ChrisWeigant.com

Tuesday Thoughts

[ Posted Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 – 10:45 UTC ]

I still haven't made up my mind whether to direct an "open comment thread" on Tuesdays and Thursdays here, or just to forego any columns on these days altogether for the rest of the month.

But for today, I'd like to offer up this article from Katrina vanden Heuvel at the Washington Post. I think it's got parts in it that everyone will appreciate here, as well as being an excellent collection of links within the article itself. Of particular note is the last link in the article, to another exceptional article, an op-ed by Drew Westen that is definitely worth reading.

Discuss amongst yourselves...

-- Chris Weigant

 

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

 

45 Comments on “Tuesday Thoughts”

  1. [1] 
    BashiBazouk wrote:

    Here's one for Michale: but you have to travel to Jordan...

  2. [2] 
    Michale wrote:

    I read the Drew Weston article yesterday.. I thought I had even mentioned in the FTP thread, because it had a LOT of good comments about what is wrong with the Obama Administration...

    It also laid out issues and problem with the GOP side of things which was also fairly accurate.....

    Let me read that current article and Bashi's article. I'll check back in...

    Michale.....

  3. [3] 
    Michale wrote:

    OK, Ms Heuvel's article is same ol same ol.. Which isn't to say it's a bad article.. She does identify the need well enough, but that's been done ad nasuem.

    Apparently EVERYONE knows exactly what Obama should do..... Except Obama himself...

    That's pretty sad....

    Bashi, I take back some of the bad things I have thought about you!! :D

    That's a great article... I like how it mentioned the King's stint as an extra on Star Trek:VOYAGER... :D

    Thanx...

    Michale.....

  4. [4] 
    BashiBazouk wrote:

    :-)

    It was off slashdot. I just noticed there was a second link that has more info and is less crunchy granola...

    I'll have to look for the King of Jordan episode. It's "Investigations". Looks like it might be pre 7 of 9 but still worth seeing (probably again).

  5. [5] 
    Michale wrote:

    I'll have to look for the King of Jordan episode. It's "Investigations". Looks like it might be pre 7 of 9 but still worth seeing (probably again).

    It's right at the beginning of the episode, towards the end of the "teaser"...

    http://sjfm.us/temp/KingAbdullah.jpg

    :D

    Yea, I am not much of a "Kes" fan either...

    On the downside, it's because of 7of9 that we have President Obama... But, she is still pleasing to look at.. :D

    I just caught Jeri Ryan in a new episode of WAREHOUSE 13.. She still looks good..

    Michale.....

  6. [6] 
    Michale wrote:

    Speaking of President Obama....

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,779043,00.html

    Looks like the international community is piling on...

    Michale.....

  7. [7] 
    LeaningBlue wrote:

    Michale, FWIW, I replied to your question re CCB v S&P on the (now obsolete) other thread.

  8. [8] 
    LeaningBlue wrote:

    P.S. Offline for at least several hours.

  9. [9] 
    Michale wrote:

    FLASH: Kerry, Murray, Baucus Picked for 'Super Committee'...

    According to Drudge...

    LB, I was just heading over there. :D

    Michale

  10. [10] 
    Michale wrote:

    Source: Democrats Murray, Baucus, Kerry on Super Committee
    http://www.nationaljournal.com//congress/source-democrats-murray-baucus-kerry-on-super-committee-20110809

    What ya think???

    Is that a good thing or a bad thing??

    Michale

  11. [11] 
    Michale wrote:

    The ranking Democrat on the Joint Committee on Taxation would be an unmitigated disaster, because his name happens to be Max Baucus, of Montana.
    -Chris Weigant
    http://www.chrisweigant.com/2011/08/01/which-three-democratic-senators/

    I guess that means it's a BAD thing.. :^/

    Michale.....

  12. [12] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    Michale -

    One of the few things we agree on is that, yes indeedy, 7 of 9 brought us Barack Obama. Anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about, Google "Ryan" (her husband) and "sex scandal" to see the full story.

    And, she was no 7 of 9, but I always liked Kes, she was cute in that elfin sort of way.

    However, as I have stated before, the biology of her race is idiotic. Let's see... takes 2 adults to make 1 baby, and the female only has one shot her entire life... so how many generations before her race is wiped out? For that matter, how did her race ever evolve in the first place?!? It's basic math, and it's impossible.

    Heh.

    -CW

  13. [13] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    Michale -

    Kerry I can live with. Murray I can definitely live with.

    But Max Baucus?

    Anyone want to bet which Democrat will be the "seventh" vote? Anyone? No takers? At any odds?

    Sigh.

    -CW

  14. [14] 
    LeaningBlue wrote:

    Just got through watching the local blog of the WI results (if you haven't heard, Dems took 2; needed 3). The big news, though, was Waukesha County Clerk Nickolaus held out the heavily Republican wards until the last minute, letting the Democrats enjoy the lead as long as possible to maximize the disappointment.

    Kathy Nickolaus is a rising star; a Bachmann with sharper knuckles. Watch her in the next few years.

  15. [15] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    LeaningBlue -

    The site I'm watching still hasn't called it for Darling yet. It's a local news site, but the news doesn't look all that good for Pasch... 54/45 percent as I write this at 10:13 PDT...

    -CW

  16. [16] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    Whoops, that should read "54/46 percent". Speaking of math...

    Mea culpa.

    -CW

  17. [17] 
    Michale wrote:

    However, as I have stated before, the biology of her race is idiotic. Let's see... takes 2 adults to make 1 baby, and the female only has one shot her entire life... so how many generations before her race is wiped out? For that matter, how did her race ever evolve in the first place?!? It's basic math, and it's impossible.

    I am sure The CareTaker had something to do with that..

    :D

    I just LOVE talking Trek... :D

    Anyone want to bet which Democrat will be the "seventh" vote? Anyone? No takers? At any odds?

    Ya gotta wonder, sometimes, what's in Reid's head, eh??

    I guess Sharron Engle isn't looking so bad now, eh? :D

    Michale.....

  18. [18] 
    Michale wrote:

    London rioters: 'Showing the rich we do what we want'
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424

    This is the kind of class warfare the Obama administration is fostering here in the US.

    "Stick it to the rich!!" "Show 'em who's boss!!"

    It reeks of desperation...

    Michale.....

  19. [19] 
    Michale wrote:

    Well, the names for the GOP members of the Super-Duper-Debt-Reiner-Inner-Committe are in...

    HOUSE
    Jeb Hensarling of Texas
    Dave Camp of Michigan
    Fred Upton of Michigan.

    SENATE
    Jon Kyl of Arizona
    Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
    Rob Portman of Ohio.

    Comments???

    Michale.....

  20. [20] 
    dsws wrote:

    Cross-posted from HP (if it makes it through moderation over there):

    Toomey is rabidly pro-deficit. From 2005 to 2009, he served as president of the Club for Deficits.

    Jon Kyl is apparently pro-deficit. In 2006, National Journal rated him as one of the worst extremists in the economic sub-category, but it's not clear how heavily that weighs the pro-deficit plank versus the other economic sub-sub-categories. However, he's planning to retire, so he's probably the extremist most likely to give an inch.

    Rob Portman may be relatively reasonable, for a member of the extremist party. New York Magazine quotes him as saying something in favor of closing tax loopholes. That seems like enough to guarantee that he will face a well-funded primary challenge. One more such slip and he'll have the same about-to-retire advantage as Kyl.

    Dave Camp has a couple radio interviews on his page, where he too sounds relatively reasonable for a member of the extremist party, as though he might agree to some revenue along with the cuts.

    Fred Upton is apparently also a relative moderate, for a member of the extremist party.

    Hensarling is the House counterpart of Toomey: rabidly pro-deficit. According to the National Pro-Deficit Union, Hensarling scored the highest pro-deficit rating in the Texas delegation, and the second highest in the entire U.S. House of Representatives.

    Overall, it seems very encouraging at first glance. Two of the world's worst pro-deficit lunatics were appointed to placate the extremists' base, and four members to actually negotiate.

  21. [21] 
    Michale wrote:

    Doesn't bode well for Democrats...

    All 6 of the GOP'ers have signed that "pledge" to that Norquist chap that ya'all go on and on about.

    http://tinyurl.com/3k6cnhs

    Michale.....

  22. [22] 
    akadjian wrote:

    Portman's more of a Boehner-like Republican who has solid conservative credentials but might be willing to negotiate.

    I think the trick on revenue would be to help the conservatives save face by not having it directly be a "tax hike". Although they tried to do this by closing loopholes on corporate jets and such and it was still deemed a hike.

    Max Baucus ... ug. Him as the 7th vote? That's a bet I would not take.

    Buckle in folks!

    BTW- Did anyone hear that the GOP has a new strategy?

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-gop-strategy-involves-reelecting-obama-making,21113/

    :)

    -David

  23. [23] 
    Michale wrote:

    Sounds like a good plan to me!! :D

    I mean, it's not as if the guy doesn't DESERVE it, right?? :D

    I mean, he DID con the American people into actually voting for him...

    I can just picture Obama pulling a Ferris Beuhler after election night.

    "They bought it!!"

    :D

    Michale......

  24. [24] 
    Michale wrote:

    Interesting perspective that explains a lot about the Britain riots..

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2024284/UK-riots-2011-Liberal-dogma-spawned-generation-brutalised-youths.html

    Michale.....

  25. [25] 
    dsws wrote:

    Of course all six Extremists have signed the Pro-Deficit Pledge. There's no way the Party would put someone on the committee who hadn't signed it. Are there even six of them who haven't in the whole Congress?

  26. [26] 
    Michale wrote:

    Interesting perspective that explains a lot about the Britain riots..

    Let me re-phrase that to read...

    Interesting perspective that *could* explain a lot about the Britain riots..

    Michale........

  27. [27] 
    Michale wrote:

    Of course all six Extremists have signed the Pro-Deficit Pledge.

    In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with being an extremist..

    Ghandi was an extremist..

    So was MLK....

    Being an extremist in attempting to curtail totally out of control spending is a GOOD kind of extremist to be...

    Michale.....

  28. [28] 
    Michale wrote:

    The writing is on the wall...

    Democrats doubt Barack Obama's reelection chances
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/8692054/Democrats-doubt-Barack-Obamas-reelection-chances.html

    Something I predicted months ago..

    Michale.....

  29. [29] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    michale,

    Democrats doubt Barack Obama's reelection chances

    the drew westen article was about as outstanding a summary analysis of the administration's faults as i've ever seen. i found myself nodding at every paragraph. did you read it?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html

  30. [30] 
    dsws wrote:

    Being an extremist in attempting to curtail totally out of control spending is a GOOD kind of extremist to be...

    Too bad that part only happens theoretically, eschatologically, after Dictatorship of the Anti-proletariat is fully established. In real-world time the Extremists are just pro-deficit, and we're supposed to trust them that the state will wither away afterward. And that's not a good thing to be extremist about.

  31. [31] 
    dsws wrote:

    I really admire Obama for not resorting to demonization of a convenient scapegoat. A simplistic story with a cardboard-cutout villain would have been so much easier.

    Drew Westen is right that Obama has not responded correctly to the dynamics of bullying. But you don't have to turn a bully into a dehumanized and faceless enemy, to avoid giving them the impression of weakness.

  32. [32] 
    Michale wrote:

    the drew westen article was about as outstanding a summary analysis of the administration's faults as i've ever seen. i found myself nodding at every paragraph. did you read it?

    I did indeed..

    Thought I had put a comment up about it during the FTP comments, but I guess not..

    This line especially hit home....

    "Those of us who were bewitched by {Obama's} eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president,"

    At the risk of being accused of being racist, I have little doubt that, if Obama had been white, he never would have been elected President.

    That is not a racist slam against Obama, but rather an indictment of the racism in all of us that voted for Obama. And yes, I said "US"....

    dsws,

    and we're supposed to trust them that the state will wither away afterward.

    "That's what elections are for."
    -Barack Obama

    :D

    I really admire Obama for not resorting to demonization of a convenient scapegoat. A simplistic story with a cardboard-cutout villain would have been so much easier.

    Oh com' on, dsws..

    That is ALL Obama does is demonize...

    From Bush to "the rich" to "the fatcats" to the Tea Party, Obama is ALWAYS demonizing...

    "Because of the Tea Party, I don't know if we'll be able to send out Social Security checks??" (paraphrased)

    Remember??

    Obama ALWAYS finds someone to blame for HIS inadequacies...

    It's always someone else's fault. That's one of the things that I really hate about Obama. He never owns up to his mistakes..

    Michale.....

  33. [33] 
    Michale wrote:

    It's always someone else's fault. That's one of the things that I really hate about Obama. He never owns up to his mistakes..

    That should be amended to read:

    It's always someone else's fault. That's one of the things that I really hate about Obama. He never owns up to his mistakes unless there is a political advantage to doing so. And then he comes across insincere as hell...

    Michale.....

  34. [34] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    Michale -

    So, of course, you were just as upset at President Bush when he absolutely refused to own up to a single mistake he ever made, hmmm?

    -CW

  35. [35] 
    Michale wrote:

    So, of course, you were just as upset at President Bush when he absolutely refused to own up to a single mistake he ever made, hmmm?

    Well, that's only because he never made any... :D

    Seriously, he has owned up to mistakes..

    Bush on "Decision Points" Tour Calls Handling of Katrina a "Mistake"
    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20022223-503544.html

    But you never heard Bush whining incessantly over and over ad nasuem, blaming everything and everyone but himself, did you??

    I mean, honestly?? Don't you get tired of hearing Obama scapegoat everyone rather than man up and take responsibility??

    Michale.....

  36. [36] 
    dsws wrote:

    Anyone have an impression of the Democrats on the super committee? A very quick glance suggests that Kerry and Van Hollen are likely to be on the sidelines, because they're moderates who won't go along with any deal that can get a vote from even the least radical of the Extremists on the committee. So my guess has the negotiations being between the four right-wing Democrats and the four within-shouting-distance-of-reality Extremists, while the two moderates and the two rabids have no real leverage.

  37. [37] 
    Michale wrote:

    Anyone have an impression of the Democrats on the super committee? A very quick glance suggests that Kerry and Van Hollen are likely to be on the sidelines, because they're moderates who won't go along with any deal that can get a vote from even the least radical of the Extremists on the committee. So my guess has the negotiations being between the four right-wing Democrats and the four within-shouting-distance-of-reality Extremists, while the two moderates and the two rabids have no real leverage.

    "It'll be like two lepers arm wrestling. If anyone pushes too hard it all just crumbles to shit."
    -Robin Williams, LIVE AT THE MET

    :D

    Michale.....

  38. [38] 
    Michale wrote:

    Looks like Obama has adopted my mentality...

    Put Country Before Party

    Too bad he didn't think about that 3 years ago, eh??

    Michale.....

  39. [39] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    Michale -

    OK, I admit I'm too busy to read the article, but from its title, it seems to agree with exactly what I said. Bush didn't admit a single mistake while he was president -- only later, to sell books. Can you come up with an example where Bush admitting to one tiny little mistake while he was president? I bet you can't.

    -CW

  40. [40] 
    Chris Weigant wrote:

    dsws -

    All I'll say now is that the lineup is a lot more interesting, on both sides, than I thought it would be. Gotta run...

    -CW

  41. [41] 
    Michale wrote:

    CW,

    Bush didn't admit a single mistake while he was president -- only later, to sell books.

    Point to you.. :D That is a definite relevant distinction..

    Can you come up with an example where Bush admitting to one tiny little mistake while he was president? I bet you can't.

    I'll have to research it.. But you may be right..

    I guess my real beef with Obama is not so much that he won't admit he made a mistake so much as he always blames someone else.

    With Bush, the buck really DID stop at his desk...

    With Obama the buck stops every else BUT his desk...

    But I will get back to you on the Bush mistake thing..

    Michale....

  42. [42] 
    Michale wrote:

    Obama's numbers sink lower..

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html

    Ya'all realize that, once Obama hits below 40% approval, it is likely he will be primaried...

    Michale.....

  43. [43] 
    Michale wrote:

    Referring back to the Britian riots..

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025068/UK-riots-Middle-class-rioters-revealed-including-Laura-Johnson-Natasha-Reid-Stefan-Hoyle.html#ixzz1UogKJGwE

    These aren't the down-trodden, the poor and the unlucky fighting against a cruel world/government.

    These are spoiled brats who have too much sense of entitlement and not enough sense of discipline...

    People who feel that they are entitled, the government owes them a living...

    These are the kinds of people that a nanny-state produces...

    Michale.......

  44. [44] 
    Michale wrote:

    Happy Rockefeller over at FireDogLake makes a real good point..

    … But the moment {Democrats} said, ‘No matter what the Democrats do, they will have my vote, because the Republicans are worse’ we forfeited our political power in the Democratic party. We gave up our leverage.

    That's the problem I see around here a lot..

    Ya'all are willing to settle for Obama because the alternative is (you think) a lot worse... While that may or may not be true, that is ya'all's Achilles Heel...

    The Democratic Leadership KNOWS that ya'all will never vote GOP, so they have NO incentive to bow to their base...

    But, imagine a different scenario....

    Imagine that disgruntled Dems vote GOP en masse or, at the very least, withhold their Dem vote...

    In the short term, yes.... That allows GOP to take control of government...

    But, in the long term...... In the long term the Left accomplishes two goals..

    A}It shows the Dem leadership that their vote simply CANNOT be taken for granted...

    and

    2}It gives the GOP plenty of rope to hang themselves with...

    So, if you are truly dissatisfied with Obama and his (lack of) governance.... There is only one logical response...

    Food for thought...

    Speaking for myself, I would LOVE to have a better quality of candidate to vote for..

    But only ya'all can make that happen...

    Michale....

  45. [45] 
    Michale wrote:

    I guess my real beef with Obama is not so much that he won't admit he made a mistake so much as he always blames someone else.

    NOW it's all "Congress' fault"... :^/

    President Obama. He never met responsibility he didn't want to dodge...

    Jeeesh

    Michale.....

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