I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that the press and politicians take quotes out of context and blow it all out of proportion as an attempt to bring someone down.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on Political Wire using DISQUS.

How is this current poll any different than past history when it comes to third parties in American politics? We’ve had the Bull Moose Party, the Reform Party, the Dixiecrats and so many more over the past 100 years. This of course doesn’t include today’s Libertarians, Greens and others. The third-party momentum comes and goes over the years but has never gained a permanent foothold. There must be some simple explanation for that, although I have no idea what that is.

It used to be believed that a new national television network could never join the NBC/CBS/ABC party until Fox came along. Perhaps the same could happen to political parties crashing the Democrats and Republicans. Although I don’t see it happening in my lifetime.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on Political Wire using DISQUS.

Still think that Ricky Gervais was the much more believable boss in the British version. Carell has been very good, but a little too over the top and too simple of a character. Gervais had that subtle edge to his character where I could actually believe him to be the boss of an office like that. Carell is a little too slapstick for me. Having him leave probably would be a good boost to the show.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on The Atlantic Wire using DISQUS.

The GOP’s ratings are also in the dumps. It’s pointless now to point out that one part or the other have low approval ratings. That very much goes without saying now.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on The Atlantic using DISQUS.

Politics is just a swinging pendulum. While the Republicans may be favored to make strong gains in November, it’s only April right now. This stat will change several times between now and then. Same goes for the GOP’s belief that they will take the house in one fell swoop.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on Political Wire using DISQUS.

If Graham really and truly cared about climate change and it’s risks to our planet, he would have reacted differently. Pulling the plug on a climate bill now because of legislation that has nothing to do with climate only delays government action for several years, because if the GOP makes gains in November, which it most likely will, there’s no chance of a bill passing Congress in the current presidential term.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on The Atlantic Wire using DISQUS.

The recent book “The World Is Fat” by Barry Popkin (http://amzn.to/99M10H) writes a lot about the gradual elimination from our lives activities that were once routine daily tasks. Everything from washing clothes, washing dishes, walking up stairs, mowing the lawn and much more all built up the number of calories that people burned daily/weekly. Technological inovation has taken these tasks out of our daily lives and helped to make life “easier”. The trade off has been a soaring rise in the obesity level, not to mention that people don’t exercise enough as you mention above. The more technology creeps into our daily lives, the more incentive one must find to keep the body moving and burning energy. The Pixar movie “WALL-E” illustrated this to the extreme in it’s portrayal of daily life on the large spaceships that humans lived on. (http://www.slate.com/id/2195126)

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on The Atlantic using DISQUS.

Is it any surprise that many people find personalities such as Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin to be leaders of the Republican party? The media is partly at fault for trumpeting every single little word they utter, overplaying their importance in the real world. For example, the media’s coverage of the Tea Party’s anti-tax day rally in Washington D.C. in which only 1,500 people showed up, illustrates this perfectly. The constant attention to these people over time create the impression that to be a “real” conservative one has to bash community organizers, see starbursts at rallies with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman, and question President Obama’s origin of birth. A very sad state, indeed…

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on The Atlantic using DISQUS.

Um… I’m not so sure about that. Bang Bang’s right hand movement was too consistent throughout to account for changes in melody, not to mention the bass notes. Sometimes he had his left hand on the real piano, but at other times when the same bass notes appeared in the song, his hand was not playing those notes. Seems staged to me… Need a clearer video to truly show if it’s real or not.

Originally posted as a comment
by iggyviola
on The Atlantic using DISQUS.

Over the past few years the talk jocks have demonstrated their real-world weakness time and again. Back in 2006, they threatened to build a new majority on anti-immigration fervor. Republicans like J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, both of Arizona, built their House election campaigns under that banner. But these two didn’t march to glory. Both lost their campaigns.

In 2008, after McCain had won his nomination, Limbaugh turned his attention to the Democratic race. He commanded his followers to vote in the Democratic primaries for Hillary Clinton because ‘we need Barack Obama bloodied up politically.’ Todd Donovan of Western Washington University has looked at data from 38 states and could find no strong evidence that significant numbers of people actually did what Limbaugh commanded. Rush blared the trumpets, but few of his Dittoheads advanced.

This sounds about right, but it’s difficult to actually think so, because they are continually given a pulpit in which to spew from time and time again all under the banner of ratings. Not only do fans of Limbaugh and Beck watch their shows, but a large amount of people who can’t stand them watch the shows too along with the commercials that go with the program. While someone like Rupert Murdoch may have an obvious right-wing slant, he knows where the money goes and would most likely support a left-wing candidate if it meant them being in front of the camera for at least the next 4 years.

Brooks continues:

But this is not merely a story of weakness. It is a story of resilience. For no matter how often their hollowness is exposed, the jocks still reweave the myth of their own power. They still ride the airwaves claiming to speak for millions. They still confuse listeners with voters. And they are aided in this endeavor by their enablers. They are enabled by cynical Democrats, who love to claim that Rush Limbaugh controls the G.O.P. They are enabled by lazy pundits who find it easier to argue with showmen than with people whose opinions are based on knowledge. They are enabled by the slightly educated snobs who believe that Glenn Beck really is the voice of Middle America.

I would think that the silent majority is the people who can’t these political shock jocks, both Democrats and centrist Republicans who would like for their party to gain a scent of respectability again.

(Via New York Times.)