Rats fleeing the ship

[marmar]

Ben Bernanke: I’m Ditching The Republican Party Because Of Their ‘Stupid Economic Conspiracies’

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/ben-bernanke-im-ditching-the-republican-party-because-of-their-stupid-economic-conspiracies/



Longtime Conservative Actor Robert Duvall Is Abandoning The GOP ‘Mess’

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/03/16/longtime-conservative-actor-robert-duvall-abandoning-gop-mess/

[Sherman A1]

1. K&R!

[Scuba]

2. I'd rather they stayed in their party and tried to bring it back from the hate and fear.

We sure don't want them in our party.

[mountain grammy]

5. I hear that, and agree.

I'll welcome their vote, but, truthfully, we are feeling enough conservative influence in the Democratic party.

[Cary]

13. I disagree...

I am a left leaning moderate so I get accused by people to the left of me of being a corporatist or whatever, and I get accused of right wingers, even so called moderates, of being a radical leftist. And I am certain someone here wiill jump down my throat for some nonsense, even though my preferences (as opposed to my view of practical realities) are virtually identical to theirs.

That happens all the time here. Such is life.

Nevertheless I have room for true right leaning moderates. It's the radical right that I have no tolerance for, and have cringed in the past at some radical leftists' ridiculous notion that they actually had something in common with the radical right.

I have something in common with all moderates. If nothing else that's the ability to find some common ground and work towards the general welfare instead of some cockamamie ideology.

The left needs to look at this more practically. The Republican party may not survive this schism, and should not survive it. Why? Because they eschewed William F. Buckley's wisdom and put out the welcome mat for radicals. This is what ideological purity does in our system, which was not designed for ideological purity.

Therefore I welcome Ben and Robert. Let's get something done for a change. Ideological purists of any stripe, feh.

[Scuba]

14. Not to worry. The Democratic Party leadership is light years away from ideological purity.

[Cary]

16. true

I don't have this issue with Democratic leadership. My comment is directed at people who are calling me names.

[leveymg]

27. The ship will sink with or without them no matter which party at the helm

The ship is the USS United States. It's a rusted hulk tied up at a dock, too far gone to even be painted over and used as a floating casino. Scrap.

[dflprincess]

29. I agree

we don't need anymore that will fit in with the "Third Way" types and pull the Democratic any further to the right than it's already slipped.

I love when I hear people say that these Republican escapees are "socially liberal" and "fiscally conservative". Great if they're for reproductive rights and Gay rights - but you can't really separate the two sides. "Fiscally conservative" usually means they'd be more than happy to put Social Security on table, won't raise a finger to develop an actual safety net for the country and, in the long run, pretty much be a Wall Street/MIC stooge really all not all that much concerned with the 99%.

[MADem]

30. The GOP is dead, I think. Whatever comes next will not be this thing we've been dealing with for

decades, now.

[951-Riverside]

3. Ben Bernanke was the head of the Federal Reserve and he's Jewish

The NSDAP ...I mean the GOP arent exactly friendly to someone like him. I'm surprised he joined the NSDAP ...ooops sorry, the GOP to begin with.

[lark]

8. What is NSDAP?

?????????????

[wolfie001]

9. What? Think Weimer Republic

[starroute]

10. Just Google it

It's pretty obvious if you stop and think for a moment, though.

[eShirl]

36. No, it's not.

[comradebillyboy]

11. National Socialist German Workers Party

aka Nazis

[George II]

4. Careful, someone got a hide a few weeks ago by referring to people changing...

...their candidate support as "rats fleeing a sinking ship". But that long-standing expression is very appropriate for this situation (and the one weeks ago)

[uriel1972]

20. If the ship is sinking... the rats may have a point.

I wish the rats a long and fruitfull voyage to somewhere else, far away where they can do no harm.

[jalan48]

6. So George Jr. was OK with these fools? Really?

[lark]

7. So, the few remaining Repugs who care about the country are deserting.

GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wolfie001]

12. The average repuke has his brain so addled with horseshit.......

.....I find it amazing that any of 'em can think clearly. So many tin-foil conspiracies. And they all have a gun at the ready. Pretty scary situation here in 'Merica.

[Sheepshank]

15. Party of Palin, the person who can't decide to endorse Cruz or Trump

....this is what they have come to.

Could Bernake talk Palin down from her rhetoric? Or Cruz or Trump? Highly unlikely.

[HeartoftheMidwest]

17. Duvall may have jumped ship, but he still retains some "crazy:"

Quote from Addictinginfo article:

Duvall also blamed Democrats for all the “atrocities committed in the South” against African-Americans. On this point, Duvall is only partially correct. While it is true that Southern Democrats supported slavery, Jim Crow laws, and segregation, those particular Democrats were conservatives. Republicans were the liberals until they began their rightward turn after the days of Teddy Roosevelt. Democrats started turning liberal around the same time and are now the champions of civil rights while Republicans are now the staunch conservatives who seek to repeal them. The shift, of course, took some time but it did happen. Even Duvall admits that “everything’s been turned around in a strange way.” So Duvall really can’t blame today’s Democratic Party for terrible events that a totally different Democratic Party committed in the past. It would be like crediting today’s GOP for ending slavery.


So he's not terribly far off the Repub talking points.

[MADem]

31. Robert Duvall is a helluvan actor--and he dances a MEAN tango.

He's crazy as catshit, though.

I can enjoy his thespian talents without ever feeling a need to take political cues from him.

Quirky, little known film of his, worth a look: The Apostle.

[Orsino]

18. Political parties are for little people.

Bernanke entered the aristocracy, and no longer has to follow orders.

[saidsimplesimon]

19. rats still On the Ship of manufactured fear

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee

Some say, compar'd to Bononcini
That Mynheer Handel's but a Ninny
Others aver, that he to Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a Candle
Strange all this Difference should be
'Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee!

written by John Byrom

On this cold day, in the retirement community of Mesa, Arizona, two tall, overweight old men will tower over the plaza. The locked and loaded mountain posse will be on hand to protect and serve their masters. They will be cheering on the two bigots whose star shines brighter than Rick Perry’s Texas.

Ok, I’m giving them more than the deserved 10 seconds of fame. Trump is really tarnishing his billionaire creeds by hanging out with an establishment politician who takes donations for influence from the highest bidder, and squanders tax payer dollars on his misadventures. Don of the Plaza, open your big ears. Why hang out with losers?

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-long-lawless-ride-of-sheriff-joe-arpaio-20120802

The Long, Lawless Ride of Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Locking up the innocent. Arresting his critics. Racial profiling. Meet America's meanest and most corrupt politician.
By Joe Hagan August 2, 2012

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2015/04/23/joe-arpaio-apologizes-contempt-hearing-day-three-abrk/26240715/

Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com
Arpaio: PI hired to investigate judge's wife

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/former-mayor-claims-arpaio-investigated-him-in-political-retaliation

Former Phoenix mayor claims Arpaio investigated him in political retaliation
Katie Conner
Gordon says he became a vocal critical against Arpaio’s immigration policies in 2008.
As a result, Gordon says Arpaio almost immediately initiated investigations into the city’s light rail plans, employees and also into his personal life. Gordon says when he wouldn't give in, Arpaio continued to push him.

[Bernblu]

21. Too late for Ben. He owns the shitty economy

[bvar22]

22. The Democratic Party IS a "big Tent", but...

[font size=3]There is NO room for those who advance the agenda of The RICH at the expense of the Working Class & The Poor![/font]

Unfortunately, too many so called "Democrats" are doing exactly that...advancing the agenda of the RICH
at the expense of the Working Class & The Poor.

*Austerity?

*Low Taxes on the RICH? 39.5% Top Rate...during a time of WAR???!!! unprecedented.

*Privatizing The Commons?

*"Entitlement" Reform

*Supporting Union Busting so called "Free Trade"?

*Refusing to Raise-the-Cap on FICA deductions to protect Social Security?

*Forcing every American to BUY Health "Insurance" from For Profit Corporations?


....Not the Democratic Party in which I grew up.


[font color=firebrick][center]
"I don’t represent the big oil companies. I don’t represent the big pharmaceutical companies.
I don’t represent the Enrons of this world. But you know what?
They already have great representation in Washington.
It’s the rest of the people that need it.”
---Paul Wellstone’s Last Commercial before he was killed

[/center][/font]

[annabanana]

23. A tremendous loss, Wellstone..

We end up spending time thinking "what if" and "if only"

[bvar22]

24. He was one of the best & the brightest.

I was privileged to have been a Wellstone Campaign Volunteer during the time I spent in Minnesota.
I still do not have the words to express my grief over his death.

He impacted my life, and that is hard to do to a 50+ "I've seen it all" adult.
This is one of my favorites:

[font color=firebrick][center]"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone[/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[Skittles]

25. f*** these assholes

The Greedy Old Pig party has been fucked up as long as I can remember and they're just NOW seeing it? F*** them.

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

26. ...

Kick their lying asses dear. I know I would feel better if you did.

[GulfCoast66]

28. Many of us are switching sides.

I am reluctant to post this for the same reason I was reluctant to join DU. I just changed my registration a month or so ago from Republican to Democratic. But I did not have to read DU for long to find that there were those who did not want anyone coming over from the other side since they would not be sufficiently doctrinaire.

I am a southern white male, college degree, decent job. Even a Christian. Your stereotypical Republican. And for my entire voting life I was a Republican. But no more. I became very troubled about the language and the direction of the party over the last 10 years of so. Then I came to realize that the only difference between now and 1984 was the language; the goals have remained the same. And those goals no longer reflected my beliefs.

So I am not a progressive. But next fall I will be voting for Democratic Candidates across the board. I would hope that my fellow members of the Democratic Party in Florida would be happy to have me.

[JDPriestly]

32. They will be. I'm a Bernie fan, and I think it's great that you are a Democrat.

It's all a matter of a marketplace of ideas. May the best ideas win. Personalities are secondary.

So are political parties. We need to consider all the alternatives.

Welcome to the Democratic Party.

By the way, I lived in Europe for some years and so am not nervous about Democratic Socialism as a tag. But our economy now is rigged so that the very richest grab such a huge share of the growth that in my view it is time to even things out a bit. Therefore, although I like business, I do not support the big corporation grab, and that is why I support Bernie.

I believe that capital should be used and invested for the good of those who own it but also and more importantly for the good of society as a whole. I don't think that is the case right now in the US.

This is an aside to the topic of this thread, but I want to welcome you to the Democratic Party and do DU. We Democrats do not always have to agree on all points. That's one of the nice things about being a Democrat. You don't have to follow a party line.

This is primary time on DU. We are not usually this mean to each other.

Welcome.

[Laffy Kat]

33. Welcome, GulfCoast66.

From the South myself and return often. Curious, though, what are your feelings on reproductive rights?

[pampango]

39. Welcome, GulfCoast66. Democrats here are quite liberal but most understand the need for

a 'big tent'. There is much we agree on though disagreements get highlighted (particularly during primary season). There are a few name-callers if you are not perceived as progressive enough but they are few. Post what you believe.

[cprise]

34. Those are nothing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/opinion/sunday/are-neocons-getting-ready-to-ally-with-hillary-clinton.html

[rpannier]

35. Only now?

Where the hell has Duvall been the last 15 years
Probably whining about needing lower taxes

[TrollBuster9090]

38. Yeah, who'd have guessed that, out of all the characters Duvall has played, his real character

...his real character is most like FRANK BURNS.

[TrollBuster9090]

37. I'd define it more as ships leaving the great big RAT. At least in a few cases. nt