Yes it reads as the opening movement of a rally the base symphony. Frankly that makes me nervous because I've always been skeptical that the Dem base can pull off the whole election even if riled up. We'll have to wait and see.
 SOTU full of pap. SOTU packed full of pandering hypocrisy. President’s party underwhelmed. President’s opposition party and Libertarians indignant and predicting dire consequences or indicators of oncoming ruin. Yup sounds like a standard SOTU address, glad I missed it.
Pessimism is certainly a better bet Jay, but maybe the Dems are close enough in time to Bush's re-election to remember it and avoid that mistake? God(ess?) knows I'm hoping for a Newt victory but I still think it's unlikely. Even if Newt somehow got the nod and rammed his party into a wall couldn't that be a Goldwater like moment for the GOP?
Yep. Employment has been inching down. Various indicators have been flickering from red to yellow and from yellow to green. Obama doesn't need low employment necessarily to win. He just needs a good solid trajectory to point at.
Generally conventional etc etc... though I'll note that Meryl Streep probably deserves to have her name carved into every Oscar for best Lead actress from now on for her performance in Iron Lady.
Agreed. The League has relatively strict standards for trolls. If you want to be considered a troll here you're going to have to increase your noise to signal ratio a lot and provide less interesting conversation and useful discussion.
Yes that's probably about right. On the other hand that perception isn't entirely or even majorly wrong. It does currently appear that Israel, having established that none of her enemies is capable of destroying her, has decided that if she wants something done right she'll have to do it herself.
Do you think, Nob, that the American Revolution helped or hindered this process? I can see arguements either way:
It hindered the process, as you noted, by giving abolitionism a rebel branding initially.
On the other hand the revolution also removed from the British Empire the entire American South with its slave industries and powerful vested interest in slavery. That is a powerful financial and political voice that essentially was removed from consideration by the British politicians and lords.
Alternative history crack... if the American Revolution hadn't happened or had failed would British abolition have not occurred or would it have occurred and then sparked a new American revolution (in the south at least)?
Yes I believe they still do. A lot of the old 'keep Canada Canadian" stuff lingers and since they don't have an ironclad first ammendment there're things that can stand in Canada that wouldn't endure in the US. Then again the FCC still prevents you from swearing on network television.
The funny thing about Andrew is he runs either hot like lava or cold like ice on subject. In his youth he was an unswerving advocate of the Israel can do no wrong camp. Now he's flipped his rhetoric a lot. The answer, of course, is somewhere in the middle.
Andrew does, however, demonstrate that Israel, as its freedom of security and action has widened, is beginning to lose some of the cover that it has traditionally deployed to defend its more unpleasant side (settlements, rabid right wing settlement and religious groups etc...). The idea that surrendering the territories or reaching some kind of compromise on Jerusalem would represent some kind of existential threat to the Jewish Israeli state is ludicrous and any small danger that such actions to present represent far less danger than the demographic timebomb they have strapped to themselves in the form of the very settlements they so adamantly cling to.
Liberty, I think most of the real world examples that spring to mind run contrart to your reasoning. I'll toss a couple out for consideration:
-Agriculture: Sugar tariffs, sugar price supports and similar such behavior. These mildly inconvenience the majority: slightly higher prices for sugar and food; slightly fewer jobs as sugar intensive industries locate outside the country (Ontario is a big candy making area for this reason for instance); slightly less healthy food choices (King corn and his wicked child corn syrup is so popular because they essentially were a low cost alternative to artificially expensive Caribbean and south American sugar. The minority; sugar farmers and farmers in general and agriculture corporations especially collect fat rents and income as a benefit.
-Trade: The Cuba lobby and the continuing Cuban Embargo. The majority is mildly inconvenienced: No easy travel to Cuba, no easy access to Cuban goods, minor loss in prestige at the visible impotence of Uncle Sam on this policy, imbalances in immigration, resentment between immigrant communities. The minority benefits significantly: former pre-Castro interests retain their claim against Cuban assets. Cuban exiles get considerable solace and satisfaction from the continuing pariah state of Cuba and from the political clout it gives them.
On “SOTU Reactions”
You and me both Russell.
On “Obama, Punditry, and the State of the Union Address That Ensured a Second Term”
Yes it reads as the opening movement of a rally the base symphony. Frankly that makes me nervous because I've always been skeptical that the Dem base can pull off the whole election even if riled up. We'll have to wait and see.
On “SOTU Reactions”
Personally I'd have found the speech much more interesting if he'd accidentally baked a baby while kissing a raw apple pie on the dias.
"
 SOTU full of pap. SOTU packed full of pandering hypocrisy. President’s party underwhelmed. President’s opposition party and Libertarians indignant and predicting dire consequences or indicators of oncoming ruin. Yup sounds like a standard SOTU address, glad I missed it.
On “Win Or Lose In 2012, Obama’s Got No Class”
Pessimism is certainly a better bet Jay, but maybe the Dems are close enough in time to Bush's re-election to remember it and avoid that mistake? God(ess?) knows I'm hoping for a Newt victory but I still think it's unlikely. Even if Newt somehow got the nod and rammed his party into a wall couldn't that be a Goldwater like moment for the GOP?
"
Yep. Employment has been inching down. Various indicators have been flickering from red to yellow and from yellow to green. Obama doesn't need low employment necessarily to win. He just needs a good solid trajectory to point at.
On “2012 Oscar Nominations Have Been Announced”
Humm I should see it then.
"
Generally conventional etc etc... though I'll note that Meryl Streep probably deserves to have her name carved into every Oscar for best Lead actress from now on for her performance in Iron Lady.
On “Race, Privilege, Music, and The N-Word”
Agreed. The League has relatively strict standards for trolls. If you want to be considered a troll here you're going to have to increase your noise to signal ratio a lot and provide less interesting conversation and useful discussion.
On “Job Creator”
Obama's total what?
On “As Old As The World”
Yes that's probably about right. On the other hand that perception isn't entirely or even majorly wrong. It does currently appear that Israel, having established that none of her enemies is capable of destroying her, has decided that if she wants something done right she'll have to do it herself.
On “Can States be Moral? The Curious Case of British Abolitionists”
Agreed, well done.
"
Oh yes assuredly, an excellent post, I should have said so in my own comment.
"
Do you think, Nob, that the American Revolution helped or hindered this process? I can see arguements either way:
It hindered the process, as you noted, by giving abolitionism a rebel branding initially.
On the other hand the revolution also removed from the British Empire the entire American South with its slave industries and powerful vested interest in slavery. That is a powerful financial and political voice that essentially was removed from consideration by the British politicians and lords.
Alternative history crack... if the American Revolution hadn't happened or had failed would British abolition have not occurred or would it have occurred and then sparked a new American revolution (in the south at least)?
On “Weekend Jukebox: Canuck Edition (Reasons to love/hate Canada)”
Oh I agree it's an utterly futile and facile theme and gesture. But it holds none the less.
"
Yes I believe they still do. A lot of the old 'keep Canada Canadian" stuff lingers and since they don't have an ironclad first ammendment there're things that can stand in Canada that wouldn't endure in the US. Then again the FCC still prevents you from swearing on network television.
On “Newt’s Secret Ingredient”
I'm certainly rooting for this outcome.
"
Impossible. He cannot win. No democrat or person on the left individually or collectively could possibly be that lucky.
On “As Old As The World”
err that second settlement should be sentiment.
"
The funny thing about Andrew is he runs either hot like lava or cold like ice on subject. In his youth he was an unswerving advocate of the Israel can do no wrong camp. Now he's flipped his rhetoric a lot. The answer, of course, is somewhere in the middle.
Andrew does, however, demonstrate that Israel, as its freedom of security and action has widened, is beginning to lose some of the cover that it has traditionally deployed to defend its more unpleasant side (settlements, rabid right wing settlement and religious groups etc...). The idea that surrendering the territories or reaching some kind of compromise on Jerusalem would represent some kind of existential threat to the Jewish Israeli state is ludicrous and any small danger that such actions to present represent far less danger than the demographic timebomb they have strapped to themselves in the form of the very settlements they so adamantly cling to.
"
To be fair Blaise, Israel hasn't signed the NPT so the IAEA has no legal authority over them.
On “The Margins of the Argument”
Liberty, I think most of the real world examples that spring to mind run contrart to your reasoning. I'll toss a couple out for consideration:
-Agriculture: Sugar tariffs, sugar price supports and similar such behavior. These mildly inconvenience the majority: slightly higher prices for sugar and food; slightly fewer jobs as sugar intensive industries locate outside the country (Ontario is a big candy making area for this reason for instance); slightly less healthy food choices (King corn and his wicked child corn syrup is so popular because they essentially were a low cost alternative to artificially expensive Caribbean and south American sugar. The minority; sugar farmers and farmers in general and agriculture corporations especially collect fat rents and income as a benefit.
-Trade: The Cuba lobby and the continuing Cuban Embargo. The majority is mildly inconvenienced: No easy travel to Cuba, no easy access to Cuban goods, minor loss in prestige at the visible impotence of Uncle Sam on this policy, imbalances in immigration, resentment between immigrant communities. The minority benefits significantly: former pre-Castro interests retain their claim against Cuban assets. Cuban exiles get considerable solace and satisfaction from the continuing pariah state of Cuba and from the political clout it gives them.
"
Couldn't be, he didn't say a word about gnosticism.
"
James Henly sir! You have debauched my sloth!!!
On “Nob-les Oblige: An Introduction”
Hurrah Nob! Congrats and welcome!!
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