Because Mr. Bipartisan had the fantasy of a bipartisan world he resurrected the GOP from the dead. Not holding the criminals of the past administration accountable he allowed Karl Rove to target and defeat Feingold and Grayson. Obama is destroying the Democratic Party. Perhaps now that they are “free” either Feingold and/or Grayson can mount a challenge to Obama.

The nails were in the coffin of the Republican Party until Nancy Pelosi took impeachment “off the table.”

Hooray!!!!!!!! Grayson is gone, Rubio is in, Feingold is gone, woohoo
Biggest deal yet..like I said, Grayson is gone

prop 19 lost so california will not be able to us pot as a revenue source, but prop 25 won so they can now pass a budget without a 2/3 majority. Young people were way down in this election but the old folks weren’t completely reactionary!

The fate of LBJ awaits Obama. The total rejection of him by the voters will force him to withdraw from the 2012 race before the primaries.

My prediction about trolls showing up to rub salt in wounds (prior thread) already showing up.

The one piece of good news that I saw was that the ggillionaires didn’t buy their elections.

I’m surprised they took this long! Maybe hungover from celebrating last night?

Now it’s time for your people to put up or shut the fuck up. We now have an opportunity to see how people who don’t believe in governing govern.

Words are cheap, kumari. Let’s see what you’ve got under the hood.

Yep, and I haven’t come up with anything yet.
Left you one more (a good one) downstairs.

Mixed results with the environmental initiatives. Looks like Prop 23 was rejected, but Prop 26 passed. Go figure.

The election wasn’t all positive for California environmentalists; voters also passed Proposition 26, which will make it more difficult to enforce the global warming law. This proposition requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature before violators can be fined. Previously, only a simple majority was required.

Mornin’, BT, pups

The bright spot in FL is the redistricting amendments passed and the amendment to repeal the class size requirements failed.

I haven’t seen a list of the Blue Dogs who got tossed but now’s the time to groom some real progressives for 2012.

The plan is already set. They want to shut down the government and whine that Obama is forcing them to do it.

Yep, it’s a cute one.

Heh, they’ll be around all day.

When services are cut, those who didn’t bother to show up to vote yesterday may start paying attention.

Offering lots of constructive ideas, I’m sure.

/s

That’s prolly as good as it’s gonna get for me today.
Watching Boehner cry during his acceptance speech made me want to cry too. Made me think, if only Someone Else would get on tv and cry. Cry real tears and say, I’m soooo sorry, I was wrong and bad and I didn’t listen to you progressives and I’ve hurt a lot of people.

Services were already being cut under Ds.

Good poker players don’t show their hands before they bet. When the economic shit really hits the fan this spring/summer we’ll see how well the Rethugs react.

As in, Try the veal.

Does he use Vicks vapo rub like Beck?

Go ahead and run Grayson… yeah, that’s the ticket.

You got your collective clocks cleaned, it happens, the right will overreach and your version of extremism will bubble back up.

ps, Palin is feeling it now, she must be stopped. So comrade BT quit obsessing over her, it only makes her stronger to the right wingnuts.

Well, it is always darkest before the dawn. We have to go through this period to be able to hopefully bring some sanity back to the Democratic side of the house. Democrats can’t act like Republicans (as an administration) and think they will be rewarded for it.

It is going to be a dark 2 to 6 years, but I think we all knew this was coming.

#2 troll, for anyone who is keeping track.

The Dem’s clearly lost (R’s did not really do anything, and did not even answer simple questions).

Have not looked into the WI Fiengold race – now over. What was the cause? Is that the more rare case where he really did lost due to being “liberal”?

I have a couple theories about why he seems to cry so easily, and neither of them involve vicks.

Moore’s up on democracynow. It’s a replay of what he said on the election coverage late last night, apparently.

Is one of them tighty whities?

I am sure there will be no shortage of troglodytes and trolls spewing their excrement today but they will soon return to caves to indulge in mutual masturbation.

Seems to read as a big win for big biz – who would rather deal with actual R’s than fake-R’s (the current D’s who give them almost all the lovin’ they want – but won’t go the last dirty step the R’s will).

Not fighting against this with good politics is going to be a ruin.

- Many more R’s now sitting pretty to re-district
- Impeachment and investigatios (R’s don’t take their consititutional power “off the table”
- Many chances for R’s to play political games and show D’s as lying wimps.
- A chance for Obama to follow the Clinton playbook – suprise! This time getting (gutting) social security or whatever other programs that benefit the poor and middle class so that the rich can both have & eat their cake

Now we’ll see to what extent Obama and Reid enable the Rethugs. The neoliberals need a longer handled shovel methinks.

I am going to try to be very circumspect this morning. I’m not in the mood to be yelled at. *g*

Michael Moore seems to take comfort from the fact that the Rs are having a civil war. Not me. I just view it as moving father toward insanity.

I doubt this will happen given the they would apparently not even win their home states. Fight the good fight – yes. Make a bid that can challange Obama – that will be possible but very unlikely.

It would require a successful argument that their loss was due to someone else.

Well, the great Conciliator will now have to deal with the Repub/TeaBags in the next Congress. Based on his track record thus far, he’ll probably start nominating their candidates for cabinet posts, judgeships and still be surprised when the House goes after him….

Caves in Delaware?

No, since they have their own money it could be harder to control them. Much easier to have a prost..politican on the payroll for the gagillionairs.

Michael Moore is still living in an Obama dream world.

with orange walls and visiting witches

This defeat is far more serious for Obama than the Republican victory in 1994 was for Clinton. First, the Republicans have effective control of the Senate on the really critical issues because the blue dog senators can be expected to vote with them, or at least not against them. So they actually control both houses (though not the committees). And of course, Lieberman could jump ship again. The second reason is more important. Clinton won a plurality and was attacked from the start, so he fell from a lower place. Obama won a resounding victory, and his fall is colossal. He has given the impression of being weak, and that is fatal. It always has been in politics. You can’t recover from that kind of impression once it’s imprinted on the American public. They are prepared to experience any amount of real suffering provided they have a Leader who seems strong and makes them feel good (Ronald Reagan the case in point). Who will be that Leader? My money is on Rubio. Welcome to the New Order.

The only real liberals left are Sanders and Kucinich.

LIke many people he is in love with himself as celebrity.

Let’s see if Obi can use the veto. nah… he wants to get things done… any things.

But they don’t say a thing before the election, and we have all seen they don’t respond to reality after an election – so the loop is closed. Only good thing is that a few of the bat shit insane did not win (only the partially insane)

It’s just a matter of winning and getting a share of the spoils.

I do agree it will be interesting trying to see them square an argument – but I think they will just keep blowing bullshit and playing Nero’s fiddle. I mean Rand Paul could not even answer a hole in his argument of 3.5 TRILLION; Eric Cantor did not even make logical sense. The media and corps will be more than happy to comply since they appear short sighted. Having about 4B most of which was invested in ads, and nothing done about “Citizens United” with a super majority… seems not so good.

I hope you are correct and we see some truth and answers. Since for an R that would be sunlight on a vampire (and I guess at this point most D’s since they appear not to want to do the stuff that is actually popular with voters).

0 will be “Bipartisan now, cuts to all we hold sacred-and coincidentally-all I rely on to survive. Thanks for your service, now fuck you. As one of the jerks on the Catfood Commission said, “It’s time for the Vets to step up and give back”. Dunno what I’m supposed to give back, anyone bought a large appliance lately?

On democracynow talking about the fact that the warz played no role in the elections at all.

That is the most profound observation on the state of the U.S.

Words are cheap, kumari. Let’s see what you’ve got under the hood.

Bingo. The electorate is volatile and if the voters don’t see real relief (primarily in the form of jobs and mortgage relief, IMO), the Repugs will likely be out on their asses, too. Time to put up or shut up. That power blade cuts two ways, yo…

Wars? What wars? /s

Blue Dogs cut from 54 to 26 at most in the House. Hopefully most of them can find gainful employment as Subway managers or gas station attendants.

My lawn, vacate it.

Yeah, the billionaire hedge fund manager who sponsored a crackpot in Oregon to defeat the one true progressive in Congress, Peter DeFazio, threw his money in the toilet but then he and his ilk have many more toilets to fill.

Maybe he just overdosed on spray tan crap…

We’ll see another war supplemental request soon. We’ll see then how the “fiscal conservatives” react. Hard to reduce the dreaded deficit while borrowing billions to pay for warz.

Quit all your complaining. At least you don’t have a former basketball player who never voted before in his life and never governed anything be your new governor, like I do now.

It’s imperative that the public be educated. The first task at hand is to teach them to READ!

D’s had this historic chance in 2006 and especially in 2008….

Perhaps more chances and swings these days, or perhaps with Citizen’s United and the re-districting that R’s will be doing this year… not so much.

Still not sure how and in what combo the Dem’s messed up: policy & politics.

They sucked up the polotics so bad its hard to know if they did a decent job on policy. From what I saw they played games and screwed up a lot of policy was well.

Looks likt thanks to Obama pretending to be a Republican and not a few left leaning voters pretending to be infants, it was a Democratic bloodbath. *sigh* Oh well, I guess I wanted to retire without any income at the age of 50 after all.

The most interesting insight on O from Woodward’s Obama’s Wars is that it took O about 3 out of 6 months of AfPak review to realize that if McC’s & Pet’s 40,000 surge into effect, there would be more troops in Af when he ran for reelection than when he took office. 3 months to do simple arithmetic. Astounding.

Hooray!!!!!!!! Grayson is gone, Rubio is in, Feingold is gone, woohoo
Biggest deal yet..like I said, Grayson is gone

This is probably a White House aide.

My blue dog, who voted against HCR lost. Can’t say I’m sorry. Six months ago, I wasn’t going to vote for him but I wanted the dems to hold the house so I plugged my nose and voted. But since they lost anyway I’m not sorry to see him go.

lol

I think the neolibs really thought they could sell business on them being a more efficient form of Republicans. Man, what were they smoking?

Allowing slightly less greed, doing things a little bit more organized – thus more money and power over a slightly longer timeframe.

D’s really should study up on greed, and the Charlie Brown attempts to kick Lucy’s football.

Obama is a Republican.

This was a victory for war mongers and disaster capitalists. The “left” and the anti-war majority have been officially neutralized by corporate war profiteers with the help of the Administration.

The only thing that the “left” has left is ant-corporate credibility. I suspect that Boner and Obama will unite in a bipartisan attack against dissenters. Homeland Security will focus on critics of Oil Companies and Goldman Sachs.

The endless wars require more repression to silence critics. Richard Nixon, who was more liberal than Obama, mobilized the government to wage war on Anti-war Americans. Same as now.

Nixon’s election seemed depressing at that time. But I had lots of fun during those years as the Establishment crumbled. Plus the rock and roll was the best then. The Establishment is crumbling again.

The electorate in Michigan had the opportunity of voting for a populist Democrat or a rich Republican business man who’s tag line was “One tough nerd.” The electorate in their infinite wisdom voted for the nerd. Mark Shauer, a freshman Democratic congressman, was defeated by a Tim Wahlberg a “retired” right wing “minister” who Shauer had defeated in the Obama “wave.” “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”

Robert Gibbs?

By following the military’s plan for Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Yemen Obama is poised for a Soviet style defeat in the region. Add to that the likely destabilization of Pakistan and he’ll have made a real hash of the whole thing.

What pisses me off most is that the Republicans just got rewarded for obstruction and acting more batsh*t insane than usual. They’ve learned that they can throw temper tantrums and get their way. What the Democrats learned is that they aren’t right wing enough.

Heckuva job America.

and the corporate media was their accomplice.

They were constantly saying this bill or action is the “BIGGEST” in history! It’s 945 pages!

How about letting us know if it’s the best. Likey you say it’s not a matter of getting anything done, its getting the correct thing done correctly.

Texas District 25.. Interesting:

Doggett won in 2008 with 65.8% of the vote, this year he only won with 53%.. Looks like he may actually have to try in 2012.

That too.

Your point is more profound.

Mine was much simpler, which is that O has such a low command of the obvious that it took him 3 months to do simple arithmetic.

As low as my opinion was of O from the start, I did expect him to do a half-baked job of governing. To discover O’s government skills are considerably lower than W’s. And O doesn’t seem to like the job, unlike W, who clearly reveled in it.

They’ve learned that they can throw temper tantrums and get their way.

Boat loads of money and owning the mass media helps a wee bit as well.

Hi there.

u gonna keep a tally? u are tough.

i wanna see how long it takes ‘em to learn not to toss raw compost into the wind. at least, we’ll be able to smell ‘em miles away. but that’s nuthin’ new.

As if we needed more irony, the Dems’ debacle would probably have been worse if not for the Tea Partiers.

Some of the more outré Tea Partiers were defeated in last night’s election. These candidates defeated more traditional Republicans in the primaries, who would almost certainly have beaten the Democrats.

Strange but true. The tsunami would have been far worse without the Tea Party.

True but I never heard anything but wall to wall whining about Obama DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WASN’T ON THE BALLOT. Easily manipulated, self destructive meat puppets didn’t help either.

This is my favorite. The stupid prick. Obama is going to get the right wing policy he craves, but I hope his enormous ego got a giant kick.

The congressman’s doubt about the party’s prospects in 2010 are not apparently shared by President Barack Obama, who reportedly explained the difference between the 1994 rout — when Republicans followed then-President Bill Clinton’s failure at health-care reform with a crushing defeat of the Democrats in congressional elections — and this fall’s midterm elections.

The difference, Obama reportedly says, is him.

“They just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette of the Republican threat that he sees. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/01/obama_2010_vs_1994_youve_got_m.html

Nope.

I’m outta here, but probably not for awhile. I have to wait until the frost evaporates before resuming bushhogging.

Then he would actually fulfill one of his promises – to escalate the Afganistan War.

Sad but true. I believe his goal is to follow Clinton and become a multi millionaire…the presidency was just a stop on the way toward his goal. He, also like Clinton, knows to sell out to the “right” people to ensure his future wealth. A disgusting man, again like Clinton.

But this time the music sucks

Colorado and Washington haven’t been called yet? My biggest fear is that Lieberman will get the spotlight back by threatening to flip.

Revenge upon the pot supporters is in the offing. Watch for drug testing as a requirement for any form of public assistance, which has been a frequent GOP proposal in the past…

Heh. That’s one way of looking at it.

And, as SD has pointed out, O might get A LOT more war than he bargained for.

The GOP obstruction didn’t matter. Obama didn’t lean on any of the Blue Dog types, at all, in fact he rewarded them. With money and by campaigning for them. Obama himself said he got, what, 70% to 90% of everything he wanted. That’s his own words. What we expected from his campaign were just the lies he told to get elected. The failure of the last two years you can lay directly at Obama’s feet. GOP had nothing to do with it.

Perhaps an actual Fillabuster by them on two things could have helped change the impression & change the coverage – maybe 3:

- Unemployment extension
- Veteran’s benefits
- perhaps something with Citzen’s United, or an investigation into TARP abuse

Just scratching the surface. Hope losing the country was worth keeping Harry Reid’s seat.

That’s what Michelle implied when Madame Sarkozy mentioned that as her husband’s desire in France. Michelle’s reply was that she hated the job of being first lady; it is hell.

The Rs and the MIC cannot allow Obama to win a war — or even exit gracefully. He MUST be seen as a total fail in matters of defense against terrorism. They have him right where they want him.

Bushhogging? you are tough. do check the steering on that thing, and wipe the fog off yer glasses frequently, for the sake of the trees you meant to save.

Why limit drug testing to supporters of Prop 19. Why not include the entire “professional left?”

Too often, “independent” is just a euphemism for low information people who can’t be bothered to learn about the issues and then they irresponsibly vote the way they think most other people are going to vote. The media plays a huge role in this of course. I wish there was a fair way in which people who can’t take the time to learn about their choices could be prevented from voting. I know that harks back to the bad old days of literacy tests and so forth but I wouldn’t want a juror who stayed home throughout the trial to come along and cast a vote either.

massachusetts passed a nonbinding question favoring single payer over public option by a 2-1 majority. So the next time they tell us to look to massachusetts you should point out this rejection

Virginia got rid of Rich Boucher, the blue mutt that wrote the 1996 telecommunications bill. The centerrightists are really bumbed over it.

No argument there.

Hiya Adie — haven’t seen you here for awhile! Are we just not crossing electronic paths?

Yep. The worst of all outcomes. The Republicans win big and f*cking Harry Reid survived.

My only hope is that Miller goes down.

Off to swim in the great disaster capitalist cesspool.

US KIA Afghanistan: 1,362

US KIA Irak: 1,327

Iraki, Afghan and Pakistani casualties: estimates vary to over 1.5M

US MBS 2010: 37,944 and counting

Monster

Be good to yourselves, and all other living things

Namaste

Maybe it’s time to reintroduce a variation on literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. Could weed out the low information voters who go with the herd.

I think that’s what Tancredo wanted. Do you really want to go there?

It was sarcasm but Margaret is right about the low information voters.

Education might be a better choice.

Has the national media elevated Rubio to GOP presidential contender for 2012 yet? If not yet, by the end of the week for sure.

Howdy. I’ve been reading regularly & building up a head of steam. & privately predicting what just happened. groan.

I wanna see boinger cry while the whole house twitters. Just once, mind you. I think there might be some work orders left over from the past decade, & I expect him to git right to em. I wonder if Nancy’s staff will pile em neatly or just heave em in the general direction of the podium. No nevermind.

also maine proved clean election laws do in fact give voters more choices, than republicans and democrats. Look at how well the green party candidates are doing there. I predict our first green house rep or Senator will come from Maine.

Maine Results (about 50% in)

House District 39
Andre E. Cushing III (R) 2,390 59.84%
Carolyn Rae Dodge (G) 308 7.71%
Shelby D. Wright (D) 1,296 32.45%

House District 66
Alexander Cornell du Houx (D) 1,409 38.08%
Jonathan M. Crimmins (R) 1,019 27.54%
K. Frederick Horch (G) 1,272 34.38%

House District 102
Todd R. Delaney (R) 1,330 38.15%
Michael A. Shaw (D) 1,872 53.70%
Michael W. Wakefield (G) 284 8.15%

House District 108
Erin L. Cianchette (G) 414 9.30%
Thomas H. Gruber (D) 1,345 30.22%
Meredith N. Strang Burgess (R) 2,691 60.47%

House District 115
Seth H. Berner (G) 1,002 27.93%
Stephen D. Lovejoy (D) 1,926 53.69%
Chase Seaver Martin (R) 659 18.37%

House District 118
Carney A. Brewer (G) 464 14.25%
Mark C. Carpentier (R) 446 13.70%
Jon Hinck (D) 2,346 72.05%

House District 120
Thomas T. Elliman (R) 413 13.57%
Diane Marie Russell (D) 1,686 55.39%
Anna J. Trevorrow (G) 945 31.04%

Senate District 11
Cynthia Bullens (D) 1,847 13.35%
Gerald M. Davis (R) 6,152 44.48%
Christopher F. Miller (G) 762 5.51%
Richard Woodbury (U) 5,071 36.66%

Senate District 28
Brian D. Langley (R) 1,532 41.33%
James M. Schatz (D) 1,740 46.94%
Lynne A. Williams (G) 435 11.73%

My Blue Dog in NY 20 lost too. But since he refused over and over to take the Social Security Pledge and saw no reason for the Federal government to employ the unemployed in a decent WPA or CETA type of program, I can’t say I will miss him.

(((P. E. A. C. E.)))

Education doesn’t foster industry or intelligence. My dad used to say that you can educate a moron but all you wind up with is an educated moron. The same can be said for laziness. Too many people attend school, even college and then never read anything they don’t absolutely have to ever again.

There is no winning. A perpetual presence in the region keeps the military budget high while ignorant Americans will be led to believe it’s to keep them safe. The price of oil will once again spike but this time will stay high. I could go on but to what point.

They did that months ago.

the occasional turtle can and does survive an eighteen-wheeler whizzing by his ear. i wonder if he even felt the ground shake.

Ding.

you don’t think “NOT PALIN FGS!!!!!” is a specific enough mandate?

I do need to catch up on my reading….

No.

Besides, nobody’s even bothered to tell us what we “win” if we do. It;s all bullsh*t yep. The MIC: Too Big To Fail™

The wars go on without any discourse, except here. I might lose my PCIP insurance if they don’t keep funding HCR. Who knows what they will do to f**k with Social Security!

Speaking strictly for myself, most of what I learned in school, after the basics in elementary school (which I hated because it didn’t move fast enough for me), has turned out to be completely useless & often wrong. U.S. history being the best example of the latter.

Everything I know that’s useful, I learned thru my own on-the-job research, or my own reading.

The older I get, the more I come to think of educational institutions are just another arm of corp & govt propaganda. Esp. poison ivy colleges (of which I went to a female version), which produce the PTB.

All you need to know about are the Seven Deadly Sins — minus all the religious window dressing that usually accompanies them, of course.

I’ll come right out and say it, my theory of why Boehner cries so easily is he’s a severe alcoholic and nicotine addict, with an adjustment disorder. Just my humble opinion.

agreed.

stay safe cat man. best to you and all yer beautiful felines.

It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

My own older brother is one of those low information voters. His IQ is in the high 130s minimum and he reads voraciously….he just doesn’t read non fiction very much. He thinks Libertarianism is a viable governing strategy but he votes more by emotion than reason. There’s no talking to him about it either. He quite legitimately points out that he’s perfectly capable of assessing things for himself and that’s his right of course but he’d rather argue religion vs the FSM, (from the FSM point of view), than educate himself on the issues. He also legitimately points out that both major parties are corrupt and care very little about governing effectively. It goes back to what I’ve been sayign all cycle “We suck less” didn’t convince anybody.

Everything I know that’s useful, I learned thru my own on-the-job research, or my own reading.

Me too but that supports my point.

The nicotine would explain the orange skin too….

I couldn’t understand why everyone upthread was tippy-toeing around it.

for sure, but just for starters. he’s been around long enuf to know a tad more than he lets on. now we get to see what’s his dumb-as-scum quotient as he tries to enjoy the glory without steppin’ in any piles ‘a stuff.
it’s easier to sling junk from the bullsteer pen. harder to keep yer balance when yer up to yer knees sliding around under the bright lights & everydangdude staring at you asking whatchagonnado for encores?…

Just an immature, blubbering, caffeine-soaked, dumb drunk.

I’m bracing myself for the gloating I’m going to be subjected to this weekend when I see my repub friend. It’s not going to be pretty. But since I also have a work relationship with him, I’m going to have to bite my tongue and inject some humor.

pick out some of his favorite freebees, and hand him the bills for same.

Just [edited by moderator] for all of us.

[Mod Note: Please do not wish or suggest violence towards anyone -- even if in jest. Thanks]

C’mon, just one more war will surely do the trick, all those other pussies didn’t fight hard enough, what we need is total Total War. Any restrictions on profit-making or war by the gov’t are evil! Are you trying to get us all killed in our sleep by exploding pajamas?!

Didja evah notice how victory is always to be found by crossing yet another border to chase yet more of the Shadows with whom we terrorize public opinion? No matter where our bigfoot military treads, that wily, elusive, absolutely Evil Other is always a step ahead.

How conveeeeeeenient. The ultimate enemies are the ones we scare up from within, aye, that’s the stuff of which nation-jacking nightmares are manufactured to order by tortuous narratives. Now leaving Sanity/Welcome to Fear Factor Nation.

Point of order: Is it proper netiquette to snark boldly? I got a feeling I just might bite the head off a troll or two before long. I hope I can restrain my snarkitivity. Someone stop me before I snark again.

The point of my comment was to support your point & illustrate it with my own experience.

However, formal education seems to work for some people, or at least they say it does. Which is why I didn’t want to make a generic out of my personal experience.

In the future I’m going to listen more carefully to people who say they prefer to go to school, take a class, whatever, rather than read on their own. The answers I remember getting when I’ve asked in the past include things like: if I try to do it on my own, I won’t, i.e., they need a formal time to be set aside & tests to instate the discipline to actually do it. They don’t have the self-discipline to do it on their own.

Another answer is: because my employer pays for it. Now if that doesn’t underline the fact that schools are an extension of corp propaganda, what would?

oh man am I ever with you there, margaret.

I’ve noticed what you point out.

My analogy is the drunk at the party who thought that if he said it one more time, and a little bit louder, surely everyone would understand.

I know. Sorry I wasn’t more clear. I was heading for the shower when I typed it. :)

My problem with doing it by reading on my own has been finding the right book. I’ve been pretty lucky, when I don’t know anything about the subject, to happen on the right book fairly quickly. And when I don’t find it, I am also lucky to have a lot of interests, so I always have a couple of good books going & waiting. And usually while I read those, the ‘right’ book in another subject pops up.

But, at the start, it seemed to be a daunting task just to figure out what to read.

LOL leaning into your space ever further, poking you in the chest ever harder all the time, actually stepping in front of you to keep the tirade going.

Yep, I know that dude only too well, you got that right

I figured that one out the day after I’d done it myself. I still remember the incident vividly (so I guess I wasn’t that drunk). Boy was I embarrassed. But I subsequently observed that it was hardly unique to me. Not only that, but I’ve mostly stopped doing it.

A lot of Dems who loss last night and those who got to run for office in 2012 asked David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, and Obama why did we vote for the Obama Health Care Bill that was a copy of the Bob Dole and Mitt Romney Health Care Bill?

Axelrod probably says we thought the vast majority of Democrats were as Dumbs as republicans, but we were wrong.

Gibbs, probably says 47% of the democratic base, now know the truth, that Obama is really a trojan horse, for goodness sakes, Obama told them he like Reagan, and Lincoln.

Obama probably says, you know I don’t like progressives, and not the feeling is mutual

Yep, it can be a chore weeding through the BS that’s so widely available. The whole goal is to keep an open mind and don’t become a product of or a tool for somebody else’s agenda.

All I know is that I won’t support him again. I would say I told ya so, (not necessarily to you specifically), but really what’s the point? If it hadn’t been him, it would have been sHillary and we all know that she too is DLC all the way. So, we’ve had two years of bills passing the House to languish in the Senate and now we’ll have….bills passing through the House and languishing in the Senate plus the bonus attraction of never ending impeachment hearings.

sorry. no can do. carry on. more please. ;->

I must confess to next-to-no book-reading myself lately. But that’s partly historical, in that I read a ton back in the day.

Anybody else into fly-fishing? You got to put a large amount of backing on the reel before the actual flyline, and then the leader is often 10-12′ long, too.

After a while, you’re supposed to strip off that crappy old backing, but it’s a pain in the ass. Just listened to yet another Alan Watts lecture, in which cites a friend, who said to him, I can’t risk your new ideas, and the upheval they would provoke, because I’m a surgeon running teams of surgeons and a whole hospital. We’ve got our routine going smoothly, that would just eff things up immeasurably.

Or, as Paul Simon so eloquently sings, “When I look back on all the crap I learned in high school/ It’s a wonder I can think at all.” Who’s got time to unlearn and relearn all day? So people tend to plow ahead with the learning they got as opposed to what they need.

You have to be willing to challenge parents, sibs, co-workers, your own inescapable conscience, even heaven and hell themselves, in order to think at all for yourself, right? And with The Fear of God being the big motivator in our culture, it seems a superhuman feat, not to be tried at home.

I blame teh Internets. Only kidding somewhat. I don’t read many as books per se as I used to (gad that sounds horrible in my ears), but I do read and write way more than ever, plus there are all the videos and lectures and what not.

Plus, the connection here just got upgraded to cable broadband. 10Mbps, woohoo! I am so loving it. In fact, I’m peer2peering right now, can you tell? ; }

I hear that, tell me of this self-correcting thing, I should try that

oh no you dihn’t, encouragement only makes it worse :D

o.k. uncle… enuf! ;->

p. e. a. c. e.

there… did I mention how predictable certain laws of the nets can be?
Check out the timing of 143 & 144.

HAH! gotcha.

’tis an art.

baddaboom! *tips hat*

Docs are the worst at believing what they’re taught in school. I think that stems from the fact that they are so stuffed full of information, there’s no time for them to think for themselves.

I discovered how obedience characterizes the medical industry 40 years ago. When Nixon put in price controls, almost all industries figured out at least a partial way of getting around them. For the medical industry, however, it was about the only time in the post-WWII period when medical prices were fairly stable.

He also legitimately points out that both major parties are corrupt and care very little about governing effectively. It goes back to what I’ve been sayign all cycle “We suck less” didn’t convince anybody.

My rightwing family members are all highly educated, well-read, well-traveled and rather sophisticated. Yet one branch are members of Doug Coe’s C Street “Family” cult church, and the other branch are avid Palin worshippers who listen incessantly to Beck & Limbaugh. Believe me, not all T-Partiers & Limbaugh listeners are poor whites or whatever.

I’ve had some “ok” conversations with both branches of my family this year re politics, but in all honesty, what could I “offer” them as a real alternative to their rightwing Tea Party candidates???? I thought really hard about that, and other than a few candidates out there – Sestak being one of them – why should I wave some pom-poms for Obama? I cannot abide Obama; he’s done an atrocious job no matter how you look at it.

They’re mostly all bought off (including Tea Partiers), so there’s no real argument to be made to rightwingers at this point. I have no alternatives to offer them. Let the T-baggerz be free to make their choices as they will (sadly).

… they are so stuffed full of information, there’s no time for them to think for themselves.

A good point and one that applies to other “thinking” professions, especally law. One has to constantly be studying to keep up with vast changes in your field – be it medicine, law, engineering, science, or technology – that there’s little time to have an “examined life.” People go with what they know and hope for the best. Which is right where the corporations want us: uneducated or highly educated… but ignorant on so many levels, unquestioning, unthinking, and no real time to analyze and connect the dots.

P.S. I just have to give a thumbs up on the “Victory for Masturbation in Delaware” headline… ROTFLMAO!!! har

LOL it’s always best when one tries the least

Yeah, and the insane specialization makes pinheads of us the more “educated” and “expert” we get

It’s really a LOT of WORK to work on yourself, do therapy or intense personal examination or spiritual investigation. Believe me, I’ve DONE it, but only because I’ve been single most of my life, never had kids (by choice) and was willing and able and could afford to devote the time, energy and money to doing so. There’s nothing quick & easy about work like this… it’s a lifetime(s) work, as most eastern spiritual practices know and advocate.

In our “instant gratification” materialistic consumeristic culture, there is NO incentive for people to go out do the hard work on themselves to learn and grow and become more self-actualized. Rather the reverse: the impetus is to go for the easy fix, plug into your favorite drug(s)(eg tv, facebook twitter blogs whatever) and while your life away thinking about who’s dancing with the stars.

And certainly most Christian churches emphatically advocate for NOT thinking AT ALL ever; take everything on faith and do what your minister tells you to do (I speak from direct personal experience).

And the PTB recognize all this and push push push the consumeristic superficial instant gratification culture that we live in. It’s financially rewarding for them…. and it keeps the citizens dumbed down and off the streets, so to speak.

The whole T-Party thing was just a circus sideshow to fool a portion of the population – who’ve been ginned up by Limbaugh & Beck for decades – into believing that they actually had a “say.” That’s a big joke. T-Party pols will do what their corporate masters tell them to do.

Exactly. It’s understandable because especially now, it truly does take a lot of time, energy & effort to stay abreast of changes in one’s field. that’s not something that one can avoid either. You have to keep reading and studying, so where’s the time left for yourself? Most people are going to do “fun” stuff in their limited “leisure” time, and who can blame them? But it’s also keeping us all from really “getting” the big picture.

It will be interesting to see how things go for the next two years. As the economy continues to tread water (or sink), how will the Republicans and Tea Baggers come to terms with the fact that the people they elected don’t want to continue to support programs like unemployment insurance for the millions who are unemployed?

What then? How will they rationalize the party they empowered turning their backs on them?

I suppose they can just say it’s all Obama’s fault, which I’m certain he’ll play a role, but it is just stupid.

Where is the fast forward button for 2 years?

That reminds me of a story. I don’t remember it word for word, but it goes something like this.

A Confucian scholar once went to a Zen teacher for some much needed clarity. As the teacher prepared tea (some of that fine powdered stuff you whisk until a froth forms, like a green cappuccino), the scholar went on and on about her many academic endeavors. Confucians like to “rectify the language,” to put everything into its properly defined container. Zen likes to ask, with what do you contain the container, or for that matter, even the whole act of containing?

So the scholar is rambling on, like I suppose scholars can’t help themselves sometimes : ], and the teacher is pouring the tea into her guest’s cup, and just keeps pouring and pouring and pouring until the cup is overflowing. The scholar, despite being lost in her thoughts, can’t help but notice, and says, “Teacher, the cup is too full already, why are you pouring forth so much?”

And no surprise to you, o astute firedogs, the teacher shoots back, “Look who’s talking.”

Ba dum bump ching!

The way I originally heard it, the ending has something to do with having to empty your cup in order for it to be filled. But that still puts it all in far too static terms.

Is the infamous glass half-empty? or half-full? Neither, and both. The glass was made to convey liquid, right? What’s important is the whole context: the need to convey, making the conveyance, conveying, hoping to have pleased your interlocutor, etc.

Words, some of you may have noticed, function precisely the same as tea cups, explaining why the tea ceremony is so damn Zen. Into these self-filling/self-emptying vessels of Mind, I pour my heart out to you, o readers my beleaguered readers, and offer them in the spirit of hospitality; from these words and spaces right here, our shared awareness of our shared experience, creating this shared narrative, is arising like steam; and out of which we are flowing like water.

The effing coolest thing about being human, IMO, is being aware of being aware of our own role in our own becoming. We know that we know that we know. We can somehow not just be shaped, but effortlessly shape The Flow from within.

That’s the lesson lost when we we reduce our human sciences to Newton’s mechanics, leading to the utter dehumanization of the very things that could be most humanizing.

It’s not about kinetic activity and leveraging and all that, or algorithmically manipulating humans that’ve been reduced to data points in spreadsheets, it’s about being a decent human being from within. But of course, the simpler it sounds, the harder it is, eh?

Yep, damn the projective power of our wonderful minds sometimes. What happens when whole nations move wholly into their self-projected fantasies? I think we can all see that clearly by just taking a look around.

Thanks for the insightful thoughts, much obliged y’all.

This line of thought is revealing the manifest differences between intellect and wisdom, which we’ve all seen way too much of when the “best and brightest” are never questioned.

So many thoughts, so little understanding, eh? Better still, so little in-standing. As in, where do we stand in the issues of the day?

Thanks for that. Nice. I have heard that Zen parable before, but it always bears repeating. Good having a “chat” with you. Om shanti om…

Yes, I have been pondering those very questions, myself. And that’s why I’ve been pretty much “let go” about Tea Baggerz winning. I often turned off MSNBC – or more to the point, never turned it on – because of they’re frothing at the mouth fear-fear-fear the Tea Bagger junk.

Let the Tea Baggerz free, I say, and let’s see how it goes. Yes, yes: people in germany never thought hitler would… yadda yadda. point well taken, but still….

Unfortunately, though, I can report that Limbaugh and Beck have been carefully brainwashing their credulous flock to look only to God for help, not the gov’t. So the Baggerz may push back against “entitlements” like unemployment insurance & food stamps & such, and their constituents will pridefully & ignorantly go along with it even if they personally suffer.

Never doubt for an instant how brainwashed these people are. And believe me: they are being very very very well brainwashed to drink the kool aid and joyfully accept reductions in both Soc Sec & Medicare. Do not count on Tea Party voters to protest either of those cuts.

Lets repeal Obama care first (if we cant repeal it, the de-fund it)..Then make sure Cap and Tax is buried..Then move on to begin the phase out of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid..Get real about ILLEGAL immigration, no more Sanctuary Cities..That for starters