Mostly about my amusement
The Daily Show should be required viewing for anyone looking to get into public service.
I do like and admire President Obama, but Jon Stewart’s video clip really highlights that all politicians lie.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-15-2010/respect-my-authoritah
President Obama is getting a beating in the polls because of the BP oil spill. But where it really counts, we’re getting a third term for GWB.
At least the economy is doing better.
This past week some interesting events occurred. First, there was a special election in Massachusetts and then there was the SCOTUS ruling that says corporate entities (and unions) can’t be limited in advertising bombing the electorate.
That Scott Brown got elected is really a non-issue. People vote and get elected all the time and I don’t really feel sympathy for a party that has a 19 seat lead in the Senate. It’s the pundits and political hacks that are making hay out of this.
The Democrats lack the stomach to make changes to health care; this is not news. They are the mewling party of the self-inflicted gunshot wound and always have been. Scott Brown and the tea party birther nuts are not the problem for the Dems, they do it to themselves.
The SCOTUS ruling is different. There should be a level playing field for John Q. Public candidate in an election. Many corporate friendly pols are hailing this as an affirmation that rights are protected. But corporations are not people and they don’t have the same rights and privileges as a human being. For a better look at what I mean, check out this analysis on the SCOTUSblog, they pose a fun hypothetical.
Look at the recent New York City mayor election:
Mr. Thompson, who participated in the campaign finance system, was outspent by 14 to 1, and he struggled to attract experienced staff members and raise money.
How can anyone win when one side spends over $100 million and the little guy can only spend $7.2 million? Voters are not dumb and people who make the effort to vote are being good citizens. But anyone is susceptible to a bombardment of advertising.
Put it another way: when George Soros openly spends on candidates who reflect his values, what will these corporate friendly pols say then? When MoveOn.org raises millions and goes after that conservative, woman hating, give to the rich not to the poor, faux christian candidate (you know who you are!), will people complain?
It’s not like candidates will place a Nike or other corporate logo on their hat. They should, if only so people really know who’s paying them to vote on bills. This ruling only illustrates that the Roberts court is openly partisan and will disregard precedent when it fits their world view.
This is a mistake on the part of the Iranian government. It is understandable that they want to stop the demonstrations, but this tact will only harden both side’s positions.
The protestors in Iran do not want to go away. I’m am hoping that this does not end the same way Tianamen did; that government is not famous for their patience.
Massive irony alert.
I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration?
via Palin: GOP ticket was too ‘status quo’ – Andy Barr – Politico.com
Governor Palin’s 20/20 hindsight is working pretty well; she noticed the 10 trillion debt so that shows some growth. I don’t think she’ll have a prayer in 2012 but hey, you never know.
It’s too bad their campaign also spent all that time disparaging Senator Obama’s associations and “socialist” leanings. She should have included that in her reasons for not getting elected.
Around 6:30 AM Lily and I voted today. It’s going to be a long day and I can’t wait to see who wins.
This is going to put Your Mama Is So Dumb jokes in perspective.
“If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations,” Palin told host Chris Plante, “then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media.”
There seems to be some idea that after November 4th (assuming John McCain loses) that the litmus test for “Real” GOP membership will be how you reacted to Sarah Palin. Which is a funny idea because she did not have to go through the Republican primaries. Mitt Romney and Tom Ridge competing with her should be fun to watch.
Oh, and to all those people who want to know about Barack Obama’s associations? Keith Olbermann tears that down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSjRggE2Nek
I don’t normally watch Olbermann as I find him to be a little too righteous and long winded, but that is a funny video.
Okay, I guess Bill Ayers 15 minutes are up. Now their linking Senator Obama with the PLO.
Here is the appropriate response:
The Obama campaign called Palin’s remarks “another recycled, manufactured controversy from the McCain campaign to distract voters’ attention from John McCain’s lockstep support for George Bush’s economic policies.”
Palin accuses Obama of ties to second ‘radical professor’ – CNN.com
Not able to speak intelligently about the McCain campaign’s proposed policies for energy, foriegn policy, and the economy, she continues to appeal to the worst of their supporters. Why can’t they just talk up what THEY would do in the white house? CNN has a fact-check article here.
I know that Governor Palin’s time is running down, and if John McCain loses this election I’ll be glad just to get Palin out of the news cycle. That is, assuming McCain loses. I am pretty sure that election night is going to be a nail biter.
The report is in and apparently Governor Palin (or her husband, I can’t tell which) has abused her position. And it does not matter one bit. The folks who will vote for McCain only care about ethics, rules, and laws when it applies to Those Darned Socialist Democrats.
If anything this will solidify the base of voters who will claim that Governor Palin is the target of a political hit job. Any conservative who writes about Palin in anyway negative will simply get targeted as a not-country-first turncoat. That’s what Joe Six Pack says, anyway.
John McCain does show some signs of realizing what he’s doing, but he apparently still wants to get elected at any cost. I still believe that he’s not really this scare mongering talking head (I liked McCain in 1999). But this is his last chance and I think in the next 2 weeks we’ll see the McCain campaign full out the stops.
Those 17 not-enemy-combatants that Pakistan handed to the U.S.? An emergency motion blocking their release was granted to the administration.
That’s not surprising; I expected that the administration would not have bothered with a court order. I mean, they could have just refused to comply.
This whole situation is ridiculous. If this is really an immigration issue, why not transfer them to an immigration detention center? Isn’t that where immigrants who are being processed for deportation go? That way it really does become an immigration status problem.
The Bush administration has already released over 400 prisoners to other countries. While the 17 do not have a place to go, keeping them in the U.S. gulag can’t be the right thing to do.
