I challenge any conservative to show me a Republican that is this reflective and honest.
The Barack Obama they hate simply doesn't exist.
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
All I get is a blank space between the two lines of text; not just on my computer, but also on my iPad.
Ahh, the unintended irony… comparing Republicans to an Obama that doesn't exist. (I suspect that would still be the case if whatever it was that Mark linked to was available.)
There should be a video window that shows the entirety of the president's press conference. I checked three different computers and it worked just fine.
More Americans are deciding that they'd rather give up their citizenship than pay more taxes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that 2013 has already set a new record for "expatriations," defined as citizens renouncing their citizenship or permanent residents giving back their green cards. The Journal quotes tax lawyer Andrew Mitchel, who found that there have been 2,369 expatriations as of the end of the third quarter; that's an increase of 33 percent over all of 2011, the previous record-holder.
Expatriations are typically motivated by a desire to escape taxes, and the move is usually undertaken by Americans already living abroad. There was an uptick in expatriation at the beginning of President Obama's first term, which has been attributed both to anticipation of more burdensome taxation policies and to increased tax enforcement against expatriates. Indeed, the Journal notes that those who renounced last year may have done so to avoid a higher capital gains tax, and also points to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which makes it tougher for Americans to hide assets in offshore accounts.
The words on that cover: "The president yesterday finally admitted what everyone in America already knew: Obamacare is a total and unmitigated DISASTER".
Markadelphia:It turned out that all those things were pretty bad, but it also turned out that Obama survived them. And he’ll survive this, too.
Me:So if all those things were admittedly "pretty bad", why should he survive them (politically)? What does it say about our nation that its leader can do such vile things and the majority of the population Does Not Care?
Democracy has no cure for a corrupt demos. Politicians’ misdeeds taint them alone, so long as their supporters do not embrace them. But when substantial constituencies continue to support their leaders despite their having broken faith, they turn democracy’s process of mutual persuasion into partisan war.
…
Why did Barry Goldwater, Mr. conservative himself, go to the White House to tell Nixon he had to resign?
Quite simply because he knew – everyone seemed to know, then – that respect for the truth is what enables a democratic society that resolves its differences by mutual persuasion, and that absent that respect society devolves into civil war.
But somewhere along the way, the unscrupulous personalities in our political class became sociopathic personalities — not just immoral but amoral. With sociopaths, they just don’t give a bleep — no guilt. They are incapable of being shamed. With both of these internal and external controls inoperative as a means of regulating behavior and response to wrongdoing, the ability to hold the wrongdoer accountable boils down to one thing and one thing only: political action, driven by force of will. If Mr. Sociopath feels no guilt or shame and won’t step down, then he can only be removed from office forcibly, and for that to happen, it requires a strong consensus of “he has to go” among the politicians or voters empowered (by Constitution or law) to remove him, and the commitment to follow through on that conviction.
…
Our political class is infested with sociopaths. The sociopaths are buoyed by enablers (fellow politicians, staffers, PR shills, media, voters) who themselves have become so corrupted that they refuse to do their duty (to the rule of law, the Constitution, the healthy functioning of the political process in our Republic) to remove the sociopaths from positions of power and permanently banish them from getting near the levers of power ever again.
When a nation reaches this condition, what you have is a state of raw power politics: Might Makes Right. “I won.” Anything and everything is permissible as long as it doesn’t diminish your power. The marker has been moved from “Don’t get caught” to “Don’t lose or give up power, ever.” In raw power politics, there is no such thing as real compromise — by definition — because compromise entails willingly giving ground (and power) to the other side in exchange for some benefit to your side. Hence all dialogue and all negotiations are always in bad faith, because there is no intention to deal. The only intent is to win, and winning, for sociopaths, is an all-or-nothing thing. Oh, they may be (and frequently are) chess masters, and will *appear* to compromise and negotiate, but all they are doing is biding their time and positioning themselves to capture everything.
…
Raw power politics is bad not merely because it violates the “understood rules” of the American experiment, but also because it sets in motion a course of human events that will result in bloodshed. It’s the ballot or the bullet, folks. When “the ballot” becomes not just a sham but an openly acknowledged sham for which the perpetrators do not suffer punishment (removal from power), then events move ever closer to the day where the bullet will be used.
…
Okay, America. We are all Chicagoans now. We have entered the age of raw power politics. They lied. They lied big. The lie has been exposed. They don’t care. Because “they won.” They do not intend to be held accountable. Ever.
Apparently M has an imaginary President Obama inside in his head - one that only he can hear and who always says just the right things to comfort M in his times of trouble.
7 comments:
All I get is a blank space between the two lines of text; not just on my computer, but also on my iPad.
Ahh, the unintended irony… comparing Republicans to an Obama that doesn't exist. (I suspect that would still be the case if whatever it was that Mark linked to was available.)
There should be a video window that shows the entirety of the president's press conference. I checked three different computers and it worked just fine.
Link is here.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/president-obama-apology-obamacare-speech-99894.html?hp=l1
In that case, then yes, my suspicion was correct.
For example, from the article you linked:
His press conference to announce a suggested administrative fix that would let about 5 million people keep their canceled plans …
So what are his actions?
Obama Threatens to Veto 'Keep Your Health Plan Act'
More on that press conference:
Optimistic Joan Walsh says ‘president strikes back’ at train wreck of a press conference
Desperation: After POTUS blows Obamacare presser, OFA Truth Team pivots to acne
‘America burst into hysterical laughter!’ Did Obama display most staggering lack of self-awareness ever?
‘Just NAILED’ him! CBS’ Major Garrett hammers Obama at press conference; Update: Video added
Oh, and check out the article that was front and center at AOL when I signed in to leave this comment!
More Americans Than Ever Are Renouncing Their Citizenship
More Americans are deciding that they'd rather give up their citizenship than pay more taxes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that 2013 has already set a new record for "expatriations," defined as citizens renouncing their citizenship or permanent residents giving back their green cards. The Journal quotes tax lawyer Andrew Mitchel, who found that there have been 2,369 expatriations as of the end of the third quarter; that's an increase of 33 percent over all of 2011, the previous record-holder.
Expatriations are typically motivated by a desire to escape taxes, and the move is usually undertaken by Americans already living abroad. There was an uptick in expatriation at the beginning of President Obama's first term, which has been attributed both to anticipation of more burdensome taxation policies and to increased tax enforcement against expatriates. Indeed, the Journal notes that those who renounced last year may have done so to avoid a higher capital gains tax, and also points to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which makes it tougher for Americans to hide assets in offshore accounts.
And this:
Zing: New York Post’s Obamacare cover sums up ‘total and unmitigated disaster’
The words on that cover: "The president yesterday finally admitted what everyone in America already knew: Obamacare is a total and unmitigated DISASTER".
And about those questions I asked last week:
Markadelphia: It turned out that all those things were pretty bad, but it also turned out that Obama survived them. And he’ll survive this, too.
Me: So if all those things were admittedly "pretty bad", why should he survive them (politically)? What does it say about our nation that its leader can do such vile things and the majority of the population Does Not Care?
This: Lies Corrupt Democracy
Democracy has no cure for a corrupt demos. Politicians’ misdeeds taint them alone, so long as their supporters do not embrace them. But when substantial constituencies continue to support their leaders despite their having broken faith, they turn democracy’s process of mutual persuasion into partisan war.
…
Why did Barry Goldwater, Mr. conservative himself, go to the White House to tell Nixon he had to resign?
Quite simply because he knew – everyone seemed to know, then – that respect for the truth is what enables a democratic society that resolves its differences by mutual persuasion, and that absent that respect society devolves into civil war.
From one of the comments to that piece:
But somewhere along the way, the unscrupulous personalities in our political class became sociopathic personalities — not just immoral but amoral. With sociopaths, they just don’t give a bleep — no guilt. They are incapable of being shamed. With both of these internal and external controls inoperative as a means of regulating behavior and response to wrongdoing, the ability to hold the wrongdoer accountable boils down to one thing and one thing only: political action, driven by force of will. If Mr. Sociopath feels no guilt or shame and won’t step down, then he can only be removed from office forcibly, and for that to happen, it requires a strong consensus of “he has to go” among the politicians or voters empowered (by Constitution or law) to remove him, and the commitment to follow through on that conviction.
…
Our political class is infested with sociopaths. The sociopaths are buoyed by enablers (fellow politicians, staffers, PR shills, media, voters) who themselves have become so corrupted that they refuse to do their duty (to the rule of law, the Constitution, the healthy functioning of the political process in our Republic) to remove the sociopaths from positions of power and permanently banish them from getting near the levers of power ever again.
When a nation reaches this condition, what you have is a state of raw power politics: Might Makes Right. “I won.” Anything and everything is permissible as long as it doesn’t diminish your power. The marker has been moved from “Don’t get caught” to “Don’t lose or give up power, ever.” In raw power politics, there is no such thing as real compromise — by definition — because compromise entails willingly giving ground (and power) to the other side in exchange for some benefit to your side. Hence all dialogue and all negotiations are always in bad faith, because there is no intention to deal. The only intent is to win, and winning, for sociopaths, is an all-or-nothing thing. Oh, they may be (and frequently are) chess masters, and will *appear* to compromise and negotiate, but all they are doing is biding their time and positioning themselves to capture everything.
…
Raw power politics is bad not merely because it violates the “understood rules” of the American experiment, but also because it sets in motion a course of human events that will result in bloodshed. It’s the ballot or the bullet, folks. When “the ballot” becomes not just a sham but an openly acknowledged sham for which the perpetrators do not suffer punishment (removal from power), then events move ever closer to the day where the bullet will be used.
…
Okay, America. We are all Chicagoans now. We have entered the age of raw power politics. They lied. They lied big. The lie has been exposed. They don’t care. Because “they won.” They do not intend to be held accountable. Ever.
What do “We the People” do about it?
Precisely.
Apparently M has an imaginary President Obama inside in his head - one that only he can hear and who always says just the right things to comfort M in his times of trouble.
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