In cultures around the world, the arrival of a new year means more than the mere changing of the calendar. It is a time of cleansing and renewal, an opportunity to set past disappointments aside and to look ahead with optimism.
But let’s be honest: These are not the easiest of times in which to set aside fear in favor of optimism.
The financial meltdown of four or five years ago lingers like a hangover from a holiday party that went on much too long. The economy continues its slow recovery; Georgia’s unemployment rate last month was 8.5 percent, down a full percentage point from a year earlier and down almost two full percentage points from 2010. But it is sign of diminished expectations when a statewide jobless rate of 8.5 percent is considered evidence of progress.
And as too many of our fellow Americans know, those cold, impersonal numbers hide deep personal pain, loss and frustration. The American dream and its inherent promise that hard work will be rewarded no longer seem plausible for many, particularly the young. Only the foolish would try to deny that profound, unsettling changes are under way, and for one of the few times in our nation’s history, parents have cause to wonder whether their children and grandchildren will live in a world of reduced opportunity.
On the other hand, anger and disappointment can become self-fulfilling prophecies if indulged too long, and a backward-looking fixation on what used to be will blind you to what can be. That is as true for nations as it is for individuals. Previous generations of Americans faced times much more challenging than these and overcame them, and there is no reason to believe that we are not their legitimate and equally capable heirs.
At the moment, though, such context seems in short supply. In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, just 40 percent of Americans describe themselves as hopeful about the course of world events in the coming year, while 56 percent described themselves as fearful. Unfortunately, a good part of that dismal showing can be explained as the aftermath of a deeply divisive, hard-fought election campaign that both political parties treated as a life-and-death struggle.
According to the Post poll, just 18 percent of Republicans report that they are hopeful about the course of world events in 2013, compared to 38 percent of independents and 61 percent of Democrats; 72 percent of Republicans describe themselves as fearful about what the next year will bring.
In the political world, such numbers have a way of compounding themselves. As Ronald Reagan knew better than anyone, and as the Democrats learned from Reagan the hard way, a party animated by the belief that this is a country in decline will find it difficult to rally others to its cause, creating a spiral that is hard to reverse.
It’s also important to remember that people of all political persuasions tend to exaggerate the importance of government and who runs it. Except in times of war, and at moments of economic crisis such as that of 2008-2009, government actually plays a relatively small role in the course of human events. At times we like to believe otherwise; we like to believe that acting through government, we exert direct control our own fate, but most of the that time, that simply isn’t true.
Faith in ourselves, each other and our country — or the lack of it — is far more important.
– Jay Bookman
1,425 comments Add your comment
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:19 pm
DANNY X
Big Daddy al Shariff Imam Torquemada came up with the answer to that one…it’s called the Get Out of Leviticus Free Card…
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
6:19 pm
td
No, you don’t get it. I’m not bashing you, as I don’t give a rats ass about you personally. Your idea and logic sucks, and that is what I’m bashing. You still haven’t proven how someone can earn less than $25k and rack up $150k in CREDIT CARD debt.
You’re the one who can’t back up your post. You thought that you would be able to post that tripe and nobody would bash it to pieces. Well, I hate to rain on your parade, but the federal budget is not, in any shape, form or fashion, equivalent to a household budget.
And exactly how do we value jobs? Is that the governments responsibility?
Where did you get that from, your colon? Who gives a rat’s ass about how we value jobs. We simply need the private sector to get off their ass and put people to work. We have no problem with putting Chinese and Indian citizens to work, but we can’t bother to do that for Americans, huh? How patriotic is that?
You, and your like minded thinkers, bash people for being on welfare, yet you don’t raise nary a peep at the companies who fire, lay people off, and move jobs that put the people on welfare.
When people choose to have babies out of wedlock, not live in a household where two incomes can take care of their children and themselves then what should we pay these people?
Quit worrying about what goes on in other people’s bedrooms because how they conceive their child is none of your business. If you’re not part of the coitus, why are you worried? You should be more concerned about WHY it takes two incomes to raise a family now when that wasn’t always the case.
You’re so full of talking points that I could probably do much better by talking to the shrubbery in my front yard. Go ahead and make yourself feel good about trying to throw some barb at me about Obama. It only shows how simpleminded you are in that you can’t acknowledge the fact that someone, who doesn’t think like you, doesn’t give a damn about political parties as I really don’t. I wish you and all like partisans, left and right, would go the way of the dodo.
TBS
December 31st, 2012
6:19 pm
“Btw Towncrier, what are your own sins that society needs protection from?”
Usually easy to call out the sins of others or what you perceive as the sins of others then to call out one’s own.
just saying
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:20 pm
josef
vive le france
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
6:20 pm
Might want to check out who the majority was in the House & Senate in ‘02
Doubling down on teh stoopid.
USA Patriot
December 31st, 2012
6:21 pm
TBS – My bad, I was thinking of ‘92. Yep, Bawney did a good job “strong arming” them.
Get, yep, watched the vid. Don’t agree, but that’s okay, we can agree to disagree.
TBS
December 31st, 2012
6:21 pm
Kam
That was a triple down……….. at least
Nunna Yobinnes
December 31st, 2012
6:22 pm
Why do y’all keep talkin about Freddie’s fanny? Sometimes we have no control over how certain of our body parts look. I just wanna know if Freddy’s fanny is gonna go over the physical cliff?
getalife
December 31st, 2012
6:23 pm
The idea that the gop are not to blame too is just plain ignorant.
congress can’t even focus on jobs.
Playing games with our economy and a default is pitiful..
td
December 31st, 2012
6:23 pm
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:19 pm
td
What, exactly, is your point about Freddie/Fannie? That it was a //primary// cause of the economic collapse or just one of several factors and not a major one, at that?
The community investment act (signed on by both Republicans and Democrats but primarily Dems) was the main cause. F/F was just a means to accomplishing the act by guaranteeing the loans and taking the risk away from the banks.
TBS
December 31st, 2012
6:23 pm
“Yep, Bawney did a good job “strong arming” them.”
What an f’n excuse. Frank in the minority Party in the House, strong armed the Republicans and Bush
hahahahahahahah
Except for the talking points you have been fed and bought ……….. hook, line and sinker………… you still don’t believe it, but will say it any way.
Thanks for the laugh
getalife
December 31st, 2012
6:24 pm
usa,
Never mind.
You are like td.
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:27 pm
td
Thanks.
“The community investment act (signed on by both Republicans and Democrats but primarily Dems) was the main cause.”
What lead you to believe it was the //main// cause? According to the official gov’t investigation, there were numerous causes, that issue was just a blip. Main causes were a lax regulatory environment, gov’t regulators not doing their jobs, banks and investment houses taking huge risks that didn’t work out. Would you like me to post the link?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
6:29 pm
The community investment act (signed on by both Republicans and Democrats but primarily Dems) was the main cause.
The CRA only applies to banks, not mortgage companies.
Private mortgage originated 84% of the subprime loans.
DannyX
December 31st, 2012
6:29 pm
“it’s called the Get Out of Leviticus Free Card…”
josef, where can I order some of those cards? I need about a 1000 of them.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:31 pm
Bro
This makes more common sense LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZvsGdJP3ng
F. Sinkwich
December 31st, 2012
6:31 pm
“We simply need the private sector to get off their ass and put people to work.”
Huh?
So you insist that the “private sector” hire people just ’cause you say they should? To do what? Sit on their butts all day surfing the web? Digging holes then filling them back up again?
You gotta face some facts. O’bozo is a job killer. He hates people who actually produce in our society. He taxes them. He regulates them. He says they don’t pay their fair share. He makes fun of them. And his minions like you and the MSM applaud his anti-business policies.
And now you DEMAND these people hire when they’re struggling to meet payrolls as it is?
Unfortunately, the majority of this country voted like you did.
RIP USA 1776-2012
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:31 pm
Granddaddy’s lesson…
Outgo should not exceed income
If the red exceeds the black, you’re in trouble
If you can’t pay cash for it, you can’t afford it
Any questions?
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:33 pm
DannyX
where can I order some of those cards? I need about a 1000 of them.
————————————————————————————————-
Hand them out at the strip club as tips LOL
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
6:33 pm
“The CRA only applies to banks, not mortgage companies”
It’s always easy to tell who doesn’t REALLY know what the CRA is…isn’t it?
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:33 pm
DANNY X
Me, too! I still want to buy a Canadian, though…
http://www.humanistsofutah.org/2002/WhyCantIOwnACanadian_10-02.html
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
6:34 pm
“Any questions?”
What about things like mortgages and car loans? That IS “spending” more than you make.
getalife
December 31st, 2012
6:34 pm
“RIP USA 1776-2012″
obl is dead, gm is alive and in 2013 America is still going strong.
You lose defeatist.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
6:34 pm
It’s always easy to tell who doesn’t REALLY know what the CRA is…isn’t it?
Yes.
TBS
December 31st, 2012
6:36 pm
RIP Lillian Lewis
(wife of John Lewis)
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
6:38 pm
So you insist that the “private sector” hire people just ’cause you say they should? To do what? Sit on their butts all day surfing the web? Digging holes then filling them back up again?
[...]
And now you DEMAND these people hire when they’re struggling to meet payrolls as it is?
There was so much stupid in that post, that I’ll simply wish you a Happy New Year and leave it at that. I was always taught to treat the disabled with class.
————————-
NoCom
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:38 pm
High Sinkwich!
I see where gasoline prices, to cite the news reports, have ‘collapsed’ over the last couple months.
You blamed Obama when prices went up. Did you thank him when prices went down?
(BTW – a new Suburban has mileage ratings of 15 city -17combined -21highway. Based on what I saw on my 1500 mile trip, people driving them and pickups and everything else aren’t all that concerned about gas mileage, as they regularly went way over the speed limit and sucked up a whole lot more gas)
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:38 pm
DOGGONE
“What about things like mortgages and car loans? That IS “spending” more than you make.”
Exactly. He didn’t do it and neither do I.
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:39 pm
Make that ‘Hi”, Sinkwich. It was a salutation, not an honorific -
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:39 pm
or a description…..
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:40 pm
Bro
You left out Bless Your Heart
td
December 31st, 2012
6:40 pm
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
6:19 pm
Long book that did nothing more then bash people because you know that you are supporting a failed philosophy and protecting your government job. Your profession and worship of Obama has made it so you can not even consider another side of the argument and has put you in full bash mode when someone does not agree with you.
You refuse to accept the fact that this country can not continue on its current spending levels because it may effect your government job, medical benefits or out of control pension that you will receive one day.
I know where you are coming from and it is not from a place that you claim to help people. Only yourself.
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:41 pm
I guess td must have found the official report on the cause of the economic collapse and he’s scanning the executive summary. That’s good. It’s nice when people come here to seek new understanding, challenge their old views and are open to new information.
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
6:41 pm
“Exactly. He didn’t do it and neither do I”
Well, not everyone is as lucky as you are. They’d have to pay for housing and transportation regardless. Better to borrow the money and make the payments on something that will be YOURS instead of renting and paying for something that will belong to someone else in the end.
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:43 pm
$3.19 at QT…
TD
You sure don’t pay a lot of attention to Brosephus if you think he “worships” Obama…
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:44 pm
josef
A lot of bloggers here think that if you raise a point challenging their view you ‘must’ be an advocate for their political opponent.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:44 pm
josef
you could have stopped at
You sure don’t pay a lot of attention
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
6:45 pm
I guess td must have found the official report on the cause of the economic collapse and he’s scanning the executive summary.
I guess I’d better start getting ready for my New Year’s Eve date with Doutzen Kroes.
Peace
December 31st, 2012
6:45 pm
Indigo @ 9:12 a.m.
You should,get some help.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:48 pm
Kam
I guess I’d better start getting ready for my New Year’s Eve date with Doutzen Kroes.
———————————-
Don’t forget the Taser and handcuffs
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
6:49 pm
Your profession and worship of Obama has made it so you can not even consider another side of the argument and has put you in full bash mode when someone does not agree with you.
I don’t worship Obama, and if I were not Christian, I’d tell you exactly where you could shove that statement. I’m certain that God isn’t too pleased with your constant blasphemy here, so there’s no need for me to pile on. I’m certain that he’s more than capable of handling that himself.
You refuse to accept the fact that this country can not continue on its current spending levels because it may effect your government job, medical benefits or out of control pension that you will receive one day.
I know where you are coming from and it is not from a place that you claim to help people. Only yourself.
You don’t know jack sh*t, and you prove it again and again here. I could go right back to retail if I really wanted to. With the experience that I have, I could open my own business if I wanted to. I took my job because I actually give a damn about immigration as opposed to talking about it as many other people do.
If I wanted to, I could go into private security as a contractor and make much more than I do now. If I wanted to combine all my experiences, I could open a business teaching people how to defend themselves with guns, knives, and other methods while selling them systems to protect their homes.
Your binary brain refuses to accept the fact that not everybody listens to that crap that you do and believe it. Not only that, people who don’t listen to that right wing crap don’t automatically listen to left wing propaganda either. Maybe, if you took your brain off child mode, you’d realize that thinking is much more complex and harder than you make it.
Paul
December 31st, 2012
6:49 pm
Kam
You just knew I’d google that name, didn’t you?
It was worth it -
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:49 pm
DOGGONE
Of course, given the socio-economic system we operate under, you are quite right. And, yes, I am aware that I’m one of the lucky ones, and it is just that, luck, but the bottom line really is that if you can’t pay cash you can’t afford it. We have a system which makes it possible to invest on credit there and, that is a good thing, but when the crunch comes, and it has in way to many cases, you (one) couldn’t afford it.
The real problem was, though, when we went out of control on what we wanted versus what we could afford given our incomes within that system of credit.
Just like the old folks said at the dinner table, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
6:50 pm
Common Sense isn’t very Common
No need.
She doesn’t have a restraining order out on me — yet.
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
6:50 pm
josef
I don’t think td has the basic knowledge to pour piss out of a boot onto the ground without spilling it on himself. I really pray for his soul as he needs lots of prayer…. and a working brain.
USA Patriot
December 31st, 2012
6:51 pm
get – are your retired from the private or public sector?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
6:52 pm
You just knew I’d google that name, didn’t you?
Yep.
It was worth it -
Certainement.
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:52 pm
PAUL
Yeah, that’s how you and I got to be Mormons! It turns out, though, that I’m no longer a Mormon, but a Jew wannabe…
COMMON SENSE
Probably, but I’m trying to be nice…
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
6:53 pm
“but the bottom line really is that if you can’t pay cash you can’t afford it”
and I don’t agree with that. As long as you don’t borrow more than you can make the payments on, you CAN afford it. Part of the problem…and it’s been this way for quite a while now…is that it can be difficult to save faster than prices rise. It’s like a character in a book I read, who was a cleaning lady and who save every year for a nice squirrel lined fur coat. But every year, the price had gone up over what she had been able to save and she had to settle for plain wool.
That’s how it’s been HERE for too long.
Que'Shayda
December 31st, 2012
6:54 pm
“…government actually plays a relatively small role in the course of human events.”
Spot on Jay. Many of us think our lives will be better, or worse, depending on who gets sent to Washington DC. I’ve never found that to be the case. What effect government does have on day-to-day life is usually more immediate and important @ the local level (fire, police, sanitation etc.) than what happens in DC.
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:54 pm
K”CHAK
She’s got pretty eyes…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 31st, 2012
6:55 pm
I don’t think td has the basic knowledge to pour piss out of a boot onto the ground without spilling it on himself.
Which ignores the real question of how did it get there in the first place and whose foot was in it at the time? Inquiring minds!
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
6:56 pm
Kam @ 6:45
Thanks. If I haven’t learned anything else on this blog, I have learned to use google when you name drop. Once again, it was quite worth it.
josef
December 31st, 2012
6:56 pm
BROSEPHUS
With the directions written on the heel… ?
F. Sinkwich
December 31st, 2012
6:56 pm
Thanks, Brosephuss, for accepting my point.
And you, getalife, GM cost me $25 billion. Please remit. And so O’bozo let the SEALs kill OBL. That changes our lives how?
Doofusses abound here.
Nothing will change on this blog in 2013.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:58 pm
Dog
It’s like a character in a book I read, who was a cleaning lady and who save every year for a nice squirrel lined fur coat.
——————————————–
If she was a self respecting Republican she would have pulled out her Bushmaster and killed enough squirrels to make her own squirrel lining.
See there. A happy ending
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
6:59 pm
josef
She’s got eyes?
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
7:00 pm
Keep
I don’t know how that particular liquid ended up in the boot, but I have drank beer from a boot before. I have two boots in my china cabinet as proof.
http://www.oktoberfesthaus.com/category/beer-boots/
Paul
December 31st, 2012
7:00 pm
josef
Notice how when people found out we’re Mormons they all invited us to go out with them, especially during the holidays?
And I actually thought when they said “DD” they were talking about one of getalife’s clubs, not ‘designated driver.’
Oh well….
Pleasant evening all, and watch out for the crazies without a DD, okay? Everybody back tomorrow morning bright and early for Jay’s tribute to John Philip Sousa!
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
7:01 pm
“See there. A happy ending”
Would there be enough left of them to even MAKE a coat?
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
7:02 pm
Thanks, Brosephuss, for accepting my point.
If your point was to prove how basic English continuously eludes you, then you’re welcome. I accepted that point from you a long time ago.
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:02 pm
DOGGONE
That was pretty much what I was trying to say, only you did it more coherently. The necessities of food, clothing and shelter have to be taken care of first and foremost in the budgeting process of income v outgo. It’s when we allow one or more of them to throw us in the red. That’s where the “if you can’t pay cash” does have its corollary. If we look at the mortgage from the standpoint of “investment” and don’t “invest” more than we can afford…
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
7:05 pm
“That’s where the “if you can’t pay cash” does have its corollary. If we look at the mortgage from the standpoint of “investment” and don’t “invest” more than we can afford…”
Yeah, that’s it! I do have a BIG issue with the idea that rising prices mean a flourishing economy. I think a MUCH better description would be “more units sold”…not how much they sold for.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 31st, 2012
7:05 pm
Brosephus, he who wears glass boots should beware of rocks below? Or is that a male version of Cinderella’s glass slipper?
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:08 pm
COMMON\
Baby blue ones…
PAUL
Yeah. They were making up money at work once and one of my Jewish co-workers came to me with the envelope. “You ever notice how they always give the envelope to the Jews first. They know we’ll go overboard so we won’t be considered :cheap.”
DOGGONE
She should’ve just gone ahead and gotten a “Republican Cloth Coat” to begin with!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 31st, 2012
7:08 pm
Well for all the GOP jokes about Biden, he seems to have worked out some movement in Congress.
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:08 pm
“Towncrier, there are hundreds of thousands of divorced members of the Southern Baptist church. Please show me in the Bible where Jesus said divorce is acceptable.”
There are only two Biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage: adultery and abandonment by a non-believing spouse.
“There must be a whole lot of adultery going on in the Southern Baptist church. I guess anyone who accepts divorce and or gets divorced, and breaks the rules on remarriage is not a true Christian.”
You won’t see me justifying that. Jesus said anyone who divorces his or her spouse, except for adultery, and remarries commits (that is, every day) adultery. So, if you want to be sure of going to heaven, don’t do that. God hates divorce because I suppose it is the breaking of a covenant vow. He doesn’t reneg on His promises to people, and I suppose He expects the same of us.
“Just admit it, you are a cherry picker.”
Because you assumed I condoned divorce? Wrong.
“Jesus made the divorce rules and said nothing about homosexuality.”
The OT does and He fully supported the laws and prophets of the OT. But homosexuality is certainly proscribed elsewhere in the NT.
JamVet
December 31st, 2012
7:11 pm
Great news. The Former First Lady is expected to make a full recovery.
Paul, et al, the November defeats of multiple right wing fanatics was just icing on my 2012 cake.
After some cogitation I have changed the my ongoing grade of President Obama to C+. I have not had him that high of a grade since early 2009.
I have been very uncomplimentary about many of his positions, policies, appointments, etc. And was/am impatient with his approach. But as Jay notes, there are political realities that exist and perhaps he is just being shrewd. And is laying the ground work for real liberals to come back to the fore.
And if the pendulum theory is correct, the results and trend are now irrefutable – neoconservatives are definitely and finally falling out of favor.
Evolve or die.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEl9kVl6KPc
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
7:16 pm
Keep
One should only handle glass boots at Oktoberfest, or at least that’s what I did. I’m not trying to put my foot in one of those. The 3L version is a beast and should only be handled by professionals.
Get Real
December 31st, 2012
7:17 pm
Kelly’s Heros…..excellent movie
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:18 pm
“Usually easy to call out the sins of others or what you perceive as the sins of others then to call out one’s own.”
I am very aware of almost all of my sins – past and present. And those close to me know about them as well. But I have no plan to share them here where disclosures of personal information in the past has led to childish mocking and attacks on my person (against the rules of this blog) such as crude sexual innuendos. It would be, as Jesus says, tossing your pearls (the humble admission of missing the mark – hamartia, or sin) before swine. Aside from that, there is a clear difference between occasional (after a fight to stay righteous) or unintentional sin and deliberate, repetitive care-free sin. The latter is characteristic of an unrepentant heart – the only thing I believe God is unwilling to forgive.
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:18 pm
JamVet
He’s up to a B from me…of course, I am grading on the curve!
DOGGONE
Yes. It’s a much healthier economy of 10 at $200,000 than one at $2,000,000 the way I see it…
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:20 pm
TC
Of course you won’t share your sins, but that doesn’t slow you down on pointing out those of others, or from throwing the first stone…
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
7:20 pm
josef
You and JamVet are being quite generous. I can’t say the same. He needs more backbone before I can give him a passing grade.
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:24 pm
TC
Are we to assume from
“Aside from that, there is a clear difference between occasional (after a fight to stay righteous) or unintentional sin and deliberate, repetitive care-free sin”
that the G-d Was I Drunk Last Night Syndrome makes it hunky dory?
JamVet
December 31st, 2012
7:27 pm
The Angry Black Man returns!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UbbFoEAE1I
Thomas Heyward Jr
December 31st, 2012
7:28 pm
Brocephus needs to calm down.
And actually……………..he has no “job”.
A “job” is something that someone “voluntarily” pays someone else to do.
If he works for the Federalies………..he is only fulfilling an extortion.
.
If Brocephus can REALLY get a REAL “job” making more in the private section, he should .
He would sleep better at night.
.
Just a drive by.
Carry on…..and have a good New Year.
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:30 pm
BROSEPHUS
A backbone? Are you saying he’s a slug…?
But, pray, does it talk?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj8RIEQH7zA
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
7:31 pm
“Yes. It’s a much healthier economy of 10 at $200,000 than one at $2,000,000 the way I see it…”
Yep, me too.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 31st, 2012
7:32 pm
This message about federal and state employees not have REAL jobs brought to you by the same poster who was the 1st to break the news about Obama drone strikes on WI wedding parties.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
December 31st, 2012
7:32 pm
…that the G-d Was I Drunk Last Night Syndrome makes it hunky dory?
I had the same thought.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
F. Sinkwich
December 31st, 2012
7:32 pm
“WASHINGTON — The House will miss the midnight Monday deadline lawmakers set for voting to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”"
Good.
I’ll be watching my Rep’s vote closely. If he votes for O’bozo’s tax increases he’s toast.
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:32 pm
“Of course you won’t share your sins, but that doesn’t slow you down on pointing out those of others, or from throwing the first stone…”
Jesus said of the Holy Spirit: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…”
Th apostle Paul is said to have done this very thing to Felix in Acts 24:25: “As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”
I am no one’s judge. I have probably sinned more in my lifetime (especially in my youth) than most on this blog. I feel, like Paul, that I am the “worst of sinners”. But just because I point out that certain behavior, according to the Bible (and NOT my own ideas) is wrong in the sight of God does not mean that I hate anyone here. Indeed, I have talked about homosexuality as being a sin. But I have know many gays and have had a number of friends that are former homosexuals. I truly sympathize with the difficultly of having a same sex orientation from childhood. But I don’t see it as being fundamentally different from struggles people have with obesity, alcoholism, drug addiction, hatred and the like because of childhood experiences. Struggling with sinful impulses sucks – the scriptures say that Jesus suffered when he was tempted. The good news is that they can be overcome if so desired.
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:33 pm
ZamVet
He’s channeling his inner Samuel L. Jackson…
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
7:35 pm
“I’ll be watching my Rep’s vote closely. If he votes for O’bozo’s tax increases he’s toast”
I think you’re overestimating your power. Unless, of course, that’s a threat of bodily harm. In which case, you better hope your IP address is WELL hidden.
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:37 pm
“Are we to assume…that the G-d Was I Drunk Last Night Syndrome makes it hunky dory?”
I am not sure what you mean. But you can ask God when you meet him. If you are being frivolous, perhaps He will be amused by that. Perhaps not.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 31st, 2012
7:37 pm
Well after midnight, taxes increase automatically as part of the original Republican plan…so any vote AFTER midnight, would be a TAX CUT.
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:37 pm
Just an observation, but I have noted how much the now redeemed claim they sinned back in their youth…I do understand, though, it’s a lot easier to repent when you can’t do it no mo…shoot, as Unmentionable just said, “you’re d*mned near pure as the driven slush by now…”
F. Sinkwich
December 31st, 2012
7:37 pm
“Yes. It’s a much healthier economy of 10 at $200,000 than one at $2,000,000 the way I see it…”
Good idea. Go to the $2M dude’s house, point a gun at him, take 80% of his stash, then give it to losers.
Got it.
Life must be such a burden to covet as such…
Doggone/GA
December 31st, 2012
7:40 pm
“Good idea. Go to the $2M dude’s house, point a gun at him, take 80% of his stash, then give it to losers”
Talk about missing the point! Just DAMN
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:41 pm
“Just an observation, but I have noted how much the now redeemed claim they sinned back in their youth…I do understand, though, it’s a lot easier to repent when you can’t do it no mo…shoot, as Unmentionable just said, “you’re d*mned near pure as the driven slush by now…”
From what I can tell, you are older than me. That doesn’t seem to stop you, does it? So I guess your point falters.
F. Sinkwich
December 31st, 2012
7:41 pm
Oops, 90%.
Forgot the excise tax…
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:42 pm
TC
It’s from Mort Crowley’s “Boys in the Band.” One of the characters is bemoaning his latest one night stand, saying that he “suffered from the G-d Was I Drunk Last Night Syndrome.” Another character says he must’ve been a Baptist. The answer was “I’ve found that it seems to know no sectarian limitations, though I must admit I have found a higher incidence among Mormons.”
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
7:45 pm
Thomas Heyward Jr @ 7:28
You forgot to praise Ron Paul and freedom. You’re slipping bro. That’s ok as I know that keeping an eye out for those wedding drones takes a lot of concentration.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2012
7:47 pm
Josef
though I must admit I have found a higher incidence among Mormons.
were you speaking of Idaho Senator Michael Crapo
Brosephus™
December 31st, 2012
7:49 pm
josef
When it comes to standing up to his bullies, he would be ok if he were a slug. I’ll give him credit for not being a legislative president though. He’s doing what he is required to do, which is be the head of the Executive Branch. That’s about the only thing I’ll give him a passing grade for.
————————-
Keep @ 7:32
That’s one post I’ll never forget.
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:49 pm
“It’s from Mort Crowley’s “Boys in the Band.”
Ah. I am unfamiliar with that play. But you hardly need to reference a line from a play to suggest or charge there is not just a little hypocrisy in “Christian” circles. And that is probably because somewhere the need to repent (defined as a change of mind and heart with respect to sinful behavior) is left out of so-called “plans of salvation” -you know, where you simply “ask Jesus into your heart” (if you can find such a thing in the Bible at all as the means of redemption).
josef
December 31st, 2012
7:50 pm
TC
It was a joke, Mec…but, I have noticed it nevertheless. When I talk about my salad days, I’m bragging. but when the redeemed talk about theirs, they’re testifying…
barking frog
December 31st, 2012
7:53 pm
Brosephus
even after that diatribe i’ll bet Jr,still has a support the troops sticker on his vehicle
Towncrier
December 31st, 2012
7:54 pm
“It was a joke, Mec…but, I have noticed it nevertheless. When I talk about my salad days, I’m bragging. but when the redeemed talk about theirs, they’re testifying…”
I keep forgetting your are Jewish (and probably joke more than the average bloke). I do love how you interject Shakespearean phrases into your posts. It is refreshing here, as you might know.