patrick.net

I got suspicious when the son changed his name to Kim Biden-un.

Why do you hate TBTF? roflmao

To paraphrase the great philosopher,AF. DIE TBTF,DIE!

George Carlin:
"Forget the politicians. They are irrelevant. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice! You have OWNERS! They OWN YOU. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls."

FortWayne says

Ever since Vietnam, our government has been committing despicable crimes.

Ever since September 17, 1787 our government has been committing despicable crimes. You didn't get the memo?

bob2356 says

FortWayne says

Ever since Vietnam, our government has been committing despicable crimes.

Ever since September 17, 1787 our government has been committing despicable crimes. You didn't get the memo?

Attribute that to my public education, those history books white washed everything, and I wasn't around to judge. But Vietnam, I got friends who were in Vietnam and they tell it like it was about free fire zones, etc...

FortWayne says

Attribute that to my public education, those history books white washed everything, and I wasn't around to judge. But Vietnam, I got friends who were in Vietnam and they tell it like it was about free fire zones, etc...

The entire north american continent was a free fire zone when the indians had it and the colonists wanted it. Nothing changes.

Check this little wikileak about Ukraine, we are trying very hard to get there:

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08MOSCOW265_a.html#efmBTnBfi

Ukraine and Georgia's NATO aspirations not only touch
a raw nerve in Russia, they engender serious concerns about
the consequences for stability in the region. Not only does
Russia perceive encirclement, and efforts to undermine
Russia's influence in the region, but it also fears
unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences which would
seriously affect Russian security interests. Experts tell us
that Russia is particularly worried that the strong divisions
in Ukraine over NATO membership, with much of the
ethnic-Russian community against membership, could lead to a
major split, involving violence or at worst, civil war. In
that eventuality, Russia would have to decide whether to

intervene; a decision Russia does not want to have to face.

bgamall4 says

Our crazy neocons in both parties will lead us to WW3 if Russia perceives the encirclement is not manageable.

They'll probably start something in Syria and Iran first. I remember when Obama tried to sell that war to the public, didn't work out too well for him. They'll try again later I'm sure. Working hard to preserve that right wing budget.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL-ugOSbAjg

bgamall4 says

Our crazy neocons in both parties will lead us to WW3 if Russia perceives the encirclement is not manageable.

Not likely. Ukraine is the new Poland and nobody will care.

zzyzzx says

bgamall4 says

Our crazy neocons in both parties will lead us to WW3 if Russia perceives the encirclement is not manageable.

Not likely. Ukraine is the new Poland and nobody will care.

I don't think so. There are too many factories in Ukraine that support Russian military. Russia will probably feel too suffocated, and you never know how they'll react, considering our involvement.

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Friday, May 16, 2014 __ Level is 103.9

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And "ThePublic Be Suckered"
http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

So can Hillary, Kerry and the rest since they voted for it.

Since there's no hell I am not concerned about it.

Wait, maybe "hell" will be the beach in Cabo with the bikini clad "personal attendant" serving me an umbrella drink. It's hot in the sun sometimes, almost "hellish".

How is this just a Republican problem? The Democrats are subservient to the military industrial complex too.

A LOT more people died in Woodrow Wilson's WW1 and Johnson's Vietnam.

myob says

How is this just a Republican problem? The Democrats are subservient to the military industrial complex too.

Really? So why is it that when they negotiate, the GOP insists on cuts to social spending and the Dems insist on cuts to the Pentagon.

Strange way for the Dems to curry favor with a group they're supposedly subservient to.

Next you'll tell me that the GOP is actually unionism's biggest supporter!

zzyzzx says

A LOT more people died in Woodrow Wilson's WW1 and Johnson's Vietnam.

A LOT LOT more died in Lincoln v. Grant

On the plus side, we are getting time off from the saturation anti-Obamacare fusillades.

The troops await fresh marching orders.

For now, it's just the "Obama did what?!?!" horror stories over the usual quiet background of anti-Fed wailing.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

Oh, yeah?! We need to paint JESUS ON ALL THE BOMBS WE USE TO KILL THE FUCKING RAGHEADS! RAPE IS A FUCKING SACRAMENT! THE 13TH AND 14TH AMENDMENTS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

See? These are mainstream Teabagger positions.

really ? i wasnt aware we were violating OUR constitution when shooting the Germans and Japanese in WW2...

after all, based on Liberal view, even Hitler had the right to " life liberty and pursuit of happiness " regardless which country he invaded.

The point of Benghazi is it was a lie to the public to suit Obama's political needs before an election. Some people take great exception at being lied to.

Susan Rice going onto 5 Sunday TV shows and lying about the cause of the terror attack was wrong.

Others object to the ineptitude of people like Obama and Hillary by ignoring the request from our ambassador for higher security at the place where he was killed.

Others wonder how we can have a GIANT military with a budget so huge it defies belief and they never sent a fucking PLANE to fly over and bomb the scumbags or shoot them up? We had plenty of planes and bombs when the pantywaist Brits and French asked us to bomb Ghadaffi previously.

The objection of reasonable people to Obama/Hillary/Rice concocting a lie about this terrorist attack is that they continue to cover up this entire LIE and evidently if you dislike the govt. lying to you it's your fault?

Benghazi is somewhat of a joke. When driving, for fun I turn on fox news on sirius, and then wait for a number of seconds it takes before I hear "Benghazi" Usually it's within minutes. It's similar to Obamacare opposition; focusing on the wrong poitns. Republicans could focus on so many other substantial foreign policy failures, and instead they choose Benghazi because they think it will hurt Hillary. For example. how about Nuland's "fuck EU" comment, or Kerry's mishandling of Ukraine's crisis, or the fact that we are still in Afghanistan wasting billions every month while not extending long term unemployment insurance here and cutting food stamps?

Clambo, I do agree with you that it was a lie before the election, but it's a small lie in comparison to other issues. Romney also did not have a real chance after the primary, his 47% comment, and not releasing tax returns.

Please call Sleepy about the sale of the van

Ha ha you can delete everything if you want. You made it necessary to contact you this way since you were not answering your cell phone sweetie!!

Call it Crazy says

It's amazing that the duck thinks these type of posts gain him ANY creditability....

Hello sailor....did we have a nice vacation? I see you haven't changed much.

JH says

zzyzzx says

A LOT more people died in Woodrow Wilson's WW1 and Johnson's Vietnam.

A LOT LOT more died in Lincoln v. Grant

A lot more Died in WW2, and we really didn't have to go to war with Germany until after defeating Japan, We just chose to so so to help Stalin get half of Europe quicker.

You can always find the middle ground win-win. With diplomacy like that, I'm thinking State Department instead of Comptroller.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

What do you say?

Good idea, but can we say skip the bullhorns? Sometimes I like to sleep in. Maybe the police sketch artists could taunt silently with unflattering caricatures.

One other thought on Benghazi. IT's clear that there were aspects to what was going on in Beghazi that are secret, that is with respect to what the CIA was doing there. This is all classified. What if there was indirection in the story that was put out about Benghazi in the imdiate aftermath, that was done not because of presidential politics, but for other reasons having to do with classified information?

What if some high level republicans know this, and are actually stiring all of this up for reasons having to do with their own agendas relative to classified activities in the region. That is to shine a light on what we were doing there, just to be dicks ? WHo knows, maybe because their backers didn't get to do what they wanted to do there, or something along those lines. OR because they hate it that Obama gets to run these operations. In other words, this could be (in part) some totally other kind of dysfunctional nonsense than what it appears to be.

Just a thought.

It seems like there must be more going on here than meets the eye. Not that the Foxbots aren't as moronic as most of us undersatand all too well.

marcus says

It seems like there must be more going on here than meets the eye.

of course. The consulate there and the safehouses were all sub-rosa CIA op centers, as our whole involvement with the anti-Qaddafi opposition was highly 'irregular'.

This is just an opportunity for the GOP shitheads to politically capitalize on a misfortune that occurred on the Dem's notional watch (not that the Deep State gives a shit who's nominally running things -- people in the NatSec state can do their own thing without oversight when they want to, like how Oliver North ran guns to Iran and diverted the money to the Contras, and the whole BCCI mess in the 1980s).

It's all bullshit, all the way down now.

zzyzzx says

and we really didn't have to go to war with Germany until after defeating Japan,

In 1942 this wasn't so obvious, ignoring the fact that Hitler did actually declare war on us first in the immediate aftermath of Japan's attack on us.

Plus we needed a new navy -- battleships, carriers, transports -- to defeat Japan, and building up the fleet that could fight its way from Pearl through the Marshalls to the Marianas, and then take and hold Okinawa and Kyushu was going to take several more years, and wasn't going to have a meaningful Army or Air Force contribution until the final endgame invasion of the Japanese home islands anyway.

So the Army and Air Force wanted to get their licks in while waiting for the big showdown with Japan, instead of pulling their putzes for 3+ years while the Navy got all the battle glory.

Operation Roundup

We just chose to so so to help Stalin get half of Europe quicker.

to think our military establishment wanted to take out Hitlerite Germany ASAP just to help Stalin get E Germany is . . . retarded . . . but that's all we can expect from conservatives here on Pat.net now apparently.

I can't remember the last intelligent contribution any of you guys have made here anymore.

Typical hypocritical attitude and behavior from both sides. Wog, you speak with such conviction! But I guarran-fking-tee you that Obama personally shoves a knife straight into the back of a harmless child every single damn day. This side talks about cutting military, the other talks about cutting social. That's all it is...talk. Obama's withdrawl plan from Iraq matched Bush's to the letter. Obama whole-heartedly supported the reinstatement of the Patriot Act. Obama EXPANDED the war in Afghanistan, though we now know that they all knew Bin Laden was in Pakistan. Which "hell" exactly is it you're wishing the Pubs too, again? Because, when it comes to foreign policy. Obama is listening to his masters, alright. Right straight down the playbook.

What pisses me off the most is how the Left continues to give him a pass! Before he was elected, if you turned on any left-leaning media outlet, you'd hear exactly how many civilians had died in Iraq and Afghanistan that week, that month, that quarter, that year, and since 9/11 in total. Soon after Obama took the oath, even leftist asses like Mike Malloy dropped the daily reports on civilian casualties and continued yacking about the Bush Crime Family. Hypocrite. Never cared in the least about the dead civilians. Never cared if grandma got blown away in a firefight in Kabul only because Abu Bin Terrorist was using her as a human shield as he was hold up in the local hospital. It was only EVER about the political agenda. Ron Paul was your best shot, and you voted for Obama to make YOURSELF feel better about YOURSELF. If you can't see the evil in BOTH sides by now, you're a hopeless case.

Good, keep blocking.

We have a perfectly good immigration policy.

If Obama wants to expand the number of Work Visas he can do so with Executive Orders.

But he doesn't want that...he wants as many dependent slave voters to cram in and become plantation Democrats.

deepcgi says

oon after Obama took the oath, even leftist asses like Mike Malloy dropped the daily reports on civilian casualties and continued yacking about the Bush Crime Family

Bush got us into Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's much easier picking up the rifle than putting it down. To actually retreat from battle exposes the commander-in-chief of bullshit charges of 'throwing away victory' and letting the bad guys win through lack of will.

Ron Paul was your best shot, and you voted for Obama to make YOURSELF feel better about YOURSELF.

LOL. I'll pass on Paul's version of the libertopia, thanks.

If you can't see the evil in BOTH sides by now, you're a hopeless case.

the lesser evil is still the lesser evil.

I'd LOVE to see Bernie Sanders win in 2016, but not enough to throw my state to the GOP instead, like Nader voters (in FL and NH) in 2000 by preserving their purity enabled Bush to take over instead of the lesser evil of Gore.

2000:

FL:

Gore 2,912,253 48.84%
Bush 2,912,790 48.85%
Nader 97,488 1.63%

if a rounding error of Nader voters (0.55%) had voted for Gore instead, Gore would have won.

NH:

Gore 266,348 46.80%
Bush 273,559 48.07%
Nader 22,198 3.90%

Similarly, had 1/3 the Nader voters in NH held their nose and voted for Gore, Bush would not have been (s)elected that December, regardless of the outcome of the FL shitshow.

Bellingham Bill says

Job #1 for any career politician is getting reelected

I don't view voting down an ill conceived immigration bill as "doing nothing". It's standing up against the people who have no regard for the middle class of this nation and who want to break the rule of law and the Constitutional Republic.

Democrats haven't delivered for the middle class.

They took a working economy, wrecked it completely, then built it back up to 1/3rd it's former self and called it a "recovery".

Now with gay marriage taking hold even in the deep south, they have reached Peak Bogeyman. They can't find anyone scary enough to frighten people into voting for their ridiculous policies. If Jeb Bush throws his hat into the ring, it's game over...a Republican Century!

Foreign illegal workers drive down wages.
There are 92 million people out of the workforce, plus 9 million unemployed.
There are tens of millions of illegal workers in the USA.
I know many of them since I'm bilingual and have lived in Mexico.
In Mexico just 33% of adults have finished high school. So, many just decide it's easier to drop out and come up here.
My Mexican friends who were teenagers in 82 all went through college, and they are doing fine.
There are no jobs Americans "won't do", there are wages and conditions Americans don't like.
The arguments in favor of illegal alien workers are the same as for slavery: "Who'll pick the cotton?" has become "Who'll pick the lettuce" "Who'll wash the dishes" etc.
Wealth comes from 1. production 2. innovation. The cost of labor has little impact on the growth of either 1&2.
Since the last amnesty did not accomplish anything, or had negative results, it's absurd to repeat it.
The Mexican constitution says foreigners (you and I) cannot 1. own a house (art. #27) 2. can't talk about politics (art. #33) in Mexico.
If ANYone takes a dislike to you in Mexico, they say you are a political activist violating article #33 and you can be hassled.
Importing workers is the screwing Americans over in their most basic need, a guy needs to work to feel fulfilled, to be part of an economy, to have hope, to have savings, to be productive.
Anyone who supports foreign workers hates Americans and American workers. There's no middle ground on the issue.

Bellingham Bill says

the lesser evil is still the lesser evil.

With this attitude, in ten years, even an average Democrat will make neo cons from 2000s look good. You need to criticize the policy if you don't agree with it. The same goes for Obamacare. If you are a Democrat and someone told you six years ago that that's all you would get for reform, you would not have been too happy.

tr6 says

You need to criticize the policy if you don't agree with it. The same goes for Obamacare. If you are a Democrat and someone told you six years ago that that's all you would get for reform, you would not have been too happy.

I'm just this dude, ya know?

I am actually in favor of mandated health insurance and premium supports for people who can't afford insurance.

I understand that people don't like change, and AMA and other vested interests have an immense power to jerk people and the politics around, like what happened to HillaryCare in the 1990s, and what the AMA tried to do with their Operation Coffee Cup bullshit in the 1960s . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs

so change to a better system has to come incrementally, like what PPACA is doing.

The political problem comes from the Democrats' precarious position in national politics, given the immense number of conservatards running about -- single issue voters wrt gun rights, anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality, government-led prayer/piety, anti-immigrants, etc etc.

I am far far to the left of most people in the US on a lot of issues. Attacking Obama isn't going to move people to my positions. I tend to argue the positions and ignore the politics, since politics is largely bullshit anyway.

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." -- Eleanor Roosevelt

As for mandated insurance, clearly the weakness in the system is the unnecessary insurance companies and their ability to jerk their customers around.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/business/more-insured-but-the-choices-are-narrowing.html?_r=0

But going after them in 2009-2010 was a bridge too far, as it's going to be a tough row to hoe to eliminate them going forward, because people are stupid, generally speaking.

If you are a Democrat and someone told you six years ago that that's all you would get for reform, you would not have been too happy.

what I want and what I will get will always be differing offerings. I understand the structure of the Democratic coalition as it existed in 2009-2010; Pelosi had the votes to produce a much better reform, but the Senate had the veto position and what the Senate -- specifically, the 10 or so most conservative members of the Democratic coalition would accept -- could pass was what we were going to get in 2010.

This is how the founding fathers structured our system; three (now five) independent, interworking power blocs -- the House, the Senate, the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Fed.

You want change, move.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/in-norway-start-ups-say-ja-to-socialism.html

Bellingham Bill says

I am actually in favor of mandated health insurance and premium supports for people who can't afford insurance.

I understand that people don't like change, and AMA and other vested interests have an immense power to jerk people and the politics around, like what happened to HillaryCare in the 1990s, and what the AMA tried to do with their Operation Coffee Cup bullshit in the 1960s . . .

I'll tell you right now that if you have an ACA plan, good luck getting any physician worth his salt to accept you as a new patient. The plans are paying at Medicaid rates. Basically, you'd be better off giving the patient a massage and collecting $100 than seeing him in a doctor's capacity and trying to bill for $40. Many physicians are telling their patients that it's cash up front. Don't like it? You're welcome to go to county, find a nurse practitioner at Walgreens, or head to the free Saturday clinic.

The system as we know it is FUCKED.

Then you have assholes like this:

http://www.startribune.com/business/148983575.html

And people blame the doctors at the AMA (who BTW are a group of spineless idiots who couldn't diagnose a hole in their ass).

Nah, makes too much sense and not enough power and control for the bug gubmnt/prison industrial types.