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July 21, 2009 03:30 PM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 37 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”

–Napoleon Bonaparte (before Waterloo)

Comments

37 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread

  1. I don’t know if you could possibly miss the story about PFC Bowe Bergdahl being captured by the Taliban and forced to make a propaganda video.

    But did anyone miss the depth of depravity of Fox News by putting on some REMF Army Colonel who said on air that it’s ok with him if the Taliban kill him?

    Because, y’know, since he’s a famous NeoCon Commentator and Author, he knows all the facts in the case and he’s a much more moral and ethical person than the rest of us.

    And, as a former Military Intel officer, he’s led lots of troops around his basement office, and maybe even around the back of a track when it was parked in the rear of a field HQ.

    The Quote (in case Libertad or GOPWarrior get their Chickhawk uniforms in a bunch):

    “Now look, Julie, I want to be clear. If, when the facts are in, we find out that through some convoluted chain of events, he really was captured by the Taliban, I’m with him. But, if he walked away from his post and his buddies at wartime… I don’t care how hard it sounds, as far as I’m concerned, the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills. ”

    The video on TPM: http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo

    Fuck this commissioned assclown – polishing up your Army Tough Guy cred on Fox News by saying stupid shit about a situation you know nothing about is not leadership, it’s media demimonde.

    Fox News chose this asshole to spout some tough-guy line to give their non-serving, non-sacrifing audience something to jerk off on.

    1. Thanks, SSG_Dan

      Typical geedunk commando, stateside killer scam that clusterfox runs every day with phonies like Peters.

      32 years in the Army, retired as a Lt.Col. Obviously not considered for higher things.  Certainly no “slot” held for this tough guy.

      No combat experience. None. zero. Just a phony gettin’ paid to fire up clusterfox nation.

      This guy Peters has been around clusterfox   a while. This screed is pretty standard for him.

         

      1. .

        luck plays into it, too.  

        I graduated from BCT at Fort Lost in the Woods in June 1972.  Half my company got sent to Infantry AIT and then on to sunny Southeast Asia.  Half didn’t.  Looked to us like mostly dumb luck, who went and who didn’t.

        Y’know, most 4-star generals have zero combat experience.  Are they all phonies ?

        .

        1. My dad was stationed at Fort Lost in the Woods after he came home from Korean War….haven’t heard Leonard Wood referred to that way in decades….brought a tear to the eye.

        2. I don’t really have any idea whether most 4 star generals are combat veterans, you must or I’m sure you wouldn’t have said they don’t.

          Even at that, even if most 4 star generals don’t have combat experience, this isn’t about them. It’s about an individual that shot his mouth off about someone who IS in a combat zone. This after Peters served 32 years behind a MI desk, and knows absolutely nothing about it.

          I’m not calling most 4 star generals phonies. I’m calling Peters a phony. I highly doubt any 4 star general would have disparaged this kid the way the phony Peters did.      

  2. is a dealer in dope.  

    I’m with you SSG!  Anyone who hangs their “nuts” out like that to show they have balls, probably doesn’t.

    1. Nevertheless, the right wing’s relentless attacks on his approach, his looks, his race, his citizenship, his patriotism, and everything else they can throw at him haven’t helped Republicans’ numbers any. John Boehner’s at 15% trust rating. People wouldn’t trust him to come in out of the rain, let alone fix the economy.

      1. Scary…

        Poor Rep. Castle, standing there telling a supposedly supportive group of his constituents that yes, the President is in fact a U.S. citizen.

        Castle may or may not win the next election, but if these folks continue to represent the active core of his party, he’ll be forced into retirement soon enough either way.  And he’ll be left shaking his head regretting the loss of his party.

        1. I think the GOP is benefiting from the “birthers”…it allows the “base” a hook to hang their prejudices on and appear to be patriotic.  Obama’s approval ratings are going down and I think that is an accumulation of a lot of things…not the least is the RELENTLESS attack on him personally from the 24/7 republican controlled public airwaves….he is routinely called an imposter, a marxist, and an illegtimate president.

          Do not underestimate the rage of radical right wingers that the dems won so big with Obama last november…..they refuse to accept that this was the will of the majority…instead….they posulate conspiracies, etc…..of which Obama’s “phoney birth certificate” figures importantly…

          In so far that a very hostile environment is created, I find them potentially dangerous.

        1. I apologize for the implication and am glad you’re not a birther, this era’s answer to the black helicopter crowd.

          Nonetheless, I’d bet even money that these folks would agree with all that you’ve posted here. I hope, if you actually know any birthers, that you tell them you think they’re wrong.

            1. There are way too many people, percentage-wise, replying that they think the “birther” movement is at least not detrimental and possibly useful – and a not-insignificant number thinking it’s downright important.

              And if a room full of constituents in Delaware can be rip-roaringly in favor of the “birther” conspiracy movement, the GOP has trouble.

              1. Why? This quote.

                I really have no interest in debating the merits of this particular conspiracy theory in this post.  Therefore, I will posit, for the sake of argument, that the basic premise of the birther movement is correct.  Obama was born in Kenya and is not a “natural born citizen.”  Okay.  Now what?  What on earth do the birthers think will be done about it?

                Basically it doesn’t say debunking, it says “debating the merits.”

                The whole premise of the post was “we shouldn’t sound like extremist idiots because then reasonable people won’t vote for us.”

                He wasn’t saying “we shouldn’t BE extremist idiots.”

  3. http://www.thedailybeast.com/c

    Is Rep. Polis going to the White House today?

    Is Governor Ritter supporting the President’s health care plan? Opposing it? Saying and doing nothing about it?

    What do Reps. Markey, Perlmutter, Salazar and Degette and Senators Udall and Bennet say about health care reform?  

  4. … thanks to federally funded abstinence only education.

    Teenage pregnancies and syphilis have risen sharply among a generation of American school girls who were urged to avoid sex before marriage under George Bush’s evangelically-driven education policy, according to a new report by the US’s major public health body.

    In a report that will surprise few of Bush’s critics on the issue, the Centres for Disease Control says years of falling rates of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease infections under previous administrations were reversed or stalled in the Bush years. According to the CDC, birth rates among teenagers aged 15 or older had been in decline since 1991 but are up sharply in more than half of American states since 2005. The study also revealed that the number of teenage females with syphilis has risen by nearly half after a significant decrease while a two-decade fall in the gonorrhea infection rate is being reversed. The number of Aids cases in adolescent boys has nearly doubled. [Aristotle’s emphasis throughout.]

    The CDC says that southern states, where there is often the greatest emphasis on abstinence and religion, tend to have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs.

    This is why candidates who emphasize their religion tend NOT to get my vote.

  5. “[L]awmakers are on track to approve across-the-board federal payment reductions of $155 billion over 10 years for hospitals … Mayo and similar health systems object to the sweeping cuts. ‘Across-the-board cuts will be harmful to everyone and we think it is particularly bad to penalize the high-value organizations,’ said Jeff Korsmo, executive director of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. ‘We will have to violate our values in order to stay in business and reduce our access to government patients.'” (Phil Galewitz, “‘Model’ Health Systems Press Case For Medicare Fix In Reform,” Kaiser Health News, 7/20/09)

    1. Not the Kaiser company newsletter. HMOs and other insurance companies want to keep the status quo0, that’s not a secret. SO of course their internal newsletters are going to say stuff like that to scare people out of real health reform.

          1. From the CBO analysis:

            The provision that would result in the largest increase in Medicare spending would change payment rates for physicians’ services to replace the 21 percent reduction in payment rates scheduled for January 2010, under the existing “sustainable growth rate” formula, with an inflation-based update. In subsequent years, rates would reflect separate updates for “evaluation and management” services and for all other services. CBO estimates that those changes would cost $228 billion over the 2010-2019 period (before taking into account interactions). Including those interactions, the net cost of the changes in physicians’ payment rates would total $245 billion

            An increase of $245 billion over 10 years is not a cut. Which, as a right-winger, you should be upset about rather than concern trolling about supposed cuts that, if real, you would be complaining weren’t deep enough.

  6. “PennDOT has spent $60,000 to create large green road signs telling motorists that funding was secured by the federal stimulus package … The signs will cost about $2,000 each … Lori Irving, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, acknowledged the department strongly encouraged states to use stimulus funding to develop the signs … ‘Personally I think it is ridiculous that any of the stimulus money is used by government entities to make signs,’ said Mike Cupp of Morgantown, W.Va. …’Explain to me how that is stimulating?'” (Selena Zito, “Road Signs Eat Up Part Of Stimulus,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 7/20/09)

    1. Colorado proudly labels their Recovery Act projects just as they label all their large projects.  At least the taxpayer knows the money didn’t go in to a black hole…  And, all things considered, signage isn’t a major expenditure – though I have to wonder why they cost $2000 each.

      And sign makers need stimulus, too…

      1. from an economic standpoint, it doesn’t really matter too much what the money is spent on, all of it will create demand for industries. $2000 on a sign? Whatever.

        1. I’d rather not support politicians using stimulus money to fly overseas to meet their mistresses, even though it would theoretically help the airline industry.

          But, yes – the goal of the stimulus is to spend money employing people here in this country, generating revenue which will keep the economy going until it starts moving on its own again.

  7. newzy tidbit:

    U.S. Sen. Mark Udall announced today that he will vote to confirm the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

    “Judge Sotomayor is an extremely accomplished jurist, and she has a very compelling personal story. This historic nomination is not only a source of pride for Hispanic Americans but all Americans because we all take heart and feel pride when we see an individual overcome enormous obstacles and achieve great things through hard work and perseverance,” Udall said in a statement.

    “But while her story is inspiring, what matters most are her qualifications for the job, her record and her approach to the Constitution. And that is where I am most impressed.”

    Colorado’s other senator, Michael Bennet, already has announced his support for Sotomayor’s nomination.

    http://www.denverpost.com/ci_1

  8. .

    your Government is listening.

    A new interim final rule is going to fix the problem by requiring companies that furnish Mercenaries to be more selective in which ones they hire.  

    See, the problem isn’t that we employ Mercenaries to engage in combat and to deal with the local public in foreign countries,

    the problem is that we’ve let too many folks without adequate sensitivity training into the Mercenary field.

    go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for RIN 0790-AI38.

    Then tell Secretary Gates if you think this puts the issue to rest.

    Comments are accepted until 31 August.

    .

      1. .

        I believe that government is tone deaf on this.

        But I encourage you to say you don’t like it.

        When I said the Government is “listening,” I was just pointing out that in the rulemaking process they have to open it up for comments.  They don’t have to pay attention to those comments.  

        I ranted about the Declaration of Independence and the Anti-Pinkerton Act.  They’ve heard all that before.  But I think that a large number of adverse comments could show that its more than just us fanatics who object.

        .

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