Saturday, August 27, 2011

Can Romney Stay The Course As The CEO Candidate? : NPR

Can Romney Stay The Course As The CEO Candidate? : NPR: "Romney's success in the private sector remains his most persuasive argument for why he, and not Perry or the rest of the lagging GOP field, should be the Republican who takes on President Obama next year.

"His accomplishment with Bain Capital and with helping turn around the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 are the primary strengths of his candidacy," says Dale Buss, who has written extensively about business leaders and CEO politicians.

"Given the deteriorating state of the economy, a lot of Americans are looking for economic competence, for economic understanding," Buss says.

That includes former Obama supporter Mort Zuckerman, the billionaire real estate developer and publisher, who this week bemoaned what he characterized as an economic "competency crisis" in the White House."

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A Poll Tax by Another Name - NYTimes.com

A Poll Tax by Another Name - NYTimes.com: "Since January, a majority of state legislatures have passed or considered election-law changes that, taken together, constitute the most concerted effort to restrict the right to vote since before the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

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Friday, August 26, 2011

Obama can’t win for winning in Libya - The Washington Post

Obama can’t win for winning in Libya - The Washington Post: "After heralding the rebels’ achievements, they could not resist adding this: “Americans can be proud of the role our country has played in helping to defeat Gaddafi, but we regret that this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the United States to employ the full weight of our airpower.”

Less than six months and no American casualties were obviously not good enough. Should we have done this the way we did things in Iraq?"

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Award Winning Den Mother Removed From Scouts For Being a Lesbian


My boys and I have been involved with the scouts off and on for several years and I've always struggled with this policy of theirs. Normally, I'd have nothing to do with an organization with policies such as this, but I had to weigh my beliefs against the needs of my boys, who really benefited from their involvement with the organization.

These issues never came up in our local troop, and the deal with the devil I made was that I'd be involved until something like this came up with our local organization, and then reevaluate my decision to have my family involved.

Award Winning Den Mother Removed From Scouts For Being a Lesbian: "And that’s the end of it. Steele, and award winning and beloved Scout leader has been kicked out of the Boy Scouts for being a lesbian. The five years she spent shaping her troop into the fantastic young men they are today means nothing to the Boy Scouts, nor does the fact that there would not even be a local Cub Scout troop in her town had she not volunteered for the job, because no other parent was willing to shoulder the responsibility."

Jaden, Jackson, and Denise Steele & Jackie Funk.
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After the Taking of Tripoli - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

After the Taking of Tripoli - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic: "Tripoli is a quieter city today than it was earlier this week, as rebel forces assumed control, announcing they would be transferring their leadership there from Benghazi. The U.N. has freed up millions of dollars in aid money and dozens of countries have now recognized Libya's National Transitional Council as the new legitimate governing body in Libya. However, International agencies are urging both sides to make efforts to halt widespread abuses and avoid revenge attacks. Parts of Tripoli were littered with bodies yesterday as rebel forces fought the last pockets of resistance by Muammar Qaddafi's loyalists. Fighting continues in other parts of Libya, in Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte and near the border of Tunisia, and Qaddafi once again urged his followers to fight the rebels, saying "The enemy is delusional, NATO is retreating". Collected below are scenes of a battered Tripoli from the past several days - a warning, some are rather brutal. [36 photos]"

Libyan rebels remove the green flags from poles at the Abu Salim square in Tripoli on August 26, 2011, as the opposition forces announced the transfer of their leadership to the capital, boosted by a UN decision to free up millions of dollars in aid money and despite not having captured strongman Muammar Qaddafi. (Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images) # 


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Amazing Kenneth Cole Billboard - Gay People Getting Married? Next They'll...

Amazing Kenneth Cole Billboard - Gay People Getting Married? Next They'll...: "Gay people getting married? (Next they’ll be allowed to vote and pay taxes.)"



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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Picking Bachmann or Perry is risky for GOP - CNN.com

Picking Bachmann or Perry is risky for GOP - CNN.com: "In the extremely unlikely event that Bachmann wins the GOP nomination, the result would be a landslide that would make Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater in 1964 look small. Moreover, her nomination might provoke a split in the Republican Party, pushing the center-right out of the party altogether.
There is no question that the far right dominates the face of the Republican Party more than any time in recent history. Four years ago at this time, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee were the GOP front-runners. It was a balanced Republican field between center-right and right. By point of comparison, Romney 3.0 is now the establishment candidate; he was running as a social conservative alternative to McCain last time around. Bachmann makes Sarah Palin look like an eminently qualified statesman. George W. Bush looks like Abraham Lincoln compared with this crowd."

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Michele Bachmann Sees Dead Countries | Benzinga.com

Michele Bachmann Sees Dead Countries | Benzinga.com: "You really can't make this stuff up.

During a visit to the "Jay Sekulow Live" radio program, Presidential candidate and noted imbecile Michele Bachmann said, and I am not kidding, that Americans are afraid of the rise of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union. THE SOVIET UNION! That would be the political entity that has not existed in over twenty years, and hasn't been a serious threat since shoulder padded shirts were in style. Here's the full quote."

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Rove levels Palin accusation – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Rove levels Palin accusation – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs:

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Congress Is Cracked - Politics - The Atlantic Wire

Congress Is Cracked - Politics - The Atlantic Wire: "But Toles doesn't blame the earthquake."


http://cdn.theatlanticwire.com/img/upload/2011/08/25/tt110825.gif

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Rick Perry's troubling religious friends: The New Apostolic Reformation

Heard a good chunk of this broadcast today and it is worth checking out for anyone interested in Rick Perry. Not sure if he shares these beliefs, but many of his backers and supporters seem to share the strange and, to me, troubling beliefs of the New Apostolic Reformation

The New Apostolic Reformation: The Evangelicals Engaged In Spiritual Warfare : NPR: "An emerging Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus, is becoming more of a presence in American politics. The leaders are considered apostles and prophets, gifted by God for this role.

The international "apostolic and prophetic" movement has been dubbed by its leading American architect, C. Peter Wagner, as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Although the movement is larger than the network organized by Wagner — and not all members describe themselves as part of Wagner's NAR — the so-called apostles and prophets of the movement have identifiable ideology that separates them from other evangelicals."

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How Democracy Works | Progressive Political Cartoon by Barry Deutsch

How Democracy Works | Progressive Political Cartoon by Barry Deutsch:



"In the table above, the dark line represents the opinions of the highest-earning 10% of Americans. The further to the right the dark line goes, the more that top 10% wants a policy change to happen. And the further towards the top the dark line goes, the more likely it is that politicians will make the desired policy change happen. As you can see, the more the top 10% want a change, the more likely it is to happen.

"The gray line represents the opinions of the lowest-earning 10% of Americans. As you can see, it’s completely irrelevant what they (er, we?) think. Politicians couldn’t care less. Gilens also has a similar graph showing that politicians barely listen any more to middle-class Americans than they do to poor Americans."

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