Displaying 1,111 To 1,140 Of 3,237 Comments The Once and Future Impeachment of Barack Obama Few and far between and not those with the biggest megaphones. Bergdahl plays to so many of the anti-Obama memes that it is a perfect storm for them. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 6:00 pm I place far more responsibility on the GOP in this- start with the Supreme Court and work backwards. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 5:58 pm It will come back to haunt them in the long run if they mishandle it but it will raise them a lot of money, rouse their base to get out the vote, and cast doubt on the legacy of Barack Obama. Their goals are not about the Presidency but about the control of Congress and their gerrymandering gives them a huge advantage in the House (until at least 2020) and the constitution gives them many Senate seats representing far few people than many Dem Senators. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 5:57 pm Not my hope, but certainly it is at the top of the list of some who believe that only an elite can rule. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 5:54 pm Doesn’t matter. They will be able to eat up the clock in both the House and Senate. They will make lots of money. They will rile up their base. They will build a case for de-legitimatizing Obama’s presidency on the floor of the House and Senate. They will increase the chances of holding onto the House and Senate in 2016 IF they control the trial and they will. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 10:02 am Nirek, take a look at my post regarding red and blue states above. I think that this has little to do with the WH but everything to do with control of Congress. While it may be hard to believe….the lies feel like sweet, sweet truth to many – I live in a state where this is proven every day. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 9:12 am In this I think you are correct. This is not just political or economic, it is a personal hatred that transcends any element of rationality. For much of the GOP base and their reps Obama is the embodiment of the loss of their America…and the case that he is a illegitimate president is made everytime something like this comes up. Take a look at what I wrote in reply to the same post regarding red and blue states. It is the comment right above yours. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 9:10 am The national demographics are likely to keep them out of the WH for the foreseeable future which is why this mostly about keeping the House and, after taking the Senate, keeping it too. To overcome the damage done by the 2010 midterms which resulted in GOP control in critical states over the redistricting process resulting from the census. SO- the House has slid into red territory for the foreseeable future since gerrymandering make this undoable until 2020. The Senate has always been more of a tossup since every state no matter its population gets 2 senators. Look at a map of the states showing red, blue and the shades of purple in between. [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Red_and_Blue_States_Map_%28Average_Margins_of_Presidential_Victory%29.svg[/img] In order to compensate the Dems are going to need a tidal wave, a tsunami of support in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 to put us back where we were in 2009. Every GOP effort is geared toward undermining that and they have three great allies: – ignorant electorate » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 9:07 am One Veteran’s Opinion About the POW Swap NIREK….based on your piece I did a longer article at Daily Kos at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/05/1304563/-Was-Pvt-Bergdahl-choosing-suicide I also published it at MSNBC’s HP Refugees. It will publish here soon. Your reply. I think that Bergdahl came face to face with the horrors in Afghanistan and he was shattered by them. I just read that there are indications that he had a deep affection for the young Lieutenant who was killed. Makes me wonder… I think he was promoted because that is SOP in these cases- every soldier comes up for board review on schedule and I believe that POW’s are automatically promoted. As to McCain…Hell’s bells…he has a pattern. He says the admin should do X. The admin does X. He then condemns the admin for doing X. Same thing here. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 8:04 am Nirek, it seems to me that in the rush to judgement the critics have lost site of the young man in question….. WAS BERGDAHL CHOOSING DEATH? The more I read the more I think this young man, Sgt. Bowe Robert Bergdahl, a 22 year old Private when he was captured, had a breakdown of some sort. He was home schooled, very involved with his church’s youth program and loved outreach to the needy, He got a GED in his early 20’s; studied Buddhism, martial arts, fencing; did not own a car choosing to bike for environmental reasons; and then he joined the army in 2008. This decision appears to have surprised many. Bergdahl’s unit was sent to an outpost called Mest-Malak in Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. Bergdahl began learning to speak Pashto, and, according to Specialist John Fry, a member of Bergdahl’s unit Bergdahl “began to gravitate away from his unit”, spending “more time with the Afghans than he did with his platoon”. Bergdahl’s father described his son to military investigators as “psychologically isolated” He seems to me to be a brooder who had great affection for a fellow soldier in his platoon at the remote outpost where he took part in counter insurgency – and thus saw the war’s impact on local people’s in a way that makes your Vietnam memory poignant and powerful- and from which he walked away. His friend, who he met in training and grew close to, was killed. We know that he mailed his most personal effects to his family a couple of days before he disappeared. His final e mail to them read: “The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting…..The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools…I am sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live. We don’t even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks… We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them…I am sorry for everything. The horror that is america is disgusting…There are a few more boxes coming to you guys. Feel free to open them, and use them.” THIS IS A SUICIDE NOTE. He walked off, leaving his weapons, and armor behind and I suspect he expected to die and was captured instead. Hastings, Michael (June 7, 2012). “America’s Last Prisoner of War”. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607 Who is Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl? http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/51336717.html White House defends prisoner swap in tense Hill meeting http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/bowe-bergdahl-obama-officials-capitol-hill-congress-private-meeting-107424.html » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 5, 2014 @ 6:12 am Huffington Post Finalizes Its Divorce From Its Bloggers Your eye, my candle. How can we miss? » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 4, 2014 @ 8:40 pm Thank you. Gracious. I am hoping that those who are coming our way will enrich and enliven the community- taking real ownership of this special place and time. Your presence is felt every day. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 4, 2014 @ 7:52 pm Hi there Kalima…. I will say the same thing to you that I said to Ad Lib… I admire your restraint in not saying “There…I told you so…” Kind of you all. It has turned out as you said it would. I so appreciate your welcoming so many here. I am please to say that a good number seem to have come to our door as a result of contact with them via an e mail account I set up to provide options for those being dumped by HP. The Planet was Number One and Daily Kos number two. I hope that we get a number of regular members as a result of our common efforts. Peace to you for all you are and all you do. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 4, 2014 @ 6:44 pm Hello there…Welcome to the Planet!!!!! Anything I can do to help you got acclimated, let me know. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 4, 2014 @ 6:40 pm Ad Lib….I have shared both of our posts with a number of people, including some from HP. They make a strong statement. Both speak of the positive impact of HP in shaping a culture of conversation in community and both mourn the loss of that culture. Your marriage analogy strikes me as both apt and instructive. Sometimes we make decisions because we must but the root of those decisions often lies in times when we had real choices. When HP chose to become an expanding global news platform its primary focus changed and the facebook move is the last step in that process. I hope that some good comes from this mess, but it is a mess and it will take time to make much headway in the cleanup. Today, HP moved more and more of its stories to the Facebook while still allowing those with post in the old format to access them. I made a lot of copies today of final words from HP friend. I took screen shots of my badges and my stats. It seems silly but a lot of my heart was invested there and I am taking some memorabilia with me. Now how do we build the Planet so that it becomes a home for those who want to part of a community of conversationalists? » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 3, 2014 @ 4:16 pm And somehow the coin counters at HP think that the uniqueness of that spot will not be missed….I do not understand….but it is a bottom line decision. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 9:54 pm Thank you Funk. I admit I am pooped. I have sent a choices note to 200+ I hope we can recruit for the Planet. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 9:52 pm And this is a place where you have a lot of options. Take your time getting to now the place. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 9:51 pm I think you are correct. There are two systems now lying side by side and I think that conflicts like you name here will be commonplace. I would check back to see if it deletes. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 9:23 pm Hi, Searing Truth….I am here. Surprise! » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 9:21 pm Actually, the Planet is a home base already…I am here regularly. I hope that the site becomes more and more active. I will add to that now that HP is a back bencher. Hope to see you around here a lot. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 9:20 pm Truth. I would add that it is not just comments- it’ comments as part of a multi level conversation in which people interact. FB seems incapable of encouraging that. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 8:47 pm How so? I have never closed an account there and it looks easy on the profile page. But looks can be deceiving. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 8:29 pm Clearly I agree. Now we need to augment the community. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 8:28 pm And at the Daily Kos and HP Refugees at MSNBC I am working out how to do all of that- glad you are here. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 8:27 pm FAREWELL TO ALL THAT Dear friends at the Planet. It is clear the Ad Lib understands the nature of the journey that defines Huffington Post. I find his narrative compelling and I think it captures the nature of the change of vision and mission at HP over the last 7 Years. I posted the following today at HP. It is more about my feeling than my thinking. It reflects the very personal experience that I and so many others have had at HP. It earned nearly 300 “favs” and generated 181 comments- often heartfelt and deeply pained. SO what follows is my farewell to HP as I knew it. I have agreed to stay on the site to see if a “blogging opportunity” can be developed by their staff for community members and to serve as a sounding board and critic. I have VERY grave concerns about Facebook. I have significant concerns about the process by which community member blogs would be created there. SO, we shall see. I am also helping community members there find a new home. I have a post which I have been sending to any who might value it in which I highly recommend and spotlight Planet POV, and Daily Kos as sites that will serve HP Posters well. I have recommended a MSNBC Group called “HP Refugees”. There are several others that I am exploring. I hope that we reach out to any HP Bloggers we know and invite them to come here. I know many here have strong feelings about HP the Website. I have strong feelings about HP the People. Here is what I wrote: ******************************************* SO LONG HUFFINGTON POST……My last Pundit Post…. 4 Plus years 7900 fans 2600 friends 63000 comments after a Networker Badge, a Superuser Badge, a Moderator Badge, a Third World America Badge, a Predictor Badge, a Beta Tester Badge AND most significantly, a Political Pundit Badge. Each represents something very real to me: commitment, connection, trust, concern, foresight, judgment and wisdom recognized by HP. I THOUGHT THAT HP WAS GOING TO HAVE A LONG TERM PLACE IN MY LIFE. I live in a very Red county in a very Red State where my Progressive views are not all that welcome. I was a College Professor for many years. After retirement my careful fiscal planning was tossed into the air by the economic meltdown of 2008 and had to turn to farming. Day in and day out, it was HP that was my intellectual oasis, my debate club. It was a point of connection with folks who really wanted to consider complex issues and speak in nuanced tones. I took part in some really wonderful conversations. One of them involved 23 interchanges with a nurse who altered my understanding of the nature of the choices that women make in matters of reproductive health. In others I fought long and hard with those representing the other side of the political and social spectrum and, in the end, agreed that we could disagree without being disagreeable. I have been moved by many similar testimonials here in the last several days. HP has been a friend, a companion to many of us. I understand that HP has changed. Arianna Huffington envisioned a place were a virtual community of serious conversationalists could gather but that vision has given way to one of service as a global platform for the dissemination of information. The move to all Facebook Comments is part of that. I regret that HP made that decision but I have some understanding of it. I have had the privilege of taking part in conversations with the leaders at HP and I believe that they care about the community. This change is hard for them too. I think they are beginning to see how hard it is for us. and how very deeply it will change the character of this place. At another site (Planet POV) I dedicated a Music Video to My Friends – fellow community members, HP staff, and HP leaders- at Huffington Post 2009-2014 Neil Young’s “See The Sky About to Rain” Some are bound for happiness, See the sky about to rain, I am not closing my account. I will stay for a bit to see what happens, but it will not be the same. Still my hope is that the rain brings growth and happiness. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#conversation-5428632-313333019 » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On June 2, 2014 @ 7:26 pm The Weekend Music Thread-A Tribute to Neil Young DEDICATED TO MY FRIENDS “See The Sky About To Rain” See the sky about to rain, Some are bound for happiness, See the sky about to rain, I was down in Dixie Land,
» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 31, 2014 @ 8:48 am Revelation Before Revolution: How The U.S. Oligarchy Can Be Taken Down This is brilliant. Really brilliant. You make a case….but it feels more like a coffin to me. You say: “So the proposition is, it has to be revelation before revolution.” and then you add: “If that’s true and all of the above is true, change has to begin within ourselves and how we respond to the world…then others can change, not because they are told to, but because they see in others what they want to see in themselves.” I think that both statements are absolutely true BUT I think that many of the elements you list as causes for disengagement in the your essay work against an awakening. Further, I believe that the puppet masters who have identified the fundamental fears, worries and anxieties of just enough people and then gotten big money to finance embedding those feelings deeper and deeper while seeking to spread their poison are controlling the message on both sides of the political agenda. Your references to Chuck Todd (and many at MSNBC) makes this point very nicely (or very sadly). Let’s add the culture of distraction, and the constancy of the political drone as the final guarantors of a totally unaware majority…. Yes, Ad Lib, I am worried…still. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 28, 2014 @ 12:35 am Lindsey Graham and his REAL Benghazi Scandal Great lead. Let me see what I can find. Probably little. I wonder if Issa has been chained in. He is not on the Select Committee. In fact, there are no all stars there. I wonder if this is Boehner fielding a light weight team that will regurgitate the work of the prior committees without the CIA give-aways. Hmmmm. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 10, 2014 @ 5:01 pm How generous. Tell Ad Lib what you plan on doing as he basically is the coordinator man….love the fact that you find HP of such value. How about my invite to join us on friday evenings for Vox Populi? » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 10, 2014 @ 4:56 pmComments Posted By MurphTheSurf3
– plenty of money for propaganda and for creating organizations and on the ground GOTV efforts
– a willingness to set aside any vestige of truth telling.
some are bound to glory
Some are bound to live with less,
who can tell your story?
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowin’
through my brain.
AT THE HUFFINGTON POST
2009-2014
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowing
through my brain.
Signals curling on an open plain,
rolling down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.
some are bound to glory
Some are bound to live with less,
who can tell your story?
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowin’
through my brain.
Signals curlin’ on an open plain,
rollin’ down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.
played a silver fiddle
Played it loud and then the man
broke it down the middle.
See the sky about to rain.
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