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Mariel

Recent comments by this user

McCain's Rough Night Overshadowed By Clinton's

i will vote Huckabee on June 3 although I'm not pleased that he has been supporting McCain. He or Ron Paul are still the best possible candidates. Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party (newly nominated) is standing on almost all of Ron Paul's issues and still praising Paul.

I appreciate this article, which tells me that some voters still refuse to be totally snowed. posted 05/07/2008 at 11:11:20

Scarlett Johansson Shows Off Engagement Ring (PHOTOS)

She looks stupid with her breasts out like that. She was wonderful in that movie with Bill Murray. Too bad she can't be an actress instead of a pinup with vulgar breast exposure. But maybe you have to have that sort of publicity to succeed. I suppose so. Yawn. posted 05/06/2008 at 18:33:01

My Friend's Son Killed in Iraq: By Contractors and U.S. Agency?

As someone said, God help the U.S. and us. And not the God of the Neocons, the God in Heaven. posted 05/05/2008 at 00:28:58

31 of 53 teen girls at FLDS ranch are pregnant or had baby

The worst thing I heard about this cult is that they say the boys who are asked to leave, or are thrown out, are told they are on the way to hell.

Sex is not their chief crime; telling people they are going to hell if they don't obey the cult leaders is the worst crime. Of course the girls who leave are also told they are going to hell--but the girls all say they had to run away.

Why is anyone defending these people? Even if they didn't have plural marriages or young wives below the legal age, they are ruthless cruel manipulators. And they think they are so "heavenly."

Yes, that's true in lots of religions. I can sympthize with those who say there should be no religions, but some religious groups do not exert such cruel brainwashing on their children. Kids do need moral guidance and often get it through churches. Or through the effect churches had on their parents, even if their parents are now atheists.

It's not an easy row to hoe, following the Lord. posted 04/29/2008 at 21:43:54

Topless on TV: The Miley Cyrus / Vanity Fair Saga

Yeah, unless she's stupid she knew what it was all about. I remember when I was l5--think it was that year--I was a dancer and was taking sorta pinup pictures, and I knew what it was all about even though I was a virgin who had never had a date. Of course the schools are so dumbed down now that maybe girls don't know anything about anything.

Jamie Leigh I admire you a lot and love all your pictures. Don't write drivel any more. We love you as you are sans the drivel. posted 05/02/2008 at 12:38:51

Hundreds flee wildfire burning in foothills near Los Angeles

I remember Sierra Madre fondly too, from when I went to school in Pasadena one summer, and then my son went to Cal Tech there. Dangerous beauty. posted 04/27/2008 at 23:16:10

Spitzer Redux: Second Prostitute Tells Feds Of Ex-Gov's Bedroom Habits

Maybe he was afraid of athlete's foot? Or of giving the prostitute his athlete's foot?

This is drivel, of course. Like the "Obama/Hillary/McCain circle jerk"--that's good one.

The obscene attacks on Hillary cannot help but win her grudging admiration for a gusty gal. I could not have imagined I'd vote for her but it looks more that way every day. Groan. posted 04/24/2008 at 11:19:32

Freedom Tower Plans In New York Trash Can By Homeless Man

Why build a building there? Leave it as a memorial, as a breath of (now) fresh air after the pollution caused by the fall of the towers, which left so many sick. Give the money to build the tower to the people now sick from the pollution in that area.

It would seem that "trade" continues in New York without benefit of a structure at "Ground Zero." So stop building the idiot thing and all subsequent idiot things. posted 04/18/2008 at 11:45:40

Confessions of an Elitist

I was always against this war and I am not an elitist, not in the sense of looking down my nose at small town people who have religion and hunt, or are afraid of illegals taking their jobs, etc. I am right there with them, except that I don't own a gun. I feel this election is making our nation insane--with various groups accusing others of vile things. This is like group therapy gone wrong, on steroids. Phooey to the whole thing. But we're hooked on watching the meltdown, aren't we? The majority of people are on some drug to make them feel a certain way or not a certain way, from Prozac to Viagra. We are on a thin line here. And all of our candidates are encourging these nutty hateful feelings for other groups. To say that small town people turn to religion because they are bitter about their lives--so? Isn't that why people always turned to God, for help in times of deep distress? Can Obama fix the deep distress which turns folks to God? He is NOT God. Not anytime I looked recently anyway. posted 04/16/2008 at 02:41:22

Obama: Hillary, McCain Using "Very Same Words" Against Me

Have you noted the differences? McCain is against "choice" and gay marriage. Is Hillary? McCain wants to preserve the tax benefits of the rich; Hillary says she does not.

My grandparents came from dirt poor rural Pennsylvania, and boy were they go-getters. My grandpa served in the Montana legislature on the Socialist ticket and led the Pullman Strike; his daughter went through Journalism school Phi Beta Kappa. They WERE bitter, of course, at injustice. They had no "religion," that opiate Obama said they would have. His statement IS elitist, and Lou Dobbs is right, this may not be a conflict over race but over class. posted 04/15/2008 at 23:46:29

I Was There: What Obama Really Said About Pennsylvania

It's not that Obama said they were bitter; some of them are bitter. The speech problem is that he said rural people turned to religion and guns because they were bitter. If that's why they have religion and guns, those are not just current things; religion and gun-use have been there for generations and are indeed constitutional rights.

He also said that they tend to be suspicious of immigrants and foreign trade agreements. Yes, they are, rightly so, if their jobs are at stake and their taxes go up to pay for these things.

Obama went to Choate, the most elite prep school on the East Coast. Having been involved, matrimonially and otherwise, with prep school people, I can tell you that a Choate experience is likely to make you an elitist or an anti-elitist. I became an anti-elitist, and that's sort of a hard road to hoe, but it makes you understand these things the hard way. posted 04/14/2008 at 21:14:17

Wesley Clark for VP!

Clark is so talented that one could relax if he were VP. If he had to take over, there would be no glitch.
Sounds like a good choice.

Read his bio on Wiki; pretty darn good.

One hears little about his wife and son, but if you look at her picture on Wiki, you can see that, indeed, he has a nice looking family. posted 04/13/2008 at 16:13:36

You Went Too Far Today Jane Smiley

You are right, Kathleen Reardon.

Only an liberal elitist would make fun of small town religion. I live in a small town, and religion is important here, and it's not because of bitterness. If people are bitter here, they get less bitter in church.

but then there are those dang conservative elitists, aren't there? Like Bush and Cheney and the whole cabal.

Elitism in general is what's wrong.

I am getting closer to voting for Clinton. I was a Huckabee supporter, after a lifetime of voting Democratic. Huckabee was a small town guy who went to church and shot birds, and he was probably the best of the candidates as far as offering good governance. But Clinton's looking better when I look at her current oppostion. posted 04/13/2008 at 09:27:58

Here We Go Again

I see the problem differently than you do, Jane. Yes, there could be bitterness in small towns, and undoubtedly is; there is a lot in my small town. But many small town residents do not turn to "guns and God" merely because of bitterness over illegal immigration, Nafta, and job outsourcing.

They turn to God because God calls. They use guns because they hunt and do target practice, and in many cases have done so for generations; it's part of their culture.

Mike Huckabee came from such a culture, and he was one of the best candidates who ever ran. He did not turn to God out of bitterness, and he did not hunt because of the same. His people hunted to get food, and it became a sport with them as well, a sport in which they take pride of skill, just as an urban sportsman might take pride in running a marathon (Huckabee also became a marathon runner when he got Born Again Health).

I used to be a city liberal as you are, Jane. At least I'm assuming you are a city liberal. I doubt if I have ever touched a gun, not in my memory, and I would not like to kill for sport; but I respect those who get their meat that way, which is usually no worse than the killing of the chicken I eat in a slaughter house.
And was always looking for "God" even when I was a city slicker. posted 04/12/2008 at 18:08:00

American Idol "Shout to the Lord" Controversy and Results

You asked what we think. I think that Christians, be they evangelical or Catholic or whatever, ought to be a band of brothers as they were when I was young. Sure, we had our differences, even bigotry occasionally, but mostly the Christians and also the Jews in my growing up environment, in my schools, were Together-Folks. We sang Christmas carols at Christmas and we were all interested and supportive of the Jewish Holidays, and we all had crushes on each other as well. What a wonderful time that was!

Now, Politically Correct has ruined this Band of Brothers and Sisters I remember as glorious compared to whatever it is we have now, where we are afraid to sing the neighbor's spiritual music.

I didn't read the other comments, because just as you don't have time to watch ALL of Idol, I don't have time to read ALL the comments. But I want to give my opinion, unadulterated by reading anyone else's, because this is one subject I feel VERY strong about.

Yes, the poor atheists had to skulk in the corner but in those days they didn't really care very much. The atheists got their way when Madelyn Murray O'Hair made abortion legal, so they really scored then, and fear has been rampant ever since. No easy hymn book choices any more! Just "be careful and cringe a lot." posted 04/11/2008 at 16:19:47

General Won't Promise More Iraq Pullouts

I'm for retreat into isolation. With a strong military to hold off bombs. And of course martial law to ration our gas and short food. Like we had in WW II, which I remember from early childhood. It was not a bad time. We hung together.

We need to get out of the Middle East--way out! Save money. But remember we will need a very strong defense to do this. A standing army, not just reservists, although they need not be sent out on espensive wild goose chases like Iraq.

Does this sound like Ron Paul's plan? Maybe like Huckabee's (but he makes friendly with McCain, so far.)

We need someone in office who can defend America at home, reorient economic priorities. We ain't going to get it by fighting over Hillary and Barack. Hillary does have more experience than Barack, as she claims. Biden or somebody like that would have been better by far but the masses are brainwashed. They DO have brains but they are dumbed down.

Well, granny rant for today. posted 04/08/2008 at 10:53:43

Household Betrayal

i can't think of any reason why this was a good place to write about this problem.

Maybe Rob is looking for people to write in who can verify things, who were witnesses? Maybe he needs this help. Could be.

But unless that is the motive, why write about it here? posted 04/08/2008 at 03:53:56

McCain: Democrats' Stance on Iraq Flawed

You scare me. Maybe I'll have to vote after all. I had determined that not Clinton, not McCain, not Obama could be OK candidates, so I would not vote.
But maybe I'll have to vote for whichever Democrat wins the nomination, just to keep "bomb,bomb,bomb" out of office.

But nevertheless, even though McCain has no brain to speak of, we do face an implacable dedicated enemy in the Middle East. We need someone who can really rethink this. I see none of the candidates doing the rethinking. Obama shares something with Ron Paul, underestimating the dedication of those who want to put Sharia law over all of us. They are determined, and we are split and confused.

Clinton? We don't really love her, do we? But maybe she comes the closest to understanding what's going on.

God, if you're listening, send us a candidate who understands. posted 04/07/2008 at 11:34:14

Huffpo Headline "Mark Penn Resigns From Clinton Camp" Doesn't Tell Whole Story

Total disgust with this "election." We who blog are just fodder for their dramas. Unplug if you can. posted 04/07/2008 at 11:02:37

Who Can Beat McCain?

if I have to have either one of them I want both of them. They should knuckle under to that concept. Obama keeps saying he'll be Hillary's friend after this is over. Why not invite her on board? She might not accept. Who knows? Her husband might not accept. Chelsea Clinton said her mom would be a better prez than her dad. I like Hillary much better than Bill. Too bad we have to think of them as a package, but I suppose they are. What a frightful election this is.

As you say, Mr. Baldwin, anything but McCain. posted 04/07/2008 at 22:13:10

McCain Booed At Martin Luther King Speech: Watch The Video

I don't like any of the three remaining candidates. But one thing I dislike more than them is the amount of hatred spewed at them on this site and others. I guess not much is spewed at Obama, who is the anointed one. I am sickened by the hatred. posted 04/04/2008 at 13:50:21

April 4, 1968

Kennedy's quotation from his "favorite poet", Aeschylus, priceless. I never read this speech before, and it was a humdinger, particularly the quote from Aeschylus. Those whose hearts are never touched in this way cannot be the best leaders. Few leadership hearts have been touched this way in recent years. that is part of what is missing. posted 04/05/2008 at 00:08:25

Elizabeth Edwards Returns McCain's Fire, Demands 'Straight Talk'

I like this too. Yes, she was and is an important part of the Edwards' campaign. I would love to see her as president, too. She would need a strong VP in case she would die in office. But that is ALWAYS true of every president; he/she needs a strong VP in case death came. Hurray for Elizabeth. May God protect her health and her usefulness to her family and the nation. posted 04/01/2008 at 20:05:48

The Big Store

this is a very accurate article. What you are describing, corporate America, is "fascism."

I used to think fascism just meant any form of ruthless dictatorship. But a bright man told me it really means gov't by big corporations. They have all the say-so. That's what we have now.

I gather you think Obama would bring a change. I don't think so. I had a couple of other candidates in mind, but they are not here any more. They might have brought real change. Obama will give false hope and the fascism will continue. posted 04/01/2008 at 19:00:30

How to Avoid a Democratic Disaster

I hear on CNN that Jesse Ventura may run, but I have no details. Possibly Lou Dobbs will fill us in?
We need a practical manager-reformer, and possibly Ventura could do this, and provide relief for the deadlock. Maybe Ventura/Huckabee would be good, but I think Huck is pretty tied to the Republicans, even though he's a practical, manager-reformer. It hardly matters what their philosophy of life is, as long as they reform this bloated, dying government. posted 04/01/2008 at 14:42:48

Should Obama Drop Out of the Race?

Bill Press, my husband and I used to never miss "The Spin Room" on MSNBC. You and Tucker, a great funny pair. And now he's gone too. That was the last time I really liked politics. Well, I've been supporting Huckabee as the only viable and also intelligent candidate (and he's also funny), my first Republican support in a life as long as yours. I too was a Precinct Committeewoman and my husband was a District Chair. We want REAL change and that's why we supported Huckabee. We'd back him in a minute if he resurfaced, but we'd also back Edwards (another populist) and maybe Biden too. Or Lou Dobbs. Anyway, no handstands on the White House lawn for me, not with this crew.

Mariel posted 03/31/2008 at 18:23:18

The Fear Factor

if you impeach the present president and vice-president, which is suggested in these comments as well as in a related story below, who becomes president?

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Does this change things?

Just wondering. posted 03/28/2008 at 23:23:39

Richard Widmark: 1914-2008

He was one of my favorites when I was young. I guess I liked twisted people, sad to say, although he in his private life was not twisted--guess his face just lent itself to photographing twisties. And another favorite was Ida Lupino, his femme star in Roadhouse. Those were real stars. As the last poster said, RIP, Richard Widmark. posted 03/26/2008 at 16:35:12

Blab It, Grab It: Why Evangelicals are Finally as Mad as Hell

They do not think they've been "had" by Jesus, they think they've been had by Bush.

Most of them voted for Huckabee, but the PTB, including "powerful evangelical leaders" would not endorse him for fear of losing their economic hegemony. Except for Falwell's heir, who did endorse him. posted 03/26/2008 at 22:14:41

John Hagee: John McCain's Minister of War

Hagee should have endorsed Huckabee, who was an evangelical. This shows exactly where his real interest was: economics. Those who wanted a Christian for president, a person who was an unusually fine Christian, who wanted fairness for all in addition to the traditional "values", who was adept at making a budget turn out good things for the people of Arkansas--those people voted en masse for Huckabee. But the PTB were more interested in maintaining the economic status quo. Jesus would be ashamed of such status quo people. Pharisees.

For you humanists, let it be known that this is a trying time for Christians too, when leaders such as Hagee encorse McCain over Huckabee, or even Paul or Hunter (which of them a Christian might endorse would depend on his position on war and the Constitution, but all three were sincere Christians). But the Bible predicted that it would be so.

It's not a good time for any of us, folks. Suffering is widespread among Christians as well as among humanists. We have the same skin, which is bleeding at this time. Weep for us all. posted 03/25/2008 at 17:07:52

Obama Staff Silent On Tiffany's Purchase

Nasty nasty. Wish this season was over. But what can come after the election to sate the masses? posted 03/25/2008 at 23:14:30

TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads

You Funny Easter Bunny!

I agree, four more hours of Rev. Wright is entierly too much. Just hop on out of here. posted 03/23/2008 at 09:45:55

James Carville on Gov. Richardson's Endorsement of Barack Obama

I live in New Mexico, and I can't follow what Richardson does. If I tried, I'd have to study it every day more than I have time for. He usually gets things sort of wrong or very wrong, hears about it, then corrects himself. That has been a style of governance I have perceived. He didn't help us here in Los Alamos after the disastrous fire of 2000, eight years ago, from which many of us are still half-alive economically and emotionally. He just made some encouraging sounds. My family likes him a lot, but I am not impressed. Just having lots of "experience", i.e., jobs provided by the Clintons, is not the ultimate key to wisdom, if there is any such key.

posted 03/22/2008 at 20:33:41

Friday Talking Points [24] -- Which Side Are You On?

At least as far as media reporting goes, neither candidate seems to be talking about your talking points. They are discussing endlessly race, Wright, passports, other things than your talking points.

As a populist I supported Edwards and Huckabee. I still support Huckabee, but he's in the strange position of possibly becoming McCain's running mate. How tragic that people didn't see what he had to offer--didn't see beyond his "handicap" as an Evangelical--to see the great jobs he did as governor in many practical fields. He was much more than a preacher, although he, like Obama, is eloquent.

If I were Edwards I too could not decide who to support. I myself cannot decide whom to support. All I know is I will vote for Huckabee in my very late primary. Beyond that, I see not.

Maybe Edwards really can't see beyond June either. posted 03/21/2008 at 23:42:37

Mayhem At Fox News: Anchor Walks Off Set, Wallace Rails Network For "Obama-Bashing"

These people are talking about issues which might be important if we did not have much graver things for candidates to talk about, and for media people to talk about. You all know what these grave issues are. It is not to play down that race is important, just to play up that these other issues are life and death for our country.

Fox News as a "hard rightwing agent" managed to undermine the candidacy of the best Republican in the field, Mike Huckabee. Ann Coulter also participated, pushing Rombot, and all the other suspects followed the script--Limbaugh and the Pack. So their support does not necessarily go to the best of the "right" but to the malleable person picked out by....Who? This is not so much a rightwing issue as an issue of who serves the globalist masters, or whatever we are calling the creme de la creme these days. It's more disgusting than we thought. posted 03/22/2008 at 19:09:09

Meet Keith Olbermann's Girlfriend, New York's Newest TV Reporter

Who can afford MSNBC on their TV lineup? We had to cut back to make ends meet. I guess Cable could go next, and it wouldn't be much of a loss to get rid of Campbell Brown. But Lou Dobbs is my sweetheart. His head, I mean. HIs thinker. He's the man. So I'd miss CNN without him. But when Campbell comes on we change to the Jewelry Channel to watch something pretty. posted 03/21/2008 at 22:48:03

TV Media's Willful Misunderstanding of Barack Obama's Race Speech

Roland Martin is a really great addition to the Fourth Estate. Always the best analysis on CNN.
I don't watch "Morning Joe", because we dropped MSNBC to save money, but I saw the Huffpo video of Mike Huckabee on Morning Joe, in which Mike put this entire Wright story in its proper place. If only the right wing media had seen fit to support Mike, although we all know they are not supporting "real" conservatives, but, to use your word "oligarchs." And they know abysmally little about the black churches, as you say.

My husband and I, white, belonged to a mostly black church in Seattle, and we have some knowledge of black people as individual human beings whom we liked. We wish we were back there. We're stuck in Bill Richardson's state.

posted 03/23/2008 at 10:08:24

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008

I remember the night I first saw "2001, A Space Odyssey". I felt that I had not just seen a movie, I had undergone a change inside me.

Years later, I was teaching Science Fiction in a community college, starting the class out by watching
"2001". That was the last teaching I did in a classroom. Two things happened that day: one, I became sick from the new carpet that had been installed in the building; technology had provided a finish for my career: a toxic carpet; two, a student complained to the head of my department because I said that a floating pen was, in part, in part only, a symbol of fertility, and the student thought I had brought vulgarity into the classroom.

I realized I was too different to be a teacher; I was chemically sensitive, and I had a different world view than some of my students, who were becoming vocal about "values," and I was offended that I, a person with high values, should be attacked by a right-winger who did not know that I, too, believed in God.

So, I moved on into the next growing phase of my life, impelled again by "2001," the movie which first got me interested in Science Fiction and led me to teach it in college.

Arthur Clarke, hoping to meet you again some day, in Otherwhen. posted 03/20/2008 at 23:35:50