The world as Marco Rubio prefers to see it
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio may have had an awkward, amateurish moment in his rebuttal to the State of the Union last night — grace under pressure it was not — but it’s nothing that will do permanent damage to his career. The national spotlight is a difficult place, and you learn how to handle it by living in it. Sarah Palin, for example, never got the benefit of the learning curve that Rubio is now experiencing, and the lack of preparation ended her career.
With that in mind, let’s set aside talk of Rubio’s delivery and take a serious look at the message itself. (Transcript available here.) And let’s start with the fact that in most respects, his speech was a standard, rote recitation of Republican ideology, including a familiar condemnation of President Obama as an enemy of capitalism:
“Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity. But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems.”
“… the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers – that’s an old idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried. More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back.”
That is an easily disprovable assertion. Medicare is not a failure; Social Security is not a failure; the GI Bill was not a failure; Head Start is not a failure; unemployment insurance is not a failure. The student loan and Pell Grant programs are not failures. Neither is Medicaid, which among other things insures two-thirds of Americans receiving long-term nursing home care in this country.
These and other programs — almost all of them opposed by Republicans since their inception — have been of immense service to “hardworking middle-class taxpayers” and other Americans. In fact, Rubio and his family have themselves benefited greatly from those programs. As he acknowledged later in his speech, his mother and late father have relied heavily on Medicare to deal with their declining health. Rubio attended a state-financed university, including a community college and the University of Florida, and financed that college education through federal loans and the Pell Grant program.
It is not an exaggeration to say that those taxpayer-funded programs — dismissed by Rubio as failures in helping the middle class — have made his entire life and career possible. College, for example, would have been much more difficult. And without Medicare and Social Security footing the bill, the cost of caring for his aging parents would have had to be paid from his own pocket, significantly shrinking his own economic and career options.
However, when Rubio recounts his personal history, such inconvenient facts seem to melt away. As he said in his speech last night:
“My parents immigrated here in pursuit of the opportunity to improve their life and give their children the chance at an even better one. They made it to the middle class, my dad working as a bartender and my mother as a cashier and a maid. I didn’t inherit any money from them. But I inherited something far better – the real opportunity to accomplish my dreams. This opportunity – to make it to the middle class or beyond no matter where you start out in life – it isn’t bestowed on us from Washington.”
It is a theme that he returned to in his closing, in which he talked of the dreams that parents of today have for their newborn children, just as his parents had for him:
“For many of these parents, life has not gone the way they had planned. Maybe they were born into circumstances they’ve found difficult to escape. Maybe they’ve made some mistakes along the way. Maybe they’re young mothers, all alone, the father of their child long gone.
But tonight, when they look into the eyes of their child for the first time, their lives will change forever. Because in those eyes, they will see what my parents saw in me, and what your parents saw in you. They will see all the hopes and dreams they once had for themselves. This dream – of a better life for their children – it’s the hope of parents everywhere. Politicians here and throughout the world have long promised that more government can make those dreams come true.
But we Americans have always known better. From our earliest days, we embraced economic liberty instead. And because we did, America remains one of the few places on earth where dreams like these even have a chance.”
It is moving stuff, but again, it is romanticized to the point of caricature. These parents “born into circumstances they’ve found difficult to escape” would no doubt welcome high-quality pre-K programs of the sort advocated Tuesday night by Obama, because without it their children would have a much tougher time excelling in school. The earned-income tax credit for working families having a hard time making ends meet would be invaluable to them. Parents working as bartenders and cashiers are highly unlikely to have employer-provided health insurance, so Medicaid would be essential if their children should become ill.
There’s one more very important factor to consider. Rubio’s parents came to this country in 1956, and over the next quarter century, as they tried to establish an economic foothold here, they did so in an era when economic prosperity was more broadly shared than it is today.
Here’s what income inequality looked like in America from 1956 to 1981:
Here’s what it has done since:
Here’s what employees’ share of the gross domestic product did from 1956 to 1981:
Here’s what it has done since:
Those and other profound, structural changes in the American economy have made it much more difficult for modern versions of Mario and Oria Rubio to look into their children’s eyes and dream of a better life for them. Yet, as their son explained to the American people Tuesday night, the Republican Party believes that government should take no account of those changed conditions. “More government isn’t going to help you get ahead,” as he told us. “It’s going to hold you back.”
In fact, we are told, the answer must be to shrink those government programs that — Rubio’s denials aside — have helped himself and countless millions more Americans achieve the dreams of their fathers and mothers. The American people are going to have a hard time swallowing that.
– Jay Bookman
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
856 comments Add your comment
Stevie Ray
February 13th, 2013
6:11 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:07 pm
I guess you are suggesting that tradition and acceptable that any president is obliged to spew complete BS when possible? In that sense among others, your guy really isn’t much different than Bush eh? Or his daddy.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:11 pm
I would argue that the most outrageous lie was the first line.
“The bulk of the funds for Iraq’s reconstruction will come from Iraqis — from oil revenues, recovered assets, international trade, direct foreign investment, as well as some contributions we’ve already received and hope to receive from the international community.”
комиссар (Occupation)
February 13th, 2013
6:12 pm
Stevie Ray, Thulsa Doom:
The Washington Post lets the cat out of the bag here:
“Bowles-Simpson, or more accurately the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, is considered by many in Washington to be the model for a bipartisan approach for deficit reduction.)
However, in 2022, both would achieve exactly the same amount of savings — $68 billion.”
A beltway establishment rag praising Simpson-Bowles as a “model” approach. Imagine!
Typical Washington Post. Sigh.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:13 pm
I would argue that the most outrageous lie was the first line.
“There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, against us.”
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:13 pm
Stevie Ray,
Indeed. The first line was something else considering that our debt exceeds our gnp for the first time ever under this potus. Sad.
The sad thing is when he talked about raising the minimum wage rate to $9.00 an hour. There’s a lot of ignorant folks out there who haven’t a clue as to labor economics. If we raise the min. wage to $9 an hour we will also raise unemployment and in particular raise unemployment amongst minorities and especially teen minorities. I don’t know if this president is that ignorant or if he knows we will lose jobs but just doesn’t care because he knows his voting base is ignorant.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 13th, 2013
6:14 pm
How does someone live on 14 thousand a year anyway ( minimum wage) ?
At that point your just a glorified slave.
Meanwhile corporations are sitting on record amounts of cash and Exxon is recording record profits.
Its shameful. If you though Occupy Wall Street was something.
Let this trend continue.
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:14 pm
комиссар (Occupation)
February 13th, 2013
6:10 pm
Guess you checked it out eh? Pretty loose on much of his blather…Am I the only one who thougth Boehner looked orange or that BO remarkably resembles a bobble head doll when his mouth is engaged?
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:15 pm
Typical leftie response to valid arguments: Straw men.
Criticize any aspect of government? Accuse the critic of wanting to destroy SS and Medicare.
Criticize a dum-ass EPA reg? Accuse the critic of advocating dirty air and filthy water.
Criticize confiscatory tax rates? Accuse the critic of hating cops, firefighters, and teachers, even though the Feds have no authority over any of those, or shouldn’t.
But this is an interesting comment by Jay:
“The student loan and Pell Grant programs are not failures.”
What, no accusation of “righties” hating students and anyone who wants an education? That’s totally out of leftie character. What, pray tell, can we conclude?
Federal involvement in either is no success! It’s a WASTE. If the justification for Fed spending on anything is that it is “not a failure,” then we are in BIG TROUBLE.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:15 pm
I would argue that the most outrageous lie was the first line.
“We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the ’90s”
godless heathen - owner of many things he does not need
February 13th, 2013
6:15 pm
josef,
http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-atlanta-braves-logo-features-gruesome-depictio,31284/
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:16 pm
I guess you are suggesting that tradition and acceptable that any president is obliged to spew complete BS when possible?
You guess poorly.
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:17 pm
” I don’t know if this president is that ignorant or if he knows we will lose jobs but just doesn’t care because he knows his voting base is ignorant.”
That $9 thing was just a bone he threw to his union thug supporters…
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:17 pm
Cheesy
For that matter, two minimum wage jpbs…I’ve asked before for someone opposed to raising the minimum wage or bad mouthing the working poor to prepare a monthly budget on that salary for a family of four. So far, no takers…
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:18 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:13 pm
Pretzel logic continues. Since it was ok for Bush, you feel it’s ok for Obama…the resemblance is getting stronger every day. So Obama can lie because Bush did it first?
That’s awesome. BO”s legacy will forever include comparison to one of the least effective presidents ever…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:19 pm
So Obama can lie because Bush did it first?
Strike two.
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:19 pm
Stevie Ray,
I hate it the way all those Dem leaders lied about Iraq having WMDs. Lots of lies from em on WMDs. Lots of em.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/wmdquotes.asp
Real Scootter
February 13th, 2013
6:20 pm
The bulk of the funds for Iraq’s reconstruction will come from Iraqis — from oil revenues, recovered assets, international trade, direct foreign investment, as well as some contributions we’ve already received and hope to receive from the international community.”
Dangit Kam!! You are hitting below the belt.Whew!!!
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:20 pm
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:17 pm
Bingo. Gotta butter that union bread…keep hope alive baby!
We really do need to do something about minimum wage…it is a poor poor situation….timing is everything eh?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:21 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcEKPAKuvgU
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:21 pm
Obama’s dishonesty and hypocrisy in action: the Jack Lew nomination – Citigroup lobbyist who earned a million dollar bonus right after the government bailout. Back then, of course, the liar-in-chief said such bonuses were “obscene” and “shameful”. Now, however, he apparently should be Treasury Secretary. I also guess, since the 2012 presidential race is over, Cayman Island investments no longer matter.
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:21 pm
HEATHEN
-)
That oughta make TBS happy!
As for Unmentionable’s take…Braves and Indians are fine, but Redskins? But, well, that IS the national (imperial) capital’s team…
комиссар (Occupation)
February 13th, 2013
6:23 pm
Chin up, Sinkie. It’s rough, I know.
By the way, on this point: ““The student loan and Pell Grant programs are not failures.”
Pell Grants are a direct transfer of wealth to those with lower incomes. Which I guess bugs the hell out of you, doesn’t it?
JamVet
February 13th, 2013
6:23 pm
I just shake my head and chuckle when Republicans try to use the word liberal as an insult.
i know that I have George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Jane Addams, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Florence Kelly, Theodore Roosevelt, Louis Brandies, John Paul Stevens, Samuel Gompers, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman and JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and Warren Buffet, among many others who made this country a “more perfect union”.
I am fiercely liberal because I believe in the unalienable rights of the individual man, woman and child and the sovereignty of the American people. And government of the people, by the people and for the people.
And as I once raised my right hand and swore to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic, I fiercely support the destruction of Uncle Sam hating fascism whether in Europe or in the American right wing.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:23 pm
I would argue that the most outrageous lie was the first line.
“I can’t tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that.”
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:23 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:19 pm
Allow me to strike out looking here. You are posting GOP BS (fully agreed) is a solid defense of BO BS.. Bush did it so there…its our guys turn! Go fight win.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:24 pm
I would argue that the most outrageous lie was the first line.
“And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:24 pm
Well lookie here, what’s with the Obama bashers suddenly disappointed that he didn’t tell the 100% honest truth? When has anybody with common sense ever thought any president would ever begin the SOTU with something suggesting this country is f**ked up?
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:25 pm
“For that matter, two minimum wage jpbs [sic]…I’ve asked before for someone opposed to raising the minimum wage or bad mouthing the working poor to prepare a monthly budget on that salary for a family of four. So far, no takers…”
Why don’t you put down your fiddle and ask Sonya Carson (Ben Carson’s mother) there, genius?
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:25 pm
ZamVet
“…Theodore Roosevelt…”
Aw, what’s a little genocide amongst, friends, eh?
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:26 pm
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:21 pm
Careful now. Lew’s response is that he was not a key decision maker at Citi…he, unlike the fat cats, can’t be blamed…clearly it wasn’t his fault. Go easy on the guy man!
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:26 pm
Bush did it so there…its our guys turn!
Strike three.
One out.
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:26 pm
“Well lookie here, what’s with the Obama bashers suddenly disappointed that he didn’t tell the 100% honest truth?”
What’s with Obama bots continuing to pretend he hasn’t outright lied about a number of things?
moonbat betty
February 13th, 2013
6:27 pm
“I just shake my head and chuckle when Republicans try to use the word liberal as an insult.”
Then why don’t you attack your democrat “friends” on a daily basis?
They are the ones whom seem to take offense…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:27 pm
What’s with Obama bots continuing to pretend he hasn’t outright lied about a number of things?
The smoking gun is the mushroom cloud.
TBS
February 13th, 2013
6:28 pm
josef
When did I ever opine any any sports team’s name?
Madmax
February 13th, 2013
6:28 pm
Jay, I have to run, but in an economic sense, most of those programs are failures as they are no longer sustainable. Many others on a program basis are failures too. When I first entered the work force, SS was something like 1 -2%. Then as the impact of a growing society started to hit, they spent years tweaking it, raising the rate one year, raising the cap the next and so on always with the asserrtion that it was going to a trust fund for everyone which they raided even while knowing that it would accelerate the failure of the system. Now we’re abandoning the premise that everybody funds it and are starting to look for ways to get the guy with the white cadillac with a blue door (anybody but me) to pay for it and then tell the guy who is paying for it, he is no longer entitled to it. Medicare has the same track record. Look at the drug plan that Bush got through. Postal Service – another big money pit. Dept of Energy – formed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil – oh yeah that’s a rousing success. Dept of Education – we used to lead the world – definitely a succes? DoD and $1000 toilets. So whether you look at things from a fiscal basis or a program basis, we’ve got lots of examples of large goverment failures, pushed by Democrat & Republican, liberal and conservative alike. So rushing legislation through like was done for Obamacare is a mistake we can’t afford to keep repeating and while some things may seem like the right thing to do, it does not make them mandatory and the nation as a whole may be better off postponing things until we can afford it and we really understand it. I believe that was the message Rubio and the Republicans were pushing last night; was there some partisanship in their message – sure, but no more than the president dished out during his hour plus.
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:29 pm
Oh noes! Say it aint so. The Dem leaders were lying about Iraq having WMDs! Soooo many more quotes. So little time.
“(W)e need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime. We all know the litany of his offenses. He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. …And now he is miscalculating America�s response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction. That is why the world, through the United Nations Security Council, has spoken with one voice, demanding that Iraq disclose its weapons programs and disarm. So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but it is not new. It has been with us since the end of the Persian Gulf War.” — John Kerry, Jan 23, 2003
“I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force – if necessary – to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.” — John F. Kerry, Oct 2002
“The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but as I said, it is not new. It has been with us since the end of that war, and particularly in the last 4 years we know after Operation Desert Fox failed to force him to reaccept them, that he has continued to build those weapons. He has had a free hand for 4 years to reconstitute these weapons, allowing the world, during the interval, to lose the focus we had on weapons of mass destruction and the issue of proliferation.” — John Kerry, October 9, 2002
The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow.” — Bill Clinton in 1998
“In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security.” — Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002
“I am absolutely convinced that there are weapons…I saw evidence back in 1998 when we would see the inspectors being barred from gaining entry into a warehouse for three hours with trucks rolling up and then moving those trucks out.” — Clinton’s Secretary of Defense William Cohen in April of 2003
Saddam’s goal … is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed.” — Madeline Albright, 1998
“(Saddam) will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and some day, some way, I am certain he will use that arsenal again, as he has 10 times since 1983″ — National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Feb 18, 1998
“Iraq made commitments after the Gulf War to completely dismantle all weapons of mass destruction, and unfortunately, Iraq has not lived up to its agreement.” — Barbara Boxer, November 8, 2002
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:29 pm
“I’ve asked before for someone opposed to raising the minimum wage or bad mouthing the working poor to prepare a monthly budget on that salary for a family of four.”
Perhaps you could first explain how someone who has a minimum wage job could ever be stupid enough to think he/she could ever support it?
комиссар (Occupation)
February 13th, 2013
6:29 pm
StopTheMadness: “Obama’s dishonesty and hypocrisy in action: the Jack Lew nomination – Citigroup lobbyist who earned a million dollar bonus right after the government bailout. Back then, of course, the liar-in-chief said such bonuses were “obscene” and “shameful”
Ok. so your on to the Democrats’ BS, their bait and switch.
As we do not have any political party in this country not captured by Wall Street and big finance, what do you propose in the meantime? Would Romney’s nomination for Treasury have been more preferable just because he wouldn’t have made any bones about his abject servility to the Wall Street class?
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:29 pm
STOP THE
That sic on a typo says a lot, you know, but the question is, where’s that budget…link or provide one? I’m really interested.
TBS
February 13th, 2013
6:30 pm
josef
If I say it it is open game, but no need to infer or imply as you are fond of doing.
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:30 pm
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:24 pm
It’s the truth BRO but of course not politically practical. That amount of courage will never exist. Of course continuing to lie to ourselves and our citizens purely for political gain is the norm…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:30 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87XQKCXfFjQ
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 13th, 2013
6:30 pm
oh the poutrage. Obama lied?
Perhaps we can hear more truth about the “47% who pay no taxes”. 
The GOP is full of truth. 
moonbat betty
February 13th, 2013
6:31 pm
“When has anybody with common sense ever thought any president would ever begin the SOTU with something suggesting this country is f*ked up?”
LOL, Bro. That would be a pretty damn funny opening though.
“My fellow Americans, we are f’d up and in a world of sh*t, but…..”
JamVet for President!
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:31 pm
What’s with Obama bots continuing to pretend he hasn’t outright lied about a number of things?
What’s with pseudo conservatives not having the ability to formulate a rational thought without the incessant need to label people, inaccurately in your case?
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:31 pm
TBS
The call for the de rigueur mea culpa thingie!
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:32 pm
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:29 pm
How do you suppose the LIBS here will be able to push those facts under the carpet?
DwayneL
February 13th, 2013
6:32 pm
The providers FAR outnumber the takers so it’s only a matter of time before it all comes crashing down!
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:32 pm
Brocephus,
On a different note its low Tide today. Very sad to see 3-4 players throw their lives away like that. And for what? Damn shame.
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:33 pm
“Pell Grants are a direct transfer of wealth to those with lower incomes. Which I guess bugs the hell out of you, doesn’t it?”
Well, mostly, but I really get agitated when this redistributionist tripe goes to liberal arts majors.
Engineering, business, sciences, etc.? No so much. In fact a good case could be made…….
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:33 pm
The providers FAR outnumber the takers…
Haliburton says, “What?”
TBS
February 13th, 2013
6:34 pm
SR
What was different last night than what has been occurring to some degree or another since the inception of the US?
Lying, half truths, deception and slight of hands are nothing new. Just how much we wish to accept what was said by one politician over another, but overtime the lies are more than evident if we want to see them.
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:34 pm
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:31 pm
Now now, today alone I’ve been called a baffoon and a bleeding heart liberal. Of course I proudly display them like a badge of courage.
moonbat betty
February 13th, 2013
6:34 pm
Look folks, lets face it.
A good politician puts whipped cream on a turd and calls it an ice cream sundae.
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:35 pm
“I just shake my head and chuckle when Republicans try to use the word liberal as an insult.”
And I just shake my head and chuckle when idiotic “liberals” today equate their advocacy for gays, the “transgendered” and the right to kill the unborn with freeing people from discrimination based upon things over which they did not have a choice (like their color, gender or age). Talk about stupidity.
TBS
February 13th, 2013
6:35 pm
josef
If you are doing more implication and putting words in folk’s mouths, ok, if that is your thing.
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:36 pm
SINWICH
So, you’re saying the poor shouldn’t breed? How about, oh, say Jews, Blacks, Latinos, cross-eyed pirates, Republicans, Democrats…? I mean, if its eugenics you want…
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:36 pm
Stevie
It’s not the truth. We still have the world’s largest economy, world’s reserve currency, and are still the sole superpower. If that’s f**ked up, then I can’t wait until we’re f**kin awesome.
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:36 pm
“How do you suppose the LIBS here will be able to push those facts under the carpet?”
They won’t. They erect that liberal wall of Lies that W lied about Iraqi WMDs and I knock it down with a con missile of truth regarding all the Dems who likewise claimed Iraq had WMDs. And I only posted a few of their qutoes. Had many more I could have posted. That one was way too easy.
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:36 pm
TBS
February 13th, 2013
6:34 pm
Not a thing..that’s my point. I can’t even sit through any of them…since I didn’t vote for Bush or the current occupant, I saw no need to view what amounts to a coronation…a victory parade if you will.
They are after all, politicians..at least they have their interests at the forefront.
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:37 pm
TBS
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:38 pm
“What’s with pseudo conservatives not having the ability to formulate a rational thought without the incessant need to label people, inaccurately in your case?”
If it smells, walks and talks like an Obama bot, then it is one. Your constant, ready and often spirited defense of Obama make you an Obama bot – your denial notwithstanding. Go try to dupe someone else into believing your BS.
комиссар (Occupation)
February 13th, 2013
6:38 pm
“and I knock it down with a con missile of truth ”
Phallic much?
TBS
February 13th, 2013
6:39 pm
SR
I do not watch SOTU speeches as a rule and I didn’t watch last night. Anyone of us can youtube a Reagan, Bush or Clinton SOTU and see the bs. Nothing new.
I don’t watch much of the debates either.
It is the same thing each time. The ardent followers say he knocked it out of the park and his detractors say it was all bs…… truth to some degree or another can be found somewhere in the middle…….maybe
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:40 pm
Go try to dupe someone else into believing your BS.
Dittoheads say, “What?”
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:40 pm
betty
If only I had a desire to get into politics.
—————-
Stevie
I wish I could wear someone’s small mindedness as a badge of honor, but I am seriously trying to distance myself from jackassery as much as possible.
комиссар (Occupation)
February 13th, 2013
6:42 pm
Sinkwich: “Well, mostly, but I really get agitated when this redistributionist tripe goes to liberal arts majors.
Engineering, business, sciences, etc.? No so much. In fact a good case could be made…….”
Well, you ought to be very pleased with current trends, as that’s certainly the direction things are going in. More so towards business perhaps than to engineering and sciences, but in any case there is a huge exodus away from liberal arts. Which of course means that the other fields will languish. Not that any of the people running our current ed policy care to hear it.
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:42 pm
“The smoking gun is the mushroom cloud.”
And your bong is still in the living room, right next to your bottle of Southern Comfort.
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:42 pm
The lowest rated SOTU in 14 years. Hmm. Sounds like folks are catching onto the BS. Slowly but surely they’re starting to see same tired, repackaged BS and that its starting to ring hollow.
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:42 pm
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:36 pm
Then the comparison to the outside world is a great benchmark? This repeated pitch suggests we should rest on our laurels..after all, we are the worlds currency and the superpower with the most weapons of death..clearly we set a great example with our warmongering, fiscal discipline, and violent culture. Why would anyone emulate that?
We don’t need to be all these things to be proud and prosperous…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 13th, 2013
6:42 pm
con missile of truth?
Is that one on them Saddam Scuds?
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:44 pm
“The providers FAR outnumber the takers…”
I guess you missed the last election.
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:44 pm
“Dittoheads say, [sic] “What?”
Obamabots exclaim “Yeahhhh”.
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:44 pm
“Won’t add one dime to the deficit”
Is there any person anywhere in this country dumb enough to believe that whopper?
JamVet
February 13th, 2013
6:44 pm
betty, why would it be that important to me what they think? Or anyone else here for that matter. (Unless it is musical in nature! LOL!)
My mission here is to encourage and embolden my liberal, moderate and progressive brothers and sisters. Through my ideas and quotes. And to further demoralize an already despondent right wing.
The bottom line is that I barely have any interest in what the right wing fascists here think or write!
As an American Jew and liberal, I am simply committed to their destruction.
And lately they have been getting their sorry butts kicked up and down the electoral street, don’t you think?
Ask the very worst of them – Mssrs. Todd Akin, Richard Mourouch, Alan West, George Macaca Allen and Joe Walsh – about their recent endeavors.
And to the extent that I can help in any way, I will see that there is much more bad news ahead for them.
As for your last point, I agree with George Carlin…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxsQ7jJJcEA
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:45 pm
And your bong is still in the living room, right next to your bottle of Southern Comfort.
And there’s your sign.
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:45 pm
STOP the MADNESS
@ 6:42
Yeah, but at lest his subjects and verbs agree…
viz. your 6:38
Thulsa Doom
February 13th, 2013
6:46 pm
I guess I didn’t take all the garbage out. Still some left…
Mama Says
February 13th, 2013
6:46 pm
And here is the problem that the liberals have in a nutshell. Jay gives us a chart filled blog on how much the rich folks make all in support of the “its not fair argument”. The answer to this problem is obvious to Jay and his fellow liberal minded friends. Take the money from the rich.
The hard part for a liberal to swallow however is the fact that there is nothing in the constitution or our form of government that even hints at this being a legal solution to the problem.
Since libs try and try to tell us that the American way is to take from the rich and give to the poor, in any amount, I would like just one of you to show me where you get that power.
By the way Jay, I agree, Obama is such a blow hard that I wouldn’t cover his speech either. It’s much more interesting to condemn the republicans. Guess you do t have to worry about the SOTU though, most legitimate news outlets are covering the outright lies he told. You don’t have to.
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:46 pm
“So, you’re saying the poor shouldn’t breed?”
See my post above about strawmen, josef.
You proved my point.
Thanks.
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:46 pm
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:40 pm
C’mon man! Being called names is the most sincere form of flattery on forums like this…it means concession of the debate! Well not in the case of my bleeding heart..for many issues I am just that.
Like Montaigne, my MO is to question everything…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:46 pm
Obamabots exclaim “Yeahhhh”.
And there’s the same sign.
Ol' Timer
February 13th, 2013
6:47 pm
These ol’ boys just have a hard time facing reality as they play their one string rhapsody of cutting taxes: tax revenues, as a percentage of GDP, are at a 60 year low.
If you’re up against a hard place financially, you’d obviously want to cut down on your spending; but if you’ve got an IQ of 49 you’d realize that you need to get a part-time job or do something to increase your income, too!
I just don’t understand why these ol’ boys don’t see that unless they’re idiots. And, that’s one of the main problems facing the Republican Party: they’ve got to quit running and electing idiots who then make a career out of saying stupid stuff if they want to be relevant.
And, so it goes. . . .
USA Patriot
February 13th, 2013
6:47 pm
Yep, for the lib’s one has to show pictures (skewed nonetheless) so they can, somehow, comprehend. But, I digress!
Carry on! Jackwagon’s!
Stevie Ray the freshly minted bleeding heart liberal!
February 13th, 2013
6:48 pm
“Won’t add one dime to the deficit”
Whew, that’s a relief.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
February 13th, 2013
6:48 pm
Well, looks like about a dozen Atlanta area cops are ruint for life. They’ve been caught working to protect drug dealers. By the time prosecutors are finished with them they’ll be in prison and never able to get a decent job again. You take a good old boy that never had anything and give him a badge and a gun. Then he’s offered more money than he’s ever seen at one time in his life to kinda look the other way. What happened is about what you would expect.
It’s about time we took another look at these drug laws, in my opinion, and stop sending 20-year-olds for a stretch in the pen. Get the big money out of pot and speed and stuff like that. The big money’s there because we’ve passed laws to make it a crime to have the stuff.
I’m just a old redneck getting older by the day and I might not live to see it, but one day we’ll start using some common sense about the street drugs. Have a good night everybody.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:50 pm
…most legitimate news outlets are covering the outright lies he told.
The smoking gun is the mushroom cloud.
Doggone/GA
February 13th, 2013
6:50 pm
“Won’t add one dime to the deficit”
Yeah, well when *I* hear someone say something like that I take it maybe too literally. It won’t add ONE dime..but it might add millions.
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:50 pm
Your constant, ready and often spirited defense of Obama make you an Obama bot – your denial notwithstanding. Go try to dupe someone else into believing your BS.
Two words for you, Cochise… Prove it!!
Link and post my supposed spirited defense of Obama, especially the parts where I give him credit for having less spine than a sour gummi bear. You obviously have me confused with someone else.
However, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and proclaim you correct when you provide proof of my spirited defense of Obama. Don’t keep us waiting all night, K?
————–
Doom
Re those players, they get what they deserve. Playing football on the collegiate level isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. When you f**k up, you have nobody but yourself to blame. Sucks that they would throw away their chance at getting a higher education, but it’s obvious that they didn’t want it anyway. You can’t make someone take something, even if you give it freely.
————–
Then the comparison to the outside world is a great benchmark?
Yep. It’s just like being chased by a bear. You don’t necessarily have to be the fastest, but you only have to be faster than the slowest guy. Comparing us against everyone else, we’re the fastest. If you simply try to compare to yourself, you’ll never be “good enough”.
clearly we set a great example with our warmongering, fiscal discipline, and violent culture. Why would anyone emulate that?
People will emulate that because we’re F**kin’ America, that’s why. Why do you think people are still sinking funds into US Treasuries, even with all this BS about our financial stability? When the sh*t hits the fan, nobody else steps up to the plate like we do, and everybody else in this world knows it. Whether you want to admit it or not, the signs are all right in front of you. They were there when Reagan was in office, when Bush was in office, and even now. If you don’t want to see it, I can’t make you see it.
StopTheMadness
February 13th, 2013
6:50 pm
“And there’s the same sign.”
And here is even more stupidity on display. Duh…duh…duh….duh…and…there’s…the…same…sign. Talk much?
josef
February 13th, 2013
6:51 pm
SINKWICH
Post at what time…?
Brosephus™
February 13th, 2013
6:52 pm
Being called names is the most sincere form of flattery on forums like this…
You see it that way, I see it as a limited mind trying to expound beyond it’s capabilities.
JamVet
February 13th, 2013
6:52 pm
Mama, the funniest part of your “analysis”, is that it would get laughed out of the ninth grade.
Seriously.
But apparently it makes you feel better, so carry on!
Just keep losing and trying to figure it out…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:53 pm
“Won’t add one dime to the deficit”
Whew, that’s a relief.
Deficits?
Did someone say, deficits?
Which brings us to the economic level. The deficits that Bush ran up in the years in which the country was teetering on the verge of a serious recession had the beneficial effect of righting the economy. In that sense, deficits not only didn’t matter, but were a force for economic good.
Translation: IOKIYAR
Thulsa Doom-“Nothing I’m proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime,”
February 13th, 2013
6:54 pm
Not one dime. Still laughing.
Latrina
February 13th, 2013
6:54 pm
There is nothing…nothing…that Sen. Rubio or any other R can ever say or do that’ll win back the legions of ex-GOPers like me. The memories of the toxic Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld etal regime will last a lifetime.
If the current President will try to govern from somewhere near the middle, and if he can avoid the temptation to lurch too far to the left, he’ll harvest more converts than he can imagine.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 13th, 2013
6:54 pm
And here is even more stupidity on display.
Continuing to display the same sign.
F. Sinkwich
February 13th, 2013
6:55 pm
6:15
getalife
February 13th, 2013
6:56 pm
I think the only way to “fix” the gop is for the gop to surrender to our President, apologize and get out of the way of free commerce..