Lunacy in Politics

[Limey]

Online petition plan for Parliament to go ahead

A plan to allow popular online petitions to be debated in Parliament within a year has been given the go-ahead by the government.

...

Labour MP Paul Flynn, a member of the Commons public administration committee, criticised the government's proposal, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This seems to be an attractive idea to those who haven't seen how useless this has been in other parts of the world when it's tried.

"If you ask people the question 'do you want to pay less tax?', they vote yes. If we get the e-petitions in there will be some asking for Jeremy Clarkson to be prime minister, for Jedi and Darth Vader to be the religions of the country.

"The blogosphere is not an area that is open to sensible debate; it is dominated by the obsessed and the fanatical and we will get crazy ideas coming forward."

"I would like to refer my honourable colleague to the comments made by Jay in Houston in which he pointed out that, and I quote: 'Necktown ladies sing this song!  Do-dah!  Do-dah!' "

[HudsonHawk]

Fanatical and crazy...on the internet...the hell you say.

[geezerdonk]

The concept (much less the implementation) of popular goverance is dangerous and subversive. It is rightly ridiculed and should be suppressed, violently if necessary. Otherwise we would find laws and policies proposed and enacted by frauds and fools motivated by greed and all manner of corruption; in contrast to current government operation.

[HudsonHawk]

The concept (much less the implementation) of popular goverance is dangerous and subversive. It is rightly ridiculed and should be suppressed, violently if necessary. Otherwise we would find laws and policies proposed and enacted by frauds and fools motivated by greed and all manner of corruption; in contrast to current government operation.

Right.  Allowing every half-baked dimwit with an internet connection equal time is clearly the best use of our collective governance resources.

[Fredia]

i have often thought about running for office
not sure other than the zone who would be my base

[HudsonHawk]

i have often thought about running for office
not sure other than the zone who would be my base

Well, you're already a graduate of the Sarah Palin Made Up Words School of Public Speaking.  There's a precedent.

[Ebby Calvin]

Well, you're already a graduate of the Sarah Palin Made Up Words School of Public Speaking.  There's a precedent.

Fredia, WTF?!?

[Alkie]

i have often thought about running for office
not sure other than the zone who would be my base

I will gladly run your campaign gratis.   This will kick ass.

[SaltyParker]

shades of Alvin Greene,

[BatGirl]

shades of Alvin Greene,

racist

[Lurch]

racist

well played

[Alkie]

well played

Sexist.

[GreatBagwellsBeard]

Sexist.

Sassy!

[Fredia]

keep fredia weird


my stand

[Limey]

Well, you're already a graduate of the Sarah Palin Made Up Words School of Public Speaking.  There's a precedent.

In other news, Palin is trying to deflect the attention given to her creation of the word "refudiate" by saying it was a typo on her Blackberry.  Clearly forgetting that (a) things like the internet exist; and (b) that she said it live on TV four days before her infamous tweet.  That woman couldn't keep a story straight if her life depended on it.

[HudsonHawk]

In other news, Palin is trying to deflect the attention given to her creation of the word "refudiate" by saying it was a typo on her Blackberry.  Clearly forgetting that (a) things like the internet exist; and (b) that she said it live on TV four days before her infamous tweet.  That woman couldn't keep a story straight if her life depended on it.

I thought she compared herself to Shakespeare and mentioned how she's "progressing" the English language. And Bush's made up words were much funnier.

[Limey]

I thought she compared herself to Shakespeare and mentioned how she's "progressing" the English language. And Bush's made up words were much funnier.

Nucular?

[Mr. Happy]

Nucular?

Dipshit Jimmy Carter couldn't say that word either.

[Limey]

Dipshit Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jimmy Carter couldn't say that word either.

Your point being?

[JimR]

this is exhibit A why i hate politics threads.

[austro]

this is exhibit A why i hate politics threads.

A? I'd figure we're at least up to X or Y by now.

[Limey]

this is exhibit A why i hate politics threads.

As it turns out, politics isn't a choice.  It's genetics.

[HudsonHawk]

Dipshit Jimmy Carter couldn't say that word either.

Well, Carter *was* a nucular engineer....

People who simply pronounce it "nucular" don't bother me as much as people who actually think that's the correct word.

[Astroholic]

Well, Carter *was* a nucular engineer....

People who simply pronounce it "nucular" don't bother me as much as people who actually think that's the correct word.

And here I thought he was a peanut farmer.

[GreatBagwellsBeard]

And here I thought he was a peanut farmer.

And I thought Diet Dr Pepper tasted more like Dr Pepper.   

[HudsonHawk]

And here I thought he was a peanut farmer.

He was that too. I don't know if they were nucular peanuts though.

[Ron Brand]

He was that too. I don't know if they were nucular peanuts though.

That would explain the color of those peanut patties.

[subnuclear]

For what its worth, its pretty lenient to call him a nuclear engineer.  He was a naval officer who got involved with nuclear submarine development at the very tail end of his career.  He really didn't have the background to do the things nuclear engineers typically do and he left before the first nuke sub went into service. 

[Ty in Tampa]

For what its worth, its pretty lenient to call him a nuclear engineer.  He was a naval officer who got involved with nuclear submarine development at the very tail end of his career.  He really didn't have the background to do the things nuclear engineers typically do and he left before the first nuke sub went into service. 

Somehow I trust you on this.

[Limey]

Somehow I trust you on this.

He's in pre-Med.

[HudsonHawk]

For what its worth, its pretty lenient to call him a nuclear engineer.  He was a naval officer who got involved with nuclear submarine development at the very tail end of his career.  He really didn't have the background to do the things nuclear engineers typically do and he left before the first nuke sub went into service. 

Which is probably why he was only a "nucular" engineer.

[Fredia]

talking about politics did you know the bikers (non motor) want to include a bike/pesditirian lane when they redo mopaq. claims of up to 10000 people livine and working in the area to use the lane

[Mr. Happy]

Your point being?

Nothing political. I just find it inexplicable that two former presidents can't pronounce an easy word.

[Noe]

Nucular?

This whole train of thought on pronunciation reminded me of a comedy skit by Mel Brooks and Carl Riener.  I believe it was a series of comedy skits called "The 100 Year Old Man" and the premise was a man-on-the-street interview type of give and take.  Riener plays the part of the interviewer and Brooks the part of the 100 year old man.  Riener at one point asks the 100 year old man if he participated in World War II, to which the old man said "Yes, but I had a hard time at first trying to find the enemy.  You see, I listened to a Winston Churchill speech and he kept saying we had to defeat the "Narzies".  Narzies?  What Narzies?  Who the hell are these Narzies?  Where can I find them?".  The bit went on a while, and Brooks really laid into Churchill's idiosyncratic way of pronouncing words.

Funny.  Sacrilege.  But Funny.

ETA: Just looked it up, Brooks and Riener actually did a series about a 2000 year old man and they did ad-lib comedy about subjects, so it was not a 100 year old man as I remembered it.  But the idea is still the same, he made fun of Churchill and the way he pronounced words in some of his ad-libs.

[Ron Brand]

It's all a matter of degrees.

[SaltyParker]

talking about politics did you know the bikers (non motor) want to include a bike/pesditirian lane when they redo mopaq. claims of up to 10000 people livine and working in the area to use the lane

friggin lefties

[austro]

talking about politics did you know the bikers (non motor) want to include a bike/pesditirian lane when they redo mopaq. claims of up to 10000 people livine and working in the area to use the lane

10000 ppl the first week, 8000 the next (after the notoriously "courteous" Austin drivers polish off 2000 of them). And so on.