Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: History is now

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  • giovanni tiso,

    There were some dodgy characters in his past

    True that. He was in the same senate as Intertubes Stevens, for instance.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Oh well, there it is. America has elected someone who we really don’t know how he will govern.

    And which John McCain would have stepped up to take the oath of office if he'd won, IYO? The one I used to respect (and saw a flash of in his concession speech, when it was too damn late), who had the balls to tell the Theo-Cons to STFU and was on the sane wing of the GOP? Or the one we saw eight years later in the primaries and on the campaign trail, who pandered his arse off to the very people he once condemned as "agents of intolerance", selected their incompetent and unfit creature for his running mate (and positioned her to flush what's left of the GOP down the crapper in four years unless moderates man up and send Caribou Barbie back north for good), and all too often acted like he was a couple of bats short of a belfrey?

    I'd have been reasonably relaxed abour option A. Option B. is the prosecution case for my conversion into an Obama-Con.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Geez. Russell only posted the topic midday yesterday, and already we have 37 pages and counting, with well over 700 responses!

    I wonder if the discussion on the NZ election will be as massive. Is this one of PA's longest topic threads, I wonder?

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    Steve: Not yet. Not by a long shot.

    If anyone really feels like schadenfreuding it up, I would recommend tracking down a live feed of some conservative radio. I spent the afternoon listening to Rush Limbaugh -- poor guy just doesn't know what to do with himself.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    My Bad.

    I made a prediction based on Star Trek Commanders of Star Ships that Sisko didn't command a Star Ship. I was wrong.

    Sisko did command the USS Defiant later renamed USS Sao Paulo.

    So Star Trek correctly predicted a Black Man as President to be followed by a women.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lafayette_Sisko

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I spent the afternoon listening to Rush Limbaugh -- poor guy just doesn't know what to do with himself.

    I could say something really lewd and mean right now, but you know what? This brain-washed cultist is going to follow the example of my milk chocolate messiah and be gracious. Even though Limbaugh's an oozing ulcerated bum hole on the body politic.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    ...or will he be the person he was for the entirety of his life prior to that point? A hard left activist who seemed to only associate with the most radical and dodgy of characters...

    James, not for the first time, I'm wondering whether you actually believe what you say. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Obama's career would know the above to be nonsense.

    The problem with the Republican base really does seem to be a deep estrangement from reality.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    So Star Trek correctly predicted a Black Man as President to be followed by a women.

    Palin2016 then?

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    __James we can all play the game of making shit up.__

    Not to mention the fact that the market closed down, not up. So I think what our friend was trying to say is "market reacts badly at news of Obama election".

    It was the biggest election-day market rally in decades -- and it can hardly have been because investors could somehow guess forthcoming late-night news that the Dems hadn't passed 60 in the Senate (as opposed to the reasonable guess that Obama was going to win on big turnouts).

    It's hardly surprising it might drop a bit the following day. Honestly James, try reality. You might find it a pleasant change.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    LOL. Fortunately we've read enough of your colourful prose to be able to fill in the blank ourselves.

    Whoever is betting on a Palin 2012 bid will be pleased to hear that, at least today, the radio conservatives' answer is that they weren't conservative enough. They'll be spending some time in the political wilderness, then. I'm sure there are plenty of moose for them to hunt while they're there.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    __Fortunately the Dems don’t have 60 seats in the Senate so with the filibuster rule there is a brake on their more radical aspirations__

    But the Dems do have the numbers to abolish the filibuster rule -- though that is a trigger they might not want to pull, considering you never know when it could come in useful.

    Now they don't.

    Changes to senate rules require a 2/3rd majority.

    They have the "nuclear option", but they can't change the rule.

    Standing Rules of the Senate
    RULE XXII
    PRECEDENCE OF MOTIONS:

    ... at any time a motion signed by sixteen Senators, to bring to a close the debate upon any measure, motion, other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, is presented to the Senate, the Presiding Officer, or ... shall, without debate, submit to the Senate by a yea-and-nay vote the question:

    "Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate shall be brought to a close?" And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn -- except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators present and voting -- then said measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, shall be the unfinished business to the exclusion of all other business until disposed of.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Did anyone else think Obama's speech was a bit lame? As in it could have been any speech during his campaign?

    Obama is president elect, and you're grumping about the speech being a little off-key?

    Um, waiter, could I get a round of double-shot wake-the-fuck-ups over here for all the whinging nitpickers.

    @ James. In case you didn't notice, the Republicans just got their arses handed to them on a plate. It's hard to think of ways the trashing could have been more comprehensive.

    Have a think about why that happened, and when you're ready to rejoin us in the reality-based community with some decent Monday-morning quarterback insights, feel free to do so.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    So Star Trek correctly predicted a Black Man as President to be followed by a women.

    Palin2016 then?


    Makes sense as they spend the series lost in the Delta Quadrant.

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    This brain-washed cultist is going to follow the example of my milk chocolate messiah and be gracious. Even though Limbaugh's an oozing ulcerated bum hole on the body politic.

    Nice save. :P

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    If anyone really feels like schadenfreuding it up, I would recommend tracking down a live feed of some conservative radio.

    Again, I have to be pedantic and point out that it's about finding solace in the mysery of FRIENDS, nor Limbaughs.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    nor = not

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    I wonder if the discussion on the NZ election will be as massive. Is this one of PA's longest topic threads, I wonder?

    But only after 7pm :-)

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    "This is President-elect Barrack Hussein Obama. Faaaaarrk you! Peace out."

    I'd quite like him to end his Inauguration speech with "And now my brothers, SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION!




    Jokes, I jokes..."

    Obama also eats doughnuts. Made of *babies*.

    That's what the Rachel Ray Dunkin Donuts ad was selling don't ya know...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    Thanks, Jake. Yeah, the Veitch thread. Well, this topic has a few days of life left in it though, so you never know.

    ----------- ----------

    On the gay marriage propositions, that whole issue is quite weird:

    "Obama, a US senator from Illinois, won California and Florida. Rival Republican US Senator John McCain won his home state of Arizona, which in 2006 rejected a ban on same-sex marriage."

    Cal goes for the ban, while AZ previously rejected a ban?
    Meanwhile, voters in South Dakota and Colorado reject limits on abortion.
    Colorado voters rejected a measure that would have made abortion the legal equivalent of murder by defining human life as beginning at conception.

    South Dakota defeated a ban on abortion that, if passed, had been expected to spark a court battle leading to the Supreme Court. (All from this stuff article.)

    For gay marriage proponents, some comfort is being found in the Obama victory, though:

    In San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom initiated gay marriages in City Hall and launched the legal battle resulting in recognition of same-sex unions, Obama's victory and message of change consoled proposition opponents.

    "We have Obama," Noelle Skool, 29, said as she checked identification at a popular lesbian bar in San Francisco's Mission district. "It's small steps. Eventually they'll warm up to the fact that, hey, we're all equal."

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    I think we need to pay homage to the political predictive genius that is Giovani Tiso...

    Suggesting a landslide over two weeks ago, when all the rest of us were hopeful but nervous...

    He spake, and thus it came to pass...

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I'd quite like him to end his Inauguration speech with "And now my brothers, SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION!

    When he came out yesterday about 2% of me was wondering if he would say "Guys, you've been so punked".

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    Giovanni: Limbaugh has declared McCain as much the enemy as Obama. Going by the enemy of my enemy logic, especially when routed through McCain's 'my friends' catch phrase, I feel entitled to use the loanword.

    Especially now that Hannity is on. He appears to want to dissolve the Republican party. That'll help.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    If anyone really feels like schadenfreuding it up, I would recommend tracking down a live feed of some conservative radio.

    The Wishart gang are taking it badly. Sample comment: "I was reading an article which reckons he has the potential to become a Black Hitler!"

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Any comment on the Washington State approved proposition for Doctor Assisted Suicide?
    Will it really become practice there? Or are there federal forces arrayed against it?

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I'd quite like him to end his Inauguration speech with "And now my brothers, SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION!

    "My fellow comrades, it is with a humble heart I accept the office of Presiding Commissar of the USSA..."

    [long pause]

    "Frum, you're not working for the National Review any more."

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

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