Ten Good Things About 2006

[ronaldo]

I agree with the author of this article that these are ten good things that happened in 2006. With one more. Democrats winning the Mid Term elections.

Can you all think of any other good things that happened poltically in 2006.


http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/4278

[mydo]

Most of that is nonsense.

[jvb]

Only good thing that comes to mind is the Democratic takeover at the midterm elections. It's about time.

[SDW2001]

1. It remains to be seen whether the Democratic takeover is a good thing. It depends what they do.

2. "Latino communities throughout the United States took center stage in the spring of 2006..... the spirit and energy of millions of immigrants demanding to be treated with dignity and respect took the nation by surprise.

Yeah, wow that was great! I really loved seeing illegal immigrants take to the street with Mexican flags, protesting those who wish to enforce the existing laws of the United States. Fantastic!

3. After decades of dictating the rules of the global economy, World Trade Organization talks fell flat on their face in 2006.

Die you global capatlist pigs!

4. George Bush opened 2006 with a State of the Union Address bemoaning our "addiction to oil"; 86 prominent Evangelicals called global warming a moral issue; Al Gore educated millions with his film, An Inconvenient Truth; and Time magazine declared the Earth is at a tipping point with melting ice, drought, wind, disease, and fires raging out of control. Historians may one day look back on 2006 as the "tipping-point" year when human societies--including the United States as the major superpower and the major polluter--woke up to the precarious state of our world and decided it was time to find solutions.

This one is just rhetorical garbage. "2006--Fight the Power!"

5. As a clear indicator of the shift from debating global warming to doing something about it, this year California passed the nation's toughest legislation to curb greenhouse gases.

OK, this legislation is probably a good thing. However, there isn't any real debate about global warming as there should be. Also, we shouldn't stop debating something just because we decide to enact prudent environmental policy. Global warming is not a proven phenomena.

6. In a year when Enron executives were found guilty of cooking the books, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for proving that poor people can be more reliable money managers than rich ones...

The prize itself is a good thing, I agree. The commentary is utterly stupid. You can't compare corporate corruption to "money management" and then make that declaration.

7. While the fighting between Israel and Lebanon left over 1,000 dead, mostly Lebanese, a ceasefire was achieved after only 34 days.

OK...but then....

When the violence threatened to spiral out of control, the United Nations, the Arab League and individual governments stepped forward to insist on negotiations.....The lessons that SHOULD have been learned when the powerful Israeli military was unable to "win" the conflict through force are that military aggression will not solve the deep-seated problems in the region, and that negotiations and peace processes can work.

Actually, the UN was its usual impotent self. Israel decided not to use its 40,000 strong invasion force for a variety of reasons, not the least of which, I'm sure, was pressure from the U.S. As for the last statement, it is predicated on the false assumption that Israel only wants to use military force, a claim that is dubious at best.

8. Speaking of dialogue, Jimmy Carter, with his new book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, took on the greatest taboo in US politics: the gross violation of Palestinian rights and the unqualified US government support for the Israeli government...

Jimmy Carter...how do I say this...is an idiot. He was arguably the most ineffective President of the 20th century. His administration was marred by deep recession, a declining military, the Iranian hostage crisis, and the radicalization of the mideast in general. He ended up having to meet with Jewish leaders to discuss his inflammatory, anti-semetic and inappropriately titled book. But yeah...that was great.

9. In 2006 we managed to stop the next war from starting! With the US bogged down in Iraq and the public sick of war, it has been impossible for the Bush administration to launch an attack against another country like Iran or North Korea...The army doesn't have enough recruits to fight a new war and the politicians know it would be political suicide to reinstate the draft....Two major warmongers--Donald Rumsfeld and John Bolton--were forced out of power. And with Bush obligated to appoint a new ambassador to the United Nations, perhaps diplomacy will come back into fashion.

Power to the people! Really, another dumb statement. If the Bush administration decides it has to bomb Iran to prevent them from getting nukes, they'll do it. Secondly, we do have "enough recruits," regardless of our forces currently being stretched. A draft is not going to happen, nor was it planned by the administration. It was, in fact, a Democratic proposal. Finally...you want to call Rumsfeld a war monger? Well I suppose that's to be expected. But John Bolton? A warmonger? How is that term even remotely appropriate? He's also exactly what we needed at the UN. It's definitely not a good thing that he won't be there.

10. Across Latin America, elections have continued to bring a wave of progressive leadership to power. With the victories of Daniel Ortega and Rafael Correa, Nicaragua and Ecuador join Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Brazil as governments committed to improving the lives of the majority. As a sign of the radical changes in the region, Bolivia's Evo Morales marked May 1 by nationalizing the country's oil and gas resources. "After today," he declared, "the hydrocarbons will belong to all Bolivians. Never again will they be in the hands of transnational corporations. Today the country--la patria--stands up."

So here's a toast to nations standing up to greedy transnationals, to people standing up to leaders who abuse their power, to humanity standing up to save the planet we inhabit--and to bringing our troops home in 2007!

LOL! Progressive leadership! You mean, socialism? It's not like these countries had neo-con governments before. Yay for Socialism! We will bury you!

[hardeeharhar]

The list is stupid. But SDW's response is even more idiotic...

[MarcUK]

strange entry :lol:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_science

[franksargent]

strange entry :lol:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_science

:smokey:

Somebody is messing with wiki again? w00t! A few days ago, I wiki'ed "oxymoron" and it returned "useful jew" but that one doesn't work anymore (just tried it), it now goes to the correct page.

:smokey:

[jimmac]

1. It remains to be seen whether the Democratic takeover is a good thing. It depends what they do.



Yeah, wow that was great! I really loved seeing illegal immigrants take to the street with Mexican flags, protesting those who wish to enforce the existing laws of the United States. Fantastic!



Die you global capatlist pigs!

4.

This one is just rhetorical garbage. "2006--Fight the Power!"



OK, this legislation is probably a good thing. However, there isn't any real debate about global warming as there should be. Also, we shouldn't stop debating something just because we decide to enact prudent environmental policy. Global warming is not a proven phenomena.



The prize itself is a good thing, I agree. The commentary is utterly stupid. You can't compare corporate corruption to "money management" and then make that declaration.



OK...but then....



Actually, the UN was its usual impotent self. Israel decided not to use its 40,000 strong invasion force for a variety of reasons, not the least of which, I'm sure, was pressure from the U.S. As for the last statement, it is predicated on the false assumption that Israel only wants to use military force, a claim that is dubious at best.



Jimmy Carter...how do I say this...is an idiot. He was arguably the most ineffective President of the 20th century. His administration was marred by deep recession, a declining military, the Iranian hostage crisis, and the radicalization of the mideast in general. He ended up having to meet with Jewish leaders to discuss his inflammatory, anti-semetic and inappropriately titled book. But yeah...that was great.



Power to the people! Really, another dumb statement. If the Bush administration decides it has to bomb Iran to prevent them from getting nukes, they'll do it. Secondly, we do have "enough recruits," regardless of our forces currently being stretched. A draft is not going to happen, nor was it planned by the administration. It was, in fact, a Democratic proposal. Finally...you want to call Rumsfeld a war monger? Well I suppose that's to be expected. But John Bolton? A warmonger? How is that term even remotely appropriate? He's also exactly what we needed at the UN. It's definitely not a good thing that he won't be there.



LOL! Progressive leadership! You mean, socialism? It's not like these countries had neo-con governments before. Yay for Socialism! We will bury you!



They've got to be an improvement on the fucktards that have been running the show all this time so yes SDW it can't help but be a good thing!

[SDW2001]

The list is stupid. But SDW's response is even more idiotic...

Thanks for that well thought out post.

[SDW2001]

They've got to be an improvement on the fucktards that have been running the show all this time so yes SDW it can't help but be a good thing!

How is that you can read all of that, each of the ten points, and respond only with that one comment?

[hardeeharhar]

Thanks for that well thought out post.

It was more thought than could have possibly gone into yours...

[SDW2001]

It was more thought than could have possibly gone into yours...

Really, that's weak. I certainly put a lot more thought into than you did, what with your brilliant "that's idiotic" two word retort of ten specific points.

[hardeeharhar]

Your "ten points" were criticizing an idiotic list... That's worse than shooting your mouth off -- that's spraying jism over a dead hooker...

[SDW2001]

Your "ten points" were criticizing an idiotic list... That's worse than shooting your mouth off -- that's spraying jism over a dead hooker...

It's not like I created the topic, bucko. Not only did I call the list dumb, I explained why I thought so. Maybe you should focus your energy on actually engaging in conversation adn debate instead of gratuitously attacking someone for no good reason.

[trumptman]

I agree with the author of this article that these are ten good things that happened in 2006. With one more. Democrats winning the Mid Term elections.

Can you all think of any other good things that happened poltically in 2006.


http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/4278

I can think of several good things that happened politically in 2006.

1) Republican candidates learned that you can't spend like Democrats and get elected.

2) Democratic candidates promised not to spend like Democrats in order to get elected.

3) Democrats put themselves on the hook to "fix" whatever it was they could never quite articulate that was wrong with the war.

4) Democrats who were elected did so mostly with a fair-trade stance and a more populist view towards working folks.

5) Americans began to debate how to deal with millions of illegal immigrants but the greatest asset within that debate is that our immigrants prefer to simply come and work instead of kill us, which is what Europe has to deal with when thinking about their immigration problem.

6) The last and best thing of all is that all the conspiratorial police state, democracy is no longer possible, all the voting machines are rigged, no one can win because of gerrymandering, Bush controls us all and we need to wear tinfoil helmets bit was proven wrong.

When people really want a change, whether I agree with it or not, it happens. People should commit that to memory for their own views and values as well. There isn't anything wrong in Kansas. Nobody was fooled. Information wasn't impossible to get because of some governmental controlling agency. No strange cars with cloaked figures took those who disagreed with those in power away. Regardless of who wins in 2008, that should be kept in mind.

Nick