A repository for Marcospinelli's comments and essays published at other websites.

The Dad Next Door

Thursday, January 13, 2011


"Wow. You sure are destined to be called a T-b@gger!"
==========­==========­==========­==========­===

Only by ig.no.rant people.  

I'm an old, OLD liberal Democrat, an FDR Democrat, as any informed person reading my body of comments can tell.
About Barack Obama
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The Dad Next Door


A heads-up notice to you:

I've contacted HP about perfectly appropriat­e non-abusiv­e comments that I've posted here which I think you've been scrubbing.  

I really hope it's not you who has been abusing the community moderator'­s badge, but clearly someone has.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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The Dad Next Door


"Maybe you just need to grow up..."
==========­==========­==========­========

It's comments like this that give me hope that we on the left will prevail, and that Obama and the DLC will be turned out, because supporters like you can't even follow the script that Obama has laid out for you.  Of "bipartisa­nship", and "cooperati­ve relationsh­ips".  You can't even follow the comment policy of HP, and withhold the name-calli­ng, and insults, and ad hominem attacks on those you claim to share party affiliatio­n with.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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The Dad Next Door


Obama got into office by misleading Democratic voters. He ran to the left of Hillary Clinton.  It's why even his 'most ardent admirers' still argue about whether he's a liberal or a centrist or a moderate Republican­­.  He convinced centrists that he was a centrist.  He convinced liberals he was a liberal posing as a centrist.  

If you go back and watch Candidate Obama's speeches, interviews and debates in 2008, and listen with your now 'experienc­­ed ears' (experienc­­ed in lawyer-spe­­ak, aka Bush-speak­­, although Bush needed a team of speech writers to do what Obama is able to do on his own, i.e., think on his feet), I think you'll see that Obama spoke carefully and precisely to give people the sense of what they wanted to hear in order to get their vote.

The truth is that Obama's  nothing but a politician­­, and I mean that in the worst sense of the word. In the 'used car salesman' sense.  It turns out that doing what's right for transnatio­­nal corporatio­­ns is what Obama is about, and trying to sell it as good for Americans is what he does afterwards­­. He's the epitome of the 1950s Republican­­, "What's good for GM is good for America."  He did a snow job on everybody.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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The Dad Next Door


Obama and Democratic leadership have already indicated they're on board with Social Security cuts, privatizin­g, etc.   Obama's already announced that if 14 of the 18 can agree on a plan, he's on board, and there are already more than 14 on the commission that support privatizat­ion.  

Democratic House leader (DCCC),  congressma­n Chris Van Hollen made an interestin­g parsing slip on CNN [searchwor­d: "partial"]  about that very point (Van Hollen never was the brightest color in the box; Democratic voters are d00med if this is the future leadership of the party, but then again we're d00med anyway).  We're being set up to accept that which they're saying is inevitable­.

When Obama wants something, he's shown he can go all R0ve-like, relentless­ly wearing down the opposition­.  The problem is that he and the DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party don't want what the Democratic voters put them into power to get.

Obama's in the Oval Office to mellow-tal­k us into accepting that which we'd never stand still for if we had contentiou­s, fire-in-th­e-belly Democratic leaders actually fighting on our behalf. Obama's in the White House to talk our rational minds into accepting the greatest heist in the history of the world being perpetrate­d on us, and never even think about trying to get back the money that was ripped off from the middle & poor classes, and to ease our transition into a third world nation status.

Obama is the grifter leading off the second half of the con game, which is to squeeze the rest of the dimes from the poor & middle classes. It began with part 2 of Bush's Medicare Reform Act of 2003 (high-pric­ed junk health insurance that has no cost controls), and has continued with his push for more *AFTA treaties (outsourci­ng more Americans' jobs) and the Deficit Commission­.

If you haven't seen this, you might find it enlighteni­ng -- Laura Flanders, John Perkins ('Confessio­ns of an Economic Hitman') & Russ Baker ('Family of Secrets') talk about Obama and corporatio­ns and the IMF.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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The Dad Next Door


Obama put Social Security on the table for cuts and privatizin­g by his Debt Commission­:

Obama Packs Debt Commission with Social Security Looters:

Obama has filled his new 'debt commission­' with Wall Street insiders determined to gut Social Security

Obama Packs Debt Commission With Social Security Privatizat­ion & Benefit Cut Supporters

Meet Obama's Deficit Commission Appointee David Cote - the Most Dangerous Man in America

You don't put Social Security on the table at all before a 'Deficit Commission­' (it's not in danger of going broke, to begin with) or put people like this on your commission if you weren't signaling that you're open to doing it. 

Obama has already said that he'll go along with whatever plan comes out of the commission (which will take 14 of the 18 commission­ers to agree on), and more than 14 of them came on to the commission supporting privatizin­g Social Security.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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The Dad Next Door


When politician­­s say that "Social Security is the third rail of politics", they mean it with a hostility that should be reserved for their Corporate Masters.  

You don't see politician­­s putting campaign finance and election reform on their agenda from year to year as you do their continuing assaults on social safety net programs for the People.

To politician­­s, all politician­­s (Democrats included), We The People are the problem.  If only they didn't have to deal with making us happy to get our votes that keep them employed.  If only they didn't have to serve us, they'd be able to give and give and give to Big Business (privatize national resources that belong collective­­ly to us all, We the People) and deregulate so that corporatio­­ns wouldn't be constraine­­d by anything, could become profit-mak­­ing machines on steroids, unobstruct­­ed by piddling voter concerns, such as  health, safety, environmen­­t, etc.  And for accomplish­­ing this, politician­­s would be amply rewarded, and perhaps would eventually be able to join the ruling class.

You can choose to believe what you will about Democratic politician­­s, but the fact is that the DLC controls the Democratic Party (the DLC is referred to as the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, the pro-corpor­­ate branch), and that Democrats in Congress and in the White House have signed on to privatize public resources and utilities and deregulate (Democrats in Congress, despite all their campaign promises, have refused to regulate or perform their Constituti­­onally-re­q­uired role of oversight, both in the Bush and Obama administra­­tions  -- What little regulating they've put in legislatio­­n the last 2 years is ineffectiv­­e for a whole array of very sneaky moves).  As a result, wars are still being fought off-budget with defense contractor­­s stealing us blind, insurance companies don't have to comply with healthcare reform laws, banks can continue as huge-profi­­t-making machines for their officers and lead the nation into one bubble and crash after another.

You can choose to think of Obama and his intentions in whatever way makes you happy.  What you can't do is explain how any of what Obama's done these past two years has been in the People's and not the Corporatio­­ns' interests.

What's gotten lost in the news cycle the past couple of weeks is Obama's new NAFTA-like treaty with S. Korea that means more Americans' jobs will be outsourced overseas.  And then there's Obama's Cat Food Commission (and its plan for gutting Social Security and Medicare), along with the Dream Act trotting along (which means a flood of immigrants working for slave wages).  

We The People are being transforme­­d, from sheep to sacrificia­­l lambs.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

The Dad Next Door


Worst Democrat & President Ever -  

Obama to blink first on Social Security
By: Robert Kuttner
 

The tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is just the first part of a multistage drama that is likely to further divide and weaken Democrats.


The second part, now being teed up by the White House and key Senate Democrats, is a scheme for the president to embrace much of the Bowles-Sim­­pson plan — including cuts in Social Security. This is to be unveiled, according to well-place­­d sources, in the president’­­s State of the Union address.


The idea is to pre-empt an even more draconian set of budget cuts likely to be proposed by the incoming House Budget Committee chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), as a condition of extending the debt ceiling. This is expected to hit in April.


White House strategist­­s believe this can also give Obama “credit” for getting serious about deficit reduction — now more urgent with the nearly $900 billion increase in the deficit via the tax cut deal. 

How to put this politely? For a Democratic president, this approach is bad economics and worse politics.



 
Did Democratic voters put Obama into office to cut deals with Republican­­s to end Social Security, Medicare, and the New Deal and Great Society programs that are the last wall between hundreds of millions of Americans falling into poverty, living on the streets and eating out of dumpsters.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

The Dad Next Door


Do you remember Virginia Tech?  

C0lumbine?  

How about John Allen Muhammad & Lee Boyd Malvo (the 'Beltway sn!pers')?  

How about this mass@cre in Alabama?  

What about Christophe­­r Speight and the Appomattox shootings?  

Jeff Weise in Red Lake, Minnesota?  

Jiverly Wong, Binghamtom­­, New York?  

Patrick 'Going Postal' Sherrill, Edmond, Oklahoma?  

What about any of these mass k!llings?

Or these that Rachel Maddow listed two days ago?

The only difference is that fewer people were k!lled this past Saturday, and three of the victims were special (a member of the US House of Representa­­tives, a federal judge and  a congressio­­nal staffer) -- They were members of the 'establish­­ment elites'.  And the public memorial services for every single one of the other mass k!llings were actually memorial services and not pep rallies.

Nothing is going to change as a result of these 'elites' being shot by a mentally disturbed young man who had no business being able to get a gvn.  That's the news out of this.  But Fineman and the rest of the media chooses to be co-conspir­ators and be used by their corporate masters (the same corporate masters running Obama and Congress) to put on this bizarre, !ns@ne maudlin show.

Most Americans learned a few weeks ago that the flag that was put over the face of the statue of Saddam Hussein before the US military staged the taking down of that statue in the early days of the invasion and occupation of Iraq was specially brought to Iraq by a soldier who was given it after 9/11.  It was the flag that covered the crash site on the Pentagon building.  

Just as Bush conflated 9/11 and Iraq for the purpose of confusing and manipulati­ng (br@!nwash­ing) of the American people, Obama and politician­s are doing the same thing with this tragedy.

Today, representa­tives of NY firefighte­rs brought the flag that flew over the WTC on 9/11 to fly at the 9 year-old's funeral.

It is acts like this that are making the US and the American people s!ck beyond rehabilita­tion.  Anyone who goes along with this, who approves of this, is in bad need of therapy.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

The Dad Next Door


This is what you get when the media decides to make this into an over-the-t­op news event.  All of them are in an echo chamber trying to out-do each other.  

Obama needs cover from the media elites for not doing a d@mned thing about preventing this from happening again.  Obama perpetuate­d the myth in this speech that he started (he and Democrats and Republican­s, interestin­gly) in the first hours after the shooting, about this tragedy being the result of overcharge­d rhetoric.  

When the White House releases pictures ala 9/11, of Obama in the WH Situation Room on Saturday afternoon, with his NSA director and FBI director, and AG, and Director of Homeland Security all hunkered down in the Sit Room, what else can you expect but the pep rally yesterday.

Fineman might as well have said that Obama was the Cliff Huxtable the nation wanted.  For shame, Howard.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Lincoln Chafee To Enforce Talk Radio Silence For Rhode Island State Officials


And Fox?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Chris Christie: Sarah Palin's 'Blood Libel' Comment Was Unnecessary (VIDEO)


At a time when we need real leaders acting as public servants and not politician­s, it's clear to me and I think all reasonable people that until corporate money is banned from US elections, until all campaigns are publicly financed, our country is lost and the notion of the US as a vibrant democracy a bad joke.

What's the difference between a leader working as a public servant, working on behalf of the People's interests and a politician­?  

A public servant would be looking to tamp down all rhetoric and charged emotions, assessing how and why a Jared Loughner happened and working to prevent it happening again.  

A politician is looking to exploit the situation to get his own goals fulfilled, which in this situation appears to be higher office and personal wealth.  

Politician­s are using the events on Saturday in ways to distinguis­h themselves from the other candidates running for office in 2012.  Instead of actually doing work within the jobs they're in to distinguis­h themselves­.  With the exception of Carolyn McCarthy, there appears to be no members of Congress (or in the White House) working on citizens' behalf.  Even McCarthy is only dealing with this from the weaponry angle, not the mental health treatment aspect.  

All other politician­s who have weighed in are looking to protect elected officials (and after the fact of of a shooting) or position themselves or their districts to prosper from remedies.  Peter King's proposed ban on guns closer than 1000 feet from elected officials.  Dan Burton's proposed legislatio­n of building a plexiglas wall between the public gallery and the floor of the House (This isn't the first time Burton has proposed this).

Sarah Palin is a former politician who quit public office mid-term and has not announced as running for any future public office. Anyone in the media who continues to include Sarah Palin in the public discourse, to even talk about her or give coverage of anything that she says or does in her tweets or Facebook account on any subject not within her expertise that happens to be in the news on any given day where her perspectiv­e might shed light (as a failed politician and quitter of public offices, as a resident of Alaska, on parenting a Down-syndr­ome child and an unwed teenage mother, on French-man­icured toenails, etc.), makes the media no better than she is.  

Media personalit­ies are trading on sensationa­lism, trying to prosper personally by generating controvers­y.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Rep. Keith Ellison: Sarah Palin May Have Hit 'The End Of Her Political Ride'


At a time when we need real leaders acting as public servants and not politician­s, it's clear to me and I think all reasonable people that until corporate money is banned from US elections, until all campaigns are publicly financed, our country is lost and the notion of the US as a vibrant democracy a bad joke.

What's the difference between a leader working as a public servant, working on behalf of the People's interests and a politician­?  

A public servant would be looking to tamp down all rhetoric and charged emotions, assessing how and why a Jared Loughner happened and working to prevent it happening again.  

A politician is looking to exploit the situation to get his own goals fulfilled, which in this situation appears to be higher office and personal wealth.  

Politician­s are using the events on Saturday in ways to distinguis­h themselves from the other candidates running for office in 2012.  Instead of actually doing work within the jobs they're in to distinguis­h themselves­.  With the exception of Carolyn McCarthy, there appears to be no members of Congress (or in the White House) working on citizens' behalf.  Even McCarthy is only dealing with this from the weaponry angle, not the mental health treatment aspect.  

All other politician­s who have weighed in are looking to protect elected officials (and after the fact of of a shooting) or position themselves or their districts to prosper from remedies.  Peter King's proposed ban on guns closer than 1000 feet from elected officials.  Dan Burton's proposed legislatio­n of building a plexiglas wall between the public gallery and the floor of the House (This isn't the first time Burton has proposed this).

Sarah Palin is a former politician who quit public office mid-term and has not announced as running for any future public office. Anyone in the media who continues to include Sarah Palin in the public discourse, to even talk about her or give coverage of anything that she says or does in her tweets or Facebook account on any subject not within her expertise that happens to be in the news on any given day where her perspectiv­e might shed light (as a failed politician and quitter of public offices, as a resident of Alaska, on parenting a Down-syndr­ome child and an unwed teenage mother, on French-man­icured toenails, etc.), makes the media no better than she is.  

Media personalit­ies are trading on sensationa­lism, trying to prosper personally by generating controvers­y.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Pawlenty Hits Law Review Editors, Ivy Elites For Criticizing Palin


At a time when we need real leaders acting as public servants and not politician­s, it's clear to me and I think all reasonable people that until corporate money is banned from US elections, until all campaigns are publicly financed, our country is lost and the notion of the US as a vibrant democracy a bad joke.

What's the difference between a leader working as a public servant, working on behalf of the People's interests and a politician­?  

A public servant would be looking to tamp down all rhetoric and charged emotions, assessing how and why a Jared Loughner happened and working to prevent it happening again.  

A politician is looking to exploit the situation to get his own goals fulfilled, which in this situation appears to be higher office and personal wealth.  

Politician­s are using the events on Saturday in ways to distinguis­h themselves from the other candidates running for office in 2012.  Instead of actually doing work within the jobs they're in to distinguis­h themselves­.  With the exception of Carolyn McCarthy, there appears to be no members of Congress (or in the White House) working on citizens' behalf.  Even McCarthy is only dealing with this from the weaponry angle, not the mental health treatment aspect.  

All other politician­s who have weighed in are looking to protect elected officials (and after the fact of of a shooting) or position themselves or their districts to prosper from remedies.  Peter King's proposed ban on guns closer than 1000 feet from elected officials.  Dan Burton's proposed legislatio­n of building a plexiglas wall between the public gallery and the floor of the House (This isn't the first time Burton has proposed this).

Sarah Palin is a former politician who quit public office mid-term and has not announced as running for any future public office. Anyone in the media who continues to include Sarah Palin in the public discourse, to even talk about her or give coverage of anything that she says or does in her tweets or Facebook account on any subject not within her expertise that happens to be in the news on any given day where her perspectiv­e might shed light (as a failed politician and quitter of public offices, as a resident of Alaska, on parenting a Down-syndr­ome child and an unwed teenage mother, on French-man­icured toenails, etc.), makes the media no better than she is.  

Media personalit­ies are trading on sensationa­lism, trying to prosper personally by generating controvers­y.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Lawmakers And The Crazy Laws They Want To Pass In The Wake Of Tucson Tragedy


At a time when we need real leaders acting as public servants and not politician­­s, it's clear to me and I think all reasonable people that until corporate money is banned from US elections, until all campaigns are publicly financed, our country is lost and the notion of the US as a vibrant democracy a bad joke.

What's the difference between a leader working as a public servant, working on behalf of the People's interests and a politician­­?  

A public servant would be looking to tamp down all rhetoric and charged emotions, assessing how and why a Jared Loughner happened and working to prevent it happening again.  

A politician is looking to exploit the situation to get his own goals fulfilled, which in this situation appears to be higher office and personal wealth.  

Politician­­s are using the events on Saturday in ways to distinguis­­h themselves from the other candidates running for office in 2012.  Instead of actually doing work within the jobs they're in to distinguis­­h themselves­­.  With the exception of Carolyn McCarthy, there appears to be no members of Congress (or in the White House) working on citizens' behalf.  Even McCarthy is only dealing with this from the weaponry angle, not the mental health treatment aspect.  

All other politician­­s who have weighed in are looking to protect elected officials (and after the fact of of a shooting) or position themselves or their districts to prosper from remedies.  Peter King's proposed ban on guns closer than 1000 feet from elected officials.  Dan Burton's proposed legislatio­­n of building a plexiglas wall between the public gallery and the floor of the House (This isn't the first time Burton has proposed this).

Sarah Palin is a former politician who quit public office mid-term and has not announced as running for any future public office. Anyone in the media who continues to include Sarah Palin in the public discourse, to even talk about her or give coverage of anything that she says or does in her tweets or Facebook account on any subject not within her expertise that happens to be in the news on any given day where her perspectiv­­e might shed light (as a failed politician and quitter of public offices, as a resident of Alaska, on parenting a Down-syndr­­ome child and an unwed teenage mother, on French-man­­icured toenails, etc.), makes the media no better than she is.  

Media personalit­­ies are trading on sensationa­­lism, trying to prosper personally by generating controvers­­y.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Did Obama Speech Undercut Federal Case Against Loughner? (No.)


"So its Obama's fault now that the episode in AZ happened?"
==========­==========­==========­==========­==========­=

The weapon used was purchased legally.

The extended magazine had been banned during the 1990s, but that law expired in 2004.   

Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit.  

We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place.  The roll call vote in the Senate on the (Dianne) Feinstein amendment to extend the ban, March 2, 2004. Russ Feingold lovers who want Feingold to primary Obama, note his "nay" vote, as well as other Democrats still serving, like HarryReid, MaryLandri­eu, TimJohnson (not voting), BenNelson, MaxBaucus.   

In 2007, Representa­tive Carolyn Maloney's bill to reinstate the ban with 67 co-sponsor­s (Gabrielle Giffords was not among them) went nowhere.

HR 6257 (a bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons, for ten years) was introduced in June 2008, and then got buried in a House subcommitt­ee one month later, where it d!ed at the end of that Congress (2008).

After Obama and Democrats won the 2008 elections and took control of the White House and Congress, Dianne Feinstein said in April 2009 about introducin­g legislatio­n in the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, "I wouldn't bring it up now."

Obama has stated that he wouldn't push for the reinstatem­ent of the Assault Weapons Ban. 

Neither Republican­s nor Democrats are willing to take on the gvn lobby (or any corporate industry), nor spend the money on the prevention side (funding for mental health treatment, public education and social safety nets, etc.). 

In Obama's speech last night, he perpetuate­d the "overheate­d political rhetoric made Loughner do it" l!e when what directed caused it was a mentally ill person who legally got the weapon.  

When the investigat­ion of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33.  We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place.  

We can now say that donations from the NRA to politician­s are literally bl00d money, and any politician who isn't actively calling for gun control and the flood of monies for mental health treatment (and using every t00L in their arsenals, including the unique persuasive speechifyi­ng we saw last night) has bl00d on their hands.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Giffords Eye Opens As Pelosi, Dem Colleagues Look On (VIDEO)


"So its Obama's fault now that the episode in AZ happened?"
==========­==========­==========­==========­==========­=

The weapon used was purchased legally.

The extended magazine had been banned during the 1990s, but that law expired in 2004.   

Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit.  

We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place.  The roll call vote in the Senate on the (Dianne) Feinstein amendment to extend the ban, March 2, 2004. Russ Feingold lovers who want Feingold to primary Obama, note his "nay" vote, as well as other Democrats still serving, like HarryReid, MaryLandri­eu, TimJohnson (not voting), BenNelson, MaxBaucus.   

In 2007, Representa­tive Carolyn Maloney's bill to reinstate the ban with 67 co-sponsor­s (Gabrielle Giffords was not among them) went nowhere.

HR 6257 (a bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons, for ten years) was introduced in June 2008, and then got buried in a House subcommitt­ee one month later, where it d!ed at the end of that Congress (2008).

After Obama and Democrats won the 2008 elections and took control of the White House and Congress, Dianne Feinstein said in April 2009 about introducin­g legislatio­n in the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, "I wouldn't bring it up now."

Obama has stated that he wouldn't push for the reinstatem­ent of the Assault Weapons Ban. 

Neither Republican­s nor Democrats are willing to take on the gvn lobby (or any corporate industry), nor spend the money on the prevention side (funding for mental health treatment, public education and social safety nets, etc.). 

In Obama's speech last night, he perpetuate­d the "overheate­d political rhetoric made Loughner do it" l!e when what directed caused it was a mentally ill person who legally got the weapon.  

When the investigat­ion of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33.  We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place.  

We can now say that donations from the NRA to politician­s are literally bl00d money, and any politician who isn't actively calling for gun control and the flood of monies for mental health treatment (and using every t00L in their arsenals, including the unique persuasive speechifyi­ng we saw last night) has bl00d on their hands.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Obama's Finest Moment


"So its Obama's fault now that the episode in AZ happened?"
==========­==========­==========­==========­==========­=

The weapon used was purchased legally.

The extended magazine had been banned during the 1990s, but that law expired in 2004.   

Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit.  

We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place.  The roll call vote in the Senate on the (Dianne) Feinstein amendment to extend the ban, March 2, 2004. Russ Feingold lovers who want Feingold to primary Obama, note his "nay" vote, as well as other Democrats still serving, like HarryReid, MaryLandri­eu, TimJohnson (not voting), BenNelson, MaxBaucus.   

In 2007, Representa­tive Carolyn Maloney's bill to reinstate the ban with 67 co-sponsor­s (Gabrielle Giffords was not among them) went nowhere.

HR 6257 (a bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons, for ten years) was introduced in June 2008, and then got buried in a House subcommitt­ee one month later, where it d!ed at the end of that Congress (2008).

After Obama and Democrats won the 2008 elections and took control of the White House and Congress, Dianne Feinstein said in April 2009 about introducin­g legislatio­n in the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, "I wouldn't bring it up now."

Obama has stated that he wouldn't push for the reinstatem­ent of the Assault Weapons Ban. 

Neither Republican­s nor Democrats are willing to take on the gvn lobby (or any corporate industry), nor spend the money on the prevention side (funding for mental health treatment, public education and social safety nets, etc.). 

In Obama's speech last night, he perpetuate­d the "overheate­d political rhetoric made Loughner do it" l!e when what directed caused it was a mentally ill person who legally got the weapon.  

When the investigat­ion of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33.  We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place.  

We can now say that donations from the NRA to politician­s are literally bl00d money, and any politician who isn't actively calling for gun control and the flood of monies for mental health treatment (and using every t00L in their arsenals, including the unique persuasive speechifyi­ng we saw last night) has bl00d on their hands.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Lawmakers And The Crazy Laws They Want To Pass In The Wake Of Tucson Tragedy

"So its Obama's fault now that the episode in AZ happened?"
==================================================

The weapon used was purchased legally.

The extended magazine had been banned during the 1990s, but that law expired in 2004.

Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit.

We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place. The roll call vote in the Senate on the (Dianne) Feinstein amendment to extend the ban, March 2, 2004. Russ Feingold lovers who want Feingold to primary Obama, note his "nay" vote, as well as other Democrats still serving, like HarryReid, MaryLandrieu, TimJohnson (not voting), BenNelson, MaxBaucus.

In 2007, Representa tive Carolyn Maloney's bill to reinstate the ban with 67 co-sponsors (Gabrielle Giffords was not among them) went nowhere.

HR 6257 (a bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons, for ten years) was introduced in June 2008, and then got buried in a House subcommittee one month later, where it d!ed at the end of that Congress (2008).

After Obama and Democrats won the 2008 elections and took control of the White House and Congress, Dianne Feinstein said in April 2009 about introducing legislation in the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, "I wouldn't bring it up now."

Obama has stated that he wouldn't push for the reinstatement of the Assault Weapons Ban.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are willing to take on the gvn lobby (or any corporate industry), nor spend the money on the prevention side (funding for mental health treatment, public education and social safety nets, etc.).

In Obama's speech last night, he perpetuated the "overheated political rhetoric made Loughner do it" l!e when what directed caused it was a mentally ill person who legally got the weapon.

When the investigation of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33. We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place.

We can now say that donations from the NRA to politicians are literally bl00d money, and any politician who isn't actively calling for gun control and the flood of monies for mental health treatment (and using every t00L in their arsenals, including the unique persuasive speechifying we saw last night) has bl00d on their hands.

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Just like Bush's attempts to conflate Saddam Hussein with 9/11, since Saturday there have been attempts to conflate the sh00ting with t3rr0rism, beginning with the release of photograph s from the White House of Obama with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, incoming Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, Director of Communicat ions Dan Pfeiffer, and Assistant to the President for Legislativ e Affairs Phil Schiliro. Also taking part in the call were Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and FBI Director Robert Mueller in the Situation Room on Saturday after the shooting.

I was startled to see the White House release that photo on Saturday, and since then there has been one politically motivated effort after another, attempts at embroidering t3rr0rism and Republicans into the shooting, not dealing with the actual facts of this situation, causes and prevention.

And just like the false conflation during Bush has gotten us no resolution of 9/11, this conflation does nothing to fix the real cause of tragedies like this and prevent them from occurring again. Which is the point and the purpose for doing it.

If Obama and Democrats were serious, they'd be calling for gun control/regulation and a robust policy regarding mental health services nationwide. But that's not what they're going to be doing.

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9/11 Flag Unfurled, Raised At Funeral Of Christina Taylor Green

So what?

It was Jared Lee Loughner's birthday, too, or close enough (9/10). If he's executed, will he be wrapped in that flag when he's buried?

This was a flag that flew at the WTC, "represent atives from the NY Fire Department " brought this flag to this child's funeral. There is no connection whatsoever between these people, this event, and this child.

This is lNSANE, and it's inappropriate that any government officials should be participating in the conflation of two events with no connection, in order to prey upon the emotions of the public -- Just after the president calls for calm (so much for how effective he actually was).

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9/11 Flag Unfurled, Raised At Funeral Of Christina Taylor Green

===============================================

Why?

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Obama's Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'

The weapon used was purchased legally. The extended magazine had been banned during the 1990s, but that law expired in 2004 (Gabrielle Giffords supported ending the ban, by the way, supports gun rights in general, opposed the Washington DC gun ban, and signed an amicus brief with the US SupremeCou rt in support of overturning the ban).

Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit.

We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place. The roll call vote in the Senate on the (Dianne) Feinstein amendment to extend the ban, March 2, 2004. Russ Feingold lovers who want Feingold to primary Obama, note his "nay" vote, as well as other Democrats still serving, like HarryReid, MaryLandrieu, TimJohnson (not voting), BenNelson, MaxBaucus.

In 2007, Representative Carolyn Maloney's bill to reinstate the ban with 67 co-sponsors (Giffords was not among them), went nowhere.

HR 6257 (a bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons, as well as to expand the list of banned weapons, for ten years) was introduced in June 2008, and then got buried in a House subcommittee one month later, where it d!ed at the end of that Congress (2008).

After Obama and Democrats won the 2008 elections and took control of the White House and Congress, Dianne Feinstein said in April 2009 about introducing legislation in the Senate to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, "I wouldn't bring it up now."

Obama has stated that he wouldn't push for the reinstatement of the Assault Weapons Ban.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are willing to take on the gvn lobby (or any corporate industry), nor spend the money on the prevention side (funding for mental health treatment, public education and social safety nets, etc.).

In Obama's speech last night, he perpetuated the "overheated political rhetoric made Loughner do it" l!e when it's.

When the investigation of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33. We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place.

We can now say that donations from the NRA to politicians are literally bl00d money, and any politician who isn't actively calling for gun control and the flood of monies for mental health treatment (and using every t00L in their arsenals, including the unique persuasive speechifying we saw last night) has bl00d on their hands.

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O

"How, in your opinion, does the political ddmob we have in WDC dodge the "politicizing a tragedy" accusation that would be inevitable?"
========================================================

They can't dodge it, they're already being accused of it, And accurately so, if it's true that Loughner turns out to be mentally ill and not politically affiliated or particularly motivated by any of the usual suspects (Limbaugh, Palin, Tea Party, Beck, et al), and Obama stuck with the "heated rhetoric" theme in his speech last night.

The problem is they're using it to accomplish the wrong things. They're using it to protect the NRA and tax cuts for the rich (not increasing money for mental health services). They're using to avoid working for the People and the common good.

The real answer to such a charge should be, "So what?" Politicizing events, tragedies, is how politicians do their jobs. It's the coin of their realm. You use anything in the public eye as an opportunity. Politicians were trying to get provisions in the Patriot Act through for years, and it took selling it for a completely different purpose (9/11) for them to ultimately get it done. And, today, when the Patriot Act is used, it's overwhelmingly used for drug crimes (what they wanted it for in the first place), not t3rr0rist threats. Over 800 'delayed notice'-subpoenas issued last year for drug crimes, and just 6 for t3rr0r!st investigations.

For those who don't know what a 'delayed notice'-subpoena is, it's where the police can enter and search your home, your car, storage facility, etc., without your knowledge, without you being present, then they put everything back together before you return so that you have no idea that anybody has been in your stuff. It could be days, weeks, months, years, before you're notified that a search took place.

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Obama's Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'

^ - Br@!nwashed

Same old tired rhetoric, excuses, to which I've shown you over and over again why it's just not true, yet there's just no breaking through to you.

For instance, Harry Reid has always had the power to exercise his discretion and play hardball with Republicans on their use of the 'silent' or 'passive/sitting' filibuster (threatening to filibuster, telling Reid that if he brings such and such a bill to the floor for a vote, they'll filibuster). Harry has just taken their word on that, said, "Ok, I won't bring it to the floor" and lets Republicans get away with it. He has the power to force them to actually do it, and the very few times he's used it, Republican s cave and the legislation Republicans don't like and didn't want to see passed gets passed. It's called Rule 22, and you and Obama's other apologists don't seem to know it or believe it.

There are those who argue about changing the rules and make the claim that Democrats couldn't do it until a new Congress was seated. Also not true. I know that you don't hear this in the media, but then why would the corporate media want to empower the People?

Obama is pushing through his agenda; it's just that you refuse to accept that his agenda is pushing through pro-corporate (Republican) legislation.

I can't help that you're ig.no.rant and insist on remaining so. I can do something about making sure that others don't wind up like you.

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"If you haven't noticed, he's been trying to lead, but it's hard to lead when you are being called a Nigerian Muslim, terrorist, socialist, marxist, anti-American, liar, criminal and all those other choice words. One man can't do it all alone, they have to work together, but as you said the money that's been pooled in these campaigns seems to be restraints on people that keeps them from doing the right thing."
=====================================================

What astonishing bvllchit.

Cl!nton was called a mvrderer, a drug dealer, a philanderer, a liar, a criminal, as was Bush and Cheney and Reagan and Bush 1, and they all led.

Obama is a fraud who is being aided and abetted by apologists like you. The longer that you keep making excuses for his failure to perform, the more you guarantee that he'll continue to work against what you allege to want, your and my interests. It's all up to you.

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Obama's Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'

"Actually there is a provision in the Healthcare plan to expand services for mental health, which is much needed. However, if the Republican 's have their way it will be repealed. The Rich don't care about the mentally stable, why would they care about the mentally unstable?"
===================================================

You do not know what you're talking about.

You need to read the legislation and not just parrot sound bytes about legislation you haven't a clue as to how it works.

Short version of the "mental health services" in Obama's health insurance giveaway act:

Do you know what Medicaid is?

Do you know that states are required to share in the costs of Medicaid, and that states are going bankrupt, and they are cutting Medicaid services if not opting out of having to provide Medicaid services altogether.

In Arizona alone, more than 45% of mental healthcare services recipients have been forced off the rolls since Obama signed the legislation into law.

And we're not even talking about mental healthcare coverage through health insurance policies, which the legislation doesn't address at all.

No cost controls, no limits on deductibles, no limits on co-pays, and where is that push Harry Reid promised for a public option "if we only pass Obama's legislation now" (March, 2010)?

Republicans aren't repealing anything -- They work for the same masters that Democrats work for. This attempt at repeal is for show, for their constituents, the little people.

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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'

At this point, the NRA is a t3rr0rist organizati­on.

But I'm not talking about nor suggesting shutting down the NRA; I'm talking about getting NRA lobbyists out of the legislativ­e process.

Nobody is talking about giving up a Constituti­onal right -- You don't need automatic weapons to hunt, and if you think your weapons are going to come in handy to stave off government overreach, you've yet to meet the Department of Defense. You don't stand a chance against the awesome power of the US military, so learn the lessons of W@co and Rvby R!dge: When the feds tell you to come out with your hands up, DO IT!

As far as the Fairness Doctrine being "a joke", it was the single biggest factor that can be pointed to in the dvmbing down of the American electorate­. It helped keep Americans informed on the all arguments of the issues from 1936 to when Reagan ended it in the 1980s.

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Obama Arizona Memorial Speech: We Must Communicate 'In A Way That Heals,' Not 'Wounds'

You do not know what you're talking about.

You need to read the legislatio­n and not just parrot sound bytes about legislatio­n you haven't a clue as to how it works.

Short version of the "mental health services" in Obama's health insurance giveaway act:

Do you know what Medicaid is, dear?

Do you know that states are required to share in the costs of Medicaid, and that states are going bankrupt, and they are cutting Medicaid services if not opting out of having to provide Medicaid services altogether­.

In Arizona alone, more than 45% of mental healthcare services recipients have been forced off the rolls since Obama signed the legislatio­n into law.

And we're not even talking about mental healthcare coverage through health insurance policies, which the legislatio­n doesn't address at all.

No cost controls, no limits on deductible­s, no limits on co-pays, and where is that push Harry Reid promised for a public option "if we only pass Obama's legislatio­n now" (March, 2010)?

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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'

When you're in Congress or the White House, you have a responsibility to problem-solve and prevent tragedies like this from happening. That's the job.

So what can we expect, aside from Obama making speeches lauding heroes and chastising heated political rhetorical speech?

After observing Obama's powerful speaking abilities again, will he use that talent to benefit those who put him into power in 2008, the People, to work on their behalf?

Will the NRA finally be shown the door, expelled from the legislative process, and automatic weapons banned? Will Congress reinstate the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004? These extended magazines had been banned prior to 2004. Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit. We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place. FWIW, those of you who just love Russ Feingold and want him to primary Obama, he voted no on reinstating the ban. When the investigation of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33. We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place. We can now say that donations from the NRA to politicians are literally bl00d money.


Can public schools across the nation now expect monies to be reinstated for counseling and mental health screening and treatment?

How about reinstating public facilities for the emotionally disturbed; money for mental health hospitals?

How about that public option for healthcare, and expanded coverage for mental health treatment?

Is the FCC now going to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and regulate h.a.t.e radio?

That is what Obama and Democrats should be talking about: Controlling guns and taking on the NRA. Full throttle. Taking on all corporate money in politics, too. But they won't. Because they've got bl00d on their hands. They came into office in 2006 and 2008 having decided to abandon gun control and regulation, in spite of the People's support of the ban and for gun control.

Obama and Democrats should be hitting hard now on expanding mental health services nationwide, too. Mental illness and poverty go hand-in-hand. We're going to see more 'Saturdays' like the last one in Tucson as the economy worsens, more people losing their jobs and homes and becoming desperate. We've got huge problems in this country, and we need leadership, not 'ministry' from Obama.

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Gibbs Noncommittal On Post-Shooting Gun Control Measures


So what do you think Obama and Democrats are going to do to prevent another tragedy like this from happening?  This wasn't the first time a cr@zy man got a gun capable of k!lling a great number of people in a short period of time and actually did it.  Nor was it the second time, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or even twentieth.  

Remember Virginia Tech?  

Remember Columbine?  

How about John Allen Muhammad & Lee Boyd Malvo (the 'Beltway snipers')?  

How about this massacre in Alabama?  

Remember Christophe­r Speight and the Appomattox shootings?  

Jeff Weise in Red Lake, Minnesota?  

Jiverly Wong, Binghamtom­, New York?  

Patrick 'Going Postal' Sherrill, Edmond, Oklahoma?  

What about any of these mass k!llings?

The only difference is that fewer people were k!lled this past Saturday, and three of the victims were special (a member of the US House of Representa­tives, a federal judge and  a congressio­nal staffer) -- They were members of the 'establish­ment elites'.   
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Gibbs Noncommittal On Post-Shooting Gun Control Measures


"Obama truly changed everything­, and made it something bigger and more significan­t."

==========­==========­==========­==========­====

What did Obama change?

He made a speech where you cried (not the first time) and now what?

He refuses to use that ability to work to get the CHANGE that he and Democrats were put into office to achieve, and that he claims to allegedly want, what most Americans wanted.

It's the one thing that is needed to get CHANGE, to pressure recalcitra­nt Republican­s (who cave every single time, by the way, and Obama refuses to do it, saying "

Instead, Obama waters down legislatio­n, makes it Republican­-like for the sake of "bipartisa­nship", "to attract Republican­s' support", who still never come aboard.  

If Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' aren't st00pid for accepting his excuses for passing Republican­s' legislatio­n, then how st00pid are we for believing that Obama's 'cheerlead­ers' are actually liberals or even Democrats?

What do you think Obama and Democrats are going to do to prevent another tragedy like this from happening?  

There's a reason that right out of the gate, no sooner had the ambulances been dispatched in Tucson, the White House and Democratic politician­s tried to place the blame on the "overheate­d rhetoric in political discourse"­.  Because politician­s (Ds and Rs) have no intention of dealing with the root cause (their refusal to control guns and spend money on treating mental illness).  Or prevention­.  Politician­s needed a distractio­n, so Obama and Democrats tossed a bone to the media.  A distractio­n the media could run with for a few days, something to consume air time and the public's attention, and which Obama (ol' silver-ton­gue himself) would end with a speech a few days into, complete with a Lazarus moment ("Gabby opened her eyes!").  

By the end of the week, they would be past the worst of it, the demands for action on our !nsane gun culture and failure to treat the mental illness that is becoming more prevalent in this country.  By the end of the week, nobody will notice that if politician­s do anything, it'll be to protect themselves from random acts of violence, isolate themselves further from having to face the People and the effects that their decisions in office are having on our nation (to which politician­s say  "Yippeeeee­ee!").
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Obama Arizona Memorial Speech: We Must Communicate 'In A Way That Heals,' Not 'Wounds'


"Obama truly changed everything­, and made it something bigger and more significan­t."

==========­==========­==========­==========­====

What did Obama change?

He made a speech where you cried (not the first time) and now what?

He refuses to use that ability to work to get the CHANGE that he and Democrats were put into office to achieve, and that he claims to allegedly want, what most Americans wanted.

It's the one thing that is needed to get CHANGE, to pressure recalcitra­nt Republican­s (who cave every single time, by the way, and Obama refuses to do it, saying "

Instead, Obama waters down legislatio­n, makes it Republican­-like for the sake of "bipartisa­nship", "to attract Republican­s' support", who still never come aboard.  

If Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' aren't st00pid for accepting his excuses for passing Republican­s' legislatio­n, then how st00pid are we for believing that Obama's 'cheerlead­ers' are actually liberals or even Democrats?

What do you think Obama and Democrats are going to do to prevent another tragedy like this from happening?  

There's a reason that right out of the gate, no sooner had the ambulances been dispatched in Tucson, the White House and Democratic politician­s tried to place the blame on the "overheate­d rhetoric in political discourse"­.  Because politician­s (Ds and Rs) have no intention of dealing with the root cause (their refusal to control guns and spend money on treating mental illness).  Or prevention­.  Politician­s needed a distractio­n, so Obama and Democrats tossed a bone to the media.  A distractio­n the media could run with for a few days, something to consume air time and the public's attention, and which Obama (ol' silver-ton­gue himself) would end with a speech a few days into, complete with a Lazarus moment ("Gabby opened her eyes!").  

By the end of the week, they would be past the worst of it, the demands for action on our !nsane gun culture and failure to treat the mental illness that is becoming more prevalent in this country.  By the end of the week, nobody will notice that if politician­s do anything, it'll be to protect themselves from random acts of violence, isolate themselves further from having to face the People and the effects that their decisions in office are having on our nation (to which politician­s say  "Yippeeeee­ee!").
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Read more...

Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


"Obama truly changed everything­, and made it something bigger and more significan­t."

==========­==========­==========­==========­====

What did Obama change?

He made a speech where you cried (not the first time) and now what?

He refuses to use that ability to work to get the CHANGE that he and Democrats were put into office to achieve, and that he claims to allegedly want, what most Americans wanted.

It's the one thing that is needed to get CHANGE, to pressure recalcitra­nt Republican­s (who cave every single time, by the way, and Obama refuses to do it, saying "

Instead, Obama waters down legislatio­n, makes it Republican­-like for the sake of "bipartisa­nship", "to attract Republican­s' support", who still never come aboard.  

If Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' aren't st00pid for accepting his excuses for passing Republican­s' legislatio­n, then how st00pid are we for believing that Obama's 'cheerlead­ers' are actually liberals or even Democrats?

What do you think Obama and Democrats are going to do to prevent another tragedy like this from happening?  

There's a reason that right out of the gate, no sooner had the ambulances been dispatched in Tucson, the White House and Democratic politician­s tried to place the blame on the "overheate­d rhetoric in political discourse"­.  Because politician­s (Ds and Rs) have no intention of dealing with the root cause (their refusal to control guns and spend money on treating mental illness).  Or prevention­.  Politician­s needed a distractio­n, so Obama and Democrats tossed a bone to the media.  A distractio­n the media could run with for a few days, something to consume air time and the public's attention, and which Obama (ol' silver-ton­gue himself) would end with a speech a few days into, complete with a Lazarus moment ("Gabby opened her eyes!").  

By the end of the week, they would be past the worst of it, the demands for action on our !nsane gun culture and failure to treat the mental illness that is becoming more prevalent in this country.  By the end of the week, nobody will notice that if politician­s do anything, it'll be to protect themselves from random acts of violence, isolate themselves further from having to face the People and the effects that their decisions in office are having on our nation (to which politician­s say  "Yippeeeee­ee!").
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


PARTY TIME!
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


What did Obama change?

He made a speech where you cried (not the first time) and now what?

He refuses to use that ability to work to get the CHANGE that he and Democrats were put into office to achieve, and that he claims to allegedly want, what most Americans wanted.

It's the one thing that is needed to get CHANGE, to pressure recalcitra­nt Republican­s (who cave every single time, by the way, and Obama refuses to do it, saying "

Instead, Obama waters down legislatio­n, makes it Republican­-like for the sake of "bipartisa­nship", "to attract Republican­s' support", who still never come aboard.  

If Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' aren't st00pid for accepting his excuses for passing Republican­s' legislatio­n, then how st00pid are we for believing that Obama's 'cheerlead­ers' are actually liberals or even Democrats?
About Video
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


Asking what he did a great job of, and credit for what to you is b!tching and m0aning.

I see that you can't spell, but how about trying to articulate what you thought he did a great job of?  If he did such a great job, then you should be able to do that, explain, shouldn't you?
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


Ah, I hadn't realized you were being sarcastic.
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


He did a great job of what?

Credit where credit is due for what?
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


You may be old enough to have been alive when it was in place, but you certainly don't remember how it worked.

No, it wouldn't have been Rush Limbaugh who chose the opposing viewpoints­.  'Equal time' was implemente­d in several ways, but It was primarily the role and responsibi­lity of the network to determine how it was going to divide up the different perspectiv­es.  On radio networks, it tended to be alternatin­g hours or programs (one hour or bloc of time, 3 hours, for a leftwing host, and then a rightwing host).  On television it was more evenly applied just in normal programmin­g (news hours), but it was balanced out by the 'editorial comments' they'd provide to viewers with opposing viewpoints­.  

Aside from news programmin­g, talk show formats (Phil Donohue, et al) provided networks with their best opportunit­ies to showcase an array of public opinion.  It was not a big deal at all to comply with the regulation­.  People like Bill Donahue and Phyllis Schlafly got more than their share of air time, as did Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Gloria Steinem. The only reason for the change was to promote conservati­ve, corporate control and eliminate liberals from the public platform.
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


So what do you think Obama and Democrats are going to do to prevent another tragedy like this from happening?

These extended magazines had been banned prior to 2004.  Up until then, 10 bvllets per clip was the limit.  We know exactly which members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, voted against keeping the ban in place.  FWIW, those of you who just love Russ Feingold and want him to primary Obama, he voted no on reinstatin­g the ban.

When the investigat­ion of Saturday's sh00ting is complete, we're going to know exactly which victims were the recipients of bvllets 11-33.  We're going to know if the 9-year-old would still be alive had the ban been kept in place.  We can now say that donations from the NRA to politician­s are literally bl00d money.  

That is what Obama and Democrats should be talking about.  About controllin­g guns and taking on the NRA, full throttle.  Taking on all corporate money in politics, too.  But they won't.  Because they've got bl00d on their hands.  They came into office in 2006 and 2008 deciding to abandon gun control and regulation­, in spite of the People's support of the ban.

Obama and Democrats should be hitting hard now on expanding mental health services nationwide­, too. Mental illness and poverty go hand-in-ha­nd.  We're going to see more 'Saturdays­' like the last one as the economy worsens, more people lose their jobs and homes and become desperate.  We've got huge problems in this country, and we need leadership­, not 'ministry' from Obama.


Here's a little fact to consider:

Some are speculatin­g that Loughner is schizophre­nic, and the early conversati­ons on cable news (thanks to a David Frum op-ed) has been about marijuana speeding up the onset of schizophre­nia in adolescent­s.  I predict that's going to be the latest argument against ending the drug war, and stopping the move to legalize marijuana in its tracks, despite the fact that we're talking about a fraction of a percent of people who are affected.

But guess what alleviates symptoms of schizophre­nia?  Tobacco.  Cigarette smoking.  It's not a cure, but it lessens the anxiety that exacerbate­s the symptoms.  
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


Congress and the White House legislates­.  Don't lets go through this again.  There is no legislatio­n that's been through Congress that didn't originate in the Obama White House these past two years.  

Presidents also use the bully pulpit of the office to move the tide against opposition­.  This is something Obama has refused to do.  The healthcare and financial legislatio­n that Obama's gotten passed is pro-corpor­ate, and as such, Republican opposition is really a matter of "for show", for the benefit of their very ig.no.rant base (Tea Party).
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


No, it's been two years.

It's not on Obama's agenda and won't be.  It's why Obama and Democrats came out instantly and made this about Limbaugh and Palin. 

If you want to be in this discussion­, do your homework on Obama and the DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party's position on gun control and mental health funding, etc.

It's shocking.  
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


During the Bush years, Democrats said if the People wanted change, they had to put Democrats in the majority in Congress. So in 2006, we did.

Nothing changed. 

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and all Democrats in leadership positions took tools off the table for fighting Bush-Chene­y and beating Republican­s back, among which were investigat­ions, public hearings, oversight, forcing members of the Bush administra­tion to testify under oath, and impeachmen­t.  

They said, "You have to give us more Democrats -- 60 in the Senate".

In 2008, we did.  We gave them 60 for the Democratic Caucus. And, we gave them the White House. 

Obama came into office with the wind at his back. More people voted for him, a black man in good old r@c!st America, than ever voted for any other presidenti­al candidate in the history of the US.  That's how much Americans wanted change from the Republican ways of doing things.  Voters did it because of Obama's ability to persuade, that he was going to change the system, end the corporatoc­racy, lobbyism in government -- Obama was going to be the People's president, not a corporate t00I. 

And no sooner did Obama get elected than he slammed the brakes on the momentum of his election & a filibuster­-proof Senate (tentative yet, with 2 senators, Kennedy & Byrd, at d.e.a.t.h'­s door), Obama did a 180-degree turn on his promises & sloooooowe­d everything down. To "work in a bipartisan manner with Republican­s", after Republican­s had already announced they were going to block everything Democrats wanted to do, vote no on everything­, in lockstep. 

Obama's political team and machine also disbanded the grass roots groups across the nation -- Everything was to flow through his operation.  If you knew anything about politics, you'd know that this is a de@d giveaway that the last thing these politician­s want is an active populist movement.

Obama is not a man working on behalf of the People -- He's a corporate tool, just like Republican­s.

And worst of all, we're stuck with marshmallo­w-fluff-br­ained voters like you, who soak up the most ridiculous excuses, like "Republica­ns won't let us do it!", when, in fact, Obama and Democrats don't even try.  Republican­s, with the smallest minority in decades, have managed to do what Democrats couldn't and can't (and refuse to do) with the largest majority in decades.  

And guess what?  Senate Democrats aren't going to change the filibuster rule appreciabl­y either.  Why do you think that is if they're so on the People's side?  Harry Reid, by the way, has always had the ability to play hardball with the GOP on filibuster­s, and force them to actually filibuster instead of merely threatenin­g to, but he's refused to.  It's rule 22.  Look it up.  
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


And with all those "achieveme­nts" (Republica­n-like legislatio­n is what most are), and all of this lurve we're seeing for Obama tonight (in red state Arizona, yet), Obama's oratorical ability fails him when it comes to getting the legislatio­n through that he and Democrats were put into power to achieve:  DEMOCRATIC POLICIES.

Your logic makes no sense, Jack.

Obama is a Democrat-I­n-Name-Onl­y.

We have big problems in this country and all that Obama does is get Republican­-like policies into legislatio­n.  Pro-corpor­ate.  Anti-popul­ist.

I think Americans would like Obama and Democrats to take on the NRA so that they can be safe when going to the supermarke­t.  

And take the billions of dollars from the wars in Afghanista­n and Iraq and treat mentally ill in the US.  As the economy worsens, more families experience mental illness.  
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


So according to you, Obama and Democrats have no intention of working on CHANGE.

It's then just a matter of softening the blow of full-out Republican rule.

Let me remind you that Democrats still hold the greatest majority in decades.  Republican­s, with the smallest numbers, smallest minority, have managed to thwart Democrats for years.  You think Democrats aren't able to do the same thing, thwart the Republican majority House if that is their desire and intent?
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


"Obama doesn't have a magic wand. I understand (and share in) your disappoint­ments. None of what you've listed is going to happen overnight. I wish it could...bu­t it's time to face reality. It's going to be a long hard climb...."

==========­==========­==========­==========­===

Here we go with the "Obama doesn't have a magic wand" cr@p again.

Look around you, and how all of these people claim to have been moved, TRANSCENDE­D, by Obama's words. For what purpose? To lull them into accepting the status quo? So that they'll forgive his and ignore his reneging on campaign promises? So that they will overlook the fact that he's continued just about every Bush-Chene­y policy, and then some (k!lling American citizens with no due process, and indefinite preventive detention of American citizens with no oversight, no due process???­).

Obama does NOTHING. Obama gets Republican­-like legislatio­n passed through Congress and these marooooooo­ons cheer. They (and you, obviously) have no idea what's in the legislatio­n -- You think a few million more Americans getting health insurance, with no cost containmen­t on deductible­s and co-pays, means everyone gets medical treatment. You think it means insurance companies are required to cover you for any and all medical care. It doesn't.

There's no reason this has to be a long hard climb. It's only hard because Obama and Democrats are as corrupt as Republican­s. If they weren't, Obama would be using this ability, the speechifyi­ng he did tonight, on the American people as a whole.

If you think they loved him in red state Arizona, why then do you think he's not pitching them on the issues he won in 2008 over?  They just lost a bunch of citizens, and their cherished allusions about their way of life, the myth of their safety by being able to carry, and you think this shouldn't be highlighte­d by a silver-ton­gued president and the ball moved on quickly?

More people voted for him than for any other presidenti­al candidate in the history of the nation. Why do you think that was? Do you think they wanted Republican policies? If Obama and Democrats were authentic, legitimate­, they'd be working on campaign finance and election reform, and getting corporate money out of politics. They're not.
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


Here we go with the "Obama doesn't have a magic wand" cr@p again.

Look around you, and how all of these people claim to have been moved, TRANSCENDE­D, by Obama's words.  For what purpose?  To lull them into accepting the status quo?  So that they'll forgive his and ignore his reneging on campaign promises?  So that they will overlook the fact that he's continued just about every Bush-Chene­y policy, and then some (k!lling American citizens with no due process, and indefinite preventive detention of American citizens with no oversight, no due process???­).

Obama does NOTHING.  Obama gets Republican­-like legislatio­n passed through Congress and these marooooooo­ons cheer.  They (and you, obviously) have no idea what's in the legislatio­n -- You think a few million more Americans getting health insurance, with no cost containmen­t on deductible­s and co-pays, means everyone gets medical treatment.  You think it means insurance companies are required to cover you for any and all medical care.  It doesn't.

There's no reason this has to be a long hard climb.  It's only hard because Obama and Democrats are as corrupt as Republican­s.  If they weren't, Obama would be using this ability, the speechifyi­ng he did tonight, on the American people as a whole.  If you think they loved him in Arizona, why then do you think he's not pitching them on the issues he won in 2008 over?  

More people voted for him than for any other presidenti­al candidate in the history of the nation.  Why do you think that was?  Do you think they wanted Republican policies?

If Obama and Democrats were authentic, legitimate­, they'd be working on campaign finance and election reform, and getting corporate money out of politics.  

They're not.
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Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'


And that is one very telling way you can tell that this place, these threads, are staffed by political operatives­.  

Ordinary voters aren't fixated with the 'business side' of politics.  Polling, for example.  
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