Pangloss

Please please, no applause from the peanut gallery.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2009/01/06/obama_wants_journalist_for_sur.html?hpid=topnews Interesting choice. Gupta hosts a health program on CNN and is a frequent guest all over that network. The media is reporting it as the selection of a journalist for the job, which certainly had to be a major influence on the decision, but he certainly has his bona fides as well. Politically speaking, the most interesting aspect of the choice is that it will tick off some on the far left. It was Gupta who attacked Michael Moore over inaccuracies in Sicko, and CNN defended him right down the line, to the complete consternation of sickophantic Moorophites everywhere. (Queue Montgomery Burns voice.) Excellent.

Both of these statements are correct, actually. Hamas has enjoyed wide popular electoral support, and it seized power from Fatah in violation of a joint-rule agreement (after Fatah performed some pretty dubious coup-like moves of its own). Plummeted is not stopped, and I think the question of control is a debatable one. (And ultimately I don't think you know whether they can exert that control any more than I do.) When you leverage questionable reasoning to draw wild and extravagant claims like this, you undermine your own arguments by revealing your predisposition to judgment. Why even bother to post the rest of your argument? Just issue the fatwah and move on.

Actually Israel has been quite clearly stating that their goal is not regime change. They also support a Palestinian state.

He isn't. There was a story about other people Blago asked last week, though I don't have it in front of me at the moment. He went pretty far down the totem pole before arriving at Burris, as I understand it. There was more talk over the weekend about how the appointment is basically legitimate and should not be stoppable by the Senate. It's worth noting that this talk is not partisan in nature, and Republicans (though favoring a new election) are still supporting the Democrats on this. (They won't support Franken being seated either, and that's arguably partisan, but at least it's consistent.) I don't like it but the more I think about it the more I think they're probably right. He's the governor, that's it. Seat him and move on. Anyway the rumor mill has it that a compromise will allow that to happen. Buriss will be allowed to take the seat but only if he promises not to run again in 2010 (not enforcable, IMO), and only if the Illinois officials certify him (which they're not currently doing).

Oh no of course not. Voter fraud only happens when Republicans are winning.

Jimmy Carter likes to say that there can be no lasting agreement between two opposing peoples unless both of them win. In what way could both sides carve an acceptable victory out of the current situation? Clearly the Israelis are looking to stop the rocket attacks, so that's that side of it. What could the Palestinians receive at the moment that might convince them that stopping the rocket attacks is good for them?

It's interesting to me that when Coleman was ahead by 200-some votes there was firm conviction in the Franken camp that Franken had won. Now that Franken is ahead by 200-some votes there is -- surprise -- firm conviction in the Franken camp that Franken has won. I think it will be interesting to read independent, technical analysis on this after it's all said and done. If there's an actual basis for that conviction, and it's not just speculation or hunches based on voting region trends or whatever, then I want to know what it is.

Oh my god, it's the Flying Spaghetti Monster!!!! But seriously, it looks like normal munitions to me. They do make a lot of smoke. Just because the WTC towers fell vertically doesn't mean they were imploded. But nothing wrong with asking questions, of course.

Hypothetically speaking, I don't know that I buy such a sweeping generalization. For example, the surge in school enrollments during economic downturns is certainly familiar, and financial aid contributes to that, but it could still be accused of "extending" a downturn. I can only assume there are other, similar factors. Is it better to come out of a recession in July with 50 million people having done nothing for the past six months, or to come out of it in November with rebuilt roads, new college graduates, and low-cost housing ready to be snapped up? I don't think the question is easily answered.

Just to look at this from another angle, I'm not sure it would be a bad thing if it did draw out the Great Depression somewhat. Hypothetically, it might mean you come out of it a year later but with a stronger labor force -- more educated and stable and ready to go, as opposed to smaller, less educated, more mobile, and more desperate. Just an idle thought.

Was that a question, or more of a conversation-starter? It certainly sounds cold to this Floridian! (shiver)

I think he's making a joke. The current temperature varies from moment to moment. I'm not sure why you would ask for that sort of information on a forum. Were you looking for more of an average? And have you checked typical information sources such as Google or the Wikipedia?

No, a lot more hassle. Renewed intifada, open revolt in every Arab state, massive refugee problems, and new land ceeded to a country that doesn't deserve it (Israel) and taken away from a people already disserviced (the Palestinians). That's not a solution, it's a total destabilization.

Not sure if that's really all that realistic a suggestion. Though I suppose Israel would be more than happy to "bury" Hamas. I miss basements. One of the down sides of living at sea level. Blerg.

I respect that. I also recognize that my centrism is no less ideological in nature than anybody else's opinions, when you boil it all down. In the end perhaps we'd be no better off if everyone was a centrist. For that reason perhaps it's occasionally productive to ridicule. I do think that winning hearts and minds over to more intelligent courses of action can require action on many fronts. You know, the reason that stuff like that Bush-monkey picture or the "Magic Negro" song don't bother me is because I know I'm going to take the time to delve deeper before I make a decision myself -- I'm not swayed by such 'arguments' anymore, not since I started paying attention to issues and thinking more critically about them. I don't react, I think. Or at least I try to! My point being, that's what I think we should be striving for -- getting people to think rather than react to emotional button-pushing based on prejudices and preconceptions. We should be presenting our arguments, but also encouraging the opposition. Bring the opposing argument right out in the cold light of day, ala Kitzmiller v Dover. Hold it up to the spotlight and see what happens.

Well yes, there is that. Politically-biased humor can be a riot, and not all of it is detrimental.

On something like this I wonder why they don't just ignore it and let the device simply accept a new time value from the central server when it gets its next routine software update.

Lucky Charms and Cheerios. Oh....... sorry, I misunderstood the subject.

It's interesting to me that tobacco taxes and regulations are so widely perceived as a bad thing, because the government's making money off of a habit that's bad for your health, and safety regulations are seen as hypocritical because the only safe thing is to stop, but the legalization crowd takes the opposite view, citing those exact same practices as advantages. What was that about the religious right and the moral police again, Phi? I can't hear you over the lefties arguing with one another.

Yes sir, THROWN AWAY. Those are the words, all right -- THROWN AWAY. Why, there hasn't be a warrant issued in this country in years! They were thoroughly discarded, never to be seen or heard from again. The stuff of television police procedurals and historical fiction. Absolutely. Boy, it's a good thing we know the truth!

I appreciate the insight on this.

That sounds right. The legions of Southern Democrats standing before cameras talking about "state's rights" and barring "negros" and "coloreds" from white schools probably fixed those words in the collective consciousness. It was also a factor in the demise of the "conservative Democrat" and the rise of Southern Republicans. I grew up in Atlanta in the 1960s and 1970s, and got to watch first hand the conversion of those politicians into either Republicans or liberal Democrats. Nationally-known white politicians to emerge from that crucible include Jimmy Carter, Zell Miller, and Sam Nunn. Ones ultimately defeated by it included Lester Maddox and Carl Vinson. Each southern state has a similar story. Interesting times. ---------- I thought you guys might find this interesting. This was a "reason" raised by a Bush supporter on another forum I frequent for why "Barack the Magic Negro" is perfectly valid criticism. And he's absolutely right -- if the song discussed in this thread is not about racism, then it's about political anger and frustration, just like the above picture. So if we've decided that it's okay to ridicule the president on the basis above, then it is okay to ridicule the president on the basis of this song. There's no difference. My response to him was: "How's that working out for us so far?" And: "Does anybody know whether it was the Israelis or the Palestinians who started it?"