All-Purpose NuILX thread for American Politics

a. acacia Says:
February 12th, 2007 at 12:21 pm

Bob: (which is why you don’t see them publically having a fit over the gay-hostility of rap lyrics, another non-starter.)

I think you’re missing the main point: see, it’s off limits to attack another member of what I would call the Diversity League of America (DLA). There’s a chain of command here, with blacks, having suffered through slavery and Jim Crow, at the top of the DLA pyramid, basically UNTOUCHABLE (see Michael Richards). Gays are on the protected list, too. So they can’t, and won’t, run down a fellow member.

a. acacia Says:
February 12th, 2007 at 1:46 pm

Actually, change the above to VLA - the Victims League of America.

Yeah, better.

Buck Turgidson Says:
February 12th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

Maybe I’m insensitive, but I’m at a loss as to what was cruel about the going home with AIDS the lips joke.

Directed by: Alex Cox. A gritty urban comedy featuing a young Emilio Estevez, about what happens when a shiftless miscreant decides to become a product member of Reagan's America. Numerous other deviants, criminal elements, and burn-outs from 60's liberalism are shown getting their just deserts. Features the heroic work of federal agents and scientists trying to recover a stolen weapon of mass destruction.

Directed by: Ridley Scott. An allegorical fantasy adventure featuring a young Tom Cruise as a free market hero trying to destroy the dark secular communism of FDR's New Deal(played by Tim Curry). This lush, timeless epic includes a riveting score by Tangerine Dream and teaches lessons just as relevant in today's War on Terror as they were back in the Cold War. Keep an eye out for cameos by noted movement conservatives Billy Barty and Robert Picardo!

Directed and Produced by: Clark Baker. In their own words, Democrats present their strategic philosophy for 2006/2008. Parental advisory: this film contains veiled sexual humor. (Comedy/Documentary, 3 minutes, 2006)

Jesus christ, the college republicans have taken over the term-end F/VS screening

On Iraq, Romney reiterated his support for President Bush's policy in the nearly four-year-old war, although he did not name the president, and said that failure in Iraq "could be devastating" for the United States and could mean a future with far more military involvement and far more loss of American life.

Obama has easy trip to New Hampshire
Obama, who entered the race on Saturday in his home state of Illinois, came to New Hampshire on the heels of New York Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton. She faced criticism last weekend for not saying her vote to authorize the use of force in
Iraq was a mistake.

Obama, by contrast, faced little of that skepticism. Even his sharpest questioners began by offering praise and support.

"He hasn't gotten into specifics, but that'll come," state Rep. Jeffrey Fontas said after a Nashua house party with 60 activists. "It's early, so we'll see more and more."

That house party in Nashua brought questions about:

_An Equal Pay Act. Obama helped a state measure during his time in Illinois but didn't commit to a national version.

_Childcare. Obama said it was a problem; he didn't offer specifics.

_The USA Patriot Act. Obama is against parts of it but didn't offer an alternative.

Even while the first-term senator from Illinois didn't have specific solutions, voters in this first-in-the-nation primary state gave him a pass.

"He takes time, he answers fully," said state Rep. Melanie Levesque. "I think we need people who can bring people together. He can do that. We're going to have a tough decision to make."

Obama called for a national solution to health care but stopped short of endorsing or rejecting proposals for mandatory insurance. He said more young people should consider teaching but stopped short of specific incentives.

Later Monday, at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, Obama discussed Iraq. "Unless we bring that war to a close, we cannot deal with all those other problems I just mentioned," he said. "Not only has it resulted in the tragic loss in our brave soldiers, but it means we're spending $400 billion rebuilding Iraq with money that could have been used here."

Obama did outline an energy plan — a reduction in emissions, cap-and-trade plans for polluting industries, and development of biofuels including ethanol. He also repeated his stance on gay marriage — that civil unions are fine, but marriage is a religious bond.

"I believe that every American has basic rights that have to be respected," said Obama, who noted that his parents perhaps broke the law when they entered into a biracial marriage in the 1960s.

A member of the university audience asked about his appeal to social conservatives. Obama said one of the best lessons he learned in politics was that he couldn't make 100 percent of voters happy. He then noted his friendship with the Rev. Rick Warren, who leads one of the nation's largest megachurches.

And of course this has recieved a lot of attention:

Targeted blogger quits Edwards campaign
One of the chief campaign bloggers for Democratic presidential candidate
John Edwards quit Monday after conservative critics raised questions about her history of provocative online messages.

Amanda Marcotte posted on her personal blog, Pandagon, that the criticism "was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign." Marcotte said she resigned from her position Monday, and that her resignation was accepted by the campaign.

Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, confirmed that Marcotte was "no longer working for the campaign." She declined additional comment.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded last week that Edwards fire Marcotte and a second blogger, Melissa McEwan, for remarks he deemed anti-Catholic. Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, called the messages personally offensive, but decided to keep Marcotte and McEwan on staff.

"No matter what you think about the campaign, I signed on to be a supporter and a tireless employee for them, and if I can't do the job I was hired to do because Bill Donohue doesn't have anything better to do with his time than harass me, then I won't do it," Marcotte wrote Monday night.

Earlier Monday, Marcotte wrote on her personal Web site, "The Christian version of the virgin birth is generally interpreted as super-patriarchal, where ... women are nothing but vessels."

Donohue called both Marcotte and McEwan "foul-mouthed bigots." He did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday night.

McEwan remains on the Edwards campaign staff. She did not return messages left Monday.

criticising religion != bigotry

"The Christian version of the virgin birth is generally interpreted as super-patriarchal, where ... women are nothing but vessels."

And men are nothing but cuckolds.

Directed and Produced by: Benjamin Wilbanks. A group of American Christians travel to Iraq to teach a group of Iraqis how to operate a printing press, and in the process discover that Iraqis are grateful for America's help and want freedom and progress as much as anyone else. "A Journey to Iraq" shows a side of the War on Terror that is rarely seen in the mainstream media. (Documentary, 43 minutes, 2006)

Directed by: John Cameron Mitchell. An aspiring young capitalist (John Cameron Mitchell) struggles to escape the communist Eastern Bloc only to be betrayed by a confused deviant youth who does not respect intellectual property rights (Michael Pitt).

Right now, I'm leaning toward John Edwards in the primaries. He has problems -- a thin political résumé, a fancy estate at odds with his populist message, and a dated hairstyle that looks femme and foofy at a time when military buzz cuts and Caesarian close crops are in. But Edwards is a ferocious, knife-sharp debater with foxy, seat-of-the-pants smarts, and I hope he creams his opponents. It would be a relief to have an articulate president again...

I love the way Barack Obama has nimbly upstaged the ponderous Hillary machine. It's a Bette Davis/Joan Crawford bitch fest! But Obama's effusive gusts of generalities irritate me; it's all sizzle and no steak right now. He needs seasoning: 2012 may be his year...

On the Republican side, I've never understood liberal journalists' infatuation with John McCain, who's as mercurial as Hillary in his ideology-of-the-day. Those two are peas in a pod -- always dialing up the weather report and sleeping next to a window with their fingers in the wind. If Rudy Giuliani improbably wins the Republican nomination, which would require primary voters shutting their eyes to his liberal social views and checkered sex life, he would roll like a juggernaut into the White House on the strength of his macho authoritarianism in this time of war. Giuliani's got balls, but do we want this democracy drifting any further toward a police state?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2007/02/14/return/print.html

If he can really channel the Wellstone thing, he has a shot.

Well Alfred, she also accuses A___ N___ Smith of having comic verve or something.

also, C. Paglia is no longer worth any of my neuronal function

i'm glad paglia is back, she's always interesting to read. strangely i see the dem presidential field in much the same way & am def. supporting edwards right now, i like his straightforwardness and the fact that he doesn't have much to lose this time around, and i also like that he doesn't take obama's "transcend politics" approach which might sound nice but is arrogant and kind of insults the voters' intelligence, politics is everywhere and not any more/less dirty than anything else in life. hillary prob has too much $$$/organizational savvy for edwards to defeat her but you never know.

you rule out the possibility that he's playing left because there's no other way for him to get sufficient $ and primary voters?

I am leaning Edwards for the moment... dar1a, how will you bear it if we support the same horse?

Franken tackled some heckler during the '04 campaign!

his hem/hawing about s.s. unions has been discouraging tho.

It doesn't matter re: far-left appeal, the far-left isn't going to win you anything (most dem primary voters aren't far-left, esp Iowa, NH), being against the war & for starting to bring troops home is mainstream right now, universal healthcare has a lot of mainstream support, Edwards has a lot of ties to organized labor & has been working on building/strengthening them since 04, he's also by far the savviest in use of blogs/technology without showing any sign of letting that aspect of his campaign pick up and run away with wild fervor a la Dean. and like Iowa last time around I see him as.. having enough of his own support + being seen as a viable alternative by supporters of the other candidates, it could be a winning formula - he's not polarizing.

I wouldn't call Obama dead in the water but I don't see his campaign as having near the solid support of Edwards and expect him to be the Dean type flash in the pan this time around, albeit less likely to have a spectacular crash and burn

My ref to the far left/money angle was just in response to gabbneb's comment about Edwards' need for $$$. (I know the far left doesn't have a) a lot of money or b) the sole power to win elections)

here's a link to the proposals