Obama takes down the evil Republicans in Congress - No Lube!!

Actually, driving with a beer between the legs was a quote from one of my posts. I do find it interesting that you claim most countries have harsher laws on that front. I happen to agree. There are a myriad of laws, depending on the country, that are harsher on personal freedoms than the US, especially when it comes to gun ownership. I'm trying to understand how you reconcile these statements with your assertion that the US is uniquely becoming a dictatorship. I thought you might present an intelligent fact based argument.

 

It seems the personal freedom for you starts and ends with the ability for drunk driving while in my opinion drunk driving has nothing to do with personal freedom. I define personal freedom with the ability for free speech, freedom of assembly, protection against unreasonable search and seizure, right to privacy, protection against imprisonment without a conviction, right to due process,...... I don´t think US is uniquely becoming a dictatorship, in fact many countries in south America, Africa and Asia are dictatorships but in North American and in most of Europe our societies were advanced enough in social progress that individual were offered all these rights. Unfortunately these rights are being abolished every day by neo-cons in USA and the same thing is happening in Europe through Americans buying and influencing the European politicians.

 

Actually no. I define freedom as being able to wield a firearm while driving drunk.

So now Obama is a neo-con who is destroying personal freedoms(as you describe them) in America and Europe(through influence and money). Hey, I'll admit the laws Obama is signing into law, specifically those that allow the indefinite detention of American citizens abroad, without charge or trial are deeply disturbing, but I still don't think I'd call him a neo-con. He may have circumvented congressional approval on his cabinet appointments, making him a bit of an autocrat, but these are but a few of the myriad of reasons I hope and suspect he will be voted out of office in 2012.

Europe, on the other hand, has to take responsibility for it's own, similar intrusions on free speech, free assembly, etc, etc,etc. You can try and blame American money and influence, which is a typical liberal "nobody is responsible for our their actions" stance to take, but you and I both know it's looking more and more like Europe is ruled by Sarkozy and Merkle.

On a bigger scale, in this day and age of a wireless camera on every light pole, a mobile camera in everyone's cell phone, and our private information transmitted over open networks using encryption protocols that have long since been hacked by the NSA (and a few private hacker groups), I'm starting to come under the impression that privacy, true privacy, is a thing that is disappearing culturally for good worldwide. I'm not saying I'm happy about it. It just is.

 

So Private Bradley Manning was right after all.

 

I have already answered this previously.

 

Right about what?

 

Really? Love to see the photos of you and a pack of Aussies in various countries. You don't seem to have picked up much of the young travelling Aussie culture. You know - the drunken yobbo thing they do so well.

 

Sorry pal. I'm not in the habit of publishing photos of my misspent youth online. It tends to be prohibitive to gainful employment. I don't even keep a facebook account for similar reasons. Even if you don't carry your own camera these days, the pure quantity of other people happily clicking and posting away is unnerving. It tends to make my travels and holidays much less felonious( marriage and kids doesn't help on that front either).

Why, because I don't spout a bunch of anti-US bullshit on public forums like you do? You don't know the first thing about me on a personal level. Seems you somehow vainly attribute your anti-US diatribe to drunken Aussie yobbo culture or any other type of Aussie culture. I think your own countrymen would disagree with you on both counts.

 

Earl, I don't get it. I'm used to well-thought out posts from you. Now you just make shit up. Or maybe you are Google-impaired and don't know how to do a search for Obama appointments that Republicans in the Senate approved.

It never ceases to amaze me how Democrats think that Presidents who are Democrats should be granted complete and total dictatorial powers while vigorously wiping their asses with the Constitution. What Obama has done violates past positions taken by the Justice Department dating back to 1921. But, of course, to the Democrats, laws are things that get in the way of getting what they want, right???

In 2010, Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal explained to the U.S. Supreme Court the position of the Obama administration is that recess appointments are only permissible when Congress is in recess for more than three days.

 

I'm not anti US mate - I'm anti people like you.

 

I don't have a Facebook account either. Young 20-something girls are always asking me "Are you on Facebook? Friend me!". That's all I need, clients asking me why I've friended hot girls 20 years younger than me. If you are over 35, Facebook is an invitation to trouble.

What about me? What about me?

 

"Last edited by Corwin; Yesterday at 9:27 pm. Reason: kangaroos"

The kangaroos are innocent!!

 

The non stop GOP Congressional effort to simply handcuff the government and specifically the Obama administration to simply run the government on behalf of Americans has been under reported. It is more severe, more reflective of vindictive politics, and more focused on screwing regular Americans than that tried by any party at any point in modern time. Republicans have blocked voluminous judicial appointments, executive appointments, appointments key to the running of the economy, and appointments that simply would allow legislated offices to operate. Take these actions on top of GOP efforts to shut down the government, block the raising of the debt ceiling...and what you have is a radical extremist party that wants to hinder America and shut down its economy. The GOP is simply interested in power and couldn't give a whit if Americans work or not.

Here are some examples: From August 22, 2011:

Some facts on recess appointments:

In 8 years Clinton made 139 recess appointments, Bush made 171...and as of Jan with the latest 4...Obama has made 19.

Simply speaking...Obama is appointing people and the GOP is doing everything in its power to keep people from working, to keep the government from running, and to hinder the American people from moving forward.

From August 2011 we see this report:

It appears that on top of blocking anything the Obama administration tries to do, the GOP takes specific delight in blocking advances by women or people of color. (ah...the GOP...still the party of white males only!!!!)

The radical, angry, power mad GOP doesn't just block judicial appointments....they block positions that have anything to do with the economy...

In December of this year...we had still one more threat by the GOP to shut down government one more time!

The GOP won't negotiate. They only threat. The GOP blocked an increase in the debt ceiling for months, effectively blocked government from operating on behalf of Americans and caused an immediate downgrade in the rating of American debt. The debt ceiling has been in existence since 1917, Congress basically always automatically approved increases...but this Congress took the extremist view of blocking it to the bitter end despite every warning from every knowledgeable financial entity within the US and worldwide.

While effectively operating a nation has been commonplace for decades...this GOP disruptive Congress has decided they would make life tougher for every American every day because they hate Obama. For the first time the GOP threatened the financial health of the nation, by forcing it to face not paying its bills and threatened it with subserviant bankruptcy.

Finally, on the recess appointments made by Obama in January...all of 4 people...while facing hundreds of blocked appointees....he appointed people in offices which were blocked from operating in any way whatsoever without the critical personal to run the Consumer Protection Agency or form a quorum in the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)

The non ending continuous obstinacy of the GOP radicals is simply to hinder and block any effort by this government to operate. Its simply the most extreme radical Congress in modern times, with the single mindset of harming average Americans, blocking the government from operating and trying to wrest control of government on behalf of the its wealthy benefactors.

 

What a load of partisan bullshit. Are you ignoring the how the Democrats tanked the economy in 2008? Barney Frank knew the banks were about to collapse and covered it up. Nancy Pelosi drove up the price of oil. Etc. And don't get me started on how the Democrats tanked the economy when Clinton ran against G.H.W. Bush.

What a load of partisan bullshit.

In case you haven't been keeping up, or if you were unable to read my previous post, those recess appointments were made when Congress was officially in recess - that is, for three or more days. Clinton's appointments were often made when Congress was in recess for a month.

WTF, Earl??? You sound like just another mindless partisan hack - "My party all good, other party all bad".

But, in the end, if your arguments were true, they are self-defeating because you are basically admitting that Obama is too weak to lead. Congressional Partisanship is a a complete and total failure of the President to lead, PERIOD! Hillary Clinton would have had us out of a recession by now with 6% unemployment. Even Biden would have done better.

 

What is worse, the three day rule is something Obama himself used and defended when he was in congress and Bush was president. You didn't see Bush stepping over that line.

Perhaps you could argue that it is a shame that the congressional confirmation process has become another form of filibustering, but can you imagine a President of either party declaring legislation to be law without passing congress because he wouldn't accept "obstructionist filibustering"? The recess appointment clause was never designed to be used to intentionally bypass congressional confirmation. Next he'll be declaring himself president for life.

Well said! In any sane universe, the blame for failure to reach a compromise falls on leadership, not those who follow. Can you imagine the president of a fortune 500 company convincing the stockholders and board members that the failures of his company were not his failure to lead, but middle management's failure to follow? He'd not only be fired, he'd be sent to the looney bin. What an asshat.

I think congress needs to establish a blue ribbon panel to assess the Kangaroo threat.

 

How the heck 20-something girls start conversation with you to the point that they ask about your facebook page?

 

Young girls are always looking for bragging rights over other girls. It's all about STATUS. A successful older businessman on their friends list is status. "Here's a friend from school... another buddy from school... my BFF from dance class... and here's this cool guy I met waitressing, he owns his own business. He says I'm adorable!"

Plus, I used to get into the minds of these girls and play to their fantasies (Game never fades). The hotter the girl, the more she craves a relationship with an older man. Just BE that man and NOT her school buddy. Be optimistic, not creepy. I project myself as Robert Redford's character from the movie "Up Close and Personal".

 

The Republicans will probably make a shady deal with handbag corporations to label them as a danger, and attempt to have them all slaughtered for profit. The Democrats will want to raise our taxes to send them all food boxes, and provide wellness checks for the little Joeys. No decision will actually ever be made, they'll just pose in the media, and criticize each other. J/K

 

No wonder younger guys like me have hard time finding a girl... They all are after older businessmen!! Sucks!

 

I always thought you were delusional in your opinions, thanks for confirming it.