foxbat's Comments (2956)

“Who is John Galt? :-)

Sorry, couldn't resist! I've always liked Rand's view from a more utopian standpoint, but what always fails, at least from the economic standpoint, is that while she always seems to imply benevolent self-interest that somehow always helps the masses rise while focusing on the self, what happens in reality is that self-interest always ends up being taken to malevolent extremes that negate just about anything that benevolent self-interest could ever bring about.”

“Many of the folks that are using that "private enterprise" schtick are also the ones that believe in trickle-down economics. I'm willing to give anything a try, but when the guy who was pushing it dies of natural causes before it ever comes to fruition, you have a pretty good idea that it's not going to work.

The argument from many of the "government should just leave business alone crowd" was severely damaged as you point out. I heard so many people in the run-up to the Bush-Gore election talk about how good Bush would be for business. What they really meant was that Bush would be good for those that already had. For those who were buying into the "when business does good everyone does good" mentality, the question is "what happened?" The market, under Bush, ended substantially lower than when he took office in 2000. Businesses cut employment rolls and kept requesting more and more from local governments who are not severely hurting and cutting education busgets among other things. Trickle down indeed.”

“Last time I checked, these guys knocked down a couple of buildings under Bush's watch. Of course, just could be because they were from the same country as Bush's buddies. What's next? You're going to tell us about Obama's bow while ingoring Bush holding hands and kissing 'em on the cheek?”

“In a related article that I read, they are starting to talk about restricting carry-on luggage and asking people to carry-on the bare minimum. Of course, just a few weeks ago there was an article talking about the rise of theft in checked baggage. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Pretty soon, you'll just have to ship it by land if you're going to fly.”

“Let's not forget that the poster child for abstinence-only is supposedly paying her own way and her family's not a burden on anyone ... unless you count having to put up with hearing her mom's incoherent speeches.

Not everyone that has kids out of wedlock or early ends up being a "burden" on society, so it's not necessarily fair to assume to lump them all in together.”

“Here's a great place for the GOP to really put its money where its mouth is ... no pun intended. Since they don't believe CBO numbers on healthcare and since they are playing the game of obstruction, all they have to do is PROVE that abstinence-only plans save taxpayer dollars and work better than alternatives and folks would probably be happy to fund it as part of the healthcare effort. After all, since many are so much against wasted taxpayer dollars, they certainly wouldn't want to support something that would waste those dollars.

The problem with programs like this, and also so many other similar programs, is that, while good intentioned, their probability and actuality of success is based in faith that it can work ... again, no pun intended. Since many in the GOP are NOW all of a sudden interested in fiscal responsibility ... they certainly weren't when we were financing two wars and tax cuts for the wealthy on a national credit card, this would be a prime opportunity for them to truly walk the walk. All they have to do is come up with factually-based statistics and present them in something other than bulletpoint form.”

“All related to movies that Friends actors have been in. Interesting take.”

“Amen. The list, while entertaining, shows how we tend to focus on the current and not so much on things that still need to be accounted for ... of course, that's just the way that Bush/Cheney would like it. They want to be relevant today, ala Cheney's criticism of the current admin, with no memory of their own very sordid recent history.”

“Meghan McCain: More attention for her fabulous cleaving takes (Karl Rove is a "creepy" Twitter follower; Dick Cheney should "go away"), and less attention for her fabulous cleavage.

How about just less attention all around? Calling Karl Rove creepy and stating that Dick Cheney should go away are hardly the insightful ruminations of the supposed new look of the GOP and a college-educated, adult daughter of a father that's been in national politics longer than she's been alive.”

“A glaring representation of how ineffective he really was came when he "suspended" his campaign to fly back to Washington during the financial crisis. He could not even get the Republican Reps/Senators of his own state to support a two-term Republican president's agenda. Of course, we can debate whether or not Bush's bailout was legit or now, but one thing becomes fairly ceratin for McCain. If you believe that Bush's bailout was bad, then McCain was on the wrong side of the decision. If you believe it was good, then McCain's leadership and influence, whatever there might have been of it, was severely lacking.”

“He learned a lot from his candidacy in 2000 against Bush. In 2000, he was probably someone that was much more reform-minded and "above" the typical politics. He was brutally savaged by Bush's Rove-led antics that pulled the whole thing down into the gutter. Unfortunately for McCain, he never emerged from there and took on a similar monikor in his candidacy this last go-round. Unfortunately for him, the McCain of 2000 would not vote for the McCain of 2008.”

“As you point out, in her world, the difference between truth and lie has become blurred almost to the point of non-distinction. Matter of fact, she's gotten to the point where there really isn't a "her world" and real world ... there's just her world and we are merely players ... performers and portrayers.”

“Just like end-of-year tax credits, Palin grabs one more to add to the long list.

To her credit, she's pretty fair about making most of her stuff pretty obvious. It's not like there's a lot of nuance or innuendo in her mistatements.”

“Isn't that the truth! Is the media somewhat dysfunctional and losing its way with regard to becoming more obsessed with entertainment/shock value as opposed to good, olf-fashioned investigative reporting? Sure, one can make that case. However, to claim some type of massive anti-Bush sentiment in the general media, in light of the things that Bush/Cheny got away with, is laughable.”

“The Constitution only protects free speech. It does not guarantee the validity of that speech nor the acquiescence to idiocy except by the cowardly.”

“Funny how legitimate protest used to be deemed obstructionist and un-American just a few short years ago. Now conspiracy protests are the norm and it's just plain old entertainment. Seems to speak volumes ...

Then again, Nero was probably entertained by the flames too.”

“"And how we can channel that into positive constructive ways that will get our vote out it is going to be absolutely critical."

That's like asking the torch-wielding mob to come a little closer to the gunpowder casks to provide some light so you can find the car keys that you dropped.”

“When they are well-organized and sustained they do ... like Vietnam War, Montgomery Bus Boycott, etc. When they are haphazard, short-lived, or involve the fringe and gimmicks, they typically don't succeed.”

“See, THIS is democracy at its finest with the right of peaceful assembly and protest being exercised and protected! :-)”

“Apparently, he saw the poll that 9/11 is no longer the hot political topic right now and so he'd have to re-write all of those "noun, verb, 9/11" speeches and that was just too much work for him.”

“Congrats to Beck. He was certainly up against some stiff competition this year. Between the Three Stooges re-incarnation act on Fox and Friends, to Limbaugh, to Palin, to much of the standing GOP leadership who would have you believe that they were all on an extended vacation for the last eight years and had no idea what Bush/Cheney was doing. He's obviously an up-and-comer.”

“Don't lump all Okies in with Coburn. There are some really nice and caring folks there in OK. Unfortunately, folks like Coburn and Inhofe give the rest of 'em a black eye.”

“That's what Coburn's banking on. But isn't that the same type of focus that Coburn dismisses in others when he and others on the Right insinuate that folks that vote Dem can't receive communion or will end up in Hell regardless of what else they've done in their lives?”

“Imagine how that exchange is going to go at the Pearly Gates.

St. Peter: Ahh, Senator Coburn, what bring you here to Heaven?

Coburn: I'm not quite sure. I was on my way to vote "no" against the healthcare bill and the last thing I remember is tripping over Senator Byrd's wheelchair and taking a tumble.

St. Peter: Yep, says here in your chart that you broke your neck. Well, we've got a few questions for you before we can let you in. Your questioner for the day with be St. Matthew who has a few questions to ask you about some of his Gospel writings; especially Chapter 25. By the way, don't get to comfy just yet. There's a healthcare obstructionist shuttle that'll be leaving soon to take you down south.

Coburn (gleefully): I knew there was a Southern section of Heaven just especially for folks like me and the C-Street boys.

St. Peter: Well Senator, it's a little further south than that. But you just hang on to that happy thought.”

“And then there were two. Once Gregg in New Hampshire retires this next time around, she and Collins are the last of the New England Republicans. While I happen to like Snowe, and I think that she might be one of the last few Republicans that will actually sit down sometimes and talk, stances like this will likely make the idea of New England Republicans a thing of the past.

I can imagine that, as much as the GOP is planning to target Blue Dog Dems who support the healthcare vote, folks like Collins and Snowe will be targeted by the DP for counter gains. The other "benefit" of targeting Snowe and Collins, which I actually don't like because it begins to polarize us further, is that Snowe and Collins, along with perhaps Murkowski in AK, are probably the most moderate of the GOP at this point. Any strategy to get rid of those folks, and it might actually end up being the GOP who ends up doing it as opposed to the DP with some of the stuff that Limbaugh and others have plan, just further pushes the GOP away from the center. And that's not good for legislative reconcilliation.”