sometimes the small things signify

This morning Pres. Obama, VP Biden and Sen. Arlen Spector held a joint news conference. In welcoming Sen Spector to the Democratic Party. Pres. Obama mentioned the significance to Sen Spector of the Senator's father. How his father had been a force driving Sen Spector to serve and achieve in the public arena. As the three were leaving the podium, an open mike caught the Senator thanking the President for mentioning the Senator's father. It is that kind of human sensitivity, caring and insite into the emotional construct of collegues which will greatly help the President move his agenda forward. The public also sees this. His personal "likability" is significantly greater than agreement with his policies, all the polls show. How completely different than a Pres. and VP who seemed to know very little about what others thought or felt, and did not care either. Is this a difference between Republicans and Democrats? Well Reagan was the last likable Republican, and Pres Clinton was famous for his ability to empathize. Maybe as the Rebpulican party becomes more and more rigid, racially homogenized, and separated from the real world it will also know and care little for what anyone feels, or thinks. If you beleive gay marriage is the end of our country. If you beleive the idea of free markets is more important to people than jobs and homes, if you beleive our place in the world is to bully allies and use the military against those we disagree with, perhaps the only people who will join you also do not know or care what anyone else thinks or feels.

if anyone read my original April 24

post please just acknowledge that as a comment

They still don't get it

Rebpulican concept of bipartisanship. Do most of what we would do if we were in power. they still do not realize the country has seen that cronycapitalism and the gutting of federal and state government regulatory and service work by contracting out to for profit companies only benefits the companies and those republicans who got campaign contributions and bribes. The people got weaker corrput regulatory actiion and degraded service. Ask anyolne you know who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sorry Republicans the concept that the "Market knows best and is best for all when unregulated committed suicide. The idea that government services can be delivberied better and more efficiently by private contractors has died of incompetance and corruption.

wrong question

The media seems focused on the question, did torture provide information which prevented terrorist attacks. The sophistcated media asks, could whatever useful information gleaned during torture have really been found somewhere else. The improtant question, unasked so far, is are we going to bypass over 200 years of legal jurisprudence which is continually evolving to balance individual rights and group protections. Are we going to allow namesless, faceless people to determine that individuals can be tourtured. That is the only valid question. I hope someone askes it?

McCain's top adviser sees Republicans as I do

John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. Said on Fox News Today

from the bottom up

John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. 

Michael Steele and Clarence Thomas

Both prove the point that if you are a memeber of a religious, ethnic, cultural, or racial minority and a member of the GOP you are either a fool or a corrupt cynic, trading on your group identity to advance your career.  Does anyone really think anyone involved in appointing Thomas or voting for Steele really thought either was competant or intelligent, nah, just a cynical attempt to put a token out there to try to show the Republican party does not have a white fundementalist base which steers that bus.  I am talking about the Republican leadship here, there are sincere well meaning Republicans out there, somewhere. The powers that run the party on the national and local levels have either sold out or sincerley believe in creationism, a free market which will leave us all at the mercy of predatory corporations, and that the old days where women and minorities knew their places and degenerates ( read gays ) were put in jail were the best days this country has had.  That is the Repoublican base, the "pure core" and watching the buffoonery of Steele and the submissive taging along of Thomas behind Scalia, it just proves my point.  Idiots or cynics.

been a little while

Just have to comment on the Teaparty wavelet.  The bitter underlying assumption is - I don"t wanna, its mine, Wah wah wah.  Really, the original teaparty protested taxation without representation, the new one protests taxation with representaion?  And those are the most rational of those attending.  Sorry we have tried less government since Reagan and we have the biggest bust since the last time republicans deregulated and worshiped business and the free market ( read - took all the money they could get from the rich) - the great depression.  And that one was deeper and longer because Hoover kept trying to balance the budget as things spiraled down.

Sorry you idiots we are not gonna deal with the debt on those children holding signs their parent gave them by balancing the budget and enjoying a 20 year depression this time around.  I guess the best part of the teaparties yesterday was that in a country with over 305 million people only 250,000 attended, about 8 hundreths of 1 percent.  Given the tough times we are in and the strenuous efforts of rightwing media ( Fox-Limbaugh) and The National Republican Party that is a remarkably low percentage of stupid-angry people.