b1rd67's Comments (1623)

“"Also significant is Democracy Corps' finding that an overwhelming majority of Mainers support a government-sponsored non-profit health insurance option, by a conspicuous 63 to 27 percent."
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/30/snowes-consitutents-want_n_304961.html

So I guess you're saying that only three people live in the entire state of Maine... two want a public option and one doesn't.”

“Actually his college records are not sealed. We know that he graduated Magna Cum Laude (which means he had a minimum GPA of 3.8) from Harvard law and we know that he was President of the Harvard law review. What else do you need to know? What was your GPA in college?”

“And have you read the originals which would be in Aramaic to verify that the translations are correct and complete?”

“Is the REPUBLICAN governor of Hawaii not independent enough for you?”

“How did two different newspapers published at the time of his birth contain announcements of his birth if he wasn't born in Hawaii? How did the REPUBLICAN governor of Hawaii verify that his birth certificate is real if he didn't see it? Hmm good questions with no answers.”

“Push for the use of reconcilliation to get the public option.
It would only require 50 votes (plus Biden to break the tie) and we have a public option, or better yet, expand medicare to allow anyone of any age to buy in.
I'm still hoping that the end game is to get the bulk of the reform (i.e. regulations on the insurance industry) through the HR bill and then to make an end run around LIEberman and the other Senators that have been bribed by the insurance industry by using reconcilliation to expand medicare. I'm hoping but I'm not holding my breath.”

“It sounds like he is hoping to reinstate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little....”

“Can a criminal only be convicted if he confesses or is an abundnace of circumstantial evidence in the form of his voting record enough?”

“Not for the 54 million people who don't have any. Not for the people who lost their jobs and don't have any. Not for the people who have preexisting conditions and don't have any. Not for the people who have gone bankrupt because they don't have any.
Try this, go onliine and try to find individual (non-employer provided) health insurance for a family of three or four with one or both parents over forty (and hope neither of them has high colestorol, or high blood pressure). Then come back here and post the prices you find.”

“More government control or more corporate control... you choose! At least I get a vote in government.”

“Nonsense! The Secret Service responds the same way to any threat regardless of who the President is!”

“I wouldn't put this in the same league as a 911 conspiracy theory. I don't believe the Bush Adminstration had any connection to 911 other than incompetence, however I do believe that they allowed bin Laden to escape on purpose. If bin Laden had been captured or killed and Al Qaeda all but wiped out at Tora Bora would the political will have been there to invade Iraq? I don't think it was Bush that made the decision however, I think it was Cheney; no invasion of Iraq means no no-bid contracts for Haliburton and KBR! I think Bush was still trying to figure out "The Pet Goat".”

“You mean the same Catholic Charities that has theatened to withdaw all funding of any social services programs in the District of Columbia if the DC government passes a law allowing gay marraige? Is that the "charity" you're taliing about? Or did you mean the legal defense fund they provide for pedophile priests?”

“Wasn't it the conservatives who lowered the corporate tax rates and continually lobby to deregualte every industry so the "corporate rapists" can do whatever they please??”

“He is completely wrong! The only place that shoplifting is acceptable is in the Vatican because they stole everything that's there in the first place.”

“Can you please verify that in your post you are not advocating harm to any worms that may be found in a can?”

“I guess Rossevelt shifted the burden to future generations as well when he spent to get the US out of the Great Depression? The quality of life and economic growth in the US over the last 60 years have been so horrible, we might as well be a third world country! The same for all the money that Kennedy spent on the space race, who needs the microchips, miniaturization and other spinoff technology that have accounted for the largest part of ourt economic growth over the last 40 years! Let's all get rid of our useless computers and electronics, we don't want them anymore because tax money spurred their development!”

“Cut military spending. We already spend more than the every other country in the world combined and we still can't catch bin Laden.”

“Correction: How is demanding a reading of an ammendment that has zero chance of passing actually contributing?”

“So how is demanding an ammendment that has zero chance of passing actually contributing? Do you believe that every American citizen should have access to health care? Do you believe that corporations should have unfetttered power to decide a person's quality of life? If you don't trust government bureaucrats does that mean that you trust corporate bureaucrats? If government does not control corporations who will? The insurance compaines conspire together to ensure that they all offer the same crappy products. The free market is a myth. Monopolies are the reality.”

“Was it an accident of convenience that you ignored the caveat in the article regarding how the poll numbers were generated? How many Republicans did they poll? How many Democrats? Is the ratio representative of the overall population considering the fact that the number of self-identitife Republicans has dropped sharply in nearly every poll nationwide? You also conveniently failed to examine (or at least ignored) the statement that the election is still a long way away and the source data on Daily Cos which posits that passing a solid health care bill would probably have a big impact on those numbers. Also check out the fav/unfav ratings on your Republican leadership vs the Democratic leadership. Republican's are all in the teens, while Democrats are all in the 30s and 40s.”

“That's a difficult question... swegnikaerb seems to be talking about "most people", while you seem to be talking about "most thinking people". I think you are both correct in a way. I think "most people" do view politics through a narrow lense of good or bad; they tend to jump on whatever bandwagon their favorite TV personality tells them to with little understanding of the subtleties of any issue. This is why propaganda has and always will work on the masses. I also think that most educated/thinking people tend to take a more in depth analysis of the issues. I don't think it is always a matter of ability but a rahter it's matter intellectual laziness. They would rather have a "TV dinner" opinion that they can just pop in their head out of the box rather than having to do some work to research the truth.”

“Yeah, but I regularly speak out against racism and discrimination of any kind. I just don't think that's what his intent was. There is a fine line between pointing out real racism and just crying vicitm. People are different, and not everyone believes that simply recognizing those differences is racist. I've lived in other coutries, I work in a very diverse organization and I love and embrace those differences. It makes life interesting. Trying to sterilize every conversation because we are constantly afraid to offend ANYONE does not promote understanding, it actually separates and alienates people more. I'm sure that some people found this gesture to be offensive, but I didn't get the feeling that it was meant to denigrate anyone. I did not get the feeling that he dislikes Asian people or meant any disrespect. He should consider how his action might be interpreted and probably change his behavior but people on the other side really need to examine his intentions. It is not only white people who have an obligation to build understanding.”

“Actually I disagree. I think you give ""most people" too much credit. I think "most people" fit into the American Idol, Survivor, Real World crowd and are more interested in the entertainment value, a.k.a. sensationalism, drama and controversy than they are in real news. They have 15 minute attention spans. They don't want to be informed they want to be entertained in between commercials peddling more uselss crap that they have to go into debt to buy!

Just look at how much has been written about Tiger's extramarital affairs? I can almost hear them all now "If he want's to save his marriage he better go to Jared's!"”

“It is reported by who, and what is the source of their "report"?”