http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 23 May 2013 01:15:56 Thu, 23 May 2013 01:15:56 (Okay...Maybe this is a little "burp" after digesting all the news of the last couple of weeks. But I'm trying to synthesize what is happening, in my opinion, of course. Plus this was a response in an excellent thread by Tom Rinaldo, which you all should look at. http://www.democraticunderground.com... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/30 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:41:52 Okay, in a nutshell, here is the crux of it, in my opinion of course.

I and many others have said this in many ways. But it bears repeating in light of the events of the last week or so. And in light of all the conventional wisdom crap that's been peddled about what Obama "needed to do" in his SO... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/29 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:43:54 Look at pretty much any issue these days and it boils down to this.

We, the people of the United States, aided and abetted by politicians in both parties, have allowed wealth and power to become far too concentrated in the hands of too few people and too few corporations.

Look at most issues a... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/28 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:22:22 Obama's Town hall yesterday encapsulated what I believe is the problem with him and with the "centrist" faction of the Democratic Party.

Yes there were a lot of good ideas, and Obama presented himself well personally. Obama tried to strike a "populist" tone, and used the word "fight for you" ove... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/27 Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:42:28 Here is why I believe Obama would fare better than Hillary against McCain. I'm obviously biased to Obama, but I'm trying to look at this objectively.

We have to see the election on two levels. One is: Which political party/ideology do you believe is best for the country at this point? The other i... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/26 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:31:08 One of the many bits of disinformation that is floated and repeated endlessly is that Obama is a closet Republican, while Hillary is a Real Democrat who will fight against the Republicans tooth and nail.

Bunk. Bullshit. Nonsense. Foolishness.

Neither candidate is what I believe a Democratic... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/25 Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:32:39 Foleygate is a symptom of a much larger shift that I believe is happening. Watching the actual Social Conservatives fighting with the Status Quo GOP Opportunists reflects a much deeper unraveling of the GOP Conservative Coalition.

IMO it is a mirror image of what happened to the Democratic Party,... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/24 Wed, 04 Oct 2006 10:43:51 This may seem trivial, but it got me thinking about how the on-air "environment" alters our perception of the content and the people who present thge news and interviews. Judy Woodruff seems like a striking example of that.

Obviously the content is the most important aspect of news, and there is ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/23 Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:41:00 This is premature, because all we are going by is speculation about their new schedule.

And I am as pissed off as anyone about what happened to Malloy and why.

But setting aside the Malloy debacle for a moment, the hints and rumors seem to indicate that AAR may be doing the right things in its... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/22 Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:19:20 The common political reaction on our side to this week's news about the apparent foiling of a plot to bomb airplanes has been to assume that it bolsters Bush and the GOP. In fact, the GOP has been trying to use it that way.

But this morning it struck me. [b]THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE.If you look at th... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/21 Sat, 12 Aug 2006 08:32:13 Although the specifics differ, I see distressing parallels between the current situation in the Middle East and the so-called "debate" that led up to the Iraq Invasion in 2002-2003.

And unfortunately, this may result in a future parallel to TODAY a few years hence, on a much larger scale. When th... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/20 Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:26:41 We bicker about whether the real culprit in the latest Middle East conflict is Israel or Hezbollah...In other circumstances it's Israel or the Palestinians...Or Iran....Or Syria....Or,Or,Or..

The real culprit, IMO, is the refusal of all sides to let go of tribalism. The real enemy is the notion t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/19 Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:38:40 Bernie Sanders is just one example. He is very much to the left, and even describes himself as a democratic socialist.

And he continually wins his statewide House seat by margins so strong that the GOP basically gave up on trying to defeat him.

And despite the stereotype of Vermont as Lala Lan... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/18 Mon, 10 Jul 2006 11:30:45 Last night Gore was on Charlie Rose (PBS) for the full hour, and he gave the most amazing interview I've ever seen.

It was light-years beyond his apperances on the cable talk shows, because Gore had the time to actually go into his arguments on global warming....Also he went far beyond that, to t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/17 Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:22:09 IMO, one of the biggest screw ups of the left side of the spectrum over the last 30 years is our failure to find the best way to address the very real concerns nd problems that average Americans have about liberalism and progressive policies. Failing to deal with that honestly has driven many people... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/16 Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:22:19 IMO the whole "religious values" debates misses the bigger point.

I will agree with the conservative Christians on a core point. We have lost sight of values, and we have become a sinful society. Jesus would probably be appalled if he were to pay a visit to contemporary America.

However, I th... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/13 Sun, 11 Jun 2006 11:32:05 This is my own opinion, but I think a lot of us on the left of center feel similarly about this.

I was and am against the Invasion of Iraq. But I want as good an outcome as possible, for the US and for Iraq.

If Al-Zarqawi is dead, I am glad. He was a rotten bastid, whose actions went beyond t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/12 Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:50:58 There seem to be a lot of mixed opinions about CNN's Lou Dobbs.

Some say he's doing a great job at going after the administration and at bringing out important long-neglected issues like the abuse of corporate power, the scam of "free trade globalization," and the destruction of the American midd... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/8 Tue, 04 Apr 2006 11:30:43 This article sums up perfectly the fricking mess that the Bipartisan Corporate Concensus has created over the last 30 years. If the Democrats would take on this as a CORE ISSUE, the GOP would be consigned to oblivion.

P.S. This was on Common Dreams, via Bernie Sanders website.


http://bernie... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/7 Thu, 23 Mar 2006 11:02:24 They are different from one anotehr in their brand of Democratic ideology, and have their own styles.

But they do have one thing in common. They all got frustrated with the glacial pace of the Democratic Party, and took brave steps to move issues forward.

Feingold put talk of actual action aga... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/6 Tue, 21 Mar 2006 00:07:23 Reading DU is sometimes like experiencing bipolar mood swings. Sometimes the prevailing tone of posts is "We're winning!" Other times it's "We're all doomed!" .......And there are all degrees in-between that.

So here's a very basic question. Stripping away the temporary ups and downs, and balanci... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/5 Sun, 19 Mar 2006 13:12:17 All this agonizing and overthinking and strategizing and bickering....The Democrats (and all of the left half) have become the Party of Hamlet. No longer is the Kicking Mule its symbol of relentles determination....Instead, it's the gloomy overanalytical Dane.."To be or not to be?"

Should Democr... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/1 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:15:05 (Just have to get this off my chest.)

Sometimes we get so hung up on labels that it gets silly.

We also get caught up in various buzzwords, like "pragmatic" and "electable" and whether a particilar position is "too far left" or "too spineless."

Personally, I find myself arguing like a centr... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/4 Mon, 27 Feb 2006 15:08:51 I just have to get this off my chest. The Hackett-Brown flamefest feels like anotehr straw on this particular camel's back...I apply this little rant to myself as much as anyone else. I think it's something we all are part of.

All of the back-and-forth and circular firing squads on the Democratic... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/3 Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:49:37 Corporations have acquired too much power. The economy has become monopolistic, rather than competitive and diverse. Politics has become oriented toward protecting the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of everyone else. Our government has given up on its basic role in promoting th... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Armstead/2 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 12:42:32