Bucky
Bucky's JournalIt sucks, sometimes, being the party of principles.
But then again, who wants to have the kind of principles that never inconvenience you?
I was happy & amused about Christie for a while. But he's starting to creep me out now.
It's like having a friend who happens to know the age-of-consent laws for all 50 states. At some point, some point soon, the quirky amusement of it all starts to wear off...
No, really. Peggy Noonan accuses Obama & Cuomo of egocentrism
Peggy Noonan needs to become a movie theater. Her psychological projection skills are stunning. Note how in Italics (Peggy's, not mine) she's able to crawl inside Gov Cuomo's head and figure out exactly what a hectoring know-it-all nag she, I mean he, supposedly is in moments of crisis.
[font size="4"]How Far Obama Has Fallen[/font]
[font face="times new roman"]by Peggy Noonan[/font]
{snippage}
New York's mayor, Mike Bloomberg, was sterling—a solid, unruffled giver of information whose news conferences were blessedly free of theatrics save for his gifted sign-language interpreter, who wowed a city and left the young evacuees in my apartment furiously signing "Where's the coffee?" and "I think the baby needs to be changed." Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was his usual compelling self, similarly informative. This is a man who knows a levy from a berm. He is one tough red-state player on a blue-state field. If Mitt Romney loses, will Mr. Christie garner Republican criticism for his hearty embrace of president Obama just days before the election? Yes, he will. Will it hurt him in Jersey? Not a bit. Will it help Jersey? Yes. They are cold and wet and running out of food in the house. Keep your friends close and your president closer.
The "I" of the storm was New York's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo. He was equally competent and effortful but took the mildly hectoring tone of a kind of leftism that is now old. It involves phrases like "As I've long said." I think this is the worst and I was appalled and when I was at HUD I handled storms and I learned a great deal and I saw we were prepared and I am relieved and I will work hard and I need you to know global warming is what I told you it was.
Really? That's what she got from Cuomo's "be-careful" speeches?
But the gems are yet to shine in the awesome tangle of Peggy Noonan's prose. Like any good Republican, her best literary moments come when she starts to rewrite history. Turning her lackadaisical crosshairs on Obama, she writes:
Look at where he started, placing his hand on the Bible Abe Lincoln was sworn in on in 1861. It was Jan. 20, 2009. The new president was 47 and in the kind of position politicians can only dream of
{snippers}
He won by 9.5 million votes. Two days after his inauguration, Gallup had him at 68% approval, only 12% disapproval. He had a Democratic Senate, and for a time a cloture-proof 60 members. He had a Democratic House (256-178) with a colorful, energetic speaker. The mainstream media were excited about him, supportive of him. His political foes were demoralized, their party fractured.
He faced big problems—an economic crash,two wars—but those crises gave him broad latitude. All of his stars were perfectly aligned. He could do anything.
That's right. Lieberman's ongoing threats to switch parties and "break the 60" had nothing to do with the "demoralized" Republican Senate caucus walking in lock-step discipline threatening to filibuster and stall every major bill nearly every sub-cabinet appointment. The country was going to hell in a handbasket and, in Peggy's view, that only made the president's job that much easier. Peggy Noonan, I salute you. No one makes bullshit smell sweeter than you
Then health care, a mistake beginning to end. The president's 14-month-long preoccupation with ObamaCare signaled that he did not share the urgency of people's most immediate concerns—jobs, the economy, all the coming fiscal cliffs. The famous 2,000-page bill added to their misery by adding to their fear.
Voters would have had to trust the president a lot to believe his program wouldn't raise their premiums, wouldn't limit their autonomy, wouldn't make a shaky system worse. But they didn't trust him that much, because they'd just met him. They didn't really know him.
See what she did there? First the president has the unprecedented confidence of the American people, but then they can't trust him and his healthcare law because they don't know him. That's writing, folks. We bitch about Romney counting on the public not being able to remember what he was saying just six months ago. Peggy Noonan manages to make us forget what the entire premise of her essay was just six paragraphs ago. That's not just writing, that's re-writing at its best.
Let's read on and watch her do it again:
But they didn't trust him that much, because they'd just met him. They didn't really know him.
You have to build the kind of trust it takes to do something so all-encompassing.
*Blink, blink*
Damn, did I miss it again? First she tells us that president at the moment of his inauguration had the unthinking robot-like compliance of 68% of all America, so why didn't he do something magical? Then she concludes by telling us Obama's biggest mistake was... wait for it... not taking more time to "build the kind of trust it takes" to do that very something.
She not only rewrites history, she's even able to rewrite the fundamentals of her own argument against Obama within the space of a single essay. Now let's watch her back this baby into the garage:
Why did the president make such mistakes?
{snipperdoodle}
Because he had so much confidence, he thought whatever he did would work. He thought he had "a gift," as he is said to have told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He thought he had a special ability to sway the American people, or so he suggested to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
{Such impeccable sources!}
But whenever he went over the the heads of the media and Congress and went to the people, in prime-time addresses, it didn't really work. He did not have a magical ability to sway. And—oddly—he didn't seem to notice.
It is one thing to think you're Lebron. Its another thing to keep missing the basket and losing games and still think you're Lebron.
What horrible ego that president has! I see it all now, Peggers! The president seems to think he's the wrong negro! My gracious, what discerning eyes you have, Grandma. All the better to admire myself with, my dear.
Ya know, I used to admire Republicans for their relentless cherry picking skills. But I realize now I was comparing them to the wrong vehicle. Peggy Noonan, at least, is more like a luxury Italian sports car: You just admire her more for her relentless horse
Of course, back here in the real world, coyotes eat those pesky little flightless birds for dinner all the time.
In the middle of a swoon of election fantasy double talk, a clear slap of reality in the face.
Ever been driving while getting woozy, hopelessly relying on pure will power to wake up... and then nearly hit another car? There's nothing like a jolt of adrenalin to zap you awake and make you suddenly clearheaded and alert to what you need to do. There's a real possiblity of having a terrible accident or making a deadly mistake, and you were lulled into ignoring that danger by the drone of the tires and the blind will to press on and get that endless journey over with. You'd lost perspective.
But the minute the danger becomes real, the minute, lucky you, the urgent peril of the moment woke you up, you suddenly see things so much clearer. This isn't about getting home by dusk; this is about getting home alive. You need an action plan--pull over, get coffee, stretch your legs, whatever it takes to get the job done with you and your passengers all in good shape. That's what this storm feels like.
It's not about some bizarre fantasy of tax cuts ending the deficit or a bigger naval fleet protecting us from the Kaiser of Dick Cheney's nightmares. There's no UN conspiracies or American socialistic plot or apology tours or votes that will force God to damn you. That's just the smoke and fog of a barrage of corporate-funded gobbledy-gook trying to yank voters around so they can suck out a few more tax breaks for themselves. They want you sleepy, very very sleepy, and in such a rush to get the voting done with that you don't realize what you really need.
You need a mensch in the White House (at least this time, next time we might be voting for a "womensch"
. You need a level headed manager who can solve problems, arrange priorities, eyeball our enemies, flatter or threaten our rivals, and push the public interest past the claws of public malice on a regular schedule. That's what this terrible killer storm did. It woke enough of the country up to what a brilliant gift we have running our affairs. Hopefully it woke enough of us up to swat away this grinning clown who spins fantasias of affluence with his eyes and lies, shamelessly assuring us that his plan will rain ice cream and shit marble.
It's hard to stay awake for the whole time in a months-long journey. But this sudden jolt of reality should wake a few more of us up, before it's too late.
Blink and you miss it: Paul Ryan admitted he was going to increase taxes on working class.
Rewatching that Chris Wallace-Paul Ryan interview, I caught that moment (2:10 on the video below) when Ryan parted the bullshit curtain just barely enough to reveal the way they intended to raise taxes on the working class, a.k.a. the 47%:
"There's been a traditional Democrat and Republican consensus. Lowering tax rates, by broadening the tax base, works. And you can."
Not so fast, Princess Galt. When Democrats talk about "broadening the tax base" they're talking about raising the minimum wage and increasing investment in jobs training. If any tax breaks are on the table, they're targeted tax breaks for job creators who create actual jobs right here in America for Americans, not across the board tax breaks for people who plan to ship their dollars overseas to store a Swiss vault.
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/obama-should-slam-romney-his-six-studie
I think I liked it better when Republican ran psychotic idealogues for national office. Sometimes these new flimflam artists they've switched over to are just too greasy to catch.
Shit, I don't even know *what* to think anymore
*sigh*
Filthy, filthy-minded Democrats
God, I love us!
http://4yous.info/now-its-bidens-wife-making-gaffes-as-she-makes-accidental-x-rated-joke-about-her-husband/
[font size="4"]Biden’s wife makes accidental X-rated joke about her husband[/font]
Things went from bad to worse for Jill Biden on Friday after accidentally cracking a joke about her husband”s manhood.
Captured on video, this is the moment the Second Lady lost her cool at a New Hampshire campaign event, giggling like a schoolgirl as the crowd roared with delight.
Passionately describing Mr Biden”s work ethic she began: “I”ve seen Joe up close,” making a wide motion with her hands, before blushing as she realised the innuendo she had just made.
“It”s in my remarks, really,” she insisted.
A wave of amused titters swept the audience, Mrs Biden allowing herself an embarrassed chuckle, but she quickly recovered and persevered, her husband nodding encouragingly behind her, a self-satisfied grin spread across his face.
It didn”t stop there, however.
Having planted the seed, every sentence seemed laden with sexual reference, so much so that Mrs Biden was barely able to continue as spectators fell apart were uncontrollable laughter.
The Second Lady”s description of Mr Biden”s “big, strong heart” was no longer as innocent as intended and by the time she got to revealing how she has “heard the urgency in his voice when he comes and talks to people” she was almost drowned out by delighted whooping from the crowd.
And as she fought the urge to laugh, Mrs Biden made a badly-timed pause after the word “comes”, which only added to the hilarity.
Mrs Biden”s slip-up came as her husband made his own campaign trail faux pas, addressing around 100 high school athletes at Newport High School.
Getting into character with a football cradled beneath his arm the Vice President discussed students” favourite sports as they stood before him in their various team kits.
Turning to a group of cheerleaders he proclaimed them to be the best athletes in college, the Daily Caller reported.
“You think, I’m joking,” he quipped. “They’re almost all gymnasts, the stuff they do on hard wood, it blows my mind.”
Mitt Romney has performed a great service to America
When Woodrow Wilson became president, he used the power of the presidency to re-segregate federal departments, appointed openly racist judges, and used the White House cinema to celebrate the historical revisionist drama Birth of a Nation that recast the Yankees and carpetbaggers as persecutors and villains in the history of Reconstruction. The result was a historical resurgence of the KKK during Wilson's term in office and a horrifying upsurge in racial lynchings in all regions of the nation.
My point is, leadership matters. Where a nation's leaders venture ideas, there will always be those who follow them, carrying their ideas to the next logical step.
In going through the videos on Crooks and Liars (and why haven't you bookmarked that website yet?) I was noticing a whole bunch of conservatives who, taking a cue from Mitt Romney's blatent bashing of the moral character of people not making enough money to pay income taxes, then go on themselves to cast yet further and more ugly aspersions against the people suffering the most from the inequities of our economic system.
And there's a whole lot of ugly out there, friends.
Mary Matalin is caling people parasites if they get help from anti poverty programs.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/mary-matalin-equates-those-using-poverty-p
Mark Steyn says people making $10K a year should be paying some of their meagre dollars into the federal treasury
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/mark-steyn-attacks-poor-if-you-make-100
Fox's Neil Cavuto sucks Romney's ass
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/romney-turns-cavuto-some-republican-rehab
Some clown named Ben Shapiro is tweeting that anyone who wants government to fix problems is suffering from a "victim mentality"
http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan/stupid-right-wing-tweets-ben-shapiro--0
All sorts of conservatives are de-woodworking themselves and jumping on the bash-the-working-class bandwagon. They are coming to the surface because the right wing's Alpha Male of the year has greenlighted (without intending to do so) all the worker-hating rhetoric their side of the nutfarm can muster. Mitt meant to just suck some money out of some fat cats when he made that speech in May. Instead, he's given the Republican Party the permission to show their true face, permission to release all that pent up bile they feel toward anyone who thinks American should make an effort to be fair to everyone who's here.
All that hate coming from the party that not only wraps itself in the flag, but then wraps itself in the Cross to boot. Mitt didn't mean to take off the mask in public, but he's now inspired his followers to come out and take their masks off too. And for that, we should thank him. Republicans loathe anyone who can't afford the country club dues. It's good to be able to see that so nakedly affirmed.
Thanks, Mitt. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Profile Information
Name: Mister ReaGender: Male
Hometown: Houston
Home country: Moon
Current location: afk
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 54,013
