What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Jon Stewart's address to Congress about 9/11 first responders /Standing Ovation (1 Viewer)

Hoss_Cartwright

Footballguy
First let me say my regular alias has been suspended until July 31st because of something stupid I said in the political forum,  but I had to post this because I was so moved by Jon Stewart's speech to Congress regarding the first responders to 9/11.  To the  moderators I promise not to post anymore going forward until 7/31.  Please watch this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbeBgm4pk4M

I apologize if this has already been posted.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is on Mitch McConnell, right? My understanding is that he and the Republicans are the one to blame here. Am I correct? 

 
Good Christ you guys. Jon Stewart just behaved heroically,  completely excoriating EVERYONE in Congress,  standing up for national ####ing heroes who risked everything to help and save others during the biggest, most terrible terrorist attack this nation has ever seen.

If ever there was a bipartisan goal, it should be doing right by these people.

And you still squabble like kids fighting over a toy about ridiculous personal grudges and arbitrary board rules. Grow the #### up.

 
Good Christ you guys. Jon Stewart just behaved heroically,  completely excoriating EVERYONE in Congress,  standing up for national ####ing heroes who risked everything to help and save others during the biggest, most terrible terrorist attack this nation has ever seen.

If ever there was a bipartisan goal, it should be doing right by these people.

And you still squabble like kids fighting over a toy about ridiculous personal grudges and arbitrary board rules. Grow the #### up.
Well said. 

What Stewart said today should be something everyone can get on board with, but the priorities of some are so out of whack that they can't even just applaud his actions and leave it at that. 

 
Good Christ you guys. Jon Stewart just behaved heroically,  completely excoriating EVERYONE in Congress,  standing up for national ####ing heroes who risked everything to help and save others during the biggest, most terrible terrorist attack this nation has ever seen.

If ever there was a bipartisan goal, it should be doing right by these people.

And you still squabble like kids fighting over a toy about ridiculous personal grudges and arbitrary board rules. Grow the #### up.
My thoughts exactly in reading this.

And I wonder if we'd even hear of this issue without Stewart appearing today. It's heartbreaking, those men and women risked and sacrificed their health and their lives looking for signs human life and to help America get off the mat. We owe them everything.

 
Good Christ you guys. Jon Stewart just behaved heroically,  completely excoriating EVERYONE in Congress,  standing up for national ####ing heroes who risked everything to help and save others during the biggest, most terrible terrorist attack this nation has ever seen.

If ever there was a bipartisan goal, it should be doing right by these people.

And you still squabble like kids fighting over a toy about ridiculous personal grudges and arbitrary board rules. Grow the #### up.
Kind of explains why no one votes out people using first responders as a political tool, doesn’t it? Which should absolutely be the response to everyone who hasn’t voted this bill in already. 

 
Well said. 

What Stewart said today should be something everyone can get on board with, but the priorities of some are so out of whack that they can't even just applaud his actions and leave it at that. 
There was talk of this in the congress raise thread. As i said there i am pretty confused. Seems like this is going to pass easily so is stewart just mad that they didnt sit in the hearing? I actually dont even understand why there was a hearing if that is the case.

I am also confused which bill this pertained to? The zadroga bill or the compensation fund? 

Also why isnt the bill split into first responders and then other victims? Seems that would likely make the process much simpler. 

Would be very easy to verify if somebody was a first responder and died from a related health condition and what their expected lifelong compensation would have been. I think other victims could be much more difficult. 

 
I don’t think Senator McConnell has much sway over the House Judiciary Committee.
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2019/06/11/jon-stewart-is-an-unsupervised-child-playing-with-a-loaded-gun/

If you haven’t seen or heard about it yet, earlier today Jon Stewart, on behalf of ill 9-11 first responders, threw a temper tantrum in front of the cameras during a House subcommittee hearing. Specifically the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. This subcommittee, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, has fourteen members: 8 Democrats and 6 Republicans. And in today’s meeting Congressman Nadler, who is an ex-officio member as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, was also sitting in. At the point that Stewart decided to pitch his fit during his opening remarks about there being an “empty Congress”, seven of the subcommittee members were in the room. Though you could only see six of them in the video because of how the cameras were angled. The subcommittee meets in the same chambers as the full House Judiciary Committee, so even if everyone was there, the dais at the front of the room where the members of the subcommittee sit would look somewhere around 2/3 empty as there are 41 members of the full Judiciary Committee.

If Stewart did not know or did not understand that this was the case, then he’s a moron. More likely, he knew, understood the optics, and used them to gin up outrage. Stewart knew, was counting on, and was not disappointed that 1) it won’t be initially reported that this was a 14 member subcommittee and 2) most Americans will neither know, nor understand that this is why, despite at least half the subcommittee members actually being in attendance at the time he was ranting, most of the seats on the dais are empty.

The House is going to pass the extension without an issue. With an actual large numbers of votes from members of both parties. The vote to move it out of the Judiciary Committee is actually scheduled for tomorrow and it will pass there, and then the full House in short order, with significant bipartisan support. But once it does, it has to go across the Capitol to the Senate. Stewart knows, and if he doesn’t, then he should, that the problem isn’t the House or its Democratic majority. Rather it’s the McConnell controlled, GOP majority Senate. Should Senator McConnell deign to allow this to move forward, given he’s bottled up everything else the House has passed, he’s likely to demand ransom to do so. Why? Because he watched how Stewart manipulated the news media today to hammer the Democrats running the House of Representatives for failing to take care of 9-11 first responders who are ill because of their service on 9-11. Senator McConnell also knows that if he does nothing, because there isn’t going to be an equivalent hearing in the Senate to produce equally negative publicity, that he and his GOP majority in the Senate will take no blame. And because he knows that if it fails, Stewart will simply rebroadcast today’s video, the news media will follow like lemmings, and he’ll have made this a problem for Democrats going into a presidential election year where his Republican senators are defending more seats than the Senate Democrats are in 2020. Senator McConnell already had too much leverage and Stewart’s tantrum today simply gave him more.

Steve Cohen, who chairs the subcommittee, should have stopped Stewart, cut his mic if necessary, and explained that 1) this is a subcommittee with only 14 members, 2) as is standard procedure, subcommittee members would be in and out throughout the hearing as they had to do business, including taking votes in other committees and subcommittees (the ranking member actually did this at one point), and 3) Stewart could demagogue or the subcommittee could do the important business that Stewart wants them to do, but they could not and would not do both.

I appreciate Stewart’s passion. I understand why he’s angry. From his perspective even five year reauthorizations are a potential hindrance and failure to do right by the ill 9-11 first responders. But what he did today didn’t actually do anything to advance the cause he’s fighting for. It did make it easier for Senator McConnell to claim another scalp. Stewart’s bothsiderism served him, those for whom he’s advocating, and the Republic poorly today.

 
Mine went missing. This is ridiculous. This is a blatant violation of the user-end agreement. I take my suspensions without comment these days; this is bull####. 
Yours?  

I posted a joke from Seinfeld about the name Cartwright because I can’t read that name without hearing James Hong yelling it out.

And I even mentioned that Stewart was great.  

What is going on?

 
Yours?  

I posted a joke from Seinfeld about the name Cartwright because I can’t read that name without hearing James Hong yelling it out.

And I even mentioned that Stewart was great.  

What is going on?
My comment went missing.

And I meant that it was about Hoss_Cartwright as an alias. If that suspension isn't serious, and this is a joke alias, then I really don't mind it. At all. I'm not in on the in-jokes. I just took it at face value. If it's funny, carry on and my apologies. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Partisanship doesn’t belong anywhere near this issue 
Well that’s the thing, I think it does. Despite Stewart making his comments before a Democratic controlled House committee, every piece of information I have been able to find on this subject informs me that it is the fault of the Senate Republicans, they are holding this issue hostage. If you have contradictory evidence to present I’d be eager to see it. 

 
Question....and I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way...

How do you link an illness that occurs years later, such as cancer, to a particular event or day?

Let's say I was a police officer that responded to 9/11 and I got cancer 10 years later.  However, cancer also runs in my family and there was a good chance that I would get cancer eventually at some point even if I didn't work on 9/11.

I guess what I'm asking is how to do they validate the claims?

 
Question....and I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way...

How do you link an illness that occurs years later, such as cancer, to a particular event or day?

Let's say I was a police officer that responded to 9/11 and I got cancer 10 years later.  However, cancer also runs in my family and there was a good chance that I would get cancer eventually at some point even if I didn't work on 9/11.

I guess what I'm asking is how to do they validate the claims?
My attitude is that 9/11 first responders should have free healthcare for life so I would regard the question as irrelevant. 

 
LOL at all the posts missing in this thread since last night
Lots of posts got the axe last night. I don't agree with ownership on this, but many of those posts were useless bickering between the same few posters who tend to do the most bickering.  I won't say the thread is better off, cuz i don't like mods doing that, but it certainly is more readable and on topic.

 
OK. So who is to blame for this? What Democrats, what Republicans? I’m not clear about that and I’d really like to know. 
I want to find out. I don`t vote GOP but I want to find out what Dems are against it and why this is taking so long as we control congress.  Stop wasting time and Get it done!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I want to find out. I don`t vote GOP but I want to find out what Dems are against it and why this is taking so long as we control congress.  Stop wasting time and Get it done!
 I don't think not showing up is a sign of someone being against it necessarily.  Disrespectful?  Sure.  I think there are some legit reasons someone might not be there.  The amount not there is concerning though.

 
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2019/06/11/jon-stewart-is-an-unsupervised-child-playing-with-a-loaded-gun/

If you haven’t seen or heard about it yet, earlier today Jon Stewart, on behalf of ill 9-11 first responders, threw a temper tantrum in front of the cameras during a House subcommittee hearing. Specifically the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. This subcommittee, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, has fourteen members: 8 Democrats and 6 Republicans. And in today’s meeting Congressman Nadler, who is an ex-officio member as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, was also sitting in. At the point that Stewart decided to pitch his fit during his opening remarks about there being an “empty Congress”, seven of the subcommittee members were in the room. Though you could only see six of them in the video because of how the cameras were angled. The subcommittee meets in the same chambers as the full House Judiciary Committee, so even if everyone was there, the dais at the front of the room where the members of the subcommittee sit would look somewhere around 2/3 empty as there are 41 members of the full Judiciary Committee.

If Stewart did not know or did not understand that this was the case, then he’s a moron. More likely, he knew, understood the optics, and used them to gin up outrage. Stewart knew, was counting on, and was not disappointed that 1) it won’t be initially reported that this was a 14 member subcommittee and 2) most Americans will neither know, nor understand that this is why, despite at least half the subcommittee members actually being in attendance at the time he was ranting, most of the seats on the dais are empty.

The House is going to pass the extension without an issue. With an actual large numbers of votes from members of both parties. The vote to move it out of the Judiciary Committee is actually scheduled for tomorrow and it will pass there, and then the full House in short order, with significant bipartisan support. But once it does, it has to go across the Capitol to the Senate. Stewart knows, and if he doesn’t, then he should, that the problem isn’t the House or its Democratic majority. Rather it’s the McConnell controlled, GOP majority Senate. Should Senator McConnell deign to allow this to move forward, given he’s bottled up everything else the House has passed, he’s likely to demand ransom to do so. Why? Because he watched how Stewart manipulated the news media today to hammer the Democrats running the House of Representatives for failing to take care of 9-11 first responders who are ill because of their service on 9-11. Senator McConnell also knows that if he does nothing, because there isn’t going to be an equivalent hearing in the Senate to produce equally negative publicity, that he and his GOP majority in the Senate will take no blame. And because he knows that if it fails, Stewart will simply rebroadcast today’s video, the news media will follow like lemmings, and he’ll have made this a problem for Democrats going into a presidential election year where his Republican senators are defending more seats than the Senate Democrats are in 2020. Senator McConnell already had too much leverage and Stewart’s tantrum today simply gave him more.

Steve Cohen, who chairs the subcommittee, should have stopped Stewart, cut his mic if necessary, and explained that 1) this is a subcommittee with only 14 members, 2) as is standard procedure, subcommittee members would be in and out throughout the hearing as they had to do business, including taking votes in other committees and subcommittees (the ranking member actually did this at one point), and 3) Stewart could demagogue or the subcommittee could do the important business that Stewart wants them to do, but they could not and would not do both.

I appreciate Stewart’s passion. I understand why he’s angry. From his perspective even five year reauthorizations are a potential hindrance and failure to do right by the ill 9-11 first responders. But what he did today didn’t actually do anything to advance the cause he’s fighting for. It did make it easier for Senator McConnell to claim another scalp. Stewart’s bothsiderism served him, those for whom he’s advocating, and the Republic poorly today.
This is the correct take, except for the bolded IMO. The publicity it generates will put pressure on McConnell once the bill is passed easily out of the House. Whether it will be enough is an open question (I'm about 95% sure it will be, and I think he would have ultimately signed off even without Stewart's rant, but after the last several years of party-over-country choices by the GOP with minimal downside who knows). It does ID a broader problem though, which is people defaulting to blaming "both sides" without understanding exactly what's going on, which in almost every case is going to benefit McConnell and the GOP.

And if anyone doubts that McConnell and the GOP Senate is the problem, check out the list and number of co-sponsors on the House reauthorization bill.  There are enough Democratic House members who co-sponsored the bill (232, along with 81 House Republicans) to get it out of the House even if they only got votes from co-sponsors.  The House Committee with jurisdiction is led by Nadler, whose district includes the 9/11 site and is a leading sponsor. That's why there was a hearing. The corresponding Senate bill has only 38 cosponsors, not enough to ensure passage. Only 8 of them are Republicans, and the Senate Committee with jurisdiction is chaired by Lindsay Graham, who is not a cosponsor and hasn't held any hearings on it.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
My attitude is that 9/11 first responders should have free healthcare for life so I would regard the question as irrelevant. 
Agree (although I think everyone should have access to free - or universal - healthcare).  

This is a drop in the bucket financially and a political layup.  I don’t get it.  

 
Agree (although I think everyone should have access to free - or universal - healthcare).  

This is a drop in the bucket financially and a political layup.  I don’t get it.  
Such a great hostage for McConnell. On account of his lack of a soul. 

 
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2019/06/11/jon-stewart-is-an-unsupervised-child-playing-with-a-loaded-gun/

If you haven’t seen or heard about it yet, earlier today Jon Stewart, on behalf of ill 9-11 first responders, threw a temper tantrum in front of the cameras during a House subcommittee hearing. Specifically the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. This subcommittee, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, has fourteen members: 8 Democrats and 6 Republicans. And in today’s meeting Congressman Nadler, who is an ex-officio member as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, was also sitting in. At the point that Stewart decided to pitch his fit during his opening remarks about there being an “empty Congress”, seven of the subcommittee members were in the room. Though you could only see six of them in the video because of how the cameras were angled. The subcommittee meets in the same chambers as the full House Judiciary Committee, so even if everyone was there, the dais at the front of the room where the members of the subcommittee sit would look somewhere around 2/3 empty as there are 41 members of the full Judiciary Committee.

If Stewart did not know or did not understand that this was the case, then he’s a moron. More likely, he knew, understood the optics, and used them to gin up outrage. Stewart knew, was counting on, and was not disappointed that 1) it won’t be initially reported that this was a 14 member subcommittee and 2) most Americans will neither know, nor understand that this is why, despite at least half the subcommittee members actually being in attendance at the time he was ranting, most of the seats on the dais are empty.

The House is going to pass the extension without an issue. With an actual large numbers of votes from members of both parties. The vote to move it out of the Judiciary Committee is actually scheduled for tomorrow and it will pass there, and then the full House in short order, with significant bipartisan support. But once it does, it has to go across the Capitol to the Senate. Stewart knows, and if he doesn’t, then he should, that the problem isn’t the House or its Democratic majority. Rather it’s the McConnell controlled, GOP majority Senate. Should Senator McConnell deign to allow this to move forward, given he’s bottled up everything else the House has passed, he’s likely to demand ransom to do so. Why? Because he watched how Stewart manipulated the news media today to hammer the Democrats running the House of Representatives for failing to take care of 9-11 first responders who are ill because of their service on 9-11. Senator McConnell also knows that if he does nothing, because there isn’t going to be an equivalent hearing in the Senate to produce equally negative publicity, that he and his GOP majority in the Senate will take no blame. And because he knows that if it fails, Stewart will simply rebroadcast today’s video, the news media will follow like lemmings, and he’ll have made this a problem for Democrats going into a presidential election year where his Republican senators are defending more seats than the Senate Democrats are in 2020. Senator McConnell already had too much leverage and Stewart’s tantrum today simply gave him more.

Steve Cohen, who chairs the subcommittee, should have stopped Stewart, cut his mic if necessary, and explained that 1) this is a subcommittee with only 14 members, 2) as is standard procedure, subcommittee members would be in and out throughout the hearing as they had to do business, including taking votes in other committees and subcommittees (the ranking member actually did this at one point), and 3) Stewart could demagogue or the subcommittee could do the important business that Stewart wants them to do, but they could not and would not do both.

I appreciate Stewart’s passion. I understand why he’s angry. From his perspective even five year reauthorizations are a potential hindrance and failure to do right by the ill 9-11 first responders. But what he did today didn’t actually do anything to advance the cause he’s fighting for. It did make it easier for Senator McConnell to claim another scalp. Stewart’s bothsiderism served him, those for whom he’s advocating, and the Republic poorly today.
This simple mistake remains the worst and dumbest part of this story. Stewart seems better than this- if he is, he should clarify and/or apologize. Intentionally or even negligently spreading misinformation for political purposes seems to go against his entire anti-bull#### credo.

 
Correct....I WAS making an ASSumption I probably shouldn't have.  This has only ever been an issue with McConnell.  Everyone else seems to get it.  I ASSumed that would continue to hold true.  I probably shouldn't do that :bag:  
I am sure you will be right once july rolls around. 

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top