Without providing sources, the two jaw-dropping 'jewels' heard today:
1) Cain supposedly said that the Koch's are his half-brothers, they shared a sire or something like that. Whether he was being humorous(?) or figurative or whatever wasn't clear to me or the messenger.
This is like the telephone game: He really did say he was the Koch brothers' "brother from another mother," but as a joke.
bshmr wrote:
2) Cain will split the 'black-block vote' with Obama and thus the Republicans will win at least the Presidency.
In wasn't a "joke" in that sense, it's an idiom denoting close (brother-like) allegiance without any formal biological kinship, especially between men across a black racial divide in the US. It's in the sense of black men often being referred to as "brothers" ("brothas") as slang referencing common racial allegiance, while a non-black man similarly included (as a "brotha") is from a different racial ancestry ("from anotha motha").
I believe it originated with one of those atrocious buddy cop movies with a cross racial duo (Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, IIRC) when the black character finally accepts the non-black character.
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry says he would eliminate three federal agencies. Just don't ask him to name them.
"Commerce, Education and the — what's the third one there? Let's see," the Texas governor said during a debate Wednesday night.
Perry's rivals tried to bail him out, suggesting the Environmental Protection Agency.
"EPA, there you go," Perry said, seemingly taking their word for it.
But that wasn't it. And when pressed, the candidate drew another blank.
"Seriously?" moderator John Harwood, one of CNBC's debate hosts, asked. "You can't name the third one?"
"The third agency of government I would do away with — the Education, the Commerce. And let's see. I can't. The third one, I can't," Perry said. "Oops."
Apparently, it was Ron Paul who named the EPA. Jokes on twitter about Dr. Paul pronouncing Perry's campaign death by suicide.
Aren't USAn politics insane? Yet 'they' rule most of the World.
Indeed, they (the government that is, not all USians) are quite insane. Thing is though, they don't actually "rule" anything. They only think they do because over one trillion dollars in debt (and the interest) are owed to Chinese T-Bond holders. The US is like the "DINK" yuppie couple who tries to lord it over their neighbors because they have a monster home, 10 Rolls Royces and a private jet......when in fact they're deep in debt and falling deeper into the hole with each "bling bling" purchase. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
At 9:30 last night, when the CBS/National Journal debate about foreign policy came to an end, Rick Perry must have been deeply relieved. After his disastrous performance on Wednesday, he pulled off his best debate performance by far on Saturday, completely avoiding newsmaking gaffes.
Of course, that’s not saying much, and it certainly doesn’t mean that Perry sounded smart. “The communist Chinese government will end up on the ash heap of history if they do not change their virtues,” he said, arguing, senselessly, that China, with its thriving economy and vibrant manufacturing sector, is about to go the way of the USSR at the close of the Cold War.
Michele Bachmann, by contrast, presented China as a model capitalist society, attributing its growth to its lack of an enervating American-style social safety net. “If you look at China,” she said, “they don’t have food stamps” or Aid to Families With Dependent Children. Yes, the pro-life absolutist who constantly touts her experience “raising” 23 foster children lauded the world capital of forced abortion for not giving welfare to poor mothers. (The Republican audience, usually so quick to voice its displeasure, didn’t boo.)
I would laugh, except for the slim possibility that because of the polarized US two party system, one of these drooling morons could actually become the next POTUS.
More at the Daily Beast _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Of course, that’s not saying much, and it certainly doesn’t mean that Perry sounded smart. “The communist Chinese government will end up on the ash heap of history if they do not change their virtues,” he said, arguing, senselessly, that China, with its thriving economy and vibrant manufacturing sector, is about to go the way of the USSR at the close of the Cold War.
Michele Bachmann, by contrast, presented China as a model capitalist society, attributing its growth to its lack of an enervating American-style social safety net. “If you look at China,” she said, “they don’t have food stamps” or Aid to Families With Dependent Children. Yes, the pro-life absolutist who constantly touts her experience “raising” 23 foster children lauded the world capital of forced abortion for not giving welfare to poor mothers. (The Republican audience, usually so quick to voice its displeasure, didn’t boo.)
China certainly is a bit of a Rohrshcach test, isn't it. Even on the same small sliver of the political spectrum, people can't agree on whether it's a hell-hole or a utopia. (Not that either idea is likely accurate, though I'd say that viewing it as a capitalist authoritarian regime is probably closer to the truth).
I'd be curious to know how the average Republican voter views the country. My GUESS would be that there's a generational divide, between Silent Generation and Boomers who can remember the days of Mao and his Little Red Book, and Gen X/Yers who just know the country as the place where all the cheap sneakers at Wal-Mart come from.
China certainly is a bit of a Rohrshcach test, isn't it. Even on the same small sliver of the political spectrum, people can't agree on whether it's a hell-hole or a utopia. (Not that either idea is likely accurate, though I'd say that viewing it as a capitalist authoritarian regime is probably closer to the truth).
That would be my general conclusion too. It's one of those weird twists of history that "Red" China (which once denounced Krushchev and the Soviet Union as "revisionist" and "right-deviationist") today has more or less the economic policies of their hated enemy Chaing and the KMT (that is authoritarian, state led and managed capitalism)
[quote="voice of the damned"]
I'd be curious to know how the average Republican voter views the country. My GUESS would be that there's a generational divide, between Silent Generation and Boomers who can remember the days of Mao and his Little Red Book, and Gen X/Yers who just know the country as the place where all the cheap sneakers at Wal-Mart come from. [quote]
Agree here as well but I'll point out there are two additional factors which help explain the right's "Sinophobia" at times: their foreign policy (while no longer ideologically based, they are still friendly with regimes like North Korea, Zimbabwe and Iran) and oppression of Chinese Christians. However I suspect as with Canada's Conservatives (Harper and Kenney in opposition were quite scathing of the Liberals friendship with China but promptly shut up once in power), any future Republican government will be equally friendly with their biggest creditors. Hey if I need a loan for a house or car, pissing off the loans officer at the bank by questioning his domestic life or choice of friends isn't probably a smart move. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Harper and Kenney in opposition were quite scathing of the Liberals friendship with China but promptly shut up once in power
A very appropriately timed observation, Twin. From today's CBC page...
Quote:
All of Canada's oil and gas exports currently go south of the border, and Keystone would transport crude from the oilsands to Texas. Now, however, Harper says the U.S. decision has left him no choice.
"I did indicate to him[Obama], as I did to the president of China yesterday [Saturday], as our government has indicated, this highlights why Canada must increase its efforts to make sure it can supply its energy outside of the United States and into Asia in particular," Harper said.
To that end, the prime minister will visit China sometime next year. As well, Canada has decided to signal formally that it is interested in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a group of Asian countries that aims to boost trade and lower tariffs in the Asia-Pacific region.
No surprise, whatever right-wingers may say when out of power (and some of their anger over say the oppression of Chinese Christians or the fact that the PRC provides weapons and diplomatic support to Mugabe or Kim may be genuine). But once in power, the almighty buck wins out. I suspect the same will happen even in the unlikely situation that a Republican theo-con like Bachmann or Perry somehow win. IOW the need for foreign trade with a massive import and export market like the PRC will always trump their friendship with Syria or Iran or the fact that Chinese Christians are oppressed (as of course, are also Chinese Buddhists, Muslims and Falun Gong adherents, but I doubt Bachmann or Perry particularly care about that). _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
That's it then, I'm pretty sure Cain's campaign is done (not that I ever saw him as a serious challenger for either the GOP nomination or to beat Obama, but he did make waves for a while). But it looks like he's now cooked for good:
Quote:
Sharon Bialek's ex backs her claim against Herman Cain
New opinion polls suggest the allegations against Herman Cain could be taking their toll
The former boyfriend of a woman who accuses Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of groping her has corroborated her story.
Speaking at a news conference, Victor Zuckerman said Sharon Bialek told him Mr Cain made an unwanted advance shortly after it allegedly happened.
Mr Cain's lawyer said there was nothing new in the claim, which he denies.
Meanwhile, Gloria Cain, the candidate's wife, appeared on US television to defend her husband.
'Inappropriate manner'
In other developments on Monday:
Mr Cain stumbled badly during a video interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper about his position on Libya, saying: "I've got all this stuff twirling around in my head."
Opinion polls suggest the sexual harassment claims could be taking their toll - former House Speaker Newt Gingrich overtook Mr Cain in one national survey on Monday. And an ABC News/Washington Post poll found negative opinions of Mr Cain had risen sharply
Eyebrows were raised over an interview Mr Cain gave to GQ magazine in which he said most American Muslims held extremist views. (He had to apologise in March after saying he would not feel comfortable appointing a Muslim to his cabinet)
The former pizza executive who has never held public office strongly denies allegations of sexual harassment from his time as head of a restaurant lobby group in the 1990s.
Ms Bialek is one of four women who accuse him of improper behaviour.
Speaking at Monday's news conference in Louisiana, Mr Zuckerman, a paediatrician, said Ms Bialek had told him about the alleged incident shortly after it took place in 1997.
There's obviously still time for a darkhorse candidate who hasn't even entered the race yet to declare, and judging by the weak and deeply flawed candidates the GOP has now, this might be their only chance to ever get a serious challenger against Obama. Because with the assorted cast of losers (all of them), Islamophobic bigots (all of them, with the exceptions of Paul and Huntsman - neither of whom has any chance anyway), accused sexual harassers (Cain), flip floppers (Romney) and serial adulterers (Gingrich) they have now I seriously think we might as well call the election for Obama right now. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Glenn McCoy is pretty much my least favorite political cartoonist: reactionary right-wing, lousy art, didactic metaphors, etc. The only reason I even follow him is because the Korea Herald insists on re-printing his stuff for some reason or other.
I seriously think we might as well call the election for Obama right now.
I'd tend to agree, though I still think Romney might be a more formidable candidate than he's being given credit for.
One thing's for sure. It would be quite the achievement for Obama to win re-election with the economy the way it is. If I'm reading this chart correctly, FDR had actually managed to lower unemployment somewhat by the time he stood for re-election in 1932, and the subsequent "Roosevelt downturn" was over by 1940.
One thing's for sure. It would be quite the achievement for Obama to win re-election with the economy the way it is. If I'm reading this chart correctly, FDR had actually managed to lower unemployment somewhat by the time he stood for re-election in 1932, and the subsequent "Roosevelt downturn" was over by 1940.
Agreed. That is why I'm so surprised. Imagine if the political situation was reversed, that is if the US had a Republican President in the midst of record unemployment, disastrous wars and someone who had alienated sections of his own base. IOW someone like George W. Bush at the end of his term. Now imagine that instead of offering up top rank challengers (like Hillary Clinton or Obama), the Democrats ONLY ran bottom rung fringe candidates like Kucinich (I like some of his ideas but he's obviously far from an electable "mainstream" Democrat), Sharpton or John Edwards (obviously once a strong contender but now basically the Democrat version of serial adulterer Newt Gingrich). I think we'd all be wondering, WTF? This is all they got?
I'll also agree that Romney seems to be strongest challenger, but this more because the rest of the crowd is so weak, extremist or otherwise deeply flawed. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Huntsman though is way too moderate to get nominated by what the Republican Party base has morphed into. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
At this rate, the only non-Romney ones left standing will be Huntsman and Paul. Personally I think they'll go with the one that isn't a member of a batshit crazy cult - yeah, he wears sacred underwear, but at least Huntsman doesn't prostrate himself at the altar of John Galt.
Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 4004 Location: Central USA, Earth
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 12:33 am Post subject:
Does anyone really believe that Kansas will pay Missouri for my certificate of birth (proof of right to USAn citizenship)? How about any State transporting me for free to the county seat (or whatever) to get a free certificate of birth or free documents to affirm I am who I say I am?
Voter ID Laws Passed in 2011 Analysis
By The Brennan Center Voting Rights and Elections Project – 08/08/11
SUMMARY OF VOTER ID LAWS PASSED IN 2011
Quote:
Alabama, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin all passed new voter ID laws in their 2011 legislative sessions. For each state, this memorandum provides: a brief description of the substance of the new law; its effective date; the types of photo IDs accepted; exceptions to the ID requirement, if any; any affidavit alternative to providing a photo ID; the photo ID requirements for early and absentee voting, if any; provisions relating to obtaining free ID; and public education requirements.[1]
Download this document as a PDF, or view it on Scribd.
Herman Cain visits a Jeebus "amusement theme park" and it wasn't bad enough that the accused multiple sexual harasser vowed to "bring a moral compass" (hee hee) back to the USA. Nope, Cain had to also confess to being scared when he found out one his doctors was named ""Dr. Abdallah".
Quote:
Cain speaks for nearly a half an hour and despite a couple fleeting "999" mentions, keeps his speech to topics of faith and his recent battle with cancer. He begins with a story about how he knew he would survive when he discovered that his physician was named "Dr. Lord," that the hospital attendant's name was "Grace" and that the incision made on his chest during the surgery would be in the shape of a "J."
"Come on, y'all. As in J-E-S-U-S! Yes! A doctor named Lord! A lady named Grace! And a J-cut for Jesus Almighty," Cain boomed.
He did have a slight worry at one point during the chemotherapy process when he discovered that one of the surgeon's name was "Dr. Abdallah."
"I said to his physician assistant, I said, 'That sounds foreign--not that I had anything against foreign doctors--but it sounded too foreign," Cain tells the audience. "She said, 'He's from Lebanon.' Oh, Lebanon! My mind immediately started thinking, wait a minute, maybe his religious persuasion is different than mine! She could see the look on my face and she said, 'Don't worry, Mr. Cain, he's a Christian from Lebanon.'"
"Hallelujah!" Cain says. "Thank God!"
Oh Gawd. Link, and no, it's not the Onion. It's sadly true:
Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 14585 Location: Toronto, ON
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:26 am Post subject:
"'That sounds foreign--not that I had anything against foreign doctors--but it sounded too foreign,"
Head, meet desk. _________________ "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson
Even as Cain continues to sink in polls and is now basically written off as a credible challenger (if he ever was), right-wingers are rushing to defend him and more importantly are once again pushing the idea that sexual harassment doesn't exist at all (shades of the Clarence Thomas era):
Quote:
So Thomas' claim of victimhood was bogus, however dramatic it may have been. And so is Herman Cain's. For one thing, Democrats would just love to run against him - he polls as a much weaker candidate than Romney. He himself admitted he had no proof for his accusation, the motive was completely backward and he had also blamed his Republican rivals - particularly, Governor Perry. If anyone's story was suspicious, it was Cain's story of being victimised by the Democrats. Moreover, Cain's own actions helped create the very situation he railed against.
Initially, there were only two anonymous accusers and Cain made much of the fact that they were anonymous, even as his own story shifted from day to day. But those accusers were anonymous in part by Cain's own doing. He refused to ask that their confidentially agreements be waived, even as he attacked them from his high-profile position, giving them a taste of why they might not want to come forward. Cain had 10 days to respond to the allegations before Politico went public with them, and he had apparently decided that blaming the victims - and the media - was the strongest defence he had. Certainly, stronger than answering questions directly. Evasiveness is not the way to build credibility and trust.
But Cain is a beacon of non-defensive honesty compared to some who support him. He certainly doesn't deny that sexual harassment exists. But many conservatives do, as Media Matters pointed out within days of the initial accusations. Exhibit A was John Derbyshire, who wrote in the National Review: "Is there anyone who thinks sexual harassment is a real thing? Is there anyone who doesn't know it's all a lawyers' ramp, like 'racial discrimination'? You pay a girl a compliment nowadays, she runs off and gets lawyered up." For talk show host Laura Ingraham, it's all about greed: "We have seen this movie before and we know how it ends. It always ends up being an employee who can't perform or who under-performs and is looking for a little green."
But conservatives also see it as a political tool, Media Matters pointed out. Rush Limbaugh was a prime example of this: "You know what sexual harassment is? You know what it really is? It's a political tool. It is a political tool invented by the left. And - for the express pur - just like political correctness is a political tool of the left to shut people down, sexual harassment is a political tool of the left to get rid of people or to score money gains, whatever is most desired."
By the time Sharon Bialek stepped forward, a week after the initial accusations were revealed, conservatives were well-primed to attack her, and that's exactly what they did, just as Alan Simpson had attacked Anita Hill as "a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty". Yet, the same day Bialek stepped forward, the American Association of University Women released "Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School", a detailed survey report covering grades 7-12.
The survey found that sexual harassment in one form or another was extremely widespread, poorly handled and seldom reported to authorities. Nearly half of all students (48 per cent) reporting being harassed in the previous year and only 12 per cent felt their schools were doing a good job addressing sexual harassment. Only 9 per cent of those harassed reporting the incident to an adult at school - a dramatic level of under-reporting, the exact opposite of what conservatives allege. "We hope that it will be a wake-up call," report co-author Holly Kearl told me. Indeed, the attitudes that Cain's conservative defenders expressed - disbelief, minimisation, blaming the victim - are all part of the problem that the report uncovered.
link _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Herman Cain told aides on Tuesday he would reassess the viability of his struggling campaign after an Atlanta woman accused him of conducting a 13-year extramarital affair.
...The former pizza executive told aides in a conference call transcribed by the conservative magazine National Review that he would gauge the impact of the charges over the next few days and see if it created a cloud of doubt in supporters' minds.
"Obviously, this is cause for reassessment," Cain told staff members, adding he would continue his campaign schedule over the next few days.
...The charge of an affair differs from prior harassment claims in that White says she had a consensual long-term relationship.
...Cain's lawyer, Lin Wood, said the allegation "appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults - a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public."
It is if one of the 'consenting adults' makes it so. What's hilarious is that the right-wing airheads don't bat an eye at charges of sexual harassment, but can't stomach 'consensual conduct' between alleged adults. Talk about disconnect.
Meanwhile the point is made that it's Newt Gingrich that is receiving the benefit of Cain's demise. One can only hope. _________________ On the wilds of the Drive
Well if you look at the comments about sexual harassment from "intellectuals" like Limbaugh, Ingraham and Derbyshire (see my previous post), sexual harassment is just a scam invented by lawyers so lazy people can get the money of hard working Christian patriots (just like racial discrimination). So by their "logic" it makes sense why they'd care more about an affair than harassment.
And now serial adulterer (and hypocrite who denounced Clinton for doing what he did) Gingrich is now taking off because of Cain's downfall? Wow, this is getting better and better. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 14585 Location: Toronto, ON
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:32 am Post subject:
I'm willing to bet that the same lawyer who is saying that what is in issue is an allegation of private consensual conduct and thus that Cain should just be left alone was part of the howling mob that came after Bill Clinton. _________________ "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson
I'm willing to bet that the same lawyer who is saying that what is in issue is an allegation of private consensual conduct and thus that Cain should just be left alone was part of the howling mob that came after Bill Clinton.
Wouldn't surprise me a bit considering that so many of the conservative morality police that went after Clinton (trying to impeach someone for a blowjob considering all the shit various Presidents have pulled over the years? Even over a decade later, this still seems surreal) have themselves been exposed as hypocrites of the highest order (Gingrich, Dan Burton, "Diaper Dave" Vitter etc). _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Oh Gawd, Charles de Gaulle Newt Gingrich is quite full of himself, comparing his absence from politics since the late 90s with de Gaulle's coming out of retirement to found the Fifth Republic. And now that Cain has flamed out, the media seems to be paying increasing attention to the "brainy" Republican:
Quote:
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Newt Gingrich is a historian. He earned a Ph.D. in history. If you’ve forgotten, he’ll remind you.
In speeches, Mr. Gingrich has referred to the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
During a six-candidate forum in Iowa recently, Mr. Gingrich dropped in references to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Capt. John Smith’s leadership of Jamestown, the French Revolution and, as a bonus, the Latin root of “secular.”
A few days earlier, as guests at a fund-raising breakfast forked into slabs of coffeecake, Mr. Gingrich told a lengthy anecdote about John Quincy Adams.
And in New Hampshire before that, he referred at a Tea Party forum to the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson’s abolition of federal judgeships and, again, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Mr. Gingrich taught college history before entering politics, and his historical references on the campaign trail are such a feature of his public remarks as to be nearly a rhetorical tic. They strike some as evidence that Mr. Gingrich is the smartest candidate in the room — and others that he is a man determined to let you know how much he knows.
In an election season rife with factual misstatements, deliberate and otherwise, Mr. Gingrich sometimes seems to stand out for exhibiting an excess of knowledge. It is hard to imagine him not knowing that the Battle of Lexington and Concord took place in Massachusetts, not New Hampshire, where Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota located it this year.
But in some ways Mr. Gingrich seems not just to know history, but to think of himself very self-consciously as part of it, and not always in a small way. In an interview with The New York Times in 2009, he said he subscribed to the historian Arnold J. Toynbee’s theory of “departure and return,” the notion that certain great leaders must endure a long political exile before returning to power. He indicated that Charles de Gaulle, the French general who became president only after years out of power, was a role model.
Oh please. Any first year US history student would know any of the various historical references he likes dropping. I think the only reason Gingrich comes off as "brainy" at all is because most of his Repug opponents (like Cain, Bachmann, Perry, etc.) are absolute morons. As I've said before Homer Simpson, Al Bundy and Peter Griffin are geniuses compared to some of the people the GOP considers "Presidential material".
ETA: If anyone want's a good laugh, check out this pic accompanying the NYT story:
A serial adulterer appearing at "NOM" and "The Family Leader-Strengthening Families"? This fucker has no sense of shame whatsoever. And NOM doesn't care much about hypocrisy and adultery in heterosexual marriages anyway. Far better (and much more lucrative) to bash gays. I'm sure Gawd would have wanted it that way. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 8642 Location: OMG! They killed Jason Kenney!
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:18 am Post subject:
Wow, that's an unreal shot. Stuff like that always makes me shake my head. How can they not see the glaring contradiction? These guys at a pro-family event is like O.J. Simpson at a feminist rally.
(Reuters) - The gay half-sister of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich slammed his position on gay rights on Wednesday and said she will support President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the 2012 election.
Candace Gingrich-Jones, a gay rights activist, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that she and her older half-brother, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, were "mutually respectful" but disagree on gay rights.
Didn't she perform a same-sex wedding on Friends back in the day?
Except of course, that back in the 90s, Gingrich was taken very seriously (I believe Time Magazine named him their "Man of the Year" in 1995), while in 2011, he's a sad, pathetic, discredited shadow of his former self.
Mind you, a part of me hopes that he somehow sneaks past Romney and gets the nomination. It should be quite interesting to see the GOP spin doctors try to pass their party off as being "pro-family values" running against Obama. Because, no matter what other conspiracy theories ("he's a Muslim", "he's a Commie", "he was born in Kenya" etc.) are believed about Obama, no one - not even his worst enemies - has seriously suggested he's anything other than in a faithful, long term, monogamous marriage. This should be good....unfortunately Gingrich will never get that far. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 6048 Location: A monistic vulgarity in which nobility and wisdom have been exchanged for a pale belief in progress
Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:24 pm Post subject:
This sort of doublespeak is typical, not only of Newt, but of other Zionist lizards as well:
Quote:
Mr. Gingrich drew little distinction between the Palestinian Authority, which is in power in the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza and is regarded by the United States government as a terrorist group.
“I mean, we have an armed truce with a Palestinian Authority that’s relatively weak,” he said. “And on its flank is a Hamas authority, which may become relatively weak because it can’t deliver anything. But both of which represent an enormous desire to destroy Israel.”
He described Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, as denying Israel’s right to exist.
In the same interview, The Newt not only denies the state of Palestine the right to exist, he denies that Palestinians even exist. Here's what his mental Holocaust sounds like:
Quote:
Discussing the origin of the state of Israel in the 1940s, Mr. Gingrich said: “Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people...
Martin S. Indyk, a former United States ambassador to Israel, said that if Mr. Gingrich believed that Palestinians did not have a right to an independent state, “as implied in his language, then he’s not pro-Israel at all.”
I was thinking the same thing. So Newt wants a non-Zionist one state solution for both Jews and Arabs? Wow. What a brave position for an American politician to take. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
If you scored it on points, the outcome of Saturday night’s Republican presidential debate, the second-to-last before the January 3 Iowa caucuses, was muddled.
Each of the six participants had a strong moment or two. Rick Perry provided what was, by far, his best performance in a debate, Michele Bachmann memorably disparaged the race’s two front-runners as “Newt Romney,” Ron Paul received some unlikely praise from rivals who in the past have preferred to use him as a punching bag, and Mitt Romney addressed his privileged upbringing with surprising deftness. Even Rick Santorum managed to stand out by challenging his opponents’ support for a payroll tax cut extension
And yet there was a clear winner: Newt Gingrich.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that Gingrich held up well under the spotlight and scrutiny — far better than Perry and Herman Cain did when they came to debates earlier this fall as newly minted front-runners. The attacks on Gingrich, who has opened up double-digit leads in Iowa (and in South Carolina, Florida and national surveys), started early and were leveled by all of his opponents. Romney, egged on by moderator George Stephanopoulos, went first, reeling off a list of criticisms.
“We can start with his idea to have a lunar colony that would mine minerals from the moon,” he said. “ I’m not in favor of spending money to do that.”
Romney further chided Gingrich for advocating the elimination of the capital gains tax, arguing in favor of changing child labor laws to allow inner-city children to do janitorial work in schools, and being a career politician. “I’ve spent my life in the private sector,” Romney boasted.
Gingrich’s response demonstrated why he may have a lot more staying power than Perry, Cain or any of the other Romney rivals who surged and faded this past year. He was calm, forceful and confident and methodically worked his way through each point. He also landed a real punch, something Romney’s foes have struggled mightily, and often comically, to do in debates.
Gingrich took the lunar colony shot and turned it into a spirited call for young people to pursue careers in science and a frustrated lament over the direction of NASA’s space exploration program. On the capital gains issue, he accused Romney — who says he wants cuts targeted to benefit the middle class– of favoring less relief than Barack Obama. On the child labor question, he proclaimed that “I’ll stand by the idea: Young people ought to learn how to work. Middle kids do work routinely. We need to give poor kids the same opportunity.” That won loud approval from the crowd. And he addressed Romney directly over the career politician attack: “Let’s be candid. The only reason you didn’t become a career politician is because you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994.”
IMO, the happiest people reading this would be Obama's strategists. The discredited hypocite Gingrich is much easier to beat than Romney who is merely a flip flopper, not an adulterer in a socially conservative party, and the "flip flopper" charge that may or may not gain traction. Romney can dismiss it by simply saying his "views evolved". If Newt is the nominee, the GOP is in big trouble with the "family values" crowd. _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 4004 Location: Central USA, Earth
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:01 am Post subject:
USAns over-reward aggressive/assertive narcissists such as Gingrich. Obama has been too accommodating and thus is seen as indecisive and value-less.
Since ideas aren't as important as persona to many USAns, Gingrich seems a more competitive opponent; whereas, persona being more or less equal in an Obama vs Romney contest, ideas might favor Obama but public trust could easily negate that.
Oh I don't. I was just weighing the chances of either Romney or Gingrich in a campaign against Obama. As I've mentioned before the Democrats are slightly better than the GOP on domestic social issues (abortion, repealing DADT etc.) but in terms of economics and foreign policy, both parties are interchangeable (as in both are capitalist, murderous militaristic scum). _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 6048 Location: A monistic vulgarity in which nobility and wisdom have been exchanged for a pale belief in progress
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:23 pm Post subject:
Quote:
The protest movements are indeed against Big Business – a perfectly justified cause – and against "governments". What they have really divined, however, albeit a bit late in the day, is that they have for decades bought into a fraudulent democracy: they dutifully vote for political parties – which then hand their democratic mandate and people's power to the banks and the derivative traders and the rating agencies, all three backed up by the slovenly and dishonest coterie of "experts" from America's top universities and "think tanks", who maintain the fiction that this is a crisis of globalisation rather than a massive financial con trick foisted on the voters.
Remember that pledge that a conservative Christian group in Iowa asked all the Republican candidates to take this summer? The one that made them vow to uphold the institution of marriage (and reject pornography, and Islamic law, and marriage rights for gays, and…)?
Newt Gingrich declined to sign it back then, when he was way behind in the polls. But now, it seems, he has changed his mind. USA Today reports Gingrich has now signed the pledge, which, among other things, commits him to supporting a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Oh yes, and it commits him to not committing adultery—something he has been known to do on a few occasions in the past. Twice-divorced, he began an affair with his current wife, Callista, while still married to another woman in 1993.
Remember that pledge that a conservative Christian group in Iowa asked all the Republican candidates to take this summer? The one that made them vow to uphold the institution of marriage (and reject pornography, and Islamic law, and marriage rights for gays, and…)?
Unfuckinbelievable. How does "Islamic Law" get conflated with gay marriage and pornography? _________________ I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 6048 Location: A monistic vulgarity in which nobility and wisdom have been exchanged for a pale belief in progress
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 5:45 pm Post subject:
The Evil Twin wrote:
Quote:
Remember that pledge that a conservative Christian group in Iowa asked all the Republican candidates to take this summer? The one that made them vow to uphold the institution of marriage (and reject pornography, and Islamic law, and marriage rights for gays, and…)?
Unfuckinbelievable. How does "Islamic Law" get conflated with gay marriage and pornography? :roll:
It's foreign and scary and nobody knows what it is. It's the "Communism" of this century. _________________ "The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi
"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl
I'll you give scary, but how do you get foreign and unknown? Don't you know that there's an Islamic terrorist illegally calling himself president in the white house imposing it on the entire country right now!!?
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 6048 Location: A monistic vulgarity in which nobility and wisdom have been exchanged for a pale belief in progress
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:07 pm Post subject:
Quote:
A former aide to Lyndon Johnson who knows politics from the inside, Moyers then delivered the coup de grace: “[Lease] should see us now. John Boehner calls on the bankers, holds out his cup, and offers them total obeisance from the House majority if only they fill it. Barack Obama criticizes bankers as fat cats, then invites them to dine at a pricey New York restaurant where the tasting menu runs to $195 a person.”
As it happens, Moyers’s remarks anticipated the trenchant question posed in an interview by another prominent liberal, Barbara Ehrenreich, just after billionaire Michael Bloomberg and mayors of other cities cleared public spaces of Occupy Wall Street protesters: “Where in all this was Obama? Why couldn’t he have picked up the phone and called the mayors of Portland and Oakland and said: ‘Go easy on these people. They represent the anger and aspirations of the majority.’ Would that have been so difficult?” Well, yes, particularly if your principal occupation is shaking down bankers and brokers for campaign donations on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
By now it should be obvious that the system, and the Democratic Party, run Obama, not the other way around. Under this arrangement, the president carries out his duties as pre-eminent party functionary — fundraising being at the top of his list of responsibilities — and defers on legislation, leaving it to corrupt Democratic barons such as Sen. Max Baucus (D.-Mont.), devoted friend of the insurance, pharmaceutical, and banking crowd and sworn enemy of reform.
Harper's Magazine _________________ "The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi
"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl
But on March 12, McCarthy nearly beat Johnson in the New Hampshire primary. The opposition was galvanized, Robert Kennedy jumped into the race, LBJ announced he would not seek re-election, and American democracy was revived.
What MacArthur doesn't mention is what immediately followed LBJ's downfall. How much better was Tricky Dick for that revived American democracy than another term for LBJ?
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 6048 Location: A monistic vulgarity in which nobility and wisdom have been exchanged for a pale belief in progress
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:29 am Post subject:
Looking back, the Nixon presidency looks like a progressive golden age when compared to US governments since 1980. _________________ "The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi
"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl
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