Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

[Taskmage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Does anyone know of a conservative news source that wouldn't make me sick to listen to? Obviously most Fox News anchors are out of the question. I tried listening to Judge Napolitano on Fox Business while he had his own show, but he was actually such a Ron Paul fanboy that even as a libertarian I couldn't stand to listen to him. Is there a good source on youtube maybe?

[Malacite]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Eh, let's not go there (Reagan is a complete monster in my eyes).

Jesse has a hell of a record however, and did a lot of good during his times as Mayor & Governor. And the guy has it out for both parties as well as corporate America & the Military Industrial Complex. More than enough reason right there.

[Icemage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Those last two Harvard grads haven't exactly bolstered my faith that being "bright" is makes up for an absence of common sense. I'd rather have common sense leadership with a strong, bright team surrounding it than a "bright" president.

Clinton was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor was Regan and they both did better than other presidents in our lifetime.

Sure, but neither Clinton nor Reagan were particularly prone to foot-in-mouth disease. Ventura is much more like Dubya in that sense than either of the former.


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

I'd vote for Crist or Snow before Ventura. Ventura's a nice guy, but not particularly bright.

Those last two Harvard grads haven't exactly bolstered my faith that being "bright" is makes up for an absence of common sense. I'd rather have common sense leadership with a strong, bright team surrounding it than a "bright" president.

Clinton was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor was Regan and they both did better than other presidents in our lifetime.

[Malacite]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Also, I think it speaks volumes of just how batshit the party's gotten when Snowe is retiring (along with many others on both sides) because she just can't deal with the infighting.

[Icemage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

I'd just like to note that while Crist more than deserves a national platform, his personal vendetta against Gainesville was not very welcome as Governor . . .

Hehe, true (and I went to UF so I sympathize more than you know). I still don't really hold it against him, though. On the issues that matter, he digs in and gets things done, and I respect that.


Icemage

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

I'd just like to note that while Crist more than deserves a national platform, his personal vendetta against Gainesville was not very welcome as Governor . . .

[Icemage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Direct involvement in the policies? Probably not. But he's pretty much the guy who sets the agenda, gets the people he wants elected, etc etc. You have a point and I agree, but it's hard to actually do that when the other side is living in a bubble and just to add insult to injury, is sticking their fingers in their ear "nah nah nah I can't hear you! "

You're giving him too much credit. He's powerful, but Barack Obama getting elected in 2008 against Rove's wishes, and Romney getting the nomination from the Republicans this year are both testament that he's not nearly as omnipotent as you seem to believe.

Again, not that Liberals aren't guilt of this at times either, but one side shoots down their own ideas so they can make the other look bad and then come in as the conquering heroes... BAH! It's fucking deplorable the way they put their own personal gain ahead of their real responsibilities. And again, and this is why Rove needs to be dealt with, is the fact he quells any and every attempt to voice real conservative positions. I don't always agree with them, but the only folks I ever seem to hear on the right that aren't just mouth-breathing, extremists assholes are folks like David Brooks, Andrew Sulivan, Allan Simpson, Charlie Christ, and up to a point John Hunstman (and then he changed his tune too).

I think it was a very sad day for the cause of conservatism the day William F. Buckley died. He was amongst the last of the old guard of reasoned conservatism, and in its place we now have a bunch of intentionally ignorant know-nothings who only know the slogans of conservatism but have no inkling of what the foundations are. George H. W. Bush (W's father) is probably the last prominent member of that group, and he has unfortunately chosen not to fight the tide of ignorance which stains almost the entire party.

Andrew Sullivan is a study in contradictions. He's a conservative who sees clearly and has paid the price of his "apostasy"; he is unwelcome in modern conservatism because of his support for Obama since 2008 (and continued support for Obama in this election). Yet many of the firebrand liberals and progressives view him askance because at the core he's still miles away from them in terms of policy (but not intent). Of course, as a moderate myself, I like him immensely for his courage and clarity.

Charlie Crist hails from my home state of Florida, so I know him better than most. I voted for him when he ran for Governor, and still consider him one of the most compassionate and clear-headed politicians today. He lacks the personal magnetism of an Obama, Clinton, or Reagan, but you'd be hard pressed to find a bigger believer in bipartasan compromise - in the interest of getting things done instead of pointless arguing - anywhere.

Probably the only member of the Republican party I still hold respect for is Olympia Snowe from Maine. She's fantastic. Seriously. She stays out of the infighting, votes her conscience, and uses straight talk instead of weasel-speak. If she ever ran for President, I'd vote for her, no matter what party banner she ran under.

You never hear the kinds of proposals they offer coming out of the Republicans currently in or seeking office though because the moment they do, they get shut down because it doesn't fit in with Rove's plan/ideology. So either Obama needs to use as much force as is legally available at his disposal while the other side gets sorted out, because it's utterly impossible to have a civil and productive discussion until otherwise.

That's not Rove. He likes to take credit for the ascendence of neoconservatism, but my read is that he's just being an opportunist taking credit for machinations made decades ago. The problem the Republicans have is that the idiocracy they envisioned controlling is now growing up and has taken control away from them. Rove's not responsible for that.

I say again, Ventura 2016. I would love to see the amount of shit he would stir up if elected (assuming no one tries to kill him - there are some people that sadly, you just don't fuck with as the Kennedies found out...)

I'd vote for Crist or Snow before Ventura. Ventura's a nice guy, but not particularly bright.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Direct involvement in the policies? Probably not. But he's pretty much the guy who sets the agenda, gets the people he wants elected, etc etc. You have a point and I agree, but it's hard to actually do that when the other side is living in a bubble and just to add insult to injury, is sticking their fingers in their ear "nah nah nah I can't hear you! "

Again, not that Liberals aren't guilt of this at times either, but one side shoots down their own ideas so they can make the other look bad and then come in as the conquering heroes... BAH! It's fucking deplorable the way they put their own personal gain ahead of their real responsibilities. And again, and this is why Rove needs to be dealt with, is the fact he quells any and every attempt to voice real conservative positions. I don't always agree with them, but the only folks I ever seem to hear on the right that aren't just mouth-breathing, extremists assholes are folks like David Brooks, Andrew Sulivan, Allan Simpson, Charlie Christ, and up to a point John Hunstman (and then he changed his tune too).

You never hear the kinds of proposals they offer coming out of the Republicans currently in or seeking office though because the moment they do, they get shut down because it doesn't fit in with Rove's plan/ideology. So either Obama needs to use as much force as is legally available at his disposal while the other side gets sorted out, because it's utterly impossible to have a civil and productive discussion until otherwise.

I say again, Ventura 2016. I would love to see the amount of shit he would stir up if elected (assuming no one tries to kill him - there are some people that sadly, you just don't fuck with as the Kennedies found out...)

[Icemage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

It has a lot to do with it, actually - like banning critical thinking studies among other "amendments" to the curriculum, because they "challenge social norms and longheld conceptions" or something to that effect (because we wouldn't want our young growing up intelligent & able to think for themselves because it's easier to retain power with a public that is scared, stupid, and unwilling to challenge things.)

No Child Left Behind is a real piece of shit too - it actually takes funding away from under-performing schools as a penalty! How stupid is that?

I understand your outrage, but if you really want to help be part of the solution, you have to learn how to look at things objectively and not just say things because of what your gut tells you. Karl Rove in specific isn't particularly concerned with education - he has his own agenda and is on his own "team", and damage to the educational system is only a side-effect of what he's trying to do (which is, to my eyes, an attempt to be a power broker). He ruthlessly manipulates constituencies and politicians alike to get to that goal, but he seems unconcerned about the actual policies, per se.

If you can't separate the truth from the sound bites enough to realize that Rove has little to no impact on the degeneration of the situation in Texas, then you're only compounding the problem because what we need is understanding, not more firebrand us-versus-them rhetoric.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

I don't know what's worse: that we apparently haven't learned a thing about teaching kids in 40 years, or that despite 40 years of "progress" in test preparation, kids are doing even worse than before. It's a sad testament to how broken our education system is. As a country, the USA is failing in its obligation to the next generation. If we really want the nation to prosper, every child should have the opportunity to excel, and that's clearly not happening.


Eh? Texas turning Republican has nothing to do with Karl Rove. US History lesson commences:

Texas became a swing state after WWII and had basically solidified as a Republican stronghold by the mid-to-late 1960s (Jimmy Carter winning Texas in 1976 hardly counts, considering he was winning on the heels of the Watergate scandal). If you look at the predominant attitudes in Texas, it's not difficult to see why. Texans are a proud bunch (some of whom still yearn for the "glory days" when the state was independent) and staunchly conservative and traditionalist. They take a very different view of social issues than, say, Colorado, where the "frontier" mentality took a much more independent and laissez-faire shape.

Texas Presidential Election Voting History

While there are the seeds of change coming to Texas (a rising Hispanic population, greater influence from more... ah... fair-minded... metropolitans, particularly around Austin), it will be at least a decade before there could be enough demographic shift to even consider Texas coming back to even swing state status. It's not the most conservative state in the nation, but it's not far from it.


Icemage

It has a lot to do with it, actually - like banning critical thinking studies among other "amendments" to the curriculum, because they "challenge social norms and longheld conceptions" or something to that effect (because we wouldn't want our young growing up intelligent & able to think for themselves because it's easier to retain power with a public that is scared, stupid, and unwilling to challenge things.)

No Child Left Behind is a real piece of shit too - it actually takes funding away from under-performing schools as a penalty! How stupid is that?

[Icemage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

>.< they just put out a study showing that SAT scores are at their lowest in 40 years across all groups except for Asians.

I don't know what's worse: that we apparently haven't learned a thing about teaching kids in 40 years, or that despite 40 years of "progress" in test preparation, kids are doing even worse than before. It's a sad testament to how broken our education system is. As a country, the USA is failing in its obligation to the next generation. If we really want the nation to prosper, every child should have the opportunity to excel, and that's clearly not happening.

Also worth pointing out how Texas used to be mostly Democratic (until Rove came along and reversed everything) and ever since the shift things have been going down hill (he got Bush elected Gov. and stole the election from Gore too lest we forget), what with them setting the standard for the text books and all.

Eh? Texas turning Republican has nothing to do with Karl Rove. US History lesson commences:

Texas became a swing state after WWII and had basically solidified as a Republican stronghold by the mid-to-late 1960s (Jimmy Carter winning Texas in 1976 hardly counts, considering he was winning on the heels of the Watergate scandal). If you look at the predominant attitudes in Texas, it's not difficult to see why. Texans are a proud bunch (some of whom still yearn for the "glory days" when the state was independent) and staunchly conservative and traditionalist. They take a very different view of social issues than, say, Colorado, where the "frontier" mentality took a much more independent and laissez-faire shape.

Texas Presidential Election Voting History

While there are the seeds of change coming to Texas (a rising Hispanic population, greater influence from more... ah... fair-minded... metropolitans, particularly around Austin), it will be at least a decade before there could be enough demographic shift to even consider Texas coming back to even swing state status. It's not the most conservative state in the nation, but it's not far from it.


Icemage

[Taskmage]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

Theocratic oligarchy party vs those other guys.

[Malacite]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

>.< they just put out a study showing that SAT scores are at their lowest in 40 years across all groups except for Asians.



Also worth pointing out how Texas used to be mostly Democratic (until Rove came along and reversed everything) and ever since the shift things have been going down hill (he got Bush elected Gov. and stole the election from Gore too lest we forget), what with them setting the standard for the text books and all.

Just saying >_> (For the record, it's not that I have no particular love for the Democrats - it's just that for now, it's either them, or the party that is CLEARLY batshit crazy. Ventura 2016 goddamn it!)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Melody's Melodramatic Meltdown on Mitt Romney (Tounge Twister?)

So I should blame the community for the school blowing its budgets on sports programs and forcing art, music and theater programs to fund themselves? I should blame the community when the office spends more money on air conditioning the office when kids are still sweating it out in buildings that haven't seen an AC unit since they were built in the late 70s? And I should fault the community for science teachers that teach science through a DVD player and TV and not real effort on their own part?

I think these are problems with the infrastructure of an education system and its skewed priorities. Not all the problems come from communities and state budget cuts.

Does the football team need the same budget every year? Where does all that revenue from drinks and hot dogs go exactly? Do students really have to suffer under artificially created unpleasantness just because people in the main offices can't stand sweating? And why is a fossil that not only can't teach, but won't "teaching" science to students? Cant someone take his job or at least be allowed to compete for it.

I've had teachers that went above and beyond the call of duty to make things better for students because the school honestly would not. I'm thankful for them, but the fact they don't thrive and they're forced to deal with the mediocrity of other staff really does bother me. This is not something a community creates.

The community might encourage an emphasis on sports. Might. But the school does not have to cater to that exclusively at the expense of other student programs. Hell, the whole Penn State fiasco perfectly illustrates how corrupt and inhuman a system can become for the sake of a prestigious position in athletics. I have no pity for them.

Its rather telling the NCAA gave more of a shit about this than the university did.