Wednesday Open Thread
It’s time for your open thread of the day. Can I ask a question? Are the open threads working for you? We’re about 2 months into this experiment and it seems like the community likes them. What can we do to make them better?
Here’s another discussion starter – Newt making some sense (discussing the NY-23 special election):
VAN SUSTEREN: He doesn’t live in the district?
GINGRICH: No, he lives outside of the district. Dede Scozzafava is endorsed by the National Rifle Association for her 2nd Amendment position, has signed the no tax increase pledge, voted against the Democratic governor’s big-spending budget, is against the cap-and-trade tax increase on energy, is against the Obama health plan, and will vote for John Boehner, rather than Nancy Pelosi, to be Speaker.
Now, that’s adequately conservative in an upstate New York district. And on other issues, she’s about where the former Republican, McHugh, was. So I say to my many conservative friends who suddenly decided that whether they’re from Minnesota or Alaska or Texas, they know more than the upstate New York Republicans? I don’t think so. And I don’t think it’s a good precedent. And I think if this third party candidate takes away just enough votes to elect the Democrat, then we will have strengthened Nancy Pelosi by the divisiveness. We will not have strengthened the conservative movement.
VAN SUSTEREN: What is it that they have identified as why they think the independent candidate…
GINGRICH: Well, there’s no question, on social policy, she’s a liberal Republican.
VAN SUSTEREN: On such as abortion?
GINGRICH: On such as abortion, gay marriage, which means that she’s about where Rudy Giuliani was when he became mayor. And yet Rudy Giuliani was a great mayor. And so this idea that we’re suddenly going to establish litmus tests, and all across the country, we’re going to purge the party of anybody who doesn’t agree with us 100 percent — that guarantees Obama’s reelection. That guarantees Pelosi is Speaker for life. I mean, I think that is a very destructive model for the Republican Party.
It’s still a short term vs. long term question. How are Republicans going to gain voters by an ideological purge of the party? The party no longer has moderates and then what?
Speaking of Republicans, someone recounts an encounter with Irving Kristol:
Which brings me to this charming vignette, courtesy of blog commenter Harry Hopkins:
“I remember back in the late 1990s, when Ira Katznelson, an eminent political scientist at Columbia, came to deliver a guest lecture. Prof. Katznelson described a lunch he had with Irving Kristol during the first Bush administration.
“The talk turned to William Kristol, then Dan Quayle’s chief of staff, and how he got his start in politics. Irving recalled how he talked to his friend Harvey Mansfield at Harvard, who secured William a place there as both an undergrad and graduate student; how he talked to Pat Moynihan, then Nixon’s domestic policy adviser, and got William an internship at the White House; how he talked to friends at the RNC [Republican National Committee] and secured a job for William after he got his Harvard Ph.D.; and how he arranged with still more friends for William to teach at Penn and the Kennedy School of Government.
“With that, Prof. Katznelson recalled, he then asked Irving what he thought of affirmative action. ‘I oppose it,’ Irving replied. ‘It subverts meritocracy.’ “
Tags: Open Thread
Wow, you never know what Newt will say next, do you? I’m waiting for the Newt-as-a-Commie-Lib comment and moment now.
Never thought you’d see the day when Newt Gingrich was the centrist, grounding voice of the GOP, did you? It’s like if we flashed forward 15 years and Alan Grayson was going around saying, “Whoa, guys. Let’s stop and think about what we’re saying here! Keep it low key!”
No Night Without a Telescope — Philadelphia
Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy (and Galileo exhibit in Philly), area telescopes are open for public viewings until November 24. Check the website above for the schedule, which rotates among area facilities. This is really an amazing opportunity to see the sky from a working instrument and the astronomers are looking for volunteers to make observations for a project to assess the weight of Jupiter.
Go if you can, and drag the kids with you. This will definitely be fun.
There is a diary on dkos right now describing how Wall Street is starting to securitize life insurance policies just like they did with mortgages – gack!
Which makes me wonder – if we get public health care, will people start living longer and blow up the actuarial tables? Are the insurance companies reacting to that?
Click on this link NOW!
It’s a cool graphic showing the length of wars fought by this nation.
h/t Political Wire
Man, Alaskan WT. Levi says he has more dirt and then Sarah responds. Why don’t these two just get a room and get it over with?
Levi is so-o-o-o enjoying himself.
Cut-and-run Sarah would have been better off giving him joint custody of his son. Instead, she ticked him off and now he’s learning all about public revenge.
And getting paid for it!
My only question is who Levi will be paired up with for the guy version of The Simple Life. K-Fed? One of the Gotti boys?
I see Sarah Palin has responded to Levi yet again. I haven’t read her response, but I do have to say: WHY RESPOND? Levi has only the amount of star power you give him. By continuing the feud aspect of this story (and that is what responding to him does), it feeds the story and makes Levi a bigger “star” in our horrible media’s eyes.
Hey Mike Protack, do all airline pilots fool around with their laptops like those Northwest guys? Every time I’ve been on a plane the stewardesses tell you to turn them off because they might interfere with the flight controls and stuff. I call bullshit on that.
Delaware Dem, I purposely left off the links as these two media whores don’t need anymore attention.
Rush says H1N1 is overhyped like AIDS in Africa.
Rick Perry loses by winning in The Fix poll of the most overrated governor poll. (The Fix.)
“Are the open threads working for you? We’re about 2 months into this experiment and it seems like the community likes them. What can we do to make them better.”
I think they’re great as they are. How else could one incorporate anything interesting, like this exposition of your failed ideology, into an existing thread without hijacking it?
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123854/Conservatives-Maintain-Edge-Top-Ideological-Group.aspx
Sarah Palin responds because she’s a small-minded and self-absorbed person. I can’t believe such a thin-skinned individual has made it as far in politics as she has so far. Does she really think she can stand the scrutiny of a real presidential campaign? I say no way she really runs, I think she’s too lazy to do it.
And yet, Miscreant most people want a strong public option. Calling yourself conservative and wanting gov’t healthcare seems a bit incongruous.
Open question: has your former contributor launched his blog yet? I noticed the commenters that came with him haven’t been around in a while as well (DG and VC). If he has, I’d like to check it out.
As far as I know it hasn’t launched yet but he is planning on starting one.
So, how many bloggers are left at DL? I stop by once in a while to read the blog but it seems to be the same 3-4 people talking to each other all the time. Yeah, I know I could respond and add something but it almost feels like I’d be imposing on a private conversation.
Guys, this isn’t the same blog it was over the summer.
Seriously, has everyone left…including the right wingnuts?
Excuse me FranLiberal, but we’re trying to have a conversation here. 😉
On a serious note, in this thread there are six other peeps talking who are not a member of DL.