RI Sen. Whitehouse Pleads for Republicans to Stop Denying Climate Change, Right Wing Goes Nuts

Kudos to Sen. Whitehouse for telling it like it is
Politics • Views: 25,510

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) made an impassioned plea yesterday for Republicans to stop denying the science of climate change — so, like clockwork, the right wing blogs and media are attacking him in fake-outraged unison today.

The Daily Caller’s Jeff Poor (last seen at LGF when he was busily counting the number of times Rachel Maddow used the word “vagina”) is the source for the latest right wing frenzy: Democratic Sen. Whitehouse Blames Republicans for Tornado.

And of course, the headline is distorted; Whitehouse did not “blame Republicans for the tornado.” Here are the quotes from Poor’s absurdly biased article — and I agree with every single word Sen. Whitehouse said. He’s right.

“So, you may have a question for me,” Whitehouse said. “Why do you care? Why do you, Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, care if we Republicans run off the climate cliff like a bunch of proverbial lemmings and disgrace ourselves? I’ll tell you why. We’re stuck in this together. We are stuck in this together. When cyclones tear up Oklahoma and hurricanes swamp Alabama and wildfires scorch Texas, you come to us, the rest of the country, for billions of dollars to recover. And the damage that your polluters and deniers are doing doesn’t just hit Oklahoma and Alabama and Texas. It hits Rhode Island with floods and storms. It hits Oregon with acidified seas, it hits Montana with dying forests. So, like it or not, we’re in this together.”

Whitehouse went on to condemn the current Republican position on global warming, citing economic, environmental and diplomatic damages.

“You drag America with you to your fate,” he continued. “So, I want this future: I want a Republican Party that has returned to its senses and is strong and a worthy adversary in a strong America that has done right by its people and the world. That’s what I want. I don’t want this future. I don’t want a Republican Party disgraced, that let its extremists run off the cliff, and an America suffering from grave economic and environmental and diplomatic damage because we failed, because we didn’t wake up and do our duty to our people, and because we didn’t lead the world. I do not want that future. But that’s where we’re headed. So I will keep reaching out and calling out, ever hopeful that you will wake up before it is too late.”

No wonder the wingnut parrot squad is so worked up. That’s gotta sting.

Jump to bottom

258 comments
1 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:36:38am

Wingnuts went absolutely bugfuck insane with rage at Lizz Winstead and Sen. Whitehouse, while totally ignoring Erick Erickson’s sickening Tweets.

2 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:38:58am
3 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:39:27am
4 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:39:35am

Wingnuts won’t accept the realities of climate change until the world is dying around them…and even then they’ll probably think it’s just God tearing everything down before Christ returns and takes the true believers to Heaven with him.

5 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:40:42am

We’re all in this together.

6 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:41:19am
7 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:43:43am

re: #5 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

We’re all in this together.

What you mean ‘We’, Kemo Sabe?

8 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:43:47am

When wingnuts ‘joke’ about things and offend people, they complain they are not really at fault, they are just being politically incorrect. Silly librools and their no sense of humor.

When wingnuts are the offended ones, however, then someone must pay a price. Because it is illegal to offend a wingnut.

9 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:44:03am
10 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:44:41am
11 jaunte  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:44:51am
I want a Republican Party that has returned to its senses and is strong and a worthy adversary in a strong America that has done right by its people and the world. That’s what I want. I don’t want this future. I don’t want a Republican Party disgraced, that let its extremists run off the cliff, and an America suffering from grave economic and environmental and diplomatic damage because we failed, because we didn’t wake up and do our duty to our people, and because we didn’t lead the world…

Ur blaming meee for tornadoes!

12 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:44:53am

re: #9 Vicious Babushka

*sigh*

13 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:45:23am

Meanwhile, Glenn Beck loaded up a couple of 18 wheelers and some SUVs with a bunch of bottled water and diapers and drove all night straight to “Ground Zero.”

14 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:45:33am

re: #10 Charles Johnson

“wingnut parrot squad” is so full of win.

15 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:47:55am

re: #7 Decatur Deb

What you mean ‘We’, Kemo Sabe?

I mean even the asshole nutjobs that annoy the fuck out of me and think that I have horns on my head.

Even the sociopaths. All of us. All us toilers on the wheel.

16 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:50:55am

Meanwhile:

If “JB” means Justin Beiber, I want to move to Benghazi yesterday. A government that bans Justin Beiber is a good and sensible one.

/half

17 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:50:59am

re: #15 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I mean even the asshole nutjobs that annoy the fuck out of me and think that I have horns on my head.

Even the sociopaths. All of us. All us toilers on the wheel.

The people of OK deserve the support of their fellow citizens. Gov Christie deserves the chance to distribute symbolic checks on TV.

18 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:51:43am
Obama: Americans stand with Oklahoma for ‘as long as it takes’

Why is Obummer politicizing national disasters?

19 jaunte  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:52:29am

Also at the Daily Caller:
Boxer uses Okla. tornado to push carbon tax
Their story includes a link to

A study by the Institute for Energy Research (IER) [that] argued that a revenue-neutral carbon tax could be a “cure worse than the disease.”

But they don’t explain who the Institute for Energy Research is. Sounds neutral and scientific, doesn’t it?

The Institute for Energy Research (IER), founded in 1989 from a predecessor non-profit organisation, advocates positions on environmental issues including deregulation of utilities, climate change denial, and claims that conventional energy sources are virtually limitless.

It is a member of the Sustainable Development Network. The IER’s President was formerly Director of Public Relations Policy at Enron.

IER has been established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit group. It is a “partner” organization of the American Energy Alliance[1], a 501c4 organization which states that it is the “grassroots arm” of IER.[2] AEA states that, by “communicating IER’s decades of scholarly research to the grassroots, AEA will empower citizens with facts so that people who believe in freedom can reclaim the moral high ground in the national public policy debates in the energy and environmental arena.”
sourcewatch.org

The American Energy Alliance (AEA) was founded in 2008 by Thomas Pyle, who previously lobbied on behalf of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association and Koch Industries and who previously worked for Congressman Tom Delay (R-TX), when Delay served as Whip and before Delay, as House Majority Leader, stepped down from the U.S. House of Representatives under an ethical cloud.
sourcewatch.org

20 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:53:06am
21 RadicalModerate  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:54:24am

Meanwhile, Texas gets a little bit stupider.

Texas curriculum dropped after complaints from lawmakers

The state’s regional Education Service Centers will no longer issue lesson plans - and will forbid their use after Aug. 31 - for a popular online curriculum system that became a lightning rod for conservatives who criticized it as anti-American, legislators announced Monday.

The move is expected to leave school districts across the state, including some in the greater Houston area, scrambling to replace CSCOPE, as the program is called, before the start of next school year. Districts that lack the staff or budget to design their own curriculum tend to rely on it.

The CSCOPE plans are in use at 877 districts, or 78 percent of school districts in Texas, said Kyle Wargo, the executive director of Regional Service Center 17 in Lubbock.
[…]
Patrick said he saw no reason to object to the request. In the future, he said he would like to see school districts partner on curriculum development. He and other lawmakers said they got complaints from parents about CSCOPE, including a lesson on the Boston Tea Party that invited students to include the perspective of Britons who might have considered it an “act of terrorism,” and other allegations that CSCOPE promotes Islam over Christianity.

At least five Bexar County school districts rely on CSCOPE to some degree, including Lackland ISD, which serves the children of U.S. military personnel. Its superintendent, Burnie Roper, called the claims of anti-Americanism “ridiculous.”

“I hate the way that it came about because I think, in the end, it makes it difficult for the small districts that don’t have the resources such as curriculum writers and all that,” he said.

As for where they got the idea that the CSCOPE curriculum was anti-American?

That would be the twofer of the raving freakazoid Glenn Beck and religious sociopathic idiot David “Wallbuilders” Barton.

(cached link)
webcache.googleusercontent.com

22 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:56:12am

Glenn Beck is so full of Fail.

FEMA is not first responders, FEMA rebuilds infrastructure


Dumbass: because First Responders told people to STAY OUT OF THE AREA

23 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:56:45am

re: #21 RadicalModerate

What, did the curriculum suggest that slavery was not blessed by Jesus himself or something?

24 jaunte  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:57:19am

re: #22 Vicious Babushka

What Would Barnum Do?

25 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:57:44am

re: #20 NJDhockeyfan

Video & image gallery of #Moore #Oklahoma #tornado from space. go.nasa.gov #NASA

Perhaps we can cut NOAA satellite launches to help pay for tornado relief.

26 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:58:45am

The question isn’t why don’t Republicans believe in climate change. The question is why do the Profiteers want the True Believers NOT to believe?

Pages Post about transportation and energy sources from the arctic.

You think the Koch Bros don’t recognize Climate Change?????

27 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 11:59:56am

WHO CLEARED THE ROADS OF DEBRIS FOR GLENN & HIS CONVOY?
This reminds me of Mitt Romney and his water bottle stunt during Hurricane Sandy.

28 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:03:31pm

re: #25 Decatur Deb

Just abolish the National Weather Service entirely. We don’t need doppler radar to tell us that a storm is about to drop a deadly tornado (I read that the warnings of the Moore tornado went out 16 minutes before the tornado actually formed). Just get Bryan Fischer to tell us every time God plans on dropping a tornado.

29 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:05:19pm

re: #27 Vicious Babushka

We all know what’s going to happen, right? Oklahoma State Troopers will stop him at the Moore city limits, and then we’ll have a months worth of foaming-at-the-mouth cries of Agenda 21 and UN stormtroopers under Obama hoping to make Oklahomans helpless wards of the state, etc. etc.

30 stabby  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:05:22pm

re: #28 Ian G.

Bryan will issue a warning that gays and lesbians are going to cause one every time he spends three hours watching xtube.

31 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:05:36pm

Wingnuts have pretty much lost interest in the OK tornadoes and are back to Tweeting about MOAR important things like BENGHAZI!!11!! and UMBRELLAZ!!11!!

32 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:06:19pm

re: #29 Ian G.

We all know what’s going to happen, right? Oklahoma State Troopers will stop him at the Moore city limits, and then we’ll have a months worth of foaming-at-the-mouth cries of Agenda 21 and UN stormtroopers under Obama hoping to make Oklahomans helpless wards of the state, etc. etc.

33 stabby  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:07:03pm

re: #31 Vicious Babushka

My reaction, whenever idiots start arguing about something meaningless like umbrellas or what the state bird should be is “thank God there’s something unimportant to distract them from doing real harm”

34 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:07:40pm

So the Grim Weeper and his entourage come into an area with NO RUNNING WATER. And all they have are little plastic containers that are just going to add to the debris.

35 stabby  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:08:21pm

re: #32 Vicious Babushka

That man’s ego soars above the clouds.

I think our solar system may be too small to contain it.

Look at his damn avatar… Jesus.

36 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:10:05pm

Home Depot is stepping up…

37 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:15:12pm

Totally irrelevant…

38 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:16:12pm

The full text of Senator Whitehouse’s remarks, as on his website marked prepared ahead of time.

I haven’t been able to find a time when he spoke, but I’m willing to suspect it was before the tornadoes hit.

39 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:22:06pm

re: #37 Vicious Babushka

Again? What a pathetic person. I’m glad to know that he just can’t get me out of his head, though.

40 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:22:13pm

re: #38 klys

It might be before, it might be after, but the concept that we’re all together in this in facing the wrath of weather, and that climate change is one of those things we face together, is a completely appropriate response to the tragedy.

Climate change is only a political issue because the deniers make it one. It’s a scientific fact.

42 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:23:13pm
Hearing that Glenn Beck got help to tornado victims before FEMA did. Hilarious.
— Bill Hobbs (@billhobbs)
May 21, 2013

Confirmed. FACT.

/

43 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:23:18pm

re: #11 jaunte

I want a Republican Party that has returned to its senses and is strong and a worthy adversary in a strong America that has done right by its people and the world. That’s what I want. I don’t want this future. I don’t want a Republican Party disgraced, that let its extremists run off the cliff, and an America suffering from grave economic and environmental and diplomatic damage because we failed, because we didn’t wake up a

I don’ wan’ a GOP dat will throw me in dat dere briar patch!

44 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:23:36pm

re: #41 NJDhockeyfan

Predictable…

Westboro Tornado Blame: Fred Phelps Jr. Of Westboro Baptist Church Blames Oklahoma Tornado On Gay NBA Player Jason Collins

Thought we were still paying off Freddie Mercury.

45 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:24:02pm

re: #40 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

It might be before, it might be after, but the concept that we’re all together in this in facing the wrath of weather, and that climate change is one of those things we face together, is a completely appropriate response to the tragedy.

Climate change is only a political issue because the deniers make it one. It’s a scientific fact.

Oh, I agree it wouldn’t matter. If anything, I suspect it was written thinking of the tornadoes in Oklahoma the day *before* instead of yesterday.

I was just looking last night after a commenter here referenced not knowing who Erick Erickson was but called Whitehouse out as a slimeball.

46 RadicalModerate  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:24:22pm

Looks like the storms are starting up again. Big line passing thru the DFW area with lots of thunder and strong straightline (60-70mph) winds.

… A Severe Thunderstorm Warning remains in effect until 245 PM CDT
for Tarrant and Dallas counties…

At 204 PM CDT… National Weather Service meteorologists detected a
line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in
excess of 65 mph. These storms were located along a line extending
from Grapevine to 7 miles south of Benbrook… moving east at 45 mph.
A 60 mph wind gust was reported in Grapevine at 200 PM.

Severe thunderstorms will be near…
Forest Hill… Everman… Euless and Crowley around 210 PM CDT…
Pantego… Kennedale… Irving and Dalworthington Gardens around 215
PM CDT…
Rendon and Farmers Branch around 220 PM CDT…

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

If you are caught outside… seek shelter in a strong building and
stay inside… away from windows until the storm has passed.

A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 700 PM CDT Tuesday evening
for eastern Texas.


Lat… Lon 3298 9652 3255 9652 3256 9754 3299 9741
time… Mot… loc 1904z 270deg 38kt 3297 9701 3258 9743

47 simoom  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:24:29pm

Senior House GOP aides essentially telling Roll Call that they know their bosses Benghazi charges are ridiculous too:

rollcall.com

… some senior GOP aides are worried that the partisan overtones are diverting Congress from identifying and addressing the real lessons learned from the attack.

In particular, these aides say key staffers have been overly consumed with chasing down or addressing inaccurate or unfounded accusations emerging from the inquiry.

“We have got to get past that and figure out what are we going to do going forward,” a GOP aide stressed. “Some of the accusations, I mean you wouldn’t believe some of this stuff. It’s just — I mean, you’ve got to be on Mars to come up with some of this stuff.”

…

Senior GOP aides pointed out that many of the accusations involving security and military forces turned out to be unfounded. One recent example involved a supposed whistle-blower who reported that an armed Predator drone was operating in the area, but was not called upon to respond to the Benghazi attack, an assertion labeled erroneous by Pentagon officials and Hill staffers.

“There are some real issues there and then there is just some crazy stuff,” the senior House GOP aide said. “The crazy stuff is, you know, the airman in Ramstein [Air Base, Germany,] that knew that the Predator [drone] was armed. There are no armed Predators in the region there. The [status of forces agreement] does not allow us to fly them armed, and everybody knows it.”

GOP aides described another criticism aired at a recent House Oversight Committee hearing that there were four security officers at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli who were ordered to remain in the capital for several hours after the first reports of an attack, rather than being scrambled to assist the consulate in Benghazi.

“The stand-down order was for four guys,” the GOP aide said. “When you step back and say how were the people killed at the annex, they were killed by an indirect fire mortar round. Four more M-4s [rifles] inside the annex doesn’t change that outcome. In fact, they might have just created more casualties. We have got to get down to what really happened on the DoD side and for us the DoD side was not properly postured, why?”

Assuming that these aides are speaking at the behest of their boss, perhaps that means at least one House Republican is pushing back against the over-the-top partisan politicization of their oversight efforts?

48 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:26:04pm

Sitting in San Jose airport, hoping the weather cooperates to let me get to the East Coast today for a week visiting with friends and going to a bridal shower.

Hear me Chicago? No delays.

49 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:26:42pm

re: #48 klys

Sitting in San Jose airport, hoping the weather cooperates to let me get to the East Coast today for a week visiting with friends and going to a bridal shower.

Hear me Chicago? No delays.

YESSIR!

Sun is shining where I am.

50 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:28:00pm

DERP

51 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:28:03pm

re: #40 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Climate change is only a political issue because the deniers make it one. It’s a scientific fact.

Please don’t go flying off the handle on this one, but at leas a small part of the blame can be directed at Al Gore. (hear me out on this before you downding)

It was rather pretentious of him to think that he could simply distance himself from his political legacy and become an elder statesman overnight and embrace a cause without politicizing it.

In doing so, he made himself a lightining rod and caused a lot of people who had simply ignored the issue or were neutral on it turn against the concept of it simply because it was identified with the name of their ex-arch rival.

But it does it make them any less full of shit for doing so.

52 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:28:11pm

I have to add, the San Jose airport is fantastic. Free wifi and more than enough power terminals, both plug and USB? There are so many airports that could use a lesson from them.

Newark, on the other hand, has TSA that fails to understand the difference between a laptop and a tablet. Not to mention that digital cameras don’t have to be removed from your bag.

53 lawhawk  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:28:28pm

Tornado warnings up.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR…
CENTRAL BOWIE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST TEXAS…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…SIMMS…NEW BOSTON…
SOUTH CENTRAL LITTLE RIVER COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS…

* UNTIL 230 PM CDT

* AT 157 PM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES NORTH OF SIMMS…MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO HOOKS AND NASH…

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A TORNADO WARNING MEANS THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND…OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM… MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING…DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

54 lawhawk  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:29:37pm

re: #52 klys

EWR (Newark) is also an airport that has consistent problems with security gaffes, including security with sticky fingers, failures to detect test items, etc.

55 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:30:46pm

STAY CLASSY WINGNUTS

56 Stanghazi  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:31:11pm

re: #50 Vicious Babushka

DERP

hahaha #Palin2014

So stupid, this American.

57 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:31:24pm

re: #48 klys

Sitting in San Jose airport, hoping the weather cooperates to let me get to the East Coast today for a week visiting with friends and going to a bridal shower.

Hear me Chicago? No delays.

doonesbury.slate.com

58 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:31:44pm

re: #54 lawhawk

EWR (Newark) is also an airport that has consistent problems with security gaffes, including security with sticky fingers, failures to detect test items, etc.

I grew up in NJ, so Newark was my home airport for a long time.

I have distinct memories of flying out after 9/11 and seeing the soldiers with their rifles. My sister forgot to remove a pair of children’s craft scissors from her bag before the flight and got the third degree - she was in tears. Pretty sure she was 9 or so at the time.

Now that I know how much better airports can be I kind of abhor Newark. Although Las Vegas wins for worst layovers, these days.

59 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:33:09pm

re: #51 Sol Berdinowitz

Sorry, I totally disagree. The personality of Al Gore is irrelevant - no matter who stepped up and became a spokesman for action on climate change, the wingnut army and the fossil fuel industry was going to demonize him or her. That’s just how they roll.

There are things I don’t like about Al Gore, but he did a great thing by speaking out on this issue, and the right wing smear campaign against him is just proof that it worked.

60 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:34:13pm

re: #57 Decatur Deb

doonesbury.slate.com

I may be rocking it out. :) Although I get back from this trip and then …leave three days later for a conference. Essentially out of town until a week before graduation.

I made and froze some food for the hubby yesterday so he’s got some home cooked meals to enjoy while I’m gone so much.

61 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:34:52pm

ooooooh

62 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:35:47pm

re: #59 Charles Johnson

I agree that they would have stomped on anyone who spoke up for it, but I found it pretentious of Al Gore to think he could put himself above politics and become an elder statesman overnight.

63 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:36:45pm

re: #51 Sol Berdinowitz

Please don’t go flying off the handle on this one, but at leas a small part of the blame can be directed at Al Gore. (hear me out on this before you downding)

It was rather pretentious of him to think that he could simply distance himself from his political legacy and become an elder statesman overnight and embrace a cause without politicizing it.

In doing so, he made himself a lightining rod and caused a lot of people who had simply ignored the issue or were neutral on it turn against the concept of it simply because it was identified with the name of their ex-arch rival.

But it does it make them any less full of shit for doing so.

Nope, downdinged. I don’t even give a shit. Sure, arguably it’s some of Al Gore’s fault. Who the fuck cares, whatever damage is done. I have, and will continue to have, zero patience for this Al Gore distraction bullshit.

He wasn’t even an arch-rival. Al Gore is a very centrist, very corporatist Democrat. Whowever stepped up was in for it; whoever stepped up was going to be a egocentric person, because that’s what these kind of people are.

64 jaunte  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:36:52pm

Moore, OK cat rescue:
twitter.com

65 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:37:21pm

re: #61 FemNaziBitch

ooooooh

When you consider what used to be the case for tornado warnings, the fact that warnings were issued for the Moore tornado 16 minutes before it touched down in Newcastle - giving much of Moore a warning time in the 30-40 minute range, from what I have read - is absolutely amazing. There have been huge advances in this area, although forecasting intensity is still a crapshoot.

Getting people to listen to and respond to the warnings continues to be a challenge, however.

66 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:37:34pm

re: #58 klys

I grew up in NJ, so Newark was my home airport for a long time.

I have distinct memories of flying out after 9/11 and seeing the soldiers with their rifles. My sister forgot to remove a pair of children’s craft scissors from her bag before the flight and got the third degree - she was in tears. Pretty sure she was 9 or so at the time.

Now that I know how much better airports can be I kind of abhor Newark. Although Las Vegas wins for worst layovers, these days.

Airports suck.

WORST (MEANEST, RUDEST) SECURITY EVER: Frankfurt. (They have the experience)

Runners up: LAX and LGA

I read on a travel blog that people “pretend” to be disabled because wheelchair passengers get assistance going through security. Someday these people will get older and get arthritis and neuropathy and then they will know how much it sucks to be disabled ALL THE TIME.

67 Romantic Heretic  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:38:08pm

re: #5 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

We’re all in this together.

From my favourite TV show.

Youtube Video
68 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:38:22pm

re: #65 klys

The National Hurricane Center has noted this with Hurricanes as well.

Intensity forecasting in general is a crapshoot.

69 geoffm33  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:39:54pm

re: #42 Bulworth

Confirmed. FACT.

/

No only ‘confirmed fact’, but ‘checkmate libtards’ as well. GAME OVER.

70 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:40:05pm

re: #41 NJDhockeyfan

Predictable…

Westboro Tornado Blame: Fred Phelps Jr. Of Westboro Baptist Church Blames Oklahoma Tornado On Gay NBA Player Jason Collins

Let’s see….New Jersey, Memphis, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Washington….nope, don’t see Oklahoma City as a place Jason Collins has played. Fred Phelps’ god truly does work in mysterious ways.///

71 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:40:24pm

I’m reposting this from the last thread, just because it has me totally freaked.

EEEEEEKKKKK!

72 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:40:56pm

re: #66 Vicious Babushka

Airports suck.

WORST (MEANEST, RUDEST) SECURITY EVER: Frankfurt. (They have the experience)

Runners up: LAX and LGA

I read on a travel blog that people “pretend” to be disabled because wheelchair passengers get assistance going through security. Someday these people will get older and get arthritis and neuropathy and then they will know how much it sucks to be disabled ALL THE TIME.

I nearly lost it after an overnight flight to Heathrow on our way to Munich - for some reason we had to go through security again and they wanted to confiscate my scissors with a rounded tip because the blades were under 3 inches (what my husband had said the rules were) instead of 3 centimeters (the rule).

The very nice security guy let me keep them. I always check them now and have a teeny tiny pair for doing cross stitch on planes.

LAX is …not my favorite airport to fly out with, period. LGA is so hard to get to compared to EWR that it just don’t happen for us - same with JFK.

I have very nearly spent the evening on the floor in Detroit.

Montreal was …interesting. I like Vancouver, though - they have a water feature in the international arrivals area. It was very, very nice.

73 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:43:09pm

re: #68 ProTARDISLiberal

The National Hurricane Center has noted this with Hurricanes as well.

Intensity forecasting in general is a crapshoot.

In general, yes, but hurricane intensity can at least generally be ballparked. At best, for tornadoes, they can say that the atmosphere has energy sufficient to support high energy (e.g., more destructive) tornadoes. Trying to predict which of two tornadoes might be stronger, however, is pretty much impossible. With two hurricanes, they have a better track record, although there’s still plenty of room to improve it.

74 geoffm33  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:43:47pm

re: #70 Ian G.

Let’s see….New Jersey, Memphis, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Washington….nope, don’t see Oklahoma City as a place Jason Collins has played. Fred Phelps’ god truly does work in mysterious ways.///

You didn’t go deep derp enough. OKC has a basketball team. Jason Collins played basketball. Checkmate.

75 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:44:04pm

re: #63 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

He wasn’t even an arch-rival. Al Gore is a very centrist, very corporatist Democrat. Whowever stepped up was in for it; whoever stepped up was going to be a egocentric person, because that’s what these kind of people are.

He was their arch-rival, he came within a Supreme Court vote of “stealing” the election from God’s chosen candidate, GW Bush.

You forget the pettiness of his opponents.

I wouled like to think that he will have done more good than harm, at least over the long term. But I also found him a bit pretentious for just saying “I am no longer a politician, I am a spokesman”.

It don’t work like that.

76 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:44:10pm

re: #55 Vicious Babushka

Yup, because tornadoes never happen in communist countries. Or in Muslim ones.

I just…..words fail. Teh stupid is beyond comprehension.

77 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:44:31pm

re: #66 Vicious Babushka

Airports suck.

WORST (MEANEST, RUDEST) SECURITY EVER: Frankfurt. (They have the experience)

…snip

Had my worst security scare in Frankfort. The DoD sent me in and out of there on an explosives demil operation—a three day crawl through a massive plant handling millions of pounds of US and Soviet ‘leftovers’. When the gendarmes pulled out the big sci-fi sniffer I thought the place was going to light up, but they only tore my radio apart.

78 lawhawk  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:44:48pm

re: #73 klys

Look at the video showing the creation of the Moore tornado. It takes a few minutes to get organized, and even then it didn’t look particularly menacing - and then it just exploded in size and power. That’s a huge area of research - why similar conditions can produce completely different tornado outcomes.

79 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:45:22pm

re: #73 klys

You still end up having storms like Felix and Wilma though, and obversely, storms like Sandy.

80 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:45:31pm

re: #75 Sol Berdinowitz

He was their arch-rival, he came within a Supreme Court vote of “stealing” the election from God’s chosen candidate, GW Bush.

You forget the pettiness of his opponents.

I wouled like to think that he will have done more good than harm, at least over the long term. But I also found him a bit pretentios for just saying “I am no longer a politician, I am a spokesman”.

It don’t work like that.

Yeah, even tho I’ve changed my stance on Climate Change, I still have a hard time accepting Al Gore. Something about him that just doesn’t sit well with me. Maybe it’s his wife.

81 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:45:37pm

re: #77 Decatur Deb

Had my worst security scare in Frankfort. The DoD sent me in and out of there on an explosives demil operation—a three day crawl through a massive plant handling millions of pounds of US and Soviet ‘leftovers’. When the gendarmes pulled out the big sci-fi sniffer I thought the place was going to light up, but they only tore my radio apart.

Oh HAI DEB. My son was at that kosher BBQ fest in Birmingham.

82 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:46:09pm

re: #50 Vicious Babushka

For the record, Human Events is a shitragger.

83 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:46:10pm

re: #77 Decatur Deb

Had my worst security scare in Frankfort. The DoD sent me in and out of there on an explosives demil operation—a three day crawl through a massive plant handling millions of pounds of US and Soviet ‘leftovers’. When the gendarmes pulled out the big sci-fi sniffer I thought the place was going to light up, but they only tore my radio apart.

And I thought I was paranoid going through one of those scanners after organic chem lab.

84 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:46:52pm

WOW!

5.20.13 Moore, Oklahoma - A family huddles in their shelter as a killer tornado looms outside. The raw footage shows the twister ravaging the neighborhood as it passes overhead.

Liveleak Video
85 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:47:19pm

re: #81 Vicious Babushka

Oh HAI DEB. My son was at that kosher BBQ fest in Birmingham.

Cool. We’ve been out of touch at a very good clinic in Columbus, GA where my wife had her rotator cuff sewn back together.

86 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:48:14pm

re: #82 Bulworth

For the record, Human Events is a shitragger.

DERP is DERP.

topconservativenews and westernjournalism are white-supremacist shitrags, anybody I see Tweeting those I know is a racist.

87 wrenchwench  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:48:44pm

re: #77 Decatur Deb

Had my worst security scare in Frankfort. The DoD sent me in and out of there on an explosives demil operation—a three day crawl through a massive plant handling millions of pounds of US and Soviet ‘leftovers’. When the gendarmes pulled out the big sci-fi sniffer I thought the place was going to light up, but they only tore my radio apart.

My most intense security scrutiny was at the Frankfurt airport—in 1993. My least intense one was in Phoenix, on Sept 30, 2001. In that case, the woman seemed unwilling to ask the same questions for the millionth time, and I was her millionth customer. The guy in Frankfurt is probably still asking those questions.

88 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:48:50pm
89 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:49:03pm

I’ve seen reports that the tornado winds yesterday in Moore, OK, were 200 or 300 mph.

Anyone know which is accurate?

90 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:49:13pm

The “hell bound.”

That’s what Erick Erickson thinks you are if you don’t believe the same things he does.

91 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:49:27pm

re: #88 Vicious Babushka

CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION

92 wrenchwench  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:50:08pm

re: #90 Charles Johnson

The “hell bound.”

That’s what Erick Erickson thinks you are if you don’t believe the same things he does.

I believe he’ll be leading the way for me.

93 Romantic Heretic  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:50:27pm

re: #76 Ian G.

Yup, because tornadoes never happen in communist countries. Or in Muslim ones.

I just…..words fail. Teh stupid is beyond comprehension.

It isn’t stupid. It is belief. A belief where not even the slightest doubt can be entertained nor any other method of doing things considered. If such things are done America will fall.

It’s insane rather than stupid. IMO.

94 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:50:33pm

re: #79 ProTARDISLiberal

You still end up having storms like Felix and Wilma though, and obversely, storms like Sandy.

Oh, for sure, there’s room for improvement. However, we know about things like eyewall replacement cycles, for example, which does allow reasonable forecasting of weakening in intense storms, and what conditions can support intensifying (wide regions of warm ocean) and what can prevent it (inhospitable upper atmospheric conditions). It doesn’t mean those forecasts are perfect, but the body of research is significantly larger, in part because these storms persist over a longer period of time (and are larger) and we can use a wide variety of techniques to gather data.

It’s only within the past 20 years or so that mobile Doppler radars have been used to start examining the fine scale inner structure of tornadoes and tornadic storms - information that will be crucial to unlocking some of the secrets. Even then, they have short ranges and have setup time, so they need to be set up before the tornado is dropped for maximum effect. Which means storm chasing, and hoping for the best - the data set is comparably much smaller. They’re definitely making progress, but it’s going to be a while yet.

95 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:52:37pm

Inhofe: Tornado aid ‘totally different’ from Hurricane Sandy aid

96 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:52:59pm

re: #90 Charles Johnson

The “hell bound.”

That’s what Erick Erickson thinks you are if you don’t believe the same things he does.

I’m going by train.

Youtube Video
97 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:53:12pm
Confession: I often hesitate to retweet pastors because of the unbridled hate from the hell bound that might then get directed at them.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson)
May 20, 2013

If pastors don’t want to receive unbridled hate maybe they shouldn’t hate.

98 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:54:06pm

DERP

99 allegro  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:54:27pm

re: #62 Sol Berdinowitz

I agree that they would have stomped on anyone who spoke up for it, but I found it pretentious of Al Gore to think he could put himself above politics and become an elder statesman overnight.

Are you aware that Al Gore’s environmentalism long precedes his political career? He became a hero of mine in the ’70s due to being the only politician in my experience as a then-government wildlife biologist to speak to these issues in a push back to assholes Watts and Reagan undermining the Interior Dept. conservation efforts and EPA. I believe his environmental interests probably largely informed his reasons for getting into politics so he could effect much needed change.

100 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:55:09pm

Dim Jim was scared they would shoot him with all their hoarded bullets.

101 Lidane  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:56:06pm

re: #90 Charles Johnson

The “hell bound.”

That’s what Erick Erickson thinks you are if you don’t believe the same things he does.

One of many, many reasons I’m an atheist. The idea that only one viewpoint and one concept of a mystical sky father is valid and the rest lead you to eternal suffering and hellfire is abhorrent to me.

102 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:56:35pm

re: #101 Lidane

One of many, many reasons I’m an atheist. The idea that only one viewpoint and one concept of a mystical sky father is valid and the rest lead you to eternal suffering and hellfire is abhorrent to me.

and just plain whacked-out?

103 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:56:39pm
Confession: I often hesitate to retweet pastors because of the unbridled hate from the hell bound that might then get directed at them.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson)
May 20, 2013

People who don’t believe what I believe will go to H.E. double hockey sticks but I’ll go to heaven no matter how much of an asshole I am.

Yeah, sounds like a legitimate belief system to me. /

104 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:58:04pm

re: #100 Vicious Babushka

WOAH! ARMED! Government shouldn’t be armed, only wingnuts should be armed. WOAH!
WOAH!

105 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:58:11pm

re: #101 Lidane

One of many, many reasons I’m an atheist. The idea that only one viewpoint and one concept of a mystical sky father is valid and the rest lead you to eternal suffering and hellfire is abhorrent to me.

Nothing says “kind and benevolent deity” like condemning someone to hell for eternity.

106 bratwurst  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:58:22pm

re: #62 Sol Berdinowitz

I agree that they would have stomped on anyone who spoke up for it, but I found it pretentious of Al Gore to think he could put himself above politics and become an elder statesman overnight.

Are there other issues on which you think the messenger is part of the problem…or only this one?

107 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:58:36pm

re: #99 allegro

Are you aware that Al Gore’s environmentalism long precedes his political career? He became a hero of mine in the ’70s due to being the only politician in my experience as a then-government wildlife biologist to speak to these issues in a push back to assholes Watts and Reagan undermining the Interior Dept. conservation efforts and EPA. I believe his environmental interests probably largely informed his reasons for getting into politics so he could effect much needed change.

No, just saying that his political career is not someting he could pack in a trunk and put behind him at will. Elder statesmanhood takes a bit longer than that.

108 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:59:00pm

re: #101 Lidane

One of many, many reasons I’m an atheist. The idea that only one viewpoint and one concept of a mystical sky father is valid and the rest lead you to eternal suffering and hellfire is abhorrent to me.

Jews don’t believe that other people who don’t share our beliefs, or that anyone, is destined for eternal damnation. A merciful G-D would not create humanity just to make them suffer.

I think this belief was adopted as a marketing gimmick.

109 A Mom Anon  Tue, May 21, 2013 12:59:19pm

When I was a little girl my paternal grandma told me that sometimes when we’re too stubborn to see what’s happening around us, the Universe has a way of getting our attention. She wasn’t a church goer, she preferred to believe that God was in her greenhouse or somewhere out in nature. Not in a building, and not in some guy telling you what God said.

First it’s just a teeny whisper, then the voice is a little louder, then we get yelled at. If the yelling doesn’t get our attention, then there’s a tap on the shoulder. If that doesn’t work it’s a slap upside the head. If that doesn’t work, you’re pretty much assured that all hell is going to break loose and it usually doesn’t take long or end well.

At this point I think we’re getting smashed in the head with a crowbar. Repeatedly. Climate Change. Children killing themselves and each other, with guns and other means. Hate Radio getting more and more hateful. Education falling by the wayside. Infrastructure crumbling. Poverty Increasing. Healthcare becoming more and more unaffordable for all but a small percentage of people. Neighbors hating neighbors. Families coming undone.

I don’t know what it’s going to take, but something has to give. It simply must.

110 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:00:18pm

re: #108 Vicious Babushka

Jews don’t believe that other people who don’t share our beliefs, or that anyone, is destined for eternal damnation. A merciful G-D would not create humanity just to make them suffer.

I think this belief was adopted as a marketing gimmick.

It was a way of getting the pagans on board with Christianity.

111 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:00:46pm

re: #75 Sol Berdinowitz

He was their arch-rival, he came within a Supreme Court vote of “stealing” the election from God’s chosen candidate, GW Bush.

You forget the pettiness of his opponents.

I wouled like to think that he will have done more good than harm, at least over the long term. But I also found him a bit pretentious for just saying “I am no longer a politician, I am a spokesman”.

It don’t work like that.

He is no longer relevant. Why are you talking about him? I get that you don’t like him.

112 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:00:53pm

WOAH!!

Woah!1!

113 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:01:07pm

re: #109 A Mom Anon

I don’t know what it’s going to take, but something has to give. It simply must.

Then we have a crisis that calls for strong leadership and people often turn to the party with the simplest-sounding solutions that seem to show the swiftest results, who are often the fundamentalists/ conservatives/reactionaries…

That is the part that worries me.

114 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:01:15pm

re: #51 Sol Berdinowitz

Please don’t go flying off the handle on this one, but at leas a small part of the blame can be directed at Al Gore. (hear me out on this before you downding)

It was rather pretentious of him to think that he could simply distance himself from his political legacy and become an elder statesman overnight and embrace a cause without politicizing it.

In doing so, he made himself a lightining rod and caused a lot of people who had simply ignored the issue or were neutral on it turn against the concept of it simply because it was identified with the name of their ex-arch rival.

But it does it make them any less full of shit for doing so.

Sorry, but this makes as much sense to me as blaming Obama for polarizing America because a bunch of crazy assholes hate his guts. He’s not a polarizing person because of what he does. He’s polarizing because a bunch of crazy assholes are racist, whether or not they even grasp it.

BTW, Gore came within a Supreme Court ruling of winning because more people actually voted for him in the country, and more people INTENDED TO vote for him in Florida. Again, he’s a polarizing figure because HE should have been President, not their moron former hero.

115 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:01:45pm

re: #110 FemNaziBitch

It was a way of getting the pagans on board with Christianity.

Pretty much. There was a lot of competition for souls. Christianity first marketed itself as “easy” Judaism but that wasn’t enough.

116 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:01:53pm

re: #111 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

He is no longer relevant. Why are you talking about him? I get that you don’t like him.

Charles is no longer relevant, Why are we on his site?

/

117 Romantic Heretic  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:01:53pm

re: #87 wrenchwench

My most intense security scrutiny was at the Frankfurt airport—in 1993. My least intense one was in Phoenix, on Sept 30, 2001. In that case, the woman seemed unwilling to ask the same questions for the millionth time, and I was her millionth customer. The guy in Frankfurt is probably still asking those questions.

My funniest security check was in Monroe, LA, when I came back from visiting my wife for the first time.

My wife and I are part of the kink community so my dufflebag was full of my ‘equipment’. That is floggers, a crop, clamps, cuffs, some toys etc.

The bag went through the X-ray machine, and a security guard took it off to go through it. He went to a locker, pulled out a binder and checked every piece of equipment against it. Then he put it back, ran the bag through the machine again…

…then checked everything again…

…and one more time after that.

Every so often he’d look up to glare at me. He wanted to bust my ass so bad. From the looks of him I think he wanted to go to church on the following Sunday and testify how he’d done Jesus’s work by throwing a pervert in jail.

It was really hard not to laugh at him. My wife, who could see all this, didn’t have that impediment. She did have to sit down though.

I nearly missed my flight, but it was worth it.

118 allegro  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:02:18pm

re: #105 klys

Nothing says “kind and benevolent deity” like condemning someone to hell for eternity.

I’m still creeped that they worship one of the most evil torture devices ever invented.

119 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:02:35pm

re: #117 Romantic Heretic

TMI

120 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:02:41pm

re: #115 Vicious Babushka

Pretty much. There was a lot of competition for souls. Christianity first marketed itself as “easy” Judaism but that wasn’t enough.

Sky God = Zeus on Mt Olympus.

Pretty simple really.

121 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:02:45pm

re: #100 Vicious Babushka

Well, you know when teabag protestors talk about ‘2nd amendment solutions’, said teabaggers shouldn’t be surprised they get confronted by people with gunz.

122 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:03:22pm

LOL

123 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:03:35pm

re: #116 Sol Berdinowitz

Charles is no longer relevant, Why are we on his site?

/

I’m asking a serious question. If Al Gore was the wrong guy to step up, whatever damage is long over. Why are you talking about it? Is there anything you hope to gain by doing so, and if so, what?

124 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:03:55pm

re: #108 Vicious Babushka

I think this belief was adopted as a marketing gimmick.

And Original Sin is like Unwanted Hair, or Body Odor, or ‘Just Not Feeling Clean’ - it’s there to make you feel a need you would not otherwise feel to buy the product see Salvation.

125 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04:41pm

re: #114 GeneJockey

Sorry, but this makes as much sense to me as blaming Obama for polarizing America because a bunch of crazy assholes hate his guts. He’s not a polarizing person because of what he does. He’s polarizing because a bunch of crazy assholes are racist, whether or not they even grasp it.

BTW, Gore came within a Supreme Court ruling of winning because more people actually voted for him in the country, and more people INTENDED TO vote for him in Florida. Again, he’s a polarizing figure because HE should have been President, not their moron former hero.

Obama certainly out-polarized Al Gore in terms of rankling people, and it is not mainly for the issues he stands for, just for his ethnic background.

And remember, if God had not wanted Bush to run His chosen country, he would not have ordained the Supreme Court to pick him.

/

126 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04:59pm

re: #124 GeneJockey

And Original Sin is like Unwanted Hair, or Body Odor, or ‘Just Not Feeling Clean’ - it’s there to make you feel a need you would not otherwise feel to buy the product see Salvation.

I really hate the concept of “original sin”.

I wish it would just go away.

127 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:05:46pm
128 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:06:03pm

re: #122 Vicious Babushka

LOL

now that was a tweet worth reposting. Source of serious RW head assplosions.

129 Backwoods_Sleuth  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:07:01pm

re: #13 Vicious Babushka

Meanwhile, Glenn Beck loaded up a couple of 18 wheelers and some SUVs with a bunch of bottled water and diapers and drove all night straight to “Ground Zero.”

I’m sure the First Baptist Church there just loves being called “Ground Zero”…

130 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:07:27pm

re: #125 Sol Berdinowitz

Obama certainly out-polarized Al Gore in terms of rankling people, and it is not mainly for the issues he stands for, just for his ethnic background.

And remember, if God had not wanted Bush to run His chosen country, he would not have ordained the Supreme Court to pick him.

/

So if the issue is that Al Gore polarized it and made it more about left versus right instead of the actual message/issue and therefore shouldn’t have gotten involved…

Couldn’t you extrapolate that to Obama shouldn’t have run, because he made it even more about left versus right and not about governing and solving problems?

I mean, I get that it sounds absurd, but it is somewhat of a logical extrapolation.

131 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:09:11pm

re: #126 FemNaziBitch

I really hate the concept of “original sin”.

I wish it would just go away.

Then you’d be stuck with old, boring, derivative sins.

132 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:09:13pm

re: #123 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I’m asking a serious question. If Al Gore was the wrong guy to step up, whatever damage is long over. Why are you talking about it? Is there anything you hope to gain by doing so, and if so, what?

I forgot what a serious place this is…

I hope that the good Al Gore did with embracing Climate Change outweigs the damage over the long run.

And I hope that he will finally be regarded as an elder statesman, above and beyond politics, some day.

But still think his wife was a jerk for trying to censor rock music, and I will never forgive a man who can’t keep his woman in line.

133 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:10:06pm

re: #132 Sol Berdinowitz

and I will never forgive a man who can’t keep his woman in line.

WHAT?????

134 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:10:13pm

re: #132 Sol Berdinowitz

I forgot what a serious place this is…

I hope that the good Al Gore did with embracing Climate Change outweigs the damage over the long run.

And I hope that he will finally be regarded as an elder statesman, above and beyond politics, some day.

But still think his wife was a jerk for trying to censor rock music, and I will never forgive a man who can’t keep his woman in line.

You know, I don’t think that it’s my husband’s job to keep me in line anymore than it’s my job to keep him in line. Fuck that shit.

135 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:10:31pm

re: #130 klys

Obama had to run because otherwise We would have had McCain/Palin in the White House, fer chrissakes. He was less polarizing than Hillary. Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches.

136 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:11:06pm

re: #133 FemNaziBitch

WHAT?????

53 seconds.

137 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:12:41pm

re: #134 klys

You know, I don’t think that it’s my husband’s job to keep me in line anymore than it’s my job to keep him in line. Fuck that shit.

You know, spouses do have a responsibility to call each other out when one is about to go over the edge, but not because one is the other’s PROPERTY.

It’s part of the “standing equally before G-d” and making a life-long promise to each other.

However one interprets that in one’s own marriage.

138 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:12:47pm

re: #134 klys

You know, I don’t think that it’s my husband’s job to keep me in line anymore than it’s my job to keep him in line. Fuck that shit.

Y’all been rolled.

139 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:12:59pm

re: #133 FemNaziBitch

WHAT?????

She was fucking with rock and roll, and there are some things that go above equality in marriage…

Do you people have no sense of perspective?

140 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:13:07pm

re: #127 NJDhockeyfan

Not surprising. Much of Moore had that “swept clean” look where you could barely tell a house once stood there. That’s usually the sign of an EF-5.

141 dragonath  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:13:09pm

re: #122 Vicious Babushka

LOL

Looks like the best manga series ever!

142 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:13:50pm

re: #138 Decatur Deb

Y’all been rolled.

Someone who’s going to pull that shit - without sarcasm markers - in the middle of a serious conversation isn’t someone I want to converse with. Period. I don’t give a fuck.

143 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:14:07pm

re: #139 Sol Berdinowitz

She was fucking with rock and roll, and there are some things that go above equality in marriage…

Do you people have no sense of perspective?

I HAVE ISSUES when one person is considered another’s PROPERTY.

144 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:14:36pm

re: #143 FemNaziBitch

I HAVE ISSUES when one person is considered another’s PROPERTY.

Rock and roll is our heritage, we belong to it.

145 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:14:45pm

re: #139 Sol Berdinowitz

She was fucking with rock and roll, and there are some things that go above equality in marriage…

Do you people have no sense of perspective?

“YOU PEOPLE”?????????

I think you should stop, now, while you are behind.

146 palomino  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:14:50pm

re: #135 Sol Berdinowitz

Obama had to run because otherwise We would have had McCain/Palin in the White House, fer chrissakes. He was less polarizing than Hillary. Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches.

Wouldn’t have mattered. McPalin was gonna lose in 2008, whether their opponent was Hillary or Obama. It just wasn’t the GOP’s year, the economic collapse of 2008 just being the cherry on top of the sundae.

147 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:15:15pm

Wingnuts are erupting like little volcanoes over this:

148 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:15:29pm

re: #132 Sol Berdinowitz

But still think his wife was a jerk for trying to censor rock music, and I will never forgive a man who can’t keep his woman in line.

Wow, that’s not just digging your hole deeper, it’s dynamiting a cave-in of bat feces on your head.

Mysogynistic asshole much?

149 bratwurst  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:16:04pm

re: #132 Sol Berdinowitz

I will never forgive a man who can’t keep his woman in line.

Not satisfied with being trite here today, you now seem intent upon making yourself out to be a Neanderthal.

150 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:16:24pm

re: #146 palomino

Wouldn’t have mattered. McPalin was gonna lose in 2008, whether their opponent was Hillary or Obama. It just wasn’t the GOP’s year, the economic collapse of 2008 just being the cherry on top of the sundae.

Also, Obama had an astonishing ground game and raised a shitload of money.

151 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:16:38pm
152 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:16:49pm

re: #149 bratwurst

Not satisfied with being trite here today, you now seem intent upon making yourself out to be a Neanderthal.

Al Gore and those out of control wimmins, amirite guys?

153 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:16:50pm

re: #107 Sol Berdinowitz

No, just saying that his political career is not someting he could pack in a trunk and put behind him at will. Elder statesmanhood takes a bit longer than that.

You know, I’ve been watching the Denialists for a while, and it really, really doesn’t matter who the spokesman is. For example, a year or so ago, some Physicist named Muller decided he didn’t trust the Instrumental Record, that Hadley and the NOAA and NASA had all dicked around with the records and he didn’t trust them, so he was gonna go back to the raw data, and do it RIGHT!

He became a hero to the Right, right up until he reported his findings which were pretty much that Hadley, NOAA and NASA were all correct. Next thing you know, he’s being trashed by the same folks who thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

It wasn’t Al Gore that made Global Warming controversial. It was the Global Warming that made Al Gore (more) controversial.

154 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:17:22pm

re: #152 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Al Gore and those out of control wimmins, amirite guys?

Now we know why Obama was really the better choice than Hillary…

155 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:17:38pm

re: #151 NJDhockeyfan

LEADERSHIP!

ordering flags to flown at 1/2 mast.

/

156 dragonath  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:17:42pm

re: #126 FemNaziBitch

I really hate the concept of “original sin”.

I wish it would just go away.

It’s also the name of a rock group:

Youtube Video
157 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:18:27pm

re: #156 dragonath

It’s also the name of a rock group:

[Embedded content]

I can see how that would be appropriate.

158 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:19:14pm

re: #153 GeneJockey

It wasn’t Al Gore that made Global Warming controversial. It was the Global Warming that made Al Gore (more) controversial.

I do think you nailed it there.

But one cannot simply step out of politics and declare oneself above it after having been immersed in it for decades.

159 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:20:20pm

re: #158 Sol Berdinowitz

I do think you nailed it there.

But one cannot simply step out of politics and declare oneself above it after having been immersed in it for decades.

Again, who gives a shit. It’s in the past. Apparently you want to keep harping on it because you don’t like him.

Pathetic. Get a grip on yourself. This is sad.

160 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:21:15pm

re: #139 Sol Berdinowitz

Now you’re just fuckin’ with us.

161 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:22:47pm

re: #160 GeneJockey

Now you’re just fuckin’ with us.

I forgot what a serious place this is…

DON’T FUCK WITH ROCK AND ROLL

AND DON’T LET YOUR SPOUSE GET AWAY WITH IT, EITHER, IT REFLECTS BADLY ON US ALL!!!

162 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:22:48pm

How one uses language is important.

What one thinks may be common colloquialisms may not be. It is necessary to be PRECISE when communicating in written form to a GLOBAL audience as here on LGF.

That means learning how to use the font tools Charles has provided, the sarc tag, and PREVIEW.

It can be a challenge, I have my moments as well.

163 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:23:20pm

re: #161 Sol Berdinowitz

I forgot what a serious place this is…

DON’T FUCK WITH ROCK AND ROLL

AND DON’T LET YOUR SPOUSE GET AWAY WITH IT, EITHER, IT REFLECTS BADLY ON US ALL!!!

If we’re too serious for you, by all means…

164 allegro  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:23:58pm

re: #158 Sol Berdinowitz

But one cannot simply step out of politics and declare oneself above it after having been immersed in it for decades.

He sure can when that is exactly what he did, i.e. pursue a lifelong, important interest outside of politics.

Though as long as there are ignorant assholes who are unable to let go of their personal little slights to see the larger issues, I suppose we will all have to hear about them every time the issue of AGW comes up.

165 Ian G.  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:24:11pm

re: #147 Vicious Babushka

Because every amendment to the Constitution except the 2nd is an abomination unto God.

166 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:24:33pm

re: #164 allegro

He sure can when that is exactly what he did, i.e. pursue a lifelong, important interest outside of politics.

Though as long as there are ignorant assholes who are unable to let go of their personal little slights to see the larger issues, I suppose we will all have to hear about them every time the issue of AGW comes up.

Like, apparently, Tipper and rock and roll.

167 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:25:25pm

re: #161 Sol Berdinowitz

I forgot what a serious place this is…

DON’T FUCK WITH ROCK AND ROLL

AND DON’T LET YOUR SPOUSE GET AWAY WITH IT, EITHER, IT REFLECTS BADLY ON US ALL!!!

HAV MOAR DERPTWEETS

168 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:25:39pm

re: #166 klys

Like, apparently, Tipper and rock and roll.

If we lose the Integrity of Rock and Roll, then the world might just as well end, be it through fire or ice…

169 allegro  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:25:40pm

re: #166 klys

Like, apparently, Tipper and rock and roll.

Who never tried to censor anything. She argued for a rating system like there was for movies. That’s all.

170 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:25:51pm

re: #167 Vicious Babushka

HAV MOAR DERPTWEETS

I think I love you.

171 leftynyc  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:25:58pm

re: #147 Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are erupting like little volcanoes over this:

When the Speaker of the House is looking to put someone in jail, she’d be an idiot not to do this.

172 bratwurst  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:26:09pm

re: #163 klys

If we’re too serious for you, by all means…

Seriously…there will be NO PROBLEM finding a different place that embraces the hilarious side of misogyny.

173 dragonath  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:26:11pm

re: #166 klys

SEX, DRUGS, AND AL GORE

174 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:26:55pm

re: #170 klys

I think I love you.

Can we assume that’s sarcastic, or at least figurative?

175 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:27:08pm

re: #173 dragonath

SEX, DRUGS, AND AL GORE

I apparently missed whatever makes rock and roll so sacred.

Maybe it’s because I’m a woman.

176 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:27:10pm

re: #166 klys

Like, apparently, Tipper and rock and roll.

Besides, IIRC, Tipper wasn’t asking for censorship, but rather a warning label on records (Cripes, did I just date myself?) with explicit content.

177 Bulworth  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:27:36pm
Leftists who scream at how evil Glenn Beck is…name me one left leaning celeb or journalist that is driving an 18 wheeler to OK?Anyone?
— Erin (@deaf_erin) May 21, 2013

Well, I think we all know how liberal celebrities are treated by the wingnut reich when they advocate for an issue or attempt to do good things.

So, yeah, STFU wingnuts.

178 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:27:41pm

re: #174 Decatur Deb

Can we assume that’s sarcastic, or at least figurative?

What, I can’t want to adopt VB as my very own Jewish grandma and show up to dinner?

179 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:27:50pm

re: #169 allegro

Who never tried to censor anything. She argued for a rating system like there was for movies. That’s all.

What she wanted was pretty dumb. A lot about Al Gore is pretty dumb. Al Gore is also not really relevant. We’re talking about Al Gore because someone who’s obsessed with him decided to bring it up.

So I’m going to stop talking about Al Gore.

180 klys and whatnot  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:28:27pm

Hooray, time to start boarding.

Off I go!

181 Lidane  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:29:09pm
182 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:29:27pm

re: #179 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I’m going to stop talking about Al Gore.

Just don’t stop defending Rock and Roll!

/

(just to be safe)

183 Political Atheist  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:29:29pm

I’ve been on the road a lot today, any talk of Apple at the hearing?
latimes.com

You can tell the story of Apple’s success in just one word: innovation,” Cook said.

He added: “To our knowledge Apple is the largest corporate taxpayer in America. We paid $6 billion in cash to the U.S. Treasury — that’s $16 million each day. And we expect to pay even more this year.”

He stressed that despite a report from the subcommittee that Apple used its Irish subsidiaries to avoid billions in U.S. taxes: “We don’t depend on tax gimmicks.”

“We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws,” Cook said.

184 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:29:34pm

re: #180 klys

Hooray, time to start boarding.

Off I go!

Make sure all your pistols are loaded and primed and your cutlass is sharp.

185 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:30:22pm

re: #180 klys

Hooray, time to start boarding.

Off I go!

Boarding will get you 2 minutes in the penalty box!

186 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:31:37pm

re: #185 NJDhockeyfan

Boarding will get you 2 minutes in the penalty box!

Still better than cooking on a hotplate in a one-room walkup.

187 dragonath  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:32:06pm

re: #183 Political Atheist

I like Apple’s computers, but I don’t especially like the company. And Tim Cook is a Beancounter Extraordinare.

188 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:32:26pm

re: #186 Decatur Deb

Still better than cooking on a hotplate in a one-room walkup.

Are you cooking bacon?

189 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:32:43pm

re: #186 Decatur Deb

Still better than cooking on a hotplate in a one-room walkup.

Having once let out a room, I’m now prepared to repel boarders.

190 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:33:03pm

re: #188 NJDhockeyfan

Are you cooking bacon?

Pineapple pizza.

191 Walking Spanish Down the Hall  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:33:23pm

re: #39 Charles Johnson

Again? What a pathetic person. I’m glad to know that he just can’t get me out of his head, though.

He’s in love.

192 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:33:40pm

No doubt about it - this is a major baboon problem.

Youtube Video
193 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:33:57pm

re: #189 GeneJockey

Having once let out a room, I’m now prepared to repel boarders.

Leave that to the Boarder Patrol.

194 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:34:06pm

re: #190 Decatur Deb

Pineapple pizza.

That is worse.

195 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:34:31pm

re: #193 Decatur Deb

Leave that to the Boarder Patrol.

My sons never refill the trays, so I have no ICE.

196 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:35:04pm

re: #190 Decatur Deb

Pineapple pizza.

On a hotplate?

197 Eclectic Cyborg  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:35:31pm

I have come to the conclusion that Barack Obama does, in fact, have access to a weather control machine.

I mean think about it:

- He sent a giant uterus shaped Hurricane towards the GOP convention in Tampa
- He sent a hurricane up the East Coast to guarantee his re-election
- And now, he has apparently sent a massive Tornado through Oklahoma…though we can’t be sure why yet.

198 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:36:11pm

The writing team of Michael Stanley writes detective stories set in Botswana. They often include the Baboon situation in their writings. Very strange for a North American to appreciate.

199 allegro  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:36:16pm

re: #197 Eclectic Cyborg

I have come to the conclusion that Barack Obama does, in fact, have access to a weather control machine.

I mean think about it:

- He sent a giant uterus shaped Hurricane towards the GOP convention in Tampa
- He sent a hurricane up the East Coast to guarantee his re-election
- And now, he has apparently sent a massive Tornado through Oklahoma…though we can’t be sure why yet.

So he can take our gunz.

200 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:36:33pm

re: #197 Eclectic Cyborg

I have come to the conclusion that Barack Obama does, in fact, have access to a weather control machine.

I mean think about it:

- He sent a giant uterus shaped Hurricane towards the GOP convention in Tampa
- He sent a hurricane up the East Coast to guarantee his re-election
- And now, he has apparently sent a massive Tornado through Oklahoma…though we can’t be sure why yet.

We’re not talking about AP, IRS, or BENGHAZI!!!11!!1!, are we?

201 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:37:35pm

re: #196 GeneJockey

On a hotplate?

Just cover it with a tinfoil hat.

(On the assembly line we built ovens out of refrigerator foam/foil and electric light fittings. Developed an entire lunch cuisine.)

202 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:37:50pm

re: #199 allegro

So he can take our gunz.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

:0

203 dragonath  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:37:52pm

re: #199 allegro

So he can take our gunz.

Yesterday, I was kind of wondering how well a prepper’s underground man cave would hold up in a tornado.

204 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:38:15pm

re: #201 Decatur Deb

Just cover it with a tinfoil hat.

(On the assembly line we built ovens out of refrigerator foam/foil and electic light fittings. Developed an entire lunch cuisine.)

Gold-Plated Tin Foil works best.

:0

205 Political Atheist  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:38:39pm

re: #187 dragonath

I like Apple’s computers, but I don’t especially like the company. And Tim Cook is a Beancounter Extraordinare.

I have to wonder if it’s a no win position-Structure to keep costs low, taxes among them, in a fiercely competitive global market, or fail to do so and fail as a result. But if we respect that in Apple, what of big energy?

206 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:39:10pm

re: #192 Charles Johnson

Baboons scare me. I think it’s the whole ‘big monkey with fangs’ thing.

207 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:40:51pm

re: #205 Political Atheist

I don’t respect it in Apple or any of the other companies that do it.

It’s one reason I would like corporate taxes at 0, and a simplified personal tax code. Corporations can do a lot more fancy shit to hide income than individuals can, especially if we prune the tax code down.

208 Jolo5309  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:41:00pm

re: #90 Charles Johnson

The “hell bound.”

That’s what Erick Erickson thinks you are if you don’t believe the same things he does.

Is this a surprise, of course if you are doing it wrong you are hellbound.

Why do you think all this joke used to be made:

One day a man dies, who was a devout Christian. Saint Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates and begins to give him a tour of Heaven. As the tour goes on, Saint Paul points out all the different Christians. “There’s the Catholics, there’s the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Presbyterians”, and so forth. As they come to this one group way off to themselves, Saint Paul motions for the man to come closer and whispers. “Now, for this next group, we need to be really quiet. They are the Baptists and they think they’re the only ones in Heaven.”

209 allegro  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:41:37pm

re: #192 Charles Johnson

No doubt about it - this is a major baboon problem.

[Embedded content]

Am I going to hell for laughing all the way through this?

210 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:42:03pm

re: #195 GeneJockey

My sons never refill the trays, so I have no ice.

Odd—the ‘ice’ was small case in the comment, showed the caps pun in Spy.

211 Lidane  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:42:22pm

Hmm. One of the VP’s at the company I did my grad school capstone project for just added me to his Google + circles. I haven’t spoken to him or anyone from that company in a year. Probably doesn’t mean much, but still. Makes me wonder.

Also, I have been reassured by my boss that both my office and my job are safe even though my co-worker got fired. So there’s that. If any of my job applications that I sent last week turn into anything, I can weigh them against my job rather than just jumping blindly to a new place.

212 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:42:34pm

re: #209 allegro

Am I going to hell for laughing all the way through this?

No, that’s not it. There are probably other, better reasons.
//

213 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:43:05pm

re: #210 Decatur Deb

Odd—the ‘ice’ was small case in the comment, showed the caps pun in Spy.

I changed it after I saw it on the screen.

214 Political Atheist  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:43:57pm

re: #207 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts
I have very mixed feelings in this.
Do you see a rough parallel between countries in the global market and our states and sales tax? I do, albeit rough. This gets very thick, should GM be paying us or China the bigger taxes for cars built in China and sold in China? Should those profits be taxed here too? A split tax system?

215 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:45:28pm

re: #209 allegro

Am I going to hell for laughing all the way through this?

You are if the Egyptian priests of Babi were right.

Image: babi-baboon-god-at-tanis.jpg

216 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:47:24pm

re: #214 Political Atheist

I have very mixed feelings in this.
Do you see a rough parallel between countries in the global market and our states and sales tax? I do, albeit rough. This gets very thick, should GM be paying us or China the bigger taxes for cars built in China and sold in China? Should those profits be taxed here too? A split tax system?

I’m not sure what you’re asking me. Let me repeat myself: I’d like a 0% corporate tax.

I have not idea what this parallel between countries and states and stuff is.

217 NJDhockeyfan  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:47:50pm
218 Backwoods_Sleuth  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:57:20pm

re: #167 Vicious Babushka

HAV MOAR DERPTWEETS

ha! I knew Sol was going through derp-tweet withdrawal….

219 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 1:57:52pm

re: #207 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I don’t respect it in Apple or any of the other companies that do it.

It’s one reason I would like corporate taxes at 0, and a simplified personal tax code. Corporations can do a lot more fancy shit to hide income than individuals can, especially if we prune the tax code down.

The US corporate tax is a broken mess where big US companies are basically on the honor system to pay some tax.

However, getting rid of it doesn’t seem to be an answer. With no corporate tax, a wealthy individual could put all income generating assets into a corporation under his/her personal control, and pretty much evade tax entirely.

220 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:00:51pm

re: #219 EPR-radar

The US corporate tax is a broken mess where big US companies are basically on the honor system to pay some tax.

However, getting rid of it doesn’t seem to be an answer. With no corporate tax, a wealthy individual could put all income generating assets into a corporation under his/her personal control, and pretty much evade tax entirely.

I’m talking about simplifying the personal tax code to remove that as an option too, though. Eventually, the money has to come out and flow to an individual. If someone is living in a corp-owned apartment, that’s income.

221 FemNaziBitch  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:02:23pm

re: #217 NJDhockeyfan

Strange, West Virginia has pretty much been spared.

222 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:06:20pm

re: #221 FemNaziBitch

Strange, West Virginia has pretty much been spared.

Looks like the Appalacians—might be an altitude or turbulence effect.

223 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:07:51pm

re: #220 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I’m talking about simplifying the personal tax code to remove that as an option too, though. Eventually, the money has to come out and flow to an individual. If someone is living in a corp-owned apartment, that’s income.

This is a more radical reform proposal than I had assumed —- it seems to require dispensing with the notion of a corporation as a separate legal entity.

I’m sympathetic to that idea, but realistically it may be impractical.

224 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:09:50pm

re: #223 EPR-radar

This is a more radical reform proposal than I had assumed —- it seems to require dispensing with the notion of a corporation as a separate legal entity.

I’m sympathetic to that idea, but realistically it may be impractical.

Nope. I want the corporation as a legal entity, just not one liable for tax. Liable for all sorts of other shit.

I do want corporations a lot more vulnerable, and I want them to be impermanent— like they were back under the founding fathers. And yeah, that part is impractical. But I think that we could swing 0% corporate + more aggressive personal stuff. Long-term, not, like, now.

225 AlexRogan  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:11:24pm

re: #119 Vicious Babushka

TMI

Hey, different strokes for different folks, so to speak.

Just as long as it involves consenting adults who aren’t hurting each other or anyone else, I don’t give a damn what RH and wife does in the sack.

Besides, I thought the story was hilarious.

226 AlexRogan  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:12:14pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

I’m sure the First Baptist Church there just loves being called “Ground Zero”…

Not an accident, I’m sure.

227 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:14:28pm

re: #224 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Nope. I want the corporation as a legal entity, just not one liable for tax. Liable for all sorts of other shit.

I do want corporations a lot more vulnerable, and I want them to be impermanent— like they were back under the founding fathers. And yeah, that part is impractical. But I think that we could swing 0% corporate + more aggressive personal stuff. Long-term, not, like, now.

If a corporation is a legal entity not subject to tax, then its income must be attributed to individuals somehow or another in order to be taxed. This doesn’t seem likely to actually simplify matters very much —- what set of rules for this attribution could handle a fortune 500 company, a normal small business corporation, and Joe Billionaire’s private tax avoidance vehicle?

228 Mike Lamb  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:21:51pm

re: #62 Sol Berdinowitz

I agree that they would have stomped on anyone who spoke up for it, but I found it pretentious of Al Gore to think he could put himself above politics and become an elder statesman overnight.

This is probably way too late…but Gore has been at the forefront of climate change for a looong time. It’s quite incorrect to argue that he became an “elder statesman overnight.”

229 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:23:08pm

re: #227 EPR-radar

If a corporation is a legal entity not subject to tax, then its income must be attributed to individuals somehow or another in order to be taxed.

Right. It has to get paid out. For someone to actually be a rich bastard, it has to leave the corporation.

his doesn’t seem likely to actually simplify matters very much —- what set of rules for this attribution could handle a fortune 500 company, a normal small business corporation, and Joe Billionaire’s private tax avoidance vehicle?

I’m not following you. Money can leave the corporation in a number of ways. All of them are taxable.

230 jamesfirecat  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:25:17pm

re: #132 Sol Berdinowitz

I forgot what a serious place this is…

I hope that the good Al Gore did with embracing Climate Change outweigs the damage over the long run.

And I hope that he will finally be regarded as an elder statesman, above and beyond politics, some day.

But still think his wife was a jerk for trying to censor rock music, and I will never forgive a man who can’t keep his woman in line.

Funny, I will never respect a man who believes it is a husband’s job to “keep his woman in line.”

231 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:25:42pm

re: #230 jamesfirecat

Funny, I will never respect a man who believes it is a husband’s job to “keep his woman in line.”

Or even jokes about it.

232 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:28:31pm

re: #231 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Or even jokes about it.

There is nothing sacrosanct—the “Mel Brooks Principle”.

233 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:30:18pm

re: #232 Decatur Deb

There is nothing sacrosanct—the “Mel Brooks Principle”.

Sorry. Jokes stupidly and tritely and without any skill, like dropping a leaden turd about it.

Louis C.K. could make it funny.

234 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:31:19pm

re: #229 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

…

I’m not following you. Money can leave the corporation in a number of ways. All of them are taxable.

Suppose Joe Billionaire’s personal tax avoidance vehicle has 100 million in income in year X. Suppose Joe takes out only a modest amount of 500K that year for living expenses etc., leaving the rest of the income in the corporation for future business activities etc.

With no corporate tax, it look like there is only 500K to tax here. Furthermore, if Joe’s tax avoidance vehicle is some kind of perpetual corporate trust, there may never be a clear distribution of income/assets to beneficiaries of the trust.

235 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:32:45pm

re: #233 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Sorry. Jokes stupidly and tritely and without any skill, like dropping a leaden turd about it.

Louis C.K. could make it funny.

Didn’t say it was a great joke. If you catch all of SB’s stuff under his different mini-nics, it’s obvious he didn’t mean to be taken seriously.

236 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:36:18pm

re: #233 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Sorry. Jokes stupidly and tritely and without any skill, like dropping a leaden turd about it.

Louis C.K. could make it funny.

Jesus, what do you expect for free?

//

237 Mesohornish  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:40:17pm

Remember when Mittens wanted disaster relief to be turned over to the private sector? Dodged that bullet, didn’t you, Oklahoma?

238 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:43:37pm

re: #232 Decatur Deb

There is nothing sacrosanct—the “Mel Brooks Principle”.

As long as it’s funny.

If it’s not funny, then it’s offensive and it also sucks.

239 GeneJockey  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:44:49pm

re: #238 Vicious Babushka

“If it bends, it’s funny. If it breaks, it’s NOT funny.”

240 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 21, 2013 2:45:31pm

re: #238 Vicious Babushka

As long as it’s funny.

If it’s not funny, then it’s offensive and it also sucks.

Brooks only bats .500 for funny, .600 for offensive. (But the good stuff is good.)

241 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 3:00:37pm

re: #234 EPR-radar

Suppose Joe Billionaire’s personal tax avoidance vehicle has 100 million in income in year X. Suppose Joe takes out only a modest amount of 500K that year for living expenses etc., leaving the rest of the income in the corporation for future business activities etc.

With no corporate tax, it look like there is only 500K to tax here. Furthermore, if Joe’s tax avoidance vehicle is some kind of perpetual corporate trust, there may never be a clear distribution of income/assets to beneficiaries of the trust.

Yeah, ideally, that’d be taken care of by the limited duration of corporations, but I know we’re probably never going to get that.

The solution for that is a kludge, it’s a cash reserves limit. I forget which economist came up with it, but for a kludge, it’s a really nice fit: basically, a cap on cash reserves as compared to income and expenditure, and if the amount of cash reserves is over X, the money is automatically invested in US savings bonds. The money has to eventually come out in some way or another, and you can tax it then, and until then, the money gets put back into the economy.

242 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 3:02:55pm

re: #235 Decatur Deb

Didn’t say it was a great joke. If you catch all of SB’s stuff under his different mini-nics, it’s obvious he didn’t mean to be taken seriously.

It’s more that he used it as a way to escape responsibility for bringing up the ludicrous fucking sidetrack of Al Gore based on personal animus and sending the discussion crashing into the fucking ground, especially in the po-faced way he did it.

243 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 3:11:47pm

re: #241 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Yeah, ideally, that’d be taken care of by the limited duration of corporations, but I know we’re probably never going to get that.

The solution for that is a kludge, it’s a cash reserves limit. I forget which economist came up with it, but for a kludge, it’s a really nice fit: basically, a cap on cash reserves as compared to income and expenditure, and if the amount of cash reserves is over X, the money is automatically invested in US savings bonds. The money has to eventually come out in some way or another, and you can tax it then, and until then, the money gets put back into the economy.

I haven’t seen that idea before. Assuming immortal corporations, it doesn’t seem to really address the taxation issue, since payouts can still be indefinitely deferred.

It’s a lot like me being able to pay income tax only on income that I actually spend. If my ‘excess savings’ are forced to go into US savings bonds, I’d still not be paying much in the way of taxes.

A real inheritance tax could help with these issues, but that is probably as hard as getting corporations to have a finite life span, if not harder.

244 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 3:35:18pm

re: #243 EPR-radar

I haven’t seen that idea before. Assuming immortal corporations, it doesn’t seem to really address the taxation issue, since payouts can still be indefinitely deferred.

So what? I’m not getting why this is a huge problem. If payouts are deferred, then they’re deferred, they never come out, and serve no purpose. Corporations can already be used as a store of wealth in this way in a lot of various ways. The problem with companies hoarding money like that is that it slows the velocity of money; there is really no other economic problem with it. If it goes into US savings bonds, it gets spent by the US government, and goes back into the economy. The main problem is that it can be highly inflationary, but that can be solved by adjusting the interest and time limits on the bonds. Really, just making them 20 year bonds will make corporations avoid hoarding.

It’s a lot like me being able to pay income tax only on income that I actually spend. If my ‘excess savings’ are forced to go into US savings bonds, I’d still not be paying much in the way of taxes.

No, as always, comparisons between person finances and business finances are very off. But this also misses the point: it doesn’t matter if your not paying much in taxes, it only matters if A) you eventually pay taxes on the money, at some point and B) the money goes back into the real (not just bank paper) economy and doesn’t sit around.

A real inheritance tax could help with these issues, but that is probably as hard as getting corporations to have a finite life span, if not harder.

Nah, I really think we’ll make that within the next 30 years, that or we’re going to have absolutely massive crisis after crisis caused by the wealth inequality.

245 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 3:47:36pm

re: #244 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

So what? I’m not getting why this is a huge problem. If payouts are deferred, then they’re deferred, they never come out, and serve no purpose. Corporations can already be used as a store of wealth in this way in a lot of various ways. The problem with companies hoarding money like that is that it slows the velocity of money; there is really no other economic problem with it. If it goes into US savings bonds, it gets spent by the US government, and goes back into the economy. The main problem is that it can be highly inflationary, but that can be solved by adjusting the interest and time limits on the bonds. Really, just making them 20 year bonds will make corporations avoid hoarding.

…

The exemplary scenario I have in mind here is a JD Rockefeller v2.0 with sole control of some massive enterprise. The corporation accumulates wealth and power, and if the assets/income of the corporation remain in it, and there is no corporate tax, then JD Rockefeller v2.0 pays taxes only on the living expenses he withdraws from his personal piggy bank.

I have a big problem with that model for taxation —- it is extremely regressive.

246 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 3:57:46pm

re: #245 EPR-radar

The exemplary scenario I have in mind here is a JD Rockefeller v2.0 with sole control of some massive enterprise. The corporation accumulates wealth and power, and if the assets/income of the corporation remain in it, and there is no corporate tax, then JD Rockefeller v2.0 pays taxes only on the living expenses he withdraws from his personal piggy bank.

How does it accumulate wealth and power without spending money?

247 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:01:39pm

Corporations already pay no taxes on income they re-invest, too, so it’s already possible for a corp to just get wealthier and more powerful. They just can also have big stacks of cash.

248 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:01:58pm

re: #246 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

How does it accumulate wealth and power without spending money?

Back in the day (and also today, to a slightly lesser degree), by bribing state legislatures. Also, political contributions, hiring lobbyists, etc.

249 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:03:41pm

re: #247 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Corporations already pay no taxes on income they re-invest, too, so it’s already possible for a corp to just get wealthier and more powerful. They just can also have big stacks of cash.

Agreed. I’m just not willing to give up on the corporate tax, even thought it is currently a joke. I feel the same way about the inheritance tax.

250 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:04:02pm

re: #248 EPR-radar

Back in the day (and also today, to a slightly lesser degree), by bribing state legislatures. Also, political contributions, hiring lobbyists, etc.

I’ve completely lost you.

Right now, a corporation can, as long as they reinvest the money in the corp, not pay taxes on income, because it’s not profit. They can therefore get wealthier and more powerful over time. This is not stoppable by taxation on profit. All taxation on profit can do is put a disincentive to hoarding money— but a huge incentive to tax avoidance through arcane schemes. A cap on hoarded cash is much more difficult to dodge, and is also a big disincentive.

251 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:05:09pm

re: #249 EPR-radar

Agreed. I’m just not willing to give up on the corporate tax, even thought it is currently a joke. I feel the same way about the inheritance tax.

Your objection doesn’t make any sense, though. The taxation on profit is not a barrier to corps becoming more powerful and wealthy. It’s a tiny little speedbump, that is rolled over much more easily by the megacorps than by the mom and pop LLC.

252 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:07:41pm

re: #251 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Your objection doesn’t make any sense, though. The taxation on profit is not a barrier to corps becoming more powerful and wealthy. It’s a tiny little speedbump, that is rolled over much more easily by the megacorps than by the mom and pop LLC.

Fair point. I was not precise.

To be more precise, if there is no corporate tax, then it seems ridiculously easy for wealthy/powerful people to construct nearly perfect corporate tax shelters for at least as long as they live.

253 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:08:45pm

re: #250 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I’ve completely lost you.

Right now, a corporation can, as long as they reinvest the money in the corp, not pay taxes on income, because it’s not profit. They can therefore get wealthier and more powerful over time. This is not stoppable by taxation on profit. All taxation on profit can do is put a disincentive to hoarding money— but a huge incentive to tax avoidance through arcane schemes. A cap on hoarded cash is much more difficult to dodge, and is also a big disincentive.

Is the disincentive here the low rate of return on the hoarded cash if forced into the US savings bonds?

254 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:30:54pm

re: #253 EPR-radar

Is the disincentive here the low rate of return on the hoarded cash if forced into the US savings bonds?

The low rate and having the cash locked away for 5, 10, 20 years.

255 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Tue, May 21, 2013 4:32:35pm

re: #252 EPR-radar

Fair point. I was not precise.

To be more precise, if there is no corporate tax, then it seems ridiculously easy for wealthy/powerful people to construct nearly perfect corporate tax shelters for at least as long as they live.

And how is this different from now? If they ever take the money out, it gets taxed. If they don’t, they can’t do shit with the money. If they reinvest it in the company, then, like now, it’s not taxed.

256 EPR-radar  Tue, May 21, 2013 8:51:14pm

re: #255 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

And how is this different from now? If they ever take the money out, it gets taxed. If they don’t, they can’t do shit with the money. If they reinvest it in the company, then, like now, it’s not taxed.

Why does money need to be taken out of the corporation to be used for personal purposes?

For example, suppose no corporate tax, and I control a corporation with significant income. I have the corporation buy a mansion in millionaire acres. I then have the corporation hire me as house-sitter of the mansion. Presto, a mansion has been purchased for my personal use without any tax having ever been paid on the income used to buy it.

Under the current screwed up system some version of this simple tax dodge may more or less work, but at least some accountants would be gainfully employed.

More importantly, if the concept of corporate taxation is dropped, then this really does seem to be a perfect way to evade nearly all taxes —- have all the income in a corporation (tax free) and then self-deal for everything.

257 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut  Wed, May 22, 2013 2:43:17am

re: #256 EPR-radar

Why does money need to be taken out of the corporation to be used for personal purposes?

Because that’s how this whole thing works. If you don’t think that we can separate personal and corporate, then A) the exact same thing can be done now and B) you’d have to tax income, not profit, on corporations to stop it, which again, would benefit the huge corps and penalize the small ones.

For example, suppose no corporate tax, and I control a corporation with significant income. I have the corporation buy a mansion in millionaire acres. I then have the corporation hire me as house-sitter of the mansion. Presto, a mansion has been purchased for my personal use without any tax having ever been paid on the income used to buy it.

This is, again, something that wouldn’t be changed at all by what I’m suggesting. If you could do that under my idea, you can do that now, so I don’t get why you bring it up as an objection to what I”m proposing. It is illegal to do this now, it’d be illegal to do it then.

Under the current screwed up system some version of this simple tax dodge may more or less work, but at least some accountants would be gainfully employed.

Okay, so you acknowledge that it can happen now, but somehow think it’d be easier under my system. Can you explain why it’d be easier?

More importantly, if the concept of corporate taxation is dropped, then this really does seem to be a perfect way to evade nearly all taxes —- have all the income in a corporation (tax free) and then self-deal for everything.

I don’t get it. You just keep repeating this, but again, this sort of shit is illegal now, it’d be illegal then. Companies don’t buy million dollar mansions and hire their CEOs or their CEOs wives as caretakers of the mansions as a way of funneling compensation to them, because it’s really obvious, and it’s illegal to do so. It’s trivial to prove that someone is acting as an owner, and not a house-sitter.

Your objections really aren’t objections to the change I’m proposing.

258 EPR-radar  Wed, May 22, 2013 10:50:23am

re: #257 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I think we are arguing past each other because we have two different models of corporation in mind.

Your arguments assume a publicly traded corporation, with officers subject to a fiduciary duty to their shareholders, SEC regulations etc.

My arguments assume a privately held corporation EPRinc with one shareholder (EPR). Such a privately held corporation can use its profits in any way it pleases.

Suppose I have enough assets that I can live off the income from them. If I own the assets, then I pay personal tax on the income. If EPRinc owns the assets and doesn’t directly pay out, then to first order under current law it also pays tax on the income (i.e., its profits).

If there is no corporate tax, I put the assets in my company, the corporate profits are not taxed, and I can use them any way I please via control of the company. What on earth would be illegal about such self-dealing, if I’m the only shareholder?


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