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Topic: Healthcare Debate (was: Quesada apologizes) (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Mike O'Brien
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 3:44pm | IP Logged | 1  

So... where does it tell Dems to pass themselves off as Republicans, Michael?

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Brian Miller
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 3:48pm | IP Logged | 2  

 Mikey O wrote:
Do I wish we could all sit in a cirle and sing kum-by-ya? Well, no, that song is terrible. 

How about "World Without Heroes"?

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Matthew McCallum
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 3:52pm | IP Logged | 3  

Mike

It's Michael who's promoting the fake Republican telephone conspiracy, not me.

As for soaking in the shows -- okay, tell you what: I'm off for a week in early April. I will try watching Fox News solid for that week, from first blink to the alarm clock to last flicker of my eyelid before falling asleep at night, and I'll let you know at the end of the week if I feel the urge to buy a gun or take up flight lessons.

Sound like a good experiment?



Edited by Matthew McCallum on 26 February 2010 at 3:54pm
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Chris Hutton
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 4:09pm | IP Logged | 4  

Well, Rush Limbaugh has proclaimed for years about the "Seminar Callers." It's my opinion, however, that that pill-popper just doesn't like to hear dissenting viewpoints.
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Mike O'Brien
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 4:57pm | IP Logged | 5  

Matthew, you are correct, but I was just using it as an example, not citing it to you.

But I really beg you - don't watch that much FOX - it'll rot your brain.  Can I suggest some good books to read?  Nothing political (though I did just finish Ted Kennedy's book - quite enjoyed it!  Also am reading Game Change, which is trashy gossipy crap, though I do like the way the authors refer to candidates as "bitching" and "whining" - ie - "Obama bitched about getting on the plane" or "Hillary whined about meeting the farmer" - or most fun, "John Edwards fucked Riall Hunter 7 ways from Sunday") - but I've read some pretty good fiction lately...

Roberto Bolano's 2666 was a game changer, in terms of lit - sweet shit that book is insane.  Sherman Alexie has a new collection of stories out now that's pretty amazing, etc and so on...

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Matthew McCallum
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 5:28pm | IP Logged | 6  

Mike,

God Bless You! I've been sitting here on pins and needles since I typed that note thinking "Oh oh, I think he's actually going to let me go through with that!"

On a happier note, always looking for good reading material, so I'll add those two books to the list. I've been awash in too much non-fiction the last little bit, and I could use a couple of good novels -- or more accurately a novel and a collection of short stories -- to blow out the carb.

I'm about halfway through The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and It's Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman which incorporates a lot of previously unreleased material from the Soviet archives, and mostly done with Defusing Armageddon: Inside NEST, America's Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad by Jeffery T. Richelson. (Between those two books and watching Fail Safe and Dr. Strangelove last week back-to-back with my eldest, I think I'm done with nukes for a while...) 

I just finished The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation by Stephen Flynn, which I very much recommend (and did so to Jodi earlier in this thread).

Top of the pile on my nightstand are America the Vulnerable: How Our Government if Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism by Stephen Flynn (his first book written back in the Bush years) and The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood by Nicholas Meyer (one of my favourite authors -- The Seven Percent Solution among others -- and filmmakers).

What was the Ted Kennedy book you just finished, True Compass?



Edited by Matthew McCallum on 26 February 2010 at 5:36pm
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Mike O'Brien
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 6:18pm | IP Logged | 7  

yes, True Compass!  Fun read.
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Jeff Gillmer
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 8:21pm | IP Logged | 8  

"Why wasn't I notified of that?  I'm on the mailing lists!"

Here ya go Mike.  Have fun!
http://radio.barackobama.com/

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Lee Painter
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 9:35pm | IP Logged | 9  

Read Das Kapital by Karl Marx.
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Rich Rice
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 9:50pm | IP Logged | 10  

I was not asking about the rules of Congress. 
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Monte Gruhlke
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 10:58pm | IP Logged | 11  

Thing is, these days polls can mean anything a candidate wants them to mean (and I'm not saying politician anymore because these guys are always perpetually running for their next term).  When one person says "all the americans I talked to..." or "every town hall meeting I went to..." is just fluff. Whatever party you belong to, every gathering or meeting is mainly populated by staunch party supporters who "duh" obviously agree 100% with the party line. 

Forget about Quesada's needless apology, I think Congress owes US an apology for all the posing, seeming indifference and incredulous lack of action year after year.
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Matthew McCallum
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 11:58pm | IP Logged | 12  

Rich Rice wrote: "I was not asking about the rules of Congress."

Then I don't quite understanding your "simple majority" question, Rich. Let's fix that.

If we use that one poll as a snapshot -- just for simplicity as an example to flesh out what you're asking; I am not about to claim a single poll is gospel -- are you suggesting that the 46 percent that wants something to happen trump the 50 percent that doesn't want something to happen?

Or are you asking if something is right -- a somewhat charged term, but let's work with it for the moment -- it should not be subject to a majority view?

This may or may not answer your question, but my personal conviction is that leaders should form public opinion rather than be directed by it like a kite in the wind, and leaders should make the tough decisions that are in the best interests of the people and the nation. What is good and necessary is not always popular (and, likewise, what is popular is not always good and necessary).

Thus, if the Democratic leadership truly believes this healthcare policy is the right thing to do and is in the best interests of the country and its citizens, then they should enact it without delay and risk the consequences at the ballot box this fall.


Edited by Matthew McCallum on 27 February 2010 at 12:26am
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