I will say that while there are many on here I disagree with, sometimes quite strongly, I quite glad I seldom if ever have the read the sort of stuff we see taken from the DNC blog and the Dean blog and posted on here. I also understand that there are people on the right who are just as stupid and ignorant. Who cannot see the principles behind the issues they happen to be supporting.
Those comments are just sickening. They are welcome to their opinions, but the comments basically amount to supporting death and suffering for political gain.
You guys can pile on me all you want. It doesn't make you any more right. I'm not getting into more pissing contests with you. If you are so blinded by Bush hatred that you can't even see the political reality, then I almost feel badly for you.
Take it Easy SDW, true Bush has a very likely chance, so who cares. The fact of the matter is that, he's going to win not only because his campaign is focuses and clearer, but the democrats are just a big orgy of muddled political conflict. Bush has done quite a lot of good for our country as well as some bad, but then who knows until years from now right?
The last I heard about school openings was that the "repairs" by Bechtel are half assed. And alot of people won't send their kids to school yet because it's too dangerous.
Oh and by the way... most of the school reopenings that the adminisitration bragged about were just out for the summer... had nothing to with our "rebuilding efforts".
Dec. 22 Issue - "Game over," an Iraqi on the streets of Baghdad told CNN. Maybe. More likely, the game is just beginning, and not only on the ground in Iraq. The American presidential campaign, connected at the hip this year to foreign policy, will now move in a different direction. Toward a Bush landslide? Not so fast.
The biggest fallacy in forecasting of any kind is to take current conditions and extrapolate forward as if those conditions won't change. President Bush could still be vulnerable politically. Same for Howard Dean in the primaries, regardless of how positive the news climate may be for both of them right now. Even with good odds, the shoo-in doesn't fit.
That's because the media-political universe adheres to two strange laws simultaneously. The first is the Law of Premature Predictions. It's a dinner party or chat-room thing. "Stick a fork in him" sounds confident and smart. "Who knows?" sounds boring and lame. So people look at the latest news--Saddam captured, Al Gore endorses Dean--and ignore other inconvenient variables.
Then there's the Law of Media Oscillation. The process invites--no, demands--a series of sine curves to keep everyone interested. Up one week, down the next. The only safe prediction is that a static, unchanging political narrative is impossible. As we're seeing, stuff happens in war and politics, and when it doesn't, the media will half-consciously rearrange all the atoms of emphasis and particles of story choice to make it seem so.
The last I heard about school openings was that the "repairs" by Bechtel are half assed. And alot of people won't send their kids to school yet because it's too dangerous.
Oh and by the way... most of the school reopenings that the adminisitration bragged about were just out for the summer... had nothing to with our "rebuilding efforts".
Same with the hospitals. Most never closed.
The north and south are alot less populated too.
Yup.
Of course, reality tv is the level of fact most of these folks can handle.
At least I tell the truth and see things as they are. Not as I wish them to be. If you're attempting to imply that I want these things to happen ( like you have in the past ). Be aware that I didn't want us to fight a war in Iraq. If you want to blame someone for insensitivity in this and the economy I suggest you look to Mr. Bush. He's the one who wanted this war so bad. He's the one that spread falsehoods in order to get the ok. He's also the one who decided we needed to do this in a time of economic difficulty.
He's also the one who has done little or nothing to improve the economic conditions. Taking people off the unemployment list and temp jobs aren't going to matter in the long run. SDW you mark my words. The economy still isn't reflecting what it should for all the stimulation packages that have been thrown at it. Something is still wrong.
As to 2004 being the best year in 20. Well.....that would be nice. It just isn't going to happen. Seeing things as they really are. A positive attitude is all fine and good. But just saying it's going to be the best year in 20 isn't going to make it happen. I realize I'm talking to a brick wall who'll support Bush no matter what but I feel the need to respond when I read an untruth. Sorry if that bothers you.
I am just completely blown away by you, jimmac. As always.
Your steadfast refusal to see aything positive at all for Bush (and everything negative) shows what a blind partisan you are. I have presented an extensive list of things the President has going for him...a list that many responsible Democrats are right to be concerned about.
The economy is now is very good shape. There is no argument against that anymore. Further argument on your part just makes you look like an ass.
Bush will capitalize on his tax cuts and campaign on making them permament. I personally believe they did work, but even if you don't, he WILL use it to political advantage because...say it with me...THE ECONOMY IS IN RECOVERY AND PEOPLE WILL CREDIT THE CUTS WHETHER OR NOT THEY ACTUALLY DID THE JOB. Please God, help jimmac see this.
Dean is a Leftist. He will attempt to come to the center for general election. Dean can also not win the general election.
Bush will be seen by most people in this country as a strong wartime leader. Maybe not by you, but by the majority.
Bush will capitalize on the medicare bill. there won't be enough time to delve into its intricacies.
Bush is running unopposed. Bush will raise lots of money. Bush will spend lots of money.
There is no strong third party candidate.
Bush has not broken a no new taxes pledge like his father did.
And now Bush will be credited for getting Saddam. Iraq will be under a provisional government by June.
If you honestly can't see these things...if you are so blindly partisan as to not see why all this is bad for the national disaster that is the Democratic party right now, than I seriously, seriously, pity you. Support whomever you choose...but admit reality.
I'm hearing the Charlie Brown teacher voice again.
The best I've heard about the economy is that it MIGHT be turning the corner to better growth. But the HUGE defecits are sure to slow any progress. As does the weak dollar.
And have you seen Bush's poll numbers? he got a 4% boost after the capture of Saddam. Sure doesn't sound unbeatable to me. Plus there's the Bechtel and Haliburton profiteering scandal brewing.
But keep thinking Bush is invincible. We like it that way.
Not as compared to the economy of January 20, 2001. And the cost of pulling the economy back up to this tepid level -- billions of dollars in more immoral Federal debt that that smirking asshole is going to foist on the next generation -- is not worth the meager benefits of this jobless recovery.
Quote:
Dean is a Leftist.
Look at his record. Dean is a moderate, with a left-leaning view on the Iraq situation that the media has latched onto, and thus given him a leftist look. But his most of his policy proposals, particularly in the extremely important area of fiscal responsibility, are very moderate.
Quote:
Bush will capitalize on the medicare bill. there won't be enough time to delve into its intricacies.
It won't take intricacies to point out that the bill is a festering pile of crap that will hurt more seniors than it helps. A series of 30-second ads can do that just fine.
Quote:
Bush will raise lots of money. Bush will spend lots of money.
In the general election the two candidates will receive equal funding from the Federal government, around $65 million. During the primaries, Bush will have much more money than any Democrat, but there will also be Section 527 organizations out there trying to counter that. Bush's money advantage won't be as overwhelming as it could be. Particularly with all the free cycles that come from the Democrats having an actual race.
You, SDW, are at least as blindly partisan as you accuse others of being. Yes, there are a lot of positives for Bush, but not everything is roses for this administration. And a lot of Bush's pluses are based on mirages that may not last to November -- his crappy, evil prescription drug "benefit" being the most potentially potent one.
It may not happen in time for 2004, but the moment seniors realize Bush's bill is a major push to cattle drive them all into HMOs you'll see a political alignment towards the Democrats amongst the elderly that will hurt the Republicans for a decade. But of course, Bush doesn't care about anyone who comes after him, only his own short term gain. His fiscal policy alone proves that.
I agree with SDW. If the American people don't look at the details (e.g., Medicare) and think only of the short-term (e.g., tax cuts) and believe the administration's hype (e.g., Saddam = terrorism), Bush will get re-elected. That's always the way it is. Republicans rely on the lowest-common denominators, while the truth - and the long term - are damned.
You know, it's interesting to contrast this capture of Sodom with the trial currently going on in which Clark just testified. They were two wars that got rid of a dictator. But look at the outcomes of each - in Clinton/
Clark's war, NATO was strengthened, in Bush's, it was split into adversaries. Clark's war is now forgotten and the region is stable, while Bush's war results in daily deaths due to hatred of Americans.
Bush is in a huge bind re: the war. If he brings the troops out too early, he will be skewered for cutting and running for political reasons. If we stay, which is the right thing to do, those deaths will continue and people will be really sick of it over the next year.
The two big issues in the campaign will be the economy and the war. The economy is finally getting better, but it peaked too early, and those great numbers will certainly get worse before the election. And they still won't change the fact that Bush will be the first president since the Great Depression to see a net loss of jobs on his watch. Be prepared for lots of ads touting that fact, as well as the deficit numbers.
I also think Bush's conservative base won't come around like people assume. This has been anything but a conservative president. Clinton was arguably more conservative than Bush. If the Republicans lose their base, it's death for them.
And the country is simply split down the middle. There's nothing that can change that. This would be a close race no matter what happens or who is nominated.
In the general election the two candidates will receive equal funding from the Federal government, around $65 million. During the primaries, Bush will have much more money than any Democrat, but there will also be Section 527 organizations out there trying to counter that. Bush's money advantage won't be as overwhelming as it could be. Particularly with all the free cycles that come from the Democrats having an actual race.
I have a feeling that the Dems won't need to take federal election funding this time around. And of course Bush won't. Bush will massively outspend the Dems, but that's no different than normal.
Comments
Doesn't make us Bush haters... unless that means you wear Monica's presidential kneepads for Dubyah.
Do I think Bush "sucks" as a President? I sure do. Do I "hate" him? No.
Ahh the nuances of criticism.
And YES there are peace activists and all sorts of people who hate Bush for his policies. Not because he's a republican... but for what he's done.
Get over it. You can't start an unprovoked war and NOT be hated by someone.
Those comments are just sickening. They are welcome to their opinions, but the comments basically amount to supporting death and suffering for political gain.
Nick
Originally posted by SDW2001
You guys can pile on me all you want. It doesn't make you any more right. I'm not getting into more pissing contests with you. If you are so blinded by Bush hatred that you can't even see the political reality, then I almost feel badly for you.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Originally posted by giant
Yeah, sometimes we can forget that the idiots need a voice on AO, too. SDW is that voice.
Originally posted by kraig911
....but the democrats are just a big orgy of muddled political conflict.
I kinda get that vibe as well. Aren't the dems betting like hell that the Iraq thing stays in the toilet?
I wouldn't want to be in their postion.
Originally posted by dmz
I kinda get that vibe as well. Aren't the dems betting like hell that the Iraq thing stays in the toilet?
I wouldn't want to be in their postion.
The thing is it will stay in the toilet. Whether Bush admits it or not is of no consequence.
Originally posted by jimmac
The thing is it will stay in the toilet. Whether Bush admits it or not is of no consequence.
You're a real piece of work.
Originally posted by Scott
Quagmire!
There! You said it! Confess old woman! confess!
(actually the north and south of the country are in fairly good shape)
It's just too easy to concentrate on blown-up solders rather than report every time a school opens.
Oh and by the way... most of the school reopenings that the adminisitration bragged about were just out for the summer... had nothing to with our "rebuilding efforts".
Same with the hospitals. Most never closed.
The north and south are alot less populated too.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3710931/
The New Law of Uncertainty
Newsweek
Dec. 22 Issue - "Game over," an Iraqi on the streets of Baghdad told CNN. Maybe. More likely, the game is just beginning, and not only on the ground in Iraq. The American presidential campaign, connected at the hip this year to foreign policy, will now move in a different direction. Toward a Bush landslide? Not so fast.
The biggest fallacy in forecasting of any kind is to take current conditions and extrapolate forward as if those conditions won't change. President Bush could still be vulnerable politically. Same for Howard Dean in the primaries, regardless of how positive the news climate may be for both of them right now. Even with good odds, the shoo-in doesn't fit.
That's because the media-political universe adheres to two strange laws simultaneously. The first is the Law of Premature Predictions. It's a dinner party or chat-room thing. "Stick a fork in him" sounds confident and smart. "Who knows?" sounds boring and lame. So people look at the latest news--Saddam captured, Al Gore endorses Dean--and ignore other inconvenient variables.
Then there's the Law of Media Oscillation. The process invites--no, demands--a series of sine curves to keep everyone interested. Up one week, down the next. The only safe prediction is that a static, unchanging political narrative is impossible. As we're seeing, stuff happens in war and politics, and when it doesn't, the media will half-consciously rearrange all the atoms of emphasis and particles of story choice to make it seem so.
Continues at the link above.
Originally posted by chu_bakka
The last I heard about school openings was that the "repairs" by Bechtel are half assed. And alot of people won't send their kids to school yet because it's too dangerous.
Oh and by the way... most of the school reopenings that the adminisitration bragged about were just out for the summer... had nothing to with our "rebuilding efforts".
Same with the hospitals. Most never closed.
The north and south are alot less populated too.
Yup.
Of course, reality tv is the level of fact most of these folks can handle.
Originally posted by SDW2001
You're a real piece of work.
At least I tell the truth and see things as they are. Not as I wish them to be. If you're attempting to imply that I want these things to happen ( like you have in the past ). Be aware that I didn't want us to fight a war in Iraq. If you want to blame someone for insensitivity in this and the economy I suggest you look to Mr. Bush. He's the one who wanted this war so bad. He's the one that spread falsehoods in order to get the ok. He's also the one who decided we needed to do this in a time of economic difficulty.
He's also the one who has done little or nothing to improve the economic conditions. Taking people off the unemployment list and temp jobs aren't going to matter in the long run. SDW you mark my words. The economy still isn't reflecting what it should for all the stimulation packages that have been thrown at it. Something is still wrong.
As to 2004 being the best year in 20. Well.....that would be nice. It just isn't going to happen. Seeing things as they really are. A positive attitude is all fine and good. But just saying it's going to be the best year in 20 isn't going to make it happen. I realize I'm talking to a brick wall who'll support Bush no matter what but I feel the need to respond when I read an untruth. Sorry if that bothers you.
Your steadfast refusal to see aything positive at all for Bush (and everything negative) shows what a blind partisan you are. I have presented an extensive list of things the President has going for him...a list that many responsible Democrats are right to be concerned about.
The economy is now is very good shape. There is no argument against that anymore. Further argument on your part just makes you look like an ass.
Bush will capitalize on his tax cuts and campaign on making them permament. I personally believe they did work, but even if you don't, he WILL use it to political advantage because...say it with me...THE ECONOMY IS IN RECOVERY AND PEOPLE WILL CREDIT THE CUTS WHETHER OR NOT THEY ACTUALLY DID THE JOB. Please God, help jimmac see this.
Dean is a Leftist. He will attempt to come to the center for general election. Dean can also not win the general election.
Bush will be seen by most people in this country as a strong wartime leader. Maybe not by you, but by the majority.
Bush will capitalize on the medicare bill. there won't be enough time to delve into its intricacies.
Bush is running unopposed. Bush will raise lots of money. Bush will spend lots of money.
There is no strong third party candidate.
Bush has not broken a no new taxes pledge like his father did.
And now Bush will be credited for getting Saddam. Iraq will be under a provisional government by June.
If you honestly can't see these things...if you are so blindly partisan as to not see why all this is bad for the national disaster that is the Democratic party right now, than I seriously, seriously, pity you. Support whomever you choose...but admit reality.
The best I've heard about the economy is that it MIGHT be turning the corner to better growth. But the HUGE defecits are sure to slow any progress. As does the weak dollar.
And have you seen Bush's poll numbers? he got a 4% boost after the capture of Saddam. Sure doesn't sound unbeatable to me. Plus there's the Bechtel and Haliburton profiteering scandal brewing.
But keep thinking Bush is invincible. We like it that way.
Originally posted by dmz
just too easy to concentrate on blown-up solders rather than report every time a school opens.
hehe. Yeah! All those terrorist attacks on our soldiers are distracting the press from reporting on how well everything's going!
Cheers
Scott
Originally posted by SDW2001
The economy is now is very good shape.
Not as compared to the economy of January 20, 2001. And the cost of pulling the economy back up to this tepid level -- billions of dollars in more immoral Federal debt that that smirking asshole is going to foist on the next generation -- is not worth the meager benefits of this jobless recovery.
Dean is a Leftist.
Look at his record. Dean is a moderate, with a left-leaning view on the Iraq situation that the media has latched onto, and thus given him a leftist look. But his most of his policy proposals, particularly in the extremely important area of fiscal responsibility, are very moderate.
Bush will capitalize on the medicare bill. there won't be enough time to delve into its intricacies.
It won't take intricacies to point out that the bill is a festering pile of crap that will hurt more seniors than it helps. A series of 30-second ads can do that just fine.
Bush will raise lots of money. Bush will spend lots of money.
In the general election the two candidates will receive equal funding from the Federal government, around $65 million. During the primaries, Bush will have much more money than any Democrat, but there will also be Section 527 organizations out there trying to counter that. Bush's money advantage won't be as overwhelming as it could be. Particularly with all the free cycles that come from the Democrats having an actual race.
You, SDW, are at least as blindly partisan as you accuse others of being. Yes, there are a lot of positives for Bush, but not everything is roses for this administration. And a lot of Bush's pluses are based on mirages that may not last to November -- his crappy, evil prescription drug "benefit" being the most potentially potent one.
It may not happen in time for 2004, but the moment seniors realize Bush's bill is a major push to cattle drive them all into HMOs you'll see a political alignment towards the Democrats amongst the elderly that will hurt the Republicans for a decade. But of course, Bush doesn't care about anyone who comes after him, only his own short term gain. His fiscal policy alone proves that.
Kirk
You know, it's interesting to contrast this capture of Sodom with the trial currently going on in which Clark just testified. They were two wars that got rid of a dictator. But look at the outcomes of each - in Clinton/
Clark's war, NATO was strengthened, in Bush's, it was split into adversaries. Clark's war is now forgotten and the region is stable, while Bush's war results in daily deaths due to hatred of Americans.
Bush is in a huge bind re: the war. If he brings the troops out too early, he will be skewered for cutting and running for political reasons. If we stay, which is the right thing to do, those deaths will continue and people will be really sick of it over the next year.
The two big issues in the campaign will be the economy and the war. The economy is finally getting better, but it peaked too early, and those great numbers will certainly get worse before the election. And they still won't change the fact that Bush will be the first president since the Great Depression to see a net loss of jobs on his watch. Be prepared for lots of ads touting that fact, as well as the deficit numbers.
I also think Bush's conservative base won't come around like people assume. This has been anything but a conservative president. Clinton was arguably more conservative than Bush. If the Republicans lose their base, it's death for them.
And the country is simply split down the middle. There's nothing that can change that. This would be a close race no matter what happens or who is nominated.
Originally posted by Kirkland
In the general election the two candidates will receive equal funding from the Federal government, around $65 million. During the primaries, Bush will have much more money than any Democrat, but there will also be Section 527 organizations out there trying to counter that. Bush's money advantage won't be as overwhelming as it could be. Particularly with all the free cycles that come from the Democrats having an actual race.
I have a feeling that the Dems won't need to take federal election funding this time around. And of course Bush won't. Bush will massively outspend the Dems, but that's no different than normal.