Some conservatives have adopted the Bolshevik approach to information and the media: Every personal feeling, every independent thought, every inconvenient fact, must be subordinated to the party line -- the Tea Party line.
Second, the ferocity of this criticism indicates a growing arrogance. Tea Party purists, on the Internet and elsewhere, clearly believe their ascendance makes other elements of the conservative movement unnecessary.
I do believe there is a difference between pushing this administration and totally slamming it. I try to be pragmatic, considering the horrible waste this country was left in on January 20, 2009. There are those that have been consistently unhappy with everything it has done-- and I am not talking about the GOP or the Tea Party. Politics is about compromise, and -- especially in the Senate, we simply do not have the majority we need to get all the things we might want. Sometimes I get the feeling that some people want Obama to be the lefty version of the last President.
When you have progressives asking people to not vote, and to kill bills, this is not helping anyone. I can understand the frustration on both sides. The reality is the state of politics in this country today, when both the progressives and the White House are alienating people, then the GOP wins. Gibbs said something that perhaps needed to be said, and he said it terribly. But I don't think he was talking about you or me. I don't think he was talking about DKos, Keith Olberman or Rachel Maddow. I think he was talking about a select group of people or pundits. As Keith Olbermann pointed out last night, the left and the right think differently, he is correct, and that is where this communications arm of the White house consistently wrong.
Quote by HouseofNina:
One of the reasons I liked Barack Obama (and still do) in 2008 is that he was a Democrat who ran his campaign like a Corporate Republican; he branded himself and his campaign well, he repeated simple messages over and over again, and he wasn't afraid to be a little ruthless (like refusing campaign money from McCain/Feingold act and straight-up canning his Pastor of twenty years).
If anything, the part that disappoints me is that he seems to have lost all that - He doesn't fire people he needs to (like some dude who's name begins with R), he thinks he can play nicely with people who don't know what means (some folks whose Party begins with R), but otherwise, he hasn't done anything that he didn't say he wouldn't do.
Barack Obama is centrist-covered centrist with centrist filling. He hasn't done anything he didn't say he was going to do in the campaign. That some progressives thought he was a secret pot-smoking Queer activist Peacenik who was going to put solar panels back on the White House is their frickin' problem.
My secret little fantasy is that Progressives start getting with the party line and stop acting like a box of cats. If there's one thing I envy about the Right-Wing is that they never keep their eyes off the prize. This is how sausage is made, folks - with the hard decisions that we have to make, and they're no less than what we expect from politicians.
Quote by wickedpam:
you what...today I hate people
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
you what...today I hate people
Is today wingnut call in Day on the Stephanie Miller show?
Quote by wickedpam:
more like I have vile, mean neighbors who like to stab someone in the back when they step up and try to help their community
Quote by Raine:oooo.Quote by wickedpam:
more like I have vile, mean neighbors who like to stab someone in the back when they step up and try to help their community
I will never understand people like that.
Quote by wickedpam:
Sorry about all the cursing - I'm just throughly PO'd
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
Sorry about all the cursing - I'm just throughly PO'd
I think you need some nicely worded letters to all these people. I am quite serious about this. Document document document. They will shut up quite quickly when they realize that not only are you considering there "requests" <--- I use that word loosely, but when they know that you have responded in writing and that you have the documentation -- They will shut the hell up.
and around here -- you curse all you want. Everyone needs a safe place to vent.
Quote by Raine:
Does your HOA have a community newsletter? If not, I would suggest one. I am sure you might have a few people that would help you out putting one together.
it has been brought to my attention thru various avenues of communication that the possibility (etc. etc. etc)
I want you to know that as the Pres of the HOA, I continue to listen and be engaged with all members of our community and strive to help make this a place where we are all happy and co-exist as such. It's not easy as we are such a diverse group, but when we work together thru using the lines of communication, we will be a better community.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Does your HOA have a community newsletter? If not, I would suggest one. I am sure you might have a few people that would help you out putting one together.
Yea, see there's the thing - I do the newletter, I do the flyers, I started the email account, I have the city contacts, I've been through a ton of classes, (including fair housing), I walk up to peoples doors to talk to them, I organize all our community events, I started the facebook page, I started the twitter account and I was working on starting a blog since we can't afford a website
Mahatma Gandhi , as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath .
This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
Quote by Raine:
you know, it would also be interesting to write a mass email.
It could start with a kinda naive way, such as:it has been brought to my attention thru various avenues of communication that the possibility (etc. etc. etc)
And end with something along the lines ofI want you to know that as the Pres of the HOA, I continue to listen and be engaged with all members of our community and strive to help make this a place where we are all happy and co-exist as such. It's not easy as we are such a diverse group, but when we work together thru using the lines of communication, we will be a better community.
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Does your HOA have a community newsletter? If not, I would suggest one. I am sure you might have a few people that would help you out putting one together.
Yea, see there's the thing - I do the newletter, I do the flyers, I started the email account, I have the city contacts, I've been through a ton of classes, (including fair housing), I walk up to peoples doors to talk to them, I organize all our community events, I started the facebook page, I started the twitter account and I was working on starting a blog since we can't afford a website
You know the fact that you can do this is amazing.
People like those asshats are why I could never be a politician. I don;t have the patience for it.
Quote by HouseofNina:
I meant fire people - not fire people up. I haven't been paying close attention this year, but according to my Mother Rahm Emmanuel needed to go a while back, and through my news diet I tend to agree - he's not doing President Obama any favors.
But YOU bring up a good point anyhow - the whole "Obama is an inscrutable policy Nerd" is a dusty meme going back to Clinton, and just generally a crock of poo. He can and does excite his base when they're paying attention.
The problem with Political Junkies (present company excluded, Raine ) is that a lot of them tend to follow the day-to-day happenings like it's all life-and-death, when it's really more like a soap opera (watch every day and it seems like a lot of stuff is happening, but back away for two or three months and Joey Blow is still in a coma).
For folks who can see the uber-picture, the mid-terms were pretty much forecast in 08 when the Democratic Party took control of both branches. Anyone who thinks we were going to maintain momentum for two years hasn't been around long enough.
Sorry for the ramble - this is the first time in a while I've gotten my poltical thoughts down - I haven't blogged poltically since Jan, even - I've been mentally bracing for the inevitable bloodbath in November.
Quote by HouseofNina:
This is more like a party isn't it? I should lighten up.
And another thing, to not vote is to vote Republican. Plus
Quote by HouseofNina:
This is more like a party isn't it? I should lighten up.
And another thing, to not vote is to vote Republican. Plus
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades! Late to the party - we were recruiting for the Cub Scouts in one of the public schools today.
A couple of observations on volunteer organizations....I have a troublesome parent in my Pack whose mission it is to make the rest of us miserable. We finally had it out last Thursday; I dressed her down in the parking lot after a PTO meeting when she cornered me to whine about another member of the committee. I pretty much told her to grow up or quit, and I got the impression that nobody had ever spoken to her that way. She showed up at the rally today much subdued and did what she was supposed to.
On the tenant's association front, we always joke about the "you all suck" letter we'd love to send. There's a small group of dedicated folks trying to make the neighborhood better, and all we get is complaints from non-participating residents. We have a draft letter telling everyone that they suck, nobody wants to lift a finger, and help out or STFU. Then we say if you disagree with anything we've said here, you are invited to the next meeting to tell us what you think. It's very therapeutic, but we've not sent it out. Yet.
Quote by Scoopster:
Mor...errr afternoon all & Happy Mondee!
Sigh.. they truly are the reincarnation of the Know-Nothings.
"We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."
Quote by Scoopster:
Mor...errr afternoon all & Happy Mondee!
Sigh.. they truly are the reincarnation of the Know-Nothings.
Quote by BobR:Quote by Scoopster:
Mor...errr afternoon all & Happy Mondee!
Sigh.. they truly are the reincarnation of the Know-Nothings.
I guess he missed the part about regulating interstate commerce...
Quote by Raine:Quote by Scoopster:
Mor...errr afternoon all & Happy Mondee!
Sigh.. they truly are the reincarnation of the Know-Nothings.
JUST once, I would like those on the right to explain how something -- specifically is unconstitutional. Claiming something like Unemployment is an entitlement and therefore unconstitutional has long been refuted. Since like, 1937."We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."
Also see:
Helvering vs. Davis:
George P. Davis was a minor stockholder in the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. Edison, like every industrial employer in the nation, was readying itself to start paying the employers' share of the payroll tax in January 1937. Mr. Davis objected to this arguing that by making this expenditure Edison was robbing him of part of his equity, so he sued Edison to prevent their compliance with the Social Security Act. The government intervened on Edison's behalf and the Commissioner of the IRS (Mr. Helvering) took on the lawsuit.
The attorneys for Davis argued that the payroll tax was a new type of tax not listed in the Constitution's tally of taxes, and so it was unconstitutional. At one point they even introduced into their argument the definitions of "taxes" from dictionaries in 1788 (the year before the Constitution was ratified) to prove how earnest they were in the belief that powers not explicitly granted in 1789 could not be created in 1935. Davis was also of the view that providing for the general welfare of the aged was a power reserved to the states. The government argued that this was too inflexible an interpretation of the powers granted to Congress, and (loosely) that if the country could not expand the interpretation of the Constitution as it stood in 1789 progress would be impossible and it would still be 1789.
Steward Machine Company:
In the Steward Machine Company case the unemployment compensation provisions of the Act were disputed. The Company dutifully paid its first unemployment tax installment ($46.14) and then sued the government to recover the payment, claiming the Social Security Act was unconstitutional. Steward made the same as points as Davis about the meaning of the word "tax," and argued in addition that the unemployment compensation program could not qualify as "providing for the general welfare."
Carmichael vs. Southern Coal & Coke Co. and Gulf States Paper:
This was also a case disputing the validity of the unemployment compensation program. In this variation the companies were challenging the state portion of the federal/state arrangement. Unwilling to pay their share of state unemployment compensation taxes the two companies sued the state of Alabama declaring that it was the Social Security Act, which they deemed unconstitutional, that gave Alabama its authority to tax them in this way and since they believed the Act to be invalid, they did not have to pay the tax. Alabama differed. It was again the same issues as in the two prior cases.
SCOTUS has issued rulings on this subject one more than one occasion. One can say they are of the opinion that it is unconstitutional -- But they need to back it up as to why -- specifically.
A person saying something is unconstitutional does not make it so -- it makes them a person who might mislead people for personal gains. Some might say it might make them a liar, especially when presented with facts that oppose their statement.
OR -- and this is very possible -- they are willfully ignorant to further an agenda.
I'd go with the latter as I believe in the better spirits of people, and that isn't saying much about Mr. Miller.
Quote by Raine:
Keeristmas-- Our ceiling Fan in the bedroom fell out-- of the ceiling. (actually it's hanging a foot or so from it by one wire) what a mess. Glass sconces broke, lighting outlets are broken and dislodged and a blade flew across the room.
I am NOT happy this evening.
Quote by TriSec:
Yeeouch.
I put our fans in myself; I've been leery ever since that one of them will fall out and the blades will carve us up as we sleep.
(well, not really). But I do have an unnatural fear that I'll be standing watching a helo take off someday and parts of it will fly off and impale me.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Keeristmas-- Our ceiling Fan in the bedroom fell out-- of the ceiling. (actually it's hanging a foot or so from it by one wire) what a mess. Glass sconces broke, lighting outlets are broken and dislodged and a blade flew across the room.
I am NOT happy this evening.
oh my! no one was hurt I hope