Politics: Where we struggle to kneel in the muck.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, you say something that makes me want to hug you so you can feel my rack. This is one of those times.

Hey! I hate Tom DeLay too!

S_A_M

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I like McCain because he doesn't buy into the right wing social bs- but he'll never be nominated because he doesn't buy into the right wing social bs. It is a conundrum.

Mc Cain as the nominee in 2000 there wouldn't have been a close race, and there'd be no race now. Que sera sera....

I love John McCain. I wanted him to kill W so bad in 2000 and was dejected when they annoited Alfred E. the New Prince. But selah, it was destiny. Who are the decent to stand in the way of the Bush destiny?

I wonder, if you removed the economic issues and the war from the equation, and made this election just about the social issues, what the electoral map would look like. My guess is it would be almost exclusively blue, and substantively would show a small very angry minority of people versus 90% of the country. The prime difference between the two groups would be fear. One group would be afraid of the future, the other would have a "lets deal with the troubles progress brings as they arise" approach.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I didn't see that -- maybe I'll watch Leno when I'm in the AARP demographic, too -- but James Wolcott did:

• I watched Jay Leno, whose first guest was Dennis Miller, whose soul has sprouted tumors. He belted out the name of Bush's campaign website, and said he was voting for the guy because Bush, man, he begins each day with one thing on his mind. He hops outta bed, "his two feet hit the floor, he scratches his balls, and says, 'Let's kill some fuckin' terrorists.'" Dennis Miller not only sounds like Michael Savage, he's beginning to look like him too, an oily stain possessing the power of speech.

Ouch.

More Wolcott:

Department of Clarification
Posted by James Wolcott
The allusion in "Tweet Smell of Success" to "Reichian" refers not to Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, but Wilhelm Reich, renegade psychotherapist and founder of the Orgone Institute, who in his 1948 book Listlen, Little Man! addressed the reader:

"You let the powerful demand power 'for the little man.' But you yourself are silent. You provide powerful men with more power or choose weak, malignant men to represent you. And you discover too late you are always the dupe."

Not a bad description of Bush's "base."

10.01.04 7:52PM · LINK · Pings (0)

http://www.jameswolcott.com/

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Hey! I hate Tom DeLay too!

S_A_M

Even those who support DeLay don't like him. They merely recognize the necessity of having him around. He's a dumb second rate version of Newt. When his usefulness passes, he'll be "disposed of" by the party like Newt. Unfortunately, in polirics, hit men don't get "put down" in abandoned warehouse like their mafia namesakes. Tom will "retire" to a fat lobbying gig and probably wind up dying in some sordid affair with a teenager's DNA crusted all over his lips.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by bilmore
I know. I saw you quoting the guy who said this:

"In the closing statement of the vice presidential debate, Dick Cheney unveiled the terrifying prospect of terrorists smuggling nuclear weapons into major American cities inside Meals on Wheels wagons."

and I said "ouch". Can't be pleasant for you.

Why's that? Cheney scaring the shit out of us isn't pleasant, I agree, but it's what the man does. Opponents, pundits, independents, supporters -- doesn't matter who they are, what the venue is, or what the topic is. Cheney's role is to evoke images of a big, fiery, painful, excruciating death. If you vote for Kerry.

As an aside, TDS did a bit on Cheney a while back where they quoted part of his stump speech to an audience of his supporters. Something like "The next time we get hit, it is likely that the death toll will not be in the thousands, but in the hundreds of thousands."

Stewart punch line: "The VP then said, 'OK, who wants cake?'"

[dtb]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
She's a she, but she apparently likes other girls,


in fact, it looks like she likes bad girls....

I never took much notice of her, but I've seen her in several movies recently (for some reason several have been on tv lately --I certainly don't want to leave the impression that I actually get to watch movies in a movie theater), and I think she's gorgeous.

(Sorry, this is more of an FB comment -- worlds colliding!)

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
More Wolcott:

Department of Clarification
Posted by James Wolcott
The allusion in "Tweet Smell of Success" to "Reichian" refers not to Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, but Wilhelm Reich, renegade psychotherapist and founder of the Orgone Institute, who in his 1948 book Listlen, Little Man! addressed the reader:

"You let the powerful demand power 'for the little man.' But you yourself are silent. You provide powerful men with more power or choose weak, malignant men to represent you. And you discover too late you are always the dupe."

Not a bad description of Bush's "base."

10.01.04 7:52PM · LINK · Pings (0)

http://www.jameswolcott.com/

If I heard "little man" and Reich in the same sentence, I'd assume they were talking about Robert Reich. He may be the only guest ever that Jon Stewart loomed over.

etfs

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
She's a she, but she apparently likes other girls,


in fact, it looks like she likes bad girls....

I take it Ashcroft doesn't like Portman.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
I know. I saw you quoting the guy who said this:

"In the closing statement of the vice presidential debate, Dick Cheney unveiled the terrifying prospect of terrorists smuggling nuclear weapons into major American cities inside Meals on Wheels wagons."

and I said "ouch". Can't be pleasant for you.

I think he's a riot. Wolcott, that is.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I think he's a riot. Wolcott, that is.

That he is. I try not to miss him.

But I suspect we take different things away from the experience.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
Yet, a perfect example of a rick person doing this is a rich leftist who makes it to the moon and then wants to raise taxes on future spacemen, which will raise the cost of their rocket-fuel. Do you know any rich presidential candidates in your party?

Yeah, the one who wnats to forgo his tax cut because we as a nation can't afford to give a tax cut to everybody, so he would limit it to those making less than $200,000 a year.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by bilmore
I should have taken accounting. This para seems to say they did that, but then again, they didn't:

"The overall measure is technically cost-free, because it would also raise money by tightening rules against tax shelters and imposing new customs duties. But Mr. Ashdown and other critics contend that the full costs have been glossed over and disguised by delaying the starting date of some provisions and scheduling others to end after several years. Once Congress passes a tax break, lawmakers typically extend it when it comes up for renewal."

Is this NYT spin, or is the funding truly illusory?

The new rules on tax shelters aren't really PAYGO because they've been in effect administratively for a couple years now. Also, they only pay for a small fraction of the real cost of the bill. It's called revenue neutral because the cuts are supposed to sunset in a couple years. Just like the tax cuts in the Bush tax bill that were supposed to sunset this year, but were extended by Congress earlier this week.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
You've got me wrong. I don't disrespect any politician for standing on principle. Dean and McCain have both admitted they could have gone further had they towed the party line, but they couldn't bring themselves to do so. That is laudable.

But yesterday you were just saying... [something about how people can't run like this and complain that they didn't win later... in this case, Dean didn't complain but many of his doe-eyed supporters do]. Any case, on a personal level, I like the guy.

[Shape Shifter]

I can't believe I missed the Pakistan arms show this year. Why did it have to be the same weekend as ACL? 100 live bands or Interaction, Exposure, Mobility, and Live Firing? It's such a difficult choice.

http://www.ideaspakistan.com/

eta This stuff is great:

Why Pakistan?

Increasing Opportunities:

In the rapidly changing geopolitical scenario, IDEAS has taken a unique role in bringing together friendly countries from almost all corners of the globe, ranging from France to Brunei. Also, Pakistan's close relationship with countries in the European, African, Middle East, Central Asian and Far Eastern regions, together with its active peace keeping role through the involvement of its national armed forces, plays an important role in establishing its importance in the global community.

Asia has emerged as the largest market for defence products during the last decade with more than 60% share of the global defence trade and over 27% increase in military related expenditures. Middle East dominates as the biggest foreign arms importing region with over 17% increase during the past few years.

. . .

Integrating the Defence Manufacturing Industry:

Ever since the introduction of Pakistan's defence industry in IDEAS 2000, Pakistan's defence exports have doubled, providing an even greater opportunity for the international companies to render support and services, leading to the manufacture of finished products.

Continuing with the results achieved through IDEAS, Pakistan's export target for the year 2003-04 is US$ 147 million, which is expected to further rise to the level of at least US$ 500 million (i.e., 1% of the US$ 50 billion global arms market) during the next five years.


Grim article on the arms show - http://www.slate.com/id/2107610/

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Yeah, the one who wnats to forgo his tax cut because we as a nation can't afford to give a tax cut to everybody, so he would limit it to those making less than $200,000 a year.

The same one who wants to make sure that working people pay more in taxes so that the [insert hyperbole here]?