The Donald Comes Home to Roost
As I've said on this site too many times to count, as indescribably funny as the 2012 GOP primary season was, 2016 is going to be even funnier - we're talkin' side-splitting here. Here we are, just five months shy of the Iowa Caucus, and the unintentional laughs emanating from these accidental comedians seem to be in limitless supply. We're now just a couple of days away from the first debate of the 2016 campaign. I'm not gong to miss that one for anything! The utter implosion of the Republican Party really is a delightfully funny thing to behold. Somebody pinch me.
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And it gets stranger by the minute: As of this date, the frontrunner in all the polling of potential Republican primary voters is Donald Trump. How could it have possibly come to this? What the hell is wrong with these people? When asked why they would prefer The Donald as their standard-bearer next year, a disturbingly large percentage of his "constituency" have the same, inexplicable answer:
"He's one of us."
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As the late Jack Parr liked to say in his day, "I kid you not".
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| Der Gipper |
The biggest fear these days for the movers and shakers within the Grimy Old Party is that, once denied the nomination, Trump will mount a third-party uprising. This is a distinct possibility. He has got the money to go all the way to November 2016 - and beyond - and what better way to "up his brand" so to speak. As an ex-presidential candidate, his speaking fees would go through the freaking roof - and remember there are just oodles of folks out there who would be stupid enough to pay a small fortune in order to watch the Donald - IN PERSON - waxing idiotic on any topic imaginable. Was this a great country or what! And then there is the Ted Cruz factor, which could prove to be a major headache. Old Teddy Boy is just mean and spiteful enough to take his ball and go home if the score doesn't turn out in his favor. A fourth party uprising is always a possibility - especially if they end up nominating someone like Jebbie, who is viewed by the knuckleheads within the Tea Party as - get this - "too much of a liberal". Thursday evening is going to be very interesting; very interesting indeed.
Donald Trump has thrown a nasty little monkey wrench into the electoral process to be sure. A half century ago, no one in his or her right mind would have taken a Trump candidacy seriously. It's a different world. Trump is the price that the GOP is forcibly paying for spending the last forty years pandering to a constituency of extremists, imbeciles and crazy people. The chickens have come home to roost - with a vengeance, baby!
Did I mention that Thursday night is going to be very interesting?
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING:Franklin and Winston
by John Meacham
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Although I purchased this book when it came out over a decade ago, I only got round to reading it this week. It is the story of the relatively brief, fortuitous and complicated friendship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The outcome of the second world war was never the foregone conclusion that a lot of people believe it was. Humanity is indeed lucky that these two characters were able to get together to defeat Hitler and Nazism three-quarters of a century ago.
Jon Meacham is a first-rate historian.
posted by Tom Degan @ 6:18 AM
45 comments
45 Comments:
While I have no use for Trump, there are indeed several serious and good candidates running on the Republican side of the aisle.
Hillary, on the other hand, is a disgrace. Those that would elect her simply because of her genitalia, or because she will continue the building of the safety hammock, errr... I mean safety net, are the real problem with America.
Obama was the least qualified person to ever serve as president in my lifetime by far. As a state senator, most of his the time he either missed votes or voted "present". As a single term U.S. Senator who championed no significant legislation, he was not a force in the Senate. Before his political career, which he started at a fund-raiser in the living room of the domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, he had no significant accomplishments in his "community organizing". Based on his resume, I would have not hired him to manage a 7-11, let alone the world's last remaining superpower.
But he was a person of color and he spoke eloquently of all sorts of socialist dreams, so we elected him. We have reaped the whirlwind here because of our folly.
Obama and Hillary and Trump are not the real problem. They are symptomatic of an ignorant and uneducated American populace that no longer cares about the constitution and the rule of law. They care about what they can "get" out of the government instead. You partisanly point to the Republicans in the nation as being stupid and ignorant. I would submit to you, Tom, that the problem has metastasized through both parties, and especially among the Democrats, sir.
And yet, despite all the hilarity, the back-biting, the viciousness, the personal attacks, and the completely fragmented Republican voter base, there is one story I can guarantee will not be appearing in Friday's headlines:
Republicans In Disarray
Who is your candidate, Mr. Paine?
Amolibri, it is a long way out until election day. I have not picked any candidate to endorse yet accordingly. I have ruled out a bunch though. I won't be voting for Trump, Jeb, Huckabee, or Lindsey Graham for sure. We will see how the others shake out through the coming debates and my further research into each of the remaining. Towards whom are you leaning currently?
Who is your candidate, Mr. Paine?
Who is your candidate, Mr. Paine?
the debate on cspan momday was a joke and fox on thursday will be even funnier.
people kidded me about pocking an underdog in 2008 and he won twice.
it will happen again with BERNIE SANDERS IN 2016.
robert ny
trump was the cheapest bastard a restaurant waitress/ waiter could know
Can Donald Trump be any worse than the clown in the White House with economic growth as anemic as the Jimmy Carter days?
Smokey, I suspect on economic policies, Trump would actually do well. There is no denying his overall business acumen. He certainly would shame Obama with this current "recovery" we are in today.
T Paine, Trump inherited his wealth and has had CASINOS go bankrupt! Obama would have more success bringing the country back from the disaster left by the Bush administration if the GOP would get out of the way.
If you passed a law deniying the fire department accesss to water, would it be their fault if houses burned down?
re: Trump
There is nothing more tiresome than respectable Republicans pretending that they don't know how all this ever happened to their party
Mozart, Trump has never personally filed for bankruptcy. He has acquired many businesses that he has reorganized under bankruptcy laws to shed old debt though, as per the law. Damn, I hate that you make me defend this fool.
And I do know how Trump became so popular, despite some horrible ideas he has. He says what he means. He doesn't fear retribution from his contributors, because he is self-financed. He has tapped into the anger and helplessness that many Americans feel because of the corruption and incompetence of congress and most especially this administration. That is why he resonates with many people.
As for Obama, he had a Democratic House and Senate for the first several years of his presidency and did nothing to improve our lot. The feckless and cowardly Republicans have put up token resistance so that he won't continue to spend money we don't have on things that are not constitutional in the years since then.
More spending, as per Obama and the Democrats, is not the answer to our economic woes. That is akin to a drunkard trying to drink himself into sobriety.
So T. Paine, who is your candidate ? Fascist Scott Walker ? Crazy Ted Cruz ? Inquiring minds want to know !! You don't have to convince me that neither party is good for Amerika, that is a fact. So who is your candidate and why ? Too bad Bernie Sanders is running as a Democrat, it hurts his chances with the folks fed up with the two party system we have been stuck with...nice how two parties are all the MSM is willing to cover. THAT is why third party candidates stand no chance !!
No. the biggest jackass is the 17 that are running for potus..
I wish good luck to all of the Republican candidates that traveled to California to beg for money etc. from the Koch Brothers. Puppets? – Donald Trump
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
From that “liberal rag” Forbes
Obama Outperforms Reagan On Jobs, Growth And Investing
Funny how facts never get in the way of beliefs in the Radical Right Bubble Cult.
Oh yes the Thursday night debate...gotta roll a fat one for that !!
T Paine, it comes down to the fact that Trump couldn't keep a CASINO in the black. Of course he blamed his failures on the "People I trusted to run my business". Right.
As for Obama he had both houses of congress the first TWO YEARS and because of GOP FILLIBUSTERS nothing could get done.
Jeez, why does the obvious ALWAYS have to be explained over and over to conservatives?
The economy is basicly just "money moving around" which means SPENDING gets it moving and thus the economy improves. Keeping 98% of the natins wealth stagnating in the hands of a few people makes it weaker.
FDR ended the depressioin by spending money, and not only that he spent the money where it would do people the most good.
Ellis, it is far too early for me to get behind a candidate yet. I have eliminated candidates though. I won't be voting for Hillary, unless it is for a very long and justified prison term. O'Malley and Sanders are way too far to the left and not what this country needs. I won't be voting for Huckabee, Graham, Christie, Bush, or Trump either. As for the remaining candidates, they need to prove to me why they are the one to wright the ship of state and get us off this dangerous collision course we are on.
"Obama Outperforms Reagan On Jobs, Growth And Investing"
Dave...really? And you think I drink the Koolade. If you look at the Department of Labor's own statistics, the labor force participation rate for the country tanked the year Obama came into office and has gone down hill ever since. http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000
Hell, the true unemployment rate (the U6 rate) is still in double digits. Funny how facts never get in the way of their "truth" in the progressive world.
Mozart, you really are reaching, sir. For many years when the despicable Harry Reid was the senate majority leader, he never even put forth a budget to vote upon, as was his duty. The Republicans often times did not have the votes to filibuster. Hell, even during the most egregious and unconstitutional bill ever brought to the floor for a vote was passed by the Democrats without a single Republican vote. The deceptively named Affordable Care Act had to have the Democrat leadership bribe many of the key Democrat senators to even get it passed. But they did pass that piece of excrement. Don't give me the talking point of the GOP blocked it. The Democrats could have done anything they wanted, just as they did with this job-killing healthcare-expense-rising "law". Pay attention to the facts and not the DNC talking points, sir.
"The economy is basicly just "money moving around" which means SPENDING gets it moving and thus the economy improves."
Spending is good if it is done via the private sector as that does indeed create long-term jobs, but to do that businesses have to have confidence that the government is not going to tax them into oblivion, regulate them out of business, or create new job killing measures like Obamacare.
When the government spends money, it is typically wasted. Under this administration, it was supposed to go to "shovel ready jobs" that even Obama later admitted did not exist. Only Pelosi and the progressives think that $19 trillion in debt is not a spending problem. Senator Obama rightly claimed that Bush was reckless, irresponsible, and "unpatriotic" for spending up to $9 Trillion in national debt. So what does he do? He lies to the people, gets into office, and doubles that amount. That is the truth!
Oh, and the progressive deity of FDR was not the reason that the Great Depression ended. It was the full employment of our work force that came along with WWII, sir.
TP,
So you have no overridden Reagan veto to support your blaming of the congress for Reagan taking us to debt? Right. Unsupported, one sided, double standard blame game again.
Let me help:
Reagan Vetoes
“Progressive world”?
I’m giving you real quotes from non-liberal sources, like Forbes and the American Enterprise Institute.
Obviously you didn’t read the Forbes article because it was blasphemy about Regan or some such thing.
From the Right Wing American Enterprise Institute:
The US labor force participation rate has fallen by about three percentage points since the Great Recession. Of that decline, Barclays thinks two points are due to population aging.
Thank you for sourcing your Labor Force Participation Rate. This works much better when we offer evidence instead of Right Wing propaganda points.
U6 was 12.8% in November 2008 and 14% in January 2009. It peaked at 17.4% in 2009 and has dropped ever since. All blame for Obama and a pass for Republicans is unsupported, one sided, double standard blame game again.
Source: http://www.macrotrends.net/1377/u6-unemployment-rate
“job killing measures like Obamacare” is pure Koolade again.
The report (Congressional Budget Office) estimated a reduction in full-time-equivalent employment of about 2.3 million by 2021. But the drop is “almost entirely” due to a reduction in “the amount of labor that workers choose to supply,” CBO said (see pages 117-127).
The report specifically noted that the reduction in the workforce is not due to “an increase in unemployment (that is, more workers seeking but not finding jobs) or underemployment (such as part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours per week).” The law will give some Americans the ability to voluntarily leave their jobs or cut back their hours without fear of losing health insurance.
Source: http://www.factcheck.org/2014/02/lost-jobs-from-obamacare/
I believe you have ignored history again regarding FDR.
Here’s a refresher, source BLS http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar03p1.htm
After Roosevelt developed jobs programs unemployment dropped every year of his first term. Employment improved throughout all his terms except for one year. Unemployment went up in 1938 when the Dems caved to GOP pressure. FDR shook off the party that accused him of being an “enemy to his class” and resumed programs that put America back to work.
Here are the BLS figures:
1932 – 23.6%
1933 – 24.9% FDR inherits peak GOP unemployment rate thanks to tax cuts and deregulation
1934 - 21.7%
1935 – 20.1%
1936 – 17%
1937- 14.3%
1938- 19% FDR caves to GOP and cuts spending money “wasted” on jobs for Americans.
1939- 17.2 FDR continues programs
1940- 14.6%
1941- 9.9%
1942 – 4.7% US goes to war
T. Paine
The progressives are only good at one thing and that is finding ways to tax businesses in the private sector.
With our marxist Governor Malloy, who has been rated one of the worst governors in the US, there is talk of taxing the mileage we put on our cars! It won't be long till they also try to tax bowel movements, lol!
If Obama ran a McDonalds, it would lose money.
George McGovern got to understand the hard way how politicians with no real world experience kill businesses with their excessive taxes and regulations.
George wrote an article "What I Know Now: Nibbled to Death" http://www.inc.com/magazine/19931201/3809.html
"George McGovern left public service and became the owner of a business -- a punishingly revelatory experience. If only, he says now, his career sequence had been the other way around.
Calvin Coolidge was too simplistic when he observed that "the business of America is business." But like most sweeping political statements, even Coolidge's contains some truth -- enough, as I've learned, to make me wish I had known more firsthand about the concerns and problems of American businesspeople while I was a U.S. senator and later a presidential nominee. That knowledge would have made me a better legislator and a more worthy aspirant to the White House.
The second lesson I learned by owning the Stratford Inn is that legislators and government regulators must more carefully consider the economic and management burdens we have been imposing on U.S. business."
The central planners in Washington are clueless on the economic and management burdens they impose on U.S. business because they have never run a business. A President should have more experience than "Community Organizing." At least one progressive, George McGovern, stopped drinking the progressive koolaid after his experience with the Stratford Inn.
Hillary Clinton said "Don’t let anybody tell you that, you know, it's corporations and businesses that create jobs." This ignorant person should be running for President?
It must be hard for the marxists here to choose between Bonnie and Clyde Clinton and Bernie The Bolshevick Sanders whose attempt at Single Payer Healthcare in VT, with Jonathon Gruber as consultant, crashed and burned. These people are the clowns.
Harry is right about George McGovern's lessons from experience. Note he did't say Republicans had the best ideas.
His experience also taught him this, according to the NY Times obituary:
In his final book, “What It Means to Be a Democrat,” released last November, he despairs of an “insidious” political atmosphere in Washington while trying to rally Democrats against “extremism” in the Republican ranks.
“We are the party that believes we can’t let the strong kick aside the weak,” Mr. McGovern wrote. “Our party believes that poor children should be as well educated as those from wealthy families. We believe that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes and that everyone should have access to health care.”
And unlike Bush and Cheney, Mr. McGovern experienced war first hand, and called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their prosecution of the war in Iraq. Got "nukular" aluminum tubes? How about Saddam being in cahoots with al-Qaeda? These treasonous lies led to over 4,000 dead Americans and the formation ISIS from former Iraqi soldiers fired by Bush's cronies.
And speaking of governors, notice how Walker the Koch sucker has misled Wisconsin and transferred $250 million from education into a billionaire's sports arena in gross corporate welfare at public cost.
And its failed economy lags behind a more progressive Minnesota in jobs. Minnesota economy is going gangbusters while Wisconsin’s job growth has fallen to 44th among the 50 states.
Just the Facts, boys.
Conservatives like to live in their own reality looking through a partisan's rose colored glasses. Being highly politically partisan makes a person incredibly stupid and that applies to adherents of both parties. Harry is a good example of this behavior.
Liberals are far more likely to criticize Democratic politicians while Conservatives are incapable to do the same , just look at Dave's post about Obama as proof.
Mr. Hansen, if you knew me better, you would also know that I was a vociferous opponent of many of George W. Bush's policies. I even changed party affiliation from Republican to the Constitutional party because of him. I have no problem calling out transgressions, regardless of what party the person is a member. Too bad most liberals won't do the same with Hillary and her corruption and incompetence.
I find Dave Dubya to be a refreshing change of pace for progressives as he will indeed criticize anyone, regardless of party, when he finds them to be out of step with his beliefs. Indeed, Dave and I even share some common ground on certain issues.
It is my fervent hope that someday I will be able to bring him back from the dark side of the force and get him to renounce the progressive agenda and thus support the constitutional rule of law and free market capitalism.
Dave, I can feel the conflict inside of you. Let go of your hate and the dark side! :)
Between now and the congressional vote in September, you are going to hear a lot of arguments against this deal, backed by tens of millions of dollars in advertising. And if the rhetoric in these ads and the accompanying commentary sounds familiar, it should, for many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal.
Now, when I ran for president eight years ago as a candidate who had opposed the decision to go to war in Iraq, I said that America didn’t just have to end that war. We had to end the mindset that got us there in the first place.
It was a mindset characterized by a preference for military action over diplomacy, a mindset that put a premium on unilateral U.S. action over the painstaking work of building international consensus, a mindset that exaggerated threats beyond what the intelligence supported.
Leaders did not level with the American people about the costs of war, insisting that we could easily impose our will on a part of the world with a profoundly different culture and history.
And, of course, those calling for war labeled themselves strong and decisive while dismissing those who disagreed as weak, even appeasers of a malevolent adversary.
More than a decade later, we still live with the consequences of the decision to invade Iraq. Our troops achieved every mission they were given, but thousands of lives were lost, tens of thousands wounded. That doesn’t count the lives lost among Iraqis. Nearly a trillion dollars was spent.
Today, Iraq remains gripped by sectarian conflict, and the emergence of al-Qaida in Iraq has now evolved into ISIL. And ironically, the single greatest beneficiary in the region of that war was the Islamic Republic of Iran, which saw its strategic position strengthened by the removal of its long-standing enemy, Saddam Hussein.
I recognize that resorting to force may be tempting in the face of the rhetoric and behavior that emanates from parts of Iran. It is offensive. It is incendiary. We do take it seriously.
But superpowers should not act impulsively in response to taunts or even provocations that can be addressed short of war. Just because Iranian hardliners chant “Death to America” does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe. In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting “Death to America” who have been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican Caucus.
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John Kennedy said something during the Cold War about how the hawks in Washington and Moscow vindicated each other, propped each other up, and basically might as well be in business together. Certainly describes GOP congress and Tehran nowadays too.
T. Paine ”I even changed party affiliation from Republican to the Constitutional party because of him.”
Did you mean the Constitution Party? Jesus.
TP,
This "hate" thing is the endlessly hammered false belief and accusation by the far Right. The same with the tired old "envy the rich" crap. I happen to have a comfortable life. Just because I see greed and corruption doesn't mean I hate anybody.
Hate the sin, love the sinner, brother.
Sorry, I can't let go of reality and embrace the Dark Side ruled by the servants of mammon and merchants of death and war. Did you process the 70% thing at all?
I'm really conservative. I want a democratic representative republic. You DO realize most Americans are represented far less than the wealthy and corporations, right? How about we demand OUR country back?
Just curious, did you see the BLS figures on FDR? I'm betting your belief system must reject that reality too. Liberals are always doing evil, by intent or misguided belief, right?
Now that is all part of the propaganda of the radical Right. It is bullshit and it is bad for America. Dare I say hateful as well?
I say that with love in my heart for you, buddy.
Harry, Obama and his minions are being exceptionally dangerous with this deal. They don't even have the IEAE's side agreements with Iraq in hand yet. Further, one of Iran's top negotiators states that they will NOT allow the IAEA or anyone else in to inspect some military bases.
Iran even negotiated in this deal regarding their pistachio nuts, but Obama couldn't see fit to have them release the four American hostages as part of the negotiations. He then got indignant about it when confronted by the press.
Iran has been responsible for the deaths of over 1000 Americans in recent decades through their direct efforts or supporting of proxy terrorists in their cause. Do we really think that removing sanctions and giving them more money will somehow make them behave on the world stage now?
Obama is either exceptionally naive or so obsessed with having something to point to as a worthwhile foreign policy legacy that he doesn't care about the existential dangers present in this deal for our allies, and potentially for us.
Modus, yes I did mean Constitution Party. This is what happens when one is trying to type with many distractions present. ... And no, my true name is not Jesus. :)
"Hate the sin, love the sinner, brother."
Great advice, Dave! It is something that I try to live by, even though I sometimes fall short of that goal in my own imperfections. Regardless, that is how I am able to love my brothers and sisters, even when they do evil things, my friend.
Iran hasn’t invaded another country in hundreds of years and has never attacked Americans.
Not when the US overthrew their democratically elected leader and installed the Shah as dictator.
Not when the US aided Iraq in targeting Iranian soldiers for chemical warfare.
Not after the trigger happy seamen on the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air 655 flying in its designated route. The US never even apologized for the negligent slaughter of 290 men women and children.
They took hostages after the US coddled the deposed Shah with the best medical care available.
As a consequence to George W. Bush’s war of aggression, Iranian allies finally helped Iraqis kill some American invaders.
Bush called them the Axis of evil for supporting terrorist resistance to Israeli occupation and suppression.
But the US is allowed to sponsor terrorists like the contras who killed nuns and children?
When is enough enough?
Republicans are just as war loving as any militant Iranian.
To hell with them all. Give peace a chance.
And as much as the fanatics on the Right want to blame Obama, it is an international negotiation with inspections. They have NO alternative but war. They despise diplomacy as much as they despise democracy.
Hate and willful ignorance of facts are all they have.
All war is a scam unless it is to protect our borders from an actual invasion. I don't recall that being the case since WW II. I would count 911 if it wasn't our own false flag CIA operation behind the " terrorist " attack. All these wars are just imperialistic bullshit to pad the coffers of the MIC. Of course they also serve to make us hated worldwide for sticking our noses into other countries' business.
Further, one of Iran's top negotiators states that they will NOT allow the IAEA or anyone else in to inspect some military bases.
This no longer applies.
Obama and his minions are being exceptionally dangerous with this deal. Obama is either exceptionally naive or so obsessed...
Obama, Obama, Obama.
Get real, please. The U.S., China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany are ALL AT THE TABLE.
Is the Right so far off the tracks they think Obama is dictator of the world? Just because the far Right wants to be dictators of everything doesn't mean others do. It is projection.
Call it the coalition of the sane. How many inspections are allowed now? How many centrifuges are Iran giving up now? How the hell is no agreement better than an international agreement with inspections?
The Obama hater have no better ideas whatsoever. Same old neo-con lies and hate and wrongheadedness that destroyed Iraq and spawned ISIS.
Insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results.
How they hell is war better than diplomacy? Even if the worst case ensues, Israel has enough nukes to deter Iran, the same as we had enough to deter the USSR. Remember that other empire of evil? Guess what? They didn't attack us. Neither will Iran.
The fear, ignoance and hate has got to be exposed and challenged.
From CBS News:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-inspectors-access-any-site-iran-true/
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told military commanders that he would not allow any inspections of the country's military sites. The issue was one of the more difficult points of contention during the talks and was resolved only near the end.
The agreement allows for a "long-term IAEA presence in Iran" to monitor materials and nuclear development that wouldn't be used in weapons. Inspectors will have continuous monitoring capabilities at known nuclear facilities like Fordow fuel enrichment plant and the Natanz enrichment facility. For other areas in the country, including military sites where there is suspected nuclear activity, IAEA inspectors will have to request access.
Sharon Squassoni, the director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Proliferation Prevention Program called it a compromise, and not a bad one for the U.S., since Iran wanted an outright ban on inspectors at military facilities.
"Anybody who expected that we were just going to be able to go in on short notice and walk around military facilities was either dreaming or really optimistic," she said.
In fact, Squassoni argued that the IAEA will have broad grounds to push for inspections because the agreement with the P5+1 powers includes a whole list of activities related to building nuclear weapons and manufacturing centrifuges.
"I think that is what will make it easier for them to gain access," she said.
Sanctions relief for Iran will ultimately depend on whether the IAEA inspectors are satisfied that they have the access they need.
Obama: "Between now and the congressional vote in September, you are going to hear a lot of arguments against this deal, backed by tens of millions of dollars in advertising. And if the rhetoric in these ads and the accompanying commentary sounds familiar, it should, for many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal."
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It's been reported that AIPAC has bought time on TV in 23 states.
Dubya, I started out by addressing your ridiculous claims point by point. I then decided that I am too tired and this simply falls on deaf ears anyway.
Suffice it to say, you think Iran is doing what it is with its support of Hezbollah and other terrorist regimes and proxy dictatorships like Assad's Syria because the evil United States has left them no other choice. Their claimed desire to wipe Israel off the face of the globe is because Israel is an occupying force in their own land. Got it.
For the record, Bush's "war of aggression" would have been just that, if it would have been based on lies. It wasn't. It was based on mistaken assumptions, however. There was some faulty intelligence, but the fact remains that there were indeed chemical weapons in Iraq, some of which were found.
As for the Iran agreement, you are making the same mistake that many of our foolish negotiators and Obama is. You think Iran will be deterred by mutually assured destruction WHEN they get a nuclear weapon. (And this agreement does NOT preclude this from happening, but merely assumes it will be ten to fifteen years down the road when they do and it is no longer Obama's problem.) It is interesting to note that you don't dispute that they will eventually get a nuke.
You are looking at the Iranians with a western mindset and values. Do you really think that a culture that worships death is afraid of annihilation? They strap bombs on themselves to kill their enemies and thus become martyrs for allah in paradise with their 72 virgins. (Because god is evidently nothing more than some cosmic pimp.) They strap bombs to their women and children. They think by creating an all out war between the West and their brand of Islam will hasten the return of their messiah. It seems ludicrous to us, but they are devout believers in this tenet of their faith. It doesn't matter how many people they must sacrifice, as long as the twelfth imam returns to rule the world under one new caliphate. Their former president Ahmadinejad has said this and so have many of the ruling mullahs of this perverted theocracy. If they can destroy allah's enemy of the Jews in Israel with a nuclear weapon, that this agreement will allow them to eventually get,then any consequences to them in this life are irrelevant. Their reward follows in the next life in "paradise".
Even by Obama and Kerry's own admission, no deal is better than a bad deal. Unfortunately, they don't know a bad deal when they agree to it. Maintaining sanctions as we did and collecting intelligence is a better option then freeing up all of Iran's assets to continue their evil designs.
Further, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have already stated that this agreement shifts the balance of power in the region towards Iran. What this foolish and near-sighted agreement is doing is to start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and possibly other Sunni states are not going to sit by while Shi'ia Iran works diligently to obtain a nuclear weapon. This agreement is precipitating precisely what they claim it is supposed to prevent. The alternative to this agreement is not war, nor should it be unless that is the very LAST resort.
This is the height of foolishness and an existential threat to our ally Israel's very existence. The left's hatred of the Right and their perceived boogeymen in the military and the MIC are causing them to appease our enemies in a manner that would make Neville Chamberlain blush.
I am truly scared of this brave new world that progressive foolishness has created.
Good News!
Chuck Schumer is voting against The Messiah and the Iran Deal!
Hmmm... wonders never cease...
Anyone else amused by Fox's attempt to squash Trump?
That was the most entertaining reality show I've watched in a while.
All they needed was to be shirtless and on an island...
Harley, you are too funny my friend :-) I didn't see all of it because well, the Yankees were playing the Red Sox ( bread and circus ). However, what I did see was very entertaining to say the least. Rubio admitting Hillary has more experience was cute. I like Trump for speaking his mind, even if he has an inferior one. Christie the bully no surprise, the guy is the biggest asshole ever to hold an office and that's really saying something. I like some things about Rand Paul but they are probably based more on speculation than fact. I thought all of the closing statements were pretty lame. All in all I was happy the Yankees won !!
Ellis, even though we may not see eye to eye politically on all issues, I had respect for you, sir.
...and then I find out you are a Yankees' fan... wow. :)
T. Paine, my dad took me to a Yankee game when I was 5 yrs. old. I've been hooked ever since. A stint in rehab didn't help and well you know, winning all those World Series just ups the potency. I always thought if there was something wrong with it Nancy Reagan would have said something :-)
ROFL. Well, Ellis, at least you didn't just jump on the Yankees bandwagon. You were subjected to them at an early age. I guess you still have my respect. (Unless you also like the Lakers or the Dallas Cowboys. Then all bets are off!) :)
No, not a fan of the Cowboys or Lakers. Who is your baseball team T. ?
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so I have always had a fondness for the sad Mariners. I also kind of grew attached to the Texas Rangers as I did some work in the Dallas area years ago and got to go to many games there.
I went to law school in the Pacific Northwest. The M's were my attempt at kicking my Yankees habit !!
Ellis, there is indeed hope for you, sir! Where did you go to school?
That said, the M's have been painful to watch other than for a few years when they had Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson on board.
Oh well, I have been a Seahawks fan since they came into the league in the 70's too. If you stay true long enough, a Super Bowl does come out of it. Perhaps a World Series could one day happen too!
Now if Paul Allen hadn't just dismantled my Trailblazers, I thought we were finally getting closer to a NBA title too.
It is tough sticking by your teams... and politics... sometimes. :)
My dear TP, a man of common sense.
I just got back from my favorite summer camp in the woods. You’d love it. It was a friend’s deer camp with river access and trout pond. I toasted you with Wild Turkey as wild turkeys scratched the leaves around us. What a weekend. But I’m mostly recovered now.
You left me a message while I was out.
Oh dear…
For the record, Bush's "war of aggression" would have been just that, if it would have been based on lies. It wasn't. It was based on mistaken assumptions, however.
Do you really think that a culture that worships death is afraid of annihilation?
The left's hatred of the Right and their perceived boogeymen in the military and the MIC are causing them to appease our enemies in a manner that would make Neville Chamberlain blush.
This is more regurgitation of FOX/Limbaugh…Sigh. Please, cite some source apart from the sort mentioned for such claims. Remember even the New York Times parroted Cheney.
Can you not keep returning to that hateful drivel? There’s that “Left’s hatred” lie again. I hate lies and that one is a whopper. Such false accusations reflect the hate of the accuser, not the accused.
I may need more space and time to discuss this. Stay tuned.
T., I would tell you where I attended law school but I don't want to tarnish the school's reputation :-) I too rooted for the Seahawks back in the days of Jim Zorn and Steve Largent. I like the current team but I still can't figure out that slant pass on the goal line in the last Super Bowl !!
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