Open for Discussion

Sheldon Adelson, the eighth wealthiest American, is too stupid to hire security personnel to isolate him from "pesky" reporters. And his daughter certainly won't be winning any Ms. Congeniality contests any time soon.

Reporter and Adelson’s Daughter Trade Claims of Force (both sides do it /snark)

A confrontation between a television producer and Sheldon Adelson’s daughter, captured on video, illustrates escalating tensions as the news media tries to scrutinize the mega-donors who are pouring millions into the presidential race.

A producer and cameraman for the left-leaning news program “Democracy Now” were wandering the halls of the corporate suites at the Tampa Bay Times Forum when they came across Mr. Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate, being pushed in a wheelchair. Mr. Adelson, who has given tens of millions of dollars to Republicans and the “super PACs” that support them, replied “no comment” when the producer, Mike Burke, asked what he thought of the Romney-Ryan ticket. (The segment begins at the 10-minute mark in this video.)

Now here is an accurate headline.
Daughter of Billionaire GOP Donor Sheldon Adelson Pushes Democracy Now! Staff, Seizes Camera at RNC

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To quote Cenk Uygur's famous phrase: Of courrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrse -- Note the last sentence:
Janssen issued a statement admitting no wrongdoing

Crime, schime -- Just pay to make it go away.

J & J to pay $181 million to 36 states, District of Columbia over Risperdal

J&J to pay $181 million to 36 states, District of Columbia over Risperdal

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia will share in $181 million that Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay to resolve allegations of inappropriate marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware are among the states that filed similar complaints in their own courts Thursday and will get $8.4 million, $5.3 million, and $4.2 million, respectively. New York will get $9 million.

Johnson & Johnson has headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J.; its Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary, which makes Risperdal, is based in Titusville.

New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa’s complaint, filed in Superior Court in Mercer County, alleged Janssen used “unconscionable business practices and deception,” in violation of that state’s Consumer Fraud Act.

Janssen issued a statement admitting no wrongdoing in reaching the settlement, but it agreed to abide by rules limiting how it can promote its products.

But, oops, an Arkansas judge wants J & J to pay 1.2 billion in another case on the same issue.

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Excuse me, I think I'm going to be sick.

What He Knows Now: Obama on Popularity, Partisanship and Getting Things Done in Washington

And I still believe that that’s what the American people are looking for: solving problems. What I’ve tried to do is to take ideas from everyone — Democrats and Republicans — that I thought would make a difference in the lives of working families. That’s why the Recovery Act — a third of it was tax cuts, traditionally an idea Republicans supported. That’s why our health care bill relies on private insurance and why it looks so much like Governor Romney’s health care bill [...]

And I will continue to insist to my Democratic colleagues that not all good ideas just come from Democrats and that if we’re going to reduce our deficit in a serious way, we are going to have to cut some spending even on some programs that I like. If we’re going to be serious about energy independence, then we can’t just have a knee-jerk opposition to the incredible resources that we have in our country. We’ve got to have an all-of-the-above strategy that develops oil and gas and clean coal along with wind and solar.

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I'm done. That last story seriously made me ill. Sorry.

Glinda's picture

To borrow triv33's famous phrase:

"Fuck me running."

Obama, are you effing serious?

That’s why our health care bill relies on private insurance

Here's a tip for ya: It's exactly your lack of leadership that is making this a close race. Had you done what you were sent there to do and what said you were going to do, you'd be winning your reelection in a landslide.

Remember that little tidbit you said: "I will not sign a bill if it doesn't include a public option." Oops, except you would and you did.

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And you admit to being this stupid:

And I will continue to insist to my Democratic colleagues that not all good ideas just come from Democrats

What part about the two-party system, each with a different platform, do you not get?

Sorry for the piss and vinegar, but that's how I feel.

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Tax dollars in action.

Glinda's picture

Orlando's IRIS cameras help nab suspected pot smoker

A 29-year-old Orlando man was arrested on suspicion of smoking pot and swallowing a joint after he was spotted with marijuana on the city's video camera system, known as IRIS.{...}

As officers approached the men, Haywood turned his back and appeared to put a blunt in his mouth, the arrest affidavit stated.{...}

Officers said they then noticed a green leafy substance, which they described as a unburned cannabis leaf, on Haywood's teeth, according the affidavit.

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And that

triv33's picture

is why I always try to carry beverage. I also try not to commune with the rev openly on the street corner. But...I do feel I have to say--WTF? Really now, just what the fuck? They got nothing better to do? They're going to scrape this poor bastard's teeth? take his blood? Fuck that noise.

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No! No God damn it!!!

triv33's picture

That is not what I am looking for! I'm not looking for the great compromisor, the ultimate conciliator--no!

I was and still am looking for somebody brave enough to go out there and say here--here are the infrastructure projects that are the most urgently needed. Here's a proposal to get them rolling and put thousands upon thousands of people back to work, paying taxes and spending money that will stimulate the economy--if your critter thinks he wants to vote against this--get your butt down to his office and demand to know why. Demand jobs and stimulus and a chance to see what that could do--we've tried being trickled on--let's pull an FDR and see what that brings. You can not fucking starve your way out of a depression--the only way out is to spend, wisely- like by the government on infrastructure. what in the hell is so hard to understand about that?

I know that's a soft little dream, but we didn't get anything that was even a kissing cousin to anything like that. We got squadoosh.

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It's all rushing back to me now

geomoo's picture

Back when I thought there was more to Obama than image, I argued against his candidacy on the grounds that what we needed after W. was a fighter, someone who would try to undo the damage of those shameful 8 years, and the word was that he was a compromiser. You would think those Bush outrages never happened, the way Obama has "governed".

And another thing, how come he never calls the right "f**cking retards"? How come he never compromises with progressives?

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I was never really an Edwards supporter, but

triv33's picture

his being in that race was vital, without him there would have been no mention of the two Americas. I think without him Obama may have never started giving that speech about how with the Republicans "you're on your own." That really turned out to be quite the double edged sword though, didn't it? Turns out that for a lot of us-we were on our own anyway, with no fighter in our corner.

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I hear you, Glinda

geomoo's picture

It wouldn't be so bad if he only took good ideas from Reps. Tax cuts for the wealthy during a depression? Way to be open-minded, Mr. President.

I've been doing my own stewing this afternoon, was just looking at an inspiring Obama quote about bringing transparency, the rule of law, and human rights to the Middle East. He had a hat trick on these three great American values when he disobeyed a court order to release 2,000 photographs depicting rape and other crimes by U.S. military personnel, saying, "It would only inflame anti-American sentiment." Going after Assange for alleged rape, in the absence of photographic evidence, now that's what he means by the rule of law--it's only for other people.

Speaking of rape, it turns out that all you need to be a feminist hero in some circles is to declare that you're against it. "Rape is rape," Obama said in defiant response to the Akin idiocy. He didn't go on to specify under what circumstances rape should be ignored lest sentiments be inflamed. We are knee-deep in bs in this country.

On the brighter side, more Americans are watching Honey Boo Boo than are watching the convention. Wait, is that good news or bad news? Hard to know.

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I would have been happy if he had suited up for a fight

Glinda's picture

and lost, but he never, ever, not once suited up for a fight.

Oh, wait, I take that back. He suited up for a fight against the American people when the American people polled overwhelming against the Bush tax cut extensions.

Poor Obama, he had to bring in the Big Dog at an impromptu press conference.

And for that week, tons of his Administration were on every freakin' television show that existed, trying to "convince" us that we needed to extend the Bush tax cuts.

So, yeah, I hadn't though of this before, but the only fight that Obama has waged has been against the people, trying to convince us that we needed to extend the Bush tax cuts.

White board, anyone remember?

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Short attention span

geomoo's picture

I remember Bush. I remember all the horrible things he did and how horrified most of the country was. I DO look back. Because we all were stunned by how horrible those things were, and because Obama ran specifically on a platform of changing those horrible things, I expected Obama to work to undo what damage he could. He did not--he provided cover for the Bush administration and moved on, sometimes to outdo Bush himself.

He's free to call it compromise if he wants. I don't care what he calls it. He wouldn't have stood a chance of election if he had talked about compromise with Reps as a candidate in 2008. That's because we wanted CHANGE, not compromise.

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Utter bullshjt from Obama.

Big Al's picture

I don't think we should let a democratic president lead the way on cutting social security, medicare, medicaid, unemployment, food stamps, help to the elderly, aid for disadvantaged children, etc., etc. I think we should let a republican president lead the way and try to stop him.

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Based on what he's saying,

Big Al's picture

he's big trouble. We really do have a choice between the right and the hard right. We can probably keep the hard right from implementing hard right policies but we can't keep an all right political system from implementing all right policies and laws. And the last ten plus years kind of prove that, we haven't been able to stop anything.

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that's funny, Al. I wonder, would Dems do anything?

Shahryar's picture

It might not be an actual "good" idea but it's the first time voting for Romney ever made sense. But would all the 'bots be able to turn around and oppose all the things they now say they like? Would the Democrats in office offer any resistance or would they be afraid of being called "obstructionists"?

Which reminds me...I need to go to the Greens website and see what Jill Stein and her running mate are like. Shaharazade and I were talking today about what a vote is and agreed that it's to express your opinion, to vote for a candidate who reflects that opinion. Otherwise there's no real point.

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Somewhat surprised to see this

traveler's picture

from Zbigniew Brzezinski. I've been stuck on his book The Grand Chesboard from the late 90's which seemed to be a blueprint for pursuing US dominance of the world.

This is from an interview in The National Interest with editor Robert Merry W. 22 August 2012 with the title "U.S. Fate Is in U.S. Hands"

I am very worried about the fact that we in the United States have a financial system that has become increasingly speculative rather than productive, in which personal greed rather than social growth is the main motive of the players. We have a tax system that favors the rich to a degree that I think is grossly unfair and not economically productive because it contributes to greater social disparities in our society. And such disparities in the long run tend to be very damaging and can even fracture national consensus and stimulate class conflicts.

We have a political system in which privilege has been melded with opportunism. The Congress is a self-perpetuating body of relatively rich and privileged people who are not above passing legislation or making arrangements that favor them as a group. As a result, it’s increasingly difficult for us to intelligently address both domestic and foreign problems.

He sums it up pretty well, agrees that Iraq was a disaster and says there was no need for a prolonged stay in Afghanistan.

Here is the link for those who might want to read the entire article: http://nationalinterest.org/article/interview-us-fate-us-hands-7339

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What a shock.

geomoo's picture

It's irrational, but it pisses me off when I see people who have spent their lives contributing to the problem suddenly seeming to see the light. I think he's had his testosterone-fed run and now he's old enough to notice what is really happening. Unfortunately, there are plenty of arrogant, aggressive younger people busy carrying on his legacy. Still, it's amazing reading that from him. I don't suppose he'd ever say, "I was wrong."

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Not in those specific words

traveler's picture

Brings to mind Robert McNamara and his post Viet Nam war regrets of what had been done under his leadership. At least he did recognize the fact that he had been wrong, showed that he did have a conscience. He is the only high ranking government official from that era that I know of who made a public apology. His book - In Retrospect was probably as honest a self-appraisal as we are likely to see from such a prominent figure.

I will try to pay more attention to Brzezinski now.

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The words of Candidate Obama

chipmo's picture

...a preview of my transcription work from the excellent film from Scott Noble, Lifting the Veil.

When I promise that we are gonna bring this war in Iraq to a close in 2009, I want the American people to understand that I opposed this war in 2002, 2003, 4, 5, 6, and 7. So you can have confidence that I will be serious about ending this war.

I think it’s time for us to end the embargo on Cuba. I think we have to end it because, if you think about what’s happening internationally, our planet is shrinking, and our biggest foreign policy challenge, and it fits directly into the battle on terrorism, and it feeds into issues with trade, our economy, is how do we make sure that other countries, developing nations are providing sustenance for people, rights for the people, a basic structure of government for the people that is stable and secure so that they can be partners in a bright future for the entire planet.

And as President, I’m gonna make it impossible for congressmen or lobbyists to slip pork barrel projects or corporate welfare into laws when noone’s looking, because when I’m President, meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public. No more secrecy. That’s a commitment I make to you as President.

When there’s a tax bill being debated in Congress, you will know the names of the corporations that would benefit and how much money they would get. And we will put every corporate tax break and every pork barrel project online for every American to see. You will know who asked for them, and you can decide whether your representative’s actually representing you.

The last thing we can afford is four more years where no one in Washington is watching anyone on Wall Street because politicians and lobbyists killed common sense regulations. Those are the theories that got us into this mess. They haven’t worked and it is time for change and that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.

As President I will ensure the financial rescue plan helps stop foreclosures and protects your money instead of enriching CEO’s. And I’ll put in place the common sense regulations that I’ve been calling for throughout this campaign, so that Wall Street can never cause a crisis like this again. That’s the change we need.

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It seems a form of co-optation.

geomoo's picture

When what the "hard left" have been screaming about becomes too obvious to ignore, then declare one's continuing wisdom and relevance by embracing what has been obvious to most of us. It costs him nothing. It improves nothing.

Less cynically, one can hope that things are becoming bad enough that people with power to do something about it are getting nervous enough to actually name what is so.

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