COLLECTIVE MADNESS


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

Monday, November 17, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama


Watch CBS Videos Online


70 comments:

  1. Do not let your sexual disfunction get in the way of your rants.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unless you play for my team and the cat's got your tongue.

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  3. When the oil companies and auto manufacturers do not advertise, that leaves the Pharmacuticals to pick up the slack.

    Hobbies change

    Materialism gives way to hedonistic delights, in the new America.

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  4. CBS) Kroft: Can you give us some sense of when you might start redeployments out of Iraq?

    Mr. Obama: Well, I've said during the campaign, and I've stuck to this commitment, that as soon as I take office, I will call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, my national security apparatus, and we will start executing a plan that draws down our troops. Particularly in light of the problems that we're having in Afghanistan, which has continued to worsen. We've got to shore up those efforts.

    Kroft: Where does capturing or killing Osama bin Laden fall?

    Mr. Obama: I think it is a top priority for us to stamp out al Qaeda once and for all. And I think capturing or killing bin Laden is a critical aspect of stamping out al Qaeda. He is not just a symbol, he's also the operational leader of an organization that is planning attacks against US targets.
    ...
    Mr. Obama: Yeah. I've been spending a lot of time reading Lincoln. There is a wisdom there and a humility about his approach to government, even before he was president, that I just find very helpful.

    Kroft: Put a lot of his political enemies in his cabinet.

    Mr. Obama: He did.

    Kroft: Is that something you're considering?

    Mr. Obama: Well, I tell you what, I find him a very wise man.


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  5. people had to sue the Federals, to allow standing room viewing of their Government and of their Government, them.
    Something Team43 had actively tried to curtail.

    Not wanting to leave the cocoon of comfort and travel amongst, or even see, the common folk.

    WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration is expected to draw 1 million-plus to the capital, and already some lawmakers have stopped taking ticket requests and hotels have booked up.

    Some people are bartering on Craigslist for places to stay for the Jan. 20 ceremony when the Illinois senator takes the oath of office. They are offering cash or even help with dishes for residents willing to open up their homes.

    The National Park Service, which is planning for an inaugural crowd of at least 1 million, will clear more viewing space along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. Jumbo TV screens will line the National Mall so people can watch the inauguration and parade, park service spokesman David Barna said Thursday.

    ...

    "You can't judge by past inaugurations. It's going to break all the records," Norton said. "They're going to come with or without tickets. ... It's each man and woman for himself."

    The city's police chief, Cathy Lanier, said organizers brought in an additional 3,000 officers from forces around the country to help with the last inauguration. This time, the request probably will be for about 4,000 officers.

    Because of a lawsuit, people should have more standing room along the crowded parade route. War protesters sued after President George W. Bush's last inauguration, forcing the government to open up more free public viewing space between the Capitol and White House

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  6. The largest crowd ever recorded on the National Mall was for President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 inauguration. At the time, the park service estimated 1.2 million people descended on the area. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan's inauguration drew about 500,000 people, and President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration drew about 800,000 people, according to park service estimates.

    Of course, the crowds can always thin out. Ronald Reagan's second swearing-in ceremony had to be moved indoors, and the parade was canceled when the temperature dropped below 10 degrees (with a wind chill at 10 degrees to 20 degrees below zero.) John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961 came with a blanket of snow; still, 1 million people turned out.

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  7. I have to believe for most people the inauguration cannot come fast enough or as someone once said, "Let's get it on."

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  8. I have to believe for most people the inauguration cannot come fast enough or as someone once said, "Let's get it on."

    The sooner Barry takes office, the easier it will be to call this the Obama recession, just like 9-11 and the ensuing recession were partly Clinton's fault.

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  9. Somalis hijack Saudi oil tanker
    ==

    Good.

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  10. RGE monitor:

    20 Reasons Why the U.S. Consumer is Capitulating, thus Triggering the Worst U.S. Recession in Decades

    Nouriel Roubini | Nov 14, 2008

    Today’s news about October retail sales (-2.8% relative to the previous month and now down in real terms for five months in a row) confirm what this forum has been arguing for a while, i.e. that the U.S. has entered its most severe consumer-led recession in decades. At this rate of free fall in consumption real GDP growth could be a whopping 5% negative or even worse in Q4 of 2008. And this is not a temporary phenomenon as almost all of the fundamentals driving consumption are heading south on a persistent and structural basis. Consider the many severe negative factors affecting consumption. One can count at least 20 separate or complementary causes that will sharply reduce consumption in the next several years...


    Yves provides the 20-item rundown at nakedcapitalism.com.



    Seems to me Obama might wanna wind up his inaugural address thusly: Alright, you goofy bastards, now get out there and *buy* shit.

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  11. Geez, head cheerleader rino rat giving us a two bits ,four bits, six bits , a dollar, all for Obama stand up and holler.

    I'm gonna hurl; toward Scottsdale. Although rino rat would write it this way.

    Two bits, four bits, etc, etc.

    Gotta have the italics.

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  12. Bin Laden's not the operational head of AQ. S'okay. No reason not to kill him.

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  13. Bin Laden's not the operational head of AQ. S'okay.
    ==

    That would be the CIA.

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  14. $500Bn cut to the military budget would free lots of misspent tax dollars back into the Consumer's hands.

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  15. National Press Club November 5, 2008
    Posted by Chairman Mike Duncan in Uncategorized.
    Tags: chairman mike duncan, rnc
    trackback

    Earlier this afternoon, I participated in the National Press Club’s Luncheon which featured both DNC Chair Howard Dean and myself. We both gave remarks regarding the outcome of the election and took questions from both press and attending guests.



    I spoke on how America has finally realized a vision of a color-blind society that was first inspired the Republican Party into being on the eve of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday. I noted that our vice-presidential nominee – Sarah Palin – received more votes than any woman in American history. In all, with Barack Obama’s promises to cut taxes, merit pay for public school teachers, and renewed offshore drilling, I would say he simply ran the most successful moderate Republican presidential campaign since Dwight Eisenhower.



    In reflection, what has changed since 2004 is not the national philosophy, but the national mood. President-elect Obama leads a center-left party, but he must now govern a center-right nation.

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  16. I think this recession might be surprisingly short. The thing is we got most of the really bad stuff up front, immediately.

    There's a lot of other "techie stuff," (business inventories, lean; business' cash balances, strong, etc) but I'll spare you.

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  17. What you require, mat, is not budget cuts, but a wholesale dismantling of the national security apparatus. Otherwise we're simply left to cause more trouble with less. It appeals to our latent ingenuity and sense of sacrifice.



    If the recession is shallow and brief, however, there may even be no end to the deliciously conspiratorial gravy train that is our national defense.

    Mojito, anyone?

    It's a holiday here.

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  18. Marginalrevolution.com:

    The wisdom of Bruce Bartlett
    Tyler Cowen

    I think it would be a terrible mistake to simply write a check to the auto industry without demanding major, major restructuring of its labor contracts. Without that the money will simply go down a rat hole and the automakers will just be back again in a year or two asking for more money. Obama has a strong hand to play here and I hope he uses his leverage. With bankruptcy as the only alternative to federal aid, he can drive a very hard bargain with the auto workers. If he caves and just writes a blank check, everyone will know he can be rolled and he will pay a heavy political price for it. If Obama shows toughness on this issue, I think it will pay enormous dividends for him down the road.

    Via Brad DeLong, Bruce is now blogging. And if you want some provocation, here is Kevin Drum on the idea of a GM bailout. And Felix Salmon has some interesting ideas.

    November 16, 2008 at 09:07 PM in Current Affairs

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  19. If the recession is shallow and brief, however, there may even be no end to the deliciously conspiratorial gravy train that is our national defense.
    ==

    The recession has nothing to do with it.

    You are approaching levels of debt and deficits that will soon render you functionally bankrupt. Peak oil will only exacerbate this condition, unless drastic measure are taken to reduce US oil consumption.

    Furthermore, by any rational standard, the US military budget needs to shrink by a factor of 10. And even then it would be over-bloated by a good 50% as compared to the others..

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  20. Pat Lang responds to timesonline article in re Obama's ME intentions:

    [...]

    It is true that optimism is the soul of diplomacy, but a measure of realism should be accepted in exercising that optimism. The list of issues between Israel and the members of the Arab League is too long to enumerate here. Are we to believe that these issues will all be resolved in a way that has never occurred before so that a future general meeting of the Arab League votes to declare the "Peaceable Kingdom?" Are we to believe that an Israeli government of the day will yield gracefully to the demands of these many Arab "players" to produce this happy condition?

    This is nonsense. Liberal partisans of Israel have long sought such an outcome. There are many such among Obama's backers. They will be disappointed again, a sad thing, but the truth.

    Is there any possibility that the "Happy Valley" scenario of the "Abdullah Plan" might unexpectedly succeed? Yes! Certainly! There could be a wave of good will and/or emotional exhaustion with conflict that might sweep the region and carry all before it. I will welcome this if it happens, but will not hold my breath until then.

    And then there is what is reported in the Times on Line piece of the supposed Dennis Ross plan for dealing with the Iranian missile and nuclear programs. He is reported to think that Russia can be persuaded to "muscle" the Iranians into giving up these programs. What would be the Russian motivation? An American cancellation of anti-Iranian missile emplacements in eastern Europe? Do we want to "outsource" our diplomacy to Russia? One must ask why the Iranians would yield to Russian pressure. They have not yielded to any other pressure.

    I do not believe in the Tooth Fairy. I do not believe in sacrificing the interests of the United States to benefit any other country. I do not believe in sudden outbreaks of good will.

    I believe in hard headed negotiations on a country by country basis to reach attainable results. To do that one must be willing to compromise, and to bargain seeking win-win solutions.

    If President Obama goes down the road outlined in the Times on Line piece, then at the end of his first year in office he will have accomplished nothing in the Middle East. pl









    Really, mat. Have a mojito. It may help you dig deeper into your paranoid fantasies.

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  21. Trish, I think it "might" be shorter than some think. It won't be "shallow." It's already cutting pretty "deep." This sucker's gonna leave a welt.

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  22. Really, mat. Have a mojito. It may help you dig deeper into your paranoid fantasies.
    ==

    The days of the dollars racket will soon come to an end. Best to plan ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You can then wander over to Belmont and share your special insights with the blithely ignorant there.

    You just may lead them out of the wilderness, mat.

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  24. I sincerely hope you're right, rufus.
    I have my doots.

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  25. You just may lead them out of the wilderness, mat.
    ==

    They're already there. They just don't know it yet.

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  26. I have my doots.

    You'd be crazy if you didn't.

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  27. 20 BioScapes Contest Photos:

    http://www.sciam.com/slideshow.cfm?id=bioscapes-contest-photos

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  28. Lee Hamilton, said to be an Obama insider, writes about the way forward, there.

    Not all that encouraging a scenario is presented by Mr Hamilton, not much chance of success, based upon past US performance at the mission

    But, even with the right military, economic and political resources, the U.S. faces an enormous challenge, nation-building in a country of 170 million people. The United States needs a unity of effort in support of the Pakistani government, the Pakistani people and our own national security interests.

    ... the U.S. faces an enormous challenge, nation-building in a country of 170 million people. ...

    Still, no one wants to embrace the Cheney Doctrine, of 1991

    Which was right as rain, as the "conservative" position.

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  29. After all those years, Lester is going to be a real influence behind throne.

    Team Crown will settle into the West Wing.

    CHICAGO -- A generation ago, it was a big deal when the late Mayor Richard J. Daley was invited to sleep in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom after delivering Illinois and the 1960 presidential election to fellow Democrat John F. Kennedy.

    It was a striking sign that an Irish Catholic from the South Side of Chicago had really arrived, not just as a big-city political boss but also as a national political player.

    That was then. This is now:

    Come January, a black man from the South Side is heading to the White House, not as a guest but as president. And he is taking a slew of Chicago Democrats with him.

    Among them:

    • Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from the North Side, who will be the White House Chief of Staff.

    • Valerie Jarrett, a City Hall veteran, who will be a senior counselor in the White House.

    • David Axelrod, a political consultant to Obama and other Chicago Democrats, expected to be named to a top White House job.

    • Bill Daley, a son of the late mayor and brother of the current mayor, who also could be asked to come along.

    Meanwhile, Chicago native John Podesta co-chairs Obama's transition team.

    Other presidents have brought teams of hometown loyalists with them before. George W. Bush brought his Texans. Ronald Reagan had his Californians. Jimmy Carter took a team of Georgians.

    But no president since Kennedy in 1960 has brought such a big-city team, and no president has ever come from Chicago.

    It's a city of bare-knuckle politics, where corruption and fraud were once so rampant that:

    • An alderman infamously boasted, ``Chicago ain't ready for reform.''

    • People said the Election Day slogan should be ``Vote early and vote often.''

    • A writer once said the city motto translated from Latin should not be ''City in a garden,'' but rather, ``Where's mine?''

    Some of that lives on, of course.

    Dan Rostenkowski, a high-flying, wheeling-dealing North Side congressman, was charged with corruption in the 1990s and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of mail fraud.

    The man who ended up with his seat two years later, Rod Blagojevich, went on to become a reform-minded governor. He adamantly denies wrongdoing, but he has been mentioned as the beneficiary of campaign cash sought by convicted Chicago businessman Antoin ''Tony'' Rezko.

    But the dead haven't voted in Chicago in decades. When Mickey Mouse was registered to vote this year, it was in Florida, not Illinois. And none of the corruption scandals have touched the Chicagoans on Obama's team.

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  30. Get started by having Uncle Obama just send a big check directly to the United Auto
    Workers---direct action, immediated results.

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  31. Bobal: Get started by having Uncle Obama just send a big check directly to the United Auto Workers---direct action, immediated results.

    Might be worth it just to set those assholes up for a bigger fall when we get out another three years and people still don't want to buy the Hummers and F-350s they're making.

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  32. Turning and turning in the widening gyre,
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

    Surely some revelation is at hand;
    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
    The darkness drops again; but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

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  33. President GW Bush still has sixty some days to fulfill habu's expectations of his Presidency.

    The destruction of Iran's nuclear capacity and the eradication of Islamic radicals.

    Tic tock tic ...

    Bush calls Gadhafi to laud claims settlement deal
    By MATTHEW LEE – 4 hours ago

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush called Libya's Moammar Gadhafi to voice his satisfaction with a $1.5 billion payment that Tripoli made to settle a long-standing dispute over terrorist attacks, including the bombing a Pan Am jet over Scotland, the White House said Monday.

    In their conversation, Bush and Gadhafi "discussed that this agreement should help to bring a painful chapter in the history between our two countries closer to closure," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

    Libya's Oct. 31 payment cleared the last hurdle in restoration of full normalization of diplomatic relations between Washington and Tripoli. The money will go into a $1.8 billion fund that will pay $1.5 billion in claims for the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the 1986 bombing of a German disco. Another $300 million will go to Libyan victims of U.S. airstrikes ordered in retaliation for the disco bombing.

    David Welch, a State Department diplomat who negotiated the agreement, said at the time that payments to U.S. victims' families should start within days, and family groups hailed the news.

    "While we will always mourn the loss of life as a result of past terrorist activities, the settlement agreement is an important step in repairing the relationship between Libya and the United States," said the statement that Johndroe released Monday.

    "Libya has taken important steps on the road to normalizing its relations with the international community, beginning with its renunciation in 2003 of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction," the statement said. "The United States will continue to work on the bilateral relationship with Libya, with the aim of establishing a dialogue that encompasses all subjects, including human rights reform and the fight against terrorism."

    Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to meet on Tuesday with Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, who will be in Washington on a private visit, officials said.

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  34. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  35. Some of these earlier bailouts seemed to work of The Chrysler Bailout and Lee Iscocca and the K car Not knowing my facts weel I money was borrowed, paid by and Uncla Sam came out on top overall. I had a K car station wagon, like it for the day. Finally went up is a bust of flame along US 95, not it own fault though , a mechanics.

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  36. Join rino rat and his senator, Maverick McCain in acknowledgement that Obama will be President.

    By BRIAN KNOWLTON
    Published: November 17, 2008
    WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain agreed on Monday, in their first meeting since the election, to work together on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges, from the financial crisis to national security problems.

    After a private meeting in the Obama transition offices on the 38th floor of the Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago, the two men issued a joint statement saying that they agreed “that Americans of all parties want and need their leaders to come together and change the bad habits of Washington so that we can solve the common and urgent challenges of our time.”

    The statement continued: “We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation’s security.”

    There were few other clues to the dynamics between the two men, who until two weeks ago were vying for the presidency, and whose relations during the campaign were at times a bit frosty.

    When a reporter asked Senator McCain at the outset of the meeting on Monday whether he would help Mr. Obama with his administration, he replied,
    “Obviously.”


    To bad Bob Barr did not win in Florida, instead Obama carried that State. Ohio and Pennsylvania, too, the rinos stayed home, or voted in mass.

    Depends upon being named a republican or a Republican, big difference in that "R".

    Since big "R"epublicans are not republicans, at all.
    But Federal Socialists, "obviously".

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  37. Even some of us watched it, some it seems did not.

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Barack Obama's first television interview as president-elect was a ratings hit for CBS news program "60 Minutes," drawing its highest viewership since 1999, the U.S. network said on Monday.

    The interview was seen by 24.5 million viewers, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. Final audience numbers will be released on Tuesday.

    "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed Obama, asking his views on a wide range of subjects from the current economic crisis to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the possibility of a U.S. college football playoff system.

    The future first lady, Michelle Obama, joined her husband later on in the interview.

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  38. One thing i agreed with Obama 100%.

    A National NCAA Playoff instead of the current Bowl Coalition System.

    On Sixty minutes, Obama said that an 8 team playoff with a shortened season was something that he "would throw his weigh behind."

    Hear, Hear, Mr. President!

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  39. I don't have a problem with a sixteen team playoff for that matter.

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  40. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty opened up a luncheon speech to his fellow governors by noting that excuses could be made, citing the unpopularity of President Bush, the Iraq war and the poor state of the economy.

    But, he continued, such a rationale was “not fair and it’s not complete.” The party's problem, he said, is far more grave.

    “We cannot be a majority governing party when we essentially cannot compete in the northeast; we are losing our ability to compete in the Great Lakes states, we cannot compete on the West Coast,” Pawlenty argued, also citing similar problems in the mid-Atlantic and the Mountain West. “Similarly, we cannot compete and prevail as a majority governing party when we have a significant deficit as we do with woman, where we have a large deficit with Hispanics, where we have a large deficit with African-American voters, where we have a large deficit with people of modest incomes.”

    While just 43 percent of whites voted for Obama, white votes now make up just 74 percent of the electorate, down from 89 percent in 1980. And that trend is accelerating. Just since 2003, whites' share of the electorate fell 4 percentage points, while the share of blacks, Latinos and Asians increased by 3 points, to 23 percent, and gave the Democrat 95 percent, 66 percent and 61 percent support respectively.

    Later, talking to reporters, Pawlenty put it more plainly: “The Republican Party is going to need more than just a comb-over.”

    He doesn’t advocate for a major ideological shift — few prominent voices in the party are — but rather for aggressively offering solutions on issues such as health care, energy and education that have been viewed as Democratic turf.

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  41. Republicans ask:
    Just how bad is it?

    By JONATHAN MARTIN | 11/17/08 4:32 AM EST

    Party leaders agree that the GOP has had a rough go of it at the polls in recent years.

    How could they not?

    Since 2004, Republicans have gone from 55 Senate seats to no more than 43 once this year's last winners are determined, and from a 29-seat edge in the House to a 30 seat hole. And now they've lost the presidency, too.

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  42. Whit: On Sixty minutes, Obama said that an 8 team playoff with a shortened season was something that he "would throw his weigh behind."

    Yeah, but he's skinnier than me.

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  43. Bobal: Some of these earlier bailouts seemed to work

    Bobal! GM and Ford and all these guys are going down because they're making giant 12 MPG shit that Americans don't want to drive anymore, and the unions are choking them blue. Don't bail 'em out, you let them fail, you let Bear Sterns and those guys fail too, and you let the market steer capital to business models that work.

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  44. Bob,

    What's GM's Honda Civic equivalent?

    ReplyDelete
  45. The Honda Civic is Canada's best selling car for 9 years straight. Why isn't GM competing in this space?

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  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  47. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  48. The Honda Civic is Canada's best selling car for 9 years straight. Why isn't GM competing in this space?

    Because the profit margin on the sedans is smaller than the insane markups that were to be made selling everybody the big stuff. And now it's come back to bite Detroit on the ass. Hell, I've been a Ford girl since day one and my next car is a rice burner.

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  49. Your next car will be electric.

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  50. Hill voted funny on the war and said John "Bomb Iran" McCain had more gravitas in foreign affairs, but he offered her State and the Guardian (UK) says she's accepting the job. So I guess Obama is a centrist after all.

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  51. They did not discuss specific legislation, the aides said. But Obama‘s incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close McCain friend and adviser, were expected to discuss a joint legislative effort.

    Emanuel and Graham participated in the meeting.

    When asked if he planned to help the Obama administration, McCain replied, "Obviously."


    Vow Cooperation

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  52. 25. Sam:

    It is my opinion that the people that run the country have not put enough effort into making our industry profitable. They just sub out the work to others ,make a tidy profit ,line their pockets and damn the country. Hence my idea to MAKE IT MATTER to them.
    This country was built on high tarrifs so was Japan and Germany.
    ==

    Free Trade System, Imperial Free Slave System. Same thing. Just better marketing.

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  53. President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Brazil Monday evening, Korean time, on a visit aimed at establishing increased economic ties with the South American nation.

    ...

    The president stressed that Korea -- as the gateway to Asia -- and Brazil -- located in the heart of South America -- can become strategic mediators for companies of either country looking to break into the other's market.

    Mr. Lee will head to Brasilia Wednesday to meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.


    Deal With Brazil

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  54. The G-20 met last Saturday. Afterward, the group issued a meaningless statement and decided to meet again in March 2009, or perhaps later.

    ...

    The financial crisis has been mitigated, if not solved. The problem now is that we are in a cyclical recession, and that every country is trying to figure out how to cope with the recession.

    ...

    The Chinese have therefore prepared a massive stimulus package that is more of a development program to make up for declining U.S. demand. It aims to keep businesses from failing and spilling millions of angry and hungry workers into the street.


    Social Stability

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  55. I thinik we aough tp put tarrifs on imported cars and sve GM Foird, and Chrysler. There ought to be some real charges in benfits and pensions. We got to save some machufacturig in
    americal . We need go buid able to built to our tanks in our own factories with oun onw securtiy. Boing to should be trotected toough they are at the memonet moaning. And Cat and Joohn Deere. Ler American Express go such gas.

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  56. whit said...

    One thing i agreed with Obama 100%.

    A National NCAA Playoff instead of the current Bowl Coalition System.

    On Sixty minutes, Obama said that an 8 team playoff with a shortened season was something that he "would throw his weigh behind."

    Hear, Hear, Mr. President!


    Go GATORS!

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  57. GOING DOWN IN FLAMES

    http://odeo.com/episodes/23617271-GOING-DOWN-IN-FLAMES

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  58. iTunes U is a part of the iTunes Store featuring free lectures, language lessons, audiobooks, and more, that you can enjoy on your iPod, iPhone, Mac or PC. Explore over 75,000 educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations from around the world. With iTunes U, there's no end to what or where you can learn.

    http://www.apple.com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/landing.html?cid=ITS-ITUMAIN080829-CN4X9

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  59. Bob, you need to google, "Smoot - Hawley."

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  60. Gordon Brown is never happier than when he is bestriding the global stage.

    But careful observers of his performances over a decade as Chancellor could not help but be dispirited by the warmed-up proposals - described as a 'historic' deal - delivered by the Prime Minister and Group of 20 leaders.

    ...

    Among the reasons why the government needs to be cautious before opening the public spending spigots and pressing ahead with tax cuts is the threat to the nation's tax base from the horror show in the Square Mile.

    The lacklustre pursuit of financial wrongdoers has long been a complaint on these pages. A new legal textbook, Corporate Criminal Liability published by Sweet & Maxwell, agrees.


    PM no Maynard Keynes

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  61. Well, bob, we'll just have to build "tanks" in Alabama, if wee need to, instead of Detroit. That's where the successfule manufacturers have located operations.
    So says USA Today

    Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Senate banking committee, called the plan "a road to nowhere." He called the "Big Three" — Detroit's three major automakers — "a dinosaur," and said on NBC's Meet the Press that they are "not building the right products. … They don't innovate."

    Shelby's state is home to plants owned by Honda, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, foreign-owned companies that would not be eligible for bailout funds under a proposal by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

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  62. westhawk tells US that Iran is even closer to platonium enrichment than previously thought.

    Will President Bush act, or kick the can down the road? Will he be good to his word, or retreat from his sacred honor?

    I have always felt he'd kick that can, habu thought Mr Bush would act.

    Sixty some days until time will have told.

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  63. European agency says fixing damaged particle collider could delay restart and cost $21 million
    11-17-2008 6:18 AM
    By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer

    GENEVA (Associated Press) -- Fixing the world's largest atom smasher will cost at least 25 million francs ($21 million) and may take until early summer, its operator said Monday.

    An electrical failure shut down the Large Hadron Collider on Sept. 19, nine days after the $10 billion machine started up with great fanfare.

    The European Organization for Nuclear Research recently said that the repairs would be completed by May or early June. Spokesman James Gillies said the organization know as CERN is now estimating the restart will be at the end of June or later.

    "If we can do it sooner, all well and good. But I think we can do it realistically (in) early summer," he said.

    The organization has blamed the shutdown on the failure of a single, badly soldered electrical connection.


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  64. He'll just kick the can. Just too easy to do and they may already know stuff that whold make ir really had. should none it for years ago. Obama will really be handed a hot potato. In two months they op[ertain might have only gotten underway, only to be summarily stopped, a fiasco to all. Maybe the Israelis will use nukes.

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  65. Israeli Crime Boss Offed In Car Bomd


    And

    Pirates Extend Range

    Which is probably pretty easy to do when you are in cohoots with the Soamlia Goverenmet. They days, the us take the who frgighter. I knew I shouldn't have gone in podiatry.

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