The Phantom Menace

Yeah, that sounded a lot like a “gotcha” question to me. I think Ed’s still a little sore from when Obama shot him down during his last press conference.

AS, did you take the dumb pills this morning? Given Obama’s emphatic pledge about FOCA (“first thing I’d do”), one can reasonably infer that Obama’s anxious to get something signed, so the question isn’t an unfair one or a “misstatement”. Second, Obama, politically speaking, may not want abortion rights legislation to be on his desk, but in his policy heart, it’s clear that he’d love to sign FOCA (or more accurately, FOCA, as previously introduced). And that means that the “non-nit-picky pushback” is a BS one. I’d like to think that when politicians say things like “first thing I’d do”, reporters can ask them questions about what they’ve done on the issue and what they hope happens, without silly ankle-biting from others making very technical arguments. Yeah, Obama isn’t technically breaking his pledge, but so what? Besides, isn’t he a different kind of politician?
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Wouldn’t FOCA, as previously proposed, do away with things like waiting periods, informational packages, parental consents etc. and even possibly some tort suits?

darius, how is it a “gotcha” question? When you say “first thing I’d do as President . . . .”, if you’ve pretty much ignored the issue for 100 days, then it’s legitimate to ask a question about it.

In a startling reversal, President Obama has utterly failed to do any of the scary stuff that his opponents warned you about with absolutely no basis.
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Details at 11…..

PD,
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You mean the scary Muslim hordes didn’t come and murder me in my bed??
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Why wasn’t I told about this? I was soooo looking forward to that…
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Now I’ll have to change my plans.

PD, your comment is foolish. When a politician whose record entirely dovetails with one of his promises, it’s reasonable to presume that he will try to get the promise done. Barack Obama thinks that it’s perfectly acceptable to suck the brains out of a viable, healthy fetus. So yeah, those of us who think that appalling are kinda worried about his judicial nominees, what legislation he’ll sign etc. etc.

To whom it may concern . . .
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I’d be careful lecturing ANYONE ELSE on “taking dumb pills” and making foolish comments.

“I think Ed’s still a little sore from when Obama shot him down during his last press conference.”
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On my first read, I missed that little gem. Funny, Obama’s retort was in regards to the AIG bonus brouhaha. Pretty much everyone’s view (after calming down) was that his comments weren’t exactly helpful. So, basically, after thinking about something, Obama said something inflammatory and undercut the comments made by his own Administration. Not too mention that his comments should worry anyone who’s going to cut a deal with the government (something which is very in vogue right now). So yeah, Obama slapped him down, but the slapdown was just nastiness not correctness. In most places, when you say things like that, people think youre a jerk. But of course, in most places, political cronies don’t help you buy a house.

Are we interested in this topic here?
Isn’t there some thread from a few weeks ago we could just paste the comments from, and call it a day?

You see, afguy, ad hominem is ok if you back it up with argument. You don’t. So you just look like the Obama analinguist that you are.

Sadly spob’s mother wasn’t pro choice.

She is pro-choice tantef.

Henry is such a phony. Ask questions concerning what a vast majority of Americans care about, not some extremist query meant to trap the president.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

And by the way, anyone who thinks that AS shouldn’t get comments like “dumb pills” is mistaken. AS apparently thinks nothing of nasty comments about Bush wanting to taunt Katrina victims. Turnabout is fairplay.

Dear Amy Sullivan:
So what?

Matt, does every question have to be what the country cares about at a certain point in time. Obama supports expanding abortion access in America. Clearly. And when you couch your promises in “first thing I’d do”, reporters should ask about it if nothing’s happened. What is the issue with this question?

Sanity:
http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Where-The-FOCA-is-FOCA-.html&Itemid=127
Not sanity:
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/03/28/no-fly-fishing-in-the-pyrenees-for-cheney/#comment-53714

[...] Posted by Amy Sullivan | Comments (0) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This Forget the Vatican. Apparently, most American Catholics need to get on-message as [...]

She chose wrong spob.

Are we interested in this topic here?
Isn’t there some thread from a few weeks ago we could just paste the comments from, and call it a day?
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Joe,
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You have a point. These topics with no apparent point to them just seem ultimately to turn into a game of “bait-a-troll” or “whack-a-mole”. Slap one on the head, another just seems to pop up. And they ALL make have the same talking points and make about the same amount of sense when cornered.
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If anyone comes across their host den in their travels, call the local pest control office.

You know, afguy, if you’re going to toss around “troll”, you should have some coherence. My posts have been on point here (except to deal with what others have written), and I notice you cannot dispute them.
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Even dKos wouldn’t consider my post to be troll worthy.

tantef, go f*ck yourself.

I honestly can’t think of two people who deserve each other more than spob and Amy Sullivan.

Does Obama have enough support from members of Congress who agree with Obama that it should be legal for a mother to kill an infant who survives an abortion?

And AS, how do you come to the conclusion that FOCA is a bogus issue. I took a look at the proposed legislation. It would (arguably) gut the states’ ability to regulate abortion.

afguy: I was looking forward to the Muslim hordes too. We put pork chops and ham sandwiches on our windowsills for protection. The Muslims didn’t show up so we let the dogs eat them.

We hung a pork chop around the MIL’s neck too. Not only did it keep the socialist Muslims away, the dogs finally paid attention to her too.

If Amy Sullivan hadn’t recycled this “story” we would have been spared the reiteration of a certain rant ad nauseam. Reason enough to recommend her transfer to Time’s Mars bureau, or an outright trade to Moot Matters Monthly for a doorstop to be named later.

The only time when a blog entry has been free of vitriol has been in cases of utter trivialities. This is depressing, but a fact of life.

To somebody or another: Turnabout is certainly not fair play under Christian values, which many people claim to care about. It’s disappointing — but again, a fact of life — that people tend to take a moral high ground based on religion, then cherry-pick the morals that please them.

Here you go spob:
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http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/what_are_the_facts_on_the_freedom.html
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I don’t think you have anything to worry about…

spob: I think the whole point here is that Obama, the USA, and planet Earth, have got bigger fish to fry at the moment. I realise that abortion is a major issue for some people, but don’t you think the two wars, the economic crisis, and a potential pandemic, not to mention everything else going on, should come first?
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Personally, I think Obama is pretty relieved that he hasn’t had to discuss abortion much so far, and hasn’t even had the opportunity to sign anything into law, because the last thing he needs right now is to be spending time and energy on a controversial topic, no matter how he feels about it, when there are so many other pressing matters that absolutely demand 100% of him right now.

What do you guys think about abortion being primarily a states issue? I have conflicting opinions about abortion but have been leaning toward that option lately. I don’t think the 10th amendment is observed enough. It sure seems to be the route being taken for gay marriage.
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And, I’ve seen some pretty harsh attacks on swampland before, but tantef, you really crossed a line there and ought to be ashamed of yourself. A typical response to that would be “it was just a joke” but to me telling someone that their mom should have aborted them isn’t funny in any context.
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Remember people, it IS possible to disagree with someone’s political viewpoints without disliking said person!

apollyon07: I don’t look at abortion as a states right. I look at it as a womens right. I have conflicting views on abortion also and don’t like it, however I do not believe a state should be able to trump an individual’s right. The same with gay marriage. Gay marriage is not a threat to traditional marriage. That argument is silly in the extreme.

apollyon07: I’m with sacred, I don’t think any government federal, state or local varieties ought to stay out of it. I’ve always found it so interesting that conservatives oppose government intervention in nearly every instance unless the issue is a consequence of, or related to behavior in the bedroom. Why is that anyway?

Remember people, it IS possible to disagree with someone’s political viewpoints without disliking said person!
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apollyon07,
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Spot on! I can remember when it was like that. And I think it better get like that again or we are finished as a viable country.
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Imagine how well the armed forces would work if the guy next to you in the foxhole had just finished calling you a “dirty f**king hippie” because he didn’t like which party you voted for. What does THAT do for unit cohesiveness??
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I made this point to a class one time – given the “every man for himself” mentality that was beginning to appear, if an enemy threw a grenade into a foxhole with 5 in it and only one saw it, would there be 4 dead or only one? There’s no “career advancement potential” in getting yourself killed or severely injured.
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The flamethrowers among us just can’t see a time when they would EVER need to rely on any of us for anything vital. They just do not see that their words live on past the point that they are said.

nhautamaki: and how does the “bigger fish to fry” point make mine invalid? Obama strongly indicated that FOCA was a priority. It’s obviously not. And a newspaper reporter isn’t supposed to ask about it?

And the Obama Administration, with all the issues going on, is currently tackling the crack-powder disparity, certainly a lesser issue.

nathan, what are you talking about? What in the “fact check” means we don’t have to worry?

spob: What was the context and timeframe of the quote that indicates Obama considers FOCA a current priority? I’m guessing that it’s only a priority insofar as it’s one of the things that Obama intends to move on at some point during his 4 year term; not as in it’s something that needs to take immediate precedence.
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Regarding what reporters can and should ask about–they can and should ask about anything they want. I don’t see that I made any point about what journalists can and should ask about.

When someone says that something is “the first thing I’ll do”, it’s legitimate to ask whether it’s fallen in priority.

Sacred h and dee I see what you both mean and respect that viewpoint. I guess though that we can both agree against federal action against these two. I would vehementl oppose that kind of activism. Also I’m somewhat surprised that gay marriage has not made it to the SC. Seems like the equal protection clause might work.

[...] first 100 days a tentative thumbs-up," Sullivan snarkily noted in a an April 30 post entitled "The Phantom Menace," referring to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which Sullivan considers a virtually non-existent [...]

[...] first 100 days a tentative thumbs-up," Sullivan snarkily noted in a an April 30 post entitled "The Phantom Menace," referring to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which Sullivan considers a virtually non-existent [...]

apollyon07: Personally, I would rather believe that the rights to privacy and to personal bodily autonomy are reserved to the people, not to the states. The 10th amendment is cool and all, but the 9th is pretty fab, too.

apolloyon07: I think the reason a case hasn’t made it to the Supreme Court is because they don’t want the case to be heard until there is a chance of winning it. The current makeup of the court makes an excellent argument for waiting until it becomes more liberal.

I don’t see the court getting more liberal. The oldest conservative is Scalia, and there’s no way in hell he’ll retire until there is a Republican president.

[...] first 100 days a tentative thumbs-up," Sullivan snarkily noted in a an April 30 post entitled "The Phantom Menace," referring to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which Sullivan considers a virtually non-existent [...]

Just out of curiosity–does anyone know the point at which a murderer of a pregnant woman is charged with two counts of murder? It would seem to me to be the same sort of issue.

You mean the Lacy Peterson law? It’s at any point in the pregnancy. Though it’s a federal law, several states have passed similar statutes.