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."

Friday, October 03, 2008

Barnie Frank Gets Carpet Bombed by Bill O'Reilly


Hat tip: Doug

142 comments:

  1. Brook's Conversion, or whatever Times Elites Do.

    The Palin Rebound
    During the vice-presidential debate, Gov. Sarah Palin took her inexperience and made a mansion out of it. Where was this woman during her interview with Katie Couric?
    ---
    On Thursday night, Palin took her inexperience and made a mansion out of it. From her first “Nice to meet you. May I call you Joe?” she made it abundantly, unstoppably and relentlessly clear that she was not of Washington, did not admire Washington and knew little about Washington. She ran not only against Washington, but the whole East Coast, just to be safe.

    To many ears, her accent, her colloquialisms and her constant invocations of the accoutrements of everyday life will seem cloying. But in the casual parts of the country, I suspect, it went down fine. In any case, that’s who Palin is.
    ---
    By the end of the debate, most Republicans were not crouching behind the couch, but standing on it. The race has not been transformed, but few could have expected as vibrant and tactically clever a performance as the one Sarah Palin turned in Thursday night.
    ---
    David Brooks Palin - 'will rise to the level of mediocrity'

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  2. Poor Barnie!
    Laughs all the way to Bank.
    ...and a Buttfuck in Bed.

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  3. Bastard will go to his grave spouting his pathetic lies.

    ...then off to Hell.

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  4. Okay, late last night I watched from the foreign policy segment to the end. I consider that I've done my duty.

    My conclusion: Whatever national caliber, political "star quality" many might see in her, I never will. My apologies to the folks at National Review - and to Joe Six Pack, whoever and wherever you are - but I still don't get it.

    Very intense tour guide.

    To each his own.




    But I woke up this morning feeling, for first time in many months, certain that the Republicans are done for.

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  5. I agree. The GOP will have to re-calibrate. Miracles happen but we shall see.

    I still feel it in my gut that Obama was born in Kenya.

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  6. People deserve the government they get. But I guess the founders of the US never counted on Gramsci and his acolytes, who accurately pinpointed the weaknesses of a capitalist, liberal(in the classical sense) democracy to destroy it.

    How do you fight or inoculate against an enemy who figures to burrow into your education systems, your media, and then your government?

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  7. Perhaps it's time to begin considering again what we were considering a year ago: The Republican Party does best as an opposition party. The political stage is going to be reset and Republicans will be in earnest the underdogs. That is, in their element.

    I refer not primarily to politicians, but to the intellectuals and pundits who are the driving force of the party. The thinkers might start thinking again, instead of investing so much in the political defense of one man.

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  8. Not that he hasn't merited that defense at times. He has merited defending from his own erstwhile supporters as well as staunch and longtime detractors. But it isn't just for Democrats that the past eight years have been, give or take a little, all about Bush.

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  9. "hey Bill, this manliness stuff is very unbecoming of you"

    :) hehehe

    Good ol' Barney. Needs some false teeth so he don't look so damned puckered.

    Those morons in Massachusettes will keep electing him till he dies of AIDS.

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  10. I think Republicans need to take a good hard look into their soul and try to decide how the Social Conservatives fit into the traditional conservative school of thought. For that matter the Neo-con ideology should be looked at as well. Traditional (intellectual) conservatism seems to me to be antithetical to the interventionism of the neo-cons and social conservatives. Heck, are Republicans conservatives?

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  11. I agree. This one is lost. The community organizers are driving around Ohio, picking up vagrants and taking them to polling places Their hatred of Bush has driven their organization to a new level.
    My gut tells me that the Palins are good people. Probably too good for politics. If foreign policy expert Biden can talk about the french and us kicking Hizbullah out of Lebanon and the MSM doesnt call him on it....we are truly living in in an altered state of reality. I share sentiments with the poster I read somewhere the other day that said something along the lines of ..." I feel the need to purchase a little shack in the Mts. of Montana right now but of course I am not in a very good position to sell at this point."

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  12. Buddy Larsen is alive and (apparently) well.
    ==

    Glad I could distract him from Grandson for a few hours at BC. Notice he had no answers.

    LT,

    My understanding is that the situation in Zimbabwe is the result of a bailout plan not too dissimilar to that of Paulson's plan. In short, the "fix" would thoroughly trash the currency, which later leads to the unwinding of both the market and the country.

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  13. Ash, you old sweetheart, it is as galling to hear you lecture about a "good hard look," as it is to listen to mat's rants on Lady Liberty's "whoring."

    Soul-searching there shall be. Appropriately, without the input of either of you.

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  14. From her first “Nice to meet you. May I call you Joe?”

    Which was setting up her 'say it ain't so Joe'

    To many ears, her accent, her colloquialisms sounded like a good woman speaking Idaho with an Alaska accent.

    My conclusion: Whatever national caliber, political "star quality" many might see in her, I never will. My apologies to the folks at National Review - and to Joe Six Pack, whoever and wherever you are - but I still don't get it.

    None so blind as those that will not see.

    I watched the video. Hell, I thought she was great.

    Ash will soon be smarmying around today, you can bet on it.

    I don't see how she could have done much better.

    I still feel it in my gut that Obama was born in Kenya.

    I think so too, but I'm afraid what'shisnames lawsuit is going to be dismissed.

    My understanding is that the situation in Zimbabwe is the result of a bailout plan not too dissimilar to that of Paulson's plan.

    :) ah , com'on Mat.

    The real trouble in Zimbabwe is cause it's a backwater of the US Empire, and can't get out from under, we all know that.

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  15. :) :)

    Speak of the devil! The
    Amalekite incarnate.

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  16. Trish,

    It's not whoring unless you enjoy it. And I honestly believe that you do.

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  17. Sorry to upset you trish but when I look at voting republican I am attracted by the (supposed) fiscal conservatism non-interventionist thought and appalled at the social conservatives (fundamentalists many of them are) and the liberal roots of the neo-cons. In my eyes the neo-cons and social conservatives totally dominate the party which makes it not-conservative in my view.

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  18. Bob,

    $1.4 trillion a year on defense related welfare.

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  19. This desire to win at any cost by the democrats is rapidly turning our republic into a banana republic, Joe.

    The late great state of Ohio.

    I wish WiO can give us an on the ground report.

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  20. Mat, if you were down here, I quess you'd have to vote Obama. He wants to gut our military too, which has been quite downsized from the old days, already. And, he's going to do it, too, so you'll get your wish.

    Goodies to Israel will dry up.

    And Iran will have its nuclear bombs.

    Back To The Graphs--US Military Spending

    About 4% of GDP.

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  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  22. Goodies to Israel will dry up.
    ==

    Israel doesn't need them. It's done mostly to keep up appearances and good relations with the US. What Israel pays by not expelling the jihadis from its territories costs multiple times more than the few billion it receives in weapons systems.

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  23. I took my last post down, as it seems it was based on an internet rumor. The judge in the birth certificate case hasn't ruled on anything yet.

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  24. Brave words, Mat, is all I can say.

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  25. About 4% of GDP.
    ==

    Garbage in, garbage out.

    1/ Your GDP is highly inflated due to debt and pushing worthless paper. Less than 20% of your economy can be actually be described as productive.
    2/ Your spending on them military welfare programs as a percentage of income from tax receipts (SS income excluded) exceeds 85%.

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  26. The Folks Think Sarah Done Good video Luntz Focus Group

    Even the democrats say so.

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  27. Oh bs Mat, but I'm not gonna argue.

    Besides, we're goin' to Costco.

    Good luck to Israel without us.

    I just can't understand why all the arabs and muzzies are so pro-Obama.

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  28. Mat,

    I saw you harping on this ratio before:

    "2/ Your spending on them military welfare programs as a percentage of income from tax receipts (SS income excluded) exceeds 85%."

    Spending as a percentage of income from tax receipts is pretty meaningless when discussing spending ratios of one program to another.

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  29. Oh bs Mat, but I'm not gonna argue.
    ==

    In 2005, services industries accounted for 68 percent of U.S. GDP and 79 percent of real GDP growth.

    .
    .
    www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Sectors/Services/How_does_trade_in_services_benefit_your.../asset_upload_file425_10868.pdf

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  30. Spending as a percentage of income from tax receipts is pretty meaningless when discussing spending ratios of one program to another.
    ==

    So says you. I says different.

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  31. As a Society grows it goes through cycles, and progressions. The Yin, and Yang. The pendulum will always "overswing." Both parties are, essentially, led by Crazy People - idealogues.

    One party says, at it's extremes, that a microscopic blob of cells is a human being; and the other party's nutsos would leave live-born babies in a clothescloset to die from lack of medical care, because the attempt to kill it in the womb failed.

    The people understand that the reasonable course is toward the middle. Pure Laissez-faire Capitalism is too harsh for a society at our stage of development, and, of course, Communism is a prescription for hardship, and misery.

    Americans tend to change their government about every eight years. We're going to go a little more Socialistic for awhile. Even "Rich" people realize that it must be tough being a poor person, and needing medical care. The feeling is starting to pervade society that we can afford to do better. Those that are paying attention notice that there are no "horror stories" coming out of Massachusettes.

    The Republicans seem "locked in" to Big Oil, and Big Coal. It's not going unnoticed that California, despite earlier prognostications of utter failure IS going to be getting 24% of their Energy from Renewable sources within a few years.

    It's, also, becoming evident that the move toward bio-fuels is having a positive effect on the economies of the rural areas, and is replacing a significant amount of increasingly expensive oil that must be imported from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and other unfriendly places.

    These are Two very important areas where the mood of the populace is diverging from the Rightward-Leaning Party. It WILL now be the job of the Republicans to try and temper the "Excesses" of the Post-Moderns, and Socialists from its redoubt as an "Opposition" party.

    There will, almost undoubtably, be an extreme "Overswing" on the pendulum, especially if the Dems manage to get control of the house and sixty Senate votes. This will be tamped down in the midterm elections when the "opposition" party will, as usual, pick up strength.

    And, the "Beat" goes on. It's "America."

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  32. Talking about various programs in relation to GDP is more informative but a key variable if one states, like Bobal, that Military spending is only 4% of GDP, is what are the tax receipts as a percentage of GDP?

    In short, the US has been engaging in deficit spending for a long time.

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  33. mat, if you want your ratio to have meaning when discussing various program spending it would be helpful to see how the other programs fare using the same analysis. To only state the military number doesn't tell us much comparatively. Why, for example, exclude SS spending but not others from your ratio?

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  34. Anyways, my advise would be to take $700 billion from this $1.4 billion and use it to incentivize the rapid transition away from oil imports. Let the rest of the world deal with the oil pirates.

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  35. Why, for example, exclude SS spending but not others from your ratio?
    ==

    Because.

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  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  37. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  38. It's not SS spending, it's SS income. We don't know what SS spending will be.

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  39. They don't actually separate out the income for SS and put it some where (like real insurance) do they?

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  40. They don't actually separate out the income for SS and put it some where (like real insurance) do they?
    ==

    I don't know. But if it's a trust fund then it's a trust fund, and you don't touch it.

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  41. Suspected US missile strikes kill 3 in Pakistan
    By ISHTIAQ MASHUD – 47 minutes ago
    DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani intelligence officials say two suspected U.S. missile strikes close to the Afghan border have killed three people.
    The officials say the strikes took place Friday in two villages in North Waziristan.
    They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
    The United States has launched a flurry of strikes against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets in North and South Waziristan in recent weeks.
    A Pakistani military spokesman said he was not immediately able to comment on the suspected strikes.

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  42. "They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media."

    And God bless 'em.

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  43. For you foreigners that sre so concerned, Social Security taxes are put into the General Fund.
    SS benefits are paid from the General Fund.

    SS taxes are just taxes with a name, not of any particular seperate accounting.

    The "unfunded liabilities" that have been "promised" are just so much promise of hope, there is no guarentee of benefit distribution.
    it is approved, year by year.

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  44. The WaPo

    Posted at 1:30 PM ET, 10/ 3/2008
    House Passes Bailout Bill 263-171
    They've done it: By a vote of 263 to 171, the House of Representatives has approved a $700 billion bailout plan in the hopes of propping up the nation's economy, which has been besieged by the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis.

    Banks have failed. There has been a re-ordering of some of the biggest players on Wall Street. Credit has dried up. And now, at the behest of the Bush administration, both houses of Congress have passed this landmark legislation.

    Asked whether President Bush would sign the legislation today, White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters this morning, "If the bill passes, we'd like to sign it as quickly as possible, as soon as they get it to us." Bush is scheduled to depart Washington today to spend the weekend at his ranch in Texas.

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  45. Social Security Trust fund (from wiki)

    "Recent Attention to the Social Security Trust Fund

    On February 2, 2005, President George W. Bush made Social Security a prominent theme of his State of the Union Address. One consequence was increased public attention to the nature of the Social Security Trust Fund. Unlike a typical private pension plan, the Social Security Trust Fund does not hold any marketable assets to secure workers' paid-in contributions. Instead, it holds non-negotiable United States Treasury bonds and U.S. securities backed "by the full faith and credit of the government". The Office of Management and Budget has described the distinction as follows:

    These [Trust Fund] balances are available to finance future benefit payments and other Trust Fund expenditures – but only in a bookkeeping sense.... They do not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the future to fund benefits. Instead, they are claims on the Treasury that, when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits or other expenditures. The existence of large Trust Fund balances, therefore, does not, by itself, have any impact on the Government’s ability to pay benefits. (from FY 2000 Budget, Analytical Perspectives, p. 337)"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Trust_Fund

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  46. And there is your golden parachute, dRat.

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  47. As I said, ash.

    Ye of little faith.

    Social Security is a Ponzi scheme of the highest magnitude.

    One reason we allow the illegal labor to continue apace.
    They pay into the System but will never recover a dime, and have no political power to demand it.

    The larger the portion of the workforce is, that remains outside the benefit loop, the better for the schemers.

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  48. Not my parachute, amigo.

    I've known that reality forever, it is not news to me.
    FICA taxes are just taxes, with a propaganda twist.

    Though SS benefits will guarentee a resident visa almost anywhere I cae to move to, after I decide it's time to go to the beach.

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  49. Not my parachute, amigo.
    ==

    LOL! No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was:

    "They've done it"
    (Fri Oct 03, 01:40:00 PM EDT)

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  50. Some choice quotes via clusterfuck_nation:

    "Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and it does so in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."

    - John Maynard Keynes, Inflation & Deflation, 1919

    "[Currency devaluation] occasions a general and most pernicious subversion of the fortunes of private people; enriching in most cases the idle and profuse debtor at the expense of the industrious and frugal creditor, and transporting a great part of the national capital from the hands which were most likely to increase and improve it, to those which are most likely to dissipate and destroy it."

    - Adam Smith, Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776

    "[Currency devaluation] discourages all prudence and thrift. It encourages squandering, gambling, reckless waste of all kinds. It often makes it more profitable tp speculate than to produce. It tears apart the whole fabric of stable economic relationships. Its inexplicable injustices drive ment toward desperate remedies. It plants the seeds of fascism and communism. It ends invariably in bitter disillusion and collapse."

    - Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson, 1946

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  51. Guy from WSJ, John Fund, who wrote the book on th topic, "Stealing Elections" is on radio talking about voter fraud in Ohio--same day voting is one hell of a mess, the fraud is now rampant. Acorn is indicted in a dozen states. The whole system is breaking down, now, in seven states, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa among them. All you need is a utility bill, or someone to vouch for you. Paying winos with wine to vote. Crack for crackheads. Pushing out election monitors. Obama's got 9,000 lawyers! McCain about 5000. 90% of these tax exempt groups for voters are Obama groups. Provisional votes are a joke. The chaos after this close election will be something to behold, he says. We're losing our democracy with this shit.

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  52. Arizona's Shadegg voted yes on the bailout.

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  53. BUSH CEMENTS LEGACY,
    SIGNS SOCIALIZATION of AMERICA BILL!

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  54. Wait til you hear about a Judges Power in Mortgages, LaBob!

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  55. Now that the bailout errr rescue is to be signed into law

    "WhathappensonMainStreetaffectsWallStreet.

    With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help!

    Use the form below to submit bad assets you'd like the government to take off your hands. And remember, when estimating the value of your 1997 limited edition Hanson single CD "MMMbop", it's not what you can sell these items for that matters, it's what you think they are worth. The fact that you think they are worth more than anyone will buy them for is what makes them bad assets."

    http://www.buymyshitpile.com/

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  56. Excellent, Ash!

    I've sent the form from
    "Buy My Shitpile" to the government already, listing your posts on my computor at $10,000 each.

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  57. I'm flattered you value them so highly.

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  58. Bush signs bailout bill
    President Bush has signed the far-reaching and historic plan to bail out the nation's ailing financial system. The measure passed the House today by a comfortable margin. "We have acted boldly to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," Bush said. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pledged quick action to get the program up and operating. developing story

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  59. "MMMbop"

    Did Art Bell or George Nori Cover that, LaBob?

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  60. They may have Doug, but not sure, as I don't know what the hell you're talking about.

    "MMMbop" ?


    Linear said they were on economics the other night, but I missed it.

    Wife's callin' for a ride...PuppetOnAStringIsMe...

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  61. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  62. I'm flattered you value them so highly.
    ==

    That's because your posts, like Bob's Ford, come with a built in smog production unit.

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  63. Pardon my ignorance but when did France and US kick Hezbolah out of Lebanon?

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  64. (Honest Joe B. said we did.)

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  65. Palin is a Rovian/Vader Tool!

    Naomi Wuff says so.

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  66. Says she's gonna walk downtown and back, then calls me from the grocery story five blocks away. Aging sucks.

    Now she wants to go to the movie "Appaloosa". Is it any good?

    Appaloosa is a breed of horse from here, bred up by the Nez Perce. A Palouse Horse. aka appaloosa Nice looking horse. They have a big breeding program going now, whereas the white devils carried the effort for many years.

    Stocks seem lower on the bailout bill, from looking at the chart on Sludge.

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  67. Trish, maybe you don't "get" Sarah Palin because you are part of the establishment, the Washington insiders, for which she just might be the antidote.

    Check out the Fox News/Luntz forum YouTube clip to see what mainstream uncommitted Americans thought of her. Their virtually unanimous view was that she clearly won the debate. She represents, more than any politician I have observed, Main Street America. She might have a better chance at winning this race if she was the top of the ticket. Regardless, she is likely to become a political force to be reckoned with because she connects with Main Street like no others.

    Here's another point of view on her from CNN/San Diego Union-Tibune columnist Ruben Navarrette:

    Later, when I saw the debate on television, I was even more impressed. Palin loves the camera, and it loves her back. This is her medium, and debates are her forum. She's a natural communicator, cut of the same cloth as Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton.

    Who would have thought it?

    As the debate wrapped up, I was pulling into a parking lot for an evening speech to a local Democratic club. The person who greeted me shook his head and suggested that Palin had faked-out her critics by weaving a caricature of an airhead. Then, underestimated, the lipstick-wearing pit bull mauled poor Joe Biden.

    Could be. The conversation brought to mind the classic film, "The Hustler." The late Paul Newman pretends to be dreadful at pool, and then, with his mark on the hook, clears the table.

    Don't look now, Democrats. But you've been hustled.

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  68. Bob, your errands remind me of a friend. He'd planned to stay home and putter. His wife said, "I think I'll drive to town for something. Won't you go with me, dear?" He being gracious, said sure. When he was cleaned up, dressed, and had the car started, the wife said, "Well, if you're going to town, no need for me to go. I think I'll stay home." :-)

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  69. Roubini Sees `Silent' Run on Banks, Urges `Triage': Audio

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5Gfs29Ih8VI

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  70. "Trish, maybe you don't "get" Sarah Palin because you are part of the establishment, the Washington insiders, for which she just might be the antidote."
    ---

    Thanks for saying it for me, J. Willie, I was just getting ready to.

    How the distinction between a long line of Effete Ivy League Boners and Real People escapes some folks is beyond me.

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  71. Is he related to Houdini, Mat?

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  72. Dismal thought to ponder while piling wood:

    Obama creates domestic corps of brownshirted community organizers/enforcers, dismantles DoD, destroys businesses small and large with tax increases and other ballyhoo,and packs SCOTUS with leftists. You can add as appropriate, my time is short.

    What's the recourse short of blood in the streets or submission?

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  73. Probably related to Hudanit, Doug

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  74. Wiki:

    Early life and education

    The New York Times describes Roubini's early life as follows: "He was born in Istanbul, the child of Iranian Jews, and his family moved to Tehran when he was two, then to Tel Aviv and finally to Italy, where he grew up and attended college. He moved to the United States to pursue his doctorate in international economics at Harvard."[2] Roubini resided in Italy from 1962-1983, and is currently a U.S. citizen[1]. He speaks English, Italian, Hebrew, and Farsi.[1]

    Roubini spent one year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before receiving his B.A. summa cum laude in Economics from the Bocconi University (Milan, Italy) in 1982. He received his Ph.D. in international economics from Harvard University in 1988. According to his advisor, Jeffrey Sachs, he was unusual in his talent with both mathematics and intuitive understanding of economic institutions.[2]

    Career

    He served in various roles at the Treasury Department, including Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs and Director of the Office of Policy Development and Review (July 1999 - June 2000). Previously, he was a Senior Economist for International Affairs on the Staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisors (July 1998 - July 1999).

    Currently, Professor Roubini is a Professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University. He has also held teaching positions at Yale University, but failed to get tenure.

    Roubini is known for his predictions of financial crisis, notably at the IMF in 2006, where he was received skeptically, with one commentator noting his lack of mathematical models. As of 2008 many of his predictions have come to fruition. Formerly an obscure academic, he has received invitations to speak before influential organizations such as United States Congress and the Council on Foreign Relations. As of August 2008, he remains pessimistic on the future of the US economy.[2] He has said that "we have a subprime financial system, not a subprime mortgage market".[2] He does not believe that the United States is entering the next Great Depression, but has said that he believes it will be worst recession since then.[2] He has clarified that his pessimism is focused on the short-run rather than the medium or long-run.[3]

    In the 1990s, Roubini studied the collapse of emerging economies. Consistent with the unusual talent noted by Sachs, he used an intuitive, historical approach backed up by an understanding of theoretical models to analyze these countries and came to the conclusion that a common denominator across examples was the large [current account] deficits financed by loans from abroad. Roubini theorized that the United States might be the next to suffer, and in 2004 began writing about a possible/future collapse.[2]

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  75. Good old John Shadegg lost my vote, wonder who the Librairian is that is running in my District

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  76. h/t to westhawk, for this tidbit

    from Bloomberg News ...

    Colombia, the closest U.S. ally in Latin America, is sending its defense minister to Russia for the first time to discuss signing a new military cooperation accord.

    Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos arrives in Russia on Oct. 6 to attend an Interpol police conference and meet with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov, Colombia's Ambassador to Russia, Diego Jose Tobon Echeverri, said by phone today.

    Santos ``is the first Colombian defense minister to make an official visit to Russia, which is of major significance for relations between the two countries,'' the Colombian presidency said on its Web site. Talks will focus on cooperation in fighting the drugs trade and terrorism and a new defense accord, it said.

    […]

    Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos said during a visit to Russia in June that his country wants to buy fighter and transport helicopters and radar systems as it broadens its sources of defense equipment. The defense minister will attend a demonstration of Russian weaponry during his week-long visit, the presidency in Bogota said.

    […]

    Colombia in addition to helicopters is interested in acquiring Russian fighter jets, air-traffic control systems and night-vision equipment, the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper reported in May.

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  77. I thot Kyl was fine (from listening to him on Hewitt)

    Since then he's been the real shits.

    Shadegg seemed like the best of the best...

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  78. Will be interesting to see what Trish has to say about that, 'Rat.

    All I can think of is all the crap we did for the Chi-coms and blood and treasure spent around the World, as we let our backyard go to shit.
    ...along with most everything else right here.

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  79. So they did, doug.

    But performance counts, more than rhetoric.

    They've all lost me, like the Democrats lost Reagan.

    Will not vote for a Republican, again. Not even Sheriff Joe.

    For what ever that is worth in personal gratification.

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  80. Well, lineman, all I can think of is that famous Vietnam era saying/ bumpersticker message

    "America
    Love it or leave it."

    Circles and cycles, lineman.

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  81. Will not vote for a Republican, again. Not even Sheriff Joe.
    ==

    That's the only way to go in the short run. For the long run, you'll need to completely revamp the system so that it can't be gamed by the oligarchs.

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  82. Why put Joe in with the rest of the Turds?

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  83. What's the recourse short of blood in the streets or submission?

    To ponder dismal thoughts while piling wood. :)

    ReplyDelete
  84. Yeah, what the beef with Sheriff Joe? Least he arrests folks.

    ReplyDelete
  85. The Supreme Court is indeed worrisome. I don't think the other stuff will come to pass. There's always more elections. Main St. would whine. People would turn back to the republicans. Not even most democrats want a bunch of brown shirts running around, at least the dems out my way.

    You're well positioned, sounds like, Linear, for the worst. I'm fairly well positioned here myself.

    If worst comes to worse, we'll just have to form the core of resistance, try to ride it out.

    ReplyDelete
  86. We're already organizing the seeds groups from which the resistance will be mounted---





    Republicans in Idaho have been asked to join with the Utah Republicans and others to help Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin win the battleground state of Colorado. Success in this state will be critical to victory on Election Day. Teams of volunteers are being oranized to travel to Colorado and help. Travel and accommodations will be provided. If you can spare one or more of your weekends in October, your help really will make a difference!



    Darlene Bramon with McCain '08 will need to know how many volunteers will go from different locations around the state so she can make the necessary arrangements, and the Colorado Republican party will determine where the teams will go. Please know that it will be three days of intense work. However, it is very rewarding and fun to be with fellow workers for a common purpose. If you are interested, please send the requested information below to Darlene before October 7. Darlene can be reached at (208) 788-4350 or dbramon@aol.com.



    Shortly after the deadline, there will be a conference call with officials from Colorado, McCain ‘08, Senator Crapo, the Idaho Chairman for McCain ’08 and others. More information will be provided at that time.



    Please indicate how many days and the dates you would be available (3 days minimum). Let’s push the McCain-Palin ticket to victory! Thank you.



    Sid Smith

    Executive Director

    ReplyDelete
  87. He's a Republican.
    Will not vote for either Democrats or Republicans after this day.

    There has been a sea change, with this bailout, at least in my mind.

    If you're with 'em, then you're with 'em, if you're, you're not.

    I'm not, with them. Not any more.

    This is as grand a conspiracy and cover up as could possibly exist, without funnin', there is no choice of a lesser evil between them.

    ReplyDelete
  88. “It is getting harder and harder to find suicide bombers, and all the really good ones are gone.”

    An American Carol

    ReplyDelete
  89. Team McCain is not a lick better than ObamaNation.

    The differences are not even marginal, except rhetoricly.

    Folk may fear what ObamaNation could do, but ignore what McCain has already done. Accepting his positions as a matter of course.
    On Immigration, NATO expansion, alt fuels, bank bailouts, free speach.

    McCain is a maven of electoral regulation.
    He's for Better Government, not Constitutional Government.

    There is no resistance to the Federals, there, with McCain, only assimulation.

    Does McCain represent the conservative position in the Federal Government, today? (si)

    Did he before he was nominated? (no)

    Will he if he wins? (si, si, senor)

    ReplyDelete
  90. Rep John Campbell reports that Big John and Big Barry both twisted arms to change "no" votes to "yes."
    ---
    In this spirit, I propose we, the members of the Bar, go over to sing Kum Ba Ya with the KOS Kiddies.

    ReplyDelete
  91. ...just to show how big WE are too!

    Til then, I'll just be happily humming to myself.

    ReplyDelete
  92. .
    .
    That $700Bn in fairy dust is not going to put an end to the insanely stupid national financial paradigm whereby we export our toxic consumer debt (wrapped in a veneer of AAA ratings of course) to China and other countries and in turn import vast amounts of fossil fuel energy (among other things) while producing little to nothing of value here. (Ironically, this is repaid in kind [sort of] by the way they sell us good plastic toys with the occasional veneer of toxic paint.)

    That $700Bn will not reverse PO or global climate change.

    That $700Bn will not reduce the continued wanton & reckless stupidity of the executive corps at the major American automakers. The billions they got this week will be followed by pleas for billions more later. I can hear it now .. "Quick, give us money, those dastardly Japanese have just rolled out the 50mpg cars .. waaaah! It's so unfair! How can we compete against that? Who would have predicted they would do that? It's so unfair!"

    That $700Bn will not bring universal subsidized healthcare to our nation.

    That $700Bn will not be put to use building a comprehensive public transportation network that allows increasing numbers of citizens to go car-free more of the time or even permanently.

    Seven years ago and change, when the dust clouds still hovered over lower Manhattan and we knew we had been given a mighty blow by terrorists operating in the physical realm, there was no question that the efforts of a minority had resulted in disaster for a majority ~ at least among the locals.

    We have now a similar type of disaster upon us, except that it's national in scale and that it didn't happen overnight (in fact, it was building for many years) and that the enemies in charge of it have for the most part lived their entire lives in this country.

    Had you told anyone, five years ago, that Al-Qaeda would shortly be rolling out a clever plan to eventually destabilize and destroy the American financial system by secretly blending a whole lot of nasty toxic debts into other kinds of securities using some complex formula, giving the stuff the AAA rating and selling it to unsuspecting rubes all over the place, then waiting a few years to let all this bad debt virally infect the whole system, then start crashing the debt, then secretly gloat as millions of American lose their homes, their 401(k) savings, etc -- who would have believed you?

    That's exactly what happened, except it wasn't Al-Qaeda doing the dirty work. Unfortunately for us, the very same financial terrorists who packaged shoddy debt with good debt, who stamped it AAA-approved while smirking behind their hands, who tried oh so hard to disguise the badness, etc, are for the most part still working at their jobs on Wall Street. They are not in Gitmo. They are not, so far, being waterboarded to find out why they would want to so grievously harm the nation. So far they don't even seem to have been indicted for terrorism, yet terrorism it is, most indubitably, if this is the effect that was knowlingly and deliberately wrought by human hands infused with the power of Gordon Gekko's magical greed. Hell, many of these same financial terrorists probably got huge bonuses and lived lavishly on the blood money they received.
    .
    .

    Posted by: Nudge | October 01, 2008 at 09:35 PM

    http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2008/09/the-pnzi-plus-plan/comments/page/11/#comments

    ReplyDelete
  93. California is broke again, needs a loan. I thought that was why they kicked Grey Davis out, and put an imported Autrian in, to fix things. There's a bailout I'm really against. Let 'em drink the bitter Gallo. Let San Francisco pass a surcharge on sex. Let the illegal immigrants in the sanctuary cities pay. Let the Hollywood elites step and be patriotic in the Biden way, and fork it over. Let 'em make their own energy, instead of importing it from Arizona. Let 'em drink seawater. Fuck 'em.

    I'm wondering what Linear's point of view is on this.

    ReplyDelete
  94. If you'd been reading Trish about four months ago, you'd know, Doug: They can't afford our helos anymore and we can't provide the spare parts and maintenance on those that are here. It's the demand in Afghanistan and Iraq. And we lost the business to the Russians.

    Is it a big deal?

    With the platforms come the training programs; and with the training programs come the ability to influence operations.

    So there ya go.

    Santos would have preferred otherwise. But if you can't pay, you can't pay.

    The Interpol thing is no biggie.

    ReplyDelete
  95. They just keep on pushing--

    10/3/2008

    Dear MRC Friend,

    Grassfire has just learned that one of the most effective and
    efficient resources in the ongoing struggle to protect citizens
    from the infiltration of illegal aliens is in danger of being
    terminated!

    E-Verify is a free, easy to use on-line system that provides
    U.S. employers with a way to verify the employment eligibility
    of all new hires. This program has the potential to end the
    unlawful U.S. jobs magnet, and in short, is America's best
    hope for solving the problem of illegal immigration.

    Hailed as perhaps one of the only few un-broken parts of the
    immigration system and it is now under attack from key members
    of the Senate, most notably Majority Leader Reid and Senator Menendez.

    Senator Menendez is blackmailing E-verify, and won't release
    the bill for vote unless the Senate agrees to add another
    550,000 permanent green cards to the 1.1 million immigrants
    already expected to come in 2009.

    MRC Friend, unless Menendez releases his hold, E-Verify will
    die in November. This is outrageous and cannot happen!

    Call you Congressmen now.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Voter registration in PA is a disgrace. How did this happen?

    ReplyDelete
  97. it is very disheartening to see people who care about local issues, own property, pay taxes and their numbers being crushed by these new voting non-standards and rules. I do not see, with this situation that anyone but the Democrats will ever win in Pennsylvania. Anyone can vote and do so immediately.

    ReplyDelete
  98. American citizenship is as debased as the dollar.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Anyone can vote and do so immediately.

    And with a little effort, probably more than once.


    It sucks.

    Who's in control of the Pennslyvania legislature?

    I think it's the Republicans.

    Which confuses me.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Some while back, some democrats in California wanted to lower the voting age, giving 1/2 a vote I think it was to 16 yr olds, 1/4 of a vote to 14 yr olds, crazy stuff like that.

    18 is fair enough, old enough to serve etc. But you got to register, have citizenship that's provable, have lived in the district for a reasonable amount of time, sign your name and get checked off the voter list like we do here, show ID is good, and by God go to jail if you violate the rules.

    ReplyDelete
  101. These reports of voting irregularities, if true, are unreal. Unfathomable. Too surreal to accept as reality...

    This can't be happening in America, because if it is, the implications are just psychologically unacceptable.

    ReplyDelete
  102. Eligibility for Convicted Felons

    The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled on December 26, 2000 that the Pennsylvania law prohibiting convicted felons from registering to vote for five years after their release from prison is unconstitutional. Consequently, if completing an older version of the Voter Registration Mail Application (VRMA) form, a convicted felon who has been released from prison may make application to register to vote by striking through the felony conviction line at Section 9(2) on the VRMA and signing his or her name.
    Convicted felons who are incarcerated on the date of a primary or general election are not eligible to vote, regardless of whether they are registered. However, pre-trial detainees and misdemeanants are eligible to register to vote and/or to vote by absentee ballot if they otherwise qualify to vote under law.

    ReplyDelete
  103. "Why would the Colombian government, a strong ally of the U.S., now go dancing with Russia?"

    Westhawk is completely out of his friggin' noggin if he thinks it was dancing.

    Christ, like the Colombians don't know who's sinking a billion into the nut job's defense.

    ReplyDelete
  104. This is the information you need to vote in Pennsylvania. You do not have to show ID, but declare it. There are students wandering the streets, at bus and train stations, and on every campus with clip boards filling them out for people and then getting them to fill an absentee ballot. Most of the colleges have many out of state and foreign students. The absentee ballot law is clearly being abused. the fraud is blatant. They ask for no ID. You are not required to give a full SSN, just your last four.

    ReplyDelete
  105. The Republicans do not have a prayer in Pennsylvania.

    ReplyDelete
  106. They've got that Montyard feeling

    The Shia already did, in '99
    The Sunni'll get their taste in '10

    The Colombians, looking for any old port in the storm.

    ReplyDelete
  107. What did you guys think Obama's "Ground Game" was all about?

    While talkin' about preachers and churches.

    ReplyDelete
  108. 44 Senators, loyal and true.

    What a delusion that is.

    ReplyDelete
  109. trish wrote:

    "With the platforms come the training programs; and with the training programs come the ability to influence operations."

    aye, the nuts and bolts of the Empire we can no longer afford.

    ReplyDelete
  110. Not enough production capacity to supply US allies with spare parts.

    ReplyDelete
  111. Forget the courts in Philadelphia, the Democrats and blacks own them. It is a black city with a black mayor, a black police chief and there is no hope there.

    Tomorrow the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is closed for a free concert by Bruce Springfield. There will be ONE THOUSAND Obama volunteers. Oct 6 is the closing date for registration. It is a farce.

    ReplyDelete
  112. It is not a farce, duece, it is reality.

    A damned shame, but reality none the less.

    ReplyDelete
  113. No, Rat, they're not looking for "any port in a storm."

    You could, of course, draw the same conclusion when my husband shows up in Caracas or Quito. And you'd be just as hare-brained.



    Trish, maybe you don't "get" Sarah Palin because you are part of the establishment, the Washington insiders, for which she just might be the antidote.

    - jwillie

    And the country is chock full of such "antidotes," doggone it! *Wink!*

    But trish isn't a part of the establishment. She does, through no fault of her own, pass as one.

    ReplyDelete
  114. All this moaning about Voter fraud reminds me of how the lefty nuts griped about Bush's election. Constant whining about Diebold machines ect.

    sore losers it appears!

    ReplyDelete
  115. California leads the nation, folks, in all things, so it is said. The Austrian says they need a loan, hey buddy, can you spare a dime?, or they declare bankruptcy.

    California today, your future tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  116. The difference is there is much more substance to this, Ash. We can watch, are watching, it happen, big time.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Well, trish, if the Colombians were not looking for a safe harbour, they'd not be shopping, now, would they.

    I mean don't the Hungarians or the Ukrainians sell Mi-8s & Mi-30s, too?

    ReplyDelete
  118. If the Colombians were confident of their relationship with US, they'd buy NATO or NATO wannabes, not Russian.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Ash, there may come a time when the sore losers decide that there is no longer a possibility of fairness and will go to plan B. That will not be pretty. Surely, even you would agree it would be preferable to enforce the laws.

    ReplyDelete
  120. Are they violating the "Law"? I haven't followed the issue at all closely but it appears they are working within the letter of the law. Get out and vote! Everyone can vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! That seems to be the message.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Any sensible voter registration procedure should require proof of citizenship, residency and appearing before the voter registration office.

    ReplyDelete
  122. No, Rat. It is far more pedestrian than that here. It is about cost. And the Russians, like us and everyone else, will put in their bid. We regularly (cyclically) lose business to them and others. Just as they (cyclically) lose it to us.

    Affordability is the key.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Some of those 'laws' can't be enforced. How are you going to check the residency of some homeless drunk that has been picked off the street, given a bottle of Gallo, and told how to vote. How are you going to check whether this guy has been taken to three or four or five counties? And they have legions of 'activists' doing just that.
    I could drive down to Pendleton, Oregon and vote there, same day as voting here. All I got to do is affirm I am what I am, like Yahweh.

    ReplyDelete
  124. The Democrats have gotten good, at get out the vote.

    Bush and Rove thought they had it licked. Gotta step up, if you get off the porch, to play with the big dogs. The Democrats have. Playin' Chi-town Rules, just like Obama said he would.

    You do not like the Law, change it, the Democrats certainly did.

    ReplyDelete
  125. wi"o" has been telling us that those legions of activists are unimportant, that they will not effect the outcome.

    Those folk that gave $10, $20, maybe even $50 bucks, they'll be of no account, too

    They won't show up on game day.

    No worries, mates.

    ReplyDelete
  126. All that mattered in the Election of '08 was the Senate.
    The last firewall.

    Maverick's flame out was almost a given, he is playing true to form.

    We'll see what we will see.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Plan B?

    America
    Love it or leave it.

    I hear people talkin' bad,
    About the way we have to live here in this country,
    Harpin' on the wars we fight,
    An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be.
    An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides,
    An' standin' up for things they believe in.
    When they're runnin' down my country, man,
    They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
    Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
    Runnin' down the way of life,
    Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
    If you don't love it, leave it:
    Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
    If you're runnin' down my country, man,

    You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

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

    ReplyDelete
  129. "Democracy is coming, to the USA" a little more Don Henley, singing Leonard Cohen's Democracy.

    ReplyDelete
  130. Bob: "I'm wondering what Linear's point of view is on this."

    Radio was on while stacking wood and tidying up ahead of the storm. Guest host from Sacramento, a conservative columnist. Said his wife, I assume an attorney, was representing a "commuter" alien in some action or other. Guy gets scooped up, deported, and he's back in 30 days or so. Has a house purchased with the liars' loan program a couple years ago. Can't, or won't, make his payments, but is now able to get out of the deal for something like $50G in his pocket to take back to Mexico. I can't speak to the details of how this is possible. Rat told us it was happening, so I'm not totally blindsided.

    Tom McClintock opposed Arnold in the primaries back when Gray Davis was kicked out. Arnold prevailed based on his popularity. McClintock is smart, competent, and trustworthy. The party had rallied around Swartzeneger as the more likely to carry it off vs Davis, as I recall. I think I voted for Tom in the primary, and Arnold later. Arnie's disappointed everyone in his own party, far as I can tell. Tom made a run at State Controller, and is now a state senator. California politics is a zoo, as you know. If I didn't have things to tend to here, I'd sign on with your Idaho folks going to Colorado.

    ReplyDelete
  131. California today, your future tomorrow.

    Get ready, Bob. Look at Montana, Oregon, Washington, Colorado...

    ReplyDelete
  132. Blogger Ash said...

    All this moaning about Voter fraud reminds me of how the lefty nuts griped about Bush's election. Constant whining about Diebold machines ect.

    sore losers it appears!

    Fri Oct 03, 09:19:00 PM EDT


    Your head is in rectal defilade.

    ReplyDelete
  133. What's the recourse short of blood in the streets or submission?

    Rat: Well, lineman, all I can think of is that famous Vietnam era saying/ bumpersticker message

    "America
    Love it or leave it."


    Seems you're speaking in riddles, or you didn't understand the question, Rat. I'll give you credit for not choosing submission, so I guess your solution is blood in the streets, if it comes to that. Fair enough. See ya there.

    ReplyDelete
  134. I think we continue the long slide until a bottoming event occurs. I'm curious what will spin off then. The meltdown/bailout is just a bump on that slide.

    I've been surprised before. Hope I am this time.

    Or, will it all come to a pass like happened to that brave cowboy, rundown on an interstate by a big rig full of flush toilets?

    ReplyDelete
  135. Actually, I guess I am a part of the establishment.

    Were it a monolithic thing.

    Nevertheless.

    We'll keep on keeping on.

    Because that's what we do.

    ReplyDelete