I thought Biden's rhetoric about he Tea Party being "terrorists" was a bit over-the-top also, especially give our national pychic scars over real terrorism in this country. Terms I am comfortable with, however, are "hijacked the political process" and "held Congress hostage."
Don't forget that the Tea Party is calling them Muslim Nazi Commie Socialist destroyers of America. Technically, terrorism is simply using terror to achieve political goals. They are doing that; Democrats have done it. If you're trying to scare the voters, it's terrorist.
Now, the confusion comes from also calling al Qaeda terrorist. While they are, a more apt word would be "murderers," so we don't have issues like this when calling other people terrorists (which is supposed to be a neutral descriptor of tactics).
I thought Biden's rhetoric about he Tea Party being "terrorists" was a bit over-the-top also, especially give our national pychic scars over real terrorism in this country. Terms I am comfortable with, however, are "hijacked the political process" and "held Congress hostage."
I have to agree with Celtic on this. I highly doubt she read the bill, I also highly doubt most MOCs did either, but the fact is she voted. I am sure she did so for her constituents. I am just not going to bite off that she did so from her personal perspective regarding the bill or from what her party wanted. Just my 0.01876093 cents.
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Raising a teenager is like nailing Jello to a tree
If you're asking me BigG, I am not certain what her thought process is at this moment. Does she even have the ability to have a coherent stream of consciousness at this point in her recovery? Is she able to process information in a well-organized manner and come to a conclusion? Can she perform gross/fine motor skills as she did prior to the horrific shooting? None of us know. But from published reports of her progress, I'm not convinced Rep. Giffords was able to read the monster bill in its' entirety and process it in an organized manner. Then again, I don't think many MOC or Sen. was able to cogently process the bill. In my previous life, I worked in ICU and ER. Neuro pt's are the most difficult to recover. The brain is very fragile and hers has gone through a tremendous amount of trauma. I am not convinced she made any of the decisions on her own. JMHO
I think it was a cheap, low-blow to bring Rep. Giffords to the house floor for that vote. Both Boehner & Pelosi should be ashamed of themselves. Such a political cheap-shot, using Rep. Giffords to elicit sympathy to get this terrible bill passed. The woman was shot in the head and has a long recovery. And no one knows if she'll ever be completely whole after what that whackadoo did to her. Think she's there to stay and do her constiuents work from here on out? Nope, back to Houston for therapy and recovery, as she should. That's what she needs right now. I thought we'd seen the worst in the house leadership during this past month, but Monday's spectacle has given a whole new meaning to 'pull out every stop' to close the deal.
Let's be honest we would sneer at people on the street making these kind of comments, but somehow we feel it is okay to do it since it is politics.
I hate to say it, but I think we as citizens created the beasts.
I am sick and tired of Washington. They are like parents reprimanding their child for hitting a sibling ...they always slap the child who hit and then they say don't hit your sibling!
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Raising a teenager is like nailing Jello to a tree
Thank God for Gabby Giffords. ... Politicos, be they Democrat or Republican, have no idea how to "temper" their political rhetoric. Then we, as citizens, follow in their inflammatory paths. I'm kind of tired of it, truth be known.
All Obama did through out the debt crisis was make campaign speeches about how horrible the republicans were simply because they wanted government to live within its means. He should practice what he preaches.
Last night Gabby Giffords comes back to the floor to vote. Bless her.
However, at the same time I watched this I recall Obama asked for political rhetoric to be tempered. Yet, there was Biden and Reid out today amping it up. Biden saying the Tea Party acted like Terrorists. Reid and finding them disconcerting.
I guess neither got the memo from the leader of their party!
I am not a Tea Paty member, but honestly that bothered me. It bothered me that the VP of our country would say such a thing. Granted he is known to suffer from foot in the mouth affliction. Remember his description of Obama in 07, Clean Cut .... but still acting like terrorists? How is that tempering?
It bothered me that the Majority Leader would come out like he did also. The rise of the Tea Party is disconcerting, how? Would you have said it was disconcerting if the rise of a democrat grass roots had an impact so you could get your way?
I don't know if Obama can't control his own party, or he is so smart that he manipulates them to be his mouth piece and never gets connected directly.
-- Edited by pima on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 12:23:18 PM
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Raising a teenager is like nailing Jello to a tree