# Stupid liberal idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 20, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086 "2011-04-20T15:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 110
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2181 "2014-07-30T03:20:22Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I had no idea he was a practicing physician. Nor does he build websites or carry a gun to defend our country. Yet he’s still in charge of HHS, the military, airport security, the INS, and the CDC. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2182 "2014-07-30T03:20:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > the House passed something very different Get the fuck out! They did?!? I never! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2183 "2014-07-30T03:22:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > So you think the President had been poisoning the atmosphere since he was sworn in, and recently stopped? Got any quotes to back that up? No, I just think that on these two particular bills, he hasn’t seen fit to attack Republicans, so Congressional leadership from both sides were able to work together and put a bill on his desk. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2184 "2014-07-30T03:31:43Z")
Right now, the CDC is in the news for some mishaps involving deadly pathogens. [https://news.search.yahoo.com/search;\_ylt=AwrBTzbAZdhTrkkAcMVXNyoA?p=cdc%20anthrax&fr2=cosmos&.sep=&fr=yfp-t-901](https://news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrBTzbAZdhTrkkAcMVXNyoA?p=cdc%20anthrax&fr2=cosmos&.sep=&fr=yfp-t-901) As liberals are fond of saying, self-regulation doesn’t work. Left to themselves, most organizations will take shortcuts, slack off, or even do illegal things if there isn’t a culture of accountability. And guess who is ultimately in charge of assuring that this culture of accountability is maintained and enforced? It’s called leadership. Even a top-rate organization like the CDC will drift if there is no leadership at the top, no one holding the top people accountable. Now so far, unlike with the IRS, VA, HHS, and NSA, we don’t know if there are systemic failures occurring. But given what we’ve heard recently out of the CDC, and recognizing that there’s a pretty big threat emerging, this is something that just might require the President’s personal attention. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe the CDC should just self-regulate and it will all be okay. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2185 "2014-07-30T03:40:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No, I just think that on these two particular bills, he hasn’t seen fit to attack Republicans, so Congressional leadership from both sides were able to work together and put a bill on his desk. Yeah, i’m sure that’s exactly the reason. I’m sure that if he just left Congress to do its business, the Republicans would get in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation. You really are a dishonest piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2186 "2014-07-30T03:43:49Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No, I just think that on these two particular bills, he hasn’t seen fit to attack Republicans, so Congressional leadership from both sides were able to work together and put a bill on his desk. Got any quotes to back that up? On the other hand, there’s [this](http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-blasts-reid-wont-allow-immigration-reform-on-border-bill/?dcz=): > [@John Boehner (quoted in Roll Call)](#): > > “So let me be as clear as I can be with Senator Reid: the House of Representatives will not take up the Senate immigration reform bill or accept it back from the Senate in any fashion,” he said. “Nor will we accept any attempt to add any other comprehensive immigration reform bill or anything like it, including the DREAM Act, to the House’s targeted legislation, which is meant to fix the actual problems causing the border crisis. Such measures have no place in the effort to solve this crisis, and any attempt to exploit this crisis by adding such measures will run into a brick wall in the People’s House.” Yeah, Obama is the one preventing any compromises. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2187 "2014-07-30T03:45:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Or perhaps the President’s. An ebola case nearly made it to our shores today. I hope he’s engaged on this issue. As usual, you didn’t supply a link that doesn’t say what you claim it said. All I’ve found are articles about Ebola in West Africa. Nothing about a case coming into the country. And what do you think Obama can do personally about it? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2188 "2014-07-30T03:45:55Z")
Loser. Heh. I realize you need your guy to fit the image carefully cultivated around him as the reasonable guy in the room, but the record is clear: The President gets results when he refrains from attacking. As in foreign diplomacy, public attacks on the people you are supposed to be negotiating with tends to sabotage the talks. The Republicans don’t fear him, so when he acts like an asshole they have every incentive to just walk away and let him stew. Perhaps now that he seems to have checked out and is more interested in fundraising and celebrity get togethers and golf, things will be better now. At least in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2189 "2014-07-30T03:51:33Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > As usual, you didn’t supply a link that doesn’t say what you claim it said. All I’ve found are articles about Ebola in West Africa. Nothing about a case coming into the country. > > And what do you think Obama can do personally about it? > **[Ebola fears hit close to home | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/health/ebola-outbreak-american-dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2)** > > Ebola has claimed an American victim in the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Get the latest news on the Ebola outbreak. (CNN) – Patrick Sawyer had one stop to make before heading home to Minnesota to celebrate his daughters’ birthdays: a conference in Lagos, Nigeria. But when he landed in Lagos, Sawyer, 40, collapsed getting off the plane. He had been infected with Ebola in Liberia, where he worked as a top government official in the Liberian Ministry of Finance. Sawyer was isolated at a local Nigerian hospital on July 20. He died five days later. Now, what should the President do personally? For the last six years, he should have been encouraging a culture of accountability throughout the federal government. Rather than seeking to hide or spin, or even protect himself personally from problems within the bureaucracy, he would welcome whistleblowers and media reports and GAO and Inspector general reports and demand that mismanagement be corrected, firing officials if necessary and replacing them with more competent officials. Obviously, if he hasn’t been doing that, then there isn’t a whole lot he can do in the next 90 days or so to get his administration ready to handle infected people trying to get back into the country. Or even worse, handle an outbreak. So cross your fingers that he’s been waging an under the radar effort to get his bureaucracy running more smoothly. And BTW, wasn’t calling you a loser Running Coach, That was for mhendo. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2190 "2014-07-30T03:55:38Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No, I just think that on these two particular bills, he hasn’t seen fit to attack Republicans, so Congressional leadership from both sides were able to work together and put a bill on his desk. That’s not even close to what you originally said: > [@adaher](#): > > it’s pretty clear that the Senate can work just fine if the President isn’t poisoning the atmosphere with partisan attacks and Reid isn’t filling up the amendment tree. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2191 "2014-07-30T03:55:52Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > On the other hand, there’s [this](http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-blasts-reid-wont-allow-immigration-reform-on-border-bill/?dcz=):Yeah, Obama is the one preventing any compromises. Has the President or has the President not attacked Republicans numerous times for not passing an immigration bill? Secondly, even if he wasn’t(and he’s been doing it like a mofo for months), Congress is supposed to have major disagreements on bills. If the political environment isn’t unnecessarily supercharged by the President using the disagreement for political gain in an election year where his party is poised to take big losses, then the two sides could pass a bill based on common areas of agreement. They both agree on border security. They both agree on legalization after border security is achieved. The only serious disagreement is on a path to citizenship. They could pass a bill with everything but that. That is, if the President wasn’t mouthing off at every opportunity, desperate to save his party in the coming elections. On this particular issue especially, you shouldn’t be so gullible. Immigration activists have been saying for some time that the PResident would rather have the issue than a bill, and he’s making sure he doesn’t get a bill as a result. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2192 "2014-07-30T03:58:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > [http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/health/ebola-outbreak-american-dies/index.html?hpt=hp\_t2](http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/health/ebola-outbreak-american-dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) > > (CNN) – Patrick Sawyer had one stop to make before heading home to Minnesota to celebrate his daughters’ birthdays: a conference in Lagos, Nigeria. > > But when he landed in Lagos, Sawyer, 40, collapsed getting off the plane. He had been infected with Ebola in Liberia, where he worked as a top government official in the Liberian Ministry of Finance. > > Sawyer was isolated at a local Nigerian hospital on July 20. He died five days later. > > Now, what should the President do personally? For the last six years, he should have been encouraging a culture of accountability throughout the federal government. Rather than seeking to hide or spin, or even protect himself personally from problems within the bureaucracy, he would welcome whistleblowers and media reports and GAO and Inspector general reports and demand that mismanagement be corrected, firing officials if necessary and replacing them with more competent officials. > > Obviously, if he hasn’t been doing that, then there isn’t a whole lot he can do in the next 90 days or so to get his administration ready to handle infected people trying to get back into the country. Or even worse, handle an outbreak. So cross your fingers that he’s been waging an under the radar effort to get his bureaucracy running more smoothly. > > And BTW, wasn’t calling you a loser Running Coach, That was for mhendo. You’re fucking delusional - what the fuck does a diplomat getting sick in a dangerous area have to do with the president not encouraging accountability? Lying sack of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2193 "2014-07-30T04:02:35Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Has the President or has the President not attacked Republicans numerous times for not passing an immigration bill? You’re the one making the claim, so you’re the one who has to back it up. This oughta be good. > [@](#): > > Secondly, even if he wasn’t(and he’s been doing it like a mofo for months), Congress is supposed to have major disagreements on bills. This isn’t a disagreement. This isn’t some stumbling block on the way to a compromise. This is “a brick wall in the People’s House.” (Boehner’s exact words.) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2194 "2014-07-30T04:03:47Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > You’re fucking delusional - what the fuck does a diplomat getting sick in a dangerous area have to do with the president not encouraging accountability? > > Lying sack of shit. How dense can you be? There have been numerous failures all over the federal bureaucracy, most recently at the CDC. It is the President’s responsibility to make sure these vital agencies are performing their missions. Which is particularly important when there’s a risk of ebola coming to the United States. Get it now? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2195 "2014-07-30T04:05:59Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > How dense can you be? There have been numerous failures all over the federal bureaucracy, most recently at the CDC. It is the President’s responsibility to make sure these vital agencies are performing their missions. Which is particularly important when there’s a risk of ebola coming to the United States. > > Get it now? Does the CDC have control over a diplomat in a foreign country getting sick? No, it doesn’t you dumb fuck. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2196 "2014-07-30T04:06:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You’re the one making the claim, so you’re the one who has to back it up. > > This oughta be good. Apparently you don’t read much. This is one of those “everyone is already aware of it” things. You’re just filibustering now. The President has been on the attack on immigration reform for months. It’s common knowledge. I don’t have to cite for that anymore than I have to cite that Obama is the PResident or that the House has yet to pass an immigration bill. > [@](#): > > This isn’t a disagreement. This isn’t some stumbling block on the way to a compromise. This is “a brick wall in the People’s House.” (Boehner’s exact words.) Because the political climate around immigration has been poisoned in large part by the President. And I believe he did it on purpose. He doesn’t want a bill and he doesn’t have the ability to successfully implement immigration reform anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2197 "2014-07-30T04:09:11Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Apparently you don’t read much. This is one of those “everyone is already aware of it” things. You’re just filibustering now. The President has been on the attack on immigration reform for months. It’s common knowledge. I don’t have to cite for that anymore than I have to cite that Obama is the PResident or that the House has yet to pass an immigration bill. Your post is your cite? The classics never go out of style. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2198 "2014-07-30T04:10:07Z")
Before Cantor got axed, he explained to the President that you don’t attack the people you are supposedly trying to work with: > **[Cantor blasts Obama for immigration attack on GOP](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/16/cantor-blasts-obama-for-immigration-attack-on-gop/)** > > House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is criticizing President Barack Obama for attacking the same lawmakers he’s supposed to be working with on immigration. ``` WASHINGTON (AP) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is criticizing President Barack Obama for attacking the same lawmakers he’s supposed to be working with on immigration. ``` The Virginia Republican says Obama called him Wednesday to discuss Obama’s desire for an immigration overhaul. The call came after Obama released a statement accusing Republicans of repeatedly failing to act and of being behind the times on immigration. Cantor says Obama still hasn’t learned how to work effectively with Congress. He says Obama’s statement shows he has no sincere desire to work together. The Obama team, showing they are as dense as zoid, released a statement saying that the call was in fact pleasant. Except Cantor wasn’t referring to the call! He was referring to the President’s public statements attacking Republicans. While they were talking to him behind the scenes! This is bad diplomacy. Horrible diplomacy. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2199 "2014-07-30T04:11:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Your post is your cite? > > The classics never go out of style. No shit. When someone else does it, it’s “filibustering” but when adaher does it it’s “common knowledge” He’s scum. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/2200 "2014-07-30T04:12:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Your post is your cite? > > The classics never go out of style. I’m not going to let you get away with filibustering. Is it your claim that the President has not attacked the GOP on immigration reform? You don’t need to prove it, just say that’s what you are arguing if that’s the case. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086.md?page=109) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086.md?page=111)