Sitting in the outdoor café of our Ouray, Colorado hotel this morning, my husband Meade — who's very friendly (I call it "Hoosierly") with strangers — got into a conversation with a couple at the next table, and, naturally, one item of information exchanged was where we all are from. They were from Texas.
When we got up to leave, Meade leaned over to the man and said: "When you go back home, say hi to my favorite Texan."
"Who?"
"George W.!"
You should have seen the man's reaction. It was as if someone had suddenly sprayed water in his face.
ADDED: Later in the day, we got into a tour vehicle (a 4x4) for a ride up into the San Juan Mountains, and the lady in the seat in front of us started up a conversation, immediately volunteering that she was from Texas. Meade said, "That's great, but I need to be careful. I'm afraid I offended some Texans earlier this morning when I told them who my favorite Texan is." And she said, "Oh? And who is that?" And Meade, "Well, I like President Bush." "He's my favorite too!" she said, giving him a high five and getting her whole family to turn around and meet him.
August 5, 2009
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208 comments:
1 – 200 of 208 Newer› Newest»Jesus H. Christmas.
Did someone, like, invite Himmler to the monthly "Plant a Tree For Israel" meeting or something?
Oy!
Ouray and the little, high end Colorado rafting, hiking, climbing and skiing towns probably aren't too Red these days. Thems the blue parts of Colorado.
Not Molly Ivins? Just kidding.
Meade is the no. 1 Althouse Hillbilly. Congrats again Ann!
BTW, that President Bill Clinton is something, huh?
I lived in DC during the second half of Clinton's presidency and I am from Arkansas, so I got alot of this. It only got really annoying after the Monica Lewinsky stuff, because the comments got a little less more crude.
section9: ha ha... I wouldn't say they were evil.
Just lovably slow.
You know, like L.E. Lee.
Gah! Delete "less". Anyway, my point was that I kind of half feel for the guy from Texas after six years of Clinton comments.
Well, thank you meade. I find you lovable too. Good luck with the life change.
BDS - driving liberals insane since, when, the late 80s? Ok, liberals, are by definition, insane, but it's fun watching their heads explode.
Hillarious!
What's the name for a male bimbo????
Bimbo is Italian for male doll.
Jeeze... even L.E. knows that!
The bar is closed tonight. I have some writing to complete.
This comment, "Meade is the no. 1 Althouse Hillbilly. Congrats again Ann!".
Where do these people people live? How do they have a mind that is so twisted?
Actually, I didn't. But thanks for the confidence meade.
My answer to the what is the name for a male bimbo question was going to be
''Mr. Althouse.''
Sorry about that meade.
@Meade, I can understand the Texan's reaction. After all, George W. Bush is the 2nd worst president of the 21st century.
I'm lovin' that man of yours more every day, nothing is sexier than a wicked sense of humor.
Aw you sound so cute, "my husband, Meade,"
Meade is a cool name.
And he's a funny dude.
CotD to Big Mike. Take a bow, big guy - you have spoken truth to power.
One thing that always catches me by surprise is the need of some folks to slander the good men who do good things for no selfish reasons. The need is to hide their own bitterness at some one else I believe, perhaps a bad father or other authority figure in their past. Anyhow, the moon is shining bright across the ocaen tonight. Have a nice night, Althouse and Meade.
The Kinky Friedman question is particularly effective if the Texan is from El Paso. (One of KF's best-known songs is a parody of Merle Haggard's Okie from Muskogee with the refrain "I'm proud to be an asshole from El Paso".)
If there's one thing that I've learned from reading this blog, is that most liberals who comment, are miserable people. What a terrible way to go through life. Have fun you two.
WAY behind in reading - but wishing you all the best, you two wonderful people! Meade sounds like a wonderful guy, I am that friendly too! Wish we all could be ;-)
eko
Yea, I could tell by the way he approached me, that this Meade-feller was alright. Bush is a good guy who caught a bad rap, and, as far as I'm concerned, we should draw a line in the sand under his presidency and get our national identity back:
Partially through sweetness and compassion, as Meade is doing (that's who we are) but - since we know the opposition - without relinquishing The Macho Response
You should have seen the man's reaction. It was as if someone had suddenly sprayed water in his face.
You should have said Santa Anna. I'm sure if he was an Obama supporter he would have kissed you.
Meade rocks. There are still many of us here in Texas who believe in GWB and others like him who have the strength of their convictions. I refuse to apologize for believing in people who stand for something.
Looks like Althouse chose well.
Oh, so Meade is one of those people who is always bringing up politics in even small talk chit chat with strangers.
For all you know, that man's reaction was because he lost a son in Iraq, or because he lost half his net worth under the Bush economy.
Meanwhile, Meade revealed in the previous threads on the Gates matter that he supports a man being handcuffed and arrested, despite violating no laws, just because he's friendly with Obama.
If there's one thing that I've learned from reading this blog, is that most liberals who comment, are miserable people. What a terrible way to go through life. Have fun you two.
He says, before heading over to Michelle Malkin's site to post about how Obama is not an American citizen, before tuning into Mark Levin to get his nightly dose of right-wing ranting and raving.
I've never posted at either of those sites, you lieing motherfucking sack of miserable shit.
ALERT!!!!¡!!!111!!!1one!!!
Notify your congresspersons immediately!
Illegal aliens caught on film at Bachelors Gulch.
Oaf, chill.
A male bimbo is a himbo. According to Seinfeld.
I don't mean to suggest Meade is a himbo. I'm just answering a question.
I will add that I don't understand the first comment from section9 one bit.
LoafingOaf reminds me of castor oil, but absent the health benefit, and twice the oily diarrhea.
I've never posted at either of those sites, you lieing motherfucking sack of miserable shit.
LOL. "sweetness and compassion" indeed.
A man who mountain bikes and likes GWB! I thought I was the only one.
Well I live and work amongst liberals and they are indeed a miserable, narcissistic, perennially unhappy bunch for the most part. I wish I had to discover that fact from a blog instead of a daily assault on my sensibilities.
I saw a new Obama bumpersticker today:
One
Big
Ass
Mistake,
America
Don't know what it was doing on a Prius, of all cars.
For all you know, that man's reaction was because he lost a son in Iraq, or because he lost half his net worth under the Bush economy.
Most likely he was a commie.
And I'm gonna sort of agree with Oaf -- the reaction of the man may have little to do with politics. Perhaps he is related to the young man that Laura Bush ran over. Perhaps he lost property to the Texas Stadium expansion that occurred when Bush ran the team. Maybe Meade didn't swallow and he literally was sprayed with water! :)
You'll probably ask: What are the odds that that person would be sitting next to you in Colorado. Yes, it is surely unlikely, and it's far more likely he's just a deranged liberal. But strange coincidences do happen in life.
*laughs*
Way to go, Meade.
People take politics way too seriously. I have all sorts of misgivings about Obama, but I would not like or dislike anyone based on their support or antipathy towards him. I can't say for sure, but it seems to me that Democrats are far more likely to leach their dislike for a political figure onto his followers. I'm thinking of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Larry David turned down a dispensation to commit adultery with a hot blonde because she had a picture of George Bush on her make up table. How can politics possibly trump sexual attraction? That seems to me a kind of perversion. Politics shouldn't even trump baseball affiliation.
deranged liberal
Isn't that redundant?
;-)
Or mebbe he be a John Bircher, thinking GWB and his pappy jes' commies their own selves.
Or mebbe he tought you said yer fav-or-ite Texan was J'or Buusch, creator of the ThighMaster, surely the spawn of Satan hisself.
If you want to see some deranged conservatives YouTube "townhall" and "heckling."
I'm thinking of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Larry David turned down a dispensation to commit adultery with a hot blonde because she had a picture of George Bush on her make up table. How can politics possibly trump sexual attraction?
Because they're morons? I mean lets face it, I'm a true blue Reagan conservative capitalist pig but if say Scarlett Johannsen walked in the room proclaimed her desire to have wild monkey sex with me but confessed she was a devoted fan of Lenin, Stalin and other leftwing commie genocidal maniacs my reaction would be 'whatever babe' and hit that like a ten penny nail.
DISCLAIMER:
Naturally this fictional scenario would have me being single and not married to my devoted and loving Mrs. Hoosier. Although she has granted me a special dispensation for Mila Jojovich should the occasion ever arise.
So to speak.
Derangement knows no political stripe. For example: Birthers. True nutcases. Not liberals. Another example: People who wanted Bush impeached. Nutcases. Not Conservatives.
If you want to see some deranged conservatives YouTube "townhall" and "heckling."
Awwww....now speaking truth to power is now called heckling. Dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism.
Man you guys rewrite the dictionary faster than Clinton running through interns. You go!
Hoosier, for whom has Mrs. Hoosier been granted dispensations? Inquiring minds want to be nosy.
Madison Man -- A male bimbo according to Seinfeld is a "mimbo."
I don't know where himbo's origins.
"Maybe Meade didn't swallow and he literally was sprayed with water! :)"
Come to think of it, MadMan, that's probably exactly what happened.
Actually, there was one more part to the story that Althouse left out: Later in the day, we passed that same couple on the street in Ouray and upon recognizing him, I said, "Truth is, I tend to like all Texans."
The big Texan gave me a big wide unironic Texas smile and in his big magnanimous Texan twange said, "Well of COURse you do."
Hoosier, for whom has Mrs. Hoosier been granted dispensations? Inquiring minds want to be nosy.
Well she says he gets the tinglies for the Mad Men dude Jon Hamm and also Angus MacFayden who was Robert the Bruce in Braveheart so being the gracious guy I am she gets two to my one. The condition is that they have to bring their own booze. I simply have to draw the line somewhere.
Of course we love W. He's the reason Obama is president.
Really? A mimbo?
You know, I used to have a memory.
Birthers can't be included in the same group as truthers or the countless liberals who claimed Bush and Cheney wanted to bring on Armageddon to hasten the rapture.
Obama's refusal to produce his LFBC as well as his college transcripts, his senior thesis, his financial aid application to Occidental, billing records from his days in a law firm, medical records, etc.,is grounds for suspicion amongst normal rational people. People who are hiding something usually have something to hide, no?
I don't really doubt that he was born in Hawaii, but there must be something on that long form he doesn't want us to know about.
How about a Hilbo?
Paul asked
"there must be something on that long form he doesn't want us to know about."
He's black.
LoafingOaf: "Meanwhile, Meade revealed in the previous threads on the Gates matter that he supports a man being handcuffed and arrested, despite violating no laws, just because he's friendly with Obama."
I think it's a wonderful idea, most of these Obama-friendly dudes are crooks anyway.
And Paul it is great that you and other Birthers are being driven crazy by this. Too cool!
L.E.Lee
He's black (50%) and your fucking stupid (100%).
I'm not a "birther". I don't give a shit where he came from. I just want to see him gone.
Well Paul, that is why we have elections.
W. is my favorite American of all time. I think the left couldn't stand him because he said what he thought, and everyone could understand it. They aren't used to that. They'd rather have a guy who speaks in vague generalities, and whenever he offers a specific, it turns out to be a bold-faced lie. W. is the most sincere American since Lincoln, but Lincoln had little fashion sense. W. had nicer outfits, and a more pleasant wife.
Well I don't doubt he was born in the US but I hardly consider the 'birthers' in the same category or even the same realm of dicussion as the people who still believe Bush and Cheney wired the WTC.
Speaking of birth certificates. I just found out that when I have to renew my drivers license I need to take an offical copy of my birth certificate, two pieces of correspondence (bills) that show my name as well as my Social Security card. Something to do with making sure I am who I say I am or something like that.
All that so I can drive a car. I mean you'd think I was trying to vote in an election or run for President.
oh wait...
Yeah L.E., and that's why Obama is using "stimulous" money to solidify his base and payoff his political allies, wants Acorn in charge of the census, wants illegals to vote, and maybe get more of those nice young Black Muslims with nightsticks for "security" at the polling stations to make sure he'll win the next election "Chicago style" after the general population has gagged and retched on his disastrous socialist policies.
Paul, I just read your last post...and you say you are not a birther! :)
Yeah L.E. I read yours and you are indeed fucking stupid. Only I must admit 100% is a bit low.
The good thing is in his infinite hubris I believe BHO may have over reached and the people are finally figuring out that instead of unicorns and rainbows we're gonna wind up with the inevitable socialist payoff of poverty and slavery.
If you want to see what an Althouse Hillbilly looks like watch those YouTube townhall heckling clips. Not a pretty sight.
Aww, that's not being nice to all those other Texans!
If someone wants to inform me that my house in on fire, I don't mind if he heckles, yells, dresses funny or looks less pretty. Only an idiot or a liberal gets distracted by the style and misses the substance of the most important political message of his lifetime.
Yes bagoh20, a bunch of right wing crazies screaming their heads off is ''the most important message'' of your lifetime.
Please let me know when you check back in here on earth.
If you want to see what an Althouse Hillbilly looks like watch those YouTube townhall heckling clips. Not a pretty sight.
Wait one second there--are we not all dedicated followers of fashion?
L.E.,
Thanks, for demonstrating my point perfectly.
Since you are blinded by the style, do you really want to compare those "hecklers" to videos of the anti-war and anti-Bush protests over the previous 8 years. We were treated to every cartoon depravity people could possibly perform in public by those calm, reasonable, sophisticated people.
Oh, clearly those second batch of folks must be better and smarter than the first. I mean, who wouldn't love W? Something must be wrong with them.
Meade rocks. There are still many of us here in Texas who believe in GWB and others like him who have the strength of their convictions. I refuse to apologize for believing in people who stand for something.
Looks like Althouse chose well.
This Texan concurs, PappyDel. Well said.
And I'm amused by all the Texas stereotypes that often get thrown around in situations like this; it's obvious that those doing so have likely never been here. (As I used to explain when I went out of state for camps in high school, we don't all have oil wells in our backyard--though I wouldn't mind the revenue!--or raise Longhorn cattle or wear ten-gallon hats.)
Besides, as a center-right-leaning jazz musician without a trace of a Southern accent (save for the use of the word "y'all"--it gets hardwired into you down here), I say stereotype me at your own peril; you'll probably be way off the mark.
Perhaps he lost property to the Texas Stadium expansion that occurred when Bush ran the team.
MadisonMan: Texas Stadium is the now former home of the Dallas Cowboys (owned by Jerry Jones, not pre-politics GWB). Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is the House That Dubya Built (though it could be argued that Nolan Ryan's time with the Rangers contributed to the push for a new stadium as much as anything). The construction of that park had a few eminent domain issues, but nothing like the new Cowboys Stadium (just down the street from Rangers Ballpark), which took out an entire neighborhood.
My favorite Texan-by-adoption is my best girlriend of 37 years. She's not much of a baiter, though: and for that, along with many other things, I'm ever so grateful.
watch those YouTube townhall heckling clips. Not a pretty sight.
They made me proud to be an American. :)
This is fantastic.
And I am sure Meade and Althouse totally agree with Bush and the gay marriage amendment in 2004 in order to win.
I smell Phyliss Schafly in this post and I absolutely love it.
Hate your gay son!
And vote Republican because you know the republicans hate the gays...except Mary Cheney and your son of course.
Twat.
And Meade you are not as attractive as you think you are... sorry, you are below average.
Dr. Strangeloaf has been unable to keep his comic mask on ever since the couple became engaged.
Now the marriage has sent him over the edge, as if he were 14 and his own divorced Mom had remarried (I thought you loved only me).
In any event, the facade is exposed, revealing his true character, an unlovely and even brutal mix of grievances, both imagined and real.
More neighbor problems. I need to measure the decibel level in my apartment and searched decibel meter on amazon and the first one that came up seems expensive but is also highly rated. The noise is the motor of someone's ac/ unit, which is always on, and this summer in DC has been beautifully mild, to put it mildly. I'll never understand why apt dwellers leave their a/c on during the day when they are not there, after working all day in arctic offices. Should I buy the decibel meter? (The motor is really loud. Louder than it's ever been.)
Ralph L said...
I saw a new Obama bumpersticker today:
One
Big
Ass
Mistake,
America
Don't know what it was doing on a Prius, of all cars.
Maybe its covering the Obama/Biden one?
All those Texans loose in the land and poor Meade has to run in to one of the few rabid libs. Well somebody had to vote for Ann Richards for governor her second time around. Sorry about that, sir. You'll find more of us are like the nice lady you ran into.
@Pogo:
"Dr. Strangeloaf has been unable to keep his comic mask on ever since the couple became engaged."
Yes, indeed. Less merde de jour and more bile.
I don't really doubt that he was born in Hawaii, but there must be something on that long form he doesn't want us to know about.
This is a silly controversy, because even if he was born in Africa his mother was still a citizen, which makes him a citizen, unless he said otherwise at 18 or whenever you have to decide.
I do agree it's odd that he won't release any forms. But the title "birther" just makes me think of Andrew Sullivan. It's not like people have conspiracies that Obama wasn't actually his mother's child.
Meade has far better taste in wives than in Texans.
Guys, I depend on Althouse first resonders....
Congratulations! from the post I gather that both of you have excellent taste. Way to go Meade, you rock!
Say what you will about the old, embittered, illiterate scat queen, but remember, Althouse considers Titus the best commenter ever on this blog. Ever!
I see, so maybe it's like when Andy Kaufman went into the weird wrestling stuff and it wasn't funny and that's what was funny ...or something.
I never did get that 'humor'.
And I'm gonna sort of agree with Oaf -- the reaction of the man may have little to do with politics. Perhaps he is related to the young man that Laura Bush ran over. Perhaps he lost property to the Texas Stadium expansion that occurred when Bush ran the team. Maybe Meade didn't swallow and he literally was sprayed with water! :)
You'll probably ask: What are the odds that that person would be sitting next to you in Colorado. Yes, it is surely unlikely, and it's far more likely he's just a deranged liberal. But strange coincidences do happen in life.
Why assume the Texan had any personal issue or that he was a deranged liberal?
The 2004 popular vote was 61/32% for Bush yet several '05 Texas polls on the Bush presidency showed his approval ratings in the +/-55/40/5% range reflecting a healthy disapproval among Texans.
While definitely a fan of Bush (both father and son),it would be a tall order to say either of them are my "favorite" Texans. Buddy Holly, Willie, Waylon, George Strait, Don Meredith, Tom Landry, Ann Richards...there's too many darn fine Texans to say that either of them occupies #1.
That's a brave man you got there Althouse. Wait until he talks thusly at faculty soirees in Madison.
My earliest memory of Texas is of my father showing me a picture of himself standing pointing with his index finger to the ground where presumably president Kennedy had been shot.
I seem to recall he also brought back a big big towel with the Kennedy portrait on it.
Hey, anyone remember those tea party activists raising hell about medicare, part D?
Is GWB really Meade's favorite Texan?
Shanna said...
I don't really doubt that he was born in Hawaii, but there must be something on that long form he doesn't want us to know about.
This is a silly controversy, because even if he was born in Africa his mother was still a citizen, which makes him a citizen, unless he said otherwise at 18 or whenever you have to decide.
Actually not:
Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock: A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) INA provided the citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child's birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen are required for physical presence in the U.S. to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.
Obama's mom was only 18 when she gave birth and therefore could not have resided in the USA for 5 years after turning 14.
What about Van Cliburn?
He's black (50%) and your fucking stupid (100%)
Classic.
HT - About your neighbor problems. Buy a house. Even if it's only a shack you can afford the improvement in your quality of life will be immense. I know as I too suffered years of apartment living. For us noise sensitives there is no solution but ones own free-standing house.
It's time for me to address this Obama birth certificate issue. Here's what I think: he was born in Hawaii, and is a USofA citizen, but on his birth certificate, it says "Barry Obama". Sometime later, he changed his name to Barack Hussein Obama to show his blackness, and to get rid of his American/slave/whitebread first name. I still have black friends from the 60's that kept their first names, and got rid of their slave last names and took Muslim last names. It's a black thing, you probably wouldn't understand.
Hey, anyone remember those tea party activists raising hell about medicare, part D?
Nope. Probably because extending an additional Medicare benefit to 42 million existing Medicare beneficiaries wasn't quite the same as subjecting 268 million non Medicare folks to a government health program that will dwarf any costs for grandpa's high blood pressure pills.
What is it with the left and their hatred of American's exercising their First Amendment rights? I thought you guys were all about dissent and speaking truth to power?
Hey pete hoh let me ask you this then. Where were you lefties protesting by the tens of thousands when Clinton took us to war with Serbia? Last time I checked Serbia didn't pose any imminent threat, had no WMDs, there was no Congressional authorization, no UN resolutions yet the silence from you guys was thunderous.
Seems to me you guys like a good old bloodletting only so long as your political party is the one that authorizes it right?
Get with it, Hoosier, when lefties are in power they are the truth.
"One thing that always catches me by surprise is the need of some folks to slander the good men who do good things for no selfish reasons."
Are you referring to George Bush? He was a bad man who did bad things...objectively speaking. He mounted wars of imperial aggression in the middle east, predicated on lies; he instituted a program of indefinite detentions of (largely innocent) men and boys; he instituted a program of torture; he institued illegal electronic evesdropping on American citizens; he bankrupted America; and he made the world a far more dangerous place.
I don't think Bush was unique in his crimes--that Obama is continuing many of Bush's policies makes him also criminal--but he certainly engaged in these crimes with a broader scope and a "fuck you" audacity and unconcern with even a faintly credible justification for any of it that mark him (and his facilitators in office: Cheney, Addington, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al.) as among the great evil men of modern times.
For the past few days WSJ Taranto has been explaining at considerable length the problems the birthirs have navigating the murky waters that is US immigration law.
I recommend you birthirs read all of them.
Cookie just a question. Do you exhale the bong hit while you post this stuff or hold it in for the full Monty?
Are the birthers really as nutty as the Truthers? Or former Congresscritter Cynthia McKinney (I never would have guess she was Irish) who claimed the Army shot 5000 black folks after Katrina and dumped their bodies in a swamp or that 24 hours after Katrina NO citizens were turning to cannibalism?
Considering how much the MSM and gave these loonatrons an open forum I find it amazing that the left can't produce one conservative of even moderate prominence that gives the birth certificate a passing glance.
Hey pete hoh let me ask you this then. Where were you lefties protesting by the tens of thousands when Clinton took us to war with Serbia?.
Klinton did it tooooo! That's so 3rd grade....
"Hey pete hoh let me ask you this then. Where were you lefties protesting by the tens of thousands when Clinton took us to war with Serbia? Last time I checked Serbia didn't pose any imminent threat, had no WMDs, there was no Congressional authorization, no UN resolutions yet the silence from you guys was thunderous.
Seems to me you guys like a good old bloodletting only so long as your political party is the one that authorizes it right?"
There's no question that Bill Clinton was/is also a war criminal and mass murderer.
Considering how much the MSM and gave these loonatrons an open forum I find it amazing that the left can't produce one conservative of even moderate prominence that gives the birth certificate a passing glance..
How bout Rush Limbaugh? He's a Birfer, and probably the most prominent conservative in America.
Robert Cook's crowd all write the same way. Blocks of text can be cut-and-pasted, and only the names need to be changed. The same drivel has been present since the 1960s, word for word.
It's another reason to avoid socialism: it's just so goddamned boring.
Question for Robert Cook: Which US President was not a war criminal/mass murderer?
Hey Titus, what's with the anger? Green eyed monster?
TitusI am going to throw up said:
And vote Republican because you know the republicans hate the gays...except Mary Cheney and your son of course.
Twat.
And Meade you are not as attractive as you think you are... sorry, you are below average.
I don't believe this is the real Titus. Where is the humor? Where are the solecisms? The delightful malapropisms.
I don't think the real Titus is a true woman-hater as this impostor reveals himself to be by using the epithet "twat," not affectionately, but abusively, with hostility and bitterness.
The real Titus is not unfabulous.
President McKinley was harmless.
What the hell's a solecism? Jeez, keep it real Meade.
Lem, there's a nice tidbit down at the bottom of your link: People’s Weekly World (Nationwide, Communist Party USA) has ceased publication!
Question for Robert Cook: Which US President was not a war criminal/mass murderer?
Based upon Cookie's previous posts, I doubt he could come up with one. America is a land built on bones and blood that was stolen from the peace loving Native Americans who were one with nature until evil whitey came. I've never seen Cookie say one decent thing about the US although our malevolent past and even more evil present doesn't seem to quite push him over the edge to move to one of the more nicer socialist vahallas like Sweden or Belgium although Cuba is supposed to have a first rate health care system.
@ricpic, you're forgetting that mortgage, property taxes, and insurance are only part of the cost of owning a home. There's buying a lawn mower (and paying in "sweat equity") plus an edger, maybe a hedge trimmer, not to mention hammer, saw, and a ton and a half of plumbing tools.
And if the people where you live vote one-party Democrat, count on those property taxes going up and up forever.
How bout Rush Limbaugh? He's a Birfer, and probably the most prominent conservative in America.
Is he a Birther? I don't listen to him. I'm a Neal Boortz guy myself.
Ah, that explains much.
Cook cooked the books until they came out right, er...left,
Until they justified a lot more outright lefty theft.
Big Mike - I've paid all those expenses and dealt with all the upkeep hassles and I still say that if you're someone who needs peace and quiet a house is worth it.
And I say that as someone who lives in NYS, property tax hell.
Big Mike: To that last comment. Yeah.
*sigh*
Michigan.
Ah, that explains much.
That's ok garage. Logic and common sense are alien concepts to libs so I don't expect you to understand.
Solecism is a perfectly crumulous word ricpic, irregardless of what you may think.
Titus unfabulous? That's unpossible!
It's another reason to avoid socialism: it's just so goddamned boring.
Socialism is a real time-saver. You don't have to think. It's already done for you.
re: US president not a war criminal/mass murder, William Harrison? Served only one month.
heh... Largo got it.
And if the people where you live vote one-party Democrat, count on those property taxes going up and up forever.
My property taxes have decreased each of the last two years. I think two years ago it was pretty minimal -- $5? -- but last year they dropped $100.
@bearbee, you need to try again. W. H. Harrison led a preemptive attack on Tecumseh's Native American Confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Hey Cookie, I just remembered. Happy Hiroshima Day. Yes, 64 years ago we dropped the big one that ended a war that started in the Pacific by the Japanese in 1933 where the Japanese killed tens of millions of Chinese, Phillpinos, Koreans and Vietnamese in their war of conquest.
"President McKinley was harmless."
Precisely why he had to be taken out.
And Harrison was indeed a war criminal, just not while he was POTUS. His military career indicated he had trmendous promise for future genocidal acts. Oh, the great things he might have achieved if only given the time...
"Lem, there's a nice tidbit down at the bottom of your link: People’s Weekly World (Nationwide, Communist Party USA) has ceased publication!"
No it didn't go away, they just reflagged it as the "Boston Globe".
ricpic,
how much would it cost to really, really soundproof an apartment, or a room within: sound studio absorptive wall, active sound cancellation, etc.
Just wonderin'.
"My property taxes have decreased each of the last two years. I think two years ago it was pretty minimal -- $5? -- but last year they dropped $100."
Yeah because the assessed value of your home decreased, no?
That's the only way you'll pay less taxes with Democrats in charge...by losing equity or income. Of course they will, with their unique blend of corruption and ineptitude, insure that you will most likely lose both.
@Largo, with one of my neighbors back in the day it wouldn't have helped -- they had theater-grade speakers that literally shook my walls and floors.
Yeah because the assessed value of your home decreased, no?
They estimated my house 70 grand over what I paid for it a scant 2 years later! I am waiting for my new assessment and if it hasn't gone way down I'm going to protest it.
The assessed value has not dropped.
And the taxes have gone down. And Democrats are in charge (This is Madison Wisconsin, after all).
Does.Not.Compute. *smoke*putter*poof*
Ruuuush!??
"Question for Robert Cook: Which US President was not a war criminal/mass murderer?"
That is a hard question, given how much of our nation's business throughout our history has been the murder of others and the acquisition of their lands and resources...all while we tell ourselves pretty fables of our exceptional virtue, piety, generosity, and plain ole' goodness.
We are fortunate to have a Constitution that was designed to extend some degree of power to the people and to check state power and also to guarantee certain protections to citizens against such state power as might be exercised.
Maybe one day we'll stop giving it lip service and try to actually put its provisions into practice.
"The assessed value has not dropped.
And the taxes have gone down. And Democrats are in charge (This is Madison Wisconsin, after all)."
Bullshit.
Quick google search:
"The median sales price for homes in Madison WI for Apr 09 to Jun 09 was $190,000 based on 806 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 5%, or $10,000, and the number of home sales decreased 19.6%."
"...64 years ago we dropped the big one that ended a war that started in the Pacific by the Japanese in 1933 where the Japanese killed tens of millions of Chinese, Phillpinos, Koreans and Vietnamese in their war of conquest."
And your point is...? I have never said America was alone in the world or in history in its acts of thievery, mass murder, and violent depredations. In fact, that is the apparent state of nature of any human society that grows beyond a very limited size. (I think anthropologists mark the optimal human community at around 130-odd members, or thereabouts.)
This does not mean that citizens of any given society engaged in this continuum of brutality should not protest it, or should not strive to arrest it. This does not mean that citizens in a society that tells itself how pure and righteous and decent it is should not point out that these stories are lies and should not declare the names of the guilty.
I don't understand, if the purpose was to pass pleasant conversation with strangers and politics hadn't previously come up, why anyone would tell Texans to say hello to George W. Bush.
Apart from the merits of Meade's opinion of Mr. Bush, how could his comment be construed as anything other than an unncessary provocation?
Personally, the two topics I think most worthy of discussion are religion and politics, despite of the cliche warning otherwise. But in the context of an "on the road" acquaintance that was ending, Meade's comment seems like the verbal equivalent of a sucker punch.
I'm just saying.
And your point is...?
That we ended with a big bang, a brutal regime that was causing the deaths of roughly 200,000 Asians a month because of their occupation.
Just sayin. Have a nice day and next time you see a WW2 vet, give him a big hug.
For example, look at the property at 1707 Regent Street. Assessed value in '08 and '09 is 242700. Taxes in '07: $4768. Taxes in '08: $4686.
Paul, if you notice, that is a tax decrease. Democratically-controlled Madison.
Sorry if it makes your head explode.
This wouldn’t be the first time “titus” has gone off the deep end.
Look, I’ll only beclown myself by saying too much (as I have in the past), so let me say only that titus has shown a competitive peevishness towards Althouse since the very beginning and that recent events seem to have prompted him to fantasize about getting married. He has in the past stepped out of character (in fits of pique) when gay issues and President Bush/Republican/Conservatism get intertwined.
Aaah, what do I know?
[makes dismissive gesture with hand]
I’m off to the corner store to buy myself a box of STFU.
Sorry MM, I can't get the property info from your link without a last name at the given address.
Assuming what you say is true (you are a liberal right, so that's a bold assumption) I can only imagine that there is a formula for assessment that includes a median value in a neighborhood or some such mitigating factor. Taxes do not arbitrarily go down with Democrats in charge.
I live in the Bay Area so I know first hand about Democrats and taxes, thank you very much. so please don't ask me to believe either, a) water runs uphill, or b) Democrats are tax cutters.
For example, look at the property at 1707 Regent Street. Assessed value in '08 and '09 is 242700. Taxes in '07: $4768. Taxes in '08: $4686.
I'll never cease to be amazed at the property taxes some folks have to pay. My home is about 2000 sq ft with a decent yard and I pay a tad over $2K annually although that is down from $3K 4 years ago. I guess its all relative considering Mrs. Hoosier's cousin who lives in Westcester NY in a shoebox pays over $6000 a year in property taxes.
I live in the Bay Area so I know first hand about Democrats and taxes, thank you very much. so please don't ask me to believe either, a) water runs uphill, or b) Democrats are tax cutters.
Actually I'll go out on a limb and say that Democrats in Wisconsin are probably truer to blue dogs while Bay Area Democrats only claim the title because getting Socialist on the ballot might scare off the more level headed.
Hoosier, I didn't say taxes were low here, just that they dropped. When my parents tell me how high their taxes are (I think they're lower than yours are), I just let them vent.
Paul, are you really that stupid? Use some imagination. Just put in a last name. Smith. Martin. O'Connell. Goode. Cieslewicz. It's not that hard.
My apologies, that was too harsh. You can fill in either an address (or address range) OR a last name. You need not do both.
They changed the format of the page a while ago. That distinction on what had to be entered used to be so much clearer.
Apology accepted. It never occurred to me to lie about the home owner's actual name.
Hoosier Daddy:
Yes the "liberals" out here are largely fully brainwashed America hating Marxists. Blue dogs would be considered right wing sellouts.
Hoosier Daddy, let's not forget that Milwaukee's mayor Zeidler was an actual Socialist. Of course, that was before I was born.
Hoosier, I didn't say taxes were low here, just that they dropped.
Oh I know, I was just commenting in general. I know Madison is nice but didn't think property taxes were so high up there. Again, its relative.
Robert Cook, in spite of the unpopularity of your opinions here, you actually do make sense. I can't say that I agree with you, but you seem to at least be intellectually consistent. I can respect that without agreeing with you.
Paul, someday you too can apologize to people that you call liars when they in fact are not lying.
(I've removed the link because I was uncomfortable putting there in the first place, btw).
And I'm amused by all the Texas stereotypes.
Kev - You're missing an opportunity. If I were a Texan I'd wear a 10-gallon hat.
Paul, are you really that stupid?
Yes. Simple answers to simple questions.
MM, do you have to pay county taxes in addition to Madison's?
What you quoted is about twice our combined city & county taxes. Part of the 7.75% income tax also goes to the county.
The county fired the person in charge of the reappraisals because so many people were outraged over their increases. They made a big mistake on my sq footage but finally brought the value down to reasonable.
Property taxes and county taxes are bundled up into one nice neat package.
I think. It might be that the county just gets a cut of the property tax. (goes to check).
Yes. The property tax bill we get includes a slice for the county. It's about 1/8th of the total. The state gets some, the city gets some, the local technical college gets some, and the schools get some. The city and the schools combine for about 75% of the total.
"I can't say that I agree with you, but you seem to at least be intellectually consistent. I can respect that without agreeing with you."
Thank you, Crimso, I appreciate that.
'twill never be the case that all persons will (or should) agree, but we should at least strive to base our views (and arguments) on the facts as they are known--rather than on hearsay or propaganda or self-flattering illusions--and to be as consistent as we are able in applying our understanding of the facts--and our ethical perceptions--to the issues at hand. And it is probably more productive to engage in debates in good faith and dispassionately, insofar as we emotional creatures can do so.
MM: Did you get an assessment post card this spring? (I did not, and I'm wondering what's up.)
And it is probably more productive to engage in debates in good faith and dispassionately, insofar as we emotional creatures can do so.
Well having some facts in addition to historical perspective is useful as well. On the whole, you're constant lambasting this nations as the epitome of evil doesn't do much for your position of discussing things disspasionately. As a student of history I can fully appreciate the bad things this country has done but I also weigh them against the good as well. You on the other hand tend to focus soely on the warts. The fact that you view Obama as a war criminal or can't even name one President who in your view isn't a war criminal then I'm sorry but you have little credibility with respect to conducting a reasoned debate.
Do I remember getting it, that's the question. I think we got one, but I can't say for sure.
So, I just went to the city on-line records. I had forgotten you can do that. I was worried because this spring there was a card from the assessor stuck in my door saying they had inspected the property from the outside and then I never received the post card I get each spring giving the new assessment.
The good news; it is unchanged from last year.
The bad news; my taxes are $5786 on a 2 bedroom house.
And why is the date of my last roof replacemnt on-line?
OK MM, snark aside, I apologize for calling bullshit on your claim that your property taxes were lowered without a commensurate reduction in the assessed value of your home, if that is in fact the case. However you must admit that that is a very unusual occurrence and my skepticism is not without some justification.
My taxes went down quite a bit but so did my home's assessed value, as did most properties nationwide since the housing bubble collapsed.
I once had a similar experience--making a favorable comment about a politician from another locale that was not well received. Leading up to the 2000 election, I mentioned to a British co-worker that I would be delighted if I could vote for Margaret Thatcher for president. The co-worker was apparently not a Thatcher fan.
"...you're constant lambasting this nations as the epitome of evil doesn't do much for your position of discussing things disspasionately...."
I've never said we were the epitome of evil...in fact, we're simply all too typical of human power structures and particularly of empires historically. If we unapologetically declared ourselves a plundering nation, one that operated under the "might makes right" maxim, and that the world was ours to harvest, it would not make our crimes any less criminal or any more justified, but at least we wouldn't be hypocrites. However, given the Constitutional edifice of our republic, given our credo that we are a nation of laws, not men, and given that we flatter ourselves unceasingly that we are a supremely virtuous, peace-loving, do-gooding, justice-seeking nation of crime- and evil-hating moral giants, near-saints who abhor dishonesty, cruelty, bullying and tyranny...well, it just throws our all-too-typical dishonesty, cruelty, bullying, thieving and murdering into stark and sickening relief.
For those who reject such candor and who would point instead to the evils of other nations, I reply: we are citizens of this nation, and thus we can only be responsible for the evils that we do. For those who boast of the good we have done in the world, I say: to the extent that we have done or do good--right on!--but our ability and occasional practice of doing good in the world does not absolve us of responsibility for the ill that we do, and in fact demands all the more that we condemn such ills.
Our republic was founded in part with the hope we could mitigate these worst tendencies of humankind, that we could safeguard, to a degree, against the tendencies of humankind's political structures toward oppression and brutality.
To this end free speech was enshrined as the first of our enumerated rights, specifically to protect (and encourage) those who would criticize the ills perpetrated by the powerful in our society against the powerless. The founders were never blind to human nature or to the tendencies toward tyranny of governments of men, and they recognized the absolute necessity of citizens to be aware of and to hold America responsible for its misadventures, domestically or abroad.
Those who point out America's misbehavior are truer patriots and more necessary to our nation than all the Limbaughs and Hannities and Becks and Coulters of the world, who are traitors to America, servile lackeys all to the tyrants to who would devour us today.
And why is the date of my last roof replacement on-line?
I never noticed that, but mine is too. Odd the things the assessor deems internet-worthy.
Paul: Thank you.
I notice that many houses on my street have never had their roofs replaced, so maybe the assessor database is a wee bit lacking.
@MadMan, or perhaps their roofs leak a lot.
Sorry, but it took me this long to stuff my brains back into my skull after my head exploded when I read your 10:30 post. I think I got them back in right, though I notice when I try to pick my nose with my left forefinger it winds up being my right pinky.
All I can say is that your recent experience with property taxes in Madison is wildly at odds with my own experiences in counties under one-party Democrat rule. I don't know whether to be sorry or glad that it doesn't generalize everywhere.
Those who point out America's misbehavior are truer patriots and more necessary to our nation than all the Limbaughs and Hannities and Becks and Coulters of the world
LOL. Took you long enough to come to the point. You hate conservatives. Spare us the missive next time and just come out and say it.
A lot of Texans vacation in Colorado. It's kind of weird.
I expect property taxes to start climbing again here, in part because the Governor and Legislature kneecapped the schools as they tried to balance the budget. $9M less than planned for? Something like that.
Cookie, I was about to provide a stirring rebuttal but I see knox saved me a fair amount of time and effort.
In any event, I am well aware of our shortcomings as a nation and I also am aware that it is governed by men and women who are infallible beings. You on the other hand proved my point in that you only focus on the warts and not the good. I can do both and weigh one against the other and come to my conclusions with a clear conscience. I'm only sorry that you're such a jaded soul that you're condemned to the misery of living in a world that can never live up to your standards.
Now that you have established your moral authority, please enumerate for us, from your lofty vantage point, some SPECIFIC ills we have perpetrated
I'm pretty certain for Cook it all began when the first white guy stepped off the Mayflower.
Conservatives love their America.
"Conservatives love their America."
So true. In direct proportion to the amount of individual liberty it affords them I might add.
"I'm pretty certain for Cook it all began when the first white guy stepped off the Mayflower."
Hey what about Christopher Columbus?
And liberal/progressives/socialists/communists sure hate America. It is good that they acknowledge that.
Robert Cook, the last true patriot, is a noble and virtuous human because he uses his First Amendment rights to offer his opinions to the ever-grateful Althouse blog commentariat.
Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, on the other hand, use their First Amendment rights to offer different opinions and are therefore traitors to America.
It all makes perfect sense now. Thanks, Cookie!
A lot of Texans vacation in Colorado
Yeah, my step-mother lived in Durango for many years. When oil prices fell in the mid 80's, the Texans stopped coming and the town almost died. She sold her house at a $30k loss (she said) and moved to Virginia, where her even-nuttier sister threw her at my Dad.
I was out there last August to help them pack. This time they sold the house my dad had bought her in '92 before the bubble burst. The air is so dry compared to the Southeast's summer that you don't notice the sun's heat.
And liberal/progressives/socialists/communists sure hate America. It is good that they acknowledge that.
No, we just hate you.
"Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, on the other hand, use their First Amendment rights to offer different opinions and are therefore traitors to America."
Except they're not offering good faith arguments, and I infer from that that they're simply propagandists with no real convictions other than what they're paid to espouse.
If they truly believe in the positions they present, they need to offer rational arguments based in fact, not fear-mongering based on hype and lies.
The Naderite wing of the mental ward just goes on and on. Shut the fuck up, or, better yet, move to some socialist utopia. You are profoundly ignorant of the facts.
I notice that many houses on my street have never had their roofs replaced, so maybe the assessor database is a wee bit lacking.
They've got mine right.
I've heard predictions of a property tax explosion in the next couple years. If so, I think the fact that they've held steady for a couple of years will look more like the historical anomaly that I believe it is.
"...please enumerate for us, from your lofty vantage point, some SPECIFIC ills we have perpetrated...."
Slavery, genocide of the indigenous peoples of this continent, illegal aggressive wars abroad (several of those going on right now), torture, etc. Do you really not pay attention to current events?
"Limbaughs and Hannities and Becks and Coulters of the world
LOL. Took you long enough to come to the point. You hate conservatives. Spare us the missive next time and just come out and say it."
The aforementioned are not conservatives, but paid propagandists for the corporate oligarchs.
OMG, we're going to hit 200 just commenting on lucky, lucky Meade and Texans and the 2nd-worst president of the 21st century.
Kev - You're missing an opportunity. If I were a Texan I'd wear a 10-gallon hat.
Oh yeah--that'd go over great at my next jazz gig, LOL. (Especially some wedding reception or corporate party where I had to wear a tux.)
Kev - Think of how much money you could get when you pass the hat.
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