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SuperJerk

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  3. Posted · Report reply

    Jack Kemp, former quarterback and VP nominee, dies

     

    WASHINGTON – Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative," died Saturday. He was 73.

    Kemp died after a lengthy illness, according to spokeswoman Bona Park and Edwin J. Feulner, a longtime friend and former campaign adviser. Park said Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs.

    Kemp had announced in January 2009 that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He said he was undergoing tests but gave no other details.

    Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Kemp "one of the nation's most distinguished public servants. Jack was a powerful voice in American politics for more than four decades."

    Kemp, a former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, represented western New York for nine terms in Congress, leaving the House for an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988.

    Eight years later, after serving a term as President George H.W. Bush's housing secretary, he made it onto the national ticket as Bob Dole's running-mate.

    With that loss, the Republican bowed out of political office, but not out of politics. In speaking engagements and a syndicated column, he continued to advocate for the tax reform and supply-side policies — the idea that the more taxes are cut the more the economy will grow — that he pioneered.

    Kemp's rapid and wordy style made the enthusiastic speaker with the neatly side-parted white hair a favorite on the lecture circuit, and a millionaire.

    His style didn't win over everyone. In his memoirs, former Vice President Dan Quayle wrote that at Cabinet meetings, Bush would be irked by Kemp's habit of going off on tangents and not making "any discernible point."

    Kemp also signed on with numerous educational and corporate boards and charitable organizations, including NFL Charities, which kept him connected to his football roots.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_kemp

     

    Jack Kemp was the epitome of everything I once believed in politically. I voted for him for VP in 1996, and I really think people with his since of honor and decency are an endangered species in politics.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Actually, by constantly arguing with people and flaming, you keep proving my point. Constantly arguing with people and being contrarian is not diverse discussion-if anything, it's blatant trolling. You have proved that time and time again with blatant unfounded accusations of "elitism" and even "xenophobia" (that one's a real laugh.) No matter how many times you repeat yourself, you still haven't proven yourself to be correct. You just keep saying the same thing over and over again. Repeating yourself does not prove a point-it just proves that you are only trying to convince yourself, and that in reality, you know deep inside that you are incorrect.

     

    I am wondering what part of that criteria would explain why you guys would want to keep Xavier Cromartie out.

     

    I said before that elitism isn't always a bad thing, because there's situations where being selective is warranted, but the picking and choosing that I've seen, coupled with comments made by people who post over there, is leading me to believe no real criteria for exclusion has been except juvenile whims of a bunch of guys who are abusing the tiny amount of power they've somehow acquired.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Let's be fair, here...I think I was the first one to throw the "elitist" term around. That might be a misnomer, though, considering there's not real definition of "elite" that the other board's membership (based on who isn't posting here anymore) might fit into. Maybe the rationale that very few are being discriminated against might be easier to swallow if some objective criteria for exclusion was established.

     

    Just unpopularity is a shitty criteria. For instance, MikeSC broke every rule TSM had, but when he was finally banned, so many people were pissed to see him kicked off, The Pit grew an instant brigade of members. He was an asshole to everyone at every opportunity, but there was a group of people he was popular with. Based on the subjective criteria mentioned already, he might very well be the kind of poster you guys are looking for.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Speculation about Souter's plans began to swirl as the eight other justices were known to have hired the four law clerks who will work with them in the Supreme Court term that begins in October. Souter has been the lone holdout, hiring no one.

     

    A retirement by Souter, 69, would give President Barack Obama his first chance to nominate a justice and the next few months would bring Senate confirmation hearings.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30508968/

     

    This doesn't have as much impact as if one of the conservatives retiring, since you'll basically just be replacing one liberal-tilting justice with another, but it will be interesting to see who the president picks to replace him.

     

     

  14. Posted · Report reply

    I was really hoping these would be released "Season style" as opposed to random episodes spread over 4 discs. Disc 1 of Volume 1 looks to be in airing order, but after that it looks like the discs kind of skip around. I'm disappointed about the lack of the 4-part time-traveling Apocalypse epic, and the (IMO) POWERFUL episode where Wolverine finds religion. I'll probably still pick these up, though. This was a great show way back, and I still catch it from time to time on Disney XD.

    Maybe they are in production order?

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Meanwhile, a depressing look at the media:

    Watchdogs are heeling for Obama

     

    That article was stupid. It's just one guy whining about how Obama gets better coverage than Bush (and there were plenty of fluff pieces about Bush the first year he was in office).

     

    The only way you can say the media only gives Obama favorable coverage is you are being selective about which outlets you are looking at.

     

     

  18. Posted · Report reply

    All of the defenses of the new board require us to take the members' word for what's going on over there. The board is only viewable to members.

    You could just stop bitching and actually register. You make it sound like some murky, lawless cabal that the media isn't allowed to enter.

    Isn't this the thread where someone is trying to prove his worthiness to get into an internet message board?

     

    And I wouldn't call what I'm doing "bitching." Its more along the lines of "making fun of a really absurd situation."

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Olbermann's philosophy seems to be "go to war with Fox by becoming just like them."

     

    In the last 3 years, his show has gone from an irreverent breath of fresh air that tries to balance out the right-wing dominance of cable news on a network that tried to be fair, to standard-bearer for liberal propaganda on a channel that is increasingly become known for an overall bias.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Basically, Specter was politically dead in the Republican Party, what with his "liberal" (i.e. moderate and mainstream) ideas about habeas corpus, immigration, the economic stimulus, consumer protection laws, and a woman's right to choose.

     

    Specter is hardly representative of any larger trends, since this is an isolated occurrence, and a far larger number of Democrats defected to the GOP in 1995. However, it does underline the continuing ideological shift within the Republican Party, which does not seem to have any room for moderates.

     

    The Republican Party is far from being an endangered species, but continues to shift into a regional, ideological party that shuns anything that even remotely looks like pragmatic policy or using the power of the federal government to try to make people's lives better. Jingoistic foreign policy, unrealistic tax cuts, and morality governed by unimpeachable state governments are its new mission. Anyone who stands in their way is a socialist or wants the terrorists to win.

     

    With President Obama's approval ratings hovering in the 60-70 range, and the public overwhelmingly WANTING government activism, the Republican propaganda from 2006 that "we lost because we weren't conservative enough" has brain-washed the party into buying a ticket aboard a sinking ship.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    I don't really view the new board's elitism and the legitimacy of the grievances people have over the Leena fiasco to be the same issue. Whether or not they were right to get mad that Leena was placed in charge of the board has nothing to do with whether or not the other TSm should have an exclusive membership.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    April 28, 2009

    Jet Flyover Frightens New Yorkers

    By A. G. SULZBERGER and MATTHEW L. WALD

    It was supposed to be a photo opportunity, a showcase of Air Force One alongside the sweep of New York City skyline.

     

    But as the low-flying Boeing 747 speeded in the shadows of skyscrapers, trailed by two fighter jets, the sight instead awakened barely dormant fears of a terrorist attack, causing a momentary panic that sent workers pouring out of buildings on both sides of the Hudson River.

     

    “I thought there was some kind of an attack,” said Paul Nadler, who sprinted down more than 20 flights of stairs after watching the plane from his office in Jersey City shortly after 10 a.m. “We ran like hell.”

     

    In fact, the blue and white plane with “The United States of America” emblazoned on its side was one of two regularly used by the president. It was soaring above Lower Manhattan, Staten Island and Jersey City so government photographers could take pictures near the Statue of Liberty for publicity purposes.

     

    Aides to President Obama, who was not on board, said he was incensed when he learned of the event Monday afternoon. The White House later issued a formal apology.

     

    Witnesses described the engine roar as the planes swooped by office towers close enough to rattle the windows and prompt evacuations at scores of buildings. Some sobbed as they made their way to the street.

     

    “As soon as someone saw how close it got to the buildings, people literally ran out,” said Carlina Rivera, 25, who works at an educational services company on the 22nd floor of 1 Liberty Plaza, adjacent to the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. “Probably about 80 percent of my office left within two minutes of seeing how close it got to our building.”

     

    Under federal regulations, in urban areas, airplanes must fly at least 1,000 feet above obstructions like buildings and bridges, and jetliner flights over Manhattan are typically at 8,000 feet or more. And planes do not typically approach local airports by flying low over the harbor.

     

    As the fright wore off, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other local leaders questioned why the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered local officials, including the New York Police Department, not to alert the public in advance.

     

    An F.A.A. memo last week said information about the exercise “should only be shared with persons with a need to know” and “shall not be released to the public or the media.”

     

    The breakdown of communication went deeper. Mr. Bloomberg said he first learned of the exercise when his BlackBerry started buzzing with messages from people asking if he knew what was going on.

     

    “First thing is, I’m annoyed — furious is a better word — that I wasn’t told,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

     

    “Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo-op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination,” he said. “Had I known about it, I would have called them right away and asked them not to. It is the federal government, and they can do in the end what they please, but I would have tried to stop it.”

     

    He said that the Police Department and an official in his administration — he did not say who — had not advised him of the exercise.

     

    White House and City Hall officials later said the notice had gone to the director of the city’s event coordination and management office, which handles permits for events like block parties, street fairs and parades. The director, Marc Mugnos, was formally reprimanded for failing to notify his superiors, said a senior city official, who was given anonymity because this was a personnel matter.

     

    As the uproar reached Washington, dozens of officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the Department of Transportation rushed to find out who had authorized the flyover.

     

    The White House did not issue a statement, or a formal apology, for more than six hours. At first, the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, dismissed questions, saying: “You might be surprised to know I don’t know of every movement of Air Force One or what happens to it.”

     

    Later, aides told reporters that President Obama was furious about the flyover when it was brought to his attention. The White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, conveyed the president’s anger in a meeting with the director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, who issued the apology.

     

    “Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision,” Mr. Caldera said. “While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.”

     

    Neither the White House nor the F.A.A. explained why the mission was deemed a secret, even though officials conceded the primary purpose was picture taking. Other images of the plane, taken at picturesque sites like Mount Rushmore, are sold as souvenirs and used in promotional materials. Officials at the Department of Transportation and at the Pentagon each denied responsibility for the secrecy.

     

    The lack of warning meant that Notify NYC, a pilot emergency service intended to quickly alert New Yorkers who sign up, did not send out text messages and e-mail messages explaining the flyover until well after the exercise had ended.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/nyregion/28plane.html

     

    getoffmyplane.jpg

    "Get off my plane!"

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Republican Senators killed funding for flu pandemic control

    April 27, 1:43 PM ·

     

    $870 million in money to improve the Center for Disease Control's ability to handle a possible flu pandemic was removed from the economic stimulus bill Congress passed in February, largely at the behest of Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Collins and Specter argued that the funding did not belong in the economic recovery package, although the $870 million figure would have accounted for roughly 1.1% of the final bill's total value. Less than 3 months later, health officials fear that the appearance of swine flu in Mexico, which has traveled to New York City and other areas of the United States, could set off a long feared flu pandemic the US healthcare system is not prepared to handle.

    Collins and Specter, along with Sen. Ben Nelso (D-NE) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), were at the core of a group of "moderate" Senators arguing that the stimulus bill was too large, and sought out to slash funding for various programs before passage of the final bill. Sen. Specter argued that funding pandemic control through the emergency supplemental package would be "inappropriate," and that the money should be appropriated via the normal budget process. Assuming that no emergency funds are provided this year, this would likely mean funds would be approiated early in 2010 in an omnibus appropriations package.

    http://www.examiner.com/x-6434-Baltimore-P...andemic-control

     

     

    I'm writing my Congressman and asking for legislation authorizing a "National Punch A Republican Day."

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