Disqus - Latest Comments for Degrance

Re: Not Really Getting To The Meat Of The Issue

Degrance — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 11:42:18 -0000

Not sure I'm getting the joke. Why are you pissed off that someone is asking questions about your menu?
If I were attending a party held at a restaurant with food not to my taste, I would probably eat first as well. I really has nothing to do with it being vegetarian.

Re: Scott Pruitt Is The Ideal Nominee to Lead the EPA

Degrance — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 11:55:30 -0000

Looking for a job in the Federal Government now that your boss lost, eh?

Keep sucking up like that and you're a shoo-in.

Re: They’ve Gone Insane | The American Spectator

Degrance — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:38:37 -0000

So you are not concerned that the future president is going to be completely ignorant of the world security situation because he just doesn't want to know?

Re: They’ve Gone Insane | The American Spectator

Degrance — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:30:59 -0000

50,000 jobs, really?
His VP bribed a company, with tax dollars he won't have to account for because he is leaving office as Governor, to delay the firing of a few hundred workers for some undetermined amount of time. Far fewer than was originally reported, it turns out.

Re: They’ve Gone Insane | The American Spectator

Degrance — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:25:51 -0000

What do I want to hear?
That he has any intention of actually showing up and doing the job. So far it looks like he is going to be an absentee president. When he does show up all he does is bluster and shout. He has not articulated a single plan or proposal. It looks like he thinks that his job is tweeter in chief and that his is going to let his kids run the country. That scares the hell out of me.

Re: They’ve Gone Insane | The American Spectator

Degrance — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:07:41 -0000

Well, I was hoping for a reply to my post. I guess I'll just have to keep waiting.

Re: They’ve Gone Insane | The American Spectator

Degrance — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:03:39 -0000

Trump is an uneducated, immature, offensive provocateur who does not want to be president. He has said several times that he will turn over the running of the country to the VP and take a four year vacation, turning up only for speeches and photo-ops. It is questionable whether he has made any decision since the election. He is ignoring security briefings which will make him even less prepared for the job he doesn't want to do.
Trump is a disaster waiting to happen, an idiot who makes stupid, off-the-cuff, decisions and then stands stubbornly behind them no matter how bad they are in retrospect. So far his erratic behavior has only resulted in a whole bunch of stupid spewing. I shudder, and fear what will happen, when a real crisis hits and he stumbles in front of a microphone and declares war, or worse, capitulates to an enemy, just because that was what happened to be running through his mind at the moment.
I think you miss the point entirely. Trump isn't evil. Trump is a moron. People are upset because a bunch of voters hate Washington politics so much that rather than vote for someone that could be president they instead used their vote to send a loud "F You!" to Washington by voting for someone they know is a joke. Unfortunately we now all have to, hopefully, live with the consequences.

Re: Hamilton’s Pulitzer Prize is a Shot in the Arm for History

Degrance — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 15:47:54 -0000

My god that is depressing. There is so much quality art out there and this depressing spectacle, this ahistorical drivel, this overwrought tripe . . .
I am speechless.

Re: Let’s Talk About Hitler | Scott Adams Blog

Degrance — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 07:30:46 -0000

Actually I think it was the whole "Hail Trump" thing that led to the comparison.

Re: Engadget Giveaway: win one of four Nexus 7 tablets, courtesy of NVIDIA!

Degrance — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:30:18 -0000

I already have mine. This one is for my daughter.

Re: Engadget Giveaway: win one of four Nexus 7 tablets, courtesy of NVIDIA!

Degrance — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:29:18 -0000

I already have mine. This one is for my daughter.

Re: The 'BBC Left' is using hacking to get revenge

Degrance — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:36:26 -0000

"all news which is transmitted "over the airwaves"
must be impartial (which there, too, means Left-liberal)"

In other words Fox News could not exist in the real world because
reality has a liberal slant.

Fox is not a news channel. They create and then distribute propaganda for
a living. The reason they have such a large following is that they are
the only place that people who long for the days of
McCarthyism, Wasp Domination and Segregation can go to
hear their thoughts echoed.

There is a reason fox is known as the "old white guy" network.

Re: Social Networking vs Email

Degrance — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:09:58 -0000

What a stupid comparison. That's like saying there are more people who use cell phones than use greeting cards. The two types of communication are completely different. You can't replace email with a Web page. It doesn't do the same job.

I also agree with several people who pointed out that there are many people who have one or two email accounts and 15 or 20 "social networking" accounts. It doesn't take many of them to really warp this statistic.

Re: Give the Porkulous Money Back

Degrance — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:34:34 -0000

You sir are an idiot.

I happen to be one of those state employees who isn't currently unemployed because of the stimulus "bled away" by "dysfunctional state governments"

You clowns really enjoy sticking it to public sector workers. We're just regular Joes doing our jobs at substandard pay as compared to the public sector. Most of us because we really believe in public service.

But where would you jerks be without us to use as a punching bag every time you need a bogyman.

Government works and works well 90% of the time. You earn a living finding the 10% and painting the other 90% with that broad brush.

Get honest. It would be refreshing to hear one commenter who admits to the good and the bad in any system and works to expand the good and reduce the bad. Unfortunately it is much easier, and pays the same, to just go with simple slogans, demonizing things you oppose, and deifying the things you support.

Re: The Health Care Debate: What Price is Life? A Stranger’s Life? Your Child’s Life?

Degrance — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:02:26 -0000

What both you and the author you quote missed is the fact that medical care is currently rationed in the US. Right now it is rationed by companies that have a profit motive in denying as much care as they can get away with.

Health Care Reform is about changing the locus of control of rationing so that it is done by medical professionals and not bookkeepers.

That said your premise is correct. Decisions must be made. Part of the solution is changing our culture of "life at all costs" and move a little more towards quality of life and end of life support. An expansion of the hospice infrastructure would be a good first start. At some point it is better to help someone die well than to squeeze every second of life out of their tortured bodies.

Re: What So Many Liberals Don’t Understand About Adultery

Degrance — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:59:45 -0000

AustinRoth, you continue to miss the point. The Democrats have the support of their constituency because, by and large, we agree with their policies.

The Republicans, on the other hand, have the support of the "values voters" because the Republicans are systematically giving the false impression that they share the "values" of this group. They do not. They never have. They never will. They milk the religious right for votes and then ignore them for four years except to throw them a bone in a speech or to pass an unconstitutional law that they know will never be enforced and eventually overruled in the courts.

Fortunately the religious groups are beginning to see the light, as it were.

http://watchmanswords.blogs...
"The reality is that Bush 43 is no different in practice than Reagan or Bush 41. They talk the talk. They go to church (well not so much Reagan, but you get my point). They pray out loud. But they don't take the concrete actions that would change the things that matter most to people of faith. They do not care about moral values nearly as much as they care about motivating voters. So they say what we want to hear and count on us to keep living in blissful ignorance of the fact that nothing ever happens. It's time for that to change."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006...
"In the last several weeks, Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the most influential Christian conservatives, has publicly accused Republican leaders of betraying the social conservatives who helped elect them in 2004. He has also warned in private meetings with about a dozen of the top Republicans in Washington that he may turn critic this fall unless the party delivers on conservative goals."

http://www.usnews.com/blogs...
"Some religious conservative leaders feel shirked by the GOP right now. They argue that religious conservatives are the most loyal Republican voters and that the party should take their issues more seriously."

Re: What So Many Liberals Don’t Understand About Adultery

Degrance — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:49:21 -0000

I think you are completely missing the point. The point is that a significant number of the Republican fallen were out there preaching "family values" and setting themselves up as the pinnacle of virtue while they were already trashing several commandments on a daily basis.

We are not upset at them because they fooled around. We are upset because they fooled around while falsely and cynically building the Republican brand as the godly party in order to dupe that segment of the population that shouts AMEN when ever somebody yells "Jesus" from the soapbox.

Republican office holders and seekers are by definition ungodly. I don't know how much you know about politics but to even get on the ticket for anything but the most insignificant local office you have to make several deals with the "devil." If those "values" voters had even a inkling of what their moral champions had to do in order to get elected they not only wouldn't vote for them, they would escort them to the city limits with torches and pitchforks. If they could somehow see what was actually in their hearts they would blanch. I worked as a nonpartisan in the legislative arena for years. I worked with ultra conservative legislators on a daily basis. If their constituents knew what these folks really though of them . . .

You say. "Millions of voters want to elect leaders who set a certain standard for individual behavior." That is the problem in a nutshell. Because of this anyone who wants to run for office has to lie their ass off to even get past the primaries because no one living can hope to pass this litmus test. People need to vote the issues, not some preposterous moral code.

The worst part is that Republicans often get to have it both ways. They lie their asses off, then when they get caught all they have to do is falsely beg Jesus for forgiveness on national television, maybe cry a little, then go back to doing exactly what they were doing before, AND go run for reelection. The "values" voters will only see they he "got himself right with Jesus" and pull the lever for the adulterous, venal, lying, covetous, bastard again.

Re: American Idol: The Underdog Unexpectedly Triumphs (Guest Voice)

Degrance — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:00:04 -0000

Kris Allen won because Idol's core audience, rednecks, are homophobes and would not support the better, but gay, performer.

The best artist has never won Idol. It is always the most "white bread" artist. The blandest. The "safest." That's what you get when you let democracy choose talent.

Re: Pew Poll: Independent Voter Identification And Centrism Are Surging

Degrance — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:06:31 -0000

nicrivera & tidbits

"Funding abortion would constitute government intervention in a personal moral issue in that it encourages one choice over another."

I have no idea what point you are trying to make. The government doesn't and couldn't "fund abortion." If there is funding involved it is for health care, of which abortion is a small part. Excluding abortion from government funded health care, in effect, only hinders the poor from getting proper medical care. If we, as a society, deem that abortion is a proper medical procedure then access to that procedure should not be based on a woman's ability to pay but upon her best interests. It is madness to suggest that abortion is wrong for those who must rely upon government programs for their health care but is just fine for the rich is ridiculous.

The logical conclusion from your viewpoint would be that the rich abort on a whim because they have unlimited access to abortion. Is that your thesis?

Re: Pew Poll: Independent Voter Identification And Centrism Are Surging

Degrance — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:54:43 -0000

"What does it mean? It could be a sign that if Obama flops and the GOP doesn’t give independent voters an affirmative reason to support them (just blasting Obama won’t be enough) there could be an opening for an independent candidate in 2012, even if such a candidate has the system stacked against him/her."

I can't make out, due to the poor formatting, whether this is a quote or a statement by the author but this statement is pure drivel. I can see no relevance between party affiliation being down and interest in a third party candidate. I think what this is indicative of is fatigue with the silly bickering that goes on in place of national politics these days. People long for the days when there were reasonable people on either side of the debate and they worked things out (yes it did use to be like that, at least as compared to today)

Having said that Bernie Sanders has my vote if he wants to challenge the two party system. I'm proud to say he is my senator and the only nationally prominent independent that I know of.

Re: Steaming Ahead in Slo-Mo

Degrance — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:00:38 -0000

You can hardly blame Obama for GOP obstructionism. Maybe, after Frankin is seated and we get to 60, we can fill the rest of the positions that require Senate confirmation in a week or so.

Re: http://themoderatevoice.com/29372/tea-party-protest-no-matter-how-big-a-net-plus-for-gop/

Degrance — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:04:03 -0000

Does anyone have an objective view of world events anymore or are we doomed to have everyone parrot whatever talking points are issued by the various cliques that make up our media now a days?

These protests have been going on for years every April 15th. This year's protests were not any different than last year, or the year before, or five years ago. The only thing different is that some idiot in the "news" business decided to highlight them because they thought they could boost viewership for a few days.

There is no story here. The protests were indicative of nothing but hype. There is no more, or less, grass-roots movement than in previous years. The "protesters" had no unifying idea that brought them together. April 15th is the traditional day for loonies to come out with any complaints about the government because that it the one day a year that is tied most strongly to taxation.

Anyone suggesting that these "protests" are in some way indicative of the national mind-set are deliberately misinforming their audience. As long as we accept these manufactured stories as real news we are contributing to the mess that is reporting today and postponing the time when we have a functioning press corp again in the US.

Re: Wait, Obama Is Worse On Civil Liberty Legalisms Than Bush?

Degrance — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:03:16 -0000

As has been suggested several times by people who have not lost touch with reality:

The lawyers in this case are bound by their duty to their client to use any legal framework available in the best interests of their client. It is up to the court to determine whether these motions are in accordance with the law. If they are, it is congress who must amend the law, not the executive branch.

I am having a very hard time not seeing this as the same sort of quasi-factual reporting that Fox engages in. Much ado about nothing.

Re: Israeli Army Vindicated

Degrance — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:58:45 -0000

Unless I am misreading the article this is essentially saying that the army looked into allegations of its misconduct and decided it was innocent.

I'm sorry but any time any military does an "internal investigation" of alleged wrongdoing and discovers itself to be squeaky clean my BS meter posts. How about if some disinterested party, like the Red Cross or Amnesty International, takes a look at the facts.

Re: Go Get 'Em, Evan Bayh

Degrance — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:11:03 -0000

Are people just used to having something to snark about every day for the last 8 years and can't break the habit?
This story seems to be basically, someone said something and someone else said, "You're not being helpful."
This is news how? This relates to the constitution how?
Looks like you're just helping Bayh pander.