Caption This Call

Yes Nancy,  I know... I get it Nancy...  Health Care reform is necessary...  Okay... buh bye.

MSNBC is in the Tank for Obama

Sometimes I think news sources which are supposed to be liberal are harder on Democrats than they are on Republicans because they want them to succeed.  Sometimes disappointment is a greater weight around the neck than is bias.

Let's Stay Focused on the Positive da da de da

Why We Call them Wingnuts

Via Tim F over at Balloon-Juice I came across this article from Al Campbell perporting to explain why conservatives are upset with the Republican Party.

Another glowing example of the problems confronting the Republican party occurred yesterday.  The Senate Republicans had the opportunity to force a full reading of the Senate's proposed health care bill so that every bit of the 2,200 pages would be made public by the reading, and so the people could become much better informed about its contents before it is passed...if it is passed.  It had the opportunity to really hold the Democrats' feet to the fire over this abominable excuse for legislation that is being crammed down the throats of a majority of Americans who want no part of it.  if nothing else, this delaying tactic would've served to cause more focus on those who were about to vote "Yes" to move this bill from Committee.

I've talked before about how the definition of wingnuts has to include a clause indicating a belief that the views of the other side have no value.  This is the only explanation I can think of for screeds like this where Campbell, who is not alone, is advocating going scorched earth on the issue of Healthcare Reform.  Lets be honest here, the far right of the Republican Party believes in going Scorched Earth on pretty much anything that doesn't meet their 100 faceted litmus test.  If it isn't how they want to do it or how they think it should be done they have no interest in it.

This is the major flaw I believe of the mentality of always wanting to meet in the middle.  To have negotiations you must know whether the party you are negotiating with is trying to make what you are doing a success or not.  Are you negotiating a cooperative arrangement or is it a competitive arrangement.   In the case of Healthcare reform the Republican Party is not trying to make the program successful, as this is not in their own best interests.  The vast majority of Republicans in the Congress view everything as a competive arrangement, not a cooperative one.  So meeting them in the middle is only serving to weaken the end result. 

They're pretty much telling us this repeatedly, but for some reason the Obama administration never really listened to what they were saying.

Somewhat like how a lot of people who voted for Obama never really listened to what he was saying I guess.

The Stop Smoking Thread

I noticed on the front page that a few of you had mentioned that you had recently quit smoking and I'm sure there are others out there that have smoked at one time or another.  I've been smoking since I was 12 or 13 and I'm 37 now.  I started smoking two packs a day when I was in my early 20s but over the past year due to stress and other factors I've spiked up in the neighborhood of 4 packs a day.  This is obviously unsustainable, physically, emotionally, and economically.  Smoking at this point is obviously hampering every aspect of my life and making it very difficult to focus on much of anything but smoking.

I'm in a new job now where the stress levels are down significantly and since I have next week off, it seems like as good of a place as any to draw the line in the sand and take my life and my finances back.

So for all those ex-smokers out there, please stop by and share your stories.  Your trials and tribulations.  Your successes and failures.  Your tips and hints.  

I'm formulating a plan so any feedback would be useful.

Who Left the Door Open???

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen and LAI, tonight I am making my return to BLRag to terrorize wingnuts everywhere.

Skinny has graciously invited me to participate in this little corner of the Rag which is to be a replacement for late Serendipity Section, combined with the rightward musing of Skinny himself.

Zoy in all his generosity has agreed to pay me one 20oz bottle of Mountain Dew per 1000 words with a bonus case of Cheetos when we get to 1000 page views per month.  That Zoy sure is a stand up guy!

To kick off this new tour, I'd like to start by delving into the big news headlines of the past couple of weeks.  Yep, Sarah Palin is back!!!  Here she is in all of her triumphant shooting wolves from a helicopter glory in an interview with Great Van Sustern just a couple of days ago....

I never realized how hot she really is.

Special thanks to Tijuana and Thomas Miller for all of their words of support in convincing Zoy to bring me back.  You guys are the best!

AGAIN!?!

Emperor Akihito decides to play a prank 
by introducing himself as George Soros.

The Double Talk Express?

So, I'm watching all the Sarah Palin hype as her book is released.  We've all seen the clips of her upcoming appearance on Oprah, and we've all heard about the previews of the book, in which she takes issue with several players in the McCain campaign for "keeping her back" and preventing her from talking to the press.  It seems--and, to be fair, I'm going from clips and excerpts here, so I could easily be wrong--that she blames the entire imbroglio with the campaign press on the McCain campaign.

Now, I'm reading and hearing all of this at the same time that she gives us this (from Politico):

The fund-raiser was advertised as closed to media coverage, [...]

What?  She closed it to the media?  But...but...I thought it was the McCain campaign that held her up by keeping her away from the press!  Well, at least we have her recent Asia speech on which to fall back for observations....oh, wait (italics added):

(CNN) – Sarah Palin's speech to investors in China later this month will be closed to the media, organizers of the event confirmed to CNN Monday. [...]   Palin, whose lack of foreign policy credentials was criticized by Democrats during the 2008 campaign, apparently was not among those speakers willing to grant members of the media access to her speech.

"For keynote presentations, it is the speaker's decision as to whether or not their sessions are closed. Several of our keynotes this year are not open to media," Wheeler said.

Why keep closing her events to the media?  If I had to guess, it's probably because she keeps coming out with gems like this (back to Politico's report of that fund-raiser):

In addition to the suggestion that government officials would consider hastening the death of the infirm or handicapped, she began her remarks with a puzzling commentary on the design of newly minted dollar coins.

Noting that there had been a lot of “change” of late, Palin recalled a recent conversation with a friend about how the phrase “In God We Trust” had been moved to the edge of the new coins.

“Who calls a shot like that?” she demanded. “Who makes a decision like that?”

She added: “It’s a disturbing trend.”

Unsaid but implied was that the new Democratic White House was behind such a move to secularize the nation’s currency.

But the new coins – concerns over which apparently stemmed from an email chain letter widely circulated among conservatives – were commissioned by the Republican-led Congress in 2005 and approved by President Bush.

Now, it's true that many criticisms along these lines are pure spin; one politician's "necessity" is another's "fraudulent waste."  In this case, however, it's a matter of simple facts.  So, she's either wrong on the facts (again), merely parroting chain-letter froth, or she's intentionally using false rhetorical inuuendo to criticize the political opposition.   (I'm reminded of her comments on the Pledge of Allegiance, made while running for Governor.)  None of these are worthy of one who would lead.

She's going to have to face the press, and do so in an antagonistic environment, or they'll be waiting for her with bated breath and bared teeth if she declares any political candidacy in the near future.  If one believes opinion polls (and I apply heavy grains of salt), it's significant to note that even the current economic crisis and Democratic lethargy have not translated to any substantial increase in her personal polling.  She's a polarizing figure, and she won't be electable if she doesn't pull (at least) some moderate Republicans and Independents into her circle - and she won't do that by evading the press.

Caption the Hillary

Hey Assad!  I'm OPEN!!  PASS me the ROCK!!!

Lou Dobbs Resigns from CNN

It appears he's been given a release from his contract to persue other interests: