Seriously, if you think there's no difference between the two parties, take a look at what's been happening at the state level since 2010. The union-busting in Wisconsin, the gerrymander-on-steroids in Pennsylvania, and in my state of North Carolina, a push to add an amendment to the state constitution to abolish the recognition of gay marriages and domestic partnerships. For starters. And, may I add, none of the voters (except hardcore partisans and other evolutionary throwbacks) actually wanted any of this bullshit. Do you really think Republicans are not that much more evil? Really?

Yes, it does seem that we deal with the lesser of 2 evils every fourth November. But there are different shades of "evil". One is the "rather unseemly, somewhat sleazy and a bit embarrassing", and the other is "totally, truly, absolutely frigging, dangerously whacked".

To The Hackers This May Concern:

On behalf of all American citizens who understand the poisonous effects of lobbying on American democracy and society, I would like to thank you for your hard work. The US Chamber of Commerce is not a government agency, but may as well be so for all intents and purposes. It lobbies our elected officials to adopt policies that favor only big business, with the misguided belief that only laissez-faire capitalism will improve the American way of life. Nothing is further from the truth.

In short, you're doing us a favor.

If it's not too much to ask, could you please submit your findings to Wikileaks, or just post them on a publicly accessible blog? I think more of my countrymen should know about the inner workings of this nefarious herd of swine, and their attempts to sell naked greed as enlightened self-interest.

May we also interest you in targeting other groups, such as "The Club for Growth", "Americans for Prosperity", and "Crossroads GPS"? I'm sure you'd find them just as interesting.

Thanks again,
- Meoward

..when Time chose "Hungarian Freedom Fighter" as Person of the Year. More specific than the other examples, but the precedent for not naming one person goes pretty far back.

More sensible politicians. A parliamentary system that resets itself until it actually works. Tough banking laws that keep the economy from crashing. A sane attitude towards health care. Better (yes, better) protection of civil liberties.

And I'd get a lot more satisfaction from a dozen Tim Horton's doughnuts than today's US Congress.

As I write this, there's an ad on this page telling me that the US "is not a secular Nation" [sic], and that I should "learn the truth".

Don't like this Congress? Thank the people who pay for, and respond to, this kind of ad. We always elect the government we deserve.

It's about time someone used the word "efficient" in this debate.

Once the OWS organizers (if they exist) come up with at least some bullet points, then I'll take them more seriously.

That's not to say that their anger is misguided. Those who got us into this mess have done less time in the slammer than the protesters who were unlucky enough to get arrested. Our political system is not so much broken as already bought. And the wealthy in this country, by and large, have every reason to regard themselves as America's upper caste, since they're effectively immune from poverty, or even the rule of law for that matter.

But if there is a message here, it's getting lost in the noise.

Who the hell is Norquist, anyway? If the constituents who elected me say "do this", and Mr. Norquist says "don't", I honestly wouldn't care what this pathetic little man would have to say. For every buck he can raise to oppose my re-election, I can turn out one more voter ("Meoward: Standing Firm For You!")

It's bullshit like this that makes me shy away from the Tea Party. Do you really think that just slashing spending will fix the economy? And only slashing those things that you don't like?

Get a clue: Tax receipts are way down as well. This doesn't necessarily mean that raising taxes is the right thing to do, but the revenue side of the ledger is just plain bonkers. Many large corporations in the US are NOT paying any taxes whatsoever, even when they're wildly profitable, thanks to the legions of screwy loopholes in our tax code - gee, I wonder who paid to get those enacted? (See Big Oil and their $4B/yr tax breaks as just ONE example.) The Bush tax cuts wiped out the surpluses we enjoyed. We subsidize breeding (which too many people already do IMO) with the child tax credit - what is the logic behind that? Ditto for mortgage interest - didn't the "American dream of home ownership" get us into this mess?

I'm for spending cuts, but maybe not ones you'd approve of. Defense needs to be cut back - getting out of the failed experiments of Iraq and Afghanistan can work there. Homeland Security spending needs to be cut back - in fact, nobody even knows what DHS really spends, since large chunks of its budget are classified! Medicare has to be brought under control with some real health care reform, not the crap that AHIP or any Republican candidate would have us swallow.

The only way to solve this problem is getting people back to work, so taxes can be collected in the first place, and then reforming the tax code to make sure everyone pays into the system - rich and poor alike.

The original article is utter bollocks. Society does claim this right already, and the state has no plans on relenting either.

The church, with this one issue at least, is merely using the state's current stance to foist its views on the rest of us.

IIRC that was actually the case in 18th century England.

It also lays bare that attempts to keep one's choice of termination illegal has never had anything to do with the protection of life, but with the assertion of a nation's sovereignty over the existence of its citizens.

Nope. And let's be honest. It was an incredibly, transparently easy thing to do, especially with a crapload of money available.

Fact is, most TPers have lower levels of education and are easily manipulated. (Go ahead, mod me as a troll.) Fear-mongering will never go out of style, as Roger Ailes will gladly tell you.

Remember the movie "Meet John Doe"? Well, the Tea Party is just like the John Doe Party in the film. It started with good intentions, and once it achieved a certain political critical mass, it was co-opted by powerful interests with other agendas. Including convincing the rabble that they needed what those interests wanted.

For that reason, I see the Tea Party role in the next election being practically insignificant. They were duped after their big win in 2010, and who doesn't believe that whey won't get fooled again?

You may as well.

Do you really feel that ANYTHING will make them rethink their views?

I like the world you live in - where all people change their opinions and beliefs once they learn new facts or contrary rational arguments. I really wish I lived there.

Unfortunately, I find myself in a world where people only use facts and arguments to buttress preconceived notions, no matter how untrue, unprovable, or illogical those notions may be. (Many of these people can be found in the Texas legislature.)

When the willfully ignorant claim intellectual superiority for no reason, it's the ultimate in arrogance. Why not hurl a few rocks their way?

Intensely informed comment. Rather unusual here.

I don't see Microsoft as "the good guy" at all here. Just an underdog, and not a necessarily very talented one.

Basically, Microsoft's marketing department has yet to admit that it's simply not as forward-thinking as Apple's. The Microsoft Way is to allow others to pay the price of innovation first, then move in on the emerging market after analyzing others' failures. Apple woke up, and simply decided not to fail anymore. Rather than play by the rules MSFT (and everyone else) was following, they simply changed the game.

Consequently, there is no more cheese for the second mouse these days.

All of this does NOT mean that MSFT is now being bullied, or that they should get some points on the ethics scorecard. (They're still a convicted monopolist; we know very well what they would like to do if they had the chance.) They're paying the price for their commitment to a failing strategy. Since when do we re-label "the incompetent guy" to be "the good guy"?

It would be a shame to see Apple become truly evil and monopolistic (I don't think they're there yet), or to see Microsoft lumber its way into irrelevance (that hasn't happened yet either). But MSFT does need a massive strategic overhaul -- starting with the repudiation of their marketing strategies to date (e.g. vendor lock-in, risk aversion to innovation), as signified by the canning of Mr. Ballmer.