Thursday Open Thread
Welcome to your Thursday open thread. Surely there’s something going on besides the debt ceiling fight. What’s up in your world?
We should call this version of the open thread “things that teabaggers don’t like.” Things that teabaggers don’t like #1 – manatees.
A Florida tea party has taken another step in its effort to protect the citizens of the United States. While its current list of enemies of the state is expansive — including taxes, high-speed rail, and socialized medicine — it has not yet expanded into the realm of wildlife. While all three species of manatees are listed by the World Conservation Organization as vulnerable to extinction, the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots have declared the mammal “dangerous.”
The Florida political group recently announced its plan to fight U.S. Fish and Wildlife restrictions on boating and other human activities.
…
Although tea partier Mattos said she brings her grandchildren to see the manatees, she doesn’t see a point in the Save the Manatee Club. “If some of these environmental movements had been around in the days of the dinosaurs, we’d be living in Jurassic Park now,” she said.
Manatees are so mean. They keep getting in the way of our motor blades. I blame liberals.
Things teabaggers don’t like #2 – the Grand Canyon. Nothing is safe, not even the Grand Canyon.
Salazar announced in June that he was extending the prohibition on mining on roughly 1 million acres of land near the canyon through the end of the year, a moratorium he put in place in 2009. Salazar said he prefers to set a 20-year moratorium—the longest allowable under the current hard rock mining law—but will await the outcome of an environmental analysis to make a decision on that.
The appropriations measure, from Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, would reverse Salazar’s decision and again make it possible to mine near the park. It’s one of dozens of anti-environmental riders tacked onto the Environment and Interior appropriations bill that the House is debating this week.
In years before the moratorium, mining interests staked more than 10,000 claims near the park. Those would still be allowed to go forward, as the moratorium only applies to new claims. But uranium mining in the region raises concerns not just about damage to an iconic national park, but risks to water resources and health in the region, too. It’s also an economic concern.
Sigh. I guess this is what Wall Street paid for when they pushed the Tea Party on us.
Tags: Open Thread
Fatty Chris Christie taken to hospital for fat related fatness.
Hope he lives long enough to see how much everyone will hate him.
Yeah, because thin people never get admitted to the hospital for shortness of breath.
And how lucky is Christie to have all of that taxpayer-funded, gold-plated insurance, anyway?
Here is how ABC news covered it.
Sad to see so much venom towards fat people on here.
Guess progressive liberals dont include fat people in their belief in diversity and accepting others as they are.
Yes Christie is a douche. He would be a douche no matter his weight.
“Sad to see so much venom towards fat people on here.”
Spoken like a fatty. Get back on your medicare paid rascal scooter and scoot off to your teabag meeting fatty.
So, more Family Values on display: Rep. Walsh who has been having on about the debt apparently owes $117K in child support.
You have no idea who I am Jason. Teabagger? Hardly.
You are just as bigoted as those teabaggers you proclaim to hate so much.
I’m curious b/c it’s possible I’ve missed it. Where do some of the contributors with DL stand on the Debt Cieling issue. Sure we can call the Republican plan crazy…
But by default, does this mean that you folks are in favor the the Reid plan?
Do you care about the debt ceiling being raised at all?
Well excuse me. It is a teabag tactic to take construe mockery of a fat person (Christie) as hatred of fat “people.”
And don’t even claim that you didn’t do that because the evidence is right here in black and white.
By the way, Christie is fat.
You missed me longing for the 14th to be invoked with accompanying lighting bolts and blaring Wagner music?
That’s not paying attention.
I don’t read your posts, you’re mean to me and it hurts my feelings. Besides, you don’t count as a contributor and I never can tell what you’re talking about b/c your typing is so awful
All flair critisismc.
Of course he missed it. He’s not looking to engage with anyone, just invoke his (wrongly) presumed political superiority.
You just don’t get it Jason.
Calling Christie derrogetory names is just as hurtful to other fat people as calling others derrogetory terms for being black, gay or jewish. “just because I called so n so the N-word doesnt’ reflect on all blacks” See, it doesnt fly. Or does it in your mind?
You may not feel bigoted to the group as a whole, but it reflects poorly on you that you chose just a low road to take.
If you want a serious conversation about Christie and his weight, I can do that too.
The thing that bugs me about him being fat is that modern Republicanism is largely about pointing the finger of scorn at people and groups that they don’t think are worthy. All Republican tax policy, for example, is based on the notion that unworthy black people are wantonly spending the white tax payers money on cell phones.
Christie’s fat ass makes him an even more disgusting spokesperson for the vile Republican talking points about personal responsibility than most.
Do I mock him because he is fat? No. I mock him because he is a Republican and mock him a second time because he is a fat Republican.
As for the debt ceiling. Is it possible for Reid to tack on his plan or merge it with Boehners plan and send it back to the house?
Or would that take to long proceduraly?
This assumes that Boehner can get his bill passed out of the house. Which according to reports is a toss up.
Fine, Jason, mock him for being a blowhard douchebag, but leave his size out of it. It has nothing to do with his policies. There are plenty of thin republican’ts enacting similar policies.
If Scott Walker were Jewish or black or muslim, I would hope you wouldnt go around calling him desparaging names referring to that. Its not necessary when both of their policies are a target rich environment without bringing up ANYTHING personal.
Mocking him for being a fat republican is stil mocking him for being fat. You still don’t get it.
A serious discussion about Christie without weight would be refreshing.
The first step to recovery is admiting you have a problem.
I guess I don’t get it. I don’t think of weight as being similar to race, religion and sex.
As long as I’m on the therapy sofa, I’m also uncomfortable around old people and the Dutch.
Being gay, brown, male or female are not choices. Chastity bono aside.
But, being a disgusting fat fuck that is 200lbs overweight is a choice.
Of course he missed it. He’s not looking to engage with anyone, just invoke his (wrongly) presumed political superiority.
I could work for your psychic phone company. B/c I had a bet with myself that you would chime in between palm readings.
And as long as I criticize Obama and you don’t I will remain one ladder rung ahead of you, even if that ladder rung is 2 feet below the sewage line.
I notice you left religion out of your list Donviti.
Religion is a choice as is being a hostile intolerant a-hole.
Take one look at Christie- He’s got one foot in the grave and one foot on a banana peel!
When I’m down on Obama it is never because of Gitmo or any of that crap. It is because he had the power to fix this rudderless situation in the Democratic Party and he only made the situation worse.
But progressives can’t win by adopting the reciprocal position – that taxes are always too low and spending always needs to go up.
The truth is unfortunately nuanced – policy needs to be managed according to circumstances. Sometimes taxes and spending need to go up, sometimes they need to go down. Sometimes you need to borrow and spend a shitload of money to create jobs, and sometimes that is a bad idea. Try putting that on a bumper sticker.
For the last 10 years taxes for the rich have been too low. And we have needed some form of public health care. But Dems haven’t even been able to unify around that. Even progressives bailed and provided the deciding votes for Obama’s HCR privatization and individual mandate.
The truth is that people want more government than they want to admit and they need to pay for it. There has been a pretty remarkable opportunity to make the case for the government that people want — that they objectively want — and that has not been done.
On the other hand, the GOP Big Idea is a fraud. Perpetrated by Pete Peterson, et al and now being pushed by the same people who brought you all of the spending via tax cuts, wars not paid for, Medicare Part D not paid for.
Policy needs nuance, but political party building requires a clear and direct message. After Obama’s fist term we don’t even know who constitutes the Democratic base let alone what our “elevator pitch” to less engaged voters is.
It is a muddle and I’ll even allow that the party will be more “centrist” and less liberal than I’d prefer – but it still needs a coherent message.
Furthermore – if the past 20 years tells us anything it is this:
If is better to fail at policy and win at party building. Voters will endlessly forgive failed policies as long as the party has a clear direction.
I want smaller government and that’s the truth. And the truth is so do all Americans. They may want different services that will cause different places to expand, but they want other things to shrink.
They don’t want waste, fraud, and abuse. They don’t want three wars and they don’t want more more government agencies created and clandestine buildings built in 3rd world countries.
the independent voter wants smaller government and less taxes on themselves and they want wall st to pay for what they’ve done to this country.
What is that coherent message? It would have to be short and sweet and fit on a bumper sticker. I’m open to suggestions, because I’m drawing a blank. We’re not very good with black and white slogans, mainly because D’s do see nuance. Alas, it’s a strength and a weakness.
As far as what constitutes the Democratic base… we’ve always been a mish mash of people, ideas, and priorities. There is room for everyone.
Looking for bumper sticker slogans is the wrong search. Anything short enough to fit on a bumper sticker, is vague enough to easily apply to either party.
Looking for an elevator speech or mission statement is a better search. It is a hard exercise. I have done this many times in a corporate setting, and it has never produced anything memorable – but the exercise is valuable as a mind-stretcher.
The only mission statements that work are specific and single-purpose. Best example is FedEx: “Deliver the package by 10am the next morning.”
But political parties aren’t single-purpose. Except the GOP.
WASHINGTON — House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Wednesday night became the highest ranking Democratic leader to throw his support behind the idea of President Barack Obama using the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to raise the debt ceiling on his own.
That option is “arguably in his power,” Hoyer said on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show.”
“Very frankly, if it came down to his looking default in the eye on Tuesday or taking this action, as President Clinton said, it would be better to take the action and find out later that perhaps he went beyond his authority but … protected the creditworthiness of the United States of America.”
And there’s the rub, Puck. We are not the GOP, but there’s no doubt that what they do is highly effective.
My teenage son is exposed to politics by walking past the TV on his way to his XBox – why, yes, he’s normal! The other day he said to me, “Isn’t the USA broke?” My jaw dropped. That’s powerful stuff we’re up against.
“find out later that perhaps he went beyond his authority ”
Repubs will be happy to investigate this for the rest of his administration. Tea Party types will put on their three cornered hats again and claim they are defending the Constitution against the dictator Obama. They will get traction with that and revive the Tea Party just in time for elections.
Once Obama defies Congress and the bills are paid, Repubs are relieved of their obligation to govern and the pressure that has been cracking them apart will be relieved.
Default has the virtue of being legal. Do you really want Democrats’ political future in the hands of the Supreme Court?