Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Bark louder, little dog.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Let’s finish the job.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

A consequence of cucumbers

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

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

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

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

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

The willow is too close to the house.

Motown is Joe-Town!

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100Comments

  1. 1.

    caroline

    Bush apologia driving anybody else nuts? I’ve been debating “conservatives” and “libertarians” lately. At least the “libertarians” can debate with reason even though I don’t always agree. Conservatives are twisting themselves into pretzels to make their case. They usually lose the debate, not because I’m good, but because they simply don’t make sense.

  6. 6.

    ThymeZone

    Bush apologia driving anybody else nuts?

    For about five years now.

    There is no point in arguing with them. It’s like trying to pick up mercury with a tweezers.

  8. 8.

    Steve

    It’s noteworthy that after the Steelers’ slow start, John somehow forgets to show up with a Steelers thread. However, he appears not to have been punished for his lack of faith, as the Steelers are already up 21-0.

  9. 9.

    Gold Star for Robot Boy

    Wow – whe’re this Steelers team been hiding?
    (But I’m now kicking myself for benching Hines Ward this week.)

  11. 11.

    Pb

    US Citizen Facing Execution in Iraq

    No testimony or evidence at the trial.

    We’ll get there soon enough. Alternatively, we could just lock him up indefinitely.

  14. 14.

    MrSnrub

    Hi Zed! (it’s dylan)

    Looks like the Steelers managed to hold off and win a game. Good on them.

  17. 17.

    jcricket

    Democrats soon to sweep the nation? Looks to me like baby boomers plus the tail end of Gen X + most of Gen Y are leaning solidly Democratic.

    I’ve often thought that what Democrats need to do is convince people they’re already Democrats, not come up with a new plan. When you poll on issues by themselves, people overwhelmingly support what is largely the actual Democratic agenda (meaning what Democrats support when in office, not necessarily what individuals say). But then they vote Republican, or stay home or vote Green because they’re afraid or stupid or disillusioned.

  18. 18.

    Pb

    is there a way to look through the old archives here?

    My understanding is that it’s all there, more or less. There’s a search feature, and there’s a link to go to the previous page. But the easy way to do it is probably just to use Google.

  19. 19.

    The Ghost of Santa Claus

    According to the article, the Bush family has purchased a ranch of considerable size somewhere in northern Paraguay. You know, tucked up somewhere between Paraguay and Brazil?

    That’s where the best blow is, anyway.

  22. 22.

    ThymeZone

    Jonah G is shown to be stupid and mendacious, which is oddly enough easy.

    Yes, I thought it was an established fact.

    I can’t make sense of his point. If Bush was sincere about the faith thing, then … we should ignore the cynical manipulations of the Mehlmans?

    I think all you have to do is look at Mehlman for one minute on tv, with the sound turned off, and you can figure out the level of his sincerity. I’d rather trust the government to Charles Manson than to people like Mehlman.

  23. 23.

    The Other Steve

    BWAAAHAHAHA!!!! Jonah is a treat, isn’t he?

    Indeed, if Kuo is right, it would be nice if some of the liberal handwringing and doomsaying from the Bush’s first term was retracted.

    Shorter Jonah: The Liberals should apologize because it turns out all the things they were complaining about were really just lies told to the evangelicals so they could use them.

  25. 25.

    Pb

    So, I was watching one of the last actual conservatives left in America (Andrew Sullivan) being interviewed on C-SPAN, and the whole thing was pretty interesting, there was a lot of very rational and sensible stuff in there that I could agree with:

    I do believe that the principles I believe in and have always believed in, and grew up believing in which is – which are limited government, low taxes but balanced budgets, controlling of spending and live and let live, and leave people alone. That whole idea of conservatism has been eclipsed in the last several years
    […]
    I wanted to say you’ve got to replace absolute certainty with empirical doubt. And in fact, absolute certainty is not just not conservative it’s the nemesis of conservatism. And how that absolute certainty came in is through the power of religious fundamentalism politicized.

    We have to not attack religion, not throw evangelicals out of the Republican Party at all, but to make sure that our arguments, even if they’re informed by our faith, are reasonable arguments that can appeal to all people whether they are atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims or Christians. That is what we’ve lost. That, I think, is the soul of conservatism, and that’s what I’m trying to re-describe and reaffirm because I am a believer in it. I’m a believer in doubt.

  26. 26.

    ThymeZone

    I’m a believer in doubt.

    But fundamentalism is all about certainty. That’s the whole point of it. Would a rational person seek to include superstitious seekers of certainty?

    That is not rational.

  27. 27.

    Pb

    ThymeZone,

    Yes, his opinions on fundamentalism were pretty clear there as well:

    But their inability because of this conviction to compromise, or to live alongside people who disagree with them makes politics impossible. We – you know you can’t do that. We’ve got to live – we’ve got to get along with one another. This country does not only have born-again Christians, it has atheists, it has Jews, it has moderate Christians, it has liberal Christians, it has a variety of people and if we have to come to a consensus on political grounds not religious ones.

    And fundamentalism – and I say this as someone who I think has experienced it myself in my own life, in my own faith journey – just can’t – if it’s God’s will, God’s will must be obeyed and we can have no compromise about that. When you’re in that situation and when God is brought on the table how do you – how do you negotiate, how do you talk? Once God is there you either believe it in or you don’t. You can’t have a discussion about it.

  28. 28.

    demimondian

    Jonah spits out with a whale:

    Both stories can’t be true, can they?

    Of course they can: the fact that the evangelical forces turned out to be quite potent was what the liberals were hang-wringing about; the fact that Rove and Abramoff didn’t care is merely another example of this administration’s peculiar preference for truthiness over truth.

  29. 29.

    ThymeZone

    And then he says this …

    And that’s what’s happening in American I fear, that the one part, the Right, is becoming far too religiously based and the response on the Left has become much more secular and hostile to religion.

    Which is dead wrong. I’m as hostile to the religious political right as anyone … and I am not hostile to religion. I am hostile to fundamentalism. I am hostile to bigotry. I am hostile to unreasonableness.

    I am hostile to religious in politics and government. For the same reasons that the Founders tried to put a firewall there. So that, in Madison’s words, religion would not be used to pressure government on any pretext.

    Good advice.

    My best example of a pretext would be the use of Madison’s concept of freedom of religion to pimp a view that religion should be free to hijack government. I’d say that is the one thing that is at the top of the list of things you don’t want religion to do.

  31. 31.

    ThymeZone

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Antonin Scalia on Sunday defended some of his Supreme Court opinions, arguing that nothing in the Constitution supports abortion rights and the use of race in school admissions.

    Scalia, a leading conservative voice on the high court, sparred in a one-hour televised debate with American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen. He said unelected judges have no place deciding politically charged questions when the Constitution is silent on those issues.

    Arguing that liberal judges in the past improperly established new political rights such as abortion, Scalia warned, “Someday, you’re going to get a very conservative Supreme Court and regret that approach.”

    “On controversial issues on stuff like homosexual rights, abortion, we debate with each other and persuade each other and vote on it either through representatives or a constitutional amendment,” the Reagan appointee said.

    “Whether it’s good or bad is not my job. My job is simply to say if those things you find desirable are contained in the Constitution,” he said.

    Thoughts?

  32. 32.

    Pb

    ThymeZone,

    The country has certainly gotten more polarized, so I’m sure there’s more hostility on the left towards the radical fundamentalist agenda on the right; as to whether or not there’s more hostility towards religion in general, there might be in some quarters, but it’s hardly “the response on the Left”, so that is a bit overblown. In many ways, there’s a lot more hostility towards *other* religions coming from the Right–which Sullivan sort of mentions.

    But as for going back to our Founders for advice on this, well, Sullivan’s with you on that point too:

    I think we need to get more in touch with the humility and skepticism and wisdom of the Founding Fathers than some of the more hysterical religious zealots that currently have a real control of the Republican Party.

  33. 33.

    Ted

    I think all you have to do is look at Mehlman for one minute on tv, with the sound turned off, and you can figure out the level of his sincerity.

    Obfuscation and deception is unfortunately at the heart of a closet-case’s existence. It’s second-nature and automatic.

  34. 34.

    ThymeZone

    Obfuscation and deception is unfortunately at the heart of a closet-case’s existence.

    For real sociopathy, though, I can’t top Clarence Thomas. I can’t watch the guy, with or without sound, without thinking “mass murderer.” I am convinced that he is the scariest person I’ve ever seen in government. Even on tv, he triggers in me a strong urge to run away.

    To complete the effect, turn the sound on and listen to him speak. This is especially effective around Halloween.

  35. 35.

    rbl

    Scalia is so fundamentally wrong that it is scary. The idea that the constitution grants people rights is both an abonimation and antethical to anything remotly resembling actual conservatism.

    My job is simply to say if those things you find desirable are contained in the Constitution

    How the fuck does he get off calling himself a conservative? If its not in the constitution, the government DOESN’T HAVE THE RIGHT to infringe on it. He’s not a conservative, he’s a statist. But we already knew that.

  36. 36.

    Pb

    The idea that the constitution grants people rights is both an abonimation and antethical to anything remotly resembling actual conservatism.

    It’s also basically and fundamentally just wrong–anyone who actually believes that shouldn’t be able to get out of law school, period.

    How the fuck does he get off calling himself a conservative? If its not in the constitution, the government DOESN’T HAVE THE RIGHT to infringe on it. He’s not a conservative, he’s a statist.

    I’ll stick with moron in this case, although I’m sure it’s willful idiocy.

  37. 37.

    Ted

    I am convinced that he is the scariest person I’ve ever seen in government.

    I agree, though I don’t know what I could pin it on, exactly. The man is truly creepy.

  38. 38.

    ThymeZone

    My job is simply to say if those things you find desirable are contained in the Constitution

    If only he’d tell us where the Constitution recognizes the existence of the rights of citizenship for zygotes.

    Somewhere near the passage that promises God’s dominion on earth, I imagine.

  39. 39.

    The Disenfranchised Voter

    Bush apologia driving anybody else nuts? I’ve been debating “conservatives” and “libertarians” lately. At least the “libertarians” can debate with reason even though I don’t always agree. Conservatives are twisting themselves into pretzels to make their case. They usually lose the debate, not because I’m good, but because they simply don’t make sense.

    Any so-called libertarian that defends this Adminstration is not a libertarian in any traditional sense of the word.

    I don’t care for either party but I am pragmatic. I truly hope that the Democrats win both the House and the Senate so they can be the check on this abominal adminstration that has so degraded our country.

    I may be idealistic in wishing for a return to an actual Constitutional rule to this land, but I am realistic enough to know that Democrats–right now–are my best chance.

  40. 40.

    scs

    To the dozens of DougJ clones and ppgaz- re: Harry Reid’s land deal thread. (I’d post it there but it will probably roll over soon)

    Okay, I win and you lose losers:

    1. I asked PPgaz to link his supposed “Nevada Law” he posted: he didn’t. Hmmmm…Making up some complicated block quote is a DougJ tactic. I believe it was pb or some other DJ creation that linked back to ppgaz unlinked post to prove that the post was linked. Nice try – well actually not even.

    2. I asked ‘VladiG’, after he called me a bitch and other names, to find one AP article or national article that quotes Bob Arum as the source for the quote about Nevada law. You quoted the original Nevada paper again, the one that was the source for all the blogs I saw. Then you quoted Wiki on Bob Arum, which is not a AP article. I would hardly consider it a national article as we were talking about national media. But either way- that Wiki article just discussed his life- not his specific comment that ran in the Nevada papers – so not even remotely relevant. So you lose – you couldn’t find one article.

    3. VladiG – I emailed ‘LA Seitz’ – your supposed web page, several times and got no response. You’d think a guy with less than 2 posts a segment would email back his fans…

    In conclusion, I win again, you lose. Why do I even bother…

  41. 41.

    scs

    Oh and this is what I got on your linkl about Bob Arum:

    On the first week of January, 2004, FBI agents raided Arum’s Top Rank office in Las Vegas. Arum was on vacation when his office was raided, and the FBI originally declined to comment on the raid. The media reported that the FBI was investigating allegations that Top Rank was involved in fixing the rematch between De La Hoya and Shane Mosley. The federal agency also announced that it was investigating some of Eric Esch’s fights, as well as the Jorge Paez-Verdell Smith fight. The investigation closed in the summer of 2006 with no charges being filed.

    No charges filed- but the FBI doesn’t raid an office for nothing do they? Sounds like a guy who would never twist the laws to put his client in a good light.

  42. 42.

    Blue Neponset

    John, Tim & Everyone else I guess,

    As you may or may not know Josh Trevino has decided that Tacitus.org will cease to exist as of tomorrow. As a result, the non-Trevino netizens of Tacitus.org have, in record time, created a blog of their own. It is called theforvm.org (please note the “v”). I was hoping John could add it to the blogroll. Please come and visit.

  44. 44.

    scs

    Okay- DJ, just as an FYI – the boxing story about Tim Reid broke in May 2006. Bob Arum, the trusted “legal scholar” quoted by numerous blogs as an unquestioned legal source of Nevada law, was, according to Wiki, UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE FBI at the SAME TIME for fraud. The charges were dropped in the summer of 2006. Hmmm. Does Tim Reid have any sway at the FBI? Just wondering. Enquiring minds want to know….

  45. 45.

    scs

    Okay we should all get together and write a murder mystery. A crazed psychotic blogger, lets call him JugD, is going around killing all the people one by one that write in a blog, then he tries to coopt their personality and logs onto the blog with their IDs – until a plucky amature sleuth figures it out and busts him.

    It’s a best seller isn’t it?

  46. 46.

    r€nato

    According to the article, the Bush family has purchased a ranch of considerable size somewhere in northern Paraguay. You know, tucked up somewhere between Paraguay and Brazil?

    Didn’t Paraguay shelter a bunch of Nazis hiding from war crimes trials after WW2?

    Makes perfect sense to me that the Bushes would go there.

  47. 47.

    Pb

    Shorter scs: Waah, no one did my homework for me!

    Hint: just because you couldn’t find it, doesn’t mean that the rest of us couldn’t. Easily.

  48. 48.

    Mike

    My job is simply to say if those things you find desirable are contained in the Constitution

    If he really believes that, he should be impeached. A Democratic Senate could do that.

  49. 49.

    r€nato

    David Kuo has a blog at beliefnet.org. Every other sentence is about Jesus. He was walking through New York and thinking about Jesus. He was thinking about Jesus before being interviewed by 60 Minutes.

    It’s really quite creepy if you read it. He’s a Jesus freak. What’s worse is that he has nothing – NOTHING – to say about the war in Iraq or torture being used by this government. How can a ‘real’ Christian have no thoughts about these topics in times like these???

    What’s more, it’s not like the fundies have gotten ‘nothing’ from Bush. They didn’t get their $8 billion, but they did get two SC justices, they got a lot of gay-bashing, they got their Terry Schiavo freak on (Jeb Bush convened the Florida Legislature to pass a law just for her), they got their abstinence-only programs which don’t work, they got their National Day of Prayer.

    Churchy definitely got paid… Kuo’s beef seems to be that they didn’t get the cash they were promised and that BushCo privately thinks Dobson et al are nutcases. Kuo is indeed naive and he still doesn’t get it.

  50. 50.

    scs

    Hint: just because you couldn’t find it, doesn’t mean that the rest of us couldn’t. Easily.

    Famous last words huh?

  51. 51.

    Pb

    Famous last words huh?

    Hardly. I found it all at the time, easily, as I said at the time. The questions are, a) why should we do your homework for you, or b) what will you do when you’re proven to be wrong, lazy, and woefully incompetent?

    What’s the consensus here, guys–should we verify what we already know–that scs is wrong, lazy, and woefully incompetent–at the expense of doing her homework for her? Or should we let her stew? Either outcome is fine with me at this point, since I doubt that either one would change her behavior a whit, either.

  52. 52.

    scs

    questions are, a) why should we do your homework for you, or b) what will you do when you’re proven to be wrong, lazy, and woefully incompetent?

    Ok you ask me to find something, and that’s ok, but when I ask you to find something in return, it’s because I’m lazy? Nice logic there. Give it up.

  53. 53.

    Punchy

    He said unelected judges have no place deciding politically charged questions when the Constitution is silent on those issues.

    This will be his very argument when he grants Bush the right to wireless wiretap. See, there’s no mention of wireless, electronic bugging of wireless, cellular phones and internet servers in the 1787-ratified Constitution. Ergo, judges have no right to decide on it.

    Sounds logical to me. I’m guessing when he voted against Hamdan, he was looking in the Constitution (and didn’t find) for something about prisoners of The War on Terror. What the fuck were the Framers thinking when they left out that clause?

  55. 55.

    Pb

    Ok you ask me to find something, and that’s ok, but when I ask you to find something in return, it’s because I’m lazy?

    You forgot ‘wrong’, and ‘incompetent’. I’d go back to the original thread to cite exactly why, but I’m lazy. :)

  56. 56.

    Hyperion

    Andrew Sullivan being interviewed on C-SPAN, and the whole thing was pretty interesting

    i was impressed by his lucidity and idealism. i was depressed by all of his god talk. anbother catholic apologist who desperately wants his church to stop being mean to queers and still attempts to rationalize his love and respect for an institution that rejects him. at one point he stated that he was confident that he wouldn’t be driven out of the church, implying that the US priesthood were so much more accepting than than those rigid vatican types. i much prefer john Danforth’s take on religion. he was also interviewed on CSPAN yesterday.

  57. 57.

    The Other Steve

    The problem with the fundies is that they’ve confused Christianity with their particular cult. It’s weird, for them to try to claim that only their vision is the one true way.

    The downside is that because they’ve been so good at claiming that they are the true representatives of Christ, the backlash that we are seeing against them is not just against their cult, but against all religion in general, or at least Christianity in particular.

    But it’s not secularism which offers the greatest threat to Christianity. It’s the Fundie cults who subvert the word of God into their own bizarre political purposes.

  59. 59.

    Pb

    Hyperion,

    anbother catholic apologist who desperately wants his church to stop being mean to queers and still attempts to rationalize his love and respect for an institution that rejects him

    Yep. He was born and raised Catholic, and he’ll probably die a Catholic, but it doesn’t stop him from having and raising serious concerns about the direction his church and his Pope is going, at least. I personally find it somewhat painful to watch, but that’s just how some of them are, I guess, the church can be a strong bond to break. One might think that after a while he might think that Martin Luther had the right idea, and convert to something else, but apparently not.

  60. 60.

    Halffasthero

    Latest polls

    #1 Ohio State
    #2 Michigan
    #3 USC
    #4 West Virginia

    I am betting that JC is pretty happy right now. : )

    Note the 2 Big Ten teams on top…

  61. 61.

    Pb

    The Other Steve,

    The downside is that because they’ve been so good at claiming that they are the true representatives of Christ, the backlash that we are seeing against them is not just against their cult, but against all religion in general, or at least Christianity in particular.

    To be fair, they do represent a large chunk of Christianity in the US, and certainly the most vocal and annoying chunk, including most of the sort of Christians you’re likely to see on TV, or perhaps even out preaching at colleges.

  62. 62.

    ThymeZone

    just because you couldn’t find it, doesn’t mean that the rest of us couldn’t

    In the case of my cited regulations …

    Five minutes with Google, max. My citation even included the actual Nevada Revised Statutes / Nevada Athletic Commission chapter numbers. Any competant sixth grader could find the source page with the material I posted.

    I just tried it and got the page I needed with one click.

    Anyone who needs more information, other than scs, just email me and I’ll give you step-by-step instructions.

  64. 64.

    Punchy

    I am betting that JC is pretty happy right now. : )

    Nope. He’s about to go ballistic. Since the BCS rankings have been officially released, he shall see that some of the computers are SO jacked up, that they have WV in the lower 20’s! Ranked out of the top 20 according to Sagarin (remember, the #’s are reversed…a “4” is akin to a 21st ranking). A computer ave. that puts them at 14th in the nation.

    The computer polls have completely fucked WV. Talk about a crock of shit. I fully expect a thread on this by noon, if JC is a true WV fan.

  66. 66.

    ThymeZone

    The computer polls have completely fucked WV.

    Well, I think this was predicted. The BCS system is tilted toward evaluation of the competition, isn’t it?

    So being undefeated would be less of a factor than the way the system rates their competition, no?

    Who’s an expert around here on how BCS works?

  67. 67.

    Punchy

    Who’s an expert around here on how BCS works?

    I am. It works to ensure the most popular (read: teams with the most extensive and wealthy alums) 2 teams make the championship game. Hence, the top 3 are OSU, USC (despite them playing CRAP teams and barely beating a fair number of them), and Michigan, who should be #2. Note, Auburn is FOURTH, despite being destroyed at home by an unranked team, while WV is 5th, undefeated and simply crushing opponents.

    Also, in addition to the Championship game, the BCS is predicated on ensuring Notre Damn make a BCS game each year, regardless of record, and keeping out as many Big East–and god forbid, non-BCS conference–teams as possible.

    This year will be very interesting. BCS #1 and 3 must play each other BEFORE the bowl season, and BCS #5 (WV) and #? Louisville as well. BCS #undeserved ND must play BCS#2 USC, too. Lots of changes b/f january.

    And what happened to playing these games on, or at least VERY near Jan. 1? Now it’s Jan 8 for the Champ game?

  68. 68.

    The Other Steve

    To be fair, they do represent a large chunk of Christianity in the US, and certainly the most vocal and annoying chunk, including most of the sort of Christians you’re likely to see on TV, or perhaps even out preaching at colleges.

    As a cult, they are quite effective.

  69. 69.

    Mary

    Does Tim Reid have any sway at the FBI? Just wondering.

    Well, given his history as an AWOL soldier, who lived under an assumed name for several years until he was finally located, but then received only a hand slapping, I think it’s highly likely that he has highly placed government connections, if not necessarily at FBI.

    Yeah. Bush was hounded for YEARS by the MSM over totally false allegations that he went AWOL from the National Guard, while Tim Reid laughed at the law and got to spin records with Johnny Fever for another few years. There ain’t no justice.

  70. 70.

    ThymeZone

    It works to ensure the most popular (read: teams with the most extensive and wealthy alums) 2 teams make the championship game.

    Ah. A Republican system. Fair enough!

  72. 72.

    Steve

    I am. It works to ensure the most popular (read: teams with the most extensive and wealthy alums) 2 teams make the championship game. Hence, the top 3 are OSU, USC (despite them playing CRAP teams and barely beating a fair number of them), and Michigan, who should be #2. Note, Auburn is FOURTH, despite being destroyed at home by an unranked team, while WV is 5th, undefeated and simply crushing opponents.

    Auburn lost to Arkansas, which is 5-1 and ranked #13 in the BCS. It’s hardly an embarassing loss. Yeah, they were unranked at the time, but that’s a reflection of a lack of preseason hype as opposed to their actual talent level. If Arkansas finishes 10-1 (ok, unlikely!) no one will be talking about how Auburn lost to an unranked team.

    The BCS is far from perfect. But the proper way to look at it is not by comparing it to the perfect system, especially considering that my perfect rankings are the rankings in my head, your perfect rankings are the rankings in YOUR head, and so forth.

    The proper frame of reference is to compare the BCS to the prior system in which the wire polls were the ONLY thing that mattered. The more subjective the system, the more the “big name” schools are going to be favored year in and year out. The BCS is partially based on the wire polls, which means it’s partially biased for the same reason, but at least you add the objective measure of computer rankings to mitigate that issue somewhat.

    And yeah, West Virginia is crushing opponents… maybe because they’ve played 6 teams with a combined record of 14-25. Come on, that’s a horrible schedule. You can’t try to tell me that they’re obviously better than the Auburns and Floridas of the world based on that record.

  74. 74.

    Buck

    Until it is decided on the field the question of which team is number one will always be a matter of personal opinion.

    But right now I have no qualms about Ohio State. They are loaded. And don’t underestimate West Virginia. They are very, very good.

  75. 75.

    Punchy

    You can’t try to tell me that they’re obviously better than the Auburns and Floridas of the world based on that record.

    If you think it’s more fair for a computer to pick a one-loss team (Auburn, f.e.) to play an undefeated team (OSU or UM) than an undefeated team in a weak conference…well….I disagree.

    Either FL or Aub should finish with 1 loss. When ND beats USC, both’ll have 1 loss. If ND loses but USC previously lost to Cal, then there’s a shitload of teams with one loss. It’s also possible for things to get WAY fucked up if Mich loses before OSU but then beats OSU.

    My point is, for so many one-losers in strong conferences to make a claim ahead of a undefeated in a weak, but nonetheless BCS conference, is unfair. I realize computers are trying to quantify what we’ve long qualified, but it still seems like the BCS is trying too hard to make sure only the BIG teams make the games.

  76. 76.

    chopper

    Found any proof that Hezbollah has not stage events and hide behind civilians?

    done asking people to prove negatives?

  77. 77.

    Steve

    If you think it’s more fair for a computer to pick a one-loss team (Auburn, f.e.) to play an undefeated team (OSU or UM) than an undefeated team in a weak conference…well….I disagree.

    Well, of course, if WVU gets to the end of the year undefeated it’s a whole different story. They’ll have to play Rutgers and Louisville, for one thing. But their strength of schedule is not just because they happen to play in a weak conference… they’ve played teams like Eastern Washington and East Carolina, too. I’m just saying you can’t look at them, after 6 games against lousy teams, and say it’s a travesty for Auburn to be ranked ahead of them.

  78. 78.

    Steve

    BTW, Is this nitwit campaigning against Rick Santorum. One of you guys.
    “Democrats Should Be The Party of Fun and F$#@!*#”

  79. 79.

    Steve

    Oh no! A sex columnist said the F-word? That’s a great reason to vote for Santorum, for sure!

    FYI, a lot of people do enjoy “F$#@!*#.” You might find out for yourself someday.

  80. 80.

    Halffasthero

    But right now I have no qualms about Ohio State. They are loaded. And don’t underestimate West Virginia. They are very, very good.

    I watched Ohio State destroy Texas and that left me with no doubt they are the team to beat. The score didn’t seem like a blowout, but anyone who watched that game knows Texas was never in the game. And it was played in Austin on top of that. Ohio State only has Michigan standing in their way of a national title game. No one else in the Big 10 can beat them.

  82. 82.

    Perry Como

    done asking people to prove negatives?

    Do uou have any proof that Saddam didn’t stage the events at Qana? That’s what I thought, moonbat!

  83. 83.

    Pb

    BTW, Is this nitwit campaigning against Rick Santorum. One of you guys.

    I don’t know Dan Savage from Adam, but I already like him better than, say, Michael Savage (real name: Michael Alan Weiner), or Joe Murray:

    Rick Santorum, the darling of the social conservatives and two-term senator clinging to his job like a shopper to a garment at a blue-light special, has signed the pledge guaranteeing that Ru-Paul’s employment application is welcomed at his office; a pledge Arlen Specter has not even signed. In a single swoop of the pen, Santorum expunged the wisdom of Sun Tzu, and handed over the reigns [sic] of the debate to those he had been fighting for 12 years. Why?
    […]
    The Buggery Blitzkrieg that started in 2003 came fast and furious. Not unlike the French of World War II, traditionalists were quickly overrun and astonished at the lightening-fast strike that came from the homosexual lobby. From Lawrence v. Texas to Gavin Newsom’s weddings by the bay, traditionalists were overwhelmed by the war that was unleashed on them.

  84. 84.

    docg

    The proper frame of reference is to compare the BCS to the prior system in which the wire polls were the ONLY thing that mattered. The more subjective the system, the more the “big name” schools are going to be favored year in and year out. The BCS is partially based on the wire polls, which means it’s partially biased for the same reason, but at least you add the objective measure of computer rankings to mitigate that issue somewhat.

    How about putting the genie back in the bottle? The world will survive nicely without a college national football champion. Let the season end without bowl games or any other fundraisers for the unpaid minor leaguers and their enablers. Let college be a place to be educated and sports be just a fun additional component of the college experience. TV and shoe dollars (and the indirect gambling dolars)have corrupted the game so badly, we need to toss out those with the gunnysacks of cash. Let the NFL fund their own damn minor league. If you can’t live without a “national champion”, perhaps you need to find more things of value to do in your life.

  85. 85.

    skip

    “Found any proof that Hezbollah has not stage events and hide behind civilians?”

    Living,as they do, next the grand masters of False Flag Operations*, I would be surprised indeed if Hezzbollah hadn’t learned a thing or two.

    Nor are we amatuers, as the weeping Kuwaiti girl proved. Northwoods anyone?

    *Lavon affair, sticking Libya with the Au Bar bombing, maybe Hatfill anthrax.

  86. 86.

    Steve

    How about putting the genie back in the bottle? The world will survive nicely without a college national football champion.

    How about it? I anxiously await your solution to nuclear proliferation.

  88. 88.

    Sstarr

    Not that Dan Savage isn’t fascinating, but I think that there may have been a Fort Sumter moment in Iraq this weekend. From a Washington Post article detailing this weekend’s carnage:

    Further demonstrating the growing fragmentation in Iraq, a bloc of Sunni insurgent groups marked the anniversary by declaring a separate Islamic republic in Iraq, stretching from the western province of Anbar to Baghdad, Kirkuk and other parts of the north. The announcement was made by a spokesman for the Mujaheddin Shura Council, an umbrella organization of insurgent groups that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, and aired by al-Jazeera satellite television.

    I think that the only item left to check off on the “is it a civil war yet” checklist is raising the stars and bars.

  89. 89.

    Pb

    Steve,

    There has been bad blood between those two for a while now, it’s sad to watch, really. And it’s laughable to see Iraq Body Count–a group which has no statistical methodology whatsoever, but merely collates the media numbers to provide a rough lower bound–questioning someone else’s statistical methodology.

  90. 90.

    Pb

    Sstarr,

    I thought Iraq was pretty obviously screwed when Sistani gave up last month, but I don’t remember seeing too much reporting about that at the time:

    The most influential moderate Shia leader in Iraq has abandoned attempts to restrain his followers, admitting that there is nothing he can do to prevent the country sliding towards civil war.

  91. 91.

    Steve

    Andrew Sullivan has another “pony moment” over this latest development in Iraq:

    There’s no denying it now. And al Qaeda has declared its own Islamic republic in the West of the anarchic country. The Zarqawi strategy of fomenting sectarian war and carving out a terror enclave has survived his death. The question we now face is whether to accept this fait accompli and withdraw, or construct a radically new strategy with many more troops to try again.

    Yes, I would like a new plan that refocuses and wins the war, and I would also like a pony.

    George W. Bush is still the Commander-in-Chief. If he doesn’t think it’s a big deal to focus on this new organization, then nothing is going to happen. And so arguing “We shouldn’t withdraw until we’ve dealt with the emerging Islamic republic” is pointless, since even if we stay we won’t be dealing with the emerging Islamic republic.

  92. 92.

    Pb

    construct a radically new strategy with many more troops to try again

    I’m intrigued–who are these ‘many more troops’, and where would they come from? And would Sully support a gay draft? There must be at least like 5 million gay men we could send over there! Oh, maybe not Sully himself, but perhaps his fiancé.

  93. 93.

    docg

    Steve Says:

    How about putting the genie back in the bottle? The world will survive nicely without a college national football champion.

    How about it? I anxiously await your solution to nuclear proliferation.

    You’re putting college football on the same plane as nuclear nonproliferation? Wow, wish I could go to attorney school.

  94. 94.

    Steve

    And I put them both in the category of a bell that will never be unrung, or an egg that will never be unscrambled. Yeah, if I were king, maybe I’d choose to take college football back to the good old days when men were men and sheep were scared, but it’s never going to happen, so I don’t really see the point in putting it forward as the best solution. Once big money gets a hold on something, it never lets go.

  95. 95.

    Perry Como

    back to the good old days when men were men and sheep were scared

    More Leftist smears of the Scottish.

  96. 96.

    Punchy

    And would Sully support a gay draft?

    You mean grabbing every able-bodied man in Frisco and Key West? Could we make them into gay-only divisions? Would we spell it “bri-gay-des”?

  97. 97.

    HyperIon

    I don’t know Dan Savage from Adam

    he’s a sex columnist who is editor of a weekly here in seattle (The Stranger). he is also the fellow who started the compaign to come up with a new meaning for “santorum”…suggesting that his readers submit ideas. that always makes me smile. we’ll have Dan’s definition long after Rick Santorum has disappeared from the scene.

  98. 98.

    Pb

    he is also the fellow who started the compaign to come up with a new meaning for “santorum”

    Oh yeah, I remember that–that was awesome!

  99. 99.

    docg

    Once big money gets a hold on something, it never lets go.

    Isn’t it interesting that even intelligent people in our “representative democracy” feels that important things that need changing cannot be changed. The corporate oligarchy must be tempered, or hell will be paid. When the revolution comes, this will be a significant component.

  100. 100.

    Steve

    I don’t see the college football bowl system as a particularly “important thing that needs changing,” but I suppose I could be persuaded to change my mind if I’m at risk of being the first up against the wall.

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