ThinkFast: August 20, 2008
ThinkFast: August 20, 2008
Health care costs “are climbing much more rapidly than incomes or the growth in the overall economy,” according to a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund. “Two-thirds of the working-age population was uninsured, underinsured, reported a medical bill problem or did not get needed health care because of cost in 2007.”
“Prices for goods purchased by American businesses surged more than expected in July and have jumped by nearly 10 percent over the last year — the sharpest increase since 1981,” according to new data released by the Labor Department.
“While conceding ‘there is still much work to do’ three years after Hurricane Katrina, President Bush today will tout hope and progress in his 17th trip to the region since the storm — likely his last as president.” It will be his 13th trip to New Orleans.
“Clean energy will reduce greenhouse gases, protect the environment, create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But the federal government needs to lead the way.” That was the message that came out of the Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas yesterday. Former President Bill Clinton spoke of the need to create “energy independent” zones, while oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens highlighted the “Pickens Plan.”
On the trail today: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will campaign in Martinsville and Lynchburg, VA. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will hold a townhall meeting in Las Cruces, NM.
Over the last two days, “Taliban insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting in Afghanistan.” The attacks included an assault “by at least 10 suicide bombers” on a large U.S. military base and another by about 100 insurgents that killed 10 elite French paratroopers — “the deadliest single loss for foreign troops” since 2001.
Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out an EPA rule “limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions.” The 2-to-1 ruling “is the most recent in a series of judicial setbacks to the Bush administration’s efforts to reshape federal policies under the Clean Air Act.”
In an increased effort to allegedly “guard against terrorist threats,” the federal government has been “using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “is seeking to put wind turbines on the city’s bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a wide-ranging push to develop renewable energy.” The plan, which would “drastically remake New York City’s skyline and shores,” is Bloomberg’s “boldest environmental proposal to date.”
And finally: On Monday, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was rejected for jury duty, “after having spent all day doing her civic duty at the Moultrie Courthouse on Indiana Avenue. She attentively watched ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ as she waited and later told a stranger on the way out, ‘It’s too bad we didn’t both get picked; we could have been friends!’”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Lobbyist Parties for Lawmakers Bend Rules
CommonDreams.org
“Congress, pledging to clean up Washington’s culture of corruption, approved a rule last year to end the practice of lobbyists or their clients throwing lavish events honoring lawmakers at the parties’ national conventions.”
If only that were true, that for once they were pursuing that moral high ground that places the constituents over Corporate America. But of course there is a catch, this is Congress remember the ones that have been giving our civil rights away to Bush and the Telecoms for the last two years.
“House ethics committee they issued guidelines in December saying it was fine for lobbyists or their employers to throw parties for a group of House members – just not for a single lawmaker.”
“That’s why at the Democratic convention in Denver next week, Visa and US Bank will host an event honoring the freshman class of House Democrats. AT&T is among the sponsors of a party celebrating the conservative House Blue Dog Democrats on Sunday night.”
What’s the fun in only corrupting one lawmaker anyways, when we can corrupt a whole group of them. No surprise that AT&T is sponsoring a party for the Blue Dog Democrats. They owe them for capitulating any morals they may have had left on the FISA Bill. Last but not least, for all the holdouts in the freshman class of House Democrats with integrity, Visa and US Bank is taking on that challenge.
“In our view, any House member who goes to a party that honors a member or a group of members is violating the ethics rules,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a campaign finance reform group. “It’s a violation of the spirit, the language and the meaning of the provisions.”
August 20th, 2008 at 9:00 amSo, Two-thirds of the working-age population was uninsured, underinsured, and “Prices for goods purchased by American businesses surged more than expected in July and have jumped by nearly 10 percent over the last year
Mission accomplished GOOPERS.
How the hell McIIIrd is even close to Obama just mucking fystifies me.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:04 amNew York City settles with anti-war protesters for $2 million
New York City has agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to protesters arrested during a 2003 rally against the Iraq war who said their civil rights had been violated, lawyers for both sides said on Tuesday.
The 52 plaintiffs in the lawsuit were among 94 protesters arrested on April 7, 2003, during a demonstration at the midtown Manhattan offices of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with holdings in the defense sector.
“The New York Police Department violated core constitutional rights when it arrested a group of peaceful demonstrators who were lawfully protesting against the commencement of the Iraq war and those who stood to profit from it,” said Sarah Netburn, a lawyer for the protesters.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/New_York_City_settles_with_protest_0819.html
Kudos to the protesters that picketed the Carlyle Group; I can’t think of a more desiring firm to hold a demonstration. Congrats on your settlement and victory.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:04 amI wonder if we’ll be seeing John McCain delivering a speech from New Orleans of the anniversary of Katrina.
I’ll go out on a limb and guess “No”. :)
August 20th, 2008 at 9:05 amBorder Patrol Officer Pleads Guilty To Jack Bauer Imitation
A Border Patrol agent who went all Jack Bauer on some illegal aliens has been convicted of violating their civil rights, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Houston announced today. Santiago Perez, 26, of Edinburg, plead guilty to the use of excessive force on two undocumented visitors, or people-without-papers, or night-time tourists, or whatever it is we’re calling illegals these days.
Perez was no slacker at the whole violating-civil-rights thing:
On Sept. 14, 2007, while on duty and transporting an undocumented alien, who had been arrested for alien smuggling, from the Premont, Texas, Police Department to the processing station, Perez drove and parked in a secluded area. Perez then restrained the alien’s hands behind his back and removed him from the government vehicle.
In an effort to scare and coerce the alien into incriminating himself, Perez drew his service pistol and repeated the questions. The alien continued to deny being a smuggler. Perez then pointed his weapon at the alien’s head, touching the pistol to the alien’s temple or forehead, and again asked for incriminating information. Perez intended the alien to fear for his life. He did. The alien believed Perez was going to kill him as he knelt handcuffed in a secluded area in South Texas.
In the other incident hit an unarmed and un-resisting Guatemalan over the eye with his pistol.
“An injustice has been recognized and accepted by this former agent’s admission today,” U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a statement. Perez will be sentenced November 5 and faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/08/border_patrol_abuse.php
This is an issue about how we should treat illegal immigrants once they are caught. Putting a gun to their head is not an option or using a police baton to cause serious injury. They need to start doing better psychological evaluations on law enforcement officials to weed out the over zealous ones they keep hiring.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:07 amHealth care costs “are climbing much more rapidly than incomes or the growth in the overall economy,”
Lemme guess – the Insurance companies had record profits in 2007…
A couple more years of this and we’ll be demoted from our Industrialized Nation status to third-world country.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:07 amFreedom Rebel Says:
Lobbyist Parties for Lawmakers Bend Rules
Thanks Rebel for the heads up! I’m going to call my freshman congressman, Patrick Murphy, today and tell him what I think about these parties.
As always, you are my great source for the “only to be found here” daily info!
PEACE
August 20th, 2008 at 9:11 amYesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out an EPA rule “limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions.” The 2-to-1 ruling “is the most recent in a series of judicial setbacks to the Bush administration’s efforts to reshape federal policies under the Clean Air Act.”
Clean Air Act. LOL Yeah, right.
The courts really are the last bastion in what’s left of our Democracy. I hope they continue to do what’s right.
I can’t help but wonder if the Canadians will one day be carping about their illegal American immigrant problem?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:12 amI agree FR, I don’t think it’s limited to immigrants though. Have you watched cops the faux tv show lately. We brutalize as standard operating procedure and it is always sanctioned and it is always overlooked.
We used to tell our children to call a policeman if they were in trouble. No longer can you count on that. Most times they make matters worse for the victim.
You are on your own on American streets these days.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:15 am…while all the top producing companies will have been moved to Dubai to escape taxation. w, you’ve done it again.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:16 amThe plan, which would “drastically remake New York City’s skyline and shores,” is Bloomberg’s “boldest environmental proposal to date.”
I really hope that they are smart about wind power. It stands to be a real problem if turbines arn’t cleverly designed (one example are the compact underpass turbines, where wind is consistent because the underpass funnels the wind. They have a couple places here that have these – they are used to power the lights that light the underpasses themselves).
I think solar panels could be less of an eye sore, since they can be designed from the start to be a part of a building’s roof structure.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:18 amRUCerious Says:
Mission accomplished GOOPERS.
How the hell McIIIrd is even close to Obama just mucking fystifies me.
Don’t be mystified. It’s very simple. 25% of the population are Republican deadenders. 15% are total racists. And it looks like there are about 5% who really want to vote in their own best interests, but are easily swayed by right-wing lies and fearmongering, so they go back and forth. Thus, you see McCain’s numbers swing between 40% and 45%.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:19 amLemme guess – the Insurance companies had record profits in 2007…
Remember how insurance companies make money:
1) managing their investment income — i.e., delaying claims payments
2) underwriting their business — i.e., avoiding risk
3) minimizing their medical expense payments — e.g., denying claims, discounting provider payments
Insurance companies’ performance has little, if anything, to do with actually enabling healthcare. On the other hand, their incentives all operate to increase “total cost” of healthcare to our society because the costs they are incented to avoid are passed on to other parties — government programs, patients and providers.
We have a dysfunctional “non-system” of healthcare in the U.S.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:20 am#7 spencers mom Says:
Freedom Rebel Says:
Lobbyist Parties for Lawmakers Bend Rules
Thanks Rebel for the heads up! I’m going to call my freshman congressman, Patrick Murphy, today and tell him what I think about these parties.
As always, you are my great source for the “only to be found here” daily info!
PEACE
Good Morning spencers mom :) Good to see you.
I sent one to mine, she is one of the new kids on the block also but she is doing good so far. I just want to ensure it stays that way…
August 20th, 2008 at 9:21 amOops, I should have said, 15% who are not Republicans, are racists, who will not vote for a black person. I need to clarify that most of the 25% Republican deadenders are also racist.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:23 amFred Says: You are on your own on American streets these days.
One of my students was stabbed during a mugging at a bus stop on his way back from a job interview this week. He has a collapsed lung and is in the hospital.
I rarely see the police around, unless they are parked at the local Dunkin’ Donuts, or beggin for donations at the intersections. I suppose you get what you pay for.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:24 amstjack Says: …while all the top producing companies will have been moved to Dubai to escape taxation. w, you’ve done it again.
Seems that 66% of them have escaped taxation right here in the U.S.
I also love the 19,000 rich people who’d put millions into just one Swiss bank accounts to avoid the IRS.
And then the rich whine about the taxes they don’t even pay.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:26 amgood_golly4 Says: The latest Reuters/Zogby poll puts McCain up by 5 points. That will likely change during the DNC convention, but it helps to demonstrate how close this race is likely to be.
No way. I live in a very red state and have seen only one McCain bumpersticker in the last two and a half weeks of conscious observation. Unlike 2000, when nearly everyone had a W sticker.
The polls don’t actually represent new voters, voters seen as ‘unlikely to vote’ (i.e. black), or people without landlines.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:30 am#9 Fred Says:
Freedom Rebel Says:
This is an issue about how we should treat illegal immigrants once they are caught. Putting a gun to their head is not an option or using a police baton to cause serious injury. They need to start doing better psychological evaluations on law enforcement officials to weed out the over zealous ones they keep hiring.
I agree FR, I don’t think it’s limited to immigrants though. Have you watched cops the faux tv show lately. We brutalize as standard operating procedure and it is always sanctioned and it is always overlooked.
We used to tell our children to call a policeman if they were in trouble. No longer can you count on that. Most times they make matters worse for the victim.
You are on your own on American streets these days.
Good Morning Fred :)
Exactly, we are seeing more and more uses of tasers also. I did a post recently about a man who was tasered 9 times. He was dead after 7, if that is not excessive I don’t know what is. A taser should only be used in extreme circumstances as a last resort IMHO.
These extreme intimidation tactics have got to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Good to see you as always.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:31 amgood_golly4 Says:
——————————————————————————–
The latest Reuters/Zogby poll puts McCain up by 5 points.
That proves once again the Republican strategy of lies, slander and fearmongering is very effective. Aren’t you proud.
BTW, McCain’s number is still 45%. Obama’s just went down because of the libelous character assassination by McCain and his Swift Boat friends.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:32 amLibs, the fwee mahkets can work for you, just be 25 with no health problems whatsoever, no family history (and we will check), and other undisclosed screening that’s a nunya. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll offer you a special: $100 a month for the first three months. ($6000 deductible still applies)
This message was bought and paid for by the insurance companies.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:33 amHealth care costs “are climbing much more rapidly than incomes or the growth in the overall economy,” according to a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund.
Heaven forbid the for-profit health care industry take less profit. As far as I am concerned, they are just asking for it. I’m hoping that Obama surprises everyone and goes straight to single payer health by expanding Medicare to cover everyone. Right now Medicare’s overhead is something like 7% whereas the for-profit health care industry is over 50%. Think of all the people we could insure for that 43%.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:33 amPrices for goods purchased by American businesses surged more than expected in July and have jumped by nearly 10 percent over the last year..
And they will build that 10% into the price of their goods. As with health care, heaven forbid if business were to bear some of the brunt of the recession by not passing those costs on to us. But that’s not likely to happen in our free enterprise market.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:35 amRice signs missile defense deal with Poland
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/20/rice-signs-missile-defens_n_120028.html
WARSAW, Poland — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:36 am“Clean energy will reduce greenhouse gases, protect the environment, create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But the federal government needs to lead the way.”
And that is only going to happen if the Democrats take over our government. I really do wish the Democrats would run an advertisement demonstrating how often the Republicans have filibustered bills that would have encouraged the development of clean energy. They just recently did that to a bill that would extend tax credits to businesses engaged in creating clean, renewable energy. We can give tax credits to the oil industry, but not to industry that will help get us out of our dependence on oil.
And as far as McBush is concerned, he has consistently voted against clean-renewable energy bills. That, too, needs to be brought forth for the American public to see.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:38 amYesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out an EPA rule “limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions.”
Yeah, what happened to the Republican party that believed in State’s rights? They used to only ignore that tenant when it came to our bedroom, now they ignore it when it comes to making more profit.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:41 amunb @ #19.
Exactly!
Even in the more affluent neighborhoods of Kalamazoo, I’m seeing Obama signs, bumper stickers, and pins.
To date, I’ve seen one…ONE… McCain bumper sticker, and it was on a high priced Lexus (LOL!).
I’m also seeing a bigger interest in young voters (my 18 year old daughter, for example). As we all know, young voters tend to vote for change. McSame is not about change.
I still predict a landslide, as long as we can prevent fraud, as long as EVERY SINGLE VOTE COUNTS!
August 20th, 2008 at 9:43 amAgain, I stress, ABSENTEE BALLOT, ABSENTEE BALLOT, ABSENTEE BALLOT!!!
Cindy McCain Has Another Forgotten Half-Sister
But there’s more: Cindy McCain has another half sister. Before her marriage to Hensley, Johnson had a daughter, Dixie Burd, by a previous relationship. Burd, who is much older than Cindy, could not be reached for comment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/20/cindy-mccain-has-another_n_120033.html
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 amAs this is an open thread, I’m curious good_goony4.0, why the need to change your name every day?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 amgood_golly4
Nobody gives a shit about your wedge issue. We have $4.00 gas and you think criticism of a safe, relatively rare procedure in a licensed medical facility by a heard of neanderthals who do nothing to advance medicine ranks about the economy, our debt, the declining secondary school system, the price of food, the problem with healthcare access.
When things get so bad for the repugs, they head over to wedge issues. That’s the thing with you wingnuts: You are entirely incapable of debating issues taken by the pulse of the country, you have to devise a plan to obfuscate the masses to win the next election.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 amgoon_golly4 Says:
The latest Reuters/Zogby poll puts McCain up by 5 points. That will likely change during the DNC convention, but it helps to demonstrate how close this race is likely to be. Obama is going to have to come up with better answers to tough questions than “that’s above my pay grade.”
The only problem with the Obama campaign is that they continue to be too polite with McCain, and are failing to remind people what an utter disaster it has been having Republicans in power in DC. They need to go back to the issues that defined Obama earlier this year, namely that he presents a real opportunity to recover from the deep hole that Bush has put us in, and that McBush promises to continue digging deeper and deeper.
Your inability to understand what Obama meant in that response, goon, speaks nothing at all to the election, but rather to your own deepseated personal problems. McCain responded with a typically shallow response filled with buzz words for the Right, while Obama conceded that the answer to the question of when life begins is not knowable and a purely religious response (like yours) is inappropriate in a republic.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:46 am#15 shoeless Says:
Oops, I should have said, 15% who are not Republicans, are racists, who will not vote for a black person. I need to clarify that most of the 25% Republican deadenders are also racist.
I couldn’t agree with you more shoeless. The racists would rather shot themselves in the foot than vote in their best interest for Obama.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:46 amFred Says:
We used to tell our children to call a policeman if they were in trouble. No longer can you count on that. Most times they make matters worse for the victim.
When my kids were in high school, they were constantly harassed by the police, pulled over searched, once a cop even threatened to plant weed on them.
Cops need to have psych evaluations to get rid of the sadistic a$$holes that sometimes become cops.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:47 am#Freedom Rebel Says:
This is an issue about how we should treat illegal immigrants once they are caught. Putting a gun to their head is not an option or using a police baton to cause serious injury. They need to start doing better psychological evaluations on law enforcement officials to weed out the over zealous ones they keep hiring.
Countdown to the right wing lunatic talking heads taking up the cause of this border guard and making him into some kind of a hero.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:48 amgoon_golly4 Says:
I think the Taser threat was a bit of overkill there.
“A bit”? Wow. You’re so compassionate, it’s just wonderful.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:48 amIsn’t it intriguing how trolls like Gigi dismiss polls until one comes along that they like?
Can anyone point out a single policy or even rhetorical difference between McSame and George W. Bush? Obama needs to get back on offense, punish McSame with the idea of a “Third Bush Term” and attack his simplistic “answers” (”Drill here, drill now”) as delusional.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:48 amHere’s another way to look at mccain’s (and the repug agenda’s) support.
*5% of Americans have MADE OUT LIKE BANDITS and are getting wealthy far beyond avarice on the administration’s policies. Many of them are looting the federal treasury or recieving some type of direct or indirect government support – we have socialism for the wealth in this county.
15% perceive that they are “next in line” to become part of the nation’s elite. This is not true, the top 1 – 5% do not let anyone join their ranks – its an ol’ boys club made possible because fully 95% or more of the population does not have access to the wealth and power that the top 5% holds.
20% are just angry and frustrated. Many now know that their lot in life is set. In fact, America has among the least social mobility of any nation on earth. The folks are bitter but they have channel that bitterness on the rest of the population they perceive as being “below” them on the socio-economic ladder.
Remember, approximately 20% (or more) of Americans suffer significant mental illness at some point in their lives – this is an important part of the repug base and these folks are part of the last 2 groups above too.
The “success” of the repugs in pushing an agenda that is directly against the best-interests of the vast majority of Americans is based on:
*Control of MSM
*Lies, lies, and more lies
*Race baiting
*Successfully convincing many Americans that the economic challenges they face are the fault of the folks BELOW them on the socio-economic ladder – utter nonsense.
The economically-deprived, politically disconnected people in America are virtually powerless and in no way hold anyone from breaking into the middle or upper classes.
But that is the meme that the rightwing noise machine and the “mighty wurlitzer” have successfully catapulted – propaganda indeed!
August 20th, 2008 at 9:49 amDRxJ Says: I’m also seeing a bigger interest in young voters (my 18 year old daughter, for example). As we all know, young voters tend to vote for change. McSame is not about change.
The one I saw was only a rebel flag short of the typical redneck stereotype (old Ford pick-up, gun rack, buzzed cut greying white Southern man).
My students talk about politics all the time. It’s cool to see these young people involved in the process (when I was their age it was uncool to discuss the subject). They will make a difference.
I just wish Obama would get more aggressive and point out the Republicans shortcomings (it’s not negative if it’s factual, and done with a sense of sharing valid information).
August 20th, 2008 at 9:50 amFred Says:
I agree FR, I don’t think it’s limited to immigrants though. Have you watched cops the faux tv show lately. We brutalize as standard operating procedure and it is always sanctioned and it is always overlooked.
Absolutely. Look at how many times we have read recently about the police using a taser on suspect to the extent where they end up in killing them.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:53 amgood_golly4 Says: That is actually not true. The pollsters are now including cell phone lines. Some examples from Pew, and Gallup, where they mention that they call cell phones. Even the DailyKos reports that the cell phone factor isn’t much of a factor at all.
You prove it.
Maybe they’ve started calling conservative cell phones, but no one I know (and I know a lot of people) has ever been polled.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:53 amHere’s how Thomas Friedman kicked off his NYT column this morning:
If the conflict in Georgia were an Olympic event, the gold medal for brutish stupidity would go to the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin. The silver medal for bone-headed recklessness would go to Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, and the bronze medal for rank short-sightedness would go to the Clinton and Bush foreign policy teams.
Somehow, he tags Bill Clinton with (apparently equal) blame for the Georgia fiasco, seven-and-a-half years after he left office.
They’re not even pretending to live in the Reality-Based Community anymore.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:55 amRemember how insurance companies make money…
You forgot an important component – they take a percentage off each and every premium dollar too. The more premiums go up, the more they make.
The more costs go up, the more premiums go up, the more they make.
This is counter-intuitive to many. Rising costs BENEFIT monopolies and oligopolies because they can always raise prices, claiming they are not at-fault, they are merely “passing along” their increased costs.
This is why oil companies LOVE $100+ oil. They can keep their profit margins the same and make TONS of more money.
The biggest beneficiary of increasing healthcare costs are the insurance companies – they raise their rates and are now taking a larger dollar amount (even if percentage remains the same) off the top of each dollar paid in premiums.
It is impossible for an insurance company to lose money. They are paid off the top of each premium dollar before a dime is paid.
The remaining money that goes in an investment pool grows at an interest rate – THAT GROWTH GOES TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY AND IS NOT USED TO PAY CLAIMS.
They minimize risk and deny claims too.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:55 amFIX YOUR MODERATION SYSTEM TP.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:55 amFreedom Rebel Says:
Border Patrol Officer Pleads Guilty To Jack Bauer Imitation
You know, my youngest 3 start 1st grade and K in a couple weeks.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:55 amOne of the rules is to limit, or better, eliminate children’s viewing of violence on T.V.
Obviously, it’s because they still haven’t comprehended fully the difference between reality and fantasy.
Obviously, this idiot hasn’t either.
(As a side note, when our children are subjected to mild violence like Star Wars, my wife and I do take the time to explain that realm of fantasy, and to LISTEN to what they have to say!)
shoeless Says:
Don’t be mystified. It’s very simple. 25% of the population are Republican deadenders. 15% are total racists.
I’m hoping that, in the end, those racists will put their country’s well being ahead of their need to not vote for a black person. Otherwise, racism could just spell the end of this once great nation.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:57 amToo bad for Gigi. I would guess the ability to communicate sarcasm is one of the first things lost when one continuously posts stupid shit in apparent seriousness.
It’s just an expected consequence of the demands of trolling.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:58 amFreedom Rebel Says:
Exactly, we are seeing more and more uses of tasers also. I did a post recently about a man who was tasered 9 times. He was dead after 7, if that is not excessive I don’t know what is. A taser should only be used in extreme circumstances as a last resort IMHO.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:31 am
_______
I believe this is the case you’re referring to:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/15/headlines
August 20th, 2008 at 9:58 amI wonder if those advancing medicine to its current state ever intented their contributions to be for-profit. Michael Debakey, anyone?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:58 am#good_golly4 Says:
I guess that answers my question about whether TP is now banning people by IP address.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:00 amunbelievable Says:
The polls don’t actually represent new voters, voters seen as ‘unlikely to vote’ (i.e. black), or people without landlines.
Nor do they represent the fact that in the primaries Democrates out-voted Republicans 4-1.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:01 amFR, I always read your posts first thing in the morning whether I have time to post or not….thanks for keeping the facts in front.
Tasers are the least of our problem with our so called police. I remember an incident in the 90’s where an 80 year old black man became irrational and had a weedhook or slingblade which sounds deadly but the man was in his 80’s.
They shot him 9 times, no talking, nothing. Just shoot him down like a rabid dog.
Now I’m not that young anymore but I can’t help but think that 3 or 4 people my age would have little trouble disarming an 80 year old man without resorting to deadly force.
No charges against the policemen.
Police in America are now blackshirts. I remember seeing cops in LA years ago wearing black leather gloves, now I see that in my rural community. Really sad and scary.
The people who apply for police jobs are for the most part bullies who are looking for someone to hurt, not civil servants.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:02 am#37 Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
#Freedom Rebel Says:
This is an issue about how we should treat illegal immigrants once they are caught. Putting a gun to their head is not an option or using a police baton to cause serious injury. They need to start doing better psychological evaluations on law enforcement officials to weed out the over zealous ones they keep hiring.
Countdown to the right wing lunatic talking heads taking up the cause of this border guard and making him into some kind of a hero.
Good Morning Bilbo :) You are absolutely right. They are hailed by many that want this “kind of so called protection”. All in the name of keeping their neighbors safe. I find this attitude sickening that anybody feels this is exceptable behavior.
Good to see you as always.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:02 amAbout polls:
Remember how the same US polling firms proclaimed to the world that HUGO CHAVEZ was going to lose his last election. This was utter nonsense, sheer propaganda.
The early polls indicated he would lose badly, but as the election came closer, they reported the gap was closing.
Chavez won by a landslide – the polls were dishonest and were an attempt to sway voters, attempt to legitimize a highly unpopular opposition candidate.
Polling companies have nothing to lose misrepresenting early polls because they can always claim that the polls were accurate but that trends shifted.
Do not trust these polls, BUT DO NOT DISMISS THEM EITHER!
They need to be considered a call to action – yes, mccain can win this. That will be a disaster – he is actually even worse than the chimp and is just another face on the same criminal cabal.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:03 amralph the wonder llama Says:
Somehow, he tags Bill Clinton with (apparently equal) blame for the Georgia fiasco, seven-and-a-half years after he left office.
They’re not even pretending to live in the Reality-Based Community anymore.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:55 am
_______
And rightly so – Clinton was a strong ally of Georgian dictator Eduard Shevardnadze, who pressured Georgia to build the Baky-Tiblisi-Ceyhan pipeline in order to bypass Russian and Iranian control over Caspian oil resources. It was also under Clinton that the first military alliances with Georgia were formed. So, much as I hate to say it, Mr. Unit is correct in this case.
Interesting reading:
August 20th, 2008 at 10:04 amhttp://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/15/russia_georgia_conflict_fueled_by_rush
This is primarily a result of the misguided war on the people who use certain drugs.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:04 am#shoeless Says:
good_golly4 Says:
The latest Reuters/Zogby poll puts McCain up by 5 points.
And the latest Quinnipiac poll has Obama up 5 points. All these polls show is that polls mean relatively little at this point in time.
Just wait until the Democrats and Obama introduce the country to the real John McBush.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:04 am#DRxJ Says:
Even in the more affluent neighborhoods of Kalamazoo, I’m
Again, I stress, ABSENTEE BALLOT, ABSENTEE BALLOT, ABSENTEE BALLOT!!!
I wish that would become the mantra of the Democratic party. They really do need to encourage everyone to vote by absentee ballot, to make sure that there is a paper trail of their vote.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if, on election night, the machines only had Republican votes to count. They certainly would not be able to call the election on election night.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:07 amFred,
and least we forget the incident in Detroit, where police officers shot dead Errol Shaw, a deaf and mute African American who was “menacing” them with a rake, all the while neighbors are yelling “He’s deaf! He’s dumb! He can’t hear you or respond!”
I think 3 big tough police officers could have handled the situation without killing him.
Yes, this happened over 8 years ago, and yes, it still pi$$es me off!
August 20th, 2008 at 10:08 amFirst, of all, will someone in the mainstream media please explain that when one is absolutely unvarying in one’s position on something that to call it “varying” is to be a f-king liar and/or retarded. The Rude Pundit’s pointed this out before, but it’s become a standard line in McCain’s speeches and deserves to be smacked down like a leg-humping terrier.
Here it is again, from his Mussolini-worthy speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars: “[A] lot of people are still trying to square Senator Obama’s varying positions on the surge in Iraq. First, he opposed the surge and confidently predicted that it would fail. Then he tried to prevent funding for the troops who carried out the surge…Senator Obama commits the greater error of insisting that even in hindsight, he would oppose the surge.” There is no varying. There is, in fact, a lack of varying that is rather impressive. If Obama were now saying he wished he had supported the escalation, then he’d be varying.
So, Obama needs some lines to come back at McCain, something like, say, “Senator McCain wants to win an election to keep fighting the war. I want to win an election to end the war.” The ballsier line would be “Senator McCain wants to keep fighting a war that’s over.”
Or perhaps Obama needs an ad or two to point out the numerous times that McCain has called Iraq a “sovereign nation,” yet refuses to agree with the Iraqi government on the need for a timeline on withdrawal. Howzabout this: point out that the vast majority of the American people want the troops home, the vast majority of the Iraqi people want the troops out, and the Iraqi government wants that timeline. Point out that John McCain doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. Do we wants another stubborn b-stard as president? (Leave out the b-stard part; although…)
Or how about this: press McCain again and again to say how much longer he’s willing to stay. He says that he thinks it might could possibly be done in 2013. What if all the goals McCain lays out on his website are not achieved by 2013? How much longer? And if he says he won’t say, then that’s as good as forever. And hammer that f-ker home.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/
August 20th, 2008 at 10:08 amIn an increased effort to allegedly “guard against terrorist threats,” the federal government has been “using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations.”
One more sign of the impending police state of the U.S.A. We are looking more and more like those societies that we derided and, in some cases, even went to war with to protect liberty and freedom. Like Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R. If you think police brutality is bad now, just wait. Unless the direction this country is headed changes, and very soon, we WILL wind up with work camps and gulags, or whatever name you want to give such places. For now, it’s accused terrorists and illegal aliens. But what the government is allowed to do to those groups, it certainly can do to American citizens as well, as our rights are eroded daily.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:10 am#48 DRxJ Says:
Freedom Rebel Says:
Border Patrol Officer Pleads Guilty To Jack Bauer Imitation
You know, my youngest 3 start 1st grade and K in a couple weeks.
One of the rules is to limit, or better, eliminate children’s viewing of violence on T.V.
Obviously, it’s because they still haven’t comprehended fully the difference between reality and fantasy.
Obviously, this idiot hasn’t either.
(As a side note, when our children are subjected to mild violence like Star Wars, my wife and I do take the time to explain that realm of fantasy, and to LISTEN to what they have to say!)
Good Morning DRxJ :)
I use to do the same thing with mine when they were that age. I would even go so far as to explain in detail why they were being punished, so it was crystal clear to them the reason. I’m glad it was rare I had to punish them, that bottom lip drooping always pulled my heartstrings.
Of course, being sent to their room is alot different today than when we were growing up. My kids had a TV, stereo and computer, I don’t know why I felt so bad grounding them when I look back on it now.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:11 amFred Says:
Now I’m not that young anymore but I can’t help but think that 3 or 4 people my age would have little trouble disarming an 80 year old man without resorting to deadly force.
All they had to do, if they didn’t want to close in on the guy, would have been to shoot him in the leg or something.
What is so sad about the police brutality in this country is that they are allowed to get away with it. Where’s the incentive to NOT be brutal when you know you are unlikely to lose your job if you are brutal?
August 20th, 2008 at 10:11 am#55 Fred Says:
FR, I always read your posts first thing in the morning whether I have time to post or not….thanks for keeping the facts in front.
Thank you so much for such a high compliment. :)
You have a wonderful day….
August 20th, 2008 at 10:13 amimpeachcheneythenbush Says: If you think police brutality is bad now, just wait.
McCain actually said that the surge is working so well in Iraq that we should implement it here. Never mind the Constitution, or common sense.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:15 am#51 hussein toasterhead Says:
I believe this is the case you’re referring to:
La. Officer Indicted in Tasing Death
That is the one.. Thank you for posting it.:) Truly a tragic story.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:16 amFred Says:
Tasers are the least of our problem with our so called police. I remember an incident in the 90’s where an 80 year old black man became irrational and had a weedhook or slingblade which sounds deadly but the man was in his 80’s.
They shot him 9 times, no talking, nothing. Just shoot him down like a rabid dog.
Now I’m not that young anymore but I can’t help but think that 3 or 4 people my age would have little trouble disarming an 80 year old man without resorting to deadly force.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:02 am
_______
After having read Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, I look at these cases a bit differently. Incidents like this, or the Amadou Diallo case in New York where police officers shot a Ghanaian immigrant 50 times in seven seconds, are often the result of very rational split-second decisions based on tragically incomplete information. The fight-or-flight response is an unpredictable thing, and unfortunately evolution equipped us to deal with a sabre-toothed tiger jumping out of a bush – it didn’t equip us for the socioeconomic complexities of police work.
Tasers bring an extra variable into the equation. On the one hand, I have to wonder how many lives have been saved because officers used a non-lethal weapon instead of a lethal one. On the other hand, their “non-lethal” status makes them more likely to be used and often abused.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:17 ammaybe a wind turbine of THIS design would be better for bloomberg’s plan…
http://mariahpower.com/
August 20th, 2008 at 10:19 amRUCerious Says
August 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
So, Two-thirds of the working-age population was uninsured, underinsured, and “Prices for goods purchased by American businesses surged more than expected in July and have jumped by nearly 10 percent over the last year
Mission accomplished GOOPERS.
_______________________________________________________
And the GOP addresses these problems by making two claims:
1. It’s a MENTAL recession, and
2. These people make poor choices. They CHOOSE to be uninsured/underinsured, and they CHOOSE be unable to live within their means in the face of the rising cost of goods. If they were smarter, they’d choose to be rich and not have these problems.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:21 amI find it difficult to accept that the policies and alliances you mention should be seen as anywhere near the influence on this crisis as has been exerted by the Bush administration antagonizing Russia with missile deployments and poushing for Georgia and other satellites to be admitted to NATO. Not to mention, if it is to be believed, the subtle influence Karl Rove is rumored to have asserted on the Georgian president on behalf of John McCain’s electoral interests when he should have been testifying before Congress.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:22 amHow long can it be before an 80 year old man needs a nap. I agree, if they can get away with it, and they do 100% of the time as far as I can tell then it just draws people who want to kill someone and get away with it.
There should be some shame for failing if deadly force is required and you should have to justify it.
The problem is it comes from the top down. The town I live close to has under 200,000 people but we have a swat team with a…..tank. Can you believe that? Swat is called routinly and force is the method always used.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:23 amGG
August 20th, 2008 at 10:24 amMost of us recognized that Obama’s comment “above my pay grade” was a reference to God.
Cindy McCain Has Another Forgotten Half-Sister
Also in the WaPo today.
What an example of “family values.” Betcha none of this comes out on CNN’s “revealed” show, with interviews of both candidates.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:27 amunbelievable Says
August 20th, 2008 at 10:15 am
McCain actually said that the surge is working so well in Iraq that we should implement it here. Never mind the Constitution, or common sense.
___________________________________________________________
I think McCain just likes the word “surge” — (the possible reasons are something I don’t really want to wrap my mind around).
He wants to promote military surges in our cities to address crime.
He wants an economic “surge” to stimulate the economy.
What we really need here is a “surge” of common sense. That’s been gone so long from our leadership that many of us wouldn’t recognize it if it came back.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:29 amToasterhead, you’re a smart guy but I find this appalling. What is training supposed to be for? A faster gun draw?
These are usually citizens of our country. Isn’t evolving a description of overcoming our primal reflex actions?
80 year old men in thier own front yard are not the same as saber toothed tigers.
On top of that comment I would just like to say that the police do not tackle the real, violent offenders. Those people are pretty much free to move about in our society. Police are too busy giving speeding and parking tickets to the people who actually do pay taxes and their salary.
Over 70% of the people we deal with in our prison system are non-violent offenders and they are often given lengthy sentences and their presense in the system pushes the violent ones back out into our society long before they have done thier time.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:34 amralph the wonder llama Says:
I find it difficult to accept that the policies and alliances you mention should be seen as anywhere near the influence on this crisis as has been exerted by the Bush administration antagonizing Russia with missile deployments and poushing for Georgia and other satellites to be admitted to NATO. Not to mention, if it is to be believed, the subtle influence Karl Rove is rumored to have asserted on the Georgian president on behalf of John McCain’s electoral interests when he should have been testifying before Congress.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:22 am
_______
No disagreement here – I’d say it wasn’t just subtle Rovian influence, but very unsubtle Cheneyian influence prodding Saakshvili to attack South Ossetia with assurances that the U.S. would get Georgia’s back militarily.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:36 amI thought it was a perfectly acceptable answer. You would pick apart anything he said, so.
mccain goes back and forth on the issue depending on who he is talking to. Why aren’t you giving him sh!t for not being stronly on one side while purporting to be something, I’m not sure what.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:38 amFred Says:
Toasterhead, you’re a smart guy but I find this appalling. What is training supposed to be for? A faster gun draw?
These are usually citizens of our country. Isn’t evolving a description of overcoming our primal reflex actions?
80 year old men in thier own front yard are not the same as saber toothed tigers.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Yes – that’s my point exactly. Police training should overcome the deficiencies of evolution by teaching officers how to slow a dangerous situation down, and thus not allow it to escalate into adrenaline-fueled violence. In these cases, it would appear that either the training failed, the officers failed to adhere to the training, or management policies failed to enforce compliance.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:41 amgoon_golly4 Says:
Marie: Obama was asked to take a position on when human rights begin. A progressive who purports to be a champion of human rights should have a better answer than “that’s above my pay grade.”
Why do you keep beating this dead horse? It’s been pointed out to you multiple times that Obama’s answer was a perfectly good one that doesn’t happen to be politically astute. He responded that he doesn’t know when life begins and could just have easily said, “No one knows when life begins.”
Just because he didn’t give the kneejerk Wingnut response that “life begins at conception”, which is not only silly, but unprovable, you keep whining about him needing a “better answer.”
Find another pony to ride, or beat on.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:42 amgood_golly4 Says:
Marie: Obama was asked to take a position on when human rights begin. A progressive who purports to be a champion of human rights should have a better answer than “that’s above my pay grade.”
He doesn’t need to take a position for the sake of making anything clear to bottom dwellers like yourself.
No changes will be made. It isn’t an issue. The rights of the woman will be upheld and bolstered. Get over it.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:43 amgood_golly4 Says:
Marie: Obama was asked to take a position on when human rights begin. A progressive who purports to be a champion of human rights should have a better answer than “that’s above my pay grade.”
August 20th, 2008 at 10:33 am
As a conservative who obviously believes that human rights begin at conception, are you going to push for the prosecution
August 20th, 2008 at 10:50 amof fertility clinic doctors for genocide? After all, they dispose of hundreds of thousands of human lives every year in order to ensure that the healthiest embryos are implanted in their clients.
Health care costs “are climbing much more rapidly than incomes or the growth in the overall economy,” according to a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund. “Two-thirds of the working-age population was uninsured, underinsured, reported a medical bill problem or did not get needed health care because of cost in 2007.”
People shouldn’t have to choose between food, rent and healthcare. Now more than ever, we need a single payer plan that provides access to healthcare for all Americans.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 20th, 2008 at 10:57 amgood_golly4 Says
August 20th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Marie: Obama was asked to take a position on when human rights begin. A progressive who purports to be a champion of human rights should have a better answer than “that’s above my pay grade.”
_____________________________________________________
Actually, it IS above Obama’s paygrade, and above that of every other mere human as well. The question boils down to “when does a fertilized egg become a human being?”
A fertilized egg at the moment of conception amounts to a blueprint and a cornerstone. Yet if you ask people if a building exists when the only ingredients are a blueprint and a cornerstone, most people would say no — it’s not a building until it’s built.
So when DOES that fertilized egg become a human being, and therefore entitled to human rights? We really don’t know. Only God knows that, which is why this question is outside the paygrade of Obama and everybody else. Obama doesn’t presume to be God. It was a fair answer.
McCain took the position of erring on the side of caution and claimed that it’s a human being at the moment of conception, and therefore entitled to human rights. This opens up a whole other can of legal worms — such as the use of IUD birth control devices being a capital crime, recognition of blastocysts as people (issued Social Security numbers, counted in the census, etc.), and all of our other laws that recognize citizens as soon as they are born. If McCain is truly in favor of going this route, I expect a lot of new legislation redefining “humans” in a McCain administration. Unless, of course, he is just pandering to evangelicals by telling them what they want to hear.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:05 amThanks for #24 unbelievable.
This is big stuff. The Bear has been playing a high stakes game of chess and it appears we’re poking him with a stick. Thank Bushco for weakening our military and world standing to the point where the Bear can and will do whatever it pleases. We waited until the Soviet Union weakened itself in Afganistan before Ronnie Raygun took false credit for its demise. Seems they have the advantage now.
WW3 could easily be a-brewin. (How bout another McLame post TP?)
BTW- It needs to be stressed how weak and ineffective
August 20th, 2008 at 11:19 amCondi(for a)Price has proven to be. The reight holds her in such high regard ya know.
hussein toasterhead Says:
As a conservative who obviously believes that human rights begin at conception, are you going to push for the prosecution
of fertility clinic doctors for genocide?
Don’t expect an answer to that question from gg or John McCain. Of course, the right-wing evangelist declined to bring up such sticky subjects during his religious tests of the candidates, even though it is an obvious conundrum. Anti-choice people refuse to discuss the unmanageble consequences of their extremist demands. Had Warren asked that question of McCain, his head, along with the 5000 knuckleheads in the audience, would have exploded.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:28 amI pay $1300.00/month for what they call a cadillac policy. Yet they find ways to deny payments.
It is highway robbery and it is unjustifiable.
FDR said a conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs that refuses to walk forward. This time they have taken us backwards to the 30’s when no one had health care and they died.
We are dying again and the Americans that republicans talk about are not part of the working age population.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:32 amTP, until you figure a better way to ban the trolling piece of shit goon-golly ver.x, you’ll be receiving nothing but my wrath aimed at your utterly wimpy website. You’re system of retroactive site moderation leaves A HELLUVA LOT to be desired.
IF YOU CAN’T FIGURE OUT A BETTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM (contact me, my 13 year old nephew could write a better log-in script, REALLY), YOUR SITE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A PLACE WHERE NOTHING GETS DONE EXCEPT CLEANING UP PILES OF SHIT LEFT BEHIND FROM THE IGNORANT, PAID TO POST, REPEAT OFFENDER.
Seriously, I’m extremely embarrassed for TP. Years and years of never fixing one simple problem.
You’re website admin abilities are way more regressive than progressive.
Here’s a clue (albeit probably way over your heads):
TRY dot Net.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:35 amgood_golly4 Says:
The latest Reuters/Zogby poll puts McCain up by 5 points. That will likely change during the DNC convention, but it helps to demonstrate how close this race is likely to be. Obama is going to have to come up with better answers to tough questions than “that’s above my pay grade.”
So can you document McCain’s medical expertise on this issue? Simply put, you’re obviously Pro-Life, so why would the answer of anyone who is Pro-Women’s Reproductive Rights sound good to you at all? McCain goes back on forth on pretty much every issue their is out there, and that is perfectly acceptable, I guess, if you catch him saying what you want to hear.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:37 amGigi, you have made clear your opinion that human rights begin at conception (the fact that the fact of conception is not known for several days, even weeks afterward doesn’t seem to affect your sense of certainty).
However, you have never, to my knowledge on this forum, recognized the wider legal implications of that stand. In fact you have studiously avoided dealing with some of them — particularly, how should the law treat a woman who has miscarried?
Certainly, the majority of miscarriages are naturally-occurring, and should be treated as such. But given the circumstance that your preferred interpretation of human embryonic development, abortion would be outlawed as murder, yes? And in the absence of the option of legal abortion, some women will seek to induce miscarriages. These women would, under your plan, be guilty of murder too, right?
How should this practice be stopped?
August 20th, 2008 at 11:53 amIf only gg would show 1/4 as much compassion for a child that has been born.
It’s just a convenient wedge issue to cloud the issues for the religious community. A religious community that needs to be held responsible for their own inconsistancies I might add.
gg and her co-horts could care less about the fetus they claim to be so concerned about.
If we cared, this would be private matters between patient, god(or morals) and their doctor, if we only had one.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:00 pmFred, I totally agree.
But seeing as Gigi so appreciated the “honest and well reasoned answer” that she got from misshusseinmolly (no surprise there; misshusseinmolly’s answers are always honest and well-reasoned), I figured Gigi must be willing to offer the same kind of response she admires.
I haven’t seen it yet.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:05 pmAnd you won’t.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:11 pmGoony - WHEN YOU CAN GET PREGNANT YOU CAN DECIDE.
Until then, get the HELL out of my uterus.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:13 pmOh, shoeless, you cynical lib, you.
I’m optimistic that Gigi4 will be the model that has the “honest and well reasoned” upgrade installed.
I can dream, can’t I?
August 20th, 2008 at 12:13 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
Fred, I totally agree.
But seeing as Gigi so appreciated the “honest and well reasoned answer” that she got from misshusseinmolly (no surprise there; misshusseinmolly’s answers are always honest and well-reasoned)
Make that mostly honest and well-reasoned. Yesterday’s thread about the Drum Major survey, and her response to it, showed she can be as uncritically accepting of unproven spin as anyone.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:25 pmbarfly, I agreed with you on yesterday’s Drum Major survey thread.
It’s time to let it go.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:30 pmExcellent explanation rhf. I agree completely. We were waiting for gg to address the messy legal problems of her extremist viewpoint before answering that question, but it looks as though she will never venture into the practical problems created by her radical position.
Prediction: neither will John McCain, and no one will call him on it.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:31 pmFreedom Rebel Says:
Lobbyist Parties for Lawmakers Bend Rules
What’s the fun in only corrupting one lawmaker anyways, when we can corrupt a whole group of them.
Way more time/money efficient too huh? :)~
Good morning Freb :)
August 20th, 2008 at 12:32 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
Right now Medicare’s overhead is something like 7% whereas the for-profit health care industry is over 50%.
Thom Hartmann on Air America just said, not ten minutes ago, that Medicare has a 2% overhead.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:35 pmI totally agree with what you said.
I’ve heard that Social Security also has about 2% overhead, so I totally agree with what Thom Hartman said.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:00 pm#104 Exit Stage Left Says:
Freedom Rebel Says:
Lobbyist Parties for Lawmakers Bend Rules
What’s the fun in only corrupting one lawmaker anyways, when we can corrupt a whole group of them.
Way more time/money efficient too huh? :)~
Good morning Freb :)
Good Evening Exit Stage Left :) Sorry to respond so late. I was out with some friends who are on vacation.
I hope you are having a good day…..
August 20th, 2008 at 8:05 pm