State Of The Union Blues

Or F.U.’s to be more precise, as in, that SOTU address was a pretty giant F.U. to the Senate. Me likee. Of course, deeds are more important than words … but words can sometimes inspire deeds.

Anyway, what did you think? I’m happy that health care reform was dragged out from under the bus (give me my unhip references to the cliches of yesterday … WASSUPPP!), as wounded as it still appears to be.

I also liked the part about export objectives, it was very Borat. ‘With right thinking and five-year-plan, we make goal of No. 1 wheat export in all Central Asia! This I pledge you!’

PS Big, big update on O’Keefe-slash-Breitbart story coming tomorrow. With never-before-seen video.

 

Comments: 50

 
 
 

Maybe I’m just a sucker. Yeah, scratch that. I know I’m a sucker. A glutton for punishment. I have no reason to think that his goals will be accomplished. But you know what? I feel better for having watching this. I felt like I got a reminder that he’s still a decent person who I can disagree with, but still support. At times, it seemed like he was just toying with the Republicans, especially on financial reform. It was just nice to see him go up there and, whether you agree with him or not, get a chance to explain himself clearly, without right-wing bullshit flying in from every direction.

So, go ahead, mock me for buying into another round of insubstantial hype. I still feel a bit more confident for having heard this speech.

 
 

Look, I was happy with the more combative than usual tone I heard at the State of the Union, and it certainly didn’t hurt to see him flip the finger to the Republicans and the Senate a couple of times (especially when he did it with that big grin that communicated “Fuck You” quite clearly a couple of times).

But on health care in particular, I’m still a skeptic. See, everything he said about the need for health care coverage was gospel truth, and he did sound like he was pushing hard for a bill to pass, but he said nothing at all about what would be in the bill. That means the door is open to even more caving to Lieberman and the other weasels who’ve already stripped away most of the good parts – just like before. My reaction to the rest of the speech was just “OK,” but on health care I’m not any more hopeful than I was before.

I want to believe, but sheer belief isn’t going to provide adequate and affordable coverage for all those who need it. He needs to do more.

 
 

FM – I agree. I enjoyed the speech and was actually energized by it.

 
 

Chris – I would have liked him to have said outright, ‘Biden is the 51st vote for the Senate bill with corrections made in reconciliation with the House.’ That would have sent a message Obama has not sent on getting this thing done.

 
 

Like Obama himself, very much a mixed bag. I did like calling out the Senate and the Republicans and also the no-bullshit, this country is pretty fucked up tone, but a lot of it was just annoying, like the whole drilling and nuclear power and (jesus fuck) clean coal will be our path toward clean energy. Health care was a little weak, but there were glimmers of the original ideal in there. Appreciated the (very brief) shout-out to gay soldiers. Honestly, not sure what to make of the whole thing. Good and bad, tending toward disappointing, like this whole last year is my first impression.

 
 

Calling out SCOTUS on the decision to sell government to the highest bidder was good, though.

 
InsaneInTheCheneyBrain
 

Obama has a list of U.S. citizens he has authorized to be assassinated without due process. Fuck it, man, I don’t see how I can get past that. This guy is a fucking constitutional law lecturer in the past and he can’t see how fucked up that is?

Fuck that.

 
 

Yes, forgot to mention, the Court, very happy he did that.

 
Rahm Motherfuckin' Emmanuel on the Motherfuckin' Boat
 

alright motherfuckers, you got your motherfuckin pretty words that poured like son of a bitchin’ honey out of that big charming motherfucker’s mouth. i’m glad to see you’re all so fuckin’ happy about it. that’s all you’re getting. hope you enjoyed the words, cocksuckers, as we have no intention of ever putting anything other than straight up corporatism into action. thanks for takin’ the time to suck our dick a little though it’s always nice to know that talk may be cheap everywhere else, but when it comes to our loyal lib supporters words are still all you faggots need. we do talk pretty, cocksuckers, we do talk pretty.

 
InsaneInTheCheneyBrain
 

From what I can tell, Obama and Rahm care a lot more about what Billy Tauzin thinks than what any of us think.

 
 

What is this “happy” you speak of?

 
 

Just don’t jack up the taxes on cigarettes again, Rahm. I need two packs a day after slurping on your corporatist cock multiple times per news cycle.

 
 

Rahm: Space Knight and Scourge of the Dire Wraiths.

 
 

Felonious Monk said,
January 28, 2010 at 8:01
Tacitus, I think you’re overstating the issue. Making sure that 41 senators can’t block 59 senators, for instance, is not moving closer to a dictatorship. In fact, it’s probably moving farther away from one.

zomg no – i never meant to say such a thing – perhaps i should actually have READ the article thoroughly. reading the whole article before commenting – a novel concept for me, to be sure

i merely meant to make the observation that “ungovernable” is the favorite excuse of dictators for taking over. this is all about historical precedents, and not at all in relation to the very democracy friendly idea of getting rid of the extra-constitutional filibuster rule.

 
 

and, on thread, i have continued to support barack despite having been seriously disappointed in several of his decisions, not the least of which goes back to before the election, when he unaccountably and unapoligetically voted for retroactive immunity for telecom companies that violated our civil rights by illegally giving private information to the bush directed feds. this act continues to be my most serious WTF were you thinking, asshole, moment with him.

however, i also continue to find more to like than dislike in the health insurance reform bill as it stands – pre-eminently that making it illegal to deny insurance is a fundamental restriction on the ability of insurance companies to fuck with people – so i am less disappointed than many others

in the end, i felt that i was voting for an intelligent, well intentioned ivy league centrist whose greatest virtue would be in NOT BEING AN UNBELIEVABLY STUPID EVIL FUCKING REPUBLICAN, and he continues to fulfill that hope, IMHO

 
 

“however, i also continue to find more to like than dislike in the health insurance reform bill as it stands – pre-eminently that making it illegal to deny insurance is a fundamental restriction on the ability of insurance companies to fuck with people – so i am less disappointed than many others”

I think ‘as it stands’ is the key word here for me and many others. I loved the House bill; I’d have been okay with the Senate bill, but now even that’s getting bargained away. I’d find it a lot easier to stand by him if it didn’t feel like a constant retreat with hardly ever an attempt to push back. Force is the only language the right understands (I realize that makes me sound like one of them – which paradoxically should tell you I’m right about them). So far, I haven’t seen him show enough of it. He’s going to need a lot more if he wants to get even part of his agenda through.

 
 

retroactive immunity for telecom companies

I was reminded of this earlier today while contemplating how some 20-somethings could have gotten the idea that they could illegally wiretap someone and get away with it.

 
 

I don’t think force is the only language the Right understands. Embarrassment and irrelevance are also languages they understand, and Obama took a (rhetorical) step in the right direction in speaking those languages tonight.

 
 

Can we have RICO charges filed against the dirty-tricksters and their funders? Faster please!

 
 

I think embarrassment and irrelevance work best when they’re directed at a minority party that’s on its way out, like communists or George Wallace Democrats.

Against a movement as popular as modern conservatism, I don’t think they work. The only available defense is to stand your ground and say “No” until they back off. That’s what Clinton did in 1995 over the government shutdown, and it’s what the Democrats in Congress did in 2005 to Bush’s Social Security privatization scheme. It works, but it requires balls. Wonder what would happen if we had Democrats who were willing to stonewall from the get-go or at least from the very first Republican tantrum, instead of waiting for a real existential threat to get off their asses.

 
 

We will be demanding that Breitbart make public all communications with said dirty-tricksters and all payroll and banking info to get to the truth, temem.

 
 

I’ve set my expectations very low for any significant accomplishments or serious change coming out of DC (under any administration). However, I will take whatever I can get, and one of the things I’ve got is a president who can string together meaningful sentences and act like a rational human being. That puts him ahead of 90% of our elected officials and it just might count for something in the long run.

 
 

Well, irrelevance is an organic force — it’s actually charitable to point out that it’s happening to those who are irrelevant. It’s a kindness to tell party x that they are irrelevant, so to speak.

Embarrassment is a different animal, it requires a certain level of intelligence on the recipient party’s part to appreciate that one ought to be embarrassed, or perhaps shamed is a better word choice here.

It’s also the end goal of mockery, which is kind of our raison d’etre ’round these parts, so mock the strategy of embarrassment at your peril!

 
 

in regard to the health insurance reform, tho, the only right wing that he’s been compromising with has been within the democratic party. essentially zero republicans voted for the bill (the same for the stimulus), and we would have had the public option in the senate bill if only we didn’t have to deal with one particular senator from the state of connecticut giant insurance companies

 
 

I don’t think the embarrassment strategy is working too well. Vastly amusing, on occasion I am embarrassed for the mocked, but they never seem to realize they should be.

If your reaction to your utter wrongness (any number of wars & military adventures, for example) is simply to call for more of the same, you’re far beyond embarrassment.

There must be psychological issues, beyond intelligence or its lack.

 
 

sometimes words are not a good word may kindle a fire that is difficult extinguished

 
 

is it really possible for wingnuts to be shamed? i have never witnessed such a thing. i should think it beyond their powers of comprehension…

 
 

Ratting Off Your Friends Pays

Posted by Achance (Profile)

Sunday, May 3rd at 11:47AM EDT

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The central character in the charges against Senator Ted Stevens and in the corruption cases here in Alaska is one Bill Allen. Allen is one of those self-made man types who came to Alaska as a welder and went on to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the State through his oilfield services company, Veco, Inc.

When the Public Integrity Section knocked on Veco’s door, Allen became their made man and has testified for the government in all the cases. The government is still holding the sentence over his head to make sure he says the right things. Part of his deal with the government was immunity for all his family members. That immunity deal paid off handsomely yesterday for Bill Allen’s son Mark Allen, whose race horse, Mine That Bird, won the Kentucky Derby at 50 – 1 odds. Most here think that the immunity deal saved Mark himself from having his own felony conviction which would have banned him from horse racing. Oh, well, guess it’s better to be lucky than good. The Anchorage Daily News story is here: http://www.adn.com/news/politics/veco/story/781355.html

 
 

Metuant dum oderant
Achance Tuesday, May 19th at 3:15AM EDT (link)
My Latin is failing but that should mean; they may hate so long as they fear. It’s a good motto. Republicans are so afraid of not being liked, I’m afraid of not being feared.

And, thank you for the kind words.

In Vino Veritas

 
 

i have several suggestions for you, art, none of them polite

 
 

Nice speech, but afterwards I couldn’t help thinking that Obama is our greatest Republican president since Clinton. Of course, that would make him a Rockefeller Republican, which species died out sometime around 2003, but still…methinks he’s setting everyone up for some major triangulation. I was really hoping for so much more.

 
 

Thank you all for the kind words!
Achance Tuesday, May 19th at 12:08PM EDT (link)
It’s not going to be easy since by force of habit the first thing I did when I got up this morning was pour a cup of coffee and log on here. That said, I’ve really had it driven home to me lately how far posts here can travel, how distorted they become, and how they can be used against people. If you haven’t done so, go Google your screen name sometime; this site gets quoted and linked A LOT, and not always in a fair or truthful manner. I don’t care what gets said about me and can give as well as I can take, but that changes when I get associated with someone else and I don’t want to put anyone in the position of having a reporter ask them for their reaction to my statements.

So, as I feel my way into this new thing, I’ll try to find where the line is. There’ll be controversy enough for a Republican administration after two terms of Democrat rule and with a government whose employees’ unions all back the other guy; I just don’t want to be a part of that controversy at any personal level. As Kenny says up above, you shouldn’t ever surrender your freedom, but I’ve learned the hard way that the only way not to be misquoted is not to be quoted at all. A screen name doesn’t work since it will get out who you are or at best you’ll spend a lot of time trying to deny that it is you. If you are a Republican officeholder, you will NEVER be treated fairly by the press.

In Vino Veritas

 
 

For me it was incredibly reassuring overall, and had moments of energizing. I’m beyond “we are so fucked” for now.

That said, Obama did adopt every viable plank in the McCain platform: drilling, earmarks, and a trade agreement with Colombia. In the 3rd presidential debate McCain said a deal with Colombia was a “no brainer” and Obama laid into him with sweet sweet lefty criticism of labor abuses down there.

I checked, and nothing has changed since then; union members are still being killed. Don’t know what that was all about.

 
 

I dunno, it didn’t sound like a SOTU speech to me. I mean he didn’t spend anywhere near enough time telling us that teh terra-ists are gunna eat our babbys.

That plus I’m still having trouble with his invocation of Reagan, that great advocate for disarmament. Fuck.

 
 

Howard Zinn is no more.

Rest in peace, good man.

Imagine there will be all manner of faint praise coming from nutzville, but I defy anyone to top this from one of ASW’s resident tools… how dare anyone “encourage political activism”.

 
Man in the coon skinned cap
 

and we advocate for the young man denied a job by corruption in Guinea.

Like that stuff can’t happen here…

 
 

Art Chance:

Metuant dum oderant

Not exactly. First, that’s back-to-front. “Hate” is odisse and “fear” is metuere. Metuere, not odisse, is in the dependant clause here.

Also, “let them hate”/”they may hate” is an example of the iussive subjunctive, so it needs to be oderint. (I do not think “oderant” is a Latin word at all; odisse is 3rd conjugation (defective), so does not have an -ant form.)

So what you want is:

Oderint dum metuant

Now, write it out a hundred times. If it’s not done by sunrise, I’ll cut your balls off.

 
monkey knife fight
 

PS Big, big update on O’Keefe-slash-Breitbart story coming tomorrow. With never-before-seen video.

Oh, is this where O’Keefe is yelling something about “whitey?”
(sorry, couldn’t resist)

 
 

Hey Art, just wondering, why the fuck are you posting links to articles that are eight months old? And why do you post links to those ridiculous no-balls winger blogs that require registration, censor comments, etc.? Nobody reading this who has any self-respect is going to click through because no one outside of y’all’s smelly little egg sac is interested in the rubbish you losers true believers post in scaredy loser blogs like that, any more than anyone sane wants to know what those LaRouche clowns are constantly babbling about.

 
 

” and I don’t want to put anyone in the position of having a reporter ask them for their reaction to my statements. ”

Methinks this unlikely. Unless said reaction is laughing, or gagging.

 
 

I loved hearing a president who could pronounce nuclear. And who didn’t do the smarmy game of calling out someone in the audience who had done something heroic.

 
 

If you are a Republican officeholder, you will NEVER be treated fairly by the press.

Uh huh. Just look at how badly they disrespect President John McCain.

 
 

“Uh huh. Just look at how badly they disrespect President John McCain.”

Or Sarah Palin. They start her off with some of the easiest, friendliest softball questions ever asked of a politician (“What is the Bush doctrine?” “Name one Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade that you disagree with?”) When she’s too stupid to even answer those, she runs behind Fox’s skirts and bawls her eyes out at the mean liberal bullies asking “gotcha” questions, and the entire “heartland” cries with her. Persecution complex notwithstanding, conservatives really need to grow up.

 
 

“Now, write it out a hundred times. If it’s not done by sunrise, I’ll cut your balls off.”

Jeez. I’d hate to meet MR. Tilton.

(Also, BTW, I miss the guy who used to yell about the ferrets.)

 
 

“conservatives really need to grow up.”

If they could grow up, they wouldn’t be conservatives.

 
 

And why do you post links to those ridiculous no-balls winger blogs that require registration, censor comments, etc.?

Because you guys keep responding to them. He paints the lipstick mouth on his hand and imagines it’s you sucking on his greasy, limp, orange-stained cock.

And for some reason you keep putting out for him.

 
Man in the coon skinned cap
 

W. Kiernan said,

And why do you post links to those ridiculous no-balls winger blogs that require registration, censor comments, etc.? [ ]no one outside of y’all’s smelly little egg sac is interested in the rubbish you losers true believers post in scaredy loser blogs like that, any more than anyone sane wants to know what those LaRouche clowns are constantly babbling about.

If there was a dedicated, concerted, coordinated effort to troll Redstate those guys would spend all their time censoring comments. Otis and Anthony pests would be great.

They need some more trolls over there…

 
 

What I thought of the SOTU is kind of academic, since I can’t vote for the guy – so I’d rather look at it through the lens of what a typical American voter would think when hearing/seeing the thing.

I suspect they’re getting mighty fuckin’ sick & tired of all these pretty speeches by now, for starters. First they see Obama complaining about what an awful mess he inherited from BushCo – old news, not to mention how much everyone LOVES a whiner. Then they see Obama grinning & joking with the same GOP that’s bound & determined to torpedo his entire agenda – sorry, but “bad optics” is putting it VERY kindly. Then he winds it all up with yet another “can’t we all just get along” plea? No, no you CAN’T all just get along – obviously that’s the bloody problem in the first place – so the logical appoach is to steamroll over an opposition that’s historically weak right now, not to keep offering them your soft underbelly & hoping they don’t chew you a new ass.

Me? Sorry, but this late in the game, even really well delivered oratory just doesn’t do much for me.

He called out the Supremes on being such naughty judges – a blow so ferocious that he even made one of them SHAKE HIS HEAD – big fat hairy whoop. Any substantial move whatsoever to turn back their crazy-ass decision? Official censure? A cut in their allowance? ANYTHING?

A new generation of nuke plants isn’t “clean energy” unless you think uranium tailings (mining uranium is a hell of a great way to rape the environment: it devastates the landscape & makes for lots of poisonous leachate in groundwater) or radiological/toxic waste that stays lethal for thousands of years are clean – the cleanest energy by far is still solar, & yet again it winds up being the wallflower at the prom. If only the Sun had its own PAC.

I felt my gorge rise at both the mention of “clean coal” with a straight face & the insane neocon policy of an extended spending freeze that’s to take effect in a year’s time – after all, that same policy worked so well for FDR in 1937. I think Maddow hit a bullseye when she called this very risky & not-very-useful surprise move “punting from the one-yard line” – this is exactly the sort of Reaganomics pigshit that should be met with loud laughter, not applause as “a bold move,” but I suspect pundits will put on their best forelock-tugging face & expound in prolix fashion as to the political genius of this silliness … Americans better pray like a motherfucker that everthing’s coming up roses by 2011/2012.

 
 

Incredible points. Outstanding arguments.

Keep up the good effort.

 
 

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