This Is Begging For A Comedy Skit

The WaPo assures us that the White House is reassuring abortion-rights advocates troubled by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's slim record on that topic:

The White House scrambled yesterday to assuage worries from liberal groups about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's scant record on abortion rights, delivering strong but vague assurances that the Supreme Court nominee agrees with President Obama's belief in constitutional protections for a woman's right to the procedure.

"Strong but vague".  Sounds like a blog title.  Excuse me - sounds like it damn well ought to be, well, somebody's blog title.

"In their discussions, they talked about the theory of constitutional interpretation, generally, including her views on unenumerated rights in the Constitution and the theory of settled law," Gibbs said. "He left very comfortable with her interpretation of the Constitution being similar to that of his."

I recall seeing conservative jurists admit that, although the legal reasoning of Roe is airy and they never would have signed the opinion, it has accumulated enough barnacles over time that directly overturning it would be a mistake.  That said, a conservative might be willing to nibble at the edges, and Sotomayer might as well.

Comments

[Jack is Back!]

I wonder who (Senator) will raise it first - a Dem or a Repub? Does it do the Dems good not to be the ones to raise it or should the Repubs be the one to bring in the sunshine. Interesting dilemma (too bad Bob Casey is not a member of the committee) but my money is on Tom Coburn. In fact, its probably burning a hole in his tongue by now (no pun intended).

[Danube of Thought]

Fake but accurate.

[hit and run]

"Strong But Vague" is the video title of the Obama 2008 Campaign retrospective.

And the Obama 2012 campaign is gearing up for "Stronger And Vaguer".

Apparently, the people eat it up.

[Pagar]

I think there is another skit available in this case.

"Sotomayor Ruled in "D-Bag Case"

"Ruled teen's blog post created a created "foreseeable risk of substantial disruption"

LUN

[JM Hanes]

TM:

I think your "Fierce urgency of Someday" beats all!

[Original MikeS]

'Nuther paradox.

[Ralph L]

Thanks, Or. MikeS, for reminding me to change my socks.

[bad]

Sotomayor has the same problem regarding abortion and Hispanics as Ibama has regarding blacks and gay marriage.

But once she's on the SCOTUS, it won't matter anymore politically, just personally.

[Buford Gooch]

It will be funny beyond my wildest imaginings if Sotomayor turns out to be the Democrats' version of Suter.

[Buford Gooch]

Souter Must check spelling...

[matt]

Iacocca is losing his Chrysler pension. How is that right? The UAW gets 55% of the company, the bondholders get screwed, and the guy who saved the company gets the shaft. what a country.

It's a shame we can't get to see a good vetting process for our judges. It sounds as if Sotomayor has some significant personal issues, which should never be the case (officially & publicly. The perception of prudence is paramount on the Court if not the reality at times. As our institutions have been assaulted more than ever before, it is essential that our judges especially be seen to be wise and just.

[PaulL]

I don't think Sotomayor will be confirmed.

[Captain Hate]

How is history going to regard our current worthless generation? With Omumbles destroying the economy specifically and the country generally, these simple wanks get the vapors over something trite like abortion. Sherman, get me the wayback machine; this age is hopeless.

[PeterUK]

Gibbs has taken on the British press.

Imbecile! Antagonise those who admired his master.

[Amused Bystander]

Matt: What i want to know is where are the challenges? This is a Constitutional crisis.
It may be a greater Constitutional crisis than even the Civil War.

Why is it not being brought to head in the courts?

The government has no right to just take companies an give it to campaign contributors who put them into power.

Surely there is legal redress. It is grounds for impeachment.

The thing about Iacoca is truly alarming. It is pure class warfare. What is next, re-education camps? It is radical communism straight out of the 1920 to 1940 interval.
Even Hitler did not move this fast.

If this cannot not be stopped, we will never be free again. No matte what happens in 2010 or 2012, the foundations of the nation will have been destroyed.

Where is the outrage? This is truly radical stuff. I would think that someone could ring Rico charges.

What is wrong with us?

[narciso]

How exactly does a statement eight years ago, turn out to be a mistake now,rhetorical
question I know., The Democrats have been sabotaging the process for the more than 20 years now, With Kennedy's "In Bork'sAmerica'
which gave us Weathervane Kennedy toClarence
Thomas's high tech lynching, and the attempted savagings of Roberts and Alito, orchestrated by among others Biden and Obama

On what grounds did they terminateIaccocca's
pension, considering the thankless job when he came from Ford (I know he endorsedObama)

[Original MikeS]

But once she's on the SCOTUS, it won't matter anymore politically, just personally.

Once there she will have a new problem. That would be convincing the other justices that a strong latina reaches better conclusions.

[BB Key]

Obama wanted to nominate Michelle to SCOTUS but due to lack of judicial expierence he picked her alter ego:
"Princeton University Holds the Key to Sotomayor" Ben Smith, Politico

[centralcal]

Even Pravda is taunting us and our descent into Marxism with breathtaking speed!

Good grief!

[DavidL]

WRT abortion, take it mean that empathy is only for the born.

As to Sotomayor's mistake, it was not one mistake but rather three. One it was a written speech. Two it was deliver and three it turned into a law review article. Sotomayer had three opportunties to correct her mistakes, and never did. Three strikes and you're out.

[verner]

I think it would be sooo hilarious if Sotomayor did a reverse Suter.

Just because she's "pro-choice" doesn't mean that she thinks third trimester abortion (aka intrauterine infantacide of a viable human being that can live and breath on its own with a little help)should be legal.

Hispanics may be democrats, but they are generally pretty conservative on social issues. Who knows?

[Extraneus]

What is wrong with us?

(Hi, AB. Good to see you.)

What is wrong with us? My take is: We allowed affirmative action, a concept so in such conflict with the Declaration, Constitution and even Martin Luther King's teachings, that it corrupted the very depths of everything -- schools, workpaces, government, everything. This allowed political correctness to take hold, a serious cancer on our whole society that's been metasticizing for decades.

This one thing, affirmative action, has established for a fact that we don't care so much for our founding principles anymore, and it's hard to argue that -- we just don't. Some do, but that bunch is probably a small minority now.

And without adherence to the founding principles, the republic is basically lost. Sad to say -- and I like FA's optimism, and am more than willing to do what I can -- but it's hard to imagine the backlash it would take to right the ship again.

[Original MikeS]

Obama is now saying that Sotomayor would make her latina claim differently now.

I'm guessing she was young and inarticulate in 2001.

My gut tells me that this time around she may go with "better conclusions than fat, yanqui, gringo, bastards," but that is just a guess.

[Sue]

There is no way this ultra-liberal Latina is not pro-choice. No way.

[RichatUF]

centralcal,

They are amazed that there are still orthodox Marxists in the world and that they are mostly all employed by the Obama Administration.

A hell of a week: A GM sham bankruptcy; a La Raza member to be confirmed to the Supreme Court; another Treasury appointee (for tax policy no less) bailed because of tax issues; won't go forward with a major weapons sale to Israel; the DOJ dismissed the voter intimidation case in Philly; and North Korea...

I'm thinking 2 or 3 martinis.

[Porchlight]

Strategically speaking, I am increasingly okay with Sotomayor joining the Court. She will fail to impress or persuade her future colleagues, and will more than likely annoy the hell out of them. Even lefty academics understand that she is a lightweight and are not thrilled. See Jonathan Turley: WSJ: Notable & Quotable

My dad made the exact comparison to Thurgood Marshall in an email to me the day of the announcement.

[PeterUK]

Sotomayor thesis.

"

on the 2nd amendment

Sotomayor is a graduate from Princeton University, where her legal theses included Race in the American Classroom, and Undying Injustice: American “Exceptionalism” and Permanent Bigotry, and Deadly Obsession: American Gun Culture. In this text, the student Sotomayor explained that the Second Amendment to the Constitution did not actually afford individual citizens the right to bear arms, but only duly conferred organizations, like the military. Instead of making guns illegal, she argues that they have been illegal for individuals to own since the passing of the Bill of Rights."

This would seem to exclude her from any judgements on the 2nd Amendment,that and the fact she is a left wing ditz.

[Danube of Thought]

"How is history going to regard our current worthless generation?"

Depends on who writes it. For all I know they may be regarded as the Second Coming of the Greatest Generation--the ones who had the courage to give us single-payer healthcare, tiny little cars, weird dysfunctional light bulbs and all the rest of that bullshit. They'll be taught that they love it all, and they'll believe it.

[Sue]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0509/In_which_the_president_discovers_an_American_intelligence_agency_at_Five_Guys.html>In which the president discovers an American intelligence agency at Five Guys

Crazy.

[peter]

Does Obama have a grudge against Britain? Or is it Michelle's? LUN (scroll down a bit)

[hit and run]

Porchlight:
Strategically speaking, I am increasingly okay with Sotomayor joining the Court.

Aye carumba, es possible. Pero...no sin un pequeño sangre!

(¡narciso, ayduame!)

That is, her confirmation must be made to give up some ground in judicial philosophy to help blunt Obama's next (maybe 2!) appointments...

The Turley link you provide generally, goes well with the http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Critics-unhappy-with-Sotomayors-role-in-CT-free-speech-case.html>Pagar link above...specifically...

[Extraneus]

I didn't mention it, but, damn, would I have loved to be a fly on that forward cabin wall when DoT and Helen Thomas downed those vodkas.

[hit and run]

PUK's Quote:
the student Sotomayor explained that the Second Amendment to the Constitution did not actually afford individual citizens the right to bear arms, but only duly conferred organizations, like the military. Instead of making guns illegal, she argues that they have been illegal for individuals to own since the passing of the Bill of Rights.

And PUK:
This would seem to exclude her from any judgements on the 2nd Amendment,that and the fact she is a left wing ditz.

This would seem to exclude her from http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UQTAS80&show_article=1>PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JUDGMENTS ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT!

Well.

[peter]

If you were a fly on the wall to a conversation with Helen Thomas, you wouldn't be the ugliest one in the room.

[narciso]

No es posible, de ninguna manera, (No it's not possible, under any conditions, and what was that about a little blood?) I know it's unlikely that she be derailed, but they do need to have a marker so there is a penalty againsr rewarding someone for such noxious, and wrong headed view. And even though she was a Marshall clerk, not even close, which was something the Times was suggesting today.

[Porchlight]

Thanks for re-posting Pagar's link, Hit (I'm having trouble keeping up this week). Turley seems to be weighing in all over the place, doesn't he?

Who posted earlier about tee martoonis? RichatUF? I'm more than halfway through the weekend's first bottle of wine.

[BB Key]

Peter ,
Who is better looking, Ginsburg or Sotomayor?

[hit and run]

We're on the same page, narciso.

I don't want to extract blood for the sake of tasting Sontomayor's blood. I want whatever it takes to help blunt the next nominee, in the name of upholding the Constitution.

I agree, she can't be (and in all liklehood from what I know) shouldn't be stopped, from the "elections have consequences" way of thinking. BUT...every chance we get to get the body politic to consider the Constitution above "feelings, nothing more than feelings", the better.

And, in the end, we need sharks more than remora fish, and a little taste of blood never hurt bringing in a little more sharks.

[Ann]

If you are not eligible to be on a jury (see Andy McCarthy's piece I linked to earlier) you are not eligible to be a judge. I say fight and if you don't want to fight remember this picture.

[Extraneus]

Let her bleed. She deserves it.

Obama sure Sotomayor would restate 2001 comment

Is anyone able to argue Andy McCarthy's article disqualifying her from being a juror on a jury in some local court? I couldn't do it.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, Ann. I had indeed forgotten that picture.

[daddy]

Went bike-riding today with a daughter and had to stop about 5 minutes while 2 Moose (Mother & Daughter) slowly meandered across the bike path. Cool!

Later hit a famous old local hamburger stand, and beneath the mammoth tusk and photo's of old Alaskan's, found this quote posted prominantly:

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by discouraging the rich. You cannot establish sound security by borrowed money. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away Man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should be doing for themselves." Abraham Lincoln.

Perhaps it's time to drum Lincoln out of the Republican Party. I don't think such strong, divisive language is currently welcome in our inclusive big tent.

[Elliott]

And the Obama 2012 campaign is gearing up for "Stronger And Vaguer".

I just hope that he's not so burdened by his duties that he stops hitting the gym. I'm not sure I'm prepared for "Stronger, Vaguer, And Uncut."

[Sue]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,626703,00.html>Obama's uncle is probably off the Christmas card list.

[peter]

BBk, You know, I am generally very tolerant of those persons who are not blessed with good looks. After all, if we are lucky, we all age and wind up looking terrible. But I have to say that I make an exception in the case of Helen Thomas, who truly is painful to the corneas. Ginsburg is old and sick, and So-so is middle aged and has el chipo on the shoulder oh, but I really can't say they are anywhere in the repulsive league of Helen Thomas.

[Amused Bystander]

Ext: Well to me AA is more a symptom than a cause, or i should say a serious pathology caused by an deeper underlying sickness of the soul.

Pitting races against one another was, after all, a standard Bolshevik tactic, and was particularly useful in destroying elites.
This is straight out of Stalin's playbook.

We should have been mindful of this, and in fact were up until recently. Moreover, this self-immolation is hardly a purely American phenomena: All of the West in infected with it. Witness the EU.

But, to the extent that AA caused us to squint our eyes and imagine that the world was other than what is was, I agree with you.

I would note that we are seeing the same sort of hustle going on with global warming now.

To me there is some very deep sickness of the soul--some deep nihilism, a profound hatred of being itself, a rejection of not just existence, but the very cosmos.

I think it is tied up with the rejection of the judeo-christian heritage, which is to say the rejection of civilization itself.

What is quite irksome to me is the delusion that these jackals have that they are actually advancing civilization when in fact they are destroying it--destroying the very possibility of it. They are merely running on the fumes of Christiandom and the great heritage of the West. Soon there will be nothing left and then when the darkness finally turns on them they will be naked before it before its evil. This seems to be what they truly desire. It is not merely death that they crave but the annihilation of the very notion of self, of the possibility of it. They seek the obliteration of all the is human, of even the very ontological basis of being human. (And I should say that this is why they hate Christian and Jews as they do, for these are the primary faiths of the affirmation of the sacredness of being, these are the children of light.)

Yes, this heinousness has raised it head before in history, but not like this, and certainly not in times like this.

Something is new here. There is some deep sickness of the soul in this; Some deep spiritual failure or wound underneath it all.

After all, the communist or the Nazi flourished in societies with real and profound challenges.

America has been undone at the height of its power and at its greatest level of prosperity, and undone by itself.

One struggles to find an historical precedent for this suicide we appear to be engaged in.

But even to say that the historic anomaly of great wealth enabling unheard of comfort and and leisure to be "common man, gifts that were somehow perhaps not earned by all, does not satisfy as a cause or critique.

Nor to say it is a crisis of nihilism, narcissism or solipsism does not feel sufficient to me. It goes beyond a psychological explanation, or even an historical one.

It may well be the decades of lies, denial and rationalizations that have allowed them to mask their pilferage and mediocrity with a posture and aspect of morality--and truly this mask is worn as much for themselves as it for the rest of us--has rotted out their souls. The constant lust for what one has not earned, the constant demand that one be given a position that one does deserve--the politics of envy and hate and scapegoating--must lead toward a hatred of the self, and thus all things.

We may be seeing an entirely new weakness of man. It is indeed a mystery to me.

It seems beyond the usual decadence that punctuates civlizations in decline.

[hit and run]

From the http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/23108>Comedy Skit backlog...

One Cheney supporter referred to “confusion” and “bewilderment” among conservatives that Bush has not taken the same tack.

“A lot of conservatives would have like to have heard from President Bush on this issue,” the Cheney supporter said. “On such a fundamental issue, when such clear untruths are being told, conservatives have wondered why President Bush has been silent.”

OK, fine...Name...

"One Cheney supporter"

OR...Identify...

"A lot of conservatives"

Or shut up.

Whomever this is, who Mike Allen at Politico is giving top billing (to sew dissention amongst conservatives), is ignorant or collusive.

I'll let Rick give the colorful description of such duplicitous dupes (or collaborators), but, really, Bush hasn't changed one bit from when he took office, and if you're surprised by him now, you're dumber than a box full of Obama-supporters, anonymous or not, you stupid, dumber-than-Obama-supporter dumbasses. Or collaborators. Including you, Mike Allen.

[PeterUK]

"“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor,"

Was that wise? Amazing how these lefties come off sounding like adolescent,all mouth and trousers.Being liberal means never having to talk sense.

[narciso]

Certainly, Flynn, sentiments like that, well there was a Civil War, that occurred because of that attitude I recall vaguely. That 'serene philosopher' David Brooks might even say 'it's like 'a cancer on our party' can't we compromise on such things;
The Whigs have such sensible views. But if you like such extremist rhetoric:

[peter]

Excellent post, Amused, and if you want visual proof of your theory, look at Birdman of the Denver Nuggets.

[PaulL]

Sotomayor's confirmation is not a given. There is plenty of time before the hearings for the public to learn of her positions and get mad about them. Democrats of course want everyone to think it is a done deal but there is no reason for Republicans to accept that. Fight!

[Sue]

look at Birdman of the Denver Nuggets.

Do I have to? Yeah, I guess I do, if I'm going to watch this game. And I am going to watch this game. Cheering for Denver. I am rooting for the underdogs this year. Go Magic. Go Nuggets. Go Mavs...uh, oh well... ::sigh::

[hit and run]

Elliott:
I just hope that he's not so burdened by his duties that he stops hitting the gym. I'm not sure I'm prepared for "Stronger, Vaguer, And Uncut."

Oh, gosh, I gotta make my way to the photoshop labs here at hit and run central...

Because I got ... something. Maybe.

[Amused Bystander]

peter: I'd rather not, but the point is well taken. BTW, I really do not have a "theory" about all this, it is more of a musing.

A rather dark one.

[Amused Bystander]

correction:
the constant demand that one be given a position that one does NOT deserve

[Extraneus]

Byron York: When Democrats derailed a GOP Latino nominee

[Melinda Romanoff]

AM-

I'll simplify it for you.

"ME."

They want "it" for themselves, NOW.

Whatever it is, they want it, like the spoiled children they are.

Now.

"Me."

Oh, and that means NOT you.

"Return To Ripon" (i'm going to start to beat that dead horse.LUN)

[Ralph L]

PUK, the first sentence of SoSo's paragraph is the worst:
"Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging."

[daddy]

Who cares what Sotomayor says? I want to know what she's wearing! And now that all the Ethics Complaint's concerning Sarah">http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2009/05/27/palin-campaign-clothes-complaint-dismissed-little-coverage-old-m">Sarah Palin's clothing have quietly been dismissed, our Mainstream Wardrobe Media will now be free to concentrate on what really matters in National Political figures---their outfits.

Call me a racist, but I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion about what to wear than a white male who hasn't lived that life:)

[PeterUK]

"our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging."

I hope every WASP attorney has that tattooed over his heart.

[Jack is Back!]

Regarding Obama at Five Guys Burger joint and talking to the employee of NGA: And you thought it couldn't get any worse?

[AL]

Sonya Sotomayor does not have kids. As such, her only advantage in experience and living wisdom over “white male” is in treating of psychological brake-downs on shrink’s coach.

Second, her bench decision that EPA should mandate “best available” treatment of waste water over “best economically sound” treatment of waste water. Which means that she is plain stupid.

I would let to real expert on the subject (Obamby) to attribute her stupidity to typical woman, typical Latino, or typical lawyer background.

[matt]

President to NGA guy: "you want fries with that?"

In HK finally where the Chinese don't censor yet. Gotta love a nominee who in her theses somewhat forgets the right to keep and bear arms has been clearly estalished for the past 235 years or so. Tell it to Pat Garrett, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Teddy Roosevelt, and every hunter and target plinker on the great plains and beyond. Damn, this is getting weird.

One has to really love liberals..... Denying clearly held rights enunciated in the Constitution while discovering all sorts of new rights that benever existed before and were never intended by the Founders.

[AL]

“Railroad rates and service had been under federal control since the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, but the Motor Carrier Act of 1935 extended the Interstate Commerce Commission’s regulatory authority to cover trucking and bus lines as well. In 1938 airline routes and fares fell under the control of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, later known as the Civil Aeronautics Board. After the discovery of the East Texas oil field in 1930, the Texas Railroad Commission acquired the effective authority to regulate the nation’s oil production. Starting in 1938, the Federal Power Commission regulated rates for the interstate transmission of natural gas. The Federal Communications Commission, created in 1934, allocated licenses to broadcasters and regulated phone rates.
Beginning with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, prices and production levels on a wide variety of farm products were regulated by a byzantine complex of controls and subsidies. High import tariffs shielded manufacturers from international competition. And in the retail sector, aggressive discounting was countered by state-level “fair trade laws,” which allowed manufacturers to impose minimum resale prices on nonconsenting distributors.
Comprehensive regulation of the financial sector restricted competition in capital markets too. The McFadden Act of 1927 added a federal ban on interstate branch banking to widespread state-level restrictions on intrastate branching. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 erected a wall between commercial and investment banking, effectively brokering a market-sharing agreement protecting commercial and investment banks from each other. Regulation Q, instituted in 1933, prohibited interest payments on demand deposits and set interest rate ceilings for time deposits. Provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 limited competition in underwriting by outlawing pre-offering solicitations and undisclosed discounts. The highly progressive tax structure of the early postwar decades further dampened competition. The top marginal income tax rate shot up from 25 percent to 63 percent under Herbert Hoover in 1932, climbed as high as 94 percent during World War II, and stayed at 91 percent during most of the 1950s and early ’60s. Finally, competition in labor markets was subject to important restraints during the early postwar decades. The triumph of collective bargaining meant the active suppression of wage competition in a variety of industries. In the interest of boosting wages, unions sometimes worked to restrict competition in their industries’ product markets as well. Garment unions connived with trade associations to set prices and allocate production among clothing makers. Coal miner unions attempted to regulate production by dictating how many days a week mines could be open.”

http://www.reason.com/news/show/133222.html

You guys survived this onslaught on economical freedom in 1930s. You will survive the current one.

[jimmyk]

I'm willing to cut someone a little slack on something she wrote in college (I'm sure I wrote some things I wouldn't want to stand by today). So the question is whether she has recanted that view of the 2nd Amendment or not. But something she said in 2001 at age 47 is another story.

The Republicans need to jump on this opportunity to have a public debate on legal philosophy. The more the differences between approaches are exposed to light, the more ridiculous the Sotomayor approach will appear, provided the Republicans have some articulate questioners in the Senate. I don't care so much if she's confirmed or not, because whoever would be nominated instead if she were rejected would likely be just as bad or worse.

I'm also wondering if there's a way to horse trade on the confirmation, so the Repubs can at least get something in return by letting it out of committee.

[narciso]

I hope so, but fifty years of 'progressive' education, hadn't dulled the senses, I've seen a small part of that system from the inside, and the attitudes it produces. It even causes the loss of discernment, even between gradations of progressivism. I was caught by Hannity replaying some speeches by FDR, and comparing them with the supposed
successor, Obama and there is no comparison.
Curiously enough, there are analogues to this fellow's speech patterns, as folks in Little Havana, Sweetwater and Doral, can attest.

Flynn, I agree that even Orwell would marvel
at the doublespeak, all directed at nothing less than pure adoration of the One and his
Beloved, People Magazine, was bad enough, but Maxim, as I've pointed out the omissions
required are to jarring to consider their judgement on anything else seriously. Meanwhile reality plainly intrudes on the court jesters and courtiers:

[Ignatz]

--You guys survived this onslaught on economical freedom in 1930s. You will survive the current one.--

I hope so AL, but the former does not necessarily imply the latter. A lot of people survive their first heart attack but not their second, because their body is weakened and compromised by the first attack.

[sbw]

Helen Thomas is a relic... in more ways than one.

[Old Lurker]

"You guys survived this onslaught on economical freedom in 1930s. You will survive the current one."

Al, that was a great post, thanks.

Unfortunately I do not share your optimism.

Those 30's onslaughts were swamped by the returning soldiers after WWII who launched into building their wealth and prosperities, and always with the reality of a very mean world in their personal experience. Talk about context! Unfortunately, they coddled my own Me-Me generation, protecting us from the consequences of our decisons, and acquiesed in the rewriting their own history and that of their forefathers via the demise of the educational system. In truth, that Greatest Generation also got greedy themselves in supporting the dual Ponzi Schemes of Social Security and MediCare, opening the door for transferring current costs onto future generations.

More than 50% of our voters now pay almost no income taxes. Soon the next layer up will forsake our old system because they will want the goodies about to be bestowed via national health care and free college and the promise of a secure retirement without having to save or pay. All of the political control at most layers is willing to feed those wants. There is not much chance of somehow re-educating overnight the Me-Me generation or their spawn to tip the voting power back toward common sense based on an understanding of exactly how wealth is created and standards of living for all are improved. DoT noted yesterday that the polls seem to reward every move toward Euro-Socialism that is trotted out, so who's to stop it all? We are going to nip around the ankles some, but this train is headed off a cliff.

[Original MikeS]

...even Orwell would marvel at the doublespeak.

A whole new level of doublespeak. Obama has learned that he only has to out smart the media. Then the media will take it upon themselves to mislead the public.

So when some renegade journalist hints at seeming contradictions in Obama's proposals he responds, "Uh. Well of course, because it is a paradox. What do those greedy, dumb ass Republicans think a paradox is anyway? If it made sense it wouldn't be a paradox would it? Besides these kinds of deficits are unsustainable."

The press walks away mumbling, "Dumb ass Republicans don't understand the meaning of the word..."

[hit and run]

They told me that if Barack H. Obama were elected president, extremists in the right-wing of the Republican party would demand that he resign. http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x124603932/Ted-Rall-It-s-increasingly-evident-that-Obama-should-resign>And they were wrong!

We expected broken promises. But the gap between the soaring expectations that accompanied Barack Obama’s inauguration and his wretched performance is the broadest such chasm in recent historical memory. This guy makes Bill Clinton look like a paragon of integrity and follow-through.

From health care to torture to the economy to war, Obama has reneged on pledges real and implied. So timid and so owned is he that he trembles in fear of offending, of all things, the government of Turkey. Obama has officially reneged on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. When a president doesn’t have the nerve to annoy the Turks, why does he bother to show up for work in the morning?

Obama is useless. Worse than that, he’s dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now — before he drags us further into the abyss.

That is, unless the VRWC now includes Ted Rall.

[Dorothy Jane]

Vaguely Hopeful has a nice ring

[centralcal]

Hit, you left out my favorite . . .

"Obama is cute. He is charming. But there is something rotten inside him. Unlike the Republicans who backed George W. Bush, I won’t follow a terrible leader just because I voted for him. Obama has revealed himself. He is a monster, and he should remove himself from power."

[centralcal]

Okay techies, I need some help.

My Firefox html formatting toolbar disappeared this morning. How do I get it back?

[jimmyk]

The remarkable thing about that NGA burger joint incident is that Obama didn't even have the sense to fake it. He could have responded with "I have a lot of respect for the work you people do at the NGA. What is your area of expertise?"

He's so clueless that he doesn't even realize how clueless he is, and isn't embarrassed about it.

[Original MikeS]

centralcal,

right button click any empty area just below the blue bar at the top of the page. A drop down menu will appear. click on navagation toolbar.

[hit and run]

jimmyk:
He's so clueless that he doesn't even realize how clueless he is, and isn't embarrassed about it.

Well, TOTUS is the only member of the administration with either the brains or the balls to explain it to him. But I think TOTUS likes him clueless and unembarrassed. Makes it easier to pull the strings.

[centralcal]

Thanks, MikeS but it is already checked. I think I need to reinstall the toolbar that lets me format comments in html. Can't remember how to get it or what it is called.

[Original MikeS]

navagation
I meant to say appropriate toolbar.

[Original MikeS]

I use Xinha for that.

[DrJ]

CC,

Also check Tools -> Addons from FF to see if it is listed. If it is, you may simply have to re-enable it.

It is called "Text Formatting Toolbar"; a search will find it.

[centralcal]

Thanks guys - I googled and found it and had to re-install it.

Recently had some computer issues and restored my system, apparently to a date when I didn't have the firefox test toolbar yet installed.

[centralcal]

oops test = text.

[Amused Bystander]

Matt: That cognitive dissonance is part of what I was referring to in my long post up thread. Every articulated thought of the left is bound up in this contradictory "double-think". Pro-choice vs. Anti-war (kills the innocent, we are told). Freedom vs gun-grabbing, Freedom of speech vs the Fairness Doctrine, The right to protest vs. the suppression of Religion.

It never ends. Nothing capture this better or with greater irony than the new moniker that they hide behind: "Progressives".

All of this defies all notions of reasonable and honorable behavior in our civilization.
They manage what one would think to be an impossible feat: They are both immoral and insane at the same time.

There is a real sickness here. Something is profoundly broken, perhaps beyond repair.

I think it goes beyond deceptions, rationalizations or delusions.

There is some fundamental detachment from being itself, and it is a willful and knowing detachment. And it is widespread.

We will see just how deep seated this condition is in the electorate soon enough.

The just Left of Center: Will they see where their beliefs--read sentimentality and fashion sense--actually leads? Will they care?

It all comes down to the character of the American people, as I keep asserting.

Old Lurker is on the money. Unless there is a broad based pull back from this abyss, returning to the America that we have held dear will most likely never happen.

It is difficult to be optimistic.

Who would have thought that America was so week that it could be done in by the likes of Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Soros? Much must have rotted ere they ever walked on the stage.

A Civilization can not long withstand this sort of mass flight from sanity, morality and reality.

[PD]

One has to really love liberals..... Denying clearly held rights enunciated in the Constitution while discovering all sorts of new rights that benever existed before and were never intended by the Founders.

Hence, "living document."

As in, "whatever we'd like it to say. Today. Tomorrow, who knows?"

[Amused Bystander]

jimmyk: It is not cluelessness, it is narcissism. He really does not imagine that it matters that he does not know about it, for if it was really important he would already know about it. In any event he will master it over night and correct it, and it surely must need correction because has existed heretofore without his knowledge or consent.

He so far gone as a narcissist that he sees no reason to "cover for it".

Goodness, he just got up there and said his SCOTUS nominee "misspoke", as if we did not perfectly well understand the import of what she most unambiguously and unequivocally said, and said so multiple times. We are to believe that this coddled mediocrity has had some sort of "extraordinary" struggle when in reality she just was just hustled through the Affirmative Action racket. She has in fact never been held to any reasonable standard at all in her life. She is an embarrassment as is Obama himself.

Obama has not the slightest belief that there is a world out there that exists independently of him or for any other reason than a source of self-aggrandizement and narcissistic supply.

Really, one sees this sort of thing in the business world when an incompetent and narcissistic CEO, whose appointment was based on politics or deception or a lazy BoD, is place over competent people. It is the exact same drill: Disregard for his ignorance, a condescension and contempt towards the competent, the comic delusion that all subordinates require from him is transparently insincere and flaccid cheer-leading, and, above all, the notion that he can just wing his way through it all without knowledge, study, competence or humility, not to mention the wisdom and good will of others.

He has contempt for each and every one of us, and that includes his paymasters, acolytes and minions.

[PD]

The weird thing about that Ted Rall column is that some of it actually makes sense.

[peter]

You guys survived this onslaught on economical freedom in 1930s. You will survive the current one.

Those assaults on the Constitutional separation of powers and federalism doctrines were sleeper cells; they have taken 75 years to rise up and kill our democracy.

[peter]

I am not getting the reference to the Five Guys Burgers and NGA.. What is NGA?

And, re: Ted Rall, Ted is one of only three people who has publicly stated that he remembers Obama from his time at Columbia. Perhaps, if Ted gets angry enough, he can tell us what Obama was really doing there, and when he first met Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn.

[PD]

And, re: Ted Rall, Ted is one of only three people who has publicly stated that he remembers Obama from his time at Columbia.

An oddly small number, given how personable and likable "everyone" says he is, and how strong an impression he makes on people.

[Gmax]

Really Ted Rall is now less than enthralled? Wait till he finds out the Latina justice overturns Roe v Wade!

I am thinking that Obama is in a fine mess. He cant be radical enough for about 40% of his party, and any move to the left to placate them loses the vital center who are the real reason he got elected.

This guy may make single digits by pissing off everyone before he hits the two year mark.

[JM Hanes]

centralcal:

"Unlike the Republicans who backed George W. Bush, I won’t follow a terrible leader just because I voted for him."

Now there's something that folks who take field trips to liberal blogs, or engage with trolls should keep in their kits! It's the perfect slam: Blind loyalty, just like a Bush Republican! Ouch.

[Jane]

GMax,

There is a group of people who love Obama simply because they hate Bush, and thus hate republicans. It makes no difference what he does.

Yup. Blind loyalty.

[Gmax]

How does a raving lunatic moron like Rall reconcile the fact that there were quite a few Republican who were not happy with George Bush on any number of subjects, front and center on the profligacy of spending ( which looks downright parsimonious at the moment ). How does he think the approval ratings dropped that low given 52% reelected him?

These morons dont even do disrespect with logic...

[JM Hanes]

Amused Bystander:

"The just Left of Center: Will they see where their beliefs--read sentimentality and fashion sense--actually leads? Will they care?"

Don't know about left of center, but IIRC, Independent disenchantment is growing in a pretty encouraging way.

"Unless there is a broad based pull back from this abyss, returning to the America that we have held dear will most likely never happen."

I don't think looking back with longing, no matter how golden the past might appear, is ever very productive. I once overheard a theatre professor commenting that a consistent 90% of the student scripts he reads are melancholic meditations on loss. When does what we have lost ever come back to us in the same form? We will never return to where we were, when time relentlessly moves us forward, and there has never been a time without its own abyss. It is not for others to pull back, but for us to build new bridges with newly fashioned tools.

"It is difficult to be optimistic."

While it is difficult to believe how quickly things can seem to change, it is even more difficult for me to believe how quickly people can surrender to pessimism about the character of Americans and our nation when Obama has been President a mere four months. If that's all it takes, than we are only harking back to a comforting illusion of past strength. If anything is sure, it is that more change will come and that it is optimists with the conviction that change for the better is possible who will do the work that makes the difference. Our tasks are certainly not more daunting than those the Founders faced. Pessimism is just another form of complacency. Cynicism is seductive; it is idealism which does not come easy.

[Captain Hate]

Rall is the stopped clock which is accurate twice a day. Having somebody as unstable as he is as part of your base should be extremely unsettling to Bammers (not that he is smart enough to know that) because when his disenchantment hits critical mass, he won't abide by the "marcus of Queensbury" when he starts venting.

[daddy]

Matt,

About 2 months back I linked to an idiotic Ted Rall OP-ED Column that was being published in a newspaper slid under my hotel door in China. Can't recall if it was the International Herald Tribune (a NYTimes/WaPo production), or the China Daily. Can't locate it now, but I linked it to show that this was an example of the horrible quality Opinion Pieces that were being fed to the locals and any International travelers that read English...simply the equivalent print-wise of the daily mental poison that the BBC and CNN Internationally pump out to folks trapped in Hotels around the globe.

My guess is that Rall's new column will not make it into the IHT or China Daily since it doesn't fit the template, but Matt if you are still hanging out over there, please keep your eyes open for an update. And if you wish to unload some snark about CNN International, please feel free, as I don't always want to be the only guy pounding that dead horse.

[jimmyk]

I am not getting the reference to the Five Guys Burgers and NGA.. What is NGA?

This article was linked by an earlier poster.

[centralcal]

oh, hey, JMH, why stop there . . .?

I like "rotten inside" and "terrible leader" and "monster." Heck, I like 'em all. I can't wait to tell a troll, "Well, Ted Rall says . . .!

[peter]

I am not getting the reference to the Five Guys Burgers and NGA.. What is NGA?

This article was linked by an earlier poster.

thanks. Imagine if W had had a similar conversation, how the MSM would howl about how stupid he is.