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October 11, 2010 03:45 PM UTC

Monday Open Thread

  • 179 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Time discovers truth.”

–Seneca

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179 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

  1. It’s not quite the flying Jetsons’ car, but Ford is releasing their SDK to 3rd party developers for their SYNC software. How far have we come in that when I was a teenager, I was deep in the guts of my Dodge Duster tweaking the carb with my hands. Now I just have to write a Java app…

    Ford Releases SDK to Next Set of App Developers; Shares Vision for Future In-Car App Creation

    Ford starts to release its Software Development Kit (SDK) to the next round of app developers so they can enable existing smartphone apps for voice command and control through Ford SYNC(R)

    Ford outlines guidelines for future in-car app development; details vision for collaboration, potential mashups with the mobile technology community during the CTIA Wireless Association Enterprise and Applications Conference in San Francisco

    Ford is reviewing more than 1,000 submissions made on the SYNC Developer website for future SDK release; first app partners include Pandora, Stitcher and OpenBeak, with more to be announced soon

    Ford (F, Trade ) is starting to release its Software Development Kit (SDK) to a new set of interested smartphone app developers so they can modify existing apps to work hands-free using voice recognition through Ford SYNC for safer command and control while driving.

    The SDK release marks the latest move by Ford to forge a more open collaborative bond with the wireless, consumer electronics and app developer communities to create a safer and smarter in-car connectivity experience that leverages the mobile devices customers own and love.

    https://secure.syncmyride.com/…

    1. Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic

      MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving.  

      The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver.

      I think it would be so weird to sit there and let the computer make the decisions.

  2. from Arianna Huffington

    In the green room before taping Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, I had an unexpected conversation with my fellow panelist Joe Klein. He’d just finished a cross-country road trip, getting an up-close look at lives that “have been ripped up by the economic devastation of recent years.” He embarked on the trip, he wrote, because “I really don’t trust the things I’ve been seeing on TV and reading in the papers.”

    The trip had been an eye-opener. “The people I met never talked about the things the Washington press does,” he told me. The disconnect between the focus of his fellow reporters and the focus of the people he met on his travels was “transformational.” “My sense of what’s important has changed in a big way,” he said.

    …

    He also found, as I have again and again, that the true narratives of this recession don’t fit neatly into the obsolete right-versus-left frame the establishment media want to force them into. As Klein put it:

    …when I ask whether they’d rather see the government closing the deficit or spending money to create jobs, most of them say jobs. There are ideological contradictions aplenty, which leads me to conclude that the notion of America as a conservative or moderate or liberal country is a fiction created by those of us who sit on top of Mount Opinion.

    1. People just want things to work (including themselves).

      They want government that works. They expect to pay taxes.

      I think most people are just practical in their values and not terribly ideological. They judge politicians by results, not by ideological purity.

      1. not only does the MSM create a false dichotomy between conservative and liberal on almost every issue, it creates an environment whereby one side is simply against anything the other side is for, and hence nothing gets done.

        Gamesmanship, hyperpartisanship and gridlock are ruining this country.

  3. from A manifesto by Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee and other education leaders

    But the transformative changes needed to truly prepare our kids for the 21st-century global economy simply will not happen unless we first shed some of the entrenched practices that have held back our education system, practices that have long favored adults, not children. These practices are wrong, and they have to end now.

    …

    So, where do we start? With the basics. As President Obama has emphasized, the single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is not the color of their skin or their ZIP code or even their parents’ income — it is the quality of their teacher.

    Yet, for too long, we have let teacher hiring and retention be determined by archaic rules involving seniority and academic credentials. The widespread policy of “last in, first out” (the teacher with the least seniority is the first to go when cuts have to be made) makes it harder to hold on to new, enthusiastic educators and ignores the one thing that should matter most: performance.

    A 7-year-old girl won’t make it to college someday because her teacher has two decades of experience or a master’s degree — she will make it to college if her teacher is effective and engaging and compels her to reach for success. By contrast, a poorly performing teacher can hold back hundreds, maybe thousands, of students over the course of a career. Each day that we ignore this reality is precious time lost for children preparing for the challenges of adulthood.

    1. The single most important factor in determining the success of a student in school is NOT the teacher (great teachers do help).

      The most important factor is the involvement of the parents at home. Children who come from stable, loving, structured environments and who are read to from infancy are far more likely to succeed academically than those who are not, regardless of weather the teacher is average, good, or great (whatever great means).

      IMO parents need to be held more accountable.

      1. the single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is…is the quality of their teacher.

        …

        When teachers are highly effective — measured in significant part by how well students are doing academically…

        If one of my students tried to present a circular argument like that as a proof, I would give no partial credit.

        1. Great teachers are like porn. No one can define what it is, but you know it when you see it.

          That may not be the best analogy, but I think it makes the point.  

        1. “Bobby, why do the clouds float over our heads – Angels!”

          Bobby, why is the sky blue? Because Angels paint it that way!”

          etc etc etc. Home skooled indeed…

  4. Seems like there might be a reservoir of xenophobic support for him there.

    Parents have voiced concerns to the Garfield Re-2 school board over the recent recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish in a middle school, and about a Latino-themed high school club.

    http://www.gjsentinel.com/news…

    Warning: subscription might be required.  The Sentinel has recently gone to a pay-for-content model.

        2. Here’s the HTML code for the inverted exclamaiton point:

          ¡ (i.e. ampersand-inverted exclamation-semicolon).

          Here it is in action:

          ¡Es la verdad!

          I don’t know if it’ll work in the comment title (we’ll see as soon as I post), but this sort of thing usually works in the body of the comment.

          2. It doesn’t work in the comment title.

            For some reason, all the html type code gets “escaped” in the title.

            Still works in the body  of the comment, though.

            BTW – I was able to show the ampersand by putting a back-slash immediately before it. That’s how you get the comment to display a less than symbol (<), too.

          1. ВЎThere are a bunch of shortcuts with the ALT key plus a numberВЎ

            ALT 168 – Вї

            ALT 164 – Г±

            I forgot where I found these but you can play around and find others.

        4. Because then you just type option-1 and get “ВЎ” Way easier than Windows, because most of the special characters can be found with associated letters and characters on the keyboard. (Add an Гјmlaut with option-u, get an upside-down question mark with shift-option-forward slash, etc.)

            1. I’ve never needed more than one google search or the the first few results for any keyboard short cut (that exists – it’s impossible to sub or super script in mac mail)  

    2. that Tancredo wins here in Garfield.

      We were only 2 votes shy of Obama winning the county.

      Hick will win easily. Bennet, on the other hand, has me a bit concerned.

    3. Set aside the ideologies. I think everyone agrees that everyone needs to know English in order to live in and fully participate in this country.

      So, teach the pledge in Spanish, then use that as a translation opportunity. Add a few words every day in English, and before you know it, it’s being recited in English in it’s entirety.

      But most important, the kids will say to themselves, “Wow, that wasn’t hard!  I can learn English!”

  5. truly sad Election machines are scrutinized less than slot machines…

    Slot machines are known as “one armed bandits.”

    possibly E-Voting machines should be known as “republican vote counters.”

      1. This article doesn’t accurately portray the Colorado election laws or SoS rules regarding certification, pre-election testing, software version control, seals, chain of custody, requirements for controlled access and monitored storage, etc.

        It ain’t about the machines.  It’s about the procedures in place and whether people follow them.

          1. But the righties aren’t going to like my solution, which is to put the National Labs on the task of building a secure, open-source voting machine, make it the national standard, and license it to companies to build and support.  No more trade secrets, no more proprietary code.  Companies would make their money off of supplies and customer service.

  6. What do liberals and average Muslims think of this subject?  If it’s been discussed here already, I apologize.

    And yes, I realize this is from Brownie’s blog so we’ll assume all the usual shots at him.  Nevertheless, I think it’s a legitimate topic.

    http://michaelbrowntoday.com/j…

    For me, I am surprised that mainstream media outlets continue to transparently succumb to one vocal minority (Islamic extremists) and apply a different set of rules to them than they do to everyone else.

      1. defending murders or crowbar attacks.  But if you were the publisher or manager of a media outlet, would you have published the cartoon?  Would you have aired the original ‘South Park’ episode encouraging the physical replication of Mohammed?

    2. In this country, you are free to put something you own into a jar of urine. Or not.

      In this country, you are free to burn any book you own. Or not.

      In this country, you are free to create images of imaginary creatures. Or not.

      In this country, you are free to display your belongings. Or not.

      In this country, you are free to be totally inconsistent regarding sacred principles. Or not.

      You are doing a heckuva job, Brownie.

        1. I’m not even sure what you’re talking about.  I don’t intend to use ColoradoPols to motivate the Republican base.

          I’ve just never seen the ObamaDNCPelosi or DailyKos standard response to this issue.

          1. I don’t intend to use ColoradoPols to motivate the Republican base.

             Hey, 20, I thought pols was the Republican base.  you don’t think those 200 plus Republican shill posts a day come from just b.j. wilson and h-man, do you?

              I mean, at least five of them have to come from basement warrior.

          2. Let alone a serious one.  Apples and oranges, as one poster put it.  A false equivalency by the Arabian horse guy, in my formulation.  

            I was responding to the stupid crap the failed FEMA boss put forth, his is just an attempt– by a grossly incompetent silver-spooned Bush-bud, Brownie–to conflate anger at Muslims with ‘anti-christian’ bigotry to inflame the sheeple.  You?–just a pitiful attempt to raise slanderous speculation.  Par for course when otherwise it would just be failed ideas that you would have to peddle.  

            1. implying that the answer is so obvious that just by asking it I am shooting for some other angle.

              I am not.  Please give me the answer that everyone else here apparently knows!

                    2. Why not just stop while you’re ahead? — I’ll just chalk it up to a little early holiday afternoon inebriation.

                    6. that I’ll make you a deal Maine, if you’ll agree to police this site’s ad hominem attacks by BJWilson, Marilou, Libertad and H-man, I’ll glady police all of the ad hominem attacks by the four liberal posters you find most egregious.

                      It’ll be a dirty, thankless job, but together I think we can make this a better world.  What do you say?

                    9. And then tell me why they’re pertinent to Colorado Politics. I’m not interested in giving his site any hits.

        1. I suppose you could substitute “mainstreet” for average.  Or “non-extremist.”

          I have no idea if the Ali Hassan’s of the world are offended, or offended enough to agree with the newspapers’ decisions to censor the cartoon.

          1. Is “average” equal to your idea of “non-extremist?” Or is Ali your idea of “average?” (Personally, I think Ali is an above average human being, but I don’t know where he fits on your Muslim scale.)

            I told, above, you very clearly what I think.

            People who want to be creative with their own belongings can do so (at least in my country). People who damage the belongings of others should be held accountable.

            People who get upset because someone has created an image of their preferred imaginary creature are allowed to choose to be offended.

            On the other hand (and to be less callous) just because I don’t understand why someone is offended doesn’t mean that the offense is less real.

    4. little screed, and so little time to deal with it.  Suffice to say, it’s apples and oranges.

      I can disagree with the decision of the Posts, and at the same time, decry the ACTIONS of the crazy woman from Montana.

      She CHOSE to destroy someone’s private property.  She CHOSE to commit violence in a public space.  She CHOSE to take away the rights of others to view art work and make their own decisions.

      She CHOSE to feel “offended.”  That’s her right.  The ACTION she took was illegal.  Ya know, illegal?  Against the law?  

      No different rules at all.  The media outlets choose to self-censor.  I disagree with their decision.  One individual broke the law and is rightly charged with a crime.

      See, simple.

    5. First: Since the beginning of Christianity, the image of Christ has been used for political purposes. A basic art history survey course will show that this is a long and rich tradition. Not so much for Mohammed and Islam.

      Second: A public museum is the correct place to display such images. It is a forum where the public can debate ideas of truth and beauty. In a democracy, this debate is important. It separates us from the Stalins and Hitlers who would dictate what is to be considered beautiful and good in art. Outrage at art is not uncommon, especially with this subject matter. Destroying art based on our own personal outrage (christian or muslim or communist or nazi) is a crime.

      Third: There is a tradition of Islamic religious images of Mohammed from the more liberal and mystic Persian tradition. These “persian miniatures” depict the life of Mohammed. Of course Islamic fundamentalists are as against theses images as Christian fundies are against what they consider improper images of christ.

      If some private newspaper bows to what they believe to be offensive to their readership, that literally is their business. You don’t see them publishing photo’s of Andre  Serrano’s “Piss Christ”. Do you? The christian fundies would have a fit and maybe .  

    6. I think the painting the woman destroyed with a crowbar was intentionally provocative. It’s the artist’s right to produce something like that. The museum has no obligation to display it, but it chose to. The critic has the right to stand outside the museum and protest it, but she has no right to destroy it. Simple enough.

      The Non Sequitir cartoon was created to be provocative, and it’s his right to draw it. He doesn’t have a right to have the cartoon appear in print, any more than an artist has a right to have his/her painting appear in a museum. And anyone who doesn’t like if it appears has the right to protest but not violently.

      Heckuvajob’s assumptions are that liberals support the provocative painting of Christ itself and don’t mind violent protesters killing or threatening to kill people who draw Muhammad. Both assumptions are not just wrong, but stupid and intentionally dishonest.

      Clear enough? That’s just my opinion though. It’s silly to imagine liberals and/or Muslims would all think the same way.

  7. want more gov’t $ for jobs in their district over lowering the deficit.  Exactly the opposite of GOP talking points.

    (Wash. Post poll reported by Candy Crowley, “State of the Union,” on Oct. 10.)

    1. Joe Klein and the Washington Post can come up with all the truths they can find.  Republicans in Congress want power, and they have an agenda to sell.  So long as they can motivate their base and can overcome the opposition voters, they don’t have to worry about what “regular America” wants; I don’t think it’s been about best representing the people, at least on the GOP side of the aisle, for some time now.

      3. How’s that socialized university health care system thingy working for ya?

        Or, are you still on Mom & Dad’s HC?  Good thing Obama and Pelose made sure you can stay on it until you are (physically)26.  

         

          3. Truthfully, your comments are so devoid of book learning, general knowledge, and critical thinking, I’ve presumed you are in your early twenties.  Or earlier, if possible.

            Then again, there isn’t that much chronological difference.

            Not trying to be nasty, but that’s how you come across.

            So, let me ask again if your paychecks are bouncing.  

            1. Thanks to our good old government full of liberal policies, the can is just being kicked down the road. But eventually, your tax dollars will pay for it.

                  2. To be candid, bjw, I was pretty fucking ignorant at your age, too.  I tended to believe what I was told that generally aligned with my own beliefs.  I had never heard the term critical thinking.

                    While the subject of my masters degree – theology – may not sound useful, like law or the parallel art of philosophy, it’s all about learning critical thinking and being able to support your observations and decisions. Using “facts” and not talking points to build a case.

                    And over thirty years of writing, poetry, and journaling has also sharpened those skills.

                    As you get a lot older, you might well hold the same political philosophies that you do now.  That’s OK. But perhaps you could express yourself better.  Perhaps, notice your own contradictions and hypocrises, your non sequiturs, your non-substantive responses.

                    And your taxes will be paying for my Medicare.  Ah, justice!

                    1. I was raised on critical thinking. Personally, I’d rather someone with concrete policy ideas be in charge, rather than a daydreamer who doodles poetry all day long. Artists have their place in society, but they shouldn’t be running the country. Your generation continually reinforces my point that they (at least the liberals in it) are greedy bastards who are going to doom us all to health care much much inferior to theirs. Thanks for nothing, pig.

                    2. I hope you actually learn to think while you are consuming my tax dollars at a great public institution of higher education.

                      In addition to being one of history’s great leaders, Winston Churchill was actually a really accomplished landscape painter.  

                    4. There is no poster here, with the exception perhaps of marilou, that displays less skill than yourself of critical thinking, Beester.

                      Further, the observation here that you suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder is spot on. Your reply to what was a mentoring post is what a narcissist would print. You could not accept the fact that I was admitting that I was like you once upon a time. It wasn’t condescension – although a home schooled narcissist would think so – it was a bit of hard acquired wisdom sharing my lack of at your age.

                      You know why you like GW?  That is his disorder, too.

                      George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, was in a conversation once with a priest who was often saying, “The Bible says…..whatever.” After Fox had heard enough of this, he asked, “You say the Bible says this and the Bible says that, but what do YOU say?”

                      In other words, don’t blindly follow, THINK FOR YOURSELF.  You are a follower, through and through.  You think a translated book of mostly Bronze age cultures is a good guide for science?  Wow.  You believe everything that The Right tells you; I don’t believe everything The Left tells me.  I try to look at “facts”, you may have heard of them, and arrive at my own conclusion.

                      I know I just wasted a lot of time because you narcissists are the last to ever admit error.

                      Just like George Bush. Never, ever admit error.  Wow, what a role model.  

              2. That’s “hijacked” enough for me.

                I think I need a new sig line, and I think it’s in this cartoon {1:29):

                I’m a rootin’ tootin’ lasso loopin’ popgun shootin’ chickenhawk

                MOTR: we all have our hobbies.  Mine is insulting BJ.

                  1. But if the sky clears, I’ll be out with my telescope tonight.

                    And if it doesn’t, I’ll be in my ham shack.

                    Insulting BJ is only fun for a few minutes per day.  That’s man-time, not wallclock time.

                    1. I was at 9,200 feet when it rose over Long’s Peak, which had fresh snow. It was just stunning. Little sliver sitting right over the top. Hope you get some clear skies tonight.

                      I guess I’ll live without a nice, hand knitted sweater. Sniff, sniff…

                    2. It messes up everything else I want to see.

                      Tonight, for instance, the moon will set several hours after sunset.  I will set my alarm for about midnight and plan to be napping when it’s in the sky.

            3. Bob McKimson has more in common with Grouch than Chico, Harpo, Zeppo or Bill.

              Warner Bros had the music (score and performance) for these cartoons freakin’ nailed.

      4. whatever dollars we choose to allocate to it, and whatever debt it chooses to incur.  (As a government, it can pretty much print money as it wants.)  The survey shows the People want jobs more than they want a balanced budget, and they’re okay with a tax increase if it means the economy is healthier.

      1. Who I wouldn’t trust as far as I can throw them.

        Soros has asserted his supposed correctness because he farts money.  Krugman in my eyes doesn’t see anything in the universe that couldn’t be made better with more government.

  9. Arguments heard in recent weeks:

    –Government spending in Barack era led to bigger deficits; didn’t solve unemployment, did lead to big debts owed by grandchildren; ergo, bad idea, cut government spending and taxes right now!

    –President’s proposal for new stimulus aimed at repairing, upgrading, infrastructure is a bad idea; existing stimulus has unspent funds; ergo, count on me to vote against it!

    Two arguments from different Senate candidates of two different parties, same topic, same conclusion: don’t increase federal spending!

    Facts: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10…

    Synopsis: Federal spending has been offset by cutbacks on state/local level. 40% of “stimulus” was in the form of tax cuts which may or may not translate into spending that will stimulate the economy. Another chunk went to local/state governments to avoid more layoffs. Compared to the size of the economy, the “stimulus” was minimal–and not enough to turn around the economy.

    BUT, it’s critical that we vote for B___________ to avoid catastrophe.

    FOR SALE to highest bidder: One Seat, United States Senate, slightly used, good condition. Percs included. Highest bid as of 11/2/10 wins.

    1. Me? I look at the candidates on the ballot and vote for the one that better represents my interests AND has a shot at getting elected.

      If Bennet loses, all that you are left with is “Bennet would have been just as bad.” But if the Senate flips, you can blame Bennet for that.

              2. Some of us are lifelong liberals, but you’d be surprised how many “liberals” here are former Repubs, driven out by the hard right like yourself. While you’ll probably (and unoriginally) crow about RINOs and shit like that, this is actually going to be the death knell of your party, big showing in the upcoming elections or no.

                1. People voted Republicans out of office because they were the “party of no”, had no ideas, and pretty much supported the (crappy) status quo. Today’s conservative Republicans are putting forth good ideas to solve our economic problems, which have been greatly exacerbated by the hard left Democrats.

                    1. I’m not sure how this quote was taken out of context, but it seems to me that he was referring to those people in congress who have always been conservative, as opposed to the last Republican congress.

                  2. Okay, name one.

                    (BTW, merely typing the words “cut taxes” does not qualify as two ideas, or even one, nor does it qualify you for a Nobel Prize in Economics–or in anything else.)

                    1. Stop the spending – stimulus, TARP.

                      Give business certainty by not burdening them with any more onerous health care regulations or taxes so they can expand and grow.

                      Purchase insurance across state lines.

                      TORT reform.

                      Etc.

                    2. Free market with no restrictions, lower taxes on corporations, remove per-state regulations on business allowing them to sink to the lowest level available, remove the ability of the average citizen to recoup the full value of their losses against corporations who harm them…

                      It’s all about the almighty corporate dollar, and it has been since at least back to the time when Great Grandpappy Prescott and his buddies tried to oust FDR.  (Probably back to 5th cousin Teddy’s time when he decided to leave the Republican Party because his anti-trust stand wasn’t acceptable to them…)

                    4. Since your history and liberal arts education has been shown a bit weak lately, I was merely enlightening you as to the real history of your supposedly new ideas and the stunning lack of brilliance in them.

                      PS – Socialist ideas, which are not the same as Communist ideas, pre-date the USSR by a long stretch.  And, for completeness, Communist ideas pre-date the USSR as well, all the way back to ancient Greece at the least.  You, as someone who supposedly took a lot of classes in “letters”, should at least know that much.

                    5. Why, oh why, must Dems doom us to repeat the failures of history?*

                      *Actually, Greek culture was the basis for our ideals of freedom and liberty. Google this: Rufus Fears. Yeah, my letters degree serves me well.

                    6. If your letters degree served you that well, you’d know that the ancient Greeks were diverse in their government and philosophy – they, and many other ancient cultures, gave us a great many things, all of which we chopped up in to little bits and have been re-assembling and modifying since then.

                      So you can stop pretending like you’re successfully editing the history of the Greeks to include only the parts you want to admit.

                    7. “…ideas to solve our economic problems.”

                      TARP was a Republican program — remember George W. Bush? It’s only been 21 months!–and how, pray, does purchasing insurance across state lines “solve our economic problems”? Do you really — I mean, seriously– think tort reform, or lack thereof, brought on “our economic problems”? Why now? I’ve already pointed to figs showing that the “economic stimulus” amounts merely to shifting spending from states to the Feds, little net increase if any.

                      To quote you: Etc.

                      Imaginarius…the 10th planet invented by Republicans, who promise to take everyone there after November. Vroooom!

                    8. The economy is easy, Republicans would have had it fixed long ago. Stop burdening small businesses with onerous new regulations and taxes, give them the certainty they need to grow and expand. Presto, jobs, wealth creation, rising economy, etc. Drowning the economy in gov’t cash doesn’t do a dang thing but benefit the big banks and corporations that know how to work the system.

    2. Vote for Bennet, Dems retain control of the Senate, Harry Reid remains majority leader. Thank God! Energy bill? Well, maybe after immigration. See http://www.newyorker.com/repor…

      Vote for Bennet, Obama presents infrastructure stimulus bill. How does Mike vote? How did he say he’d vote? How would Ken vote? Difference?

      Senate is 59 (?) 41 D-R. What gets done?

      Senate is 51-49 D-R. What gets done?

      Senate is 51-49 R-D. What gets done?

      In Washington today, the Senate flipped. Locally, neighbors are helping Suzy find her kitten. And now this word from Moonbucks: Need help staying awake? More caffeine for your Bennetfit, still just a Buck!

      1. If Republicans take it over, the Senate doesn’t even try to do anything. Republicans would control every committee and spend all their time investigating Obama for various made-up transgressions.

        1. –winner of Nobel Prize, Economics, 2010.

          –nominated six months ago by Obama, to be on Fed board of governors.

          –his nomination BLOCKED BY ONE MAN, Shelby of Alabama, who claims Diamond is not qualified.

          Is this a way to be governed? How long will the American people put up with this? WHY THAT LONG?

          Focusing attention, spending energy, on which politico is sent to this institution diverts energy and attention from the relevant question: how soon can the Senate be deprived of its undemocratic powers to subject this nation to paralysis?

              1. Yes:

                “Biggest Incompetent Ever Elected to Public Office”

                and

                “Emptiest suit ever to talk about ‘post-racial politics'”.

                He needs to give the Nobel back.

            3. I already told you, that last time you used this line, that the NOBEL PEACE PRIZES are IN NO WAY RELATED to ANY of the other Nobel Prizes.

              Christ, I want to slap you so hard through my monitor right now.

              2. But I know in my heart – as much as I know that I love my children – that Krugman is absolutely wrong in his worship of a primary economic authority.

                Hey – SXP – bite me.  I can’t wait to eat corned beef and cabbage on your dime.

                🙂

                BTW, this:

                Laughing Boy’s not dumb

                Is a high compliment.  No snark.

                1. Yet you just went ahead and made a juvenile quip to sully the Nobel Economics prize because someone who won it has ideas you don’t like.

                  Fucked up.

                  I asked you the other day (and you ignored the question, as you’re wont to do) if you were a Haners or a beej, and it looks like you’ve decided to be a beej. Well, that makes me angry and sad. If this is how you approach things when you’re confident of victory – like you team won some fucking college bowl – then I guess I can forget having any real discussion with anyone from the other side of the aisle.

                  1. I believe Krugman is simply wrong in his economic theory, and I’m not alone.

                    This:

                    I guess I can forget having any real discussion with anyone from the other side of the aisle

                    is how the Dems have governed in the last 20 months and it’s why they’re headed for a gigantic, historic ass-kicking.

                    “Hey, I won.”

                    You and I could sit down and figure things out better than Obama and Boehner, but we’re stuck with these incompetent MoFos.

                    You’re aiming at me as a target, but I’m much closer to being on your “side” than you realize.

                    1. You’re conviction about that “giant ass kicking” has made you a giant asshole. THAT’s the only thing I’m targeting you for. That’s the only thing my comments are about.

                      You could make your points without being immature and without resorting to distortion – for equating the Nobel Peace Prize with the other, non-related Nobel Prizes is just that, a distortion. (As is the lie about the Dems not reaching out – have you forgotten the Health Care Summit? Or am I about to hear that that was some kind of snow job? Maybe you can show me how Bush reached out to Dems at any point after NCLB passed?)

                      Go ahead – be happy about returning your party to power. I’m happy for you. Sincerely. But it stops when you start acting your team won the big game, and you go about trash talking like some dipshit frat boy. YOU ARE BETTER THAN THAT… aren’t you?

                    2. I’m sorry to have offended you, and any pre-schadenfreude I’m experiencing certainly isn’t aimed at you.

                      Remember who I supported in the last election.  I did reach across, and quickly realized what a mistake it was.  When was the health care “summit”?  It sure wasn’t in the bill’s formative stages, and yes, it was a giant stunt by the Dems.  

                      Just as was the single most disgusting thing in politics I’ve ever witnessed – Pelosi and Congressional Dems, marching arm in arm through a throng of regular Americans, representing a majority of Americans that didn’t want that particular bill after they’d cajoled, bribed, and lied to get the bill into law, and then had the gaul to claim that they were called racial epithets when absolutely zero evidence has ever been produced to back it up, even though there were cameras everywhere.

                      So forgive me for being giddy that hopefully this bunch of clowns will be voted out of power in three weeks.  It’s not personal, and I’ll make that more clear in the future.

                    3. LB, I’d buy that line of reasoning if the GOP had shown any signs that they weren’t going to fight this tooth and nail from the get-go. And I’d buy it if they had used it as an opportunity to present their own ideas about the health care crisis. The GOP is a very savvy beast when it comes to PR; the fact that they had nothing to say shows that they underestimated Obama’s resolve in seeing it get done.

                      If you want to argue that I’m wrong, that the summit WAS a stunt, then I want you to make a case, just as I made a case here. Otherwise, I’m going to have to ask you to admit that Obama did reach out to the GOP, in contradiction of what you said. This is a big deal in understanding the state of American politics today, and if we’re ever going to get this country working again, we need more people who can set aside their heart-felt beliefs and look at things as they are, not as how they feel.

                      As far as your “victory lapping” goes, keep in mind that it’s always a low-class way to handle things, regardless of who else is here. I certainly didn’t go victory lapping the last couple of election cycles, and I didn’t like anyone who did. It’s one thing to be happy and celebratory, but it’s another to rub it in the other side’s face.

                    4. I apologize for calling you a dumb motherfucker. No matter how pissed off I get, that was uncalled for.

                      But please, please please please, don’t use that quip again, unless it’s about another Nobel Peace Prize winner. The other Nobel prizes are the epitome of merit-based recognition for breakthrough work. If someone who won one is wrong about something else in your opinion, that can be demonstrated. For example, Linus Pauling was a complete weirdo about vitamin C. (Look him up if you don’t know his story.)

                2. “I know in my heart…” But economics requires rational thought, study of numbers. It’s not an emotion. Your simple statement told us all we need to know about the quality of your analyses.  

  10. Today in the Commonwealth is also Yorktown Victory Day, which serves to celebrate the Colonies’ victory at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781 in the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War.

    DCist

    This is a good day to salute George and his troops. Go Continental Army Go!

  11. ….TiVo is at the ready. I have a “feeling” that there’s going to be some questions about AFPAK and veterans issues, and Bennet is going to kick the Buckpedaler in the shins repeatedly tonight.

    Or, hopefully, a few feet higher…

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