tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post8741842012844836569..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Time For Obama to Resign. Lipstick Pig on Democratic Party WebsiteDeuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-51044277104670046672008-09-11T02:22:00.000-04:002008-09-11T02:22:00.000-04:00America was & IS Amazing==Friedman talks Texan...America was & IS Amazing<BR/>==<BR/><BR/>Friedman talks Texan:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5750554" REL="nofollow"><BR/>ET, the next IT</A><BR/><BR/>If all you'll ever do is all you ever done,<BR/>all you'll ever get is all you ever got.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11132252460964519368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-86757369327306403072008-09-11T00:00:00.000-04:002008-09-11T00:00:00.000-04:00I think both Obama AND OJ are innocent, Blob!I think both Obama AND OJ are innocent, Blob!Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-61973721207311644112008-09-10T23:38:00.000-04:002008-09-10T23:38:00.000-04:00Obama, on Letterman: Keep in mind that, technicall...Obama, on Letterman: <B>Keep in mind that, technically had I meant it this way –- she would be the lipstick!</B><BR/><BR/>Here's a shovel, dude, keep digging.Teresitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05528002521904908827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91773698903358392772008-09-10T22:54:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:54:00.000-04:00Doug, do you think Obama is intentionally flipping...Doug, do you think Obama is intentionally flipping off, in the video? I do.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-25730083463775317212008-09-10T22:51:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:51:00.000-04:00New McCain Ad--The Wolves-Or Lawyers-Are After Our...<A HREF="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/mccain-ad-the-wolves-are-out-against-palin/" REL="nofollow">New McCain Ad--The Wolves-Or Lawyers-Are After Our Sarah!</A>Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45023205128591420182008-09-10T22:41:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:41:00.000-04:00Mat - great post on LBJ....America was & IS Am...Mat - <BR/><BR/>great post on LBJ....<BR/><BR/>America was & IS AmazingWhat is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/08237879055691019968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-38537786625726122382008-09-10T22:30:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:30:00.000-04:00Rest assured, ash, the losers - by the tens of mil...Rest assured, ash, the losers - by the tens of millions across the land - will be playing Pink's, "So What? I'm Still a Rock Star." And its many, more timeless variations.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-44576626879012515842008-09-10T22:26:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:26:00.000-04:00Doug's easy to get rilled up :)Doug's easy to get rilled up :)Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-77645853562944654482008-09-10T22:25:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:25:00.000-04:00Thanks, Mat, I didn't know any of that early stuff...Thanks, Mat, I didn't know any of that early stuff, nor how deep LBJ's feelings ran.<BR/><BR/> <I>It is clear, however, that a return to the situation of 4 June 1967 will not bring peace.</I><BR/>LBJ<BR/><BR/>Not then, and not now, I'd wager.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18529704945676851062008-09-10T22:24:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:24:00.000-04:00Jay Sings Palin's Message to Barry<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orNpH6iyokI&feature=related" REL="nofollow">Jay Sings Palin's Message to Barry </A>Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-72668931074998818912008-09-10T22:23:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:23:00.000-04:00al-Blob is a horses Ass.al-Blob is a horses Ass.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-2294194087747160432008-09-10T22:21:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:21:00.000-04:00Didn't Victor Hugo say, "My kingdom, my kingdom fo...Didn't Victor Hugo say, "My kingdom, my kingdom for a horse!"? <BR/><BR/> -bob<BR/><BR/>That was VDHtrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69170623339461350882008-09-10T22:11:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:11:00.000-04:00OJ is innocent.OJ is innocent.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-12068747664952522862008-09-10T22:10:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:10:00.000-04:00Alas, power corrupts the unenlightened.The Carthus...Alas, power corrupts the unenlightened.<BR/><BR/>The Carthusian Monastic Order, in the early middle ages, however, was <I>"never reformed, because never deformed"</I>, and the reason was, the rule was for one year only, then your ass is to the back bench, and somebody else takes over for a twelve month.<BR/><BR/>Seems to have worked.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-65207351413794822162008-09-10T22:09:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:09:00.000-04:00Mat and al-Blob mimic benj w/oversized posts.Mat and al-Blob mimic benj w/oversized posts.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-25265890298644073892008-09-10T22:06:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:06:00.000-04:00Reverend Wright Is Reverend Wrong! »The New York P...<A HREF="http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/09/10/reverend-wright-is-reverend-wrong/" REL="nofollow">Reverend Wright Is Reverend Wrong! »</A><BR/><BR/>The <A HREF="http://www.memeorandum.com/080909/p30#a080909p30" REL="nofollow">New York Post</A> learned today that Reverend Wright is actually <A HREF="http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/05/pulpit-fiction-why-wright-is-wrong-for-obama-and-us/" REL="nofollow">Reverend Wrong</A>. Apparently our “pious” Reverend Wright — who was the pastor and confidante of Barack Obama for 20+ years, baptized both of his daughters, married him and Michelle, and “blessed” their mansion — has been carrying on with a younger woman in Texas. Here’s more from the Post:<BR/><BR/><EM>"He almost wrecked Barack Obama’s presidential dreams, and now firebrand pastor Jeremiah Wright has helped destroy a Dallas church worker’s marriage - and her job, The Post has learned."</EM><BR/><BR/>Payne's husband, Fred Payne, 64, said he learned of the affair in late February, when he discovered e-mails between his wife and Wright.<BR/>"There must have been about 80 of them, back and forth," he said. "Wright said things like he was going to leave his wife for Elizabeth."<BR/><BR/>Wright has been married to his second wife, Ramah, for more than 20 years.<BR/>The preacher reportedly wooed Ramah away from her first husband in the 1980s, when <STRONG>the couple came to marriage counseling at Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago</STRONG>.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-26645615290603873112008-09-10T22:04:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:04:00.000-04:00to help you understand Ibbitson POV - he seems to ...to help you understand Ibbitson POV - he seems to be tasked with 'interpreting' the US elections by the Globe and Mail for us Canadians. He's been writing almost daily since early in primary season on the US election.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-22754447368200073522008-09-10T22:03:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:03:00.000-04:00OJ is on trial in Vegas, for robbery, though you w...OJ is on trial in Vegas, for robbery, though you wouldn't know it. Jury selection time. Big argument about what color how many of the jurors are. One juror, or perspective juror said, "I think he's guilty of murder."<BR/><BR/>In this color blind society.<BR/><BR/>As time goes on, Doug will start arguing with me about this trial, I'd wager.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58041935093305874852008-09-10T22:01:00.000-04:002008-09-10T22:01:00.000-04:00I wish corruption didn't exist up here. It is eve...I wish corruption didn't exist up here. It is everywhere to some degree. In Canada I don't believe we have as close a relationship between business and government, we don't have the blatant 'revolving door' between government and the private sector but certainly there is ... unseemingly (and corrupt) linkages. A recent Prime Minister (Brian Mulroney) still is dogged by allegations, with teeth, of lining his pockets by promoting private business interests (he has admitted to taking cash payments, undeclared for tax purpose, 'til much later)<BR/><BR/>Here is that Ibbitson article I referred to contrasting some of our political systems:<BR/><BR/>"JOHN IBBITSON <BR/><BR/>From Wednesday's Globe and Mail<BR/><BR/>E-mail John Ibbitson | Read Bio | Latest Columns <BR/>September 10, 2008 at 12:47 AM EDT<BR/><BR/>By coincidence, both Canada and the United States are in general elections. The events of the past year have shown why the American system is better.<BR/><BR/>Many Canadians consider U.S. elections perverse. They find the primary system of electing party nominees confusing and unbalanced, and suspect money and insider influence are the determinants of success. These assumptions are false. Canada, not the United States, chooses its leaders from a small, secretive elite.<BR/><BR/>During the primaries, Iowa and New Hampshire serve as vetting committees, assessing the qualities of the candidates and reporting those findings to the rest of the population. In every city, town and village across the two states, candidates arrive at the community centre or school auditorium, make their pitch, and take questions until everyone has received an answer.<BR/><BR/>Slick marketing, well-financed ad campaigns and influence within the party and congressional leadership can't protect candidates from the scrutiny of voters in these bear pits. This is why the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries are so important.<BR/><BR/>Once the remaining primaries get under way, the entire electorate can participate in choosing the party leaders. In many states, voters registered with one party can vote in the other's primary if they wish.<BR/><BR/>Barack Obama was able to exploit a groundswell of popular support to best Hillary Clinton, despite her headlock on the party and congressional leadership. John McCain rescued a foundering campaign by retreating to New Hampshire, without money or a national campaign organization, and rebuilding from there.<BR/><BR/>So, in this election, both candidates were, at one time or another, underdogs. That's not unusual. So were Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan won in 1980 only because of his insurgency campaign against Gerald Ford in 1976.<BR/><BR/>None of these candidates would have had much chance of leading a Canadian political party, where a handful of loyalists and leaders exercise a strict gatekeeper function.<BR/><BR/>In Canada, a political aspirant will typically curry favour with a local riding association and get elected, then seek to broaden his base of support.<BR/><BR/>Those who aspire to lead the party must appeal both to its leadership, or at least one faction of it, and to its card-carrying membership. Less than 2 per cent of Canadians belong to a party, so even the Liberals and Conservatives choose their leaders from a pool of voters representing less than 1 per cent of the population.<BR/><BR/>No one can win an election in either country without money, whether publicly or privately provided. But those who have tried to buy a presidential nomination by self-financing their campaigns have thrown worse money after bad. Just ask Mitt Romney and Steve Forbes.<BR/><BR/>Mr. Obama, on the other hand, developed the most impressive fundraising system in campaign history, by combining traditional big-dollar donations with a broader-based Internet campaign that has generated a base of more than two million donors.<BR/><BR/>In sum, the American system makes it possible for outsiders, underdogs and mavericks to sometimes capture a party's nomination by igniting grassroots wildfires of voter and donor support that overwhelm the initial preferences of the party's leadership. Canadian aspirants must confine their pitch to the backroom boys and a tiny band of party members. So which is more democratic?<BR/><BR/>Of course, there are lots of things wrong with America's electoral rules. To name just two: Politicians, not neutral arbiters, establish congressional district boundaries, which often leads to gerrymandering. The elections in many House districts are, quite frankly, rigged. One reason the Senate is more powerful than the House is that senators are considered more credibly elected, since they have to appeal to all the voters of their state.<BR/><BR/>And because the states oversee elections, including federal ones, Americans are subjected to a plethora of voting methods that can lead to confusion and abuse.<BR/><BR/>America is a rowdy, messy mass of contradictions, and its elections are no different. But it's an open society, where anyone can be president.<BR/><BR/>Anyone can be prime minister, too. All you need is the support of the party bosses and the grassroots of a very small pasture. America, one suspects, is too democratic for Canadian tastes - or at least for the tastes of its ruling political, intellectual and cultural elites.<BR/><BR/>That's another reason why American elections are so much more fun."<BR/><BR/>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080909.wcoibbi10/BNStory/specialComment/Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-54695770083558105642008-09-10T21:56:00.000-04:002008-09-10T21:56:00.000-04:00Didn't Victor Hugo say, "My kingdom, my kingdom fo...Didn't Victor Hugo say, "My kingdom, my kingdom for a horse!"? Or was that Rat?<BR/><BR/>Doug said, "Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!"Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-86195855137184292592008-09-10T21:55:00.000-04:002008-09-10T21:55:00.000-04:00...sort of...one sentance parliamentary democracy.......sort of...one sentance parliamentary democracy...Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-22749689926084848092008-09-10T21:53:00.001-04:002008-09-10T21:53:00.001-04:00Ash, I might concede--might--after fierce argument...Ash, I might concede--<I>might</I>--after fierce argument, that Canada has a more polite political system than we do.<BR/><BR/>Asking true, is there the corruption up there as down here? <BR/>-------<BR/>I heard last night that the Austrian in California, called in to fix the mess left by the disgraced Grey Davis, has spent <I>more</I> money than he did. Things out of control everywhere.<BR/><BR/>-----------<BR/><BR/>I also heard today what I think is a reliable figure--last year <I>over 600</I> workmen <I>died</I> in the oil and gas fields, to keep us warm and cozy, and the car fueled up.<BR/><BR/>If this was in the nuclear industry, which hasn't had <I>one death</I> we'd be hearing about it. Why aren't we hearing about it?<BR/>Cause we are addicted to our cars.<BR/>Don't know what the figure was in the coal industry, it's gotten safer.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-82338854336523963852008-09-10T21:53:00.000-04:002008-09-10T21:53:00.000-04:00Ash wrote:"We've got an election going here in Can...Ash wrote:<BR/><BR/>"We've got an election going here in Canada for the top dog"<BR/><BR/><BR/>Lest I mislead anyone that isn't quite true. We don't elect "top dog's" per se. Parliamentary system - you vote for your local representative and the party with the most representatives get to control the government and their leader, the "top dog", is the Prime Minister.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06232405130481114127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-2115786352564706302008-09-10T21:51:00.000-04:002008-09-10T21:51:00.000-04:00If it bleeds, it leads. This applies to political ...If it bleeds, it leads. This applies to political coverage as well, ash.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Whit has tried to dispense a little (short term) wisdom, as has sinless (longer term). <BR/><BR/>Fortune turns on a dime. I think Victor Hugo said that. Or maybe it was Napoleon.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-42489787687917845052008-09-10T21:47:00.000-04:002008-09-10T21:47:00.000-04:00There's nothing worse than gout, and a democratic ...There's nothing worse than gout, and a democratic victory, I can tell you that.<BR/><BR/>Thankfully, the worst that will come this year is a democratic victory.<BR/><BR/>T., if I poured cherry juice on politicians, would they go away?Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.com