Disqus - Friends of Sombody_took_my_username

Re: Sunday Open Thread

PTCruiser — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:34:43 -0000

The Israelis are not going to play ball whether the rockets are being launched into their territory or not. The current Palestinian leadership is not able to make any such concessions in great part because the previous actions of our government and various Israeli governments has served to weaken and discredit them.

I have to take my boys to Game Stop to buy X-Box codes.

Re: Sunday Open Thread

PTCruiser — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:57:29 -0000

Taking a hard line with the Palestinians has nothing to do with pursuing the right idea or policy and everything to do with providing political cover. The Palestinians live under hard lines and even harsher policies 24/7.

Just keep in mind that the Holocaust occurred primarily in central and eastern Europe and it was not the overarching event of World War II nor were the Palestinians involved.

Re: Sunday Open Thread

PTCruiser — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:41:30 -0000

The Palestinian situation is not a generational problem. I will give the president his props if and when something beneficial happens for the Palestinian people. Until that time...

Re: House of Representatives Passes Healthcare Reform Bill

baratunde — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:39:10 -0000

they're still coming!! HAPPY BDAY. Couldn't keep this site moving without you.

Re: House of Representatives Passes Healthcare Reform Bill

baratunde — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:36:49 -0000

Wondering what the point of these people's votes was.

Re: Evening Open Thread

CraigHickman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:04:37 -0000

Isn't he the one who said that the quickest way to get a school yard bully to back down is to stand up?

Democrats need to stand up.

Re: Evening Open Thread

CraigHickman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:46:02 -0000

Good luck with that.

Re: Evening Open Thread

CraigHickman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:39:48 -0000

I'm planting 200 bulbs this weekend.

Re: Nidal Malik Hasan: The Madness Time

PTCruiser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:32:31 -0000

Yes, but not all of them take advantage of that therapeutic hour by fully disclosing themselves and sometimes the therapist assigned to assist them doesn't really want to get too deep for fear of exposing the chinks in their own armor. It can be a mess.

Re: Nidal Malik Hasan: The Madness Time

PTCruiser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:23:50 -0000

Not quite in the same way and respect as the male of the species.

Re: Nidal Malik Hasan: The Madness Time

PTCruiser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:17:18 -0000

Nope. Strictly male behavior.

Re: Nidal Malik Hasan: The Madness Time

PTCruiser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:07:56 -0000

Many people go into the helping profession because they too need help. Sometimes they recognize what they need and make an effort to get it. Other times, they wind up only telling others what they themselves need to learn.

Dr. Hasan needed help and couldn't figure out the appropriate way to get it. We are going to see more eruptions of this sort in the military and not just among the non-coms. Two pointless and futile wars and multiple redeployments in a time of domestic and international social, economic and political retrenchment will only increase the frequency of these violent outbursts here and in other countries.

Re: Nidal Malik Hasan: The Madness Time

PTCruiser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:02:23 -0000

Every part of this ongoing and now pointless drama.

Re: Nidal Malik Hasan: The Madness Time

PTCruiser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:59:58 -0000

Good point!

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:35:10 -0000

That's the most curious thing I've read so far.

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:34:03 -0000

They can't. But they prop them up anyway.

Journalism is dead.

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:18:39 -0000

I turned off the TV. What are these "family members" saying?

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:03:57 -0000

Military officials are giving out confidential information?

He was promoted to Major this past May?

How poor could his performance have been?

What constitutes poor?

Isn't it easy to create a profile of the dead who have no opportunity to defend themselves?

And since he was single and had no children, who can vouche for him?

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:12:49 -0000

There's a whole lot about this shooting that isn't adding up.

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:17:49 -0000

Lord have mercy.

Re: Amazing and disturbing tweet from Fort Hood area. Now with ebonics translation

baratunde — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:52:17 -0000

my first reaction was "damn!"

Re: TPM report from Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill (or how mobs form and wreck sh*t)

baratunde — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:51:50 -0000

ain't it!??

Re: Responding To The Progressive Obama Haters Not Quite One Year Out

CraigHickman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:57:53 -0000

Obama is never above criticism, and he's received a lot of mine. But he has not flip flopped on DADT. He was against it during the campaign and he still is.

Congress will have to overturn it.

Re: Responding To The Progressive Obama Haters Not Quite One Year Out

baratunde — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:39:38 -0000

Oh and I really do appreciate you coming here to comment! Really. thanks.

Re: Responding To The Progressive Obama Haters Not Quite One Year Out

baratunde — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:38:10 -0000

And I don't think your brand of Obama as total progressive failure is something WE can afford. If you read more of my work, you'll know I'm not a knee-jerk defender of this administration. Perhaps if I'd read more of yours I would not have been so dismissive either. Apologies for that.

But I am still greatly annoyed by complete write-offs of this administration by the only people who should be standing by it more than not. You fell into that category when you made a blanket assumption that the reason new dems stayed home was because the president has failed to deliver on his promises and basically has nothing to show for his first 10 months in office.

That's far too broad and simplistic a view, especially given that the two biggest races this week were in states that always do what they do, and you didn't mention it at all. I thought that was highly negligent.

Here's a more complete followup.

Dem turnout was high in 2008 because it was an historic race. 2009 elections are anything but. I see the low youth and Af-Am turnout less as a reflection of disappointment in Obama's policies and more as a reflection of the extraordinary energy and momentum of 2008.

Republican turnout was high because a) there's an party civil war between moderates and conservatives b) the GOP is directing all its firepower at Obama and he's a proxy for their frustration with everything about "government" and "freedom" and "the constitution" and other buzzwords they flaunt without much thought. They have much more to prove, and they're angry. Anger is a great motivator

Many of the items you cite were never part of Obama's campaign or presidential agenda. Gay marriage. Of course I'm pro civil rights, but where did you ever get the idea that Obama would campaign actively to defend marriage equality? He's been very clear that he's not even that hot on it. Meanwhile he hasn't been totally inactive on issues of concern to gay Americans (see HIV travel policy). He's a smart but deliberate leader not prone to massive amounts of rattling. Yes it would have been nice if he made a statement of support, but your larger point in your piece is that "words" don't mean anything, so why do you hold his lack of a "statement" against him?

Afghanistan? Again. He and nearly the entire democratic field campaigned on MORE war in Afghanistan. I don't happen to agree with this. Increasingly Americans don't. And the president is taking a hard look at our options which I'm glad to see.

For the record, I believe progressive pressure on this administration is a GOOD thing. What I think is not as good is calling this administration a failure and saying they've completely let down their supporters. That to me is simply not true, and it's frustrating to see how we treat our own leaders vs. how Republicans treat theirs. I think the lack of GOP criticism of Bush over the 8 year period was capitulation in the extreme, but I'm troubled by what I see as overly dramatic and premature defeatism by some on the left toward our own guy, a big part of whose job is to clean up the mess left by the last guy. I think there's a more supportive and constructive way to apply pressure than calling our own team a total failure and sellout.