• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Desperation…

Desperation…

by John Cole|  August 10, 200410:17 pm| 18 Comments

This post is in: Democratic Stupidity

FacebookTweetEmail

How desperate are the Democrats when confronted with Kerry’s possible lying nuance about Cambodia? Enough so to run this picture from the Yale yearbook showing Bush playing Rugby:

Bob-Harris-Is-On-Crack.gif

Our intrepid partisan then notes:

As long as we’re re-examining the 1960s, looking for signs of character, trying to decide if a man who volunteered for combat and was decorated five times was more or less courageous than a guy who didn’t even show up for his own medical exam… here’s George W. Bush during his college days, hitting a fellow sportsman in the face.

Bwahahaha. Sorry. I am laughing too hard to type. Bush was rough during rugby in college, so therefore questioning Kerry’s character is not important and he did not lie about anything in Vietnam. But then there is this:

0324-Kerrys5hom_1.jpg

Dem presidential candidate John Kerry called his secret service agent a “son of a bitch” after the agent inadvertently moved into his path during a ski mishap in Idaho, sending Kerry falling into the snow.

When asked a moment later about the incident by a reporter on the ski run, Kerry said sharply, “I don’t fall down,” the “son of a b*itch knocked me over.”

The Secret Service agent in question has complained about Kerry’s treatment, top sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

And why does it matter so, Mr. Harris?

The point about Kerry’s Cambodia service is the context of his claim. He did not simply inflate his service record. He used the claim as a club to bludgeon supporters of Reagan’s Nicaragua policy. Nicaragua = Viet Nam. Reagan = Nixon. Support for the Contras = John Kerry sent to Cambodia by his duplicitous government. His indignation gave him not the moral high ground, but an amazing simulation. In 1986 that was all he needed to put defenders of Reagan’s policies on the defensive. If his claim to Cambodia service is false it reveals a particularly repugnant form of cynicism. If he can’t prove his claim, it speaks very badly indeed for his political character.

More from Q and O.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Shorter Matt Yglesias
Next Post: In Defense of Tereza »

Reader Interactions

18Comments

  1. 1.

    HH

    August 10, 2004 at 11:32 pm

    Kerry – Lied about Vietnam service.

    Bush – Was not nice during a rugby game.

    Vote Kerry!

  2. 2.

    michael

    August 10, 2004 at 11:59 pm

    …..And The man on the right represents Terrorism.

    Kerry is probably on the sideline hitting on the cheerleader with the millionaire daddy.

    Whose for symbolism now?

  3. 3.

    dylan

    August 11, 2004 at 8:15 am

    John Cole..as petty as this pissing contest is becoming, you are finally showing your colors. Defend! Draft Dodger punches fellow ivy leaguer in face. Vetran opponent uses flippant language when falling on slopes. All equal. Only in John Cole Knee jerk World. Must… grasp…at..straws…

  4. 4.

    Yerbuddy

    August 11, 2004 at 8:31 am

    Oh, c’mon, he isn’t punching anybody in the face! Look, his feet are off the ground. They seem to have been running in opposite directions and simply run into eachother and the picture is taken right after they sepearated. Any time you have an ‘action’ picture (esp. one of a rugby game for God’s sakes), it’s gonna be easy to find one that ‘shows’ in the still something that ain’t really happening.

  5. 5.

    capt joe

    August 11, 2004 at 8:49 am

    Only a computer nerd without any understanding of physical activity could come to Atrios conclusion.

    What direction is george bush heading?

    opposite to the direction facing

    What are the position of his hips?

    away from the direction of the hand he is “punching”

    What direction is the other guy heading?

    same direction he is facing

    What is the other guy doing with his hand?

    He is using his forearm to push Bush back.

    With all these points made, let me propose a hypothesis.

    Bush was trying to tackle the guy carrying the ball. The other guy wasted him by slamming him up into the air with a check.

    What would the next picture show?

    Bush lying on his ass on the ground. The other guy continuing to run down the field.

    As a martial arts teacher, I can assure you that if that was a punch, then it would have no effect.

    Geez Luise guys, get a grip. If you spent more time actually doing or watching sports and less time with moonbat conspiracies….

  6. 6.

    Slartibartfast

    August 11, 2004 at 8:51 am

    Punching is illegal in rugby? Could rugby players possibly take more damage if it weren’t?

    More to the point, who gives a rat’s ass?

  7. 7.

    Steverino

    August 11, 2004 at 9:31 am

    “Vetran opponent uses flippant language when falling on slopes.”

    More like, ‘Kerry calls man paid to take a bullet for him a son of a bitch’.

    At the very least, what Kerry did was rude and classless.

  8. 8.

    Slartibartfast

    August 11, 2004 at 10:34 am

    I know this has already been beaten to death, but let’s not go overboard on this “son of a bitch” thing. If there’s a friend or brother of mine that I haven’t ever referred to like that, it’s probably an oversight. If it’s an unfriendly context, though, them’s usually fighting words.

  9. 9.

    TC-LeatherPenguin

    August 11, 2004 at 12:36 pm

    I’ve seen pictures of Kerry geared up and trundling around an ice hockey rink. Is someone gonna tell me he’s never swung an elbow or some lumber in anger? Please.
    If this is supposed to be the first wave of the “Get Rid of the Cambodia Debacle” gambit, somebody better rejigger the Kerry camp’s talking points, because this is pure friggin’ farce!

  10. 10.

    mark-o

    August 11, 2004 at 1:07 pm

    Oh that GW, what a bully! Boo hoo.

  11. 11.

    Grant R.

    August 11, 2004 at 5:03 pm

    I betcha Bush makes Rugby the theme of the RNC, and brings back his teammates (at least the ones that support him) as his “band of fraternity brothers.”

  12. 12.

    John Earnest

    August 11, 2004 at 5:49 pm

    That’s a “sucker punch”? In rugby play? Face to face? Puncher bareheaded, punchee helmeted?

    Having been the recipient of more than one true sucker punch (okay, I gave one in junior high, too) I can only say that what is depicted is missing several key distinguishing features. A “sucker punch” is a powerful but cowardly, balled-fist blow, delivered by surprise, taking the recipient unawares wuthout any chance to protect himself, and thus routinely incapacitates the victim. Only those people who have no idea what a punch is, or what rugby is, or who are seriously deluded, deaperately partisan or intellectually dishonest could think that remotely resembled a punch of any kind, much less a “sucker punch”.

  13. 13.

    Al Maviva

    August 11, 2004 at 7:19 pm

    After playing rugger for roughly 20 years – could be a little more, could be a little less, we’ve lost some brain cells in that time period – I can say that Bush probably isn’t trying to punch this guy out. I think Captain Joe has it about correct – Bush goes right, ballcarrier goes left, Bush running fast goes for a high-ish tackle, ballcarrier ducks, Bush gets one arm around the ball carrier’s shoulders, tries to grip the upper jersey of the ballcarrier as he whips past.

    Likely outcome – Bush on his ass over to the right, juking ball carrier running down the field off to the left.

    It would be hard to call that a sucker punch – I have never seen anybody land a good punch, in rugby or elsewhere (yes, rugby players occasionally punch each other) with two feet off the ground. No leverage that way.

    Considering Bush left Yale about a year before that photo turned up in the yearbook, the caption on that photo appears to about as accurate, as if I took the picture of Kerry’s cheezy salute at the Dems’ convention and captioned it “Kerry reporting for duty in Pnomh Penh”.

  14. 14.

    funhawg

    August 11, 2004 at 9:44 pm

    George W. Bush sucker-punches an opponent from Yale.

    “President Bush yesterday mocked John Kerry for trying to run as an anti-war candidate while agreeing Saddam Hussein should have been toppled even if he didn’t have weapons of mass destruction.”
    http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/26672.htm

    “President Bush told supporters Tuesday that he had a new backer for his decision to invade Iraq: Senator John Kerry.”
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/politics/campaign/11bush.html?hp

  15. 15.

    Slartibartfast

    August 12, 2004 at 9:09 am

    Only minutes before it’s amended to “poorly executed sucker-punch”. Any takers?

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. QandO says:
    August 11, 2004 at 8:13 am

    Bush Derangement Syndrome

    Time to take a dip in the always interesting, rarely consistent world of partisan politics. 1: Calling it a “suckerpunch”, Atrios links to this Tom Tomorrow post, containing this picture… Tomorrow thinks “the rest of the country should see it”,…

  2. Musings of a Techno-Geek says:
    August 11, 2004 at 10:15 am

    A picture is worth a thousand words

    But are those words necessarily the truth?

  3. Tim Worstall says:
    August 12, 2004 at 10:39 am

    George Bush and Yale Rugby

    Yet what I find really amazing about this whole story is that no one yet seems to have connected it with an earlier one about John Kerry in that very same LA Times. It sounds as if they’ve been very fair. One time someone disses GWB, the previous time …

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - way2blue - SINALEI, SAMOA—RESPITE EDITION—FEBRUARY 2025.  (second of five) 7
Image by way2blue (7/13/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Gloria DryGarden on Medium Cool – Navel Gazing! (Jul 13, 2025 @ 11:06pm)
  • hells littlest angel on Late Night Open Thread: Buyer’s Remorse (Jul 13, 2025 @ 11:05pm)
  • Omnes Omnibus on Late Night Open Thread: Buyer’s Remorse (Jul 13, 2025 @ 11:02pm)
  • schrodingers_cat on Late Night Open Thread: Buyer’s Remorse (Jul 13, 2025 @ 10:59pm)
  • Gloria DryGarden on Medium Cool – Navel Gazing! (Jul 13, 2025 @ 10:57pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!