May 18, 2012
Blog by John Steigerwald
Remember when Fancy Nancy and the Deomcrats took over the house in 2007 and she said they were going to empty the swamp?
Looks like the biggest alligator is one of theirs.
Charlie is another in a long line of examples of why these people should have as little control over our lives as possible.
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Date: July 29, 2010
Categories: Politics
Thinking about getting a vanity license plate. Debating between “1776″, “1861″ and “Weimar”.
They could start emptying the swamps of the Federal and State governments tomorrow and still be doing it next July 30th.
Yep.
Can’t wait to see how they blame this on Bush.
The Bush tax cuts drove him to insanity.
Doesn’t it give you a warm feeling knowing that an 80 year old is part of your government? No offense to the 80 year olds out there but I sure wish there were term limits. These people cannot possibly be cognizant enough to govern and they surely have learned every trick of the trade when it comes to ethics violations. I just wish the people that vote these stuffed shirts into office knew what they were really doing. But, that is asking way too much.
We need term limits, but there are 80 year olds who are very sharp and competent. But they shouldn’t be in Congress unless they were first elected at no younger than 72.
I don’t have a problem with his age, My mother is 92 and she is still mentally sharp enough to go to D.C and vote. I have a problem with the 40 years in congress. Come on. Get a real job. Being a member of the U.S. House was never intended to be a career. You go there for a few years, represent the people back home and give somebody else a shot. I was always anti-term limits but I’ve changed my mind. I’d love to limit people to three terms in the house and 2 in the Senate. Where has all this “experience” that’s been in DC gotten us?
I don’t care what age they are as long as they’re not lifelong politicians. There is no way any of those crooks who’ve been there for years and years know what it’s like to work for a living.
Rangel could be convicted of first degree murder and executed and he would still be re-elected.
Yeah. I live in PA but work in Youngstown. You would not believe how crazy people are here about Jim Traficant. They still support him even after his conviction.
Not so sure about that one. Remember William “$90,000 in my freezer” Jefferson? He got voted out, albeit barely.
Bush tax cuts were for wealthiest 2 %., combined w his chicken hawk fake war it proved disastrous. Its time for the wealthy to start paying their fair share. Blaming the current regime is like blaming John Russell for the Pirates losing .
It was a tax cut for everybody. Who are the “wealthy? What is it that the top 10% of earners pay —75% of the income tax? What would be fair? The top 10% paying 90%. How about a hundred?
i’m kind of curious why john decided to ignore the fake war and only concentrate on taxes…to me, they are both equally disastrous and at least taxes don’t kill people, especially innocent people, like the iraq war does.
I don’t agree that it’s a fake war, so we have no place to begin the discussion .
it’s obviously a real war, john, since guns and missles have been lobbed and deaths have occurred….but it’s fake in it’s reasoning and rationale….where are those WMD’s? Still looking…and no accountability for war crimes whatsoever…who was it that said the victors always write history? never has that been so true in a case such as this.
going after Iraq in the name terrorism is of the same mentality in that, as an example, i’m pissed off at you for some theoretical sports column that i feel is incorrect so, instead, i blog about it on smiziks or madden’s column.
The guy who Obama recently hired to be his intelligence chief STILL believes that Iraq moved WMDs into Syria before the invasion. Every country’s intelligence believed that Iraq had WMDs and so did every leading Democrat. Bill Clinton was talking about the need for regime change when Bush was still governor of Texas.
We had been hit with the worst attack in our history when Bush was president. He was the one guy on the planet who had to make a decision on Iraq. If he believed the intelligence—as all the democrats and all the other countries did, he had no choice but to take Saadam out. To have that intelligence and not do it would be like spending money on an attorney or a doctor and then deciding they didn’t know what they were talking about. Bush had to act and everybody else got to second guess him. If it’s proven that he lied about the intelligence reports, he should go to prison. By the way, we WON the war. And there is a democracy in Iraq. It may be shaky but, we won’t know for 10 or 15 years whether it produced a long term ally in the Middle East and whether it was worth it,
Speaking of second guessing, the Iraq war seems to have made a lot more sense than the war in Afghanistan.
I think the evidence was overstated. And of the “axis of evil” it seems to me iraq was the weakest and furthest away from a nuke. just my lay opinon.
afghanistan was necessary in 2001, but i really question at this point what we’re trying to or can accomplish. it seems now like our “allies” there are a bigger problem than our enemies. i saw something on the news the other week that afghan forces were smoking weed prior to a mission and pakistan (a supposed ally) is arming enemy forces.
It’s nice that you think it was overstated. You weren’t in charge of protecting the country. You get to second guess the decision–a luxury W didn’t have.
And when was it that Iraq attacked our soil? And by focusing on Iraq he let the Afghan war fade into the backburner and afforded Iran and North Korea the time to produce nukes. BTW I was against the Iraq war from the start.
When did Germany attack our soil? Is that always a prerequisite for war. History will judge whether getting rid of Sadaam was worth it. If you were against the war despite the violation of 17 UN sanctions, does that mean you’re with me on being in favor of dropping out of the UN kicking it out of the country?
Germany attacked our mechant ships with subs PLUS declared war on us. I say we were justified for going to war against them.
I direct you to Ron Paul’s statement on the war before congress on October 8 2002, “I have come to the conclusion that I see no threat to our national security. There is no convincing evidence that Iraq is capable of threatening the security of this country, and, therefore, very little reason, if any, to pursue a war.”
I like Ron Paul and he may have been right. Again, what about that club we belong to and finance–the UN? How would it have maintained any credibility if noithing had been done after 17 violations?
and what credibility does the US have now after they went against the UN and basically the world’s wishes and attacked a country on a whim without credible evidence and completely violated international law?
We have a democracy where there once was a dictatorship that was putting people in shredders. History will determine whether that makes it worth it.
So if Saddam Hussein really did have WMD, why in the hell would he move them to Syria? If he was ever going to use them, the invasion or right before would have been the time to do it.
Ask the new intelligence chief.
Germany, while already in the midst of taking over Europe and aiming for Britain (whom we were supplying the whole time), declared war on us after we officially declared war on Japan. It was a little bit different than Iraq and stating that us attacking Germany and us attacking Iraq without official war acts against us is NOT the same scenario.
Bush had plenty of time to second guess…he choose not to simply because of idiotic and unintelligent moronic resolve. Basically every country outside of the U.S. and Britain said there wasn’t any WMD’s….as did the U.N. Certain quarters of the press who’ve had a history of being correct also stated as much unlike the vast majority of the media (funny, why wasn’t it a “liberal” media then, huh?).
Iraq and Hussein weren’t obviously the best place but they were far down the list and the time was not there for an invasion especially after invading Afghanistan and not having completed the job. In fact, Iraq was basically ignored by the rest of the Muslim community and Al-Qaeda was practically non-existent until the Iraq invasion created a breeding ground for them.
Afghanistan was/is completely justified but by invading Iraq 1 and a half years later they turned away many necessary resources for a very from a legitimate and legal invasion in Afghanistan and spent them for a questionable rationale in Iraq.. Bush and Cheney are war criminals in the strongest definition due to their twisting of the evidence and for encouraging that behavior in regards to Iraq. Does anyone not realize that they’ve further the cause of terrorism against us as opposed to eliminating it?
Giving them the benefit of the doubt in that they had poor intelligence 7 plus years ago regarding the case for an Iraq invasion a village idiot could’ve seen that it was not true but Bush/Cheney and his whole administration did …and the Democrats who also voted in favor…those that are still holding office should all be removed from office immediately and the others charged for being so profoundly stupid.
History will judge. Also, how about those 17 UN violations? How many before it’s time to act? !8? 117?
If you don’t believe we should have invaded Iraq then you should also believe that the UN is a joke. And what is you assessment of what Sadaam would have been doing the last six years if he had still been in power?
no, we shouldn’t pull out of the UN because, in case you forget, we are not alone on this planet and this is a global community.
Saddam would be doing today exactly what he was doing then: making idle threats despite being incapable of really doing anything….oh, and iraq wouldn’t be a breeding ground for terrorism, either.
is it at all possible for you to admit that Bush/Cheney and the GOP chickenhawk war mongers screwed-up on Iraq? Regardless of how fanatical you are about them and how much you tow the line they blew that one…even the most hardcore republican has to admit that instead of just making excuse after excuse after excuse…first it was they have WMD’s and then when they weren’t found this lame excuse is that they were shipped to Syria…if the intelligence was screwed in the 1st place, which right wing nutters now finally admit, then why is that intelligence solid now on being supposedly shipped to Syria….especially when they weren’t because they never were there in the 1st place….lots of blood on the previous administrations hands.
Just admit, John….you’ll possibly feel better.
So, we should belong to an organization but we shouldn’t do anything that would back up whatever power or influence that organizatioin is supposed to have, We should just finance about 3/4th of the stupidity and sit back and listen to the members tell us how evil we are? The evil BUshcheney could not have done it if it hadn’t been AUTHORIZED by all the second guessers who suddenly realized in 2006 that it was a bad idea.
Who said this:
“We urge you, after consulting with Congress and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and its laws, to take necessary actions including ,if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction program”?
That’s a letter signed by Senators Liberman,Levin,Lautenberg,Dodd, Kerry, Feinstein, Mikulski,Daschle, Breaux,Johnson, Inouye, Landrieu, Ford and Kerry in October 1998 and sent to Bill Clinton.
Here’s another letter from a bunch of Democrat Senators sent to Bush on December 6, 2001:
“This d December will mark thre years since United Nations weapons inspectors last visited Iraq. There is no doubt that since that time, Sadaaam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Sadaaam continues to refine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a sanctioned missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our Allies.”
All of these clowns would later second guess Bushcheney to death.
Kind of like everybody in the Pittsburgh sports media sending a message from the press box to Mike Tomlin during a gsme and telling him to punt on fourth and one. And then when he doesn’t make it, demanding that he be fired.
Bush was the only guy who didn’t have the luxury of the second guess.
Wow., Sammy Davis Jr would’ve been proud of that tap-dancing. You conveniently left out Obama., who voted against the Iraq War., no second guessing there. Also Bush pulled the trigger and invaded without declaring war., where are the phony constitutionalists ?
Its funny how history will grade W yet yinz were able to rate BO after about 3 days.
Obama wasn’t asked to vote against it. He wasn’t in the senate. I rate Obama on what he’s doing now. History could also prove me wrong. I doubt it. History has shown that what he’s trying to do doesn’t work.
True. People in the Illinois State Senate weren’t asked to vote on the Iraq war, but he did speak against it BEFORE it went bad saying:
“I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.”
Everything he said came to fruition. If you don’t like Obama, listen to Dick Cheney from 1994 when he said occupying Iraq would be a “quagmire.”
Talk is cheap. Votes count. He probsbly would have voted “present”. He’s pretty good at that.
There is a difference between suspecting something is going wrong and talking tough to deter a rogue country from going further on a certain issue and actually committing triollions of dollars and thousands of lives based on the same level of evidence. Why dont we invade Pakistan as they have been more responsible for global terrorism than Iraq ever was. Oh, wait. Practicality. Hmm, wehrere was practicality when Bush was president?
So you’re ok with when these “rich” deciede to start holding their money instead of investing and creating jobs?
The Bush tax cuts were across the board. If you paid taxes they were reduced. Don’t confuse wealth with income. The wealthiest American’s do not necessarily have high incomes.
Obama has had 1 1/2 years to get us out of Afghanistan. Instead he has used a Bush policy, the surge. And you know no one believes the “Bush tax cuts were for wealthiest 2%”. Please.
If Rangel is found guilty he should go to jail. I’m sure you’re gonna write a similar post with as much vigor regarding the Orie sisters., the GOP gift that keeps on giving. These elected officials are now seeking the advice of paranormals., I’m not making this up. You keep telling us Dems quit pulling the D lever and this is your alternative.? They should be auditioning for a Stephen King movie ., not public office.
Yeah., I know., these people should have as little to do with our lives as possible., give me something better thtan that for chrissakes.
The Orie sisters should pay the price if they’re guilty but what they allegedly did doesn’t come close to what Rangel did and Jane Orie is a state senator. He’s chairmand of the ways and means committeee. Come on. So, you’re OK with these people being put in charge of telling you what doctor you’re allowed to see?
you’re right, john, they are examples of corrupt politics but the very same people you support are just as corrupt…i can’t fathom why you don’t see that.
It was the dems who said they were different and were going to drain the swamp. The bottom line–as always–is that we should see to it that these people–repiubs and dems–have as little power over our lives as possible.
unfortunately the reps what just as much power over our lives as dems but just in different avenues….yet you still seem to support the repubs and slam the dems. when it comes to elections it’s a matter of two bowls of shit and which one smells the worst. after the past 10 or so years….they all equally smell bad.
I tend to support conservatives because they tend to stand for wanting to have less control of my life. I admit there isn’t much difference. I guess it’s the lesser of two evils. After all, the founders considered government a necessary evil.
And govern through the use of CLAIRVOYANCE ? You gotta be kidding me ? Granted ., throwing darts , the casino chicken or a Ouijii board would have done better than Bush but these people are locals who represent us., and you’re not embarrassed ? If they were Dems you’d have been all over this with several posts. When it’s a Republican you churn out the same ole we need less govt song.
Should we end the war ? Raise taxes ? I’m going down to Madame Maries to see what the tarot cards say. Jeezuz Crimenies !!
Harrisburg is another swamp that needs to be drained every bit as much as the one in DC.
So you will be voting against both your incumbent State and Federal representatives right?
You never know. I voted for lots of libertarians last time.
I think these nut bags vote by Libra or Sagitarrius.
Keep pulling that R lever.
How has pulling that “D” lever worked out for African=Americans? Escpecially in those wonderfully successful urban school systems?
Fire the students. Not the teachers.
I’m neither conservative or liberal, to be honest I don’t really know what either means anymore.
I see a bunch of idiots screwing with my way of life on both sides.
So I plan on doing exactly that, I saw a bumper sticker the other day that sums up the way I feel. Vote them all out.
My US Rep is such an idiot and I guess so sure of himself that during an election year, he still won’t respond to any letter, e-mail or phone call I make. You’d think he could instruct one of the people who works for him to at least send some kind of form letter to his constituents who take the time to contact him.
How much worse could it be if you picked 535 people at random out of the DC phone book?
Go for it. What like 90% of DC voted for Obama? I’m down for that.
That’s what they “stand” for, but once they get into office, they tend to want to stay there. They also forget about the “less control of my life” part once they are elected. That is one of my major problems with Cons. It is disingenuous to say that government is an evil part of our society, but I would just love a job in said government. Ronald Reagan famously said that, “Government isn’t the solution, it is the problem.” Being the president, wasn’t he in a unique position to change that?
He tried.
john, you say that you support less government but have you failed to realize that during the previous administration the gop EXPANDED government on top of running up a record deficit? hardly the party anymore of smaller/less government. and when the dems raise taxes to pay for the irresponsible spending of the gops, the party of supposedly fiscal “responsibility”, they scream left and right at how the dems want to tax everything.
washington is diseased beyond belief and repubs are just as much responsible for it…if not more.
how exactly did reagan try? really, i’d like to see these examples of him trying to minimize government when he made it bigger himself.
He made it bigger by increasing the department of defense and he did all tht he could without the help of congress.
I’m not a Republican. Bush was not conservative enough. He spent too much. The Republicans deserved everything they got in 2006 and 2008. I just don’t believe that spending THREE TIMES AS MUCH is the solution.
You could fool me. I have seen 100% bashing of Democrats here by you with very little bashing of Republicans. If you were truly independent, I wouldn’t expect 50-50, but at least 75-25 split. I am biased towards liberals, but even I have found time to bash them on issues like public education and death penalty or Geithner. The closest you have come is to mildly chastise bush saying he wasnt conservative enough on the budget. But you dont spare even a smidgen of your trademark sarcasm for him even once.
I like Bush as a person. Wish he was more conservative.
Washington is diseased and we have people in power now who think that the solution is to make us more dependent up0on the disease. Good thinking.
when did i say support the people in power now? never did i say that. what i’m saying is that there is no difference between the people you say you support as opposed to the people in power now who you say are ruining everything.
I have a friend that questions everyone running and she pretty much sticks to a few issues that are the most important to her way of life. But she thinks that most of them are pieces of shit and if they don’t answer her questions to her satisfaction or refuse to respond at all she writes in a name. Once in a local election she almost got her Mother elected by telling people she was just going to write in her Mother’s name because both candidates were turds. I guess everyone she talked to thought the same as her Mother being a write in got 30% of the vote getting more votes than one of the candidates. Of course her Mother wasn’t too happy about it and didn’t find it very funny.
Another time she got Mickey Mouse like 3% of the vote. I’d be embarrassed if I was a candidate and that many people would rather vote for a cartoon character.
I know many people think it’s making a joke of your vote, but if you don’t like either candidate, what do you do? I usually just don’t vote at all in that race, but I don’t know that is any better than writing in a fictional character.
Run yourself.
Politician I could never do. I’d end up punching someone and there would go my political career. lol
But you bring up another problem we have with our current system. These politicians get in there and they have so much money backing them along with the name recognition that many times it’s almost impossible for a non-politician to get elected unless it is on the local level. It’s also hard for a non-politician to get any help from their party. I know there are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part that’s the way it is.
Sarah Palin is an exception. Of course, she’s a moron. People say all the time that we need more regular people to run for offfice. She comes from nowhere, bests an entrenched, corrupt Republican machine, becomes the most popular governor in the US, gets nominated for VP and media make a concerterd effort to ridicule and destroy her.
You do realize tha Obama has not supported Rangel in all of this mess? It’s no different from the likes of Delay being hit with scandals during the Bush era. I hope you saved some of your outrage back then. Or Vitter. Face it. Both parties are corrupt.
Rangel should pay for whatever he is guilty of. And Pelosi isn’t exactly going to block any investigations related to this or saying he was set up.
How can he? It was the dems who took control largely on the basis that the Repubs represented a culture of corruption. They were going to drain the swamp. This guy is chairman of the committee that makes the tax laws and evades taxes? Delicious.