Bill Maher hits it on the head

[Big Swami]

The part I'm in complete agreement with starts at around 3:00.



Plus, a critical shout-out to FCRDC

[Zip Goshboots]

YES! Tanks, Swami.

[Hermy]

To be fair, Lics held the govt. for 6 years and didn't touch abortion while increasing entitlements and spending across the board.

[Zip Goshboots]

What are "lics"?

[DE]

I agree 100%. I feel (aside from the standard lobby argument) that so many Democrat politicians have become pussies on important liberal issues because they are afraid to have to give a good in depth argument versus a three word soundbite. Instead of fighting through that bullshit they just take the easy route.

- Health Care: Socialist
- Decriminalization/Legalization of Drugs: Soft on Crime
- Against the Death Penalty: Soft on Crime
- Cut Military Spending: Soft/Destroy America's Military Strength

Obviously I'm on the left so I find these simplistic answers as bullshit as it gets, but not one Democrat politician has the balls to fight through them and actually try to get the fact and/or valid arguments out. And that includes Obama with civil unions.

[Hermy]

What are "lics"?

The opposite of "dems".

[Tahoe]

lics must = smart then.

[Zip Goshboots]

I agree 100%. I feel (aside from the standard lobby argument) that so many Democrat politicians have become pussies on important liberal issues because they are afraid to have to give a good in depth argument versus a three word soundbite. Instead of fighting through that bullshit they just take the easy route.

- Health Care: Socialist
- Decriminalization/Legalization of Drugs: Soft on Crime
- Against the Death Penalty: Soft on Crime
- Cut Military Spending: Soft/Destroy America's Military Strength

Obviously I'm on the left so I find these simplistic answers as bullshit as it gets, but not one Democrat politician has the balls to fight through them and actually try to get the fact and/or valid arguments out. And that includes Obama with civil unions.

Solid.

But how much of it is the fault of the public? Mention social security and people have a coronary. And yeah, so many people seem to be afraid of their own shadows now that if you really mention cutting the military budget, they can easily be worked into a fear frenzy that renders that argument dead.

The dems are proving to be weak, and it's a disappointment because we truly had a MANDATE for change--but failed to capitalize and instead began capitulating to Faux News and Rush Limbaugh. I mean really, the repulsican party was at the very least on life support and probably dead--but the enemy was not destroyed and may now rise up to fight again and kill the dems--and there were no viable repulsican voices, NONE worth listening to--just the cornered rats of the far right.

But it's Top Down--and you have to look at Obama and wonder what he is doing trying to stradle so many fences. You have a mandate like he had, a voting majority in both houses, and you get shit done--and the repulsicans have YOU to blame if their constituents axe them "why?"--so they have no one to hold them accountable for their support of getting shit DONE.

Now, the risk is that the Tahoe's of the world can work with the mass of stupidity in this country and gain a stronger voice. Backlash is a motherfucker.

[Tahoe]

Solid.

But how much of it is the fault of the public? Mention social security and people have a coronary. And yeah, so many people seem to be afraid of their own shadows now that if you really mention cutting the military budget, they can easily be worked into a fear frenzy that renders that argument dead.

The dems are proving to be weak, and it's a disappointment because we truly had a MANDATE for change--but failed to capitalize and instead began capitulating to Faux News and Rush Limbaugh. I mean really, the repulsican party was at the very least on life support and probably dead--but the enemy was not destroyed and may now rise up to fight again and kill the dems--and there were no viable repulsican voices, NONE worth listening to--just the cornered rats of the far right.

But it's Top Down--and you have to look at Obama and wonder what he is doing trying to stradle so many fences. You have a mandate like he had, a voting majority in both houses, and you get shit done--and the repulsicans have YOU to blame if their constituents axe them "why?"--so they have no one to hold them accountable for their support of getting shit DONE.

Now, the risk is that the Tahoe's of the world can work with the mass of stupidity in this country and gain a stronger voice. Backlash is a motherfucker.

I'm not working with ANY of youz libs.

[DE]

Solid.

But how much of it is the fault of the public? Mention social security and people have a coronary. And yeah, so many people seem to be afraid of their own shadows now that if you really mention cutting the military budget, they can easily be worked into a fear frenzy that renders that argument dead.

The dems are proving to be weak, and it's a disappointment because we truly had a MANDATE for change--but failed to capitalize and instead began capitulating to Faux News and Rush Limbaugh. I mean really, the repulsican party was at the very least on life support and probably dead--but the enemy was not destroyed and may now rise up to fight again and kill the dems--and there were no viable repulsican voices, NONE worth listening to--just the cornered rats of the far right.

But it's Top Down--and you have to look at Obama and wonder what he is doing trying to stradle so many fences. You have a mandate like he had, a voting majority in both houses, and you get shit done--and the repulsicans have YOU to blame if their constituents axe them "why?"--so they have no one to hold them accountable for their support of getting shit DONE.

Now, the risk is that the Tahoe's of the world can work with the mass of stupidity in this country and gain a stronger voice. Backlash is a motherfucker.

Those are two points I think are very important that I feel like I've really noticed now that I'm living back in the US. It seems that as a society we have grown more reactionary and prone to fear. And at the same time we seem to be more than ever a "can't do society" instead of finding a way to get it done.

Health care for me is an issue where I see this. Something that piece of shit fascist dictatorships (including Spain for decades) had/have and we are so afraid of it so prone to call it socialist. At the same time when you discuss it, every argument is "cant' do". Big lines and waiting lists in Canada? Ok, fine, what about systems where that doesn't happen? Or how about throwing some ingenuity and original thought at the problem and finding a way to make sure that doesn't happen? It's like not buying a great car just because the tire might lose too much air and we wouldn't know how to solve that.

Did it start with politicians who didn't want to have to actually work hard for their paycheck and come up with solutions or is it a product of a comfortable American society afraid of real deep change?