RUSS FEINGOLD: Google “class act concession speech.” You’ll see.
JOBS: Maybe now we’ll all see that they are not all holed up in an underground missile silo in South Dakota waiting for Peter Pan to sprinkle magic fairy dust and set free the jobs to run throughout the land. Or that if we just give Captain Hook more money/tax breaks---he’ll make jobs for all the little boys and girls. Maybe now there will be a realistic plan that recognizes TWO problems: 1) Creating Jobs. and 2) Connecting people to jobs.
HISTORY: Rumor has it, did not begin in 2008.
THE PRESIDENT: Who perhaps would not be the president if he had not lost the New Hampshire primary. And did you notice how he handled this like a grown-up? If not---watch his remarks unfiltered and without analysis. Ward Cleaver could not have done a better job of taking responsibility, showing humility and a vision to press onward.
SLOWING DOWN INTERNET RUMORS: Enjoy this while it lasts. (It might be over by the time you read this) But you probably won’t hear a lot of people bleating out “I’m not saying I BELIEVE John Boehner is an Austrian born, cyrpto-fascist, bought and paid for tool of the insurance lobby, I’m just saying I’m not sure.”
SAVING THE VILLAGE BY BURNING IT DOWN: Maybe there will be more clarity as to why this doesn't work. Because what if it turned out we all live in the village?
EARMARKERON: If, in this tiny little moment, the guns have gone quiet and the attacks have stopped, we’ll need a villain. A bad guy. Doesn’t have to be real. Just has to be something to attack. That’s where Earmarkeron comes in. He hid in my closet when I was 6. I think he feasted on wire coat hangers. He might have drank blood. He has bloodshot eyes and a purple puffy face. Feel free to hate, attack (directly or indirectly) see him behind every piece of legislation or moving next door to you and reeking havoc with your property taxes. He is there for all of us to hate and fear. So we have that covered. No need for any other fear mongering.
FRANK SINATRA: Just try not smiling when he sings.
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Comments
I refuse to accept the patently false notion that those of us on the Left are the equivalent of those on the Right. As I've said countless times in this regard, Olbermann and Maddow are not the equivalent of Billo and Beck. Yes, Olbermann and Maddow slant the news, but neither makes shit up like Billo and Beck.
When Olbermann and Maddow make a mistake, they acknowledge it on air and apologize. When is the last time anybody heard Billo or Beck apologize for anything? When they get caught in a lie, they just double-down.
The same applies to the blogosphere as far as I can tell. Yes, the Left engages in hyperbole and occasionally vitriol (tho hardly unprovoked vitriol), myself included. BUT I do not deliberately post or pass on information I know to be untrue -- no matter how much I'd like to.
Instead, I fact-check accusations about the other side at Snopes and elsewhere -- something I assure you my rtwingnut friends can't be troubled to take the time to do -- judging by email forwards I receive from them.
So -- sorry, John Stewart and your band of comfy, effete moderators, but I've seen where moderation has gotten us since 1980, and it's a very bad place. While I am not going to engage in the outrageous lies foisted off on the ignorant and gullible -- which is a stated aim of Rove and Co -- neither am I about to cut those folks ANY slack.
When they're ready to play fair, I'm ready to be more moderate. Meantime, I refuse to play nice while brawlers go around punching people with brass knuckles.
The California election results are just about the only thing that's keeping my head out of the oven, this week.
So... have we coaxed you back yet, Roger???
rated.
Lea and Sally Cubed---Thank you!
owl---I think "little" is exactly the right adjective.
Elijah---thanks!
femme--- Russ did the Wisconsin progressive heritage proud.
grif---Thank you!
Denise---back at you.
Zanelle--I needed them too.
TC-- Well said. There is a writer I never miss--google the word driftglass. And he is educated me on the pitfalls of moderation. You will also like him a lot. Compromise all too often is about everybody loosing a little. Collaboration is different. It's starting from a common principle together and working it through to a solution. It's much harder.
3 other quick thoughts: First, In a brass knuckle brawl, I believe one comes prepared. Quietly. Second, turing the other cheek does NOT have to be a passive act. It can be just the opposite. Third, I'm not a fan of the "big tent" concept. (That progressives encompass such a wide variety of people that we can't have a disciplined message) My personal opinion is that is an excuse. If we don't get the truth out there in a disciplined, open, cite your source kind of way---then we get what we have today.
Thanks Nikki!
owl--It surprised the heck out of me. I was just trying to make myself feel better!
Roy--you got that right.
Michael--Absolutely.
Shiral--Hopefully loosing now will help us in the long run. History says it will.
ONL---How did you know that song was in my head?
OEShep--Thanks. Surprised me.
Damon--Here's to Frank!
Scanner-- Of course I don't know sure he's not the brother. . . I'm just saying I need some proof. . .as Hawaiian birth certificate. . .something
Stim---It was either Austrian or the Planet Titanium. . .wait. . .one of those is real I think. . . .
Indeed, sir.
What will be sort of hilarious is when the Bagger Brigade of the House is confronted with the facts- that jobs are created directly by the govt., either thru funding private industry thru grants and partnerships or by HIRING people to continue building our country.
They will find those elite economists waiting for them at mandatory committee meetings, where there inane garble about Tax Cuts creating jobs will be met by the school principal's steady gaze.
BTW, any of you out there who haven't had the good fortune, and thats what it is, to be provided a robust university education let me explain that nearly all the advancements in medicine and technology come through funding those elitist college professors thru the NSF- your tax dollars at work, this creates the Silicon Valley and Biotech type environments the whole world is bettered by: thanks US Taxpayers, I have had several grants that led to patents, which the government owns and profits from! Again, Baggers, naivete dont cut it in DC behind closed doors, you gots ta' bring it fools! But, you never went to school so you got nothing to bring ... Too Bad, So Sad!
ps, glad you appreciate Mr. Cordle's good works as I do, the clear voice of world experience. and btw, if its a brass knuckles fight, bring two pairs, and some nun-chuks HIDDEN in the small of your back- whenever i have to deal with a real serious conflict, i always read a couple chapters of The Art of War, then sleep on it, Warriors, come out to Play!!!
Oahu--Yep. What you said! And that doesn't start to address connecting the people and the jobs. This years Nobel Prize in Economics was on that subject and as it turns out---job search doesn't work like other markets. (Surprise!)
And as for Mr Cordle---I appreciate pert near everything about him!
Hi Cathy! Thank you!!
Would you please run for office?