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

whos gonna stick up for medicaid?

I will. But I know what you mean. The right wing narrative is that the poor are worthless, shiftless, unproductive nincompoops and helping them is just pouring money down a rathole. The fact is that a lot of people on medicaid are disabled.

The right wing narrative is that the poor are worthless, shiftless, unproductive nincompoops and helping them is just pouring money down a rathole.

yes but check my link!!!

I'm convinced future minimum ages for SS benefits will always be just on the wrong side of me.

x-post

That is a nice letter to Boehner re Catholics and helping the poor. It would be great if he would have to read it and it got media attention.

Oh joy!

Congress ready to give the president near unlimited superduper war powers!

The new language eschews references to September 11, and instead centers the authorization on "armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces," though "associated forces" is not defined. It replaces the authority to target "organizations" and "persons" domestically with the power to target "all entities that continue to pose a threat to the United States and its citizens, both domestically and abroad."

Democrats and advocates highlight these seemingly subtle changes and argue that they will allow the President to initiate military action even more broadly, and without the consent of Congress -- effectively perpetuating the war indefinitely.

Now that his approval ratings approach 2009 levels, he can codify the Bush-era war power excesses without a hitch.

Democrats and advocates highlight these seemingly subtle changes and argue that they will allow the President to initiate military action even more broadly, and without the consent of Congress -- effectively perpetuating the war indefinitely.

these people are fucking evil. Sauron-style don't-even-look-at-them-or-you'll-be-corrupted evil.

http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/terminal01/2011/5/11/10/president-obama-superfan-830-1305125781-1.jpg

morbs busted

lmao

ha

Q Okay. And also, I just got off the phone with singer, poet, philanthropist Jill Scott who’s performing tonight for the poetry and prose. And she said she’s very disappointed to hear about the critics of Common -- Sarah Palin and some of the GOP to include people in the New Jersey State Police -- about his stand and his comments. What does this White House have to say as Common is an invited guest to be able to deliver his poetry and prose to the group that’s coming tonight?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I’ll make a couple of points about that, April. First of all, the President does not support and opposes the kinds of lyrics that have been written about, as he has in the past. He has spoken very forcefully out against violent and misogynist lyrics. Secondly, in regard to the concerns by some law enforcement, this President’s record of support for law enforcement is extremely strong. He remains committed to the men and women who protect the American citizens and put themselves in harm’s way all the time. He was able to express that appreciation and support just last week in New York when he met with police and firefighters.

And I would say that while the President doesn’t support the kind of lyrics that have been raised here, he does -- I mean, we do think that some of these reports distort what Mr. Lynn stands for, more broadly, in order to stoke a controversy. I mean, he is -- within the genre of hip-hop and rap, he is what’s known as a conscience rapper -- or a conscious rapper, rather. And I would quote a report just six months ago from Fox News where he was described as a rap legend and quote, “Your music is very positive and you’re known as the conscious rapper. How important is that to you, and how important do you think that is to our kids?”

And I think that one of the things that the President appreciates is the work that Mr. Lynn has done with children, especially in Chicago, trying to get them to focus on poetry, as opposed to some of the negative influences of life on the street.

Q Jay, “conscious” was the word you used?

MR. CARNEY: Conscious.

Q Conscious?

MR. CARNEY: Conscious, yes. Conscious rapper -- as in socially conscious.

Couldn't Carney have simply said, "The President is a big fan of Be"?

what a fuckin world

pretty sure the "Q" there is this person:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/april-d-ryan

I wd remind you the subtitle of D Perrin's last book was "Democrats and Perpetual War," or some such. So, right on time.

Also, I never knew til reading Perrin's blog today that Mark Twain proposed that the stars on out flag be replaced with a skull & crossbones. He's otm again too....

democrats have been the war party for most of the 20th century, it's true.

Also, I never knew til reading Perrin's blog today that Mark Twain proposed that the stars on out flag be replaced with a skull & crossbones. He's otm again too....

Of course, but when will Perrin be otm?

Q: Jay, “conscious” was the word you used?

MR. CARNEY: Conscious.

Q: Conscious?

MR. CARNEY: Conscious, yes. Conscious rapper -- as in socially conscious.

dying here

democrats have been the war party

2-2, vs the Republicans 0-2, (though Grenada might be .0125 war)

Conscious.
Conscious?
Conscious, yes. Conscious rapper.

^^ amiri baraka ghostwriting this dialogue

M White is that something yr bragging about

NCR leans left but this is fucking AWESOME imo

― Steven Tyler the Creator (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, May 11, 2011 2:16 PM (3 hours ago)

^this is getting me emotional

M White is that something yr bragging about

Bragging? Hmm, not really but WWI and WWII were not really all that popular going in and yet, had we not participated...

really Michael?

WW1 was Wilson's baby, WW2 belongs to FDR. if you give korea to Truman (you probably should? though i'm really ignorant of that war) and Vietnam probably goes to JFK, but the fighting goes back to right after ww2 making it a little more complicated.

after vietnam the record is a little more starkly divided on hawk vs dove lines, although clinton had his cruise missiles, ted kennedy was out in the cold in opposing iraq II, and obama, well...

I'm convinced future minimum ages for SS benefits will always be just on the wrong side of me.

"he wouldn't dare raise the number of missions again."
"who's gonna stop him?"
"somebody will."

really Michael?

You've basically made my point, though I'd give 'Nam to LBJ as much as JFK. Oh and I totally elided Bush Sr's war, so 1-2, basically, though I'm sure McCain will either say that we won in Iraq and Afghanistan or figure out some Dolchstoßlegende depending on who he's talking to and with whom he's currying favor.

way up thread I know, but I worked on the grounds crew one summer at the conservative-minded business college where Dick DeVos attended. mostly picked up trash.

oh FCC

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/f-c-c-commissioner-to-join-comcast/

Hooray!

It figures that Obama is reading Tom Friedman and not Juan Cole or others...

At night in the family residence, an adviser said, Mr. Obama often surfs the blogs of experts on Arab affairs or regional news sites to get a local flavor for events. He has sounded out prominent journalists like Fareed Zakaria of Time magazine and CNN and Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist at The New York Times, regarding their visits to the region. “He is searching for a way to pull back and weave a larger picture,” Mr. Zakaria said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/us/politics/12prexy.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22

soakin up all this wisdom:
http://www.thefinaledition.com/article/friedman-my-world-is-flat-right-now.html

hmmm just had a discussion last night with my dad about Friedman

always die a little inside when i hear of people taking him seriously.

RT @washingtonpost: Palin defends her love of rap: "I know the lyrics to 'Rapper's Delight'..."

always die a little inside when i hear of people taking him seriously

it came up cuz apparently he's against cap and trade and I was talking to my dad about a recent conference about CA's cap and trade market going into effect in 2012

Fareed Zakaria and Tom Friedman.

excuse me.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Rand Paul quote equating health care with slavery:

Paul railed against the very idea of having a right to health care.

“[(Y)ou have realize what that implies. It’s not an abstraction. I’m a physician. That means you have a right to come to my house and conscript me. It means you believe in slavery. It means that you’re going to enslave not only me, but the janitor at my hospital, the person who cleans my office, the assistants who work in my office, the nurses.

“Basically, once you imply a belief in a right to someone’s services — do you have a right to plumbing? Do you have a right to water? Do you have right to food? — you’re basically saying you believe in slavery.

“I’m a physician in your community and you say you have a right to health care. You have a right to beat down my door with the police, escort me away and force me to take care of you? That’s ultimately what the right to free health care would be.”

So they're just not even putting up the facade of logic in these arguments anymore....

I would totally be fine with doctor-slavery, it's a shame they actually pay doctors in Europe

<3

Do you have a right to water? Do you have right to food?

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/harvey_head_big.jpg

"hmmm"

Pretty good article in the NYT today on a related matter.

"Getting the government out of the mortgage business, however, is proving much more difficult than doling out new benefits. As regulators prepare to drop the level at which they will guarantee loans — here in Monterey County, the level will drop by a third to $483,000 — buyers and sellers are wondering why they should be punished simply for living in an expensive region."

lol @ being "punished" for choosing to live in an expensive place. It's hard to live in Carmel, in a $750,000 house! People who "can't afford" that without the help of the federal government are being "punished" for their choices.

maybe it will cause middle-class white people to reconsider who, really, gets taken care of by the indulgent, intrusive nanny state.

LOL!

i kind of like fareed zakaria tbh

he's okay

So does Rand Paul oppose the Constitutional right to legal counsel, and if not, why not?

Do you have a right to roads? Should asphalt pourers be forced to fix YOUR potholes? Surveyors forced to make sure its all straight and level? Where does it end in this collectivist nightmare!!

I suppose you even want teachers to educate your children for you...

he's in favor of slave lawyers iirc