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, August 30, 2008

Black King and White Queen


In the game of Chess the Queen is the strongest piece on the chessboard from the standpoint of being able to move, attack, capture, and generally to create havoc for the opponent. While the Kings are the most powerful pieces on the chessboard, the Queens are second in command. Removing an opposing Queen and seeking to keep the player's Queen is a key focus and a strategic advantage. Does McCain play Chess?

Obama foolishly gave up his Queen and now has to fight with the lesser Bishop Biden. McCain has his Queen in play. The Democrats are rashly seizing on the youth and lack of experience of Palin and in doing so are exposing their King Obama. The more the Democrats focus and try to diminish the unknown Palin, they reduce her stature in the eyes of the public, but what happens when the public actually meets Palin? They expect little, but Palin will surprise them.

Today, she was stunning.

The more the Democrats foolishly spend energy attacking her, they waste time that should be used to protect their King.

Palin got a field grade promotion, of that there is no doubt, but Obama barely finished boot camp. Palin is not his opponent. That is McCain and now everyone is talking about Palin. Obama surely does not want to talk time in grade and service with John McCain.

Who even cares about Joe Biden? Interesting game.

Our Gal in 1984

249 comments:

  1. Out here in the west, it's been a long long time since we have had any imput. I can tell you this, it's damn nice to have a gal like Palin to vote for. We feel that she is one of us, and it's darn nice to have someone to vote for with real enthusiasm.

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  2. That is an interesting thought. The time zone enigma. A good reason to move the Capitol out of DC. Now that would be CHANGE. Minot comes to mind.

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  3. grrnite folks, I'll be dreaming of the next inauguration!

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  4. You guys have fun, we're going to spend our 19th, er, anniversary in my home town of Vancouver, WA, aka "The Couve" aka "Vantucky", bedroom community for Portland and final resting place for D.B. Cooper up in some 200 foot Doug Fir where he twisted his neck and never got to put those marked bills into circulatiojn. It's a little piece of Eastern Washington sitting on the wet side, temperature-wise, on account of the Columbia River cutting through the mountains at near sea level, where it dumps all the hot stuff and cold stuff from Tri-Cities right there. Bobal knows what I mean. Back on Labor Day in time for the Really Big Shew in the Twin Cities, where Sarah Palin will be a rock star. Biden who? Barack who?

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  5. Have a great time T. look forward to your return.

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  6. By God Doug you got it! It was
    Rafer Johnson

    I remember with much expectation waiting for him to come to the U of I. And, I remember thinking, what a true man he was.

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  7. Rafer Johnson--I remember thinking what a man he was!

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  8. Rafer Johnson--

    In 1968, he worked on the presidential election campaign of Robert Kennedy and was one of those present who helped wrestle Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan to the floor.

    That's the guy, thanks Doug, for helping out my fading memory!

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  9. Yes, hear from you later, My Lady T! Have fun!

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  10. Although it's nice to have enthusiasm in a political campaign, perspective is still necessary. She's still untested and although I hate it, almost certainly to some extent an affirmative action pick.

    Doesn't mean she wasn't a good choice politically or necessarily won't turn out well in the end (as I said, so far I mostly like her, both personally and ideologically), but on the merits there were better choices out there on qualifications and demonstrated competency.

    Hockey player, moose-burgers, woodsman, normal family, etc., they're good signs in a cultural sense, but trivial compared to the job she's running for. And yet that's what most of the Republican punditry was falling all over themselves about today, giving Obamaniacs a run for their money.

    Even assuming Palin works out, the bottom line is that McCain's still on top of the ticket, likely wishing that he had Lieberman.

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  11. Meanwhile:
    "Venezuela moves to nationalize fuel distribution

    The Associated PressPublished: August 28, 2008


    CARACAS: President Hugo Chávez said that wholesale gasoline sales by private companies in Venezuela will soon disappear after his congressional allies pass a bill nationalizing the business.

    Under the measure, which received initial approval in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela will control Venezuela's fuel distribution network but will not nationalize privately owned gas stations.

    Dominated by Chávez allies, the National Assembly is expected to give its final approval to the legislation later this week.

    Distributors, including subsidiaries of British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, had hoped to persuade the government not to seize total control of their businesses.

    But Chávez ruled out allowing private minority stakes, accusing operators on Wednesday of making money at the country's expense.

    "This was an old scheme through which some private sectors seized the nation's wealth without a drop of sweat," Chávez said. "That's what they defend."

    The law gives distributors 60 days to negotiate the sale of their businesses to the government or face expropriation. It also forces distributors to sell storage tanks and gasoline pumps to Petróleos de Venezuela and to relinquish their brand names.

    Congressman Luis Tascón, a former Chávez ally, said the pending legislation could cause shortages at gas stations because the government is not prepared to take full control over distribution.

    The Chávez government has never raised gasoline prices and Chávez has ruled out any increase in the fixed pump price of around 12 U.S. cents per gallon, the cheapest in the world. Wholesale fuel distribution in Venezuela generally offers limited profitability because of the combination of fixed prices and high inflation.

    "I'm warning the population that if this law is approved, we are going to see shortages in the short term," said Tascón, one of a handful of lawmakers who voted against the bill.

    A Petróleos de Venezuela subsidiary controls 49 percent of fuel distribution in Venezuela, with the rest controlled by private companies, according to industry representatives.

    Under Chávez, the government has nationalized Venezuela's largest telephone, electricity, steel and cement companies and has assumed majority control over four major oil projects.

    Also Wednesday, the president said in talks with the Mexican ambassador, the government has negotiated a deal that will let the Venezuelan authorities take full control of the local plants of the Mexican cement company Cemex.

    He gave no details on what his government might pay for a majority stake in Cemex's three Venezuelan cement plants, 30 smaller concrete plants and shipping terminals.

    Venezuela seized the facilities on Aug. 19 after compensation talks failed.

    Jorge Pérez, a spokesman at Cemex headquarters in Monterrey, Mexico, confirmed the agreement with Venezuela but said compensation must still be determined in talks with the government.

    Chávez also said that "time has run out" for an agreement on compensating the country's largest steel maker, Sidor, and that Venezuela will determine on its own what shares in Ternium, the parent company, are worth.

    Ternium is a subsidiary of the Argentine-Italian conglomerate Techint. It owned 60 percent of Sidor until it was nationalized in May.

    Chávez added that the two sides disagree over a Ternium request that the government guarantee immunity from future claims by workers or others in Venezuela."

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  12. "but on the merits there were better choices out there on qualifications and demonstrated competency.

    Which isn't intended to minimize the ability and drive it takes to rise on your own from middle-class nothing to a 1-2 year Governorship of Alaska. She obviously didn't ride her husband's or anyone else's coat-tails to the top.

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  13. Sinless,

    I think we have fallen into the trap that our government should be all about lawyers all the time.

    Federal overreach over states and individual rights.

    Smallness is not bad.

    Self reliance and thrift are still virtues.

    This woman, of 44 years has taken on the broken system of politics in Alaska with a gun on her hip and a baby at her breast. Compare that to what the the Democrats are offering, a big government tit in every mouth.

    She is a mother .

    She is formidable.

    Mukluks over Guccis.

    Power to the real people, those that produce instead of litigate and pander to the taking class.

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  14. Her speech had no hint of Obamian anger. no seething victimization, and future dread. She spoke clearly to what was once called the silent majority without naming it. She spoke to many who heard her and the howling whelps of the Democratic left will only increase her audience.

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  15. Rush had a neat list of Questions Barry could ask Palin.
    I came up with:
    "Does Arugula Grow in Alaska?"

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  16. Biden is incapable of restraint and a snarling smile when challenged. His blood gets up fast. Cool he is not. In a debate I think she will tear him a new one.

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  17. almost certainly to some extent an affirmative action pick.

    I do not understand this. I think this is wrong. She is a good woman, an American woman, who has her way of looking at things, has and is a good mother, and, I do not know what you are getting at with a statement like that.

    I think you are very wrong.

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  18. What in the hell does that mean--she is some kind of an affirmitive action choice?

    That's pure bullshit.

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  19. almost certainly to some extent an affirmative action pick.

    O fuck you moron.

    That is the last thing she is. Take that to the inner city, fool.

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  20. Senator Obama's first question would be: Can you show me the proper and safe way to handle and fire a gun? And are all NRA members as pretty as you are? Second question, Obama to Sarah Palin: Is hunting scary? And when you go fishing, do you bait your own hooks? I mean you could cut your finger doing that. Do you do it yourself? Next question, Obama to Sarah Palin: When you found out your baby would be born with Down syndrome, did you consider killing it before or after the due date? You mean you had the baby? You really had the baby? Question number four: What's it like to be a governor, Mrs. Palin? Do you worry that you're going to be held responsible for your decisions?

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  21. Just some weird thing I ran into, Deuce:
    A Bunch of Trains running into each other!

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  22. Did you guys hear her and McCain's speeches?
    Pretty well covered everything.
    Everybody hates DC, esp Congress.
    She's everything DC Pols Aren't.
    A Real Person w/common sense is what a Hell of a lot of people are hungry for.

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  23. Like Rush said,
    her speech was all about accomplishments.
    Barry's all fluff, with the message being:
    I'll be your FDR.

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  24. almost certainly to some extent an affirmative action pick.

    CHRIST!

    Tell that to Rafer Johnson!

    Christ!

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  25. Mrs Palin is a political action selection, in the affirmative.

    She shakes up the race, but brings the judgement of McCain into play.

    Putting an inexperienced player into the game, in part to showcase his opponents' own lack of experience. That puts the nation at risk, for his own political gain.

    McCain would put the US at risk, to win an election.

    Is Mrs Palin ready to be President, on day two?

    From a political point of view, to give mcCain an even shot at winning, I like the choice, but it is fraught with risk, on many levels.

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  26. Along with Mavericks judgement, his health and age will become more prominent, as Mrs Palin's inexperience is highlighted by the Press.

    Obama has convinced at least 18 million voters that he is qualified, Mrs Palin has convinced Maverick.

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  27. W had a lot of expertise around him, but his inability to be decisive made it worse than worthless.
    Palin wouldn't have that problem.
    Don't think she's be a Micromanaging Carter.

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  28. Hillary had 18 Million too, wonder how many will vote for Palin?

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  29. Mrs Palin is a political action selection, in the affirmative.



    I think she is a woman who has lived her life the very best way a woman can do, and she got the eye of a good man.

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  30. I think he put her in because she's an outsider, in contrast to two Lawyers wedded to the inside.

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  31. Mom, Real Jobs, City Council, Mayor, Governor, our VP has more experience than their Presidential Candidate!

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  32. Yep, those are all good points, fellas.
    And Mrs Palin will be a stong candidate and could work out well at the Naval Observatory.

    What will be her job, in a McCain Administration? Will she be a fill an active role, like Cheney, or like Nixon on Ike's team?

    She asked that very question, a few weeks ago, and is already being derided for it. But it is the pertinent question of the day.

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  33. Bob has it correct. It is not much different from a young officer assigned to a new unit. He relies on the noncoms to walk him through the process and when the time comes they have a consult with the final decisions coming from the officer.

    I also would not minimize her life and family experiences. There has to be millions of men that became successful because they had the right woman behind them. We do not place enough value on that because we take it for granted.

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  34. Damn the EB is packed with feminists.

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  35. "What is it exactly that the vice president does all day?" Palin offhandedly asked CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow in July.

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  36. The country was built by amateurs. WWII was won by amateurs. I think Sarah Palin will be a very quick study.

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  37. A good question at that. I was at a party at the Naval Observatory when Dan Quail was VP. They had a couple of umbrella stands inside the front door. Field hockey sticks for the kids and a couple of well used pitching wedges caught my eye.

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  38. That argument was made for Obama, that being without experience, his staff would be all important.

    That is what failed Team43, sloppy staff work, as exemplified by the Bremer letters.

    It is not the Mr Bush is indecisive, doug. You dislike most of decisions that he makes. But he's been, and still is the decisive Decider.

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  39. "She asked that very question, a few weeks ago, and is already being derided for it. But it is the pertinent question of the day."
    ---
    What's to deride?
    Was it in the answer?

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  40. Obama the inexperienced amateur, is no longer an issue, then?

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  41. There has to be millions of men that became successful because they had the right woman behind them

    Absolutely!

    We have a saying out here, every good farmer has a great wife that puts the damn hitch pin in!

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  42. Obama is going for top job. If it were Biden Obama, I would not be opposed based on experience. I am not recommending Palin for President.

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  43. ...I missed the question of hers, sorry.

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  44. Obama the seasoned Chicago Commie Crook with terrible judgement, and no love for the country as it is.

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  45. Obama is a big believer in government and redistribution. I do not like the thought of men without military experience being president because they are too easily intimidated and rolled by the military. Obama would be under self-imposed pressure to show his toughness.

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  46. What there is to deride, doug?

    Dan Quayle
    "That's not how you spell tomato?"

    Admiral Stockdale
    "Who am I? Why am I here?"

    Sarah Palin
    "What is it exactly that the vice president does all day?"

    A good and pertinent question that will be taken out of context to show Mrs Palin's lack of experience and knowledge to fill that very position.

    She will be savaged in the Press, over the next 65 days, count on that.

    Who is going to care for that five month oid baby?
    Her husband ...
    Are they selling the boat?

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  47. Woman would not suffer from the same psychology. It is odd but most men who were not in the military, at some stage wish they had been.

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  48. I am not recommending Palin for President.

    I sure as hell would, considering the opposition, a Chigaco crook.

    And even without that Chicago Messiah, I might well vote for her, because I think she is a good and sensible woman.

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  49. But a woman without military experience, that's acceptable, duece?

    A woman would not be intimidated by her own Generals and staff or by Mr Putin, but a man without military experience would be?

    Or are we basing these projected personality traits on equally thin resumes?

    Where are the stories of Obama being intimidated?
    He gamed the Clintons well enough.
    As well as Mayor Daley.

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  50. Oh I like her plenty, but she would make a better president with more time in grade as a veep.

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  51. Kind of the Anti Condi:
    A Phd w/little common sense, way too much respect for all the crap Albright's dad drummed into her head.

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  52. Yeah, but he wouldn't be on our side of the Game, 'Rat!
    That must count for something.

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  53. There are many general officers who are intimidated by their wives. Come on guys we may suspect that we are full of shit but our woman are convinced of it.

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  54. I just thot of something:
    Think of all the sermons 'Rats given on the sanctity of Life!

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  55. tomato, potato

    mea culpa

    But the story stays the same.

    Admiral Stockdale's story, as well

    Stockdale explained that the statements were intended as an introduction of him and his record to the television audience:

    It was terribly frustrating because I remember I started with, "Who am I? Why am I here?" and I never got back to that because there was never an opportunity for me to explain my life to people. It was so different from Quayle and Gore. The four years in solitary confinement in Vietnam, 7½ years in prisons, drop the first bomb that started the...American bombing raid in the North Vietnam. We blew the oil storage tanks of them off the map. And I never—I couldn't approach—I don't say it just to brag, but, I mean, my sensitivities are completely different.

    ...

    In a 1993 stand-up routine, comedian Dennis Miller vehemently defended Stockdale's reputation[4]:

    "Now I know (Stockdale's name has) become a buzzword in this culture for doddering old man, but let's look at the record, folks. The guy was the first guy in and the last guy out of Vietnam, a war that many Americans, including our present President, did not want to dirty their hands with. The reason he had to turn his hearing aid on at that debate is because those fucking animals knocked his eardrums out when he wouldn't spill his guts. He teaches philosophy at Stanford University, he's a brilliant, sensitive, courageous man. And yet he committed the one unpardonable sin in our culture: he was bad on television."

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  56. They have an unfair advantage, Deuce:
    They live w/us.

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  57. Obama changed his tune over Georgia fast enough. Who rolled him? What ever happened to Wes Clark? He liked Obama almost as much as you do Rat.

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  58. But a woman without military experience, that's acceptable, duece?

    Yes, it is, because very few of our Presidents have had military experience, and the question of whether to go or not to go can be argued forever.

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  59. I'm all for her, doug.

    But that does not discount the coming onslaught.

    And it does take talk of Obama;s lack of experience and diminish it's potentcy.

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  60. I'm going upstairs and get some rack time. Put the dog out before you leave.

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  61. Bob forgot to let him out last night and he pissed all over Rat's stool.

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  62. "And it does take talk of Obama;s lack of experience and diminish it's potentcy."
    ---
    I think it shines the spotlight on it:
    She's got a lot more executive experience than him, AND she can speak and answer questions w/o a teleprompter.

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  63. and the question of whether to go or not to go can be argued forever.

    Which it has been with
    Vietnam. I think the jihadis are a much greater threat.
    We are trading peacefully with Vietnam now.

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  64. I do not like Obama, will not vote for him.

    But half the country does and will.

    All that matters, in the end, is their geographical distribution.

    If Obama wins, we'll be amongst the first to have used the Obama/Hitler analogy, just like Bush/Hitler promoted by the folks of Kos.

    Obama Derangement Syndrome

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  65. Linear blows all your arguments out of the water with this, 'Rat:
    Nordics for Sarah.

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  66. Them nites get Reeeally Long.

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  67. The guy I know here from Ankorage had a Company w/100s of employees up there.
    Had a real low key style, but you soon find out there's no nonsense or leeway for you to veer from how he wanted things done.
    One of those guys that was dyslexic as a kid, like Rockefeller.
    Said he lucked into having a Second Grade Teacher that knew what to do.

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  68. Obama's already acted almost like Hitler wrt how they respond to Criticism.
    Don't let that guy on the Air!

    That's not what AMERICANS want to hear!

    Jeeze.

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  69. James K said...
    "I tried to keep myself from being affected by such talk, attempting to keep that vibe from reverberating through me or from trying to convince myself of the opposite.

    And then I began to look closely at what the left was saying about her. You can tell a lot about a person in observing what they attack in another person.

    “Inexperienced, and just a heart-beat away from the presidency” seemed to be a big one. I’ll admit that I share it myself.

    Of course I heard this most frequently from people who were enthusiastically behind a campaign to elect an even less experienced person to the presidency.

    Hearing Obama supporters decry the candidacy of an attractive, inexperienced empty suit was truly amusing.
    "

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  70. Rat,
    Having put up with your pontifications the past 3 years from the sidelines, I feel great joy in being able to tell you that you are wrong about Palin. This is Game, set, match for McCain (or Checkmate, to keep to the metaphor of the post). As someone said (here?) the warm tingly feeling running down Chris Mathews (and other Obamaniacs) leg today is urine!
    Lived in Alaska 8 or the last 10 years and I'm here to tell you that this gal can hunt with the big dogs.

    -Lord Acton

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  71. Some guy @ BC was talking about Mr Palin's womanizing.
    Anybody hear that one?

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  72. bg said,

    Black Liberation Theology - James Cone

    "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community.
    If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.
    The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community ... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy.

    What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."

    "just words"?? - Barack Hussein Obamacan't you just feel the love??

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  73. Mark Levin reminds us that Palin has more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined.

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  74. "Lived in Alaska 8 or the last 10 years and I'm here to tell you that this gal can hunt with the big dogs."

    That sounds good..especially considering that the Dems are coming with brass knuckles.

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  75. Thanks for checking in murray. Do tell us more.

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  76. What's this, Linear, is the whole place burned to the ground?
    Clinton's Legacy, huh?
    Lake Sequoia

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  77. Let's see...

    Already the far left is trying to discredit Palin...

    Statements such as "the down's syndrome baby is really her daughters" have appeared at daily kos...

    Obama's staff has stated she "has zero foreign policy experience" (which is funny since the messiah has zero and he LEADS the democrat ticket"

    The messiah has CHANGED the equation, experience is no longer NEEDED as a requirement... So what the F*CK?

    Cant have it BOTH ways...

    If CHANGE and Freshness is good, its got to be good for Palin too...



    Pro-Choice Dem's For McCain & Palin 2008

    PUMA

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  78. Ready to be President?

    Bush Pilot, Caribou Hunter? Mother of Five? Has a Son going to Iraq?

    Whipped Murkowski, and Stevens, and the oil mafia's ass in Alaska?

    Gentlemen; This is the Most Ready Candidate I've seen in my lifetime.

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  79. You think some General's going to push this Lady around when she has an 18 year old son in the infantry?

    Did you boys have Mommas?

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  80. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  81. Rat, let me ask you a question. How much quicker would have Bush tumbled to the truth if he'd has a son who was a Corporal in Anbar?

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  82. Dems are coming with brass knuckles

    Something about that just tickles me Pink.

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  83. the boss hiring a pitbull female to do the dirty work is standard this day and age especially in corporate-pc america. they are literally untouchable: they have the backing of the boss and things that could commonly be used against the male,like sexual harrasment charges, is close nil.

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  84. The "tell" to me is the context: Palin as the clean-up governor working with one of the most corrupt legislatures in the country (which I did not know - makes New Orleans, LA look like Oz) or Obama as the political operator working within and with the Chicago Machine. Palin was on the other side. Obama was not - didn't even have much of a side as far as I can tell. One came out slinging. The other came out singing.

    Or something like that.

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  85. Confirmatory Slim.

    The world has moved on. Public consciousness as filtered through the usual suspects of media outlets still ungrounded in reality.

    The sooner the gender issue is dismissed as distraction (ahem) the sooner we can move on to her real strengths.

    In the real world it's just a card in the deck. Palin has a real good hand. I'm guessing she even knows how to play it.

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  86. Bobal: We have a saying out here, every good farmer has a great wife that puts the damn hitch pin in!

    That reminds me bobal:

    http://www.funnypic.info/wp-content/uploads
    /2008/03/a-good-wife.jpg


    Last post before heading out the door for the weekend.

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  87. Slim's comment being interesting.

    Christine Todd Whitman didn't fit the hatchet role at EPA.

    OTOH, Carly Firorina failed on her own merits.

    The demographic is not homogeneous.

    As I recall "need to know" didn't work at Enron where the whole pyramid came down.

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  88. if you can dish it out you sure in the hell better be able to take it. i have seen it a million times, just the mere suggestion of racial or gender bias or harrasment is like carrying a concealed howitzer. its really sad when its not used against the real enemy but just someone whose in the way. i have always wondered what effect it will eventually have on society.

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  89. but it is fraught with risk, on many levels.


    What was that you wrote earlier Rat?

    Something about cowards afraid of the unknown tomorrow, we were, for falling into the quick sand of hypotheticals - what-if this, what if that. I think the subject was Iraq pullout.

    I submit that Palin will get the short end of this experience stick for the usual reasons. Look at the photo top of this thread.

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  90. It's a temporal locality, Slim. It will die out with generations. Look at the faces of the kids on the playground. They are growing up without the "ought to" burden.

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  91. Oh, yeah, the Photo:

    THANKS.

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  92. What was that, T? A photo-representation of the "Iraq War-Strategy, circa 2006?

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  93. Put it to you this way.

    Romney, Pawlenty, Huckabee, RNC establishment, all. Compassionate conservatives that would indicate to me that indeed, McCain IS four more years of Bush.

    Palin is the real deal. You can't be a wuss and make it in Alaska. It is a state for those strong in backbone and steeped in the reality that the world is a harsh place.

    McCain is rolling the dice to bring lifeblood into a moribund, corrupt organization that needs a serious housecleaning.

    If her inexperience means that she still operates in a world where 2+2=4, then that's enough for me.

    All of the others were the guarantee that I was voting Barr or writing in Paul. They would have the race become a contest as to who would pander to the slob-class the most.

    Palin is the real-world, total refutation of Obama's "you're on your own" meme from his speech on Thursday. A disgusting concept at its very least, the height of tyrannical good intentions at its very worst.

    I'll take her inexperience any day of the week over Romney's triangulating slick act or Huckabee's down-home socialism for Jesus.

    She told the AK Republican Party to piss up a rope and clean up their act. She killed the bridge to nowhere. She knows her state is sitting on gobs of natural resources that any country not run by corrupt people would be exploiting by now. When she was mayor of Wasilla, she was called "Sarah the Barracuda" for leaving the torn up corpses of those who tangled with her all over the place.

    Shit, she handles an M4 with a happy switch like she's been doing it all her life.

    She exudes STRENGTH from every pore on many fronts. Mother, wife, public servant, individual.

    I am impressed. I am changing my vote. Perfect ticket? Hardly. But I have not been this enthused about a politician since 1984.

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  94. I'm with you, Brotha.

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  95. rufus said...
    Rat, let me ask you a question. How much quicker would have Bush tumbled to the truth if he'd has a son who was a Corporal in Anbar?

    Sat Aug 30, 09:41:00 AM EDT

    I like this thread. Was listening to Kudlow on WABC this morning. He is fired up.

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  96. That journalism degree giving Palin an insiders edge as she enters the national spotlight.

    Given that the label of journalism still applies.

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  97. It's part of the public record but how many of you would like having your high school picture plastered all over - everywhere?

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  98. This is a Hugely, popular pick. I know the race is for "President," and, in the end, the VP pick isn't supposed to be all that important; but, I just have a feeling that This is a pick "unlike any others."

    I've got to be careful about letting my enthusiasm run away, right here, because I have been wrong, just about as often as, right when it comes to things of this nature; but dammit, This One feels different.

    I have Never seen a VP pick that changed the "Feel" of a Campaign, before. This one does. It just "Does."

    ReplyDelete
  99. If I'd looked That Good, I'd Love it.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  100. Anyone who wants their high school pic posted, send it in. We will have a contest.

    ReplyDelete
  101. Quite a bit sooner, rufus, about the same time I did, I imagine.

    For just that very reason.

    I ran through just a couple of the quick counter points to Mrs Palin.
    All of which, and more, will be reverberating through the ether.

    murray, glad you stopped in, should have sooner. You could have added something to the mix.

    I have been a fan of Mrs Palin since she became known to me, a couple of months ago, now.

    What her duties would be, in a McCain Administration, still an open question.
    Does McCain flip flop on ANWAR, with her input, or does he stay the course? That would be the first indicator of whether Maverick takes her seriously, or if she is just a gambit in his game.
    But I certainly wish her well,
    She be running with the big dogs, now.

    ReplyDelete
  102. About Palin, I am encouraged and hopeful that the opinions and observations expressed here and elsewhere are factual. May she be all that we hope for; someone who represents real change and with the fortitude, insight and wisdom to affect it in D.C. If she is all that we think and hope that she is, she will prove it during the campaign. If she and her family can handle the fishbowl and the pace of a national election, the country will soon learn who she is as she brings a new energy to McCain's campaign. Say your prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Democratic message from their convention:

    The economy is broken, the people are suffering and the world hates us because of George Bush.

    What a shitty outlook on life! Sure oil prices are high and the world dislikes the US. But how long ago was "The Ugly American" written? The world has never in my lifetime liked the US (other than the millions who managed to migrate here). We hit a slightly bumpy section of the road after the longest economic expansion in history and you would think we might as well all commit suicide. But wait, hold off with razors, the Messiah is here. Hallelujah!

    ReplyDelete
  104. The world has never in my lifetime liked the US

    I agree. One of the things that drives me up the wall is the left saying we got to do this and that so as to somehow redeem our image in the eyes of the world.

    We should have confidence in ourselves, and make our decisions based on what we think is right, and if the 'world' agrees, fine, if they--whoever 'they' is--don't, well, tough.

    ReplyDelete
  105. She'll probably make some goofs, a mis-statement or two, but I have a feeling she will right herself quickly, and come out the stronger for it.

    ReplyDelete
  106. The economy is not broken but it is experiencing stress fractures from regulatory/enforcement neglect and the newer influence of powerful global capital streams.

    The end of Arthur Anderson accounting firm indicates that the regulatory system is working, but abuses reverberate through the markets as business losses seek the least painful place to park.

    A discovery that the Democrats are leveraging to maximum benefit in this election is that markets cause pain during adjustments - and generally selective pain to specific demographic groups.

    Hence the "whining" debacle. The challenge for the Republican message is to deal with this "inconvenient truth" or "unpleasant reality". I don't know how to do that in a political context but it has to be done.

    The precondition for that is not to sweat bullets trying to understand the pain of the middle class by promising compensatory handouts from government, but to make the levers of government work properly in controlling market swings and adjustments.

    There's regulation, and then there's regulation.

    Another toxic 4-syllable word.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Oh good, Linear isn't here yet.
    I gotta quit staying up so late:
    I looked at a lake and deduced it was burned flat!
    ...imagined it was not nearly that good a photo, and fantasized a tiny puddle surrounded by burned forest.
    Maybe I'll join you and listen to C to C late at nite in my declining years, al-Bob!

    ReplyDelete
  108. Doug,
    I can't find any information on Wellsonia and I've never been to Lake Sequoia.

    I don't know what happened there.

    My reference to Clinton applies to the creation of the Giant Sequoia National Monument, which I've always thought of as a pandering to environmentalists on a par with the Grand Staircase in Utah. I could be wrong, but I recall that some private in-holdings within the monument were threatened with demolition. You can email me via my blog if you want to pursue this.
    I may be offline shortly for a few days due to problems with a new ISP.

    Everybody have a nice holiday. We have much to celebrate, and hopefully more in weeks to come.

    ReplyDelete
  109. Moody's has officially raised my rating from gloomy to moderately glum.

    ReplyDelete
  110. "She knows her state is sitting on gobs of natural resources that any country not run by corrupt people would be exploiting by now. "
    ---
    Funny, I never thought of this before:
    Everybody talks about corrupt Pootie Poot & Co. taking the money and running to Switzerland or wherever w/it, but at least they get to pump oil out of the ground for a while, while in DC...

    ReplyDelete
  111. See the previous thread:
    It's named after some guy named Wil, and my beautiful Polynesian Girl, Sonia:
    Wilsonia.

    ReplyDelete
  112. It looks like everything still exists there.
    The article I read back when he did it said it would result in more destructive fires, so I hallucinated that it had already burned to hell, just to blame poor Bubba.
    BDS
    Bubba Derangement Syndrome.

    ReplyDelete
  113. "OTOH, Carly Firorina failed on her own merits."
    ---
    That was one of the All-Time biggest turnarounds when they dumped her and hired some guy that evidently knows what he's doing.

    ReplyDelete
  114. The article I read back when he did it said it would result in more destructive fires, so I hallucinated that it had already burned to hell

    Give it time...

    ReplyDelete
  115. "Obama was not - didn't even have much of a side as far as I can tell."
    ---
    That's Freddoso's Central Theme:
    The Reformer Wasn't.
    In fact he was anti-reform, since that was the quickest, easiest, and most profitable way to rise to the top of the shitpile.

    ReplyDelete
  116. The article did mention some little logging company being legislated out of existence, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Her husband isn't a Pub, so if he really is womanizing, that'd be a good thing, right?
    Like Bill and Hill if Hil had been a Pub!

    ReplyDelete
  118. WHIT: What a shitty outlook on life! Sure oil prices are high and the world dislikes the US.

    I take ISSUE with the DEMOCRAT POV that the world doesnt like us...


    Whits goes on to state: The world has never in my lifetime liked the US (other than the millions who managed to migrate here).

    NONSENSE...

    The world is a hugh place...

    Iran, Syria, Arab League, French LEADERS may not lave liked us... AS well as a few hundred million misc beings here and there..

    but if we could MEASURE how the world's people feel about america (barring any NGO's from righting the questions with a bias) I think we'd be quite happy with the results..

    I have traveled to about 25 countries. Not the world, but as a % of people about 30%. I have had an old man in japan shove money at me thanking me that I was american, I have had people in italy befriend me, from norway to germany more stories of the same.. America is loved all over the world by so many billions we seem to let those few 100 million that hate us intensely to have disproportionate power...

    It's like in business, i can ship 1000 orders perfectly and one nitwit will complain about something their own fault and we act as if our world is crashing down.

    If the world hated us as much as the far left would have us believe they would not buy or movies, our food, hamburgers, icons & culture.

    DEEP down inside most of the world KNOWS they would love to have US invade them than the Russians, Chinese or Arabs...

    So when the messiah talks of change we can believe in, maybe we should take a page from those that LIKE him (hamas, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, rev wright, willian ayers, Ed Said & Hezbollah) and picture a world without AMERICA..

    Go ahead........

    No America?

    What a world and what it would look like if we were not who we are...

    ReplyDelete
  119. 'Troopergate' inquiry lurks for Palin

    For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff," Monegan said Friday from Portland. "What they said directly was more along the lines of 'This isn't a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.' "

    Palin again brought up Wooten in February 2007 as they were walking together to wish a state senator a happy birthday, Monegan said. He said he told Palin he had to keep her at arm's distance on the matter and she agreed.

    A Palin political rival, Andrew Halcro, was the first to publicly mention the Wooten matter in connection with Monegan. He titled his blog post: "Why Walt Monegan got fired: Palin's abuse of power."

    ReplyDelete
  120. I agree WiO, that it's the left of the world that doesn't like the US. Of course, if (as I noted) millions had migrated to the US there must surely be millions more that would like to. Generally, though, it's been the leftist Amerika haters that have garnered the attention.

    WiO, you also wrote something that got my attention.

    and picture a world without AMERICA..

    Given your recent comment and Matties recurrent theme. I say,picture America without Christians.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Many people consider General George C Marshall to be a great American. Nobel Prize winner, architect of the Marshall Plan and first to be promoted to the rank of five star general.

    Many do not realize that when he was chosen by FDR for the job of Army Chief of Staff he was only a Lt. Colonel and was promoted over 400 more qualified general officers.
    So when you hear criticism of Sarah Palin, remember that it isn't just time in grade that gives one the "right" to qualify for a position. When the Manhattan Project was presented to Harry Truman he was surprised, having been cut out of the loop for the entire development, yet he saved what is generally conceded to be over one million lives by using it instead of invading Japan. George Washington was 44 when he beat the British, Thomas Jefferson 32 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. I think she'll show the world what she's made of when she shreds Uncle Joe in the VEEP debates.

    B Obama has done NOTHING, NOTHING in the Senate. In fact he has only been present in the Senate 142 days out of his entire time since elected. He has Rev Wright, Tony Rezko,Pflaer,Farrakahn, and terrorist bomber Ayers as friends and mentors. He has yet to hold a press conference and refuses to release information about his writings in college or associations with the above mentioned. He is the least vetted presidential nominee in history and the limn of his programs are all Marxists in nature. He’s a con man and even the Democrats are beginning to realize they’ve been had.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Quoting myself in agreement with WiO--

    We should have confidence in ourselves, and make our decisions based on what we think is right, and if the 'world' agrees, fine, if they--whoever 'they' is--don't, well, tough.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Habu--The Lady was bred and born in Idaho, and educated here as well!

    ReplyDelete
  124. when she shreds Uncle Joe in the VEEP debates.

    Moodys has raised my rating from moderately glum to slightly anticipatory given above average future projected returns on performance.

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  125. Slade re: your 3:04

    Righteous dude. The advocacy liberal press has been trying as hard as they can to re write the economic definitions of a recession prior to this election so it can be used as a hammer.

    It's failed for the reasons you pointed out. In part: The economy is not broken but it is experiencing stress fractures from regulatory/enforcement neglect and the newer influence of powerful global capital streams

    The fires this past wek showed 3.3% growth, a figure the rest of the world would kill for.

    So the Dems can't hammer the economy , although they will attempt to use their classic class envy routine. They can no longer use the war. They've defined only a rehash of Lenin's Five Year Plans and have admitted they know that increasing taxation on the wealthy will lower revenues to the US coffers....but they don't care because it fits what the socialists call "economic democracy"....just ask any Democratic Socialist when was the last time he/she got hired by a poor person?

    So they've got no platform other than a socialist one and they have an African American snake oil salesman....this is gonna be fun now with Mrs. Palin taking no crap from Uncle Joe, and Obama without a teleprompter.

    ReplyDelete
  126. Bobal,
    I hate to quibble but that's The Great State of Idaho sir.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Where's Ash in all this discussion--crying under a socialist bed?

    ReplyDelete
  128. In fact he has only been present in the Senate 142 days out of his entire time since elected.

    I leave the math to you others, but, McCain spent X times that in a hellhole prison in Vietnam.

    ReplyDelete
  129. I understand all that Habu. What makes me nervous is the sheer size of these new sovereign funds coupled with the increasingly active role of hedge funds and derivatives & currency trading, the latter two adding no value to any industry.

    The market parasites are front and center - the vehicles that make money by gaming the system. We can feel it already in this country.

    Which is why the old message coming from the Democrats will make things worse not better.

    Been here so many times but just look at health care proposals - one is government bureaucracy; the other is a market-driven plan that allows the public to consumer shop.

    ReplyDelete
  130. bobal, yes –it’s like, “Patton –wasn’t he the guy who slapped that soldier?”

    this is the attitude that sees the human being as a support system for the rectum. - Buddy (BC)


    I'm dead tired of jumping on this guy's bandwagon but jeeze louise.

    It was either Rowan or Martin who said something to the effect if you cracked open Goldie Hawn's head, flowers would spill out.

    Buddy? I just have no clue. I sometimes wonder if I need to pull out my "special sunglasses"?

    ReplyDelete
  131. Same for possum tater and a few others.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Bobal,
    Yes I believe I've commented on POW McCains time in the Hanoi Hilton, with two broken arms and a broken leg, being torture daily and refuseing early release.

    Some chose to characterize that experience as a "bump in the road".

    We are a much more tolerant nation now and can say things with impunity because of the Internet. I would venture to say no such comment would have been uttered in 1948 about a Bataan Death March survivor without serious repercussions to the spokesperson. More than likely real physical harm. But times and attitudes change and those people are fully entitled to think and say what is in their minds and hearts. I don’t think any of us would want it any other way. We fight for their freedom of expression too. (cue band, America the Once Beautiful) That is what makes this nation a superior nation and will keep it free.(soon to incorportate sharia law)

    The prayer before dinner will be given by Imam Ossama bin al Ruhallah. Please grab some rug for the prayer butt up.

    ReplyDelete
  133. Obama, up 8 points after his speech to 85,000 in Denver, was blindsided by the Palin pick.

    He has lost the initiative, with Maverick's VP choice dominating the news cycle, not endless repeats of Obama, in Denver.

    Great tactical timing and selection, picking a VP candidate that is news and not a rehash of the primary.

    Depending upon the stage management at the GOP convention, it should be first rate, McCain/Palin should be at least back to even, by the end of next week. If not a tad ahead.

    Still, it is the State by State contests that must be watched. That Electoral College and the Senate races, 44 seats, held by Senators loyal and true, that is a real necessity, regardless of the President elected.

    ReplyDelete
  134. It's been a surprise to me that the economy is doing as well as it is. The last report, that came out, what, some days ago, showed the economy with some real growth, in spite of all the negative news.

    I have always thought that the President, whoever he is, has very little influence on the economy. I have always thought we are electing a Commander in Chief, and not a Harvard economic adviser, so that's what I keep my eye on in voting for a President.

    Any President seems at the mercy of the ups and downs of the economy.

    The President can however cut taxes, if he has a good Congress, and let the economy have at it.

    Obama raising taxes will sink the economy.

    ReplyDelete
  135. Matties recurrent theme
    ==

    Mat's recurrent theme is that of Corruption.

    Corruption of morals/ethics.
    Corruption of politics.
    Corruption of nationalism.
    Corruption of warfare.
    Corruption of commerce/finance.
    Corruption of news/information.
    Corruption of history.

    It all amounts to the same.
    Truth vs Lies.

    ReplyDelete
  136. That's the official line Bob but regulatory control of the financial markets is critical. It flies under the radar screen for reasons that should be obvious.

    No sex appeal.

    Lobbyists run loose.

    ReplyDelete
  137. The other issue is the size of the global capital streams and the non-value-producing financial vehicles, like derivatives and currency trading.

    No sex appeal.

    No exposure so to speak.

    ReplyDelete
  138. Mat, what I know about corruption is, when I went farming, all these---truly great--American corporations came to my aid with gas, deisel, fertilizer, weed killing chemicals and etc.

    My grandfather farmed with horses.

    If that is corruption, I, for one, am all for it.

    ReplyDelete
  139. We're still running on the engine of populist politics.

    When the real war is being fought elsewhere but quietly.

    In the regulatory arena.

    The "up-tick" rule.

    Glass-Steagall.

    Failure of enforcement.

    ReplyDelete
  140. You dismissed my mention of a Judge, but it DID happen!

    ReplyDelete
  141. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  142. "Starting with the series' first episode, which opens with Moody fantasizing about a nun performing oral sex, the show is rife with romps, one-night stands, threesomes and, in one episode, a post-coital vomit session. Hence, the word "fornication" in the title. "
    ---
    Gee, it'd be a shame if his medical condition prevented him from continuing such great work.

    ReplyDelete
  143. Farming with horses is a god damned pain in the ass.

    There, with correct spelling.

    ReplyDelete
  144. You are correct, amigo, it is not 1948. Indeed, it is closer to 2048than 1948.

    Mr McCain performed in Vietnam as he thought his father, and his father before him, would have. McCain's greatest fear was to dishonor them, with his actions. He did not.

    That period of his life, that was the one major episode where his genetic lineage did not benefit him. In fact it is the only episode where his elitist breeding was a negative for him.

    Mr McCain has ridden that particular POW pony for the 26 years he has been representing AZ, in DC. It has served him well. If he rides it all the way to the White House, then there it is.

    But that episode was not and should not be a qualifier for a life long "Get out of Jail and Collect an Electoral Victory" card.

    That the speed bump metaphor bothers you so, well, a lot of things tend to bother you.

    ReplyDelete
  145. And, I will add, that if we do not keep the farming going, you folk in the city will face starvation, while we out here in the country might still have a chance.

    Bullshit on this idea that our great American corporations, and all their officers are corrupt.

    You take that idea and try to eat it.

    ReplyDelete
  146. OBAMA CANNOT RAISE TAXES

    Any more than GWBush could make his TAX CUTS permanent.

    The PRESIDENT does not write tax law. He does not, will not, cannot.

    The Congress controls taxes.
    Not the President.

    44 Senators will stop any ObamaNation tax increases cold in their tracks, if they stand together loyal and true.

    If they do not, then they are not.

    ReplyDelete
  147. I'm sorry you removed that post. It was good.

    ReplyDelete
  148. Yup, the Congress has the power of the purse.

    ReplyDelete
  149. Shit Bob, you've got some radar.

    ReplyDelete
  150. Sorry...I needed to check some figures and I wanted to do some other styl'n..this was compiled by me from various financial sources, WSJ, IBD, FT,Bus Wk etc PRIOR to the housinh meltdown. The derivatives generated between Long Term capital Managemeny's failure nad today are significantly more dangerous. That is the crux of the continued "unwinding we see in the markey as the financial sector sliced the mortgages inot so many tranches that they are now at a total loss to value what they own. Thus when the FED moves rates the banks remain frozen in a niggaradly creidit position because they are attempting to raise capial to remain solvent. There's not a banker or Wall Streeter out there today that can say with certitude that they are solvent..as Bear Stearns showed us. It's as dicey as it gets with no real relief in sight from an "markey" standpoint now that the US taxpayer has become the lender/savior of last resort. Basically we are totally a socialist country now.

    To grasp how significant this five-fold bubble increase is, let's put that $516 trillion in the context of some other domestic and international monetary data:
    •U.S. annual gross domestic product is about $15 trillion
    •U.S. money supply is also about $15 trillion
    •Current proposed U.S. federal budget is $3 trillion
    •U.S. government's maximum legal debt is $9 trillion
    •U.S. mutual fund companies manage about $12 trillion
    •World's GDPs for all nations is approximately $50 trillion
    •Unfunded Social Security and Medicare benefits $50 trillion to $65 trillion
    •Total value of the world's real estate is estimated at about $75 trillion
    •Total value of world's stock and bond markets is more than $100 trillion
    •BIS valuation of world's derivatives back in 2002 was about $100 trillion
    •BIS 2007 valuation of the world's derivatives is now a whopping $516 trillion
    Moreover, the folks at BIS tell me their estimate of $516 trillion only includes "transactions in which a major private dealer (bank) is involved on at least one side of the transaction," but doesn't include private deals between two "non-reporting entities." They did, however, add that their reporting central banks estimate that the coverage of the survey is around 95% on average.
    Also, keep in mind that while the $516 trillion "notional" value (maximum in case of a meltdown) of the deals is a good measure of the market's size, the 2007 BIS study notes that the $11 trillion "gross market values provides a more accurate measure of the scale of financial risk transfer taking place in derivatives markets."

    The big brains are groping in the dark.

    ReplyDelete
  151. In my book, McCain can ride that pony till he drops. McCain served his country in a way where most men would fail. It was a time where tens of thousands deserted and hundreds of thousands dodged service. Millions paraded to get out of Viet Nam, some for noble reasons and most with lesser motivations.

    It was a period where self became an idolatry of the Left. They did their own thing while McCain did his duty.

    Honor, Duty and Country need not be interpreted
    for McCain. He marched for his country on his knees. The Communists broke his bones but could not break the man. The only get out of jail pass given to to McCain was offered by the Communists and he said "No Thanks."

    ReplyDelete
  152. Quotations by Larry McDonald

    "We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box."[13].[citation needed]

    "The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining supercapitalism and communism under the same tent, all under their control...

    Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent." [14]

    (Speaking of Carroll Quigley, a history professor at Georgetown University)
    "He says, Sure we've been working it, sure we've been collaborating with communism, yes we're working with global accommodation, yes, we're working for world government.

    But the only thing I object to, is that we've kept it a secret."[15]

    ReplyDelete
  153. (Anti Communist Congressman Larry McDonald was aboard KAL 007 when it was shot down by the Soviets.)

    ReplyDelete
  154. Habu
    yeah
    nice spell checking job on you 6:59..
    yeah, composed it eating pizza...

    well, I think I can still read it.

    ReplyDelete
  155. 2x4:


    There is one interesting aspect of Palin’s nomination that I’ve seen mentioned nowhere…
    Her negotiations with Russian Federation over fishing and Russian Navy transit rights in the Bearing Sea. She has actually met with Putin, who said that Gov Palin is one of the few US officials he respects.

    That also sweeps aside the “no international experience” meme.

    ReplyDelete
  156. I invite anyone that thinks our great American corporations are a snakes den to come on out here and try to farm and make a living without them.

    ReplyDelete
  157. Habu

    yeah

    also he has like a bunch of oak leaf clusters.

    yeah, and ?

    jus say'n

    ReplyDelete
  158. Putin also had an opinion of Hillary:

    The former KGB lieutenant colonel appeared to lash out at U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton — a leading Democratic candidate for president — when one reporter quoted her as saying that former KGB officers have no soul:

    “At a minimum, a head of state should have a head,”
    Putin said.

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  159. No, amigo, No need to read John McCain's mind, I know what he said afterwards, in word and print.

    Read "Faith of my Fathers"

    You do not think he was lying in that memoir, do you?

    I do not.

    Exactly, doug, what I've been saying. With regards the Americas, the Rockefellers and other billionaire manipulators, etc., etc.

    ... is that we've kept it a secret"

    ReplyDelete
  160. FUCK PUTIN

    Sorry, I could not help it.

    ReplyDelete
  161. (Anti Communist Congressman Larry McDonald was aboard KAL 007 when it was shot down by the Soviets.)

    I always wondered about that.

    But was still trying to be circumspect and balanced.

    But I ALWAYS wondered.

    As, I guess, I always will.

    ReplyDelete
  162. Rockefeller, Soros, the whole kit a kaboodle.

    From the Halls of Harvard to the frat boys of Yale. Hidng in such plain sight, they are not even hiding. Just that looking and seeing the naked Emperor, that's outside the lines of responsible thinking.

    Now if you desire to protest that Team Obama wants the Justice Dept to prosecute the producer of that Ayers/Obama video ...

    If that is a reminder of NAZI tendencies, then one must recall the name of the Campaign Reform legislation that enables such prosecutions.
    McCain-Feingold

    ReplyDelete
  163. bobal,
    I'm with you. There aren't too many poor folks creating new jobs for others unless it's federal jobs giving them money.

    ReplyDelete
  164. That the Mexico/US border has remained as open as it has, for the 7.7 years of Bush43's tenure.
    No secret about that.
    That there was a dearth of Employer prosecutions by the Federals, during those 7.7 years, no secret about that.
    That Border Patrolmen have been harassed and prosecuted using extraordinary methods, no secret about that.

    Why? Well there is some secrecy involved in that.

    ReplyDelete
  165. You want to learn about McCain, read the book, yourself

    I'm not going to read it for you.

    ReplyDelete
  166. I understand that reading is hard for you, fatulance, but here is where you can buy the DVD so as not to strain your brain.

    ReplyDelete
  167. One more thing NO DR..YOU were the one who claimed it, it falls to you, it is YOUR responsibility to look it up ,produce the evidence and regain whatever credibility you have...I'm not cleaning up after your fuck up..grow up and take the responsibility for YOUR actions.

    ReplyDelete
  168. habu was going to shoot, or was it rape and shoot trish's daughter, during one exchange, slade.

    Doubt you'll find a sympathetic ear, there.

    ReplyDelete
  169. I'm sorry.

    What the hell?

    Never Mind.

    I'm out of this circle.

    ReplyDelete
  170. Bob, the thing that's kept us out of recession, so far, and that kept the recession "short, and shallow" in 01' is Trade.

    WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA, and all the Other Bi-Lateral Free Trade deals W has pursued, and closed.

    Our economy expanded 3.3% in the second quarter. Exports accounted for 3.1%. I don't know what the "final" verdict will be on Iraq. "Taxes" are, always, going to be argumentative. But, I'll guarantee you in Fifty Years Historians/Economists will look back and say, "Whatever his faults, GW Bush did Yeoman's work on Trade Policy.

    ReplyDelete
  171. And, Farming? Horses? Horseshit!

    Bob, I was looking at some numbers the other day. Yields are up about 80% since 1980, and fertilizer lbs/acre is Down 10%! And, You Ain't Seen Nothin, Yet.

    ReplyDelete
  172. Yes, trade has saved USA from a "real" recession.

    But the long-term consequences being what?

    ReplyDelete
  173. Being All Good, S. All through history the "Golden Ages" of Prosperity, and Culture have been Periods of Expanded Trade.

    It's just an extended form of "Specialization."

    ReplyDelete
  174. One of the long-term consequences being

    Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the United States, with just over 1.1 million U.S. employees. ...

    xxxxxx

    ... Wal-Mart is now Mexico's largest retailer, with sales of $10.6 billion in 2003, and its largest private-sector employer, with 105,000 on the payroll. And the rest of Mexico's retail industry is rushing to adopt many of Wal-Mart's cost-cutting techniques.

    "Wal-Mart has changed the way goods are sold," said José Alberto Galván, a financial analyst at BBVA Securities in Mexico City. "It greatly lowered costs with its centralized distribution and systems technology. Now everyone else is adopting similar practices."

    ReplyDelete
  175. Has anyone seriously advocated returning to farming with horses?

    Talk about your low net sum effort.

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  176. DR, incredibly, there Really is a vocal, if not sizable, idiot subset of "Peak Oiler"s that can't get it through their heads that we won't have to return to "horse" farming when the oil runs out.

    Honest.

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  177. Toldja, Slade:
    It's ALL Good, just gotta see it in Black and white.
    ...or Black and Black if Barry is elected.

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  178. Yeah but Rufus what's the End Game?


    Fukuyama or Armageddon?


    Which is probably a little trite but the gist is there?


    There has to be an end game.

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  179. If I can extrapolate, I think that is Mat's point.

    Essentially.

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  180. The "End Game" is utterably unknowable, Slade.

    We just ain't THAT good.

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  181. That's funny Rufus.

    I guess that's the point - the journey over the destination.

    But I still still think there is an end game.

    Or maybe that's just temporal thinking.

    But we will be far into space and probably time before it ever becomes an issue.

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  182. We Do know that we're more efficient, and prosperous when we specialize, and cooperate.

    We Do know that half of all the Scientists that have ever lived are working, Today. We Do know that the Standard of Living for ALL the people of the World goes UP every day.

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  183. We Don't know, for instance, when the next Glaciation will hit.

    If we have a few hundred more years might Science have "figured out" a mitigation by then?

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  184. Very effing true. Good point.

    The comet could land tomorrow.

    Failure to incorporate the larger universe, which of course is infinite.

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  185. Of course, Horatio, There are many things undreamt of in your theories.

    Remember, Nature Bats Last.

    And, Ol' Sol is as "Natural" as it gets.

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