I guess I don't get it. The GOP's Lamar Alexander says that if the Dems use reconciliation, it will be political suicide. And he says the GOP would campaign on repealing the bill.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/02/a...

Is he trying to save us Dems from making a big mistake? I always thought that the Republicans wanted the Dems to commit political suicide. I thought they wanted us to be kamikaze's. But now there is this mystery, because the thoughtful Senator is helping us avoid making this big "suicidal" mistake.

I guess we should thank him?

Probably, but we should still push health care through anyway. It's nice that he is trying to save us from ourselves and all, though.

Now after we pass health care, I guess the GOP will really have us where they want us. Republicans will campaign to open up the health care fight again and add the donut hole back for seniors. The Dems will just be devastated by that tactic I am sure.

Really, the GOP should try it. That can be our helpful advice to them.

We should not be living in the past. In no way should we campaign against the past policies of George W. Bush and the GOP. Those are ancient history, just water under the bridge. It's high time we let go of our dusty, "old news" complaining. The country needs to move forward, not stare into its rearview mirror.

If we hear a Republican claiming that our current economic situation is the result of Barack Obama's failed policies, we must nod and admit that there is a possibility. After all, there is no "economic rap sheet," at least none that reasonable, polite people would bring up. Dems don't hold grudges. We are too good for that!

Sure, we once thought George W. Bush and his GOP "f-ups" (embarrassing to recall how negative we were sometimes) ruined the country by getting us into unnecessary wars, trashing the Constitution, wrecking the economy, etc. But we Dems have grown and learned better ways. We now realize that history is an imperfect tool, so it would not be right to judge George W. Bush and his Republicans on their history. They seem to be proven idiots, but that is only in memory.

Friends, the past no longer needs to haunt or even concern us. The Republicans certainly seem confident that they are ready to take back power. That should make us feel a lot better. Maybe they really are ready this time. Why else would they seem so confident? They truly believe in themselves. Why shouldn't we?

The Republicans even seem very, very angry, and not at themselves either. They are angry as hornets at the Dems and Independents who took away their power. Maybe they have a right to be. They don't have a history of being angry, ignorant, dishonest, mean-spirited jerks for no reason whatsoever. If Republicans did have a history like that, most rational folks would start to think the Republicans were certifiably nuts. And that would be a silly thing to think.

Let's give the Republicans a second chance. Let's remember, George W. Bush was not really a conservative. I think I even saw a picture of him with a (D) beside his name on Fox News. And George W. Bush was a good president anyway, every bit the leader Ronald Reagan was. The GOP deserves to lead again. It's been too long.

I can't grasp the idea that George W. Bush was president and now Obama is. It is too much for my small mind. When I think Bush was president, I don't have the mental margins to think Obama might be also. The worlds are too different. I flatter myself that I have a wide screen, but there is no aspect ratio in the universe that could show Bush and Obama on the same screen. But that is what is being asked.

The world is totally jerking my chain. Are you effing kidding me?

My nose is bleeding.

I'm torn to shreds.

He went to an unknown land far away. His job was to "civilize and convert" an indigenous tribe in the heart of a deep forest. The tribespeople generally lived very happily, although their dwellings were primitive by our standards. In fact, they lived in what we would call "tents."

The tent technology was sound, though, in some ways superior to that of the missionary's own tent.

The first day at the camp, the missionary was given a place to stay, and he set out to build his tent. He laid out the tent poles, criss-cross. He covered the poles with the canvas, and raised the tent, guiding the poles into the ground around the perimeter. Then he got out his tent stakes and began to pound the stakes into the ground with a nearby rock.

The natives thought this was very funny. They laughed and laughed.

The missionary was mystified. What on earth was so funny about pounding in tent stakes? So he asked the chief (who spoke some English) what the joke was.

The chief chuckled and sighed loudly. He motioned to a leathered old tribesman and pointed to the missionary's nearest tent stake.

The tribesman smiled. Then he placed the stake point-down on the ground and began to pound the tent stake into the ground with his forehead. He would stand up on his tiptoes to get his head to the maximum height, then drop to his knees, letting his forehead impact the top of the stake at full force. After some stifled cries of pain and a good deal of bleeding (which seemed to be taken in stride by the onlooking tribespeople), the old tribesman finished the first stake and turned to the chief proudly.

"Well done," said the chief.

It was then that the missionary realized why everyone in the tribe had a large ugly scar in the center of their foreheads. He had thought it was some sort of ceremonial mark of passage.

"That," said the chief, "is how a tent stake is supposed to be pounded in. Your way is just plain silly."

They direct the lightning away from GOP leaders. We need to put the lightning rods right in the hands of their leaders.

They certainly do it to us.

Shark attack, maybe.

Rush will be a martyr for the dittoheads, even if he OD's on Oxycontin with a lap full of kiddie porn. So I guess it doesn't really matter what I think. Even if I pray for him to croak in the most humiliating, painful way possible, that doesn't mean it will just happen. At least it hasn't worked to date.

Rush will stand before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates some day. One thing I'm betting he won't say, "I just want to be with Jerry Falwell."

The turf above him
And clods of Earth
How they did love him

Had mighty Rush
Fall'n from a tree
And landed on
Sean Hannity

Then Earthly mud
Would n'er comprise
A better feast
If worms liked lies

Otherwise there might still be terrorism.

I think Bush was right to let Bin Laden go and attack Saddam. This latest terrorist shows Saddam Hussein is still orchestrating Al Qaeda attacks from the grave. Imagine what he would have done if we left him alive.

I'm not sure what we do about Saddam now. Hang the guy, kill his offspring, take over his country...nothing seems to stop him. We should check with Dick Cheney and the GOP. Maybe the chemical weapon factories were converted to time machines just before the invasion. We need more GOP national security genius right now.

My two cents.

1. According to Republicans Clinton's '93 tax increase was going to bring down the economy. Record prosperity followed.

Wolf was cried by the Republicans, but no wolf appeared. Indeed, a warm puppy appeared with a little keg of barrel proof bourbon, a tin of caviar, and some crackers.

2. Then, a Presidential Daily Briefing to George W. Bush said "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." The warning was ignored. Bin Laden did exactly what the PDB said he would do.

The Republicans did not cry wolf, but there ended up being a huge wolf. Not only did the Republicans not cry wolf that time, they ignored the CIA crying wolf.

3. Color-coded warnings started flashing on our TVs. We're all gonna die today! If not, then probably tomorrow! Be on the alert!

Republicans cried wolf repeatedly. Nothing happened.

4. Saddam had WMDs and was trying to get nukes said the Republicans. The President of the United States, in the god-damned State of the Union Address, under heavy lighting, in front of both Houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, and millions of people worldwide said the sixteen words: "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Republicans cried nuclear wolf repeatedly. The forest was set aflame. Hundreds of thousands of villagers died in the blaze. The entire world looked on in pity and disgust as we humiliated ourselves and broke our treasury. In the end, we got the pelt the Republicans wanted. It wasn't a nuclear wolf pelt, though. It was an old, flea-bitten, toothless coyote.

5. A hurricane wolf attacked New Orleans. The Republicans did not cry wolf before the attack, during the attack, or after the attack for several days. The wolves had their way.

Republicans didn't cry wolf that time. Sure enough, there was one.

6. Then, a recession wolf attacked. Millions of lives devastated. The Republicans did not cry wolf. Indeed, the wolves were happy that the Republicans were in charge of wolf control. It was Republicans who took down all of the wolf fences and wolf guard stations.

Republicans did not cry wolf, and we're all being eaten by wolves as I write this. Surprise.

Now the Republicans are crying wolf on health care reform and climate change agreements. They are shrieking hysterically, waving misspelled placards, dribbling spittle on their computer keyboards. But maybe we aren't the stupid villagers we once were.

If us villagers needed a guarantee that there is no wolf, there is no better indicator than that the Republicans say there is one. It's when the Republicans are quiet that we need to worry.

Someone needs to do something. A liable has been committed. I've been reading that there are--get this-- Democrats who would tell a pollster that they disapprove of Obama.

Yeah, I know. Outrageous. Take a breath if you need to.

Fellow dems, we can't let this lie stand! We can't let the MSM pollsters continue to imply that some Democrats might be such simpering idiots.

Ooh it just burns my grits! The idea that a Dem might dis Obama to a pollster! Just pure garbage! There just isn't any Dem that Guiness Book, record level stupid. When will the pollsters stop their lies?

Have a look at this ABC News graphic. It is on the site today.



I had no idea that Suze Orman ever appeared with Jim Cramer until I saw this picture. Apparently the prudent, sensible Orman decided to do an appearance with the wild man Jim Cramer. Weird, but hey, there's the picture showing it, so it must have happened.

I have to admit that the giant, ghostly accident victim who apparently appeared with Orman and Cramer did bother me. The poor guy! Here he is with giantism and transparent skin (brain and spinal column showing, ugh), but then he has the misfortune of a super-super-giant light switch somehow getting embedded in his skull. Hope they can get that out!

So, I'm thinking what must have happened here is that Orman and Cramer were doing some sort of telethon to benefit ghost people with objects protruding from their skulls. It must be that. No reputable news organization would just cobble together a bunch of file images and publish something this grotesque and hard to believe. It must be real life.

I saw another one this week (wish I could find it) where Obama was standing right beside a gigantic marijuana leaf. I kid you not, it must have been three feet across. And there was Obama standing right beside it, looking right toward it. He was probably surprised at how big it was too. Who wouldn't be?

Apparently, Obama said something against marijuana legalization last week, so he possibly had the huge marijuana leaf with him to illustrate. It seems like a bad idea to me. Bush always had happy words floating around him. Obama's prop people gave him a giant marijuana leaf to stand beside! What were they thinking? I mean, assuming the image was not fake of course.

If reputable news organizations deliberately published misleading, grotesque, unbelievable images, they would not really be reputable. They are supposed to be news organizations after all, not merely phantasmagoria and lie factories.

Right?

I've long since stopped being astonished at how easy it is to stampede the herd. It's the banality of mass psychosis, I guess, so over-the-top frightening and pathetic that all anyone with sense can do is yawn. Where is Voltaire when you need him? Get out the Netflix, folks, and look away, 'cuz it's getting ugly dumb in the real world.

What is the difference between Clinton's BJ and the AIG bonuses? I'm sure both were fun for the receiving parties. But what makes them so important that our many seething emoters feel they have to push the red button under the "do not push the red button" sign? Why has the Democratic brain bypass switch been thrown?

I'll tell you the main difference between Clinton's BJ and the AIG bonuses. The AIG bonuses trivia works on both sides of the aisle, like free beer or MRSA. The AIG rain dance channels Democratic rage at the "designated bad guys" and Republican attacks on Obama at the same time. It gives the GOP a scapegoat and ties Obama's ankle to the scapegoat.

If the Republicans didn't spin up this tempest in a teapot, they should have. I usually don't give their leaders credit for much in the way of brains except in the field of sneaky bullshit. I respect their PhDs.

Nice going Dems! Nice going tabloid media! Here is some sound advice. When a Republican offers to toss you a Raisenet, keep your mouth closed next time. It's not a Raisenet.

Bush is letting everyone in the ME get all riled up again right before Obama and the Dems take over. The current Gaza conflict reminds me of the first months of Bush's presidency just prior to 9/11. That is when he introduced his award winning "do nothing" (that Clinton would do) approach to the ME.

You just know that if Arab anger boils over into a terrorist act against the United States next month, the Republicans will blame Obama. The Dems should be warning Bush to do something or run the risk of increased terrorist activity in the coming months. Dems need to inoculate themselves against blame if nothing else.

On edit: No, this isn't a LIHOP or MIHOP post. Letting crises drift is the Bush MO. He just does it because he is worthless; it's not on purpose. If Bush were creating problems on purpose, we could rest assured we would have none.

I'm rich because I have numbers in some accounts. The numbers show clearly that I own a lot and some people somewhere owe me a lot.

I can afford to be much more of a jerk than I was before I became rich. Frankly, the richer I have become, the snottier I am. Who needs people? Some people somewhere owe me so much, I no longer need to be nice to any people anywhere.

Bottom line, everything is basically great with the world. Everyone owns everything, and everyone owes each other so much money that everyone is rich. Pretty soon, we can all retire. And everyone can afford to be snotty to everyone else.

If so, then what about this black-and-white, Manichean Bush world we steered into? Isn't that a one-way ticket to economic meltdown?

How the economy works has always mystified me. There is a constant exchange of goods and services going on. But what if a large segment of the population begins to think it is OK to be dishonest, to not return value for payment, to be faithless on loans or promises, to loaf, to game the system because they can. What if that segment of the population is actually admired merely for their ability to get theirs rather than for their ability to produce value? What if the economy starts to be full of nothing but lures and bait but no real food?

Seems like we have to start understanding each other, trusting one another (and being trustworthy) or we're all going to go broke or worse. Divisive, derisive, hair-trigger, impulsive leadership is the last thing we need. We need calm. We need to try to like each other.

One thing I like about Obama is that he is intelligent and thoughtful. People are fairly complicated, and I don't think it is possible to understand them without serious thought. The world in black-and-white is a worthless world. The good world is in color and hi def.