Al Franken Tells True Story of a Car, a Ditch, and the Last Two Years
Al Franken, retelling the President's car in the ditch story with a bit more accuracy:
When the President took office, not only had the car gone into a ditch, the car had flipped over and was rolling down a steep embankment. We, the American people, were in the back seat, and the Bush Administration had removed all the seat belts, so we were all flying around the interior of this car as it was rolling and flipping and careening down this steep embankment, headed to a 2,000 foot cliff. And at the bottom of that cliff were jagged rocks. And alligators.
Now, at noon on January 20th, 2009, as the car was careening toward the cliff, George W. Bush jumped out of the car.
President Obama somehow managed to dive in through the window, take the wheel and get control of the thing just inches before it went over the precipice. Then, he and Congress starting pushing this wreck back up the embankment. Now you can’t push a car up an embankment as fast as it careens down the embankment, especially if some people are trying to push against you. But we got it going in the right direction. And slowly we’ve gotten ourselves up the embankment, out of the ditch and onto the shoulder of the road.
There. That’s what happened.
His point? This:
Well, they may have the powerful corporations on their side. But we’ve got you.
If I sound like a broken record, it's because I cannot bear the idea of Joe Lieberman as Senate power broker. So please, go vote.
it's because I cannot bear the idea of Joe Lieberman as Senate power broker
Gosh, you mean he stopped being one at some point? That's a newsflash, karoli. You should call the MSM and make them aware.
When did Joe stop caucusing? When was he stripped of his chairmanships?
My goodness, you're a regular Bob Woodward.
If you're trying to carry the DNC water and trying to scare everyone into voting (cause that's all they got left), there are better bogeymen than the old Jew from Ct.
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
Why are you being an asshole to karoli?
Not cool.
What is your, conceptual, continuity?
Because it's the same old meme...vote Democratic...or booga booga...the Tea Party gonna getcha! Take ur rights! Things will be WORSE! This is the best we can get!
Those are not reasons to vote FOR someone.
You can't complain about candidates not discussing issues when your own political mantra is "Vote for us, cause we suck less than the other guy."
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
True. The democrats have the potential to be something less than crappy, but somehow ruin it every damn time.
Cases in point:
1) "Healthcare Reform". Health insurance reform, giving insurance companies a few more hurdles before screwing people, while throwing a few bones to FQHC facilities. Amazing -- we could have considered a single payer system (which most support) but rather than use the bully pulpit to push for FDR-type change, President Milquetoast and the scared-o-crats bent over for every damn Republican compromise, only to have no support from them to pass the bill.
2) "Financial reform". Completely fucking toothless. We still allow CDOs and CDSs, what the hell do we think is going to happen? It's "better than nothing", but that is simply a lousy excuse for not being able to pass cogent legislation.
3) Repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell". We still are a nation of racists and bigots, and the very idea that we can't get this repeal passed is testament to that. (Especially with the ex-general moron on TV saying that we've never lost a war to a nation with openly gay soldiers, forgetting how we got our asses handed to us in Vietnam -- stalemate is still a loss, guys. Especially against such a small country...)
4) Stimulus. Well, I guess 50% tax breaks stimulates someone, but it wasn't enough to make a noticeable dent to the general public, so there goes that vestige of support.
I can go on, but what's the point?
I'd be happier with democrats if they didn't have a certification in disappointing. The only reason I ever consider voting for them is the "boogieman" on the other side. But a choice between terrible and milquetoast is pathetic.
I said VOTE. that's all. I don't tell people how to cast their ballots. If you think Joe Lieberman's in a sweet position now, just wait till there are 50 Republicans, then you'll see just how sweet he can be. I'm not going to lie about what I view as the stakes. You think progress isn't going the way you want it to and the Dems aren't doing it the way you want them to. Fine. Let's see how the Republicans handle that.
he's an asshole to everybody.
(apologies LandP...that IS your persona, isn't it?)
That's MISTER Asshole.
And no...I have other endearing qualities..cynicism, contempt...BUT...at least I don't eat live kittens.
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
because there's not much meat on them.
Cynicism, contempt....some of my favorite endearing qualities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RKpC_tjUcc
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Liberal and Proud,
I have to agree with you. Senator Lieberman (I) has been screwing over the American people for far too long and what has the Senate Democratic leadership done about it? Zilch. Nada. Absolutely nothing. Oh, except to reward him time and time again with a plumb committee chairmanship.
I to am tired of voting for Democrats just because they are Democrats. I will always vote for the best person to do the job, even if they are a *gasp* moderate Republican. Here in Arizona's Congressional 3rd District, the Democratic candidate is Jon Hulburd. The problem is, Mr. Hulburd is a Republican in Democratic clothing. He has all of the Republican talking points down in his stump speeches. I didn't vote for him, Mr. Quayle, the Libertarian or the Green Party candidates. I voted for myself. If that means Mr. Quayle wins, so be it, but I refuse to vote for someone just because they say they are a Democrat.
We need to quit being sheeple and start thinking for ourselves.
"I'm vilifying you for God's sake - pay attention!" - Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in The Lion in Winter
True. If they're going to vote with the republican line, what's the point?
Discarding the libertarian (Republican "values" on steroids, for the most part), you probably should have voted for the Green Party candidate. If every disenfranchised democrat votes for them, at least you'll have something slightly better in office ...
Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Bush, were all the same guy.
.
going to ask when Joe had stopped being the most important man in the senate, but I see several people have beat me to it.
I actually belive that Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama were all the same guy, thank you.
Barack jumps thru the window, see bernanke, paulson and geitner who had been stepping on the gas and said..."well I guess you guys can keep up the good work." And thats why he isn't worth voting for.
Actually...they called for a tow...and Bernanke, Geitner and Summers showed up.
And they said it would only cost 2 Trillion dollars. Such a deal!
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
Sharron Angle for Senate
!!
I will vote but for the first time i am not going to be happy to vote democrat. i'm sure the majority of my votes will be democrat cause i'm sure as heck not going republican, but this thread does a great injustice to the accuracy of what really happened. Obama didn't get us steering in a different direction at all. i'm not even sure he's stepped on the breaks. he does give a good speech about how we need to change direction though. so maybe that's what you mean. in short, his actual policies are not about change but only slight modifications to look like you are doing something that you are not.
and just remember, the phrase is "Democratic vote" and "Democratic Party". Otherwise, we will suspect you of being a Rethuglican troll.
And, if you're looking for cohesiveness, just remember Will Rogers' famous comment:
"I'm not a member of any organized political party; I'm a Democrat."
And, BTW, a lot of us are not happy to vote Democratic this time...but look at it this way:
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
I didn't vote for President Obama, I voted against Senator McCain. I am so tired of voting against Republicans instead of for Democrats. I am so tired of voting for the lesser of two evils.
"I'm vilifying you for God's sake - pay attention!" - Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in The Lion in Winter
decent campaign finance laws in place, we don't have much choice. (full disclosure...I am a bleeding heart librul, and as such, have never been able to justify voting Rethuglican).
And don't say, Don't Vote. As a citizen for 68 years, I find that idea reprehensible. I have voted in every election since I was 21 (in those days,you had to be 21 to vote). Too many Americans bled on foreign (and domestic) soil and died to protect that precious right for anyone to ignore it.
And it will take a long time for this country to recover from the 30 years of trashing by the Rethuglican Party (Clinton was just a DINO, after all--but he DID leave a surplus).
If you don't vote, you deserve what you get, so hold your nose and mark that ballot.
to give in to the Republican/Teabagger 'wave' and install Boehner as the Speaker? That's going to make things better?
I don't think so...............we are making progress. Very slow progress, but progress nonetheless.
C'mon, Speaker Boehner! Think of the endless comments about the House Bohner popping off.
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
will have a field day with that guy.....but I'm sure they would say even though it were comedy gold, it would not be worth it to bring the country down just for a few laughs.
And TARP was a success. And we have Geithner fighting the good fight.
Oh. Wait. Maybe Not.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/10/sigtarp-...
Shocking!
I don't mean to blogwhore and I get no kickbacks nor do I know the author, but for those looking to really understand what happened and possible solutions I strongly recommend...
Freefall by Joseph Stiglitz
http://www.amazon.com/Freefall-America-Market...
It's an easy read. Stiglitz puts very complex issues into simpler terms that everyone can understand.
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
That makes me feel pretty good.
I'd rather think of myself as a fierce critic of the reactionary blowhard, Glenn Beck. He's not just a tool for the uber-wealthy; he's a straw man who's handy for knocking down in this election season.
I've wanted to address the tea party for months, and Beck makes that possible on The Review:
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/201...
I'm not a blog whore: I'm a blog pimp. Share that URL with everyone who might be thinking about voting for a tea party candidate.
Try reading.
What? You think every comment in the thread is about YOU?
Vote Democratic - "We'll Fix Healthcare Later & We Might Let The Bush Tax Cuts Expire"
What is the solution? All these people who whine about the democrats have no answer. They don't care or are too lazy to want to make things better. They would just rather whine about how bad things are and how stupid we all are for trying to make them better. Its really kind of pathetic that their lives are so empty that they get some satisfaction out of wasting their time like that.
I've realized the truth about the democrats for decades. The thing is I want to change things and make the country better. And I realize to do that requires hard work and compromise and that you can't turn things around in a day or even a few years. We need to either subvert the democrats from within the way the right wing has done to the republicans (and they patiently spent decades doing that) or we need to create a true alternative 3rd party. If people like LiberalAndProud talked about things like that I would have some respect for them. But they don't. All they do is whine like immature children about how awful everything is with no ideas or interest in how to make them better.
Too bad that every time people start moving towards a third party, there's a huge crisis of D vs R, and, much like the last election, we're back into a position of either being "for" the Democrats or basically ensuring that Republicans will take the election. And unfortunately, looking back on the 8 years of Bush fuckups, it's not an acceptable thing to happen.
Yeah, I know the teabaggers are an astroturf group, it's pretty fucking obvious. But I'm curious as to why the best "wide appeal" populism that the left can manage is "The Green Party".... Why is that? Populism is pretty easy if you highlight your desire to help people, which is the whole idea behind actual banking reform (to hell with CDOs and CDSs, that shit needs to be reined it), single payer or socialized medicine (care for all), and an actual retirement system without a bunch of greedy fuckers trying to take it away at every election cycle.
Seems like an easy platform to run on -- why do I only see teabaggers and people who are destined to lose (as if the two groups were mutually exclusive) running against the establishment?
to help people,
There's the problem. Rethuglicans have so poisoned the well with the "socialist, socialist, socialist" screed that the average American voter does not want to help people...they are only concerned with "I've got mine; now, go get your own."
Rethugs do not want to help "people". They want to help corporations who will enrich them and get them into powerful government positions so they can continue living off the government teat and not have to work for a living, like the common man.
Aren't they all supposed to espouse "good christian values"? And wasn't Jesus a longhaired radical socialist jew ... ?
Capitalism was sold to us during the Cold War as the Only Way to avoid being pwned by the Russians -- and yet it does seem as though we've managed to hang ourselves pretty well with it. I mean, unless you're one of the top percentiles, you're pretty ass poor ... So nice of us to make sure Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan got 100 pennies on the dollar from their AIG bets ... but somehow we all lost our shirts in retirement funds, pensions, etc. Worked out well ... for some.
so i better vote democrat even though they don't represent my issues or i'm a troll?
"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." <---i could not dissagree with this statement more. i would rather not vote for either devil. i already made up in my mind to to go third party in the presidential election. the midterm elections just don't have any third party candidates. for florida other than charlie crist (who is formerly a republican). this whole argument for voting for democrat is exactly why change doesn't come. we don't even want to get the most liberal of democrats. only the most popular ones.
I wouldn't use the word troll. If you help the right establish plutocracy in this land, I'd say the better word is tool. You, like Glenn Beck, are a tool if you support the RepubliCorp.
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/201...
I read and excellent closing argument for undecided voters:
http://ndn.org/blog/2010/10/one-possible-clos...
For voters who might be choosing a Tea Party candidate or a Dem, here's another post that's strong:
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/201...
Don't know if you all are making calls for progressive candidates or not, but one thing we can do is use this amazing Internet. We need to reach the undecided and share those URLs, and young voters to get them out to vote. E-mail, FB, Twitter, etc. We need to pour it on and save this Republic from the plutocrats.
indicative that there is more to their ire than just spending and deficits.
True. They only became "enraged and active" when a black man became President.....coincidence?
I don't think so.
Although I suspect it would have happened if he were white, as well, just because he would be a Democrat, and the Rethuglicans DO NOT want to EVER give up power to ANYONE....especially Democrats. Witness the constant drumbeat of impeachment and scandal-mongering they perpetuated during the Clinton presidency.
Tea Partiers are Rethuglicans....it's just a cover for people who were disappointed with the excessive spending of the Bush Administration. In the end, they are all Rethuglicans, and any vote for them is a vote for Rethuglicans......just the most extreme edge of the Rethuglican Party.
Sort of the rogue elephants, as one might say.
I agree that is a big part of it but if you look at the irrational rage that President Clinton received it was very similar to the things said against Obama. And I think if Hillarly Clinton had been elected we would have seen the same level of rage only with sexist rather than racist overtones.
Obama is black AND a Democrat!
Like I point out there, race is one element, one segment, of the TP. I don't think it permeates the TP. To your point, the right and the far right would have started to scream about spending and deficits if Clinton had been elected too.
Point of that section of the post is that the debt is not the problem; the economy itself is the problem. Z-facts author points out that there are only 2 responses possible: lower interest rates (done) and spending to spur job creation (needs to be done more).
These tea partiers are likely to cause another recession than they are to help us continue to come out of the one Bush drove us into.
And not all Confederates were racists and slaveowners, but they were probably far more likely to be.
The very premise of the "tea party" is to protest the idea that wealth is moving from people who supposedly earn it to those who supposedly don't -- and that seems to be a dogwhistle for "not white", backed up by the legions of either ignorant or malicous people (as TP'ers and/or libertarians can be grouped into being either ignorant or malicious) who seem to rally around the most vile and racist elements.
ignorant or malicious. I actually respect Libertarianism more than conservativism. It's wrong headed and reactionary, sure; but there's nothing wrong with not wanting government to interfere with our lives. What they miss is how corporations interfere with our lives, our environment, our economic health, etc. They end up, thus, tools of the uber-wealthy.
The conservative watchdog group, media research center, actually put out a memo today about Chris Matthews and Jimmy Carter discussing this: "Chris Matthews, on Monday's Hardball, invited on his old boss, former President Jimmy Carter, to commiserate about the rise of the Tea Party as the two condescendingly praised the movement at first, with Matthews admitting "they're not all crazies, they're regular people" but then went on to ridicule them as dupes of the rich. After Matthews asked if the Tea Partiers realized that "they're being backed by big corporations and all this conservative money at the top," Carter responded that they had no idea that they were "suborned" by those "who don't give a darn about low-class working people" like them."
MRC has a real problem with the facts.They hate it when liberals point things like this out, as if this information has a liberal bias. I've seen it before with them.
Depends. If you're self-sufficient, white, protestant, not disabled, etc, it sounds like a great idea -- be your own "fountainhead."
In reality, it's incredibly intellectually dishonest. Government has to act as an equalizer, otherwise things like racism, discrimination, etc would be the norm rather than a fringe effect, and those unfortunate enough to be handicapped or born mentally retarded would be doomed to die in the street if someone didn't pity them ...
"I've got mine and fuck you" is the *mantra* of the libertarian. They live by the idea that people without just aren't working hard enough for it, and that in and of itself is not just dishonest, but pandering and malicious.
Becoming "tools of the uber wealthy" is a side effect of a combination of greed/malice ("one day, I too will be one of the elites, so fuck these people with their entitlements") and ignorance ("the president is a kenyan socialist nazi fascist and wants to put his hands on my medicare"). We're undereducated, overprivileged, overentitled, and exceptionally gullible. Thinking about this again, I'm not sure why it hadn't happened sooner.
Mitch McConnell stated, very clearly, that the Republican agenda for the next two years is to make sure Obama is a one-term President. Nothing about jobs, the economy, banking, finance, mortgages, or national defense. Just getting rid of Obama. Republicans don'
t give a damn about this country or American workers. All they care about is getting rid of Obama. How pathetic.
Talk about a slip of the tongue! Or maybe, like their blatant racist attitudes, their hubris is just getting so great that they think the can say anything they want.
Anybody with eyes and ears and half a brain should have noticed that on November 5th of 2008, the Rethuglican Party started their campaign to destroy Barack Obama. Remember Jim DeMint's famous comment, "It will be his Waterloo; it will break him" comment? That should have been our first clue. The whole Tea Party movement was devised and promoted by Rethuglicans and Rethuglican operatives to discredit the Obama Administration("we want our country back! Wahhhhhhhh!), and believe me, they will not stop until he is removed one way or the other. Remember the Clinton years? The minute he took the oath of office, they were after him...Whitewater, he killed Vince Foster, all the "W" keys were missing from the White House computer keyboards, he was an Arkansas drug lord, Paula Jones, Travelgate, the White House Christmas card list, etc.etc.etc.
When Monica appeared on the scene, they practically wet their collective pants with joy. And all the time they were prosecuting him, their top officials (many, but I'm mainly talking about YOU, Newt Gingrich) were unabashedly engaged in their own tete a tetes. Hypocrisy at the highest levels.
So, I'm not at all surprised at the revelation that their only job is to bring down Obama...I'm just surprised McChinless had the balls to say it out loud.
and the people behind the curtain pulling all the strings will not change regardless of the outcome of this or any election.
The presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, the blatant media lies/RW propaganda, and the recent SCOTUS decision should have made that perfectly clear. The elections are rigged....not just the vote counting part, no one who is not 'pre-approved' by the Powers that Be (PtB) can get past the straw votes or primaries. There are no 'real choices'....Dem / Rep are all wholly-owned subsidiaries of the corpora-fascist/bankster cabal.
I'll go vote - just to cast a big NO against Pat Toomey (not that I'm in love with Joe), and to to elect some local folks who will have a direct impact in my community. But, I have no illusions about the near-term future
of our republic.
All politics is local. Keep voting for good people in your community and eventually they may reach national status....maybe not in your lifetime, but perhaps for your kids or grandkids.
We're screwed, but at least maybe our progeny will have a better life.
to corporate obamapology.
And quit invoking that Lieberman crap. REAL progressive already successfully primaried his ass.
Acts of war...Mandatory medical anything, Involuntary involvement in anything
Alaska Citizen's Militia
Poor Ned Lamont. I voted for him ...
...on several levels. What "Obamapology?" Obama is pointing out the facts: we're about to hand the keys over to the morons who drove the car (economy) into the ditch.
Lieberman is still a blue dog who needs to go.
no doubt the right is worse than the "left", doesn't mean a thing. soft or hard, fascism is fascism. witness the "good war" in af/pak/istan what the hell is going on? i am so amused by the naivete displayed here, let's all just start hauling spots. the nature of the beast has not changed one iota, gays in the military? fine, does the drone know the difference? unemployment extension? for how long? will that bring the jobs back? federal reserve? con game anyone? paying attention to transient issues is all very fine, certainly valid, but not going to change the real life or death issues.
amusing to read. Generally speaking, those who are disatisfied with Obama's performance lay out reasons why, while his "no matter what" supporters usually toss names and are insulting. It does make for a good read but doesn't address the core problems facing our country.
As for myself, my wife and I have been trying to establish a business outside the U.S. for the past few years (would have done it too if the bankers hadn't stolen everything) - and we're out of this place if we're ever successful.
Everyone else can just argue about the degrees to which we're going downhill (or up if that's your perception). I'd rather do it from a sane location.
are you going???
either one (or both) would have been up an running by now. One in China (yes those mainland commies) and another in Costa Rica. Either one would be fine.
...where I have tossed names and insulted those who are dissatisfied with Obama's performance. I don't see a Republican majority in Congress as a good thing for progressives at all. Shoot, they're already gearing up to staff the offices of the newly-elected teabaggers, measuring the drapes and laying the carpet. If their dreams are realized, I don't see how that makes things better for anyone but their corporate masters.
have. I'm mainly refering to others. Happens all the time.
fall on many ears in which are stuffed fingers while the adjacent mouth utters cynical platitudes.
Never attribute to malice...
That's funny, they've had plenty of time to help out the wealthiest few Americans. These folks haven't had it so good since The Gilded Age. In case you hadn't heard Mr. Franklin, Wall St. is handing out upwards of $144 billion dollars in bonuses this year. That breaks a record they set last year.
Maybe Obama and the Democrats are having such a difficult time pushing the car up the hill because most of the effort has been focused on building a marble palace for the Rolls Royce already parked at the top.
Minds are like parachutes . . . it doesn't matter what you pack them with so long as they open at the right time.
--Taylor Mali, teacher and poet
I found this to be a very thought--provoking article about the current Administration. I would strong urge everyone to read it, especially if you're disillusioned with Obama...
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/173...
That would be a Bush appointee as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke.
Who did the Democrats give the keys to?
The very same Ben Bernanke.
Minds are like parachutes . . . it doesn't matter what you pack them with so long as they open at the right time.
--Taylor Mali, teacher and poet
Thanks to clueless Harry Reid, Lieberman, Nelson, and Bu-bye Blanche have already been the power brokers.
We at Spark have a few questions about Obama's car metaphor. Like whether the working class was wearing a seat belt because we can't seem to find them?:
http://spark.thepoliticizer.com/news/question...
Hey PczrSpark :
Interesting...
You took the metaphor and kinda turned it into a useless meandering pseudo-intellectual melange of Objectivist unfunny nonsense.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
..the way to push Dems left is NOT to push them to the right. That's all.
2010: I vote Dem.
2011 and 2012: I vote third party.
Peter: Oh my god, Brian. There's a message in my Alpha Bits. It says, 'Ooooooo.'
Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.
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