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."

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Better The Devil We Know?



Hat Tip: American Thinker


82 comments:

  1. Other good ads from the same folks Here

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  2. People might want to ask themselves why Obama is supporting Odinga

    Sharia Law.

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  3. Still about Obama.

    "I don't care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right."

    George M Cohan



    George M. Cohan was America's first show business superstar, known coast to coast as a successful actor, singer, dancer, playwright, composer, librettist, director and producer. Once known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway," most of his work is forgotten today -- aside from a few of his songs and the film bio Yankee Doodle Dandy.

    I had the opportunity to learn more about Cohan while cataloging his archive at the Museum of the City of New York in 2002. From variety and vaudeville through the first glory years of Broadway musical comedy, Cohan played a vital role in the development of this art form. I hope you find these pages an informative and enjoyable introduction to the life and career of this fascinating man.

    John Kenrick

    Webmaster - Musicals101.com

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  4. Still about Obama.

    I know who John McCain is.

    Even Mrs Palin is still asking about Barack Obama, because she does not know, fer sure.

    But then, I'll not vote for Obama, either.


    Just trying to educate the folks.

    Later.

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  5. These fellows could have just as easily produced an ad that praised John McCain, played up his myth.

    It is a good story and it plays very well. The writer in MI was dismayed that was not the card Team Maverick played.

    Joe McCain, John Sidney's little brother is in a tizzy.

    John McCain's younger brother, Joe, a onetime newspaper reporter, let loose today with an e-mailed broadside against his brother's strategists who have clamped a lid on the "Straight Talk Express."

    In the e-mail, which was obtained by the Baltimore Sun, Joe McCain uses a naval analogy to make his point. (He is, after all, the son and grandson of four-star Navy admirals. John McCain graduated from the Naval Academy too, but Joe "bilged out" after his first year and ended up a newspaper reporter in San Diego.)

    "...as a sailor who sees his ship sailing into shoals while the rest of the officers and warrants are poring over plans and maps and high-minded thoughts, I make one last effort to ring the bell and put a light on these shallows I see as we steam toward destiny with but three weeks left in this long voyage.



    He pleads with McCain's managers to let those who know McCain best talk to reporters about him:

    And most especially, let those who know him talk to the people about him, through the press. This policy of trying to so tightly 'control the message' by cutting off those who know him from the cacophony of national and local voices -- the reporters and the editors -- is counter-intuitive, counter-experiential, and counter-productive. It creates ligatures and tourniquets that are causing gangrene. It has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press, for he alone among politicians would talk to them openly, without finesse, without guile. And regardless of the their political lean - and whether we like it or not, reporters think and have opinions - they loved him nonetheless.

    Let us talk to these reporters and tell them of the John McCain we know. Some reporters will get it wrong, most will not get it perfectly, but almost all will appreciate the reopening of the gates of information and reward us for it.

    For now they are angry and frustrated -- what happened to this John McCain and his legions who would always talk us? Well, they were muzzled by those without the understanding that you cannot control the media by keeping them from information, but you can lose all their good will. They were misled by those who meant well, but who simply don't know the reality of this aspect of a political race. [I pretend no expertise in campaigning, (but) I do understand the press aspect of it, for I was a reporter for several years, and worked in Press in two California campaigns.

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  6. In Idaho, bob, Rasmussen has McCain up +39.
    More than three times as popular as he is here, at home, where he is +11.3.

    Or is Obama three times as unpopular?

    Hard to tell, fer sure, ain't it?

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  7. The Rovians and KGB proxy that surround McCain sold him a "Bill of Goods", but no substance.

    His personal judgement and strength of purpose not enough to overcome his campaign entourage.

    So he and his campaign, it does seem erratic, as his opposition claims.

    Kinda as foreseen, but percieved as a "hate" for McCain, when it is not hate, but just a desire to see him retire, to the Vortex Ranch.

    Where we should all wish him well

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  8. Why, in heavens name, is Sarah Palin in New Hampshire and not Virginia?
    Or North Carolina or Colorado, for that matter?

    Where is Team Maverick going to hold the line? Let alone fight to take back the States that Bush carried that are slipping away.

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  9. There goes that termite Republican DR, supporting his party.

    You people are absolutely insane to listen to him.

    Additionally Rufus made some ecominmic claims in the last thread that are so far off the mark it's hugely laughable.

    First he makes the prediction that unemployment will increase over the next year, (many think it will get to 9%) then he continues to use the figure of 700 billion in fuel costs continuing ..OK somebody figure out where the logic of that fails? Please somebody but me be smart enough to see the huge disjunction in his statement.

    This site is much better at one liners and a tight circle of friends atmosphere than it is in discusing anything that requires knowledge.

    Rufus is still pushing banana peelins fuel and DR is still the chief ant and he's got nothing but complaints.

    Rufus chimes in occasionally something like "ok everybody calm down" yet will say more often G-damn than anyone else on the site and he'll cry and stomp his feet to 2164 if he can't handle the last half pint and he blows up..what a joke.
    I'm not saying I won't be back but the stink over here is best kept here, among the what, 10 of you who do one liners all day?

    I spent about a year plus away from here with a very ocasional remak but wht I quit here is now coming back into full focus. So have a beer and you can all go back to your knowledge base. Time to stay away and do some reading if I'm gonna waste time sitting on my butt.

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  10. The DJIA is down 503 and change, so far today, at the moment.

    Not much of a rally, almost 1,000 points in a day, just yesterday, followed by a historicly massive sell off, so far today.

    Maybe some foreign buyers will step in, again, at discount prices.

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  11. 10 Million gallons imported every day (down from 13 Million)

    $70.00/barrel (down from $147.00)

    $700,000,000.00/Day

    There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

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  12. Oops, should have been "10 million barrels" imported, daily.

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  13. Personally, I'd rather read the Original thoughts of the posters, here, than some cut n' paste job that I could look up any time I wanted.

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  14. For those that do not remember Col Happersett, here is a short bio of a real US military officer.

    There is some misdirection in a few of his tales, as he still acts as if the total truth is classified and his pension could be at risk for the telling.

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  15. Iv'e been telling you what has been happening in Philadelphia with ACORN. The guys on powerline are running with it today

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  16. Anything comparable happening on the Republican side?

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  17. If there is you can bet your last dollar the MSM would be on it.

    The fact that nothing has popped up yet suggests that either any fraud conspiracy is being run so tightly that there is no leakage at all(next to impossible), or there is no electron fraud on the part of the Repubs.

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  18. So we know that ... including the 1,500 already sent to the U.S. Attorney ... there is ample "Casus belli" for a Federal presence at the polls.

    If Michael Mukasey thinks there is real reason for equal protection action concerning this possible Civil Rights violation.
    Manipulating the tabulated vote with preplanned voter fraud.

    Better to have Federal monitors at all those polls, if the situation is as dire as duece tells US.

    If there are not, why ask why?

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  19. defends Black Liberation Theology and now ACORN

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  20. There was no absentee vote drive that I've seen, though there could have been some in the retirement communities. I'd not know. But the e-mail lists of the GWBush campaign contributers still eludes them.



    John Shadegg calls the home phone, for telephone townhall conference calls.
    Mrs Bush was a staple of these type calls, last cycle. I was at one get out the vote party where folks huddled around the speaker phone, listening to Laura.

    No invites this year.
    Nor for anyone I know.

    Maybe it is different in Ohio or Florida, but I doubt it.

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  21. keep waiting for the pro-Barr posts instead of the anti-McCain posts

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  22. These folks were best described as "Social Conservatives" good church goin' folk.
    Networked everywhere.

    Motivated.

    Just don't see it, this go-round.

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  23. That'd not be in keeping with Bar policy, elijah.

    I posted his sorry assed nomination acceptance speech. A real sleeper, to be sure.

    Here is all I'd never want to know about Bob Barr.

    Our good friends a wiki report this, about Librarian ideology

    The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries.

    Best represented by Congressman Ron Paul, a past Libertarian candidate, and now Bob Barr.

    Bob Barr is no Ron Paul.
    and Ron Paul is no Thomas Jefferson.

    But the basic thrust of Librarian ideology appeals to me. Less governing elitism, a less powerful Federal presence.

    But polling under 3%, not much of influence but a 6%, from States that are not in the balance would strengthen that librarian position in the coming ideological debate, within the GOP.

    We've decided to include past sucessionists in the new Republican Party, as Todd "First Dude" Palin is out on his own, talking up the crowds, in New Hampshire.
    As well he should.
    bob thinks he helps represent the future of the GOP. I believe the tenents expoused by Congressman Paul are the ones the party of Country First should be heeding.

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  24. In Idaho, bob, Rasmussen has McCain up +39.
    More than three times as popular as he is here, at home, where he is +11.3.

    Or is Obama three times as unpopular?

    Hard to tell, fer sure, ain't it?


    Not so hard. Arizona has more urban. There's a massive ground swell of support for the bred and born local Lady Moose Killer. Not so many illegals slipping in with ACORN registrations, all add up. And Boise has Mormons who like Palin's family.

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  25. Ayers [Rich Lowry]

    Not surprisingly, the Ayers attacks don't appear to have worked. You can argue it's because McCain wasn't comfortable enough with them, or if only he'd been more full-throated—and included Wright—it would have made a difference. I doubt it. Attacking Ayers had to be just a cog in a much larger case against Obama (we tried to outline it here). Now people like Dick Morris seem to think linking Acorn and Obama will make a huge difference. Acorn obviously deserves all the obloquy being heaped on it (see our editorial here), but I can't see many people voting on the issue. People are focused on the financial crisis, and unless/until McCain has a compelling, future-oriented message and program on the economy, nothing else is going to help him much. Check out this post from Ben Smith. A Republican consultant wrote him about a focus group where he aired an incredibly harsh anti-Obama spot that everyone in the room believed—but it still didn't matter. Here's a quote from one woman in the focus group: "Well, I don't know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I'm sick of paying for health insurance at work and that's why I'm supporting Barack."

    10/15 01:39 PM

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  26. Unqualified Offerings

    October 15, 2008
    The "Ruh Roh" Caucus

    Michael Gerson recapitulates one of the excuses for the meltdown of the McCain campaign floating around conservative circles:

    The diverging political fortunes of Barack Obama and McCain can be traced to a single moment. In the middle of September, the net favorable rating for each candidate was about the same. By Oct. 7, Obama was ahead on this measure by about 16 points. Did McCain suddenly become a stumbling failure? No, the world suddenly went into an economic slide. Americans blamed the party with executive power, which is also the party most closely tied in the public mind to bankers and Wall Street. None of this was fair to McCain, who has never been the Wall Street type. But party images are vivid, durable and almost impossible to shift on short notice.

    Previous to this economic free fall — and after his transformative vice-presidential choice — McCain was about tied in a race he should have been losing by a large margin. The public clearly had questions about Obama’s leadership qualities. But the McCain campaign also proved itself capable of constructing an effective narrative: Obama as lightweight celebrity, McCain as maverick reformer. Until history intervened.

    What it translates to is, John McCain was doing pretty well at making the campaign about image, but then something serious happened. And faced with a genuine crisis, the public decided it would rather have the black guy with the funny name dealing with it than the war-hero senator it had known and liked for decades. How on Earth does this count as an excuse? "We’d have gotten away with it, too, if not for that meddling economy!" Leave aside whether either candidate can actually master economic events. As Gene Healy argues, people and politicos have outsized conceptions of the president’s role in our national life. And the moment when the question of "Who do we want to deal with this mess?" became bigger rather than smaller is the moment Barack ("Hussein!") Obama pulled away from Captain John Sidney McCain, USN (Ret.). That’s the measure of McCain’s and the Republicans’ failure, not any exculpation.

    Posted by Jim Henley @ 8:37 am, Filed under: Main

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  27. Trish, get with the program and start posting in Spanish otherwise you come off like a peckerwood like me. I'm embarrassed for our country, and you can help us out.

    You and Rat have an advantage here. I'm going to need to get to the linguistic clinic.

    Actually, Obama is very wrong. People that don't speak together don't keep together very well. Things go better if you sing from the same page. The fact that the American language (Bill Bryson) has prevailed so well is something of a miracle.

    "Well, I don't know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I'm sick of paying for health insurance at work and that's why I'm supporting Barack."

    Yup, if someone will just pay the medical bills, nothing else matters.

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  28. MarginalRevolution:

    Power vs. knowledge
    Tyler Cowen

    Arnold Kling weighs in:

    We got into this crisis because power was overly concentrated relative to knowledge. What has been going on for the past several months is more consolidation of power. This is bound to make things worse. Just as Nixon's bureaucrats did not have the knowledge to go along with the power they took when they instituted wage and price controls, the Fed and the Treasury cannot possibly have knowledge that is proportional to the power they currently exercise in financial markets.

    He refers to Paulson as "the American Mussolini."

    October 15, 2008 at 09:53 AM



    No, he just looks like Col Klink. Without the monocle.

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  29. NakedCapitalism:

    [...]

    The Wall Street Journal gives an overview of the carnage (even that word is becoming commonplace):

    Dire economic data knocked stocks sharply lower Wednesday as investors braced themselves for an ugly recession unlike the relatively brief, shallow downturns the U.S. has sometimes suffered over the last two decades...

    "I don't just think we're going to test the lows. I think we're going to violate them and break lower in a big way," said Kent Engelke, managing director at the brokerage Capitol Securities Management, in Richmond, Va. Referring to the possible fallout in the broader economy from the credit crisis, he added: "We don't yet know what that is, because this situation is so unprecedented. Every road sign has been obliterated."

    The Dow's losses accelerated as the closing bell approached, leaving the blue-chip measure down 733.08 points for the day, off 7.9%, at 8577.91, hurt by losses in twenty-nine of its 30 components. The only exception was Coca-Cola, which climbed 1.1% after posting a strong profit report.


    Further detail from Bloomberg:

    The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, jumped 26 percent to 69.25 for the biggest gain in three weeks....

    Stocks in Europe and Asia fell for the first time in three days, helping push the MSCI World Index, a benchmark for 23 developed countries, to a 7.3 percent decline. Brazilian stock trading was briefly halted after the Bovespa index plunged 10 percent. The index closed down 13 percent after trading resumed.

    Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, the three biggest U.S. oil companies, helped lead energy companies to the biggest retreat among 10 S&P 500 industries as crude fell below $75 a barrel for the first time in more than a year. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its 2009 demand forecast for a second month.

    [...]





    Next stop on the pbl: $50 by Xmas.

    Which will suck for the Russians.

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  30. Trish you have to thank the benevolence of the oil companies. They are behind all this as they and their speculators obviously control the price. It was their greed that pushed things up to get windfall profits. It was a conspiracy! But now they are conspiring to blow the air out of those windfall sails and "spread the wealth around."

    In which regard they doing more than Barry, right about now, to spread the wealth around. Except to their stockholders, the only people they have a fiduciary duty to, as far as I know.

    It's an obvious conspiracy to destroy the ethanol industry, just like the price rise was a conspiracy to help the ethanol industry.

    The solution to all this is ready at hand and spoken of by Maxine Waters, intellectual genius--nationalize--just take--the oil companies.

    My head hurts.


    aiyee

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  31. I forgot to add, it's a conspiracy to destroy Mother Russia too, and drive 'em out of Georgia, and keep vodka from the hands and lips of the Russian poor.

    The oil companies have no mercy, no pity.

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  32. The Secret's out on this "top secret" report

    This is the second report I've read this week about the top secret report that Pakistan and Aghanistan are going to hell in a hand basket.

    DC leaking like a sieve. Is there a method in the madness? Let's hope so but my confidence level ain't so high.

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  33. Man, people must really be getting whiplashed with all this. Real stock market s and m.

    The computer trading programs are abuzzing.

    Shifty happens.

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  34. Of course, we didn't learn anything we didn't already know. Except maybe some machinations.

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  35. But Sarah, she can handle them Oil Companies, bob.

    No worries.
    If not we will Nationalize, just like the Federals are Nationalizing these banks Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, State Street and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.


    9 Banks 'partially' nationalized
    Rick Moran
    Can you get "a little" pregnant? Then how can a bank be "partially" nationalized?


    The U.S. government is dramatically escalating its response to the financial crisis by planning to invest $250 billion in the country's banks, forcing nine of the largest to accept a Treasury stake in what amounts to a partial nationalization.

    News that European governments also planned to take stakes in their banks and anticipation of new U.S. measures unleashed a tremendous surge in U.S. stock prices yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average soaring to the biggest percentage gain since the 1930s, up 11.1 percent. It ended 936.42 points higher, the largest point gain ever, just days after the Dow had its steepest weekly decline in history.

    The Treasury Department's decision to take equity stakes in banks represents a significant reversal, coming just weeks after Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had opposed the idea. In a momentous meeting yesterday afternoon in Washington, Paulson, flanked by top financial regulators, told the executives of nine leading banks that they needed to participate in the program for the good of the national economy, two industry sources said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.


    So this is how it comes, yes? Not with dramatic speeches and chest thumping but in the silence of a well appointed government office where American citizens are told to hand over the private property of investors to virtual government control.

    I am speechless with rage. Not one peep from "conservative" economists? Where are the op eds? Who is defending the free market system? Us? A couple of thousand internet bloggers and writers and a few radio talk show hosts?

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  36. Not to worry Whit, the big B.O., muslim sympathizer, has it all figured out. Bush has been wrong on all strategies, tactics, and details. All learned during community organizing and Chigaco ward politics.

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  37. Sarah has had the good sense to advocate utilizing our own resources, break up our dependence on the arab, all part of a one world conspiracy, in a conspiracy with the oil companies, of course. Only a moose killer could be so cruel, to conspire so against the caribou.

    But then, sometimes, you just got to choose sides.

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  38. Here's the priorities of a Blue state for you, bobal. A 14 year old girl in Carnation WA was systematically tortured for years with water deprivation, until she weighed 48 lbs. Her teeth were falling out because her stepmom would rarely let her brush, lest she get extra water that way. She'd get up in the middle of the night and lick the condensation off the windows just to get some relief. Parents might get three years if convicted. If they did the exact same thing to their dog, they'd get five years.

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  39. Yeah, the gov made the banks take some of my money; and the banks went out and bought some stock in the Dubai stock Exchange.

    I'm Real Pleased.

    Al Franken wants $5 Billion in Small Business Loans. Al Franken is a Loon. It should be $50 Billion (this year,) and then another $50 Billion Next Year.

    Of all the politicians out there, it took a leftie loon to make a halfway coherent suggestion.

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  40. Yup, if someone will just pay the medical bills, nothing else matters.

    Wed Oct 15, 05:41:00 PM EDT

    See, I have a feeling, bob, that there are a helluva lot more people who feel that way now than when HRC did us the great favor of almost single-handedly turning everyone off to it.

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  41. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  42. It is a National Security issue.

    The Federals have to domething.

    That's the McCain position. The only difference he has with Obamasan, is what to do about it.
    Total agreement that it is a pressing, urgent, National Security driven need.

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  43. "Bush has been wrong on all strategies, tactics, and details."

    Such is a blithe dismissal of his actual, grievous errors and fantastic lapses in judgment. But I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. I have defended his actions any number of times - not because they were his - but his leadership has been unhelpful to the country and toxic for the party.

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  44. Conventional wisdom is that McCain needs a "knockout" tonight but honestly, is there anything that McCain could come up with that will make a difference? Drug use? Religion? Socialistic background? Foreign born? Soaking the rich? Terrorism? I don't think so.

    At this point, I don't see anything getting in the way of Obama's destiny. He's made a lot of promises, gotten a lot of hopes up. The people want what he is selling.

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  45. Loot the treasury, soak the rich, screw the Christianists.

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  46. "Unhelpful" is a bit of exaggerated kindness, but diplomats traffic in tact. ; )

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  47. At least the world will love us again.

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  48. Or as P J O'Rourke put it, Eat the Rich.

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  49. Don't worry, Trish, the Dems will make cons of W. and his neocons.

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  50. How long do you think the military as you know it will last?

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  51. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  52. How long will the Constitution last?

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  53. I think the neocons will just gravitate to the Dems, which are no more a monolith than the GOP. And Obama has expressed a certain keen interest in active internationalism that is ripe for exploitation. They will keep their hand in. They're not stupid. In that way.

    Whatever else might be salvaged of the many-faceted thing that is the GOP, I don't know. Opposition unites; but it usually does so without clear, agreed upon premises across factions. Which is what landed us here to begin with. And which will, in like fashion, be the undoing of the people that are about to find themselves also in the big driver's seat.

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  54. How long do you think the military as you know it will last?

    Wed Oct 15, 07:21:00 PM EDT

    Can I insert some snark here?

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  55. As long as there are 44 Senators,
    loyal and true, whit.

    Then see what the next rally point will be.

    Where the line is finally drawn, who draws it and why.

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  56. One of the central tenets of Obama's church in Chicago is the rejection of "middle-classness." Wright teaches that his flock reject the idea. For twenty years, his spiritual mentor inculcated the idea into the Obama family psyche. Now, if Obama was sincere in his belief, this idea must be deeply imbedded in his conscious and subconscious mind. If he doesn't believe in this ideology, one must question his sincerity and also his character. On the hand, perhaps he hardly ever attended and neither Wright nor Christianity were that central a part of his life. If that's the case, one would have to question his veracity.

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  57. systematically tortured for years with water deprivation

    That is really bizarre, Teresita. Are you sure about the three years? I can believe five for the dog. But three? Well, maybe, anyway, I know the point you're making, another sign of the times.


    H L Mencken (correct me, if it is'nt quite accurate quote, Trish) said that some day the American people would succeed in putting their fond desire in the White House, a complete idiot.

    They may be putting into the White House a master manipulator who has made complete fools of the American people.

    I've haven't felt this way before. This guy is really dangerous, or I'm deluded.



    Whit, everything seems to have been tried. They wouldn't care if it turns out he had been born in Kenya. Watching the breakdown of a society, and there will be some violence if McCain should win.


    How long do you think the military as you know it will last?

    As long as it takes to dismantle it.

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  58. Snark? Shoot away.

    And which will, in like fashion, be the undoing of the people that are about to find themselves also in the big driver's seat.

    Yeah well, we're in the car too.

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  59. Trish:
    I think the GOP is toast...self-immolated.

    It will be very interesting to watch Obama try to juggle the demands of protectionism for the union working man against the pressure from the internationalists in the Council on Foreign Relations.

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  60. Yeah well, we're in the car too.

    Along with millions of illegal aliens with newly minted driver's licenses, and the ability to vote.

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  61. Since you put it that way, I get a window and I want the backseat climate control and some headphones.

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  62. I want a shoulder haress, an airbag. Better yet, en ejection button.

    Why is it 44, Rat? I thought it was 40. Anyway, the Senate can change it own rules and eliminate the whole idea anyway, couldn't they?

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  63. I had a fabulous conversation last week with this guy about the direction of things under either an Obama or a McCain. I have had this conversation countless times before. More clandestine and covert operations; more DOS. The Big Green Machine has gone as far as it's gonna go for awhile. And that's been true for years now. We're looking at spending constraints and a need for less visibility. There are exceptions. That's the rule.

    Besides, you never know what you can do until you're given a shoe string and some bailing wire to do it with.

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  64. Sarah Palin, I think I'm right in this, but don't have a source, is strict on immigration, so I heard, but remains silent, in deference to the boss.

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  65. I don't think it's toast, whit. But it's not gonna come out of this the way it entered. And isn't that a good thing.

    Clinton, too, left his party a hot mess for years after he departed. Talk to my mother about time in the wilderness.

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  66. (Obvious rejoinder: You mean it isn't a hot mess now?)

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  67. Riders on the storm.
    Riders on the storm.
    Into this house we're born
    Into this world we're thrown
    Like a dog without a bone
    An actor out on loan.
    Riders on the storm.
    There's a killer on the road.
    His brain is squirming like a toad.
    Take a long holiday
    Let your children play.
    If you give this man a ride
    Sweet family will die.
    Killer on the road.

    Girl, you gotta love your man.
    Girl, you gotta love your man.
    Take him by the hand
    Make him understand
    The world on you depends.
    Our life will never end.
    Girl, you gotta love your man.

    Riders on the storm.
    Riders on the storm
    Into this house we're born
    Into this world we're thrown
    Like a dog without a bone
    An actor out on loan.
    Riders on the storm.

    Riders on the storm.
    Riders on the storm.
    Riders on the storm.
    Riders on the storm.


    This is one scary road

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  68. the kool aid drinkers have been hitting at me all day

    from reprints from the rolling stone to simply dismissing any discussion about anything other than blaming bush for the destruction of our country and how MCSAME is going to do more...

    any talk of jimmy carter and his community reinvestment act is not tolerated

    any talk of jimmy carter and the 444 days of shame not tolerated

    any talk of how we under carter pulled the rug out of the shah.... not tolerated

    any comparisons to the economic times of jimmy not tolerated

    obama and the kool aid channels are continuing to right the erratic and unrestrained mcsame off....

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  69. That's one heck of a road. Kind of Rattlesnake Grade X 10,000 or so.

    B.O. I found today bought a satellite channel for his own use for the month and a half before the election. Good tactical move. And, he can be watched by all his friends in the arab world, too.

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  70. "I want a shoulder harness..."

    If you're thinking you might to have to unass yourself in a jiffy, no you don't.

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  71. Trish said:
    More clandestine and covert operations; more DOS.

    Under Obama? I tend to think he'll make Jimmy Carter look like a hawk.

    He has been Obambastic about bin Laden and the Western Frontiers and as DR said, that's where he could try to make his bones, but how long will he stay that course?

    As to his stated intention of adding 30 or however many thousands to the military; He has proposed nearly 300 billion in additional annual spending. Now, with the economy tanking, I doubt that we'll be hearing much about that. I suspect that under President Obama, hot young firebrands looking for action will have to settle for blue helmet deployments.

    But, I could be wrong.

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  72. hmmm

    One of the commenters says--



    sydthepiper says:
    October 14, 2008 11:31 pm
    why not more serious charges?
    Why are these "parents" only charged with felony child neglect? how about 1st degree assault RCW 9A.36.011 Assault in the first degree. (1) A person is guilty of assault in the first degree if he or she, with intent to inflict great bodily harm: (a) Assaults by any force or means likely to produce great bodily harm or death; or (c) Assaults another and inflicts great bodily harm. (2) Assault in the first degree is a class A felony. How about atttempted murder? RCW 9A.28.020 Criminal attempt. How about RCW 9A.40.040 Unlawful imprisonment. (1) A person is guilty of unlawful imprisonment if he knowingly restrains another person. (2) Unlawful imprisonment is a class C felony. I am sure if the Prosecutor's office filed these additional charges, we could get these sorry excuse for humans more than four years.


    That was the line I was thinking.

    Kick Gregoire out, and get rid of all your prosecutors, too.

    Well, I'm going to the casino, where they are having a craft fair too.

    Hope McCain knocks him off his high horse. But I can't stand to watch.

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  73. obama and the kool aid channels are continuing to right the erratic and unrestrained mcsame off....

    Wed Oct 15, 08:15:00 PM EDT

    I don't know if you've noticed, but they're not even going through the motions of stocking champagne over at NR. Writing him off is not principally or notably an act of the kool aid drinkers.

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  74. Whit, I think it's more likey he'd use the state of the economy to hardly fund the military at all. But, I too could be wrong.

    seeya

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  75. A craft fair in the casino...

    Isn't that special? :)

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  76. Under Obama? I tend to think he'll make Jimmy Carter look like a hawk.

    - whit

    I hope I'm not being too oblique when I say by way of comparison: Gwen Ifill and the debate. Think about it.

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  77. I'm thinking hard but I just left the next post.

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  78. I'm not a huge John McCain fan, but I am kinda sick of the one-track, anti-McCain monologue here from DR. I mean really, DR, it is obnoxious overkill. I gave you credit for providing some insights into McCain, but you just can't seem to help yourself from running it into the ground. Maybe you are accustomed to monopolizing every conversation in physical life, but here in cyberlife, that either runs people off, or provokes aggravated responses. When I tune in here, I scan the comments, and if I see that you've posted every other comment, I just close the window and don't read further, cause i don't want to hear you pontificate and others argue with you.

    In addition, I would submit that you have been quite disrespectful of Deuce's efforts to raise and/or discuss other topics - like ACORN's obviously major effort to flood voter registration offices with illegitimate registrations. ACORN's actions are unprecedented in scope and depth, and unchecked, will further dilute the value of anyone and everyone's vote. DR, however, quips some glib, Obama-like comment about how the Feds haven't indicted anyone, so it can't really be an issue. Like the world has to wait on the "Fed" to legitimize the issue before we can really address it as an "issue".

    It IS an issue, whether DR or the Feds agree, and I think its worthy of discussion. I am sick of all the PC cowering in this country from confronting anything BLACK, and ACORN is 98% BLACK and 2% BLACK suckups/wannabes. Furthermore, who is gonna hold Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Frank Raines, Jim Johnson and the Fannie's accountable without taking on BLACKS, who as others have pointed out, are the single most monolithic voting group in the country. Were this group represented by a single image in terms of their relationship to the US government, it would that of the shiftless, lazy-ass, wants-something-for-nothing panhandler. Funny thing is, I have never been accosted by any panhandler that was not BLACK, and i've been accosted by dozens of them right here in ATL, GA, including last week at a gas station.

    I would ask my black friends why it is that only black men seem to lack the self respect to refrain from such self-disrespting behavior. And why their race, as a group (not as individuals), behaves in such a self-disrecting manner. Can anyone spell B-A-C-K-L-A-S-H?

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