I didn't start out in life being a political partisan of any stripe, but Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and Howard Dean sure steered me in the right direction; all puns intended.
Tom TB | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 11:20 am | #

Message to the Dems:

All puffed up on vanity

You only see what you want to see

To the beautiful and the wise

The mirror always lies...
Ghost of Josey Wales | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 1:13 pm | #

Message to the Republicans:

Big money make mistakes
Big money got a heavy hand
Big money take control
Big money got a mean streak
Big money got no soul...
Joseph | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:06 pm | #

Thank god for my Union upbringing... it taught me so much about the democratic party... and so do daily issues like spending, the war on terror, foley, studds, etc...
Fistandantalus | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:15 pm | #

Joseph,

That is a problem that cuts across both sides of the aisle. Look to the contributors to the Democratic campaigns. Or check their freezers.
Ariel | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:16 pm | #

Ariel,

I find no absolution
In my rational point of view
Maybe some things are instinctive
But there's one thing you could do
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you
Joseph | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:18 pm | #

Joseph: The Democrats do a fairly good job of electing millionaires to Congress.
popdonnelly | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:18 pm | #

popdonnelly,

Why are little ones born only to suffer for the want of immunity or a bowl of rice?
Joseph | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:24 pm | #

Maybe Geddy Lee should be more careful with regards to his offspring?
Defense Guy | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 3:33 pm | #

Touche'

(I'm sure that's in a Rush lyric somewhere)
Joseph | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 4:05 pm | #

There's no answer to that question, except fate. I'm all in favor of helping persons who are in need. But the fact that someone else is wealthy is not the cause of their need.
popdonnelly | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 4:10 pm | #

Also, by what right do some Americans believe their fellow citizens OWE IT TO THEM to pay to send their children to school, subsidize their housing, subsidize their food, subsidize their higher education, healthcare, and retirement?

What do these lower class citizens do to earn all this largess? They sure as hell don't ever say 'thanks' and they don't ever pay it back.

Or do they think they're the ONLY ones who work for a living?
John | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 4:32 pm | #

It'd be great if we had a president who could continue to reform the welfare system the way Bill Clinton did.

(that's a lyric from a not-yet-released song)
Joseph | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 5:03 pm | #

"It'd be great if we had a president who could continue to reform the welfare system the way Bill Clinton did."

Luckily, Clinton had a Republican Congress that helped him pass those reforms, unlike the partisan Congress we see today.
darwin | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 5:36 pm | #

Dream of a peaceable kingdom
Dream of a time without fear.
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hear
RS | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 5:43 pm | #

SPEAKING OF PRINCIPLED IDEALISTS

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge puts the lie to Kerry's claim of America needing to seek the approval of her European "allies." And what he says makes me wish we had men of his stature today. His speach is directed to why we shouldn't join the League Of Nations, who's position now, of course, is held by the UN.
-----------------------
"Mr. President:

The independence of the United States is not only more precious to ourselves but to the world than any single possession. Look at the United States today. We have made mistakes in the past. We have had shortcomings. We shall make mistakes in the future and fall short of our own best hopes. But none the less is there any country today on the face of the earth which can compare with this in ordered liberty, in peace, and in the largest freedom? I feel that I can say this without being accused of undue boastfulness, for it is the simple fact, and in making this treaty and taking on these obligations all that we do is in a spirit of unselfishness and in a desire for the good of mankind. But it is well to remember that we are dealing with nations every one of which has a direct individual interest to serve, and there is grave danger in an unshared idealism. Contrast the United States with any country on the face of the earth today and ask yourself whether the situation of the United States is not the best to be found. I will go as far as anyone in world service, but the first step to world service is the maintenance of the United States."

WOW! What an American thing to say!

And if this next comment doesn't elicit an image of Kerry, Chiraq, Putin, Kofi Annan, etc., obstructionist buggers who want America to fail so they can keep (or get) their sticky fingers in the profitable confusion.

"I have loved but one flag and I cannot share that devotion and give affection to the mongrel banner invented for a league. Internationalism, illustrated by the Bolshevik and by the men to whom all countries are alike provided they can make money out of them, is to me repulsive."

Oh, yeah! "REPULSIVE" is the operative word, all right!
ytba | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 5:44 pm | #

oops, sorry, the link for that is...
http://130.18.140.19/stennis/lodge.html
ytba | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 5:45 pm | #

Kerry, Chiraq, Putin, Kofi Annan, etc., obstructionist buggers who want America to fail

"Make up what the other side believes and then argue against it" -- mike
Joseph | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 5:59 pm | #

They don't necessarily want the US to 'fail', per se - but their vision of America's strength is that of a giant in chains, serving the world eternally without asking for anything in return. And in return, THEY get the appreciation of the 'world community' for having tamed the giant and forced it into indentured servitude.

Except for Kerry. By god, he was OWED the Presidency. He put in his time as Kennedy's sock puppet, acquired a rich wife to finance his dream, didn't do spit as far as trying to actually author legislation, didn't do much of anything to actually LEAD, whether in Congress or in the Navy (Sorry, but bugging out on your boat crew 3 months into a 1 year hitch is bad leadership - can't stand being responsible for a boat, yet wants to lead the country - go figure...) yet somehow thought he was worthy of being President.

Well, he won't leave much of a legacy. The others... Chirac's France is Muslim-riddled. Putin's trying hard to ressurect the USSR and not gaining much traction, and Anan... best thing I can say about him is he meant well.

J.
JLawson | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 6:41 pm | #

Kerry, Chiraq, Putin, Kofi Annan, etc., obstructionist buggers who want America to fail

"Make up what the other side believes and then argue against it" -- mike
Joseph | ... | 10.17.06 - 5:59 pm |


Are you THAT ignorant of current events?

Kerry - sell nuclear fuel to Iran for campaign funds!?
http://www.discoverthenetwork.or....asp? grpid=6529
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ new...RTICLE_ID=40744
http:// powerandcontrol.blogspot....connection.html
---- and selling our POW's for a business deal for a close relative...
"The year after his committee’s vote to give Communist Vietnam a clean bill of health, the strangest thing happened. In December 1992 Vietnam signed its first huge commercial deal worth at least $905 million to develop a deep-sea commercial port at Vung Tau to accommodate all the trade that was to come. It signed the deal with a company called Colliers International. At the time, the Chief Executive Officer of this company was C. Stewart Forbes. Name sound familiar? It should. He is Senator John F. Kerry’s cousin . What a coincidence!"
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Arti...le.asp? ID=11940

Chiraq - (i.e., France needs Iraqi business):
http://www.heritage.org/Research...eEast/ wm217.cfm
http://www.washingtontimes.com/n...23000- 1796r.htm

Putin - (i.e., Russia): Economic entanglements, and assistance with IRAQ's WMD
http://www.jinsa.org/articles/ ar...3,2360,884,1679
http://www.washingtontimes.com/n...22637- 6257r.htm

Kofi - (and his UN front company) - Oil for food Scam:
http://www.discoverthenetwork.or....asp? grpid=6529
http://www.coxandforkum.com/arch...ves/ 000322.html

And, let's not forget...
China - Sold missles and fiber optics to harden command and control (with Clinton's help):
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/...30/ 171355.shtml
http://www.nci.org/iraq/iraq-prc...prc- wt22001.htm
http://www.softwar.net/comint8.html

Make Up? I don't think so. They want America to fail in the world, because it means more power and influence fopr them, and more money in their pockets.

(And, what JLawson said, except I'm harder on Kofi Annan)
ytba | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 8:21 pm | #

Welfare hasnt been reformed. They just renamed it "disability" and made having a huge ass an acceptable condition for benefits.
steveh | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 8:33 pm | #

"Welfare hasnt been reformed. They just renamed it "disability" and made having a huge ass an acceptable condition for benefits."

Don't forget "panic attacks" and "depression" from having a humongous ass. They qualify too.
darwin | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 9:10 pm | #

I share O'Rourke's contempt for the "deep-thinking people" who dwell incessantly on the trivial, while trivializing the defining issue of our time -- the fight against Islamofascism.

Today's Democrats -- girly-men who would appall Truman and JFK -- will be rightfully scorned by history for their folly and selfishness. They foolishly believe that because the MSM is writing history's first draft, that this dishonest and partisan version will endure. It will not.
GnuCarSmell | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 9:16 pm | #

> Why are little ones born only to suffer for the want of immunity or a bowl of rice?

Doncha love how everything Joseph says is either contained in a song heard long ago or consists of pithy assininities like the above?

Notice how the ONE thing he doesn't do is actually attempt to refute or devalue, in a meaningful way, the points being made that Dems are far, far worse than any Republican.

Like, you know, indicating how Dems could possibly do more than the GOP for those in need of "immunity", who, for example, have allocated more than 40 BILLION (yes -- Billion towards fighting AIDS in Africa.

That would be actual work you see... or an impossibility -- one or the other (I go with the latter, but am open to argument).
Oh Bloody Hell | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 9:51 pm | #

"I find no absolution
In my rational point of view
Maybe some things are instinctive
But there's one thing you could do
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you"

Sorry, I have a hard time understanding instinctive people. Atheist since early childhood, put a name to at 10, training in engineering, fondness for history of totalitarian movements. Even in the martial arts, they kept saying mushin and I kept trying to analyze what they meant. But I'll try. :>)
Ariel | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 10:45 pm | #

All this time we're talking and sharing our rational view
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we're living and trying to understand
Why a billion other choices are making their demands
Talk of a peaceable kingdom
Talk of a time without fear
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hear
Justice against the hanged man
Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against the tower
All this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn
Dream of a peaceable kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish would hear us
Have heard it all before
A wave toward the clearing sky
A wave toward the clearing sky
The hermit against the lovers
Or the devil against the fool
Swords against the kingdom
The wheel against the rules
All this time we're burning like bonfires in the dark
A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks
Every spark a drifting ember of desire
To fall upon the earth and spark another fire
A homeward angel on the fly
A wave toward the clearing sky


-----The best post 9/11 song. Ever.
RS | Email | Homepage | 10.17.06 - 11:21 pm | #

A few people here are being taken for a ride. Joseph is trying to make his points using only Rush lyrics, because of the other guy's precedent.
anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 12:19 am | #

> A few people here are being taken for a ride. Joseph is trying to make his points using only Rush lyrics, because of the other guy's precedent.

> Why are little ones born only to suffer for the want of immunity or a bowl of rice?

...and what Rush song did the above italicized come from? And why should we care if he can quote a 70s-80s band like Rush? Has it really been that long since he had a new idea penetrate his head? Is that what we're supposed to derive from his geeeeenyus? Or is it just plain obvious fact?
Oh Bloody Hell | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 5:59 am | #

..and why is it that he so clearly supports a party which has never once met a tax it didn't like?

Is "Big Money" only relevant when it's in individual hands, or is it (as seems quite obvious) somewhat deleterious no matter whose hands it is in, be it Government Bureaucrat or Industrial CEO?
Oh Bloody Hell | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 6:01 am | #

Right on RS. Vapor Trails is definitely an excellent album. BTW OBH, I'm the one that started all this Rush stuff. Started with one little stanza off of the song War Paint from the album Presto (1989). It just seemed apt. Also, and not that this matters one damn bit to anything in particular, but Rush is still going strong.
Ghost of Josey Wales | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 1:43 pm | #

"Like, you know, indicating how Dems could possibly do more than the GOP for those in need of "immunity", who, for example, have allocated more than 40 BILLION (yes -- Billion towards fighting AIDS in Africa."

1) I think the $40 billion figure is way off the mark -- a little Googling showed $15 billion promised and only a fraction of that actually spent.

2) If the Bush administration is so committed to eradicating AIDS, then why does it cut funding for programs which distribute condoms?
Rocky Rococo | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 6:00 pm | #

"If the Bush administration is so committed to eradicating AIDS, then why does it cut funding for programs which distribute condoms?"

I remember reading that providing condoms to the men if Africa was essentially useless because they won't wear them. The reason given was it's apparently a "cultural" thing and the men won't wear condoms in Africa or something like that.

It had nothing to do with anything except trying to reign in a program that was doing nothing except wasting money.
darwin | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 6:30 pm | #

I don't claim to be an expert on the condom-wearing habits of African men, but it seems unlikely to me that this would be the case. A relevant cite:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/c.../329/7459/192- a

I also think that spending billions of dollars on AIDS is a good thing: I don't want to sound churlish or deny Bush credit for spending the $15 billion. My only issue is that by preaching abstinence and opposing condom distribution, he is yielding to political pressure from his base instead of contributing to a comprehensive scheme to reduce the toll from AIDS.
Rocky Rococo | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 7:14 pm | #

I think it's a waste of money to spend money on AIDS in Africa. It's not rocket science. Either maintain monogany or wear condoms. What I said about the condoms is true, they don't like wearing them.
You can only do so much. Give them the facts then let their own respective governments take over. What more can you do?

Isn't it funny how the rest of the world wants the US to pay for all this crap yet will turn on us in a heartbeat?


I'm not sure about the credibility of your article. There's also this in there:

"Furthermore, he added, "To say that condoms alone are going to solve this problem is crazy. You need the full ABC message, which was really initiated by President Museveni of Uganda."

" The plan embraces the "ABC" message (abstain, be faithful, or use condoms), but "AIDS is very complex, and to reduce it to any one thing is against the evidence and against common sense," said Dr Dybul."
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 7:27 pm | #

The above was mine.

By credibility I mean the so-called claims of "abstinence only" are refuted further down.

The program itself calls for condoms. I sincerely doubt Pres Bush or anyone in his administration would say don't use condoms.

I find the claims made by the left, not you necessarily Rocky, more ludicrous as each day passes. I never believe anything that comes from the left or MSM until I can verify it by two or three separate sources. The lies and falsehoods are unbelieveable.
darwin | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 7:33 pm | #

Well, you need a multi-faceted approach, which would include condom distribution. There are other strategies, like trying to discourage anal sex. This would have an added benefit: if you eliminated anal sex, then where would lawyers come from?
Rocky Rococo | Email | Homepage | 10.18.06 - 7:37 pm | #

Frankly im tired of both parties they just want bigger goverment
sandpiper | Email | Homepage | 10.19.06 - 12:05 am | #

Rocky, LOL!!!!! Good one.
Ghost of Josey Wales | Email | Homepage | 10.19.06 - 9:50 am | #

Thx GJW -- do you know what an ethical problem is for a lawyer?

(You bill the client $100 -- by mistake he gives you two $100 bills -- the ethical problem: do you tell your partner?)
Rocky Rococo | Email | Homepage | 10.19.06 - 12:36 pm | #