bmags

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 30, 2008 -> 04:19 PM) The sad thing is that his fee went up after he announced he had cheated on his wife. Stay classy John, stay classy. Really? Another reason for Mizzou to beat the crap out of U of I this weekend. (I'm headin there now)

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 30, 2008 -> 01:07 PM) Been listening to The National alot lately.Isnt it about time for a new album?I really hope so that guy has the coolest singing voice I ever heard outside of the lead singer in Kings of Leon. It's only been a year

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Aug 30, 2008 -> 09:03 AM) Tonight at the Pacific Division show Hollywood Holt bought me a Heineken...highlight of my night. ha nice. I want to get up to see another one of his shows.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 30, 2008 -> 01:28 AM) Well.. Black Mountain, Times New Viking and Yo La Tengo too. Plus it's like 300 miles away. where do you go to school?

knots in my stomach. I was friends with Mike Bowden in high school, but I hope he kids the crap beat out of him tomorrow.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 30, 2008 -> 02:00 AM) Yea, I just haven't had time to read ANYTHING about her other then what's been posted here, and frankly a lot of it is Democrat attack points from AHB. Wikipedia has been going crazy with updates on her. I think that would honestly be a great place to start. I like to check wikipedia and then follow their links on the reference section.

this was going in the Palin VP thread: Alright. Perhaps my initial reaction being so critical of this pick was a reaction to McCain's campaign's heavy push that Obama is too inexperienced and running off of his celebrity status. I've in the past shown why I think experience is a load of bunk. Some posters, balta and lostfan, have echoed these sentiments in a way I agree with. I'd add, historically, some of my favorite presidents (Polk, Lincoln, Truman) had little experience compared to their peers, but personality and drive to do what they thought was right. In my posts, I was hypocritical. I do think this helps Obama eliminate one attack against him from McCain, that he is inexperienced. This doesn't mean that Obama is going to attack Palin for being so, rather that McCain won't be able to effectively use it. I say this, because in my opinion your VP pick is someone you are saying is qualified to be president and will fight for your agenda. McCain in picking Palin, is saying that her drive and personality and work as a reformer qualify her for president. I would like to know more about Alaskan politics. My view right now is it is in shambles due to many scandals, and that Palin enjoyed heavy favorables for taking on these. Although, she herself is in a scandal. And Alpha dog made a good point, that Biden's son Hunter is going to get him into trouble. The NYTimes has already ran coverage of his son's lobbyist ties and questionable practices. This is troublesome to me, in addition to Biden's cozy relationship to the credit companies. However, the reason I think Palin's scandal could hurt her more than Biden, is that even if you taint Biden with lobbyist ties, it's a bit watered down because that has been a story with aides in this campaign and none of them have gotten too far. And if you taint his populist cries, he still has his foreign policy experience. With Palin, if you taint her reformist agenda with a scandal such as she has, she has little else except her social conservatism, and I don't think that will win too many moderates. All in all, this actually was probably a good pick for McCain. Clearly, Pawlenty and Romney were not exciting people, as this day was mostly met with dread in the lead up from the conservatives here it seemed. She, a fresh face and history-maker of her own, adds conservative credentials - and most of all - enthusiasm to this campaign. I can see her closing the enthusiasm gap vs. Obama, and in that sense she was probably a good choice. In the end, this will come down to Obama vs. McCain, and probably on foreign policy on whether Obama can convince enough of the country that he is ready to take over our country during 2 conflicts and rising super powers. And as opposed to certainly Romney and in my impression Pawlenty, Palin will add youth and charm and be in asset in these town halls McCain runs.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 09:25 PM) I got in a car accident and missed my only chance to see Titus Andronicus. I might catch them in Champaign with Dan Deacon but man, thats some serious monies. Dan Deacon and Titus Andronicus is an expensive show?

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 11:44 PM) I couldnt watch the cable nets for more than 45 seconds at a time, would immediately switch to C-SPAN. Their opinion that their talking heads were more interesting than the Democratic party's propogandist speech givers was interesting. I'll choose PBS anyday.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 11:40 PM) I'll agree with the governor is running things. W Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, etc have been recent presidents that were governors. There hasn't been a senator elected president in a long time. I know she's a possible vice president, but she does have some, even if little, experience at running things. It's true that there haven't been too many senators jump to President in history, but much of this I believe has to do with the Senate not being popularly elected until the 20th century. And if you were to look at it then, we have had a lot of our presidents move into the presidency that HAVE been senators. LBJ, Nixon, Kennedy and Truman. And certainly LBJ's time in the senate was invaluable to him in pushing through his legislation. Carter on the other hand had executive experience, but the Georgia legislature held little power vs. their governor, and Carter had little idea how to deal with the legislature. So in these cases I think it's fair to say that both of these positions are distinguished and prepare the president in different ways.

Anthony Bordaines no reservations episode in Osaka made me soooooo hungry. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 10:15 PM) That's still not a very smart thing to say, especially when Iran is developing nukes, threatening to use them on Israel, and has significant influence on global energy prices. Hence the "judgement" issue. Maybe you should read what he actually said before saying it questions his judgment.

also doesn't count Cspan and PBS I heard, and I was watching PBS

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 10:24 PM) In JFK's case he made it a point to lean on his staff in areas he knew he was weak in. I also like that he took in Neustadt after the publishing of his book describing the new american presidency.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 09:26 PM) Obama is where he is today for a number of reasons, but those don't include a supreme knowledge of the economy or foreign policy. BTW, you DO know that Biden will be 67 in November, right? I don't see how he's any less of a health risk than McCain. Well, I guess it's good that Obama is twenty years his junior then and health records fit on one page. Vice Presidents dying doesn't lead to a new leader of anything other than their duties in the Senate. The difference here is: Biden is Obama's VP candidate and is a "health risk", while McCain is running for President. Subtle difference I know.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 08:32 PM) So, if the country doesn't have a problem with a guy with no substantial executive experience running for President, I doubt that they'll much mind somebody with executive experience (albeit slightly less overall government experience) running for Vice President. You can make this argument if you acknowledge that Obama is where he is today by proving to people that he belongs by convincing them of his policies and knowledge in the economy and foreign policy for months while running a huge nationwide campaign, he did not get tapped on the shoulder suddenly to be second in line to the presidency.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 07:27 PM) Who in their right mind would feel comfortable with Obama as our leader if something were to happen to old man Biden? What a disastrous choice. about half of the country that was supporting him before his VP was even picked.

speaking of, Titus andronicus and Ted Leo are coming here. I'm pretty excited

Palin can help bridge the enthusiasm gap between BO and JM, I imagine. But wow. I'm still amazed by all this.

September should bring excitement for me, but am I the only one that seems to get all the anxiety and rare excitement? If we win at this point its that we should win, if we lose it throws me overboard. It's so hard, but so much better than being apathetic in Sept.

well whoever posts newsmax articles.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 06:33 PM) You keep bringing that up, but it goes nowhere. Do you think that hasn't been looked at beforehand? It is nothing, and being brought to the forefront, like crap on both sides. Want scandal? How about Biden's lobbyist son and brother being sued right now, and their connections to companies that are some of his biggest contributors? How about bills cosponsored by Biden that directly benefit companies that the son represents? Also not going anywhere, just like Palin's police thing. Because other than the nice sounding headlines, nothing is there. You make no mention of the fact that the guy she fired was hired by her prdecessor. The fired guy had crime actually go up on his watch, despite a pledge to make it go down. And he also refused to follow the budget guidelines set by the state, routinely going over budget. Maybe he was fired because he wasn't doing his job. maybe he was, but then why would she lie about saying she never talked about the brother in law with him? Why would they claim they never pressured him, then it comes out? There'd be no reason to try and cover your ass if it was just about his job.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 07:23 PM) Given the circumstances, this is the best possible VP that McCain could've picked. Going with the "safer" choice of Romney or Pawlenty wasn't going to work this year. Many people (correctly) point to gender/age identity playing a major role in the Palin decision, but that was far from the only consideration. Her voting record will energize the conservative base and her reform work against the "Good Ole' Boys" network in Alaska will weaken Obama's "Third Term of Bush" characterization of the ticket. Her charisma and speaking ability, while obviously not on the same level of Obama's, will certainly help to offset his. How long will this "reformer" tag last considering she's in a scandal? Although I suppose McCain's "maverick" has played for a while.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 06:35 PM) actually this isn't fair. Alaska is about 3x the size of Rockford, Illinois. More accurate comparison would be the cities of Louisville, Milwaukee, El Paso, Baltimore, Charlotte, Memphis, Fort Worth, Austin, Columbus, Indianapolis, etc. So Sarah Palin has the same "executive" experience as say, the mayor of Columbus, OH, except for the fact that the mayor of Columbus has been in this position since 1999. A sparser population actually makes it easier to govern IMO, as you don't have the problems that cities have with people on top of each other. What's their biggest town, 100,000? Naperville is bigger than that.

Being bi-partisan means working with the opposing party to get bills passed that should get passed. In Obama's case for president, he will need republican support for his policies. His policies are progressive. Examples of him getting Republicans to support his policies is a great example of bi-partisanship.