ChrisWeigant.com

Friday Talking Points [169] -- Weiner Roast

[ Posted Friday, June 10th, 2011 – 15:40 UTC ]

Having just gotten back from a trip abroad where the news was dominated by the story of a politician facing severe consequences (and the end of his political career) for his sexual misconduct, I opened up the pages of the American news to find... well, pretty much the same thing.

While France digests the criminal trial of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, back home in America John Edwards is also slouching towards a courtroom, in a desperate bid to retain his legal license by beating the rap on campaign finance charges -- and that was the minor political sexual misconduct story of the past week or so.

The major political sexual scandal was a full-blown weenie roast. Or, to be more accurate, a Weiner roast. This is technically not exactly the same thing as a wiener roast, but it certainly is close enough for the late-night comedian in all of us, right? The word "wiener" is an American bastardization of wienerwurst, German for Vienna sausage. The vulgar slang definition came later, of course. Anthony Weiner spells his last name differently, and it probably should properly and Germanically be pronounced as "whiner," but (as previously stated) this is still close enough for everyone in the headline-writing business. Perhaps I'm overexplaining this, which you can chalk up to the fact that I confess to being sensitive about the whole "ei" versus "ie" thing, for obvious reasons (like the fact that when I set up my website I had to register "chriswiegant.com" along with the correct spelling, so that everyone could still find it).

Speaking of blogging, yesterday was my fifth anniversary doing so, after being invited to post on the Huffington Post way back when (you can decide for yourself whether I've gotten any better at it, by reading my first column).

This is a pretty rambling intro to the column this week, for which I apologize. I've been overseas and so haven't done one of these Friday Talking Points columns in three weeks, and if truth be told I am still pretty jetlagged, so today's offering will likely be a bit flaky around the edges. Flakier than normal, I should say.

Speaking of flaky, I see that Newt Gingrich's entire campaign structure just walked out on him. Poor Newtie! It'll be interesting to see if any of the other Republican contenders brings this up in the upcoming second Republican debate next week, won't it? I mean, having your campaign manager quit is one thing, but having over a dozen guys follow him out the door is a whole other ball of wax. Oh, well, maybe Newt will still sell some books -- which increasingly seems to be the real reason he jumped into the campaign in the first place.

Sarah Palin apparently went on a bus ride, for some reason. She delighted the media world by apparently remembering her elementary-school history lesson as Paul Revere shouting out: "Hey British soldiers, the Americans are coming!" Or something. It's always hard to tell exactly what Sarah is trying to say, since her "sentences" are almost impossible to parse. But parsing Sarah is currently the big pastime for people who don't have anything better to do, as the entire internet is preoccupied today with digging through over 24,000 pages of emails which Alaska just released from when Palin was governor. Due to the volume of the document dump, look for funny Palinisms to pop up all weekend long!

Other than Palin and Gingrich, the Republican field of presidential hopefuls is about where it was a few weeks ago. Several people officially jumped in the race, but none of this was any sort of surprise. The Left is eagerly looking forward to Monday night's second televised debate, from New Hampshire, and will likely have monstrous hangovers Tuesday morning after playing drinking games cued to references to God and Ronald Reagan. That's my prediction, anyway.

President Obama tried to point out how well the auto industry bailout worked, but unfortunately for him the unemployment numbers were announced the same day, squashing his intended message with bad news.

Alabama made it illegal to, among other things, give a ride to an illegal immigrant. Republicans seem to be continuing their strategy of "let's demonize and scapegoat the fastest-growing demographic in America," which will doubtlessly pay off handsomely in the politics of the future. For Democrats, that is.

Speaking of immigrants, the full faith and credit of the American government went straight down the tubes in the past few weeks, as thousands of people who applied for the yearly lottery of green cards were first informed they had won a green card slot, and then were informed that they hadn't won and that there would be a second drawing because the computer program screwed up the first. They're now suing, and I don't blame them one tiny bit. This is not the way America should welcome folks who are trying hard to play by the rules and be legal immigrants, folks.

MoveOn.org is apparently now in the business of creating elaborate hoaxes on the internet, for some bizarre reason. I'll admit that political theater is a tricky business to get right, but at some point you have to wonder whether you're crossing some sort of line, don't you?

Speaking of bizarre things on the internet, mutant earless bunnies are making a big splash from the radiation-soaked shores of Japan.

But even mutant earless bunnies weren't the most bizarre story (although not as literally) from the past few weeks. That dubious honor goes to the fact that the federal government is harshly cracking down on -- are you ready for this? -- dancing at the Jefferson Memorial. That's right -- we've now instituted a War On Dancing. More on this later, in the talking points section of today's disjointed jet-lagged program, though. Before we get to that, however, we've got the awards to hand out, so let's get on with it.

 

Most Impressive Democrat of the Week

This is kind of a default award, I will fully admit. I haven't been diligently paying attention to the news over the past three weeks, so there may be some other worthy Democrat I have missed here. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments, as always.

But we're going to hand out the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award this week to Leon Panetta, who seems to be breezing through his confirmation hearings in the Senate on his way to being Secretary of Defense. Panetta is the ultimate wonk, and is a pro at this sort of thing, and every news story I've read or heard about his hearings ends with some version of "... and, of course, he will have no problem being confirmed by the Senate." That's a pretty impressive thing to say these days, especially for anyone Barack Obama names to his cabinet.

So, not so much for anything impressive Panetta said during the hearings, but rather for his impressive Washington political heft on both sides of the aisle, Leon Panetta is our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week.

[Just on general principles, we're not going to link to the C.I.A. here. Instead, we suggest you send your congratulations to the White House contact page.]

 

Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week

Well, this one's a no-brainer, eh?

Representative Anthony Weiner is merely the latest to discover that "private" electronic communications are never quite as private as they seem at the time. Or maybe he violated the "don't drink and tweet" golden rule. Or he just thought that late-night comedians didn't have enough material nowadays. Or something. It's hard to fathom just what he was thinking. Or, more accurately, not thinking -- as this sort of thing has been around so long that the Romans had a phrase to describe it (look it up yourself): Penis erectus non compos mentis.

No matter how you slice the weenie, it adds up to a pretty ugly picture. Several of them, in fact.

Sigh. When will politicians learn?

Weiner had his political career all mapped out: win the mayor's race in New York City, then maybe the governor's office in Albany, and start planning a bid for the presidency in 2020 or 2024 (if you think this is overstating how politicians see their career paths, then you are fooling yourself). This has now all come crashing down. The best Weiner can currently hope for is to retain his House seat (which, believe it or not, may actually be a possibility for him, if the polling is correct). If he manages to do so, however, he will only prolong the steady stream of "wiener" jokes far into the future.

It was disappointing enough to find out the man was sending crotch shots to college women. Even more disappointing was the revelation that his wife is newly pregnant. But what was most disappointing is that he refuses to step down. Sure, he broke no laws. And sure, it's up to his constituents to decide when to fire him. But, having said all of that, Weiner's clinging on to power after the revelations of the past few days is disappointing indeed.

So disappointing, in fact, that there simply wasn't any other competition for this week's Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week award.

[Contact Representative Anthony Weiner on his House contact page, to let him know what you think of his actions. But we'd advise against "friending" him on any social networking sites to send him your message, because you never know what he's going to send back, do you? Sigh.]

 

Friday Talking Points

Volume 169 (6/10/11)

Once again, we apologize for the quality of the talking points this week, as they're kind of disjointed and unfocused, with a side order of snark. In other words, through a jetlagged haze darkly. With a little bit of ranting thrown in, just because.

 

1
   Vitter's still serving, isn't he?

This one is weak, I'll fully admit. I blame it (as with any other weaknesses in this column) on the jetlag. Also on the fact that Anthony Weiner didn't exactly leave other Democrats with a great hand of cards to play.

"I hear the cries coming from the Republicans that Anthony Weiner should step down with amazement, because as far as I know David Vitter is still serving in the Senate. Weiner broke no laws, and yet Vitter was a client of a prostitute -- which as far as I know is illegal everywhere outside of Nevada. Some of the same voices now calling on Weiner to step down were in fact campaign supporters of Vitter -- even after the 'D.C. Madam' news story broke. I'm not sure how they explain this rank hypocrisy when it comes to bedroom activities, myself. I have called on Anthony Weiner to do the right thing and step down, just as I also call on David Vitter to do the same. I haven't heard any Republicans exhibit that kind of moral consistency, though. When it comes to Vitter and Weiner, all I see from the other side is the moral relativism they supposedly abhor."

 

2
   The lines blur further...

Thankfully, we still have Newt Gingrich to kick around... at least for a few more weeks. Newt's campaign is being exposed for what it likely always was intended to be: a vehicle for him to promote his books and other think-tanky products. Which needs pointing out, and needs some context.

"I thought the lines between show business and politics were getting weaker, but this year's Republican primary race has shown how there simply is no difference between the two whatsoever. It's a revolving door of professional entertainment, political campaigning, shameless self-promotion, and journalistic hype. Consider what we've already had this campaign season: Donald Trump flirted with a presidential campaign in order to negotiate a better contract for his reality television show; Mike Huckabee did much the same thing with his gig on Fox News; Sarah Palin... well... continues being Sarah Palin wherever she goes; and now Newt Gingrich seems to be running an empty shell of a campaign on name recognition alone, in order to get his face on a few televised debates to plug his books. The media, I should mention, fully and completely went along on each one of these rides. The value of all this free promotion is incalculable, which is no doubt why so many Republicans are using politics as merely a way to cash in big time as nothing more than entertainers. I mean, if it were only the isolated incident of Newt, that'd be one thing, but instead it's starting to look like a pattern. Politics is indistinguishable from show business on the Republican side these days. Even Ronald Reagan knew how to separate the two better than this."

 

3
   A giant, counterproductive waste of money

Want to bet there's one part of the federal budget (outside of the military) which won't be cut by either party in the budget battles to come? This talking point is a fantasy, because the only politician I could conceivably think of today who might actually say it is Ron Paul -- and no one would listen, even if he did say it.

"I noticed that an international report was just issued which summed up the 'War on Drugs' as a gigantic and counterproductive waste of time, money, and lives. This report wasn't written by some sort of Lefty pipe dreamers, but rather an international commission which included a former United Nations Secretary General, and George Shultz who was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State. So how about we end this modern Prohibition and treat it like the medical problem it truly is? The United States can't afford to pour money down an endless hole which produces no tangible results whatsoever. It's time to treat drug abuse differently, and it's time to stop spending money on what clearly doesn't work. Isn't that supposed to be what the Republicans are for? Smaller government, government out of people's personal lives, and ending programs which just don't work? Think of the money we could save!"

 

4
   Speaking of saving money...

Here's an idea whose time has clearly come.

"Next week, California politicians are going to face two stark choices: pass a budget on time, and put it on the governor's desk... or your paychecks will stop. This new law was passed by a citizen referendum, and this is the first time it will be an issue in the perpetual budget negotiations in the Golden State. I call on all members of the United States Congress to pass a similar law at the federal level. If you don't pass a budget on time each year -- and complete all the appropriations bills necessary -- then you don't get paid until the job is done. And after the job is done, you can't award yourself the back pay retroactively. Any member of the House or Senate who doesn't support this simple concept is quite obviously not fit to serve office because they want to get paid even when they don't do their jobs, which offends me deeply."

 

5
   Give their green cards back

This is odious. It's already spawning conspiracy theories worldwide. Ones in which the United States of America is the bad guy. And it's easy to see why.

"I call upon the Obama administration to do the right thing for over 22,000 prospective immigrants who are trying to play by America's rules in how they enter the country. These people are not illegal immigrants, they are folks who applied for a green card in the yearly 'lottery' system where legal immigration slots are awarded. They followed the rules, in other words. And they were notified that they had won the chance of a lifetime -- the chance to move to America and get a job and pursue their dreams. But then the government of the United States of America sent them a second letter, dashing those hopes and dreams. Through no fault of their own, they were informed that the computer picked the winners from the first entries received, instead of truly randomly. Therefore, a second draw would be held and most of them likely wouldn't be lucky twice. This is unconscionable. America told these people they could come, and then slammed the door in their face. The number affected is small enough that they could easily be accommodated either in the yearly draw or as a supplement to it. If Congress needs to pass an emergency bill to put this right, then they should do so. If the White House needs to pull some strings and make good on America's promises, then that's what needs to happen. But every American should be ashamed that this happened, and we should all get behind whatever efforts are necessary to make this right. Politicians piously tell illegal immigrants that they should follow the rules, but when we treat those who do follow the rules in such a capricious fashion, it's hard to take such a moral high road."

 

6
   Chris Christie and New Jersey One

So much for being "man of the people," eh?

"I see that New Jersey's governor finally decided that the taxpayers of his state shouldn't have to pay the expenses of him taking a helicopter ride to his son's baseball game or to a political event. It took Chris Christie a few days of scorn, but he finally decided to reimburse the state for such frivolities. It's hard to be a 'man of the people' when you are escorted in 'New Jersey One' to a Little League game, I guess. At least he finally paid the expenses, but it sure took him a while to realize how fiscally irresponsible he was being with his taxpayers' money, didn't it?"

 

7
   Where's the Hairspray cast when you need them?

File this one in the "you've got to be freakin' kidding me" file, I guess.

"To protest a recent court decision which made dancing in the Jefferson Memorial a crime, several people showed up a few weeks ago and danced in the Jefferson Memorial. The U.S. Park Police were not amused, and they arrested several people for the crime of dancing. The federal cops used quite a bit of force in doing so, to people who were peacefully dancing -- or, to put it another way, exercising free expression in a public place. Last week, the cops had apparently thought twice, and were much more restrained when another group of protesters showed up and started dancing. They merely cleared the Memorial, rather than using excessive force or arresting anybody. But the whole situation is absurd. If dancing at a memorial is illegal, then why didn't the cops arrest the Rockettes when they danced on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for one of George Bush's inaugurations? Why in the name of freedom would anyone think that silently dancing is any sort of crime in the first place? Where are the outraged Tea Partiers, for that matter? I mean, I thought we had the First Amendment to the Constitution to prevent such tyranny from our government."

 

[Program Note: Regretfully, this column will not return to our regular weekly schedule for another two weeks. Next week, we'll be away at Netroots Nation, and cannot promise we'll have enough time to post. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we'll see you back here on June 24th.]

 

-- Chris Weigant

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Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground
Cross-posted at: Democrats For Progress
Cross-posted at: The Huffington Post

 

13 Comments on “Friday Talking Points [169] -- Weiner Roast”

  1. [1] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    If anyone's still out there -

    I'm not sure what happened this week. The three speeches that were supposed to automatically run on Mon/Tue/Wed somehow didn't post correctly, so I guess you guys have had a week of staring at the same article.

    Mea culpa.

    I've manually posted the last three speeches, if anyone is still interested, and still haven't figured out why the Clinton, Kucinich, and Gravel speeches didn't post the way they all did the week before.

    In any case, I was too exhausted yesterday to post a column, so here's today's FTP for whoever is still out there checking the site.

    Perhaps, to make up for it, I'll post something this weekend. No promises, but I'll try to stay awake.

    -CW

  2. [2] 
    thesexyk9 wrote:

    I'm still here...enjoying your post as usual. Welcome back

  3. [3] 
    dsws wrote:

    Speaking of being Germanically correct, how is your name pronounced? I think of it as VY-gant

    "If you don't pass a budget on time each year -- and complete all the appropriations bills necessary -- then you don't get paid until the job is done"

    I've disagreed with the whole don't-pay-Congress thing before, and I will again. Congress is too much of a millionaires' club already. If you can't afford to maintain a residence in your home district and another one in the DC area (an expensive housing market), you're ineligible to serve in Congress.

    As it is, the pay is small enough not to matter to the millionaires who represent us. But in principle, one faction in Congress shouldn't be able to hold members' income hostage to the outcome of some legislative decision. Article I section 6 only says the pay is to be set by law, and can't be augmented with the salary of patronage offices. The "which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected" is for the president.

    Congressional pay is an invisibly small part of the federal budget. It should be raised to a level that would allow non-millionaires to have the job if they could get it -- along with other changes that would make it possible for non-millionaires to get the job in the first place.

  4. [4] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    thesexyk9 -

    Well, thank you for the kind words, and for reading even after a week of mostly nothingness. I still haven't figured out what happened to the auto-poster...

    dsws -

    Our family has always pronounced it "Why-gant" (rhymes with "Why can't?" if that helps). But then, Ellis Island trimmed it by a few letters, and we've been Americanized for generations... you're right, though, following strict Germanic rules, it would start with a "V" sound.

    As for the rest of your comment, I'm going to conveniently blame my stance on the jetlag. Heh.

    -CW

  5. [5] 
    Michale wrote:

    Alabama made it illegal to, among other things, give a ride to an illegal immigrant. Republicans seem to be continuing their strategy of "let's demonize and scapegoat the fastest-growing demographic in America," which will doubtlessly pay off handsomely in the politics of the future. For Democrats, that is.

    The way I hear it, Republicans aren't demonizing "the fastest-growing demographic in America,"

    Unless you are calling ILLEGAL immigrants a "demographic"....

    A "demographic" which, I might add, is legally not even supposed to be a voting demographic...

    Regardless, the vast number of Independents and many on the Left as well are firmly in the Republicans camp when it comes to ILLEGAL immigrants...

    . Panetta is the ultimate wonk, and is a pro at this sort of thing, and every news story I've read or heard about his hearings ends with some version of "... and, of course, he will have no problem being confirmed by the Senate." That's a pretty impressive thing to say these days, especially for anyone Barack Obama names to his cabinet.

    I saids it before and I'll says it again.. Panetta is a political animal... He's a number cruncher, a bean counter... Yea, I know, I know... He got Bin Laden..

    Even a broken watch is right, twice a day...

    But, having said all of that, Weiner's clinging on to power after the revelations of the past few days is disappointing indeed.

    He will be a gift to the GOP that just keeps on giving...

    "Next week, California politicians are going to face two stark choices: pass a budget on time, and put it on the governor's desk... or your paychecks will stop. This new law was passed by a citizen referendum, and this is the first time it will be an issue in the perpetual budget negotiations in the Golden State. I call on all members of the United States Congress to pass a similar law at the federal level. If you don't pass a budget on time each year -- and complete all the appropriations bills necessary -- then you don't get paid until the job is done. And after the job is done, you can't award yourself the back pay retroactively. Any member of the House or Senate who doesn't support this simple concept is quite obviously not fit to serve office because they want to get paid even when they don't do their jobs, which offends me deeply."

    This is something that every American who is not a politician, can get behind.

    This is probably the ONE thing that everyone here *AND* The Tea Party would agree on... :D

    "I call upon the Obama administration to do the right thing for over 22,000 prospective immigrants who are trying to play by America's rules in how they enter the country......

    I would have to agree with this one as well..

    If the immigrants played by the rules and were told they "won" then they should be allowed to immigrate..

    The Obama Administration dropped the ball on this one..

    "I see that New Jersey's governor finally decided that the taxpayers of his state shouldn't have to pay the expenses of him taking a helicopter ride to his son's baseball game or to a political event. It took Chris Christie a few days of scorn, but he finally decided to reimburse the state for such frivolities. It's hard to be a 'man of the people' when you are escorted in 'New Jersey One' to a Little League game, I guess. At least he finally paid the expenses, but it sure took him a while to realize how fiscally irresponsible he was being with his taxpayers' money, didn't it?"

    Sorry, I gotta call foul on this one...

    Sure, the PERCEPTION looks bad...

    But Christie merely hitched a ride on a flight that was already going to happen...

    "Space A" as we used to say in the military..

    In fact, if he didn't hitch a ride on the chopper that was already flying, he would have had to be driven there and that WOULD have cost the taxpayers money, not to mention contributing to {{cough}} {{cough}} human caused global warming (yet the planet is cooling)...

    So, all around, Christie did the RIGHT thing by his constituents...

    Michale.....

  6. [6] 
    Michale wrote:

    dsws,

    Congressional pay is an invisibly small part of the federal budget. It should be raised to a level that would allow non-millionaires to have the job if they could get it -- along with other changes that would make it possible for non-millionaires to get the job in the first place.

    I would have to disagree...

    I mean, think about it...

    Doing something like this would be a HUGE PR coup for lawmakers..

    If it was not any big deal, politicians could do this 'withhold pay' thing and reap huge rewards from marketing it...

    The fact that it hasn't been done indicates to me that it's more of a hardship then might be indicated..

    My guess is that Congress Critters have automatic payments made based on their monthly paycheck... Things like gas cards, dry cleaning, etc etc are auto-paid on their payday...

    If that payday were to be disrupted, Congress Critters would have to scramble and make sure all those monthly bills are paid....

    SOMETHING is causing them not to want to put forth such legislation.

    Because, if there was no hardship attached to it, you can bet they would do it in a stone cold minute, political animals that they are...

    Michale.....

  7. [7] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    did anyone read Gravel's speech? i thought it was outstanding. i also voted on the NI4D, just in case it might still do some good.

  8. [8] 
    Michale wrote:

    did anyone read Gravel's speech?

    I am sure you won't find this surprising but I wasn't much impressed..

    It seemed to follow the standard liberal litany that America and Americans are bad and at the cause of all of the world's problems...

    One really can't win over people by telling them how lazy, fat, stupid and wrong they are...

    His stance on scumbag nations acquiring nuclear weapons is also very misguided.. Gravel seems to put forth the idea that, once again, the US is at fault for NK and Iran wanting nuclear weapons. He seems to espouse the idea that, if we were just nicer to those countries, they wouldn't feel the need for nuclear weapons. That concept is so misguided, it's dangerous.. Gravel seems to miss the point that some leaders are simply evil. Not misunderstood, but just evil..

    How long do you think Tel Aviv will exist once Iran has a nuclear weapon and the reliable means to deliver it?

    While I do agree with Gravel that sanctions are useless, I don't agree that Use Of Force is equally counter-productive. As we saw in Iraq and in Libya, UOF is sometimes the ONLY logical response to a problem.. To be sure, UOF shouldn't be the FIRST option, but to discount it completely is to give away your enemy very valuable intel..

    That is EXACTLY why the US wouldn't eliminate a First Strike option during the Cold War.. And it's what kept the (uneasy) peace during all those years. When it comes to responsible nation states, the MAD doctrine is definitively effective, as history shows us..

    All in all, the USA is damn lucky that Gravel wasn't elected president.. This country would be quite a bit different today if he had...

    Michale.....

  9. [9] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    michale,

    i would just as soon not have gravel as president, but your characterizations of his speech are just plain inaccurate. nowhere did he call americans "lazy, fat, stupid and wrong," or anything vaguely resembling that.

    We are a moral and fair-minded people. As a nation, we must put aside our arrogance and demand that our leaders work together with other nations and peoples, treating them as equals.

    that is NOT hating on the USA, just asking us to face the reality that we're not smarter or better than everyone else. there's a huge difference. i do agree with you that he doesn't adequately address the foreign policy solution when some leaders simply will not respond to the dictates of logic or reason. if not the threat of military force, what instead?

    finally, you ignored what i thought was the best part of the speech, support of a national initiative. maybe that's not the perfect solution, but there has to be some way for individual voters to circumvent the will of politicians and powerful fund-raising organizations, be they corporate, labor or otherwise.

    ~joshua

  10. [10] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    i forgot one thing. while watching clips of nancy pelosi and debbie wasserman-schultz, i kept chuckling to myself about how insistent they were that weiner should be pulled.

    hyuk hyuk hyuk,
    ~joshua

  11. [11] 
    Michale wrote:

    As a nation, we must put aside our arrogance and demand that our leaders work together with other nations and peoples, treating them as equals.

    Why must we put aside our arrogance??

    "Of course I'm arrogant! I've EARNED it! What's your excuse?"
    -Q

    Americans have earned the right to be arrogant. There isn't a country on the face of this planet that hasn't benefited from the USA's existence. Every nation on the planet owes the USA for something..

    Yea, I know, I know... I need to work on my humility... :D

    i do agree with you that he doesn't adequately address the foreign policy solution when some leaders simply will not respond to the dictates of logic or reason. if not the threat of military force, what instead?

    Yea, that's kind of what I thought as well.. He says sanctions don't work and that military force is unacceptable so, as you say, what's left?

    Gravel seemed to be saying "It's not NK's or Iran's fault. It's the USA's fault for making them want Nuclear Weapons."... That's in line with the "Blame USA for everything" bent that the speech had...

    finally, you ignored what i thought was the best part of the speech, support of a national initiative. maybe that's not the perfect solution, but there has to be some way for individual voters to circumvent the will of politicians and powerful fund-raising organizations, be they corporate, labor or otherwise.

    Yea, especially when we see Obama prostrating himself to Wall Street donors..

    Obama Seeks to Win Back Wall St. Cash
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/us/politics/13donor.html?_r=1&ref=politics

    You gotta admire the blatant chutzpah... Obama demonizes Wall Street (mostly deserved) at every opportunity, yet doesn't seem to have a problem with taking their (in his eyes) ill-gotten money...

    Is this the Hope and Change we voted for??

    i forgot one thing. while watching clips of nancy pelosi and debbie wasserman-schultz, i kept chuckling to myself about how insistent they were that weiner should be pulled.

    Now THAT was funny!! :D

    Here's what's confusing me... Early Friday (or was it Saturday??), I read reports that Pelosi had gone on record as saying that it's up to Weiner and his constituents whether he stays or goes. Hours later, Pelosi led the pack demanding Weiner's departure..

    Such track changes simply MUST be dangerous, eh?

    Michale.....

  12. [12] 
    Michale wrote:

    CW,

    Speaking of blogging, yesterday was my fifth anniversary doing so, after being invited to post on the Huffington Post way back when (you can decide for yourself whether I've gotten any better at it, by reading my first column).

    Wish we still had that WOULD YOU TORTURE YOUR DAUGHTER HuffPo commentary intact.. :D That was a wild ride... :D

    Michale.....

  13. [13] 
    Michale wrote:

    HOLY TESTICLE TUESDAY!!!!! :D

    http://web.archive.org/web/20061005044746/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/so-is-torturing-a-daughte_b_29538.html

    WOW!!

    What an arrogant prick I was back then, eh!! :D

    Michale.....

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