Things That Matter

Joe, perhaps you'll blog about this: Does it matter we have not seen nor heard from Osama bin Laden?

The letter, especially the line about "if i die, continue on the path" most likely indicates OBL is dead, dead, dead.

I agree with you Joe. I often thought one of the problems for the US is the strain of white supremacy that is often unintended, unconscious, but nevertheless visible to those who are not white, in the rest of the world. One of the reasons that Obama is so promising is that they understand they might not always agree with Obama but they draw comfort from the idea that it is not out of a sense of racial superiority. -- Perhaps this is why the idea that merely talking to the US is a privilege is so counterintuitive to the new president-elect.

Grown ups will soon be in charge again. Hooray.

In other words, like me, U haz a hope!
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sorry. (I do agree with you-Bush was a convenient boogey man for them, and now he's gone, so sad for Al Queda! so happy for us and the rest of the civilized world)

Wait, wait -- I thought the terrorists wanted Obama to win!

[...] More:  Things That Matter [...]

I'm going to guess that OBL wants to get Obama mad so he can blow his cool and make the same mistakes the GOP made.
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Didn't OBL watch the campaign?
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It seems that Obama is made of sterner stuff...

I'm going to put Al-Zawahiri right up there next to Limbaugh, Hannity, and O'Reilly.
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They are all, collectively and serially, ignorant about race in the US...

I'm starting to get worried. I'm finding myself more and more in accord with the things that Joe Klein writes. I have to wonder if I was a closet centrist all along and was only radicalized to the point of DFHdom by the Bush administration?

I guess I'll have to wait a few months before I decide which bucket to settle into.....

Very interesting, Joe. I keep thinking about the serious overtures that Iran made to the US via Switzerland before the Iraq invasion that was blown off by the Bush arrogance. I really feel that the Iranian leaders think an alliance with us is in their interests.

Damn.
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I'm heading to the bathtub with a dull knife.
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I agree with everything Joe says here.

"I'm starting to get worried. I'm finding myself more and more in accord with the things that Joe Klein writes. I have to wonder if I was a closet centrist all along and was only radicalized to the point of DFHdom by the Bush administration?"
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I harbor the same fear. If I start railing about teacher's unions, I want one of you to shoot me.

Joe won't just come out and say that the DFH's were right, but if he keeps writing like this he won't have to, but it would be nice Joe.
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It still bothers me that Leiberman gave the DSCC 250 thousand 2 months ago and now he keeps his gavel. Makes me feel like all the talk about the possibility of losing his chairmanship was just a dog and pony show.

# jayackroyd Says:
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 4:15 pm
"Damn. I'm heading to the bathtub with a dull knife. I agree with everything Joe says here."

Would you mind leaving bread crumbs behind as a way for others on here, with similar views as yours, to find their way to your bathtub as well?
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Maybe then we can get back to the days we had pre-ObamaMania.
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AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

"I have to wonder if I was a closet centrist all along and was only radicalized to the point of DFHdom by the Bush administration?" I know that happened to me. I was utterly non partisan before Bush. Heck, my father-in-law was a lifelong extreme RWinger working for Amoco. Bush made him rethink his entire worldview very early on. He voted for Obama.

Thank you Joe. Obama's victory is a blow to Amhadinejad's re-election bid and to al Qaeda's propaganda machine.
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Slightly OT, is anyone feeling uncomfortable with Obama's plan to increase troop-levels in Afghanistan? I'm not convinced that more troops will be more effective. It seems to me that we should concentrate on 1: infrastructure (water, electricity, schools, roads, communications...) that would give people options/opportunity and 2: supporting local police forces as they gather intelligence to combat terrorism.
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Perhaps I've been trained over the past few years, but more troops makes me think about permanent bases and ulterior motives.

Competence is one thing that just about everyone in the country wants at this point, other than the Limbaugh/Hannity wing of the Republican Party. It is the transcendental ideal that all liberals, and moderate Republicans can agree on. Obama seemed to be embracing competence, surely a long-term winning strategy, until he threw his support behind Lieberman. Lieberman not only accused Obama of being a terrorist loving, anti-American, he was really bad at his job. However, Lieberman cannot be removed for incompetence. It is only the angry Left, bent on revenge, who want him out.

Welcome back, Mr. Klein.

Now. let's hope that Scherer takes a long, long leave of absence to overcome his despondence over McBush's loss.

rusty
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{laughing. pointing.]
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The irony of this is that they think they can counter the laughing and pointing by imitating the laughing.
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But, well look: "Abstinence only education prevents teen pregnancy more effectively than condoms do."
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"Global warming? The jury is still out on human causes."?\
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"drill baby drill. That'll fill up those SUVs"
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"You there, you betcha, there."
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"The economy is sound, and strong."
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"People want to put some food on their families."
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It's like a frickin' laff riot.

the Ahmadinejad letter of congratulations may also have been a good sign, but was leavened by the author's lack of real power and the fact that he's running for reelection
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I've said this before, but I doubt that Ahmedinejad's letter did anything to help the Right's opinion of Obama.
Al Qaeda calling him a race traitor, however, is a bonus. It's like with Rusty - anything that pisses Rusty off sees an immediate increase in value in my eyes.

Cliff- Who care's about the right's opinion of Obama? -it's already not good. Ahmadinejad's letter indicates that Obama's victory will strengthen moderate voices in Iran. Perhaps ivb3016 (@ 4:14) is right.

Who care's about the right's opinion of Obama? -it's already not good.
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I care. And here's why:
People keep touting bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle. Obama has said that he would be president for everyone, not just people on one side of the political spectrum or the other.
So the notion of his relationship with the Right has been bound up in his campaign from the very beginning.
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Then, too, I see the Right's opinion of Obama as an index for whether or not they're coming around to being able to relate to the rest of the nation again. ie, if they snap and snarl for the next four years, then I can expect entrenched Culture War for a while yet.
Now I'm not saying I expect Hannity and Coulter to throw a birthday party for Obama or anything. But I am curious to see if any of them start backing away from the clusterf--k of their ideology.
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But I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill. I certainly haven't seen any reaction about Ahmedinejad's letter yet.

Cliff- point well taken.
A better way to say what I said earlier would be: anyone who will point to Ahmadinejad's letter as a negative for Obama already has his/her mind made up. Their opinion is important but we can't change it now- that would only happen after a period of effective governance by Obama. Therefore, for today, focus on the positive aspects of the letter.
But it was much easier for me to say "who cares".

I can honestly say that he's probably a much better person than I am: His tolerance for Joe Lieberman--who questioned his patriotism--is saintly (and also smart politics).
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Perfect, Joe.
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And agreed on the boringness of the Clinton saga. I read about 25 words of Maureen Dowd's column today, had to give it up. Giving her the excuse to continue to spell out the psychodrama that exists in her head regarding the Clintons is one of the most concrete drawbacks of that nomination.
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Obama's election allows the world to give us a second chance. We are lucky. We've got to act like grown-ups. All indications are positive.