Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojkt
Kind of late, I think. But Jeb Bush is saying some conservative stuff in a campaign-y way. Either he’s testing the waters, or he’s trying to give the candidates currently in the running a little advice on how to try and sound.
We have to make it easier for people to do the things that allow them to rise. We have to let them compete. We need to let people fight for business. We need to let people take risks. We need to let people fail. We need to let people suffer the consequences of bad decisions. And we need to let people enjoy the fruits of good decisions, even good luck.
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All Things in Moderation 
Puh-lease. I thought Perry couldn't win cause the electorate is tired of Bush/Texas? (And I know he's a Floridian, so hold your fire.). This smells like an attempt at a VP nod to set himself up as a top tier candidate when the real election occurs in 2016. Then, he can always point to the 2012 race as his "vetting.". I am curious how he gets around his wife's smuggling.. Of course, I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to declare $20k worth of stuff.Always remember Cleveland and Hoover.
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Speaking of VP, the Washington Times is throwing Condi out there for Republican VP, and speculates that HRC will replace Biden. I know, Washington Times, but still…http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/18/curl-one-president-please-with-a-side-of-rice/?page=1
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McWing: I am curious how he gets around his wife's smuggling.Jeeze! There you go, attacking the people who want to rise! His wife just wanted to rise . . . by avoiding duty on $20k. At the same time, to those folks, $20k is like pocket change. It's like she forgot she had $5 in her pocket. When she got home and unpacked, she was going to stumble over the $20k in stuff and go: "Oh, I totally forgot I even bought that." Or, she might not have known how much she spent. Right now, he sounds more presidential than the folks actually in the GOP field. I'm sure that would vanish if he actually got in.
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Kevin, I'm curious as to how the party establishment would treat him. Right now, the only candidates who get criticized are the Not-Romney's. Would Bush get the same courtesy as Romney? I still don't think he's running, just putting his name out there.
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Worth a read:"December 18, 2011, 9:00 pmThe Trouble With That Revolving DoorBy THOMAS B. EDSALLLast week, an inside-the-Beltway newsletter, First Street, published a unique top-ten list. It reveals which former members of Congress are among the most important Washington lobbyists.The first four on the list — Senator John Breaux, of Louisiana (who served in Congress from 1972 to 2005), Representative Tom Downey, of New York (1974 to 1993), Representative Victor Fazio, of California (1979 to 1999), and former Democratic House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (1977 to 2005) – are all members of the Democratic Party, which historically has represented the bottom half of the income distribution.These former Democratic members of the House and Senate are on the cutting edge of a revolution in the political culture of the nation’s capitol. Without attracting the attention of the general public, the career path of retired legislators has transformed the thinking of those still in Congress, Democrat and Republican alike.When Washington politicians leave office, many, if not most, no longer return home. Instead, they head straight to the lucrative world of K Street, the nation’s lobbying corridor, which runs through the heart of Washington. A former member of the House or Senate with even modest seniority can now expect to walk into a job paying up to $1 million or more a year – and much more when bonuses are paid for bringing in new clients."…"For Obama and Democratic leaders who are trying to set an election agenda focused on income inequality, wage stagnation, and downward mobility for the middle and lower class, the prominence of Democratic lobbyists has become problematic."The Trouble With That Revolving Door
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McWing: I'm curious as to how the party establishment would treat him.Don't know. I think there has to be Bush-fatigue, and worry over running yet another Bush for anything . . . at the same time, if he could keep his foot out of his mouth and come with a little less personal baggage, I suspect they might warm up to him.
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"For Obama and Democratic leaders who are trying to set an election agenda focused on income inequality, wage stagnation, and downward mobility for the middle and lower class, the prominence of Democratic lobbyists has become problematic."This is not the kind of thing that influences voters. Whether or not I vote for Keith Ellison or Amy Klobuchar is pretty unrelated to Dick Gephardt.
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This is not the kind of thing that influences voters. Whether or not I vote for Keith Ellison or Amy Klobuchar is pretty unrelated to Dick Gephardt.Not to mention that whether people believe wage stagnation, income inequality and downward mobility is a problem is not going to be impacted at all by the activities of Dick Gephardt no matter how many times and how loudly Republicans scream hypocrite. And if you think those things are a problem then you are probably voting for Obama.
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ashot:And if you think those things are a problem then you are probably voting for Obama.Maybe, although it's hard to understand why. It's not like he's shown any capacity at all to do anything about them, nor has he proposed anything that is likely to.
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Maybe, although it's hard to understand why. It's not like he's shown any capacity at all to do anything about them, nor has he proposed anything that is likely to.Agreed (the first part at least), for instance I'm pretty sure my Mom sees those things as problems and there is no chance she will be voting fo Obama. At this point I can't disagree too much with the later portion of you post either. I have a hard time imagining voting for Mitt or Newt (serious GOP??? Mitt and Newt??) but the door isn't completely shut like I would have expected it to be. I will say that some of the actions by Republicans here in Michigan have not made me happy, the Governor and Attorney General in particular.
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ashot:(serious GOP??? Mitt and Newt??)It is an enduring mystery to me how people who voted for Obama in 2008 could have the gall to suggest that the current GOP candidates lack seriousness.
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It is an enduring mystery to me how people who voted for Obama in 2008 could have the gall to suggest that the current GOP candidates lack seriousness.That's not what I was getting at…at all. Not even a little bit. I was referring to their stupid names. Not that Barack is a traditional name, but to the extent that the GOP is associated with WASPs and the like, Newt and Mitt are ridiculous names.
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ashot:Ah. I misunderstood. Being an avid watcher of the NFL, I think I have lost any and all ability to discern oddity in names. Nothing surprises me any more.
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Being an avid watcher of the NFL, I think I have lost any and all ability to discern oddity in names.Hah…you should try reviewing some medical records or have a wife who works in the NICU or a brother who is a teacher. My personal favorite is Notorious.
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When I lived in Hong Kong I discovered that, it having been a British colony, many of the local Chinese would adopt an Englsih name apart from their given Chinese name. Although it wasn't always an English name, which could produce interesting results. I remember seeing a young woman working in a fast food place once wearing a nametag that identified her as "Apple".
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My wife spent the first decade of her career teaching gifted and talented students. Now she teaches English language learners. In both sets she always had students whose gender I found impossible to determine by name alone.
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I deal with a lot of student and teacher data, and a lot of what I have to do involves finding certain people in my 60,000 person haystack. Lots of names are so interesting that it takes a long time to find the actual person, because they reference I'm given to go by is misspelled. Notorious is a classic, though. I'm tempted to see if we have one somewhere. 😉 Apple sounds like a charming name for a young woman in Hong Kong.
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That's not what I was getting at…at all. Not even a little bit. I was referring to their stupid names. Not that Barack is a traditional name, but to the extent that the GOP is associated with WASPs and the like, Newt and Mitt are ridiculous names.Herman, too. Barack Obama is non traditional, but sounds very serious and substantial–very posh. However, having a middle name of Hussein is like having a first name of Willard–unhelpful. It'd be like if Dan Quayle's middle name had been Adolph. Also probably why we don't get many Manson's running for office. That being said, in regards to comparative seriousness–anyone who wins the presidency is, by definition, as serious as one can possibly be. Obama won by a better margin and greater Plurality than Bush or Clinton before him. Unless we define seriousness by how well a candidate agrees with our point of view, one has to grant that Obama's campaign did not lack seriousness. Nor will Mitt or Newts, I don't think, although Herman Cain's (quoting of the Pokemon movie,9-9-9) clearly did.
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I think Gwyneth Paltrow named one of her children Apple. Another favorite was a student in my twin brother's class name E.D.I. He wasn't called "Eddy" either. His parents said his name by actually saying each letter. There are a variety of urban legend names, too, but I'm skeptical that any actually named their child Fe'male.
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yello:Yesterday you suggested that people in the vilified 1% are more likely to be conservative. Why do you think so?
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Nor will Mitt or Newts, I don't think, although Herman Cain's (quoting of the Pokemon movie,9-9-9) clearly did.I thought the 9-9-9 plan was based off the taxation system in SimCity.
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ashot:In the book Freakonomics, there was a chapter on the effect of names on the people who have them. There was, according to the authors, someone who had two kids and named them "Winner" and "Loser". Winner became a criminal, while Loser became an NYPD detective.
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" It is an enduring mystery to me how people who voted for Obama in 2008 could have the gall to suggest that the current GOP candidates lack seriousness."Why?
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bsimon: " It is an enduring mystery to me how people who voted for Obama in 2008 could have the gall to suggest that the current GOP candidates lack seriousness."While such accusations are endemic on both sides about the opposite side, in whatever context, it seems to be that both Gingrich and Romney are serious contenders. Even if not ideal. Though not fairing well, I don't think Hunstman or Johnson are unserious. I can totally see how Rick Perry and Herman Cain would come across as unserious, and while I don't know if Michele Bachman is unserious, I think she's probably unelectable. Ironically, one of the less serious candidates in the 2008 Democratic primary was, I thought, Joe Biden. Hillary and Obama both struck me a serious and electable–Hillary more so than Obama, so I predicted a Hillary win in the primary early on.
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Clearly not serious: Donald Trump, Sarah Palin. So, I think the GOP has had it's share of non-serious hanger-ons this time around.
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