Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Selma in February


"They told us we wouldn't get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, but all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, "We ain't gonna let nobody turn us around." 

Martin Luther King on the steps of the Alabama State House
March 25, 1965

Six days ago I finally got to see "Selma", the new film that chronicles the struggles of Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Council, in an uneasy alliance with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, to bring about the basic right of people with dark skin to vote in the state of Alabama fifty years ago.  It's a great show and I can't recommend it enough. Traveling through the deep south back in the mid eighties, I made it a point to visit most of the places that are today hallowed ground in America's never-ending quest to make this a perfect union. Thankfully, eventually, we arrived at our goal. America is perfect in 2015. Isn't that a grand thing?

But seriously, folks....

Although I can't recommend this film enough, my only problem with it was how Lyndon Johnson was portrayed: as an unwilling participant in this struggle to the mountaintop. LBJ's historical reputation has been damaged enough by the tragedy of Vietnam. We really need to give the poor bastard credit where credit is long overdue. No keener an observer than Thurgood Marshall has rightfully made the point that, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, no other president in American history did more for the equal rights of African Americans than Lyndon - not Jack Kennedy, not Bill Clinton (the first "black" president) not even Barack Obama! In fact, Obama's presidency owes its very existence to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, both of which were signed into law by Johnson. I know it's fashionable these days to portray half-witted presidents from Texas in the most negative light (I'm guilty of that, believe me); it's just that Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush just aren't in the same league - it's not even close. Think of it as comparing apples with decomposing ravens. 

When visiting Montgomery, Alabama in 1985, the first thing that struck me was that this could have been the set of a one-act play; there would be no need for scene changes at all: The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Trailways Bus Terminal (sight of much racial violence back then), and the state capital are not only within walking distance of each other, they're in view of each other. In May 1985, standing on the steps in the predawn hours of the church where the young Reverend King preached thirty years before, was an experience I would suggest you try if you ever have the opportunity. It was pretty freakin' awesome, let's leave it at that. That was thirty years ago and I can still feel it now. At that moment, Dr. King's tenure there seemed a very long time before. How could I know then that it was only yesterday. That's what May of 1985 feels like to me now. 

Standing at Dr. King's one-time home made me incredulous that something like the civil rights movement - in the "land of the free" - was ever necessary to begin with. Thirty years later I wonder why it's still necessary. Keep an eye on until Election Day 2016. Wait and see how many people with dark skin will be denied their precious right to vote thanks to these so-called "Voter ID Laws". The shit is gonna hit the fan, baby! Just you wait. 

As I said in my last piece, film criticism is not my bailiwick. I can only tell you what I like and don't like. The first time I saw Citizen Kane when I was twenty-two, I knew not a thing of it's reputation as "the greatest movie ever made". All I could say upon viewing it was that it was one of the best films that I had ever seen. My instincts are usually pretty good in that area....or almost. I still consider Bill Murray's 1979 summer camp film, Meatballs, to be a classic. So sue me.

I think I called this one. Selma is destined to be a minor cinematic classic, maybe not along the lines of Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, but well worth seeing - particularly if you're interested of the history of the civil rights movement in America.

When the film was through after a very brief (it seemed to me) two hours and ten minutes, I looked around the theater to see that I was only one of four people in attendance. Just out of curiosity I strolled across the hall to see how American Sniper was doing. It was doing much better business. I can't even begin to describe how depressed this made me feel. Isn't life strange?

David Oyelowo as Dr. King
 "The battle is in our hands. And we can answer with creative nonviolence the call to higher ground to which the new directions of our struggle summons us. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding. We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man."

Dr. King, 1/25/65

Can you even begin to imagine this country without him? I don't even wanna try.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED READING:

Parting the Waters
by Taylor Branch

This history of the early years of the civil rights struggle in America is much more detail than can be provided by any film. I couldn't put it down.

Here's a link to another piece I wrote about the good Doctor five years ago on the anniversary of his passing:

http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2010/04/paging-dr-king.html

Paging Doctor King!

152 Comments:

At 4:39 PM, Anonymous JJ said...

Great film.

Here's an opposing viewpoint re: LBJ

"Why SELMA Is More Than Fair To LBJ" by Amy Davidson:

http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/selma-fair-l-b-j

Saddest parts of the film were when those children were blown up in the church bombing, and when the old woman tried to register to vote, and was turned away because she couldn't pass the "voting test."

 
At 4:40 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

I'm looking forward to seeing it, but I'll probably wait until it comes out on NETFLIX or I can rent it. The only movies we see in a theater are "eyecandy" movies like Star Trek, Star Wars, The Hobbit, LOTR, etc. where the big screen and LOUD soundtrack is beneficial.

I do know ONE "person" on this forum who will not see it.


Our resident bigot, the "boy troll".

 
At 4:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

For a great read and dynamite primary history source, I recommend "Breach of Peace," portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom riders. The photographs are dynamite; you will be transported back in time to 1961.

 
At 5:01 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

You're right, JJ. Watching those four little gals walking into the basement of that church - knowing what was coming - was excruciating.

Thank you for the link.

 
At 5:11 PM, Anonymous JJ said...

Actually Mozart1220, SELMA is worth seeing on the big screen. It might not be appropriate to call it "eyecandy" but it is; the way 1964 is lovingly recreated in the sets & costumes, the soundtrack, the music.

The church explosion made me jump in my seat, and I knew it was coming. If you can see it in a theater, you'll see the violence against the marchers for the atrocity that it was. Some of the impact might be lost on a small screen.

Interesting that King was called communist, radical progressive, etc., all the same rhetoric we see in Tom's comment section. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And the folks who used the "communist, socialist, radical progressive" language against him were overjoyed when he was killed by an American sniper.

 
At 5:39 PM, Anonymous sore loser said...

JJ
When/where has King been called a Communist, socialist, radical progressive on Tom's blog?

The only things I've seen him called here was that he was a registered Republican. And that he was more conservative than the current members of the Black Caucus.
Both things are true.

 
At 10:57 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

From Wikipedia:



"As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either." In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party."

King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality:

Actually, the Negro has been betrayed by both the Republican and the Democratic party. The Democrats have betrayed him by capitulating to the whims and caprices of the Southern Dixiecrats. The Republicans have betrayed him by capitulating to the blatant hypocrisy of reactionary right wing northern Republicans. And this coalition of southern Dixiecrats and right wing reactionary northern Republicans defeats every bill and every move towards liberal legislation in the area of civil rights.
Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that "In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket."[55] In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout America at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the basic necessities of many American people, particularly the African American community.

 
At 1:22 AM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican and remained a Republican until the day he died as affirmed by his niece, Dr. Alveda C. King.

But Dr. King has NOT been called what JJ claims.
That's my point Mozart.
click my name for link to Dr. Alveda King video.

and this as well.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=posz1HCgpgM

 
At 1:54 AM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Is there a gnat in here? Someone squash it please.

 
At 1:57 AM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

http://www.politifact.com/tennessee/statements/2012/jan/23/charlotte-bergmann/another-republican-claims-martin-luther-king-jr-wa/


 
At 12:17 PM, Blogger Rain Trueax said...

I have yet to see the film but probably will. What I read is they asked the director why she portrayed Johnson as she had and she said she wasn't there to make heroes out of whites (roughly paraphrased). Her willingness to distort his role in the story, in order to make the blacks seem more powerful, is doubtless why she didn't get a nomination for best director. She had a right to direct the story as she wished but to distort it better have a good reason and she didn't seem to have that.

 
At 12:30 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Well Mozart, it comes down to what source you believe, doesn't it?

Your source (politifact) tracks back to the Tampa Bay Times which was formerly know as the St. Petersburg Times, which has been described as a "usually liberal" newspaper by Wikipedia but an ultra-liberal anti-Republican paper for the past 65 years, by Newsmax and Media Trackers. Rachel Maddow declared it was time to pull the plug on PolitiFact, saying it was "shockingly, shockingly bad" at its appointed task."

Still the fact remains that there hasn't been a post on Tom's blog calling Dr. King "a Communist, socialist, radical progressive" as JJ claimed. Unless JJ can show to the contrary, do you want a retraction from him.

The "gnat" you want squashed is now in control of both Houses of Congress, over 50% of Governorships, and over 50% of all State legislation.

Good luck in doing that. Unless you are able to, for starters, squash or limit or control, free speech on the internet.
You're not for doing that are you?

 
At 12:49 PM, Blogger Rain Trueax said...

I read Amy Davidson's article and it was a good piece.

One thing everyone has to remember with all politicians is they have a personal view and a political one. We just got that with gay marriage and Obama. What a politician feels personally isn't how he necessarily believes he has to operate. Johnson was a complex man at the least. Voting rights were hard for many Americans to swallow-- still is with those who only want those they think will vote the right way to be allowed to vote.

As for who controls the Senate and House, we can thank some of the gerrymandering for the House and how the Senate has two seats in each state no matter how many citizens. 20 million more voters voted for Dems-- for all the good it did them given our system, which still doesn't want all voting.

So while the Repubs control the House and Senate, it will let Americans see what they really try to do when they have the power. Interesting times to say the least.

 
At 1:41 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

True,

The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures. It also alters the procedure for filling vacancies in the Senate, allowing for state legislatures to permit their governors to make temporary appointments until a special election can be held. Under the original provisions of the Constitution, senators were elected by state legislatures; this was intended to prevent the federal government from indirectly absconding with the powers and funds of the states. However, over time various issues with these provisions, such as the risk of corruption and the potential for electoral deadlocks or a lack of representation should a seat become vacant, led to a campaign for reform.
Critics of the Seventeenth Amendment claim that by altering the way senators are elected, the states lost any representation they had in the federal government and that, in addition to violating the unamendable state suffrage clause of Article V, this led to the gradual "slide into ignominy" of state legislatures, as well as an overextension of federal power and the rise of special interest groups to fill the power vacuum previously occupied by state legislatures. In addition, concerns have been raised about the power of governors to appoint temporary replacements to fill vacant senate seats, both in terms of how this provision should be interpreted and whether it should be permitted at all. Accordingly, noted public figures have expressed a desire to reform the Seventeenth Amendment, while a few politicians have called for outright repeal of the amendment.
Wikipedia

An explanation for your 20 million voters statement can be explained much better than I could or that space here allows for by clicking on my name.

 
At 2:13 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Well, I'll be looking forward to the movie when it comes out for rental or Netflix.

And the "gnat" has missed the point once again. Go figure.

Tom, you need to swat him by blocking his IP address. He's got too many names.

 
At 3:27 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Sore Asshole is correct about Maddow, although for reasons he won't like.

She called politifact out for a conservative bias.

On Tuesday's show, Maddow discussed how Politifact looked into Sen. Marco Rubio's recent claim that the "majority of Americans are conservative."

"So, to sum up," Maddow said. "Marco Rubio says, 'the majority of Americans are conservative.'

Politifact looks into that and finds that a majority of Americans do not identify as conservative.

So, according to Politifact, Rubio's statement is false." Maddow then turned to Politifact's "truth-o-meter" which concluded that Rubio's statement is "mostly true."

The Gallup Poll reported 40% said they were conservative.

"Mostly true". Looks like the "liberal media" is biased after all, to the Right.

Just what we expect from corporaet media.

 
At 5:28 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

No surprise here, Mozart wants to limit speech.
Why?
Because he disagrees with what is being said.
Because he thinks (and I use the word "think" in the broadest of terms) that I'm posting under more than one name.
Which I am not.
And EVEN if I were, what matter would it make as the right of free speech is not limited to one name.
All of which is a typical and not unexpected position from a Radical Progressive.

Still, JJ has yet to show where on this site Dr. King has been called "a Communist, socialist, radical progressive". Would Mozart be alright with the blocking of JJ's IP address?

 
At 5:45 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

I was always polite to you until you started stealing my name, now I think you are a lying POS.

 
At 5:49 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Most "liberals" in this country would have BEEN "conservatives" 40 years ago. Today the GOP is so far to the right that anything NEAR the center is going to seem to have a "liberal bias".

Reagan today would not be allowed to get near a GOP convention. Not after calling for "full amnesty" and raising taxes 11 times.

And can you imagine if it was discovered that Michelle Obama was following psychics and holding seances in the White House?

 
At 8:51 PM, Anonymous James Hanson said...

I've been thinking.

Dan Rather and Brian Williams have enough money to start a new cable TV show.

"The Leaning Forward Liberal Liars" sounds like a good name for the new show.

Also, I think the Rev "Tawana Brawley" Sharptoon should be NBCs new anchor.

Boston may have the coldest winter on record. The Global Warming fanatics must be peeing their pants with that news.

Just Say'n.

 
At 9:10 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Given that Rather told the TRUTH about Bush's military record and that Williams merely embellished in an interview a story he'd told factually a dozen years before, I think conservatives MIGHT want to look at the glass house they are living in.

Fox news lies as a matter of policy. They are the only network ever to petition the courts for the right to be liars.

 
At 11:19 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

It seems that the Republicans are on their way to losing the GW debate. They recently made the huge error of taking a vote and declaring GW is real for the first time.

Of course they did not say it was man made but how can they say that GW exists without accepting the science that brings them to that conclusion?

It is only a matter of time before the Conservatives are eating CROW.

 
At 11:27 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Mr. James Hansen,
I have NEVER stolen your name!
If you would like to get an idea who may have read the last 13 posts on Tom's previous thread (American Sniping). Read the exchange between me a poster who changes their name from Harry to Chuck and note how close the pattern of words are to the person who took your name. Note how when I figure out where the poster lives, they bale out run away.

Somethings that I have come to realize and that you might want to consider are
a poster may post inflammatory conservative things and be a liberal.
Example, the poster who claimed to be Caprice, saying she went on a date with Dumbya. I didn't post that, but the poster could have been liberal or conservative, just trying to stir up the pot.
Another example, the post at 8:51pm under your name.
I know that isn't yours, and I know I didn't do it, as I was at a class at the time it was posted. But I do know of a poster who lives around KC who I caught posting under the names of conservative posters, IE Harry, Chuck.
Ive explained before how to do this, by watching this link

http://counter25.bravenet.com/worldmap.php?id=393860&usernum=2085046221&service=counter&nocache=1418831155&big=1&count=

Which at this time shows Mozart has viewed this site, Dumbya hasn't in a while Rain has been and the person in Russia has been on all day.
I maybe a POS but not for the reason you think.

Now to Mozart.

Believe what you want you fool.
The Congress and the Majority of State Legislation's and Governorships are in the control of the GOP!

 
At 12:37 AM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

The Koch Bros own the GOP. Bought and paid for.

And the boy troll is getting desperate again.

It's fun to watch. Sad, but fun.

Who was that guy on American Idol that was so horrible? William Hung?

I think the guy who played "Alfalfa" on the old "little rascals" was the same way.

HORRIBLE to see him make a fool of himself, and you wondered if he knew he was so bad.

 
At 7:26 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Sore Asshole admits, "just trying to stir up the pot".

One of his favorite ways is to steal names. He's been doing this for years.

It's a typical Republican troll dirty tactic.

"Harry" and "Chuck" were frequently used by Sore Asshole.

He has used my name and many others too.

 
At 8:40 AM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 9:16 AM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Gee, why am I left out?

 
At 9:55 AM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Oddly enough it now looks like someone is impersonating SL as this is not his style. This site has to be important to him because he posts 7 days a week.

I don't think he would be too happy if all the Liberals totally ignored him and he was left with only his imaginary alter egos.

This site has one or more resident impediments that are Conservative in nature, just our bad luck.

 
At 11:12 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

James,
That Sore Loser sounds like Sore Asshole. Just because he says, "Stay classy", doesn't mean he can ever do so. He is a troll, after all.

Sore Asshole the Republican troll has serious anger issues, among other delusions common to Republican true believers.

He won't discuss issues, so here is his masters' agenda:

Here are just a few excerpts of the platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
• “We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
• “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
• “We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
• “We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
• “We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
• “We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
• “We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
• “We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
• “As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
• “We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
• “We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
• “We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
• “We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
• “We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
• “We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
• “We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
• “We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
• “We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
• “We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
• “We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
• “We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
• “We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
• “We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
• “We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
• “We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
• “We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”

 
At 12:20 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

NO, it sounds EXACTLY like the boy troll.

He's realizing that his arguments can't survive a fact check. He knows we realize he's a high school KID who's never lived in the REAL WORLD, and he's reacting like the petulant child he is.

And I DID "rot in Liberal Hell" It was called the Bush administration, where my job got outsourced, my 401K dropped nearly 80%, and a good friend got wounded in Iraq and now can't remember who anyone is much of the time.

NOW my 401 K has rebounded, and at least I have a healthcare plan I can afford. We are still working on my ex military friend getting HIS medical care taken care of. But guess who is blocking the funding?

(Hint: It's NOT Liberals)

 
At 6:23 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Tom., I have to apologize for losing my temper and disrespecting your blog. I will not swear here ever again.

 
At 7:44 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

It's okay, James. Profanity is allowed. Just try to be kind to one another.

Cheers!

 
At 9:00 PM, Anonymous Harry Arsehole said...

Why can't we all just get along?

I know its been tough that Obama was supposed to be our Messiah and lead us to progressive utopia, but what a crock of shit he turned out to be.

I just can't believe what an incompetent leader he is.

We may lose 2016 because he has single-handedly destroyed the progressive brand.

Oh well, I am just going to smoke some really good pot and dream of progressive utopia.

 
At 9:42 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

I thinking smoking pot is a Liberal thing, Repubs like hard liquor so they never have to experience being mellow, reflective and introspective.

 
At 11:31 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

So the Boy troll has another name now.

Obama didn't destroy the "liberal Brand" and he's been AMAZINGLY successful given the unprecedented obstruction against him from the vindictive children in the GOP congress. He did say ONE correct thing, it's hard to believe Obama is incompetent. That's because he's not. Look what he's accomplished pretty much on his own.

 
At 11:44 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't understand why they decided to treat LBJ that way, it's simply not true.

 
At 12:44 PM, Anonymous Sully said...

The Obama campaign slogan may have been "Forward" but in reality the results of his two terms will have been nothing but "Backward". He, and his fellow "Progressives" should be renamed the "Regressives".

"Forward" is just lefty code for "more like Venezuela".

 
At 12:51 PM, Anonymous Sully said...

The Obama regime has demonstrated the astounding levels of incompetence which the federal government can attain.

It has demonstrated and confirmed, unwittingly, how intelligent and prescient our founding fathers were in mistrusting big, intrusive, government.

Now we just need to convince Obama's supporters, who look at him like Santa handing out free gifts, of this indisputable truth.

 
At 1:02 PM, Anonymous Sully said...

Not One Republican voted for the ObamaGruberCare law.

The Gruberized Democrats OWN 100% of this mess.

Let them reap the rewards of a SCOTUS ruling fully, then we can all sit together and form a plan going forward. But NOT UNTIL they have been made to eat several humble pies, first.

Let the first pie hit Nancy Pelosi square in her plastic looking botox face.

 
At 1:07 PM, Anonymous Progressive Utopian Dreamer said...

The Affordable Care Law is a MAJOR SUCCESS.
Millions of people have obtained insurance.
In states that have expanded Public Aid Insurance, MIILIONS of poor have received FREE health insurance.
This law is not a good thing, it is a GREAT THING.
Yes, there are problems. But ALL THE PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO REPUBLICANS.
Republicans in many red states have REFUSED to help their poor by expanding PUBLIC AID TO THE POOR. This is a disgrace.
Republicans have REFUSED to do routine tweaks to the law to make it work better.
The president has done good and helped the law with many executive orders, but REPUBLICAN RACIST HATE AGAINST HIM PERSONALLY has led to them making this GREAT LAW the target of their VILE HATE.
In 2016 Republicans will be SWEPT OUT OF OFFICE once and for all and WE THE PEOPLE can finally get the health care we DEMAND.
GOD BLESS YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!

 
At 2:45 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

As usual, political ignorance is rampant and epidemic on the Conservative side. They begrudge the poor and the middle class something so basic as health care.

About 15 Red state Governors has refused FREE medical care to 5 million poor people, a decision based on idealogical idiocy.

It will cost those states billions in lost productivity, emergency room visits, medical bankruptcies and so no.

Sully does not even know or care about the really bad things Obama does because all those policies are supported be the Republican party.

 
At 2:48 PM, Anonymous Sully said...

President Obama is currently in California (20th trip since becoming President).

A good thing his $32,400 per person fund-raiser in Pacific Heights won't have any of the hated "1%" in attendance, since that would be hypocritical and crack the rose colored "Hope And Change" glasses of his kool-aid drinking followers.

 
At 3:13 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

We all know Stephen Colbert said “Reality has a well-known liberal bias”.

For the indoctrinated fools who think Obama is a Marxist Kenyan socialist commie.

When George W. Bush left office:

Stock Market Closing Prices - January 20, 2009

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) Close - 7949.09 Down 332.13
Nasdaq Stock Market Close - 1440.86 Down 88.47
S&P 500 Close - 805.23 Down 44.89


This week:

Stock Market Closing Prices – February 13, 2015

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) Close – 18017 Up 44.26
Nasdaq Stock Market Close – 4891 Up 34
S&P 500 Close – 2096 Up 7.70

Looks like we need more Socialism.

 
At 4:57 PM, Anonymous Chuck said...

Dave Dubya,

We know Bill Clinton lied about having sexual relations with that woman Miss Lewinsky.

But Did Bill Clinton lie in 1998 about Iraq having WMD?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Liberation_Act

 
At 5:18 PM, Anonymous Chuck said...

I don't like Bill Clinton at all, but I can't wait to vote for his wife. She's a million times better than any of the klowns the GOP can throw up at us.

 
At 5:38 PM, Anonymous The Real Chuck said...

LOL Dave Dubya,

Don't you feel like a DICKHEAD claiming Bush lied about WMD in Iraq but not Clinton who made the claim in 1998?

LOL on the crickets and Saul Alinsky deflection when asked about Bill Clinton's Iraq Liberation Act in 1998 which claimed Iraq had WMD.

Bwaaaaaack Buck Buck, Bwaaaaaack Buck Buck, Bwaaaaaack Buck Buck!

 
At 5:38 PM, Anonymous JJ said...

Sore Loser is busier than a two-peckered billy goat. How did he stumble on this blog, and why did he decide to stay?

 
At 5:56 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

We know Clinton lied. Nobody died.

We know Bush lied. Hundreds of thousands died, along with endless war and trillions of debt.

Truth. Chicken Chuckie better run from it.

Just like he runs from this:

When George W. Bush left office:

Stock Market Closing Prices - January 20, 2009

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) Close - 7949.09 Down 332.13
Nasdaq Stock Market Close - 1440.86 Down 88.47
S&P 500 Close - 805.23 Down 44.89

This week:

Stock Market Closing Prices – February 13, 2015

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) Close – 18017 Up 44.26
Nasdaq Stock Market Close – 4891 Up 34
S&P 500 Close – 2096 Up 7.70

Looks like we need more Socialism.

Now watch Chicken Chuckie the Sore Asshole run from his masters and servants of mammon agenda, the platform that David Koch ran on in 1980.

See above.

Someone is very afraid to defend his true ideology.

No wonder he'd rather talk about the Clintons. Or me.

 
At 5:58 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Given that A: Bush Sr. ordered Hussein to "get rid of his WMD's" after the first gulf war, as a condition of staying in power, and B: Bush had inspectors over there AFTER Clinton was in office who found NOTHING,(Bush pulled them out and did not make the findings public until later) I'd think that maybe...just MAYBE Hussein complied.

Of course, these facts will be lost on those in the "Bubble" who desperately try to vindicate Bush.

 
At 6:01 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Besides, Clinton has been out of office longer than Bush. Why does Bush get a "pass" on HIS lies and ineptitude because "he's not the President anymore", but Clinton who was a MUCH better president is still open to criticism?

 
At 6:01 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

SL likes the attention he gets here, he would just be one of the crowd at Redstate.

 
At 6:06 PM, Anonymous Jerry Claiborne said...

"Sam Cunningham did more for integration in sixty minutes than Martin Luther King did in twenty years."[1]

 
At 6:46 PM, Anonymous Confused Progressive said...

OK, Since Bill Clinton and George Bush both lied about Iraq possessing WMDs, what should I tell people about Saddam gassing the Kurds?

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

"The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians.[1][2] Thousands more died of complications, diseases, and birth defects in the years after the attack.[3] The incident, which has been officially defined as an act of genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq,[4] was and still remains the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history.[5]

The Halabja attack has been recognized as a separate event from the Anfal Genocide that was also conducted against the Kurdish people by the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein.[6] The Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as an act of genocide on March 1, 2010, a decision welcomed by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The attack was also condemned as a crime against humanity by the Parliament of Canada.[7]"


Should I say the gassing of the Kurds was done by Weapons of Mass Destruction or Weapons of Minor Destruction?

Dave Dubya and James Hansen, can you respond to these facts or will I just hear crickets?

 
At 7:07 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

SH got those weapons from us. He had WMD in 88, by 92 they were almost all gone or useless.

I remember a senor admin official say about the gassing of the Kurds " He is a bastard, but he is our bastard"

Who was president in 88 when this happened?

 
At 7:23 PM, Anonymous Halabja Iraq WMD survivor said...

It was a beautiful spring day. As the clock approached 11:00 in the morning, I felt a strange sensation; my heart convulsed as if it were telling me that we were on the verge of a major calamity. Within minutes, artillery rounds began to explode in Halabja and planes began dropping bombs on the town. The bombing was concentrated on the northern neighborhoods, so we ran and hid in our basement. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, as the intensity of the bombing wound down, I carefully sneaked out of the basement to the kitchen and carried food to my family. When the bombing stopped, we began to hear noises that sounded like metal pieces falling on the ground. But I didn’t find an explanation.
I saw things that I won't forget for as long as I live. It started with a loud strange noise that sounded like bombs exploding, and a man came running into our house, shouting, 'Gas! Gas!' We hurried into our car and closed its windows. I think the car was rolling over the bodies of innocent people. I saw people lying on the ground, vomiting a green-colored liquid, while others became hysterical and began laughing loudly before falling motionless onto the ground. Later, I smelled an aroma that reminded me of apples and I lost consciousness. When I awoke, there were hundreds of bodies scattered around me. After that I took shelter again in a nearby basement and the area was engulfed by an ugly smell. It was similar to rotting garbage, but then it changed to a sweet smell similar to that of apples. Then I smelled something that was like eggs.
When you hear people shouting the words 'gas' or 'chemicals' -- and you hear those shouts spreading among the people -- that is when terror begins to take hold, especially among the children and the women. Your loved ones, your friends, you see them walking and then falling like leaves to the ground. It is a situation that cannot be described -- birds began falling from their nests; then other animals, then humans. It was total annihilation. Whoever was able to walk out of the town, left on foot. Whoever had a car, left by car. But whoever had too many children to carry on their shoulders, they stayed in the town and succumbed to the gas.[8]

 
At 7:24 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...


Read this article, get more informed and stop being a damn wuss.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-nafeez-mosaddeq-ahmed/iraq-war-anniversary-seven-myths_b_2766643.html

 
At 7:29 PM, Anonymous Chuck said...

"SH got those weapons from us. He had WMD in 88, by 92 they were almost all gone or useless."

Really?

Why didn't Bill Clinton know this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Liberation_Act

Stick your revisionist history and head back up your progressive Arse James.

 
At 7:52 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Don't you know how to spell ass?

 
At 8:03 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Chuck, I read your link and you did not! And you did not read my link which is basically an extension of your link.

Nothing I said is disputed in Wiki. If you will not read my links, don't post any links to me.

 
At 11:10 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Here are those "crickets" again.

We know Clinton lied. Nobody died.

We know Bush lied. Hundreds of thousands died, along with endless war and trillions of debt.

Truth. Chicken Chuckie better run from it.

Just like he runs from this:

When George W. Bush left office:

Stock Market Closing Prices - January 20, 2009

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) Close - 7949.09 Down 332.13
Nasdaq Stock Market Close - 1440.86 Down 88.47
S&P 500 Close - 805.23 Down 44.89

This week:

Stock Market Closing Prices – February 13, 2015

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) Close – 18017 Up 44.26
Nasdaq Stock Market Close – 4891 Up 34
S&P 500 Close – 2096 Up 7.70

Looks like we need more Socialism.

Now watch Chicken Chuckie the Sore Asshole run from his masters and servants of mammon agenda, the platform that David Koch ran on in 1980.

See above.

Someone is very afraid to defend his true ideology.

No wonder he'd rather talk about the Clintons. Or me.

 
At 11:46 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Dave, I have read of how the various studies were done to compile the Iraq death statistics and most of them deeply flawed.
Some were simply counting the deaths in the obituaries section of the newspapers. Like that is going to be accurate in a war torn country! Or half ass phone surveys, that is how the 100.000 number got created.

The most rigorous, dangerous and scientifically accurate survey was done door to door by the John Hopkins University.
They came up with a million deaths in Iraq. Nobody likes that number because that means a couple of hundred thousand kids were killed by Bush/Chaney. All for nothing.

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/deathcount/explanation

 
At 12:29 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

James,
I state "hundreds of thousands" because it is inarguable. I don't doubt the count is near a million.

I can't prove the number in millions, but hundreds of thousands should suffice. It's still one of the worst war crimes since the Second World War.

I know the death toll from Bush's war crimes will never be accurately counted. One reason is the war never ended. Since the invasion, Iraq has been in an ongoing state of civil war.

IS in Iraq is the spawn of Bush's destruction of the country.

I wish Obama had the sense to leave the mess to those it impacts the most, but too many corpo-dems and practically all Republicans want endless futile war.

It always has been good for crony business interests.

Greed is their god and war is their sacrament. IS has a long way to go to match their body count.

 
At 4:08 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Another embarrassing fact for Republicans, IF they had any sense of shame, which we know doesn’t exist in their cult.
Slower Premium Growth Under Obama

The Republican National Committee took to Twitter before Obama gave his State of the Union address to spread this statistic: “Under Obama, Average Family Premiums Have Increased $4,154.”

The RNC may cast it as bad news, but it’s an improvement compared with the growth in premiums before Obama took office.

Under Bush, the average family premiums (including both what employers and employees pay) went up $4,677 in his last six years in office, from 2002 to 2008, an increase of 58 percent. That $4,154 growth under Obama is a 33 percent increase. If we look at Bush’s first six years, the discrepancy gets even bigger: From 2000, the year before Bush was first inaugurated, to 2006, the average family premium went up $5,042, or an increase of 78 percent.

 
At 4:52 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

I like how the GOP congress has called Obama a "dictator" and yet when it comes to war they want to INCREASE his power. Maybe it's because they think they can win a national election.

Reality has been different. They hae already been caught stealing a presidential election and the public won't be so easy on them next time. Maybe that's why, now that they have gerrymandered the house districts to the point that it will be be nearly impossible to unseat them, they want to eliminate the Electoral college and have the POTUS chosen by...wait for it...HOUSE DISTRICTS.

All that aside, they want to give Obama unlimited power to wage war, all the while undermining any authority he has to do anything for the American people (other than the 1% of course)

Go figure.

 
At 5:31 PM, Anonymous The Real Chuck said...

Dave Dubya @3:13 PM and 11:10 PM

As usual your comments seem to emanate from an alternate reality.

To state the country is in great shape is to be wearing blinders or just plain ignorant of the facts.

After 6 plus years of Obama the economic growth limps by at 3%, the real unemployment is near 11% (the labor participation rate is at Jimmy Carter levels), job growth has not kept pace with those entering the work force and they are part-time or low paying jobs to boot.

You may point out a rising stock market, but after 6 plus years of zero interest rates and quantitative easing there is no place to park money other than the stock market which only ensures the despised 1% get richer.

I know you are clueless about quantitative easing and how easy it is to create electronic money by the central planners.

All I can say is stop chugging the Progressive kool-aid, you make a fool of yourself.

 
At 5:52 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Real Sore Asshole Chuckie claims:

As usual your comments seem to emanate from an alternate reality.

Pure projection.

To state the country is in great shape is to be wearing blinders or just plain ignorant of the facts.

Thanks for the straw man.

And the proof of his "alternate reality" projection. Nobody stated such a thing.

The facts stand.

Distractions are all he has to offer.

He fears to openly embrace his masters' agenda, so he must attack me, or any non-Republican.

Note there is no support, denial or even discussion, of his radical agenda that I posted.

Chicken Chuckie hasn't changed.

 
At 9:19 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

If the boy troll is so upset over the "slow growth" (at least it isn't in a fast decline like when Bush left) maybe he should ask himself how much faster it would be growing had the GOP congress not been acting like vindictive children, obstructing every effort to improve it.

 
At 10:55 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Dave, that list you posted has to be the most treasonous agenda that could possibly be made up.

That is why SL can not defend it, but he still supports that agenda.

The mind of a Conservative defies logic and coherence, it must be a genetic thing.

 
At 5:41 PM, Anonymous JJ said...

Lesley Gore -- who exploded on the music scene with "It's My Party" -- has died.
Gore, who followed her 1963 hit with a string of huge songs, including "Judy's Turn to Cry," "You Don't Own Me," "Maybe I Know," "She's a Fool" and "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows," also composed songs for the movie "Fame" in 1980. Gore was nominated for an Academy Award for one of the songs, "Out Here on My Own."
Quincy Jones discovered Gore when she was a teen and guided her to spectacular success.
Gore used one of her songs, "You Don't Own Me," as an anthem for reproductive rights during the 2012 Presidential election.
Gore was openly gay and leaves behind a partner, Lois Sasson.
We're told she died in a NYC hospital following a battle with lung cancer.
JJ

 
At 2:21 AM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

MSNBC’S Ed Schultz says we must consider GROUND TROOPS in ‘religious war’ against ISIS.

EMBARRASSING: New York Times blames Scott Walker for education cuts that happened BEFORE he was Governor!

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ Oscar-nominated blockbuster “American Sniper” continues to make cinema history, crossing $300 million at the domestic box office today. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

A Majority Of Americans Think Obama’s Handling Of ISIS Is REALLY Bad…

Keith Ellison (D – MN) "Why Do People Even Have To Register To Vote?"

TIME’s Joe Klein Compares Brian Williams To FDR…

Judge STOPS Obama’s Executive Order Amnesty!!
Feb 17, 2015 12:47 AM

The official sign-up season for President Barack Obama’s health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties DESERVE (?) a second chance.

Three senior House members told The Associated Press that they plan to strongly urge the administration to grant a special sign-up opportunity for uninsured taxpayers who will be facing fines under the law for the first time this year.

The lawmakers say they are concerned that many of their constituents (IE people so dumb they keep electing these three liberal idiots to get the free stuff they were promised) will find out about the penalties after it’s already too late for them to sign up for coverage, since open enrollment ended Sunday.

The three senior Dem House liberals who didn't read the bill before they passed it are,
(Michigan’s Sander Levin, Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott,of Washington, and Lloyd Doggett of Texas. All worked to help steer Obama’s law through rancorous congressional debates from 2009-2010.)

LOOKS LIKE THEY FINALLY READ THE BILL AND FOUND OUT WHAT IS IN IT!

Suckers!

 
At 8:42 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

So why doesn't Sore Asshole want to discuss all the "Freedom" in his masters' agenda?

Like I said, distractions.

 
At 11:12 AM, Anonymous JJ said...

Tom Tomorrow said it best:

"If M.L.K. were alive today, right-wingers would be releasing fake videos and ginning up stupid controversies and generally doing everything possible to discredit and destroy him. M.L.K. advocated national healthcare and a guaranteed income for all Americans. He was an anti-war radical and considered America 'the greatest purveyor in the world today.' Tea partiers want to portray Obama as a socialist? As my friend Roy Edroso says 'Compared to M.L.K. Obama looks like Barry Goldwater!'

http://thismodernworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TMW2010-09-08colorlowres.jpg

 
At 11:15 AM, Anonymous JJ said...

M.L.K. quote:

"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I can not be Silent."

 
At 2:07 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Dumbya, what you don't seem to understand or maybe are incapable of grasping is the results of the last two midterm elections prove that the voters either don't believe your lies or they want the agenda you say is the GOP's.

In a Telemundo interview in September 2013, Mr. Obama said he was proud of having protected the “Dreamers” — people who came to the United States illegally as young children — from deportation. But he also said that he could not apply that same action to other groups of people."If we start broadening that, then essentially I’ll be ignoring the law in a way that I think would be very difficult to defend legally,” Mr. Obama told Jose Diaz-Balart in the interview. “So that’s not an option."


JJ,
Why am I not surprised that the source for your lies is a comic strip published in 2010?
With Jon Stewart leaving the Daily Show, now who is going to be your source of the news Mallard Fillmore (http://mallardfillmore.com/)?

 
At 2:12 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

So why doesn't Sore Asshole want to discuss all the "Freedom" in his masters' agenda?

Like I said, distractions

 
At 5:41 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Dumbya,
I've got better things to do with my time than to discuss your lies.

 
At 6:00 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Run, SA, run! See SA run.

He even runs from substantiating his false accusation, like the bully and coward he is.

It's the Right thing to do, far, far, Right.

He is a Koch-sucker to the core.

 
At 6:06 PM, Anonymous FDR said...

sore loser

keep cashing those social security checks.

 
At 6:38 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

If SL does not want to play anymore we have a big problem because he is the the most important Conservative here.

You can not have an argument with out an opponent.

Maybe we can all turn down the hostilities so the game can continue.

 
At 7:23 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Don't worry, Sore Asshole will be around, using multiple IDs and stolen names, like he has been doing for years.

 
At 11:44 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

And you Dumbya will continue to spread lies. I will not waste my time on them or you.
It wouldn't surprise me if YOU were stealing Mr. James Hansen's name, hoping he would blame a Conservative poster.
Dumbya you have used fake names before, you have admitted same.
Since you believe the ends justified the means, why wouldn't you steal Mr. James Hansen's name? Can you prove you are not the scum who stole Mr. James Hansen's name? Then you must be the thief.

Thanks Mr. James Hansen but no thanks for the suggestion to turn down the hostilities towards me. It exposes the lack of IQ of those that are hostile and shows beyond a doubt they can't form an convincing argument without the use of ad hominem, lies and slander. Their words speak for them quite clearly.

But enough about Dumbya, what's your take Mr. James Hansen on this?

Registered voters in Georgia overwhelmingly oppose amnesty when asked about immigration’s impact on American jobs, according to a new poll.

Ninety percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Democrats said that Americans “should get the future jobs in Georgia” prior to the hiring of foreign workers.

Only 5.3 percent of Republicans say jobs should go to the cheapest workers, either Americans or foreign. This compares to 12.8 percent of Democrats and 16.2 percent of independents who say the same.

Those answers contradict the conventional media portrayal of GOP voters as anti-worker, and highlight the growing GOP FOCUS ON THE LOWER-INCOME WORKERS WHO STRONGLY OPPOSE WAGE CUTTING IMMIGRATION. That populist trend helped businessman David Purdue win his Senate seat in 2014, despite his conflict with the state’s Chamber of Commerce.

Does this fall onto line with the Federal Judges ruling today about the legality of Obama's immigration executive action?

After all the President said “The notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true.”. Yet that is what he has done, not only to immigration laws, but the ACA several times as well.

Many people, including Barack Obama circa 2010, would claim that what the President is doing is illegal. His job is to enforce all the laws that congress passes. Not just the ones he likes. Obama has justified his actions be referring to powers like selective enforcement (and prosecutorial or enforcement discretion). Selective enforcement refers to the power of government officials to decide if and how to punish people that commit crimes.

Or am I a racist Nazi Koch brother bought and paid, greedy, worshiper of money for having brought this question up?

 
At 8:15 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Proven again.

Distractions are all Sore Asshole has to offer.

He fears to openly embrace his masters' agenda, so he must attack me, or any non-Republican.

Note there is no support, denial or even discussion, of his radical agenda that I posted.

Run, SA, run! See SA run.

He even runs from substantiating his false accusation, like the bully and coward he is.

It's the Right thing to do, far, far, Right.

He is a Koch-sucker to the core.

 
At 3:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"6,000 pastors were asked how they would counsel women who came to them for help with domestic violence. Twenty-six percent would counsel them ... to continue to "submit" to her husband, no matter what. Twenty-five percent told wives the abuse was their own fault—for failing to submit in the first place.

"Astonishingly, 50 percent said women should be willing to "tolerate some level of violence" because it is better than divorce."

 
At 5:53 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

The leader in the race to replace retiring U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in America’s most liberal state is… Republican Condoleezza Rice, according to a new Field Poll released Wednesday. Rice, the former Secretary of State and Stanford don, is backed by 49% of voters–ahead of Attorney General Kamala Harris, the liberal Democrat who was the first to declare.

RUN CONDI, RUN! Continue the sweep of the radical progressives from power!

Representative loudmouth Gutierrez said that Republicans can expect much more militancy from illegal alien advocates after the ruling against Obama’s...
Another "peaceful radical progressive has his say, violence is our way of hope and change. Even if Obama said 22 times before before that his most current executive order was illegal and breaking of the law, it's the GOP's fault. Go figure.

The real goal of climate change believers is exposed.
Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism.

“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” she said.

Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”

That economic system has created more wealth, and consequently lifted more people out of poverty, than would be conceivable without it. Wealth creates independence. Consequently, authoritarians (Radical Progressives) are not fond of economic liberty a.k.a. capitalism.

Obama's administration believes that the best way to defeat ISIS is not with the Marine Corps but with the Jobs Corps. How I come I don't feel as safe now as I did in 2008?

 
At 6:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Somehow, being a lying incompetent has hurt Condi even less than the rest of the Bush Fail Parade of War Criminals.

But it sounds from the article like it was more of an informal “could you imagine voting for this person” canvass than an actual poll. Condi has better name recognition than Harris or any of the other potential Dem candidates.Rice still not interested in Senate. From evidence available from her career, that makes sense to me: if she tried, or was forced to by her limitations, to slide by doing very little work with less thought, Senate seat repping CA would be unpleasant experience.

 
At 8:01 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Bush Fail Parade of War Criminals?

HAHAHAHAH!

 
At 8:18 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Allahu Akbar Dave,

Here in the Boston area where snowfalls are breaking historical records, we are losing many of our followers of the Global Warming Religion.

They have had enough of the cold and snow and now believe global warming research units like the University of East Anglia just make up phoney data like that hockey stick and can stick it up their ass.

 
At 8:27 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Did someone actually say that Gobal Warming is a hoax because it got cold?

Really?

 
At 8:29 PM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

In an exhibition of epic hypocrisy, 1,700 private jets flew to Davos to discuss "the perils of climate change".

I'll believe its a crisis when the people who tell me its a crisis start acting like it is a crisis.

 
At 8:40 PM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

The big 3 mainstream networks devoted 64 minutes to the Patriots and deflateGate.

Meanwhile, Obama frees 5 more Islam Terrorists from Gitmo so they could rejoin their brothers in Jihad against America, but total coverage by the big 3 combined was just 34 seconds!

Lets just be good "leaning forward" progressives and make believe that the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians did not have their heads chopped by those ISIS Islamic Terrorists!

 
At 8:52 PM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

Sore Loser,

I can't believe that the Progressive Utopia of California may replace Barbara Boxer with Condi Rice.

Looks like they believe with Condi that Iraq had WMDs just like Bill Clinton.

 
At 8:52 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

I'll believe its a crisis when the people who tell me its a crisis start acting like it is a crisis.

How about the Pentagon?

 
At 11:38 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

At this point in time denying climate change is for the abysmally uninformed cultist.

Conservatives are creating a religion of anti science and rigid ideology based on flim flam snake oil selling politicians.

They have a lot in common with believers in Voodoo. Their faith is strong enough to make deny reality and common sense.

In another decade or so they will be proved to be foolish and gullible. Putting their trust in right wing politicians is totally ridiculous!




























 
At 12:28 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

At this point in time denying climate change is for the abysmally uninformed cultist.

This is the Radical Right Bubble Cult.

Hope for Republicans on climate change?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/01/23/hope-for-republicans-on-climate-change/

 
At 8:40 AM, Anonymous FDR said...

Sore Loser,

Keep cashing those Social Security checks. I'm glad they're a comfort to your old age.

You're welcome!

 
At 8:41 AM, Anonymous LBJ said...

Sore Loser,

I'm glad Medicare is working out so well for you. Reagan was outraged, and did everything in his power to stop it when the law was passed.

You're welcome!

 
At 8:43 AM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

It's cold outside, therefore all those scientists around the world are lying about climate change. Except for those brave two percent of scientists who back me up. You know, the ones who are being paid by oil company "think" tanks.

 
At 9:32 AM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Dave, I knew that the Republicans finally agreed that GLOBAL WARMING is real but I did not know some of them said it is MAN MADE!

LOLOLOLOL!

I took a lot of shit from Conservatives on this issue for years here and on other sites so this is going to be sweet indeed!


Can you think of a bumper sticker that sums up this whole political fiasco? IF so, you can make a bundle selling them to Liberals every where.

 
At 9:45 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Rather than argue their time is being wasted, those claiming the debate is settled would be well-served by a little humility. When addressing deference to authority in science, Albert Einstein, a scientific authority of some renown, humbled himself by saying, 'Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.'"

-excerpt from article "The silencing of global warming critics" - Cory Franklin, Chicago Tribune



I realize it is a prerequisite to check your humility at the door before responding on this blog, but only the truly non-scientific person would chest pound with the hubris that many out here do regarding the global warming (or climate change) issue...

Believe it or not, there are some people out there who aren't philosophically predisposed one way or the other as to the validity of the claims. But, those of us who ARE in the science and technology field (I've found) tend to be a little more skeptical of an issue filled with political money on both sides and where junk science that matches the prescribed narrative is rewarded.

Certainly, if true, the potential consequences would warrant drastic policies. But, in reality, many of the measures we'd take are already in various stages of implementation/development - at least in the US and Western Europe. Whereas, the implication seems to be that anyone who would question the veracity of the prevailing climate change narrative is a smog-loving, nature-hating throwback to the dawn of the industrial revolution.

 
At 10:43 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

"The silencing of global warming critics" pales compared to the Bush Administration censoring NASA climate studies. Trust me, with Koch/Big Oil money and FOX(R) and talk radio blaring their propaganda, climate change critics are FAR from silenced. Who’s kidding whom?

Let’s see who really did the “silencing”.

Report: NASA appointees suppressed climate data

Political appointees at NASA headquarters deliberately downplayed scientific evidence documenting global warming for political reasons for more than a year, the agency's watchdog reported Monday.
Kevin Winters, NASA's assistant inspector general for investigations, outlined his findings in a 93-page report evaluating allegations that the agency's public affairs specialists suppressed climate change science and denied National Public Radio access to Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist.

Winters said his investigation found that NASA headquarters' public affairs specialists "managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public" from fall 2004 through early 2006.

Investigators, who interviewed 59 witnesses and reviewed 10,000 pages of documents, attributed the actions to "inappropriate political posturing or advantage."

 
At 11:05 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK. If you have convinced yourself that the world political & scientific communities are routinely silencing the climate change adherents (and by logical conclusion, promoting the skeptical or unconvinced), then we are living on different planets and cannot engage in meaningful discussion... as history bears out.

 
At 11:07 AM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Harley, if it were not for the immense amount of money spent by the fossil fuel companies over the past 15 years or so on lobbyist, scientist for hire, and mass media propaganda, this issue would not exist.

I do not come to this conclusion based on TV sound bites. I consider myself scientifically literate after reading hundreds of articles from a wide array of sources.

I feel the evidence of climate change is so ubiquitous as to be beyond dispute.
The idea that the planet has been cooling for the last 17 years is based on faith rather than facts.

2014 has been declared the warmest year since accurate temperature measurements were able to be made.

Do you believe this to be a deception by the scientific community? If not there has to be a reason and a cause behind it.

 
At 11:15 AM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

It's not like the day before yesterday a handful of scientists stood up and said "hey, there's this thing called global warming."

James Hansen (the NASA guy) was warning us about it in 1992.

Here's a clip from 1958, from the Bell Science Hour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lgzz-L7GFg

 
At 11:18 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

If you have convinced yourself that the world political & scientific communities are routinely silencing the climate change adherents...

This wasn't the point.

If right wing media were all we had, then such silencing would be happening.

Even Republicans are reluctantly accepting the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real.

Thawing tundra, receding glaciers, warming bleaching coral reefs, etc. supply abundant evidence. Not to mention those liberal socialist thermometers. ;-)

They will stonewall to the end that pollution is a contributing factor.

Why? Follow the money. The BIG money, not the piddling change climatologists get.

Human extinction is profitable...in the short term. And the short term bottom line is God to the funding sources of deniers.



 
At 11:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"2014 has been declared the warmest year since accurate temperature measurements were able to be made.

Do you believe this to be a deception by the scientific community? If not there has to be a reason and a cause behind it."

Yes, I think there is deception - whether intended or unintended. You have to unpack what "warmest" means and what "since accurate temperature measurements" means.

"Warmest" ostensibly means a comprehensive "world temperature complex" that no one could argue has even been measured the same way for the past half-decade. There is unsettled science in the veracity of the data that builds up the complex and whether there is precision from one year to the next. So, both the accuracy and precision of this figure are suspect. So, if a scientist tries to tell me with a straight face that there is no uncertainty there, I know he is either an idiot or is trying to deceive me.

"Since accurate temperature measurements have been made" is another subject of concern. So, was there a single year when they've said "ok from now on, temp measurements are accurate"? If not, then were there years (decades, maybe) where temperature measurements were somewhat accurate but not as accurate as today? I personally am familiar with the modern evolution in process control technology and it has been drastic over the past 30 years.

So, was 2014 relatively a very warm year in recent history - I could buy that. And, of course there has to be a reason behind it. The charge that is made is that man-made factors have not only impacted the climate, but impacted to a degree beyond the planet's climatic control mechanisms to mitigate. In the last several years, the narrative has been modified from climate change to the certainty of imminent climatic extremes and planetary chaos in the relatively near future. Many even saying we are too late to do anything about it.

Those arguments presuppose more understanding than they have.

And, by the way, I do believe man-made factors as well as extreme natural events can and do impact the weather. I also believe that the climate changes very drastically over much longer periods of time as is borne out by historical records of cooling and heating periods.

But...
That was not the point of my post - not to convince you away from your belief. As with DD, if you are 100% convinced, OK by me. We likely won't find much common ground of debate. Some of us are not convinced, and many historical scientific giants would caution today's scientists from mistaking their advanced technological capacities as replacement for a sound scientific method.

 
At 11:55 AM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

How can you deny what fellow believers in man caused Climate Change say is their goal? And then blame GWB? OMG, I forgot, blaming GWB is one of the top 11 Radical Progressives excuses for anything.
Is there any sanity left on the Left?

"Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism.

“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” she said.

Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”

That economic system has created more wealth, and consequently lifted more people out of poverty, than would be conceivable without it. Wealth creates independence. Consequently, authoritarians (Radical Progressives) are not fond of economic liberty a.k.a. capitalism."

Mean while we have a President who says 22 times it would be against the law for him to do something then turns around and does it. A President and his Party who refuses to use the name Islamic in conjunction with ISIS. Who claim that more jobs is what is needed to defeat ISIS, after claiming 2 years ago that ISIS was the JV!
A President who says "“Islam Has Been Woven Into The Fabric Of Our Country Since Its Founding”.
A President Who Refuses To Say “Islamic Extremism” Says We Can’t Stop Islamic Extremism If “We’re Always Trying To Be Politically Correct".

Who is the larger threat to our Constitution, to our freedoms, to our way of life, ISIS, the Tea Party, GWB, the GOP, or Christians? Some have said that when ISIS starts to behead us HERE they will believe that ISIS is a real threat. Are they blind to the beheading in OK last year? Are the blind to the Boston bombing?

Why do Radical Progressive HATE America so much that they are willing to ignore the threat to the USA in order to meet their agenda of fundamentally changing America?
Change brought about by the use of Climate Change laws to ignoring ISIS to claiming racism behind every tree.

 
At 12:19 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

That economic system has created more wealth, and consequently lifted more people out of poverty, than would be conceivable without it.

This from the guy blaming Obama for the Bush recession. Guess what? The failures of de-regulated capitalism are leaving their mark. Corporate written trade agreements, low paying and off shoring jobs are tools of the "Trickle up" elites. America's middle class is losing.

Still distracting.

Are the blind to the Boston bombing?

Asks someone blind to the Oklahoma Christian terrorist bombing.

We see Bush is entirely blameless again. LOL!

Shall I post Sore Asshole's radical agenda he refuses to acknowledge, deny or discuss?

 
At 12:21 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Bill O'Reilly agrees with ISIS. The Fox News host is calling the fight against these terrorists a "Holy War" - and he's calling for clerics to join him.

 
At 12:26 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Rush Limbaugh's favorite website has a theory: Barack Obama pointing upward was a "Muslim Gang Sign."

And these dolts want to control our country.

Just from today's Right Wing Watch:

Tony Perkins: Gay Rights Will Force Christians Into 'Involuntary Servitude'

Michael Savage: Obama Committing 'Medical Genocide' Through Measles Outbreak

John Hagee: Obama's Treatment Of Benjamin Netanyahu Will Cause God To Destroy America

Glenn Beck: The Measles Outbreak Is A 'Hoax' Meant To Convince People To 'Obey The Government'

Barton Claims That Obama Has Repeatedly Released Secret Israeli Intelligence To Benefit The Muslim Brotherhood

Fox News Pundit: Islamists Might Be “Embedded In The White House”

Gohmert: Apathetic Americans Letting Obama Turn US Into 'Totalitarian, Dictatorial Type Country'

Rick Wiles: Obama Will Seize Conservatives' Homes, Give Them To Immigrants

Beck: America 'Deserves To Be Destroyed' If It Preserves Net Neutrality

Bryan Fischer likened a Saudi cleric who rejects the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun to liberals who believe in climate change.

Liberals are absolutely anti-science when it comes climatology and global warming," Fischer said. "This is trait that they share in common with Islam. Our leaders on the left are almost as unscientific, almost as anti-science as the leaders of the movement of Islam".

William Gheen: Obama Will Give Immigrants 'Badges And Guns' To Go After 'Christian, Heterosexual Male' Population


There's your American far Right con-servatism on display.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think that the right is deliberately saying ridiculous things because it's so much hassle to refute them all, a few will stand uncorrected. Hmm...maybe I do know better..." - Tristero

 
At 12:27 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Let's add that global conspiracy of evil climate scientists to that list of nuttery.

 
At 2:45 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

What? Does this mean the solution to the War radical Islam has declared on and waging against us is NOT more "good paying jobs"?

"Uruguay’s president has accused six former Guantanamo Bay inmates of lacking a work ethic and being ‘middle class’ for refusing to get jobs since arriving in the South American country three months ago.

President Jose Mujica has appeared to criticise the men, who were locked up for more than 12 years in the American detainment camp in Cuba, saying they lacked a work ethic."

Amazing that our President who says that Christian terrorism is a problem, makes this claim.

"Obama Blames Islam Critics For Rise Of ISIS: “When People Spew Hatred – It Feeds Into Terrorist Narratives”, but not when the hatred spewed is against Christianity or Judaism!

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY JEH JOHNSON: We in the administration and the government should give voice to the plight of Muslims living in this country and the discrimination that they face. And so I personally have committed to speak out about the situation that very often people in the Muslim community in this country face. The fact that there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world and the Islamic faith is one about peace and brotherhood."

Yeah, sure, this ac BIG problem. See the above article from Uruguay.

Obama admin REFUSES to back Egypt ISIS attacks — “We are neither condemning nor condoning”

Why would Obama back Egypt, their bombing was in response to the slaughter of 21 Christians, who cares?

President Obama has unveiled his summit’s bumper sticker:
“Religions Don’t Kill People. People Killed People.”

I think I've read something like this before

 
At 3:03 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

" year since accurate temperature measurements were able to be made"

I was referring to about 1850 when weather records started being kept, Given they were not precise as instruments today but still fairly close.
On the other hand they could not produce a single ice cube back then and we can create absolute zero in a lab.
Our ability to correlate world wide temperature aggregates is getting better all the time. Ocean temperatures are even more reliable as they have much slower response times.

The beauty of climate science is that it incorporates many of the other earth sciences to corroborate the findings. We are not losing the worlds coral reefs because of colder oceans.
Green house gases are the smoking gun of climate change, their ability to hold heat is not in dispute at all.
And we produce them in prodigious quantities.

 
At 3:15 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Harley,

Remember when scientists told us eggs were bad for us?
Remember when scientists told salt was bad for us?
Remember when scientists told us coffee was bad for us?
Remember when scientists warned us about man caused global cooling?

I'd like scientists to tell us what mankind's part was in starting the ice age and what man's part was in bringing about it's end?

That's not to much too ask is it?

 
At 3:16 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

SL, we practiced 22 types of torture on these guys for 12 years and you are complaining that they have not joined the work place fast enough?
We paid 60,000 a head for "terrorist" that turned out to be farmers from Afgan warlords.
These guys should been set up for life for what we did to them and never have to work again.

 
At 3:18 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Green house gases are the smoking gun of climate change, their ability to hold heat is not in dispute at all.
And we produce them in prodigious quantities.


The RRBC thinks this is a conspiracy of of evil climate scientists.

Let’s have fun with Sore Asshole’s stupidity and hate:
Here are some statements from Presidents Obama and Bush. See if you can guess who said which.

1. “Ours is a war not against a religion, not against the Muslim faith. But ours is a war against individuals who absolutely hate what America stands for.”
2. “They’re terrorists. And we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.”
3. “Our war is not against Islam, or against faith practiced by the Muslim people. Our war is a war against evil.”
4. “Our enemy doesn’t follow the great traditions of Islam. They’ve hijacked a great religion.”
5. “Given the…nature of the enemy — which is not a traditional army — this work takes time, and will require vigilance and resilience.”
6. “The terrorists do not speak for over a billion Muslims who reject their hateful ideology.”
7. “The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself.”
8. “How do we, as people of faith, reconcile these realities — the profound good…the compassion and love that can flow from all of our faiths, operating alongside those who seek to hijack religious for their own murderous ends?”
9. “There are thousands of Muslims who proudly call themselves Americans, and they know what I know — that the Muslim faith is based upon peace and love and compassion.”
10. “This great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence.”

Sore Asshole’s answer would be, “If Bush said it it’s true, if Obama said it, he’s a terrorist.”

Sore Asshole won't answer. He is a coward, who flees from acknowledging, denying, or defending his agenda.

All he can do is spew hate for non-Republicans.

I hope he's well paid, or he really is a stupid fanatic.

 
At 3:22 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Harley,
Your pet troll needs you to deny the science with him.

In fairness you claim, like a good Republican, the science isn't "settled". They are changing their tune, though.

Your pet is a full flamed denier. Care to join him?

 
At 3:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't play childish games.

 
At 4:32 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Harley,
Good for you.

Would this qualify as a childish game?

Remember when scientists told us eggs were bad for us?
Remember when scientists told salt was bad for us?
Remember when scientists told us coffee was bad for us?
Remember when scientists warned us about man caused global cooling?

I'd like scientists to tell us what mankind's part was in starting the ice age and what man's part was in bringing about it's end?

That's not to much too ask is it?

 
At 4:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not really, no. Not in the same sense as your reply.

And, I've not "denied the science". I've questioned whether the prevailing narrative accurately represents the full body of scientific inquiry into the subject. And, whether the full body of science answers enough of the questions surrounding an extremely complex topic.

 
At 6:23 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Harley,
Yes, I mentioned "unsettled" as the Republican term for what you are saying. I'm thinking you sound like an energy company employee, just doing his job. Perhaps you are not, but the language seems similar.

At least you don't take the "It's only a theory" path to deceive like some do, oblivious or dismissive of what scientific theory really is.

Personally, I find the thawing tundra, receding glaciers, and warming and bleaching coral reefs to be unsettling.

Your fellow conservative Republican had this to say:

I'll believe its a crisis when the people who tell me its a crisis start acting like it is a crisis

He likely ignored my first response, so here it is, and it's not from a liberal hippie tree hugger.

Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change

The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises.

“The loss of glaciers will strain water supplies in several areas of our hemisphere,” Republican Defense Secretary Hagel said. “Destruction and devastation from hurricanes can sow the seeds for instability. Droughts and crop failures can leave millions of people without any lifeline, and trigger waves of mass migration.”


I also find this unsettling.

No childish games.











 
At 6:29 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

Remember when scientists told us eggs were bad for us?

Too many of them are bad for us. Cholesterol is bad.


Remember when scientists told salt was bad for us?

Too much salt IS bad for us. How's YOUR blood pressure?


Remember when scientists told us coffee was bad for us?

Too much coffee IS bad for you

Remember when scientists warned us about man caused global cooling?

Yes, it was a tiny group in the 70's that were denounced by the vast majority, who said the planet is WARMING.


I'd like scientists to tell us what mankind's part was in starting the ice age and what man's part was in bringing about it's end?

You really are stupid aren't you?

I'd like to find a conservative who doesn't let Fox noise, Rush Limbaugh and the Koch Bros do all his thinking for him.


That's not to much too ask is it?



 
At 6:37 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Harley,

That's my point exactly!

How can scientist who believe that man is causing climate change (formerly know as Global Warming), be 100% sure they are correct in light of their being wrong and or having changing their positions in the past? Why do those who dare to question this theory receive scorn by those who are at the same time ignoring the changes in past climate theory?

That is why I ask the question about what started and ended the Ice Age. Was that climate change due to the actions of mankind?

I recall the reaction and solutions to the former big thing, Global Cooling, are the same now as expressed by Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. To "change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” IE Capitalism. I believe it's not so much a desire to stop climate change by mankind as much as it is to end capitalism. Is that the TEAL driving force behind climate change theory?

Mr. James Hansen,

There has been a post made several times here by a frequent poster that goes like this, "if you don't want your head cut off, don't go to where ISIS is operating".
I will use the same argument for the GITMO prisoners, if you don't want to be held in GITMO or killed, don't attack America or its citizens or follow the parts of a religion that condom the killing of nonbelievers of that religion.

Just thought, do you think it would be "must see TV" to broadcast an interview between Hillary Clinton and Brian Williams sharing their experiences of being under enemy fire?

 
At 6:37 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Mozart, we have one of those here, his name is Harley.

 
At 6:56 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

SL, unlike you I have done vast amounts of reading about GITMO and at least five high ranking military officers stated only 10 percent of the prisoners of war belonged there. The rest were never on a battle field and were picked up without evidence.

The policy of torture is something that a lot of people need to pay a price for.

Hillary Clinton and Brian Williams are war mongers and it is nice to see at least one of them getting payback.

 
At 7:02 PM, Anonymous The Real Chuck said...

I'm very curious to hear Harley's opinion to the Pentagon's report on Global Warming. He/she is our resident open-minded centrist who believes the jury is still out. Just shows how successful the disinformation efforts by the coal companies and their representatives (taking their playbook from the tobacco companies, who had people doubting the connection between smoking and lung cancer - hell, even Saint Ronald Reagan did cigarette commercials) have been in clouding the issue.

 
At 7:11 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

SL, I have link for you to read about GW. If you do not read it I will kick your ass!

http://geology.utah.gov/maps-publications/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/ice-ages-what-are-they-and-what-causes-them/

 
At 7:23 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Now the question is whether Harley will answer his confused fellow conservative, or leave him in his cesspool of ignorance and twisted logic.

Why is that some fools continue to ignore the fact many Gitmo prisoners have been held with zero evidence of guilt, and some on just the word of Afghan rivals?

The US can't ever give them a fair trial.

And let's not forget the paranoia:

I believe it's not so much a desire to stop climate change by mankind as much as it is to end capitalism.

He probably believes Obama is coming for our guns.

Run!

 
At 7:23 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Crickets for the Pentagon...

 
At 8:39 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

Allahu Akbar Dave!

I may not be a Global Warming Scientist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

My vast ACORN experience is adequate experience for being an overzealous Global Warming Fanatic. Some people cling to guns and their bible, I cling to a thermometer and a copy of Das Kapital.

We need to get aggressive in Gruberizing the weather data for our cause which is take control over the people and to destroy Capitalism. We are now near the historical stage where the Proletariat rises up against the 1 percenters and Capitalism collapses!

 
At 8:46 PM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

And will the real name stealer stand up. Thanks for revealing yourself Chuck.

 
At 8:49 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

War on Women?

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s office offered to change her position on medical marijuana if a major Florida donor recanted his withering criticism of her, according to emails obtained by POLITICO.

The proposal to Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan was straightforward: retract critical statements he made to a reporter in return for Wasserman Schultz publicly backing his cannabis initiative that she had trashed just months earlier. Morgan declined the offer with a sharp email reply sent to a go-between, who described the congresswoman as being in a “tizzy.”

“No,” Morgan responded. “She is a bully. I beat bullies up for a living.”

Or is this just finding out what it costs to get Debbie Wasserman Schultz to vote your way?


Mr.James Hansen, I am not the source of the posts using your name after you post of 6:56, I hope you can see that.
Hillary Clinton and Brian Williams are war mongers agreed but I would add that they are certified liars as well

 
At 9:21 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Mr. James Hansen,

Thanks for the link about the Ice Age. As I have read it, I no longer live in fear of you whooping my ass!

I find it interesting that the cause of the start of and the end of the ice Age (MAJOR climate change) was not caused by the actions of humans.

It is insightful that according to this study we are currently in a warm interglacial that began about 11,000 years ago, something the folks in Boston would say is a lie, but hey, that's what U-haul is for.

What causes an ice age and glacial-interglacial cycles? Many factors contribute to climate variations, including changes in ocean and atmosphere circulation patterns, varying concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and even volcanic eruptions. The following discusses key factors in initiating ice ages and the timing of glacial-interglacial cycles.

One significant trigger in initiating ice ages is the changing positions of Earth’s ever-moving continents, which affect ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns. When plate-tectonic movement causes continents to be arranged such that warm water flow from the equator to the poles is blocked or reduced, ice sheets may arise and set another ice age in motion.

Wow, the actions of humans have nothing to do with the start of an ice age.

Do ice ages come and go slowly or rapidly? Records show that ice ages typically develop slowly, whereas they END more ABRUPTLY. Glacials and interglacials within an ice age display this same trend. Again, humans have not caused these changes.

THIS IS A SCARY PARAGRAPH!
On a shorter time scale, global temperatures fluctuate often and rapidly. Various records reveal numerous large, widespread, abrupt climate changes over the past 100,000 years. (can't blame the Kochs, the GOP or GWB for those) One of the more recent intriguing findings is the remarkable speed of these changes. Within the incredibly short time span (by geologic standards) of only a few decades or even a FEW YEARS, global temperatures have fluctuated by as much as 15°F (8°C) or more.

For example, as Earth was emerging out of the last glacial cycle, the warming trend was interrupted 12,800 years ago when temperatures dropped dramatically in only several decades. A mere 1,300 years later, temperatures locally SPIKED as much as 20°F (11°C) WITHIN JUST SEVERAL YEARS. Sudden changes like this occurred at least 24 times during the past 100,000 years. In a relative sense, we are in a time of unusually stable temperatures today—how long will it last?

No where in this scientific study does it blame any of these changes on the actions of humans.

Now let's take a step back and examine once again the statement made by Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. To "change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” IE Capitalism. I believe it's not so much a desire to stop climate change by mankind as much as it is to end capitalism. Is that the REAL driving force behind climate change theory?

THANK YOU MR. JAMES HANSEN FOR HAVING THE GUTS TO POST THIS SCIENTIFIC REPORT THAT EXPLAINS TO A GREAT DEGREE (no pun intended) WHAT IS CAUSING OUR CURRENT CHANGE(if there really is a change) IN CLIMATE! IE The effects of the ice age on our current global climate.

You sir, are a honorable, honest liberal worthy of respect in our debates. I tip my hat to you!

 
At 9:39 PM, Anonymous Gary Panos said...

Do you get paid by the word?


"NPR media reporter David Folkenflik writes in his forthcoming book Murdoch's World that Fox News' public relations staffers used an elaborate series of dummy accounts to fill the comments sections of critical blog posts with pro-Fox arguments.

In a chapter focusing on how Fox utilized its notoriously ruthless public relations department in the mid-to-late 00's, Folkenflik reports that Fox's PR staffers would "post pro-Fox rants" in the comments sections of "negative and even neutral" blog posts written about the network. According to Folkenflik, the staffers used various tactics to cover their tracks, including setting up wireless broadband connections that "could not be traced back" to the network.

A former staffer told Folkenflik that they had personally used "one hundred" fake accounts to plant Fox-friendly commentary."

 
At 9:51 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Yeah, someone is desperately attempting to DISTRACT from this:

Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change

The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises.

“The loss of glaciers will strain water supplies in several areas of our hemisphere,” Defense Secretary Hagel said. “Destruction and devastation from hurricanes can sow the seeds for instability. Droughts and crop failures can leave millions of people without any lifeline, and trigger waves of mass migration.”

 
At 10:07 PM, Anonymous Gary Panos said...

But... but... scientists told us that eggs are bad for us! How can we trust them??

 
At 11:49 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

BUT But But The Pentagon is ALWAYS right!

But But But, NPR is always right!

No Gary Panos I dont get paid for any of my posts, and what if I did?
Would it make any thing I posted wrong?

As I expected when a possible cause for climate change, global warming, global cooling other than humans is presented it is attacked not on it's merits, but because it effects the goal of Human caused climate change IE economic change.

If you have an issue with what I posted take it up with the scientists in Utah who explained the story behind the BIGGEST CLIMATE CHANGE in human history, the ICE AGE, not me. Oh BTW, I didn't provide the link, and neither did FOX news.
Just Google what caused the ice age if you want to start to understand "climate change".

David Folkenflik writes in his forthcoming book Murdoch's World, you meant the book that was published in 2013? That's real "forthcoming".

Now who is anti-science??

 
At 7:40 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

BUT But But The Pentagon is ALWAYS right!

And this blubbering response will convince them they're wrong???

Well, if they are so wrong, shouldn't we eliminate that wasteful entity altogether, or at least cut their funding by half. Reasonable?

I mean, if they're wrong, like the EPA, they gotta go, right?

Distractions.

 
At 8:14 AM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

MSNBC Cancels The Son Of Frank Sinatra, Ronan Farrow And Also Female Sharpton, Joy Reid Shows

Being replaced by ShamWow and Oxyclean infomercials, in an attempt to boost ratings.

Turkey, U.S. Sign Deal To Train And Arm Moderate Syrian Rebels, Harf Is Calling The Deal ‘A Jobs Program’.

Joe Biden In Columbia, SC Pushes $478 Billion Stimulus Redux Spending Plan For Roads, ISIS To Get Hiring Priority(LOL)

Obama: Americans Are “Obligated” To Condemn Religious Insults…

OBLIGATED? Sounds like another Obama executive order is in our future.

Jihadists Just Need Good Jobs

 
At 8:33 AM, Anonymous FDR said...

Sore Loser, I dedicate this link to you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUDVMiITOU

 
At 9:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I'm very curious to hear Harley's opinion to the Pentagon's report on Global Warming. He/she is our resident open-minded centrist who believes the jury is still out. Just shows how successful the disinformation efforts by the coal companies and their representatives (taking their playbook from the tobacco companies, who had people doubting the connection between smoking and lung cancer - hell, even Saint Ronald Reagan did cigarette commercials) have been in clouding the issue."


First, I haven't read the Pentagon's report on global warming. So, I have no comment. Neither have I read any "oil company propaganda" on the issue.

Second, you really aren't interested in my opinion on it - you are interested in being a smart ass. And, not a very clever one at that.

 
At 9:26 AM, Anonymous The Real Chuck said...

Harley, you haven't read the Pentagon's report on global warming. Nor have you read any (scare quote) oil company propaganda (end scare quote). But that doesn't keep you from spouting skeptical nonsense on Tom Degan's blog: " I've questioned whether the prevailing narrative accurately represents the full body of scientific inquiry into the subject. And, whether the full body of science answers enough of the questions surrounding an extremely complex topic."

How can you question, if you haven't educated yourself, Harley? Worried about offending your employer?

 
At 10:48 AM, Anonymous James Hansen said...

SL, I did not know it till now that Conservatives have a sense of humor!
The way you took a scientific synopsis of how Ice Ages start to releasing Man of any responsibility for GW was really funny.

By the way you did not have to work that hard on the link I sent you,I was only kidding about the ass kicking.

In order to get past this GW argument I will present it in a way all Conservatives can understand it.

" For the first time in the Earths long history, millions and billions of little bastards were running around killing everything in sight and digging shit out of the ground and spewing it in the air. The actions of the little bastards resulted in a huge die off and the Earth slowly reverted back to the paradise it once was. End of story.

Spread this around to all your Conservative friends so we do not have to ague this anymore.



 
At 12:10 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

"The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security"

So why are cons opposed to national security? Why do they hate America? They're siding with the terrorists.



 
At 12:35 PM, Blogger Mozart1220 said...

I like how the Boy Troll said, I dont get paid for any of my posts, and what if I did?
Would it make any thing I posted wrong? "

Think of how many times he's trashed Al Gore or climate SCIENTISTS for getting paid for their work. According to him, if THEY Make money they MUST be lying.

Does their getting paid make THEM wrong?

I won't hold my breath for an answer, since the boy troll is famous for avoiding questions he doesn't like the answers to.

 
At 1:42 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Mr. James Hansen,

Ok, so what?
If you have read the link you provided you would know that the current warm up has happened before with out the help of mankind, and that the changes in climate have nothing to do with what mankind is doing now, just as it had nothing to do with climate change in the past.
If you had read the reasons for climate change IE Ice Age, you would realize that the changes are totally out of the control of humans. The current climate change theory is based on measuring change over the past 150 years and saying the changes are because of the actions of mankind. This report says that is not the case.
But if you are determined to ignore geological history and good science, so be it, I'll let it go, and we can agree to disagree.

 
At 1:51 PM, Anonymous Sore Loser said...

Mozart, hows the weather out by Waucoma, IA today?

What's your take on the breaking news on Obama Care?

HHS Messed Up 800,000 Obamacare Tax Forms
Taxpayers received incorrect information about their subsidies.

The Obama administration says it sent about 800,000 HealthCare.gov customers the wrong tax information, and officials are asking those consumers to delay filing their 2014 taxes.

The tax error disclosed Friday is a self-inflicted injury that comes on the heels of what President Barack Obama had touted as a successful enrollment season, with about 11.4 million people signed up. It appears that more than half of people who are newly insured signed up for Medicaid.

6 million have not sign up for some form of insurance and will have to pay fines. Wonder why they didn't, do you know why Mozart, since this was such a great deal for Americans? Do you recall MOzart the claim that their were 30 million plus Americans with out any health insurance?
Do the math for me
11 million have signed up
plus
6 million who haven't
equals
30 million?

Obama Care's impact on Medicare.

"The Trustees of the Medicare program have released their annual report on the solvency of the program. They calculate that the program is “expected to remain solvent until 2024, the same as last year’s estimate.” But what that headline obfuscates is that Obamacare’s tax increases and spending cuts are counted towards the program’s alleged “deficit-neutrality,” Medicare is to go bankrupt in 2016. And if you listen to Medicare’s own actuary, Richard Foster, the program’s bankruptcy could come even sooner than that."

What is interesting is the links provided in the paragraph above to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now say Error: Page Not Found.

The Trustees, by saying that Medicare will go bankrupt in 2024, instead of 2016, are simultaneously saying that the program will increase the deficit by several hundred billion dollars. This is precisely the insight that Charles Blahous, one of the Medicare Trustees, explained in his recent report on the program.

Think of it this way: if supporters of the Affordable Care Act came clean, they would say one of two things: (1) Medicare is going bankrupt in 2016, but the CBO scores the ACA as deficit neutral; or (2) Medicare is going bankrupt in 2024, and Blahous’ score of the ACA as increasing the deficit by $300-500 billion is accurate.

Anyway Mozart, have your ACA premiums gone up for 2015 or are the filthy Koch brothers still subsidizing your health care?

If you run into Gary Panos anytime soon tell him HI for me.

 
At 2:51 PM, Anonymous Gary said...

Sore Loser, I just don't like the fact that money is taken out of my paycheck to pay for your social security. Sounds like socialism to me.

 
At 2:57 PM, Anonymous JJ said...

I know where you live, Sore Loser.

 
At 3:13 PM, Anonymous JJ said...

I used the link you shared with us, the one that tracks people's locations, and it revealed you are writing from Russia.

So, comrade.... all this conservative stuff you've been saying, is it all a clever communist trick to fool us?

 
At 4:45 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

But if you are determined to ignore geological history and good science, so be it, I'll let it go, and we can agree to disagree.

LOL!!! Projection. Yeah, Sore Asshole knows "good science" like Rush Limbaugh.

Why do cons oppose Pentagon security concerns? Why do cons hate America? Why do they side with the terrorists?

They love terrorists so much they ignore overwhelming scientific consensus to support the undermining of US security concerns.

It must be the great con-servative Jihad against America.

 
At 4:52 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Con-servative dilemma:

Do we cut the Pentagon budget because they believe the scientific consensus...or do we cut food stamps for hungry Americans whose jobs were off-shored by corporate written trade agreements?

Decisions, decisions.

I bet they'd prefer to cut food stamps no matter how wrong they think the Pentagon is.

"Values".

 
At 2:37 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Good Article
Images

 

Post a Comment

<< Home