State Sen. Bill Finkbeiner’s reelection prospects just got tougher today, when software engineer and activist Eric Oemig declared his bid for the 45th District Senate seat. In announcing his candidacy Oemig hit on themes which should resonate well in the increasingly Democratic Eastside district.
“Our district needs a leader who focuses on the basics. We need to solve problems in education. We can improve the financial health of our families and our businesses by making health care affordable. Everyone saves money when we waste less time in traffic,” said Oemig. “Our tax dollars should be spent on programs that return more value to families and businesses than we pay in.”
I first met Eric as a fellow classmate in the candidate training track at last year’s Camp Wellstone… and Finkbeiner should be worried. Eric is everything you want in a candidate: he’s smart, passionate, energetic, and personable. And after a career solving problems and creating efficiencies for high-tech companies like Microsoft, he has the personal wealth and freedom to devote to full-time campaigning. This is one Democratic candidate who most definitely will not be outspent.
Eric is also unquestionably progressive, but with a real-world business perspective that 45th District voters should find appealing.
“Bill Finkbeiner has been in Olympia since he graduated from college. Our district wants new leadership. We have things that need to get done. Finkbeiner spends his time flip-flopping trying to appease the right wing of his party instead of addressing the needs of the district,” added Eric Oemig.
“I worked in the private sector to eliminate inefficiencies. I will work to bring that same attention to fiscal accountability to state government. More importantly, I have the integrity to make sure people know how I will vote on key issues,” said Oemig.
Finkbeiner, who recently resigned as Senate minority leader, is being stretched between a GOP leadership that’s moving ever further to the right and his own constituents who are growing ever more moderate. Last year he held party unity in defeating the anti-discrimination HB 1515 by a single vote. This year, all eyes will be on Finkbeiner to see if breaks rank with his party and votes for the bill… just as he did when he was a Democrat in the state House.
For his part, Eric is unequivocal:
“Let me be clear,” said Oemig, “I will be happy to cast the deciding vote to ban this discrimination.”
That’s the type of strong statement that will play well with voters, when compared to a flip-flopping career politician like Finkbeiner.
This is going to be one of the mostly hotly contested races in the state Senate this year… unless Finkbeiner, finally facing a well-financed, well-equipped challenger, decides to drop out.
Nice. I like this guy.
Eric will be a great candidate against Finkbeiner. He will be forced to spend a tremendous amount of his own money to stay competative though, Bill already has quite the War chest AND he is the Chair of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee (the sanctioned PAC that doles out money for Republican incumbents and challengers)
Also lets not forget that Finkbeiner’s wife is on the board of Washington Conservation Voters. She will be a natural moderating force against Finkbeiner’s tenure as a right-wing leader. Anyone wanna bet if Bill will be endorsed by the WCV this election?
TIM EYMAN’S IDIOT CAR TAB INITIATIVE
KING 5 reports:
“SEATTLE – This year, $30 car tab fees are out of the question for most drivers in Washington state. A new law now requires most drivers in Washington to pay at least $10 more.
“But professional initiative sponsor Tim Eyman … told KING 5 … about his new initiative to repeal the current law requiring motorists to pay at least $10 more for car tabs.”
The story quotes an anti-tax nut as saying, “I haven’t seen how they’ve used our tax money to repair the roads so far.” Huh???
This dude must be from a cow county, because he hasn’t driven on I-90 or I-5 lately. Or, if he has, he must have got hit on the head by a falling rock. Or he must be driving through the I-5 construction zones with a blindfold on. Or drunk.
Maybe the decent people on the East side will tire of the republican culture of corruption and elect a Dem for once!
http://www.king5.com/localnews.....821c7.html
Roger Rabbit has posted 50.0% of the comments on this thread.
DEAD COAL MINER FOUND
Rescuers trying to reach 13 trapped coal miners have recovered a body from a mine car, and tests from air holes drilled in the area where the miners are believed to be reveal deadly levels of carbon monoxide.
Eric is a typical LEFTIST PINHEADED KLOWN who loves to paint visual pictures of the world according to Eric…..but has absolutely no idea on how to deliver his dream cost effectively. Eric has zero idea on how to fund his fantasyland visions and certainly zero idea of WHO will be able to live in his Utopia.
His whole platform will end up just like the other KLOWNS…
Vote for Me cuz I hate Bush….but don’t ask me for any details on any of my “visions” please because I don’t know my ass from a whole in the ground!!! Vote for Eric….HE HATES BUSH!!
That’s all you KLOWNS have!!
Got any facts behind that post, Mr C? OR JUST EXERCISING YOUR CAPS and!!!
Your usual cover for lack of content.
8
Cynical — an organ grinder monkey could do a better job of running this country than Bush has done. Why should ANYONE vote for Bush? He FUCKS UP everything he touches!!! Foreign policy, the war against terrorism, the economy, budget, spending priorities, disaster relief, domestic policy — you name it, he’s fucked it up!!! You have to go back to the 19th century to find an administration whose incompetence and corruption rivals this one. Bush and the GOP are so bad that “I’m not a Republican!” indeed has become a viable campaign platform. Wait and see — 2006 will be a blowout election year for Democrats!!! I predict the goopers will lose 100 seats in Congress. Hell, they may not even have 100 seats left, after all the indictments come down.
Libruls build roads???? I dont think so. If you have to surrender in war that is when you call the liberals in. — Other then that the taxpayer is just pissing their money away.
It is cool we are going to get $30.00 tabs back. They keep taking it away and we will keep voting it back in. That is saying something since you have to overcome the voter fraud coming out of King County.
CynicalIdiot never lets facts get in the way of his reasoning nor his posts. Ramble, Ramble……kind of like a Nash Rambler, not long for his dream world to remain in place….Nov. 07, 2006 and some of his idols will bit the bullet long before election day.
CynicalIdiot=queen of unreasoned logic
RUFUS, how’s your stained dress?
13
Ask Clinton. How does it feel losing elections? Did you get over 2004 yet? HAHAHAHAHAHA
Well Roger, 12 minors were just found alive, so grab your law books and your massive pension, grab the nearest ambulance you can chase and start chasing it to this great city to sue the hell out of that mine. A tragic scenerio did happen, and one minor was killed, but 12 others were able to get to safety.
Thank God, there is a God looking out for these people, miracles happen, without another damn attorney looking for disaster!
Shut the F up!
No Attorney’s Needed in this rescue! Just minors you met in churches to pray and their prayers were answered!
No Democrats, no republicans, just close intelligent minors and peole who cared for them. No attorneys need apply, they are to busy posting their shit on HA! Am I near 50% yet?
These people looked at a tragedy like 9/11 survivors did. they used their head, not their damn law books!
Goldy is the subject in the Letters to the Editor – The Olympian newspaper. Something about wingnuts roasting on a open fire……….
Eric is going to be a terrific candidate. I look forward to sending him money and to attending his victory party. I hope a candidate emerges to knock off Toby Nixon in the 45th, too.
I’ll bet FOX news is pissed they found those miners so fast. They only have the German ice rink rescue to use to avoid covering the collapse of Abrimoff and the Republcian Congressional disaster.
I’ll bet Tom “The Slammer” DeLay is hoping the ice rink rescue goes on for two years.
sgmmac @ 19:
Yep, he is.
Anyone want to do a pool matching the ‘nym to the name?
I’m putting 5 Canukbucks on Chardonnay.
No Government errors ever! How many children in this state have died because of the lack of proper supervision by the attorneys at the Child protection agency. Gregoire (an attorney like yourself) failed to answer a law suit that cost us tax payers millions, Sims has a choo choo trail billions over budget. these errors are OK in your book, because they pad your pockets. Why not bitch about them as much as you bitch about business! Because you are a phony baloney attorney on a fat government pension that is why!
GS, during your diatribes.. try announcing to whom you are speaking, or else you just sound like the guy in the park talking to a piece of string.
16
“Well Roger, 12 minors were just found alive, so grab your law books and … the nearest ambulance you can chase … Thank God, there is a God looking out for these people, miracles happen, without another damn attorney looking for disaster! Shut the F up!”
I will accept your apology later, you worthless piece of shit, but first I must inform you that due to a tragic error in communication, the families were wrongly told that 12 of the miners survived — when in fact there is only 1 survivor.
According to news reports, “chaos and fights” broke out at the church when the families learned that 11 of the 12 miners they thought had been rescued were killed in the mine explosion.
Now … how dare you turn this tragedy into a personal slam against me? You are one sick, pathetic, lousy excuse for a human being, GS.
16 (continued)
“Shut the F up!”
Tell you what, motherfucker, why don’t you meet me at DL sometime and try to shut me up?
“60% OF WHAT YOU SAY IS CRAP”
Kudos to David Letterman, whose guest tonight was Bill O’Reilly.
When O’Reilly had the audacity to call himself a “journalist,” Letterman came back at him with, “Oh, come on, you’re hardly objective.”
But Letterman’s crowning achievement came toward the end of the segment when he told O’Reilly to his face, “60% of what you say is crap!”
And that was being more generous than O’Reilly deserves … I’d say it’s more like 100% of what O’Reilly says is crap.
24
“No Government errors ever! How many children in this state have died because of the lack of proper supervision by the attorneys at the Child protection agency. Gregoire (an attorney like yourself) failed to answer a law suit that cost us tax payers millions, Sims has a choo choo trail billions over budget. these errors are OK in your book, because they pad your pockets. Why not bitch about them as much as you bitch about business! Because you are a phony baloney attorney on a fat government pension that is why!”
I’m not about to let you get away with this pack of lies.
The Child Protective Services caseworkers are social workers, not attorneys. They are undertrained, underpaid, and overworked in a burnout job, and do not have enough time or resources to do the job properly, in no small part because a certain segment of our population is unwilling to pay the taxes it takes to protect vulnerable, abused, neglected, and exploited children. I should also point out that the only cases you read about in the papers are the handful that go tragically wrong — you never hear about the successful outcomes, because the news media is not in the business of reporting good news.
Christine Gregoire, as Washington’s attorney general, won the largest judgment in world history — a judgment that brought $4 billion into the state treasury. That’s four (4) billion dollars of taxes that whining assholes like you won’t have to pay. A mistake by an attorney employed in Gregoire’s office — not a mistake by Gregoire personally — is alleged by rightwing lying partisan assholes to have cost the taxpayers $16 million. Assuming, arguendo, this is correct (see below) then Gregoire made the taxpayers of our state a net profit of $3,984,000,000.00 ($4,000,000,000.00 – $16,000,000.00). I’d sure hire someone with a track record like that.
DSHS failed to properly supervise a private group home for vulnerable adults called OK Boys Ranch. Certain residents were sexually exploited by staff and other residents over a period of several years. A jury awarded three of the victims a total of $16 million. An assistant attorney general failed to file an appeal on time, which resulted in that judgment becoming final. To blame this on Gregoire is bullshit! That office handles thousands of cases a year, and employs almost 500 lawyers; there were several layers of management between Gregoire and that attorney. Gregoire could not possibly personally supervise every attorney or review every case in the attorney general’s office. Does the buck stop on her desk? Yes, and she accepted responsibility.
But — responsibility for what? There is no guarantee an appellate court would have changed the verdict. It is difficult to overturn a jury verdict on appeal. There was no issue of liability in the case; the state’s only argument was the verdict was excessive. If an appeals court agreed and reduced the verdict, the state almost certainly would still have been required to pay several million dollars. So, if the mistake cost the state anything at all, it probably did not cost the state more than $10 million, and certainly not $16 million because that assumes a higher court would have awarded the victims nothing. The chances of that were zero.
You don’t know shit about the King County budget, and you know even less about what I think of the King County budget.
Finally, that “fat government pension” happens to be MY money, fuckface. Every cent of it was deducted from my paychecks. If you don’t like the fact the state took MY money, kept it for 30 years, and is giving it back to me on their schedule, go fuck yourself. I don’t care what you think.
16, 17, 18, 19, 24.
Stunning.
Clearly this GS guy jumped on the “They’re alive!” bandwagon not because he was elated at the potential humanitarian triupmph, but because it looked like a win for “big bidness”. This is the God for GS.
It has already been pointed out how crass that was, and now how utterly foolish.
Those miners needed a miracle, though. Too bad the workers had to rely on the International Coal Group for one. Portions of that mine were shut down 15 times for serious safety concerns last year. Most mines none. These are not the citations for safety violations, but actual forced shutdowns.
Yet, this GS jerk wanted to crow for a potential triumph for the mining company, not for the families, but of right-wing ideology over “the lawyers.”
What a sick bastardization of Christianity.
I love how the moonbats are jumping on GS because of the initial reports on all Cable News stations that 12 of the miners had survived. We went to be thanking God they were found alive. Now in the morning we find they opposite was true. We are sad, but not the moonbats. They politicize the tragedy! Why can’t you moonbats demonstrate compassion on those families who lost their husbands, sons, nephews, brothers, fathers, uncles, etc? Why do moonbats have to look at it as a “potential triumph for the mining company”? Where did GS mention that. The only mention of a corporation was Mr Comprehension – StuckonstupiddonASS: “I’ll bet FOX news is pissed they found those miners so fast.” No, I bet CNN was pissed they had to cover it because they are covering the Abramoff story 7×24 and they had to divert their rabid, salivating viewers like Mr Comprehension from the Abramoff story. Find a life moonbats. Demonstrate compassion for once in your lives.
Bill Finkbeiner will kick Eric Oemig’s ass. I predict at least a 60-40 margin for Finkbeiner, if not 2-to-1. The 45th district is far more conservative than any other district in King County, except for the 5th. It will be fun to watch Oemig drain his personal fortune in a quixotic battle.
A Democrat can win in the 45th, but only under unusual circumstances. Laura Ruderman won three times, but she unseated a far right-wing fellow named Bill Backlund. Ruderman is a very moderate Democrat, while Oemig sounds like a fire-breathing liberal — fat chance of the 45th electing him. Ruderman was succeeded by another Democrat — Larry Springer who is also a moderate and defeated a very conservative Jeff Possinger.
Fat chance of an uber-liberal Democrat like Oemig defeated an experienced, effective and moderate Republican such as Finkbeiner. I look for Finkbeiner to be re-elected in a blowout.
Eric Oemig apparently has some sort of health problems. Amazing what you can find on someone by using Google.
http://www.buffaloglutenfree.o...../12374.htm
How much longer can jewish-americans support the dems?
Holocaust Denial on Iranian TV: Crematoria and Gas Chambers Were Used for Hygienic Purposes. Following are excerpts from a discussion about the Holocaust on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN), which was aired on December 27, 2005.
Political analyst Hosein Rouyvaran: The number of Jews in the world (before World War II) was about 13 million. After World War II, the number of Jews in the world was over 12 million. The killing of six million Jews in the crematoria is a myth, not a fact, as proven by geography. Furthermore, as Mr. Abu Jihad has stated, 50 million people were killed in World War II. Why do they focus on the figure of six million, even if we assume this figure is correct? In addition, during World War II, many massacres were committed against humanity. We have Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and the city of Larson in Germany. In the city of Larson alone… Perhaps this hasn’t been dealt with extensively… In several days of bombardment, 135,000 people were killed in this city. Many massacres… Many crimes against humanity were committed in World War II.
There’s another matter. In the discussion of the Holocaust the issue of four detention facilities is raised: Auschwitz, Struthof, Mauthausen and Majdanek. Some were in Germany, and some in Poland. There are many issues worthy of discussion: For hygienic reasons, they used to burn the bodies of those who died of typhus or contagious diseases. This means the crematoria were used for hygienic, not political, purposes, and even this was not systematically. That’s one thing. The crematoria… The gas chambers were for disinfecting the clothes and the possessions of the prisoners. This too was done for hygienic reasons. In any case, the many researchers who studied this issue said that of the several millions who died in the detention facilities, only 150,000 to 250,000 were Jews. This is a perfectly reasonable figure out of the total number of victims. There is no need to focus on this issue, to discuss it separately, or to present inflated estimates.
Host Mohammad Sajedi: Let’s assume that six million Jews perished. Who killed them? Even if this is true, why should the Muslims pay the price? The Europeans themselves should bear the consequences. Is this analysis correct?
Hosein Rouyvaran: Yes, of course. It’s certainly true. The Jews in Europe lived in isolation from the European society for social reasons. Either they lived in ghettos – areas segregated from society – or else the Europeans isolated them, and there was racist behavior towards the Jews. Or maybe the Jews had a tendency to set themselves apart. At any rate, the Europeans were not friendly towards the Jews, and did not regard them as part of their society. Consequently, and as a result of the unique economic activity of the Jews in Europe, the Europeans wanted to liberate themselves from the Jews. There were other reasons too. The Zionist movement raised the issue of the Holocaust. All kinds of pretexts were used to enable Europe to liberate itself from the Jews.
Muhammad Abu Jihad, Palestinian Islamic Jihad representative in Iran: When I read about the Holocaust from the historical perspective, I came across some documents about an agreement between the Zionist Movement and the leaders of Nazi Germany. The agreement was negotiated in 1937. At the time, the Jews were leading normal lives in Europe, and did not want to emigrate to Palestine, which was presented as their homeland in the Balfour Declaration. The Jews did not want to emigrate, but this agreement was secret, and it was signed by the leaders of the world Zionist movement. To be specific, among the witnesses to this agreement were Ben-Gurion, who was in Germany at the time, and Golda Meir, who was in Poland.
Hosein Rouyvaran: At the end of World War II, the Nuremberg Court was established as a new means used by international law. Many of those prosecuted were accused of killing Jews in the crematoria. America applied a double standard here. Those who committed crimes against humanity… America was one of the victors in World War II. Therefore, they only prosecuted (people) from the other side. Those who committed various crimes in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Larson, were not prosecuted.
http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=982
I don’t get what you guys all have against Fox News. They do a good job of reporting the news, which they put on at about 5 minutes past the hour and again at 35 minutes past the hour. That’s total NEWS, unlike the half-hours devoted to highly-paid anchors expressing their opiions of the days events.
The other 50 minutes of the hour on Fox looks at a lot of stuff – some not having one whit to do with politics. They lean to the right because the other news sources are all dramatically tilted towards the left. Everyone is so inured into the leftist view, anything that is centrist is viewed as right wing. Fox News is OK with me, but I recognize they have an agenda, too, just as CNN and the rest.
Take the article that I have posted above and insert your favorite neo-nazi names and tell me if you would see any difference.
This is the dirty little secret that you have not been told. While the democrats actively (but discretly) court the Islamists, they tell their jewish constituents that its the Evangelicals that they should fear.
Where is the outrage from the democrats to this dangerous talk coming from Iran? Why are the democrats so quick to stop any attempt from this government to monitor this dangerous movement (islamo-fascist movement)?
What would happen to jews and christians throughout the world if this movement gains traction?
off topic:
A U.S. Marine squad was marching north of Basra when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road was an American Marine in similar but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened.
The Marine reported, “I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road. “I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein is a miserable, lowlife, scum bag, and he yelled back that Senator Ted Kennedy is a good-for-nothing, fat, left wing liberal drunk. So I said that Osama Bin Laden dresses and acts like a frigid, mean spirited woman! “He retaliated by yelling, “Oh yeah? Well so does Hillary Clinton!”
“And, there we were, standing in the middle of the road, shaking hands, when a truck hit us.”
off topic:
Roger Rabbit here is a joke for you.
A man is driving along a highway
and sees a rabbit jump out
across the middle of the road.
He swerves to avoid hitting it,
but unfortunately
the rabbit jumps right in front of the car.
The driver,
a sensitive man as well as an animal lover,
pulls over and gets out to see
what has become of the rabbit.
Much to his dismay,
the rabbit is dead.
The driver feels so awful
that he begins to cry.
A beautiful blonde woman
driving down the highway
sees a man crying on the
side of the road
and pulls over.
She steps out of the car
and asks the man what’s wrong.
“I feel terrible,” !
he explains,
“I accidentally hit this rabbit
and killed it.”
The blonde says,
“Don’t worry.”
She runs to her car
and pulls out a spray can.
She walks over to the limp, dead rabbit,
bends down,
and sprays the contents onto the rabbit.
The rabbit jumps up,
waves its paw at the two of them
and hops off down the road.
Ten feet away the rabbit stops,
turns around and waves again,
he hops down the road another 10 feet,
turns and waves, hops another ten feet, turns and waves,
and repeats this again and again and again,
until he hops out of sight.
The man is astonished.
He runs over to th! e woman and demands,
“What is in that can?
What did you spray on that rabbit?”
The woman turns the can around
so that the man can read the label.
It says.
(Are you ready for this?)
(Are you sure?)
(This is bad!)
(It’s definitely a Blonde Joke!)
(You know you could just click off
and not read the punch line….)
(You can still delete it)
(You know you’re gonna be sorry)
(Last chance)
(OK, here it is)
It says,
“Hair Spray –
Restores life to dead hair,
and adds permanent wave.”
@31
Since you are, evidently, so brain dead from spewing out your phony religion that you can’t ferret out the pro-business sub-text in the referenced messages, I’ll be explicit.
From post 16
… so grab your law books and your massive pension, grab the nearest ambulance you can chase and start chasing it to this great city to sue the hell out of that mine… Thank God, there is a God looking out for these people, miracles happen, without another damn attorney looking for disaster!
Well, what would be the evil in an attorney “suing the hell out of that mine”, whether the miners emerged alive or dead?
Nothing at all, of course, for it will become quite clear from the investigation that the Sego mine was a disaster waiting to happen due to the negligent manner in which management ignored safety concerns until threatened with a shutdown by government inspectors.
#17
No Attorney’s Needed in this rescue! Just minors you met in churches to pray and their prayers were answered!
You will eat, by and by
In that glorious land beyond the sky
Work and pray
Live on hay
You’ll get pie in they sky when you die
(That’s a lie!)
#24
Sims has a choo choo trail billions over budget. these errors are OK in your book, because they pad your pockets. Why not bitch about them as much as you bitch about business!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matthew 6:24
off topic for mark the redneck;
JUST A QUESTION OF STANDARDS
Does the statement, “We’ve always done it that way” ring any bells…?
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used?
Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.
Why did “they” use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a spec and told we have always done it that way and wonder what horse’s ass came up with that, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
Now the twist to the story…
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.
The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a Horse’s ass.
And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important ??
Richard Pope –
WTF?!? Eric has a disease that dosen’t allow him to eat gluten and you think that will effect his campaign?
Finkbeiner has had RINO disease for years now and the dumb repubs keep electing him. I bet IF Finkbeiner is re-elected then he’ll be switching back to being a Democrat within 4 years.
Fire in the Hole
(Mason Daring & John Sayles)
You can tell ’em in the country, tell ’em in the town
The miners down in Mingo laid their shovels down.
We won’t pull another pillow, load another ton,
Or lift another finger till the union we have won.
cho: Stand up boys, let the bosses know!
Turn your buckets over, turn your lanterns low;
There’s fire in our hearts and fire in our soul
But there ain’t gonna be no fire in the hole!
Well, Daddy died a miner, grandpa he did too,
I’ll bet this coal will kill me ‘for my workin’ days are through;
In a hole that’s dark and dirty, an early grave confined
I plan to make a union for the ones I leave behind.
Voter ad @38: First, my condolences to the families of these poor people. That being said, your post was correct, but didn’t go far enough. There are two issues here, both of which have political roots:
1) Big business doesn’t care about workers and this has been encouraged by the Bush administration, in the name of profits. Accidents and safety issues were on the rise at Sago, starting two years ago. Hmm, wonder why they thought they could get away with it? Could it be that enforcement of industrial safety has been curtailed under the Usurpistration? Why? Becus they spent all the money on Iraq and they are buddies with big bizness! Wake the fuck up people, this is not a conspiracy theory, it’s the way they do things!
2) Yes, the lawyers will get involved to get some poor coal mining family a pittance to live on now that thier husband/father/son is gone. (And this ain’t some workman’s comp milking of the system, this is for someone who thought coal mining was thier best chanvce to make an honest buck. Talk about limited options, geez) Wouldn’t it be better if the gov’t policed these mines properly ahead of time and prevented these things? See this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01433.html
for the Sago mine safety history.
2)
klake
Let’s see, Democrats apparently pander to and try to get votes from
– Muslims
– Jews
– Latinos
– Blacks
– Women
– the poor
– Christians (Adults identifying with a specific faith group are almost evenly split among Republicans, Democrats and Independents.)
Republicans pander to and try to get votes from
– White men
– the rich
– fundamentalist Christians
Who has the growing base?
Hosein Rouyvaran: At the end of World War II, the Nuremberg Court was established as a new means used by international law. Many of those prosecuted were accused of killing Jews in the crematoria. America applied a double standard here. Those who committed crimes against humanity… America was one of the victors in World War II. Therefore, they only prosecuted (people) from the other side. Those who committed various crimes in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Larson, were not prosecuted.
http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=982
Comment by jaybo— 1/4/06 @ 7:50 am
Jaybo you are rewriting history about World War II now. If those bombs were not drop, Japan would have lost millions of citizens in the invasion that was taking place. War is hell and the loser do not dictate to the winners their terms. Those bombs save lives but that is beyond your peripheral vision. You were not there to make the decisions and not the one taking the risks to end that war. Please do not mix apples and oranges in making your odd analogies. Those decisions made by different people to produce different results, Truman, Hitler, and Emperor Hirohito cannot be lump in the same basket. War crimes are not in your pay grade leave it up to competent leaders and lawyers.
Have a good day mate.
klake @ 41:
I always smile when I see that story, but it’s untrue.
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm
Besides, railroads have all sorts of gauges. There are wide gauges, narrow ones, etc. Standardization came MUCH later.
Who has the growing base?
Comment by Daddy Love— 1/4/06 @ 8:57 am
Daddy Love the Democrates should be growing their base, BUT now that is a big word, is alienating its base. No matter what you claim the left wing nuts are killing the party. Soical Democrates are running the party and helping the Republican exoand their base. Where are the Scoop Jackson’s Daddy Love?
“The proportion of the [American] population that can be classified as Christian has declined from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001.” ARIS Study. “American Religious Identification Survey,” by The Graduate Center of the City University of New York
George Barna of The Barna Group: “There does not seem to be revival taking place in America. Whether that is measured by church attendance, born again status, or theological purity, the statistics simply do not reflect a surge of any noticeable proportions.” George Barna. “Annual study reveals America is spiritually stagnant,” Barna Research Group, Ltd.
“…evangelicals remain just 7% of the adult population. That number has not changed since the Barna Group began measuring the size of the evangelical public in 1994….less than one out of five born again adults (18%) meet the evangelical criteria. ” (N = 1003; margin of error = ±3.2%). Annual Barna Group Survey Describes Changes in America’s Religious Beliefs and Practices,” The Barna Group, 2005-APR-11
“…the number of Protestants soon will slip below 50 percent of the nation’s population.” National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey, 2004.
klake
“No matter what you claim the left wing nuts are killing the party.”
Oh yeah, I’ll just take your word for it. Don’t bother supporting your claims.
here’s a thought. I’m sure that English-only legislation, attempts to get rid of birthright citizenship, and a fence across the US southern border will make the fast-growing Latino community vote Republican. Ya think?
In the above post, I copied the following statement; “Those who committed various crimes in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Larson, were not prosecuted.”
Doesn’t this sound just like the radical liberals in america today?
Do you wonder why the islamo-fascists and the radical left have the same perspective on this event? How many other topics do you think that they share the same opinion?
You would be shocked at the answer.
I think that most proclaimed liberals would be shocked at the groups that share the same beliefs that they are spoon fed day in and day out.
Isn’t it time for you to think for yourself? I don’t expect you to believe me, but I do believe that you owe it to yourself to investigate what I have posted here to see if it is credible.
51.
Dear Jaybo,
You are going to have to be a little more clear. As a card-carrying liberal, I don’t recognize the alliance between Iran and me that you are proclaiming.
Insofar as strengthening Iran, I would say that the Bush administration has done a great job by installing a Shiite theocracy in Iraq that will make the southern provices an extension of old Persia.
Jaybo @46: You ignorant slut. My uncle served in the Marines in WWII, Pacific Theater. He revered Pres Truman as “the man who saved my life”. By dropping the bomb on H and N, it is estimated that 500,000 to 1 million American soldiers would die in the invasion and conquest, and even more Japanese soldiers. Call it a total of 1.5 Million minimum. Compared to the loss of 500,000 japanese civilians (combined initial and after deaths fro, A-bombs), Truman made the difficult but actually humane decision. Hence, no war crimes were committed by US wrt H and N. (Also, I might point out, we didn’t start that war, we were only finishing it.)
Jaybo, Klake is right. You aren’t doing your side any favors. Shut your pie hole.
I just read a piece on Stefan’s blog about that girl who got run over in Israel by a bulldozer. She was over there protesting the Israelis for something to do with the Palestinians, etc., etc.
I’d like us to un-involve ourselves in this conflict. These folks have been fighting for so long that there’s nothing the US can do to improve things. Let’s be neutral on this one.
DL @ 50
Do not even bother trying to explain this to my Republican Opponents. It is like trying to teach a pig to fly. It waste your time and annoys the pig.
If the GOP, the party of Lincoln really wanted to find out why they could not get more then 11% of the African American vote
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20.....lls.0.html
in 2004, even with the use of a slush fund directed at African American churches
http://www.findarticles.com/p/.....7#continue
it would require a degree of honesty that they are not capable achieving.
Jaybo @ 51: WTF is your point again? I’m having trouble following it. Ar you saying that liberals think it was wrong to drop the bombs on N and H? Well, here’s one that doesn’t, and I’m slightly to the left of the FDR! Are you saying that liberals are saying the same things about H and N as this kook job in Iran? Prove it. Show me the liberal blog/pundit/organization that agrees with this guy. Otherwise, stfu!
jaybo @ 51:
What is the point of this argument? Some lefties out in blog-land say dumb things? Yeah, sure. Assuming the country is split more or less 50-50 between left and right, I’d say it’s fair that some sizeable percentage of the really stupid commentary out on the Intarwebs comes from the left. Some equally sizeable percentage comes from the right, but that’s not the point.
Find me any grownup in the Democratic party that believes that there is a moral equivalence between the holocaust, the rape of Nanjing, and the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In my life, I have met perhaps two or three people who made an argument to that effect. None of them were policy makers. Hell, none of them even got appointed as precinct chief in the party.
There is a vast difference between people writing stupid stuff out on a blog, saying stupid stuff on a national TV network, and writing stupid stuff into law. If you cannot understand the difference between these, maybe you should pursue a less intellectually strenuous hobby. Wrestling is good. There are heroes, villians, and you can usually guess who will win before the match starts. Thus, you face a smaller chance of being embarassed by being wrong.
So it takes “unusual circumstances” to elect a Democrat, yet how do you explain Ruderman’s reelections and the election in 2004 of Larry Springer?
Larry @ 56,
Ok, if you insist. The following is a link to faculty only that have acsribed to punishing the nation of Isreal.
If these radical liberals were to succeed, what do you think whould happen to Isreal?
Columbia/Barnard Arms Divestment Petition
We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, the continual military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers, the forcible eviction of Palestinians from their homes, and the demolition of Palestinian dwellings, neighborhoods and towns.
We categorically condemn the loss of any innocent life, Israeli or Palestinian. We therefore call on Columbia University (1) to use its influence–political and financial–to encourage the United States government to suspend its military aid and arms sales to Israel, and (2) to divest from all companies that manufacture arms and other military hardware sold to Israel, as well from companies that sell such arms and military hardware to Israel, until Israel complies with all the relevant UN resolutions and Geneva conventions, and ends its military occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip seized since 1967.
http://www.columbiadivest.org/.....ml#Faculty
And more.
Note the similarities between the two statements.
Anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq, is calling for Bush’s “impeachment,” and for Israel to get out of Palestine!
“You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you’ll stop the terrorism,” Sheehan declares.
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3cs.htm
As Reported by USATODAY.com on Sunday, October 7, 2001 – Updated 05:29 PM EDT
© Associated Press
(Osama Bin Laden)
“Millions of innocent children are being killed as I speak. They are being killed in Iraq without committing any sins, and we don’t hear condemnation or a fatwa (religious decree) from the rulers. In these days, Israeli tanks infest Palestine — in Jenin, Ramallah, Rafah, Beit Jalla, and other places in the land of Islam, and we don’t hear anyone raising his voice or moving a limb.
When the sword comes down (on America), after 80 years, hypocrisy rears its ugly head. They deplore and they lament for those killers, who have abused the blood, honor and sanctuaries of Muslims. The least that can be said about those people is that they are debauched. They have followed injustice. They supported the butcher over the victim, the oppressor over the innocent child. May God show them His wrath and give them
what they deserve.
I say that the situation is clear and obvious. After this event, after the senior officials have spoken in America, starting with the head of infidels worldwide, Bush, and those with him. They have come out in force with their men and have turned even the countries that belong to Islam to this treachery, and they want to wag their tail at God, to fight Islam, to suppress people in the name of terrorism.
When people at the ends of the earth, Japan, were killed by their hundreds of thousands, young and old, it was not considered a war crime, it is something that has justification. Millions of children in Iraq is something that has justification. But when they lose dozens of people in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam (capitals of Kenya and Tanzania, where U.S. embassies were bombed in 1998), Iraq was struck and Afghanistan was struck.
Hypocrisy stood in force behind the head of infidels worldwide, behind the cowards of this age, America and those who are with it.”
A speech from a Harvard Official.
http://www.president.harvard.e.....ayers.html
Klake the Flake @41
Railroad gauge, etc. … hey klake, why don’t try checking out this shit before making a fool of yourself by posting it? It only takes 30 seconds. Sheesh.
“Claim: The United States standard railroad gauge derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
“Status: False.”
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm
RIDDLE OF THE DAY
Q: How can you spot a wingnut?
A: He believes everything he reads in a rightwing web site or mass-circulated e-mail and never fact-checks.
BTW, flake, that debunker was posted in 2001 … this myth you’re circulating today isn’t exactly as fresh as yesterday’s bread … it would seem that 4 years would be long enough for you to do a little research — unless, of course, you’re too lazy to find out the TRUTH about things, which seems to be one of your endemic problems. Let me guess — you never went to college, and never had to research and write a term paper, am I right? You’re one of those trailer-park intellectuals who has figured out how to sound intelligent, without actually knowing anything.
Klake the Fake Intellectual @46
“Jaybo you are rewriting history about World War II now. If those bombs were not drop, Japan would have lost millions of citizens in the invasion that was taking place.”
So are you, KFI. There are plenty of historians who argue the bombs were not necessary. Of course, there is no way to know for sure. But what we do know is this:
Japan was a maritime nation that depended on shipping to supply not only her war needs but also her basic needs (e.g., foodstuffs). At the end of the war, over 95% of Japan’s ship tonnage had been sunk or destroyed, her armies were destroyed, and American planes were roaming freely in the airspace over the Japanese islands because she had virtually no airworthy fighter planes left — or pilots to man them, or aviation gas to fuel them. Given these facts, it seems obvious that all America had to do was sit and wait.
The reasons for the use of the A-bombs appear to be two-fold. First of all, enormous sums were spent on developing the bomb, and no one in either the military hierarchy or civilian government ever seriously considered the idea of NOT using them. Although a few scientific and military voices spoke out against the use of such a terrible weapon, even against an implacable and cruel adversary like Japan, the sheer inertia of the effort to produce them and entrenched intention to use them was sufficient to assure their use.
Secondly, just a few days before Hiroshima, Stalin declared war on Japan. If Truman had hesitated in using the bomb (the historical record makes it clear he didn’t — as noted above, there was never any serious discussion among American policymakers of NOT using the bomb), this development forced his hand. Stalin wanted to share in the spoils of Japan’s defeat — including the occupation of Japan and stationing of Soviet military forces in the Pacific — without having shared any of the burdens of making war against Japan. Truman was in a corner — he needed a quick end to the war in order to keep Russia’s hand out of the cookie jar. Truman believed the A-bombs would produce a prompt surrender. They did, although British military historian Sir Basil Liddell-Hart (among others) has argued the surrender was already inevitable and would have promptly occurred anyway, and what we know of the discussions between the Emperor and War Cabinet indicates that the A-bombings not only were not the precipitating factor in the surrender decision but were barely discussed. As for the Japanese people, 98% of them knew nothing about the A-bombings until after the war had ended.
jaybonehead @ 58 and @ 59, so you are finally going to admit that Bush is lying out of his ass when he states that the terrorists “Hate us because of our Freedoms”?
That is all you have proven in those posts.
Larry @56 & elsewhere
Larry, jaybo and klake are just plain fucking liars. All the wingnuts are. The GOP’s whole game plan is to vilify and demonize Democrats. They have no plan to run the country, as the last four years of corruption, scandal, and mismanagement have made amply clear.
GS — I’ll take your apology now. I’m waiting.
I have an acquaintance who had the chance to hear a Japanese-American speak regarding the use of the bombs against Japan in WWII. This man was assigned to General MacArthur as an interpreter at the end of the war, and his major duty to translate classified Japanese documents.
One of the major papers this soldier was tasked to translate was the defense plan the Japanese had against an expected American invasion of the home islands. After reading and translating the documents, he came to the conclusion that our use of the bombs was appropriate given the tenacity of the Japanese and their plans for repelling an invasion.
We can argue the morality of the use of these weapons forever, but the inescapable conclusion is that they did exactly what they were supposed to do: they made the Japanese quit.
Donnageddon @ 65,
I guess that the only conclusion that I can draw from your question is that you believe Cindy and Osama……
jaybonehead @ 70, are you asking if I think the terrorist justification for their actions is our foriegn policy? Absolutely!
Do I think we should reverse all our foreign policies due to terrorist demands!? Absolutely not!
Now, I am sure you have a point in all this drivel you are posting, so: What is it?
You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you’ll stop the terrorism,” Sheehan declares.
Hypocrisy stood in force behind the head of infidels worldwide, behind the cowards of this age, America and those who are with it.”
Comment by jaybo— 1/4/06 @ 11:10 am
Jaybo I don’t remember your name on the drill field, by the way who is Cindy Sheehan anyway? You have not been to South West Asia and provided any help for those in need. Sorry you last statement now falls on deaf ears. Jaybo I did hear about a soilder who gave his life for his country name Sheehan.It is to bad his mother didn’t get any moral support from his father. You have a good day chap.
Klake the Flake @41
Railroad gauge, etc. … hey klake, why don’t try checking out this shit before making a fool of yourself by posting it? It only takes 30 seconds. Sheesh.
“Claim: The United States standard railroad gauge derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
“Status: False.”
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm
Comment by Roger Rabbit— 1/4/06 @ 12:24 pm
Roger it’s nice to hear from you, I miss you funny statements. Hope you enjoyed the post, but I don’t check out jokes for its actualities. It is more fun to spread them around for enjoyment. Now you let the redneck off the hook wabbit.
British military historian Sir Basil Liddell-Hart (among others) has argued the surrender was already inevitable and would have promptly occurred anyway, and what we know of the discussions between the Emperor and War Cabinet indicates that the A-bombings not only were not the precipitating factor in the surrender decision but were barely discussed. As for the Japanese people, 98% of them knew nothing about the A-bombings until after the war had ended.
Comment by Roger Rabbit— 1/4/06 @ 12:48 pm
Roger my Dad was in Okinawa durning World War II and his version of that event seems to justify the droping of the bombs. He like you see the world with different set of eyes, but he was the one going into Japan on D day not you or I. The flash of those bombs made brough that war to an end. You can debate all you want but the one who knows the answer is Emperor Hirohito.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito
On August 15, 1945, following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan, Hirohito, after more hesitation, abandoned the condition of preserving his own position and finally made the radio broadcast announcing the unconditional surrender of Japan’s military forces (known as Gyokuon-hōsō). The broadcast exhorted the Japanese to “accept the unacceptable” in surrender; it was the first time the public had ever heard the Emperor’s voice.
There were attempts by numerous leaders, among them President Harry S Truman, to have Hirohito put on trial for alleged war crimes. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur insisted that Hirohito remain Emperor to keep him as a symbol of the continuity and cohesion of the Japanese people. Hirohito was spared trial and retained the throne, but Hirohito was forced to explicitly reject (in the Ningen-sengen 人間宣言, lit. “declaration of human being”) the traditional claim that the Emperor of Japan was divine, and a descendant of the Sun Goddess
Enjoy the Read.
One of my sons interviewed a Hanford worker, now in his 80’s about his role in the development of the Bomb. When asked how he felt about its use, he paused and said his brother was on a troop ship heading to invade Japan.
It’s a tough call to make even with the benefit of with hindsight
Why did almost no one talk about the race in the 45th?
Its nice to see a credible candidate take on BF – who is actually one of the more reasonable Republicans in the legislature. But BF deserves a strong challenge. He’s flipped parties and flopped on too many issues. Voters re-eleected him thinking they could count on him to defend civil rights for all people – gay and striaght – be he caved to the religious right that controls GOP leadership in Washington state.
BF will probably get a chance to do the right thing in 2006 on civil rights. And people who support the cause ought not be picky about the party affiliation of the people who support them. The BF race isn’t the prime target – but its nice to have a race because it will divert GOP attention and money. Better bets are in South King County where Senator Johnson is fleeing, in Pierce County, where Senator Oke is leaving, and up in Whatcom County, where Dale Brandlund is vulnerable in part because of is lack of support for basic civil rights. Most people in Whatcom thought Dale was pretty reasonable until he sided big time with the fundy right and denied basic civil rights to people based soley on their sexual orientation.
Could someone tell me more about the OK Boys Ranch lawsuit? my brother lived there in 1977 or/and 1978. In 1979 he went to prison for assault (he was 16 years old at the time) – and he is there to this day – 26 years. Recently I got a email from someone saying that he was trying to get ahold of me. I have not replied back because it is such an emotional subject for me (my brother) – that I wanted to learn more about it before I do anything. I do know that the 1st ok boys ranch lawsuit was settled years ago and my brother was not in that one, I guess there was another lawsuit after that he was in. I would like to know more about it if anyone can help me I would appreciate it.
Thankyou