... destructive distortion, derision, and division....Mmmmm. Mmmmmary Mmmmmatalin.
Unfortunately and unfortuitously... human hurricanes... gratuitous gas-baggery... political pollution.
November 8, 2012
"A political narcissistic sociopath leveraged fear and ignorance with a campaign marked by mendacity and malice rather than a mandate for resurgence and reform."
Mary Matalin alliterates.
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122 comments:
The sentence you headlined is too wordy.
She could've left out "political" entirely. No need to qualify his narcissism.
She's right.
Alliterative.
And right on the money.
Why would she marry a sleaze like Carville?
Faced with election results that should have shown to conservatives how far they have come unmoored from reality, they double down on their fantasies.
Nobody likes a sore loser, Mary.
Regardless of all that, the politics is over. Elections have consequences. This will become painfully evident in the coming months and next couple years.
The Luxury tax of 1990 directly caused over 8000 job losses in my small industry alone and our company went from doubling in size the previous year to almost going out of business 12 months later. The tax was a failure in a number of ways ("read my lips"), including a sharp, but short recession. The tax was repealed.
Our business has been very strong for the last couple years with 2012 being our best ever. Being an American manufacturer, we planned for the recession by moving our focus to smaller-lot-size, more customized products that are difficult to import when order sizes shrink. We positioned ourselves for a slower economy back during the boom, because we knew it was a bubble - they always are, and this was clearly a big bubble in the mid 2000s. That turned out to be the right call. We have tripled in sales since 2008, and in the last 2 years we have doubled the number of people we employ, as well as improving business for our suppliers.
The last few months, since the alternative was so clearly failing, I expected my fellow citizens to see that we needed a shift to the right with a more sensible policy in D.C. and especially here in California, and that would allow me expand and hire many more people. That was our plan until Tuesday.
I called this one wrong. We will be keeping Obamacare. Small business, which to tax policy, looks like a rich guy will continue to be the scapegoat and drained for revenue to pay off other constituencies. Even worse is that California has doubled down on its slow suicide by raising taxes on business, high earning individuals (small business again), and sales tax on everyone. This is on top of passing the only global warming tax in the nation. Warm globally - tax locally (genius).
Our competition is all in China, where they are much less hateful of success under communism, and where they laugh their ass off at us for taxing and regulating ourselves just to help them out.
The governments I try to work under and pay taxes to support have, at the request of a majority of voters, decided to make employing people a mistake in the U.S., and specifically California, especially when forced to compete with others with smarter governments and voters.
I'm reading that companies all over our country are now, with their last hope of relief just passed, changing their plans as well to address the new economics we're faced with. Many layoffs are being announced, planned or accelerated around the country. Aerospace, energy, manufacturing are all looking to move production to friendlier places, or to find methods to reduce employee counts. I know it's true, because I'm there too. It just makes sense economically.
This week was disappointing in its foolishness. Just dumb. I made a miscalculation - I overestimated my fellow citizens. Like others, we will be forced to change our plans. Now I'm forced to do what I never wanted: to try NOT to employee people. It's the opposite of my very reason for being in business, but now I have to try and protect the ones I have as best I can. I need to protect the profits needed to fund growth, to support charities, to improve my life and that of those around me. I’ll need to find another state for my business, but I can’t find another country – American is all I ever wanted to be, but I sure wish I could trust my fellow citizens with the power they are blessed with.
"A political narcissistic sociopath leveraged fear and ignorance with a campaign marked by mendacity and malice rather than a mandate for resurgence and reform."
Mary Matalin
Hell, I agree with her.
Boeing just said mass layoffs are coming, McDonalds sales goes down, Vegas employer lays off 22. Yes LOTS of business will lay off hundreds of THOUSANDS in this coming year. Taxes will raise so much MORE unemployment will come.
So just put that in your pipe and smoke it.
You say Matalin, I think Carville. There is a couple that begs the question: are they opposites attracted or peas podded.
Brother, you asked for it!
Andy R:
1. Congratulations on the victory of your preferred candidate in this election.
2. Obama's vote total will end up below 90% of his 2008 total. If you had been told that fact in advance, would you have been confident in an Obama win?
3. Every dispute about the polls involved two things: possible self-selection bias in an era of caller ID and a 9% response rate, and likely-voter predictions. I don't think you can characterize being wrong about those two things as being "unmoored from reality".
She overlooked "piece of shit."
It has an internal alliteration.
I agree with her too.
I am glad to see that Republicans are going to continue to act unhinged and marginalize themselves.
President Obama is going to continue to navigate a left/center course. The economy will continue to improve and that will help with bringing down the deficit. Basically what Clinton did. Democrats came out of this election with the right message-run on providing strong moderate leadership and organize government in a ration way that will achieve reasonable goals. This will be a recipe for Democratic Party success for a next generation of elections.
I suspect we will be referring to the Obama coalition for the next thirty years in American politics.
Taking an obviously good man and turning him into a combination of Scrooge and Nixon.
All is a days work for guys like Axelrod.
And Obama believes it too. He thinks Romney is a bad man.
Axelrod doesn't believe it - he knows Romney is a good man becuase he did the opposition research and came up with nothing.
But Obama lives in the dreamworld of a self-defined enemy.
Someone clue Matalin in. Euphuism has been passé since 1588.
My choice to play Romney in the made-for-tv movie would be Ted Danson.
James Carville is a lucky guy!
Carville mentioned that after Bush41 lost in '92, Matalin was in the fetal position for a couple weeks. Shocking!
Didn't click on the link, but I disagree with Mary Matalin about Mitt Romney. I mean, it's true that his campaign was marked by mandacity, but Mitt himself deserves some credit for dialing down the malice in the last couple of weeks.
Prolix pontification from a petty pundit.
"Why would she marry a sleaze like Carville?"
Because he really does have a forked tongue?
"The economy will continue to improve and that will help with bringing down the deficit. Basically what Clinton did."
If we could just get Gore to invent another internet. "what Clinton did" was ride a historic wave economic activity, but even the best surfer does not cause the wave.
Another amazing thing like the ascendancy of computing and the internet would save our ass, but I don't see that miracle coming. I think it's actually there to some degree with energy production in the U.S., but our choice of leadership is determined to kill that miracle dead.
Jay Retread said...
I am glad to see that Republicans are going to continue to act unhinged and marginalize themselves.
President Obama is going to continue to navigate a left/center course. The economy will continue to improve and that will help with bringing down the deficit.
As I noted in a previous post:
Food prices up 6%
Gas doubled.
Real unemployment at 23%
Black unemployment double the national average.
People still waiting on FEMA.
Fed spending at 103% of GDP
Which is growing at 1.7%
Oh, yeah, things are going just great.
shiloh said...
James Carville is a lucky guy!
Considering Willie and Zero are mortal enemies, I'd say I was surprised the little weasel was switching sides.
But it's easy for the Janus-faced.
Carville mentioned that after Bush41 lost in '92, Matalin was in the fetal position for a couple weeks. Shocking!
OH, did you use her as a model when you were hiding out the month of October?
Alhouse again, give your #1 doting, spamming, trained seal a hug!
Obama is not going to govern in a center left direction. He is going to go hard left. That is what he is. He has shown this again and again. And now he has no restraints. Hubris always trips up a two term President. They only become more so.
"I suspect we will be referring to the Obama coalition for the next thirty years in American politics."
That is as unhinged and delusional as the conservatives who thinks America is going to end. There is no permanent ascendency in American politics and not even a generational one anymore since the cultural/social lifecyle of everything is only accelerating and fragmenting.
Nixon-Watergate.
Reagan-Iran Contra.
Clinton fucking everything that moved and lying about it (not a policy thing because as an amoral sleaze he didn't really care about that stuff)
George W Bush- Nation building in the Middle East.
Two term Presidents always press their luck and it always goes south on them.
I really am surprised how proud the Dems are of the method of winning.
They have done nothing but divide, hide facts, distort Republicans positions and ignore the economic reality. Obama offered no real plan for the future, and in staying positive Romney didn't expose it.
I would think a few would cringe at Michael Moore's profane old people video, attacks on black conservatives, creepy child singers, and outright lies about Benghazi, birth control, sequester, and Romney's positions.
I fear Obama will jump on the Harry Reid bandwagon, and refuse to work with the Republicans. We cannot continue to spend as we have, even if we add VAT, carbon and rich people taxes. It just is as the left loves to say "unsustainable".
"Bill Clinton’s unique windbaggery constituted a campaign updraft, while Chris Christie’s deplorable and gratuitous gas-baggery infused the campaign with a toxic political pollution."
I say things like that after a double latte. I wonder where Mary buys hers...
Democrats actually think they elected Clinton and the 1990s. wow.
"Alhouse again, give your #1 doting, spamming, trained seal a hug!"
Axlerod again, give your #1 doting, spamming, trained seals a hug!
//fixed
"I suspect we will be referring to the Obama coalition for the next thirty years in American politics."
This is as unhinged and delusion as the conservatives who state that America is going to end tomorrow. There is no permanent ascendancy in American politics. There is no such thing as a generational shift anymore because social/cultural changes are only accelerating and fragmenting. The world 4 years from now will be much different than it is today.
shiloh said...
Alhouse again, give your #1 doting, spamming, trained seal a hug!
Spamming???
Because I ask a perfectly good question of the little weasel?
Or because I rebut his idiotic and duplicitous assertions about how swell things are?
If the little weasel were so sure of Ned Silver and Dictator Zero "ground game" (read vote fraud and intimidation), he would have been here every day 10/5 - 11/5 defending his boy.
But he didn't because he's a coward, in addition to everything else.
If Obama's coalition loses nearly 9 million votes every trip out, I doubt we'll be talking about it at all.
Because I ask a perfectly good question of the little weasel?
Speaking of a perfectly good question, how did you feel about the marriage equality votes? Is this the backlash you are also warning about?
gmama3 said...
I really am surprised how proud the Dems are of the method of winning
Mom, it's like the Communist Party in the last decades of the Soviet Union.
They don't believe in anything anymore except power.
Andy R. said...
Because I ask a perfectly good question of the little weasel?
Speaking of a perfectly good question, how did you feel about the marriage equality votes? Is this the backlash you are also warning about?
In 2 Lefty states? That's some movement you got there.
Coming right from the bowels.
A delusional deb with a deplorable degree of denial. Keep believing that the reason you lost was Romeny wasn't "conservative" enough. Or that Obama played dirty. This from the Obama is a Terrorist America Hater crowd. Hee hee...Do the Democrats a favor and keep believing that you just need more Rove...more lies...more money from Las Vegas pimps and midwest polluters. Talk about rape some more and come up with more plans to throw people off of healthcare. As Said by Simply Silly Sarah: How is that workin for ya??
Nobody likes a sore loser, Mary.
Better that than Ann's "What, me worry?" pablum from yesterday.
No that is not the backlash Andy.
It will come when Obama eliminates the tax deductions for religions that will not perform same sex marriages in their houses of worship.
It is coming soon. I am sure you support it and will demand it and Obama will be happy to give it to you.
"Keep believing that the reason you lost was Romeny wasn't "conservative" enough."
-- It's actually a reasonable theory. We tried to offer two moderate candidates (McCain and Romney), but they were villified as being conservatives who wanted to take blacks back to the 1950s when Democrats oppressed them (I don't get it either, but go with this), etc., etc.
And McCain and Romney couldn't defend themselves; they were center-right; they didn't even understand -why- they were being treated as more conservative than they were. So, they got all the negatives of being far right without exciting the base.
We've tried being a moderate, compromising party. But, the last two presidential cycles showed us that it has nothing to do with compromising; the Democrats ran someone who is far left (for America) and excited his base enough to trounce our base efforts.
That was Rove's big insight into winning in 2000 and 2004; the base wins elections. Obama proved that in 2008 and 2012.
I'm a moderate Republican, especially on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. But on the national and state level? Yeah. I'm accepting that moderate Republicans have had their chance.
Also, we could use more Rove. Obama's won both his elections by using the Rovian strategy to depress your opponent's base and excite your own. If anything, Rove's proving, again, that his strategy is sound (if he, like everyone else, over estimated the overall turn out for this election.) People got the %s right, but I doubt you'll find anyone who was right that nearly 10 million or more people wouldn't vote at all.
Obama is a hard left idealist and will seek to do all of the things he always wanted to do.
You see it is after the election and he has a lot more flexibility.
You will see a lot of great things from an Obama second term.
A nuclear Iran which will be in deadly conflict with a nuclear Israel.
The take over of almost all Middle Eastern states by radical muslim forces like the Muslim Brotherhood.
The reduction in force of the military that will usher in the domination of Asia by China and of a crippled Europe by Russia.
The ending of tax exempt status for most orgainized religions.
The control of travel and mobility through huge gas price increases due to the destruction of gas drilling and the destruction of coal usage or other fossil fuel
energy sources of the dosmetic type.
The massive lay offs coming as business and capital move out of the United States to more business oriented environments.
You have a lot to look forward to in the weeks and months to come.
He won.
"Unfortunately and unfortuitously"?
She's speaking here about storms:
Unfortunately and unfortuitously, forces of nature bookended the general election: Our convention was compromised by one weather disaster and our momentum stalled by another.
But, Mary, "fortuitously" means "by accident," so "unfortuitously" must mean not "by accident." Are you saying that "it was no accident" that storms screwed up the Republican campaign?
Who's to blame here? Has Al Gore got a diabolical weather-control machine somewhere in that ginormous compound of his? Or is it that God wanted Obama to win, and let loose the heavens?
edutcher,
In 2 Lefty states? That's some movement you got there.
Well, it's three lefty states (MD, ME, WA), plus the defeat of the referendum in MN. I am heartened to see this. I support SSM, but even if I didn't, I'd rather see it passed by voters than imposed by courts, and this is the first time we have seen the people vote it in.
Went to the page, covered, didn't feel like lifting the curser, aiming, and clicking some shit out of the way because I don't have any patience left.
That's how stupid they are to not account for assholes like me with no patience left.
Let me help you out, you 52% of you who need help with the simplest things, the rest of you normal people can just skip. This might actually help you somewhere along the line or maybe help understand where you went wrong.
You know to get into business or law school you must take a GMAT or LSAT entrance exam and those thick verisimilitude preparation things are the best puzzle books. They'll have a logic section where the reader is given a situation in story and then asked questions indicating how the reader sorted the most salient elements. They're very tricky situations, and it's harder than it seems. Sometimes you think you nailed it perfectly well and find out what you think is important is actually not.
This portion of the exam is weighted heavily because it sorts students by degree of retardation. A made up example might include the following elements:
* magic underwear
* Mormon religion
* actually donates millions each year
* pays taxes
* understands numbers
* annoying beatific head tilt
* holier than thou attitude
* believes in exceptionalism which isn't even a word.
* plastic hair
* used car salesman
* Obama has great smile
* twenty trillion dollars national debt.
* everybody loves Obama
* Europe loves Obama
* all blacks vote for Obama
* Obama believes in equal rights for everyone
* universal access to healthcare a right
Please indicate from the story what you believe to be the most important thing ______________________________.
Please indicate from the story what you believe to be the second most important thing ______________________________.
Does the first thing conflict with the second thing? ___________
Does the first thing override the second thing? _____________
Does the first ting override every other fucking thing on the list, you retard? _______________________
Or is it that God wanted Obama to win
Sort of a God did.
She used to have a tv show with another gal playing left.
She often had Joe Lieberman on.
I'm sore. The nation is sinking into an corrupt economic abyss and it pisses me off.
I’m bitter.
And that won’t stop.
I’m moving on – but the rage I feel towards corruption will never stop.
Ann Althouse - I'm telling you now. Go host this blog on a blogging service that allows you to moderate the comments. Me and many others are not going to tolerate having to sift through the leftist trolls any longer.
Regardless of all that, the politics is over. Elections have consequences. This will become painfully evident in the coming months and next couple years.
As it should. Clearly the majority of the electorate have turned JFK's famous adage on its head and decided on what they want the country to do for them.
If it's true, why not say it now. Kudos to Matali for telling it like it is as the libruls love to say. And Baron Zemo is right- Obama will go hard left because that is what he is. Suggest you hide some of your assets so he can't tax them.
On the other hand, I will laugh pretty hard when he enacts a big to tax on these huge liberal organizations's endowments like Harvard, PEW, Yale,Ford Foundation, UPenn, etc etc.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
- H.L. Mencken
Speaking of a perfectly good question, how did you feel about the marriage equality votes?
Marriage is overrated. Have fun with it.
I know I'm supposed to be compassionate, But right now, at this very moment as I sit in my paid for house, watching the squirrels and birds in the woods, thinking about the fun I will have with the respectful young men I will be taking out to my country property to go deer hunting tomorrow, after I get off work tonight at my well paid non-union manufacturing job, I hope the moochers who voted for Obama experience the worst "next 4 years" of their life. and I'm confident they will.
Matthew Sablan said...
"I'm a moderate Republican, especially on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. But on the national and state level? Yeah. I'm accepting that moderate Republicans have had their chance."
The core thing that unites the right is the belief that our government must operate within the boundaries of the constitution. This means the right has to relentlessly push federalism. Romney did push federalism in his campaign. It seems likely that the religious right rewarded him by sitting this campaign out, thus defeating Romney.
Under federalism, social issues like gay marriage and abortion should be decided at the level of the states. The religious right should not be pushing to decide these issues at the national level because it is anti federalism and thus anti constitutional approach.
I admire the way gay marriage proponents used the democratic process rather than courts to pass their gay marriage laws at the state level. Well done. Abortion should be decided the same way.
On marriage...
I think the muslims who fantasize about 70 virgins, have likely never been married to even a single woman, otherwise they would understand the error of their way.
Democrats actually think they elected Clinton and the 1990s. wow.
A coworker said on Monday that Clinton left the conomy ‘perfect’. Despite the fact that it was a bubble that collapsed just as Clinton was sweeping off.
The current economy is also Bush’s fault.
Odd that exposing Bain's vulture capitalism or Romney real record in Mass, where he couldn't even carry his hometown is considered mendacity. But I suppose when trying to use the rule of three, she just couldn't let go of the M words. But keep in mind that Karl Rove said the storm of was an "Act of God," and that is what gave Obama the advantage-- something to think about - maybe another M word-- miracle?
"Why would she marry a sleaze like Carville?"
Like likes like?
Birds of a feather?
They complete each other?
But keep in mind that Karl Rove said the storm of was an "Act of God," and that is what gave Obama the advantage--
While he didn't invoke the Almighty, Obama fanboy Chris Matthews said Sandy was good for politics.
Michelle Dulak Thomson, you are right about the people deciding, of course.
I was just giving Hatman some grief because he wants to portray this as the whole country changing its mind about same sex marriage.
Baron Zemo babbled:
"Obama is a hard left idealist....
"A nuclear Iran which will be in deadly conflict with a nuclear Israel.
"The ending of tax exempt status for most organized religions."
My, my...you're just full of delusions today!
I admire the way gay marriage proponents used the democratic process rather than courts to pass their gay marriage laws at the state level.
I wonder if the liberals in Colorado that voted to legalize pot will suddenly become small government Federalists when the Federal government comes down on them like a hammer.
But like those who voted their lady parts, they don't want the government involved in their bodies unless its to mandate they get free birth control.
"I hope the moochers who voted for Obama experience the worst "next 4 years" of their life."
It's inspiring how full of the milk of human kindness and compassion modern day Republicans...aren't.
I say there's an 86.3% chance that Baron Zemo is right.
Of course, the use of the term "moochers" tips us of that this is a particularly virulent form of hateful kook...he's a Randist!
It's inspiring how full of the milk of human kindness and compassion modern day Republicans...aren't.
Fucktards who knowingly vote for "Fucktard in Chief" deserve every bit of pain and misery coming their way.
Own it fucktards.
I say there's an 86.3% chance that Baron Zemo is right.
Genius!
Michelle Dulak Thomson said:
Well, it's three lefty states (MD, ME, WA), plus the defeat of the referendum in MN. I am heartened to see this. I support SSM, but even if I didn't, I'd rather see it passed by voters than imposed by courts, and this is the first time we have seen the people vote it in.
Just as an FYI, the defeat of the referendum in MN will lead to SSM being imposed by the courts. There's a pending case in Hennepin County and the decision will come down sometime in 2013. The lege won't touch it.
Alex,
I don't believe we have a "Fucktard in Chief" office in this country.
Obama ran an extremely negative scorched earth campaign. Upside: he won reelection. Downside: he has poisoned the political well and earned the hatred of huge numbers of conservatives. This will energize and motivate these conservatives to work in a never ending campaign against Obama and the dems to relentlessly extract political revenge and inflict political pain. I will be surprised if the right does not adopt Alinsky tactics in their political process.
The GOP has been transforming from a gentlemanly country club type political party to a more aggressive, bare knuckles approach for a while. Obama's deplorable campaign will accelerate this process (so there is a silver lining to every cloud).
I wish people would stop crying about the obvious. We already know what Urkel was and is. Why belabor the point. He won, great. Now there will be no more excuses for his utter incompetence and failures. They are coming and we are going to be the recipients of this particular brand of economic pain. Like I said before, this is the culmination of six decades of leftist inculcation and indoctrination in our public schools that has been foisted onto our children who are now the inheritors of this legacy. The leftist ideology is simply more aggressive and evil than we gave it credit for. It's a cancer that has infested the electorate to such a degree that it metastasized into Obama's win. The chickens have come hot to roost and over 50% of the electorate is to dumb to care or notice because the idea of getting something for nothing is to appealing vs. the reality of actually working to achieve great things for themselves.
Like a video game, Obama gave them all the power-ups they needed and he won. Simple as that. The treachery is complete. I simply do not see a way out of this if he can't bring the necessary people together to solve this economic problem or we are surely headed back to another near depression recession. It's on him now. No more excuses.
If republicans and conservatives ever want to have a chance of winning the presidency, then they better start campaigning now for brand recognition and highlighting their agendas for all to see for the next four years until 2016 because I suspect that they are going to need it. If I were the republicans, I would not believe anything any pollster spews out of his mouth ever again. They completely and totally failed from top to bottom. But hey, party on. It's gonna be a giant party for the next four years.
The economic bubble may bust and come back slightly, but the precariousness on which it perches is going to be a doozy to watch. Simply re-arranging deck chairs will not work. I was actually hoping I could begin to plan expanding my business and making some bigger deals, but I'm already getting indications that the companies that I am dealing with are not very excited about the future. It's going to get a little gloomier for a lot of people. And that is really just to bad and sad.
Robert Cook said...
"I hope the moochers who voted for Obama experience the worst "next 4 years" of their life."
It's inspiring how full of the milk of human kindness and compassion modern day Republicans...aren't.
You clearly do not understand human nature. Hence your ideology and how you've been conditioned to think. You need to give people their ability to express themselves in the way they see fit considering the emotional investment and circumstance they find themselves politically. To ascribe that compassion is the norm at this moment on republicans or conservatives for having lost the presidential election is only a detriment to your understanding. People are pissed, let them be pissed for a little while before you chime in like a smug little prick.
roesch/voltaire said...
"blah blah blah..simpering half smirky comment type thing that 14 year old atheists like to say at the Thanksgiving table to shock the old aunts"
Sorry for paraphrasing but that is what it sounds like.
I usually don't lash out at comments, but every time I read one of yours I'm just so incensed that you would dare to use the name Voltaire in your avatar. Where is the wit? where is the panache? where is the intelligence? About as far from Voltaire as you could be.
As a guess- academic? right? High School history? Maybe Jr College social science?
I may be wrong of course, but self-satisfied, self-absorbed, self-referential is usually a tell.
I have a liberal or Democratic template for respecting a President (11/2004-1/2009) to guide me during these next four years.
It's inspiring how full of the milk of human kindness and compassion modern day Republicans...aren't.
Why should I be kind to those who simply wish to skate by while living off the productivity of others? I'm not talking about those who truly need assistance because of misfortune but those who require it as a result of poor life decisions that have put them in their current situation.
Perhaps you believe in fate. I believe we are the masters of our destiny and have the ability to change our outcomes. I grew up poor, on and off of govt. assistance and came to the conclusion early on that wasn't how I was going to live and I did something about it. It was hard but then again no one said life was easy. It's even harder when you're stupid.
From zerohedge:
"Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent for Reuters has written a very interesting article, 'Analysis: China's currency foray augurs geopolitical strains’ where he emphasizes China’s desire to wean out the US dollar’s currency reserve status.
China is actively taking steps to phase out the US dollar which will decrease volatility in oil and commodity prices and deride the ‘exorbitant privilege' the USA commands as the issuer of the reserve currency at the centre of a post-war international financial architecture which is now failing.
...
China is frustrated with what it sees as the US government’s mismanagement of the dollar, and is now actively promoting the cross-border use of its own currency, the yuan, or also called the renminbi, in trade and investment.
China’s goal is to decrease transactions costs for Chinese importers and exporters.
Zha Xiaogang, a researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said Beijing wants to see a better-balanced international monetary system consisting of at least the dollar, euro and yuan and perhaps other currencies such as the yen and the Indian rupee.
"The shortcomings of the current international monetary system pose a big threat to China's economy," he said. "With more alternatives, the margin for the U.S. would be greatly narrowed, which will certainly weaken the power basis of the U.S.""
---end of article quote-------
China has great financial power over the USA and can trigger a devastating financial crisis for the USA any time they want. China has a strong desire to replace the USA as the world's only superpower but would likely pay a huge price in economic and political stability if they move too rapidly against the USA. It seems like their best course of action is to move slowly, gradually whittling away at the dollar as the reserve currency by an ever expanding set of bilateral trade agreements that specify the yuan will be used as the currency for trades under that trade agreement.
It should be easy for China to extract concessions from unprincipled American presidents every two years just before USA national elections by threatening to trigger disruptions to the American economy that would be politically devastating to the president's political party. Wonder if that has already happened?
Robert,
We may not have a "Fucktard in Chief" office in this country but we have a war criminal at the helm. Strangely the media failed to highlight all those Code Pink protests this election season.
"Speaking of a perfectly good question, how did you feel about the marriage equality votes?"
Marriage couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Go for it.
"Why should I be kind to those who simply wish to skate by while living off the productivity of others?"
And who might those persons be? The heads of the respective big banks? Wall Street CEOs and financiers?
I'm with you, there, bud.
Oh, but you're referring to working people and others who--having been misled--mistakenly look to Obama to improve their lot in life...at least a little bit. You're referring to people who are hurting economically and scared of what Romney might have done who voted for Obama in hopes he will be better than Romney would have been as just wanting to "skate by" and live of the "productivity of others."
In other words, you're referring them as "moochers" for whom you can spare no kindness.
As I said...the drought of the milk of mercy among the modern day fruit cake party--oh, I mean Republicans--is awe-ful--as in awful--to behold.
One concession that China might demand from the USA is for the USA to radically reduce the size and firepower of its military, especially the navy which is the power projection part of the military. Neither Europe nor Japan have much military capability and could find themselves intimidated by Russia and China very soon after America reduces the size of its military.
I don't know about Japan but lefty Europe is quite pacifist and reluctant on both financial and cultural grounds to arm itself enough to defend itself. OTOH, Russia seems like it is in a death spiral wrt maintaining population so maybe Russia is not a big danger to them.
As I said...the drought of the milk of mercy among the modern day fruit cake party--oh, I mean Republicans--is awe-ful--as in awful--to behold.
Mercy to freeloaders?
In other words, you're referring them as "moochers" for whom you can spare no kindness.
In this one sentence you make it clear that you have never paid any attention at all to what conservatives have to say on this issue.
You know nothing about the relative rates of charitable giving b/w cons and libs.
You think it's more cruel to lower the barriers to people finding jobs than to keep those barriers in place, leaving the unemployed dependent on the state.
Why should anyone give any weight to your opinion?
Iran is already on the move. They attacked one of our drones a week before the electon. Of course this was covered up and kept out of the media and away from the public as it might affect their vote.
They will get bolder and bolder. Push the envelope. They will get closer and closer to a bomb. Then Israel will act.
It will not be pretty however it goes.
"We may not have a "Fucktard in Chief" office in this country but we have a war criminal at the helm."
Finally!
A critical comment about Obama from the abyss of the Althouse commentariat that is apt and factual, rather than delusional.
"Mercy to freeloaders?"
Well, sure...at least, the mercy of due process.
I think the Wall Street financiers and heads of the big banks deserve to have their day in court before they're thrown in prison.
"Iran...attacked one of our drones a week before the election."
Well, why shouldn't they have? Must they or any other country accept the presence in their skies of robot bomber-bots from a foreign nation?
Would you consider it a sign of American perfidy if we discovered and shot down a Russian or Chinese drone over Washington DC or New York or anywhere else in our skies?
Robert Cook - is it ok for Iran to state they will "wipe Israel off the map" and do nothing about it?
And the ending of tax exempt status for religious institutions is definitely in the works. The first step is to require them to provide contraceptives and abortifacients.
They move incrementially. But that is the ultimate goal.
If you don't think that is the what they want you are just fooling yourself.
Of course you would think that Iran attacking a drone over international waters is perfectly ok Cookie. Obama thinks that too.
"The future does not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."
Get ready for more of the same. More sacked embassies. Dead ambassadors. Attacks on US troops who will not have loaded weapons.
This is Obama time.
Let's be honest .... Obama won because the media and demorats use social issues , culture to win over most democrats states , 2/3 of then have a 75% and over white population and the vote aginst their ecomnic interests.
Hispanics and black population are concentrated in red states, so the larger they have gotten , ( mostly Hispanic) the more the are turning former red states blue... First California, Nevada, New Mexcio, Floirda, Virginia, next Arizona, Texas
The way democrats win then is by naked appeals to tribe and race...".. This appeal -- appeal to one's tribe -- is powerful. It's also racist, and divisive, and promotes an Us vs. Them mentality... all those things which are terrible if a Republican even hints at it."
And giving amnesty to the 15 million illegals isn't going to win over Hispanic , they have become like blacks ... Comfortable with a big fat corrput welfare government It's not like they learned anything from the countries they leave in desperation for a decent living that are big, fat, corrupt socialist countries.
Romney who's a honest , decent man... Thought I wouldn't play the nake appeal to race, us vs them, under the radar the way democrats do.....Especially in Ohio, 80% white.... He thought ! the ecomny., jobs, a ecomnic future for that will stop us from becoming to Greece, citizens have to care they leave a viable nation to their children or for themselves.
Sorry, whites in blue states care more about abortion that would never be outlawed in their state.... Or to feel socially insink with the media culture.
And all these white fools Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Michigan, and other states like Oregon, and Connecticut.... Who at least 51 % should have woken up.... Wouldn't until it's too late and they realize voting for silly culture issues that would never effect their lives or become laws in the states...... Wasn't worth fiscal suicide.
One other piont, if republicans message that didn't connect with voters then with are 30 as of this election run by Repiblcan Governor's or his the House still republicans.... Because the closer to the vote the more they vote on what actually effects them, taxes, fiscual issues, ecomny.... And not storied issues the media invented.
"...is it ok for Iran to state they will 'wipe Israel off the map' and do nothing about it?"
It's not ok for you to repeat the lie that they ever said that.
However, for argument's sake, let's assume they did. Unless they show the capability and signs they are taking action to make good on such a threat, words alone do not warrant a response.
Should Russia have gone on war footing against us when Reagan stated (in jest), "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
What I want to know is why if these young women want us to pay for their birth control do they still need us to pay for their abortions? I mean are they that fucking stupid that they can't figure out how to use their free birth control and thus avoid the pregnancy they need to abort?
The day we passed the 19th amendment was the beginning of the end.
Obama ran an extremely negative scorched earth campaign. Upside: he won reelection. Downside: he has poisoned the political well and earned the hatred of huge numbers of conservatives. This will energize and motivate these conservatives to work in a never ending campaign against Obama and the dems to relentlessly extract political revenge and inflict political pain. I will be surprised if the right does not adopt Alinsky tactics in their political process.
The GOP has been transforming from a gentlemanly country club type political party to a more aggressive, bare knuckles approach for a while. Obama's deplorable campaign will accelerate this process (so there is a silver lining to every cloud).
Oooh, I bet they're real scared at DemoHQ now.
As with everything he does Chip Ahoy brings a depth and texture to his rage that makes it far more piquant than the average. I'm going to collect his comments and make a folder of them so I can remember them. Chip, I wish you'd write a book.
If you were to stack every liberal commenter on this blog and the entire cast at HuffPo on a scale and placed Chip gently on the other side it would go off like a catapult. Flying Andy, Inga, Farmer, it would be like the 4th of July.
I forgot Robert Cook, campy, roesch, Jay---off they go into the wild blue.
Robert Cook said...
"Why should I be kind to those who simply wish to skate by while living off the productivity of others?"
And who might those persons be? The heads of the respective big banks? Wall Street CEOs and financiers?
How much do we spend on entitlements in this country compared to how much those big bankers, CEO's and financiers get in this country? Trillions of dollars in entitlement costs, untold trillions on the war on poverty alone that has availed nothing, but more 'poor'. The poor by the way that are considered well off by many world standards against the real poor in the rest of the world.
This trope of you and your kind has to end once and for all for the scam and sham it really is. Those financiers, ceo's and wall streeters put on their big boy pants every day and risk way more than you do, then the welfare grifters and economic parasites waiting for their next check. You clueless child.
Why does everyone here (except the lefties) think I'm a leftie?
It almost makes me think they really are smarter than you cons. Until my scrolling finger slips and I accidentally read one of the leftard comments.
Are you pussies and girly-men enjoying your pity-party circle-jerk?
The republicans lost because they failed to attract Reagan Democrats, who are the key to every Presidential election. The money guys are way (way) f-ing pist at Turd (Elmer Fudd) Blossom's failure to accomplish that simple fact.
Maybe if Mitten's "vice-partner" didn't give off such a strong latent-homosensual vibe, the working men of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin might have actually voted for the Goldman Sachs shills.
The commie pinko muslim from Kenya won the Rust-Beltbecause he had Osama greased and ordered the bombing that lead to the sodomization of Mohairmar Quidaffey with a bayonet on YouTube. That badass shit is impossible to fake.
Maybe this insightful and erudite comment will get you Debbie-Downer Cows to whinge about the BenGayzi-gate coverup that proves BHO is Indoarmenian.
Carry-On
Chip Ahoy.
I picked 1)magic underwear and 2) plastic hair. Your right. It works for me, but I'm a Californian - we have different math.
"Me and many others are not going to tolerate having to sift through the leftist trolls any longer."
Just scroll on by. They have nothing of interest to say. Ever. They're not interested in an honest exchange of ideas, they're interested in insults, accusations, strawman arguments and every trick in the book to avoid actually engaging intellectually. Their whole world view is based on forcing people to serve the State so their tedious, domineering, hectoring, scolding presentation is not really a big surprise. (I think they get off on it though I don't linger on the visual with that one.) They're fundamentalists, the only ones that count anymore since our fundamentalists, the scaawwwy Christianists, can't be bothered to get out and vote apparently.
I will say that there are 2 or 3 lefty commenters that occasionally have provided an insight into an issue that, even if I disagree, I can respect. The rest? Drones.
The kid who attacked Kadaffy with a knife was captured by a rival tribe that was loyal to Kadaffy. They did unspeakable things to that kid for several weeks before they finally released him just before he died.
The left does many stupid and bad things but their support/instigation of the Islamist spring was completely stupid foreign policy that we will regret for decades.
Steve Koch
The previous policy of supporting autocratic strongmen fell apart. This was apparent when we lost 241 brothers in 1983 and really hit home when we lost +/- 3,000 on 911.
As far as Arab Spring, I'll quote the philosopher Turgidson: "Well, I, uh, don't think it's quite fair to condemn a whole program because of a single slip-up, sir."
The so-called "Apology Tour" that led to the Arab revolt was an example of Speaking Softly while Carrying a Big Stick.
Or, regime change with drones and SEALs. I'm surprise that the businessmen of the right don;t appreciate this level of efficiency.
"...is it ok for Iran to state they will 'wipe Israel off the map' and do nothing about it?"
It's not ok for you to repeat the lie that they ever said that.
Apparently, a more literal translation would be some thing like "‘This regime that is occupying [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.’”
So much less threatening.
An insightful and erudite comment from a troll would be a real treat. Can we get some? Do you know of any?
The Islamist spring was an insane foreign policy because it empowered radical Islam. 9/11 was an example of the evil done by radical Islam. What everybody who paid attention learned is that regime change tends to be catastrophic.
The reality is that Arab countries are mostly not ready for democracy which is why they are governed by dictators.
A political narcissistic sociopath leveraged fear and ignorance with a campaign marked by mendacity and malice rather than a mandate for resurgence and reform.
The article's alliteration is annoying and it's too heavy with spleen, but otherwise Matalin's article matches much of my takeaway from the 2012 campaign.
Obama ran on a fictionalized memoir, twenty years in a church whose black power and anti-American stances he pretended not to notice, a 2008 campaign based on a messianic cult of personality and empty promises of hope and change, a first term which ran up titianic levels of debt but with no accomplishments he could point to beyond killing Bin Laden, then a 2012 campaign based on nothing more than "Kill Romney" (as a leaked memo put it).
Matalin's description works for me.
I don't have the credentials to back up the clinical term, sociopath, but it was one of the first words that came to my mind when I learned of Obama's ties to Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, and the Chicago machine.
Steve Koch said...
The Islamist spring was an insane foreign policy because it empowered radical Islam. 9/11 was an example of the evil done by radical Islam. What everybody who paid attention learned is that regime change tends to be catastrophic.
The reality is that Arab countries are mostly not ready for democracy which is why they are governed by dictators.
Democracy to an entire religio-political movement like islam? Please, they will never be ready for it because they neither want it nor desire it. Islam is now nothing more than an extension of the nazi's. Don't believe me, then ask me how I know that's true.
I have to admit that I was completely wrong about the hundreds of millions of dollars that Obama spent campaigning for 4 years on vilifying the right and the conservative movement as a whole. The remaining last 2 years were spent basically triangulating that Mitt Romney was going to be his competitor, but the groundwork was already laid out there. You don't maintain a permanent campaign presence in states that you need to win. He did just that. When you spend that kind of money day in and day out to call your opponent a murderer, a rich fat cat that will steal everything you have, ship your job overseas, kill your wife, poison children, wants dirty air and dirty water to make obscene profit, while killing the company you work for, so he can get into office to give his rich wall street buddies all a tax break so they never have to pay anything to the government ever again to make you poorer, day in a day out, that is a hard thing for the leftard masses to overcome in their tiny minds.
He clearly knows his electorate of dumb fools and tools that will and did believe everything he told them. It worked. This is what six decades of academic indoctrination does to a society. He proved it, he did it, he knows his audience and it worked. I'm also starting to come to the conclusion that there was a deliberate head fake in the first debate. I believe that he deliberately threw the first debate to lull Romney and his supporters (people like me) into thinking that he wasn't engaged, didn't care, and wanted to look for the nearest exit. It was a cold and calculated move that carried huge risk, but paid off. After all, he had two debates to be as rancorous as his base wanted him to be so it dovetails with his scorched earth campaign policy of utterly and totally demonizing your opponents for the last 2 years. I think the turning point was the Candy Crowley setup on Benghazi. That clearly shook Romney, he wasn't prepared and those that prepared him failed to get him to memorize that speech in the rose garden that Obama gave that only mentioned terrorism once, but in reference to 9/11/01. Romney tried to play it presidential in the third. That was his tactic and it was the only one he could play, it was to late by then. The memorized zingers about bayonets, submarines, and aircraft carriers again was part of the head fake. It worked.
From all appearances, this is clearly what happened. He put enough money into adds to make Mitt Romney look so bad that he didn't need to advertise what a great job he did in office. By the time Romney became the nominee, it was really to late, I think at that point. The election numbers show this. He lost 10 million voters from 2008. They simply didn't show up, but he banked that Romney wouldn't get the votes he needed to surpass him, hence the huge ground game in Ohio, Nevada, Florida, Virginia, and Wisconsin. I believe there was a covert operation at hand to let his cronies know to bide their time in these respective states and keep undermining Romney in ad buys and union strongholds.
How did Wisconsin turn like it it? There is no reasonable explanation considering how Paul Walker did twice. Romney and his supporters fell into the trap completely unknowingly or they hid from their supporters how bad it really was, if they really knew. I don't know if that's the case. Either way, you can't account for this amount of people staying home unless the negativity was so bad that Obama basically fallowed the playing field and that's exactly what he did. And it worked.
I could be wrong, this is merely my speculation, but in retrospect, outside of the campaign now being over and going over the war zone, a pattern is coming to the top. Nothing I could have done about it, even if I saw it as it was happening.
The number of women that have told my wife that they voted for O, because R would take their abortion right away, is enough to shake my faith in suffrage.
Alex said...
It's inspiring how full of the milk of human kindness and compassion modern day Republicans...aren't.
Fucktards who knowingly vote for "Fucktard in Chief" deserve every bit of pain and misery coming their way.
Own it fucktard
Chill, dude.
The hard rain is going to fall on the right and the left equally. The economic contraction has already begun. When the tax hikes arrive in January we will have a full blown depression. Even people with comfortable public jobs will feel it. All we can do now is work to lessen the damage to ourselves. Get your head in THAT game.
Baron Zemo said:
"Of course you would think that Iran attacking a drone over international waters is perfectly ok Cookie. Obama thinks that too."
Glenn Greenwald on media stenographic reporting of US assertions about Iran
Paco Wove:
"'...is it ok for Iran to state they will 'wipe Israel off the map' and do nothing about it?"
It's not ok for you to repeat the lie that they ever said that.'
"Apparently, a more literal translation would be some thing like ‘This regime that is occupying [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.’
"So much less threatening."
Your snark duly noted, it is, indeed, a significantly different statement and does not constitute any sort of direct threat by Iran against Israel, and thus assertions made to the contrary are, as I pointed out, lies.
(Moreover, it was said by President Ahmadinejad, largely a figurehead who does not really run Iran and whose statements cannot be assumed to reflect actual Iranian policy decisions or have any force of authority.)
How are these statements different?
A US Senator during the Cold War:
"The communist regime in Soviet Russian will and must one day fall, never to be reborn."
or
"America will wipe the Soviet Regime from the face of the globe forever."
These are distinctly different in nature, but even the latter statement, a declaration by an American Senator that America will vanquish Soviet Russia, cannot justify, by itself, any sort of military response from the Soviets. For one, the source of the statement must be taken into account and the capability and imminent intentions to act on the threat must be taken into account.
Face it, America has had a hard-on against Iran ever since the 1979 Iranian uprising, and we will find any reason to justify characterizing them as a threat to us (they're not) and as an aggressor nation, (they haven't been).
One does not have to like or defend another nation's government to point out that much that is said about them by their enemies is unfounded and meant to gin up war fever against them.
We, apparently, have not learned a thing from our disastrous lie-led foray into Iraq.
Ugh. MSM. Ugh.
I, as the ultimate loather of MSM, usually do not trust the media but fell for the biased AP story about the anti-Obama protest at Ole Miss after the election. Further reading at College Insurrection and following its link to The College Fix shines some light that perhaps it was a simple protest rather than a racist rally the AP smear job implies. Argh... with the media alignment such as it is conservatives face tremendous struggle.
Mary Matalin's comments will disappear after having only reached the fairly conservative reader.
What is keeping the MSM from suffering its highly touted demise? To steal a phrase: faster, please.
Robert Cook said...
"...is it ok for Iran to state they will 'wipe Israel off the map' and do nothing about it?"
It's not ok for you to repeat the lie that they ever said that
Ahmadinejad never said, " If Israel intervenes in Lebanon we will preemptively eliminate Israel."
Since when is Lebanon Iran? What possible connection can there be between Lebanon and Iran that would prompt such a comment from the president of Iran?
There should be a question mark at the end of the quote there.
It's just a little ironic for Mary Matalin, of all people, to accuse someone of being a political narcissistic sociopath. It's sort of her whole identity. Maybe she has a case for copyright infringement.
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