Oh look it's Repti and his tiny, tiny little brain:

Problem you have, BA, is a lot of your "allies" LOVE what Joe Wilson did and want to keep that incident alive. More than the "liberal media" does.

Funny thing is here we are, on Slate, liberal-est of them all (makes MSNBC look practically freedom-loving in comparison)...and we're talking about it because Slate brought it up again.

Just wanted to point that out for other people. I know Repti got a headache trying to interpret the strange shapes on the glowy thing and hasn't read this far.

No, he's not suggesting that at all. Where'd you get that dummy idea?

...to pretend that not providing for a MECHANISM of exclusion is equivalent to INCLUSION. The bill did as he said, and that supported the claim Obama made in his speech - and refuted Wilson.

presumably, one cannot be employed in america without a valid social security number.

And if you believe that, might I be able to interest you in some amazing real estate deals I have available? Bridges, cheap, man.

rasmussen today has obama deep in negatives, as do most other pollsters <link>

i can hardly blame you for seeking an "outlier" poll that allows you to remain in denial about obama's popularity thought. bush supporters did the same thing when HE was in office, so you're simply continuing their practices.

if obama's popularity is so high (in your opinion) then why hasn't he been able to leverage that popularity to complete ANY of his agenda?

healthcare reform not only is failing among conservatives, its not now losing support from democrats

people have abandoned obama on afghanistan, venezuela, iran, honduras . ..

can you name one promise that obama has actually delivered on? except for huge deficits?

this is why obama is unpopular. but keep telling yourself everything is okay. this is how elections are lost . . .

When Aureole (whom I believe to be female?) said this:

what is slate's agenda in resurrecting this sorry incident months later? to make sure we continue to associate the entire GOP with the dishonor of Joe Wilson's impulsive moment, lest it fade from our memory?

.. I tried jokingly to counter-suggest that the reason Slate brought it up was instead to support Joe Wilson's POV and thereby embarass the Dems. Thus, my 'less liberal' remark. Again, a joke.

baltimore aureole:

can you name one promise that obama has actually delivered on? except for huge deficits?

Here you go..... source FOX News

AFGHANISTAN

Pledge: "I would send two to three additional brigades to Afghanistan." -- Obama, during a Sept. 26, 2008, debate at the University of Mississippi

Verdict: Promise Kept. Since taking office, Obama has ordered 21,000 troops to Afghanistan. He ordered two brigades to the battlefield in February, and then announced an additional 4,000 troops during a strategy address in March. However, the administration is now mulling Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for an additional 40,000 troops. As Obama and his security team reassess strategy for the Afghanistan war, it's unclear whether McChrystal's request will be granted.

FORECLOSURE PREVENTION

Pledge: "Obama will create a foreclosure prevention fund to help people facing foreclosure stay in their homes and renegotiate with their lenders or sell their homes." -- Obama campaign policy paper

Verdict: Promise Kept. Obama in February announced a $75 billion foreclosure prevention plan aimed at keeping millions of families in their homes. It was bigger than anticipated and more expensive, drawing its funding from the Wall Street bailout as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The plan, though, has gotten off to a slow start with only a fraction of eligible borrowers reportedly participating.

OUTREACH TO MUSLIM WORLD

Pledge: "In the first 100 days of my administration, I will travel to a major Islamic forum and deliver an address to redefine our struggle. I will make clear that we are not at war with Islam." -- Obama, during an Aug. 1, 2007, speech in Washington, D.C.

Verdict: Promise Kept. In early April, Obama delivered an address to the Turkish parliament in which he declared the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam." Obama gave a similar address in Cairo in June.

HILLARY CLINTON

Pledge: "Well, Hillary, I'm looking forward to you advising me as well." -- Obama, during a Dec. 13, 2007, debate in Des Moines

Verdict: Promise Kept. Though the above quip was not meant as a compliment, Obama ended up following through after he won the election. He appointed Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state.

IRAQ

Pledge: "We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months -- that would be the summer of 2010." -- Obama, during a July 15, 2008, speech, ahead of his trip to the Middle East

Verdict: Partly Kept. Obama is withdrawing U.S. combat brigades out of Iraq, but on a slightly slower schedule than advertised during the presidential campaign. Obama in February set Aug. 31, 2010, as the deadline for withdrawing combat brigades. That's 19 months, as opposed to 16 months. However, Obama in 2008 clarified that he reserved the right to make "tactical adjustments" to his withdrawal strategy -- he exercised that right after taking office. The Iraq withdrawal is underway and expected to pick up next year. All military personnel are expected to be out of the country by the end of 2011.

MIDDLE-CLASS TAXES

Pledge: "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." -- Obama, during a Sept. 12, 2008, speech in Dover, N.H.

Verdict: Partly Kept. Middle-class earners got their tax relief in the $787 billion economic stimulus passed one month into Obama's term. But some claim Obama has broken his pledge by sneaking in taxes and tax-like programs in other areas. Republicans over the summer released a list of six programs and proposals they claim would raise taxes on the middle class -- including the tobacco tax hike and proposals to include coverage mandates in health care reform legislation. After all, the health care reform plan proposed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., explicitly labeled the penalty attached to the requirement to obtain health insurance as an "excise tax." Back in August, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner suggested tax increases are inevitable. But the White House continued to say the president is committed to shielding those making less than $250,000 from an increase.

which preceeded and was a caveat to my supposition that a social security number is required for employment.

we have ample documentation that government agencies fail to validate social security numbers on a timely basis, and that employers are colluding with undocumented workers to submit false and delayed identification data

which supports my general premise that a health care bill with no provision to ascertain that the beneficiaries are eligible (citizens or here under a valid visa) is tantamount to paying beneifits openly to illegal aliens.

i would suggest a "stronger" national ID than a social security number, but it is daunting how easily THAT one is already faked, and the cavalier attitude government agencies have with our private information. the solution more likely lies with "fixing" the weaknessses in the present set up.

government at all levels struggles to provide bona fide ID. since the state of california has stopped insisting on corroborating ID for a drivers license, fraud licenses to illegal aliens there have soared. ever try to get a passport? did you enjoy the delay? and its shockingly easy to get a social security card - anyone's social security card - just walk into a social security office with a facsimile of the persons birth certificate - the new card will arrive in 4 to 6 weeks.

The point isn't that it's being mentioned, ONCE, here on Slate....but that the Rightedia has done everything in their power to keep this alive and make Wilson a "Hero of the People" GOP-style.

Funny thing....yeah.

a woman.

i used to live in baltimore, but now live in the suburbs, near the white marsh mall. i'm a single mommy, with an 11 year old daughter, and i work as a telemarketing supervisor.

I thought I'd seen you mention it before. Plus there's your very feminine prose...:)

baltimore aureole:

i don't subscribe to extremism from either side

Then, in today's climate, be prepared to be called a "RINO" and "need to be gotten out of OUR Party".

Reptilicus:

baltimore aureole:

i don't subscribe to extremism from either side

Then, in today's climate, be prepared to be called a "RINO" and "need to be gotten out of OUR Party".

I agree with that. I went independent years ago rather than stay is a party that was ideologically bankrupting itself. I'm sure if I hadn't left they'd call me RINO as well.

gallup as an outlier--oh please, it is the most respected poll in the country.

more importantly you said his numbers were skidding, well according to rasmussen his negatives were the same as today in july and they have been up and down since.

now rasmussen is the only one who uses the crazy negatives assesment which makes them the outlier.

<link>

more importantly, here is pollster.com and if you notice going back months, rasmussen is the clear outlier. every poll has him 50 or better for months but not rasmussen.

you just don't understand baltimore that you are getting very biased information and like a lemming you believe it all.

it is one thing to be conservative, quite another to believe everything you are told by the biased conservative media.

Can you name one promise that obama has actually delivered on? except for huge deficits?

I see Tarkol already mentioned a few, but here are some more:

Expanding healthcare for children; Allowing women to sue for equal pay; Eliminating wasteful defense projects (i.e. F-22); Working with Republicans (see Eliminating wasteful defense projects); Starting to roll back some of Bush's environmental policies; paying past dues for the UN and re-engaging the international diplomatic community; expanding the definition of hate-crime to include those based on sexual orientation, gender, or a disability... well, you get the picture. Basically he's done quite a lot. Some of his big promises are still out there, but big things take longer than 9 months to make happen.