John B. Judis at New Republic:
In the Federalist Papers, James Madison promised that a large republic with a representative government would avoid the “instability, injustice and confusion” that had plagued many nations in Europe. In a representative government, he reasoned, disruptive factions would be unable to gain sufficient power to dissolve the social contract. The people’s representatives would not necessarily be paragons of virtue, but they would be less likely to succumb to “local prejudices and schemes of injustice.” In the 225 intervening years, Madison has been proven correct, with two great exceptions. One was the Civil War. The other was the 16-day government shutdown of October 2013.
The shutdown’s precipitating cause—President Barack Obama’s health care reform—was, of course, not as morally consequential as slavery. And yet, the shutdown presented an existential threat to the country—the prospect of a breakdown in the national government, a diminishment in America’s standing in the world, and a global financial disaster.
The prime agitators were a small group of right-wing lawmakers identified with the Tea Party who had no interest in negotiating with President Obama unless he was willing to defund or delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Along with grassroots Tea Party groups and elite conservative organizations in Washington, these politicians formed a political battering ram against any prospect of compromise. Until House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell finally defied this faction, the United States stood poised on the edge of calamity.
There is a bunch more, but if I was you I wouldn’t waste my time reading it. I skimmed it and it reads like one of Chris Matthew’s paranoid, drunken rants.
I mean, seriously? The Civil War and a 16 day partial closure of non-essential government offices are the two worst internal crises our nation has faced? How about Watergate or the impeachments of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton? What about Vietnam? The Civil Rights movement? The Alien and Sedition acts? The election of 1876? The assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley or Kennedy?
What a load of crap.
This kind of stuff bothers me. It’s like the feeling you get when your neighbor or co-worker starts telling you that a bowl of cornflakes told him that the government is controlling his brain with mind rays they got from a U.F.O. That’s when you get a chill because you suddenly realize you are dealing with a crazy person and you wonder if they are the dangerous kind of whack-job. You try to remain calm while you back away slowly so you can call the guys in white coats.
I see a lot of this stuff coming from the left these days. This is no mere disagreement over policy. This is a huge difference in the perception of reality. That’s the other scary part – if they aren’t crazy then I must be, because at least one of us is delusional.
I’m pretty sure it’s not me.
The Crawdad Hole 
Empiricism is based on the premise that there are certain incontrovertible facts that we all perceive the same – that there is a single, shared reality.
Re: your assumption the cray-cray isn’t you, (and hopefully some of us), as one listens to rants and involved hallucinations of progs, the striking oddity noted is the extremely wide range of imaginary “proof” factors each associate with their personal povs. The same way inmates in Psychiatric Repositories each march to a different beat.
Not writ in stone, perhaps, but reassuring.
The left is simply an outrage machine anymore. That’s all they do–manufacture outrage. It’s nakedly obvious, and awareness is spreading. We’re moving into Bush-2006 territory with this one.
These people are NOT the left. They’re something else. No, I’m not sure what.
For all intents and purposes, they ARE the left. That’s their brand. You can niggle about the definition while you cling to whatever it is you want to be, but they are the voice of the left anymore. This is what they’ve planned to be for decades; 100% identity, with no substance whatsoever.
National Review:
Political words mean nothing today. I went from being a liberal to being a conservative without changing anything I believe in. It used to be that wanting freedom of choice respected in 99% of what we do in life, but also expecting people to take personal responsibility for the results of those choices was one of the cornerstones of liberal philosophy. Believing that now makes one a rightwing nutjob.
Honk! I didn’t change, my party did.
Went over the Cliff. 😦
Isn’t one of the tenets of Vile Progism that they create their own reality? It seems to be an adolescent or younger form of imaginary playmates. Someone told them it was cute to have imaginary friends and they were smart and clever to imagine them to just get them to bug off when they were small. The someone lied. It is creepy and peculiar.
And it is two steps down on the crazy diagnosis checklist from “I can fly I know I can fly. Obama told me in a voice in my head I can fly. And you’re coming with me.”
How about a little sprinkle of Sarah with your morning cuppa …..
“President Obama flew in to Boston today to deliver another “ShamWow”-style infomercial for Obamacare, and it went about as well as his entourage’s snarled traffic debacle in Beantown.
As millions of Americans are being kicked off their desired insurance plans and seeing their premiums skyrocket, the President had a lot of ‘splaining to do today. For starters we anticipated a Presidential apology for lying to Americans repeatedly when he promised things like, “If you like your current health care plan, you can keep it.” Make no mistake, he knew he was lying when he said that. And make no further mistake, after five years of false Obama claims, no one should actually expect contrition on this administration’s part”……more
The consequences of socialistic/progressive governments?
http://news.yahoo.com/eurozone-unemployment-reaches-record-high-125751813–finance.html
John Judis has been making stupid predictions for quite a while now. With the prospect of his prognosticating ability being laughed at and with it his speech fees and book royalties drying up, he is getting agitated and fearful. Cornered rats are always nasty.
Broncobama is getting miffy at Sebelius. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/188603-annoyed-obama-demands-fix It “looks” bad so he is annoyed. It has been proven he is a big fat liar so he gets annoyed with somebody else.
Ha-ha-ha. I suspect she is full aware of where the bodies are buried or she’d have been trashed on about the 15th.
^ Exactamundo!!!!!!^
Is there a scandal that Obama hasn’t been able to deflect blame on to a woman in his administration? Susan Rice & Hillary for blaming video/Benghazi; Lois Lerner for IRS targeting Tea Party groups; now Sebelius for Obamacare. I’m sure if NSA or Fast & Furious ever truly took off, he’d push a woman out in to the forefront to take the brunt of it.
#WaronWomen?
HONK HONK HONK!
Klown you should add the copy and pasted prog comments you put in the comment section of the last thread to this thread. Talk about delusional.
Good post btw, it’s true most progs live in their own reality and it’s getting worse.
Reposted:
The view from inside the punchbowl:
Most of those kinds of policies are still be offered by corps like McDonalds that got a waiver from the Obama Administration!!
The myth of the worthless policies…..Yes, they do exist, but most people are smart enough to buy REAL insurance.
If we aren’t smart enough to know how to handle our money, why the hell do Obama, his minions and his rabid fans even care about us. Let us die by our own insurance sword. And making us decide whether to pay our mortgage or buy over-inflated “comprehensive” insurance is better for us than what we had before?
LOL, Koolaid is a helluva drug.
The thing is most Prog voters are young, stupid, attracted to victim-hood and outrage may sadly be the only emotion they can experience. But the Republicans can’t figure out how to exploit this. Even if these idiot voters can’t be brought around to be Republican voters the Republicans need to be actively disrupting their Prog leanings by communicating with them in a way they can understand. Republicans need to make simple, compelling “good vs evil” little plays no longer than a Youtube or a TV ad and blanket the country with them non stop. They could at least be actively confusing the prog voters about who is good and who is evil and who is the biggest victim. Any more detailed political plan is beyond the prog voters ability to comprehend. Republicans don’t have to get the stupid voters to vote for them, they just have to get them to not vote for “Progressives” and you can’t do that by rational discussion you need to give them simple passion plays.
Plus the repub. need to keep their thoughts about sex and abortion to themselves.
That is certainly true. The image Republicans seem to constantly return to, of young women having abortions for recreational purposes, is beyond offensive. Birth control is not a “women’s issue”. The only sexual acts requiring birth control involve MEN and women. MEN and women benefit from birth control. All aborted fetuses have a father, where is he, who is he? The implication that he is a victim and that the abandoned desperate pregnant woman is having an abortion for recreational purposes is a true outrage.
I wish. They can’t seem to help themselves though. Every time I think I can support their party someone prominent like Paul Ryan turns around and uses access to contraception and banning birth control in foreign aid as leverage in a budget hike. Fuck him and every last fucking one of those assholes.
agreed Constance, my reply (also in agreement) was to piper. Oh and I meant budget fight, not budget hike. Angry fingers not doing me any favors right now!
They’re all vile as far as I’m concerned. When the republicans drop their crazy fascist misogyny I will consider them. Until then they can fuck off.
Even glorious Pope Francis agrees with me. Paul Ryan should listen to his pope and shut the fuck up. Fran might use less colorful language, but his message is the same. Stop worshipping ideology and start doing good in the world.
You are misrepresenting Pope Francis.
I’m not defending Catholic doctrine on abortion, but you need to take a chill pill if you actually have the conceit to think the Pope “agrees with you” on this.
To clarify: “doing good in this world” is defined by God, not you. You, in fact, are doing exactly what Pope Francis *is* warning against — substituting your own ideology/sense of what is right and wrong or “good” and “bad” for the will of God.
AMEN
The truth is that progs can’t stand being wrong about anything because they’re so very smart and know everything so when their balloon pops they throw major tantrums and blame everyone else for their stupidity / delusions.
BTW as an over 60 year old, I’m so grateful to have free birth control, abortion and maternity coverage as well as pediatric care. Now I can sleep better at night.
I am grateful for the in vitro and sex change stuff. I have always wanted to be a father. I of course would “donate” the sperm. LOL.
And somehow we got by without it when we were young.
But I still think if you force young women to pay hundreds of dollars a month for health care they don’t need then you can’t exempt the only service they do need (birth control) and expect them to pay again for that. Besides young women are being forced to subsidize Viagra and medicine for prostate problems. Imean have we even had a discussion on whether Viagra is covered? Of course not!
Milwaukee teachers were very upset when they found out that Viagra wasn’t in their plan’s formulary so they decided to sue. Of course all this was going on during the recall campaign when they were complaining about how Gov. Walker was taking away their hard earned benefits. The suit was dropped after exposure and ridicule.
I think if young women knew that their birth control coverage would have a 20% insurance company profit tacked onto the top, they’d be appalled that it’s covered. Birth control is CHEAP. NO need to add a middle man to it.
There is no need to single out birth control. We need to ask do any drugs or procedures need a 20% insurance company profit tacked onto the top. Does Viagra need a 20% insurance company profit tacked onto the top?
What percentage of men aged 26-40 (the young and healthy (for the most part) who the ins co’s need to make the risk pool manageable now that health coverage is a right) are fathers now or will become fathers in the next few years? Or will want to NOT become fathers and would like their partners to use birth control? Or will want their partners and daughters (on their family policies) to have regular screening for HPV, and repro health?
Splitting policies into men only or women only makes sense at first glance, but trying to put it into practice brings up all sorts of problems.
Not defending the law, ha it sucks a LOT, but insurance risk pools by definition work by spreading the risk/costs around on everyone, even the ones who will never get cancer or need their prostates removed.
Also I am sick of men saying they don’t want to support birth services because they don’t use them. All people are born. Men do not descend from God and the Universe on beams of light they are born from women. All maternity costs that go towards producing a male child need to be put in the male health care costs column by the people who keep track of these things.
Absolutely true.
When you’re always being told how wonderful you are, no matter if you accomplish anything or not, you get a very inflated but very fragile ego. You constantly look for ways to put down others to keep believing that you are inherently better than the rest.
Someone who has learned to value themselves for their accomplishments are a lot more resilient, realistic, & humble. They can say “so yeah, I’m not a genius/beauty/natural athlete/moral compass BUT through my efforts I’ve done x, y, z”
So very true
“Some doctors are surprised to see their names listed in new insurance plans on the exchanges, though they haven’t signed new contracts or aren’t accepting new patients. Insurers offer a variety of explanations…” http://tinyurl.com/l4ex34m (WSJ video SFW)
Obamacare exchanges making tacky out of date insurance provider listings a real problem in choosing a mandated plan.
It’s part of the scam to make the insurance look better than it is…..
Heh, Scamocare is about right. Like buying insurance from Bernie Madoff 😉
LOL
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/10/the_facade_cracks_at_last.html
the facade cracks at last
finally some in the msm are starting to speak about backtrack and the problems he has caused for this country.
glad they are waking up, wish they had the guts to speak out before so much damage was done to this country
Saw this last night on Greta – wonder when this will become public knowledge.
A broncocare contractor, Serco, receives a $1.33 billion contract for managing the ‘paperwork.’ Some details – a former Cong. aide went to work for a law firm, became a lobbyist for this company who stole millions from the Brits and is now tasked with handling the paperwork for US health care. IIRC – the lobbyist is now under investigation for??
http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/video/the-national-reviews-jillian-kay-melchior-on-the-record/
Enough – must go and have nails done (mani and pedi) for future mugshot.
Why would they need a “paperwork” contract for paper applications unless they knew the website did not, could not, and would not process applications by automation? And the states and insurers must have pushed back and said no dice we are not doing that shit. Hiring a crooked ass contractor who would keep their mouth shut is part of the deal. But even contemplating hiring of this type indicates they know the web site is not just a no go but a never go. So they are just going to make piles of paper to push around. What a joke.
Good question and it’s sounding more like money laundering since not one cent (or trillions of cents) has gone to insuring one person so far.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/10/the_ticking_time_bomb_of_employer_and_small_group_insurance_plans.html
it is going to get worse
http://freebeacon.com/obamacare-state-exchanges-costing-taxpayers-1-billion/
obamacare state exchanges costing taxpayer $1BILLION
So, if the goal is single payer, why are we spending billions on this worthless piece of failed enrollment ? I’m just getting a bad feeling, and I think the GOP is in on it.
It costs a lot to boil frogs. First you have to find the frogs, keep them happy and feed them and not scare them. Then a big fancy new pot with nice cold water. Nex is a very expensive range that has very, very slowly heats up. Voila! Boiled frogs and the frogs didn’t even notice.
I remember when Glenn Beck did the frog trick on his old Fox show, he was intentionally showing live frogs and faking out the progs by throwing fake frogs in the boiling water. OMG ! OMG! OMG! BECK MURDERED FROGS ON HIS SHOW !!! I don’t think he revealed his slight of hand trick til a day or so later, but he revelled in the outrage.
Health “care” reform was intended to be an inoculation against the possibility of a single payer system. Very early in the process, Sebelius said on a NPR program that the President would make sure that the legislation was written so that it could never evolve into “single payer”. Even if Obamacare worked 100% as intended, it would have be a miserable failure within the 10 projected budget cycle for the program; the numbers just didn’t add up. The end result, now immediately, rather than in ten years is that the Federal Government is utterly discredited as a means to deliver health care. The last thing that the healthcare industry wanted when the public demand for “reform” was at it’s peak during the last years of Bush, was an evolution into “Medicare for all.”. After Obamacare, the insurance companies got what they wanted, that path is no longer open.
^^^^^^THIS!
Yeah, something’s up with that. Insurance companies being told to sit down and shut up too. We don’t need healthcare reform as much as we need Snakeoil Insurance Policy reform. Ocare ain’t the solution to that problem either. 😦
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/10/good-grief-limo-repair-shop-listed-as-obamacare-enrollment-site/
yesterday it was a cupcake shop ( don’t tell mooch) , today it is a limo repair shop listed as obamacare enrollment site
From the absurd to the ridiculous .. and back again ….. I have a very strong feeling this website will not be ready by next year , much less November ..
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/10/white-house-website-still-lying-insists-you-can-keep-your-health-insurance-under-obamacare-video/
white house website still says you can keep your heath insurance
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/10/31/rasmussen-public-evenly-split-on-whether-zombies-would-do-a-better-job-running-the-government/
public evenly split on whether zombies would do a better job of running the government
Corner Bar next. 😆
If this quote is true we are being governed by a fourteen year old boy. A rather dumb fabulist boy.
“In the 2008 election, President Obama’s advisers talked of their boss’s belief that it was time for an “iPod government.” Obama, a technology addict who tools around on his iPad before going to sleep and who fought the U.S. Secret Service bureaucracy for the right to carry a smartphone, would be the first president truly at home in the Digital Age.” http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-31/obamas-broken-promise-of-better-government-through-technology
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/10/30/maybe-this-is-what-caused-nbc-news-to-flee-the-obamacare-borg/
maybe this is why NBC fled the obamacare borg
off topic
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/30/us-military-commandos-made-it-to-benghazi/?page=all#pagebreak
this is getting more curious by the day. US military commandos made it to Benghazi
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/10/obamacare-and-part-time-employment.php
obamacare and part time jobs
backtrack to spew on this subject today
Replacing a water heater – DIY or get a pro?
get a pro. in the long run it can be cheaper
Get a plumber to do it, especially if it’s gas fired.
Yup, that’s my inclination too. Now to convince Mr handy the hubby! LOL.
Oh, you have one of those “I can do it myself, despite the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing” husbands too?
does he think that instructions are in the box as a space filler?
who reads instructions? t
Yup. The thing is, half the time he CAN do it, which I think raises expectations unrealistically. 😀
Helen,as far as I can tell, instructions are to be read partway through, after much grumbling about parts not fitting properly.
Tell Mr. Handy, my Mr. Handy is a pro at changing lightbulbs, building decks, bulkheads and piers …. he calls the pro for the major appliance stuff that involves electrical codes. That way if our house burns down, we have someone else to blame 😉 Oh, and he was a big fan of Home Improvement’s Tim “the toolman” Taylor, who should’ve hired more pros…LOL.
We lived with a refrigerator for 5 years with a non-working icemaker my Mr. Handy installed. I asked the guy who installed our dishwasher if he could take a look. 30 seconds later, we had a working icemaker 😀
Smae here, votermom. He’s actually very handy at most stuff, which propels him to overreach with stuff he CAN’T do.
A man’s got to know his limitations. There are things I can do. There are things I can do with help. There are things I can help do. There are things I can’t do.
Just did mine some months ago. Got a good plumber. He found me a good deal on a unit and did a great job with installation.
Did you get a tank, and what brand?
Yeah. I debated back and forth on tankless vs. tank. I finally decided on tank. Just easier for now. I’ll revisit in 10 years. 🙂 Have to check on brand. It was pretty generic.
I had a tankless experience before.
Got an A. O. Smith brand water heater. Very nice. Has pretty cool gizmos for adjusting everything. Much better than the ancient thing I had before.
Ours was replaced this summer too. A Rheem which my plumber wholesales to other plumbers so it was reasonable. You can buy your own and have plumber put it in but they often gets deals on them from manufacturers and pass it on to customers. Call around and ask and have the size of it to tell them.
Here’s another tip, always replace your heating/cooling units between seasons, you can save thousands.
So NOW you tell me! ;P
And buy lawnmowers in the winter! And barbeque grills too. LOL.
By seasonal stuff towards the end of the season when they start clearancing it to make room for the next season. In the Winter they start putting out all the spring stuff. That’s the best time for summer stuff.
The selection isn’t as good but the prices are great.
You will probably never see the very best discounts because the employees snap it up before the customers get a chance. It’s one of the few perks of working retail.
You can do it yourself. The connections are easy to make. But it is easier with electric heaters, I always worry about gas connections leaking.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/188782-top-dems-made-same-promises
top dems made the same false promises about obamacare as backtrack did
They handed out sheets of lies.
And when the GOP side of the aisle was asking the tough questions they were called racists. Then they shut up. How the hell did they let Pelosi get away with “we’ll have to pass it to see what’s in it?” Gah.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/10/30/top-hospitals-opt-out-of-obamacare?page=2
this is going to get real ugly , real fast. top hospitals opt out of obamacare
no one signed up too expensive
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/obamacares-grassroots-army-is-starting-to-get-burned-out
backtrack’s grassroots army is starting to get burned out
Poor babies. I don’t think they’ve really done anything yet.
Outrage is very exhausting. You poop out after a while.
new GOP ad
http://www.soopermexican.com/2013/10/30/smoking-gun-video-obama-admits-to-violating-pledge-americans-could-keep-health-plans-in-2010/
OH MY HE LIED
video backtrack admits to violating pledge Americans could keep heath plans in 2010
http://www.soopermexican.com/2013/10/28/soopervideo-of-obamas-tutorial-on-the-obamacare-website/
backtrack tutorial on the obamacare website
happy halloween
http://suckersonparade.blogspot.com/2013/10/john-and-chucky-go-trick-or-treatin.html
john and chucky go trick or treating
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/58938
America’s real president wears a skirt
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/58941
the American dream, an illusion
this lady tells of her dream of coming to America. I have heard many people who came here from communist country say the same things
” votermom, on October 31, 2013 at 8:35 am said:
When you’re always being told how wonderful you are, no matter if you accomplish anything or not, you get a very inflated but very fragile ego. You constantly look for ways to put down others to keep believing that you are inherently better than the rest.
Someone who has learned to value themselves for their accomplishments are a lot more resilient, realistic, & humble. They can say “so yeah, I’m not a genius/beauty/natural athlete/moral compass BUT through my efforts I’ve done x, y, z”
More Special Snowflake Syndrome (SSS): http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/10/enders-game/
While I heartily support gay rights, who in their right mind puts this in their own rant:
“Ender’s Game was one of my first and most precious paper mirrors. I was a gifted and severely socially alienated little kid, and authors who can write really, freakishly brilliant children are extremely rare. Ender’s Game was an inestimably important touchstone — the first and sometimes only sign I had that there was someone out there who even vaguely got it and cared enough to try to write it down.”
Isn’t that amazing – that the book spoke to HER, because she was gifted, that reading about a ‘freakishly brilliant’ child was the only character she could relate to…. that finally, someone ‘got’ her.
Where the he** were her parents to keep that ego in check?… and what the heck happens when you meet failure? “Hello Gifted, I’d like you to meet Failure, Failure, meet Gifted… You two may be seeing a lot of each other, play nice”
to quote the mighty Mike Tyson (as it relates to Special Snowflake Chris Brown):
“If you’re not humble in this world, this world will dress humbleness upon you”
… it just cannot come soon enough for me.
herightscoop.com/mobsters-in-the-white-house-mark-levin-slams-obama-admin-as-acting-like-a-communist-fascist-regime/
mobsters in the whitehouse
http://therightscoop.com/mobsters-in-the-white-house-mark-levin-slams-obama-admin-as-acting-like-a-communist-fascist-regime/
http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/10/31/five-big-lies-democrats-told-the-american-people-about-obamacare/
5 big lies the dems told about obamacare
http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/10/argument-preview-where-can-a-federal-agent-be-sued/
this could be a very interesting court case. where can a federal agent be sued
If Harry Reid had demanded the spending bill include funds for a free pink cadillac for every adult and a pony for every child, the house would rightfully refuse. Yet if Harry Reid refused to accept a bill without these provisions, and let the government shut down, whose fault would the government shutdown be?
The Tea Party’s!!!!