Latest Politics Talk Posts at VideoSift.com

How about something new?

xxovercastxx (http://politics.videosift.com/member/xxovercastxx) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:45:08 -0700

(15 comments - 251 views)
People mostly sift politics and news videos that reaffirm positions they already have. It's fine to express your opinion, even via someone else's words, but it feels like 90+% of the top videos since the 2008 election campaign started have fallen into this category.

I get it, really. Bush was wrong and Obama is right. The Republicans are idiots and the Democrats are saviors. Fox News couldn't find their way out of a paper bag (because paper bags are all recycled now and recycling is part of the Muslim, Marxist, Liberal Hippie agenda).

You've all made your point, now can't we get some videos that teach/show us something new? Maybe ease off the frivolous news for a while? I could go back to watching TV at this rate.

- xxovercastxx

The Internet Troll is explained in new psyclological study.

therealblankman (http://politics.videosift.com/member/therealblankman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:54:25 -0700

(4 comments - 102 views)
In a study conducted at Stanford, psychologists discovered that people who hold extreme opinions are more likely to voice them loudly than those who hold moderate opinions. At last, science has explained most of what you read on the internet, and hear on Faux News.

The study also shows that people who hold extreme views also delude themselves into thinking that their opinions are shared by the majority.

Any opinions on this, QM?

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/majopinion.htm

- therealblankman

Health Insurance Companies' Profit Margins: Not so Fat

Doc_M (http://politics.videosift.com/member/Doc_M) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:07:45 -0700

(7 comments - 199 views)
The AP has fact-checked recent Dems who have claimed that health insurance profits have been "obscene" and "immoral" while "bodies pile up" and has found them to be full of hot air if not intentionally deceptive:

http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/33470129/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

Last year, the average health insurance company's profit margin was a measly 2.2%, but after you hear Dem representatives talk about it, you'd think it was near 40%. But last year was slow right? What about the average year? That must be the obscene number they're talking about right? 6% ...

You can argue that we would benefit from a federal insurance system or not, but let's not make stuff up out of thin air and call it scary truth. You can't form and informed opinion when your information is misinformation. I'm tired of all the major arguments being based in "feelings," sob stories, and skewed numbers. Half of the arguments are deceptions and the other half are fallacies.

I don't have the answers, but I certainly have learned who not to look to for them, and they all work in the same building.

- Doc_M

Liz Cheney's Group calls NIN's protest "Pathetic"

Drax (http://politics.videosift.com/member/Drax) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:32:42 -0700

(10 comments - 273 views)
The 60 char title limit kind of hindered me putting up a fully informative title as to this post.. It was discovered recently that Reznor's music along with a number of other bands is being used as torture at Gitmo. Their music is played at ear splitting levels, sometimes repeating the same song over and over for long durations.

This is all being done without any consent from the artists (did they at least legally purchase their copies?), and it would seem that any requests from the artists to have their music pulled from the 'enhanced interrogation' is being dismissed at a near hostile level by members of Liz Cheney's group, 'Keep America Safe'.

All of my news concerning this is being pulled from The NIN Hotline, I found this particular quote interesting: "A "Keep America Safe" spokesperson went so far as to say "It's almost laughable to think that heavy metal bands like Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine have a moral authority on national security issues.".

I guess loud edgy music must be evil and immoral even though it's almost always anything but, 'least the stuff I listen to.

You can read more: at http://www.theninhotline.net/news/
Including an organized attempt at asking for an apology from Keep America Safe for deeming the artist's stance as laughable and having no moral leverage concerning the use of their music, and as they word it - to stand up for all awesome musicians who have enriched American culture and deserve to have their rights respected, not dismissed.

- Drax

Obama won the Nobel Peace prize?

NetRunner (http://netrunner.videosift.com) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:24:28 -0700

(16 comments - 443 views)
I'm not quite sure I understand what the thinking was behind the Nobel committee's decision, but as usual, I find it fascinating to watch the political sphere react en masse to this kind of political hand grenade being tossed into the mix.

Let's start with a snippet of the announcement itself from the Nobel committee:

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.

...snip...

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.

Sounds good, but they seem to be awarding the prize for simply starting down this path, not for having achieved any particular milestone.

The RNC reaction, is somewhat predictable:

The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?' It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain - President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.

As is the response from the right-wing extremists who're part of the newspapers/Taliban.

Limbaugh says it's a sign that the world loves an emasculated US.

Shockingly, I think John McCain has the smartest thing for Republicans to say on the topic, politically speaking, which hasn't been true of him since he won the nomination last year.

The DNC is apparently equally combative in their response:

The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists — the Taliban and Hamas this morning — in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize. Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize — an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride — unless of course you are the Republican Party. The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It’s no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore – it’s an embarrassing label to claim.

The reaction from the netroots is one of, well, confusion. We're not gonna go all crazy n' stuff and try and make this into some sign of how Obama's evil, but we generally agree that at best, this is premature.

DailyKos is scouring international news, in order to get some perspective. TPM, in my opinion, nails it exactly. According to Josh Marshall's reasoning, it's really about a return of the world's largest superpower returning to the international community as a law-abiding citizen generally on board with the goals of that same community.

Glenn Greenwald is, to say the least, less charitable than anyone from the right, mostly because he's coming at it from a, uhh, well, you know, human perspective. He's also pissed about the RNC/Taliban link the left is halfheartedly pushing, which is fair.

For what it's worth, Obama himself seems to be taking this as a call to action, rather than a recognition of anything he has done so far.

Mostly I'm just amazed that all the above ink was spilled before lunchtime.

- NetRunner

So, Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama ...

radx (http://politics.videosift.com/member/radx) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:13:59 -0700

(4 comments - 243 views)

The US president, Barack Obama, was today awarded the 2009 Nobel peace prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

The Nobel committee said "only rarely has a person such as Obama captured the world's attention and given his people hope for a better future".

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population," the citation said.

The committee said Obama, who only took up the presidency in January, had been acknowledged for his calls to reduce the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons and working for world peace.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."

The first African American to hold the country's highest office, Obama has called for disarmament and worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process. He is currently considering whether to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan where the US is mired in an eight-year-old conflict.

The prize worth 10 million Swedish crowns (£880,000) will be handed over in Oslo next month.

Source: Guardian

I'm inclined to add it to the parody channel as well, since next to the news was an article about a US threat to Iran.

- radx

Gore Vidal Criticizes The USA

marinara (http://politics.videosift.com/member/marinara) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:34:18 -0700

(3 comments - 206 views)
If you don't respect Gore Vidal, one of the giants of commentary, you won't like this.
Gore Vidal is a hyper-educated anti-academic, and also controversial. He would be in America's brain trust, if we had one, and ....
I hope reading Gore Vidal bashing the USA resonates with you as well as it did with me.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/obama-is-incompetent-and_b_311796.html

- marinara

the BUSH admin BLOCKED efforts to prevent housing crisis

enoch (http://politics.videosift.com/member/enoch) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:59:27 -0700

(2 comments - 134 views)
from raw story:
Federal regulators in the Bush administration blocked attempts by state governments to prevent predatory lending practices that resulted in the financial crisis now stalking the American economy, a new study from the University of North Carolina says.

In 2004, the Office of the Currency Comptroller, an obscure regulatory agency tasked with ensuring the fiscal soundness of America's banks, invoked an 1863 law to give itself the power to override state laws against predatory lending. The OCC told states they could not enforce predatory-lending laws, and all banks would be subject only to less-strict federal laws.

Now, a research paper (PDF) from UNC-Chapel Hill's Center for Community Capital shows that those anti-predatory lending laws had actually worked. States that had stricter regulations on issuing mortgages were found to have fewer foreclosures.

"We believe that these findings are remarkable, since they suggest an important and yet unexplored link between [anti-predatory lending laws] and foreclosures," the study's authors state.

The study may be the first scientific evidence to back up claims made by many critics that the Bush administration and earlier administrations allowed last year's financial crisis to happen by not enforcing common-sense regulations on lenders.

the article in full:
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/study-bush-blocked-efforts/

- enoch

Making Bush Look Like a Piker

blankfist (http://blankfist.videosift.com) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:40:13 -0700

(6 comments - 254 views)
excerpt from the following article by Veronique de Rugy:

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/september/making-bush-look-like-a-piker

Based on Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data, the following chart shows a projection of deficit numbers for each year until fiscal 2018. Each color represents the difference between the projected deficits at different points in time. The purple bars represent the deficit numbers as they were projected back in September 2008; the black and red bars represent the difference between the projected deficits at other points in time. The black bars represent the growth in the projected deficit numbers between September 2008 and January 2009. The red bars represent the difference between the January 2009 projections and the new deficit numbers as projected in August 2009. Finally, the orange bars represent the actual deficit numbers during President Clinton’s last year in office (fiscal 2001) and President Bush’s two terms.

Here are a few interesting things about this data:

First, while President Obama is fond of promoting what he calls a "new ethic of responsibility"—in fact he named his first budget, for fiscal 2010, "A New Era of Responsibility"—that is a misrepresentation of his actual budget plan. For each of Obama’s years in office, the deficit is projected to be larger than any year during Bush’s terms.

Read entire article

- blankfist

Socialism in Our Midst - the public option

Ryjkyj (http://politics.videosift.com/member/Ryjkyj) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:09:22 -0700

(12 comments - 296 views)
I can't believe this has been going on my whole life and I'm only now waking up.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/09/19/ED7B19P06H.DTL

- Ryjkyj