Don't be silly. Lots of far left liberals would be parading in the streets if Obama were actually any of those things you think he is. But that's not the way it is going down. Listen to left-wing radio or read left-wing blogs for a while, and you'll see: the far-left feels that he's turned his back on the left. To quote one, "Obama is not a liberal. He's not even a progressive." Do you think liberals would be saying things like that if they weren't disappointed?
You're so far to the right, apparently, that you've lost all sense of the landscape. That's living on the fringe for ya.
Obama is not a socialist, communist, or radical. If you think that, then you're probably a radical yourself, who can't see a middle-of-the-road politician for what he is.
oh yeah, and ack go umm Afghanistan. People like to say no power has ever succeeded in Afghanistan. Now prove it. Come on people. For all the people who like to say that, I know that only a fraction of them actually read that much history.
What else? Cap and Trade- that's an idea where we try to limit green house gas emissions threatening our country and the rest of the world through a system where companies can make money by becoming more efficient and selling pollution credits they don't need. It worked for acid rain, and it just might work for cap and trade. That's a market based solution- something that clear-eyed conservatives should love. It's not a tax. A lot of environmentalists would prefer a straight carbon tax. Simpler, and would probably get better results. But the Republicans are busy smearing it. They'd prefer to not believe in GW at all.
What else? Oh yeah, all these pro-business economic advisers Obama has on staff. Real socialists those guys. The left is up in arms over how pro-big business the bail out was. But, instead, the conservatives call him a socialist for saving banks, auto companies, and jobs.
So while some are foaming at the mouth how liberal Obama is, others can put on their intellicaps and look at how things really are.
While the right is busy calling him left of the outer left-osphere, the left itself regards Obama as being center, maybe even center right. Both of us can't be right, can we? We all have selective memories, and how we view Obama seems to have more to do with our fears than fact. It has not helped that some in the media have dropped all pretense of civil discourse. Instead, for the last decade or more, we have been on a roller coaster of irrational and constant outrage that will tear this country apart for no better reason than disagreements on health care reform.
If you look at Obama's policies and actions objectively, you will find that he is neither a far-left liberal, communist, or socialist, nor a conservative Blue-dog democrat. He's a realist, practical, politician who (in my opinion) had extended his hand to the opposition in earnest, and got sucker punched in return. Some might say that he should have known better, some say that he got what he deserved, but I say that it is no credit to the right that they did not come in masse to the table to hammer out policies together.
Let's look at his policies. First health care. Public Option is not single-payer. Not even close. Public option is a limited government run health insurance program to force down prices in a market where everyone is required to purchase insurance. Without that option, it will be difficult to keep insurance companies from colluding to keep prices high. The health care exchange, the central part of the bill, is a Republican initiative. Obama has also been open to tort reform, a Republican objective. If they don't get it, don't blame Obama or the Democrats- the Republicans could have been smart and fought for it. They didn't.
What else? How about Obama's race to the top initiative? Oh yeah, that's where states compete for federal dollars. One of the requirements is that the states must improve support for charter schools. Last I checked, charter schools and vouchers were a Republican kind of thing. And it hardly can be described as socialist. Obama also supports national standards and has embraced the mantra of personal responsibility. In that education speech freaking out all the conservatives, Obama called for personal responsibility. Obama has frequently called for personal responsibility and better parenting. These are all Republican memes.
My post was quite clear, if a little unorthodox. It's point: there is no evidence that torture was necessary to obtain that evidence, nor is there evidence (beyond Cheney's word) that it was obtained through torture, that torture is a violation of the law, even when it is deemed necessary, and that the executive's duty is to uphold the law, and that without law, we are like beasts. And finally that even were torture legal, it is immoral. If we are to be an example to the world we must stick by our principles, even when they are inconvenient. You can't be a light on the hill if you do not have any light. Cheney's light has gone out, and the Bush presidency was not a moral example to the world. Cheney is defending his record because he's guilty of war crimes. That's a capital offense.
Finally for some of the ignorant: Double negatives are not ungrammatical. They follow quite clear grammatical rules. Ask any linguist. It is merely non-standard English.
As for the other silly comments: No I was not drunk, though I was in a "mood". Nor did I avoid responding to comments; I had work to do. I don't spend all my time on message boards.
3/4 of the people who file for bankruptcy due to medical debts have had health insurance. 75%. Most medical debtors are well educated. See:
"Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92% of these
medical debtors had medical debts over $5000, or 10% of pretax family income. The rest met criteria for
medical bankruptcy because they had lost significant income due to illness or mortgaged a home to pay medical
bills. Most medical debtors were well educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations. Three
quarters had health insurance. Using identical definitions in 2001 and 2007, the share of bankruptcies attrib-
utable to medical problems rose by 49.6%. In logistic regression analysis controlling for demographic factors,
the odds that a bankruptcy had a medical cause was 2.38-fold higher in 2007 than in 2001."
The example of the rest of the world makes not a dent in the head of all these loonies. Even the loonies who defend the moral integrity of the health insurance "industry" (if a business that produces nothing can be called such a thing). France has the best health care system in the world, and the conservatives are terrified of it. After all, if someone says that its the best system in the world, they must be wrong. Because America is the best at everything. Everything. Right? Read a little. Do some research.
Maybe musicman and co. are just afraid that they'll lose their precious bloodsucking jobs?
Yes, we are part of nature. Yes, in some ways things have improved in the last 100 years, but in many cases things are much much worse. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to recognize the fact that continued development has created a dangerously brittle ecology. One does not have to be a tree-hugger to see that this constitutes a danger to our interests (let alone the interests of the other beings we share this planet with). One simple example: dramatically declining fish stocks across the world. A lot of people depend on fish- for a living, and for subsistence. I like to eat fish myself. But many species of fish have virtually disappeared. So, we have a lot of out of work fishermen, a lot of bankrupt businesses, suffering tourist industries, and rising prices of fish at the markets. Educate yourself about it. Its quite alarming.
Oh, and have you seen all those three legged frogs, and the male fish with eggs in their testes? Industrial chemicals in our drinking water.
The Bookstore
I wonder if it is a pop-up book.
Afghanistan
@Lightnup
Don't be silly. Lots of far left liberals would be parading in the streets if Obama were actually any of those things you think he is. But that's not the way it is going down. Listen to left-wing radio or read left-wing blogs for a while, and you'll see: the far-left feels that he's turned his back on the left. To quote one, "Obama is not a liberal. He's not even a progressive." Do you think liberals would be saying things like that if they weren't disappointed?
You're so far to the right, apparently, that you've lost all sense of the landscape. That's living on the fringe for ya.
Afghanistan
Obama is not a socialist, communist, or radical. If you think that, then you're probably a radical yourself, who can't see a middle-of-the-road politician for what he is.
oh yeah, and ack go umm Afghanistan. People like to say no power has ever succeeded in Afghanistan. Now prove it. Come on people. For all the people who like to say that, I know that only a fraction of them actually read that much history.
Back to School Speech
What else? Cap and Trade- that's an idea where we try to limit green house gas emissions threatening our country and the rest of the world through a system where companies can make money by becoming more efficient and selling pollution credits they don't need. It worked for acid rain, and it just might work for cap and trade. That's a market based solution- something that clear-eyed conservatives should love. It's not a tax. A lot of environmentalists would prefer a straight carbon tax. Simpler, and would probably get better results. But the Republicans are busy smearing it. They'd prefer to not believe in GW at all.
What else? Oh yeah, all these pro-business economic advisers Obama has on staff. Real socialists those guys. The left is up in arms over how pro-big business the bail out was. But, instead, the conservatives call him a socialist for saving banks, auto companies, and jobs.
So while some are foaming at the mouth how liberal Obama is, others can put on their intellicaps and look at how things really are.
Back to School Speech
While the right is busy calling him left of the outer left-osphere, the left itself regards Obama as being center, maybe even center right. Both of us can't be right, can we? We all have selective memories, and how we view Obama seems to have more to do with our fears than fact. It has not helped that some in the media have dropped all pretense of civil discourse. Instead, for the last decade or more, we have been on a roller coaster of irrational and constant outrage that will tear this country apart for no better reason than disagreements on health care reform.
If you look at Obama's policies and actions objectively, you will find that he is neither a far-left liberal, communist, or socialist, nor a conservative Blue-dog democrat. He's a realist, practical, politician who (in my opinion) had extended his hand to the opposition in earnest, and got sucker punched in return. Some might say that he should have known better, some say that he got what he deserved, but I say that it is no credit to the right that they did not come in masse to the table to hammer out policies together.
Let's look at his policies. First health care. Public Option is not single-payer. Not even close. Public option is a limited government run health insurance program to force down prices in a market where everyone is required to purchase insurance. Without that option, it will be difficult to keep insurance companies from colluding to keep prices high. The health care exchange, the central part of the bill, is a Republican initiative. Obama has also been open to tort reform, a Republican objective. If they don't get it, don't blame Obama or the Democrats- the Republicans could have been smart and fought for it. They didn't.
What else? How about Obama's race to the top initiative? Oh yeah, that's where states compete for federal dollars. One of the requirements is that the states must improve support for charter schools. Last I checked, charter schools and vouchers were a Republican kind of thing. And it hardly can be described as socialist. Obama also supports national standards and has embraced the mantra of personal responsibility. In that education speech freaking out all the conservatives, Obama called for personal responsibility. Obama has frequently called for personal responsibility and better parenting. These are all Republican memes.
Creepy
My post was quite clear, if a little unorthodox. It's point: there is no evidence that torture was necessary to obtain that evidence, nor is there evidence (beyond Cheney's word) that it was obtained through torture, that torture is a violation of the law, even when it is deemed necessary, and that the executive's duty is to uphold the law, and that without law, we are like beasts. And finally that even were torture legal, it is immoral. If we are to be an example to the world we must stick by our principles, even when they are inconvenient. You can't be a light on the hill if you do not have any light. Cheney's light has gone out, and the Bush presidency was not a moral example to the world. Cheney is defending his record because he's guilty of war crimes. That's a capital offense.
Finally for some of the ignorant: Double negatives are not ungrammatical. They follow quite clear grammatical rules. Ask any linguist. It is merely non-standard English.
As for the other silly comments: No I was not drunk, though I was in a "mood". Nor did I avoid responding to comments; I had work to do. I don't spend all my time on message boards.
Insurance Industry
3/4 of the people who file for bankruptcy due to medical debts have had health insurance. 75%. Most medical debtors are well educated. See:
"Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92% of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5000, or 10% of pretax family income. The rest met criteria for medical bankruptcy because they had lost significant income due to illness or mortgaged a home to pay medical bills. Most medical debtors were well educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations. Three quarters had health insurance. Using identical definitions in 2001 and 2007, the share of bankruptcies attrib- utable to medical problems rose by 49.6%. In logistic regression analysis controlling for demographic factors, the odds that a bankruptcy had a medical cause was 2.38-fold higher in 2007 than in 2001."
Read it yourself. http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0002-9343/PIIS0002934309004045.pdf
Not that some here will be swayed by FACTS.
Insurance Industry
The example of the rest of the world makes not a dent in the head of all these loonies. Even the loonies who defend the moral integrity of the health insurance "industry" (if a business that produces nothing can be called such a thing). France has the best health care system in the world, and the conservatives are terrified of it. After all, if someone says that its the best system in the world, they must be wrong. Because America is the best at everything. Everything. Right? Read a little. Do some research.
Maybe musicman and co. are just afraid that they'll lose their precious bloodsucking jobs?
The Redesign
What's different?
Earth Day
Yes, we are part of nature. Yes, in some ways things have improved in the last 100 years, but in many cases things are much much worse. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to recognize the fact that continued development has created a dangerously brittle ecology. One does not have to be a tree-hugger to see that this constitutes a danger to our interests (let alone the interests of the other beings we share this planet with). One simple example: dramatically declining fish stocks across the world. A lot of people depend on fish- for a living, and for subsistence. I like to eat fish myself. But many species of fish have virtually disappeared. So, we have a lot of out of work fishermen, a lot of bankrupt businesses, suffering tourist industries, and rising prices of fish at the markets. Educate yourself about it. Its quite alarming.
Oh, and have you seen all those three legged frogs, and the male fish with eggs in their testes? Industrial chemicals in our drinking water.
Be concerned. DO NOT BE COMPLACENT!