Portions of her novels--

Which I'm sure I'll get "How dare you judge it without finishing" as a complaint...

But I'm sorry--it's like the Twilight novels, I pick it up at the bookstore and read some pages while there, some pages from the beginning, and from later in (because some books have particularly dull beginnings but can get better later on, there are books I do like that are like that, so I always try and give whatever I'm reading that chance...same with TV shows, Star Trek TNG had a terrible 1st season, but after that it really took off, especially with Season 3 and the famous cliffhanger, so I never watch the pilot of a show first when I start it, I pick some other episode a bit later in, after the actors and writers have had time to find their footing, but I'm REALLY off the topic now) and I just cannot take it.

And the thing is, I TRIED to read Rand...it'd have been very easy.

There's something like an entire section's bookcase devoted to Ayn Rand at my local Barnes and Noble, next to Stephen King, I think she must be the author with the single-most shelf representation space excluding figures like Shakespeare and Dickens come separately or in "Complete Works" editions and the like.

I just cannot abide by that.

And then I read some of her stuff online about her idea of Objectivism and the basis of her philosophy...

And again--I just don't care for it at that base, base level, at the foundations, so I don't fo further.

If you think that makes me unqualified to fairly critique her, I'd ask if you would need to eat the entirety of a rotten apple pie to decide it's a putrid and disgusting dish, or if a single slice or bite would be sufficient.

^That was @Tom, sorry.

Don't feel bad Randroids, Obi hasn't bothered to read Marx either. He hilariously called Marx's essay on the Jewish question (which is all about advocating political emancipation of the Jews) "anti-Semitic". I'm pretty he doesn't read 90% of what he claims to read.

"How were Bush's job numbers there, ace? Did it occur to you that Bush screwed up the economy so bad and that Europe & Japan are also not doing well at all that maybe Obama doesn't have the power of god to eliminate unemployment, especially with a hostile do-nothing Republican House?"

To be fair to our Right-Winged members here (and because, as I've said, I don't agree with you on quite a bit)--

While it's definitely true that the Republican-controlled house has essentially sat on the ball and tried to run out the clock on Obama, I cannot ignore the fact that the Democrats had the House and Senate from 2008-10 as well as the White House and STILL couldn't get through the things they needed to get through...

And while you seem to have an undying admiration for the man, and while I do like Obama and while I'm leaning towards voting for him, I cannot pretend that I am not a bit disappointed in his performance so far, and the lack of recovery and the ability of the House to push Obama around is partially due to an initially lackluster ability to command and command respect on Obama's part.

He simply has not been anywhere near forceful enough until very recently, about this year, I'd say.

And Bush-Bashing has really gone out of style...and I was a spirited Bush-Basher, but you have to let it go, Putin, it just looks absurd and like you're grasping at straws and for scapegoats to blame when you continue kicking a man 4 years out of office.

Bush was a disaster (in his second term, to be sure, he was better in his first term in my opinion) but that disaster has passed, water under the bridge, there are plenty of other deserving people to blame for this mess, PLENTY of deserving figures...

Move on.

"Don't feel bad Randroids, Obi hasn't bothered to read Marx either. He hilariously called Marx's essay on the Jewish question (which is all about advocating political emancipation of the Jews) "anti-Semitic". I'm pretty he doesn't read 90% of what he claims to read."

And I'll call it and Marx Anti-Semitic again.

And if you want to try and call me on what I've read, go ahead--try it.

I've read what I claim to read...you can call me plenty of things, and I'll take it, but I'm not going to take being called a liar, especially on something I care about.

And boy...you sure know how to make friends, Putin--

Attack the Right-wingers AND Left-wingers on the site!

Sometimes I think I've gone to far...and I'm sure I've stepped over the line now and again...

But then I look at one of your posts, or krellin's posts, and I'm filled with relief that I am not, yet, THAT far gone!

Out of style? What do you think we can just pick up the pieces of the most epic financial and economic disaster since the great depression and it'll all be fixed within a single term of Congress? This is how stupid people are. They're are so impatient and want immediate miracles to all of their problems. Nevermind that we live in a political system where 41 people can stifle the will of a supermajority in the House and 59 people in the Senate. Nevermind that despite that obstruction the Obama admin & Democratic House & Senate were the most productive in terms of passing legislation since LBJ and the Congress of '65-66. Nevermind that Obama has been the first president to do anything about healthcare after decades of Presidents promising us reform. Nevermind that Obama's stimulus saved us from a depression.

Nothing is good enough, Obi. You're one of those professional disaffected people who wants everything and wants it now, like Veruca Salt. And you also want to keep your "moderate" street cred, so stabbing Obama in the back and ignoring the role Bush played in causing our current mess will suffice.

We Didn't Start the Flame War...Peeps were hating on it 'fore I left my comment...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MToqnnNQa0I

Lol you just got done bashing Obama and absolving Bush, and now you want to make like youre some leftwinger and I should be nice to you because you dont attack me constantly or anything.

"What do you think we can just pick up the pieces of the most epic financial and economic disaster since the great depression and it'll all be fixed within a single term of Congress? This is how stupid people are. They're are so impatient and want immediate miracles to all of their problems."

Do I want or expect a miracle?
No.
Do I expect a Democrat President WITH A MANDATE and A DEMOCRAT CONGRESS to actually get what he wants for his plan passed?
YES!

I'm sorry, Putin, again, I LIKE OBAMA...

But even you'd have to admit, 2009-10 he was very much spineless and has let Reid and that disgusting vampire Pelosi fight his battles...for the WORSE, because I'd rather have had Obama's centrist hand in things rather than Nancy Pelosi...and comes from the Great State of California, so I know first hand what a terrible Representative that simpering, condescending extremist is.

She gives Democrats a BAD name (though I have to say, I think she and you would get along quite nicely, Putin...)

"Lol you just got done bashing Obama and absolving Bush, and now you want to make like youre some leftwinger and I should be nice to you because you dont attack me constantly or anything."

I don't care if you attack me or not--

I just find it amusing that you'll just attack anyone here and not care...even if they're the only other Left-winger on this thread.

Because with friends like you, Putin, who needs enemies, really?

(Also, your dogmatism is showing again--I can be a perfectly good Democrat and still have the courage to say "I dislike ____ about Obama," I DO NOT have to absolve him of every mistake and, again, as much as I LIKE OBAMA--you seem to selectively-love skipping over that part--he's made mistakes, and he's been the first to admit it! Why can't you?)

"Nevermind that Obama has been the first president to do anything about healthcare after decades of Presidents promising us reform."

And flawed as it is, I appreciated the effort--though again, it'd have been quite a bit BETTER if Obama had taken a stronger stance and not had Reid and Pelosi (and Hillary, oddly enough) do quite a bit of the talking for him.

"Nevermind that Obama's stimulus saved us from a depression."

I'm not convinced it did, but go ahead and cite figures and I'll see; economic cycles ebb and flow, and at that, despite all that spending, we still have quite an unemployment issue, Putin, and I as one of the unemployed sans my self-run tutoring operation would like to know where these jobs are that were promised as a result of all that spending.

Again, I like Obama.
I like his action taken in Libya.
I like his cautious, diplomatic approach to Syria, and not just jumping in for another Iraq.
I like his repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
I like his passing The Dream Act--and defended it all day the day on here he did so.
I like his stance on Gay Marriage and Immigration.
I like his continued efforts toward peace in the Middle East.
I like his order led to Team 6's finally getting bin Laden.

I LIKE THE GUY.

But that doesn't mean I won't question him.

If I can criticize Shakespeare for a bad play, I SURE AS HELL can criticize my President for what I see as a lack of leadership when I see it.

Youre not a leftwinger, stop calling yourself one. Youre an opportunist.

Healthcare was obamas baby. The house wanted to focus on recovery. You bash pelosi forno reason. If shes extreme then youre zell miller.

"Nothing is good enough, Obi. You're one of those professional disaffected people who wants everything and wants it now, like Veruca Salt."

Well, she was a hell of a lot more fun than straight man Charlie Bucket.

But in all seriousness--or as serious as a conversation with you ever gets--I do not need everything "now," but when I elect someone President, and he has a Mandate, and he has the House and Senate in his Party's control...

I expect a bit more than what Obama has delivered.

I've already said I'm happy for what he has delivered on, but I expect a bit more for what he was given to start with.

What's more...

When I and others in this nation are unemployed and struggling to get steady jobs NOW, Putin, a lackadaisical "just be patient now" attitude such as your own doesn't jive well, I'm afraid...

Or would you be the sort of fireman who says "you just want everything now? be patient!" while the house next to you is burning down?

"If shes extreme then youre zell miller."

Only a Stalinist could say something like that.

"Youre not a leftwinger, stop calling yourself one. Youre an opportunist."

I'm Left of Center. You're a Dogmatist.

And it's somewhat hilarious that everyone else here chastises me for being a liberal, and yet YOU chastise me for not being liberal enough...

I know you dislike Orwell, but a bit of a take off of an old line of his I love...

Ahem:

"ALL LIBERALS ARE EQUAL.
BUT *SOME* LIBERALS ARE MORE LIBERAL THAN OTHERS!"

--Putin

^Which is true, of course...but "more equal than others" as well?

You're at the dogmatic extreme, Putin.

You don't question a damn thing your own Party says or what your President does.

You blindly applaud them, and blindly bash all who disagree...

A bit like the toddler who can't have any way but his own and won't hear any other way, "My way is the only way, everyone else is deluded."

""If shes extreme then youre zell miller."

Only a Stalinist could say something like that."

+1...apparently, the only bad Democrat is one that dares cross Party lines...

Because the Founders WANTED Partisan division and blind Party doctrinal observance, of course!

They even wrote all those papers about just how much they DID want the sort of dogmatic and unquestioning and unthinking football mentality you have!

...

Wait...that's not right...hang on...

If i were dogmatic id be like ckroberts and oppose both capitalist parties. For being a believer in democracy you sure hate playing on a team.

...You're the one saying *I* hate playing on a team?

Me?

When you're the one who decided to attack ME while I was ON YOUR TEAM in The Great Debate on the Atheist side???

I'm all for playing on a team...

But that doesn't mean I can't ask the coach for a bit of change to the lineup if we're the Red Sox and the most under-performing team in baseball this side of Miami.

(Tempted to bash my Mets here, but they were never really expected to do anything anyway, so I can't call them out for not living up to their expectations THERE...oh, 2006, where have you gone...)

Because you didn't read the rules, and you attack me even when I come to your aid in a debate anyway.

Yeah, about your Mets... They tried last night in a slug fest that nearly went into extra innings, but we (Cincinnati) are cleaning their clocks tonight!

@dipplayer

"The women for whom contraception will be the defining issue this November would have voted Obama anyway."

Or not shown up to vote at all. But here's the thing. When a party starts a national crusade to medically rape any woman with the temerity to pursue a legaland valid medical procedure, women tend to get pissed.