“When we get to wishing a great deal for ourselves, whatever we get soon turns into mere limitation and exclusion.”
–George Eliot
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This must be a ruse.
The Western Conservative summit picked a Black American.
Herman Cain 48%
the winner was, why didn’t they give Cain 90%?
I know today’s Republican party is capable of electing nonwhites on rare occasions: West is black; Rubio and Sandoval are Latino. That was just off the top of my head but I don’t think I’m missing many major black Republican officeholders.
Cain won’t get elected dogcatcher — he badly lost his one prior political race — but that’s not because he’s black.
… that Herman Cain will be the nominee. I’ll even give him 5:1 odds.
If you win, you win. If you lose, Barack Obama gets re-elected in a landslide.
Back to Back Black Presidents in a Nation of 13% Black. Your demands seem unrealistic, borderline racist.
this was meant to be sarcastic.
… you need to learn to read. But hey, congrats on thinking that Cain’s victory at one of many regional unofficial conferences disproves the existence of racism or something, just like your view that the very existence of non-officeholders Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell already disproved racism.
I guess it’s my job.
You see, Republicans are not racist. Not at all! We have no problem with the President’s race. We just wish he wouldn’t keep injecting race into the debates, and we think he’d do that less if he were whiter. I’m not saying he can’t be black at all, but maybe if he were only half black it would help move us beyond race in this country.
I’m sorry, I’ve just been informed that the President is already only half black. We would now like the President to be only one quarter black. And we promise we won’t ask for any more until he gives us that.
That he happens to be black has no particular bearing on the fact that Cain is an outstandingly ugly stain on the fabric of our democracy.
which I expect to be when all Bush tax cuts are permanently extended because Obama cannot bear to even imagine threatening to let them all expire, even as a negotiating position.
Obama’s first offer: extend all Bush tax cuts for the next 20 years. Republicans’ first offer: extend all Bush tax cuts forever. The compromise will be averaging the two numbers.
This could save me from wasting a lot of time participating in party politics. Maybe I’ll write that great American novel or something.
But it was a nonfiction book book, not a novel.
and just try getting them translated
Most of it was written in late 1800’s and early 1900’s and in either Germnan or Hungarian.
I have greatly expanded my ability to swear (and multi-lingually) while writing this next book. (due out in Sept.)
That’s funny!
A couple weeks ago I was ready to completely give up on actively campaigning or donating for Obama’s reelection. But I was still going to vote for him. Now I’m voting for whoever his Republican opponent is. This way we’ll get the exact same Republican policies, but at least I’ll feel like a winner.
the President’s press secretary is explaining how progressives are just being pissy to misunderstand what a great thing the Prez is accomplishing with cuts to get the debt under control and, basically, how Dems who see this as the surrender it is are just a bunch of unreasonable lefties.
That ought to get Dems, even most of the highly reasonable ones who are just sick and tired of losing in every deal and getting dissed while losing, all fired up to go out their and work their butts off in 2012 to elect the party that can’t seem to do anything but beg the right for mercy, offer 90% as a starting bid in every negotiation and then give in to save the hostages.
All the political capital that Obama won for himself and Dems in general with his extremely ballsy decision making in getting Bin Laden? Gone and then some. He may not need it to get reelected but good luck with all that taking back congress happy talk.
Today, I think I’d probably run for the hills rather than give that speech.
brilliant press secretaries and spokesperson/advisers. The ones that advised him into the electoral disaster of 2010 and seem to be working on how to outdo themselves in 2012. Way to rally enthusiasm from the foot soldiers that get Dems elected… Call us all a bunch of troublesome dicks unless we promise to say we just love all the Emperor’s great clothes and that, with lipstick, that pig really does looks great.
Had my Dad’s 80th birthday party two nights ago. Ton of politically active people there and so lots of discussion about the debt ceiling. One person made a really good observation – Obama would be a much better fighter if he had gone to public school for even 1 year instead of Punaho.
Punaho has immense impact here in Hawaii – it’s 1,800 students and is the school of choice for the vast majority of the people who run things here. Because of that it’s a safe environment where you may have cross words but kids are taught that you work things out within the group.
And you’re never beat up. You never have your lunch money stolen.
Obama never learned how to fight with ruthless people as a kid. That makes for a nice upbringing, but it’s not good prep for the presidency.
Think he has the world’s crappiest advisers. How could killing Bin Laden, the Wisconsin uprising, conservative R govs plummeting in approval in their d states, a Dem winning a safe R seat in NY because people hate the Ryan plan and polls showing the American people are for more revenue from the rich before cutting programs for the middle class and poor turn to crap this fast without crappy advisers?
And would you quit rubbing it in about being in Hawaii? I’m getting grumpy what with going on 16 days in a row of 90+, some of it very +, and the rank odor of Democratic flop sweat permeating the air.
for caving. Part of me feels very badly for him for having to placate total idiots, and jackasses to boot.
I think he is a fighter though. Maybe the calculation was that he would never win this battle.
Which brings me to a thought. I won’t presume Obama wins his second term so as to not give the vapors to everone here. But what if he does ? He’ll never have to stand for election ever again. What might change in his second term ? Will we see a different type of President ? Will he push that much harder and be much more aggressive since there are less consequences ?
On the other hand there’s always the pressure of the midterms and then trying to set up Dems for wins in 2016.
his real calling was as a proctologist.
which like all elitists, he secretly aspires. He’s not very grounded in his own identity, and it shows. We elected the wrong guy.
in the presence of the wealthy elite comment. I don’t think he has any particular “identity” problems. Surely you don’t mean he doesn’t know how black he is or isn’t or wants to be? There’s a problem with his leadership but I don’t think it’s that kind of problem.
And I don’t think we’ll ever know what the result of nominating HRC would have been. As leader of her campaign she was not very effective. Other than that, she has never been in an executive position to compare to the presidency. She’s doing a good job as SOS but that’s an entirely different thing than being the buck stops here guy. The last time she was in charge of something this big and also political was when her husband put her in charge of health care reform and she was awful. My disappointment is completely unconnected to wistfulness for a President HRC.
so you think it’ll just be more of the same if we have Obama part deux ? Just wanting to know what peoples thoughts are (seriously).
But we’re stuck with him. And he’ll probably win, which is a good thing, of course.
He looks absolutely terrible on TV. Not the sign of a self-confident leader. So I assume he’s gotten the message that there are millions of unhappy campers out here who think he’s spineless, at least when it comes to standing up to the rich and powerful, and their sock puppets in Congress.
But I don’t know if it changes his thinking any. He’s not a leader. He talks out of both sides of his mouth. He prides himself on cutting deals, which nobody but the Republicans seem to like.
but I guess that ship has sailed. Pretty depressing.
It just passed the House and it’s on its way to the Senate.
This deal is just vile. I can’t find a better adjective to describe it after reading through most of the 74 pages of the bill.
which must be the most frustrating part for him, every single time. It’s kind of like when we’re kicking puppies: it’s funny when the dog starts fighting back or trying to bite you, but if it just sits there and whimpers while looking sadly into your eyes, it makes us want to kick it more because it’s being pathetic.
I find that just about impossible to believe.
Maybe that’s not what you’re saying, but it’s fair to read that implication in your comment.
But it is worlds different from public school. It’s like someone growing up in Boulder – they have no idea how the real world operates or thinks.
I remember my American dependent High School and there was no bullying. ….cliques, yes. Now, we were really dependent on each other and that certainly forms a different kind of bond…..but I just don’t remember bullying. I do remember a group of kids who self-identified as gay…they were not teased as much as maybe pitied.
Does anyone remember and in recalling this, it is not my intent to be offensive….but Thursday was “gueer” day and either everyone wore green and yellow or if you choose to identify that way..then you wore green and yellow…I can’t remember which….but that was it.
It was a very small school….and half the kids lived in dorms during the week because the posts where their families lived were too far away to commute every day. That may have made a difference; and, kids were moving in and out all the time.
But I will tell you this, the Overseas Brats association still has reunions….and school was incredibly important and if there had been bullying, etc…a lot of us would have just been devastated..
And, I was totally unprepared for college because I did have an expectation of being automatically accepted and that, of course, was not the norm….and I did not understand all the various group dynamics….Witness, my awkwardness even now on this blog…well I am off on a tangent….but some of us did grow up different.
So the answer is “No.”
I think you are right. Obama could also be called a “Third Culture” kid. This is a concept to describe American children who are citizens but who grow up outside the US for considerable part of their growing up years. So they are unaware of what a lot of kids stateside learn.They spend time trying to integrate all of the experiences, Military kids, children of Foreign Service personnel, and kids whose parents work for the multinationals overseas all fit this category.
As an army brat, who spent formative high school years in Germany, albeit, in an American High School, I can really relate.
Plus, Obama was of mixed race. His call for a “United” America is, I think, very personal. It is the only kind of world in which he would feel comfortable.
Also, it seems to me that Obama never really had to work with Republicans…let alone the mean ole boys from the South.
I understand “third culture”, but needed you to bring it to my attention, and to help understand the current situation.
David T. helped.
Do you have an opposing view to the observation that “The difference between liberals and conservatives…..Liberals object to having their tax dollars kill people. Conservatives object to their tax dollars going to save people.”?
It’s a long thread. Sorry for any confusion.
Back then Hawaii’s culture was very different from that of the US. It was a culture shock for me moving to Colorado – and I lived in LA up through 5th grade.
So you also have the issue that he didn’t learn the US culture until he was an adult. And what you learn as a kid is baked into you forever.
Huffington Post is reporting:
Then why vote to support this piece of sh-t. Vote it down and make Obama give us a clean debt limit increase.
or if DeFazio was correctly relaying what Biden said. Who knows? It could fail to pass both houses after all, though I doubt it.
What Biden really said was, “this is a big f$@&@in’ deal!”
will play an increasingly important role in all aspects of our lives. This was an informative and interesting article over at Oildrum:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node…
She pumps up the base like it’s nobody’s business. I think she is a breath of fresh air, with lots of humor.
As a radio host anyway
The deal is shit. But there’s a bit of good news today anyway.
OK, folks who accused me of wearing rose colored glasses when I said right after the shooting that I believed she’d make a full recovery, let’s just high five and cheer her progress. It’s a long road yet. But cowgirls don’t quit, least of all Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Changin’ my signature back in honor, y’all.
tally found here.
Tipton–no
DeGette–no
Lamborn–no
Coffman–yes
Polis–yes
Perlmutter–yes
Gardner–yes