I wrote on a flag once - I admit it. But it was just after the Patriot Act was enacted and I was really, really angry at the way the country was going, so I pinned it to my door along with a poster of John Kerry fist-fighting Bush. But see, at least back then, the Democrats got angry about things, and fought for things. Because we were mad, and our rights were being trampled, and we were scared out of our minds thinking of what a brainless little monkey was doing to our Constitution.
Now, I don't even know how to feel about this election because I'm so mad at the Democrats for being such spineless, witless doormats to the tea party twits and their band of fools. They didn't just roll out the red carpet for a GOP takeover, they lined up and laid down so they could BE the carpet.
I'm hoping two years of John Boehner's day-glo face and his band of brainless tea baggers tea bagging the country will rile the Dems up enough that they remember who it is they represent and that we'd like very much to keep the GOP out of the White House in two years. Because now I know what the 2012 prophecy is about - and its name is Sarah Palin.
I'm so sorry about Feingold. What the hell happened? I mean, yes, Wisconsin has been known to vote for nutcases before ("no one ever looks like Joseph McCarthy; that's how they get in the door in the first place :)) but he's been senator for, what, 18 years? And his opponent thinks global warming is caused by sunspots. I don't understand. And I am really going to miss him on the judiciary committee. Damn. Hopefully Franken will stay.
I'm kind of pissed that so many young people stayed home. Damn it, guys, I stick up for us all the time. But I've been excited to vote since I was five, so I guess I can't understand people who can't be bothered to vote.
Aww, I'm sorry. The no-sharia law thing was...amusing, I'm sorry to say. But don't feel too bad! I live in AZ, where republicans swept all the top jobs (including attorney general, which the dems had held for almost twenty years). We have a new superintendent of schools who campaigned on "classroom discipline" and "reading by grade 3!" It's hard to maintain that 50th in education, let me tell you. The governor championed SB 1070, lied about beheadings in the desert (?), completely imploded in the one debate she'd actually sit for, and her numbers went up. The new attorney general was the former superintendent of schools, and the only thing he pushed for was getting rid of foreign studies (translated: Mexican studies) because they promote--fuck if I know, he apparently thought people learning about other cultures made them less American or something. See, he's smart because the more people learn, the less people buy his bullshit. Keep the populace stupid, that's the ticket. On the whole, I'm not completely doom and gloom, either, but wow are people old and mean and racist down here.
Yay, Sorkin. Remember the "Bartlett is my president" tshirts, etc.? I need a "Sorkin creates my political reality" t-shirt. I want dems to fight for their issues. I want dems to stand up, because that's what we do in civilized societies. I want dems to stand up for themselves; I know it's tiring (hell, I'm tired of dealing with the nutcases down here) but I want them to reach deep down and remember what matters to them. Obama got the "this is more important than reelection, I want to speak" part, now we need the "I will go door to door if I have to but I'm going to convince Americans that I'm right and I'm gonna get [healthcare, budget, financial regs, energy, education, social security, medicare . . . done]." If we think we're right, and we do, we should fight for it.
That sounds so amazing. I so hope I get to hear him speak in person. It's been a long time since I felt a patriotic glow that didn't make me scared or uncomfortable, but seeing how invested everyone (including myself) that day was really, surprisingly, powerful. That's what's always impressed me about him; when he'd speak during the campaign, he'd make me feel excited yet calm, somehow, thinking we could totally accomplish this difficult and amazing feat. I'm glad the college students voted; young people do vote (and did vote) but not as much as in 2008. I think it's also hard to fight when 65+ go to the polls more than they every have since 1994, and voted overwhelmingly republican. Young people didn't have "death panels" spurring them on, so it's understandable :/ It's just so frustrating sitting in a more liberal part of the state, looking around you and wondering why everyone went a little nuts. It's just so sad about Russ; he's been such a great voice for so long.
Oh, hey! AZ did the healthcare thing, too! Which is ridiculous, because the legislation allows states to opt out if they can come up with something better, but, of course, some states would rather just do nothing. We already had English as the official language (except for voting literature because it's federally mandated that that all literature be in English, Spanish, and Navajo (and other native languages); it's fun whipping that info out at parties :D). And, hey, don't think OK can compete in the race to the bottom in education with AZ; everyone here has already broken out the shovels (oh, and I just found out that the guy who sponsored SB 1070? is now the President of the Senate. So awesome). I don't want to think of any of my neighbors as racist morons, but so many of them seem to revel in it. They once defeated an anti-gay marriage bill, which was great, but then they turned around and voted for it the next time. Bizarre. I hate that the ballot measures are so confusing; most people tend to vote "no" here but sometimes that means yes...it's very frustrating. I think they enjoy confusing us. And just so beyond common sense that it makes me have a Josh-style meltdown with a Toby-style verbal rampage. This. I mean, it would be awesome to see, but it sucks that that's the reason for it.
"I don't want him feeling better, I want him feeling mad. Is there anyone you'd rather have as a blood enemy less than Sam? That's how I want him." That's how I want all of us, Toby. There is not one part of this comment that I don't love and agree with.
I've totally been wanting to break out my WW dvds lately! They were a comfort during GWB, they'll be a comfort again :)
I'm not a huge Obama fan, personally - I still wear my Hillary campaign shirts when I'm in a certain mood. During his address about the war (sorry, I mean the Iraq war - I forget we have to specify because WE'RE IN MORE THAN ONE), I was at thy gym on the treadmill, watching and yelling at the little treadmill TV. The people around me were so confused.
I just remember how Clinton stood up to the GOP when they tried to fuck us with the budget and called their bluff about shutting down the government and it's like, where's that kind of strong leadership? Obama needs to - pardon the phrase - man up and stand up to the Tea Baggers like Clinton stood up to Gingrich. Imagine if we had a strong leader who could also keep it in his pants...the things we could accomplish would be epic.
Oh, but see! I really don't care if you write on a flag, particularly in protest. My anger was more directed to the last president, who signed autographs on it. Pissed me off. And I was all over the upside-down flag/America in distress signal. Fucking "Patriot Act" and republicans and their Orwellian-speak. 1984 IS NOT A MANUAL FOR GOVERNANCE, DAMN IT. The flag code was sort of drilled into me as a kid (army brat); my dad was a strong dem and yet certain things we did have been appropriated by the right in a bizarre, nationalistic obsession and it pisses me off. Military housing had brackets to display flags outside; but suddenly after 9/11 only "real american"-republicans do that. My Limbaugh-loving aunt and uncle were so proud that they were so much better americans than my mom and I were because they had a flag pole and the american flag displayed around the clock. "But there's no light." "Well, no." "So when are you going to take it down? It's after sunset." "Why would we take it down?" My mom's signaling me just to let it go. They think they're so superior, but they get it wrong and it irritates the hell out of me. It's all about winning and turning the America I was raised to believe in into some kind of joke. ASSHOLES.
I think it's only when our backs are against the walls that we fight. The strongest I ever saw the dems in Congress fight was when the republicans wanted to privatize Social Security. Everyone then was at their fighting weight and on message and Bush and the republicans backed off. But now we won in 2008 and yet when people started ramping up the crazy and even when the dems had the most prolific legislative session in decades, so many of them ran and hid. My rep didn't; she was pro-healthcare from the beginning in a lean-R district, but no way should the dems have let the town halls go as they did (I went to one of them and wow was it scary. but these are also people who still cheered GWB, so it's a decidedly skewed sample). The dems have a lot of structural disadvantages in the media, but we're supposed to be the creative side; surely we could have come up with something. But not even having Andy Griffith :) tell seniors that their medicare was intact was enough.
The evil part of me is kind of looking forward to the constant investigations; I know that's awful, but Issa (who's going to head Oversight) is already making noises about investigations and birth certificates and I'm sure they're just frothing at the mouth for impeachment. I just want dems to fight for their way in seeing the world; it's not necessarily "progressive" but "liberal"-- we must hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. I hope we can all fight together to get Obama a second term or at the very least fight to keep the GOP away from any additional levers of power.
Do you think she has a chance? Yes, she has fans, but I think she's the one who reunited dems into voting for Obama. She terrifies moderates (anecdotally, I think she's what pushed Jon Stewart into finally seeing McCain for what he actually is and even the people I know who like her (?boggles the mind) think she's not ready to be president). I'm not sure if the repub party will implode enough so that she gets the nomination. I mean, yeah, the evil part of me would enjoy the show, but the other part is terrified that she'd still get at least 40% of the vote anyway. I'm just afraid that the economy could be so awful that people will vote R regardless. Wow, okay, I'm back to being nervous. Please, Rs, please show the full extent of your craziness to remind people why they all don't like you in the first place.
Now, I don't even know how to feel about this election because I'm so mad at the Democrats for being such spineless, witless doormats to the tea party twits and their band of fools. They didn't just roll out the red carpet for a GOP takeover, they lined up and laid down so they could BE the carpet.
I'm hoping two years of John Boehner's day-glo face and his band of brainless tea baggers tea bagging the country will rile the Dems up enough that they remember who it is they represent and that we'd like very much to keep the GOP out of the White House in two years. Because now I know what the 2012 prophecy is about - and its name is Sarah Palin.
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I'm kind of pissed that so many young people stayed home. Damn it, guys, I stick up for us all the time. But I've been excited to vote since I was five, so I guess I can't understand people who can't be bothered to vote.
Aww, I'm sorry. The no-sharia law thing was...amusing, I'm sorry to say. But don't feel too bad! I live in AZ, where republicans swept all the top jobs (including attorney general, which the dems had held for almost twenty years). We have a new superintendent of schools who campaigned on "classroom discipline" and "reading by grade 3!" It's hard to maintain that 50th in education, let me tell you. The governor championed SB 1070, lied about beheadings in the desert (?), completely imploded in the one debate she'd actually sit for, and her numbers went up. The new attorney general was the former superintendent of schools, and the only thing he pushed for was getting rid of foreign studies (translated: Mexican studies) because they promote--fuck if I know, he apparently thought people learning about other cultures made them less American or something. See, he's smart because the more people learn, the less people buy his bullshit. Keep the populace stupid, that's the ticket. On the whole, I'm not completely doom and gloom, either, but wow are people old and mean and racist down here.
Yay, Sorkin. Remember the "Bartlett is my president" tshirts, etc.? I need a "Sorkin creates my political reality" t-shirt. I want dems to fight for their issues. I want dems to stand up, because that's what we do in civilized societies. I want dems to stand up for themselves; I know it's tiring (hell, I'm tired of dealing with the nutcases down here) but I want them to reach deep down and remember what matters to them. Obama got the "this is more important than reelection, I want to speak" part, now we need the "I will go door to door if I have to but I'm going to convince Americans that I'm right and I'm gonna get [healthcare, budget, financial regs, energy, education, social security, medicare . . . done]." If we think we're right, and we do, we should fight for it.
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(The comment has been removed)
Oh, hey! AZ did the healthcare thing, too! Which is ridiculous, because the legislation allows states to opt out if they can come up with something better, but, of course, some states would rather just do nothing. We already had English as the official language (except for voting literature because it's federally mandated that that all literature be in English, Spanish, and Navajo (and other native languages); it's fun whipping that info out at parties :D). And, hey, don't think OK can compete in the race to the bottom in education with AZ; everyone here has already broken out the shovels (oh, and I just found out that the guy who sponsored SB 1070? is now the President of the Senate. So awesome). I don't want to think of any of my neighbors as racist morons, but so many of them seem to revel in it. They once defeated an anti-gay marriage bill, which was great, but then they turned around and voted for it the next time. Bizarre. I hate that the ballot measures are so confusing; most people tend to vote "no" here but sometimes that means yes...it's very frustrating. I think they enjoy confusing us. And just so beyond common sense that it makes me have a Josh-style meltdown with a Toby-style verbal rampage. This. I mean, it would be awesome to see, but it sucks that that's the reason for it.
"I don't want him feeling better, I want him feeling mad. Is there anyone you'd rather have as a blood enemy less than Sam? That's how I want him." That's how I want all of us, Toby. There is not one part of this comment that I don't love and agree with.
I've totally been wanting to break out my WW dvds lately! They were a comfort during GWB, they'll be a comfort again :)
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I just remember how Clinton stood up to the GOP when they tried to fuck us with the budget and called their bluff about shutting down the government and it's like, where's that kind of strong leadership? Obama needs to - pardon the phrase - man up and stand up to the Tea Baggers like Clinton stood up to Gingrich. Imagine if we had a strong leader who could also keep it in his pants...the things we could accomplish would be epic.
Reply
Oh. my. God.
You're right.
Dude!
Oh. My God.
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I think it's only when our backs are against the walls that we fight. The strongest I ever saw the dems in Congress fight was when the republicans wanted to privatize Social Security. Everyone then was at their fighting weight and on message and Bush and the republicans backed off. But now we won in 2008 and yet when people started ramping up the crazy and even when the dems had the most prolific legislative session in decades, so many of them ran and hid. My rep didn't; she was pro-healthcare from the beginning in a lean-R district, but no way should the dems have let the town halls go as they did (I went to one of them and wow was it scary. but these are also people who still cheered GWB, so it's a decidedly skewed sample). The dems have a lot of structural disadvantages in the media, but we're supposed to be the creative side; surely we could have come up with something. But not even having Andy Griffith :) tell seniors that their medicare was intact was enough.
The evil part of me is kind of looking forward to the constant investigations; I know that's awful, but Issa (who's going to head Oversight) is already making noises about investigations and birth certificates and I'm sure they're just frothing at the mouth for impeachment. I just want dems to fight for their way in seeing the world; it's not necessarily "progressive" but "liberal"-- we must hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. I hope we can all fight together to get Obama a second term or at the very least fight to keep the GOP away from any additional levers of power.
Do you think she has a chance? Yes, she has fans, but I think she's the one who reunited dems into voting for Obama. She terrifies moderates (anecdotally, I think she's what pushed Jon Stewart into finally seeing McCain for what he actually is and even the people I know who like her (?boggles the mind) think she's not ready to be president). I'm not sure if the repub party will implode enough so that she gets the nomination. I mean, yeah, the evil part of me would enjoy the show, but the other part is terrified that she'd still get at least 40% of the vote anyway. I'm just afraid that the economy could be so awful that people will vote R regardless. Wow, okay, I'm back to being nervous. Please, Rs, please show the full extent of your craziness to remind people why they all don't like you in the first place.
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