Newt says: “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American,”
Ya know... I am a card carrying member of the planetary society and a BIG proponent of space exploration. But this is just nuts. I mean, really? Like we dont have better ways to spend a couple trillion right now,even if we DID have it?
He must realize how silly he looks so blatantly pandering to Floridas space industry.
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I am either getting crusty, sarcastic and cynical in my old age - or politicians are getting increasingly more reprehensible with every passing year. Its one or the other.
I suppose I could be crusty and sarcastic in either case.
I am either getting crusty, sarcastic and cynical in my old age - or politicians are getting increasingly more reprehensible with every passing year. Its one or the other.
Well I'm 39 and I think it's most definitely the latter. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to bring myself to vote in the presidential election. I refuse to "vote against" a candidate again and I don't see anyone on the horizon that I would let drive me around the block in a golf cart - forget about run the country.
I think they're all a bunch of pandering, self serving, narcissistic, megalomaniac, pansies - but don't ask me how I really feel. I wouldn't give $.02 for the whole lot of em.
Well we have to replace Australia and Guantanamo as penitentiaries and that G*dforsaken base in South Dakota as the world's worst posting for lieutenants. I guess the moon makes just as much sense as anywhere else. Of course, it will be a military base. What else could it be? NASA will join the defense department because of 'efficiencies'...and the GAO will then be able to appropriate whatever's necessary in the way of raw materials to support the 'national defense'. Good grief.
Well I'm 39 and I think it's most definitely the latter. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to bring myself to vote in the presidential election. I refuse to "vote against" a candidate again and I don't see anyone on the horizon that I would let drive me around the block in a golf cart - forget about run the country.
I think they're all a bunch of pandering, self serving, narcissistic, megalomaniac, pansies - but don't ask me how I really feel. I wouldn't give $.02 for the whole lot of em.
It's pretty bad. Their hypocrisy is astounding. They all frighten the hell out of me. Gingrich astounds me. His smug and sanctimonious response to John King was disgusting and his painting himself as some devout Catholic with his "devout" Catholic wife is beyond jaw dropping. Devout? He cheated and left two wives in their time of need and Callista was screwing a MARRIED MAN for 6 years. Not sure what part upholds good Catholic values in that. Santorum wants abortion outlawed even in the case of rape/incest telling women to "make the best of a bad situation". Why stop there Rick? Why not tell women to stop their attackers before it happens so they can dim the lights and turn on mood music. Making lemonade out of lemons, right? Romney crying about high taxes while having a Swiss and Cayman bank account and only paying 15% tax on the $40mm he currently has in this country. I pay 31% on FAR less than that.
All I know is I demand to see Callista Gingrich's long version birth certificate. No way and I mean NO WAY is that Sam the Eagle wannabe 46. No offense to Sam the Eagle.
In his defense he has to say this or he will not get the bible belt votes. It's just an opinion. Let's be honest, it will likely never happen nor will we likely see the day that a POTUS actually tries to overturn it. That's JMO though. I think if people realized that when politicians talk about social issues (i.e. gay marriage, abortion) they are only JUST talking, it would solve a lot of issues. Not one of them is truly prepared to 100% support an issue like that. It would be a lose/lose situation for them. They will take on only a small part (GW & stem cell research, BO & DADT). I don’t agree with abortion and I never agreed with DADT, but I don’t vote based off those issues alone. Frankly, I am too worried about the economy to care that much about anything else.
I too am worried about the economy. It gauls me however that anybody would say something like that. Rape is a horrible crime and a flippant remark such as "deal with it" is disgusting, regardless if he believes it or not. Actually, I think it's worse if he is spewing his drival just for sound bites.
They will all - every single one of them - say whatever they think it takes to get re-elected. They would get on TV and tell you the moon was made of blue cheese if they thought it would keep them in office. I'm so disillusioned with the leadership of this country it makes me want to cry, but I still think it's the best system going.
... That's JMO though. I think if people realized that when politicians talk about social issues (i.e. gay marriage, abortion) they are only JUST talking, it would solve a lot of issues.
I must say with due respect - on its surface that strikes me as a total copout, and a blithe dismissal of the worst facets of political diatribe these days.
The type of rhetoric, the type of ideas that Santorum, and others of his ilk (and there are just as many knuckleheads on the left that are equally guilty) - is jaw dropping and they should be publicly challenged for their positions - and not have them swept aside as 'just talking'. It matters.
RFK:
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
..ok...forgive me. more Robert Kennedy suddenly springs to mind... not his political leanings, but rather the ability to cogently construct a civil argument that I think it pertinent..
On poverty, and on using GDP as a yardstick for progress...
"...Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."
I must say with due respect - on its surface that strikes me as a total copout, and a blithe dismissal of the worst facets of political diatribe these days.
The type of rhetoric, the type of ideas that Santorum, and others of his ilk (and there are just as many knuckleheads on the left that are equally guilty) - is jaw dropping and they should be publicly challenged for their positions - and not have them swept aside as 'just talking'. It matters.
RFK:
"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
..ok...forgive me. more Robert Kennedy suddenly springs to mind... not his political leanings, but rather the ability to cogently construct a civil argument that I think it pertinent..
On poverty, and on using GDP as a yardstick for progress...
"...Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."
"just that I don't believe they really believe in them."
If you dont believe what they say - then why listen to any of it? You disregard what they say and then Vote?
"Also, why should they be publically challenged for their ideas? A lot of people are of the opinion that abortion is wrong in any circumstance. A lot of people are of the opinion that abortion is the woman's choice in any circumstance. Neither is right, and neither is wrong. "
I couldnt disagree with you more. Not on the point that "neither is right".. I suppose you can argue that.. but questioning if politicians should be challenged on their public proclimations is if you disagree ...is, to me anyway... totally insane. Unless you can perform feats of mindreading - who are you to say what someone does and does not believe beyond their words and actions?
I hate to say it but I'm perilously close to this and I hate it, but I did say I wasn't sure I was going to be able to bring myself to vote in the presidential race.
I have watched literally none of the republican debates - I can't take it - I'd rather watch 6 year olds on the play ground give each other wedgies.
Do you think when they speak in a campaign that they are saying anything close to what they really think? They will all say anything and when it comes time to vote the vast majority of the time they'll vote the party line. So does it really matter what they say??
...Do you think when they speak in a campaign that they are saying anything close to what they really think? They will all say anything and when it comes time to vote the vast majority of the time they'll vote the party line. So does it really matter what they say??
I am so boggled by these responses!
Lets say Representitive Joe 'hanging' Chad comes up to the podium and says somtheing I dont agree with, or I find crazy, or offensive.. or more to your point, something incredulous... I think 'He cant possibly believe that..'
Your response is: 'does it really matter'?
My response is: "Joe Chad - your ideas are wrong (silly, insane, misguided, detrimental to the common good...take your pick), and here is why."
Dont abandon your integrity because some politician says something stupid. Letting fools coast is negligence at best - really.. it makes you an accomplice in the crime.
I completely believe that about ALL of these candidates, which is why I'm probably not going to vote this time. Who wants to vote for someone who doesn't believe in what they are talking about? It's like Newt with his family values.
Maybe I am just a cynic, but I don’t actually believe any politician will ever truly resolve the abortion issue. We are at an impasse. There is no compromising. TRBE – you believe that abortion is a woman’s choice (right?) and nothing will ever change your mind. I believe that abortion should be illegal and nothing will ever change my mind. So which side is right? I can’t honestly say. All I know is that the majority of the country agrees with TRBE, so I have to live with that. I believe in majority rules. I don’t see any point in arguing about it or lambasting the politicians for publically stating their opinion about it, because they know, and we know, that they will never actually be able to do anything about it. What is the point of publically challenging someone for stating THAT opinion, when you already won the fight by quite a large margin? No thank you. Personally, I think it would be an epic waste of time. I think I will spend my time fighting for something that I can actually change, like healthcare. Now if the majority was to swing back towards my opinion, of course I would fight for it. I don't think that's ever going to happen though.
Yes, you and I have differing views about abortion. Having said that, you really do believe what you do and I really do believe what I do.....we don't just take a stance for sound bites. THAT to me is the difference between integrity and these fools.
Newt on the Moon. 
