Patting the wrists, rolling the eyes.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
This was Cherokee nation, Cherokee tribe!

Ah, a song fondly loved in my youth. Thanks for the memory, Hank.


Now back to our regularly scheduled sniping and bile.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Spanky
And what exactly could a Democrat administration done differently about North Korea etc?

Under Clinton, the strategy was to bribe the North Koreans to stop building the bomb, and to hope that the regime collapses in the interim. This worked, in that they shut down their weapons programs for years, but didn't work, in that they restarted the programs before the regime collapsed.

If you want to get the North Koreans to stop doing something, you need to either use positive or negative reinforcement. The Bush Administration rules the former out, on the grounds that it will reward bad behavior. And we haven't found any way to deter the North Koreans from continuing with both their uranium and plutonium programs -- if you don't understand the difference between the two, you probably don't understand how Bush has made things worse. Indeed, our use of force in Iraq has plausibly convinced Iran and North Korea that they need nuclear weapons as a deterrant.

This should suggest what one might try differently.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Spanky
The registration is the key. Here in California the districts are so Gerrymandered that they are either safe Republican seats or safe Democrat seats. The General election is always a joke. The only way to get rid of incumbants is with a primary. Congressman Doolittle, who I think is number five in the Republican leadership, has his district right near the Bay Area in Lake Tahoe. He is Delay's right hand man. He has also been implicated in the scandals. He is a strong social conservative who constantly questions the whole idea of a separation of church and state. We tried to take him out four years ago but the establishment really came down hard on us. Cheney, Delay, Hastert etc. all came out and had fundraisers for him. But we are going to try again considering all the scandal and I think we have a good shot at it. I have heard talk of Republicans planning on doing the same thing to Delay in Texas. I have already received second hand threats from Delay's people so I know they are nervous.

Believe me, after last session's redistricting, there's not a household in Texas that hasn't been thouroughly evaluated for signs of latent or patent republicanism. The thing is, everyone thought that Ft. Bend county would be the strong one for DeLay and the parts of Harris and Brazoria that he got in the redistricting would be a little tougher. They were from Nick Lamson's old district. But the interesting thing about Tom DeLay is that the longer that people know him, the worse they feel about him. Ft. Bend county voted only 52% for him, and that was before most of the recent stuff came out about him. Right now, his polling is god awful in his district. If there've been veiled threats in California, there've been outright assaults in Texas. He still controls all the GOP money in this state, and NO ONE is going to beat him in a primary, unless he's sitting in a jail cell.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Under Clinton, the strategy was to bribe the North Koreans to stop building the bomb, and to hope that the regime collapses in the interim. This worked, in that they shut down their weapons programs for years, but didn't work, in that they restarted the programs before the regime collapsed.

If you want to get the North Koreans to stop doing something, you need to either use positive or negative reinforcement. The Bush Administration rules the former out, on the grounds that it will reward bad behavior. And we haven't found any way to deter the North Koreans from continuing with both their uranium and plutonium programs -- if you don't understand the difference between the two, you probably don't understand how Bush has made things worse. Indeed, our use of force in Iraq has plausibly convinced Iran and North Korea that they need nuclear weapons as a deterrant.

This should suggest what one might try differently.

Running blogs is easier than running the leadership of the world. This should suggest what one might try differently (ie STFU)

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski This should suggest what one might try differently (ie STFU)

We all tried that earlier on the FB, and it didn't work. But why don't you show us again how it would go.

BTW, Bill Simmons reminds me:

• A quick recap of the 2003 Draft ...
  
  No. 1. – LeBron James
  No. 2. – Darko Milicic
  No. 3. – Carmelo Anthony
  No. 4. – Chris Bosh
  No. 5. – Dwyane Wade

Ouch. That's worse than our North Korea policy.

[chad87655]

Eric Rudolph has agreed to plead guilty to the 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and three other blasts, the Department of Justice confirmed to FOX News on Friday.

Huh?!? I thought that Jewell guy was the Olympick bomber. Looks like it might have been another masterpiece of law enforcement from the Reno and Freeh Department of Justice.

Clinton really came close to destroying this country.

Although, in fairness, I suppose anytime a Reno and Freeh action doesn't end up with a houseful of Christian children being incinerated or a small Cuban boy kidnapped and sacrificed on the altar of marxism we are ahead of the game.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
We all tried that earlier on the FB, and it didn't work. But why don't you show us again how it would go.

BTW, Bill Simmons reminds me:

• A quick recap of the 2003 Draft ...
  
  No. 1. – LeBron James
  No. 2. – Darko Milicic
  No. 3. – Carmelo Anthony
  No. 4. – Chris Bosh
  No. 5. – Dwyane Wade

Ouch. That's worse than our North Korea policy.

It was Dumars making a FU at the rest of the league- "No. 2 pick- guys most of you'd see as franchise players available everywhere? We'll the take the weird high school kid from slovania- we don't need fuckall. Sort of like when the guy picks Harrelson to be Wesley's partner in White men can't jump, but w/o the surprise result.

[Replaced_Texan]

Awwww.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
This should suggest what one might try differently.

Are you suggesting that we go back to bribing? Or in other words, proping up a dictator? Damned either way.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Under Clinton, the strategy was to bribe the North Koreans to stop building the bomb, and to hope that the regime collapses in the interim. This worked, in that they shut down their weapons programs for years,

Really - I thought we found out later that they had been continuing with the weapons program right through the Clinton Administratoin. That they never shut it down.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Believe me, after last session's redistricting, there's not a household in Texas that hasn't been thouroughly evaluated for signs of latent or patent republicanism. The thing is, everyone thought that Ft. Bend county would be the strong one for DeLay and the parts of Harris and Brazoria that he got in the redistricting would be a little tougher. They were from Nick Lamson's old district. But the interesting thing about Tom DeLay is that the longer that people know him, the worse they feel about him. Ft. Bend county voted only 52% for him, and that was before most of the recent stuff came out about him. Right now, his polling is god awful in his district. If there've been veiled threats in California, there've been outright assaults in Texas. He still controls all the GOP money in this state, and NO ONE is going to beat him in a primary, unless he's sitting in a jail cell.

I can't believe the Democrats want to get rid of him. He is the best fundraising and base energizer they have now that Jesse Helms is gone. Wednesday, I am meeting with a group from Texas that is going to help us with Doolittle. I will find out Wednesday morning what, if anything, they plan on doing about Delay.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Are you suggesting that we go back to bribing? Or in other words, proping up a dictator? Damned either way.

The stick's not working, is it? You may have to give to get. I also accept a point Spanky made earlier, in a different context: It makes sense to engage with and co-opt regimes. He was talking about about right-wing dictators, but the point is the same.

Originally posted by Spanky
I thought we found out later that they had been continuing with the weapons program right through the Clinton Administratoin. That they never shut it down.

There's an important difference between plutonium and enriched uranium that defenders of the administration like to ignore or blur. At any rate, there's a real question about whether North Korea cheated on its side of the bargain.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by chad87655
Eric Rudolph has agreed to plead guilty to the 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and three other blasts, the Department of Justice confirmed to FOX News on Friday.

Huh?!? I thought that Jewell guy was the Olympick bomber. Looks like it might have been another masterpiece of law enforcement from the Reno and Freeh Department of Justice.

Clinton really came close to destroying this country.

Although, in fairness, I suppose anytime a Reno and Freeh action doesn't end up with a houseful of Christian children being incinerated or a small Cuban boy kidnapped and sacrificed on the altar of marxism we are ahead of the game.

Are you really trying to claim that the Davidian cult was Christian? Do you really think that this guy was a messenger from God? and where in the Bible does it say that a minister is suppossed to hit the sheets with every thirteen year old girl in the ministry? btw - how many wives do you have?

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
The stick's not working, is it? You may have to give to get. I also accept a point Spanky made earlier, in a different context: It makes sense to engage with and co-opt regimes. He was talking about about right-wing dictators, but the point is the same.

If the regime has a good economic policy and is increasing the standard of living for their people. Then yes - co-opt. They are just sowing the seeds of their own destruction and will turn into a stable democracy. But a socialist regime like Myanmar, or a Kleptocracy, like Iraq under Hussein, should never be co-opted. North Korea happens to be both. We should do whatever it takes to undermine these regimes.

[Spanky]

The other night I was watching the history channels series on the Conqueres of the New World. In the Hudson episode (conquering the north east) they interviewed a Native American who claimed to be a Mohican. Didn't James Fenimore Cooper kill the last Mohican? Daniel Day Lewis's friend? I am confused.