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Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 05:14:04 PM EST
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Here's the podcast from my show today on Daily Kos Radio:

The 11 Show Daily Kos Radio 09.13.2012 by Blue Skies Radio

NBC release polls for Florida, Ohio and Virginia, President Obama leads in each among Likely voters. In Florida and Virginia, he leads by 5, and in Ohio he leads by 7.

Open Thread.

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    Thursday Afternoon Open Thread | 28 comments (28 topical)

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    Peggy Noonan (5.00 / 4) (#1)
    by MKS on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 06:15:43 PM EST
    said that Romney looked like Nixon yesterday when he was doubling down on his critcism of the embassy statement.

    I always thought that.  A lot of of the same cynicism and deceit.  But Romney could only wish he was as able as Nixon.

    As fitting to his many positions, Mittens (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by KeysDan on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 06:53:36 PM EST
    seems to be a man of many faces--during his acceptance speech at the RNC Convention, he reminded me of Mae West, with the cocking of his head and the batting of his eyelashes.   And, when he claimed President Obama sympathized with embassy attackers, he reminded me of W. with his smirking.  His wife reminds me of a slightly updated Betty Furness--but instead of  opening refrigerator doors she opens Swiss bank accounts.

    Parent
    Anybody else seen this funny photo? (5.00 / 3) (#3)
    by Anne on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 07:47:21 PM EST
    Cracked me up, and you know there's not much about Obama that makes me laugh!

    ROTFLMAO (none / 0) (#5)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 08:52:36 PM EST
    I saw that probably last week and it was funny.

    Parent
    Great radio BTD (none / 0) (#4)
    by fishcamp on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 08:38:13 PM EST


    BTD (none / 0) (#6)
    by CoralGables on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 09:11:29 PM EST
    Did I hear you correctly this morning in saying that you expect Obama to open up a double digit lead in polling?

    Sounds like a bit of a reach. I do think you could comfortably say that the electoral outcome could be about 332-206 and as high as 357-181 with the way things are headed right now.

    I heard BTD say (none / 0) (#8)
    by MKS on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 12:01:27 AM EST
    that just before I lost the broadcast....

    Parent
    Yeah (none / 0) (#10)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 06:01:58 AM EST
    I do not see that happening either and I'm not quite so sure Obama is going to win the election.

    Parent
    I'm (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by lentinel on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 07:07:19 AM EST
    not so sure either.

    Romney and his coterie are dangerous.

    And Obama is afraid to campaign as an out and out Democrat.
    Witness his scurrying to change the platform to match the Republicans when it comes to God and Jerusalem.

    His foreign policy is, but for the slightly and occasionally more temperate language, is barely distinguishable from Romney's. Eg: Romney goes to Jerusalem and declares it to be the capital of Israel. So much for the Palestinians. Obama, as mentioned, couldn't move fast enough to match him. Romney, still in Israel, says he'd support a preemptive strike by Israel upon Iran. The best Obama could counter was he would wait to see if the sanctions worked. Both, in slightly different expressions, are threatening Iran with war.

    From my point of view, Obama has usurped most of the conservative positions, so that conservatives will not feel that uncomfortable with him. But, and it is a but, if the economy tanks, and unemployment continues to fester, (that was what Biden said the last election was about)  these same voters could easily move to Romney for, ironically, hope and change.

    And in the meantime, the ongoing use of drones, unlimited detention without charge or trial, the killing of an American citizen without charge or trial, the suppression of civil liberties, the ongoing climate of suppression of dissent, appointments such as Geithner, the very ambiguous stance vis a vis expanded drilling and the moderate stance, as opposed to an aggressive one, on the development of alternative green sources of energy, and a foreign policy that I believe is not very conciliatory to the Muslim world - is distasteful to the liberal left.  I feel disenfranchised. Indeed, the liberal left, the supposed base for Obama, is the only group consistently singled out for criticism by Obama and his official and unofficial spokespeople.

    So yes. As unthinkable as the ascendancy of Romney would be, I do see it as a possibility.

    Parent

    I think he said that yes (none / 0) (#21)
    by lilburro on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 09:58:30 AM EST
    I would assume the race will tighten as we approach November, as Obama's bounce fades.  TPM's comment on the polling:

    What's particularly striking about these polls, Miringoff observes, is how most voters in these battleground states have already made up their minds, with just 5 to 6 percent saying they're undecided, and with more than 80 percent signaling that they strongly support their candidate.

    I couldn't guess what natural bias those 5 to 6 percent might have (if they tend to the incumbent, if they tend to be conservative etc.).

    Brooklynbadboy actually gets into this, though.  "The undecideds are few and Barack Obama has a structural lead."  Well, there we go.  I can end my airy personal speculation ;)

    Parent

    Double Digit Lead? (none / 0) (#26)
    by vector on Sat Sep 15, 2012 at 09:30:44 AM EST
    Possibly before the debates.

    But after, the polls will tighten. They always do.

    Unless, of course, one candidate totally botches his performance.

    I can think of at least 3, possibly 4, times since 1976, when the outcome of a presidential election was altered by a slip of the tongue, or an unexpected zinger, during the debates.

    As we know from previous Romney performances, he can be a pretty slick debater.        

    Parent

    Interesting (none / 0) (#27)
    by CoralGables on Sat Sep 15, 2012 at 10:00:55 AM EST
    Because I likely would have thought the same thing except I recently read an article that showed the exact opposite. Simply stated, the debates never changed the outcome leading to the defeat of an incumbent.

    And before you scream Reagan, there was only one polling outfit showing Carter in the lead at anytime in the last eight weeks. Kind of like the reverse Rasmussen of today.

    Parent

    No one will attack the US if (none / 0) (#7)
    by observed on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 10:55:11 PM EST
    Romney is President---and that's a promise!
    Amateur hour indeed. Bristol Palin
    might run a better campaign than these jokers.

    MSNBC Alex Wagner reports this AM... (none / 0) (#9)
    by heidelja on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 05:58:26 AM EST
    ...via NBC News that 30% of Americans believe that a majority of Hispanics are undocumented. Here

    That's the (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 06:02:47 AM EST
    30% of the country that calls themselves conservatives I'm willing to bet.

    Parent
    Probably incudes the 15% of Republicans that think (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by ruffian on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 06:59:39 AM EST
    Romney had something to do with getting Bin Laden.

    Parent
    Obviously... (none / 0) (#15)
    by heidelja on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 07:49:24 AM EST
    ...we're geniuses thinking alike! My patented Facebook comment was:

    Funny that 30% is about the conservative "majority" in the US making up the diehard Republican Party. The real question might be, what does farsighted Sarah Palin who can see Russia from Alaska think? Seeing how her conservative Facebook rant over "Obama's words of apology" being construed to have been made AFTER attacks on a US embassy and consulate and then the likes of her thinking gone echoed by too many reactionary "American Thinkers" the day after, it seems the 30% is no more than the likes of "blind Muslamic followers" who go alarmed when seeing Allah on the big screen!


    Parent
    Listening to the conversation in the cube next to (none / 0) (#17)
    by ruffian on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 08:43:47 AM EST
    mine, thinking it must be tough to get all your news from Fox. These guys I work with are not stupid- mostly ex-military pilots from various services - so I don't know how they can stand the level of information they get.  One of them must have stumbled onto The Rachel Maddow show and expressed surprise that a liberal seemed to have the timeline right, and that she was expressing appropriate sentiments about the Libya attack. Then he followed it up with 'sure, the ambassador was probably a Democrat.' I give up.

    Parent
    Actually, it might be far worse than FOX... (none / 0) (#25)
    by heidelja on Sat Sep 15, 2012 at 08:22:41 AM EST
    ...they get their views. Theirs seems to be a "politically correct" manner of cynicism amongst themselves who go seen as "conservative" by "liberals."  A manner that avoids introspective evaluation and objective questioning because it then gets alittle too complicated and certainly not so much fun to mock. Or it just comes down to not liking a black President who attracts off the wall black supporters.

    Consider this posted by a friend (very distant cousin to me) on Facebook seemingly coming out of Germany:

    A distracted superpower in the process of decline - this is what we look like to the rest of the world - From the German Die Welt:

    "US President Barack Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins. Like no president before him, he tried to win over the Arab world. After some initial hesitation, he came out clearly on the side of the democratic revolutions. In this context, he must accept the fact th...at he has snubbed old close allies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian military. And now parts of the freed societies are turning against the country which helped bring them into being. Anti-Americanism in the Arab world has even increased to levels greater than in the Bush era. It's a bitter outcome for Obama."

    "Obama was naive to believe that one only needed to adopt a new tone and show more respect in order to dispel deep-seated reservations about the free world. In practice, the policies of the Obama administration in the region were not as naive as they may have seemed at times, and the Americans have always been may have seemed at times, and the Americans have always been much more involved in the Middle East than the passive Europeans. But Washington has provided the image of a distracted superpower in the process of decline to the societies there. This image of weakness is being exploited by Salafists and al-Qaida, who are active in North Africa from Somalia to Mali."

    "One thing is clear: If jihadists believe they can attack American installations and kill an ambassador on the anniversary of Sept. 11, then America's deterrent power has declined considerably. For a superpower, it is not enough just to want to be loved. You have to scare the bad guys to keep them in check."

    Before researching deeply my comment to her post was:

    It strikes me that generally reading something German there can be found "reasonings" that have stereotypically been portrayed in movies as being German (aka Nazi). In this it would be "You have to scare the bad guys to keep them in check." Of course, the "bad guys" in American movies were the ones going saved by Americans.

    As for movies, think no further than the recent satarical black comedy and largely fictional Inglorius Bastards.

    Researching this more deeply, as all "conservatives" should do before believing it and feeling good about themselves, it can be found promulgated on several American conservative blogs sort of "out of context." The very root source appears to be nebulous but seems it went extracted from <der Spiegel Online originally as a collection of seven German opinions. Der Spiegel, however, using the same headline grabbing notion of ruin. The other views not really stereotyping Germans, by the way, but being considerably more "worldly" objective.

    Parent

    And from the "City of Brotherly Love"... (none / 0) (#14)
    by heidelja on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 07:26:35 AM EST
    ...comes this.

    Unbelievable... (none / 0) (#16)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 07:56:56 AM EST
    and to criticize the parenting is adding insult to injury...adults are one thing (though even that I question;), but kids should be able to pee when nature calls without fear of the long arm of the law.  A police state is no place to be.

    If I had a nickel for everytime my parents ponted me to a bush or alley to relieve myself, I'd have 5 bucks easy.  If I had a nickel for everytime I peed outdoors, I'd have 500 bucks easy...it's one of the perks of being a guy, the world is your urinal.

    Parent

    Since we're on this high-brow subject.... (none / 0) (#23)
    by NYShooter on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 03:38:23 PM EST
    Did anyone see the broadcast on TV where this family (two small children) were eating at a luncheonette; the problem arose when the mother brought out two "training potties" and set the two, now naked, youngsters onto the seats. The kids needed to go "doo-doo" and the mother thought a table in a packed diner was the appropriate place to do it.

    I was called away before seeing the ending, and was just wondering how it "came out?"

    Anyone?


    Parent

    Coconut Palm Elementary School's... (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 08:58:09 AM EST
    mistake was their song selection...if you wanna perform at Walmart, try the Chinese National Anthem.  Or some Beatles.

    Tried to Tell You... (none / 0) (#19)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 09:40:19 AM EST
    ...a couple weeks ago that Walmart hasn't changed, profits are all they care about.  

    But in this case I can't imagine how kids singing 'God Bless America' would some how cut into their profits.  Maybe they think Atheists love Wallmart, which seems unlikely, but what other angle is there to calling the cops on kids.

    Parent

    Simplest explanation... (none / 0) (#20)
    by kdog on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 09:50:37 AM EST
    is usually the correct one...dimedropping miserable arseholes abound my friend, the kids ran into the wrong store manager.

    Parent
    I worked at K-Mart when I was a teenager (none / 0) (#22)
    by Dadler on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 10:15:36 AM EST
    Had the worst manager ever, a prick named, and I kind you not, Mr. Pronto.  Dude got frustrated with me once, for no reason at all, and grabbed my arm. I told him, "Let go of my arm, pronto, or you will end up bloodied on a pile of circus peanuts, which are on sale for 99 cents a bag right behind you. And you'll get sued for putting your hands on me at all."  He just sort of looked at me, then walked away, and I never had a problem with him again.  K-Mart I had plenty of problems with.  Back then they paid us in cash, which you would love, but which ever thief within a ten mile radius knew as their own payday.  Every Friday night, all the employees coming out of that store at midnight were carrying loads of cash in their pockets, and more than a few got rolled.  

    Parent
    That is quite... (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Sep 14, 2012 at 06:55:38 PM EST
    the blue light special.  

    "Attention K-Mart thugs, for the next five minutes you'll find workers with fat pockets on sale by the front door."

    Parent

    Don't overlook the sample: (none / 0) (#28)
    by Banzel on Sat Sep 15, 2012 at 09:02:14 PM EST
    Registered voters (1,352):  42% D; 36% R; 22% I
    Likely voters (980):        41% D; 38% R; 20% I
    I have no idea how those percentages compare to Florida's population in general.

    Thursday Afternoon Open Thread | 28 comments (28 topical)

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