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Topics - Brassmask

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91
3DHS / OUCHIE! Noonan and Murphy not Sold on Palin
« on: September 03, 2008, 06:19:00 PM »
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/peggy-noonan-mike-murphy_n_123647.html

Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser, Time columnist, and MSNBC contributor Mike Murphy were caught on tape disparaging John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.

"It's over," Noonan said.

When Chuck Todd asked her if this was the most qualified woman the Republicans could nominate, Noonan responded, "The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives. Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and that's not what they're good at, they blow it."

Murphy characterized the choices as "cynical" and "gimmicky."

Watch (the dialogue in question starts 38 seconds in):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg&eurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/peggy-noonan-mike-murphy_n_123647.html

92
3DHS / You guys were right about one thing: The Palin Bounce is Real!!
« on: September 03, 2008, 02:29:57 PM »
You got it kind of wrong though because it is actually in OBAMA'S favor.



http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php

93
3DHS / Wow, Shocker. McCain lied about Palin vetting process...
« on: September 03, 2008, 10:43:37 AM »
Ouchie!

Aides Say Team Interviewed Palin Late in the Process

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 2 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/02/AR2008090203462.html?hpid=topnews

Slowly building the case for Palin dumpage.

It's looking more like McCain just wanted to hang around a younger hottie than find a VP candidate.  Sounds like when Bush wanted to "fly" a jet and land on an aircraft carrier.  Just wanted some kicks.

I'm getting the feeling that McCain is in cahoots with the OBama campaign and is seriously trying to throw this whole thing.  How pissed are you guys going to be when you hear the flushing of Palin is official.

But then again, maybe she'll knock it out of the park tonight in front of that audience of 800,000 that will be watching tonight.

 :D

94
3DHS / Alberto Gonzales Abused Federal Docs
« on: September 03, 2008, 10:11:49 AM »
And still no great gnashing of teeth from the right...Guess its only inappropriate or dire when Sandy Berger does it.

A new Department of Justice inspector general report released today found that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales improperly handled secret information regarding the government’s most sensitive national security programs. DOJ officials have reportedly looked at the report “but did not find a case to prosecute.”

But Gonzales may have done more than just “improperly handle” classified national security documents. CQ’s Spy Talk blog reports that there is “strong evidence” in the report “that the former attorney general lied to federal investigators probing his careless handling of highly classified documents.”

According to the IG report, Gonzales told investigators that he did not know that documents he handled relating to the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program were classified:

    Gonzales said that he was unaware of the classification level and compartmented nature of the NSA program he referenced in the notes. Gonzales also stated he did not recall thinking that the notes themselves were classified.

Yet the report also says that an envelope containing the documents were marked “top secret” by Alberto Gonzales himself:

    The envelope containing documents related to the NSA surveillance program bore the handwritten markings, “TOP SECRET - EYES ONLY - ARG” [the attorney general’s initials] followed by an abbreviation for the SCI codeword for the program.

House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said it is “shocking” that Gonzales mishandled the documents, adding that the “department ought to explain clearly why it declined to pursue charges against Mr. Gonzales and what actions it intends to take in response to the report.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/02/gonzales-report-perjury/

95
3DHS / Shall we start a bragging pool?
« on: September 02, 2008, 09:11:33 PM »
We should start a pool that on how long before Palin is withdrawn as the GOP VP candidate and someone else is slapped in hurriedly.

I'm betting not this coming Friday but on Friday, Sept 12th, she'll be history.  It'll be released in the Friday afternoon/evening dump.


96
3DHS / conservatives react to Palin
« on: August 29, 2008, 03:06:26 PM »
We're looking at a full-blown meltdown.  Let's kick things off with Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review:  

"She Just Is Not Ready to Be Commander-in-Chief" [said] Pat Buchanan on MSNBC just now, about Sarah Palin. I'm liable to agree.

Lopez also posted this as a typical email she's gotten:

As much as I loathe Obama-Biden, I can't in good conscience vote for a McCain-Palin ticket. Palin has absolutely no experience in foreign affairs. Considering both McCain's advanced age and the state of the world today, it is essential that the veep be exceedingly qualified to assume the office of president. I simply don't have any confidence in Palin's ability to deal effectively with Iran, Russia, China, etc. I certainly will not cast a vote for Obama-Biden, but nor will I vote for McCain-Palin. Looks like I'll either sit this one out or vote for Bob Barr. Why, o, why, didn't McCain listen to Rove and just pick Romney?

cityduck's diary :: ::
From the National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru:

Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue.

As a political matter, it undercuts the case against Obama. Conservatives are pointing out that it is tricky for the Obama campaign to raise the issue of her inexperience given his own, and note that the presidency matters more than the vice-presidency. But that gets things backward. To the extent the experience, qualifications, and national-security arguments are taken off the table, Obama wins.

And it’s not just foreign policy. Palin has no experience dealing with national domestic issues, either. (On the other hand, as Kate O’Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby.)

Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?

Compatibility. It doesn’t seem as though McCain knows Palin well. Do we have much reason to think they would work well together?

Debates. Maybe, as Jonah said the other day, Biden will look like a bully going up against her—and maybe she’ll shine. But I can think of a lot of other picks who would have been lower-risk.

I am not even sure that the pick will have quite the galvanizing effect on conservatives that it seems to be having now as it sinks in. The concerns I’ve mentioned here—about her readiness and her credentials—are the kind of thing that many conservative voters take seriously.

From the National Review's Jonah Goldberg:

Downside: She may not be ready for primetime. The heartbeat-from-the-presidency issue is a real one.

From the National Review's Jonathon Adler:

I recognize that were McCain to select Palin as his Veep it disrupts the Obama Lacks Foreign Policy Experience" talking point, but I was never thought that argument was all that powerful.

From Town Hall's Ron Fournier:

If Obama is an empty suit, as McCain has suggested, is Palin suited for the Oval Office herself?

She is younger and less experienced than the first-term Illinois senator, and brings an ethical shadow to the ticket. Just 20 months ago, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 6,500 where the biggest issue is controlling growth and the biggest annual worry is whether there will be enough snow for the Iditarod dog-mushing race.

From MSNBC's Joe Scarborough:

It Sounds Like a Harriet Miers Decision. Let's Find a Woman, Whether She's Experienced or Not.




http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/125530/561/942/578766


97
3DHS / The American Dream is True. Obama just proved it to me.
« on: August 29, 2008, 02:05:13 AM »
I watched the speech on CSPAN and I had tears in my eyes the whole time.

His policy points that everyone seemed so intent on his making over the past two weeks were WHAT AMERICANS WANT.  Or at least a large number of them.  They were points and policies that John McCain would never support and W certainly never would.

That is what change is.

Were there a couple of snigglies that I wanted to hear and didn't?  Of course there were but I would trade 29 points that I agree with millions of other Americans on that he DID talk about for those two or three that he didn't any day of the week.

I was particularly touched by the "mutual responsibility" and "personal responsibility", for that has been what I have been talking about on these boards for lo these many years.  Is it the removal of money and capitalism in the vision and mold of the RBE, certainly not, but it is close enough to the kernel of spirit at the heart of what I have envisioned as the RBE.  And it is perhaps presented in a way that a few conservatives can come half way towards in order to have consensus.

The convention hit all the right notes over the last few days.  It was beautifully crafted as all conventions are these days while at the same time having the uncertainty of the Clinton factor hanging over early on.

The Republicans may be secretly hoping for Gustav to hit so that McCain can run down there and get some camera time of him barking orders at people to unpack those bottled water pallets and get this generator running but also so they have time to re-tool their show and find out if they can rent the stadium in Minneapolis.

Obama inspires me.  Obama makes me want to listen to that Lee Greenwood song and sing along in my front yard.  As they said many times tonight, he fulfills that promise that we make to our children.  You can be anything you want to be.  Obama's story made me want to wake my son up and tell him that. 

My sense of Obama is certainly different from all the other politicians on the scene.  He strikes me as wise.  Perhaps he doesn't know the names of leaders of countries.  Perhaps he needs a teleprompter to help remember the words of his speech even though he knows the emotion and thought he is trying to express but I admire his humility, his subtlety, his openess, his honesty.

Most of all, I never see doubt or uncertainty or fear in his eyes.  The first time I saw W on TV, I saw that fear.  His ego was so extreme that I could see his fear of being tripped up in his eyes.  As anyone who has done character studies can tell you, ego types hide their fear in bluster, braggadoccio and bullying.  As a former ego type, I can attest to all of the above.

I sometimes would catch that fear in Howard Dean's eyes in the early days of the campaign and it scared me but I chose to ignore it as many of his supporters, I'm sure did.  Obama is different.  He's not aloof.  He's not distant.  He's honest with himself and whoever pays attention to him.

Tonight, he proved that he deserves the nomination and that deal is sealed.  Anything other than total praise of his speech or at the very least acknowledgement of his amazing and historical accomplishments is nothing more than outright cynical, political pettiness.

August 28th, 2008 will be something to remember for those of us with Hope.

98
3DHS / Also Totally Off-Topic Travel Questions
« on: August 15, 2008, 09:07:10 PM »
Anybody here from South Dakota, Wyoming or Montana?

OR

Has anybody here been to Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, SD, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Devil's Tower or Old Faithful at Yellowstone?

I'm trying to plan us a vacation to all those points over ten days or so next year but I'm wondering if there are any particular must-sees that anybody might have.

Thanks,

B


99
3DHS / Off-Topic Child Bragging
« on: August 15, 2008, 05:04:01 PM »
Every parent is proud of their kid and rightly so, but today I'm really proud of my kid.

The Memphis City Schools has a program called CLUE. 

CLUE is an education program designed to meet the needs of academically talented and gifted students in the Memphis City Schools. The curriculum incorporates both group and individual strategies focusing on creative thinking, critical thinking, communication, leadership, group dynamics, and problem solving.

CLUE currently serves preschool, primary, intermediate, middle, and high school students. Placement is based on individual assessment.

So, Benjamin's teacher at his daycare suggested that we take him and have him tested to see if maybe he might be eligible for their pre-school program.  She had said that was very verbal and that he would have a good shot at it. 

So, my wife took him to be tested.  The test meeting is kind of odd because they don't allow the parents to be in the room during.  They don't tell you right after as the results of the testing have to be evaluated.  They call you for the meeting to let you know if they qualify and what their test results were.

So, she just sent me an email after going:

Quote
As far as his IQ testing went, 100 is considered average.  He scored 129 which is in
the superior range.  His verbal skills were off the chart.  He was also tested on
academic stuff (reading, letter ID, Applied problems, etc).  He scored a 97 in
Academic Knowledge.  This puts him above the 95th percentile in that area.
Apparently this is impressive because he is four and has not actually been in a
school setting where he would get academic knowledge.  He was way low in spelling,
however she said boys always are.

Of course, I am so super proud of my kid but it is also great to know we haven't failed as parents and perhaps, have even done pretty well.

It's a red-letter day at our house today and I thought I'd share.

Back to the political grudge matches.  :)

100
3DHS / FC v. T&SL
« on: August 08, 2008, 04:02:14 AM »

101
3DHS / Bill Gates: Brassmask Reader
« on: July 31, 2008, 07:31:03 PM »
From Political Wire

"Capitalism has improved the lives of billions of people -- something that's easy to forget at a time of great economic uncertainty. But it has left out billions more... Governments and non-profit groups have an irreplaceable role in helping them, but it will take too long if they try to do it alone. It is mainly corporations that have the skills to make technological innovations work for the poor. To make the most of those skills, we need a more creative capitalism: an attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off. We need new ways to bring far more people into the system -- capitalism -- that has done so much good in the world."

http://www.politicalwire.com/


Sounds like that Brass Capitalism I once proposed long ago.  That blending of capitalism and socialism that America has put to use so well in the past but abandoned in the last 50 years or so.



102
Culture Vultures / What DVD's do you have rented right now? And why?
« on: July 29, 2008, 02:36:27 PM »
We use Netflix.  I love it.

Right now, however, I have two movies I wanted to see back a long time ago and they finally rolled around on my queue but I'm like, "UGH, I don't want to watch that right now."

Atonement

and

La Vie En Rose

Really a coupla chick flicks that were nominated. 

I just sent back Malice In Wonderland.  I thought it would be fun to see Hetta Hopper and Louella Parsons at each others' throats but it really sucked.



103
3DHS / International Silly Dance Day
« on: June 24, 2008, 11:28:15 AM »
Cross-posted at http://www.brassmask.com/comment.php?comment.news.315

Remember Matt Harding? We posted his first vid?o de joie on this site about 13 months ago. Apparently, we weren't the only ones moved by Matt's "little video" that he had put together. Basically, it was just him doing a silly dance at various far-flung venues across the globe.

It was moving.

And now, he's back again with a little help from his friends at Stride Gum. Matt did the same thing over again but he tweaked it a little. Watch the whole thing and don't get all cynical and just let the joy wash over you. Hell, let it linger for a while.

Savor it some before you go back to thinking that the whole world is screwed up and we're headed towards a peak oil apocalypse. Hold out hope that one day, this will inspire people across the globe to go out in their yards at a specific time, on a specific day and do a silly, little dance with their friends and families for no more than two minutes or so, all the while knowing that across the globe, friends and families are doing the same silly, little dance at exactly the same time.

Just do that today. OK? It's ok, nobody's looking.

Now dig on Matt and where the hell he is...

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

104
3DHS / 8 out of 10 Americans Want The Terrorists To Win
« on: June 20, 2008, 08:08:47 AM »
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/19/level-of-pessimism-in-us-is-the-worst-in-almost-30-years/


Wow, that drive-by media sure is earning its millions, huh?  8 out of 10 Americans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction.  Those 8 must be so utterly and completely brainwashed by the leftists in the media that hate this country and suffer from...what is it called...BDS?

After "president" Bush has poured the last eight years of his life into making this country the most respected and honorable country in the world by hunting down terrorists and torturing their sorry asses to get information that may or may not have prevented another 9.11 and widespread vampirism, this is the thanks he gets?  Wow, unbelievable how ungrateful Americans are these days.

How dare they, I ask, HOW?

Quote
Eight in 10 Americans say country is headed in the ?wrong direction.

A new AP-Ipsos poll finds that nearly eight in 10 Americans believe ?the country is moving in the wrong direction?amid soaring food and gas prices, falling home values and unending war. Just 17 percent say the country is going in the right direction.? This figure is the lowest since the survey began in 2003, and when compared with other past surveys, ?the general level of pessimism is the worst in almost 30 years.?

Hey, I got it!  They're just so utterly convinced that that terrorist-loving, Muslim, black guy is going to be elected by a bunch of activist voters who hate America and want the terrorists to WIN and that's why they think the country is heading in the wrong direction.  Thaaaaat's it.  Whew, our faith in this god-fearing nation is restored.

105
3DHS / Obama Embraces Dean's 50-State Strategy
« on: June 09, 2008, 10:30:07 AM »
He out to win ALL the votes not just the electoral college votes that will help him get over 270 (which is what Hillary would have done).

How can he win your votes sirs, plane, ami, hnumpah, bt?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/politics/08obama.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON ? Senator Barack Obama?s general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging Senator John McCain in typically Republican states ? from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana ? as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said.

On Monday, Mr. Obama will travel to North Carolina ? a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years ? to start a two-week tour of speeches, town hall forums and other appearances intended to highlight differences with Mr. McCain on the economy. From there, he heads to Missouri, which last voted for a Democrat in 1996. His first campaign swing after securing the Democratic presidential nomination last week was to Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964.

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