The Pauls are many stupid and terrible things, but fascists is not one of them.
I'm not sure what else you'd call a lot of, particularly Rand's, opinions and policies.
An incoherent mess.
Rand's senate tenure is a very public display of what happens when libertarian philosophy is applied to real world conditions. I think Rand is finding politics isn't quite so simple as he may have thought, hence all the backpeddling. I give him credit though, he seems like one of the only tea party freshman developing some real inside game in the senate. If he ever learns how to hide his disdain for the rest of world, who he is clearly smarter than, he'll be a serious threat, but what he won't be is an libertarian acolyte.
Rand was never really a libertarian. He's always been very much a neocon on most issues, even before making it into the Senate. Ron Paul fans actually really, really hate him because they see him as betraying his father's legacy, and that's been true since like 08.
He likes to make a lot of really vague, libertarianish statements about small government blah blah. When pressed on actual policy points and when voting on issues, he's very hard right and doesn't mind using the government as a tool one bit. That makes him pretty much indistinguishable from any other Republican, with his father being the most notable feature.
Many neocons did that when W. fizzled. That's one reason neocons have virtually disappeared from politics as a group.
Yeah, I was including the "he likes to make a lot of really vague, libertarianish statements" bit when calling him indistinguishable from any other Republican.
In other news, Rubio is going to announce his decision either way on April 13th. He can only run for senate or president, so I guess it's possible that he decides it's not worth the risk. Buuut... he's planning a huge media event, how likely would he be to do that for a "Sorry, I don't think I have a real shot at becoming president" announcement? On Fox and Friends he all but explicitly said he was running.
AManFromEarthLet's get to twerk!The King in the SwampRegistered Userregular
Yep. Crist pissed off the FLGOP by supporting Obama and then, you know, going rogue, so after the 2010 Senate race (ironically, Rubio's race) they passed what's referred to as the "sore loser" law aimed squarely at Captain Sunkist.
Only five years ago and I cannot remember any of the process for the bill. I remember the Crist stuff, but ugh, gettin old. So is the legislature trying to get it removed like Rand is trying to do?
0
AManFromEarthLet's get to twerk!The King in the SwampRegistered Userregular
Not yet, anyway. There's still a month to go in the session though, so who knows what those dirtbags will bring in.
I highly doubt it. It would just be great ammunition for Democrat in the Senate race, which is already presenting a decent challenger. But if the risk to their incumbency is too great, they may try to cram something through so that they keep an (R) in the seat.
0
AManFromEarthLet's get to twerk!The King in the SwampRegistered Userregular
Never underestimate the ability of the Florida Democratic Party to blow an opportunity.
Chris Christie’s administration, criticized for the skyrocketing fees that New Jersey has paid private financial firms to manage the state’s billions of dollars of pension investments, tried a novel way to defend itself this week: It disputed the data that Christie officials themselves had published.
Said a prominent Christie official:
"Look that was some other Christie administration with those wrong numbers, and I have it on good authority that that particular Lebowski Christie was fat in grade school and no one would take him to the fall dance."
Dark_Side on
+3
jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
Never underestimate the ability of the Florida Democratic Party to blow an opportunity.
Why are they blowing it? I want strong social liberals and strong neoliberal economics, it's why I vote team D! I'd rather lose than get some sort of populist in the election. Push for social values where you can and use money to gain it, but always pick the pro business team, even if that means a loss.
This isn't the old racist New Deal party, we are the elite now, and we act like it.
Never underestimate the ability of the Florida Democratic Party to blow an opportunity.
Why are they blowing it? I want strong social liberals and strong neoliberal economics, it's why I vote team D! I'd rather lose than get some sort of populist in the election. Push for social values where you can and use money to gain it, but always pick the pro business team, even if that means a loss.
It's Florida, not California. Candidates like Elizabeth Warren don't get through the primaries there.
This isn't the old racist New Deal party, we are the elite now, and we act like it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever used the word gay rights, because I don’t really believe in rights based on your behavior,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters in a videotaped interview that has received little attention since it was recorded in 2013.
Funny Keith O took this bullshit to the wood shed yesterday saying "if we give you that gays make a choice to be gay, why should we protect religious views if it too is simply a choice?"
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Never underestimate the ability of the Florida Democratic Party to blow an opportunity.
Why are they blowing it? I want strong social liberals and strong neoliberal economics, it's why I vote team D! I'd rather lose than get some sort of populist in the election. Push for social values where you can and use money to gain it, but always pick the pro business team, even if that means a loss.
This isn't the old racist New Deal party, we are the elite now, and we act like it.
This is possibly the weirdest, least expected reply to what I said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever used the word gay rights, because I don’t really believe in rights based on your behavior,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters in a videotaped interview that has received little attention since it was recorded in 2013.
Funny Keith O took this bullshit to the wood shed yesterday saying "if we give you that gays make a choice to be gay, why should we protect religious views if it too is simply a choice?"
Being gay is a choice, being a fucking imbecile is just something you are born as, obviously.
Ted Cruz continues to wow em out on the campaign trail. Politico took attendance at the last 16 public Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, turns out Cruz had the worst attendance of anyone on the committee skipping 13 of 16 hearings in the last year.
Cruz missed opportunities to cross-examine the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and was absent from a session on the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay — despite being a leading opponent of President Barack Obama’s decision to swap five Taliban commanders at Guantánamo for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
His aides explain it thus:
In 16 pages of background material, Cruz’s aides also emphasized the senator’s staff monitors all hearings and provides him with summaries, noting that as a junior member, he’s often last in line to speak, and any questions he may have for witnesses have already been asked. His aides also noted that as chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Cruz also had some scheduling conflicts with his Armed Services dutie
Which is a perfectly sensible explanation if your boss isn't running a presidential campaign claiming how much of a visionary leader he's been in the senate.
Ted Cruz continues to wow em out on the campaign trail. Politico took attendance at the last 16 public Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, turns out Cruz had the worst attendance of anyone on the committee skipping 13 of 16 hearings in the last year.
Cruz missed opportunities to cross-examine the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and was absent from a session on the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay — despite being a leading opponent of President Barack Obama’s decision to swap five Taliban commanders at Guantánamo for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
His aides explain it thus:
In 16 pages of background material, Cruz’s aides also emphasized the senator’s staff monitors all hearings and provides him with summaries, noting that as a junior member, he’s often last in line to speak, and any questions he may have for witnesses have already been asked. His aides also noted that as chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Cruz also had some scheduling conflicts with his Armed Services dutie
Which is a perfectly sensible explanation if your boss isn't running a presidential campaign claiming how much of a visionary leader he's been in the senate.
If you're chair of the subcommittee, how the fuck can you not schedule meetings to work around the more important committee meetings?
And yeah, obviously all the questions he would ask have already been asked - the high profile committee meetings are just a line of Republicans trying to score points with the same inane questions over and over. They aren't actually interested in the answers, they just want the free soundbites to look tough or something. An actually useful or insightful question, any at all, would probably be completely new in the record. Ugh.
I think the most detestable witness in a court gets more respect than agency heads in committee hearings.
(I'm not a fan of the usual behavior of congressional committees, but it may be because it seems like several important committees seem to be giving blowjobs to the government departments they're theoretically a restraint on)
Bah, sad to hear warren plans not to run in 2016. She was our best hope for a real transformational time in american history. Now we just have to hope Hilary can win, and keep any kind of leftward momentum.
In 16 pages of background material, Cruz’s aides also emphasized the senator’s staff monitors all hearings and provides him with summaries, noting that as a junior member, he’s often last in line to speak, and any questions he may have for witnesses have already been asked. His aides also noted that as chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Cruz also had some scheduling conflicts with his Armed Services duties
Hah, I remember using that at school in group discussions. "Sorry Miss, all my points were said by the people you asked first. I guess Macbeth is... angry?"
Bah, sad to hear warren plans not to run in 2016. She was our best hope for a real transformational time in american history. Now we just have to hope Hilary can win, and keep any kind of leftward momentum.
She's going to have a hard time in the general when everyone is talking about how the official email correspondence as Secretary of State disappeared. I mean, I get it. The Whitewater thing turned into a general witch hunt and travesty of justice and they just used it as an excuse to dig up any dirt possible, and so rather than go through that again... but still, it's fairly potent ammunition I think.
On the other hand, the Republicans are playing grab ass with their candidates so they probably won't have a shot in Hell against a literal strawman set up as a scarecrow on the Hill with a "D" sandwich board draped across his or her frame.
Honestly, it's kind of sad. I want a Warren or a Sanders to be running. Someone who actually gives a shit about the issues of the day and progressive momentum. But we won't get that. We'll get Hillary, who will probably choose a standard old white non-progressive democrat to run as vice to balance out the shock of a female candidate in the top spot.
When you guys hope that more left-leaning candidates run in the primary because it will help to push other candidates leftward, what do you mean, exactly?
Do you mean that a less-leftward-leaning candidate (Hillary, in this case) will be forced to actually accept more left-leaning positions? That doesn't seem likely to me. You may get them to say more things to please more left-leaning voters, but I doubt that they're actually accepting the policy-position and I doubly-doubt that they would (after potentially winning office) try to implement the policies. I mean, I understand that once they say it you should be able to get voters to hold their feet to the fire, and if this were the Republican party I'd agree (they can primary people like woah for not passing enough purity tests) but with the Dems I just don't see that dynamic working out like that.
What am I missing here?
Also, while I really like Warren, I don't find her to be the "transformative" figure others find her to be. I feel like her views and talent would be somewhat wasted in the Executive Branch; I think giving her larger, more-vocal roles in the Senate would be a better use of her talent. Then again, the Executive's bully-pulpit could be a great tool for her. Eh. I just don't think she'd be able to appeal to a wide enough audience currently to be competitive in a race for POTUS. I wouldn't mind being wrong about this though. A President Warren would be pretty cool. :P
+9
AManFromEarthLet's get to twerk!The King in the SwampRegistered Userregular
I don't think that the email thing is going to hurt Hillary, I don't think most voters care and I think the GOP will have moved to a new toy by next summer.
I don't think that the email thing is going to hurt Hillary, I don't think most voters care and I think the GOP will have moved to a new toy by next summer.
I kind of thought the same thing about the Benghazi thing, but Republicans are still on that like white on rice. The email thing is really just an off-shoot off that, really.
Steam and CFN: Enexemander
+1
HacksawJ. Duggan Esq.Wrestler at LawRegistered Userregular
Nobody who's anybody actually gives a shit about Benghazi.
+12
HacksawJ. Duggan Esq.Wrestler at LawRegistered Userregular
And anyone who's not an idiot certainly doesn't blame her for it.
Bah, sad to hear warren plans not to run in 2016. She was our best hope for a real transformational time in american history. Now we just have to hope Hilary can win, and keep any kind of leftward momentum.
She's going to have a hard time in the general when everyone is talking about how the official email correspondence as Secretary of State disappeared. I mean, I get it. The Whitewater thing turned into a general witch hunt and travesty of justice and they just used it as an excuse to dig up any dirt possible, and so rather than go through that again... but still, it's fairly potent ammunition I think.
On the other hand, the Republicans are playing grab ass with their candidates so they probably won't have a shot in Hell against a literal strawman set up as a scarecrow on the Hill with a "D" sandwich board draped across his or her frame.
Honestly, it's kind of sad. I want a Warren or a Sanders to be running. Someone who actually gives a shit about the issues of the day and progressive momentum. But we won't get that. We'll get Hillary, who will probably choose a standard old white non-progressive democrat to run as vice to balance out the shock of a female candidate in the top spot.
There's one good thing to come out of all the witch hunting. Hillary is likely completely inoculated against it and won't bat an eye when it comes up again. Being prepared for all of that is a nice advantage.
And let's be honest, here. No matter who wins the primary, even if Hillary didn't run, the Republicans are going to scream their heads off about the new Antichrist. Because they always do.
When you guys hope that more left-leaning candidates run in the primary because it will help to push other candidates leftward, what do you mean, exactly?
Do you mean that a less-leftward-leaning candidate (Hillary, in this case) will be forced to actually accept more left-leaning positions? That doesn't seem likely to me. You may get them to say more things to please more left-leaning voters, but I doubt that they're actually accepting the policy-position and I doubly-doubt that they would (after potentially winning office) try to implement the policies. I mean, I understand that once they say it you should be able to get voters to hold their feet to the fire, and if this were the Republican party I'd agree (they can primary people like woah for not passing enough purity tests) but with the Dems I just don't see that dynamic working out like that.
What am I missing here?
Also, while I really like Warren, I don't find her to be the "transformative" figure others find her to be. I feel like her views and talent would be somewhat wasted in the Executive Branch; I think giving her larger, more-vocal roles in the Senate would be a better use of her talent. Then again, the Executive's bully-pulpit could be a great tool for her. Eh. I just don't think she'd be able to appeal to a wide enough audience currently to be competitive in a race for POTUS. I wouldn't mind being wrong about this though. A President Warren would be pretty cool. :P
It's a problem for her, because she didn't even support gay marriage until fucking 2013. Even then, it's very debatable whether she did this out of a deep personal shift in convictions or if she just noticed that it's polling as very popular.
I don't think that the email thing is going to hurt Hillary, I don't think most voters care and I think the GOP will have moved to a new toy by next summer.
I don't think that the email thing is going to hurt Hillary, I don't think most voters care and I think the GOP will have moved to a new toy by next summer.
I kind of thought the same thing about the Benghazi thing, but Republicans are still on that like white on rice. The email thing is really just an off-shoot off that, really.
Do you see the disconnect between these two statements?
Really, the only people who care about the email and Benghazi are people who were never going to vote for Hillary in the first place because she's a Democrat.
Posts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0CyOAO8y0
that's the nice interpretation of it...
pleasepaypreacher.net
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I was going to say that they did not deserve classical music.
Then it transitioned as I hit quote.
It is so appropriate.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
just a song a dude wrote that got used by circuses enough to become associated with them
EDIT: Oh right I guess wikipedia would know too. Hey I was pretty close though
Yeah, I was including the "he likes to make a lot of really vague, libertarianish statements" bit when calling him indistinguishable from any other Republican.
In other news, Rubio is going to announce his decision either way on April 13th. He can only run for senate or president, so I guess it's possible that he decides it's not worth the risk. Buuut... he's planning a huge media event, how likely would he be to do that for a "Sorry, I don't think I have a real shot at becoming president" announcement? On Fox and Friends he all but explicitly said he was running.
Legislature passed that law after 2010 to keep Crist out of office.
This makes it so much more amusing!
Yeah look no further than running Crist against Scott.
pleasepaypreacher.net
http://www.ibtimes.com/chris-christie-officials-suggest-new-jersey-paid-millions-undisclosed-fees-1864514
Said a prominent Christie official:
"Look that was some other Christie administration with those wrong numbers, and I have it on good authority that that particular Lebowski Christie was fat in grade school and no one would take him to the fall dance."
Why are they blowing it? I want strong social liberals and strong neoliberal economics, it's why I vote team D! I'd rather lose than get some sort of populist in the election. Push for social values where you can and use money to gain it, but always pick the pro business team, even if that means a loss.
This isn't the old racist New Deal party, we are the elite now, and we act like it.
It's Florida, not California. Candidates like Elizabeth Warren don't get through the primaries there.
?
Libertarian super star Rand Paul.
Funny Keith O took this bullshit to the wood shed yesterday saying "if we give you that gays make a choice to be gay, why should we protect religious views if it too is simply a choice?"
pleasepaypreacher.net
This is possibly the weirdest, least expected reply to what I said.
Midterms 2014.
Being gay is a choice, being a fucking imbecile is just something you are born as, obviously.
His aides explain it thus:
Which is a perfectly sensible explanation if your boss isn't running a presidential campaign claiming how much of a visionary leader he's been in the senate.
If you're chair of the subcommittee, how the fuck can you not schedule meetings to work around the more important committee meetings?
And yeah, obviously all the questions he would ask have already been asked - the high profile committee meetings are just a line of Republicans trying to score points with the same inane questions over and over. They aren't actually interested in the answers, they just want the free soundbites to look tough or something. An actually useful or insightful question, any at all, would probably be completely new in the record. Ugh.
I think the most detestable witness in a court gets more respect than agency heads in committee hearings.
(I'm not a fan of the usual behavior of congressional committees, but it may be because it seems like several important committees seem to be giving blowjobs to the government departments they're theoretically a restraint on)
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Hah, I remember using that at school in group discussions. "Sorry Miss, all my points were said by the people you asked first. I guess Macbeth is... angry?"
She's going to have a hard time in the general when everyone is talking about how the official email correspondence as Secretary of State disappeared. I mean, I get it. The Whitewater thing turned into a general witch hunt and travesty of justice and they just used it as an excuse to dig up any dirt possible, and so rather than go through that again... but still, it's fairly potent ammunition I think.
On the other hand, the Republicans are playing grab ass with their candidates so they probably won't have a shot in Hell against a literal strawman set up as a scarecrow on the Hill with a "D" sandwich board draped across his or her frame.
Honestly, it's kind of sad. I want a Warren or a Sanders to be running. Someone who actually gives a shit about the issues of the day and progressive momentum. But we won't get that. We'll get Hillary, who will probably choose a standard old white non-progressive democrat to run as vice to balance out the shock of a female candidate in the top spot.
Do you mean that a less-leftward-leaning candidate (Hillary, in this case) will be forced to actually accept more left-leaning positions? That doesn't seem likely to me. You may get them to say more things to please more left-leaning voters, but I doubt that they're actually accepting the policy-position and I doubly-doubt that they would (after potentially winning office) try to implement the policies. I mean, I understand that once they say it you should be able to get voters to hold their feet to the fire, and if this were the Republican party I'd agree (they can primary people like woah for not passing enough purity tests) but with the Dems I just don't see that dynamic working out like that.
What am I missing here?
Also, while I really like Warren, I don't find her to be the "transformative" figure others find her to be. I feel like her views and talent would be somewhat wasted in the Executive Branch; I think giving her larger, more-vocal roles in the Senate would be a better use of her talent. Then again, the Executive's bully-pulpit could be a great tool for her. Eh. I just don't think she'd be able to appeal to a wide enough audience currently to be competitive in a race for POTUS. I wouldn't mind being wrong about this though. A President Warren would be pretty cool. :P
I kind of thought the same thing about the Benghazi thing, but Republicans are still on that like white on rice. The email thing is really just an off-shoot off that, really.
There's one good thing to come out of all the witch hunting. Hillary is likely completely inoculated against it and won't bat an eye when it comes up again. Being prepared for all of that is a nice advantage.
And let's be honest, here. No matter who wins the primary, even if Hillary didn't run, the Republicans are going to scream their heads off about the new Antichrist. Because they always do.
People like liberal policies. They always poll well, and if nobody talks about them during debates, Hillary doesn't have to shore up any liberal credentials. She describes herself as having "the mind of a conservative and the heart of a liberal", but it's important that she actually show the latter part of that statement.
It's a problem for her, because she didn't even support gay marriage until fucking 2013. Even then, it's very debatable whether she did this out of a deep personal shift in convictions or if she just noticed that it's polling as very popular.
Do you see the disconnect between these two statements?