No God Doesn't
 

Sure, that's disappointing, but its rather odd to think that a God you don't believe in had anything to do with it.

S_A_M

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

I have no problem with that. My problem arises with your assumption that no one, other than you, has done so. Or has any reason to agree with "the narrative" other than the fact that it is "the narrative."

"Applying scrutiny to the narrative" doesn't necessarily result in rejecting it. Similarly, taking a position similar to the narrative doesn't necessarily mean that you learned that position from the narrative.

Put differently, or in context: RT expressed her views. You responded with the knee-jerk statement that she just "buys the media narrative." Having seen her response, do you think that you were correct in that assumption?

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Alternately, it's like saying that Mussolini, in addition to everything else, didn't even get the trains to run on time.

Re: God Makes You Stupid
 

I call bullshit. Not even a Civil Law country could possibly have an "ethics in advertising code."

caption, please
 

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

I don't know how that wasn't clear from the start. I never suggested FEMA wasn't incompetent or didn't deserve blame. Clearly, they deserve considerable blame.

On the burden shifting issue, I'm just as curious as you are. I'd like to hear the specifics proving FEMA's lax after the fact response caused radically more losses than would otherwise have been suffered. AS you can appreciate, in a court, the fact that many people died is alone not prima facie evidence that among many responders FEMA was most culpable or that FEMA's earlier, more coordinated response would have made a substantial difference in the loss. And I suspect that if the specifics making out that case were laid out, they could be addressed with contrasting evidence.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

I didn't say I had done any investigation of the narrative. All I did was ask a question, note that the narrative appeared unexamined. Those are two different things.

I didn't reject the narrative, either. It may very well be true. But we don't know for certain, and I have doubts.

I didn't say RT merely bought a media narrative. I suggested her conclusions were informed by a narrative the media helped to create. The narrative is much bigger than the media's take on this event. It includes a wealth of anecdotal information, related through numerous grapevines all over the country. That's an important distinction because I am not one of those people who suspects we have a left wing media bias, or that people who watch TV news are buying into a liberal "Matrix" of sorts.

When a team of investigative journalists rips through the disaster and boils down data the way the NYTimes did after 9/11 in explaining how the towers failed, and assigns detailed measures of blame to various causes, I will take those conclusions as fact. Until then, I will remain skeptical of blanket statements about the disaster and ask questions when people make them.

Clearance sale
 

Yes, We're Canned!

This is my favorite line:

Wow. Not just policy experience but bipartisan relationships. Shouldn't someone have told them?

My head hurts, my feet stink, and I don't love Jesus.
 

Heck, Hank, being nice to the plaintiff at the depo and giving him room to explain and express himself was how I ended up with four versions.

Good point on the brain damage thing, though. I'll make a note to ask about bumps in the noggin at the start of depos from now on.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

I'm sorry, but that dog won't hunt.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Sorry, I missed all that nuance. My bad, I'm sure.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

GReat, now you fucking killed the board.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Blow me.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Is anyone working today? I'm not.

Eight Years of Dignity in the Whitehouse Down the Drain!
 

So this is how you guys are celebrating inauguration?

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

In the words of the President Elect - Present!

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Yo. Someone has to rebuild our tax base.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

I'm wearing pants.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Is anyone working tomorrow? I was planning not to, but events have conspired against me.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

I'm not Hank. And you're not Flower.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Blow Sidd.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

Couldn't go to the office tomorrow if I wanted to. Which I don't.

Re: We will never agree on this and therefore it is pointless to talk about!
 

This made me smile a post-partisan smile.

A New Era
 

Me too. And on this historic day of change and positivity, I reach my hand out to Sebby and DK in a gesture of solidarity and affection. And I pledge to try to be a nicer Thurgreed for the indefinite future (I said, "PLEDGE," people). I am in a ridiculously good mood even though I was unable to make it to Washington today and, although I will most likely not be around most of the day, I wanted to share my good feelings with the politics board.

TM

Re: A New Era
 

I'm sitting at home watching the festivities now. I am very much looking forward to his speech.

Re: A New Era
 

I never assumed any of our disagreements were reached in anything but a spirit of underlying personal affection and respect. No personal shots taken here are truly personal - the sort of things we could laugh about, and probably will, next time I'm in NY. Over Heinekens, of course.

And I agree, everyone has good reason to be in a ridiculously good mood. The country's emerging from a bleak era, with a uniquely inspiring individual at the helm. Whether you agree with all of his platforms or not, this will be the first time in eight years where the decisions will be made by someone considering differing viewpoints and crafting thoughtful policy, rather than doing what his gut, or God, tells him, and lying about the reasons later. It sounds silly to say it, but of all the important qualities the guy telecasts - post-partisan, post-racial, etc... - the most important is Competence. I think he's a little green, and he'll have to learn a lot on the fly, but this much is pretty obvious - Obama is supremely Competent. A Competent listener like Clinton - up to and likely surpassing the requirements and expectations of the office, uniquely suited to address the problems we face. And now, at this time, after the last eight years of something quite different, that warrants rejoicing.

Re: A New Era
 

2. This is the first President in a long time -- in my own memory, certainly -- who has some promise to unite America, not divide it. No question that he's a little green (is there any job that can really prepare you for POTUS?), that his policies are not perfect, that he faces enormous obstacles and challenges. But he's smart, he listens, he thinks. He respects people who are smart and who listen and think. He is not afraid to say "circumstances have changed, or my understanding of them has changed, and so my response needs to change."

And the overwhelming historic nature of a Black man taking the oath cannot, simply cannot, be overstated.

God Bless America.

Tune in tomorrow for the normal partisan sniping, bickering, and back-stabbing we all love so much. 'Til then, peace to you all, my friends and occasional foils.

Re: A New Era
 

I was thinking, one really cool thing is that it sounds like the fringster has recovered enough that she should have been able to appreciate and enjoy the inaugeration. Obama has to get my teeth straightened THEN lets work on getting Fringey back here.

Re: A New Era
 

From your lips to God's ears. May fringe return soon, healthy and whole.

With liberty and bacon for all.

Re: A New Era
 

So, thoughts on the speech? I thought it was delivered very well (as usual) and really liked the section regarding deviating from our history of false choices (e.g., safety v. liberty). The rest was pretty stock, but because of his oratory skills, sound "big."

Re: A New Era
 

Ditto. And don't forget the cupcakes!

Re: A New Era
 

I thought it was inspiring. Maybe in print it will not seem as amazing as it did with his delivery but I thought it was excellent. If by stock you mean it was in line with his prior themes, I agree and that is a good thing. But I don't think it was stock in terms of inauguration speeches as a whole.

Re: A New Era
 

I can't agree. I thought it was far above the usual fare. In fact, I can't think of a speech that has come close since Reagan's first inaugural address. I didn't agree with a lot of what Reagan said, but it was a particularly inspired speech. I would put this speech in the same basket, with the difference that I believe Obama had a lot to say about the content of his address.

Re: A New Era
 

2.....2....2!

Not so post-partisan......
 

...is this??

Carter Snubs Clinton

Re: A New Era
 

I thought the first part was good -- strong on the idea that we can deal with these challenges, but that we have to step up for that.

The second part was effectively destroyed by the constant interruptions of the CNN.com feed. I'll have to watch it again later.

Re: A New Era
 

I think it was a success both for a domestic audience and an international one. FDR might be a better comparison, though I didn't think it matched FDR at his finest, who regularly interjected major policy pronouncements into his speechifying.

Re: A New Era
 

I listened uninterrupted by the Interwebs. I think it's a strong speech all the way through. It's noticably somber, and seems that Obama chose to deliver prose more than poetry, but I guess that's appropriate to the moment.

Re: A New Era
 

Well, actually, his diaries and historical records indicated Reagan had a lot to do with his addresses, writing many in full. Don't know the extent to which he authored his inaugural, but based on what I've read, he had been writing a portion of them since his days as Governor of California, so I'm not sure the "difference" noted is worth noting.

But moving past that, I think Obama's measured but forceful tone of today was better than anything he did on the campaign trail. This wasn't a speech of promise, this was a speech with a decided, "and now here's what we're going to do" tone to it. I particularly liked the nod to "non-believers" in his list of peoples comprising this country. Where Bush sleazily spoke in code to the Right to duck the ire of moderates, Obama put himself firmly in the camp of tolerance for all views.

I also liked the olive branch to the Muslim World. Mutual respect is all we can hope to achieve in that relationship at the moment, and I think he framed that perfectly.

Re: Not so post-partisan......
 

or this?????

Republican John Cornyn of Texas has indicated he will block a move to confirm Clinton by a unanimous floor vote later in the day.