Tane's Comments (169)

“Thanks for the sentiment, I completely agree. You would think that the folks at Huff would rather go back to the horror of the Bush administration than accept progress in smaller steps than they hoped. I can only imagine where we would be right now had McCain / Palin won the election. Progress in Washington takes time folks. After years of struggling to get even a minutia of progress I for one am incredibly pleased to see the steps we are taking.”

“Well put! I completely agree. I find it disgusting how quickly so-called progressives turned on this President. They give very little credit for the enormous down payments that this President has already put towards health care, education, energy, environmental protection, equal pay, the return of science, and the re-balance of power. How quickly we forget that the Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested more money in all of these areas than has been provided in decades. Progressive movements have been a part of the fabric of America since the late 1800's and has traditionally been a center-left movement and it generally acknowledges that progress generally comes in steps. The movement recognized that radical change was rarely successful in garnering public support and thus usually failed to be enacted in a manner that would stick. I knew during the campaign from studying Obama's writing and voting record that he was a progressive who operated in an incremental manner because he believed that if he could bring everyone to the table and build consensus through compromise he would have a better chance at moving people to the left over time. If you get people to accept small changes then you can continue to build on them over time, gaining more acceptance along the way. This is how you move the "ship of state" as he describes.”

“It is not the Executive Branch's job to legislate, in fact it is not even constitutional. The attacks on President Obama for not doing the Congress' job for them is misguided. We finally have a President who believes in the balance of power and who has attempted to give Congress back the power that it was denied under Bush. Our Representatives have stumbled through this newfound power, but I for one welcome the return.”

“Wow. Touche`!”

“With all of the volatile situations the State Department is facing in the world, I am impressed with the team they have put together and am relieved that egos do not seem to be getting in the way of their work. I enjoyed watching Amanpour's interview with Clinton and Gates. Gates' praise for the manner in which the Departments work together so well in this administration as opposed to the other 7 administrations he worked with is indicative of President Obama's managerial skills. As with the campaign team, the "no drama Obama" approach seems to permeate throughout all of those working with the administration. It is really refreshing to see these folks working so hard rather than letting their ego's hinder their team approach.”

“Monster?”

“Her boyfriend clearly doesn't have a problem with it; and the way she described it, it isn't as if she is being an exhibitionist about it. I'd suspect she uses sheets and blankets, so if the kid pops into the bedroom in the morning it isn't like he's getting pornographic exposure. At any rate, children should not be taught to be ashamed of their bodies, so running for cover shouldn't be our first response.”

“WTF? During the election we acknowledged that his win would transform the world's opinion of the US. How is that a bad thing? How can double digit improvements in the world's opinion of America a bad thing? This is a win for America period. This is as much about our electorate as it is about our President. Dissing the President's win denigrates the millions of American's who voted for him, as the vote for many of us was a vote for global cooperation in the midst of global crises. We chose to look at the challenges of the world with hope rather than fear and anger. For you to insult the rest of the world for the recognition that President Obama provides a powerful vehicle for peace and positive action is a sad statement on your morality, judgment and politics. Do you not realize that with the world's populations rooting for our President's agenda we have the ability to mobilize international governments in a positive direction? This is a very good thing, not something to be denigrated.

Funny that conservatives choose to take the side of Islamic terror entities such as Hamas and the Taliban rather than take the side of our own President in this matter.”

“These commentators, political strategists, partisan politicians and pundits who complain that Obama is over-exposed are the same people who bloviate daily on TV as if we'd rather hear their loaded opinions more than from the President of the United States. As if we respect George Will's opinion more than the President's! They are the ones who are overexposed!”

“Have you heard the conservative talk radio response to this? Savage is saying that Pelosi is priming for martial law and that the left is going to stage a violent politcal attack and frame a right-winger for it. Darla J. in KC, MO says that Pelosi is falling apart because the Dems are backed into a corner because no one in America wants the public option and the Dem's are trying to distract the debate with talk if racism and political violence. She said that she has seen zero racially tinged signs at protests and that everyone at the 9/12 rally were polite and cheerful... I guess she didn't see the clip of the person who had to be escorted through the crowd by the police with the Public Option sign. The only thing that kept him from being accosted was the police.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q7XH8lfGMc”

“I don't know about recovering easily: Circa 2001-2004 were the years of ignoring intelligence re: the pending terrorist attack, the dismantling of our constitutional freedoms in lieu of the power of the Patriot Act and Homeland Security, the invasion of Iraq under the guise of faulty intelligence, torture, the outing of Valerie Plame and the disgrace of the Justice Department politicization. It was during the second term that Bush shut down the torture program, got rid of Rummy, brought in Gates and Petraeus, started to ignore Cheney, began the surge in Iraq as well as signed the agreement for our departure from Iraq. I'd hedge that I'd take the Second term Bush over the First any day of the week.”

“This is out of control. I think that Republican leadership has an obligation to cool the irrational fear that we are witnessing in these town halls. They should have the integrity to calm the storm they have helped to brew before more people get seriously hurt or killed.

I can't believe that they actually want to go down in history as participating in the demonization and dehuminization of our first Black President or, God forbid, sitting by quietly if someone should seriously harm or kill anyone in Obama family or Congress. This is a ticking time bomb.”

“I think the Congress should have to give up their own Public Plan if they aren't willing to help pay for ours!”

“Ridiculous non-story. Bush frequently held hands with the King and when he was younger and Daddy Bush was in office Lil Bush partied with the Saudi's all the time. So, it's ok for Bush, but not Obama. This is more wing-nut conspiracy theory crap.”

“Happy Birthday! I am so glad that you have become such a rising star in news. It is so refreshing to watch your show. It's not often we get to see such intelligent and politically astute observations in the media. Your objective and friendly attitude towards your guests is much appreciated in this age of Gerry Springer pundits. Thank you!”

“NO!! I really like David Shuster. They need to go ahead with the 10:00 show and give that to Shuster. Ed is annoying. David is sharp and great at confronting hypocrites.”

“Good grief - Krugman should consider what legislation we would be seeing if McCain had won the election or if the GOP had managed to stop this bill. McCain's alternative suggestion was more of the same trickle down tax cuts for the rich that we have seen for the last 30 years. Not to mention everything else that President Obama has managed to reverse the direction on - environmental protections, energy policy, pay discrimination, torture policy, education... I shudder to imagine what would have happened if McCain / Palin were in office instead.”

“Well said - I yelled at the tv last night for Chris to apologize for his rude comment last week as he contradicted himself with his effusive compliments last night! I'd say that President Obama proved himself to be quite competent of the cuff for the last two years in debates and town hall meetings. Last year the pundits were hailing McCain as the king of the town hall and doubting President Obama's abilities on the stump meanwhile he was out there talking to and earning the respect of the American people in those town halls. The pundits seems surprised that the American public resoundingly thought that Obama won all three of his debates with McCain. It seems that the insiders don't quite get it - the rest of us out here respect and appreciate a leader who gives thoughtful and candid answers to our questions rather than just repeating tired bumper sticker phrases that we have heard regurgitated by politicians for years!”

“I am sick of these rich commentators and politicians bickering over little parts of the Recovery Bill. 90% of the GOP voted to scrap all the spending in the bill and just have corporate and capital gains tax cuts?!! They have some nerve calling Obama partisan. They are still in shock doctrine mode, and seem to not realize that they are taking our country down along with the government and particularly Pres. Obama, who they can't wait to decimate.

I am a small business owner and I have seen my sales flat line in the last three months. I can't get a loan to keep my head above water and I am now looking for part time work so that I can pay my bills and not lose my business completely. Denying aid to the states in this crisis because they want to give more tax cuts to the corporations and the wealthy is shameful. We are drowning out here guys!”

“I watched the hearing and Harry Markopolos is The Man!! He should be appointed to head the oversight of these crooks! What a patriot! He is an American hero. Harry, join the Obama administration and help us take back our country from these scumbags!!”

“Markopolis should be appointed to head the oversight of these crooks! Now that's what I call a patriot! He is an American hero. Harry, join the Obama administration and help us take back our country from these scumbags!!”

“Ha - you just proved yourself wrong! You're right we supported Barack because we agreed with his positions not simply the color of his skin.”

“Nicely put! Race was never an issue for me, I supported President Obama because I agreed with nearly all of his policy stances and I enthusiastically volunteered for and donated to his campaign because I think that he is a man of impeccable values with an astute, curious and open mind. His temperament is exactly what we need in these trying times and I think it was a driving force in his resounding win. His communication skills rival the Gipper. With his writing skill and mastery of public speaking, his speeches inspire the world!

On the other subject, you're right, regardless of the fact that President Obama is multi-racial (Black, Caucasian and Native American) he will remain "black" as long as the general public continues to see race as we do on our demographic designations in paperwork. When people can check a box marked multi-racial we may hope to have embraced a more enlightened view.”

“I'm surprised "W" wasn't alarmed when Bill expressed his love for the rug - doesn't anyone remember the controversy of the Clinton's taking the rugs with them when he left office?”

“I think people are looking at this from the wrong angle. Consider what a big deal it is that a social conservative religious leader is willing to bless the Presidency of Barack Obama. Many Priests and Pastors across the country told their congregations that voting for Obama was a sin and now we have one of the most popular evangelical leaders showing that he is willing to support Barack Obama. This represents an outreach to evangelicals and social conservatives that could help engender tolerance on their part for progressives. If we are able to appeal to this group and bring them into our fold on issues that are much less divisive than abortion and gay marriage then it could decades before the hard right Republicans can win another election. This is a brilliant political move people.”