Repug debate on CNN

[ducks]

Trump pointed out that according to a Time Magazine poll, 67 percent said he won the debate, and tried to deflect some of the praise that Carly Fiorina, who fought to be on the main stage Wednesday, is receiving from viewers and pundits about her performance

[Blake]

I can't decide if American cheese has more of an Argentinian or Brazilian zing to it

[Blake]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/adultswim/big/img/2014/08/23/americandad2-compressor.png

American Padre

[Oh, Gee!!]

American History X was about cartels, right?

[MultiTroll]

https://polldaddy.com/poll/9081166/?view=results
His answer to the question how will you pay for The Wall must have sealed it. :rolleyes

Trump could take a dump onstage and Pug sycophants would cheer. :lol

[ducks]

His answer to the question how will you pay for The Wall must have sealed it. :rolleyes

Trump could take a dump onstage and Pug sycophants would cheer. :lol

mexico will pay for it either at one time or with people entering the boarder tell it is paid for

it will be cheaper in the long run even if the usa pays for the wall then not having it

[boutons_deux]

Are Americans stupid, dumb, ignorant, disengaged, politically, etc naive ?

The fifth most Googled Jeb question: Is Jeb Bush related to George Bush?


http://www.vox.com/2015/9/16/9342673/jeb-bush-george-related

:lol

[Blake]

How deep underground will the wall go I wonder

[MultiTroll]

mexico will pay for it either at one time or with people entering the boarder tell it is paid for

it will be cheaper in the long run even if the usa pays for the wall then not having it
and the reason he dodged with his non answer last night is?....

[djohn2oo8]

Loved how Trump tried to spin the fact his casinos went bankrupt.

[djohn2oo8]

LOL at Jeb Bush saying his brother kept our country safe. Jeb might want to just pretend hes not related to George at all. GW was by far the worst president in modern history. The Bush family drinks American blood for dinner. I also think rooting for politics is a lot like rooting for the WWE, its kind of adorable we all think we have a say in it but at the end of the day im not sure how much influence we really have.
Jeb was about to cry when Trump was talking about George.

[Th'Pusher]

George Bush. The point is that I just don't understand the points Carson is making. Even when it came to vaccines it just seemed hard for him to articulate that the science is settled. If anyone could make that point clear it should have been him.

Seemed to me he didn't want to get on the wron side of Trump so he answered soft.

[boutons_deux]

News from the alternative planet of Repug fantasies

11 Distortions, Misrepresentations and Outright Lies in the GOP Debate

1. Insisting That Hispanics Used to Love Republicans: Lindsey Graham scolded the other three candidates in his debate, telling them that Hispanics voted for “us” under previous Republican president George W. Bush. Although it's true that frontrunner Donald Trump has depleted much of what was left of Hispanic support for the GOP, even under Bush, that wasn't a vote they won. At the high point in 2004, Bush won 44 percent (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/03/18/the-republican-problem-with-hispanic-voters-in-7-charts/) of that vote, and Romney won only 27 percent.


2. Ridiculously Saying That Iran Threatens The Whole Western World: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee wanted the audience to know that Iran threatens the “essence of Western civilization.” Except Iran's defense budget (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/apr/09/barack-obama/obama-iran-spends-30-billion-defense-us-about-600-/) is around $10 billion, a fraction (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/apr/09/barack-obama/obama-iran-spends-30-billion-defense-us-about-600-/)of our own $600 plus billion defense budget. How a country with no weapons of mass destruction and a tiny defense budget can be threatening the United States, let alone our NATO allies, was not explained by Huckabee. Probably because it makes no sense.

3. Implying the U.S. Government Funds Abortion: Over and over, the assertion was made that the United States federal government finances abortions, such as by giving subsidies to Planned Parenthood. While you can make a convoluted argument that money is indirectly spread around, the fact is the the federal government has followed (https://www.aclu.org/public-funding-abortion) a blanket ban on such funding except in cases of rape, incest, or when it threatens the health of the mother.

4. Claiming Obama Is Trying to Circumvent the Process to Let In Syrian Refugees: Bobby Jindal said that Obama was trying to “short-circuit the vetting process” to let in Syrian refugees, a dangerous dog whistle to imply that the president was going to let in terrorists. As CNN's own fact-check (http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/politics/republican-debate-fact-check/index.html) pointed out, the 10,000 refugees – truly a paltry amount – are slated to come in through the exact same process as any other refugees.

5. Saying We Are Almost the Only Ones With Birthright Citizenship:Trump said almost no one else – including Mexico – has birthright citizenship, and moderator Jake Tapper agreed with him. That's true, if you think the entire rest of the world consists of Europe. Almost everywhere in the Americas has birthright citizenship and that includes Mexico (https://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn/issues/birthright-citizenship/nations-granting-birthright-citizenship.html).

6. Rubio Telling a Fantastic But False Story About His Grandfather:Senator Rubio gave an emotional address about his grandfather supposedly fleeing Castro to come to the United States. There's just a problem: the story doesn't stand up to scrutiny. As has been reported in the past (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/marco-rubios-compelling-family-story-embellishes-facts-documents-show/2011/10/20/gIQAaVHD1L_story.html), his family came to the United States long before Castro even came to power.

7. Stating That North Korea Can Hit Us With a Nuclear Weapon: Rubio also claimed that North Korea could hit us with a nuclear weapon. Unless they plan to send a team on a boat carrying one, it's not going to happen – there isvery little evidence (http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/whats-the-status-of-north-koreas-icbm/) that they have a functional intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

8. Saying, With A Straight Face, That Bush Kept Us Safe: “My brother kept us safe,” said Jeb Bush. This is a pretty ironic thing to say five days after the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which his brother obviously did not keep us safe from.

9. Going Back to the Tired “Sanctuary” Arguments About Terrorists:Rubio made the argument that we needed to stay in Iraq, invade Afghanistan, and have our military all over the world to prevent terrorists from having “sanctuary” – but as the Boston Bombing, Charleston, and many other attacks prove, terrorists don't need to have a physical space to plot attacks, and a giant military presence in a foreign country doesn't necessarily prevent them so much as give them recruits.

10. Telling People Marijuana Is More Harmful Than Beer: Carly Fiorina, disupting Rand Paul's more libertarian view on drugs, said that smoking marijuana isn't like having a beer. Actually marijuana is much safer (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/no-high-risk-marijuana-may-be-less-harmful-alcohol-tobacco-n312876) than alcohol – marijuana kills next to no one while the Centers for Disease Controlis linked (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/no-high-risk-marijuana-may-be-less-harmful-alcohol-tobacco-n312876) to “one in 10 deaths among working-age adults can be attributed to excessive alcohol use.”

11. Lying About Vaccines: Trump boosted theories that vaccinations are linked to autism; despite Ben Carson's intervention that this wasn't true, Rand Paul still went on to tout the “voluntary” nature of smallpox vaccinations – actually they were not voluntary, they were mandated (http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-anti-vaccination-movements) and financed by a global government effort through the World Health Organization.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/11-distortions-misrepresentations-and-outright-lies-gop-debate?akid=13484.187590.iNky2U&rd=1&src=newsletter1042561&t=2

[Clipper Nation]

LOL at Jeb Bush saying his brother kept our country safe. Jeb might want to just pretend hes not related to George at all.
There's a reason why all his campaign materials say "Jeb" on them and don't mention his last name. You can tell he hates being asked about his brother.

What's funny is that Jeb's supposed to be the "smart" Bush, yet Dubya looks like a MENSA member compared to him.

[boutons_deux]

JEB doesn't want to be a Bush, and America doesn't want another Bush. He's got no hope.

[Infinite_limit]

I can't believe Trump missed an opportunity to say that GWB didn't keep us safe on 9/11. How do you let Jeb get away with saying that GWB "kept us safe".
It's a Republican debate

Notice it's still slanted towards Israel/Anti-Iran/Bush's Wars. Democrats will do the same slurping for Jews & Anti-Iran

[MultiTroll]

Fact Checking Reveals G.O.P. Debate Was Four Per Cent Fact
Is this an Onion type article or were those liebags really at 4%? :rollin

[DMX7]

It was an incredible display of stupidity at times. The idea that our military isn't big enough and that's why there is turmoil in the world would be laughable if it weren't actually being proposed by real candidates.

[boutons_deux]

"real candidates."

there were none on stage last night. Only Klowns klowning. Repugs, Repug base, tea baggers, Christian Taliban deserve the shitty fake candidates. aka, Dumbed Down Wonderland.

These Repugs "debates" are as real as any reality show, as "Finding Bigfoot", as the Kardashians.

[DMX7]

They are very real. One of these people is actually going to be the nominee of one of only two major political parties in this country.

[Blake]

The Air Force One in the background was just smhlolwtf

[Infinite_limit]

Cruz is the only guy that legitimately scares me. The rest have their strengths and weaknesses like Hillary/Bernie

[Blake]

Cruz is the only guy that legitimately scares me. The rest have their strengths and weaknesses like Hillary/Bernie

seriously, Trump scares me more than Cruz. But that's like saying a snake is scarier than a scorpion or something like that that's scarier than scary

[DarrinS]

The Air Force One in the background was just smhlolwtf

Well, that plane is at the Reagan library and that's where the debate was held.

[Thebesteva]

There's a reason why all his campaign materials say "Jeb" on them and don't mention his last name. You can tell he hates being asked about his brother.

What's funny is that Jeb's supposed to be the "smart" Bush, yet Dubya looks like a MENSA member compared to him.

W is the GOAT troll

[Jacob1983]

I'm still laughing at "kept us safe". Jeb is pathetic. He's so defensive but knows there's nothing he can do. His family sucks. They're garbage. No one is going to vote for Jeb. I don't see how any human can support him and that life sucking family.

[Infinite_limit]

I'm still laughing at "kept us safe". Jeb is pathetic. He's so defensive but knows there's nothing he can do. His family sucks. They're garbage. No one is going to vote for Jeb. I don't see how any human can support him and that life sucking family.
The crowd liked it.......and I bet you the majority of Americans shook their head sure.

[Quetzal-X]

Thats because they mostly are real dumb motherfuckers.

[Quetzal-X]

I'm still laughing at "kept us safe". Jeb is pathetic. He's so defensive but knows there's nothing he can do. His family sucks. They're garbage. No one is going to vote for Jeb. I don't see how any human can support him and that life sucking family.


Trump could have placed his index on Jethros nose and said "oh yeahh bitch? Your bro aint shit PUSSY NIGGA"

And hoe ass jeth would have cowered like a pussy-nigga.

[Splits]

Trump could have placed his index on Jethros nose and said "oh yeahh bitch? Your bro aint shit PUSSY NIGGA"

And hoe ass jeth would have cowered like a pussy-nigga.

http://i.imgur.com/Zph9tPE.gif

[pgardn]

I'm still laughing at "kept us safe". Jeb is pathetic. He's so defensive but knows there's nothing he can do. His family sucks. They're garbage. No one is going to vote for Jeb. I don't see how any human can support him and that life sucking family.

Actually it's true. The Middle East is busier killing each other now. Have we had 3000 Americans die in a single day via a terrorist attack?

[Winehole23]

https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/natesilver2_light.jpg?quality=100&strip=all&w=60 (http://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/nate-silver/)Nate Silver (http://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/nate-silver/)

11:38 PM Who Spoke The Most?
https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/libresco-datalab-speaking-liveblog.png
Donald Trump dominated the debate, and he had the help of the moderators to do it. They asked him more questions than any other candidate (and only one fewer than they asked Huckabee, Kasich, Rubio and Walker combined). Bush was the second-most-frequent speaker, relying on the favor of the moderators and the other candidates’ propensity to attack him (and thus give him the chance to reply). Fiorina pushed her way into the top three with her frequent interruptions.
This analysis excludes the opening statements and the final, lighthearted questions posed to everyone.

https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/leah-libresco.jpg?quality=100&strip=all&w=60 (http://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/leah-libresco/)Leah Libresco (http://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/leah-libresco/)

11:28 PM
https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/attacked-figures1.png

http://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2016-election-second-republican-presidential-debate/

[boutons_deux]

Kasich tries to praise Latinos - and ends up talking about tipping the hotel maid

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-09172015-htmlstory.html?update=84458176

[boutons_deux]

Republican debate on CNN: Is Reagan mystique myth or reality?

In any Republican presidential debate, Ronald Reagan’s name is likely to punctuate several applause lines.

Everyone from Sen. Rand Paul to Donald Trump has quoted – and misquoted – the nation’s 40th president in an effort to share some of his aura. The temptation is understandable. Mr. Reagan is in many ways the (shitball starting) father of the modern Republican Party.

Reagan has become more mythic than real. Candidates carefully choose which bits of the Reagan legacy to cite.

“He is someone that conservatives can easily project their views onto, but, for instance, most conservatives don’t want to go into Reagan’s early life….”

Republicans need a hero and in Reagan they have found one,” Professor Schmidt says. “They just don’t drill down into Reagan raising taxes or giving amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants.”

“Reagan also decisively moved the party to the right. Prior to Reagan, Republican presidential candidates rarely asked for tax cuts. Now, it’s impossible for someone to get nominated who doesn’t offer a tax cut plan,”

Reagan cut the highest marginal tax rate almost in half, and it has never gone back to pre-Reagan levels. This move “has had profound effects on the increasingly unequal distribution of wealth in America,”

He also is responsible for drastic reductions in social services for the poor and mentally ill that have never returned to pre-Reagan levels,

But “the myth about Ronald Reagan is that he did all of this by himself,” says Hale. The compromises he made with House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O'Neill are often ignored, and today Reagan is held up as an uncompromising conservative who never “cut a deal” to get things done.

“That is absolutely not true,” Hale says.

Reagan’s willingness to talk and deal with Democrats could bring him under severe criticism today, perhaps making him unelectable in a Republican primary,

“Reagan’s team developed a legend of pictures and visions in voters’ heads that exceed actual fights and battles in Sacramento and on Capitol Hill,” (aka Repug fantasies for the base)

Whether it was a GOP insurrection in 1976, or raising taxes in California and battling for health care reform in the late 1960s, “or getting along with that other Irish pol, Tip O'Neill, the Reagan reality and the Reagan political legend were completely different things.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0916/Republican-debate-on-CNN-Is-Reagan-mystique-myth-or-reality

St Ronnie the Diseased was a useful idiot for the VRWC that was a reaction to the progressive victories of the 1960s and with the famous memo from lawyer Lewis Powell. When the VRWC got their tool into the WH, the 99% got fucked and been fucked ever since.

[boutons_deux]

Don’t Believe the Carly Fiorina Hype: Here’s Every Major Problem With Her Performance In the GOP Debate


“On day one in the Oval office I will make two phone calls the first to my good friend Bibi Netanyahu to assure him we will stand with the state of Israel. The second to the Supreme leader to tell him that unless and until he opens every nuclear facility to real anytime inspections by our people not his,we the United States of America will make it as difficult as possible to move money around the global financial system. We can do that we don’t need anyone’s cooperation to do it. And every ally and every adversary in this world will know that the United States of America is back in the leadership business which is how we must stand with out allies. As regards Planned Parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes, watch a fully formed fetus on the table, it’s heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. This is about the character of our nation and if we will not stand up and force President Obama to veto this bill shame on us.”



what she said about the tape is untrue. According to Sarah Kliff at Vox (http://www.vox.com/2015/9/16/9342165/carly-fiorina-planned-parenthood), who has watched the entire set of videos, there is no scene like this. (CNN Fact Check claimed the comment was “true but misleading” because the tape has an unrelated and out of context flash of a scene like this which was edited in after the fact by the videographers. That’s what would normally be called “false” or more precisely “a hoax”.) But it doesn’t matter. The folks in the audience loved it and judging by the Twitter commentary (http://www.businessinsider.com/carly-fiorina-planned-parenthood-debate-2015-9) so did conservatives. After all, it may have been the most extreme rhetoric of the entire debate.

In fact, much of what Fiorina says is either untrue or incoherent, which her polished style of rapid-fire answers containing long lists of memorized specifics obscures. She is a master at what we used to call “dazzling them with BS.” She claims to have a well thought out plan for everything from dealing with the Ayatollah (only after conferring with her “good friend” Bibi Netanyahu) — by calling him up and demanding that he allows Americans to inspect his nuclear facilities anytime we choose or we’ll start “moving his money around the financial system” — to enlarging the sixth fleet and putting missile defense into Poland. The first bit of magical thinking is so common among the Republican candidates that it’s not worth commenting upon except to say that the presidency would be a part time job if it was that easy. As for her military “prescriptions,” let’s just say they are vacuous nonsense. Here’s what she said she would do about Russia (https://www.yahoo.com/politics/carly-fiorina-connects-iran-and-planned-parenthood-129254011461.html)

“What I would do, immediately, is begin rebuilding the Sixth Fleet, I would begin rebuilding the missile defense program in Poland, I would conduct regular, aggressive military exercises in the Baltic states. I’d probably send a few thousand more troops into Germany. Vladimir Putin would get the message. By the way, the reason it is so critically important that every one of us know General Suleimani’s name is because Russia is in Syria right now, because the head of the Quds force traveled to Russia and talked Vladimir Putin into aligning themselves with Iran and Syria to prop up Bashar al- Assad.”


That sounds very impressive, except, as Ezra Klein pointed out (http://www.vox.com/2015/9/16/9342761/carly-fiorina-debate), the nuclear armed Sixth Fleet is gigantic already, the U.S. is already conducting military exercises in the Baltics and we already have 40,000 troops in Germany. Oh, and Vladimir Putin, General Suleimani and Bashar al-Assad will have been dead for decades, if not centuries, by the time a missile shield is installed in Poland.

Her comments on immigration (http://www.vox.com/2015/9/16/9342761/carly-fiorina-debate) were likewise factually challenged as was her tedious, mind-numbing list of alleged accomplishments as CEO of Hewlett Packard. (She’s been repeatedly (http://www.factcheck.org/2015/05/fiorinas-selective-record-at-hp/) fact checked (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/05/08/carly-fiorinas-misleading-claims-about-her-business-record/) on this and just keeps on saying it anyway.) She didn’t go into it last night, but in previous interviews her comments on climate change were wrong in every way. (http://www.vox.com/2015/8/21/9186313/carly-fiorina-climate-wrong)

And as an illustration of just how fundamentally dishonest she is, even her own personal story (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Fiorina) is exaggerated. She often says she started out as a secretary and rose to become the first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company. It’s true that she once did clerical work, but it was in summers during college and for a brief time between dropping out of law school and starting business school. After she got her MBA she joined a management training program at AT& T where she climbed the ladder. It takes nothing away from her accomplishment, which is very impressive, to point out that the image she paints of a plucky gal from the typing pool raising herself up by her bootstraps isn’t exactly how it happened.

Fiorina is worth over $50 million and didn’t bother to pay the debts (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/21/us-usa-election-fiorina-idUSKBN0O60FV20150521) from her losing 2010 Senate campaign until she decided to run for president. (One of her former aides said “I’d rather go to Iraq than work for Carly Fiorina again.”)

So considering her very loose relationship with the truth, her failed record as a businesswoman which left thousands of people’s lives in ruins and her cavalier attitude about paying her debts, it’s awfully ironic that the lines she delivers with the most righteous passion are harsh criticisms of Hillary Clinton’s honesty and trustworthiness.

That’s something else she has in common with Trump — chutzpah.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/dont-believe-carly-fiorina-hype-heres-every-major-problem-her-performance-gop-debate?akid=13485.187590.rt6KID&rd=1&src=newsletter1042591&t=8

Sure sounds like Fiorina wowed, lied to, conned the dupes who put her in charge of H-P, the way she's doing the same with the Repugs, conservatives.

[boutons_deux]

Fantasies and Fictions at G.O.P. Debate

I would argue that all of the G.O.P. candidates are calling for policies that would be deeply destructive at home, abroad, or both. But even if you like the broad thrust of modern Republican policies, it should worry you that the men and woman on that stage are clearly living in a world of fantasies and fictions. And some seem willing to advance their ambitions with outright lies.
Let’s start at the shallow end, with the fantasy economics of the establishment candidates.

You’re probably tired of hearing this, but modern G.O.P. economic discourse is completely dominated by an economic doctrine — the sovereign importance of low taxes on the rich — that has failed completely and utterly in practice over the past generation.

Yet the hold of this failed dogma on Republican politics is stronger than ever, with no skeptics allowed. On Wednesday Jeb Bush claimed, once again, that his voodoo economics would double America’s growth rate, while Marco Rubio insisted that a tax on carbon emissions would “destroy the economy.”

the discussion of foreign policy was practically demented. Almost all the candidates seem to believe that American military strength can shock-and-awe other countries into doing what we want without any need for negotiations, and that we shouldn’t even talk with foreign leaders we don’t like.

the only candidate who seemed remotely sensible on national security issues was Rand Paul, which is almost as disturbing as the spectacle of Mr. Trump being the only voice of economic reason.

some of the candidates went beyond expounding bad analysis and peddling bad history to making outright false assertions, and probably doing so knowingly, which turns those false assertions into what are technically known as “lies.”

For example, Chris Christie asserted, as he did in the first G.O.P. debate (http://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2015/aug/07/chris-christie/christie-says-he-was-appointed-be-us-attorney-day-/), that he was named U.S. attorney the day before 9/11. It’s still not true (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-debate-fact-check-when-was-chris-christie-appointed-u-s-attorney/fact-checker/wp/2015/09/17/fact-checking-the-second-round-of-gop-debates/): His selection for the position wasn’t even announced (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011207-9.html)until December.

Mr. Christie’s mendacity pales, however, in comparison to that of Carly Fiorina, who was widely hailed as the “winner” of the debate.

Some of Mrs. Fiorina’s fibs involved repeating thoroughly debunked claims (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/05/08/carly-fiorinas-misleading-claims-about-her-business-record/) about her business record. No, she didn’t preside over huge revenue growth. She made Hewlett-Packard bigger by acquiring other companies, mainly Compaq, and that acquisition was a financial disaster. Oh, and if her life is a story of going from “secretary to C.E.O.,” mine is one of going from mailman to columnist and economist. Sorry, working menial jobs while you’re in school doesn’t make your life a Horatio Alger story.

But the truly awesome moment came when she asserted that the videos being used to attack Planned Parenthood show “a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” No, they don’t. (http://www.vox.com/2015/9/16/9342165/carly-fiorina-planned-parenthood) Anti-abortion activists have claimed that such things happen, but have produced no evidence, just assertions mingled with stock footage of fetuses.

So is Mrs. Fiorina so deep inside the bubble that she can’t tell the difference between facts and agitprop? Or is she deliberately spreading a lie? And most important, does it matter?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/opinion/paul-krugman-fantasies-and-fictions-at-gop-debate.html?_r=1

[DarrinS]

#boutons-copypaste-athon

[tlongII]

Reagan was the greatest president since FDR. Dude ended the Cold War.

[Blake]

Well, that plane is at the Reagan library and that's where the debate was held.

Oh hey there's a plane here. Oh well

[boutons_deux]

#boutons-copypaste-athon

Darrin, just another content-free poster

[boutons_deux]

Reagan was the greatest president since FDR. Dude ended the Cold War.

:lol You Lie! Russia collapsed internally, not from anything St Ronnie The Diseased did. you rightwingnuts live in a fantasy world of bullshit myths, propaganda, lies.

[boutons_deux]

Walker Bummed He Was Unable to Show He Memorized Three Branches of Government

http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Borowitz-Walker-Bummed-He-Was-Unable-to-Show-He-Memorized-Three-Branches-of-Government-690.jpg

DES MOINES —Assessing his performance in the aftermath of the second Republican Presidential debate, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said he was “saddened” that he never got a chance to show that he had memorized the three branches of the federal government.

“If you do all of that homework and nobody even knows that you did it, what’s the whole point of doing it in the first place?” Walker, who was campaigning in Iowa, said. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t suck.”



Walker said he had memorized the three branches in the hopes of dazzling the audience with his knowledge of the inner workings of the federal government, but “there just didn’t seem to be a good time to get it all in.”

“If Jake Tapper had asked something about the size of the federal government, for example,” Walker said, “then I would have been like, ‘It’s three branches big, Jake. Those branches are: executive, being the President; legislative, being Congress; and judicial, being courts.’”

“I would’ve nailed it,” he added.

Walker acknowledged that he might get another chance to talk about the three branches of government at the next Republican debate, in October, but said that he would probably have to learn them all over again by then.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/walker-bummed-he-was-unable-to-show-he-memorized-three-branches-of-government?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20(43)&cndid=&mbid=nl_Borowitz%20(43)&CNDID=&spMailingID=8080904&spUserID=MjczNzc0Njk0NDAS1&spJobID=761984185&spReportId=NzYxOTg0MTg1S0

[DMX7]

Walker Bummed He Was Unable to Show He Memorized Three Branches of Government

http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Borowitz-Walker-Bummed-He-Was-Unable-to-Show-He-Memorized-Three-Branches-of-Government-690.jpg

DES MOINES —Assessing his performance in the aftermath of the second Republican Presidential debate, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said he was “saddened” that he never got a chance to show that he had memorized the three branches of the federal government.

“If you do all of that homework and nobody even knows that you did it, what’s the whole point of doing it in the first place?” Walker, who was campaigning in Iowa, said. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t suck.”



Walker said he had memorized the three branches in the hopes of dazzling the audience with his knowledge of the inner workings of the federal government, but “there just didn’t seem to be a good time to get it all in.”

“If Jake Tapper had asked something about the size of the federal government, for example,” Walker said, “then I would have been like, ‘It’s three branches big, Jake. Those branches are: executive, being the President; legislative, being Congress; and judicial, being courts.’”

“I would’ve nailed it,” he added.

Walker acknowledged that he might get another chance to talk about the three branches of government at the next Republican debate, in October, but said that he would probably have to learn them all over again by then.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/walker-bummed-he-was-unable-to-show-he-memorized-three-branches-of-government?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20(43)&cndid=&mbid=nl_Borowitz%20(43)&CNDID=&spMailingID=8080904&spUserID=MjczNzc0Njk0NDAS1&spJobID=761984185&spReportId=NzYxOTg0MTg1S0




That's not funny enough to be satire and it's too ridiculous to be true. What is it?

[tlongII]

:lol You Lie! Russia collapsed internally, not from anything St Ronnie The Diseased did. you rightwingnuts live in a fantasy world of bullshit myths, propaganda, lies.

:lol You lie! The USSR collapsed as it tried to match the unprecedented defense spending of the USA at the time.

[hitmanyr2k]

:lol You lie! The USSR collapsed as it tried to match the unprecedented defense spending of the USA at the time.

Which all went on the government credit card. "Conservatives" :lol

[boutons_deux]

:lol You lie! The USSR collapsed as it tried to match the unprecedented defense spending of the USA at the time.

You Lie. Russia went totally bankrupt invading Afghanistan which was then followed by the collapse of oil prices in the 80s. Exporting oil and gas was the only source of hard currency (dollars) since the ruble was not tradeable. Russia simply didn't have the oil/gas dollars to support itself, its losing war in Afghanistan, and its empire.

The Repug myth is that St Ronnie's huge buildup caused the collapse, but that's a lie, like everything else the Repugs spew about St Ronnie, their bogus hero.

St Ronnie also corrupted the CIA/NSA to LIE about, vastly overstate Russia's military/industrial strength to scare people into accepting St Ronnie's buildup (aka, wealth transfer from taxpayers to the MIC). CIA/NSA up to that point didn't "fix up" the intelligence to fit policy, only provided raw data for the politicians to make policy. dubya and dickhed continued the Repug corruption of NSA/CIA to fixup intel about Iraq.

[Infinite_limit]

Fantasies and Fictions at G.O.P. Debate

I would argue that all of the G.O.P. candidates are calling for policies that would be deeply destructive at home, abroad, or both. But even if you like the broad thrust of modern Republican policies, it should worry you that the men and woman on that stage are clearly living in a world of fantasies and fictions. And some seem willing to advance their ambitions with outright lies.
Let’s start at the shallow end, with the fantasy economics of the establishment candidates.

You’re probably tired of hearing this, but modern G.O.P. economic discourse is completely dominated by an economic doctrine — the sovereign importance of low taxes on the rich — that has failed completely and utterly in practice over the past generation.

Yet the hold of this failed dogma on Republican politics is stronger than ever, with no skeptics allowed. On Wednesday Jeb Bush claimed, once again, that his voodoo economics would double America’s growth rate, while Marco Rubio insisted that a tax on carbon emissions would “destroy the economy.”

the discussion of foreign policy was practically demented. Almost all the candidates seem to believe that American military strength can shock-and-awe other countries into doing what we want without any need for negotiations, and that we shouldn’t even talk with foreign leaders we don’t like.

the only candidate who seemed remotely sensible on national security issues was Rand Paul, which is almost as disturbing as the spectacle of Mr. Trump being the only voice of economic reason.

some of the candidates went beyond expounding bad analysis and peddling bad history to making outright false assertions, and probably doing so knowingly, which turns those false assertions into what are technically known as “lies.”

For example, Chris Christie asserted, as he did in the first G.O.P. debate (http://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2015/aug/07/chris-christie/christie-says-he-was-appointed-be-us-attorney-day-/), that he was named U.S. attorney the day before 9/11. It’s still not true (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-debate-fact-check-when-was-chris-christie-appointed-u-s-attorney/fact-checker/wp/2015/09/17/fact-checking-the-second-round-of-gop-debates/): His selection for the position wasn’t even announced (http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011207-9.html)until December.

Mr. Christie’s mendacity pales, however, in comparison to that of Carly Fiorina, who was widely hailed as the “winner” of the debate.

Some of Mrs. Fiorina’s fibs involved repeating thoroughly debunked claims (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/05/08/carly-fiorinas-misleading-claims-about-her-business-record/) about her business record. No, she didn’t preside over huge revenue growth. She made Hewlett-Packard bigger by acquiring other companies, mainly Compaq, and that acquisition was a financial disaster. Oh, and if her life is a story of going from “secretary to C.E.O.,” mine is one of going from mailman to columnist and economist. Sorry, working menial jobs while you’re in school doesn’t make your life a Horatio Alger story.

But the truly awesome moment came when she asserted that the videos being used to attack Planned Parenthood show “a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” No, they don’t. (http://www.vox.com/2015/9/16/9342165/carly-fiorina-planned-parenthood) Anti-abortion activists have claimed that such things happen, but have produced no evidence, just assertions mingled with stock footage of fetuses.

So is Mrs. Fiorina so deep inside the bubble that she can’t tell the difference between facts and agitprop? Or is she deliberately spreading a lie? And most important, does it matter?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/opinion/paul-krugman-fantasies-and-fictions-at-gop-debate.html?_r=1


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J_Rq8yro-IU/UXXvdjwg8gI/AAAAAAAAGi8/iMtFmOUt_JU/s1600/0246.wall%2520of%2520text.png-610x0.png

[DMX7]

The Air Force One in the background was just smhlolwtf

It's a permanent fixture in the library.

[Blake]

Got it. Still weird to have it behind them

[Spurminator]

:lol So Carly Fiorina made up a scene from the PP videos and talked about it in the debate.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/fiorina-abortion-planned-parenthood-video-debate/406168/?utm_source=SFFB

[boutons_deux]

:lol So Carly Fiorina made up a scene from the PP videos and talked about it in the debate.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/fiorina-abortion-planned-parenthood-video-debate/406168/?utm_source=SFFB

Presidentesse Fiorina: "I'm sure I saw, or dreamed, it doesn't matter which, Putin pushing his nuclear launch button so I pushed mine"

[tlongII]

You Lie. Russia went totally bankrupt invading Afghanistan which was then followed by the collapse of oil prices in the 80s. Exporting oil and gas was the only source of hard currency (dollars) since the ruble was not tradeable. Russia simply didn't have the oil/gas dollars to support itself, its losing war in Afghanistan, and its empire.

The Repug myth is that St Ronnie's huge buildup caused the collapse, but that's a lie, like everything else the Repugs spew about St Ronnie, their bogus hero.

St Ronnie also corrupted the CIA/NSA to LIE about, vastly overstate Russia's military/industrial strength to scare people into accepting St Ronnie's buildup (aka, wealth transfer from taxpayers to the MIC). CIA/NSA up to that point didn't "fix up" the intelligence to fit policy, only provided raw data for the politicians to make policy. dubya and dickhed continued the Repug corruption of NSA/CIA to fixup intel about Iraq.


Abstract: "The fall of the [Soviet] empire," former Czech president Vaclav Havel wrote, "is an event on the same scale of historical importance as the fall of the Roman Empire." It is true that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev repudiated the Brezhnev Doctrine--that the Soviet Union will use force if necessary to ensure that a socialist state remains socialist--and in so doing undercut the Communist leaders and regimes of Eastern and Central Europe in the critical year of 1989. But why did Gorbachev abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine? One Western leader above all others forced the Soviets to give up the Brezhnev Doctrine and abandon the arms race, brought down the Berlin Wall, and ended the Cold War at the bargaining table and not on the battlefield: President Ronald Reagan.

[tlongII]

http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/ronald-reagan-and-the-fall-of-communism

[boutons_deux]

http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/ronald-reagan-and-the-fall-of-communism

heritage is a VRWC stink tank, created to LIE, and spew "academic" propaganda. If you doubt me, fucking South Carolina Confederate asshole Jim Demint runs Heritage.

Along with CATO, it was one of the earliest VRWC stink tanks, founded in 1973.

[tlongII]

heritage is a VRWC stink tank, created to LIE, and spew "academic" propaganda. If you doubt me, fucking South Carolina Confederate asshole Jim Demint runs Heritage.

Along with CATO, it was one of the earliest VRWC stink tanks, founded in 1973.




It's the absolute truth in this case.

[boutons_deux]

NYT on GOP Debate: ‘A collection of assertions so untrue, so bizarre’

The New York Times editorial board published a scathing critique (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/opinion/crazy-talk-at-the-republican-debate.html) of Wednesday’s main Republican candidate on Friday, saying the 11 candidates sent a scary message while ignoring too many issues.

“It felt at times as if the speakers were no longer living in a fact-based world where actions have consequences, programs take money and money has to come from somewhere,” the editorial stated. “Where basic laws — like physics and the Constitution — constrain wishes. Where Congress and the public, allies and enemies, markets and militaries don’t just do what you want them to, just because you say they will.”

The board singled out Ben Carson and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) while ripping the candidates for their willingness to build a fence around the US-Mexico border as part of their immigration policy, noting that Rubio at one point was a co-author of an immigration reform bill.

“Do these people have to be sent to the Rio Grande Valley to see how ludicrous a border fence — over mountains, vast deserts, remote valleys and private property — would be?” the board asked. “And it won’t solve the problem they are railing against, which doesn’t exist anyway. Illegal immigration has fallen essentially to zero.”

The board titled its editorial, “Crazy Talk at the Republican debate,” pointing out the candidates’ refusal to discuss the country’s infrastructure, child poverty, and educational issues, among other concerns, while offering “no reassurance that grown-ups were at the table” regarding the attacks on Planned Parenthood, or policy concerning climate change.

“Peel back the boasting and insults, the lies and exaggerations common to any presidential campaign,” the editorial stated. “What remains is a collection of assertions so untrue, so bizarre, that they form a vision as surreal as the Ronald Reagan jet looming behind the candidates’ lecterns.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/nyt-on-gop-debate-a-collection-of-assertions-so-untrue-so-bizarre/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[Blake]

....they form a vision as surreal as the Ronald Reagan jet looming behind the candidates’ lecterns.”

:lol i knew i wasn't the only one who thought it

[mingus]

There's no passion with any of the candidates. They're all boring and look like the political robots pre-programmed to say scripted shit that they are--of course other than Donald Trump. But Donald Trump isn't electable for other (good) reasons.

And I'm a conservative.

i think that the non evengalical part of the party needs to just break away and create its own party. I think they'd win more independents and maybe even liberals. I'm so god damn tired of the the evangelical pandering. It's ruined conservatism.

[baseline bum]

If Reagan was president when the Berlin Wall was falling he would have egged the commies on and they would have overthrown Gorbachev and installed a hardliner like another Stalin or Lenin and a shooting war would have taken place in Germany. Thankfully GHW Bush knew when to shut the fuck up and let Gorbachev tiptoe the line between the Communists and the west and East Germany fell peacefully before the coup on him could take place. I'm happy we had an intelligence official at the helm instead of a fucking B-movie actor.

[boutons_deux]

There were at least 11 distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies in this week’s GOP debate

1. Insisting That Hispanics Used to Love Republicans: Lindsey Graham scolded the other three candidates in his debate, telling them that Hispanics voted for “us” under previous Republican president George W. Bush. Although it’s true that frontrunner Donald Trump has depleted much of what was left of Hispanic support for the GOP, even under Bush that wasn’t a vote they won. At the high point in 2004, Bush won 44 percent (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/03/18/the-republican-problem-with-hispanic-voters-in-7-charts/) of the Hispanic vote, and Romney only 27 percent.

2. Ridiculously Claiming That Iran Threatens the Western World: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee wanted the audience to know that Iran threatens the “essence of Western civilization.” The truth is, Iran’s defense budget (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/apr/09/barack-obama/obama-iran-spends-30-billion-defense-us-about-600-/) is around $10 billion, a fraction (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/apr/09/barack-obama/obama-iran-spends-30-billion-defense-us-about-600-/)of our own $600-billion-plus defense budget. Huckabee did not expain how a country with no weapons of mass destruction and a tiny defense budget can be a threat to the United States, let alone our NATO allies. Probably because it makes no sense.

3. Implying the U.S. Government Funds Abortion: Over and over, the assertion was made that the United States federal government finances abortions, such as by giving subsidies to Planned Parenthood. While one can make a convoluted argument that money is indirectly spread around, the fact is the federal government (https://www.aclu.org/public-funding-abortion) has had a blanket ban on abortion funding except in cases of rape, incest or when it threatens the health of the mother.

4. Claiming Obama Is Trying to Circumvent the Process to Let In Syrian Refugees: Bobby Jindal said that Obama was trying to “short-circuit the vetting process” to let in Syrian refugees, a dangerous dog whistle to imply that the president was going to let in terrorists. As CNN’s own fact-check (http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/politics/republican-debate-fact-check/index.html) pointed out, the 10,000 refugees — truly a paltry number— that are slated to come in will follow the exact same process as any other refugees.

5. Saying U.S. Is Almost the Only Country With Birthright Citizenship: Trump said almost no one else, including Mexico, has birthright citizenship, and moderator Jake Tapper agreed with him. That’s true, if you think the entire rest of the world consists of Europe. Almost everywhere in the Americas has birthright citizenship — and thatincludes Mexico (https://www.numbersusa.com/content/learn/issues/birthright-citizenship/nations-granting-birthright-citizenship.html).

6. Rubio’s Fantastic But False Story About His Grandfather: Senator Rubio gave an emotional address about his grandfather supposedly fleeing Castro to come to the United States. There’s just one problem: the story doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. As has been reported in the past (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/marco-rubios-compelling-family-story-embellishes-facts-documents-show/2011/10/20/gIQAaVHD1L_story.html), Rubio’s family came to the United States long before Castro ever came to power.

7. Stating That North Korea Can Hit Us With a Nuclear Weapon: Rubio also claimed that North Korea could hit us with a nuclear weapon. Unless it plans to send a team on a boat carrying a nuke, that’s not going to happen. There is very little evidence (http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/whats-the-status-of-north-koreas-icbm/) that North Korea has a functional intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

8. Saying, With A Straight Face, That Bush Kept Us Safe: “My brother kept us safe,” Jeb Bush said. This is a pretty ironic thing to say five days after the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which his brother obviously did not keep us safe from.

9. Going Back to the Tired “Sanctuary” Argument About Terrorists: Rubio made the argument that we needed to stay in Iraq, invade Afghanistan and have our military all over the world to prevent terrorists from having “sanctuary.” As the Boston bombing, Charleston, and many other attacks prove, terrorists don’t need to have a physical space to plot attacks, and a giant military presence in a foreign country doesn’t necessarily prevent them so much as give them recruits.

10. Telling People Marijuana Is More Harmful Than Beer: Carly Fiorina, disrupting Rand Paul’s more libertarian view on drugs, said that smoking marijuana isn’t like having a beer. Actually marijuana is much safer (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/no-high-risk-marijuana-may-be-less-harmful-alcohol-tobacco-n312876) than alcohol; marijuana has killed next to no one while the Centers for Disease Control says (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/no-high-risk-marijuana-may-be-less-harmful-alcohol-tobacco-n312876) that, “one in 10 deaths among working-age adults can be attributed to excessive alcohol use.”

11. Lying About Vaccines: Trump boosted theories that vaccinations are linked to autism. Despite Ben Carson’s intervention that this wasn’t true, Rand Paul still went on to tout the “voluntary” nature of smallpox vaccinations. Actually they were not voluntary, they were mandated (http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-anti-vaccination-movements) and financed by a global government effort through the World Health Organization.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/there-were-11-distortions-misrepresentations-and-outright-lies-in-this-weeks-gop-debate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[admiralsnackbar]

It's the absolute truth in this case. Considering that's what all of us were taught growing up, I won't give you shit for asserting the point, but 20+ years down the road there is plenty of persuasive and well-documented evidence to the contrary. This is the short-hand version: http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/06/20/everything-you-think-you-know-about-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union-is-wrong/ but the full story is better articulated in books. I recommend "Russia and the Idea of the West," by Robert English, as one that convinced me the position you've taken (as I once had) was incomplete. The US did beat the Soviets, but it had little to do with Reagan.

[boutons_deux]

"US did beat the Soviets"

still a Repug LIE that St Ronnie and/or USA beat USSR.

The USSR beat itself into collapse by invading Afghanistan and losing $Bs and 1000s of troops which really upset the Russian people,

totally mismanaging its economy and industrial base for decades,

being totally dependent on hard currency US$ from exports of oil and gas ('80s oil price collpased),

wasting lots of limited resources maintaining it defunct, unproductive, moribund empire (Cuba, countries behind the Iron Curtain, etc).

[boutons_deux]

http://www.truthdig.com/images/made/images/cartoonuploads/6C53CFC6-51E1-412D-A258-08CE899E5081_590_417.jpg

[admiralsnackbar]

[COLOR=#000000]"US did beat the Soviets" still a Repug LIE that St Ronnie and/or USA beat USSR. :lol Jesus, dude... read the article I posted or the book I recommended -- are you really so reflexively ideological that you can't recognize when people are supporting your position?

[Will Hunting]

:lol Ann Coulter melting down

644346344233127937
644346473304453120
644349641874632704

I think Ann Coulter is a generally insufferable cunt, but I applaud her for these tweets. She's clearly pointing out how this campaign is being influenced by Jewish money from AIPAC/Sheldon Adelson which is commendable.

I imagine there's a bunch of :crymuh antisemitism:cry backlash against her because of this, but her point is perfectly legitimate.

[Winehole23]

:lol Jesus, dude... read the article I posted or the book I recommended -- are you really so reflexively ideological that you can't recognize when people are supporting your position?yep. sure is.

[Splits]

I think Ann Coulter is a generally insufferable cunt, but I applaud her for these tweets. She's clearly pointing out how this campaign is being influenced by Jewish money from AIPAC/Sheldon Adelson which is commendable.

I imagine there's a bunch of :crymuh antisemitism:cry backlash against her because of this, but her point is perfectly legitimate.

It's partially the donor base, but I don't think you can disregard the evangelical vote: http://wonkette.com/594022/of-course-jew-hating-scum-queen-ann-coulter-is-terrible-but-shes-right-this-one-time

[Will Hunting]

It's partially the donor base, but I don't think you can disregard the evangelical vote: http://wonkette.com/594022/of-course-jew-hating-scum-queen-ann-coulter-is-terrible-but-shes-right-this-one-time

The evangelical vote is largely brainwashed by the donor base. A lot of the major televangelicals, particularly John Hagee, receive money from AIPAC every year in exchange for preaching pro-Israel bullshit.

[Will Hunting]

I also disagree with calling Coulter "Jew hating" when she's historically been pro-Israel. It's more of the same bullshit false premise that anyone who doesn't constantly slob Israel's knob is an anti-Semite.

[tlongII]

Considering that's what all of us were taught growing up, I won't give you shit for asserting the point, but 20+ years down the road there is plenty of persuasive and well-documented evidence to the contrary. This is the short-hand version: http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/06/20/everything-you-think-you-know-about-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union-is-wrong/ but the full story is better articulated in books. I recommend "Russia and the Idea of the West," by Robert English, as one that convinced me the position you've taken (as I once had) was incomplete. The US did beat the Soviets, but it had little to do with Reagan.

:lol foreignpolicy.com. That mag is a joke.

[hater]

It's a fact evangelical leaders and Zionist extremists have joined forces. That pact happened long ago.

The funny thing is evangelicals are waiting for the coming of the lord which will be triggered by the wipeout of all Israel. So they are both coperating with each other but for different goals. Zionists want to destroy their enemies. Evangelicals want a war so Israel can get wiped out and the Lord can come

Sick puppies out there

[boutons_deux]

The evangelical vote is largely brainwashed by the donor base. A lot of the major televangelicals, particularly John Hagee, receive money from AIPAC every year in exchange for preaching pro-Israel bullshit.

the evangelical base is brainwashed by the evangelical leaders, who may or may not see $$$ from the VRWC, whose intention is to dupe that base, on social issues, into voting Repug, the party of morality :lol and Christ :lol, so the VRWC can continue to rape the 99%, including the evangelical base.

[Nbadan]

...........................baha...ha....

https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4076378/Screen_Shot_2015-09-18_at_3.52.25_PM.0.png

[ElNono]

I just don't know that the tale of "we're wayyyyyyy worse than 7 years ago" really resonates. Maybe it does among the GOP base, which they're targeting now, but I don't think they can win the general election with that.

It's not that right now it's all roses, but 7 years ago, coming out of the bailouts, the economy was really fucked up. Recession, unemployment was higher, gas prices were higher. We still had boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. Large companies (ie: auto industry) were bankrupting. We're now much more energy independent than we were then (and back then, with $4/gallon, that was a big concern. A fart in Saudi Arabia showed up immediately at the pump). Even Wall Street made a killing with this guy.

We can certainly be a lot better, but worse than 7 years ago? I don't know about that.

The rest of the message is some variation of 'military weak, need more money', 'christians are under attack', 'supreme court justices are not above god', or the wedge topic of the moment (ie: 'evil planned parenthood', 'hillary emails', etc).

I'd like to hear a more positive message from the candidates, something beyond the rehashed 'trickle down', about how they plan to shape the future. The 'wouldn't it be nice to be back to the 80's?' narrative is a cliché at this point (and I loved the '80s).

I want to hear what's their plan for replacing Barrycare. Everybody (except Trump) seems to want to have a 'flat tax', ok, what do the numbers look like with it? Does it add up? If it doesn't, what are you going to gut, besides the IRS?, etc

Maybe it's too early to get into policy and specifics, but without them, it's just a popularity contest.

[boutons_deux]

"hear a more positive message from the candidates"

It's the Party of Stupid,both politicians and the tail-wagging base.

They hate govt (to the benefit of 1%/BigCort rigged status quo), so they want to MISgovern completely (eg, Do Nothings in Congress while blocking everything from the Dems) to convince their base that only (intentional, self-fulfilliing) bad can come from govt.

The Repugs and their base are the biggest threat to America, not Muslims.

America is fucked and unfuckable.

Repugs have floated (some turds) about how they will replace repealed Obamacare (failed 50+ times). But serious analysis proves they all stink, screw people and enrich BigHealthCare.

flat tax is a huge advantage to the 1%, screws the poor, which is why their paid sock puppets have been pushing it for decades.

Nothing gets changed or fixed unless politicians get paid, and lots of people get richer, and the 1%/VRWC/BigCorp pay very well.

I'm surprised at the naivete of your post, actually expecting serious govt, serious discussion from the Repugs. The last 35 years, esp the last 15, should have proven to you to expect nothing good from the Repugs.

[boutons_deux]

Fiorina Surges To Second Place Among Republican Candidates In Poll


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/polltracker/carly-fiorina-second-place-republicans?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

total lies, total bullshit from her, just like pitbull bitch (but less word salad), so the ignorant Repug base love her. :lol

She'll be encouraged to keep lying, bullshitting, conning, etc, etc.

[ChumpDumper]

Man, CNN trolled all the candidates into a "who can sell the most ridiculous lie" contest.

[boutons_deux]

I remember clearly, HP, maybe CF, saying "we need more profits, so we're firing 30K people"

[ElNono]

I'm surprised at the naivete of your post, actually expecting serious govt, serious discussion from the Repugs. The last 35 years, esp the last 15, should have proven to you to expect nothing good from the Repugs.

If anything, it's them missing an opportunity. Barrycare is certainly something that can be improved.

As terrible as dubya was, he had a comprehensive policy towards illegal immigrants that never really materialized, but did make almost half of latinos vote for him, twice.

Like I said, maybe it's early, and since the target is the base, this is enough. But I don't think it's enough to win the general election. We'll see also what the message from the Dems is.

[Splits]

I just don't know that the tale of "we're wayyyyyyy worse than 7 years ago" really resonates. Maybe it does among the GOP base, which they're targeting now, but I don't think they can win the general election with that.

It's not that right now it's all roses, but 7 years ago, coming out of the bailouts, the economy was really fucked up. Recession, unemployment was higher, gas prices were higher. We still had boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. Large companies (ie: auto industry) were bankrupting. We're now much more energy independent than we were then (and back then, with $4/gallon, that was a big concern. A fart in Saudi Arabia showed up immediately at the pump). Even Wall Street made a killing with this guy.

We can certainly be a lot better, but worse than 7 years ago? I don't know about that.

The rest of the message is some variation of 'military weak, need more money', 'christians are under attack', 'supreme court justices are not above god', or the wedge topic of the moment (ie: 'evil planned parenthood', 'hillary emails', etc).

I'd like to hear a more positive message from the candidates, something beyond the rehashed 'trickle down', about how they plan to shape the future. The 'wouldn't it be nice to be back to the 80's?' narrative is a cliché at this point (and I loved the '80s).

I want to hear what's their plan for replacing Barrycare. Everybody (except Trump) seems to want to have a 'flat tax', ok, what do the numbers look like with it? Does it add up? If it doesn't, what are you going to gut, besides the IRS?, etc

Maybe it's too early to get into policy and specifics, but without them, it's just a popularity contest.

solid post. History will judge Obummer well. The complete fucktitude mess he inherited, to leave the country on solid footing while insuring millions and neutralizing Iran... Historians will rank him quite high. Hell, Romney was promising 6% unemployment by the end of his first term. Look at Reagan's jobs numbers and it isn't even close.

[DarrinS]

solid post. History will judge Obummer well. The complete fucktitude mess he inherited, to leave the country on solid footing while insuring millions and neutralizing Iran... Historians will rank him quite high. Hell, Romney was promising 6% unemployment by the end of his first term. Look at Reagan's jobs numbers and it isn't even close.

Best president ever.

[djohn2oo8]

Lol Ben Carson and his Muslim comments.

[Blake]

Lol Ben Carson and his Muslim comments.

Damn smh...

seriously, could this group of Republican nominees get any more retarded? Fuck. I'm embarrassed as an American.

[boutons_deux]

Carson is obviously free-lancing, making up shit, way way way out of his depth in politics.

Carson Was Dropped From Christian Event Over His Own Religious Beliefs

several organizations and individuals within the Southern Baptist community publicly expressed their displeasure with having Carson, a Seventh-day Adventist, address the conference. Those complaints, in addition to Carson's expected presidential campaign launch, led Carson and the conference organizers to mutually agree to not have him speak at the event.

Rice wrote on his blog (http://www.calvary.us/pages/page.asp?page_id=296405&articleId=48662) in late April that while he didn't share other people's concerns about Carson's faith, "I have heard and respect their concerns and for the sake of unity we have reached a mutual decision with Dr. Carson’s team to forgo his appearance at our Pastors' Conference."

"As a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Dr. Carson is publicly identified with theological positions that differ from those of Southern Baptists,"

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/ben-carson-southern-baptist-pastors-conference?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29