How Bad Is it for Democrats?

Ilario looks a little bit too compassionate to be a Tea Bagger. He sounds too liberal too.

You can’t really be a true Tea Bagger unless you’ve committed a hate crime, or, short of that, profess your unqualified support for the advocacy and commission of such.
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Except unless you are Rand Paul, who is really too soft. He only believes that it is everyone’s right to discriminate and supports dropping the CRA…

I noticed he didn’t fire his gun near the head of a taxpaying, hardworking liberal American.
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Which is the reason why I agree with you…

I liked Ilario in Inglorius Basterds. Was he the one with the baseball bat or was he a Nazi?

This is truly disgusting and sad.

An American
I am not going to drink that! I’ve been told that brown drinks give you headaches!
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A other American
Who told you that?
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I heard it on FOX News! It must be true!
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the other American
Why is that?
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The first American, as he reaches for the hemlock
You’re an idiot! Rush Limbaugh said so, too! Anyway, Glenn Beck is always right! So just go away and die, will you?
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the other American
Before I do, did you know that’s hemlock?
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the first (obviously a real) American
So what! It’s better than that other stuff! You libtard!
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the other American
Ok. Have it your way. I’m going home to die. See ya…
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the “real” American
Fark off! sssslllluuuuurrrrppp. SSssssiiip. Aaaaaah.
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aaaah. aaaaaagh.
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aaaccckkkkk! aaaAAAAAaGGGGHHH! KKKKKK!
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thump

_____
| R I P |
——–
. . | . . .

We interrupt your regular programming to bring you a political announcement by an undisclosed group!
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VOTE FOR DINO ROSSI!
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EVERYTHING BAD THAT EVER HAPPENED WAS PATTY MURRY’S FAULT!
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FORGET IT WAS BUSH. AFTER A YEAR, YOU ACN’T BLAME HIM ANYMORE! BESIDES, HE’S A LIBERAL TOO.
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PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!!

In 2005, Pantano, a former U.S. Marine, emptied two M-16 clips–or up to 60 rounds–at two unarmed Iraqis in his custody.

…best known for firing his gun near the head of an Iraqi in 2003 to terrify the man…

Given all the fear- and hate-mongering happening on the right, I’m sure these things aren’t considered disqualifiers when it comes to running for office.

I suspect a huge case of buyers’ remorse if the teapartiers take over….
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Disagree with the title. I don’t equate doing what in your heart is right versus job preservation. I know TIME reporters are saying don’t shoot the messenger but the messenger ought to do a little more digging as to why the masses aren’t educated on the facts.

If he’s found guilty, then what?

Dang – down here we only have a liar who hollers “you cheat!”
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/editorials/scott-falsified-sinks-record-decisions-about-economy-were-998681.html

So, what do we have here?

Corporate corruption -check

Iraq War – check

Human rights violation against Muslims – check

A carpetbagger pretending to be a local and just an ordinary guy just like Bush Sr – check

Sounds like a twenty first century Republican to me.

I am unsurprised unless he doesn’t end up in bed with a prostitute or having sex with a man in a public restroom. If he doesn’t do either of those things, he might secretly be a liberal.

“If he’s found guilty, then what?”
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Then he’ll have to get caught having an affair so that everyone will forget about this trivial murder stuff.

Hyperbole. Check.

Raw partisan hatred. Check.

Broad brush caricatures. Check.

Hypocritical use of rhetoric that you would condemn your opponents for employing. Check.

Eh, just a typical night in the Swamp.

Full of passionate intensity.

I get my condensed cable news reading the swamp threads.

Of course most of my remarks are poking fun at the other Republicans out there, but, this is not at all an ideal candidate I am sure you would agree.
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Obviously it was only one Republican Senator who had gay sex in a public bathroom and refused to step down and only one Republican Senator who had sex with prostitutes and refused to step down, but, it was more fun making all Republicans sound bad.
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Sure, there have been unqualified Democrats like Alvin Greene, but Time is where I saw the most about Greene.
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Time didn’t ignore him. Maybe just the Swampthings didn’t have as much to say.

I’m guessing that some of us just simply don’t forget the enormous number of incidences (some even today!) that promote the negative some conservatives.
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Don’t forget the fact that it wasn’t too long ago that the Teabagger Express (the main driver in the GOP “populist” movement) were expelled by their own party for promoting racist views.
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But, uh, just like Bush in 2008, let’s not mention it in the interests of false equivalency…

Time didn’t ignore him. Maybe just the Swampthings didn’t have as much to say.
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I wasn’t criticizing Time’s coverage or alleging bias in its reporting; that’s another topic altogether. I was commenting on the counterproductive state of discourse here in the Swamp among the readers. Simply put, this sh*t is worthless drivel as of late. I used to comment pretty frequently and have worthwhile discussions, despite the fact that I tend to disagree with the majority of the commentariat. I understand that there are some conservative commenters who come here simply to provoke, not to discuss. That’s annoying as hell. And most of the long-time readers here can verify that I take these people to task quite frequently for their approaches even though I sometimes agree with their positions. But, their presence is not a legitimate excuse or justification for you to also contribute to regressing the tone of discussions here to nothing more than partisan hackery. I’m sick of the rabid ideological tribalism, the schoolyard eloquence, and the boorish intellectualism. The right’s Communist witch-hunts and the left’s constant race-baiting misdirection are frivolous distractions from reality. You all may be content with the dystopian future our two parties are leading us towards, but I, for one, am not.

Slightly OT, but has anyone else noticed that Ilario’s hairline is crooked? It doesn’t look like it’s combed that way. As long as we’re being trivial, I’m trying to make it to the medal round.

“I am not going to drink that! I’ve been told that brown drinks give you headaches!”
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Chocolate milk is brown. I be liking chocolate milk.

Ten Four 10.4

Exiled,
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If you were posting more often and Freeinpa, Rusty, Liberalmeltdown, Earl and 3xfire3 posted far, far less, I would have more respect for the discourse.
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This particular man is not exactly an ideal candidate for either party to say the very least.
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I can safely say that I have never seen you advocate discrimination against Muslims or anybody else nor justify Wall Street in an unreasonable manor in the seven months I have been here, but, you are hardly ever here.

And this: http://www.flashreport.org/blog0a.php?postID=2010041210072414&post_offsetP=0&authID=2010041122500346
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Is cool with you guys?

My presence here shouldn’t affect the quality of your discourse, Patrick. I first started posting here almost two years ago. I didn’t change the tone of commentary, to the contrary, the reason I began posting in the first place was the high level of civil rationality. People seemed genuinely eager to discuss ideas, share information, and debate issues. That’s what brought me to the Swamp in the first place. Neither I, nor anyone else, can be expected to alter the tone here back to what it once was. It must be a collective effort by reasonable people. But, they mostly seem to have abdicated their positions here. Can’t say that I blame them. Internet forums are generally horrible venues for reasoned debate. The Swamp was once, and could be again, an exception. Are you willing to work to that end? Are you interested in hearing a perspective other than your own? Are you at all open to the idea of compromising views with the other side? Working together in support of a government that actually functions on behalf of the people? A perfect start would be to abandon the idea of party loyalty, for partisanship is a symptom of the desire for power, the party is not a means to govern. I resent both Democrats and Republicans, yet I have no reason to dismiss well-intentioned liberals and progressives. Are you so willing to work with non-partisan conservatives?

“Is cool with you guys?”
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If it is true, no.

“Are you willing to work to that end? Are you interested in hearing a perspective other than your own? Are you at all open to the idea of compromising views with the other side? Working together in support of a government that actually functions on behalf of the people? A perfect start would be to abandon the idea of party loyalty, for partisanship is a symptom of the desire for power, the party is not a means to govern. I resent both Democrats and Republicans, yet I have no reason to dismiss well-intentioned liberals and progressives. Are you so willing to work with non-partisan conservative.”
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Yes.
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Unless you convince the super argumentative right wing people who show up here, get WordPress to hire actual living monitors who will actively remove personal insults and extremist statements, know of another blog which is monitored and has very reasonable discussions or intend to start one of your own, in the seven months I have been here, I can not see that as possible.
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In the meantime, I do not address you in the same way that I address ridiculous people like Freeinpa or Rusty and would not do so and, occasionally – if neither you nor other reasonable conservatives are here – will poke fun at a very easy target like Ilario Pantano.
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For the first couple of weeks I was dying to see a moderator come in and just wipe out the constant exchange of personal insults. I was offline for about a week and I can safely say that my absence did not discourage people like Rusty, Freeinpa or Earl.
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This post I viewed to liberals as what a locker room is to being male. If you have anything crude to say that would be funny but would make a woman blush, there is always the locker room (or overwhelmingly male dominated workplaces like most of the jobs I have had) and, by the same token, viewed this as a liberal’s corner to poke fun at an unqualified candidate who is, also, a Tea Party Republican. Seeing you here is a little bit like being in the locker room and telling a crude joke at the door to find your girlfriend waiting for you within earshot on the other side of the door. You weren’t supposed to see that. (But I am not anywhere near as embarrassed, of course).

It just shows how desperate and sick the GOP is.

Uh exiled, as a rare contributer who mostly views the insults and childish name calling from both the left and the right at this blog as a nuisance I understand your frustration.

But this man was a trader for a company that did very shady dealings, and that alone in another candidate, especially a democrat in the current environment would tar him with the corporate corruption label( its may not be right, but you know that it would be used in ads).

He was accused of killing unarmed Iraqis, and emptying no less than 60 shots into them. He has had the charges dropped, but given the nature of the comments by his commanding officer that was more likely due to lack of possibility of conviction (due to the nature of the military they tend to close ranks even around those that commit crimes, its part of their loyalty to each other and this is also seen in other field like medicine or the law) or the bad publicity it would cause, not his innocence (in the sense that he did not do the actions).

He recently moved into the district. Many, many times in the past, when this has happened the opponent (no matter which party they belong to) would call them a carpet bagger.

So while the content of his last paragraph is pure drivel (I am very liberal but would never contend that all, most or even a large section of conservatives are prostitute visiting hypocrites like Vitter) the rest is actually factually correct. I understand you feel under attack as the posters here go after republicans, but lets face it the media as a whole has been very soft on the extremes of your party for a long time now. I have heard you lament the fringes of conservatism and I applaud your honesty, but even you must admit that being called a “liberal” or a “socialist” is politically the kiss of death in your country (something that us here in the great white north, and everywhere else I have ever been too, think is kind of crazy). Meanwhile being a hypocrite (i.e. leading a family values campaign while violating many of those values yourself, oh and in family values I am not even including the “do unto others” commandment that many conservative Christians seem to forget when it comes to dealing with gays or Muslims), a violent felon, a tax cheat or frankly unfit to serve office as they do not understand the basic foundations of your democratic system or how the government operates is not important.

I understand you do not personally believe that people like Angle, O’Donnell or Palin should get a free pass, but unless you are constantly out there condemning these people who are pushing ignorance and hate under your banner, don’t be surprised to be lumped in with them. This is a strategy your party has championed for years, that of lumping all members of a group together under a banner that only a tiny fraction truly qualify for (all Muslims are terrorists, all latino’s are illegal, all gays are pushing an agenda, all pro-choicers are murders, all intellectuals are effeminate and out of touch etc). You might be a “good one” but if you stay silent when the others speak for you or your beliefs, you will be condemned with them. I am sorry for this, but it is the way the world works now, and both sides do it frequently. Its not right, but it happens, and why should the right be allowed to do it (and thus influence the general public by attaching stigmatized words to individuals that don’t deserve them) and the left cannot? Being morally superior has so far failed to win the day, being right ( not always, but often) has not worked, now the left tries this.

Patrick,
Seeing you here is a little bit like being in the locker room and telling a crude joke at the door to find your girlfriend waiting for you within earshot on the other side of the door. You weren’t supposed to see that.
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Hahaha! That’s a first.
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Listen, I’m not a hall-monitor, Patrick. Just trying to encourage a little more thoughtfulness in the conversations here.

rahonovis,
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I don’t have a party. I don’t defend Republicans because I feel associated with them, I sometimes defend Republicans because their treatment on an individual level doesn’t reflect their personal actions, they just get tarred and feathered by commentators for the R next to their name. It’s no better than when crazies like Textee do it to Democrats, or when partisans such as Rusty do it. Neither of these, from the right or the left, add any substantive value to political discourse.
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As for me being lumped in with any movement, I’d have to disagree. People who know me personally would never think Republican nor Tea Partier when they think of me, despite the fact that hold conservative views and consider myself conservative on most matters. I spend most of my time at work, here on Long Island, arguing with thoughtless TP-supporters and their vitriolic opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque,” our “Socialist” government/President, and policies such as DADT. Then I get online, and I see how extreme the left is, as well. And so I challenge them, too. We’re too busy with rank partisan fighting. We’re distracted. It’s what the parties want. Dystopia mounts.

In a sense, you are right, Exiled.
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Because I have not been able to spend a lot of time here, my contributions have not really amounted to much more than trollery.
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But one of the things I have to say, as far as the constant drumbeat of charges of racism, is that it is only those in the GOP who are framing fear in racial terms.
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Are you going to claim they don’t? Just yesterday, Sharon Angle peddled her latest tidbit. And of course, the core theory held by many in the GOP about the nature of the Black community is itself racist, or, at best, ignorant.
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I’ll admit to trollery. Maybe I shouldn’t post unless I have more time.
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But how about you admit that the image that you yourself are occasionally and unjustly tarred with, is more the fault of prominent GOP candidates, spokesmen, and “entertainers”.

Same here. No.
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But never accept GOP links at face value. You will often find that what they are is conjecture or opinion on the part of a GOP hackster.
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So no, it’s not cool, but do not trust and always verify…

Well Exiled the problem with your statements is if you hold conservative views and vote conservative you are a conservative (I never said you were a tea partier or an extreme conservative, but in your country the traditional party affiliation of conservatives is the republican party, as in mine it was the progressive conservatives now called the conservative party) and while you might think no one would suspects you are a republican, I doubt that is correct. I could tell your conservative beliefs from the first post I read about you, since you espoused a conservative world view. I seriously doubt any of your friends and colleagues don’t know your positions on the issues, especially financial ones, given that I and others on this anonymous online blog could quite easily deduce them. This is not a condemnation, conservative points of view are not bad or wrong, but a statement of fact. If you met me on the streets you’d probably not suspect how liberal I am, but talking to someone for any period of time it would come out. Again I never said you were a extremist, I just pointed out that as a conservative it is your job to differentiate yourself and your beliefs from those who warp them, not mine. As I said previously this is not fair too you, but this is what the conservative movement has championed against liberal and center groups for years, tarring everyone in that group with labels and grouping them in with the most extreme (and politically unpalatable ) members. It seems turn about is fair play, and unfortunately it means moderates like you feel the brunt.

As for personally level treatment of republicans, on this blog (which I would call the center to center right while the posters are generally, with some massive exceptions, center to center left) I would say that on an individual level conservatives get much less harsh treatment than true liberals. Besides Textee, rusty etc who are intentionally being bombastic and thus get it back in kind (which as I said previously is very annoying coming from both sides and destroys the flow of the comments) often conservatives points of view are given as gospels with little to no challenge (especially among the swampland writers). Those conservatives who are attacked tend to be ones that stand out (i.e this case, this man is not fit for office and should be in a jail cell). If you view the American media with an outsiders perspective (as I a Canadian can, and I have discussed this with other Canadians and Europeans for across the political spectrum) you find that it does slant center right. People are rarely (I will not say never) attacked just for being a conservative (take yourself, these responses are much more civilized than say you would get if the theme was reversed and you were accusing one of the regular conservative responders of being hyperbolic), but for espousing an extreme form of conservatism or being hypocritical. Conservatism is the norm, liberalism the exception (take the healthcare debate , it was all about cost, not how to make the best system). While conservative, especially financial conservative viewpoints are critical to real world solutions, they should not apriori be regarded as the default with more progressive positions adopted only when they can massively demonstrate superiority.

Well have a good day exiled, I hope at least we can agree to disagree.