– Marc Lynch writes about the recently revived drumbeat for bombing Iran and why it’s still a bad idea.
– I’m still reading through the Washington Post’s report on the vast, secretive security bureaucracy that formed after 9/11. Greenwald does his thing.
– Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske may have said the single dumbest thing any Obama Administration official has said to date [emphasis mine, breathtaking cluelessness in the original]:
Well, we know that certainly California is poised to and will be voting on legalizing small amounts of marijuana. And that vote is scheduled for November of this year.
There are a number of studies and a number of pieces of information that really throw that into the light of saying that, look, California is not going to solve its budget problems, that they have more increase or availability if drugs were, or marijuana, was to become legalized. That in fact you would see more use. That you would also see a black market that would come into play. Because why wouldn’t in heaven’s name would somebody want to spend money on tax money for marijuana when they could either use the underground market or they could in fact grow their own.
I don’t even know where to start. The idea that you’re worried about legalizing marijuana because it might create a black market is like being worried about wearing a bicycle helmet because it might cause you to have a head injury.
– Marcy Wheeler writes about how our government interprets providing “material support” for terrorism so broadly that it can apply to journalists covering a story.
– Scott Morgan calls out DARE for their double-standard on recreational drug use.
– Alison Holcomb writes about Mexico and why what’s happening there is a good reason to support marijuana law reform.
– I don’t have much of the background here, but this letter appears to indicate that the Veterans Administration is no longer cracking down on veterans who use medical marijuana in compliance with state laws.
– The Seattle Times editorial board has some fans in North Dakota.
why shouldnt we bomb iran? they are building nukes. just like they have the right to bomb our missle silos. see how that works?
@1
You and the other neofacists are the only people saying that. The only people who desire it. The only people actively working to make sure it happens.
You are arsonists, and inciters of riot and mayhem. You seek death, and worship your own ability to seek it for others.
The reality is, Iran is liberalizing. The young generations now coming into political maturity are listening to western music, and imitating it, they are resisting the influence of the Mullahs and actively working against them. They are reading Western Literature, and imitating the styles. They are dancing in their homes, and smoking dope and enjoying each others company in private, male and female.
The only people who want to butcher women and children for political purposes are the conservatives in Iran who are now aging and dying off, and you dominionist nazis.
Dealing with your ilk, the wannabe mass murderers and jackboots, the subversives and idolaters of war and death, is becoming wearisome.
@1
1. Iran is being run by a bunch of crazy fuckers, but most of the population is both not crazy and rather friendly friendly to the west. If we bomb them they will become a country that is led by crazy fuckers and by and large hates the west.
2. If we bomb them, we might mess up and not knockout their ability to make nukes. The end results of this would be bad.
3. Even if we do knockout their ability to make nukes we wont knock out their ability to make botchulism and suicide bombers and there are Iranian communities all over the west. It wouldn’t had for them to smuggle people and nasty bugs all over the place.
4. Their biggest worry is Iraq, not the west.
5. Their oil peaked long ago and their power will be fading quite soon.
6. They can’t even make gasoline! Iran is a net-exporter of oil and a net-importer of refined petroleum products. There are easier ways to hit them, that will hit them harder and wont have the blow back (they’d hit Israel, Israel would hit back, say hello to WW3) that bombing them would. Want to smack Iran? Go after the aviation lubricants it imports. Most of the global supply is made by Exxon, Shell & Phillips. Exxon used to make the lions share of it, but I haven’t looked into it in a few years, it might have changed.
we? are you freaks part of top secret america or just brain damaged?
@1 Why shouldn’t we bomb Iran? Because it won’t work, numbnuts! If you had been in Vietnam, as I was, and witnessed B-52 strikes, as I did, and then watched as our infantry went into the strike area and took fire from the enemy, you would fucking realize that 500-lb. bombs blow away only a few feet of earth and anything below that — tunnels, fortifications, bunkers, etc. — survives intact. Do you think the Iranians didn’t think of this, dipshit? Iran has thousands of centrifuges busily producing bomb-grade plutonium; do you really think that equipment is in above-ground industrial parks? Can any rational person possibly believe that Iran failed to disperse its nuclear facilities among dozens, if not hundreds, of scattered sites? Only a fucking moron like you would start a war to take out only 1% of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and delay their acquisition of nuclear weapons by a few days. Idiot! You are an idiot. Thank the Great Mother Rabbit Spirit that our military planners and the president’s strategic advisers have more brains than you! Even Bush knew a military “solution” wouldn’t work, and he’s the second-dumbest human on the planet, after you.
I’m wondering why Eric Holder still has a job; allowing voter intimidation.
“Marcy Wheeler writes about how our government interprets providing “material support” for terrorism so broadly that it can apply to journalists covering a story.”
Governments, including democratically elected governments, including ours, always overreach. Always. Bureaucratic witchhunts against journalists have been going on in this country since John Peter Zenger’s time. I wouldn’t worry. The courts and First Amendment will put the kibosh on this silliness.
Roger Rabbit spews @5:
While I don’t think we should bomb Iran, your reasoning is completely off base. If you’d paid attention during either Gulf War you’d realize that military technology has advanced beyond 500 lb. bombs and B-52s.
@8
And who do is it that has advanced the technology of death and destruction more than anyone else in the history of the human race, and proliferated that technology around the globe?
Oh, thats right, the United States of America.
We sell that technology to other countries, including potential future enemies, more than any other country in the world.
Bombing Iran and What Follows
I suspect we could bomb Iran and successfully destroy their nuke effort.
We also could retaliate against the Taliban after 9/11 and pretty much destroy it.
We also could support the overthrow of the Soviet Regime in Afghanistan.
Trouble with “could” is that you need to also consider other possihble outcomes, you nee3d to plan for what comes next.
The good news is that President Obama is very unlike his predecessors (Clinton as well as Bush) in understanding the need for strategic and political planning. Bombing Iran, if he chooses to do that, only makes sense is their is an immuinent danger or if we have a plan for the outcome.
My bigger problem with OUR bombing Iran or using Israel as a stand in, is that the US can not continue to be the World Cop. We are too small, too high priced, and not rich enough to continue to play that role. If we successfully bombed Iran, the costs to the US of any long term strategy would be overwhelming.
The only realistic way to bomb Iran as part of a rapprochement with China, Russia, and the large Islamic countries. Russia could provide troops to help enforce a new peace. China esp. has more to fear from Iran than we do. They might well support bombing IF the long term effect benefited their interests.
There is one big problem with this scenario … it only world as apart of a long term effort to end the post WWII hegemony of America.
Lee: Veterans “Administration” — vice Association.
@11
Thanks, I don’t have an editor. :)
What?
No discussion on racist Ms. Sherrod?
I’m shocked. I was eager to see how some of you hypocritical Libtards would try and spin this scandal….
Silence from race-baiters Reverends Al and Jesse of course, and the NAACP. How can that be?
Enjoy the sun all, I’m off to this thing called work. :)
@13: Wake up. The story was a lie, of course, spread by Breitbart and Fox News. The scandal is that it isn’t just idiots like you who accept their lies at face value, but that the Obama Administration fell for it too.
Ms. Sherrod is not a racist. No story there. Move along…to the 21st century, please.
Um, not they are not.
Um, not they do not. Iranian centrifuges are producing enriched uranium, not plutonium. Plutonium enrichment is very slow and difficult, which is one reason why North Korea abandoned it in favor of reprocessing nuclear fuel rods.
Look, Iran has about 8K operational centrifuges at Natanz and will potentiallty add 3K centrifuges at Qom (which will not be operational for another six months to a year). Those numbers are more than enough to do what they claim to be doing, namely civilian purposes such as the production of energy and medical tools, which under the NPT to which they are party they have every right to pursue.
But it takes thousands of sophisticated, perfectly made and maintained centrifuges, and mastery of the centrifuge cascade (wherein one centrifuge sends its enriched uranium on the the next cetrifuge and sends its depletesd uranium back to the previous centrifuges) operating around the clock 24/7 without failures to develop highly-enriched uranium (HEU) suitable for using as a weapon within, say, a year’s time. Is then takes a whole bunch of other really sophisticated knowledge and technology to create a warhead that is missile-deliverable. The 2007 NIE (the last one compiled) states that IF they begin large-scale HEU enrichment operations (which to our knowledge so far they have NOT and probably cannot due to what we know about constant breakdowns in their cascade) Iran will not have sufficient HEU for a single weapon (and NOT a missile warhead) until about 2015. And the Wall Street Journal reports that “One intelligence official said Friday that while they are constantly reassessing that projection, ‘we haven’t changed our assessment yet.’ “
13 Mark1
Now that the entire video and not Breitbart’s edited travesty of a right-wing smear has been released, it is now known that all that Shirley Sherrod did was tell a story from 24 years ago (kinda before she was USDA) to illustrate her own realization that racial assumptions and animus are wrong, using the story of a family whom, far from discriminating against, she instead helped out of bankruptcy and who are on record as being among her strongest friends and supporters.
Shorter Daddy Love:
Breitbart lies and so do you.
@16: I hope she sues Breitbart, Fox, and the USDA. The only way Fox & Breitbart will stop lying is if they are forced to pay big punitive damages.
Here is how well the ObaMao Regime’s attack strategy against the Tea Party is working–
Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
When people in power like ObaMao try to shift the discussion away from key issues like the economy and massive deficit spending by attacking folks who question them…the end result is ALWAYS failure.
You KLOWNS seem to love the attacking of those not in power. The more hot rhetoric ObaMao and his Regime spew, the happier you are.
Keep spewing! It is turning more independents..and even Democrats, against your rootless Atheist Progressive Movement.
TOO DAMN FUNNY!
Oh and the recent Generic Poll shows R’s at +9. The Dems were +9 and higher a year & a half ago…same poll.
Good work!
sarge–
FOX didn’t report the story until after she resigned. The ObaMao Regime called her and told her to resign because she was going to be on Glen Beck’s show. She chose to resign.
Personally, I think she should have hung in there and not cowarded when one of the Obama Regime henchmen put the heavy hand on her and demanded that she pull over on the side of road & resign IMMEDIATELY.
You lefty’s would love to blame Fox. The truth is, the ObaMao Regime is responsible for heavy-handing this woman.
sarge–
The Ready, Fire, Aim ObaMao Regime is now “reconsidering” the firing. This woman deserves a fair hearing.
http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....-comments/
The real issue in this video is the FACT that NAACP members were laughing & applauding the part of the video where Sherrod said she didn’t do everything she could for this white farmer. Listen & watch. That is the issue.
The conduct of the NAACP. Breitbart could care less about Sherrod. The issue was the same group that has decided to call the Tea Party racists with ZERO proof…is a bunch of racists themselves (caught on tape cheering about racism before Ms. Sherrod finished her story!
You lefty’s are trying to focus on Sherrod…when the issue is the RACIST NAACP!
America will decide.
And many thanks to the ObaMao Regime for over-reacting and firing this poor woman.
re: your Gil Kerliwkowski analogy. There actually are people who believe that wearing bicycle helmets causes head (and spinal) injury.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.....nal_injury
I’m not saying they’re right, and I’m not saying Kerliwkowski is right, but it’s a complicated world and even the seemingly most straightforward proposition maybe cloudier than it appears.
@19
Big deal, before, after, whatever. Fox jumped on the “Obama is a racist” bandwagon and never did any hard hitting investigation on their own. They were happy to quote an NAACP spokesperson who said that they don’t tolerate racism in any form, but it was the NAACP who released the full unedited video that proved Breitbart was lying. How many times on Monday/Tuesday did Fox rerun the edited video before they realized they got taken as well? Now they’re jumping on the administration for believing the lie.
@21
That’s interesting, I never imagined that.
@13
Behold the stupid!
As I have related here several times, the Teahadists have a long and sordid racist pedigree — since at least 1861.
A short (and amusing) history lesson at the link:
The History Of the American Right
http://unreasonablefaith.com/2.....can-right/
Just like I’m wondering how Bush Attorney Generals kept their jobs allowing voter intimidation in Arizona.
The NBPP carried clubs. Heh. Pretty scary..
The minutemen in Arizona carried GUNS. Not so scary to a dope like wrongon – especially when the guns are intended to be pointed at persons of a darker shade of skin color.
and Uhh.. I think the NBPP posers are banned from being poll watchers.
Heh. Yeah now the crazies are talking about nuke bunker busters.
@Cynical: Your interpretation of that quarter century year old video is ridiculous. And your zeal to find racism on part of the NAACP is just an excuse to justify your own.
This is the best you can do? a 24 year old video of someone who used self-deprecating humor while giving a talk of how she overcame her instinct for prejudice against whites to make the point that we are all in this together and race should not be a factor?
This is your condemnation of the NAACP?
And stop comparing Obama to Mao. It’s childish and insulting. It’s the same as putting a toothbrush mustache on the president.
And while your at it, stop rooting for the failure of this president and the economy so Republicans can pick up some seats. It’s practically treason.
And stop being a coward and posting anonymously. You would never produce such insulting, ignorant dribble if you had to sign your name to it.
And no, I’m not anonymous. Anyone doesn’t know who I am can easily find out my identity.
Back to bombing Iran….
Bombing can create a lot of rubble, but it’s value in stopping a technological advance is debatable. Remember that the advocates of bombing, principally in the Air Force and defense contractors, put a lot of effort in advocating bombing as a relatively safe way to achieve foreign policy objectives. But they have their own axe to grind, and it involves getting control of a very large piece of the federal budget in the process.
You can even see this pre-WWII, when U.S. Army Air Corps advocates advanced the doctrine that “the bomber will always get through”, and that a defensively-armed heavy bomber such as the B-17 could conduct unescorted bombing campaigns of the enemy with pinpoint accuracy. They even argued that heavy bombers could wipe out an enemy fleet on the high seas. Relying on such promises, the initial defense of the Philipines and Hawaii in WWII was supposed to be performed by newly-built fleets of B-17’s. But it turned out that hitting a ship in the high seas was just about impossible by a heavy bomber flying at altitude, and the “pickle-barrel accuracy” was actually little better than getting the bombs within the same suburb of a city.
Although the U.S. 8th Air Force in Europe claimed a whopping share of the victory over Germany in WWII with it’s daylight bombing using B-17’s, it seems that a much larger share was by performed by the U.S. 9th Air force and British 2nd Tactical Air Force. Those two units used fighter/bombers to hit armored units and transportation equipment and facilities, mostly with American P-47’s and British Typhoons.
It was only after the war that the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey revealed that strategic bombers did little to curtail German production of war goods. The buildings could be damaged, but the tooling and equipment usually remained intact and could be put back into production in short order. Strategic bombing’s main contribution to the war effort was much more indirect – causing widespread destruction of housing (worker dislocation), a re-allocation of anti-aircraft 88’s and fighter resources to Germany, etc.
But the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey wasn’t declassified and published until much later, and the mistaking impressions of the power of the bomb (as advertised by the new U.S. Air Force’s P.R. Dept.) continued to affect military strategy and American foreign policy. The bombing of N. Vietnam revealed the limitations of such bombing, especially against an enemy which imported much of it’s weaponry and technology with B-52’s tasked to destroy rice paddy dikes, intersections of trails in the jungle along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and throughout the “Iron Triangle”. Somewhere at home I’ve got a book with a photo of the Viet Cong using a B-52 bomb crater as a mini-ampitheatre to conduct their training and propoganda sessions.
Then we get to the first Gulf War, where journalists first got to observe – and be impressed by – cruise missle technology. But for all their efforts, including complete air superiority and some “bunker buster” bombs, Saddam Hussein continued to elude bombing, and Iraqi top commanders were never killed, and the bombing of Iraq itself accomplished little. (In contrast, the bombing of Iraqi troops along the front lines was rather effective, especially when followed up shortly therafter by the ground assault). But by itself, the month-long bombing campaing didn’t force the Iraqis out of Kuwait, it took a combined armor-infantry assault to do that.
And in the second war with Iraq, we saw similar results. Despite the advertisements of “shock and awe” bombing campaigns, the Air Force was unable to accomplish our country’s goal of “regime change”. We had smart bombs, bunker-buster bombs, and even B-52’s available for carpet-bombing, but without knowing where Saddam Hussein was, we couldn’t accomplish that goal alone. Again, it was the combined armor-infantry assault which drove him from power, and a greedy informant which finally led to his arrest months later.
So with respect to “knocking out” Iran’s nuclear capacity, you have to know that Iran isn’t dumb to our bombing capabilities, and has taken that into account. They probably have the program highly fragmented, with duplicate functions being carried out in concealed and fortified locations spread out over wide areas of the nation. They are probably spreading disinformation campaigns designed to direct us to faLSE locations while keeping others secret. We may BELIEVE we know where the facilities are, but that doesn’t mean we DO know where they are. But most importantly, remember that the key to the Iran program is knowledge – it can have it’s accumulated knowledge and experience stored in computers all over Iran. Unless we knock out every computer which might be storing that data, as well as killing or capturing every scientist that was a principle in the program, the Iranians can duplicate the program within a relatively short period of time.
@28: Outstanding post, rhp.
Michael Steele, RNC Accused of Concealing $7 Million in Debt (thus hiding a growing disparity with D finances):
Here: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2.....n-in-debt/
27. Sarge spews:
The video isn’t 24 years old sarge. The video is current. The STORY Ms Sherrod told is apparently 24 years old.
The NAACP accused the Tea Party of racism for one or 2 persons alledgedly calling Black Congressmen the N–word. There is no proof or independent corroboration.
The fact NAACP people CURRENTLY would cheer during a story Ms. Sherrod told about withholding help to a white farmer is appalling. They didn’t know it was 24 years ago…and even if they did, it’s appalling.
Right?
ObaMao is Mao-like.
He wants to maintain power by controlling more & more aspects and resources in people’s life.
I have a good friend who just came back from his 20th trip to Cuba. It’s appalling, the conditions Fidel has created. Yet it has been going on so long, people are thankful to Fidel for their monthly rations of a couple pounds of beans & rice…thankful for a cottonball.
It’s oppressive. Mao did the same thing.
Keep the masses dependent on big government.
Precisely what ObaMao is doing.
you don’t like the analogy?
Too bad. I could care less.
And try to get your facts straight before you going spewing a bunch of BS. On this one, you look like a complete a$$hole.
The video is current…not 24 years old.
@8
Yep, they’re on to things like a Electro-optically guided 2000 lb glide-bomb.
My bad, that’s what the Iranians have.
@30: Thank God for Michael Steele. He may single handedly save the country from a Republican return to power and stave off the final nail in the coffin of what used to be America.
The RNC is in shambles.
@27: Klynical is just a barely functional anal sphincter of the right wing shit factory.
He means to do real evil, but by the time the shit gets to him, it’s mostly gas and bits of undigested corn.
@31 You’re so gullible…no wonder your corporate masters love folks like you.
They clapped because she started out with:
@Cynical: So the video is current. Doesn’t change anything, the story was about something that happened 24 years ago. They weren’t “cheering”. They laughed at a self-deprecating joke.
And if you can’t see the racial element in the tea-party, there is no hope for you. Absence any rational explanation for an organization called “Taxed Enough Already”, at a time when we are taxed at a 40 year low, the only rational explanation is they can’t stand having a black president while they are enjoying the lowest taxes in their lifetime.
Reagan inherited a debt of under one trillion. between 1980 and 2009, it soared to north of 10 trillion. There was only one Democrat, Clinton, during that time, and he balanced the budget and left a surplus.
The animosity of the teaparty towards this moderate president, which cut every single one of the teapartiers taxes, yours included, can only be explained by racism.
Believing Obama is a socialist, on a par with Mao or Castro (which aren’t even socialists, they are marxists), which simply isn’t supported by any facts, can only be explained by racism, or profound ignorance, which are closely related.
Still waiting for you to sign your name.
Rob Sargent
@cyn: one more thing. I’m done arguing with you, forever. it’s pointless. If you can’t see how 30 years of Reagan conservatism that gutted regulation, halved the taxes for the rich, brought us right back to 1928 in wealth distribution, outsourced all the manufacturing, and is ruining the economy and the environment, nothing I can say will make a difference.
Have a good life.
@35: “Gullible” is not even close. Klynical is not a fool (though he is quite clumsy).
There is manifest evil intent here.
In this piece (by an actual conservative) you’ll recognize that Klynical (a shitty human being with a tiny little dick) is just plagiarizing the latest evil from the RW noise machine.
David Frum:
Here:
http://theweek.com/bullpen/col.....tive-media
@38: yup!
The wackos targeting Murray with loony ads are after Charlie Crist as well. Here’s who they are and a summary of recent efforts:
So far not a very good track record. Here: http://hotlineoncall.nationalj.....tion_1.php
# 20: What worries me is that the Tea Party wackos make conservative Republicans look good by comparison. Goldwater, Nixon, and Reagan wouldn’t even get nominations in today’s toxic Republican Party, and modern-day conservatives like Christ look almost acceptable in comparison to the Tea Party alternatives. As for myself, I even find myself cheering for Christ in his campaign against the Tea Bag party.
But this just serves the real goals of the Republicans in making their “moderates” appear to be “centrists” – even though these people have the same ones who’s ideas got us into our current mess.
@1
why shouldnt we bomb iran? they are building nukes. just like they have the right to bomb our missle silos. see how that works?
wow, you guys are not as bright as you think. reread my post. you see any sarcasm there? no, i dont believe we have the right to bomb iran anymore than they have the right to bobmb us. why would i want to bomb a country thgat is an enemy of the criminal state of israel when israel stops their opression of the palestinian people, then we can talk about iran.
rhp spewed:
;-): I think you mean “Crist” (of FL, was R Governor and running as Ind for Sen because of the Teahadists).
Somehow I doubt that Christ would ever have been associated with the current R party. We’re basically talking American Pharisees/Taliban here.
Sarge @ 37
It is, indeed, pointless to argue with Cynny. His mind is far too closed. That does not mean, however, that we can’t mock him.
its always a doctored tape when the actors are black. to wit, acorn. in boston we had a back state senator and a black city councilor phoitographed by the fbi stuffing bribes under their shirts. their first defense was that the fbi doictored the photos. the senator has since plead guilty. i guess she figured even though the photo was “doctored” it was quite flattering.
45
You said you were going to ban yourself from these threads, you dissembling piece of shit.
@45
Of course you could just watch the full video, but then it would be harder to make up your crap. Then again it probably wouldn’t stop you.
@46
45
You said you were going to ban yourself from these threads, you dissembling piece of shit.
good retort to doctored tapes. tell me proudlefty, do you think the fbi doctored the pictures i was refering to? just your hunch.
Our wingies are all pumped up about Republican chances in November. The problem for them is that Republican candidates are, of course, Republicans, which means they are (a) batshit crazy; (b) have skeletons in their closets; (c) will inevitably say or do something truly idiotic while on the campaign trail; or (d) all of the above. To wit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....pmpolitics
Ah, the good news about Republican incompetence and dishonesty just keeps flowing:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....pmpolitics
Proud,
If it makes you enjoy this exceptionally clement day more to set up your straw men, by all means do so.
But in November when the historical trends of repudiating too much control in government by one ideology assert themselves do me a favor. Don’t cry too many tears into your beer. As the philosopher said, it doesn’t matter who’s in power. They are only human and can live only so long.
In reality we need ardent partisans of liberal political philosophy and passionate adherents of conservative approaches to come to some happy medium most Americans can live with. The partisans are always exercised and unhappy. But if politics didn’t exist they’d find some other outlet for these passions anyway and be just as unhappy.
RE Sherrod-
Were Obama truly a leader this woman would never have been asked to resign. A leader looks at the facts and makes decisions on those, not on the days news cycle.
Fox screwed up. They are no more about journalism than MSNBC is. They are both partisan mouthpieces for the right and left respectively. Why Obamas administration reacted so quickly is one issue. The shoddy journalism exemplified by this another.
Were Obama truly a leader who made the mistake of asking for Sherrods’ resignation and found out his error, he would have asked that she come back and apologized publicly and immediately. He may still, but it will be as a follower when he is pressured to do so.
51: “In reality we need ardent partisans of liberal political philosophy and passionate adherents of conservative approaches to come to some happy medium most Americans can live with.”
I agree with you there. I am actually concerned about the future of the Republican Party. The wingnuts seem to have gained control, thereby undermining the utility of the noble opposition. I do believe a noble and coherent opposition to the majority party is necessary to a healthy, functioning democracy.
52
The real villain here is Andrew Breitbart. For shallow, partisan purposes, he created this whole controversy via dishonest means. I expect, however, that his hallowed standing in wingnuttia has only been enhanced.
Re 53
Breitbart, if his part in this debacle is as described, is a villain. Unfortunately this story is so full of contradictions, inuendo and overreaction that I really don’t know what to believe about anyone involved with it.
However, the president has a responsibility to respond responsibly, no matter the provocation. Shifting the blame for his response to a likely shady actor in it misses the point, in my view.
@52 “Were Obama truly a leader who made the mistake of asking for Sherrods’ resignation and found”
Were Fox truly a news organization. Were Brietbart truly a journalist.
@51 “In reality we need ardent partisans of liberal political philosophy and passionate adherents of conservative approaches to come to some happy medium most Americans can live with.”
Empty words, coming from you. Your own “happy medium” as demonstrated @52, and every post before that, appears to be spending all your time here trashing this administration and progressivism, with only some light, passing criticism of the right, then back to your dirty business you go. Throw a few hundred words at the failures of Brietbart and Fox in this matter for a day as you so easily do when you’re criticizing the left and you just might earn some credibility.
@54 “Shifting the blame for his response to a likely shady actor in it misses the point, in my view.”
There you go. It’s all about Obama.
I’ll put it this way, Proud Leftist, I believe there’s no “happy medium” to be found with Lost. Lost’s “happy medium” is to focus on the administration’s failure in this matter. He disgusts me for even using the term.
Re 55
I’m sorry. I expect leaders to be ahead of the curve, not perpetually behind it. My mistake.
I expect leaders to direct the flow of activity from those in their employ, not respond to it. My error.
I expect leaders to make mistakes on occasion and take responsibility for them. Mea culpa.
You’re right. Breitbart is actually the president and Obama has no responsibility for his administration. Oh wait, no he isn’t. He’s just a political operative who Obama believed implicitly on no reasonable ground.
@57 You and your happy fucking medium can go fuck yourselves.
And you have a nice day too Steve.
If taking your clearly out of control anger out here on imagined enemies means you drive more safely or treat your family better I’ve no problem with that. Best of luck with it.
“your clearly out of control anger”
In your hallucinations maybe. You might want to take that reality construct of yours in for a checkup.
@60
It’s about being the victim. When you have a victimization complex, no matter what happens, the bulk of the blame always lies elsewhere. When it comes to LIASOB and many on the right, their whining about how the black community always tries to deflect blame this way is a nice piece of projection on their part. And this incident illustrates it perfectly.
@61 As you pointed out on the other thread, racism trumps political incompetence as a concern. The administration fucked up. They’ll either learn from that or not. But this racism, the lying Brietbart wingnut, and the way Fox so orgasmically pounced on this and went after this poor woman – absolutely fucking disgusting.
Lee,
With all due respect, you’re talking nonsense. I would act outraged at your charaterization of myself, if I cared about your opinion.
But to correct your factually incorrect statement-
I have never exhibited the slightest hint of racism, because I don’t feel it.
Nor have any of my postings ignored the responsibility Republicans or Tea Party or any other group has to police its own ranks for racism or other offensive behavior.
Nor have any of my postings indicated anything other than a great respect for personal responsibility for personal choices.
Nor, despite being treated with vulgarity do I descend to it. In fact I find the vulgarity of some on the left amusing. It is indicative of fear and uncertainty, really.
If you want an ideology that specializes in shifting personal blame you needn’t look far. It is yours.
@63
With all due respect, you’re talking nonsense. I would act outraged at your charaterization of myself, if I cared about your opinion.
And I would take your criticism to heart if I thought you were a serious political commenter.
I have never exhibited the slightest hint of racism, because I don’t feel it.
I wasn’t referring to you, I was referring to Breitbart. And if you still believe that Breitbart isn’t a racist after both this and the ACORN fraud tapes, then you’re even more gullible than I thought.
Nor have any of my postings ignored the responsibility Republicans or Tea Party or any other group has to police its own ranks for racism or other offensive behavior.
I don’t doubt that. But you still came in here to claim that the Obama Administration’s reaction to Breitbart’s attempt to defame an innocent person is worse than the defamation itself. That is very clearly an attempt to deflect blame, and if you’re as decent a person as you claim to be, you’ll recognize that.
You may not be a racist, but in trying to minimize the seriousness of Breitbart’s actions and claim that we should be more concerned about the Obama Administration, you’re not much better. That’s appalling and you should be able to figure that out. You’re not Puddybud or Cynical.
RE 64
If this ” …if I cared about your opinion” came accross as rude it wasn’t intended that way. People whom I personally know and with whom I have real interpersonal relationships have opinions of me which matter greatly to me. It would be excessively irrational to put a great deal of stock in the opinions of an anonymous blogger whom I never will meet in person.
“It is indicative of fear and uncertainty, really.”
Your every post is vulgar. And go ahead and continue to mistake my capability for being one mean SOB when confronted with vulgar wingnuts for fear and uncertainty.
@65
If the opinions you’ve expressed in these thread are genuine (and I’ve always thought they are), I feel I do “know you” somewhat. My opinion of you hasn’t changed much since you first blasted into these comment threads with a fistful of strawmen. I regard you as someone whose idea of what a liberal is and what a liberal believes is shaped more by con-men who want you to be afraid of liberals than it is by actual interactions with liberals. My email address is linked from my name. If you ever want to meet up for a beer sometime, I’m always game.
Psst, Lee’s real name is Weedy McPot.
Why do event planners hate bicyclists?
Especially when there’s a bike trail that runs from the town you’re hosting the event outside of right to the event site!
Hint: planners put those bike paths in so that people could bike to events.
@69
Here’s the link for the story. Goldy’s edit function isn’t functioning.
http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/.....-bike-ban/
A question for the constitutional conservatives here. In another thread, it was said”I know of no true conservative who argues against taxes per se. They argue against taxes which don’t go to benefit society as a whole. National or local security, the criminal and civil justice systems, fire departments and reasonable regulation of commerce aren’t the bones of contention.”
Is that a fair assessment of what you constitutional conservatives think federal money should go for?
Poor Lost is an incredible hypocrite:
Yeah, right, Lost little person. BP is totally irresposnsible and republicans blame…the government oversight (including Bush appointees) – when they opposed oversight.
And who was cheering “drill, baby, drill”? Republicans. And do they take responsibility for that. NO
Hypocrites.
Bush and the republicans opposed mining regulations – and then there is a minign disaster. Do republicans take personal respoinsibility? NO
And who propposed credit default swaps and argued for deregualtion? Phil Gramm and the republicans. Have they taken responsibility for the ecopnomic collapse and banking crisis?
No
Hypocrites.