Senate The US Politics discussion

Chris Christie in 2013: Best thing about being governor is... no traffic
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/15/no-traffic-chris-christie-asked-2013-his-favorite-/

Mitt Romney dances on stage (this is the kind of craziness that happens when Utah legalizes gay marriage!!!)

 

a mormon i used to date (i know i know) mentioned today that she was there. i scolded her for not inviting me

 

Now she's just some Mormon that you used to know...

 

Death threat levied against Gubernatorial Candidate Wendy Davis.

 

Stupid is as stupid does I guess.

 

tragedy

 

American lobbying and political 1st amendment expression has got it all wrong.

This, my friends, is how you do advocacy:
Tons of horse manure dumped outside French parliament in political protest

nothing says steaming pile of horse**** like a steaming pile of horse****.

 

I have to say, I'd almost die laughing if somebody did that in front of Capitol Hill. Such the truth these days.

 

yo dudes, i just found this romnis clip! check it out:

 

Either fortunately or unfortunately, Mitt Romney isn't quite Peter O'Toole, and neither is Ghost quite so sensitive as some of our other users.

 

Gun Control bills shot down in Va. House.

Senate committee advances bill to protect school prayer.

Gotta love the reminder that while we may have an all Democrat exeutive branch, the Republicans still control the legistative branch, where even the most sensible Gun law gets shot down, but "OMG we need to keep Jesus in Schools and protect school prayer (every school I went to always called it a moment of silence), to hell with seperation of Church and State!" And can't even begin to do anything remotely about it until November, where unfortunately all the attention will be on the national races and thus, nothing is likely to change.

 

Google unveils 'smart contact lens' to measure glucose levels

It monitors your glucose levels, then transmits the results to the NSA.


A truly disappointing speech from the commander in chief of our police state.

"KGB decides what interests KGB"
- Major Pribluda

 

Does anybody find Barbara Bush's public insistence that Jeb not run in 2016 to be rather odd? She absolutely has a great point about nepotism, and it's very admirable of her to say so, but I just find it very strange that she would say something that could be hung around Bush's neck so easily in a prospective campaign.

 

I don't find it very odd in light of the fact that Jeb is looked it at only distantly as a contender in the Republican 2016 field, and Hillary Clinton as seen as likely to beat whatever Republican eventually emerges in any case. In light of all that, it seems rather self-serving, since the only people to participate in the sort of dynasty she's describing are her husband and her son.

 

Well, I'm not quite sure how to interpret the comment, but "88-year-old-woman-shrewdly-devises-way-to-mildly-aggrandize-family-name-by-making-ostensibly-disparaging-remark-about-her-son" isn't high on my list of possibilities.

 

She also said that Jeb was absolutely the most qualified individual in the entire country. Her argument basically only has three parts:

1. Jeb Bush is awesome
2. Hillary Clinton shouldn't be President
3. Something vague about letting other people have a turn

The first two are entirely on message for both her Party and any potential career aspirations her son may have. The last part of the statement is the only thing that's even potentially problematic, and it's incredibly easy to walk back. All she has to do is argue that things have become so dire that he has to step in heroically to save the day, even though her whole family wishes the reality were otherwise. We haven't even come to the midterms yet, and there's a million reasons one could use. "Obamacare is crushing freedom to thoroughly" "Iran is too close to the bomb" "Democrat's demagoguery has pushed immigration into a crisis, and only someone willing to work across the aisle and make real compromises can resolve it" "the jobs crisis of 2008 never ended" etc. I mean, whatever she says would work. She already literally called him the best, so the rationale fits.

 

we've had enough bushes in that office. i am glad babar bush agrees with me. we've had enough crintons as well, actually.

 

No, because she's been saying this for a couple of years now (and yet, the media is treating her words like they are shiny and new), and she's been on record as saying she didn't even want her husband or other son to run when they did. So it's not like she said "oh yes, Jeb should run," and then went and said, "no he shouldn't." She's always been in the "He shouldn't run" mindset.

Also keep in mind that as a former First Lady and the mother of a President herself, she probably knows (presumably) better than the rest of us how grueling a Presidential campaign can be. She's likely come at this from both as a mother and somebody who's experienced that kind of life in not wanting Jeb to be put through that type of wringer (and you can bet that if Jeb does run, he'll get put on the microscope far more than any other GOP candidate that does, with the possible exception of a Chris Chirstie candidacy).

So while it's something that could be used against Jeb if he ran (though I think his flip-flopping on immigration to appease the Tea Party could be a much more destructive weapon against him), her statements aren't odd nor are they new words from her.

 

Yeah, I don't really see how her comments are problematic if Jeb were to run (which I don't think he will). All she has to say is he's the best person for the job and she was wrong and no one will remember she ever said that.

Also, the new allegations that Christie withheld Sandy relief aid from Hoboken until they approved a development project he wanted? Yikes. While all of these mini-scandals and revelations aren't devastating by themselves, all put together they expose what kind of politician he appears to be.

 

48% of people in Utah now support gay marriage, according to one new poll (48% also oppose).

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57391605-78/marriage-sex-percent-state.html.csp

 

I don't want some fellow named "Jeb" to be the next President of the United States. The name sounds like some hick villain from 80's era Stephen King literature.

 

Jeb Kerman would make a great president.