COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, March 01, 2010

More from our Rulers and Masters



Nancy Pelosi: Standing by her crooked men


Pelosi promised things would be different.

She lied of course and now is standing by House Ways & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, who lied on his disclosure reports, tried to hide assets and income from the IRS.

Pelosily claims “the jury is still out” on Rangel and his many ethical problems. Remember this guy?




39 comments:

  1. This is why I don't like politicians. Any of them...it's just that democrats can't lie as well as republicans.

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  2. Could we have Danica back?

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  3. Wake up and smell the coffee, Rufus. She really is not, "All that".

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  4. There's nothing like Wawa coffee in the south. House cleaning is gonna be jealous.

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  5. Melody, when Rufus starts writing long odes to Danica and insulting everyone that doesn't think she shits cakes of golden light, then we'll have another "problem" but now we're doing fine.

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  6. Sweetheart, If you think Lee Marvin is just the "most," that's fine with me. If T likes hot Philippino girls, that, also, is hunkey dorey.

    I like hot blond ski-chicks, and rampaging brunettes driving fast cars. You stay outta my business, and I'll stay outta yours.

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  7. Why were you frowning in Sixth Grade?

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  8. Melody said...
    This is why I don't like politicians. Any of them...it's just that democrats can't lie as well as republicans.
    ---
    MLD is Glenn Beck
    Marco Rubio is Menendez.
    My Ass.

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  9. Reagan is GW
    Giuliani is Villagarosa

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  10. John Roberts is Ruth Bader Ginsburg...
    I could go on.

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  11. No third term for Uribe.




    And that's a Good Thing.










    Santos!

    Santos!

    Santos!

    Santos!

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  12. Price controls work great, right Rufie?
    We don't need no stinking markets!

    Back to the ObamaCare Future

    The Massachusetts 'model' moves to price controls.

    Natural experiments are rare in politics, but few are as instructive as the prototype for ObamaCare that Massachusetts set in motion in 2006. The bills for "universal coverage" are now coming due, and it appears the state political class is prepared to do lasting damage to one of America's top-flight health-care systems.

    Last month, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick landed a neutron bomb, proposing hard price controls across almost all Massachusetts health care. State regulators already have the power to cap insurance premiums, which Mr. Patrick is activating. He also filed a bill that would give state regulators the power to ...

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  13. Why is that a good thing, Trish?

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  14. Because Colombia does not really require Just One Man in order to hang on to its admirable advancements. Uribe has been invaluable, but the country has achieved just that measure of success that in the best respects allows it to move on politically.

    It's time.

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  15. About a half a million people went from "no health care/unable to buy health care" to "Insured" in Massachusetts, Doug. That's 500,000. That's 500 One Thousand Times. That's 5,000 One Hundred Times.

    Everyone (well, 98%) in Mass has healthcare, Mass Health Care is just about the best in the world, and Mass Health Care is Not the most expensive by any means.

    Doesn't sound too bad to me.

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  16. Or as Juanes says it:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-XvXyrp4uU

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  17. The Socialists hate Uribe, and the Dems were never going to ratify the FTA as long as Uribe was in power.

    He was a "Symbol." Just like Obama made them move the F22 out of the camera shot when he gave the speech in Alaska. It's an "Anti-Bush" thing.

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  18. And my son flies back down today.

    : )

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  19. Come on Trish. Learn how to make clickable links. If you can learn all those languages you can learn how to make a link.

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  20. I'm sorry it bothers you, rufus.



    Truly I am.

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  21. "It's an 'Anti-Bush' thing."

    What is?

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  22. Well, shit, Trish, I assume you put links up because you want someone to go to them. Why make it hard?

    Uribe is "connected," in the Dem psychosis, with Bush. It's a symbolic thing. Like the F22, and Missile Defense are considered "Bushisms."

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  23. I'm not blowing smoke here, but if we had more people in the diplomatic corps with the enthusiasm for Latin America that Trish seems to have generated for her post/host country, Colombia, we would be doing much better in the Americas.

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  24. Norwegian Skier Blames Olympic Loss on Watching Too Much Porn

    I was porned

    I could see maybe if he was tired from getting too much action, but blaming a loss on watching too much porn? Why not just say you were beaten by the better man?

    Running away with the gold medal for risque behaviour Norwegian cross-country skier Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset tops the list of gaffes for blaming a bad ski run that cost him the gold medal on watching too much porn.

    'My name is Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset,' he said. 'I skied the second lap and I f***** up today. I think I have seen too much porn in the last 14 days.

    'I have the room next to Petter Northug and every day there is noise in there. So I think that is the reason I f***** up. By the way Tiger Woods is a really good man.'

    Hjelmeset's next-door neighbour was not the only one who made the most of his downtime in the Olympic Village.

    Health officials well-versed in the needs of the world's elite athletes had already provided 100,000 free condoms to 7,000 athletes and officials, which works out about 14 condoms per person.

    But apparently this just wasn't enough.

    With just a couple of days to go officials were forced to ship in an emergency supply of condoms...

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  25. I'm sure it will become even better with price controls, Ruf, as Doctors move to where they can make a decent living.
    ...unless we get Obamacare, then we'll ALL be fucked.

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  26. Hey, we got Hillary, Deuce!
    WTF do you want?

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  27. "Uribe is 'connected,' in the Dem psychosis, with Bush."

    True, but there have been other factors at work as well.

    This may or may not help the FTA. (Because the exceptionally talented Santos is, after all, the recent Defense Minister.) I've rather given up calculating its odds.

    For Colombia as whole, though, I do genuinely believe that this is the best thing and an indicator (Chavez call your office) of its well-being after so, so long a haul.

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  28. "Just like Obama made them move the F22 out of the camera shot when he gave the speech in Alaska. "
    ---
    Link provided by al-Dougo, as I recall.
    ...I'll repost it if you want.

    But you won't wrt "manufacturing"

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  29. Doug, Doctors are, for all practical purposes, price controlled, now. Medicare, Medicaid, Insurance Companies . . .

    On the other hand, the doctors will get paid for ALL the work they do.

    Look, price controls are a bad idea; but I doubt that this is one of those things that is going to bring down the Republic.

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  30. "I'm not blowing smoke here, but if we had more people in the diplomatic corps with the enthusiasm for Latin America that Trish seems to have..."

    We have no end of people in the diplomatic corps with enthusiasm for Latin America. And a helluva lot more knowledgeable and useful than myself, to boot. But enthusiasm for same back here in the States just isn't...there.

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  31. Unfortunately most of the US thinks that Latin America is one big Taco Bell.

    I am so used to people asking me what other island besides Costa Rica do I go to, that I just say many.

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  32. "On the other hand, the doctors will get paid for ALL the work they do."
    ---
    Yeah, not fee for service, but pay to play by Govt Edict.
    Great way to run a business.

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  33. Never did give an example of the govt doing a better job than private enterprise.
    ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE, ANYTIME.

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  34. It's all a matter of "perspective," Dougie. If you were one of the 500,000 people in Massachusetts that now have Medical Care you would probably feel a little differently.

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  35. doug,

    How do you propose to counter the paradoxical nature of the current health system? Did you read that bit I posted last week on how Hospitals, even not for profits, were working against the simply asthma checklist because they depend so much upon the revenue from asthma patients?

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  36. Doug, I've been hearing these "Government is horrible" arguments my entire adult life. And life just keeps getting better.

    The Food is safe, and There's plenty of it. And, it's cheap. The rivers, and lakes have been cleaned up. The air is better than it's been for a hundred years. The workplace is safer than it's ever been.

    Old people have a decent retirement, and good healthcare. The children of poor families have food, and medical care. The drugs I take are safe, AND effective. People are healthier, and live longer.

    Consumer goods are plentiful, and affordable. Our cars are more fuel efficient, and safe. Everything takes fewer working hours to purchase than ever before. More of our kids graduate college, and go to work in cleaner, safer, higher paying jobs.

    We all have color tvs in every room, laptops with wireless internet, and iphones.

    And, everything I've mentioned is affected, somehow, by an evil "big government program" which the Republicans railed against, and that the right-wingers swore would be the end of "freedom" as we knew it.

    Like the man, Kudlow, used to say, "if things are so damned bad, why are they so good?"

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