– Suck it, Portland.
– And hopefully we’ll get a transportation revenue bill.
– Andrew Breitbart has died.
– And how is Carol doing at the fish stick factory?
– I would totally watch all of these horrible, horrible movies.
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
Anthony Weiner could not be reached for comment.
@1 Maybe you could try contacting Shirley Sherrod.
It is indeed a sad day for the bitter and twisted minds and hearts of the members of the wingnut political persuasion.
Another HUGE pair Republikan Klown Shoes are now empty and an empty place has opened up in the Klown Kar of Republican politics.
He was brought into the world screaming and finger-pointing, and so has he left it
“As ye sow, so shall thee reap”
According to news reports, Brietbart was walking near his home when he just – dropped dead. His family said he had heart problems earlier this year.
I don’t wish anyone to die, even political adversaries. My condolences to his family.
But his comments while still alive are already being quoted by others in his obituaries:
See, I don’t know why people would be at all compassionate towards Brietbart. I saw all of the really nice messages on Huffpo for his family as well. Now, one can argue that is the bigger human thing to do, but it does make me rethink my original position on that whole God and smiting thing.
Richard F. Cebull was appointed as judge to the U.S. District Court for Montana in 2001, he was previously a federal magistrate. He’s recently received notariety due to an e-mail he forwared to some friends, which made it’s way to the news media (I’m guessing his friends forwarded it to their friends, etc.).
]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cebull
Okay, he admits he doesn’t like Obama, and says he’s not racist, but admits the joke was racist but he forwaded it anyway?
Right now, every minority who was ever convicted at trial involving this judge are already typing out their jailhouse briefs to request a new trial.
# 5: Well, my first response was different from my second, more “mature” response, as well. But I figure that I can’t hurt Brietbart any more by anything I say, and his kids don’t deserve to have to deal with the loss of their father in such an environment, as well.
And, just to keep it clear to us, God also managed to take away Davy Jones recently, who was always a clean-living guy who never hurt a soul and brought some sunshine into the lives of quite a few others – especially the teeny-boppers that adored him in the mid-1960’s.
So, as we are reminded in the book of Job, it’s not for us to pass judgement on people due to their apparant misfortune, and to presume God’s intentions. That is reserved only for God. Our duty, as expounded upon by Jesus when he preached that we should remove the stick from our own eye before complaining about the stye in our neighbor’s eye, is simply to try to live our own lives as He would have us live.
I would expect Bill OReilly to give the Breitbart death the same respect he gave Whitney Huston. Oh wait, Breitbart is a republican.
What Breitbart is known for:
His big splash came in 2009, when he posted an undercover video in which a pair of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend asked employees of the community group ACORN for help with a brothel that would house underage Salvadorans. ACORN was embarrassed when some of its workers seemed too helpful; Congress responded by defunding the organization.
In 2010, Breitbart posted a 2 1/2-minute video of Shirley Sherrod, a black employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in which she appeared to make racially charged comments. It left viewers with the inaccurate impression Sherrod had deliberately not helped a white man save his family farm in 1986 when she worked for a Georgia nonprofit organization.
He was a fierce practitioner of publicity stunts and relished opportunities to perform a sort of media jiu jitsu wherein the force of the press was deviously turned against itself. Who can forget the hijacking of the press conference that was called by former congressman Anthony Weiner by Breitbart, who commandeered the podium prior to Weiner’s arrival?
After Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts died in 2009, Breitbart tweeted “Rest in Chappaquiddick” and called him “a special pile of human excrement.” When critics questioned his tone, he tweeted they “missed my best ones!”
And who can forget his classic temper tantrum drunken rant at the CPAC Occupiers?
I do not respect Breitbart’s body of work but do I feel for his family.
Breitbart was a charlatan and a character assassin. Everyone in my family hated him. My mother hated him, my father hated him; and, my wife and children hated him, as well.
It was one of the few things upon which my family could all agree — and it brought us closer together.
If I have one good thing to say about Andrew Breitbart and his fleeting time on this earth it would be this: He brought my family closer together — and for that. I thank him.
“If you can’t say something nice about a person, then say mean things about them instead” – Breitbart
Taking Andrew’s advice to heart, I have nothing nice to say about him. The guy was an asswipe.
And now why is Limbaugh still alive?
Because Limbaugh just moves between his microphone, an exclusive eatery or two and the breakfast nook of his house. He feels a gas bubble and he’s probably got his own doctor like Michael Jackson had (heh heh).
Freaking idiot Breitbart popped a vein up and down this country, everywhere there was a fight to pick.. Sweaty and unhinged and couldn’t sit still to save his life.
I read somewhere Breitbart got a recent infusion of 5 million from Koch/Scaife whoever.. He worked VERY HARD serving the agenda of the oligarchy in this country.
I won’t fucking miss him. Yeah, I feel bad for his 4 kids.
The only good thing Breitbart ever did is die.
Some fly larvae will have a good meal on his flaccid, corpulent remains.
Thank God For Trial Lawyers Dep’t
A company in San Diego charges our troops en route to Iraq and Afghanistan 40 bucks for a 5-second phone call from an airport in Germany. Now a soldier is suing these assholes.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46591471
@1 Leave it to a troll to set the tone for the rest of this thread …
Okay, I’m not sure how to say this with proper deocrum, so I’ll say it straight: When you think of all the prominent conservative mouthpieces no longer with us, you start wondering if maybe God doesn’t like these guys so much …
Did anyone in his neighborhood report seeing a lightning bolt when he keeled over?
@14. Do you have a problem with capitalism? Why do you hate corporate America?
Really, the corporate conservatives should be all over this article as an attack on conservative values. The company should allowed to charge what the market can bear. How dare anyone sue over that?
A Bushevik federal judge in Montana is in hot water for forwarding a rightwing hate e-mail making fun of President Obama’s race to family and friends.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_n.....bout-obama
Roger Rabbit Commentary: I wonder if he fucks goats, too?
Robbie McKenna, now tied in polls with the guy who isn’t even campaigning, is steering clear of supporting anyone in the GOP presidential affray. Interesting.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46.....verett_wa/
@17 I don’t hate corporate America, but I think anyone running a racket like that should go public so the rest of us can own their stock.
42 other states tax capital gains and in this one we only need one third of the legislature to be bought off and thereby be enjoined from being #43..
Thanks right wingers. Since many fewer live where you do I guess class sizes aren’t a problem. But we’ll keep subsidizing your schools just the same.
#13. I don’t like what Breitbart did either, but that is over the top. Leave that kind of vileness to the trolls. We should be better than that.
Limbaugh was claiming the college student who wanted to testify in the House hearings on contraception was a “slut” and a “prostitute”, because she wanted the federal government to pay her for sleeping around.
Sigh. Why anybody continues to listen to this gas bag is beyond me. He’s just called any woman who uses contraception a whore. You would think that Republican women who don’t want to bear more children (or at least, not right now), would forbid Limbaugh’s programs from being aired in their house, even if it meant cutting off the cable subscription.
re 22: I find that if I have something vile to say, I put quotes around it and attribute it to Mark Twain.
@22: I stand by my words. Meant every one.
You’ve obviously not been paying sufficient attention.
I have been paying attention. And I am way beyond outraged. Breitbart was a proxy for people who literally broke the world and are responsible for countless murders of innocents.
I want Breitbart and his ilk to die horrible, lingering deaths and his children and his children’s children to cringe in shame at his memory.
re 25: “…even unto the seventh generation.”
Mark Twain
http://wattsupwiththat.files.w.....ending.jpg
Breitbart had a history of heart disease. Nobody dies of “natural” causes @43. Least I hope not, I’m 42.
I wish “bob” had a point…or a brain.
I have no respect for the vile Breitbart. His sins may well be passed to his children. But if that is what plays out, it’s going to have to happen without my help.
“I wish “bob” had a point…or a brain.”
I don’t see either of those things happening anytime soon.
@27? So? Will you next post the spending by the Flat Earth Society?
Oh I see, you are comparing the spending on real science vs hearland obfuscation of the facts of science. Nice to see it’s that little.
I think the point “bob” is trying to make is that all those outfits with tall stacks of cash are in the business of truth. Scientific research, expanding mankind’s horizons and all that. It costs money to see the world as it is and finding the means to see it ever more clearly.
As Mark Twain said about lies (the business Heartland and tool Anthony Watts is in), they travel 3/4 around the world while the truth is struggling to get out of bed.
The deep pocketed right wingers get much more bang for their dollar from lies if they serve their agenda.
Well, well lookie here:
Natural Gas fracking turns out to be a land scam..
I don’t notice my heating bills improving much at all but I understand refiners appreciate the cheaper natural gas as it helps them to better profit exporting gasoline to high demand markets in Asia.
Hey they’re not in business for their health or anyone elses health are they?
Look at Breitbart’s death this way – the money he paid into Social Security will be there for others to enjoy. His Medicare taxes will also benefit others.
If we just had more people dying early, Medicare and Social Security would be bullet-proof!
“I think the point “bob” is trying to make is that”
And here I thought he had been reduced to mindlessly posting links to wingnut horseshit.
Welcome to the Club, Maryland.
35 – That’s a pretty succinct way to put it.
HA, America’s #1 fracker is up to his eyeballs in debt and a bit of a fraud.
re 32: “As Mark Twain said about lies (the business Heartland and tool Anthony Watts is in), they travel 3/4 around the world while the truth is struggling to get out of bed.”
I thought that Merv Griffin said that.
@38
Ooo… There’s more…
Checked in on Foxnews.com (What? I was curious how they were treating the news that Breitbart was reunited with St. Ronald) and found this headline:
Dems Banking on Lucky Breaks for Senate Majority
Here’s a few Fair and Balanced ® ways to write that headline:
Reps love Banks. Consumers Vote them out of Majority
Women Voters Abandon Rep Party in Droves to Hand Senate Majority to Dems
Two Years of Voting For Extreme Social Engineering Bills and Nothing Else Leads to Likely Rep Electoral Loses.
Choice Between Uninspiring and Insane at the Top of the Ticket Dooms Down Ballot Republicans
Americans Realize they Never Preferred TEA in the First Place.
# 41:
We know that Democrats have a significant advantage in popularity among women and minorities. This especially shows up in polling of “Independents”.
In the past that didn’t trouble the Republican powers-that-be, or the average white male voter, because they figured that minorities didn’t matter, they could control how their wives vote, and everyone else could be divided with the right application of fear and hate-mongering.
But minorities are now a “majority” of Americans, and they don’t like how they’ve been treated by the Republicans. And among the 40% remaining who usually vote Republican, the women might well slip away in this next election. A few TV ads which simply show clips of a handful of white Republican Men holding a hearing on women’s contraception, and refusing to hear from a woman as a witness, along with a reminder of how the Republicans consider this an appropriate intrusion into a woman’s personal business, should be enough to further cut the women from the rapidly diminishing Republican herd.
Republican outcast heretic David Frum sums up Breitbart pretty well.
Okay, this is interesting…
BP refinery using outage for spring maintenance
Okay, there’s nothing wrong with maintenance, and considering the problems they’ve had over there, more maintenance is probably better.
But with the gas price rising, doesn’t it seem a bit suspicious? I mean, wouldn’t you normally expect company executives be yelling at the Cherry Point managers to get it up and running as fast as possible?
The rather blasse’ attitude they have in this whole affair reminds me more of the Enron affair – where traders were calling electrial production facilities and telling them to “close down for maintenance”, in order to cause a panic from brown-outs in California and raise the price of electricity to the highest possible levels.
And with the President’s approval rating rising, and Republican candidate’s approval rating falling, would an oil company shed any tears about prices rising just as the Presidential campaigns are beginning to transition from the primary to general election campaigns?
@28 My high school geometry teacher died of a heart attack at age 38, but he was a chain smoker.
Michael Hood makes the salient point over at Blatherwatch…
Old Rushbo who calls women who use contraception “sluts” and “prostitutes” has been married 4 times.
He is childless. Unless he’s been shooting blanks all that time (possible indeed), all of his wives used contraception.
Oh well, his taste in wives is his own business I guess.
In other news, too bad Puddybud has abandoned this forum:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538.....andrew-bre
He would have been paranoiac #26.
@6 – The pattern I’ve noticed among racists is that you’re not really a racist unless you claim to be a racist. Making racist comments and forwarding racist jokes don’t “really” make one a racist–according to them.
Does it make any sense at all? No. But then, if racists were any good at logic, they wouldn’t be racists, would they?
Andrew Brietbart wasn’t worthy to wipe the shit off of Teddy Kennedy’s shoes. I don’t say that because he was a conservative. I could give a rat’s ass about that. I say that because of what he did to Shirley Sherrod. By all accounts, she’s a wonderful person and an exemplary civil servant; and he quite deliberately attempted to destroy her life. Why? Because she wronged him? No. Because she did anything wrong? No. She was a random victim he attacked for his own cheap political gain. A decent human being simply doesn’t do that. Period.
Nah, we’re not squeezed for refining capacity right now.
jeepers, if it wasn’t for the coincidence that breitbart died right after he said he had a blockbuster video of obama, we would have been able to see it
@44,50
U.S. Total Gasoline Retail Sales by Refiners (Thousand Gallons per Day)
December 1983 51,879.1
December 2011 30,413.9
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hi.....1&f=M
50 – Well, if shutting down refineries in the east having an effect on prices is any indicator, capacity must be an issue.
51 – 1983 was a whole different world. In those days Republicans raised taxes.
@47 – Yeah, well, more people than that believe that Elvis is still alive. And just look at the number of morons who believe that climate change is a liberal conspiracy. Moral of the story? Some people are stupid.
Breitbart’s last speech at CPAC is completely unhinged. I’m sure one of his minions will “release the tapes” in the run-up to November..
And the whole unhinged thing will just peter out..
Demographics don’t bode well for the right wing over the long haul. May Andy spin long in his grave.
@44 & 51
We hear every summer about “peak demand” and the increase in prices. Is there a single business other than oil that takes facilities off-line at or near peak demand? Hey Macy’s, why don’t you shut down half your stores to replace the flooring right around Christmas? You know Bikini’s-R-Us, you should be closed for yearly upkeep in July. Does Kingsford charcoal take the factory off-line in the run-up to memorial day? Nintendo doesn’t need to deliver as many Wii as possible in November. The ones that come in in February can make up the shortfall, right?
And yet some would have you believe that all corporations are benevolent and a benefit to society. Some would have you believe that countries with nationalized energy industries are the enemy. Some would have you believe that drilling more now will bring the pump price down despite refined gasoline being the number one export of our nation.
Um, if we’re making so much of it, why is there a “supply shortfall?” (Don’t stop to thing about the relationship between usage/speculation/global markets you adorable general public. We are Chevron, we assure you if you just keep increasing your useage and let us drill in every nook and cranny we will bring your pump prices down.)
Gas prices are rising because oil prices are rising, and oil prices are rising because Persian Gulf tensions are rising. There are some subsidiary factors at play, such as low inventories and refining capacity and traders holding oil in storage aboard tanker ships, etc. But the big story here is that when $100 oil becomes $110 oil, $3.75 gas becomes $4.13 gas.
Tricky Dick Chronicles
I don’t understand why Republicans are so down on gays. After all, some very respectable Republicans were homos: J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon …
Whaaaa??!!! Nixon was a homo? Tricky Dick turned tricks?
That’s what veteran Washington D.C. journalist Don Fulsom, who covered the Nixon administration, says in a new book, “Nixon’s Darkest Secrets.” that just came out.
I don’t know if Fulsom knows what he’s talking about. Supposedly, he researched his subject. The dust jacket says he drew on his own reporting from that era, interviewed members of Congress and White House staffers, and drew upon “newly declassified documents and recordings.” So at least the guy spent some time digging through records and didn’t just making shit up like rightwingers spinmeisters do. What did he come up with?
Fulsom’s allegations are fascinating. Believe this stuff or not, that’s up to you, but here’s what he says:
— Nixon sabotaged the 1968 peace talks for political gain
— Nixon had Mafia ties
— Nixon had a drinking problem
— Nixon abused his wife
— Nixon was Bebe Rebozo’s homosexual lover
— Rebozo had Mafia ties
— Nixon gave orders to kill Jack Anderson
Oh my! This is convenient:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17229025
Ricky Insane tells voters he was ridiculed at Penn State for being a conservative. Now his fraternity brothers are calling him a liar.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....d=webmail6
@ RHP 6033: Well, my first response was different from my second, more “mature” response, as well.
The fact that you still post at this vile hate site says more than enough about you RHP. Though you are more sane than most at this waste treatment plant, you still remain to feed on the hate by basking inside it. Breitbart’s passing and the glee with which your fellow leftists take in his passing should give you pause to frequent this intellectual day care nursery. This site feeds on hate and nothing else. If hate is defined as being progressive, then the leftists posting here have perfected it.
RIP Andrew Breitbat- Father,Son,Husband, Intellectual and Journalist that reported the truth when the others would not.
@60 Yes, I agree, someone’s passing is not the time for reflecting on the person’s legacy when that person is Andrew Breitbart. A decent interval should pass. As for what his legacy is, worship him if you like, but that says more about you than us.
Housing Facts
24% of homes sold in 4Q11 were in “some stage of foreclosure.”
1/3 of homes with mortgages are underwater or have less than 5% equity
The percentages of underwater mortgage borrowers rise to 61% in Florida and 44% in Nevada
Most of the recent rise in home sales is due to investors snapping up distressed low-end properties
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46593271
Roger Rabbit Commentary: The sleeper story here is that owners with less than 5% equity can’t sell without putting up extra cash unless their lenders agree to short sales. That freezes underwater homeowners in place. That also freezes buyers out of the market, because you can’t buy from an owner who can’t sell.
LMAO @ Little Rickie Dumbass @ 60!
YOU BROUGHT NOTHING BUT HATE HERE ya moron!
NOTHING BUT HATE!
@47 Yep, Breitbart’s death is manna for conspiracy nuts.
I suppose emperor mini-max thinks we can’t criticize Tricky Dicky either, because he’s dead. The hell with such niceties! If The Trickster was a homo, the world has a right to know. It will vindicate every gay guy who did it with a mobster.
Goldy’s hate site will certainly have a shelf life. I just choose not to wade in the cesspool of hate any longer. I’ve seen the progressive heart and it is black as coal.
Enjoy today kiddies realizing 4 children are without their father, a mother without her husband (and relish in your “progrsesive” inner hatred because you disagreed with his political persuasian). Just realize that the adults in this world communicate in real forums that are not based on hatred. A world you kids are missing out on.
ESO signing off. Life is too short to spend with losers posting on this hate site. I’ve made my point more than clear, not that anyone here is intelligent enough to grasp it.
67 – I trust the door left a particular bright red mark on your miserable ass you hateful hypocrite.
Poor little Rickie Dumbass @ 67
Breitbart’s passing gets a fleeting mention in an open thread at HA.
It doesn’t even get that at the moribund (unhinged)SP.. It can’t compete with a fawning piece of drek from Mrs Shark starstruck by the universally despised phony-baloney Mitt Romney!
Toooooo Daaaaaamn Fuuuunny!
Maxie @ 66,
I do not cheer Breitbart’s passing. At the end, I hope I have added, not subtracted, from the betterment of the world. I do not believe he added. That does not mean I feel good about the passing of a father of 4 dying at 43. It is sad that he died.
70 – PL, that’s little rickie dumbass..
# 61: You, and those like you, are why I post on this site. You and your ilk have been using hate, lies, and distortions for the past thirty years, while we on the left have tried to act as the “adults” in the room, only to be shouted down, called vile names, and trampled upon at every opportunity.
We’ve been at war for the past generation, and until recently it’s only those on the right who’ve been doing the real shooting. It’s only recently that we’ve started to fight back, and yet you, and your ilk, insist that we whould return to being silent while you pummell us.
No more.
re 60: “RIP Andrew Breitbat- Father,Son,Husband, Intellectual and Journalist that reported the truth when the others would not.”
This is a delusional statement. He was a father, son, and husband — but with the way he drank and carried on in public, I doubt that his performance at any of those roles was stellar. Breitbart found a way to make a bundle by stoking the fires of the angry and uninformed with twisted information.
That’s not being an intellectual or a journalist. I notice that over at SP, mention of Breitbart has been made in the comment threads, but as for an actual post on Breitbart and the work he did, not a peep.
The most truthful piece he ever did was on Anthony Weiner’s wee-wee.
Those aborted sequels sound absolutely awful. Glad they were not made.
Reminds me of 5th star trek movie or the Highlander sequel that had something to do with space aliens. I wish they could have unmade those stinkers.
I have been successful of blotting out the memories of any other sequel that was totally awful.
Breitbart was, above all, a businessman of questionable ethics who made his bucks by peddling ideology, whoring truth, and stirring up ignorant mobs. Make no mistake, whatever ideological role he played, he was all business and mostly interested in making money from the gullible rightwing masses.
“The death Thursday of the combative online blogger and publisher leaves open the question of what will become of a thriving colony of conservative websites for which he was owner, prolific contributor and relentless salesman.”
“The converted Hollywood lefty who partied his way through Tulane University … chose to live on enemy turf, Brentwood, the tony Los Angeles enclave favored by the Hollywood elite ….”
“Breitbart was skilled at finding issues that pushed conservative buttons while pulling Internet traffic to his websites.”
“Breitbart played by his own standards. He faulted what he called the mainstream media for all manner of shoddy work and bias, but his aim could go off course, too.”
“Breitbart seldom showed restraint with critics and seemed to savor the negative attention his antics earned him.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46602262
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Andrew Breitbart wasn’t a journalist; he sought to make news, not report news. He was a showman, a grandstander, a guy who attracted attention to himself. He was the P. T, Barnum of the political right, not an objective journalist. Oh, and you who find fault some of the comments here about his death should consider what Breitbart said about Ted Kennedy’s death:
“After Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts died in 2009, Breitbart tweeted, ‘Rest in Chappaquiddick’ and called him ‘a special pile of human excrement.’ When critics questioned his tone, he tweeted they ‘missed my best ones!'”
In other words, any kindness or condolences he gets in comments here is an undeserved gift.
Iran, which occupies an active earthquake zone, makes the world’s toughest concrete.
http://www.economist.com/node/21548918
@Rog@ 63
Even if those underwater homeowners could sell their houses would there be any buyers other than investors and would there be buyers for the houses the investors bought?
It seems to me like we not only built too many homes we built the wrong kinds of homes in the wrong places.
78 Continued…
You know, from 1972 to 1989 the US fertility rate was below replacement level. People born in those years are the folks that are in their prime home buying ages and there’s just not that many of them.
President Obama gives moral support to a brave young woman pushing back against an ugly campaign of ignorance, intolerance and right wing hate.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....via=blog_1
@80 Awesome.
Fracking King Harold Hamm bets on the Mittster:
http://thinkprogress.org/green.....am-romney/
Hamm is the biggest player in the Bakken shale in North Dakota. I wonder if he’s as leveraged as McClendon is in the Marcellus Shale.
I understand the oil wells in the Bakken play out almost as quickly as the natural gas fracked wells in the Marcellus and other places.
I’m sure the Mittster understands that leverage and flipping game VERY WELL.
This video (scroll down) argues that Bush attacked Iraq because Saddam tried to sell oil in euros, which threatened the dollar’s status as the world reserve currency — and therefore threatened the U.S. with bankruptcy.
Now, Iran is trying to set up an oil exchange that will trade oil in euros — and this video argues that will prompt a U.S. attack on Iran.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....d=webmail1
@67 Don’t let the door hit your ass …
Why Rabbits Should Run The World
You humans are too stupid to be entrusted with things as important as money, power, and nuclear weapons, that’s why! For example,
“Two-thirds of those over 59.5 years old not participating in a retirement plan with employer matching said they would never sign up. It’s astounding, as they could have pulled the money out the next day penalty-free.”
http://www.fool.com/investing/.....nvest.aspx
Roger Rabbit Commentary: If you humans are too dumb to take FREE MONEY, why should we rabbits trust you with nuclear weapons?
RR @ 58: I usually don’t think much of “journalists” who try to put together biographies with “shocking” allegations, to be published only after those involved are long dead and unable to respond or defend themselves.
At least half of those rumors were circulated during Nixon’s presidency, and while there was speculation, there was never any proof.
So, with that in mind, here’s my take on a man I usually despise:
– Nixon sabotaged the 1968 peace talks for political gain
I don’t know about this one, but I do believe the Republicans in 1980 attempted to ensure that the American hostages in Iran weren’t released until after Ronald Reagan was elected and sworn into office.
– Nixon had Mafia ties
That’s an old allegation regarding his relationship with Bebe Rebozo. It traded on the fact that Rebozo was an Italian-American. That seemed to be the only “tie”.
– Nixon had a drinking problem
Probably. If I was Richard Nixon, I would probably turn to drink, as well.
– Nixon abused his wife
Probably. Nixon DID drink, and had a mean streak. His Quaker mother would have been mortified.
– Nixon was Bebe Rebozo’s homosexual lover
Ugg. That’s a mental image I really didn’t need. I mean, have you SEEN pictures of Bebe Rebozo, especially during the Nixon years? Even IF Nixon was gay, there’s not enough alchohol in the world to make even Richard Nixon stoop so low.
– Nixon gave orders to kill Jack Anderson
I don’t think that was Nixon’s style. He preferred character assassination.
By the way, the stock market closed today with the DJIA still posed just barely under 13,000. I’ve got to think that if can get this thing with Iran resolved without actually going to war, a lot of new money is going to be dumped into the market, and we may see 13,300 or so soon.
I don’t think we will get to 14,000 anytime soon, last achieved in early 2007. That was only an empty bubble.\
But my own 401(K) shows that, as Roger Rabbit has long advised, mutual funds are a terrible way to invest in the market. Despite trumpeting double-digit returns for my investments on my 401(K) page for my account, they neglect to mention that it all comes from my ongoing contributions into the fund.
I did some math, and it appears that with my contribitions, my employer’s matching contributions, dividends, and appreciation all being taken into account, I have made -2.00% per annum in my 401(K) plan over the last 12 months. The stock market, of course, has done considerably better.
It’s not like I’m bad at picking the mutual funds. The funds I picked performed better than the others which were available to me. And I’m only allowed to invest in mutual funds for my 401(K). But mutual funds are set up in such a way that they always perform worse than the market they are supposed to represent.
Part of why it’s as high as it is right now is a bubble built of natural gas lies.
Did ya’ hear about the county in Florida with 2,600 homeless K-12 student. And that’s the self reported number, so the real number’s bound to be higher. Yeah, we’re doing great in America.
@86 I don’t know whether there’s anything to those allegations or not, but a basis for a new book about long-ago events and personages is declassification of long-secret government records. The government has a bad habit of not letting us know the truth about what happened until 50 years later. So this is 50 years after 1972 and maybe now we can find out what happened in 1972.
87 – 88: Stock indexes are being skewed by central bank machinations and thin trading with little participation. It doesn’t matter which government prints money as it all flows into U.S. stocks. That’s a major part of what’s driven indexes higher, and with both the Fed and ECB signaling intent to stand pat for a while, this driver won’t be there to push stocks higher from here. I’m not saying this is the top; broadly speaking, stocks are still undervalued if you believe in mean reversion, and you probably should. Another factor stalling the market is slower growth in earnings looking forward, although the market is getting some countervailing push from dividend increases. Overall, I’m not a buyer at this level, except for a few speculative plays, which don’t necessarily need a rising market (although it helps).
If the market comes down 5% to 10%, I’ll jump in clutching my shopping list, but I’ll have to move fast because everyone else is waiting for the same thing. There’s at least a couple trillion dollars waiting on the sidelinesm, so the window of opportunity is likey to be very brief.
At this time, I own names like Boeing, Chevron, IBM, Intel, GE, AT&T, Verizon, and Starbucks in my IRAs — you get the idea. My taxable income portfolio is incomplete and eclectic because I’ve only been buying deals. When completed, it’ll be anchored by telecoms, food and beverage, and consumer staples, and fleshed out with select financials, some aerospace/defense (underweighted), pharmaceuticals, tobacco stocks, cyclicals, and diversified companies.
In telecoms, I like (and own) AT&T, Verizon, and Vodafone.
In food and beverage, I like Kellogg, Heinz, Smuckers, and Coca Cola (but don’t buy Coke yet; wait for their earnings, which probably will miss). Stay away from Pepsi; it has issues, but even if it didn’t Coke is a better company worth paying a premium for, so don’t buy Pepsi just because it’s cheaper than Coke.
In consumer staples, I like Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Colgate-Palmolive; avoid Clorox (too much debt) and Kimberly-Clark (stagnant dividend).
In financials, I like Wells Fargo and JP MorganChase banks, Bank of New York Mellon, and Aflac.
In aerospace/defense, I own Boeing and like General Dynamics and Raytheon; avoid Lockheed Martin (which I own) because the huge F-35 program is vulnerable to cuts.
In pharma, I own Abbott Labs and want to acquire Novartis. Avoid Eli Lily and Pfizer; and I don’t like Merck because they don’t raise their dividend for years at a time.
My preferred tobacco stocks are Lorillard and Phillip Morris International. Altria is okay but inferior to these other two.
My favorite diversified companies are 3M and GE. In technology I like Intel, Microsoft, and Oracle.
In energy, I own Chevron, Weatherford, and coal stocks; I like ConocoPhillips and Total, but they’re too expensive to buy right now.
Some of the aforementioned stocks have gone up too much, so I’m waiting for a buying opportunity.* Other stocks I want to own — if they get cheaper — include McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Walgreen, and Waste Management.
Price, of course, is always materially determinative.
* This is a euphemism for the Greek elections in April and Israeli airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities (TBA).
I only invest in individual stocks; no mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, gold, REITs, or LPs. Bonds had a great 30-year run, but have become dangerous. Utility stocks are hazardous for the same reason. You don’t want to lock yourself into low interest rates. With interest rates at zero, there’s only one direction they can go — up0.. I recommend focusing dividend growth because capital gains may be sparse. I think P/E multiples will remain subdued for at least 3 to 5 years.
89. Michael spews:
Did ya’ hear about the county in Florida with 2,600 homeless K-12 student.
To quote cain. “If you are poor, blame yourself”.
I heard a scathing social commentary bit that went like.
“…I’m a conservative, I don’t want to pay a dime of taxes for social programs so I will have an extra dollar to give to my favorite homeless beggar when I leave church on Sunday.”