Patterico's Pontifications

Ding.

Patterico (83033d) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:34 am

so far me I’m not paying it no nevermind

it’s just a busy week for me

happyfeet (3c92a1) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:45 am

Other than the free airtime, is there any great loss to not having this thing?

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:55 am

Uhh, if Ron Paul had been elected President, we would ~~have all committed suicide~~ not be in this mess !

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:58 am

Don’t look at the national debt ticker as it crosses the 16 trillion dollar mark,…uh, look, we’re wearing pink ~~anatomical~~ uh, costumes !

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:01 am

This is an interesting convention story.

I think there is great value in a unified GOP. Even in red or deep blue states, attitudes about volunteering and being enthusiastic are important for this party to come together and win the general election (not just the Presidency, but that’s a big part of it).

The GOP has had a broken primary system and corruption. The unconstitutional ad hoc ballot access in the Virginia primary is a good example. But it’s just one. The floor fight over presidential candidates ousting delegates is another.

I’m glad we have an active grassroots that so upsets the entrenched GOP. We need to preserve that as much as possible.

All sane republicans share this fear that conservatives are used in the general election, based on fear of the democrat, and then once our votes are cast, some of our leadership will accept many of the same policies that we were fighting to stop. Things like a government mandate for health insurance, picking winners and losers by policies, and of course, spending more money than the government has.

Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan gives me hope that he takes these problems seriously, and that his record in MA does not reflect his plans for his presidency. I hope it’s a sign that Romney intends to work towards a balanced budget. The floor fight over the 2016’s GOP president being able to veto delegates has me concerned that there is a different long term plan in place.

It won’t change my vote. Romney is obviously better than Obama. But these concerns are widespread and legitimate, and I hope the Romney campaign finds a way to alleviate them. But it won’t change my vote, so I’m not sure they are too worried. I don’t have much of an argument from the political side of things. Obama’s so bad that conservative support is largely assured.

But the GOP has been on a better track since 2010 because of honest grassroots. The price for this in a lack of job security for those entrenched in government largesse is a feature, not a bug.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:04 am

Dustin

We had several choices, we had one if not two of the most successful conservative governors running, we had a speaker who is the only one to end an entitlement, a hugely major entitlement, and then a conservative senator from a swing state.

We picked who again?

Also look at Ryans plan, we need to end medicare, not reform it. True it slowed growth but didnt but in guarantees that they would not slow taxation.

Romney went on record saying no tax cuts.

Yes I will vote for Romney,

No, I dont think either one will put in conservative Bork like judges, nor spend a penny less than barack

EPWJ (d84fb0) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:11 am

We picked who again?

We picked Romney, and we need to unify and support him if we’re to beat Obama, which we need to do.

No one thinks this was my first, second, or third choice in the primary. I was harder on Romney in the primary than anyone else I saw. But the primary is over. It’s unfortunate everyone didn’t agree with me, but I’m used to that :). I’m excited about the prospect of replacing Obama with the far more intelligent, patriotic, and competent Mitt Romney.

we need to end medicare, not reform it

I agree. If it were up to me, we would simply stop Social Security, Medicare, and most government agencies. We would also reduce the entire scope of the federal government so that states could be as different as possible.

But it’s not up to me. We have to go about government change via discourse, coalitions of power, voting, etc. We need to use politics. Ryan’s reform has the advantage of being possible politically, much unlike what I would do if I were king. That’s what makes Ryan so dangerous to the left! That’s why he is an inspired VP selection, shaping a potential future for our party.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:26 am

EPWJ,

Only a left wing saboteur pretending to be a “conservative” like yourself would suggest that Romney/Ryan should campaign on ending Medicare rather than reforming it.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:27 am

We show up for an argument, he does for abuse, mostly.

narciso (ee31f1) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:44 am

Unintentionally hilarious video at thegatewaypundit, where a leftist scolds all the folks still at home couch potato-ing instead of showing up in Tampa.

Patricia (e1d89d) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:50 am

No one has taken the Democraps and the media to task for CHEERING Isaac causing destruction which they think will sink the GOP ticket. It it Ghoulish to want and celebrate a Hurricane whacking New Orleans again. Somebody post the happy dances the media and Democrat shills do celebrating Isaac being Katrina II.

PCD (1d8b6d) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:01 am

There’s a convention? What? When? Where? Why?

The left out Dana (3e4784) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:30 am

PCD gets silly:

No one has taken the Democraps and the media to task for CHEERING Isaac causing destruction which they think will sink the GOP ticket.

What, do you think that they are held to the same standard as conservatives or something?

The realistic Dana (3e4784) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:36 am

No one, not Mitt Romney, not Paul Ryan, not Ron Paul, nobody, is going to end Medicare. the only thing that would ever end Medicare is the whole system going flat broke. After ObaminableCare fails, whether through repeal or the fact that it’s wholly unworkable, once the Democrats are in again we’ll be seeing a “Medicare for all” universal health care plan.

The very realistic Dana (3e4784) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:47 am

Well Isaac is sort of a liberal pffft, no impediment in Tampa, lose a couple days oil production but no damage in NOLA, and much needed rain to portions of the heartland.

Liberals confirmed in their “God is dead to me” bitterness.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:47 am

Mr Gulrud wrote:

Liberals confirmed in their “God is dead to me” bitterness.

Not a particularly wise position for them to take, but, then again, if they were wise, they wouldn’t be liberals.

The Catholic Dana (3e4784) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:51 am

No one, not Mitt Romney, not Paul Ryan, not Ron Paul, nobody, is going to end Medicare.

True. At least for a while. Eventually, these programs may end on their own because of the math.

And if we’re stuck with entitlements for the foreseeable future, we need to try to get these things on some kind of sane and sustainable path instead of demanding what simply isn’t in the cards.

We need to be more responsible so that we do not screw the next generation the way the baby boomers screwed mine.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:58 am

{Various responses to #18 self-censored in the interests of good taste}

Alasdair (2cd241) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:06 am

Convention?

:^D

Smock Puppet, Like... Duh? (8e2a3d) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:14 am

Or, put another way…

“My lack of interest in the convention borders on the supernatural in its extent.”

Smock Puppet, Like... Duh? (8e2a3d) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:15 am

If you’re going to point out that successive generations are making the same selfish choices that the boomers made, I agree with you, Alasdair. But I don’t know what you were trying to say.

Something has gone wrong in this country when it comes to deficits and entitlement spending. We exploit the future with debt. We do not care enough about leaving something to the future, other than the bill.

I find it to be the defining problem of our country.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:16 am

Will there be a conservative rebellion at the Convention, or will Team Romney step back? Last night, I thought it was the latter but now I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

DRJ (a83b8b) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:17 am

The Status Quo WILL end Medicare/SocSec.

As to Isaac: Damned if you Do – Damned if you Don’t!

Even if the convention were being held in Anchorage (and why not, I ask?), the media would be castigating those evil, rich, conservative, robber-barons for frolicking while the poor people of the Gulf-Coast were enduring yet another Natural Disaster (which was probably engineered by Enron).
There is no point in trying to assuage the sensibilities of the Left, and their water-carriers in the media. They will always find a way to knot their knickers, and blame it on the unfeeling, the uncompassionate, the non-diverse, the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy; in other words:
The Rethuglicans!

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b8ab92) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:21 am

Dustin, we may have already passed the “tipping point” where the Entitlement State is driven further and further into the abyss trying to satisfy the needs and wants of those who no longer feel they have to contribute.

We will have to see if CA can survive the impending collapse, or will it have to be completely rebuilt after shedding all of the Prog nonsense that has built up here for the last 100-years.
It started here, will CA foretell the end of the Republic, or the Resurrection?

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b8ab92) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:29 am

Comment 4- we agree. No point to the republican national convention.

trebek (fa5676) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:34 am

Since this an open thread:

I asked the guy at the 7-11, politely, if I could ask where he was from? He said, “Nepal”. I looked at him with disbelief, since he was about six feet tall. I said, “You’re tall”. He did not dismember me with a kukri. He said, “Thank you”.

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:44 am

Rush: The media is making the charge that any discussion of Obama’s record is racist.

AZ Bob (7d2a2c) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:46 am

Dustin, we may have already passed the “tipping point” where the Entitlement State is driven further and further into the abyss trying to satisfy the needs and wants of those who no longer feel they have to contribute.

AKA, kill the math witch.

I hope we’re not past the point of no return. I’m a bit insulated from the harshest reality of spending because I’m in the best state in the country.

But as we get to this point of no return, I think some will act like it’s an excuse to just spend with abandon. That may explain the budgetless spending spree of the past three years.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:49 am

“trebek” is stalker-ish “tye”

JD (b0764b) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:51 am

________________________________________

we may have already passed the “tipping point” where the Entitlement State is driven further and further into the abyss

Your comment makes me think of the example of Argentina, which I find fascinating because it’s a South American society of predominantly European background (ie, its racial/ethnic demographics) that has been wedded to mainly leftist politics and Evita-Peron type leaders for over 100 years. It’s sort of a variation of the city of Detroit, but with different population characteristics and perhaps less extreme anomie and failure. However, it’s quite identical to typical dysfunctional American cities in that no matter how bad things get — and no matter what history should have taught people (at least those who are sane) — there’s an almost self-destructive desire on the part of much of such place’s population to embrace liberal policies, liberal figureheads, no questions asked.

If this is a window into our future, we’re kaput…

economist.com, June 2012:

From this week, any Argentin[ian] wanting to take a foreign holiday must not only provide his tax identification-number but also tell the tax agency (known as AFIP) where, when and why he is going. Officials say this violation of privacy is needed to fight tax evasion and money laundering. In reality, the reason is that the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is starting to run out of dollars. Since the inflation rate is already over 25%, the government is terrified of letting the peso depreciate. Instead, it is resorting to a siege economy.

The curbs have succeeded in cutting capital flight, from $8.4 billion in the third quarter of last year to just $1.6 billion in the first quarter of this year. The Central Bank’s reserves, which the president has dipped into for public spending, have stabilised, at $47 billion. But this has come at a price: the economy is decelerating fast. And the informal currency market is booming.

Calle Florida, a pedestrianised thoroughfare in the heart of Buenos Aires, is once again thronged with money-changers, as it was in the inflationary 1980s.

Only last October Ms Fernández easily won a second term with 54% of the vote. Since then, the deteriorating economy has cut 20 points from her approval rating. Her nationalisation of most of Repsol’s share of YPF, an oil company, in April, halted but did not reverse the decline. With growth running out, the risk for the president is that her popularity starts to move in inverse relation to the inflation rate.

Mark (cf1ca8) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:53 am

Also, I already knew that there were “rawhiders” who haunted cattle drives for lagging steers, but I only found out today that there were also calf wagons who picked up small calves that could not keep up with the herd. It’s been three hours and I still remember it. A test of my semantic anterograde amnesia.

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:55 am

Obama has made it clear this morning that he (“I”) has already sent FEMA to NOLA (because he will handle a hurricane there better than Bush). (No, we don’t want to hear that it was the gov and mayor). (And gov. Jindahl cares to much about governing responsibly to make Obama look bad).

Perhaps if the “establishment” tries to push around the conservatives, after the election all of the firm conservatives in the house and senate make their own party and tell the repubs, “Look, if you want to get anything done, you have to be willing to work with us as a coalition. we aren’t answerable to you anymore.”

I think there probably are a number of representatives and some Senators that could easily win re-election without Repub help, especially if Romney and Co. turn Dem-lite after the election. 2010 repeated in 2014 with the republicrats taking the hit.

Maybe.

MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:58 am

Mark, didn’t Christina also Nationalize all of the private retirement accounts in the last year or two?
I seem to recall something about that, and also that something on that order was floated by some of the econ-team around The Lightworker for consideration here.

Poor Argentina: From the 2nd-largest economy in the America’s at the Turn of the Century (1900), to one of the Southern Hemisphere’s preeminent basket-cases by the next Turn.

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b8ab92) — 8/28/2012 @ 11:06 am

Comment by MD in Philly — 8/28/2012 @ 10:58 am

The Establishment-GOP needs to be constantly reminded that they are not Gods, and that (currently) without the TEA Party, they are Pond-Scum.

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b8ab92) — 8/28/2012 @ 11:08 am

Will Mitt have columns to stand next to?

mg (44de53) — 8/28/2012 @ 11:49 am

estone

They said the same thing to Newt he shouldnt end the 400 billion dollar welfare to dependent children…

Sometimes you just have to say

Lets make the medical field tax free – protect it from lawsuits, and let the free market compete for millions of seniors who have disposable income.

Rather than disposing of my income.

EPWJ (d84fb0) — 8/28/2012 @ 12:17 pm

Hurricane Isaac caused Joe Biden to cancel his trip to Tampa.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 12:58 pm

There will be a tribute to Neil Armstrong tonight.

(Did that take the place on the schedule of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s speech?)

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:00 pm

34. The turning point for Argentina was the military coup in 1931.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:01 pm

There’s too much control by the candidates in the nominating proces, but that;s been true for a long time. People can’t vote for uncommitted and nobody can reallky be drafted. They ahve to choose only among the candidates.

But that said, a candidate is entitled to know his delegates are really for him. Ron Paul pretty much stole the delegates of Iowa. Of course I don’t know if maybe other candidates dropping out had somethinbg to do with it.

Still, this would seem to maintain tight central control.

They have a proposed rule that would give the Republican National Committee the power to change rules between conventions with a three-quarters vote of the RNC. Now they may need something in case of a hurricane or a resignation from the ticket. It also,of course,would guarantee Romney’s renomination if elected president.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:12 pm

Links via Nalkin web site:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-rules-changes-could-spark-gop-convention-fl

The change, pushed by the Romney campaign’s top lawyer Ben Ginsburg originally allowed candidates to select all the delegates bound to them in state contests. Now it allows candidates to refuse the delegate, requiring another in his or her stead to be selected by the state

The second one looks like it gives more local auithority as the candidate doesn’t pick the delegate in the first place, but only can refuse one.

One comment:

his rule change was precipitated by Ron Paul and his out of control Paulbots after they over-ran a couple of state conventions and pushed through their own delegates with the intention of ignoring the will of the voters. Once it happened twice, most states fixed their own rules to prevent it, causing the Paulbots to flip out because their little plan to steal the nomination process failed, but several states still have Paulbots posing as Romney delegates with the intention of creating problems at the convention. These rule changes are meant to interfere with the folks who want to create chaos and thank goodness for that.

Of course this also would guarantee the presumoptive nominee total control of the platform, and credentials, so others besides Ron Paul’s people don’t want it.

It’s also argued a candidate might give delegate spots to big contruibutors (which actually kind of make sense because if someone gave a lot of money, they probably really mean their support)

http://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-levin/damn-it-defeat-this-rino-power-grab/10151002712575946

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/romney-campaign-and-activists-reach-compromise-on-delegate-rule/?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://markamerica.com/2012/08/28/the-power-grab-isnt-over/

http://www.rlc.org/2012/08/26/a-letter-from-morton-blackwell-to-rnc-delegates/

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:27 pm

The big motive for the rule is to prevent someone like Ron Paul from gaining extra delegates, but this is done in a way so as also to control the platform committee.

Of course the speakers are anyway controlled beforehand.

copmplaint is the delegate selection process hasn’t entirely been honest, although taht doesn;’t affect thsi one way or the other.

With easier rules changes changes could be amde to affect who would be the nominee too.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:31 pm

*42 Malkin. Some links are secondary – via other links.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:32 pm

No, what works best over the long run is rule stability.
We saw in the Dem Party from ’72 onwards the chaos that results from a constant changing and re-jiggering of the rules.
They had just about as much success as does the Fed trying to play with interest rates.
Create a standard, and stick to it.

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b8ab92) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:36 pm

How I wish the GOP could become a modern replica of the Whigs. As constituted, it is not worthy of our respect. It will never be home to our aspirations and dreams for our republic.

The silencing of a legitimate minority, who submitted the proper paperwork to be heard, would have made ol “LBJ or Sam Rayburn, or the Tipster mighty proud. I think I caught harry Reid smiling in appreciation, as well.

We have no choice today. We must elect Romney. But we will not forge meaningful and lasting reform so long as he and his ilk run things.

Ed from SFV (81526c) — 8/28/2012 @ 1:38 pm

Comment by Ed from SFV — 8/28/2012 @ 1:38 pm

How I wish the GOP could become a modern replica of the Whigs.

It could be argued it should have gone out of business in the 19330s, but the institutional struictures were too strong.

I think one of the problems with politics in the United States today is that it is too centralized.

It is easier to raise money for PACs and political parties than for individual candidates – the campaign contribution limits are higher. This causes a great deal of problems.

Incidentally the Whigs went out of business over the slavery issue, because they were too moderate.

The Democratic Party was pretty much pro-slavery.

It was also the stronger party, and a strong second party never really formed.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 2:04 pm

The event somebody talked about on some thread I can’t find right now that will start on a Friday at the Democratic Convention is not being done by the Democrats (although they seem to be calling attention to it)

In fact this is after the convention is over. It ends on a Thursday like that of the Republicans. Both conventions are now three days. Actually the Democrats will have some trouble on Wednesday next week since I think NBC is broadcasting a football game, and they moved some speeches around because of that. As was the case last time, Obama’s acceptance speech will be given in an outdoor stadium, not a hall.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 2:34 pm

This is the Arutz Sheva story about the Jumah: (which is critical of the event)

5. Muslims Plan 3-Day Jumah Event to Pressure Democratic Convention

by Fern Sidman, NY Correspondent

Approximately 20,000 Muslims are expected to attend a three-day event called “Jumah at the DNC,” according to the published itinerary of the upcoming Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina’

The Jumah event is being sponsored by the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (BIMA, the national Muslim American non-profit organization that seeks status with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization (NGO).

The Charlotte Observer reported that the event will kick off August 29 with a Friday afternoon jumah prayer service in Marshall Park in uptown Charlotte, followed by an Islamic issues conference that will address such topics as “Islamophobia, Anti-Shariah, Middle Eastern Crisis, the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization Act.” This will be capped off with the Islamic Regal Banquet and an Islamic cultural festival.

The purpose, according to BIMA, is to attract national and international attention to the plight of American Muslims and to hold political parties accountable for issues that affect them.

At a press conference in early July, Jibril Hough, the spokesman for BIMA and a local activist said, “Thousands of Muslims are going to perform the Friday ritual prayer. We hope our people will leave feeling rewarded about who they are and what their issues are and have a candidate checklist.”

However, not all Muslims feel that BIMA represents their perspectives and M. Zuhdi Jasser M.D., founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy has expressed serious concerns.

“It is troubling that the Democratic National Convention has decided to promote and lend its name and national political platform to the organizers of the ‘Jumah at the DNC'”, he said. “The leaders of this event, Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahha,j are advertised as moderates. They are radicals. These individuals embrace Islamist supremacy and have demonstrated support for radical ideologies.”

Dr. Jasser added, “Their jumah group prayer is against the Patriot Act, the NYPD, and Islamophobia. Their views on these topics have nothing to do with preserving our democracy as we know it, but it is about empowering their Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers into the very fabric of the political system so that Americans become anesthetized. We need American Muslims to speak up and marginalize these radicals. The DNC needs to understand and reject them because of their radical history and ideas.”

As the leader of the Islamic Center of Charlotte, a Sunni mosque, Jibril Hough is known as being an outspoken opponent of North Carolina Congresswoman Sue Myrick, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee. He has called her plan to expose and enact legislation against jihadist activity in America “a fear campaign” and has labeled it as the “new McCarthyism (or Myrickism)”.

Moreover, Jibril Hough is the North Carolina leader of the Islamic Political Party of America (IPPA), based in Charlotte. According to Dr. Jasser, the IPPA issued a press release in 2002 claiming the Jews were behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He asserts that the IPPA has close ties to another organization known as Jamaat Al Muslimeen (JAM), The Islamic Peoples Movement, who have gone on record as being Holocaust deniers.

During an interview with radio station talk show host Keith Larson on the WBT station in Charlotte, it was revealed that Hough’s mosque is owned by The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), an organization blacklisted by the U.S. Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror finance case in U.S. history.

According to government reports, NAIT is also a front group for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Hough denied any knowledge that his mosque was owned by NAIT and said he was unaware that they had been blacklisted, although during the interview he defended Hamas and accused the U.S. and Israel of the only “real” terrorism.

The other organizer of the “Jumah at the DNC” event is Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who heads the Masjid Al-Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, New York. He is the leader of The Muslim Alliance in North America and is a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who is an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

During the 1995 trial of Omar Abdel Rahman (the Blind Sheikh), who was convicted of plotting to blow up the World Trade Center and other New York City landmarks, Wahhaj served as a character witness, describing Rahman as a “respected scholar” and as “bold; as a strong preacher of Islam.”

Wahhaj is also a Board of Trustee member of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF) (who’s website currently features an anti-Jewish, anti-black rant), and is also considered to be a Muslim Brotherhood front organization.

Like Hough, Wahhaj is connected to NAIT by way of his membership in the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which was also found by the government to be a front for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the Militant Islam Monitor web site, in 1992, while addressing an audience of New Jersey Muslims, Wahhaj said that if Muslims were more clever politically they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate.

“If we were united and strong, we’d elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him. Take my word, if 6 to 8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us”, he was quoted as saying.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/28/2012 @ 2:36 pm

Romney has said six thousand times he intends to reduce rates while keeping effective rates the same for upper-income earners. He will do so, he says, by eliminating loopholes, shelters, and reductions. He has said, until he’s blue in the face, that he intends this to be revenue-neutral, at least as far as top earners.

-AceofSpades

EPWJ (d84fb0) — 8/28/2012 @ 2:50 pm

Hay Zeus effin krist, Sammy. Link

JD (b0764b) — 8/28/2012 @ 2:53 pm

The RNC had numerous large images of Neil Armstrong in their convention hall in Tampa. Even Fox’s cherubic Cavuto made reference to it–and rightly suggested the late Armstrong would have likely ‘winced’ at the use of his image at such a gathering. And the irony of today’s GOP doing that is simply hilarious, if not despicable, as C-SPAN has been airing GOP candidates acceptance speeches from conventions past and 48 years ago, their ultra-right wing candidate, Barry Goldwater, the ‘father’ of the modern conservative movement – the core of today’s GOP- specifically voiced skepticism in opposition to financing a ‘moonshot’ as he called it, in one of his talking points during his famous 1964 “extremism is no vice’ Cow Palace address. Goldwater, of course, lost in a landslide to LBJ. Indeed, the Congressional Record from that era is littered with Republican opposition to Project Apollo. Decades later, Reagan embraced the glory of ‘meeting men who have walked on the moon’ in his final convention address yet he actively campaigned for AuH20 as well.

Given Neil’s history of protecting his persona and image from being misused (recall his lawsuit w/Hallmark and w/his own barber,) if he was still with us, perhaps he’d take the Republican Party to task over it w/cease and desist litigation. In any event, it does seem absurd for the Republican Party to try to lay claim to anything related to the JFK/LBJ initiated Apollo project. And it’s ironic, too, as President Obama is a strong advocate for privatizing the space program today, yet many GOP Senate and House members with key aerospace industries and installations in their states, oppose it- chiefly on matters of ‘pork.’ Still Gene Cernan, a close friend of Armstrong’s, and who has voiced alarm over the Obama Administration’s HSF policies (usually on Fox, although last budget cycle, along side Armstrong at Congressional hearings) was in talks to possibly address the RNC convention on space. It would be great to have spaceflight center stage again – however briefly– at a high profile national venue. Whether weather or time constraints will permit, as services for Armstrong are on Friday in Ohio, remains to be seen.

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:06 pm

^ hilarious, given DCSCA’s recent comments criticizing space exploration.

You’re really reaching. It’s true that you can name a Republican who opposed the program. It is insane to suggest this means Republicans cannot authentically praise Neal Armstrong, himself a Republican.

The way you trolls need to rewrite history suggests you are not very confident about these issues.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:09 pm

Sammy The Fink,

You have an obligation to figure out Internet Explorer or Firefox so that you can provides links rather than headaches.

Numerous people have asked you to stop with the links. You’re officially being a weenie.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:11 pm

Raise your hand if IMP’s rhetorical diarrhea surprised you.

JD (b0764b) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:13 pm

btw, there’s no reason a democrat can’t authentically praise Neal Armstrong either. I wish we could just appreciate the greatness of this country, and put tribalism like DCSCA’s aside when we can.

No matter what we think about government spending or the deficit, a man walking on the moon is a truly amazing thing. Neal was a brave and heroic scientist and explorer with few peers, and America is the greatest country in the world and should strive to live up to our best citizens.

Why does that have to be political?

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:18 pm

I got this in an e-mail. However, I know it is also available online and now I looked for and found the link:

Muslims Plan 3-day Jumah Event to Pressure Democratic Convention

“Jumah at the DNC” to highlight Muslim concerns. Leaders are anti-Semitic;one held Jews responsible for 9/11.

Let’s see if that split link works.

Sammy Finkelman (a69e24) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:21 pm

Good link, Sammy. Interesting as well, but I suspect the protest will put the exact opposite sort of pressure on dems than was intended.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:23 pm

@#53- =yawn= Except it’s not. Why don’t you take it up w/business reporter Cavuto at Fox and the government-subsidized band of Musketeers in Hawthorne. You do realize that Elon has only invested $100 million of his fortune into the firm– a paltry sum in aerospace circles- the rest is government contracting and subsidies for his ‘private’ firm. =eyeroll=

And BTW, DCSCA has never criticized space exploration–only the recent spate of poor managment resulting in drastically escalating expenses for automated, throw-away spacecraft at a time when ROI for same is coming under increasing scrutiny in an era of deep debt and deficits. Apparently you don’t comprehend that everybody was cheering the engineering accomplishment of landing Curiosity on Mars ealier this month– not any science returned. Once it was down safely, the EDL team was essentially ‘out of a job.’ And in case you don’t realize it yet, space exploitation is not space exploration. But then, you’re just crankin’ to crank. As usual.

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:36 pm

@#56. “No matter what we think about government spending or the deficit, a man walking on the moon is a truly amazing thing.”

Except it wasn’t an an appealing prospect to Barry Goldwater, ‘father’ of the modern conservative movement and Republican nominee for President in 1964 nor to a significant number of GOP office holders in that era, when Apollo was in its early stages. Fortunately, they failed to stop it and Apollo was a triumph for the United States. =eyeroll=

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:53 pm

Goldwater was right to criticise the Apollo program. Because it was a government program it reached the milestone of putting a man on the moon much earlier than private enterprise would have done; but by setting that as the public goal, once it was achieved there didn’t seem to be any reason to keep the program going. So we saw the cutbacks of the ’70s, and now we can’t go back to the moon even if we decided to. Delos D. Harriman would have taken maybe 20 years longer, and maybe the Soviets would have got there first, but we’d still be there today.

Milhouse (1a98d5) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:56 pm

President Barack Narcissus Obama on the stump tiday ruminating about the Republican convention in Tampa:

“It should be a pretty entertaining show,” Obama said. “I’m sure they’ll have some wonderful things to say about me.” …

LOL. As usual, he thinks everything’s all about him.

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 3:56 pm

Elon has only invested $100 million of his fortune into the firm…

Well, I suppose he can do that what with all of the subsidies he’s getting for his car company?
BTW, when will those cars be available again, and how much will they cost?

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b8ab92) — 8/28/2012 @ 4:05 pm

Goldwater was right to criticise the Apollo program.

Of course he was. And of course I would be right to criticize other programs, such as a military program that was too expensive (as many are).

This doesn’t mean one can’t authentically praise a war hero or an amazing explorer. I’m glad the RNC continues to believe in American exceptionalism.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 4:24 pm

That was because Mondale and Proxmire, were in the forefront of killing the program, read Mark Whittington, it’s dubious the Energia booster would get the Russians there.

narciso (ee31f1) — 8/28/2012 @ 4:25 pm

This doesn’t mean one can’t authentically praise a war hero or an amazing explorer. I’m glad the RNC continues to believe in American exceptionalism.

Exactly. Armstrong was a hero, and his mission was heroic. My opinion that it should have been managed and financed differently doesn’t affect that in any way; nor does the fact that if it had been done as it should have been it would have taken longer, and therefore someone else would have been chosen for it. None of that changes the importance to mankind of what those three heroes did.

Milhouse (21636c) — 8/28/2012 @ 4:38 pm

Long time ago, Illinois Central delayed me for 25 minutes on my way to NOLA from O’Hare. Saw it again, two days later, by the bend. Safe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0lpss9MZEc&feature=related

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 4:48 pm

I was going to ask if that was the train, nk, then I looked at the link.

I remember Arlo playing it, though.

MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:02 pm

All Republicans today are beholden to any view from any Republican for at least 40 years back.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:02 pm

Well Armstrong did criticize Obama’s truncated vision of the space program.

narciso (ee31f1) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:12 pm

It’s Willie Nelson, MD, and it’s a very good version, although the sound and graphics don’t match.

I don’t know why the GOP would want to go to Tampa for their convention. I have been there, many times, and the only good thing about it is sailing off Tampa Bay, because it’s a mini-Pacific in the Atlantic, beautiful and calm. The city, itself, totally weirds me out, and Hillborough County police make me see the need for gated communities.

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:15 pm

EPWJ:
we had a speaker who is the only one to end an entitlement, a hugely major entitlement
— Keep flogging this dead horse and the people from PETA are going to send you to the gulag.
Okay, now listen, and listen closely: Newt Gingrich did not … did not … DID NOT “end” ANY entitlement. NOTHING! So stop saying that he did.

Romney went on record saying no tax cuts.
— Umbday.

No, I dont think either one will put in conservative Bork like judges, nor spend a penny less than barack
— You should’ve stopped after word four.

Lets make the medical field tax free – protect it from lawsuits, and let the free market compete for millions of seniors who have disposable income.
— Oh, so you have read Romney’s plan, after all. Good 4 u!

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:21 pm

Disco Stu speaks of Disco Stu in the third person.

Oh, and he makes s*** up, too.

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:26 pm

@#61. “Goldwater was right to criticise the Apollo program.”

=yawn= Except he wasn’t. And th soundly defeated Goldwater was wrong. And history has proved him wrong. Along with the rest of the GOP which opposed Apollo of that era. Which makes conservative GOP attempts today to steal any Apollo era glories with the untimely passing of Aromtreong all the more contemptuous. And it won’t fool anyone.

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:44 pm

Who was Goldwater? Who brought von Braun to America? Which President thought the Russians cut off his balls with Sputnik? Who cares, Dischead?

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:48 pm

IMP never fails to bring the stupid. Maybe he can regale us with tales on snapping towels with Von Braun. Or playing soccer in the yard of the Russian embassy at Christmas. Or selling papers for a few quid in Maggie Thatchers old neighborhood. Or smelling Rush’s smelly armpits in the elevator. Or being NSA. Or NASA. Or hanging out with Rather. Or working at CNN.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 5:54 pm

Which makes conservative GOP attempts today to steal any Apollo era glories with the untimely passing of Aromtreong all the more contemptuous. And it won’t fool anyone.

— Fool Stu once, shame on Stu.

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:08 pm

Thank you, JD.

There is one country who fought a war on four continents and four oceans and won. And put a man on the moon. And we haz dischead.

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:09 pm

@#70. “Well Armstrong did criticize Obama’s truncated vision of the space program.”

More questioned than criticized- as was Armstrong’ nature, but generally speaking, rightly so. Certainly he questioned the long term direction and financing of LEO vs. BEO ops., the private vs. government funding and so on for space projects of scale.

These two candidates aren’t exactly enthralled w/space. It wasn’t really a part of either of their formulative years. Certainily not Obama’s. Traditionalists are alarmed at Obama’s approach– and there are competing camps within NASA over it. And we’ve heard Romney’s position on anyone bringing ideas of ‘moon bases’ and such to him during the debates— he’d fire them. Of course it’s a ‘luxury’ expense in an era of fiscal austerity now, too. More interesting is Hillary Clinton’s views. She has a genuine interest in the space program. And most likely will revisit it in her first term after Obama’s second term is completed. Armstrong always kept an eye on HSF activities and when asked, offered his views. Cernan has been more vocal since Constellation was shelved albeit due to underfunding in the Bush years and poor leadership from Griffin on cost control in the Ares development mess. But the GOP laying claims to anything Apollo related is just totally bogus. Nixon cratered the program, to the point of nixing operational funding and terminating Saturn V production even after the hardware for the final three flights had been purchased. The man was so petty over anything Kennedy, he scuttled NASA’s plans to have the USS JFK pick up the 11 crew and sent the Hornet, instead. =sheesh=

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:09 pm

IMP is a space cadet.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:10 pm

And I thought I was stupid!

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:11 pm

Hillary Clinton’s views. She has a genuine interest in the space program. And most likely will revisit it in her first term after Obama’s second term is completed.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:11 pm

I cannot say that Hillary _____s because, if she did, Bill would not have turned to Monica.

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:15 pm

I am a ChicagO ZerO, and David approves this message.

nk (875f57) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:17 pm

I enjoyed watching the CNN anchor this morning, ask whether the threatened walkout by the Maine delegates was an historic first, as if she had never heard of anything so disquieting as a convention walkout or a floor fight over a rule.

CNN didn’t exactly bring David Brinkley.

Nor is it exactly gavel-to-gavel coverage, what with the infinite talking heads who each need their camera time, and the bigger talking heads in New Orleans.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:29 pm

And most likely will revisit it in her first term after Obama’s second term is completed.

For what country? Because Obama won’t leave much of this one.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:45 pm

Was that Soledad bringing the stupid?

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (2bb434) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:48 pm

Interesting seeing Rand Paul interviewed on CNN, where he told Wolf Blitzer he was concerned out the survival of the country if Obama was re-elected. Wolf was aghast that someone would even say such a thing.

Then another CNN reported interviewed Gingrich, and Gingrich said, in passing, that Obama was a socialist. The reporter was equally aghast, and followed up asking if Newt really thought that Obama was a socialist. Newt said that there isn’t even a rational argument that he is not, and that he clearly wanted to put the government in charge of everything. The reported challenged him to name some, and Newt was still naming things Obama had increased government control of when the reporter cut him off.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:51 pm

reporteR (twice)

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:52 pm

Was that Soledad bringing the stupid?

I think so, but these earnest 30-something airheads all look alike to me.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 8/28/2012 @ 6:53 pm

Nice speech from Artur Davis!

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:01 pm

I hope they don’t talk about that Communist mentor Frank somebody that Romney had as a young man, or that fellow who tried to blow up teh Pentagon and a few other sites in America… Bob or maybe Bert Ayers, I think it was who shaped his opinion of America… That would be bad if they did.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:06 pm

Colonel, Ayers was just “someone from his neighborhood.” It’s not like he ghost-authored his book or anything.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:18 pm

In honor of our one-term demigod, the nought, or zero, a cardinal number, will hereafter bear the apellation ‘Obama’.

gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:25 pm

Ha, ha, Colonel, did you ever hear about the dinner party that Breitbart and Tucker Carlson attended at Ayers’ and Doehrn’s ?
It was some kind of raffle that Carlson had been the winning bidder on, and he brought Breitbart along.

I heard Breitbart recount how he deliberately sprinkled the dinner conversation with “agent provacateur” remarks such as, “Bill, this such-and-such dish is the bomb !”

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/andrew-breitbart-on-dinner-with-bill-ayers-hes-a-sociopath-and-a-great-chef/

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:26 pm

Very nice job by Ann Romney.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:35 pm

Ann Romney will make a wonderful First Lady.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:35 pm

Yes, Stones, I heard about that. For quite a while, I’d thought that Breitbart could’ve been poisoned by that domestic terrorist son of a b*tch.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:37 pm

That’s my pumpkin!

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:53 pm

Tell it Big Man!

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:54 pm

__________________________________________

The RNC had numerous large images of Neil Armstrong in their convention hall in Tampa.

I’ll tell ‘ya what. Let us worry about the Republicans, and you worry about the Democrats, particularly your wonderful, selfless, humble Barry….

dailycaller.com: We all know the world revolves around The Greatest President in the History of Everything. So it makes sense that all the other celestial bodies were placed in the sky to shine down upon him.

This is not a Photoshop. This was actually posted on Obama’s official Tumblr page.

Sure, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. But only to tidy it up, so that one day it would be a suitable resting place for Obama’s kingly gaze.

Hat tip to Sooper Mexican, who notes that this is a stock image from last April. That’s how Team Obama thinks: “Hey, we got any pictures of the boss looking at the moon? Any way we can make this all about him?” And that attitude starts at the top. Just ask Queen Elizabeth, as she’s deleting all the Obama videos from the iPod he gave her…

Mark (cf1ca8) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:55 pm

Christie is solid.

carlitos (49ef9f) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:56 pm

This Chris Christie person is quite impressive at the podium.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:58 pm

Can I get an Amen!

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 7:59 pm

Some God thingie is blessing us. Which is ~~shameless pandering to superstitious nonsense~~ good.

carlitos (49ef9f) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:00 pm

Strong, humunculus speech from big, strong Governor Chris Christie!

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:01 pm

3 Doors Down are good.

carlitos (49ef9f) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:01 pm

@63- Why don’t you ask him. He often talks of retiring on Mars. Mars, Pennsylvania is a more likely locale. It is not lost on the space community that beyond all his hype, he has failed to launch orbit and return anybody safely from orbital flight. Whereas the Russia and the U.S. have been doing it for over half a century, and in recent years, the PRC as well. Elon, not so much– in fact, not at all.

@#65- -yawn= Whittington’s been schoolled on this long ago, as he well knows- and as you may know as well, those two had no major contractors in their states for that project in that era, hence their noise and their agendas. It’s one of the reasons the program was so splayed out across most of the country in addition to the NACA and military facilities absorbed into the agency. For instance, it was no accident the MSFC aka JSC was built and based in Texas, not Florida. LBJ saw to that.

@85- It’s gavel-to-gavel on CSPAN, and just as dull- only longer.

———-

A decidely flat and uninteresting group of speakers for primetime, pre AR & CC. The astorm clearly threw them a curve. But then, life is unfair. Romney’s speech was about as sincere and inspiring as Fay Dunaway’s was addressing FBC affilates in the film, ‘Network.’ And there’s no way indys are going to buy into the spin that the wife of a multi-millionaire has concerns over food prices and filling up Caddy SUVs at the pump. On the other hand, Governor Soprano’s key-noting ‘piss-trami’ act was on a roll- with a smear of spicy-hot mustard. Christie is the one the GOP should have nominated for the top spot. One thing a man that so blatantly obese has going for him, he’s covered by Obamacare. Yet for the most part, aside from the Romney spouse, the speakers didn’t talk all that much in praise of their nominee. Only themselves, w/2016 in mind. Which speaks volumes.

@#82- Rest EZ, chuckles, both VD and JD are covered by Obamacare, as well.

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:03 pm

Christie beats the heck out of the dancing vajajays the dems are planning.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:03 pm

Wait, he was good, but not as good as dancing vajayjays.

carlitos (49ef9f) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:05 pm

“A decidely flat and uninteresting group of speakers for primetime, pre AR & CC.”

DCSCA – Yet you managed to suffer through it.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:05 pm

That Christie speech is the product of a very successful prosecutor who knows how important it is to be economical, judicious, direct, positive, and persuasive in his oratory.

Hey, this blog’s proprietor is a successful prosecutor, too !

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:05 pm

“Wait, he was good, but not as good as dancing vajayjays.”

carlitos – What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Have you seen the Democrat dancing vajajays? Check out twitchy.com

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:08 pm

I take it DCSCA did not care for Artur Davis’ podium beat down of “the one”. However, everybody else seemed to think Davis’ conversion was sincere and that he explained his current disgruntlement with hope and change very well.

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:11 pm

Disco Stu and his ad hom spew!

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:12 pm

hwan williams is a douche… when he’s talking with his eyes open wide and blinking, you know he’s lying. Course, he’s always lying… so there’s that.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:12 pm

carlitos is a fan of pepto bismol pink? Who knew?

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:13 pm

For the first time in the last 4 years of my life, I am proud of an America that has produced a prospective FLOTUS who is deeply likable.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:14 pm

Political speeches are super-gay these days. Christie’s was no different.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:21 pm

Sink the pink!

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:21 pm

DCSCA, the International Man of Parody, gives us a listless, uninspiring comment.

SPQR (26be8b) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:23 pm

Ah. I liked the idea of dancing vajajay’s, but as ever the reality isn’t like the idea.

carlitos (49ef9f) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:26 pm

When Juan Williams called Ann a “corporate wife” I had to physically restrain my dad from fastballing his water glass into the heart of his HDTV.

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:27 pm

oh leviticus ith justh stho hurtful…

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:29 pm

happy katrina anniversary everyone and to think it’s been another year it seems like only yesterday the cannibals came out to play

happyfeet (3c92a1) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:29 pm

you a funny man, icy!

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:29 pm

disaffected yutes leave me reaching for teh airsick bag.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:31 pm

What? If you edited out all the cliches from Christie’s speech, you’d have twenty minutes of awkward fat-man silence.

I’m sure the same will hold for whatever assh*le the Dems get to be their keynote speaker.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:35 pm

What in particular did you view as cliches, Leviticus?

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:37 pm

Kasich and Walker were my favorites.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:37 pm

the “Hot Air” coverage of this convention thingy is practically unclickable

where’s Karl?

happyfeet (3c92a1) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:41 pm

there were no cannibals, just the vampire from Dracula 2000.

narciso (ee31f1) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:41 pm

Colonel, we shouldn’t discount Leviticus’ characterization of Christie’s speech as “super-gay.”
After all, if he claims to be an expert in delineating between “super-gay” VS just “gay,” who are we to argue with him ?

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:44 pm

“Tonight, I say together, let’s make a much different choice. Tonight, we are speaking up for ourselves and stepping up. Tonight, we’re beginning to do what is right and necessary
to make America great again.”

See we are not afraid. We are taking our country back
because we are the great-grandchildren of the men and women who
broke their backs in the name of American ingenuity, the
grandchildre of the greatest generation, the sons and daughters
of immigrants, the brothers and sisters of everyday heroes, the
neighbors of entrepreneurs and firefighters, teachers and
farmers, veterans and factory workers and everyone in between
who shows up, not just on the big days, or the good days, but on
the bad days, and the hard days. Each and every day. All 365
of them.

We must lead the way our
citizens live, to lead as my mother insisted I live, not by
avoiding truths, especially the hard ones, but by facing up to
them and being better for it.

We shouldn’t be
surprised, we’ve never been a country to shy away from the
truth. Our history shows that we stand up when it counts. And
it’s this quality that has defined America’s character and our
significance in the world.
Now, I know this simple truth and I am not afraid to say
it. Our ideas are right for America and their ideas have failed
America.

We believe in telling hardworking families the truth about
our country’s fiscal realities, telling them what they already
know, the math of federal spending does not add up.

We believe — we believe we should honor and reward the
good ones, while doing what’s best for our nation’s future,
demanding accountability, demanding higher standards, and
demanding the best teacher in every classroom in America.

Leadership delivers. Leadership counts. Leadership
matters.

Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear

(I could go on…)

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:45 pm

Why is it okay for certain people to use gay as a derogatory term?

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:45 pm

“After all, if he claims to be an expert in delineating between “super-gay” VS just “gay,” who are we to argue with him ?”

– Elephant Stone

So you agree that Christie’s speech was super-gay, then. I’m glad – I thought we’d never find something we agreed on.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:47 pm

So gay.

carlitos (49ef9f) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:48 pm

“Why is it okay for certain people to use gay as a derogatory term?”

– JD

I don’t hear you balking when happyfeet does it. It would be pretty disingenuous to get bent out of shape about it now.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:48 pm

I’m not getting bent out of shape, just asking a question. Relax, Francis.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:51 pm

Leviticus – The hard truth is that all Obama does is lie, avoid responsibility and kick the can down the road, so truth telling is an important theme for the election. YMMV.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:51 pm

I hope Leviticus stays here to converse with because I don’t like to talk about him. But over his many comments on many threads (including tonight) I have finally concluded that he just simply does not like politics. Period. He doesn’t like the idea of it, the practice of it and the mechanics and gyrations of it. He’s not a political junkie at heart and I think he can’t help but see politics as disreputable, futile and icky.

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:52 pm

When Ann Romney said nobody was going to work harder than Mitt do you think she mean that he was not going to play more than 100 rounds of golf in four years or something?

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:53 pm

Politics is disreputable, futile, and icky.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:53 pm

Leviticus has thus far used a homophobic slur toward Christie, as well as an insult about Christie’s weight. Maybe they’re not teaching tolerance and respect for diversity at his law school.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:53 pm

Racists.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:54 pm

JD,

I don’t know, then. The world is unfair. But it’s irrelevant, here – everyone on this site can use “gay” in derogatory fashion, and the outside world need never know!

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:55 pm

elissa,

I appreciate that consideration (really); I think if I’m being honest with myself, and with you, I would have to say that your conclusion is accurate.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:57 pm

Leviticus, no, I don’t think his speech was “super-gay,” I think his speech was incredibly impressive.

You misunderstood my point to the Colonel. I was merely pointing out that you assert a knowledge and familiarity with what constitutes “super-gay” VS just “gay” that the Colonel and I lack.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 8:58 pm

“Leviticus has thus far used a homophobic slur toward Christie, as well as an insult about Christie’s weight. Maybe they’re not teaching tolerance and respect for diversity at his law school.”

– Elephant Stone

They only teach tolerance and respect for diversity at first and second tier law schools. At my law school, they only teach the love of money. Maybe that’ll cast my education in a better light for you – seeing as you’re so concerned with it.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:00 pm

“I was merely pointing out that you assert a knowledge and familiarity with what constitutes “super-gay” VS just “gay” that the Colonel and I lack.”

– Elephant Stone

Right. And like I said, I’m glad we could finally agree on something – the general gayness of that speech.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:02 pm

Andrew Ferguson, never a fan of Mitt, points out that Romney is one of the few politicians that you end up liking more the more you find out about him:

“Almost every personal detail about Romney I found endearing. But my slowly softening opinion went instantly to goo when The Real Romney unfolded an account of his endless kindnesses-unbidden, unsung, and utterly gratuitous. “It seems that everyone who has known him has a tale of his altruism,” the authors write. I was struck by the story of a Mormon family called (unfortunately) Nixon. In the 1990s a car wreck rendered two of their boys quadriplegics. Drained financially from extraordinary expenses, Mr. Nixon got a call from Romney, whom he barely knew, asking if he could stop by on Christmas Eve. When the day came, all the Romneys arrived bearing presents, including a VCR and a new sound system the Romney boys set up. Later Romney told Nixon that he could take care of the children’s college tuition, which in the end proved unnecessary. “I knew how busy he was,” Nixon told the authors. “He was actually teaching his boys, saying, ‘This is what we do. We do this as a family.’ ”

…To this touching kindness and fatherly wisdom, The Real Romney adds other traits that will continue to grate-he’s a know-it-all and likely to remain so, and his relationship to political principle has always been tenuous. Which makes him a, uh, politician. But now I suspect he’s also something else, a creature rarely found in the highest reaches of American politics: a good guy.”

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/332342.php

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:04 pm

there’s different senses of the word “gay” you’re all supposed to just know this

it’s kinda like the word “conservative”

happyfeet (3c92a1) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:04 pm

“At my law school, they only teach the love of money.”

Leviticus – The Rainmaker is the movie for you!

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:04 pm

Surely, Leviticus means “super-gay” in a ‘American exceptionalism’ sort of way.

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:05 pm

Hahahahahaha… keep it in your pants, Colonel.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:05 pm

You’ll make a dandy, lawyer, leviticus.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:07 pm

Hopefully teh kid will serve some time in the worst barrios of ABQ, he has some serious growing up to look forward to.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:09 pm

Like the kind of tough reality-grappling that Mitt Romney did. On his mission to help the poor people of… Paris.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:10 pm

Ah. Oh well. Not all Missions are created equal, I suppose.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:11 pm

Aww… look who needs a hug.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:11 pm

Well, at least wait until your Romney-boner has dissipated.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:13 pm

I’m told they have meds that will bring you up to an even keel, skippy. Perhaps you should use some of your grant money and invest in your future.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:14 pm

@#111 =yawn= Pawn Stars was a repeat. If only Christie had entered w/a scotch and soda in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. A few more oneliners in his monologue and the June Taylor Dancers would have capped it all off, with an exit, stage left, exclaiming, “And awayyyy we go!!!” But Matthews’ line was by far the topper- the waving Romney appeared before the crowd like Prince Charles in New Guinea. Spot on.

DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:14 pm

_______________________________________________

Political speeches are super-gay these days.

I guess since “gay” is supposed to give people in today’s era a warm and fuzzy feeling, you must therefore be using that adjective in the most positive way possible—not that there’s anything wrong with that.

LOL. I can’t help but be amused when even folks on the left — during moments of quiet, honest reflection and candor — sense there’s something rather pathetic and off-putting about “gay.” Yet they have the nerve to believe their s*** don’t stink when it comes to skittish, “homophobic” reactions towards “gay.”

Mark (cf1ca8) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:15 pm

I get the feeling you’re not adverse to a good prodding, leviticus.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:15 pm

Leviticus, many people who comment regularly at this political blog are probably supportive of Christie’s speech. It happens to be the first night of the political convention. If you fail to see how throwing homophobic slurs at the Governor and casting aspersions about his physical size is not going to elicit return fire, then, to paraphrase Harry Truman, “maybe the temperature in the kitchen is a little warmer than you can handle.”

If a Red Sox fan went to a Yankees message board on the night of a World Series game that NY was participating in, and starting saying that Yankees player X is a homo, and Yankees player Y is a fatso, there probably would be return fire.
If you expect otherwise, then maybe you have perception issues.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:17 pm

“I’m told they have meds that will bring you up to an even keel, skippy.”

– Colonel Haiku

“You’re told”, huh? Okay. Somehow I always figured you were in the age range that would know from … ahem… experience. You’re big on experience, after all. But okay.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:17 pm

What does it remind you of when the prezzy waves to a crowd?

elissa (202946) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:17 pm

I’m beginning to see why so many liberals are not adverse to saddling their progeny with debt and mortgaging their futures. Quite a sour pack o’ puppies…

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:18 pm

oh, the kid does have issues, stones…

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:19 pm

Somebody please tell Elephant Stone what’s going on, here. It seems to have eluded him.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:19 pm

IMP is nothing if not consistently tedious.

JD (318f81) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:20 pm

“I’m beginning to see why so many liberals are not adverse to saddling their progeny with debt and mortgaging their futures. Quite a sour pack o’ puppies…”

– Colonel Haiku

Pssh. Who needs a hug now?

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:21 pm

Just got this in my inbox. I’m on a lot of political spam lists.

Dustin —

Did those speeches tonight make you want to throw your remote at the TV?

These Republicans think they can distract voters from their extreme agenda by lying about President Obama’s record. Well, guess what? They could be right.

If Romney, Ryan and the Republicans can erase their radical record and attack President Obama with enough secret Super PAC-funded smears, then they will win in 2012.

it’s from the DCCC. They just don’t sound like winners to me. They sound desperate… not even desperate to win, but desperate to explain why hey are going to get their asses kicked this year.

I’m surprised to hear anyone call romney’s record radical. I wish. The dems have no hope of convincing America that Romney is an extremist.

I understand where Leviticus is coming from. He’s a smart guy and he’s cynical of our politicians for good reason. But Christie’s speech, Ann’s speech… they were not aimed at us political types. They were aimed at explaining the basics to the mushy middle. The points brought up may have seemed basic, or even platitudes, but covering the basics is the right place to start.

Dustin (73fead) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:22 pm

Are you folks actually listening to DCSCA? Me, I remember all the World of Commander McBragg lies he has spewed over the years. Sort of lie EPWJ with a spellcheck program running.

Except that DCSCA has told some hilarious fabrications about his own wonderfulness over the years. Sort of like a pedantic Forrest Gump, with the actual successes.

Laugh at him.

Simon Jester (4a751d) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:23 pm

The DCCC is pack of pathetic f*cking rats.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:24 pm

As far as the convention, I’ll be keeping track of how the pundits use their hard hitting journalistic talents on the Democrat Convention.

Simon Jester (4a751d) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:26 pm

“What does it remind you of when the prezzy waves to a crowd?”

– elissa

“Self-deportation” comes to mind.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:30 pm

Plus a string of profanities. Obviously.

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:30 pm

____________________________________________

The Real Romney unfolded an account of his endless kindnesses-unbidden, unsung, and utterly gratuitous. “It seems that everyone who has known him has a tale of his altruism,”

He merely reflects the type of human nature that goes in tandem with a person’s political orientation. However, the following examples — in terms of place and region — are a bit ironic since Romney did somehow manage several years ago to get enough ditzy liberals in ultra-blue Massachusetts to vote for him to be their governor.

Boston.com, Jeff Jacoby, August 22, 2012:

There are 366 major metropolitan areas in the United States, and a comprehensive new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks them on the basis of generosity — the percentage of income the median household in each city gives to charity. According to the Chronicle, the most generous city in America is Provo, Utah, where residents typically give away 13.9 percent of their discretionary income. Boston, by contrast, ranks No. 358: In New England’s leading city, the median household donates just 2.9 percent of its income to charity.

Boston’s tight-fistedness is typical too: Of the 10 stingy cities at the bottom of the list, eight are in New England — including Springfield (No. 363) and Worcester (No. 364).

What’s the matter with Massachusetts? How can residents of the bluest state, whose political and cultural leaders make much of their compassion and frequently remind the affluent that we’re all in this together, be so lacking in personal generosity? And why would charitable giving be so outstanding in places as conservative as Utah and Idaho?

The question is built on a fallacy.

Liberals, popular stereotypes notwithstanding, are not more generous and compassionate than conservatives. To an outsider it might seem plausible that Americans whose political rhetoric emphasizes “fairness” and “social justice” would be more charitably inclined than those who stress economic liberty and individual autonomy. But reams of evidence contradict that presumption, as Syracuse University professor Arthur Brooks demonstrated in his landmark 2006 book, “ Who Really Cares.”

However durable the myth, wrote Brooks (who now heads the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank), there is no getting around the data. For years, academic research and national studies have confirmed that Americans who lean to the left politically tend to be much less charitable than those who tilt rightward. The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s new report is only the latest in a long series of studies corroborating that fact.

Mark (cf1ca8) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:31 pm

Christie was not allowed to be Christie. Romney and the establishment win, and we lose, again. CC did a great job given the orders to play defense.

Ann Romney was amazing. I agree with Brit Hume who said it was the best speech he ever heard by a spouse or family member.

Ed from SFV (81526c) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:35 pm

If we really want to gauge the gut reaction by liberals about tonite’s speeches, particularly Chris Christie’s, we should merely pay attention to how riled up Leviticus is.

If Christie truely had given a lackluster speech, everyone would know it, and there’d be no strategic need for him to come running in here hyperventillating, “that wasn’t just gay—it was super-gay, like a Richard Simmons sweatin’ to the oldies video with a soundtrack by The Village People and a special appearance by RuPaul !”

Liberals never got riled up like this about Bob Dole’s speeches.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:35 pm

That’s what we call “confirmation bias.”

Leviticus (102f62) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:36 pm

Colonel,

You may be right about him merely needing a hug. That might explain his sub-conscious focus on Christie’s physical stature, as well as the focus on ‘orientation.’

Why is he in here yelling at us, when he should be pursuing some hot little numbers at the university pub ?

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:45 pm

Disaffected yutes like leviticus need a hug to pull themselves out of their self-pity. They – and us older folks, as well – also need to serve the needy… the poor, the less fortunate among us. Service to others helps to improve one’s outlook and helps combat the cynicism that infects contemporary society. The youth feel hopeless, not hopeful.

Service to others is a gift to ourselves… just my $.02.

Colonel Haiku (3ab915) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:51 pm

Speaking of anniversaries, last week was the 47th Anniversary of the Watts Riot, and the weather tonight is earily similar – clear sky, with a hot dry wind.

AD-Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (2bb434) — 8/28/2012 @ 9:57 pm

“If we really want to gauge the gut reaction by liberals about tonite’s speeches, particularly Chris Christie’s, we should merely pay attention to how riled up Leviticus is.”

Elephant Stone – Plus you have DCSCA with his piles aflame, rewriting 50 year old history as if it applies directly today, criticizing dynamic speakers ans supporting idiot commentators and their racist asides such as that of Chris Matthews about New Guinea. I love the smell of desperation.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:15 pm

Matthews’ line was by far the topper- the waving Romney appeared before the crowd like Prince Charles in New Guinea. Spot on.
Comment by DCSCA — 8/28/2012 @ 9:14 pm

— Leave it to Chrissie “ANY and EVERY criticMatthews

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:21 pm

Matthews’ line was by far the topper- the waving Romney appeared before the crowd like Prince Charles in New Guinea. Spot on.
Comment by DCSCA — 8/28/2012 @ 9:14 pm

— Leave it to Chrissie “ANY and EVERY critic

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:21 pm

That’s a good point, Colonel. In fact, Ann Romney really touched on that in her speech tonite, and you linked to the Ferguson column punctuating how Mitt has long done some altruistic things for people throughout the years without fanfare.

The “yout”—as Joe Pesci might have said in “My Cousin Vinny”—probably perceives that Obama is headed toward defeat (barring some unforeseen game-changer, such as a war)and that’s frustrating to him.
However, the youts don’t seem to grasp that the Chris Christies, Mitt Romneys, and Paul Ryans are trying to help preserve their future, which, as it stands, will be burdened with incredible debt and inflation. Perhaps, a number of years from now, the youts will look back at this pivotal election and recognize that it should be filed under, “another example of when I didn’t know what I didn’t know until I got older, much like the narrator’s voice in the Harry Chapin song, ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ didn’t realize what he didn’t know until he got older and discovered it.”

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:23 pm

Matthews’ line was by far the topper- the waving Romney appeared before the crowd like Prince Charles in New Guinea. Spot on.
Comment by DCSCA — 8/28/2012 @ 9:14 pm

— Leave it to Chrissie “ANY and EVERY criticism of President Obama is a racist remark” Mathews to step on his crank and criticize Mitt Romney on a night when Romney was not expected to do anything.

And leave it to DCSCA to find it the height of punditry. Once again the bar has been lowered, this time to a level where even a flea — or Samuel L. Jackson’s brain — could not squeeze under it.

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:29 pm

As per usual, unintended extra postings blamed on Steve “me & Wozniak built that!” Jobs.

Icy (c5308a) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:34 pm

daleyrocks,

Speaking of your “I love the smell of desperation” line, it’s be neat to see Robert Duvall (a Romney supporter) paraphrase his famous “I love the smell of ~~napalm~~ desperation in the morning” line in an ad for Romney.

Elephant Stone (65d289) — 8/28/2012 @ 10:34 pm

Hello there, I discovered your site by the use of Google at the same time as searching for a comparable subject, your web site got here up, it appears good. I’ve bookmarked to favourites|added to bookmarks.

bong da , the thao , tip bong da , ca cuoc bong da , ca do bong da (1116d9) — 8/29/2012 @ 1:45 am

who know, stones, who knows…

This one’s just for budding scheister leviticus…

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/08/29/an-important-insight-from-ann-romney/

Colonel Haiku (83ebf2) — 8/29/2012 @ 4:26 am

Chris Christie:

Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear

That’s almost channeling Al Gore, although in his case, he only said the “truth” was “inconvenient”

And then the kiss! Just like Al and Tipper Gore.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/29/2012 @ 3:16 pm

Mitt Romney was actually officially nominated at 5:40 PM on Tuesday. He was put over the top by the state of New Jersey.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/29/2012 @ 3:17 pm

Mark Levin yesterday said the rules fight was not an issue for Ron Paul – also said that John Boehner had vocal voices saying no, particularly from the Virginia delegation which was right up front that and just said that the chair heard no objections, and that he does the same thing in the House of Representatives also.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/29/2012 @ 3:20 pm

John Boehner asked if anybody ever reads the platform and said the other day it should be reduced to one page.

I think you can say this about people who get things into the platform:

They’re only deluding themselves anyway.

Except maybe if this is not a well hashed over issue, it might do something to indicate the ability to get support for an idea.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 8/29/2012 @ 3:22 pm

Leviticus, Romney boner? You should remember that the GOP has never done greek columns in a football stadium.

SPQR (3a9ddb) — 8/29/2012 @ 3:24 pm

Like the kind of tough reality-grappling that Mitt Romney did. On his mission to help the poor people of… Paris

As I understand it the purpose of a mission is to serve the spiritually poor, i.e. those who have not heard the good word (which in this case would be the word of Moroni). And where in the world can one find a greater concentration of spiritual poverty than Paris?

Milhouse (73b659) — 8/29/2012 @ 4:48 pm

I am not the Admin

really nice design and a nice profit, they just launched Yesterday!

RaisingShares.Com is a private investment club established by a team
of specialists in the offline investment market, trading activities
and investments. Based on long experience , we are really new to the
ONLINE Market tho.
With our new and highly secure Online Adshare program you can earn a

stable 20% daily on each unit you purchase for 14 days. Each unit
price cost just $10 and with ad unit purchased by you,. We offer 15%
referral commission on level 1 referral unit purchases.

Earn 15% of all unit purchases made by your direct referrals.
Get the chance to win 1000$ Bonus!
Withdraw every Day minimum of $10.00 in your cash balance
Fast Commissions Payments
No need to refer to earn

Please use my link if you choose to signup

http://raisingshares.com/?ref=harrysson .

Rockdanny (366cbd) — 9/6/2012 @ 6:36 am

201, Milhouse, you can find great spiritual poverty in any Obama campaign office and any Democrat party, local, state, and national, office.

PCD (1d8b6d) — 9/6/2012 @ 6:40 am

8/28/2012

Convention Open Thread

203 Responses to “Convention Open Thread”

Favorite Sites

Links

Patterico Sells Out