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Obama: "I Shared My Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich"

In Raleigh just now, Barack Obama went beyond the prepared remarks in pushing back on McCain's "socialist" attacks, ad-libbing about the shadowy Marxist and redistributionist leanings he's secretly harbored since kindergarten:

"By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten," Obama said, as per the prepared remarks. Then he added: "I shared my -- I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

It's a nifty way of highlighting, in a roundabout way, the McCain-Palin attacks in all their utter childishness.


216 Comments

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Can't get much more ordinary than peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches can you? Who does this guy think he is? An American?

I think it also implicitly raises the issue of McCain's age. As in, did peanut and jelly sandwiches even exist when McCain was growing up? Can he even remember eating them?

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All that whining about a preview function and I don't even use it.

SANDWICHES.

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I know - we should demand they take it away so we have an excuse for our typos.

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Well, I'll just bet that McCain didn't share his toys or food, even as a kid. In fact, he was probably the kid who opened other kid's presents at birthday parties, broke their toys and left with his favorite army man in his pocket.

There is simply nothing in his bio that suggests that McCain was ever someone I would like.

PEACE

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Maybe he was like my cousin Mikey; no matter whose birthday it was, we had to sing the song to him, too.
Mikey is also a borderline these days.

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I was there today, the crowd loved this line. Sandwich eaters and socialists, the lot of 'em.

Coincidentally, the rally was held just off PEACE Street in Raleigh. Also, perhaps not so coincidentally, Obama always seems extra funny in NC.

Call, Knock, Get Out the Vote!

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I was there today, the crowd loved this line. Sandwich eaters and socialists, the lot of 'em.

Coincidentally, the rally was held just off PEACE Street in Raleigh. Also, perhaps not so coincidentally, Obama always seems extra funny in NC.

Call, Knock, Get Out the Vote!

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sorry for the double post! didn't think that was supposed to happen anymore. ~_~

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McCain is more like the kid who wets his bed and tries to share the blame.

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Peanut butter and jelly???

Why does Obama hate American beef farmers?

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Rim shot!

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Yes, well, unfortunately for John McCain the Hanoi Hilton didn't serve PB&J sandwiches.

/obligatory

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Double rim-shot.

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My fellow prisoners

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Doesn't Obama realize the SERIOUS threat of peanut allergies? By indiscriminately sharing his sandwiches, he has carelessly endangered the lives of who knows how many of his kindergarten classmates.

Fit to be president?

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Doesn't he care about the children? Next he'll be sharing grapes that weren't organically grown. HE MUST BE STOPPED.

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And here I thought the McCain attack ad would be

Peanut Butter & Jelly
Makes You Smelly

But why stop at that when the ad can say something like:

"Obama's Socialist plans will kill your children (just after he's done teaching them sex ed)"

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That proves it. Obama is a peanut butter terrorist.

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Palin wants those with special peanut allergies to know they'll have a friend in the WH.

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See? McCain has got Obama sandwiched right where he wants him!

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OK, I have to confess to a rather twisted sense of humor at times... Whenever I hear that "got him right where we want him," comment from McCain, I'm reminded of the Black Knight in Monty Python's Life of Brian.

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Black Knight was in Holy Grail. Brian of Nazareth was in Life of Brian.

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Gotta vote for somebody who ate PBJ sandwiches as a school-lunch staple.

Note to self:  They were great.  Why haven't you made yourself one in such a long time???

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That's a really good idea. Off to the kitchen!

And because sharing is good...

PB and J

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Eating one right now with strawberry preserves. How elite of me.

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this is a great way of countering mccain's attacks - make fun of them because they are utterly ridiculous.

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Make fun of McCain using childish examples to illustrate just how childish McCain is acting.

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Hopefully McCain will come back with "shaing his sandwich was charity, and the honerable thing to do...now if the teacher took half of his sandwich and gave it to another kid, that would be the type of policy Obama's trying to force on you now."

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Too complicated. Potential McCain voters won't understand it.

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Of course the problem is that McCain is in favor of the teacher taking half of the sandwich too. Without which he surely would have starved. He has, after all, lived most of his life on the taxpayer dollars.

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Liberal mistake number 132# comparing public service to welfare. Serving in the military isn't quite the same as sitting on a couch in the projects eating cheatos waiting for the first of the month.

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Yeah . . . because the military welfare system is marginally more efficient, unless you get sent to Walter Reed.

But about that pb and j. What McCain wants to do is take my pb&j from me, give it to the wealthiest kid in the class, then look at me and say, while wealthy kid is eating my sandwich, "isn't it great that you now own a piece of his nourishment?"

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It's spelled "Cheetos." I know because I eat them while I'm sitting around waiting for my welfare. Good god, can't you even think of something more original than that?

Unless you mean welfare recipients are cheaters so they eat "cheatos." My, aren't we clever?

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sitting on a couch in the projects eating cheatos
Jonah Goldberg has a house in the projects?
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When did he go on welfare? I thought he just sold another book...

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"Welfare check"??? That joke is so 1984.

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They don't even send out checks anymore. Direct deposit, baby. Shows how much that guy knows.

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I don't know, Sarge. I knew plenty of GIs in my time who signed up for this or that benefit, not to mention a job. For 99% of them, patriotism or community spirit didn't enter into their decision to enlist, and probably still doesn't.

While we're talking about socialism, we can talk about lots and lots of stuff the military does, like subsidized child care, extra bedrooms for outsized families at no extra cost (Fort Drum DEH will even bust through walls to make a big enough housing unit for your Brady Bunch sized brood), shuttle services for people without cars, PX/commissary privileges, free dependent medical care (which includes Tricare, when on-post medical facilities are inadequate), accommodations on assignments for soldiers with "exceptional" family members, the list goes on and on, that might be considered outright socialism if the government were required to provide them to civilians.

It is a fact that the U.S. military is the most socialist organization in the nation. And you are (or were at one time) a part of it. How does that make you feel?

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Amused at the sheer idiocy of the comment...

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Amused because you can't think of a better comeback given your below comments about not paying taxes for anything except the most basic functions of government?

I don't think the military system is wrong. I think we should take care of our military. But it is a socialist system. If you love free markets so much, why not just pay folks in the military salaries and let them buy their own non-battlefield health insurance and pay for their own educations and so on? Heck, having such a huge anomaly as military socialism in our free market system is probably why the free markets aren't working. You never hear about the latest project out of the Pentagon and how cost-effective it is, do you? You think Joe the Plumber uses a $400 pipe wrench?

And you and I both know a lot of those enlisted folks really do need that military nanny to take care of them or they'd blow all their pay long before they had health insurance or money in the bank for college. That's not disrespect to those sailor and soldiers, but a reality check that we're all humans.

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Make fun of McCain using childish examples to illustrate just how childish McCain is acting.

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Maybe Obama is trying to draw McCain into redux of the "Kindergarten" controversy of the Hillary Clinton days.

Wouldn't that be a pleasant way to spend the waning hours of this marathon campaign.

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Teriffic comeback line. I hope the media picks it up.

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Personally, I was more a fan of the "that ain't right" call & response with the crowd. It was very reminiscent of Head Of State (the Chris Rock flick).

"That sh*t ain't right."

http://thepajamapundit.com/

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Hillary Clinton doesn't think kindergarten jokes are very funny.

http://pufferfish.typepad.com/

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Q: How many militant feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: That's not funny!!!

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Nice com back Sen. Obama. Their's a saying that say's, 'Due unto other's as you'd have them due unto you.' If I were in crisis and my neighbors saw me in crisis and had the ability to help me, shouldnโ€™t they? I know that I would do for them to the best of my ability. Isnโ€™t this what America does when other nations or in trouble because of food shortages, genocide, natural disasters and other global crises?

Then why is it socialist, communist or Marxist when we ask Americans that are able to do so, to help one another? Oh, I get it, only when thereโ€™s a disaster on our own soil is it okay for Americans to care for the well being of one another. Thereโ€™s a question that was asked centuries ago, and its โ€˜Am I my brother keeper?โ€™ This would be a great question for the Republican Party and some others to answer.

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Isn't there something in the Bible that instruction people to give some of what is theirs to someone less fortunate that themselves? If that's true then God is a socialist.

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Jesus was the original radical socialist. The heart of Christianity is collective welfare. Brother's keeper and all that.

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Then its kinda hard for the bible-thumping repugs to berate Obama if he's promoting the teachings of Jesus and scripture.

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Wrong, you guys keep mixing up charity (Christianity) and forced redistribution (Marx/Obama).

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Pay attention and you may learn something one day, sarge. Still haven't found the medic for your sedative yet?

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I have learned (in Sunday school years ago, not here) that the "teachings of Jesus" (as you put it) never included the state confiscating property to give to others.

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I"d have more respect for you if you'd stop mindlessly repeating crap that the McCain campaign puts out there. Seriously. You want to explain how a tax cut for the middle class translates into the state confiscating your property in the bizarro world of McCain?

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Sure, though "mindlessly repeating" is a reative term...especially when you're backing the king of lofty platitudes. Obama says his plan gives a "Tax cut" to 95% of working Americans. 40% os working Americans don't owe any tax at the end of the year and get full refunds. Therefore, he should say "55% of working Americans will get a tax cut and 40% will get a welfare check," and just be honest about it.

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And that translates to the state confiscating property - how, exactly?

C'mon, Sarge. Stay on point.

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Surely you meant "don't owe any *income* tax". As I'm self-employed, every April I pay less than $2,000 of income tax, but over $10,000 of FICA. (As well as significant additional state, property, and sales taxes.) But it's all the same in my personal budget! I wouldn't feel like some sort of freeloader if my income taxes went down or even turned into a rebate -- I'm still paying my share!

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Let's see...if you pay $10,000 in FICA, which with the employer portion comes out to about 15%, then you pay youself about $70,000 a year...couldn't you do with about $50,000 and pay some poor guy $20,000 to help around the business (that would knock about $1,500 off of the tax bill each year too but don't worry I'm sure TheBigO would help you dispose of that too).

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Heh heh, there's two of us on that income already. My wife and I each make about $35K. Not sure I know anybody who thinks that makes us anything but firmly middle class.

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So you are telling me 40% of Americans get paychecks that don't take out Federal Tax, State Tax, FICA, Medicare/Medicaid, State Unemployment? Really, what jobs are those? How many Americans get REFUNDS every year? I know I get one most years and I pay a shit load of taxes.

This is just a retarded argument that I can't believe you are making it.

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If you don't know the difference between "Federal Tax, State Tax, FICA, Medicare/Medicaid, State Unemployment"...then you are correct, discussing taxes with you would be futile.

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Who said anything about the state? other than YOU !!! As usual, you've missed the entire point. I need to see your doctor and get him to give you a more potent sedative.

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Acts 2:44-45:

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

Sounds like state-ownership to me.

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Thank you, Ben!

SFC WALLACE .... FRONT AND CENTER !!!!

Point proven. Case closed.

Now take you medication and go back to sleep.

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Was going to find this exact quote and you beat me to it. Well done.

Why is it that conservatives are so quick to take the Bible literally when it serves their agenda (e.g. "gays are evil! romans and corinthians said so!!") but the minute anyone brings up the good old Acts of the Apostles or -- heaven forbid -- the Beatitudes, and they get all English majory "it's just a metaphor" on your ass...

There's also that lovely story of the rich guy asking Jesus "what do I have to do to get to heaven, dude" and the minute Jesus replies "sell all you have and follow me" the guy slinks away. Sell All You Have. Take that one literally, Sarge.

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...it didn't say give all you have to Barack Obama and follow him, that's for sure...

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Cute reply, but you duck the underlying issue of taking the Bible literally only when it serves your purpose. Moral relativism, I think that's what they call it (apparently it's not just for "secular humanists" any more).

But that's cool. It's nice to have a conservative agreeing (if only because silence = consent) that the Bible is not to be taken literally in all cases.

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Even if taken literally it says sell what you have and follow Jesus...not give what you have to the treasury and take the day off next Tuesday so that you can help get out the vote...seriously....two different things.

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Yeah, for a literal Biblical okey-dokey on taxation I guess you have to go to the "Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's" quote, noted by BrookJolley below here, which you are currently ignoring because it totally negates what you say.

Also in your "ignore" column, Schmedley's most excellent post below to the effect that "Christ's message is that anyone who wanted to follow him had to renounce materialism and all worldly possessions, while at the same time assume responsibility for the welfare of his brothers."

I breathlessly await your reasoned, New Testament-focused response to these 2 posts.

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Sorry, I am involved in seven different discussions at once...I'll try to stay on top of your favorites...

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Acts 2:44
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

I was posting this and then saw yours....kudos

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...nice job of distorting the Bible to try to justify your greed. Acts Chapter 2 tells the story of "The Day of Pentecost" it talks about people joining the disciples and freely selling their possesions and giving to others in the group, you make a case for giving up your worldly possesions when you join a monastary but nothing there to support your "state ownership" claims.

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...nice job of distorting the Bible to try to justify your greed.

No, that's a Republican tactic.

If you're suggesting that only monks are Christians, then you can drop all claim Christianity. Christ's message is that anyone who wanted to follow him had to renounce materialism and all worldly possessions, while at the same time assume responsibility for the welfare of his brothers. A hard standard to follow for most and especially hard (impossible?) for "I, me, mine" Republicanism/Libertarianism.

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So I'm guessing you're (and everyone else here according to your standard) not a Christian because you have a computer and internet account...(I think that's what you're saying).

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It ain't my standard, so I can't tell you whether or not everyone here meets it. But I can hazard a guess that some are more Christian than others. As for myself, the material goods thing is the least of my spiritual deficiencies. Being kind to my Republican brethren is a greater hurdle. The phrase thou racca comes to my lips far too often to lay any claim to being a good Christian.

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What's cracks me up is how many of you istantly equate freely selling you possesions and following Jesus with raising taxes and following Obama...I guess he really is y'all's Messiah...!

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Because he's not raising taxes, you lying piece of shit.

You can keep saying all you want - it's a lie. He is only going back to the same fucking rates we had under Clinton.

I remember when Clinton was president. We had 8 years of prosperity and 8 years of mostly peace - we had on engagement and did not lose one American in that engagement.

And that's all this means - and I'm wiling to bet that you aren't even effected by any tax increase because only the top 20% or so will be effected and I don't think you're there, Wallace.

Odd that - because I am and my taxes are going up and I fought to have my taxes raised.

I like to share. Because everyone does better when everyone has a chance.

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"He is only going back to the same fucking rates we had under Clinton."
Which are higher than they are now...I'm not a tax accountant or anything but if a tax is at say 26% now and it goes up to say 35%, then that's a "tax increase"...also if you look at today's dollars using the CPI a household income of $250,000 today, it would be compareable to $312,000 in 1992. So I may be a "lying piece of shit," but not about this.

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NO. His plan is to bump the rate on income over 250,000.00 only from 36 to 39%. Taxes on income of less than 250,000.00 would remain exactly as they are now. If you don't make more than a quarter million a year, no tax increase.

Its not hard to understand unless you're trying really really hard to misunderstand it.

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That is "raising taxes," is it not?

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HAVE YOU USED OBAMA'S TAX CALCULATOR TO CALCULATE YOUR TAX RATE UNDER HIS PLAN? HAVE YOU?

You are wrong about this - and stubbornly insist that where you are wrong you are right and you are not.

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So you are saying that Barack Obama isn't raising anyone's taxes? Cuz all I claimed, before you called me a lying sack of shit (was it sack or piece?), was that Obama's raising taxes.

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I confess that, amidst all the threads you're working, I misunderstood the point of this one.

Yes, he's raising taxes on people whose taxable income is greater than 250K. If you're one of them, good for you. People in that bracket will have to kick in an extra three percent on that income, a feat they somehow managed to do during the Clinton administration without unleashing an economic holocaust. Took giving the top 1% tax cuts, massive tax breaks and the neutering of of the financial regulatory apparatus to accomplish that.

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Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesarโ€™s, and unto God the things that are Godโ€™s.

I went to sunday school too.. apparently Jesus was pro tax, for both the Government and Church.

When you can locate in the Bible where Jesus himself says not give to Caesar if you think Caesar might not be using the money how you like, please let us know.

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Sarge's silence here is deafening...

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I render unto Caeser the minimum that is required for the basic functions of government...that's all that is Caesar's everything else is a redistribution to Caesar's buddies.

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How would you describe Christ's take on what comprises "the basic functions of government"?

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It would probably be less than what we think it is (not that I would dare to ever try to speak for JC but you did ask my opinion). I think that he'd have expected a lot of the welfare funtions that government provides to be covered by the church.

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Now there's a surprise.

I'm still waiting for Sarge's take on BrookJolley's excellent scriptural question:

When you can locate in the Bible where Jesus himself says not give to Caesar if you think Caesar might not be using the money how you like, please let us know.
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In case you haven't read the NT, Jesus was an anarchist. He defied the temporal and spiritual authorities in favor of uplifting the poor and downtrodden. It was his defiance of these authorities that caused him to be so extremely sanctioned: his humiliating death was meant as a warning to the rabble -- this is what happens to those who defy Roman and the Sanhedrin.

What you describe as "welfare functions" consigned to the church are the responsibilites that Christ assigned to the community of believers. Among those is the duty to cast off the oppression of authority, both spiritual and civil, resist evil, and to love and care for one another. Human power structures like church and state were viewed as ways to accumulate wealth and oppress the masses. The concept of private property was antithetical to his teaching which held that everyone and everything belongs to the Father, the only true authority. Devotion to the Father and the welfare of your brethren are the heart of Jesus' religion (I doubt that he would describe it as a church given his contempt for the existing religious institutions). The injuction to "render to Caesar" was a command to eschew the material world and to pursue a spiritual life that is devoted to piety and charity, embraces egality and justice, and pursues peace and harmony.

Frankly, I don't see how one can square Republicanism and real Christianity.

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"render unto caesar the things that are caesar's..."

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So Clinton was a socialist? George H.W. Bush was a socialist? So anyone who raised taxes or rolled back tax cuts are socialists? Wow, we have a long history of socialists if that's the definition.

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Oh crap. I thought Jesus sold the 40 loaves and fishes for the highest price the market would bear.

Bloody long-haired, anti-war, soft-on-defense redistributionalistic socialist!

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I think there is.

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My first post here at TPM, long time reader..

The early Christian church could easily be said to have socialist leanings.

Acts Chapter 2 44-45:
(http://www.newadvent.org/bible/act002.htm)

44 And all they that believed were together and had all things common. 45 Their possessions and goods they sold and divided them to all, according as every one had need.

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I was listening and waiting for him to say "firetruck" (picking up on the toy image), but the reference to PB&J was brilliant. (Now wait for the whackos to hit back with the comment that with all the nut allergies out there, Obama was a menace to his fellow school children.)

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with the comment that with all the nut allergies out there, Obama was a menace to his fellow school children

Oh, too funny!

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"with the comment that with all the nut allergies out there, Obama was a menace to his fellow school children"
...and only something the left would bring up....Right-Wingers miss our peanuts on the planes. We feel individuals can decide whether or not they want to eat a peanut...an allergy in seat 27D shouldn't take the peanuts away from a passenger in 4A.

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OK, this is off topic but I cannot leave this one alone, Wallace, as I must alleviate your ignorance. My nephew has a peanut allergy. Airplanes use recirculated air. If someone is eating peanuts several rows ahead of my nephew, it's possible that the tiniest peanut fragment could get recirculated through the system, to right over his seat. Breathing it could cause him anaphalatic shock and kill him.

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Then he'd better not fly SW. Peanuts are still given out to everyone.

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You need to put it into a context that's easily understood.
See, SFCWallace, it's like this.
Many communities have laws against discharging a firearm within a certain distance of a dwelling(or thoroughfare. Does that impinge on my 2nd amendment rights, or rights as an FID holder? Maybe.
Now, regardless of the fact that I was only shooting my .22 in my backyard, it turns out that some of the bullets were going through my backstop and into the TV in my neighbors living room. So, while I was doing my own thing, in my own domicile, it was having an adverse impact on my neighbor(arguable, he was watching Alf. Uh, hypothetically.)

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So he can't walk through the produce section of the grocery store?

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As if the McCain campaign has been consistently ideological? Schmidt, Davis, and company have been the most cravenly opportunistic campaign managers I've seen in a long time -- thus making their candidate a confused and illegible cipher to the electorate. I'll have to thank them some day for their hard work for the cause.

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Ok, OT but I find it amusing:

There's a British astrologer who is pretty well known among people who follow that kind of thing (it's one of my secret vices - I don't believe it, but it's entertaining and part of me wants to believe it just because-) anyway, I was over at his site and a woman from the US had written him and asked if we will have seen the last of Sarah Palin if/when McLame loses - his answer:

one word: Yes.

LOL !

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Please, let there be no shame in your game. I've been studying astrology for years.

I'd love to see Failin' Palin's chart. It's probably a doozy.

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Thanks.

I have too - for years. And I'd like to see that chart, as well.

The astrologer is Jonathan Cainer - he's pretty good.

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I love Eric Francis, myself.

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I love Eric Francis, myself.

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In John McSocialist own words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3AvZqYC4mw&eurl

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Obama drives me nuts with this stuff - he lets his opponent go on the offensive and then countermoves brilliantly. But he's got to allow the other guy to attack.

They let Palin attack for nearly two months to the point were everyone but the right wing is perfectly fine with her getting smacked back. Let's see them try that sexist crap after all she's said and done.

My guess is that they focused grouped the heck out of his line about negative campaigning having to get pretty bad for it to offend Sarah Palin. When they saw people responded well to that line they got the winking ad ready (my guess is that wink focus grouped terribly too).

Now, Obama is going to seize on McCain and company's hyperbole about socialism and tie it to all of the other attacks... terrorist, celebrity, socialist, etc.

Funny, everyone was so focused on how McCain was going to close that they forgot to wonder what Obama's closing strategy would be.

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Obama is a black belt in political jujitsu.

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The winking ad makes my blood pressure go up. As in "There is just NO WAY that individual should be anywhere near the White House with the possible exception of her being a member of a tour group".

NO WAY.

And I concur with your comments. I've been doing some handwringing in the pastt about the Obama campaign, but after they totally owned McCain on the economy starting around Sept. 15, I started to realize that they are incredibly strategic and disciplined.

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You know, CT, the saving grace is that just about everyone else in the country except for the functionally insane agrees with you about that.

Honest to god - Sarah Palin was the biggest political mistake ever. It turned the press and most of the right to Obama.

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Mind over matter - Obama doesn't mind, because what they say don't matter.

Look, McCain and Palin have ranted and raved about whatever cause until they are red in the face and and people at their rallys are foaming at the mouth. And just as they both get all smugly and smirky, Obama casually defuses their energy source and everything goes dark. Then they have to pull themselves out the the muck they made for Obama to fall in and find something else to pander to their base.

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New McCain ad:
"Obama is offering to share his PB&J with Ahmadinejad. Is that the kind of terrorist appeasement we want?"

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Well, not to be catty or anything, but I'd give money to hear McCain try to pronounce "peanut butter and jelly and Ahmadinejad" in the same sentence.

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I will match your contribution, provided McCain can say it without grimacing, rolling his eyes, or chuckling at his own joke first...

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That's OK. If McShame decided he wanted to reach out to a Muslim leader of his choice -- Maliki, for example -- he'd probably offer to share his ham sandwich.

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Considering that he grew up in Hawaii, it's probably a relief to us all that Obama offered to share his PB&J sandwich, rather than a Spam sandwich.

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And what would McCain offer instead? Ham and Cheese?

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Another thing - Obama does a great job of positioning liberal policies as mainstream and common sense. Notice he isn't arguing that sometimes we have to share even if we don't like sharing or that the sharing will only be temporary. He is flat out saying - I've shared all of my life. Especially with those in need. Sharing is the right thing to do. If you dislike people who share that is a YOU problem and not a ME problem.

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Another thing - Obama does a great job of positioning liberal policies as mainstream and common sense. Notice he isn't arguing that sometimes we have to share even if we don't like sharing or that the sharing will only be temporary. He is flat out saying - I've shared all of my life. Especially with those in need. Sharing is the right thing to do. If you dislike people who share that is a YOU problem and not a ME problem.

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O I agree completely.

He's finally moved the word "liberal" out of the wilderness and he's been a genius at placing liberal ideas and policies in the mainstream. Because they are - Americans really do believe in liberal values - they just don't know it.

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That good old word "Liberal" has been supplanted by the word "Progressive" due in part to the right's word-vilification campaign against the word "Liberal."

And both of those words now own an infamous place in that profane, double-speak(R) lexicon, when spoken by a wingnut, they are accompanied with a sneer and some spittle.

Especially when it is applied to our candidate (MOST liberal man in history of Congress?).

I agree with you completely, Tena, the policies that once were labeled "Liberal" are what we need right now,domestically, along with some big, international group hug, to restart our long-sleeping fopreign policy.

But don't use the word "Liberal" in describing these events, it's been damaged for at least our generation.

PS Tena, when you gonna start your own TPM blog?

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I dunno. I think about it, but the fact is that I enjoy commenting more than I do blogging.

I love the conversation. But if something hits me hard enough I might put one up - I've thought about it.

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He moves ideas more towards the center which gives the impression he's moving to the right which, in turn, makes center right conservatives feel they aren't compromising too much.

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Obama turns out to not be very bright when he's off the TelePrompter.

The correct analogy would be that he took someone elses's PB&J who wanted to finish it and gave it to another kid.

Or, he stole one kid's toy while he was playing with it to gave it to his best friend.

In my day he would have right had his ass kicked for something like that. And he should rightly have his ass kicked on Tuesday.

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In your day?

Would that have been the Paleozoic Era, you racist relic?

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hee hee hee!


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Trilobites have more smarts than you and Obama combined.

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hee hee hee!

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He's takin' our toys and sandwiches! Commie! Let's kick his ass!

But seriously, in my day we didn't think getting rid of the Bush tax cuts was socialist, and we thought that the candidate who was saying so had his head up his ass.

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Better bullshit, please. Your's is stale. And it tastes terrible.

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Yeah, he's so not bright he's delivering an epic ass-whupping to that senile old crank you're voting for, and not even breaking a sweat doing it.

It would be really entertaining to see you crying in your beer next Wednesday. But I'll bet you won't even show up after your boy goes out like Goldwater.

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Actually the analogy would be one kid with a big stack of PB&J sandwiches and the others without enough. Take some from the kid who has them all and share them with the others so no one starves, while still leaving the first kid with more than he needs. I never cease to be amazed at how many people out there have no empathy for the plight of others. Is that some Christian ethos I missed in my upbringing? Do unto yourself and ignore all others?

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Ass-kickin right wingers don't do subtlety. If you want a graduated income tax you're a commie, unless you are on the repub ticket and want a less graduated income tax. Any questions?

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KF++

Totally. I don't get it either. I've said it before, I'll say it again - self interest is just so ugly.

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Yes, that is me. If I don't look out for myself no one else will. I retired at the ripe old age of 51 and have seven years of leisure in now. I think I have beaten the system. I have enough loot to last me another lifetim. Excuse me if I am proud of this but I am responsible for my results. It was not easy. I did without a lot of "stuff" on the way. I don't regret it at all because the "stuff" I did without would be in the landfill by now.

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How's this for slime? Just heard Limbaugh say (10:30 PST) "By the way, has anyone heard from Obama's GRANDMOTHER?? She wasn't supposed to make it to the election. He had to run rushing back there. Has anyone heard?" (this is a slight paraphrase, but pretty close and said in his usual sarcastic slimy voice) I emailed Olbermann.

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Jesus, what slime.

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Obama wants to steal your PB&J to give it to his homeboys.

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Aw - are you worried that the big ol mean African Americans are going to take your toys away?
'
And your PB&J?

LMAO!

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Shouldn't you be giving one of your houses away by now you hypocrite.

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LMAO - the final refuge of every single troll who ever came after me -

You can't stand it that liberals have money, too, can you?

Too fucking bad.

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I LOVE people with money, I am one of them but I earned it along with my Gov't pension and lifetime health care etc. etc. It's all good to me. I don't like giving slackers money for watching Days Of Our Lives and popping bon bons all day. America is scooping up this tax cut like it was good pussy. Hey, most of these under achievers will be getting $19.23 per week. That is $1.77 short of a 20 cent piece. Considering the other expences , tire guage, chore boy , lighters, it won't help all that much. Myself, I would rather just have the good pussy, I don't need the $19.23 and my wife does'nt think I need the pussy ?? Go figure ???

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Houses, money, and fists, Tena. I haven't kicked the shit out of a right wing pussy in a while. Hey tellmemore, see you in the Walmart Parking Lot. I'm driving the rusty Suburban.

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OMFG!!!!!

Is Obama not aware of both the allergic potentialities of peanut butter PLUS the potential harm that all that refined sugar in jelly can wreak on young bodies and minds?????

Why does Obama hate the children so much??

:)

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Someone doesn't like to share...

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Considering Obama's record of paltry charitible giving suspect he's not going to share anything of his...but he be happy to share your stuff with his peeps.

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You'd swear he had two young children he's planning to send to college or something.

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Racist troll alert! Know your trolls, people!

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What happened - did your wife leave you for an African American guy?

Boy you aren't even trying to hide the racism now.

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Hasn't ever tried to hide it. tellmemore makes me nostalgic for fogu.

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Or Jake D.

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Trollz b wyld.

You know, tellmemore, I'd love to stick my perfectly manicured brown foot up your pasty posterior...but it would be a sad waste of time to pick the nasty poop crust from under my nails.
If you were super lucky, I'd allow you to suck it out.

Nah. Sorry.

Clown.

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I watched this live on CNN and I was cracking up. It's a funny line. I think Obama is attacking this with humor instead of full on saying he isn't a socialist because he is trying to show people that this charge is just sill and ridiculous. Laughter works.

Obama also said something funny in this speech about privatizing social security. He said that if we had done that that we would be like Sanford on Sanford & Son clutching our hearts yelling "Wheezie". He did it A LOT more funnier than I am writing. The crowd totally fell out with laughter. Obama was saying that it is not just "it isn't right" but it is "ain't right". The crowd kept saying "it ain't right" after Obama went down the littany of what's going wrong with our economy. The crowd was great.

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I first read the advice that ridicule is the most powerful political weapon in a Molly Ivins column many many years ago.

She attributed the saying to a long-gone community organizer - Saul Alinsky, perhaps. Or some other commie hippie.

Molly, of course, was a past master of the art.

I miss her so, so much. But sometimes I see a twinkle of Molly's eyes in Rachel Maddow.

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sayeth thomas jefferson:

ridicule is the only weapon that can be used against unintelligible propositions. ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them.
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Ah, our First Commie Hippie. Or second perhaps, after Tom Paine. Should have known.

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I too miss Molly very much. She would be going crazy over this election. May she rest in peace.

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Homeboys?

Was that you I saw in that video outside of the Palin event?

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The PBJ line is great.

But I hope he also called out McCain for supporting the exact same, so-called socialist policy 8 years ago.

And that the tax rates being proposed is what it was during the Clinton era, which resulted in the greatest individual wealth creation, jobs, as well as a federal budget surplus.

So we democrats don't need a lecture on tax policy, not from someone who supports 90% of Bush's failed policies.

O/T. When trying to persuade independent friends, I find it hard to defend the socialist label being ththrown out there. They would say if you take wealth from one group and give it to another, how is it not socialist? Anyone has a good argument?

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Ask them to explain why giving middle class citizens a tax cut is a bad thing?

If they counter with "Well, 40% of citizens don't pay taxes, so why should we give them money" (another Republican talking point), tell themm everyone pays payroll taxes, so if they're working, they deserve a cut just like every one else.

Don't try to defend socialism. Talk about how Obama's plan will most likely benefit them in real ways, while McCain's won't.

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Re -- OT. If the transfer of wealth from rich to poor and middle class is "socialist," then most every government in the world is socialistic. Progressive taxation is socialistic. Even a flat tax is socialistic, bc rich pay far more in dollar terms than others. So, I guess the response would be that calling someone a socialist in this context is meaningless, and likening a return the tax policies of 90s US to those in France or Sweden or some other "socialist" country arbitrarily establishes current tax policy as the dividing line between socialist and non-socialist. Furthermore, it relies on the logical fallacy of the slippery slope --- any increased redistribution of wealth is socialist, even though redistribution is drastically greater in nearly any other developed country than it is in the US.

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I would say, "In America, we pool our resources. We all chip in for things that help everyone."

It's not a matter of taking from Us and giving to Them. Sometimes, God willing, we're Us, doing well. Other times, we're Them, and we're hurting, and we need a helping hand. That's how Social Security works. That's how conventional health insurance works.

I'd be tempted to say, "You feel like calling it 'socialism,' whatever. The bottom line is, does it help the people who need help? And if you needed help, wouldn't you want it to be there?" But I'm not someone who's ever been terribly concerned about "socialism." And I'll never be someone who has such immense "wealth" that he's terribly concerned about The Gummint seizing it and giving it away to shiftless slackers. About 5% of us have the possibility of worrying about that.

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Excellent push back.

Wonder if we are going to see Warren Buffet in the infomercial looking into the camera and saying, "They don't have a clue about our economy. So they try to convince you that I am dumb enough to support a closet socialist."

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McCain wants to give you a chance to make a PB&J.

Obama then wants to steal it to give it to his pals.

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Actually...

Obama wants you to make your own PB&J and help the guy next to you when he has trouble getting the lid off of the jar.

And McCain doesn't know PB&J as well as he should, so all he does is stand around the kitchen and bitch and call you names for not making what HE thinks is a "real" PB&J.

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Why are people like Tellmemore, who are always complaining about offering their hard-earned PB&J sandwiches to the lazy, less-fortunates around them, always so fat?

Most of the complainers are, metaphorically, economically obese. Bad enough they won't give so others less fortunate and dangeroulsy undernourished can gain simple security, most of these fat cats could live off their "fat" for a year.

But you can count on them to hoard what they have, even if it spoils before they would give it to someone needy.


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WTF are you talking about?

Jerry Garcia was more lucid in his diabetic coma.

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Usually I've found the opposite - the more the trolls whine, the less money they actually have and none of these tax policies even apply to them.

They are all operating under the delusion that the Market loves them and they will get rich if the mean old government will just get out of their way.

Most of them have huge debt and are totally delusional.

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So you're hanging out with trolls?

Or your just a liar and an idiot.

The latter more than the former no doubt.

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No I've just been online long enough to know my trolls, darlin.

In the over 6 years I've commented on boards, y'all have not varied your bullshit one damn bit.


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Actually he doesn't. He wants to make sure that the rich can afford to make as many PB&J's as they like, with the hopes that once they are really full they'll let the less fortunate have a bite--but only a small one (they may get hungry again later).

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Um, how does McCain want to help anyone make a damn sandwich? He doesn't.* He wants you to watch his buddies make an even bigger giant cartoon sandwich like Dagwood Bumstead, and hope a piece of crust falls on the floor.

*If he did, wouldn't that be... redistribution? How else are you going to go from non-sandwich-making-ability to sandwich-making-ability?

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Um, how does McCain want to help anyone make a damn sandwich? He doesn't.* He wants you to watch his buddies make an even bigger giant cartoon sandwich like Dagwood Bumstead, and hope a piece of crust falls on the floor.

*If he did, wouldn't that be... redistribution? How else are you going to go from non-sandwich-making-ability to sandwich-making-ability?

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"Not content to pick upon me, members of my family or members of my administration, the Republicans have commenced to pick on my little dog Fala..."

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That used to be one of my parents' favorite FDR lines. I grew up in a household where any time footage of FDR speeches showed up on TV one or the other of them would chime in verbatim...

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The rumor is that Warren Buffet and Colin Powell will be in the 30 minute ad.

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Interesting. Where did you see this?

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McCain wants us to bail out the peanut conglomerate when it faces bankruptcy.

Obama wants to make sure everyone making less than a quarter mil a year has enough money to see to it that that does not happen (and to make sure that those who face possible death due to anaphylactic shock are covered for their health emergencies)

:)

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And, don't forget.

Peanut butter and jelly are both vegetables.

Like ketchup.

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$10 he uses that line tonight with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.

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I truly think that McWar is suffering from dementia...

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Of course the PB&J doesn't count unless it's Skippy chunk style and Welches grape jelly. Now there's the rub,,,, Mr Welch was a member of a communard, vegetarian restorationist cult,,,,, so even as a cute little tyke, Obama had communist influences. Be afraid,,, very afraid.

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Leave it to McCain, and all anyone will be eating is PB and J.

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McCain is calling him a socialist because he wants to give money to (more) people who don't pay income taxes because their income is too low. That's called the Earned Income Tax Credit. It was started in 1975 (President Ford) and vastly expanded by Ronald Reagan (1986). It has typically had bipartisan support. It's intent is to ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO WORK by supplementing their income if their income is below poverty level. These people pay all other taxes typically deducted from paychecks, including state and local taxes. They are contributing to the economy and society and they are not being penalized for working by having an income that might be lower than welfare payments without the credit.

I don't understand why Obama doesn't lay out some simple facts there. McCain keeps saying, He wants to give a tax break to people who don't pay taxes! as though that is some novel or radical idea.

There's more, and some background on McCain's support for EITC, here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/18/1351/6344

That's not my blog and I don't know the person, I just thought it had a decent summary.


"John McCain says Ronald Reagan is his hero. Well, I guess he worships socialists, then, because Ronald Reagan created the tax credit. and I guess he is a socialist, because John McCain supported the tax credit.

but folks what's really going on here is this: the straight talk express derailing once again. John knows the truth. He doesn't have any plans of his own, so he's got to make things up."

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This is great! 'Bout time, I say... a good line for Obama to hit McCain back on for the next several days, and it does indeed (FINALLY!) show McCain's ridiculous attack for what it is.

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Hahahahahaha. I LOVE Obama!

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Terrible timing, I was just finishing my ham & cheese when I read this. There was a new jar of jelly on the counter too, and I had thought "hmmm, PBJ or ham & cheese?" Wrong decision as usual.

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great comment.

Spreading the wealth is better than spreading the debt.

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One of the best things that the Obama camp has done is to set up the tax calculator web site.

There are ads running here that show how to use it and tell people to go calculate their own tax burden on the calculator.

Are you listening, trolls, you fools? Go calculate your own tax burden then come back and tell us this pack of lies.

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I looked into his eyes and saw three things:

a "p" a "b" and a "j"

http://www.mattbinkowski.com/blog

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McCain's comeback: My friends, I remember when I brought a bag of candy to school. Before I even had a *chance* to share it, the teacher confiscated it, kept some, and (airquote) shared(end airquote) most of the bag out to the rest of the class. My friends, that's what Senator Obama wants to do to you, only it's not just a bag of hard-earned candy; he wants to take your money and your business away from you! to (airquote) spread the wealth around (en airquote)! with terrorists!

Comeback 2: Anyway, I wouldn't have tried to push him down and take his sandwich if he had given it to me at town hall meetings in the first place.

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After McCain takes down the entire Republican party (with GWB's help) on Nov. 4 he'll be lucky to bum a half-eaten sandwich off the sidewalk next to the Salvation Army in downtown Phoenix.

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His laugh at the end is priceless.

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Nice to see him pushing back with humor. It makes McLame look childish and stupid!

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So let's see if I understand our trolls correctly:

A nominal income tax rate of 36% on the very wealthy is not stealing or 'forced sharing'.

However a nominal income tax rate of 39.6% on the very wealthy IS stealing or 'forced sharing'.

Huh. How about that.

================

But seriously, any tax system which taxes people, and then distributes some of the proceeds to others groups, is 'income redistribution'.

To give a concrete example: let's say we tax everyone at 20% until they make $250,000 a year, then any marginal income above that level is taxed at 30%. Some of that money earned from higher taxes at a higher marginal income is used to fund various social safety net programs. Joe the mortgage broker was making $300,000 a year (and paying 30% on the part of his income above $250,000) selling toxic mortgages, but now he's out of work and he can't find work. He takes advantage of the social safety by applying for food stamps and unemployment insurance.

We've now engaged in income redistribution. Is this such a horrible thing? Is this what McCain is campaigning against? Is he going to dismantle Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps???

We engage in income redistribution every day, whether it's the social safety net or when Alaska takes in $2 for every $1 it pays in federal taxes or when Sarah Palin taxes Big Oil and distributes the proceeds to Alaskans.

The only question is whether you think the distribution should go to the wealthy or to the less well-off. Apparently our trolls think that we should continue the Bush policies of upward income redistribution.

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Obama should just start bringing up those parts of the New Testament that sound "marxist", like Matthew 19:24 (Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven) or Acts 4:34-35 (There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.)

At the very least it will enrage the Fundies.

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LOL, I am happily sharing my PB&J....these days, I share it with my grandaughters!

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Hey, give me your address because Obama said I can come over, take it away from you and your granddaughters so that I can give it to my friend.

that's Obama's plan.

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I'm glad we're seeing all this talk about PB&J sandwiches - because given the direction of the economy, that is going to be the standard staple at millions of dinner tables for the foreseeable future!

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I think this is very telling about 2 things. 1) That McCain doesn't put country first when his OWN ass is on the line. And 2) this is why he hates communists.

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 5, 2008; Page A01

"As the son of a top Navy admiral, who became commander in chief of U.S. forces in Asia in 1968, he was known as the "Crown Prince" and subjected to special attention from his captors. The Vietnamese used McCain and other prisoners to try to convince Americans that their leaders were fighting an unjust war that could not be won.

By his own account, McCain eventually "broke" under torture, a blow to his sense of military honor and self-esteem that led to suicide attempts and hardened his hatred for the communists."

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Can somebody explain to me why this is not true--McCain is calling Obama a socialist for supporting a 39.6 percent top income tax rate-- the rate that McCain voted to maintain in 2001.

Agreeing with John McCain's pre-flip-flop positions makes you a socialist?

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I've found this really funny time line of Palin i think the majority of you would love to laugh at! hahaha!!! We can not let this lady in to office!!!
http://www.capzles.com/c594c2cc-f224-4ef2-9878-e2692a3a8674

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Sarah Palin is a "wealth redistributor" too. What else can you say about a state that shares its profits with it's citizens!

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Do that have peanut butter in Mecca, where Obama must have been raised?

In jest.

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Oh hell yes. A penis butter and watermelon jam samitch sho are good. Wash dat bad boy down wiph a 40 oz Old English then chill wiph a tight white 2-0 of pure butter. Hell yes I will share the welph of the samitch and 40 oz but don't touch my 20 cent piece or I will pop a cap in yo ass. Hell yeah my brotha from anotha mutha.

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If that was a quiz on logic then most of you just flunked it.

I share my lunch and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with my friends same as you do. I willingly share with my friends. But when the government decides that it needs half my peanut butter and jelly sandwich because someone else deserves it better - that is where the evil begins. How does the government make that decision? What right-of-appeal do I have? NONE - just give up half the sandwich or be imprisoned.

What is really being said is: if the class clique decides that some other fourth grader should have half my peanut butter and jelly sandwich then I should willingly give it up because the class clique is smarter than I am, and because if I don't they'll beat me up. Is that the America that you want to belong to? Not me.

If Mr. Obama was so willing to share his sandwich then - why is so unwilling to share with his poor brother or aunt - check out the stories. IF sharing is SOOOOO good, why are Mr. Obama & Mr. Biden's charitable contributions so low as to be at the bottom end of the scale?

So in conclusion - you've been suckered into assuming that giving of your own free will was equivalent to having the goverment give on your behalf - time to go back to school.

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Consider me all in with you. This madness has made me bitter to see the crooked socialistic insanity. I will never give to any charity again. Let them live on their little 1k check, or $19.23 per week. Good luck slackers. How can this public buy in to thinking that $19.23 per week is going to be of any benefit. I see an influx of business fleeing the country. The world has gotten smaller and business can be done elsewhere just as well as in America. When they leave, they will not come back. Hey folks, we will see unemployment betwen 10 and 30% and I will enjoy it. Educated young Americans will be waiting tables at The Cheescake Factory and I will not tip them because I know someone who needs the money more than them. Oh, in my bitterness,I have already started the no tip policy. The waiters are not too happy, but it is my loot. Luckily, I have no debt, I am retired and saved throughout my career. In other words, I am set to sit down and watch America crumble in comfort. It is all good. Bad luck to the young and stupid !

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I just watched the bullshit infomercial from Obama. To start, Larry nor Juanita Stewart own property in Sardinia Ohio. Additionally, if the lovely Juanita needed healthcare, considering her illness, should not Mr. Larry continued to be employed, thus receiving health care ? This Rebecca Johnston should have kept her leggs together or given the gimped up Brian blow jobs instead of having five children. Come on, a "tire guy" should not have five children. It won't work folks. Does Rebecca work ? Deadbeats eating cheeto's.

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It is about time that The Good Rev. Wright makes a cameo. What the hell was McCain thinking to lock away Wright? He made a stupid decision.

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