Yesterday, former Wisconsin Governor and current Senate candidate Tommy Thompson had to give his dumbass 38-year-old son a stern talking-to because said dumbass 38-year-old son thought it would be hilarious to make a birther joke and tell President Obama to go back to Africa, all the while God and YouTube were watching:
[read full post at ABLC]
rlrr
As always, I blame bad parenting in these situations.
Yutsano
Mmm…juicy birfer goodness!!
pharniel
FYWP error on the link.
JGabriel
Bad ABLC link. Corrected link here.
gravie
This is how they talk among themselves, no matter what kind of moderate, pleasant face they put on for the public.
gravie
The self-satisfied smirk says it all.
Jude
What’s the over/under on when some fuckstick comes by to tell us all that this wasn’t racist, because we “don’t know what’s in his heart,” and how we’re actually the racists for seeing anything racial in the statement?
I’m gonna say eight comments.
LD50
@Jude: Followed by the inevitable mention of Senator Byrd.
Jude
@LD50: GOD DAMN IT you fucked up my bet!
Spaghetti Lee
@LD50:
Also, PARTY OF LINCOLN! Three-pronged attack!
Yutsano
@Jude: Don’t forget of course it was a joke! Can’t you take a joke silly libtards?
Violet
Fucking racists. They. Must. Not. Win. I’ve said it in other threads, but I will never again vote for a Republican. If there isn’t another choice, I’ll abstain from that race. Never. Again.
Hal
Yes, I’m sure the son has never heard anything of the sort from Thompson.
YellowJournalism
@LD50: Followed by some comment about how we should be worried about the real issues, like jobs!
Am I correct that the Preiebus was in attendance? The asshole probably laughed right along with his buddies.
Violet
Some lady at the end of the video says, “We’re taking donations for that Kenya trip.” WTF? Seriously, WTF?
These people are horrible. They must be defeated. Ground to dust.
mingo
@Jude:
More likely, as happened in TNC’s thread, someone will “reasonably” parse the statement so finely that he will make no sense at all. Not only missing the forest for the trees, but the trees for a few tiny pine needles on the ground.
LD50
@Jude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_4bLNM0axE
Cacti
Remember, when you’re a Republican, anything prior to age 50 is a youthful indiscretion.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Violet: there was a clip going around the day of the Denver debate, somebody stood outside a Romney rally that day with an Obama cut-out and a video camera. Aside from all the childish “eweww!” type comments, I counted three death threats (“shoot it!” “are we having target practice” and “damn I forgot my gun!”, IIRC) , the must’ve been a dozen “send him back to Kenya!”. It ended with some lady talking in what she seemed to think was a high-larious ‘ghetto’ accent, in spite of her friends repeatedly telling her the person with the cut-out also had a camera.
Ash Can
Let’s hope this gives Tammy Baldwin a nice bump in the polls.
Original Lee
Anything is OK if you’re a Republican, as long as you don’t get caught.
Quasi-related: the wingnuts are calling for Obama to fire Hillary because she allegedly refused to increase the security at Benghazi, but they are saying he won’t do it because he needs Bill’s support.
Um, what?
Lurking Canadian
Have they, at long last, no sense of decency?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I could be wrong, but it’s hard for me to imagine somebody that age being a racist unless they learned it at home.
Anoniminous
Bet you $10,000 65% of old White Males are muttering, “It’s about time somebody stood up for old white males and against the Kenyan Usurper.”
? Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Could have been campaign headquarters or Fox News.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Cacti:
Henry Hyde taught us that one.
Soonergrunt
@Lurking Canadian: No. SATSQ
geg6
@mingo:
Which is why I don’t wade into the comments there any more. It happens in every thread. I find the commenters there the most pretentious, precious, and self-congratulatory people on the internet. And that’s saying a lot. I’ll check out TNC when he posts, but will never wade into those comments again.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
any of our Badgers here? Is anyone asking if the old man is having… issues? My recollection is that Tommy Thompson was a beloved moderate, a perennial contender for Veep and one of the media’s favorite GOP presidential speculations
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/tommy-thompson-son-obama-kenya-video-13747440#ixzz29OUA0NG0
Quaker in a Basement
I think he said, “The
sheriffPresident is near!”gravie
Well, he was an up-and-coming Republican op when we lived there and we didn’t like him a bit.
Anoniminous
Just for geg6:
Since no one here can look into Little Tommy’s heart I think we should take the higher road and assume he was requesting GOP fund a free trip for Obama to Kenya in order to highlight the contributions of African-Americans in US politics and culture.
:-p
Hal
@Original Lee:
Republicans miss the Clinton years when they had a scandal every few weeks, and even got to impeach. Nothing against Obama has stuck or made a difference.
Soonergrunt
@geg6: ” I find the commenters there the most pretentious, precious, and self-congratulatory people on the internet.”
For a moment there I thought you were talking about Balloon-Juice.
Ben Cisco
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Tommy Boy can read tea leaves as well as anyone. Everyone in the GOP who was in the same
time zonequadrant as the word “moderate” has been banished to the Outer Rim. The word “moderate” is a lie foisted by the GOP and theirhandmaidenscourtesans in the FerengiMedia™ to fool morons, “centrists”, contrarians, and ‘baggers of all varieties.MikeJ
@Original Lee:
And in January when she steps down, as SoSs almost always do, they’ll claim her scalp.
Violet
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Funny you mention that. I’m not from WI, but I did see a video recently that made me wonder if he’s experiencing any…issues. Can’t remember where it was, but there were some tells. I’ve become a bit more aware of such issues after dealing with elderly relatives.
ant
I’m from Wisconsin.
I can’t really say. People loved TT back when he was Gov. He was very popular.
My thinking is that anyone who remembers him being Gov already follow politics, and would have their mind made up already no matter what the name on the ballet was.
I think people forget for the most part about how TT governed over a decade ago.
Another thing to remember about the four four-year terms that TT served: all those elections were in the midterm off-presidential cycles.
schrodinger's cat
@geg6: Its the holier than thou attitude that gets me. I used to read TNC but he is becoming more and more of a Villager everyday.
geg6
@Soonergrunt:
Heh. Hardly. Very little pretense, sometimes precious, and only the trolls are self-congratulatory. Which is why fit in fine here, but am completely repulsed by what goes on over there.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Racism’s like herpes. You pick it up in the places you’d least expect, but once you’ve got it, you’re a lifelong member of the club.
SatanicPanic
@Soonergrunt: Surely you think we’re better than that. I mean, really. We wouldn’t stoop to such behavior.
Chris
@Original Lee:
Fast And Furious (“Obama’s Iran-contra!”) was a bust. So now they’re trying to make Benghazi “Obama’s Watergate!”
I probably won’t watch tomorrow’s debate on account of Covert Affairs and Sons of Anarchy (oh, and homework), but I hope he’s all set, because Romney’s going to hit him on Benghazi all night.
Redshift
@MikeJ:
She announced back in January that she would be stepping down. Not that that will stop them…
Roger Moore
@Cacti:
50, hell. Anything before today is a youthful indiscretion that it’s totally unfair to bring up. But we absolutely need to see Obama’s grade school transcripts to see if there’s anything fishy there.
quannlace
Howza a little Sensata throwback for Mitt ‘I’ll be tough with China’ Romney?
quannlace
I’ll probably be dipping in and out of the debate; don’t know if I could take 90 mins. of smirking Mitt. You’ll be able to tell if Obama did well, if you tune in at 9:30 to see if Chris Mathews isn’t weeping.
cokane
now this is actual racism
raven
I would hope that Obama has a coherent response to the Libya situation by now.
shortstop
I’m not seeing the evidence in ABL’s post, or anywhere else, that the guy got a stern talking-to, or any talking-to at all.
MikeJ
@quannlace:
It doesn’t matter what actually happens in the debate. Republicans will tell you that Obama did awful, and so will Democrats. Republicans will tell you that Romney did great and so will Democrats. Then there will be a week’s worth of whinging about how we’re all dooooooomed.
Forum Transmitted Disease
Didn’t watch the last debate, not watching this one. I already know who I’m voting for and I WILL BE FUCKED if I’ll subject myself to an hour and a half of Lying Asshole Mitt Romney, Used Car Salesman and Presidential Candidate.
askew
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I was at school in Madison during most of his time as Governor. I’ve always thought his “moderate” image was a bunch of bunk. But, that could have been because I was surrounded by liberals on the Madison campus.
He is starting to sound like my grandmother when she lost her filter that stopped her from blurting out everything she thought.
flukebucket
@MikeJ: That’s the truth. The way I knew that Ryan got his ass kicked was when I saw the wingnuts on Facebook calling it a tie. Anytime they figure a tie then you know it was an epic beat down.
geg6
OT, but somewhat related…
I was in my office this morning and one of our campus cops stopped in to chat. What he wanted to chat about was how close the presidential race was. I was noncommittal and said that, yes, the race is very close and we’d all just have to wait and see on Nov. 6. He went on to say that did I hear what was happening? When I asked what that might be, he said that there are van loads of “blacks” posing as “pollers” going into white neighborhoods and asking who they were voting for. He intimated that all the white people were then intimidated into saying they are voting for Obama and “can you imagine if one of them said they were voting for Romney?” as if the people being asked would be killed if they said anything other than Obama. And then went on to tell me that Obamacare was going to cost him 3% of any profits he would get if he sold one of his many rental properties. I told him that I had never heard of any such things and that I was pretty sure that the ACA didn’t tax property or capital gains. He said he “looked it up and it was true.”
Now, I was pretty taken aback and, because it was at work and I was not prepared for this at all from this person, I really didn’t push back as I should, but I was pretty damn offended by the whole thing. Not to mention that we have many students of color here and, if this is how he thinks, I’m a little fearful about how he reacts if one those kids gets into a tiff with him or does something that, though basically harmless (we have an almost non-existent crime rate on our campus), might lead to an overreaction. I went and talked to my supervisor and I basically have three choices:
1) Talk to the cop myself and tell him that I was offended. I really don’t see this as something that will do anything other than keep him from talking to me ever again. Which I would be fine with, though it wouldn’t really assuage my fears for students.
2) Talk to the campus police chief and file a formal complaint. Which would really cause a ruckus and might be more trouble than it’s worth.
3) Request that my supervisor talk to the campus police chief and which would probably end with me having to file a complaint, which doesn’t really make it any different than #2.
I’m of the mind to take a fourth option: call the campus police chief, tell him I want our discussion off the record, and tell him what was said and my fears about this cop interacting with students. I really don’t want the guy fired (he’s 2 years from retirement), but I want to make sure his supervisor keeps an eye on him.
Any better ideas out there from the BJ hive mind?
geg6
OT, but somewhat related…
I was in my office this morning and one of our campus cops stopped in to chat. What he wanted to chat about was how close the presidential race was. I was noncommittal and said that, yes, the race is very close and we’d all just have to wait and see on Nov. 6. He went on to say that did I hear what was happening? When I asked what that might be, he said that there are van loads of “blacks” posing as “pollers” going into white neighborhoods and asking who they were voting for. He intimated that all the white people were then intimidated into saying they are voting for Obama and “can you imagine if one of them said they were voting for Romney?” as if the people being asked would be killed if they said anything other than Obama. And then went on to tell me that Obamacare was going to cost him 3% of any profits he would get if he sold one of his many rental properties. I told him that I had never heard of any such things and that I was pretty sure that the ACA didn’t tax property or capital gains. He said he “looked it up and it was true.”
Now, I was pretty taken aback and, because it was at work and I was not prepared for this at all from this person, I really didn’t push back as I should, but I was pretty damn offended by the whole thing. Not to mention that we have many students of color here and, if this is how he thinks, I’m a little fearful about how he reacts if one those kids gets into a tiff with him or does something that, though basically harmless (we have an almost non-existent crime rate on our campus), might lead to an overreaction. I went and talked to my supervisor and I basically have three choices:
1) Talk to the cop myself and tell him that I was offended. I really don’t see this as something that will do anything other than keep him from talking to me ever again. Which I would be fine with, though it wouldn’t really assuage my fears for students.
2) Talk to the campus police chief and file a formal complaint. Which would really cause a ruckus and might be more trouble than it’s worth.
3) Request that my supervisor talk to the campus police chief and which would probably end with me having to file a complaint, which doesn’t really make it any different than #2.
I’m of the mind to take a fourth option: call the campus police chief, tell him I want our discussion off the record, and tell him what was said and my fears about this cop interacting with students. I really don’t want the guy fired (he’s 2 years from retirement), but I want to make sure his supervisor keeps an eye on him.
Any better ideas out there from the BJ hive mind?
geg6
Sorry for the double post. I swear I didn’t hit submit twice.
FYWP.
Joel
#4 sounds sensible, geg. Sorry to hear about that.
Balconesfault
Might not be a birther comment.
He might just want to send ALL black people “back to Africa”.
Sly
Totally-not-racist RNC Chair Reince Priebus was also there, also spoke to the audience, and did nothing as everyone hooted and hollered at the prospect of sending the black guy back to Africa.
raven
@Sly: What would that little weasel faced punk do?
gbear
@geg6: Option #4 sounds to me like it would end up moving back to option #2. I’m not sure that kind of conversation can just be off the record. I’m afraid that I’d have to recommend #1. Tell him to his face that he’s completely full of shit. Wear tazer-proof clothing.
Ash Can
@shortstop: From Politico:
Uh, Tommy, the kid’s thirty-fucking-eight years old. It’s TOO LATE for that shit.
And God forbid the racist schmuck apologize for himself.
raven
@gbear: To what end?
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@geg6:
Not sure if it will help you make your decision, but Snopes debunked the tax thing if you wanted to print it out and give it to him.
geg6
@gbear:
Well, I’m not so sure that it can’t be off the record. But I really am concerned about students here. He can be a racist Teabagger all he wants, for all I care. But I don’t want students getting jacked by this guy because he’s a bigoted dirtbag.
Quaker in a Basement
Thompson COULD have talked about sending Obama back to Chicago or Illinois or Hawaii. But nooooOOOOOOoooo…
geg6
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Oh, I offered to go ahead and print off the whole ACA. He was horrified that I would print something that runs “10,000 pages.”
I could just scream.
Marshall
@MikeJ:
Yes, she plans to step down after the election and has for some time.
the Conster
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Although my first instinct is for her to tell him that she’s sick to death of old white men and their endless bullshit and that they all can’t die fast enough, this is actually a great idea – it gives her an opportunity to explain to this guy that there are forces who are manipulating him to vote against his own interest, the tax nonsense is a perfect example, and the buses full of “those people” is another. His willingness to believe it all may be a conversation for another day, or maybe she can lead him right up to the doorstep of that thought.
ericblair
@Chris:
I think they’re trying to make it into Obama’s 9/11 (except they managed to turn that particular epic intelligence fuckup to their own advantage). The whole thing is so forced and stupid: the Obama administration waited until they had some information before announcing what happened? A determined enemy force overran a diplomatic outpost? Is this seriously getting any traction outside the usual propaganda vectors, because this is even stupider then Faster and Furiouser.
trollhattan
@geg6:
Do they carry pepper spray and if so, is it a little four-ounce one or the UC Davis Supergulp size?
I’d try #4 with a half-twist–reach out in a hypothetical fashion WRT who the individual is, and ask if your concerns are warranted and if so, what information would they need.
Did you have a conversational relationship with this guy, beforehand? That’s a lot of unpacking to lay on a relative stranger and it’s unlikely to be the first time.
PreservedKillick
The whole “the ACA will raise my taxes/kill jobs/kill my dog” argument is just so demonstrably false. Just look at Massachusetts. Low unemployment. High income. Costs are high but we’re only just starting to work on it. We love our ACA.
I seriously do not understand why that argument has not been made repeatedly. It’s not as if the ACA isn’t well understood, tried, tested and reasonably functional. Is it perfect? Hello no, but it’s a damn good start.
trollhattan
@ericblair:
Screechy people making wild presumptions and accusations to see whether any of it sticks to the wall. Issa was testing the waters on Maher, Friday.
They thing they’ve got something.
Am also expecting Willard to slip in the “puniest navy since WWI” talking point, as did his young padwan last week. Am really, really hoping he does and that Obama’s response is “How many dreadnaughts do you think we should build, and shall they be coal- or wood-fired?”
MikeJ
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I love snopes, and it’s a great resource for people who actually read what they say. I do think they are to quick to give a red/green “partly true” to too many things, even when the only thing true is, “yes, there’s a law called the Affordable Care Act”. Look at their medical politics page. Damn near every story has the red/green.
geg6
@trollhattan:
They carry all the same weaponry as municipal cops, so I’ll assume that in addition to the gun, pepper spray and a taser are within easy reach on his belt.
I’ve known this guy for 15 years now. I’ve always known he was an asshole and that he’s involved in the local politics of his town (I don’t live in the same town, thank FSM). He will chat with me now and again, especially since he quit smoking (and I have not and don’t really want to) and now wants to badger me into doing the same. The only politics he’s ever discussed with me is that in his local town, in which my sister also lives. I pay no attention to the politics there, so it never registered with me that he might be a bigot. I just thought he was a blowhard asshole.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@geg6: He’s a cop. I have yet to meet one that wasn’t a full-throttle racist, or one, for that matter, that wasn’t a full-on right winger save for union rights. You aren’t going to be telling his supervisor anything he doesn’t know; hell, his supe is probably forwarding him half the crazy he’s been reading.
I think doing anything is not only a waste of time but is going to put you on the campus cops shit list, a place you don’t wanna be.
Good luck any way you slice it.
ericblair
@trollhattan:
I guess; I’m assuming that it’s because Obama doesn’t give them much to work with. Of course, Whitewater was completely stupid too. They might have blown their feet off with Benghazi after the Marx-Brothers level fuckups with classified material handling at the “hearings.”
I agree, but fuck, they think everybody took a look at the last ten years of Iraq and Afghanistan and went “shit, our lack of Navy power projection is really kicking our asses?” This sounds like a total donor-based attack, because bitching about any of the other military Services would have been more believable than that.
Pococurante
@Cacti:
I corrected a few mispellings.
Mike G
I can’t remember the last time I saw a more smug, arrogant douchebag than Tommy’s Boy. He looks like Ralph Reed.
He brings to mind the German word backpfeifengesicht – a face that cries out for a fist in it.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Snopes was a real problem for the wingnuts until they finally figured out the solution.
It’s liberal, it’s funded by George Soros, the husband and wife who run it are stealth Dem operatives.
Not a word of that is true, but it solved the problem. Snopes no longer works on wingers. They don’t even listen to any words following “but Snopes…” It’s scarily impressive.
rlrr
@trollhattan:
Am also expecting Willard to slip in the “puniest navy since WWI” talking point,
1. Coming from Romney, I doubt the claim
2. The US Navy during WWI didn’t have the capability to project power or destroy the world like the modern Navy even if the current Navy has fewer ships.
The reminds me of the wingnut fear mongering during the Clinton years about how China had a bigger navy than the USA. While technically true, the Chines navy at the time was mostly river patrol and coastal defense vessels with little blue water capability.
JGabriel
__
__
geg6:
I suspect the “submit” button (god, how I wish more people had one of those) is prone to over-reacting to a mouse blip — i.e., you hit the mouse once, but it sends two rapid clicks instead. There may be a setting somewhere in WP where the admin can set a minimum time between clicks, but if not, then there’s nothing to be done about it.
.
kay
Tommy Thompson comes off as a lumbering dinosaur, bellowing and crashing around disoriented because the world changed.
Then there’s the extremely unappealing sight of his son, as a 38 year old dinosaur. Which is just embarrassing to watch.
“Kenya! HA HA HA”
Nothing like conservative humor, I’ll tell you. They manage to both offensive AND boring. You’d do anything to get out of that room. Anything.
rlrr
Maybe we can send Romney back to Mexico…
geg6
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
Well, I would have to disagree with you. I know plenty of cops who have exhibited no racism whatsoever and no assholishness either. The campus chief is one of those, a guy I’ve known for many years, both at work and personally. The other campus police officers are also good guys, two of whom are canvassing for OFA with me. My state cop friends would be surprised to know that they are racists since they are both African American. And my Asian American friend who is a member of another local police force would also be a bit taken aback to know that all cops are racists.
As for the idea that the campus cops putting me on their shit list, I’m really not worried about it. I’m the student aid officer here, not a student. It’s not like I do anything while on campus that they could plausibly charge me with any crimes. I don’t live on campus. No one but students, the residence life staffers and the ducks in our duck pond do.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@rlrr: Yeah, I’m trying to figure out which Navy, or combination of Navies, would currently “threaten” the US’s ocean dominance. I think most countries are happy they are not having to pay for open shipping lanes.
MikeJ
@rlrr: The only navy in the world that comes close to the size of the US Navy is the People’s Liberation Army Navy. That’s only in raw numbers though. They have one joke of an aircraft carrier compared to our eleven best in the world.
Violet
@geg6: If you go with option 4, it can and may get back to the cop that you are the one that got him in trouble. Make sure you are okay with that before proceeding. I know if you do the other options, that’s guaranteed, but it’s also likely with 4. So just know it’s worth it for you before going ahead.
Brachiator
@geg6:
And then went on to tell me that Obamacare was going to cost him 3% of any profits he would get if he sold one of his many rental properties.
From the National Association of Realtors site:
Q-1: Is there a 3.8% real estate “sales tax” or a transfer tax created in health care bill?
A: No. There is neither a real estate “sales tax” nor a real estate transfer tax under any federal law. The Internet has generated several viral items describing such a tax. Those Internet postings are totally false. The 2010 health care legislation did create a new 3.8% tax, but it applies only to a limited group of taxpayers.
Q-3: Who is a “High Income” Taxpayer?
A: Those whose tax filing status is “single” will be subject to the new unearned income taxes if they have Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of more than $200,000. Married couples filing a joint return with AGI of more than $250,000 will also be subject to the new tax. (The AGI threshold for married filing separate returns is $125,000.)
Q-5: What is “unearned” net investment income?
A. Unearned income is the income that an individual derives from investing his/her capital. It includes capital gains, rents, dividends and interest income. It also comes from some investments in active businesses if the investor is not an active participant in the business. The portion of unearned income that is subject both to income tax and the new Medicare tax is the amount of income derived from these sources, reduced by any expenses associated with earning that income. (Hence the term “net” investment income.)
Q-6: So the new tax will apply to rents from investment properties that I own?
A: Maybe. Remember that net investment income includes only net rental income. Thus, gross rents would not be subject to the tax. Rather, gross rents would be reduced (as they are under the income tax) by all allowable expenses, including depreciation, cost of repairs, property taxes and interest expense associated with debt service. AGI includes net income from rent, so if your AGI is above the $200,000/$250,000 thresholds, then the rental income might be subject to the tax.
For many investment real estate owners, the net rents will be the same as or similar to the amounts reported on their Schedule E, filed with their Form 1040 Income Tax Return. (For calculations, see Q-7, below. See also Q-8 through Q-12 related to capital gain from sale of principal residence, losses on sale and to vacation homes, below.)
Q-7: Does the tax apply to the yearly appreciation of an asset?
No. Capital gains are subject to this new tax only in the year when the asset is sold. The amount of the gain will be measured in the same way that it is for income tax purposes. This rule applies to real estate and all other appreciating capital assets. Net capital gains are taxable only in the year of sale.
trollhattan
@rlrr:
IIUC it’s based on a literal count of operating ships (mothball fleet excepted), compared to some arbitrary historical point. Here’s what Willard blathered at VMI.
Fifteen a year?! Willard’s ass is quite the number factory. Speaking of factories, am guessing he’ll have them built them in China for the great cheap labor, to give the American taxpayer [suckers!] the best rate.
Here’s what a grown-up says:
The “blogosphere” quip I suspect is a tell as to where Willard dug up this non-issue issue.
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=69964
Tone In DC
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
I already know who I’m voting for and I WILL BE FUCKED if I’ll subject myself to an hour and a half of Lying Asshole Mitt Romney, Used Car Salesman and Presidential Candidate.
LULz. I heard that.
rlrr
@MikeJ:
The Chinese are only now developing experience with carrier operations, something the USA started doing 90 years ago…
Patricia Kayden
@Violet: Here here. That’s exactly how I feel. While I am registered as an Independent, I can’t see a day when I’ll ever consider voting Repub. At this point even their racism is stale and recycled.
artem1s
@geg6:
weird, the guy is 2 years from getting his pension? From a public university? how does that square with supporting Republicans? i will never understand people who willingly vote against their own best interests.
Patricia Kayden
@Original Lee: Did they address the fact that they (as in Republicans) refused to increase funding for security at bases?
rlrr
@trollhattan:
Maybe Mitt will bring back battleships…
Eric U.
GWBush’s main military objective upon taking office was to implement Reagan’s Star Wars fantasy. 9/11 showed us how important that was.
@artem1s: if he has the state pension, which I’m guessing he does, it’s doubly insane.
gene108
@ericblair:
Benghazi isn’t Obama’s Watergate. Benghazi’s worse that Watergate. With respect to Watergate no one died, the same can’t be said for Benghazi.
/parrot talking points.
trollhattan
@geg6:
Could impact “Kegger Thursdays” at your office. Trying to retain the big picture here….
Higgs Boson's Mate
@trollhattan:
Romney is once again demonstrating just how ignorant he is. In 1916 range finding was still strictly visual and over-the-horizon weapons didn’t exist. The first purpose-built aircraft carrier was the HMS Argus, built in 1918. To compare today’s faster, longer ranged and more heavily armed fleet to that of 1916 is sophistry and bullshit.
Patricia Kayden
@quannlace: Me too. I’m chickening out. I’ll read BJ, LGF, JMG and The Obama Diary and check out MSNBC post-debate to see how President Obama did. I’m voting for him no matter what so I don’t need the stress of worrying about his performance.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@kay: Drugs don’t help. Not that I would know from personal experience or anything.
Humanities Grad
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
There’s been some discussion along these lines recently at Lawyers, Guns & Money. Long story short: there’s no navy in the world that comes within a country mile of the USN’s power.
Britain, at the height of its naval dominance, tried to maintain what British Admirals called a “two-power standard.” In other words, Britain’s Navy should be as powerful as the #2 and #3 navies in the world, combined.
The U.S. today has about a 13-power standard. So the U.S. Navy is roughly equivalent in power to the #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, AND #14 navies, combined.
And even that figure is highly misleading, because most of the navies that fall within that 2-14 category are allies of the U.S., and countries we’re never going to fight. The actual balance of friendly vs. hostile or potentially hostile navies in the world is thus even more lopsided in our favor.
Patricia Kayden
@geg6: #2. File a complaint. What he did was wrong. Whatever happened to leave your political and religious discussions out of the workplace?
rlrr
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
One modern US submarine can theoretically bomb one moderately sized country back into the stone age…
rlrr
@Humanities Grad:
It’s all about funneling money to defense contractors, actual defense isn’t even a consideration.
trollhattan
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Exactly why I’m hoping he brings it up–Obama can tee him up send him over the left field fence, should he try it.
Am reminded of the Whitman-Brown debate where Megs wrapped up her wandering answer on the death penalty (“we should execute more so we don’t have to burden taxpayers with building a new death row”) by noting her law enforcement endorsements were proof of her “record of being tough on crime.” Today’s Republicans need tough-guy cred, and I don’t think hostile takovers carry the same weight as, say, leading a few amphibious invasions. And I swear, if he claims being head of the Mass National Guard equals military experience, I’m going to be shopping for a new teebee.
rlrr
@trollhattan:
I thought being a missionary among the hostile French was the equivalent of military service…
FlipYrWhig
@artem1s: It’s not that hard to understand. Everyone who works hard and plays by the rules deserves the best the government has to offer. Not like Those People, who are lazy and demand handouts for doing nothing. Plus, you can add to that choice anecdotes about coworkers and peers who are also lazy. And if this guy ever has a problem with his benefits, he’ll blame The Government, because there never woulda been a problem that affected him if The Government hadn’t been dishing out goodies left and right all these years.
The good stuff you get, you deserve. The bad stuff that befalls you is The Government’s fault because of Those People. That’s the Republican catechism.
rlrr
@trollhattan:
And I swear, if he claims being head of the Mass National Guard equals military experience,
Let’s hope such a claim works as well for Romney as it did for Palin.
rlrr
@trollhattan:
And I swear, if he claims being head of the Mass National Guard equals military experience,
Using that standard, Obama’s military service obviously trumps Romney’s.
trollhattan
@rlrr:
Zut alors, les danger! Have you been following Doonsbury’s tales of Willard missionizing France? Hilarious enough that today’s local dead tree paper has an indignant letter complaining about this shameful mocking of the Mormon church.
Must be leaving a mark; I don’t think anybody has complained about Doonsbury in a decade.
Kyle
@rlrr:
I can see Canada from (one of) my (many) house(s)!
Mnemosyne
@the Conster:
The downside, of course, is that in the wingnut world Snopes is full of liberal bias, so even printing that page for him would only prove that he’s totally right.
rlrr
@trollhattan:
I think we should start a campaign to inform wingnuts that Romney speaks fluent French…
FlipYrWhig
Re: Benghazi, I think Obama could easily say something like this: “terrorist attacks on Americans are tragic, and we mourn every loss of American life. We mourn as one nation regardless of who the president is, whether it’s George Bush on 9/11, Bill Clinton with the U.S.S. Cole, Ronald Reagan with the Marines in Lebanon or Jimmy Carter with the rescue helicopters in Iran. We are getting to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi and we will bring those responsible to justice.”
Because, for fuck’s sake, terrorism is bound to happen, and Mitt Romney isn’t going to be the one who stops it for good, and Republicans don’t get to strut around and finger-point on this if Democrats are expected to grit their teeth and refuse to hold responsible Bush, Rice, Reagan, et al.
Redshift
Ms. Redshift and I are going to a union (SIEU) debate-watching party. I’m hoping it will be fun and raucous, but I’ll also scout around for a place out of earshot of the TV in case I’m unable to stop calling out “Lie! Lie! Lie!” and other people have a problem with that.
Seriously, I only listened to a little of the first debate in the car, and when they hit healthcare reform and Romney managed to pack four thoroughly-debunked lies into the first sentence of his answer, I nearly had an aneurism.
Patricia Kayden
@gene108: How many thousands died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 under the Bush Administration? How many Americans and Iraqis were killed/maimed in the unnecessary Iraq war?
Republicans have nothing to say about innocent people being killed as far as I can see.
rlrr
@Patricia Kayden:
IOKIYAR
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
Doonesbury is still in print? Damn.
kay
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
I was at a fundraiser for a battered women’s shelter in 2010. They had a band there. All AA men.
One of the idiots in the statehouse was there. His claim to fame is he was a winning HS football coach, but really, he’s dumb as a rock. So he makes a Muslim joke about Obama and then TURNS AROUND to stick his hand out to the bandleader, ya know ha ha, we’re all friends. But the bandleader won’t shake his hand. They just stand there, looking at each other.
You’re sitting there thinking “who raises Republicans? Why don’t they have ordinary social skills?”
Higgs Boson's Mate
@trollhattan:
Well, Mitt did heroically invade France during the Vietnam war. I’m surprised that the dumbass hasn’t pointed out how few muskets the Army has now as compared with 1776.
rlrr
@Brachiator:
Doonesbury is still in print? Damn.
Anymore, it’s easier to read comics online (plus you’re not dependent on you local paper’s comic selection).
PurpleGirl
We can never know what is in another’s heart. We do know what actions people take or do (ex., what they say or signs they write). If it sounds racist, it is racist. Period.
rlrr
@rlrr:
How big was the Union Army during the Civil War compared with today?
Maude
@geg6:
If it were me, I’d do nothing. He could be blowing off steam.
If he does get into a rough mode with a student, he will be on the carper.
Your problem in filing a complaint is your word against his.
I would not confront him in any way.
He may be upset about all the change that has and is still happening.
IowaOldLady
I voted over two weeks ago, as did Mr. IowaOldLady. We’re both pretending the election is over. We are NOT subjecting ourselves to Romney’s BS.
Amir Khalid
@trollhattan:
Let’s see. 15 ships a year means Mitt wants to add some 60 ships to the US Navy fleet over his first presidential term. I wonder, does he have a defense position paper outlining what all those ships are needed for? Shouldn’t America’s allies take on some of the burden, given that global security is a responsibility of the international community as a whole?
Shipbuilding projects take years; if he got the budget allocations for those ships, how many of them would be completed before January 20, 2017? And what if an incoming president felt differently about the need for more Navy ships? Wouldn’t there be financial penalties for cancellation?
Chris
@FlipYrWhig:
What they’ll hit him on is that
1) there was plenty of actionable intelligence that the attack on the embassy was coming and 2) why did he insist for so long that it was related to the racist video when it was clearly a planned terrorist attack with nothing to do with it?
/wingnuts
Mnemosyne
@Maude:
Hmm. Maybe geg6 could discuss her concerns with her immediate supervisor, document that conversation, and keep the documentation in-house. That way, it won’t damage the guy if he was just blowing off steam but there’s also some documented proof of his history if something does happen.
Mnemosyne
@Chris:
Not that this has anything to do with what you said, but I’m still curious to see if the investigation will find any collusion between the jackass who made the video and the guys who planned the terrorist attack. It was awfully coincidental that the whole thing just happened to get whipped up by Egyptian clerics a few days before.
elmo
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
I keep seeing these bumper stickers that say, “I don’t trust the LIBERAL MEDIA.” And I have to say, “Eh what? I don’t think you’ve thought that through. Do you disbelieve every news item you hear, including news of who your Presidential candidate is, what new laws are passed, what crime occurs in your community?”
And it got me thinking about the ultimate expression of distrust in “the LIBERAL MEDIA.” What if they really don’t accept an Obama victory? As in, “the LIBERAL MEDIA” is lying about who won?
FlipYrWhig
@Chris: Eh, maybe, but I think it’s easier (and fair) to say, in essence, that sometimes terrorism happens despite our best efforts to prevent it, and that’s been true for decades no matter who the president was. Incidentally, I truly hate the “George Bush kept us safe” meme that Republicans _still_ run up the flagpole pretty regularly. Yeah, sure, he did a kickass job, apart from that one time.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
@gravie: For sure… do they teach young repubs how to smirk like that in grade school, or is just one of their super powers? Walker in Wisconsin has a perma-smirk on his ugly mug.
Ruckus
@Forum Transmitted Disease: Lying Asshole Mitt Romney, Lying Shitty Used Car Salesman and Presidential Candidate.
FXIT
Bill Arnold
@Forum Transmitted Disease:
Do like you’d do at a car dealer then. When he starts pushing you to sign that 4 year contract without reading it at about the 10 minute mark, walk. That was my reaction the last debate, though I forced myself to watch the whole thing.
Most of the people who thought Obama lost are the sort of people who sign multi-page contracts without reading them because the salesman has good hair. IMO.
dww44
@MikeJ: I too have noted the obvious equivalency of Snopes. I’ve attributed it to their own battles with the rightwing internet forwarders who posited a couple of years ago that the Snopes husband and wife team were, in reality, closeted Democrats. This email circulated among the right for some time and I’ve had several conservative friends and relatives who’ve referred to the site as a hoax or something similar. Happened just recently in an email exchange. David Emery at the urban legends pages came to their defense and he doesn’t employ any equivalency. Outright calls the rumor false.
In truth, though, the rightwing rumor-conspiracy-internet-juggernaut just about destroyed Snopes’ credibility and integrity, and, thus the very livelihood of the site owners. One more reason I absolutely despise the rightwing.
While I will still use Snopes as a resource, when it comes to political stuff I almost always go to Mr. Emery at About.com. Particularly when refuting a conservative forwarded email.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/a/snopes_exposed.htm