Jacksonian's Comments (315)

“ROTF”

“Point noted.

:o)”

“Had anything actually changed, I would be inclined to agree with you.

But this looks like business as usual.

You say we should stop, "whinning." Do you mean we should stop "whining?"

It's an interesting typo.

Because if we do stop whining (criticizing), I think we stop winning.

And it seems we've already started down that road.”

“LOL. Indeed.”

“Agreed.”

“Landrieu's experience of trying to be all things to all people should be a cautionary tale for President Obama in his 2012 reelection bid.

She's angered the liberals and to some degree the moderate Democrats; and she appears to be in trouble with conservatives.

Obama wll never get the Republicans, will have trouble with the independents, and seems determined to throw his base under the bus.

As a progressive, I'd have no problem if they both go.”

“Bring him home.”

“We really should be asking where the insurance-lobby payroll begins and ends.”

“Someone needs to investigate the CBO's "impartial" Doug Elmendorf, who apparently gets to decide all on his own what constitutes nationalization of the health insurance industry.”

“Um, first of all, where, exactly, has the Obama administration taken health care? From here it looks as if the bill is stalled in the senate.

Um, second, if the final bill that emerges includes a mandate but no public option, how does that advance the cause of health care reform? That advances the cause of insurance companies.

Um, third, health care underwent a major transformation in the 1960s in the form of Medicare. Um, I don't think that was 100 years ago.

Finally, UM, I repeat my question: Why should we believe them? Obama campaigned on the promise of major health care reform which would bring coverage to millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured.

He stood next to John McCain in 2008 at a nationally televised debate and declared medical care a right, not a privilege.

Yet he's been all but invisible during the health care debate. He would rather please Joe Lieberman and Olympia Snow than the base which supported and elected him. His only interest seems to lie in passing meaningless, watered-down legislation so he can claim some kind of hollow victory and move on.

When I asked why we should believe him, Colin, I was being ironic.

We shouldn't believe him on this topic. His credibility is spent.”

“Why should we believe them?”

“Maddow and Olbermann engage in opinion-based journalism, no doubt.

But unlike their counterparts at Fox News and elsewhere, Keith & Rachel's reports are REALITY BASED, factual, cogent, germaine, and vastly superior to the right-wing hackery that constitutes today's conservative punditry.

HuffPost members, as you call those of us here who comment regularly, aren't saying that "all networks should give only a liberal perspective." But, yes, we do think "legitimate, objective news" is a worthy goal.

Maybe if you got your news from such a source, you would see the folly of Fox and others and start applying those same standards to them.

Or, you can continue to believe their riffs and continue to fill progressive comment threads with your, "I know you are but what am I?" reasoning.

You decide.”

“Happy Holidays.

Take it easy on the eggnog.

And ask Santa to bring you spellcheck.

:o)”

“That was almost comprehensible.”

“During the campaign, Obama said a vote for McCain was a vote for a third Bush term.

Instead we got Obama.

And a third Bush term.”

“When did the braintrust that comprises the president's inner circle decide that it was wise to throw Obama's base under the bus?

When did the obstructionists who comprise the G.O.P. ever indicate they were interested in bipartisanship?

When did an electoral mandate for change come to mean a continuation of the status quo?

President Obama had a unique opportunity to emerge as a transformational leader. Instead he has proven to be hopelessly mediocre, generally absent of leadership skills, and lacking the courage of his convictions.

During the run up to the 2008 election, comedian Bill Maher correctly pointed out that Republicans hate government yet seek to govern -- and then govern badly. Democrats love government, seek to govern -- and then fail to govern at all.”

“I can see I'm going to have to keep the stroke-o-meter attached to my head at least through the New Year.

Sigh.”

“Nobody said it better than Harry Truman.

The buck stops with Obama.”

“This is all moot.

The Democrats will not get 60 votes to pass even meaningless reform.

Notwithstanding the "moderate" senators from Maine, the G.O.P. will remain united in its opposition. If the White House had Collins or Snowe on board, this would be a done deal.

That leaves Lieberman.

And if you believe that at any time, under any circumstance, he intended to vote for any measure that affected the status quo of his patron saints in Hartford, I have a toy store to sell you in the North Pole.”

“I vote for Paula Deen, Jason, for next week and indefinitely into the future.”

“TMI”

“Too bad he doesn't want to extend the milk of human kindness to the un and underinsured.”

“What's more important is WHICH promises he's broken, not how many.”

“I've been voting Democratic for 35 years, but it's obvious the only difference between the two parties is who gets the bigger share of the lobbyists' dollars.

The president and Congress are a joke: They can't even pass weak health-care legislation much less the strong reforms they promised. They can no more rein in insurance companies than they can banks or investment firms.

Hell, they can't even close the casino which broke the bank.

Overrun by corporate influence in politics, "Democratic" America more resembles an oligarchy. One percent of the population owns more than the next 90 percent combined. Incredibly, the gulf is widening.

As a country we care more about killing Afghanis than about saving dying Americans; we care more about CEO bonuses than about worker rights and living wages; we care more about mortgage companies than mortgage holders.

Wall Street got the gold mine, and Main Street got the shaft.

As unemployment soars and foreclosures rage, we hear now that more than four in 10 American children rely on government assistance for their meals.

Let them eat cake with those food stamps, eh?

Many of us had high hopes for the "change candidate" and the new Democratic era he ushered in. We gave him our time, our money, our votes. We gave him a legislative majority to accomplish his agenda.

Why did we bother?

What's surprising isn't so much that 40 percent of Democrats are unenthusiastic about the midterms. What's surprising is that the number isn't higher.”

“So he's not going to "up" his involvement in the health care debate?

Well that makes sense: Why start now?”