Current Republican party policies:

1>No funding for any social programs other than those that get us elected
2>What goes on in your bedroom is our business

and most importantly

3>Bomb brown people

If you don't agree with all three you must be a looney eh?

@NetRunner: agreed that it's not the worst, nor is my anecdote...

and certainly odd changes in policy and illogical requirements do increase bureaucracy... but i'm not certain that i can agree that there isn't any valid reason for change...

think back through the last 11 years of us elections, in particular the previous three presidential elections... claims of voter fraud, hanging chad, dead rolls, acorn, etc -- now, i don't know if or what impact wisconsin's regulatory changes have on that... but that's the nature of government: we expect incompetence, and success is generally just a fortunate coincidence

from my tale, our overseas missions weren't always as i described... they changed, radically so, post 9-11 -- i used to be able to phone my nation's consular services and be shown respect and have my questions answered... help was given freely and easily, as one should expect

not so anymore - now we're herded in like infected cattle and treated as a possible terrorist - the 'help' has morphed into a hindrance... but are the reasons for such valid? how can we say...

and no, i wasn't dealing with the department of immigration... just my embassy in filing a consular report of birth abroad (CRBA), and those policies have changed recently too... for no apparent reason

i'm an american citizen, not an immigrant - there wasn't one iota of reason to suspect my not being a citizen... and soooo many reasons to accept that i was...

my family came to north america in the early 18th century... i'm tall, blond, and blue-eyed... i speak perfect american english with a non-regional accent... i served my country for six years in the usmc and am a veteran of the persian gulf war... and this is in addition to all the documentation i presented...

instead, i was treated as 'suspect' by a foreign- and indifferent-looking woman speaking to me in broken english... quite rudely questioning ME regarding something i have always assumed was fundamental: my being a us citizen

i guess my point is that videos like this present the particular situation as being 'scandalous' ... when in fact it's commonplace... and while annoying, it's not really insulting -- try visiting a us consular mission abroad and then complain about the bureaucracy, invasion of privacy, and being treated in a demeaning way

honestly, watching the domestic situation in my home country from overseas for the last 15-odd years is amazing... the partisanship is ridiculous, and so are most of their claims -- it's like having your body (the nation) infested with two distinct groups of intestinal parasites--like an old-south, grangerford-shepherdson blood-feud--the attacks from both left- and right-leaning tapeworms have risen to the level of threatening the very health and life of the host

videos and other seeming vitriol like this appear to me as symptomatic of such an unhealthy bent: a bloody feces-laden discharge

@GeeSussFreeK
"The claim of "blue states smarter than red states" is more a racist claim if it is based on SAT results as red states also contain a higher % of minorities."

If that claim were based on SAT scores, then it would be an invalid claim because SAT scores reflect your household income, not your intelligence. It wouldn't be racist.

But it's based on IQ scores: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/andrewallison/us-elections.jpg. IQ scores themselves aren't reflective of much except how academically inclined you are, as they were designed by academics to test how much like them everybody else is.

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

Are you advocating the violent overthrow of an existing government unilaterally? How do you support rebels, and which ones do you support? What if they don't want your support, Iraq sure didn't, Iran doesn't. Before we start blowing up another country, it would be good to have the answers to some of those questions.
>> ^kceaton1:
Yeah, I hate Mubarak, but who the hell knows what will fill up the vacuum. If it went south we'd almost have to get involved at some level.
(...it's starting to go south via the pro-Mubarak protesters somebody shipped in... One day there were little to none to be found; then overnight they show up--ready [and wanting] to fight.)
I'd call ^conspiracy (screw you sifty bot) on any news that has the "pro-Mubarak" protesters...

edit - One thing I whole heartedly agree with is what Cenk said at the end of his piece. If we really are ANY kind of power THAT TRULY believes in our republic and our democracy WE HAVE TO ACT. Otherwise, we look pro-Mubarak. The fact that I've seen so many of these protesters wearing Obama T-shirts and using his name, in a comparison of us electing him in force and they wanting Mubarak out. So much so that they viewed Obama's election an uprising in the U.S. (which is not comparable in anyway to their plight). I fail to see how our decision has yet to be made by our commander in chief!



Sorry, I didn't clarify what I meant by getting involved. I think we should promote any push for democratic or a republic reform regime. The reason I said we "may" need to get involved is because of our spending that gave them their army.

The army seems to be the most level-headed (as well as anti-Mubarak protesters. A good example for them is that they combined together to protect their museum from harm. To me that says this protest is VERY different from anything we've seen in our lifetimes except when Russia feel apart with much the same thing happening with the military.

As I said, I've got no idea what will fill the vacuum, but if we get involved we may may. This includes politics, U.N. support, or other non-intrusive military based action. Which is a far different strategy than what we used in Iraq and elsewhere.

Are you advocating the violent overthrow of an existing government unilaterally? How do you support rebels, and which ones do you support? What if they don't want your support, Iraq sure didn't, Iran doesn't. Before we start blowing up another country, it would be good to have the answers to some of those questions.

>> ^kceaton1:

Yeah, I hate Mubarak, but who the hell knows what will fill up the vacuum. If it went south we'd almost have to get involved at some level.
(...it's starting to go south via the pro-Mubarak protesters somebody shipped in... One day there were little to none to be found; then overnight they show up--ready [and wanting] to fight.)
I'd call ^conspiracy (screw you sifty bot) on any news that has the "pro-Mubarak" protesters...

edit - One thing I whole heartedly agree with is what Cenk said at the end of his piece. If we really are ANY kind of power THAT TRULY believes in our republic and our democracy WE HAVE TO ACT. Otherwise, we look pro-Mubarak. The fact that I've seen so many of these protesters wearing Obama T-shirts and using his name, in a comparison of us electing him in force and they wanting Mubarak out. So much so that they viewed Obama's election an uprising in the U.S. (which is not comparable in anyway to their plight). I fail to see how our decision has yet to be made by our commander in chief!

Yeah, I hate Mubarak, but who the hell knows what will fill up the vacuum. If it went south we'd almost have to get involved at some level.

(...it's starting to go south via the pro-Mubarak protesters somebody shipped in... One day there were little to none to be found; then overnight they show up--ready [and wanting] to fight.)

I'd call ^conspiracy (screw you sifty bot) on any news that has the "pro-Mubarak" protesters...


edit - One thing I whole heartedly agree with is what Cenk said at the end of his piece. If we really are ANY kind of power THAT TRULY believes in our republic and our democracy WE HAVE TO ACT. Otherwise, we look pro-Mubarak. The fact that I've seen so many of these protesters wearing Obama T-shirts and using his name, in a comparison of us electing him in force and they wanting Mubarak out. So much so that they viewed Obama's election an uprising in the U.S. (which is not comparable in anyway to their plight). I fail to see how our decision has yet to be made by our commander in chief!

Your video, TDS: US Elections Are Better than UK Elections, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

There is a conspiracy that there is a Kenyan muslim terrorist who stole the US Election to become president of the United States (and may actually be the anti-christ heralding the end of times)...

He has a secret agenda to destroy America and it's good people by bankrupting the treasury and turning the country into atheist communists who hate freedom and capitalism. He hates god and wants your children have abortions and be gay in the army - all the while giving free health care to illegal immigrants while executing white people in front of 'healthcare' death panels.

More people believe in Aliens OR vote republican?

... but David Icke is crazy because he suggests Glen Beck might be a reptilian Shape shifter?

http://www.oilempire.us/elections.html#elections

Thank you George Bush, for showing the world how morally bankrupt the Repbulican party really is.

Devoid of education, devoid of decency or self-restraint. Devoid of tolerance for those who are different.

Skeptical and distrustful of science when it disagrees with their interpretation of the Bible, and outright dismissal of it when it disagrees with their lobbyists.

Steadfastly opposed to equal rights, the concept of fairness, and any thought that those who have much...have a responsibility to those who have little.

Thank you for turning Virginia, North Carolina, and Indiana blue. Thank you for alienating an entire generation of Americans, guaranteeing that your party's influence will continue to wane for decades.

Thank you for helping us elect Barack Obama to the Presidency, and Al Franken to the Senate.

Just you wait and see, Michael Moore will be governor of California before you know it.

Furthermore we must remember the political time frame of these attacks in Israel, with the failure to form a coalition government Kadima leader Tzipi Livni informed President Peres in October, that general elections will have to take place on February 10th 2009.

Likud (Benjamin Netanyahu) and Kadmia (Tzipi Livni) are the major contenders to win over the Knesset, both are trying to replicate the momentum of change generated in the US elections. Both have the problem of seeming old and tired without the necessary 'change' aspect, Bibi had lead Israel before and Livni is number 2 in Olmert's office. Though Livni edges out being a woman and a new face.

One of the major striking points that Likud pushed forward was that Kadima being the Sharon party that imposed the Gazan withdrawal and is committed to the road map to peace would be too soft on Palestinians as a whole and endanger the Israeli national security. Likud also refuses to negotiate over Jerusalem.

With the recent military actions there is no longer a question of softness with regards to Kadima and the Palestinian people. This would work favorably towards assuring a victory in the Knesset for Livni.

But at what cost to the peace process?

However recent polls show that Likud is still in the lead with 29 seats. Not surprising since the Gaza pullout and the corruption charges leveled at Olmert. But we need to see how the international pressures that Livni is reaching out for will shape the public perceptions.

We shall see, there is disengagement taking place now, and truce has been declared with Israel withdrawing from Gaza soon.

>> ^ponceleon:
Upvote for John Cleese cameo... Robin Williams is not funny.


My sentiments exactly. Robin Williams once again fails at being funny. He's like that ADHD kid that just came out of drama class all hopped up on caffeine.

>> ^Sagemind:
Always gotta up-vote Robin - Still original after all these years, consistent..., but original


http://www.radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/02/take_the_funny_and_run_1.php

quantummushroom does it bother you that the US elected a terrorist to the highest office in the land?

Does it get to you that Bill Ayers will have a direct line to President Hussein Obama?

Does it bother you that Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and C-Murder will come and go from the White House as they please?

Does it bother you that a Muslim is now President?

^I see your point: the US electing electing a black man to be president would be more like the UK electing an Irish Catholic to be PM. But I think the point this sifter is trying to make is that the enthusiasm of Blair's win is not unlike the enthusiasm surrounding Obama which Blair failed to live up to.

(I hope that Obama can live up to people's expectations, he may have lot of work ahead of him...)