Not to be too much of an Obot, but I’m happy to have a president who talks this way:
“You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire, denying climate change,” he said according to the White House pool report of the event. Texas has been hard hit in recent weeks with a series of wild fires that have only recently been brought under control.
The president didn’t limit his comments to the candidates. He also took the opportunity to address recent audience behavior at the debates, singling out those who applauded the prospect of a young man dying because he didn’t have health insurance and those who booed a gay service member.
“That’s not reflective of who we are,” the president said of the GOP audiences. “This is a choice about the fundamental direction of our country. 2008 was an important direction. 2012 is a more important election.”
hildebrand
‘Just words!’
(Sorry, needed to ironify the whine du jour before it was actually uttered.)
RSA
If Tea Party Republicans had a working moral sense, Obama’s statements would induce in them a feeling of shame. I expect a good number of them will double down instead.
Linda Featheringill
Calling out the GOP audiences:
Bravo! He’s absolutely right that their actions don’t represent what we want to be.
And the Republican response is . . . . . .
Kola Noscopy
yeah, right.
Hello. Talk is cheap. Three years of inactivity on climate issues speak much more loudly than words.
amk
He also dinged the ‘progressive friends’. Expect poutrage dejour at gos and fdl for this entire week.
Nevgu
Why do you feel the need to pre-emptively apologize for looking like an ‘Obot’. It just makes you look like a koolaid drinker by saying that nonsense.
It’s a meme invented by the firebaggers and teabaggers. I flat out reject the whole premise to begin with.
Mr Furious
Why is that black man so angry?
amk
@hildebrand: Your prediction proved right within 2 minutes and 4 posts.
Kola Noscopy
@hildebrand:
The truth is difficult for you to hear, isn’t it, dear?
“ooooh ooooh three years late, and coincidentally just as election season begins, Obama makes progressive -sounding noises. YES WE CAN.
matryoshka
This point can’t be made too many times or too many ways. There is a fundamental difference between the world Republicans want and the one Democrats want. Their vision endangers all of us. I’m glad to see my president has snapped his balls back on.
SiubhanDuinne
@Linda Featheringill:
. . . waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting . . . still waiting . . . .
Kola Noscopy
@Mr Furious:
Oh please. That’s an act. BO doesn’t get angry. He is much too cool for that.
Brian S
@RSA: They’ll double down and scream that they’re the moral center of the country. And moderate Republicans will sigh and wail and still vote with them.
Davis X. Machina
@hildebrand: His problem is, he never mentions “Republicans” or “the GOP”, instead he’s always banging on about ‘Washington’ and “Congress”.
I mean, that is the problem. A hundred blogs couldn’t be that wrong.
amk
@Kola Noscopy: You know jacksquat about ‘climate issues’, dontcha ?
drkrick
@SiubhanDuinne: I think you’re getting it from the asshole (he/she choose the name) pretending to be an offended lefty.
Keep in mind, folks, that a lot of these kinds of posts are going to be paid GOP trollbots for the next year or so. Let’s try not to take the bait.
Roger Moore
That may not be who we want to be, but that kind of thing reflects a frighteningly large fraction of us. The Tea Party isn’t just an aberration. It reflects a real, scary part of America.
That said, it’s nice to hear the President switch into full-on campaign mode. I hated the Bush Administration attitude that government was just an extended campaign, but I think Obama has gone too far in the other direction. It’s good to see him swing a bit more toward fighting the insanity.
Gilles de Rais
Wow, how irrelevant can you get? Of all the concerns I hear raised by people every day, oddly enough, not one of them has mentioned “climate change”. Not a fucking one.
What is a far more immediate and pressing concern not just to me but most Americans is the economy. And I suspect the too-stupid-for-words electorate is going to look at the last three years of Congressional stonewalling on the economy and take it out on the president.
You’ll get your action on climate change then, when the lowest common denominator of the GOP gets sworn in and promptly turns over all environmental regulation over to Jesus.
cleek
@Brian S:
yup
Mary Jane
@Nevgu:
Co-sign.
hildebrand
@Kola Noscopy:
Yep. I am crushed. Devastated. Your pithy rejoinder has cut me to the quick. I shan’t reply to any more of your posts, you are too great an intellect, a debator beyond the skill of Socrates. I yield the field to your magnificence.
(Psst, to the sane Balloon-Juicers: Did the poster who oh-so-cleverly named themselves after medical ass-probing buy it? Did they leave the battlefield after collecting their scalp for the day? Roll away the desk chair from the desktop and laugh maniacally as they carve another notch on the desk, “Mom, I got another one!” Whew, I hope so, because I can only take so much foolishness in the middle of the day.)
Culture of Truth
Chris Christie a party turns its lonely eyes to you.
Loneoak
@amk:
Kola knows everything there is to know about climate issues: bitching about the president will change the anti-science beliefs about climate change held by a ridiculous percentage of the electorate and legislators, negating our responsibility to actually persuade anyone outside of our immediate circle of the reality and urgency of climate change. If Obama can’t make magic happen, it’s a result of his own shortcomings, not our laziness as campaigners.
Catsy
…and at last, the eponysterical “Kola Noscopy” finally flaunts their bad faith trolling to the point where they’re pied.
cleek
DNFTT, he’s fat enough already.
cleek
@Culture of Truth:
here’s the current headline at MSNBC.com:
it’s in giant blue text
Kola Noscopy
@hildebrand:
Oh my, you’re a lonely person, aren’t you? Reaching out for connection and belonging on a fucking blog.
Phoenician in a time of Romans
“That’s not reflective of who we are,” the president said of the GOP audiences.
Bush was reelected in 2004. It *is* reflective of who you are.
mk3872
Which means that Jake Tapper, Mark Halperin and the rest of the DC Beltway insiders will rap Obama this week about not “changing the culture” in DC and how mean Obama is.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
I’m sorry, Mr. President, but I will have to call BS on on part: far as denying climate change, that IS where we are and reflective of us as a country. AP had an article over the weekend about the US being “allergic” to the idea of accepting climate change. I think that’s an underestimation, sadly so. We’re not allergic. We’re quite convinced as a country it seems that its all a front for Al Gore’s Green Fascism and greedy scientists killing the world for plum grants worth staggering THOUSANDS of dollars. And I just don’t think that’s gonna change anymore. American Exceptionalism you know. If the world agrees, WE DON’T DAMMIT! And I don’t think the appeal to reason will change this, sad to say, Mr. President.
TooManyJens
@cleek:
Bright red now.
Kola Noscopy
@Loneoak:
Here ya go.
Bot.
Kola Noscopy
@Catsy:
I consider it an honor. Thank you!
Zifnab
@Gilles de Rais:
I really am getting tired of hearing how “stupid” the electorate is. We’ve been getting deluged with right-wing propaganda for so long, even guys like Mondale and Howard Dean spout it off on occasion.
And It really helps to ignore the gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement while you’re at it.
Oh sure, people are too stupid for words. If by “people” you mean the 30% of the population that has been segregated off from the rest of society, coddled by generations of elderly rich white people friendly policies, and feed a constant diet of right-wing propaganda. Then herded to the church-sponsored voting both on election day and handed every reason to vote R. :-p
If Obama loses in 2012, it will be because the Democrats as a party have been ceding political landscape for a generation and the Republicans have been aggressively gobbling it up. It will be because his liberal base abandoned him while the conservatives rallied. It will be because too many local elections were handed over to the richest whitest entitlement brats on the ballot while legions of do-nothing liberals complain about the President not fixing all their problems.
It will not be because of a legion of “stupid” voters that sprang from the ground on election day. This is a chronic condition and can’t be explained away by name-calling.
catclub
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: see sunday’s doonesbury
PeakVT
@drkrick: Good point.
Citizen_X
And he’ll flail and drown after a couple of weeks in the spotlight, too, just like Perry and Trump (remember him?) before him.
Ben Cisco
@Davis X. Machina:
Cough *Blew Dogs* Cough.
__
Point being, if they’re acting like NeoConfederates, it doesn’t matter which uniform they’re wearing.
__
ETA: Also, kneecapping by certain members of the CBC.
Pat
Me too, who is that guy? Enough with the lefty lap dances, let’s see how he governs in his second term before we light the post-coital cigarette.
jurassicpork
It’s gonna take a lot more than a few tepid, pre-election year shots at the GOP to get me to vote for him again. Taking potshots at Rick Perry and the Repubs in general is not going to bring jobs back to this country or stabilize this Titanic wreck of an economy.
jibeaux
As for Christie, I tend to think the narrative has been cast, the donut has been glazed, the Big Mac has been eaten, but I could be wrong.
In more cheerful news, my 64 year old father who has always voted Republican despite my pointing out that it wasn’t a great fit for him (he says things like “good for them!” when he hears about gay marriages, and loves cutting edge technology in alternative energy, and dislikes religions), and I might add voted for McCain despite the fact that McCain made a campaign promise to eliminate his job, apparently told my mother (for some strange reason, he tends not to bring up politics to me) that he wasn’t voting for any of them except Huntsman. Believe me, I know that that was a long time coming in recognizing that he didn’t change but his party did, but better late than never.
Loneoak
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
Am I missing something here? Obama is just speaking with the common usage of ‘who we are’ to mean ‘who we aspire to be in our character’ and not ‘who we empirically are’. I realize there’s an overwhelming need to say Obama is wrong about something, but why the willful misunderstanding of this from several of you?
Citizen_X
@Davis X. Machina:
I’m sorry, but “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire, denying climate change” is pretty fucking specific.
Maude
I hope Christie gets into the race. He can’t do any worse than he has in NJ.
Egypt Steve
@Culture of Truth: Woo, woo, woo.
cleek
@Citizen_X:
and so is:
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Kola Noscopy:
And yet we put up with you anyway.
Culture of Truth
Why Chris Christie Should — And Shouldn’t — Run for President
By Chris Cillizza
Cillizza is the result of some Beltway insider lab experiment gone horribly wrong.
OzoneR
@Zifnab:
Well we’re all waiting for someone else to come up with a plan to seize the political landscape.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Nevgu: This. And I also think the front pagers should stop ending their posts criticizing the Republicans with “But the Democrats ____, so both sides do it.”
Roger Moore
@jurassicpork:
If you’re too emo about not getting everything you want from the President and decide to sit the election out, or make a protest vote for an unelectable third party candidate, you’re part of the problem. Whine all you want, but the real world alternatives are Obama and whatever evil fucker the Republicans nominate. If that’s not enough to get you motivated, fuck you; you care more about emotional validation than actual government.
OzoneR
@jurassicpork:
The bully pulpit doesn’t excite the base? Hoocoodanode.
Woodrow L. Goode, IV
Obama is very good at portraying a progressive during campaigns. The problem is he’s really sucked at being one after he was elected.
The fact of the matter is that he torpedoed new EPA rules on air quality, channeling the Chamber of Commerce’s talking points.
By stating, flatly, that regulations which require spending to meet their provisions hurt the economy and kill jobs, Barack Obama validated a right-wing talking point. That was a gift to right-wing politicians that they will be using for the rest of the century.
If Rick Perry says it, he’s the wingnut governor of an Oil state doing the bidding of his masters and even the MSM sort of knows that he’ll say it. If a Democrat says it, it can’t be attacked as right-wing BS and it immediately gains currency.
Obama put Social Security and Medicare on the table, so it’s now completely safe to discuss. This sort of stuff is why people don’t want him re-elected… when a Democrat surrenders on this, it can’t be won back.
Funny how there were no Boomanian-Yglesiod-ABL-Benen-Obot-explanations about how that cowardly pander on the EPA was all the fault of Mitch McConnell and Eric Cantor and the hippies were so clueless about politics that they didn’t even know that the president has no control over regulations his administration issues.
Remember folks, Obama was in favor of nuclear power before Fukishima and deepwater drilling before Horizon. Right now he’s in favor of fracking, so long as “we do it in a way that doesn’t poison people.” I’m sure he’ll deliver a great speech after John’s groundwater turns flammable… but it’ll be too late and hoocouldanode and look forward, not back– YESWECAN!!!!
PS: Yes, the EPA did issue some new mileage standards. They don’t go into effect until 2016– after he’s out of office– and they can always be repealed. To a RahmObamaLamaDIngDong, something that hasn’t actually happened counts as much as a constitutional amendment, but in the real world, it means squat.
Trurl
Didja hear? White liberals are abandoning Obama cause they’re straight-up RACISTS who demand things of Obama that they wouldn’t demand of a WHITE president like Clinton.
Fucking RACISTS, man. You just know they hated voting for a strong, intelligent, and accomplished BLACK man like Barack Obama. They must have REALLY hated sending him money and putting his bumper stickers on their cars. And when he was inaugurated, they must have been seething with HATE at seeing a proud African-American become president.
Fucking racist assholes.
staci
It is amazing to me how many people treat the president as if he is their perfect spouse – ready to do your exact bidding and will bring flowers, sunshine and unicorns into your very existence each and every day of your life.
amk
@Woodrow L. Goode, IV: Don’t worry. Your sanders/kucinich/grayson/that firebagger lady is so gonna ‘liberate’ you all in 2012 and you can have all a bong partay together during their entire term.
OzoneR
@Trurl:
given that most white liberals were behind Hillary, I think there’s some truth to this.
wobblybits
@Trurl: Um, what?
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@RSA:
Fixited.
amk
@Trurl: whiners, line up that way ====> to fdl & gos
cleek
@Woodrow L. Goode, IV:
this kind of stuff is why people think firebaggers are delusional.
no matter how bad your imaginary Obama is, the GOP will be, in reality, 10x worse. and that’s your choice: GOP or Obama. there is no “don’t elect Obama and don’t elect a Republican.”
some guy
yes, more of this. more of the “warrior” rhetoric, which proclaims that class warfare is a)real, b) has been waged for a decade against the middle and working class, and c)Obama will fight back against it.
use the Jobs Act as a springboard to remind people what policies are needed, now, for job creation. take all the rightwing tropes and turn them on their heads. if that’s all that’s left then use it, and use it to the nth degree. When the President of the United States starts talking like a FiredogLake commenter (as he does here) then we should all clap loudly and sing Amen.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@wobblybits: Melissa Harris-Perry wrote an article in the Nation suggesting race plays a role in the Great Disappointment with Obama. Joan Walsh drew herself up into a state of medium prim dudgeon, David Sirota had a tantrum, and I’m sure some brave Salonist is seeking comment from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild.
gocart mozart
@Roger Moore: Here here
wrb
@Trurl:
“that inadequate black man”
The cry of the PUMA is still with us
John Weiss
@jurassicpork: So, who are you going to vote for? Or will you just sit the next one out?
Joel
Trolls are so goddamned boring.
Kola Noscopy
@Zifnab:
It is creepy to me how even Howard Dean was slowly assimilated after his invigorating primary run in 2004…which was catching fire until of course he scared the beltway politician/media/corporate whores by…yelling too loud…or something…and had to be destroyed.
RareSanity
@jurassicpork:
Then don’t vote for him. Or, better yet, vote for the aforementioned Perry, or Romney if he wins the primary.
I’m sure they’ll address all of the issues you are most concerned with immediately upon being sworn in. They’ll use the bully pulpit and executive orders to immediately institute wide ranging job creation programs and lift America out of its doldrums.
I’m not usually impolite to commenters that have opinions that differ from my own, but for the liberal/progressive/firebaggers (e.g. non-Republicans), that come with this “I won’t vote for Obama” crap, I can’t take it anymore.
Fuck off you asshole! Do whatever the fuck you want to, but don’t expect me, or anyone else to join or comfort you in your spoiled child tantrum/pity party.
There are plenty of places that will commensurate and cheer on your loser based, victim attitude. I, on the other hand, will still tell you to GROW THE FUCK UP and GET OVER IT! You are an adult now. You are not an 8 year-old kid that didn’t get their bike/Atari/Nintendo/PlayStation for Christmas!
This is the real fucking world and in the real world, sometimes you are presented with a choice where neither of the possibilities fits your definition of optimal. You know what functioning, mature adults do?
THEY CHOOSE THE OPTION THAT WILL HURT THEM THE LEAST!
Holy shit we are a nation of spoiled children…
Kola Noscopy
@Nevgu:
Self aware much? Using two loaded “memes” of which you approve to condemn another of which you don’t.
some guy
Joan Walsh pretty much destroyed that lame article in the Nation by MHP , and by destroyed I mean savaged it for the fact-free rant it was. Comparing Apples to Ranges is one thing, but comparing apples to zebra’s and plumbing fixtures is something else entirely.
Walsh takedown here: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2011/09/25/white_liberals_obama
Tomjones
@Trurl: You’re going to run out of straw at this rate.
Napoleon
@Culture of Truth:
For some reason the movie “The Fly” came to mind when I saw this.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@jurassicpork: So, how many job losses under Perry or Romney will it take for you to invent a time machine to change your vote? One?
Pliny
Allowing someone to die because they don’t have health insurance and booing someone for being gay isn’t reflective of who we are, but immolation of innocent civilians with flying death robots is?
OzoneR
@some guy:
LOL, I wish I see these types of comments on FDL.
Tomjones
@RareSanity: I’m gonna send a message to Obama by electing Republicans. DEEEERRRRP.
John Weiss
@cleek: Well said.
Cat Lady
@RareSanity:
I think you’re doing a bit of a disservice to 8 year olds – I peg the whiny emobaggers to be much closer in temperament to 3 year olds.
lacp
If the Tea Partiers insist on serving up fat pitches over the heart of the plate, I certainly don’t blame the President for swinging for the fences. What politician would turn down an opportunity like that?
SiubhanDuinne
@drkrick: @drkrick:
The last thing Linda Featheringill is, is an offended lefty asshole trollbot. I was agreeing with her (lamely, I admit), not confronting.
Pliny
@Trurl:
David Sirota has a nice destruction of the idiotic Nation article that I think you’re referencing: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/barack_obama/index.html?story=/news/david_sirota/2011/09/26/white_liberals_obama
ericblair
@amk:
Christ, I thought this was a bunch of Unix command line piping and was trying to parse it. I need to lie down.
And where was this Obama during the last three years? Trying to run one branch of a very fucked up government, I seem to recall.
Kola Noscopy
@Loneoak:
Horseshit. This country if far beyond the stage where such vague language has any effect other than muddying his message. Obama needs to call out Republicans and Tea Baggers and professional political psychos and bankers and polluters and war criminals by name. They have been doing it to him for four years. Yet, he refuses, and plays nice. Why the fuck is that? No one respects that anymore, except blind Obots. You know in your heart that if he began calling these frauds out by name, you would be thrilled.
trollhattan
@cleek:
Just 10X? The current Republican crop is infinitely worse. I believe a Republican president and congress in 2013 could literally break the nation apart through a combination of ill intentions and incompetence. I’ve never seen anything like these people in my lifetime.
Kola Noscopy
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Who is “we?” Are you a BJ cool kid? Are you special? Do you belong? Good for you!
RareSanity
@Tomjones:
I cannot even have a conversation with a person that is willing to hurt themselves, in the hopes of hurting someone else. That shit doesn’t make sense!
@Cat Lady:
Point taken…I hope that the 8 year-olds will accept my heartfelt apology.
some guy
@OzoneR:
be honest, when was the last time you actually read FDL, much less the comments?
Martin
@Kola Noscopy:
This is cool. It’s like firebagger madlibs. I can type literally anything in there and it works!
TooManyJens
@wobblybits:
Trurl is just showing off his/her inability to comprehend Melissa Harris-Perry’s latest article in the Nation. It’s all the rage.
Emma
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Not a thousand, not a hundred thousand, not a million. They want to whine about the world being unfair, about the President not producing ponies, about the lack of a liberal dictator, about their own disappointments.
Adults look at the facts and choose the least damaging option, whether we are enamoured of it or not, having known from the beginning that the world isn’t fair (pretty much ever), that politics does not produce ponies (even our heroes screwed up mightily at times), that liberal dictators would be as bad as reactionary ones, and that disappointments in this arena are par for the course. Others… not so much.
Kola Noscopy
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
You should probably go hang out at the DLC web site. So far, though he’s come close, Cole hasn’t renamed this blog Hot Democratic Air.
FlipYrWhig
@Kola Noscopy:
It is indeed hard to believe that a pro-gun, budget-balancing, rural state governor could hold some conservative views. Must have been brainwashing.
IrishGirl
@Gilles de Rais: Ironically, even God won’t be able to help us then. (So sad, but so true.)
OzoneR
@some guy:
Actually on Saturday.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Fucking Obama has done nothing for the environment
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/08/forget-solyndra-obamas-green-loan-program-is-still-worth-it/#ixzz1Z507SYy6
Kola Noscopy
@OzoneR:
Bully pulpit + Action + Spine + Follow Thru + Not Governing Like a Reagan Republican = Excitement.
So far, your candidate is still missing four of those, and usually five.
amk
@Kola Noscopy: nice ass kissing to cole.
Gilles de Rais
@Martin: Like.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Loneoak:
Just venting general frustration at the state of climate politics in this country. Like I said, it’s sad, but it seems like Rick Perry’s stance on Climate Change really IS where we are in this country. People seem more than willing to believe that it’s a giant worldwide conspiracy for Al Gore, Green Fascism, and super rich science grants worth maybe Hundreds of Thousands, but ignore the fuckers behind the curtains milking the current wasteful and destructive energy situation for billions.
Nothing on Obama himself for this point. Just jumping off what he said to vent on the subject in general.
cmorenc
@Linda Featheringill:
You can bet on it: at some point, GOP operatives (perhaps another James O’Keefe wanna-be) will attempt to manufacture a counter-outrage moment at some democratic political event, perhaps with some help from a revived Karl Rove dirty tricks operation.
Kola Noscopy
@cleek:
This is just so pathetic…are you actually proud of supporting a candidate who has to run from such a rancid position: “Look, I suck, but they suck a lot more?”
And have you ever wondered if maybe things have to get quite a bit worse before the masses wake up…and then things start getting better? Yeah, I’ll go there…most people would rather be fucked over by an avowed enemy than by someone claiming to be their ally. But you know that…you’re just spouting the usual Emotbotulisms.
Kola Noscopy
@Roger Moore:
This is just so tired.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Martin: But you missed the best one:
Comrade Javamanphil
Point 1: Obama’s decision to go after Perry now as he is declining in the polls will be brilliant if it re-motivates the GOP base to go with the guy that most pisses off liberals.
Point 2: I will not feed the troll even if the troll has some ridiculous fantasy image of Howard Dean that bears no resemblance to how he governed.
Kola Noscopy
@wrb:
Obama IS inadequate. That has been proven by the last three years.
But could you expand on why you believe he is inadequate because of his half blackness? I don’t get that part?
OzoneR
@Kola Noscopy:
oic
So the Republican obstruction works because it prevents action which means no excitement.
Can’t imagine why the Republicans would see it as a winning strategy.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Kola Noscopy: “The masses”. Fuck you.
RareSanity
@Kola Noscopy:
That’s funny, I don’t see “functioning Congress” in your little equation…
How exactly does that figure into your calculation? Or, are you just saying if he did all the things you outlined, every one in Congress would have no choice but to kneel before Obama’s superior manliness?
Social outcast
I like this version of Obama, but I’m also one of those people who like the president to use the bully pulpit to take shots at his enemies whether it affects outcomes or not.
Gilles de Rais
@Zifnab: How is what you said different from what I said? You used more words but you’re still describing stupid voters.
Clarification: Wasn’t implying that they come out of nowhere. George Bush pulled close enough to 50% of the vote to get the job, twice, after all.
dadanarchist
The words were welcome, except it was at a fundraiser, a semi-private event understood to be a moment to rally the base. Sure, all these things are now public in the sense that reporters are invited. But he needs to be calling out these yutzes in his capacity as president and leader of the Democratic Party, not just in his capacity as candidate.
Grumpy Code Monkey
My only nit with that statement is that you can’t claim our current drought is conclusively due to climate change. Single weather events do not trends make. Severe as this drought is, it pales in comparison to the 10-year drought the state suffered half a century ago (seen as the most devastating drought over a period of 600 years).
Now, if we start having equally severe droughts on a more frequent basis, then you can start talking about climate change.
Frankly, I’d rather see Obama pick on Perry for cutting back on the state forest service, which is part of why these fires have been so devastating; there haven’t been enough people to fight them, thanks to the state’s allergy to spending money on stuff that actually benefits the public.
Kola Noscopy
@Pliny:
Oh my. How uncivil of you.
priscianus jr
Ron Paul says “Stop Obama’s assault on our veterans,” That jackass can say anything he likes, but I don’t see why he gets to say it in an ad on this blog.
I think they are deliberately running ads on lefty blogs to attack morale, that what I think.
Hoodie
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): It’s hard to accomplish much with your head firmly lodged up your own ass.
Elizabelle
We all need to speak as clearly and plainly as Obama did. Courteously, but plainly.
We have too much of an electorate that lives in an echo chamber and does not realize their opinions and worldview are not based on reality and factual evidence.
Politeness and “both sides do it” will get us President Romney or worse.
Marc
Well, the votes are in, and the BJ trolls are outing themselves as Leninists: they oppose Obama because they want to bring the system down, not because he isn’t “assertive” enough in fighting the republicans or the like.
The Nader approach got us the Bush years, not the glorious people’s revolution. But thanks for playing!
xian
@amk: when they yank out a (selectively read) bill of particulars against Obama, I no longer even really believe they are fire-flavored baggers.
Satanicpanic
Aaaand Martin wins another thread
John Weiss
@Kola Noscopy: It’s always a choice between things that suck and those that suck less. What Platonic world do you live in anyway?
Judas Escargot
@Kola Noscopy:
So you’re going to fight really hard to give him a Dem Congress come Jan 2013, amirite?
RareSanity
@Kola Noscopy:
Wondered? Yes.
Allowed a fantasy to affect my decision making in reality? No.
Who are you going to elect in 2012? Who? Stop with the fucking games! Tell everyone who you want to elect in 2012, how they are going to win a primary against Obama and how they are going to win the general election against the Republican.
Then explain how you can guaran-damn-tee that they can deliver on everything you are promising on their behalf.
Until you lay out a fucking solution, you are just a troll, that thinks themselves to be a whole lot smarter than they actually are.
FlipYrWhig
@Kola Noscopy:
Yes, I have. And then I have realized that is incredibly selfish and sadomasochistic to think, and that things don’t “start getting better” spontaneously, and that every previous time when we’ve trusted in the masses waking up, we’ve had to endure greater and greater misery. So I stop wondering it, because it’s stupid.
Kola Noscopy
@amk:
Ummm….one thing Cole won’t accuse me of is kissing his ass.
Gilles de Rais
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: Climate is not a winning issue in this election. It’s not even an issue, period.
A population that isn’t scared to death that they’re going to be next month’s unemployment statistic, and next year’s forclosure statistic, and the year after’s homeless statistic, is a population that will be willing to devote time, energy, and resources to climate change.
We don’t have that right now. Climate is going to be far down the list for a lot of voters this time around, and given the circumstances, you can’t ask them to feel differently.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Grumpy Code Monkey: You mean like the fact that the drought here in Texas has been building for most of the last decade. Every county in Texas except for four is under a burn ban. Texas is drier than it was during the Dust Bowl.
gnomedad
@Roger Moore:
If the Prez is going to lie about something, I want him to lie about this. Maybe it will help a bit.
Kola Noscopy
@RareSanity:
How exactly does that figure into your calculation? Or, are you just saying if he did all the things you outlined, every one in Congress would have no choice but to kneel before Obama’s superior manliness?
Haven’t read an answer to one question here, so I’ll try again: If Obama can’t do anything as president because congress is deeply fucked, EVEN WHEN HE HAS MAJORITIES IN BOTH HOUSES; if the presidency is irrelevant, why does it matter who is in the office?
Kola Noscopy
@RareSanity:
Haven’t read an answer to one question here, so I’ll try again: If Obama can’t do anything as president because congress is deeply fucked, EVEN WHEN HE HAS MAJORITIES IN BOTH HOUSES; if the presidency is irrelevant, why does it matter who is in the office?
geg6
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Seriously. Which means that they all just proved Melissa Harris-Perry right. Which, based on the demographics of the 2008 election and everything ever posted on Salon by Walsh or Sirota, she is.
danimal
I like Obama’s tone and agree with DougJ, even though I’m pretty sure he was just trolling the blog (think this thread will hit 400 comments? 500??).
I argued last week that the best way to counter GOP populist stupidity is through mockery, and I’m elated to see Obama use it against Perry and climate change deniers (“You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire, denying climate change”). That will resonate in a way that the AlGoreisfat crowd will have a hard time refuting.
If the conservatives (and sadly, the Holy Legion of True Progressives) get as angry as a swarm of hornets, we’ll know Obama’s tack is working.
Tomjones
@TooManyJens: When did columns in The Nation become so important?
Oh, I know. So we can bash O-bots.
Strandedvandal
@Ass Examiner: You have an unhealthy obsession with pie. You should seek professional counseling instead of venting your spleen here.
lacp
@Marc: I’ve been a third-party guy for about 20 years, but I agree with you that “heightening the contradictions” isn’t going to produce a good outcome, at least in this country. Whatever glorious revolution we’ll see is more likely to involve a Mussolini than a worker’s paradise.
Kola Noscopy
@Marc:
Joe McCarthy? That you?
xian
@priscianus jr: i clicked the link so it would cost his campaign something, then ditched the stupid petition, which is really jut a way to collect email addresses and fundraising tithes from rubes.
Roger Moore
@priscianus jr:
I don’t know about you, but I rather like the idea of Balloon-Juice being paid for by wingnuts who hate its message but are too stupid to target their ads well. If they’re actually trying to hurt our morale, it’s more likely to be by hiring a bunch of emobagger trolls than by placing random ads on the side of the page.
Kola Noscopy
@John Weiss:
I live in Barbie World.
Life in plastic.
It’s fantastic!
gnomedad
@Gilles de Rais:
Probably true, but I still feel that hammering on Gooper denialism and general anti-science-ism is a win. He can say we’ll take more action once the economy’s recovered. I want some images of Perry lying while Texas burns.
Ben Cisco
What I wanna know is, who the hell is baking all these damned PIES?
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Gilles de Rais:
Hell, I’m not even asking Obama or the Dems to do anything on this or try and make it a major issue for the election. I wasn’t even trying to do that. I’m just depressed at the state of the ‘debate’ in general. It’s not even really fucking debate anymore though, is it? The ‘Green Fascists’ lost, considering you can refuse anything said on Climate Change with two magic word: Al Gore. And thus Climate Change is forever debunked because Al Gore is Fat. And Climate Scientists just want to make a new Ice Age to kill their enemies with.
FlipYrWhig
@Kola Noscopy: I dunno, maybe because when a Republican holds the presidency, conservative Democrats (who often think like Republicans) swing towards supporting what he wants, thereby doing a lot of damage? And even when they don’t support it, they’re afraid to filibuster, because of bullshit ideas of comity and fair play? Conservative Democrats thwart a Democratic president — and vice versa.
Satanicpanic
@Kola Noscopy: I’m going to go with- obstructionist Republicans in Congress tend to stop being obstructist when dealing with Republican presidents. I’m not sure why I need to explain this to someone who ostensibly follows politics.
geg6
@some guy:
@Pliny:
Guess the privileged white woman and privileged white man have a better handle on what constitutes white privilege than that stupid black woman. How awesome the true lefties are!
Judas Escargot
@Kola Noscopy:
Four letters: Veto.
Six more letters: SCOTUS.
Should you ever find myself in an elevator with Ralph Nader, be sure to thank him for Justices Alito and Roberts. He’ll just make that smug “who the hell are you?” face that he makes, but it should still be satisfying on some level.
wrb
@Gilles de Rais:
This is true, and why we should brace ourselves for the howling that will come when he allows that pipeling to go through.
He has to. Stopping it won’t stop the oil from being extracted or shipped, it would largely be symbolic.
The attack adds would write themselves : “Obama caves to wealthy environmentalists sacrificing xxx,000 high paying jobs for working families, stimulus that would have been paid for by private industry and all just for symbolism.”
The president Perry would build a super-duper pipeline two years later.
Only the only environmental progress we’re going to make until the economy recovers will be in the form of actions that create jobs.
Elizabelle
This election is one of the purest moral choices we’ve seen in decades.
The GOP platform has degenerated into “Get off my lawn” and “I don’t owe society ANYTHING”.
We’re better than that.
Tomjones
@Kola Noscopy: Haha, you just tipped your hand, troll.
Voting rationally means there are should be no elements of “pride” or other emotional attachment.
You seem to think we should vote with our emotions. I can see why you are disappointed in Obama, in that case. It just doesn’t feel good anymore, y’know?
Kola Noscopy
@Judas Escargot:
OMG.
He had one for TWO years. Oh, but that’s right: It wasn’t the right kind of Dem Congress, with just the right kind of people who O can work with, so that went nowhere and 60 is the new 51, and gosh he just couldn’t get anything done no how no way, and…
If Obama had a 75-25 majority in the Senate, we would be told that 76 is the new 60 is the new 51.
singfoom
Oh boy, another entry trolling the commentariat so we can fight the O-Bot vs. Firebagger war all over again.
I’m glad the President called those things out. That’s a good thing. Given that he’s got little that he can do due to the intransigence of Congress at this point, I think that his rhetoric will be useful in the coming election.
Other than it being good for the campaign trail, there’s nothing there to see.
Emma
@Kola Noscopy: Jesus, you’re either an idiot or a liar. Obama never had a large anything in the Senate. The Blue Dog votes were always up for grabs. Always.
Citizen_X
@priscianus jr: One version (it’s not showing right now) also says something like, “It takes a veteran to understand veterans.” I didn’t realize that Ron Paul was a veteran. Was he an obstetrician for the Confederate Army or something?
geg6
@FlipYrWhig:
Well, you’d only know those things if you’d ever done a quick google search of what Howard Dean actually stood for and not just pounded a keyboard with the rest of the GOS and FDL nitwits, expounding on their equine fantasy candidate.
Kola Noscopy
@geg6:
By your reasoning then, if this is all true, if Obama truly cares about his party and his country, and making sure a non-Republican is elected, he will set aside his ego and decline to run for a second term. Problem solved!
gogol's wife
@Kola Noscopy:
I think you should change your nym to Kola Noscopy Prep. The actual colonoscopy is painless. You bear more resemblance to the prep day.
Emma
It’s not letting me edit my own comment, so, edit: after reading your comment at 149, you’re neither. You just have the political maturity of my nine-year-old autistic cousin. Who, by the way, has better follow through on his reasoning than you do.
Tim O
GOP initiates “Operation Dumbo Drop” Recruit Christie, Harness him to a helicopter and drop him on the next debate.
So rich in imagery!
geg6
@Kola Noscopy:
Put up or shut up, asshole.
So who, exactly, do you propose to run against him? Oh, and the candidate has to actually, you know, have a chance of winning a majority of the electoral college. And how, exactly, will he/she do that?
And show you work.
singfoom
Apologies if this is considered OT, but I think it’s apropos of the current conversation. Lamar Alexander giving up his leadership spot
Hopefully, you will continue to see more things like this, where individuals within Congress start acting like adults and doing what they can to compromise. While I would argue that from my POV, the Dems have compromised more than they should have on many issues recently, we’re going to have to do something to get legislation passed.
While I hold out hope for that, it is tempered by my cynicism that the Rs in Congress are really going to prevent ANYTHING from improving the economy in the next 13 months to try to get rid of Obama.
Sad times for the Republic.
bcinaz
Obama is doing what he can to prop Perry up after than terrific debate performance. Bet you a quarter, the WH political team will everything they can to help Perry get the nomination.
geg6
@Kola Noscopy:
And this is how you show exactly what you are. The man chooses to identify as African American. A large part of his autobiography was all about his journey to come to that point. And people like you, who claim to be “not a racist” say shit like this.
And with that, I’m done with this fucking piece of shit (the name says it all) troll.
arguingwithsignposts
160 comments and not one “Dear Leader” or “Obummer”. Our firebaggers are falling down on the job.
Kola Noscopy
@geg6:
What stupid black woman? Do you feel that her skin color makes her stupid? Why so hung up on skin color anyway? Does this one stupid black woman, as you describe her, speak for all black people everywhere? How did she achieve this distinction?
TenguPhule
The Problem with the speak softly and carry a big stick approach is that one is supposed to hit the rude assholes on the other side with the stick when they act up.
Until Obama starts capping GOP lawmakers on the steps of Wallstreet to make a point, he’s not gonna get through the wall of evil erected by the White Elephant Force.
Marc
@Kola Noscopy:
Poor little troll. Extreme leftists hate liberals more than they hate conservatives – this is a pattern with a very long pedigree. Half-measures, you see, just keep the corrupt system in place. You get the illusion of choice, but the upper class is actually getting what they want. The Leninist approach was to oppose any efforts to make the system work better, therefore “heightening the contradictions” and spurring a revolution and collapse.
There are a lot of problems with that, the largest two being that 1) you can end up with real fascism instead of leftist paradise; and 2) you are most likely to just get the current system, only less functional, and with a lot of poor and marginalized people getting extra and avoidable suffering.
So anyone going that route, which is apparently a host of the trolls here, is a mortal enemy of liberals, not their “base” or “disappointed supporter”. And they deserve to be treated as political enemies, not as the allies they claim to be.
Judas Escargot
@Kola Noscopy:
This is false.
Jesse
@Pliny: Yep, sure is.
You can call it “immolation of civilians with flying death robots” if you like, because that’s all inflammatory and shit, but it’s the use of military force against people believed to be hostile to the United States. We have always done that. Always. Forever. More to the point, Future Dream Liberal President will do that. Brace yourself for disappointment now.
If you honestly believe the President is trying to preferentially kill civilians as opposed to armed hostiles, you’re what’s referred to colloquially as a “lunatic”.
(I will concede that, when we fought the “First Barbary War” in 1801, President Jefferson didn’t have flying death robots. Those are new. We just had cannons.)
TenguPhule
I’d like a side order of Twilight Sprinkles with that unicorn pony of yours.
Kola Noscopy
@Tomjones:
Another rousing Obama 2012 slogan: Even though you don’t feel good about it, VOTE FOR ME!”
Yes, that will be very effective.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
And we went through a devastating 10-year drought in the 1950s. Was that due to climate change?
This is a multi-year event, yes. Multi-year events can happen independently of larger trends (i.e., we can have a dry period in the middle of a larger wet trend or vice versa).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an AGW denier; my personal feeling is that we’re going to see more droughts like this on a more frequent basis ($NONEXISTENT_DEITY help us all). I’m just saying you can’t claim that this specific event proves a larger trend.
Marc
@singfoom:
Yup. But it’s useful nonetheless to see the difference between the fringe (numerous examples here) and those working within the system (like you).
Nied
I forget is the bully pulpit an unstoppable word beam that no congress can resist this week, or is it just empty words without any meaning if there’s no policy to back it up? It can get confusing.
Why won’t Obama use the bully pulpit to make me feel better?
wrb
@Marc:
very well said
Kola Noscopy
@gogol’s wife:
Oh no…I enjoy the prep also. Which is why I have two or three a week.
Elizabelle
@TenguPhule:
I was thinking more of person to person conversation, particularly when younger voters are around to hear. Some might not realize the “conventional wisdom” is neither.
Have been delighted to watch an elderly friend take on her teapartying sister, gently but no nonsense.
Obviously the sister is not going to change her vote, but Anna’s actions encourage and embolden me.
I am also seeing some pushback in the Letters to the Editor.
Make them sweat.
TenguPhule
I think the fact the state is literally on fire says something. Granted, perhaps other states have spontaneously combusted in our nation’s history due to lack of faith in the one true Dog. Or maybe it was the moon reflecting off of some swamp gas.
Berial
How do you win an argument with people for whom reality doesn’t matter? When reality doesn’t come up with the result they ‘know’ is true they just ignore the result.
How do you win an argument with someone for whom logic doesn’t matter? Who will use an argument or fact that has been repeatedly proven false?
How many times have you had some ‘debate’ online with someone where you SHOW them 2 or 3 times how their facts are actually incorrect assumptions or flat out LIES, only to have them throw those EXACT SAME assumptions/lies back at you as though you never mentioned it.
Online you eventually just label these people ‘trolls’ and you use Cleek’s amazingly awesome pie filter so you don’t interact with them anymore.
I agree with the President about not wanting trolls to reflect who we are as a country, but a large portion of the country has become nothing more than political trolls and unfortunately there is no pie filter to prevent them from pulling the whole country under a bridge that will very soon be collapsing from lack of maintenance.
TenguPhule
But why must you unload the results here?
Elizabelle
58 occurrences of “Kola” in the thread.
My fellow Juicers, you are giving an inferior mind too great a platform. You’re getting hijacked with a keyboard.
amk
@Kola Noscopy: and yet you keep doing it. well, troolz gonna be troolz I guess.
TenguPhule
Executions. Lots and lots of executions.
singfoom
@Marc: Is there something besides the system? Because if there is, sign me up. I won’t pretend to have all of my issues addressed by this administration, far from it.
I have a lot of ambivalence about it, since I think that both parties are really fronts for the Money Party. But at this point, the Republicans are Free Market Jesus berzerkers ready to kill the entire country to get a political win..
Does voting for Obama again in 2012 perpetuate the Money Party? IMHO, yes. Will it be worse if someone else wins? I’m pretty damn sure.
Damned if you do, damned even worse if you don’t.
I think a lot of the firebaggers can’t get over the ambivalence and are just mad. I’m mad too, but making sure Obama loses won’t make me feel better….
Kola Noscopy
@geg6:
“The man” is also half white. Are you saying that he chooses to not claim the racial heritage of his mother and paternal grandparents who raised him? I hadn’t heard that. Why would he do that? What is your problem, asshole? Barack Obama IS half white. This is not up for debate.
Or is this just the part where frustrated Obots scream RACIST? Cause if that’s all it is…never mind…I’ve seen that here a lot.
TenguPhule
Like I said, talking softly only works when the stick comes out into play when the other side is nucking futs.
wrb
@TenguPhule:
More to the point, how does he unload the results without pulling his head out of his ass?
TenguPhule
Colon bypass with a tube directly interfacing with the computer? Would explain a lot.
Davis X. Machina
@Tomjones: In fact, Rumplestiltskin called, begging for mercy. No one can spin that fast.
Stooleo
@RareSanity: Wow! well done Sir. I can actually feel the throbbing veins in your neck. Epic rant.
Elizabelle
@Berial:
Just making it harder for them to spew nonsense, unchallenged, should be worth the trouble to politely converse with them.
How did people get others to stop saying “n*gger” in public?
How long did it take to point out that women had the right to hold nontraditional jobs too?
Doesn’t happen overnight.
Doesn’t start without pushback, though.
Ash Can
Oh cripes, not another purity queen festival. Criticism is fine, but here’s a news flash for all you “I refuse to vote for Obama” pearl-clutchers, ratfuckers, and performance artists:
This is going to be your choice in 13 months: Obama vs. a borderline fascist GOP freak show. That’s it. One or the other.
Grow the HELL up and deal with it.
Kola Noscopy
@TenguPhule:
Giggle. :D
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Kola Noscopy:
Hey Timmeh, the firebaggers and teabaggers NAMED THEMSELVES those names. Very proudly too. Obot was not something coined by Obama supporters but rather by those that despise them.
One other question if I may. How do you navigate life with your head firmly stuffed up your ass?
Proudly? Oh, ok.
cleek
FFS, DNFTT
Kola Noscopy
@Elizabelle:
OMG…you counted. I’m flattered.
Do you also count thru all the many, many threads in which I don’t comment at all?
How can I, with this poor, feeble mind, hijack a thread mastered by you geniuses?
And why can’t you just read on past my little comments?
Interesting…
Citizen_X
@Grumpy Code Monkey:
Texas also endured a devastating drought in the late teens (1917-1919?).
In late June of this year or thereabouts (don’t have links at hand), the Texas State Climatologist–don’t laugh–made the point that the present drought was less severe than either of those two droughts. Thus, he said, as long as the present drought was still within historical precedent, one could not say it was necessarily due to AGW.
At the end of the summer, however, he announced that this drought was now worse in severity that the one from the late teens. So it’s not yet the worst ever, but it’s getting there.
soonergrunt
@amk: he knows a lot about pie, though.
Marc
@singfoom:
The republican debates were a pretty clarifying experience for me. Whatever disappointments I have with Obama were submerged by watching the sheer unhinged nature of the republican candidates. (And the crowd. Good lord, they made the candidates seem almost sane.)
singfoom
@cleek: This, 1000 times.
mclaren
Since Obama consistently does the opposite of what he says, this is very bad news. It means Obama is readying a comprehensive package of legislation aimed at worsening global warming.
Kola Noscopy
@wrb:
Wow. That was a good one, actually.
Perhaps I’ve perfect a self-perpetuating life system?
Berial
We need an open thread dedicated to lists of pied commentators, where everyone just throws out their list. It would probably be a bit educational.
jibeaux
@cleek: OR Chris Christie.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Timmeh needs an interruption:
If anyone could shove their head up their ass, recycle their own shit and survive off of it indefinitely it would be you.
No doubt about it. None.
amk
@mclaren: ah, the true firebagger, mclaren, is in our midst.
hey, you, the guy with your head up cole’s ass. watch & learn how a pro does it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
as has been true for the last fifteen years, this would be funny if it weren’t so serious. Willard has, IMHO, a fifty/fifty chance of becoming president of the United States, and he is courting the favor of a man who, even among reality TV performers, stands out as a buffoon
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@hildebrand:
There’s an appellation for that – “BPP (Balloonbagger Preemptive Poutrage).”
.
.
Jesse
@mclaren: I realize you believe Obama always does the opposite of what he says. Your belief is not backed up by the record.
Carry on.
Lawnguylander
@jurassicpork:
Felinious Wench
As usual, our resident trolls are bitching but providing no viable alternatives to current state.
I eagerly await their Plans for a Glorious Progressive Future. Let’s hear them. What’s the plan for the next election? Who do you suggest should run? What positions should they take? What kind of personality are you looking for? Saying “What Obama hasn’t done” is not an acceptable answer. I want a name and a strategy. Convince me.
If you can’t come up with a candidate, then tell me how voting for one of these Republicans will further the Progressive agenda. Saying “it will take the country down in flames faster” is a bug, not a feature.
I eagerly await your plan.
wrb
@Citizen_X:
The long term trend, and the number of records being broken are making the “oh, but we don’t know if this record was influenced by climate change” caution seem silly.
It probably was.
Check out this chart
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Temps1.gif
Southern Beale
Apparently all of this is the voters’ fault because they won’t vote for a third party.
I’m tired of being blamed for this situation, frankly.
Tonybrown74
This thread needs an enema …
And I need to somehow figure out how to get the pie filter to work with chrome …
harlana
Perry prayed for rain and got fire instead. Somehow, it appears, God is not on his side.
harlana
We can expect pearl-clutching and diaper-pooping from the right about the President’s “attack” on freedom of speech and expression . . . about . . . NOW
he wants to shut down “whitey,” folks, grab yer guns
OzoneR
@Felinious Wench:
Oh, you weren’t here yesterday, yeah, that’s for someone else to give to them. They did their part, they made signs.
Elie
@geg6:
So right..
sigh
What happened to the Left progressives? Maybe I never paid enough attention before Obama’s election, but it just seems that the left is imploding in ways not expected by me. Instead of offering true visionary concepts to help progressivism, the whole time is spent in kneecapping the only lifeboat that we have right now — like there is some real choice that wouldnt result in electing the truly crazier than ever Republicans…
Among some of my black friends and relatives, we always said amongst ourselves that many white folks just did not see their own racism and that this blindness did so much damage as they would be unhappy with why we didn’t trust some of their “good intentions”. You know, I would rather just have white folks just embrace what they really feel straight out… I would rather work through it honestly (and we all have our biases, etc), than put a lie on the face of our relationship with each other…
Ash Can
@Felinious Wench:
Like their wingnut counterparts on the right, they got nothin’.
B W Smith
@Felinious Wench: I like this idea as a reply to these trolls in the future. Don’t post long replies, don’t argue and point out their inaccuracies. All we need are four simple letters, WYPA. What’s your plan, asshole.
soonergrunt
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Also, VA has a pilot program (of which OKC VA Medical Center is a participant) to install solar PV and solar hot water on VA facilities. We start hard installation this spring.
eemom
@Lawnguylander:
fer teh win. I was thinking that too about JurassicPiggyBank, but I’d never have come up with “the all important professional internet panhandler vote.” Well done sir.
cleek
@Tonybrown74:
you have two options:
MikeJ has a native Chrome version.
you can also probably use TamperMonkey to run my version.
Southern Beale
People who say the increase in temperatures is just cyclical need explain what they mean. WHY do these cycles happen, then? Is Mother Earth having a hot flash? Is it just .. cuz? Does Neptune want to see more bikini-clad babes at the beach?
Hey Teanuts: Benjamin Franklin made the connection between volcanic activity and climate change. Look, if a volcanic eruption can change the climate, don’t you think spewing thousands of tons of sulphur and other crap into the air EVERY DAY, year after year have an effect?
It’s just stupid to think otherwise.
Berial
@cleek #221
Oh, if I can get a version of your filter to work with Chrome I will probably finally drop FireFox. Yes, your filter and this blog are what is deciding my choice of browser. :)
Lojasmo
@Kola Noscopy:
We had sixty democrats in the senate for a grand total of 110 days (divided) in late 2007. A bunch of them were far from willing to pass progressive legislation (Jim web, etc)
Now stop with the silly bullshit. NOTHING happens in the senate in that time frame.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
There is no excuse-making like balloonbagger excuse-making. It is the highest, and deepest, fruition of human ingenuity.
.
.
Citizen_X
@wrb: Yes, but it can be problematic drawing a casual link from “long-term trend” to “individual event.” In this case, that could be done when the event becomes part of the trend–in other words when a drier climate is the new norm.
Which would be too late.
Elie
Why do folks keep poking at these troll things – and we have quite the infestation today)? They always stink up the place and there is just no fun in it after a while. AND they are so boring and predictable. Also.
MGB
@cleek:
Thanks for linking the Chrome pie filter. Now my thread is just filled with so much pie. It’s teh awesome!
Southern Beale
@Lojasmo:
I remember Lieberloser being a major stick in the mud then too.
But even then, almost all of Bush’s vetoes came in 2007 & 2008. There’s a reason for that.
Kola Noscopy
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Oh, dear sweet Odie…always taking out his frustrated Obot anger on innocent bystanders such as myself.
geg6
@Elie:
Well, as a white person, I have to say that I’ve spent 53 years trying to dig down and dig out my own privilege. I’m not always successful at it, but being a woman has helped me with it quite a bit. I used to bitch about male privilege ALL THE TIME when I was younger and never thought to connect that concept of privilege to issues of race. It’s only in the last decade or so that I’ve started to examine my own privilege and only very recently that I’ve really become adept at seeing it in others. And it really opens your eyes to how many so-called liberals or progressives or lefties can’t and won’t examine it in themselves. I know it has made me a better person. I’m not always comfortable with the person I see in the mirror when I catch myself in my privilege bubble, but I’m happy that I’ve made the effort.
Satanicpanic
@Southern Beale: I love that deniers can yammer on and on about “cycles” as if we got our knowledge about climate cycles handed down on stone tablets. Apparently we can trust climate scientists’ data and their interpretations of said data, but not their predictions about the future.
harlana
i’m guessing the fact that i don’t understand exactly what a pie filter is, is probably not a bad thing
Southern Beale
@Satanicpanic:
Exactly!
And why doesn’t anyone (other than Al Gore, who said it but never got an answer), ask these idiots what THEY think is causing the problem. I remember Palin saying the earth had seen changes “for ions,” but why? What caused those changes? God? Goddess? Shit happens?
Kola Noscopy
I am deeply gratified to realize that I am allegedly being “pied” by all the right people here.
Thank you…from the bottom of my heart…thank you. “sniff”
cleek
@harlana:
it’s a little script that reads the web pages that BJ serves and fixes the comments of people you don’t want to read. turns their natural idiocy into humorous idiocy.
also, if anyone wants to contribute to the pie database, there’s a post for that.
Elizabelle
@Kola Noscopy:
Who said anything about my reading your comments?
Southern Beale
@Elie:
I think it’s all one troll talking to itself with a couple of sockpuppets and different browser windows open.
lacp
@Southern Beale: Oh, the Unified Troll Theory….
FlipYrWhig
@Elie:
Every generation of the “Left” comes up unaware that the same political fights have been happening like clockwork for decades, so the sense of betrayal is ever new. The blogosphere left now is frustrated with Obama, just like the left was frustrated with Clinton, just like the left with frustrated with Carter, just like the left was frustrated with Johnson, and they’d be frustrated with Kennedy too if he had lived long enough.
The left is endlessly frustrated because America is not an amenable place for left politics, though it should be. (It was red-baited and race-baited into submission in the ’50s and ’60s.) And every generation of lefties is convinced that there’s a swift way to correct that — this generation’s is “framing” / “narrative.”
So if you’re politically on the left, you can either give in to despair, give in to rage, or grade on a curve and do what you can to reduce the harm. That third option is where I am.
Elizabelle
I don’t know the mechanics of this software “pie filter”, but it’s not that hard to scroll past some commenters’ names, if you think they’re trolls.
Or to stop reading a comment as soon as it becomes asinine.
However, even those who are often irritating occasionally (very occasionally) have something of interest or merit to contribute.
So a cursory scan down the thread is usually rewarding.
Does the “pie filter” remove the comments from “pied” troll-commenters, no matter what they said?
Ruckus
@Jesse:
Better killing through poverty.
Tomjones
@Kola Noscopy: From the bottom of your pie pan, you mean.
Mino
Give the corporatists five more years of rule and I’d bet Richard Trumka could run and win, if everyone is still allowed to vote.
I don’t know of an instance where National Labor ran an actual candidate, except on the local level. Does anyone know of a case?
Cat Lady
An emobagger named some guy commenting here offered Rosanne Barr as an alternative to Obama on one of these obot/firebagger threads. Roseanne *#@%* Barr. That’s the only suggestion I’ve seen so far. That’s why they’re not able to come up with anything, because that’s all they’ve got. But they’re serious people though.
Southern Beale
Oh cool, now Fox News is “moderate” so that its wackadoodle hand-picked Republican Party candidate for President will also look “moderate.”
drkrick
@SiubhanDuinne: I was talking about Koala Nose Copay. I get that there are people sincerely disappointed with Obama from the left, being one myself. But there are also clearly a lot of people playing “let’s you and him” fight around here that aren’t who they pretend to be.
FlipYrWhig
Ah, FYWP. I would edit my first line to “comes up SEEMINGLY unaware” if I could.
Tonybrown74
@Kola Noscopy:
Much MUCH better!
Citizen Alan
@Roger Moore:
First of all, I’m fully supporting Obama in 2012 despite my monumental disappointment in his performance so far. IMO, there is not a single Republican running for President who be anything other a disaster for America.
That said, it is ridiculous and histrionic to view the 2012 election as the end of history, in which either Obama will win and usher in the Age of Aquarius or a Republican will win and initiate the Apocalypse. History will continue past 2012, and regardless of who wins, we will have until 2016 to come up with an extraordinarily compelling candidate to have any hope of keeping the White House after Obama leaves OR retaking it from a GOP President.
For some people, 2016 is too far away to even care about. For others, 2016 changes the calculus of the 2012 election. For them, the choice is not “Obama and Age of Aquarius” vs “Republican and Apocalypse.” Rather the choice is between “four more years of Obama’s bipartisanship fetish and preemptive caving (with nothing being done on the economic front and the Democrats getting blamed for it) followed by four to eight years of a reactionary Republican and no chance of a committed liberal before 2020,” OR “four years of a reactionary Republican (with nothing being done on the economic front and the Republicans getting blamed for it) with the chance of a more effective left-wing advocate as early as 2016.”
I’m not saying agree with this calculus (though it would be much more attractive if Ruth Bader Ginsburg were ten years younger), but I do understand it. Because frankly, if Obama is really as far to the left as the White House can go, then we probably should pack it all in any move to Sweden.
Brian S
@Woodrow L. Goode, IV:
That’s one of the dumbest statements ever posted on this site, even including the stupid shit people post in ABL’s threads. Obama never portrayed a progressive in the campaign. He portrayed a moderate, which is exacrly how he’s governed. That you think he ran as a progressive says way more about your powers of observation than anything else.
Southern Beale
@Cat Lady:
Rosanne Barr is actually running for President.
No one takes this shit seriously. Anyone who does is a troll trying to stir shit up.
J. Michael Neal
@Grumpy Code Monkey:
Meh. The thing is that this is true of every single event that will happen. By your standard, we’ll never be able to connect a natural disaster to global warming.
Unfortunately, say that global warming has contributed to a trend just isn’t a very persuasive argument to the polity. We might wish it were, but it’s not. To really get maximum traction, you have to stand in front of a specific disaster, while it is either in progress or before the rebuilding has started, and argue that your opponent’s denialism has helped produce the disaster.
So, while I’m willing to bet that Belafon is quite aware of the distinction you are trying to draw, he accepts that in politics it is necessary to attack with anecdotes.
Satanicpanic
@Southern Beale: The sun, they go with that because that’s what makes things hot. Solar flares! Mars is getting hotter too! They don’t really respect science in the first place, so they’re not going to spend a lot of time worrying about logical consistency.
Ash Can
OT, but TPM has a front-page story up now about how some of the biggest GOP donors are apparently upping the pressure on Chris Christie to run. I find that interesting. If that kind of support keeps up and Christie does in fact enter the race, I may have to reconsider my current belief that Romney is most likely to win the nomination by backing into it, a la John McCain, over the course of the primaries.
Tonybrown74
@Elizabelle:
I usually do scroll, but when it becomes unbearable and the troll just shits up a thread day in and day out, sometimes pie is just necessary.
wrb
is there a pie filter for Safari?
I had one installed in Crome, but didn’t like Crome.
Elie
@geg6:
But isnt that what self development and awareness are about?
There are a lot of things in myself to be worked on… whites are not the only people with biases. Whatever the basis for racism or tribalism, its there for all of us to deal with best we can. As taboo as it is, black on black racism is not a minor issue either.
We can’t stop trying to be better people. Yes, it is very hard and no one likes facing ourselves. Humor also helps me sometimes — just have to shake my head about myself sometimes. I also work on truly being able to apologize and own my mistakes and bad behavior as quickly as possible.
Surly Duff
“I’m not going to vote for Obama” is apparently the firebagger version of going Galt.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Really, I thought it was your confirmation hearings.
Svensker
@Felinious Wench:
Speaking as someone who has first hand knowledge on these folks, they consider it a feature, not a bug. The plan is:
a: Repub wins
b: Country goes down in flames
c: Good people in country are a majority who realize what has gone wrong
d: This majority of good people rises up and throws off the bad people
e: True liberal leader comes to the fore
f: Ponies for all
Needless to say, underpants gnomes are heavily involved.
NR
@RareSanity:
Um, no, that is not what functioning, mature adults do. That is what children do. Children reflexively avoid pain at all costs without thinking about the larger context of their actions.
When functioning, mature adults see that they have two choices, both of which will hurt them, they do not automatically pick one of those choices. Rather, they look at what they can do to get out of a situation where their only choices will hurt them. And sometimes, that means being willing to accept some pain in the short term in order to create a situation in the long term where they don’t have to get hurt anymore.
THAT is the action of a functioning, mature adult.
John Weiss
@Elizabelle: “How long did it take to point out that women had the right to hold nontraditional jobs too?”
It took a couple of years. Think WWII. Of course you know who Rosie the Riveter was.
cleek
@Elizabelle:
it replaces their comment, no matter what they wrote, with a friendly message about pie.
then your patience exceeds mine. once a person has convinced me that he/she is a troll, i feel no obligation to continue reading. it’s just not worth the annoyance.
Svensker
@Elie:
I got a bit of a thrill when two of the trolls went after each other for a while, but then they got distracted and stopped. Oh well.
NR
@Lojasmo: Well, if nobody can do anything without 60 votes in the Senate, then it doesn’t matter if Perry wins, does it? He won’t have 60 votes in the Senate, after all. There we go. Nothing to worry about.
Tonybrown74
@wrb:
For chrome, install Tamper Monkey. Then reinstall the pie filter. Works like a c charm.
harlana
@cleek: you guys are scamps
oh, and i absolutely love pie, for realz! i get an apple pie for my b-day every year instead of cake
cleek
@wrb:
GreaseKit claims to be able to run GreaseMonkey scripts in Safari.
Berial
@Elizabelle
You can set the pie filter in one of two ‘modes’. One takes the trolls statements and replaces them with comments about pie. The other just puts up a big black ‘REDACTED’ statement where their comments would usually be. You cannot see what a troll says after you add them to the pie filter.
An example would be:
Surly Duff: (without filter)
“I’m not going to vote for Obama” is apparently the firebagger version of going Galt.
Surly Duff:(with filter)
All I really know for sure is that nothing picks me up like a nice piece of pie.
Please note that Surly Duff was not actually filtered and was used only for demonstration purposes.
drkrick
This has only been pointed out a few hundred times, but in the filibuster-anything Senate we have now, 58 Dem senators (the max during the last Congress,and only in place for a few months) isn’t a working majority. That’s before we talk about how many of those Dems weren’t particularly liberal. There hasn’t been anything close to a working liberal majority in the Senate in 35 years.
Also, even if a President can’t get much passed, he can certainly stand in the way of a lot. Obama is going to veto a lot of bad things coming out of a GOP House and Senate that a Perry or Romney would sign right into law. It’s not as good as being able to pass a useful affirmative agenda, but it’s not nothing.
Elie
@FlipYrWhig:
I thought we (the left) were supposed to be a bit smarter and to have a better understanding of history.
just.not.seeing.that.
I am with you, though, on the third option… doing what I can to make things better. I actually believe that things DID get better in many ways, during my lifetime, so its not a hard position to take. (Not that things are great or perfect and don’t need a lot more work still). But heck, we are alive on this earth right now — not in heaven or paradise where things are perfect. What did folks expect? That is the part that I don’t get… what did the left expect?
FlipYrWhig
@NR: I’ll refer you to my earlier thoughts on that subject.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ash Can: it’s funny, isn’t it, how desperate they are to find an alternative to Romney? If he wasn’t such a despicable shape-shifter, I’d feel sorry for him. I can’t even imagine the pathological strain of arrogance that drives someone to humiliate himself for people he despises in a mad quest to, not even get them to like him, just persuade them to stifle their contempt for him. How can he not crack?
FlipYrWhig
@Elie: My aims are even lower. I’m not so much concerned with making things better as keeping them from getting much worse, which I’m rather sure would happen with Republicans in charge at any level. Stasis counts as victory when the alternative is so dreadful.
PeakVT
@Elizabelle: You can also replace the “REDACTED” with something else (I used “blah blah blah”). I like having a single message because it’s easier to filter out visually than plain-text commentary on pie.
Ben Cisco
@Berial: I’m in!
geg6
@NR:
You might have a point if American politics was only about YOU.
Sadly, there are millions and millions of others out there who aren’t in the position to choose a little pain now for big gain later. They have been in pain for the last 40 years while privileged white male assholes like you “levitated” the Pentagon and put up your purity ponies like George McGovern, all of which was supposed to do what you claim to want to do now. It’s wasted the last 40 fucking years while the right entrenched itself as the CW, took over the media, and took away any economic or political power that middle class working people had. But we wouldn’t want you to worry your beautiful pure mind about those losers.
Citizen Alan
@Marc:
Setting aside all the factors that cost Gore the 2000 election, lets get one thing straight right now: 9/11 gave us the Bush years, not Ralph Nader. I know remembering back to the ancient dusty years of 2001 is hard, but try to think back. Bush was despised after the way he took office — the week before 9/11, his approval/disapproval rating was 55/41, which was astoundingly bad for a President just seven months into hie first term. He had just given away the Senate by antagonizing Jim Jeffords into switching parties, and the Democrats were anticipating significant gains in 2002.
And then: 9/11. Until the day I die, I will remain convinced that but for 9/11, George Bush would have been a one-term joke who got crushed in 2004 and who left office without naming a single Supreme Court justice. Hell, even his district and appellate nominees were relatively moderate before 9/11 happened and he realized the Senate Dems were going to roll over for all but the most deranged rightwing lunatics.
NR
@drkrick:
I see no reason to believe this. Even if you take the most favorable view of Obama and assume that he’s a good guy who, deep down, wants to do the right thing, his attitude toward the GOP has been “go along to get along.” I see no reason to believe that he would veto anything big coming out of a GOP Congress. Sure, he might make them throw a few crumbs to the masses (see the tax cut deal), but that’s it.
For fuck’s sake, he agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. What will he do when there’s a GOP Congress?
harlana
hooboy, OT, but CPAC is going on – should be interesting
Pliny
@Jesse:
Who on earth said he was trying to preferentially kill civilians? I think killing them in general is heinous enough to be opposed to it, especially when many of the targets of these strikes were radicalized by previous strikes that killed their family, their neighbors, or their fellow citizens.
You’re right, of course, that we as a nation have been systematically murdering people since the boats landed, but I don’t think that’s a very compelling argument for why it must continue.
geg6
@John Weiss:
A couple of years, after which it reverted back to Rosie getting fired so some man could take her job, despite her excellent work. And Rosie’s granddaughter still isn’t allowed in combat. And do you have any idea how few female welders there are today?
Cut me a fuckin’ break.
Elizabelle
Fascinating re the pie filter.
Our trolls aren’t too out of control here.
They’ve infested Kevin Drum’s blog, though.
(Maybe it’s because it’s Mother Jones and thus troll-bait?)
Anyhoo, the trolls are accomplishing their purpose, because I don’t bother much wit the threads any more.
I would use a pie filter, if it existed, on that site.
Satanicpanic
I refuse to believe that someone could argue in good faith that the 60 vote requirement for Democratic measures in the Senate also applies to Republicans. Especially from someone claiming to know something about politics.
Berial
@Citizen Alan
While what you say may very well be true, it is still true that Nader split off votes from Gore in 2000. Without that happening first, 9/11 couldn’t have given Bush the opportunity to do the things he did, because he would have never been there in the first place.
So saying that Nader caused the Bush years can still be accurate.
lacp
@drkrick: That’s something that I don’t recall seeing in the MSM – how many bills the President has vetoed. Using teh Google, it looks like he’s not particularly trigger-happy with the veto pen.
NR
@geg6: The level of ignorance in this comment is simply astounding.
Why don’t you read up on what’s been happening to the American working-class for the past 40 years? Then tell me how Obama’s approach of giving a lot more money to rich people is supposed to fix that.
You may be fine with supporting the continuing destruction of the working-class in this country, but I’d rather choose a path that has a chance of saving it.
NR
@Satanicpanic: Why, you’re talking as if the filibuster is a wholly artificial construct and not the giant, all-consuming, magical force that cannot ever be overcome that we’ve been told it is since 2009. That’s crazy talk!
cleek
@Elizabelle:
here ya go.
PeakVT
@Elizabelle: cleek to the rescue.
And he’s faster than me. A regular hero, he is.
Ash Can
@Citizen Alan: Actually, a nationwide poll taken in 2000 of Nader voters (h/t Wikipedia), asking them who they would have voted for if Nader hadn’t been on the ballot, indicates that yes, Ralph Nader did in fact cost Al Gore the presidency. Everything else is historical revisionism.
Bullsmith
Obama has overseen the transfer of trillions of dollars in national wealth away from the many and into the hands of the few. The labor and housing markets are left to rot, the banking sector is refinanced and protected from accountability for committing massive and obvious fraud. AAA my fannny.
Blame the liberals all you want. Point out that the Republicans are crazy and people like Perry would be worse. The facts are simple, in terms of the economy, the rule of law and the military industrial-complex, Obama’s policies have been squarely Republican, and in most issues have seen him doing the exact opposite of what he campaigned on. It’s not just Obama, it’s the whole party. They’re bought and paid for. Sure, there are some concrete advantages to electing Obama over Romney, but you have zero chance of getting a government that is responsible to it’s citizens. That’s established fact at this point. The unemployment rate has been disastrous for years. As a government, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have had any interest in addressing it. But both will happily campaign on it, as Obama has now started to do.
I like Obama, as a man and a politician, I don’t think he can work miracles, I only judge him on what he chooses to do. Like extend the Bush tax cuts, which required his willing signature to do. The argument about how bad and crazy the Republicans are is a terrible reason for voting in Democrats, because the Democrats just do their dirty work for them and as an added bonus destroy their own integrity at the same time.
rob in dc
To my fellow Firebaggers: It is good to hear Obama firing up the liberal rhetoric for campaign season. I don’t trust he means a word he says, the man has been exposed for what he is well enough, but that doesn’t change the fact that rhetoric refuting right wing bull shit can only be a good thing and we can give Obama props for speaking out even if we (the firebaggers) know he is full of shit.
Our goal needs to be to speak out on the same vein and educate as much as possible running up to the election. Dispelling right wing myths as much as possible is an important duty for every person who considers themselves liberal, whether they are an Obama supporter or not. 31 years of shit policy are hurtling like a hurricane towards the world coast, about to unleash their fury on the entire globe. People are going to be pissed, now is the time to concentrate that anger productively as possible, and campaign Obama is an ally, even if he is a feckless and faithless one, that we need to exploit and support. We can settle up our grievances with Obama in the ballot box.
Kola Noscopy
@Tomjones:
Ah…so you’re still reading me. Thank you! Thank you…
Corner Stone
@Davis X. Machina:
Absolutio en retroactivum
Neat trick.
geg6
@NR:
OMFG. Are you for real?
FTR, I don’t need to read up on it. I’ve lived it. I was and am the working class, asshole. From the day I was born and will be until the day I die. Having a graduate degree, unlike my parents, hasn’t changed that. In fact, I make less than my steelworker father did when he was forcibly retired in 1982, the year I graduated from college.
What a dick.
Southern Beale
@lacp:
Wikipedia has a complete list.
Obama has vetoed 2 pieces of legislation. Keep in mind, since he’s been in office Congress has ground almost to a halt. There hasn’t been that much legislation that is not “keep the doors open and the lights on” passed that hasn’t been stuff he worked for (like healthcare reform, the nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia, etc.)
I think.
Kola Noscopy
@NR:
Well said.
Satanicpanic
@NR: The mechanics of the filibuster are pretty well established and not able to be wished away.
Satanicpanic
Crap, why did I just do that?
Kola Noscopy
@cleek:
Ah Cleekster…such a child like simpleton. A fucking filter to allegedly get rid of comments that so touch a nerve with you that you would rather pretend to eliminate them than consider why you are unable to scroll past them without reading. Such self awareness. Such depth of intellect. Such denial. This should be renamed the Obot-Introspection-Prevention-Filter.
Kola Noscopy
@drkrick:
and has been rebutted hundreds of times, if Harry Reid and Obama were adept at their jobs, Reid could muster a rules change to eliminate the courtesy filibuster, and the two of them could strong arm it through. But they are NOT adept at their jobs, and yet you want to give them four and six more years every election. Why is that?
Mino
In Pennsylvania and North Carolina, unions including the United Steel Workers and SEIU, fed up with the right-wing policies of many Democrats, have threatened to run as independent labor candidates against the Democratic incumbents…By breaking with the Democrats and relying instead on our own forces and resources we can lay the basis for a mass party of labor sooner than we know it. Why should we continue to spend our hard-earned union dues to put the bosses’ representatives into office? Union Locals and Central Labor Councils, should take up this question concretely, passing resolutions that cut off all funding to the Democrats, and in favor of running independent labor candidates and for the building a mass labor party.
I can’t give atribution for this quote cause I can’t use the S word on this blog. My previous iteration is in moderation limbo.
Kola Noscopy
@NR:
BUT HE HAD TO, HE HAD TO, HE HAD TO, or there would be no unemployment insurance, and there were no other options, no none at all, and he can’t negotiate or threaten or play hardball for shit, so that is the best we could do, oh god, oh god, vote Dem!
Elie
@FlipYrWhig:
..and not letting them get worse is sometimes the best apprioach anyway.
It takes time for learning and shifts in awareness to happen and just preventing back sliding, can speed the learning along.
I am always amazed at people who think that you make changes in a society through one election or one person doing x. Signficant, baseline change requires transformation and that takes time and nudjing rather than coercion.
I am also surprised for what people think are bravery and effectiveness… What self discipline does it take to just scream at your opponents and call them names? How do you bring people to your side who are watching?
This whole leftie/firebagger thing is just crap. These folks aren’t for real… as I said before on another thread, just a bunch of narcissists looking to install their own form of and ideas about governance…anything else is failure in their eyes. Democracy is not really central. Many of them are completely dysfunctional but they say they are lefties because they want the nihilism and cachet of ‘revolution’ — which wouldnt be welcome on the right. Its just personality pathology with a new vehicle for expression — the internet blogs. Each commenter is equal to the next and that gives them power that they wouldnt have in an actual versus virtual community.
Woe is us!
Mino
In Pennsylvania and North Carolina, unions including the United Steel Workers and SEIU, fed up with the right-wing policies of many Democrats, have threatened to run as independent labor candidates against the Democratic incumbents…By breaking with the Democrats and relying instead on our own forces and resources we can lay the basis for a mass party of labor sooner than we know it. Why should we continue to spend our hard-earned union dues to put the bosses’ representatives into office? Union Locals and Central Labor Councils, should take up this question concretely, passing resolutions that cut off all funding to the Democrats, and in favor of running independent labor candidates and for the building a mass labor party.
I can’t give attribution to this quote because of the S-word.
This may or may not be a game changer. Have to see.
cleek
@Bullsmith:
do you know what else came out of the deal that extended those tax cuts? the repeal of DADT, for one.
repeal DADT in exchange for lowering taxes for a while.
what kind of progressive wouldn’t take that deal ?
cleek
@Mino:
which will pretty guarantee a GOP majority in the US House.
awesome.
good plan.
Kola Noscopy
@Berial:
Such weak bullshit. Gore caved during the recall fight, when there were options remaining. His moronic, arrogant VP candidate went on national TV and insisted that ineligible/late overseas ballots be counted. Gore hired and did not fire the worst campaign manager in history, Donna Brazile. Gore refused to utilize the Big Dog in his campaign, or claim his legacy. Gore refused to assert, as the republicans surely would have in his position, that he had won the popular vote, and that it would be immoral for GWB to assume the presidency. Gore refused to play hardball/ass kick politics as the Republicans would have in every reversed instance.
Typical DLC establishment, weak-tea bullshit to blame the entirety of Al Gore’s failure on an outside factor. GORE lost the election, no one else.
Mino
@cleek: Well, I guess it’s their money and time they think is being wasted. Hardly call them firebaggers, though.
And how come you can read my comment? My computer says it’s still in moderation.
TooManyJens
@cleek:
And extension of unemployment benefits. (I know you know this, but I felt it bore mentioning.)
Monala
@gnomedad: Ha! Wouldn’t it be great to see that commnent rate a “Pants on Fire” from PolitFact? “No, Mr. President, Americans actually are that cold, heartless and stupid.”
harlana
@Kola Noscopy: i’ll have to say, it killed me to be in support of not letting the tax cuts expire, because i was still unemployed at the time, but that’s what happens when you’re cornered, you sort of lose your purity by that point – as it turned out, i was ineligible for another extension anyways
and i thought, how tragic, how very tragic, that we, the unemployed, are being exploited in this way, as if the pain and humiliation were not enough
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
This message has been generated automatically by the ABL EARLY RACIST WARNING SYSTEM. Stay tuned for complete instructions on how to interpret this incident in a manner exculpatory to President Obama. Until then, keep your head down and your mouth shut. Unless you’re Yutsano and have a craving for braised eggplant. That is all.
.
.
drkrick
@TenguPhule:
Actually, there was a similar series of fires in Texas in 1860. The Tea Party equivalents of that time convinced themselves and their more credulous neighbors that the fires had been set by slaves under the influence of Yankee abolitionist agitators. That belief was a contributing factor to the popularity of the secessionist cause.
Kola Noscopy
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Who the fuck does Maxine Waters think she is, speaking from the “black perspective,” as the “black voice?” Has she not been informed that this is ABL’s exclusive gig?
How dare she?
Uriel
@Kola Noscopy:
Before you start imagining that your blatherings rise to any level of importance: You do realize that you can get that number by simply selecting ‘find’ option in your browser, right?
For instance, as of comment 315 ‘kola’ appears 76 times. took me all of 1 second to get that. Not a lot of effort involved. More than you’re worth, but still.
I’d just hate to see you getting all self- aggrandizing and arch over something so trivial. Not that it wouldn’t be par for the course, in your case.
orogeny
@gogol’s wife: I think “Self Kola Noscopy” would be more appropriate. You don’t often see someone with their head that far up their ass.
harlana
@Kola Noscopy: Obama does this. He has always done it. I think we know the reasons why. Waters and her counterparts have every right to be offended, but they are used to this by now, as are the rest of us. Anyone who doesn’t understand that his speeches to the black community are “coded” is just not paying attention.
I’m not anti-Obama, as I hope everyone here knows, but this is just a fact. It is intended to appeal to and reassure white voters.
I gotta say, the whole “take off your bedroom slippers” thing jumped right out at me immediately. But that is for the black community to decide how they feel about it and whether or not they want to support him in the future. Of course, most will, it’s just a slightly bitter pill to swallow at times, I imagine.
Elie
@cleek:
Cleek. Stop.
Its not a plan per se, BJ and the blogs are just an outlet for narcissist fantasies that have little to do with actual advocacy or politics. Just masturbation…
You keep answering them with rationality and it just doesnt matter. Each time folks reach out to them they are affirmed and validated. If they were in an actual face to face community, they would be appropriately ignored.
We make them special by engaging them.
les
@NR:
How sweet. Too bad you’ve never presented such a path, or even a hope of one.
Marc
@NR:
It’s nice to see a direct confirmation of my “heightening the contradictions” troll theory.
And the Naderites love to throw sand in the air, but the election was very close, there were plenty of Nader votes in Florida, and if Gore had been preferred by even a small margin he would have won the election even given all of the other problems.
So, yes, the Nader run did tip the scales to Bush even in the most generous possible interpretation for him. It doesn’t matter if there were 10 things that had to happen for a car crash – if you’re the last of those 10 factors you still caused the crash. Because, you know, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t done what you did do.
NR
@geg6: You just made my point for me and you don’t even realize it.
Voting for Dems for the last 40 years hasn’t done shit for the working-class. It’s time to try something else.
NR
@Marc: Shorter Marc: Nader. Nader. Nader Nader Nader. NaderNaderNaderNaderNaderNader. Nader! NADER!!
This would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.
gogol's wife
@geg6:
Thank you for this.
And I’m sorry about your doggie. I know how painful it is.
drkrick
@NR:
I hated that, but it was the price of getting unemployment insurance extended, which reinforces the point that people like those coming down to their last UI check can’t afford a lot of principled stands for supposed long term gain.
Fair enough. We read his record very differently
Citizen Alan
@Berial:
It is equally accurate to say that Monica Moorehead of the Workers of the World Party cause the Bush years because the number of Florida votes cast for her exceeded the difference between Bush and Gore.
Just out of curiosity, is it Nader’s fault that Gore and Bush jointly took steps to prevent him from even attending one of the debates even after he paid money for a ticket? Because in a state of several million, I wouldn’t be surprised if that act alone caused at least 500 people who were iffy about Gore to vote for Nader out of pique over the issue.
NR
@Satanicpanic: The filibuster is a Senate rule, and Senate rules can be changed with a ruling from the chair and 51 votes in support. Or did you sleep through all the drama surrounding the nuclear option a few years back?
cleek
@NR:
so, let’s help elect more Republicans. yeah, that’ll do it. we’ll be right on our way to a glorious middle class renaissance.
drkrick
@lacp:
The Senate is doing it for him now. I’m not very confident that will still be the case 2013, even in circumstances where Obama gets a second term.
harlana
@drkrick:
precisely, and it hurts, let me tell you
but this is what the GOP is after, grinding us down to the point where we CAN’T fight because our spirit has been slowly and systematically suffocated to death, that’s the sad thing about it
drkrick
@NR:
Great, what’s your plan? Names, specific policies, and a path to adoption in the near future.
drkrick
@Kola Noscopy: to NR:
Couldn’t have said it better yourself? Unless you did.
Marc
@NR:
You’ve got no answer I see. The last time you and yours did your little dance we know what happened. Being a Naderite means never having to say you’re sorry, I guess.
Marc
@Citizen Alan:
Double backflip conjectures, pure and simple. Nader deliberately campaigned in swing states, despite the pleas of people like the Nader Raiders who used to support him. He made it extremely explicit that he didn’t see any difference between Gore and Bush and didn’t care which of them won. And he would have spent an entire debate attacking Gore and ignoring Bush if given the chance – it’s certainly what he did in his public appearances otherwise.
He wanted Bush to win, deliberately set out to tip the scales that way, and got exactly what he aimed for. The rest of us, not so much. We keep pressing this point because we’re seeing people advocating a repeat, and it’s really worth hammering just how catastrophic the prior version was.
Citizen Alan
@Ash Can:
Ya know, whatever! I’m so tired of this shit. If you’re losing votes to an insurgent third-party candidate whose only campaign argument is that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans, you don’t devote yourself to proving him right by touting your pro-business credentials, by naming a sniveling lapdog of the insurance industry as your running mate, by noting with pride that your spouse’s name is synonymous with “scolding censorious prude,” and by standing together with guy you’re running against to have the third party candidate kicked out of a debate hall out of pants-wetting fear that his mere presence will remind people of all your corporatist, hyper-centrist positions. Republicrat, indeed!
Elie
@geg6:
YAY! this this this
Uncle Clarence Thomas
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@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Heh, I really got over on that one, didn’t I… Chalk up “so much win” for the Big Man courtesy of the center-right appeasers – and for consumers of SUPER COKE! That reminds me – Ginni! Come hither!
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NR
@Marc: Oh, there are plenty of answers. To pick just one, there’s the fact that thousands of black voters in Florida were disenfranchised by Katherine Harris prior to the election. And not only did the Democrats not do anything about this, when the Congressional Black Caucus tried to contest the election results based on this disenfranchisement, they could not get one single Democratic Senator to go along with them. Since the rules require one Congressman and one Senator to make the challenge, this effectively killed it.
So therefore, by your logic, the entire Democratic caucus in the Senate was also responsible for Bush getting into office, and we should refuse to vote for or support any of them ever again.
Simple-minded people prefer easily identifiable bogeymen that they can blame all the ills of the world on. This is why Nader still gets lambasted today–because it’s a lot easier than actually thinking about what happened.
Emma
@Kola Noscopy: if Harry Reid and Obama were adept at their jobs, Reid could muster a rules change to eliminate the courtesy filibuster, and the two of them could strong arm it through. How? Just lay it out, brilliant man that you are. HOW?
I used to be amused by people like you. Now I see you for what you are. Self-centered, vicious little worms with no ideas and no successes to your name. Just a permanent whine like an irritating mosquito.
Corner Stone
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Uncle Clarence Thomas, thank the merciful FSM I am not Yutz, but for speculation purposes, what should Yutz do in these early stages of alert? I mean, given his notoriously profligate cravings for eggplant in all its forms.
geg6
@NR:
Please, remind of when there was a real Dem in charge. And no, Bill “Triangulation” Clinton doesn’t count. The last one I remember was LBJ. And he had his own issues. Meanwhile, it seems that I remember 12 years of a Democratic administration in those 40 years. So, voting for Dems didn’t get me much, but not for the reasons you seems to think.
Idiot. Go back to high school where you belong.
FlipYrWhig
@Kola Noscopy:
@NR:
Do you think that there is support for “eliminating the courtesy filibuster” among the Democratic Senate majority? We went through this already at the beginning of the Senate term, and none of the filibuster-restricting proposals got off the ground at all. More than a handful of Democrats in the Senate like preserving their superpowers much more than they like helping a president from their own party. What form would this “strongarming” take? Why would Senate Democrats go through with this? What would be in it for them?
Corner Stone
@NR:
Pretentious people parse preferential patsies purposefully, prioritizing painful predicates of the populous.
It just seemed to speak to me.
FlipYrWhig
@NR:
And yet your idea of how to fix the Senate relies on the good faith and public spirit of… Democratic senators. Seems like a minor design flaw.
cleek
@FlipYrWhig:
(whips out magic wand)
Senatori Obligato!
(big flash of light)
“Yes Mister Reid. By your command.”
Ash Can
@Citizen Alan: Cry all you want; it doesn’t change the facts.
B W Smith
@FlipYrWhig: Damn, why you got to go poking holes in logical fallacies?
NR
@FlipYrWhig: No, I fully realize that the Democrats have no interest in fixing the Senate.
I’m just pointing out that it’s within their power to do so if they want to, because there are so many here who don’t realize (or don’t want to admit) that fact.
NR
@geg6: Once again: You just made my point for me.
The sad part is that you’re too stupid to realize it.
But here’s a free clue, since you seem to need it: If voting for Dems for 40 years hasn’t stopped the destruction of the working class, maybe it’s time to start thinking about other options.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
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@Corner Stone:
Stuff it, of course.
Until the Control Voice is heard and obeyed.
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geg6
@NR:
Again, I must be the one to break it to you…you’re out of your depth here.
True fact: every person you are arguing with about this knows perfectly well that Senate Dems have no desire to change their privileges. So, once again, I am forced to ask you how you would change this with your “pox of both houses” approach? And how do you get any majority in the entire nation, let alone the Senate, to vote for what you want? And again, show exactly how, no ponies-shitting-out-underpants-gnomes-throwing-glitter-type plans. A real world one.
FlipYrWhig
@NR: Well, it’s in “their” power for some fucked-up definitions of “their.” And once again it all comes back to conservative Democrats, and, re: filibuster reform, long-serving conservative Democrats like Max Baucus. Reid and Obama can’t “strong-arm” him: he wants the perks of the job. A very small group of conservative Democrats can shut down all the good-government reforms dreamt of in your philosophy. You have to factor that in when placing blame about what Obama or Democrats can do but won’t, or won’t do but can.
geg6
@NR:
Um, no I didn’t make your point at all. I bitch about there being few Dems in charge during the last forty years and you seem to think what I really want is John Anderson or Ross Perot or Ralph Nader.
Reading comprehension is your friend.
NR
@geg6: Um, you were also bitching about Bill Clinton. Or do you not remember what you wrote?
NR
@FlipYrWhig:
What it also comes back to is a party leadership that enables them.
You know how the Republicans dealt with Clinton when he was first elected? They let all their members know that if any of them voted with Clinton without the express permission of the leadership, they would receive a well-funded primary challenger in their next election, even if the challenge ended up costing the Republicans the seat in the general election. And you know what? It worked. They kept their members from running off to vote with Clinton, they maintained the ideological coherence of their caucus, and they were able to block most of his agenda.
The Democratic party not only refuses to exercise this kind of discipline over their members, they in fact actively support the members that fuck them over. See Blanche Lincoln in 2010, for example. The only conclusion to draw here is that the Democratic leadership is getting exactly what they want from these members: A convenient excuse for not implementing progressive policy.
Progressive policy hasn’t been stopped by a handful of conservative Democratic Senators going off the reservation, it’s been stopped by a party leadership that’s dedicated itself to stopping it.
Elizabelle
@Uriel:
I didn’t want to break Kola’s little heart by divulging methods. Heh heh.
EconWatcher
Wow, this is one of the most impressive displays I’ve ever seen of feeding the troll–even for this blog. Way to go, guys. Give yourself a pat on the back.
Woodrow L. Goode, IV
@cleek: You still don’t get it, do you? If Rick Perry says the Clean Air Act needs to be repealed or reduced in order to stimulate the economy, that’s something that can be fought and possibly won. When Barack Obama says it, the battle is over.
It’s not a either-or– that we elect Rick Perry and the country goes to hell in a handbasket, or we elect Barack Obama and we’re all saved. The third option is that Obama gets elected and we find out all the other neat-o right-wing triangulatory, eleventh-dimensional chess beliefs he has been concealing until term #2..
If you sat down and compared (a) the amount of backward steps the country took during the two Bushes with (b) the retreat that Clinton and Obama have made, “B” wins. The repeal of Glass-Stegall– which is responsible for this financial mess– wasn’t signed by a Republican, and it wasn’t pushed through over Bill Clinton’s veto.
I’m well aware of the dangers of a Perry or Romney administration. The problem is that you don’t comprehend what happens if Barack Obama decides (say) that it would be better for the country long-term if Congress has to decide to legalize abortions, rather than relying on a badly-worded Supreme Court decision.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
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@EconWatcher:
I see what you did there, you ratfucking troll. Go back to Red State.
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Maus
@NR:
Not the best analogy, children don’t plan ahead, but are far more fearless and reckless when it comes to running headfirst into potential pain :p
Lol
@356: Actually, you need to look at how Republicans acted 2001-2006 when they had the Presidency and control of Congress.
Lincoln Chaffee bucked his party on every major vote and what did the NRSC do? They went balls to the wall to protect him from a hardline conservative challenger.
John McCain caused Bush heartburn and he never lost party support.
Hell, look at the Medicare vote: (with one exception) the “strong-arming” there pretty much involved outright bribing members until they got over the finish line.
aisce
@ woodrow
well, good thing he’s never said anything of the sort then.
oh…i see. you’re dumber than shit. and a total racist to boot. that explains it.
cleek
@Woodrow L. Goode, IV:
good thing i never said that, then.
Obama v whatever the diseased lung of the GOP coughs up. that’s your choice.
if you think the GOP is going to give us a better outcome, just come out and admit it. really.
this is pure fantasy.
Woodrow L. Goode, IV
@Felinious Wench: The first thing that needs to be done, actually, is to demonstrate that candidates who break promises won’t get re-elected with votes from the left. by the left.
The only people who think that hippies want to vote for Perry, Ron Paul or Nader are the RahmObamaLamaDingDongs who need to argue with straw men. Hippies know better than to vote for wingnuts, because it only convinces the David Gregorys of the world that we really are a center-right nation, just like friendly old Mitch McConnell says.
Right now, the biggest problem is that the ROLDDs wlll openly sink hippie candidates– they’re perfectly happy to re-elect Joe Lieberman and kill Bill Halder’s chances to stave off John Boozman. And after a pro-hippie loses, they cut off all the jobs, consulting gigs and sinecures, so the guy ends up having to lobby for dictators (which would be Howard Dean or Joe Trippi).
But when a war criminal (he tortures, he fights secret wars, he kills women and children), who wants to institutionalize a right wing security apparatus to stamp out dissent wants to be re-elected, they insist the hippies go along, on the “but the other guy is worse.”
Well, tough. Come back in 2016 and ask those questions when they’re not rhetorical– after you realize that there really are people who are concerned enough about civil liberties to not support anyone who opposes them to the degree that Barack Obama has shown that he does.
Being a hippie doesn’t mean you’re soft. It would be preferable not to have to demonstrate that fact in a presidential election, but if that’s really what you require, fine. After you see that you can’t win without the hippies, maybe you’ll pay attention the next time we say “We’re totally bummed by this dude.”
cleek
the self-righteous will kill us all.
Kola Noscopy
@aisce:
hahahaha…
Omnes Omnibus
@Woodrow L. Goode, IV:
Bullshit. No one has to lobby for dictators.
Gravenstone
And the genius if Cleek lives on:
cleek
@Gravenstone:
that is one of my personal favorites. :)
contessakitty (AKA Karen)
Here is my prediction:
Say hello to your new President Mitt Romney.
Why? Because according to Pliny and Trul and Kolanoscopy, all WHITE LIBERALS hate Obama!
It’s true, the article Pliny linked to says so and David Sirota knows what REAL WHITE LIBERALS want so if he says it, it must be true! If you’re calling yourself a WHITE LIBERAL and you vote for Obama, you are really NOT A WHITE LIBERAL and have no right calling yourself a WHITE LIBERAL and didn’t I mention that ALL WHITE LIBERALS HATE OBAMA?!!!!
After all, if all WHITE LIBERALS now hate Obama and all WHITE GOP members already hated Obama that means all WHITE PEOPLE hate him. Better look behind you Obama and watch out for the knife headed for your back from your own party.
I guess since I plan to vote for Obama as the better choice even though it’s not the best choice, I’m either not WHITE or a LIBERAL. I guess I better get on my knees and give Rick Perry my oral worship and come out of the Tea Party closet.
And all the WHITE LIBERALS will be popping the champagne when Mitt Romney wins because they’d rather vote for Mitt Romney or stay home than vote for Obama who ALL WHITE LIBERALS HATE.
This way when they don’t get anything they want as opposed to some things with Obama, that will motivate the base to vote for Kucinich or Grayson and death to the Blue Dogs!
Of course, there may be the chance that Mitt Romney has flip flopped so many times that maybe he’ll flip back to the left RINO he was in Massachusetts.
HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH, that was a good one.
SiubhanDuinne
@Southern Beale:
I wish I could pie Howard Kurtz.
Corner Stone
@contessakitty (AKA Karen): PUMA Rawr!!
SiubhanDuinne
@drkrick:
Ah! Got it! The astonishing ability of the English language to convey ambiguity is, well, just astonishing.
(The phrase that confuzzled me was “getting it.”)
Thanks for clarifying.
SiubhanDuinne
@Svensker:
Was that the great Lemon Meringue-Pumpkin Pie Fight that lives on in legend?
Gravenstone
@cleek: The meta in it is just pure Win!
pluege
phew, good thing obama is back in campaign mode. What a relief to have all those fine words back to disguise his do-nothing inaction.
SiubhanDuinne
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Mmmm, stuffed eggplant.
(Feel as though I’m channeling jeffreyw here, but no food pr0n photos.)
boss bitch
@harlana:
Excuse me, but that speech was meant for the cbc and the cbc only. Read it and watch it and you will find he says it throughout the speech. Its not about reassuring White voters. that is total bullshit. Watch the speech and listen to the crowd at the event. Those people sound offended to you? Look at their faces when they shake his hands. The same thing with all his speeches to AA audience. Plenty of people walk away agreeing with every word he says but you always got a handful of people who get mad because white folks might hear.
All these complaints from Maxine Waters and co. go back to the primaries when black “leaders” questioned Obama’s blackness and it still persists today. Waters is curious that he doesn’t talk like that to other groups? More like she doesn’t think Obama is not black enough to talk like that to real black people.
And since when is “bedroom slippers” some kind of racial slur or code? Should I be offended now if someone in a department store asks me if I’m interested in bedroom slippers? cause only black people wear bedroom slippers? I wonder if anyone here taking Water’s side also empathize when AbL posts about something that she found racist and offensive?
A hit dog will holla and Waters is yelping all over the place because she knows that speech was aimed at her and her crew in the cbc. You think you can trash the president all over TV and question his blackness w/o push back?
Forgive my rambling but the idea that Obama wanted to reassure white voters is a total fucking bullshit garbage motherfucking lie.
contessakitty (AKA Karen)
@Corner Stone:
Nice to be home.
Elie
@boss bitch:
Yeah — sing it. THANKS!
(I’m very late to the thread but had to put in my two cents here)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@boss bitch:
Good lord, is someone really saying that?
contessakitty (AKA Karen)
@SiubhanDuinne:
I didn’t even know food porn existed until I saw a picture of a juicy strawberry dipped in mouth watering chocolate.
I’ve been hospitalized three times since the end of August with a kidney stone leading to an infection then a heart artery blockage scare that led to an angiogram at age 46.
Thank G-d that I didn’t have the blockage but that scared me into giving up things like strawberries dipped in chocolate and for a chocoholic like me that was hard. But if I can’t eat it at least I can look and drool and fantasize about it…
danimal
@danimal:
Almost there. Good job, DougJ, and an extra cookie for Colon Oz Copy.
redheadedfemme
Has anyone ever considered disemvowelling?
One of Koala Nose Poo’s idiotic diatribes would, for instance, look like this.
h Clkstr…sch chld lk smpltn.fckng fltr t llgdly gt rd f cmmnts tht s tch nrv wth y tht y wld rthr prtnd t lmnt thm thn cnsdr why y r nbl t scrll pst thm wtht rdng. Sch slf wrnss. Sch dpth f intllct. Sch dnl. Ths shld b rnmd th bt-ntrspctn-Prvntn-Fltr.
This would require a lot more moderation, since each comment would have to be done by hand.
But I would HAPPILY volunteer to do so. I’d consider it the ultimate contribution to humanity.
MikeJ
@redheadedfemme: Each user does their own here with the pie filter. Greasemonkey/Firefox version at ok-cleek, Chrome version click my name. I think both disemvowel too.
Corner Stone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
No. She’s a lil crazy.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
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@ass bitch:
So I can say whatever I want to the CBC? Can Michael Moore say whatever he wants to Bill Maher?
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redheadedfemme
@MikeJ:
Installed it! Works like a charm. Thanks so much for sparing me from those airheads.
That said, I would still love for them to know someone would volunteer to rip the guts out of their comments, cackling all the way.
G
so if anyone scrolls to the end… not that likely, I know. But I’d rather hit the fire fighting budget cuts in texas to go with the fires.
as governor of texas Perry really couldn’t do much about coal burning in China, or EPS emmissions standards other than lobby. I’d think when it comes to hiring people to fight fire in the state he’s the chief executive of – it’s an obvious failure of leadership.
Obama could do this with the guy dying in the flood religious joke even. flood, devout man prays. the cops come and tell him to evacuate, he says “no God will protect” the water rises and the house is cut off fromt he street which is now a river, a boat comes by and asks him to evacuate… he says God will save me, water rises and he’s on the roof, a helicopter drops a rope… he refuses saying God will save him. At the pearly gates, he complains that God didn’t save him and he’s told, we sent the cops, a boat and a helicopter, what else did you want.
that joke, Perry’s prayer fests, cutting firefighting budgets and fires = win
NR
@redheadedfemme:
This is a perfect example of the intelligence and maturity level of Obama supporters. Thanks.
MJ
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
bob h
You’ve also got a fat Governor whose state has been inundated by hurricane floods who says he’s not sure about global warming.
lethargytartare
@Corner Stone:
liar.
harlana did, in fact, say exactly that.
why do you even bother?
Pliny
@contessakitty (AKA Karen):
You seem to be extremely confused about what Sirota wrote. Explaining that some white people actually disagree with Obama not because he is black but because he has proven himself to be a center-right politician who has done the exact opposite of what he promised in myriad areas seems pretty straightforward. Did you even read it or did you see the words “white liberals” in the title and decide what it said based on that?