Sunday Open Thread [10.7.12]
A rainy Sunday — one where you might curl up with the papers and coffee. Except that this morning’s NJ has a “Special Report” called Are You Better Off? Have you read it? I did — pretty much word for word and what a mess this is. Starting with the conceit that the financial problems started in January 2009 and largely undermined by that throughout the pieces, I’m pretty sure I didn’t learn anything. And don’t get me started on the piece that picked two “right-leaning” economists and two “left-leaning” economists that largely left the “right-leaning” ones alot of cover behind a political start date, rather than the start date of the recession. But hey — maybe I missed something.
Yesterday’s Marketplace program was focused on poverty. Most of these stories were completely riveting. If you are pressed for time, be sure to try out the simulator that challenges you to see if you could live off of $438/week and listen to Tough Choices: How the poor spend money for a genuine eye-opener. Then ask yourself how often the issues of America’s poor have been addressed in the current Presidential campaign (or any other campaign, really).
And this is just appalling — The Littlest Missionaries: A New Christian Plot to Invade Public Schools. Using kids — students — to setup and/or extend ministries in schools. For adults, this is completely off limits, but the kids don’t have any limits on this kind of thing. From the article (and you should read the whole thing:
In a tactical sense, religious fundamentalists in America appear to have taken a page from the same book. The constitution and the law prohibits adults from, say, establishing ministries within public schools aimed at proselytizing to the children during school hours. But a growing number of religious activists have come to realize that it’s technically legal if they get the kids to do their work for them. OK, so religious proselytizing is not the same thing as running drugs – but manipulating kids to exploit legal loopholes isn’t pretty wherever it happens.
This tactic has been tested and deployed in a great number of situations already in schools across the country. Right now, a large group of fundamentalist organizations and church denominations is making a big bet that they will be able to pull it off on a national scale, starting in 2013.
Appalling. We have whole schools where kids are struggling with academic achievement and yet here we have these people who don’t care about that — just about adding to their rolls.
If you are interested in the ideas of the Green Party and Libertarian Party candidates for President, yesterday’s All Things Considered featured a small debate between Dr. Jill Stein and Gary Johnson.
Last, this story from the Joe Biden campaign trail made me cry.
What interests you today?
I forgot the world revolved around neat little four-year increments.
Is there any reason not to vote for Ben Mobley?
http://www.benjaminmobley.com/view/other/meet-ben-mobley/
Jesus, 4 weeks out from the election and this is all I get from you schmucks….
depressing
Open thread here we go then bitches
I wonder what it’s like to hate a guy so much you really, truly and utterly believe that your candidate is going to win. So much so that you start to not even worry about those little lies. Like, I was against it before I was for it. But, week after week and night after night they keep coming out. And week after week, night after nigh, you go to your favorite blog and peg away at the idiots that say he has no chance.
I remember those days. I remember liking a guy so much because I hated the other guy so fucking much. I hated that guy and what he was doing to America. I was on the right side of things though. My guy, MY GUY served in VIETFUCKINGNAM MAN, VIETFUCKINGNAM! YOU HEAR ME
That’s right. Not the stupid piddly National Gaurd. Allegedly. My guys wife didn’t run a stop sign at 18 and kill some guy. By accident, but anyway. My guy wasn’t a recovering Alcoholic running the country.
um hello, I know drunks. I know a lot of them. I see several on a regular basis. At the time I didn’t realize how crazy drunks are, but I didn’t realize how crazier recovered Evangelical, Born Again Alcoholics were. Man, looking back, it’s not surprising I liked my guy. Not even talking about the VP choice. A trial lawyer.
I mean I like a fucking smarmy trial lawyer. His wife was sort of homely though so he was likeable enough. Plus, I was told he was a good guy. Which looking back, well, he has bad taste in women that’s for sure. I digress.
So here we are, Hating. Hating on the hated and liking the not likeable (sp?) b/c we hate so blindly. We don’t see what we want to see. That being the obvious of course. The obvious being that the rest of the country isn’t going to see the things I see. Week after week, poll after poll telling me my guy isn’t winning or has a chance. 538 wasn’t even around then I don’t think. Nor was intrade. (was it?)
So now, though we have a horse race. yes a horse race. Why? Why I ask you. Am I worried my going guy is going to win? Or not win, I should say? Yes. Why? Because apparently it’s a horse race. Even though the one guys path to victory is slimmer than my chances of knocking boots with the 20 something year old chick that was doing squats in spandex shorts and really not concerned about anyone watching her form. Knocking sneakers would be more apt here. Pink, Reebok sneakers with white laces, tiny white socks, black spandex pants that cut about 4 inches below the thigh, a form fitting long sleeve florescent shirt, pony tail semi braided because she is on her third set and the vigor of her squatting has loosened her hair enough to works it’s way into a dishevelled mess and a few beads of sweat are working their way down her forehead and are about to accompany the beads of sweat that have made a noticeable mark around her support clothing that is underneath said tight sportswear.
I digress
So the other guy has a shot. But what is missing to me is why I like the other guy again. Not because he’s black. No. It’s not a race thing. I’m not black either. If I was, well then I’d really like him no matter what. Unless i was self hating. Which I’m not anymore. I’ve worked through a lot of my resentments that built up over the last last 2 term serving president. Man, let me tell you, these guys have really figured out how to get people like me to believe it’s personal. I tip my hat to Luntz. That guy is brilliant.
I like Obama again. I admit it. I like him so much because I hate the other guy so much more than I think I hated Bush. Why? Because he is Bush incarnate again, only that much smarter. Bush at least had some fucking agenda to serve god and thought he could see into people soles. Souls? ahhh maybe both. Screw it. HAH! Maybe all along he meant Putin’s soles and realized how dumb that sounded and went with it.
I’m just spit balling here. In my basement of course. It’s in between football games and my fantasy football team got spanked. Spanked like….well enough about the 20 something doing squats which I hope to see at the Y tomorrow morning. God, Allah, or that dude living on whatever Planet Romnney believes he exists on is from.
I digressed…again.
Romney. Fraud. Joke. People that like him and support him. Fruad’s. Jokes. Including my mother in law which apparently took it personally when on my Facebook posts I said people that support him are idiots. Except you mom-mom of course. You, you’re one of those smart Republican’s of course.
I like Obama so much that I don’t care about the indiscriminate murdering of hundreds if not thousand’s of Pakistani’s, Yemeni’s (sp?) Afghani’s, and any other eeeee’s you can name. He’s killed how many #2’s now I’ve lost count. He’s got one #1 though so I guess 10 #2 and 1 #1 is enough to cancel out a few thousand baby momma’s and their pigeon’s since they live in a mudhut and don’t have FIOS or a Taco Bell/KFC/PizzHut down the street.
I like him so much I almost forgot that Wall St. still run’s down the street streaking naked giving the cops the finger like a frat boy that did one keg stand too many.
I like Obama so much I almost forget that he pussed out and didn’t close Gitmo. That he didn’t prosecute a single person that killed and tortured innocent human beings. I like Obama so much that I hardly even blame him for not being able to get his fucking Democrats in line his first 2 years in office and pass through legislation needed to get our country back on track. I hardly even noticed that last week he couldn’t get his sell out fucking congress to eliminate the Oild Subsidies.
We don’t need Romney in office. He’s not a leader like Obama! Obama is playing the long game you people forget.
Don’t be blinded by hatred so much that you think your guy is going to win is my point. Because when you do, you look like a fool. And, don’t be blinded by hatred so much that you like your guy so much you forget what a real fraud he is and that the people that got us here in the first place are still running things.
Thank God though, the guy I like is hardly the fraud that the other guy running for office is. The other guy, well he’s evolved over time. However, the other guy is a flip flopper.
I’m getting confused on who I’m supposed to hate and why I hate who it is I do. I think it’s because the other guy is a socialist. Which I was sort of in favor of 4 years ago. Now I find myself telling people he’s hardly a socialist. I point out the reason’s my guy isn’t a socialist, all to win my point and make the other guy look stupid. After doing so of course, I then go on to tell them why their guy, the also not socialist is a lying fraud that is so malleable I could squeeze him into the rectum 3 week old corpse.
Anyway, my guy is winning. Because he’s awesome. He’s not the other guy and I’m willing to allow him to gut all the safety net’s that should be off the table as long as he is allowed to raise tax rates back to where they were 10 years ago.
Talk about a President playing the long game….
Donviti @ 7:18 I think everyone is a little burned out.
Go write crap on your own blog. Jesus. Incomprehensible much?
Meanwhile, I am cheering for Capriles. Hugo’s got to go.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/03/henrique-capriles-topple-hugo-chavez
John. I don’t vote for black or gay Republicans. I think it shows either a complete misunderstanding of their party’s position, or egomania and opportunism exceeding even the usual for politicians.
“Is there any reason not to vote for Ben Mobley?”- none that I know of.