It took more than three days to re-enable the posting of readers’ comments to Yahoo News! articles. I still maintain, though, Yahoo’s censorship is intentional, and that posts like mine will be screened out or earmarked for limited-distribution only.
I hope you enjoy all 17 of these mini-essays/comments:
ONE:
So Gingrich won’t go negative, eh? What if Willard Romney were to challenge Newt by asking in his face: “Do you think it would be appropriate for your wife, Callista, to sign a marital fidelity pledge as you did, especially the part that says ‘[I pledge to have] respect for the marital bonds of others?’”
It doesn’t seem to take much to set Gingrich off, though this would be a good question for Willard (or for anyone) to ask. After all, Callista was “liaisoning” with Newt when he was still married to wife #2. Isn’t it important that the First Lady sign such a pledge…considering? Huh, huh, huh…isn’t it? Why aren't you answering, Newt? Come on, man. Inquiring minds want to know.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“When I found out Jon Huntsman wouldn’t sign anyone’s pledges, I had to give him a lot of points for that.”
TWO:
I wonder if a space ship could fly through the sun if it were sufficiently close to flying at the speed of light. The word “sufficiently” is the key, for of course the closer to that speed an object attains, the closer to attaining infinite mass. And that’s a definite barrier, since no single object could attain infinite mass (which is more mass than contained in this universe, though I wonder if we could somehow tap into the masses of other universes and if that would be "enough").
The mass of such a fast-moving ship would be so many times the mass of the sun as to make the latter’s negligible. But then there’s the matter of such a ship surviving the sun’s heat. Or would heat also have a negligible effect on such a massive spaceship? For what reason, one wonders?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Maybe whoever piloted the ‘Comet’ Lovejoy can answer such questions.”
THREE:
Gingrich should challenge Romney and Ron Paul to promise to support the GOP nominee, whomever he or she turns out to be.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“And make Romney swear to that upon the Book of Mormon. That ought to give him pause. As for Ron Paul? His hesitation will speaks volumes more than his voice ever did.”
FOUR:
[This is my response to BRI 3 D.]
The idea behind having a political party in the first place is that you don’t disagree so profoundly that you couldn’t unite behind your party’s standard bearer. But we already know Ron Paul is an opportunist. He was a Libertarian once and then he (as you put it) “sold out” to become a RINO once again.
Ron Paul deserves all the scorn that can be heaped upon one who sold out to the Two Party System hoping he could buck it someday to his own personal advantage. And that’s all that’s at stake here, isn’t it? For Ron Paul would get to smile on his death bed after having been elected President.
Too bad he didn’t do the work necessary to assure the election of an independent Congress (by himself remaining an independent while in Congress), which an independent president would need to advance his agenda. But after all gets said and done, it will be seen that Ron Paul didn’t care as much about getting anything done as he cared about being called “Mr. President.” Ron Paul makes me sick.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Why don’t you Ron Paulonians ditch your Saviour Complex. I’m embarrassed for you.”
FIVE:
This is what Yahoo! posted: “We're having problems with Reading Activity and Commenting features on our site. We're working to re-enable them as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
This is what Yahoo meant: “We’ve had to shut down this extremely popular feature for 3 days while we figure out how to more efficiently screen out undesirable posts without being so obvious about it. The candidates are starting to complain.”
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“It’s ironic how I blasted Yahoo for censorship on my personal blog on Sunday, and the very next day ‘We’re having problems…’ Go figure.”
SIX:
[This was posted before Yahoo finally “fixed” (after three days) whatever prevented readers from posting their comments to all of its news articles.]
It's good to see Yahoo is at least allowing readers to post comments to its sports articles. I guess that's safe enough.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"But...if someone tries to slip in a political comment to its sports articles, Yahoo will probably shut down that venue as well."
SEVEN:
“The pipeline would carry millions of barrels of Alberta oilsands crude through six U.S. states to Gulf Coast refineries.”
What’s all this noise about “Gulf Coast refineries?” Why not build a refinery closer to those oilsands? Or, better yet, why doesn’t Canada decide to construct its own refinery and sell us the end-products? Surely the Canadians wouldn’t need so much pipeline over such a long distance to get the job done.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Why haven’t we heard anything about these options?”
“Why haven’t we heard anything about these options?”
[Added note (not posted to Yahoo): I’m not the only Yahoo commenter who made this observation, though I’ll at least pretend to be surprised that this issue hasn’t made its way into the dialog between the Two Parties.]
EIGHT:
I agree. Jeb Bush would be the GOP's best shot at Obama, who tried his level best to be George III. Deeper into Afghanistan? Dubya would have approved. Foreign policywise, there's not much difference between Obama and Dubya.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"And to those Democrats who are laughing at my suggestion, I ask, 'Is that nervous laughter I'm hearing?'"
NINE:
John S, I disagree. What Yahoo is doing is catering to whatever agenda pleases the Elite (liberal or conservative are really just buzz words) and assuring its own maximum profits.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"The old divide between Liberal and Conservative is only superfically relevant. The real battlelines are drawn between the ultrarich (and their supporters who delude themselves into thinking they're part of the people who count), and everybody else."
TEN:
JeromeB,
You might be interested in the words of Greg Palast, concerning “the [Iraq] war was for oil:”
“Specifically, the system ordered up by the Bush cabal would keep a lid on Iraq's oil production -- limiting Iraq's oil pumping to the tight quota set by Saudi Arabia and the OPEC cartel. There you have it. Yes, Bush went in for the oil -- not to get more of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq from producing too much of it."
The idea being, the less the supply, the more that can be charged for it.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“There is more than one way in which a war can be for oil.”
ELEVEN:
I saw the Sherlock Holmes movie yesterday and walked away with one depressing realization. The elegance of the dialog was way over the heads of too many in the audience. Maybe too many people are being dumbed-down by overexposure to the content on Yahoo News’ comments. Also, I was kind of hoping for a moment of frivolous indulgence, such as Dr. Watson responding with a “No shit, Sherlock!” Oh, please, please let that line be in the next installment.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Though her role wasn’t very challenging, I was glad to see Noomi Rapace get this kind of major exposure.”
TWELVE:
“‘…when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, typically it's a duck,’ Romney said.” That old truism has been heard by generations as they went through law school. However, I wonder if it’s been updated to take DNA testing into account. If so, then it wouldn’t matter what “it” walks like or quacks like. That aside, we don’t need DNA testing here, just a simple application of common sense.
For instance, why doesn’t Knute Gettin’-Rich open his books in the name of transparency? Be specific and tell us exactly what kind of advice you gave Freddie Mac? You say, “most of that money went to pay overhead?” Fine, open those books and show us. You don’t have anything against transparency, do you Knute?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“You know what? I think Knute’s lying about only advising. Even if he didn’t covertly lobby, his name attached to Freddie Mac surely didn’t hurt their cause, now did it?”
[Post Script (not posted to Yahoo): To: Law School professors: Have you updated this “duck” talk to include the concept of the virtual duck? Just asking.]
THIRTEEN:
“He said he was inclined to hold teleconferences every few days…” Yes, but does that mean Knute actually holds such conferences every few days? There’s a world of difference between actually doing something and being “inclined” to do something.
"We don't have our advertising versus their advertising, but you get to ask me directly." Maybe so, but do you post all of those questions (and all of your responses) on your website? There’s a world of difference between (a select few by means of teleconferencing) getting to “ask me directly” and truly opening up the floodgates to allow anyone to ask questions (and then posting all of your replies).
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“You’ve got to be careful with someone as slick as Knute Gettin’-Rich by keeping on firing question after question, each seeking refinements of his previous answers. Sooner or later, he won’t be able to outrun your questions and the truth with come out.”
FOURTEEN:
“The mission cost nearly 4,500 American … lives…” If Iraq adopts another strongman (like Saddam Hussein) or if Iraq aligns itself with Iran, we would have to go back in there with guns blazing. If not, then those 4,500 Americans would have died in vain.
You can see it now, can’t you? Ten years down the pike? If Iraq misbehaves, it would go without saying that our Congress would be right on top of the situation, giving President Rubio authority to re-invade. No, not merely “giving” that authority, but demanding that he take action, no matter what the cost. No doubt about any of this, right? Right!? Yoo hoo, anybody listening?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Goes without saying for we never leave anything half done, right? Right? Anybody out there?”
FIFTEEN:
Ron Paul is a fatally flawed candidate simply because, if elected, he won't have an independent Congress to work with. Even elements within his own party will try to cut him off at the knees.
The sad part? Ron Paul doesn't seem to have the slightest clue about this.
The sadder part? Neither do his supporters who think (as do too many) that simply electing One Great Man/Saviour can fix everything.
The saddest part? Ron Paul could have been working all these years as a Congressman trying to drum up support for independents in Congress by shedding his Pubber label.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“But, no. Instead we have Sheeple bleating, ‘Far out, man. Vote for Ron Paul and he’ll fix everything all by himself.’ What a bunch of cheeseheads!”
SIXTEEN:
Obama doesn’t deserve another term in office, since he’s proved he’s not a man of his word. So that means…what? We’re stuck with a Pubber for Prez? Even as a lifelong liberal (that is, an open-minded one) I say, “Why not?” I’m open-minded enough to know that the road to our ideals is sometimes paved with the bodies of our opponents – figuratively speaking, of course.
Obama was foisted on us as an agent of change by a media which didn’t ask him any hard questions during his meteoric rise. [You didn’t think that was an oversight, did you?] What better way to dig us deeper into Afghanistan than to have our liberal sweetheart do the digging? People will swallow all kinds of crap depending on who’s doing the dishing.
OK, fine, lesson learned. Next time? Stop being so predictable and vote against your conscience. Vote for the guy you'd hate to be our next prez. The only viable, grand strategy is to deny the incumbents their “social security.” If we can muster the will to vote against all incumbents – the good, the bad, and the ugly – we’ll badly frighten an establishment that counts on our predictability. How else do you think they market so successfully – everything from pet rocks to the cola you drink to the Leader of the Free World?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“Vote for me and I’ll set you free – that is, once you get around to voting in an independent Congress that I won’t have to fight with for four years.”
SEVENTEEN:
[In response to Comet Lovejoy flying through the sun’s atmosphere and emerging intact.]
A good friend of mine said, "It's a spaceship, idiots!" Well...there has to be some reason why it survived solar grazing. What kind of technology could do that? You better believe the Pentagon is taking far more than a casual interest in this.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
"If there really are ET's out there, maybe they're just toying with us by putting on an occasional show."
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Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“An interesting question for Ron Paul: ‘If we closed every military base overseas and, correspondingly, reduced our military manpower, wouldn’t you be a little nervous about the presence of so many (unemployed!) people within our borders – who know how to shoot?’” – Steve.
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
