So much for that permanent Democratic majority:
Chris Dodd to step aside
Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.
In shocker, Dorgan announces retirement
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced this evening that he’s retiring at the end of his term, a shocking development that threatens Democratic control of his Senate seat next year.
Democrats are Dropping Like Flies
ABC News’ David Chalian Reports: Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, who was in for a tough reelection fight this year, canceled a scheduled fundraiser this evening and has decided not to seek reelection, according to Democratic sources familiar with the governor’s plans.
“Rats deserting a sinking ship” is a more accurate description. Don’t forget that in Pennsylvania we have the specter of the White House backing a DINO-GOP for the Senate nomination over a genuine Democrat. But fear not, here comes Mighty Mouse to save the day:
Harold Ford Jr. Weighs a Challenge to Gillibrand
Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him.
If Ford runs and loses I’m sure the media will tell us how NY Democrats are old, bitter, clingy racists.
Joan Rivers bumped off flight in Costa Rica when Continental gate agent finds passport suspicious
Rivers, 76, was deemed a danger to national security and booted from a Newark-bound flight in Costa Rica on Sunday by a jittery Continental Airlines gate agent who found the two names on her passport fishy.
Her passport reads: Joan Rosenberg AKA Joan Rivers. Rosenberg was her late husband’s last name.
She’s lucky they didn’t rendition her to Gitmo. She fits the profile of a terrorist. Meanwhile in Seattle:
Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport
Pelosi On Obama: ‘There Were A Number Of Things He Was For On The Campaign Trail’
It turns out that only the stupid Obots believed Obama’s campaign promises. The smart Obots knew he was lying but voted for him anyway.
France to introduce new law banning ‘psychological violence’ in marriages
Married couples in France could end up with criminal records for insulting each other during arguments.Under a new law, France is to become the first country in the world to ban ‘ psychological violence’ within marriage.
The law would apply to cohabiting couples and to both men and women.
It would cover men who shout at their wives and women who hurl abuse at their husbands – although it was not clear last night if nagging would be viewed as breaking the law.
The law is expected to cover every kind of insult including repeated rude remarks about a partner’s appearance, false allegations of infidelity and threats of physical violence.
Marriage just ain’t what it used to be.
Randy Johnson
Big Unit retires after 22 seasons and 303 victories
Have a nice day. Or don’t. It’s not even 5 am out here in the middle of nowhere and I’m going back to bed.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
Funny how Dorgan, Dodd et al clinged in there just long enough to foist upon us the HCR monster… Favors to pay.
Other news, via NY tabloids
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/tabloids-obama-declaring-security-failure/
Dorgan not such a bad senator from what I hear. He was against the repeal of Glass-Steagall way back when.
Maybe he couldn’t stomach the new order anymore, or just wants to run away from BO before he gets thrown under the bus or his career tainted or both.
I wish he could have voted no on HCR but no one did …
Dorgan is one of the good guys–I think he was disgusted about the failure of his amendment to allow reimportant of drugs from Canada in the health care bill. He could see that the Democrats are the corporate party now. After fight for fairness all through the Bush years, he must have been really shocked when he saw what was happening.
Mean guys and gals score:
Edwards – check
Richardson – check
Caroline Kennedy – check
Daschle – check
Craig? – check
Kerry – check (no SoS post)
Now:
Dodd – check
I remember Dodd was polling about 2% when he made the comment in a debate that Hillary was unelectable!
I am sure I have left out many.
Rahm just said he thinks his WH job is an 18 mo gig, and he’s going to run for Mayor of Chicago. I heard it on the car radio and haven’t gone internet searching to find the story.
Rat deserting the sinking ship?
That, or returning to where his style of politics is most comfortable for him.
Wow. No Rahm? Whatever will Obama do?
That was my thought, bluelyon. Who could he trust in that position.
Maybe they’ll switch. Daly will go to the WH, Rahm gets to be mayor.
he thinks White house COS is an 18 months gig?
getting tired of being a fall guy for BO?
“It turns out that only the stupid Obots believed Obama’s campaign promises.”
That’s comforting.
“Stupid Obot” is redundant and “smart Obot” is an oxymoron, with emphasis on the moron.
…and For is going to primary Gillibrand?? Rahm is losing it bid time. I can’t say I’m sorry, which is really sad.
yeah, can’t you just see all those NYers falling all over themselves to vote for the guy from TN?
Rahm need to be sent to an internment camp for those democrats who are determined to ruin the country.
“Internment is the imprisonment or confinement[1] of people, commonly in large groups, without trial.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concentration_and_internment_camps
I must protest as I found singling out Rahm (who is Jewish) offensive, even though I imagine you meant it as /snark, given the history of ‘internment camps’. 😦
How about sending him for interment?
Oh lord… I know what internment camps are. Jews are not the only people ever sent to them. I didn’t single out Rahm, he just happened to be the person we were talking about……And of course it was snark. I don’t actually have the power to detain people.
OK, thanks for the clarification and yes, the link was to all the camps that I posted. OK, we are good.
In the US we call them “reservations.”
unless you are Japanese.
Sounds like Gitmo.
“Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial.”
I’m pretty sure Teresa was suggesting he join “those democrats who are determined to ruin the country” and wasn’t singling him out.
Rahm is not the one behind this move–it’s a handful of big fundraisers (Steve Rattner & others) leading this effort. Ford just moved to NYC 3 years ago, and is further right than Gillibrand, who has been grossly mischaracterized by the downstate press, because Princess Caroline was not appointed.
Let’s see. Good looking AA guy challenging a woman? Didn’t that work before?
Ford is intelligent (although on one show, there was the voice of his producer telling him what to say, echoed on top of his own voice) and actually qualified for the job. Would this campaign turn as nasty as 2008?
Well, I bet the lines in the sand are drawn, and after losing so many rounds to Hillary supporters, the Obots have decided to take one back.
Ford opposes marriage equality.
As a Congressman, he received a 30% score from NARAL and proudly ran as “pro-life” in his 2006 Senate race.
He is against The Employee Free Choice Act (Gillibrand was a co-sponsor in House and Senate)
He was a huge Joe Lieberman supporter and even campaigned for Chris Shays in CT in 2008.
Sounds like someone Obama would support (sadly).
Plus no one will notice or care about Ford’s Wall Street ties. Righto.
France is losing it too. And to think how many times I have listened to some elitist dope tell me how everything is better in France because they aren’t prudes (usually translatable to “I think I would get lucky more often in France dammit!”).
Seriously how the hell are they going to police people’s level of rudeness? Don’t they have any real crime there?
I am guessing it’s not a matter of policing but being able to bring verbal & mental abuse more fully into domestic civil cases.
A lot of women are psychologically abused but never have a bruise to show and they (and society) thinks that it’s acceptable — “just leave if you don’t like it.”
A lot of men are psychologically abused too. Men are actually physically abused too, believe it or not.
There’s a whole bunch of dysfunctional people out there and the relationship between abusers and the abused is complex.
Yes, and the French law applies to them too.
However, the culture supports the abuse of women in a way that it does not support that of men.
Yes, but now men will be able to abuse their wives through the court system too. Where do you get evidence for emotional abuse. Some things can’t be solved by the courts. Changing societal attitudes is what is needed, not more laws about unproveable offenses.
making women fully enfranchised in society is the only solution. When women hold equal power, more will be able to say STFU or I am leaving.
I agree Teresa.
I have mixed feelings about this law because while I recognize that damage to the psyche is actually insiduous and could easily result from repeated verbal abuse, I could see this becoming a free for all.
It’s really easy to say things in the heat of anger. Doing so may not mean you’re abusive and could simply mean you’re guilty of being human.
I get what you’re saying. But the quote from the article “every kind of insult including repeated rude remarks about a partner’s appearance, false allegations of infidelity and threats of physical violence” doesn’t seem like the prosecution of an occasional “You dickhead” is going to become the norm. It sounds more like people who are deliberately and chronically undermined and threatened. In short, it sounds like the prosecution of abuse.
Did you know that plenty of men who abuse their partners also hide their birth control? It’s a way of making their partners vulnerable and dominating them. Constant remarks about their bodies, about their supposed infidelities, and threats of violence all serve the same purpose.
My natural father was an abusive man. I am well aware of how harmful emotional manipulation can be. I need only look at my mother to see the evidence of damage done.
That being said who gets to be the arbitrator of what constitutes repeated and who gets to be the arbitrator to determine what constitutes a valid criticism?
I mean if I am a spouse and I am dissatisfied with an aspect of a relationship how would I be able to go about having a conversation about that aspect without necessarily being accused of “verbal abuse”
For example, if I were a spouse and I were upset that my spouse were spending too much time on the couch and I verbalized that by calling him lazy on more than one occasion(easy to do when upset), what would stop someone for calling me verbally abusive vs. voicing a dissatisfaction with a particular aspect of a person’s behavior? Or flipside what about the woman being called a “nag” in that same relationship? I could see how this could potentially breakdown communication. Alot of the times when people get frustrated with a situation and upset they speak out of turn sometimes saying hurtful things. Sometimes it even turns out that those things can turn into a constructive discussion about real flaws and real problems that a relationship faces. Who is going to be the arbitrate which is which?
While I believe the intent of the law was pure, I’m not sure the outcome will be equally so. Conversation is integral in a relationship and any long term relationship is not only going to include sunshine and flowers type conversations.
You have to remember that it’s France.
In France a person is guilty until proved innocent.
The onus is on the person accused to prove that he/she was not abusive. Not on the person accusing to prove that they are not lying.
The difference between the occasional heated argument and an abusive relationship is pretty significant.
Abusive relationships make the victim feel guiltly for creating the behavior of the abusive partner.
yeah, I know, I am one of them. But this legislation goes over the edge. There is no way to quantify damage from a spouse who has learned bad habits from his or her parents.
I’m sorry, but how are their parents relevant?
I suspect the legislation is like getting a restraining order. It doesn’t actually do anything, but it adds legal weight any eventual fight. A woman who gets a restraining order isn’t protected by it, she just gets slightly more credibility in court once it’s violated. Similarly, people in abusive or controlling marriages where the evidence is nebulous may be able to prove psychological abuse more easily, and thus affect custody evaluations, etc. It doesn’t sound dumb to me.
good luck with that. If someone treats you like shit, get a grip and leave them or learn to stand up to them. don’t make tax payers negotiate your marriage for you.
Exactly. It’s like saying that UNH would result in everyone running to the doctor or hospital all the time. No it wouldn’t, because many, many people hate going to the doctor and even with adequate coverage resist going. Same thing with the legal system, many people are too daunted to get involved, especially abused spouses who are broken down and feel powerless, especially when they consider it a losing battle and believe it’s less exhausting just to just put up with the devil they know. It’s very likely that little or nothing is going to be done it terms of emotional abuse on its own, but it’s one piece in a larger puzzle where it can be taken into account with other circumstances, like you’re there for a beating and the emotional manipulation that follows is also considered.
Uh, I meant exactly to Sandra.
ps….. most people who are abusive have learned bad habits from their parents. They are not necessarily bad people. Taking them to court for bad behavior is giving up your adulthood, the ability to fight your own battles.
I live with a man who is verbally abusive at times. I tell him what I will listen too and what is BS abuse and why. I also walk away. He has no clue, because he learned it from Dad and no woman ever told him he was full of shit before apparently. I would much rather do that than go to court to complain like I was helpless to change things. If in time I am getting no where and the nonsense continues, I will leave. But you have to be willing to leave.
Teresa, I don’t know the first thing about your relationship, so don’t take this as a comment on your relationship. But you might want to be a little bit careful about how you characterize people in abusive relationships. Most people learned LOTS of terrible shit from their parents, that doesn’t make their doing it acceptable. And while I’m willing to buy that someone who is abusive isn’t necessarily a bad person, I think that staying in a relationship with someone who is abusive so that you can try to change them is a TERRIBLE idea. It’s a lot easier to be willing to leave the first time they show they’re abusive. After you’ve been putting up with it for years, it gets harder.
Saying “Don’t make tax payers negotiate your marriage for you” in the context of abusive relationships is pretty akin to telling women that they wouldn’t need abortions if they’d just shut up and keep their legs together. It’s stupid and it demonstrates a shallow understanding of the problem.
That’s great. Many people aren’t strong, either by temprament or because they’ve been broken down too much by the abuse. If you have 6 or 7 people in an abusive environment, it can affect them all differently. Some will be damaged but functioning, maybe some will be barely able to function at all. So the lesson is what, tough luck, it’s your own fault, you should have been born as scrappy and great and well adjusted as someone else who would have been okay in this environment?
This oughta get the birthers all excited:
Hawaii is considering making Obama’s birthday a state holiday.
LOL – I can just see the party decorations! Hats that look like halos, greek columns, trumpets, all in white and gold.
How about red and black, as in their I Won apparel.
I never saw that apparel, but I think making his birthday a holiday is much more parallel to his Messiah status with the bots.
A comment on HotAir (yeah, I know) suggested that Christmas be moved to August 4th.
Makes sense on many levels.
I’d rather not have my summers ruined. With christmas in the dead of winter, at least I stay at home any way. Putting it at a pleasant time of year would be awful! As it is, I avoid the stores and just about every where the minute the xmas buying season hype starts. Why don’t we just declare it illegal?
Instead of Christmas can we call it Religious Tolerance Day. Our country needs that moreso than another holiday celebrating Christianity(and I say that as someone who calls herself Christian). As it stands right now alot of Christians seem to enjoy revising history and fail to recognize that Thomas Jefferson prevailed with the statute of Religious Freedom, not Patrick Henry.
Acceptance. I’ve never understood the use of Tolerance for people who are or think differently.
I guess people missed the snark.
August 4th is Obma’s birthday, and the snark is about combining the birthday of the new Messiah with that of the Old Messiah.
You shoulda used snark font.
Either that or get a clown for an avatar.
No, we got it, it was funny, we just all went off on tangents. 🙂
I always thought Christmas was weirdly timed. It’s not really in the dead of winter as the beginning of winter with three or four long, dark, freezing months of nothing to follow. I know it’s timed based on Saturnalia or some pagan festival, but it seems like, hey move it back a couple months and break it up a little.
Pretty sure it’s timed to be near solstice…just like all the other major religion’s primary holidays are. Difference being Christmas was given a specific day, and Hanukka, Ramadan, etc. actually follow the lunar calendar, I believe.
Yeah, Saturnalia is a celebration of the sun god, it’s related to solstice. So the Christians piggy backed off the popular, long established festival, presumably so the new holiday would go over and people wouldn’t feel deprived by being forced to give up Saturnalia? But while that might have made sense in Rome, due to that and because the weather is milder and winters maybe shorter, not so much in the freezing climes IMO. 😉 I’m not religious at all, but I can’t thinking it would be a lift to have a lot more lights strewn around outside deep in Feb when we’re in the deep freeze.
it’s Mithras the bullgod’s birthday. It was part of Constantin’s throw every priest in lock up until they can all come up with one religion. Sunday got to be the sabbath because Constantine was the high priest of the sun god, the high priest of Mithras kept Mithras birthday as the birthday
it’s also why all the eastern orthodox sects and like coptic christians don’t have the same holidays as Roman Catholics/Protestants
Bill spoke at fundraisers for Hillary supporter Ohio Gov. Strickland:
“Bill Clinton last night said Democrats have to pay special attention to the “disaffected independents and disillusioned progressives” to keep Democrats like Gov. Ted Strickland in office.”
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100106/NEWS09/1060358
(Dodd – I have a special loathing for men in their 60s who father second litters with younger women, and flaunt the kids so everyone knows how ‘virile’ they still are. You know damn well that when they’re home, they’re asleep on the couch most of the time like the other men their age.LOL)
He quoted former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo that “you campaign in poetry and you govern in prose.”
Well that’s another way of putting it.
…the speech was “more of a call to action to reach out to the disillusioned voters – independents who are looking for someone to blame and progressives who don’t feel the Democratic agenda has gone far enough.”
Bill Clinton is the only D smart enough to recognize the true mood of the country, and not be afraid to say it.
I’d say it’s showing up in the polls too, hence the war on rasmussen
It is showing up in the polls….even Michelle’s poll numbers have plummeted! I was thinking of the politicians, because they are the ones who have the “microphones” when I singled out Bill.
Me for sure, I’m not thinking well of Ted about now add that IMO he paved the way for the Casino’s, add the (need of course to understand Ohio was third top) State Tx rollbacks and City tax increases. And while it’s water under the bridge now, the States Dem Party shift of Dem Delegates counts during the primary to the urban districts thus disenfranchising the rest of us.
casino gambling was a ballot issue last Nov & we voted it in. Strickland was opposed to it, he is a former preacher, after all. But the reality is that people are going downRiver to the boats & handing over their money to the State of Indiana & it’s boat towns. Those towns are rolling in it. So excuse me if I would prefer that money stay in Ohio, not to mention the jobs that will be generated in building the casino (construction) & when it is up & running- both at the casino as well as the supporting businsses.
I hope Dem governors hold on to their seats. It’s the senators I want kicked out.
I don’t want my Dem governor anymore. Deval Patrick = Obama clone. He is hated here. I hope we don’t end up with another Republican, but we probably will.
My sympathies.
I like our gov, Rendell, but he’s not allowed to run anymore and I fear we’ll be stuck with a GOPer. 😦
Whait, isn’t the other way around? Deval came before Obama!
Word.
At this point, I actually prefer a craptacular Republican; at least the are upfront that they are going to scr*w you over, rather than the sugar-coated kind. At least some Mass. liberals/progressives/whatever pushback against Republicans, rather than swooning under all the hopey-changey cr*p.
are we counting Bill Richardson in that?
Thought he was out because of term limits this election.
Perhaps Big Dawg chose his words carefully. People are angry. This group of democrats has revealed itself and there is nothing the current batch (that support HC bill) can do for me except get out of the way.
He may recognize that with all the groups looking at a possible third party that is could actually foster a REAL third party this time since so many of us are totally fed up with both existing parties.
So am I correct in reading this, (the BC in Ohio part) to say we might be having an impact? Not that they would admit it, apologize
and make meaningful changes I am sure.
I’ll miss Randy Johnson.
But Chris Dodd – good riddance….
Is Dodd being investigated by the FBI re: Countrywide?
I’d bet that he is stepping down in exchange for no investigation. Any guesses on how many more poor polling D’s will step down in time for a new D to run for the seat?
Problem is, “better the devil you know” starts to surface. The D’s who run in their places will be even less trustworthy…hand picked by the administration.
The D’s like Dodd are being so closely watched, they are useless to the POTUS.
Ford hasn’t a chance here in N.Y.!!!!! Gillibrand is a home girl with both upstate and down state support.
Also Bill Clinton is right. The Democrats are fucking up with the real progressives and the indys.
This is payback for Caroline Kennedy. They (Obots) want to take Gillibrand (and Richardson) out.
That’s my reading, anyhow.
Sorry, meant David Paterson.
Yah Nancy Pelosi is now seeing Obama for the fraud he is just on time for him to gut Roe v. Wade and enslave us to this monstrosity of a health insurance bailout!
I got a flyer from my GOP congresscritter on Healthcare assuring me that he opposed the HCR bill (and it talks bout the GOP health care “plan”).I accidentally threw it out so I forget the details, but the HCR is so bad it makes anything they suggest good by comparison.
Nov is going to be a very good election year for the GOP.
Ha ha ha, jokes about abuse during marriage are so funny. Yes, it is any spouse’s right to abuse the person they are married to and trying to make laws to prevent that is just hilarious. Silly French, trying to improve relationships when everyone knows that once you marry someone you can say anything you want to them.
Ha ha ha, humor is a defense mechanism, and laughter the best medicine. The mentally ill can’t process humor like the rest of us. Were you born with a stick up you ass or did you get it surgically implanted?
BTW – Nobody here was making fun of abuse.
Everything that is wrong does not necessarily need to be made illegal. Saying that it is silly to make a law about something does not mean that I approve of the behavior.
I think lots of things are wrong: hurtful words, cheating, lying, adultery, sloth, selfishness, gluttony, and gum-popping in public. That doesn’t mean the solution to those things is to make them illegal. And the fact that I think it’s ridiculous to use the State to police everything objectionable about human nature does not make me in favor of those things.
I don’t like bullying puritanical moralists, and they exist in abundance on the Left as well as the Right.
what in heavens name….?
Abuse is not funny, but trying to legislate what people say to each other in a marriage IS crazy. That is like trying to make the 10 commandments the law of the land. How do you figure out exactly who is coveting his neighbors Ass?
Anyone who opposes this corporate suckup, AKA Harold Ford Jr, will be labeled a racist. Wall Street will take a page from the 0bama playbook. Ford is reprehensible. I wonder if he will have enough campaign money to purchase bloggers, posters and Obotwanabees. I say he will win hands down. It is not hard to astroturf grass roots support. When Fordbots start taking over the blogs, we will know and understand hope and change and corruption even better. It will be an interesting election watching the Wall street swiftboaters try and smear Gillebrand. It is perfect. Take down a woman with a half black corporate hack. Where have we seen this crap before?
It is perfect for the GOP. Harold Ford is really a Republican. If he would unseat Gillebrand in the primary , the Republicans would have a candidate in each party running against each other…heads they win tails they win. If Harold F’n Ford loses, he will have weakend Gillebrand enough to possibly allow a Republican to win the seat. KKKArl Rove and/or David AxelRove must be handling this cynical attemt at destroying this democracy…AGAIN.
lambert points out that the people supporting Ford are vs Gillibrand are part of big business (financiers, Wall Street execs, HBO, Loews, & Bloomberg too).
That just makes me like Gillibrand more. She’s got good quality enemies. 🙂
http://www.correntewire.com/harold_ford_challenge_kirsten_gillibrand
Yes, she voted against the financial bailout. Ford stands with the banks. Other than that, their politics are similar. No way he beats her in the primary as a carpetbagger. Giuliani would have challenged her in the general, but he’s not running.
Sad part is that she’s going to have to fund a primary campaign and end up with less money available for the general.
Gilibrand voted against the original bailout, because as she presciently pointed out, there was a severe lack of oversight. Her politics are not similar to Ford’s–she has been incorrectly positioned as a conservative/centrist, because she came from a predominantly conservative upstate district (my district), and had to vote accordingly on certain issues to unseat the Republican. Since doing so, she became very popular around here, because she was extremely hard-working, accessible, and results-oriented (sound familiar?).
The downstate press, pissed because Caroline was not coronated, has exaggerated and distorted Gillibrand’s positions from Day One. The truth is, Gillibrand has been leading the liberal fight more than most seasoned Senate vets, on issues like Stupak, DADT, and the environment. It reminds me a lot of Hillary’s experience: certain agenda-driven power players create a caricature, and then repeat it until people recite it like it’s the truth. Gillibrand has been forced to work against this negative branding since she came out of the gate. I know a lot about her, and she is very dedicated, strong, and talented. She deserves the chance to prove herself.
I suppose this could be one of the current threats the administration is making to get all the D’s voting on HCR….vote no, and you’ll find yourself being primaried like Gillebrand. Is Ford now living in NY? Or, did they have to relocate the fight that wins….raycists! (Actually, I wonder if that ploy could work a second time.)
I doubt he can carry upstate new york.
Personally, I can’t wait to watch Ford answer questions about his position as vice-chair and senior policy advisor at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. I’m especially looking forward to his answers regarding his bonus income from the last 18 months.
well, hopefully that will go farther now than all the screaming I did in the primaries about Penny Pritzker being the Finance Chair of the lightbringer
Why isn’t she in jail? Did she ever pay off the 100’s of millions $$ owed. I think it was a fine in lieu of going to jail.
But, then, doesn’t NY have ties to financial sector? It may not think as badly of Wall Street as the rest of the country.
Obama may want to also start planning his own exit strategy for the good of the Party in 2012. Otherwise the only folks that will respond to that dog whistle are the Obot poodles, paid media pawns, and the low expectation better them then the other scary guy voter.
… But to really understand the strategy let’s watch what Axelrove pulls in Mass. for the unpopular failed Patrick Gov’s reelection race minus Ted, minus caucuses, minus the virgin use of Statewide identity politics, minus liberal swooning. That will be the the roadmap, the beta, for Obama’s next campaign, that’s if Mass reelects Patrick (doubtful) and Obama runs again.
Obama ?…do something “for the good of the party”?
hahaha
HAHAHAHAHA
Obama IS the Party.
He is the TEH ONE.
It turns out that only the stupid Obots believed Obama’s campaign promises. The smart Obots knew he was lying but voted for him anyway.
Love that. Of course they all cheered him on for lying through his teeth. The kool-aid ones called it 11-dim chess, the woman haters, i.e., the smart ones, went along. But they both were happy with someone they knew lying about most things. Of course now, as we all knew would happen, they’re starting to notice that someone who lies all the time, might be lying to you too. Duh.
…still the verdict is in as we already knew……they were ALL continuously wrong ….and should not be considered legitimate sources of opinion or information certainly not on Politics maybe on the weather or Rush Limbaugh their peer on the Right.
Before the vote on the FISA revision the Obots were positive Obama would keep his promise and vote against it but they said Hillary would break her promise and vote for it.
When the day came, he voted yes, and she voted no.
Without missing a beat the Obots said Obama made a smart political move by voting for it but that Hillary voted against it because she was trying to make him look bad.
That is an example of the reason why I don’t bother debating Obots.
defense mechanisms unconscious psychological strategies brought into play by various entities to cope with reality and to maintain self-image …………classic
What is your point? Defense mechanisms are necessary for the survival of the human organism. No one can handle reality full blast all the time. Humor is one of the more mature defense mechansims.
I think peep means that Obots will distort reality in any way possible to maintain the illusion of their savior.
Yes fif, pathological users….
OK, thanks. I thought it was a reference to the above discussion on humor. Sorry.
I saw the clip of Joan Rivers talking on Larry King, and her ticket actually said “JOSEPH ROSENBERG.” She didn’t notice, and she was ushered through 5 or so checkpoints, including immigration and customs. As she was boarding the plane, someone caught it, and they ejected her, leaving her stranded in a small remote airport in Costa Rica with $100. Her family had already flown ahead earlier. She had to drive 6.5 hours on back roads at night with a stranger to get to another airport. She was p*ssed! More evidence of stupidity in airport security systems. There is something seriously wrong when my 83 year old mother is practically strip-searched, but a guy who is on a counterterror watch list, studied Arabic in Yemen, was reported as a threat to the embassy by his father, pays cash for his ticket and has no bags, and he gets on a plane with a bomb in his undies with no problem…
I know, I can’t believe they can’t exempt US seniors from this ridiculousness. My dad’s an 86 year old WW2 veteran. He has a metal pin in his leg. He sets off their alarms. They’d rather spend their time harassing old people then looking for some one that might actually be a terrorist.
I think it may actually have something to do with the workers that would prefer to be off doing paperwork on some one they know is not a threat than actually, possibly having to deal with some real threat and dealing with the system then. I think the rookie cops down here in NOLA behave in a similar matter. If they can spend time processing a silly arrest, like some one who was handing cds out during Essence Festival on Canal Street who they charged and jailed for selling CDS without a License, then they can avoid going over to the Hollygrove area and dealing with the real criminals.
I think it’s because the screening people are terrified they may actually encounter a dangerous person, so they only hassle the people they know they can take down without much of a fight.
LOLOL. I think you’re right.
I once saw a 30-ish white mom get pulled out for extra screening at the airport — she had to hold her baby in one arm and hold the other arm out.
The heck? Like travelling with an infant isn’t stressful enough?
The screeners make something like $12 an hour. They are probably enjoying every moment of torment they can deliver on people who can actually afford to fly.
I read an article years ago where I guy claiming to be an airline ticket agent said when people were obnoxious and rude they would patient and polite then when the person went to board the plane they would re-tag the person’s checked baggage and send it somewhere else.
IOW – if the person was going to Hawaii, their luggage was touring Europe.
I watched an entire Amish family being screened – Mom, Dad and three little kids at Raleigh/Durham. They went through all of their carry on stuff and made them all go through the body scanner.
I asked one of the TSA employees “What?” She told me with a smug attitude: “Its because they are different”.
The thing is that it was a black female wearing a veil who made the comment.
that is my theory. If you can do your job on a 86 year old ww2 veteran compared to a crotch bomber and you still get paid your $12 an hour, which would you choose being a rational person? Let’s see, I can shake down 80 year old Grammie Smith or deal with Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed, 23 year old Yemeni student coming in from Pakistan with no luggage and a one way ticket.
The TSA basically rehired all the old baggage handlers. My husband and I got to see firsthand the cluster that was the TSA hiring process for security. It wasn’t pretty. Find a terrorist? They couldn’t even screen their screeners.
My husband applied for a position with them. Their operation in Staunton was such a cluster that 2 weeks after they had already screened him they contacted him to ask him to come in for a screening. Seriously, they’d have to pay me to fly on a plane.
I think that’s it exactly. Were I a suicide bomber, I’d detonate at the first sign of a security check. Who wants to be the security checker standing next to that? Nobody.
Plus, I was once called out for a search, and I went along happily (kind of flattered because I figured it finally meant I looked older than 17). When I asked why I got chosen, the very nice security agent said that it was because I looked like the one who was least likely to yell at her.
I know I’m not breaking new ground with these observations but the contortions that the Obots have to perform to support that crud are just incredible.
Is it just me, or wasn’t Biden almost universally reviled throughout the lefty blogosphere as the hackiest of the hacks, especially on Daily Kneepads, oops, I mean Kos? Harold Ford even more so. Do these idiots even go back and review what they write?
Ford doesn’t have a chance, even with the racism card, the guy is a boring, outdated, tool.
Jackson
This poor fool still thinks Obama is “progressive,” and he wonders why Olbermann can’t lead us into a progressive New Age. These folks in the Village really need to get out more.
Without a movement, progressives can’t aid Obama’s agenda
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/05/AR2010010502989.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
The Whirlwind of Obama’s Ambiguity
By David Paul Kuhn
Barack Obama has long compared himself to a Rorschach test. Liberals saw a progressive savior. Moderates saw a practical change agent. Americans saw promise of a post-partisan, post-racially divisive era. The projection was notably always considered positive.
But Rorschach tests were meant to measure a negative condition. And after nearly one year in office the Rorschach politician is, as president, facing the whirlwind of his ambiguity.
We still don’t know this president’s core. His guiding maxims are elusive. He has refused to draw principled redlines on the big fights or invest himself deeply in those fights. We have yet to see the grit in the man.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/01/06/the_whirlwind_of_obamas_ambiguity_99772.html
Why I continue to lurk on FDL, I’ll never know, but I went over there looking to see what everyone thought about the absolutely obvious number of dems not running because they now they won’t win and found this comment:
Good Lord. How is it that the GOP managed to do all their dirtywork while NEVER having a supermajority plus the WH?
I am so sick of them making excuses for these Faux Democrats. If they wanted good legislation passed, they could get it passed. They don’t WANT it – they want to appease their big donors, keep the DNC coffers full, and assure their own power.
no kidding … they should be able to pull the blue dawgs into line. They’ve certainly bullied the liberals.
My contention all along. the GOP have no ability to stop this. I am sick to death of the lies and whining. Please bring the adults in!
Some how 100 Senators wouldn’t be enough.
At least not under this administration.
there are PUMAs in the senate? Fabulous! I didn’t know we’d made it that far….lol
Puma types on cloture???? What does he mean?
The cloture rule–Rule 22–is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster. A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter. Under cloture, the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours of debate.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Clotu
Give the progrs a 101 socialist senators and they’d still not know how to get them to pass Democratic reform.
Woke up to the news this morning that John Cherry, the lieutenant governor of Michigan, is dropping his bid for governor (Jennifer Granholm is term-limiting out). I’m afraid we are going to have another gooper in Lansing, and am terrified that it will be Pete Hoekstra (rhymes with CROOK-stra), a courtier of Dick and Betsy DeVos (Betsy is Eric Prince’s sister, Dick is the GWB-like spawn of one of the Amway founders, who spent 20 million bucks trying to defeat Granholm in the last election).
Hoekstra is one of the Congress critters elected under the Contract on America, who was going to serve only two terms (maybe he thought they were 8 years each), and gained national exposure for the first time when he and his BFF, Senator Rick Santorum, held a press conference claiming to have found the WMDs in Iraq. It was, of course, total nonsense, but he actually has national “news”casters pronouncing his name correctly now. If you check his record, you will find that the only time he votes against the GOP leadership is when they engage in bipartisan cooperation with the Dems. The guy is truly scary, and if he manages to get elected, I predict that Michigan will be the first state to collapse.
So, I don’t think the GOP is going to make significant gains in 2010; I think it’s going to be a bloodbath. And I think we all know who we can thank for that.
LIAR x 8:
http://www.breitbart.tv/the-c-span-lie-did-obama-really-promise-televised-healthcare-negotiations/
What never allowed me to move even a fraction of an inch toward the Obama campaign was that I am aware that politicians promises often don’t come to pass, but, in his case, he struck me as nothing more than a liar. Show me one video where this man appeared to be honestly stating what he believed from the deepest part of his soul.
I don’t think he has any deep parts. He’s all surface.
🙂 Exactly. No soul.
when he looks in the mirror it is empty.
Oh no. Some people in ND are trying to get Ed Schultz to run for Dorgan’s senate seat.
Stop it, you’re going to make me pee myself. That’s fricken funny. Next we’ll hear Olberman is going to run.
😯
Colorado Governor Ritter (D) announced he’ll not seek re-election.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14132863
When it rains, it pours.
The Nebraska dems can’t even field a candidate for the Governors office.
The one sucker they tried to talk into running decided he didn’t want to.
That’s just downright embarassing.
there’s like 11 senate seats in play now for the Republicans and not many democrats that want to take them on … and we thought Dubya had ruined the Republican brand forever … ha!
It’s amazing how fast the damage piles up when you’re trying to suicide your party 😯
David Corn via The Daily Howler:
That story has a least 2-3 inappropriate and offensive jokes in it that can’t be printed in a family blog like ours.
I just can’t bring myself to think of Joe Sestak as a progressive. If you look at his voting record vs. Specter’s on Progressive Punch before the primary, they’re pretty much the same.
This is the proverbial rock versus a hard place.
Worst RNC cash flow in a decade could be the Democrats only shot at avoiding huge losses.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/74507-worst-rnc-cash-flow-in-a-decade
But money can be raised pretty quickly if it looks like they’ll win.
Actually, I thought Hillary did a brilliant job during the primaries of proving it is not the one with the most money who always wins. She took numerous races spending much less than that opponent of hers.
yes she did. And she won the primaries. Unforunately she’s not in the WH. Apparantly you have to have money to live there.
or maybe just sell your soul
Another D resignation:
“Dixon To Resign As Mayor of Baltimore”
http://www.wbaltv.com/politics/22147723/detail.html
Well, Dixon has been through some, er, rough times lately. But she has been a pretty good mayor and in any case there is ZERO chance of any Republicans winning in Baltimore City. The entire Maryland GOP is a sad and sorry beast, although some counties (like mine) are definitely in the “red zone.”
Steve Rattner was Obama’s car czar and had to resign abruptly. He was investigated by the SEC last year and has been implicated in the pay to play investment scam that destroyed a lot of pension funds. He is using eminent domain to force many people out of their homes for a development called Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn which he’s getting a $700 million taxpayer subsidy from Mayor Bloomberg who’s closing fire stations etc because we can’t afford them. If I didn’t already know how conservative Ford was having Rattner pushing him would be enough of a stain. Rattner is a total disease IMHO
Although New York is always called a blue state upstate is very Republican. I don’t know if that works for or against Ford. As a recovering Democrat I’m trying not to care anymore but it’s a hard habit to kick.
Oh, great. He sounds like a wonderful proponent of hope and change.
Real charming backers Ford has got. Maybe he should just run against Gillibrand as the GOP candidate.
Challenging Kirsten Gillibrand is too transparent, after all she is a 50 woman that must be stopped, because she is doing a good job.
shoot it didn’t nest? It was a reply to WTV.