Sensible Erection | Ok... this is something brand new.

Sunday, 7 February 2010

quote [ President Obama said Sunday that he will convene a half-day, bipartisan health care summit at the White House on Feb. 25 to be broadcast on television, so Americans can see Democrats and Republicans try to break the deadlock on health care legislation. ]

No way to predict how this will turnout, because as far as I know it has never been done before..

Ok,I like to play poker and it looks like the price of poker has just went up.
If I was setting at this table I would say that President Obama has just re-raised the Republicans and declared to the rest of the table that his cards are better.

Could this be the set of balls I have been looking for since this fight started.

Stay tuned..it's going to get interesting.

[politics] [by bbqkink@10:45pmGMT] [+10 Interesting]

Comments

bystander said @ 11:00pm GMT on 7th Feb
Happens all the time in a parliamentary system like Canada. The only ways the GOP can kill this media leak and get their drones to turn back to Fox are:

1) Make it so common people lose interest (like the NASA channel or the parliamentary channels here in Canada.

2) Make the special events boring by reading out the complete text of a bill, or the list of names on a petition.

3) Get Fox to broadcast it and put a pundit's commentary voice-over, break to commercials when the Dems talk, run distracting disinformation in the running subtitle bar at the bottom of the screen.

All three of those are avoidable if the President has written in rules of conduct and mandate live uninterrupted broadcast, as is the custom in parliamentary run countries.

Will they do it right? Will the GOP spin doctors yet again break this new institution?

sacrelicious said @ 11:04pm GMT on 7th Feb
you left your parentheses tag open. now almost your entire comment is parenthetical.

/)

geez.

bystander said @ 11:09pm GMT on 7th Feb
Yeah...

[damn the no-edit fn for comments

grumble grumble

sacrelicious said @ 11:10pm GMT on 7th Feb [Score:5 Funny]
/]

delacroix said @ 1:02am GMT on 8th Feb
(like the NASA channel or the parliamentary channels here in Canada.

2)

psychotim said @ 11:01pm GMT on 7th Feb [Score:1 Underrated]
If it goes anything like last time Obama brought a camera to a bipartisan event it's going to involve a lot of Obama using his angry voice.

sacrelicious said @ 11:06pm GMT on 7th Feb [Score:1 Underrated]
good. 'bout time.

mrklipp said @ 6:02am GMT on 8th Feb
Um, you aren't referring to that meeting of the congressional republicans that Obama was invited to as a bipartisan event are you?

Because that would be silly.

sacrelicious said @ 11:06pm GMT on 7th Feb
Round 32, FIGHT!

hippoh said @ 11:07pm GMT on 7th Feb [Score:5 Funny]

Todomanna said @ 12:37am GMT on 8th Feb
It looks more like Obama is playing Rock'em Sock'em Robots with that guy

phouka1916 said @ 4:37am GMT on 8th Feb
Is that the president with Luca Brasi ?

symmetrian said @ 4:38pm GMT on 8th Feb
He sleeps with the fishes.

JOECAM said @ 2:45pm GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Insightful]

ComposerNate said @ 3:27pm GMT on 8th Feb
We could use some racial diversity on our money. Sacagawea didn't work out.

I didn't realize Beck only took one college class and dropped out. He's been on radio since he was 13.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 5:45pm GMT on 8th Feb
So, did Glenn Beck rape and murder a girl in 1990 or not?

Silent said @ 7:09pm GMT on 8th Feb
Sounds like Obama was expanding his horizons in college...
Doing things like that, he'll end up President of the united states or something.
HOW DARE HE??

erich wiess said @ 4:52pm GMT on 8th Feb

ComposerNate said @ 5:14pm GMT on 8th Feb

... her private carrier denied coverage for a treatment her oncologist had recommended. She appealed, to no avail. To paraphrase one of my favorite Congressman Barney Frank in response to an inflamed teabagger, trying to reason with these insurance company bureaucrats is like trying to talk to a dining room table, she said.

She chose to be cremated, wearing her Obama t-shirt. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 at Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman in St. Louis. Melanie requested that those attending wear their activist t-shirts.
http://www.truemajority.org/aggressiveprogressive/?p=450

badgerbaiter said @ 12:15am GMT on 8th Feb

v21 said @ 12:45am GMT on 8th Feb
And to think he's just been nominated for an Oscar...

ComposerNate said @ 12:27am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:4 Insightful]

sacrelicious said @ 12:33am GMT on 8th Feb
clearly it's a slippery slope.

that only goes uphill.

ComposerNate said @ 12:36am GMT on 8th Feb
But our hats get worse.

sacrelicious said @ 4:17am GMT on 8th Feb
to be fair, they skipped over the fedora decades entirely.

sanepride said @ 5:48am GMT on 8th Feb
That would have covered Social Security.

Todomanna said @ 12:37am GMT on 8th Feb
Both ways.

Barefoot.

mego said @ 10:12am GMT on 8th Feb
In three feet of snow.

mego said @ 10:13am GMT on 8th Feb
Make that seven feet.

cskrat said @ 2:05am GMT on 8th Feb
Somehow counting the Oregon trail as a public highway system seems a little premature.

tronsgit said @ 12:32am GMT on 8th Feb
It's a nice idea, but Republicans won't agree to do anything that they have no control over.

Naruki said @ 2:12am GMT on 8th Feb
That statement seems incomplete somehow. How about this:

It's a nice idea, but Republicans won't agree to do anything that they don't have no complete control over.

verycleanteeth said @ 2:16am GMT on 8th Feb
I believe they already have agreed. And if they didn't... well, Obama sitting in front of the cameras with a bunch of empty seats where the Republicans should have been would make a great visual argument.

bbqkink said @ 2:24am GMT on 8th Feb
I think they are stuck.. no way to turn it down.

Todomanna said @ 2:31am GMT on 8th Feb
"This event is horribly biased towards the liberals, and I won't have any part in it"

mrklipp said @ 6:04am GMT on 8th Feb
And not get some of that tasty free TV time? Fat fucking chance of that.

benjamander said @ 12:59am GMT on 8th Feb
I really really want use to do "Questions to the President" like they do "Questions to the Prime Minister" over in the UK.

Todomanna said @ 1:16am GMT on 8th Feb
At least 50% of them would be "Why do you want to ruin our country?" or something along those lines.

benjamander said @ 1:39am GMT on 8th Feb
"I don't, and if you aren't smart enough to come up with a better question, or at least one that hasn't been asked yet today, maybe you should look into another line of work."

Todomanna said @ 2:07am GMT on 8th Feb
"Why are you trying to dodge the question, and put all the blame on the American people?"

The Obamator said @ 2:16am GMT on 8th Feb
The American people want basic healthcare. I want to help them get it.

Are there any constructive questions?

Todomanna said @ 2:18am GMT on 8th Feb
If people wanted healthcare, they'd pay for it. There are dozens of insurance companies already in existence. Isn't what you're doing just sticking your big government nose in the private sector, where it doesn't belong?*

*No, I'm not serious

Naruki said @ 2:59am GMT on 8th Feb
People aleady pay for healthcare, but they often can't get it because it's priced out of their reach, or it's taken away from them on flimsy excuses even though they payed in good faith.

Nobody I know wants to go bankrupt paying for something they don't actually receive, and yet that is still happening all across America.

If the private sector was willing to serve the American people honestly, they needed to make drastic changes, long ago. They still can. It's a matter of putting the health of America's citizens over short term profits.

Your government does not want to interfere with a healthy economy, but there comes a point when you have to treat the patient or watch it die. I am unwilling to let America die.

Todomanna said @ 3:04am GMT on 8th Feb
Look, all I'm saying is, if they can't afford to pay for health insurance, they don't deserve proper care. What's so wrong about that?*

*Still not serious, please don't hurt me

Naruki said @ 3:25am GMT on 8th Feb
Sir, please stand up where everyone can see you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this person says you do not deserve health care! I say it's time for a lynchi... Er, oops. Just fell right the fuck out of character didn't I?

Todomanna said @ 3:36am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Underrated]
Considering insurance companies would probably pay people to fill up the audience with people willing to tout their "ideals"...

midden said @ 4:28am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:4 WTF]
I'm self-employed. I was on anti-depressants and seeing a therapist for a year after my mother and wife died within a few weeks of each other. Now, due to "pre-existing conditions," I'm effectively un-insurable. Yeah, this sucks.

* Yes, I saw the annotation. Just saying...

Naruki said @ 4:38am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 WTF]
That sucks, man. I'm about to be self-employed if I can't find a new job. And I can't. Just got the news this morning: we either turn around the company's free fall before April or else. Doesn't look likely, so...

midden said @ 1:46pm GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Good]
If you're company is a reasonable size, (I think 20 people?) you should be eligible for COBRA health insurance for a year. You do have to foot the bill, including whatever part your company was paying, but at least you can continue your existing coverage while looking for a new job, hopefully one with heal benefits.

Good luck to you.

Here's a link to a FAQ about COBRA coverage:
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.HTML

midden said @ 1:49pm GMT on 8th Feb
"your"

Joe_Luma said @ 4:13pm GMT on 8th Feb
I think he's probably better off with GI-JOE health insurance...

symmetrian said @ 6:05pm GMT on 8th Feb
Naruki lives in Japan.

Naruki said @ 2:24am GMT on 9th Feb
Yeah, they can't even pronounce COBRA.

midden said @ 1:40pm GMT on 8th Feb
In case I wasn't clear, I am un-insurable due to "pre-existing mental health" problems. Physically, I'm in very good shape, not over weight, don't smoke, no chronic problems, diseases, maladies. My biggest physical issue is a nasty cat allergy.

benjamander said @ 2:20am GMT on 8th Feb
I realize that it would just be another place for the regular idiocy to come out, but at least it would be in a dialogue, and allow an immediate response in the same forum.

Todomanna said @ 2:25am GMT on 8th Feb
True enough, I just think it'd be considerably less effective than in the UK. Granted, when I say UK, I immediately think tophats and monocles, and not (is this what they're called?) chavs.

FifthSpango said @ 8:43am GMT on 8th Feb
Chavs is what they are called, if you don't mind being a wee bit classist.

two points though;

1) It's Prime Ministers Questions

2) It's held in the commons, and only elected MPs are present/ can ask questions. It's not a forum for the public to question the PM.

cb361 said @ 7:14pm GMT on 8th Feb
And half the questions from members of the ruling party are along the lines of "Does the Prime Minister realise how altogether spiffy he is?"

velourfrog said @ 8:03pm GMT on 8th Feb
And half the answers are "I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous answer."

Krutz said @ 2:06am GMT on 8th Feb
What I want is some kind of Google-based A.I. going over the text of this or any other debate and running a "bullshit-o-meter" so any time someone makes some false claim involving numbers, events or statements by others, a red light comes on and the person in question gets a few thousand volts to remind them to get their facts straight.

Yes, I'm aware the place will probably soon smell like someone tossed several gallons of Old Spice into a grease fire, but that's the price of democracy.

brat#3 said @ 2:24am GMT on 8th Feb
That would be great, also use large screens behind the candidate that flash 'FALSE' anytime they say something ridiculous, maybe with an annoying sound designed to make the speaker flustered. Or a nice 'ding!' and 'TRUE!' when they use a piece of data correctly.

If politics needs to be entertaining to be received, let's at least make it educational!

Todomanna said @ 2:28am GMT on 8th Feb
I was thinking more of a meter that goes from green to orange, and statements were judged on a scale, with more bullshitty statements receiving a higher shock, and truthful statements receiving... gold stickers, I guess?

brat#3 said @ 4:30am GMT on 8th Feb
Cookies. Candidate with the most cookies wins!

Todomanna said @ 5:05am GMT on 8th Feb
You have my vote! brat#3 for Emperor of Earth!

taiga said @ 5:45am GMT on 8th Feb
NO! She's Caesar!

brat#3 said @ 8:41pm GMT on 8th Feb
So I have experience! Win/Win!

lilmookieesquire said @ 7:09am GMT on 8th Feb
I have to tell them about the cookie gap before it is too late!

nik said @ 1:43am GMT on 8th Feb
I've been listening to the audio book of GAME CHANGE, and would like to recommend it. John Edwards is a creepy little egomaniac. Obama's own campaigners jokingly referred to Obama as "black Jesus". And Hillary Clinton's favorite swearword is "asshole".

Naruki said @ 2:17am GMT on 8th Feb
Sounds like she listens to too much Mel Gibson.

theRed said @ 2:16am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:2 Funny]
In a side note:

(http://gamu-toys.info/sonota/sw/obama/obama.html)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

KingTaco said @ 2:45am GMT on 8th Feb
I love how the katakana for Barack and black are the same.

Naruki said @ 2:51am GMT on 8th Feb
Um, they aren't.

バラク　！＝　ブラック

damnit said @ 3:34am GMT on 8th Feb
Translation:

Bu-ra-ku != Ba-ra-kku

Todomanna said @ 3:37am GMT on 8th Feb
So not the same, then?

damnit said @ 3:45am GMT on 8th Feb
It's probably Bu-ra-kku and Ba-ra-ku.

I don't know how Japanese turn foreign words into Katakana and the way they sound it out.

It could be that when they pronounce "black," the 'k' sound is not sounded out like in "Barack."

damnit said @ 3:47am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Informative]
yep.

I just switched it. They sound out the 'k' in "black" and not in "Barack."

so

バラク = Barack
ブラック = Black

Todomanna said @ 3:47am GMT on 8th Feb
Well, if a recent comment that I can't remember the specific contents were is accurate, Naruki is currently in Japan. I say we go with his analysis.

Ed McMahonnaise said @ 4:33am GMT on 8th Feb
You are correct, sir.

swiggy said @ 3:29am GMT on 8th Feb

sacrelicious said @ 3:50am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:2 Interesting]
it's funny because Obama is the only person who realizes that given it's minimal weight, fencing techniques would be the most effective way to wield a lightsaber, as opposed to the broadsword techniques depicted in the films!

Naruki said @ 4:35am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Informative]
They use heavy light. The Force is no pantywaist!

Todomanna said @ 5:07am GMT on 8th Feb
Yeah, but with a lightsabers ability to cut through almost anything, wouldn't you want something more with the likelyhood of completely chopping through something, as opposed to poking a little hole in it?

Besides, in the extended universe (NEEEEEEERRRRRRRRDDDD) there are many different styles of wielding a lightsaber ;)

Nostrildamus said @ 1:17pm GMT on 8th Feb
They don't use broadsword techniques in the films. They use Kendo.

If you think people clashed swords with broadswords, you got your history from LotR.

sacrelicious said @ 2:24pm GMT on 8th Feb
sorry, by "the films" I meant the original trilogy. as in the ones that didn't suck.

as for the others, I don't think that was kendo. unless by "kendo" you mean meth and CGI.

symmetrian said @ 4:44pm GMT on 8th Feb
No, he meant that the way they fought in the original trilogy is not how people fought with broadswords. It is, in fact, much closer to kendo.

damnit said @ 6:29pm GMT on 8th Feb
Their stance is similar to Kendo. To an extent, more akin to Samurai fighting stance. It's not a coincidence Jedi rhymes with Samurai.

KingPellinore said @ 7:39pm GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Funny]
"Jedi rhymes with Samurai."

You keep using this word "rhymes". I do not think it means what you think it does.

cb361 said @ 8:53pm GMT on 8th Feb
These are not the rhymes you're looking for.

bluetu3sday said @ 4:41am GMT on 9th Feb
God, I wish I was a rapper so I could use that line.

cb361 said @ 7:33am GMT on 9th Feb
I'm OK JAY-DEE and I'm commin' at you
With a message for my for extra special gungan crew
You can watch the stars fight
You can watch the stars war,
Cos' these aren't the rhymes that yo' looking for

crom said @ 8:32pm GMT on 8th Feb
How do you know lightsabers don't have significant weight or inertia?

mrcucumber said @ 9:02pm GMT on 8th Feb
Light sabers have inertia?

robotroadkill said @ 11:37am GMT on 8th Feb
So glad I scrolled down. I almost didn't.

blackpsypher said @ 3:00am GMT on 8th Feb
You know; if instead of broadcasting this we made it a pay-per-view event, and make it less "summit-ish" and more "cagematch-ish", we would have an effective method of determining who's riders are accepted and who's are not as well as pay for a good part of the program all in one fell swoop.

Hell, I'd pay $20 to watch Pelosi execute a flying arm-bar on Michele Bachmann from the top rope.

metternich said @ 3:04am GMT on 8th Feb
Deals are made behind closed doors. Or at least, they have been for the last 200 years.

ComposerNate said @ 3:07am GMT on 8th Feb
"Deal with us behind closed doors or we will flaunt your foolishness publicly. On February 25th. Your mother will be watching."

damnit said @ 3:29am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:2]
Deleted Avatar scene (Presidential Edition).

I See You

sacrelicious said @ 3:44am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:1 Funny]
uh oh, it looks like Michele and her crew are about to get served!

brat#3 said @ 4:31am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:2]
I just love how it seems they actually LIKE each other. It's refreshing.

sacrelicious said @ 4:44am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:2 Insightful]
not that unusual. you could always tell that Bill Clinton truly and sincerely loved Monica Lewinsky.

spite48 said @ 10:43pm GMT on 8th Feb
That photo reminds me that I very badly need to shine my shoes.

benjamander said @ 3:28am GMT on 9th Feb
Gasp!

racist!

Bodnoirbabe said @ 4:37am GMT on 8th Feb
I don't know. Seems to me that if the Republicans are going to be on TV during this, it will be all the more reason for them to remain obstinate. After all, puffing their chest and beating on it is something they do best in front of a camera.

sacrelicious said @ 4:48am GMT on 8th Feb [Score:2 Funny]
an open appeal to the producers of the Daily Show:

"Obstinance Only". you like that? well there's more where that came from. gimme a call, let's somethin' out.

verycleanteeth said @ 5:44am GMT on 8th Feb
nice.

symmetrian said @ 6:07pm GMT on 8th Feb
That last sentence damages your prospects.

sacrelicious said @ 6:53pm GMT on 8th Feb
correction: an appeal to the NON-ANAL producers of the Daily Show.

KingPellinore said @ 7:37pm GMT on 8th Feb
The you're shit out of luck. It turns out, there's one VERY SPECIFIC, and VERY MANDATORY step in the application process...

KingPellinore said @ 7:37pm GMT on 8th Feb
*Then you're

sacrelicious said @ 7:50pm GMT on 8th Feb
not that kind of anal. I'm fine with that.

bbqkink said @ 9:23pm GMT on 8th Feb
***********New ***

A summit marked by more partisan gridlock could give Obama an excuse to move ahead on the bill through a budget process that requires only a simple majority of 51 votes in the 100-member Senate, bypassing Republican opposition.

"Obama seems to be sending a signal they are going to go for the end run," Blendon said. "When he does, he can say 'I tried.'"

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0819338820100208

Not a bad Idea!

uncletim said @ 11:31pm GMT on 8th Feb
Man, I would hate if it came to something like that; but I'd love to see it.

bbqkink said @ 3:12am GMT on 9th Feb
It is also the stick for the carrot, come and sit on national TV and seriously negotiate or...reconciliation it is with a bill that will make your insurance buddies scream, that we for sure can get 49 votes for in a Newyork min.

Unlike you I would prefer to see the latter.

bbqkink said @ 3:20am GMT on 9th Feb
50 votes Vp breaks the tie.

uncletim said @ 4:02am GMT on 9th Feb
I hope something can be done that reigns in the system that continues to bankrupt people who need medical treatment.

bbqkink said @ 4:59am GMT on 9th Feb
The Republicans are now demanding that they start over.

It is not clear that Republicans and the White House are willing to negotiate seriously with each other, and Mr. Obama has rejected Republican demands that he start from scratch in developing health care legislation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/health/policy/09health.html

If they do... hell even if they go from where they are now I still have hopes "single payer" gets put back on the table and the US can join the rest of the world. and give everybody good health care and Nobody goes bankrupt but the insurance companies.

ComposerNate said @ 5:46am GMT on 9th Feb
If Congress pusses around, then Obama strides up and saves the mother-fucking day, he'd be a hero. And the networks would get their story. Congress provides drama, Obama brings salvation.

Naruki said @ 5:48am GMT on 9th Feb
Well, if the congress critters that allow it to happen (by voting for the abuses or voting against the regulation) were somehow forced to stop being congress critters, and it was made clear that their replacements would meet the same fate if they did the same thing, then it might get fixed.

There are all kinds of "somehow" to be considered. But currently the legalized bribery known as Lobbyists kind of stands in the way of most somehows.

bbqkink said @ 6:08am GMT on 9th Feb
ya see, that is just it..they stay congress critters with the $$ paid by legalized bribery known as Lobbyists...

Naruki said @ 7:08am GMT on 9th Feb
Well then.

bbqkink said @ 5:25am GMT on 9th Feb [Score:1 Insightful]
Here is another view of the mess in the US senate.By PAUL KRUGMAN

America Is Not Yet Lost

Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of Rome, we’re re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland. ....

A brief history lesson: In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle: any member could nullify legislation by shouting “I do not allow!” This made the nation largely ungovernable, and neighboring regimes began hacking off pieces of its territory. By 1795 Poland had disappeared, not to re-emerge for more than a century.

Today, the U.S. Senate seems determined to make the Sejm look good .by comparison....

How bad is it? It’s so bad that I miss Newt Gingrich.

After the dissolution of Poland, a Polish officer serving under Napoleon penned a song that eventually — after the country’s post-World War I resurrection — became the country’s national anthem. It begins, “Poland is not yet lost.”

Well, America is not yet lost. But the Senate is working on it.

bbqkink said @ 5:25am GMT on 9th Feb
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/opinion/08krugman.html?partner=rss&emc=rss