Originally posted by The17sss
LOL... come on man. you make it sound like she asked her mom, "Is it cool if I let my man put a bun in my oven? Really? Cool... time to get my on!" Did you listen to your parents every word when you were 17? Who the hell does?
You make it sound like you're denying that your party has been hi-jacked by Christianists. You have a bonafide pentecostal creationist on your Presidential ticket. You might not balance the budget, but at least you'll make sure schools don't have to teach evolution if they don't want to.
Lebezniatnikov
quote:
September 5, 2008
G.O.P. P.O.W.
I wasn’t in St. Paul, but through the filter of the endless chatter on cable news, here’s how the Republican Convention looked: John McCain became a P.O.W. this week, at the hands of his own Party. It was Sarah Palin’s Convention, not McCain’s. His speech last night was so out of sync with the vituperative tone and stale, hard-right cultural populism of the Convention’s other headliners—above all, Palin—that he sounded less like a Presidential nominee than one of those token speakers given a spot on the program just to prove that the Party welcomes diversity. McCain stood before an arena full of stoked conventioneers, who seemed bored or turned-off as often as they seemed pleased by his remarks, and acquitted himself with the decency and honor that he summoned during the ordeal that defines his life.
This time, though, McCain is collaborating with his captors. By picking Palin he knowingly guided his campaign well over hostile territory and then aimed its nose straight down. Once taken hostage, he refused to speak his captors’ propaganda, but he allowed everyone else to shout it to the rafters. He gambled, all right, but it was in the direction of orthodoxy—for Palin is a creature and an icon of the Republicans’ evangelical base, which came into full possession of the Party this week and completed the G.O.P.’s conversion to identity politics. (See my last post for more on this transformation.) No wonder Pat Buchanan was so fired up on MSNBC, while Mike Huckabee wore the look of a man who missed his train because he was given the wrong departure time.
In yesterday’s Times profile, several observers suggested that McCain’s whole adult life has been a series of tests, and his shortcomings have been just as decisive as his victories. “He takes a past failing, hangs it around his neck, and wears it like a medal,” said a former Romney adviser. The psychological pattern with which McCain seems most comfortable holds him initially suspended in perfect tension between principle and ambition; the tension slackens, he slides into a betrayal of his ideals, and then he undergoes a searing period of repentance that ends in a renewed commitment to do what is right regardless of the consequences. It’s almost as if he deliberately sets out to fail himself in order to experience the joy of self-recovery at its fullest. No one would hold against him the fact that he broke, as he said last night, under North Vietnamese torture. His capitulation to the latest group of hard-liners to take him prisoner is a lot harder to justify. But his speech already hinted at the penitent President McCain would be if his current ordeal at the hands of his party’s base takes him to the White House.
Scott at Edge of the American West decided to see whether he could track down information on changes in voter registration since the campaign got going in earnest. He has posted his information here. Democrats have gotten more new registrants in all states for which Scott could find data except for Alaska. In some cases, they have outregistered Republicans by considerable margins. Highlights (numbers are voters added between the first and second dates):
North Carolina: Jan. - Aug. 2008: 20,363 Republicans, 171,955 Democrats, 123,605 other.
Oregon: Jan. - July 2008: -13,349 Republicans, 122,518 Democrats.
Pennsylvania: April - Aug. 2008: 289 Republicans, 98,137 Democrats.
It occurred to me that the Florida numbers might reflect Gov. Crist's decision to reinstate felons' voting rights. He made that decision on April 3, so it fell within the period covered by the Florida numbers. However, there still seems to be a process for the restoration of felons' voting rights, and it is not clear to me how long that process would take, and thus how much the numbers here would reflect reinstated felons, as opposed to other newly registered voters. So I'm not sure about that.
In any case, some data to chew on.
—Hilzoy 9:40 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (24)
Ooooh.. He's fed up now! Somebody got under his skin. I'm shaking!:nervous:
hardcore trancer
quote:
Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Only the beginning.
That was fantastic!!!!VP debate in less then a month!!!!:D
Lebezniatnikov
quote:
Originally posted by Shakka
Ooooh.. He's fed up now! Somebody got under his skin. I'm shaking!:nervous:
Just shows what an excellent pick Biden was - somebody at least is furious about a continuation of the policies that have led us to this point over the last 8 years. I'm glad there's a candidate that's mad on the behalf of middle-class Americans who have suffered quietly under Bush.
Lebezniatnikov
quote:
Originally posted by Shakka
Ooooh.. He's fed up now! Somebody got under his skin. I'm shaking!:nervous:
This is a fairly good example of what he's talking about - if you can't win on issues, make a joke about the other guy.
The17sss
quote:
Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Just shows what an excellent pick Biden was - somebody at least is furious about a continuation of the policies that have led us to this point over the last 8 years. I'm glad there's a candidate that's mad on the behalf of middle-class Americans who have suffered quietly under Bush.
"middle class Americans who suffered quietly under Bush"....lol. Where are all these people? You make it sound like the middle class are now poor and wait in line for bread because of Bush's policies.
Lebezniatnikov
quote:
Originally posted by The17sss
"middle class Americans who suffered quietly under Bush"....lol. Where are all these people? You make it sound like the middle class are now poor and wait in line for bread because of Bush's policies.
I don't believe I've ever said they're waiting in line for bread, but it's nice to know that you think everything's hunky dory until you have to file for bankruptcy.
The17sss
quote:
Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
I don't believe I've ever said they're waiting in line for bread, but it's nice to know that you think everything's hunky dory until you have to file for bankruptcy.
I'm not saying that... it's just the choice of words you use. Maybe your definition of "suffering" is different than mine. But if a family can't go out to eat 3 or 4 times a year, or has to miss a vacation one summer because the budget is tight, I don't consider that to be suffering.
The bulk of the middle class people who are dealing with major problems, like possible foreclosures on their house, put themselves in the situation to begin with. Banks were giving out mortgages like candy with barely any approval required and no money down... people knew they would have a hard time paying each month but were so desperate to have their "dream home" that they made stupid choices. We shouldn't have to bail them out... let them learn their lessons. I have no sympathy for people who knowingly choose to live beyond their means and then lose their house.
Clovis
quote:
Originally posted by The17sss
I'm not saying that... it's just the choice of words you use. Maybe your definition of "suffering" is different than mine. But if a family can't go out to eat 3 or 4 times a year, or has to miss a vacation one summer because the budget is tight, I don't consider that to be suffering.
The bulk of the middle class people who are dealing with major problems, like possible foreclosures on their house, put themselves in the situation to begin with. Banks were giving out mortgages like candy with barely any approval required and no money down... people knew they would have a hard time paying each month but were so desperate to have their "dream home" that they made stupid choices. We shouldn't have to bail them out... let them learn their lessons. I have no sympathy for people who knowingly choose to live beyond their means and then lose their house.
High gas prices, lower or stagnant wages, layoffs, higher unemployment, higher health care costs, cost of living going up.
It might not matter for people like you and me, but for the people lower on the ladder it has meant everything the past few years.
