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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by Tim F|  September 7, 200610:58 am| 111 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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We haven’t had one in a while.

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Previous Post: « About That August Decline In Baghdad Civilian Deaths
Next Post: Here We Go, Steelers! »

Reader Interactions

111Comments

  1. 1.

    Rusty Shackleford

    September 7, 2006 at 11:02 am

    Republican Steals Democrat’s Homework

  2. 2.

    ThymeZone

    September 7, 2006 at 11:03 am

    Nobody has mentioned the Steelers game tonight.

    Are you guys okay?

  3. 3.

    Pat Buchanan

    September 7, 2006 at 11:10 am

    Upset Special of the Week as the up and coming Dolphins take it to the defending Champs. I think it’s because they have fewer furriner on their roster.

  4. 4.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 11:16 am

    I like pie!

  5. 5.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 11:27 am

    How far have we fallen when America’s President finally admits to (and defends!) secret prisons, extraordinary rendition, and torturing prisoners“tough interrogation tactics”–and no one is surprised?

    When this is the admission, I ask you, legally and morally, what is the proper remedy: (a) impeachment, or (b) Congressional approval? What would it have been for Clinton? What would it have been for any other President? And what has happened to the Republican party, once ‘The Party of Lincoln’, now only ‘The Party of Torture’.

  6. 6.

    Paul L.

    September 7, 2006 at 11:32 am

    More information about Tim F’s favorite Gun Control Rights Group.
    American Hunters and Shooters Association

    “The New Republic, like the Washington Monthly before it, is hyping this newly hatched groupuscule which aims to woo gun owners into an anti-NRA coalition. Trouble is, it’s a bit of an uphill slog convincing people you’re all for private gun ownership when your executive director played an active role on the plaintiff’s side in the lawsuit campaign against the firearms industry.”

    Is this a example of a misleading name for a group?
    i.e.
    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
    National Socialist German Workers Party

    Also see
    Shoot to deceive

  7. 7.

    Paul L.

    September 7, 2006 at 11:32 am

    Here is another item of interest:
    Dr. Mann and “hockey stick” graph get slammed.
    Devastating Indictment of the Entire Field of Anthropogenic Global Warming Research

    Of course, this is all a plot by the energy companies.

  8. 8.

    AkaDad

    September 7, 2006 at 11:38 am

    I think the label “mainstream media” should be rendered inoperable. The media has a well documented right-wing bias now, and should be labeled as such, to reflect reality.

  9. 9.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 11:45 am

    Paul L. says:

    Look, a jackalope!

    But at least he doesn’t “like pie!”

  10. 10.

    Nikki

    September 7, 2006 at 11:47 am

    Has the Republicans funding Lieberman’s Dem primary already been discussed?

  11. 11.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 11:54 am

    A must read for GW sceptics.
    Are you a Global Warming Skeptic part IV

    Also what was wrong with my last comment? too many links? what?

  12. 12.

    neil

    September 7, 2006 at 12:02 pm

    It had a whole post to it, Nikki.

  13. 13.

    Rusty Shackleford

    September 7, 2006 at 12:11 pm

    Doublespeak and the War on Terrorism
    by Timothy Lynch (Cato Institute)

  14. 14.

    Tim F.

    September 7, 2006 at 12:36 pm

    Here is another item of interest:

    Wow, Dean Esmay dismisses a substantive response and smears scientists’ character. News at eleven.

  15. 15.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 12:37 pm

    I’m still confused on why virtually no one is really covering the whole Waziristan issue. The Taliban and al Qaeda now has a territory under its control (in a nuclear armed country no less), and no one seems to care. Weird.

  16. 16.

    Mac Buckets

    September 7, 2006 at 12:39 pm

    I’m still confused on why virtually no one is really covering the whole Waziristan issue.

    I think most people are fairly confident that Waziristan is a made-up place, so they pay it no mind.

  17. 17.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 12:42 pm

    Don’t know what happened to my first post but here’s something that will get people riled up.
    Ken Ham spits on Steve Irwins corpse

  18. 18.

    Mac Buckets

    September 7, 2006 at 12:46 pm

    Here’s one for John Cole:

    Cindy Sheehan, in her ironically-titled book (it is irony, right?) Peace Mom, says she fantasizes about going back in time to kill George Bush as an infant.

    She fantasizes about infanticide. Wow. But she’s not a loony, right?

    Fortunately, GWB’s nanny was Sarah Connor, so Cindy would’ve stood no chance anyway.

  19. 19.

    Krista

    September 7, 2006 at 12:46 pm

    Ryan – charming. Sadly, not the first time I’ve seen something like that happen. It always disgusts me when someone uses a death to push their own religious agenda onto others. (Like the funeral my cousin went to where the preacher was going on and on about sin, while staring at her and her live-in boyfriend the entire time…)

  20. 20.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 12:48 pm

    I think most people are fairly confident that Waziristan is a made-up place

    Yeah, I think they got it from a nintendo game–it’s obviously just a cartoonish parody of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

  21. 21.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 12:53 pm

    I’m still confused on why virtually no one is really covering the whole Waziristan issue.

    Probably, because most people know that until there a big change, this administration’s diplomatic core doesn’t have the diplomatic wherewithal to handle such a situation. Their response to any situation seems to be:
    A. Try to threaten them into complying.
    B. If you can’t threaten, Invade.
    C. If you can’t invade, Ignore.

  22. 22.

    Mac Buckets

    September 7, 2006 at 12:53 pm

    It always disgusts me when someone uses a death to push their own religious agenda onto others.

    Or their nutjob environmentalist agenda.

  23. 23.

    John S.

    September 7, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    I think most people are fairly confident that Waziristan is a made-up place, so they pay it no mind.

    I think most people are fairly confident that a democratic Middle East is a made-up place, but that idea still seems to get plenty of mind.

  24. 24.

    tBone

    September 7, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    Fortunately, GWB’s nanny was Sarah Connor, so Cindy would’ve stood no chance anyway.

    Are you sure about that, Mac? Maybe “Cindy” is just shorthand for Cyberdyne Systems Model TX-1.

    I don’t think even a Terminator could get past Babs, though, so no worries.

  25. 25.

    jg

    September 7, 2006 at 1:23 pm

    Mac Buckets Says:

    I’m still confused on why virtually no one is really covering the whole Waziristan issue.

    I think most people are fairly confident that Waziristan is a made-up place, so they pay it no mind.

    A made up place? I take back the comment I made in another post about you being intelligent. You’re too dismissive to be intelligent.

  26. 26.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 1:24 pm

    Oh man, this just gets better and better–now we learn that an FBI agent quit after he found out that they were fixing the facts around the policy. Err, I mean, the script. I’m talking, of course, about ABC’s forthcoming right-wing agenda fantasy movie:

    BAMFORD: It’s made-up. This is fiction. This is not real. One of my friends actually was a consultant to this production — an FBI agent who worked on 9/11. He quit halfway through because he thought they were making things up.

    now if only we could have heard more of this sort of thing before the US invasion of Iraq…

  27. 27.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 1:26 pm

    Their response to any situation seems to be:
    A. Try to threaten them into complying.
    B. If you can’t threaten, Invade.
    C. If you can’t invade, Ignore.

    That’s their international response. Their domestic response is much easier to explain:
    A. Engage in selective truth-telling
    B. If that fails, prevaricate
    C. If that fails, lie.

  28. 28.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 1:39 pm

    And, as usual, killer research from Glenn Greenwald. I loved this quote:

    ‘The substitution of propaganda for fact is dangerous. It’s not by accident that tyrants create “history” to justify their schemes. Hitler couldn’t have taken control of Germany without the many anti-Semitic myths that had been allowed to fester and go unchallenged. Stalin and Mao couldn’t have kept a heel on the neck of their countries without self-glorifying myths that demonized anyone who stood in their way. In this case, simple justice demands that the lies about Ronald and Nancy Reagan must not go unchallenged but, in a larger sense, truth itself must be defended. Attempts to distort our history must be resisted. Historical truth is simply too valuable to be made a plaything for biased filmmakers rewriting it to fit their politics.’ — Ed Morrow, National Review, October 23, 2003

  29. 29.

    Bombadil

    September 7, 2006 at 1:58 pm

    I think most people are fairly confident that Waziristan is a made-up place, so they pay it no mind.

    Not really.

  30. 30.

    Zifnab

    September 7, 2006 at 2:27 pm

    There should be only three things you should concern yourself with this weekend.

    Universit of Texas vs. Ohio State University
    Longhorns vs. Buckeyes
    What color burnt orange looks good with this hat?

  31. 31.

    Punchy

    September 7, 2006 at 2:48 pm

    I’m still confused on why virtually no one is really covering the whole Waziristan issue.

    Yeah, I really thought there’d be more native-born Wazzies on this board raising hell…

  32. 32.

    scs

    September 7, 2006 at 2:51 pm

    Okay, hate to bring up this subject again, but I just saws this highlighted in the NYT website front page like it was some sort of breaking news.

    A severely brain-damaged woman in an unresponsive, vegetative state showed clear signs of conscious awareness on brain imaging tests, researchers are reporting today, in a finding that could have far-reaching consequences for how unconscious patients are cared for and diagnosed.

    In response to commands, the patient’s brain flared with activity, lighting the same language and planning regions that are active when healthy people hear the commands. Previous studies had found similar activity in partly conscious patients, who occasionally respond to commands, but never before in someone who was totally unresponsive….
    Yet the study so dramatically contradicted the woman’s diagnosed condition that it exposed the limitations of standard methods of bedside diagnosis.

    Now first of all, this has been basically known from university research studies for over 5 years, so I don’t know why this is big news. I suppose their scanning methods are getting better and it is becoming easier to pinpoint and connect the brain waves to the thoughts. Of course, they caution about Terri Schiavo always in these articles, but I always think that is kind of silly. They just admitted they don’t know crap about the brain and then they make assumptions about Terri and her severe condition. What they should say honestly is they don’t have a damn clue about Terri because no one ever gave her a brain scan, and they have no damn clue about how severe a person’s case has to be before no brain waves will show.

    Anyway, I hate to say I told you so, but Terri’s “bedside exam”, which the courts used to decide her case, meant crap. Like I said, sorry to bring up this subject again, but it obviously interests me for several reasons. One is I am very interested in medical issues, especially issues about the brain, two, it was obvsiously a huge issue for this country, and 3. I never saw an issue that so many people had such profound ignorance on and reinforced each others ignorance so well- from the media, to some medical people, to politicians to ordinary people, even though this information was so readily available online and elsewhere. It was kind of like some modern day Salem Witch trial where everyone’s lies and hysteria reinforced each other into this mass delusions. Ah the masses I guess…

    Anyway, what we know for certain now, is that contrary to the “popular wisdom” there was NOT NO chance Terri wasn’t sufferring during her dehydraion and instead there was a chance that Terri might have suffered in pain mightily before her death, and Michael, her loving husband, refused the simple, brief test that would have let us known with more certainty whether that would have been the case before she died.

  33. 33.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 2:56 pm

    An interesting problem

  34. 34.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 3:00 pm

    Oh look, scs likes pie!

  35. 35.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:07 pm

    The real question is, is it possible to write blog posts without showing any brain activity? Recent research has been promising, but researchers are unsure, because “they don’t know crap about the brain and then they make assumptions”.

  36. 36.

    scs

    September 7, 2006 at 3:08 pm

    Pb, don’t you need to make a post on Scrutator? They miss you over there.

  37. 37.

    les

    September 7, 2006 at 3:15 pm

    Lieberman’s blog is a stitch; and the comment section is a lot like this one. It’s tempting to think the whole thing’s a spoof.

    http://joe2006.com/blog.asp

  38. 38.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 3:15 pm

    Terri had A much different kind of brain damage than the lady in the article. Terri had asphyxiated brain damage which basically turns your brain into mush. She lost more than half her brain, and nolonger possessed the centers for pain or emotion.

    Traumatic injuries to the head, often from car accidents, tend to sever brain cell connections and leave many neurons intact. About 50 percent of people with such injuries recover some awareness in the first year after the injury, studies find; very few do so afterward. By contrast, brains starved of oxygen — like that of Terri Schiavo whose heart stopped temporarily— often suffer a massive loss of neurons, leaving virtually nothing unharmed.

  39. 39.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 3:16 pm

    scs Says:

    I like pie!

    Yes, yes. You and Darrell both. The juxtaposition of the flakey crust with a creamy filling is irresistible.

    Tom in Texas, can your next wine blog post cover a dessert wine that matches well with pie? It would help our resident pie lovers.

    (type in about:config in the address bar and look for greasemonkey.scriptvals to see who else likes pie! you can add people by using a comma delimited list)

  40. 40.

    tBone

    September 7, 2006 at 3:19 pm

    Oh look, scs likes pie!

    Based on my experience, virtually all of the conservative commenters here are objectively pro-pie.

  41. 41.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 3:21 pm

    I meant to say that the quote came from that same said article.

  42. 42.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    les,

    Lieberman’s blog is a stitch

    Wow, that’s such a sad, sad, sorry excuse for a blog… I’ve seen nicer guestbooks, really. This looks like he couldn’t even afford the $15 plan!

  43. 43.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    For what it’s worth, SCS, unresponsive =/= vegetative. PVS patients aren’t unresponsive — they react to pain, for instance, and to other stimuli, but they exhibit no higher brain activity.

    More than that, this patient did not meet the standards for being in a vegetative. The experiments that were done were performed when she was only five months out from her accident. That’s less than the one year req — eleven months after her accident, she did begin to show conscious behavior

  44. 44.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    For what it’s worth, SCS, unresponsive =/= vegetative. PVS patients aren’t unresponsive — they react to pain, for instance, and to other stimuli, but they exhibit no higher brain activity.

    More than that, this patient did not meet the standards for being in a vegetative. The experiments that were done were performed when she was only five months out from her accident. That’s less than the one year req — eleven months after her accident, she did begin to show conscious behavior

  45. 45.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 3:26 pm

    For what it’s worth, SCS, unresponsive =/= vegetative. PVS patients aren’t unresponsive — they react to pain, for instance, and to other stimuli, but they exhibit no higher brain activity.

    More than that, this patient did not meet the standards for being in a vegetative state. The experiments that were done were performed when she was only five months out from her accident. That’s less than the one year required for a diagnosis of PVS, and, in fact, eleven months after her accident, she did begin to show conscious behavior (eye-tracking).

    So, as is often the case for scientific reporting, the NYTimes piece is factually incorrect in all the important points.

  46. 46.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 3:27 pm

    Based on my experience, virtually all of the conservative commenters here are objectively pro-pie.

    Pie is a tasty, tasty treat.

  47. 47.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:27 pm

    Ryan S.,

    Hey, no fair posting facts from elsewhere in the article!

  48. 48.

    tBone

    September 7, 2006 at 3:31 pm

    Actually, Pb, I think this is more accurate:

    Hey, no fair posting facts from elsewhere in the article!

  49. 49.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:32 pm

    scs,

    don’t you need to make a post on Scrutator?

    I’ve commented on Scrutator in the past, but I’ve never posted an article there. However, that comment you posted here would have made a *great* Scrutator article, maybe you should try to get in touch with whoever the voices in your head tell you that runs the site this week, and start blogging over there instead. Really. Anyone from Scrutator around? I’ve spotted a new recruit for you!

  50. 50.

    JWeidner

    September 7, 2006 at 3:35 pm

    Ryan S.,

    Hey, no fair posting facts from elsewhere in the article!

    S’ok. SCS can calmly ignore facts, reality, and science in the neverending quest to prove that Terri was actually going to wake up the very next day after she died.

  51. 51.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 3:36 pm

    scs is welcome to post at Scrutator any time. She can have posting privileges and everything, as far as I’m concerned.

  52. 52.

    scs

    September 7, 2006 at 3:39 pm

    By contrast, brains starved of oxygen — like that of Terri Schiavo whose heart stopped temporarily— often suffer a massive loss of neurons, leaving virtually nothing unharmed.

    First of all, although that is generally true, that is not the same as saying we always know with certainty the effects of that. And second of all, medical scientists don’t really KNOW about the limits of brain damage. As they readily admit, they are still LEARNING about it. Hence the “research”. We cannot make any firm conclusions about- well this type of injury has such and such chance, but this type has zero chance. Case in point, the recent case in the media of Donald Bob Herbert, firefighter who suffered severe oxygen deprivation and was believed to be in PVS, and started talking 8 or so years later.

    We also can’t say with certainty, ‘well that area of the brain is gone, so this ability is gone’. The brain is plastic and has much overlap (see my recent post on memory and the non-functional hippocampus). We just don’t know if 30% of a cortex (about what Terri had) can be enough to process any higher functions. Again, that’s why the research continues.

  53. 53.

    scs

    September 7, 2006 at 3:40 pm

    I’ve spotted a new recruit for you!

    No thanks. You already tried that one, remember? It didn’t work.

  54. 54.

    neil

    September 7, 2006 at 3:40 pm

    On Plamegate.

    …whatever Mr. Armitage did, or says he did, in no way alters what Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby did in the days that followed, nor does it change their intentions. It’s a simple concept — two people or more can commit a similar act for entirely different reasons…

    Joe Conason, New York Observer

    As he drew back the curtain this week on the evidence against Vice President Cheney’s former top aide, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald…described a “concerted action” by “multiple people in the White House” — using classified information — to “discredit, punish or seek revenge against” a critic of President Bush’s war in Iraq.

    Washington Post

  55. 55.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 3:47 pm

    No thanks. You already tried that one, remember? It didn’t work.

    You’d have total creative control over your work. Also, you’d have a forum to express your views. Best of all, I’m the only spoof still posting there, and I could stop. So you could even legitimize the place if you wanted to.

    No need to scoff at it out of hand.

  56. 56.

    Davebo

    September 7, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    Zifnab

    I predict Godzillatron will sell a lot of advertising saturday night!

    That, and with 30,000 Buckeye fans in town Austin will temporarily cease being weird.

  57. 57.

    scs

    September 7, 2006 at 3:50 pm

    Also, you’d have a forum to express your views.

    No thanks. I don’t want to be your TimF to your John Cole, the shlep who does all the work while the boss sits back and gets all the credit.

  58. 58.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:51 pm

    scs,

    You already tried that one, remember?

    What? No I didn’t? Perhaps you are (once again) confusing me with everybody else? Or have I suggested such a thing in the past, and just forgotten about it?

  59. 59.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:52 pm

    I don’t want to be your TimF to your John Cole, the shlep who does all the work while the boss sits back and gets all the credit.

    Well, she’s actually got a point there. :)

  60. 60.

    scs

    September 7, 2006 at 3:53 pm

    Finally we agree on something.

  61. 61.

    Pb

    September 7, 2006 at 3:56 pm

    Finally we agree on something.

    Heh. All you had to do was start making sense… Also, I like pie!

  62. 62.

    SeesThroughIt

    September 7, 2006 at 4:01 pm

    The juxtaposition of the flakey crust with a creamy filling is irresistible.

    I saw something on the Food Network last night about some pie-baking competition. Such pies! There was this cherry and red raspberry pie on there that I would’ve absolutely devastated.

  63. 63.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 4:02 pm

    No thanks. I don’t want to be your TimF to your John Cole, the shlep who does all the work while the boss sits back and gets all the credit.

    Well, I could always abandon the place completely. Or, if you’d prefer me to hang around, we could agree to some kind of one-for-one posting ratio.

    We can work this out. I can see your point about Tim F. At this point, Balloon Juice is basically HIS blog, yet he always defers to John. We wouldn’t let that happen to you. Scrutator is a far more democratic environment.

  64. 64.

    Bruce Moomaw

    September 7, 2006 at 4:14 pm

    First, of all, what the hell has happened to John? I sympathize with him; at this point he’s The Man Without A Party. But you’ve got to start the rebuilding effort SOMEWHERE.

  65. 65.

    jg

    September 7, 2006 at 4:19 pm

    First, of all, what the hell has happened to John?

    john only posts when he can rant about the left or when he’s saying something bad about the right that also allows him to take a shot at the left. fair and balanced.

  66. 66.

    Richard 23

    September 7, 2006 at 4:29 pm

    Okay, hate to bring up this subject again

    Lie. Supporting facts not in evidence.

    McCoy to Kirk: “His brain is gone!”

    Burt Wilson: “I hit the fucking brain!”

  67. 67.

    neil

    September 7, 2006 at 4:33 pm

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think a lot of bloggers would be slowing their posting down too, if they were as honest as John is. In a lot of ways I’m sure it’s easier to churn out the same old crap every day, than it is to realize that it’s all a load of, well, crap.

    I’d rather see one good and interesting post a week than twenty lame and repetitive ones, I guess is what I mean.

  68. 68.

    Davebo

    September 7, 2006 at 4:41 pm

    Go easy on John. I’ll offer an explanation to his temporary absence.

    You see, for reasons only Dan Rather understands, the CBS sportsline poll has W. Virginia ranked #2 in the nation. (None of the other polls have them higher than sixth)

    This has caused both elation and distress for John. Being a true W. Virginia fan he is elated that his team is ranked #2, but being a Republican he can’t trust a poll put out by CBS, even if it elates him.

    Result? Deep cognitive dissonence.

  69. 69.

    The Other Steve

    September 7, 2006 at 4:49 pm

    Cindy Sheehan, in her ironically-titled book (it is irony, right?) Peace Mom, says she fantasizes about going back in time to kill George Bush as an infant.

    She fantasizes about infanticide. Wow. But she’s not a loony, right?

    I don’t know. I keep fantasizing about going back in time and not reading Mac Buckets posts, so I could get that 4 seconds back.

  70. 70.

    The Other Steve

    September 7, 2006 at 4:50 pm

    Based on my experience, virtually all of the conservative commenters here are objectively pro-pie.

    I prefer Pecan Pie myself. Heat it up and serve it ala mode!

    ala mode is french for “with ice cream”, in case you were wondering.

  71. 71.

    Zifnab

    September 7, 2006 at 4:52 pm

    scs, you came back again! I was worried you’d left the Senate forever.

  72. 72.

    Richard 23

    September 7, 2006 at 4:54 pm

    I prefer cherry cheesecake. Is that a pie?

  73. 73.

    CaseyL

    September 7, 2006 at 4:55 pm

    Didn’t school start this week? John’s busy getting his students’ heads out of their Fun All Summer! haze.

    Greenwald has a nice collection of winger quotes lamenting the use of TV movies as political propaganda, demanding that TV movies be scrupulously factually accurate to the smallest detail, and attacking a TV movie for being an inaccurate, one-sided assault on a popular former President.

  74. 74.

    Zifnab

    September 7, 2006 at 5:09 pm

    I prefer cherry cheesecake. Is that a pie?

    That is, definitively, a cake.

    And school started about a week or two ago, so John’s got every right to call “Start of Semester” shinanigans.

    Also, while quoting the right wing against itself is certainly a very valid and poignant tactic, its worth noting that this isn’t the first time Hugh Hewitt or John Hinderacker have talked out of both sides of their mouths. A certain section of the right wing punditry seems to almost enjoy tripping over their own moral feet. Let’s keep in mind that these are the same guys who continue to trumpet the glories of Bush for bringing trustworthiness and honor back to the White House after 8 years in the desert.

  75. 75.

    Richard 23

    September 7, 2006 at 5:13 pm

    Ok then, Zifnab, I like pumpkin pie. Of course apple pie and cherry pie are nothing to sneeze at.

    It seems like Darrell fled after I asked him what kind of pie he likes. Apparently he’s just fucking dishonest about his love of pie. He can’t help it. It’s who he is.

  76. 76.

    Zifnab

    September 7, 2006 at 5:13 pm

    America Weekly

    Democrats in office! Aiieeeeeeeeeee!

    I just liked this because of the poll at the end.

  77. 77.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 5:14 pm

    Heat it up and serve it ala mode!

    Pie appeaser.

  78. 78.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 5:17 pm

    I just liked this because of the poll at the end.

    Who started the pie meme? ‘Cause it’s fucking hilarious.

  79. 79.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 5:30 pm

    I voted for “I like pie”, of course.

    Tim F., did you steal that, or was it original? Either way, man, you seem to have hit a real nerve with it.

    Oh, and…”I like pie!”

  80. 80.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 5:31 pm

    Heat it up and serve it ala mode!

    Pie appeaser.

    Just like Neville’s chamberlain…

  81. 81.

    Krista

    September 7, 2006 at 5:37 pm

    Who started the pie meme? ‘Cause it’s fucking hilarious.

    You have Tim to thank for that one — it was what he used to replace offensive commentary during his fruitless attempt to restore civil discourse to this blog.

  82. 82.

    Perry Como

    September 7, 2006 at 5:38 pm

    Just like Neville’s chamberlain…

    Aaron?

  83. 83.

    Richard 23

    September 7, 2006 at 5:53 pm

    Be sure to check out America Weakly put out by the GOP. Because if there’s one thing the GOP is all about it’s making America weak.

    Hat Tip: Blogs for Bush.

  84. 84.

    The Other Steve

    September 7, 2006 at 5:55 pm

    Be sure to check out America Weakly put out by the GOP. Because if there’s one thing the GOP is all about it’s making America weak.

    That’s awesome. The whole site is filled with spoofy news.

    Apparently these guys still don’t understand that Colbert is making fun of them.

  85. 85.

    Jill

    September 7, 2006 at 5:56 pm

    They don’t understand anything–let alone sarcasm.

  86. 86.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 6:06 pm

    They don’t understand anything—let alone sarcasm.

    What about pie? They seem to have a pretty good grasp of that one. (Not pi, mind you- too science-y. Plus it’s pagan knowledge, concocted by Zeus-worshippers and nowhere to be seen in the Gospels.)

  87. 87.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 6:11 pm

    (Not pi, mind you- too science-y. Plus it’s pagan knowledge, concocted by Zeus-worshippers and nowhere to be seen in the Gospels.)

    Whaddya mean, pi isn’t in the Gospels? That’s because it’s in the Old Testament, you loser — and it’s clearly three, just like it was in Leviticus.

  88. 88.

    Ryan S.

    September 7, 2006 at 6:18 pm

    Here’s some interesting news about Iraq. I can’t seem to find this anywhere else, and maybe who know this might be a daily thing.

  89. 89.

    Par R

    September 7, 2006 at 6:30 pm

    This story could really rip Bush wide open. On the other hand, it probably was drafted by ThymeZone or the like.

  90. 90.

    Richard 23

    September 7, 2006 at 6:45 pm

    Thanks ParRot, but Mac Buckets beat you to it by about six hours. Thanks for being so redundant, as always.

  91. 91.

    Daniel DiRito

    September 7, 2006 at 6:46 pm

    To view a tongue-in-cheek visual primer on the Bush administration’s “A Guide to the ABC’s For Dummies”…link here:

    http://www.thoughttheater.com

  92. 92.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 6:54 pm

    Whaddya mean, pi isn’t in the Gospels? That’s because it’s in the Old Testament, you loser—and it’s clearly three, just like it was in Leviticus.

    From what he offers he is to make this offering to the LORD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them,

    Leviticus 3:14

    It certainly sounds like it might be pie-related, and possibly pi-related, too. But is there a connection? Let’s check out the whole passage:

    ” ‘If someone’s offering is a fellowship offering, [a] and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he is to present before the LORD an animal without defect. 2 He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood against the altar on all sides. 3 From the fellowship offering he is to bring a sacrifice made to the LORD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, 4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

    6 ” ‘If he offers an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the LORD, he is to offer a male or female without defect. 7 If he offers a lamb, he is to present it before the LORD. 8 He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. 9 From the fellowship offering he is to bring a sacrifice made to the LORD by fire: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, 10 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 11 The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made to the LORD by fire.

    12 ” ‘If his offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD. 13 He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. 14 From what he offers he is to make this offering to the LORD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, 15 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 16 The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.

    17 ” ‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’ “

    Okay, it sounds like the Bible was actually referring to animals, not pie. On the other hand, the passage doesn’t explicitly exclude pie from the Hebrew diet, so we’re still in the ballpark. As long as your pie has no fat or blood in it, all’s well with God. Moreover, the 3:14 passage is still eerily similar to a pie-related reference.

    Does the Old Testament contain coded references to the practices of ancient pie-lovers? And did this secret society develop the concept of pi in conjunction with Pythagoras and the other pagans? You make the call.

  93. 93.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 7:25 pm

    From what he offers he is to make this offering to the LORD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them,

    Rendered fat == lard, and, as all good Southerners (and most good Northerners, as well — there are no good Yankees, only good Red Sox), the only good pie crust is based on lard. Not of this shortening sh*t that teh eeevil gayz use for their Satanic rituals.

  94. 94.

    Richard 23

    September 7, 2006 at 7:29 pm

    New York Daily News reports:

    When Rove moved into the West Wing office formerly occupied by Hillary Clinton, he called in three Catholic priests to exorcise the spirit of the First Lady. “It was an actual liturgical ceremony,” says Deal Hudson, who took part.

  95. 95.

    demimondian

    September 7, 2006 at 7:34 pm

    And, besides, in the time of David, the Lord explicitly shows that Pi is three:

    (1 Ki 7:23 NIV) He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.

  96. 96.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 7, 2006 at 8:04 pm

    Rendered fat == lard, and, as all good Southerners (and most good Northerners, as well—there are no good Yankees, only good Red Sox), the only good pie crust is based on lard. Not of this shortening sh*t that teh eeevil gayz use for their Satanic rituals.

    God likes pie! And pi.

    Do you think God and this Darrell character are somehow… connected?

    (1 Ki 7:23 NIV) He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.

    This part clinches the pi-pie connection. You have proven it! Huzzah and hosannah unto the highest! Let us slaughter the fatted calf, and let us play upon psalter and timbrel.

    Yea, verily, we shall proclaim our love of Pie unto the Heavens.

    Or, in the words of King David in Psalm 71:

    7I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.

    8Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.

    9Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.

    …

    15My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.

    …

    23My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.

    24My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.

    (Actually, if you really look for it, almost every chapter in the Bible contains a praise of pie. Or pi. Or both. Since pi and pie are one in the eyes of the Lord. That’s what I gleaned from reading the Bible, anyhoo.)

  97. 97.

    tBone

    September 7, 2006 at 8:35 pm

    Actually that’s not quite right, GOP. In the original Hebrew, one particular passage translates more precisely to:

    8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise flakey crust and succulent fruit filling and with thy honour all the day.

    A harmless transcription error, or part of a devilish plot to turn followers from the true path of pie-filled righteousness? You be the judge.

  98. 98.

    Andrew

    September 7, 2006 at 9:16 pm

    Leviticus 11:9-12 tells us that shrimp pie is an abomination before God, you damn dirty heathens.

  99. 99.

    zzyzx

    September 7, 2006 at 10:25 pm

    Well I see the refs are still in the Steelers’ pockets ;) Good job ignoring the challenge flag.

  100. 100.

    SeesThroughIt

    September 7, 2006 at 11:24 pm

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think a lot of bloggers would be slowing their posting down too, if they were as honest as John is. In a lot of ways I’m sure it’s easier to churn out the same old crap every day, than it is to realize that it’s all a load of, well, crap.

    Yeah, I agree with this. Self-awareness and honesty can be sort of constraining like that.

  101. 101.

    SeesThroughIt

    September 7, 2006 at 11:26 pm

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think a lot of bloggers would be slowing their posting down too, if they were as honest as John is. In a lot of ways I’m sure it’s easier to churn out the same old crap every day, than it is to realize that it’s all a load of, well, crap.

    Yeah, I agree with this. Self-awareness and honesty can be sort of constraining like that.

  102. 102.

    DougJ

    September 8, 2006 at 12:37 am

    She fantasizes about infanticide.

    Like you don’t, Mac.

  103. 103.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 8, 2006 at 5:07 am

    A harmless transcription error, or part of a devilish plot to turn followers from the true path of pie-filled righteousness? You be the judge

    The agents of the Dark One are always at hand.

  104. 104.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 8, 2006 at 5:11 am

    Leviticus 11:9-12 tells us that shrimp pie is an abomination before God, you damn dirty heathens.

    Yeah, but can you blame Him? Shrimp pie? Yecch! Who but Satan could consume such a thing?

  105. 105.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 8, 2006 at 5:14 am

    Like you don’t, Mac

    What if that baby is going to grow up to be Hitler? Or Osama? What if that baby’s mother is named Rosemary?

    Hard questions demand hard answers in hard times, my friends.

  106. 106.

    The Other Steve

    September 8, 2006 at 7:14 am

    Sometimes I fantascize about pie.

  107. 107.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    September 8, 2006 at 7:23 am

    Sometimes I fantascize about pie.

    As long as the pie doesn’t contain shrimp or suchlike, you walk the path of the Lord, my brother.

  108. 108.

    Punchy

    September 8, 2006 at 9:02 am

    Well I see the refs are still in the Steelers’ pockets ;) Good job ignoring the challenge flag.

    How is it, that with having ~8 refs on the field, NO ONE is watching the coach for a flag? Especially since they no longer have that button thing anymore?

    Seriously, no one keeps an eye out for the challenge flag? Ridiculous.

  109. 109.

    The Other Steve

    September 8, 2006 at 9:16 am

    Oh dear. Looks like the President is going to screw up ABC’s 9/11 miniseries broadcast by making a political speech on national television.

  110. 110.

    Bob In Pacifica

    September 8, 2006 at 9:23 am

    Steelers look good, Miami looks good too, except for their run game.

    I wonder if Saban has rotator cuff problems.

  111. 111.

    The Other Steve

    September 8, 2006 at 9:23 am

    Interesting…

    Actually kind of disappointing, and I think it’s clear you can pretty much blame the Bushies for politicizing 9/11 as the root cause of this.

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