Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
Republicans, searching for votes, look to Amish for support

• "You could hold up a dead mouse with a sign 'I love Bush' and we'd still probably think twice about stomping that mouse underfoot."

Clearly, this is the kind of deep thinker that will soon make an excellent yellow dog Republican.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Clearly, this is the kind of deep thinker that will soon make an excellent yellow dog Republican.

kerry just need to go after the rumspringa teens

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Watch the movie when you get a chance. I see Kerry as a guy who has been setting up this run all his life. Now this doesn't distinguish him from many pols, but he has absolutely no backbone. War service is popular? I'll join, and while I'm at it, I'll take some film. Who knows, it may come in handy. Wait, war service is not popular? I'll be a hippy protestor and throw and invent "facts" to bolster my case. The Iraq war? I better vote for it because if I don't it will be used against me when I run in 2004. Wait, the war is unpopular with my base and this Dean guy may actually win? I'll vote against the 87 million.

What movie?

To characterize Kerry's decision to serve in and then protest against the war so glibly is a feat. Congratulations. He got shot at and wounded, and was commended for bravery while other people with political aspirations (see: Dick Cheney) were obtaining student deferments. (Check out the time that one of Cheney's daughters was born after the regs were changed such that having a kid would help him avoid the draft -- it's something like 9 months and 2 days.) Kerry was no hippy, but he was a protestor, at a time when that didn't necessarily make him popular. In both cases, he stood up for what he believed in, and yet you have transformed that into pure political calculation. Again, nicely done. He serves his country with distinction, and then speaks out against the war, and yet somehow in your book he has no backbone.

On the Iraq war, I too suspect that there was some political calculation on his initial vote, but let he who is pure cast the first stone here. Doubtless you are misrepresenting his vote on the $87 billion -- I believe he voted against one package and for another because he was actually running the country and thought there was an important distinction between them. Facts like these that don't fit the storyline just get discarded.

Again, I say the fact that you buy all of this "waffle" shit about Kerry's character -- and somehow disregard equally potent dirt about Bush, who just this week announced that he support the 9/11 commission's recommendations while actually proposing something very different -- suggests what a masterful job the GOP does at tarring the character of Democratic politicians. It is not surprising that the GOP is so good at it, since this is the sort of thing you have to do when voters disagree with you on the substance. I think Kerry is going to do a better job responding to it than Gore did, though.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
(Check out the time that one of Cheney's daughters was born after the regs were changed such that having a kid would help him avoid the draft -- it's something like 9 months and 2 days.)

I got the time on the nose:

• Aug. 29, 1964: Dick and Lynne Cheney marry.
  
  May 19, 1965: The Selective Service classifies Dick Cheney 1-A, "available immediately for military service."
  
  July 28, 1965: President Lyndon Johnson says draft calls will be doubled.
  
  Oct. 26, 1965: The Selective Service declares that married men without children, who were previously exempted from the draft, will now be called up. Married men with children remain exempt.
  
  Jan. 19, 1966: The Selective Service reclassifies Dick Cheney 3-A, "deferred from military service because service would cause hardship upon his family," because his wife is pregnant with their first child.
  
  July 28, 1966: Elizabeth Cheney is born.
  
  Jan. 30, 1967: Dick Cheney turns 26 and therefore becomes ineligible for the draft.
  
  Dedicated students of obstetrics will observe that Elizabeth Cheney's birth date falls precisely nine months and two days after the Selective Service publicly revoked its policy of not drafting childless husbands. This would seem to indicate that the Cheneys, though doubtless planning to have children sometime, were seized with an untamable passion the moment Dick Cheney became vulnerable to the Vietnam draft. And acted on it. Carpe diem!

link

From McSweeney's:


ARE YOU ANOTHER VIETNAM?
- - - -

Take Our Best-Ever Summer Quiz and Find Out!
- - - -

BY DON STEINBERG
- - - -

1. Some so-called friends have started calling you "a war we can neither win, lose, nor drop":

a) Not that I've heard.
b) People supposedly said that, but not to my face.
c) Constantly—it's so true!

2. Your increasing, unanticipated guerrilla resistance is freaking people out:

a) That is basically bogus.
b) Let's just say it keeps people on their toes.
c) Guilty! It's my worst trait.

3. A local man is walking down the road wearing classic khakis and a white cotton shirt. He:

a) Is a grateful citizen who wants to help jump-start his country's new government.
b) Launches an armed attack. What was that about?
c) Could be a great guy—or a bad guy. That's what's so confusing!

4. You are so intense that people are "losing it" and doing terrible things they'd never do at home:

a) It's only a "few bad apples."
b) There's some socially unacceptable behavior, but it's not what it looks like.
c) It's completely gross!

5. People say you are taking longer than expected:

a) Hardly!
b) With me, people must learn to expect the unexpected.
c) I'll stick around for the long haul. That's what commitment is all about.

6. There are doubts and second thoughts about the reason for the engagement:

a) Just the normal "cold feet."
b) Sure, but nothing serious enough to alter the plans.
c) This should be so over already.

7. A group of Americans gathered at the mall is discontented because:

a) The new Abercrombie catalog is lame.
b) Several are wearing the exact same vintage blouse.
c) They don't want to die.

8. American soldiers are marrying your native women, just like in Vietnam:

a) Never. That's a strict no-go zone.
b) There's definitely been some flirting.
c) Hello! It's like The Bachelor!

Scoring

For each question you answered (a), give yourself 1 point. For each (b), 2 points. For each (c), 3 points.

The Verdict

0-10 points: Phew! You aren't even another Canada!

11-16 points: You may be like Vietnam, but mostly just the food.

17-24 points: Hey, is that Vietnam staring back at you in the mirror?

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
I got the time on the nose:

• Aug. 29, 1964: Dick and Lynne Cheney marry.
  
  May 19, 1965: The Selective Service classifies Dick Cheney 1-A, "available immediately for military service."
  
  July 28, 1965: President Lyndon Johnson says draft calls will be doubled.
  
  Oct. 26, 1965: The Selective Service declares that married men without children, who were previously exempted from the draft, will now be called up. Married men with children remain exempt.
  
  Jan. 19, 1966: The Selective Service reclassifies Dick Cheney 3-A, "deferred from military service because service would cause hardship upon his family," because his wife is pregnant with their first child.
  
  July 28, 1966: Elizabeth Cheney is born.
  
  Jan. 30, 1967: Dick Cheney turns 26 and therefore becomes ineligible for the draft.
  
  Dedicated students of obstetrics will observe that Elizabeth Cheney's birth date falls precisely nine months and two days after the Selective Service publicly revoked its policy of not drafting childless husbands. This would seem to indicate that the Cheneys, though doubtless planning to have children sometime, were seized with an untamable passion the moment Dick Cheney became vulnerable to the Vietnam draft. And acted on it. Carpe diem!

link

This whole thing was refuted on Insta, the NRO Corner, etc. I'm too busy to look for and send you the links.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
This whole thing was refuted on Insta, the NRO Corner, etc. I'm too busy to look for and send you the links.

The Google searches I ran with the obvious words didn't turn up what you're talking about. I'd be curious to see it. And in any event, I'm sure there are a bunch of guys who were graduate students in Wisconsin at the time who would make a television ad saying that Dick would only have shagged Lynne to avoid being shot at, and that he's unfit to be VP.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
the Cheneys, though doubtless planning to have children sometime, were seized with an untamable passion the moment Dick Cheney became vulnerable to the Vietnam draft. And acted on it. Carpe diem!

but still, any guy who can make a baby to order, is the "get the job done" kind of guy we want running things...

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
but still, any guy who can make a baby to order, is the "get the job done" kind of guy we want running things...

Hey, he was still relatively young - I'm much more impressed with her timing than his.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
but still, any guy who can make a baby to order, is the "get the job done" kind of guy we want running things...

If that's what it takes to get the GOP nod, no wonder y'all hung Jack Ryan out to dry. Draft John Fisher, U.S. Senator for Illinois!

Of course, five of his children got pulled into the same accursed cotton gin and were never heard from again. Sad.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Wait, war service is not popular? I'll be a hippy protestor and throw and invent "facts" to bolster my case.

"At the time, Kerry told me that he assumed his actions had precluded a political career, a sentiment experience had taught me to share."

-- Thomas Oliphant, writing about Kerry's anti-war efforts in 1971

If you want to see a piece arguing that Kerry will make a good president, from someone who has covered him for the Boston Globe for more than thirty years, check this article by Oliphant out.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
"At the time, Kerry told me that he assumed his actions had precluded a political career, a sentiment experience had taught me to share."

-- Thomas Oliphant, writing about Kerry's anti-war efforts in 1971

If you want to see a piece arguing that Kerry will make a good president, from someone who has covered him for the Boston Globe for more than thirty years, check this article by Oliphant out.

I'm very familiar with Oliphant. He's more objective than most on the left, but he still has some bias.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Doubtless you are misrepresenting his vote on the $87 billion -- I believe he voted against one package and for another because he was actually running the country and thought there was an important distinction between them. Facts like these that don't fit the storyline just get discarded.

The bottom line was that he voted no on $ for troops at war. You and he can both contort all you like, but it's still a Ney.

Again, I say the fact that you buy all of this "waffle" shit about Kerry's character -- and somehow disregard equally potent dirt about Bush, who just this week announced that he support the 9/11 commission's recommendations while actually proposing something very different -- suggests what a masterful job the GOP does at tarring the character of Democratic politicians. It is not surprising that the GOP is so good at it, since this is the sort of thing you have to do when voters disagree with you on the substance. I think Kerry is going to do a better job responding to it than Gore did, though.

You kill me. The left have been BANGING the president relentlessly since 2003, but its the president slinging dirt. Are you that partisan these days that you can't see it? There is dirt on both sides, some true and some not. You have to be able to separate the shit out.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
"If you want to see a piece arguing that Kerry will make a good president, from someone who has covered him for the Boston Globe for more than thirty years, check this article by Oliphant out.

Even Oliphant thought his convention speech sucked

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
Did you leave out the alleged crackheadedness on purpose, or did you just forget about that?

I think crack "started" in the early 1980s. I'm pretty sure W would have done regular old powder cocaine, like most rich white boys who did/do coke. [And I forgot about it.]

S_A_M