mizerello's Comments (425)

“Finally, I would suggest to the media who have fallen hook, line and sinker for the right wing rhetoric as far as the liberals don't know how to handle national security and are weak on defense...perhaps you should stop spouting old wives tales and start telling the apparently many among us who don't seem to have any understanding of our history how we really got to where we are in Afghanistan and Iraq. For "my friends on the right" who love to point fingers on the Huff...maybe you should review your history folks. Osama bin Laden is basically a creation of your side. Reagan and Bush 1 supported him financially and with weapons for years during the 80's. He received billions of our tax dollars courtesy of your hero Mr. Reagan not to mention many of those same missile launchers the Taliban are now using against us. Saddam was close friends with the Reagan administration. He was also supported financially and even provided with some of those WMD you all were so convinced he had including mustard gas. There are some interesting photos of Rumsfeld and Bush's daddy buddying up with the Husseins in those history books you all despise. The moral of this story? When you conduct foreign policy in a knee jerk manner, you get Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and Iraq.”

“Second comment--frankly, those that got us into this debacle--the right wing, have no business saying anything about either Iraq or Afghanistan. The fact they have the gall to actually suggest that by taking several weeks to evaluate his options, Obama was "dithering" are the same people who sent our troops into two wars with absolutely no preparation and no end game. As someone with family who've been directly impacted by this decision--a little bit of dithering was called for. As far as I'm concerned, the Republicans and the right wing echo chamber should be ridiculed and even sent into Iraq and Afghanistan to supplement the troops....and while they're at it, the richest among them should also be footing the bill for this fools errand we find ourselves stuck in. The tax breaks that were given to Bush's buds at the top--they should have been ended the day Obama took office. The same Republicans who kept telling us that we shouldn't worry about deficits are now suddenly concerned--we can't afford health care for the sickest and poorest among us but we can afford to waste billions of dollars in two failed wars.”

“First, the fact that Obama has decided to concentrate on Afghanistan should come of no surprise to anyone who actually listened to what he said during the campaign. He said he thought that the Iraq War was a mistake but that Afghanistan was a war of necessity--not just last August but all through his campaign. It was one of the things I most disagreed with him during the campaign. This utter dismay and surprise by so many on the left that he is doing what he said he would do is a bit disingenuous. While I too would prefer to hear that we are pulling out of both Iraq and Afghanistan now, reasonable people have to realize that even if we were to start leaving today, it will take years to actually withdraw completely from both countries. And that folks, is what happens when you have a President who used the presidency to settle some old personal scores and enrich his buddies and a Congress and Media who went right along with him, giving us, the American people a bill that will take a generation to pay. And Rose and Carpenter were right there in the trenches with Mr. Bush, so frankly, I don't really care what either has to say.”

“What planet do you live on? When asked whether we need health care reform, no matter what poll, including Republican polls, the majority of Americans say yes. If the questions are manipul@ted by the right wing polling organizations you seem to be basing your "facts" on, then of course the numbers will also be skewed. If all MSM does is show your kind screaming about f@scism at Town Halls (when you don't have a clue what the word means) then, people less interested in politics are going to start believing the right wing echo chamber. The one thing I would say the right wing does well is manipulate the media. And because they're better at it than the Dems, it's highly likely that we all will continue to be held prisoner by our insurance companies. I would like to know why you are all so up in arms about the government making decisions about coverage when no matter what insurance policy you have now, some bean counter at your insurance company is deciding what procedure you can have and whether or not to continue covering you should you get sick.”

“I believe it was Nixon who opened up relations with China. And George Bush Sr. made strong relations with China a central part of his administration. It was Reagan and Bush who supplied Bin Laden with billions of dollars of MY tax dollars and gave Saddam Hussein mustard gas and other wonderful weapons of mass destruction. GW Bush kissed and held hands with the Saudis and his family has a long and very lucrative relationship with the Saudi royals and with the Bin Laden family. Since your party seems to love communists and dictators I would invite you to move to China where pollution from lack of any regulation should delight your kind.”

“go away.”

“Actually, it was the right wing that pretty much destroyed our government. They put party h@cks into all of the typically non-political, bureaucratic positions including the SS and we now have a government that will take years to recover. The Justice Dept. is full of lightweight evangelicals with degrees from universities no one's ever heard of but they all signed loyalty oaths to President Bush. You people have effectively done what you've talked about doing for years--you've almost destroyed our government and while I'm sure you'll come back with some p!thy comment, you and yours are always the first ones to cry for help when some major dis@ster occurs. I would also remind you all that the worst terrorist act that ever occurred in this country occurred on your watch--you had the Presidency, the House and the Senate. And how did you respond? You sent my brothers and sister in law into a country that had nothing to do with the @tt@ck. Wow, I felt so much s@fer under the administration that went on vacation during every major cat@strophe that occurred on their "watch."”

“Go away. You and your kind are not welcome here.”

“It's not NBC we should be writing to. We should be writing to our Congressional Reps and asking them what's going on with the Secret Service. There have been way too many mistakes since this President assumed office and since the Republicans are working so hard to incite their lun@tic fr!nge, the Secret Service had better get their you know what together. If you don't want to contact your Congressional Rep., then contact the GOP and ask them why they're encouraging their cr@zies with their thousands of conspir@cy theories? Contacting NBC will only encourage them to produce more of this g@rbage.”

“You're thinking what I'm thinking as well about the enemieeez within...I have to disagree with you though about being rest assured that those responsible will be exposed. Nothing ever seems to happen to the guys at the top in either the Secret Service or the Defense Dept. with these constant failures. The Republicans have so effectively taken over these departments that they protect their own, one failure after another. I guarantee you that no-one in charge at the Secret Service will be asked to leave. I'll say it again, isn't it funny that the Secret Service hauled away people protesting Bush at his various public events, including people who had the gall to wear anti-Bush tees, but the lunatic fringe of the right wing are allowed to congregate outside of Obama's town halls. You have to ask who's in charge and what's their political affiliation?”

“These constant breaches of security make me wonder about whether or not the Secret Service is allowing politics to overshadow their jobs? The Secret Service hauled off people who wore anti-Bush tee shirts but they allow gun toters to be 500 feet from this President? How many security breaches are there going to be, starting from problems with security during the inaugural activities to this state dinner? By politicizing everything, the Republicans have turned the armed forces and most of any of this country's law enforcement related bureaus and departments into political arms for their party. Someone's head should roll for this latest debacle. The top echelons of our Armed Forces, FBI, Secret Service and NSA should be fired if they are actively involved in any political party. All we have to do is look at the Air Force Academy in Colorado for another example of how far the right wing has entrenched itself into our security establishment. If you want to get along there you are required to attend an extremely right wing, evangelical mega-church. Those who don't are ostracized. And we all wonder why we have failure after failure, at the top, in our military and intelligence apparatus. And, when these pasty faced Generals or Dept. heads screw up, who pays? Somebody way down on the totem pole that's who.”

“The techniques used on this show with regard to exercise and the way contestants are pushed makes me wonder if they are being forced to sign away any rights to talk about physical harm they may have experienced either during the show or years later. Exercise, when done appropriately, is the only way to lose weight and keep it off. The way the trainers on this show abuse the contestants verbally and push them physically disgusts me. I would bet my next month's salary that many of the former contestants suffer knee problems and back problems from the style of exercise they're pushed to do. And, it is just a matter of time before we hear of a contestant dying from a heart attack. There are healthy and effective ways to exercise for the morbidly obese. Jillian and her male counterpart do not engage in these methods. They simply use the same exercises that they use on physically fit people.”

“So basically what she's saying is that they weren't "watching" when 911 happened? September 11, 2001...as I recall, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney were our President and Vice President. They were briefed, from all accounts, in a much more serious way than usual, about the threat of Al Qaeda by Clinton officials. They weren't interested. They were too busy figuring out how they could take over Iraq for their corporate buddies. They were too busy dismantling our economy and our government. Today, their ideologues fill many of the typically non-partisan bureaucratic positions. Just look at the Justice Dept. They were in charge during what we hope will be the worst terrorist attack in this country and while I don't agree with the 911 conspiracy folks, I do believe that, like Katrina, it happened out of pure incompetence. If history books are still being written by historians interested in facts, the Bush administration will go down as one of the worst in our history...or so, we can hope.”

“That's the truth...until we publicly fund elections and stop allowing any contributions from corporations and citizens, it's going to get worse. At this point, House members start fund raising from the day they're elected and Senators start a few weeks in. And worse yet, it seems that a majority of their staff go from congress to lobbying firms and back again. The only other option would be to simply make it against the law for anyone serving in Congress and their staff to ever work in any capacity for public relations or lobbying firms. Then maybe, we'd get people who actually want to serve the public interest instead of taking advantage of it. It's the same for both parties, as you said, and, like you, I too believe that if nothing is done, our country may not survive.”

“This article is an example of what's different between us and them. We don't defend the indefensible like Faux News or Townhall. If you look at the people who are often the hardest on the left, it is members of the so-called liberal media--the Huff Po's and the Rachel Maddows and yes, even the Keith Olbermann's who take issue with people like Daschle and point out their hypocrisy. The right marches in lock step--their politicians have better "family values, morals...they represent the real America." I've got news for those of you on the right who are pointing fingers...if you think Daschle is b@d, let me introduce you to some of your finest. They make him look like a kid. Sadly, as several other posters have already pointed out, there is very little difference now between one side or the other today. They are interested in two things, it would seem...money and power.”

“I'm going to miss him and his voice in the morning. He's the quintessential news guy--just the facts, thank you ma'am. He will be missed.”

“At least Olbermann doesn't lie about issues--he doesn't have to like ol' Rush has to. The facts are worse than any fabrication he could come up with. And, Olbermann puts his money where his mouth is. He's donating hundreds of thousands of his own money to these free clinics and encouraging those who watch his show to support them as well. What did Rush do when one of his listeners called in and told him he'd lost his job and insurance and didn't know what to do? He sent him 10 hand massaging devices which sell for about $20.00 a pop. What a guy!”

“We all know that the Pryors are friends and he is protecting his own. To he!! with the people in his state who don't have insurance. He's protecting the political livelihood of one of his own.”

“I've got news for Clinton--health care reform IS a political issue. The insurance industry is the most coddled industry in this country, all the way around. Clinton has never been without health insurance. As a public servant, he had access to the best care Arkansans could afford to give him. As President he had his own doctor who followed him around. Now, as a wealthy, old white codger, I'm sure he has benefits most of us could never imagine. All of the people I know who don't have health insurance are either working for companies who can no longer afford providing their employees insurance, or they have their own businesses and cannot afford to purchase health insurance. I've got news for those of you who aren't as rich as our former President and his friends. Even if your company now provides you with benefits, you won't have them much longer. Olbermann may have politicized this event but so what. Thousands of people received much needed care they wouldn't have had. What has Clinton done for these people lately?”

“As a HuffPost reader from day one, I'm sad to see that so many of those right wingers who lived at drudge avenue are now polluting our neighborhood. The difference between the right and left, as far as debate and discussion, is that we prefer to base our debate on facts and to present our views politely. However, in reading the comment lines, it looks like a bunch of teens with dirty mouths are using this as a place to simply make others mad. Again, go back to your holes if you can't be civil. It may work on sites that cater to your black and white thinking but it doesn't here.

With regard to the topic above, I was going to comment to Mr. Froomkin how glad I am to have him at the Huff because he was about the only reason I went to the WaPo. His article clearly points out how difficult of a situation we are now in, courtesy of the last administration. I have family who've served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, several times at this point. It's hurt them and it's hurt their families and in the end it will probably have been for naught. The only winners of either war have been the defense and oil industries.”

“It must be nice to sit back and make observations about fat people when you aren't fat. I am a fat person--a morbidly obese person--who has struggled with weight my entire life. My family history includes mostly fat people. I had a Mother who had an eating disorder--we tried every diet out there by the time I was 10 including Atkins, Pritikin, etc. and a father who was a POW in WW2 in the Pacific. He loved icecream and candy. With Mom we weren't aloud to eat; with Dad we binged when Mom wasn't around. We lived in Alaska where fresh fruits and vegis weren't available and were too expensive. At 16 I got down to 85lbs as an anorexic. My Dr. didn't have a clue and would force me to weigh every week in front of others and berate me if I had not gained weight. In short, a person's history and genetic background along with their economic status has a great deal to do with whether you're fat or not. It's not as simple as "if they would just stop eating fried food..." I've had Drs. tell me that food addiction is much harder to conquer than alcoholism or smoking because you have to eat to live. I am active and rarely see the doctor. I cost the system less than most of my "healthy" friends who've had one knee surgery after another. It's easy to point fingers. Far harder to find solutions.”

“The idea that people are shocked at Fox for yet again, presenting fake news, is funny. The interesting part is that they could have shown the several thousand people lining up to meet and greet Miss Sarah and it would have satisfied their viewers. Several thousand people is a pretty good number. Why is it they have to l!e and suggest there are more than they are? Because their point of view survives only through propaganda and l!es...just like any good f@scist belief system. And they call the Democrats f@scists...but then that's another swell technique that successful f@scists employ to fool the masses. And, sadly, our masses are easily fooled.”

“Well said!”

“Now that he's marked this milestone, perhaps he will step down. He should not have run again--one wonders if he even knew he was running for re-election and it's obvious that it is not Senator Byrd who is now making decisions for his constituents. I respect the many good things he's done and regret the many good things he might have done for his state and didn't (he's been a very good friend of coal and of mountain top busting mining) but it is time for his family and his staff to throw in the hat. I'm sure whomever is running the show doesn't want to give up the power but he/she were not elected. Just like the rest of us, when we reach a point where we are physically and mentally incapable of doing our jobs, Senators and Congressmen/women should retire gracefully.”

“Karma Nicole, Karma....”