My God, you are an idiot.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Okay. a HS level question was too complex. Let me try 5th grade.

"If the R's take over the senate do you think the Dems will filibuster less frequently?"

I think they will filibuster less frequently than the GOP has since Obama got elected, but more than they did, e.g., in the 1970s.

Democratic voters say they prefer leaders who compromise, and there are a good many Senate Democrats who like to pose as centrists.

But your notion that things went wrong early this century is still loopy:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

TSA agent "rapes" passenger, threatens defamation suit.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Your question was, "Do you think the Senate will go back to it's proper functioning if the Dems lose control?" I don't understand it. Adder may, but I don't.d.

I find a liter or so of Rauchbier helps.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Well, first of all the career of politics grants a feeling of power. The knowledge of influencing men, of participating in power over them, and above all, the feeling of holding in one’s hands a nerve fiber of historically important events can elevate the professional politician above everyday routine even when he is placed in formally modest positions. But now the question for him is: Through what qualities can I hope to do justice to this power (however narrowly circumscribed it may be in the individual case) ? How can he hope to do justice to the responsibility that power imposes upon him? With this we enter the field of ethical questions, for that is where the problem belongs: What kind of a man must one be if he is to be allowed to put his hand on the wheel of history?

One can say that three pre-eminent qualities are decisive for the politician: passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion.

Max Weber

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Max Weber

2.

"The nation needs coolness more than clarion calls; intelligence more than charisma; a sense of history more than a sense of histrionics."

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

2.

"The nation needs coolness more than clarion calls...."

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

"The nation needs a sense of history more than a sense of histrionics." No offense, but you fail, don't you think?

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

"The nation needs a sense of history more than a sense of histrionics." No offense, but you fail, don't you think?

History teaches that dudes from Texas who think God talks to them about military, economic and domestic policy fuck things up when they get to be President. It's clearly a lesson that needs repeating.

[Gattigap]

Originally Posted by ironweed

History teaches that dudes from Texas who think God talks to them about military, economic and domestic policy fuck things up when they get to be President. It's clearly a lesson that needs repeating.

Listen, hippie. Sometimes folks just need killin'. You may not understand this, but the good people in the GOP primary ranks do, and they're gonna give us a candidate who is the living, breathing embodiment of their id.

It really will be a fascinating thing to watch. Early on in these debates, it seems pretty clear that Perry is untethered from the constraints of reason, and it'll be interesting to watch whether Romney is able to box him in to things like "facts" and "reality," because there ain't no way that Romney can out-id this guy. Who will GOP primary voters actually choose?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ironweed

History teaches that dudes from Texas who think God talks to them about military, economic and domestic policy fuck things up when they get to be President. It's clearly a lesson that needs repeating.

how about when a liberal arts major president gets all starry eyed about science far above his head and loses a half billion dollars?

Originally Posted by Gattigap

Listen, hippie. Sometimes folks just need killin'. You may not understand this, but the good people in the GOP primary ranks do, and they're gonna give us a candidate who is the living, breathing embodiment of their id.

It really will be a fascinating thing to watch. Early on in these debates, it seems pretty clear that Perry is untethered from the constraints of reason, and it'll be interesting to watch whether Romney is able to box him in to things like "facts" and "reality," because there ain't no way that Romney can out-id this guy. Who will GOP primary voters actually choose?

Hmm. "Fascinating" must be one of those words like "upshot," because for years I thought it meant "really interesting" and all along it meant "pants-shittingly-terrifying." Makes me think of all those Star Trek episodes in a much different light.

I think he's gone a bit too far on SS for all but the hardest core of primary voters, and it sounds much too much like he wants to destroy it completely and leave nothing in its place (I freely admit that I have no idea, or interest in, what his actual policy prescription for SS might be). Even Republicans have parents and grandparents who collect SS, and there are even some who harbor some hope that it will be there for them in their old age. No one gives a shit about global warming in any faction of the GOP primary voting base as far as I can tell, so he's probably safe being a wingnut on that point.

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

how about when a liberal arts major president gets all starry eyed about science far above his head and loses a half billion dollars?

Do you know how happy I would be if the last guy only pissed away half a billion on less-than-zero-return investments?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ironweed

about global warming

what has Obama even tried to do on this? 4 years ago Ty said we were like 5 years from a "no return" tipping point, and Obama doesn't seem to know this.

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

what has Obama even tried to do on this? 4 years ago Ty said we were like 5 years from a "no return" tipping point, and Obama doesn't seem to know this.

He quit smoking, for one. But yeah, I'm really really really disappointed by his lack of action on this and I'm sure that a Republican administration will have it licked in the first 100 days. In fact, it can probably just be prayed away. If you're not a Muslim, that is.

[Gattigap]

Originally Posted by ironweed

Hmm. "Fascinating" must be one of those words like "upshot," because for years I thought it meant "really interesting" and all along it meant "pants-shittingly-terrifying." Makes me think of all those Star Trek episodes in a much different light.

Yes. If you think of Obama needing a wonderful GOP foil in the general election, then it's in the "really interesting sense."

If you consider that occasionally the wonderful foil could actually win, then we're in to "oh, shit" territory. I try not to focus too much on that possibility, though I agree that it's a real one.

I think he's gone a bit too far on SS for all but the hardest core of primary voters, and it sounds much too much like he wants to destroy it completely and leave nothing in its place (I freely admit that I have no idea, or interest in, what his actual policy prescription for SS might be). Even Republicans have parents and grandparents who collect SS, and there are even some who harbor some hope that it will be there for them in their old age.

Right. This is shaping up to be a Tea Party vs. Grandparents battle. Who knows which side is stronger?