American Politics Thread 2013: I'm a cool Rodham grandma in the USA

x-post

I know there's the Chamber of Commerce acting upon behalf of business and a zillion others all influencing Congress for years in ways that Luntz wants to pretend does not happen.

there is a hivemind out there

but Scorsese's transgressive, numbing film will wake everyone up

wake them up until the next bright shiny crusade appears

this country loves to take a nap

sometimes at the movie theatre

Yeah it's pretty clear that American politics overwhelmingly represent the business community (and have since the beginning).

Actually even before the beginning.

and now after the end

i haven't read that yet, but this sentence -- "Luntz dreams of drafting some of the rich CEOs he is friends with to come up with a plan for saving America from its elected officials." -- could be a slightly unfair gloss on him?

i mean, i'm well primed to hear pinochet behind every business-centrist utterance, but that's pretty blatant

^^ crux of that sentence is "saving America from", which is a bit crafty, but not a bit subtle.

(we should have a new thread but i can't think of a title)

i guess we're long into the 'wheels coming off' stage here

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/robert-gates-former-defense-secretary-offers-harsh-critique-of-obamas-leadership-in-duty/2014/01/07/6a6915b2-77cb-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html

^^^ this story was MADE for FOX News/Sunday morning fare

Bob Woodward's ego and Bob Gates' ego

hah thats what you get for having a republican in your administration you fucking idiot

Gates’s severe criticism is even more surprising — some might say contradictory — because toward the end of “Duty,” he says of Obama’s chief Afghanistan policies, “I believe Obama was right in each of these decisions.”

ok get the fuck outta here

Everyone in DC loves this congenital spook and liar whose ass was never subpoenaed for Iran-Contra.

the article makes it seem like gates is mad obama wasnt lovin all these FUCKED UP bush admin wars and wouldnt implicitly trust the generals, etc when he came to office. well, no shit.

"Similarly, in a battle over defense spending, “I was extremely angry with President Obama,” Gates writes. “I felt he had breached faith with me . . . on the budget numbers.” As with “don’t ask, don’t tell,” “I felt that agreements with the Obama White House were good for only as long as they were politically convenient.”"

this also assumes obama has control over the fucking budget. yeah how has that process been going the last 6 years?

At a March 3, 2010, National Security Council meeting, Gates writes, the president opened with a “blast.” Obama criticized the military for “popping off in the press” and said he would push back hard against any delay in beginning the withdrawal.

According to Gates, Obama concluded, “ ‘If I believe I am being gamed . . .’ and left the sentence hanging there with the clear implication the consequences would be dire.”

Gates continues: “I was pretty upset myself. I thought implicitly accusing” Petraeus, and perhaps Mullen and Gates himself, “of gaming him in front of thirty people in the Situation Room was inappropriate, not to mention highly disrespectful of Petraeus. As I sat there, I thought: the president doesn’t trust his commander, can’t stand [Afghanistan President Hamid] Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”

ok seriously this man is defense secretary genius guru?

“I got up at five every morning to run two miles around the Mall in Washington, past the World War II, Korean, and Vietnam memorials, and in front of the Lincoln Memorial. And every morning before dawn, I would ritually look up at that stunning white statue of Lincoln, say good morning, and sadly ask him, How did you do it?”

is he trying to consult for sorkin in his dotage or something

the loneliness of the middle distance runner

think Gates should hook up with Frank Luntz.

I would ritually look up at that stunning white statue of Lincoln, say good morning, and sadly ask him, How did you do it?”

By telling McClellan to go fuck himself?

Gates was so aggrieved about Obama that he kept his limo privileges and stayed four years.

getting thru this luntz piece -- he's a sneaker pimp lol

Many xpost but thanks for the podcast linkage hoos. Alexis was always a highlight back when Chris Hayes did Up.

Every kind of dismal political cliche on display here:

Republicans acknowledged that, with unemployment still at 7 percent and one in six Americans living in poverty, they needed to make a stronger case that their reforms would help struggling families.

“There’s also a recognition among a lot of Republicans that we have not done a good job messaging conservatism, messaging the fact that we are conservatives not in spite of our concern for the poor, but because of it,” Mr. Lee said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/us/politics/republicans-move-to-reclaim-poverty-fighting-mantle.html

help me find something!

last year sometime this map was going around of the world's racial attitudes. 'surprisingly' the western hemisphere looked pretty chill but europe was not and africa and asia were all bigoted as hell:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/

someone linked to an analysis of it saying that it had big problems both in the stats themselves and in the presentation of them. anyone know what i'm talking about?

a correction on wonkblog links to this, which showed huge errors in the numbers for bangladesh, but that's it:

http://sites.tufts.edu/inclusivecommerceblog/2013/05/16/surveys-gone-bad-when-yes-means-no/

hah thats what you get for having a republican in your administration you fucking idiot

yeah, at least have someone who will think the same things but be a party soldier so Hil can succeed you as Drone Chief.

now call her a bitch

no wait call Pelosi a bitch

you're a syphilitic cunt, how's that?

i have Gonorrhea in my nose

Frankly, Morbs, I don't have a lot of time for gay men who use phrases like 'syphilitic cunt'.

v nice, you didn't even have to wave your diploma from PCU at me.

Maybe you should worry more about why an impacted colon like waterface is still in the playpen.

right now i'm wondering what's taking them death panels so long

What does where I went to college (or parody of same) have to do with your basic reflexive misogyny?

the gates 'revelations' seem like classic beltway disconnect - obama was skeptical the surge would work in afghanistan! - the kinda thinking that the al qaeda flareups in iraq recently are a disaster for obama cuz they show he shouldn't have cut and run in iraq. this isn't quite directly tied into that but the neocon revisionism and pushback on iraq recently has been out of control.

misanthropy, dear, misanthropy xp

(you might look at who chimed in with "bitch" above; one speaks gutter to gutter)

also bye thread

see you tomorrow

or IN HELL?

Time has possibly come to leave the board, bullshit is at an all-time high

Ssh! Quiet, unless you have something to say relevant to the thread. Just take a break.

Morbs, my post was about your conduct. Whining that other kids did it too doesn't cut it with me; you're the one reaching for the misogynist imagery at the slightest provocation.

The reaction to Gates here in the UK is basically "...", everyone's like 'of course Obama wanted to leave, didn't he campaign on that, stupid Republican is stupid...'

I didn't call anyone a bitch

Time has possibly come to leave the board, bullshit is at an all-time high

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, January 8, 2014 10:36 AM (2 minutes ago)

Huh. Seems at an all-time low to me.

American Politics Thread 2014