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February 21, 2012 04:35 PM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 76 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.”

–Jonathan Swift

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76 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

  1. Arizona is more pledged delegates than South Carolina – why no press?

    All we hear is Michigan Michigan MIchigan.

    And AZ is winner take all, so it’s going to mean more delegates than Michigan.

    Is the media focusing on the draama and ignoring the ball?  I thought the nomination goes to the man with the most delegates, not the most home state victories or debate headlines.

    1. Michigan is more of a toss-up. Arizona tends to be red. Also, Mitt Romney’s loss in MI will be very entertaining, especially after all of the “I like lakes… I like cars… I like trees… Michigan’s trees are the right height”, etc. As a native Michigander who is often worried about my friends and relatives back in my home-state (my “little” brother, father to two toddlers, and his wife recently lost their house due to the bad economy, for example), I can’t wait to see Romney’s sterling silver-plated tush handed to him on a platinum gold serving tray.

    1. The Chinese and Indians as it’s their increasing the standard of living for hundreds of millions that has significantly increased the demand for oil?

      The plankton hundreds of millions of years ago for not being trapped in rock formations in sufficient numbers to provide more oil?

      The Oil companies and OPEC for extracting maximum profit from oil (those free market bastards)?

      Ronald Reagan who ended Jimmy Carters efforts to eliminate our use of oil?

      There’s so many that you can legitimately blame – you need to tell us which group.

      1. mother fuckers, but let’s not also forget to mention the contributions of:

        The saber-rattling neo-cons who are wet-dreaming another middle-east war, this time with Iran.

        The largely Republican oil-traders and speculators who use every hint of manufactured instability to line their pockets.

        The Republicons in Congress who would rather felate dozens of their big-oil benefactors, than do anything to support development of homegrown alternate energy resources.

        And, likely the oil company executives themselves, who would prefer another administration that continues every one of their earth-ending, drill-baby-drill boondoggle energy policies.

        . . . all them mother fuckers.  

    2. I don’t know where you’ve been buying your gas, but it sounds like they are taking big advantage of your noticeable ignorance . . . ?  (So, how’s that the fault of the guys your mom is sleeping with this week?)

      1. apparent reason, could it be that they just want to make people unhappy with the current administration going  into the election?  You know,  like the US Chamber of Commerce with their Coffman (and probably other Rs in competitive races in other states) ads blaming Obama health care reform for killing jobs when that is, even according to today’s primary Denver paper’s editorial, nonsense?  

    4. Took a little work, orchestrating all those geopolitics and such.  But I appreciate the recognition.  It was hard work.  For the children.  And the retirees.  

      Also, aren’t you hitting the Mad Dog a little early this morning?  Or have you just taken to swallowing the mouthwash, and maybe a little extra?

    6. WTF is this idiot ranting about?  If gas hits $5/gallon he & his ilk blame Obama to no end and who does that help come Nov? What a typical ignorant rant from an ill-informed asshole.

      ‘turd gets played by his own team like a cheap kazoo — what a hoot to see what comes out when he thinks on his own.

    7. That we have quadrupled the number of oil rigs on U.S. land in the past three years.  If oil and gas rigs are counted together, the U.S. has more rigs operating than the rest of the world, combined.

      Obama is so mean to the O&G companies.

    8. I don’t understand the oil and gas industry as far as price goes. Three or four years ago the United States was consuming around 21 million barrels of oil each day and now we’re at 18.5 million barrels per day and yet, the price is increasing. If anything, by promoting alternative energy, President Obama has done everyhting to reduce American consumption of oil and gas products and if he hadn’t done so the price would be even higher.

      The Chinese have inauguarated an all out policy to develope alternative energy because they know first, their country has minimal amounts of oil and gas deposites, plus they know the supply of oil and gas is not infinite. We should do the same but the Republican House in Washington will have none of it. Another reason to reelect Presidnet Obama.

      1. Fueled by uncertainty in the Middle East. The West Coast gasoline price is being driven by a Feb. 17 refinery fire at the Cherry Point refinery in Washington state that took the refinery off line.

    1. it’s all about your H.S. or what parish you’re from – those are the important connections.  A good idea might get you attention but they’re real pikers with their $$s.

      Very extremely parochial town and I’m hard pressed to come up with any innovations or signs of tech leadership nowadays.  The heydays of McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics are long gone and then the unimaginable sale of Anheuser-Busch to foreigners has turned it into a somewhat sad little town.  Proud of where I grew up but damn glad I’m gone.    

      1. The question is if they’re creating this for real – and people there will have to wait to see who wins. But if it is done well, it can be the start of a change.

        It’s really interesting both that it’s a grant and they assistance that comes with the grant. That can be enough for a small group to get a product launched.

  4. Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators: Nick Hanauer

    When businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it is like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it’s the other way around.

    It is unquestionably true that without entrepreneurs and investors, you can’t have a dynamic and growing capitalist economy. But it’s equally true that without consumers, you can’t have entrepreneurs and investors. And the more we have happy customers with lots of disposable income, the better our businesses will do.

    That’s why our current policies are so upside down. When the American middle class defends a tax system in which the lion’s share of benefits accrues to the richest, all in the name of job creation, all that happens is that the rich get richer.

    And keep in mind this guy is one of the most successful business founders and venture capitalists out there.

    1. doesn’t know about you, Dave, or I’m sure he’d join you in giving you all the credit you never fail to take an opportunity to point out how much you deserve.

        1. for tax breaks for the rich. I just couldn’t help but be reminded of all the credit Dave takes for creating jobs while being selfless enough to be willing to pay higher taxes, etc. Sorry. I’ll try really hard to forego the temptation to get sarcastic with Dave just because in the future.  

    3. Not sure if she was quoting or it was an original thought, but, “Henry Ford always said he paid his employees well so they could afford to buy his products. Wal-Mart pays their employees poorly so they can’t afford anyone else’s products.”

  5. From summit to plummet

    Since 2000 the big five Japanese electronics firms have lost two-thirds of their value

    …

    Fitch, a ratings agency, recently downgraded the debts of Panasonic and Sony to one notch above junk status and placed Sharp’s on negative outlook.

    I do think there is opportunity at present to bring high-end manufacturing back to this country. But it will take a strong effort by the federal government – and usually at the federal level “industrial policy” is viewed as a dirty word as it “interferes” with the market.

  6. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed as follows:

    House:  80% of Republicans voted for the bill, only 63% of Democrats did

    Senate: 82% of of Republicans voted for the bill, only 69% of Democrats did.

    Your party has a long tradition of supporting individual liberties and civil rights. Please live up to that tradition when voting on the Civil Unions bill. Your party stood on the right side of history in 1964, and you have the opportunity to do it again in 2012.  

    1. Unfortunately, the democratic majorities in the House and the Senate included a large number of Southern politicians, who were emphatically against civil rights legislation.  That is why the vote is so lopsided.  

      In 1968 came Nixon and his Southern strategy – many of those democrats became republicans under the banner of “states rights.”

      I applaud your reasoned plea.  I suspect it will go nowhere…which is exactly where you will find the republicans of long ago.

        1. republicans.  It is republicans like Senator Paul who want to vote to eliminate the Civil Rights legislation from the 60s so that property rights rule. For example,  property owners of restaurants and hotels could  discriminate against blacks, if they wish to, because it would be their right as property owners.

          The whole idea of states rights is to eliminate  many civil rights that various groups currently enjoy. Republicans in the Congress are trying to eliminate the civil right to abortion.  And you think that their Colorado cohorts would vote for civil unions?  

          I don’t think so. Hope I am wrong.

          `

          1. but that’s not a fair one. He put it in Judiciary, just like Brandon Shaffer did. When you only have one majority vote, it’s hard to find a committee that’s not “kill.” Finance or Local Government would not be appropriate committees for civil unions.

            My hope for this year is that old prejudices can be put away by all and the issue can be seen with fresh Republican eyes. Is there anything more Reaganesque than staying the hell out of the bedroom?

    1. Obama only controls the Dow when it goes down. It dosen’t work the other way around. Conversely, he only controls gas prices when they go up. Simple Republican economics.

      1. explain exactly why Obama deserves no credit for this but all the blame for every downturn, it will be basically what you just said but with straight, if in Boehner’s case, oddly orange, faces.

  8. Thousands of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are taking advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. It pays for all in-state tuition and fees, plus a $1,000 bucks for books and a monthly living allowance. But many vets are struggling to integrate into college life. We talk to four student vets about why many stay quiet about their history. First, though, we take a look at how Colorado colleges and universities are meeting veterans’ needs as they transition from combat to the classroom.  It’s part of our series “Coming Home.” Here’s a transcript of CPR’s education reporter Jenny Brundin’s report.

    http://www.cpr.org/#load_artic…

    That wave you see in the distance is the estimated 40% of returning combat veterans who will be using the Post 9/11 GI Bill to go school in the US. Colorado currently has 20K+ vets using Chapter 31 & 33 benefits to attend higher education….and that number is expected to triple in two years to over 60K.

    Most schools have one VA certifying official in their office,and the bigger state schools have one Veteran Service Officer. But most schools are completely unprepared to deal with this massive wave of new students, 40% of which have Traumatic Brain Injuries and 25% have Post-Traumatic Combat Stress Injuries.

    The state of Colorado has 7 Full-time employees working veterans issues at DMVA. Does that sound like enough?

  9. ‘Morning Joe’ Confronts Rev. Franklin Graham Over Obama’s Christianity: ‘That Is An Amazing Double Standard’

    When co-host Willie Geist pressed him (Graham) to say whether he believed Obama was a Christian, Graham maintained that he “cannot answer that question for anybody.”

    However, his answer on Rick Santorum’s Christianity was a resounding yes. “His values are so clear on moral issues,” he said. “No question, I believe he is a man of faith.”

    He (Graham) would not say whether he believed Romney is a Christian. “Most Christians would not recognize Mormonism as part of the Christian faith,” he said. He also noted that Gingrich has been married several times, but that he believed that he was a Christian.

    Geist questioned this. “So Newt Gingrich is a Christian, but you’re not sure that President Obama is. And you said based on the way they lived their lives.” Someone off-screen could be heard saying, “Wow.”

    How about a little evangelical divinity idiocy with your morning cuppa?

    1. Lincoln is considered by most historians as our greatest president, so what denomination or church did he belong to?  None. Lincoln never joined any church. Was he a Christian? Hell, I don’t know or care. You’d have to ask him.

      When Eisenhower was going to run for president, someone suggested he better join a church, since he never had a religious affiliation with any church or denomination. So voila! he became a Presbyterian, just like me.  

      1. Our constitution creates a government with authority only in the secular realm, leaving  all questions and matters of religion and personal belief systems or lack thereof up to each individual conscience. To that end it bans government establishment of religion and bans religious tests for office.  

        The answer to whether or not Romney or anyone else is a real Christian in connection with any run for any political office should be… what does that have to with serving in our secular government which isn’t allowed to interfere in religious matters in any way shape or form anyway? Next question.

      2. get a dog.”  Some RINO douchenozzle.

        “If you want a dog in Canada, get a crate and some cargo straps.”  Some “severely conservative” modern-GOP douchenozzle.  

    2. he definitely does not deserve God’s grace. Junior is a judgmental hypocrite who repeatedly insinuates Obama is a secret Islamist who doesn’t live a Christian life, therefore we just can’t be sure Obama is really a Christian, unlike the oh so Christian Santorum. I’m pretty sure the forgiving Jesus that Junior touts wouldn’t sign on to that sort of judgmental double talk.

      Whoever said “Wow” off camera is right. What else is there to say to such a vile interview with such a “holy man?”

      2. un-friggin-believable.  PreacherBoy’s coke-fueled youth did some damage.  He’s a baldfaced liar that denies he judges others but passes judgement in the next breath. There’s a mental disconnect in what PreacherBoy says from one sentence to the next. And this ass commands a pulpit? Divine evangelical idiocy straight from the asses mouth!    

  10. This kind of stuff is just mean.

    Virginia Bill Would Halt Medicaid Funding For Abortions Of Fetuses That Have ‘No Chance Of Survival After Delivery’

    legislators are continuing their assault on women’s access to abortion with HB 62, a measure that would prevent Medicaid from covering abortions for low-income women when a doctor finds that the fetus “would be born with a gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency.”

    “Why should the most vulnerable women in Virginia be forced to carry a doomed pregnancy to term,” Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, angrily asked Cole.

    Cole is backed by advocates from anti-abortion and religious groups including the Virginia Roman Catholic Diocese. He contends that it’s unjust to force people with strong religious or moral objections to the procedure to pay taxes that underwrite publicly funded abortions.

    http://thinkprogress.org/healt…

    A Virginia Department of Planning and Budget fiscal analysis that accompanies the bill reported that the Department of Health paid for only 10 abortions in the fiscal year that ended June 30 with a total cost of $2,784.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

    Since these newborns die after they’re born, you can’t call it pro-life.

    Question:

    Does this increase or decrease human suffering?

    Answer: Who cares?  It’s my money.

    1. Like invasive ultrasound laws or laws mandating doctors make some particular speech, drug testing for those collecting public assistance, laws demanding English only, voter ID laws, inactive voter purging and other popular Republican legislation or Governor’s or SOS’s bright idea, top  priorities.  

      Everything on the front burner for Republicans in every state either addresses a non-problem, is meant to punish those with different views than theirs who choose to exercise their perfectly legal rights or is aimed at suppressing the Dem leaning vote.  Don’t think I’ve missed anything.  Oh yeah, preserving or increasing the goodies for the very wealthy and the power of the corporations.

      What more proof could voters, especially independent voters, want that voting for any R at any level, legislative or executive, state or federal, means voting to keep or gain majority status and power for the party that couldn’t care less about doing anything to make the lives of their constituents better in any concrete way. Except for the .01% of their constituents, that is.  

        1. to do about it, besides listen to talk radio and bitch?

          Seriously, what’s your plan of action? I’ve been waiting with bated breath for six years to hear one from you. Please do share what you are going to do.  

          2. I will look for DraftPunk in the media. Plus, DP you have identified yourself as a doctor…there is no way in hell I would want you to be anymore identified than that. Nor did my question imply that is what I was suggesting.  

            Now, what I do is not much.  But, not for lack of trying.

            I am old, logistically and financially challenged.

            1) I try to reframe the argument on this issue and a lot more in terms of the legal/constitutional issues; instead of just name calling the other side.

            2) I try to speak to the political strategy of the right wing and try to persuade the democratic party to do something, anything to combat it.  I have tried and tried and tried to persuade those officials I know to have a response plan to the repub strategy on this and other issues….notably the voter ID problem.

            To no avail.  It is not just me.  Last night, on The Ed Show, Ed had the vice chair of the DNC on and asked him why he, Schultz, a talk show host, had to defend the president against the attacks on his religion, why didn’t the DNC have an official response protesting this incredible awful attacks.  The handsome Mayor of Milwaukee just gave a kind of dopey smile and said that they couldn’t respond to everything..or anything.

            3) I am a proud card carrying member of the ACLU and my membership is current.

            Plus, you are damm right that I bitch, because I am pissed off about what is happening to my country.

            1. making assumptions about what others are or are not doing, what they may or may not have done over past years or anything else about them.  Why don’t you just stick it where the moon don’t shine? Or is your head already occupying that space?

              1. enemies are, ArapaBOT-Libby-et al.  (I’m still amazed at how much a good evening workout chills me out.)

                Dwyer does his/her part in helping keep us informed. And, yep, I’m not always wild about his/her analysis and inquiry style, but hell, I’m not always wild about mine.

                150 minutes left to get your ya-ya’s out, and then it’s ashes.   Happy Mardi Gras, Dwyer, BC, MOTR, DaftP, and all you other loyal polsters!

                  2. If wanted to get technical, I would even argue against the term you choose and perhaps select the misguided, under-educated, willfully ignorant, uncaring, and addle-brained.  With a proper combination of these, or some synonyms, we could probably come up with some cool, techie, trendy sounding acronym.?!?

                    How about we save ourselves the time, split the difference, and just call them what the are — “the dregs of the GOP”?   (dotGOPs? .  .  . hmmmmm)

                1. and while I appreciate Dio’s concern about keeping sight of real enemies, I don’t feel obliged to answer to the demands of self-righteous gas bags, left, right or center, just because the person in question shares some of my views.  I’m happy to take any criticism that comes my way if I choose to  tell you to take your holier than thou, self righteous demands and stick it all where the moon don’t shine. So dish it, baby. I can take it.

                   

                    1. I’m not as nice as you, Dio.  At least not here. In my corporeal life in the material world, I’m actually considered very nice and very tactful.  Maybe why I like it so much here. Got to set that grumpy side free once in awhile.  

  11. Might not take a capitalistic genius to figure out that this could be a problem.

    http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.n…

    More worrisome, Mr. Romney spent more than he took in; his cash flow was negative $12.2 million for the month. He exited January with just $7.7 million in cash on hand.

    That sort of pace is not sustainable. Were Mr. Romney’s campaign to continue to raise and spend money at the same rate as in January, it would have only about 20 days of expenditures before money ran out.

    I guess the question might be, does Romney believe enough in a vacillating  and flailing RMoney candidacy to self fund, or is he like the rest of the GOP — hoping to find a conservative alternative?

    .

    1. He’s outspent Santorum in Arizona by millions; by comparison, Santorum hasn’t spent squat down there and he’s within 6 points of Romney according to a recent poll. Two weeks ago, Romney was up by 20. All the $$$ Romney is spending does not seem to be paying off in delegate dividends.

      Another question to ask here is if he loses Arizona or Michigan, will there be a conservative PAC alternative willing to invest in what is beginning to look like a losing campaign?

    2. Jackpot Addelson says he’s willing to go all in for $100 million to the Stay-Puft SuperPac. Guess $100 million ain’t nothin when yer worth $25B but that’s still a helluva lot to waste on Newt.

      Mitt’s burn rate would shame the worst start-up.  And so far all Mitt’s money did bump Newt back a place but sure gave Frothy a surge. Can’t think his Bain bros see the fiscal upswing in this deal.

      And how can Frothy maintain with just  nickels & dimes trickling in from the bigoted evangelicals when he blows the dog whistle?

      I’m not sure there’s any smart money on this race.

  12. …but the erstwhile party of “National Defense” can please tell me why they’re happy to spend billions of dollars for Bombs, Bullets and Blackwater but suddenly turn into cheapasses the moment we need to spend on caring for our wounded warriors:

    Army probes whether PTSD diagnoses were altered to cut costs

    The Army is investigating whether psychiatrists at a Washington state medical center sought to save taxpayers’ money by altering post-traumatic-stress-disorder diagnoses so some soldiers would not receive full disability pensions, The Olympian reports.

    Monday night the Army announced it had removed the chief of the Madigan Army Medical Center, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, outside Tacoma, while the Western Region Medical Command investigates the cases of 14 soldiers. Other soldiers whose PTSD diagnoses were changed by Madigan’s forensic psychiatry team have requested reviews.

    The Army has not said how many diagnoses were “adjusted.”

    http://content.usatoday.com/co…

    Waiting..

    2. flushing the damaged ones like toilet paper is pretty much an age old, thousands of year old, tradition and one which the US has rarely shown itself inclined to buck.  

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