tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.comments2023-10-26T04:05:58.497-07:00Red State ImpressionsRic Carichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12715258697811131789noreply@blogger.comBlogger3720125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-75846072549500949782011-08-28T15:57:50.847-07:002011-08-28T15:57:50.847-07:00Yes, he did get it right.I cannot speak for anyone...Yes, he did get it right.I cannot speak for anyone other than myself on this issue as the progressive community is somewhat divided on the U.S. mission there. Personally, I am pleased with the results we are getting. Progress has been made. Our military commitment is limited, brief, and specific in scope. In accordance with the parameters of that commitment, we must continue to support our allies, the anti-Qaddafi people’s movement. The Libyan people appealed to The United States and the international community at large for assistance and the response was a positive one. A Qaddafi- free Libya is a good thing for Libyans and for the international community as a whole. Ultimately, the key to the success of the Libyan revolution lays in the hands of the Libyan people. The People of Tunisia and Egypt have shown that determined action against dictatorships can work. The U.S. and NATO are accomplishing the objectives outlined by President Obama. Much depends upon the Libyan people but they show no signs of backing down. This is how international coalitions are supposed to work. Kudos to President Obama!Todd Mayonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-27095484938326547022011-06-26T19:56:42.492-07:002011-06-26T19:56:42.492-07:00And therefore?
Yes, Obama is well aware of the ...And therefore? <br /><br />Yes, Obama is well aware of the War Powers Act of 1973 and has decided, according to the New York times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/us/politics/16powers.html) that the act doesn't apply because the US isn't engaged in "full-blown" hostilities against the Libyan regime.<br /><br />The Obama administration is worse than the Bush administration when it comes to the launching of thoroughly imperialist war. The Bush administration sought Congressional approval, i.e. it engaged in a democratic pretext as it moved to assert the interests of the American bourgeoisie. The Obama administration doesn't even bother.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-15009210317767165152011-06-16T21:26:38.261-07:002011-06-16T21:26:38.261-07:00You seem to be totally caught up in this soap oper...You seem to be totally caught up in this soap opera of American right wing politics. You even go so far as to assume that because Sarah Palin was appointed by the American ruling elite into significance in 2007 that she has some sort of popular support. She does not. <br /><br />The American working class are a good, intelligent people. Those fighting to represent the interests of the ruling elite really have no popular support. The Republican candidates are fighting to better represent the same interests that the Obama administration represents. They're not fighting for popular support (in contrast to 2008).<br /><br />According to the official politics of today, property relations are not to be challenged in response to the decline of the American economy on the global stage. Any solution to the crisis must be bound to the two-party system and must coincide with the interests of the ultra wealthy. This is the perspective of the ruling elite...and you help manage a certain section of their stage of perspective by legitimizing their candidates, and giving them more clout than they deserve.<br /><br />You can't take such a spectator's viewpoint of the arena of American politics. Like it or not, you serve in an important position politically in Morehead intellectual politics. You have to truly be scientific in your approach to these questions, and cannot legitimize its backwardness with undue attention and an overemphasis on their individual character. <br /><br />The more serious question immediately posed to the American working class during the current election cycle is that now that Obama's election has demonstrated the democratic mechanisms of American society have failed in their ability to assert the aspirations of the masses, what is our way forward?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-47564288473300364812011-06-14T20:20:15.318-07:002011-06-14T20:20:15.318-07:00This wasn't debate, it was a gathering of repu...This wasn't debate, it was a gathering of republican’s/tea baggers that all want the same thing, that is for President Obama to not be re-elected. No plan to help Americans, just more tax breaks for corporations. They're all afraid to step on each others toes and not willing to be honest about anything. Typical republicans/tea baggers.Great Golf Strategieshttp://greatgolfstrategies.fastprofitpages.com/?id=jdmnet30noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-5469728281797452582011-06-14T20:14:02.052-07:002011-06-14T20:14:02.052-07:00This wasn't debate, it was a gathering of repu...This wasn't debate, it was a gathering of republican’s/tea baggers that all want the same thing, that is for President Obama to not be re-elected. No plan to help Americans, just more tax breaks for corporations. They're all afraid to step on each others toes and not willing to be honest about anything. Typical republicans/tea baggers.Great Golf Strategieshttp://greatgolfstrategies.fastprofitpages.com/?id=jdmnet30noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-46017192958809574832011-06-14T07:49:55.492-07:002011-06-14T07:49:55.492-07:00I don’t see it happening however that evolution ha...I don’t see it happening however that evolution has to start somewhere. I only just opened my eyes to it and I see it as a worthy cause to at least bring out so people can look into it. It’s all about education. There will be a financial collapse coming but when I do not know but turmoil will be around and follow will be needed. What Ron stands for as you state, is at least a start to what is now. Military Industrial Complex needs to come down for the entire world.Online Home Inspectorhttp://homeinspectionmarketingcenter.com/get-more-business-directly-from-the-public-by-engaging-in-online-local-domination/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-49035262298436507802011-03-01T08:51:47.814-08:002011-03-01T08:51:47.814-08:00The "budget crisis" in Wisconsin is almo...The "budget crisis" in Wisconsin is almost pure fiction. What Gov. Walker did was pass a couple of tax cuts that reduced public revenue and then declared a "crisis." The key thing is that extreme right-wingers like Gov. Walker have always hated Government and unions, have never thought that middle-class people have deserved to live as well as they do, and are now using the last recession as a pretext for making everybody poorer. The activist right has a strongly anti-social mentality and are seeking to break most of American society down to what they view as its "natural" level.Ric Carichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12715258697811131789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-69353329763777994112011-03-01T06:11:03.792-08:002011-03-01T06:11:03.792-08:00I am sure that I would be classified as a "da...I am sure that I would be classified as a "dated" person by you, however, I really couldn't care what society's moral compass is at this point. I have my own. It is the Holy Bible. It has all I need to know about what is right and what is wrong. I don't agree with all Conservative policies, but I am sure I will be lumped right in there with them, simply for having what you seem to consider old fashioned values. Sadly, I have to work even harder to instill those values into my children before I pay thousands of dollars for them to be "educated" by people who will look down on them for their idiology...the only belief system that seems taboo today...by the way...the nice piece about strangers helping you when your car broke down here in KY...Those folks were more than likely raised by parents and grandparents with the "dated" morals you do not approve of.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-49563896247525277472011-03-01T05:57:43.889-08:002011-03-01T05:57:43.889-08:00As a teacher who is not in a "real Union"...As a teacher who is not in a "real Union" I support Gov. Walker. If the state government is broke it is broke. Where do you propose the money needed to pay all these high union wages should come from? You have stated more or less that you don't want to see the entitlement programs cut. I for one would much rather take a pay cut, that be laid off all together.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-27846432231430828012011-02-23T06:46:04.697-08:002011-02-23T06:46:04.697-08:00This post shows how little you know of Middle East...This post shows how little you know of Middle East politics. Egypt and Israel have never been in an "alliance" with each other. Turkey is also not ruled by an "Islamist" government.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-24970071165856892922011-01-22T07:30:41.693-08:002011-01-22T07:30:41.693-08:00If you played basketball at MSU under Janet, I mus...If you played basketball at MSU under Janet, I must have seen you play a lot. I hope you're doing well.Ric Carichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12715258697811131789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-15622359083631246372011-01-21T07:06:23.627-08:002011-01-21T07:06:23.627-08:00Just came across this article. Janet was my colle...Just came across this article. Janet was my college coach and I didn't know she had passed away. I am deeply saddened! She touched my life in a very special way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-38043074882190410712010-11-13T11:50:30.460-08:002010-11-13T11:50:30.460-08:00Dear Red state philly impressions, I'd like to...Dear Red state philly impressions, I'd like to propose a good bi-partisan solution concerning these problems arising from Obama's birth certificate or lack thereof vis-a-vis his legitimate right to have become president of the united states. Hopefully this will also lend itself to exonerate the republicans in the face of these claims of racism. A simple solution really, and one tried and true. As you know in the southern part of the United States, an effective tool had been used for many years to determine voter eligibility for African Americans. I propose that this same solution, though somewhat out of style at present be revived to settle these important and very similar questions of birthright and eligibility. Here are the nuts and bolts: a bipartisan comission, made up of only a dozen or so prominent Americans whose credentials are robust and red white and blue will enter into a closed room with the president. In the room would stand a table, upon which would sit a jar full of jelly beans. The total of which would be known only to the commissioners. If the president or so called president of the United States could guess the exact number of beans in the jar after careful examination; as is set by historical and legal precedent in these matters, he should then clearly be seen by all to be eligible and legal to hold his elected office. <br /> <br />The Agnostic Dogs of SacramentoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-78977195992956472132010-10-07T17:56:37.626-07:002010-10-07T17:56:37.626-07:00Wouldn't you say though that the entire framew...Wouldn't you say though that the entire framework within which this discussion on equal rights for gays plays right into the hands of US militarism? It's an example of a plea for a liberal reform hand-in-hand with right-wing militarism. <br /><br />And this is one problem with modern reformism: it's willing to make compromises with often dangerous, conservative tendencies in order to achieve minor gains on the identity-political issue of the moment.<br /><br />I reject the framework within which the discussion of equal rights for gays is being discussed. Of course equal rights for gays, but equal rights for everyone, including the right to live free of war.<br /><br />The entire discussion on gays in the military is a media-generated distraction from the larger issue of the global economic crisis and the inevitable explosion of militarism and social destitution that comes out of it. The discussion on this broader issue is what's important, not what this or that ignorant, self-serving right-wing staffer posts on some message board somewhere.Charlesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-38222280203339538802010-09-08T15:38:39.524-07:002010-09-08T15:38:39.524-07:00Practicality must be a part of serious progressive...Practicality must be a part of serious progressive governance and it seems Ric that you have retained your sense of practicality. We do not have the option of an FDR or an LBJ who can twist arms and line up votes in support of the agenda for which we truly believe to be best. That kind of courage, that kind of party discipline does not exist within the Democratic party at the moment. Individual lawmakers desire these things. Probably more lawmakers than we might imagine would be delighted to be the vanguard of a truly liberal New Deal/Great Society/War On Poverty/Populist movement. I've no doubt that President Obama is such a person. But the ability to attain and then hold the office of the Presidency as well as House and Senate seats has become compromised by a variety of factors ranging from the insidious influence of money in elections, to the abject fear true progressives harbor within their hearts that to take a stand and push for the kind of movements which truly make history and change lives is paralyzing. Progressive incumbents have no clue how voters in their states and their districts would react to a concerted left-leaning, pro-labor, anti-poverty agenda. Would the insane tea-party movement manage to demonize such an agenda to the point that Democrats would suffer even more losses than already anticipated or would voters embrace these lawmakers for their courage? It would be quite a conundrum. I do not envy the position in which Democrats have been placed since 1968. After all, achieving a little good is better than leaving the nation to the less than tender mercies of the rabid right-wing. Irrespective of how well intentioned progressive Democrats might be, they must consider the fact that should they lose their seats not only can they do no good for anyone, they cannot prevent the forces of reaction from wreaking even more havoc than that wrought during the Regan/Bush era and by the Bush/Cheney era. They are sorely needed to protect what is left of the social contract and reign in as well as turn back the excesses of ultra-right ideologues. <br />All of this is to say that I agree,” if progressives don't hang with Obama, [and Congressional Democrats I would add] we're going to get the Palin/Bachmann State and conditions are going to be a lot worse, a whole lot worse, than they are now."Todd Mayonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-48704487284349545332010-08-14T06:40:41.540-07:002010-08-14T06:40:41.540-07:00I think it is funny how people try to distort or s...I think it is funny how people try to distort or selectively quote the Bible to support whatever political agenda they have. We've seen the Bible used as an argument for or against slavery, for or against segregation, for or against war, for or against the environment, et cetera. I honestly suspect that the Bible is often used to try to shield an idea from criticism (ie, trying to tell people that they can't dispute something because the Bible says it). It seems rather cynical to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-3066644049840344962010-08-13T10:56:23.768-07:002010-08-13T10:56:23.768-07:00One response to the ruling that I thought was ridi...One response to the ruling that I thought was ridiculous was that anti-gay people stated that Vaughn should have recused himself just because he was gay. As CNN legal expert Jeff Toobin pointed out, we do not expect female judges to recuse themselves in gender discrimation cases or black judges to recuse themselves in racial discrimination cases. <br /><br />I believe Vaughn was correct in his ruling. As the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia, discrimination by denying certain groups of people the right to marry is a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. There is indeed no rational basis for banning same-sex marriage; the American Academy of Pediatrics has found that children of gay couples fare no worse than children of straight couples. <br /><br />Speaking of Leviticus, I wonder why conservatives don't want to ban other things forbidden by Leviticus. For example, Leviticus 19:19 forbids clothing made from two types of fabric. Does that mean we should ban wedding dresses or tuxedos that are 50% cotton, 50% polyester?ghost of harvey milknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-91000309578916279952010-08-11T19:47:32.990-07:002010-08-11T19:47:32.990-07:00Hi Tod. Glad to see you're fired up. The Con...Hi Tod. Glad to see you're fired up. The Conway campaign called today. It looks like I'll be on the phones and going door to door.Ric Carichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12715258697811131789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-77064504311763887182010-08-10T23:07:23.604-07:002010-08-10T23:07:23.604-07:00I am amazed that Paul has any supporters left. He ...I am amazed that Paul has any supporters left. He has managed to insult, and/or threaten every constituency in Kentucky AND nation-wide. He kicked off his "gaffe-fest", by saying that he opposes parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Had he stopped there, I doubt very much such a statement would have raised too many eyebrows in Kentucky. Indeed, had he stopped there, his opposition to the Civil Rights Act would probably have won him extra voters in this state. But he didn't stop. It is a popular pastime right now, in Kentucky to criticize, demonize, and...well...hate President Obama. (I find it appalling personally and do not agree with most of the criticisms leveled against the President.) One would think that in a Red State like Kentucky, criticizing President Obama would win votes for Rand Paul. The problem is, you don't criticize a President whom you do not like (for no apparent reason), for attempting to hold BP accountable for their negligence in the Gulf which led to the oil spill which has wrought so much havoc and destruction. Rand didn't get THAT memo and he pronounced the President "un-American" because Obama is actively holding BP responsible. Rand even buttoned that one by using the now famous phrase, "accidents happen." (A slogan used to great effect by my U.S. Senate Candidate, Jack Conway at Fancy Farm.) Even that Gaffe might have faded away but Rand Paul, not content to shoot himself in only one foot, aimed and fired at the other when he declared that he would have opposed The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, posing the question, "why can't the physically challenged simply work on the first floor?" Even Mitch (23% approval rating) McConnell is distancing himself from Rand. Whether it's Rand's opposition to the ADA, or his bizarre scheme for underground fences along the U.S. Mexican border, Republican leaders are deserting this guy in droves. And who could blame them? People sometimes ask me why I think Jack Conway hasn't campaigned more aggressively. Aside from the fact that the money will be best spent closer to election day and after the debates, my guess is that the mood of the folks in charge of the Conway campaign feel much as I do. Give Rand Paul enough rope, and he will verbally hang himself. So far it's working. Bottom line, Rand is his own worst enemy. No one could harm his campaign more than he has and no one could have helped Jack Conway more than Rand has. In a year or two, long after Jack Conway is sworn into the U.S. Senate by Vice President Joe Biden, Rand Paul will be nothing more than a bad memory. It is that simple.Todd Mayonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-85259080767354639562010-07-28T14:58:17.174-07:002010-07-28T14:58:17.174-07:00It is appalling to me how so many people on the ri...It is appalling to me how so many people on the right can reject a scientific theory that NASA, National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration, National Academy of Sciences and every single peer-reviewed scientific journal on the question have found to correct. It is also ridiculous to claim that there is global cooling when NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies found 2000-2009 to be a decade with record HIGH temperatures. As one smart politician said, you have the right to your own opinion but not your own facts.ghost of john muirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-7866482635246741852010-07-23T20:13:37.203-07:002010-07-23T20:13:37.203-07:00"Breitbart's initial focus was on Shirley..."Breitbart's initial focus was on Shirley Sherrod" Please give evidence supporting this notion and site his motives. <br />"The Obama people haven't looked that good" This guy makes Jimmy Carter look like a genius. Well maybe that's a stretch.<br />"There's the secessionist sentiment in the South, the confederate flag stuff" Where is this other than an isolated incident? The Obama/Joker" sign originated from a 20 year old Kucinich supporter. Sure people are going to be interested in the picture. It is provocative, no matter your politics. That does not make them racists. We want to take back our country from the socialist, not the black guy.<br />Racism all over the Tea Party? How many have you attended? You only see what the press wants you to see.<br />All of these arguments boil down to this: liberals want redistribution of wealth and less freedom for the individual, conservatives want to keep as much of the fruits of their labor as possible and they don't want some asshole sitting behind a desk in Washington telling them what they can and can't do.<br />I think you're trying to make the argument that because our Founders strayed somewhat from the original intent,then anything goes. Our Founding Fathers argued about many things, but we are supposed to be a nation with a Constitution and specific ways to change the Constitution. I think that all of the Founders believed this:"The powers of the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite."Nealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-30040779053872553632010-07-22T20:57:21.699-07:002010-07-22T20:57:21.699-07:00This is all wrong. Breitbart's initial focus ...This is all wrong. Breitbart's initial focus was on Shirley Sherrod. He only changed to the audience after Ms. Sherrod was revealed as a saint. The Obama people haven't looked that good, but Breitbart has been more fully revealed as what he's always been--a typically vicious smear artist of the right. As a result, he'll be off a lot of A-lists for awhile. <br /><br /><br />As for the racism, it's all over the Tea Party movement. There's the secessionist sentiment in the South, the confederate flag stuff, all the "whites are all . . . n-words" signs, the obviously racist "Obama/Joker" signs, that guy Mark Williams and his faux letter to Lincoln asking that blacks be re-enslaved. There's also the racist element in the whole "take back our country" theme right after a black guy gets elected president. The Tea Party groups aren't exactly equivalent to the Klan, but they aren't that far from Neo-Confederate organizations though. <br /><br />I get a laugh out of all this "original intent" of the <br />Constitution stuff. The original Founders themselves got away from the "original intent" of the Constitution, mostly because they had so much uncertainty about their own direction and disagreed so much among each other. Madison argued against the need for a Bill of Rights in the Federalist Papers but then wrote the Bill of Rights during the first Congress. There was nothing in the Constitution about the power of the Supreme Court to overturn laws as unconstitutional, but nobody objected when the court started doing precisely that during the Jefferson presidency. The Founders were suspicious of British-style imperialism, but immediately started expanding American territory. The list goes on and on.<br /><br />The core of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights and the efforts of African-Americans, feminists, atheists, gay rights activists, and criminal attorneys have turned the Bill of Rights into a charter of social/ political rights. All this has been consistent with the best impulses of the original revolutionaries (say Tom Paine), and conservatives have resisted progress in all of these areas primarily out of bigotry. That's one of the reasons why American conservativism is such a reactionary and ultimately dangerous force in the world.Ric Carichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12715258697811131789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-38232833670126608192010-07-22T07:04:39.049-07:002010-07-22T07:04:39.049-07:00From the conservative perspective:
Breitbart playe...From the conservative perspective:<br />Breitbart played the NAALCP and Obama like a fiddle. He exposed Obama as the political novice and liar that he is and members of the NAALCP as anti-white.<br /><br />Keep in mind that Ms. Sherrod was addressing an NAALCP audience in this tape. The NAALCP had this tape and they were the ones who released the complete tape. <br />At this point, it is not clear that Breitbart edited the tape or not. He may have or he might not have known about the rest of the story. What is clear is the reaction of the NAALCP audience before they knew "the rest of the story." Some of them were in the "stick it to whitey" mode at that point. This, I think, is the most telling part of the whole story. And this is why the story broke. It's an issue of the NAALCP trying to minimize the Tea Party and Breitbart is showing the NAALCP for what it is. <br />Then the White House, stupidly inserted itself into the story. Ms. Sherrod told CNN that she was driving her car and received 3 phone calls telling her that the White House wanted her to resign immediately. Now the White House says that they knew nothing of the situation. Someone is lying. And Vilsack dutifully fell on his sword.<br />As an aside, I want to address the issue that the NAALCP started about the Tea Party people being anti-black or whatever. They were attempting to minimize the Tea Party's effect on the coming election. Not a bad strategy.<br />I've been to several Tea Party events. They are open to the public. There are a few nutty people attending from the left and the right that make themselves known and they are playfully tolerated. I've never seen any racial signs or anything like that. The speakers and audience are concerned with the direction that this country is going in. The out of control spending, our concern for and education about our founding documents, their original intent, etc. These people are not the people that the media and liberals portray them to be. The first rally I attended, the speaker asked people to raise their hand if they had ever been to a protest rally before. There were 3000-4000 people there and I saw 2 or 3 hands (including mine)go up. These crowds are far from racists and rabble rousers. The only trouble that I have heard about was caused be the SEIU people.Nealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-28074716903514550292010-07-12T18:53:42.194-07:002010-07-12T18:53:42.194-07:00Another thing I would like to see changed is the s...Another thing I would like to see changed is the schedule. Honestly, there is nothing interesting about the NBA but the playoffs. Who really wants to see the Wizards and Nets play the second game of a back-to-back for both teams?Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01172621087859603042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30856325.post-72444386190930774642010-07-12T09:26:27.905-07:002010-07-12T09:26:27.905-07:00I like your draft idea. That way, the high school...I like your draft idea. That way, the high school players and one and done guys can serve an apprenticeship. Likewise, the "B" teams that use their talent well can advance to the "A" level and have a chance to keep their talent.Ric Carichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12715258697811131789noreply@blogger.com