Rex Kickass

Frank Rich on the Obama flip-flop. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/05/frank...as-evolved.html

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 10, 2012 -> 09:12 AM) Your Barney Frank story dumps all. I think you meant to say "trumps" but the typo is oddly appropriate.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 10, 2012 -> 08:52 AM) There is a reason I punched Ron Paul the other day despite there being no reason to do so. You punched Ron Paul? This has to be even better than my Barney Frank story!

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 9, 2012 -> 09:24 PM) No, a definition of a sheep is just allowing yourself to be sucked in, saying RAH RAH RAH!!! by a weak sauce president who is using a sensitized issue for a political prop and to shake a group down for more money. You all are praising a stance that may be right or wrong (which you keep assuming my stance but you don't know) that is 100% allowing your position to be used. He did it TODAY because the pollsters told him to. Quick. Call GMA, because now I'm for gay marriage! (sic). It's a disgusting, purely political bald face move. I'm glad you all support using gay people like that. I sure don't, and frankly I don't have a problem with the issue at all. But I sure do mind it for a political prop and you all cheer it on ... so hisssstoric!! Actually, I know what your stance is. You've even made it clear on this site several years ago. And I'll even go so far as to agree with you that the timing is suspect. If anything, all this is is a white flag conceding North Carolina to the GOP. I was also well aware that Obama wasn't a GLBT supporter five years ago. He wasn't the primary candidate I supported, because in the 2008 race, the only candidate who supported equality was Bill Richardson. He was just so ham handed, he meant to say it doesn't matter but said being gay is a choice instead. He wasn't our community's best choice in 2008, but he ended up being a pretty damn good one. He ended Don't Ask Don't Tell, decided to stop defending legal challenges to DOMA, appointed the first transgender member of any administration and supported ENDA, which would have made employment discrimination for being gay, bi or transgender illegal, had it not been blocked by the GOP from passage in the Senate. Now four years later, he's finally made the calculus to say he supports marriage equality. That's great! Calculus or not, its still the right decision and I can't fault him for holding the same position as me - even though I wish it had arrived several years earlier. You act as if this is a reason to dislike the man. It's not. Compare this to the other side. And really compare it because when I was listening to the radio last night, Mitt Romney portrayed himself as consistent as long as you only look back to 2007. "My position has been consistent since I started running." He supported GLBT rights in 1994. Ran as an equality candidate. Today, he can't even keep a staffer on the payroll if he's openly gay because of the backlash in his base. In the last 20 years, GLBT rights has come up for a vote 33 times. We haven't won once, because minority rights rarely win majority approval. However, the initiatives seem to be placed magically during elections where an increased vote from evangelicals or other groups that traditionally do not support these minority rights are needed to ensure GOP victories. You act all cynical like we just got bamboozled. We didn't. We were used as a prop. And for once we were used as a prop in a way that actually might benefit us. Consider me happy, because I consider that pretty damn rare. Consider me a sheep. Baaaaaaaaa!

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 9, 2012 -> 06:45 PM) You people just got snowjobbed and can't even see it or see why (and it has nothing to do with North Carolina). Enjoy your screwjob by your president... because you just got used and abused for a political prop. But the ends always justify the means... right? Better to used as a political prop than a punching bag. GLBT community is so used to being the latter politically, we might actually welcome the former.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 9, 2012 -> 03:17 PM) Boy that Mitt Romney, changing positions again... It's a flip flop I'll welcome.

QUOTE (God Loves The Infantry @ May 6, 2012 -> 11:19 PM) Yeah, we nearly went broke because of the debt ceiling fight, and not because we've spent the last 40 years spending money on asinine s***. Like $16 trillion to the War on Poverty that didn't eliminate poverty. Keep telling yourself that. There's a difference between being broke and bankrupt. One means you are no longer honoring your obligations.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 6, 2012 -> 07:00 PM) The Nazi party in France got 20% in the first round. To be fair, as xenophobic and extreme as the FN is, they are no nazi party.

QUOTE (God Loves The Infantry @ May 5, 2012 -> 07:28 PM) Fine. Raul Grijalva and Jan Schakowsky are back benchers. How about Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and Debbie Wasserman Schultz? Those are all Dem leaders who hold pretty solid liberal beliefs, at least as much as Allen West and Marco Rubio hold conservative ones. And why don't you take a look at our leadership? Eric Cantor's pretty damn conservative, and John Boehner is, but less so. But Mitch McConnell? And Dick Lugar (F from the NRA and supporter of the DREAM Act for starters)? Conservative in some issues, wishy washy in others. Not exactly "ideologically pure" or "extreme". John Boehner and Eric Cantor are in a pissing match and are controlled by their back bench at the moment. Case in point: we very nearly went bankrupt as a country because the John Boehner led Congress blocked passage of an increase in the debt limit to pay for the very things that the Republican Congress voted to pay for in the months previous. The NRA chose not to support Dick Lugar because he voted to require gun manufacturers to provide trigger locks on new weapons and because he voted to require back ground checks on gun sales. And because he took his role to "advise and consent" on Supreme Court justices seriously, instead of choosing to say no because his party said so. That's how he got an F.

QUOTE (God Loves The Infantry @ May 5, 2012 -> 11:19 AM) Why is the Republican Party ever more extreme? Because we are purging the Olympia Snowes, the Charlie Crists and the Dick Lugars? You talk about needing people on both sides of the aisle who bend...where are the Democrats who do so? Is there anyone in Congress closer to the ideological extreme than, say, Raul Grijalva or Jan Schakowsky? By purging the traitors and the frauds, the GOP is merely moving to be as ideologically pure as your party is. You don't really want both sides to bend. You want Republicans to bend so that liberalism can prevail in a democratic fashion. That's understandable. You want to win. So do I. But don't be surprised when, in our efforts to move the country to the right, we reject politicians who only marginally or, in some cases, don't at all support said efforts. You really wanna go there? Obamacare was modeled after Romneycare. Last I checked Mitt Romney was a Republican. The idea for the individual insurance mandate came from Richard Nixon's presidency. Last I checked Richard Nixon was a Republican President. Why don't you ask what Senator Manchin thinks about Cap and Trade? He's in line with GOP caucus on that issue. Which is funny, because I believe that was originally a GOP proposal as well. The Obama administration was willing to put Medicare and Social Security on the table to talk about 4 trillion dollars in deficit reduction. Exactly how many Republicans put forward a serious discussion on tax increases? I love how you consistently bring up House back benchers with no real power when you talk about non-compromising Democrats, but you fail to mention Harry Reid. You fail to mention Dianne Feinstein. You fail to mention Ben Nelson. You fail to mention Joe Donnelly. You fail to mention Joe Manchin. You fail to mention Max Baucus, Jim Webb, and Jon Tester. Every single one of them is a pain in the ass for polemics, because they aren't as progressive as many people - myself included - but they serve a purpose. They help our government function. Your Republican in name only has a 100% rating from Right to Life. A 100% rating from the Christian Coalition. A 100% rating from NFIB. That's pretty damn conservative. But he's also sane. He also understands that the best way to oppose things is not always to obstruct every single nomination, although he's helped to obstruct quite a few of them. He understands that many issues of national security, including the securing of loose fissile material should be above partisan politics. But hey, I guess he doesn't fit the mold of today's Republican party. That says a lot for this party, and frankly - it doesn't say a lot that's very good.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) His voting record is extremely conservative, but my admiration for him stems from the fact that he has actually made this country a safer place through his effective work on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. Can't stand any of the dude's major votes, but "Making sure Russian nuclear materials are controlled" is a fairly nice hot button for me. You can have a strong conservative voice in the Senate as long as that voice will do its job as a Senator, like not block everything from passage. Like actually agree to allow votes on nominees. I respect Lugar for his willingness to do what's necessary to keep the government moving - and also for his willingness to do a lot of the foreign policy dirty work too.

QUOTE (God Loves The Infantry @ May 4, 2012 -> 09:13 PM) Of course you want us to keep him around. He's one of you in our clothing. I think Dick Lugar is a pretty good man, and adds a breath of moderation to an ever more extreme Republican party. I probably wouldn't vote for him in the General Election, but in this primary I absolutely would (if I still lived in Indiana.) Much as ideological purity can be attractive, we need people on both sides of the aisle who are willing to bend for the sake of making our government work. Lugar has been one of those men - and on the GOP side, they've been in pretty short supply the last few years.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 4, 2012 -> 04:59 PM) Yeah, i'd say there's a pretty huge subset of the democratic party that hates pretty much anyone with money. See: occupy members. Maybe there aren't 6 candidates spouting ridiculous things about it like we just had with the GOP, but there wasn't a primary to fight over. I think you're much more likely to see an Occupy member vote Green than you are to see a Tea Party member vote libertarian. Although many people within the Occupy movement lean Democrat, its a lot less monolithic in terms of a voting bloc than you'd think. In fact, I'd wager that a huge chunk of Occupiers don't bother to vote at all.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 4, 2012 -> 02:10 PM) http://news.yahoo.com/real-joe-biden-vs-on...cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3 Joe Biden or the Onion. Take the quiz. I got the one about the 1983 Pontiac wrong.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2012 -> 01:49 PM) Fuel is a huge piece of their supply line. This action also gives Delta the ability to directly (at some level) limit supply to their competition, which is also a litmus test. It shouldn't do that at all. They aren't buying an operating refinery, they are reopening a shuttered one.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Apr 27, 2012 -> 09:24 AM) A little more of this would go a long way in making this a better forum. Agreed. The people in this forum who I have spent the most time with as friends have political viewpoints nearly diametrically opposed to mine. Disagreement doesn't mean you have to like the person who disagrees.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2012 -> 10:44 AM) I think it is a great idea, you just have to hope the white house doesn't deem it a vertical monopoly like Standard Oil. It wouldn't fit the definition of vertical monopoly though. It would just mean having more control over their supply chain, no? I think this is a great idea. Not only are they essentially creating a hedge against higher whole sale prices for Jet-A, but the business is also likely to offset costs by being able to sell the leftover diesel and other petroleum products that come out of the same refining process for producing Jet-A. I think the most important question here is whether or not the refiners will get flight benefits on Delta.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 09:49 AM) Isn't that what he explicitly did with DOMA? No, he didn't stop enforcing DOMA. He chose to stop defending challenges in court to the validity of DOMA. That would be two completely different things.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 01:19 PM) NYC pizza doesn't crunch. True Brooklyn thin crust pizza is pretty crunchy actually.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Apr 20, 2012 -> 08:07 PM) Places to eat Marlow and Sons - Brooklyn Birreria on top of Eataly ABC Kitchen Momofuku Ssam Bar Momofuku Milk Bar Luke's Lobster Ess-A-Bagel Wafels and Dinges Big Gay Ice Cream Shop Signature Vendors at Madison Square Garden are also amazing, by FAR the best food I have ever eaten at a stadium Many is the time, I've drunkenly tried to get Wafel truck to reopen for me. It worked once. Would add to this: Joe's Shanghai for Soup Dumplings Kebab Heaven Pommes Frites Khyber Pass Caracas Arepa Bar Black Iron Burger

I also am not as active as I used to be here, although I have moderated this forum for a few years. Sometimes, I think the discussions here are pretty toxic, but I don't think that's any different than any other place in this country. Our dialogue in general, as a society has gotten less friendly and less respectful. I post less here not because I think the arguments here are fruitless, but because I'm just less interested in arguing lately. It does get frustrating to put some thought behind a post and not get a proper reaction. But again, that's life, that's not unique to this board. I will say that moderating here has been a challenge. When your ideology is assumed, enforcing policies equally often seems like bias when the poster is party X and I am party Y. I've tended to be more heavy handed in all honesty with people on my own side of the fence. Suspending people in here is a challenge, because its very easy to feel like you are being attacked for your political views, and that's a tough pill to swallow.

It's pretty common in the ballpark. I went to the ballpark souvenir store at a Cardinals game last year, and it was chilly and I was looking for a sweatshirt. Cheapest sweatshirt? $90.00. Concessions are pricier because there are so many places that get a cut from the proceeds, and being in the stands, its easier to get a little more out of you. But I gotta say, every time I look to buy something in a stadium, I usually end up going to the shop down the street instead.

QUOTE (Tex @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 08:17 AM) Complete this Romney quote: Drop out of the race and I will offer you . . . VP? Cabinet? Hookers? Stocks? If that had happened, Santorum might have actually mentioned Romeny once in his concession speech. He dropped out because it was becoming apparent he would lose his home state.

Zimmerman charged with Murder in the Second Degree. Can result in life imprisonment. He is currently being held in custody. Here's to hoping the trial is fair and just.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 10, 2012 -> 03:17 PM) He also keeps having to leave the campaign trail for a sick kid. Not to be crude about it, but I'd wager the poll numbers were the bigger factor.