oregonideas's Comments (457)

“don't you just love the compassion of these wonderful christian folks..........if they were in Afghanistan, you can bet they would be talaban......... the right wing of the GOP is unbelievea­ble....how people can claim to "love god" and be so full of hate is way beyond me.........”

“breaking news!!! sometimes folks use "incorrect" english to make a point..."ain't gonna be no money for nothin' " makes it very, very clear that the cost of war is not only direct (loss of life, damages to war zone infrastructures, etc, cost of munitions and support materials, care for the lifelong debilitated when they return home, etc); but, of probably equal importance, the huge "opportunity lost" cost of spending billions (probably will end up being trillions) in a war when we have so many other domestic needs........he probably should have said, "ain't gonna be no money for nothin' for a mighty, mighty long time....and, boy, ain't that the sh#%s...."”

“standing in the cold all day to get Sarah Palin to sign a book for you is not exactly testimony of sound mental health. Sarah is not a very nice person: egocentric, hypocritical, money-grubbing, whiney and all those things you'd never want in a friend or relative, let alone a political leader.

She's getting her "bonus" fifteen minutes...­.hopefully­, he will return to Wasilla and spend her time shooting wolves from airplanes, skinning moose, and guarding us from the Ruskies.”

“I feel so much better now that Sarah is praying for me...... Smug doesn't look real great on anyone, but it somehow fits Sarah's persona. You'd like to think we can just ignore her, but wait a minute, I felt the same way about W and look how that turned out.

She's getting an additional 15 minutes and making millions during those minutes. But I keep thinking, even the dumbest Bubba Republicans are surely smart enough to realize what a disaster this woman would be in any position of responsibilty and power. We can only hope she'll flame out before the serious 2012 Presidential campaigns begin......if not, you christians, please pray not for us liberals, but for our country....”

“discrimination, the physical manifestation of racism, is alive and well.....the Valley Club got caught; tried to weasel out of it; then tried to "buy" their way out of it....these tactics didn't work, so now a chapter 7 in an attempt to protect assets....­.....clear­ly the Club needs to cease to exist and any money left over from its liquidation should be used (along with any insurance money appropriately available) to settle with the claiments.­........th­is will just be ONE less center of racism, but perhaps the message will help......it's very difficult to change people's racism, but we can hold them responsible for their actions.....that's what civil rights legislation is all about”

“we all need reminders that war is not fought with drone aircraft launching carefully guided missles to destroy carefully chosen targets with minimum "collateral damage". War, especially war in such a place as Afghanistan is dirty and deadly........if we stay we will see hundreds or, likely, thousands of American soldiers come home in the holds of cargo planes. We will also see thousands of Afghanis, combatants and civilians, die.

The real question, of course, is "is it worth it?" and the series of "sub-questions": what constitutes victory? can it be achieved? if achieved, will it last? even if achieved, how will that victory really change anything? Wars are fought at a tremendous cost; the direct cost and, really important today, the opportunity-lost cost......could we be using our energy and resources in other ways which would be more beneficial to all of us?

The whole scene with Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, Iraq, and the rest of the region is so chaotic and so inter-related that the idea of "isolating" a war in one country is unrealisti­c.....we'r­e kidding ourselves if we think any escalating involvement will lead to an earlier disengagem­ent.....es­calation will simply lead to an increased "commitment" , a greater role in the conflicts, and a virtually unending involvemen­t........w­e failed to learn from the French in Indochina, are we going to fail to learn from the Russians in Afghanistan?”

“bob griese is a jock, selected for his football background, not his political or social sensitivity....we have seen and heard far worse comments (from pleasant folks like Rush Limbaugh). To be sure, racist humor is a real drag in any setting and on TV before millions, it's totally unacceptable. A short suspension makes sense, but let's accept an apology and go on from there....as a matter of fact, President Obama's comment (again an attempt at humor) comparing his bowling skill to a person with cerebral palsey, was far, far more offensive....and it was from someone wh all hope was, in fact, extremely politically and socially sensitive. So let's not go overboard punishing Mr; Griese.”

“Mr.Kristol is really quite right...(perhaps that's far right)....anyway, if the rest of the world had just fallen in line with the neocon view and made the US the rulers of the world, we'd have peace everywhere....Pax Americana.­.......ima­gine the nerve of those effete Norwegan snobs....picking someone just because he's lead the movement to change the American approach to international affairs to multilateralism. However, to be "fair and balanced".... it is difficult for me to resolve the conflicting sides of the "quest for world peace" and our escalating role in Afghanistan.....if we can't get the rest of the world "on board", we're going to end up in another vietnam.....all alone in a situation where there is, quite literally, no hope of anything but as "mild" a defeat as possible..­....achiev­ed after years of war, hundred or thousands of casualties, billions of dollars spent, domestic needs unmet, and still no "victory".­.....lotal­uck President Obama.......”

“come on now, leave the guy alone......we've all had self-destructive thoughts then thought better of it and changed our minds......he decided to seek help from Michelle Bachmann instead......”

“what's this country coming to!!!!! here we've got multi-racial, family oriented decent people in the White House and our President actually received the world's highest acclaimation for his leadership role in changing our approach to international relations.­......work­ing for peace, what a wimp!!! he should be out invading some country or something!!!! uh oh, wait a minute,,,can you say Afghanistan? here's the real irony of the Nobel....Obama get it at the same time he's deciding how many thousand more American troops to send into that quagmire..­......does anyone really think we'll, in the long term, have any more success than the Ruskies...­......'fra­id not, folks......if we can't figure out some other way, Afghanistan will blend with Obama, like Iraq with Bush and VietNam with Johnson........not to sound too isolationist, but it'd be nice to spend energy and money focusing on solving our many domestic problems instead of "not solving" problems elsewhere.­....someth­ing about those barefooted shoemaker's children.......”

“let's see now, we're having a health conference and Typhoid Mary would like to come help us out......Should we invite her?”

“nice going right-wing guys.........our President receives the most prestigeous award available and you condemn both him and the committee who selected him.....why am I not surprised.... "Can you imagine the nerve of the man!!! Speaking out for nuclear disarmement! Working to promote a peaceful settlement in the Middle East! Actually expressing that America should work cooperatively with other nations instead of just telling them what to do! Hey, he's been in the office ten months and he still hasn't repaired the monumental damages from eight years of Bushies.....he must be incompetent" besides, if those effete snobs in Oslo like him, we, by definition, shouldn't like him!!"

Personally, I can't imagine anything contributing more to world peace than an american president working to change the way our nation, over the eight years of W., worked to destroy that world peace...Co­ngratulati­ons Mr. President for charting a course toward a better world by charting a course for a better America...­......it's no surprise that there will be folks on that right-wing fringe working to make that effort fail....but there will be millions of us working to help you in making that effort successful.....best wishes”

“I wonder if the right-wing sees the irony in the concern that folks who really need health care might migrate to the states which offerred a public option, yet the right opposes it as a bad idea....let's see now, if something is good for the folks who need help the most, it must be bad.....hey guys, great thinking..­......actu­ally, what a great idea it is!!! let the bubba states whose residents show a remarkable history of voting against their best interests have the right to continue to do so; but let those states who favor a program to provide meaningful reform targeted to assist americans who really need that reform, participate. Sounds good to me......let's see if the wacko-right (with lots of help from the health care insurance industry) can find a way to shoot it down.....”

“It took the right-wing exactly eleven seconds to start condemning President Obama's receiving the Nobel......why am I not surprised. "Geez, can you imagine recognizing a President who actually is working for subversive goals such as: nuclear disarmement, peaceful settlement of international disputes (especially in the Middle East), and a cooperative approach to working with the rest of the world of nations instead of promoting our nation as the world's #1 bully. Besides, if the rest of the world, especially those effete snobs in Oslo like him, we Americans should, by definition, not like him.
We told you lefty-socialist, america-hating pinko wimps that he wasn't a "real American"....now we've got the proof!!!"

The wacko fringe guys who control the GOP never cease to amaze me.......

Congratulations Mr. President.....you do make me proud of our country”

“BREAKING NEWS!!!! there are some really sick, nasty folks out there....they simply MUST find someone to hate!!! and, guess what, today's targets of opportunity include gays, lesbians, and any other "sexually deviant!!!" persons available. A simple question...who would you rather have rearing children, a lesbian couple, or the persons who are so full of hate for that lesbian couple......to quote good old George Tenant,,,,"it's a slam-dunk" for me.......”

“give Letterman and his PR crew high marks for getting "out in front" of a scandal and making David the victim...nice job guys..lucky for you there was someone around who was even sleazier than Letterman. Sexual harrassment in the workplace is such an issue that only a fool or an arrogant ass would become sexually involved with someone who works for him/her...­..Letterma­n, obviously, is not a fool. The question of what level of "moral accountability" is appropriate for public figures is still very much unanswered.....for years it was "zero"; the media hid their knowledge of such matters and only the check-out counter tabloids would even touch such issues. Now everyone is fair game...and the juicier the better....how about color photos and, if we're really lucky, video (wow,, could live video feed from motel rooms be far behind)....we could cheer for our favorite late-night host's performance .......personally, I don't care what they do....so long as they contain their hypocrisy....if you're a "cad" be an honest cad...Errol Flynn comes to mind....but please don't get caught and then snivel before the cameras...­....Letter­man was far more clever...he was "just contrite enough" for you to not really condemn him and yet "just arrogant enough" for you to admire his "courage".­.....maybe the new crop of politicians should study his technique......”

“President Obama, indeed, made an effort to assist Chicago in landing the 2016 Olympics......so what? Rio was, in many different ways, a great choice for '16. For the tin-hat crowd to celebrate that Chicago failed to get the bid tells us far more about them than it does Obama or Chicago. The loud-mouths of the fringe GOP speak for a very, very small minority of Americans; but they do it in a remarkably mean-spirited fashion. When a guy as conservative as David Brooks makes a concerted effort to separate the party from the extremists, you know more and more Republicans are realizing what a drag on the party Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the lesser hate-mongers are.. the GOP had better jettison these creeps or 2010 and 2012 will be worse than 2008.”

“it's nice to see someone step up and "stake out" a moderate GOP position on these issues....while Lindsey Graham may not be much of a moderate, just a few rational statements are enough to define him as such vis a vis the bevy of right-wing nuts in his party.....it will be interesting to follow the response from the right to his comments..­..."traito­r, turn-coat, closet liberal, etc. etc."”

“the tenor of the comments from the "leaders" of the right-wing of the GOP is, indeed, frightening. While Rush, Sean, Anne, Michael(s), and, of course, super-crazy Glen, won't, themselves, engage in physical violence; their verbal attacks legitimize (for their wacko followers) that violence. We've already seen this in attacks on abortion clinics and murders of abortion providers. It's only a very, very small step to attacks on "leftist" politicians, including the President. Friedman is everso right in his concern for the impact of these commentators. These folks are making America an increasingly dangerous place..”

“you know you're in real trouble when you're so crazy that the Bushies think you're crazy.......”

“hey, quit complainin­g.......sh­e's no crazier than glen beck ....and a lot better looking......”

“let's all be sure we understand this now.....Birthers are not racists; Glen Beck is not crazy; our health care system is not broken, and the check is in the mail...”

“the right-wing Republicans are attempting to present themselves as "populists­"........t­he defenders of the working man....please, give me a break.....the GOP for the sixty years I've followed politics in America has been (and continue to be) the party of the wealthy, especially the greedy wealthy....and they are not interested in sharing their "success" with anyone else.....keep the minimum wage down, break those unions, hire those immigrants, cut those wages, outsource those jobs, do anything necessary to maximize those profits...­...unfortu­nately, they have also "picked off" millions of single issue citizens (you know, the guns, god and gays, folks)...then they've got the "Joe the Plumber wacko folks" who somehow think they will be rich someday so let's have tax policies and laws favoring the rich.......what a sham......study the history of the two parties and judge for yourself which has done the most for the "common" man......compare the best known politicians, including recent Presidents, and judge which favored laws and policies supporting the middle class and working class americans. check which party has always advanced the interests of the elderly, the disabled, and the needy in our society.......check which party has advanced the cause of the wealthiest americans at a direct cost to the rest of us...........if you make these comparisons and still think the GOP folks are your buddies, you are a) very wealthy, or b) very stupid”

“please control yourself.....I'll gladly give Billo credit on this one item; but I'm not quite readly to kiss his ring yet”

“I'm really worried....Billo has said something which makes sense.....­...surely, the second shoe will drop and he'll, somehow, retract his support......if not, good for you billo.....I'll gladly give you credit on this one”