Indefinite Detention? But I Have Soccer Practice at 4: U.S. Politics 2012

i pretty much don't agree with that at all. i like yves smith plenty but i don't think her political acumen is all that

I'm no Cap'n Save Obama but I found a lot of generalizations in that piece. Besides, if we mean utility I prefer Warren in the Senate, in which she'll have a modicum of influence, than outside kicking against the Obama pricks.

yeah I think a reliably left wing and well-spoken senator
(in one of the only states where that's 'safe') is worth more than some symbolic figure. she will have plenty of political independence as a senator and gets about as much camera time as she wants.

Frankly, in an era of anti-contraception, anti-choice fervor, another woman in the Senate canot but be an excellent thing if no other reason than to publicly shame some of the shitheads presently therein.

Name a progressive Senator who has been able to do much to champion progressive ideas there? Sanders? Franken? Whitehouse? Sherrod Brown? I love all those guys, and like Sanders and especially Franken, Warren would presumably be able to leverage her public support to push some ideas through. But are any of them more effective at championing progressive values than Warren was before her White House gig, when she regularly appeared on the media and excoriated the banks in terms that made sense to real people?

I do not agree with this. There is strength in congressional numbers, that could help all those named folks, plus I don't think the comparison between their prior effectiveness and hers conveys how effective she would be in the future if elected.

Warren would presumably be able to leverage her public support to push some ideas through. But are any of them more effective at championing progressive values than Warren was before her White House gig, when she regularly appeared on the media and excoriated the banks in terms that made sense to real people?

Classic bad political writing: mitigate the punch of your concession with a flabby adverb ("presumably") or pronoun ("some"), then follow it with a rhetorical question.

from an older article about why Brown is ahead:

Nearly two-thirds of independents also believe there is a benefit to having one Democratic and one Republican senator representing Massachusetts. As a whole, 60% of general election voters agreed that split party representation was beneficial.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/17/news/la-pn-poll-scott-brown-leads-elizabeth-warren-in-massachusetts-20120217

I bet those same folks who like split party representation also complain that Congress is not getting anything done

god what a bunch of morons

it's massachusetts, some of them are literally morans probably

I think people are pretty slow when it comes to understanding how american politics has changed over the years, there was a time when divided government meant 'compromise', it does not anymore

http://www.mediaite.com/online/sen-hatch-obama-traded-hardhat-for-hipster-fedora-and-double-skim-latte/

“President Obama has traded in the hard hat and lunch bucket category of the Democratic Party for the hipster fedora and a double skim latte,” he said. “The president is putting the preferred lifestyle policies of wealthy urbanites ahead of the needs of blue-collar and union workers and middle-class Americans.”

c'mon, nobody puts their lunch in a bucket

Nobody puts lunchy in a bucket

Gingrich puts his ice in a bucket.

I'm sure Hatch knows construction workers. Who are you to doubt he knows how they eat?

Romney knows ceos of construction companies.

the more important question is who told Orrin what a hipster is

orrin's down with the kids

that descrip is str8 beatniks

when in doubt, stick with the hipsters equivalent from your formative years

http://www.alafista.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/images/december10/149.jpg

why do GOPers hate lattes so

church of jesus christ of latte-day saint

It would be so cool if Obama actually wore a hipster fedora.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cqSebcIcKxQ/TPp6MQoYYHI/AAAAAAAABOU/24XGjN-WgQE/s1600/Fly-Guy-600x300.jpg

http://superhumanoids.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/obama_youth_04.jpg

This was posted on the Rush L. thread but thought I'd post it here also:

The GOP’s top megaphone viciously attacked law student and women’s health advocate Sandra Fluke on air.

First he called her a “slut” and a “prostitute.” Then added, “So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives ... We want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

he wants to watch them purchase contraceptives?

The pill, condoms, they're all the same.

viagra...

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/virginia-court-rejects-climate-skeptics-demand-for-records/

The Virginia Supreme Court today ruled that Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a climate change skeptic, may not use a Virginia fraud law to obtain from the University of Virginia the private communication records of a professor formerly employed there with an expertise on climate change (who Cuchinelli believes used fraudulent data).

The ACLU of Virginia had filed an amicus brief with the high court arguing that the constitutionally-protected right of academic freedom should prevent Cuccinelli from obtaining the records.

The professor is Michael Mann, an extremely prominent researcher who has been under constant attack ever since he put out the infamous "hockey stick" graph:

http://i40.tinypic.com/20rzep.gif

deniers tried to tear him down (via specious attacks on ethics, character, and underlying research) because the graph is so striking and it (rightfully) scares out of some people. since republicans are so desperate to discredit him, he's been the subject of several investigations - 3 in the U.K., 2 by Penn State, the EPA, the NOAA IG - all of which have found that the allegations against him and his research are unfounded. Anyway, Cuccinelli's attack is just the latest in a series, and I'm sure there will be more.

Just wanted to add a little context because if you only see a tidbit like that and then don't think about it again the rest of the day, the brain works in such a way that the only thing you might remember is "climate researcher...possible fraud...but court won't allow access to records...", when the key thing you should be remembering imo is "celebrated, important climate researcher...deniers /fossil fuel industry / gop out to attack science again, failing yet again...what a bunch of assholes"

I assume Mann's a bajillionaire now, he must really be raking it in with this hoax amirite

i have to admit that mann's hoax goldmine is how i get my own funding as well, along with everyone else that tries to mitigate climate change. BONANZA

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2012/03/detroit_is_the_real_flyover_co.html

Want to bulldoze a stable African-American business district in Detroit for an interstate? The answer: Absolutely, spare no expense! Want to improve Detroit’s public transportation decimated by 50 years of bad federal policy? The answer comes back: WE’RE TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY AND SOMETHING ABOUT THE BLACKS!

The ALL CAPS are intentional because heartland Americans paying AOL bills with their Social Security checks are biologically incapable of discussing politics in lower case on the Internet.

The truth is places like Detroit, New Orleans, and Baltimore are the real flyover country. They are ignored and dismissed as a national burden, while Washington enables rural communities that have long-ago outlived their economic viability.

So you will have to forgive me, Mr. Santorum, if I have no sympathy left for America’s rustics. They already took my money and left my city for dead.

otm

Jerry Brown asks Moonie Times reporter if he is, in fact, a Moonie

Reporter: Gov. Brown, you’ve gotten criticism that you’ve ceded…
Brown: I’ve gotten criticism? Only from the Washington Times…

Reporter: I understand that you’ve gotten some criticism that you’ve ceded way too much to the unions.

Brown: Give me an example.

Reporter: As far as the education, teachers unions, and just as far as some of the contracts that have been negotiated, that you could be making the same mistake that you made in your last administration...

Brown: Which one was that?

Reporter: … Back in the day.  

Brown: When California had a $6-billion surplus and was leading America, if not the world, in many different fields?

Reporter: Well, right now it’s going bankrupt.

Brown: That’s untrue. I’ve reduced the deficit that was left to me by a Republican governor from $26 billion to $9 billion and I have a plan to reduce it to zero.

Reporter: So you’re saying that the reason that California is going bankrupt is...

Brown: No, that’s not true. We’re going far. I mean, we’re doing quite well.

Duran: You need to ask a question that’s based on the truth.

Brown (to Duran): You don’t have to argue with her…

Duran: No, S&P just upgraded to positive. That’s not bankrupt.

Reporter: No, actually, because when Reagan came in later on, things actually changed.

Brown: No, Reagan came before me. Reagan came after my father and then I came after Reagan.

Reporter: And then you actually lost your term thereafter, no?

Brown: No, I’m the only Democratic governor in history to serve three terms. In fact only two governors have ever served a third term.

Reporter: So why is it then, that we’re seeing from the bankruptcy though...

Duran: There is no bankruptcy. That’s a lie. You’re lying.

Brown: California has a $2-trillion economy.

Reporter: Why am I a liar?

Brown: Last year… Are you a Moonie by any chance?

Reporter: Sir…

Duran: And your facts are totally wrong. I can prove it to you.

Brown: Because your incisiveness is kind of suspect. Anyway. California, the economy is doing better, it’s coming back. The private economy added $90 billion, and that feeds into the public sector as well. There are deficits because there’s been excesses in the last decade, brought on principally by the mortgage bubble and breakdown. And we’re now cleaning up after that mess. It does take a while to do that. I’d say we’re on a very positive course. Not as rapid as I would like, but the trajectory is all in the right direction.

Reporter: Thank you, sir.

LOL

The reporter tangled with the wrong moonbeam, I guess...

lol. kinda love Jerry, even tho there has been a lot of harsh shit in his budgets (kinda unavoidable when you can't raise taxes)

Reporter: No, actually, because when Reagan came in later on, things actually changed.
(HAH GOTCHA)

Brown: No, Reagan came before me. Reagan came after my father and then I came after Reagan.

(FFFFFUUUUUUUUU...OKAY OKAY UHHHHMM)
Reporter: And then you actually lost your term thereafter, no?

Brown: No, I’m the only Democratic governor in history to serve three terms. In fact only two governors have ever served a third term.

(WHAT THE FUCK? THREE TERMS? ABORT! Aaaaand EJECT)
Reporter: So why is it then, that we’re seeing from the bankruptcy though...

have a feeling reporter was referring to Reagan presidency and then got confused by Brown referring to Reagan's terms as governor

but perhaps that's being charitable

I think you're right. But the reporter still comes off looking like he/she brought a knife to a gun fight, lol

and a butter knife at that

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/holder-expected-to-explain-rationale-for-targeting-us-citizens-abroad/2012/03/04/gIQACz41qR_story.html?hpid=z2

Greenwald will probably be responding to this for a week or more

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/03/my-forecast-barack-obama-will-be-reelected-and-he-wont-do-much

lol no way he's totally gonna be really liberal in his second term!!

Do rightwingers using that as a scare technique even believe that?

that's really hard to say