Anonymous wrote:So dems. Still waiting on your reaction to Mathews. This was the man who got a "shiver up his leg" for Obama. He isn't feeling the love anymore. Response?

I called Chris Mathews an idiot when he got the shiver. Now, I think he is an idiot without a shiver.

Do you want to hear what Mathews has said about the Republican candidates?

OP, get together with some of your friends and start a charter school. You all will get founders preferences so you don't have to worry about a lottery. Then, you will get all the autonomy that you want. Moreover, with nothing more than a few posts here on DCUM, your school can be considered top ranked before it even opens.

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with this PP but I also won't vote for Obama. He doesn't deserve a 2nd term, I will vote for Romney and I think he has enough political sense to have a moderate as his VP.

Romney is a GOP moderate. He will have to have a lunatic as his VP.

Even better, this foreclosure mill which recently had it's employees dress as homeless people just went out of business:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/opinion/nocera-baum-weighs-in-after-uproar.htm

At least if the employees lose their homes, they will know how to dress.

One, and possibly two, of those middle schools are going to be magnets and will presumably not be limited to Ward 5 students. The arts and language school should attract the arts-oriented students that Hardy once attracted. So, perhaps more students from Pallisades will feel comfortable attending their neighborhood MS.

Anonymous wrote:
I realize this sounds hard to believe, but NASCAR broadcasts can be found in every radio market in PA, OH, WV, VA, NC etc. every Sunday they are running. Really, people not only listen to it, the live for it.

And I don't dislike either of the ladies, I just reject your logic that booing them constitutes disrespect for the military because the reason they were there was to show support for military. IMO that was not the reason they were there at all, any more than I believe that Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed the White House dinner because they were hungry (although it was a dinner). They were there to show their blue collar creds to boost their spouses reelection efforts, period. NASCAR fans ARE the military - so I would conclude that the crowd's perception was much like mine, and that the booing was because they were White House surrogates and had zip, zero, nada to do with the military. But again, you are welcome to your opinion, I don't think it much bothers those NASCAR fans

Again, Michelle Obama has been working in support of military families ever since she became First Lady. She didn't just decide to show up at a NASCAR race. The race was in Homestead, Florida, home of the Homestead Air Base. You can learn more about the Joining Forces Initiative that she leads here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces

Do you contend that her entire effort has been nothing but a re-election effort? Do you similarly feel that Laura Bush's efforts to bring attention to reading was a re-election ploy?

If you watch the full video of the NASCAR incident (I noticed that it has been misleadingly cut in many cases), you will see that what led to the booing is this statement by the announcers:

"And now, please welcome our grand marshals, Sergeant Andrew Barry and his family, First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden as they deliver the most famous words in motor sports".

This followed quite a bit of talk about the need to support military families. I don't understand how anyone can say the Sergeant wasn't also being booed.

To the extent the two women were "White House" surrogates, they were representing White House efforts to support military families. The crowd decided to boo that effort and you support their boos. How would you feel about liberals booing George W. Bush at a function in which he was attempting to bring attention to fighting AIDS in Africa? Would you accept their explanation that they didn't think Bush really cared about AIDS in Africa and was just trying to build political support? I don't think you would accept it anymore than I accept your explanation.

Some times the side with which you agree does things that are wrong. It's okay to admit it. I do it al the time. This is your chance to do it.

Anonymous wrote:Where is your outrage at at the opposition seeking to undermine the Tea Party?

Undermine? Who wants to undermine it? The Tea Party has been great for the left. Without the Tea Party and it's support for fringe Senate candidates, the Senate would be Republican-controlled at the moment. I want more Sharron Angles and Christine O' Donnells. The last thing I want to see is the Tea Party to be undermined. It's doing great work.

Anonymous wrote:

I respectfully disagree, the purpose was to move into red state territory and try to save Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia for Obama/Biden (male/male). So no, I do not at all agree with your bottom line, but you are welcome to your opinion. Perhaps the audience was still smarting from "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

They were in Florida. Nowhere near Pennsylvania or Ohio. Michelle Obama chose supporting military familes as her personal cause from the very beginning of the administration. She has been all over the country in support of that cause. Maybe you feel that is nothing more than a re-election ploy and, as you said to me, you are welcome to your opinion. When Laura Bush chose to focus on reading, she was not subject to similar charges. I assume she occasionally read to children in blue states. But, your response shows great solidarity with the those who booed the two women. You are so consumed by your dislike of them that you cannot get beyond it to see that they are doing something that you would otherwise support (unless you are also part of the anti-military right). There was very little about George W. Bush that I liked, but even I could acknowledge that he made a positive contribution to the fight against AIDS in Africa. It would never enter my mind to boo him at an event where he promoted that fight, let alone attempt to justify someone else's booing.

Anonymous wrote:They're made by a local artisan. I love these but can't decide which ones to purchase. I want three. They are all between $80-$125...not bad..

Please quit shilling your crap. Everybody here knows you are sock puppetting. You are simply making yourself look foolish.

Anonymous wrote:The Empress MIchelle's husband and none of her family has served in the US miklitary. At least, Jill Biden's step son has served. In any case, what office does either hold that should be respected? None. Michelle serves dinner to the homeless in $500.00 athletic shoes. For the honeless and hungry, I offer thanks for the crumbs from your table, Empress Bountiful. Also the veteran and his family were not booed. Another fact is that the "rednecks" you look down on are the ones who make up a large segment of the military. When you've served your country in its armed forces then you have the right to criticize, until then, shut up. Speaking as someone whose family has served this country in the military and diplomatic corps for many generations.

Sorry, but I will rely on the Constitution for my rights to free speech rather than your conditions. I will criticize whomever I damn well please. Right now, I feel like criticizing you. Michelle Obama has more class in her pinky then you have in your entire body.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Personally I think anyone can boo whomever they want to boo. Moreover, I would not only expect conservatives to disagree with Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden, I understand their disagreement. But, in this case, the two women were standing with a veteran and his family and Obama and Biden were there to promote military families. So, I don't think the story is a bunch of yahoos booing two women that I would expect them to boo. Rather, it is the fact that a crowd of red-blooded American patriots decided to boo a veteran during an effort to rally support for military families. If it had been liberals booing the military, Fox News would have it on endless loop and Congress would be considering a resolution of condemnation.

With the super wankers failing to reach an agreement on the budget, the automatic cuts are scheduled to take a chunk out of the military's hide. We will be hearing a lot from conservatives about how this is tragedy that must be reversed and how liberals don't support the military. But, this episode shows just how little conservatives really care about those who serve their country.

http://news.yahoo.com/michelle-obama-dr-jill-biden-draw-boos-nascar-232438819.html

The article states that Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were introduced they received a smattering of boos.When the military veteran was introduced, he received resounding applause.

I watched the video. The soldier was introduced first and received applause. Then he, his family, Obama, and Biden were all presented to start the race. That when the boos started. Obviously, the boos were aimed at Obama and Biden. But, the presentation of the grand marshals -- the announcement that was booed, included the soldier and his family. Moreover, the purpose of the 1st and 2nd ladies at the event was not a love of auto racing, but to help support military families. It is impossible to argue that the boos were for a specific purpose separate from the context of what was happening. The bottom line is that an effort to bring attention to the need to support military families was booed. Also, based on what I could hear in the video, it was hardly a smattering of boos. It was quite loud and I couldn't hear any applause.

This guy is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He is standing with his hands in his pockets and is beaten so badly he was hospitalized with a lacerated spleen. That's the kind of respect those guys at Bagram can expect stateside:

Personally I think anyone can boo whomever they want to boo. Moreover, I would not only expect conservatives to disagree with Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden, I understand their disagreement. But, in this case, the two women were standing with a veteran and his family and Obama and Biden were there to promote military families. So, I don't think the story is a bunch of yahoos booing two women that I would expect them to boo. Rather, it is the fact that a crowd of red-blooded American patriots decided to boo a veteran during an effort to rally support for military families. If it had been liberals booing the military, Fox News would have it on endless loop and Congress would be considering a resolution of condemnation.

With the super wankers failing to reach an agreement on the budget, the automatic cuts are scheduled to take a chunk out of the military's hide. We will be hearing a lot from conservatives about how this is tragedy that must be reversed and how liberals don't support the military. But, this episode shows just how little conservatives really care about those who serve their country.

This is an amazing video. A small group of protesters at UC Davis is sitting down in a row. They are possibly blocking a road of some sort. But, they are just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. A policeman simply walks down the line spraying them directly in the face with pepper spray. This is reminiscent of the fire hoses used to spray civil rights demonstrators. There is absolutely no excuse to use pepper spray in this instance. But, even more amazing is the aftermath. The crowd is understandably enraged. But, they remain peaceful, if intimidating, and manage to chase the entire police contingent (which is armed with some weird-looking guns in addition to pepper spray) out of the park. It is a great demonstration of how peaceful protest can defeat armed force.

Anonymous wrote:I've heard really good things about School Without Walls. Any reason it's not listed?

It's a high school.