Posts Tagged ‘just deserts’

You know I feel bad for the people who work there…

Posted: May 4, 2009 by datechguy in local stuff
Tags: ,

…but a lot of conservatives aren’t going to cry a lot of tears over this:

The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England’s most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks.

After down-to-the-wire negotiations did not produce millions of dollars in union concessions, the Times Co. said that it will file today a required 60-day notice of the planned shutdown under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law.

Of course the Globe might survive and the 60 day closing period means they might still be able to cover the Bruin and Celtic championship runs but the Globe has done this to itself.

I’ll miss the sports page.

“I’ve never had to explain something I never said”

Posted: May 1, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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How does the congress prevent Arlen Specter’s defection from allowing republicans from blocking judicial nominations? You change the rules of course but Legal Insurrection says not so fast:

I don’t think it is likely that the Rules will be amended for a particular nomination. First, the rule requiring a minority vote only comes into play if Republicans decide to fight a nominee to the bitter end. Assuming Souter is replaced with a roughly equivalent moderate liberal, I don’t see Republicans picking this fight. The existence of the rule itself should have a moderating effect on the choice made.

Second, changing the rules mid-session would itself be the cause of opposition to a candidate, and would taint any nomination before a vote of the full Senate. Remember, as of now the Democrats still do not have a filibuster-proof majority in the entire Senate, and even if Al Franken eventually gets seated, it would take only one of the handful of moderate Democrats to oppose a nominee for the filibuster to succeed. By forcing a nominee through committee by changing the rules, the administration would be increasing the likelihood of a problem.

Third, Harry Reid shot himself in the foot on rule changes by insisting that Roland Burris could not be seated without presenting the necessary Secretary of State certification. Reid’s words about the sanctity of Senate Rules would come back to haunt him if the Senate changed the Judiciary Committee Rules just to force through a nomination.points out this is a statement that Harry Reid should have taken to heart.

Harry should have taken President Coolidge’s words to heart but the real killer is #1. Every left wing pressure group will be looking for the big payoff in judicial nominations. They will be pushing the president to nominate someone as far left as possible. That increases the chances that republicans with frankly nothing to lose will play every card they have in the deck.

No more cover for the Democrats

Posted: April 28, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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The biggest result of the Specter party switch is the loss of cover for Democrats.

They can no longer blame the Republicans for anything over the next two years at least.

They have their 60 vote majority in the senate

They have their majority in the white house

they have the presidency.

They OWN the next two years and every problem that takes place during it, from economics, to job loss to terror they own the lot.

Now they won’t even be able to give phony excuses to their base as to why they aren’t doing x y or z. There is no chance of Specter switching back, the nutroots will now have to be appeased with more than words.

In the short run it will mean a lot more pain for the country, in the long run it will mean the country will see what liberal democratic rule does to a free society.

Be careful what you wish for of Democrats.

UPDATE: The campaign spot mimics my line of reasoning in a way:

Arlen Specter has made the right decision to win reelection right now; the problem is, he doesn’t face the voters right now. He faces Democratic voters in May 2010, and he faces Pennsylvanians as a whole in November 2010. Right now, being a Democrat and being affiliated with President Obama is a winning hand in Keystone State politics. Today, Arlen Specter bet his next term that the political environment won’t change significantly in the next 18 months.

We will see. But it is very, very rare for a political environment to remain in stasis for an 18-month period.

I bet it will be a rather exciting time.

Update 2 : Red State and Flopping Aces get it.

Though Democrats will fail and will blame the previous administration for it, the American people won’t buy it. They elected these guys in 2006 and 2008, and now they expect to see something for it. They have been very patient with President Obama and have been quick to forgive his many rookie mistakes. But, as the Rasmussen survey reveals, they are not so willing to forgive Congressional Democrats. But now, at long last, both the White House and the Congress have to show the voters that they can solve problems, not just make them worse.

Democrats spent trillions and have absolute power. What will they be able to show for it? America and the rest of the world are watching. Republicans, that’s your cue. Hit your marks, and don’t forget your lines.

“You don’t understand he is a Republican!” or The wonderful thing about Tiggers

Posted: April 24, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
Tags: ,

This story at Big Hollywood struck me because of a something similar that happened to me. As the person in question was rather elderly I put it down to generational stuff but was still very taken aback. This guy didn’t have that excuse:

The brother-in-law started, “You people don’t care about the suffering, don’t care about the weak and under-privileged, you don’t give a rat’s ass what happens to them, because to you and your ilk they’re all just a bunch of Tiggers!”

I was shocked. Even more shocked was the black gentleman sitting at the bar who suddenly took a keen interest in the conversation. After all, this is a word so repulsive it can cut through the static of even the noisiest bar. My friends had their backs to him, so it was impossible for them to see they had attracted an audience.

Never being one to avoid a conflict, I feigned ignorance. “They’re just a bunch of what?”

My friend was happy to clarify, “Tiggers. You think they’re Tiggers. You don’t care about them because they’re just all Tiggers.”

Here were two long-time liberals demonstrating to me the privilege of language accorded only to those on the correct side of the aisle. I asked again, “They’re WHAT?”

The husband spoke, “TIGGERS TIGGERS TIGGERS! How plain do I have to say it for you? T-I-double GUH- ER!!!”

At this point the eavesdropping stranger could remain silent no longer, “Uh, excuse me…”

My liberal friends turned around, and I cannot find the words to describe the shade of red their faces took as their bravado sunk under the table. The moment of silence that followed, seemed to last an eternity. The husband broke, “Um, you don’t understand what’s going on here,” he pointed into my chest and indicted, “You see, he’s a REPUBLICAN!”

The gentleman pretended like he wasn’t listening, so when the husband rushed over to apologize, he had to say the word again, right to his face. It was a very embarrassing moment, almost too painful to watch. On the up side, the gentleman ended up getting a free drink out of the deal, as the husband was eager to put it behind him.

What is that old saying? There is truth in Wine. Give a person a few drinks and they will say what they actually think.

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