Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

GasBandit

Staff member
What, nothing on the Republicans filibustering the 9-11 first responder bill? Classy. I suppose it is only news if you can paint Democrats as the bad guys.
Which is obviously why I included a story about a GOP senator calling the cops on the first responders - to make the Democrats look bad.

I'm not a freakin paper-of-record here. I just grab a few stories while I'm at work. There was no story about this on fark or any of the other sources I use. If you've got a story you want thrown into the thread, by all means.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
1) I've never marketed this thread as the end-all-be-all complete political news source
2) I wear my conservative bias openly, and the thread is labeled "GAS BANDIT'S POLITICAL THREAD."
3) I've never objected to others posting political stories in my thread.

My only responsibility to this thread is to post stories I find interesting to read. I have no responsibilities to completeness or neutrality whatsoever. That said, I am often critical of both major parties. So nyah.
 
In Krisken's defense I imagine you would be making the exact same complaints if GB posted predominantly left-leaning articles, FLP. But still, it's a forum thread and not a news site. I expect GB's posts to have a bias to them.
 
It's ok, Tress. I need to take my lumps in this instance. Everyone knows that the posts Gas puts in this thread is filled with crazy. I shouldn't feel the need to point this out. Trying to add some balance is like trying to swim against the river current.
 
Of course, (kind of off topic but it was brought up) one of the reasons for booster seats is that most/all cars now have shoulder straps in the back instead of just lap belts. My son is 8 and still uses one, because if he didn't the shoulder strap would be on his face instead of where it belongs.
 
In Krisken's defense I imagine you would be making the exact same complaints if GB posted predominantly left-leaning articles, FLP. But still, it's a forum thread and not a news site. I expect GB's posts to have a bias to them.
Like about half the other threads in Politics (hi-yo!). Why feel the need to complain about some one posting political articles, when you can just not read the thread?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Over the weekend, House Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was the target of an attempted assassination that also killed and wounded several other people. There is a thread about it already in progress here.

Rep. James Clyburn says that in light of the shooting in Arizona, Congressmen should get special treatment from the TSA at airports. Wait, what?

The state of Illinois wants to increase income taxes by 75%.

A classic reminder from Milton Friedman, exploding the myth that government can provide goods and services at no one's expense.

In the fight against government employee unions, the Midwest is poised to become a major theater in the war against insatiable government unions.

President Obama is planning to give the Commerce Department the authority to create an Internet ID for Americans.

George Will's latest column: Fred Upton, Rust Belt revolutionary.

Harry Reid believes that the Tea Party is going to disappear as the economy recovers.

A Marine Corps veteran is being sued by his homeowners association because the flagpole on which he flies the American flag does not meet his subdivision's design guidelines.
 
President Obama is planning to give the Commerce Department the authority to create an Internet ID for Americans.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20027837-501465.html

From the article...

CBS said:
"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."
Bull. SHIT. How is this going to help me be more secure? Instead of having multiple accounts and passwords, which spreads the liability and prevents total theft if I get hacked/phished on one of them, I'll be stuck with ONE account that will utterly fuck me over if it gets stolen? It'll be like if your Social Security number is stolen: Your life will be turned upside down, as someone else goes around pretending to be you. God help us if they want to try and link Credit Card info to it.

Don't pretend this isn't about monitoring the activities and purchases of Americans online. That is ALL it will be used for and I'd rather there not be a government record of ANYTHING I do.
 
Seriously, only in America. I can't imagine for a minute in China, having some policeman telling me my PRC flag wasn't up to spec. They'd probably encourage me to fly more, if anything.
Added at: 07:57
Yeah I agree. In china they are thinking of no longer allowing comments posted online to be anonymous. I thought that was bad...but this...I think this is worse.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Seriously, only in America. I can't imagine for a minute in China, having some policeman telling me my PRC flag wasn't up to spec. They'd probably encourage me to fly more, if anything.
It wasn't any governmental authority busting his balls, it is his homeowner's association. The homeowner's association is as irritating as unions. Hell, as irritating as public sector unions! Both concepts were created with good intentions but now all they do is give assholes an excuse to steal money. Have you seen that dreamworks movie "over the hedge?" Remember the lady who chastised everybody about the length of their lawn and whatnot? That's who's doing this.

So the homeowner's association has taken him to court, and his lawyer pointed to the flag act of 2005. We'll see if the judge tells the Homeowner's Assoc to go pound sand, as he should.
 
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20027837-501465.html

From the article...



Bull. SHIT. How is this going to help me be more secure? Instead of having multiple accounts and passwords, which spreads the liability and prevents total theft if I get hacked/phished on one of them, I'll be stuck with ONE account that will utterly fuck me over if it gets stolen? It'll be like if your Social Security number is stolen: Your life will be turned upside down, as someone else goes around pretending to be you. God help us if they want to try and link Credit Card info to it.

Don't pretend this isn't about monitoring the activities and purchases of Americans online. That is ALL it will be used for and I'd rather there not be a government record of ANYTHING I do.
There's already systems like this in place, it's called OpenID, Facebook Connect, and whatever the hell Twitter is calling theirs, I'm pretty sure it's the same standard anyway. There is zero need for any kind of government involvement here.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
"A Horrid Crime, a Dishonest Debate."

George Will: "The Charalatans' Response to the Tucson Tragedy."

Hillary Clinton compares the Arizona shooter to radical Muslim extremists.

OMG! Sarah Palin was pictured holding a gun! She must be to blame for the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords! But wait! Just who is that holding a gun in THIS story?

Here is the story of the young intern who is now being credited with saving Gabrielle Giffords' life.

The hypocrisy of our Media: Journalists urged caution after Ft. Hood, now race to blame Palin after Arizona shootings.

More politicians are joining to support a bill to curb speech that could be perceived as "threatening" to public officials.

A little reminder that politicians don't grow the economy

A judge ordered former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to serve three years in prison for illegally funneling money to candidates.

Rep. Paul Ryan says Republicans should use an increase in the debt ceiling as leverage over the Obama administration to win spending cuts.

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are locked in a tight race for the support of Iowa caucus-goers.

Here's a look at our government education and its "competitiveness."

Why Teacher Pensions Don't Work.

John Stossel has an update on a school choice program in Milwaukee. There's good news and bad news.

The Cato Institute makes the case for Social Security personal accounts.

Harry Reid says that "Social Security in fine ... this is something that's perpetuated by people who don't like government."

So what do you think Senate Democrats are doing during the first twenty days of the new Congress?
 
I think I'm going to start making Magic cards for politics.

Today, the victim card. Tomorrow, the elitism card. Who knows, next week maybe we'll overplay the racist card.
 
Honestly, it seems like the writer of the article simply doesn't understand the kind of people who go into public service to begin with, if he's trying to entice people to come into it with higher pay.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Honestly, it seems like the writer of the article simply doesn't understand the kind of people who go into public service to begin with, if he's trying to entice people to come into it with higher pay.
Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing if we didn't rely exclusively on rare saints and the economically masochistic to teach our children.
 
Honestly, it seems like the writer of the article simply doesn't understand the kind of people who go into public service to begin with, if he's trying to entice people to come into it with higher pay.
There are plenty of talented people who would love to teach but won't do so because the pay is awful compared to other educated fields. It's given me a moment of pause a few times as well... you want to guess how many times I've had friends and family urge me to go into another field because I'll get treated better? Raising the pay while lowering some ridiculous pensions would be a good idea, imo. It would make the career actually seem viable to more people and wouldn't chase away so many new teachers.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Make of this what you will, but the Monday after the shooting in Arizona, gun sales were up 60% in Arizona.

An excellent column from Reason.org. "Extreme Rhetoric about Extreme Rhetoric." Have you ever heard of "eliminationism?" It's a new word being used by liberals to attack the right.

Then there's this column by Brent Bozell from The Media Research Center. Bozell nails it as well as anyone with this quote about blaming Palin and talk show hosts for the Tucson rampage: "This flood of slanderous sludge is designed for nakedly political benefit: to paint a permanent black mark on conservatives as accessories to murder, and criminalize any expression of conservatism as a dangerous anti-government conspiracy."

The latest in the blame game .. a UC Berkeley professor says he isn't surprised to hear of a mass shooting in a state "which has legislated discrimination against undocumented persons." That's right. He's blaming immigration policy.

Because of the Arizona shooting, the Washington Post wants Rep. Peter King to rethink his planned Homeland Security Committee hearings on Muslim "radicalization" in this country.

The Obama cheerleading squad of the Media wants to know: "Is it time to rethink the Second Amendment?"

Should socio-economic status be used as a basis for redistricting government schools?

NPR is accusing a Republican lawmaker of trying to interfere with how the nation's local public radio stations report the news, after he proposed a bill to cut off federal funding for NPR.

The new California Governor has some tough love for some state workers, requiring 48,000 cellphones to be turned in by June 1 to save the taxpayers $20 million a year.

California is also trying to pass its own version of the Dream Act.

A new poll shows that fewer Americans overall are "going green," as compared to 2009.

Right Wing Hate Speech Quiz, courtesy of American Thinker.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
It always goes up after a shooting. People, in their paranoia that the government is going to "Come in and steal their right to have guns" go on a shopping spree. The highest selling weapon? The Glock used in the shooting.

The buying of weapons isn't a political statement. It's fear, pure and simple.
I don't think it's a political statement either. I think it's the pudding that provides the proof that when the chips are down, people know whether or not they'd rather have one. You can call that fear if you want, but to me it's the same kind of sensible fear that keeps you in a job (from fear of starving on the street).
 
I don't think that at all. I'm willing to bet that the majority of people who went out to buy guns in the wake of the shooting already own firearms. Now THERE is a statistic I would like to see.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Credit where it's due, last night in Tucson, President Obama gave an excellent, meaningful and appropriate speech.

The leftist attempt to pin this on the tea party and talk radio is unraveling by the minute. The public understands and is acknowledging this. The latest is an interview with the shooter's high school friend, a young man by the name of Zach Osler. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Osler made the statement that: "He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn't listen to political radio. He didn't take sides. He wasn't on the left. He wasn't on the right."

The Media Research Center released a list of comments made by members of the Obama-friendly Media in recent years that call for the death or suffering of conservative leaders.

The Governor of Maine tells the NAACP to "Kiss my butt."

A great column from Charles Krauthammer about the shooting in Arizona and the subsequent reaction: Massacre, followed by libel.

It smells a little funny that only recently has the media suddenly become concerned about "tone."

Congressional approval ratings rose 7 points to 20% after Republicans tookvover the House in January. They haven't DONE anything! Just shows you what polls are a great deal of the time.

A Las Vegas judge has spared senior ACORN executive Amy Adele Busefink jail time for her role in a notorious voter fraud conspiracy.

The myth that "green jobs" are a boon to the economy keeps getting pierced by failed green jobs boondoggle after failed green jobs boondoggle.

A pistol-packing jogger in Florida won't be charged for shooting and killing a teenager who attacked him during a midnight run.

New Jersey residents older than 15 may soon be required to register their bicycles with the government and attach license plates to prove compliance.

At a meeting of government school officials around the country, a school administrator admits that "simply pouring money into the system is not the answer."

Government school students in Texas are skipping the principal's office and being sent straight to court.
 
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