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Does anyone else get the feeling...?
02-27-2013, 02:42 AM
...that Obama has basically decided, "F!ck it, I'm on my second term anyway, I'm going to kick asses until some one starts getting things done?" He seems to be taing a rather harder line than the "Let's all work together, because it's all we need to get these thorny problems solved" platform he was originally elected on. Of course, Congress spent the entirety of his first term singing "Superfranticunproductivenothinglegislation" and generally refusing to budge from the party talking points save at gunpoint
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And why should he? He tried "we're all in this together" approach and the GOP said, "Nah we can get a better deal when the Republican president is voted in in 2013."
Well, it's 2013. The GOP is doubling down. At least they expect him to act like Mitt Romney. Boehmer and Cantor look like they've been sucking on lemons since last November. They're gambling the possibility that they'll lose in the general election because it's certain they'll lose the primary if they abandon the Tea Party "purity". Also they forget their history. The last time this happened, the GOP lost big time in the mid-terms.
The President is a man who has a short time to solidify his legacy. The GOP is not willing to make a deal. Go figure.
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That's pretty much what I was saying, yeah. I don't see how the Do-Nothing Congress can possibly think this kind of obstructionism won't come back on them though - the general opinion around here is that it's time to flush the toilet on Capitol Hill, with everything that's piled up there recently. In so many words.
ETA - and that's the diehard Republicans!
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
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From what I've seen in the news and from talking to folks, the average citizen who identifies as Republican would be considered a dangerous leftist by those running the party -- which means they're much closer to middle-of-the-road than any elected Republican since Reagan.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
I read an amusing article recently about how the Republicans should introduce the Barack Obama Campaign Promise Implementation Act of 2013. Too bad it will never happen...
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Tut-Tut.That's not fair, he's cherry-picking on his campaign promises.
That law should mandate every single campaign promise Obama made. That way, with one contradicting the other, government would get completely paralysed.
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Why stop at one president? Make it general, applying to all elected officials and their promises!
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Then the horns kicked in...
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Governments would never go anywhere if you did that, Bob
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That's the point. 'Nowhere' is the best place for governments to go.
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ECSNorway Wrote:That's the point. 'Nowhere' is the best place for governments to go. I sincerely doubt that most Somalis would agree.
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
I'm fairly certain that most Somalis would agree that they're very tired of foreigners who know what's best for Somalis and are determined to give it to them good and hard.
There's actually a book you can still find about what Somalis have traditionally had instead of a conventional government: The Law of the Somalis.
To summarize, it's similar to the Lunar society depicted in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
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An "unconventional" government is still a government...
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I notice that petition seems to have "forgotten" donations from organizations which are not companies.
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khagler Wrote:I notice that petition seems to have "forgotten" donations from organizations which are not companies. "Individual donations under $1000 are exempt."
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Rob Kelk
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Unions are no more Real Persons than corporations are, and should be equally barred from political speech.
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Oh? So American workers shouldn't have a political voice at all?
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American workers can make speeches, participate in elections, and (most importantly) go out and vote.
Unions don't need to duplicate this. (Especially if the union higher-ups want to support a politician that the rank-and-file membership don't like.)
Edit: In fact, that might be an easier way to phrase the petition: No contributions from anyone who isn't on the voters' list. No corporate donations, no union donations, no foreign donations... and a smaller pool of campaign funding means fewer attack ads on TV, which is a bonus.
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
The petition's got nothing to do with who should or shouldn't have a political voice at all. It's about (to an extent) forcing politicians to show clearly what voices they're listening to. In California, for instance, most the them should have great big logos reading "Prison Guards Union" across their chests...
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There is another petition out there to restrict political speech to natural persons only -- ie, actual people, not corporate entities. I fully support it... as long as it includes ALL corporate entities, such as unions.
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Quote:robkelk wrote:
American workers can make speeches, participate in elections, and (most importantly) go out and vote.
Unions don't need to duplicate this. (Especially if the union higher-ups want to support a politician that the rank-and-file membership don't like.)
Edit: In fact, that might be an easier way to phrase the petition: No contributions from anyone who isn't on the voters' list. No corporate donations, no union donations, no foreign donations... and a smaller pool of campaign funding means fewer attack ads on TV, which is a bonus.
Indeed. Especially the bolded bit. If I ever again join a union, I don't want my dues spent on politicians whose position I abhor.
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Well, if you can effectively neutralize the voice of a board of executives in Congress, then I guess you may be able to get away with getting rid of the political voice of unions as well. Just don't expect to get rid of them entirely - I don't think the American labor forces would stand for it.
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BA, every individual union member, including the board, is free to give their own personal money to any politician they want. Same with the corporate board. They just shouldn't be allowed to spend anyone ELSE's money for it.
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On the topic of the original post... this
wasn't quite what I meant, but even though the line at 1:05 probably applies in general and in many specific cases, it does look like a fun action movie. Their expy prez is quite a bit blacker than the one who actually managed to get elected, but I consider that a positive sign for the future myself.
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Why do I KNOW... I just KNOW... without ever seeing anything on this before. With no google look-up or IMDB...
I KNOW. Without the slightest shadow of a doubt - that the bad guys in that film are going to be some form of "right wing" militia nutcases?
*sigh*
I guess I can console myself with the thought that since this is a Roland Emmerich movie that no one is meant to take this in any way seriously in the first place.
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