Jimmy Carter’s second term
To say that I’m disappointed in the results of the election is probably a bit of an understatement. What is most disappointing is to see my “friends” on Facebook who are veterans celebrating a second term of the President. I can’t figure out what they’re celebrating about. Retirees in five western states are being forced out of Tricare Prime and into Tricare Standard which means that, unless they live near a military treatment facility, their healthcare are going to skyrocket. What’s to celebrate?
And I put the blame for this loss of veterans squarely on the shoulders of the Romney team. When I brought the above subject up to John Noonan, Romney’s defense advisor, he responded that he hadn’t heard the Obama camp mention it in the campaign – so I guess he thought it wasn’t going to happen. It’s going to happen in April, whether Noonan has heard about it or not. A moment’s Google would tell him that.
The Obama Administration has raided our healthcare premiums to pay for other defense projects. If a corporation had done that to it’s retirees, the Obama Administration would be crawling up their ass with a microscope.
And what about the most egregious decision of the Afghan war? The one that forbade US troops from having loaded weapons when they were in the company of our “allies” just to make them think that we trusted them. That bit of brilliance cost us more than 50 young lives this year before they finally reversed the decision this summer. And let’s not forget that this Defense Department ignored a report last year that predicted an increase in “insider” attacks this year.
While we’re talking about the war, how about the overall strategy – what is the overall strategy if it’s not solely to withdraw? It’s a rush for the exits and a dependency on drones. The lowest infantryman understands that an Army doesn’t control anything that doesn’t have a soldier standing on it. Air attacks from several thousand feet above the battlefield doesn’t win anything, and this administration was unwilling, for purely political reasons, to put the number of boots in Afghanistan that a winning strategy required.
But the troops are coming home. If Desert Storm taught us anything, it was that if you don’t complete the mission, you’re going to end up fighting the war all over again.
While we’re at it, let’s talk about the Veterans’ Affairs Department which has squandered it’s increased funding. the rolls of veterans awaiting a decision on their claims for service-connected relief has grown despite the promises of the Department. They promised to end homelessness among veterans and they’re not really any closer than they were when they assumed office. Veterans are loosing money everyday when ever a college term begins because the VA can’t pay them in a timely manner.
All of that without even mentioning sequestration, which the Obama Administration claims won’t happen. I’m not sure how they think it won’t happen because it’s a law.
And then to top it all off, folks in Afghanistan wrote yesterday to tell us that TAH has been blocked in Regional Command (South) because we’re “extremist”. I guess it’s extremist to point out the things that no one else will, the failings of the Big Army leadership. The fact that the Defense Department is screwing over veterans and the troops and blaming them for the failures of their own leadership.
So yeah, your guy won, but who is going to pay for your jubilant celebration? It’s not American Idol or a sports contest. There is a real cost to real people out here in the real world.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Oh and let’s not forget the $3,500 to $4,000 per household tax increase/refund loss we’re going to have to endure in April because the Bush Era tax cute will expire AND the the hit we’re all going to take from the Alternative Minimum Tax not being covered by the govt going forward.
We are all going to see a *significant* kick in our wallets.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:17 am
The Tax implications are so huge, and these people have no fucking clue. Word on the street is that voting was down 3.5 million people and overall 23 million didn’t vote. Dems didn’t re-elect but reps didn’t show up. People in PA, WV, VA who voted for O have voted themselves out of jobs. Ignorance is bliss.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:23 am
I truly don’t think the American people know what they have done. I expect they will figure it out when he slashes defense to the point that Red Dawn actually comes true, but, at least we have four years to regroup and hope that Biden is the democratic nominee in 2016, easy pickings…
November 7th, 2012 at 10:24 am
TAH is not blocked in RC south…otherwise I would not get my daily dose!!! So grateful it isnt blocked and I can view this site daily. Thanks from the big ole pooh pond
November 7th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Meh. I voted Bush, I voted McCain, but this time I’d rather have Obama (I did not vote for him) than Romney. While the Republican candidates this year were some of the worst ever, I’m not sure Romney was even the best turd to choose to go up against the douche. Either way the next four years were going to be shit, my only hope was that we’d get 5% of the vote to Gary Johnson so then in 2016 we’d have a third option that could possibly force the other two retards to stop being so divisive and maybe start being productive.
Oh well, maybe people will realize after four more years of socialism that we have an option other than religious extremism to choose from if we want true fiscal responsibility.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:34 am
They will soon realise that the Bush tax cuts “for the rich” are for all tax brackets when theirs goes up in Jan.
As for being blocked for being extremist, I think that it is just a glich. I tried getting on TAH from my AR net and it said it was blocked for being extremist. All I did was hit refresh and then there was no problem.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:40 am
We survived a Civil War,Two World Wars, The Great Depression, The Great Influenza Outbreak, the Dust Bowl,,,, 4 more years of another jackass polishing the chair in the Oval office isnt going to end us.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:42 am
Fox News mentioned the Virginia military vote split 50/50… thats incredible – who would have thunk it?
November 7th, 2012 at 10:44 am
TAH is not blocked on USAF servers…yet. Michelle Malkin has been blocked as “extremist” for a few years now, at least in AFMC.
It will be interesting to see who Obama blames for the last four years…
November 7th, 2012 at 10:47 am
And as far as those VA increases go? Yeah, look at the budget projections for the next few years. Enjoy.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Christ what a dick head. What mission? You SOF assholes LOST in Afghanistan. A decade there and you can’t teach a raghead to shoot and do a bounding overwatch? Run a police force, let alone an infantry unit? Time to get out. Afghanistan NEVER was the threat, they just were stupid enough NOT to give up Bin Laden when we asked for him. Bush played with it while he went off into Iraq thinking he was a ‘war president’. He wasn’t. And a lot of political O-7s and up went along with him. And the poor fucking infantry died. This is something the fucking Brits do, not the US Army.
Romney would do NOTHING for the military. Except get you in another war in Iran. And you thing Afghanistan was bad, Iranians know how to shoot and build missiles.
And by the way, you probably didn’t hear, Iran shut down its nuclear program and want to discuss sanctions. Diplomacy worked.
As far as medical care, time for universal health care and get the fucking insurance companies out. We have the best system in the world, its how we pay for it that’s a cluster fuck. We had a good military medical system but its been dying on the vine for the past 40 years thanks on the most part for the GOP.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:49 am
I hear ya, Jonn. People choose to be blind to the shortcomings of obama and his fellow democrats and our country will suffer for it. Tens of millions of voters sold their votes for more government handouts and the dems were glad to pay them with taxpayer dollars. I fear for the future of my young children and our once great country.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:08 am
I just went and got coffee at the DD this morning, thought I was watching Idiocracy. People in uniform hugging and cheering. Majority were younger enlisted and officers, guess they are completely clueless about the outcome of their job. One even stated that he is going back home to Colorado and smoke a few bowls because it’s legal now.
If Jesus hasn’t came back yet, he better do it soon and bring the Founding Fathers with him.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:36 am
@11 – Iran shut down its nuclear program? Cite credible sources, please. Interested in how the GOP was responsible for the decline in military medical, too… thought the big cuts were under Clinton (and don’t even try to claim Carter was anything but miserable for the military).
November 7th, 2012 at 11:38 am
I got this in an email a while back. It was written by a law student.
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950′s for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.
Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:
–Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
–We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.
–You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.
–Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.
–We’ll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and bio diesel.
–You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.
–We’ll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.
–You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, home boys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens.
–We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s and rednecks.
–We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
–You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.
–You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we’ll help provide them security.
–We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values.
–You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McLane. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.
–We’ll keep the SUV’s, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Volt and Leaf you can find.
–You can give everyone health care if you can find any practicing doctors.
–We’ll continue to believe health care is a luxury and not a right.
–We’ll keep “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “The National Anthem.”
–I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute “Imagine”, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”, “Kum Ba Ya” or “We Are the World”.
–We’ll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.
–Since it often so offends you, we’ll keep our history, our name and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:48 am
Ah yes, explaining once again why the Chair Force is the red-headed stepchild of the military. “What? The cable is out? Oh, FUCK!”
November 7th, 2012 at 11:49 am
I know military and contractors that voted for Obama in the NOVA earlier.
I now cannot wait for the sequester to hit. Hopefully some of them choke on it.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:57 am
@Whitey- Let them go back to CO to toke a bowl. It’s still against FEDERAL law to do that, and they’ll be out on their ass with NO access to benefits at all for a BC discharge. So I’d encourage that if they are so inclined, light ‘em up.
In uniform? Wanna bowl? Come to CO- we got free hemp coming. Free samples if you’re in uniform.
Just don’t bitch when you piss hot and find yourself on the street in 90 days… and no one will hire you.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
@17 Exactly, they’ll are going to find out that maybe they should have paid more attention to what he truly was standing for and not who was supporting him, heard one say he voted for Barry because Katy Perry endorsed him.
The Joint Base was supposed to be here to stay, but with sequester happening it won’t be a joint base much longer.
@18 Not a single person in the area stopped to correct him. I made one comment before I left, “If that’s the direction you want to take your career.” Now would be a great time to bring back wall to wall counciling if you ask me.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
I do not have the words to express how I feel about it. But I will figure them out.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Sparky, WTF is wrong with redheads? Lol
November 7th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
@14-he can’t provide a link because he just pulled that out of his ass.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
@whitey,
In addition, I know somebody in uniform with four kids and a wife who’s thrilled about the election too. Can’t wait to see how they react when their bennies start getting hit or if he get’s cut.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
@21- You didn’t hear that gingers have no soul? At least that’s whats coming out of the grapevine.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Mmmm… If President Obama is Jimmy Carter and Jimmy Carter then wouldn’t this be Jimmy Carter’s third term?
November 7th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
@Army Sergeant, I have words. I went looking for something on the most recent recovery update from the March 2011 quake and tsnunami in Japan that wiped out most of the seacoast of Fukushima prefecture. Japan has a multi-trillion yen fund for recovery and rebuilding, which means that most of the people who were affected should be back at work and back in their new homes by now. Right?
Wrong.
This is from an Oct. 31, 2012 AP article:
More than 325,000 of the 340,000 people who had to flee tsunami-hit areas or the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant remain homeless or away from their homes, according to the most recent figures available.
The entire article is here if you want to read it:
http://www.wvnstv.com/story/19951378/japans-rebuilding-money-spent-on-unrelated-jobs
Now, considering that the Japanese are pretty good at handling disasters, this is a surprise to me. It’s nearly two years later, and in some cases nothing has happened.
Put this kind of disaster on the east coast of the US. Oh, wait! Hurricane Sandy got into a king mixer with a nor-easter last week and wiped out large portions of the our east coast. And winter is coming on. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed by fires that started when transformers blew up. How much will you bet that a year from now, it’s still a mess? And who will get the blame?
I hear another storm is coming, and we can expect more bad weather this winter. In fact, we may get three more bad storms btween November 22 and December 31.
I’m just saying try to see past the immediate idiocy.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Ex-PH2, The President won’t get blamed. Hurricanes only get blamed on Republican Presidents.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
@Spade
These are the same individuals who always complain that they don’t get enough as it is from the military.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Twist, you’re too funny.
November 7th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Like I said somewhere else, you guys four more years to make fun of the Demobrats and their Big Cheese. Go for it!
November 7th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Try to look at this as your wurst nightmare.
Anyone for beer?
November 7th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
All hail the Nanny State!
Obamaphones and food stamps for all!
November 7th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Twist it’s not Obama we all know the military is behind the weather problems because of the HAARP weapon in Alaska….(sarc)
That’s my nod to the conspiracy fans…
November 7th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
@Ex-PH2
You said the magic word. I’ll take a tall glass of PBR please.
November 7th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
@Twist, aren’t you forgetting that Dubya Bush got blamed for the FEMA mess and poor reponse to Katrina? He’s still getting blamed for that.
Whitey, you got it. PBR and Foster’s, smoked sausage w/all the trimmings, really big dish of extremely crisp curly fries, and comfy beach chairs.
November 7th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
@Ex-PH2 Hooah!
Dubya will be blamed for as long as people are brainwashed to believe it.
November 7th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!
Nuff said.
November 7th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Sparky? Wealth? Whaddaya think I’m workin’ for?
November 7th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
You’re working for everybody else to get an Obamaphone.
November 7th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
I hear that wealthy Americans do not pay income tax in Macao or Singapore — one of those places — and are welcomed with open arms.
Hey, Obama’s house is on Greenwood Avenue near 52nds Street, southside of Chicago, if anyone wants to go visit him while he’s in town.
November 7th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
When bin Laden’s buddies planned on making Joe Biden president, I knew we were screwed. If the enemy can tell how weak our leadership is…
November 7th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
DJIA has dropped 272 points this morning.
November 7th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
If Biden runs and becomes the primary candidate for the Democrats…two words: Allen West.
The debates would be hilarious.
November 7th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
At this point it won’t matter who the Democrats run for office in 2016 they will win. The lesson we learned yesterday is that the Looters are now more populace than the Produces in this country. My only wish is that the Republicans had lost the house so the country would well and truly feel the pain we so rightfully deserve.
When you vote for the impossible, reality has a way of smacking you in the face.
November 7th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Twist: I am a Ginger, and I know that I have no soul, in fact, I embrace that aspect of my Gingerness. I just don’t like being insulted by being compared to the Chair Force is all….
November 7th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
@Lucky
I’m in the Chair Force, but I’ve been told I should have joined the Army or Marines.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Just sitting here smiling at all your rationalizations, excuses, recriminations. You seem to need to contort logic to avoid the unavoidable conclusion – your ideas, such as they are, suck, and the majority of Americans know it.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Can someone point out where I can find the conservative take on this ‘Obamaphone’ stuff? From what I know, the programs in question started under Reagan, and were clearly land-line focused then, and morphed under Bush, then again under Obama. Nowhere did they change in some massive way, though, as far as I know.
I don’t really agree with the program regardless of the President who started or updated the program, but ‘Obamaphone’ seems like a distortion of things.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
Whitey, I’m in the Army, and I should’ve gone Marine!
November 7th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
@48, I don’t know if anyone ever called it the Obamaphone until the youtube video of the woman going apeshit over the fact that she had an Obamaphone. I could be wrong though.
@Joe, This election is hardly a referendum against the Republicans and their ideas. To quote Green Thumb “turd”.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
@48, I think they’re talking about the free Tracphone or something like that.
Smokey oven-roasted tomatoes, with grated cheese and corn grits
Steak tacos with chimichurri sauce and pickled red onions on the side
Woman Gone Crazy Bloody Mary (named after Jimmy Buffett’s song)
Potato pesto pizza
Fresh pineapple and sliced kiwi and mandarin oranges with just a little sangria
November 7th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
What makes it worst over the Obamaphone is that they were using as a way to get people to vote for him. That isn’t what the program was for. It was intended for people who could not afford a land line one to use for emergencies, over time it was changed to mobile phones with restrictions. Recently though they are able to upgrade for free to get rid of the restrictions and yet still not pay on the upgrade. Guess who gets the bill for that upgraded free phone? Yep more of our tax dollars hard at work.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Joe: Congratulations. You just indicated above that you thik the ideals of our Founding Fathers – specifically, as voiced by Samuel Adams – “suck”.
Thanks for confirming that fact about yourself.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
To say that the posters on this blog lack intelligence would be quite the understatement..
Yesterday was a great day for our country and the president that saved this nation from economic collapse and killed our enemies..
I hope you sore losers choke on your rage..
November 7th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
@54, I’m sorry all I heard was
blah, blah, blah, I’m a Liberal that thinks I’m smarter than everyone else, blah, blah, blah.
By the way there “smart” girl, “President” is capitalized.
November 7th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
@55 I don’t take any writing critiques from morons.. When you have peer reviewed published articles come talk to me..
Until then keep enjoying guns $ ammo and mad magazine.. And whatever newsletter Limbaugh or Hannity publish
November 7th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
@56, suuuuuuuurrrrrre you do.
By the way “Dear Abby” doesn’t count as published.
November 7th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
You also might want to take one of your extra periods and put it at the end of your last sentence.
November 7th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
You might want to learn to do something constructive with your time instead of posting moronic thoughts and eating fatty foods.
November 7th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
You mean like you are doing?
November 7th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
“Yesterday was a great day for our country and the president that saved this nation from economic collapse and killed our enemies..”
We will see whether there will be positive results from the election if Congress and the Administration can reach the elusive grand bargain with respect to the “fiscal cliff” we have coming in January. I hope this president can finally be able to work together with Congress and establish an environment of compromise. So far, we’ve been anchored to gridlock and bitter partisanship. As of now, I would not call it a “great day.” The “great day” will occur when the legislative and executive branch gets something done rather than merely kicking the can down the road.
Also, it’s probably a bit in poor taste to give complete credit to the president for killing our enemies. There’s still a lot more out there.
“I hope you sore losers choke on your rage..”
Belittling a group of service members and veterans for conveying their political opinions is rather pompous.
“I don’t take any writing critiques from morons.. When you have peer reviewed published articles come talk to me..”
I have numerous articles that have been peer reviewed and published by reputable, if not prestigious, publications. AND, I’ve raised my right hand to serve. I suppose this means I can come talk to you, however, that is unlikely as I find you to be a complete elitist bore.
November 7th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Joe, it would be unwise for democrats to think there was a “mandate” by the electorate in this contest. When half the people agree with you, it still means half thought you suck enough to vote a different way.
Both parties would do well to actually work together and get something done in the next four years. I am hoping that takes place, but I am not holding my breath. A shift of 1.5% of the electorate does not require a paradigm shift in message, just a minor alteration.
November 7th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
@47 Gloat while you can.
“your ideas, such as they are, suck, and the majority of Americans know it” – You do realize pure democracy by design is amoral. If the majority of the people decided that murder was no longer taboo and supported a referendum to legalize it, it doesn’t make it right. Keep holding on to your groupthink and self adulation as your chosen one bleeds you dry while you look the other way cheer and coo some meaningless social issue distracting the rest of the puppets somewhere of camera.
November 7th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
@62 I’m in complete agreement with you – but I temper Joe’s opinions with the knowledge that had Romney won with roughly the same EV spread, many conservatives would be calling it a ‘mandate’, too. That just seems to be how our different sides skew things.
One example would be Dick Morris’s predictions – he predicted Romney with 325 EV, and called it a ‘landslide’. However, Obama winning with 332 (including FL) makes it suddenly a ‘squeaker’. This sort of sensationalizing of 1-3% wins is not helpful.
http://www.dickmorris.com/why-i-was-wrong/
We also need to start looking at things more deeply than ‘racist!’, ‘socialism!’, etc.
November 7th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
@54 Get back on us about being saved from economic collapse when those tax cuts expire in January, and your taxes go up 30%. Or more.
You better hope he did kill our enemies, because you’re just their type.
Choke on my rage? No darlin’. I’m going to be choking on your delusions…for the next four years.
November 7th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
“…back to us…”
Sorry.
November 7th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
I have a brilliant Idea. Lets stop correcting the Libratards and just give them everything they want for the next 4 years. Instead of fighting the collapse lets help them bring it about faster. Let them really get a good full dose of the “utopia” they claim they can bring about.
Sorry I’m just about at the “some men just want to watch the world burn” stage of my outrage at the sheeple.
November 7th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
ObamaGirl, peer-reviewed articles that have anything to do with gender studies do not count. Has to be something relevant to someone outside of a leftist school.
November 7th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Libtards acting like their team just won the superbowl proves just how much trouble we’re in. They have no fucking clue what’s really going on. I always said don’t fear the empty chair in the oval office, fear the gaggle of retards that put him there.
November 7th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Obama Girl: I don’t think an article looked over by other students on a High School newspaper’s editorial staff exactly counts as being “peer reviewed.”
November 7th, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Egads! If peer reviewed published stuff is all it takes, then we have a plethora of geniuses around here! Some of the published authors who post here even got/get paid via means other than a gubmint grant. Others have academic credentials that would shame any lib.
Oh, pulling the “I’m smarter” card on this bunch is too, too funny! And an exceedingly strange and desperate way to gloat.
But thanks for the laugh. I needed that.
November 7th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
@ObamaGirl
Want to play curriculum vitae poker? Betcha I’ll win
November 7th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
Stock Market falls like a rock … MSM reports … European Jitters … bullsh*t!
November 7th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
This is one analysis of why Obama won this election:
“The president won because he ran a permanent campaign, keeping his offices open in the battleground states from his 2008 campaign, tending his coalition assiduously, and because he relentlessly defined his opponent. His was the better campaign. The Democratic candidate of “hope and change” beat the big business Republican in the trenches, in one state after another.”
“President Obama’s tactical victory is clear when you look at the election returns. He has no grand mandate that comes out of Tuesday’s numbers. He has been re-elected, but his policies did not win the day. Voters didn’t turn their faces up to the vision he painted the way they did in 2008. When voters were asked which candidate had a vision for the future, Romney won that question in exit polls, 55 percent to 43 percent. Asked about Obama’s signature achievement, health care, voters did not approve. Forty-nine percent said they wanted it repealed in part or whole. Voters also said the federal government was too large.”
This is the link: http://news.msn.com/politics/how-barack-obama-won-four-more-years
It’s fairly long, but a good analysis, and makes several good points, among them that, basically, Obama never stopped campaigning from the get-go.
It can be summarized by saying that if we followed the European and UK models, which allow six weeks and no more in a political campaign, he might never have won in the first place in 2008. He was just more persistent and never quit campaigning, even after he won the first go-round. This is something to take into consideration, if the GOP means to be successful next time around.
November 7th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
And this is part of an article today by John Schoen on “Economy Watch”:
The so-called “fiscal cliff” – set to take effect Jan.1 – is a doomsday budget package Congress enacted in 2011 to try to force compromise on a series of bitterly divisive policy choices. The budget package is a witch’s brew of harsh measures designed to inflict political pain as widely as possible, the better to prompt all sides to reach the compromise that would prevent it from taking effect.
The law slashes Obama’s popular payroll tax cut, cancels extended jobless benefits, imposes deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors, exposes millions of Americans to the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax, eliminates tax deductions for state and local sales taxes and child care tax credits (among others), takes a meat ax to defense spending and slashes “discretionary” spending – on everything from education to homeland security – by as much as 10 percent.
November 7th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
@ 56 Obama Girl
ANALYSIS:
You say:
I don’t take any writing critiques from morons.. When you have peer reviewed published articles come talk to me..
Until then keep enjoying guns $ ammo and mad magazine.. And whatever newsletter Limbaugh or Hannity publish
I say:
So you have had peer reviewed published articles. We would enjoy reading those materials. I for one, who has co-authored two books, routinely acts and performs technical editorial reviews, and have over 45 bpublished articles, would love to sample your work.
In the end my analysis of you and your abilities:
END OF ANALYSIS
November 7th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
bpublished = published
November 7th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
PS @ Obama Girl
Your use of the English language is artful. It seems as though you take liberty in proper use, punctuation, and seem to have an uncanny ability to make little sense and most certainly have difficulty crafting an argument.
November 7th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
I’m pretty sure folks like ObamaGirl think that someone “liking” your Facebook status means you were “peer reviewed”
November 7th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Master Chief, you’re assuming that Bomamamgirl wants to have an argument, when in fact, she just wants to insult people on this blog.
Does the Navy still have destroyer escorts? Or have they been replaced with something else?
November 7th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
#80, I am not Navy, but I saw an Army-Navy game once. The answer is no. There’s frigates, then destroyers, then cruisers.
Or, with defense cuts, there’s frigate, destroyer, and cruiser.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
This is how I feel….
http://youtu.be/puIstclBcO0
November 7th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Huh…guess we know times are tough when OG the Garden State Parkway winner of the 2012 “Lot Lizard Queen Award” has to show up here in the slim chance of boosting her Google search rating so that she might get another 25 cents per “random encounter” she gets from Craigslist.
Or am I hitting too close to home, OG?
November 7th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I think all the hate and rage heretofore mentioned is coming from one person. The spite that has been spat is rather venomous, but it has been spat into the wind…which you should not do.
No matter who won the election last night, presidents and other leaders may appear to have power, but no one has the power to control your mind and rule your heart.
The real freedom available to all of us, whether imprisoned by anger or confined by circumstance, is in our perceptions and what we do with them. No politician, police force, corporation, church or government can trespass on these most critical choices.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Current ship types (not including ships in mothball status):
There are currently 11 aircraft carriers, 22 cruisers, 62 destroyers, 29 frigates, 3 littoral combat ships, 9 amphibious assault ships, 2 amphibious command ships, 9 amphibious transport docks, 12 dock landing ships, 53 attack submarines, 14 ballistic missile submarines, 4 guided missile submarines, 14 mine countermeasures ships, 11 patrol boats, and 1 technical research ship (military intelligence ship, the USS Pueblo, which is currently held by North Korea).[a]
Support ships include 2 hospital ships, 4 salvage ships, 2 submarine tenders, 1 ammunition ship, 5 combat stores ships, 4 fast combat support ships, 9 dry cargo ships, 15 replenishment oilers, 4 Fleet Ocean Tugs, 11 large harbor tugs, 4 ocean surveillance ships, 4 container ships, 16 cargo ships (used for pre-positioning of Marine and Army materiel), and 7 vehicle cargo ships (also used for prepositioning).[a]
Ships denoted with the prefix USS are commissioned ships or are nearing completion for commissioning. US Navy support ships are often non-commissioned ships operated by and organized within Military Sealift Command. Those denoted USNS are owned by the US Navy; those denoted by MV are chartered.
There exist a number of former US Navy ships which are museum ships, some of which may be US government owned. One of these, the USS Constitution, a three-masted tall ship, is kept as a commissioned ship of the US Navy (and hence is listed here), as a special commemoration for that ship alone.
Current ships include commissioned warships that are in active service and also warships that are in the later stages of construction or that are undergoing sea trials but which have not yet gone through the ceremony of ship commissioning. Ships in early stages of construction (keel not yet laid down) are not included. Also included as current ships are support ships (usually denoted USNS) and leased ships (usually denoted MV) that are never commissioned but which are part of the effective force of the U.S. Navy.
There are about 436 ships listed here (238 USS ships, 198 USNS, MV, SS and other ships) that meet this definition of current ships.[a]
November 8th, 2012 at 12:08 am
Thanks, MCPO.
November 8th, 2012 at 6:09 am
So nice of the libs to stop by and gloat. I agree with flight medic @63. Give them everything, vote with the dems all the way for the next four years and give them whatever they want. Then when it comes time to pay the bill for everything they ordered who is going to step up and pay that tab? I don’t think it is going to be Bill Gates or Donald Trump to the rescue… China maybe?
November 8th, 2012 at 9:31 am
@SFC, a potentially habitable planet HD 40307g, a mere 42 light years away, has been found, close enough to possibly photograph it. It’s in the Goldilocks zone, where liquid water can exist. There are 3 other planets occupying inner orbits around the same star, but too close to have liquid water.
Maybe we could all move there.
It’s only a matter of time, you know.
November 9th, 2012 at 11:25 am
They say depression is the result of a big mismatch between a person’s model of the world and reality itself. When the enormity of the mismatch becomes apparent, the brain needs to rewire itself to reflect the new, more accurate model, and the process results in certain parts of the brain showing reduced activity while they are being rewired. Kinda the same principle of technology as you can’t rewrite an operating system while booted off that operating system, you have to boot of a CD to allow the OS to be changed. Likewise the brain. I know a lot of you guys are/will be suffering depression in the coming days. Just remind yourself that it’s all a normal part of the process of becoming reacquainted with reality.
November 9th, 2012 at 11:34 am
@Joe — That’s rather presumptious on your part. Maybe SOME people will be depressed, but OTHERS of us will not.
We’ll just get on with our lives.
November 9th, 2012 at 11:45 am
On planet HD 40307g, Ex-PH2?
November 9th, 2012 at 11:57 am
I’m still convinced that Jimmy Carter was a bar bet among the elite. With Obummer, they’re taunting us.
November 9th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Uhm, Joe? Is that wishful thinking on your part?? Many of us have always lived in the world of reality. Might explain why we are only superficially impacted by all this nonsense.
We with military backgrounds sometimes call it situational awarenss, but it boils down to the same thing. My personal mission in life has not and does not change based upon who or what is going on around me. The path taken to accomplish the mission can and does get altered depending, but that is just how life is.
All to say that we who can adapt and overcome have been doing it all our lives. This bump in the road has no serious impact upon our ability to keep on doing what we have always done.
November 9th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
It’s not depression, Joe. It’s a sense of impending doom. Kind of like watching the train approach when somebody has tied you to the tracks.
November 9th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
There ya go, PN. The lib/prog/whatever they call themselves this week solution to being tied to the tracks as the train approaches is simply to change the definition of a train and tax the owner of the train. If you call it a helocopter instead of a train, the problem disappears and the increased taxes will pay for your therapy.
There – don’t you feel better now?
November 9th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for commiserating, OWB!
November 9th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Yeah, a lot of the Republican candidates and their supporters (Chuck Norris, Ted Nugent, Victoria Jackson, the guy on the corner carrying a “the end is near” sign) went with the impending doom thing, seemed like it would work – the end of America, the triumph of socialism, the takers take over, the end of the world as we know it, the end of life on planet earth. Luckily most people were able to see thru it. On the other hand more of us see it as the end of this mutated, malignant strain of radical conservatism….
November 9th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Oh, I get it.
Joe thinks he’s dancing on the grave of the conservative party.
You know what they say about hanging out in graveyards.
November 9th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
@89
“Kinda the same principle of technology as you can’t rewrite an operating system while booted off that operating system, you have to boot of a CD to allow the OS to be changed.”
Sorry, Bub. Just like all much of what you wrote…this is patently incorrect.
“They say depression is the result of a big mismatch between a person’s model of the world and reality itself.”
And “they” are wrong, and hopefully not psychologists, nor pretending to be one on TV. Frankly, it’s rather insulting to those who do suffer from depression as it suggests the cause of their illness is a lack of realistic expectations. Broadly speaking, the causes of clinical depression are most often either bio-chemical (genetics, brain chemistry, long-term substance abuse) or historical (abuse, trauma, etc).
November 10th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Why do I let myself get dragged in? Nik, for one thing, I personally do know about depression. One recent theory of depression is that major life changing events – death, divorce, job loss, health crisis, getting your ass kicked in an election you put a lot of weight on – require a reassessment of our situation, a major reshaping of our model of the world. In other words, a major rewiring of the brain. During this rewiring process, as shown by PET scans, certain parts of the brain show greatly reduced activity, presumable because that particular part of the brain has to be offline during the rebuilding process (again the analogy – you can’t overwrite an operating system while booted off that system). This reduced activity may manifest itself as some level of depression, from mild to severe. Taking antidepressants in this case may make us feel better, but may actually sabotage the rebuilding process and prevent “growth”. Profound, prolonged clinical depression may be this normal process run amok, but a certain level of periodic depression of some level may be the price we pay for being human and in touch with our environment.
November 10th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Actually, Joe, there is nothing new about that theory. At all. OK, the terminology may have been updated to include technological advances, but the underlying assumptions et al have been around for upteen years. I can personally testify to the same thing being taught in the 60′s.
Personally, I prefer making an analogy to treating the flu. Having a fever is the body’s natural way of destroying the germs which caused the flu. You really do need to let the fever do it’s job. Of course, being prepared to do something about a prolonged fever is good as well, but if you immediately reduce the fever, all you have really done is prolonging the duration of the flu.
The mind has all sorts of coping mechanisms to keep it from being overloaded, just as does the body. Nothing new about humans knowing that.