anything that means anything except their sense of pointless ideological perfectionism. I wish them to bloody rot.
yah, they are useless.
yet Cole continues to front page them.
well….that is what Obama is doing.. ..for those that have eyes to see and substrate to understand.
i have a lot of faith in the founder’s l33t design.
its an error-correcting code, but its verry slow.
as for freddie and TK…they should lead, follow, or GTFO of the way.
and Cole shouldn’t give them front page slots.
Poor dude, he relly doesnt wanna admit that Kain rolled him like a cheap drunk.
man-up and fight Cole. quit giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
Hal
@TK-421:
The biggest possible? Of course not. The best that we could do with the Congress we had? Who’s to say otherwise. You’re not arguing a fact, you’re arguing a want. That’s my fundamental issue with so many of these criticisms. If Obama had a 60 majority of Progressive, Liberal Dems, we would have had a huge stimulus, and Healthcare with a Public Option.
Jenny
@The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik:
You just violated Godwin’s law. Democrats are NOT Nazi’s and the po’ po’ PUMAs and Firebaggers are NOT persecuted Jews. To the contrary — the persecuted Markos, Arianna, and Jane are laughing all the way to the bank as they whip up their readers into driving up page views.
Mnemosyne
@Hal:
Ah, but you have just violated a firebagger article of faith: we wouldn’t have had those things anyway because Obama is a stealth Republican who has planned from Day One to kill the social safety net. Legislative failure for his announced initiatives is all just part of his diabolical plan to take it all away.
So saith St. Glenn of Greenwald, anyway.