http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/10/the-early-line Comments On: The early line — Tom Cotton for veep by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
Here in Northwest Arkansas, the switch was accomplished about 20 years ago. I tell many of my Republican friends that we Democrats can still elect our people in Benton County; we just have to call them Republicans.
Posted by plainjim]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:13:10 -0600 Arkansas Times
Democrats in Arkansas have too often been republicans minus the more egregious lunacies. That's how it seems to a relative newcomer. The natural constituency of the Democratic Party should be the working man, unions, nurses, teachers, cops and firemen, etc. Why did they let those constituencies get away from them?

IMHO
Posted by the outlier]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:08:22 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by radical centrist]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:49:32 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by plainjim]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:49:05 -0600 Arkansas Times >He is the creation of Jane Hamsher

Being a scholar at Oxford has nothing to do with his achievements. Being second in charge of Social Security taught him nothing. Being on boards of corporations imparted no knowledge to him.

I hope you get to meet Hamsher someday, maybe have coffee and chat. Then report back to us about all the magical power she has accumulated.
Posted by eLwood]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:35:36 -0600 Arkansas Times FireDogLake.com.
Posted by radical centrist]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:10:52 -0600 Arkansas Times
Halter's no saint but at least he has a broader perspective on the world than any other prominent pol from either party seems to have. You have to live for a while OUTSIDE this parochial plantation of a state to see how inbred this state and its politics are, and how desperately we need to open the doors and windows and air out the fungi and dust that has clouded people's minds and eyes and ears for so long.
Posted by GrizLee Bear]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:53:15 -0600 Arkansas Times " -Bulkington

Thanks for asking. Please keep asking. I too await specific answers. Have been for many years.
Posted by Eureka Springs]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:44:36 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by plainjim]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 05:57:21 -0600 Arkansas Times
It's no secret I think Bill Halter is our way to the future. The Arkansas Democrats and even the DC Democrats didn't think so when Halter ran against Blanche and they FK'ed him over and helped give us Sen. Douchebag (r). Now that Blanche has shown her true colors how can anyone think she'll ever have a political future? She was a Moneypublican from the start and always will be.

Vic Snyder served honorably and then got scared off by a couple of drunk doctor's wives....who needs a fraidy cat in office in these terrible times? Mike Ross is a damn crook....who would elect him to anything? USADrugs.....Jesus!

Look, when I was little Arkansas was controlled and had been controlled by smoky back room Democrats clear back to the 1820s. They ran everything like it was 1942 and all the rest of the men were still overseas fighting Hitler and Tojo. That worked back then though it was pure Arkansas Plantation which made sure we'd be 48th or worse forever. They did this because low opportunity and low wages for working people MADE THE RICH RICHER.

Zoom ahead to 2013 and the same plan is solidly at work even though it's mostly Republicans shoveling the dough up the ladder while the rest of us still suffer from low opportunity and low wages. Can you not see that continuing to "move to the middle" has kept Arkansas down the last 190 years? And you want some more of it?

We need a damn California politician to move in and break the chain as Oprah likes to say......I'd take one from Mars at this point. Bill Halter moved off and got smarter, something that sure can't be said for DC resident, Mark Pryor. This bullshit some of you are already circulating about Bill Halter is the same bullshit that was spread about Win Rockefeller when he entered Arkansas politics and a quick review of Rockefeller's time as our Governor shows he damn near snapped us out of the Plantation mentality.

If you'll also notice...Dale Bumpers and David Pryor did very very very well for Dale Bumpers and David Pryor during their time in government IN Arkansas, as did Bill Clinton.....but also notice when they all went off to DC, never to return, Arkansas went NOWHERE. Same ole same ole 48th place everything. Blanche & Huckabee loved Arkansas so much they DON'T LIVE HERE ANY MORE.

We've got to have new blood like Halter or one of my yet to be born grandchildren's grandchildren will be typing this same thing about 48th place backwater Arkansas in 2213. The Arkansas Democratic Party is scared of Halter because he's not going to do same ole same ole if he's elected. And tell me friends, what has the Arkansas Democratic Party done for you in the last 10, 20, 100 years? They're their own version of the Chamber of Commerce, good buddy scratching the backs of good buddies......old Blanche is alright, Mark Pryor is just fine, Mike Ross....no problems with Mikey!

Not to mention we're covered up with rabid Republicans these days that can be put in 3 categories, Greedy, Religious Nuts and Stupid, some are a little of all 3. If we don't elect us a fired-up progressive real Democrat to take Beebe's place Max might as well shut down the blog because we really won't have anything to talk about.

We'll finally become as bad as the worst of the Red States, no unions, no jobs, vaginal probes, no abortion services, crazy bullshit Bible bills out the ass, full tax back on groceries......just name every bad thing Red States have come up with in the last decade and Arkansas will get it in spades.

I don't want this for my kids or your kids. We don't have to live on the bottom forever, but we will by electing candy-ass Democrats who'll give us the status quo forever and ever. Halter is the only horse of a different color on the scene from the Democratic side. The rest, old retreads or people I've never heard of won't stand a chance. Our ONLY hope is someone with new ideas and the smarts to implement them and that would be Bill Halter.
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:21:28 -0600 Arkansas Times
Also -- I, too, have had recent problems with comments not posting: I assumed it was because I was so slow -- easily distracted, poor typist -- and the thing just gave and timed out. Or some quirk of using an iPad. I now try to remember to copy the text before hitting the post button.

Doh!
Posted by Bulkington]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:12:43 -0600 Arkansas Times
Outlier — could be wrong, but can’t imagine Snyder leaving a lucrative job with Blue Cross to get back into politics. Ditto Lincoln who’s making a killing with Alston & Bird, the Nat’l Federation of Independent Bidness, et al.

Nor, for that matter, do I see Mike Ross parting ways with the coal-powered utility folks to jump back into the governor’s race. But we’re talking Arkansas. And we’re talking politics. So who knows?

Plainjim — think Keith Ingram might be the white horse? There’s talk of it. Think there’s a chance Halter might realize he must move more to the center, do that very thing, and become a more viable candidate?
Posted by Durango]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:43:04 -0600 Arkansas Times
NVR, there is very little regional accent in New Mexico. They speak pretty good English there. I just called my friend in Santa Fe as I had not heard from her since Thursday. She's had a pretty rough couple of days. She finally has gotten someone in to stay with her at night. She should have done this a year ago and really needs someone 24/7. She won't even consider getting hospice. I don't push because she knows what she wants.

When I was there in October and doing things for her she was very bossy as she is with her help that comes in. I finally told her that she wasn't paying me, so she couldn't boss me around. She laughed. I don't think she has much time left. But then I thought that last October and March before that. I will miss her. In the almost 40 years I've known her, I can't remember ever having a boring conversation with her. She's a pip!
Posted by the outlier]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:28:14 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by NeverVoteRepublican]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:07:56 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by HardHeadedWoman]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:01:53 -0600 Arkansas Times
If your friends cannot keep up, you should just commiserate, but never correct.
Posted by Silverback66]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:00:42 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by RYD]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:50:23 -0600 Arkansas Times
When I try a second time, I get a post.

I intend to pester the Outlier.
Posted by Silverback66]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:38:43 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Silverback66]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:36:23 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Artificial Inteligence]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:29:07 -0600 Arkansas Times
You have got to let the rednecks have their guns. Don't take a stand there. Don't risk your political capital in opposing laws that you know will be struck down in court, such as the abortion measures currently pending. It would be sure suicide. Play their game, and try to get through programs which you think will really help people in need. Bill Halter might be a great candidate in California; he won't fly in Arkansas. You have to be a realist and face up to the facts. Being branded as a liberal will never get you elected in Arkansas. David Pryor knew that; Dale Bumpers knew that; Bill Clinton knew that. They realized that as Centrists they had a chance; if they preached their liberal beliefs they were doomed. There was no stronger advocate for the right to bear arms than Bill Clinton. I have heard him say time and again that the Second Amendment makes it clear that the citizenry has a right to bear arms. The Democratic Party officials in Arkansas know that, too. That is why they are cool to Halter.

I am still waiting for that man on a white horse to show up for the Democratic Party.
Posted by plainjim]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:20:39 -0600 Arkansas Times
I can pick up and lose accents really fast. It was a defense mechanism when I was a Yankee moving into the south or vice versa. When hiking the Cotswolds several years ago, I ran into a bunch of English folks on the trails. They couldn't figure out where I was from. They guessed everywhere but the U.S. I suspect I had already picked up a bit of a British accent in the days I had been there.

My dearest friend in Santa Fe has started insulting me about my pronunciation. She says I'm dropping g's and saying 'em instead of them. She told me I used to sound educated. We've always had an agreement to correct each other's grammar as it is so easy to get sloppy. Now she has added accent to the mix. She is terminally ill and I attribute her crankiness to that so I humor her and try to clean it up when we talk which is almost daily.
Posted by the outlier]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:04:17 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by the outlier]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:46:05 -0600 Arkansas Times
HHW's little test last night said I have a Western accent.

I saw "Hyde Park on Hudson" this past week. It was enjoyable but I'm not sure how accurate it was historically.
Posted by NeverVoteRepublican]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:33:04 -0600 Arkansas Times
Today was like a late March day to be honest. I'm not taking any bets on this spring.
Posted by wannabee conservative]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:54:54 -0600 Arkansas Times