US Politics Thread |OT| THE DARKEST TIMELINE

[benjipwns]

[Joe Molotov]

No one expected the Inquisition at the prayer breakfast.

[benjipwns]

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/vox-interview-barack-obama-115033.html

But that’s not what bothers me about the Vox interview. Here, for me, is the real rub:

In the example of Klein and Yglesias, they’re less interested in interviewing Obama than they are in explaining his policies. Again and again, they serve him softball—no, make that Nerf ball—questions and then insert infographics and footnotes that help advance White House positions. Vox has lavished such spectacular production values on the video version of the Obama interview—swirling graphics and illustrations, background music (background music!?), aggressive editing, multiple camera angles—that the clips end up looking and sounding like extended commercials for the Obama-in-2016 campaign. I’ve seen subtler Scientology recruitment films.

Explainer journalism, as practiced by Klein, purports to break down complex policy issues into laymen-friendly packages that are issued from the realm of pure reason. But as Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry succinctly put it last summer in The Week, “Vox is really partisan commentary in question-and-answer disguise” that “often looks more like a right-wing caricature of what a partisan media outlet dressed up as an explainer site would look like.”

As a sometime partisan commenter, I venerate partisan commentary because it can cut through the protective Styrofoam cladding politicians love to wrap their messages in. But if you’re going to be partisan about your journalism, if you’re going to give the president an easy ride, you’ve got to be clean about it! You can’t pretend, as Klein did when he founded Vox, that you’re taking a neutral approach to news and that all you’re doing is making the news “vegetables” more palatable by roasting them to “perfection with a drizzle of olive oil and hint of sea salt.” Klein and Yglesias are like two Roman curia cardinals who want us to believe their exclusive interview with the pope is on the level.

[Joe Molotov]

they mad

[Brehvolution]

"The House has done its job," Boehner said at a press conference after he met with House Republican members. "Why don't you go ask the Senate Democrats when they're going to get off their ass and do something other than to vote no?"

House Republicans were critical of the Senate attempting to pass the buck back to them. Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) told reporters that it is "ridiculous" Senate Democrats won't move to debate on the House's bill.

"I say to them work 24 hours a day until the February deadline and see if you can't convince the Democrats to actually be patriots and not obstructionists," Carter said after the House members' weekly meeting. "We've done our job."

[Great Rumbler]

[Phoenix Dark]

does anyone honestly think they're going to let the DHS spending lapse? Come on. This is all a game for the House.

[Kara]

Can we just go full stupid and run the federal government by liberum veto? Think how much money American businesses will save by only having to bribe solitary politicians instead of the multitudes of hacks they have to pay off now. A modest proposal to reinvigorate our ailing economy, thank you.

[benjipwns]

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/mainstream-journalists-are-scared-of-scott-walker

Not all Democratic National Committee flacks disguised as reporters/pundits are as transparent as Michael Tomasky, who collects paychecks from The Daily Beast. Instead of dismissing the large field of potential Republican presidential candidates as “astonishingly weak” as Tomasky does in a Feb. 2 article headlined “GOP: Still the Party of Stupid,” others ask if a certain candidate (invariably described as “flavor of the month”) is “peaking too soon” in the very, very early polls.

There’s little question that most of the media will, after kicking her around some, favor Hillary Clinton in the primaries and, assuming she wins the nomination, the general election. But there’s a lot of time to kill before the 2016 campaign kicks into high gear, so while Clinton assembles 200 “fiscal experts” to help her formulate a credible stance on income inequality (doesn’t anyone remember that Hillary’s plethora of other experts bogged down and doomed her healthcare initiative during Bill’s first term?), the media focuses mostly on Jeb Bush, drooling at the prospect of two political “dynasties” facing off. It’s said that the GOP “establishment” (also described as the “adults”) prefers a fairly well-known candidate like the former Florida governor, and maybe that’s true, but the media’s had just as big a hand in plumping for his candidacy. Business as usual, although the attention given to the bombastic Gov. Chris Christie, a ticking time-bomb of gaffes and skeletons, is more puzzling. Laziness, I guess, and reams of colorful material and fat jokes.

...

I think the reason why Tomasky—soon to be followed by less blatantly biased journalists—is bashing Walker as if he’s a joke candidate like Donald Trump, Al Sharpton or Herman Cain, is because if the Governor prevails in the primaries he has a real shot of winning. (Unlike Romney, whose ham-handed campaign, save for that Denver debate, was a debacle start to finish.”) Conservative activists are nervous that Walker’s going soft on immigration (and Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texan demagogue, will have a ball with that), but are still impressed by his three victories in four years (one a re-call) in the blue-leaning Wisconsin.

Yet Walker’s biggest attribute, which is barely acknowledged by the media in a campaign environment that’s income inequality non-stop, is that he’s a middle-class pol who hasn’t enriched himself by exorbitant speaking fees or board directorships. Think of multimillionaire Hillary Clinton (and the high-rolling Wall Street/Hollywood donors in her corner) trying to explain how she’s one of the “regular folks” who, borrowing from her husband, “feels their pain.” Walker isn’t charismatic (nor is Hillary), but that might not matter in this post-Obama cycle. Walker’s a union-buster, which is a popular stance in most of the country—and it’s not as if any Republican will attract union voters anyway. Walker, like all the GOP candidates, is anti-Obamacare, which also won’t hurt him.

[benjipwns]

still the greatest after all these years

[Am_I_Anonymous]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=990536


 

[Dickie Dee]

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/mainstream-journalists-are-scared-of-scott-walker

Not all Democratic National Committee flacks disguised as reporters/pundits are as transparent as Michael Tomasky, who collects paychecks from The Daily Beast. Instead of dismissing the large field of potential Republican presidential candidates as “astonishingly weak” as Tomasky does in a Feb. 2 article headlined “GOP: Still the Party of Stupid,” others ask if a certain candidate (invariably described as “flavor of the month”) is “peaking too soon” in the very, very early polls.

There’s little question that most of the media will, after kicking her around some, favor Hillary Clinton in the primaries and, assuming she wins the nomination, the general election. But there’s a lot of time to kill before the 2016 campaign kicks into high gear, so while Clinton assembles 200 “fiscal experts” to help her formulate a credible stance on income inequality (doesn’t anyone remember that Hillary’s plethora of other experts bogged down and doomed her healthcare initiative during Bill’s first term?), the media focuses mostly on Jeb Bush, drooling at the prospect of two political “dynasties” facing off. It’s said that the GOP “establishment” (also described as the “adults”) prefers a fairly well-known candidate like the former Florida governor, and maybe that’s true, but the media’s had just as big a hand in plumping for his candidacy. Business as usual, although the attention given to the bombastic Gov. Chris Christie, a ticking time-bomb of gaffes and skeletons, is more puzzling. Laziness, I guess, and reams of colorful material and fat jokes.

...

I think the reason why Tomasky—soon to be followed by less blatantly biased journalists—is bashing Walker as if he’s a joke candidate like Donald Trump, Al Sharpton or Herman Cain, is because if the Governor prevails in the primaries he has a real shot of winning. (Unlike Romney, whose ham-handed campaign, save for that Denver debate, was a debacle start to finish.”) Conservative activists are nervous that Walker’s going soft on immigration (and Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texan demagogue, will have a ball with that), but are still impressed by his three victories in four years (one a re-call) in the blue-leaning Wisconsin.

Yet Walker’s biggest attribute, which is barely acknowledged by the media in a campaign environment that’s income inequality non-stop, is that he’s a middle-class pol who hasn’t enriched himself by exorbitant speaking fees or board directorships. Think of multimillionaire Hillary Clinton (and the high-rolling Wall Street/Hollywood donors in her corner) trying to explain how she’s one of the “regular folks” who, borrowing from her husband, “feels their pain.” Walker isn’t charismatic (nor is Hillary), but that might not matter in this post-Obama cycle. Walker’s a union-buster, which is a popular stance in most of the country—and it’s not as if any Republican will attract union voters anyway. Walker, like all the GOP candidates, is anti-Obamacare, which also won’t hurt him.

This is one of my pet-peeves in horserace-type articles. People don't "peak too soon" they just get their turn for a moment of attention and are found lacking, then people move on.

[Great Rumbler]

This is one of my pet-peeves in horserace-type articles. People don't "peak too soon" they just get their turn for a moment of attention and are found lacking, then people move on.

See also: Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, ect.

[Trent Dole]

Still think it's weird that the last man standing for the GOP in '12 was freakin' Mitt Romney. Look back at the '08 debates for party nomination and EVERYONE on stage was taking shots at him every chance they got!

[Kara]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=990536


 

I wanted to believe number one meant she was an anti-revisionist M-L.

A left liberal decrying nonspecific revisionist history just screams "I never read Howard Zinn."

[Dickie Dee]

Just came across this and wondering if you've heard it before Kara? It's a quote from Fifty Shade of Grey:

“I feel the color in my cheeks rising again. I must be the color of The Communist Manifesto.”

I nearly did a real life spit take when I saw it.

[Great Rumbler]

Fifty Shades of Red

[Kara]

Just came across this and wondering if you've heard it before Kara? It's a quote from Fifty Shade of Grey:

“I feel the color in my cheeks rising again. I must be the color of The Communist Manifesto.”

I nearly did a real life spit take when I saw it.

I hadn't heard about this, so in the spirit of equivalent exchange please enjoy this.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

My last relationship irl.

[close]

[Dickie Dee]

so much to unpack from that, don't know where to start 

[Great Rumbler]

[Joe Molotov]

mah waifu

[Great Rumbler]

fossil fuel-chan

[benjipwns]

Conservative Comedian Evan Sayet starts at 7:30.

Founder of "The Right To Laugh - a night of Conservative Comedy!"

His first CD is called "Funny, you don't look conservative."

 

[benjipwns]

The Lexington Dispatch has issued a correction:

[Brehvolution]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/world/cia-is-said-to-have-bought-and-destroyed-iraqi-chemical-weapons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Iraq war now justified for the price of 400 "rockets" even though some were empty.

[Joe Molotov]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/world/cia-is-said-to-have-bought-and-destroyed-iraqi-chemical-weapons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Iraq war now justified for the price of 400 "rockets" even though some were empty.

Did we get back the PS2's Saddam was gonna use to launch them?

[Brehvolution]

Yes because they switched over to PS3 development once early dev kits were out. What became widely known as the difficulty to program for the Cell™ is what ultimately led Saddam to losing the war. 'Thanks Kutaragi' was an Iraqi meme back then.

[benjipwns]

Little known fact, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party was lead developer on The Last Guardian.

[benjipwns]

City-Journal is a conservative leaning magazine, but they occasionally have some good long form pieces on oft-ignored topics, if you can get past the usual lines like "job-killing Obamacare" and so on. I thought this one on union tensions was pretty interesting.

http://www.city-journal.org/2015/25_1_labor-divide.html

Over the past few years, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has enraged public-sector unions by closing failing public schools and calling for pension reform. The head of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, went so far as to offer a local labor official $1 million in union campaign support to take on Emanuel, up for reelection in February. But private unions have a different view of the mayor. Building-trades groups like the Construction and General Laborers’ District Council have benefited from his infrastructure spending and have donated heavily to his reelection, while the hotel workers’ union, Unite Here, has openly endorsed him for boosting Chicago tourism. “There’s a lot of support I have from working men and women,” Emanuel retorted last year when asked about the public-sector-union opposition to his mayoralty.

Chicago’s labor rift isn’t unique. The goals of public and private unions are diverging. Government employees, determined to hold on to their pay and benefits, are fighting to defeat political leaders and candidates advocating fiscal reforms, such as limits on tax increases. Private unions, by contrast, see the nation’s sluggish economic growth as a threat to their members and are increasingly encouraging politicians to focus on private-sector job creation.

...

These disputes have roiled Democratic primaries and even pushed some labor groups into the arms of Republican candidates. The face-off among labor groups could have significant long-term consequences if it becomes a struggle for the future of the Democratic Party—and judging by the battles among labor groups in last year’s elections, that struggle may be under way.

Today’s labor divide is actually a new twist on older conflicts. Decades ago, when public-sector workers first began to push for the right to organize, many private labor leaders were skeptical that collective bargaining could work in government employment; government officials tended to agree. Unionized public workers, they felt, could easily hold the public hostage. One consequence of that widespread attitude was the exclusion of public employees from many early federal labor laws, including the 1935 Wagner Act, which gives private workers the right to organize and bargain collectively. In an oft-quoted 1937 letter, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt explained to an angry Luther Steward, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, that, while it was acceptable for federal workers to organize into associations or trade groups to represent their interests, “All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.”

By the late 1950s, however, AFL-CIO boss George Meany and some other prominent labor leaders had reversed course. Giving government workers the right to bargain collectively, they now contended, would strengthen labor’s clout. Labor promoted—and swiftly achieved—collective bargaining for government workers in states and municipalities across the country. But that success soon proved a double-edged sword. Meany had worked hard to convince the American public that organized labor had no interest in big government, since an expanded state wouldn’t help unionized workers, who had traditionally worked in the private sector. Now he had a faction within the labor movement that did benefit from big government—and that lobbied continuously for it.

A struggling economy and blown-out state and local budgets, burdened with heavy government-worker costs, have brought to the surface the old enmity between private and public unions. Nowhere has this been more visible than in New Jersey. In 2006, as a budget crisis rocked the state, Democratic state senator Stephen Sweeney, an ironworkers’-union official, declared that public employees should take a 15 percent pay cut to prevent looming tax hikes. “My guys haven’t gotten a raise in two years because their entire raise went to their health and pension costs,” Sweeney complained. “New Jersey has a government that we can’t afford any longer.” A union war of words ensued, with one public-sector labor leader likening Sweeney to a “right-wing Republican.”

Tensions simmered for years, in part because then-governor Jon Corzine, also a Democrat, refused to ask government workers for significant concessions, even as New Jersey taxes soared. In 2011, Sweeney and other Democratic state legislators who also were private-union officials voted for a bill, promoted by new Republican governor Chris Christie, that scaled back government-employee benefits. Later that year, the state’s AFL-CIO refused to endorse the private-union officials for reelection. Representatives of building-trades unions stalked out of the AFL-CIO endorsement meeting in protest.

The controversy reverberated in New Jersey’s 2013 gubernatorial race. Some two dozen private unions endorsed Christie for reelection, shunning his Democratic opponent, State Senator Barbara Buono; public-sector unions aggressively opposed Christie. Private-union leaders liked the way Christie had restrained tax increases and restarted job growth. In its endorsement of the governor, one New Jersey local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers noted that, between 2001 and 2009, the number of hours its members worked had declined more than 50 percent, to 3 million—but during Christie’s tenure had rebounded by about 1.5 million annual hours. “Our men love him,” the local’s business manager, Patrick Delle Cava, said. A CNN exit poll on the election, which Christie won with 60 percent of the vote, showed that he did well among voters in union households, capturing 46 percent of their ballots.

In a sign of battles to come, trade-union groups at the 2013 meeting called for AFL-CIO member unions to engage in more bipartisan political action and to seek “greater political independence.” The trades have become especially restive over public-sector unions’ monolithic support for Democratic candidates. In the 2014 election cycle, the American Federation of Teachers gave $1.7 million to 202 Democratic congressional candidates and $5,000 to one Republican. AFSCME contributed nearly $1.5 million to 195 House Democratic candidates and to 26 Senate Democratic contenders, as well as $6,000 to three Republicans. The American Federation of Government Employees contributed $525,000 to 178 Democrats and $41,750 to 19 Republicans. These figures are part of a long-running pattern. Since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the AFT has given $34.5 million to Democrats and $308,250 to Republicans. AFSCME contributed $51.4 million to Democrats and $643,655 to Republicans over those years, while AFGE spent $7.8 million on Democrats and $390,552 on Republicans.

By contrast, in 2014 congressional races, the Carpenters and Joiners Union, which led the charge within the AFL-CIO for a more bipartisan approach, contributed $418,000 to 46 GOP candidates and more than $1 million to 150 Democrats. The Operating Engineers Union contributed $1.4 million to 213 Democratic congressional candidates and $425,000 to 51 Republicans. Other blue-collar unions are following suit. The New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council, a labor umbrella group, touted its endorsement of four 2014 GOP congressional candidates as part of a “commitment to a broad, bipartisan approach to solving our nation’s economic problems.”

Capitalists dividing the workers to keep them exploited and oppressed, etc. etc.

[Kara]

The labor aristocracy eating itself.

Trade unionism fracturing along industry.

[Madrun Badrun]

US 'war on those perverting Islam'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31523213

Obviously you guys are running out of war on names.  Pretty soon you'll be in start-up silly name territory and start adding an camel case 'i' prefex and 'er' suffex to everything.   

[Great Rumbler]

I'm so tired of all these wars, man. I'm starting a War on Wars!

[Kara]

I'm so tired of all these wars, man. I'm starting a War on Wars!

[Great Rumbler]

Joe's getting a bit cosby, there.

[benjipwns]

[Phoenix Dark]

yea....

[Brehvolution]

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/19/great-sim-heist/

[Brehvolution]

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/wayne-barrett-rudy-giuliani-love-article-1.2122253

 

[Great Rumbler]

GIULIANI: You know, President Obama didn't live through September 11 -- I did.  President Obama didn't almost have a building fall on him -- myself and my police commissioner and my fire commissioner did. And, I lost ten of my very close friends.

[Joe Molotov]

[Dickie Dee]

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/wayne-barrett-rudy-giuliani-love-article-1.2122253

 

[Great Rumbler]

Obamao OWNED

[Human Snorenado]

AiA, is this your kid?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cj-pearson-defends-giuliani-obama

[benjipwns]

James O'Keefe: 'I Am Afraid For My Life On This One'

Conservative journalist filmmaker James O’Keefe on Saturday tweeted an ominous message to those who follow him and his influential work.

“We have a story we’re going to release this coming week and I've never thought about this before but I am afraid for my life on this one,” O'Keefe announced Saturday afternoon.

We have a story we’re going to release this coming week and I've never thought about this before but I am afraid for my life on this one.

— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) February 21, 2015

What the story is one can only speculate, but for this one to be particularly risky in O'Keefe's estimation is saying something. O’Keefe's work includes single-handedly taking down ACORN, easily crossing the U.S./Mexican border dressed as Osama bin Laden, exposing Allison Lundegren Grimes' fraudulent coal beliefs, exposing Democratic voter fraud, and catching Wendy Davis supporters mocking a wheel chair bound Greg Abbott for being paralyzed.

[Great Rumbler]

easily crossing the U.S./Mexican border dressed as Osama bin Laden

[Joe Molotov]

Apparently, his latest death-defying stunt is getting black people to say Al Sharpton only cares about money.

http://nypost.com/2015/02/24/eric-garners-daughter-on-al-sharpton-hes-all-about-the-money/

[Phoenix Dark]

#NoNetNeutrality might be the greatest hashtag on twitter. holy shit

[benjipwns]

Garden variety Leftists

[Brehvolution]

Net neutrality prevails
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/26/net-neutrality-fcc-vote_n_6761702.html

The FCC's two Republican commissioners attacked the vote. Commissioner Ajit Pai called the decision an "about-face" and stoked conservative fears by claiming, "We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason only: President Obama told us to do so."

Those gathered in one FCC viewing room gasped and burst into laughter upon hearing Pai's remark.

Republicans have launched investigations into whether the White House unfairly influenced the FCC's decision, and are expected to pursue legislation, already introduced, that would gut the FCC's new authority. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has said he plans to hold off-the-record meetings with stakeholders in early March in an attempt to drum up support from Democrats for his bill.

"Popular victories like today's are so unusual that three Congressional committees are investigating how this happened," said David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress, a group that supports net neutrality. He added in a statement, "If the net neutrality effort had followed the usual playbook, if Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T had defeated the American people, nobody would be wondering why."

[Phoenix Dark]

Thanks Obama.

[Joe Molotov]

"We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason only: President Obama told us to do so."

Obama

[Great Rumbler]

Republicans have launched investigations into whether the White House unfairly influenced the FCC's decision

Investigate whether Obama influenced a guy that he hired to run an executive branch agency.

[Steve Contra]

Why do you read the WSJ opinion pages?  WHY?

[Phoenix Dark]

starting to think Walrus has stock in blood pressure meds.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

BIG PHARMA

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

Heninger is such a goddamn moron.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/wsjs-daniel-henninger-obamcare-is-the-hurricane-katrina-of-entitlements/

[Great Rumbler]

The Federal Communications Commission will allow some cities and towns to set up and expand municipal Internet services, overruling state laws that had been put in place to block such efforts.

[Madrun Badrun]

Heninger is such a goddamn moron.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/captain-america-wont-save-us-1424910341?mod=hp_opinion

The task that Barack Obama is dumping on the next U.S. president, of either party, is overwhelming.

Here’s the job description: Needed, a U.S. president able to confront a world in chaos, rebuild shattered alliances, revive the country’s demoralized intelligence services and senior officer corps, manage foreign and domestic demands with a budget that will be drained for years by fantastically expensive debt servicing, and along the way restore public faith in an array of deeply politicized federal bureaucracies—Justice, HHS, EPA, Labor, Internal Revenue, the NLRB, FCC, EEOC, even the Federal Reserve.

The U.S. just tried electing a rookie president and had six years of amateur hour. It doesn’t work. And it won’t work again if the next president, whether rookie or former governor, shows up in the Oval Office in January 2017 with not much more than his victory cape and some political pals.

Obama saddling his successor with an impossible situation

These Republicans live in an alternate reality.

I like the implication that it was Obama that cause this demoralization instead of you know missing a plan to fly planes into the twin towers and having a dweebish dude tell the world they are spying on most Americans and then escape to Russia among other embarrassments.  In fact their one public success story -- getting Osama -- was done under Obama. 

[Kara]

I'm unconvinced Americans even know the National Labor Relations Board exists, let alone to the extent required in order to have faith in the institution that is then lost because of Emperor Barack I.

[Great Rumbler]

In a 2006 interview, O'Reilly said, "They were throwing bricks and stones at us. Concrete was raining down on us. The cops saved our butts that time."

"There were people putting out fires nearby," said McKeown. "And Bill showed up in his fancy car." McKeown said at one point, the driver of O'Reilly's personal car risked causing further offence by exiting the vehicle with a bottle of Windex and polishing the roof.

"The guy was watching us and getting more and more angry," said McKeown. "Bill was being Bill - complaining 'people are in my eye line' - and kind of being very insensitive to the situation." Kirkham said: "It was just so out of line. He starts barking commands about 'this isn't good enough for me', 'this isn't gonna work', 'who's in charge here?'"

The man shouted abuse at O'Reilly and the team, crew members said, and O'Reilly ordered him to shut up. He asked "don't you know who I am?'," according to two members of the team

"The guy lost it," said McKeown. Enraged, he is said to have leapt on to the team's flatbed trailer and kicked over a light, before throwing the piece of rubble, which smashed the camera and an autocue screen. Antin said he restrained the man. But O'Reilly then continued taunting him while a producer stood between them. "Come on, you wanna take me? I'll take you on," O'Reilly is said to have shouted at him.

The steady drip over the past week has been amazing.

[benjipwns]