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New York, 9:49 AM
Fri Dec 4
53 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/20/09
10/20/09
#tips
#gop
#republicans
#assassins
10/20/09
#assassins
#gop
#politics
[www.politico.com]
#tips
10/20/09
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10/20/09
My count is this:
The former Presidents and First Ladies add up to ten; the Obamas would be five, including mother-in-law; the Bidens are at least two (Joe & Jill) with another three to six possibles (Beau and wife, Hunter and wife, and Ashley and ???).
The Cheneys would have lost their detail over the summer, unless Napolitano has extended their protection. (Insert hunting joke here.)
Pelosi's protective detail comes from the Capitol Police, unless I'm mistaken.
So my numbers don't add up, but they're a good start.
10/20/09
10/20/09
10/20/09
In the meanwhile, my mad Google Fu skillz dredged up an item in USN&WR from July stating that Cheney's protection has been extended, although there's no indication for how long, or whether the extension applies to his wife and daughters.
So, let's say that we have the 10 formers, five Obamas, at least five Bidens, Deadeye Dick, and Madame Speaker, for a total of 22. Add the wives of Biden's sons, and we get to the publicized total of 24 people with full-time details.
Now, who wants to speculate on the lucky eight who get part-time Secret Service protection? #barackobama
10/20/09
10/20/09
10/20/09
You're welcome.
10/20/09
04/07/09
I love when this sweet grandma-looking ignorant racist old lady tells Mc Cain "I'm afraid he's an Arab" (because Arab, Muslim, Terrorist, Satan, it's all the same right?) and Mc Cain says "No ma'am, he's a decent man". What's up with that!
All that matters is if he wants to do good for the American people and the world. So shut up.
04/07/09
But I think the silver lining here is that no one has accused our President of being a Jew. Yet.
04/07/09
That doesn't mean Bush succeeded in stopping terrorist attacks. It just means he moved thousands of Americans into a place where it much easier and more convenient for Al Qaida to kill them.
04/07/09
It's always occurred to me every time Bush or one of his cheerleaders talked about his great success in protecting us from the terrorists (you know, after giving them their biggest success on American soil.
04/06/09
In one of my many former incarnations, I was an archaeologist. Yes. Really. And I worked for many seasons in far-eastern Turkey. Stunning country and, as a general rule, some of the most wonderful and hospitable people I've ever met. I was excavating with a team in a very small village, miles from anywhere. Many mornings we'd go back on site to find a number of hastily dug pits pock-marking our painstakingly excavated, level trenches. Which for an archaeologist is a nightmare - it disturbs the stratigraphic integrity of the site - when a random hole is dug, stuff from more recent, higher deposits tumbles down into the earlier, lower levels. When questioned, the Turkish villagers always blamed it on the Syrians..."they came over the border last night and dug the holes, looking for gold". Only problem with that scenario was that the Syrian border was hundreds of kilometres away.
Looks like those Syrians have been at it again!
04/06/09
Their paranoia meter is quivering on "high", and it's being stoked in a disturbing way. There's a lot of very violent rhetoric and imagery being thrown about by the right, and it's hideous. Dog-whistles.
The day JFK was shot, Dallas was papered with fliers, ads taken out, calling him a traitor. Right wing extremism, their violent, gun-centered philosophy has historically been a blight on this country. After Lincoln and JFK, it's distressing as hell.
04/06/09
Extremism in any form is generally not so hot. You mention the Right's "gun-centered philosophy" and I have to agree with you to some extent. I really do not see the need for an AK 47 to go hunting. But let's not forget that the extreme Left can be a blight too. The ACLU's defense of NAMBLA is a blight on the US as well.
04/06/09
04/06/09
04/06/09
Touche on the NAMBLA part of my post. I had my facts wrong. Mea culpa. I appreciate the correction.
04/06/09
I'd swear that if NAMBLA didn't exist, some Republicans would invent it as a straw-man way to make liberals look bad. And discredit the very good work the ACLU has done.
04/06/09
04/06/09
I'm also saying that I don't like the fact that the defended the KKK, get their undies in a bunch over the 10 commandments posted at gov't offices, trying to "un-Christmas" December, helping children sue their parents, etc.... They can wield their power and their resources to essentially strong arm small communities and organizations into 'compliance' because they don't have the resources to mount a defense in court against the ACLU's very deep pockets. That sucks. Just because they have more money and resources, doesn't make them right all the time.
BTW, NAMBLA is alive and well in CT/NJ/NY. Not saying it affects us all, but the people it does affect -- it affects very strongly.
04/06/09
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04/06/09
Islamic fundamentalists didn't begin attacking the U.S. under Bush 43. The did stop attacking us under him. President Obama is correct. Terrorism hasn't stopped just because Barack Hussein Obama was elected. Before I get the use of the middle name jammed down my throat, it's an off quote from him this past weekend. Just in case you didn't see.
04/06/09
"Islamic fundamentalists didn't begin attacking the U.S. under Bush 43. The did stop attacking us under him."
I assume you meant "They did stop attacking us under him." Um, how is that, exactly?
Anyway, perhaps that is, too, a cheap shot. Let's just agree to something uncontroversial: terrorists are assholes. They are horrible motherfuckers.
04/06/09
The Rev. Wright reference isn't a cheap shot. He's just playing on the irony that many of the same anti-Obama activists claiming he was a muslim were also criticizing him for his connection to a Christian minister. Cuz he can't be a Muslim and a Christian at the same time. GET IT??
04/06/09
And yes, we can all agree that Islamic fundamentalists didn't begin attacking the U.S. under Bush 43 ... except nobody (including Owen) ever claimed otherwise so what the fuck is the point??
04/06/09
I agree with ChillbearLatrigue, as I usually do, that terrorists see AMERICANS not conservative/liberal. I also agree with Eatshootsandleaves (one of my fave books, btw) terrorists are horrible motherfuckers.
04/06/09
@MisterHippity: I got Owen's point. I think it was a timely piece, because President Obama used his middle name in a speech this week to make a similar point: I have a Middle Eastern sounding name, but that isn't going to stop terrorists. Well, it's similar to saying terrorists wont attack a "secret Muslim."
I don't agree that the same assholes that were spreading rumors about Obama being a secret Muslim were the ones that were offended by his Wright association. I think that most of us saw the Muslim myth for what it was. On the other hand, the only thing that I thought to be untruthful about the Wright story was Obama saying that he attended the church for 18 years and had some how missed all of the bad stuff.
04/06/09
Yes, because if it weren't for Bush, weakling Democrats would be allowing men with box-cutters to get on planes and repeat 9-11 every week, directed by their masters in their caves. No one else but Bush could ever have put a stop to that.
Bush is the one who ignored the warnings loud and clear, about the threat.
9/11 happened because of his negligence. And you say he saved us all from it happening, uh, again. Ugh.
04/06/09
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04/06/09
1. Terrorists see us as Americans, not conservatives/liberals.
2. Terrorists are horrible motherfuckers.
Ok, now it's my turn to state my belief in a few obviously true things that nobody here ever disagreed with in the first place. Let's see ... I believe that:
- Murdering adorable kittens is a terrible thing to do.
- Charles Manson was a bad man.
- If you don't bathe for a few days, you'll probably start to get smelly.
I believe these things to be true with all my heart. I don't care what any of you Manson-loving, bath-avoiding kitten murderers may think!
04/06/09
04/06/09
Still didn't comment about people who can be multiple religions though. Hmm.
04/06/09
@eatsshootsleaves: To date, we still don't know the full story about the anthrax attacks. I guess it's thousands if you count attacks on the military and military contractors. Their sacrifice is just as great, but I think we are talking about a different situation when you contrast people knowingly going into a war zone and people headed to work in the Financial District.
@MisterHippity: Okay, so we are on a tangent. Again, I was just trying to tie in the President's speech with the article. I guess it didn't work for you. I have a few questions for you:
- What if the kitten is just as evil as it is adorable?
- What if all of Charles Manson's victims turned out to be adorable kitten murderers and he was trying to stop them?
- If you are in cryogenic suspension, does the bathing thing still apply?
04/06/09
Can you please refrain from addressing people as "sweetie" and referencing their use or need for medication in the future? I love sarcasm as much as anybody. Just not yours. Comes across as passive-aggressive, demeaning, and tasteless.
Let's get over trying to change the other side's opinions. Not gonna happen. Especially not in a snarky little forum, for goodness sake.
04/06/09
I'm not looking to change any opinions, nor should anyone try to change mine; but that doesn't mean I don't like to be challenged. I love to be challenged with thoughtful responses as it makes me think deeper about my opinions and beliefs.
My response to Mr Hippity was no more ridiculous than his response to mine. As for you not liking my sarcasm, meh.
04/06/09
in favor of the awesome terrorist-annihilating powers of George W. Bush. If you really want to say that only civilians can be killed by terrorists, the point still stands, however -- lots of civilians were killed in terrorist attacks after 9/11 during Bush's presidency. This doesn't even count many attacks on U.S. allies by the same groups we were supposed to have been eradicating.
04/06/09
04/06/09
So, rather than keep us safe for eight years the Bush Administration oversaw the most concentrated series of terrorist attacks against US nationals in our history.
04/06/09
I just consider them delicious.
04/06/09
This was way back in 2008.
As for the Americans Bush exported to be murdered by terrorists, their deaths still count as death by terrorist, as much as people who want to believe that Bush somehow stopped those kind of deaths from happening to Americans wish to classify them as somehow excluded from such. For whatever weird, thoroughly partisan reason.
04/06/09
As for the Anthrax case, well there is some debate on that since it never saw the light of day in a court of law. Not saying I agree w/the skeptics, I simply don't know if it is really considered 'solved' as there are still a bunch of unanswered questions.
04/06/09
As for the question of terrorism versus enemy action, I think my broader point is that, despite his claims to the contrary, George W. Bush did a poorer job of protecting American lives than any president in recent memory.
04/07/09
However, Islamic fundamentalists didn't begin attacking the U.S. under Bush 43. The did stop attacking us under him.
Everyone seems to have forgotten this, but last summer (while Bush was still president), there was that Al Qaeda shooting of the US consulate in Istanbul which killed several Americans. Fun times, and I was there when it happened. Just because there hasn't been another 9/11-scale event doesn't mean they're not still perpetrating civilian attacks on us.