If we should judge Presidential candidates on having at least a passing familiarity with the sport we know and love, almost half the Republican field wiped themselves out last night.
… At the very end, just as I was beginning to wonder if the end would ever come, they were asked what would they be doing on Saturday night if they weren’t on that stage. (Ooh, ooh! Ask me! Ask me!) Gingrich started off by saying he’d be home “watching the national-championship college basketball game.” He meant the football game, and he caught himself, sort of, so we’ll give him a pass. Then two of his compadres — including Willard — agreed with him. Yeah, they’d be watching that national-championship game, you betcha, boy howdy.
The BCS championship game takes place Monday night. Three members of the Republican presidential field told America last night that, if they weren’t in New Hampshire being dicks to themselves and the rest of the nation, they’d be home watching a football game that wouldn’t be played for nearly another 48 hours.
I bet Obama knows when the title game is scheduled. At least Perry had the sense to say he’d rather be off by himself and his shotgun.
Seriously, this is what happens when a bunch of rich, self-obsessed politicians try to pass themselves off as one of the boys settling back with a six-pack and a football game.
Leave sports to the people who care, fellas. We’ll all be happier for it.
Get The Picture 
I’ll give you that Obama would probably know. When you’re not real busy, you tend to know more about stuff like that.
I’ll also give you that those on the stage are pious. All politcians are.
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I know I was so much happier when the Dow was at 7000 and bin laden was alive, and we could complain about socialism while giving wall street 700 billon, no questions asked. This Obama dude’s fucked it all up. I hope we elect that professor who was denied tenure at west Georgia. He’s a damn genius.
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Obama and the Fed have given Wall Street trillions. Has anyone gone to jail for the fraud that’s been committed? Hell no, not when you are the #1 supplier of campaign cash to his election.
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Yeah, Obama’s beer summit was very productive. He’s just one of the guys, if you’re into marxism and welfare states.
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He’s also a good sports fan and unpretentious. Name any President or candidate for that office who knows bracketology. Obama is the only one.
Senator, your awareness bulletin is appreciated concerning the continuing unsportsmanlike saga in The Party Stupid (Name furnished by Nobel Prize winning Economist).
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Obama, unpretentious? You’re so funny Cojones. Great one. What a laugh.
Nobel prize winning economist? What’s so great about that?
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Nothing, if you don’t admire intellect. That would account for your anti-Obama feelings as well. His intellectual credentials blows everyone else out of the water.
So you prefer the clowns running under the Republican banner, eh? Says a lot about you as well
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Oh intellect, schmintellect. People like you think a person’s entire worth is their college and class rank. Hell, even Jimmy Carter and Yasser Arafat won Nobel
Prizes. As for Obama, you suppose affirmative action helped him in the least? Remember before you answer, everything you say applies equally to Clarence Thomas.
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Jimmy Carter’s humanitarian efforts are worthy of praise, not mockery.
Also, I don’t know if you realize how it sounds when you imply (not so subtlely) that someone’s success is only due to “affirmative action.” Barack Obama is a very smart guy and has worked very hard. His academic accomplishments are a testament to his work ethic and his intelligence. Race has nothing to do with it. Grow up.
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Jimmy Carter was the worst president in modern history. Was.
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Remember when we were talking about Jimmy Carter’s Nobel Prize? The one he won in 2002? Because that’s what we were talking about. Have you heard of The Carter Center? Google it.
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Carter served as President from 76-80, likely before you were born. He is often regarded as an absolutely terrible president, a micromanager who constantly relied on caucus groups to make his decisions for him. He was a terrible leader.
Post-Presidency, he has done some good things such as Habitat, so I give him that. Still, his views on the middle-east demonstrate that he is entering an age when senility rules the day.
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Try his views on North Korea for true insanity.
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Only one even pushing Carter is Barry. But at least you could trust Carter, his goofs were due to incompetency. Barry and his slick group are deliberate in their attempts to undermine America’s strengths. He is embarrassed about the United States, and what it stands for, just as I am embarrassed for those who support him and the other antis. Intellectual, unpretentious, my ass, you need to check your meds Cojones. As you said to the other poster, your post says a lot about you and, in your case, it is a sad, pathetic statement.
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Adam, you’ve had enough Kool Aid. Go home.
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Krugman USED to be an intellectual. He won the Nobel prize for work he did in the 70s. These days, he’s a liberal op-ed writer. As such, he falls prey to such basic economic fallacies as the broken window fallacy. If you don’t know what that is, just read the first 10 pages of Economics for Dummies. It’s probably in there.
So, either he got real dumb during the 90s, or he’s just spewing illogical, hateful, bubble-headed rhetoric. Either way, I don’t have much use for him.
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Well, he ain’t got no broken windows in his home, I can assure you of that:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/paul-krugmans-house/
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Your attempt at comedy reeks of a man that stands 5’2″ and is bald. And in terms of economics, we now stand with a national debt that exceeds 100% of our GNP. I certainly don’t need an economist, any economist, to tell me BO has driven us off a cliff.
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Hahaha.
Well, if you ignore things like… Wasting billions upon billions in Iraq, lowering tax rates on capital gains (and corporate taxes and taxes on the ultra wealthy), creating the largest, most expensive government ever, deregulating housing and loans (directly leading to the housing market crashing), and a bunch of other stupid shit that nearly ruined the world economy and turned Clinton’s surplus into an unbelievable deficit…
Then, yeah, Barack Obama really messed up the economy. Oh, I guess you also have to ignore all the progress towards actually improving the economy (slowing/ending/reversing the recession).
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The problem is, Adam, that we don’t live in Europe and it’s my opinion that you and those that share your belief re this President are living in a bubble. Do yourself a favor and take a poll of small business owners and ask them how they feel about the economy. Ask them when they plan to hire their next employee and how many. Go to the nearest Publix anchored shopping center and get to it and report back.
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Sure. Ask them what Obama has done that they’re mad about. Get back to me on that. Make sure you ask all the GMC dealership owners how they feel about Obama’s efforts in his first 3 years during the worst economic crisis in 80 years.
While you’re at it, let me know what you’re so mad at while you’re at it.
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I don’t have to get back to you on that Spence, I know what they’re angry about. In short, an administration that has created a very difficult business environment, raised expenses and taxes for small businesses, embraced the unions (Detroit) and those aligned with them, and whose actions far outweigh and contradict the empty words used to encourage small business owners. So you and Adam team up and ask your local UPS store owner when they plan to hire next, and then report back.
And btw, if you’re not mad then you’re not paying attention.
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Jax:
I didn’t want to get in a political discussion because there is nothing as important as UGA football. But as a small business owner, I can tell you that taxes and fees have NOT been raised. In fact, tax rebates have been granted for small firms that give health insurance to their employees. Payroll taxes for employees have been REDUCED by 2% and Obama wants to cut payroll taxes for employers too; it’s the GOP stopping him.
As for hiring employees, most economists agree that our country suffers from a lack of demand. In every other recession, the federal government has supplied that demand until the private sector recovered. Obama’s stimulation program has been frozen in the past year yet it was enough to CREATE almost 2,000,000 jobs since March, 2010. (Please look it up – it’s true.) Also, virtuall all of the job losses in the recession took place in Obama’s first six months, BEFORE his package (which included tax cuts) took effect.
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Oh, the delicious, delicious facts!
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burnt,
Let’s not pretend BO is a tax cutter. He is on record proposing tax hikes. Yes, he was in favor of the temporary payroll tax cut. But nobody thinks that a one-year or two-year tax cut for payroll taxes can possibly spur significant job growth.
And the main problem, that hampers business investment is uncertainty of governmental involvement. Massive increases in regulation are coming (Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, etc.). But, nobody knows exactly how costly those regulations are going to be. Businesses obviously can’t do much hiring until they figure out whether their hiring costs will increase by 5%, 10%, or 30%.
And government hasn’t ALWAYS provided demand during recessions. That’s a Keynesian notion that became popular during the Great Depression. Remember how mild that downturn was, thanks to all the government demand?
There is evidence that companies, following profit and loss information, market demand, and interest rate fluctuations, can better allocate resources than government, that uses cronyism and influence to allocate resources.
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Adam, you don’t have any understanding of what has us in this economic mess from your statements, nor what has pushed us to the edge of a global crisis. Unfortunately, too few voters do either. Nor do we as a nation understand how to step up to the crisis. Believe it or not, there are some who think we should continue accelerate our spending, increasing entitlements, and try raising taxes to solve it. Now you wouldn’t know anyone that stupid would you Adam?
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If you don’t think deregulation is what got us in the current crisis, then you have no business lecturing anyone else about the economy or anything, really.
Big government did not cause this recession.
Also, stop calling people stupid. Makes you seem kinda like an asshole.
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There are a fair number of experts who think the recession wasn’t caused by deregulation. Of course, if you think politicians count as experts and can be counted on to fix the problems that they help create, then you probably disagree.
And you should refrain from insisting that your opinion is the only acceptable option. Makes you seem kinda like an asshole.
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Most Americans ever not working. Most Americans ever on food stamps. Not that is an improvement. If knowing how to fill out a basketball bracket makes you an intellectual, then we are fucked.
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+1
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I agree. Adam, if Congress would just get out of BO’s business, we could get back to borrowing our way to prosperity. I mean, I know it hasn’t worked that well so far, but that’s just because we haven’t borrowed enough. It can work. Just ask Greece.
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Right. It’s all his fault. The enemies of America have nothing to do with it:
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Jax, you draw some kinda conclusions about how someone looks. Must come naturally with your knowledge of football; distorted beyond recognition.
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Again, your humor reeks of short man’s disease. Weak sauce dude.
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I fear it is worse than that Jax. It may have started with that, but we are beyond that petty a reason. Some of these guys are actually for tearing the system down, what they have left us of it. Fifty years of this Leftist nonsense has left us weakened to the point I don’t think it will be repaired. Looks like we will all get a do-over.
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He’s so far from a Marxist.
Do you actually believe that? Because you’re either being dishonest, ignorant, or stupid. In Europe, our current president would be considered a conservative.
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In America, President Carebear is considered to be a moderate Republican. He needs to lighten up and
http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples_resource/image/9853
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Nothing new here, we tend to elect the worst among us. That is about the only way you can explain how we have driven ourselves to the edge of the cliff. Major turn downward in the 60’s; not enough guts/common sense since that time to stand up and do the right thing. The most publicized failures may have been in the Oval Office but, truthfully, it is the elected representatives in both Houses who have been the most catastrophic failures. It is they who have approved all the reckless spending, and approved the federal judges. No excuse, we get the government we deserve. The problem is an uneducated, naive, manipulated electorate, too lazy to see for themselves for what ius going on.
So not one of them spoke of how shameful it was that we still didn’t have a playoff to crown a real champion in CFB for the first time? Damn, very disappointing. I am not going to blame Bobo for that, I will assume it was because they were in SC and knew the voters couldn’t relate to a limited playoff where conference champions of the major conferences could earn a seat at the table by winning their conference title….who could expect SC fans to relate to that?
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I believe they were in New Hampshire Mac.
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Not a pro-Obama post, guys. None of the good ol’ boys watch football. Sorry. Don’t worry- neither does Obama.
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“I bet Obama knows when the title game is scheduled. ”
No, certainly not a pro-obama post. (rolls eyes)
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Ummmm.
Doesn’t that just mean that the current President actually follows sports instead of pretending to to garner support?
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Ummmmm…..adam that is nowhere near the topic of my reply… put down the bong and try to keep up.
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*sigh*
Are you serious with that reply?
The original post doesn’t read as anything other than anti-“polticians pretending to be into sports to garner support” to me.
These R candidates want to appeal to conservatives. A lot of conservatives like spots. They want to look likeable and relatable. Most of *really* are neither. But that’s politics. Barack Obama has demonstrated that he actually IS a sports fan several times over. These dudes clearly demonstrated that they really aren’t. But they were are scrambling to pretend to be.
Anything I missed, Senator?
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Who gives a shit if Obama is a sports fan? Bush owned a MLB team and throws hard strikes when he is asked to throw out a first pitch. Don’t recall these points being cited by Dems as being relevant.
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That’s because they’ve seen BO throw a baseball.
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That’s what the original post was about…
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The Donald would know. I miss him and Mama Grizzly Sarah.
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Don’t get me started on career politicians. P.J. O”Rourke, one of my heroes, was spot on when he said ‘politics is the art of getting power without merit.’ They need to rip the air conditioning out of every building in the District of Columbia.
Remember, Newt Gingrich was a teacher at West Georgia College, a real football powerhouse, before he went into politics.
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We need fewer politicians and more public servants.
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I’ll take that bet. I hope nobody tells Obama what comes after a trillion.
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Like John Kerry’s comment about his favorite on his hometown Red Sox – “It’d have to be Manny Ortiz”.
Good God, these are just a bunch of vapid dipshits.
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Kinda scary isn’t it.
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vapid dipshits indeed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/08/new-hampshire-republican-debate-live
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Bar code? What’s a bar code?
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Using “rich” as a demonizing insult? check
“Betting” Obama somehow can do it better? check
All I needed was the “_____ is racist!!!1” and I would have gotten my entire cliche liberal bingo board full
🙂
In all seriousness, if they were trying to kiss up to New Hampshire I would have expected different responses. Everybody knows New England cares as much about College Football as we do about Boston University’s Hockey squad.
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What? You don’t keep up with the Ivy League? You must be a Republican. I’ll let the rest of your own cliche take care of itself.
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I was clearly using some hyperbole with the description of New England not caring about CFB, but the TV numbers definitely back up my broader point that the candidates were stupid to go that route with their answer if they were trying to endear themselves to New Hampshire.
It’s ok, not everyone who makes jokes about non-republicans is a greedy/evil/rich/racist republican. MSNBC and Fox News don’t do a good job of it, but scare tactics are extremely common on both sides of the aisle.
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And I was clearly using sarcasm. I believe that racism is not specific to political party and believe only a small portion of Republicans are rich. The greater number are just ignorant as to what goes on in the US and their party. Greedy and evil are not words I would use for any Party that we elect Presidents from. They are personal terms that distort perceptions of people who attain power. Only when Newt is running high do those terms come to mind, of course tied together by his hypocrisy.
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Well said. You’ll notice I mocked the left wing “boogie-man” terms (greedy, evil, etc.) before you ever responded so I certainly wasn’t seeking to single you out. I just enjoy pointing out that the left does the EXACT same things as the right but does seem to get parodied less (full disclosure: I am pretty conservative fiscally). For every dumb righty that throws out “anti-American” there are just as many lefties that throw out the insults I mocked.
Same applies to the media. Fox News=MSNBC, Sean Hannity=Rachel Maddow, hell even Pete McCommons of Flagpole (a publication I enjoy) uses a lot of the over the top scare phrases that Glenn Beck uses. They come from different sides, but don’t let the nature of parody (the left seems far better at it, I’ll admit) make you think there isn’t just as much silliness on the left as the right.
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Today in False Equivalence:
“[T]ry imagining you have a job.
Now imagine you have to share a cubicle with a lunatic.
The lunatic has a hammer, and every time you try to do anything — anything at all, no matter how innocuous — answer the phone, use your computer, mail a letter — the lunatic smashes it with his hammer.
Every time you try to bypass or roll over the lunatic, your boss orders you to leave him alone. Informs you that you are required to work together as a team.
After all, who doesn’t love teamwork!
Your boss then pats the lunatic on the head, and docks your pay.
Every time you try to work with the lunatic, he cracks your skull with his hammer, sets fire to your desk and scampers away, giggling.
After which your boss stops by to pat the lunatic on the head again, and cut your pay again.
When asked, the lunatic proudly justifies his behavior be explaining that you are really an arachnid from Tau Ceti masquerading as a human and sent here to murder us all in our sleep in advance of a mass invasion by your fellow arachnids from Tau Ceti. Therefore any hostile action on his part — no matter how bugfuck or destructive — is justified.
This country is not broken because you and the lunatic you share your cubicle with are both equally crazy and wrong
It is broken because too many people have a huge professional, political and financial stake in pretending that you and the lunatic you share your cubicle with are both equally crazy and wrong.”
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2012/01/today-in-false-equivalence.html
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I like that Senator. You want to ween us away from the volatile coach like/dislike rants, so you threw up a political potato((e), if you are Republican). Nothing like fomenting a riot, skewering the Republican Comedy Shop and getting the critical critiquers off on another tact so recruiting won’t continue to go downhill. DGD.
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I know! The recruits care so much about the posts on this and every other blog. It really is part of their decision tree!
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I love the smell of Santorum in the morning. Smells like ….. VICTORY!
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If that’s winning I’d hate to smell losing.
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If he were to win what you would be smelling is money burning out of your wallet. He never met a country filled with people of brown skin that he did not want to bomb. BOOM go the bombs and BOOM goes your wallet. I think we are on the downhill slide over the edge of the cliff…
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He’s hardly the first to be guilty of that charge.
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Santorum would also love to make it illegal to be anything other than rich, white, and straight. And probably would love to end women’s suffrage as well.
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I was all for Women’s Suffrage until I found out what it meant.
Calm down, feminists, I am kidding.
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9.25pm: Romney is given a soft opportunity to fulminate about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and how the Obama administration has failed to invade it.
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Sarcasm or uninformed? Google bomb Santorum please, because the smell of Santorum in the morning certainly does not smell like victory.
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Sarcasm my friend. I am well aware of the frothy mix and all other internet traditions
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+1 & kudos good sir.
But with some of other rants above, one should never assume.
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The way I look at it anybody who can even begin to apologize for the Republicans after 2000-2008 are unreachable. There is nothing a Republican could do or nothing that anybody could say that would change their minds.
Bachmann / Palin 2012!
The choice of small businessmen everywhere!!
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If knowing the date of the BCS title game is your qualification for high office, Craig James knows exactly when they kickoff. Just sayin’…..
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Finally, somebody gets it.
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Sorry, Senator. This one was as weak as Stephy’s insistence last night on wanting to know who was up for banning contraception and other important questions. As for Obama, he may have visited “all 57 states” but he bowls like a girl and knows less about football. He likes his arugala and wonders why we call our game “football…”
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Stick with football Senator! Your respect is as low as Obama’s approval %
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Did you read the post? It was about football.
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You can’t say Obama on an airplane! Oh yeah, O-bam-bam-bam, bam-bam-ba-bam. What if I was an Obambideier?
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Funny stuff, Spence!
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The less politicians know about football the better I like it!
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Give this man a kewpie doll!
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In your eagerness to bash the field (which ill concede is rather weak after romney and huntsman), you overlook that there was an ncaa football championship game saturday night. Ask the folks in north dakota if you need some confirmation.
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That ain’t the title game, you know it, I know it, e’rbody here knows it.
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I wasnt watching, but from the text, thats a perfectly reasonable interpretation. No mention of bcs, lsu bama or anything else indicating they were referring to Mondays game, but read in what you will.
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Are there people in North Dakota? Can’t be sure as I’ve never been through to confirm.
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yes there are, and they’re doing quit well thanks to a booming oil business. Arguably the best run state in the union right now – far from Obama’s administration and welfare parasite followers.
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I shudder to think of what an attempt at an actual football discussion amongst these asshats would sound like.
Perry: “Really lookin’ forward to the championship game between LSU and, uh . . . the other one.”
Romney: “I’m absolutely rooting for LSU in the title game. You’re rooting for Alabama? Hey, so am I!”
Santorum: “Football is an American institution of manhood. Gays shouldn’t be allowed to play it. Or watch it. Or even think about . . . you know what, we should just deport all of them.”
Gingrich: [something trite about the spread offense cribbed from a three-year-old Bleacher Report post, with a bunch of “franklys” and “fundamentallys” thrown in to sound pithy]
Paul: “Football was a lot better before the forward pass started being used. I think the states should have the right to ban it if they choose.”
Huntsman: “Let me tell you why Utah’s exclusion from the BCS proves the innate corruption of the — wait, they’re in the Pac-12 now?”
Bachmann: “No, I said rematches shouldn’t be allowed in the BCS. I didn’t say they should be banned. You misquoted me.”
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Personally I am excited about that new 999 offense I heard so much about.
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Speaking of football….
Who had Champ breaking up a pass to Hines to send the Denver game to overtime, and Tebow hitting BayBay Thomas for 80 yards and the win?
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The Republican Party right now (Party – not Republicans. Party) provides far more entertainment than bowl season could ever muster. Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest. I live in the NC mountains, which means I get the SC upstate NBC and CBS affiliates and all of the primary advertising.
I’ll say this for Obama – I like him. I don’t agree with him on many things, but I’ve worked with dozens of local and state politicians over the years, and I’ve been a media consultant for two decades. I know far-left Democrats hate him for being a “push-over” and far-right Republicans hate him for being Lenin, but both of those camps miss something critical.
If both far fringes hate him, then the middle can accept him. Because most of us are sick of the far left and far right.
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A shame no one in Congress is in the middle.
In more decades of watching politics than I care to admit, no Senate has ever been more Hell-bent on defeating a President at every turn, the welfare of the citizenry be damned.
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Very well put.
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How come now one was saying this when the liberals were chanting “yes we can” over and over when the health care reform act was passed? “Yes we can” over and over and in the direction of the republicans. Is that good sportmanship? Is that the way to celebrate passing such sweeping legislation after basically ramrodding an Indiana Senator so he would switch his vote? Even the people of MASS disagreed and voted for a republican to replace the liberal lion whose lifetime campaign was to establish universal healthcare!
Actions comes with consequences so it comes to no surprise that the American people gave the republicans a majority in the Senate and expect them to extinguish another round of “yes we can”.
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Obamcare
Click to access Cure_Obama_Prescription.pdf
Needs more
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I would pay serious money for a time-lapse video of Hoge’s face during that game.
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This reminds me that football season is, in fact, all but over, and that, as I citizen, I should drag myself back to paying attention to such stuff. Not looking forward to it! But I will reflect on the fact that our best college football playing president was Gerald Ford–first pres candidate I voted for while most of my fellow Georgians were stickin’ with the home boy. Thought then and think now that we had 2 fundamentally decent guys running back in ’76, whatever people thought of their politics. Haven’t been able to say that much since then, but I personally thought it was true in ’08, too. Sad that so many feel a need to demonize the guy they don’t agree with, as if he was a Tech fan or something. Oh well… on with the show!
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I have been a reader of this blog for a good while and have enjoyed most of the interesting slants presented by football journalist, other bloggers and those who respond with comments to this blog. I have ignored the liberal undertones that occasionally permeate this blog because of the content specifically concerning the ins and outs of UGA football. However, this latest tirade by you against the Republican Party presidential candidated removes all doubt (not that you have been trying to hide it) that you have total disdain, disrespect and total loathing for those of us who are of the conservative ilk.
If you want to engage in political rhetoric why don’t you start a political blog delineating your liberal views and leave your football insights out of it?
You make a few unsubstantiated assumptions concerning those of your liberal ilk as to their knowledge of football and other sports. In reality I could give a rats ass as to how much any politician knows about any sport and the schedule of those sports. It just irks hell out of me to log on to a blog and be blasted by in-your-face political rhetoric that in my opinion has no place in a sports blog in the liberal versus conservative sense.
Even though, by my rant, it is obvious where my allegiance lies, it was your rant that got me to this point.
This is your blog to do with as you wish, but as much as I have enjoyed your blog in the past I will be getting my UGA football fix from other sources if you continue to spew your vitriol toward those of us who are not as enlightened as the elitist in this country.
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First off, thanks for the blog praise.
As for the rest of your comment, my point in posting this wasn’t to do a conservative vs. liberal bash. It was nothing more than an opportunity to point out what phonies those guys are for trying to act like they’re members of the great unwashed. That’s hardly a sin that can be laid at the feet of a particular ideology; those three just happened to be the flavor of the day. I’ve dumped on Obama for involving himself in the BCS/playoff debate, so it’s not like I’m pushing for a particular side at the blog.
As for terms like “rant” and “vitriol”, I think you’re overstating my tone. But obviously, YMMV.
I can’t promise you I won’t ever touch on politics here again, simply because politicians won’t promise that they won’t ever touch on college football again. And even if they did, I wouldn’t believe them. 😉
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I thought that was handled politely. I too was a bit surprised by the tenor of your post.
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Honestly, I don’t get this criticism. I mock things all the time here. Is there something about these particular people which should immunize them against being made fun of?
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Senator,
Elder is reacting to my posts and others like it who take the rhetoric to another level. I’m guilty and admit it. But any politics, regardless of topic, are probably best left out of the discussion during this election year. And it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.
Jax
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I hear you, to some extent. But I have a hard time walking away from a football-related observation because some people (and is it just me or does it seem that the sensitive souls here all line up on the right side of the political spectrum?) get their panties in a wad over politics, even if it’s on point.
It’s one thing if I were making a purely political observation unattached to sports, or if I didn’t see it as a useful way to analogize about something. But with one exception (Bin Laden’s death) I honestly don’t think I’ve done that at GTP. And I certainly wouldn’t make a conscious decision to do so.
Most politicians say asinine things. When they do so about college football, it’s kind of hard for me to lay off.
No offense, but some of you need to develop a better sense of humor.
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“(and is it just me or does it seem that the sensitive souls here all line up on the right side of the political spectrum”
No, it is not just you. However, you are increadibly naive or disingenous if you really believe that the “sensitive souls all line up on the right side of the aisle.” You get criticism from them because you are the author of the blog. You clearly land on the left side the spectrum, which is perfectly fine. When you chose to introduce your political perspectives into your blog, guess who you are going to hear from? It sure as hell isn’t going to be from the angry left. This can’t be a surprise to you.
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I’m a libertarian. I thought we caught grief from both sides of the aisle. 😉
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Yeah, I am ‘libertarian’ also. Unfortunately, all that really means in the US is I am left to vote for the Republican who is the least socially conservative. I suspect your shade of ‘libertarianism’ leaves you voting for the Democrat who is least inclined to be a hard-core collectivist.
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Nice try, but no. I’ve never voted for a Dem for President.
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We do.
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Catch grief from both sides, I mean. We’re simultaneously social heathens and heartless bean counters. Such is life, I guess.
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I thought the original post was your usual temprament, about mid level sarcasm. The commenters, your truly included, took off and made it a half drunk shouting match. But that’s why I like this blog better than most.
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Me too!
“Huntsman did channel Herbert Hoover by muttering something to Willard in Mandarin Chinese, which came off sounding like a chess nerd explaining the Sicilian trap to a bunch of football jocks just before they folded him six ways into a locker.”
http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/2012/01/last-nights-nh-debate-live-free-or-die.html
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Perhaps it is because the term “libertarian” is used with widely varying definitions. The most common one I have heard used in this country is being opposed to big government, or growth in the restrictions of individuals by the government. If that were your position, you would be very much against the Left in this country, somehow it is hard to see you and Boortz, who uses the same term to describe his position, under the same umbrella. Nothing wrong with being outside the doctrine of both parties in this country, that is my position as well, but libertarians I know are scared to death about the direction the liberals are driving this bus.
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To me, Boortz just comes off as an angry Republican with a hard on for abortions. I never really think of him as a Libertarian. That’s his on-air persona, of course. Who knows what he’s like behind closed doors.
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I’m more a “plague on both their houses” kind of guy, Mac.
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Indeed, Senator, both of the Houses need to be torn down and built again. Me thinks the “party system” is badly broken at this point, has been damaged long before, but now is very much beyond repair. Not sure how we get there, but our system for electing representatives needs a major overhaul. I was optimistic for a long time that the insanity would drive us to make changes, but the nation is so polarized at this point, I just don’t see how it can be done. We don’t just need a 3rd party any more, we need a 4th and 5th, with strong leaders who would be forced to work through issues. The parties are currently under control of extremists in an effort to appease the most passionate. Multiple parties would force government to be more centered in their approach leaving fewer people disenchanted.
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If it were up to me, I’d start by outlawing gerrymandering. Too many extremists in safe seats is how you wind up with much of the clownage we’re stuck with in DC these days.
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Senator, you have hit upon the primary truth. The gerrymandering has created districts of extremes, which are safe in the knowledge they face no challenge (except from their own ideological flank, thus driving them further out on the continuum).
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I agree with gerrymandering being an issue. But I disagree that gridlock is a problem. I think gridlock is sublime. Almost every action government takes expands its interference into our affairs. That should be stopped. Since repealing laws and programs is darned near impossible, the next best solution is to gridlock “progress” so that no new laws and programs can be passed.
I would much rather have Congress populated by extremists who are unwilling to work with each other than by moderates who can compromise a little pork for you in exchange for a little pork for me.
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The American Two Party system constantly reinvents itself by radically reshaping one of the party’s working coalitions. That’s what we’re seeing in the Republican Party right now. And when they put together something that works again, it will be the Dems turn. I am not really upset about the two-party system. I think our communications model is all screwed up, but blogs have restored my hope and faith in the written word over talking heads with perfect hair. Check media usage in younger generations. The TV’s on, but it’s background noise to social media and web surfing. IMO, we’re reading again as a culture. And in that lies salvation, versus Newt’s boldly conservative (love that phrase, for all the wrong reasons, Newt) jobs plan?
I never understood the Supreme Court’s ruling that drawing political districts equals political speech, or whatever their rationale for gerrymandering was. Maybe that’s why Newt wants to make jurists explain themselves in front of Congressional committees when the President doesn’t like a ruling.
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???
Where, exactly, did that come from?
SB’s take was hardly in the same league as the mutual in-fighting filling my TV 30 seconds at a pop or the twelve pounds of post-cards in my mailbox every day explaining just how stupid, dangerous, and corrupt the current crop of Republican presidential candidates is. All paid for by Republican campaign donations.
At least we don’t have a whisper campaign that Romney fathered an illegitimate interracial love child this time around. Another high moment for a party that likes to throw around the word “ilk.”
I’m a natural-born Republican voter. And trust me when I tell you that everyone involved needs to take a chill-pill and turn down the rants and media persecution complex. Grand Ole Party has become Grumpy Ole Farty.
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If hearing another party’s view of things upsets this much, maybe they aren’t the ones who need to examine their politics.
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Elderdawg – relax – you will be back. Because your desire for a “fair and balanced” report on UGA far outweighs your political leanings. Heck you’ll probably make it about 2 or 3 weeks without checking, but then something will make news – a recruit flip-flops, a player arrest, CMR or CTG get their contract extensions – and you will check in just for a few moments about that subject only.
Then you check back again for follow-up posts on that subject and something else draws your attention. By early March you are back to checking every day, just to stay on top of all the happy spring ball talk.
Come summertime, you will be just like the rest of us – refreshing GTP every few hours to see what delicious college football morsels the Senator is frying up in his cast iron with the Red & Black patina.
You sort of off-handedly acknowledge that this is the Senator’s blog, but the rest of your post scolds him (as Elder’s are wont to do) for daring to bring politics into a football discussion. But the fact that it is his blog and the Constitution gives him the right to do it. It is his kitchen – he can make up the menu, choose the ingredients, and cook it by any method he likes. If the patrons don’t like it, we won’t eat.
But if we don’t eat, then it will be our loss, because the Senator is really good at this endeavor. There are not many other team specific sites on the interwebs where the purveyor is as devoted to provide the readers a steady stream of interesting, thought-provoking, funny, even handed analysis of travails of their favorite team.
If you don’t come back, then you will really be missing out.
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You want me on that blog. You need me on that blog.
You’re damned right I ordered the Code Red (and Black)! 😉
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Elderdawg, the Senator is not a liberal. He just dislikes pretentious politicians who pretend to understand college football. Please re-read his (thousands of?) entries regarding polical interference with college football by BOTH Democrats and Republicans.
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This bipartisan attack by Bluto on a candyass Democrat almost made me want to write and say how offended I was. Then I remembered I wasn’t a Democrat, a Librarian or a Republican, so why bother
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Neal Boortz is just a Republican who is ashamed to admit it. Just like those who shake the pom poms for the Tea Party. There is no Tea Party. They are just Republicans who are ashamed to admit it. At least they do have a sense of shame.
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Needing just about 500,000 more hits to make the magic 10 million mark when the Senator can then retire to the Caribbean for the Winter, he readies the following post:
“Rumor that Crowell to transfer to Tech, resulting in demotion of Coach Bobo from OC while Richt contemplates retiring to run for Senator on the Christian Coalition ticket”
GTP subsequently melts down under the flurry of posts….
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In the words of the immortal Senator Blutarsky, “Finally, somebody gets it.”
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Ausdawg, thought you would be interested in when Ted’s wife says, “I’m with Busey!”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/see-what-happens-when-gary-busey-and-ted-haggard-e
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