DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Democrat Strategy is Recruitment, High Tech GOTV, Easy Access to Ballot, Demonizing Republicans
She's team bluing it


Straight from the horse's mouth, a campaign e-mail from DNC Chairwoman (and Congresswoman) Debbie Wasserman-Schultz laying out Democrats' strategy for 2014 "and beyond":
Recruiting and training top talent. Our party is only as strong as the people in it. So we're going to focus on identifying great candidates for state and local offices, training organizers across the country, and helping talented young people from all backgrounds break into politics through our Hope Institute program.
Maintaining and building our digital edge. A big part of the reason we won last year is because our online program and tools were light years ahead of the Republicans. But that's the thing about cutting-edge technology -- it stops being cutting-edge pretty quickly. We're not going to rest on our laurels. We're going to work hard to maintain our edge while developing the next generation of tools.
Expanding access to the ballot box. Every single thing we do as a party centers on our most fundamental right as Americans -- the right to vote. You've seen Republicans across the country restrict that right by taking advantage of the recent Supreme Court decision to gut the Voting Rights Act. And we're going to be fighting back by launching a national voter protection program.
Holding Republicans accountable and promoting the Democratic agenda. You've heard Republicans talk a lot about how they're "rebranding" their party and agenda to be more inclusive after last year's election. But if you've been paying attention to the policies they're supporting, you've noticed that they've only gotten more extreme. We're going to make sure they don't get away with that bait-and-switch.
In the email she called it a "winning plan" and asked for money, natch. Notably, the Democrats' strategy doesn't appear to include anything more substantive than lip service to a nebulous "agenda." Why focus on issues when you can TEAM BLUE it? According to a BuzzFeed report, Democrats have been enraged Wasserman-Schultz is using her position as chairwoman to advance her own political ambitions.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
In the email she called it a "winning plan" and asked for money, natch. Notably, the Democrats' strategy doesn't appear to include anything more substantive than lip service to a nebulous "agenda."
Democratic agenda: promise more free shit and make noise about civil liberties and war issues when convenient.
So more of the same since FDR?
Most of the free shit since I became of age (mid 1970s) has been signed by a GOP president.
Reagan kicked the EITC into high gear, he signed EMTALA, Bush the Lesser put Medicare Part D and the American Downpayment Act ($10,000 in free shit) together.
I know you are brainwashed for Team Red but look into the factual side of things sometime, will you?
And Democrats has zero culpability for any of those measures. For example, Team Blue absolutely never opposed Bush The Lesser's Medicare expansion on the grounds that it was insufficiently generous.
Asking you to stop guzzling fetid Team Blue semen would be a bridge too far, so I won't bother.
So why fellate Team Red? I have pointed out their 'free shit' profligacy - which apparently is a surprise to some of the Peanuts here.
Who the fuck was fellating Team Red, shit-for-brains? Serious Man was simply pointing out the indisputable fact that the modern Democratic Party's principal vote-getting strategy is to promise more free shit and bitch about wars and civil liberties when Republicans are in charge. You were the one who couldn't resist the tu quoque.
So, piece of advice: in the future, unless you have something useful to say other than, "REPUBLICANS SUCK TOO!" -- newsflash, we all already know that, and don't feel the need to announce it in every post -- how about shutting the fuck up, going back to your hobby of tonguing the grime-encrusted anus of your Nancy Pelosi bobblehead doll, and letting the grown-ups have a conversation in peace?
I'm hopeful of broadening the low appeal of the LP and a surefire way to fail is to tell us social liberals how stupid we are compared to the idiots in Team Red.
The LP should have enough merit to appeal to a lot more than 1% of the electorate.
What do you think of Johnny Football?
Don't you agree that he should be able to sign as many autographs as he wants and earn all the money he can for the same?
Don't you think that it is borderline tony level dopey for a libertarian to side with a government funded monopoly and "its rules" over the free enterprise heroes, like Johnny Football?
Pretty sure none of the top 1% vote Libertarian. (most probably vote TEAM BLUE)
Well except 2 brothers who go by the name of Koch.
You spelled 'fascists' wrong.
BUSHPIG!! CHRISTFAG!!
Jesus Christ you're a boring twat.
Don't engage it.
It's sole purpose is to defend it's master.
My "master" is truth and logic.
Both parties suck in reality but many posters here only think Team Blue does.
Sonny, you wouldn't know truth and logic if they hit you in the head with a shovel.
Run along, now; I hear your mommy telling you to get off the computer.
So, do you want him to grow up and be a mama's boy?
many posters
John is not many and even he sees those same problems with Republicans.
Can't we beat up on dems in a thread of an article about how dems suck?
YOU. ARE. A. MENDACIOUS. CUNT.
That's only because Blue sucks measurably worse than Red.
Is it really though? The two parties are so similar now there is very little to tell them apart. Dems tend to aim a bit higher with the "free shit" strategy; Repubs angle harder on fidelity and tradition. They both want more government of all types, they're both super hawking. Their choices for president tend to be absolutely horrible.
*Super hawks... because a super powered cosmologist in a wheelchair is too rad.
"Blue semen"
They should get that checked out.
Palin's Buttplug| 8.27.13 @ 8:49PM |#
"Most of the free shit since I became of age (mid 1970s) has been signed by a GOP president."
Shreek: "See? See? They did it too!!!!!!!!!!"
And a good portion of that time a GOP president had a Democratic congress or a Dem president had a GOP congress. It's like you ignore the fact that separation of powers exists. Free shit is bipartisan.
I also note that you have the cutoff at 1975 so you can ignore the fact that the primary programs that are really squeezing us are the health care portions of the Great Society and Social Security, both of which were passed by Dems.
Free shit is bipartisan.
Of course it is. That is my point. Let's boost the LP and not D/Rs. I always state my preference for GRIDLOCK and not Team Blue.
And 1975 is a product of my age and when I began paying attention.
Okay, Mr. 1975, name the 1975 AL rookie of the year as well as the AL MVP.
Fred Lynn?
Only because Rice got hurt. (My brother and I had that debate constantly)
Its really pretty bizarre that the only guy to ever win the rookie of the year and MVP slugged a grand total of 7 homers in the second half of the season along with fewer than 40 RBIs.
1975.
The Steel Curtain. The Big Red Machine. Don't know the NBA. The Yanks and Dodgers in the Series with Reggie Jackson and Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Ron Guidry, and Billy Martin as crazy manager.
Okay, Fred Lynn is right on both counts.
Steel Curtain, The Big Red Machine, yeah.
The Yanks and the Dodgers in the Series? Not so much. See Big Red Machine and Fred Lynn.
shit sports? you know a lot of people don't care about sports...I could barely tell you about michael jordan and he was in my childhood and that was only because i ma from IL....if i was in another state i probably couldn't even answer a question about him and he is one of the most famous sports players ever.
Bullshit. Otherwise you wouldn't see criticism of Team Blue and instantly conclude it implies Team Red support.
So take your lame justifications and shove them up your ass. Sideways.
You are very correct about the thuggish Republican plunderers and redistributionists PB, just as the fucking Demoncrats have been the primary War Party starting most of the wars and increasing the size of the MIC, check it out. JFK LBJ CLINTON OBAMA (who is too dense to just say no) VS NIXON BUSH BUSH. And of the above, only BUSH SR and NIXON actually ended wars. We can not mention Wilson, FDR and the great NUKE GOD Truman since they were before this time frame -- well yes we can mention them.
Up is down, down is up. But the War Party cheers itself on.
But now Debbie's Party doesn't want to get into that war stuff. Let's talk about the Obama-phone instead.
Most of the free shit since I became of age (mid 1970s) has been signed by a GOP president.
The alt-text should have been "I just blue myself."
But that's the thing about cutting-edge technology -- it stops being cutting-edge pretty quickly.
Not when you're in a race with the GOP machinery.
'toopid party gonna 'toopid
Hope Institute Program? How vapidly fucking lame.
Losers.
But its teh HIP!1!1!!!!! Recruiting teh HIPster generation, with their lewd on stage fornication spectacles and organic artisan mayonnaise!1!1!!
Now you went and did it.
Yeah, it's going to be a blood feast now. It will be like the time that I insulted hummus. The artisanal mayo cult here is even worse than the hummus cult.
There's only one artisinal mayo I want to hear about, and it involves bacon grease in lieu of olive or vegetable oil.
I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
What could you possibly have against hummus?
all over the world, Hummus is food of the people.
See.
Hummus is great food. Mayo is pus.
The College Democrats and activists I know aren't particularly smart or motivated. It's more of a fashion statement to get involved, particularly for gay rights and the War on Wimmenz.
Very few of them can make a coherent argument about the economy, civil liberties, or foreign policy.
Well, it is a lot easier to wear a pair of tampon earrings, that it is to actually learn something.
Don't forget getting laid.
Very few of them can make a coherent argument about the economy
Can you? I know damn well I can.
I don't think repeating apologias for the sitting administration while insisting you're not can be construed as arguing.
Well, that's only because you're obviously a red team hack who loves Boosh, like the rest of us here, except for ButtPlug, who's totally non-partisan and who absolutely does not continue to go on and on and on about how Obama is better than Bush.
Or Glenn Beck. Don't forget Beck.
Have a little pity for the mentally incompetent-- it's the best he can do.
I thought you weren't TEAM BLUE, and were just holding the Peanut Gallery's TEAM RED sycophants' feet to the fire?
How dare you hold him to something he wrote 45 days seconds ago!
I know damn well I can.
How is that recovery going?
S&P 500!!!!1
Recovery is long over. Meet the new normal.
bwahahaha
Slapping your penis against the keyboard is not a "coherent argument".
But it is the best he can do.
Mention Anti-War and watch eyes glaze over. What war?
To be fair, mention that to a lot of Good Republicans and you get the same reaction. War. Support the troops!
Delicious indoctrination... Maybe they'll set up a camp for up and comers like the political party in Norway did, that e nutter blew up.
Nothing creepy about a Camp for Party Kids.
Not to defend Brevik in any way but that camp he shot to pieces was totally fucking creepy.
Did you hear about the Israeli ambassador pointing out to Sweden that their recent release of Palestine terrorists was like if the Swedes were forced to release Brevik, the Swedes were pretty pissed.
Did she wash her hair yet, this year?
Washing one's hair more than once per congressional cycle is privilege
Nope.
Oh lord, that is fugly!
OH! OHHHH! GOD! OOHHHHHGOOOOOODNOOOOOOOO!!!!
*gouges eyes with fork*
Sorry, Almanian, I should have warned y'all, but you know, there was that comment about 'fugly', and you knew it was going to be a pic of DWS...
/lqhg;os]0235msf pijEM
tHIS is Almanian's wife. he's having trouble seeing the keyboard.
He wishes you all well. Oh, except "Hyperion".
Toodles!
Well, your hubby had his revenge below, so I will warn YOU, Mrs. Almanian, DO NOT click on the picture he linked to below! I will now have nightmares for at least a week until I can someone wash that disturbing image from my mind.
I think drinking heavily is required here...
tHIS is Almanian's wife.
How you doin'?
Wanna see some pictures of my junk?
You send those to everyone.
Yeah I don't remember asking you to stop.
I didn't want Missus Almanian to feel left out. Besides with all the time he spends on here, I'm sure she gets lonely sometimes and could use the company of a strapping warlord.
You send those to everyone.
Wait, what?
Now I feel left out...
You've seen Republicans across the country restrict that right by taking advantage of the recent Supreme Court decision to gut the Voting Rights Act. And we're going to be fighting back by launching a national voter protection program.
I bet those monsters would also oppose the Sunshine and Puppies for Everyone in America Act as well! Because the effects of legislation can always been known from its title and not what the actual law says.
Yeah, if they ever pass a bill named, 'The Great American Freedom for all Citizens Act', that probably means we are all going on a vacation to Gitmo.
"Puppies for Everyone in America Act "
The No Cop Left Behind Act: Proven to raise marksmanship scores by 37% by increasing practice targets.
All these signature legislative achievements have a clever pneumonic device attached.
I anxiously await the "Fairness, Youth, and the True Way" Act.
Cuz FYTW
Republican ARE rolling back early voting in state after state and admit that Tuesday-only voting is a big political advantage for them.
Apparently low-life Democrats actually have to work on the first Tuesday in November.
You know employers have to give you t
time off to vote, right? Damn squirrels
Using standard tactics to prevent voter fraud. ie making sure a citizen is present in a public place when turning in his/her ballot.
I don't know if that will help them but I find it amusing that you think it will.
You do know why they had people dip their fingers in ink during the Iraq elections right?
Because they're racists, duh.
Rolling back early voting for everyone, or just on non whites?
No one gets to vote.... ever again... problem solved!
Because the effects of legislation can always been known from its title and not what the actual law says.
Well, that fits well with TEAM BLUE since they care nothing about actions, only words.
So that would explain why the bill authorizing dronemurders of small children around the world would be called "It Takes a Village to Raze a Child Act."
If congress did stuff like pass bills any more, instead of just whining about the President making them irrelevant.
That's cute!
See Patriot Act.
The founders would be proud.
There are a lot of dim bulbs on both sides of the aisle in politics, but DWS has to be one of the dimmest.
Usually I can work up some good hate for such a partisan hack. But watching somebody so stupid supposedly lead one of the major parties just makes me embarrassed.
You think Michele Bachmann must be the epitome of dimheadedness until you see this DWS creature. She's Dreamboat Barry's personal pick to represent the "Face of The Party".
I thought Boxer was the dumbest most incompetent member of Congress until I saw Debbie reciting talking points.
I'm looking for the Leftover Loser Links. Am I in the right place?
My last remark shows 9:54PM so you maybe wandered into the wrong thread -- on the other hand you probably are in the right place.
When does SHOCK AND AWE begin
Just wait until Mission "O"-ccomplished.
That's a funny one. That will be adopted by all serious "O"-bomba-bots.
Then do we finally get to see his "O" face?
As soon as the Peace Prize POTUS says it does, and not a minute sooner, mister!
Earning a second one in the process.
SHEER GENIUS
War-of-Choice mother-fuckers, War-of-Choice.
Ima say Thursday night.
Is Chrissie Poo Matthews gonna narrate while getting a tingle up his leg?
nah Maddow will take charge.
Of course! And for very good reason:
"US readies rationale for possible Syria strike"
Why, you ask? Well:
" JorgeluvsNolan 5:48 PM on August 27, 2013
The NRA and the military industrial complex are squealing for orders and the GOP will never stop the President from spending on those old GOP financiers/industries the only American one left."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/pol.....763349.php
The mad geniuses with the Stoopid Party pull the levers even when they're OUT of power.
Or when they APPEAR to be out of power. Amirite or amirite?
JorgeluvsNolan forgot "JOOOZ!!!!"
And I'm sure it'll come as a surprise to those running the NRA that they're lacking 'orders'!
OMG!!!! The NRA wants to arm me! Those monsters! /Team Derp
OT: I'mma go ahead and put the over/under on the date at which we launch our first military strike in Syria at 9/11. I'm taking the under.
I'll take 'Sometime before Congress gets back'
Congress asking for their approval for strike on Syria
Who do these piss ants think they are, these piss ants? The KING looks annoyed! The KING has spoken, so silence piss ants!
And if he gives in on this, they'll expect him to actually enforce the laws they pass!
I dunno. We have to wait for ButtPlug to tell us how Obama is just outsmarting that nasty mean old Congress, and how it's all the fault of Boosh.
They should ask nicely that He submit appointments to the senate during those times the senate is actually in session, rather than just making recess appointments.
Checked the internetz:
1) I like this picture of Debbie Washerwoman Schlitz. SFW, but not your well being.
2) There are NO attractive pictures of DWS. I mean literally none.
Rule 34.
Oh...ohhhhh....
*BARF*
Dude, that is particularly disturbing.... I mean, the stuff of nightmares.
It's like when those college kids pass out drunk and people Sharpie them. Waitammint, who the fuck would get her drunk at a party?!
Hah. I still remember the first time we ever did the shaving cream trick on my cousin.
Dude would always drink fast so that he could get more beers than anyone else and then pass out. So we did the thing where you spray a big pile of shaving cream in the sleeping persons hand and then tickle their nose with a feather. Worked great, dude was pissed as hell, but it was too funny.
Never pass out in a group full of surgeons.
Why would they attach a pixellated something-or-other to his head?
"... Waitammint, who the fuck would get her drunk at a party?!"
It was the only way for them to get her to shut the fuck up, and slip a bag over her head..... so they could rinse the mayo stains out of the upholstery that leached out of her filthy mop of hair.
You're missing a link to the block quote, I think. This seems to be something she wrote, not said. Her writing is surprisingly lucid. When I've heard her talk on the tee-vee she comes off crazy. Or maybe someone else wrote that.
George W. Bush has now entered his cat era
The tension inherent in his work is absolutely....tangible. Good lord that is splendid.
http://gawker.com/5982836/geor.....tory-naked
From the painting on the left I have to assume he was taking a shower with his brother Jeb. It's not possible for his own reflection to show up in the mirror from the position he is in. Who knew?
It's perfectly natural for a former president and former governor, brothers, sons of another former president, brothers of a friend of an attempted presidential assassin, to take showers together.
Damn, that sounds crazy.
brothers of a friend of an attempted presidential assassin
What? What? I didn't get this reference.
Neil Bush connection. Actually to John Hinckley's brother, not to him like I was thinking.
I wonder if O will paint cats after he gets tired of blowing people up?
He'll paint pictures of cats with M80's in their asses.
It will remind him of his childhood.
"I wonder if O will paint cats after he gets tired of blowing people up?"
He will paint portraits of savory, and succulent Indonesian rack of dog, and a cornucopia of freshly minted trillion dollar coins...
I remember when Dubya was prez I thought we couldn't have a more despicable POTUS, then we got Chocolate Nixon and GeeDub seems much better in hindsight. Unless your'e a fascist piece of shit like shrike, then these are the golden days of the end of the American Empire. Each new day a new law gently strokes the authoritarian cock bringing it a bit closer to an orgasm of tyranny. Blurt.
This thread has really taken a turn.
This thread has really taken a turn.
For the... come on! The suspense is killing me!
Y'know what other political figure enjoyed painting?
So who is the better painter?
THANKS FOR RUINING IT, SERIOUS MAN.
Geeeez.
Honestly? Hitler.
Better technique. G-Dub has the postmodernist thing going on, which I've never been a big fan of.
Hitler was a first rate draftsman. If he were born today he would have built City 17.
Benjamin Franklin?
Winston Churchill?
Or maybe Dwight Eisenhower?
Winston Churchill?
Holding Republicans accountable and promoting the Democratic agenda.
I first read that as:
"Holding Republicans accountable for promoting the Democratic agenda."
Meanwhile, Rand Paul helps the visually impaired by performing free eye surgeries...but let's not forget how his free market fundamentalism will make millions of uninsured suffer!
Of course, as Trinko's story makes clear, Paul would have you believe that his good deeds?and his experience as a physician?justify his positions on health care policy. That's another matter entirely. Paul is a well-known critic of government-run and government-regulated health care programs, starting with the Affordable Care Act. The opposition is in many ways philosophical: Nobody has a "right" to health care, he says, because that would mean people have a right to commandeer the labor of those who provide care. Trinko, in her article, quotes Paul explaining this position during a speaking event:
"As humans, yeah, we do have an obligation to give people water, to give people food, to give people health care," Paul muses. "But it's not a right because once you conscript people and say, 'Oh, it's a right,' then really you're in charge, it's servitude, you're in charge of me and I'm supposed to do whatever you tell me to do. . . . It really shouldn't be seen that way."
Peaceful voluntary interaction? Why would anyone oppose that?
It's a strange, almost nonsensical argument, for reasons that Paul Waldman notes at the American Prospect:
saying that health care is a right doesn't mean that doctors have to treat people without being paid, any more than saying that education is a right means that public school teachers have to work for free. Because we all agree that education is a right, we set up a system where every child can be educated, whether their families could afford to pay for it themselves or not. It doesn't mean that any kid can walk up to a teacher in the street and say, "I command you to teach me trigonometry for free. Be at my house at 9 tomorrow. You must do this, because I have a right to education and that means I am in charge of you and you're supposed to do whatever I tell you to do."
Oh yeah, the 'taxes are voluntary prices we pay for civilization' argument.
Forget it, Serious, it's New Republic town. It's like The Nation only...actually I cannot tell the difference between New Republic and The Nation. Are there any?
A handful of letters in the masthead.
So, either this idiot doesn't know what the word "right" means, or he's pulling the usual Progressive tactic of redefining words at will.
It is classic heads I win tails you lose logic lefties love. If Paul didn't do these things, he would be an out of touch plutocrat who doesn't care. If he does, he is just doing it for show and pretending that charity is enough to replace government.
Whaddaya mean "we", White man?
I wonder if anyone else here took a trigonometry class in high school. There are two variation of trigonometry. One is about triangles, the other is really about circles.
Here's the subject matter of the trigonometry class I took from Brother Francis in an all boys Roman Catholic high school in 1974:
http://www.mathsisfun.com/geom.....nding.html
This is about proving triangle are similar or equal.
The other trigonometry is about sines and cosines as they ebb and flow around a circle. I took that class too, but it was call pre-calculus or something like that.
I did both types in my high school trig class.
Ditto. Trig and Pre-Calc.
Good times! Actually, I loved math. It was my best subject. Which is why I went into another field entirely...
I taught it. Triangles, circles, it's all good, just different ways of looking at the same thing.
I always liked Trig.
Me too. And to be honest, I used Trig a lot for everyday stuff. Differential equations...not so much.
Fuck Matrices.
Cuz healthcarez iz difernt. Teh competishunz wont workz.
The left doesn't believe education is a right anymore than an ancap like myself believes it to be. Else they would have severed ties with the public instruction establishment decades ago. Education is the last thing they want proliferated. They believe in indoctrination, and they believe in the bureaucracy. Kids are just tools to accomplish their greater goals.
Also, ask them if preventing an unvaccinated kid from going to public school is violating his right to an education and they'll start getting all rationalization-y.
Libertarians and conservatives love to cite Lasik. But Lasik tells you almost nothing about the rest of the health care system, for reasons Jeff Levin-Scherz, a physician at the Harvard School of Public Health, has pointed out:
1. Lasik surgery is entirely elective. No one NEEDS it!
2. Lasik surgery is never an emergency. Hence, it's much more "shoppable" than most health care
3. Lasik surgery is highly automated?the computers actually do a substantial amount of the work. Therefore quality is more uniform than most health care
4. There is very high fixed cost for the Lasik laser?and the low variable cost makes it more likely that providers will price this at "marginal" cost?leading to large discounts. That's not true of cognitive services.
Ten extra visits with a neurologists cost almost ten times as much as a single visit given the large variable cost of the neurologist's labor. Ten extra Lasik surgeries cost only a small amount more than a single surgery?since the cost of the ophthalmologist and technician is a relatively smaller portion of the total cost.
Well it's a good thing government isn't going to strangle medical technological development with taxes and regulations...
1. Lasik surgery is entirely elective. No one NEEDS it!
No one needs to see better. They can live with the glasses the party gives them.
Just like how nobody really need dirty Capitalist Range Rover when Soviet Russia shall provide all citizen with well designed socialist vehicle, comrades!
The sad thing is there is no way in hell you could make a car like that and sell it in the US.
I like this comrade mobile, comrade! We can all have car alike!
A Lada? My fave is
the Trabant.
Car for a Dollar!
The blue smoke of a two-stroke is kind of a turn on.
I remember reading about how in the former East Germany - just after communism died there - groups of people were literally picking up semi-functional Trabants and throwing them into dumpsters.
What I got from the article was that they would rather do without that POS of a vehicle and wait for whatever came next - anything - than to put up with having to continue coaxing transportation out of a Trabant.
I worked in the former East Germany shortly after reunification and saw a dozen or so burned out Trabis left by the roadside. Trouble was their body panels were hazardous waste, (being made of cotton linters from Russian factories and left over cancer causing initials from the East German chemical industry) and were difficult to get rid of through legal channels. Many owners would have an "accident" at night and their vehicle would mysteriously catch fire in the ditch. The panels would burn completely away so there was nothing left of the vehicle but metal.
I remember reading about how in the former East Germany - just after communism died there - groups of people were literally picking up semi-functional Trabants and throwing them into dumpsters.
What I got from the article was that they would rather do without that POS of a vehicle and wait for whatever came next - anything - than to put up with having to continue coaxing transportation out of a Trabant.
East German factories had a negative value added. The assembled car was worth less than the raw materials that it took to make it.
"A Lada? My fave is the Trabant."
She'll go 300 hectares on a single tank of kerosene.
Most broken bones are simple fractures that don't need any real setting or surgery.
The plaster and gauze can be bought by anyone.
The only thing a doctor provides would be the x-ray to check if you really need the bones to be set.
Pretty sure that x-ray costs a shit load more then Lasik surgery.
Hell the cast probably costs more then Lasik surgery.
Ear infections, UTIs and such. Any pharmacist could tell you what you have and prescribe the right antibiotic. Hell, you could look on the internet and do it yourself.
What most people don't know is you can buy antibiotics on the internet as well.
http://www.vetdepot.com/fish-m.....sules.html
Yup. I did a while back just to see if it worked. And it worked great.
I totally want to walk into Walmart and ask the pharmacist how much my prescription for amoxocillian will cost and after getting the price then come back with a bottle of fish mox to purchase at the pharmacy counter.
Are you crazy! You can't take those dog pills! You'll start drinking out of the toilet!
Out the toilet? I ain't never seen no plants growin' in no toilet...
While the active ingredients are similar to human antibiotics, those things contain impurities that can make you sick.
Also, obviously many bacteria are resistant to these relatively old antibiotics.
"...Also, obviously many bacteria are resistant to these relatively old antibiotics."
As they are to "relatively new" ones as well, face it.... you're dead... make peace with it, and move on.
Clothing in various sizes, styles, and colors is entirely elective. No one NEEDS it!
2. Lasik surgery is never an emergency. Hence, it's much more "shoppable" than most health care
I have had water pipes break in the dead of winter.
Funny how the government does not need to provide insurance for that to insure prices are kept down.
Most healthcare expenditures are not life or death. They act like every single trip to the doctor or medical procedure is just like a heart attack. It is not.
And anyway, life or death emergencies are kinda what insurance is for. A policy that only covered those would be dirt cheap.
Yep and they also ignore that non emergency services provide baselines for emergency service, which keeps them reasonable.
An example is your car breaking down in the middle of the dessert, a potential life and death experience. Getting it towed and repaired will cost more than having the same thing done in town, but not 100 time more - which is what 'they' imply.
Ten extra visits with a neurologists cost almost ten times as much as a single visit given the large variable cost of the neurologist's labor. Ten extra Lasik surgeries cost only a small amount more than a single surgery?since the cost of the ophthalmologist and technician is a relatively smaller portion of the total cost.
What does that even mean? So what?
I have never visited a neurologist.
I have visited an ophthalmologist at least 20 times in my life.
This is just standard Team Blue operating procedure.
"Look over there pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."
Some medical conditions are expensive and require really skilled specialists. Well yeah. Most aren't.
What does that even mean?
:::Waves hands::: Hey! Look over here!
He's absolutely right. Things that require work by others on your behalf are not rights, since you are compelling others to do work on your behalf.
OTOH, the medical industry has taken away the rights of people to be treated freely (not in cost, but availability) by restricting who can practice medicine, what procedures can be used, not to mention lawyers and expensive lawsuits, which drive up costs.
It's the government that makes medicine unaffordable for so many in the country.
Single-payer law.
Becuse no lawyer does anything worth more than minimum wage.
All of the arguments for single payer health apply to law. And even more so since legal representation is a constitutional right in some cases.
Note, that none of that involves actually making anything better for anyone but Dem politicians. The Dem strategy is to lie as much as possible, us vote fraud to the maximum extent possible, and do everything we can to confuse the issues and get people to vote on emotion and various social issue bullshit. All the while projecting all of our faults onto our opponents. It is the Republicans who want to wage a culture war and fool voters into voting based on culture issues.
You want a strategy? Free shit and identity politics, that's your fuckin strategy.
*drops microphone, walks away*
And abortion. Don't forget abortion and birth control. If you don't elect us you won't be able to fix it when your little snowflake gets herself knocked up!!
You could have shown the bf that picture of DWS that Almanian linked to above, before each date. But it might be considered a hate crime.
Abortion and gay sex are the only freedoms that matter. Everything else is negligible.
And even those two are negotiable. What the state grants, the state can take away.
Because upper-middle class white ladies are TEH OPPRESSED! and shit.
You commented on that earlier and I thought it rang true. That is, how the most pampered in our society have wriggled their way into victimhood and cashed in.
Think about someone like Amanda Marcotte. She grew up in a middle class home. Went to a very expensive party school in one of the better college towns in America. And then moved to New York no doubt with a nice check from mumsy and pupsy every month to help her make rent.
Take any fairly attractive upper middle class white woman and they will have first their parents and then a steady stream of men to take care of them. If that is not a privileged life, no life is.
I'm going to assume that these two thoughts are unrelated. Unless Sarcasmic was right about your taste in women all along.
They are unrelated. Although, I think Marcotte is pretty skinny. So, I am sure Sarcasmic would go for her. Honestly, I am not totally sure what Marcotte even looks like.
If I were to rate her? Real world 4, Internet Feminist 9.
This is actually one of the best pictures I found of her. If you google her there are tons of pictures where she looks terrible because she isn't wearing makeup and almost seems willfully sloppy.
It's like she's daring you with her feminine realness, man.
True story, I googled Amanda Marcotte, and the google "People also searched for" included Matthew Yglesias.
She's not overweight, just somewhat masculine and with ugly tats.
I wouldn't call her hideous, just not beautiful.
Man Hands. Yuck.
The tats are horrible. And she looks way older than she is. Isn't she under 30? She looks like she is about 45 in that picture that Serious Man linked to. I guess fighting the patriarchy takes its toll.
Nah, she's 35 according to Wikipedia, but you're right she is on the more aged side as far looking her age goes.
My wife is 37 and looks at least 10 years younger than her.
Hey man, those types abound in my family.
I had a fairly white trash, shit upbringing but I'm somehow privileged according to the victim scale because I'm a white dude. The princesses rail on like they're recently escaped slaves or something. People in those sorts of lives are so fucking cloistered they can't imagine a white male being dealt a shit hand.
Hell, most of the guys I grew up with were in the same boat as me and they feel lucky to learn a trade and be able to not worry about their next meal. They'd never think of claiming victim status. Guess they're class traders, or some other nonsense.
I knew people in the Army that had grown up under conditions that I couldn't even imagine let alone some upper class twit like the Jezzies. They are just narcissist losers looking for an excuse to be losers.
If the Rethuglicans weren't sending out the Teabaggin Christian Taliban to sew up vaginas, then this sad reality wouldn't be oppressing soccer moms in upper middle class suburbia. But sadly...
Well, the only cure is vote for Hitlary nex time! She will set vaginas free and protect us from scary terrorists too!
Why so Bitter?
Maybe he's jealous that your hogging all the available Barry O cock servicing time.
Wait it's Hyperion so that's probably not it.
And blame all problems on wreckers, Kulaks, Republicans, and the Free Market.
I think my favorite part about the Democratic party is that they brag that young people, particularly college students, tend to vote Democrat.
Does anyone else think that bragging about this is ridiculous? If my most loyal voting block consisted of people who haven't even finished school and who have no life experience, I would hang my head in shame and think about what a dumbass I must be.
Life experience is nothing compared to academic achievement, duh.
So who would you want to brag about as a voting bloc?
The vast majority of scientists are liberal - according to Pew Research only 6% of scientists are GOP.
So who would you want to brag about as a voting bloc?
libertarians.
I'm sure researchers love the big spending politicians, it means more money for them screw around with.
Combine that with the fatal conceit that smart people like them just need to be given control over the state to make things work and I can see a lot of scientists being liberal.
And scientists are just wonderful at ordering society! Look at all the countries that claimed to be ordered by science. We got Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, the eugenics movement...all claimed to have the blessings of science!
The idea that scientists, by dint of being smart in one field, magically have the capacity to organize society is ludicrous and has been one of the most devastating misconceptions of the last 150 years. There are millions of corpses that attest to the stupidity of this belief.
People with actual life experience and who are capable of rationally explaining why their ideas will work. This group never includes college students or academics.
College students and academics were quite pro-Nazi by the way.
Still are (date in URL is wrong)
College students and academics have embraced every murderous two bit ideology to come around dating back to the French Revolution. They have a perfect track record or murder and ignorance.
People with great ideas who can make them work and become super capitalists are also overwhelmingly liberal.
By "super capitalist" you must mean "crony capitalist".
See my post below.....
Shriek, your idea of a "super capitalist" is Warren Buffett, who in the real world is pretty much the poster child for corporatist whores.
Go piss up a rope.
The vast majority of the Silicon Valley billionaires are liberals. But lately we've been finding out about their despicable conduct concerning their covert support and collusion with the NSA in the construction of the evil surveillance apparatus. A secret busted open by the demonized-by-liberals whistleblowers. Heck some of the whistleblowers are liberals too, and are probably shell shocked about the mistreatment they are recieving.
So merely being a smart and being a liberal doesn't mean you have a decent moral compass.
I'm pretty sure there's a strong negative correlation between smart liberal and decent moral compass.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the Dems introduced legislation to lower the voting age to 7. Seriously.
"Vote before 8 or else it's too late!"
Then they'd get the unionized teachers, who are all dem voters, to tell the little tykes how they will die in the streets and be eaten by rats if the mean old Rethuglicans get elected. They would really do this, I'm not even joking.
My favorite part is the current coalition is made up of such disparate groups, and waiting for them to really turn against each other.
Unions against progs because of obamacare.
Blacks against gays
Hispanics against blacks
Environmentalists against unions
Feminists against everyone
Progs against peaceniks
Should be a fun next few years to watch.
Feminists against everyone
One amusing thing is at gamer news sites you will have one post making fun of fox news for having some asshole guest saying Video games cause violence and then have the next article about how the princess in the Mario bros games give the wrong message to girls.
The comments reminding the writers about Hilary's campaign against Grand Theft Auto and pointing out the feminists are making the same argument as the fox news guests is priceless.
How about wealthy white liberals vs. everybody? Almost every idea espoused by rich white liberals is actively contrary to the needs of the other members of the coalition.
They want to raise the price of oil in order to protect the environment, which will be just great for all of the unionized workers at the John Deere factory who will see the cost of filling up their truck double.
They stop water from going to farming communities in order to protect a single type of endangered fish, which destroys the livelihood of hundreds of Hispanic families that relied on that for their livelihood.
They advocate all sorts of restrictions and regulations in the cities that they run which inevitably destroys inner city jobs and results in black communities being left destitute.
I could go on.
Tesla will own your ass, count on it. You will be bemoaning that liberal scum and his great contribution to capitalism.
A company whose welfare queen status is surpassed only by companies like General Electric and Lockheed Martin. Great example.
What does one have to do with the other?
He's only bizarrely wrong this time instead of hilariously wrong.
Does he mean the electric car company that had to pay a $275,000 fine because they did not conduct the proper emissions tests. (Note: electric cars have no emissions)
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/0.....ficate-of/
Or the progressive nut job who advocated for eugenics?
"The only method compatible with our notions of civilization and the race is to prevent the breeding of the unfit by sterilization and the deliberate guidance of the mating instinct..."
- Nikola Tesla
I am going with Eugenics nut.
Shrike did say he wanted government mandated birth control.
Opps my bad it was Tony who advocated for government mandated birth control.
not Shrike.
My bad.
What does Tesla have to do with unionized workers having their budgets broken by environmentalists, Hispanic families having their water cut off, or black people being left destitute by the malfeasance of the left?
I'm sure black people living in the killing fields of Chicago that the left helped create will be really happy that wealthy white people can buy electric sports cars.
They'll be doubly happy that they're helping subsidize those wealthy white people's cars.
I read the other day that a lower percentage of college degrees are awarded to poor people today than they were in 1971 before federal aid really began. The entire thing has been nothing but a hand out to college professors and administrators sold in the name of helping the poor.
Rest assured those assholes who get their 10K tax credit for buying their fucking golf cart think its totally okay because the poor will suffer most from global warming. It really does make you think perhaps it is time to start building a few gallows.
Also, the rate of home ownership is at the same level it was several decades ago, despite decades of "affordable" housing policies and the mother of all government-fueled bubbles.
The home ownership one is a real pisser. Poor people are always on edge of unemployment. They need to be able to be mobile and go where the job is. Encouraging them to buy a home is one of the dumbest things we could have done.
You know, I generally like you, John, but sometimes you say some crazy things that worry me a bit. That's some Reign of Terror shit right there.
Yeah it is. And sadly if they are not careful, that is where we are headed. People blame the Reign of Terror on the Robespierre. But they don't tell his side of the story. His side is that the mobs had gotten so out of control that the state had no choice but to satiate them in hopes of regaining a monopoly on violence. It was government run guillotines or rampaging mobs. They are going to keep fucking around until we the mob starts to form.
John is your fellow fascist so you should approve.
Projection is thy name you little retard.
Fascist? That's rich from the man cheering on Chocolate Hitler as he prepares to bathe in Syrian blood.
I thought he was the Chocolate Nixon.
Nah, like JFK and LBJ, Hitler started wars. Plus, Obama has made it his mission to piss off China.
Yeah. Nixon was very smart and at least competent at some things. Obama, not so much.
I thought he was the Chocolate Nixon.
Clinton was Chocolate Nixon.* Obama is Gay LBJ.
*
--Toni Morrison
PB at 10:18
PB at 10:38
You do realize that the crony capitalism that Tesla needs to exist is a fascist economic system correct? In the same thread that you advocate fascism, you call me a fascist. The lack of self-awareness is unbelievable.
Liberals don't know what words mean. Fascist is just an insult. They have no idea what it means.
"Liberals don't know what words mean. Fascist is just an insult. They have no idea what it means."
And that is a huge problem we have. How can you explain to people that a policy is fascist when they think the word is no different then calling someone an asshole.
"Fascism" is a political system and not so much of an economic system.
It is wholly right wing - Nationalism, Authoritarianism, Militarism, Religiousity, Vote tampering, Racism, Sexism, Corporatism - the standard GOP platform.
"It is wholly right wing - Nationalism, Authoritarianism, Militarism, Religiousity, Vote tampering, Racism, Sexism, Corporatism - the standard GOP platform."
Wow you really know next to nothing about the history of fascism. Seriously could you at the very least just skim over a wikipedia entry on fascism or is that asking too much?
"Fascism" is a political system and not so much of an economic system.
No retard it is both. It is about creating a society built entirely around the state. Calling small government American conservatives and libertarians fascist just shows that you are a fucking retard, which everyone already knew.
Indeed. The guillotine is more humane and efficient.
It really does make you think perhaps it is time to start building a few gallows
You mean besides almost everything that the government is doing these days?
Today, only about 7% of recent college grads come from the bottom-income quartile compared with 12% in 1970 when federal aid was scarce. All the government subsidies intended to make college more accessible haven't done much for this population, says Mr. Vedder. They also haven't much improved student outcomes or graduation rates, which are around 55% at most universities (over six years).
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop
That is where I saw it Lady Bertum. It is astounding isn't it?
Then there's this:
Requiring students to take part in community service to graduate from high school can actually reduce their later volunteering, new research suggests.
Maryland's statewide requirement that all students complete 75 hours of service learning by graduation led to significant boosts in 8th grade volunteering?generally in school-organized activities?but it actually decreased volunteering among older students, leading to a potential loss in long-term volunteering, according to a study previewed online by the Economics of Education Review in June.
But, their intentions are good, so long term consequences don't matter.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/artic.....L-EU-NEWS1
We can only hope that the progs are turning kids off to their bullshit. The whole volunteering racket is such a scam. And the worst part of it is is how elitist it is. It takes money and time for a kid to volunteer. Only rich kids with helicopter parents can do it.
Elon Musk made a great contribution to capitalism?
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh my God you're retarded. Musk, like your hero Buffett, owes EVERYTHING to crony capitalism.
The whole thing is built of free shit. And yeah, they are going to start turning each other. Already the blacks are starting to figure out that the Mexicans are more important. And you can't fund the public employee pensions without walking away from the green energy unicorns.
Really? Because in the last year the left willingly sacrificed George Zimmerman to the Race Gods, despite him clearly not being any kind of racist, and then sent death threats to a Hispanic rodeo clown for having the temerity to mock Obama the Munificent, Bringer of Light and Victor of the Nobel.
They seem intent on lynching as many Hispanics as is necessary to make Al Sharpton say nice things about them.
True. But that is just to keep blacks from noticing amnesty.
But MSNBC kept saying Zimmerman was a white guy, until they finally settled on white hispanic.
And did anyone mention the rodeo clown's race?
Clown.
His race was "Clown."
Not that I ever saw. And yeah, if Zimmerman's last name had been Lopez, the media never would have touched that case.
"Not that I ever saw. And yeah, if Zimmerman's last name had been Lopez, the media never would have touched that case."
It's absolutely disgusting how much racial hatred the media, and the Democrats are willing to stir up in order to win an election.
I sometimes wonder how much racism currently exists today simply as a result of the Democrats trying to gain a political advantage.
Damn near all of it bard. Damn near all of it.
Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?....
I've never liked that song. And I despise "Low Rider".
Young people aren't even close to the most loyal voting block the Dems have -- that honor belongs to the group of people Democrat policies fuck the hardest.
Anybody know George Soros's or Susan Rice's emails? I'd like to find out how to profit from this upcoming war.
NYSE: RTN (Raytheon).
Angel Dust!?!?
The WOD must continue!
Is PCP making a comeback!? I iz excited!!!
PCP made for the best terrorize middle class white folks news stories.
I knew a couple of people in high school who smoked it. I was told it was a pretty cool high. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if some particularly potent weed I smoked once in college was laced with it.
I am pretty sure every single horror story about it was total bullshit.
I got wet a few times and it was one of the most mellow highs I ever had. Once we bought some off of some car thieves in a supermarket parking lot (long story), smoked it and then drove around the woods for a few hours at 3 mph. I went home that night, had a couple more puffs and laid in the backyard looking at the stars all night. It was great.
It's really a peaceful high, and I think the horror stories are more crazy people taking a drug and acting crazy, than sane people flipping out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O17HBMGlWc
Silvia!!!
Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?
I smell troll stench in this thread. Smells like team blue partisan hack, head up Obamas arse, troll.
I'M OFF THE FUCKIN CLOCK
Best sign ever?
I like how she says nothing about ideas or even the message. It's all self-evident to them, like they're robots and prog ideals is one of their robot laws.
She said HOLDING REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE didn't she? How many ideas were you looking for exactly?
HOLDING REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE
That's actually a pretty good one, when you consider the brain dead constituents that they are pandering to.
After all, your message has to fit the target audience. Can't make it too complicated for them to understand.
So if I am getting the picture right already, in 2016 it will be:
Hitlarys HOLDING REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE!
VS
Christies I'M IN IT TO WIN!
Idiocracy has arrived.
You don't understand Hyperion. She just forgot the last clause of her point.
It should have read,
HOLDING REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR MISTAKES
HOPE AND CHANGE
FORWARD
It's not like they need to come up with anything meaningful. They only need to beat the stupid party, and the stupid party will help out with that, a lot.
They haven't had a new idea in a hundred years. And everything they try fails and every institution they touch, they destroy.
developing the next generation of tools.
Inadvertently true.
developing deceiving the next generation of tools fools
That sounds more accurate.
No, they're tools. Trust me on that.
heh
The First Wookee has a sad:
They just were not properly educated. They need to be reeducated. If only we had some kind of camp where we could concentrate these people in one place and solve this problem.
It's going up right beside of that new zillion square ft NSA campus. Or under it.
The good news is that the NSA is totally incompetent. So the camps will be easy to escape from.
You mean the peasants are actually starting to resent the modern day Marie Antoinettes 'I'm on vacation in Spain pigging down on lobster and filet, again, but you serfs need to eat small portions of food you don't like'.
These are sad days when the peasants have lost respect for their betters.
Market failure.
You don't see any fat kids at my monocle factory and uranium mine, I'll tell ya what.
Are you making that new smart monocle that sees through the clothing of hot chicks, but automagically puts a burqua on anything that looks like DWS?
Hitchhiker's Guide had something like that-- the Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses.
We always joke about child labor. My wife and I both have a grandfather who had to quit school and go to work when they were around 13. Both died very wealthy men. Today they couldn't have done that. Their families would have ended up on the street or on welfare as they wasted their time in school. But child labor laws are there to protect children and make things better.
Child labor laws, making sure children can do nothing to help their parents.
Somehow I doubt we'll create a Dickensian nightmare of children in workhouses if we roll back some archaic child labor laws.
I don't think kids should have to work to support their families, but it would definitely help teach good values if they were able to get a job during the summer months.
I don't think they should. But sometimes life sucks and there are only bad options. My father worked clear through high school to help his mother. His dad died when he was five. That is how families used to make it through tragedy and bad luck; everyone got off their ass and pitched in. Now they just go on the dole. That doesn't seem to be working out so well.
It would be great for people that want to work in the trades. If you could apprentice as a plumber or electrician at 12 you'd be very skilled and have a giant client base by 25.
Shit, the guy who works on my car started working in his grandfather's garage at about that age and is a mechanical genius with his own business at 30. If he could have been legally allowed to enter the business earlier, I have no doubt that he'd own five garages bu now.
Totally. If you have an aptitude and interest for a trade, you have it by the time you are 12 or so. One of my friends from high school owns his own garage these days. He was taking lawn mower engines apart by the time he was ten. High school was a waste of time for him.
But if kids don't go to public school for 13 years they won't have a well-rounded education indoctrination.
Reading this conversation, I can't believe what barbaric neanderthal monsters you guys are.
Everyone deserves a college education, even if they don't want it! Because, fairness!
Sure, you want little Johnny to become some illiterate redneck grease monkey who works on gas guzzling, planet raping, SUVs, and who is sexist towards women, instead of getting a nice civilized degree in gender studies and going on to having a sex change and writing enlightened articles for Salon or Jezebel.
Heathens!
Only 13 years? Did you forget all the effort the government has gone through trying to make sure every kid goes to college?
Of course by doing that we delay everyone's entry into the workforce, which also delays people starting a family, which lowers fertility rates, which means less workers paying for more retirees, which leads to austerity measures, and then riots, etc, etc, until we reach the collapse of Western civilization.
It's a like a giant chain reaction of good intentions.
It's not college that's delaying entry into the workforce these days, it's the lack of jobs.
Imagine how bad U6 would be with college enrollments cut in half.
The trades are only lucrative right now because so few people pursue them, and many people don't even know how to take care of their own mechanical/plumbing needs anymore. If you have functional hands and arms and can control your aversion to other people's sewage, you can be a plumber... and as other opportunities vanish in the coming years it will go back to being a low-paying job as it had traditionally been.
It will never be a low paying job Tulpa. It is a very hard job. For that reason something like plumping will always pay well because if it didn't no one would do it.
something like plumping will always pay well
I know plenty of people who will plump for free. Just give them stuff to eat and watch!
For that reason something like plumping will always pay well because if it didn't no one would do it.
They'd rather just starve? The dole isn't going to last forever.
It wasn't that long ago that working on plumbing was something that the man of the house did, and as the various economic bubbles pop it's going to be that way again.
They'd rather just starve?
Who says plumping will be the only option? There are other easier jobs that will keep you from starving.
Such as...?
I'm not sure you appreciate how fucked this economy is.
Such as pretty much any job. Being a plumper is about as hard and nasty work as you can do. So unless plumping is the only job left in America to do, you are always going to have to pay a premium to get people to do it. I would rather mow lawns or flip burgers than do plumbing if the pay was the same.
For God's sake man, type out that b!
I would rather mow lawns or flip burgers than do plumbing if the pay was the same.
Those jobs won't be available. People aren't going to have money laying around to pay for either pretty soon.
And they will for plumbers? Give it up. You are reduced to claiming the only job left in America will be plumping.
My wife and I both have a grandfather ...
Uh oh,
Read on. Both men became wealthy.
Hopefully not the same person, in case you missed that.
Sure, carb-loading is healthy.
More seriously, buy the raw ingredients and teach the kids how to cook. The kids will probbaly be more likely to try something they make themselves. Of course, the unionized cafeteria staff would have a fit, as would some parents who think putting their precious kids that close to hot ovens with sharp knives and stuff is "dangerous".
^This.
I was cooking dinner for my family at 7, and the supervision declined to zero by the time I was 8. Basic cooking isn't rocket science but kids (and an overabundance of adults) think it is black magic and are terrified when they walk in a kitchen.
"You can poach eggs at home!?"
"Yes, mortal, I learned the art sitting at the feet of Beelzebub himself *mumbles incomprehensible Latin then strains eggs in slotted spoon* muahahaha."
I'll bet this takes everyone by surprise:
"Obama holds Martin Luther King as personal hero"
"Barack Obama was 2 years old and growing up in Hawaii..."
I'm sure Ms. Superville (yep, that's the byline) wrote the article without giggling.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/pol.....765098.php
He is a light worker. He achieved political consciousness in the womb.
And he's still evolving.
Ummmm, no. A guy becoming president because of his skin color and in spite of the content of his character is exactly the opposite of what King wanted.
"Ummmm, no. A guy becoming president because of his skin color and in spite of the content of his character is exactly the opposite of what King wanted."
Hey now give the Republicans some credit here. They really had to fuck up hard to make voting for Obama seem like a good alternative.
Heh, from the comments:
Obama will celebrate the anniversary of Dr. Kings historical speech by talking about...
himself.
I set the over and under on the "I"s and "me"s at 25.
I'll take the over on that one.
Didn't see your comment Visc, no lie.
Sounds like that could get dangerous if someone made it into a drinking game.
So what's the over/under on how many "I's
and Me's" are in President Not My Faults' MLK speech?
If the speech is more than 30 minutes it will have to be in the thousands.
She obviously fucked up the story.
He meant that Barack Obama was a personal hero of Martin Luther King.
Believe it or not, and it's seriously hard for me, but Obama is getting seriously ripped at HuffPo over this Syria deal. Never thought I would see what I am seeing right now.
Not by the journalisters of course, but by the typically adoring commentariat.
But will they do anything about it? The small government conservatives stayed home for three out of the last four elections over Bush. I suspect the liberals will still come out in numbers to vote Dem in 14 and again in 16, even if the nominee is Hillary who is worse than Obama.
But will they do anything about it?
Vote for Hillary, of course!, she'll get us out of Obamas wars!
That's about how smart most of them are, but right now it is almost shocking, they sound more like us that the Fluffpostians that I know.
That is the sad thing. You can bring people around about an idea, but you cannot get them to let go of team. Team trumps all, because damnit, no matter how bad your team is, the other team is worse!
Look at ButtPlug, for example, he loves him some team blue. He might actually believe some libertarian ideals, but team is so a part of him, that it trumps everything else.
Anyone: 'Hey Buttplug, this war thing Obama is going to get us into really sucks.'
ButtPlug: But Boosshhhh!!! Slobber, slobber, Cheney!!!!, slobber, Rethuglicans!!!
This is what I mean.
The saddest thing was they had their chance in 2012. You have to be a major league retard to have convinced yourself that Mitt fucking Romney was going to ban abortion and bring the dark night of fascism down on America had he become President. But if the anti-war and civil libertarian left had gone third party or stayed home and cost the Chocolate Jesus the election, they would have gotten the message. And there would be at least one party that cared about that shit even if it was just because they had to. Instead, they all voted for Obama and now neither party gives a shit what they think.
That was one of the more bizarre aspects of the last presidential election. All of a sudden Mitt "Big government douche" Romney was some sort of AnCap, socon member of the Westboro Baptist Church. I mean, fuck, the guy's one click to the right of Obama for chrissakes.
And the illusion wasn't intentional or short-lived. I was reading a comment thread on Kos the other day, because I'm a masochist, and they were still trotting out the Romney is a heartless capitalist tropes presently.
Do republicans really think they're gonna win these people over by nominating increasingly big government establishment 'tards? Or, are they so committed to the status quo that they'd rather lose with Romney than win with Rand Paul?
Kos progs think Obama is a heartless capitalist pig.
KOSPIG!!!
Let it out you little freak. let it out.
They are all total narcissists. It is all about them and their ability to feel important and smug. If they admit that Romney is some unremarkable big government guy from Massachusetts, then they have to admit the election isn't that important in the big picture. And they could never admit that. For them it is forever 1963 and they are forever fighting the most important fight in history. It is just pathetic.
I think that in 2016, they would rather lose with Christie, if they could. But he'll never get the nomination, no matter how badly some of the old guard wants it. He's seriously damaged goods in the GOP now. He can still run as a Dem, or independent.
But, they'll find their next Romney. They'll find him, and I truly believe they would rather lose that race than to win with Rand Paul. Are you kidding me? Libertarians mean an end to everything that they hold dear, namely, unaccountable and unlimited power and corruption.
I am not sure who they are going to find. The natives are pretty restless right now. Maybe Scott Walker or Mitch Daniels.
Mitch Daniels has no charisma at all, even less that Romney, without the hair.
Don't see that.
Not sure about Walker.
You guys are forgetting that it wasn't Ron Paul and Gary Johnson fighting Romney for the nom, it was Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. The fundies and neocons still control the party.
Rick Perry will run, bank it. If Huckabee decides to run instead of continuing to make money hand over fist with zero accountability, he'll be formidable too in the primary. From what one can tell right now, one of those two has the best chance for beating whoever the Dem is, due to immigration dovishness (but not the in-your-face-kind like Rubio's) and a willingness to continue the socialist gravy train, especially in Huck's case.
I don't think Rand Paul has the slightest chance of winning a general election for president, but I'd be ecstatic to be proved wrong.
Perry should have won in 2012. He was set up perfectly to be the not Romney candidate. But he destroyed himself. I can't see him doing any better this time.
And if the SOCONs ran the party one of their candidates would be the nominee, like maybe once or ever? It has never happened. The SOCONs don't run anything.
And there is no such thing as a NEOCON. That is just an idiotic fucking term that once applied to like ten beltway wonks. There are no "neocon" politicians or wing of the party. There is an internationalist wing, which is pretty much the entire party sans Paul supporters.
And Huckabe couldn't win in 2000. Why could he win now? He is a hasbeen. I am not sure who will win. But it won't be Huckabee. Rubio has a better chance as the establishment's new butt boy than Huckabee does.
Literally the only thing Mike Huckabee has going for him is that he can play the bass line in More Than A Feeling.
Well what alternative is there when Biden tells you that the Republicans want to put you back in chains?
It's amazing, the Democrats can accuse the Republicans of wanting to do things that are completely beyond parody, and yet the Democrat base will still eat that shit up.
Obviously Republicans don't want to put Negros in chains.
Maybe roll back the minimum wage and make them work for nothing - but no chains.
Fuck you, you racist little pig. Go tell us about Clearance Thomas' white wife and how black people can't succeed without the help of white people you repulsive pile of puss.
Right, because liberal policies like jacking up the minimum wage and increasing regulatory burdens on businesses are totally going to help the black unemployment rate.
Moron.
Moron.
An insult to morons everywhere. Take it back!
Kennedy created the min wage to keep blacks from taking white jobs.
Of course, having on the market a rather large source of cheap labor depresses wages outside of that group, too ? the wages of the white worker who has to compete. And when an employer can substitute a colored worker at a lower wage ? and there are, as you pointed out, these hundreds of thousands looking for decent work ? it affects the whole wage structure of an area, doesn't it?
Comments like this are how we know you're either a troll or a diehard progressive, and not a 94 on the libertarian purity test. Which we knew anyway, despite your occasional (ok, rare) reasonable comments.
They don't want to put everyone back in chains. Just colored folk and vaginas.
Us white males are free to run around without even checking our privilege.
If Obama puts 100,000 US troops in Syria I will denounce him and contribute $500 to Santorum out of spite.
If Obama puts 100,000 troops in Syria, you will suck his cock and repeat whatever talking points your handlers tell you to. Shut the fuck up you little weirdo.
Lame. Denounce him now for even thinking about an act of war without the consent of Congress. Do it, or go back to sucking his cock, and leave us alone. Just fucking go away.
That would require them to have some principles, and I don't think free shit, and identity politics counts as principles.
It's worked for the Democrats so well, so why shouldn't they just keep chugging along like that? Then again, if the GOP turned somewhat more Libertarian, instead of 20th Century conservative, then maybe they'd actually find the fortitude and arguments that connect with today's America.
I don't see why the Dems would change any of their policies at this point, they keep getting elected.
It will take losing the senate and the house before they tack back to the center.
But the GOP is pretty fucking hopeless too so instead we get the worst possible scenario until Lady Hillary assumes the throne.
Yeah, we're done.
The problem is that it is not a D v. R. thing. It is an us versus them thing. The top Republicans are often just as bad. There is a ruling class who are totally unaccountable and completely out of control. And they have been so effective at dividing the country over bullshit, you can't get enough reasonable people to get together and do something about it.
I did like Glenn's recent answer to this problem- Stop privileges for government officials.
I don't know if you guys talked about this already, been away at the beach. I think we should be "revisiting" the Nobility Clause more often.
We totally should.
The Right needs to get out of the 60s. During Vietnam it developed way too much faith in the police and the military. You can't mindlessly support the cops and the military no matter who is in charge or what they do. And that is what a lot of them do. It is not 1969 anymore. The progs have infiltrated these institutions, especially the police. They have got to wake the fuck up.
It's happening, sloooooowwwwlly.
In year two of Hillary's reign we could maybe then see a larger tea party resurgence bringing in more Cruz and Rands, but it will probably be too late by then.
Three words: Graham and McCain.
It's time to take those 2 fuckers down in a primary.
There are lots and lots of people that want to do to Graham in 2014 what was already done to Bill Bennett in Utah: throw him out on his fucking ear in the primary.
Thankfully SC has runoffs in the primary, so the important thing is to keep Graham from getting 50 percent the first time.
McCain will retire rather than run again.
What has the military done to lose trust?
I didn't mean mindlessly support the military but rather military intervention. I misspoke.
This absolutely has to happen. Political office should only be to serve the best interest of the nation, for a short time, and then back to the private sector. No privilege, no lifetime pensions. They have to live by the same laws as the rest of us, the laws they help to pass. Cronyism has to be made illegal and has to carry very harsh penalties.
Nope, they don't need to change a thing.
This holding republicans responsible thing is perfect. The voters are stupid, they know it. The GOP is stupid, they know it. Why change anything? Just keep lying, and coming up with brainless slogans that mean nothing, it works!
This is pretty funny.
Obama, Kerry, Bush et al discuss Syria on Facebook.
SF'd the link, sorry-
http://www.caintv.com/obama-et.....syria-on-f
That's hilarious. Who did that?
This dude Michael Johnson.
Here's another that's even better I just read. The Reid character is awesome.
The government shutdown freakout hits Facebook!
The really funny thing is that the things he's having the Dems say, really are not even as outrageously silly as the things that they actually do say.
True, and it does get a little cheeseball.
'Revenge porn' may soon be illegal in California
It's called "revenge porn," and the California Legislature is speeding along by hefty bipartisan margins a bill to make it a crime -- a misdemeanor with a potential for as much as a year behind bars -- to post intimate photos of someone else online without his or her permission, intending to humiliate or upset him or her.
Its sponsor, Ceres Republican Sen. Anthony Cannella, argues that "right now, law enforcement has no tools to combat revenge porn or cyber-revenge." It is, he says, "destroying people's lives."
Right now, victims can sue in civil court, if they want to take the time and the trouble and pay the legal bills...
The poster girl for what Cannella calls a "growing trend" is Holly Jacobs. Over the three-plus years of a relationship, she sent her boyfriend some intimate photos -- and right here is the time to point out that Jacobs has anticipated and shut down anyone who'd say that it's her fault for taking those pictures in the first place. (Just as people may insultingly and absurdly blame a rape victim for "asking for it.")
Uh no, if you send nude pictures of yourself to your boyfriend/girlfriend you are trusting them to keep that shit to themselves. The law should not offer you any protection if they violate that trust absent a legal contract.
Call it "Weiner's Law".
There definitely needs to be a new sensibility about private images. It's a lot easier now that you don't have to go to a professional photographer or Thrifty Drugstore to get your photos developed. The folks doing this are clearly dicks, but they need opprobrium, not the hammer of law.
Maybe a few plot lines where some lives were ruined and an older brother stepped in to knock out a few teeth for some revenge porn revenge propaganda.
So much for nonaggression principles, eh?
Where did I say that older brothers SHOULD assault those who put out revenge porn?
I don't think it's a bad thing if those who would do it had it back in their head that people think it's reasonable to beat the shit out of them for doing it.
Also I've never personally espoused the NAP, so...
if movies from Seinfeld would be made.
Shoddy. By my count they missed "Blame it On the Rain", "The Pain and the Yearning", "Brown-Eyed Girl", and "Mountain High".
The business about protecting voting rights is all-too-transparent horseshit. If the Democrats wanted to spend a few million dollars acmaking a real difference instead of greasing palms and buying attack ads, they would help bankroll an open-source electronic voting system that would allow any citizen to cast a secure, tamper-proof vote using a smart phone or home computer, which could later be checked for accuracy by the voter. EVERY VOTED BALLOT would be published in the open, in encrypted form, such that no information about individual voters could be gleaned from the data, but election results could be computed and compared against the officially released totals by anyone. Voters could see if their ballots were included or not in the official archive of the election, whether their choices were accurately recorded and counted, and if anyone else had cast duplicate ballots in their names. (The system could be designed not to allow a person to vote twice in the first place, as well, but this would be an additional capability to guard against voter fraud.) The source code for the system would be available for inspection in the public domain, so that all parties could verify its correctness, or detect errors and demand corrections.
(concluded in reply comment)
(continued from main comment above)
This is all within the range of modern information processing technology and encryption methods. It was doable back in 2000, and when HAVA was enacted awhile later. If the integrity of our elections, the secret ballot, and the need to count every vote accurately and quickly were REALLY important to ANYONE, we'd have such a system today, and the GOP and Demos would have helped make it happen. But we don't, and so you have to ask "why?" I don't think the powers that be, much less the Demo and GOP machines, really WANT transparent, efficient, convenient, tamper-proof, secret-ballot elections. They just want power and will say or do anything to get it. For them, elections serve as useful theatre (much as are TSA searches and scans), to distract and mollify the population, while creating the illusion of consent of the governed. As I said, pure horseshit.
I saw the other day where Yemen has a biometric voting system to prevent fraud. Fucking Yemen. The Dems rely on voting fraud to win. They have it down to a science. That is what all of these "civil rights" organizations are for. The scam is to figure out the names of as many voters as possible who either are not able to or likely will not vote and then send your people to vote in their place. Democrats do this by the millions of votes. A safe and secure election system would prevent that.
I don't think the Democrats use voter fraud for millions of votes, John. You need a little bit of evidence to make that claim.
I used to think voter fraud was just another political bogeyman used by the right to score points.
Then I saw how desperately the Dems fought against voter ID laws before the 2012 elections, and came up pretty much emptyhanded trying to find a different reason for their animus against them.
That is it. They have no rational argument against it. But they will do anything to stop ID laws. If fraud were jsut something the did for a few votes, they wouldn't put so much effort into stopping ID laws.
You're putting too much faith in the Dems. I just think they're using it to gin up hysteria on the left about EVIL RACIST RETHUGLICANS!!!! The left will call Republicans racist for doing literally anything. A Republican cannot cross the street without it being a sign of his white privilege.
I think it's more likely that we're seeing the same old left-wing racial hysteria that we've seen for years than that there are millions of fraudulent votes cast every election.
They didn't just call the Repubicans racist, they actively fought to prevent the laws from taking effect. SOP for the Dems playing the race card is to allow the supposedly racist policy to fester. Unlike shitty public schools and stupendous incarceration rates for black males, the Dems clearly wanted the voter ID laws to disappear but quick.
Brazil is working on something similar. Even now, you cannot vote without your id, it's not possible, and all voting in electronic, there is no paper. They've had the machines since 1996.
Online voting is the way to go, though, and there's no reason we can't do it. If you don't have a puter, just install some machines in public places, like ATM machines where people can vote. The standing in lines that we have today in the USA, is ridiculous, and crude.
The problem is how do you keep the system from being hacked? How do you know that is what happened? The great thing about paper ballots is that they are there for history. They can always be counted again. When you go electronic you can't do that. And I can't imagine any system of storage that would be full proof.
And it would be really easy. Just use the blue finger thing the Iraqis did. Why don't we do that? I am sure the Dems would come up with some way to claim it was racist and disenfranchising black people or women.
I vote blue finger thingy.
How do you keep an online banking system from being hacked? And those run 24/7.
It gets hacked all of the time. Identity theft is a pretty big problem.
Online banking systems are safe?
You're hilarious.
New Details on Global, Heartland Breaches
I'm telling you luddies, online voting will happen, and it's not going to be hacked.
Reminds me of the people who were scared to death of online banking and online shopping, etc.
You build in safeguards so that you know full well if you were hacked or even if there was an attempted hack.
You build in safeguards so that you know full well if you were hacked or even if there was an attempted hack.
And then what, you re-do the election?
Are we talking about 3rd parties tampering with the system or the government that's in charge of the system tampering with it? If it's the latter online banking is a poor example.
NSA:"YEAH!! We suck at hacking."
Well, I can't win this argument tonight, but online voting will be a reality. The USA will probably be a very late adopter. And yet, there will be a system that will not be hacked, and that cannot be.
I've heard all of this before, and every time, the nay sayers have eventually been proven wrong. This time will be no different.
We are still keeping the metric system at an arm's length. I don't think online voting will be anytime soon. And am glad for it.
Oh, come on. It can never work. Just like online banking, it can never... oh wait... never mind...
Your bank doesn't have an enormous incentive to make that transfer go into your checking account rather than your savings account.
It will come down to who's in charge of counting the ballots, as always. I don't see how that's any better.
A Truly Great Phony - The latest from Sowell
It irks me that Sowell isn't more widely published, and not just because I agree with him. I just like the way he writes.
Now, I love Thomas Sowell, but why does he insist on calling it 'Marxian' instead of 'Marxist?' Just being an iconoclast?
There is a difference besides just being iconoclastic.
Huh.
I had no idea this was a thing.
Not to be confused with Krugman's "Martian" economics.
What's funny is that they both suck. Terribly even.
I read the Books That Changed The World for Das Kapital and the takeaway was that Marxist theory was an interesting way to look at history, but sucked at addressing economics, and that he badly needed a better editor.
How is it anyone in this century can still be enamored by Marx?
Ask the Proglodytes.
I looked and Thomas also wrote his essay for the 50th MLK speech.
A Poignant Anniversary
With Argentina today beset by domestic problems, demanding the return of the Falklands is once again a way for Argentina's government to distract the Argentine public's attention from the country's economic and other woes.
Looks like the USA is learning much from the Argentinian commies.
Just replace Falklands with Syria and economic and other with NSA and IRS.
What is up with the growing prevalence of hyphenated last names? This shit can only go on for so long. After a few generations nothing will fit on a driver's license.
Tyranny is achieved thanks to universal suffrage. They win by appealing to the ignorant mob.