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[speculawyer]

Can we send Lindsey Graham to go fight in Iraq?

Only if we also make John McCain fly the plane.

Spoiler

Ouch, that was a low blow!

 

[Tamanon]

Eh, Hillary should already have an answer for the gay marriage question lined up.That's rule #1 when changing your position, be able to justify or explain it. President Obama did when he "evolved".

 

[TacticalFox88]

And it Begins . .


http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-blast-obama-over-failed-iraq-policy-164846361.html

But here is the amazing part . . . I start reading the comments and the people seem to agree that we should not waste our blood & money there.

I'm at a loss for words....

Yahoo comments actually being sane?

O_O

What world have I woken up into?

 

[RustyNails]

I'm at a loss for words....

Yahoo comments actually being sane?

O_O

What world have I woken up into?

Every since major websites started implementing an upvote/downvote system in their comments, the cesspit comments from websites like yahoo, youtube have gone away. But you will see something really insane out of the blue upvoted to hell. Usually it's race related or has something to do with xenophobia.

 

[RustyNails]

Is he wrong? The bill includes the Buffet Rule, which we all know republicans will never support under any circumstances. If Warren, Reid, etc were actually interested in passing the legislation they would have at least tried to find a bipartisan way to pay for it. I'm not saying that would have worked, I'm just saying the way this was handled was pure politics for the midterms.

Buffet Rule was used to balance the bill. Otherwise we'd blow a hole in our budget.

 

[speculawyer]

Every since major websites started implementing an upvote/downvote system in their comments, the cesspit comments from websites like yahoo, youtube have gone away. But you will see something really insane out of the blue upvoted to hell. Usually it's race related or has something to do with xenophobia.

Oh Yahoo! is still a cesspool of racism, climate change denial, xenophobia, etc.

I just think a lot of Conservatives now realize that the neocons were wrong and it is not worth the blood & treasure of getting into open-ended foreign conflicts. They won't admit that Bush was wrong but they no longer see the cost-benefit analysis like they once did.

And this is part of the reason for the Ron Paul & Rand Paul success in recent years.

And also, since practically one of their only hate points against Obama these days is the 17 Trillion dollar debt, it would be a massive flip-flop and hypocrisy to start pushing for getting back into an expensive war. (They've lost so many of their other hate points like him being Kenyan, Bin Laden still roaming around, unemployment near 8%, Obamacare is a failure, etc.)

 

[Aaron Strife]

No Majora's Mask remake, thanks Obama

 

[thepotatoman]

So with Sessions dropping out, I guess absolutely everyone has stepped out of Kevin McCarthy's way for Cantor's party leadership spot, so basically nothing interesting is going to change there. 8 days on very little notice just isn't enough time to make a case for anyone but the guy that's traditionally the next in line.

Wide open battle for the soon to open whip position though, with a lot more time to make a campaign, and I wouldn't be surprised if the tea party gets thrown a bone there. It would basically give the tea party house members a designated leader, which might keep things more under control, or make the revolution that much easier depending how much of a true believer the tea party whip ends up being.

I would say this whole thing also has put the establishment in a weaker position for a January fight for leadership which the tea party will actually be prepared for.

I'm extremely interested in how this all turns out. Outside of a government default, there's nothing they can really do to hurt the country much more than they already have, so I do find myself hoping that the republicans go crazy as possible to really make this whole era pass by as quick as possible.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

I miss this guy

 

[Avon Barksdale]

No Majora's Mask remake, thanks Obama

 

[NYCmetsfan]

And it Begins . .


http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-blast-obama-over-failed-iraq-policy-164846361.html

But here is the amazing part . . . I start reading the comments and the people seem to agree that we should not waste our blood & money there.

There is a big DC-rest of country disconnect.

Voters are isolationists now.

So with Sessions dropping out, I guess absolutely everyone has stepped out of Kevin McCarthy's way for Cantor's party leadership spot, so basically nothing interesting is going to change there. 8 days on very little notice just isn't enough time to make a case for anyone but the guy that's traditionally the next in line.

Wide open battle for the soon to open whip position though, with a lot more time to make a campaign, and I wouldn't be surprised if the tea party gets thrown a bone there. It would basically give the tea party house members a designated leader, which might keep things more under control, or make the revolution that much easier depending how much of a true believer the tea party whip ends up being.

I would say this whole thing also has put the establishment in a weaker position for a January fight for leadership which the tea party will actually be prepared for.

I'm extremely interested in how this all turns out. Outside of a government default, there's nothing they can really do to hurt the country much more than they already have, so I do find myself hoping that the republicans go crazy as possible to really make this whole era pass by as quick as possible.

Raúl Labrador is supposedly mulling a run

 

[Diablos]

Getting news of Cantor losing on my phone at work was glorious. The future implications are potentially troubling though, as it shows the Tea Party can still flex its muscle...

So it looks like the news of Tea Party's death was rather premature.

Yep, first thing that came to mind. Down, but not out as the media/bloggersphere has been trumpeting over the past several months. This is a bit of a double-edged sword; good in that it shows the most extremist voices of the GOP front and center, which turns off a lot of voters and can help Democrats big time... bad because it gives the Tea Party an even bigger ego and allows them one step closer to just completely overthrowing GOP leadership in the House -- if not that, then at least having them by the balls more than they ever did before. Boehner's future is questionable to me right now. Privately, I think he, Kevin McCarthy, McMorris Rodgers et al. are scared shitless... and they should be. Ultimately every non-crazy American should at least be a little concerned. Imagine if we had a Speaker/leadership more in the vein of Ted Cruz during the shutdown last year? The establishment was bad enough... the economy was on the brink of crashing and that was with semi-rational people at the helm. I can't imagine the altenrative... well, I can, but I don't want to right now. :\

"@costareports: I'm on phone now w/ Peter King of NY, who says he wonders if the party is crumbling on the whole"

Meh, it is the ultimate wet dream: the GOP will finally implode. It never happens, though. The GOP settles their scores in private and try as hard as they can to stick to the 'program', however devoid of, well, anything it may be, like good soldiers. It is part of their M.O. This certainly makes it seem like more of a possibility... but now that Cantor is stepping down in just a little over a month, I just don't see it happening. The sparks within and outside of leadership are probably flying at this very moment, but by the time late July comes around they'll all find a place to land as usual... which brings me to my next point:

Tea party revolt, Republican party literally coming apart at the seams. What Republican is going to dare speak up for immigration reform if they can get flanked on the even FURTHER RIGHT than Cantor?

This is insanity. America is so fucked

Our country is the only thing that is fucked like Amir0x said. The GOP will settle their scores internally and reunite in their dysfunctional weird unity in their neverending conquest to dig their knife deeper into the heart of any policy that Obama champions or even remotely supports. They are playing a really long game that started before he was even sworn in. Most of the GOP overall is perverse and downright terrifying. They're about as radical as you can get in Congress without being violent.

Cantor being pushed out is hilarious, but it's also setting up the GOP's shellacking in 2016 I've been predicting for years here.

This is what the beginning of the end looks like. It's coming.

Hold it right there, pal. We're like two years out from really getting into the Presidential election. That is an eternity in US politics. Between how Obama will handle the next two years, what the GOP will do (or won't do), what happens globally, how the economy continues to improve, stay flat or fall, etc. etc. etc... there are too many variables. The Democratic brand, whether you think the blame falls on Obama or not, isn't quite where it needs to be at the moment. And that's all the GOP needs for an edge right now, and for them, that's enough to build on something that can spill over into 2016 and really pay off for them if they get their way.

Boehner on why Cantor lost:

I miss this guy

America, where whipping out your dick is more offensive than thumbing your nose at the parents of children lost to senseless gun violence. People who are counting on their elected representatives to finally reign in this country's obsession with firearms and doing fuck all for the mentally ill.

Weiner did fuck up, and his last name in association with the nature of the whole ordeal is comedy gold no doubt. Really. But on the other hand this country is obsessed with... obsessing over that kind of shit ad nauseum. Weiner could have got counseling and whatnot but still kept his job. I don't think he should have stepped down.

There are way, way too many mass shootings in schools and elsewhere. Coupled with this nation going through a mental health crisis and the future implications are not looking too good.

 

[thepotatoman]

Raúl Labrador is supposedly mulling a run

That's interesting. Tea party gets a guy that's against amnesty, establishment gets a guy that they'd assume would help their demographic problem simply because he's hispanic. He also seems to be a better TV interview than McCarthy.

Seems plausible that Republicans might fall for him, and he's always talking about how he wished the party was "bolder" than Boehner is allowing it to be, so he seems willing enough to take the party that next step into crazytown.

 

[pigeon]

I think the key thing people are missing about the "Tea Party speaker" possibility is this: there are tools available in the House to force bills through that the majority wants. They're quite limited, as we've seen, but they exist.

The main thing that stopped them from being used was John Boehner, a pragmatic Republican if there ever was one, talking the moderates down from rebellion. Voting against the Speaker is voting against the Republican leadership, and lots of Republicans relied on, and trusted, the Republican leadership -- or at least weren't willing to publicly come out against it. And a big part of that was that they all knew that Boehner knew that raising the debt ceiling wasn't optional.

That won't be true with Paul Broun holding the gavel. With a Tea Partier in the driver's seat, the pragmatic Republicans won't be able to rely on Boehner to forge the necessary compromise at the last moment. They'll have to overtly oppose the GOP leaders. It will finally be the path of least resistance (because it will be the only path) for getting the required work of government done.

 

[speculawyer]

That won't be true with Paul Broun holding the gavel.

I just had a meltdown.

That better not happen. That guy is a fucking nutcase.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Paul Broun won't be in Congress after this term. He blew his load on the Senate race.

I don't think anyone expected Boehner to still be Speaker next term.

 

[KingK]

I don't think anyone expected Boehner to still be Speaker next term.

 

[benjipwns]

On the plus side Kevin McCarthy is apparently an understudy of Boehner's methods:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Govern...hner-Collected-Tollbooth-Fee-Before-Key-Votes

The first bill Schweizer says Boehner used the tollbooth tactic on was the Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2011. The bill, which received broad congressional and public support, placed a five year freeze on state and local governments’ ability to slap taxes on cellphone users. Big phone companies like AT&T and Verizon strongly supported the bill. The Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2011 (H.R. 1002) was introduced in March 2011 and easily passed the House Judiciary Committee in July.

Instead of promptly scheduling a vote, however, Schweizer says Boehner sat on the popular bill: “Everyone expected Boehner, given his general aversion to raising taxes, to support the bill and hold a vote. But as the months went by and mid-October arrived, it was unclear whether the vote would ever come.”

Boehner finally set a vote for November 1, 2011. “The day before the vote, Boehner’s campaign collected the toll: thirty-three checks from wireless industry executives, totaling almost $40,000,” writes Schweizer. The bill passed easily on a voice vote.

Two more bills Schweizer says Boehner employed the tollbooth strategy on were the Access to Capital for Job Creators Act (H.R. 2940) and the Small Company Capital Formation Act (H.R. 1070). The bills were designed to help small businesses get easier access to capital by easing stock offering regulations. Brokers and venture capital and investment firms all supported the proposed law.

Once again, says Schweizer, Boehner collected a tollbooth fee hours before bringing the bills to the floor for a vote on November 2 and 3.

“The Speaker of the House took in $91,000 in the forty-eight hours of October 30 and 31 from investment banks and private equity firms, two days before the vote,” writes Schweizer in Extortion. “During the same time period, he took in $46,500 from self-described ‘investors’ and another $32,450 from bank holding companies. With the tolls paid, the votes took place on the full House floor. Both passed easily.”

Sorry about Brietbart link, only result on first page of Google that explains it well enough and is a "name" site.

Plus McCarthy does a lot of work with these:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/washingtons-open-secret-profitable-pacs/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/washingtons-open-secret-profitable-pacs-2/

 

[Coriolanus]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/washingtons-open-secret-profitable-pacs/
After weeks of trying to get an interview with Congresswoman Napolitano, we finally cornered her outside a meeting of the Hispanic Caucus. She told us that as a woman and a minority, banks wouldn't lend her money, so she had to she withdraw $150,000 from an investment account to lend it to her campaign.

Steve Kroft: You loaned money to your campaign and then charged the campaign 18 percent interest?

Grace Napolitano: That is correct.

Grace Napolitano: To be able to do a lot of the things I had to do were not feasible unless I did what I had to do. And so at that point, that's what was recommended, and that's what I went with.

Steve Kroft: I don't think there's anything wrong with loaning your campaign money. But then collecting 18 percent interest from your campaign seems a little too much.

Grace Napolitano: Would you go out and get a loan and not get charged interest?

Steve Kroft: It's still 18 percent and $228,000 in interest.

Grace Napolitano: You like to favor 18 percent.

Steve Kroft: I do like to favor. I mean, that's what the Mafia gets.

Grace Napolitano: It isn't like I've really profited. I still live in the same house. I drive a small car. I am not a billionaire, or a millionaire, for that matter.

Steve Kroft: Did your campaign contributors know that you were paying back a loan, charging the campaign committee 18 percent?

Grace Napolitano: Well, you don't go out and publicize that, but they know that I had a campaign debt.

I said wow.
Rodney Alexander openly defending nepotism also is... something. The kinda talk I used to see two decades ago.

Props to Kroft for the mafia comparison.

 

[Lafiel]

You want a Fox News of the left.

I actually agree with Angry Fork in a way there (although my political philosophy matches his to a tee but I'm far more reasonable and less dogmatic about it no offence to AF) but bringing up a quote by Bertrand Russell "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” I feel in some ways that the left in general is reflective of that, as they just don't seem to be passionate enough about pushing their ideas compared to the right, there's too much uncertainty and theorising tied to their politics, especially from the centre-left which makes up the majority of left-wing politics, and it doesn't lead to any form of action on a grassroot's level to actually try and influence things or put pressure on the government , which is a shame because the right pretty much have the monopoly of power due to the nature of the system.. I mean as a recently committed political activist who does a lot of activist stuff in my country (Australia) due to my free time I'm constantly impressed by the level of passion from all the socialists, anarchists, more radical democrats, environmentalists I've met in my activism who put in a lot of hard work into building up campaigns, going to rallies, hosting public forums to spread their ideas, perform interventions into unions, use social media in creative ways, organising with their political groups etc and yet most of the centre-left eg liberals and social democrats I know here just complain on facebook and theorise about the problem instead of taking any real political action, which I feel is a damn shame because the big problem with the far-left is it's far too easy for it to fall into sectarianism and having a more moderate voice in a sense to prevent them from going too far with their dogma would be beneficial, that and it seems to be a lost cause to unite all the left-wing ideologies.. despite the fact they all want the same thing just disagree about the means.

tldr: I think more people in the left especially people who post in threads like these should become more politically active, you can do more than just vote y'know.

 

[benjipwns]

Patriot War Hero Pilot Johm McCain schools the slow kids on MSDNC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kRZmCZy7yo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5ndaevRuo

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): Well, the fact is that the president is now deciding saying that there's no option. I'm sure you saw the reports where two Iranian Quds Force, their elite battalions, have moved into Iraq. This has turned into one of the most serious threats to American security in recent history. There is now the Syria/Iraq area, the largest area ever of radical islamist extremism. They are moving back and forth between Syria and Iraq. Our failure to help the resistance in Iraq, our failure to give these people the help they needed when we could have gotten rid of Bashir Assad, those chickens are coming home to roost as well. So what does it mean to the American people? It means that we are now facing an existential threat to the security of the United States of America.

###

McCAIN: I think you are confused because you didn’t know what happened with the surge where we basically had the country pacified. We had a stable government in Baghdad, and we had the conflict basically — for all intents and purposes — won. We still got troops in Bosnia, a residual force would have stabilized the country. Most military experts will tell you that. So I’m sorry about your confusion, but the facts on the ground were that al Qaeda had been defeated almost completely and with the residual American force and at that time, a strong Iraq. Now, [Iraqi PM Nouri] al-Maliki is very weak. Maliki got worse after we left. And again, I knew this was going to happen, because we didn’t leave that force behind. And so I’m sorry about your confusion, but anybody who was there will tell you we had the conflict won.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Obama should ask Reid to bring to vote a bill authorizing US troops to go to War in Iraq.

Since Republicans want to do it so much.

 

[Wilsongt]

Obama should ask Reid to bring to vote a bill authorizing US troops to go to War in Iraq.

Since Republicans want to do it so much.

He probably should. That way they would do an about face on wanting to go to war do badly.

 

[Aylinato]

Patriot War Hero Pilot Johm McCain schools the slow kids on MSDNC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kRZmCZy7yo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5ndaevRuo

yea...nothing he said is true. The surge was doomed to fail unless we kept boots on the ground as a police force which was never going to happen. Revisionist history at best is what John McCain aspires to.

 

[Owzers]

yea...nothing he said is true. The surge was doomed to fail unless we kept boots on the ground as a police force which was never going to happen. Revisionist history at best is what John McCain aspires to.

Don't forget McCain predicted this would happen in 2011, and you know how great his predictions are when it comes to Iraq...as long as you ignore every prediction before we invaded.

 

[RustyNails]

Bammy about to make statement on Iraq.

 

[Owzers]

Bammy about to make statement on Iraq.

He will review the words on the page and make a decision about making a statement in the upcoming days.

 

[Sibylus]

The war wasn't going to end short of troop commitments long beyond anyone's comfort limit (50 years? 70? 100?). All one can feasibly end is one's involvement. The war will go on without you.

 

[kehs]

Statement was at noon.

http://www.c-span.org/video/?319960-2/president-obama-makes-statement-iraq

 

[PhoenixDark]

you've gotta be quite a pos to blame the implosion of Iraq on Obama. Their army was "trained" for what, a fucking decade? Republicans are literally demanding Obama answer the parents of fallen US soldiers, and why the "gains" they sacrificed their lives for were lost.

If Obama had any balls he'd straight up say "those sacrifices should never have been made in a war that should have have been waged, and those who authorized it should be ashamed of themselves."

 

[RustyNails]

you've gotta be quite a pos to blame the implosion of Iraq on Obama. Their army was "trained" for what, a fucking decade? Republicans are literally demanding Obama answer the parents of fallen US soldiers, and why the "gains" they sacrificed their lives for were lost.

If Obama had any balls he'd straight up say "those sacrifices should never have been made in a war that should have have been waged, and those who authorized it should be ashamed of themselves."

You want him to resign afterwards? because that's how presidents resign in america.

 

[pigeon]

I just had a meltdown.

That better not happen. That guy is a fucking nutcase.

I spent ten minutes trying to find the best example of "worst possible Tea Party Speaker of the House." I'm glad it was time well spent!

I don't think anyone expected Boehner to still be Speaker next term.

No, but I definitely think people expected Eric Cantor to be Speaker. That definitely won't happen.

 

[Aaron Strife]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/06/11/which-town-is-browns-town/

Scott Brown’s New Hampshire Senate campaign sent a news release Wednesday questioning why Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wasn’t appearing with President Obama while he was “in town.”

But Obama was in Worcester, Mass., about 50 miles from the New Hampshire border. The president will then be raising money in Boston for Senate Democrats.

Scott Brown is a joke and I don't know why anyone here (*coughPDcough*) took him seriously

 

[PhoenixDark]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/06/11/which-town-is-browns-town/


Scott Brown is a joke and I don't know why anyone here (*coughPDcough*) took him seriously

Mass., NH...it's all one big state!

 

[speculawyer]

Patriot War Hero Pilot Johm McCain schools the slow kids on MSDNC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kRZmCZy7yo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5ndaevRuo

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): Well, the fact is that the president is now deciding saying that there's no option. I'm sure you saw the reports where two Iranian Quds Force, their elite battalions, have moved into Iraq. This has turned into one of the most serious threats to American security in recent history. There is now the Syria/Iraq area, the largest area ever of radical islamist extremism. They are moving back and forth between Syria and Iraq. Our failure to help the resistance in Iraq, our failure to give these people the help they needed when we could have gotten rid of Bashir Assad, those chickens are coming home to roost as well. So what does it mean to the American people? It means that we are now facing an existential threat to the security of the United States of America.

It seems he's picked up the drama queen skills from his pal Lindsay.

 

[Oblivion]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/06/11/which-town-is-browns-town/


Scott Brown is a joke and I don't know why anyone here (*coughPDcough*) took him seriously

Bububu Reagan of the 21st century...

 

[Aaron Strife]

Bububu Reagan of the 21st century...

Perfect campaign!

 

[The Librarian]

Republicans: OBAMA WHY WON'T YOU GO TO WAR

 

[Oblivion]

From the jenius who clobbered Cantor:

“If we make all of the people good, markets will be good. If markets are bad, which they are, that means people are bad, which they are. Want good markets? Change the people.”

Translation:

“This dude just really wants us all to go to church, and that appears to be his economic policy conclusion.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/13/1306706/-The-economic-theology-that-beat-Cantor

 

[benjipwns]

Obama should ask Reid to bring to vote a bill authorizing US troops to go to War in Iraq.

This seems risky.

 

[speculawyer]

From the jenius who clobbered Cantor:

Translation:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/13/1306706/-The-economic-theology-that-beat-Cantor

Wow. GOP managed to replace that asshole Cantor with someone who seems to be even more of an asshole.

 

[B-Dubs]

Wow. GOP managed to replace that asshole Cantor with someone who seems to be even more of an asshole.

Wow, his face is so amazingly punchable. It's like they do it on purpose.

 

[Armoured Priest]

weird...he looks like a cross between Mitt Romney & Stephen Colbert...with some James Woods thrown in for good measure.

 

[Black Mamba]

weird...he looks like a cross between Mitt Romney & Stephen Colbert...with some James Woods thrown in for good measure.

this is a ridiculously accurate description, lmao.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Wrong thread

 

[Fenderputty]

weird...he looks like a cross between Mitt Romney & Stephen Colbert...with some James Woods thrown in for good measure.

I can't un-see James woods now.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

I can't un-see James woods now.

same haha

 

[Averon]

weird...he looks like a cross between Mitt Romney & Stephen Colbert...with some James Woods thrown in for good measure.

Hahaha. Goddman. What an incredible accurate description.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/13/...-as-the-missing-watergate-audio-was-to-nixon/

 

[speculawyer]

http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/13/...-as-the-missing-watergate-audio-was-to-nixon/

Well . . . email is communication . . . there should be copies at the other end of the email communication. Why not check the other end before claiming failure?