tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:05:43 +0000Being Divers Opinions, and Analysis of the News of the Day, with Reference to, and Informed by, Myriad Sources.http://nosmallplans.com/rants/noreply@blogger.com (Paul)Blogger1173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-8821150392911953808Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:15:00 +00002010-01-30T11:05:43.192-08:00As the President gradually cranks up his rhetorical effort to recapture the "bipartisan" high ground, and Republicans obstruction is openly discussed, I'm hearing more and more of a particular counter-attack from Republicans, one that makes me wonder.Was a large part of the Republican party somewhere off-planet during most of 2009? This morning on NPR's Weekend Edition, Republican Senator Judd http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/grand-orbital-party.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-1084017444310974524Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:55:00 +00002010-01-23T10:00:11.225-08:00From the talented Tom Toles.(Go see it there, so he earns his pittance from syndication. We need editorial cartoonists.)http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/picture-worth-thousand-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-6441896315523541745Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:12:00 +00002010-01-21T19:14:47.877-08:00I would be depressed about the radicals on the Supreme Court overturning a hundred years of precedent in order to fully convert our system to a corporatocracy, but I haven't finished being alternately depressed and incensed by the Democratic leadership rushing to shoot the Party dead in a ditch.I mean, in the long run, how much will the overturning of campaign financing law matter, when the partyhttp://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/bush-wins.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-8629158540635630811Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:40:00 +00002010-01-21T07:57:22.315-08:00Apparently, it is so important that we retain qualified Wall St. Banksters that almost nothing is being done to keep their firms from showering them with millions of dollars. And, when new White House rules would have kept one of those banksters out of a Cabinet post, and from bringing another along to work for him, something was done about it. It's very important to get and keep good banksters, http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/priorities.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-4878537139752869585Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:23:00 +00002010-01-20T07:31:54.871-08:00All over the airwaves are people telling you what the "message" of the Scott Brown election is. Here's an opinion you probably won't hear. The "message" is that in the real world voters don't care about 'bipartisanship' or 'collegiality' or any other DC nicety. They care about results. If there has been a 'failure' in the Obama administration, it was spending far, far too much time courting http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/another-take.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-8562084891634995983Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:15:00 +00002010-01-20T07:17:11.848-08:00What Jonathan Cohn says.http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/now-what.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-305057347553677725Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:50:00 +00002010-01-19T07:52:19.061-08:00Washington Post:The FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records between 2002 and 2006 by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or simply persuading phone companies to provide records, according to internal bureau memos and interviews. FBI officials issued approvals after the fact to justify their actions. Heckuva job, Bushie.http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2010/01/saw-this-one-coming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-5044683002529419172Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:55:00 +00002009-11-25T08:05:27.611-08:00Former White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was on Fox News' Hannity show, and said"We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term"No, really. She said that.Neither of the two other people on the set, including Hannity, appeared to notice.Ironically, the comment came in a discussion implying that the Obama administration was in denial about the terrorist nature of http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/11/um.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-4975336059611385023Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:43:00 +00002009-11-19T23:13:47.090-08:00...why a single-payer national health care plan was never a part of this year's reform discussions? I wonder what the Senate bill has to say about situations like this one.SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's Swedish Medical Center says it might stop accepting Regence BlueShield — the region's biggest health insurer — as a provider because its reimbursement rates are too low.Regence said in a news release http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/11/so-explain-to-me-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-2219638475886160337Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:07:00 +00002009-11-19T18:11:41.618-08:00The girl is young enough to have an excuse (though someone as smart as she is should be able to see through that rhetoric), but the guy...ow. I can only hope he's too dumb to get himself legally registered to vote.http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/11/stupid-it-burns.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-4277843589388668811Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:05:00 +00002009-11-01T09:33:43.725-08:00The New York Times has a piece on the rise of freshman Congressman Allan Grayson, in a piece entitled "Alan Grayson, the Liberals’ Problem Child". (No, seriously, that's what they called him.)WASHINGTON — On paper, Representative Alan Grayson, a freshman Democrat from Florida, seems a bit stiff: degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law; a résumé that includes clerking for the United States Court of http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/11/on-grayson.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-5290677270657745687Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:10:00 +00002009-10-27T18:38:08.643-07:00I'm thinking that Ned Lamont wouldn't be talking about filibustering a key Democratic objective.Say, Harry, wasn't it you who said Joe was with us on everything but the war?Just in case you thought Joltin' Joe wasn't serious, read his health-care rap sheet as compiled by the folks at My Left Nutmeg.Barack, I'm lookin' at you. You stood by him, you endorsed him, you talked about how much "he careshttp://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/10/so-im-thinking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-1049812508421993360Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:44:00 +00002009-10-23T18:47:20.910-07:00Grayson uses the "over-the-top excess" rhetorical tactic to good effect, and blows Chris Matthews' mind. A two-fer!http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/10/my-kind-of-crazy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-2191164142782548362Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:39:00 +00002009-10-14T07:43:43.819-07:00Why is it that some of the best media criticism in our media-rich country comes from a comedy show on a basic cable channel? The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cCNN Leaves It Therewww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorRon Paul Interviewhttp://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/10/media-criticism.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-3155917987948620627Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:44:00 +00002009-09-22T17:54:09.391-07:00Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrellhttp://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/09/important-public-service-announcement.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-3762207367193003075Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:21:00 +00002009-09-18T08:00:26.761-07:00I'm not really interested in defending ACORN, but the sanctimony of their enemies really irks me.If we're going to start denying funding to organizations that screw up, fine. And if John Boehner wants to rant about corrupt organizations, he should go right ahead. But, unless I missed a story I'm pretty sure the GOP wouldn't have let me miss, ACORN hasn't electrocuted anyone or shot up a public http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/09/another-thing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-8205592495252649112Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:44:00 +00002009-09-17T08:15:38.989-07:00So, a low-level staffer of a national community organization in a low-income urban neighborhood was filmed giving advice to a woman about how she could continue to make a living as a prostitute (for which said staffer has already been canned) and that's supposed to be the most heinous news in weeks and the pretext for denying unrelated government grants to the organization. But meanwhile a http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/09/wait-im-confused.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-8751486241699167985Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:03:00 +00002009-09-10T19:10:47.891-07:00Now that Congressman Wilson of South Carolina has apologized for violating the rules of decorum in the House of Representatives, to say nothing of embarrassing himself and his party by being completely wrong in the facts as well as the form of his accusation, the question comes what consequences he should face.I think we should let the Dixie Chicks decide.http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/09/just-thought.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-732844566383585763Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:56:00 +00002009-08-27T20:59:24.975-07:00Captured perfectly by the Onion News Network. Laugh to keep from crying.Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/08/state-of-our-discourse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-1983950582615808570Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:54:00 +00002009-08-26T07:15:27.644-07:00The work goes on.The cause endures.The hope still lives.And the dream shall never die.You are already missed."Yes, we are all Americans.This is what we do.We reach the Moon.We scale the heights.I know it.I've seen it.I've lived it.And we can do it again!"http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/08/rest-in-peace.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-2218040224405760825Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:55:00 +00002009-08-19T07:58:01.524-07:00http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/08/another-reason-to-like-barney-frank.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-2346160885474737367Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:06:00 +00002009-08-11T09:10:22.326-07:00Dear NPR editors:When one side shows up to an event with the express intent of "shutting it down", engages in rhythmic chanting to drown out the attempt to exchange information, and repeats slanderous and completely false allegations, that is not "heated debate." Democratic congresspeople have not met "heated debate" at their town hall meetings. They have met a concerted attempt to disrupt and http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/08/dear-npr.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-8536714887703118211Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:20:00 +00002009-07-20T13:26:25.086-07:00Over the weekend, it became clear that some Republicans just want to obstruct health insurance reform for political reasons.On Friday, on a "Conservatives for Patients Rights" conference call with conservative activists dealing with health care reform, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said, as Ben Smith at Politico reported, "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break himhttp://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/07/jim-demint-hit-parade.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-7193072935584719696Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:50:00 +00002009-07-07T08:01:44.595-07:00I think there should be some kind of way to penalize the Republican Party for nominating this woman for Vice President. They should, like, lose a turn and have to sit out an election, or something. Remember, if they'd had their way, she would be the Vice President now.But as for whether another pursuit of national office, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/07/good-riddance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-7886142203533086848Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:13:00 +00002009-06-26T17:43:43.852-07:00My personal preoccupations of the early 80s apparently left me permanently out of sync with the rest of the world in some ways, and I never fell under the spell of the Thriller album. The most recent Michael Jackson song I really enjoy listening to these days is Never Can Say Goodbye, though the love song to the homicidal rat Ben always gets a laugh. For at least the last decade, Michael Jackson http://nosmallplans.com/rants/2009/06/forgive-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Paul)