nomadic's Comments (44)

“Intelligent questions are not fear mongering. That's what you and your ilk engage in.”

“I hate to disagree with you but active duty, even commissioned officers have been denied conscientious objector status for a long time. The argument is that this is an all volunteer military and no one can claim to be a CO after taking the oath. On some very rare occasions the status can be granted with people in extenuating circumstances. Considering all the military members who have tried to get CO status only a very small number have succeeded.
In short, especially with the PC "we love Muslims" surface attitude conveyed by the military though a very different attitude is evident once the grunts start drinking) this guy never had a chance of getting out.”

“Politicizing access to healthcare is a battleground that the intolerant and indeed, the hateful have created.
Even with abortion numbers dwindling with the rising numbers of unintended births winding up on welfare roles the anti-welfare, anti-abortion folks gain traction with politicians even supposedly "liberal" ones. It just doesn't get any dumber than this without us being part of a police state. The numbers of women dying in back alley abortions almost stopped in the early seventies and now the numbers are increasing again.
I guess kids going hungry, getting illnesses they can't afford treatment for, being abused and killed in fractured households in the grip of never ending poverty, while in the midst of an economic downturn (the likes of which are still growing), these are STILL not enough reasons to start having sympathy with common sense.
Let's force women to either stop being human by having sex or force them to have babies they can't even insure. Just keep the poor, ever growing, on the ever shrinking dole while bailout recipients hand each other million dollar bonuses funded by the tax payers.
What a country...”

“That's not America. It's a fantasy.
A pox on both parties but most especially on so-called conservatives. People like you who think any single party will solve our crisis are the problem.”

“I confess, I looked. I don't think it's pathetic but it is typical of many with the Hollywood mindset. It's really sad in a small, funny way. I do not feel bad for her kids because they are hopefully learning something about the vulnerability of celebrity. So many people want Pam or want to be as "successful" as she is without taking that life into context. There's nothing really special about celebrity unless you like the idea of losing your privacy as well as the overwhelming need to be seen once the eyes of your fans are starting to lock their gaze onto the next "hot" person who comes along.
Pam used to be quite the looker. Now she skates along the edge of obscurity and outrageous behavior. She's not sexy. The augmentation and too much make-up did away with any eroticism she once had. Still, there are legions of guys, and probably more than a few gals who would line up to have sex with the woman. Really, that makes me feel bad for her. She's her own worst example. I hope she's having a laugh over it. Her self made parody of herself is pretty much all she has left.
If this ride ever stops she'll be devastated by the stillness.
I hope she learns to adjust.”

“Exactly. Dan Rather was not wrong or lying. He was railroaded off the job over a stupid format issue.
I'm not going to jump to conclusions because all the facts are not in. On the other hand the anti-government faction is hardly subtle about their hatred for Obama and all things he supports or endorses, like the census.”

“You have nothing to offer when you accuse us of being pawns of a liberal agenda and supporters of a dictator. Look, you and your ilk decided that logic and reason and class are elitist in nature. I suggest you talk to your pals and ratchet back the rhetoric, insults and pure lies if you have really have something to say. I find it ironic that the you're more likely to be quoted than anyone on the other side of the spectrum and still have the audacity to accuse us of controlling the dialogue.”

“If you credit Reagan with helping tear down the Berlin wall you really haven't been reading actual history. Talk to the military personnel who worked the Brandenburg gate to find out what really happened. Also, bankrupting the Soviet Union has led to a worsening state of affairs as the looting of Russian and Ukrainian arsenals, of both conventional and nuclear materials, has led to a crisis all over the world through the expanded arming of terrorists and rogue states with those weapons and fissionable materials. Bankrupting an already pathetically weakened Soviet state hastened a chaos we cannot contain. I take it you missed that fact. It figures. Reaganauts always do.
And let's talk about how the drug trade has been pretty much dominated by exKGB members, now heading up a global organized crime ring that is making the old Italian mafia look quaint by comparison. Thanks to this global criminal syndicate the slave trade, harvesting of human organs and drug smuggling has gone through the roof in all sectors around the globe.
Thank you Ronald Reagan.
That you trot this inane ideology out just tells me how our written histories are still in the hands of simpletons.”

“The Yes Men have made my day, sad as that may be.
Why are the jesters also our truth tellers?
It starts with the fact that they have less to lose, and ends with the cowardice (married to the rampant apathy) of our society to accept and engage our real problems.
Hopefully the Yes Men coax us out of our lethargy. As for all the people who hate the current administration, well, let's just hope the Yes Men continue to show them what they should really be mad about and get 'em on board with the rest of us.
I'm still looking for that sea change that seems to be denied us.”

“Suppressed speech? Who's speech has been suppressed? Logical speech has been lacking but that's the fault of the popular media. Even when it does surface people would rather rally behind the hate speech and angry rhetoric. That's what people do when they allow themselves to feel useless. I don't suffer from that but I do have some aggravation towards those fomenting broad swatches of ill will and masquerading hate speech as free speech.
President Obama has betrayed no one. He's tried very hard to run a course down the middle. He didn't fail anyone. He trusted us to be wise and patient. Clearly, it is we who have betrayed him by expecting miracles. We're the ones who won't take our congress people to task for holding up health care reform. We're the one who flock to every stupid rant Rush Limbaugh or the whacked out "right" engages in. It doesn't matter that we disagree with the loonies. We make a federal case out of every misstep which only drives the madness on the right to even further extremes to which we react again. It's a vicious cycle.
Pelosi's right. We need to take a breath and step back and remember that the blame game gets us nowhere in a real hurry, or worse. Sometimes it drives people to alliances they would not otherwise consider.”

“Of course they play nice. I'm an independent, some say I'm liberal and progressive, and I guess the monikers fit, but to compare all protesters from the Bush era to "Hippies with nipple clips, wearing feather boas", well, let me just say that's not a look for me.
There was also a genuine need to speak out, unlike now. Two poorly contrived war fronts, billions missing downrange, bloated no bid contracts, the looting of our coffers for this exercise in futility and record deficits along with corporate looting, jeez, why should anyone sit tight for that and all the other stuff the last administration got away with.
What I like is the way our misguided teabagger pal keeps referring to Obama as a guy selling us out to corporate forces when in the health care reform he's being accused of being big government by the very same corporate forces he's accused of being in league with.
The lacking common sense as well as the dangerous zeal this man foments should give everyone pause and not just those of us who take issue with him.”

“Sadly, these days, the kooks are everywhere. They're doing a good job of dividing us too. The myth of "plain speaking" has somehow mutated into a belief that the easiest and most outlandish tale is true. Paranoia wins and we ALL lose. Even the kooks (which is why they're kooks).
I'm curious: have people always been this dim? If so why is it more apparent these days?
I know the ability to communicate has expanded far beyond anyone's imagination but I can't help but think people are crazier for the access. That doesn't bode well for the future of our society.”

“Define a communist. You and others throw the term around but apparently haven't a clue what it is. Is Obama pressing for people's collective? Is he hiring or assigning ministers or party heads to run massive services projects? Is he distributing money and freezing costs? What is he dictating (all the bad "communists" were really just dictators wrapped in communist slogans) to you or anyone?
Get a grip. Why expose your ignorance so freely when you could refrain or at least comment of something you actually know something about?”

“So France, England, Spain Portugal, Sweden, Taiwan, etc. are all communists for providing a public option and for not allowing profiteering for health insurance?
Please, keep spouting idiocy for as long as it suits you.”

“While I disagree with Mackey's cynical outlook and agree with him that people should eat healthier he seems to have missed the boat as to why nation healthcare reform is so important- even healthy people get sick. Some healthy people are having a hard time staying employed along with the less than healthy. They all have a problem getting insurance. The insurance companies have conspired to keep things as bad as they are.
He seems to have missed the lacking ethics of profiting off of sick (and healthy) people. By the same token some people could educate themselves, and why build roads and why have a military or government of any kind? Human beings existed long before civilization and the amenities arrived.
As a society some people are being held unfairly out in the cold. Like the other amenities we've grown accustomed to health care is fundamental because a lot of people get sick in society, even the healthy vegans.”

“Good. Nothing's for free and those taxes will have to be spent wisely. I'd say everyone having health care is a great way to actually reduce taxes in the run. Even if it doesn't better health care and teaching better preventative efforts will make us healthier. We pay a lot in taxes but to see the current waste is dispiriting. Health care for everyone is actually a GOOD thing for a change.”

“My problem with this and other calls for president Obama to be tough on this issue is the fact the he's losing the argument to his detractors because, let's face it, a lot of people are fond of being negative, of being cynical, of talking tough behind closed doors where they will not be confronted.
Look at how this nation reacted to 9-11. They freaked!! Suddenly all the best intentions were swept aside in the name of vengeance. And while a lot of people in the USA and all over the world begged congress and the administration to stop their headlong rush to war the very news agencies themselves kow towed the administration's line. And the citizen let that continue until it was far too late to do anything but strap themselves in and watch tax dollars make millionaires out of profiteering dirtbags in the name of the war on terrorism.
With this recent history is it really a surprise that this administration is handing the reins back to the insurance companies? The first time some whiner complained that their single payer health provider didn't give them a prescription for antibiotics -even though the patient didn't have an infection, the press would be falling all over themselves alleging that single payer was putting thousands at risk while forced rationing was being imposed on those who needed life saving drugs.
Rush Limbaugh is not an accidental millionaire and there lies the problem.”

“health care is not a commodity. The notion is insane. A person becoming sick should not have care denied to them because it won't turn anyone a profit. The fact of the matter is it's been immorally sold as a commodity for far too long. The rest of the civilized world manages to have universal health and having spent over a decade living in those civilizations I can tell you with no reservations, that's the better way to live than the debacle that for profit health care has provided here.
It's also NOT free of charge, because everyone pays for it through taxes. It's treated like an investment their nation's health and overall welfare.
How hard is that concept for you to grasp?”

“It's easy to make this comparison when the public hospitals get less and less funding and after almost 40 years of receiving the short end of the stick they are only now being recognized as the stop gap for those who are uninsured. As for the efficiency and profitability of the private hospitals; that's a patent myth. I saw a private hospital go through four owners in 10 years and was still struggling. Why? This was in Russelville Alabama and less and less of the good paying jobs were around as well as their residents insurance to cover their health care. Many hospitals struggled for years while the budget cutters made investment profitable even as they hired less staff to provide adequate care.
Bill Maher's right as rain. We don't have to make money on everything. Greed may be a nice motivator but it's also destructive and our current economic crisis is the price we pay for thinking greed alone will save the day.
After living abroad for a combined 11 years I'm still at a loss as to why we don't have the same level of health care access and preventative policies they enjoy over there?
the lie about people lining up for health care is absurd. I've never seen our emergency rooms as empty as those in France, Spain, Britain, Portugal and Germany. They get personal care from their own individual physicians, great medical evaluations and procedures and round the clock access.”

“Anonani, very well spoken. I get so tired of the finger pointing whenever someone falls down. I get it, the guy's likely another Republican pointing at Dems for being immoral... and then the mopral Rep is revealed to be having an affair. Bad, bad hypocrite. Except this happens so often on both sides of the aisle and chances are both political participants are more likely than not to claim some religious beliefs that frown on marital infidelity.
In the end I don't pity the guy but I sure don't see his transgressions as fatally, morally flawed. He's just human. I'm sure he never claimed to be otherwise.”

“While I think Ms. Pelosi is being honest, that indeed the CIA had deceived her and others on the use of torture (Bush denied it was going on for years after all) I also believe Democrats deserve some of this for buying into the reactionary revenge tactics the Republicans had manipulated into a public groundswell.
Giving Bush the power to invade any nation without good, verifiable evidence was a ploy to keep their (and Republicans) "phony baloney jobs" (thanks Mel!).
We the public abdicated our right to govern ourselves as soon as fear and revenge became the primary motivator for our existence. Ms. Pelosi was at one time one of those calming voices. Later, as the midterm elections loomed she acted on her need to stay in power as did other Democrats by speaking of national defense and the war on terror, and the Republicans became a bunch of whiners, claiming that fear and aggression were the only ways to deal with terrorism (funny, since terrorism has been used by human beings for thousands of years and now suddenly it would end civilization as we know it.?... yeah, right).
Where are our spines?
Do we have them back yet?
That any Republican who still defends Bush is still listened to makes that doubtful.”

“It's great to see an intelligent person in the Republican ranks. While I dislike partisanship I appreciate even more an effort at civil and intelligent discourse. I'd love to see the day when people like Meghan are the voice for the Republican party. Even if I don't agree with her political perspective I value good discussion and wisdom where ever it resides.”

“And this whole right wing, left wing remark is just a cover for the stupidity of politics. No matter who the politician or their staff may be, they are not above the law.
Whenever I read this kind of nonsense it's easy to see the wheels are no longer turning, just a grinding of gears as someone tries to make this out to be something other than what it is: this time it was the previous administration that broke our laws as well as international laws and they did so repeatedly. I'm all for lenience but to use the world as your doormat and pay bribes (all bribes from money to aid to special considerations are still bribes) to make less scrupulous people look the other way is no way for an American administration to act..
Making this a right wing, left wing thing is both childish and a lie. Bush and Cheney and their staff repeatedly lied to us, the world, and I'm betting even to themselves. Then they started on a campaign of deceit to cover their misdeeds from torture to awarding contracts to their friends for the express purpose profiting from and illegal war that cost tens of thousands of lives. I'm sorry that it takes a foreign nation to stand up to what we're afraid to do.”

“I'm all for sending Spain a thank you card for showing us how to proceed on these matters. Evidently our own Congress forgot their jobs.”

“So, when the USa invades a sovereign nation based upon trumped up lies, it's okay? But a sovereign nation decides to press charges for actual war criminals in our country and that's not okay?
Some wake me when common sense returns.”