Politics Thread

[Sibling Chatty]

Thanks! It's good to soo somebody smack down Chris Wallace. He's coasting on his Dad's reputation and he's not good enough to deserve it. (He looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy version of his Dad. Not the body, the face.)

Clinton gave a fair assessment of the situation, and Richard Clarke's book backs him up. He's been castigated for everything in the world that the Neo-Cons have gotten away with, and it's time somebody finally called the Faux Snoozers down on it. I'd imagine that the Freepers are about in a shark-like feeding frenzy. Waaah. is not a political stance...

[Teripie]

Today both Hillary and Conde Rice jumped into this fray. Hill defended her hubby and Rice said it was all lies. One lie in particular was that the Clinton administration had not briefed the Bush gang on terrorist. NBC called her on this when they produced an 8 page briefing on Bin Laden and terrorism that had hit her desk 3 days after she took office.

Whatever comes of all this, the administration will spin it like crazy and Hate Radio will broadcast it's outrage, and the people will vote no differently this November. BTW, Clinton also spoke about how the administration brought out the "fear" routine every election year just before the election. I notice that that part of his interview was not mentioned any where in the news.

[Griffin NoName]

Well Clinton has been over this side of the pond and had a jolly with TBliar and his next door neighbour. So much smiling and complimentations, I thought my TV would break. I'm not sure anything was actually said, seemed to be mostly grinning.

[Outis the Unready]

One of my great experiences this week was purchasing "What's the matter with Kansas?"

(And if you read the reviews kvetching about the title on amazon, you can guarantee folks haven't read it, as it is the title of a "why the heck is kansas so liberal?" monograph from the late 1800s....so, um, they dinnae read the book!)

One of the things the book demonstrates is how the radical right uses social issues to keep the working poor from feeling comfortable, so the working poor votes for them, even though their votes are used for an economic agenda that is killing them.

The book made me realize how much I DON'T KNOW about the tactics used on the midwest, having moved from NOT BLUE ENOUGH Philadelphia back to my home state of NY.

So no, this is not off topic, it's just a way of getting at the following:

What Clinton did is NOT BUY INTO THE RHETORICAL TRAP that the radical right has created. If all democrats did so, we would see an impeached Bush, reformed free trade and immigration (I'm sorry, but I actually do have a problem with Chinese nationals doing classified biomed research!) and a number of other things....

[Griffin NoName]

Yep, it's so easy for a reporter to accidentally mishear "That's so true" as "That's a lie".

Never mind the alleged comment being accredited to what was happening on the big screen because the alleged person was walking past it at the time.

Maybe it was merely a reply to some statement like "so it was you that gave the videos of the Judge to the cleaning lady".

[Duke]

I usually reserve my politics talk for debate forums, but I certainly have a thing or two to say: I might add my two cents here and there.

I'm been involved in the Congress Races for November, I've campaigned for a local Congresswoman, and I'm supporting a few others. The papers are speculating about a "Blue Wave" hitting Congress, I'm hoping they're right.


Duke

[beagle]

The UK right wing press (e.g. Daily Telegraph) seem to be expecting a Democrat revival.  They're running stories about how the marginal state Republican candidates are desperately trying to avoid being photographed in the same shot as the President, and so forth.

That's why I'm a bit surprised by the apparent low morale amongst Democrats here.

[Duke]

I think the years have taught us pessimism, perhaps November will buck us up?


Duke

[Teripie]

Many of the left pundits are saying that Bush will roll out an October surprise again. Only this time instead of the usual terror alerts it will be in the form of bobs falling in Iran. Looking at what's going on with the US Navy, it looks highly possible and even likely.

The repubs are closing the gap in the polls.

[Duke]

The repubs are closing the gap in the polls.

I'm afraid that will continue. But we won't know anything for sure until November...


Duke

[beagle]

Only this time instead of the usual terror alerts it will be in the form of bombs falling in Iran. Looking at what's going on with the US Navy, it looks highly possible and even likely.

Do you reckon that would be a vote winner in the USA then?  I reckon it would kill Labour here if they enthusiastically went along with it.  The Afghanistan campaign looks , despite heroic efforts, to be proceeding "not necessarily to our advantage".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/28/nmedals28.xml

[Teripie]

Want to know how to spell irony? This morning there is a brand new SUV sitting in my driveway. We haven't 100% decided if we'll buy it or not. This came across my desk this morning.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KmsOIjzQ1V8
Hmmmmm.....

[Aggie]

What is it?  I call mine a "big car"...   2.4 L of engine and a Sonata platform doesn't make it an SUV. 

[Teripie]

It's just alittle Kia Sportage, but I insisted on a bigger V-6 over the stupid 4 banger. And we'll be trading in my little gas sipping Kia sedan.

[Aggie]

Gotta ask... why not the Tuscon?  Some of the 'rebranded' Hyundais are actually cheaper than the Kia versions up here.  I'm loving my Santa Fe (most are V6, 'cept if you get the base model... the 2.4 has been GREAT even in the mountains and good on fuel), which might be a good second option IF you can pick up a deal on a 2006.  The 2007 got upsized and up-priced.

The price difference between the Tuscon and the Santa Fe was negligible when I was buying, but the Santa Fe's on a better platform (Sonata instead of Elantra/Spectra).