Update on a previous story: Toure apologizes. On MSNBC. I sense this may be shift in the relentless misuse and abuse of the word racism. Not because Toure or his ilk will suddenly “get” how destructive they are but rather because those that are fed up with the wild smears are finally hitting a critical mass. This broke after the show tonight so it was not discussed but Anna Belle’s take on Ryan is well worth a listen.
Tonight: Anna Belle’s trip to Ryanland. Listen for her surprising take aways. Lynne and Tamerlane join in for more discussion on the week’s events as well. Click here at 6pm!
Sneak peek on some topics we’ll discuss here: http://peacocksandlilies.com/2012/08/17/team-romney-allusion-subtlety-sincerity/
Not sure if I can embed this vid. But I’ll give it a shot. Even if you’re not a huge country music fan – which I’m not, this is funny. Ray Stevens singing “Obama Money.”
It’s hard to believe that’s the same man who sang, “Everybody’s beautiful”, thirty odd years ago.
I’m not voting for Obama but I hate to see Stevens shill for Romney and Ryan.
How do you know he’s “shilling”? He might just be sincere
Dang! Anonymous stole the comment I was just about to make in reply to Sweet Sue’s. How do you know he’s shilling? What if this is what he believes? I think it is. Fact is, the Left doesn’t realize how the obscene govt borrowing and spending in recent years just sticks in people’s craw. I find it nauseating myself, and I know I’m not alone. I believe it was this very nausea that gave rise to the Tea Party and what fueled the 2010 election. Rightly or wrongly, Obama is seen as the poster boy for profligate spending, and his rhetoric underscores rather than dispels that image.
This is also the guy who did The Streak.
Apparently, “shilling” is relative. When a celebrity is taking up a point of view opposite one’s own, it’s shilling and in those cases, they’re not real people and should STFU. When their view is the same or similar, it’s sincere. I personally would find this video more sincere if it included Bush’s borrowed money too. Likewise, I would find the Tea Party more sincere if they would have noticed that we financed two wars and tax cuts with our Chinese credit cards.
Bush isn’t running this time around. Romney and Obama are, and apparently, Ray Stevens is no Obama fan.
Love the video.
I may be missing something but I don’t see it as shilling. Maybe I got it wrong but when he says, “Boy I sure hope those spoil sport Republicans and Tea Party folks don’t screw this up – once you renounce any sense of decency it gets easier and easier,” it sounds like he’s not expecting much from them either.
I liked it just fine. And I sent the link to my brother who just sent me a scathing email about Romney/Ryan. I distorted the truth a bit when I said that he needn’t send me more of the same re Romney. Well, that’s not a distortion. I stretched reality when I said that I wouldn’t ever vote for obama and that “I just volunteered to work for the Romney ticket here at home” that was a stretch.
And I second Zal’s ideas about Stevens’ expectations re the Rs, the Tea Party and life under Romney/Ryan.
I have a fan-created blog page about Ray Stevens. I’ve been a fan for decades now. I’m in my mid 30s but I’ve known of Ray’s music since childhood.
I notice that “shilling” word used time and time again by people who’ve mistakenly believed that Ray had a left-leaning ideology and they always cite “Everything Is Beautiful” as a reference.
I’d like to see where it’s written in stone that a conservative or an Independent can’t be for peace and brotherhood, too.
It’s laughable when I read commentary out there on the internet suggesting that because Ray’s political points of view have become part of his career lately that somehow he’s “changed” from the days of “Everything Is Beautiful”. Ray’s still the same person. I’ve read and watched a LOT of his interviews from all time periods of his career and the only difference between 2012 and 1970 (the year “Everything Is Beautiful” was issued) is he’s gotten older and he isn’t clean shaven anymore.
He still sings “Everything Is Beautiful” in his concerts and when I saw him in concert a few years back he dedicated his 1968 hit, “Mr. Businessman”, to Bernie Madoff. Too many times the mainstream media creates and then pushes a narrative that a lot of people subconsciously believe as true…the media will have you believe that all Republicans are for the rich. There’s a huge difference between capitalism and crony capitalism. Liberals like to blend the two together. The facts are, the Democrats are just as rich as the Republicans are. Also, Democrats by and large loathe self-reliance among voters. They want the people to be Government worshipers…they want to be able to say “Republicans are the devils and the Democrats are saviors” and have people blindly follow along.
Obama’s done more to destroy the senior citizens and the middle class with the enormous tax hikes…wait until the seniors out there realize that Obama’s taken more than 700 billion FROM Medicare to fund the Obamacare program. So, the next time Obama’s out there yelling and screaming into a microphone about how he attempts to “save Medicare” from the “bad Republicans” take a look at the actual facts and see all the sabotage Obama’s done to the very people he states he cares about.
Anyway…the bottom line is I feel Ray Stevens believes in peace, happiness, and treating your fellow person right…but for whatever reason the liberals can’t believe a person can have those character traits and STILL side with conservatives and the Tea Party.
The good thing about apologies is that they don’t have to be accepted. He still is what he was yesterday, so why do I care if he apologizes? I don’t.
True.
And anyway, apologies have become farce. There always have been people who apologize insincerely but today insincere apologizing is standard practice to remain in good favor. Meaningless. It really does appear people today don’t recognize there’s a consequential difference between real and fake.
Further, the headline reports he apologized for “racial attack against Romney” but he didn’t. He only apologized for using a particular word, not for the attack he made. In our lifetime we’ve seen a stunning degradation of thinking in America.
Right on, Jay!
This should be your theme song:
Are lola and annabelle the same person?
Yes, we are. I use Lola in comments to avoid being tracked via Google and other search engines by potential and current employers.
Lola, wouldn’t they also be able to track you through Anabelle? Just curious.
Okay, I’ve heard it ALL now. Game over for Team Obama. http://race42012.com/2012/08/16/obama-campaign-were-purposely-limiting-attendance/
I know! I almost fell out of my chair when I read that. It really does seem to be coming all apart for O campaign. Never thought I’d see the day. Come November.
Look at all those people cheering a man who gives millions every year to an organization that preaches subjugation of women, who’s going to raise our taxes and give it to uber-wealthy like him who pay a 13% rate while tearing apart safety nets and handing lower- and middle income retirement money to crooks on Wall Street. Oh and for extra funzies he promises to amp up the war machine.
Americans have found another way to unprecedented historical significance: cheering us deeper into what may be the biggest disaster in history.
I’ll say one thing for this train wreck. It’s a hell of a show.
Right. Limiting attendance. That kind of spin reminds me of Pee Wee -
Agree, Zal.
Sorry, I had to leave and didn’t get to answer some comments.
I don’t know if Stevens is shilling for Romney/Ryan but he doesn’t seem like the same guy who wrote that country music theme calling for mutual respect and tolerance.
I’m disappointed in him.
So if someone supports O they’re a moron, and likewise if they support Romney. I cannot support that theory, I think too highly of my fellow citizens to degrade them like that. I have felt like I can’t breathe for the last 3.5 years, first came the adoring crowds, and the ‘O as Savior’ meme, then came reality, now we have arrived at crook, pro muslim , and evil.. Maybe he is all those things or none, I don’t care anymore. The media got in bed with him, and still refuse to notice that the bed is on fire. They have reached cult status . I am too old to tolerate lies and purposeful obfuscation anymore, I simply ‘can’t take it’. Why do we as a people have to be subjected to constant degradation of our common sense? The media is full of rich, sneering, and smug real morons without patriotism, or honor who keep trying to sell cowflop and call it beef. The have reach such heights of absurdity, they have nowhere to go but down. They and O deserve each other. If they had been honest,say, once a month, O may not have gone so far off the rails in thinking he was untouchable, had he been called to account, at least on occasion. In my sixty plus years, I have never seen anything like this.
“So if someone supports O they’re a moron, and likewise if they support Romney.”
Yes. Unless you’re a corporate welfare queen.
Righteous rant, Sophie/Connor! Vote for Romney if you want to — and don’t let anyone make you feel guilty or moronic for doing so. Fact of the matter: a third party candidate is not going to make it…it’s going to be Romney or Obama assuming office in Jan. 2013. Anyone who rewards Obama with a second term when the economy is stuck in a ditch and may well be getting much worse is misguided, even arguably moronic. Also, it may be high-minded to vote for Stein or Johnson, but that’s effectively a vote for the incumbent (particularly if one lives in a toss-up state).
i agree NES. I live in the blue state of Cook County, (Illinois) and I thought of voting jill Stein, but that won’t register even the smallest blip on anyone’s radar. ‘Specially here. So I am voting Romney.The more votes the Rs get, particularly where I live, the greater the likelihood some small message can be sent. i don’t particularly disagree with Zal on the merits of the Republicans, but here we are with little choice and I am not going to waste my mark on a Green Party person who will do nothing but perhaps make it easier for the next green Party candidate to raise money for coming elections. No, this one is going to be a real protest vote. BTW I’ve seen fewer BHO stickers and NO lawn signs, and an increase in anti-O sentiment. This is one of the most liberal, left-wing suburbs in the nation of Cook County. I’m quite surprised.
I can see November from my back porch.
Leslie, obama will win IL, so your vote will indeed be sending a message, not influencing the outcome.
Your vote will be read as support for the policies & proposals for of the candidate. Do you prefer Romney’s platform to Stein’s?
A vote for the Dem or GOP candidate will also send a message that you are comfortable with the corruption, lack of results, collusion, and assorted shenanigans of the Uni-Party.
Vote for Stein. With a surprisingly large 3P vote this year, we can begin to break the choke-hold of the Uni-Party, and help people realize there’s another way out of this mess.
No, it isn’t – and I refuse to be “lesser eviled” into voting for candidates with whom I vehemently disagree (which would be both of the legacy party candidates).
Thank you propertius, I agree. It has to start somewhere. Has anyone seen a Whig or Federalist candidate running for office latel?. It may take time to shift a party or replace it, but it can be done if people are willing to do it.
NES, I disagree with you wholeheartedly. And I’m still voting for Dr. Stein.
I’m with you, propertius and senneth.
I have no one to vote for. Maybe I’ll just write Hillary in again. The disconnection I’m experiencing is very uncharted territory for me.
Paisan.
BTW, I know nobody here believes anything about me but FWIW I’m hearing in NYC Hillary is in the process of doing what she has to do to run in 2016. Bill is positioning himself similarly (looking for someone to take over his Clinton Initiative). It’s going to happen.
Well, Zal, let’s just hope there actually is an election in 2016.
Amen.
Call me a fool Zal, but that’s the happiest thing I’ve read in a while. I don’t mind getting excited about the prospect even if it brings a broken heart later.
She would be the best President we’ve had in a very long time.
Amen y’all.
I feel exactly like Jay feels. I just have nobody to vote for. Period. I just can’t do it. This election goes way beyond just holding my nose and voting, like I’ve had to do in past years. I just have a visceral reaction to both of these tickets and am totally ‘disconnected’ from them.
I’m with you and Jay about that, Uppity.
I feel like I have to vote and keep looking for how to do that (Jill Stein will be on the ballot in my state so at least my vote would be counted), but I feel so disconnected from –and angry at– both parties I find myself fighting (and not necessarily winning) a what’s the point attitude.
I understand the desire to vote FOR someone. But this year, it is just as important to vote AGAINST the two parties that, through their corruption and whoring, have ruined our country and turned our elections a sham. So, a vote for any of the 3P candidates is a vote FOR Democracy and FOR an end to corruption.
^ In your view and according to your philosophies, this may be the best choice. In my view, which is nascent, not voting at all may be the strongest way to express the state of things.
NES: I respectfully disagree. The only moronic vote is the one that is not your own–that you cast because you were bullied, pressured, or goaded into it. As for this election, A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
I understand why NES interpreted your post as she did.
But this … spot on.
Spot on.
SophieCT, lots of applause for you.
I understand why NES interpreted your post as she did.
I am SophieCT, not sophie/connor43. A while back, I was just plain Sophie (same gravatar), but added the CT to make it easier for people to differentiate between me and sophie/connor43, who was not using connor43 in those days.
I know and I’m sorry I mixed it up in my comment the way I did.
I’m doing three things at once and I shouldn’t because I’m terrible at multi tasking.
FWIW, I do completely agree with your comment.
SophieCT & Senneth: By way of clarificarion, I didn’t say voting for a third party was “moronic” — that’s my view of anyone who’d vote for Obama. I think voting for a third party this year is high-minded but misguided, but I certainly wouldn’t call it moronic or incomprehensible — first off, too many people whose views I respect (you guys included) are going to vote third party.
Hi NES, never thought you were calling us names. You’re much too gracious to ever do that. You just state your point, which is what we all do. (((NES)))
How can voting for a 3P in a non-swing state possibly be “misguided”?
Those of you voting third party or writing in Hillary, be sure to check the rules in your state with your Sec of State Office because oh yes, in many areas your vote will be counted for the incumbent, President Obama.
The rules vary, but in my state if you write in a Dem who is not registered for the election, such as Hillary, that vote will be counted as a vote for President Obama. If you vote third party, they better be registered for the election according to the rules of your state or that vote will either be discarded or given to President Obama.
There is one thing worse then not voting and that’s having your vote stolen because you don’t understand the election rules, rules that were written by the two parties, always to their benefit.
I looked into this when I had the WRITEHILLARYIN.COM website in 2007 and found no evidence that it is true.
Go read the laws for your state. Talk to your county election board. Call the Sec of State’s Office. Many states will, at best, discard your vote, and at worst, assume you intended to vote for the incumbent.
Can you show me evidence of a state where a vote cast for someone not on the ballot arbitrarily gets counted for someone else? In CA, it is not the case. I don’t want to research it all over again, so please let me know where you’re getting this info since it seems so fresh and certain for you.
Jay, yttik is right. Here’s a link. Check your state and see what happens with a write in vote for someone who hasn’t registered as a write in. In New York, the vote would go to the person of the same party, or to the winner of the state.
Here’s a link. http://mfoster.com/misc/write-in_rules_2008.php
My mistake. They will not be counted in NY
Anthony — yes, as I recall, I had this conversation back in 2007 and found that people were passing on info like this as fact, and it’s not. It really does defy logic in several directions when you think about it.
I consider my vote to be my voice, and sometimes I just have nothing to say. That’s how it seems to be shaking out this year, much to my chagrin.
Jay, I had that link since 2008 and it was handy.
What I did was go to NY SOS website and find the rules for New York State. They clearly state that if the candidate has not registered as a write in candidate, the vote would not be counted. There is further ambiguous language that although not clear, can lead you to believe that in Presidential elections, a vote for a non-registered write in candidate would be awarded to the registered candidate of the same party.
If you really want an answer, go to your state’s website and hunt for it. It takes a little time and can be a real pain in the ass, but at least you’ll find an answer to your question. Better than making a mistake – and all it takes is a little patience.
I love that Jay had the correct information, you had (and posted) incorrect information, and here you lecture him on how to find an answer and that it’s better than making a mistake.
I tell you, watching how you and Lola operate is even more fascinating than watching how Mouse operated. Learning more about human nature and behavior every day!
Zal, save it. You’re hatred for Lola is between you and her. You start up with me I’m going to give it right back to you. This conversation between Jay and I has nothing to do with Lola and nothing to do with you. Fuck off.
I don’t hate Lola, I have no feelings for her at all, I don’t know her; I don’t get why people bother hating people they don’t know. The reason I comment to and about Lola as I do is I call out people who are duplicitous; those who’ve known me here since I arrived know that’s what I do, it isn’t personal. It’s my belief that lying and cheating and scamming is epidemic in America and has contributed greatly to our decline. She’s said I’m her enemy, that’s fine for her but to me she’s just one more person who’s part of the problem I’ll continue to shine a light on.
No conversation in comment threads is necessarily between just two people; anybody can join in. But it’s interesting that your little clique feels it’s necessary to try to control who comments to whom. You can’t shut me up, Anthony.
I didn’t tell you to shut up, Zal. I told you to fuck off.
Jay raised a question that I tried to answer. I did, and then corrected myself. I took his question seriously, and it seemed as if he didn’t want to vote for either Romney or Obama (“I consider my vote to be my voice, and sometimes I just have nothing to say. That’s how it seems to be shaking out this year, much to my chagrin.)
My answer to him was in response to that, and letting him know that if that is truly his intent, then he might be unwittingly casting his vote for Obama. I believe you understood exactly what I meant, but your obtuse nature and self-absorption forced you to enter into the exchange and bring Lola into it at the same time trying to draw a false conclusion that somehow she and I were operating together.
I like Lola. There are a lot of things she says that I agree with, and some that I don’t agree with. She and I have had that conversation, and that too is none of your business. Your hatred for her is clear in all of your attacks on her, and if she wants to take it on the chin that’s her business. I, on the other hand will not. So again, fuck off. You can do that while incessantly running your mouth or not. I don’t care either way, so long as you know there are lines with me you just can’t cross without being called out on your bullshit.
“your vote will be counted for the incumbent, President Obama.”
Backwards kitty, you’re a despicable liar. Everything you’ve ever written has been — when not simply incomprehensible — a steaming load of shit.
In Ohio, if someone is not on the ballot-like Rocky Anderson- a vote for him will not count.
But, I don’t think that if I leave the top spot vacant, because I’m a registered Democrat, that vote will go to BO. I hope not.
My plan, at this moment, is to vote for Sen. Sherrod Brown, and exit stage left.
Nope, pretty sure you have to vote someone for them to get your vote — though you may not need to actually be alive when voting, which is an interesting caveat.
Rocky is working to get write-in votes for him in Ohio counted. He’s asking for volunteers to help in achieving that goal.
Ballot access status updates here:
http://www.voterocky.org/ballotaccess
Please, no one show that last comment of mine to my 3rd grade English teacher.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444772404577587464183295348.html
An interesting analysis of why Medicare may no longer be the “third rail” of politics.
(I’m still skeptical though.)
Tina delivers a punch to the gut:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/19/niall-ferguson-on-why-barack-obama-needs-to-go.html
Ouch!
I came here to post the above link, it is a great read, Ferguson is no lightweight, and Tina Brown is a survivor, things are getting interesting, aren’t they ?
Is Tina Brown trying to make up for the wimp cover a few weeks back?