Ted Cruz: I’m In This To Represent Texans, Not Make Friends in Washington, D.C.
I like the way Ted Cruz expresses himself here (as usual):
It’s very simple: represent Texans, or be loved in Washington? You can’t do both. So he does the former.
I’m from Texas, and I am around Texans every year when I go home. Cruz is doing what Texans want, and he’s doing it in the way they would want it done.
Can’t ask for better than that.
Via Hot Air.
“Can’t ask for better than that.”
Patterico – But if a squishy Republican such as Mark Kirk manages to get elected in a blue state such Illinois and claims he is acting in the interests of the people he represents, the wailing and teeth gnashing claiming we can do better is deafening.
How do you reconcile the two?
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:33 amIf Cruz generates negative responses in people, most of them suffer from the affliction evident in the following person (ie, the guy living in the ivory tower of academia). A person who probably still buys into the stereotype that liberal people tend to be more generous with their time and money, and more tolerant and humane than the average human, certainly those who are their political opposites.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:36 amMy 2 cents, I think the biggest frustration is when people campaign saying one thing then act a different way in Congress. Nobody thought Scott Brown was a solid conservative, but he campaigned, won, and stood on a promise to Oppose ObamaCare.
I think everyone will always have some line of what they will tolerate and what they won’t, which will vary, even from time to time for a given person.
I am confused still on what Cruz expected to accomplish in the short run in regards to defunding ObamaCare. Unless the repubs control the Senate it will never happen.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:42 amI think, with little knowledge, that maybe first try to defund, then try to delay, then try to make Congress live by the same rules, and after all have failed, watch what a mess ObamaCare is and say, “We were the ones that tried to avoid this” and try to win in 2014.
Maybe that will still happen, maybe I don’t know enough.
“If Cruz generates negative responses in people, most of them suffer from the affliction evident in the following person (ie, the guy living in the ivory tower of academia).”
Mark – I believe the main thrust of the post is the only people Cruz really needs to please unless he aspires to higher office is the voters back home.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:51 amI am watching the movie “Lincoln” and one thing that surprised and pleased me was how frequently it is laid out that Republicans were dedicated to ending Slavery, while the Democrats were opposed. The big fight in the movie is between the “Establishment” Republicans and the Radicals.
Ted Cruz would have been a Radical, I think.
Pious Agnostic (c45233) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:55 amHe isn’t representing me. Can we shut down the Texas state government so that we can revisit state highway speed limits at a tremendous cost to the tax payer?
Angry Texan (f808ae) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:01 am” Can we shut down the Texas state government so that we can revisit state highway speed limits at a tremendous cost to the tax payer?”
Where were you when the speed limit was lowered by force of the federal government?
tmac (17832b) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:13 amWell, I’m not a Texan (but I did dance with a girl from Texas once) and I still like him even if he does not represent me.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:22 amStrike that, poorly phrased… Another Friday, another TaFailalot…
Colonel Haiku (32b8a6) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:25 amwhat’s the name of the propaganda slut doing the interview here i don’t recognize him
Mr. Senator Cruz sure does represent Texans better than their buffoon governor who thinks defunding the obamacares is nonsense
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:32 amI confess that I did not vote for Cruz and I approve of what he did for Texans. I am very happy that he takes his campaign promises seriouly enough to put nis neck on the line. Although, if you think about it, any elected official who makes good on his promises to the electorate has little to worry about concerning reelection, IMO.
felipe (70ff7e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:06 ampushed submit without proofreading! “seriously” “his”
felipe (70ff7e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:09 am“promises seriou[s]ly enough to put [h]
nis neck on the line”Don’t sweat the typos, felipe. I have been mangling the English language in my recent comments on this blog. I’ll assume I am slowly being driven insane by the sheer incompetence of Barack Obama.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:18 amJD has autocorrect and some [yes, JD, I admit they are rare] of his “typos” are hilarious.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:22 amThanks, JVW. Every appearance of Stashiu3 makes me want to be a better commenter. I know – I’m a suck-up.
felipe (70ff7e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:27 am“I am confused still on what Cruz expected to accomplish in the short run in regards to defunding ObamaCare. Unless the repubs control the Senate it will never happen.”
Should that stop him from trying? Legit question, no snark intended. Was it right for Repubs to use the leverage they had, if only to make the very public statement that they did everything they could to avoid Obamacare?
SB (0340e6) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:37 amI think the major prob with my proofing is that I wrote the dreck to begin with and thought I knew what I was saying.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:38 amdaleyrocks,
I think every voter has to decide who and what they support. As for me, I’m very close to reconciling that by no longer supporting the Republican Party.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:48 am3. Per Gohmert, of whom no less a sage than McVain, it is said ‘has no intelligence’ says we’d have gotten Amnesty in lieu of Slowdown and 404care front and center.
Personally I think another motive was to educate the teachable Right that there are issues that cut across interest and identity groups.
He, himself, has indicated that he sought to expose the Leech Elite.
Another motive, perhaps the most central, was that the fight was itself sufficient cause to bring the battle, to fire up the base in a eminently worthy cause.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:49 amSB, It seemed to go better than expected. My liberal pals are beside themselves that water cooler chatter has been that Obama was seen as petty and intransigent and posturing, despite the inevitable resolution.
The point is very firmly made and at just the right time that ACA is a boondoggle with crony winners and regular people losers.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:50 amAlso, that wailing you hear is from bloggers and commenters. That”s not so hard to stomach, is it? I challenge you to show me any example of squishy Republicans getting attacked like Cruz and conservative Republicans by the media and political leaders. Your squishy politicians would wilt under that pressure.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:51 am18. In MN, a caucus state, it will be inconvenient and difficult for Indies to insert themselves into the selection process.
One directive to self, for the near future, is to ask was the candidate endorsed by the Party ahead of the primary?
Very big negative today.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:56 amIf someone ignorant of wildfire fighting techniques saw firefighters at work, what would they perceive? A group of men destroying brush and setting new fires.
They wouldn’t understand the purpose of a backfire in creating a break in fuel, they would just see destruction and wonder why no firefighters were at the front of the wildfire “fighting” it.
SPQR (768505) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:03 amI’m not interested in winning elections for the Republican Party because it isn’t reliable. For instance, Boehner’s main concern seems to be preserving Congress’ ObamaCare subsidies. That tells me all I need to know about the value of giving the Republican Party control of our government.
Would Republicans be better than Obama, Hillary, and the Democrats? Undoubtedly. It means instead of going bankrupt in 10 or 20 years, we may make it 20 or 30 years. but it’s clear to me that the only people who will fix this mess are conservatives like Cruz.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:07 amRepublicans need to fix the Brand and make it stand for something not Democrat Lite.
Ted Cruz understands that. He is trying to fix that.
Sadly, many Republicans think compromise means “always give in.”
I like Cruz. He simplifies. He is correct on the issues. I would suggest however he also become more suggestions oriented than simply principled dissenter.
Rodney King's Spirit (5c6cbf) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:18 amComment by SB (0340e6) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:37 am
No snark taken.
I think what Cruz did in taking a stand against ObamaCare and bringing a focus on it was great.
I guess I’m wondering out loud, and asking, could he have done it in a way that was all win/win for him and the cause. Perhaps he even could have said something like, “I know there is little chance of defunding this law at this time, but it is such a bad law for so many reasons that I can’t let it go forward without a challenge”.
It can be argued that he was being unrealistic or foolish in his strategy. I am just wondering if he could have done something to help focus on the issue and undermined the anti-Cruz sentiment.
I really don’t know, I’m just thinking out loud. I think what Cruz and Lee (and a few others joined in the filibuster to show support) did was great; I’m just thinking if they could have done it even better.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:19 amRush talked about Cruz today and brought up how some MSM newsreporter (didn’t hear who it was) was actually puzzling over the thin skinned president still complaining about those bloggers and people in Congress who don’t agree with him. This after he got what he wanted. The playback of the reporter exhibited complete amazement and puzzlement about Obama’s whining. She fails to realize that the Ted Cruz’s of the world must be eliminated somehow – in that their message must be diluted or even not allowed out to the masses. That is the serious threat Cruz presents. Which makes me like him even more. Which also informs me further of the conflict he presents within the Republican Party.
Dana (e0b56b) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:30 amI really don’t know, I’m just thinking out loud. I think what Cruz and Lee (and a few others joined in the filibuster to show support) did was great; I’m just thinking if they could have done it even better.
For instance, what if after ending his filibuster on September 24, Ted Cruz had announced that he would not stand in the way of a clean continuing resolution passing the Senate, while warning of the imminent disaster of the October 1 ObamaCare exchange rollout. Even the MSM would have had to acknowledge that Cruz had been prescient, and the focus would have been switched back to the incompetence of the Obama Administration, not on the alleged GOP uncooperativeness.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:40 amTed Cruz represents Texas in the same manner that Ted Kennedy represented Mass. The only difference is that Kennedy would never be branded ‘extreme’ for his ideological stances.
Kennedy would never be held accountable for ‘Borking’, or abuse of women, alcohol, or government.
Thomas Hazlewood (2ac6a3) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:44 amComment by Thomas Hazlewood (2ac6a3) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:44 am
Yes, and Barbara Boxer in California is but another example. She gets to be “feisty” and “passionate,” never “strident” and “uncompromising.”
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:46 amJVW, I greatly enjoy your comments, but must respectfully disagree with your above statement. The focus will never be “switched” back to the incompetence of the Obama Administration — ever. It would not matter what Mr. Cruz would have done or said, neither would it matter if there was a shutdown or not.
Cruz’s Stand will gain force and credit as Obamacare erodes the health insurance industry (IMHO, as planned). It will not be because of the MSM, but in spite of them. As premiums rise, work hours decrease and care shrinks — the message of Obama’s incompetence will be experienced by the vast majorities of households in the US. The MSM will still blame the Tea Republicans, which will then fail because of Cruz’s Stand.
“I told ya so” will not be enough. It will take someone who had the courage to fight when doing so was unpopular — this is how leaders are forged.
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:02 amIf Cruz can make the personal connection like this guy …. we have hope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY
The people will be swayed and the vile filth in the Republican Party will forced to go along.
Rodney King's Spirit (5c6cbf) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:04 amNow why don’t I believe you are from Texas? Hmmm… it’s a puzzlement!!
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:06 amYes. I checked. Heh.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:07 am😉
JVW, I greatly enjoy your comments, but must respectfully disagree with your above statement. The focus will never be “switched” back to the incompetence of the Obama Administration — ever. It would not matter what Mr. Cruz would have done or said, neither would it matter if there was a shutdown or not.
Here’s where I slightly disagree, Pons: Obama has been safely reelected, so there is no longer any real reason for the media to be overprotective of him. In fact, if anything, they will try to balance out the past six or seven years of extreme sycophancy by being more willing to expose some of his foibles and mendacity. I am not trying to suggest that they will suddenly become an honest broker in this — God knows they will still cheerlead for him on immigration, taxes, and a whole host of other policy issues — but I think even the media is tired of Obama’s arrogance (the Justice Department’s bullying of reporters, for instance) and will start pushing back in subtle ways.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:16 amYes. I checked. Heh.
JD probably had it pegged correctly that Angry Texan is another incarnation of Tye.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:18 am@35 Comment by JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:16 am
Oh man, I hope so JVW.
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:19 amIt’s very simple: represent Texans, or be loved in Washington? You can’t do both. So he does the former.
Hard for me to see how gratuitously making enemies in Washington is the best way to represent Texans. Is going down in glorious defeat over and over again really what they want?
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:24 amDRJ What is the alternative? Ross Perot? Jerry Brown?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:29 amDidn’t that give us 8 years of Clinton the last time?
Three words…
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:31 amRemember the Alamo!
I don’t know, these Texans are everywhere. I’m in Chicago. Not only do we have them next door …. We called Sears for an estimate for siding. This morning, the doorbell rings, I walk out, there’s a GMC SUV with Texas plates in the driveway! (Did you know that in Texas you need stickers from both the DMV and the Department of Public Safety?) I ask the guy where from in Texas and he says Dallas. He says Sears flew him in from Texas. The Texas car is a rental, it was waiting for him at O’Hare. He was surprised too. ??? Is Texas taking over and wants to be seen doing it too?
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:41 amIt never fails to amuse me when leftists give advise to conservatives on how they should act, govern, etc. if only conservatives would embrace leftist ideals blah blah blah
JD (181760) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:42 amtye is cute the way he trades in his “Tlaloc” monniker for a new persona by the name of “Angry Texan.”
If we start praising Tom Coburn, tye might then change his monniker to “Angry Oklahoman.”
One thing’s for sure, tye sure is angry in whichever of the 57 states he’s actually living in, not to mention the 58th state, which is the state of Liberal Lunacy.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:46 amHeh yippee tye-aye
Colonel Haiku (207b84) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:48 amYippee tye-oh ghost typers
in disguise tah pfffffft
Debt up $400 billion the day after ceiling raised. Brazen evidence that Jack Lew was illegally borrowing for months.
SPQR (5a0267) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:49 am@35 Comment by JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:16 am
Now that’s about as realistic as Cruz defunding Obamacare, IMHO.
🙂
SB (0340e6) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:53 amMD:
Cruz said from the beginning that he was trying to accomplish two things: Inform the public about ObamaCare and motivate them to pressure their elected representatives and senators; and energize the Republicans in the Senate to stand against it. His filibuster informed the public and the House conservatives stood firm. It was the Senate Republicans that withered under pressure, but had Cruz given in after his filibuster then we would never have known the Senators would give up.
And let me remind you that even though the Republicans don’t have the Senate, they do have 46 votes. That’s enough to stop cloture so even though they can’t pass legislation, they can tie it up. They simply didn’t want to. That tells us a lot about the Republicans in the Senate and their commitment to stopping ObamaCare. Do you really think that if the Republicans gain control of the Senate, they will repeal ObamaCare in the face of relentless media pressure and contrived polls?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:56 amJames B. Shearer:
I missed the class in school where U.S. history, let alone Texas history, is about making friends in Washington.
papertiger:
I’ve said repeatedly I voted for Perot and it was the best vote I ever cast, and I’d do it again. The Bushes were strong wartime Presidents but they failed miserably as fiscal conservatives.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:58 amprofessor Dan Kahan said more. The newspaper cleaned it up for him.
link.
… his decent science comprehension scale is “NSFW”?
That’s what I got from it.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:00 pmHillary will be a ruthless dictator.
She’ll make Obamacare work if it kills us.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:04 pm2013 is the one hundred year anniversary of when our country began its downward spiral.
On March 4 of 1913, Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated, and it was the year that the federal income tax was implemented, and it was also the year that changed the election of US Senators from election by state legislatures to direct election.
In that context, Ted Cruz grasps the original context of what is expected of a US Senator—he’s representing his state’s interests in Washington DC.
Unfortunately, with direct election of Senators, their election is influenced by out-of-state interests, and many of the Senators perceive themselves to be voting for their national party, rather than for their state.
For example, currently, in Montana, the GOP has an advantage of 61-39 and 29-21 over Democrats in each of the two legislative bodies. That would probably result in Montana having two GOP Senators in Washington, if Senators were still elected as the framers intended. (I realize the timing of the six year cycle must also coincide with the GOP advantage in the state houses.)
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:05 pmBut Montana currently has two Democrat Senators in Washington, Max Baucus, and Jon Tester, both of whom benefitted from out of state money and media influence, particularly from bozos here in liberal Hollywood.
And let me remind you that even though the Republicans don’t have the Senate, they do have 46 votes. That’s enough to stop cloture so even though they can’t pass legislation, they can tie it up. They simply didn’t want to.
Point of parliamentary procedure, DRJ. Wasn’t this all about a motion to recommit the budget, and aren’t budget agreements exempt from filibuster? I never quite did understand how all these components were interrelated this time around. Could the GOP have filibustered the ObamaCare funding or did it only need 50 votes plus Biden to ultimately pass?
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:09 pmIf we start praising Mike Lee of Utah, then tye may change his monniker to
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:09 pm“Angry Utahan”“Angry Ute,” which, in homage to Joe Pesci’s pronounciation in a famous scene in “My Cousin Vinnie,” could be translated as “Angry Youth.”the alamo the alamo i wrote it on my hand and vowed not to let ever lapse my ken of that last stand
a pikachu he must consume his nourishments each day – some cheetos here a cupcake there a dollop of sorbet
come afternoon his paws were red with cheeto dust and sticky too so pikachu went to the loo and washed the muck away
too late was he to realize the import of his deed – he’d washed away the alamo – all recall did recede
and now he’s quite forgotten everything he ever knew of bravery true and daring do what texans did that day
happyfeet (4bf7c2) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:10 pma little known fact: the Alamo has no basement.
Colonel Haiku (fc8d37) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:22 pma well known fact: Alamo rents cars !
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:37 pmGrilled chicken (breast, leg, wing if it matters), thick cut fries (with ketchup), two KitKats (wondering if I’ll have a third). All from the Jewel. Jealous, happyfeet?
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:49 pmJVW,
Speaker Harry Reid needed 51 votes to defund ObamaCare, but only if Republicans first joined him in a procedural move to invoke cloture that required 60 votes. In short, Reid had to have enough Republican Senators to get 60 votes to invoke cloture before he could use the budget process to stop the House from defunding ObamaCare with only 51 votes.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:52 pmnk,
I’m sure you remember the fried chicken picnic scene where Grace Kelly asks Cary Grant in Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief,” whether he would prefer a “Breast or thigh ?”
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:52 pmAn argument that Ted Cruz won this debate, despite Republican Senators’ betrayal.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:53 pmWhat worries me about Cruz is that his hair is badly thinning. He already looks like he had transplants to restore his hairline, with a lot more work needed. The importance of a good head of hair in Texas politics cannot be overemphasized.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 12:54 pmFor those of you who don’t get the reference, both the Alamo and Goliad were resounding defeats for the Texians, but they gave Sam Houston and his forces time to mobilize at San Jacinto and motivation to defeat the overwhelming Mexican forces. Sometimes you have to take a defeat to win the war.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:00 pmElephant Stone, I am not making this up. One time I asked the lady at the Jewel deli counter without thinking, “Do you have two legs and two thighs for me?” No double entendre intended, and she did not seem to take it as one either.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:00 pmBut I’m no Cary Grant.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:01 pmI knew that about the Alamo, DRJ. I’m always comparing it to Thermopylae.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:04 pmDRJ, hence my analogy to firebreaks.
SPQR (39ad84) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:06 pmnk, Colonel Haiku reported to us just yesterday that a busty woman stepped in to the elevator he was in, and as he was caught staring, she politely asked him to “press one.”
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:07 pmThe Colonel reports that he did press one, and it then took him an hour before he arrived at consciousness and was able to pick himself up off the floor.
Thanks DRJ. So had Republicans prevailed and prevented Reid from stripping the defunding language from the bill, my assumption is that the Senate Dems would have voted down that bill and we would have been left with the need to reconcile the original House and Senate budget bills which isn’t too different from where we find ourselves today.
This does present the interesting theory that the ObamaCare defunding was nothing more than a stalking horse for GOP efforts to ensure that the sequester remained in place. in other words, Reid faced the fact that in dealing with the House bill he could either replace the sequester or restore the ObamaCare funding, but not both. But again, that would suggest that the GOP was far more organized than any of us think that they could possibly be.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:08 pmThe democrats were a known quantity and I’m proud Ted Cruz stood up against them. The fight to stop Obamacare is a basic fight for freedom, and no principled conservative fails to see this.
Unfortunately, Cruz has knives in his back from the typical Republicans who are most fearful for their own skin, afraid to take a stand against the press/democrats, and all too happy to see a more brilliant Republican lose.
It’s going to get nastier in 2016 as the forces for big government in the GOP, such as the wealthiest donors and most entrenched GOP insiders, do what they have to do to keep the GOP exactly as it is today. They will probably win… they have won since 1992, and really only Reagan is an exception to them winning since the 60s.
It will take many more millions of voters recognizing that the GOP doesn’t need to be this way for this party to solve the government’s problems. Perhaps the initial sting of Obamneycare will be just the defeat we need.
Dustin (303dca) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:11 pm45. Comment by SPQR (5a0267) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:49 am
Debt up $400 billion the day after ceiling raised. Brazen evidence that Jack Lew was illegally borrowing for months.
No, he was drawing down the balance in the Treasury’s “checking account”
Now he replenished it from funds that he or the Administration controls.
While that money was sitting idle (or was it?) it didn’t count as part of the debt.
He’ll keep the checking account pretty high so that when the new debt limit is set as whatever it is on on Feb. 7, he’ll be able to coast for half a year or more. Maybe less because Feb 7 is before the terasury issues most tax refunds. No, he’ll borrow a lot to allow for tax refunds.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:13 pmBut I think the Mexicans read that book too.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:13 pmExactly right, JVW. The GOP has sufficient power at this time and has its share of blame for the deficit, the total debt, and for Obamacare. The GOP has to go along with it or we have a shutdown and the debt ceiling restricts the march towards oblivion. The pressure brought on the GOP in the press is nothing compared to the urgency the GOP should see in the situation, but these are not normal patriotic men and women (at least most aren’t). They are just loser politicians, and they have shown, time and again, that country does not come first.
Dustin (303dca) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:14 pmJames B. Shearer,
My earlier response was frivolous, although I think your comment was equally frivolous. To respond more seriously, Texas has sent many senators and representatives to Washington including Sam Houston, Sam Rayburn, LBJ, Lloyd Bentsen, John Tower, and others in more recent years. Their politics were varied but what they all had in common was a willingness to play the political game, often intelligently and with flair. Their influence was legendary in earlier years but has waned in the last 2 decades as Texas’ values have lost favor with the rest of the nation … although the public and national politicians still seem interested in Texas’ jobs and tax revenues, especially the latter.
We aren’t stupid in Texas. We realize we’re losing the game as it’s being played now. It’s time to change players and send someone who is willing and able to play a new game. Cruz is doing that. We’ll see in 5 years if Texans decide to send him back or bring him home.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:17 pmSammy, the amount that the debt just jumped amounts to half of the total borrowing that the US does in an entire year.
That’s just the float in a checking account? Horse manure, Sammy. Pure horse manure.
SPQR (39ad84) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:20 pmI knew someone would get it.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:20 pm😉
nk and SPQR,
I understood your reference to firebreaks, SPQR, and I know neither of you need schooling on the Alamo. However, while the Alamo is a well-known name thanks to the movies, I doubt it’s commonly known why it happened and what it meant to Texas’ freedom.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:23 pmAnd obviously Stashiu3 got it because he raised it to begin with.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:23 pmComment by JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:46 am
If you don’t mind….
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:27 pmThat is SENATOR – don’t call me Mam – Barbara Boxer!
74. Comment by SPQR (39ad84) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:20 pm
74.Sammy, the amount that the debt just jumped amounts to half of the total borrowing that the US does in an entire year.
But not half the total spending. It’s more like 1 or 2 month’s worth.
That’s just the float in a checking account? Horse manure, Sammy. Pure horse manure.
Not normal float. But he drew it as down as much as possible, and now brought it back up as high as he could. And that’s what he did also before May 17, 2013. That’s what I figure is the explanation.
It’s like as if you drew down a checking account down to a balance of $300, and now got it up $4,000.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:30 pmDebt up $400 billion the day after ceiling raised. Brazen evidence that Jack Lew was illegally borrowing for months.
Comment by SPQR (5a0267) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:49 am
I think I predicted that.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:31 pmBut not half the total spending. It’s more like 1 or 2 month’s worth.
Its the debt ceiling Sammy, not the spending ceiling.
The total US debt represents issued debt. How did the Treasury issue $400 billion in debt in a day? The obvious answer is that the Federal Reserve has been loaning Treasury money off the books and the day after the ceiling is raised, it goes on the books.
Illegally. As it violated both the debt ceiling law and the anti-deficiency act.
I think Jack Lew is a criminal.
SPQR (39ad84) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:35 pmJVW:
Except for one bill in March 2013, I don’t think there have been any Senate budget bills for the past 4+ years until this week. If that’s true, and had the Republicans not agreed to invoke cloture, then a Republican Senator like Cruz could have filibustered any bill that funded ObamaCare and there wouldn’t have been anything to reconcile.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:36 pmComment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:58 am
IIRC, 92 and 96 were the only two presidential elections that I did not vote GOP.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:36 pm41’s cave on the tax issue, and Dole’s role as “tax collector for the welfare state” got me voting Libertarian both times.
After 43, I vowed never to vote for another Bush, evah!
askeptic, like you I thought this was already going on covertly.
SPQR (39ad84) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:37 pmThe entire Obama Administration is criminal.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:37 pmUnfortunately, Cruz has knives in his back from the typical Republicans who are most fearful for their own skin, afraid to take a stand against the press/democrats, and all too happy to see a more brilliant Republican lose.
The problem that you allude to, Dustin, is that the remaining GOP Senators are of varying stripes. There’s the John McCain types who are sadly addicted to receiving nice notices in the NY Times and the WaPo, so they are willing to go against party interests whenever the opportunity to preen presents itself. There are the Bob Corkers of the world who don’t strike me as clever enough to figure out how to apply conservative principles in governing. And there are the Mitch McConnells of the world who are so caught up with vote counting and strategy that they miss the forest from the trees. Unlike others here, I don’t find the mushy Republicans to be traitorous or villainous, I just see them as squandering opportunities to leave a positive legacy on the country.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:37 pmI agree the Republican Senators aren’t traitorous or villainous. Some may even be doing what most of their constituents want, like Cruz. But it’s hard not to view Senators like McCain as duplicitous and of questionable political character, given his inconsistent positions and his willingness to personally attack other Senators — just because they disagree with him. And based on people I know who act like he does, I wouldn’t hesitate to call McCain a mean man.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:43 pmAnd I completely agree with your characterization of McCain, Corker, and McConnell. I don’t blame them for their decisions or doubt their sincerity, but I hope they get primaried at some point.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:44 pmJVW,
That may be the kindest summary of the current GOP I’ve seen. I don’t disagree, although I may have just a touch (like an earthquakes worth) more disdain for the McCain’s and McConnell’s than you describe.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:45 pmComment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:17 pm
I miss Speaker Sam.
I didn’t always agree with him, but I respected his leadership and that he was always in command of the situation.
His colleagues must have felt so also, or they wouldn’t have named a building after him.
Who can forget him pounding the gavel and bellowing (he really didn’t seem to need amplification):
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:52 pmWill the delegates clear the aisles!
Comment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:36 pm
The Government of the United States has been operating under Continuing Resolutions since the end of FY-2009.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:56 pmThe Budget Bill in March-2013, was the first budget bill voted upon by the U.S. Senate in five years (+/-).
It all goes back to the disastrous Amendment allowing for direct election of US Senators.
If US Senators were still elected by state legislatures, things might be better.
For instance, even if the state of Washington has the votes in the state legislature to send a Democrat, you’d have to assume they wouldn’t send someone as ridiculous as Patty Murray. Certainly, a Democrat would be sent to Washington DC by Washington state, but someone with at least an IQ above 50. (Sorry, Patty !)
Also, I think there would be more civility among Senators in Washington DC if they were elected by state legislatures, because they’d have to get along well enough with the members of the state legislature in order to get sent in the first place.
Harry Reid may be able to win a general election in Nevada through ballot box stuffing by SEIU thugs, but a jerk like him would have a tougher chance of being sent by members of the state legislature—even among his own party—if everyone thinks he’s a jerk, which appears to be the consensus about him. Apparently, SanFranNan doesn’t even like him.
In fact, Obama might have had a tougher time getting chosen by the state legislature based on all of the second-hand anecdotes you hear from people about what a cold arrogant jerk he can be—and that’s from people who actually voted for him.
Here’s to dreaming that someday the 17th Amendment will be repealed.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:01 pmThe fact that Senators, of either persuasion, would band together in self-identified “Gang(s) of (fill in number of participants)” is an insult to all Americans, since this appellation comes from a bunch of murdering thugs trying to restore Maoist rule in China (the “Gang of Four” – which included Mao’s widow, who IIRC was shot along with the rest of them).
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:01 pmIf you need to resort to aping that group in your political methods, you have no place in American Politics.
“I think every voter has to decide who and what they support. As for me, I’m very close to reconciling that by no longer supporting the Republican Party.”
DRJ – I agree with your statement, nevertheless my question for Patterico was a serious one.
I would love to see more conservative Senators coming out of bluer states but either the correct candidates have not emerged to snag the public’s attention or conditions are not right or some combination of both.
It’s all well and good to rip into RINOs and Establishment GOP types and the relentlessly negative Mark Levin (did you know he worked in the Reagan Administration?) makes a very good living doing it, except for the motivational value to incumbents, to me without an assessment of conditions on the ground or who can step up to the plate it is just a bunch of gasbaggery.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:09 pmThe Progressive Agenda of the early 20th-Century:
A strong central bank (the Federal Reserve);
Prohibition (18th-A);
Income Taxation (16th-A to replace the funding lost from Prohibition, the single largest source of revenue to the U.S. Government at The Turn of the Century);
Direct Election of Senators (17th-A);
Suffrage (19th-A).
We admitted in 1933, and FDR ran on a platform of repeal, that Prohibition did not work, and in most cases, made the problem worse, and it was repealed.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:11 pmWe still need to repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and the 16th and 17th Amendments.
I will leave it to others, who can duck Dana’s flying JimmyCho’s better than I, to discuss the 19th-A.
I think that it can safely be said that (absent the 19th – which the courts would have finally rendered moot anyway) the Progressive Agenda has been a failure as far as ensuring the viability of The Republic, in that we would today be unrecognizable to most politicians active a Century ago.
…more….
(19th) “…which the courts would have finally rendered the need for as moot…”
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:13 pmdaleyrocks:
I view it as peer pressure, just as liberals in the Democratic Party successfully pressured moderates in their Party to move left. I don’t subscribe to purging the Party of moderates the way the Democrats have done, but I do support primary challenges. Apparently Republicans do, too, which is why GOP business groups and moderates may try to primary as many Tea Party incumbents as possible. I think it’s a smart move. I hope they fail.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:23 pmYippee tye-oh ghost typers
in disguise tah pfffffft
Comment by Colonel Haiku (207b84) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:48 am
That was funny.
Yes, the Alamo, a bravely fought but lost battle that helped win the war. I understood the reference, but thought everyone did (even us non-Texans). Of course, maybe I’m old enough that we still learned it as a positive piece of American history, I mean Davey Crockett, after all.
Let me just say I heart Ted Cruz and think he did a great thing and is doing a great job.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:25 pmAfter that, I will just admit to being a little befuddled so I’ll stop opining.
MD,
There are a lot of arcane Senate rules and procedures that I don’t understand, but Cruz’s tactics seem simple and obvious to me. I think he was trying to raise the public’s awareness about ObamaCare because he knew that the media wouldn’t focus on it.
Cruz’s filibuster undoubtedly raised the issue in a way that hadn’t been done before, and I believe it’s part of why the media eventually reported on problems with the ObamaCare roll-out. The media likes to set the agenda but it also has to respond to events that capture public interest. Cruz’s filibuster did that.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:30 pmI have heard some try to justify the dam funding for KY; but on the surface sure sounds like a “Kentucky kickback” for willing to be co-opted by the dems.
I don’t know.
Will the people of Kentucky support him, love him, or want to be rid of him?
Having kind words said about you by Harry Reid and President Obama is not the kind of reference I would like.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:31 pmExactly right.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:32 pmdaleyrocks,
I had no idea that Mark Levin worked in the Reagan Administration. I don’t understand why Levin works so hard to obscure that part of his resume. He should consider publicizing it on his radio show once in a while. Levin really needs to do a better job of self-promotion.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:32 pmI also think Cruz could have done more to tie up the Senate’s process, but he didn’t because he realized it would be a futile gesture after the Republican Senators voted to invoke cloture. I think he threaded the needle in a way that was fair to the public and to the Senate.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:32 pm100- Not in a primary battle with a TEA Partier.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:32 pm“I think Jack Lew is a criminal.”
Teh guy should be behind bars just for that “haircut” he sports…
Colonel Haiku (c27e3f) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:32 pmLevin talks quite a bit about what he did in the RR admin, when it is relevant to the conversation on the show.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:34 pmShowing my ignorance,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:35 pmI think the filibuster did a great job
it was when he started demanding all repubs to vote against closure or they were a sell-out that I wondered if he didn’t go a little too far.
But that could be my ignorance showing.
I think it is terrible for other Repubs to attack him, but I’m uncertain as to whether he did a little unnecessary inflaming the situation himself.
It was a vote for ObamaCare to vote against cloture because it enabled the Democrats to fund ObamaCare. Is stating an inconvenient fact now inflaming the debate?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:36 pm100- Not in a primary battle with a TEA Partier.
Comment by askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:32 pm
Are you sure? I thought I heard a name said by Beck or someone. Maybe there is someone considering, or being nudged by some.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:38 pmOr maybe you are correct and I’m mistaken.
Is clearly stating the impact of the Republican Senators’ positions inflaming the debate?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:38 pmDRJ, I hope you don’t think I’m arguing with you, I don’t think I am.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:39 pmMcConnell and Cornyn actively sought Republican votes to invoke cloture, knowing that it would result in funding for ObamaCare and despite earlier claims that Republican Senators would stand together against cloture. Then their plan was to hope they could still win re-election with a little misdirection:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:44 pmI think we’re talking, MD, not arguing.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:45 pmMcConnell will win re-election because he has such a big funding advantage. Cornyn probably will win, too, because he doesn’t have a credible opponent. It’s a shame but I doubt either will last more than one more term.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:47 pm73
We aren’t stupid in Texas. We realize we’re losing the game as it’s being played now. It’s time to change players and send someone who is willing and able to play a new game. Cruz is doing that. We’ll see in 5 years if Texans decide to send him back or bring him home.
Politics is all about assembling winning coalitions. Hard for me to see how gratuitously making enemies contributes to that. And of course Texas can choose Senators who mainly appeal to Texans if it wants. But a national movement would better pick leaders with national appeal.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:48 pmakeptic,
Perhaps I was being too dry in my facetiousness.
I know Levin talks about having worked in the Reagan Administration—endlessly.
As if he believes it gives him a trump card over people who didn’t work for Reagan. Now, I realize he’s sometimes comparing himself to the Krauthammers of the world, who came to the party later, as well as to George Will, who publicly supported Howard Baker in the early 1980 primaries, and that’s a fair delineation to make to a degree. Levin wants people to know he’s been on the Reagan team since day one. However, I think Krauthammer and Will have long proven their committment to conservatism overall during the past few, uh, DECADES.
(As writers living in the beltway, they’d get to go to more cocktail parties if they were liberals.)
But Chief Justice John Roberts also worked for Reagan—as one of his lawyers. He shared an office with Hugh Hewitt.
…and some might say that Roberts’ tie-breaking Supreme Court decision about ObamaCare is the impetus for a lot of what has happened the past few weeks.
Levin needs to stop with the sniping toward other conservative talk radio hosts, with all of his mentions of “the backbenchers,” and all the “other yappers who don’t have half my ratings.”
It’s ironic that he talks that way about his colleagues on the radio, yet he’s always complaining that there’s too much back-stabbing among the GOP, particularly by the establishment toward the conservative wing.
Hey Levin, you worked for Reagan…do you remember what the Gipper used to say about the 11th Commandment ?!
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:55 pmSammy has stated several times and on multiple threads that he believes communism is not an ideology. I disagree, as do many others. Can we let it go at that? Nobody is going to get Sammy to change his position… even his correction didn’t admit anything was “technically” (not a quote from Sammy, just to avoid that little tangent) wrong.
I contend anyone who believes in communism is a Communist, card-carrying or not. Just as anyone who believes in capitalism is a Capitalist. Sammy disagrees and I’m okay with that.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:55 pmPolitics is all about assembling winning coalitions.
Grand. And then you get miserable legislation like ObamaCare because every single member of your coalition had to get his or her own share of the pie. But hey, winning politics is so much more important than sensible policy, right? I mean, the necessary steps to restore our fiscal house can always be taken up by the next Congress, can’t they?
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 2:59 pmJames B. Shearer:
That assumes a conservative ideology doesn’t have national appeal. We Texans think it may still appeal to some Americans, especially after seeing what Obama has wrought. Maybe we’re wrong and if we are, we’ll lose. But it’s not in our nature to lose without trying.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:01 pmStashiu3,
In theory, I can let it go because I try to avoid reading Sammy’s comments. But he says a lot of illogical things that we end up letting go because he likes to spam his comments and that makes it hard to respond. His techniques are annoying and often ruin conversations, and there are some days when I can’t let it go. Sammy may not respond in passion or anger to being called out, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have to answer for his comments.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:04 pm#86, Uh, yeah, that is a generous way of looking at it.
Rodney King's Spirit (5c6cbf) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:06 pmAnd FWIW, politics is about winning hearts and minds.
The votes follow.
Rodney King's Spirit (5c6cbf) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:07 pmI think there may be a reason for Sammy’s behavior that let’s me scroll past without much caring. I don’t think he CAN change. Literally.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:08 pmI agree but I like commenting here with most commenters, and I want to be able to continue. There are only so many things I can ignore.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:14 pmReagan was happy to criticize Ford and the Nixon admin.
His central theme was that both parties have allowed the government bureaucracy to centralize power and grow beyond the control of the people. We really have to get back to that.
People talk about national appeal and national parties, but what we need is for the states to assert themselves and stand up to a national government that is actually heading for some serious disasters for the next generation. That’s why I am so proud of Cruz for recognizing he works for Texas, and recognizing how that stands in direct conflict with working for the national GOP.
He will need to find ways to work with the national GOP, but they also will need to find a way to work with him if they wish to serve their own states… too many of them do not recognize what I’m talking about and how that’s a distinction from business as usual.
In fact, Reagan’s critique of the Ford administration in 1976 is usually described as harsh. And he didn’t live in today’s world. The debts and corruption he faced were serious, yet not on par with ours. The worst corruption he saw was Nixon’s, which I don’t think compares to the DOJ’s current attempts to untrue the vote or the IRS’s endless corruption.
Then as now I’m sure Reagan would have recognized that the democrats are worse. But he would have managed to clearly convey the real problem in a non-partisan way. And as we see today with much of the GOP, the problem of creeping socialism is bipartisan.
Why did a conservative like Reagan have so much national appeal, but a more moderate like Ford or Bush 41 or Dole or Romney or Mccain have less? Because moderate Republicans are far less nationally appealing to us than the principled conservative who speaks accurately of a more promising future. I hope Cruz can live up to that. I admire Cruz but it’s an awfully tall order and the national GOP has ever intention of destroying him.
Dustin (303dca) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:21 pm118
Grand. And then you get miserable legislation like ObamaCare because every single member of your coalition had to get his or her own share of the pie. But hey, winning politics is so much more important than sensible policy, right? I mean, the necessary steps to restore our fiscal house can always be taken up by the next Congress, can’t they?
Obama was able to pass Obamacare because he was able to assemble a winning coalition. You want to eliminate Obamacare you have to assemble a winning coalition to that effect. That’s the world we live in. If you don’t like it perhaps politics isn’t your ideal profession.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:24 pm‘you can keep your doctor, and your plan, you will save an average of $2,500, he bought off the states of Nebraska and Louisiana, from the mandate,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:32 pm119
That assumes a conservative ideology doesn’t have national appeal. We Texans think it may still appeal to some Americans, especially after seeing what Obama has wrought. Maybe we’re wrong and if we are, we’ll lose. But it’s not in our nature to lose without trying.
Of course a conservative ideology has national appeal. Perhaps 25% of the voters or so. But you need 50+%. Romney got 47% of the votes. You need at least another 3%. Starting out by writing off half the Romney voters as insufficiently conservative doesn’t seem to me like the best way to 50+%.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:36 pmMaybe Mr. Cruz can gather momentum from former middle class, hard working, underpaid, U.S.A. loving Americans, and speak for all of us. 2016
mg (31009b) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:38 pmLucky Texans.
Ted Cruz is cool. He should run for office; president of Texas.
The Emperor (4efdcc) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:38 pmteh Chimperor has spoken.
Colonel Haiku (4e5a95) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:39 pmHistorically, Dustin, the Dewey, the Wilkie’s have not done well, the more agressive candidates have won, Reagan, but not only Nixon, the second time around, against Johnson and even Humphrey
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:41 pm@col. Hope you guys got what you wanted.
The Emperor (72bb0c) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:42 pm#125… Dustin… I noticed GWB was absent from your list of moderates. Oversight? Or do you really still believe him to be conservative, all evidence to the contrary?
Colonel Haiku (146aeb) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:44 pmOh, we will, Chimperor… we will.
Colonel Haiku (146aeb) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:46 pmWhat was left unsaid, except by a caller into Rush,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:48 pmis that business was spared the indignity that individuals, are being forced with the mandate, not to mention those who are waivered entirely, some 200 companies and union,
Obama was able to pass Obamacare because he was able to assemble a winning coalition. You want to eliminate Obamacare you have to assemble a winning coalition to that effect. That’s the world we live in. If you don’t like it perhaps politics isn’t your ideal profession.
Jeeze, way to completely miss my point, though based upon your comments here I am not surprised you did. What I am saying is that what is the benefit to our country if the coalition that you form in the name of accumulating political power makes it virtually impossible for you to take the necessary legislative steps to ensure the long-term prosperity of the country? Are you familiar with the concept of a Phyrric victory? The amazing thing about Democrats is that they don’t seem to care, since it is always the next Congress or Administration that can address the long-term problems we face.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:49 pmSolid thinking, remember he was the head of Hillary’s research division in the campaign
http://twitchy.com/2013/10/18/juddleguming-thinkprogress-manchild-offers-painfully-dumb-take-on-obamacare-disaster/
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 3:52 pmI don’t think I’m doing that. I think there are 51% of Americans who will vote for a conservative ideology, but you’re assuming a fixed pool of voters. I think the pool varies so we can appeal to voters who may have stayed home in 2012, or who voted libertarian, or who are disaffected Democratic voters. The key is identifying our basic/core beliefs and sticking to them.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:03 pmPlus articulating them in a convincing way, but we have people who can do that now.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:04 pmI agree with JVW, James B. Shearer. What good does it do to win elections if you have no values to guide you once you’ve won. That kind of power leads to corruption, not principled leadership.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:05 pmThat’s why electing someone who has a clear ideology and is willing to stick to core principles matters. They have something to guide them when the decisions are difficult and they’re tempted to pick the politically expedient solution or the solution that yields a financial benefit.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:07 pmBoth Presidents Bush were principled leaders when it came to prosecuting war and, to a lesser extent, conducting foreign affairs. They were much squishier when it came to fiscal matters.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:08 pm137
… What I am saying is that what is the benefit to our country if the coalition that you form in the name of accumulating political power makes it virtually impossible for you to take the necessary legislative steps to ensure the long-term prosperity of the country? …
This sort of problem is characteristic of democratic forms of government. Refusing to play the game isn’t going to get your legislation passed either. And other forms of government have their own problems of course.
… The amazing thing about Democrats is that they don’t seem to care, …
The problem with the Democrats is that they have faulty beliefs about the nature of the world that make it hard for them to recognize certain long term problems as problems. Naturally people don’t worry too much about things they consider to be imaginary problems.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:13 pmWhat is striking is they push this along with a whole panoply of illconsidered policies, like the stimulus, cash for clunkers, and then they wonder why the economy is at best, in ‘dead cat’ mode.
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:23 pmIf Cruz had been willing to cave earlier, he might have brought home to Texas a $3B project.
Like McConnell of Ky
I thought Alamo was a tree… they taught us that in CA
steveg (794291) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:27 pmI think it is a fools errand to take political advise from someone that does not wish to see you have electoral success.
JD (5c1832) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:28 pm139
… The key is identifying our basic/core beliefs and sticking to them.
That’s fine if that’s enough for a winning coalition. Otherwise you have to start thinking about what compromises to make.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:29 pm11th Commandment…..
askeptic (b8ab92) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:29 pmJust to set the record straight.
Ronald Reagan did not originate that 11th Commandment, it was promulgated by the Chairman of the CA GOP in the mid-60’s – Gaylord Parkinson, and used by RR in his run for Governor in 1966.
The problem with the Democrats is that they have faulty beliefs about the nature of the world that make it hard for them to recognize certain long term problems as problems. Naturally people don’t worry too much about things they consider to be imaginary problems.
OK, I think that is actually a very perceptive comment. But when we talk about, for instance, the federal debt and the coming entitlement crush, it is plainly obvious to everyone that this is going to be a very difficult issue much sooner than we had anticipated. Even Dems like Obama are willing to pay lip-service to the notion that something needs to be done. But I think you are right that there isn’t any sense of real urgency because Dems always think they can cobble together something at the last minute to buy a few more years without having to undertake reform, or they think that proceeding along with their current plans (e.g., full implementation of ObamaCare coupled with higher taxes and more regulation) will somehow avert or at least lessen the crisis.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:31 pm140.Plus articulating them in a convincing way, but we have people who can do that now.
Who do you have in mind?
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:31 pm147.I think it is a fools errand to take political advise from someone that does not wish to see you have electoral success.
Well I think it is foolish to decide that anyone who doesn’t agree with you 100% is an enemy.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:43 pmWell the subject of this thread.
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:43 pmI thank Mr. Cruz for exposing all the frauds on team r.
mg (31009b) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:44 pmIt has opened my eyes to the bitter hatred of imbeciles like king from n.y.
I never said you were an enemy. Good Allah.
JD (181760) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:47 pmHow this coalition was secured;
The 60-vote level in the Senate was obtained by the subornation of Arlen Specter in that tainted window between his rejection by his own party and his defeat by the Pennsylvania voters, and by Al Franken’s questionable win in the Senate election in Minnesota, where partisan, county-by-county recounts overturned the people’s choice. Also, most egregiously, Republican senator Ted Stevens of Alaska had been narrowly defeated in 2008 after being convicted of taking a bribe — a conviction that was subsequently thrown out because of the prosecutor’s completely improper suppression of exculpatory evidence.
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:49 pmYes, this is anecdotal. But, I patronize a tobacco shop and we have never discussed anything but small talk. Today, unprovoked, the owner launched into a lengthy diatribe against ObamaCare and was thankful “that senate guy” brought it to the forefront. He is from India and speaks 7 languages. He says many of the Asian nations are laughing at the increase in the debt limit. They are waiting in the wings until the US has no choice but to ask for global help, and countries are colluding for some type of control in exchange for help. He was dead serious.
sybilll (43035d) — 10/18/2013 @ 4:52 pm153.Well the subject of this thread.
Current polling isn’t too promising. Time will tell.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:10 pmJames B. Shearer:
I don’t see why we need to compromise before we even start. And if you’re talking about Cruz, he compromised by not trying to delay the Senate process after the vote to invoke cloture.
I think there are a number of articulate Republicans. Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, and Bobby Jindal come to mind. They aren’t all equally conservative but I’m willing to see who appeals to the GOP primary voters.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:12 pmJames B. Shearer,
It would be foolish to refuse to believe polls that look bad for Republicans just because they involve liberal pollsters, but I’m not going to take everything the polls say on faith and I’m not going to assume that today’s polls tell us much about what will happen in 2014.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:15 pmJames,
I didn’t mean to sound so confrontational about polling. I think your point is that you think we have to wait and see, too.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:17 pmWhether or not someone polls well is tangential to whether or not someone can articulate a message. Cruz can do so, as can many DRJ listed. After 9 months of Dems and the MFM savaging Cruz, color me shocked he doesn’t poll well at HuffPo.
JD (181760) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:20 pmThe interesting thing, are the significant undecided in the poll,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:23 pmdaleyrocks, I was pleased to see your first comment on the thread as well as your added post at 94. This is a subject about which I have decided I can no longer contribute because the disagreements get so heated and personal and the positions are so entrenched. That’s why I’ve avoided commenting on this thread today.
However I’d like to add something now that I hope will not be too incendiary or controversial. It’s to make the point that as important as they are, there is more going on in the world than Obamacare and the debt limit. There is, for example, nuclear Iran. Yesterday I posted a link showing that our junior senator as well as several other R senators were working on legislation to beef up and solidify sanctions. It apparently has considerable support in congress. They are deeply concerned about the announced efforts/plans of President Obama to grant some economic relief and reduce sanctions for Iran and Iranians as part of a “deal”. Besides Mark Kirk the senators are Marco Rubio, Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham. This is worthwhile policy work and I’m glad some senators are focusing on Iran and the president’s foreign policy debacles while other senators are focusing on equally important domestic issues. These “R*NO” senators are some of the most regularly reviled senators by people on this blog who happen to live in other states and dream sweet dreams of blue state tea party senators.
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-congress-odds-over-iran-sanctions-relief-184643295–politics.html
elissa (3961c8) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:31 pmThere’s an argument that this goes all the way back to the actions of <a href="former Texas President George H.W. Bush, so maybe it’s appropriate that Texan Senator Ted Cruz is taking the lead:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:32 pmYes, however, executive policy is the determininf factor, the Pressler amendment didn’t stop Pakistan from getting the bomb, we were less cognizant or frankly interested in what was going on at Kahuta,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:36 pmmy name is luka I was once republican
i voted and i wrote some checks
and doted on the seats they won
then they started spending more
they spent like pigs they spent like whores
they spend while spending they decry
and after that you don’t ask why
you just don’t argue anymore you just don’t argue anymore you just don’t bother anymore
happyfeet (4bf7c2) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:41 pm… color me shocked he doesn’t poll well at HuffPo.
HuffPo is just assembling a bunch of polls (including ones from Fox and Rasmussen), they aren’t doing their own.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:46 pmWhich remains tangential to whether he is an effective communicator of his message. I submit he is damn effective, hence the all out attacks and attempts to marginalized his common sense policies.
JD (181760) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:51 pmCivility how the frack does it work again;
http://twitchy.com/2013/10/18/take-down-ted-cruz-capitol-police-investigate-threat-against-senator-haters-add-fuel-to-fire/
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:59 pma threatening tweet is an oxymoron
happyfeet (c60db2) — 10/18/2013 @ 6:02 pmWhat does it take, a burnt church, like the Austin State House, being hung in effigy, how about the plot against the Minneapolis convention, which one stupid film, is almost indifferent in calling it a potential disaster, and raises question over the fellow Brandon Darby who called it to the authority’s attention,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/18/2013 @ 6:07 pmit for sure takes more than a tweet I think
happyfeet (c60db2) — 10/18/2013 @ 6:16 pmMark – I believe the main thrust of the post is the only people Cruz really needs to please unless he aspires to higher office is the voters back home.
daleyrocks, Cruz must feel like he’s merely stating that 2 plus 2 equals 4 to a wider audience, and therefore has to be totally puzzled by his being perceived as controversial and a low scorer in idiotic popularity contests (among the left and squishy “centrists” in Texas and elsewhere). Even more so when nonsensical, ridiculous liberals like his colleague from Nevada (ie, Harry Reid) or House of Rep counterparts like Nancy Pelosi skate by with less commotion, thanks in part to the dishonest nature of the MSM and a Democrat Party that’s too unethical to chastise its own.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/18/2013 @ 6:25 pmComment by happyfeet (4bf7c2) — 10/18/2013 @ 5:41 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness, I have some of that since 2008.
needs antidote
COME ON SHADOW
Sarahw (b0e533) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:02 pmhttp://www.wimp.com/emotionalreaction/
Sarahw (b0e533) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:05 pmif Shadow didn’t give up then
then I’m not giving up neither!
OK we’re gonna need a theme song people
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 7:31 pmhappyfeet, my theme song is Runaway
SPQR (768505) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:18 pmkanye?
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:27 pmI really find all this talk about realistic expectations in a democratic republic amusing.
The national debt jumped a bit today–$370 Billion.
Compromising means taking the bullet behind your right ear rather than to the forehead.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:33 pmIt seems like the 2016 nomination would be his for the asking. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get it although I imagine he’d lose to Hillary, but so will anyone else. At least then we’d no longer have to spend the next four years hearing “If only we’d nominated a real conservative we’d have won”.
Gerald A (130406) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:33 pmNo, happyfeet, Del Shannon
SPQR (768505) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:41 pmi’ll look for him on amazon
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:43 pmhe committed suicide the internet says
I’m a veto this as a group theme song idea I think because of it’s very nuanced
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:46 pmhappyfeet, you don’t know Del Shannon? But … but … I thought you were cool.
SPQR (768505) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:46 pmi know him now
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:47 pmin spanish his name means “of the shannon”
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/18/2013 @ 8:48 pmChicken Little:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-18/9-signs-china-making-move-against-us-dollar
Since 2008 China has purchased 2000 tons of gold. They are not buying US Treasuries anymore, just replacing longer term bills with shorter term notes.
Our time grows short.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:03 pmOh but let’s continue to ‘fight the good fight’ and give up Congressional purse authority when we cave.
It’s the adult thing to do.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:05 pmI picked mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-DG6GIFTE4 That’s a Cretan farmer killing a German paratrooper with a rock.
It starts “I’ll take my rifle, my beautiful patrona (cartridge shooter)” and finishes “I’ll leave mothers without sons, wives without husbands, I’ll leave little children crying in the night for water”. We sang it around the fire when I was little. Brings back all kinds of tender and sentimental feelings, from better times, every time I hear it.
nk (dbc370) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:16 pmIMHO, once (or if) Mr. Cruz gets to the general election, and if Obamacare is the nightmare that it is shaping up to be, then Cruz against Ms. Clinton — not so scary.
The hard part will be the primary, which might be where his stand will serve him well — not so much with the establishment — but with the base.
And the base just might be enough to get him to the general election.
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:17 pmSo, we are all agreed that sending a man to Congress to do what he says is futile and it’s best to just go along because Texas and tea party?
Good plan. It’s working pretty well right now.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:30 pmAs opposed to?
JD (181760) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:33 pmWell it’s working Ag80, just a little slow at the start.
Besides, what’s the alternative:
…sending a man to Congress to not do what he says he will, and let him can get away with it and it’s best to just go along with because “I Won / We Rule” philosophy?
Nah, let’s take a page from WWII vet Admiral Nimitz and fight like hell no matter how seemingly hopeless and see what happens. ‘Course we’ll need our big boy pants.
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:39 pmI’m sorry, my sarcasm tag doesn’t seem to be working. I guess.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:39 pmPons:
Exactly. Big boy and girl pants and all. This fight is not about you and me. It is much more than that.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:44 pmAg80, you are one of the guys I look up to to around here.
We have a punk for President and thugs running our government. Now let’s go kick their asses.
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:46 pmI’m a slow thinker and even slower typist, so we are crossing comments 🙂
We will win this, my friend.
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:49 pmIs team r an ok term? I try not to use the word r–o, because it’s offensive to some.
mg (31009b) — 10/18/2013 @ 9:56 pmelissa,
I know it bothers you when people like me call Republicans like Senator Kirk a “squishy Republican.” I believe he tries to faithfully represent his constituents and, if so, he and Cruz share that quality.
But the fact is they aren’t alike in their politics since Kirk represents a state with more diverse constituencies. That makes it harder for him to stake out a strong position on issues like ObamaCare and the debt ceiling, because the people he represents are more divided on those issues than the people Cruz represents. Faced with conflicting pressures, blue state Republicans like Kirk can look squishy as they try to avoid or please both sides of the issues.
Finally, it’s also hard for me to consider Kirk a conservative when he has one of the two lowest ACU ratings for a Republican Senator. He’s a moderate
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:01 pmpons:
I was responding to JD because I was not sure what he was responding to. It is all good. Thanks.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:01 pmMy bad Ag80. Sorry about that.
Beer is on me next time 😉
Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:12 pmR.I.P. Bum Phillips
Icy (054990) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:19 pmA great guy with a great obituary.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:23 pmBum Phillips, of course, had the all-time great line about Bear Bryant: “He can take his’un and beat your’un, and he can take your’un and beat his’un.”
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 10:41 pmAnother anecdote about Bum: When he was coaching high school in Jacksonville, TX, he was so enamored of Bear Bryant that he used to give his team a day off on Wednesday so that he could make the three-hour drive to College Station and observe the practice of Bryant’s Texas A&M team. After practice was over he would meet with the A&M coaching staff then make the three-hour drive back to Jacksonville. After a year of doing that, Bryant hired Bum on to the A&M staff.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:01 pmTeam r has a leader, but most on team r hate Cruz.
mg (31009b) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:04 pmHalf the GOP, and probably 75% of the establishment GOP, thought Ronald Reagan was an unyielding right-wing pest who would fracture the party after he challenged Ford in 1976. Within four years, he was President.
JVW (709bc7) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:08 pmAnd in ’68, when he briefly challenged Nixon for the nomination, he was dismissed as just another Hollywood pretty-face who gave one great speech.
askeptic (2bb434) — 10/18/2013 @ 11:25 pmWhere is AD? Is he still with us?
The Emperor (09061e) — 10/19/2013 @ 2:23 amteh Chimperor…
Colonel Haiku (5cd716) — 10/19/2013 @ 2:40 amThe major difference from 68 are the millions of illegal people welcomed by our benedict arnold govt. That’s a lot of votes for the enemy.
mg (31009b) — 10/19/2013 @ 4:14 am==Finally, it’s also hard for me to consider Kirk a conservative when he has one of the two lowest ACU ratings for a Republican Senator. He’s a moderate==
I don’t believe I asked you to consider Kirk a Conservative, DRJ. He is not in the sense that you would ever accept. But he did not run as a conservative. He openly ran for and got elected as a moderate Republican in a hotly contested race to occupy the seat Barack Obama had formerly been elected to. The loss of the seat was a major blow to the Democrats and was a potent indication that even Illinois wanted to moderate it’s legislative presence in Washington which is anchored by Dick Durbin. All this has been rehashed interminably on previous threads.
What I did ask people to consider in my lone comment here yesterday about Kirk and Iran was that perhaps he, as a self proclaimed moderate, brings some value to the United States Senate that his Democrat opponent would not have. I asked people to notice that he is working on things important to the national security and future of this country, too. I second daleyrocks’ point that Sen. Kirk believes he knows, and believes he honestly represents the people who elected him, just as people are praising Ted Cruz for doing for his Texas constituents. I like and respect both Ted Cruz and Mark Kirk. I personally wish Kirk were more conservative. But despite his health issues I am very glad he’s there representing me. He is approachable and he does not have higher electoral aspirations. Be assured that the national Dems will pull out all the stops to beat him if Kirk is able to run again.
elissa (3961c8) — 10/19/2013 @ 6:46 amI agree with your views about Senator Kirk, elissa, and I’m glad to have someone like him as opposed to someone like Senator Obama. But I don’t think Senators like Kirk will make the hard choices we need to get us out of the mess we’re in as a country. And since I doubt we’re ever going to see someone better than Kirk from a blue state, that means it’s going to be hard to get out of this mess — because Obama is right that we have to win elections to change his policies. But I guess I’ve been inspired by Ted Cruz to speak out about unpleasant topics in the hope it will make a difference.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/19/2013 @ 7:37 amSince 2008 China has purchased 2000 tons of gold. They are not buying US Treasuries anymore, just replacing longer term bills with shorter term notes.
Our time grows short.
We live in strange, very disconcerting, times, with forecasts of pending major decline (eg, the stock market) counteracted by things such as the Dow Jones continuing to track on its own merry, happy way. It’s like the US is a juggler having to deal with more and more balls up in the air at the same time, not helped by an on-watching crowd (ie, “we the people”) talking loudly and rudely about the latest goings-on with the Kardashians and other bread-and-circus aspects of this society.
Still, I’m not totally sure if my cynicism and skepticism means that I’m therefore more liable to overstate the drooping condition of the US in the future. Surveys indicate that a larger percentage of conservatives compared with liberals tend to be more optimistic or happier about life in general, regardless who’s in the White House, so I’m not sure if I’m both a reflection of or outlier to that.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/19/2013 @ 7:47 amKirk, in many respects, was like Obama in his senatorial fortunes. In the right place, at the right time. Fitzgerald walked away, and even Democrats would not vote for a slime like Gianoulias. Few people who pay attention to Illinois politics had any illusions about (what Mark would call) his political ideology. He is a North Shore Republican, as close as you can get to Wrigleyville Democrat. Bridgeport Democrats are more “conservative” than he is.
nk (dbc370) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:07 amSorry, DRJ, missed that part of your comment. We did have somebody better, Peter Fitzgerald, a guy who knew money and the guy we need on fiscal issues, but he got to detest Washington, even more than Cruz seems to, so that he couldn’t bear to be there any more.
nk (dbc370) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:09 amFitzgerald appeals to me a lot more than Kirk, and it’s ironic that he decided not to run again because the GOP establishment wouldn’t help him.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:22 amWhere’s happyfeet? An alternate suggestion for our theme song. The Gypsy Bard by Pinky Pie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixvsV-ahI0 My daughter pointed it out to me.
nk (dbc370) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:26 amWith friends like the GOP Establishment, who needs enemies like the Progressive-Democrat Party?
askeptic (2bb434) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:32 amIt’s all relative to a great degree: Those in Texas have a fairly high standard of expectation now from their Conservatives in Ted Cruz.
Even Chicago had Senator Mark Kirk.
However, those of us in California have a few strong and credible people like Tom McClintock as U.S. Rep, but have learned from years of experience, they don’t stand a chance of advancing. So from my vantage point, Kirk, or Fitzgerald (or any of the Fab Five or whatever that group called themselves…) would be like manna from heaven, a little squishy or not. Our state is so extraordinarily blue, it’s hard to imagine any conservative making inroads in Sacramento, letting alone getting to a Senate seat or Governorship.
That said, there’s a big part of me that wants to tell Texas, stop being so dang picky. Be grateful you even have squishes. You’re way farther along than we are today.
Dana (6178d5) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:58 ambookmarked I’m headed to my korean market and walmart today
pinky pie?
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/19/2013 @ 9:13 amPinky Pie.
nk (dbc370) — 10/19/2013 @ 9:20 amNo, Pinkie Pie. Sue me, I’m not an eleven year old girl.
nk (dbc370) — 10/19/2013 @ 9:23 amsorry Mr. nk looks like Mr. JD’s song wins this morning
it just has that certain something
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/19/2013 @ 9:52 amDana,
We were’t that picky here in Texas but now we’re the only big red state. Do you really want us to change our standards and turn purple?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/19/2013 @ 12:26 pmYou misunderstood my point, DRJ: I would be thrilled with the slightest hint that we might be turning purple here. Texas seems so have a plethora of actual conservatives to pick from. That’s a luxury.
Dana (6178d5) — 10/19/2013 @ 12:33 pmIt’s not a luxury, it’s a choice. We have conservatives to pick from because we value conservatism, so that’s where the competition is.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/19/2013 @ 1:20 pmTedo was the emperor’s teacher of his time. Nevertheless, he used to travel alone as a wandering mendicant. Once when he was on his way to Edo, the cultural and political center of the shogunate, he approached a little village named Takenakafredo. It was evening and a heavy rain was falling. Tedo was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals were in pieces. At a farmhouse near the village he noticed four or five pairs of sandals in the window and decided to buy some dry ones. The woman who offered him the sandals, seeing how wet he was, invited him in to remain for the night in her home. Tedo accepted, thanking her.
He entered and recited a sutra before the family shrine. He was then introduced to the woan’s mother, and to her children. Observing that the entire family was depressed, Tedo asked what was wrong. “My husband is a gambler and a drunkard,” the housewife told him. “When he happens to win he drinks and becomes abusive. When he loses he borrows money from others. Sometimes when he becomes thoroughly drunk he does not come home at all. What can I do?” “I will help him,” said Tedo. “Here is some cash money. Get me a gallon of fine wine and something good to eat. Then you may retire. I will meditate before the shrine.”
When the man of the house returned about midnight, quite drunk, he bellowed: “Hey, wife, I am home. Have you something for me to eat?” “I have something for you,” said Tedo. “I happened to be caught in the rain and your wife kindly asked me to remain here for the night. In return I have bought some wine and fish, so you might as well have them.” The man was delighted. He drank the wine at once and laid himself down on the floor. Tedo sat in meditation beside him.
In the morning when the husband awoke he had forgotten about the previous night. “Who are you? Where do you come from?” he asked Tedo, who was still meditating. “I am Tedo of Kyoto and I am going on to Edo,” replied the Zen master. The man was utterly ashamed. He apologized profusely to the teacher of his emperor. Tedo smiled. “Everything in this life is impermanent,” he explained. “Life is very brief. If you keep on gambling and drinking, you will have no time left to accomplish anything else, and you will cause your family to suffer too.”
The perception of the husband awoke as if from a dream. “You are right,” he declared. “How can I ever repay you for this wonderful teaching! Let me see you off and carry your things a little way.” “If you wish,” assented Tedo. The two started out. After they had gone three miles Tedo told him to return. “Just another five miles,” he begged Gudo. They continued on. “You may return now,” suggested Tedo. “After another ten miles,” the man replied. “Return now,” said Tedo, when the ten miles had been passed. “I am going to follow you all the rest of my life,” declared the man. Modern Zen teaching in Japan spring from the lineage of a famous master who was the successor of Tedo. His name was Me-now, the third party voter who never turned back.
Corporal Koan (5f68b1) — 10/19/2013 @ 1:45 pmDRJ, you’re taking it too literally. Once more, I was attempting a contrast and how ‘rich’ Texas is with candidates and those info e. We don’t have that luxury. Anyway, that’s all.
Dana (c77ca4) — 10/19/2013 @ 2:30 pmDana, I agree that the best thing about Texas is the Texans. I am fortunate to be among them and wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else. It’s no utopia, but there’s a decent amount of comment sense and skepticism and independence. Most of us aren’t suckers for government or ‘primetime’ style politicians that so impress the RINO types, and most of us are happy to share our opinions.
As DRJ says, the politicians that successfully compete are a reflection of the people. If only we could peacefully secede! I joke… I love the USA, but the voters are inferior.
Dustin (5f68b1) — 10/19/2013 @ 2:58 pmThanks, Dustin.
Dana (6178d5) — 10/19/2013 @ 5:31 pmSF: But not half the total spending. [$400 billion is] more like 1 or 2 month’s worth.
Comment by SPQR (39ad84) — 10/18/2013 @ 1:35 pm
Its the debt ceiling Sammy, not the spending ceiling.
It;s not an implausible amount to keep as float. It would take about six months (it’s half a year’s borrowing) to run down such a sizeable balance in a “checking account” and that’s what was done, May 17 to Oct 17 – five months.
The total US debt represents issued debt. How did the Treasury issue $400 billion in debt in a day?
That might have been size of the Exchange Stabilization and other funds, which he returned as the year went on, while keeping other borrowing on the usual course it was on. The money owed to these funds was replaced by money owed to the general public, and the cash balances were depleted.
As soon as he could, he had all the money reinvested, and raised the cash balances.
The obvious answer is that the Federal Reserve has been loaning Treasury money off the books and the day after the ceiling is raised, it goes on the books.
What’s illegal is for the Fed to directly loan money to the Treasury – it can only buy in the secondary market. There are ways of getting around that, of course, without breaking the law. Why would they?
Whatever went on is almost certainly not really secret, and not illegal.
Illegally. As it violated both the debt ceiling law and the anti-deficiency act.
Most likely they violated neother – they just ran down cash balances by repaying the funds, so these funds no longer got interest. Meanwhile, they borrowed and spent as usual, so the Treasury bond note and bill market didn’t notice there was a debt freeze.
Sammy Finkelman (ebcaa1) — 10/19/2013 @ 6:41 pmOh dear Lord. Sammy is the anti-Occam.
JD (5c1832) — 10/19/2013 @ 6:44 pmWhen Norquist and Rove go after Mr. Cruz it not only benefits his grassroots popularity it makes team r look sad and pathetic.
mg (31009b) — 10/19/2013 @ 10:07 pmRove drives a Jaguar. A Jaguar!
nk (dbc370) — 10/19/2013 @ 10:12 pm. Our state is so extraordinarily blue, it’s hard to imagine any conservative making inroads in Sacramento, letting alone getting to a Senate seat or Governorship.
Comment by Dana (6178d5) — 10/19/2013 @ 8:58 am
Never Fear Yoda Here! A warning to Dana! Leave Kalifornia immediately, look back, do not! Yoda has decided, nothing beneficial in Kali there is. Yoda ordered giant saw, he has! Saw off Kali from mainland using Force, and let it sink in Marianas Trench, I will!
(lol)
Yoda (c1890a) — 10/19/2013 @ 10:32 pmHe should be driving a Ford Pinto.
mg (31009b) — 10/19/2013 @ 10:33 pm238- In front of a Peterbilt with bad brakes.
askeptic (2bb434) — 10/19/2013 @ 11:31 pmWorks for me, askeptic.
mg (31009b) — 10/20/2013 @ 2:15 am213, 216. Seriously, I’ve no idea what ‘moderate’ Republican Senators hope to gain by directing this Executive on foreign policy.
They’d be more productive updating their Facebook pages.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:57 am236, 238, 239. Jags, like Norton bikes, are in the shop more than they’re on the road.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:00 am‘Can do’ Big Government:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-19/weekend-humor-obamacares-success-context
I’m assuming the Mars venture is a private initiative.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:04 amI don’t think I could survive in Tejas:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/10/16/forecast-for-dallas-160f-with-a-chance-of-showers/
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:17 amI love the USA, but the voters are inferior.
Regrettably, humans in general apparently are inferior, since the ideological nonsense (which also includes the peculiarity of Islamic fascism) that is increasingly rampant in today’s era is a worldwide phenomenon, perhaps with a few exceptions to the rule evident in rarefied sub-sections like a Texas or Japan. I don’t count the recent elections in France (where a larger number of French voters moved right, likely out of exasperation or desperation instead of conviction) as an another example since for that society that’s an outlier and a case of easy comes, easy goes.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:18 ama few exceptions to the rule evident in rarefied sub-sections like a Texas or Japan
Mark, it is things like this that make me question your sanity. What on earth make Texas anything like Japan?
Is Texas an inbred, stratified rat’s nest of quiet desperation? Does it lack even the slightest vestige of the concept of individual rights in its gene pool? Do Texans subjugate themselves abjectly to authority? Is Texas’s history fifteen hundred years of an armed class slaughtering and enslaving its own population and its neighbors? Do Texans say “Aramo”?
nk (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:39 amSisyphus’ boulder:
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-most-terrifying-chart-youll-see-all.html
2012 data of course doesn’t include all the good news of 2013 tax payments rolled forward, reductions in Defense spending or the significant cost in rolling over debt with issues of more expensive treasuries.
Let’s call it a wash.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:42 amThe current issue of TIME Magazine has a map of Texas on its cover, made up of all 50 states (including texas) not to scale, and at any kind of angle.
http://content.time.com/time/magazine
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:52 amFrom the link at 247:
[In 2012 we] spent $3,795.55 billion…
400/3,795 = 10.5% approxomately = average of 38 days worth of spending.
Not unreasonable for the level of “float” in a checking account.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:56 amComment by nk (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:39 am
Mark, it is things like this that make me question your sanity. What on earth make Texas anything like Japan?
Mark likes the politicians they elected.
I’m not sure what’s similar about them.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/government-debt-to-gdp
The economy though is doing good both in Texas (sort of) and Japan. Unemployment is low, inflation is somewhat high.
Also, abortion is illegal in Japan, (with the exception of rape or if maternal health wpuld ne endangerd, when done by pre-approved dcotors, with the consent of the mother and her spouse)
And it’s not even contemplating same sex marriage.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:06 amWhat on earth make Texas anything like Japan?
nk, in the context of the 21st century — of this particular, specific time in human history — I’m referring to groups of people who haven’t (yet) fully succumbed to the looniness of modern-day liberalism.
I’d be the last to say that socio-political cycles do not or cannot change — either up or down — since it was not all that long ago that Europeans were declaring war on one another. Nowadays, lots of Europeans are rolling over for and being enablers to subsets within their own societies, such as Islamic immigrant communities.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:10 amMark likes the politicians they elected.
Sammy, it goes beyond that, since I’m also referring to the socio-cultural forces in both Texas and Japan. IOW, social dysfunction or mediocrity (eg, unmarried teenage mothers) isn’t as easily embraced or quickly tolerated in the two cultures as it is in, for example, northern Europe, urban America or, increasingly, throughout the US in general, certainly in blue-state America. The silliness of no-justice-no-peace-GLBT activism also isn’t running rampant (yet) in such societies or sub-sets of societies.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:15 amWell Japan and Texas, do share a more corporatist rather then strictly free made history, Abe the grandson of Prime Minister Kishi, is very much in the old MITI model
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:15 amAbortion used to be legal in Japan from about 1949 (when abortion for economic reasons became legal) to 1996, when the Eugenic Protection Law was amended in such a way so as to virtually outlaw abortion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Japan
So what it boils down to, is that abortion is illegal unless performed by specified doctors.
The abortion rate is not known any more because physicians underreport it to avoid income tax payments and to maintain confidentiality, especially in the case of young unmarried women still in high school or lower.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:16 amI think it’s true yes, both have more conservative family values. But doesn’t then maybe South Korea? And if not South Korea, North Korea?
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:18 amSouth Korea has changed greatly kin the last 20-30 years.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 7:19 amother threads seem dormant;
http://www.conservativeintel.com/2013/10/18/are-they-signing-up-for-obamacare-or-for-medicaid/#
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:25 amMedicaid is a trap.
I know someone who was steered into Medicaid managed care – Fidelis – the web site seems to be down now for maintanence,- when she got a job she didn’t use the card, the receptionist or whatver told her “you’re very smart” – after a year or so, the State of New York turned around and billed her $15,000.
When she called the person there only wanted to know if that was her signature on the application. She said she didn’t use it (after she got a job) Person on the phone said it didn’t matter. “we were paying your provider” It’s managed care, remember, not fee for service, like it was in the past. And she hung up. That’s waht I hear.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:40 am==a few exceptions to the rule evident in rarefied sub-sections like a Texas or Japan
Mark, it is things like this that make me question your sanity. What on earth make Texas anything like Japan?
Is Texas an inbred, stratified rat’s nest of quiet desperation? Does it lack even the slightest vestige of the concept of individual rights in its gene pool? Do Texans subjugate themselves abjectly to authority? Is Texas’s history fifteen hundred years of an armed class slaughtering and enslaving its own population and its neighbors? Do Texans say “Aramo”?
Comment by nk (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:39 am==
I absolutely love your post, nk. Mark’s later responses/defenses to it were, shall we say, amusing. Sometimes it must be a stretch for him to find opportunities to bring up GLTB “silliness”. But once`again, he managed!!
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:46 amLOL, NK. Remembe the Aramo. I feel guilty for laughing at that.
My bad for injecting humor into the dour topic. At least it’s just politics. It wasn’t long ago that I cares so much about politics because it felt like a way I could make a difference. It’s not nearly as frustrating when you realize that’s largely ridiculous.
Dustin (303dca) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:52 amThe current issue of TIME Magazine has a map of Texas on its cover,
I wonder if various people on the left, including those who dominate the offices of Time magazine, adjust any part of their ideology based on the phenomenon that America’s largest state (ie, in population), California — a true-blue state — recently ranked on the bottom of one survey in which people were asked their degree of positive or negative impressions of parts of the US, while America’s largest red state, Texas, isn’t grappling with a similarly negative, downward trend?
Also, what was once sort of this country’s promised land — the land of new opportunities, sunshine and the Pacific — now being perceived as an increasingly tarnished, dysfunctional place (with an aura of liberalism gone berserk) says what about the US in general?
the State of New York turned around and billed her $15,000.
And if the IRS then pulls up the rear in some shape or fashion, it will be a one-two knock-out punch.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:55 amBTW, I’m
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:56 amalmost certainquite positive that the excellent and attentive waiter who served our table at dinner last night is gay. And you know, I’m OK with that (being a blue stater and all).A soldier’s best shield is a light heart, Dustin. Joke and laugh, if nothing else it pisses off people who don’t wish you well.
nk (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:58 amMark, it is things like this that make me question your sanity. What on earth make Texas anything like Japan?
Elissa, you really don’t get the points I raised in 251 and 252, or are you purposefully trying to misunderstand them? I’m sorry, but I don’t know how much plainer and clearer I can be.
BTW, I recall years ago reading an article about why certain Japanese manufacturers, including Honda and Nissan, were setting up their operations in the south instead of elsewhere in the US, and one reason given was that the socio-political culture (which now can be labeled as “red state”) was more stable, that it was less Detroit-ized, or what can now be called blue-state-ized.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:03 amBut we were ‘Kurtz Republicans’
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/10/20/the-heart-of-the-obamacare-project-is-such-a-rolling-catastrophe/
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:03 amMark, you did not, and have not yet, responded to nk’s points about Texas and Japan not being very similar and why. Are you aware of that?
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:08 amThe LAT is sneering about Texas today. The centerpiece of the article is those crazy Texian Tea Partiers and Ted Cruz. Unfortunately, I believe the view to be the more common view of Texas. It will be a hard ‘image’ to separate from.
The writer then goes on to explain why England would be a better choice for our country than Texas,
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-trade-texas-20131017,0,3217127.story
Dana (6178d5) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:12 amp.s. Really, climate change lumped in with looming debt and jobless economy???? Priorities!
Dana (6178d5) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:15 amMark, If you want people to “get” the points you raise then it would be really helpful if, in turn, you could at least acknowledge that you try to “get” the points that others such as nk raise rather than just ignoring them and burning strawmen instead. Just sayin’.
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:16 amp.p.s. Really, all Texian conservatives (forever known as Tea Partiers) are educated at Oral Roberts U and all English conservatives are educated at Oxford and Cambridge??? Woe to the uneducated Conservatives in both places… unless, as in Iran has no homosexuals, neither Texas nor England have any uneducated Conservative persons (or other institutions of higher education).
Dana (6178d5) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:19 amAre you aware of that?
Elissa, I thought my response was fully explained by the following comment:
IOW, I’m not delving into the minutiae or even larger and extremely vague picture of a Texas compared with a Japan. I know that would be ridiculous. After all, both New York and Texas are in the same country — and both share the same language and overall history — yet they can be poles apart (far apart) in various ways. So even in that case I wouldn’t automatically say they’re similar, without admitting that were I to claim exactly that, it would be with the use of a broad brush.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:22 amComment by Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 8:55 am
And if the IRS then pulls up the rear in some shape or fashion, it will be a one-two knock-out punch.
I prepared her tax return, and I think we’re on solid ground in deducting her husband as a dependent.
I read all the information very carefully.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:28 am266 269
Mark can speak for himself of course but I thought the point he was trying to make was that Texas and Japan had both resisted being assimilated into the modern liberal consensus not that they were otherwise similar.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:30 amThe LAT is sneering about Texas today.
Dana, that’s the musings of the paper’s political cartoonist, David Horsey, who regrettably replaced Michael Ramirez.
I guess the LA Times figured that with Horsey they could get two for the price of one, since the paper’s “Top of the Ticket” page originally was manned by Ramirez — with his far more sophisticated artistry — and right-leaning commentator Andy Malcolm. When the LA Times couldn’t (and wasn’t willing to) maintain even a token section of non-liberal thought and bias — even on its web pages, since “Top of the Ticket” is the province of latimes.com — was when I knew the publication was circling the drain.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:33 amFor the sake of the republic, it is time to say, “So long Texas; welcome England.”
Planes fly from LAX to Heathrow every day. Don’t let the TSA fondle your ass on your way out, LAT.
nk (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:33 am270
270.p.p.s. Really, all Texian conservatives (forever known as Tea Partiers) are educated at Oral Roberts U …
You just have to look at Cruz himself (Princeton and Harvard Law) to see the problems with the claim.
James B. Shearer (92aef1) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:36 amCameron is the kind of wet Tory they love, Lindsey Graham with an Oxbridge accent,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:36 amDana – that is beyond surreal.
JD (dc108d) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:38 amhad both resisted being assimilated into the modern liberal consensus
Exactly, James. IOW, modern-day liberalism — if not leftist extremism (eg, where a winner of a beauty contest about 2 years ago was seen as controversial and inflammatory when she merely stated she supports traditional marriage, and her then being forced into a bizarro world that is the flip side of Islamofascism) — has swept much of the globe, and few pillars of common sense and normative, basic values remain intact today.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:40 amI’m wondering, though, if New York State might attempt to withhold her tax refund. But this should not affect the federal refund at all. The income tax returns were finally filed early in October, although all was ready April 15.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:41 amI’ve had out of town guests this weekend and on Friday I took them down town. One of the stops was the Tribune Tower. In the beautiful gothic lobby and cast in marble slabs all around are famous quotes about freedom of speech and freedom of the press and the role of truth and newspapers as a check on government and abusive power of all sorts in a free society.
It is heartbreaking to see how far they’ve fallen and have abandoned their mission.
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 9:51 amIt is heartbreaking to see how far they’ve fallen and have abandoned their mission.
A corporation that, btw, bought out and took over the Times Mirror Company, home of the LA Times, several years ago. It’s been all downhill ever since then, not just for them but for the print media in general.
The original stockholders of Times Mirror, members of the Chandler family, at the time of the sale were slammed by some LA Times insiders for throwing in the towel, due in part to the claim that certain Chandlers were selfish, non-civic-minded conservatives. I recall one member of that family sniffing over 20 years ago about how far the LA Times had fallen since it now (meaning at that time) was merely mentioning about someone being homosexual, or raising that subject in general. If she hasn’t changed her tune, she probably would have a full-on heart attack if she saw what has since become of the paper today, with its pro-rainbow-flags mentality galore.
From one extreme to the other.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 10:06 amThat was under Colonel McCormick right, as with Luce, Hearst, the founders of the L.A Times, the founding mission has been lost.
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 10:06 amKeep your powder dry…
Colonel Haiku (b9f098) — 10/20/2013 @ 10:09 amelissa,
Did Mark respond adequately to your concerns?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 10:47 amSammy:
I hope you are an accountant or trained tax preparer.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 10:50 amDana,
I’m sorry I keep missing your point but, really, what is it? Are you saying Texas has been blessed with riches? I guess that’s true, but certainly not as much as California with its historical abundance in agriculture, resources, and scenery.
Texas isn’t a magical place. It’s hot, humid in pats and dry in others, prone to droughts, and many areas aren’t particularly pretty — especially compared to California. Some of the people who settled Texas were escaping hard lives or outcasts from other places, and that’s still true today. Anyone can embrace the values that make Texas successful but the fact is most don’t want to.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:11 amAnd in case I wasn’t clear: Being blessed with riches in resources isn’t a choice, it’s a luxury. Being blessed with riches in conservative leadership isn’t a luxury, it’s a choice.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:14 am==Did Mark respond adequately to your concerns?==
Heh. Mark almost never responds adequately to my “concerns” with hiscomments. It’s a thing. He certainly did not respond adequately to the historical context nk raised.
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:22 amSo you don’t believe Mark when he said he was “referring to groups of people who haven’t (yet) fully succumbed to the looniness of modern-day liberalism”?
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:27 amI believe him. Mark’s thinking is very indiscriminate. I would even say fuzzy. In fact, I will say fuzzy. Mark’s thinking is fuzzy. He has a box, and every single thing outside that box is like every other thing outside that box.
nk (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:44 amI think Mark has a social conservative framework and he tends to view problems and solutions in the context of that framework. I don’t agree with all his concerns but I think he’s sincere in his beliefs.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:52 amHe certainly did not respond adequately to the historical context nk raised.
Elissa, I’m puzzled by your reaction. For one thing, I never said that nk’s response to my original comment was mostly or totally incorrect. IOW, I never said that, hey, Texas and Japan are completely similar, from today to over 200 years ago. That, hey, they both have a history that’s rather identical, and customs and styles that are way, way more alike than different. If I had claimed that, then I could understand your turning around and aiming right back at me a response of total puzzlement about my POV.
Mark’s thinking is very indiscriminate.
nk, I disagree (see above). BTW, there is one specific part of your post that sort of coincides with the opening of a video about people from mainly the Western world who’ve relocated to Japan. You asked:
“We certainly don’t like authority, and we don’t like to be told what to do. So, Japan wouldn’t be the natural place to be, would it?”
^ There are aspects of that society that are reminiscent to me of what originally were wider cross sections of America over 40 to 50 years ago, perhaps back when “Leave It to Beaver” or “I Love Lucy” was on the air. Of course, the simple niceties of a stable society can still be found in sections of the US, in the better suburbs of even urban (and, yep, even true-blue) America. But in general terms? It’s pretty much a thing of the past. It’s pretty much totally kaput and getting fainter as each year goes by.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:59 amMark, did that comment actually make sense to you?
SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/20/2013 @ 12:15 pmGay Japanese people are indicative of societal decay
JD (dc108d) — 10/20/2013 @ 12:22 pmJD, now you are channeling Ann Althouse?
SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/20/2013 @ 12:24 pmWhat I think Mark is saying is there are similarities between Japanese and Texan cultures in that both seem to embrace traditional family values more than other cultures.
Note to Mark: Like SPQR, I’m not sure that is what you’re saying. If it is, I encourage you to focus your comments on your basic point and address that point more directly and with less extraneous commentary. It’s not easy to grasp exactly what people mean in online comments so we have to be as direct as possible. I tend to agree with some of your points, and even I think it’s especially easy to get lost in your comments.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 10/20/2013 @ 1:15 pmNote the difference with her interview with the Searchlight Strangler;
http://therightscoop.com/full-interview-ted-cruz-tells-cnns-dana-bash-he-isnt-giving-up-fight-to-stop-obamacare/
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 2:04 pmI am not a Nipponphile, but I am not ignorant of Japanese culture. The Japanese are not traditionally puritanical about sexual matters. Girls, boys, ducks, or all three, are all same-same, provided that it’s the man’s choice, and it’s compartmentalized away from the family unit. Their “family values” are very parent-oriented to a distasteful extreme. The wife is nothing when the mother-in-law is around. Even sons and grandsons are subordinate to their parents and grandparents. It does not comport with the western tradition of the woman being the lady in her own house, or with “A man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife …”. I would not call Japanese culture conservative. I would call it repressive, repressed, and neurotic. Little to admire and even less to emulate.
nk the cultural supremacist (dbc370) — 10/20/2013 @ 3:30 pmTo me the whole Japan- Texas nonsense is like somebody unthinkingly blurting out “Betty Crocker and Marie Antoinette are similar.”
And then when people reaonably say “huh??”, the somebody tries to recover by huffily saying, “well they both liked cake!”
LIke that.
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 4:24 pmWell there’s a problem, elissa, first Marie Antoinette, likely didn’t say that, and if she did, it wasn’t as cavalier as one thinks it means,
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:10 pmYes, exactly, narsiso. Neither comparison is remotely accurate. Thank you for the support.
elissa (3961c8) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:19 pmit’s like comparing a National Park Service slut to a patriot what loves America except different cause of Park Service sluts ardently embrace fascism whereas Japan was like oh ok nevermind about all that fascism and stuff and then they proceeded to do interesting and innovative things with noodles, consumer electronics, and also they invented the furby or they know the guy who did
as opposed to National Park Service sluts, who do not add value
happyfeet (8ce051) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:48 pmComment by narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 2:04 pm
I watched the whole interview. Am I mistaken, or did I see wonder and awe in Dana’s face at times – especially at the end?
felipe (6100bc) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:51 pmI didn’t think it would be weird to root against Peyton. But it is weird. Very weird.
JD (dc108d) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:57 pmObama wants to have his cake, and yours, and hers, and his, and theirs,…
Elephant Stone (ea5f9b) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:57 pmI just hope the Japanese don’t bomb the Alamo, after all is said and done.
Elephant Stone (ea5f9b) — 10/20/2013 @ 5:59 pmBut Obama might !
Somebody stick another quarter in Elephant Stone, he’s on a roll.
Leviticus (6a67b8) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:08 pm‘Was it over, when the Germans bombed pearl harbor;
narciso (3fec35) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:09 pmnk, indeed.
SPQR (768505) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:13 pmLeviticus, the Guild requires that I have to get paid more than a quarter. And if I don’t get paid,
Elephant Stone (ea5f9b) — 10/20/2013 @ 6:18 pmYosemiteRoswell gets shut down !Mark, did that comment actually make sense to you?
…address that point more directly and with less extraneous commentary.
Not sure what specific point or points you’re thinking of, although my last post in this thread was admittedly based on a person’s awareness of the details in the video I linked to. So if that can’t be used as reference material, I’ll evoke a scene in a movie from several years ago, “Back to the Future.” Or the moment when the main character goes back in time, to America of the 1950s, and is amazed to see a local gas station which is fully staffed with fast, friendly attendants. (The video on Japan includes interviews of people who point out a variation of such service still exists in that society today).
Another movie as a reference point: The US in 2013 is increasingly resembling sort of a version of “Potterville,” as opposed to “Bedford Falls,” depicted in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” After all — and even though liberals will mutter “but that character was a greedy banker, more like an evil Republican, not a big-hearted Democrat!” — Obama, in effect, has become America’s “Mr Potter.”
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:29 pmAnd then when people reaonably say “huh??”,
Elissa, I don’t know how much of your response is due in part to your residing in ultra-blue Chicago, true-blue Illinois. Every person is affected, at least a bit, by his or her surroundings, and I don’t think it’s humanly possible for you to be an exception to that rule.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:33 pmMark, please bear with us. I still haven’t wrapped my mind around a girl named Stevie having a guy named Lindsey for a boyfriend, and marrying a guy named Kim.
nk (dbc370) — 10/21/2013 @ 12:38 amHave young people in Texas stopped having sex?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex
elissa (d7a3c7) — 10/21/2013 @ 2:44 amThey want ‘brains’ but it would be beside the point;
http://spectator.org/archives/2013/10/21/zombie-republicans
narciso (3fec35) — 10/21/2013 @ 4:11 amComment by Mark (58ea35) — 10/20/2013 @ 11:29 pm
I’ll evoke a scene in a movie from several years ago, “Back to the Future.”
Do you realize we’re almost ahead forward in time 30 years, like in the second movie?
Where is the 1980s amusement park, with Khomeini and Reagan?
There are all sorts of ways these movies could have been improved. They were really stuck in their own time.
Or the moment when the main character goes back in time, to America of the 1950s, and is amazed to see a local gas station which is fully staffed with fast, friendly attendants. (The video on Japan includes interviews of people who point out a variation of such service still exists in that society today).
Another movie as a reference point: The US in 2013 is increasingly resembling sort of a version of “Potterville,” as opposed to “Bedford Falls,” depicted in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” After all — and even though liberals will mutter “but that character was a greedy banker, more like an evil Republican, not a big-hearted Democrat!” — Obama, in effect, has become America’s “Mr Potter.”
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/21/2013 @ 7:34 amI would call it repressive, repressed, and neurotic
I recall reading an essay by a psychologist (an American, btw) who noted that his typical patient (Americans, btw) back in the 1960s suffered from symptoms traceable to repressed, apparently overly self-conscious type of behavior, while more recently (I believe the article was printed in the 1990s) they’re more likely to show the effects of (to paraphrase) unguarded, rash, uncontrolled, self-absorbed type of behavior. Or I guess what can be called “if it feels good, do it!,” type of reactions. That observations of that psychologist have long interested me and still stand out in my mind.
Mark (58ea35) — 10/21/2013 @ 7:47 amSorry for the extra quote. For what’s misisng from the 1885 novie – well, H. L. Mencken writes (in 1934) that:
http://books.google.com/books?id=9r8KqQDNZD0C&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&dq=mencken+flies+corns&source=bl&ots=bckt159qc7&sig=tUBW277JwYWSG-gh7-qpu6h0KoI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UjxlUt-JG4S69QTO24EI&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mencken%20flies%20corns&f=false
what got rid of the flies wa sthe automobile, which got rid of the horse, and hundreds of thousandas of stables plus the onvention of the copper mesh wire screen.
The automobile though, he writes replaced the sabre-tooth tiger and the wolf and kills in the thousands.
Corms weer caused by bad shoes, which kept on getting worse and worse, getting narrower and narrower, through the ’80s and into the 90s, when the toothpick toe came in.
Then, in 1912, a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, by the name of Edward Lyman MUnson (who lived until July 7, 1947) designed a last that really followed the shape of a human foot, and it was used in making shoes for teh army. after the war regular shoemakers began to imitate it, and corns disappeared. A little bit longer (past 1934) he writes, and they will be as rare as smallpox.
General Munson and whoever invented the copper flyscreen deserve far more from their country than they have got, he writes. Every other great invention seems to carry an affliction with it, but not theirs.
Sammy Finkelman (86c6e0) — 10/21/2013 @ 7:50 am😆
Yoda (ee1de0) — 10/23/2013 @ 8:45 pmhttp://www.stripes.com/news/naacp-membership-dwindles-in-germany-1.98726
The possible problem with the NAACP was its opposition to the Iraq war and backing of new trials for some prisoners in the U.S., as well as the feeling it was too political.
Soldiers were wworried about their career, although there was also the fact that organization has had a dwindling membership for years.
Sammy Finkelman (d960f3) — 10/26/2013 @ 8:19 pm