Post #343,593
6/11/11 10:53:14 AM
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Yeabut...
1) Of course they were trying to get him; they'd go after a cheese sandwich for assaulting a lactose intolerant person if it would get them a point or two.
Yes. Even if they have to make stuff up, as they often do.
2) This moron (Weiner) was thinking with the little head and not the big one. If you lead with your jaw, you're going to get knocked down.
Yes. He seems to have not left, or to have re-entered, his adolescent phase. He should know better. He also seems to either have a self-destructive streak or hubris or both. He needs to figure that out and if necessary get help to understand and control himself better.
3) He didn't commit a crime. He should have told them to go back to their closet and continue their auto-eroticism in private. HE allowed them to draw it out. The only question now is whether he's going to be stupid to a quick end or draw it out and become a gloriously corrupt pillar of the beltway community.
This I don't quite agree with.
Sending unwanted sexual things to colleagues in a workplace is sexual harassment, especially if it's from a superior to a subordinate. That is very much against the rules in the federal government, though the House may exempt itself from such things. The House also has rules about members conducting themselves with appropriate decorum or some such. Weiner certainly wasn't doing that.
While it might not have been a "crime" or "illegal" or possibly even against certain House rules, it wasn't nothing. It was more than telling a dirty joke or something. But in that sense, yes you're right, he shouldn't be put on trial.
I think it took him getting caught and it being blown up all over the media for him to finally realize that what he was doing was inappropriate. That realization is good.
I think he should be given a chance to change his behavior and make amends. I think he should keep his seat and put himself up for re-election. If his voters want to keep him, that's fine. People, even House members, should have the opportunity to correct personal failures.
And the House should investigate his actions (while keeping the press out of it) and take any appropriate actions. He shouldn't be forced out before then.
4) With about possibly 10 exceptions in all of Washington, they are all carbuncles on the arse of humanity and should be lanced periodically. And not allowed to return as lobbyists. Re: silly... defending these dorks is demeaning to anybody above the level of slime mold or political pundits (roughly equivalent.)
Well, I don't know. It's easy to generalize, but even the people who seemingly are idiots and who never have a serious challenge in elections are voted in by their constituents. Though I often don't like them, that's the system we have. Everyone there is human and everyone there has made mistakes and most of them honestly believe that they are doing what is best (even when they're objectively wrong). We need to keep things in perspective.
We don't want to elect people who don't have life experiences or who have been so sheltered that they've never said or done anything that they would later regret. Just about everyone will have a Google/Facebook/Twitter history in 20 years, and that will include things like statements made in anger, or statements/actions when drunk, or posting while horny, or .... I don't think we want those who don't to be our only choices.
And I feel the same way about Chris Lee - if his shirtless Craigslist photo were his major stupid indiscretion then he should have had a chance to stick around and prove that he learned from it. Instantly running away made the reward infinitely larger for those who find gotchas for politicians.
Our continued public Puritanism is going to enable more of those who would destroy much of what is best about America. Let's not enable them. Weiner shouldn't be thrown under the bus just yet.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who can't understand why he prefers "weener" to "winer". Surely he knows some German?)
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Post #343,599
6/11/11 1:30:42 PM
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Yeabut... yeabut
Ok crime...
That's why we have grand juries. A grand jury determines if a felony crime has been committed and if there is probable cause that a particular person or persons committed it. If the grand jury says yes, then prosecution handles the case in a set manner in common pleas court. If no, then they can kick it to petit court or walk away. The rules for that are also predicated.
Inappropriate, then... This is the United States Government we are talking about. The place where they pass around bribe checks from the tobacco industry on the house floor before voting on tobacco issues. It is probably the highest density of self-indulgent narcissists in the known universe.
People vote for them. Yes. Sometimes it's because the pols have been around a while and know where the bodies are buried and can keep the pork rolling in. Sometimes it's because they might as well try a new guy who might be the least putrid choice that is on the ballot. I may, over the years, have developed a light layer of cynicism about our government that refracts my view in a somewhat more unfavorable light. Anything is possible...
Generalizing... Yeah, it's easy and I plead guilty to being over glib and all-encompassing time to time. I an not for throwing Weiner (or anybody else, for that matter, that's not what buses are for) under the bus. If his constituents want somebody who acts stupidly in public representing them, he's got a job for life. If his wife wants to kick his ass, she should probably get the same sort of pass from the authorities that he got for being an idiot. Drunk and stupid, or horny and stupid are no way to run a country. Drunk or horny on a voluntary basis can be fairly acceptable, but stupid is probably a deal breaker. Unless you live in a particularly stupid state. Then it's probably normal. I would not want a puritan representing me. Neither would I want a self-absorbed narcissist. I would hope for a middle ground, but maybe such people can't stomach Dizzy City. damifiknow.
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Post #343,603
6/11/11 3:16:29 PM
6/11/11 3:39:36 PM
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Might all be moot. Cole thinks he'll be gone by Tuesday.
http://www.balloon-j...einer-deathwatch/
FWIW.
[Edit:] The story's been updated - he's going to rehab today and seeking a leave of absence.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #343,604
6/11/11 4:59:14 PM
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ya cant rehab stupid
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #343,608
6/11/11 7:57:37 PM
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amen brother bill
Sure, understanding today's complex world of the future is a little like having bees live in your head. But...there they are.
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Post #343,625
6/12/11 1:25:38 PM
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then why is Ensign (R-NV) still in office?
Why is Vitter (R-LA) still in office? Why is Coburn (R-OK) still in office?
Oh, right, I keep forgetting: IOKIYAR.
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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Post #343,628
6/12/11 1:44:47 PM
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did they take stupid rehab?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #343,632
6/12/11 2:08:18 PM
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nope
if they did it wouldn't be on Faux Noise anyway.
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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Post #343,651
6/13/11 2:12:12 PM
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You can't overcome them by becoming just like them.
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Post #343,669
6/13/11 9:29:35 PM
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But I live in the land of Teabaggers
Birthers and Tenthers. It's a daily challenge to present reality to them just to get them to admit these things exist; I've long ago given up that they have the brainpower to actually be willing to hear views other than then what Faux News tells them to think.
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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Post #343,709
6/14/11 11:37:39 AM
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I feel your pain. I'm in NE Indiana.
But trust me, there's no fixing the majority of people around here (or the Teabaggers in your area). And you'll go batshit crazy trying. Until I moved up here (some 25 years ago) I had never heard of Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly. But people here believe everything those trolls dish out.
We live in a post-fact country. They (teabaggers and Midwesterners in general) no longer watch/listen/read news to inform ourselves; rather, they keep up with the news that plays to their biases. It's a sort of entertainment that strokes their egos with the side benefit of passing for news among like-minded morons. Display a counter-fact to them and these people will reject your reality and substitute their own. Notwithstanding the fact that most often, their embrace of their reality actually harms them while the truth would help them.
The Midwest is strewn with terminally ill folk. The country is filled with nutbags Michelle Bachmann? Really? And she's not the problem. The problem is that she WILL GET VOTES. Those are the people we really need to fear. There's nothing you or anyone else can do to save them.
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Post #343,712
6/14/11 12:50:24 PM
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Along those lines, digby's worried about Romney and TPaw.
http://digbysblog.bl...tism-in-face.html
[...]
Now many liberals are going to immediately roll their eyes and proclaim such over-the-top sentiment to be absurd. (And coming from Romney the job killer, it is). But it would be a mistake to underestimate the power of this message and if Romlenty can successfully persuade people that they feel their pain and will offer solutions, it will make a race.
[...]
[Dave] Johnson [at OurFuture] sees the release of the Ryan plan as a trap and maybe they were that smart. But I doubt it. They just got lucky with unemployment taking a turn for the worse and the administration's fumbling. But there's no doubt it gives them a weapon to hit the President over the head with, something that would be far less potent if the White House had stayed focused on the economy directly instead of the abstract nonsense about deficits. They are the ones who had the most to lose politically if the economy went south, after all.
The sad fact is that the President has not conveyed a sense that he cares passionately about the problem of unemployment and very, very foolishly bought into the finance boys' advice that the key to economic success was in the hands of the bond vigilantes and confidence fairies. The "recovery summer" stuff last year was hubristic in the extreme and they are now heading into the election having to face this dolorous bullshit from people we know can't wait to enact politics that will make things even worse. And the way the pendulum has been swinging I wouldn't count on it not working. They need to get their act together quickly or this may not be the cakewalk that I and everyone else have assumed it was going to be.
(See the original for embedded links.)
She's right to be worried, but I don't think Obama's team are thinking it will be a cakewalk. I think they're pivoting back to unemployment (now if they'll just do more than sound concerned...) It almost never is a cakewalk, and with a well-funded campaign like Romney will surely have (if he gets the nomination, and that's still very much up in the air), it will be a close race. After all, if the Republicans can run the place for 8 years, blow up the economy, and put together a ticket in 2008 that half the party hated, and still only lose by 7 percentage points, and take control of the House 2 short years later, then it's stupid to think that 2012 will be easy.
But it's too early to be quarterbacking the challenger's race just yet. An awful lot can change in the next 6 months...
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #343,713
6/14/11 1:11:28 PM
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I wouldnt worry about it
The repos know that america wont trust them to own the senate, house and the presidency again so they will let the batshit crazies run this time. After a poor showing the dingbats will quit showing up at meetings and it will be bidness as usual in 2016
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #343,715
6/14/11 1:31:06 PM
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Really?
You seem to be arguing that it'll be like post-1964. I don't see it.
After Goldwater imploded, the Republicans had Nixon to turn to, and he had moderate/liberal Rs in the House and Senate to work with. Goldwater didn't take the whole party with him. Who would pick up the pieces if Obama wins 49 states, takes back the House, and gets 65 votes in the Senate in 2012? They're all teabaggers now. Or at least pretending to be.
(Not that that can happen. There are only 10 R seats up for grabs and the Ds getting all of them would only give them 63 votes. Unless a few Rs change to Ds, and that has happened but it's rare...)
Seriously, you think it's possible for them to recover after a blowout in only 4 years? Nixon made it because the Democrats imploded (Vietnam, etc.). Unless the Ds don't groom someone to take over after Obama, it's hard to see that happening (at this point).
Who knows...
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #343,716
6/14/11 1:35:12 PM
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whatju smokin?
Who would pick up the pieces if Obama wins 49 states, takes back the House, and gets 65 votes in the Senate in 2012?
you really think that he has any chance of that happening?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #343,717
6/14/11 1:42:31 PM
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Keep reading. See the stuff in the ()?
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Post #343,714
6/14/11 1:22:54 PM
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I know I was wrong in '08, but, ...
I wasn't very wrong. I did not expect the 18-24 year olds to show up. And they did. En force (note: that's the only White age group Obama carried in 2008). I think Romney will be the next president. And the reason I think so is this: even the 18 to 24 year olds know by now that despite lofty rhetoric, Obama is YAN shill for big bidness, or as the professor of African Studies at Princeton put it, he "is the Black mascot for Wall Street oligarchs." At any rate, I don't think (and here I'll admit I could be wildly wrong again) the 18 to 24 year olds will be beguiled again. That would mean Obama loses the White vote and, consequently, the White House.
Michael Moore summed it up well when he said the real problem was that White America didn't like having a Black President. That's going to be a very difficult uphill battle for him. Especially in light of the fact that his first term was more like W's third term than anything else.
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Post #343,718
6/14/11 2:03:13 PM
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Time will tell.
I like to think that the Internet is going to make voters even more informed over time, so they won't get disillusioned and apathetic and play into the hands of those who want them to stay home. As the "greatest generation" becomes a smaller part of the population, I think the mood will shift left as well.
I also think that's why there's so much desperation in the states by the Republicans to ram through as much as they can on voter restrictions, union restrictions, tax cuts, budget cuts, privatization, etc., etc. They know that demographics are not on their side.
But who knows. Only time will tell. :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #343,779
6/15/11 9:08:03 PM
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Re: Time will tell.
I like to think that the Internet is going to make voters even more informed over time
I disagree. If anything it allows too many voters to become even more uninformed as they go only to web sites that cater to their preferred biases and spoon-feeds them the propaganda they want to hear.
Why do you think the right wingnuts always tell you about the ratings of specific shows on Faux Noise? Why do the right wingnuts refuse to open up their minds and visit sites that may present different viewpoints?
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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Post #343,719
6/14/11 2:10:46 PM
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Yep
All the promise of change, yet so much stayed the course (Guantanamo still open, Bush tax cuts extended, transparency, etc). Well, one thing changed - you now get sexually assaulted for wanting to fly on a plane.
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Post #343,721
6/14/11 2:54:25 PM
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Bingo on the plane.
My former student pilot daughter's experience at FWA has made her determined to never fly commercial again. And I don't blame her. I saw it and was powerless to do anything about it. It made me physically ill.
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Post #343,726
6/14/11 5:09:47 PM
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Haven't flown since 9/11..
And Who-the-Fuck Would WANT TO?! (as opposed to Have-to bizness and other obligations you can't wangle out of.)
I suspect that my next flight is apt to be one-way, anyway--if enough ducks stay in a row.)
As the er, avoirdupois of the average passenger has risen and Spam-in-Can anti-convenience has triumphed in cabin layouts, the average passenger must look at a commercial flight today as, primarily an Ordeal, I wot. You get 'transported' to a new spot after being assaulted (psychologically and physically, often) at all stages of flight until you Exit the province of the mouth-breathers in Uniforms and then ... may have ... a limited-return of basic Rights, (well, the few still operative since sniveling Patriot Act nullification.)
(While this process may be a bit less onerous than the standing-room-only boxcars heading for Belsen, it is guaranteed to kill..OK maim any happy feelings re a 'vacation', either coming or going.)
But OTOH / Devil's advocate arena: indeed there Are folks who Do want to kill us--all over the place.
Wonder. Why. ...since we're such a Like-able bunch of trash-talkin imperialists, so long as everyone agrees with us.
Maybe the Death of Pleasurable flying exactly fits the karma we've generated? since we stole the land from its original inhabitants,
while singing all those treacly psalms about brotherly love / along with that second chorus, Die Redskin!
When everyone is fear-besotted, mobility suffers and dies, eh?
Ergo: bin-L Won, cha cha cha -- what an ROI for a few $100K!
I could almost see voting for Palin Cthulhu in 2012 on the grounds that this sorry ratfucking excuse for a republic, this savage, smirking, predatory empire deserves her. Bring on the Rapture, motherfuckers!
-- via RC
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Post #343,760
6/15/11 2:13:58 PM
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Wife is flying commercial on Saturday.
Here's hoping her experience leads to a loosening of the purse strings sufficient to afford me an aircraft reasonably capable of a trip out west. :0)
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Post #343,761
6/15/11 2:22:08 PM
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:-)
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Post #343,762
6/15/11 2:23:49 PM
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cheaper
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #343,764
6/15/11 2:52:41 PM
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Not a lot.
And one of these would be a hell of a lot more fun!
http://www.aso.com/l...al=True&dealerid=
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Post #343,765
6/15/11 2:55:31 PM
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very sweet
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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Post #343,766
6/15/11 3:25:36 PM
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There for a while
the dual engines were fairly cheap. (Since you need a multi-engine rating, double the fuel costs.
Looking over at controller.com...some are much cheaper (but alas, that's the limit of my multi-engine experience).
Sidenote: a 1966 with only 1027 hrs on the airframe?
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Post #343,772
6/15/11 4:37:05 PM
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Flown by a little old lady in Pasadena. (To church and back)
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Post #343,791
6/16/11 1:56:06 AM
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I'd rather drive.
In fact I love road trips! But when they start monitoring vehicle mileage to tax you, I'm done with that, too.
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Post #343,805
6/16/11 8:14:20 AM
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no worries
will steal someone elses bug for long road trips or buy an eprom burner
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 55 years. meep
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