Thursday Open Thread

23
  by: Colorado Pols Thu December 13, 2012 at 4:11 PM MDT

“There are two kinds of weakness, that which breaks and that which bends.”

–James Russell Lowell


Full story: Thursday Open Thread

23 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 8:10 AM MDT

    2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world

    But the great advances of mankind come about not from statesmen, but from ordinary people. Governments across the world appear stuck in what Michael Lind, on page 30, describes as an era of ‘turboparalysis’ – all motion, no progress. But outside government, progress has been nothing short of spectacular.

  2. PitaPita says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 9:05 AM MDT

    Of course you have to exchange ‘working on campaigns’ for “in the Senate”.

    Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) in a farewell speech on the Senate floor:

    “When I started in the Senate, the blackberry was a fruit, and tweeting was something only birds did.”

  3. caroman says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 2:08 PM MDT

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

    Colorado’s Gov. John Hickenlooper said “the time is right” for state lawmakers to consider gun control measures, offering his firmest stance in the aftermath of several high-profile shootings, including a movie theater rampage in suburban Denver, that have shocked the nation.

    “When you look at what happened in Aurora, a great deal of that damage was from the large magazine on the AR-15 (rifle). I think we need to have that discussion and say, `Where is this appropriate?’”

    Good job, Hick!  Maybe you’re not such a weenie after all.

  4. Phoenix RisingPhoenix Rising says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 2:18 PM MDT

    Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has asked the Obama Administration what exactly its plans and policies will be regarding the legalization of Marijuana in Colorado and Washington, and suggests that Congress may need to legislate the legalization of weed at least in some cases.

    RawStory has the whole story.

  5. The realistThe realist says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 3:46 PM MDT

    The Legislative Audit Committee just voted unanimously to approve the request for an audit of Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s reimbursement practices that was submitted by Sen. Lois Tochtrop and myself. I’m pleased that the Legislative branch has opted to use this check and balance against what appear to be questionable practices by an executive officer. We’ll get to the bottom of this!

  6. GalapagoLarryGalapagoLarry says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 10:56 PM MDT

    Hanging here off the end of the day’s thread, listening to Christmas music, sipping a vokada, not too worried I’m screwing up the thread, I just got around to opening a card from my sister Charlotte (R). (We used to be sister- and brother-in law; since my brother, her husband, died, we’ve become true sister and brother.)

    Hi, Larry–Merry X-mas! Why in the heck did you knock on so many doors? I woke up and–we were Socialists!

    God, I love her. She’s got a pair.

    From a Dec. 6 Advocate op-ed by RJ Aguilar: http://www.advocate.com/commen…

    Of course, the GOP doesn’t seem to be learning from its mistakes. Now, as someone who supported the Democrats in the last election, I’m just fine with my adversaries repeating the mistakes of the past and possibly setting themselves up for even more failure. At the same time, though, I have to look at my Republican friends and family and say to them: “for God’s sake, grow a pair already!”

    He continues:

    I’ve watched for years as loud-mouthed, fanatical, borderline-rabid hyper-conservatives have pushed around all of the rational, reasonable moderates of the party. Yes, it is in the nature of the democratic process that you’ll need to compromise in order to get things done (or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work-ahem). [snip]… But now I think it’s time for moderates to stop enabling their hyper-conservative peers and start playing hardball.

    This has little to do with John Boehner. My minority view is that he’s not a moderate being held hostage by crazies: He’s one of the inmates. But if moderate Republicans don’t grow a pair, in the winner-take-all game he’s playing with with Obama, they’re going to lose a pair.

  7. parsingreality says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 12:27 PM MDT

    Don’t let the door…….

  8. Diogenesdemar says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 12:31 PM MDT

    go ahead and let it . . .  

  9. VanDammerVanDammer says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 1:02 PM MDT

    I rlly wanted Gore/Lieb in 2000 and the crimes committed and SCOTUS bullshit spun me in a depression.  Am so happy now that Dopey Joe never got any further and his hawkish chickenshit support for getting our men & women killed in Iraq/afghanistan clouds his legacy.

    So long Joe — wish we were safe to think we’d never hear your jowly whine again.  Nope, U & Shakes McCain got your names on the Angry Old White Man seat on the Sunday shows.

  10. Phoenix RisingPhoenix Rising says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 1:19 PM MDT

    Thanks for the misleading propaganda.

  11. sxp151 says:
    Fri December 14, 2012 at 12:50 AM MDT

    That was a good place to stop reading. I feel like I’ve gotten almost too good at “Find the one essential bit of information in David’s quoted text that negates his entire premise.” In this case it’s the fact that Michael Lind is stating a fact yet is incapable of ever being right.

    This game is less fun if I don’t even have to click the link to play.

  12. DaftPunkDaftPunk says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 2:31 PM MDT

    Would be at least a place to start.

    Loughner might have killed fewer in Arizona if his reload came sooner, and Wright had a 100 round magazine (which jammed) in Aurora.  This ought to be sensible middle ground which can’t be described as confiscation or argued as a valid sporting or self-defense need.

    Better still, since we can’t have an intelligent conversation regarding gun control in this country (see Costas, Bob), maybe we could have a better conversation around mental health.

  13. Duke Coxdukeco1 says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 3:56 PM MDT

    with the Governor on this one. One of the things I do for a living is supervise the construction of retail stores in malls and shopping centers nation wide.

    This is a genuine concern for me.

    Good on you, Governor…on this statement, and the courage it took to make it..

    we’ll talk about that “other” thing later.  

  15. GalapagoLarryGalapagoLarry says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 9:21 PM MDT

    Of course he just touched the third rail in Western politics. Let’s hope the true sports and dinner table hunters in our rural areas mount some vigorous support for this discussion. Otherwise, it’ll just be us whiny librul city folks on his side, and it won’t turn out well.

  16. TimothyTribbett says:
    Thu December 13, 2012 at 7:41 PM MDT

    When he endorsed McCain I literally tossed my cookies. 2 many grumpy old men make me grumpy.  

  17. sxp151 says:
    Fri December 14, 2012 at 1:19 AM MDT

    I know some who pose as moderate Republicans. They don’t care about gay marriage and are pro-choice and such. But they’re rich, and when it comes to their taxes ever possibly going up by one cent, they’d rather default on our debts and blow up the economy. That’s not very moderate.

    Behind every modern Republican is someone who just wants to blow something up. That’s the one thing they all agree on.

  18. Duke Coxdukeco1 says:
    Fri December 14, 2012 at 5:32 AM MDT

    The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

    John Kenneth Galbraith

    Things don’t really change all that much.

  21. DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
    Fri December 14, 2012 at 8:57 AM MDT

    He was just referenced to define a phrase.

  22. Phoenix RisingPhoenix Rising says:
    Fri December 14, 2012 at 11:05 AM MDT

    On economic growth ruining the environment: the article states that the leading nations economies grew by 6% while those same nations reduced fuel consumption by 4%. That’s nice, but (a) it doesn’t account for the massive environmental damages being caused in the upcoming nations of China and India, and (b) the fuel consumption could be misleading as economic growth accrues over time while fuel consumption is year-to-year.

    Next up, energy abundance. The article essentially says “don’t worry, be happy – drill, baby, drill!” But that doesn’t account for the fact that fuel extraction from new technologies (that bring us ever closer to extractable = total) has an end date, and it’s a shorter end-date than the last cycle. It also doesn’t account for (again) ecological damage.

    A bit further down the article touts just how superior Man is to Nature when it comes to bad weather. Nevermind that Man is increasingly the force behind that weather, or that the end result is some of our great cities being underwater. The article’s author appears to advocate for “climate change? Fuck it!” And that’s a poor attitude when better solutions are on the horizon.

    That’s just a few paragraphs.

  23. Diogenesdemar says:
    Fri December 14, 2012 at 10:17 PM MDT

    I’m pretty sure that was just a rhetorical question.

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