US POLITICS SPRING 2011: Let's just call off this country.

but the Left won the narrative on that, Shakey, and Walker's career is v probably ruined....

Walker's career is probably stronger than ever. I imagine he proved himself 100x over as a steadfast knight in the oligarchy's war on the slob class. He even got 'Are teachers bottom-feeding scum?' as a serious talking point in the political spectrum. The bill still got passed and an historical protest movement was shut out of the media. In what ways have the Left won on this?

how is Walker's career stronger than ever? If the recall election ousts him, which seems very probable at this moment, what other options does he have?

If the recall election ousts him, which seems very probable at this moment, what other options does he have?

Fox News, of course. or a cush job at some right-wing think tank.

He's defeating the evil unions, he's standing up to walkouts, he's gotten people to hate on public school teachers, he's completely and utterly shameless in everything he does. If he doesn't have a future in politics, then I bet the corporate sector (or the revolving door between the two) has a place for him. Yeah, Fox News, maybe a Think Tank, maybe working directly for the Koch bros. He's certainly proven his worth to the Right.

^^^yep. he may well lose the governorship but I bet his attitude is "fuck it, my work is done here. Now on to my higher/more well paid calling"...

I'm pretty sure Rick Scott will suffer the same fate.

Rick Scott can just lol about in all that Medicaid money that he's diverting his way.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/gop-rep-im-struggling-on-my-174k-salary-video.php?ref=fpb

maybe there should just be a WI thread, at this point.

lol Real World alum

here's some morning entertainment:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/03/ayers_affirms_he_wrote_dreams.html

pretty good rule of thumb: never trust anyone without a sense of humor

Apparently some conservatives were so dumb they took this for an AHA! moment.

i think that's this guy's whole career basically

hahahaha oh my god

definitely click through to that blog if only to enjoy the painting of uncle sam shitting on a log

So House Speaker Boehner is supposedly trying to put together a budget with the support of non-Tea Party Republicans and Blue Dog Dems that he thinks the White House and Senate Dems will go along with. This is looking ugly no matter how it works out. The Dems are not, as Clinton did, making a strong case that we will not allow cuts to x,y, and z (health, education,...)they're simply disagreeing on how much to cut. Not surprising but still disappointing.

saw Blue Dogs described as "moderate Dems" on MSNBC crawl this morning

bcz there are no conservative Dems, what are ya, crazy

yeah, Ronald Reagan might end up being a Blue Dog Dem were he alive today.

had he switched to Republican when he gave red actor names to HUAC?

He didn't formerly switch parties until the early sixties.

well see, he was a crusadin' witchhuntin' bluedoggin' Democrat

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/education/30paddle.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=corporal%20punishment&st=cse

i just want to meet someone who thinks this is ok - fucking baffling to me. guess i shouldnt get nostalgic for the early obama days but seems like they should have banned federally when they had the chance in his first year or 2

generally speaking, if the school does something to a kid that sends the kid to the hospital, the school should be fucked

still I'm an awful person because I got to the point in the article where the spokesman/founder of People Opposed to Paddling Students appeared and couldn't stop giggling at the stupid name

i don't think a school should have the right to hit a child period

i also giggled/rolled my eyes at POPS, lol

Magnitude should be their spokesperson.

http://www.todayinsport.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/jasper2.gif
"giggling at the stupid name? you better bet that's a paddlin'..."

Full Ohio Senate and House just passed their union-busting bill to send on to Gov. Kasich, right after the Speaker had all the bill opponents ejected from the gallery and referred to them on a live mic as "goddamned visitors." Ohio State Highway Patrol, who opposed the bill, had to forcibly remove everyone.

oh shit

it's okay guys we "won" in Wisconsin lol

Not sure anyone was arguing that we "won" in Wisconsin, only that it wasn't pointless, and that there were benefits to the protests.

but the Left won the narrative on that, Shakey, and Walker's career is v probably ruined....

― Oh Shit People Like Your Ballads Oh Nooooo (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, March 29, 2011 11:21 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Called it too soon I guess

...though huge throngs of opponents is not what I'd consider qa sign of a decisive victory

I call "getting your bill passed unchanged" a sign of decisive victory

Without a full caucus, by midnight meetings!

Are the Dem. State Senators still in jail?

I call "getting your bill passed unchanged" a sign of decisive victory

yep. keep yr eye on the ball, policy is what ma.tters

I pretty clearly referred to the narrative in the post Dan c-&-p'd above.

in the face of concrete law, the narrative isn't really that important

You're right, narrative isn't importantn but wouldn't it be nice if the public had an option to believe in something different?

ugh can we ban the word "narrative"?

Pleased about this (at least until Morbius inevitably tells me why I shouldn't be)

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/white-house-threatens-to-veto-key-legislation-over-union-busting-provision.php?ref=dcblt

After all the handwringing in this board about the Dems' failure to sell universal health care to the people, now we're just willing to pretend things like "narrative" don't exist. Let's just dissolve all unions asap.

narrative exists for cable hosts and the 2% who watch em. rest of America is busy skipping meals to afford a smartphone.

haha that describes way too many people I know

SO Biden has been authorized to negotiate for the White House and has indicated that they can negotiate on the policy riders the Republican House wants. So which of these subjects of riders is the White House gonna throw under the bus: 1. Planned Parenthood; 2. NPR; 3. The EPA.

OK, so it turns out that the Ohio House Speaker didn't call people in the gallery "goddamned visitors," but what he said was actually stupider:

It’s hard to hear, but here’s exactly what Speaker Batchelder said:

“Well, she may, or she may not goddamn get it.”

You’ll notice that Batchelder is talking to one of the House clerks while looking over to his left while he says it. We’ve confirmed with a House source that the clerk was informing Speaker Batchelder that House Assistant Minority Whip Debbie Phillips (D-Athens) wanted to make a parliamentary point of personal privilege.

In other words, she wanted to assert her personal right as a Member of the House to honor someone who had died, particularly someone who died today.

Representative Phillips wanted to honor the memory of Bill Sams, the Council 8 Regional Director for AFSCME and President of the Southeastern Ohio AFL-CIO. A former lawyer, a husband, father, and grandfather. Bill Sams had just been at the SB 5 protests the day before at the Statehouse. He would have been there today except he died.

That’s what Speaker Batchelder was cursing about.

This link has footage -- check out the chanting from SB5 opponents in the gallery.

After all the handwringing in this board about the Dems' failure to sell universal health care to the people, now we're just willing to pretend things like "narrative" don't exist. Let's just dissolve all unions asap.

Narrative matters when you are arguing a position. If your argument loses, the narrative you've built also loses, plus there is now a concrete piece of law that directly refutes it.

It isn't really that hard to think through IMO.

Republicans never let silly things like laws prevent them from continuing to voice their own narrative. They count on people not understanding or remembering what is the law.

and that is a sure path to victory most times.