Indefinite Detention? But I Have Soccer Practice at 4: U.S. Politics 2012

But then there's this...

Maggie Neale is a 69-year-old retiree living in Central Virginia. She’s a registered Republican who voted for John McCain in 2008 but plans to vote for President Obama this time around. We talked by phone.

Q: Who are you planning to vote for in this election?
A: Well, my husband would roll over in the grave if he heard this… actually he’s up on the shelf so maybe he’d explode [laughs softly]. But I’m going to vote for Mr. Obama.

Q: And did you vote for him last time around?
A:No, I voted for McCain in 2008. I’m a registered Republican. I did vote for Carter way back when, but I’ve pretty much voted for Republicans ever since. If I had been a year older, I would’ve voted for Mr. Kennedy when he was running.

Q: So what changed your mind this time?
A: I liked the man running against Obama in ’08, and I don’t like the man who’s running against him now. And I don’t think Obama’s done that bad a job. People will point to the economy being bad, but the problems have been worldwide. We haven’t slipped any, and we’ve come up since.

Q: Do you have criticisms of Obama?
A: He could have been stronger on a few issues. Maybe on the debt.

Q: And what don’t you like about Romney?
A: His feelings on a lot of issues dealing with women, his attitude toward women. I think he’s for the upper class. I know if Obama wins, my taxes will go up because I live on stock income, since my husband was a farmer, but… I don’t know if I’m going old or what, but I’m more socially-minded than I used to be.

Q: Were social issues a big factor for you in the last election?
A: No. Last time, it was Afghanistan and things like that. And the economy. But Obama has inherited this mess, this banker’s mess.

Q: And what’s your take on Afghanistan?
A: We never should’ve gone over to start with. We’re making ourselves broke with all these wars. And a lot of it’s about oil and all that. We need to concentrate on using less oil at home and being energy conscious. And that would probably better under Obama, especially with conservation and the fuel economy standards. I do think we need to be more conscious of everything we do environmentally. Romney would get rid of a lot of environmental rules on companies, but I don’t think that’s the right way to go.

Q: Has Obama’s health care law been a big issue for you?
A: I don’t think the health care bill was the best it could have been, but the country needed something and a step in the right direction. And I think repealing it would be awful for the poor and those on the edge.

Q: Have you been saturated with ads out in Virginia? Anything that stands out for you?
A: I really don’t pay much attention to TV. I read. My most contact has been through the phone. I’m out here in central Virginia, rural Virginia. I bet the Republican National Committee has called me 10 times for every call Obama has made. It’s gotten to the point where I just hang up when I see the initials RNC.

Q: Anything else that strikes you about this election?
A: I don’t know that I have ever completely voted my conscience before, but the Republican Party has gone way way too far to the right. I know a lot of middle-class people will vote for them because they think it will make economy better, but I think we’re doing the best we can right now.

WKIW this lady I think.

yes

Supposedly it's a really minor fracture and he'll be back in a week

The Perlstein article reads a lot like he has never ever heard of spam before in his life. I see a lot of those '23-Cent Heart Miracle' ads on a lot of sites - isohunt for example - they don't really signify "you'll buy anything" as much as "we have no idea what to sell to you, or what to sell you as". If it's an indictment, it's of the fact that there's no coherent audience on these sites - my favourite ads on the conservative sites that I've started to click on (thanks to ILX) are the ones where the ad-provider has gone "fuck it, throw them a World of Warcraft ad".

What you're missing is the endorsement aspect. Republican newsletters and personalities directly endorse and advocate for snake oil. It's not sold ad space.

totally xxp

ugh zing failure again sorry, gotta work on that

meet the new boehner, same as the old boehner

Surprise surprise

Whoa, Boehner might be willing to be reasonable on the budget!!

The House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, striking a conciliatory tone a day after the Republican Party’s electoral drubbing, said on Wednesday that he was ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenue as long as it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and a reform of the tax code that closes loopholes, curtails or eliminates deductions and lowers income tax rates.

hold the phone, was that a typo...?

The House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, striking a conciliatory tone a day after the Republican Party’s electoral drubbing, said on Wednesday that he was ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenue as long as it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and a reform of the tax code that closes loopholes, curtails or eliminates deductions and lowers income tax rates.

but how would that even

Mr. Boehner made it clear that his vision for additional revenue includes a tax code that lowers even the top income tax rate from where it is now, 35 percent, not where it would be in January when the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire — 39.6 percent. At least some of that additional revenue would come from economic growth that he said would be fueled by a simpler tax code.

FUCK YOU JOHN BOEHNER

yeah he was being extra sneaky today, fuck him forever

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0aKPIse1bbtAHD3LIdkpTfHfw7g?docId=c116e763ff084c0289aa2bd1b519032d

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California man behind an anti-Muslim film that roiled the Middle East was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison for violating his probation stemming from a 2010 bank fraud conviction by lying about his identity.

U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder immediately sentenced Mark Basseley Youssef after he admitted to four of the eight alleged violations, including obtaining a fraudulent California driver's license. Prosecutors agreed to drop the other four allegations under an agreement with Youssef's attorneys, which also included more probation.

American Politics Thread 2013: Bangs, Whimpers and Filibusters