Art, PLEASE come back

The Coffee Shop
21

** It has now been proven without a shadow of a doubt that their positions for years have been wrong, and they not credible. **

I love these statements.

I doesn’t help your argument to make such incredible claims, it hurts it. State your concept, provide supporting data, and conclude.

It is nearly impossible to prove anything “without a shadow of a doubt” much less anything in politics.

I have seen many of your other posts, and although we don’t agree on many things, I think you are above making such a vast and simplistic statement.

22

It was easy to be Art, Vitus, BK and others when you could merely call anyone whodidnt agree with your position anti-American and unpatriotic for merely suggesting that the Bush administration and the Republican party weren’t exactly taking this country in the right direction. It has now been proven without a shadow of a doubt that their positions for years have been wrong, and they not credible.

I would hope that the Art & Co. would not take the current approach of Rush and many on this board which is to sit around bitching about Obama without cause. The previous administration fucked us and was supported by the Right while he was doing it, and less than a month into the job (trying to fix 8 years of incompetence) he can do nothing right? Give me break. So you finally admit that Obama has done nothing right for the last month! I’m so proud of you - you are on the road to recovery! The last administration did a lot of stuff that I disagree with. And the current administration is impressing me with their inability to avoid Washington insider business as usual. I really want a third party, the Common Sense party, one that encompasses the best moderate positions from the two current parties while shunning the extremists on both the right and the left. But it isn’t going to happen in my lifetime.

24

It was easy to be Art, Vitus, BK and others when you could merely call anyone whodidnt agree with your position anti-American and unpatriotic for merely suggesting that the Bush administration and the Republican party weren’t exactly taking this country in the right direction. It has now been proven without a shadow of a doubt that their positions for years have been wrong, and they not credible.

Thanks, and I love you, too, buddy. I seem to recall quite a few cogent arguments put forth in opposition to the prevailing opinion here that Republicans were nothing but corporate stooges and doody-heads (but enough about me) that were met with cries of “fascist war pig!!” and the like by our brethren from the other side of the aisle. These times were known as “the good old days.”

I’d like to ask you to point out where I’ve been anything but civil in tone and willing to give our new president the hundred days, at least, he should have to enact his programs. Okay, I was off on one of my extended road trips for a few months, but still…

Anyway, he (Obama) deserves the chance, he’s our president just as much as Mr. Bush was, and time will tell, won’t it?

BK

25

Yahey, do you believe we are moving in the right direction now?

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You pinko communist. :wink:

No, no, no. If I remember the song correctly (Charlie Daniels Band; “Uneasy Rider”), it’s “long-haired, hippie-type, pinko fag…I’ll bet he’s even got a Commie flag, tacked up on the wall inside of his garage.”

Except for the vicious and evil anti-homosexual part, I’d say that pretty much sums up my good friend Mr. Hey. (hee-hee)

BK

27

I really want a third party, the Common Sense party, one that encompasses the best moderate positions from the two current parties while shunning the extremists on both the right and the left. But it isn’t going to happen in my lifetime.

One of the problems is that we have a primary election when candidates have to pander to the extremists on the right or left. Then they get to the general election when they magically become more moderate to get votes in the general election.
In America there are about 10-15% who are staunchly on the right or the left. That leaves 70-80% of Americans who lie somewhere in the middle. That’s a majority in anyone’s book.

28

First I reject the idea that BK et al ever called anyone un-American for not agreeing with the Republican point of view. Clearly there were people who said that but the Democratic party seems to be headed in that direction as well.

Harry Reid today:

“I’m really at a lack of words how to express my admiration/respect for the love of our country, the patriotism and the courage of three brave senators: Specter from Pennsylvania, Snowe and Collins from Maine.”

ergo; those that don’t support the stimulus bill aren’t Patriots?

Cuts both ways Yahey…

29

Hey, Art, this one is for you (Barry asked me to post it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-enjcgV1o
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30

"Yahey, do you believe we are moving in the right direction now? "

I’d say you’re moving more to the left now.:wink: Which IMHO, is actually a good thing.

31

It would be nice to see them back. Art had some good debate skills, but had a condescending streak that turned me off a bit. Vitus was a good guy, and I keep hoping he’ll turn up. If you hit his username, you’ll see he logs in every few weeks, but stops short of caving in to the ST temptation- I got some funny mental imagery there, for some reason!

32

**It would be nice to see them back. Art had some good debate skills, but had a condescending streak that turned me off a bit. Vitus was a good guy, and I keep hoping he’ll turn up. If you hit his username, you’ll see he logs in every few weeks, but stops short of caving in to the ST temptation- I got some funny mental imagery there, for some reason! **

I don’t think we’ll be seeing Vitus anytime soon, if ever. It just got too ugly in here during the run-up to election day, and he didn’t care for the site proprietor’s participation in some of that ugliness. I don’t necessarily agree with his characterization of the worthy Mr. Empfield’s actions, but it’s Vitus’s right to think what he wants to think. I actually apologized privately to him, thinking some of the nasty things I said during the melee had something to do with it, but that turned out not to be the case.

I miss those guys (Art, Vitus et al). Whether you agreed with them or not, you could always count on a contrarian point of view, which is always something to be appreciated, versus some general desire that everybody here march in lockstep with the majority point of view on just about anything.

BK

33

I never could figure out what exactly got to him, and didn’t ask specifically. I did e-mail him a bit, trying to cajole him back. In the end, I hope he gets the whole employment thing straightened out. I didn’t agree w/ some of his positions, but he was a principled and decent guy.

34

Give me a break. Art is a mindless drone of the right. Remember his insufferable defense of the abuse of FISA? That alone is proof that he is incapable of independent thought. I could go on if I thought he was worth it. Be careful of what you wish for. I don’t miss Art for a second.

35

I don’t miss Art for a second.

x2

36

I’d like to see him back. Vitus also. I never agreed with either of them that often, but they are missed.

Vitus was good too, but he was a different kind of conservative and there isn’t quite the void left with him gone, only because Slowguy, TriFloyd, TrippleThreat, and Casey do a pretty good job of holding down the fort and offer intelligent opinions to represent their viewpoints.

I remember wanting to get a little more involved in politics a while back (7-10 years ago) and first turned to Cross Fire on CNN. I thought that it would be the perfect show because it would offer two sides to every issue. It didn’t take long to figure out what a piece of crap the show was. John Stewart did a fine job of tearing that show down explaining to them that they are bad for the country as all they do is regurgitate the spin that their parties put forth. IOW, blindly repeating lies…which was a real shame because Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson are two incredibly intelligent and knowledgable guys.

It does seem like the prevalent voices on the right are of the Rush Limbaugh ilk. This isn’t to say that there aren’t very intelligent folk out there like Art, or patriots like spot, or pragmatic moderate conservatives like MJuric. It just seems as though they’ve been pushed asside and are overshadowed by the loudmouth plattitude pushing know nothings. The Republicans used to be the party of the smart businessmen. What happened?

I really hope they fix their party before the Deocrats implode on themselves. We need better options.

37

“art - some good some bad”

This thread could be summed up in an old cliché: The value of art is in the eye of the beholder.
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38

I have to tell you Francois, you really know how to make a case. I love that song, and I was unaware the music video was on Youtube.

BarryP understandably complains about the lack of intellectual argument here. Of course, that was part of why I left, with the balance being the incredible hatred that completely dominated the dialog here, driven in large measure by the forum owner. The hate seems to have died down now that Obama is in office, but the discussion quality is worse than ever as BarryP points out.

This forum should be one happy place now with the majority here getting exactly what they want. Obama looks like his will be a watershed presidency. He is well on his way to nationalizing all our banks, our auto companies and our health care system. I believe the numbers from the new stimulus bill put the majority of Americans on welfare, otherwise known as “taxcuts”, so the prospects for continued growth of government and indefinite reelection of Democrats can likely only be stopped by a Thatcher style revolution. The sole person out there as a potential Reagan/Thatcher style leader is Sarah Palin, so she will be regularly vilified here. MattinSF won’t let us down on that score.

My market rate real estate development project is now on indefinite hold. I am trying to pick up the neighboring land from my bankrupt neighbor. I am guessing I will eventually retool this project as some sort of government guaranteed or subsidized project. America’s future seems to belong to those who suck off the work of others, mostly our children, so I guess I either need to go along or retire. The burden on those the age of most of the posters here is going to be back breaking, so enjoy breaking your back while people like me figure out how to suck whatever blood you have left. Sadly, as I have said here repeatedly, elections have consequences and we get the leaders we deserve. In the meantime I will be Joe the plumber, Joe the carpenter and Joe the cabinet maker all rolled into one.

To too.tall, by the way, all those FISA “abuses” were validated by the relevent appeals court a few months ago, exactly as I said they would be. They were also codified by the legislative branches, with the backing of none other than Obama, exactly as I predicted. So far as I can tell, the incarceration/rendition/interrogation policies between the two administrations are indistinguishable, again, as predicted. You might also notice that we won the Iraq War, also as predicted if we persevered. After campaigning on Afghanistan being the front line against the terrorists, Obama will soon be looking for the door over there. Sometimes, predictions are just too easy, as all of these are and were.

The forum seems worse, on balance than when I left, so I think have better value as a symbol that this is life after the LR than as a poster. It is nice to be remembered though, even six months after logging off.

39

Glad to hear from you, Art, and I’m sorry you don’t want to post regularly any more. I hope you change your mind about that at some point.

“I believe the numbers from the new stimulus bill put the majority of Americans on welfare, otherwise known as ‘taxcuts’…”

Isn’t that a sad irony?

“The sole person out there as a potential Reagan/Thatcher style leader is Sarah Palin…”
**
Somehow I can’t see Sarah Palin filling Margaret Thatcher’s shoes. I have to admit that I cannot name any other really appropriate Republican, though.

40

To too.tall, by the way, all those FISA “abuses” were validated by the relevent appeals court a few months ago, exactly as I said they would be. They were also codified by the legislative branches, with the backing of none other than Obama, exactly as I predicted. So far as I can tell, the incarceration/rendition/interrogation policies between the two administrations are indistinguishable, again, as predicted. You might also notice that we won the Iraq War, also as predicted if we persevered. After campaigning on Afghanistan being the front line against the terrorists, Obama will soon be looking for the door over there. Sometimes, predictions are just too easy, as all of these are and were.

Oy…here we go again. All I know is my own points of view about renditions and the like were again validated by what I saw and learned over the last few months. No amount of talk here will change my own outlook anytime soon.

Now, it’s either our (America’s) fault, or it’s not. Either way, it seems the “new” way of handling the blowback is pretty much the “old” way of handling the blowback.

BK

41

…

“The sole person out there as a potential Reagan/Thatcher style leader is Sarah Palin…”
**
Somehow I can’t see Sarah Palin filling Margaret Thatcher’s shoes. I have to admit that I cannot name any other really appropriate Republican, though.
How about John Sununu? He was on the Daily Show last night and is the first commentator on the right I’ve heard make any damn sense in years.