New Developments III

[Dien]

kaytodd, I have to say I've never heard the verses you included about piggy pranks and banks. Where'd you come up with them?

Those are lyrics cut from the album version, I believe. He used them in his solo live performances though.

[Mister Tee]

I'm not going to spend a lot of time defending Fox News, since I know that it would be futile. There are many voices on that channel, and other Murdoch-based offerings, that do not tout the GOP line.

Never got past this, as I was collapsed with laughter.

Normally I just skip past criddic's "analysis", which, after all these years, continues to sound like a 12-year-old's regurgitation of GOP talking points. But once in a while I can't resist jumping in for the hell of it.

Dien, I'm actually impressed you're familiar with Piggies. I realize Beatles' music has greater market penetration/endurance than most pop stuff, but, as you say, this was simply one of about 30 songs on The White Album, far from the most publicized, and, you know, it came out when an old guy like me was in high school, 43 years ago.

kaytodd, I have to say I've never heard the verses you included about piggy pranks and banks. Where'd you come up with them?

[Dien]

Now we just need Pink Floyd's song "Pigs" and NIN's "March of the Pigs" we'll have a swine-themed compilation album about the economy, lobbyists, and Big Brother. A scene from Animal Farm can be the cover.

[kaytodd]

I am not surprised anyone would have the Beatles song "Piggies" in their heads these days:

Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all those little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in.
Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
And they always have clean shirts to play around in.
And in their styes with all their backing
They don't care what goes on around
And in their eyes there's something lacking
What they needs a damm good whacking.
Yeah, everywhere there's lots of piggies
Playing piggy pranks
And you can see them on their trotters
Down at the piggy banks
Paying piggy thanks
To thee pig brother
Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.
One more time!

While we are on the subject of pigs in the political and financial worlds, Nine Inch Nails has a song called Piggy that also has some timely lyrics (but not nearly as nice a tune as Harrison's song):

hey pig
yeah you
hey pig piggy pig pig pig
all of my fears came true
black and blue and broken bones you left me here I'm all alone
my little piggy needed something new
nothing can stop me now
I don't care anymore
nothing can stop me now
I just don't care
hey pig
nothing's turning out the way I planned
hey pig there's a lot of things I hoped you could help me understand
what am I supposed to do I lost my shit because of you
nothing can stop me now
I don't care anymore
nothing can stop me now
I just don't care
nothing can stop me now
you don't need me anymore

[Dien]

Does anyone else have The Beatles' "Piggies" playing in their head? I do.

I do not think I ever heard this song. Are there any prticular lyrics in your mind?

It's a George Harrison song from The White Album. It's not very popular, but I think it's a fun song. The track fell between "Blackbird" and "Rocky Racoon". I don't know the lyrics off the top of my head (lyricosis, if you will), but one verse is about pigs rolling around in mud and the second verse is about pigs always having clean shirts, eating the proverbial bacon, and how "they need a damn good whacking".

[Greg]

Does anyone else have The Beatles' "Piggies" playing in their head? I do.

I do not think I ever heard this song. Are there any prticular lyrics in your mind?

[Greg]

There are still those who fear that the European troubles will ensure a new recession.

Sadly, criddic, the odds are you are right about this one.

[Greg]

Pulling all the troops out is a political play, not a strategic one.

Actually, I heard on the news that there is a solid strategic reason for pulling out all the troops. The Iraqi government refused to extend to the U.S. troops immunity form some forms of criminal prosecution past the end of this year. As much as I have been diappointed with Obama's economic policies, I am coming to think that I have misjudged him on foreign policy and that he has performed better than I was giving him credit for, including being willing to admit that I was wrong to be against what he did in Libya.

Also, criddic, please try to edit down your posts to reduce their verbosity. Your posts read as if every word in your brain at the time automatically is sent to your fingers on the keyboard.

[Dien]

His health care bill was a monstrosity that took several shady deals to get passed...and the Democrats had control of the Congress!

Criddic doesn't realise it, but he just called the Republicans shady.

I would like to reference my comment from the J. Edgar thread. You have to screw people over to become successful. In this case, "people" means everybody.

Does anyone else have The Beatles' "Piggies" playing in their head? I do.

[Sonic Youth]

His health care bill was a monstrosity that took several shady deals to get passed...and the Democrats had control of the Congress!

Criddic doesn't realise it, but he just called the Republicans shady.

[Damien]

Tee, try as we might, we never seem to learn.

[criddic3]

But I am bewildered by those who supported Bush and say Obama doesn't get anything done. Bush goes on a terrorist hunt for seven years, gets us stuck in Iraq, and the economy goes to shit. We nab Bin Laden under Obama's administration, pull everyone out of Iraq by the end of this calendar year, and he makes strides in trying to fix healthcare (mutilated by congress bacon) and tries to put the economy back on its feet (mutilated by congress desperate attempts at securing their jobs). I'm just a young buck so I will admit I don't know 80% of what's going on - there's just something strange about everyone's reaction to surface level politics.

My advice is, tune out TV pundits, who have a long record of being utterly wrong about everything political. (Exhibit A: Hillary Clinton is unstoppable for the 2008 Democratic nomination) Double that for any part of the Murdoch empire, which lives to propangandize for the GOP.

A year from now, I'm confident that a strong majority of voters will see things precisely as you do, especially since the economy is finally improving (despite best Congressional efforts at sabotage). Obama already tops all Republican contenders in virtually every poll, and his approvals are nudging up toward the 50% mark despite high unemployment. Those numbers will rise next year, resulting in comfortable re-election, and this whole year of "the president is doomed" commentary will be wiped away. never to be heard of again.

Oh, and criddic, you're so right: Gingrich will be a formidable opponent. Please don't nominate him; we Democrats fear him deeply!

I never said President Obama did nothing, but he hasn't done a lot that's been popular. And what you listed provides accolades that spread far beyond him, whether you're willing to acknowledge it or not. The Bin Laden killing was a culmination of years of information gathering, even if you don't buy that certain controversial methods created the trigger-point to finding him. The Iraq wind down was not a new concept, although President Obama has not listened very carefully to his on-the-ground military personnel very well in Iraq or Afghanistan. Pulling all the troops out is a political play, not a strategic one. I can understand the point-of-view that allows him to get away with it. The sentiment is not lost on me, but it still won't do us much good in the long run. His health care bill was a monstrosity that took several shady deals to get passed...and the Democrats had control of the Congress!

Mister Tee is entirely too optimistic, particularly about President Obama's job ratings. For instance, Gallup still has him at 41% approval. There are signs of possible improvement in the economy, but they are tiny and only the most enthusiastic economist would say we're headed out of the woods. There are still those who fear that the European troubles will ensure a new recession. Even with a slow recovery, most believe that (as even the White House estimates)we will be at or above 8% unemployment at election time. President Obama will not be re-elected in that circumstance. That is unless the GOP nominated someone completely unelectable. Sorry, Tee, but Mr. Gingrich is certainly not unelectable. While the media types try to say Romney is the best shot for the general, I have said I think they are wrong. I'm not going to spend a lot of time defending Fox News, since I know that it would be futile. There are many voices on that channel, and other Murdoch-based offerings, that do not tout the GOP line. The fact is people who say they do generally don't watch their programming or read his papers. A person has to make up his or her own mind about what the truth is, and whether President Obama is doing a good job or not. I would point to the poll done on this site about whether there should be a challenge from within the Democratic Party. Even among his fans, there is a feeling of disappointment. I'm sure that many of those same people will find a way to support him anyway, by making convenient excuses.

[Dien]

This is the News at 10 ... and now - Mitt Romney with today's sports highlights.

[Mister Tee]

Oh, and, by the way: when TV anchors say someone "looks presidential", they generally mean he looks like a TV anchor.

[Mister Tee]

But I am bewildered by those who supported Bush and say Obama doesn't get anything done. Bush goes on a terrorist hunt for seven years, gets us stuck in Iraq, and the economy goes to shit. We nab Bin Laden under Obama's administration, pull everyone out of Iraq by the end of this calendar year, and he makes strides in trying to fix healthcare (mutilated by congress bacon) and tries to put the economy back on its feet (mutilated by congress desperate attempts at securing their jobs). I'm just a young buck so I will admit I don't know 80% of what's going on - there's just something strange about everyone's reaction to surface level politics.

My advice is, tune out TV pundits, who have a long record of being utterly wrong about everything political. (Exhibit A: Hillary Clinton is unstoppable for the 2008 Democratic nomination) Double that for any part of the Murdoch empire, which lives to propangandize for the GOP.

A year from now, I'm confident that a strong majority of voters will see things precisely as you do, especially since the economy is finally improving (despite best Congressional efforts at sabotage). Obama already tops all Republican contenders in virtually every poll, and his approvals are nudging up toward the 50% mark despite high unemployment. Those numbers will rise next year, resulting in comfortable re-election, and this whole year of "the president is doomed" commentary will be wiped away. never to be heard of again.

Oh, and criddic, you're so right: Gingrich will be a formidable opponent. Please don't nominate him; we Democrats fear him deeply!