The "Honest Politician" Seal of Approval

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Monday November 08, 2010 · 2:10 PM PST

2010/11/08 · 14:10

We'd all love to see meaningful campign finance reform enacted in Congress, but the odds are hopelessly stacked against us.

Most of our politicians were elected as a result of the big money influence that we'd like to do away with. Though they'll dance about and posture, they're not about to bite the hand that feeds them.

The best way to bring about change, therefore, is to target people who are running for office for the very first time-- before the talons of big money can sink too deeply into their flesh. What if we were to create an objective standard-- like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval-- but for HONEST POLITICIANS.

Perfektion

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Sunday November 07, 2010 · 4:10 PM PST

2010/11/07 · 16:10

Because on November 9th, 2010, George W. Bush releases his book "Decision Points" where he proudly admits that he personally authorized the torture of human beings.

In his book, titled "Decision Points," Bush recounts being asked by the CIA whether it could proceed with waterboarding Mohammed, who Bush said was suspected of knowing about still-pending terrorist plots against the United States. Bush writes that his reply was "Damn right" and states that he would make the same decision again to save lives,

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice sits back and does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No imprisonment, no indictments, no war-crime tribunals, not even a token investigation.

Perfektion

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Wednesday November 03, 2010 · 12:48 PM PDT

2010/11/03 · 12:48

Everyone has a favorite reason for why the Democrats lost big last night and as usual, the progressives at DailyKos are closer to reality than the Republicans or the talking head pundits.

Some are blaming this on the Obama/Democratic failure to get anything substantial done over the last 2 years. Some are blaming it on failing to promote the token changes that we did accomplish. Some are still blaming the economic mess that George W. Bush created. And some are blaming it on the Dems perpetual lack of spine. But most of you are still missing the big picture.

Perfektion

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Wednesday June 24, 2009 · 11:48 PM PDT

2009/06/24 · 23:48

In politics, perception is reality.

If you read the Wikipedia entry for Dick Cheney, this is all that's written about torture.

In June 2007, the Washington Post summarized Cheney’s vice presidency in a Pulitzer Prize-winning[100] four-part series, based in part on interviews with former administration officials. The articles characterized Cheney not as a "shadow" president, but as someone who usually has the last words of counsel to the president on policies, which in many cases would reshape the powers of the presidency. When former Vice President Dan Quayle suggested to Cheney that the office was largely ceremonial, Cheney reportedly replied, "I have a different understanding with the president." The articles described Cheney as having a secretive approach to the tools of government, indicated by the use of his own security classification and three man-sized safes in his offices.[101]

The articles described Cheney’s influence on decisions pertaining to detention of suspected terrorists and the legal limits that apply to their questioning, especially what constitutes torture.[102]

Wikipedia

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Sunday May 31, 2009 · 1:27 AM PDT

2009/05/31 · 01:27

Does torture work?

Does it produce valuable intelligence?

Are there classified memos showing that it's worked?

How often has torture saved lives?

Many times? Sometimes? Once?

And if it did save lives once, twice, or more often, shouldn't that matter?

HELL NO!!!!

Perfektion

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Thursday November 06, 2008 · 11:26 PM PST

2008/11/06 · 23:26

Much as I hated to see Prop 8 win, it was something that needed to happen.

Gay couples deserve better than to live in constant fear of losing their marriages at the whim of the next ballot-measure election.

They deserve long term legal protection, and now that's exactly where this is headed.

Perfektion

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Tuesday September 30, 2008 · 12:35 AM PDT

2008/09/30 · 00:35

You wake up one morning to find an absolutely massive spaceship hovering above your city. A ridiculously large metal device drops down, scoops up an entire neighborhood, and drops 10,000 people into a huge oven. They're burned to a crisp, and the carbon embers trigger a sensor that beams back information to some barely intelligent aliens remotely operating the spaceship half way across the galaxy.

"Nnnzzzzhhh dwaanbattt" they say, which loosely translated means, "Nope, no life there", for in their experience life is all uranium based.

Perfektion

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Sunday August 31, 2008 · 1:08 AM PDT

2008/08/31 · 01:08

Sarah Palin is an atrocious choice for McCain's VP -- no doubt-- but enough already with the nasty jokes about her, the rhyming nicknames, the wild-eyed pictures, the smarmy sarcasm, the stretched scandals, and the contrived conspiracy theories.

That's not what Progressives are about.

McCain picked a woman with (1) limited understanding of national and international politics, (2) token political experience, and (3) backwards views on social issues.

KNOWLEDGE - no
EXPERIENCE - no
JUDGEMENT - no

That's all we need say about her, but we can say it nicely, and we can say it over, and over, and OVER.

We can win without being like the Rethuglicans. We will. We should.

Don't fall for the trap of taking the low-road.

Don't risk rallying sympathy support for the supposed "victim".

Our strength lies in the courage of our progressive convictions, and the integrity of our actions.

BE STRONG.

Thank you.

The perfect is the enemy of the... wha?

Perfektion

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Saturday July 05, 2008 · 3:35 PM PDT

2008/07/05 · 15:35

There's a certain trite phrase that's being tossed about far too often on this website. It's usually in response to some criticism of Obama's latest moves.

The perfect is the enemy of the good

But is it true?

Like most trite phrases, it's a gross oversimplification of the issue.

Perfektion

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Sunday June 29, 2008 · 9:27 AM PDT

2008/06/29 · 09:27

I have sympathy for the pragmatist position. The one that says: the FISA bill is going to pass anyway, so why should Obama oppose it, and risk being labelled "soft on terror"?

After 8 years of George W. Bush, I understand the mentality that political calculations must be made, and apparent capitulations must be tolerated, so that a Democrat can once again win the White House.

But here's where it all goes wrong.

"You know, this election is about trust, and trusting people's word" McCain told a crowd of donors to his campaign. "And unfortunately, apparently, on several items, Sen. Obama's word cannot be trusted."

--John McCain, June 28th, 2008.

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