Here’s the weekly sandbox, where off-topic comments are always on-topic.
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I read in the paper this morning that the parties are suing to throw out the top two primary system. I am pleased to hear that because the top two primary system is garbage.
I like how you start your open threads ten days in advance Goldy: 5-31-05.
Oops. Fixed the typo in the headline.
In my opinion I hope the Republicans go nuclear. The Democrat Senators are 100% against it, the population of the USA is against changing the filibuster rules in the Senate by 2:1 (1) ratio, the congress has a lowly 33% approval rating from the sample poll (2), President Bush’s approval rating has fallen to 43% (3), 59% feel the economy is getting worse (4), and by 47% vs. 40% the public hopes that the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives in 2006 (5)
Let Senator Frist pull the trigger. What will it bring? It will bring the wrath of the public down on the Republican Party in the elections of 2006 and probably carry it forward to the Presidential elections in 2008. In nuclear ‘explosions’ it is the ‘fallout’ that causes the greatest amount of problems. The fallout from this ‘explosion’ will really start to be felt in 2006.
Democrats will band together as never before, moderates from the GOP and other assorted parties will side with anyone against the power hungry Republicans and it will be very possible that the three branches of our government ‘change colors’ completely in the coming 3.5 years. There are many clichés that come to mind but the oldest and wisest of them is ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely’. This will come to pass.
I have many ‘ultra religious’ friends. The one common denominator in each and every one of them is that they keep their beliefs close to their hearts, not their mouths. None of them goes around trying to convert others to their beliefs and very few of them feel that James Dobson, Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell is anyone to give credence to. We are living in a time of the greatest sell out of a political party in the history of the USA. A few ‘rabid’ politicians have decided that the way to keep their power is to marry with the ‘religious fanatics’ in our country. This is the ‘hot news’ now and will be for years, alas, it will be mostly remembered in the history books of the coming generations as the quickest way to bring wrath and enmity to what once was a Grand Old Party.
Bring it on Dr. Frist, it will be the first straw in a chain that will break the ‘elephants’ back.
Links
(1) filibuster change http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01677.html
(2) congress’ approval rating http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7899754/
(3) GWB’s approval rating http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/
(4) Economy rating http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/
(5) 2006 Congress http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7899754/
jpgee-
Let the Dems set the lowest bar possible in terms of playing with the fillibuster. Eventually there will be a backlash because it can be used and abused at will. This fillibuster is the new standard???
jpgee@4
The wrath of the people has already hit the democratic party, that is why they are the minority :) Now if they will just pull their heads out of their asses and enough of the fillibuster.
Just keep kidnapping, torturing, and murdering innocent people. See how long you have the support of the American public.
P.T. Barnum said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
Republicans have been out of power so long they don’t know how to be in power. They are like a bunch of little kids who broke into the candy store, have eaten everything in sight, and ended up with a bad case of diarrhea.
I wonder if you all agree w/ me: Tim Eyman is the Kim Jong-Il of state politics for banging his “nuke” to get attention…
George Soros’ Open Society Institute, gave $4 mil to the ACLU, Felons Right to Vote, Open Borders, International Government, World Court, Income re-distribution, legalize drugs, NO value judgements on persons personal behaviors, funds Air America and moveon.org. Democrats. Hellary Clinton is NO centrist. How stupid are you?
Thank God for George Soros!
Oh bitter, BitterGrape I am so sorry your delicate sensibilities are offended by those who dare to disagree with your obviously well thought-out views. Golly…whatever are we thinking. those of us who still treasure our civil liberties…our right to assemble, our right to say and write what we want without fear of government retaliation. BitterGrape…there WILL come a time when these fascists will come for your gun…in the “interest of national security”. THEN what will you do? Then you will know we were right about these war/powermongers you so mightily defend. Only THEN…it will be too late.
Join us now, my brother/sister. Fight the power. Come over to the light!
For those of you seeking a news-source alternative to the contentless MSM (which is considered only with viewership, readership, and profits), if you don’t know about Truthout.org, you should! No right-wing propaganda there! Here is a sample report that describes the realities (and horrors) being inflicted by the American military on the Iraqi people:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/042705A.shtml
@11
I now know for a fact that you are delusional:
Here is a sample report that describes the realities (and horrors) being inflicted by the American military on the Iraqi people:
How lazy can you be, allowing organizations with an agenda set your worldview? It would be similar to me plugging in to FOX News and believing every story is true. If you are buying more than 10% of the content on that site (and that is a high estimation of how much fact they deal in), you better seek immediate help…
Best line I’ve heard about the phoney-reported Koran-flushing incident: Heck, flushing the Koran down the toilet would win an NEA grant IN THIS COUNTRY!
Reply to silly comment at 12, ergo, “allowing organizations with an agenda set your worldview?” — and you don’t? Are you telling us your views are neutral, nonpartisan, objective, and factual? (Derisive guffaws in background)
Smartass @ 12, okay pal, go ahead and refute the Truthout article. Show they got the facts wrong … I’m waiting.
Just because what a reporter says isn’t what you want to hear doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
That’s the whole problem with Republicans. They’re either liars, or in denial, or both.
Red Cross Told US of Koran Incidents
By Cam Simpson and Mark Silva
The Chicago Tribune
Thursday 19 May 2005
Washington – The International Committee of the Red Cross documented what it called credible information about US personnel disrespecting or mishandling Korans at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and pointed it out to the Pentagon in confidential reports during 2002 and early 2003, an ICRC spokesman said Wednesday.
For complete story see: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052005B.shtml
Here’s a column by Paul Krugman about China financing Bush’s deficits: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052005H.shtml
Excerpt: “Here’s what I think will happen if and when China changes its currency policy, and those cheap loans are no longer available. US interest rates will rise; the housing bubble will probably burst; construction employment and consumer spending will both fall; falling home prices may lead to a wave of bankruptcies.”
Here’s a story on how the White House manipulates his Social Security “town halls” to promote his policy and exclude dissenting voices: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052005L.shtml
Here’s a story on how American G.I.s murdered two Afghans:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052005Y.shtml
“In US Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates’ Deaths
By Tim Golden
The New York Times
Friday 20 May 2005
Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.
The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.
Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar’s face.
“Come on, drink!” the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. “Drink!”
At the interrogators’ behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.
“Leave him up,” one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.
Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.
… “
Howz Shrub doin’?
He has matched his all-time low in approval rating:http://www.pollkatz.homestead......age001.gif
Here is the same thing with individual polls given:
http://www.pollkatz.homestead......age001.gif
Pat @numerous
Everyone has an agenda. Except me…
Seriously, you allow yourself a narrow view of the world if you believe everything they have carefully culled from the world of journalistic opinion. Do you believe everything Goldy writes is gospel? I recognize the vituperative narrative as applied by
mostsome on your side of the aisle. What I don’t understand is the wholesale hate you and others like you spew. You allow that to happen to yourself, and there is nothing that can be said by anyone to change that mindset once the blinders are firmly in place. Funny, the Left was once so into the open-mind theme. Now look at it! Have a happy hate-filled reactionary life…Republicans complaining about spewing hate … are like people in glass houses throwing stones.
Do you call it “hate” to tell the truth about what our government is doing to people they have arrested in their own lands, detained, tortured, and killed, without a shred of due process?
That would be like Hitler accusing his detractors of “spewing hate” for telling the truth about his concentration camps.
Are you denying that under the Bush Administration the U.S. government has kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured, and killed people without trial?
What would you say about a foreign government that came into our country and did these things to our people? Huh?
Bush worshippers just don’t want to believe their beloved leader is presiding over evil.
dj–
But Bushes approval rating isn’t as low as Gregoire’s!!!
48th most popular governor….soon to be:
FORMER ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNOR GREGOIRE!!
I love it dj.
The LEFTIST PINHEADS WILL GO BESERK!!
Christine Gregoire is a wonderful person who has devoted her life to public service for the betterment of all the people of our state. As Ecology director, she helped protect our state’s matchless environment for the better health and enjoyment of all. As Attorney General, she presided over one of the best consumer protection departments in the nation, and won the largest tort settlement in world history, bringing over 4 billion dollars back to Washington State from the tobacco companies. You are very fortunate to have her as your governor. You should kiss the ground when she walks by.
Patrick@27
You either have fantasies or are simply delusional. She has cost this state a fortune in screw ups and fraudulent waste, she rode the coatails of other states suing a legal buisiness for selling a legal product, as well as cost the addicted (generally poor) more money in increased tobbaco prices, as well as higher taxes…meaning less food on the childrens plates as well as going without other things, then she straps on additional gas tax (campaigning against it) to cost the families she “cares about” even moore. That isnt even uncluding the extra money that was bilked from the taxpayers for the additional hand cheat…oh Im sorry hand count to fraudulently place her in office, against the wishes of the majority of the population that still thinks Rossi won.
Patrick is probably some sort of whacked out stalker that stalks ugly woman who are beyond middle age.
Kiss the ground she walks on? Is that what YOU do????
Word to the wise . Republickans need to be aware that the general population has caught on to their big lie tactics. But, like George Costanza, they’ve lied so long and loudly that they don’t even realize they’re lying anymore. Reality has bitch-slapped them a few times in the past week and they don’t even realize it.
I may live to be 500 with those new Korean stem cell advances– and the “intellectual property” they represent will be S. Korean, not American, thanks to Rep. obstructionism of human advanceent in the US.
I wouldn’t get the Gregoire-worship train going too fast. She has more than once shown herself to lack character. When it was discovered that the woman she featured in an ad saying she was a Republican and was voting for Gregoire (heck, she had to try and copycat dinocrat ads, right??) had only ever given to Dem causes, Gregoire didn’t care that she got caught and ran it anyway. Propaganda, not truth, was more important to her.
She was president of a white-supremist sorority and only AFTER she left (when it was safe) did she try to change it. Clearly it was more important to her to stay as president carrying out the racist policies than leave the sorority. Dems should’ve been howling over that one, but except for the Sims crowd, you were all pretty quiet about that one and gave her a HUGE pass. She never even apologized for doing all that. She just told us how wonderful it all was.
She tried to massage that investigation about blowing the appeal and losing millions of taxpayer money. That’s just plain corrupt.
She claimed she wouldn’t raise the gas tax unless voters knew what they were getting for the nickel raise already instituted. She threw that one out the window because she considered it more important to cater to the 206 area code folks who suddenly decided they were interested in building roads (viaduct, specifically) and raised it bigtime. But heck, she said what she had to to get elected. (even though it’s looking less and less like she really wasn’t. More votes than voters in Dem precincts; many ‘lost’ ballots in Rossi precincts. That’s not a coincidence, folks)
She really doesn’t look much like an ethical person. She looks like someone who will do or say anything to get elected. I’m sorry you aren’t seeing through her.
M
I think the majority of Washingtonians see thru her…especially since she said:
“This election is a model for the rest of the nation and the world at large.”
—Christine Gregoire, Soon-to-be 1st Former Illegitimate Governor of the State of Washington
That quote will be used on her until…hell freezes over!
“You are very fortunate to have her as your governor. You should kiss the ground when she walks by.”
Patrick @ 27
What are you smoking? You “progressives” are supposed to be for a progressive agenda, Patrick! Why do you kiss her a** after she made our state tax system even more regressive than it already was?
And don’t bother trying to re-write history over her performance at Ecology. They got NOTHING done when she ran the place, NOTHING. Ask anybody who dealt with them during those years. That agency was like a black hole until after she left.
Lefties @ all
Patrick reminded me why I appreciate this site so much. It reminds me what a bunch of hypocrites you guys are. All Gregoire did was pay off her supporters with our tax dollars (after lying in the campaign) and you guys kiss her a**. I can’t wait until a Republican candidate who happened to have been president of a whites-only sorority runs for office some day. Then you can prove again what a bunch of hypocrites you are when you tar and feather her.
As I expected, the Rossi apologists defend the tobacco companies (i.e., Gregoire is an evil witch picking on impecunious smokers), won’t acknowledge the $4.25 billion settlement she won for the taxpayers of our state, and continue to allege election fraud in the absence of any evidence of same. Go for it, children — you have nothing to lose. You have no credibility on this board anyway.
Say Patrick, the $4.25 billion is paid by the smokers not the evil “big tobacco”. It’s just another tax.
Reply to Mister Cynical at 34: What seems to fly over your head is that elections aren’t perfect anywhere. After comparing this election to what typically happens in elections, here is what UW Prof. Bryan Jones said about it: “What’s amazing to me is how well this election was run.” Jones was quoted in the Seattle Weekly. The article also pointed out that precinct-level proportional analysis as proposed by the Republican lawyers is regarded by national-level elections experts as a “leap of faith” that has never been accepted by any American court. Rossi’s argument is on shaky ground, at best. I wouldn’t get very confident if I were on his side.
SEATTLE TIMES SAYS BUSH OFFICIALS LEAKED SECRET WAR PLANS TO MEDIA
From time immemorial, revealing your side’s war plans to the enemy has been considered the very definition of treason. Yet, that’s exactly what DoD officials did, according to a story in today’s Seattle Times (Saturday, May 21).
The Seattle Times printed a story by Knight-Ridder reporter Warren B. Stroble that uses as its source a report by Gregory Hooker, Central Command’s top intelligence analyst. Stroble noted that Hooker’s report is corroborated by “other assessments” but is “one of the first on-the-record accounts” by a military analyst.
According to Stroble, “some officers at … CENTCOM were so stunned by leaks of the classified war plans that they assumed the leaks must have been part of a U.S. propaganda campaign to unsettle Saddam. … It turned out that the leaks were apparently part of a battle among top policymakers in Washington over whether to invade Iraq with a relatively small force and lightning-quick maneuvers, as many Pentagon civilians favored, or the larger, more traditional force that senior generals favored.”
In other words, the Bush administration’s civilian defense officials gave our military’s war plans to the press (and the enemy) for the purpose of coercing our generals into invading Iraq with fewer troops than they believed they needed!
This is beyond incompetence. It’s treason.
What it boils down to is the Bushies’ only aptitudes are torturing people and committing treason.
Now watch the troll apologists defend these scumbags.
Nice try to change the subject. But it won’t work.
While you all knee-jerkly accuse everyone else of racism, and tell us we should kiss the ground Gregoire walks one, the truth is, you totally overlooked GREGOIRE’S WHITE-SUPREMIST SORORITY ACTIVITIES . Is THAT the kind of person who we should kiss the ground she walks on??
At least Dino went to the black churches who invited him to present his candidacy. SHE RAN AWAY FROM THEM. No, I don’t think anyone will be kissing the ground she walks on. But I’d like to see YOU demonstrate it for us, Patrick. Just tell us what time and where. We’ll gladly show up.
And Patrick, how many other white supremists have you kissed the ground under?
I would also like to say again that going on KVI DOES NOT and WILL NOT make Goldy any less of a Democrat.
So why does Carolyn Edmonds think going on KVI will do that to HER? You guys need to go knock some sense into this woman and let her know that Goldy is still as dedicated to the liberal cause as ever despite going on Kirby’s show!
Reply to M, first of all there’s no such thinking as “changing the subject” in an open thread. “Open thread” means open to any topic the poster wants to discuss — get it? No, of course you don’t get it. You have cement between your ears.
Your attempt to portray Gregoire (and me) as racists is lame, to say the least. Yes, she belonged to an all-white sorority. Her response to this issue is that she she worked from inside to change the sorority’s policy to admit non-whites. How is that racist? The sorority in question does now admit non-whites. This is the same-old, same-old, wingnut guilt-by-association tactic.
Please provide evidence that Gregoire has ever made a racist remark or personally engaged in racist behavior. You can’t because she hasn’t. There isn’t one iota of evidence that during her 20+ years of service in public offices Gregoire has ever discriminated against anyone because of race in her hiring policies, dealings with citizens, policies, or personal conduct. You’re lying when you accuse Gregoire of racism.
Now let’s talk about M’s unique brand of finger pointing. To begin with, far more Republicans than Democrats belonged to fraternities and sororities in college. Frats/sororities are an upper middle class phenomenon.
Let me digress here briefly to describe the working class folks I knew who were attending college. Many had families. They went to daytime classes (because the classes they needed weren’t available in evenings), worked swing or graveyard shift jobs, and studied on weekends. They slept when they could — on the bus, waiting in line, in the two hours between the end of their shift and their first class. They were determined to better themselves and their families through hard work, and needless to say, they were formidable students who earned top-notch grades despite lack of study time and rest. It’s called the American Dream. And guess what, these folks didn’t have time for fraternities or sororities, or beer busts and Greek Row rioting.
So WHO belonged to the all-white fraternities and sororities back in the sixties when Gregoire was a college student? A lot of today’s Republicans, that’s who. WHO instituted the segregationist policies of these organizations and kept them in place? Today’s Republicans, that’s who. WHO opposed the efforts by Gregoire and others to discard these outdated practices? People who became today’s Republicans, that’s who.
And you’re pointing a finger at Gregoire? (Derisive laughter in background)
The true identity of Patrick is now made manifest….
Raised as a red-headed stepchild
Humilitated by cheerleaders
Pantsed at Homecoming 1998
Voted most likely to dweeb
Summarily rejected by the Peace Corp
Brainwashed by a vast left wing conspiracy
He seeks to wreak vengeance on those who insist upon moderation and equanimity….
Patrick
Unleashed!
aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!
Reply to 46, you’ve got some work to do if you wish to succeed as an identity thief.
I’m not red-headed.
I have real parents, not step parents.
Cheerleaders sleep with me.
I was Homecoming King.
I was voted “most popular” in phys ed class.
I never applied for Peace Corps.
There is no left wing conspiracy.
Who insists upon moderation and equanimity? You? (Derisive laughter in background)
Is this you inside that snake, Zapporo?
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/images/esnake7.jpg
Patrick,
You’ve struck a nerve with some of the wingnuts here – and believe me, they are as nutty and brainwashed as I’ve seen anywhere on the net.
Good work!
Patrick,
You are so right!
I was way off the mark.
The
"Real" Patrick
As for the rest of your pre-pubescent post …..
You’re clearly not denying that “Most Likely to Dweeb” and “Patrick” are synonymous.
I am really “wowed” by your other insignificant gratuitous “accomplishiments”.
Patrick, Jonas Salk, Albert Schweitzer, and Ghandi.
One of these things is not like the other.
Which one doesn’t belong?
My dog has done better with the cat next door than you have. Unless you’re a little friskies kind of guy. Which, based on your snake post is entirely plausible.
“Sleep” is definitely the operative word.
However, date rape drugs really don’t really garner that much respect from anyone except the most sordid.
I don’t even want to think about what it takes to be the “most popular” in any phys ed class.
Patrick and wingersuck
You call Patrick’s recitation of his guesswork and Move On BS “striking a nerve”? Get real, pal. Patrick, I believe the question of whether frat brothers and sorority sisters favored Gregoire or Rossi deserves a little more thought. Aren’t a sizeable number of the yuppy elite Seattle lefty crowd the same people you seem to have despised in college? You know, the ones driving around with the Kerry sticker on the Volvo or Lexus and sending their kids to private school while they whine about public school funding.
I still say you lefties gave Gregoire a huge pass on her service as president of the whites-only sorority. If she were Republican, we would have seen copies of official racist sorority proclamations over her signature on the front page of the PI more than once.
And on her performance as governor, the question is, why do you lefty “progressives” support her so vigorously? She has done nothing to help your cause, fools. Unless your “cause” is throwing more money at all of her supporters.
You guys always try to tun it around as if anybody who does not support Gregoire is some rabid right wing nut. Well I say you progressives have your heads in the sand and prove that you have no scruples by supporting her. She’s proven herself to be about as principled as my dog.
We didn’t give her a pass. That’s why the race was close. Many of us, especially blacks, were so disappointed in her wimpy campaign that we didn’t even bother to vote for her. Carl Mack came right out and said how disappointed they were that she didn’t even bother to nail down the black vote. But now that she has proven to have more substance than Locke ever had despite her lackluster campaign, and now that we see how close we came to having a hack real-estate salesman running the state, she will garner more support. It’s not going to happen, but if we do have another election, the Democrats will get behind her this time. It’s too important to keep Vance and his mignons out of office. Things need to be done to our infrastructure, we need to fund transportation. We can’t let ignorant Republicans stand in the way.George Galloway for President
Hey DT, you seem to be “anti-Republican” more so than “pro-Gregoire”. That is exactly my point. What is there to be pro about with this governor?
I’d have to say Locke showed more substance when it comes to leadership on taxes and budget. Think back how Locke handled a budget deficit compared to how Gregoire handled one: first she lied about her plans in the campaign, then she signed tax increases that make our tax system more regressive than it already was, then she went along with the BS “emergency clause” on all the bills. Compared to Locke, who got together with Rossi and did the priorities thing.
Zip, you are completely clueless. Most of the liberals on this board support Gregoire because we are opposed to rabid mob rule as demonstrated by some of the nuttier types that drop by here and the crowd at (u)SP. Sure Gregoire isn’t perfect but neither is Dino.
We’ll take our chances with Gregoire, thank you very much!
That’s really a great endorsement of Gregoire, wingersuck. “support Gregoire because we are opposed to rabid mob rule”. You make it sound like she’s Kerry in drag.
You should be her press agent. The lunatic conspiracy theory wing of the lefty party responds great to your kind of BS. And unfortunately the elite Seattle lefty crowd goes along with you wack jobs because it is the cool thing to do in their socail circles.
Zip you don’t know jack. You’re spouting the winger line. It’s a comfortable bubble you live in and unfortunately it won’t be popped until the loonies are completely in charge and wreck this state with their extremist agenda and maybe not even then.
Sorry I don’t trust the party who put up Ellen Craswell, John Carlson and Dino Rossi up as the solution to this state’s problems. Dino was an improvement over the other two only in that he understands PR and advertising somewhat which translates to “running a good campaign” and is willing to take some of the Rovian course to get what he wants, i.e. this scorched-earth legal campaign.
Name call and stereotype all you want – you just make my point.
The fact Gregoire isn’t Rossi was reason enough to vote for her (given the competition), but she HAS shown “substance” and “leadership.” There’s more to leadership than being against taxes, Mister Zip. Nobody likes taxes or wants higher taxes. “Leadership” is making unpopular decisions because they’re necessary. This state needs to invest in its infrastructure, education system, and kids. Locke didn’t do that. He was a spineless blob who caved in to the “no taxes” fanatics in the Legislature (led by Dino Guess-Who).
In her first 4 months in office, Gregoire did something about Seattle’s transportation mess — the state’s biggest problem. She increased space for deserving students in our public colleges — arguably one of the state’s top three priorities. She restored health care for 40,000 kids. She funded the initiatives (supported overwhelmingly by voters) to reduce class sizes and raise teacher pay.
If Rossi were in office, none of those things would have happened. He would be repealing regulations that protect consumers, public health, and our environment. He would be letting developers run amok. He would be making it harder for injured and unemployed workers to get benefits. He’s not a leader, he’s a troglodyte stuck in the 19th century, along with the rest of his party. That’s why there’s a Democratic Party — because these folks run government for their own benefit, not for everyone’s benefit.
This state had a near miss. Now that everyone has seen who Rossi really is, and what Gregoire can do, I don’t think the next election (which I predict will occur in 2008, not 2005) will be close. I dare Rossi to run against Gregoire’s record four years from now. He’ll be lucky to get Craswell’s numbers.
whoa, patrick has lost it. hey patrick, call the Govs office next week and ask if Crissy has her Husband and daughter on the payroll.
And patrick, did crissy create a personal lounge for herself at the DOE like she did at the AGO? Crissy has an agenda alright, it’s crissy.
Ok Patrick, to your credit you have articluated why you believe Gregoire is a good governor. You are one of the few lefties who at least can do that. I still am amazed that you guys can support her increasing the share of state taxes paid by the poor/middle class, instead of decreasing it as “progressives” usually strive for.
Your sidekick wingersuck however launches into air america BS attacking Republicans as his reason for supporting her. Typical lefty.
Still waiting to see Patrick kiss the ground Gregoire walks on. Should be good.
Are you a Robert Byrd fan, as well, per chance?
And I noticed that Patrick kind of skipped over the part where Gregoire didn’t really “work from within” to change the policies. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, SHE SAID SHE KNEW IT WAS WRONG WHEN SHE JOINED BUT JOINED ANYWAY. THEN–WHEN SHE COULDN’T GET KICKED OUT—SHE WAITED UNTIL AFTER SHE WAS OUT OF COLLEGE TO CHANGE.
It’s always easier to defend her by leaving that part out, isn’t it? She became president and not only didn’t try to change to policies at the time when it made the most sense to, she ENFORCED the policy. Changing from within means while you’re THERE. She prefered to be ‘popular’ and not get kicked out from the sorority while still in college. Clearly, this was not meritorious. Hers is an unadmirable effort to color the picture of what really happened while she was in the sorority. She championed the racist policies while president.
There is no denying it. Don’t even bother. And she knew it was wrong while she was doing it (or so she claims). She doesn’t get a pass on this. Sorry
Dear thatPrick–
The Gas Tax will be repealed and it will be Gregoire’s downfall along with her undermining I-601 (AGAIN) and uttering these words:
“This election is a model for the rest of the nation and the world at large.”
—Christine Gregoire, Former Illegitimate Governor
Even the black community saw through her explanation. Are you smarter than they are? Did you see something here that THEY didn’t??
And Cark Mack was right–Gregoire DIDN’T try for the black vote because she WAS TOTALLY EMBARRASSED ABOUT HER BEHAVIOR AS A WHITE-supremist SORORITY PRESIDENT. She KNEW she had no answer to them during the campaign,even though when she wasn’t anywhere near a black audience she would pretend it was just great what she did in college.
Let’s tell the truth here—if she was so proud of the racist policies she enforced in college, she would’ve gone right in front of the black community face to face and told them WHY she was proud of her college days in that whites-only sorority.
She DIDN’T. and we all know why. She HAD no adequate answer for for why she didn’t try to change it before or while she became head-whitey at the sorority. Or she would have gone and told them. She is totally embarrassed about it. If only she would have said so, we wouldn’t be in here today arguing about it. If she had said “I should have quit that crappy racist sorority instead of being the chief enforcer of its white-supremist rules” I think we’d all understand. But she didn’t. that’s why she was too embarrassed to go in front of black audiences. She couldn’t admit the truth to them and had no answer. Knowing that, it probably WAS better for her to go nowhere near them and save herself even more humiliation. But it doesn’t make her any better.
Reply to 58 through 64, okay so you’ve pointed out Gregoire’s weak spots. Yes, her husband was on the payroll in the Attorney General’s office, and now he’s on the payroll in the Governor’s office, but he
Reply to 58 through 64, okay so you’ve glommed onto Gregoire’s soft spots. Congratulations.
Yes, her husband worked as an investigator for the Attorney General’s office, and now he’s on the payroll in the Governor’s office, I don’t know anything about their daughter. I don’t know how he got the AG job. For all I know, he went through the regular hiring process, was competitively selected, and at the hiring decision was made by lower level managers and supervisors. Do you have information to the contrary?
And, as far as I know, Mike Gregoire worked for his pay. To the best of my knowledge, collecting the paycheck involved showing up for work at 8 a.m. on Monday morning, putting in a 40-hour week, and producing an acceptable work product. If that’s the case, the taxpayers got their money’s worth. Do you have any information to the contrary?
I don’t know what Mister Gregoire does in his current job, other than I know he’s very involved with veterans. Seems like a good use of his time to me, especially now, when we’re sending not only regular army units based at Fort Lewis to Iraq but Reservists and Guardsmen as well, and some of them are coming home dead or maimed. I don’t know about you, but I’m personally glad our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are being looked out for by someone as close to the governor as her husband. It means their problems are likely to get the governor’s attention — and prompt action. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing.
Now let’s ask, what did Rossi do? He worked for a real estate crook who fleeced widows and orphans, and went to jail for it. And when Rossi’s boss got out of prison, Rossi made a beeline to the guy because Rossi was more than eager to work for this felon again. (Curious, isn’t it, how Rossi gravitates to felons.) Why? Because Rossi loved making money so much, he didn’t care where it came from, or how he got it.
Here was our choice: A petty nepotist, or a suck-up to a felon who robs widows and orphans. This should be a no-brainer for most people. Yeah, we’d all rather vote for Jesus Christ, but he wasn’t running.
Probably the truth about the sorority is that Gregoire, daughter of a single mother employed as a fry cook, was so thrilled to be invited to join a sorority that she didn’t look around to see what color their faces were. Probably she saw it as a huge social promotion for a nobody like her. Back in the sixties young people didn’t go around saying, “I shouldn’t join this sorority because it doesn’t admit black members.” What they did do was support civil rights marchers and Martin Luther King Jr. in their hopes, and hope the FBI caught the killers of the three slain civil rights workers. A girl barely out of high school didn’t know how to change the system. At most, she could only know that she wanted it to change, and can be forgiven for not seeing how turning down what she thought was the social opportunity of a lifetime what contribute to that seemingly unrelated objective.
Yes, Gregoire’s explanation sounded lame, didn’t go over very well, and she probably overstated what her actual efforts to integrate the sorority really were. But that doesn’t make her a racist. It makes her an eager young college student from a disadvantaged background thrilled to be invited to join a sorority.
Let me ask you Republican trolls this: How many of you belonged to fraternities (or sororities)? Was your fraternity (or sorority) integrated at the time you joined? Did you ever refuse to join a fraternity (or sorority) because it wasn’t? What time period are we talking about, within the last 20 years, or the same time period Gregoire was in college?
Now let’s ask this question: If a revote were held tomorrow, who do you think black voters would vote for, Gregoire or Rossi? I honestly don’t know, but I believe Gregoire has more to offer them than Rossi does. I don’t see how the average black would benefit from Republican policies. A Democrat like Gregoire is far more likely to look out for the things that matter to them: Good schools, opportunities to go to college, and fair treatment of workers.
Reply to 62, the gas tax may very well be repealed, in which case the voters will have to live with the gridlock they voted for.
Patrick
You’re Don ? ! Nice name, it makes you seem younger and less grouchy.
I may have to take back my compliment 58.
I am not a frat man, however my brother was in ATO at Lehigh in the 1966-69 time frame and I do vaguely recall a few black members there. Maybe that’s wishful thinking.
Welcome to the Patrick Thread!
It’s all about Patrick.
It’s nothing but Patrick.
Live, livid, and unabashedly Patrick.
This entire blog will soon be renamed.
Welcome to the new “PA”!
See how quickly Patrick pulls out those answers?
Patrick – you have again struck another nerve – out come the name-callers with their endless slander.
Zip – we live in a winner takes all system – Gregoire was not my first choice but so far she’s shown capable leadership and an ability to think out-of-the-box and the alternative as Patrick has so articulately outlined is an unimaginative sop to right-wing special interests.
Yes, Don/Cybil/WingersSuck
You define what a winger is.
Against, always against.
Never standing for anything
Never doing anything
Dull as a river rock and twice as stupid
Always complaining in a very shrill voice
Anti-Military, Anti-Patriotic, Anti-American
Totally meaningless, Totally Worthless, Totally Pathetic
A total waste of skin
To all @all –
This place is much more interesting when we get to hear from a wide range of people, not just one loud dominieering voice.
I think that most people here would much rather read the interplay between Mr. Cynical, Chardonnay, DJ, DanW, M, righton, jpgee, m, Chuck, Goldy, zip, Christmasghost, Erik, ScottD, Richard Pope, even Don (if he still exists within all his/her multiple personalities) and a whole host of others rather than everyone trying to patiently respond to a less than enlightened new liberal voice.
So, word is one of you has like 12 identities and is providing 1/2 the posts in these threads. Which 12 are ya?
Don/Alan/CynicalSucks/mrs.C/Patrick/other winger bashing names.
His new name is really not Patrick…oh, that’s what he calls himself.
We call him thatPrick!
zapporo, who IS the ‘less than enlightened new liberal voice” that you refer to?
Reply to 68
My name is Patrick. Look at the bottom where it says “Comment by Patrick” if you can’t figure it out any other way.
Reply to 69
Don’t get your panties in a bunch, cupcake.
Reply to 74
I didn’t post any of the “Mrs. Cynical” comments. You need to talk to your wife about that …
So some angry guy yells to Laura Bush while she’s on her middle-eastern trip : “How come your husband kill muslim?”
Well gee. I don’t think Pres. Bush is ‘trying to kill muslims’, per se. A bunch of fanatical, scary terorists, maybe.
Someone needs to tell that guy that nobody has killed more muslims than Mr. Tidy Whitey himself…Saddam Hussein
Patrick @ 76
As soon as you were outed you reverted to the obstinate stubborn old coot Don. Maybe your tag should stay as Cybil.
Comment on 79
Maybe Laura would get a friendlier reception if our troops weren’t killing so many innocent Iraqis and Afghans.
Are you really so stupid as to think we liberals oppose going after the terrorists who attacked WTC or might pose a threat in the future? Our objection to Bush’s warmaking is the stupidity and incompetence with which it’s being carried out, and the innocent bodies that are stacking up because these ignoramuses don’t know how to run a waffle maker let alone a war.
Reply to 80
Don’t give your pals so much credit for brains. I wasn’t outed, I revealed my identity by posting the remark about Mr. Cynical’s washing machine. Not one of you righty trolls figured out who Patrick was until I squirted it into your stupid faces.
Don,
We liked you better as just Don.
At least then you provided some semblance of reasonableness.
When you took on this freaky polymorphic, garishly conflicted personality disorder, we were all very concerned.
Here’s hoping for a return to normalcy for you.
A total waste of skin
Zapporo doth project too much methinks.
Patrick is a perfectly good name.
Liberals hate the Iraq and Afghanistan wars simply because they hate Bush. It couldn’t be more clear. Michael Medved is right. We didn’t hear boo from you guys when Clinton WITHOUT ANYONE’S PERMISSION FROM THE UN unleashed a few bombs in Europe back in ’98. Not a word. You’ve been found out.
M’s absurb comment @ 85
Where to begin? Oh, let’s begin with Clinton in Kosovo.
Clinton stopped a genocide. Not a single American life was lost in combat. And what do you rightwing assholes do? You criticize Clinton for going into Kosovo.
Now let’s take Bush and Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden attacked New York City and Washington D.C., and killed 2,800 people (mostly Americans). Afghanistan’s Taliban government harbored Osama. In fact, the Taliban was little more than a wholly owned subsidiary of Al Qaeda. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan, overthrew the Taliban, and hunted for Osama. Do you hear any liberals complaining about that? No. We support that military action. But you fucking right-wing liars claim we don’t. Fuck you, liar.
What we object to is (1) the kidnapping, torture, and murder of innocent Afgan civilians by CIA operatives and the U.S. military, and (2) stupidities like the bombing of wedding parties. We spend hundreds of billions annually to arm and train our forces, equip them with the world’s most sophisticated weapons and targeting systems, and they can’t do any better than that? Then it’s time to fire the CEO.
Iraq is a different story altogether. Bush told the American people we had to go to war against Iraq because Saddam had WMDs. He didn’t. That was bad enough, but even worse, Bush sent the military into Iraq without a plan to occupy the country. He sent troops into Iraq without body armor, and with unarmored vehicles. All we get from this guy is lies, excuses, incompetence, and dead Americans. If you’re going to fight a war, don’t put a fuck-up in charge. That’s what you right-wing assholes have done. Then you make excuses for him. And you question the patriotism of anyone who says the truth — that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are stupid fuck-ups, and lots of American kids are dying or losing arms and legs because these baboons don’t know what they’re doing.
And that’s before you talk about the corruption. No bid contracts. $1,000-a-day private security contractors (Soldier of Fortune Magazine used to call them mercenaries). Coca Cola for the troops at $100 a case (that’s roughly $4 a can). All paid for by taxpayers.
And the fiscal policies. Slashing revenue to give tax breaks to the richest 2% of the population while running up massive deficits that will bring inflation, unemployment, and high interest rates to wage earners and the middle class. You assholes voted for this, and continue to defend it. Fuck you.
Liberals are not opposed to self efense (if you don’t believe that, just fuck with us and find out). The war in Afghanistan is self defense, and we support it. Iraq is nothing to do with self defense. It’s either stupidity, or aggression. It’s being waged incompetently, and we’re going to lose. When we leave, there will be a civil war in that country which will kill more people than Saddam managed to kill with all the weapons and technical assistance Reagan and Bush 41 gave him. Fuck you. Fuck your Republican Party. You’re a bunch of warmongering bastards. But even worse, you’re fucking stupid, and your fucking stupidity is getting people killed who don’t deserve it.
thatPrick@86–
Obviously we missed one.
It is so like you wingers. You can’t stand reasoned researched opposition to your stupid claims and arguments. You pull all this idiotic crap out of your ass to change the subject and derail any discourse when your point get blown up. Then you’ve GOT to insult and denigrate the person putting forth the opposing arguement. Fucking Losers!
Thanks, Patrick for doing the work and making the points that stick. If I had ever grown up I would have wished I could be like you. Instead I’m stuck on the left side of the slacker sandbox with Cynical, pbj, m, marks, chardonnay and the rest of the HeeHaw gang. I better get a squirt bottle with bleach to defend myself. Or maybe some garlic…or wolfbane. Or a FUCKING HISTORY BOOK. Oh yeah…wingers don’t believe in history. I forgot.
Can anyone liberal in here give a retort without dropping f-bombs as if they bolster anyone’s arugment?
And WHAT was the benefit to America for going to Kosovo (without ANY UN permission) again????? Leftists hate the war because they hate Bush. That’s okay. Just be honest about it.