COLLECTIVE MADNESS


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

Monday, August 25, 2008

Hello America, Meet June Cleaver Obama.



Previously recorded.

The Michelle Obama that was sort of fun and interesting was released from an anger detox center in Stepford, Connecticut and appeared in Public for the first time in weeks at the DNC big tent.

Michelle shared her telepromted revised history of the Obama's and looked very nice in a smart blue dress, the blue dress being an obvious olive branch to Bill Clinton.

Michelle also had some very nice words to say about her new heroine Hillary.

Ah yes, but the Stepford treatment was not complete. The hint of the old Michelle was still there, as she saw and described Hillary as almost successful but still enshrined in victimization by the system.

Michelle pointedly noted that Hillary put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.

There was hardly a dry Democratic eye to be seen; even Screaming Joe looked weepy. Unfortunately for me, I am in a country that fails to recognize the appeal of MSNBC, so I am at a loss and also disadvantaged at not being able to experience Chris Matthews convulsed in emotion. If any of you did see him, please share.



135 comments:

  1. Surviving German POWs
    Seek Compensation


    At the end of World War II, the French forced tens of thousands of German prisoners of war to clear minefields. An estimated 1,800 of them died

    http://tinyurl.com/6evmkh

    It was nothing to them...just a speed bump in their lives ...right DR?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought Michelle O was magnificent, stately, and played her part very well.

    Go Big O .. WE CAN !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ...And Senator Kennedy, the true Lion in the Senate showed each man and woman how courageous he is and what a wonderful role model for our children.

    Who else could have given that speech without drooling?

    ReplyDelete
  4. the blue dress being an obvious olive branch to Bill Clinton

    Come to think of it, not only a blue dress, but a blue background as well. There must be some further subliminal message here.

    There was much a-weeping and a-blubbering going on, but I with respect dispute the comment about Joe Phony Hair Biden. He was a-clapping and a-smiling when ever he noticed he was on camera. Pretty good dental work. If he looked weepy it may have been when I steped outside to let the cat in. The cat, who by the way brought in a dead rabbit today, a first for her.

    Joe Biden has been wrong on many defense and foreign policy matters, Particularily Missile Defense
    and
    Much More
    and shouldn't be allowed near the White House, the writer affirms.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It just occurred to me that Habu has acquired a new sock puppet.

    Let's see ya lick your eyebrows, Jill.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I liked it better when his other personas were male.

    ReplyDelete
  7. SO what would happen if either Barry or John died at this point, class?

    ReplyDelete
  8. With a tongue like that, Linear, she could clean out a termite mound.

    Radical Muzzie At DNC in Denver

    ReplyDelete
  9. I haven't seen any of it, I'd fear 'Rat was right and Deuce wrong except that a warm turd would have been well received there, ...what about the general populace on TV?

    ReplyDelete
  10. We'd all be better off, teacher.

    2nd Student asks:

    Teacher, what happens if Barry is found to have been born in Kenya? Does that mean I won't get free health care? Or does Kenya become part of USA Americans? What happens then?

    ReplyDelete
  11. All I've seen is Michelle's speech, and it took alot out of me just to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. . "Inviting a speaker with documented ties to extremist terrorists makes a complete mockery of this emphasis on national security."
    ---
    Probly learned the technique from W and Karen Hughes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yeah but you're not part of the normal demographic, al-Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Since Jill doesn't know how to post, I'll do it for her---

    Krauts Forced To Clear Mine Fields

    Since the krauts were probably the ones that laid the mine fields in the first place, it seems just to me to have them clean 'em up. People will do anything these days to get a buck.

    ReplyDelete
  15. They have a caucus for about every group you can imagine, at the DNC.




    Wednesday
    AAPI Caucus Four Seasons Ballroom 4 (10:00 – 12:00pm)

    Black Caucus Wells Fargo Theater 2 (10:00 – 12:30pm)

    Ethnic Coordinated Caucus Korbel Ballroom 1E (10:00 – 12:00pm)

    First American Caucus Korbel Ballroom (Mon: 4C&D; Wed: 1E&F) (10:00 – 12:00pm)

    Hispanic Caucus Korbel Ballroom 2&3 (10:00 – 12:30pm)

    LGBT Caucus Four Seasons Ballroom (Mon: 2&3; Wed: 1&2) (12:00 – 2:00 pm)

    Rural Caucus Korbel Ballroom (Mon: 4A-C; Wed 2A&B) (2:00 – 4:00pm)

    Senior Caucus Korbel Ballroom (Mon: 4A&B; Wed: 1D&E) (12:00 – 2:00pm)

    Tuesday & Thursday

    Disability Caucus Meeting Rooms 610 & 612 (12:00 – 2:00pm)

    Faith Caucus Korbel Ballroom 4A-C (12:00 – 2:00pm)

    Veterans & Military Families Caucus Korbel Ballroom 1 (2:00 – 4:00pm)

    Women's Caucus Four Seasons Ballroom (10:00 – 1:00pm)

    Youth Caucus Wells Fargo Theater 3 (12:00 – 2:00pm)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sorry I'm uh late for class uh teacher...uh, would you believe I uh went to the wrong classroom?

    linearthinker said...

    SO what would happen if either he or John died at this point, class?

    1st scenario: BHO dies at this point. Hillary gets the nomination. Republicans win in landslide as Democrats run the most hated woman in the U.S.

    2nd scenario: Both BHO and John die at this point. Hillary gets the nomination. Republicans win in landslide as Democrats run the most hated woman in the U.S.

    Tue Aug 26, 01:28:00 AM EDT


    Blogger linearthinker said...

    3rd scenario: John dies at this point. BHO/Biden ticket defeated in a landslide as Republicans have an opportunity to backup and pick a more viable candidate than the one that the MSM foisted off on them during the primary process.

    Tue Aug 26, 01:33:00 AM EDT

    ReplyDelete
  17. Specifically, the Georgian military should be given the antiaircraft and antiarmor systems necessary to deter any renewed Russian aggression.

    Graham and Lieberman Speak Out On Russian Aggression

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  18. The ailing, 82-year-old ex-president also noted that defections have taken their toll, blaming "the repugnant mercenary actions" of promoters who lure Cuban boxers off the island with lucrative contracts.

    hehe

    Castro Defends Athlete Who Kicked Judge In Face

    No gold for the Cubans this year.

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  19. That's too classic:
    Somehow, the left will manage to miss the sheer outrageousness of his entire diatribe.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Who do the Pubs run if John dies?

    ReplyDelete
  21. It's a good question, Doug. Really I don't know what the law is. Maybe John's VP pick. I don't know--is there a cut off date for a party to field a candidate? Maybe there are 50--or in Obama's case 57--different state laws that would control.

    Sounds like it might be a hell of a mess.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm guessing. Probably either party would hold an emergency convention, and pick a replacement for the prime spot. Somehow it doesn't seem right that the VP candidate would be elevated that easily.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Way OT here, Bob, but did you catch the C2C last night on the Mormon Will? That new weekend stand-in host, George somebody from Vegas, did a great job.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Iran buys US wheat for first time in 27 years
    ==
    Russia is looking South. Iran is looking North. Unfortunately, our friendly neighborhood Cold War morons seem to be stuck on 6 o'clock.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I had it on but fell asleep. That was about Howard Hughes. He sure ended up in a strange way, living there in the Desert Inn, upstairs, worried to death about microbes. Strange.

    ReplyDelete
  26. The partial statue was unearthed in the largest room at Sagalassos' Roman baths.

    The cross-shaped room measures 1,250 sq m (13,500 sq ft), is covered in mosaics and was probably used as a frigidarium - a room with a cold pool which Romans could sink into after a hot bath


    FRIGIDARIUM

    Neat new word.

    The Romans liked all the luxury they could afford.

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  27. "Somehow it doesn't seem right that the VP candidate would be elevated that easily."
    Especially if it's Biden!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Doug: I liked it better when his other personas were male.

    One teeny little accident with a CIA-issue laser stone cutter on a key chain in his pocket and Voila! Jill!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Tue Aug 26, 06:29:00 AM EDT

    - that is the funniest thing you ever wrote.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Bobal: Teacher, what happens if Barry is found to have been born in Kenya? Does that mean I won't get free health care? Or does Kenya become part of USA Americans? What happens then?

    The Senate will declare Kenya part of the Greater USA, just like Panama in the case of Maverick.

    ReplyDelete
  31. - that is the funniest thing you ever wrote.

    It's a sort of invitation. If Jill really is Habu, then we'll have further confirmation on why he decided to keep us "company" again so to speak.

    ReplyDelete
  32. For those 1,800 dead, it was a grave by the side of the road.
    For the balance of those Germans, just another day in the life of a POW, in a country that did not abide by the Geneva Accords.

    I guess that we could investigate all those Germans that did not return, at all, from Soviet camps, after the war, but why?

    For thse accustomed to a life of elitist privilage, even running for President is a bump in the road. Maverick missing the sleep that keeps him sharp.

    The Leiberman/Graham and by extension McCain plan for energy independence, by challenging the Russians the US will lower gasoline prices, in the US.

    Pass that dream pipe over here, sparky!

    Finally, the U.S. and Europe need a new trans-Atlantic energy alliance. In recent years, Russia has proven all too willing to use its oil and gas resources as a weapon, and to try to consolidate control over the strategic energy corridors to the West. By working together, an alliance can frustrate these designs and diminish our dependence on the foreign oil that is responsible for the higher energy prices here at home.

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  33. Sleep deprivation, Maverick still suffers from the ill effects.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Where is the Michelle in a thong pic?

    I can't wait ...

    well, I guess I can.

    Since I missed out on seein' Cindy's tits, at that Sturgis biker bar.

    ReplyDelete
  35. We Are Not All Georgians Now
    By Rod Dreher

    "We are all Georgians now,"
    John McCain said in response to Russia's invasion of the former Soviet republic.

    We are? Spare me. You couldn't find one American in a thousand who could locate Georgia on a map, but the Republican hothead who would be president is ready to bind America's sacred honor to the place. And more than our sacred honor, our military might, too.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I would have to look it up; but, if I'm not mistaken, Russia accounts for about 20% of World Oil Exports.

    As it stands, today, Germany would have to shut down 50% of it's industry w/o Russian Natural Gas.

    Absolutely, the ONLY thing the world has going for the future is Biofuels; and, McNuts wants to Kill That!

    ReplyDelete
  37. What may keep Putin up at night

    Russia's economic future looks bleaker after the invasion. Just ask its oligarchs.

    from the August 26, 2008 edition


    Oh, to be a fly on the wall next month at the annual "summit" of Russia's richest capitalists and Vladimir Putin. Will the oligarchs tell the modern-day czar, "Bravo on invading Georgia!" Or might they whisper, "Watch out what you do to our economy." The latter would be smarter.

    ReplyDelete
  38. and they can point to what Bush's wars did for our economy to support their arguments. Mind you Putin would laugh and note the fact that they aren't keen on occupying AND fixing.

    ReplyDelete
  39. If a President McCain be awaken at 0300 hrs, would he know it, would he remember it, the next day?

    McCain and Kennedy, maybe more in common than one would have thought.

    "Taking more than the recommended dosage of Ambien or combining it with other sedative-hypnotics — for example, alcohol — may result in amnesia, fugue states and sleep walking," said Dr. Peter A. Fotinakes, medical director of the St. Joseph Sleep Disorders Center in Orange, Calif. "Used appropriately, Ambien is a relatively safe medication."

    Though rare, such side effects associated with Ambien have made headlines.

    Patients who claimed that they engaged in a bizarre variety of activities while asleep after taking the drug — from binge eating to driving their cars while asleep — lodged class action lawsuit in 2006 against Sanofi-Aventis, the maker of the drug.

    The unusual side effects of the drug once again made headlines a few months later, when Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy smashed his Ford Mustang into a barrier near Capitol Hill. He later released a statement saying that he had been disoriented by two prescription medications he had taken, one of which was Ambien.
    ...
    "Ambien should only be taken when you have a window of seven to eight hours for sleep," Greenblatt said. "Your staff should know that you've taken the medication, and that you should not be involved in any decision-making during that time."

    Fotinakes added that sleeping pills and other sedatives have been proven to be more potent in the elderly. In light of this, he said, "It may not be the best idea for the commander-in-chief to be under the influence when he or she may have to make a snap decision regarding national security in the middle of the night; Hillary's so-called telephone call at 3:00 a.m."

    Other sedatives — such as antihistamines and alcohol — could have similar effects, he added. "Yet, most people would not turn a hair if the president had a few shots before retiring to bed."

    ReplyDelete
  40. I wasn't going to post this, but Doug insisted. Mexico Production/Exports continue to Plunge.

    The latest thinking is that Mexico will no longer be an Exporter after 2010.

    Which means, of course, that they will be just one more country competing with us in the "Import" market.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Or they privatize Premex and increase production.

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  42. Is the decline in oil production down due to depleting reserves or inefficient extraction. I would guess the former more then the latter.

    ReplyDelete
  43. President Felipe Calderon is trying to convince opposition lawmakers to back an energy reform that could give a shot in the arm to Mexico's struggling oil industry

    Which is described as
    As Mexico's Congress prepares to debate an ambitious energy reform (BusinessWeek, 4/24/08) aimed at modernizing Pemex so that it can stem a precipitous drop in the country's oil production, engineers such as Morales are racing to drill as many wells as possible to discover new reserves. Last year, Pemex drilled 700 wells; this year, around 900 will be completed. "Not many oil companies in the world do that," says the 54-year-old Pemex veteran.
    ...
    At current rates of consumption, that oil will last only 9.2 years, which means Mexico could stop exporting oil within a decade. "Unless something is done quickly to allow Pemex to operate more as a real oil company, and not as a bureaucratic state-run firm, it will become a marginal exporter in the very short run," says David Shields, a Mexico City-based energy analyst and author of two books on Pemex.

    That would be a national disaster. The country's treasury relies on Pemex for nearly 40% of overall tax revenues, and oil exports, which in 2007 were worth $44.4 billion, account for around 10% of the country's export revenue. The government has known for years that Cantarell would start declining around now, but Finance Ministry officials ignored the entreaties of Pemex engineers to reduce the oil giant's tax burden so that it would have more funds for investment in exploration. Finally, in 2003, the message was heard.

    So now, Morales is stepping up exploration efforts: Four years ago, Pemex spent just $200 million annually on exploration, and this year, it will spend 11 times that much. But Pemex needs more than money: It needs to tap foreign companies to find enough oil to reverse the downward slide.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Inept management, by Pemex, which was and is an extension of the PRI

    ReplyDelete
  45. Even the NYTimes, ash tells US, this:

    Output Falling in Oil-Rich Mexico, and Politics Gets the Blame

    But Pemex is in trouble. Its production and proven reserves are falling, and it has no money to reverse the slide. Mexico is the second-largest supplier of imported oil to the United States, after Canada, but its total exports are slipping. If the company continues on its current course, Mexico may one day have trouble just keeping up with rising demand at home.

    The evidence of its predicament is clear not far from the KU-S platform. On the horizon, some 50 to 60 miles into the southern Gulf of Mexico, aging rigs billow flames and black smoke over the waters as they burn off the natural gas they are unable to process.

    The major reason that Pemex’s prospects are so poor, energy experts agree, is government interference. The Mexican government, which expropriated the oil industry in 1938, depends on Pemex to finance its budget. Last year, sales at Pemex (its full name is Petróleos Mexicanos) reached $97 billion. But $79 billion of that went to the government, Pemex’s chief, Jesús Reyes Heróles, said last month. That accounted for almost 40 percent of the federal budget.


    The Mexicans are not feeding the goose that lays golden eggs.
    They'l deal with it ...
    mañana

    ReplyDelete
  46. Pick your own stories, they all tell the same tale.
    Socialistic management has failed in Mexico. State owned oil companies do not manage their business, like a business.

    Neither will the Soveriegn Funds.

    ReplyDelete
  47. jill: It was nothing to them...just a speed bump in their lives ...right DR?

    Jill, personally the SURVIVING German pow's could have been fed into wood chippers...

    then we would not have lawsuits by them today

    ReplyDelete
  48. bobal said...
    Since Jill doesn't know how to post, I'll do it for her---

    Krauts Forced To Clear Mine Fields

    Let me edit it again...

    Genocidal German Murderers Forced to UNDO the minefield they have strewn. Thankfully these subhuman murderers who raped, looted and murdered 10's of millions of innocent people cleared the mines they laid...

    ReplyDelete
  49. bobal said...
    Specifically, the Georgian military should be given the antiaircraft and antiarmor systems necessary to deter any renewed Russian aggression.

    Georgians should be supplied the same amounts of weapons russia has supplied hezbollah, iran and syria

    ReplyDelete
  50. Rat, I would certainly like to believe that there is plenty of oil to be had and it is simply inefficient government crap holding back production.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Cali King August 26th, 2008 4:53 am ET

    We learned from the Olympics that we all share the same dreams, hopes, and values no matter where we came from. Michelle Obama is the epitome of the American dream. Barack Obama is the epitome of the American dream. Dreams are destinations, we need only to find the road to take us there.

    Obama-Biden 2008
    Obama-Biden 2012

    ReplyDelete
  52. No, it's NANCY PELOSI holding us back Ash!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Not only does John McCain not know how many houses they own, Cindy McCain does not know how many children her daddy fathered.

    You're no 'only child,' Cindy McCain's forgotten half-sibling claims
    BY RICHARD SISK
    DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

    Cindy McCain has repeatedly referred to herself as an only child, angering her half-sister Kathleen Portalski.

    Kathleen Hensley Portalski talks about her father, who is also Cindy McCain's dad.

    WASHINGTON - Cindy McCain's claim to being the "only child" of Arizona beer baron Jim Hensley touched off a family feud Wednesday with an angry half-sister who was shortchanged in the will.

    "I'm upset, I'm angry, it makes me feel like a nonperson," said Kathleen Hensley Portalski, 65, of Phoenix.

    Her son, Nicholas Portalski, 38, also of Phoenix, said, "It just struck us very hard" when Cindy McCain recently repeated the "only child" claim.

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  54. (whose 100 THOUSAND investment in Picken's Natural Gas represents 3/100ths of Pelosi's Stock investment, according to Nancy, as she said to Tom Brokaw)

    ReplyDelete
  55. Doesn't hold a candle to all of Barry's half-sisters and brothers living in HUTS, 'Rat!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Barry won't send his brother a 20 Dollar Bill in order to DOUBLE his yearly income.
    Why Not?

    ReplyDelete
  57. Gives her a $3.3 million USD porfolio, doug.

    Almost the same as the McCain's combined annual income.

    ReplyDelete
  58. ...the least of us, ya know.
    Barry's Frigging Brother don't rate any PERSONAL welfare check from Barry.
    But Taxpayers owe EVERYONE some of our money to prove how much Barry and Michelle CARE.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Me or you made a Math error, then, 'Rat:
    Maybe she said .03 PERCENT.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Charity begins at home, doug.

    Obama's home was never in a mud hut.
    He owes no alligence to the other children of his cocksman of a father.

    His alligence is to the America he and his wife, Michelle, and his two girls, love.

    "Where are you, daddy?"

    ReplyDelete
  61. 3% doug, is how I read it.

    3/100s of her portfolio, is 3%, I do believe.

    ReplyDelete
  62. I was wrong:

    MR. BROKAW: You just mentioned natural gas, and you emphasized it as well in your last radio address...

    REP. PELOSI: Yeah.

    MR. BROKAW: ...talking about the energy plan. And then we read in The Wall Street Journal that you and your husband have made a substantial investment in the plan that T. Boone Pickens has put forward, which has a heavy emphasis on natural gas as well.

    REP. PELOSI: But let me see if you call substantial 03 three percent of our investments.

    MR. BROKAW: Oh, it's what, between 100 and $200,000.

    REP. PELOSI: No, no, it was between 50 and $100,000, and it's part of an, you know, entrepreneurial package. This is the package we sign up for, this is what they invest in. But that's not the point. I'm, I'm, I'm investing in something I believe in. I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels.

    REP. PELOSI: But let me see if you call substantial 03 PERCENT of our investments.

    ReplyDelete
  63. $100,000 is 3% doug, is how I read it.

    which makes her porfolio $3.3 million, more or less

    ReplyDelete
  64. Taken, together, Venezuela's, and Mexicos's exports to the U.S. are down a little over 30% year over year.

    BTW, going unnoticed is that even Canada's exports to the U.S. have declined a bit.

    Europe's main suppliers are the North Sea, and Russia. The North Sea is falling like a rock; and, even Russia's exports have started declining a bit, recently.

    THIS JUST IN! No Iowa corn fields, or ethanol refineries are expected to be "Threatened" by Hurricane Gustav.

    ReplyDelete
  65. I'll bet she's got a hell of a lot more than 3 Million, you should know that.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Financial status
    The Pelosi family has a net worth of over US$25 million, primarily from investments. In addition to their large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, she also has millions of dollars in stock from publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com and AT&T. In 2003, the Pelosi family sold their eight-acre (three hectare) Rutherford vineyard. Pelosi continues to be among the richest members of Congress.[7]

    ReplyDelete
  67. It does not say POINT 03 percent.

    Which would give her a $330 million dollar portfolio, pretty much the same value as Cindy McCain's interest in Hennsley Distributing.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Isn't natural gas a fossil fuel?

    ReplyDelete
  69. 15% of Pelosi's worth is in a stock portfolio, managed in some kind of a trust, seems to me, by the combination of the two statements.
    $100,000 = 3% which puts the total portfolio at $3.3 million or there abouts.
    And a total worth of $25 million, on that given day.

    Seems reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Bith Mexico and Venezuela suffer from the same ailment, poor management.

    Which is not to say their supplies are unending, but that the time horizon could be substantially shifted.

    ReplyDelete
  71. NANCY DOESN'T KNOW THAT ASH:
    She repeated it THREE TIMES!

    ReplyDelete
  72. You aren't supposed to ask that question!
    The MSM Won't!

    ReplyDelete
  73. Pelosi
    Net Worth: From $-9,292,881 to $86,371,990
    Ranks 9th among all members
    of the House

    Assets: 124 totaling $23,707,119 to $93,872,000

    Liabilities: 10 totaling $7,500,010 to $33,000,000

    Transactions: 37 totaling $2,670,037 to $5,933,000

    ReplyDelete
  74. She Doesn't Know That Natural Gas Is a Fossil Fuel!
    Could the speaker of the House really be this ignorant?

    ReplyDelete
  75. Open Secrets says she's Sixteenth Richest.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Then again, if we are talking "Spheres of Influence"

    There will be more such complicated double-dealing in the future: Does anyone doubt that the current assertiveness on the international stage of, for example, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela comes from the economic muscle that accompanies their growing petrodollar reserves? (Venezuela now spends five times as much as the United States on foreign aid to the rest of Latin America.)

    The Next President's Daunting Agenda
    By Richard Holbrooke

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  77. We can compete w/Hugo 'Rat:
    We gotta figure out how to get Diesel to the troops in Afghanistan.

    ReplyDelete
  78. That's the wrong question, doug.

    The right question is how can the US destroy the terrorist's ability to project power, without US troops in Afghanistan requiring much fuel?

    All the technology in the world, to bring death from above, and we do not implement its use on a scale that would ensure success.

    Not against Russian aggression, not against terorist strong points, let alone the infrastructure that supports them.

    ReplyDelete
  79. 18 Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif)
    $-9,292,881 $38,539,554 $86,371,990

    19 John McCain (R-Ariz) $27,817,187 $36,431,099 $45,045,011

    ReplyDelete
  80. Tue Aug 26, 11:56:00 AM EDT

    Amen to that!

    But not part of the Long War Strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Or even requiring US troops in Afghanistan, for that matter.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Russia and Pakistan are going to force us out:
    We should leave, avoiding defeat.

    ReplyDelete
  83. (forced out by others, not defeat at the hands of the others)

    ReplyDelete
  84. We need to take the battle into Pakistan, if that means evacuating Afghanistan, then there we are.

    But the enemy is in Pakistan, we should either destroy it, or come home, preferably both.
    The method of destruction is just a small part of the debate.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Lifeofthemind:


    @Paul,
    40 years ago people were arguing that LBJ lost the Vietnam war because he refused to nationalize it. Tom Selleck spoke of how he was in the California National Guard sitting on his duffel bag at LAX when Johnson decided not to use the Guard in Vietnam. In WW-II we had people in Iowa putting up blackout curtains and collective scrap that cost more to collect than it could possibly benefit war production. The point was the whole nation went to war.

    After 9-11 Hollywood producers offered to make Why We fight films and Ellison of Oracle offered to produce ID cards for free. Instead Bush channeled Warren Harding and began preaching “Normalcy.”

    We knew we were in trouble when late night comics started making jokes about guys telling girls they must have sex or “the terrorists will have won.” We can mobilize this country. We can go to war, not send a few units around a game board but as a country, as a nation, goes to war. When we do so we do so not like McClellan’s army of nuanced mauever getting boxed in on the James river but as US Grant did smashing everything in our path. We can do this two or three or seven times until dumb thugs in both shitty little countries and big ones decide that it is a real bad idea to tweak the eagle. Then we can go home to drink Coca Cola™ and eat to much until the next time they insist on making their problems ours.

    ReplyDelete
  86. I did not know that about Hollywood.
    Anyone else heard that story?

    ReplyDelete
  87. " jokes about guys telling girls they must have sex or “the terrorists will have won.”

    Boy do I remember THAT.
    That's almost all I remember:

    THE TERRORISTS WILL HAVE WON!

    ReplyDelete
  88. Cindy McCain's claim to being the "only child" of Arizona beer baron Jim Hensley touched off a family feud Wednesday with an angry half-sister who was shortchanged in the will.

    Doug said...
    Doesn't hold a candle to all of Barry's half-sisters and brothers living in HUTS, 'Rat!

    Tue Aug 26, 11:16:00 AM EDT


    Doug said...
    Barry won't send his(1/2) brother a 20 Dollar Bill in order to DOUBLE his yearly income.
    Why Not?
    ---

    It's almost always the same, almost never works. It's why the fairy tales and myths of the world have the figure of the ogre-like step-mother. She'll cut off those step kids like they were foreigners. And the kids and step kids will do the same, to one another.

    O humanity, the inhumanity.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Natural gas isn't a fossil fuel.
    Ladies and Gentelmen, we're in deep shit.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Nancy is part of Rufus's Ethanol Conspiracy.

    ReplyDelete
  91. DEMOCRAT TELEPROMPTERS HAD THE TEXT OF THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, SO THE AUDIENCE WOULD KNOW THE WORDS!

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  92. SFGate: Politics Blog : Democrats in Denver
    Aug 25, 2008 ... We're not saying the Democrats are unpatriotic or anything, but why do they need to have the Pledge of Allegiance on the Teleprompter? ...

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  93. Algore to Introduce the Messiah to the Convention!

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  94. Man, that faggot SF Blogger is stupid:
    His page takes two hours to load.

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  95. (Venezuela now spends five times as much as the United States on foreign aid to the rest of Latin America.)

    Good. Wait until the defaults come rolling in like army tanks.

    Who do they think they are? The IMF?

    See Joseph Stiglitz on the subject.

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  96. "I was often asked how smart--even brilliant--people could have created such bad policies. One reason is that these smart people were not using smart economics. Time and again, I was dismayed at how out-of-date--and how out-of-tune with reality--the models Washington economists employed were. For example, microeconomic phenomena such as bankruptcy and the fear of default were at the center of the East Asian crisis. But the macroeconomic models used to analyze these crises were not typically rooted in microfoundations, so they took no account of bankruptcy.

    But bad economics was only a symptom of the real problem: secrecy. Smart people are more likely to do stupid things when they close themselves off from outside criticism and advice. If there's one thing I've learned in government, it's that openness is most essential in those realms where expertise seems to matter most.
    "

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  97. "Today, Russia remains in desperate shape. High oil prices and the long-resisted ruble devaluation have helped it regain some footing.

    But standards of living remain far below where they were at the start of the transition.

    The nation is beset by enormous inequality, and most Russians, embittered by experience, have lost confidence in the free market. A significant fall in oil prices would almost certainly reverse what modest progress has been made."

    Mat?

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  98. It's not fair to say that IMF economists don't care about the citizens of developing nations. But the older men who staff the fund--and they are overwhelmingly older men--act as if they are shouldering Rudyard Kipling's white man's burden. IMF experts believe they are brighter, more educated, and less politically motivated than the economists in the countries they visit.

    In fact, the economic leaders from those countries are pretty good--in many cases brighter or better-educated than the IMF staff, which frequently consists of third-rank students from first-rate universities.

    (Like Obama and My Belle)

    (Trust me: I've taught at Oxford University, MIT, Stanford University, Yale University, and Princeton University, and the IMF almost never succeeded in recruiting any of the best students.)

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  99. What kind of man is this who wants government to care for everyone but who ignores his own flesh and blood living a life of near-complete despair?

    And there is something very disquieting about a man who has risen from humble origins and achieved enormous financial and social success, ignoring the plight of his kin.

    As the Senator asks us to expand government to battle poverty and homelessness he declines the role of his own brother's keeper.


    Thy Brother's Keeper

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  100. Carville last night was saying there was nothing to the first day. Rush Limbaugh today was saying the same thing.

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  101. I see Charles has linked basically the same thing--


    Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
    Tuesday, August 26, 2008
    Email a Friend Email to a Friend
    Advertisement

    The Democratic National Convention has begun and the poll numbers are bouncing, but not in the direction that most people anticipated.

    The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Barack Obama attracting 44% of the vote while John McCain also earns 44%. When "leaners" are included, it’s still tied with Obama at 46% and McCain at 46%. Yesterday, with leaners, Obama had a three-point advantage over McCain (see recent daily results). Tracking Polls are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day. Sign up for free daily e-mail update.

    Obama is supported by 78% of Democrats while McCain gets the vote from 85% of Republicans. The GOP hopeful also has a slight advantage among unaffiliated voters.

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  102. Not surprising, won't expect her to quote some American document like The Declaration of Independence or The Constitution.

    I do think she gave a good speech though, regardless of sneaking Alinsky into it.

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  103. Mat?
    ==
    Doug, my parents just came back from a 2 weeks vacation in Spain. They were staying at the resort town of Calella, north of Barcelona. On the tours of Barcelona, half the tourists were Russians. These were not the Russian millionaires you hear about (they stay in the French and Italian Rivieras), these were ordinary middle class Russians. You draw your own conclusions.

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  104. from UPI:

    ..."Michelle Obama's message was clear: She wanted to tell the American people, "Barack and I may be high-powered lawyers, but look where we came from: hard-working blue-collar families who believed in personal responsibility. In other words, we know what it is like to struggle to make ends meet but to take pride in your family and your work. We are just like you."

    Unfortunately, it won't work.

    For Mrs. Obama already has been vividly defined, not by the Republican Attack Machine but by her own unfortunate utterances and obvious lifestyle, as in no way "one of us" in the mainstream popular perception. Putting her center stage on the first day of the convention was a catastrophic political error: It sent the message to conservatives and centrists that Michelle Obama in the White House would be another Hillary Clinton -- a wife who either will pull her husband's strings or will be powerful and determined enough to pursue a radical and independent political agenda of her own...."

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  105. Michelle was not trying to win over conservatives, duece, nor anyone that takes issue with her previous statements.

    That speach was aimed directly at Billery backers, as will Hillary's speach tonite and Bill's tomorrow will. Those "grey hites", those ladies, gotta get to 30%, to win.

    That the US believes that the UN means much, with regard Russia and/or Iran, it's still cause for a chuckle, a remorseful chuckle to be sure, but a chuckle none the less.

    US slams Russian recognition of breakaway regions, promises veto at UN

    WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- The White House on Tuesday blasted Russia's formal recognition of two separatist Georgian provinces calling it "irrational" behavior that is rejected by the world.

    White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the U.S. would use its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to make sure Russia's move is "dead on arrival" in the international forum.

    "Russia is making a number of irrational decisions," Fratto said from Crawford, Texas, where the Russian conflict continues to hang over President Bush's quiet time at his ranch.

    The president was expected to issue a written statement on the matter later Tuesday.

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday that his country will grant diplomatic recognition to the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. By doing so, Medvedev rebuffed President Bush's plea to him of just a day earlier.

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  106. Cheney visit to Georgia keeps pressure on Russia
    8/25/2008, 3:27 p.m. EDT
    By BEN FELLER
    The Associated Press

    CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — President Bush is dispatching Vice President Dick Cheney to Georgia, the latest burst of political support for an ally reeling from war with Russia.

    The White House announced Cheney's trip Monday as the administration blasted Russia anew for failing to fully honor a cease-fire deal with Georgia, a former Soviet republic. The administration also chided Russian lawmakers for endorsing independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions, saying its Cold War foe has no authority to make that decision on its own.

    Cheney is heading abroad on Sept. 2 for stops in three former Soviet Republics — Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine — plus Italy.

    "The vice president will be delivering the word of America's support," White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

    Indeed, Cheney's presence in the war zone is a clear sign to Russia of the U.S. resolve behind Georgia after the small country was pummeled by a Russian military response. The vice president is the top-ranking U.S. official to visit Georgia since war erupted on Aug. 7

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  107. Michelle Obama in the White House would be another Hillary Clinton

    More like a combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy.

    [which is not good]

    /end meow moment/

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  108. This, at westhawk, I found interesting:

    During an interview with reporters from the New York Times, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili explained his country’s military strategy against Russia’s recent incursion:

    He also said that he had made a decision not to continue to fight Russia during the invasion, and not to have his army organize an insurgency against Russia, because he hoped to save the country.

    “We had a choice here,” he said. “We could turn this country into Chechnya — we had enough people and equipment to do that — or we had to do nothing and stay a modern European country.”

    He added: “Eventually we would have chased them away, but we would have had to go to the mountains and grow beards. That would have been a tremendous national philosophical and emotional burden.”


    Commentary

    One gets the sense that Mr. Saakashvili is not quite the right man to lead a guerilla insurgency from Georgia’s mountains. If Mr. Saakashvili was honest enough with himself to arrive at this judgment, his choice of military strategy – no armed resistance against the Russians – makes sense. If he was not the right man to lead an insurgency from the mountains, he would have had to forfeit his leadership to some other Georgian who would have had the iron will and field experience to do so. But resigning his office and fleeing would have been exactly what the Russians were hoping for, making the option of armed resistance a non-starter.

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  109. More like a combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy.

    Nancy Reagan always had a house astrologer on hand. Never underestimate the usefullness of a good astrologer, the Reagan era being considered by most to be a success.

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  110. Speaking of Geogria:

    "How Russia clobbered Georgia - and lost the war


    PIOTR DUTKIEWICZ

    From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

    August 26, 2008 at 7:46 AM EDT

    Some critics have pointed to the conflict in Georgia as another example of botched Bush administration foreign policy. But, in fact, America's real strategy was brilliantly executed, and it achieved exactly the intended outcome. Unfortunately, it's not an outcome that makes the world a safer place.

    First, it's important to note that this dispute is not about Georgia or South Ossetia, both victims of collateral damage in geopolitical manoeuvring. It is not about Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili miscalculating the Russian response to his attack or overestimating the amount of support he would get from the West - Mr. Saakashvili is really just a colourful bit player. Nor is this entirely a case of an emboldened Russia striking back at the West for its support of Kosovo independence, or the Orange Revolution, or the Eastern European missile-defence shield, though all of these things are factors.

    Simply put, this was about the U.S. depositioning the only globally significant country that consistently challenges it on foreign policy issues, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was a successful but wrongheaded attempt to undermine Russia's global status by setting a trap into which Russia had to fall. And it was about creating a villain for U.S. domestic political reasons.

    The U.S. realized that, once pushed into this corner, Russia had no choice but to respond to the Georgian attack on its lawfully present peacekeepers and on South Ossetian civilians. Not to counterattack would have put Russia in an untenable position. It could not claim to be able to protect its friends, allies and satellites from foreign intervention. It would have reverted to the Russia of 20 years ago - largely irrelevant, a nonentity.
    Related Articles

    Recent

    * Bush opposes independence for Georgia's breakaway regions
    * Russia backs independence of Georgian regions

    The Globe and Mail

    American policy-makers knew the trap they were setting. Going back at least to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, the U.S. has enforced its own "sphere of influence" policy. It knew precisely how far it had to push to provoke a reaction. Is there any way the U.S. would sit idly by if Russian-backed Cuba tried to oust U.S. forces from that island? Or if Russia built a missile-defence system in Venezuela?

    The U.S. did not lose control of the hot-headed and impulsive Mr. Saakashvili. The pundits on the ground in Tbilisi have a saying: "Saakashvili doesn't go to the bathroom without calling the U.S. embassy." He was played masterfully by the Americans.

    What country bombs its own citizens while they sleep? Would Ottawa bomb Quebec if it voted to separate? Even China, arguably one of the world's most repressive regimes, does not bomb Tibet. The fact that Mr. Saakashvili bombed civilians in the middle of the night is a pretty good indication he doesn't consider them citizens.

    The result of Russia's counterstrike has been exactly what the U.S. wanted. With the international community almost unanimous in its condemnation of Moscow, it no longer has the credibility to criticize the U.S. for its military adventures. And the Russian economy also sustained serious damage. Foreign investors are now delaying or cancelling projects, and the Russian stock market is paying the price. The U.S. and its tiny partner get to express their moral outrage while painting the Russian bear as expansionist.

    This was a carefully developed and magnificently executed strategy. But it fails to recognize how important it is to have Russia inside the community of nations. Russia has more neighbours than any other country in the world, and many of those neighbours are nations we need to engage. The world is not a safer place without Russian involvement in the containment of nuclear proliferation. In fact, Russia plays a critical role in maintaining a dialogue with countries such as Iran that have nuclear ambitions. And Russia is an essential energy supplier to Europe, even if Europe's long-term desire is to diminish its dependency.

    Russia's help also is essential in the war on terror. The U.S. simply cannot go it alone. But now Washington says Russian ships are no longer welcome to take part in the counterterrorism and non-proliferation operation in the Mediterranean. That helps no one.

    The world needs a co-operative relationship between Russia and the U.S., one built on reciprocity. Rather than vilifying Russia, the U.S. should be engaging it as much as possible as a partner. It is not a zero-sum game. Russia does not need to be made to lose for the U.S. to win."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080826.wcorussia26/BNStory/specialComment/home

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  111. For Rufus:


    Biofuel buses could hit end of line



    JEFF GRAY

    Globe and Mail Update

    August 26, 2008 at 5:48 AM EDT

    Amid concerns over rising fuel costs and the growing worldwide debate over the environmental benefits of biofuels, Toronto's transit agency will consider abandoning the use of biodiesel for its massive bus fleet.

    In a meeting tomorrow, the nine city councillors who oversee the Toronto Transit Commission will debate a report that advises the agency to quit using its current fuel, made with 5 per cent soya bean oil, because of "the serious financial issues facing the commission."

    Using biodiesel costs the TTC an extra $1.5-million a year, and because it will be forced to renegotiate its fixed-price contract for fuel at the end of this year, the transit agency has warned that its diesel bill could rise to $97-million in 2009, up from $65-million this year.

    The report says using biodiesel means the TTC's older buses produce less "black soot" and "unburned particulate matter that is claimed to be carcinogenic as well as the cause of many human respiratory problems."

    However, all of those older vehicles are to be retired within two to three years, as the TTC is in the middle of a bus-buying initiative.

    While its new hybrid diesel/electric buses have not produced as much fuel savings as first projected, the new fleet burns 99 per cent as cleanly with conventional diesel fuel as with biodiesel, the report says, meaning sticking with the premium fuel will have "minimal positive impact."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080826.wbiodiesel26/BNStory/National/

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  112. Blogger bobal said...

    ...the Reagan era being considered by most to be a success."

    I guess we could also call the Bush II era a success if you think that talking about a smaller government and fiscal conservatism means larger government and ever larger fiscal spending.

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  113. I think maybe the party with the cute donkey doesn't do so well at pawlitiks but they hierd a few girls frum the Red Rooster and then they went to see mR kennedy to see his brain but his brain it was like ok not to see so they then gone to hurd Michele speak and they was empressed.
    then a mr edwards came all over and axed if he could party like it were 1999 but we just said no. was that ok? he wantededed to us to do his wife a favor but the veggie section, mr kennedy had left. kool huh? all this ritin on this sceen

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  114. theeze cumvenshuns are so full of guys but old fat ones. i shouud a bot more latex masks

    love ,
    krissy and jill

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  115. isn't that tong of mine to go for? i can lick my own stamps

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  116. Rollback, JR Dunne

    Bob, that's a keeper. Thanks.

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  117. This is too funny, don't miss it.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CYSGCoflAA

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  118. Reading Rollback, I had a couple of thoughts. Dunn calls for a serious defensive league of former Soviet states, including Central Europe, the Baltics, Ukraine, and the Caucasian and Central Asian states. Could this league be folded into, or form the nucleus of, a "coalition of the willing" designed to replace the UN?

    If it's not too soon to start the discussion, what about John Bolton for Maverick's Sec of State?

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  119. Hadn't heard of Laser Augmentation before, T.

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  120. It's reported that Putin had to transfer an entire army from Central Russia to do the job in Georgia from Rollback

    Ash, your writer has the US as a kind of puppet master, pulling all sorts of strings from behind the closed stage door.

    I've noticed you almost always see Uncle Sam in the picture, manipulating forces hither and yon. Sometimes it just is what it is. The Russians brought new equipment down from the north, and invaded Georgia, with Cossacks too, to rape, plunder, and burn, and we had very little to do with it.

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  121. Looking for better words than "this" but "rape, plunder and burn" is a telling metric. War is hell. The particular layer of hell that you choose is telling. Like poker.

    That's where we're at - color-coding the appropriate level of violence to conform presumably with the threat.

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