The Washington Independent - U.S. news and politics - washingtonindependent.com: Comments by John Whisler

John Whisler — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:58:18 GMT

Is this another example of how Mukasey continues his master’s work? Chuck Schumer should be ashamed of himself for advocating for this tool.

John Whisler — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:42:41 GMT

I think this is a complicated issue; boards have compensation committees who are frequently CEOs at other corporations. These committees hire consultants, but it seems it’s always in everyone’s interest to overpay the CEO. Why pay less? No one seems to care and no one is punished for over-payment. Conflicts of interest, hidden agendas, lack of transparency abound.

But the thing the galls the most is that these CEOs, always stout advocates of competition, can fail miserably and still make millions. They talk about risk-taking and the virtues of the market, but they game the system to ensure they will be completely insulated from poor performance. The only ones who suffer are the employees and the shareholders.

John Whisler — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:01:27 GMT

Another legacy to be handed off by this administration, and a complicit Congress, to the next.

John Whisler — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:11:12 GMT

Perhaps even in Congress, they’re beginning to realize that any statement of any importance from this administration is simply a lie. However, I’ve thought this in the past and the lies have been swallowed, hook, line and sinker.

By the way, the word is “unfazed”, not “unphased”.

John Whisler — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:08:33 GMT

It’s clear that there is no mechanism in place for determining who’s responsible for torture, and what’s to be done about it, because we think torture is something we don’t do. Torture is done by others, by bad people, so we’ve never faced up to the implications of what to do when it happens here. The possibility of strictures like the Nuremberg principles being applied to us, us for god’s sakes, is alarming. So, we’ll let the little guys off because they were just following orders, and the big boys will leave government and go to the American Enterprise Institute. It will be like it never happened and we can continue to sleep the sleep of the righteous.

John Whisler — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:01:25 GMT

No. Yes. Yes. No.

John Whisler — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:28:05 GMT

The craziness is that we have a general running foreign policy. Bush of course is too childish to take responsibility for the war, and Congress, for a million bad reasons, can’t or won’t step up. So, everybody looks to the man in uniform. Civilians, not military officers, should decide when we end this miserable war, but no civilians save the public have the courage to say it should end now. One can almost feel sorry for Petraeus; he seems almost to want someone to tell him how his war fits into some larger plan, to let him know what the goal is. But since there’s never been any point, no one will. Maybe he’ll be left to twist slowly in the wind. But, he’s so nakedly ambitious, it’s hard to have any sympathy for him.

John Whisler — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:38:13 GMT

It’s been obvious for years that McCain has no interest in nor knowledge of actual policies on anything, that he is, in fact, an aging fighter jock with a great biography and a sense of humor. Will any of this actually matter in the campaign, or should I just kill myself now?

John Whisler — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:57:58 GMT

We could pair a gas tax cut with a tax on pandering…problem solved!

John Whisler — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:39:09 GMT

‘I’m not Barack Obama. My pastor’s not crazy.’”...yeah, there’s a great platform, just the kind of thing we’re looking for in these times. My guess is it’s McCain who’s going to crack up big time in the campaign. He’s not a thinker, nor a leader, nor a manager and he’s used to a top-down command structure, where people do what he tells them to. He’s unaccustomed to being challenged on anything and has little interest in policy or actual situations, so he says the dumbest, fact-free things. Plus, he’s has a temper. Watch for the crack-up, coming soon.

John Whisler — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:24:32 GMT

...”a near symbiotic relationship between Congress and industry, often lending a sense that business interests take priority over citizens’ concerns…” That’s some understatement there. The Bush administration has brought this process to the peak of perfection, with business lobbyists literally writing their own legislation. Do we think the Democrats will be much better? The FISA debacle doesn’t warrant much optimism.

John Whisler — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:20:46 GMT

We love the straight-talk express!

John Whisler — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:32:17 GMT

Are things bad enough yet, has there been enough evidence of what always happens with unchecked markets, that there’s a reasonable chance of regulation in our financial system? It’s amazing how a-historic we are, and how we ignore everything from the tulip mania to the south seas bubble to the internet bonanza and pretend that there’s a “new paradigm” where the fundamentals don’t apply. People will always be greedy and will always need rules to mitigate that greed. It’s like John Adams said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary”. Well, they ain’t and it is.

John Whisler — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:29:53 GMT

It’s all part of the No Crony Left Behind policy of this administration. My abstinence-from-golf-only program to reduce teen eye-rolling was unfairly rejected because I have no crony connections. We need a better banana republic!

John Whisler — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:00:31 GMT

Wow, ndustire, your post is a creepy gold mine for psychoanalysis. It sounds as if you have your adolescent torture and vengeance fantasies for “these types” (what types are those?) pretty well worked out. Do you really think what you talk about bears any relationship to reality? Kill their families? Throw them out of helicopters? Who do you do this to, anybody you don’t like? How do you know they’re “guilty”? How do you know the truth if and when they “talk”? Stop watching “24” and join the real world.

John Whisler — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:20:01 GMT

Joe Lieberman. bib attendant, is perfect!

John Whisler — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:42:51 GMT

So, concernedcitizen, which facts cited by Lawrence Korb are weak? You don’t get to just claim someone is wrong on the facts without pointing out the errors. War is truly politics by other means and political decisions should be left to accountable, elected officials. The people we elect should decide policy, the military should carry out those decisions.