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

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.

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.

yeah but Republicans just keep on alienating more and more people; the Tea Party can't expect to keep winning elections if the majority thinks they are going to get fucked over

That doesn't change the fact that when they fall out of power, all of the energy will end up being put towards moving things closer to today's status quo than anything else, which is still a victory for the right.

Basically, my point is that the narrative can't and shouldn't be the goal; the narrative is a tool, and one that Democrats don't know how to use.

rest of America is busy skipping meals to afford a smartphone.

I skip meals because it makes me feel good.

yeah but Republicans just keep on alienating more and more people

which means less and less with the only 'people' mattering the corporations 'who' pay for campaigns. 'the people' can only vote for the last two candidates standing

http://i.imgur.com/17jxH.jpg

i'm sort of against stuff like this but i have to give grudging props for excellent use of monopoly dude

Also "spats."

I lolled at "real estate"

also the tear drop on the picture

dog cologne

it would have been too personal/stalkery into Real World minutiae to add "Peanut Butter (for the wife)" but I would have smirked

"To Doug, the 'real world' happens on TV, and he hasn't lived there for quite some time..."

Missed opportunity for all sorts of Real World punnage and pwnage - seriously, someone should get hold of a few of his episodes and GET TO SPLICING.

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.

You could probably make an argument that the Left's narrative was actually hurt here, that by leaving the state and extending the battle it just gave a very corporate US media more and more of an opportunity to flood the airwaves with anti-union propaganda. "Have working-class Americans sacrificed enough?" Even the 'liberal' outlets were taking the question seriously, and repeating it over and over during that week.

Though i can't fault the protestors at all and stand 100% behind them.

the lag time did give wisco folk time to deliberate. now they're taking shots at duffy at his town halls

http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/break-out-tiny-violins-wi-rep-eager-c

You could probably make an argument that the Left's narrative was actually hurt here, that by leaving the state and extending the battle it just gave a very corporate US media more and more of an opportunity to flood the airwaves with anti-union propaganda. "Have working-class Americans sacrificed enough?

Or the Dems could have won the elections in November.

but then we wouldn't be having so much fun now at high noon on capitol hill

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/31/federal_budget_showdown_riders/index.html

really hoping the shutdown goes through tbh