How to Avoid Being Shot by Right-Wing Pundits
Filed Under: Energy, Economy, Radical Right
By on Sep 6th, 2005 at 5:00 pm
How to Avoid Being Shot by Right-Wing Pundits
DON’T: Loot a $37 DVD player from a flooded Wal-Mart
Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan: “I hope the looters are shot.”
Instapundit.com’s Glenn Reynolds: “People [looting nonessentials] should be shot.”
Atlanta talk show host Neil Boortz: “Now I’m serious here … not just saying this for effect. Shoot to kill.”
TownHall.com column: “Shoot Looters.”
DO: Loot millions of dollars from ordinary Americans by hiking gas prices across the country up to several dollars per gallon, all under the political cover of a horrible natural disaster
National Review: Gouge On: A Defense of Gas Profiteering
AEI scholar John Lott: A Look at the Positive Side of Price-Gouging and Greed
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LOL
September 6th, 2005 at 5:06 pm“A Look at the Positive Side of Price-Gouging and Greed”
OMFG, somebody actually wrote a piece with that title. Sheesh.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:08 pmPolitically, I don’t understand why the right frames it as a “defense of price gouging.” It’s really just an argument against price controls, which they see as the first, easy response to gouging. They’re really stone cold idiots.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:08 pmNico, these are “price fluctuations within the market” and “new entries into a dynamic market”. Just don’t get on that “yellow school bus” driven by Grover.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:10 pmHere is what you do: Obtain a credit card. Charge all of your gas purchases. Pay the minumum for months on end. Declare bankruptcy.
End result: Free gas.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:11 pmWait for the bus Ron. I hear the grape flavor is the best, but don’t ask for seconds.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:13 pmThe lesson: You can’t be poor in America. And if you are black, gods help you. But if you are white, you can steal millions and no one will touch you.
When will We The People have enough of this and storm the gates to reclaim our country?
September 6th, 2005 at 5:18 pmthe sheeple are drugged with prozac and zoloft, day in and day out. It works. there will be no storming of the gates. Besides, the ogre scares them away.
the republic is lost, so there.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:23 pmDoes anyone else feel like we’ve scene this before?
I mean, in the late 60’s early 70’s there was this huge boom in muscle car sales. They kept getting more and more powerful and then our oil source (mostly Texas) peaked. There was a huge price jump and long lines at the pumps and then people started buying foreign made cars (mostly Japanese) that got better gas mileage.
Fast forward to today, and we see another huge jump in muscle cars and add on the SUV’s and trucks. This has been increasing over the last several years. Even the once fuel efficient cars are being “souped up†to race, and loosing their fuel efficient status.
Now we are seeing gas prices spike, long lines at the pumps and people are once again turning to more fuel efficient cars (again, mostly foreign and mostly Japanese who have the Hybrid market covered).
What gives?
September 6th, 2005 at 5:24 pmAmateurs loot a flooded Walmart Store
September 6th, 2005 at 5:25 pmProfessionals loot US Consumers
It means history is doomed to repeat itself - just like Watergate.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:26 pmcast your eyes upon the demigods at Mount Rushmore and worship their great wisdom.
the carpetbaggers are in New Orleans right now, so there is no need to worry.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:28 pmBut Alan Greenspan said it was ok to be take what I wanted!!!
“it is precisely the “greed” of the businessman or, more appropriately, his profit-seeking, which is the unexcelled protector of the comsumer.” Grenspan Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, page 118.
My school library has a copy of Atlas Shrugged (which Greenspan contributed to) and it says that heroes take what they want.
Citibank wanted Travelers and Alan said it was ok. I wanted some Nikes to walk through the flood.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:30 pmDoes anyone else feel this is the ultimate crossroad in our history? Global warming, fossil fuels running out, endless war, pin-up codpiece leaders, criminal acts unnoticed. Should we just put on our end of world boots and go stomp some heads? Just askin, cuz, well you know…
September 6th, 2005 at 5:37 pm#14 - David Brooks (of all the conservative Bush appologists) suggests that events of this magnitude are not just tipping points, but points of explosion.
A similar event helped progressive causes just about 100 years ago.
It’s sad that Bush apologists can’t see that their world has changed while their weathly sainted leader played golf. Bush’s approval rating for handling the Katrina event is around 28% and falling.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:47 pmActually, if we would plant oil crops all over the earth, we would have no end to biofuels.
It is an endless supply. Sunflowers, canola, peanuts, hempseed. All that is necessary is wise use of them.
Some scientists long ago wanted to use crude oil for essential purposes and not for economic gain.
The world is sloshing with oil. The US uses twenty million barrels per day. A US Navy carrier group uses 158,000 barrels for every 5,000 mile trip across the ocean blue. The Navy uses 16 percent of all the diesel fuel used in the world.
Humans just use too much of the stuff and a shortfall happens, that’s all.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:47 pmNavy use of fossil fuels
September 6th, 2005 at 5:52 pmThat the elite would be so quick to shoot looters is indicative of how removed they are from reality. Looting is usually done by those who don’t have, never had, and don’t expect to have anything. I don’t say they are right, but I do see that the elitist response is over the top. See, the elite don’t think that price-gouging at the gas pump, or gouging customers at the retail end, or gouging taxpayers with inflated defense contracts, or gouging consumers with added “taxes” by the energy companies, or gyping the government of rightly owed taxes by moving their “headquarters” to a P. O. Box in the Bahamas or the Caymans — they don’t think any of that is immoral or illegal or equivalent to looting.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:53 pmNo, they believe that stealing food for your starving family, or your naked children, or a big screen television because you’ll never be able to afford one, and you know the merchandiser will charge it all off on his insurance anyway.
An example was made of someone stealing Nikes — until it was learned that he needed shoes because his only pair were unwearable for the flood.
Those who have will always be ready to criticize those who have not and claim righteousness. Pharisees.
The merchants should have opened their doors and told people to take what they needed. Free.
THis explains ALL of it
Saudis own the President and they own FOX news
No wonder Bill O’Reilly is a gauleiter mouthpiece
http://rawstory.com/ news/ 2005/ Saudi_prince_increases_stake_in_Murdoch_0906.html
September 6th, 2005 at 5:54 pmSome would call it treason
September 6th, 2005 at 5:55 pmhttp://rawstory.com/ news/ 2005/ Saudi_prince_increases_stake_in_Murdoch_0906.html
“Thank god there’s no one to bomb in retaliation”
September 6th, 2005 at 6:01 pmhttp://www.counterpunch.org/quigley09062005.html
Which conservative will be first to revive Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal?”
September 6th, 2005 at 6:07 pmHomeland security reports to morticians
September 6th, 2005 at 6:14 pm“expect up to 40,000 bodies”
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001804.htm
Republican Jerks:
The Republican Nemesis
WAKE UP PEOPLE!
.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:20 pm“How the Free Market Killed New Orleans”
“When an especially powerful hurricane hit that island in 2004, the Castro government, abetted by neighborhood citizen committees and local Communist party cadres, evacuated 1.5 million people, more than 10 percent of the country’s population. Cubans lost 20,000 homes to that hurricane - but not a single life was lost, a heartening feat that went largely unmentioned in the US press. ”
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090605E.shtml
September 6th, 2005 at 6:20 pmLoot millions from retirement funds and walk away.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:21 pm#26
September 6th, 2005 at 6:25 pmYes, those are the real looters
You just gotta know your looter from your lootee. If you are the looter and I the lootee then shame on me you got me again. If you are the lootee and I am the looter then just shoot me.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:43 pm“Making the companies pay for others’ altruism not only creates the wrong incentives, it is also unfair. If we need to help out, make everyone pay.”
OF course, by “make everyone pay” the AEI blowhard means Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, RIce, Brown, CHertoff, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Bechtel
September 6th, 2005 at 6:47 pm#21
DUHbya came close! When that church ib Kansas said that the hurricane was due to the wrath of God DUHbya asked Karl how he could bomb heaven. Karl said that he had heard that the Pope was God’s representative here on earth and as a justification it would be OK because they had a lot of Mass stuff in Rome. DUHbya had Rummy draw up plans for the invasion of Vatican City and the removal of the Pope. Daddy and Uncle Dick made him stop because the Vatican doesn’t have any oil.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:50 pmLinette
Excellent Link!
September 6th, 2005 at 6:54 pm“The merchants should have opened their doors and told people to take what they needed. Free.”
Good idea Bobby #18, idiot. I think we all deserve a plasma TV. By the way one man did open his resaurant and was giveing away food to anyone who wanted it…for free. The problem came when a few of those poor deserving folk you love so much broke into the back and stole his food. Now, dumbass, are you getting the point of why it’s not a good idea to allow the mob to run rampant? A few of TV and DVD shoppers should have been shot down like dogs. That WOULD have stopped most of it. Becase they were not the ENTIRE city was LOOTED.
By the way I haven’t seen anyone post proof of price gouging. To me it looks like a market driven phenomenon. What we have here on this thread are some Marxists running a moral equivialancy scam.
September 6th, 2005 at 6:59 pmI-Right-I,
You make a good point - why do we let the mob run wild and price gouge gasoline? When the government says it will provide the difference out of reserves - then there is no shortage - there is no supply and demand curve - and it is gouging. So either Bush was lying about making up the difference, you’re you’re lying about the lack of existence of gouging, but since you’re a CONservative, you can’t help being a compulsive liar or an idiot.
As for someone stealing things being an excuse to not have compassion - how very republican and victorian of you. Those good people are largely poor and desperate. You try starving for a week and see how well you hold up. It doesn’t excuse theivery for them or the gas companies - but unfortunately it’s human nature. How sad for you that you think only OTHERS suffer from this affliction - it explains the complete lack of morals or values among the right wing despots you call friends…
September 6th, 2005 at 7:14 pmSpeaking of really looting millions of Americans, get the victims to pay for it:
“New Orleans Pays the Death Tax.”
September 6th, 2005 at 7:18 pm#32
Your “market driven phenomenon” excuse for price gouging fully explains the “Looting” as well. It was a simple matter of supply and demand: the supply was there and the looters demanded it. In either case there were no authorities present or with enough guts to enforce te law. Your argument does not excuse either nor do I condone either but I would ask one question. Where is the guy going to plug in his widescreen, plasma, high density TV? I know where the price gouged gasoline is going–it will get me to work so that I may buy your overpriced groceries for my hungry kids. You would never run a moral scam because you don’t have any.
September 6th, 2005 at 7:19 pmI can’t help but wonder what ordinary people would do when their backs are up against the wall, their kids are hungry, they have no clothing, and they don’t know how much worse than that it will get tomorrow.
September 6th, 2005 at 7:24 pmIt’s nice to think that you wouldn’t resort to extremes, but unless you have walked in someone’s shoes…
This place is fun but I need some help. How do I do the underlined link thing and caption it myself? I promise not to link to the Freeper site.
Thanks.
September 6th, 2005 at 7:24 pmIt is now reprted that a barrel of crude is now at the pre-Katrina prices. I imagine that a gallon of gas will be at epre-Katrina prices by tomorrow? After all, it went up in less than 24 hours. Yeah, right!
September 6th, 2005 at 7:33 pm“I can’t help but wonder what ordinary people would do…”
Two things about that Marie. First these are not “ordinary” people up against it trying to feed their family. These were/are criminals who don’t give a damn about their kids or anyone else’s kids. Second, this was not a SHTF (shit hits the fan) situation where it’s survival of the fittest, dog eat dog, do anything to save yourself and your family. Not by a long shot.
But to answer your question. Ordinary people will do extraordinary things to save themselves and those they love. Murder, rape and general mayhem though isn’t part of the program in a civilized nation. The problem though with NO is that part of that city, like a lot of cities operates on a dog eat dog basis all the time. Sometimes you’ve got to shoot people like that to get their attention. When that happens the rest of us are the better for it.
September 6th, 2005 at 7:36 pm#39
I’ll be a son-of-a-gun! That’s what Hitler was doing to the Jews! And all these years I thought he was killing them. Had they paid attention the Germans wouldn’t have had to waste all that money on the camps. Now Bushie has to set up “Nigra” camps all over the country. Why, OH Why, won’t they listen to me? It’s all their fault!
September 6th, 2005 at 7:57 pm“It is now reprted that a barrel of crude is now at the pre-Katrina prices. I imagine that a gallon of gas will be at epre-Katrina prices by tomorrow? After all, it went up in less than 24 hours. Yeah, right!”
Ellis,
You really do need to know a little something about your car. It doesn’t run on crude oil. It takes gas or diesel. The storm knocked out a lot of our refining capabilities and pipelines that we really do need if your plan to fill up at your local gas station is going to work for you.
It’s all fine and good to have enough crude oil but that’s just the start. The price will come down when the price comes down. Don’t hold your breath. Go out and buy an electric car like the environmentalists want you to. You know the guys who have made it impossible to build an oil refinery in this country since before you were born.
September 6th, 2005 at 7:57 pmCome on Clyde, make sense. Maybe you’d like those “Nigra’s” camping out in your backyard? Uninvited?
September 6th, 2005 at 8:01 pmRyan, #33. You idiot. The looting started the SAME DAY the storm hit. Here’s a hint Ryan…hungry people don’t steal TV’s. Those are the guys I’m talking about.
I’ve already addressed the gouging and the price of gas but if you don’t believe it fine. Let’s put a cap on the price of gas and have rationing. How would that be? Everybody gets the same amount of gas and no more. If you want to play you’ve got to pay. That the rule babe. Even the communists know that now.
I wouldn’t want to shoot someone and wouldn’t unless MY life were in danger. On the other hand I am not the State charged with the responsibility to keep order. For some funny reason the death penalty makes losers think twice and when they do we are all safer. If you think you’re being progressive and compassionate by being merciful to people who will not have mercy on you then like I said, you’re an idiot and more than likely one day will be up for the Darwin Award.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:13 pmI Right,
I don’t think that environmentalists blocked the refining processes. How on earth could they do that when they can’t even stop drilling in a wildlife refuge. It’s squarely the oil companies fault because refining oil isn’t nearly as profitiable as drilling.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:18 pmI-RIght-I
I’ll tell you who should be shot like dogs - the people who work at and for Trinity Broadcasting Network and CBN. RIght now TBN is broadcasting a show where they are pretending to be providing shelter in LA for hurricane victims. ANd to prove it they show pictures of Reliant stadium in Houston.
I called TBN and told them they are worse than looters. WHen the freak on the phone said “God Bless” you I told her don’t give me that crap, you people are looters. She hung up.
The TBN host is talking about his mother being on her face all day praying. his mother is the one with the pink hair who gives out white dolls to the tortured children of Haiti. SHe wears huge fake eyelashes and enough black eyeliner to sink a ship. The only face his mother is on is probably his father’s.
These people are worse than looters, and should be shot on sight.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:20 pmTBN and CBN are looters and should be shot on sight
September 6th, 2005 at 8:21 pmIRIGHTI, I really don’t think you know what you are talking about. You sound like a fox news pundit.
If all you’re going to talk about is a few guys stealing TVs when thousands went days without food and water. You try going without food and water for you and your children, I guarantee you’ll be looting the first day.
And no, tree huggers did not stop refineries. The oil companies have no finanical incentive to build extra refining capacity. Quite the opposite. Competition and profit maximization requires that refining capacity be as close to demand as possible. But if you want to enact government mandates and force companies to build things they consider wasteful, you’re free to make that argument. I believe the Soviet Union tried that approach.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:25 pmirighti, if you’re going to espouse free market, I expect you to know at least the rudiments of how it functions.
Hippies stopping oil companies, that’s a good joke. Wait a few decades, you can blame the tree huggers for global warming too.
No, the price of gas and oil is something we capitalists like to call SUPPLY AND DEMAND. You demand thirsty SUVs, and the supply runs low. Got it?
September 6th, 2005 at 8:29 pmI’ll tell you folks one thing. Now that we know what a good job Bush has done preparing the nation for terrorist attack, I’m stocking up on food and water, and some firearms. Because if something happens, it will take a week for Bush’s show-horse guy to pat himself on the back sufficiently before help arrives.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:32 pmI-Right-I,
Why not? They would blend in with the rest of us–plain old folks. Besides I could let them take the pick-up down to the corner and loot some gas. They might even be able to find a six-pack or two. I don’t know where you came from but I would hope to hell they fumigated it after you left. I do suspect that your KKK dues are paid if full for a lifetime membership.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:32 pmhalliburton is the biggest looter
September 6th, 2005 at 8:34 pmhalliburton, cbn, tbn, pat robertson, bechtel, Bush family, jerry falwell, rnc
they’ve all got their big paws out grabbing the money and they love it that the money is being squeezed from the body and blood of poor people in NO
September 6th, 2005 at 8:35 pmI-Right-I,
I forgot to mention that they would be better neighbors than the Red-neck Bible-thumping Hypocrital Repugs next to our back yard now.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:36 pmJustin,
Check it out yourself. I work in the industry that builds plants of all kinds. The environmental regulations have made it economically impossible to build refineries here until now. There are plans finally on the boards at two Houston E&Cs to build two refineries. The first two since 1976 or 7. We import almost as much refined oil as we produce now. The production we do have is all working at close to 100% This storm kicked our ass.
Even drilling is expensive now. A lot more than it used to be because we have to drill deeper and use new more expensive technology to get it out of the ground. One of the benefits to higher prices is that now it’s feasible to use alternate forms of hydrocarbons to make gas. For example, google the Dakota Gasification program and see what’s being done with your energy dollars.
There are a lot of good things going on but it takes money. The high profits you see from Exxon/Mobile and the other biggies IS being reinvested. We have a very fast track hydrogen cell power project here in Houston being funded by big oil.
The fact is big oil and the politicians that support them are going to make a lot of money no matter what. It’s fortunate that in the process of this immense wealth gathering by big Western moneyed interests that progress is being made to make our life easier, our air cleaner and a guarantee of energy for the future. Compare what we do with what the Arabs are doing with the money they make. It’s why we win. It’s why we’re better.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:40 pmWhere do you live Clyde? No matter. Tell me that after they rape your boyfriend and steal your VW bug.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:42 pmThe nose in the air righties want the looters shot now for the small stuff ’cause when the small stuff is gone they know the looters will set their sights on the next levels up that have something worth taking.
I see gates and guards in your future Ms. Noonan. And the walls protecting you will be breached like the levees around N.O.
Run Peggy, Run.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:53 pm“And no, tree huggers did not stop refineries…. maximization requires that refining capacity be as close to demand as possible.”
We import a lot of gas hippie because like so many other industries it was not profitable to build plants here. Supply will always try to meet demand because that’s how you make money. Demand has outpaced supply not because the Evil Oil companies are holding back but because they got caught with their pants down. The global demand has exceeded any rational expectation and now WE ARE ALL paying a higher price. Add to that the interruption in our supply from the storm, the nervous market, the greed of the Arab oil ticks and there you are at three bucks a gallon.
And yes, the environmentalists have been very, very destructive to our economy. Try and build a nuclear power plant in this country or anything that might make a snail darter uncomfortable. I estimate that they’ve cost you about a buck a gallon so far.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:01 pmI-RIght-I
You are talking through your ass about environmental regulations making it impossible to build refineries
The oil companies run their refineries into the ground in the US. Every one is falling apart, fires, explosions, rusting equipment
WHy? Not because of environmental regulations.
Because the oil companies CAN run them into the ground. They’ve already made their profits. They run the refineries at a loss.
“U.S. oil and gas companies have at least 882 subsidiaries located in oil-free tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and even the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found.
Further, the investigation revealed that at least a half dozen U.S. oil and gas companies have actually re-incorporated in tax haven countries.”
Bob McIntyre, the director of Citizens for Tax Justice, a government watchdog that has studied the issue, says that big companies with tax haven subsidiaries are able to conduct complex transactions that shelter their profits. Since the transactions are kept within the company, he says they are next to impossible to detect.
“The more these companies can bounce things around offshore, the more profit that can be kept offshore and tax free,” McIntyre says. “They shouldn’t get away with it, but it is really hard to police.”
President Bush, who has said he disapproves of U.S. companies setting up subsidiaries in tax havens, was a director of a Texas oil company when it decided to do just that.
In 1989, Harken Energy Corp. set up Harken Bahrain Oil Co. in the Cayman Islands to oversee a drilling contract with the government of Bahrain. When questioned about it by reporters, Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said the president had no recollection of the matter. ”
September 6th, 2005 at 9:03 pmhttp://www.publicintegrity.org/oil/report.aspx?aid=346
“I-RIght-I
I’ll tell you who should be shot like dogs - the people who work at and for Trinity Broadcasting Network and CBN.”
CMW…I’d like to shoot them too but for different reasons. My aren’t WE bloodthirsty tonight!
September 6th, 2005 at 9:04 pmIRIGHTI
THe PResident had no recollection of the tax-haven matter for his former oil company. Chertoff has no recollection of being warned about the hurricane. Brown didn’t remember being told how bad it would be.
The PResident has no memory of a lack of proof of WMD. The President doesn’t remember why he mentioned WMD again in his State of the Union.
Bull shit. ANd you are full of it.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:05 pmIRIGHTI
September 6th, 2005 at 9:06 pmBloodthirsty. Ha. That’s a laugh. It’s your friends who are bloodthirsty.
“I-RIght-I
You are talking through your ass about environmental regulations making it impossible to build refineries
The oil companies run their refineries into the ground in the US. Every one is falling apart, fires, explosions, rusting equipment”
CMW…I’m not going to argue with you. I work with the engineers that run the refineries, build them and maintain them. I KNOW what’s going on down at the ground level. I’ve made my living for over twenty years that way. I know why new plants are not being built because I have to deal personally with the assholes that make it so f’ing hard. You conspiracy theory is just that.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:10 pmThe PResident had no recollection of the tax-haven matter…etc, etc.
CMW…so what? Name one politician that can remember anything inconvenient? Hillary still can’t remember where her husband was most of the time.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:14 pmIRIGHTI
THe cretins who pass for scientists in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FEMA, FERC, et al the Repug appointees, carry water for the corrupt corporations hell bent to steal as much as they can as fast as they can. You dare to malign environmentalists and say nothing about the treasonous corporations who plan everyday to undermine the security and strength of the US by outsourcing and underfunding and running off-shore tax havens.
GO peddle your bs somewhere else. It won’t float here except as a turd.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:14 pmIRIGHTI
September 6th, 2005 at 9:19 pmSO What? No recollection of a tax haven matter. -
How about millions of dollars so what
What is your problem exactly.
IRIGHT
I know what’s going on at the refineries too. I’ve been to the refineries. I know the bs. I see the failure to train, failure to maintain. The oil companies run their refineries into the ground.
If you want to see a well run refinery you’ll have to go to Mexico and visit the PEMEX refineries - they are run by the govt and are maintained and regulated, unlike here.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:21 pm“THe cretins who pass for scientists in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FEMA, FERC, et al the Repug appointees,”
Here’s a news flash for you CMW, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the enviro whacko’s or the treasonous corporations. They are just a part of a society in decline. The shit they pull is to be expected from Walking Dead Losers. I’m more concerned that people like you take the time to one day figure out why the bastards do what they do and what you can do to counter act it.
I’m more of a big picture guy but still I can’t help but point out errors when I see them. You are in error.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:28 pm“I know what’s going on at the refineries too. I’ve been to the refineries. I know the bs. I see the failure to train, failure to maintain. The oil companies run their refineries into the ground.”
Like I said, I’m not going to argue with you. I’m there EVERY day. I don’t know much about PEMEX though. I do know that they are corrupt, polluters and Mexico is a third rate third world shit-hole. I don’t think you’d like to live there. But don’t let that stop you from bashing America. It’s a free country ya know.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:33 pm“Third rate world shit-hole”
Aren’t you referring to NO
You’re the basher. You defend those who should be put on trial for selling their country out.
You are pathetic and you wrap yourself in the flag. Probably sport a yellow metallic ribbon on your car.
YOu are an apologist for the nazis who run this country. I’m the patriot. You are something else entirely.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:37 pm“SO What? No recollection of a tax haven matter. -
How about millions of dollars so what
What is your problem exactly.”
I’m not a big fan of taxes period. I’d like to see most of your feel-good programs scrapped and the money I make go into my pocket instead of paying for your failed social experiments and guilty conscience. Got a problem with that?
September 6th, 2005 at 9:39 pmOne more thing IRIGHTI
You’ve never been to a Pemex refinery. So you are talking through your ass. You just repeat whatever bilge you hear from O’Reilly, the Bush gauleiter.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:39 pmFailed social experiments
Yeah like Halliburton or Bechtel
Those are social experiments. How many billions of tax payer dollars have they taken for nothing in return.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:40 pmNot a big fan of taxes huh
But how would Halliburton and Bechtel and the oil companies make their billions without those taxpayer dollars.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:41 pm“You are pathetic……..I’m the patriot”
If you say so bubba. I don’t have a car. I drive a 5500 lb. gas guzzling $47K 4X4 pick up truck. It’s a Texas thang. Oh, no ribbons.
Now how pissed off are you?
September 6th, 2005 at 9:45 pmOr how about Tom Delay investing in those sweat shops in that Malaysian island that is a protectorate where people are paid pennies per day, and Delay gets rich. No health benefits for them.
IRIGHTI, maybe you should go work in one of those sweat shops. It might give you a new perspective on your beloved bosses.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:46 pmGod what a fool you are. I’m glad you drive a big SUV. That way you’ll be in the poorhouse.
It’s your pocket that’s being picked by the oil companies. You’re so stupid you think you’ve done something good when all you’ve done is screwed yourself.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:47 pmIRightI
September 6th, 2005 at 9:48 pmGet a bigger SUV. I hope you give all your money to the oil companies.
IRIGHTI
September 6th, 2005 at 9:50 pmGet a hummer. Please.
“But how would Halliburton and Bechtel and the oil companies make their billions without those taxpayer dollars.”
Not my problem baby. It’s your problem. You’re the one that won’t let them build in the USA. Dumbass. Besides, I’ve got stock. What have you got. Pot?
By the way. I’ve driven by a big PEMEX plant when I was in Juarez a while ago. I wouldn’t step into that hell hole if you paid me triple my normal rate. That would be about a years salary for you.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:51 pm“IRIGHTI
Get a hummer. Please.”
Nope. I’m looking for a two seater now. Any suggestions?
September 6th, 2005 at 9:53 pmYou are as ignorant as you are arrogant
BUy a hummer and spend all yoru money on gas and whine about how your beloved corrupt bosses can’t build more. They love that. THey don’t want to build more. BUt you wouldn’t understand that. YOu’re too busy thinking how cool you are. Put down that mirror baby.
September 6th, 2005 at 9:54 pmSomething with a hemi - no more that 5 mpg
September 6th, 2005 at 9:56 pmHow about a tank
September 6th, 2005 at 9:57 pmCMW…I think you’d fit right in with the other lost sheep suffering from the progressive illness of numbnuttery. I need a new chew toy so you’re invited. See ya later.
http://nopc.antares-dev.com/yabbse/index.php
September 6th, 2005 at 9:59 pm“I’m more concerned that people like you take the time to one day figure out why the bastards do what they do and what you can do to counter act it”.
I-Right-I speaks sooth - not bad for a Lyndon Larouche libertarian….
September 6th, 2005 at 10:01 pm“You are as ignorant as you are arrogant”
Don’t hate me because I’m smarter, better looking and make more money than you. Hate me because I have the bad manners to mention it.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:01 pmA Bummer For The Hummer
http://www.businessweek.com/ magazine/ content/ 04_08/ b3871047.htm
#1 The gas turbine is a fuel hog
http://www.g2mil.com/abramsdiesel.htm
Help out The Military Gas Pains - buy a tank
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200505/bryce
September 6th, 2005 at 10:02 pmYou’d look cool in a tank. Your one hair blowing in the breeze.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:02 pm#39, There is was and will always be a criminal element. Hence the need for laws, courts and jails.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:52 pmI, however, will not hold “looters” to the same standards of civil order in a situation like this. Criminals who exploited this tragedy and caused personal and bodily harm to others should be dealt with - no question. Just don’t lump petty thieves with them.
#89
Marie,
AMEN!
And let’s start at the top with DUHbya first and his lackies, one by one every one! What a great day in the history of this Country when we slam the jail doors on the whole bunch!
September 6th, 2005 at 11:16 pm“I, however, will not hold “looters†to the same standards of civil order in a situation like this.”
A touchy feely double standard is no way to maintain the law and order you just said you believe in. When authority breaks down the violence begins to feed on itself. If you allow Clyde the Ripper to steal that plasma TV he wants so bad and do not shoot him down like the dog he is it only encourages him to more crime and escalating violence. People like Clyde the Ripper have ZERO moral underpinnings to abbreviate his natural criminal behavior. That’s why God invented the .45 cal hollow point.
September 6th, 2005 at 11:35 pmI-Right-I
September 6th, 2005 at 11:54 pmYou are 140 years too late. You belong in the wild west where you could involve yourself in gunfights. Cattle rustlers and barroom drunks would all fall victim to you and your colt .45. Shoot ‘em now or Hang ‘em high at sunset. Get yourself a little tin badge, appoint yourself as deputy and step into the time machine.
I-Right-I
I asked a simple question. Where was the guy going to plug in his TV? I will accept the fact that the subtlety may have been beyond your level of comprehension, however, even you should have been able to discern the difference between a spur of the moment showing of some remnants of humanity and control in the looters jubilation at being able to do something to retain his machoism, if you will, and the outright planned and orchestrated (how else could it have been across the entire US) grand theft of the oil companies that perpetrated price gouging at the rate of over $200,000,000 per day in the US (in excess of the already inflated prices). The picking up of a water-soaked useless TV in no way equates to the Criminal acts of the BushCo’s in raping the American public at the gas pumps. Clyde the Ripper will match his moral underpinnings against you and any other member of your cronies, including any of the Bush clan and will offer his usual odds ($20 to a glass of warm pee) that he will emerge head and shoulders above you all. Do you want to call for a vote here?
September 7th, 2005 at 12:30 amI-Right-I,
Your self willed ignorance is astounding. Threats of ‘violence’ or ‘torture’ do not prevent crime or criminals - in fact it only escalates violence. Jobs, healthcare and opportunities discourage crime in all but republicans - who seem to steal more during those times…
September 7th, 2005 at 12:42 amClyde has my vote and if he loses I’ll contribute $10.00 to help pay his bet.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:46 amIt is quite obvious in the wake of the KELO supreme court decision that the left has NO concept of private property rights. This insane post is additional proof positive.
Keep up the good work, you little fools.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:52 amI-RIGHT-I, Please, don’t they teach you math in school? Because in my day, they didn’t teach us jack. I did learn a few things on my own, such as:
The global demand has exceeded any rational expectation and now…
You specifically say any rational expectation, so I take it that you already know there were correct expectations. If there were correct expectations, then those expectations are probably more rational than expectations which were wildly off. So it looks like the environmental nut-jobs were right? Also Shell Oil, the UN, and probably Dubya himself. Per-capita production peaked in 1980. Per-demand production was predicted to peak between 2000 and 2020. In spite of your apparent surprise, I’d say we’re right on schedule.
WE ARE ALL paying a higher price.
Yes we are. So you understand that the same frustration you feel towards those you believe responsible, is directed at Bush in great quantities. I think your anger is justified, but misplaced.
Add to that the interruption in our supply from the storm,
Storms interrupt supply. It’s part of nature’s cycle. If you don’t plan for that, you don’t survive. Simple.
the nervous market,
Actually the markets have been remarkably stable. You can tell from those number thingies on Fox News. You did learn your numbers right? :)
the greed of the Arab oil ticks
Oh what, so now greed is bad?! That’s so un-Republican! I find that more surprising than referring to human beings as “ticks.”
And yes, the environmentalists have been very, very destructive to our economy.
How much did Hurricane Katrina cost in mere dollars? How much if the protective wetlands were not cut in half? Subtract. The cost of environmentalism — i.e. the absurd notion that corporations, grown-ups, and children should clean up after themselves — is a constant marginal cost. That cost did not double the price of gas. Not understanding the intersection of exponential demand growth and gaussian supply growth did.
For chrissakes quit blaming us already. We lost the elections. You won. All we can do is wait and see how much shock it takes before the same conclusion is reached by this 51% majority we put up with here (and happy to do it mind you, you guys are great, really).
September 7th, 2005 at 12:56 amMPH,
You wield the ‘little fools’ very parentally, all the while you support ‘killing’ people over a plasma TV. If that’s your definition of ‘property rights’ and how it should be dealt with - then it’s clear you don’t value society, or civil discourse. The country was founded on the principle that we would have no cruel or unusual punishment - yet the american redneck taliban just like their middle east counterparts feel stealing should come with a death sentence or similar obscene punishment. If your definition of ‘property rights’ is consistent with your right wing religious nut buddies - then you’re truly the ‘little fool’, and yet you seem quite happy to live within your foolishness. This explains why 30% of americans will support a fascist no matter what incompetent act he performs - your low standards are shocking to those with a rational mind…
September 7th, 2005 at 1:10 amDid any of you ever wonder about what happens to your social security money you pay in if you are single and die before retirement?
Lets just say…. begin work at 18 and go till 60…. so that is 42 years… even at a modest $8.00 per hour average of 35 hours per week (this is just off the top of my head)….. $14,560 per year - you pay 8% they match it so 16% (taking into account things change so I average)…. $2329.60 annually…plus 4% (I am sure the financial guru’s get a better return on this)… so $100 interest annually ….. I don’t compound this for simplicity….
I get $102,043.20…. so if you die at 60…. single (or gay in a relationship) the GOVERNMENT GETS YOUR MONEY…
WAKE UP PEOPLE!
September 7th, 2005 at 3:34 amNOW TELL ME I’M OFF TOPIC.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:34 amLet me see 1,000,000 people at 102,043.20 equals… MORE THAN MY 10-KEY CAN HANDLE…. let me do the math by hand….102,543,000,000.
duh!
September 7th, 2005 at 3:38 amIt is all about the al-mighty dollar!
September 7th, 2005 at 3:38 amJust how much does Carlyle group and halliburton need?
September 7th, 2005 at 3:39 amMarie, Little Darl’n, I don’t think law and order has gone out of style any more than the proclivity of some to succumb to their basest animal urges. What must be done to insure the safety of good people who are assaulted by roving bands of these vermin is not a subject fit for mixed company but rest assured something is being done.
It may or may not be reported but I have it on good authority that dozens of looting, murdering, raping, torching villains of the lowest order have been dispatched while in the act and are now standing before their Maker. In short the debate isn’t whether or not these examples of human filth should BE shot down like the dogs they are but whether or not they should have BEEN (past tense) shot down like the dogs they are.
This may offend your ill-liberal multi-culti sensibilities since you’ve been taught that all people are basically good and that a hot meal and a little love will straighten them right up but then that’s why we don’t tell you these things. We won’t tell you that those five rats that were shooting at the contractors working to repair that bridge the other day were not killed by N.O. police but by FBI SWAT and that along with National Guard troops we’ve brought in hardened special forces teams and you don’t even want to hear about what they are up to.
This is a big bad world Sugar Pants and it takes big bad men to keep you safe and warm in the bed your daddy pays for and to keep your dreams sweet. Maybe one day you and the other Utopians on this site grow up to understand and appreciate what they do for us. I did.
September 7th, 2005 at 7:23 amLet’s hope you don’t have to learn a hard lesson first.
Talkin’ that big talk again son? I told you to get your skinny butt back in this house and stop hittin’ the girls. I warned you! I’m not going to pull them neighborhood boys off of you when you start that trash talkin’n you can’t back up and get a whoopin, and I’m not paying another dime for your busted glasses.
September 7th, 2005 at 8:23 amForegive my son kids. He reads too many comic books and has no relationship wih his father….. but he loooves his Momma. Isn’t hat right momma’s little pumpkin?
(in a low, soft voice)Even though no one else thinks so son,…. Momma knows …..you’re always right. Kissss Kissss
I Wrong I, even Will Rogers would smack you upside the head.
However, you can say any damn fool thing you like.
Me? What would I do for you? Being a fiscally conservative, kind of long on social liberalism (although, some here think otherwise), here is what I could do for you.
I would get a long rope, string you up by your balls and pour sand up your ass until the rope breaks… just for starters.
Now, what damn fool thing are you going to say next?
September 7th, 2005 at 9:34 amRon, did you have an actual comment or am I to assume you just like to take it out and play with it?
September 7th, 2005 at 9:40 amMust have got your goat, eh? Well, I think I’ll keep it for awhile. The poor, underfed critter has been neglected. Too much gas going into the tank of your hummer, or is it you just talking out of your ass?
September 7th, 2005 at 9:44 amRon, Baby!
I love you!
Good to see your back.
September 7th, 2005 at 9:54 amRon, you bet. I’m totally intimidated by your suggestions of what you WOULD do if only you could. Try and use your head for something other than your boyfriend’s beer coaster. I’ll wait to see if you have a brain and are capable of addressing the topic.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:02 amWho is this (I Right I)selfish, humanity hating troll talking about big bad men? Freak or closeted? This looks like NeD, Lyle or Red in disguise. Funny how you can’t even tell one sheeple drone from another.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:19 amProud Pinko, I’m new here and just trying to fit in. Thanks for the welcome, of sorts. I can feel the love.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:57 amMr. or Ms. I-Right-I,
Okay, so let me get this straight. If we shoot people in order to show the rest of their recalcitrant herd back to the straight and narrow path of civility in a time of social upheaval, the deaths of a few of their number will cow the others into submitting to the rule of law. Is that right? If we make an example of some trouble-makers, the others will fall in line? I wouldn’t want to challenge the intellectual supremacy that you are so certain of possessing, but, by your logic we’d have taught the Iraqi insurgency a lesson by now. And we use bunker-busters and DU! With respect, I-Right-I (and my apologies to Ron, I seriously misjudged your ability to be rational), you DO say some “damn fool things”.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:02 am#112
Ron’s statement was appropriately suited and deserves reemphasis:
“Now, what damn fool thing are you going to say next?â€
All your conclusions are founded upon speculation.
If someone loots a television, so be it. Or will the retailer offer a discount price amongst all the death and disease? Your suggestion to shoot them on sight speaks more to your innate nature than that of the looter’s petty thievery, whose situation is far from being lucid to someone, such as yourself, who spouts with hasty arrogance.
Remember, the chaos is not the looter’s doing. Enough about the looters.
A little more perception and skepticism, if you will.
Or wait, am I* the one adhering to civility?
September 7th, 2005 at 11:16 amIt may be prsumptuous of me, but I can assume correctly that you are directly involved with some agency that actually does do the ‘dispatching.’
Am I getting it right?
So, then, good. Here we are in the twenty-first century keeping murka ’secure’. Which really translates to ’stealing’ every resource on the planet. Everything. Siberian forests have lumber galore. They’ll get looted for sure. It won’t be peanuts from Georgia that the real looters will greedily accumulate.
I-Wrong-I, have you ever seen an armed US federal agent go bad? I can tell you what they do. They rob, they steal, they kill. Just like all the rest of the vermin, except for one difference. The innocent suffer even more. Something you do not want to witness, believe me.
Your head is sticking so far up your ass, it is sticking out your neck.
Now, what do you have to say… hmmm… little two-year old with the big man, loud, mealy-mouthed erudite mindless drivel that you only leave on shithouse walls… what is your next bit of disengenuous wisdom do you have to impart… besides giving the one-two on who gets dispatched?
The insurgents in Irak have dispatched 1800 plus Americans, why aren’t you over there… hmmm… chicken? They seem to think that they have good reason to do what they do, too.
You’re all talk and no action, when it gets down to nut-cuttin’ time.
You can say the next damn fool thing, but I ain’t buying it.
Apparently, my stock is rising at the expense of yours.
Call it a ‘reversal of fortune.’
September 7th, 2005 at 11:18 amAll Katrina All the Time
Think Progress finds the right-wing aghast at looting but in praise of price gouging on gasoline.
* At The Fulcrum, Charles finds Republicans calling for less government and more corporate freedom in response to Katrina.
September 7th, 2005 at 11:33 amThe trolls are really hoppin’ - good sign as they attempt damage control. BTW, I don’t address trolls directly. Their desperate need for attention is their own humiliation.
Believe me, the “LOL” and the “thank you for giving us seats in the house” and “you smear Bush” is old and regurgitated and THEY DOST PROTEST TOO MUCH. Just silly trolls that repeat themselves ad nauseum. They aren’t very clever.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:09 pmThere is a well known theory that says when we “listenâ€, the we really don’t listen at all. Rather, in our narcissism, we become distracted, preparing instead what to say next regardless of what is entering our ears. This phenomenon seems to hold true even for those who hold professional positions in listening – our so-called MSM reporters, for example.
In the midst of Dianne Sawyer’s interview last week with the president, Bush volunteered his opinion that there should be a “zero tolerance†attitude towards looters. You could tell that this was something he was dying to say, something that was bottled up inside him. He waited for the opportune moment and the instant that Dianne mentioned “lootingâ€, he laid out his stance. His passion on this subject belied that he, in his mind, was proposing something of great importance, the keystone of any post-disaster relief strategy as it were.
The “zero tolerance†that Bush spoke of is, of course, a euphemism for “shoot on sightâ€. Sawyer, not listening and thus not comprehending the implications of the president’s advice on how to ameliorate the crisis, did not follow-up with the most obvious of follow-ups. Such as, “Sir, would you differentiate between those who are starving that loot for food and those looting for plasma TVs? If so, how exactly would one do that? Is your priority stop looters first, save the evacuees second?†Of all the intricacies involved in a massive relief plan, while thousands and thousands were suffering and dying, the president seemed proud that he had a firm grasp and understanding of what was at the core of the crisis.
George W. Bush’s solutions often have death as a crucial component. Indeed, Bush’s legacy will be a laundry list of death, starting with the death of the companies that he ran, to the execution of record numbers of criminals, to the deaths and virtual deaths of people placed in captivity without habeas corpus, to the deaths of innocent men, women and children of a foreign country that he ordered we invade, to the deaths of American citizens who killed and died because they trusted that their leader would only tell them to do so as a last resort, to the deaths of laws that protected citizens of this planet from poisons that greed produce, to the deaths of tax paying poor people standing in attics with water up to their necks who were not a priority in budget nor planning sessions. Bush’s death list will swell well after he is gone from office. The list will grow even after he is gone from this world. Like some superhuman arsonist, he has poured gas on the fires of terrorism, pollution, racism, poverty and greed.
Of ultimate irony is that George W. Bush’s life choices are those that he believes are chosen and ordained by Higher Power. He proclaims that he is Born Again and thus implicitly asserts that his plans are blessed by the most peace loving person who ever lived. A famous video clip from a political debate shows George W. Bush pronouncing to all the world that the most influential person in his life is Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus Christ is a man best renown for such declarations as, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God†and “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercyâ€. In what can only be seen as the ultimate spiritual juxtaposition, George W. Bush gave public testimony in his savior’s name while simultaneously putting certain prisoners to death – even as many thought it unjustified, even as many begged him to reconsider, even as the most influential man in George W. Bush’s life instructed him to visit prisoners, not kill them.
George W. Bush has used the word “evil†in public address more than all previous presidents combined. Yet, if one believes in evil, then what greater evil than one purporting to act as a proxy for God while using hate and vengeance as the cornerstone of leadership? What greater evil than a leader who feeds on his constituency’s primal weaknesses, fear, to implement an anti-Christian agenda? But the truth is this: George W. Bush is not evil, he’s a child. His simplistic and dysfunctional responses are those of someone in preadolescence. Like the children seen on Nanny 911, this child’s behavior came from dysfunction left unchecked by parents. He is the little boy in the Twilight Zone who could make adults disappear if they would not kowtow to his needs.
How could we have elected a child as president? Karl Rove, a college dropout, had an uncanny knack for uncovering the obvious. Rove, who is a Christian in the same way that Hitler was a Christian, saw the win-win strategy in having a political candidate mention Jesus Christ’s name while campaigning. Rove understood that: 1)Many Christians would vote for his candidate solely based on his vocal espousal of Christianity and 2)Many Christians who might entertain voting against his candidate would feel guilt-ridden because they would feel as if they were voting against their savior.
So we are left with a problem that will not go away in three years or even thirty. The problem is not who resides in the White House — that is but a symptom. The problem is figuring out how millions of voters could be so easily hoodwinked. Or, if true evil is a concern, the problem may be that those voters were not hoodwinked at all.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:26 pmYOU MIGHT BE A LEFT-WING EXTREMIST BRAINWASHING VICTIM IF…
You believe that the U. S. Constitution prohibits the open recognition of God by our federal (or any state) government, and the exhibition of religious symbols on public grounds.
Or you believe that Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election.
Or you believe that most television and print news outlets in this country are politically neutral.
Or you believe that outlawing private gun ownership will reduce crime.
Or you believe that the U. S. Constitution is a “living, breathing” document, and that Supreme Court Justices have the right to redefine its text in order to make it compatible with what they interpret to be the current moral standards of society.
Or you believe that Charles Darwin’s macro-evolution theory is a proven fact.
Or you believe that the U. S. should be a signatory to the Kyoto Treaty.
Or you believe that Michael Moore is patriotic.
Or you believe that requiring children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school violates their “civil rights”.
Or you believe that the United States of America is an imperialistic nation.
Or you believe that private clubs like the Boy Scouts of America should be forced to accept as members individuals who’s lifestyles they disapprove of.
Or you believe that affirmative action programs are morally defensible.
Or you believe that illegal aliens have the same Constitutional rights as American citizens.
Or you believe that big oil companies make more money from the sale of gasoline than the federal and state governments do.
Or you believe that most American soldiers joined the military because they were either tricked into it, or they couldn’t make a living in the civilian world.
Or you believe that taxpayer money should be used to fund “the arts”.
Or you believe that the guarantor of your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the federal government.
Or you believe that unborn human beings are not really human beings simply because they require the impermanent sanctuary of their mothers’ wombs, and therefore, abortion is not murder.
Or you believe that George W. Bush is more dangerous to the American way of life than Al-Qaeda.
Or you believe that Rush Limbaugh is an extremist, but that Al Franken isn’t.
Or you believe that drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska will destroy the environment.
Or you believe that raising taxes on the “rich” will lead to economic prosperity for everyone else.
Or you believe that the invasion of Iraq by U. S.-led coalition forces violated “international law”.
Or you believe that things like the education system, the healthcare system, and the social security system are best controlled by federal agencies, as opposed to private citizens.
Or you believe that spanking an unruly child equates to abuse.
Or you believe that Hillary Clinton was genuinely shocked when Bill finally admitted to the American people that he’d had an “inappropriate” relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
And if, by chance, you believe all of the above propositions to be true, then you have DEFINITELY been brainwashed by leftist extremists, and my heart goes out to your family and friends as they mourn the loss of your sanity.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:41 pmHere here, Jim. I tend to lien towards the former - figuring out why so many were led astray by simply saying “GOD.”
September 7th, 2005 at 2:03 pmWhy would you indebt yourself voluntarily, pp?
That right wing cutsie propaganda little laundry list from Chris is loony, daffy and ridiculous. A lunatic reporting from the asylum, much like pp’s meaningless, superfluous ‘comments.’
Left wing propaganda, right wing propaganda, if it is bullshit, it’s bullshit.
It don’t matter. We’re humans, no matter which stripe, and we make mistakes. These days, they’re piling high.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:26 pmYOU MIGHT BE A LEFT-WING EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT PERSON IF…
You believe that the U. S. Constitution prohibits the open recognition of any one God by our federal (or any state) government to the exclusion of others, and the exhibition of religious symbols on public grounds without the equal embrace of all other traditions… and as they number in the thousands, this makes it physically impossible to implement, making the overt display of such symbols impractical.
Or you believe that Al Gore may have won the 2000 presidential election, something we will really never know for sure due to the fact that voter recounts were prematurely stopped.
Or you believe that most television and print news outlets in this country are politically neutral, but that reporting on everything going hunky-dory in the government doesn’t get viewers.
Or you believe that restricting private gun ownership will reduce the number of guns that are fired and thus the number of people shot.
Or you believe that the U. S. Constitution is a document created by “living, breathing” humans, and that the Supreme Court Justices exist to ensure that the nuances of its text do not conflict with the essential truths that those wise– but fallible– men were espousing — that law should be based on the protection of liberties, not a vague and arbitrary moral standard.
Or you believe that Charles Darwin’s macro-evolution theory has flaws, but that the evidence for evolution has been presented in a nearly airtight scientific process; and that the existence of a Creator is fully compatible with this scientific evidence.
Or you believe that the U. S. should be a signatory to the Kyoto Treaty because when other countries don’t adhere to our treaties, we don’t like it either.
Or you believe that Michael Moore actively embraces his inalienable right to liberty, his First Amendment right to free speech, and his important American freedom to dissent.
Or you believe that requiring anyone to recite anything that makes them deeply and profoundly uncomfortable violates their “civil rights.â€
Or you believe that the current administration of the United States of America has a decidedly imperialistic bent and is perverting the values that the nation has historically held dear.
Or you believe that private clubs like the Boy Scouts of America do not have a single conscience and do not have the right to approve or disapprove of anything that is not criminal.
Or you hope that affirmative action programs will someday become unnecessary.
Or you believe that illegal aliens have the same human rights as other humans.
Or you believe that big oil companies make money from the sale of gasoline and sadly share a lot of it with the federal and state governments in the form of lobbying money and campaign contributions.
Or you believe that most American soldiers joined the military because it is honorable, the money is good and, under a sane administration, they would not be put in harm’s way for a dubious reason.
Or you believe that taxpayer money should be used to fund a number of things that make the world a better place and separate us from the other animals of this earth.
Or you believe that the one element that should not work to abridge your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the federal government.
Or you believe that abortion is a painful, horrifying, difficult choice that is fraught with moral uncertainty, and therefore should not be the realm of politicians but be each family’s choice.
Or you believe that Al-Qaeda is dangerous to American lives, but George W. Bush is dangerous to the American way of life.
Or you believe that Rush Limbaugh calls people names and lies, but that Al Franken backs up his assertions, kind and unkind, with facts.
Or you believe that drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska will destroy a whole lot more of the environment than investing in alternative fuel sources will.
Or you believe that cutting taxes on the “rich†will lead to the government only taking money from the poor, which makes no sense at all.
Or you believe that the invasion of Iraq by U. S.-led coalition forces violated international sensibilities.
Or you believe that things like the education system, the healthcare system, and the social security system are best funded by federal agencies, as opposed to private citizens who may, like the Boy Scouts, want to pick and choose who said funds go to.
Or you believe that spanking an unruly child is probably not the best or only way to discipline him or her, but every situation is different.
Or you believe that Hillary Clinton was genuinely shocked when Bill admitted to the entire nation the details of something that should have been a private affair between him and his family.
And if, by chance, you believe all of the above propositions to be true, then you are DEFINITELY a very intelligent person, and we expect you to run for office next term because you obviously have your shit together.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:37 pm#119, if you copy posts from fascist web sites and post them verbatim into other web sites thinking you have made a smart point, then you might be an brownshirted ditto-head.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:46 pm#123 HA!! Very clever - something the redcoats obviously lack.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:51 pmDON’T: get caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:45 pmIs I-Right-I still around? His thesis about treehuggers and refining capacity is interesting but alas seemingly not significant:
http://rawstory.com/ news/ 2005/ Group_Internal_memos_show_oil_companies_limited_refineries_to_drive_up__0907.html
September 7th, 2005 at 4:27 pm“but alas seemingly not significant:”
Loser, everything I say is significant. Much more significant than your ten year old “group internal memo” cooked up by crooked lawyers. But it does look like it was typed up on the same IBM Selectric Dan Rather has been looking for. You might want to give him a call.
September 7th, 2005 at 7:42 pmHmm, I-Right-I, you can’t debate, but you can throw a few personal insults - is that it? Have you any evidence you would like to offer or not?
September 7th, 2005 at 8:06 pmOn the Dan Rather ‘point’ - sure his memo was faked, but the story was true…
The contents of the memo in the link I gave you bear up when you study refining margins for the last twenty years. Overcapacity and complacency all round: in the mid-nineties gasoline was cheaper in real terms than it had been since before Yom Kippur. And as far demand coming out of nowhere - nonsense, the China/India growth curves were obvious in the mid 90s. As soon as the tax on your truck and the soccer moms SUVS got waived, my granny could have told you what was going to happen and she’s been dead since 1983.
September 7th, 2005 at 8:21 pm“On the Dan Rather ‘point’ - sure his memo was faked, but the story was true…”
Ohhhhh, you’re killing me Terry. Dang near flooded my keyboard on that one buddy. You should give a warning or something.
“The contents of the memo in the link I gave you bear up when you study refining margins for the last twenty years.”
In other words the margins were low? Why was that? Higher price of crude? Union pressure on wages? New environmental demands that cost a lot of money? Wouldn’t you be looking for ways to increase profits to meet the demands of costs or is profit a dirty word?
The fact is they were all in the same boat and they didn’t need to pull schenagins to raise prices. They just raise them and everyone else follows suit in order to survive. By the way, your theory of engineered shortages due to artificially reduced refinery capacity goes out the window when considering the plans I’m working on right now for two new huge refineries.Somehow they decided it was in their best interest to have a product to sell. Go figure.
“Overcapacity and complacency all round: in the mid-nineties gasoline was cheaper in real terms than it had been since before Yom Kippur. And as far demand coming out of nowhere - nonsense, the China/India growth curves were obvious in the mid 90s. As soon as the tax on your truck and the soccer moms SUVS got waived, my granny could have told you what was going to happen and she’s been dead since 1983.”
Hindsight is 20/20 as you know. Grandma didn’t have a clue and neither did you. Prices go up on everything don’t they? Gas prices as far as I know or you’ve been able to show haven’t exceeded the median inflation rate. Like I said, ten year old memo’s even if true don’t explain today’s $3.00 gas. There’s a lot of reasons and to simplify it like you’ve done to make a political point is not just stupid but it’s dishonest.
I don’t deny that it is in the oil co’s interest to maintain a balance of supply and demand and not flood the market like they did in the 60’s but still they are in the business to make money and unrefined crude is in fact worthless. Further, I don’t doubt that there is some unscrupulous profiteering because of the war and because of the storm but to say that it is the only reason we need consider is simply not true and denies the reality of the hit we took from Katrina and the other factors I’ve mentioned.
On a personal note:
The Progressives, those I like to refer to as the “Filthy Left” have a lot to learn about America. It’s almost like they are foreigners the way they try and hoodwink Americans. Frankly, I think most of them are but that’s another story. The point is you folks have nearly single handedly destroyed our two party system. We don’t trust the Democrats anymore because of you and we’re not going to vote for them as long as you’re around.
That leaves the Republicans to walk away with all the marbles as they have been doing and that’s not good for anyone. I’m a declared independent and it’s my considered opinion that if you people aren’t brought down and deposited on dung heap of history pretty quickly we can kiss our country goodbye. It won’t matter what the price of gas is then.
September 7th, 2005 at 9:09 pm…” It won’t matter what the price of gas is ” - HAH ! You tell THAT to the old ( white ) lady that was at the gas station today , BEGGING STRANGERS for money to BUY GAS with !!! Shameful , and ALL thanks to BushCo. !!! … :(
September 7th, 2005 at 9:54 pmBEGGING STRANGERS for money to BUY GAS with !!! Shameful , and ALL thanks to BushCo. !!! … :(
Come on Cindy give it a break. I’m sure the old lady doesn’t blame Bush. Hope you didn’t give her any money though. The “Bush Stole My Gas” scam is an old one.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:25 pmI-Right-I - cool, you came to debate, I just thought you might be a mud slinger like some of the folks you were sparring with earlier today… let’s see now…
Dan Rather, you can snort on to your keyboard or you can read this and consider my point. http://www.gregpalast.com/ detail.cfm?artid=234&row=1 Either case, that’s not the name of the thread, so we can save that for another day…
I don’t need the memos either, but they do help the argument. When you start talking about margins, the argument holds - the pressure of EPA and OHSA regulations, clean gasoline and so on made for a hellish environment to make a profit while the 80s/90s surge in over production went on. If you fold everything, treehugging, over supply etc. into the reasons why no new refineries were built, then I agree with you - in the 80s and 90s no new refineries - the demand and margins couldn’t justify it. My argument stays intact despite your two new refineries because margins have gone so obscenely the other way that there is more money to be made, provided Americans continue to drive Hummers and crap like that. US oil corporations, Detroit and the politicos taking their money crush any attempt to address the energy problem from the demand side, it’s always a supply problem to them because they gain as demand goes up to meet supply.
I’m not against a profit at all, however, the fact is that