The single scariest thing happening in America right now

[Ed Oscuro]

The scariest thing happening in the US right now is the KFC Double Down sandwich.

Only if by "scariest" you really mean "tastiest."

Yuo should talk, you eat rotting dinosaurs.

Also, the Digital Press version of this thread is three pages and apparently has drawn out all the repressed peoples of the world. Me like.

[StoofooEsq]

The amount of sheer ignorance I've seen people display over this healthcare issue (constant accusations of Socialism, repeated invocation of Godwin's Law, 'Death Panels', etc.) during the past months really is mind-boggling to me.

[Specineff]

That's why we need to be saved from ourselves.

[BryanM]

I like how you can do anything, and then apologize and then everything's a-o-k

Ah, if only it were as easy for us mere mortals

"Fuck you piggy..."

"I'm sorry officer, no idea where that came from"

I also like how they can pretend to oppose illegal immigrants, to get the support from racism, while at the same time in reality they support them, for the cheap labor they provide our corporate overlords. So, the ignorant redneck vote and the successful business man vote on the same issue. The effectiveness of this duality awes me.

[FRO]

Also - Bush addressed the children at least once, Reagan did it too - so i wonder what is so different now? (not a real question)

Yes, but did either of those presidents address the children of our nation at a time when their popularity was in the toilet & could be seen as a ploy to try & boost ratings & garner support for a crappy bill they wanted passed? The timing seems suspect. I have no problem if he wants to get on the horn & give our kids a hearty "stay in school" pep talk. It's good that the president wants to do that. However, the timing is just fishy, and as poorly as this whole "public option" business has been received nationwide, I'd say it's even fishier.

[evil_ash_xero]

Also - Bush addressed the children at least once, Reagan did it too - so i wonder what is so different now? (not a real question)

Yes, but did either of those presidents address the children of our nation at a time when their popularity was in the toilet & could be seen as a ploy to try & boost ratings & garner support for a crappy bill they wanted passed? The timing seems suspect. I have no problem if he wants to get on the horn & give our kids a hearty "stay in school" pep talk. It's good that the president wants to do that. However, the timing is just fishy, and as poorly as this whole "public option" business has been received nationwide, I'd say it's even fishier.

Oh please.

[Lloyd Mangram]

[FRO]

^^ Hardly. Statistically, the majority of Americans are moderate to right. Why else would Fox News have such a large viewer base over both CNN and MSNBC?

Posting a cartoon like that, however much of a parody it may be, is a sign that perhaps you need to go back to your tinfoil hat.

[Lloyd Mangram]

^^ Hardly. Statistically, the majority of Americans are moderate to right. Why else would Fox News have such a large viewer base over both CNN and MSNBC?

Where in the strip does it suggest that the majority of Americans are not moderate to right?

Posting a cartoon like that, however much of a parody it may be, is a sign that perhaps you need to go back to your tinfoil hat.

And which parts of the strip do you perceive as being paranoid?

[BulletMagnet]

Posting a cartoon like that, however much of a parody it may be, is a sign that perhaps you need to go back to your tinfoil hat.

I'd like to see anybody who's been paying the least bit of attention over the past decade even pretend that the double standard depicted in that strip isn't painfully evident. Heck, even over the past few days, conservatives have been scrambling to equate the "you lie!" guy with the behavior of liberals in general during the Bush years - while no one can deny that unfair things were said about him, name me a time when a Congressional Democrat (not one, but several) openly heckled Bush during a nationally-televised speech (and moreover was widely defended for it), or when libs were bringing loaded weapons to town hall meetings. Moreover, try to imagine what the conservative reaction to either of those events would have been like. Sorry, but the kooks on the right have gotten away with, and openly endorsed, crap that they wouldn't think of letting pass if anyone even remotely liberal had done it - and still accuse THEM of being the "unhinged" side of the equation. Go ahead and tell me with a straight face that his hasn't been the case 99 percent of the time in recent years.

[Dragoforce]

^^ Hardly. Statistically, the majority of Americans are moderate to right. Why else would Fox News have such a large viewer base over both CNN and MSNBC?

Then why is the country run by an islamic socialist?

[Ex-Cyber]

^^ Hardly. Statistically, the majority of Americans are moderate to right.

Of course, terms like "moderate" and "right" are in the eye of the beholder, and there are almost certain to be other effects that skew any attempt to measure such a thing. For example conservatives tend to place a lot more value on group identity than liberals, so they're more likely to self-identify as conservative or Republican than liberals are to self-identify as liberal or Democratic.

[antron]

^^ Hardly. Statistically, the majority of Americans are moderate to right. Why else would Fox News have such a large viewer base over both CNN and MSNBC?

let's see, beacuse liberal viewership is spead over several channels, and the conservatives are all concentrated into one? your post (listing two channels to one) seems to suggest this as well. also, how do you explain the last two congressional elections? where you guys lost control, and then lost more ground.

[BryanM]

FOX would air porno if they could get companies to advertise on it. Sadly, the likes of Wal-Mart and Pepsi don't want their brand associated with hot porno chicks.

The closest thing to "liberal news" is the Daily Show and The Colbert Report. They're not very good comedians compared to the likes of Glenn Beck, but it's excusable since they try to tie some education into their entertainment.

Like those deadly Dong missiles.

[Jon]

^^^Heh. That Glenn Beck does make for some great comedy.

[Ed Oscuro]

FRO, did you read that President Reagan's address pushed tax cut ideology on kids? Obama's address to kids, even before the revision after outrage about the lesson plans, didn't cover anything partisan or controversial.

I like how this guy Wilson is drawing as far back from his apology for lacking common sense and decorum as he sees an opening for the right-wing agenda. Fitting, that, because his initial thoughtless outburst undercut moderate Republicans and proved the President right to chide. I'm tempted to think that the President simply shouldn't have dignified the town hall meeting fiascoes with a mention, but we're not in an era where topics can be killed through not addressing them.

But back to Rep. Wilson's worries - which are understandable - Republicans seem to want nothing better than to seal up Mexico in a larger version of Chernobyl's concrete vault. We all know how that works. Immigration and heath care may share some topics, but these issues should be addressed separately, one after the other.

My fondest wish is that Obamacare has long enough to work before being torn apart again by regressives, as Johnson's Great Society was.

Also, that Tom Tomorrow strip is pretty cool. It's an acquired taste but occasionally I like it.
_____________________

Right now the latest issue of mass hysteria is over the Administration's "name and shame" policies (I think that they mean they'll name umbrella groups, not individuals) as somehow a breach of rights and the latest version of a Democrat "listening in from your sock drawer." There is a place to "snitch" on people spreading lies so that the Administration can try to get around some of the most egregious disinformation (you know that conservatives are having fun burning their tax dollars by inputting fake matches, Obama's own speeches, etc.) It's been claimed as a violation of "freedom of speech"

The only problem with that accusation is that you have the freedom to say something, and to stand by it, but not to lie anonymously and not be called out on it. The quote does not go "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it anonymously on the Internet and not have to stand by it." There's no provision for the Administration to go round up troublemakers (as refreshing as that could be) so the whole thing is yet another non-issue. It's even being compared to Nixon's Enemies List.

[Ex-Cyber]

The closest thing to "liberal news" is the Daily Show and The Colbert Report. They're not very good comedians compared to the likes of Glenn Beck, but it's excusable since they try to tie some education into their entertainment.

Democracy Now might qualify, but good luck finding it in most basic cable packages. As for The Daily Show, Stewart has really stepped up to the plate with the debates he's done recently with conservative/Republican guests on the show. A few years ago he was saying that the interview was the weakest part of the show, and that's probably still true for a lot of the "book/show/movie plug" type interviews, but when he really gets into it with an opponent it's better than 99% of anything on the "real" news channels.

[BulletMagnet]

we're not in an era where anything other than topics uncomfortable to conservatives can be killed through not addressing them.

Fixed. As just one example, remember when a handful of people dared to question the legitimacy of Bush's military service record? As soon as it was revealed that Dan Rather screwed up on one particular document, not only was he quickly fired (if the same standards for veracity applied to the right, they wouldn't even have a media presence) but the story was instantly dropped by pretty much everyone. There are still HUGE holes in that account that were never much investigated, but everyone seems perfectly content to ignore them. And don't you DARE even get me STARTED on the overall coverage leading up to Election 2000.

But back to Rep. Wilson's worries - which are understandable

Not particularly. Check this document to see the results of tougher citizenship documentation that have already been implemented on a smaller scale - and then tell me that guys like Wilson who want to see this made universal are really so concerned about saving money.

FOX would air porno if they could get companies to advertise on it.

They get as close as they can.

[BryanM]

They get as close as they can.

This lost me at the start, but won me back at the end when they had chicks in bikinis dance while talking about a serial killer.

Those lady anchors they use are a blasted lure too, evil republican chicks are too attractive. So dirty. So wrong.

...Actually, thinking about it now, the footage made me sympathize with the serial killer. I wonder if that could have been the segment's intention.

[BulletMagnet]

...Actually, thinking about it now, the footage made me sympathize with the serial killer. I wonder if that could have been the segment's intention.

He's a fine example of a citizen practicing his second amendment right to kill anyone he doesn't particularly like (it's right there in the text, or was before the Communists edited it, and anyone who says otherwise wants the terrorists to win!).

[Ed Oscuro]

But back to Rep. Wilson's worries - which are understandable

Not particularly. Check this document to see the results of tougher citizenship documentation that have already been implemented on a smaller scale - and then tell me that guys like Wilson who want to see this made universal are really so concerned about saving money.

This particular response irritates me. Could it be because you've taken current documentation failures and used that in place of an argument against letting illegals get government services for free?

A few things to keep in mind though: First, illegals are usually scared shitless of anything that involves documentation, so many of them don't even file taxes, leading to them losing money that they would otherwise claim. It stands to reason that many of them wouldn't try to take advantage of this either. Second, even Democrats do not want illegals getting this taxpayer benefit. Third, back to the first point, it's almost a black market issue. Illegals are here and all the illegal immigration debate has done for the country is made it more inbred when anti-immigration folks get their way.

I think I'd have to admit there's no way to deny illegals without the aforementioned troubles for people who should get these services, but I don't see the existence of those problems (and the fascination with inbreeding of anti-immigration groups) substituting for a good argument against better ID. Heck, is it National ID time again already?

[antron]

If they are undocumented, then they already get free heath care in the ER (who to send the bill to?). Offering them them a real plan will get some money out of them, and make their care cheaper by providing preventive medicine. Treat them like humans or kick them out, pick one.

But Obama knew this was not worth fighting over, so he is excluding them to get the bill passed.

[Nate]

captpain:

The scariest thing happening in the US right now is the KFC Double Down sandwich.

They don't get it, but I do.

And, yeah that IS pretty scary.

[antron]

captpain:

The scariest thing happening in the US right now is the KFC Double Down sandwich.

They don't get it, but I do.

And, yeah that IS pretty scary.

for everyone else, it's a cheese and bacon sandwich where the "bread" is two fried chicken paddies. only in America.

[Nate]

antron:

for everyone else, it's a cheese and bacon sandwich where the "bread" is two fried chicken paddies. only in America.

Mmm. I think the safest thing to do is simply not say anything else...or this thread is "insta-locked".

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I recall reading those interesting Tom Tomorrow comic strips back in the early 1990s. I like how he uses the old retro 1950's looking characters to get his point across. I recall reading this one TT comic strip where the housewive switched roles with her husband staying home (as a housewife) and the wife coming home from work after a long and hard day at work bitching at her husband dressed up with an apron slaving in the kitchen trying to cook dinner. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BryanM]

Krispy Kreme bacon cheeseburgers

Google image search has some nicer looking ones

[Ed Oscuro]

If they are undocumented, then they already get free heath care in the ER (who to send the bill to?). Offering them them a real plan will get some money out of them, and make their care cheaper by providing preventive medicine. Treat them like humans or kick them out, pick one.

But Obama knew this was not worth fighting over, so he is excluding them to get the bill passed.

Great post.

The Repugs need to realize that they're not getting their immigration fight until the Administration wants to tackle it. That's probably the next big push on the agenda.

Krispy Kreme bacon cheeseburgers

oh what is this

Edit:
tea parties, witch doctors, and "stealth reparations" - who's actually suffering worst in the downturn?