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Helen Thomas Kicks Obama's Boy's Butt

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Jul 2, 2009 6:11 p.m. TAG4:

One more thing I'd like to add to Norm's insightful comments: DICK CHENNEY GET OUT OF TOWN!

TAG4
- Rated: 75 ↑
Jul 2, 2009 7:41 p.m. yettoblaster:

My final political thought posted here ever:

Never elect anybody to public office who does not have a pro-line Gretsch guitar.
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Jul 2, 2009 8:14 p.m. Jeff O(biter Dictum):

YETTOBLASTER IS AN ELECTROMATIC HATING SNOB
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Jul 2, 2009 8:20 p.m. fauves:

geez what a elitist
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Jul 2, 2009 9:19 p.m. marctrain57:

A Gretsch in every pot would be a fine political slogan.

We should also just agree to lock this thread now before we all regret what we said over the 4th of July weekend after a few beers.
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Jul 3, 2009 12:31 a.m. yettoblaster:

Jeff O(biter Dictum): YETTOBLASTER IS AN ELECTROMATIC HATING SNOB

No. Not at all. I'm just a simple judgemental hypocrite!

I have no Pro-line Gretsches myself currently, just my MIK G100CE Synchromatic.

But, I will never vote for any politician who hasn't figured out how to pad his expense account enough to get a pro-line Gretsch.

Let's face it: if they're that financially inept, they're likely to give the whole circus away to the clowns.

Wa-it a minute...
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Jul 3, 2009 1:42 a.m. The Norm:

Have a hot dog and a beer and praise The Force (or whatever you want to call it) that you're here evem with all our problems.

Give it all a rest, eat some and forget some things for one day...
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Jul 3, 2009 2:22 a.m. bobbyrivera:

marctrain said: A Gretsch in every pot would be a fine political slogan.

If that were a political slogan, I'd venture to guess that in reality, we would all end up playing Esteban's.
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Jul 3, 2009 2:48 a.m. Konrad:

Hmmm.

Well, if you asked me, it doesn't matter who the politician is, journalists should be outraged.

Let me put it this way. I now live in Poland, a country where the post-commies still have a huge influence (although they work hard to hide this from the West). The press here would go nuts on this. It could never happen. I've seen politicians try to ignore reporters and the other reporters start shouting out their competitors' questions on principle.

This is in a country where we have to deal with the "authorization" law on quotes. This means that for the print media a politician can demand to give the okay to his quote before it goes to press. They rarely do because we can still paraphrase what was actually said--and sometimes guys go to the wall because they know it's right and have it on tape. But what saves us is live TV coverage. No second chances on that.

But still, prescreening questions. Even the general public would go nuts.

I've interviewed three presidents, three prime ministers and quite a lot of other politiicans in between. (Never the US president, however). None in Poland has dared try to pull a stunt like this.

This is no less than obscene. I'm ashamed to see it. We are supposed to have the true free press. It's the basis of our democracy. Are we going to start having fake parades of support next?

Unfortunatley--and I say unfortunatley because if you can fix the blame to one side it is easier to solve the problem--the Obama administration is not solely guilty of this. We have a long history of presidents manipulating the press--and of reporters self-censoring articles as a favor to the president. Moreover, the Clintion administration's Stephanopolis (sp? that one I'm not going to bother looking up) used to tell the press how the prez was going to spin an event BEFORE he spun it.

Then came the Iraq war and the embedded in the military scenario.

And we're upset about a town meeting?

Here the press let the world down. They should have told the Bush administration to go to hell. But in the interest of SAVING MONEY they agreed to embed journalists, and the reporting out of the Iraq war was largely a joke. Thank God for the Brits who did the bulk of critical coverage (which we would later follow).

Then we had one of the top guys in Time magazine agree to give up sources in Spygate.

I honestly could not believe what I was seeing. At this time I had THREE prosecutors threatening to take my legal immunity away and make me give up sources on the PZU afair (long story, actually), and I told them all patriotically that 1) I'm from the US and I'd rather sit in jail and 2) they need to wake up and join the democratic world.

Glad they don't read. Apparently, I was the one that needed waking up.

Anyway, rant over. One step for another administration, one great leap backward for freedom of the press and freedom in general. But there is no point blaming Obama. We have to blame them all.

And based on such precedents we should wonder just what the next administration will pull. If a one government succeeds at this, don't think the next--even an opposition governnment--won't use the same technique and then try to push the envelope. They always do.

K
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Jul 3, 2009 7:29 a.m. Jeff O(biter Dictum):

Hey Chonny. Get up early? I slept in (7am) and this is my FIRST DAY OFF IN 3 MONTHS.

I'm off to get in a 50 miles, then take the kids to the zoo.

No hot dogs, though. Unhealthy. Cotton candy is okay - pure sugar, no preservatives.

YetiBlaster said: I'm just a simple judgemental hypocrite

So sorry, ole chap. My mistake.
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Jul 3, 2009 7:33 a.m. Jeff O(biter Dictum):

Konrad said: Are we going to start having fake parades of support next?

That would suck.

The midget clowns would be like 5 foot 8 inches tall. The floats would be matchbox cars shot with a macro lens to look big. Ditto with the Balloons.

The crowd would just be cutaway shots of old ladies at a game show, just like on Monty Python.

No sir. Fake parades just WON'T DO.
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Jul 3, 2009 8:36 a.m. Konrad:

Heh, heh...
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Jul 3, 2009 12:10 p.m. Blutonium:

"after letting the last eight years dismantle so many of our rights..."

Norm, exactly which rights did YOU lose?
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Jul 3, 2009 1:09 p.m. TwangOmatic:

Don't they always screen questions for things like this? How would you stop the crazies if you didn't?
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Jul 3, 2009 5:22 p.m. Jeff O(biter Dictum):

Twang - that's the point.

Crazies have every right to ask what the dipshit president is doing

As long as they ask questions and don't throw shoes, anything should go !
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Jul 3, 2009 7:45 p.m. yettoblaster:

I thought the shoe throwing thing showcased W's football moves pretty well!
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Jul 3, 2009 8:15 p.m. K-Wad:

Sounjunkie said: Unemployment now at almost 10%, it is ripe for ushering in national socialistic health care.
Just what we need in a time of "financial crisis". Another bloated governmental department, funded by taxpayer dollars, in which we will all receive the same level of sub-standard health care. No thanks!

Let's just reserve the whole government funded health care idea for the Americans who are not able bodied enough to work for their own health care. I don't mind my tax dollars going to help the elderly and disabled of America.

However, being that I am a tax paying California resident, I have bigger things to worry about at the moment..... (for those that aren't aware, our State government lives in a "Jackson-esque" dream world in which they are hell bent on taking down the whole country with us.) It's funny but, "living within my means" has been working quite well for me for many years.....(and yet they tell me that the term is "meaningless".)
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Jul 3, 2009 8:17 p.m. K-Wad:

Yetto said: No. Not at all. I'm just a simple judgemental hypocrite!

There's nothing worse than a self hating Electromatic owner!! You "Uncle Fred's" really piss me off!!!
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Jul 3, 2009 8:49 p.m. Jeff O(biter Dictum):

K-Wad - you don't have to pay taxes. Just send an IOU !
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Jul 3, 2009 8:54 p.m. roundbadge:

A pro line Gretsch in every pot! It won't be long there will be a big ass retroactive tax on all pro line Gretsches to help fund new guitars for Squire owners! To each according to his needs! This is what happens when more than half of us vote for a living instead of work for one.
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Jul 3, 2009 9:45 p.m. K-Wad:

Jeff,

Unfortunately, as good an idea as that is, there seems to be a "double standard" when it comes to this issue.

It won't be long there will be a big ass retroactive tax on all pro line Gretsches to help fund new guitars for Squire owners!

Don't forget about the 24 cent per gallon gas tax that they will tell you is for "road improvements" but will actually be spent to send wellfare recipients vouchers for "First Act" guitars (redeemable at their local WalMart).
- Rated: 8 ↑
Jul 3, 2009 11:41 p.m. steve1088:

Blutonium said: Norm, exactly which rights did YOU lose?

I'm still waiting for the response to this one.
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Jul 4, 2009 1:11 a.m. The Norm:

I'll admit to a bad choice of words on that...But it gets a little ominous when the white house press secretary (Fleischer) telling us to 'watch what you say'. I took that as a warning that my freedom of speech was in danger, It still bothers me to this day when I think about it.

Right around that time a gentleman in my town got picked up for questioning by the FBI because someone heard him complaining in a gym about the government. Hauled him in for questioning. Didn't keep him but that really bothered me and briefly I became worried about my own Strong Thoughts about the way bush was running things...

The bush administration made me worry about my country (Harriet Meirs for supreme court?) and the cynical deregulation and underfunding of things put in place allegedly to help us.

I felt threatened by the general incompetence of that administration. It's not a good way to feel.

So, I concur 'losing my rights' was a bad choice of words.

You may feel I overreacted...

That's your right...
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Jul 4, 2009 1:22 a.m. Jeff O(biter Dictum):

norman said: I felt threatened by the general incompetence of that administration

NEWS FLASH

Nothing's changed. Still a bunch of incompetents.
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Jul 4, 2009 1:27 a.m. The Norm:

I modified my statement.

You have your opinion...

I have mine.

Nothing political ever gets resolved in a chatboard.