Displaying 9,571 To 9,600 Of 9,743 Comments I disagree about one thing. No bill is not an option. Sure many progressives like myself will not be happy if CONGRESS cannot pass a bill with a public plan. However passing nothing is the ultimate way for Dems to lose the most seats in 2010. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 6:31 pm Yup perspective like learning from history. Sorry but I blame the Nader voters for eight years of Bush because progressives and liberals thought Gore was not one of them. The alternative was eight years are misery and every problem the president is still dealing with today is a holdover from the Bush disaster. Yet progressives are bout to make the same mistakes again because Obama is not the perfect liberal. A great example of my frustration with some progressives is the president releasing White House visitor logs this week. They complained he was not be transparent before he released them now they are complaining about who is on the list. Duh we all knew he was meeting with private healthcare insurers and providers, that was part of the strategy. Again a huge improvement over Bush and Clinton that keep visitors logs secret. Another part of being transparent is revealing the waivers the White House gave to industry insiders. The White House gave 10 waivers out of the dozens and dozens of appointments the president made. Again a huge improvement over the past administration that was probably made up of a majority of industry insiders. People need to have perspective and realize when progress is being made instead of continuing to play the gotcha game. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 6:06 pm Wow thanks for sharing that moment. I wish I was there but I will never forget it as well. I really get tired of the weak kneed support of President Obama by so many liberals and progressives analyzing every move. Worse many of us expect things he never promised and demand things he did not promise. The fact is what defines liberals is our lack of loyalty or respect for authority. That’s why keeping liberals happy is an always will be like herding cats. We should always speak to power and hold no one above our principles but we should not throw leaders under the bus every time they do something we don’t agree with. That’s is insane hyperbole that is always counterproductive. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 5:55 pm I love ya’ back, Mr. President I do not agree with everything the president has done so far. But the only person you are going to agree with 100% of the time is yourself, unless you are schizophrenic and that’s not even true. So far the vast majority of things he has campaigned on he has done or they are in the works. Many people are revising history like he did not say he was going to focus on the war in Afghanistan as candidate Obama. People’s disappointment is always based on expectations and many progressives for some reason thought he was far more liberal than he was. The president has a progressive vision but is pragmatic in practice. That drives many progressive ideologues crazy sometimes. I support the president as well. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 12:52 pm Yup an educated voter is the GOP’s worse enemy. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 6, 2009 @ 1:03 pm Yup and that Cold Civil War has heated up more and more since the Nixon Atwater Southern Strategy. Also America is not alone in it’s xenophobia. Scary right wing groups are taking root in Europe again as well. I had been watch a documentary series named “Gangland”. It’s not just the traditional gang series in that they covered many white separatists groups as well what people think of as traditional street gangs in the US. People in the US have no clue how bad things are especially in Eastern Europe. In Poland it’s downright dangerous to be an immigrant from the Mid East and Africa. Half of all skinheads now call the Russian Republic home. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 6, 2009 @ 1:42 am The president always had the vision to realize that there are three pillars to bringing this country back to a sustainable economy and nation in general. Healthcare Reform. That’s one reason it’s a pet peeve of my that Huffy and too many progressives are stuck on this financial crisis. Banks will NEVER be bastions for progressives. Even in the most socialist European countries like France banks are geared to the common folk. The three pillars I mentioned are progressive values and as long as we let our outrage distract us the worse off we are. Long term these three pillars will disempower the corporate quagmire we find ourselves in today. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 6:22 pm Ouch you speak the truth and it hurts. I can’t even go to the Huffy main these days. Every fucking day they have some blatant racist posting their racist rants. I agree with what I think Nellie said earlier that the right wing attacked President Clinton endlessly as well but these attacks on President Obama have a certain edge to them that screams racism. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 6:11 pm The right wing outrage over this whole thing is a new low. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 12:37 pm Welcome aboard! I agree 100%. I was thinking he really needs to be firm and take over the healthcare debate. The ENOUGH speech would strike that perfect tone. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 5, 2009 @ 12:30 pm Partisanship: Are you on the RIGHT side? “Freedom of Speech” is a blessing and a curse in this country. I’m even starting to get numb to the right wing talk machine. I guess the day a president cannot tell students they should stay in school and study hard at the beginning of the school year is the day we are no longer a country with citizens but a country of 300,000,000+ individual voices where nothing is intelligible. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 4, 2009 @ 10:34 pm I 100% agree with your thoughts on healthcare. I also thing there is a right and wrong when choices are parsed down to smaller segments but when trying to solve complex problems there are many solutions. I did not have a chance to watch the video until this evening. It » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 4, 2009 @ 10:26 pm Wow spot on analysis Q. It smacks of a social Darwinist structure when you really think about it. Any system that does not take into account the cynical motivations of individuals and organizations is doomed to become corrupt. Since the evolution of any political or economic system will come down to elites eventually gaming the system. Since the collapse of the fourth estate we are in a non-ending Cold Civil War. To show my age it reminds me of an episode of Star Trek when this malevolent entity that fed off of hate and fear took over the Enterprise. Klingons were on board and they constantly fought with the crew. The entity only supplied the crew with swords and daggers so they would fight in hand-to-hand combat. The entity would even heal the fatal wounds on both sides so everyone could fight again. The only purpose of the fighting was to keep it going so the entity could feed. Ironically the episode was called “Day of the Dove”. Ok you can call me a geek now. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 4, 2009 @ 2:16 pm You have a good point on the cave on the “cramdown” since that is what took most of the guts out of the Treasury’s anti-foreclosure plan. But it’s a pet peeve of mine that some people think a low interest credit card is some kind of right. The ceiling of 14.9% was just too low for an unsecured debt. Hell people are payer higher car loans than that. I’m probably biased because I gave up credit cards almost 10 years ago now because they have always been bad fiscal practice. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 4, 2009 @ 11:35 am Where to start. For one thing I think the two party system is the systematic problem in our democratic republic. We should have adopted a parliamentary system that actually opens up relevance for third parties. I find it particularly ironic that neocons love our form of democracy so much they they did not install it in Iraq. Instead they installed a parliamentary system. I abhor absolutes and the right and wrong moral absolute you are trying to express just goes against my whole vision of the world whether it’s political or scientific. The world is nothing but infinite shades of gray. There are no absolutely good or bad people or good and bad things. I think Eastern cultures do a much better job understanding reality in this way than Western cultures that seem to hone in on absolutes. Single payer is a good example. I don’t want to put words in your mouth but you seem to see single payer as an absolute right. Nothing can be further from the truth. The Netherlands has recently adopted a 100% private system yet their costs are about the same as counties with single payer systems like Canada, Germany and France. Their level of care is better than theirs like all the other systems too. The Dutch government just leveraged their regulatory authority to make each private insurer that wants to participate to provide minimal coverage requirements. The point is their is no absolute “right” system. I have not viewed things in left and right for a while. In fact if you go too far to the right or left on a one way highway it still lands you in the ditch. I view politics and politicians as those who want to go forward and those how want to maintain the status quo or go backwards. Most Dems want to move forward and yes it’s frustrating that they don’t want to take bigger steps forward. But ALL Republicans want the status quo or to go backward. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 4, 2009 @ 11:17 am Hillary Rodham Clinton as SOS: The Good, The Bad and The Bluto 😆 definitely one of her minions. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 8:19 pm I do understand. I tend to be defensive about certain people too. I always thought most of the criticism people had for HRC was not warranted and far too personal. In fact most of my resentment toward Huffy started by the way she treated the Clintons. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 6:05 pm “Still I thought her interpersonal skills and acquaintances with many world leaders made her a good fit for the job.” Huh I think her personal interpersonal skills are her best asset. I specifically questioned her management of the Blackwater contract which is under her bailiwick. I don’t know all the details about the embassy and said so. Is the whole scene at the embassy not something to be fixed or am I off base? Just like Obama has made some early stumbles I think Clinton has as well. The most important thing is I hope they both learned from their mistakes. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 4:54 pm I think in this day and age a woman can be just as successful as a man at being SOS. That being said on some missions especially in the Middle East it’s better to use male envoys and ambassadors in negotiations to get results. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 4:26 pm In my efforts to offer a balanced argument and to be fair I was probably too ambiguous. It’s ultimately Obama’s responsibility because he appointed SOS Clinton if this controversy grows. It will be a smear on his presidency and not as much on SOS Clinton. I direct most of the blame about the Blackwater contract at SOS Clinton since it appears to be simple mismanagement. I just don’t know enough about the embassy scandal to say who is mostly to blame but you are right they are still mostly Bush hires. I also view the scandal as minor now rather than a systematic problem. You are absolutely right in your final statement. It’s up to SOS HRC to take care of these problems now and if she does not it’s up to Obama to take action. The real bottom line is I still hope SOS Clinton works out and these are just temporary problems that can be overcome. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 3:07 pm All Wired Up and Nowhere To Go AdLib boy does this headline from the Associated Press exemplify your point. “Liberals push Obama to make gov’t-run health care” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090905/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul_senate For fuck’s sake! The AP is basically using the right wing talking point implying a robust public option will give us a government run healthcare system. Also “liberals” are pushing him. What the fuck? 75% of the country wants a public option to compete with private healthcare insurance. The article is more or less just an update but the spin in the headline is dastardly. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 4, 2009 @ 11:17 pm Again Huffy attaches it’s Main page to a WSJ article. No one has to read the WSJ anymore all they have to read HP. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 11:14 pm “The Corporation” is a fabulous documentary and should be standard viewing in high schools and colleges. You are sadly correct the forth estate is on life support if not dead already. I see more and more Huffy mainlining stories from the WSJ and the student loan story was one example. Huffy is a fraud, they are a corporation and are hypocrites because their bottom line is the same as any corporation even though they act like advocates of the people. Our nighttime pundits are not much better. Sure I prefer MSNBC because they have more progressive pundits but again their purpose is to create more controversy and outrage to satisfy their audience over reporting news. The whole fact that MSNBC is owned by huge defense contractor, investment banker and polluter GE reveals their hypocrisy. In a flash of irony and hypocrisy Huffy wrote a story about how Obama chose a lawyer to work in the EPA who once was hired to defend GE in a Superfund pollution case. Of course the knee jerk outrage people bashed Obama based on the outrage Huffy was trying to generate. I pointed out that if GE were such polluters why don’t Rachel and Keith quit based on progressive principles. That shut people up in a hurry. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 2:37 pm Obama to Joint Session of Congress Sept 9 I second that emotion. (remember the song?) » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 12:21 pm I agree wholeheartedly he has taken bipartisanship too far. But the people really do want the government to be functional and nonpartisan and that’s what Obama ran on to capture the middle. I have to admit that I’m still surprised at how much conservatives are willing to bring down this country for selfish political reasons. I now chalk bipartisanship off as a goal like world peace. Always something you would like to strive for but will never attain. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 11:50 am Great to see you here Nellie. I think people’s expectations where a reflection of what they wanted and not what the president said during the campaign. He said he was going to add troops and emphasize the war in Afghanistan, he voted for the bailout and he was never the Socialist some wanted. I have always said he’s got a progressive vision but is pragmatic in practice. I also don’t understand the binary thinking among many progressives. I thought only conservatives thought in terms of black and white. I don’t agree with everything the president is doing but I agree with a majority of things he’s doing and trying to accomplish. But many progressives are throwing him under the bus because they don’t agree with some things he’s doing. What kills me is the misrepresentations from people especially about the bailout which is the root of the discontent in so many. Little extra money was added to the deficit for the bailouts in almost a year now. Bernake after messing up under Bush has done a great job using the Fed as the lender of last resort to get the credit markets flowing again from giving LOANS not free money. Even some bailout money has made some money since returned. If you noticed economists like Krugman was one of the people who said the president should reappoint Bernake. The bottom line is all the things the Fed did wrong to exacerbate the Great Depression, Bernanke did right to prevent another one. The stimulus is having it’s desired effect at the right time. The cash for clunkers was a resounding success. The foreclosure program needs to start hitting high gear. But I can’t personally even slam the foreclosure plan because I had been trying to get my loan reworked after almost five years because I became disabled and have had it finally reworked in July. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 3, 2009 @ 11:46 am He’s got to make the speech of his life that’s all I know. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 2, 2009 @ 11:48 pm More power to ya I say. I have to admit I’m totally selfish on this issue. Based on the plans in Congress, since I don’t have insurance and am disabled I will be one of the first ones eligible for a public plan. It’s not that I don’t want everyone to have access to public healthcare at all but we all need to decide based on our true self interests. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 2, 2009 @ 7:06 pm I don’t care if he mentions bipartisanship especially considering his audience. But he has to stick it in the Repugs faces about the lies and give more details about his plans. He’s losing the middle on the issue who really want a public plan to compete with profitcare. He’ll still drive some in his base crazy if he does not push single payer but since he never pushed single payer that will not lose support from rank and file Dems. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 2, 2009 @ 6:46 pm Great piece. It could be named lies, hypocrisies and an agency who’s only function is to lie. Maybe I’m crazy but I think we could have an intelligence agency that acts withing the rule of law. “The Company” has never ever been anything but a pack of liars since it’s existence. I don’t know maybe because they have to lie to get human intell they don’t know when to stop lying. Anyone who agrees with what “the Company” seems to think the rest of us are naive and don’t deserve to know the truth. My thing is the CIA has been the most ineffective agency in the last thirty years from not seeing the Iran hostage crisis, to not predicting the fall of the Soviet Union and lying about WMD what the fuck have they ever done right. » Posted By KQµårk 死神 On September 2, 2009 @ 6:38 pmComments Posted By KQµårk 死神
Energy Independence.
Education Reform.
Their current meme is to suspend right/left thinking which really means they will attack anything that will give them more clicks and giggles to make more ad revenue.
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