Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

Republicans don’t trust women.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

People are complicated. Love is not.

White supremacy is terrorism.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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Reader Interactions

107Comments

  1. 1.

    Jake

    Yeah that’s a pretty revealing quote from Brooks.

    The bizarro thing to me is, let’s forget about the facts for a minute and consider the sentiment. Does Brooks think McCain would be comfortable at a salad bar? Do his arms even allow for the proper movement?

    I find few mental images to be more awkward than McCain trying to negotiate a salad bar.

  2. 2.

    YellowJournalism

    The important question here is whether Obama would choose the macoroni salad or the Jell-O.

  3. 3.

    greynoldsct00

    WTF?

    Cripes her campaign has nothign else to do but talk to reporters today… keep stirring the pot…

  4. 4.

    John S.

    I find few mental images to be more awkward than McCain trying to negotiate a salad bar.

    In Soviet Russia, you don’t eat the salad bar — the salad bar eats you!

  7. 7.

    Jake

    Oh and Cole, I’m late to the party here where you used part of my comment in your department of not getting it post below.

    Yes, it did occur to me that Team Clinton has managed to make tonight’s focus on her speech instead of Obama’s. But to believe this was orchestrated instead of blind luck seems a stretch at this point. I refuse to believe they actually know what they’re doing here.

  8. 8.

    Ed Drone

    I find few mental images to be more awkward than McCain trying to negotiate a salad bar.

    Imagine him carrying a huge “trophy” turkey for the troops!

    Ed

  9. 9.

    Rick Taylor

    Cripes her campaign has nothign else to do but talk to reporters today… keep stirring the pot…

    She and Bill both have huge egos. That’s why it’s difficult imagining her campaigning as vigorously as she says she will for anyone but herself.

  10. 10.

    greynoldsct00

    The important question here is whether Obama would choose the macoroni salad or the Jell-O.

    We know McCain would love the jello, or no, maybe the tapioca pudding…

  11. 11.

    Dreggas

    The Moar You Know Says:

    Shorter Brooks: I’ve never seen a black guy at a salad bar.

    Well that elitist has never been to sizzler then.

  14. 14.

    pharniel

    y’know, as a child of 80’s/90’s I know that applebees has never had a salad bar. they were too ‘nice’ and ‘upscale’ for that kind of shenanigans.

    you have to downgrade to big boys or the now largely defunct ponderosa for that kinda thing. I do remember when the salad bar was like the biggest innovation in resteraunting EVAR though, and even Wendy’s had one.

    until ruby tuesday came back and re-invigorated it.

  15. 15.

    Dreggas

    Tzal Says:

    You know who has a great salad bar? Sizzler.

    back east there was a place called Ponderosa that had an all you can eat buffet that was the best salad bar. Even did a breakfast buffet on the weekends. Next on my list was Shoney’s but those were all down south of the NY/PA border (am from NY).

    Sizzler is alright, especially the chicken wings, however Hometown Buffet is pretty good too.

  16. 16.

    pharniel

    @Dreggas – MIND TAKING!

    and back when they were on top ponderosa was ‘like whoa’ awesum.

    They fell far and low though, so I only really miss old Bill Knapps.
    NO salad bar, but 100% win cake.

  17. 17.

    Callisto

    Cripes her campaign has nothign else to do but talk to reporters today… keep stirring the pot…

    Eh, the crap always spins the fastest the closer it gets to the drain.

  18. 18.

    Zifnab

    We haven’t had two presidential candidates as far removed from the mainstream suburban lifestyle. McCain’s family has been military for generations. But Obama’s path through the university towns is particularly elusive.

    Translation: McCain comes from a long line of proud, able-bodied, daring, and patriotic war heroes. I don’t know of America loves itself enough to vote for him. Obama went to college, so fuck’m. Who respects people with college education in America?

    Seriously, what country are these people living in and how soon do we invade said country for its oil reserves?

    Also, yeah. David Brooks doesn’t eat at Applebee’s. He also doesn’t shop at Walmart, play darts at the local dive bar, or ride the bus to work. But you have to understand, none of those bus-riding, dart-playing, Walmart-shopping local yokeles have a column in the NYT so Brooks has taken on the onerous task of speaking for them. So the above-mentioned people can just sit down and stfu because we already know what you think. Now get back in line and vote Republican like you’re supposed to.

  19. 19.

    John Cole

    WTF?

    Cripes her campaign has nothign else to do but talk to reporters today… keep stirring the pot…

    Not to be all contrarian and everything, but Hillary angling for a VP slot kind of puts the kaibosh on the notion that the Clinton campaign knows anything about Flowbee’s bombshell video. If she knew the video existed, it would seem like she would want to maintain distance.

  21. 21.

    jrg

    Newspaper opinion columns are no longer worth the paper they are printed on. There is no difference at all between reading a random blogger and someone like David Brooks. The signal/noise ratio is about the same on the printed page as it is on most high-profile and moderated blogs.

    If anything, the quality of blogs is better because you don’t have to wait for two days for the letters calling the columnist (or blogger) a dumbass, plus blogs have links to back arguments.

    Screw opinion columnists and their vapid faux populism. I’d rather hear the opinions of people who actually work for a living. Just about anyone on the street could tell you that Applebee’s does not have a salad bar, so WTF is Brooks’ point?

  22. 22.

    cleek

    not sure why it doesn’t, but that link in my 3:28 is supposed to go to the “Philadelphia Magazine Controversy” section of that Brooks Wiki page.

  23. 23.

    greynoldsct00

    Not to be all contrarian and everything, but Hillary angling for a VP slot kind of puts the kaibosh on the notion that the Clinton campaign knows anything about Flowbee’s bombshell video. If she knew the video existed, it would seem like she would want to maintain distance.

    I have to laugh when I think of the shitstorm that has been going on in her campaign all day…

  24. 24.

    Jay Andrew Allen

    Apparently no one at the NYT eats at Applebee’s either. Which isn’t shocking; AFAIK, there isn’t an Applebee’s to be had anywhere near the NYT building in Manhattan.

    Brooks should’ve stuck with Sbarro’s. NYC’s lousy with ’em.

  26. 26.

    demimondian

    Not to be all contrarian and everything, but Hillary angling for a VP slot kind of puts the kaibosh on the notion that the Clinton campaign knows anything about Flowbee’s bombshell video. If she knew the video existed, it would seem like she would want to maintain distance.

    C’mon, John. What’s facts got to do with it?

  27. 27.

    Fledermaus

    Just about anyone on the street could tell you that Applebee’s does not have a salad bar, so WTF is Brooks’ point?

    The point is that Brooks and his fellow courtiers on the op-ed pages have lots and lot of money. Therefore elections are not about policy that could have a effect on their lives (except the capital gains tax but Charley Gibson already covered that one) but about pointless vain wankery on “character”. Plus it seems to make them feel good about themselves.

  28. 28.

    Dreggas

    pharniel Says:

    @Dreggas – MIND TAKING!

    and back when they were on top ponderosa was ‘like whoa’ awesum.

    They fell far and low though, so I only really miss old Bill Knapps.
    NO salad bar, but 100% win cake.

    Growing up my folks took us there all the time because it was one of the few places that we could get our money’s worth, I used to eat like a horse and buffet’s were a life saver during growth spurts.

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    ATTN: David Brooks

    Applebee’s does not have a salad bar.

    Now that Obama is the nominee, expect five months of this nonsense.

    There are few things more ridiculous than watching wealthy elitists and Washington insiders explain to Obama how he can be one of the people.

    But this conventional wisdom, like most of the gas coming from the pundit class, should be strenuously avoided. Outright American aristocrats like all three Roosevelts (Teddy, and later Franklin and Eleanor) connected with the people by being honest with them, and by giving the clear sense that they were on their side, not that they were just like them, which is the kind of PR nonsense that Dubya indulges with his Crawford “ranch.” In a recent NY Times piece, Robin Towner offered the clear antidote to this BS ( The Perils of Claiming to Be a Populist)

    Historians, like Mr. Kazin of Georgetown University, note that being rich in and of itself has not kept other Democrats from successfully railing against what Franklin Roosevelt (a rich man) described as the “economic royalists.”

    Drew Westen, author of the new book “The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation,” said there is a straightforward narrative for Mr. Edwards and others similarly situated: “No one says Ted Kennedy has to sell his compound in Hyannis Port in order to talk about poverty.”

    In fact, when Mr. Kennedy ran for the Senate in 1962, he was attacked by his opponent as being privileged, unaccomplished, and for having “never worked for a living.” A burly worker approached him one day and said, “Ted, me boy, I understand you’ve never worked a day in your life.”

    He paused, then added, “You haven’t missed a thing.”

    Champions of the working class, in short, are often made, not born.

  33. 33.

    Punchy

    Obama also looks very uncomfortable at the stripper’s pole inside of Chuck E. Cheese.

  34. 34.

    Dreggas

    Punchy Says:

    Obama also looks very uncomfortable at the stripper’s pole inside of Chuck E. Cheese.

    Quick someone tell campskunk they have one of those, he’ll be there tossing dollar bills at an anthropomorphic Chuck in no time.

  35. 35.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    beat me to it…

    I almost didn’t. I threw up on myself a little when I read your comment about the buffets, had to go clean up. I don’t go anywhere where the proles can pick through my food before I get it.

  36. 36.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Obama also looks very uncomfortable at the stripper’s pole inside of Chuck E. Cheese.

    lol

  37. 37.

    Fledermaus

    I’m not done yet, either. Brooks really pisses me off, and he seems to be everywhere – NY times, every pundit show, pbs, npr. It’s his blithe obliviousness to well, just about everything. During Bittergate I heard him say on NPR: people don’t appriciate being socioanalyzed by an ivy league elitist. He did not display a trace of self awareness of the fatc that that is Brooks entire career.

    It’s almost as if he views voters as a bunch of rubes who can’t be trusted with the truth about things so they naturally prefer the canidate who will tell them how wonderful they are and flatter their vanity.

  39. 39.

    Jake

    For what it’s worth, do check out TalkLeft this afternoon if you haven’t already. They are in full-on denial mode over there. It’s pretty funny, in a train-wreck sort of ha-ha way.

  40. 40.

    Cris

    Obama’s problem is he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who can go into an Applebee’s salad bar and people think he fits in naturally there.

    Who exactly does Brooks think fits in naturally at an Applebee’s? Up here, Applebee’s is where you go to get overpriced appetizers and girly drinks. It’s not exactly Nickel Charlie’s casino. It’s more like nightlife for the community college kids.

  41. 41.

    Dreggas

    Just Some Fuckhead Says:

    beat me to it…

    I almost didn’t. I threw up on myself a little when I read your comment about the buffets, had to go clean up. I don’t go anywhere where the proles can pick through my food before I get it.

    Elitist…

  42. 42.

    Joe Max

    Working with a band (Tony Toni Tone’) who played an Obama fundraiser in San Francisco last year, I was at the meet-and-greet with the Senator before his speech. He was amiable, easy going, chatted with everyone (including lowly musicians and roadies, even the servers) and came off as a pretty nice guy, albeit in that professional, “lawyerly” kind of way. His speaking voice certainly did stand out above the hubub in the room.

    I got a picture taken of me in my black leather jacket and jeans shaking hands with Obama. (As soon as I get the copy, it’s going to be a family heirloom.)

    Bobo Brooks hasn’t got a fookin’ clue what he’s on about, as usual.

  43. 43.

    Rome Again

    David Brooks used his recent trip to Applebees (complete with trip to salad bar) to prove he’s an everyday guy and our candidate can’t be?

    Only in his warped imagination.

    Fuckin’ funny stuff!

  44. 44.

    TheFountainHead

    Thank you to everyone who participated in this thread, I can leave work smiling and snickering about tossed salads, and it’s not every day you can claim that.

  45. 45.

    Dreggas

    Jake Says:

    For what it’s worth, do check out TalkLeft this afternoon if you haven’t already. They are in full-on denial mode over there. It’s pretty funny, in a train-wreck sort of ha-ha way.

    Should compile a list and just have an open thread on them.

  46. 46.

    Wilfred

    Col. Pat Lang summed Brooks up perfectly:

    It is increasingly clear that David Brooks is not an editorial columnist. He is a propagandist for the hard right in this country and in Israel.

    Is there any way to get the NYT to bring back its firewall?

  47. 47.

    Dulcie

    Translation: McCain comes from a long line of proud, able-bodied, daring, and patriotic war heroes. I don’t know of America loves itself enough to vote for him. Obama went to college, so fuck’m. Who respects people with college education in America?

    Where does Brooks think that kids on scholarship eat? Ruth’s Chris? He’s the one who’s out of touch.

  48. 48.

    gex

    It’s almost as if he views voters as a bunch of rubes who can’t be trusted with the truth about things so they naturally prefer the canidate who will tell them how wonderful they are and flatter their vanity.

    To be fair, this has worked for them for a long time. They got a whole war out of it! And if you have no other skills than being obtuse and perpetually wrong, what else is there but punditry?

  50. 50.

    ThymeZone

    The Brooks thing is just too absurd for words.

    NYT is slowly but surely marginalizing itself. The commentary there has never been more inept and without merit.

    I thought I’d seen the worst of the print media decline when WSJ comment went into the shitter, but NYT may end up being even worse.

    America, the Salad Bar. Wow.

  51. 51.

    DougJ

    I want a candidate who’s the kind of guy you’d bump into buying meth at a trailer park.

    That’s why I voted for Mike Huckabee.

  52. 52.

    Keith

    I find few mental images to be more awkward than McCain trying to negotiate a salad bar.

    Four words: New York-style pizza

    BTW: The best salad bar is at Fogo de Chao

  53. 53.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    NYT is slowly but surely marginalizing itself. The commentary there has never been more inept and without merit.

    Ya think Brooks and Kristol get all giggly over trying to see who can outwank the other?

  54. 54.

    DougJ

    I thought I’d seen the worst of the print media decline when WSJ comment went into the shitter, but NYT may end up being even worse.

    Time out, Green Bay. Are you freaking kidding me? I hate the NYT opinion page with a passion, but you can’t compare it to the WSJ. That’s like comparing the Turner Diaries to Mein Kampf.

  55. 55.

    Dreggas

    Actually the best buffet or all you can eat restaurant tends to be any Brazilian BBQ place. Nothing like having all you can eat buffet plus 13+ different kinds of meat continually brought to your table and served fresh from roasting.

  56. 56.

    Apsaras

    Matt Drudge has a sneak peek at what we’re going to see from McCain tonight.

    You will hear from my opponent’s campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I’m running for President Bush’s third term. You will hear every policy of the President described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it’s so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it’s very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false. So he tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it rather than debate honestly the very different directions he and I would take the country. But the American people didn’t get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama. They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving. They’ve seen me put our country before any President — before any party — before any special interest — before my own interest. They might think me an imperfect servant of our country, which I surely am. But I am her servant first, last and always.

    Yes, that jerk Obama trying to make it sound like John McCain is the sort of guy who voted 95% in line with Bush for 2007 and 100% for 2008 through May 15th. The nerve of him! Questioning The Media Appointed Maverick like that.

  57. 57.

    Wilfred

    I’m dying to know how much all you can eat churrasco costs in the US… then I’ll tell you how it works here in Brazil.

  58. 58.

    Dennis - SGMM

    They might think me an imperfect servant of our country, which I surely am. But I am her servant first, last and always.

    “Glory, glory hallelujah,
    Glory, glory hallelujah…”

  59. 59.

    Grand Moff Texan

    Obama’s problem is he …

    Brooks now sounds like the fake Gary Rupperts over on Sadly, No!
    .

  60. 60.

    Incertus

    Even though the McCain campaign and the Republican party say they’re not going to use race in this campaign, I think you can expect another 5 months of this, too.

  61. 61.

    Pasota

    If she knew the video existed, it would seem like she would want to maintain distance.

    Au contraire, mon frere. As Obama’s running mate, Clinton will be perfectly poised, with deep regret and furrowed brow, to have greatness thrust upon her the moment Whiteygate hits the fan. A different no. 2 at that point — particularly one that has not spent the previous 6 to 9 months traumatizing the party — will only complicate matters. Nothing can be left to chance on this one. It is our only hope.

  63. 63.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving.

    Note To McCain: You’d better wait ’til you get the nomination in August before you start pissing off the 28%’ers.

  64. 64.

    Dreggas

    Wilfred Says:

    I’m dying to know how much all you can eat churrasco costs in the US… then I’ll tell you how it works here in Brazil.

    Depends, most places it ranges from $20-$30 per person. I have friends down in Brazil who brag about the food all the time. I might just have to go there some day.

  65. 65.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Even though the McCain campaign and the Republican party say they’re not going to use race in this campaign, I think you can expect another 5 months of this, too.

    I think that you can expect the Republicans to run the same kind of classy operation that has become their hallmark – particularly when it’s in their interest to have the next president not reveal the high crimes and misdemeanors of the last president.
    McCain will weakly decry the racial bullshit and the unsubstantiated smears of the state parties and the 527’s while doing nothing about them.

  66. 66.

    Dreggas

    Dennis – SGMM Says:

    They might think me an imperfect servant of our country, which I surely am. But I am her servant first, last and always.

    “Glory, glory hallelujah,
    Glory, glory hallelujah…
    Ol’ Prune-juice marches on”

    Better.

  67. 67.

    w vincentz

    Brooks taking on Applebees (is that really an Islamic front?), linking it to Barack…hmm.
    What does Brooks dislike about radishes, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes? Those little crushed up bacon-like things give me heartburn, but really, David, you don’t have to put them into your bowl. Just ponder for a moment, how global warming (climate change) will affect your broccolli.
    Parsley is doomed, I tell ya!

  68. 68.

    DougJ

    Actually the best buffet or all you can eat restaurant tends to be any Brazilian BBQ place. Nothing like having all you can eat buffet plus 13+ different kinds of meat continually brought to your table and served fresh from roasting.

    I agree. They can be expensive, though — usually at least 25 bucks.

    For my money, the nine dollar Indian buffet a few miles from my office is the best buffet on the planet dollar-for-dollar.

  69. 69.

    Cain

    haha..brooks.. the fool probably never stepped into an Applebees. He probably assumed it was some low brow place with a salad brow. A washington insider who goes to restaurants and what not hobknobbing with his fellow washington reporters and congress critters has the gall to say Obama can’t keep in touch with a common man.

    I don’t think this guy has been in touch with the common man unless they are working on his home, or maybe getting his nails done. Fuck off, Brooks. Asshat.

    cain

  70. 70.

    Zifnab

    Time out, Green Bay. Are you freaking kidding me? I hate the NYT opinion page with a passion, but you can’t compare it to the WSJ. That’s like comparing the Turner Diaries to Mein Kampf.

    Only if the Turner Diaries got outsourced to the freak’n Pravda. I don’t know if you missed the memo, but Bill Kristol is the guy who runs the Weekly Standard. That’s right up there with The National Review and The Washington Times as wingnut wonkery at its finest. You don’t get more GOP knob slobber if you hide under Karl Rove’s desk during happy hour.

    That said, we’re comparing shit pie to shit sandwhich at this point. It’s all inedible. Why quibble?

  71. 71.

    Dreggas

    DougJ Says:

    Actually the best buffet or all you can eat restaurant tends to be any Brazilian BBQ place. Nothing like having all you can eat buffet plus 13+ different kinds of meat continually brought to your table and served fresh from roasting.

    I agree. They can be expensive, though—usually at least 25 bucks.

    For my money, the nine dollar Indian buffet a few miles from my office is the best buffet on the planet dollar-for-dollar.

    I love Indian food, the buffet’s are usually ok, I just tend to order off the regular menu. Now all you can eat chinese is a must just so I can get full and they usually have a good selection. Also like Korean BBQ and all you can eat sushi joints.

  72. 72.

    jcricket

    Obama’s too busy tossing people’s salads in San Francisco, where he got gay married by a radical Imam, to eat at Applebees.

    The “strength” of the Republicans at dividing this country into “us” vs. “them” is really sad (i.e. that it works with a big chunk of the electorate). When I read this Brooks thing this morning my first thought was, “I hate America for even caring a smidge about this kind of trite bullshit”.

    Republicans greatest fear is that politics will, in any way, resemble an actual fact-finding, debating enterprise. Because they have nothing to offer people that will actually help, and most of it will hurt.

    So they play diversionary games while they enrich the pockets of the 0.1%. Fucking asshats!

  73. 73.

    Wilfred

    Here the best place is about $8 US, cheaper ones are as little as 4 or 5 but there you don’t get so much variety. The cuts of meat are different, too, and you can also get boar, rabbit, etc. The simplest way to make churrasco is rubbed with thick salt and served with farofa – manioc flour fried in butter. One cut of meat is called cupim (termite). They cook it for hours and hours wrapped in plastic and its more fat than meat but it is absolutely amazing.

  74. 74.

    SamFromUtah

    It’s almost as if he views voters as a bunch of rubes who can’t be trusted with the truth about things so they naturally prefer the canidate who will tell them how wonderful they are and flatter their vanity.

    I’d consider that view of American voters a lot more inaccurate if it weren’t for the Reagan and Dubya victories.

  75. 75.

    DougJ

    I love Indian food, the buffet’s are usually ok,

    I agree, but we have two here that just kick ass. Lots of turn over so stuff doesn’t sit under the heat lamps for hours. Lots of extras like the “pickles” and sauces. So good. I can’t go that often though because I overeat at them. But if you’re ever in Rochester, Thali and Tandoor are as good as Indian buffet gets.

  76. 76.

    DougJ

    Here the best place is about $8 US, cheaper ones are as little as 4 or 5 but there you don’t get so much variety.

    Is that in Brazil?

  77. 77.

    DougJ

    Okay, I see you’re from Brazil. How much for the caprihinas or whatever you call them?

  78. 78.

    Dennis - SGMM

    I’d say that race relations in this country have reached a new plateau when a white columnist with a six-figure salary can call a black politician who worked his way up and elitist.
    It is Brooks’ great good fortune that he’s on the East Coast because if I ever ran into him my junk-seeking boot would assure that he could use his nuts for a necktie.

  79. 79.

    Kevin

    Zifnab Says:
    Bill Kristol is the guy who runs the Weekly Standard. That’s right up there with The National Review and The Washington Times as wingnut wonkerywankery at its finest. You don’t get more GOP knob slobber if you hide under Karl Rove’s desk during happy hour.

    Fixed that up a little for you there.

  80. 80.

    Keith

    I’m dying to know how much all you can eat churrasco costs in the US… then I’ll tell you how it works here in Brazil.

    Fogo is $35 for lunch and $50 for dinner, IIRC.

  81. 81.

    Dreggas

    Wilfred Says:

    Here the best place is about $8 US, cheaper ones are as little as 4 or 5 but there you don’t get so much variety. The cuts of meat are different, too, and you can also get boar, rabbit, etc. The simplest way to make churrasco is rubbed with thick salt and served with farofa – manioc flour fried in butter. One cut of meat is called cupim (termite). They cook it for hours and hours wrapped in plastic and its more fat than meat but it is absolutely amazing.

    The place I like serves around 13 different kinds of meat for the dinner, the buffet part takes up a large portion of the restaurant and has tons of food as well. I don’t mind the price I pay. They usually have what I would consider exotic meats like alligator, quayle, and others you are unlikely to find in most restaurants. I absolutely love the food though.

  82. 82.

    Incertus

    Obama’s too busy tossing people’s salads in San Francisco, where he got gay married by a radical Imam, to eat at Applebees.

    You got that email too?

  83. 83.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I’d say that race relations in this country have reached a new plateau when a white columnist with a six-figure salary can call a black politician who worked his way up and elitist.
    It is Brooks’ great good fortune that he’s on the East Coast because if I ever ran into him my junk-seeking boot would assure that he could use his nuts for a necktie.

    Last time I checked, the modern conservative movement was being run by fat rich white guys bitching about how easy poor folks got it. Nothing new here.

  84. 84.

    Should Know Better

    As far as I can see Obama’s upbringing probably allows him to look at ease in more places and among more types of people than any candidate I can think of. Yes, even suburbia. Frankly he looks like a good match for the nice, safe-looking middle class black actors they cast in Starbucks or car commercials.

    McCain looks uncomfortable ninety percent of the time even when he’s just standing around. Like the cranky looking old white actors they cast as in the “banker’s pen” Wamu commercials. Of course that’s probably because he’s quite likely in physical discomfort and/or pain most half the time… but since we’re apparently just talking about perception it seems like a weird point to make.

  85. 85.

    Dreggas

    DougJ Says:

    I love Indian food, the buffet’s are usually ok,

    I agree, but we have two here that just kick ass. Lots of turn over so stuff doesn’t sit under the heat lamps for hours. Lots of extras like the “pickles” and sauces. So good. I can’t go that often though because I overeat at them. But if you’re ever in Rochester, Thali and Tandoor are as good as Indian buffet gets.

    There’s a place here that is a hidden treasure, it’s in a strip mall but once inside it’s like stepping into a sort of “casbah” like place fully decorated and the food is to die for, it’s called Haveli, I usually get the Tandoori Chicken platter which has 4 whole leg quarters served on a sizzling platter of onions and green peppers along with some mint rice. It’s heaven.

  87. 87.

    Should Know Better

    Actually the best buffet or all you can eat restaurant tends to be any Brazilian BBQ place. Nothing like having all you can eat buffet plus 13+ different kinds of meat continually brought to your table and served fresh from roasting.

    OMG, I ate at one of those in LA a couple of months ago. Soooooo good. So very, very goood.

    Y’know… for furrin food.

  88. 88.

    El Cid

    Important release from the El Cid campaign:

    MEMO

    To: Every Right Wing Pundit
    From: El Cid campaign HQ

    Subj: Comments Regarding Regular Folk & Elitism

    ATTN All right wing pundits (and more broadly to Beltway fetishists).

    You are all rich deluded f***heads spewing more sh*t than the Mexico City sewage system could handle.

    You don’t f***ing know shit about regular folk and ordinary people and working class culture and whatever other related sh*t you fake a** pseudo sociologists and anthropologists write about unceasingly.

    For the sake of the nation and repairing the damage you’ve done over the last 40 years, stop f***ing pretending like you elitist f***heads and your g** d*** wingnut welfare billionare friends and sponsors are ordinary workin’ folk standin’ up to all them elitists what might ever go to college.

    That is all.

  89. 89.

    Should Know Better

    Grrr.

    It checks the preview before it posts or else it screws up the blockquote again!

    Sigh.

  90. 90.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    You are all rich deluded f***heads

    C’mon dawg. Don’t be a playa hata.

  91. 91.

    Incertus

    This is OT but it might interest a few folks who the surprise backers of Obama are.http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/255502

    One of the examples there didn’t compute for me–isn’t Scaife going through a messy divorce? His wife might be throwing “fuck you” money at Scaife’s worst nightmare, or she might just be not as batshit insane as her husband. That’s not a high bar to clear, after all.

  92. 92.

    bartkid

    >expect five months of this nonsense.
    Sadly, I expect 12 months of this nonsense every year, and yet there is even more the next year.

    At least he did not speculate on people ordering iced tea.

  93. 93.

    Dreggas

    Should Know Better Says:

    OMG, I ate at one of those in LA a couple of months ago. Soooooo good. So very, very goood.

    Y’know… for furrin food.

    There are a bunch down here in OC too. Absolutely love the food.

  94. 94.

    Blue Raven

    Actually the best buffet or all you can eat restaurant tends to be any Brazilian BBQ place. Nothing like having all you can eat buffet plus 13+ different kinds of meat continually brought to your table and served fresh from roasting.

    I first ate at a churrascaria in suburban Illinois. Good thing it was on the company’s tab, as it was $50. I will never forget the waiter who looked like Mikhail Baryshnikov’s love child by way of Carmen Miranda or the food, though.

    There’s also one on the SF Peninsula that’s $18/plate for dinner. Not as large a buffet, heavy on the Brazilian-specific dishes to the point that I love them for having tapioca rolls, but also very good.

  95. 95.

    Dreggas

    w vincentz Says:

    This is OT but it might interest a few folks who the surprise backers of Obama are.

    sorry if it didn’t imbed.

    I’m not surprised, a lot of these people shift with the political wind. They know McShitstain is just Bush III Now with MORE WAR. They aren’t stupid. Of course look for the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon to rear its ugly head again and we’ll hear how it was obama who bit a dude’s ear off in a boxing match because Don King donated to him.

  96. 96.

    Dreggas

    Blue Raven Says:

    There’s also one on the SF Peninsula that’s $18/plate for dinner. Not as large a buffet, heavy on the Brazilian-specific dishes to the point that I love them for having tapioca rolls, but also very good.

    The one I go to, the buffet is almost all brazilian side dishes which works for me.

  97. 97.

    Wilfred

    How much for the caprihinas or whatever you call them?

    Caipirina – caipira means ‘hick’ and the drink is what the country people used to drink. Here you make it in a giant glass and pass it around it to everyone. The best cachaça to use is 51 or Trés Barras – both cost about 2 dollars a bottle. In a bar it costs a dollar or two. You don’t need anything more expensive to make caipirina but you can also use vodka or Steinhager or schnapps but cachaça is best. I’ll tell you how to make it if you want.

  98. 98.

    Should Know Better

    There’s also one on the SF Peninsula that’s $18/plate for dinner.

    Ooooh…. where?

  99. 99.

    w vincentz

    Incert and Dreg,
    You’re both right. I was surprised by Julie Nixon E.
    The big point I’m getting from the article is that some former Bush backers are not supporting the GOP candidate, Johnny McInsane.
    Looks to me that they’re trying to hold influence by jumping over to support the winner.

  100. 100.

    Rick Taylor

    Not to be all contrarian and everything, but Hillary angling for a VP slot kind of puts the kaibosh on the notion that the Clinton campaign knows anything about Flowbee’s bombshell video. If she knew the video existed, it would seem like she would want to maintain distance.

    I never took the video seriously anyway, so that’s no particular comfort. If she’s angling for the vp slot, it makes me nervous she’ll be less than gracious if Obama declines.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    Brooks seems to have a problem with food and the common man (hat tip to Wikipedia)

    Issenberg uncovered several inaccuracies and distortions in Brooks’s article, “One Nation, Slightly Divisible” published in 2001 in the Atlantic Monthly. For example, Brooks wrote “On my journeys to Franklin County, I set a goal: I was going to spend $20 on a restaurant meal…I’d scan the menu and realize that I’d been beaten once again. I went through great vats of chipped beef and ‘seafood delight’ trying to drop $20. I waded through enough surf-and-turfs and enough creamed corn to last a lifetime. I could not do it.” Issenberg discovered that, to the contrary, “I lunched at the Chambersburg Red Lobster and quickly realized that he could not have waded through much surf-and-turf at all. The `Steak and Lobster’ combination with grilled center-cut New York strip is the most expensive thing on the menu. It costs $28.75.”

    When confronted with these inaccuracies, Brooks accused Issenberg of being “too pedantic” and of “taking all of this too literally”.

  102. 102.

    GoMS

    America is a strange nation…people bash smart people who run for President, claiming they are elitist or “far-removed” from the general public. But they can identify with an alcoholic who pretends to talk like a Texan, or a lawyer who wants to fuck your wife, or all the girls in the office…the fact is that someone who comes from a fairly average family background, but becomes super successful/educated is probably a pretty good person to have as the POTUS. I have had a difficult time understanding how Obama is an elitist, unless, of course, he shrugs off the family/neighbourhood BBQ’s…lol…

  103. 103.

    Rome Again

    America is a strange nation…people bash smart people who run for President, claiming they are elitist or “far-removed” from the general public. But they can identify with an alcoholic who pretends to talk like a Texan, or a lawyer who wants to fuck your wife, or all the girls in the office…

    No shit!

  104. 104.

    DougJ

    I’ll tell you how to make it if you want.

    How? I’ve got vodka. I’ll make one right now.

    I’m not a drunk, people, I’m just Irish.

  105. 105.

    TenguPhule

    America, where you can be completely fucking wrong all the time and still get paid to be a dumbass.

    I cite the existance of these douches as proof positive that there is no benevolent divine creator. Because sure as hell one of them is wrong.

  106. 106.

    TenguPhule

    I have had a difficult time understanding how Obama is an elitist, unless, of course, he shrugs off the family/neighbourhood BBQ’s…lol…

    He’s black, successful and popular.

    The Republican KKK’s worst nightmare.

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