McCain Plays Video Poker During Senate Hearing on Syria
Ay yai yai.
While busy drawing to an inside straight or some such, McCain may have missed gems like this: John “I Dine with Bashar” Kerry talking about how maybe we could end up needing boots on the ground in Syria . . . if, say, chemical weapons were likely to fall into the hands of terrorists . . . as could happen if we attacked the military forces with custody of those chemical weapons . . .
worst of all, he wasn’t playing with a full deck.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 9/3/2013 @ 5:51 pmFive-year-olds would do a better job representing the American people than these clowns.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/3/2013 @ 5:59 pmWell this actually helps explain a lot. And I’m sure many of them, especially the lifers, do this sort of stuff all the time to ease the boredom of the circus and since they already think they know everything.
elissa (c12d5b) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:09 pmSpeaking of 5 year olds … Pelosi could not convince her 5 year old grandson of the need to go to war. Not that I believe her fable for a moment.
JD (f3b432) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:14 pmThat explains it. When you don’t play for money, but only for wins and losses in your head, you lose your mind.
nk (875f57) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:19 pmHe should have asked obama to play spades.
mg (31009b) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:20 pmMany here like to dis Mrs. McCain for various reasons. But it may be a bum rap. I think there’s increasingly little doubt anymore that Meggie takes more after her father, and that the same genes that control his intelligence, temperament, and judgement curse through her veins.
elissa (c12d5b) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:21 pmYou should add McCain’s tweet about it! Lolz.
G (bbda88) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:21 pmThe definitely “curse” her veins, elissa.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:40 pmHe already had his mind made up; the hearing was just for show. And his ‘questioning’ of Kerry made a typical Larry King softball interview look like a 60 Minutes attack piece.
Icy (6bf2f9) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:43 pmThanks, DRJ. yeah it was a typo but not at all a bad one, huh?
elissa (c12d5b) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:44 pmI thought it was an intentionally clever pun. I still do.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:53 pmOne piece of trivia I remember about Battlestar Galactica was that they had to put video games in the pretend control consoles for the actors so that it would look like they were intensely focused on their jobs. It aided in achieving suspension of disbelief from the viewers.
It strikes me iPhones fill the exact same function for the exact same reason for the actors in this Kabuki theater we’re being forced to watch.
Steve57 (35dd46) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:54 pmSenator Menedez has already sold his vote for 2 underage Dominican hookers.
Bugg (b32862) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:55 pmWar has become a f***ing video game, with ICBMS, cruise missiles, drones, computer-controlled artillery, what have you, but McCain ate mud in a Viet Minh prison. He should know better.
“What will you do if we have nuclear winter?”
nk (875f57) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:58 pm“Throw snowballs.”
“It’s nuclear!”
“With my tentacles.”
Was he playing the “dog and pony show” version? đ
Patricia (be0117) — 9/3/2013 @ 6:58 pmWe are watching a complete breakdown of ruling elites that somehow have been entrusted to ensure our health care.
That’s scary enough, but the real terror is this breakdown is over a stupid civil war in a back-water middle-eastern hell hole governed by a dentist having his strings pulled by a misogynist theocracy that advocates the absolute termination of another religion because it loves hate.
When you are so inept that the mullahs in Iran can outsmart you, you should just resign and go build houses for charity.
By the way, that criticism is not reserved for just the Obama apparatchiks.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:03 pmIt’s a helpless feeling.
“I told you so” isn’t much of a trump card.
Everybody loses.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:06 pmnot Jason Aldean he’s gonna come out of all this smelling like a rose I bet you money
you’ll see
happyfeet (8ce051) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:08 pmhope you are feeling gooder btw
happyfeet (8ce051) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:09 pmI was thinking that about you, happyfeet. Grab a couple of Snickers, buddy. The king-size. Then explain “Jason Aldean”. I Googled him but I still don’t get it.
nk (875f57) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:14 pmHappyfeet, thanks. I feel ambivalence tonight.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:18 pmMr. Busig Raggarbil was tried for DUI today and turns out he was found rawther guilty. Jail even.
I bet anything McCain will use his Vietnam experience to deflect criticism for this. He’ll spend his entire life deflecting criticism for all the horrible things he’s done by talking about his Vietnam experience.
Alan (6c520c) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:24 pmI ate a ton of nonfat greek yogurt already Mr. nk tomorrow I go back on the diet but today I let myself have selected carbs
I won our contest at work btw I lost 20.6 pounds in 28 days so I’m very close to my goal of getting back where i was before i quit smoking
Jason says you shouldn’t bomb Syria if you’re just doing it to be stupid you should have a good reason to where you could explain it to somebody to where they would understand your thinking
also Jason says – and this is a direct quotation – he says if you wanna drink go on baby just do your thing but give up your keys
Jason is very wise unlike Mr. Raggarbil
happyfeet (8ce051) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:27 pmMcCain is gross and anyone who endorsed him for his Senate race is a big stupid idiot moron and owes us all an abject apology Sarah
happyfeet (8ce051) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:28 pmnot to be confuzzled with our own Sarahw who is perspicacious and supremely rational
happyfeet (8ce051) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:30 pmI apologize, Mr. feets.
Icy (6bf2f9) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:34 pmThe other day I was attending the annual business meeting for an NGO, and during a parliamentary-style floor session I was sitting in the back playing Angry Birds on my phone (sound off, of course).
There is truly a lot of blather and repetition in these things and it is actually easier to concentrate on what is being said if you have a distraction keeping you awake.
And good god, listening to Kerry!? I bet a lot of Senators were back in their offices. At least McCain was in the room.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:35 pmAce has a picture of the President deciding who should complete the fourth for his golf game tomorrow. Some of them look worried.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:35 pmGlad you’re ok, both. Never feel sorry for a drunk, SarahW.
happyfeet, I know which Sarah you meant and I’m listening to Fleetwood Mac’s one right now, and not for just to annoy you.
nk (875f57) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:37 pmPerhaps a maverick Senator like McCain needs to play video games because he doesn’t have enough social support from his peers. On the plus side, game-playing can rejuvenate tired workers like McCain.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:51 pmNevertheless, I still find this appalling. This is an American Senator who has been the national leader of his Party, a nominee for President, and the subject of this particular hearing is whether America should go to war. If that’s not enough to keep McCain interested for 3-plus hours, he needs to find other work.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:53 pmOr a retirement home.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:54 pmI vote retirement home.
JD (45413e) — 9/3/2013 @ 7:57 pmI have a question. Do we know who initially took that picture of him from behind, and who released it either to the media or out on twitter? The source is interesting to me. Also was it planned because he does this all the time and somebody sought to embarrass him? Or was it just random dumb luck that the photographer was walking by with his cell phone camera on and noticed McCain’s video game?
Prolly most everybody else here already knows these details– but nobody tells me anything.
elissa (49e99e) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:04 pmDumb luck, Karma or worse:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/503321/20130903/hiv-aids-crime-transmission-rape.htm
McVain needs someone to choke the life out of his worthless self.
Mr. 57 t’other day wished we’d done as well as Egypt given their current government. The just sentenced 11 MB wheels to life.
Well, they say God helps those who heps theyselves.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:12 pmMelina Mara of the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/the-senates-syria-hearing-live-updates/?id=ed01ca14-222b-4a23-b12c-c0b0d9d4fe0a
nk (875f57) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:13 pmJuany Mac is a government whore, who should be in a padded cell.
mg (31009b) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:16 pmAh, found this from WaPo:
Not sure that satisfies my curiosity, though. Do reporters just wander around on the floor of the senate while in session and hearings are going on? Or did one of the Maverick’s colleagues tip off somebody at the WaPo to a nifty photo op?
elissa (49e99e) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:16 pmWhat a weasel:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/03/John-Kerry-to-code-pink-similar-feelings
narciso (3fec35) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:21 pmThanks, nk. I wonder if a sterile telephoto lens was involved, or if she clicked right in his ear.
elissa (49e99e) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:22 pmGoogle glass? đ
nk (875f57) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:24 pmA lot of good men and women could have their lives imperiled by this matter. A lot of good families could have restless nights awaiting a phone call from a loved one to know they are OK.
It is not acceptable for our congressmen or administration to treat this matter as a joke. If we’re using force for a stupid reason, and they don’t really care what happens to the grunts or pilots or sailors or whoever winds up in harm’s way, they are an absolute disgrace.
Bush took us to two major conflicts. In Afghanistan they brought the war to us, but in Iraq that isn’t as clear at all. But whatever your opinion of these wars was, Bush always treated the matter seriously and somberly. It’s a shame his example is not respected today.
Dustin (303dca) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:31 pmWe can’t go to the UN Security Council because Russia will veto any resolution there. So John Kerry says.
Remember when Mitt Romney was ridiculed by Obama for saying this: â[Russia] is without question our number one geopolitical foe, they fight for every cause for the worldâs worst actors.â
SPQR (768505) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:38 pmI Dine with Basharâ Kerry talking about how maybe we could end up needing boots on the ground in Syria . . . if, say, chemical weapons were likely to fall into the hands of terrorists . . .
I know that’s the idea – that’s why when I heard the resolution was going to say “no boots on the ground” something was wrong with that if it unconditional. Of course Obama would ignore that condition.
It’s good anyway to see Kerry is warning Congress now. Did he ask such a limitation be kept out of the resolution, or did he just talk in general terms?
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:41 pmThe United States has been training various people to secure the chemical weapons (if assad were to fall from power)
While there might be a few CIA personnel involved (who maybe don’t count as “boots on the ground” any mre than they did in Benghazi) the main hope was Jordan.
If not Jordan, then some other countries. Maybe Turkey, maybe France. I think they have a umber of options. Failing everybody else, then Israel, who also have had people being trained by the United States to secure the chemical weapons.
If not Israel, then as a last resort, the United States Marines or some other U.S. military.
Or maybe it’s the other way around, if not the United States then Israel (because of the risk of a wider war, Israel might truly be the last resort for boots on the ground in Syria.)
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:42 pmas could happen if we attacked the military forces with custody of those chemical weapons . . .
Or as could happen if Assad were to fall from power unexpectedly. That’s one reason Obama doesn’t want him to fall – he’d then have to sedcure the chemical weapons, because it is U.S. policy that nobody inherit them. (well that the possibility that al Qaeda or other terrorists could be prevented, but that’s the same thing as saying Assad can keep them, as long as he doesn’t use them. Unfortunately for Obama’s foreign policy, he’s using them.
Now Obama’s policy is not going to be it’s OK for Assad to use them.
He’s going to try to intimidate him into not using them, and at the same time not risk Assad losing control of them, because then somebody would have to take the risky step of securing them.
Obama would rather wait, in the hope something will turn up, I guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkins_Micawber
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:43 pmAnd just so we know how seriously McCain takes this, here’s his tweet about this issue: “Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing – worst of all I lost!”
Devil take you, you bastard.
Alan (6c520c) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:45 pm17. Comment by Ag80 (eb6ffa) â 9/3/2013 @ 7:03 pm
in a back-water middle-eastern hell hole governed by a dentist having his strings pulled by a misogynist theocracy that advocates the absolute termination of another religion because it loves hate.
Not a dentist, an eye doctor (although I’m not clear if he ever completed his training.)
But a medical doctor in any case.
And while it may be a hell hole, it’s not such a backwater.
When you are so inept that the mullahs in Iran can outsmart you, you should just resign and go build houses for charity.
I don’t know. People here believing that the Syrian government did not use chemical weapons or that the only alternative is al Qaeda also sound like they’re ready to be outsmarted, so I don’t know how rare this is.
Actually I think Obama’s being outsmarted by a lot of people.
But not any Republicans.
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:51 pmCongress should be warning Kerry, not the other way around, Sammy.
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/09/03/breaking-senate-crafts-resolution-authorizing-military-force-in-syria-gives-obama-90-days-to-take-action/
elissa (49e99e) — 9/3/2013 @ 8:51 pmSammy:
There is a long tradition in Western Civilization that is called sarcasm.
How it works is up to the individual.
So, I grant you my mistake.
The government of the United States has been befuddled by a practitioner similar to the guy who sells you eyeglasses at Wal-Mart rather than the guy who drills you teeth.
It’s a win for Sammy. Why did I respond to this?
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 9/3/2013 @ 9:13 pmComment by Ag80 (eb6ffa) â 9/3/2013 @ 9:13 pm
the guy who sells you eyeglasses at Wal-Mart rather than the guy who drills you teeth.
No, no. Opthamologist, not optometrist. And even an optometrst examines your eyes, which the person who sells you glasses does not.
Similar to the guy who treated nk maybe, although maybe he shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath.
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 9:22 pmI donât know. People here believing that the Syrian government did not use chemical weapons or that the only alternative is al Qaeda also sound like theyâre ready to be outsmarted, so I donât know how rare this is.
Actually I think Obamaâs being outsmarted by a lot of people.
But not any Republicans.
Sammy, you’re trying to have it both ways. It appears, on one hand, you’re pretending to damn and dismiss Obama while, on the other hand, implying that domestic voices in opposition to him are naive and unsophisticated, and largely on the right.
However, if you mean Obama is being outsmarted by entities (ie, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, pro-Al-Queda activists, or Israel) that have a Machiavellian motive to force the US military into the middle of the cesspool, then you may be correct.
Mark (58ea35) — 9/3/2013 @ 9:33 pm50. Comment by elissa (49e99e) â 9/3/2013 @ 8:51 pm
Congress should be warning Kerry, not the other way around, Sammy.
Congress maybe doesn’t understand what’s going on.
Now maybe Congress might want to exclude the possibility of U.S. troops securing teh chenmical weapons to prevent them from falling into unknown hands, but they ought at least to understand what their excluding.
Now that’s actually not the administrations plans.
They want, first of all, a negotiated settlement, in which Assad will peacefully turn over the chenical weapoons to, ummm, some kind of reliable international group, and they probably would really be reliable. It would be limited to loing term democracies with long term policies about this and an ability to destroy them.
The British , before the vote, were ready to propose an ultimatum to get rid of the chenicak weapons be given to assad.
Failing that, it is, or was, secure them when tghe regime is falling apart. To do that the Administration trained units belonging to several different countiees, with their best hope being Jordan doing it, or elading the effort. as I said, they also worked with Israel on that.
But failing anything else, there definitely is a plan for U. S. soldiers to make some commando raids or something and seize the chemical weapons and take them out of Syria. But Obama would rather have someone else do it.
Anyone who doesn’t realize that isn’t or wasn’t paying attention. (you do have to puit 2 and 2 together – they;ve never been quite that explicit about it)
A new use-of-force resolution for Syria sets a 60-day deadline, with one 30-day extension possible,
It’s better to have a monetary limit on how much could be spent on anything resu;ting from this resolution.
So then what? All Assad has to do is not do anything more to anger the United States and agree to anything for 90 days.
The resolution being drafted, authorizes what Obama intends to do now
Over the last two days, Corker had been insisting on a 30-day deadline for Obama to order any military action against Syria, but Democrats objected to that requirement.
The Tennessee Republican had also sought a flat-out prohibition on the insertion of any American ground forces into Syria.
But Democrats insisted that Obama should be allowed to do so under limited circumstances, such as special forces operations or to secure stocks of chemical weapons.
There it is. This contingency plan is well known.
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 9:35 pmComment by Mark (58ea35) â 9/3/2013 @ 9:33 pm
Sammy, youâre trying to have it both ways. It appears, on one hand, youâre pretending to damn and dismiss Obama while, on the other hand, implying that domestic voices in opposition to him are naive and unsophisticated, and largely on the right.
Both are true.
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 9:36 pmHowever, if you mean Obama is being outsmarted by entities (ie, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, pro-Al-Queda activists, or Israel) that have a Machiavellian motive to force the US military into the middle of the cesspool, then you may be correct.
He is or was being outsmarted first of all by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Turkey into letting them vet the rebels and choose whom to help. He seems to have lost trust in Qatar and maybe Turkey but not yet Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Aarabia doesn’t want the U.S. in a war. Saudi Arabia wants alll the forces on the ground, the ones who will take over, be corrupted by them. It doesn’t want to see any risk of democracy. Or a change of policy towards Israel.
Israel (or Netanyahu) seems to be quietly pushing Obama toward doing something because he drew a red line, and how can threats against Iran work if he doesn’t follow through? And Obama doesn’t want Israel to attack Iran because he believes that could start a wide conflagration, so threats that Israel won’t rely on him carry great weight with him.
They also don’t want to sall attention to themselves.
I don’t think anyone wants to force the U.s. military into a quagmire.
I mean the rebels have more people and more dedicated people. The government is only slowly winning because of help from Iran and maybe Russia. Syria acheived a victpry hat allowed a safe land corridor to go from the port of tarts to Damascus only because of troops from Hezbollah, and now Iran has created a 100,000 man militia loyal to Assad (in a pinch maybe loyal to Iran rather than Assad)
All that has to be done is that all airfields on which planes from Iran can land be closed down, and for resupply by Russia also stopped.
Obama is being outsmarted by people who are convincing hm that all this is harder than it is.
He’s being outsmarted to some degree by Iran, and also by putative allies that are picking the people on the other side.
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/3/2013 @ 9:48 pmSammy, your comments are getting more confused and self-contradictory.
SPQR (768505) — 9/3/2013 @ 10:23 pmBoth are true.
If so, then you admit to having a soft spot in your heart for Obama. Such clarification will help set the ground rules for everyone in this forum. After all, you and we (ie, the public) have had over 4 years to witness the ins and outs of Obama, and no one can any longer hide behind the excuse that their take on him is due to ignorance. Simply put, September 2013 ain’t nothing like September 2008.
Obama is being outsmarted by people who are convincing hm that all this is harder than it is.
In effect, you’re implying that those opposed to the US military’s involvement in Syria have his ear and undivided attention. I’d buy that assumption if Obama were a practical-minded thinker, a person who wasn’t an oddball, egotistical leftist. A person who instead was sincerely opposed to the US military being used like a branch of the ACLU or Act Up. A person who, for example, wouldn’t say things like “my military.”
Mark (58ea35) — 9/3/2013 @ 10:46 pmMay some dune living muzzy alla akbar your ass, juany mac.
mg (31009b) — 9/4/2013 @ 12:28 amHis tweet should get him ejected from the senate. Calling his own waco birds, but wants to arm militant muzzies that hate christians.
mg (31009b) — 9/4/2013 @ 12:36 amAnother Benedict Arnold of the republican party. This man is a joke.
This man is a joke.
Comment by mg (31009b) â 9/4/2013 @ 12:36 am
A joke he is not, because funny he is definitely not! Delusional moron, he is! Too late to send him back to Viet Cong, is it? Have him they would not! Mission accomplished they would say!
Yoda (c1642d) — 9/4/2013 @ 1:15 amLucky mccain. Since he already knows everything he doesn’t have to listen to anything else.
It will be nice when he finally officially declares himself a dim.
Jim (145e10) — 9/4/2013 @ 6:30 amFollow the money:
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/08-2/Crude%20Imports%20July.jpg
In McVain’s case follow the hot camera.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 9/4/2013 @ 7:02 amSmart diplomacy:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-04/putin-lashes-out-accuses-kerry-lying-congress
Maybe Jane Fonda woulda been a better pick?
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 9/4/2013 @ 7:05 amComment by Mark (58ea35) â 9/3/2013 @ 10:46 pm
no one can any longer hide behind the excuse that their take on him [Obama] is due to ignorance. Simply put, September 2013 ainât nothing like September 2008.
My opinion of Obama hasn’t much changed since March, 2008. He made compromises with evil to get where he is, but he wasn’t himself, in his heart, evil, and he didn’t believe a lot of things his mentors, or the people he used, said. He tried to eliminate any kind of personal hate from rhetoric he endorsed.
He always voted at his party’s call and never thought of thinking for himself at all – and because it is easier on the conscience to believe in what you’re doing, he more or less bought into whatever was liberal dogma.
He wasn’t curious about checking any facts or assumptions. The part of his job where he’s done a little thinking, is national security policy.
(Of course I can still show a whole bunch of idiocies there. It doesn’t make some kinds of opposition maybe even more idiotic. I can also say most presidents have made real blunders)
The very little of political history Obama knew – mostly civil rights history – he took as a model. In this scenario, everyone knows what is truly good the difficulty is getting it to happen.
He liked sophistries sometimes, like on abortion..and thought that was a way out.
Even while sticking to liberal dogma he tried to strike compromise positions. Against the Iraq warm but only because it was a bad idea (he claimed. If you were to listen carefully, you;d notice he giving a different take than his audience)
He has a real desire to make bad ideas sound a little bit better, and also change them a little bit.
Sammy Finkelman (67ff63) — 9/4/2013 @ 7:17 amHe made compromises with evil to get where he is, but he wasnât himself, in his heart, evil, and he didnât believe a lot of things his mentors, or the people he used, said.
Sammy, that one comment about Obama and your impression of him says a lot. IOW, you’re rationalizing away his ultra-liberal inclinations and biases.
Since I don’t recall the tenor of your posts from some time ago (I don’t know when you first started commenting at patterico.com—certainly back in 2008) — and have just a general sense of what makes you tick — you’re more liberal than I originally assumed.
You seem to struggle to not be too leftwing on various occasions, but it’s a struggle for folks like you (a New York City resident, with a Jewish background) nonetheless.
Mark (58ea35) — 9/4/2013 @ 7:51 amMark@7:51 am-That last sentence was uncalled for and an incredibly personal, opinionated, and attacky thing to say. I think you should apologize to Sammy.
elissa (7929de) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:07 amIf there’s not to be a declaration of war, so it’s not a “real war”, then Kerry, McCain, … (and I) didn’t serve in a “real war”. Even Korea wasn’t a “real war”.
The snark that 0 didn’t draw the red line, someone else did … I don’t see a red line. I see a yellow line. Kinda like the lines in the snow made by young boys trying to write their names.
htom (412a17) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:58 amThat last sentence was uncalled for and an incredibly personal, opinionated, and attacky thing to say.
Why? You mean New York City isn’t chock full of liberals and liberalism—which allows a character like Anthony Weiner to hang on — instead of being tarred and feathered — because leftism ameliorates humiliation and shame? You mean this doesn’t apply to the Jewish community:
I’m disgusted with the sentiments that breed the idiocy of political correctness gone berserk, in which acknowledging simple, basic truths is deemed as insulting or inappropriate.
The only people who deserve apologies are the innocent people murdered at Fort Hood by Nidal Hasan, due in part (if not largely) to the emotions of “incredibly personal, opinionated, and attacky thing to say.” A sentiment that runs rampant not just within the liberal citadels of an ACLU, Act Up, NAACP, Green Peace, Rainbow Coalition, GLAA, etc, but within the setting of the US military.
Mark (58ea35) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:02 pmMark, where were you born and raised? Where do you happen to live and what is your religion? Those are the things you slammed Sammy for and were below the belt. That’s why you owe him an apology. Changing the subject to Anthony Weiner and his liberalism and Nidal Hassan’s crimes does not get you off the hook.
Make no mistake, Sammy’s long winded and often tedious posts irritate some here. The flights of fantasy suggest that Sammy may view the world differently than many others or that he may interpret social and written cues differently than others of us do. The stream of consciousness posts sometimes seem not to have a point, and people justifiably challenge him–a lot–including me. But I’ve never seen Sammy be personally disrespectful to other commenters or attack or get personal. Whether you apologize to him is your business. But at least I wanted Sammy to know that I thought it was out of line for you to say what you did to him @66. That is all.
elissa (6b3fdb) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:36 pmhttp://twitchy.com/2013/09/04/heated-exchange-rep-duncan-holds-photo-of-tyrone-woods-during-kerry-testimony-video/
SPQR (768505) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:42 pmSpQR – he almost went to the “at this point why does it matter” card. Lots of bluster followed by babbling BS
JD (5c1832) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:45 pmMark – your own bigotry is showing its arse.
JD (5c1832) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:48 pmWell Obama has said and done evil things, and yet continues to do so, as has Maduro, Morales, Galloway,
narciso (3fec35) — 9/4/2013 @ 8:54 pmjust a few, people come in all forms, Mark,
Mark,
I’m not convinced behavior and opinions can be predicted simply because of where someone lives or how they were raised. There are too many examples of separated siblings (especially identical twins) raised in different places by different families who, nevertheless, display remarkable similarities.
It’s especially easy to cherry-pick qualities that seem to fit certain profiles and ignore inconvenient differences. And, frankly, I think it’s especially questionable to make assumptions about Sammy because he strikes me as a very complex individual.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/4/2013 @ 9:02 pmThose are the things you slammed Sammy for and were below the belt.
I don’t agree. Sammy resides in a community where liberalism, liberal thinkers and liberal politicians are in abundance. A dime a dozen. Moreover, we’re talking about leftist biases and sentiment in the context of the 21st century. Not in the confines of the 1960s, or 1950s, or 1920s, but in 2013.
I’m sorry if I sound pissed, but I am. We live in an age of the idiocy of political correctness gone berserk, and if that, JD, makes me a bigot than you had better not dare wonder why this society is becoming increasingly Nidal Hasan-ized.
Iâm not convinced behavior and opinions can be predicted simply because of where someone lives or how they were raised.
DRJ, people don’t live in a vacuum, and although some folks out there are intrinsically non-conforming (meaning they’ll lean right if everyone around them leans left—although, as a rule, non-conformists automatically favor a socially-ideologically left-leaning mindset, not a rightist one), most humans resist going against the grain of those around them, particularly when it comes to family members (more so extended ones, such as cousins, aunts, uncles—less so in terms of boring ol’ dad or fussy mom) friends, co-workers, colleagues, neighbors, etc.
Mark (58ea35) — 9/4/2013 @ 9:30 pmAnd yet Sammy comes here for discussion, Mark. He chooses to associate with people here. Doesn’t that make him more like us than people who disagree with us?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 9/4/2013 @ 9:36 pmDoesnât that make him more like us than people who disagree with us?
DRJ, my point was that Sammy likely is strongly influenced by those directly, immediately, personally around him. People he knows and deals with 24/7, including those who go back to his youth, compared with people who are but anonymous faces connected to words posted to a blogger’s forum floating around in cyberspace.
It wasn’t until today that I was finally able to determine that Sammy is more liberal than I originally assumed. Since he debates in a manner that I take seriously — and somewhat appreciate — I wasn’t aware of just how innately biased he was. I admit to being caught off guard when he started rationalizing away the extremism or innate leftism of Barack Obama.
Mark (58ea35) — 9/4/2013 @ 9:54 pmDRJ, I posted a reply to your post #77, but it got stuck in the filter. Why or how, I don’t know. Sorry, even though it was rather brief, I’m too lazy to recreate it.
Mark (58ea35) — 9/4/2013 @ 9:58 pmMark, please don’t make me conclude that you are an anti-semite.
SPQR (768505) — 9/4/2013 @ 10:07 pm