10 (or more) Things I hate About You

[Felch]

Zaku, Chegitz is absolutely right. The 4th amendment protects Obama from being searched out like that. It protects all of us. It's a good thing, not a criminal conspiracy.

[ricketyclik]

Originally Posted by zakubandit
Wow. Really...****, that sucks so bad for that kid. Sucked for him when his friends asked what was with the bandages and funny walk...and for the girls...the none he would ever have.

So yes, anyways, the unemployment rate is hitting 10% nation wide it seems? So how is this amazing stimulus of Barack's supposed to work exactly?

It's working just like intended. Now wouldn't that be scary?

Not that I know the details of the US stimulus package, but has it crossed your minds that unemployment might have been higher without it?

[DaShi]

No, White House predictions indicated that unemployment would have been lower, and their predictions are always right.

[chequita guevara]

Well before everyone believed it and there was stories and all, but nothing like this...where the Presidential Guard (SS) go after local PDs.

Those cops were violating the law and the President's constitutional liberties. I'm glad they are in trouble. Apparently you want to live in a country where you think it's okay for the government to spy on you whenever they feel like it . . . oh, wait, you're in China.

[chequita guevara]

Chegitz is absolutely right.

Did it feel weird when you wrote that?

[Arrian]

Speaking for myself, agreeing with you can be refreshing, since it's so rare.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sloww pretty much believes everything that zaku says but lacks the capability to express it as humorously as zaku does.

Well, though I think Sloww is for gay marriage... but don't quote me on that

[Arrian]

10 things I don't like about Obama and/or the Democratic Congress:

1) His administration's position on executive privilege (Bushian)
2) His administration's stance on detentions (Bushian)
3) The stimulus package wasn't ideal (though I was ok with a stimulus).
4) I'm skeptical about the strange bankrupcies of GM and Chrysler.
5) I'm worried about health care reform - I think they will end up creating a plan that is more complicated and costly than it need be.
6) I hear some rhetoric about hard choices, but I've yet to see anything substantive about long-term debt reduction. My patience on that issue will only hold for a little bit longer. Obviously 3-6 speak to my general unease about the US government's fiscal irresponsibility.
7) I worry that we will end up staying in Iraq longer than we should. On the one hand, I did think we had/have an obligation to stick around long enough to give the new government a fair shot. On the other, I think we may be at that point.
8) Afganistan also worries me, because I'm not really sure what the goal is there anymore. We're not going to set up a functional liberal democracy there, or anything that really remotely resembles that. We're not going to find OBL there (he's either dead or in Pakistan), and the Taleban may not give me the warm fuzzies, but it's unclear to me why we need to fight them. I worry our involvement will drag on with little to show for it.
9) I'm not terribly confident that Congress/the Fed will make smart changes to the regulations or standard operating proceedure to lessen the likelyhood of another financial disaster like we've just had. I worry that the President's team of financial guys is too buddy-buddy with Wall Street.
10) I disagree with him on gay marriage (I'm pro). He doesn't appear to want to deal with gay rights in any meaningful way - although it may still be too early to level that charge.
11) Biden. He makes 11, but I wanted him on the list.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Biden is great for comic relief though

I do like the rest of your list, though.

[Kuciwalker]

I don't really care about 2, but I'm glad he got all the furriners off our backs about it.

[Dinner]

I like that list too.

[Arrian]

Crap, I totally left out a big one: apparent refusal to do a proper investigation of the torture authorized by the US government.

They're dicking around now with a bull**** "investigation" that will only tag a few minor players and leave the actual decision-makers and assorted enablers free & clear. Holder needs to man up.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Biden is great for comic relief though

This is true, but I was all set for Executive Branch comic relief for some time...

-Arrian

[Kuciwalker]

Crap, I totally left out a big one: apparent refusal to do a proper investigation of the torture authorized by the US government.

They're dicking around now with a bull**** "investigation" that will only tag a few minor players and leave the actual decision-makers and assorted enablers free & clear. Holder needs to man up.

-Arrian

Throw that in with 2.

[Arrian]

I used to think pretty much as you do. But the more I've read about what went on, the less calculating I've become (calculating as in "well, that's just a political cluster**** waiting to happen so we can't do it"). I've come 'round to the idea that a proper investigation is necessary, and that failure to conduct one means we condone what was done and, further, signal that we are just fine with such things being done again. To me "such things" is rather broad. It's not just the torture (though that's bad enough), but rather a pervasive "national security" mindset that allows for pushing aside things like civil liberties, international treaty obligations, or basic decency so that powerful people can have more control and "keep us safe." That scares me more than a little bit, and Obama has, so far, been disappointing on rolling it back.

-Arrian