"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[The Fake Shemp]

It's not accusing if it's true. More like stating.

[Barry Egan]

.

[Mandark]

Whole buncha rambling

You'll basically fall in love any politician who regularly enrages his own party's activist base, won't you?  McCain, Bloomberg, Lieberman, Bayh, Giuliani.  They just buy you a drink, whisper sweet nothings about bipartisanship, and it's over.

But they never respect you in the morning.

[Dickie Dee]

The real racists are those accusing others of racism 

[Phoenix Dark]

The real racists are people who think only white people can be racist.

[Mandark]

When conservatives talk about the "real racists" it reminds me of OJ promising to look for "the real killers".

Which might make me racist.

[Phoenix Dark]

Sounds like there's no place for you in Real America

[recursivelyenumerable]

So does my vague impression that the whole Tea Party thing has petered out have a basis in reality?  I'm thinking now that we've got the obligatory right-wing demagoguery thingy out of the way, we can start preparing for the inevitable socialist revolution.

[Brehvolution]

Let's cut the bull here. There has always been a resentment of big government, fiscal waste, and high-dollar bailouts. These people are only given the microphone when the republicans are out of office. This is nothing new. This isn't a grassroots movement AT ALL!

[Phoenix Dark]

It's just the republican party re-branding itself, and a rather successful attempt so far.

[The Fake Shemp]

I say Democrats do the same thing. Why not just create a Socialist Party?

[Human Snorenado]

The proper way to think of the Tea Partiers is this:  about 3 out of 10 Americans (maybe) would probably identify themselves as tea partiers, which is less than the number who believe in guardian angels or bigfoot.

[Stoney Mason]

The Tea Party people are the new Patriots standing up for their constitutional rights.

And they are white. Which means their concerns are extra valid and the media should cover them a lot.

[Phoenix Dark]

Assuming Palin doesn't run in 2012, I wonder which candidate will get the Tea Party seal of approval. I just can't see them lining up in excitement for Romney

[Phoenix Dark]

he Anthem Blue Cross saga appears to have a happy ending: After criticism from the administration, the insurer has delayed the planned 40 percent rate hike. That will give the company time to reevaluate whether it's worth the blow-back, and I'd guess there's a good chance it never takes effect at all.

But if this is a good outcome, it's a not a good policy. The insured can't depend on someone in the White House's communications shop noticing when an insurer tries to screw its customers. What we need is an actual policy standing between the insured and the grim incentives of their insurers. That's what health-care reform is meant to be, and the Anthem saga is a good example of how it would work.

The Senate bill contains two separate categories of provisions that would stand between the insured and what Anthem attempted in California. The first are consumer protections that could be invoked if an insurer tried to raise rates precipitously. The second are market reforms that make it less likely for an insurer to try, and less calamitous for individuals if the insurer succeeds.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/02/a_california_insurer_shows_how.html#more
(rest at link)

Great article explaining how the health care bill will prevent outrageous price hikes like the recent Anthem BC case in California. Ezra also points out that the whole affair serves as a great pivot point to change the discussion on health care from politics to policy. The timing couldn't be better for the summit.

And Fox New's view

The hosts were uninterested with how the increasing rates would affect customers and struggling families in California. Instead, the pair attacked Fluegel for re-energizing advocates for health reform. Payne groaned, asking Fluegel why he didn’t "take Wall Street’s lead" and "wait for this to blow over and maybe a year from now try to hike rates":

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/16/837360/-Fox:-The-Wellpoint-Rate-Increase-Was-Bad-Because-it-Re-energized-HCR
seriously

[Van Cruncheon]

Someone should tell tea partiers that most libertarians they so identify with would legalize drugz n hookerz.

and awesome abortionz

aborting disgusting poor babies

[Oblivion]

So I come to find out my roommate's a birther. He insists that chain e-mails are more accurate in reporting than newspapers and independent fact checkers. 

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

So I come to find out my roommate's a birther. He insists that chain e-mails are more accurate in reporting than newspapers and independent fact checkers. 

Shit, so I did win the UK National Lottery?

Shit, to think I turned down all of those millions upon millions of dollars by ignoring the pleas of rich Nigerian princes :'(

[ToxicAdam]

Since we're talking about fringe movements, ever hear of the "tenther's"? This CNN article was the first time I ever heard of them.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/10/tenth.amendment.movement/index.html

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I heard about them a few months ago.  Glenn Beck had a special about them where he interviewed a renowned tenther.

I'm just fortunate the tailer movement never got off the ground (a chain e-mail that reports Obama was born with a tail)

[Phoenix Dark]

Since we're talking about fringe movements, ever hear of the "tenther's"? This CNN article was the first time I ever heard of them.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/10/tenth.amendment.movement/index.html

i clicked expecting %10er knowledge yo

[Human Snorenado]

That's cool, the next time a state that wants to pass a resolution "with teeth" comes crying for some delicious federal money to keep paying their teachers/cops/firemen/whatever Big Daddy Fed can just say no.

[Mandark]

It's almost endearingly naive to believe that there are a set of moral rules floating in the ether which could lead us all to a better tomorrow, if only we would just listen.

But laws?  Written, implemented, interpreted, and enforced by people?  We're meant to believe that they have a single, objective, intrinsic meaning wholly independent of human society?  Really?

[Human Snorenado]

Wow, I'm shocked to find out that the Federal govt. takes more money than it needs.  Those budget deficits I keep hearing about must be made up bullshit then.

[Mandark]

What you are indirectly deriding is the notion that the 10th Amendment has meaning, and that the meaning doesn't change based upon society.

Yes, I am deriding that notion.  Good of you to pick up on that.

Five points to Hufflepuff.

[Mandark]

If the "parties involved" are the people who signed it then they're dead and I don't see why they should tell me what to do.

If it means "the American people, as a historically contiguous group" then we've already given our consent to change it, by choosing to generally obey and enforce the modern interpretation of the 10th.

[Eric P]

    The Mount Vernon Statement  Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21st Century

    We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.

    These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.

    Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America's principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The selfevident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.

    Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead -- forward or backward, up or down? Isn't this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?

    The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

    The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature's God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man's self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.

    The conservatism of the Constitution limits government's powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.

    A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America's safety and leadership role in the world.

    A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.

    * It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.

    * It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.

    * It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.

    * It supports America's national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.

    * It informs conservatism's firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.

    If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.

    We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America's founding principles.

    February 17, 2010

[Eric P]

thankfully this is all pretty straightforward and not at all obfuscated through codification into simple statements with which no person could possibly object.

[Mandark]

Once again, for the cheap seats.

By treating the US federal government as a legitimate authority, the public has given its implied consent to the set of laws as they currently exist and are enforced.  If there is a social contract, then that is the one that they have chosen to bind themselves to.

[The Fake Shemp]

We have remedied it by other means, by abiding by a new social contract.

[Mandark]

JD: Per the terms, your current state representatives could call for a constitutional convention right now.  If that is what you wish, by all means, advocate it and convince others to do the same.

[Green Shinobi]

I think what Jay Dubya is saying is that sure, any statement can be interpreted in a number of different ways, but there is a range of reasonable interpretations beyond which the interpretation is clearly in violation of the meaning of the statement. And in his opinion, the way that the 10th Amendment is currently applied falls outside the range of reasonable interpretations one could draw from the text.

[Mandark]

Instead, I simply advocate that it live up to the terms of the contract we already have.

Who?

[Van Cruncheon]

I think I see why your lot so fears corporations, if you think contracts are inherently meaningless things that can change at any time without the consent of the parties involved.

gee, history and sociology wouldn't give us any reason to believe otherwise would it

[Brehvolution]

  * It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.

Unless you're gay or have a uterus.

* It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.

Except if you try to bring to the market a similar product for a cheaper price.

[Dickie Dee]

Mount Vernon To Right Wingers: You're Not Welcome Here
Ben Frumin | February 17, 2010, 12:35PM

A lot's been made of the conservative signing later today of "The Mount Vernon Statement" -- the right's "restatement of Constitutional conservatism."

But it turns out that not only is today's signing taking place several miles away from the actual Mount Vernon -- 4.4 miles by car, by our count -- but conservatives asked to sign their declaration at the real Mount Vernon, and were denied.

Melissa Wood, media relations manager for Mount Vernon, tells us that the conservative group "did make a formal request to use Mount Vernon for this announcement. The request by the Mount Vernon Statement group was denied due to Mount Vernon's events policy."

George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate is owned and maintained in trust for the people of the United States by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, a private, non-profit organization. The Association permits outside organizations, companies, or groups to host special events and meetings on the Estate in approved locations. Political, fund-raising, and personal events including, but not limited to, weddings, christenings, bar/bat mitzvahs, or birthday parties, are not permitted.An exception, Wood noted, has been made in the past for presidents. Former President George W. Bush, for instance, was welcomed at Mount Vernon.

"For the president, we feel that George Washington would have hosted them here," Wood said.

LOLOLOL

[Phoenix Dark]

"For the president, we feel that George Washington would have hosted them here," Wood said.

probably would ask Obama if Jefferson was his father, then tell him to refill his drink

[Brehvolution]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/palin-trumps-obama---on-a_b_457788.html

A quick review of the organizers behind what the National Journal calls "12 Key Tea Party Players to Watch" gives us the following:

- a Republican Senator (Tom Coburn)
- a wealthy New York real estate developer (Howard Rich)
- the ultraconservative head of Koch Industries (David Koch)
- a former Republican House Majority Leader (Dick Armey)
- the son of a Republican Member of Congress (Ned Ryun)
- the former campaign manager for a Republican Member of Congress (Frank Anderson)
- a former Republican member of the California Assembly (Howard Kaloogian)
- a fulminating Fox News mouthpiece (Glenn Beck)
- a former speechwriter for George H. W. Bush (Michael Johns)

It seems as if the only influential individual without glaring ties to the GOP or the ultra-right is the organizer of the Convention that hosted Palin, and he's a Nashville DUI attorney. (Write your own joke, as Ed McMahon used to say.) If the GOP/Tea Party connection isn't obvious enough already, in South Carolina they made it official. The Republican party and the Tea Partiers agreed to share a variety of resources, turning a long-time flirtation into a vow of marriage.

The "anti-bank" Tea Party movement's a Republican front, and Republicans are actively marketing themselves to Wall Street as a better - make that even better - bang for their campaign contribution buck than the Democrats.

The GOP's push for "less regulation" is exactly what the banking industry needs to confirm its absolute dominance over the American economy. It would ensure that its excesses are never curbed, perpetuating a system where bankers reap the rewards of success and taxpayers bear the cost of failure. And what's the other centerpiece of Republican economic policy?

Privatizing Social Security.

Where would everybody's Social Security dollars go under a privatization scheme? Why, to Wall Street, of course. The Tea Party plan is simple: Use anti-bank rage to help the Republicans win, so they can give banks even more power. Can the banksters really outsmart the Democrats and pull off a trick like that? From the look of things, the answer might well be:

You betcha.

[Phoenix Dark]

^^^
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2010/02/07/palin/index.html

same people, same beliefs. Only difference is the teapartiers hijacked some of Ron Paul's American Revolution rhetoric/cosplay.

[brawndolicious]

Plain English text can't bear its own meaning.   

Like the second amendment amirite?

[Oblivion]

    * It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.

Didn't the U.S. formally adopt the rough idea of free market capitalism as most people know it around the mid to late 1800s?

[Eric P]

I can't stand being lied to, that, and arrogance and condescension, cockiness, unwarranted conceit, those kind of human characters just drive me nuts.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_021710/content/01125100.guest.html

[Phoenix Dark]

I can't stand being lied to, that, and arrogance and condescension, cockiness, unwarranted conceit, those kind of human characters just drive me nuts.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_021710/content/01125100.guest.html

 

we need an obama deal with it emote. or better yet for butthurt conservatives, a lil jon deal with it emote.

[Human Snorenado]

I keep running into this argument that raising the marginal tax rate on individuals making over $250,000 will hurt small businesses, and I just don't get it. It's a tax against the owner and any employees making over that amount, not against the business itself.

It's also a tax ONLY ON ANY MONEY EARNED ABOVE 250K.  So, say you make 260k.  You'll only pay the higher taxes on 10k of that.  OH THE HORRORS.

[Mandark]

It's because some small businesses file their taxes as individuals, so the marginal rates would apply to them as well.  I really don't know the details, but I think it's fair to call it conservatarian FUD and pay it no mind.

[Brehvolution]

Please, think of the trickle down. 

[Oblivion]

If you raise taxes on the poor widdle small businesses even though the tax is only on profits, and it's only on every dollar over $250k, they're all gonna lose the incentive to work, and instead be forced to shut down and move to Canada.  :'(

[Mandark]

Remember the 1950's, when the top marginal rate of 90% plunged us into a depression and destroyed the nation's small businesses?  Hence Norman Rockwell painting all those stark, dystopian pictures of the US.

[Oblivion]

What did you expect to happen under a typical tax and spend liberal like Eisenhower.

[Phoenix Dark]

What did you expect to happen under a typical tax and spend liberal like Eisenhower.

hence Mad Men being a post apocalyptic show

[Human Snorenado]

It would just be quicker and easier to kill all of the stupid people.  Drop some napalm on the next teabagger rally.

[brawndolicious]

Judging from studies analyzing voting trends among college educated Americans vs non college educated Americans, if public education were fully subsidized in this country, the entire electorate would probably experience a noticeable and permanent shift to the left.

well obviously.  that's not to say that conservative "ideals" are bad (fiscal responsibility especially), it's just the ideologue hacks that run the party are idiots.

[Green Shinobi]

So is the Employee Free Choice Act completely dead at this point?

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

It would just be quicker and easier to kill all of the stupid people.  Drop some napalm on the next teabagger rally.

Yep.  That or just announce some free NASCAR races or free Toby Keith concerts.  Then once the people are there, napalm away.

[Dickie Dee]

[Phoenix Dark]

[youtube=560,345]DAud30dP-lM[/youtube]
hardy har har

[The Fake Shemp]

I like that one girl who had this NOT AMUSED look on her face for about ten seconds until she realized she was on camera.

[Dickie Dee]

Family Guy Actress with Down Syndrome's Sarah Palin Smackdown Too Hot for NYT

The latest twist in the important controversy of Family Guy making fun of Trig Palin: An actress with Down syndrome said Sarah Palin "does not have a sense of humor." She was in the offending episode. Updated with more zing!

Andrea Fay Friedman played the girl with Down syndrome Chris dated in the episode. (Her IMDB says she's been on Saving Grace, Law & Order: SVU and 7th Heaven among other shows.) She was the one who said the fateful line which incurred Sarah Palin's facebook-based ire: "My dad's an accountant, and my mom's the former governor of Alaska." (Gawker.tv has got the clip.) And she has something to say to no-fun Sarah Palin, which she said in an email to the New York Times.

However! It appears that what the Times printed was just the nice portion of a much meaner email Friedman sent out to various media outlets. The blog Palingates has published the uncensored email:

My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the "Extra Large Medium" episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentine's day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in " Smudge" but I was a blonde in "Life Goes On". I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line "I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska" was very funny. I think the word is "sarcasm".

In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.
How does one say in English... "Zing?" The Times, however, stops at "my parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life." They must have done the calculations and figured that being able to interview Sarah Palin in the future was worth more than printing Friedman's awesome email in full. How mainstream media. It's too bad, because the best part about Friedman's response was also the point—such as there was one—of the Family Guy gag: Palin used Trig so blatantly as a campaign tool, and positions herself so squarely as the voice of the disabled community (see: "death panels"), that of course the one person with Down syndrome to appear in the Family Guy episode would be related to her.

We can think of many, many well-meaning but possibly 'edgy' jokes to make right now. But we're watching the Olympics and don't feel like reading a bunch of pissed-off comments from people who would, like Sarah Palin, take these jokes the wrong way. So, let's just say: Excellent work, Andrea Fay Friedman. Stop being so wimpy, New York Times. And: U-S-A! U-S-A!

[Mandark]

If that burn were any sicker, it'd have to be moved to hospice care.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I came in here to post that legendary burn