February 12, 2012

Democrats- "free pass for their own magical thinking"

It seems like Republicans only ever function effectively as the &quot dis-)loyal opposition". When they actually win back power at any level, they don't really do anything with it other than use it to enrich themselves and their buddies among the 1% and ruthlessly work on keeping it to themselves by any means necessary by disenfranchising people likely to vote to elect Democrats, mercilessly pummeling any criticism/opposition to their policies, and keeping people distracted by "wedge issues" like abortion, GLBT issues, etc. When the opposition to their policies/governance becomes overwhelming and they inevitably get turned out of power, they don't re-think their actions/policies but rather simply double-down and resume their efforts to obstruct and cripple Democratic initiatives and make them look weak and ineffective, setting the stage for their eventual comeback

February 11, 2012

Now that he is in the "spotlight"

I expect that the "establishment" GOP and MSM will begin putting out his "greatest hits" any day now-Terri Schiavo, comparing homosexuality to bestiality, proclaiming that we had found WMDs in Iraq, claiming that Obama is leading religious conservatives to the guillotine, billing taxpayers for his cyber-schooling, etc. There's plenty of material to work with and he's anything but mainstream.

February 11, 2012

The problem with any of those "alternative" candidates (aside from their individual liabilities)

is that they are all "establishment" Republicans whom may hold some appeal to the general electorate but unlikely to generate real enthusiasm among the base. Plus, they run the risk of alienating the base by being seen as trying to cram an "establishment" candidate down their throats when they're already clearly not particularly fond of Romney. If there is one thing that we've learned well about the teabaggers, it's that they don't just "sit down and shut up." If there ends up being a brokered convention, they will not sit idly by and allow the "establishment" to, like I said, cram another "establishment" candidate down their throats and will, in all likelihood, seek to influence (if not dominate) the process resulting in more chaos and a flawed nominee. The teabaggers don't believe in compromise and they don't believe in "unity" unless it is around their preferred person(s) and the GOP establishment is likely not going to be able to control them. If Romney manages to "survive" the primary process, they will have to give the VP slot to a rock-ribbed teabagger/conservative to mollify the base or risk even less unity than what they're already looking at IMHO.

February 11, 2012

I liked Episode I when I first saw it

but I was lost as hell for quite some time afterwards because they threw a whole bunch of new characters, planets, and terms about that were never referenced in the OT (i.e. Naboo, Gungans, "Sith", "Midichlorians&quot and it wasn't really until after seeing Episodes II & III that I fully grasped what Episode I was trying to set up for us. As a dyed-in-the-wool Star Wars fan, I was definitely excited to have more Star Wars to enjoy after a severely LONG hiatus following ROTJ in 1983 and I really enjoyed Episode III and, to a lesser extent, Episodes II & III but the one major problem I had with the PT was that, in most respects, the story bore little resemblance IMHO to how the events that preceded the OT seemed to be described by the surviving characters in the OT (i.e. Obi-Wan, Yoda). I also felt like, especially in Episode I, that there were way too many contrivances such as having Anakin Skywalker be the one who built C-3P0, R2-D2 originally being just another random astromech droid servicing the Queen's ship. Plus, I always thought it was weird that Naboo would ELECT a 14-year old Queen! Really? I know that there are old monarchies where somebody her age might have taken the throne upon their parents' death (with no other older heirs available) but it just seems weird having the Naboo ELECT her to the position, particularly since people in this country can't vote let alone run for public office at least until they're 18 but, hey, this IS fictional after all. I guess people just grow up QUICK in the Star Wars universe? Setting up Anakin and Padme as potential love interests seemed a little creepy too considering that he was only a 9-year old prepubescent boy and she was already a teenage girl. I guess I'm glad at least that they didn't take things too far with the two of them in Episode I.
The movie did have some high marks such as the opening fight aboard the Trade Federation battleship. It gave me goosebumps to see Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon ignite their lightsabers and kick some machinery. I loved that they got Liam Neeson a role in the movie! The 3-way battle at the end was also quite fun and well-done, particularly the triple lightsaber duel with Darth Maul. John Williams also turned in a good score and awesome original theme ("Duel of the Fates&quot , probably the best of the PT. I'm glad that he didn't choose to just recycle old cues from the OT though I loved his placement of the "Imperial March" theme at the end of Episode II as it suddenly becomes apparent that the Republic is doomed to ultimately become the dreaded "Empire" from the OT.

February 9, 2012

The Republican vision for workers (slaves) here in US:

Saipan sweatshops (complete with sex slaves, forced prostitution, AND forced abortions) and/or Apple's "Foxconn".

February 9, 2012

Yeah, what's that all about

I thought that right-wingers don't believe in "special rights" for anybody, right?!

February 9, 2012

Is some country holding Americans "hostage"

I heard a soundbite from Gingrich talking about "Obama's Hostage Crisis". Curiously, I am hearing nothing anywhere else about any sort of new "hostage crisis" (other than, of course, Catholics being "held hostage" by the Obama Administration over birth control coverage ). Anybody have any idea what he is talking about and is this on anybody's radar?

February 9, 2012

You're missing the point

The right-wing here is just doing what it likes to do: Refusing to let a good opportunity to stir up a controversy (where none should logically exist) go to waste, particularly during an election year. In a few months (maybe even weeks), they'll have moved on to something else b/c eventually the furor is going to die down due to the facts coming out and people starting to think more rationally about the situation and the right-wing, having milked everything it can out of it, will move on to the next "manufactroversy".

February 9, 2012

Purity and perfection don't exist anywhere in reality

Also, IMHO people can be supportive of somebody without endlessly bitching about each and every one of their faults, right? I'm not 100% supportive of everything that Obama has done/is doing but I don't feel the need to sit around and point out all of his faults and those of the Democratic Party 24-7-365, particularly during an election year. I'm more concerned with the general orientation of the two parties and Obama and the Democratic Party clearly represent a more overall progressive vision for this country (does anybody notice the kind of legislation that comes out of Congress under a Democratic majority vs. a Republican one?) and stand for reason and sanity as opposed to the insane asylum that calls itself the Republican Tea Party and I plan to vote accordingly.

February 9, 2012

+1

movies make being POTUS look MUCH easier than it really is when in order to govern you have to "work" with people like those belonging to Mad Republican Tea Party. It's also far too easy to sit on the sidelines and take potshots at President Obama for what he hasn't done, hasn't done enough of, etc. when situations are much more difficult and much more complex than simply giving an angry "damn the torpedos!" speech and expecting everybody and everything to just fall into line. It certainly makes for high drama and excitement but doesn't always work out for the best in reality.