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Other Discussion Boards => Philosophy, Religion & Society => Topic started by: markjo on March 05, 2015, 09:32:10 PM

Title: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: markjo on March 05, 2015, 09:32:10 PM
Seriously, do we really want this guy as House Speaker?
Quote from: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-boehner-dhs-kissy-face
Asked if America would be less safe if Homeland Security funding dropped off, Boenher answered: "If ands or buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas."
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 05, 2015, 11:05:55 PM
That's not arrogance that's "I don't want to go on record answering this question because either way it'll fuck me up badly."
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 05, 2015, 11:42:39 PM
Would you prefer that he make up some sort of bullshit response or dodge the question entirely like pretty much any other politician presented with such an asinine question?
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 05, 2015, 11:48:34 PM
Would you prefer that he make up some sort of bullshit response or dodge the question entirely like pretty much any other politician presented with such an asinine question?

That's exactly what he did, isn't it?
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 06, 2015, 12:02:56 AM
Would you prefer that he make up some sort of bullshit response or dodge the question entirely like pretty much any other politician presented with such an asinine question?

That's exactly what he did, isn't it?

He did, but not in the traditional political way. The traditional political way is to draw out a five minute response about topics tangentially related to the question.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 06, 2015, 01:45:22 AM
Would you prefer that he make up some sort of bullshit response or dodge the question entirely like pretty much any other politician presented with such an asinine question?

That's exactly what he did, isn't it?

He did, but not in the traditional political way. The traditional political way is to draw out a five minute response about topics tangentially related to the question.
Rushy admires the art of saying nothing.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 06, 2015, 03:28:18 AM
Rushy admires the art of saying nothing.

I admire his ability to bluntly put that the question was dumb. Most politicians are too busy telling people the question is dumb without just saying it. I guess it just goes to show you that giving a long answer that says nothing really does pull the wool over people's eyes. Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on March 06, 2015, 04:58:38 AM
Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
...This is possibly the dumbest thing posted on a forum that has Thork as a regular poster. I'm amazed.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 06, 2015, 08:45:46 AM
Rushy admires the art of saying nothing.

I admire his ability to bluntly put that the question was dumb. Most politicians are too busy telling people the question is dumb without just saying it. I guess it just goes to show you that giving a long answer that says nothing really does pull the wool over people's eyes. Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
Why was the question dumb?  It boiled down to "do we really need the DHS?" Which I think is rather valid.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 06, 2015, 12:34:37 PM
Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
...This is possibly the dumbest thing posted on a forum that has Thork as a regular poster. I'm amazed.

Do you ever do anything other than this?
Rushy admires the art of saying nothing.

I admire his ability to bluntly put that the question was dumb. Most politicians are too busy telling people the question is dumb without just saying it. I guess it just goes to show you that giving a long answer that says nothing really does pull the wool over people's eyes. Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
Why was the question dumb?  It boiled down to "do we really need the DHS?" Which I think is rather valid.

Do you think he can answer that question? I don't.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 06, 2015, 11:37:47 PM
Rushy admires the art of saying nothing.

I admire his ability to bluntly put that the question was dumb. Most politicians are too busy telling people the question is dumb without just saying it. I guess it just goes to show you that giving a long answer that says nothing really does pull the wool over people's eyes. Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
Why was the question dumb?  It boiled down to "do we really need the DHS?" Which I think is rather valid.

Do you think he can answer that question? I don't.
I don't know if he can.  But the inability to answer a question does not make it a dumb question.  Someone may be able to answer it.  Or maybe no one can.  Either way, I think it's a question we should ask.  Do we need the DHS or is the system we had before good enough?
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 07, 2015, 02:02:25 AM
I don't know if he can.  But the inability to answer a question does not make it a dumb question.  Someone may be able to answer it.  Or maybe no one can.  Either way, I think it's a question we should ask.  Do we need the DHS or is the system we had before good enough?

It is a dumb question. It's asking him to, at worst, predict the future, and at best, be fully aware of the department's subjective impact on its own roles without ever having worked in that department. If the person asking was really interested in the DHS' impact, they probably should have referred to a specific role it plays and how that function has or hasn't changed since its inception. Asking a vague question like "ARE WE SAFER?!" makes no sense. It's the difference between asking if Border Patrol makes the country more or less safe... or asking if the Border Patrol statistically lowers the amount of illegal immigrants. One is a vague, open ended question that is just conjecture, the other is a real topic.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Tau on March 07, 2015, 04:29:05 AM
I don't know if he can.  But the inability to answer a question does not make it a dumb question.  Someone may be able to answer it.  Or maybe no one can.  Either way, I think it's a question we should ask.  Do we need the DHS or is the system we had before good enough?

It is a dumb question. It's asking him to, at worst, predict the future, and at best, be fully aware of the department's subjective impact on its own roles without ever having worked in that department. If the person asking was really interested in the DHS' impact, they probably should have referred to a specific role it plays and how that function has or hasn't changed since its inception. Asking a vague question like "ARE WE SAFER?!" makes no sense. It's the difference between asking if Border Patrol makes the country more or less safe... or asking if the Border Patrol statistically lowers the amount of illegal immigrants. One is a vague, open ended question that is just conjecture, the other is a real topic.

It is literally Boehner's job to figure out what effect various things have on the country. If he legitimately has no position on that question, he isn't doing his job. Which is true, but still.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 07, 2015, 09:49:02 AM
I don't know if he can.  But the inability to answer a question does not make it a dumb question.  Someone may be able to answer it.  Or maybe no one can.  Either way, I think it's a question we should ask.  Do we need the DHS or is the system we had before good enough?

It is a dumb question. It's asking him to, at worst, predict the future, and at best, be fully aware of the department's subjective impact on its own roles without ever having worked in that department. If the person asking was really interested in the DHS' impact, they probably should have referred to a specific role it plays and how that function has or hasn't changed since its inception. Asking a vague question like "ARE WE SAFER?!" makes no sense. It's the difference between asking if Border Patrol makes the country more or less safe... or asking if the Border Patrol statistically lowers the amount of illegal immigrants. One is a vague, open ended question that is just conjecture, the other is a real topic.
It is a vague question, no doubt.  But that's their jobs: to take all the various question and impacts and condense it into a Yes or no vote.  "Are we safer" is just a short form of "Does the Department of Homeland Security do the tasks they are assigned better than the various departments acting as they did before." It's a question he should be able to answer, especially as someone who needs to vote on justifying how much (if any) money should be spent on it.

And since be should have access to all the various attacks and plots that the DHS has foiled over the years, he should be able to answer the question with some accuracy.

Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 07, 2015, 02:41:28 PM
It is literally Boehner's job to figure out what effect various things have on the country. If he legitimately has no position on that question, he isn't doing his job. Which is true, but still.

No, it isn't. It is his job to vote on subjects based on both expert and voter block opinion. It is impossible for one man to know everything about every subject, which means it is impossible to be a politician and know 100% of the facts of things you decide. This is why I'm quite tired of seeing college students scream out "HURR DURR SENATOR SO AND SO IS ON THE SCIENCE TEAM AND HE DON"T KNO SCIENCE!" Replace science with X subject and you get a bunch of crying nitwits angry that politicians don't know anything except politics. There is good reason that Congress has an entire army of experts at their beck and call. Ask those experts, don't ask the politicians, they're not going to know very much.

It is a vague question, no doubt.  But that's their jobs: to take all the various question and impacts and condense it into a Yes or no vote.  "Are we safer" is just a short form of "Does the Department of Homeland Security do the tasks they are assigned better than the various departments acting as they did before." It's a question he should be able to answer, especially as someone who needs to vote on justifying how much (if any) money should be spent on it.

And since be should have access to all the various attacks and plots that the DHS has foiled over the years, he should be able to answer the question with some accuracy.

I don't read "are we safer" as the question you extrapolated it to and John Boehner probably didn't either.

Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: markjo on March 08, 2015, 03:15:45 AM
It is literally Boehner's job to figure out what effect various things have on the country. If he legitimately has no position on that question, he isn't doing his job. Which is true, but still.

No, it isn't. It is his job to vote on subjects based on both expert and voter block opinion.
Incorrect.  As Speaker of the House, Boehner is in a leadership position.  Flippant answers to questions of national security are not what one would expect from a man 2nd in line to the presidency.
Quote from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives
...in the United States, the Speaker of the House is a leadership position and the office-holder actively works to set the majority party's legislative agenda. The Speaker usually does not personally preside over debates, instead delegating the duty to members of the House from the majority party. The Speaker usually does not participate in debate and rarely votes.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 08, 2015, 03:19:21 AM
Speaker of the House is not 2nd in line to the presidency... the vice-president is.

Also, it wasn't a question of national security. It was a vague question asking him to make something up, so he didn't.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: juner on March 08, 2015, 03:28:28 AM

Speaker of the House is not 2nd in line to the presidency... the vice-president is.

Also, it wasn't a question of national security. It was a vague question asking him to make something up, so he didn't.

Imagine you have a line of succession to the current president. The first person in that line is the VP. The 2nd person is the Speaker of the House. You obviously knew that, but wanted to make a point anyway, which failed.

And I am glad you have such low expectations of your political representatives.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 08, 2015, 03:54:48 AM
Who cares about the question, anyway?  The real issue here is how inappropriate it is for Congress to be using their duty of keeping the country running smoothly as some kind of bargaining chip for their own political gain.  What are they going to do next?  Threaten to cut funding for the Department of Education if Obama doesn't reverse his position on gay marriage?  Threaten to declare war on China unless Obama endorses the Republican candidate in the next presidential election?  It's ridiculous.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 08, 2015, 05:04:11 AM
Imagine you have a line of succession to the current president. The first person in that line is the VP. The 2nd person is the Speaker of the House. You obviously knew that, but wanted to make a point anyway, which failed.

I imagine if there is a line for the presidency, then the president is the first one in line.

And I am glad you have such low expectations of your political representatives.

I expect them to garner their voter's and expert's opinions on a subject and vote in that manner. I don't expect them to answer vague questions on broad subjects. At least he gave a politically correct answer, the saying I've always heard is "If ifs and buts were fruits and nuts we'd all live in California"
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 08, 2015, 05:12:59 AM
The president isn't in the line of succession, because he's already the president.  He's hardly going to succeed himself if he dies or is removed from office.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Fortuna on March 08, 2015, 07:47:43 AM
Politicians treat the public like children and hilariously enough the public gets mad when it doesn't get treated that way.
...This is possibly the dumbest thing posted on a forum that has Thork as a regular poster. I'm amazed.

It's Rushy after all.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 08, 2015, 03:41:24 PM
The president isn't in the line of succession, because he's already the president.  He's hardly going to succeed himself if he dies or is removed from office.

How do you know he doesn't succeed himself every day? You don't.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 08, 2015, 03:44:14 PM
The president isn't in the line of succession, because he's already the president.  He's hardly going to succeed himself if he dies or is removed from office.

How do you know he doesn't succeed himself every day? You don't.
Because everyone knows he's a failure.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 08, 2015, 03:45:49 PM
Because everyone knows he's a failure.

There's a few things he has done right and a few things he has done horrifically wrong, just like... well, every other president ever.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 08, 2015, 06:23:23 PM
Because everyone knows he's a failure.

There's a few things he has done right and a few things he has done horrifically wrong, just like... well, every other president ever.
I was making a pun.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 08, 2015, 06:39:45 PM
I was making a pun.

So was I.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 11, 2015, 04:04:21 AM
Oh, look.  Now some Republicans are actually trying to fucking sabotage our diplomatic efforts with Iran:

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-09/republicans-warn-iran-and-obama-that-deal-won-t-last

What the fuck.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 11, 2015, 04:12:32 AM
something something Israel something something
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: juner on March 11, 2015, 04:48:07 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/EVH05W5.png)
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 11, 2015, 10:23:01 AM
Fortunately, Iran thought it was just propaganda and is ignoring it.

But perhaps the 47 republicans have a point.  Our allies may not understand that we can undo any alliances we want at any time.

We should send this letter to every friendly nation.  Especially Israel.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Tau on March 14, 2015, 08:01:58 PM
Oh, look.  Now some Republicans are actually trying to fucking sabotage our diplomatic efforts with Iran:

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-09/republicans-warn-iran-and-obama-that-deal-won-t-last

What the fuck.

It's a good thing we live in the modern day. A few thousand years ago such blatant displays of political weakness would have put us on the fast track to being taken over by barbarians.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Tom Bishop on March 14, 2015, 09:49:18 PM
Seriously, do we really want this guy as House Speaker?
Quote from: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-boehner-dhs-kissy-face
Asked if America would be less safe if Homeland Security funding dropped off, Boenher answered: "If ands or buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas."

Actually, this is a genius "if I had a nickel" analogy which says that budget cuts are second guessed all the time and that we can't go around with unwarranted fears of what might happen every day, otherwise budgets would go unrestrained and unchecked.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rama Set on March 14, 2015, 10:12:19 PM
And the award for the most reaching response goes to...
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Tom Bishop on March 14, 2015, 10:59:25 PM
And the award for the most reaching response goes to...

It's clearly a "if I had a nickel" analogy. You can't blame the Speaker if it went over your head.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: markjo on March 28, 2015, 03:34:08 AM
Seriously, do we really want this guy as House Speaker?
Quote from: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-boehner-dhs-kissy-face
Asked if America would be less safe if Homeland Security funding dropped off, Boenher answered: "If ands or buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas."

Actually, this is a genius "if I had a nickel" analogy which says that budget cuts are second guessed all the time and that we can't go around with unwarranted fears of what might happen every day, otherwise budgets would go unrestrained and unchecked.
Except this wasn't about cutting Homeland Security's budget.  It was about tying Homeland Security's budget to overriding Obama's immigration reform executive order.  Basically, Boehner was saying that if Congress won't repeal the executive action that allows some illegal aliens to stay, then he's going to shut down the department responsible for keeping illegal aliens out.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Tom Bishop on March 28, 2015, 04:05:04 AM
Seriously, do we really want this guy as House Speaker?
Quote from: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-boehner-dhs-kissy-face
Asked if America would be less safe if Homeland Security funding dropped off, Boenher answered: "If ands or buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas."

Actually, this is a genius "if I had a nickel" analogy which says that budget cuts are second guessed all the time and that we can't go around with unwarranted fears of what might happen every day, otherwise budgets would go unrestrained and unchecked.
Except this wasn't about cutting Homeland Security's budget.  It was about tying Homeland Security's budget to overriding Obama's immigration reform executive order.  Basically, Boehner was saying that if Congress won't repeal the executive action that allows some illegal aliens to stay, then he's going to shut down the department responsible for keeping illegal aliens out.

Congress has the power of the purse. It represents the people. If they want illegal aliens out, that's what happens.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Lord Dave on March 28, 2015, 09:00:55 AM
Seriously, do we really want this guy as House Speaker?
Quote from: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-boehner-dhs-kissy-face
Asked if America would be less safe if Homeland Security funding dropped off, Boenher answered: "If ands or buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas."

Actually, this is a genius "if I had a nickel" analogy which says that budget cuts are second guessed all the time and that we can't go around with unwarranted fears of what might happen every day, otherwise budgets would go unrestrained and unchecked.
Except this wasn't about cutting Homeland Security's budget.  It was about tying Homeland Security's budget to overriding Obama's immigration reform executive order.  Basically, Boehner was saying that if Congress won't repeal the executive action that allows some illegal aliens to stay, then he's going to shut down the department responsible for keeping illegal aliens out.

Congress has the power of the purse. It represents the people. If they want illegal aliens out, that's what happens.
Seems counter productive to be.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on March 28, 2015, 02:11:08 PM
Congress has the power of the purse. It represents the people. If they want illegal aliens out, that's what happens.
This has been US government with Tom Bishop everyone. Give him a hand. He may not be actually saying anything resembling the truth, but he gave it his all!
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rushy on March 28, 2015, 04:23:41 PM
Actually, nothing Tom has said in this post is wrong.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Rama Set on March 28, 2015, 06:23:17 PM
All I know is that people in LA will be pissed when the price of valet parking goes above $5
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: markjo on March 29, 2015, 05:14:08 AM
Congress has the power of the purse.
If you say so.

It represents the people.
Since when?  ???

If they want illegal aliens out, that's what happens.
How will Congress keep the illegal aliens out if they withhold funding from the agency responsible for keeping illegal aliens out?
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on March 29, 2015, 07:40:30 AM
Actually, nothing Tom has said in this post is wrong.
Please explain to me how Congress will deport illegal aliens without relying on another branch of government.
Title: Re: Does John Boehner's arrogance know no limits?
Post by: Pete Svarrior on March 29, 2015, 12:36:47 PM
It represents the people.
Since when?  ???
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