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."

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The GOP Fields its “B” Team



November 19, 2011
The Party's Over
By Robert J. Mack

AMERICAN THINKER


As that famous philosopher and grammarian, Professor Henry Higgins, bellowed in the musical My Fair Lady when he heard that Eliza Doolittle was going to marry Freddy Einsford-Hill: "It's doomed before they even take the vow." That exclamation popped into my head just recently when I thought about all of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. Not only have many of these candidates been sniping at one another, but because there are so many debates, the news media (the PR arm of the White House) is able to dig up all kinds of dirt about every one of them. Along with that is the revelation involving some of them, punctuated by the debates, that they are not ready for prime time when it comes to foreign policy -- or even debating, for God's sake.
Americans have been down the unqualified and incompetence roads before when it comes to presidential candidates and presidents. Do we need to go there again? It is painful to list below the gaffes that the Republican candidates have made, but one of them will go against the great campaigner in 2012, and that one had better be prepared.

Mitt Romney

-He has so many flip-flops on issues in his career, including abortion, that he is out-John Kerrying John Kerry, whom the term flip-flop was used effectively against in 2004. The Democrats will obviously use those against Romney, but, of course, Obama outright lies also, so they will have to tread carefully. Nevertheless, Romney will be weak against the Democrats' anointed one because he has been so duplicitous in the past, which Obama and crew will exploit relentlessly.

Herman Cain

-Talk about baggage. Even if this guy is totally innocent of all the sexual harassment charges leveled against him, which he may very well be, just the accusations are enough to turn a large number of female voters against him. He is toast based on that alone. Plus his ignorance of foreign affairs is appalling. Not knowing the Palestinian position on right of return? Come on! Someone vying for the presidency, where he might have to negotiate with those Palestinians, has to know their positions. He is unqualified simply based on his lack of knowledge and experience regarding foreign affairs.

Newt Gingrich

-Who knew until just the other day that he accepted between 1.6 and 1.8 million dollars over eight years from Freddie Mac to act as a consultant for them? Meanwhile, after he left their employ and during and after the financial crisis, he was castigating that organization and Fannie Mae -- rightfully so -- for contributing to the mortgage disaster that led to the financial meltdown. Is there a smoking gun there regarding hypocrisy, or was he trying to warn Freddie Mac about the mortgage bubble they were creating? We'll have to see, but it sure smells funny. Gingrich is the smartest guy in a room full of any politicians you could name. But he is also a rogue when it comes to issues. For example, that image of him and Nancy Pelosi on the couch talking about the threat of global warming is indelible in the minds of Republicans.

Michele Bachmann

-She started out like a house on fire in the Iowa straw poll in Ames, Iowa, back in August, and then she fell off a cliff. Her gaffe about the actor John Wayne being born in Waterloo, Iowa was classic. It turns out the only "John Wayne" born in Waterloo was John Wayne Gacy, the infamous serial killer. Bachmann comes originally from Waterloo, Iowa, having moved to Minnesota when she was thirteen years old. She should have known that the actor wasn't born there, but she didn't. The media crucified her for the gaffe (they can't stand conservative women) and will continue to do so if she gets some traction after the Iowa caucuses. However, she lacks the resources to go much farther.

Rick Perry

-How can you go up against Obama in possibly three seminal debates in October 2012 when you can't name the three government agencies you want to eliminate? These are from your own talking points and literature. How did this guy win in Texas? He is sinking like a stone in the polls and will hopefully drop out soon.

Ron Paul

-This libertarian candidate wants to legalize drugs and make nice-nice with Iran because they have every right to build a nuclear weapon according to his painful logic. So, America, circle the wagons when it comes to foreign policy according to Ron Paul. As John McEnroe used to say whenever he questioned a line judge's call on the tennis court: "You can't be serious!" Unfortunately, Ron is serious and also dangerous to America's and Israel's security.

Gary Johnson
-See Ron Paul above.

Jon Huntsman

-This guy should run as a Democrat challenger to Obama in the Democrat primary. The fact that he worked under Obama as part of his diplomatic team is a huge albatross around his neck. Enough said.

Rick Santorum

-How can anyone who lost his Senate seat by 18 points think that he can actually overcome that shameful campaign and win the Republican nomination, let alone the general election? Especially in an important swing state like Pennsylvania. The loss was the largest margin of defeat ever for an incumbent Republican senator in Pennsylvania. Why would anyone dis the homosexual community like he did in that campaign? Santorum hasn't discovered yet that he has lost his 2012 run for Republican presidential candidate.

All of this would be hilarious if we weren't talking about electing the political leader of the free world, the economic leader of America's fiscal future, and the moral leader of Western civilization. It's that serious. There are dark forces in the world committed to the destruction of our Western civilization and its Judeo-Christian heritage. There are also other totalitarian forces committed to world economic dominance and eventually world military dominance at the expense of the United States and its allies. It's obvious who those dark, totalitarian forces are. And we thought the Cold War was long and tough. It was. But these two wars are tougher and may get white-hot real soon. In short, it's dangerous to be living as an American right now.

And many Americans are clueless about those struggles. There is a myopia involving economic issues in the country because the politicians and the media don't want to really talk about those macro-forces that threaten our liberty. All they want to discuss is the unemployment rate and jobs. They feel they can get a better handle, however sloppily, around those bread-and-butter issues versus the larger issues of our era.

So, even though the macro-forces are alive and well and deadly, in the upcoming election, it will again be about the economy, stupid. And the Republican field of primary candidates is pathetically second-shelf, even on the economic front. Where is Marco Rubio when you need him? Obama, in full campaign mode, has used the class warfare card effectively to trash the Republicans, with not one of them mounting a direct emotional attack on that dishonesty that would resonate with the American people. This is why Obama, barring a major catastrophe, has already won. Sadly, the election party is over for the Grand Old Party.


Read more:

113 comments:

  1. Little more context would allow for a fair assessment of that situation. The edit tells part of the story.

    My sympathy for the OWS people has worn thin. They have been co-opted by the looniest of the loony left, and their "demands" sound more and more like a temper tantrum from the generation that won the trophy just for showing up for the game. They are mad because they are finding out that life sucks and everyone wants to kill you, and they have no skills to overcome that reality.

    They're too damned stupid or willfully ignorant to admit the current occupant of the WH is the guy that has taken more money from Wall St than anyone else in history and he has loaded his administration with the same shitbirds that have looting the country for decades.

    That cognitive dissonance alone has me hoping the cops bring out the hickory shampoo to possibly knock some sense into their heads.

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  2. Hey, the video disappeared. You guys are moving too fast this AM.

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  3. I don’t know how that happened. I’ll just add it to the post. We do specialize in tossed salad with blue cheese dressings.

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  4. This year's election is no different than any other. "Is this the best we can do?" the refrain of the ages when it comes to the candidates of both parties, year after year after year.

    Ironically, I think Paul is the only candidate that is addressing some of the "macro forces" the author is talking about, but he is unelectable because of his foreign policy being non-interventionist.

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  5. The video was to be on a previous post.

    Bro, it is hard to explain the methodical nature as the cop goes down the line over hunched, sitting students and sprays each of them in the face. It is bad theatrics and harkens too closely to some of those awful Taliban clips of prisoners being shot one at a time.

    It amazes me the silence from Obama. Can you imagine if the students were black?

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  6. I think the one with the most baggage, Newt, can pull it off. I can’t watch MSNBC, they are all Newt all the time. They will burn themselves out before too long. If I were Newt, I would just keep bringing it about to jobs and government that doesn’t work.

    A "that was then, this is now” and it is getting late for now. Newt needs to be frank and honest and very very tough. I would also use a BO strategy. Obama is always talking about what he inherited from Bush. Newt should just talk about Bush-Obama. BO spending, BO deficits, BO crony capitalism, BO out of control government, BO bailouts, BO immigration..BO, BO, BO…..

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  7. I can't find your email address

    ReplyDelete
  8. elephant.bar@hotmail.xxxcom
    (remove the three x's.)

    That's elephant dot bar @ hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. If the GOP can't put an electable candidate out there in the middle of an economic depression, with 9 percent unemployment for three yeras and an incumbent this unpopular, then they deserve to lose and become the Whigs redux.

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  10. You should vote with your other head, Bob. The slightly larger one.

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  11. Sure Deuce, the clip makes the guy with the OC spray look like the terminator, but what happened before? Were the protestors blocking other people from using the park? Were they screwing with other people that wanted to be left alone? Were they told to disperse repeatedly? We don't know. But the edit makes it seem like it was unprovoked.

    When the city of Oakland cravenly embraced the OWS loons, they rampaged through the city and shut down the port. Regular Joes and Janes of the "99%" got their places of business smashed up by their fellow "99%ers" in yet another temper tantrum by the mostly-white spawn of the most well-to-do in the country.

    Odd how the media was short on clips of that savagery, but took an interest once the asshole Mayor of Oakland realized she needed to reign in the feral brats with the police force.

    In my eyes, the media is totally incapable of covering this thing objectively and everything we see from all sides needs to be viewed with a very high index of suspicion.

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  12. They are mad because they are finding out that life sucks and everyone wants to kill you, and they have no skills to overcome that reality.

    That is, indeed, a stark assessment of the overall situation, D-Day.

    Surely there's a little grace and light somewhere, if we only knew where to look.

    Maybe the King James Bible, since I'm reading all about that right now.


    b

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  13. There's something I can't quite place about Gingrich. He's almost really creepy, like, if you tuned his dial just a little bit, he'd play a great mortician in some B-rated horror movie.

    You ever get that feeling about the guy?


    b

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  14. .

    Someone here mentioned they would vote for the GOP candidate primarily because of the chance the next president will be nominating new Supreme Court Justices.

    SCOTUS and Obamacare

    However, you never know what you are going to get with any particular justice.

    For instance, Antonin Scalia, who calls himself an originalist, would probably be the last guy you would think would vote to uphold the public mandate. However, his mixed voting record on expansion of the Commerce Clause makes predicting how he will vote difficult at this time.

    .

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  15. .

    Institutions Sell EU Bonds


    Does anyone want to bet that when the shit hits the fan the FED won't be there buying up EU bonds?

    .

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  16. That would have been me Quirk and if Scalia votes for this monster then I simply give up.


    b

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  17. .

    The 'balanced budget amendment' was voted down in the House.

    .

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  18. What was the name of that case where they affirmed the local government can take your land and give it to somebody else who might do something with it that brings in more tax money? I forget. But things are really starting to stink. Uncle Sam is supposed to be a friend.


    b

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  19. That wasn't much of an amendment. You could still spend all you want, you just got to raise taxes along with the spending. Which certainly wouldn't put much of a brake on most democrats.


    b

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  20. Kelo vs. New London, bob.

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  21. Rasmussen: Romney 46%, Obama 42% in Florida (arguably a bellweather state).

    There will always be a "1%".

    Even when all Americans are living in flea infested tent cities, someone will have a nicer tent.

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  22. .

    ...And many Americans are clueless about those struggles. There is a myopia involving economic issues in the country because the politicians and the media don't want to really talk about those macro-forces that threaten our liberty. All they want to discuss is the unemployment rate and jobs. They feel they can get a better handle, however sloppily, around those bread-and-butter issues versus the larger issues of our era...

    Moron.

    There is nothing more important for America right now than the economy and jobs..

    .

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  23. The economic challenges are the cause, Q, "unemployment and jobs" are the effect

    The media focuses upon the effect, ignoring the cause.

    It is the cause of the malaise that needs to be addressed, then "unemployment and jobs" will follow along.

    It's not likely to happen.

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  24. The MSM ignores the base line economic challenges, focusing upon the symptoms of the malaise.

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  25. Those aren't police. Those are "Storm Troopers."

    We're one step away from Fascism in this country.

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  26. Our government won't pour a little water up a terrorist's nose, but will allow the "Mace"ing of a dozen American Citizens, sitting peacefully in protest.

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  27. Meanwhile, Jon F'n Corzine stole $600 Million from his investors. I bet you won't see pictures of Him being teargassed.

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  28. .

    ...The economic challenges are the cause,...

    Any economic challenges were an afterthought to the author. He is more concerned about the military, the 'yellow' menace, and the Muslim challenge to our Judeo-Christian civilization.

    Guns and butter? I'll go for the butter right now.

    We defeated the Soviets by being the strongest economic power in the world. Despite our military we will sink into decline unless we maintain that economic superiority. And you can't get the required growth without decent, full time jobs.

    Do we need more than just jobs? Yes. But I was referring to the quoted remark, "...They feel they can get a better handle, however sloppily, around those bread-and-butter issues versus the larger issues of our era."

    Mack and I differ on what are the 'largest' issues.


    .

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  29. They ought to sit that cop down and pepper spray his ass every day for the rest of his fucking life.

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  30. I'll tell you what the so-called "larger issues" are. The Rich have gambled their money away, and they're out to get it back.

    Out of our asses.

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  31. That cop should go to prison for that. That is pure, old fashioned, assault. No difference than if he would have taken his nightstick out, and beat those sitting protestors silly.

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  32. If one of our soldiers had done that to a bunch of sitting Iraqis he/she would spend 10 years in Leavenworth.

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  33. When

    Southern Florida resident Nathan Radlich's house was

    burglarized
    recently, thieves ignored his wide screen

    plasma TV, his VCR, and even left his Rolex watch. What

    they did take, however, was a "generic white cardboard box

    filled with a grayish-white powder". (That's the way

    the police report described

    it.)

    A spokesman for the

    Fort Lauderdale police said that "it looked similar

    to
    high grade cocaine and they'd probably thought

    they'd hit the big time."
    Later, Nathan stood in front

    of numerous TV cameras and pleaded with the
    burglars:

    "Please return the cremated remains of my sister,

    Gertrude. She
    died three years

    ago."

    The next

    morning, the bullet-riddled corpse of a local drug dealer

    known as
    Hoochie Pevens was found on Nathan's doorstep.

    The cardboard box was there too; about half of Gertrude's

    ashes remained. Taped to the box was this note which

    said:

    "Hoochie sold us the

    bogus blow, so we wasted Hoochie. Sorry we snorted
    your

    sister. No hard feelings. Have a nice day."

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  34. Rufus, those protestors had overstayed their welcome by about a week, many warnings and legal demands having been given them to disperse peacefully, see Supreme Court rulings regarding taking over a park and tenting up forever. That macing may go a little too far, but how do you get them out of there?...they asked please leave politely many times.....or do you just finally cede them the park?

    How would you get them out of there?

    Or do they have a right to stop the subways, block the bridges, annex the parks?


    b

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  35. :) Sorry we snorted your sister.

    Have a Nice Day.


    That's a Classic. :)

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  36. They were sitting, peacefully, you fucking idiot. You handcuff them, and lead them away. Just like every cop in America does every fucking day.

    I know Swedes aren't very fucking smart, But God Damn!!

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  37. What next? Tasers? Billy Clubs?

    On innocent citizens, protesting?

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  38. What next? Tasers? Billy Clubs?

    On innocent citizens, protesting?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Even the mayor of Portland, Oregon, for God's sake, had finally to get tough or threaten to get tough to get a handle on what was becoming chaos.

    The right to assemble peacefully for redress of grievances isn't the right to annex parks for a chaotic block party indefinitely or to close down subways, etc......

    The Tea Party people, they protested the way a protest should be done....firm, polite, clean, legal, no drugs, no open air sex, no garbage....


    b

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  40. Didn't look like anyone was going simply "lead them away."

    I bet you were one that thought the world could simply handcuff Saddam and lead him away.

    MORON!

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  41. I said he went too far, on the other hand they could have dispersed after about day 7.


    b

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  42. Rufus II said...

    I'll tell you what the so-called "larger issues" are. The Rich have gambled their money away, and they're out to get it back.

    Out of our asses.


    Bend over, you fat fuck!

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  43. We don't allow the police to inflict unnecesary pain on American Citizens dumbshit.

    We have Posse Comitatus laws for a reason.

    We could have some "hard times" coming in this country. We can't allow the police to become lawless.

    We hire the police to protect us, and ENFORCE THE LAW. Not to Assault Innocent Citizens.

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  44. And, Rufus, how do you handcuff someone who doesn't want to be handcuffed without getting physical about it?

    In all the pics I've seen of these demos and many others I can't say I've seen anyone with their wrists out meekly consenting to be handcuffed.

    Maybe the water canon is best, at least cleans 'em off.


    b

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  45. That fucking cop should go to prison. Those other cops that watched, w/o intervening should be fired, at the minimum, and the police chief should be fired, and the mayor, recalled.

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  46. Watch the video, again, dumbfuck. They were sitting passively.

    Any police officer that couldn't have handcuffed those people should go back to the academy. No, scratch that, he should be collecting garbage. 'I' could have handcuffed those people.

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  47. We have Posse Comitatus laws for a reason.

    My God now there are two here.



    These people weren't innocent Rufus, they were violating all sorts of rational laws. And threatening to violate more.

    The cops were pretty mild all across the country, I don't think you've got to worry about storm troopers just yet.

    Besides all these big city cop departments are run by liberal mayors and police chiefs these days, I think your concern is currently overblown.


    b

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  48. dumbfuck yourself


    christ, I said he maybe went to far, it is a very short video

    I don't see any wrists out willing to be handcuffed either

    I see a bunch of nincompoops wishing to be martyred, disobeying legal orders to disperse

    What about a water canon, would you go for that?

    One of those sound machines?


    b

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  49. You let the cops in one city get away with something like that, and the virus will spread.

    That "God Complex" comes very easily to those we allow to carry guns, and wear uniforms.

    Bob, one thing the founders did realize: We have a hell of a lot more to fear from a too-powerful government than we do from our fellow citizens (even if they break a minor law every now and then.)

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  50. Hell No, I wouldn't go for a "water cannon," or a "Sound Machine." Those are citizens.

    All they had to do was arrest those kids. They didn't have to hurt them.

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  51. Well, the whole world was watching, as they used to say, and the ACLU will get ahold of it if they can.

    I have no idea what the law is regarding a cop who pepper sprays people who won't disperse.

    He might have been within his rights, according to some court case or other.


    The virus can spread both ways, Rufus.

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  52. I've seen this Twice before in my life. The "Freedom Riders," and then the "Anti-War Protestors."

    People like you sided with Bull Connors, and, later, Richard Daley. You were wrong then, and you are wrong, now.

    These are goofy kids that don't know "Come here," from "Siccem." But, they're OUR goofy kids, and they're on the right side of the issue,

    just like they were in the sixties, and seventies.

    The elites are a wounded beast. They will attempt to go "authoritarian" on anyone in their way. They will empower the storm troopers to do all that they can get away with.

    We have to make sure that "that's not much."

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  53. People like you sided with Bull Connors, and, later, Richard Daley.

    That's really funny. If you knew me in those days you'd know I was more with the protestors than the police though not an active participant in any of it. Except I was in that march after the National Guard shot those students at Kent State.

    If I told you I was a full time protestor and long hair you'd accuse me of being a coward and a draft dodger, as you have in the past.

    Irony is we'll probably be allies to some extent with the Vietnamese one of these days, shore up that southern bulwark against the Chinese.

    We'd all be better off sitting quietly in our apartments and e-mailing our Congressmen/women.

    You like to go into high dudgeon, Rufus; pepper spraying in that instance might be considered an acceptable use of 'force'. I have no idea.

    b

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  54. Those young citizens were sitting peacefully, and that bullying thug walked up and assaulted them. He should go to prison.

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  55. I don't think you've ever been around pepper spray. That shit will knock a charging bull elephant to its knees. It hurts, and can be dangerous.

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  56. The police have internal affairs because they know there are bad cops. They know that some people with a badge, a uniform and a gun loose sight of what they can and should do.

    The military has military police because they know there are some bad actors in uniform.

    That cop was not assaulted by those students and if he had been assaulted five minutes ago, it is still not his job to seek revenge. The cop was not responding to a direct assault. They were huddled on the ground. A fighting dog will show his belly to his attacker and the attacking dog will back off. The cop was not acting with his blood up. He could have been spraying a row of tomatoes or walking around the room like an exterminator. He is a mindless thug, a bad cop and he should be brought up on charges. His actions will get other cops hurt. There will be civil suits and the good citizens that he is supposed to be protecting will pay millions of dollars for his disgusting lack of decency and professionalism. Not one other cop in that group did the same thing, at least in the clip. Privately, I have no doubt some of them were disgusted. That cop would not want me to be on the jury for his trial.

    Where was his superior? No one came forward so I assume that he was the superior. He will regret this breakdown.

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  57. The University of California, Davis said on Saturday it would launch an investigation over video footage that appeared to show campus police using pepper spray against seated student protesters at close range.

    YouTube video footage of a policeman in riot gear using pepper spray on a group of roughly a dozen student protesters in the university's quad area spread quickly over the Internet, sparking outrage among some university faculty members.

    "Yesterday was not a day that would make anyone on our campus proud," UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi wrote in a public statement.

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  58. Campus police. Strangely enough, that makes me feel a "little" bit better.

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  59. Now, the Real police need to go out and arrest that bozo.

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  60. Well, maybe you're right, Rufus. It is true I don't know anything about pepper spray.

    b

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  61. You hit a big, strong man with it, Bob, and all you'll hear is a loud thud as he hits the ground.

    Those guys that run those "grizzly tours" in Alaska don't carry guns any more. They say Pepper Spray is more effective. A 44 Mag may not stop a griz, but pepper spray does, every time.

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  62. Reading under "is pepper spray a legitimate police tool" it's kinda hard to decide if it is or isn't.

    It was used in Seattle recently and some other places.

    There seems to be an idea that some warning be issued first at least. In this case we don't know.

    In some instances at least it seems to be legit.

    If the professors are all pissed about it, that makes me feel a little better. Especially at UC Davis.

    b

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  63. There is no difference between pepper spray, and a night stick, Bob. Both hurt like hell, and Can cause serious damage.

    There is no excuse for using either except in self-defense.

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  64. Let The Wimin Do The Walkin'

    Was the females fled the encampment, new study finds.


    b

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  65. It still leaves unanswered the question of how do you put the cuffs on someone who doesn't want to be cuffed?

    Sooner or later something physical is bound to happen.

    What do you do? Finally give 'em a John Wayne right to the jaw?

    "I'm not going to arrest you.....the HELL I'm not" wham

    b

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  66. I swear to god, Bob, You really are a fucking moron. Those were little skinny college kids sitting there. Amidst dozens of police officers.

    Any two of those cops should have been able to cuff the whole bunch, whether they "wanted to be cuffed," or not.

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  67. I give you the last word, Rufus, otherwise we go on all night :)


    You fucking moron :)


    b

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  68. I can go for being "the fucking moron with the last word." :)

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  69. EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

    Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed yesterday after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.

    The Euros have lost their collective minds

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  70. You can die of thirst drinking water.


    b

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  71. You would fit right in there, Bob.

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  72. Idaho 42
    Utah State 42

    Overtime

    Going into second overtime

    Last game of the year.

    b

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  73. Obama has set a goal of doubling U.S. exports to $3.14 trillion a year by the end of 2014 and he said Asia is key to that goal. The U.S. this year has exported more to the Pacific Rim than to Europe, Commerce Department figures show.

    While on the Indonesian Island of Bali, Obama took part in an event highlighting at $21.7 billion order for Boeing Co. (BA) for 230 of its 737 aircraft from Indonesian carrier Lion Air, a record deal for the Chicago-based plane maker.

    China ‘Rules’

    In a news conference in Canberra, Australia, on Nov. 16, Obama said that it is “mistaken” to say the U.S. fears China or is seeking to isolate the world’s most populous nation.

    “The main message that I’ve said not only publicly but also privately to the Chinese is that with their rise comes increased responsibilities,” he said. “It’s important for them to play by the rules of the road.”

    At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu on Nov. 12, Obama announced the U.S. and eight other countries - - not including China -- agreed to complete a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord within a year. Two-way trade between the U.S. and those nations totaled $171 billion last year, compared with $457 billion with China and $181 billion with Japan.

    Obama said the U.S. welcomes additional participants as long as they commit to . . . .


    Obama's China Gambit

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  74. Obama started out a rank amateur, but he seems to be catching on at hyper-speed.

    Remember, this area is sort of a "family business" environment for the O'Man.

    There's more to this, I think, than meets the eye. (an untrained eye such as mine, anyway)

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  75. Obama met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao today in Bali, the final leg of the journey.

    “U.S. pressure on China has intensified,” said Tim Condon, Singapore-based head of Asian research at ING Groep NV (INGA), adding that the shift has “startled” the Chinese. “China can’t ignore the U.S. stance. The only question is how they interpret it.”

    The administration’s foreign policy strategy is being refocused on Asia as Obama wraps up wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and two and a half years after he announced an effort to step up engagement in the Muslim world and on Mideast peace negotiations that largely have fizzled.

    Obama has said repeatedly throughout the trip that he is not pursuing a containment strategy against China and that his emphasis is on creating U.S. jobs. Even with signs that the U.S. recovery is accelerating -- the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has risen 11 percent since the beginning of October -- the nation’s unemployment rate has hovered at or above 9 percent for more than two years.

    Obama-Wen Meeting

    Today’s meeting between Obama and Wen came at Wen’s request
    and they spoke about . . .

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  76. What the US gov mafia thugs did was completely illegal. It is illegal on many levels. 1] The US gov mafia has zero democratic legitimacy. Elections in the US are a complete fraud, a pretense, a charade. 2] The order by the US gov mafia to disperse was illegal and contravenes the US Constitution. 3] The brutal method by way the illegal order was carried out, was itself a blatant criminal act.

    As for Iran, I don't believe anything the US gov mafia says concerning Iran, or concerning anything else for that matter. The US gov mafia is looking to extend its petrodollar empire into Iran to steal Iran's oil and NG resources. It is using Israel as an excuse towards that aim. The US gov mafia is an evil imperialistic fascist regime, and as every day that passed it looks more and more like ancient Rome or the more recent Roman Reich - Nazi Germany.

    Shame on you!

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  77. Good God!






    Idaho loses in 2nd overtime 49-42.

    Having won two games this year, it was....again, ever again.....what we here have long ago learned to call a rebuilding year.

    Go Vandals!


    b

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  78. The Chinese are introduced to "the Chicago way."


    This is a Bold Stroke.

    Don't let all that "bowing, and whatnot" fool you. This boy's got game.

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  79. The US government mafia didn't give any order at all to disperse. Any such order came down from the mayors of the cities, who are in effect the local commanders in chief of the local armed forces, the local police, and it took the mayors of some of the cities a hell of a long time to do anything at all. Portland, Oakland,etc.

    Mat, get a grip.

    b

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  80. I guess I'm really going to screw Doug's head into the ceiling with this one, But,

    That SPR Drawdown was marvelously played. Disregarding the timing, which was perfect, the coup de grace was "pulling in the other OECD nation through the IEA.

    The 30 Million Barrels from the U.S. reserves probably wouldn't have accomplished the task; but our 30 Million, plus the additional 30 Million from the other countries was enough to do the trick.

    It was a strong move - amd slick.

    And, it worked.

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  81. Of course, somewhere around late Spring, he'll have to do it again, but . . . . .

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  82. He didn't "sell out" anything. Obama and Harper made a deal.

    1) We immediately remove the most important part of the "bottleneck" by having Enbridge buy out conoco, and reverse the Seaway pipeline between Cushing, and the Gulf.

    2) We do the obligatory six week "review," and

    3) Transcanada, and the State of Nebraska agree to a 40 mile detour around the most vulnerable part of the Sand Hills.

    Krauthammer is an idiot. Or, disingenuous. Or, most likely, a disingenuous dick.

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  83. The US government mafia didn't give any order at all to disperse.
    ==

    The local police is federalized. Even I know this. The US fascist corporate plantation is blossoming into full on Nazi Germany.

    When do you figure it will be your turn? You do understand that they plan to raid your bank accounts and dissolve your life's savings into nothingness. MF Global is test run. You think you'll be spared the indignity of being beat into unconsciousness by these thugs? I doubt it very much.

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  84. We no sooner get Bob back on His meds, and his buddy throws his in the dumpster.

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  85. During his trip Obama called the East Asia summit the “premier” arena to discuss maritime security concerns, a subject China has lobbied to keep out of international gatherings because it touches on territorial disputes. The Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, has called on Asean to facilitate talks with China over disputed areas of the sea that contain oil and gas resources.

    Asserting Sovereignty

    The U.S. presence “bolsters our ability to assert our sovereignty over certain areas,” Ricky Carandang, a spokesman for Philippines President Benigno Aquino, said Nov. 17.

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Nov. 16 in Manila that the U.S. would boost the Philippines’ naval defenses and work to ensure there isn’t a “big thumb on the scale” that pushes development or strategic issues.


    China struggles to respond

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  86. I don't know if Rufus and Rufus II are one and the same, but year or so ago Rufus thought what I was saying then was crazy. Now Rufus II is parroting pretty much everything I was saying back then. I suppose we'll need to see a Rufus III in a year's time to catch up with reality from today.

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  87. If they are going to raid my bank account they aren't going to find a whole lot there -- most of it has gone lately to income taxes, property taxes, city development fees, state taxes -- hell, they already got my bank account.

    I'll suggest to them they try Rufus in Mississippi....


    b

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  88. It's the same old Rufus, he just forgot his first name for a while.


    b

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  89. They're going to come up pretty dry in Mississip, too, Bob.


    Must be something "goin' around."

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  90. Doug lives in Havaii. We'll send'em out therel. Everbody knows you gotta have some money to live in Havaii.

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  91. That's it. Have 'em raid DougO - and that Souls Is Us business in Deeetroit.

    Send 'em to Melody's too, she's got a $45,000 dollar car out in the garage she can donate.

    gnite, rufus II


    b

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  92. Did you ever sit on the hood of a car, and get drunk listening to this song, along about, oh, 1:00 in the morning?

    American Pie

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  93. Thanks, Melody. BTW, I was kind of thinking about you when I posted the Joan Jett. She kinda seemed like your type; but I wasn't for sure. :) g'nite.

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  94. Am I that obvious?

    I would so sport those red leather pants, too. The ass-less chaps are a bit drafty in the winter months.

    ; )

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