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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Is it too soon to be seeing civility?

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I had to take a big sip of my coffee this morning because I couldn't believe what I saw.  There sat Bill Kristol as the guest of MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” There  were joking of him being in the Lions' den, but as he is on Jon Stewart and other shows, I've seen him on, Bill Kristol sounded pretty reasonable.  It wasn't until the group started talking about Rumsfeld’s new book when Mr. Kristol  started getting a little defensive about the Iraq war.  It was learned that Donald Rumsfeld wanted plans to attack Iraq just four hours after 911.  There is a conflict between President Bush's book and Donald Rumsfeld’s book.  They are some similarities.  Neither one of them take blame or aplogize for the fiasco, we call the invasion of Iraq. 

On “Morning Joe” Tuesday, the Weekly Standard editor appeared to promote “The Neoconservative Persuasion,” a collection of essays written by his father, Irving Kristol. During that appearance, New York magazine’s John Heilemann asked Kristol why Republicans were reluctant to challenge Fox News host Glenn Beck, a regular target of MSNBC’s personalities, as Kristol did in a column for the Feb. 14 issue of the Weekly Standard for his claim Islamists and liberal forces were collaborating to orchestrate a caliphate.

http://tinyurl.com/4cqml8b

I think the new owners of NBC took the first step by releasing Keith Olbermann and making Ed Schultz drop his “psycho talk”  segment.  Since then I've seen more prominent republicans as a guest.  Rachel Maddow had Michael Steele as a guest the other night.  Michael Steele admitted the RNC would not allow him to go on liberal shows as the chairman of the Republican Party.  He has made up for it since, with appearances on Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, and Rachel Maddow.  The give and take was quite informative.  It's too early to tell, but I hope MSNBC doesn't take a route of CNN, who bends over backwards, so not to appear partisan.  That just means, CNN, is just a sounding board for the left and right to deliver their talking points. 

Sarah Palin is not slowing down a bit but she is getting more incoherent.  The other day she told the Christian Broadcasting Network(CBN) that the Egyptian crisis was Obama’s 3:00 AM call  but it went straight to the answering machine. She when onto say “ the White House was not doing enough to inform  the American people about what is happening in Egypt.”  She didn’t leave it at that, she said “should not stand" for an Egypt led by the Muslim Brotherhood. “ Duh .  As usual  she never said what she would do.  That’s because she doesn't have the slightest idea of where Egypt is or the delicate situation that we are in by trying to come out with the very best solution for in United States, Egypt, the Middle East and Israel.

It's only a matter time before the Republican Party will have to put a lid on Glenn Beck and his conspiracy theories because he is taking some pages from the John Birch Society by not only attacking liberals, now he is saying both Bush's and were leading the charge for orchestrating a caliphate.  He said president's Obama, Bush, I and II put out  strict orders not to bomb Ancient Babylon. Why? Because the Bible tells us that is the seat, right here (aims pointer at map like a college professor) of power of a global evil empire...everybody on this side wants ancient Babylon for their caliphate. (The New Islamic Caliphate) ..I guess they  could wait for the guys with the white coats come for him.

http://tinyurl.com/4gl98a4

The local blogs got a right wing slant this weekend. One was written by itisi called “liberalism” where the author never quoted a reference but instead chose to give a one-sided view point; his. The other blog was written by holly1.  The name and his blog was” It's our way or the highway and other myths of politics.” Both blogs received a lot of traffic, but it quickly became like one of my many political blogs.  They became the dumping ground  for the usual " and you’re another one” back and forth postings  We have a lot of work to do in ridding ourselves of the myths we might have required over a long period of time.  I think it's gonna take a new set of posters to completely overturn the combative dialogue, we call debates.  No one wants to go first and be made a fool of.

25 comments:

Mike said...

Waywardwind made the first move by apologizing in advance; just in case he offended me...

That's stand up and perhaps a small step for us but just might take one blogger at a time.

Edith Ann said...

WWW is a republican, but I like him anyway. He doesn't usually pick fights, he makes sense often even when I don't agree with him, he is usually civil and sometimes he is downright funny. Others could take lessons from him. He's a standup kind of guy.

Like I posted on your last blog--itisi perceived an opening and took it. She's a putz. Will fizzle. How many times can you post a variation of the same angry rant over and over (asks the blogger who has written 15 blogs about the Bring Your Boots campaign...)? Well, you get my drift. Her buddy, holly1 will enjoy the same fate. It is work writing a blog. They are not in it for the long haul.

Sarah Palin. Oh, gee. You're right. She doesn't have a clue. About anything.

Glenn Beck. Needs to be locked up for our safety. Batsh&*t CRAZY!

Bill Kristol. I'm liking him less and less the more I see him. I don't know if he's jockying for some sort of political appointment or what, but he would not say a bad thing about a republican if his life depanded on it. We should all have such loyalty, or whatever it is that keeps the blinders on.

Good blog Mike!

Kyle said...

I agree with EA on WWW - I have more respect for him than I do for the dynamic duo that is itisi and holly1 and Mr. Sarcasm 2010 Rollinstone. I do pay attention when he defends his more liberal viewpoints such as abortion and I often form alliances of convenience with him on religious issues.

The problem as I see it is that I would like to see a really decent blog attempt from the right side of the political spectrum - something of your consistent caliber but 9 times out of ten all I am presented with are half arsed, poorly reasoned responses to a blog of yours, Mike. I suppose you should take their continued poor efforts as a compliment!

Edith Ann said...

I agree Kyle. I have a fair share of friends and family who claim the republican label. With the possible exception of my brother, I find it more than difficult hold a discussion with them on any political topic. I hate to really clump them together and stereotype, but often they can't tell you WHY they hold a certain opinion, but they can quote chapter and verse on who said it first.

I kind of admire folks who think for themselves, those who listen to whatever, and come to a conclusion. If I cared what those others think--I'd watch FOXNews 24/7 like they do!

Original thought, though, seems is short supply.

Mike said...

Edith Ann

Waywardwind is a self proclaimed ,Ron Paul, libertarian but he's with the republicans on fiscal issues and the liberals on most social issues... He doesn't like democrats of any stripe...IMO

You know a lot more about local politics than I do,so tham I right when I say that republicans are divided in Victoria.... I think we have the Ron Paul republicans who think the Victoria established republicans are all RHINOs and they fully support the Tea Party movement... Then there is that country club republican led Ms Wyatt but more recently by Michael Cloud.... I would appreciate your input.

Mike said...

KyleC

It's great to have your input and thanks for the compliment. Glad to have you back.

I would love for a conservative to post a blog because I believe every issue has a pro and con; especially fiscal policies.

I used to love the constitutional discussion with waywardwind because we only argued the merits..... He would never admit Christine O'Donnell let him down when he finally saw her interpretation of " Free speech."..:-)

Mike said...

Ouch,Senator Jim Webb of Virginia is retiring,making it the 3rd Democratic senator choosing to leave this year, making it very difficult for the democrats to hold the senate....

Yesterday, Congresswoman Jane Harman announced she is resigning.

Makes me wonder if some sort of scandal is coming.

Rebecca said...

I'm a registered Republican and I have been to all the local tea parties except for the last one. Honestly, watching Holly, dd, and itisi over on Vicad makes me embarrassed. I know there are smart conservatives out there - somewhere... I've met a few...

Mike said...

Rebecca
Wow, that caught me by surprise, all this time I thought you were apolitical. I remember you saying that you were libertarian, according to a test result.

I worked with many intelligent conservatives. I've had many discussions with them on Vic Ad. I wouldn't worry about itisi and holly1 because they just represent their own views. They're not representative of Victoria or any political party.

I don't personally know anyone that belongs to the Tea Party.... I've read comments from bloggers that claimed to be members. They belong to the " taking back America and "don't tread on me" faction of the party. I've only seen the bad side of the National Tea Party.

Mike said...

Rebecca

This is a quote from holly1 "Driving the "LIBERALS" crazy is my idea of having fun. I love it when they get all whipped up into a frenzy . they tend to get very nasty when i post any view point i have next to theirs."

On any given day, you can hear Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter say words to that affect. They are ego driven ideologues who think their words mean something to liberals. He is just emulating his heroes.

Can you really see a scenario where I would get all whipped up in a frenzy over a post written by holly1?

Rebecca said...

I would hope not, Mike. You seem more intelligent than that. In fact, you didn't even comment on Holly or itisi's blogs. I respect that. I feel ashamed that I did.

Rebecca said...

I am becoming apolitical.

Rebecca said...

(I still can't comment on itisi's blog. I want to tell JBJ that Carrolle was commenting based on what she saw of the commenters on vicad and that if Holly, itisi, and dd represent conservatives then Carollee was being very kind. I put that on JBJ's wall and then removed it. I'm getting too frustrated and I guess I'm glad that I can't comment on itisi's blog.)

Mike said...

Rebecca

That's strange, I knew bloggers were able to delete posters comments but I was unaware that posters could be blocked from commenting. Perhaps,Vic Ad blocked the site but I don't really see why.

bTW:... jbj, switches to the far right when he's posting on itisi's blog but he will attempt a comeback to the middle on my blog. He has the same views as itisi but without all the meanness...IMO

Carrolle's comments surprised me... I thought it was an angry rebuke but I could be wrong. I don't know her.

Mike said...

Rebecca

The posters we've mentioned and others like them, is the reason I keep my politics secular. I don't really wear my religion on my sleeve anyway.

I went back to itisi's blog to see if I was able to comment and it appears I can but I didn't take the extra step to post. While I was there, I've read quite a few of the comments. A lot of the comments were just mix matching religion and politics . I don't think it's appropriate because politicians have to represent their constituents; Christians and non Christians.

I don't think you can compare a government welfare system with charity. I think you give(charity) because you want to ;without any strings attached or praise for doing so. The government welfare system was designed for our wealthy nation to set up a temporary safety net but it has evolved to a system ripe for abuse.

Edith Ann said...

What’s to know about local politics except they give it away faster than they can collect the tax on it.

http://edithann--andthatsthetruth.blogspot.com/2010/01/sunday-sunday-sunday.html

http://edithann--andthatsthetruth.blogspot.com/2010/01/friday-night-scoreboard.html

Mike I went back through my blogs and found these two references to the local unrest in the republican party. That was over a year ago, and as we know, Michael Cloud beat Mary Ann Wyatt—long time party chair—and is now at the helm of the party at the local level.

I have a whole bunch of friends who are, I think, not quite happy with this, but they really didn’t care for Mary Ann Wyatt. Cloud has kept a fairly low profile (unlike our Democrat Party chair, Gee!) so I really do not know much about him.

One of the things that bugs me, as well as some of those republicans, are the folks who cross party lines to get on a ballot. If you can believe what folks say---

Don Pozzi is really a republican
Gary Burns is really a Democrat
Deborah Branch is really a republican
Wayne Dierlam is really a republican

I think there is also unrest in the local tea party, too.

You pondered about a scandal coming with the resignation of Harman—have you seen where the Boehner Infidelity Scandal is breaking in several places? Did you watch the two republican congresswomen in Wyoming plead with their fellow legislators to not pass the abortion bill in that state?

I have said this before—the reason the tea party is so popular with some, IMO, is less about the purpose and more about republican women seeing a way they can participate in the old white man’s party. That’s the only thing Sarah Palin has contributed.

Edith Ann said...

Which scandal were you wondering about?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/congressman-chris-lee-resigns-shirtless-photo-posted-internet/story?id=12878937

or

http://my.firedoglake.com/rogershuler/2011/02/08/sex-scandal-might-bring-down-john-boehner/

or

any of the others out there?

Mike said...

Edith Ann

I was thinking out loud about the recent retirements by four powerful democrats; it wasn't a definitive statement.... It was more like" why are you quitting now when we need you?"

I did see the two Wyoming congresswomen trying to plead with their fellow republicans to keep the government out of the decisions that should be between the patient, husband, and doctor. They even placed another plea from a pregnant congresswoman into the record. It didn't matter thou;the legislation passed with some modifications. Are we having an abortion epidemic? There are other red states doing the same thing. Congress has three abortion bills on the table and no bill for creating jobs or reducing the debt.

Thanks for the info but am I wrong to think that is not much difference between the parties in Texas and locally? I wonder who has the most power in Victoria, the Tea Party or the established republicans?

Edith Ann said...

Short answers:

We are not having an abortion epidemic. We have a glut of republican MEN who are wanting to correct something they think is not right. It is really just a matter of opportunity, I think. They started this thinking it would be an easy win. They never counted on the republican women having a brain...or a voice, really.

The local politics here in Victoria are just plain weird. As I have said, I am always amazed at what the locals will tolerate on a local level, ignore on a state level and scream about at a national level. Victorians are entirely too cozy with each other. There is a lot of truth to the allegations that folks are in each others' pockets and such. It is true, and we all know it. Not that they need to be political enemies, but dang, if you're a republican, quit donating several grand to the Democratic candidate, and vice versa! Support your party!

As to differences between the two shades of republicans in Victoria, I think it is that one is a little more progressive--the tea party--and the other was very happy plodding along, holding sway. But let's not forget--Hallie Clements passed away a few weeks ago, and she was the Victoria republican Party Chair Emeritus for a long time. That isn't of course, an official title, but I bet you any time her name is envoked, hands go over hearts! She called the shots. I think with her influence gone, really gone, we may see the tea party elevated a bit. It will be hard for the old guard to push their weight around without Hallie's blessing propelling them.

We'll see though.

Okay, not so short an answer. 8^)

Mike said...

Thanks Edith Ann, that is what I was looking for.

That's the reason I never joined the local democratic party. So a local candidate can say I they are against health care,Obama,every thing the national democrats are doing and still run for office using the Democrat label?There is a word for that.

That's the reason I think party affiliations shouldn't be used for local elections.... Anyone can get the ditches mowed, budgets passed, and potholes fixed without a using a party label.I know it's much cheaper to run when a political party is picking up some of the tab.

Even thou I don't agree with them,the Ron Paul supporters stand out because they are committed to his philosophy at all levels.

Mike said...

See what I mean,now the number 2 republican,Jon Kyl,is retiring...Something is in the water because I've never seen retirements just out the blue....He is always a lock in the district he represents.

Mike said...

An all out effort to overturn Roe v Wade by the GOP.

Republican lawmakers in Ohio unveiled legislation Wednesday that would ban abortions of any fetus found to have a heartbeat, a move that could ban most abortions in the state.

Edith Ann said...

Here is a nice concise blog with a chart on the nation-wide abortion legislation stuff. It looks like 30 of the 50 states have some kind legislation on the table. It's from Ms. magazine, so men--read at your own risk!

You know, this is easily summed up as some old rich white guys and that ultra-annoying Rand Paul thinking they know what is best for the fairer sex. Give me a break!

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/02/01/abortion-at-risk-where-does-your-state-stand/

Mike said...

EA
I'm surprised NARAL and Planned Parenthood are pushing back. I guess they see that the GOP is unstoppable since they have the numbers in congress.,,I heard Nancy Pelosi talk of a fight but I guess she means if and when the legislation passed the senate.

Mike said...

I meant to say I'm surprised NARAL and Planned Parenthood are not pushing back harder.