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[Jackrabbit]

When I turned up.

[RedKing]

Anyone remember John Smith and Smith Johnson, or whatever their names were from Futurama?

"Pathetic Human #1, Pathetic Human #2, and Morbo's good friend, Richard Nixon. May death come swiftly to his enemies!"

You're acting like what the Republican party is doing is usual for a minority party. I sure can't remember anything remotely like it. They're beyond just "opposing" and into the territory of failing to act like grownups. Just refusing everything the other party wants to do, simply because they proposed it, and not coming up with anything of their own.

Well, it's usual behavior for the Republicans when they're a minority party. Remember 1995? The buggers actually *caused the Federal government to shut down* rather than negotiate with Bill Clinton and the Democrats. And it backfired on them bigtime.

Whereas the Democrats, when the minority party, lack the testicular fortitude to do anything other than a few limp-wristed "Hey, maybe you shouldn't blow your nose with the Bill of...oh, well, I guess I can't stop you. But you're mean."

[Jude]

Well, it's usual behavior for the Republicans when they're a minority party. Remember 1995? The buggers actually *caused the Federal government to shut down* rather than negotiate with Bill Clinton and the Democrats. And it backfired on them bigtime.

I was too young to remember that...it wasn't until 1998 that Bill Clinton taught me what oral sex was (really)

Whereas the Democrats, when the minority party, lack the testicular fortitude to do anything other than a few limp-wristed "Hey, maybe you shouldn't blow your nose with the Bill of...oh, well, I guess I can't stop you. But you're mean."

Basically

[Footkerchief]

You're acting like what the Republican party is doing is usual for a minority party. I sure can't remember anything remotely like it.

I was too young to remember that...

This is why history is important.  Shit's as old as politics itself.

e: I guess I shouldn't post that with some kind of examples, so...

"The scandals which arose from the misuse of the auguria oblativa in the last century of the Republic are notorious and they culminated in the obstructionist tactics of Caesar's refractory colleague, Bibulus, who endeavoured to invalidate the whole of Caesar's legislation by means of adverse omens, or even by the mere declaration that he intended to 'observe the heavens' (servare de caelo)."  Ancient filibuster?

Wiki article on that guy.  Apparently he got feces dumped on him by a mob.  They don't do dirty politics like they used to.

[Ampersand]

Or how about the Tiberius and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus who were basically branded socialists because, as the wealthy bought more and more farmland and kicked farmers off their fields to replace them with slaves, they wanted to put farm land back in the hands of the farmers. Practical reasoning being that the state was already buying and giving out huge rations of grain to the Roman population, and the poor were constantly increasing in number, particularly in the form of retired soldiers.

Their reforms were stalled because it the wealthy land owners whose land they wanted to re-distribute happened to be their colleges, and eventually the brothers died, the first by being beaten to death with chairs by other politicians and the other by suicide in 121 BC. 3000 of Gaius' supporters were also put to death.

This served as the political and economic background for Spartacus. in 71 BC. of course, the most important player in putting down the slave uprising were none other than Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of the richest people who ever lived, and quite possibly the wealthiest person who ever lived before the industrial revolution.

[JoshuaFH]

I'm going to have to ask exactly HOW rich he was... for comparison purposes.

[Aqizzar]

According to Wikipedia, he was worth the theoretical equivalent of hundreds of billions in modern money.  His personal net worth was estimated to be about the same as the Senate's fluid treasury.

Also, awesome history lessons.  Learn something cool every day.

Re: My Own Topic.  Biden was asked about crap today.  He says he wish he bought the t-shirt, and that Obama said he thought it was great.  Joe asked him back, "So why didn't you say it?"