random off-topic thread

[Newman]

Originally Posted by RockieRooter

Newman, I'm not surprised that you change the topic from Obama to McCain. I don't like McCain, but trashing McCain does nothing to make Obama "pure". I'm against hatred and divisiveness wherever I see it. I get upset when somebody speaks unity but acts from divisiveness. I dislike when I see politicians pandering rather than leading.

RR, well if you don't vote for Obama, then you'll vote for McCain, or throw your vote away with a protest of some sort.

Let's look at the big picture. These are politicians. You are not going to find a perfect politician out there who agrees with you 100% of the time. Voting for us, we, the people, gets down to compromise. Who best represents you?

RR, please don't let the media manipulate you and your vote. I was watching The Colbert Report last night, after the Daily Show, and he was once again replaying the GD America 3 second soundbite from Rev Wright, and then puckishly saying "I can't understand why America just won't let that go?" It's the MEDIA who loves that racial divisiveness.

Obama IS trying. Didn't he go to Altoona and try bowling last week? Have you seen McCain trying to reach out to black people or brown people or any minorities ever? Of course not. He just represents rich white people and scared white people. That's his base. Plus the religious fanatics like Robertson and Falwell.

The economy is in the crapper. Big picture. McCain will do NOTHING about that. Why? It's Republican philosophy to do nothing, to trust giant corporations, trust the free market, no regulations. This is the result you get. Big mortgage company preying on stupid poor people. High gas prices, high food prices. Jobs being outsourced. Look at the big picture, RR.

I was listening to the two minutes of radio news at the top of the hour and John McCain squeezed in a soundbite. His topic? We need a bigger military! Who thinks that? How much of our budget goes to the military? Way too much. Sure, scared people want a bigger military. It works on some. Some people think we should stay in Iraq for 100 years, that we should occupy a foreign country, and borrow from Communist China to pay for it. I think that's ridiculous.

RR, did you think the Vietnam War was a good war? Could have been won? Do you think the Iraq War and Occupation was a good one? They never attacked us. Why are we even there? Why didn't we get Osama? Instead we got Saddam! How was Bush able to sell that one to America?! And McCain supports that whole fairy tale.

[indianadrew]

so newman, you feel like a vote for a third party is a wasted vote? it's mentalities like that that have caused the 2 party quagmire we are in now. do you feel like we should all line up like lemmings and vote for one of only 2 people. thats pretty sad.

[Newman]

The only hope is to fix the Democratic Party.

Unless you want to talk Revolution?

I've been reading a lot of Jefferson and George Washington and have a Sam Adams book near my bed. Interesting blokes those Founding Fathers. Some had lots to lose to fight a super power like England. Others, not so much. My twin brother is big on history. He thinks he would have remained a Tory, loyal to the King. Honest. It takes courage and gumption to create a revolution. Usually they get crushed.

[indianadrew]

i think the only hope is to fix the democratic process, not the democratic party. this country just needs to scrap both parties and start over.


Whig Party (United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

[Newman]

The Republican Party is the party of big business, wealthy white people, war, no regulation, outsourcing jobs, and so forth. Just look at McCain and Bush. They're the same. Bush has us in a recession now. McCain's plan for that is to STAY THE COURSE.

What are the other Republican fundamentals? Tax cuts for the super rich, the upper 2%, the Republican donors.

Don't do anything about high gas prices.

Global warming is a joke. Science is a joke.

No abortion rights.

Conservative Evangelical religion rules.

Anti Union. Pro Corporation.

If everyone were allowed to carry guns everywhere we'd be a safer country.

Don't do anything about high food prices.

Don't do anything about illegal immigration.

Keep trading with Communist China.

Don't go back to tariffs.

Maximize profits for corporations and for CEOs of those multinational corporations.

Stay at war in Iraq indefinitely. How to pay for it? Borrow money from the Petrol States and from Communist China. No taxes to pay for the war. Let our kids pay for it down the road.

Recent reports say the seat of terrorism, worldwide is Saudi Arabia. But we can't attack them because Bush is in bed with them. And apparently we can't go after Osama bin laden either.

Drew if you take away everything the Republican Party stands for, that I just mentioned, what do you have left? NOTHING. They prey on fear of Muslims, fear of minorities. They offer no solutions but stay the course. The new leader of that party is a militarist. He knows nothing about the economy and he's in bed with the lobbyists.

[Newman]

Have any of you caught the latest Rockies commercials. Some of them are pretty funny.

I liked the one where Holliday - did you touch the dish? Hurdle asks him and the other players jump in. Pretty good.

But there's a new one, that I only saw once, where Jeff Francis leads off, acting all cocky and everything, since he was in the World Series last year, he has various pychophants getting a chair ready for him as he sits down, and another who gets all the poppy seeds off his bagel. I particularly like it when he flicks the last poppy seed off, one that was missed! Funny.

Then Torrealba is offered some red gatorade and he makes a scene because he only drinks purple gatorade, and then he huffs off to his "trailer" like some diva actor. It's a good commercial.

[indianadrew]

newman,

how many times do i have to say that i am not voting for john mccain. i am against the occupation of iraq. i will be voting strictly on that issue. you are preaching to the choir.

[Newman]

I guess we can give the 2B job to Clint Barmes. He is hitting a ton! What a lineup we have now.

Of course it helps to play Houston and their quartet of bad pitchers. Seeing Sampson after that 22 inning marathon was a godsend.

New Lineup:

1. Barmes
2. Tulo
3. Helton
4. Matt
5. Hawpe
6. Atkins
7. Either catcher
8. Pitcher
9. Taveras or Podsednik or Spilly

[indianadrew]

well guys it has been a while since i have posted anything here, so i wanted to pose a question. i am the manager of a peewee baseball team. we had our first game yesterday, in which we lost 7-3. the "indians" will win a few games this year.

anyway, our bigest problem has been plate dicipline. does anybody have any suggestions on the teaching it to 6 & 7 year olds?

who would have ever thought that indiana would play any part in the selection of the democratic presidential nominee?

GO TRIBE!

cpindians.jpg

[Newman]

Wow. 6 year olds. Discipline? Teach them zen buddhist meditation. No. Have them watch the Karate Kid. No. OK, good luck there, Drew. Have you ever watched little kids play soccer? Magnet ball. Discipline?

My original thought on this matter was "you can't walk off the island". That's what players from the Dominican Republic say. They're aggressive. They hack away. Do you think Vlad has plate discipline? Would you rather have Vlad or Eddie Stanky?

What a system? A primary season that lasts for two years. Talk about voter fatigue. It'll be curious how Indiana goes? It's a lily white state, right? I saw part of Rev Wright on Bill Moyers last night. He was very likeable. Not incindiery like Rush Limbaugh who is calling for rioting in MY streets of Denver for the Dem convention in August. Ugh. How does Rush keep his job? How is it he doesn't get Imussed?

[BigRapidsJackass]

Newman, you beat me to it.

Drew, surely you're joking. Plat discipline when you're playing T-ball? Talk about a moment of zen. Let's teach the kid to walk up to the tee and just stand there.

Come to think of it, that would teach patience. I've got a 6-year old. Think I'll try that.

And no, Newman, Indiana is not lily-white. Remember Gary, Indiana, home of the Jackson 5? Indianapolis, too.

Interesting article I saw about Obama: he does great in the states with very low black populations (Colorado counts here). He does great in states with very sizeable black populations. But in states with roughly 15-20 percent black populations, white voters flock to Hilary. They seem to fear black people with political power -- the black population isn't high enough to make black political power a reality, not low enough to make it a purely hypothetical exercise. They want to maintain their own power bases. I think this is a very real phenomenon. And Obama will have continuing problems with it. He ran as a kind of new candidate, post-racial, all that. We now see that to rise to power he had to create the same messy coalitions as any other candidate -- yes, that meant sucking up to buffoons like Rev. Wright and currying favor with old '60s radicals like that Ayers guy (remember, his district included Hyde Park and the University of Chicago radical crowd). It'll be hard to distance himself from all that now. That's sad, because I really think he is a sensible candidate, far more centrist than Hilary, far more open to new ideas to solve old problems.

[indianadrew]

it's not t-ball. it's coaches pitch. they CAN strike out. they get 7 pitches.

[Newman]

Originally Posted by BigRapidsJackass

But in states with roughly 15-20 percent black populations, white voters flock to Hilary. They seem to fear black people with political power

We now see that to rise to power he had to create the same messy coalitions as any other candidate -- yes, that meant sucking up to buffoons like Rev. Wright and currying favor with old '60s radicals like that Ayers guy (remember, his district included Hyde Park and the University of Chicago radical crowd).

It'll be hard to distance himself from all that now. That's sad, because I really think he is a sensible candidate, far more centrist than Hilary, far more open to new ideas to solve old problems.

What is the white fear? I tend to lean to comic Jon Stewart's idea, and he asked Obama this directly, "do you plan on enslaving the white race when you get elected?" Is that it? Or giving all the money that's left in the US Treasury (is there any, or does Bush just print it now, when he needs it, like for the economic stimulus rebates) to black people and doubling the taxes on whites? What is the fear? That Louis Farakhan will be Secretary of State? Could he do a worse job than Cheney and Rumsfeld?

Jackass, I forget how old you are. I'm 58. I stayed out of the Vietnam War, and the draft, by being a college student and then getting a high enuf lottery number. I still think the Vietnam War was a bad war, just like the Iraq War is a bad one for America (and the world for that matter). William Ayers was a bomb planting radical but hey, I protested the war too!

It's all spin. Why do you call Rev Wright a buffoon? I watched him on Bill Moyers Friday and he came across as very thoughtful and likeable. It's people like Rush and the corporate media who constantly play JUST THE GD AMERICA 7 second clip, out of context, that paint him as a threat. And here we have Rush actively calling for riots in Denver, burn Denver down during the Democratic Convention. Why isn't RUSH thrown off the air like Imus was, or at least suspended or even just reprimanded? Or jailed for inciting to riot?

I think Hillary is far more centrist than Barack, which is why I don't like her. She sounds like a Republican half the time. I will never get past that dodging sniper fire in Bosnia snafu. Obama stands for change which we desperately need. He saw that the war in Iraq was wrong from the get go. He has superior judgment to the other 2 candidates. Look at the big picture.

[Newman]

Will we have a triple crown winner in Big Brown?

UPS has a horse. Why doesn't the post office have a horse? I hope to see Big Blue and White next year.

And how about that Philly! (And I don't mean Chase Utley).

[rockieprogress]

newman, its filly, not Philly.
Ones a horse, the other a city.

Yep, its too bad. But, she did come in 2nd. Not bad for a filly.