Sunday Morning Bobblehead Thread
Paul McCartney - Tug of War
Do you remember tug-of-wars from your childhood? I remember the adult in charge lining up us kids by height and then going down the line, alternating which team we would be on, to ensure that neither side was unfairly stacked. That notion of balancing the sides to make things fair has morphed in modern media to this simplistic binary equation of Republican vs. Democrat. But it's a false equivalence, because it assumes a completely valid argument on both sides, and as we chronicle daily here at C&L, rarely do we see sensible, much less valid, arguments coming from the right to make the "balance" actually informative. Instead we get death panels, socialicommunistmarxism, concern trollism over deficit spending and the Olympic Games.
This week, despite the fact that bills are coming out of committees on health care reform, the bobbleheads have decided we need to talk about Afghanistan. So we have National Security Adviser Jim Jones on Face the Nation and State of the Union, UN Ambassador Susan Rice on Meet the Press and former CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni on Face the Nation. The economy will also get big play, with former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan on This Week and Sen. Barbara Boxer and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on State of the Union to talk unemployment. But never fear, health care will be discussed, with of course, the media's version of "balance" of putting Party of No members John Kyl, Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss and John Cornyn on to obsfuscate some more. One bright note in the morning, Rachel Maddow will be back on Meet the Press roundtable, so we have a chance of some reasonable discussion there. That is, if the Davids--Gregory and Brooks--give her a chance to talk.
ABC's "This Week" - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan; Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
CBS' "Face the Nation" - National security adviser James Jones; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni; Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.
NBC's "Meet the Press" - Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Bob Woodward, Katty Kay, Elisabeth Bumiller, Howard Fineman. Topics: Will President Obama send an additional 40,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan? Will Israel attack nuclear facilities in Iran without U.S. consent? Meter Questions: Was the anti-Obama venom unavoidable? YES: 6 NO: 6; Has Obama Got Command Back? YES: 12 No: 0.
CNN's "State of the Union" - Jones; Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - The United States holds its first one-on-one talks with Iran in decades. Will this new diplomatic approach work? Hear what our panelists have to say. Plus, the author of a controversial UN report on the Israel-Gaza conflict earlier this year. Finally, an interview with the President of Columbia on everything from the war on drugs to free markets and US relations.
"Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Bob Casey, D-Pa.
So what's catching your eye this morning?
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"Let's talk dirty to the animals"
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"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
To hear anything any of these paid liars have to say about anything!
Unless they are announcing that they have a terminal illness and will never be seen on the tube again!
The best thing that could happen to America is to be rid of all these sunday talking asshats.
republicanism is a mental illness! Get rid of them if you can, a nice trip to gitmo would be wonderful for all of these people accept maddow.
Haven't we seen this movie before?
Of note: "Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Three Conservatives and a Democrat, starring Steve Guttenberg.
UPDATE: Show starts... guess whose earpiece isn't working? :)
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
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"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Yeah, there's an opinion I trust...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I am going to sit outside and finish this marvelous, albeit depressing, tale of growing up in Afghanistan during the period 1970-2000. I read "The Kite Runner" as welland, if you want to grasp and appreciate the plight of the Afghani people, I highly suggest both books.
As to David Gregory and his ilk. May I say, "F#@* 'em, all."
"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."....Muhammad Ali
Sometimes I wonder if these Generals have any sense of the history of Afghanistan. I also wonder how many high ranking Generals (as well as political animals in charge of policy) are familiar with Sun Tzu.
Either way, for a good primer on A-stan, this weeks issue of Newsweek (Inside The Taliban) provides some good personal stories of 6 Taliban who give their story.
Its worth pointing out that almost all the influential leadership of the Taliban that these men spoke of were killed by various Predator drone strikes since 9/11, yet the Taliban is still stronger than ever.
Thats not a good sign for our occupation, but then again, there are no good signs
Radix Omnium Malorum Avaritia
Occupying another country never leads to anything good.
I think Sitting Bull might agree.
Is the fact that NBC seems to have figured out a way to get people to watch David Gregory: Put Rachel Maddow on Meet the Press with him. They should just go a step further and fire Gregory and put Maddow in as the sole host. She's far smarter and she calls B.S. on people, regardless of partisan affiliations while Gregory just wanks.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
Give it time. They have to wait until Gregory's contract is almost up before they can let him go to Faux.
Charles Manson and His Followers (2-hour) :
Snip - Seven murders rocked the nation in August,1969, but three months after the brutal killings - evil had a new face. Charles Manson has been called a monster- a cult leader- even the deadliest man alive. But when terror struck those two nights in the Hollywood Hills - Manson wasn't there. Did he brainwash his followers to kill? Or is the truth even more frightening?
From inside prison walls - interviews with and written accounts by Charles Manson, Susan Atkins and Charles "Tex" Watson reveal what brought the "Manson family" together and drove them to kill. Find out what really happened inside the "Manson Family", in their own words.
►[ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036750/#28143343 ]
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Imagine the consequences (Lindsey sure isn't):
On FnS, Graham says that "If Iran is found to be developing nukes, not only should we blow up those facilities, we should take out their entire military. They should have no planes that fly. No..." (I tuned out at this point.)
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Was it the Israeli reference, or the graphic nature? Just so I understand. Thanks.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Only if Graham and the other chickenhawks who back this bullshit muster in and blaze the trail in country. The frontest of the front lines.
And then only if our govt gives them shitty out of date body armour, unarmoured vehicles and lets the Iranians in on it.
me-oww!
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"The most important thing is that the Afghans feel that Karzai is their elected President..."
Uhh, I believe that having the legitimately-elected candidate is what's important; maybe it's just me?
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I know I sure had a warm and fuzzy feeling that Bush was our "elected" President. Made me so proud.
Mein gott, what kind of stoopid do you have to be to utter a statement like that?
when I heard it.
A challenge by King? Nah...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Graham made it clear that Beck's saying that "Obama was a better choice than McCain for President" was the deal-breaker for him. :)
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
I'm trying to figure this out.
The FnS panel says, "in retrospect," Brazil appears to have had the Olympics "in the bag"...
Yet, Obama went to "bully" the IOC and "failed miserably".
Kristol: "You couldn't help but laugh."
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
Of course you can't forget that Kristol was and still is cheer leading for Palin. You can't help but laugh.
Despite an earlier acknowledgment that only half of the stimulus funds have yet to be spent, Brit Hume calls the current stimulus a "tremendous failure" and answers "I hope not" when asked about a second stimulus.
With the way Republicans have obstructed every penny of spending, and at one point even arguing that "things are getting better, so we don't need to spend the rest of the stimulus funds" to make the case that the stimulus "isn't working" is bizarre.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
Why after this length of time, has so little of the "stimulus" been spent, while those bailouts of banks, insurance and corporate Wall Street were instantaneous??
I just put a new roof on and was pleasantly surprised to find out, part of my stimulus is a renovation tax credit to the tune of 15% up to $10,000 spent. Sounds great. New roof? Over $3000 plus taxes of approximately 13%. Taxes paid approx. $390. Total Tax Credit initiative? $450. Sooo...the government's great stimulus idea will give me back about $60!!! Oh hooray! Can you feel the economy being stimulated???
You pretty much nailed it (forgive the pun).
Conservatives are obstructing every dollar that's spent, and directing most of it to their corporate buddies.
Then they ask, "Why isn't it working?"
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
that at one time, made bids, got the job, then hired at their normal payscale are now doing things differently. They are bidding, getting the job, then hiring through temp agencies at minimum wage. Yet, the cost of these stimulus "shovel ready" jobs is actually higher than previously??? Sure why not. Bail out banks, insurance, auto, wall street, and now the construction industry, but NOT the real victims of this fraud, the average taxpayer. You get a "tax cut". Hooray for Saint Ronnie's trickle down!
Temp agencies seem to increasingly have the market cornered on most jobs. My brother was talking to a new gal at our medical marijuana outlet and she was sent there by the temp agency.
Could you imagine going into a temp agency and they tell you "All we have are jobs selling pot!"?
What you discribed about road construction is not true around where I live and there is a lot of construction going on and a lot of workers working who would be out of a job without the stimulus.
The stimulus was always designed to take this long. In the beginning they wanted a lot of shovel ready jobs but everybody knew it would take time for most of it.
Funny thing with the stimulus dollars in Humboldt.
They approved stimulus dollars to redo the waterfront in Eureka's harbor. The thing is they were planning to put in high-end condos and upscale stores! Although it has been the plan that Eureka would be a port of call for cruise ships, they have to dredge the harbor first, for which no money has been allocated.
Anyone else have stimulus dollars going towards something that wont be used?
between SF and Alaska (besides Seattle) as a port-of-call would indeed be a good boon to the local economy. Sounds like your local reps need a bigger voice.
BTW, is the fishing industry out of Eureka now dead? (Obviously, lumber is pretty much gone, I'm guessing) How long has it been since it was a deep-water harbor or dredged?
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Lumber is still a big industry up here and the timber companies have a lot of land untouched. Lumber was bigger thirty years ago and many mills are mothballed, but we still produce a lot (all redwood comes from here)
Fishing is devastated. Salmon are ruined. A friend of mine did commercial fishing out of Fort Bragg two years ago and they are down to just a handful of commercial fishermen and have severe restrictions on what they can catch.
Don't know when the last time the harbor was dredged. may have been over thirty years ago when the train tracks were wiped out by storms and train service stopped.
It is interesting living in a place that has declined sharply from what it was 30 years ago, not all bad IMO.
I'm guessing that they've been replanting and harvesting more reforested areas?
I worked up in Eureka about 15 years ago for awhile. Kinda quaint, kinda under-utilized waterfront, from a casual observance anyway. I don't think condos, a-la Miami/Ft Lauderdale, or even Santa Monica, would go over well, though.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Oh and pot. I forgot to mention pot is still a big part of the economy. Possible biggest dollar-wise.
up there :)
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
..."Fort Bragg"(North Carolina)?
And did your friend explain why they have "severe restrictions on what they can catch."? Thanks
Study the symptoms not the virus...
"What could the President present to you that you could support?"
Who. F*cking. Cares.
--------------
Kyl--"The other party of NO, the Democrat Party..."
Childish little bitch.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
(ignore)
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
There is NOTHING that these Republicans would support. NOTHING!!! They have made it obvious.
to Iran)?"
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
What an awesome question from a brilliant man.
If the Iraqis can shoot down the Israelis en route to Iran, America can go home. We will have accomplished our mission: a middle east that can deal with its own problems.
Gregory, citing Qadaffy, asks if this doesn't show why the UN is insignificant today.
Rice, diplomatically, points out how we need it to create alliances.
But if she weren't in the Admin, she might also of pointed out: "What better forum to show the world this guy is nuts... not someone to ally yourself with."
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
suggests (probably correctly, IMHO) that Iran probably has more than just the two disclosed nuke processing facilities, attacking militarily would not be effective.
------------
Woodward--"I never thought I'd be on this show in the fall and not be discussing healthcare."
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
First, he did it with Rice, then, next with David Brooks.
Both times, he cited Obama calling Afghanistan "a war of necessity" followed up with "needing to send more troops"... because, as we all know, winning in Afghanistan can ONLY be won by sending more troops. :(
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
We we are losing about thirty a week now?
The general said if you want the war to continue, send more troops. The additional troops won't win the war, but the will continue the war, which is our goal: the continuation of war.
100 years, 1000 years, whatever it takes to achieve continuation.
I'm thinking that Obama is stalling knowing that he will not give them more troops. Let Karzi cut his own throat and we can react from there. Can you say "drone"?
Drone.
Gregory kept pushing Rice to say Obama would keep troops in Afghanistan "until the threat was over", and she naturally refused to take the bait.
Gregory never actually said just how long "over" would take.
He essentially wanted Rice to say Obama would be willing to keep U.S. troops there "forever".
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
After the past year of Conservative slanted positions on every issue, it's hard to believe Steph-O was ever a member of the Clinton Administration.
If anyone could see the difference between how successful past Administrations have been and what works, you'd think he'd realize how disastrous Conservative policies have been, rather than become more Conservative.
Case in poit: Greenspan ("we are recovering") vs. Steph-O... which one is the Democrat here?
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
If they paid Steph-O enough he would do anything. He is just another media prostitute shilling for his corporate pimps. He doesn't have the integrity to stand for anything except his career advancement and personal enrichment.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
...that Republicans were saying we needed to "cancel the rest" and not spend any more.
Today, every Conservative has been repeating in lockstep what a tremendous failure it has been.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
Carville: "He's nuts!"
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
...of the "government takeover of healthcare" line going unchallenged.
Cornyn used it again on MtP, and Schummer let it slide.
When will someone with a backbone point out the difference between "insurance" and "Socialized medicine"?
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
He just asked a North Dakota funeral home director if we needed a public option! Of course he said no.
Until you respect the citizenship of those with which you disagree, you're not a true American.
Can anyone say, "Conflict of interests"? :)
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
diner. All four have full plates of food--it all gets cold and goes untouched. Lots of people would love to have had that kind of breakfast; I hope King paid their tabs.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
... without U.S. consent?
If we're acknowledging that Israel only acts when it gets US consent, then I guess it's time to make Israel the 51st state and make everything patently obvious to everyone.
Just an interesting observation:
On ThisWeek's list of deaths of 11 troops in Iraq/Afghanistan, there was not one person from California or Texas.
I've noticed that nearly every week, there has always been at least one fallen troop from one of those two states. No real significance of anything. Just an observation.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
"Rahm Emmanuel doesn't want to alienate the left-wing of the Democrat Party."
Huh? Since when has Rahm ever cared about liberal Dems??
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Conservatives for Public Reform (I think).
One life-saving technique that I won't learn.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I'm always highly suspicious when Conservatives make claims that go unchallenged for so long that they become "Common knowledge".
During "Fox news Sunday" this morning, I heard the Roundtable repeat the claim that "Ford's vastly better quarterly sales figures (compared to GM & Chrysler) are the direct result "Consumers REWARDING Ford for not taking bailout money." While this may indeed play a part, I'm always highly suspicious when "anti-government fervor" is credited with any mass movement. I suspect Ford's better numbers are more due to the perception they will actually be around ten years from now than any mass rejection of the bailout. It was that same "better health" BEFORE the bailout that allowed Ford to forgo the bailout in the first place.
I've heard Conservatives repeat this idea frequently over the past few months to the point where it's becoming "common knowledge", and not once have I heard anybody challenge it.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
Tug Of War: An excellent counter-example to throw at anybody who thought McCartney lost it after the Beatle split. Great song, great album!
Can't find it..
But..I have to admit I have a soft spot for the Yesterday/Here,There and Everywhere/Wanderlust trilogy from the Broad Street movie.
To use a Brit word....Bloody aweful movie...but there was some decent music on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipsobxtfv50
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