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 How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics
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Randy
SFN Regular

USA
1990 Posts

Posted - 01/27/2012 :  18:36:11  Show Profile Send Randy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Link

"The right calls him a socialist, the left says he sucks up to Wall Street, and independents think he's a wimp. Andrew Sullivan on how the president may just end up outsmarting them all."


"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."

"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13476 Posts

Posted - 01/27/2012 :  22:10:28   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Randy

Link

"The right calls him a socialist, the left says he sucks up to Wall Street, and independents think he's a wimp. Andrew Sullivan on how the president may just end up outsmarting them all."


I agree with most of it. In any case, I'm willing to go the distance, even as I complain.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 01/28/2012 :  04:11:40   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Me, too. The only real alternative is more outright theocracy, I think.

Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 01/28/2012 :  10:47:34   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Too bad we can't tax churches, eh?

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/29/2012 :  08:19:31   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Very enlightening point of view. I already had heard and agreed with all the criticisms of the Right. But those criticisms of the Left's complaints and analysis of Obama's long-game strategy was new to me, and rather persuasive.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/29/2012 :  08:34:01   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Probably the most important point made here is to emphasize that who gets elected really does make a difference. This is the opposite of polarization. I remember once being shown a diagram that illustrated basic difference between voters in a 2 party system. There were those who were more on one side or the other, but in the center there were also two extremes for moderates. There were moderates who actually took educated, moderate stances on the issues, and the there were those who were moderate by default because they don't bother learning or understanding much about the issues. This columnist is a perfect example of the best kind of moderate. People like him are the ones who can maybe reverse the polarization of our political discussions and bring an end to the insane culture war.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

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podcat
Skeptic Friend

435 Posts

Posted - 01/31/2012 :  18:57:30   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send podcat a Private Message  Reply with Quote
A rebuttal by Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/dear-andrew-sullivan-why-focus-on-obamas-dumbest-critics/251528/

“In a modern...society, everybody has the absolute right to believe whatever they damn well please, but they don't have the same right to be taken seriously”.

-Barry Williams, co-founder, Australian Skeptics
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