Zero Consistency

yeah I watched it too for the same reasons. kinda hard to accuse people of being close minded if you refuse to at least listen to what the other side has to say. but yeah, it is really hard to listen to some of that crap with a straight face.

wow that daily show clip is so hilarious!


Keep blogging sir I enjoy reading it!

Jon Stewart is the man, I love that clip.

WTF is up with all those "buzz words"

It's as if everyone subscribes to a daily newsletter that says, "When interviewed please talk about the following:"

1.Liberal Media biased
2.Sexism
2.Executive experience

I swear to god these mindless pundits just regurgitate whatever happens to be the happening thing to say.

Oh, and Karl Rove is the most evil person I've ever seen.

<3 all

Yeah the daily show is the shit - the opening with karl rove vs karl rove was just absolutely amazing.

wow

and LOL i love this show

Ya <3 K2o4, so far every blog I've read from you I've agreed just about 100%.

I caught the ending of Palin's speech last night, and I know how you feel. I don't understand how people can swallow this blatant BS. In her speech she was talking about how she stood up to big oil to Alaska....... really? You stood up to big oil by supporting drilling in ANWAR? Then she goes on to talk about how she's all about ethics reform..... really? Is that why you're currently under investigation for abuse of power?

just so you know, being the VP is TOTALLY different than being the commander in chief. I may like obama more than mccain, but I dont delude myself into thinking that he will command a better military

On September 04 2008 13:33 SKoT wrote: just so you know, being the VP is TOTALLY different than being the commander in chief.

Duh =) Cmon man, do you really think I don't know that? Did I ever say it was the same? I'm saying that there's a scary chance of a President McCain or President Obama dying, and then the VP becomes comander in chief. So we shouldn't just go "oh they're the VP they have no power" cause there's such a high chance that the VP could be taking over at some point in the term. Did you miss my paragraph about that up top? Or are you making another point that I completely missed? =)

I may like obama more than mccain, but I dont delude myself into thinking that he will command a better military

I don't see why he wouldn't - the fact that McCain flew a plane and got shot down, and trained a unit in america, doesn't make me think he'd be a better president in terms of how he runs our military. We don't need another war minded person in those mtgs - the generals (who know about the military much better than mccain) are gonna show up and talk to the president and lay it all out. I'd rather have a president who's entire life hasn't revolved around war, so that when the pressure comes hard from the generals he takes it as one side of the argument. I truly believe McCain's answer to everything is force, force and more force. I feel like McCain would have gotten us killed in the cuban missile crisis cause he'd have just gone straight to fighting. I feel like Obama would handle it like JFK did, and THAT"s what I want in a commander in chief. Not someone who's in a 24/7 war mindset. There will plenty of that mindset in the room.

Brett, I gotta wonder; how much do you actually know 'bout the Cuban Missile crisis? And don't post a bunch of shit from wikipedia. Frankly, I think the situation in the world is a great deal more dire than it was then. I want someone who will know what to make of what his generals tell him. A guy who graduated from the Naval Academy (yes, he was low in his graduating class, but supposedly due to bad relationships with the establishment - McCain's IQ scores are of 128 and 133, I don't think he's an unintelligent fellow), flew 23 bombing missions, volunteered twice for combat positions, and spent 22 years total in the military probably has a better idea than someone who has never served at all. I don't doubt Obama's intelligence, just his judgment.

Really look at McCain's military career, don't just spout the leftist rhetoric of "flying a plane and getting shot down." The man did a lot more than that.

You've said before that you want to belittle neither his POW experience nor his military career; but when you say that Obama is just as (or better) qualified to run the military, that's exactly what you're doing.

I watched a bit of the DNC, and tuned in for Obama's speech. My response to it was neither to shout at the TV, but to laugh. To laugh and to shake my head "no" at all his little presumptions and self-defamations. I don't mock Obama's relative lack of experience, and I don't endorse anyone who does. The McCain camp made a mistake attacking him on that point. An experienced mental retard is not preferred over a brilliant novice. I don't, however, think Obama is a brilliant novice (except in producing the kind of rhetoric that wins people like you over). I do think that Palin is honest and straightforward. I like what she has said so far, and I like that she's from a small town. I like that she isn't experienced and that she hasn't lived the politician's life, in any sense of the world. I hardly think the same claim can be made about any of the other three individuals running in this race. Senate, State Senate, Lawyer, Ivy League school - you get the picture, Obama may be young, but he's been living this life for 20 some odd years.

What I really hate is the mudslinging, from both sides. That includes you, and the media, Fox News, Karl Rove, MSNBC, and both presidental candidate camps. Stop debating the candidates' less-relevant variables (experience, background, family, etc., etc) and start judging them, having them debate one another, on the truly important things, on their wisdom and judgment and leadership.

In short, you making posts like this does not help with American political reform. If you really want change, you'll drop this sort of "Paint 'um Black" nonsense.

On September 04 2008 14:34 ObsoleteLogic wrote: Brett, I gotta wonder; how much do you actually know 'bout the Cuban Missile crisis? And don't post a bunch of shit from wikipedia. Frankly, I think the situation in the world is a great deal more dire than it was then. I want someone who will know what to make of what his generals tell him. A guy who graduated from the Naval Academy (yes, he was low in his graduating class, but supposedly due to bad relationships with the establishment - McCain's IQ scores are of 128 and 133, I don't think he's an unintelligent fellow), flew 23 bombing missions, volunteered twice for combat positions, and spent 22 years total in the military probably has a better idea than someone who has never served at all. I don't doubt Obama's intelligence, just his judgment. Really look at McCain's military career, don't just spout the leftist rhetoric of "flying a plane and getting shot down." The man did a lot more than that. You've said before that you want to belittle neither his POW experience nor his military career; but when you say that Obama is just as (or better) qualified to run the military, that's exactly what you're doing. I watched a bit of the DNC, and tuned in for Obama's speech. My response to it was neither to shout at the TV, but to laugh. To laugh and to shake my head "no" at all his little presumptions and self-defamations. I don't mock Obama's relative lack of experience, and I don't endorse anyone who does. The McCain camp made a mistake attacking him on that point. An experienced mental retard is not preferred over a brilliant novice. I don't, however, think Obama is a brilliant novice (except in producing the kind of rhetoric that wins people like you over). I do think that Palin is honest and straightforward. I like what she has said so far, and I like that she's from a small town. I like that she isn't experienced and that she hasn't lived the politician's life, in any sense of the world. I hardly think the same claim can be made about any of the other three individuals running in this race. Senate, State Senate, Lawyer, Ivy League school - you get the picture, Obama may be young, but he's been living this life for 20 some odd years. What I really hate is the mudslinging, from both sides. That includes you, and the media, Fox News, Karl Rove, MSNBC, and both presidental candidate camps. Stop debating the candidates' less-relevant variables (experience, background, family, etc., etc) and start judging them, having them debate one another, on the truly important things, on their wisdom and judgment and leadership. In short, you making posts like this does not help with American political reform. If you really want change, you'll drop this sort of "Paint 'um Black" nonsense.

thank you for articulating everything i wanted to say but didnt have the patience or drive required to do so

On September 04 2008 14:34 ObsoleteLogic wrote: Brett, I gotta wonder; how much do you actually know 'bout the Cuban Missile crisis? And don't post a bunch of shit from wikipedia. Frankly, I think the situation in the world is a great deal more dire than it was then.

Not a whole bunch. Basically I have a general idea of it from that movie 13 days, plus I've been told that at the point that our military intelligence told us that they missiles were NOT operational and that we could bomb them safely, some missiles actually were up and running - so if we'd done what the generals wanted we'd have been nuked. So no, not a whole lot. I also don't feel like things are as dangerous as they were back then.

I want someone who will know what to make of what his generals tell him. A guy who graduated from the Naval Academy (yes, he was low in his graduating class, but supposedly due to bad relationships with the establishment - McCain's IQ scores are of 128 and 133, I don't think he's an unintelligent fellow), flew 23 bombing missions, volunteered twice for combat positions, and spent 22 years total in the military probably has a better idea than someone who has never served at all. I don't doubt Obama's intelligence, just his judgment.

And I love his judgment. That's what sells me on Obama. Also, I swear Fred Thompson said McCain was shot down on his 2nd or 3rd bombing mission - maybe I just misheard 23rd as 3rd or something. Anyway, I do admit that McCain will have an edge when it comes to having a bit more insight into how the army works, but I totally don't trust his temperament or judgment. I also think Obama is a very smart guy who will be able to learn a lot of the things McCain has an edge on him over now, and he is also smart enough to appoint people with that experience to help him out. So I feel totally safe with him in charge of our army cause I feel like he'll come at it with a clear head and listening to all sides and use force as a last resort. I feel like McCain would make quick rash decisions (like he always does and admits to doing) and he wouldn't spend time to really examine an issue from all sides and find all possible solutions.

Really look at McCain's military career, don't just spout the leftist rhetoric of "flying a plane and getting shot down." The man did a lot more than that.

My understanding is he graduated bottom of his class cause he was always fucking around, partying, and generally being a wild child, and he passed thanks to being from a long line of admirals. Pretty standard - you go in as a big hot shot with big wig family ties and you don't take anything seriously. Anyway, he then got a good assignment on an aircraft carrier that generally goes to people who graduate at the top of their class, not the bottom (again, family ties). He crashed 2 planes (I might have that wrong, but at least 1) and still was allowed to fly. He then went to Nam, got shot down and was a POW. To me the story feels like a rich priveledged kid who was rebelling and didn't care about anyone and was getting everything handed to him, and then he gets shot down and this is where he becomes a serious hero. The stories about his time as a POW are fucking impressive. Then he came home and got a job commanding a large unit in texas or somewhere. They were having poor performance reviews and he was able to whip em in to shape. Then he got a job in DC being the guy who got money from congress to fund military shit. While he was doing that he met cindy mccain in hawaii (john was married at the time) and he cheated on his wife with cindy for a few months, then dumped his wife and married cindy right quick after that. Cindy's family encouraged him to run for office in Arizona and used their connections and money to set him up - he was a pretty impressive guy at that time and he ran an ass kicking campaign. Then he spent a long time in washington and was a true maverick. Honestly, everything about him from his time as a POW till about 2000 I like a lot. I always liked him. But in the last 8 years he's changed. He lost in 2000 by trying to be himself, so this time he caved in and decided to embrace bush, rove, and all of that BS which he always stood against. The POW who was against torture became the senator who supported bush's torture in gitmo. WTF. If this was 2000 I'd be saying "wow, I'm happy no matter who wins, but I like Obama better". But it's not. It's 2008 and a new mccain, and I won't vote for this guy.

You've said before that you want to belittle neither his POW experience nor his military career; but when you say that Obama is just as (or better) qualified to run the military, that's exactly what you're doing.

No, that's not true. I'm just of the opinion that you don't need to have a millitary career to be the president. Obama's not RUNNING the military - he's in charge of giving the bigger vision and direction. The generals are in charge of RUNNING it. Kinda makes me think of when we were in sMi - I don't know how to build a website, you did. So you were running the website. But I was the leader of the team and made decisions in regard to the website. Just cause I didn't have web experience didn't mean that I wasn't capable of running the team, right? So I'm not saying that his POW or military experience was bad, I'm saying that it doesn't make me think he'd do a better job than Obama.

I watched a bit of the DNC, and tuned in for Obama's speech. My response to it was neither to shout at the TV, but to laugh. To laugh and to shake my head "no" at all his little presumptions and self-defamations.

hehe, well we both thought the other guys convention was full of BS =) No big surprise there, but I appreciate that you did watch.

I don't mock Obama's relative lack of experience, and I don't endorse anyone who does. The McCain camp made a mistake attacking him on that point. An experienced mental retard is not preferred over a brilliant novice. I don't, however, think Obama is a brilliant novice (except in producing the kind of rhetoric that wins people like you over)

Well we agree on the experience point, just disagree on whether Obama really is that brilliant novice and I definitely think he is, and that he's much more than rhetoric.

I do think that Palin is honest and straightforward. I like what she has said so far, and I like that she's from a small town. I like that she isn't experienced and that she hasn't lived the politician's life, in any sense of the world. I hardly think the same claim can be made about any of the other three individuals running in this race. Senate, State Senate, Lawyer, Ivy League school - you get the picture, Obama may be young, but he's been living this life for 20 some odd years.

Small town or big town doesn't really register with me either way. Doesn't impress me or make me think badly of someone. I like Obama's level of experience - state for the majority of it so he could learn how to get some shit done, a little bit in washington to get a feel for it and not enough to corrupt. To me Palin's experience is a bit thin. If she impressed me to have good judgment or to be someone I could trust, then I'd feel better about it. But I think the # of scandals coming out about here, which seem to all point to a vengeful vindictive nature, aren't making me feel good. I hate abuse of power, and I hate hypocrites. So someone who is championing herself as a big ethics person but has this history of abuse of power isn't impressing me at all. Also, I see nothing at all wrong with the ivy league school, especially someone who got there on scholarship. And Obama's lawyer experience is a bonus in my book. I know we automatically assume all lawyers are the devil, but Obama got the law degree but didn't sell out and use it to make millions. He used it to help people, donating his time. He used it to teach people about constitutional law. And we definitely could use someone who respects and understand the constitution after the last 8 years of bush shitting on it.

What I really hate is the mudslinging, from both sides. That includes you, and the media, Fox News, Karl Rove, MSNBC, and both presidental candidate camps.

I don't care for it either. But I find myself defending mudslinging with facts, not mudslinging. My entire post was talking about the lack of consistency in republicans which was driving me crazy - basically them attacking Obama on pure BS but then not setting the same standard for themselves. Shit like trying to say palin has more experience cause she had executive power, but that argument also means that she's more experienced than McCain... wtf. So why isn't she the top of the ticket then? I'm just pointing out hypocrisy and ridiculous shit. I've also posted about her positions and beliefs which I disagree with.

Stop debating the candidates' less-relevant variables (experience, background, family, etc., etc) and start judging them, having them debate one another, on the truly important things, on their wisdom and judgment and leadership.

Sounds good to me - that's what I try to do but when there's this onslaught of lies, BS, double standards and contradictory messages it's hard to focus on the issues. The republicans don't seem to want to focus on the issues to me.

In short, you making posts like this does not help with American political reform. If you really want change, you'll drop this sort of "Paint 'um Black" nonsense.

I'm not going to sit back and let them spout BS without answering back vs it.

btw Brian, I want you to read this email I got today from a friend of mine. He's an evangelical who grew up Republican but recently switched to Democrat and started working on Obama's campaign. It's about this ridiculous attack and mocking of community organizers that the republicans did last night and you completely neglected to mention in your reply:

CNN is playing in the background and they've been replaying this evening's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. As all of you now I'm sure, the evening's speakers took a lot of petty shots at Senator Obama, a number of them factually inaccurate. There is however one particular dig that has me a little upset. I'm sure you've already read my boss's thoughts on this exact same topic, but I felt the need to get this off my chest before I can get to sleep. I am of course referring to Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Palin's repeated and despicable attacks on the very nature of community organizing. In early 2007, I returned to the states after one of the most important experiences of my life. I had left in early December 2006 for a tiny village in South Central Zimbabwe a spiritually and intellectually confused young man. I was questioning my own beliefs about how the world worked and what my place in it was. The beauty and eloquence of the lives of the people I encountered in Nashuro had changed my life. I didn't know exactly what I wanted my life to be about, except that I wanted it to be about something more than myself. I was (am) young and naïve and I wanted to change the world, to affect those around me positively and to fight the injustices that seemed to slap anyone willing to look at them in the face. No longer so sure about the 'R' that appeared next to my name in the County Clerk's Voter Records, I was disillusioned with politics and entirely unconvinced of it's ability to exist in any real way as a vehicle for social change. On my way out of Dulles I picked up a copy of "Dreams from my Father." In it I found a man who was far from perfect, but who, just like me, had desired to be better than he had been and had set out to do something worth doing with his life. This brilliant young man had graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law and then decided to take a job that made him $12,000 a year in the great city of Chicago. That job was as a Community Organizer. Barack Obama did not magically fix every challenge in people's lives. He did not, as Gov. Palin mocked, “turn back the waters and heal the planet.” He did, however, remind people that we all have a shared stake in this life, that we can work together to make things better (although never perfect). He did help people's voices be heard by a government that had written many off as unimportant. He did build relationships with real people who were struggling to make it through the week and had long forgotten what it was like to be a child in America, to believe that anything was possible. What attracted me to Barack Obama was that he had carried those experiences with him to the State Senate and he had done so with purpose. He had felt burdened to do so. He had fought for a reform of the Death Penalty that didn't allow itself to be distracted by the political discourse that said you either didn't care that some innocent men were unjustly being punished or you didn't care about the victims of crime. He had worked to get healthcare for the children of Illinois because he remembered what it was like to see a mother distraught over how to juggle her low paying job with her sick child. He had worked across party lines to get tax cuts passed for middle and lower class families. He had secured funding for early childhood education and he had done so because things had not always been perfect for him. Barack Obama earned my support because his life told me I could dedicate my own to something that really mattered. I started volunteering for this campaign 15 months ago and it has been a rocky road at times. There have been countless night's where sleep wasn't an option. I've made mistakes and I've struggled to remember why I'm still doing this. At the end of the day the only reason I'm here is because I believe if I work hard enough and if I struggle bitterly to improve myself, that I can live a life that's worth something. Along the way, the people I've met have taught me that I can enjoy the journey too. I cannot rightly claim to be a Community Organizer in the same way Barack was and in the same way thousands of people who are working with families across the country every day are. But the parts of my job that closely resemble community organizing are the ones that keep me going. So tonight, Gov. Palin insulted the very concept that has come to shape my worldview. She belittled the idea that people can make a difference in the world around them and she disparaged the defining experiences of Barack's life, and in a way, she insulted all of you, who are inconveniencing your lives for the sake of working with some college dropout from Vegas on this campaign. I'm a little angry at the Governor of the great state of Alaska right now, but more than anything I am determined now more than ever to do everything in my power to win this community for Barack Obama and those inherent beliefs he espouses. I guess what I’m saying is let's get to work, team. Is it too early to phone bank right now? -Jordan

First, on McCain:
He was a hero before being shot down. He volunteered for combat duty, despite being able to skip out of it (Admiral's son, afterall). His first ship, the Forrestal, somehow caught on fire (I'm fuzzy on the details) while McCain was in his plane, which was also burning. He escaped and rushed to help another pilot when a bomb exploded and he was hit with sharpnel. Even after that, he volunteered again for more combat duty.

He admitted that he made mistakes in cheating on his wife, but did not just dump her. He asked her for the divorce, and didn't file it automatically. He left her with two houses and payments for her medical treatment for life.

The man certainly isn't a saint, but he recognized that he's a sinner, at the least. In his own words, "My marriage's collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and immaturity more than it was to Vietnam, and I cannot escape blame by pointing a finger at the war. The blame was entirely mine."

Second, there really wasn't an attack on community organizers, there was an attack on Obama's running on a community organizer as something more valid than being a mayor. Everything you've posted fails to look at Palin's actual statements; it's all knee-jerk, "She hit me! I'm telling mom!" reactions. Derision of community organizers would be stupid. Derision of community organization as a qualification for being the single most important individual in the running of the United States makes sense. Once McCain announced Palin as his VP, the Obama camp went blitzkrieg on her experience - which, if I think you're honest and objective, you would have to agree is a stupid move. Palin's primary comment, about what the job of a small-town mayor is, was a defense against those attacks. The other was really just a cute little rhetorical turn that gave the constituency a laugh.

Third, Brett, you wrote an entire post dedicated to the dredged up Palin-scandals ("Country First". Have you looked into any of these scandals? These are the desperate measures of smear-campaigners. The thing with her ex-brother-in-law? The guy tasered a ten year old. I'm pretty sure he deserves to be kicked off the force, and I'm pretty sure anyone who wouldn't kick him off the force also deserves to be fired from whatever position he is in. Look at the sources for the rest of them: HuffingtonPost, DailyKos, Andrew Halco; people with admitted agendas against the right, and against Palin. Where's even some mainstream media corroboration?

I am afraid I cannot see this as anything remotely factual. It's mudslinging, pure and simple.

Fourth, you keep talking about how great Obama is, and how brilliant he is, so on and so forth, but I've never seen you actually write anything explicitly positive about him, just vague praise while bashing his opponents. I started out this election season voting against Obama and not for McCain. Now, after the VP selection, and after the RNC, I'm much closer to voting for the Republican ticket, while still voting against Obama. Maybe I'm just bitterly clinging to my guns and religion?

Actually Brett, here's a proposal for ya:

How about a point - counterpoint debate, you for Obama, me against him, your blog and mine?

On September 05 2008 08:18 ObsoleteLogic wrote: Third, Brett, you wrote an entire post dedicated to the dredged up Palin-scandals ("Country First". Have you looked into any of these scandals? These are the desperate measures of smear-campaigners. The thing with her ex-brother-in-law? The guy tasered a ten year old. I'm pretty sure he deserves to be kicked off the force, and I'm pretty sure anyone who wouldn't kick him off the force also deserves to be fired from whatever position he is in. Look at the sources for the rest of them: HuffingtonPost, DailyKos, Andrew Halco; people with admitted agendas against the right, and against Palin. Where's even some mainstream media corroboration? I am afraid I cannot see this as anything remotely factual. It's mudslinging, pure and simple.

Don't have a lot of time right now, but wanted to respond to this first. I went and checked through and on my blog the links go to huffpost, daily kos and so on, but when you go to those articles they link to the alaska daily news and other sources. You just didn't follow it through to completion. All 4 of those "scandals" are legit.

About the troopergate thing, the guy was investigated and suspended. After that the case was closed on him. The guy who palin leaned on couldn't fire him for that shit cause the guy had already had his day in court.