Bin Laden still alive/Al Qaeda still functional
― aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:49 (twelve years ago) link
People everywhere prefacing everything they say with, "My friend..."
― clemenza, Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:50 (twelve years ago) link
Sarah Palin in national office
― aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:50 (twelve years ago) link
osama bin laden somehow a member of GOP administration
― Never translate German (schlump), Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:50 (twelve years ago) link
We would never have really gotten to know Herman Cain.
― clemenza, Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:51 (twelve years ago) link
planes do a 180 after take off & before landing, fly upside down in sky, you spend the whole flight only held in your seat by the seatbelt, can't go to bathroom, no peanuts &c
― Never translate German (schlump), Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:51 (twelve years ago) link
haha, questions not to ask liberals Part 567
― Dr Morbius, Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:51 (twelve years ago) link
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V5SReiHuxbs/THLBcj7hmhI/AAAAAAAADgc/bSUQupA5MeI/s1600/4+fanta.jpg
― Dr Morbius, Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:53 (twelve years ago) link
EPA abolished
eh, don't know about that one. it's very difficult to abolish a federal agency, despite the easy way that politicians bring it up on the campaign trail. even if you're johnny "mc-no-no" McCain. MCCAIN!
― Z S, Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:54 (twelve years ago) link
The sight of Ricardo reminds me: the performers who would be invited to a McCain white house would be of a different calibur.
― Aimless, Saturday, 17 December 2011 00:58 (twelve years ago) link
dead?
― Dr Morbius, Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:01 (twelve years ago) link
Or as near as can be.
― Aimless, Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:04 (twelve years ago) link
OBAMA BIDEN 2012for superlative whitehouse in-house entertainment
― Never translate German (schlump), Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:12 (twelve years ago) link
I can think of better slogans, but not any that are grounded in reality.
― Aimless, Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:22 (twelve years ago) link
Having spent the last few years studying the Supreme Court in my capacity as a non-lawyer, I've realized that the hot air breathed by whole sides -- if X wins he'll change the Court! -- has little to do with history. Even if eight conservatives sat on the court they would start to fracture in weird, unpredictable ways. Look at FDR's court! He appointed more justices than any since Washington, and no one expected Frankfurter, Reed, and Jackson to become the "conservative" bloc.
― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:43 (twelve years ago) link
so there's a senate deal on the payroll tax extension. a key concession is that the review process for the keystone xl tar sands pipeline will be dramatically sped up - 60 days, rather than the 12+ months that was the previous timeline. i'm sympathizing with shakey's comment (this thread? another thread? don't want to look, sorry) that this could be a good thing for opposers of the pipeline. after all, since there's no way the state department's re-review will be complete in 60 days (and i don't even know if that counts the time for the Inspector General of the State Dept. to complete the review of the corruption-riddled initial review), obama could legitimately refuse to grant the permit on the grounds that the information he needs to make the decision isn't yet available. beyond that, though, this might end up being a good thing for enviros because it moves the deadline for decision from 12+months - after an election, when the momentum from the tar sands action movement would have mostly dissipated - to 2 months from now, when the momentum will only build. in fact, just now all the tar sands people were sent a fist-pumping LET'S FUCKING DO THIS alert, and with a more short-term target of 2 months, i think it's likely we'll be able to raise an even greater fuss than a few weeks ago when we surrounded the white house 5 people deep.
anyway, tl;dr but it's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out.
oh yeah, another key concession for the local DC area:
The bill would prohibit the District of Columbia from using federal or local tax money to pay for abortions for low-income women under Medicaid.
federal OR local tax money. WTF
― Z S, Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:58 (twelve years ago) link
No local taxes, because D.C. is actually administered by Congress, despite having a mayor and local police force, so they can make laws specific to D.C. if they're feeling pissy.
― Aimless, Saturday, 17 December 2011 02:54 (twelve years ago) link
you don't think things have fundamentally changed since then tho? in how we nominate people, in how they're vetted, in what kinds of judges can even make it?
― iatee, Saturday, 17 December 2011 02:56 (twelve years ago) link
He's an historian!
― C.K. Dexter Holland, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:00 (twelve years ago) link
Having spent the last few years studying the Supreme Court in my capacity as a non-lawyer
Well then.
― C.K. Dexter Holland, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:01 (twelve years ago) link
okay...I'm gonna switch sides just so I don't have to agree w/ gabnebb
― iatee, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:02 (twelve years ago) link
Maybe before John Paul Stevens and David Souter die they can tell us how they "disappointed" their supporters (Ford wasn't though).
― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:18 (twelve years ago) link
my point being that things have changed not just since fdr but since stevens and souter even
― iatee, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:21 (twelve years ago) link
partly due to them
― iatee, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:22 (twelve years ago) link
aw is it really you gabs?
― river wolf, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:22 (twelve years ago) link
Of course it's changed since FDR's time. It would be impossible for a sitting senator like Hugo Black to join the court; but I insist that no matter how closely nominees are examined they're not machines. It doesn't happen immediately; it may take several years.
― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:24 (twelve years ago) link
you really think there's some chance alito or roberts are not solid conservatives 20 years from now?
― iatee, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:25 (twelve years ago) link
Roberts and Alito are not the same kind of conservatives as, say, Thomas, or the Most Important Man in America.
― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:32 (twelve years ago) link
But to answer your question more directly: I'm sure they'll be conservatives of a kind in twenty years, but who the fuck knows what conservatism looks like in twenty years, let alone what kind of country gabbneb or melting ice caps give us.
― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:33 (twelve years ago) link
right but we're talking about a swing to the degree that the republican party would feel regret w/r/t that nomination. whereas I'm gonna say "I'm guessing they're gonna stay pretty content w/ those nominations"
― iatee, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:34 (twelve years ago) link
...the Most Self-Important Man in America
fixed
― Aimless, Saturday, 17 December 2011 03:39 (twelve years ago) link
this could be a good thing for opposers of the pipeline. after all, since there's no way the state department's re-review will be complete in 60 days (and i don't even know if that counts the time for the Inspector General of the State Dept. to complete the review of the corruption-riddled initial review), obama could legitimately refuse to grant the permit on the grounds that the information he needs to make the decision isn't yet available
I think it may be more about politics than policy for the other side. They want to point to something to suggest that Obama is standing in the way of job creation.
― C.K. Dexter Holland, Saturday, 17 December 2011 04:14 (twelve years ago) link
Belay on.
― C.K. Dexter Holland, Saturday, 17 December 2011 04:15 (twelve years ago) link
lol tbh i don't get why some itt are so eager to distance themselves from gabbnebism
― k3vin k., Saturday, 17 December 2011 05:03 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr_OL-vu-po
― t. silaviver, Saturday, 17 December 2011 05:06 (twelve years ago) link
"Symmetry"
― C.K. Dexter Holland, Saturday, 17 December 2011 05:13 (twelve years ago) link
let's keep conservatives off the Supremes by reelecting the guy who just codified unlimited detention.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2873125085_239aa74ba2.jpg
just in case C Dexter is gabbneb I'm quitting this sandbox thread.
― Dr Morbius, Saturday, 17 December 2011 13:25 (twelve years ago) link
Pundneb
― wow gould (step hen faps), Saturday, 17 December 2011 13:27 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/why-a-democracy-needs-uninformed-people-38398/
In experiments where a minority of fish was trained to swim toward a yellow target, and a majority toward a blue target, the minority swayed the whole group more than 80 percent of the time. Then the researchers added "uninformed" fish to the mix, and a curious thing happened. "Adding those individuals dramatically changes the outcome of group decision-making," [study author Iain Couzin] said. "They inhibit the minority and support the majority view, and this allows the majority to be heard and that view to dominate." ... "We thought, ‘Wow, that’s kind of interesting,'" Couzin said, "because you don’t normally think that adding uninformed individuals to decision-making processes would have that sort of democratizing effect."
― Mordy, Sunday, 18 December 2011 03:03 (twelve years ago) link
Even if eight conservatives sat on the court they would start to fracture in weird, unpredictable ways. Look at FDR's court! He appointed more justices than any since Washington, and no one expected Frankfurter, Reed, and Jackson to become the "conservative" bloc.
― Lord Sotosyn, Friday, December 16, 2011 7:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink
We seem to be on quite the streak of Presidents getting exactly what they expect out of their nominees, however. Perhaps times have changed?
― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, 18 December 2011 03:07 (twelve years ago) link
It seems like Souter changed the game.
― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, 18 December 2011 03:08 (twelve years ago) link
― Dr Morbius, Saturday, December 17, 2011 7:25 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink
I call 3 days.
― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, 18 December 2011 03:09 (twelve years ago) link
i think Poppa Bush knew exactly what he was getting in Souter ... an old-school New England Republican (like himself, really). the only people who were unpleasantly surprised about him were the early 1990s-style Teabaggers.
― deine Mutter lutscht Schwänze in der Hölle (Eisbaer), Sunday, 18 December 2011 04:33 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, maybe. I guess I should say that since Souter the political parties have gotten what they wanted.
I don't think anyone was "surprised" about him, because no one really knew what to expect in the first place.
― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, 18 December 2011 04:42 (twelve years ago) link
Boehner is such a shitty Speaker
― aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 December 2011 21:40 (twelve years ago) link
can't count votes/control his caucus etc
This often takes years to show itself, if it does at all.
― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 21:56 (twelve years ago) link
it took what, 3 years to find out Souter would support Roe? I think we can conclude that Roberts and Alito are what we expected them to be.
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 02:02 (twelve years ago) link
lol: espn analyst craig james leaving the sports desk to run for congress as a republican.
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 20 December 2011 03:21 (twelve years ago) link
Meanwhile Obama be havin' fun with drone rockets:
Many administration lawyers strongly disapprove of opinions written under President George W. Bush that justified detainee interrogation methods now widely regarded as torture. But they worry that Obama’s 2009 decision to make them public has set a precedent for the release of normally classified opinions.
The Defense Department’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which has carried out strikes in Yemen and Somalia, refuses to discuss drones or any other aspect of its secret counterterrorism operations.
Senior administration officials say they deserve to be trusted on drones, in part because Obama kept his pledge to do away with the CIA’s secret prisons and the use of harsh interrogation techniques.
― Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 13:04 (twelve years ago) link