Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

[Priceless]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

His bow was to the Japanese Prime Minister.

So now he's surrendering to the Japanese! I'm sure that makes all the Pearl Harbor survivors happy!

[Old Pio]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

His bow was to the Japanese Prime Minister. The Japanese Prime Minister is not Muslim.

IIRC, it was HIM the emperor.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Droves of US business execs bow to Japanese every day. Its called cultural awareness.

[St. Clown]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

IIRC, it was HIM the emperor.

I thought the title of Emperor had been removed from Japan after the war. I had originally wrote the Emperor, but then changed it to PM because of that.

Regardless, it was in Japan. I really think people make too much of it. IMO, he was simply showing too much courtesy to the dignitary whose country he was visiting, overcompensating for what he saw as a lack of courtesy shown by GWB's administration to world leaders. People are making mountains out of mole hills, both what Pres. Obama did and the public's reaction to it.

[Old Pio]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

I thought the title of Emperor had been removed from Japan after the war. I had originally wrote the Emperor, but then changed it to PM because of that.

Regardless, it was in Japan. I really think people make too much of it. IMO, he was simply showing too much courtesy to the dignitary whose country he was visiting, overcompensating for what he saw as a lack of courtesy shown by GWB's administration to world leaders. People are making mountains out of mole hills, both what Pres. Obama did and the public's reaction to it.

The dynasty lives on. In fact, it was our assurances that they could keep the emperor that at the end of the day persuaded Hirohito to order them to surrender. The current emperor is his son and he and his family live in the magnificent imperial palace which we avoided bombing. The emperor is held in extremely high regard, I would say more so than Elizabeth. Although neither has any political power. Japan has a parliamentary system, like Great Britain.

When I was working GI radio in Tokyo you never referred to "Emperor Hirohito" or "Crown Prince Akahito." Instead, you referred to "His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor" and "His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince." Never anything else. Ever.

I'm not sure how Bush' alleged lack of courtesy to other world leaders (even if true) is ameliorated by over compensating to the Emperor of Japan. Our president is not a subject of the Emperor and should not place himself (and by exension the United States) in any position other than equal. Polite, deferential, a slight nod of the head, but not a full on bow. Just like in the Olympics, when our flag is not dipped for any earthly ruler, including in '36 for the Austrian paper hanger.

Early in the occupation, MacArthur insisted Hirohito come to him. And the photograph of their meeting, with MacArthur towering over the Emperor as much as anything showed the Japanese people that the old order had changed, forever.

[leswp1]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Droves of US business execs bow to Japanese every day. Its called cultural awareness.

There is no culture but our own. Don't you know that? Everyone is supposed to do what we want, when we want it and stop all that other stuff.

[walrus]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Bowing is so important, maybe you should listen to Obama saying he would "step in" (read, privatize profits, socialize loses) to other banks who lost as much much money as JP Morgan and that a bank that just blew a few billion is one of our best run banks.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Bowing is so important, maybe you should listen to Obama saying he would "step in" (read, privatize profits, socialize loses) to other banks who lost as much much money as JP Morgan and that a bank that just blew a few billion is one of our best run banks.

Always have to check certain posters facts. When in the last year has Obama said he wants to privatize profits and socialize banking losses? Seems to me you're making s* up.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Always have to check certain posters facts. When in the last year has Obama said he wants to privatize profits and socialize banking losses? Seems to me you're making s* up.

How is privatising profits and socialising losses even possible? Unless you're talking about claiming a loss on your income taxes...

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

So now he's surrendering to the Japanese! I'm sure that makes all the Pearl Harbor survivors happy!

Won-ton!

Pe-ko-ku!

[Kepler]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Some Congress race polling data. I believe the accepted term is "interesting."

If the poll conducted by the (Democratic-affiliated) Mellman Group, and the poll conducted by the (GOP-affiliated) We Ask America are on the fairway, the GOP might be suffering another two shots in their quest to attain a Senate majority. The general consensus (admittedly fueled in part by polling from the House of Ras) was that Claire McCaskill was in deep trouble, and might have moved into position as the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate. This poll, while it has her quite a ways below 50 percent, puts her in modest leads, no matter the GOP candidate that emerges from their primary later this year.

Meanwhile, if W.A.A. is correct, we are on the cusp of a major upset in Nebraska, where the state attorney general and the state treasurer appear poised to fall at the hands of an uber-conservative state senator who was polling in the single digits not too long ago. This could be outstanding news for the Democrats, who must defend a brutal open seat here with former Sen. Bob Kerrey. Kerrey polled best against Fischer in the general election trial heats to date. However, those polls were conducted when she was a distant third wheel in the GOP primary, and one has to wonder if the increased visibility that has come with her rise into contention has also changed her general election prospects, as well.

I heard a POTUS story on the morning commute that highlighted the amount of money the Tea Party poured into the NE primary for Fischer. She is apparently a Christine O'Donnell type, with or without the coven, and her nomination could turn a Kerrey 50/50 seat into a 80/20 seat.

It's still very early but the Dems keep racking up these incremental advantages in Senate races that are usually associated with a party on the rise -- the sort of "luck" that precedes a good election night.

Purely inside baseball but my wife made the observation that in 2008 Republican staffers had their resumes circulating, while in 2012 Democratic staffers do not.

[Rover]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

My personal opinion is that any nutjob can win in Nebraska. . However the point is a good one, which is until all these primary races are decided its a bit too early to start calling some of these contests. Who's scalp is next? Don't know, but I thinking Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin is really ripe for the picking. Can't get much more establishment than him. Plus he's even more middle of the road than Lugar. Florida, Arizona, etc - these primaries are yet to be decided and as we saw in Indiana (and Delaware last time) it doesn't take long for one of these candidates to catch fire.

[St. Clown]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

How is privatising profits and socialising losses even possible? Unless you're talking about claiming a loss on your income taxes...

When you bail out a corporation that is failing, you're socializing the losses that business has incurred. When you require a mortgage company to sell its mortgages issued to Fannie or Freddie, and they become holders of the primary loans, they take the brunt of the defaults.

[FreshFish]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

Mildly amusing....the Obama campaign puts out an attack ad on a Bain Capital investment in GST Steel, which went bankrupt in 2001.....two years after Romney had left Bain to run the Salt Lake City Olympics.

The person from Bain who was in charge of GST Steel at the time it went bankrupt is now a major bundler for Obama's campaign cash.....oops.

and the day they aired the commercial, Obama was in Manhattan, attending a fund-raiser, hosted by Tony James, president of Blackstone Group, which is a private equity investment firm just like Bain.

So they attack Bain on one hand while on the same day go to another private equity company to raise money. Nice timing, guys.

[FreshFish]

Re: Elections 2012: You must choose the lesser of two weevils

When you bail out a corporation that is failing, you're socializing the losses that business has incurred. When you require a mortgage company to sell its mortgages issued to Fannie or Freddie, and they become holders of the primary loans, they take the brunt of the defaults.

Well put. In addition, Fannie ostensibly is a "public" company. FNM shares traded on the NYSE and paid dividends to shareholders, yet it was the Federal government that backed Fannie's bad loans, not shareholder capital.