White House in damage control mode as potential scandals pile up [W:378]

calamity said:

Well...I certainly have no doubt that the Republican party left me. And, I'm quite content to see that the D's moved far enough to the Right to attract folks like me while blowing off nutjobs like the OWS, Utopians like Kucinich and the race hustlers like the Jessie Jackson contingent.

You, OTOH, better expect to continue losing national elections, especially as the old-school angry white guys die off. In other words, have fun talking to that empty chair.

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Yeah, I'd worry if I were a republican. But hey, I'd be downright ashamed if I were a democrat, so it balances out. :mrgreen:

If I want the republican candidate elected, I know I can count on at least one thing, the more the dems want it, the more likely they are to shoot themselves in the foot. Repubs are doing that too these days, but it's not native to their playbook as it is with the dems (at least during my lifetime).

The dems have primaries to face for 2016, it's a lot easier for a party to hold together when they don't.

shrubnose said:

#1. Romney was derailed by his own
stupidity. The GOP will continue to lose presidential elections until it changes course and finds someone who can attract broad national support.

#2. My head is not in the sand.

#3. Europe is in no danger of collapse.

#4. I am enjoying my life. :lol:

Have a nice day.





"Better days are coming." ~ But not for today's out of touch, running out of time, GOP.

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How would you know ?

I have yet to see anything from you that would show you have anything other than a less than moderate understanding of economics and/or monetary systems.

Chances are you blame Europes problems on " austerity ".

Like I said, you have no clue of whats actually going on here, but your happy .

But what about the millions of Americans who now struggle with chronic unemployment ? Or the growing povery level ?

Because a vote for Obama ensured they would have to strugfle for at least another 4 years.

clownboy said:

Yeah, I'd worry if I were a republican. But hey, I'd be downright ashamed if I were a democrat, so it balances out. :mrgreen:

If I want the republican candidate elected, I know I can count on at least one thing, the more the dems want it, the more likely they are to shoot themselves in the foot. Repubs are doing that too these days, but it's not native to their playbook as it is with the dems (at least during my lifetime).

The dems have primaries to face for 2016, it's a lot easier for a party to hold together when they don't.

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I agree that it will be interesting to see who the kooks are in the Democratic Party this time around. The Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich wing will want some sort of representation, but we all know that the party doesn't take the Left serious anymore. If they did, Ralph Nader would have been invited in instead of shunned like one of those sexual predator people listed on the internet.

calamity said:

I agree that it will be interesting to see who the kooks are in the Democratic Party this time around. The Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich wing will want some sort of representation, but we all know that the party doesn't take the Left serious anymore. If they did, Ralph Nader would have been invited in instead of shunned like one of those sexual predator people listed on the internet.

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Aw yes, the party of Reid, Pelosi, and Obama certainly isn't far left, right?

Fenton;1061843458]

But what about the millions of Americans who now struggle with chronic unemployment ? Or the growing povery level ?

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Not my problem.

I'm doing great here in Europe.

They do have my heart-felt sympathy.





"Better days are coming." ~ But not for today's out of touch, running out of time, GOP.

Conservative said:

Aw yes, the party of Reid, Pelosi, and Obama certainly isn't far left, right?

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Reid is from Nevada. He can't be too far Left to keep being elected. Plus, he's a Mormon. Not exactly your most Liberal religion.

Pelosi...no comment.

Obama isn't at all Left. Biggest joke going outside your bubble is how stupid the Fox News crowd is to buy the nonsense being sold that Obama is a socialist. He's not even liberal progressive.

calamity said:

Biggest joke going outside your bubble is how stupid the Fox News crowd is to buy the nonsense being sold that Obama is a socialist. He's not even liberal progressive.

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Bush was the same. massive spending. Compassionate conservatism. exporting democracy.

yet the left treated him as if he was an extreme rightwing kind of person. absurd!

calamity said:

Reid is from Nevada. He can't be too far Left to keep being elected. Plus, he's a Mormon. Not exactly your most Liberal religion.

Pelosi...no comment.

Obama isn't at all Left. Biggest joke going outside your bubble is how stupid the Fox News crowd is to buy the nonsense being sold that Obama is a socialist. He's not even liberal progressive.

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Actually Obama is too close to the middle for a lot of leftists.

He certainly didn't get re-elected because all of the leftists voted for him, he had fairly broad support.

calamity said:

Reid is from Nevada. He can't be too far Left to keep being elected. Plus, he's a Mormon. Not exactly your most Liberal religion.

Pelosi...no comment.

Obama isn't at all Left. Biggest joke going outside your bubble is how stupid the Fox News crowd is to buy the nonsense being sold that Obama is a socialist. He's not even liberal progressive.

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Spoken like someone who doesn't understand socialism nor economic policies at all. Seems that whenever anyone has a problem with actual acts they point out Fox News as if that destroys credibility. You seem to confuse the news department of Fox with the Opinion shows but that is normal from people who lack the ability to independently research information.

Obama is indeed a socialist someone who believes in massive govt. and control of individual responsibilities. He isn't stupid enough to announce his intentions but his actions always speak lounder than his words but like most Obama supporters you buy the rhetoric and ignore the substance. I am still trying to figure out what it is about Obama that generates this kind of loyalty and why don't you tell me what Fox NEWS story has been wrong?

ron fournier, longtime ap washington bureau chief, now editor of the elite natl journal, this morning on coffee joe

RON FOURNIER: I'm really not as interested in what the president knew two weeks ago. I'm more interested in whether or not the president or anybody working on his behalf in the White House or at the campaign had knowledge of or directed the targeting during the campaign, months ago. I'm not going to assume and we shouldn't assume that the answer's yes, but we sure as hell shouldn't assume that the answer is no. We should be focusing on that, and, as you say Joe, the other thing is the credibility.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: At the end of the day, Ron, the question is -- I want to pass this around the table -- isn't the question, whose idea was this? Where did the idea come from? Show us that email. Show us the day the policy was proposed and who proposed it. Isn't that the important key and who signed off on it?

FOURNIER: That's definitely important. It goes to their credibility, but I think the most important thing is who was it that was behind the pernicious targeting of conservatives, and was it anybody in the White House or the campaign? And it's possible the answer's yes. We need to find out.

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National Journal's Ron Fournier: Did The President Have Knowledge Of IRS Targeting During The Campaign? | RealClearPolitics

mr fournier has expressed his view that the white house needs to appoint a special prosecutor so that jay carney, for one thing, can show his face in public and talk about something the white house actually wants to talk about, y'know, like immigration or gitmo or...

well, there's not much this out-of-gas adminstration can safely discuss these days

(what happened to gun control? and did you hear how hyphy the homosexuals got yesterday after leaky leahy left em out? no? if you don't know what i'm talking about, then you don't know what you're talking about)

as a matter of fact, the gitmo push this morning at the national defense university in dc, his "major policy address," about which you are 100% ignorant (you were too busy talking, having already figured everything out, such that you are now in the exclusively enlightened position of sharing your conclusions with those of us who do all the work), backfired badly

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/us/us-acknowledges-killing-4-americans-in-drone-strikes.html?_r=0

he got heckled aggressively, embarrassingly

Obama Heckled. 'Let Me Finish, Ma'am,' President Responds | The Weekly Standard

Obama to Heckler: 'Part of Free Speech Is ... You Listening' | The Weekly Standard

but the letter eric holder wrote to congress yesterday (it was between your 75th and 76th post, all unlinked) announcing that FOUR american citizens have been ASSASSINATED by drone, which the admin til now has adamantly denied...

Holder: Drone strikes have killed four Americans since 2009 - CNN

well, even george w what's-his-name didn't, y'know, ASSASSINATE AMERICAN CITIZENS

with or without a WARRANT

kill list, libs?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/w...al-qaeda.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www

Eric Holder: Drone Strike To Kill U.S. Citizen On American Soil Legal - HuffPo

remember rand paul?

Rand Paul’s 13 Hour Filibuster - ABC News

but back to mr fourner---yes, the editor of natl journal believes a special prosecutor is inevitable (most serious observers agree)

better now than later, he says, holding out for the president's innocence

the appearance of coverup, politically speaking, can be as damaging as the actuality

party on, plato

ARealConservative said:

Bush was the same. massive spending. Compassionate conservatism. exporting democracy.

yet the left treated him as if he was an extreme rightwing kind of person. absurd!

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A Texas bred, pro-corporation oil man, war-hawk who wears Christianism on his sleeve will leave many with that impression. But, no. Bush was not a Conservative.

He lost me when he enacted the expanded drug prescription plan while embarking on nation building without one (a plan). Speaking of bad plans: approving his "no child left behind" plan wasn't exactly one of the nation's better ideas either.

Conservative said:

Spoken like someone who doesn't understand socialism nor economic policies at all. Seems that whenever anyone has a problem with actual acts they point out Fox News as if that destroys credibility. You seem to confuse the news department of Fox with the Opinion shows but that is normal from people who lack the ability to independently research information.

Obama is indeed a socialist someone who believes in massive govt. and control of individual responsibilities. He isn't stupid enough to announce his intentions but his actions always speak lounder than his words but like most Obama supporters you buy the rhetoric and ignore the substance. I am still trying to figure out what it is about Obama that generates this kind of loyalty and why don't you tell me what Fox NEWS story has been wrong?

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Actually it's you who has no clue what the hell you're talking about. No one outside of the Fox news circuit thinks of Obama as a "socialist".

Dream on. I have no idea what you're smoking, but I'm certainly glad that I don't partake in it.

calamity said:

A Texas bred, pro-corporation oil man, war-hawk who wears Christianism on his sleeve will leave many with that impression. But, no. Bush was not a Conservative.

He lost me when he enacted the expanded drug prescription plan while embarking on nation building without one (a plan). Speaking of bad plans: approving his "no child left behind" plan wasn't exactly one of the nation's better ideas either.

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The No Child Left Behind Act was written and sponsored by Ted Kennedy (D) in partnership with Bush....It was a bipartisan failure.

Strucky said:

The No Child Left Behind Act was written and sponsored by Ted Kennedy (D) in partnership with Bush....It was a bipartisan failure.

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There ya go. Obviously, no real Conservative would ever jump into bed with Ted.

calamity said:

Actually it's you who has no clue what the hell you're talking about. No one outside of the Fox news circuit thinks of Obama as a "socialist".

Dream on. I have no idea what you're smoking, but I'm certainly glad that I don't partake in it.

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So you have surveyed everyone outside of Fox News? You make a wild claim and cannot back it up. You obviously have no understanding of what socialism is but certainly have a loyalty to a politician who does. No American politician would ever tell the American people, other than Bernie Sanders, that he is a socialist but his actions reek of socialism. I suggest you look at what he has proposed and tell me what isn't socialistic about those programs, everything revolves around the large central govt.

Conservative said:

So you have surveyed everyone outside of Fox News? You make a wild claim and cannot back it up. You obviously have no understanding of what socialism is but certainly have a loyalty to a politician who does. No American politician would ever tell the American people, other than Bernie Sanders, that he is a socialist but his actions reek of socialism. I suggest you look at what he has proposed and tell me what isn't socialistic about those programs, everything revolves around the large central govt.

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I don't watch Fox News and I believe Obama is a Socialist lol

ocean515 said:

Well, I guess in 2005 the information available to the public regarding EMP's didn't show much of a threat. Wonder if that holds true 8 years later.

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Doubt it. The necessarily yield to generate that kind of EMP to overload cables going hundreds if not thousands of miles across the country is immense. Seriously doubt even one weapon could even come close to a quarter of that.

I do think your scenario is more likely - a dirty weapon of some sort. Lots of available material around.

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Not a dirty weapon per se (but that is possible), but a full functioning nuke. Plus because it's panel van delivered, you don't need a guidance system. And it can be bulky. Considering how crappy our port security was for years after 9/11 I'm very surprised it hasn't happened yet.

obvious Child said:

Doubt it. The necessarily yield to generate that kind of EMP to overload cables going hundreds if not thousands of miles across the country is immense. Seriously doubt even one weapon could even come close to a quarter of that.



Not a dirty weapon per se (but that is possible), but a full functioning nuke. Plus because it's panel van delivered, you don't need a guidance system. And it can be bulky. Considering how crappy our port security was for years after 9/11 I'm very surprised it hasn't happened yet.

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Seems to me some rather simple switchgear malfunctions have taken the grid off line in large sections of the United States over the last 10 years or so. With enough precision, it seems to me catostrophic damage could be inflicted.

ocean515 said:

Seems to me some rather simple switchgear malfunctions have taken the grid off line in large sections of the United States over the last 10 years or so. With enough precision, it seems to me catostrophic damage could be inflicted.

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But that's a mechanical failure. It would be easier for them to launch attacks on infrastructure rather than using an EMP. You could fund a lot of sleeper cells for the price of a single nuclear device.

ocean515 said:

Seems to me some rather simple switchgear malfunctions have taken the grid off line in large sections of the United States over the last 10 years or so. With enough precision, it seems to me catostrophic damage could be inflicted.

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Good evening, ocean515.

I well remember the blackout over the NE some years ago! It was a hot muggy day, and with no air conditioning or fans, it was unbearable! Although it was only for about eight hours, it sure seemed a lot longer than that! I can't imagine the problems if it went on for days or weeks, or longer! Social unrest to begin with, because everything in the freezer would spoil, milk in the fridge would sour, and if you're stuck with electric stoves.....? No gas for your car because no way to pump it, grocery stores closing eventually? It sure would be a mess, because we depend so much on electricity! :thumbdown:

Evening Polgara:2wave:

Our blackout in Metro Detroit did last a couple of days, and it was very hot and humid here as well. But from what I remember, everyone kind of held it together, at least where I was.

polgara said:

Good evening, ocean515.

I well remember the blackout over the NE some years ago! It was a hot muggy day, and with no air conditioning or fans, it was unbearable! Although it was only for about eight hours, it sure seemed a lot longer than that! I can't imagine the problems if it went on for days or weeks, or longer! Social unrest to begin with, because everything in the freezer would spoil, milk in the fridge would sour, and if you're stuck with electric stoves.....? No gas for your car because no way to pump it, grocery stores closing eventually? It sure would be a mess, because we depend so much on electricity! :thumbdown:

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First, any conventional Nuclear weapon detonated on US soil via panel van or low boy trailer would be limited to that of a tactical single stage device with a yield a fraction of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki weapons.

Those weapons are highly technical. The smallest nano second of deviation in timing of the multiple explosive charges that take a sphere of highly enriched plutonium to it's critical mass would turn it into a "fizzle" instead of a multi-ton yield.

Its why there has been no Nuclear attack like that on American soil. Nuclear weapons, even the old one's have to be continually serviced to remain effective. The Nuclear suitcase everyone use to fret about would have to weigh at least a 100 pounds.

Now a thermal Nuclear weapon being transmitted via cargo van or tanker is even less likely. Given the Hydrogen isotopes ( tritium and dueterium ) have very short half lifes and have to be continually serviced and replenished, or the bomb reverts from a say 40 megaton to just the yield of the nuclear trigger needed to reach the temperatures that tritium and dueterium will fuse at.

The threat has always been a dirty bomb for a reason. It's virtually impossible to get a hold of some of the internal componenets needed and even harder to get a hold of enough radioactive isotope to complete a fusion weapon.

They are too technical for the likes of Al Qaeda, for now anyway.

JC Callender said:

Evening Polgara:2wave:

Our blackout in Metro Detroit did last a couple of days, and it was very hot and humid here as well. But from what I remember, everyone kind of held it together, at least where I was.

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Good evening, JC! :2wave:

After that "wake-up" call, I bought two solar ovens, and I have practiced using them a lot over the years. Believe it or not, food actually tastes better, and there is little shrinkage with food cooked that way. I haven't experimented with baking biscuits yet, but bread does fine. If I have to cook everything that way, at least I know how. Maybe "early to bed, early to rise" would become the way we live? :shock:

polgara said:

Good evening, JC! :2wave:

After that "wake-up" call, I bought two solar ovens, and I have practiced using them a lot over the years. Believe it or not, food actually tastes better, and there is little shrinkage with food cooked that way. I haven't experimented with baking biscuits yet, but bread does fine. If I have to cook everything that way, at least I know how. Maybe "early to bed, early to rise" would become the way we live? :shock:

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Can you get a nice crisp brown edge on your burgers?

Is it hard to control the temperature on one of those things? Can you get it up to 400 degrees?

polgara said:

Good evening, JC! :2wave:

After that "wake-up" call, I bought two solar ovens, and I have practiced using them a lot over the years. Believe it or not, food actually tastes better, and there is little shrinkage with food cooked that way. I haven't experimented with baking biscuits yet, but bread does fine. If I have to cook everything that way, at least I know how. Maybe "early to bed, early to rise" would become the way we live? :shock:

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