State of the Union

[SandRider]

so, what the hell ?

Colbert was the only media head-talker who had the balls to note the interesting
historical co-incidence of a Black President in Washington D.C. giving the State
of the Union, and the opposing party giving their rebuttal from the Virginia Statehouse
in Richmond ?

[Freakzilla]

Im glad you brought this up!

Obama's like one of those American Idol contestants that won't leave the stage until the bouncers come out.

The commentators afterwards were more entertaining. "I forgot he was black for an hour!"

WTF is "post-racism"?

[SandRider]

well, first off, the President's still got three years left on his no-cut contract;
but if you meant he went on too much in the speech, well, he brought it in on-time
(as directed by the Lords of Media) and hit the high points of what he wanted to hit ...

opinion of content depends on your prejudice - I thought some of the speech was downright
ballsy & reminded me why I thought this boy had such potential; he really is a straight-shooter,
tells you what he thinks & why, and you just may not agree with his premises or believe him,
or you may just be an aginner and not be listening anyway ....

same way I got to be with George Jr when was still in Austin; oppositional defiance for the sake of agginin'.

but yeah, one them shitheels (from MSNBC ?) actually said "I forgot he was black for an hour."

What the fuck does that mean ? Institutional racism in thought and word is a bitch ....

great article BTW in the last Texas Monthly about how fucking outrageously racist the new
Sandra Bullock movie is ... the latest in a long line of white people making movies about white
people being kind to black people so all the white people, fictional and in the audience, can feel
good about themselves, and ... superior ? (like when white people condemn black people for racist
comments in comedy, or any time Reverend Sharpton's got something to say: I can't believe you'd
say something so racist! Why don't you become more like us more evolved white folk ? )

anyway, the Washington-Richmond thing really just in my mind brought back the absolutely amazing
shift in platforms of the Parties, almost a complete role reversal since the 1860 election - and a wonderful
example of how basic political principles (conservative, progressive, radical, &etc) can move from party to
party.

we've been talking for years about a viable third party, but now I'm seeing such a (rhetorical) movement
of both parties to the "Center" that the future may hold a merger of the existing major parties into one party
of governing professional politicians, and two extreme parties from the left and right trying to move the
middle ...

interestingly, in this scenario, the true "conservatives" would be in this ruling class party, content to
preserve the status-quo of government power - people who today call themselves conservatives are
closer to fascists & military-authoritarianism in their ideas, and the real progressives are radicals. What
we're calling "progressive liberals" today (the President) are actually quite conservative in their approachs
to change in government and society (go slow, "bipartisan" co-operation, &etc; take little steps in issues
like national healthcare, get what you can, incrementally increase in the coming years - that's fucking
textbook conservatism by definition ....)

by the way, all this "rancor in today's politics" is a media invention to create controversy and drama;
"rancor between TV talking-heads" is the truer statement - the professional politicians of both parties
are all buddy-buddy with each other. (cf 1856 Senate caning, &etc - now them boys had some differences
and didn't along none too well atall ...)




wow.
this morning I'm actually missing Howard Zinn.
the world's a poorer place, and don't even know it ...

[Freakzilla]

His next three years are going to be a living hell for calling out the Supremem Court. WTF was he thinking? Biggest mistake of his political career. I'm kinda suprised he hasn't made a public apology yet.

But no, the American Idol joke was just about his attitude of, "I'm great, y'all just don't know it yet."

[Omphalos]

Alito is an ass who can't control himself and just sit there like he's supposed to. Obama called it right. And BTW, F^$# Justice Kennedy. So much for his swing credibility. He could have made history on the court by providing a centrist viewpoint that was MUCH needed, given the polarity of everyone else on the bench.

[Freakzilla]

Matthews' remark exposes complexity of 'transcending race'

[Crysknife]

I'll say it again; the most important aspect of a President's job is who he appoints to the Supreme Court. Thank God Bush Sr. appointed a liberal...even if he didn't know it. We'd really be up shit creek otherwise.

[SandChigger]

Business as usual, I see.

[Drunken Idaho]

His next three years are going to be a living hell for calling out the Supremem Court. WTF was he thinking? Biggest mistake of his political career. I'm kinda suprised he hasn't made a public apology yet.

But no, the American Idol joke was just about his attitude of, "I'm great, y'all just don't know it yet."

I dunno Freak, I'm kind of with Obama on that one. I find the supreme court's ruling very troubling. No limits on campaign-related advertising spending by private interests? This seems to me like the presidency can now be bought through unlimited propaganda, as if that wasn't bad enough already. It's not populist, and it doesn't sound like real democracy to me. Oh, and I don't give a damn what those who support "free enterprise" have to say about it either...

And I'm not sure I caught the American Idol joke...

[Freakzilla]

It's not the content of the ruling that bothers me, it's the way he called out the Supreme Court with Congress (democrats) standing behind him applauding. It's bullying and disrespectfull.

[chanilover]

so, what the hell ?

Colbert was the only media head-talker who had the balls to note the interesting
historical co-incidence of a Black President in Washington D.C. giving the State
of the Union, and the opposing party giving their rebuttal from the Virginia Statehouse
in Richmond ?

I suppose I may as well ask what the significance is of all that.

[Freakzilla]

so, what the hell ?

Colbert was the only media head-talker who had the balls to note the interesting
historical co-incidence of a Black President in Washington D.C. giving the State
of the Union, and the opposing party giving their rebuttal from the Virginia Statehouse
in Richmond ?

I suppose I may as well ask what the significance is of all that.

Richmond, Virginia was the capitol of the Confederate States of America.

[chanilover]

so, what the hell ?

Colbert was the only media head-talker who had the balls to note the interesting
historical co-incidence of a Black President in Washington D.C. giving the State
of the Union, and the opposing party giving their rebuttal from the Virginia Statehouse
in Richmond ?

I suppose I may as well ask what the significance is of all that.

Richmond, Virginia was the capitol of the Confederate States of America.

Ta loads. So is there some sort of connection with Lincoln. Who was the CSA's president?

[Freakzilla]

The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third State Capital of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the United States, the Virginia General Assembly. Although it was completed in 1788 and is over 215 years old, the current State Capitol building is the eighth built to serve as Virginia's State House, primarily due to fires in the Colonial period. It is one of only eleven state capitols in the United States to not have an external dome. (The others are Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee.)

The building also served as the Capitol of the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The State Capitol Building, the adjacent Virginia Governor's Mansion, and the White House of the Confederacy (about 3 blocks away to the north) were spared when departing Confederate troops were ordered to burn the city's warehouses and factories, and fires spread out of control in April, 1865. The first flag to fly over the capitol since secession was hoisted by Lieutenant Johnston L. de Peyster. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln toured the Capitol building during his visit to Richmond about a week before his assassination in Washington, DC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_State_Capitol" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Freakzilla]

Who was the CSA's president?

Jefferson Davis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[chanilover]

Who was the CSA's president?

Jefferson Davis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh, he ended up running an insurance company!