There’s a poll at Daily Kos on this question:
So is there really a point to having Gravel, in between advocating English as an “official” language and promoting his right-wing flat tax, sit on the debates doing nothing but attack other Democrats?
I voted no.
Partisan presidential debates are not the JV squad, where the policy is “no cut” and everyone gets to play. These debates are a tool for Democrats to advance their message. Democrats should be able to decide who gets to participate in a Democratic debate.
Debates are a great tool for candidates to “break out” from the pack. I don’t think Mike Gravel’s rightwing talking points are going to do him much good, in or out of the debates.
C’mon Will, you know better than that.
Hell no! This ain’t “American Idol” or even the “Gong Show.” You should be required to pass an audition before you’re allowed on stage.
Well, yeah, it IS the Gong Show … and even a monkey can get into the White House! The incumbent proved that.
But where’s the Gong when we really need it?!!
From Throwing the Book to Throwing Out the Charges
He was charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, supporting terrorism, and spying.
It took the judge all of 10 minutes to dismiss all the charges.
The 15-year-old kid is free to go.
http://tinyurl.com/2qkb8v
Roger Rabbit Commentary: There was a time in this country when we hired sensible judges and fired hyperventilating prosecutors. One out of two ain’t great, but is better than nuthin’.
Breaking News: Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) will be indicted on bribery charges.
Roger Rabbit Commentary: If he’s guilty throw the book at him! He’s over 18, and should have known better. No special treatment for Democratic crooks. But given a choice between two evils, I still prefer our crooks to their crooks.
Speaking of hyperventilating prosecutors, the press is finally starting to call “bullshit” on the JFK airport doomsday plot. It was, the NY Times says, high on intent but low on capability — in other words, “all talk.”
http://tinyurl.com/2p7xam
Roger Rabbit Commentary: You heard it here first! Another scoop by Goldy, the peripatetic blogger!
Hey the right wing bible-thumpin baby rapers are fighting amonst themselves.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19026383/
Too funny!
Gravel, while he may hold a few anti-progressive positions, is no rightwinger. He was a strong antiwar senator back in the day, and is a decent, thoughtful guy. As a former United States Senator, he is more than simply some John Doe who throws his hat into the ring and demands equal time. He has some meaningful backround and perspective, and letting him speak causes no harm. In a democratic society (if indeed we still are such), we should not weed out the weak at the outset but let the process do that for us. Moreover, it is clear that Gravel would be a far superior president than any of the current Republican candidates.
The Right to be Stupid
… is something we Americans treasure and guard zealously. For example, the other day Bill O’Reilly said on the Phony Noose Network:
“Traditional values people put others on a par with themselves. That’s the Judeo-Christian tenet. Love your neighbor as yourself. Secular Progressives put themselves above all others. That philosophy says ‘Me first, then I’ll worry about you.'”
In other words, liberalism (as opposed to advice from his doctors) made the guy with (non-contagious) TB fly on a commercial airliner. And here’s what a rightwing idiot said about it in a comment thread:
“I tend to agree with Bill on the issue of the TB man — I’d bet he is Kerry voter. In fact, if my husband and I see a driver in a big SUV driving recklessly, we announce to one another, ‘Kerry voter.’ Secularists are … selfish. If you have no belief in God and His commandments, why not ‘Go for the gusto’? Other people are just in your way unless they are useful to you or you happen to be emotionally attached to them ( … as in a husband or wife). Religion … makes civilization possible. Margaret at 3:21PM on Jun 3rd 2007”
http://newsbloggers.aol.com/20.....or-bill-o/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: No Margaret, laws and taxes make civilization possible, but never mind — thank God we live in a country where people enjoy the freedom to be as ignorant and unthinking as Bill and you.
P.S. – hate to break this to ya, Marge baby, but the jerk in that SUV was one of your Republican pals. The liberal was the guy riding the bike.
P.S. #2 – the jerk in the SUV’s name is Mark, and we know where to find him …
P.S. #3 – hey Redneck! Thanks for buying my gas … my oil stocks are up another $300 this morning! I appreciate your business! Pay your fucking gambling debt, welsher. We know where to find you.
@8 You gotta love it! But this is just the warmup. Give ’em 6 months and they’ll be tearing each other limb from limb. I can hardly wait.
“WASHINGTON – In a highly visible rift in the anti-abortion movement, a coalition of evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic groups is attacking a longtime ally, Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson. Using rhetoric that they have reserved in the past for abortion clinics, some of the coalition’s leaders accuse Dobson and other national antiabortion leaders of building an ‘industry’ around relentless fundraising and misleading information.”
(See @8 for link)
@9 Any Democrat is better than any Republican on any day.
So what’s wrong with a flat rate tax and having English as the official language? Sounds OK to me.
@16 I agree on the flat rate tax — provided inheritances and capital gains are taxed as ordinary income. Deal?
@17 – Works for me. How about the English bit?
If we take the $90,000 ceiling off Social Security withholding, we’ll have the flat tax conservatives want.
Well, yeah, it IS the Gong Show … and even a monkey can get into the White House! The incumbent proved that.
Translation:
Democrats are so dumb a monkey can beat them. hehehehehe
No AMERICA is so dumb that they let a monkey STEAL the White House. Subtle difference.
Something that seems to rarely happen in the General Election Debate, is no third party candidates get a voice. At least in Canada, it seems that the parties with seats in Ottawa get involved in the Debates, all 4 of them, including the Quebec-Centered Bloc Quebocois. The rules should allow for a threshold based on how the party did in the previous election, but not be too restrictive to keep the parties out.
On a per-capita basis, (un)Sound Transit will cost Puget Sound area residents far more money than all of George W. Bush’s wars and deficits put together. $37 billion is about $12,000 per capita, with 3 million or so people in the area that would be paying the (un)Sound Transit taxes. That would be the equivalent of about $4 trillion on a national scale.
EvergreenRailFan @ 22
So we should allow all the parties with seats in the U.S. Congress to take part in the presidential debates?
tiny earll says:
If we take the $90,000 ceiling off Social Security withholding, we’ll have the flat tax conservatives want.
06/04/2007 at 12:53 pm
====
OK, let’s give it a try. But would that mean limiting the amount those higher-earning guys and gals can draw from SS? That is, suppose a guy puts in the obligatory 7.56% on his earned income, and he’s a big income earner, say $1,000,000 or more per year. Will his benefits from SS be scaled-back, i. e., he’d get less so as to fund those who did not have as great earned incomes? If that’s the case, SS would have turned into a wealth re-distribution vehicle, administered by government. If that’s what you’re shooting for, I’ll pass.
No AMERICA is so dumb that they let a monkey STEAL the White House. Subtle difference.
Yeah, to bad you dems can’t do anything about it. Heheheehehe If they ever investigated voter fraud the Monkey would probably gain votes. After all everyone knows democrats cheat. heheheheehe
26
Your inability to spell is rivaled only by your inability to punctuate. Have you ever heard of commas? Of course, logic is a concept utterly foreign to you. I would guess that half the time you forget that you are supposed to wipe after you dump, not before. I’m guessing you’re another victim of home schooling. What is it that prompts someone like you to put his idiocy on display?
27
It’s almost as bad as your inability to debate. hehehehehe
Run along now.
As Ron Paul is to the Republicans, Mike Gravel is to the Democrats. They both have libertarian philosophies, which I generally support. Not that I agree with all libertarian tenets, but many of them truly make sense. I would even consider supporting some form of a Gravel/Paul ticket.
In the end, I would not support silencing any candidate only because their message is unpopular. Heck, The Senator CryBaby, err Lieberman, was permitted within the 2000 debates without any issues, and he far further from being a democrat than Gravel could ever be.
On a per-capita basis, (un)Sound Transit will cost Puget Sound area residents far more money than all of George W. Bush’s wars and deficits put together. $37 billion is about $12,000 per capita, with 3 million or so people in the area that would be paying the (un)Sound Transit taxes. That would be the equivalent of about $4 trillion on a national scale.
Yeah, but unlike Bush’s wars, that money goes for something useful.
Danny Boy we DID something about it. We collected the names of all you Publican scum and kicked your punk ass out of Congress and the Senate. White House is next bitch.
Pope got it wrong AGAIN. No wonder you can’t get elected dog catcher Dickie. Check your math fool.
And I agree, even if Dickie wasn’t wrong as usual, it makes sense to invest in transit. That COULD work. War in Iraq can NEVER work since we already lost.
30
Yeah, a nice little train with a couple thugs on board. I dont know about you, but my money is on blowing away ragheads halfway around the world.
27 Give the guy a break already. He’s not doing all that bad for typing with one hand.
Art @ 35
You’re right. I’m sorry. Picking on the delusional (narcissistic and delusional, actually) is not being very humanitarian of me. By the way, did you know that jerking off while spewing rightwing talking points onto a blog is what passes for multitasking in Wingnut World?
re 25: No. We would use the ‘Reagan Plan’ and double the withholding, declare all the money to be “excess”, and spend it all on whatever we damn please. We would also proclaim our success at not raising taxes.
After a generation of this, we would declare the whole thing a a “crisis” and not pay them anything.
What’s good for the goose.
re 34: You are a lousy debater. hehehehe
@18 I’ll cut a deal on the English bit if we can exile all the wingnut illiterates who can’t spell or talk the king’s English to a desert island somewhere.
@20 It’s easy to “elect” a monkey when you own the voting machines, Dufus.
@25 What’s wrong with wealth redistribution? What do you think capitalism is?
For example, this morning capitalism took another $1,000 from motorists and redistributed it to Roger Rabbit. And I didn’t do a fucking thing to earn it! In fact, it happened while I was outside eating grass! Man, it’s hard to knock a system like that! Capitalist wealth redistribution is great! It’ll be okay with me if gas prices stay above three bucks forever.
@34 We’ll gladly take up a collection to send you there. Start packing, it won’t take us long to scrape together the price of a one-way ticket for you.
Yeah, a nice little train with a couple thugs on board. I dont know about you, but my money is on blowing away ragheads halfway around the world.
Wow. It’s a shame we have to share a country with this buffoon.
Why is it the republicans fault that you dumbasses can’t operate a voting machine? Florida proved you dumbasses can’t punch a paper ballot either. If you liberals are too dumb to vote, don’t vote. Geeeeessshhhh
DOOFUS @ 45
HOW’S THAT ACVR WORKING OUT FOR YOU?
41 Roger, that’s what those folks are all about. Since at least the time of the Magna Carta, it’s been assumed that the primary mission of government has been to apply the common wealth to advance the common good. Neoconservatives believe that the common good does not exist, and that consequently the common wealth should not.
@44 Maybe we don’t. See #43.
@48 But I suppose when push comes to shove, Dufus will turn out the be just another all-hat-no-cattle wingnut blowhard. Won’t you, Dufus?
@47 You can’t expect people who make their living from robbery to like government.
Dufus-
Thanks for the voting machines in the last election and yes they are too dumb to use them. Keep up the good work.
Roger Rabbit says:
@48 But I suppose when push comes to shove, Dufus will turn out the be just another all-hat-no-cattle wingnut blowhard. Won’t you, Dufus?
06/04/2007 at 3:09 pm
I never said I was going anywhere unlike a lot of you lying leftist did after 2004. You lefties are alway promising to move out of the country and you never follow through. No, me and my guns are staying. Nuff said. Hehehe
52 WHAT? You mean…..you’re not going in THE RAPTURE(tm)????
52 (again) To quote Merle Haggard, “If you don’t love America you should leave her. If you do love America, stay and fix the sumbitch.”
I saw the “debate” “highlights”.
I thought Edwards’ hair look really good.
What did the rest of you think?
I think you still owe someone some money, that’s what I think.
I’m wondering… did any of the moonbat candidates fly commercial to get there? Or did they fly private jets with carbon spewing exhaust?
If they did, how many of them atoned for their sin by purchasing “carbon credits”?
Didn’t think so…. fucking hypocrites…
Gravel is a stooge in the Democratic campaign, running to make up fodder for Faux Noise.
Just think how much money taxpayers will save when we don’t have to have a special secret service detail with the single task of bailing out the drunk Bush twin sluts every time they get arrested for illegal drinking – just like their dear old dad did. You righties must be proud.