May 29, 2009

So that's why we lost

It wasn't that McCain ran an ineffective campaign or that he was a RINO that the base never really got excited about. No, it was because Barack Obama has...PSYCHIC POWERS!

President Barack Obama on Friday personally sought to deflect criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who finds herself under intensifying scrutiny for saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge. "I'm sure she would have restated it," Obama flatly told NBC News, without indicating how he knew that.
Or, maybe he's just really good at talking out of his ass and the media constantly covers for him. Good on the AP for pointing it out in at least this instance.

Hey, look, he's talking out of his ass again...
"I think that when she's appearing before the Senate committee, in her confirmation process, I think all this nonsense that is being spewed out will be revealed for what it is," Obama said in the broadcast interview, clearly aware of how ethnicity and gender issues are taking hold in the debate.
The "nonsense" in this case being an accurate quote from a prepared speech that she delivered. Yeah.

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May 28, 2009

Polls and Persuasion

I once got into a loooong debate with a very good friend and coworker about abortion as it pertained to politics.  I argued (and still say) that it was counterproductive politically and pragmatically to support banning abortion even if you thought it was murder because, as Ace often says, it isn't an argument based on logic and cannot be 'won.'  I said the best way to approach it was to target the people actually making the decision to get abortions and convince them not to.  I argued that persuasion would be far more effective at lowering the number of abortions than persecution.

Similarly, I have argued with several absolutists in the gay marriage debate that their all or nothing approach would be counterproductive and only postpone something that, at least to me, seems demographically inevitable.  I argued that the only way gay marriage wouldn't become the law of the land is if the advocates were sufficiently belligerent to convince people they must be wrong.

Two recent polls seem to support my arguments.  One shows an amazing increase in people that identify themselves as Pro-Choice while the other shows a severe decline in national support for gay marriage.  As Instapundit notes:

I think the behavior of those arguing for gay marriage has as much to do with the polls.

Exactly right.  Since, as Ace has stated* before, these two arguments run fundamentally on an emotional level it stands to reason that the general likability of the combantants has as much to do with people's opinions as their arguments.  Probably vastly moreso.  People see violent gay marriage protests and offensive, racist behavior and they are emotionally turned away from the cause as well as the few moronic actors. 

Similarly, the general turn in the Pro-Life community from being simply anti-abortion to a more evolved, actual pro-life stance has obviously yielded amazing results.  Telling someone they shouldn't get an abortion because you will love your child is far more effective than telling them they don't even have a choice. 

In the end, the merits of all these arguments have never been able to convince me one way or the other.  On abortion I'm pro-choice provided that society's position is one of strong lobbying for life.  In other words, I think women should have a choice but that choice should pretty much always be life. 

On the gay marriage thing, I just wish this moronically out of proportion debate would go away.  It distracts us from far more important things that we should actually be worried about.

* - I can't find the link right now but I'll try to later (or one of you could find that long piece...)

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 10:00 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This quote may have been altered, slightly

"I think that the only reason Anita Sotomayor is on the Court is because she is Latina. I don't believe she could have won had she been white. And the reason is, I think it was a cynical ploy by President Obama."
Scroll down toward the end here, where the heading reads " IS ______ ON THE COURT ONLY BECAUSE __ IS _____?"

I'm sure you may have guessed what this is all about, but it's somewhat interesting to note how the views of certain people may have, erm, evolved over the course of a couple of decades. As the situation dictates, of course.

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May 27, 2009

Want to know why Philly is a crime-ridden hellhole?

Here you go.  I could never be a Philly police officer like our friend Wyatt.  I'd be retired with severe brain damage within a week from pounding my head on my desk or dashboard dealing with this sort of weapons grade stupidity.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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May 26, 2009

Well, At Least Somebody Is Willing Stand Up To Iran

And, guess who it is versus who isn't.

 

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May 24, 2009

City Councilcritter Pays $68 Per Year In Property Taxes. Name The City Where This Happened

C'mon. I dare you.

"If it's an amount that's been determined by the people who are in the business of assessing ... and you pay that, then what's the issue?" she asked.

Watson's neighbors in comparable homes pay $2,000 to $6,500 in taxes. "My house has always been there," she said.

On Friday morning, Watson entered the city tax assessor's office and asked for a review of her tax bill.

...

Since joining the City Council six years ago, insisting that Detroit get its fair share has been one of Watson's signature issues.

On Sept. 29, for example, Watson was the only council member to vote against a tax break for General Motors Corp. in return for building the Chevrolet Volt at its Poletown assembly plant.

As recently as Tuesday, Watson blasted state officials who she said have cut $130 million from the city's portion of revenue sharing over the years. "They owe us," she said during a City Council meeting, demanding that the state pay the money to help the city through its financial crisis and reduce its deficit.



Here is the answer.

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May 22, 2009

Navy officer swords banned at Annapolis commencement?

So, we're going to trust these Naval officers with operating ships with enough firepower to level cities, including nuclear warheads, but they can't be trusted with swords?  FAIL

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:14 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Excuse me while I point and laugh

S&P cuts NYT rating deeper into junk status

Ha HA! Is it possible to OD on schadenfreude? Because I'm starting to worry about that a bit.

Posted by: alexthechick at 08:47 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Are you kidding me?

No, really?

It seems to be a new Cheneyite talking point that x% of those already released from Guantanamo have "returned to the battlefield." From the evidence I've seen the claim itself is questionable. But if it's true, how is this a point in favor of Cheney and the Bush administration?
Um, well, Josh, it's because you and Obama and all of your lefty pals have been arguing that we should release all of the Gitmo prisoners since about September 12, 2001.

And Cheney and the Bush administration argued that they ought to be detained until the war that they started on 9/11 (I'm being generous here, considering the idea that they started this war in 1979 with the Iranian embassy invasion and continued with the Beirut bombing, USS Cole attack, etc.) could be brought to an end.

Oh, and since this came out just a week before the era of Hope and Change actually began, I can understand your reluctance to believe it. After all, everything that came from the government before The One officially ascended was a contemptible lie. Even when it came from your buddies in the MSM.

Yeah.

Posted by: Sean M. at 04:44 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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May 21, 2009

If Nancy is right...

...about those mean old CIA people lying to her, then why did the Dems vote down a bipartisan congressional panel to investigate those lies?

"This is partisan politics and an attempt by the Republicans to distract from the real issue of creating jobs and making progress on health care, energy and education," said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami.
Ah, yes. The ever-present distractions. Of course, it has nothing to do with the possibility that she's the one who's been lying out of her heavily-botoxed ass. Yeah.

Oh, and calling for a "truth commission" and the prosecution of lawyers from the previous administration for offering legal opinions that your slavering lefty base disagree with? That's not "partisan politics" or anything.

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Bill Gates May Make A Crappy Computer, But He Sure Can Kill Terrorists

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Heh: Obama being distracted by Biden's stupidity

Too funny.

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May 20, 2009

How Bad Of Shape Are GM and Chrysler?

So bad that the UAW isn't happy about owning them.

The UAW is set to receive a 55% stake in Chrysler through its union trust fund once that automaker emerges from bankruptcy. The trust fund will also likely get up to 38% of GM's stock as part of its reorganization.

But that doesn't mean the union will be calling the shots at either company. In fact, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said the union hopes to sell its stake in both companies quickly because he is more interested in raising cash to cover retiree health care costs than having an ownership stake in GM (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler.

"Let somebody else take the stock. Give us the money," Gettelfinger said at a recent press conference. "We are trading debt for equity, and what is the value of the equity? Let's be honest, it's zero today."

Since the trust fund, and not individual union members or the union itself, will own the stakes in GM and Chrysler, it is expected that the UAW will not use its newfound role as a large shareholder to push for major changes at either company.

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Hey, Massachusetts?

That sharp pain you just felt?  Yeah, the state legislature just kicked you in the balls...hard

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 08:59 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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May 19, 2009

Good news out of Nevada?

Check out Dingy Harry's latest poll numbers.  There's a long way to go until next year, and I'm sure things could dramatically change between now and then, but we might have a chance to get rid of this douche.

Until the GOP finds a way to botch it, anyway.

(h/t)

(doubleplusundead) In other news, Dingy Harry also told reporters that Ted Kennedy's brain cancer was in remission...turns out it isn't.

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Today's talking down missile defense talking points distributed by WaPo

Cuffy has it, and the response,

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CIA To Pelosi: Why Don't You Stop While You Still Have A Chance To Save What Dignity You Have Left?

Well, it looks as though another batch of news is coming out regarding Granny McBotox and her dealings with the CIA.

The Central Intelligence Agency gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., advanced warning before CIA Chief Leon Panetta sent a memo to employees at the spy agency that countered Pelosi's claim that the agency lied to Congress about waterboarding.

A CIA official, but not Panetta, made the call to Pelosi.

"His office gave a heads up," a Democratic aide said Monday.

The aide said Pelosi protested Panetta's memo on the call to no avail.

Republicans continued leveling criticism at Pelosi Monday, four days after Pelosi accused the CIA of lying about waterboarding.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Pelosi needs to apologize to employees at the agency.

But Democrats pointed to a Monday afternoon press conference with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in which a reporter asked if Obama has confidence in Pelosi's roll {sic}as speaker.

"He does," Gibbs responded, but refused to comment further about Pelosi's accusations or Panetta's response.

But one top Republican aide said it would be unusual for Panetta to act without the White House "being aware of it first," particularly because the memo referred to the speaker.

Panetta told employees in Friday's memo that the CIA had "truthfully" briefed Congress in 2002 and that it is "up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened.

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Behold The Glories Of Excessive Taxation, New York State Edition

Apparently, the guy who founded Paychex and owns the NHL's Buffalo Sabres has had it with the tax structure in New York State. So, what's he going to do?

Move his tax registration to Florida, that's what.

Here is the best part, in my opinion:

Golisano said this year's state budget — which increased income taxes on upper wage earners from 6.85 percent to 8.97 percent — was the final straw. His moving to Florida will save him $5 million in state income taxes. The billionaire founder of Paychex, a payroll processing company, has already registered to vote and gotten his driver's license in Florida, and signed the homestead exemption paperwork that will cap his annual property tax increases to 3 percent a year there.

"I'm sorry Mr. Golisano feels that he has to change his residence at this time," Gov. David Paterson said today. "I understand the people moving out of this state is one of the reasons we don't want to raise personal income taxes as we did."

Paterson warned legislative leaders that raising the income tax would drive people out, but he bowed to pressure from Democratic leaders in the two houses to implement the tax, which will raise $4 billion a year.

Paterson said he was successful in changing the Legislature's plan to keep the taxes higher for three years, instead of the proposed five years. "So, I'm hoping when it sunsets in three years that Mr. Golisano will come back," he said.

"I'm sorry, that kind of statement doesn't render much confidence in me that it's going to change. They get used to a level of spending and they just can't back off from it," Golisano said of the governor and lawmakers.

Golisano has spent about $100 million in his three gubernatorial runs on the Independence Party line and last year's effort to bring change to Albany by supporting a Democratic takeover of the state Senate. While the Democrats do control the Senate now, Golisano said it has been a failure so far because no one stood up in the Democratic conference to block a budget that he said harms taxpayers during one of the nation's worst recessions.

I recall when Rush Limbaugh said he was moving out, Jon Stewart told him to "get the fuck out of here". Will the Satirical Sentry of Liberalism attack Golisano because he supported Democrats? I'll fit into my High School graduation tusedo before that happens.

 

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I know, I know, no math blah blah

Okay, as we all know, I cannot do basic math. However, from reading this article I have a question. It certainly appears to me that this gentleman, who installed his own solar panels and is using his own electricity generated from his own panels, is being charged by TVA for using the power that he generated.  Now, maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I read this.  Maybe I'm wrong and I'm sure y'all will tell me if I am. 

But if I'm not then what the hell?  It's one thing not to get paid unless you're generating extra power that being fed back into the grid.  It's quite another to be charged as if you're using electricity from TVA when you're actually using your own power.  This reminds me of what was going on in Atlanta where people were told to conserve water due to the drought.  People did and then they were charged extra since revenue targets weren't being met.

Remember, boys and girls, it's not actually your money or your life.  That sheeple thing is starting to look more true by the moment.

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May 18, 2009

Heh: Maureen Dowd caught plagiarizing lefty blogs

Funny.

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