abluevoice's Comments (393)

“Gee, I think I heard this pathetic simplification before, when Nadar said there is no difference between Gore and W.
Well we sure found out the hard way didn't we!”

“Now why does the Senate water everything down? Are voters so stupid they don't realize without a filabuster proof 60 votes in the Senate the Dem's hands are tied? Especially when every Republican automatically votes no and schmucks like Lieberman and Nelson put their interests ahead of the country's? I guess the answer to this is yes.

C'mon, what was the alternative to Geitner and Summers, a 2nd great depression? NOBODY had a proven or viable alternative to these guys solutions......And guess what they worked so far. Main Street needs to be educated by reality not right wing radio.”

“Boy did you hit the nail on the head lgillooly! I've been saying this on this site over and over again. The Dems just don't get it. The radical right and the Republican Party control the debate in this country and even bright guys like Robert Reich unwittingly buy into it, without even knowing they are manipulated.

There are 3 ways the Dems can put a stop to this 24/7 propaganda of Republican lies and talking points that have a daily audience of probably 40 million uninformed, listeners and viewers who get their voting directions straight from Fox/Beck/Hannity/Limbaugh/etc. More then enough votes to turn a midterm election.

1) Bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Obama and the Dems control the FCC and have plenty of votes to do this.

2) Organize boycotts of supposedly politically neutral national advertisers that sponsor these hate and failure talkers.

3) Get the name brand Dems and Obama's men on the phone to the CEO's of these advertisers to complain. Kennedy did it and it's called "jawboning".”

“So let me get this straight professor Reich, The Republicans who started the economic downfall and high unemployment while in power with their de-regulation and failed trickle down, and The Republicans who all voted against the economic stimulus bill to create jobs, and these same Republicans who have had nothing to offer in Congress for the past two years to create new jobs, in fact just the opposite, by wanting to cut spending are going to win the mid -terms if unemployment is at 10%?????

If you are right, the majority of American voters that would vote Republican are either so stupid or so brainwashed by right wing talking points they don't deserve to live in a democracy!

And the Democratic Party is so inept and incompetent in telling the story to the voters that the Republicans have nothing to offer, that the Dems deserve to lose.

When in reality, it's articles and blogs such as yours that have bought, hook line and sinker, the GOP's key talking point and are hyping it already in January, "If the Dems don't fix high unemployment they are going to be out in Nov." Stop framing the debate for them!”

“I would like to forget the Huff Post's blogger's and commentor's free for all impatient and mostly unrealistic attacks on the President for not establishing a progressive Utopia in his first year.

I would like to forget so called Huff Post progressives and their ammnesia about who the real enemies of a progressive political agenda are: The just say no, Republicans in Congress, who support and enable, the 24/7 hate and failure propaganda from Fox/Limbaugh/Beck/Hannity/Palin/etc.

But most of all I will never forget or forgive the Democrats including the President for rationalizing their cowardice in investigating, exposing and prosecuting, Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rumsfeld and Rice, with the excuse that we want them to look "forward"!!!!! We want justice.”

“Guess who your next President is going to be while you cop out to "Independent land".
Your choice, Palin, Beck, or Gingrich. Nice job.
"Those who don't learn from the past are sure to repeat it" and I will add, repeat it with even worse.
When Bush ran against Gore Independent Land was Nadarland which gave us 8 years of Bush, Cheney and Rove. Nice Job bwalsh1.”

“Well said 3rdCitizen. I can't believe any Democrat in their right mind would think this bill is what Obama wanted, but it is better then the current situation with so many uninsured and so many denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Arianna, you can't fix a broken and dysfunctional legislative process by killing this bill or any individual bill. Killing this bill is not going to change how special interests work. Nor change the Republicans "just say no" to all things Obama. Killing this bill is not going to give the Dems in the Senate a filabuster free 60 vote majority in the Senate for any better replacement bill. Killing this bill is a win for the hate and failure GOP and their lies and talking points. You know all this, yet you still chase the "perfect" to the advantage of anti liberal and anti Obama juggernaught.
The Republicans, and bums like Lieberman, and Nelson, are why this is an imperfect bill. Not the special interests. You should be venting at them.

Besides No child left behind, there was the equally bad bankruptcy bill and the incredibly expensive, $720 billion plan D medicare bill. Obama didn't pass any of those and he got 80 billion out of big Pharmacy when they didn't have to give a penny. Give him time his intentions and values are progressive. But he needs progressive support, for his evolutionary change. The right wing alternative to Obama is unthinkable.”

“The real disgrace is your lack of facts. But that is expected from Republicans. The Dems do have a majority in the House, but they don't have a filabuster proof majority in the Senate, which is sorely needed to pass any needed and meaningful legislation to solve the problems in this country caused by Bush, Cheney and Rove.
And the Supreme Court has 5 ultra conservative, Republican justices, only one that is truly a liberal and 3 others that are moderates. The two biggest and most influential states Ca. and NY have Republican Governors, as do many others.

No President or political party in the history of this country has had to contend with 24/7 media attacks from the likes of Fox, Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity trying to delegitimize even his citizenship and comparing him to Hitler and witch doctors with no acceptable avenue to push back.
No President or Political Party has ever been demonized or lied about so openly by their Republican opposition in Congress. No opposition party has ever openly wished for the failure of a President, the country, and pushed so overtly anti-American and anti government propaganda as the current Republican Party.”

“Guess what Axlotl? You are not the base of the Democratic Party. So you can pick up your toys and go home because you didn't get your ice cream when you expected it. All during the Bush 8 years of reckless incompetence and dangerous corruption I thought how could Republicans be so stupid to support this?
And now I am seeing the same stupidity from the left in their attacks on Obama, their short memories of the past 8 years, their blinders to the real nut cases controlling the new Republican Party (even worse then Bush Cheney and Rove) and their complicity in letting these right wing crack pots back in power!”

“That's an irrelevant comparison, but even a football coach that takes over a program that has been run into the ground by the prior coach and inheirits bad players and failed schemes is allowed 2 to 3 years to show improvement, before fans turn against him.

No other President in the history of this once great country inheirited the mess 8 years of reckless, incompetent, and corrupt Republican governing created. Since we are still a democracy but no longer one that runs on consensus, thanks again to the just say no, hate and failure GOP and it's enablers, the needed political change Obama is trying to lead us to is a progressive evolution not a revolution!

But hey Noonan, if you think there are better leaders in the GOP, you deserve what your attacks on Obama is helping to bring about!

Oh yeah, now how many progressives like Prof Westen are taking to the streets to bring about change they desire? Zero!!! It's so much safer and convenient to email blog attacks from the ivory towers.”

“Yes, YOU ARE BEING WAY TO HARSH ON OBAMA! You and the rest of the so-called progressives bloggers on the Huff Post. Your passion and anger should be directed at the real barriers keeping Obama from pursuing progressive positions more agressively: For example the 24/7 barrage of hate and failure comming 24/7 from Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Savage, OReilly, Fox News, The WSJ, The Post etc. etc. This barrage with no push back from you and the rest of the one time Obama supporters is just adding fuel to the anti-Obama fire.

You should be angry at every single Republican in Congress who is trying to de-legitimize our first progressive President with their just say no to everything and their support of truly crackpot ideas such as the "bither movement" and the tea baggers. And their talking points calling Obama a Socialist and their anti-government hate talk.

You should be angry at Cheney, you should be pissed at Lieberman, you should be angry at Nelson and the blue dog Dems. Obama doesn't have 60 given votes in the Senate, to push any progressive position through. You should be angry at the mainstream media for giving Republicans and their failed ideas air time.
Obama has only been in office for a year. he inheirited and averted a near depression. He inheirited AFPak and Iraq and a deficit out of control and the job losses. By attacking him you are biting the hand that feeds our ideals.”

“The GOP has an unprecedented history of failed policies and zero new solutions other then demonizing the Dems and pushing for Obama's failure with 24/7 hate talk and just say no parrots in Congress. But they control the airwaves and the debate with their lies and simple but false talking points.
The Dems blew it by not investigating, exposing and prosecuting Bush, Cheney and Rove. They blew it by not reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, and now they are totally blowing it by turning against each other over health care reform, and the threat of radical Islam.
The cause and effects of our neglected public education system our being seen in these polls showing Dems with all the right solutions and intentions slipping in the polls to an ascending GOP led by worse then "stay the failed course" leaders such as Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and a rich Australian Rupert Murdoch, who figured out quickly nobody will hold him accountable for broadcasting
radical right lies and propaganda. Murdoch and the hate talkers are the beneficiaries of the dumbing down of America, and of the Democrats inability to lead and stand up to bullys.”

“So tell us in your great wisdom how he can get anything passed in Congress without a fillabuster 60 vote minimum in the Senate? Fortunately we don't elect dictators. the President no matter how great his intentions and values and Obama's are impeccable still needs to be a politician and seek Congressional consensus. But keep attacking him this stupidly and you will see in 2012 your results, Palin and Beck.”

“Drivel is so right. No wonder the Dems get their butts kicked by idiots like Palin and Beck. They've got ivory tower, elitist, so called liberal publishers comparing Obama to Tricky Dick. Geez, talk about liberals eating their own.”

“He's not trying regulate lives with the use of the government, he is trying to level the playing field. Unless your income is in the top 5%, everything he has done so far or proposed so far economically is to expand the economic safety net and create economic opportunities.
If you think your chances for pursuing liberty are greater in an economic depression or in a society where you can't afford to go to the doctor when you are ill. Then go wave your tea bag, with the rest of the right wing wackos.”

“If he is an "authoritorian imperialist" he could have gotten health care reform passed by now. But fortunately we still are a democracy and pragmatic politics get things accomplished in this country not authoritarian tactics.....Unless you are Bush and Cheney and Rove and disregard the laws and lie to accomplish things. You talking stick are an uninformed unrealistic idealist, with a very short memory of the 8 years of GOP rule.”

“It was a brilliant speech. and it addressed directly all the anti-Obama Huff Post commentators and their denial of the "evil" in radical Islam that justifys any thing they do, even killing "pregnant women" and blowing up innocents as justified by their distorted interpretation of the divine. He said flat out you cannot negotiate with these extremists no matter how much we desire peace.”

“I'm not excited Rule of Law. I'm just rying to convey some obvious facts about the severity of the threat of Radical Islam and their hatred of the U.S.
For some reason you and many of the Huff Post commentors talking about peace with the Taliban and Al Qaeda and other Jihadist groups in AFPAK are in some delusional cloud of denial of reality.
We all want peace, even the Afghan school girls who had acid thrown in their faces for trying to attend school and the teachers who were beheaded by the Taliban for trying to teach school.”

“You all live in a fantasy world that there are peaceful answers to the very real threat of radical Islam and it's desire to hurt us and the rest of the modern world. Especially you Rule Of Law. If the Taliban, and Al QAeda and all the rest of the Jihadists in AFPAK laid down there arms there would be peace immediately in AFPAK! If the U.S. and it's allies laid down their arms there would be uncontrollable death and destruction on a scale much worse then we have seen so far. Including nuclear blackmail with Pakistan's arsenal.

HamletsMill, you are really out of it if you don't think Patreaus and Mckrystal and Holbroke don't understand what is going on in Afghanistan, or the President or Hillary.
Let me make it simple for all you commentors who just hink we can pull out and we will have peace in AFPAK. You would all be writing your comments in German or Japanese if your pathetic inability to grasp the facts of when this country's security is threatened prevailed in World War II.
Try telling a Jhihadist suicide bomber "to give peace a chance".”

“You hit the nail on the head with number 3 the Republican's and Reagan's killing of the fairness doctrine. And the rise of Limbaugh and literally 100s of clones with a daily audience of 40 million uninformed listeners who's whole political education is from Republican talking points. Limbaugh sold the argument that consensus democracy was liberal "political correctness", and that it was OK not to listen to the other side and OK to demonize the opposition, and that by doing so you were a real patriot.
This blatent political partisanship is sponsored by supposedly politically neutral national advertisers who don't have a clue they are giving 24/7 free advertising to Republican hate talk.

Limbaugh has evolved into Hannity, Savage, OReilly, and Fox News and the literally crack pot Glenn Beck, which has evolved into the Birthers (supported by a Republican VP candidate that got 60 million votes) The tea baggers shouting down opposition at political rallys and carrying guns and openly hating and trying to deligitimize a popularly elected President with racist signs and comparisons to witch doctors and Hitler.
And all of this has evolved into a Republican Party trying it's best to make this President fail despite whatever harm the country suffers.
And the worst part is the mainstream media presents these crack pots and their literally crazy ideas, such as the President is not a citizen, as the other side of a proven fact that he is a citizen!”

“The National Security group that sat around the table and helped Obama come to his decision to send more troops to AFPAK to defend against the radical Islamists blowing up their own people to gain power have not only been there many times but are trying to do something about the mess 8 years of Bush incompetence and neglect created.

Besides the President:
Gen James L Jones
Hillary
Susan Rice (UN Ambassador)
Dennis Blair (director of National Intelligence)
Leon Panetta (director of the CIA)
Richard Holbrooke, special envoy to AFPAK
Gen David Patraeus
Thomas Donilon, (deputy national security advisor)
Rahm Emanual
Adm Mike Mullen
Joe Biden
Robert Gates
David Axelrod
Lt Gen Karl W Eikenberry, ambassador to Afghanistan opposed to sending more troops
Gen Stanley A McChrystal

This was not your Bush round table of "Chicken Hawk" neocon yes men! This was the best and brightest this country has to offer covering all aspects of the debate on all the bad choices Obama inheirited regarding what to do about AFPAK. Please get your facts straight when you comment!”

“Here is a little dose of reality for you adamNsteve (clever name), without Obama, you would have
McCain and Palin, who make Gingrich look progressive. If you and Kuttner and the rest of the "so called progressives", don't defend and support this pragmatic and smart liberal Democrat in the White House, in 3 more years you are going to get Palin, Huckabee, or some other brainless radical right wacko running the country and taking their marching orders from Rupert Murdoch and Glen Beck and Limbaugh and Hannity.
You better start "assessing where your loyalties lie" Now, and try to regain your memory of the damage Obama inheirited from the last 8 years of Bush/Cheney and Rove.”

“The people at the table giving Obama input on the current situation in Afpak have a whole lot more information and intelligence then you do Professor Sachs. They don't overlook as you so blatently do along with all the rest of the ivory tower idealists so critical of the president the reality of the Taliban taking over the country. You want to really waste taxpayer money try building infastructure in Afghanistan with the Taliban running the country. You would have the US tax payers paying for the acid the Taliban throws in school girl's faces.
They know a whole lot more about the serious security threat to not only the U.S. but to all the West and Europe with The Taliban and their cohorts Al Qaeda, and every American hating and modernity hating Jihadist moving back and forth between Afghan and Pakistan with a mutual goal of getting their hands on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
There is no comparison with the real security threat AFPak is and the fake threat of the "domino theory" used to build up in Vietnam.
Obama inheirited a no win situation in AfPak caused by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld incompetence and neglect. Radical Islam be it the Taliban or Al Qaeda is a real domino theory and there is plenty of evidence of it around the world......But it's trigger is in AfPak and the border between Afghan and Pakistan. And we must disrupt it, and weaken it there or the consequences will be unthinkable.”

“On one hand you say "what a contrast to Bush" and then you quote his brilliant grasp of our economic and defecit problems and then you stick a knife in his back Kuttner with your unrealistic progressive idealism.
You can't turn on the car radio without hearing Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Savage and hundreds of others attacking Obama from the radical right 24/7, and now I can't read the Huff Post without short memory , ivory tower, attacks from so-called progressives attacking him and reinforcing the Republican mantra of hate and failure. Not just from you but from the comments as well. No wonder Democrats get their butts kicked and bullied so easily by the wackos running the GOP.
You need a serious dose of reality Kuttner:

We do have an establishment, and you can't radically change it as an "insurgent " President no matter how progressive your motives are.

If Rosevelt had the hate and failure right wing media control of the political debate and a just say no, wish for failure opposition party attacking him 24/7 as Obama does he would never have gotten through the "New Deal".

Obama had to be a pragmatist when dealing with the near collapse of the global economy and a headfirst Bush caused dive into a near depression. There was not one progressive solution offered by anybody with any validity.

He has no majority in the Senate. He must accomadate.

Your "all of the above" reinforces Republican talking points.”

“There is a tinge of validity to some of your replys Shearwater. But the number one priority of the government is national defense and to act in the self-interest of the people.
You and I vote for the people responsible for directing our government in a hostile world defined by survival of the fittest. History proves this. There has always been wars when one side is trying to take advantage of the other.
I believe, in Obama, we have a President (leader), that has a more self sustaining understanding of America's role in the world not exploitive as you absurdly generalize in your distorted view of America's past and present motives.

For every book saying that suicide bombers are not motivated by extremist religious dogma, there are hundreds of testimonies by those involved saying they are. The most recent being the excellent HBO documentary on the Mumbai slaughter of innocents by brainwashed radical Islamists.
The one terrorist survivor says over and over again he and the other killers of innocent people did it for their reward in heaven.
He and all the others who are motivated by this disgusting distortion of faith by blowing up themselves and innocent people should be sent to their just rewards by any means possible. Those who defend this and keep quite about it are equally as despicable.”