Mississippi Turning: Dems Grab Another GOP Seat

posted by John Nichols on 05/13/2008 @ 11:40pm

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Not since a Republican president named Richard Nixon was trying to explain away the Watergate scandal has the Grand Old Party been on such a losing streak in special elections for congressional seats vacated by Republican incumbents.

For the third time in four months, a Democrat has won a special election for a House seat representing a district that George Bush won overwhelmingly in 2000 and 2004 and where Democrats hadn't had been out of the congressional competition for years.

This time, the Republican lost a U.S. House seat in a north Mississippi, where Democrat Travis Childers prevailed over Republican Greg Davis by a remarkably comfortable 54-46 margin.

For Republican congressional leaders and strategists who were already worried about the 2008 cycle, the Mississippi vote that was forced by Republican Governor Haley Barbour's decision to appoint Congressman Roger Wicker to the Senate seat vacated by Trent Lott delivered a dismal result that just about everyone agrees bodes ill for Republican prospects in House races this fall.

The Hill, a Capital Hill insider newspaper, opined Tuesday night that the result sends "a listless GOP further into a state of disarray."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, was crowing that, "After three consecutive special election defeats in districts President Bush twice won easily, it is abundantly clear the American people have turned their back and shut the door on the special interest-driven agenda of the Republican Party. There is no district that is safe for Republican candidates because President Bush's failed policies have hurt every community in America.

And a nonplussed Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, seemed to agree, admitting that the Mississippi result was a "wake-up call" to Republican candidates nationwide.

Democrat Childers scored the Mississippi win despite an ugly, racialized campaign by national Republicans and their special-interest allies, who knew that losing this race would undermine the party's fund-raising and candidate-recruitment efforts going into a fall election cycle where the GOP was already vulnerable because of incumbent retirements, nearly empty bank accounts and a general sense of malaise.

The National Republican Congressional Committee spent $1.3 million -- almost one fifth of the all the cash it had on hand -- on this one contest. And after losing an Illinois special election for the seat vacated by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and a Louisiana race for a seat that had been in GOP hands for three decades, they pulled no punches.

The GOP strategy was to link Childers, who is white, to Barack Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, black men who it was presumed would frighten southern voters.

It didn't work.

Childers put some distance between himself and Obama. But he put even more distance between himself and the Bush administration.

When the Republicans made the bizarre decision this week to send Vice President Dick Cheney into Mississippi to campaign for Davis, Childers objected to Davis inviting "Big Oil's best friend, Dick Cheney, to North Mississippi" and linked Cheney's candidate to "the skyrocketing cost of gas."

Childers ran as an old-school economic populist campaign, and he made opposition to free trade central to his appeal.

Touting a "No New Trade Deals" pledge, Childers campaigned as an aggressive critic of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. And he promised not to support any new pacts "like NAFTA and CAFTA."

The bottom line: Barack Obama may or may not prove to be a burden for Democrats seeking to win Republican-held House seats in Republican-leaning southern and western states this year. So far, he's not proving to be much of a problem, and in some cases he may even help.

But George Bush's economic policies -- especially his advocacy for more free-trade pacts -- is a major burden for Republican candidates. And Dick Cheney is the best GOP surrogate a Democratic challenger could ask for.

Comments (51)

Whistlin' past the graveyards With their heads in the sand Republicans must be retards To miss the change sweeping the land.

Posted by Balrog at 05/14/2008 @ 01:12am
Posted by frankshitz at 05/14/2008 | ignore this person

Hey, self-proclaimed pro-American - what are you doing hiding behind your keyboard, shouting your utter inanities? Why are you not in Iraq, fighting as part of your Dear Leader's occupation? You seem to have no problem questioning the patriotism of those who are truly patriotic enough to do what they can to restore America, yet you lack the balls and the decency to actually fight the battles in which you claim to believe. So, once again, you scream pretty loudly, though utterly pathetically. When are you going to develop the balls to enlist and fight in Bush's occupation? Or are you simply the craven coward you appear to be? Oh, and yeah, you too, Happy.

Posted by jmusolino at 05/14/2008 @ 01:17am
I live in the Metro Memphis area and know the district well. DeSoto county, the fastest growing county in Mississippi is full of white-flight from the Memphis-Shelby County area and widely fancies itself a Republican area. The rest of the district is Old South small town Guns, God and all the rest.

If this district has rejected the NeoCons in Haley Barbour's backyard, the G.O.P. is in DEEP TROUBLE. White Democrats below retirement age are as rare as teeth in a chicken's mouth in this district and liberal is a pejorative term.

This area of the country sends a lot of kids to the Armed Services and many beyond that serve in the Reserves and Guard. Everybody KNOWS what a colossal cluster flock Iraq is and what a fraud the Bush policy is. These people are very big in church and are widely disappointed with the lip-service rendered by the NeoCons relative to their social conservatism. This area is heavy in the service economy and most working people know that we are already in a nasty recession- no spin will change what they see first-hand. Finally, many here are leveraged to the hilt and the local churn rate of housing tells that the Home Loan mess is biting hard.

Don't be fooled. These folks are not progressives, but are mad at the Republicans and are fearful about the prospects for themselves and their family. They are social conservatives and it will take more than the current mess to shake them loose from the Creationism, Anti-Choice, Pro-Gun, Prayer in Schools, Anti-Union mentality that prevails. Many also have drank the Kool-Aid of anti-Obama disinformation. If Missisippi goes for Obama it won't be because of this crowd.

Posted by NoPCZone at 05/14/2008 @ 01:41am
Magic can and has lost.....thanks to FZ's buddies in Detroit...hehehehe!

Posted by HAPPY3 at 05/14/2008 | ignore this person

.

Hmmm...

So we've seen Happy's take on this win. Now let's take a look around for an opinion from someone a little less...um..."Scarecrow"-ish.

Although I rarely agree with George Will on much of anything, I at least respect the man for his intellect and his ability (usually) to fashion a well-reasoned rationale for his positions. This one caught my eye just a couple of days ago...

George F. Will: GOP may have unanticipated worries from Mississippi By GEORGE F. WILL

Sunday, May. 11, 2008

THE FIRST Congressional District, the northernmost in Mississippi, the most culturally Southern state, has given the nation William Faulkner and Elvis Presley, and next Tuesday will have a special congressional election that will test the Republican hope that Barack Obama and his former pastor can be the basis of a Republican strategy to nationalize congressional races to the disadvantage of Democrats.

.

So, a Childers win on Tuesday would be a scary harbinger, and not only for House Republicans. Senate Republicans might have an unanticipated worry in an unlikely state.

Posted by Lillian at 05/14/2008 @ 02:38am
Sing it out Happy..."If I only had George Will's brain!"

Posted by Lillian at 05/14/2008 @ 02:41am
Hey PONTI, take some time out of your busy schedule to revisit http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/320363#pid320801

for a look at some slavery and support of dictators.

some excerpts

(Three Florida fruit-pickers, held captive and brutalised by their employer for more than a year, finally broke free of their bonds by punching their way through the ventilator hatch of the van in which they were imprisoned. Once outside, they dashed for freedom.

---

Charlie Black Is McCain's Senior Adviser. According to the Washington Post, Black is McCain's "chief political adviser." [Washington Post, 2/22/08]

Black Enlisted to Improve Marcos's Image. The Globe and Mail reported, "A politically well-connected U.S. lobbying firm is being paid nearly $1-million to help a Philippine client linked with President Ferdinand Marcos, and some analysts believe its task is to improve Mr. Marcos' image." "The firm, Black, Manafort & Stone Public Affairs, began a year-long contract with a client called the Chamber of Philippines Manufacturers, Exporters and Tourist Associations."

(Black's Firm Lobbied for Somalia's Dictator. Common Cause Magazine reported, "The well-connected Washington lobbying firm of Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly has seen dictators such as Somalia's Mohamed Siad Barre" as its clients. [Common Cause Magazine, Winter 1993]

Peter Madigan is one of McCain's top fundraisers and bundlers. He is also a registered foreign agent with the Department of Justice, having represented a number of foreign governments and entities.

Madigan Hired to Fight Child Enslavement Claims Against the UAE. Peter Madigan, a top McCain fundraiser, lobbies for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE, "facing a class-action lawsuit over alleged enslavement of boys as jockeys in camel races, has hired several top Washington lobbyists and PR firms to present their case to Congress and the public." )

Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:20am
PONTI, do you think a contract entered into by two parties should be honored by both parties?

Or, can said contract be ignored by suppliers, after THEY set the price in the contract and THEY write the contract?

Can you answer a question without going into a soliloquy about Jimmy Carter, Cuba and Sandy Berger?

Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:32am
Posted by jmusolino at 05/14/2008

J Mus-

You highlight well the difference between nationalism/nationalists (which are what the neocons are at heart) and patriotism/patriots.

Putting it another way, the nationalists stop at

"My country, right or wrong"

whereas patriots finish the quote of Sen. Carl Schurz of Illinois uttered on October 17, 1899:

"My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."

It is a difference that the likes of Frankshites and those of his ilk likely cannot, but desperately need to, understand.

Posted by skeletonman at 05/14/2008 @ 07:54am
Whew! At least we don't have to worry about this Dem supporting amnesty for illegals or gay marriage or opposition to the death penalty.

Posted by woodyee at 05/14/2008 @ 08:33am
Posted by marybretbrad at 05/14/2008

I apologize.

Seriously, I didn't think Childers could pull it off...for some good reasons.

1. Bush won the MS 1st by 62-38 in 2004.

2. The GOP were dumping EVERYTHING into it, even sending Darth Cheney down there.

You're right, Mr Nichols was right, I was wrong and....

the Republicans are going to be ROYALLY screwed come November. They might scare enough folks about the "socialist black guy whose wife hates America"....

but regardless, we might be looking at a veto-proof Congress for the Dems!

Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008 @ 08:45am
Magic can and has lost.....thanks to FZ's buddies in Detroit...hehehehe!

Posted by HAPPY3 at 05/14/2008

it must be that muslim small forward.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 9:31:20 AM

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/14/2008 @ 09:25am
Travis Childers is a rather conservative Democrat, and they seem to be the only ones able to win down south.

Obama on the other hand is seen as a liberal elitist, and will have a harder time there this fall.

I feel it will be a lot closer general election than many people are predicting here.

Posted by Zeddmen at 05/14/2008 @ 09:52am
Travis Childers is a rather conservative Democrat, and they seem to be the only ones able to win down south.

Obama on the other hand is seen as a liberal elitist, and will have a harder time there this fall.

I feel it will be a lot closer general election than many people are predicting here.

Posted by Zeddmen at 05/14/2008 @ 09:52am
Travis Childers is a rather conservative Democrat, and they seem to be the only ones able to win down south.

Obama on the other hand is seen as a liberal elitist, and will have a harder time there this fall.

I feel it will be a lot closer general election than many people are predicting here.

Posted by Zeddmen at 05/14/2008 @ 09:52am
Of a fairly depressing set of options, the best result that one could hope for this fall would be:

1. A close win by Obama over McCain, combined with;

2. an overwhelming sweep of the House by the Dems, including;

3. a significant increase in the number of Dems who identify with the working class, self-identify as progressive or economically populist, or, at least, are beholden to the Labor Movement for their election; and finally,

4. a surprisingly large sweep in the Senate by the Dems, pushing their majority up to or over 60 seats, Connecticut Joe not included.

A strong Congress, elected with a clear mandate to end the occupation of Iraq and change our economic course, combined with a weak President with short coattails, might - Might! - begin to reverse the decades-long trend toward the imperial presidency and single branch government that became a tidal wave in the last 8 years. It would also hopefully push through revisions in labor law that would go farther in benefiting workers - including agricultural and domestic workers - and encouraging unionization and domestic industry than even Obama would be willing to do.

While one could hope that such a Congress might reverse course on civil liberties, I fear that we have travelled so far down the road to the surveillance society that it will take decades to build the public will to reverse it.

I dismiss as extremely unlikely the election of McCain. His economic and foreign policies are too close to Bush's. Time has just passed him by.

Posted by cka2nd at 05/14/2008 @ 10:31am
It's going to be a very depressing 6 months for me.

Posted by marybretbrad at 05/14/2008

Yes...it is.

Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008 @ 10:58am
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008

In America, CRABBIE, slavery is illegal and would-be slaveowners are thrown in jail when they are found guilty in court. In contrast, slavery in Cuba is ignored or actually encouraged by 'progressive' Americans. See the difference?

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008 @ 12:27pm
Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008

Hey, PONTI, after this, can I just say...

YOU were right too. Well, half-right, first half...

Ref: "I'm not at all sanguine about the prospects for Republicans in the next election, but I don't think Iraq will be an issue."----Posted by PONTIFICUS 11/02/2007 @ 10:22am

Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008 @ 12:36pm
The pendulum swings, it never ends..

Back and forth, it follows the trends..

Worry and woe, woe and worry..

There is no end, to this little story..

Posted by Benchrest at 05/14/2008 @ 12:42pm
Mary- Do you mean to tell me some dirty tricks were played in the South. Lies being spread by campaign operatives? Geez, sounds rough. I guess the 51% from 2004 had a change of heart, even in Trent Lott's Mississippi. Hey but at least he gave his daughter a nice wedding. Send a gift?

Posted by phillymark at 05/14/2008 @ 12:49pm
ok...well...this is funny on so many levels. i'm trying to keep my wishful thinking in check, but observable evidence suggests that the republican machine is falling apart fast.

i'm getting to the point where i'm not terribly worried about this november. i think a lot of the blue collar whites who have voted clinton will look at the situation, and judge a mulatto non repugnant as preferable to any repugnant after all.

who knows, but mississippi? shit. thank god for mississippi lest my state be at the bottom of everything good and top of everything bad!

so...repugnants, i think you guys really may have only one option left to remain in power...stop pretending!

stop pretending you respect democracy, justice, god, all that silly librul crap. just go ahead and make all the conspiracy theorists happy and declare martial law.

looking like the only way you guys and your evil heroes are going to stay in power. even the idiotic schmuks are waking up and dimly realizing "republican bad...democrat...human"...and i don't think your old tricks will work.

but again, must guard agains t wishful thinking...

Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/14/2008 @ 2:12pm
Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008

Counting your chickens before they're hatched, MASK? It remains to be seen whether America will elect the most left-wing Senator with a 20-year relationship with a racist minister (they won't, I predict).

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008 @ 2:23pm
Posted by pontificus at 05/14/200

Where was Wright's racist comment by the way? What did he say that was racist?

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/14/2008 @ 3:23pm
Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008

I was just talking about Congress, which you yourself said you "weren't sanguine about" the Repubs coming back this year.

As far as Obama....true, if they BELIEVED the line that Obama is some "Marxist black guy whose wife and friends hate America and would pull a Neville Chamberlain with the terr'urrists"....maybe.

But given you guys had a hard time using that in North Carolina....Louisiana...and now Mississippi....I'm dubious.

What I AM sure of is...the guy on YOUR side essentially promising "four more years"....is going to have a tough row to hoe!

heheh

Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008 @ 3:34pm
What I AM sure of is...the guy on YOUR side essentially promising "four more years"....is going to have a tough row to hoe!

heheh

Posted by Mask

well, the press coverage seems to show mccain IS roundup-ready.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:52:49 PM

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/14/2008 @ 3:47pm
Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008

PONTI does love to move those goalposts.

Why I gave up any back and forth with him long ago.

Posted by Hman23 at 05/14/2008 @ 4:16pm
Posted by Hman23 at 05/14/2008 |

"Why I gave up any back and forth with him long ago."

Well, that and the fact that you got tired of being regularly thrashed.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008 @ 4:26pm
I've read some drop dead stupid comments on this board, but Ponti's arguing for drilling in Alaska based on the ready availability of fusion power in 20 years is definitely a chart topper.

Here's a hint, buddy. They've been saying that since the 1950's. Even the experimental reactors designed to actually generate electricity, like DEMO, aren't slated to be operational and online until after 20 years - and that's assuming they can overcome the scientific obstacles to actually make it work and do so in a way that makes it something better than a zero sum game.

Teach me to check out the site and not be logged in. You people that can't be bothered to register or don't use ignore for philosophical reasons, have my sympathies. While there are good comments, it is a shame they have to float in a sewer of idiocy.

Posted by srjenkins at 05/14/2008 @ 4:48pm
Posted by Ibb 5/14/08

The damndest, finest exposition of the repub ruins.Tired right wing cliches are rotting hulks on the sands of time.

Posted by Sorelish at 05/14/2008 @ 4:54pm
these issues will get a full airing, regardless of the well-known tilt in the major media.

Posted by pontificus

oh, yeah those are important "issues".

20 years worth of saudi oil.

maybe, given the way your buddies sure are butchering the economy.

<i>WASHINGTON - Opening an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil development would only slightly reduce America's dependence on imports and would lower oil prices by less than 50 cents a barrel, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Energy Department.

The report, issued by the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, said that if Congress gave the go-ahead to pump oil from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the crude could begin flowing by 2013 and reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day by 2025.

But even at peak production, the EIA analysis said, the United States would still have to import two-thirds of its oil, as opposed to an expected 70 percent if the refuge's oil remained off the market.</i>

and THAT'S FROM THE BUSH ENERGY DEPARTMENT!

2025, fusion?!?

that seems like a bit of a pontiflation.

6:19

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/14/2008 @ 6:20pm
NEW YORK -- Canada was the largest crude supplier to the US in April,

just ahead of Mexico

and well ahead of Venezuela,

while Saudi Arabia fell to fourth place as its crude supplies dropped to their lowest level in eight years.

The US imported 1.596 million barrels per day of Canadian crude in April,

and 1.566 million b/d from Mexico,

the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday.

THE BUSH ENERGY DEPARTMENT!

Venezuelan crude deliveries came to 1.372 million b/d.

But Venezuela would have topped the list with 1.606 million b/d if its crude exports to the US Virgin Islands -- which ...

Want to read the whole article? You can purchase it here. It's quick and easy.

<B>I SUGGEST YOU GET A SUBSCRIPTION FAST, PONTI</B>

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1505/is_200406/ai_n6498314

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/14/2008 @ 6:22pm
(In America, CRABBIE, slavery is illegal and would-be slaveowners are thrown in jail when they are found guilty in court. In contrast, slavery in Cuba is ignored or actually encouraged by 'progressive' Americans. See the difference?

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008)

do you have proof that progressive Americans encourage slavery? Or did you make up some more hogwash?

(Posted by Hman23 at 05/14/2008 |

"Why I gave up any back and forth with him long ago."

Well, that and the fact that you got tired of being regularly thrashed.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008)

buwawhahhaaahaaa.

Priceless.

BARRY25 is back!

Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 7:22pm
I promise you that these issues will get a full airing, regardless of the well-known tilt in the major media.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008

They DID get a full airing...last couple of weeks, and he won North Carolina big and narrowly lost in Indiana.

Now...what's next up your sleeve? Or are you saving it for October?

Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008 @ 8:21pm
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008

"do you have proof that progressive Americans encourage slavery? Or did you make up some more hogwash?"

Are you saying you don't consider the Cuban people to be slaves, either? I have yet to see a single kool-aid drinking lefty here admit that they are, FROSTY being case in point.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008 @ 9:48pm
Or are you saving it for October?

Posted by Mask

i hope he's not buying fertilizer.

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/14/2008 @ 9:49pm
Posted by srjenkins at 05/14/2008

Whether fusion power takes 20 or 30 years, SRJ, which you cannot know in any case, it doesn't matter. We need to stretch our oil resources until it does come online, and keep searching for more, using more nuclear power, or else the world is headed for a major collapse. We simply cannot maintain a planet with 9 billion people in 20 years with windmills, solar panels, and wishful thinking.

When fusion power does become a real technology, however, I have no doubt that the left will oppose it with the same suicideal, pseudo-religious zeal they save for opposing any good idea. The left has a nose for bad policy like flies do for feces.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008 @ 10:13pm
, primarily because the Republicans have gone AWOL on core conservative values so critical to the future of this country.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008

And not at all due to a quaqmire war, endless deficits, Katrina, Abramoff-gate, Plame-gate, a faltering economy, high energy costs, high dollar corruption and bumbling incompetence?

Posted by Mask at 05/14/2008 @ 10:26pm
pontificus

Summary: U.S. petroleum exports are about 10% of imports. Want to increase U.S. oil supply by 10%? Stop exporting it. There's a push by some to drill in ANWR to, ostensibly, make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil. But that won't help as long as we export oil from that region.

http://www.exponentialimprovement.com/cms/petrolprevar.shtml

Oil - production: 8.322 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption: 20.8 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports: 1.048 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports: 13.15 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves: 21.76 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.htm l

reserves for 1,000 days......

exporting a million barrels per day.......

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/15/2008 @ 12:39am
Posted by pontificus at 05/14/200

Where was Wright's racist comment by the way? What did he say that was racist?

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/14/2008 | ignore this person

Well, ya know, CCC, it's the fact that he's a black minister, ya know, and with all the privileges that come with being black in America, not knowing "his place". Obviously he must be a racist, even if Ponti can't come up with anything specific. And so what if Ponti's guy sought the endorsement of a guy who called the Catholic Church "the great whore" - hey at least Hagee was only going retro. As in about 400 years retro. And, yeah there's that whack job Parsley as well. And a failed foreign occupation, a failing economy, failing schools, failing infrastructure, massive transfer of wealth to the rich from the poor, and a country in ruins in so many ways after 8 disastrous years. But...but...but...but...Jeremiah Wright.

Posted by jmusolino at 05/15/2008 @ 01:53am
Posted by Sorelish at 05/14/2008 | ignore this person

lol - that still wasnt as good as the rant i vomitted up months ago about convicting karl rove for war crimes and hanging him in until his "blobbulant head" popped off in an explosive decapitation.

but i was just having fun with that...

heehee - i don't think ponti appreciated it on any level, but was he standing up fot libruls when the his icons were saying the same about me and other non fascists?

TREASONOUS TRAITOROUS REPUGNANTS!

LOL...

Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/15/2008 @ 02:13am
Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008

As usual, you missed the point, Ponti. The question is not when, the question is IF. You should make a better effort to get a good grasp on the scientific, technical and commercial problems associated with fusion power before using it in your argumentation - particularly if you are going to talk about wishful thinking.

I'd also suggest taking a look at this excellent research article, "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments." I suggest this article might be something to reflect upon for you when you think you have some insight into energy policy that you wish to share here at The Nation.

http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf

Posted by srjenkins at 05/15/2008 @ 03:04am
Posted by srjenkins at 05/15/2008

"As usual, you missed the point, Ponti. The question is not when, the question is IF."

Perhaps I missed that point because you never made it.

"You should make a better effort to get a good grasp on the scientific, technical and commercial problems associated with fusion power before using it in your argumentation - particularly if you are going to talk about wishful thinking."

I don't need to be an expert to make some simple and obvious points about fusion and other nuclear power sources. We need them. Desperately. These are obvious points. If you don't understand that, it is YOU who are guilty of wishful thinking.

Posted by pontificus at 05/15/2008 @ 06:17am
(ANWR is only the tip of the iceberg, FROSTY. The enviros have also managed to put a ban in place on drilling offshore and in huge land areas of the continental US. The cumulative effect of these bans, uniformly supported by the left, is dwindling domestic oil and gas production, ballooning trade deficits which ultimately go partially to finance Islamic terrorism, increased dependency on foreign oil, and a boost to world oil prices (which of course leads to skyrocketing oil company profits, for those who understand supply and demand). Clearly, it is lefty environmental policies that directly lead to all of those things, and a lefty complaining about oil/gas prices (as CRABBIE is wont to do) and skyrocketing oil company profits has only him or herself to blame.

Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008)

Known kool-aid lefties like...

Jeb Bush.

Look it up PONTI. It might just rock your world.

Do you have any evidence that "lefties" encourage slavery? Anything?

I didn't think so. Just another batch of foul smelling pig soap.

Posted by crabwalk at 05/15/2008 @ 09:29am
CS Monitor

"Apr 13, 2006 ... Jeb Bush (R) has opposed efforts to allow offshore drilling near his state. "

Posted by crabwalk at 05/15/2008 @ 09:32am
Posted by pontificus at 05/15/2008

McCain's spiritual advisor also has a theory about "Black Genocide."

Check it out.

Posted by Hman23 at 05/15/2008 @ 10:04am
ponti's plan is to generate power buy fusing iraqis.

cheaper than hydrogen......

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/15/2008 @ 11:19am
ponti's plan is to generate power buy fusing iraqis.

cheaper than hydrogen......

Posted by frosty zoom at 05/15/2008

runs his suv on the power of pride...a limitless source of energy for some.

Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/15/2008 @ 11:46am
PONTI, curious again, have you ever heard of the Tuskegee experiment? I am not agreeing with Rev Wright, but, there is historical precedent for such conspiracy theories. And, after all, you blamed Saddam for your fear, and that was based on historical conspiracy theories.

Posted by crabwalk at 05/15/2008 @ 2:14pm
I wonder if PONTI will see the irony of the RNC wanting something ( my money) for nothing(what they would do do support causes I believe in)?

Posted by crabwalk at 05/15/2008 @ 2:17pm
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/15/2008

"Well considering there are black people in the government yes..... He said the US government he didn't say white people."

Well, that's an interesting and novel interpretation, but I think most people think and know that Wright implied white people killing black people, not black people killing each other.

Posted by pontificus at 05/15/2008 @ 7:16pm
runs his suv on the power of pride...a limitless source of energy for some.

Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/15/2008 | ignore this person

I was thinking it was hot air...he certainly generates enough of it.

Posted by Lillian at 05/16/2008 @ 12:51am