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

[Yeti]

[chronovore]

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2012-11-08-1.html


i'm certain the author of beloved children's book "Ender's War" has some insightful words about the election and media coverage of the president.

but really it's all amazing

Now America has only two choices.

One choice is for the Republican House to investigate Benghazi, struggling to expose the truth about Barack Obama's high crimes and misdemeanors, both in his culpable negligence during the attack on our consulate, and in his repeated lies afterward to try to conceal his malfeasance.

You will, of course, support the Beloved Leader in his stonewalling, his refusal to supply documents. You will treat all his lies as if they were not lies; you will ignore the story as much as possible, calling it "old news."

Above all, you will attack the Republican Congressmen as you attacked Kenneth Starr, making them pay such a high price for trying to do your job and uncover the truth that they may well give up. You know, the way you all fell in line to attack Romney for criticizing the administration's response to the attacks on our embassy and consulate.

On the other hand, inside the military, the CIA, and the State Department, there are a lot of angry public servants who now understand that the Beloved Leader does not care about them, that he will abandon them to our enemies, that he will not protect them from terrorists if it isn't politically useful to him.

These disillusioned, angry people will make sure that the evidence is given to the Republicans in the House, and the genuine reporters at Fox News, and the real journalists scattered here and there across the country, and the bloggers on the internet who are unafraid of the truth.

Oh, you'll sneer at or vilify them all, when they do your job and tell the truth about the Beloved Leader.

Still, it's possible that we will be able to impeach this lying incompetent president that is getting a second term only because of your cooperation with his lies. It's possible that we can undo the damage you have done.

But far more likely is the other alternative -- that, faced with your monolithic groupthink, your insistent flacking for the Beloved Leader, your dishonesty that is equal to his dishonesty, your emulation of Pravda, the Republicans in Congress will give up, Fox News will drop the story, it will all go away, and the Beloved Leader will continue in power.

Then, when his appeasement of our enemies results in a nuclear explosion in Tel Aviv ...

When more and more Al-Qaeda-style attacks kill more Jews and more Americans around the world ...

When Obama's incompetent and anti-scientific economic policies have the consequences that such policies always have, and the American economy collapses under the weight of debts and entitlements ...

When Obama's crushing policies result in American healthcare sinking to the low level of service, the endless waiting lists, the needless death and suffering in the name of "fairness" that already afflict Europeans and Canadians ...

When the burden of ever-steeper taxes moves capital and industry and innovation to other countries ...

Will you step forward and take responsibility, and say, "We should have known; in fact we did know, but we did not tell you"?

Will you accept accountability for your lies and omissions in support of the Beloved Leader, for your slanders of the opponents of the Beloved Leader, for your having put your ideology and group loyalty above any notion of truth and honor?

It's sad to see this. Normally I am pretty good about being able to separate someone's craft from their personal opinions and values, but I don't think I'll be able to read any Orson Scott Card again.

[Madrun Badrun]

Man scary things are happening in Greece
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/1113/1224326523978.html

[Great Rumbler]

It's scary to see what's going on in Greece right now, even scarier to think that it's probably going to keep getting worse. 

[Phoenix Dark]

[cool breeze]

Call of Duty predictes that Petraeus will be defense secretary in 2025



how unfortunate

[ToxicAdam]

ABC's Denver affiliate accidentally ran a fake cover of Paula Broadwell's biography of General David Petraeus in a story on the burgeoning sex scandal, Americablog reports.

The book's real title is All In. The doctored book cover read, All Up In My Snatch

oops

[Joe Molotov]

Was Vernon Loeb in there too? Must have been crowded.

[Phoenix Dark]

holy shit she is ripped. I wonder if Patraeus was into pegging

[Mandark]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/us/politics/boehner-tells-house-gop-to-fall-in-line.html?smid=tw-share

Shorter: Boehner on conference call with the House GOP, tells them they're going to keep fighting for lower taxes but they have to avoid giant disruptive showdowns, reconcile themselves to the idea of compromise, and generally cut the shit.

Jon Chait thinks that GOP legislators and strategists were banking so hard on a Romney win that they aren't all that prepared for dealing with a re-elected Obama.

[Brehvolution]

Likely excuse.

[Phoenix Dark]

Nor they seem to realize Obama has all the leverage on the Bush taxes. All he has to do is wait for them to expire, then introduce a new tax cut that revives the $250k and below rate. I'd imagine Boehner would actually prefer that option: republicans would be voting for a (middle income) tax cut and wouldn't break Norquist's "no new taxes" pledge. Whereas if they vote on it now, they'd be sacrificing the higher income taxes.

[Mandark]

Even if Boehner's expecting to concede the top marginal rate (and sounds like McConnell's in the same boat), they probably won't frame it that way in public, cause then Obama gets credit for cutting taxes, and they can't demand anything in return for a tax hike which never happened.

Anyway, I expect some sort of agreement with less drama that leaves everyone a bit grumpy.  And the librul blogs will flip shit, only to find out literally years later that there were provisions in there they actually liked.

[Phoenix Dark]

Oh I'm sure the "fiscal cliff" megadeal will feature plenty of stuff both sides loath, but the Bush tax cuts will be handled separately. At this point I'd be shocked if Obama doesn't let them all expire. He's on record saying he'll veto any bill that extends the top rate, I don't see how he'll fall back from that.

In a perfect world we'd just eliminate the social security tax cap and allow Medicare to negotiate directly for lower prescription drug prices, eliminate the Medicare age requirement, and open the program up to means testing. I should write an e-book

[Mandark]

No no no no no no no no no no means testing.

[Phoenix Dark]

Hmm why not, curious. Seems like the best thing to do alongside allowing everyone to purchase into the program, to ensure older/poorer patients aren't being ignored

[Oblivion]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/nyregion/chris-christie-reverses-stand-on-tax-hikes-after-storm.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

that about wraps it up, tubby

[Great Rumbler]

Incredible.

[Mandark]

Hmm why not, curious. Seems like the best thing to do alongside allowing everyone to purchase into the program, to ensure older/poorer patients aren't being ignored

For political rather than policy reasons actually.

"Programs for the poor are poor programs."  Policies that give out universal benefits enjoy higher levels of support across a much broader swath of the electorate than policies that explicitly direct resources towards lower-income folks.  It's a big part of what make SS, Medicare, the mortgage deduction, etc. so untouchable (like the NHS in Britain) but food stamps, welfare, and Medicaid tend to be chronically underfunded and under fire.  Pretty sure there's actual social science that backs this up.

Expanding Medicare in some form is an interesting idea though, since it's a hugely popular brand, much more so than "universal health care."  Don't really know the nuts and bolts of how it works now to have much of an opinion on how to do it.

[Phoenix Dark]

That's an interesting point. Still, I'm not sure charging richer people more for Medicare would sully the program's image or popularity. I don't support turning Medicare into Medicaid - regular people who pay into the program all their life would still receive the same benefits they receive today. But if someone is 35 and wants to purchase Medicare, I see no reason in telling them to wait 30 more years. Likewise I'm sure there are plenty of more well off, younger (or older) folks willing to pay more for Medicare, which could still be cheaper than the best private insurance plans.

By increasing the Medicare pool you'd lower costs; means testing seems like it could be a good tool to ensure "Medicare for all" doesn't lead younger people being prioritized ahead of older people.

I remember Sherrod Brown wanted to lower the Medicare age to 55 during the health care battle, and Wyden introduced a Medicare for all option. Naturally Lieberman shitcanned both (to be fair, with the help of some other democrats)

[Mandark]

Well, sounds like you're not means-testing for access to the program so much as subsidizing health insurance for low-income purchasers.  In which case you could probably just use or modify the subsidies from the ACA, but here I go talking about shit I don't understand...

[Phoenix Dark]

Yea. My understanding of means testing was that it meant people who make more pay more. With the caveat that lower and middle class people would not see their benefit levels change. Strictly aimed at people over a certain income bracket.

It's definitely an interesting issue with a whole lot of info out there on, I've only scratched the surface in terms of research. Luckily the ACA will kind of speed up general understanding of this stuff.

[Great Rumbler]

[Steve Contra]

The god damn state of california sent my company URGENT CERTIFIED MAIL that I figured was something serious and needed to be addressed.  But no, it was a fucking packet on the new PLASTIC BAG LAWS.  It cost them 7 dollars to send, and probably an additional 3 for materials and labor.  So 10 dollars to every company that has a resellers license to explain PLASTIC BAGS, somthing that can be done by email.  No wonder our State is fucking broke.  (That's my Libertarian rant for the week, I'll be back to hippie shit tomorrow).

[Mandark]

In general, people I know with businesses rant more about dealing with state and local authorities than with the feds.  That might be because they're small businesses and it's different for the big corporations (I know a manager at a company that does a lot of contract work for the DoD and says that there's a ton of extra work to comply with federal oversight) but maybe there's room for libertarians to make inroads there?

[Steve Contra]

I honestly think that would be more useful than railing against the Federal Government.  Most large corporations simply have a compliance staff, but for small businesses like mine, it's me against the Government of California.

[ToxicAdam]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, the California government gets hundreds of billions of dollars kicked down to them from the Federal government every year. So, we all share(d) in the sacrifice of better informing you the citizen.

[Mandark]

Something something block grants laboratories of democracy decentralization something something.

[TakingBackSunday]

so republicans aren't letting go of this benghazi thing even though it failed to gain traction in the election

fucking scumdouches

[Steve Contra]

Mandark's people fulfilling the GOPs Israeli fan-fic by wiling out on Hamas right after the election.

[Phoenix Dark]

Yea....gonna need Mandark to hold a press conference on this ASAP

[Mandark]

Shockingly, there's an Israeli election coming up.

[AdmiralViscen]

Yea....gonna need Mandark to hold a press conference on this ASAP

 

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm so glad this loser is done, forever

Mitt Romney told his top donors Wednesday that his loss to President Obama was a disappointing result that neither he or his top aides had expected, but said he believed his team ran a “superb” campaign with “no drama,” and attributed his rival’s victory to “the gifts” the administration had given to blacks, Hispanics and young voters during Obama’s  first term.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-election-campaign-donors-20121114,0,5622330.story

[Oblivion]

Seeing how bitter and butt hurt John McCain is nowadays makes me glad Mittens was never in the senate or in any position of power in the government. Can you imagine the type of tantrums he'd throw?

[Yeti]

 

[Phoenix Dark]

Nate Silver Goes to Hollywood?

A "high-level talent agency" tells the Hollywood Reporter that Nate Silver "is attracting strong interest from the industry. This person believes Silver could try his hand at everything from box-office analysis to a correspondent gig on a television news program, not to mention radio shows and public speaking."

Silver confirms he "has been approached with offers from TV producers, is pondering a follow-up to his best-selling book The Signal and the Noise (which hit No. 2 on Amazon post-election) and has been courted by Los Angeles-based talent agencies."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/11/14/quote_of_the_day.html

[Stoney Mason]

What I don't understand is why isn't he already scooped up by actual political people. Not enough pay for that sort of thing?

[Mandark]

Campaigns, at least Democratic ones, are already using stat and social science geeks (see this and the NYer piece on Obama's GOTV).  On the Daily Show Silver said that he's not ahead of what the campaigns are doing, he's ahead of how it's covered by the media.

[Phoenix Dark]

Plus Obama's camp shared their internals with him in 2008 so he could parse their numbers. And of course this year they hired a host of Silver-type analysis, much to Peggy Noonan's distress
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/13/1161327/-Peggy-Noonan-mocked-data-nerds-who-won-the-presidency

[Great Rumbler]

Peggy Noonan

[Barry Egan]

I will not be at all surprised when Aaron Sorkin comes out with his screenplay about Nate Silver to close out his "numbers geek invades alpha-male territory" trilogy.

[Great Rumbler]

I will not be at all surprised when Aaron Sorkin comes out with his screenplay about Nate Silver to close out his "numbers geek invades alpha-male territory" trilogy.

And this will play over Nate Silver crunching poll numbers at his computer:

[Great Rumbler]

http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/11/14/fox-news-kicks-off-swift-boat-campaign-against/191387

SMH

[Human Snorenado]

welp, Israel apparently just blew up the Hamas military chief with some air strikes.  WWIII looking more and more likely.

[Joe Molotov]

http://www.pressherald.com/politics/Maine-Republican-chairman-questions-black-voters-.html

"In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day," he said. "Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in (these) towns knows anyone who's black. How did that happen? I don't know. We're going to find out."

When Carrigan pressed Webster on where it happened, Webster provided no specifics or proof of his claims, but said the party would investigate further.

"I'm not talking about 15 or 20. I'm talking hundreds," he said Wednesday. "I'm not politically correct and maybe I shouldn't have said these voters were black, but anyone who suggests I have a bias toward any race or group, frankly, that's sleazy."

Black people voting in my state?!? Quickly Robin, to the Bigotmobile.

[Great Rumbler]

"bubububu marijuana!"

[Phoenix Dark]

[Great Rumbler]

Old white men scurred about black folks voting.

[Mandark]

3 posts up.

[Great Rumbler]

And I even read that post, too!

[Joe Molotov]

"bubububu marijuana!"

"It's not treasonous, our country was founded on seceding from England!"

Uh yeah, and they were committing treason.  Not that any of this secession talk is serious, no one with two brain cells believes there's any chance it could really happen.

[Phoenix Dark]

[Great Rumbler]

I'm not the only person bothered by the "Chicago-style politics" attack on Obama, am I? It's just such a limp-wristed, no-substance, no-effort attack, and it requires two major assumptions. The first being that Chicago politics are incredibly and broadly corrupt, but no proof is ever brought up to substantiate this. Then it assumes that Obama, because he was a politician in Chicago [which is incredibly corrupt] is necessarily corrupt himself and has no problem with using illegal and unethical tactics to win. That's not even my biggest problem with it, though. It's also a blatantly obvious dog whistle. What they really want to say is "of course he cheats, he's a black man!" but, of course, they'd really actually like to use a different a term.

[Phoenix Dark]

I suppose the generous explanation could be that the attacks reference Chicago's somewhat dodgy election past, such as the stuffed boxes for Kennedy in 1960. The less than generous explanation is that Obama is the product of gangland politics, has thugs do his dirty work, etc.

Let's not forget these people cheered when Chicago didn't receive the Olympics nod; I was baffled at the idea of Chicago hosting but only a hater of the most supreme caliber would root against his own country's interests like conservatives did with that. Plus when Rahm became mayor there were plenty of GANGLAND VIOLENCE front page posts on Drudge.

[ToxicAdam]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/corruption-rampant-in-chi_n_1625701.html

There are reasons why places like chicago and Louisiana carry reputations of corruption.

[Mandark]

Chicago kept a pretty powerful patronage-based political machine decades after most other American cities, and IIRC has the most convictions of public officials for corruption over the last several decades (though DC has it beat per capita, easy).  The reputation is probably a bit overblown at this point, but there is history.

That said, of course the "Chicago thugs" label being applied to Obama & co. is just a way for folks that hate him to vent, rather than anything remotely rational.  At this point, he's an amalgam of Boss Tweed, Neville Chamberlain, Yasser Arafat, Leon Trotsky, Frantz Fanon, and Ice Cube circa NWA.  At this point I've given up expecting the rage to be even internally coherent.

[Phoenix Dark]

more like Ice Cube circa Amerikkka's Most Wanted imo

[Joe Molotov]

Straight Outta Honolulu

[Great Rumbler]

Eh, I get that Chicago's got its political problems, but you hardly ever hear about them in the same story as anything to do with Obama. It's just "Chicago? Bad! Obama? From Chicago!" without actually offering any substantive evidence or connection beyond the tangential. Yeah, I guess it's kind of an "old man yelling at cloud" kind of thing, but it just really bugs me for some reason.