Presidential Politics

Interesting fact about Obamacare that I knew about but forgot about;

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/12/02/the-bomb-buried-in-obamacare-explodes-today-halleluja/

Ron Paul is very pro-States' rights, to the exclusion of things which need to be regulated at the Federal level, like civil rights, freedom from religion, reproductive rights, and things which have no borders, like environmental laws and interstate trade.

I'm a big believer in local law being the most applicable to a person, but the last thing we need is a pastiche of laws that are different depending on what side of a state border you're on.

Religion is the single biggest reason to think Paul is too far in the whackadoo category for me to vote for him. He would purport to allow states to decide moral issues using religious basis. That would put us squarely in the position that many middle-eastern countries are in, and very much like the Israel v. Palestine conflict, writ large. The media may call it "sectarian violence," but that's just a, pablumized, inoffensive way of saying that different religions are ruling differently in close proximity.

Subscribe to Ron Paul 2012 podcast. They put out lots of audio a day. Hours sometimes. I get them every day. Though I can't keep up with hours a day. But a couple day's worth of listening and one can get a good insight into his stances. Plus, all the audio for all the Republican debates, too.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ron-paul-2012/id451346826?mt=8

So, Huntsman has decided he needs the Republican party more than the party has decided it needs him: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/12/huntsman_flips_on_climate_change.php

(Leaving human-readable URL intentionally... .)

ddt

No room for moderates in that crowd.

When the hell did Donald Trump become the kingmaker in the Republican Party?

Not endorsing the guy, but cheers to this decision and action (reports are that the convos were civil): https://twitter.com/#!/ryanjreilly/status/144571504850518016

ddt

Today in Dishonest Fox News.

What's interesting is that they are getting away with it. With America going absolutely bananas when a square centimeter of a nipple is being shown on TV, it's quite amazing that Fox is able to transmit Republican fantasies as 'fact' without the FCC coming down on them, hard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2011 12:15PM by tliet.

This is rather distasteful, if true. Not the reporting, the actions.

ddt

dpbd: I think Johnny K got more votes and raised more money this month than Huntsman.

And who are the 28 people who voted for Cain? Protest voters? Could we round them up, maybe in a large bathroom stall, and get some answers?

ddt

Santorum, who looks like my cousin, wins my vote for Pitbull Rummy's
double-speak or no-speak (?) of the year.
A reminder of his eloquence, which I could ACTUALLY FOLLOW and understand

Quote

as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."

But, Santorum - blew me away.... just reading the quote does not do it justice. The audio (alone, no video to hypMOtize you) is wacky stuff.

It's on No Agenda Show 371 - at the 40 minute mark.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/no-agenda/id269169796
itunes link http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/no-agenda/id269169796#

transcript page (have to click show more)
http://on.msnbc.com/xybDsA

Quote

But we did a direction of limited government, maybe less than what we wanted to. But we weren't going in the direction of more government, and getting less of more. That's where Republicans have been in error for so many years, and that is compromising on just a little less big government, instead of saying no. No more compromises on less big government. We'll compromise on less, less government, but not going the other way.

[me dizzy!]

Well, these people have been up for, like, ever, non-stop. That said, Santorum is an idiot, so there's that.

ddt

http://spreadingsantorum.com/

Number 2 on Google - fitting really...

Ugh, Hunstman goes full french-kiss for the "Ryan plan". Dude is trying to lose the last shreds of respect I have for him.

ddt

God, talk about the race to the bottom.

Newt Gingrich, fluent in french himself, attacks Romney for speaking french.

WTF? Where the hell did this anti-intellectualism spring up from?

How the hell did we get to the point where a lack of education was seen as a virtue in a candidate?

Anti-intellectualism has deep historic roots in this country. Just one of many examples: how many countries have had a significant political movement called Know Nothing? (Although, admittedly, Know Nothingism was principally a nativist movement rather than a general anti-intellectual movement). Agreed that it seems particularly egregious and frustrating (and its promoters hypocritical) now.

ddt

God what a sorry bunch of angry idiots the Republicans are. Sadder still that they might get any votes when the election rolls around. Is there a real team of qualified candidates they are hiding somewhere?

Bruce, it seems the sad little secret of the modern Republican party is that they have no interest in governing. In fact, _they want the idea of government to fail_. (Cf. "drown it in a bathtub".)

Of course, they want all the benefits they get from a fully functioning government -- favorable tax status, enforcement of laws and contracts, roads, etc. -- but it's a strange blind spot to all this.

ddt