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

[Joe Molotov]

Just gonna put this here:

"I say just because you're offended by it doesn't mean you don't have the right to say something just the opposite,”

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I'll never understand those people.

[Great Rumbler]

He specifically advertises his bar as "The Origional [sic] Klan Bar."

[Joe Molotov]

Klan Bar Triology

[Phoenix Dark]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/04/477921/heartland-institute-compares-climate-science-believers-and-reporters-to-mass-murderers-and-madmen/

[Joe Molotov]

And Hitler advocated gun control, derp. 

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

its worth noting that Ted Kazynski was/is some kind of super genius.  Crazier then a shithouse rat, but smarter then, well, most any climate change denier.

[Joe Molotov]

Pretty good article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/obamas-not-so-hot-date-with-wall-street.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=magazine

For the next hour, the donors relayed to Messina what their friends had been saying. They felt unfairly demonized for being wealthy. They felt scapegoated for the recession. It was a few weeks into the Occupy Wall Street movement, with mass protests against the 1 percent springing up all around the country, and they blamed the president and his party for the public’s nasty mood. The administration, some suggested, had created a hostile environment for job creators.

Messina politely pushed back. It’s not the president’s fault that Americans are still upset with Wall Street, he told them, and given the public’s mood, the administration’s rhetoric had been notably restrained.

One of the guests raised his hand; he knew how to solve the problem. The president had won plaudits for his speech on race during the last campaign, the guest noted. It was a soaring address that acknowledged white resentment and urged national unity. What if Obama gave a similarly healing speech about class and inequality? What if he urged an end to attacks on the rich? Around the table, some people shook their heads in disbelief.

One former supporter, Dan Loeb, compared Obama to Nero; the president’s enemies insinuated worse. In 2010, Stephen A. Schwarzman, a founder of Blackstone, said that an Obama proposal to raise taxes on “carried interest” — the main source of income for most private-equity managers — reminded him of “when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”

lol rich people

[Phoenix Dark]

 

[Human Snorenado]

They're really not going to get it until they start getting killed, and maybe not even then.

[Oblivion]

Once again, clearly the problem with Nero was that he was TOO involved in government.

If only he didn't raise taxes on carried interest for aureus traders, Rome would still be standing today.  :'(

[benjipwns]

Hey friends, been away for a bit and probably will be again shortly, not that you care or will notice the lack of my vile ramblings. But I will post some crap anyway.

Gary Johnson got the Libertarian nom on the first ballot despite an epic fuck up of a convention for even Libertarian standards since it only took one ballot. Yay!

Boilerplate: If you're in a "lost" state either way do look to Gary for the candidate in favor of civil liberties, anti-war (including the worst war, the War on Drugs), against NDAA, for gay marriage/rights, etc. blah blah blah I had to do it. If any of you know me, you know I've been behind him for a while now.

That said, other boilerplate: It's worth voting at the top of the ticket for third parties just to keep them on the ballot (Libertarian, Green, Constitution, etc.), ballot status matters, your vote for D or R is irrelevant, every third party vote counts. Also blah blah blah. (Disclosure: I have voted for Constitution Party aka U.S. Taxpayers Party on the Michigan ballot because they were the lowest of the parties in status.)

That out of the way, something interesting for my bros on The Bore...

One of the better Presidential quiz things so far:
http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz

If you have NoScript on, turn it off and you can pick "other stances" or whatever, they have a good number of choices outside of Yes/No. Although some of the candidates have the wrong answers. Obama and Paul had one each wrong that I noticed but I didn't look too detailed, just glancing. And like all of these quiz things there are bad questions with worse answers.

I think these were my "first time through, first choice" picks:

Ron Paul - 93%
Gary Johnson - 79%
Mitt Romney - 51%
Buddy Roemer - 39%
Jimmy McMillan - 28%
Kent Mesplay - 23%
Fred Karger - 5%
Barack Obama - 3%

Libertarian - 90%
Republican - 44%
Green - 23%
Democratic - 3%

http://www.isidewith.com/results/5504941

For fun,  here's the results of a guy I know who claims he's a "hardcore libertarian": http://www.isidewith.com/results/5505729
(dat foreign policy)

And lastly, because it's the best political story I've seen in a long while, Alabama Republican politician Bill Johnson is obsessed with donating sperm: http://blog.al.com/live/2012/05/alabama_politician_bill_johnso.html

She said Johnson plans to apply for residency so he can stay in New Zealand, and that he intends to donate sperm to additional women.

"He is obsessed with this. He doesn't want to stop," she said.
...
Johnson, a former Birmingham city councilman and cabinet member for Gov. Bob Riley, said he was unable to have children with his wife and that the desire to father a child was “a need that I have.”

Kathy Johnson, a two-time Mrs America finalist with three children from a previous relationship, said the first baby is a girl and due to arrive this month. There are at least two others, also girls, who are due in June and July, she said.

Johnson began donating sperm after arriving in Christchurch in 2011 to work on earthquake recovery. He created an online persona "chchbill" on unofficial websites for those seeking sperm donors. Some women later claimed he misled them about his background and the number of partners that he impregnated, raising concerns among New Zealand fertility specialists.

"He doesn't really know how many pregnancies there are out there. Some women were so angry they didn't want to talk to him again," she said.

[Mandark]

Aw benji, I didn't realize you were a global warming nut.  That actually makes me sad.

[benjipwns]

Depends what you mean, I picked the "best answer" but I do generally side with a Bjorn Lomborg, Ron Bailey, etc. type.

I don't reject climate change (it's natural) or human impact (seems logical) but I can't comprehend a situation where a government or any institution can control the climate of all things or even that a certain climate must be the "best" and thus preserved. Not to mention the "policy" floated to "solve" the "issue" proposed. You can't manage an economy, or a country and you want to control the climate?!?

I think there are a lot more things within our grasp that we can combat and can improve the lives of more people (AIDS, clean water, etc.) and that the inherent rising cost of energy will help us towards a better situation.

I will admit that I'm a big big insulter of any scare story, including the Day After Tomorrow, Peter Ehrlich, etc. type of stuff. Inherent skepticism. And I probably have been colored by a lot of the claims made regarding climate change (especially when models fail), but if you think I'm skeptical about that, don't read anything I write about the NBA.

Some of them were "least worse answer" if that helps. (And I could have gone multiple ways on a few like abortion, etc. and just picked the first one I thought was "acceptable.")

EDIT: Just to add, I prefer Gary Johnson over Ron Paul despite the score.

[Phoenix Dark]

New rule: the answer to any question that starts with "does Paul actually have a chance" is no

[benjipwns]

No.

But he can make noise and minor chaos at the convention. (Which he won't.)

Can't find the article now, but the GOP is freaking out at the fact that the Paul people are totally engaged and marching into conventions and sending only their delegates. One woman in a state thought she'd have their nomination for some random seat and the Paulites swarmed in (because nobody else showed up) and elected their own nominee and she threw a fit.

It's not really about derailing Romney at all, it's about putting Paul people into high up GOP positions.

[Joe Molotov]

New rule: the answer to any question that starts with "does Paul actually have a chance" is no

Wrong.

[Mandark]

I will admit that I'm a big big insulter of any scare story, including the Day After Tomorrow, Peter Ehrlich, etc. type of stuff. Inherent skepticism.

I'm not sure who exactly wants to be known as credulous and easily panicked.

The interesting part is the epistemology of sussing out just what is and isn't a false alarm.  If I were to ask Triumph of an example of a ginned up panic, he'd probably give me something like "runaway inflation caused by government spending."  Yet I know plenty of self-professed skeptics who would tell me I need to take that threat very seriously.

[Boogie]

I will admit that I'm a big big insulter of any scare story, including the Day After Tomorrow, Peter Ehrlich, etc. type of stuff. Inherent skepticism.

Well, on that note....

http://gwynnedyer.com/2012/global-civilisation-the-options/

We're all doomed.

[Oblivion]

The 17,083,388, 343th piece of evidence why Obama hates White people:

[H]alf-white Barack Obama (exactly my age) didn't say a word, even though he was talking to college kids that day.... Funny the "coolest president ever" doesn't say a word about the passing of MCA. Weird and kinda sad, actually. [...]

The president took time from his busy schedule to comment on the passing of black musicians. When Whitney Houston, a longtime crack addict, died this year, the White House put out a statement.... And when accused pedophile and drug addict Michael Jackson died in 2009, the White House weighed in with the president's thoughts. [...]

Mr. Obama is said to have 2,000 songs on his iPod, but he's never mentioned the Beastie Boys. Too bad. He could learn so much from them. Still can.

[Phoenix Dark]

I see that and raise you this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=37652626&postcount=6306

[Positive Touch]

I see that and raise you this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=37652626&postcount=6306

tim mcveigh II in training

[Human Snorenado]

I see that and raise you this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=37652626&postcount=6306

Reads like a 'Winger's greatest hit's list, complete with random capitalization of certain words for no apparent reason.

[Mandark]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/07/120507fa_fact_secor

Story by Laura Secor about visiting Iran for their equivalent of midterm elections.  Sort of turns into one of those pieces that's about the reporter's experiences, but for a reason.  It's worth reading the whole thing as there's a bit of a punchline to it.

[brawndolicious]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/07/120507fa_fact_secor

Story by Laura Secor about visiting Iran for their equivalent of midterm elections.  Sort of turns into one of those pieces that's about the reporter's experiences, but for a reason.  It's worth reading the whole thing as there's a bit of a punchline to it.

There's no way to read the article without a subscription?

[Oblivion]

Starting to like Sadly, No!  more and more each day:

http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/36971.html

[Mandark]

am nintenho: whoops, read the paper version and linked to it without checking.  Looks like it's paywall; not sure if you can use bugmenot or whatever to get by it.

[Oblivion]

lol Mittens:

During an interview with WEWS-TV in Cleveland following a campaign stop, Romney said his views helped save the industry.

"I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy," Romney said. "And finally, when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/mitt-romney-auto-industry_n_1498520.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

[Phoenix Dark]

This guy...I can't wait until he pulls that shit in a debate. Yes, a managed bankruptcy occurred but Romney was never apart of the conversations and still disagrees with the federal bailout that followed. Not even our right wing governor believes a private finance company was going to swoop in and save the auto industry. They were either going to get the federal loan or Michigan/Indiana/Ohio would be facing 15-20% unemployment, simple as that.

[Human Snorenado]

Good job, NC.  Today, my home state voted by a 60-40 margin for an unnecessary amendment to the state Constitution that outlaws gay marriage.  Oh, it also goes one step further and defines marriage exclusively as man-woman, and denies unmarried couples any kind of benefits that married couples have.  So, kids getting healthcare and women being abused are about to lose a bunch of programs they used to have access to, because a bunch of idiots wanted to spike the football of hate and do the end-zone dance of ignorance just to make doubly sure that THEM HOMOS KNOW THEIR PLACE.

Fuck this state and country.

[Great Rumbler]

From December 2006:





This is incredibly depressing to watch.

[Human Snorenado]

Schiff had a (mostly) correct diagnosis, but his prescription was pure libertopian lunacy.  Would have made shit about 20 times worse.

[Phoenix Dark]

Pretty much. Still, watching everyone laugh and dismiss his argument that the economy was weak...is stunning. Of course now they'd all blame the (slowly recovering) economy entirely on Obama lol

[Great Rumbler]

Schiff had a (mostly) correct diagnosis, but his prescription was pure libertopian lunacy.  Would have made shit about 20 times worse.

I figured as much when he started talking about gold. Still, it's just stunning to me that he was one of this tiny, tiny group of people that could see everything was on the verge of total collapse and everyone else has got sunshine and lollipops in their eyes talking about how we're on the verge of this amazing stretch of extended economic prosperity.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

To be cynical here, I think a lot more people knew it was all going to come crashing down (outside of the banks and insurance companies) than they care to admit.  The good times were rolling and they knew it was going to end but first let me make a few million dollars more while the gettin's good.  We can worry about the subsequent crash later.

[Great Rumbler]

Now that I can believe.

[Eel O'Brian]

"Thanks for the tax dollars, these'll spend just fine, and I see you didn't get any gay on them. Now go fuck yourself, taco."

Jesus. 

[Owl-faced Wizard]

[Mandark]

I still think that the eventual triumph of the gay rights movement is inevitable, but that's cold comfort if you're a gay person living in North Carolina (or most other states) today.

A hundred years from now, kids will have trouble understanding how people could be so shitty.

[Mupepe]

I still think that the eventual triumph of the gay rights movement is inevitable, but that's cold comfort if you're a gay person living in North Carolina (or most other states) today.

A hundred years from now, kids will have trouble understanding how people could be so shitty.

This.  It's been two steps forward, one step back for a while.  It will eventually get there and even accelerate as older generations pass on and with them a lot of ignorant beliefs.

[Human Snorenado]

I imagine that within the next 10-20 years, the Supreme Court will rule laws outlawing gay marriage unconstitutional, but much like miscegenation laws some states will still have meaningless laws/amendments on the books for years to come.

[Phoenix Dark]

Depends on who is on the SC in 10-15 years. Roberts, Alito, and Thomas will still be there. So depending on who gets to replace Ginsburg, things might not change anytime soon

[Stoney Mason]

I still think that the eventual triumph of the gay rights movement is inevitable, but that's cold comfort if you're a gay person living in North Carolina (or most other states) today.

A hundred years from now, kids will have trouble understanding how people could be so shitty.

This.  It's been two steps forward, one step back for a while.  It will eventually get there and even accelerate as older generations pass on and with them a lot of ignorant beliefs.

I say this all the time. The people who think that gay marriage is inevitable are deluding themselves or don't live in the South. All that will happen is the liberal places will become more tolerant and the ignorant places will entrench themselves more and more as a form of tradition. The Supreme Court is the only way such a thing will ever become nationally viable.

[Mupepe]

I don't think each state will allow it by themselves but I do believe that the national sentiment will change enough that when the Supreme Court chimes they'll rule in favor of gay marriage.

[Stoney Mason]

I don't think each state will allow it by themselves but I do believe that the national sentiment will change enough that when the Supreme Court chimes they'll rule in favor of gay marriage.

If national sentiment means every place outside of the South and other strongly leaning Republican states then I suppose. As long as Republican presidential candidates get elected and put certain ideological judges on the bench it will take decades and decades and decades. All I can say is that if you don't live in the South, you don't understand how entrenched such views are and their kids aren't going to be any more enlightened than the parents were.

[Mandark]

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_NC_050112.pdf

I don't think that's actually true, Stoney.

[Mupepe]

I don't think each state will allow it by themselves but I do believe that the national sentiment will change enough that when the Supreme Court chimes they'll rule in favor of gay marriage.

If national sentiment means every place outside of the South and other strongly leaning Republican states then I suppose. As long as Republican presidential candidates get elected and put certain ideological judges on the bench it will take decades and decades and decades. All I can say is that if you don't live in the South, you don't understand how entrenched such views are and their kids aren't going to be any more enlightened than the parents were.

I know Texas isn't the traditional South but it is extremely conservative and I have lived and have family and friends in rural East Tennessee.  I've seen a tremendous change in attitude over the last 10 years or so.  When I was younger I remember my grandmother saying "fags shouldn't marry" and how it's an abomination.  In 2009 when I was visited her she told me that this country cares too much about who's having sex with who and that they should be able to do what they want.  I know it's all anecdotal, but I'm hard pressed to think of anyone I know that is truly against gay marriage especially from a younger generation.  I'm not saying they don't exist.  I'm saying that public sentiment is changing so much that even most of them feel like it's not a good idea to go about ranting and raving anymore.  The tide is turning IMO.

[Mandark]

I think it's telling that anti-gay activists feel the need to avoid explicit homophobia, and use roundabout arguments like the religious freedom one.  It's a sign that the norms are shifting towards tolerance.

Of course we'll still get that weird thing like we have with racism, where it's still pretty common but nobody will cop to it.  In a few decades people will be accusing each other of "pulling the gay card".

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

On the contrary, I think gay marriage will be ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court within 10-15 years.

It will need to be done by the Supreme Court as there will be a lot of states doubling down on the homo hating and not enough people in Congress + the President will have enough balls to sign it into a law, let alone an amendment.

[Human Snorenado]

Sigh.  Obama just did the right thing, but he also just lost any chance of carrying Virginia or NC in the general.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Sigh.  Obama just did the right thing, but he also just lost any chance of carrying Virginia or NC in the general.

Thanks for posting a link buddy

[Phoenix Dark]

Well as Michelle Obama would say, today is the first day I feel proud to be an American in my adult life. I didn't think he had the balls, or was a strong enough leader to take this stand in such a close election. Good to see he finally realized the people must butthurt about gay marriage aren't voting for him anyway, and democrats who don't support it (like black people) will vote for him regardless, and will certainly know that Obama can't wave a magic wand and institute gay marriage.

And perhaps more importantly, I get to troll Gaborn nonstop now

[Mandark]

Sigh.  Obama just did the right thing, but he also just lost any chance of carrying Virginia or NC in the general.

Thanks for posting a link buddy

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=obama+gay+marriage

[Mupepe]

Oh shit.  Yes, yes, yes.  I really didn't think he'd have the balls to do it until after the election.  But Biden put his feet to the fire..
http://gma.yahoo.com/obama-announces-his-support-for-same-sex-marriage.html

[Oblivion]

http://dailykos.com/story/2012/05/09/1090136/-President-Obama-to-ABC-News-Same-sex-marriage-should-be-legal-

[Phoenix Dark]

Sigh.  Obama just did the right thing, but he also just lost any chance of carrying Virginia or NC in the general.

Yea, people are completely going to decide gays getting married trumps the economy on their priority list now...

Obama is up 7-8 points in Virginia right now, and NC is close. I don't think he'll win NC, but he has a damn good chance at Virginia due to the demographic changes. And of course if he wins Virginia, the election is over

[Himu]

i have my local nbc news channel liked on fb

when obama announced it, they said BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!! and i just laughed. oh texas.

[Mupepe]

Newsfix did the same thing, Himu.  Reading the comments is sad

[Oblivion]

Sigh.  Obama just did the right thing, but he also just lost any chance of carrying Virginia or NC in the general.

On national poll last weekend we found most voters opposed to legal recognition for gay couples ALREADY think Obama supports gay marriage

[Owl-faced Wizard]

Sigh.  Obama just did the right thing, but he also just lost any chance of carrying Virginia or NC in the general.

On national poll last weekend we found most voters opposed to legal recognition for gay couples ALREADY think Obama supports gay marriage

While that's hilarious ... we all know he did personally.