I only watch Jim Lehrer during the week, Frontline,  and then Gwen on Friday nights on PBS and then NPR on the radio - whenever I watch cable news, it’s just the same thing over and over, they never go into the story to give you background, context or history - it’s just noise -

though when I am working out, I always pick the machines in front of the CNN screen to get my fix- but I get irritated when they show emails from viewers on what they think about the news - is that news?

and I do like Jon Stewart, I think he’s a very bright guy

I think people are turning to the humor and sarcasm due to the tv/web overload of information and "news" - if you have all those channels (I don’t), it must be bewildering so you just pop to a program that points that absurdity out - it’s a natural progression but I hope the networks and cable do not go to that kind of programming 24 hours a day, because that’s frightening, given that newspapers are suffering and web news can also be questionably opinionated - we need someone or to go somewhere that is taking it all seriously

We are seeing the same thing in coastal Maine - nothing is moving but the prices are not coming down - they are just waiting it out…

I am not a socialist - but the market has proved that it has failed itself and the citizenry has suffered- so what role should the government play?  I was against the bailout because that is socialism (actually fascism) - but it’s not socialism to repair roads and bridges, it’s not socialism to support small business, it’s not socialism to give health-care to people - these are things in the public interest that derive a general public benefit that the private sector has no rational incentive to provide - the argument should be, what is the public interest, what is the role of government in the market - this is the conversation that needs to happen - there is a constant struggle between the needs of a capitalist society and the rights vested in a democracy; it’s what makes it work and what makes it sometimes not work so well

I didn’t want Iraq War to fail - I didn’t want to go in there in the first place - that’s different - that’s my point!!!!  we were called treasonous for opposing the war which makes no sense - anyone should be able to quesiton their government and they should absolutely -

yes - being a Maine resident, I had a heart attack when I read that - whoops on the editors!  I guess we are still Alaska-happy…

I think wishing the President will fail is a slap in the face of the citizenry - easy for him to say, given his annual salary - a worldwide economic collapse is a little different here - Rush’s attitude should be labeled as treasonous and unpatriotic!  I think it’s perfectly appropriate and encouraging for legislators to question the ins and outs of the President’s proposals; apathy and complacency in a democracy is a scary thing but to wish the worst on a President such that the world suffers for it is heinous

I am generally for stem cell research - I do get queasy with the fact that it’s a life that is being dissected in the name of science but that’s better than just throwing it out I suppose - and, since we are against animal testing, how else can we do scientific research and create cures?

I asked my Mom (who is 85) about all the talk about Michelle and she said it reminds her of the Depression in that people need a break from their troubles and worries so in her day, it was grand-scale musicals - us, it’s celebrity gossip - talking about Michelle’s clothing, body baring or basically anything else she does is no more than celebrity gossip

and typically, not always, people that did not vote and do not like her husband will say she’s awful too on anything she does (though I always liked Barbara Bush even though I did not vote for her husband or her son but Nancy and W’s wife gave me the creeps) - so the responses in this thread should not surprise any of us

if I was her publicist, I would caution on forwarding comparisons to Camelot -  this is a new generation of citizenry - only the yuppie generation (albiet our largest population) cares and they were not the primary population that put Obama in anyway

wow - how did I miss this post?  thank you for reminding us - we forget these atrocities and that they still happen!

Hey - I agree with you Elaine (and though I like your postings, I don’t usually agree with them) so this is a first -

do I think she’s a little off having all those kids?  yes, but it’s a little Brazil/Brave-New-World/China of us to start going in and saying she must be insane to have all those kids - that’s a creepy road to go down as government oversight

This is what frosts me:

By her telling, Schlafly was “saved from the life as a working girl” when she met and in 1949 married a wealthy, Illinois-based attorney named Fred Schlafly.

Not all of us get to marry wealth and stay home with our kids all day - it’s us women who need to work that demand equal pay for equal work- she got out of touch with reality with that life of luxury which is sad given she had more humble beginnings -

these are the people I neither dislike or like, I just ignore them

 

I don’t think the Pope should tell Pelosi that she needs to fight against abortion - the laws of the land do not say when a fetus is a protected member of society so even though as Catholics, we believe a life ends with an abortion, there is nothing in our government’s judicial system that says otherwise -

 I believe in free will and I believe that sometimes the laws of the land are not the same as the laws of the Church and that has to be respected -

I agree with other posters that being pro-all-life means no capital punishment, no war and a responsibility to the sick, the poor and the aged - these are things that government can take the lead upon and should but since other religions do not see life beginning at conception, I’m not sure it’s appropriate for Pelosi or Biden to impress their religious teachings on everyone else

 and I am a Roman Catholic

…so to speak…

link is gone - lol

that’s my point - I think he needs to use his staff more