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Post by Sue on Sept 9, 2009 20:09:19 GMT -5
How is it possible to listen to President Obama and not want to be a better person---to make things work, to live up to ...something.
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Sept 9, 2009 21:24:55 GMT -5
How is it possible to listen to President Obama and not want to be a better person---to make things work, to live up to ...something. I'm with you. Certain Republicans, however, had other ideas. Rep Joe Wilson of South Carolina, for example. What ever happened to good manners? Anne, I heard Karl Rove thought it was funny
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Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Sept 10, 2009 0:51:39 GMT -5
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Post by Sue on Sept 10, 2009 11:30:54 GMT -5
3 random comments on Pres. Obama's speech.
Sadly, they are all reactions to simple visuals, rather than serious comment on the content. Signs of the times.
1. I had a tutoring student comment on his speech to school kids with: "I just wished he'd looked into the camera more often. Yeah, I know he had an actual audience in the room but he kept glancing left and right and he KNEW he was on TV but never seemed to address me directly." I was interested that this kid even attended, in that he was a huge McCain supporter, has incredibly conservative parents (of the "still paddles a 6 foot tall 14 year old" variety); a grandpa who is a fire and brimstone preacher and wanted, during election season, to argue with me about baby killing. So I was impressed that he even attended, and was "allowed" to. But then I read that same comment online, about Obama rarely addressing the TV audience.
To which I will add: it sure did seem like he was looking at the Republicans twice as much as the Democrats.
2. I have any number of personally held conservative viewpoints so I actually understand that there are people who just can't be Democrats politically. BUT as a female, how could you look out on the Congress and think that the Republican party had any remote hope of representing females, or minorities.
Every time the cameras panned right, you saw a sea of color: mostly on females and/or African Americans, especially A-A females. Then you would look left and it was an unbroken block of white males, many well past middle age. What a visual statement.
3. It was so obvious that Vicki Kennedy said "Magnificent, just magnificent" as the speech ended.
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Post by Rachael on Sept 10, 2009 12:50:41 GMT -5
Today's Margaret and Helen:
Also, we seem to be needing a new part hereabouts soon.
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Post by Sue on Sept 10, 2009 13:11:29 GMT -5
Today's Margaret and Helen: Also, we seem to be needing a new part hereabouts soon. Yeah, one of the comments on the HuffPost thread on Joe Wilson said: "Can we please vote for SC and OK to secede along with TX and AK?"
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Post by Sue on Sept 10, 2009 14:48:50 GMT -5
Kudos to Rick Sanchez for looking up the specific language of (at least one of the current) bills-in-progress that states clearly that the health care provision in it's pages applied ONLY to those in the United States LAWFULLY.
He also pointed out that that wouldn't trump the law enacted in the 80's and enforced for over 20 years requiring emergency rooms to treat anyone who shows up.
He also showed footage of a raucous British Parliament grumbling, etc but then told of an incident where one PM clearly called Margaret Thatcher a liar while she was present and was immediately tossed out.
Just flipping channels here.
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Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Sept 10, 2009 15:03:05 GMT -5
Kudos to Rick Sanchez for looking up the specific language of (at least one of the current) bills-in-progress that states clearly that the health care provision in it's pages applied ONLY to those in the United States LAWFULLY. He also pointed out that that wouldn't trump the law enacted in the 80's and enforced for over 20 years requiring emergency rooms to treat anyone who shows up. He also showed footage of a raucous British Parliament grumbling, etc but then told of an incident where one PM clearly called Margaret Thatcher a liar while she was present and was immediately tossed out. Just flipping channels here. Spin, spin, spin- there's a weird movement to equate Wilson's frank and rules-violating use of the world "liar" with any grumbling or booing of any Presidential speech, ever. What is this weird modern habit of thought which insists only people who have never made a faux pas can point out egregious violations of social order, ever? It gets excused as "beam/mote" but in fact the beam-bearers are the most likely to justify their own bewooded state by the existance ofrandom motes floating around. This very much applies to Sarah Palin's tweet that the President's refutation of death panels indicated the death of civility. Julia, must go run around like a headless chicken in process of getting to thedentist with clean teath and sheets on the line.
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Sept 10, 2009 15:33:16 GMT -5
Kudos to Rick Sanchez for looking up the specific language of (at least one of the current) bills-in-progress that states clearly that the health care provision in it's pages applied ONLY to those in the United States LAWFULLY. He also pointed out that that wouldn't trump the law enacted in the 80's and enforced for over 20 years requiring emergency rooms to treat anyone who shows up. He also showed footage of a raucous British Parliament grumbling, etc but then told of an incident where one PM clearly called Margaret Thatcher a liar while she was present and was immediately tossed out. Just flipping channels here. Spin, spin, spin- there's a weird movement to equate Wilson's frank and rules-violating use of the world "liar" with any grumbling or booing of any Presidential speech, ever. What is this weird modern habit of thought which insists only people who have never made a faux pas can point out egregious violations of social order, ever? It gets excused as "beam/mote" but in fact the beam-bearers are the most likely to justify their own bewooded state by the existance ofrandom motes floating around. This very much applies to Sarah Palin's tweet that the President's refutation of death panels indicated the death of civility. Julia, must go run around like a headless chicken in process of getting to thedentist with clean teath and sheets on the line. Eric Cantor says it was Obama's fault. Buncha two-year-olds. Republican two-year-olds badly in need of a timeout.
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Post by Sue on Sept 10, 2009 18:44:03 GMT -5
Spin, spin, spin- there's a weird movement to equate Wilson's frank and rules-violating use of the world "liar" with any grumbling or booing of any Presidential speech, ever. What is this weird modern habit of thought which insists only people who have never made a faux pas can point out egregious violations of social order, ever? It gets excused as "beam/mote" but in fact the beam-bearers are the most likely to justify their own bewooded state by the existance ofrandom motes floating around. This very much applies to Sarah Palin's tweet that the President's refutation of death panels indicated the death of civility. Julia, must go run around like a headless chicken in process of getting to thedentist with clean teath and sheets on the line. Eric Cantor says it was Obama's fault. Buncha two-year-olds. Republican two-year-olds badly in need of a timeout. Well, I'm also exceedingly displeased with the substitute guest host on Hardball and his 2 guests (a black woman and Ron Reagan) who are both suggesting (and not the least bit subtly) that Wilson's outburst implies racism--to my mind that's bit of a stretch. And even if there is some truth to it I can't imagine that this is where Obama wants the conversation to veer off to. =================================== Also, since Julia post this morning I've read that JW's opponent raised 100,000; then later 200,000 and just now 400,000. So I wondered if these figures are true or exaggeration and went back to the link Julia provided: 15,000+ donors close to $600,000. Wonder if the Republicans will learn any lessons from this? Avoid any behavior that will raise more money for their opponent than for themselves? I especially like the donation group calling itself: "Higher Life Forms for Rob Miller." (Miller is the Dem opposing Joe Wilson.)
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Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Sept 10, 2009 19:55:47 GMT -5
Huh, this is interesting: Mr. Wilson, staunch opponent of government health care? is on Tricare; his sons are active duty military, and therefore on the closest thing the US has to a UK-style government run health program. JUlia, he also has gotten a lot of campaign money from the healthcare PACS against a national health plan.
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Post by Sue on Sept 11, 2009 12:09:23 GMT -5
More Joe Wilson trivia.
From the Comedy section of Huffington Post they say there is now a website titled: joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com where people are posting comments such as the following.
(I find it pretty funny that his name is now synonymous with all things horrid, great and small. But I feel bad for all the other Joe Wilsons in the world.)
* Joe Wilson used your best scissors to trim his ear hair * Joe Wilson laid off your dad just before his pension kicked in * Joe Wilson canceled arrested development * Joe Wilson didn't refill your Brita pitcher * Joe Wilson traded the dead batteries in his Walkman for the fresh ones in your TV remote * Joe Wilson uses White-Out on legal documents * Joe Wilson steals one of each pair of socks while they are in the dryer. * Joe Wilson pees sitting down. * Joe Wilson's phone goes off in movie theaters. * Joe Wilson walks his dog on your lawn. * Joe Wilson scrawled your sister's phone number in the bathroom stall. * Joe Wilson shot Bambi's mother.
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Post by Lola m on Sept 11, 2009 21:34:18 GMT -5
With all the extreme reactions regarding healthcare reform that are being bandied about so much nowadays, has anyone else been having the experience I've had of referring more and more people I encounter to Fact Check? They've just got so much stuff on the health care debate! I don't know if the truly stirred up will actually take the time to read and/or be willing to do so, but I'm getting very fond of any source that is so wonderfully calmly ploddingly unemotional. (Of course, my fave spot on that site will always be their wonderful little article "That Chain E-mail Your Friend Sent to You Is (Likely) Bogus. Seriously.". )
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Post by SpringSummers on Sept 12, 2009 8:26:33 GMT -5
More Joe Wilson trivia. From the Comedy section of Huffington Post they say there is now a website titled: joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com where people are posting comments such as the following. (I find it pretty funny that his name is now synonymous with all things horrid, great and small. But I feel bad for all the other Joe Wilsons in the world.) * Joe Wilson used your best scissors to trim his ear hair * Joe Wilson laid off your dad just before his pension kicked in * Joe Wilson canceled arrested development * Joe Wilson didn't refill your Brita pitcher * Joe Wilson traded the dead batteries in his Walkman for the fresh ones in your TV remote * Joe Wilson uses White-Out on legal documents * Joe Wilson steals one of each pair of socks while they are in the dryer. * Joe Wilson pees sitting down. * Joe Wilson's phone goes off in movie theaters. * Joe Wilson walks his dog on your lawn. * Joe Wilson scrawled your sister's phone number in the bathroom stall. * Joe Wilson shot Bambi's mother. Geez, I finally read this story, and . . . I am befuddled at the overreaction, which strikes me as way, way over-the-top. Obama handled and handles it exactly correctly - basically ignoring it, accepting apology with the very on-the-mark comment "We all make mistakes," and moving on. I mean . . . a Congressman who is . . . very briefly, but also very extremely . . . uh . . . impolite and out-of-order? I don't know the guy, and I suspect that I would disagree with most of his politics, but if this is the worst character flaw in Congress, we'd be very, very lucky. I tend to believe the "spontaneous" thing, because it's almost too stupid to be something you'd do, if you thought it out. Though I probably shouldn't "misunderestimate" the extent to which a member of Congress can be just plain dumb. If some liberal Dem Congressman from the Northeast had done something similar to Bush, the reaction would have been pretty much the same, with the pundits flipped.
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Post by Sue on Sept 12, 2009 9:05:37 GMT -5
More Joe Wilson trivia. From the Comedy section of Huffington Post they say there is now a website titled: joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com where people are posting comments such as the following. (I find it pretty funny that his name is now synonymous with all things horrid, great and small. But I feel bad for all the other Joe Wilsons in the world.) * Joe Wilson used your best scissors to trim his ear hair * Joe Wilson laid off your dad just before his pension kicked in * Joe Wilson canceled arrested development * Joe Wilson didn't refill your Brita pitcher * Joe Wilson traded the dead batteries in his Walkman for the fresh ones in your TV remote * Joe Wilson uses White-Out on legal documents * Joe Wilson steals one of each pair of socks while they are in the dryer. * Joe Wilson pees sitting down. * Joe Wilson's phone goes off in movie theaters. * Joe Wilson walks his dog on your lawn. * Joe Wilson scrawled your sister's phone number in the bathroom stall. * Joe Wilson shot Bambi's mother. Geez, I finally read this story, and . . . I am befuddled at the overreaction, which strikes me as way, way over-the-top. Obama handled and handles it exactly correctly - basically ignoring it, accepting apology with the very on-the-mark comment "We all make mistakes," and moving on. I mean . . . a Congressman who is . . . very briefly, but also very extremely . . . uh . . . impolite and out-of-order? I don't know the guy, and I suspect that I would disagree with most of his politics, but if this is the worst character flaw in Congress, we'd be very, very lucky. I tend to believe the "spontaneous" thing, because it's almost too stupid to be something you'd do, if you thought it out. Though I probably shouldn't "misunderestimate" the extent to which a member of Congress can be just plain dumb. If some liberal Dem Congressman from the Northeast had done something similar to Bush, the reaction would have been pretty much the same, with the pundits flipped. Indeed. I'm trying to laugh about it to avoid crying---over the fact that instead of having serious talks about the policy points of the various reform bills the MEDIA chooses to latch on to this. Joe Wilson was dumb and/or rude for 1 seconds. The pundits who decided to have on guests and do interviews based around that one second have now gone on for 48 hours plus. Brought to you by the people who think every thunderstorm is devastating, every indiscretion is newsworthy and nothing is too small to be over-blown into a CRISIS.
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