http://www.shardcore.org/shardpress/index.php/2009/01/20/burning-bush-2009/

Personally I find it more useful to use the “liberal” and “conservative” labels on an issue-by-issue basis, if at all.

I’ll see you one and raise you:

http://www.freedom.hu/IIvh/Esemenyek/1944-45/pics/mussolini-dead.jpg

It’s times like this I wish we Americans were more like the Italians. When they got tired of their dictator they were, shall we say, fairly upfront about their feelings.

RING RING!

“White House switchboard, how can I direct your call?”

“I’d like to speak to President Bush.”

“Sorry, Mr. Bush is no longer the president.”

“Ah, thank you.”

RING RING!

“White House switchboard, how can I direct your call?”

“President Bush please.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Bush is no longer the president.”

“I see, thank you.”

RING RING!

“White House switchboard, how can I direct your call?”

“I’d like a moment with President Bush.”

“I’m sorry but . . . HEY! I recognize your voice. George Bush is NO LONGER THE PRESIDENT. Why do you keep calling?”

“Please . . . just say it one more time. I can’t hear that enough.”

why? Why use shorthand? State your thesis and defend it.

At this point, Obama winked, which was the signal for all the jumbotron camera operators swivel toward W, and Bush simply shrugged.

sspct th nxt fr yrs wn’t qt lv p t th mssv, cllctv, cndy-clrd rgsm f hp w xprncd tdy. ????

why? Why use shorthand? State your thesis and defend it.

Ideally that’s what people do. And then they come up with a word that sums up that thesis so they don’t have to spend 45 minutes explaining which side of an issue they’re on every time someone asks.

It’s an inevitable part of human nature that we try to put things into categories and to create abbreviations in order to communicate ideas more efficiently. In fact all language is made up of symbols that represent more complex ideas.

The important thing isn’t that we don’t have shorthand, it’s that we don’t depend on it in lieu of real discussion.

There really isn’t a place for that sort of thing, directed at anybody.

“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

“We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”

- The President of the United States

No particular similarity, except the worldwide expression of joy and relief.

Amen:

“…and always keeps in mind that any politician is less than the thickness of an onion skin removed from your own basic desires and motivations, specific abilities not withstanding.”

Chair Cold. Suit tight. Nice Ta-Tas on that one.

Dear Brainspore: as Noam said; reality don’t do sound bites (or similar). Shorthand only works when the parties agree on what the shorthand means. What passes for political philosophy shorthand in the USA today is just tribal epithets. So abandon it and go back to basics. It takes longer but better a single minor point be actually discussed by two engaged minds than people imagine they are making progress without understanding the words they use.
I’m all for talk first. As some drunken old limey bastard said: “Better jaw, jaw, jaw than war, war, war.”

Contempt radiated from that helicopter as it lifted off. With frightful inevitability, the Constitution swept away those who would harm the Republic.

Encarta says:

Great Depression in the United States, worst and longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s.

It concludes with:

Although economic conditions improved by the late 1930s, unemployment in 1939 was still about 15 percent. However, with the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939, the U.S. government began expanding the national defense system, spending large amounts of money to produce ships, aircraft, weapons, and other war material. This stimulated industrial growth, and unemployment declined rapidly. After the United States entered the war in December 1941, all sectors of the economy were mobilized to support the war effort. Industry greatly expanded, and unemployment was replaced by a shortage of workers.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics says:

The American economy had yet to fully recover from the Great Depression when the United States was drawn into World War II in December 1941.

But hey, if it get Xeni a Glinda costume, I’ll happily amend my post ;^)