New Developments III

Mister Tee
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Post by Mister Tee »

I was actually going to retrieve last year's Senate Results thread, to finally put a button on the '08 election.

It's officially over; Coleman's conceded. Congratulations to Eric on finally having full Senate representation.
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Post by OscarGuy »

It may almost be over, but who really knows with a scab like Norm Coleman or a Republican governor like Tim Pawlenty...but hopefully this will be the end and MN will finally have a second senator.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/30/franken.ruling/index.html
Wesley Lovell
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Post by OscarGuy »

As I've stated to people I know. I don't care that he had an affair. What I care about is that he's a Religious Values man which means he's displaying profound amounts of hypocrisy over the whole matter. So, I get tired of the sanctimony over the issue, yet they can't help but do what they preach against. It's like a pig working in a butcher shop. It's antithetical to your existence. Haven't so many campaigns imploded in recent years that it should be second nature for these politicians to NOT engage in these activities for they WILL be caught (eventually) and they will suffer the consequences (hopefully).
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Post by Heksagon »

I'm delighted to see that the Republican Party is getting what it deserves. People who believe that they are morally superior to others always believe that they themselves have the right to do things that they would deny to others.

But I have to wonder, why on Earth would people take a hypocrite like Sanford seriously? And no doubt, they will still do so in the future.
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Post by Johnny Guitar »

Mister Tee wrote:It's certainly satisfying on a gut-level to see a hypocrite hoist on his own petard. But I confess to some unhappiness that the sex police seem to be growing ever more powerful. Many of us thought, when Clinton stood up to the press-urged impeachmnet wave, that this country would adjust to a more mature, realistic standard on sexual behavior. But the witch-hunts have, if anything, expanded, and too many have resulted in immediate resignation rather than what I'd prefer, a quick "Fuck off, it's not your business".

I agree with this. This unending string of mainly Republican, heavily hypocritical scandal revelations in recent years yields some satisfactions, of course, but really I'm more of the mindset that these things aren't anyone's business. It's not lost on me that these moral crusaders are making it difficult for other Americans to have their "own business." But our finger-pointing and nosiness can get a bit too gleeful, too zealous. Part of the problem is that left-liberals are often more uptight and puritanical than they should be and than they will admit to being. If you ask me, hypocrisy in matters of sexual morality should not be the primary arena of combat against the right wing.

The cultural critic Lauren Berlant had a line somewhere that went something like, 'Every time I hear about a new sex scandal, I feel bad for sex.'

Jack Nicholson's response, in the wake of the Clinton scandal, was, 'What, do you want a president who doesn't have sex?'

Writing about Ezra Pound's mistress Olga Rudge, who demurred from being seen in public with him to avoid humiliating EP's wife Dorothy, Guy Davenport asserted, 'Lives were private in those days, and our animal nature was accommodated with a respect we can hardly imagine.'
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Post by Big Magilla »

Damien wrote:And another thing -- Adultery is illegal in South Carolina. What kind of example does it set when the state's top executive breaks the law? :p
That's why he had to go all the way to Argentina to do it!
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Post by Damien »

And another thing -- Adultery is illegal in South Carolina. What kind of example does it set when the state's top executive breaks the law? :p
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Post by Big Magilla »

I pretty much agree with everything Tee says, but just once I'd like to see one of these assholes say "I was wrong to criticize so-and-so for doing what I did myself and offer him/her/them my sincere apologies."
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Post by Mister Tee »

I was a bit embarrassed to write about the Sanford thing, since I hadn't summoned up the energy to write anything about the Iran situation, which is clearly far more important.

However, a few thoughts:

It's certainly satisfying on a gut-level to see a hypocrite hoist on his own petard. But I confess to some unhappiness that the sex police seem to be growing ever more powerful. Many of us thought, when Clinton stood up to the press-urged impeachmnet wave, that this country would adjust to a more mature, realistic standard on sexual behavior. But the witch-hunts have, if anything, expanded, and too many have resulted in immediate resignation rather than what I'd prefer, a quick "Fuck off, it's not your business".

Two things unique about Sanford (beyond the obvious hypocrisy of a guy who specifically said Clinton had to go for the adultery, not even using the fig leaf of perjury): First, the guy seems gobsmack in love with this Argentinian woman. It may be unacceptable to society in general that a guy his age should get tired of his wife and remake his life with someone else, but it seems to me that's the best route for Sanford to take. He did not strike me as a guy who just got a little on the side; he's head over heels, and he'll regret it the rest of his life if he breaks it off.

But second, the more political judgment: this guy has no business being governor anymore...not because of "scandal", but because he appears rudderless at the moment. Dropping off the face of the earth for almost a week is something I couldn't get away with at my job, and I don't have near the executive responsibility. As many have said, suppose a natural disaster had hit SC while he was incommunicado? Waiting for the Lt Gov. to be authorized to command might have cost lives. I believe that's the opinion in the SC legislature -- the GOP-controlled legislature -- which is why I think he's going to face pressure to step down in the coming days.
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Post by Damien »

taki15 wrote:Come on guys!
I was expecting you'd be all over the Mark Sanford saga. That's just too rich to leave it without comment.

I guess "Appalachian Trail Hiking" is going to become the latest adultery euphemism.

How many new things can you say about yet another hypocritical self-righteous "family values" politician?

At least John Ensign comes from Nevada so it goes with the territory. This prick Sanford was even citing the Bible in his statement today. A truly neauseating individual.
======
Oh, Daily Kos has posted some emails between Sanford and his paramour:

The Sanford E-mails
by Jed Lewison
Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 03:34:23 PM PDT
Last December, The State managed to get its hands on some of the e-mails between Mark Sanford and his lover, an Argentinian woman named Maria.

For some mind-boggling reason, The State has sat on those e-mails for the past six months, but now they say they will release them tomorrow. Today, they released a sample e-mail, sent on July 10, 2008 at 12:24 a.m., and oh what an e-mail it is. It's got everything.

It's got politics:

"The following weekend have been asked to spend it out in Aspen, Colorado with McCain - which has kicked up the whole VP talk all over again in the press back home ... "

It's got sweet nothings:

"You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty. "

It's got a torn heart:

"In the meantime please sleep soundly knowing that despite the best efforts of my head my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an even deeper connection to your soul."

And of course it's got steamy passion:

"I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night’s light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details ... "

Wow. Who knew Sanford was such a romantic . . .
======================

Hahahaha What a clown!




Edited By Damien on 1245885463
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Post by taki15 »

Come on guys!
I was expecting you'd be all over the Mark Sanford saga. That's just too rich to leave it without comment.

I guess "Appalachian Trail Hiking" is going to become the latest adultery euphemism.
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Post by Greg »

Schwarzenegger's testicle sculpture a flop
Senator wasn't laughing at governor's gag gift during budget negotiations

updated 11:28 a.m. ET, Fri., June 19, 2009
SACRAMENTO, California - It was a gift no girlie man would give.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has warned lawmakers they need to act boldly and make some tough budget choices, sent Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg a metal sculpture of bull testicles.

It was intended as a gag gift but Steinberg, a Democrat, was not amused and returned the football-sized gift with a terse note about the seriousness of the ongoing negotiations.

The account was given by sources within the Capitol who were familiar with the situation. They said they were not authorized to speak on the record because it was considered a private matter between the Austrian-born Republican governor and the Senate leader.

According to the sources, Schwarzenegger's gift was in response to an earlier gag gift he had received from Steinberg: a package of mushrooms after the governor called Democrats' budget proposals, which included tax increases, "hallucinatory."

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear confirmed the two had exchanged gifts but declined to discuss the details.

"We never talk about the governor's private gifts," he said. "Senator Steinberg sent the governor a gift and the governor responded in kind. They maintain a great relationship and will work together to fix the budget."

Steinberg's spokeswoman, Alicia Trost, also declined to discuss the testicle sculpture. She agreed that the governor — who once called Democrats "girlie men" — and the Senate leader have a good relationship.

"We've got more important things on our plate right now than to waste any more time on such trivial matters," Trost said.

California faces a $24.3 billion budget shortfall.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31443342/ns/us_news-life/
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Post by Greg »

Heksagon wrote:Amusingly, Greg, this is pretty much what you suggested yourself some time ago, so who knows, maybe Moore is reading this message board...
I think it's a matter of great minds think alike. :;):
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Post by Heksagon »

Obviously, these type of things are easier said than done. Of Moore's suggestions, maybe only #9 is economically sensible, but obviously, it would be politically difficult or impossible to implement. As for #3, U.S. passenger rail services have been nationalized for a long time already, so if the Federal Government really wanted to promote bullet trains, there is nothing standing in its way, as it can always buy ready-made technology from abroad.

In any case, the bottom line at the moment is that it was the free market which gave the competitive advantage to cheaper and more fuel-efficient Japanese cars, and the U.S. government which is using taxpayer money to subsidise one of the world's most infamously polluting industries.

Amusingly, Greg, this is pretty much what you suggested yourself some time ago, so who knows, maybe Moore is reading this message board...
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Post by Greg »

Goodbye, GM ...

by Michael Moore


I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?

It is with sad irony that the company which invented "planned obsolescence" -- the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one -- has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh -- and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to "improve" the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes.

So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company's body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with -- dare I say it -- joy. It is not the joy of revenge against a corporation that ruined my hometown and brought misery, divorce, alcoholism, homelessness, physical and mental debilitation, and drug addiction to the people I grew up with. Nor do I, obviously, claim any joy in knowing that 21,000 more GM workers will be told that they, too, are without a job.

But you and I and the rest of America now own a car company! I know, I know -- who on earth wants to run a car company? Who among us wants $50 billion of our tax dollars thrown down the rat hole of still trying to save GM? Let's be clear about this: The only way to save GM is to kill GM. Saving our precious industrial infrastructure, though, is another matter and must be a top priority. If we allow the shutting down and tearing down of our auto plants, we will sorely wish we still had them when we realize that those factories could have built the alternative energy systems we now desperately need. And when we realize that the best way to transport ourselves is on light rail and bullet trains and cleaner buses, how will we do this if we've allowed our industrial capacity and its skilled workforce to disappear?

Thus, as GM is "reorganized" by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking President Obama to implement for the good of the workers, the GM communities, and the nation as a whole. Twenty years ago when I made "Roger & Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions:

1. Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. The conversion took no time at all. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.

We are now in a different kind of war -- a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.

The other front in this war is being waged by the oil companies against you and me. They are committed to fleecing us whenever they can, and they have been reckless stewards of the finite amount of oil that is located under the surface of the earth. They know they are sucking it bone dry. And like the lumber tycoons of the early 20th century who didn't give a damn about future generations as they tore down every forest they could get their hands on, these oil barons are not telling the public what they know to be true -- that there are only a few more decades of useable oil on this planet. And as the end days of oil approach us, get ready for some very desperate people willing to kill and be killed just to get their hands on a gallon can of gasoline.

President Obama, now that he has taken control of GM, needs to convert the factories to new and needed uses immediately.

2. Don't put another $30 billion into the coffers of GM to build cars. Instead, use that money to keep the current workforce -- and most of those who have been laid off -- employed so that they can build the new modes of 21st century transportation. Let them start the conversion work now.

3. Announce that we will have bullet trains criss-crossing this country in the next five years. Japan is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first bullet train this year. Now they have dozens of them. Average speed: 165 mph. Average time a train is late: under 30 seconds. They have had these high speed trains for nearly five decades -- and we don't even have one! The fact that the technology already exists for us to go from New York to L.A. in 17 hours by train, and that we haven't used it, is criminal. Let's hire the unemployed to build the new high speed lines all over the country. Chicago to Detroit in less than two hours. Miami to DC in under 7 hours. Denver to Dallas in five and a half. This can be done and done now.

4. Initiate a program to put light rail mass transit lines in all our large and medium-sized cities. Build those trains in the GM factories. And hire local people everywhere to install and run this system.

5. For people in rural areas not served by the train lines, have the GM plants produce energy efficient clean buses.

6. For the time being, have some factories build hybrid or all-electric cars (and batteries). It will take a few years for people to get used to the new ways to transport ourselves, so if we're going to have automobiles, let's have kinder, gentler ones. We can be building these next month (do not believe anyone who tells you it will take years to retool the factories -- that simply isn't true).

7. Transform some of the empty GM factories to facilities that build windmills, solar panels and other means of alternate forms of energy. We need tens of millions of solar panels right now. And there is an eager and skilled workforce who can build them.

8. Provide tax incentives for those who travel by hybrid car or bus or train. Also, credits for those who convert their home to alternative energy.

9. To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.

Well, that's a start. Please, please, please don't save GM so that a smaller version of it will simply do nothing more than build Chevys or Cadillacs. This is not a long-term solution. Don't throw bad money into a company whose tailpipe is malfunctioning, causing a strange odor to fill the car.

100 years ago this year, the founders of General Motors convinced the world to give up their horses and saddles and buggy whips to try a new form of transportation. Now it is time for us to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. It seemed to serve us well for so long. We enjoyed the car hops at the A&W. We made out in the front -- and the back -- seat. We watched movies on large outdoor screens, went to the races at NASCAR tracks across the country, and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time through the window down Hwy. 1. And now it's over. It's a new day and a new century. The President -- and the UAW -- must seize this moment and create a big batch of lemonade from this very sour and sad lemon.

Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.

So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.

Yours,
Michael Moore


http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=248
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