Skip to Content

Lance Groth

lance.groth's picture
St. Paul, Minnesota
Commenter for
1 year 18 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 09/06/12 at 12:29 pm in response to Bill Clinton: Our arithmetic teacher

I haven't watched much convention coverage on either side, but I did watch Clinton's speech, and I had to simply sit back and marvel as a true master of the game showed us how it's done. No other president or candidate in my lifetime has had the mix of intelligence, humor, rhetorical skill, downhome folksiness and star-power charisma that Clinton does. I was too young to remember Kennedy, and while Reagan had many of the same speech-making qualities and was labelled the Great Communicator...

Posted on 09/06/12 at 03:26 pm in response to Obama and Romney spar over climate, other science in online debate

"For what it's worth, a first term president is less likely to take risks during their term than a second term president. "

That is true, but it is also true that the minute a president is re-elected for a 2nd term, he becomes a lame duck and it becomes very difficult to do anything big (one big reason I might favor a single 6-year term for presidents). This is why Obama pressed forward on health care reform in his first term, despite the preference of the voters to fix the economic...

Posted on 09/07/12 at 01:18 pm in response to Obama and Romney spar over climate, other science in online debate

There is still the last resort - geoengineering of one flavor or another. It's a terrible option, fraught with danger, but I do believe that's what it will come down to. I would prefer atmosphere-scrubbers to more dramatic options such as earth shading, and working designs have actually been demonstrated, but then we have the political fight over their use that I mentioned - not to mention the cost of building enough of them on a planetary scale. Ultimately, I believe we will have to, or...

Posted on 09/05/12 at 05:07 pm in response to Gay 'conversion therapy': The danger of letting bias rather than evidence guide medical practice

Here we see, once again, the misguided and downright dangerous ideation produced by science-denialism. Never mind that sexual orientation is genetically predetermined, those with genetic configurations differing from Mr. Swift's are not "normal", are "unproductive", and are clearly "suffering" and in need of a "cure". Those who argue otherwise are "thugs".

I personally couldn't care less about Mr. Swift's confusion, or how disconnected his cognition may be from objective reality,...

Posted on 08/29/12 at 12:49 pm in response to Chris Christie’s GOP convention speech: 20 truths make a lie

I recall a line from the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar", in which Pontius Pilate, interrogating Jesus, says, "We both have truths; are mine the same as yours?" This is the kind of truth that Christie, the GOP, and sadly, politicians of all stripes, deal in.

Sadly, I don't believe that most American voters want to hear the unadulterated truth, and no politician could get elected after speaking it. Obama included. Americans don't want to hear the truth about the problems facing...

Posted on 08/28/12 at 12:42 pm in response to Where do you want to grow old: Twin Cities — or Orem, Utah?

It would actually be "taxes were not a factor".

Why don't you just move to South Dakota, Thomas? Surely anyone who defines quality of life by the single measure of the tax rate would be happier there?

Posted on 08/27/12 at 12:41 pm in response to More evidence that diet, not lack of exercise, is fueling obesity epidemic

"Whether its protein, fat or sugar may not matter."

This simply isn't true, particularly with regard to protein. You cannot get fat eating protein. It's easy enough to test for yourself - eat nothing but protein for a couple of weeks. Eat as much as you want, but avoid all carbs & most fats. You will begin to lose weight, and surprisingly rapidly too, because your body will go into lipolysis/ketosis and burn stored fat for fuel. This is well established, and is why low-carb...

Posted on 08/22/12 at 01:02 pm in response to Why today's seniors should object to the dissolution of Medicare

I dunno - ask Dubya and Darth Cheney why they launched two wars without paying for them. Ask them why they told Americans to go shopping rather than contribute during a time of national emergency. Ask them why they gave tax cuts to the rich even while they were piling up debt (where are all those jobs those breaks for the rich were supposed to produce, anyway?) Ask them why they blew the balanced budget and projected surpluses Clinton handed them.

Repubs. Hypocrisy with no shame...

Posted on 08/13/12 at 04:52 pm in response to Is Ryan really a fiscal conservative?

"Obama did promise to reform entitlements and cut real spending."

He also wasn't planning on having a crashed economy, all but destroyed financial sector and a housing implosion handed to him on inauguration day. As the saying goes, the first casualty of any war is the war plan. Or, only a fool refuses to change course when icebergs appear in one's path.

Not to forget a Republican House that blocked every single thing he tried to do...

Posted on 08/13/12 at 05:00 pm in response to Is Ryan really a fiscal conservative?

One test for whether their plan, whatever it turns out to be, is to be taken seriously is whether the Pentagon is included in any plan for cuts. If the Pentagon remains a repub sacred cow, then the plan is not to be taken seriously.

Amusingly, a repub friend recently objected that Pentagon cuts/base closures would increase unemployment. I can perhaps be forgiven for laughing out loud, before reminding him that the same applies to all government cuts. Whether such things matter...