Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

“Alexa, change the president.”

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

The National Guard is not Batman.

You cannot shame the shameless.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

It’s possible to be a liberal firebrand without crapping on the party.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

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Archives for 2005

Meme Control

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It was a rough day for the members of the 101st Ankle-biting Brigade, as they were ambushed with good news from Iraq regarding a largely successful election. Bombarded with positive news stories all day, the soldiers of the loony left hunkered down trying to re-group. Fortunately, Brigade HQ has issued new marching orders, and all the units are once again marching in lock-step, singing cadence, and telling us why they found it impossible to be happy and optimistic for ONE DAY.

What has these soldiers marching again once in unison? Why, Iraq is just like Vietnam!!!! This is what has them gleeful:

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3– United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

You gotta love these guys. Someone actually spent the night digging through the NY Times just to find a reason to justify their behavior- because, after all, Iraq is JUST LIKE VIET NAM! General Kennedy said so!

My question is, what is your exuse for acting like assholes for the 24 hours before the Daily Kos issued your marching orders?

BTW- the beautiful thing about this clipping is that not only does it give them a reason to piss all over the elections, but it ties in nicely with the meta-narrative. Foolish right-wingers- we Democrats are so much smarter.

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Word Parsing 101

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Tom Maguire reminds me of this truly outstanding quote from John Kerry yesterday during Meet The Press. I had intended to blog it, but forgot to with everything else going on. At any rate, check out this beauty:

MR. RUSSERT: Well, we’ll see if he runs it–“We have a generational responsibility to fix them.”

And then in 2003, you said–“Declaring `I am blessed to be wealthy,’ Senator John F. Kerry said that, if elected president, he would consider some form of means-testing for rich Americans as part of a broader review of ideas to shore up the Social Security system.” … But “`Rich people are getting checks from poor people well beyond what they put in the system,’ said Kerry. …Another idea Kerry said he would consider is raising the cut-off point after which people no longer pay into the system. …`Maybe people ought to pay up to $100,000 or $120,000, I don’t know,’ the senator said.”

Specifically, Senator, do you still agree with yourself? Should we raise the retirement age or consider it? Should we raise the cap on income level that people pay payroll tax?

SEN. KERRY: Precisely what I said in 1996 is “We should consider” a number of these things. We did consider them. I considered them. Others did. I rejected them.

Move over Bill Clinton- thar’s a new sheriff in town. And the best is Kerry said it with a straight face!

*** Update ***

Jim Geraghty catches this gem:

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that Iraq is less a terrorist threat to the United States now than it was two years ago?

SEN. KERRY: No, it’s more. And, in fact, I believe the world is less safe today than it was two and a half years ago.

Then, a few seconds later:

MR. RUSSERT: Is the United States safer with the newly elected Iraqi government than we would have been with Saddam Hussein?

SEN. KERRY: Sure. And I’m glad Saddam Hussein is gone, and I’ve said that a hundred times. But we’ve missed opportunity after opportunity along the way, Tim, to really make America safe and to bring the world to the cause.

Geraghty remarks:

Consistent as ever. We’re less safe because of what we’ve done in Iraq, and yet more safe at the same time.

It’s nuanced.

Hehe.

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The Question of The Hour

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Jim Henley takes me to ask in the comments section of this earlier post:

John, maybe by “gloating” Matt means that this site and others would become an orgy of “find the most disagreeable things our opponents have to say” items, ignoring more thoughtful and even positive items on places like Crooked Timber, Thomas L. Knapp’s site, The Agitator and Political Animal, to name a few. At least Chrenkoff and Vincent are able to devote the bulk of their energy to expressing their enthusiasm for the event itself. All you seem to manage is carping about your enemies. Can’t YOU take any more pleasure in events than your betes-noires? Is the extra sleep doing you so little good?

A fair question- here is my response.

Because when I woke up this morning and found out that the elections had gone off as good as or better than I had ever expected, I was ecstatic. Granted, it was horrible that 33 people were killed (for wanting to vote- that makes it pretty clear the scum we are dealing with), but the event itself eclipses their deaths.

I didn’t and don’t view this election as a complete vindication of the Bush doctrine, I didn’t and don’t think this election mean that we can withdraw are troops tomorrow (which we can all agree is a chief long-term goal), and I didn’t and don’t think Iraq is going to be New Hampshire tomorrow. I viewed the election as a very positive step in the right direction, and I felt relief and happiness.

I felt like we dodged a bullet, and I felt happy for all those who were able to vote. And then I started reading the left wing blogs, starting with Matt, who had nothing but a snotty post up dismissing the elections. Then I went around to the other lefty sites, and rather than celebrating along with everyone else, I saw snotty post after snotty post by people either dismissing the election, struggling desparately for a way to dismiss them, or in Oliver’s case, just being a jerk.

Add to that the mainstream media attempts to frame this election prior as a failure prior to one vote being cast, and I got pissed. I started to wonder- when did the Democrats become the Dick Tuck Society for Sore Losers (“The people have spoken, the bastards.”)? How do you possibly frame this election in a negative light?

But they did, and I blogged about their disgusting transgressions. If my documenting their behavior counts as ‘gloating,’ then we have redefined the term and I am guilty of some major league gloating. My apologies.

However, let me say it again- I am thrilled about the outcome, although I fully expect a wave of violence in the upcoming weeks and months. More soldiers are going to die. And the country may never see Democracy. But I will wait for that bad news, should it come. Right now is for celebrating, and I wish my friends on the left could get rid of their bitterness and join in.

And in case any Democrats who think this election was all a sham and that things were better off under Saddam Hussein, let me point out one little difference between what is going on in Iraq now as opposed to 3 years ago. We dipped their finger in purple ink after arranging the first free election in 50 years. Saddam Hussein hammered nails into their fingers and hands.

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Pissing on The Parade

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I have sifted through all the Democratic talking points, and here are the two that are going to get the most play.

1.) As voiced by Jeralynn Merrit on MSNBC and as discussed here: “Just because ballots were cast it doesn’t mean it is going to lead to a democracy.”

Of course ballots don’t translate directly into a democracy. Saddam Hussein did get 99% of the ballots cast in the last election, and I would hardly argue that Iraq was a democracy. I would, however, stipulate that the franchise is a PRE-REQUISITE for democracy. I am curious- when Democrats make a cake, do they put the icing on first?

2.) “What about the WMD? We went in after the WMD.”

We went in for WMD as well as a number of other documented reasons that the left now pretend to forget. But this really isn’t an issue, because what is an issue is the inconsistency even in the “What about the WMD” argument. Am I to assume that our deep thinkers on the left were in favor of going into get the WMD, seizing/destroying them, and then leaving a broken shell of Iraq? Of course not- so even though there were no WMD, we still need to fix Iraq.

Whyat is most annoying about this line of argument is that many on the left were right, and Bush was wrong- we would have to engage in nation-building. But now that Bush and the right have embraced nation building, the left cedes their moral authority and begins screaming to “Bring Home The Troops!” Go figure.

Watch for these- Jeralynn is dialed in, she knows the talking points. The talking heads and the Democrats will try to advance these specious arguments in the next couple of days- if you let them.

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Beware the Strawmen

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The greatest weapon in the sophist’s arsenal is the strawman argument, and they are out in force today.

Ezra Klein:

Americans, for our part, will spend the morning watching CNN say the same thing a thousand ways. We’ll exult in the mystical power of voting, but next week, it’ll be back to the news ticker’s impersonal body counts. So elections? Count me in, I think they’re great. But with the rebellious, terrified minority that’s driving the insurgency boycotting the polls, let’s not pretend that the Ballot Fairy will sprinkle constitution dust on this razed country and out of the ashes will emerge a stable, pluralistic democracy. Iraq’s task is monumental, and its solutions anything but telegenic.

No one is pretending this is anything but what it was- the first election the Iraqi’s have had in 50 years, and a step in the right direction. Obviously Iraqi’s are thrilled; most normal Americans are as well. Only the professionally dour would and could feel otherwise. No one thinks the future is all of a sudden going to be easy- quite the opposite.

Juan Cole:

Iraq now faces many key issues that could tear the country apart, from the issues of Kirkuk and Mosul to that of religious law. James Zogby on Wolf Blitzer wisely warned the US public against another “Mission Accomplished” moment. Things may gradually get better, but this flawed “election” isn’t a Mardi Gras for Americans and they’ll regret it if that is the way they treat it.

Groan. And now for the obligatory Oliver silliness:

Pardon me if I’ve had enough of these Iraqi “turning points”. I work in Washington, D.C. so I can’t just pretend and make the terrorists go away like the other sheep.

Oliver has worked in DC for a year now. Beware the jaded insider.

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The Turn-Out

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Still no hard numbers on the turn-out, but I do not think the 72% figure will hold:

The Independent Election Commission of Iraq clarified an earlier estimate of a 72 percent turnout in Sunday’s election, saying that the “figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field.”

“It will take some time for the IECI to issue accurate figures on turnout,” the statement said. “What is certainly the case is that turnout has exceeded expectations throughout the country.”

More than 14.2 million Iraqis were registered for the vote. Polls have closed, although voters who were in line at the time of poll closings were being allowed to cast their ballots.

U.N. election organizer Carlos Valezuela told CNN that while he was “happy with the turnout,” it was too early to report numbers.

“I would rather until we have much better reporting to be able to come up with figures,” he said.

If the final number drops below 72%, expect some on the left to seize upon this that the election was a fraud, even if the UN and Iraqi’s are satisfied with the vote. This should come as no surprise- after all, these are the same people who can not accept the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections.

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Blinded By The Spite

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Oliver doesn’t like Geraldo Rivera’s coverage of the elections much. Sayeth the ‘moderate’ Democrat:

Geraldo Rivera and Fox News, a match made in propaganda heaven.

Here is the offending Rivers quote (via Media Bistro via Johnny Dollar):

“They are casting their ballot for the first time. It was so inspiring. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It really is like the Berlin Wall going down in 1989. It really is like the beginning, like the dawn of the civil rights era, when black people could vote for the first time. It is the most amazing sight. Only a hard-bitten cynic, only a person with absolutely no upside to their feeling of optimism, could look askance at what is happening, truly happening today.”

Oliver Willis yesterday:

You know, I really wish Iraq were having an honest, safe, real election. But that isn’t happening, and that’s a shame. Even if you were and are opposed to this war, as I am, you would wish the Bush people would do things right just for the simple reason that it would help our standing in the world. But they can’ even do that.

The Daily Kos, today:

This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures.

Matt Yglesias, today:

It’s time to prepare for three weeks of gloating from the hawks before they realize that nothing has really changed and they return to previous hawk practice of not mentioning Iraq.

Geraldo, meet your hard-bitten cynics.

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