Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you also JNS and to all of the other people at TIME. Thanks for all the articles you folks post that gives us a chance to express our opinions and sometimes our ire. It is much appreciated. I would also like to thank all of you writers for the interactions with us swampcritters. Finally I would like to wish a heartfelt Merry Christmas to the absent KT, you’re still missed.

Trisha: Daddy, why did you cut Santa’s head off? What did you do to his elves?

Dick: Santa was a red wearing commie. He deserved to die. His elves? We just circumcized them with a butter knife.

Pat: Look at Santa’s nuts roasting by the open fire.

I got dragged into the present this evening. They bought me a cellphone.

Pat: Dick, why don’t you invite that nice Ron Reagan and his wife over for dinner?

Dick: Jesus Pat, we don’t want that idiot anywhere near the White House. He sucks as an actor. You don’t even want him to think about a political career when he can’t get an acting job anymore.

Pat: But Dick, Nancy read the tarot cards for me last night. She said something called Watergate would make you more famous than you can imagine.

Dick: Hmmmm. Give them a call.

Dick: And one day my health care reform package will be passed by a Negro Democrat and we will succeed in driving America so far to the right that they will call my ideas screaming liberal.

The End.

Pat: Now, Dick, stop scaring the children with those horror stories. It’s Christmas not Halloween.

Sacred they are addictive, I think with your sense of humor you will enjoy your cell phone.
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I want to wish the swamp commenters and the bloggers a Happy Holidays.
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I found the recipes that you and Deconstructiva posted last year and made yours for Thanksgiving. I am going to try Decon’s onion casserole on New Years.

Patrick I have been enjoying your link to the Pogues and Shane McGowan’s gravelly voice. Loved Kirsty McColl too.

In college that was my favorite drinking music.
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By college standards I wasn’t a real drinker, but, listening to McGowan, you say to yourself even after your tenth shot, “I’m not half as drunk as the guy singing this song.”
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McColl, was killed in a diving accident in Mexico ten years ago but, despite his incredibly excessive drinking, McGowan is still alive.

Dick: sorry, a half Negro president…
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Pat: DICK!
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Dick: I mean a half Negro Democrat raised by white people.
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Pat: DICK!
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Dick: what? We’re Republicans! This is what we dream of for Christmas.

Patrick, I miss the Irish music I grew up with, and it did not matter what band or singer was playing in the Pub they had to be able to do the Irish songs. I lost an Irish friend in a car accident because he drank like Shane.

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Darlene Love gives us a rocking Christmas. Baby Please Come Home.
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Here’s hoping all our service members come home safely.

I’m a few generations in. It was my great and great-great grandparents who mostly came from Ireland (13 out of my 16 great grandparents were from Ireland – three from Germany) but my brother, who doesn’t drink, went to Ireland a couple of years ago and had a great time. We found and have been in touch with distant relatives in Ireland and they were wonderful hosts my brother told me.
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Ireland is high on my list of places to see. My parents were there three times, but for the indefinite future foreign travel isn’t in my budget.

I seem to remember that this photo was posted before!
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Am I mistaken?
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Either way, MERRY CHRISTMAS all of you!
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Uh oh, the caplocks. Oh no. Help. Marsha! Help! I’m changing…

No, it was a KT Christmas post! Thus sacred’s reference to her in #1.
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Merry Christmas again to all — wonderful gifts opened, daughter and SIL off to visit other relatives and I am about to do my most favorite Christmas day thing – read and nap!
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Cheers to all Swamplanders – writers and commenters, including KT, who we still miss indeed.

Thanks for reminding me about the recipes. I found them and copied them into my recipe file and also yours for pecan pie. Too late for this year, but…

“….we close, with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
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What vile people write in on these posts. Who doubts that the Nixons didn’t love their children and spend some Christmas time with them? Who doubts that President Nixon, as the President, didn’t use Christmas pictures to show his commanality with the rest of America?

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa351/PatrickSartor/Christmascard2.jpg
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Let’s hope this link works

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa351/PatrickSartor/Christmascard2.jpg

Jastdi2,
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Time’s 1000 words is for jokes and, for today, Christmas wishes, too.
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So, if you can think of a good joke as a caption to the picture, feel free to join us.
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If not, just have a Merry Christmas.

Ho, ho, patricksartor. If you see all of the above responses as but jokes and Christmas wishes, than you are a jolly fellow. But plainly they are not, so I chose not to join you. My caption is, “What a wonderful this Christmas must have been, Mr. President.”

For some of us who actually lived during Tricky Dick’s reign, his foibles are fair game.
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It’s all in good fun. Take a jab at Obama if you want, but, the point of 1,000 words is very, very simple:
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Be inventively humorous!

Thanks for reminding me Ivy, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you.
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An extra set of good wishes for KT, too, who is sorely missed/needed!

Very nice, patrick!

The more I think about this post on Swampland, the more I get outraged by Miss Newton-Small. She will never convince me that it was not posted, knowing her readership, as an opportunity for Nixon-haters to write swarmy posts (in which effort, she was fully successful). Some years from now, there will be an equally disgusting Republican equivalent of Ms. Newton-Small who will post photos of the Obamas at Christmas and wait to make political hay of the disgusting commentary which will roll in. Well done, Newton-Small. Well done, Time, for publishing it.

I do not remember seeing you comment here before, so I am guessing you know nothing about our customs or community.
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Go to the top of the post and click on the 1,000 Words link, then click on some of those to get an idea of what it is about. We all – liberals and conservatives alike – try to make funny comments about any picture that is posted (at least those with a sense of humor try to make comments.) These posts have become a break from the usual discussions of the serious topics of the day.
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This has little to do with Nixon per se, nor being a “Nixon-hater” it has to do with a photograph. You might look at the previous photo post with the Obamas in it.

Actually, the previous post was mostly exchanges of Christmas greetings, I was thinking of the first time it was posted – link in the first comment – which has more representative suggested captions.

No one here hates Nixon anyway.
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Making fun of his shortcomings is not hate. If it were, I’d be an Obama hater.
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God has a perfect sense of humor. So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

“The more I think about this post on Swampland, the more I get outraged by Miss Newton-Small. She will never convince me that it was not posted, knowing her readership, as an opportunity for Nixon-haters to write swarmy posts (in which effort, she was fully successful).”
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First, nearly all of the 1000 words have pictures of President Obama. So, we all make jokes. Centrists jokes are the kindest to Obama, liberal jokes are not usually cruel and conservatives often – not always, a couple made us all laugh – are the harshest.
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“Some years from now, there will be an equally disgusting Republican equivalent of Ms. Newton-Small who will post photos of the Obamas at Christmas and wait to make political hay of the disgusting commentary which will roll in.”
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Well, there are a few formats for that where the commentators themselves do all of the remarks:
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Fox News.
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AM radio.
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The American Spectator.
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Politico
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Rush Limbaugh
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Glenn Beck
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Michael Savage.
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Bill O’Reilly
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You don’t have to wait.There’s no shortage of liberal bashers out there who have been out there for 20 years and, as a rule of thumb, 1,000 words are about Obama with a rare exception like this.

Well, it’s true that I have not posted here before and may not be totally aware of the codes. I just read what was written, and the non-political airy-fairy yo-ho-ho seemed to die out pretty early into the we hate Dick/Republican-land (posts 5 on, with exceptions). Stop trying to BS me folks. This was a posting with a mean original concept behind it, and singing Iolanthe won’t change the truth. I do follow this Time thread and understand its thinking

That’s ok, jastdi2, patrick has a very good point about tasteless (an understatement) lambasting of Obama.
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To bad you’ve put the GOP side of the equation on “relentlessly ignore”
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That certainly is one way to keep your perspective afloat…

Even those of us that are democrats and don’t like republicans rip any democrats to shreds that are posted in a “1000 Words” thread. They are all fair game. Nothing is sacred (except me of course).

Yes indeed sacred.
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Except that Santa has decided to let us reindeer to take the law into their own hands, er, hooves. The elves too, are still singing “Four Dead In O-Hi-O”.
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We’re coming, sacred.
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– Rudolf the Red
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This is what I don’t get about the far right who come to swampland:
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They know that Democrats get elected by somebody.
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They know that Democrats are a majority of the US Senate, won 44% of the House this year and held majorities in the previous two congressional election.
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They know that the president won by a significant margin two years ago and is a Democrat.
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So, it is obvious that a very substantial minority – which has been a majority on and off – disagree with them on almost everything.
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They know that this is not a conservative only news outlet.
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Then when they find out that they are a part of a small minority here, they are shocked, dumbfounded, stupefied, jolted and enraged.
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You know, if I walk into a synagogue, I don’t expect to see many or any Christians.
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If I walk into Fenway Park, I don’t expect to find any Yankees fans (alive).
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If you walk into a lesbian bar, you don’t expect to walk away with a girl’s phone number.
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If I walk into a butcher’s shop, I don’t expect to see any vegetarians.
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So, I don’t go to Fenway Park, a synagogues (or Churches for that matter, I am an atheist), a lesbian bar (but will go to a butcher’s shop, I am a carnivore).
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If I did, go to any of those places, I would be surprised if I wasn’t in the extreme minority if not the only person with my POV.
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But the far right… OMG OMG. Holy sht! I went to a mainstream news outlet and they were…. I can’t believe this… LIBERAL.
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Then these angered, belligerent right wingers wonder why they get made fun of so much here.
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Why don’t you, next, go to a gay bar and bring up how unhappy you are with the fact that DADT got overturned?
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(I don’t know anything about gay bars, but, I don’t suspect that they’ll agree with you.)

jastdi2: Try to have a “happy” Christmas.

“I don’t know anything about gay bars”
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Talk about friendly. There are even attendants in the restrooms to help you get it out to take a leak. Now that’s service. Forget about the three shakes rule though. Those fellas are thorough.
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Traditional Christmas breakfast of bagels with lox and a schmear-consumed.
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Traditional Christmas day walk to the theater (True Grit)-seen
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Now to start the lamb stew that’s finished with scrambled eggs on top (uh, non-tradtional).
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Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!

Singing Iolanthe? Really? Really? That’s it?
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Traditional Christmas afternoon reading and napping accomplished.
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Now to go play with my toys!
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Cheers to all.

Woke up at 3. Cup of coffee. Used the snowblower to clear the neighbor’s driveway (225 ft) and ours (175 ft). Dinner and now the Heat/Lakers. I’m letting it build up a little time so I can scan through the commercials. Maybe I should go up and get a piece of elitist New York cheesecake. Yep. That’s the plan. Later.

It’s all over on my side of the planet, but I hope all of you are enjoying your Christmas.

The Heat pounded the Lakers. I got enough books, movies and cds to last me until warm weather. It was very enjoyable. I could do without the snow though. It’s been almost 3 weeks since it’s gotten up to freezing.

From another, younger skewing, message board.
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“We are safe, fed, and warm. I hope that all of you are, as well.”
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Hard to beat that sentiment.
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(homemade -but not by me- croissant on their final stage, stew done and just getting better, only thing left is the salad.)

I hope you enjoyed them carotexas1. We had them again today. We had them on Thanksgiving too. Now that I think about it, those are the only two days out of the year that we ever have them.
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A little OT, but I worked midnight last night. I got home this morning and walked the dogs. I went to bed and when I got up I washed the dishes. I cleaned 400′ of driveways with the snowblower. When I came back in I looked like a snowman. I took my boots off in the kitchen and gingerly walked into the living room to tell my wife I was going to take a quick shower. The MIL told me “Don’t get any snow on my carpets!”. She hasn’t ran the vacuum cleaner since she moved in 12 years ago. It’s my house too. I went over, scraped a big handful of snow off of my coat and showed it down the back of her pajamas.
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So much for age bringing wisdom.

Actually, I posted this — as longtime commentators will know — at KT’s request. It was her tradition, that I am continuing. And, yes, to all who’ve mentioned it, she is still missed. So, Merry Christmas, jastdi2, so glad to see you in the Holiday spirit.

JNS, thank you for taking the time to continue a holiday tradition here in the swamp. It is much appreciated. I don’t mind at all that it’s the same picture. If we couldn’t come up with new comments it would be because we lack imagination. Thankfully, we have that in spades. Merry Christmas.

Checkers enjoys his last night before he’s converted into a fur hat and a handwarmer.

“As children we become accustomed to hearing fairy tales. They are always pleasant stories and they are comforting to hear because good always triumphs over evil. At least this is the way it is in fairy tales.

Fairy tales are not dangerous for our children and are probably even good for them up to a point. However, in the real world in which you and I must live, fairy tales are dangerous. They are dangerous because they are untrue. Anything which is untrue is dangerous.

And it is all the more dangerous when a fairy tale becomes accepted as reality simply because it has an official seal of approval, or because honorable men announce that you must believe it or because powerful elements of the press tell you that the fairy tale is true.”

- Jim Garrison

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/points-of-failure/

Cut to the chase. Is Santa real or not? Keep in mind that we have some posters that are only in their 20′s and 30′s.

Wait until you text.
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You aren’t in the present until you do…

The Heat. Tired of Lakers.
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Yes. I know I’m left coast, but hells bells, it’s always Lakers. I’m for a regime change…

Sacredh don’t text.

Your side of the planet?!?!
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Ok. Nevermind. Our chunk is in the dark now. 6+ hours left, then we can drink some more until we FF to new years…

It’s ok. We’re vile…
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Merry Christmas JNS!

Daaaad…he’s touching MY side side of the planet.
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Kids, don’t make me pull this solar system over. I swear I will.

Fun facts about Richard Nixon:

“Nixon’s proposed Family Assistance Program (FAP) [...],would have provided working and nonworking poor families with a guaranteed annual income”

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416465/Richard-M-Nixon/214055/Domestic-policies

“He asked the Justice Department to bring sex discrimination suits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. And he ordered the Labor Department to add sex discrimination provisions to the guidelines for its Office of Federal Contract Compliance.”

“[Nixon] sent dozens of environmental proposals to Congress, including the Clean Air Act of 1970 [...]. He also created two new agencies, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency, to oversee environmental matters.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/37_nixon/nixon_domestic.html

Sounds like a RINO to me.

Merry christmas and happy holidays to all!

“Sounds like a RINO to me.”
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Nope. Just sounds like what a republican used to be. Nixon would be shocked and horrified at what passes itself off for a republican now.

The man is gone but the legend lives on.
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It’s kind of appropriate that you post this on a thread with a Nixon picture. Dick did try to have him deported.

Thanks so much for continuing this tradition, Jay Newton-Small, it is greatly appreciated by regulars like me, who have been commenting and reading here for the past three years.

I’m getting ready to head out to work but I want to leave you folks with something to ponder. My MIL lives with us. She’s possibly the laziest human being I’ve ever met in my life. She’s a bigot and a racist. She thinks Obama is the anti-Christ and Catholicism is a cult. She thinks atheists worship the Devil. If she’s not talking on the phone (10-12 hours a day), she’s trying to talk to us about stuff we don’t care about that she heard from one of her friends (that we also don’t know or care about). If she’s not doing either of those things she’s talking to the dogs and if the dogs won’t listen to her she either talks to herself or sings. She has a voice that could peel paint and I don’t think she knows the complete (or accurate) lyrics to ANY song. I was just upstairs making a snack tray to take to work and she was singing. “Jingle bells, jingle bells to grandmother’s house we go. Polly wolly doodle all the day”. If you’re trying to think of something to be grateful for, be grateful that she doesn’t live with you. Good night.

“Kids, don’t make me pull this solar system over. I swear I will.”
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FTW!

“Then these angered, belligerent right wingers wonder why they get made fun of so much here.”
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No we only wonder why anybody would listen to losers that have nothing better to do than to post on here all day on Christmas.
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Then they actually believe that they should tell anybody else what to do. Credentials: “I am a professional poster.”

Wow! She really deserves you for a SIL. I have many things to be grateful for, but adding her not living with me to the list.

It’s funny a right winger would say that.
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Professional trolling is a job:
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“The trolls efforts will be to create “discussion” (arguments), and to get traffic to the site to continue the fight. This will mean posting to busy internet locations that good trolls know of. Something along the line of “you should come and take a look at this”. It might work better for items which are a fiery topic. Shirts, and bumperstickers, on subjects which have clear pro and con sides. Hit a pro site and post a con about the item, then hit a con site and do a pro post about the item. An experienced troll might even create two different personas and argue with themself just to get the battle lines drawn. But even if its not a hot topic you might be surprised that a practiced troll is able to create active dynamic conversation even on something like “hummingbird shirts”. Again, keep a hard personal armor up since that often involves making an obviously wrong and offensive statement forcing people to flock to the site to correct it or to defend you.”
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So, what kind of a nut goes onto a primarily liberal website and instigates arguments?
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1) the insane who are gluttons for punishment.
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2) Professional trolls.
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People using the name of, say, a Commercial real estate agent, among others you can rule out.
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Who has big bucks to support trolling for their political side?
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The Koch brothers, Exxon Mobil, large corporations looking for environmental exemptions or tax breaks.
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So, how much do you make from this Meltodwn?

BTW: I’ve linked to both my work website and to Linked in revealing that I am exactly who I say I am, against the advice of others.
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You may know – but probably don’t – that commercial real estate follows the regular business cycle: no work before 8:00 am, no work after 6:00 PM, no work on weekends, no work on Christian or Jewish holidays and extremely slow business late August through Early September and extremely slow business the week before Christmas until Martin Luther King Day.
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So, what happened to your job, Metldown?
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Don’t tell me, you got laid off and got hired as a professional troll.

I’m getting more grossed out by the recent partisan Democrat trolls than the rightists…at least I hope to God they’re trolls, otherwise we have some poor deluded soul saying “Best Congress ever! Best President ever! Thank you so much, Democrats! What a wonderful feeling! Everything is great!” and actually meaning it, patricksartor.

patrick: I don’t understand. Is liberalmeltdown stating he is a poster (like hangs on a wall) or poser? And he is a professional?

Stuart,
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As I see it, we have two choices left:
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1) Change riding on the back of a snail with severe arthritis.
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2) Going back to the dark ages.
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Many things finally got started with this congress.
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I was nine years old when Ronald Reagan became president and started undoing what LBJ and, to a lesser extent, FDR did. So, since before I followed the news, government was about giving people the shaft harder and harder.
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So, to say that this is the best congress since Reagan is like saying that Erwin Romel was the best Nazi general (since he was, when he found out about it, opposed to the holocaust and did, in operation Valkyrie play his role in planning to have the army take over for Hitler and the SS -but he isn’t what I would think of as an Allied hero in WWII).
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That’s not taking into account even that, compared Mitch McConell and John Boehner, Ronald Reagan was a RINO.
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You seem to have an all or nothing approach which seems very impractical to me. If it is not either single payer or like the German system, lets undo it and ignore the fact that it will scare future Democrats from proposing any reforms for another 17 years rather than keep this mild improvement and use it as something for Democrats to further reform.
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I don’t believe that this was the best congress ever or even the best congress in 40 years.
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It has been the most prolific congress, which is a different and not that great of a compliment.

Stuarrt, here’s a thought:
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If you were in California and decided in 2012 to run for office, even you believed in it wholeheartedly, would you run on legalizing pot?
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(I am ambivalent about that issue since am against condoning marijuana, but know that out of every illegal drug, that is the mildest and far, far, far more common.)
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If you want campaign donations, people to sign my petition to start my campaign, to win the party nomination and you agree with an unpopular position, if you want to serve in elected office, you should rather want to bite your tongue off than say that you favor a totally unpopular position rather than, instead, bring up the popular things you believe in.
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What would have happened if congress said that, since this is just a shell of what health care reform is supposed to be and it failed. What would future Democrats do? They would rather bite their tongues off than bring health care reform up.
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By contrast, the original Clinton plan in 1992 was called “Live and let serve” totally lifting all bans on gays in the military. It turned into the very watered down DADT which turned into the lifting of DADT 17 years later. If we didn’t replace the total ban on gays in the military, then I believe that there would be no chance of doing so now, as they have done.
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Until there is a true Liberal/Social Democrat rebellion inside the Democratic party larger and more unified than the Tea Party’s Republican insurrection, we can ride the arthritic snail on a path to change or watch the Republican tide sweep away everything progressives/liberals have achieved the past 80 years.
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You seem to presume that everybody follows things as closely as we do. Few do and it shows in the election results.

Patrick, ACA being (at this stage) to health care reform as DADT (at that time) was to gays openly serving in the military is an interesting argument.
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And maybe the best thing one could say about ACA.

patricksartor:
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“You seem to have an all or nothing approach which seems very impractical to me.”
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No, no.
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Dude, it’s not that complicated.
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We’ve been back and forth on whether the PPACA was a mild improvement (your position) or whether it made things worse (my position), so let’s let that go for the moment.
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It’s not “all or nothing” to acknowledge that change for the worse (continuation of SS-undermining payroll tax “holiday”, permanent estate tax exemption of $5 million, etc) is change for the worse.
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I’m not saying that change is too slow in coming, I’m saying that much the change that has come out of New Democrat-led Democrats has been bad for the country.
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On the issues where centrists and liberals (finally, it wasn’t always like this) agree, like repeal of DADT, they made it happen. On the issues where centrists and conservatives agree, like the defense boondoggle-budget hitting new highs, they also made it happen. On the issues where centrists and conservatives disagree, like expanded FDA powers, they made it happen. On the issues where centrists and liberals also disagree, like leaving unsound financial system structures fundamentally unaltered, they made it happen.
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Centrists made centrist policy and politics happen all over the place. They got a whole bunch of policy in their preferred direction enacted. They were productive as hell, even though being highly productive in that manner doesn’t help and often hurts the country.
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And what they did not do, which makes the victory laps of partisan Democrats so revolting, is the kind of liberal policy that matters a whole heck of a lot more than repealing the law they, themselves passed 16 years ago allowing the military to discriminate against gay people: they didn’t stop the foreclosure crisis, they didn’t embark on New Deal 2.0 jobs-creating infrastructure campaign, they didn’t end the hemorrhaging occupation policies, and they didn’t bring accountability in any way to elites and institutions that continue to fail the American people.
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It’s not that Obama and the Democratic leadership believe in those programs, and just couldn’t overcome hardcore GOP resistance, it’s that these policies aren’t a part of their program, period.
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It’s not that they desire or welcome obscenely high foreclosure and unemployment rates –don’t get me wrong– but it’s that they don’t agree that New Deal-style policies to help ordinary people are worth the cost in terms of shifting government into an adversarial relationship with finance and industry. They don’t want the kind of government that has the kind of responsibility we’re talking about, and so they’ll tolerate and even excuse double-digit unemployment and the banks’ rampant fraud rather than accept that role.
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I’m not looking for “all or nothing.” I’m very happy that these Democrats finally repealed their own sh*tty law that enshrined discrimination into statute. Maybe they’ll even make good on repealing the other sh*tty law they passed back then that also codified discrimination: the “Defense of Marriage Act.”
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Remember those bad laws these Third Way Democrats passed? These type of Democrats did victory laps back then about passing DADT and DOMA!
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It’s just not “all or nothing” to look at what Democrats with Obama’s ideological persuasion get done, and to conclude that, on balance, their kind of governance makes the country worse off than if they had done nothing.
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It’s not “all or nothing” to be able to recognize a net loss, in other words.
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And only the most dishonest or foolhardy sort of partisan Democrat can look at what the country is going through, and conclude that the past two years haven’t amounted to a net loss for ordinary people. That’s why the victory lappers with their “I’m so proud of Congress!” cheering are so offensive –and so tone-deaf and stupid, in purely political terms.
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I don’t see this as a choice between “going back to the dark ages” and “extremely slow change for the better.” In terms of the things that really matter, in terms of economic, political, social and military structures that can keep our country from forming a new, darkly undemocratic and middle class-less, socially immobile age, we’re not getting a choice –this regime is being forced on a mostly unwilling or uncomprehending population.
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When they move on “modernizing” Social Security, and put through the same sort of “compromise” elites in the capital all love (for which the Republican-Obama tax deal represents another step), then you’ll have to concur, I think, that the choice isn’t between “change at a snail’s pace” and “a return to the dark ages,” patricksartor. Combining Social Security and general revenue, which is what the payroll tax “holiday” effectively does, is the precursor to drastic change in a different direction, one that will satisfy neither pre-New Deal advocating conservatives nor New Deal 2.0-advocating liberals. It won’t be the conservative “dark age,” but it will be extreme, and it will look like something else entirely.
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We need to stop this radical “saving Social Security, and modernizing entitlements” program from happening, patricksartor. If we liberal Democrats fall into the same traps again, we’ll find ourselves voting for what would obviously be unconscionable, incompetent, terrible consequence policy, because otherwise it’s the “dark ages” program of the GOP side. We can’t let the choices be between bad and worse, or we’ll get bad –and then it will get worse.
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On one very important thing we can agree, I believe, which was really the point of my comment about partisan Democratic operatives, or trolls or whatever has recently come to comment here. When you write:
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“I don’t believe that this was the best congress ever or even the best congress in 40 years”
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you are, of course, correct. That’s reality, and we, in the reality-based community, are not the rank Bushists who denied that there was a civil war in Iraq, or that New Orleans was drowning and starving. We’re capable of reality-based politics.
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But the partisan Democrat victory-lappers are increasingly following in the Bushists’ dangerous footsteps, patricksartor.
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They’re increasingly demanding that we liberal Democrats ignore the unemployment and foreclosure rates, ignore the continuing occupations, ignore the partnering deals with big finance and industry, ignore the increasing descent into an authoritarian and accountability-less state, and that we clap louder for whatever they call “victory.”
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They’re demanding loyalty, in other words.
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Unearned loyalty in return for dangerously incompetent government is the definition of Bushism, patricksartor. It’s not like the Medicare Part D-passing Bushists were even terribly conservative, but they demanded loyalty, anyway, since traitorous, God-hating, “Party of Death” Democrats were waiting to pounce on the levers of the state, in order to usher in a new era of Soviet oppression in America.
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We must be a different base than that –and we are, which is why you and I can agree about the non-bestness of this Congress, and say so, unlike the admittedly water-carrying Limbaugh and his dittoheads.
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That’s why partisan propagandists must be treated as such, patricksartor, and why Democratic happy talk can’t be accepted in silence by the reality-based community.
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Thanks for reading and considering this.

By the way, patricksartor, is it out of control outside, or what?
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Hope you don’t have anywhere to go tomorrow…

Pat: Dick, tell me again about that dream you had last night where you saw the future.

Dick: I get elected President and then get re-elected. The rest was a little fuzzy, but when I finally leave the White House I’m standing on the steps of Air Force One with both of my arms held high and flashing the victory sign with both hands. There’s no other way to interpret it. I will leave in a blaze of glory.

It’s not all bad. We actually get along most of the time…but there’s usually at least one time each day…
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OTOH, guess what she bought me for Christmas? Nothing. She said she forgot. My wife shamed her into giving me $50. I bought her 5 gifts. After I got the $50 I told her that Christmas just proved one thing…that I was the better christian and I didn’t even believe. I told her to stop going to church because she was just wasting her time because nothing was sinking in. She gets dozens of calls everyday from her friends and I tried to get to the phone first and tell them that she didn’t buy me anything while I bought her everything she asked for. It was fun listening to her trying to make up excuses.

Who knew glory was a euphemism for phlebitis?

“By the way, patricksartor, is it out of control outside, or what?”
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Here in Queens (about ten miles from you) I did brave it and drive to Wendys passing by two open places on the way to my car, but this is insane weather.
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Working from home (which has more downsides than upsides as far as I am concerned – with the ideal being that I have an office and can work from home, too, when I want to leave early, wake up late…etc) I have nowhere I need to be.
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You, probably drive even less than I do and may not have recently experienced anything like this, but, on a twenty five minute round trip drive (which is usually ten minutes round trip) the gathering snow covered my rear window and side windows that I was nearly driving blind (at 10 MPH).
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I hate it when I can’t go anywhere for at least an hour or two when I want to. It looks like we won’t be dug out in Queens until late tomorrow morning (you maybe an hour earlier) and my relatives all gathered in the burbs… they’ll be staying a little longer for Christmas than they planned on.

Here’s to you Tricky Dick:

I wasn’t sure at first (but now I am fairly clear that he is not) if Stuart was saying that I am one of those who cheer on Party D at all cost.
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Making an argument, as I would, that buying super cheap health insurance is a microscopic step forward I believe is out there, too, but, I won’t defend that.
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The massive failing of this administration was the stimulus package: it sold out with tax cuts and ended up subsidizing the payment of overdue bills for state government.
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Reacting to a recession is now or never and must be federal government paychecks in workers pockets ASAP until the private sector picks up the slack.

Yeah I wasn’t sure who SZ was referring to either, I thought it was sort of a Stawtroll that he was slaying.
At least I haven’t noticed many here.
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As for the rest of your comment I agree. I almost HAVE to believe that it is a camel nose under the healthcare tent as (What may be the sad reality) the alternative is pretty depressing.
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As really poor as Frank Rich can be his writing about the end of the middle class and the “American Dream” column today was pretty good.
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Until the end when he self characterized as being *not* one of the haves.

“They’re increasingly demanding that we liberal Democrats ignore the unemployment and foreclosure rates, ignore the continuing occupations, ignore the partnering deals with big finance and industry, ignore the increasing descent into an authoritarian and accountability-less state, and that we clap louder for whatever they call “victory”"
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As for foreclosures, as a part of my renewing my realtor’s license I had to attend classes (lectures) of various kinds including one on residential real estate (which I do not do, but there is only one type of license, so I had to take it). A banker was the primary speaker. In addition to making some well deserved jabs towards his own industry, he pointed out that the plan to renegotiate loans has one serious problem: since the bank responsible for foreclosing almost never has 100% control over the loans, mortgage backed securities owners who invested their retirement money could sue the banks for making deals. That is, if you own a mortgage backed security the issuing bank claimed was a very low risk investment and the bank negotiates with the homeowner to lower payments, the bank you do not own is determining that the MBS you do own is going to receive lower payments. Should this happen and a securities attorney comes along, you could join a class action suit to have the difference between what the original loan was and what they negotiated to to be paid to you from the bank who readjusted the loan for damages.
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In other words, banks put themselves in a hard to win situation.
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The lecturer went on to say things I disagreed with about how courts are sometimes foregoing foreclosures because the banks do no have complete documentation. I think the bank better damn well have everything proven before they remove people from their homes.
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So, most of what Democrats did to try and decrease foreclosures did absolutely nothing at all.
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As for handling unemployment, see what I said about the stimulus package on the next page.
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It was just plain awful and did very little.
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Reacting to a recession is an all or nothing proposition and it must be federal government paychecks into workers pockets, no new tax breaks, no state or local government dipping their hands into the cookie jar to balance the books… just a plain, vanilla public works project.
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Financial reform was a disappointment, but does allow for the regulation of derivatives among other things and undoes about half the harm done by the Clinton/Gingrich repeal of the Glass Stegal Act. It’s not worse than nothing. It is better than nothing.
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Social Security I agree with you about but do believe that with healthier and longer living people year after year after year, an increase in retirement age should exist. My Mom is 72 and has no plans to retire for a few more years, for example. Her uncle in 97 years old and been collecting a pension and social security for 32 years!
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(My great uncle is a procrastinator he didn’t get around to marriage until he was almost 42 years old, he may not get around to dying until about age 100 or so.)

It’s not that I’m making up commenters with whom to argue that don’t exist, but I don’t want to feed the troll or social media operative (if that’s what they are) by direct reference.
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Just look around for recent posts with comments in which people are ludicrously “proud” of their Democratic Congress, to the point of un-self aware hilarity.

Paul,
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Good article!
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Link:
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26rich.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=frankrich

Stuart,
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How can we get a Bernie Sanders/ Al Franken ticket to win in 2012 or, maybe, 2016?
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If you’ve got an answer, I’m all ears.

“I’m getting more grossed out by the recent partisan Democrat trolls than the rightists”
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Okay this is probably on me but are they “trolls” because you disagree with them? I thought trolls were constantly off-topic posters. Like spob (who I don’t actually consider a troll) who often enters a thread with “sure guys but what about…”
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Glad you linked the column Patrick, I failed by not doing so. Again, considering the source, a pretty good piece.

I might be way off base, but I took SZ’s comment to mean that some people are getting far too enthusiastic over what might be actually minor or watered down versions of legislation that have passed. If you’re aiming for a new Lexus and settle for a 15 year old Saturn, there’s no reason to cheer the Saturn.

“If you’re aiming for a new Lexus and settle for a 15 year old Saturn, there’s no reason to cheer the Saturn.”
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What if your old car is a 1988 Yugo?
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What if, as it is in the nearby suburbs of Boston 40 minutes between buses during rush hour?
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I would, if it were an Edsel or 40 minutes or even more between buses, at least give a sigh of relief at the Saturn, even if not a cheer.

I find Nixon a rather interesting president and an American President objective historians will be very kind to in regards to his policy and legislative accomplishments. As a person he was a very “us and them” mind set and rather sexist and raciest. He was also a paranoid. Despite that, he was a very complex man with an extraordinary intellect. His IQ was far beyond average even if his emotional development was not. I have always felt an odd fondness for Nixon. I think he is a man who never has been appreciated as much as he deserved. He was demonized far beyond his sins, imo. And his virtues have never been largely acknowledged by our country. I believe objective historians will do him justice, one day.

I appreciate your sentiments but for a certain generation he did what was before thought impossible-complete distrust in government.
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Ford’s pardon likely hid even more illegal activity.
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The most damaging event to this country’s ethic until September 11h 2001.

lilaland, I’ve always like Nixon but for a far different reason. I thought him being a crook and getting caught at it just brought home to the American people what I had always believed to be true, that our Presidents were just as f**ked up as the rest of us but only had higher profile jobs. I was glad to see the myth stripped away. Not just for him, but for every President. It had always seemed to me that we gave far too much leeway to our leaders. I don’t think you can get to the White House by being a good guy (Carter might be an exception and he stunk as President). We have to hold them accountable and keep the magnifying glass on them.
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I couldn’t care less about minor foibles like getting a blow job in the Oval Office or having a First Lady that liked the tarot cards. They can do what they like in their personal lives as long as they pay at least some attention to the laws and put the welfare of the country first. I kind of liked the first Bush even though I felt that he was an ouch of touch elitist. Him calling their office-front 34 room mansion a “cottage” didn’t sit well with me at all, but I admired him for building an international coalition for the first Gulf War.

That’s ocean-front, not office front even though office-front might be more appropriate.

Dick: And one day my health care reform package will be passed by a Negro Democrat and we will succeed in driving America so far to the right that they will call my ideas screaming liberal.

The End.

Pat: Now, Dick, stop scaring the children with those horror stories. It’s Christmas not Halloween.
patricksartor
December 24, 2010
at 10:50 pm
Reply to this comment

*
6.1

Dick: sorry, a half Negro president…
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Pat: DICK!
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Dick: I mean a half Negro Democrat raised by white people.
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Pat: DICK!
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Dick: what? We’re Republicans! This is what we dream of for Christmas.

…………………………………………………………………………..

LMAO! Oh, too funny.

sacredh, I think you really hit on a truth. There was a very human element to Nixon in his fall from grace. Sometimes when leaders prove to have flaws, it touches us in a very human way.

He was brilliant, a little insane, and human.

I think maybe deep down people like being able to relate to great minds. I think the GOP is making a mistake by allowing people like Palin and Beck to intimidate and control the party. They are not great minds and it does not feel “special” to be able to relate to them.
Can you understand what I’m trying to articulate?

The Nixon administration and all of the right wing thugs he drew around him, and who caused his downfall, have to be viewed through the prism of the Kennedy Camelot, and the fact that he was screwed by King Joe, who stole 1960 from him. That’s a fact. Nixon, who wasn’t the most genial politician to begin, got down right crazy after being screwed by the Kennedy’s. He was one of the greatest of Presidents, and one of the worst. But bigger than himself, he spawned the current insanity on the right wing. He is a tragic giant in our history, and it is still working itself out.

“How can we get a Bernie Sanders/ Al Franken ticket to win in 2012 or, maybe, 2016?
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If you’ve got an answer, I’m all ears.”
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I think that it’s a long, arduous process, patricksartor.
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It’s sort of going to be like the movement conservatives sitting down and asking each other “How can we get a Barry Goldwater elected in 1976 or 1980?”
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The first thing we need to do, though, is begin to automatically recognize the difference between centrist policy and liberal policy, just the way that we can see that conservative frames are different now.
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If so many of us continue to think of Obama and the New Democrats are basically “lite” versions of liberal Democrats doing what leftward policy can be done given political reality, then it will be a longer, rather than shorter journey.
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The more that we catch on to the fact that we’re voting for presidential candidates that come from that same ideological pool of politicians who have had a stranglehold on the Party since the end of the 1980′s, and that they’re not going to do “liberal lite” policy, but something else that hurts the country as much as conservatism most of the time, the sooner movement liberals will be at our 1980 Goldwater moment.
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It first takes that recognition that a moderate liberal is different than a dedicated Third Way proponent, though.
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We’ll never –never– get New Deal 2.0 out of Third Way politicians, just like we’ll never get liberal policy out of conservative governance.
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Partisan Democrats want to keep that knowledge from us, so that their centrist candidates can “run to the left” during primaries, and so we’re always more afraid of Republicans winning than we are of Third Way Democrats winning, even though we should fear both for different reasons. It’s politics, to them.
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The answer to your question, as it is in so many situations, is “Start by knowing the difference,” in my opinion.

I think so. When we have great leaders, we like to project and see a part of ourselves in them. If they prove to be just as fallible, we reject and villify them when they let us down because that’s when they really show us what we truly have in common.
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I agree with the Palin/Beck comment. I think giving them any sort of leadership role gives them far more attention than they deserve. If I was going to a PTA meeting and met Palin and found out that she was teaching a child of mine, I’d want my kid to have a different teacher. I don’t want my leaders to be just like me. I want them to be better educated. I want them to have a firm grasp on the issues and a plan that is longer than a catch phrase or a bumper sticker.
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Palin is good at promoting herself and making people just as clueless as her think that they’re special and represent the “vast majority” of Americans. She might be right. The vast majority of Americans may be semi-educated sheep that want a common leader because that’s what they are. She comes across as anti-education unless the education is as basic as possible. I still maintain that if she was over-weight and plain looking, nobody would even give her the time of day.

sacredh:
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“If you’re aiming for a new Lexus and settle for a 15 year old Saturn, there’s no reason to cheer the Saturn.”
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Actually…no, I’m sorry, that’s not what I’m trying to say.
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I type a lot of words, but I don’t do a great job of communicating a bunch of the time.
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It’s not that we’re aiming for a new Lexus, and we got a sh*tty Saturn, it’s that we’re getting our asses blown up, and we need a way up-armored HumVee, but we got both a new Lexus and a sh*tty Saturn –so our asses are going to continue to get blown up.
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What I mean to say is, if you’re aiming to get the country out of its apparent decline, and you settle for unemployment insurance extension and what may be the fatal financial blow to Social Security, then there’s no reason to cheer unemployment insurance extension.
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It’s not that we got good policy lite, it’s that we got bad policy…and some other stuff to make single-issue Democrats feel good.

I agree with everything said by sacredh. Also, formerlyjames makes some good points about Nixon! We was a man of hugely diverse elements. Both good and bad. He was an interesting person.

SZ, thanks for the clarification. Maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but more and more I think that we are being deliberately steered toward a scenario where things will get so bad that we have no choice but to cut many programs and services to the bone if not eliminate them completely to stay afloat.
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I don’t see our future as a Star Trek-like world where hunger and poverty have been eliminated, I see Blade Runner where incredible wealth and abject poverty are the two norms. I really don’t see any way out of this for us. I think it’s only a matter of time.

I don’t think you’re being pessimistic, sacredh, I think that you’re being realistic.
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You know, I never saw our future as a utopian, Star Trek world, which is one of the reasons why I’m a new liberal, and not one of those old, bleeding-heart or limousine liberals.
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I don’t want hunger and poverty eliminated world-wide, I just want close to the inequality situation they have in Norway or Sweden, where they’ve got these things managed properly, where they’re still insanely wealthy by our standards, but they don’t have the declining standard of living we do.
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It never was my hope to cure the world’s ills, just to keep the same upward trajectory of our expanding middle class we had after WWII, and not to f*ck it up, like we’re doing.
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The US is my country, which basically means my very, extremely extended family, so I care a lot more about our people than the entire world’s problems.
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We’re going toward that Blade Runner world, but it’s not some futuristic place with flying cars (where are the flying cars, for God’s sake –it’s after the year 200!!!), it’s some place in South America or Eastern Europe today.
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It’s not pessimism to look at what just happened, and how we responded to the security crisis like we’re Soviet Russia, and we responded to the financial crisis like we’re post-Soviet Russia, and see the writing on the wall, if we do nothing –even maybe if we do something.
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Fortunately, we’ve been at these cross-roads before as a country, and we came through.
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It’s possible –possible– for our people to come through again. I have to believe that, because I’m an American, but I also think we have a realistic shot. We’re like that as a people, you know. We’re a weird bunch; we always have been.
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You see, sacredh, I believe in American Exceptionalism, just not the way those assclowns in Washington say they do.

sacredh–
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Have you read Nixonland? The Haldeman Diaries?
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If you haven’t, you really should. Perlstein’s insight into Nixon’s character–his sense of being trodden on by the elites, but nonetheless overcoming them is well described there.
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The H Diaries really capture Nixon in a different way–and, in some ways, some stuff that must be true of all presidents. For example, he refers to Nixon, the political candiate and office holder as “RN,” sometimes in the 3rd person….

I’ve not only read it, I still have my copy (as well as just about every other book I’ve ever bought). I have thousands. When I buy the farm my survivors are going be cursing my ass because of all the stuff I’m leaving behind. I have a bunch of collectibles that are worth quite a bit of money. I’m not telling them which ones. They’ll have to figure it out or lose out.

Rick was very interesting when he stopped by to discuss the book.
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http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2008/05/30/virtually-speaking-with-jimbo-hoyer
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We made him a Nixon avatar. I came as George WIll, who had panned the book the previous Sunday in the NYTBR.
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I’ve never read any of the books Nixon himself wrote. Are any of them worthwhile?

SZ, I used to be more of an idealist. I did think our future was bright. Right now I think I might be relieved if I knew that it wouldn’t be black. Just to make clear, I was comparing Star Trek and Blade Runner as my opinions and not projecting what I think yours may have been. And just to p!ss off anyone else, I think at least partial socialism is about the only hope we have of keeping the American dream alive.
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Good night folks. Off to work.

Maybe do things that are tangible?
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Unhappy with your (perhaps Democratic) Representative? Work to elect a better one.
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Unhappy with your ( perhaps Democratic) Senator? Work to elect a better one.
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Unhappy with your (perhaps Democratic) Governor? Work to elect a better one.
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Unhappy with your (perhaps Democratic) President? Work to elect a better one.
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Or, you know, just say what sucks.
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Take actual affirmative steps towards something that will make a difference or shout at the clouds.
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Both are satisfying in different ways.

Just in case you were getting frustrated with all my talk, PNNTO (disregard, if you’re not):

Identifying what’s going on is a big part of taking action, in my opinion.
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There’s a kind of campaign that happens during Democratic primaries that the Beltway establishment smirkingly calls “running to the left.” As insane as this is, its become standard practice for our politicians –especially on the Dem side– to imply during primaries that they’re for policies that they don’t mean to implement at all afterwards, while the political media shrugs, fidgets and yawns at the rank dishonesty.
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I think I have a record of doing tangible things, like actually reading campaign proposals and legislation, and trying to understand it along with my fellow citizens in the little, tiny forums in which I contribute. Believe me, reading through all of the drafts, both House and Senate (remember the Finance Committee markup?) of what eventually became the PPACA, for example, took a certain level of commitment.
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I will and do tangible things, like contribute money, sign petitions, work to get the word out, and show up to vote.
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First, though, people have to know what they’re voting for. I certainly didn’t in 2008, and I know others didn’t have a clear idea, either.
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That’s why some people have said it’s a good idea for me to do things like this:
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http://my.firedoglake.com/stuartzechman/2010/12/26/we-must-be-a-different-base/#comment-3
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even though it’s not working directly to elect a liberal Democrat over a Third Way or even machine Democrat.
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Again, if your “why not shut up and get your ass working to elect better government, instead of merely complaining” isn’t directed at me specifically, please disregard my defensiveness, PNNTO.

Stuart,
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I agree with you on all of your points as I understand them.
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They are:
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1) Expecting to turn the Democratic Party from Centrist to progressive in two years is a joke. Four years is overly optimistic. But twelve years is very possible.
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2)Without many of the policies of Sweden, Norway and other social democracies our middle class will be torn out by market forces.
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3) We are going in the direction of third world countries in terms of our division between wealth and poverty.
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4) New Democrats are completely unlike New Deal Democrats and are not more interchangeable with one another than they are with Republicans.
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5) Moderate Democrats are not Third Way Democrats but more like halfway between New Deal Democrats and Third Way Democrats.
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One thing I am optimistic about is this: in 1928 100% of the ideas of the New Deal were considered far too leftist and not even contemplated by anybody outside of Tammany Hall (who used public works projects as patronage – often taking all credibility out of them except). Al Smith, a Tammany Hall NYC Democrat was – in part because he was Catholic as well – soundly defeated by Hoover.
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I see that, unless economic forces unknown to me (just undergraduate, I’m no Paul Krugman) this Republican dominated house will drive us further and further down to the point where people will really, really demand a shift to the left.
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Eight, twelve and sixteen years after Alfred Smith lost the 1928 election, Republicans ran on only making slight modifications to the New Deal, not undoing it.
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If this economy continues to stagnate or, worse yet, go into a double dip before it reaches full recovery, I believe America will make that step to the left we know it needs.
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Then again, I do tend to be optimistic.

patricksartor:
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What’s even more important than agreement with this analysis is that you understand and can explain it.
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Thank you for taking the time and effort in order to be able to reiterate these points that well.
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At least if its understood, this analysis can be refined, what’s inaccurate or incomplete can be stripped out, and it can be tested against real events, to the extent we get good information, which is why I’m here struggling against the conventions of political press corps.
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Maybe you can do a better job of explaining this analysis than I can.

Nixon, congenial until the 1960 election?
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HUAC’s investigations went beyond Hiss. He fed the anti-commie scare of the late 40s and 50s
Take no prisoners campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas

Above I said that snow does not stop the buses or the commuter trains and does not slow down the subway?
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There are three buses stuck in the snow ON MY STREET.
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Buying coffee, I saw some EMTs who had to leave their Ambulance behind because it got stuck in snow.
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Being underground, the subways should be fine and, already, half of the stores and restaurants in my neighborhood are open.
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This is the closest to cabin fever you will see in Queens.
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As for all of my relatives who gathered in the suburbs for Christmas… I wonder when they can go home. I’ll have to call and find out what they are up to.

“What I mean to say is, if you’re aiming to get the country out of its apparent decline, and you settle for unemployment insurance extension and what may be the fatal financial blow to Social Security, then there’s no reason to cheer unemployment insurance extension.
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It’s not that we got good policy lite, it’s that we got bad policy…and some other stuff to make single-issue Democrats feel good.”
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I fully agree. It’s bad that we see extension of unemployment as the ‘game’ winner here; when it’s very unlikely that GOP would have gotten away with it if someone stood their ground.
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I don’t want anyone to suffer, but a short term gain and a long term drain isn’t sound policy. I hate the fact that good policy has become sausage making where someone get scraps and should be happy about it while the systemic destruction of our political system and economy is a downhill motion.
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We really don’t have to do this if we asked for better political leadership instead of the current ‘smile and kiss the baby’ crowd.
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And I really don’t understand people who settle for less.

Well, folks, after a couple of days I see that the conversation degenerated into the sort of anti-Nixon diatribes which I believe the picture was posted to elicit. If this is a tradition of the missed KT, than perhaps KT posted it annually to keep the old anti-Nixon fires alive. There are people like that.

Never voted for Nixon myself, although old enough to have been able to do two out of the three possible times. This is, and if it was posted in the past, was a cheap anti-Christmas spirit shot. And Newton-Small knows it.

I had a terrific Christmas, and thank those wishing me one on this thread. I can only return the thought and hope that theirs were better.

Actually you’ll see that Sacred, formerlyjames, Jayacrkroid, lilaland said some pretty good things about Nixon as I gave him a backhanded compliment in terms of progressives/liberals that for most things he was not very conservative.
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Please note, even though I was born when Nixon was president and do not know his era firsthand, the word “Negro” as in “The United Negro College Fund”,how the US Census put it on it’s forms in 2010 as well as how MLK Jr and all of the Civil Rights leaders used it as a term for themselves prior to the 1970s (except King who was not alive, of course).
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The word Negro is an American pronunciation of the Spanish word Negro meaning black buy pronounced Nay grow.
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The word “black” was not accepted until the very late 1960s or later and the term “African American” was not the norm until the 1990s.
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By 21st century standards, Nixon would be called prejudiced. By 1960s standards, he was mainstream.
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Jastdi2,
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You really like to complain alot, don’t you?

Abit (sic.), There, you can be happy and right. Newton-Small and I equal be (The Gondoliers, this time) in this thread’s cheap-shot category.

If you want to see cheap shots check this one out:
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http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/12/06/1000-words-checking-up-on-that-u-n-dna-edition/
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First, being liberal does not mean that you are a part of the Obama fan club.
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Second, even if it a cheap shot, if you makes people laugh, it is a good post by 1000 word standards.
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Check out the remark about “backbone”.

Lots of interesting programs on Jay’s Virtually Speaking. Recommend checking into them. Not convenient for me to listen in real time, so I usually download to my iPod.
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http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking

It is obvious that jastdl2 decided long ago who was vile and who was not.
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If I apply his standards to my commentary on Obama (it was definately not complimentary!), I would be an Obama hater.
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Far from it. As far as Nixon is concerned, I didn’t really like his conduct after he was in office. As far as his legislative agenda, it was a mixed bag.
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Without too much ado, a lot of my Black American relatives took some good away from the Nixon era too — despite his utterances caught on tape. Many liked the fact that they were able to find decent jobs during this period of time.
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A little known fact, but true…

jayackroyd, I think Perlstein nailed it when he detailed Nixon’s frustrations with his sense of being trodden on by the elites. I think an argument can be made that that was a prime (if not the prime) motivating factor in the Watergate break-in. Nixon had the election wrapped up but he wanted a crushing historic victory to cement himself in the history books. He didn’t just want to win, he wanted a crushing win. I think Nixon wasn’t satisfied just with joining the elites, he wanted to be an elite within the elites to prove to others (and most of all to himself) that he belonged. You can’t be much more of an elite than being President, but Nixon’s drive for constant validation turned into a crippling character flaw. IMHO, the break-in, the Enemies Lists and the tapings were his attempts to protect something that needed no protection. His place in history was already secured.
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I’m not a fan of the books that past Presidents have written. They’ve seemed to me to be exercises in skewing history to make themselves look better than they actually were. If they were good Presidents they attempted to make themselves look great. I didn’t like any of the books Nixon wrote. I didn’t like Clinton’s either. I never even made it halway through one of Clintons and I liked him. Bill’s books were like his speeches. They went on far past the point where they needed to go to make his point.
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I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to respond last night but I was headed out the door to go to work.