Displaying 1,831 To 1,860 Of 19,504 Comments Kes, so true, who hatred the French as much as terrorists under the last US president because then too, they refused to be bullied into doing the wrong thing? Republicans, and as you say, the same ones pounding their chests now. BTW, doesn’t the Capitol menu still list french fries as Freedom Fries? We shouldn’t be surprised and in fact, we should always expect anything that happens that could possibly be used or twisted to be used to attack Obama as a failure as President, will be broadcast on the MSM as such and echoed by the GOP. It is all so cynical and a dirty, gutter game that intentionally harms our democracy…not that corporations have the slightest regret about making profits off of it. The MSM News Networks really need to be relegated to a lower class of “news” that is really just propaganda and profit based. » Posted By AdLib On January 13, 2015 @ 10:22 am KT, you make a very good point about Obama not needing to set his hair on fire every time there’s a terrorist act…that’s the MSM’s and Republicans’ job. As for what the protests represent and the impact they have, if the aim of terrorists is to terrorize the public into being weakened by fear, these protests negate that. Terrorism as a tactic fails if those being terrorized refuse to be fearful. Yes, lives may be successfully taken and people may be shocked at first but when they turn around and stand up and say, “This changes nothing!”, the terrorists lose. There will be more terrorists acts in the countries of our allies and probably in the US again. As long as we don’t allow them to instill fear in us, we keep writing articles, drawing cartoons and making fools of them, not allowing them to corrupt our freedoms out of fear, they can never win. For me, that’s what there protests are all about. A very powerful message to ISIS, Al Qaeda and all the terrorists who dream of terrifying the rest of the world into allowing them to have power over them…that it ain’t ever gonna happen. » Posted By AdLib On January 13, 2015 @ 10:14 am Well put, jj! I wonder if Obama was instead hanging up a “Mission Accomplished” sign instead of attending the march, if Repubs would have nodded understandably. » Posted By AdLib On January 13, 2015 @ 10:02 am Nirek, exactly, this is not a big deal. The march was a success and Obama’s support of France is a halle of a lot stronger than the France haters in the GOP stuffing their faces with Freedom Fries. Romney is talking about running again and these Obama economic results would sure be a great way of saying, “Who needs Romney?” » Posted By AdLib On January 13, 2015 @ 9:58 am Thanks much, KT! Really appreciate it (and great to have you back!). » Posted By AdLib On January 13, 2015 @ 9:56 am Murph, part of my point in this post is that we really need to put MSM “news” stories into perspective and IMO, not attending a march against terrorism just isn’t a big deal. The only ones who have a legit reason to be upset about this would be those whose march it was, the French people and the French government. And by and large, they aren’t. Who is upset and who (as always) has elevated a missed symbolic gesture into being something of enormous import and another reflection of a President who has damaged America? The MSM and Repubs. Frankly, by now we should expect this and not buy into their cynical hysteria. Does anyone in the world really question Obama’s commitment to fight terrorism? Did this change anyone’s mind? Today, after the successful march has done its job and the French people continue forwards, does this ridiculous gotcha stuff matter? Will it stop a single act of terrorism? To all in the last paragraph, my answer is “No.” When someone walks the walk day in and day out but doesn’t attend a march, which I do agree would have been good if he could have, I think it should eclipse any hand wringing over that lack of attendance. We’ve had more than enough of this petty game playing by the Repubs and MSM, trying to howl about anything that happens under Obama they can and calling it an outrage. Yeah, we get it, Obama is evil and incompetent and hates America…now Repubs, go shine some shoes. » Posted By AdLib On January 13, 2015 @ 9:55 am Join Us Tonight for Our Live Weekly Chat on the Week’s Events! Vox Populi Begins at 7:00pm PST! ExFan, thanks for this. Nous sommes tous Charlie. » Posted By AdLib On January 10, 2015 @ 8:15 am You Can’t Tell The GOP’s Bad Players Without a Program Kes, maybe We should post a real rogues gallery, of fictional villains who were inspired by Republicans. Michael Grimm and Two Face? Chris Christie and Jabba The Hut? Jeb Bush and the pods from Invasion of the Body Snatchers? » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 7:47 pm S-Man, more like Bizarro World where everything is backwards. “Me am Republican and now me reward you for voting for me by taking away your health care. Am me making you happy? Me ask because me don’t care. Hello!” » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 7:43 pm Nirek, right with you as usual. Hypocrisy seems to be the mother’s milk of politics for Repub’s. Without it, they’d starve and shrivel away. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 7:40 pm Cheers, CL! The GOP has gone past the point of absurdity in how openly dishonest and unprincipled they are. Now, one expects that in response to anything, Repubs will say the most blatantly hypocritical and false things. It’s not a surprise anymore and shouldn’t be. What’s most troubling though are the people who blindly support the GOP despite who they are and what they do.. Any question that there will be lots of rural and rabid Republicans who will have their SNAP benefits cut 20% and their health care taken away if the party they voted for gets their way? The absolute ignorance of people voting to harm themselves is astounding. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 7:38 pm Maybe if he had lots of photo ops of him clearing brush in Hawaii, it might change their minds? Nope, you can’t change racist. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 11:55 am Thanks slm! I agree, I think it’s ironic that Christie was wearing an orange sweater, he’ll very poissibly be trading it for an orange jumpsuit. He’s so dirty, so much corruption surrounds him, if he does run for President, the opposition research will uncover so much more and he could be the Michael Grimm of the GOP primary. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 11:54 am Cheers glenn! The quote from Milbank is actually right on the money. What really riles up Repubs isn’t “pallin’ around” with terrorists like KKK and Nazi sympathizers, it’s not being extremists enough. The ugliness of the GOP is apparent to those who follow them but will be inescapable to most Americans after the next two years. And that will be a powerful argument against whoever the Repub Presidential nominee will be, with no Dem in the WH, all this insanity could be let loose on the nation. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 11:51 am Starting the New Year with a Smile – The Year in PlanetPOV Art Thanks ExFan! A very happy new year to you too!!! » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 11:43 am Kes, my pleasure and thanks so much! It’s hard to portray these serious, substantial political geniuses as ridiculous, pandering ideologues but I try! And I’ll have lots of opportunities in the upcoming year, that’s for sure! » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 6:11 pm Cheers slm! You’ve heard of making lemonade from lemons, I try to make molasses out of asses. We are in store for a lot of madness in 2015, so no doubt, plenty of fodder for The Planet is on tap for the year! » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 6:08 pm Kalima, your laughter is worth quite a bit to me, so glad to hear that! Oh yeah, we’re going to tale down the Repub Congress this year like a Russian dictator. After all, they’re full of worthless gas too! A very Happy New Year to you and your family! » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 6:00 pm glenn – Right with you on that, hope to see Sally back here soon. A very happy New Year to you and the family too! Yes, with the 2016 Presidential election gearing up this year, there will be plenty of insanity to go around…and only one Planet of sanity as an escape from it! Hope to see you at Vox tonight! » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 5:56 pm Hey Nirek! Thanks, I aim for “scary funny”! Looking forward to seeing and chatting with you here as the next year’s events unfold! All the best back to you and your family (including Nirek Jr.!). » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 5:53 pm Will 2015 Be a Good Year for Americans? Funk, you had me smiling and nodding throughout your comment! The thing is, I don’t know that the GOP Congress is even representing themselves as having changed, they’re more like the physically abusive boyfriend who moves back in and says, “Now, where were we?” Love the reference to Seven and really hits the nail…on the head. Perhaps the GOP will kill two birds with one stone (they love killing things) by making one term of the TPP that the US gets to export its poor to third world nations. In fact, the NYPD could lead another change that kills another innocent, unarmed bird, turning it from a Free Trade bill to a Free Slave Trade bill that also exports black men from the U.S. Why let hate go to waste when you can make a profit on it? The GOP may try to do everything they can to stop the ACA (especially the providing of mental health services that might reduce the amount of members in the GOP) but not being able to do so will make them sick. Under your final scenario, might it be that the RW hysteria becomes so intense with Obama and Hillary outrage that Rush Limbaugh becomes a black hole (some might argue he’s been one type of hole or another for most of his life) that sucks in the entire right wing and transports them to a parallel Earth where white people are the minority and generally regarded as “lazy and criminal”. Seriously, with Europe in a bit of an economic mess, China stalling economically, disruptive world events and the GOP Congress giving Wall Street a greenlight to begin production on “Destroying the US Economy – The Sequel”, you might not be too far off about an economic hit coming our way in 2015. Again, very clever comment, really enjoyed it! » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 11:28 am slm, I too hope that the whiplash Americans will experience, from a GOP blocking everything they can to destroying everything they can (that doesn’t benefit the top 1%) will solidify the image of the GOP as anti-American. As for your predictions, I do think it is more likely that the ACA comes out of the SCOTUS decision stronger and more invulnerable to attack. The Repub Congress will deteriorate the country and government around the edges but Obama’s veto will stop most of the attempted corruptions. I think Jeb will run but I don’t think he will win the GOP primary because the base hates him. Even if he could buy the nom, I don’t believe the nation wants another Bush in the WH just one Presidency after the last one destroyed the country. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 10:58 am Thanks Beatlex! I think Obama’s had his staff compile a number of actions he could take through EOs and he moved forward with a number of them at the end of the year, with more on their way. Of course most of his time may be spent on vetoing the Repub Congress’ insanity that has already begun. » Posted By AdLib On January 7, 2015 @ 10:49 am Murph, just lost a long reply to you (thanks to my getting used to my new laptop!) so to recap: We agree on most projections. The Repubs in Congress and running for the Presidential nom will magnify each others’ extremism and whoever gets the nom will never be able to steer back to the middle in the GE. And if the SCOTUS doesn’t harm the ACA, the GOP will have failed in a massive way and have a very discouraged base. That plus the horribleness we’ll see from them will make 2015 a very good year for Obama and Dems. I do think that Newtown and the Black Lives Matter movements are very different and what happened to the Newtown movement won’t have the same results with BLM…in fact, there have already been changes in policies federally and locally because of BLM. Fortunately, most people have no personal experience of school shootings. Unfortunately, that makes them less energized long term. On the other hand, black people face prejudice day in and day out and can’t escape the ongoing motivation to stand up. Also, the only way to change the status quo on guns on a national basis was through Congress and easily blocked by the NRA. With BLM, Obama has already been able to move forward with new policies along with AG Eric Holder. We do agree though, change will be glacially slow for a while but things will change. As to your predictions, agree the economy continuing to grow stronger and on Obama becoming more popular as his long term strategies continue to succeed globally and for the majority here in the US. Don’t know about the Mike Pence thing, proposing that the GOP isn’t crazy enough to nominate another Bush just one President after the last disastrous one is, I think, giving them far too much credit for sanity. Can’t stop India from growing. We’ll see what happens to China but they do seem due for “a correction” and if that happens, look out. Anything Milton Friedman supported can be certain to make the wealthy wealthier, harm the nation’s future and oppress the majority. So NAIRU being a delivery vehicle for tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the 99% and the US economy is not surprising…but won’t get past an Obama veto. I think Putin is far more invulnerable to bad times in Russia than many think. Russians are so brainwashed by their propagandized media, they buy into his blaming the US and Europe for their hardships and they support tyrants when they feel most “under attack”. We’ll see but I wouldn’t be surprised for Putin to stay strong there even as the nation’s economy crashes. After a while of stagnation…then things could turn against him. The saying goes, “May you live in interesting times.” I think 2015 will continue to prove that we sure are. » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 7:39 pm Hey GC! The MSM is so disingenuous about polling at this point in Presidential elections. They know full well that polls are meaningless because this far away from the campaign, they are just reflections of name recognition, not genuine support. So, of course Bush and Romney appear at the top of these polls, they’re the best known names in the GOP. When the actual campaign starts, I don’t expect Bush to be polling at the top, he is not a candidate the base really wants. And name recognition when you’re a Bush…ain’t necessarily the best thing in a GE just one President after the last Bush. Would be nice to see the GOP civil war blow up this year. Nothing like having power in hand to bring out the knives in a party. » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 6:27 pm Kes, thanks so much! We will see a flurry of vetoes from Obama this year and be prepared for Repubs to turn the absurdity table on him and call him “The President of No”. Yep, no to 10 million Americans stripped of health insurance, no to gutting the EPA, no to destroying SS and Medicare by privatizing them, you get the idea. We are facing unapologetic racists in police forces and police unions so I don’t expect a big reversal of the institutional racism out there but I think it’s being met with far greater resistance and focus now. That along with reforms like body cameras could at least start rolling back the worst of what’s out there. Not 100% sure about what the SCOTUS will do on the ACA but it would be historically evil for them to condemn millions of Americans to illness, bankruptcy and death due to an overly literal interpretation of a few words in a massive bill with clear intent. So…we’ll see! » Posted By AdLib On January 2, 2015 @ 6:21 pm Kalima, I’m nearly at a loss for words after reading your very kind words…nearly but have to say how grateful I am for all the conscience and the diligence you pour into Morning Blog day in and day out throughout each year including this one just ending. And all the wonderful energy and thoughtfulness you infuse into The Planet every single day! It’s inspirational to me. Another remarkable and eventful year here at The Planet, Kalima, thanks in no small part to you. Hope you are having a lovely New Years Day! We’ll be catching up with you in 2015 very soon, leave a little champagne for me! As to Obama holding ground on his accomplishments and vetoing the Repub Congress from doing too much harm, I do agree though as with this latest budget bill, Repub’s will sneak in some nasty little things along the way. I am very measured in my optimism about racism lessening in our police forces and courts. The latest hateful and self-righteous displays by the NYPD are both disgusting and disappointing…yet these ignoramuses are continuing to destroy their image and trust with the public in doing so, so they may actually be creating a greater pressure for change by being such jerks. Looking forward to bringing in our 6th year here at The Planet with you, Kes and all of our great friends and colleagues here at The Planet! Happy New Year! » Posted By AdLib On December 31, 2014 @ 10:02 am Cheers Nirek, thanks so much! I’ll bet Obama has had his staff working for some time on compiling a list of EOs he can issue to make changes to domestic and international policy. He saw this Repub takeover of the Senate coming for some time but even putting that aside, he’s been blocked from so many meaningful actions and reforms, I have to think that he was planning to be more aggressive with EOs in his last two years, after the last election that he would impact, from early on in his Presidency. He’s free to do what he wants, any old time: » Posted By AdLib On December 31, 2014 @ 9:31 am Thanks ExFan! The Crying Hyena and the Snapping Turtle may want to distance themselves from the wilder animals in the GOP zoo but there’s no escaping from those political cages. As always, the GOP leadership will bow to the extremists because that’s their core. And no one wants Jeb, there is no popular base for him on the right or left. Yes, if he wins the primary, mindless Repubs will support him but no matter who the Dem nominee is (and I am not convinced it will definitely be Hillary), I highly doubt America will want to go back to having another Bush in the WH…I mean, two were failures so let’s have another? Don’t see it. » Posted By AdLib On December 31, 2014 @ 9:25 am Merry Christmas From PlanetPOV – 2014! So glad to hear that, ExFan! Such kind wishes, sending them back to you with the very best wishes! » Posted By AdLib On December 25, 2014 @ 5:41 pmComments Posted By AdLib
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