The 2% OPEN THREAD

26 Comments

1. 

   ejmw on October 14, 2005 at 3:43 pm

   Condi?

   • 

     Andrew C White on October 14, 2005 at 4:34 pm

     yeah… candi… I mean… condi… that’s about it. Not powell anymore that’s fer sure.

2. 

   DuctapeFatwa on October 14, 2005 at 3:50 pm

   regime decrees. Ted something? Oh, and Uncle Colin.

   • 

     Mnemosyne on October 14, 2005 at 4:37 pm

     Uncle Colin? Not sure I’d count him in the solid 2% these days. In the margin of error, maybe. Time will tell.

3. 

   Dean Pajevic on October 14, 2005 at 3:55 pm

   more about Reggie White:

   White endorsed Gary Bauer, perhaps the most socially conservative candidate in that year’s Republican presidential primary.

    “Black people are very gifted in what we call worship and celebration,” he said. White folks “know how to tap into money.” Hispanics “were gifted in family structure” and could get 20 to 30 people into one home. Asians are technically proficient to the point that they “can turn a television into a watch.”

   • 

     Nag on October 14, 2005 at 3:57 pm

     Wow, I never knew that Reggie White was such a bigot.

     • 

       AP on October 14, 2005 at 4:35 pm

       He was actually beginning to delve deeper into Christianity and away from the sports hero talking points at the time of his death. That’s why the Gary Bauers of the world didn’t make a big deal of his passing.

       I always thought there was an awful loud silence among the wingnut set when he died. I’ll go find the article…think it was on salon.com. BRB!

       • 

         AP on October 14, 2005 at 6:14 pm

         Just to be clear, he never said that he was sorry for bashing and gays and lesbians at the whim of the wingnut set, but he was clearly on a different path at the time of his death than that spectacle-making speech of his in Wisconsin.

         (From Rushing for Jesus” in Salon.com.)

         In the interview, White also rejected a practice at the very heart of the athletic Christian movement, one he did much to popularize: the perceived imperative for the star athlete to use his stature to spread the Christian message. That was one of the founding goals of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes when it formed a half century ago, and it remains a major thrust of athletic Christianity today, acted out every time a player points to the heavens after a touchdown or home run, credits Jesus in an interview, or puts his fame to work in front of church congregations and youth gatherings. “I was an entertainer,” White said. “People seemed to want to be entertained rather than taught.” (emphasis mine)

         But in the NFL Network interview, the retired, more contemplative White said he felt “prostituted” by those who encouraged him to capitalize on his football fame to promote religion. It is hard to imagine a more blunt and damning repudiation than what White issued.

         “Really, in many respects I’ve been prostituted. Most people who wanted me to speak at their churches only asked me to speak because I played football, not because I was this great religious guy or this theologian … I got caught up in some of that until I got older and I got sick of it.

         “I’ve been a preacher for 21 years, preaching what somebody wrote or what I heard somebody else say. I was not a student of scripture. I came to the realization I’d become more of a motivational speaker than a teacher of the word.”

         And especially this:

         The retired White was repentant about his infamous address before the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1998. ESPN’s Andrea Kremer reports that White told her in a recent, as-yet-unaired interview that he regretted the disparaging stereotypes he had made about various ethnic groups. But it was not clear from Kremer’s reports whether White felt repentant about the ugly anti-gay remarks he had included in the ill-informed address. In the immediate aftermath of the speech, White had been somewhat apologetic about the ethnic remarks. But he stubbornly refused to back away from his blatant homophobia. Had his recent journey led him to a more enlightened position on homosexuality? Given White’s record on the issue, it’s hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.

         Still, toward the last part of his life, White was doing something astonishing for a man who used to hate reading: He was learning Hebrew with the aim of studying the Old Testament in its original language. “I came to the realization,” he said, “that if I’m going to find God, I’d better find him for myself.”

         White’s new direction was apparently not well received by all who knew him. He said some Christians found his study of Hebrew objectionable and his searching attitude heretical. Some ministers, he said, warned other Christians to stay away from him. (emphasis mine)

         I don’t give him a pass for the homophobia. But I will always wonder what could have been. He finally started to walk his own path–questioning and defining “truth” for himself instead of being a puppet.

         • 

           Nag on October 15, 2005 at 10:51 am

           Thanks, Auntie Peachy. I always thought that Reggie White was more bluster and talk than religion. Honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to things he said BECAUSE he was a professional athlete. I’m not proud of that, but there it is. That’s MY bigotry, isn’t it?

4. 

   mlk19569 on October 14, 2005 at 3:56 pm

   You forgot Lynn Swann who is running against Rendell in PA.

5. 

   CabinGirl on October 14, 2005 at 4:00 pm

   Alan Keyes?

6. 

   conglomerNation on October 14, 2005 at 4:04 pm

   JC Watts? I got nothin’ else…

7. 

   Chamonix1 on October 14, 2005 at 4:05 pm

   and with Chimpy being at 2% if you use the MoE going down instead of up that would give him -1. So my advice is stop looking…even his most ardent supporters are in hiding or have turned on him. How could somebody be at -1? answer: Worst President in the History of the United States Ever!!!  

8. 

   catnip on October 14, 2005 at 4:08 pm

   You don’t need to be a weatherman to know how badly Bush blows

9. 

   catnip on October 14, 2005 at 4:15 pm

   Bush toy was not much fun

   By MATT LITTLE Special to The Star

   Dear Blue Box:

   With great disappointment, I am returning the George W. Bush “action figure,” which you will find enclosed in this package. I am seeking a full refund for this defective toy for the following reasons:

   • Despite its billing as an action figure to pair up with my GI Joes, it was obviously not made to be a soldier. Never mind the lack of any scar on its face. The bigger problem is that I cannot find any weapons of mass destruction anywhere in the box. Heck, I can’t find any weapons at all!
   • When I pull the string to make it talk, the results are muffled and unintelligible or make no sense at all. Is this supposed to be some kind of rotten joke on your customers?
   • Every time I turn the doll upside down and shake it, white powder comes out. What’s with that?
   • Even worse, my GI Joe dolls don’t seem to like this one at all, and I’m beginning to understand why:

   All last week, during the grueling sandbox battles in my backyard between my GI Joes and the hideous armies of Grog, the GW Bush doll was missing. I thought it was lost for good. But then, after my GI Joes won the day and made the sandbox safe again, there the Bush doll was, front and center, looking splendid and unruffled in pristine army fatigues. Evidently it’d been playing dress-up all week with my sister’s Ken doll but was right there to take the credit for the GI Joe’s victory.

   My GI Joes are all saying that the GW Bush doll is stealing money out of their pockets and giving it to my sister’s Ken and Barbie dolls. I didn’t believe this at first, but this afternoon I spied a nice, new dollhouse in my sister’s room and now I’m thinking it must be so.

   I’m certain you can understand my desire to return this toy to you. Your quality control supervisor must be asleep on the job. Frankly, I don’t know why you even produced this doll in the first place. If you value your reputation at all, you will recall it immediately.

   All this is terrible, but the worst part of all is that this is not the doll I originally ordered! I carefully filled out the order form, yet the toy I received was not the one I expected. I wonder how many other customers ended up with a different “action figure” than the one they requested. I hope the rumor that you cannot correct this error for two more years is untrue.

   Please either send me the action figure I ordered or refund my money. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

   Matt Little is a marketing, communications and design consultant who lives in Overland Park.

   • 

     Mnemosyne on October 14, 2005 at 4:42 pm

     funny funny funny

     Do you have a link on that?

     • 

       catnip on October 14, 2005 at 5:35 pm

       No. I just found it when I was going through some old e-mails. Maybe if you google the guy’s name…?

       • 

         Mnemosyne on October 14, 2005 at 6:16 pm

         Bingo. With lots of good links in this one, including the piece Catnip cited. And this very entertaining thread from Billmon, with a slightly different version of the letter, toward the end.

10. 

    catnip on October 14, 2005 at 4:35 pm

    freep this poll if you’re bored.

11. 

    Oui on October 14, 2005 at 4:47 pm

    .

    Remember one year ago?

    

    “America needs a leader who makes sure they have everything they need to get the job done, a leader who believes in their mission and honors their service, a leader who has the courage and the character to stay on the offense against terrorism until the war is won. That leader is our commander in chief, George W. Bush.”

    “One of the best things about playing in the World Series was seeing the footage of soldiers cheering for the Red Sox in Iraq, it was great to know that we could make them feel closer to home and do something to put a smile on their faces, while they were on the front lines. Those troops deserve all of our support, and all of our thanks.

    And there’s something else we can do for them. We can make sure we elect a president who supports them every step of the way.”– 11.01.2004 Curt Schilling in Wilmington, Ohio

    I guess they both lost!

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    • 

      Dean Pajevic on October 14, 2005 at 4:52 pm

      We’d just as soon not remember one year ago.  At least I wouldn’t.

      • 

        Oui on October 14, 2005 at 5:10 pm

        .
        I’m a Cardinals fan …

        

        Watched Bush Stadium and the Arch being build – great memories of SLU.

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12. 

    Oui on October 14, 2005 at 5:00 pm

    .

    WaPo article

    This latest poll included 807 people nationwide, and only 89 blacks. As a result, there is a considerable margin or error –
    […]

    Late Update: The Pew Research Center is just out with its latest poll, which has a larger sample, and it finds Bush’s approval rating among blacks at 12 percent, down only slightly from 14 in July. Here are those results (pdf file).

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13. 

    Time Waits for no Woman on October 14, 2005 at 5:27 pm

    Check this out here.

    All about how she was embedded in Iraq, and a few other places too apparently.

    • 

      Oui on October 14, 2005 at 5:53 pm

      .

      Each time the phrase “Aspin said” appeared, a reporter would add, “rolling over in bed”.

      Libby’s bizarre letter to Judy

      “Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters … “

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14. 

    Oui on October 14, 2005 at 5:43 pm

    .
    Rove Testifies 4th Time

    

    … Rove Soon Moving In?

    

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