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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / Just Like Gitmo, Only With Smaller Seats and More Terrorists

Just Like Gitmo, Only With Smaller Seats and More Terrorists

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CBS reporter Dean Reynolds writes in about the oppressive environment and abusive treatment that reporters are subjected to on the campaign trail from the uncaring Obama campaign:

After most of the previous 12 months covering Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency, it was interesting, instructive and, well, relaxing to follow John McCain for the last few days. The differences between the two are striking.

***

Obama’s campaign schedule is fuller, more hectic and seemingly improvisational. The Obama aides who deal with the national reporters on the campaign plane are often overwhelmed, overworked and un-informed about where, when, why or how the candidate is moving about. Baggage calls are preposterously early with the explanation that it’s all for security reasons.

***

The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

The other day in Albuquerque, N.M., the reporters were given almost no time to file their reports after McCain spoke. It was an important, aggressive speech, lambasting Obama’s past associations. When we asked for more time to write up his remarks and prepare our reports, the campaign readily agreed to it. They understood.

And all this time Obama said he opposed torture. Someone, quick! Get this man some Red Hot and Blue and a ticket to McCain’s ranch before he is scarred for life by the Obama campaign.

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  1. 1.

    SamFromUtah

    Do you suppose ol’ Dean has earned the right to interview Johnny Drama?

    Maybe by writing this very article?

  2. 2.

    LiberalTarian

    Obama’s campaign schedule is fuller, more hectic and seemingly improvisational. The Obama aides who deal with the national reporters on the campaign plane are often overwhelmed, overworked and un-informed about where, when, why or how the candidate is moving about. Baggage calls are preposterously early with the explanation that it’s all for security reasons.

    Yeah, it isn’t like men on meth with rifles and scopes aren’t trying to figure out where he’s gonna be.

    Fucking WATB ASSHOLES. I wanna know who that guy is, and castrate him. He should not be allowed to have children.

  3. 3.

    evie

    I’m glad this is making the rounds. It’s the most bitter, whiny piece I’ve ever read from a "reporter." It’s amazing the sentiments revealed when a journalist is burned out on his job.

  5. 5.

    TheFountainHead

    When this is all over, can we get Obama’s press contingent to do a stirring rendition of "Hard Knock Life"?

  6. 6.

    Redleg

    Meanwhile, at Palin’s campaign rallies, reporters are kept in a special area that keeps them away from Palin and her devotees in the audience.

  9. 9.

    LiberalTarian

    Arg. Somebody with a CBS account should comment. I don’t like having to register alla damn time.

    And, it looks like grandpa is likely to have already procreated. Darn it.

  10. 10.

    Elvis Elvisberg

    Charming conclusion: "Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama’s that is focused solely on victory doesn’t have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters. But in politics, everything that goes around comes around."

    Upgrade my seat on the plane, or face the consequences.

    This guy doesn’t have the journalistic chops to serve as Katie Couric’s cameraman.

  11. 11.

    The Other Steve

    Ok, let me understand this. The guy has been following Obama around for like forever. Then suddenly in the last few weeks of the election he’s following McCain.

    Why?

    Did his credentials to the Obama plane get revoked? Is he bitter about this?

    This whole article reads like one great big huge whine fest.

  12. 12.

    TheFountainHead

    WATB = Whiny Ass Titty Baby

    Alternatively, with a nod to TPM:

    WATB = Whiny Ass Tire-swingin’ Bitches

  14. 14.

    David

    I think this guy needs to visit Iraq and do some investigative reporting on what real deprivation means. Or Guantanamo.

    Maybe then he can come back and sip lattes with his buddies on the Obama press plane and be glad he is reporting on the future president instead of being a WATB.

  15. 15.

    Comrade Nixon Hailfire Palin

    tripletee in the previous thread:

    I bet it smells like falafel and explosives. Don’t you think the American people have a right to know that?

    Thread title rocks, BTW.

  16. 16.

    Daily Shocker

    It’s a punitive article.

    "What? No peanuts? Those fucks. I’ll prove to them the pen is mightier than the sword…"

    He got pissed that he was inconvenienced and took his frustrations out on the campaign.

    Pity this guy.

  17. 17.

    Shibby

    This is part of the problem with our current media. They somehow think we give a shit about their everyday personal lives. I’m tired of watching journalists talk about their families, flirt with each other, or in general make themselves the story instead of reporting the news. STFU and do your job.

  18. 18.

    Perry Como

    WATB = Whiny Ass Tire-swingin’ Bitches

    The media dropped McCain when he started yelling at them to get off his lawn.

  21. 21.

    TheFountainHead

    Luke Russert fucked up an insulted a bunch of people and is no longer on my tv set.

    Hu buh wah? What’d I miss?

  22. 22.

    LiberalTarian

    You know what?

    I am really hoping that those of us who are well educated step up and do their part to get the economy running.

    I got a thing from Color of Change today advertising "The Green Collar Economy," by Van Jones, and I really think that there are a lot of really smart people kinda shoehorned into jobs that have no room for innovation. Efficiency is becoming a necessity, and it needs a lot of investment.

    I think if an optimistic person will lead, we can do some butt kicking … if people will work hard. But, like this reporter, people want a mostly free ride.

    Dude. We are asking Barack Obama to turn grey before our eyes, take on the burdens of the country at 47, while his daughters are in this great stage, and make our problems his life. It seems hard to fathom how this guy can feel so aggrieved. Seems appropriate that he would rather cool his heels with the campaign that is not trying to raise the country to its better nature, but its most brutal.

    Oh, and sorry about the acronym abuse.

  23. 23.

    John Cole

    I am really hoping that those of us who are well educated step up and do their part to get the economy running.

    I am paying off my credit card and I broke down and bought a car. Then I don’t plan to spend shit until this storm is over.

  25. 25.

    NonyNony

    Then I don’t plan to spend shit until this storm is over.

    Just FYI, John – Roubini is predicting a 2 year recession out of this mess. And he may get called a Cassandra by many folks but damn his predictions have been on the money lately. 2 years is a long time to not spend shit.

    Also, Alan Greenspan can bite my shiny metal ass. Especially given this tasty little snippet on page 2:

    “The sudden failure or abrupt withdrawal from trading of any of these large U.S. dealers could cause liquidity problems in the markets and could also pose risks to others, including federally insured banks and the financial system as a whole,” Charles A. Bowsher, head of the accounting office, said when he testified before Mr. Markey’s committee in 1994. “In some cases intervention has and could result in a financial bailout paid for or guaranteed by taxpayers.” In his testimony at the time, Mr. Greenspan was reassuring. “Risks in financial markets, including derivatives markets, are being regulated by private parties,” he said.

    Note the date – 1994. Note the prediction – liquidity problems in the markets and risks to the financial system as a whole leading to a financial bailout guaranteed by the taxpayers.

    I’ll bet Greenspan thought Bowsher was a Cassandra at the time to. Wanker.

  26. 26.

    TheFountainHead

    And just like that, the nation is spared another generation of Buffalo tales and stories about Big Russ, garbageman for America.

    Awww, he’ll be back. Maybe not until after the election, but he’ll be back. You can get in trouble for speaking the truth, but nobody holds it against you for long, especially when it’s later laid bare as the truth.

  28. 28.

    LiberalTarian

    Heh. Not exactly what I meant. I mean do good work where you are at. I’m not saying that everyone doesn’t work hard, but if there is a push to improve the spot where you are, things get better.

    Yeah, believe me. I am paying off bills. But I am really interested in where the economy is going to go. If 1 in every 4 adults were to be unemployed, like the Depression, what is the world going to be like? What kind of things are going to be happening?

    That’s one of the things I think is amazing about this reporter–he is in the heart of the action–how could he not be more interested? How could he have not seen the story there and fleshed it out? How often do we have a world-wide financial crisis and fronts in two wars?? Unbelievable.

  30. 30.

    Comrade Warren Terra

    C’mon, John, you didn’t blockquote the best part:

    The national headquarters in Chicago airily dismisses complaints from journalists wondering why a schedule cannot be printed up or at least e-mailed in time to make coverage plans. Nor is there much sympathy for those of us who report for a newscast that airs in the early evening hours. Our shows place a premium on live reporting from the scene of campaign events. But this campaign can often be found in the air and flying around at the time the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" is broadcast. I suspect there is a feeling within the Obama campaign that the broadcast networks are less influential in the age of the internet and thus needn’t be accomodated as in the days of yore. Even if it’s true, they are only hurting themselves by dissing audiences that run in the tens of millions every night.

    The McCain folks are more helpful and generally friendly. The schedules are printed on actual books you can hold in your hand, read, and then plan accordingly. The press aides are more knowledgeable and useful to us in the news media. The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs of the press corps. When he is available, John McCain is friendly and loquacious. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom banters with the reporters who’ve been following him for thousands of miles around the country. Go figure.

    Imagine that: Obama is doing a couple of events a day, and wants to get to the next one, to the morning venue, or occasionally to his kids, instead of sitting on the ground so Katie Couric can go live instead of playing tape. Because the difference matters to someone at CBS, although it clearly doesn’t matter to anyone watching.

    Obama treats the press like professionals, not like his buddies: the cad!

    Oh, and, "Go figure", indeed. I have no idea what legitimate meaning those two words were meant to convey.

    P.S. I still love the "Edit comment" function, but I hate that the blockquote issues have me needing the function.

  31. 31.

    Jim in Chicago

    I read posts like Reynolds’s whinefest and wish more than ever that Steve Gilliard were still alive so he could give Reynolds the verbal disembowelling he deserves!

  32. 32.

    mattH

    The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

    Even where the press is seated? Just what the hell do they do in there?

  33. 33.

    The Moar You Know

    "Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama’s that is focused solely on victory doesn’t have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters. But in politics, everything that goes around comes around."

    Yes, well, Obama is winning. Soon the losing McCain campaign will have all the time in the world to fluff Mr. Reynolds’ pillow and make sure that he has the comfiest chair ever. In the meantime, THAT ONE will be running the country.

  34. 34.

    TenguPhule

    Obama treats the press like professionals, not like his buddies: the cad!

    He treats them like we’ve all wanted to treat them for the last 8 years.

  35. 35.

    The Moar You Know

    The national headquarters in Chicago airily dismisses complaints from journalists wondering why a schedule cannot be printed up or at least e-mailed in time to make coverage plans.

    There are no left-wing zealots cleaning their rifles with dreams of McCain ending up like JFK in Dallas. Conversely, we already know that Obama’s campaign has gotten so many death threats that he received Secret Service protection earlier than any other presidential aspirant.

    I suspect there is a feeling within the Obama campaign that the broadcast networks are less influential in the age of the internet and thus needn’t be accomodated as in the days of yore.

    Ahh, the heart of the matter. If the Obama campaign does assume this, and I think they do, they are quite correct. And poor Mr. Reynolds may well not have employment by 2012; the changes in mass media that will lead to his total irrelavency are just beginning, not coming to a close.

  36. 36.

    The Moar You Know

    He treats them like we’ve all wanted to treat them for the last 8 years.

    Disagree. He hasn’t skinned a single one of them alive and used their corneas for toilet paper.

  37. 37.

    Joshua Norton

    Whine whine. Make the fuckers ride the SouthWest shuttle from LA to San Francisco. They’ll swear they’re in one of the 9 circles of Hell. With peanuts.

    Cowboy up, Mary.

  38. 38.

    Ned R.

    @John Cole: I broke down and bought a car

    ! That is a change! Any particular reason? Still going without and not feeling too worried about it right now…

    I’d had this hunch at the beginning of the year that things were going to turn bluh at some point, so I locked in a slew of purchases I wanted to get then — updated computer equipment, a late June vacation and so forth — and otherwise have played it cool. Finished paying off a couple of loans here as well and have budgeted in my holiday spending already.

  39. 39.

    Zuzu Petals

    When he is available, John McCain is friendly and loquacious.

    Hmm, either things have changed since the end of August, when James Carney wrote this piece, or this guy’s…I dunno, full of doo doo.

  40. 40.

    BethanyAnne

    OT, and it may more belong in the "Creating Their Own Reality" post below, but I *loved* what Sarah Vowell said on the Daily Show last night. "… but I feel the East Coast was American enough for al-Qaeda, so it should be American enough for them, you know?"

    Pure Win.
    Jezebel has a clip of just that bit here.

    or there is the full Daily Show segment here.

    I can’t figure out how to share the link from Jezebel’s page, so I’ll just have to link to the whole thing.

  42. 42.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Whine whine. Make the fuckers ride the SouthWest shuttle Greyhound bus from LA to San Francisco. They’ll swear they’re in one of they’ve discovered a new level below the 9 circles of Hell. With peanuts.

    Fix’d.

    Fuck the WATB ‘reporter’ in the ass with a cattle prod.

  43. 43.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

    Obama has a plane? Seriously, who is paying for this shit? You all throwing your money at ActBlue.

    If so, I would love to have someone from Obama’s campaign explain why the entire press corps, the Secret Service, and the local police idled for two hours in a Miami hotel parking lot recently because there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was not an isolated case.

    How much do you think Dean Reynolds makes year?

  44. 44.

    Ned R.

    @Conservatively Liberal: Greyhound bus

    Hahaha!

    (I have done a busride from LA to SF once but not Greyhound! The sadly shortlived Megabus franchise out here instead — 10 bucks, just one stop mid-San Gabriel Valley, clean and comfortable. Too good to survive, obv.)

  45. 45.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    I suspect there is a feeling within the Obama campaign that the broadcast networks are less influential in the age of the internet and thus needn’t be accomodated as in the days of yore. Even if it’s true, they are only hurting themselves by dissing audiences that run in the tens of millions every night.

    That is some crybaby shit, eh?

  46. 46.

    Phoenix Woman

    John, remember the 2000 campaign? Substitute "Gore" for "Obama" and "Bush" for "McCain" and that piece could have been done by Kit "Spite Girl" Seelye. Go read the Daily Howlers from that period to see just how silly the coverage got.

  49. 49.

    Llelldorin

    That’s particularly annoying from the same network that kvetched about how "grand" Obama’s plane was.

    C’mon, guys. How nice your airplane seats are is not a story.

  50. 50.

    gbear

    OT but I think we’ve established that Dean Reynolds=WATB

    George Will in tomorrow’s WaPo:

    This, McCain and his female Sancho Panza say, is demonstrated by bad associations Obama had in Chicago, such as with William Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist. But the McCain-Palin charges have come just as the Obama campaign is benefiting from a mass mailing it is not paying for. Many millions of American households are gingerly opening envelopes containing reports of the third-quarter losses in their 401(k) and other retirement accounts — telling each household its portion of the nearly $2 trillion that Americans’ accounts have recently shed. In this context, the McCain-Palin campaign’s attempt to get Americans to focus on Obama’s Chicago associations seems surreal — or, as a British politician once said about criticism he was receiving, "like being savaged by a dead sheep."

    (my bold)

  51. 51.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    I am paying off my credit card and I broke down and bought a car. Then I don’t plan to spend shit until this storm is over.

    Whoa, its like a another Terry whatsername moment for you. Finally paying off your credit card. Next you’ll buy burying silver coins in your back yard.

  52. 52.

    Walker

    Whoa, its like a another Terry whatsername moment for you. Finally paying off your credit card. Next you’ll buy burying silver coins in your back yard.

    My father did that shit in the 80s. And then he died and all we had were some cryptic instructions scrawled in the family bible on where to find them all. I swear, it was like I was living in a bad pirate movie. When we sold the house soon afterward, I was convinced there was at least one more buried PVC tube of silver that I didn’t find.

  53. 53.

    gbear

    Whine whine. Make the fuckers ride the SouthWest shuttle Greyhound bus from LA to San Francisco. They’ll swear they’re in one of they’ve discovered a new level below the 9 circles of Hell. With peanuts.

    The first time I ever flew was from Minneapolis to San Francisco on Christmas evening of ’74. Uneventful flight but just as we were making our final approach into SFO late that evening, a fog rolled in and completely closed down the airport. The plane had to abort the landing and we flew around for what seemed like another hour before they put us down at the Reno airport and dumped us into the terminal, where we hung out playing slot machines until they decided what to do with us. Rather than put us up for the night, they got some Greyhound busses and sent us off into the night. I spent the whole time wondering about the scenery we couldn’t see while the lady next to me chain smoked for the entire four hour trip. We pulled into SFO at 2:30am to find out that everyone waiting for us had been told we’d spend the night in Reno so we had to call my uncle at 3:00 to come back and get us. After we got home from SF, I didn’t fly again for 10 years. OK, I’m done.

  54. 54.

    The Moar You Know

    WHOLLY OT: This is why the bailout bill was a bad idea. You give money to an addict, they keep spending it on drugs instead of turning their lives around.

    Expect more of the same until we run out of cash.

  55. 55.

    BombIranForChrist

    I bet this guy was sore, tired, and drunk when he wrote this. No self-respecting human being would write something so pathetic, except under physical duress. Not even a member of the media.

  56. 56.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    My father did that shit in the 80s. And then he died and all we had were some cryptic instructions scrawled in the family bible on where to find them all. I swear, it was like I was living in a bad pirate movie. When we sold the house soon afterward, I was convinced there was at least one more buried PVC tube of silver that I didn’t find.

    Your dad was a smart man. He challenged you. You shoulda held on to the house and rode the bubble. Imagine how rich you’d be if you’d sold the house three years ago at the peak. And you’d probably have found the silver if you were as bright as Tom Hanks in that DaVinci Code movie.

  58. 58.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    I got a thing from Color of Change today advertising "The Green Collar Economy," by Van Jones, and I really think that there are a lot of really smart people kinda shoehorned into jobs that have no room for innovation. Efficiency is becoming a necessity, and it needs a lot of investment.

    Much like Van Jones, Paul Staments is kinda nutty-
    http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html

    Kinda cool reading tho.

  59. 59.

    Mr. Valentin

    I dig Atrios’ idea of a "Wanker of the Day" award. Mr. Cole, may I suggest you do something along those lines? Reynolds could be your first awardee.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    Disagree. He hasn’t skinned a single one of them alive and used their corneas for toilet paper.

    Yet.

  63. 63.

    Tom Ames

    Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

    Somehow, somehow, the McCain campaign has figured out how to get the stench of national political reporter out of their upholstery.

  64. 64.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    Just FYI, John – Roubini is predicting a 2 year recession out of this mess. And he may get called a Cassandra by many folks but damn his predictions have been on the money lately. 2 years is a long time to not spend shit.

    Why? Seriously, once you have what you need why buy more? Must it all be about "growth"? What is wrong with deflation?
    Do you really need a new car or a new flat screen tv or a new computer or a new washer/drier or a new sofa? What’s wrong with the shit you have and are comfortable with?
    This is were "grow or die capitalism" fails.

  65. 65.

    The Moar You Know

    Do you really need a new car or a new flat screen tv or a new computer or a new washer/drier or a new sofa? What’s wrong with the shit you have and are comfortable with?

    Nothing at all. I presume you still have the same carpet in your house that it was constructed with, right? Same washer/dryer as well, those never break, correct? First car you ever owned, cars don’t wear out, ever, true?

    Funny how when you buy it, it’s necessary, but when someone else buys it, it’s wasteful.

  66. 66.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    Nothing at all. I presume you still have the same carpet in your house that it was constructed with, right? Same washer/dryer as well, those never break, correct? First car you ever owned, cars don’t wear out, ever, true?
    Funny how when you buy it, it’s necessary, but when someone else buys it, it’s wasteful.

    hmm. I suspect you are disagreeing with me just to be argumentative, setting up strawmen to knock down?

    My point, why must it be all about growth? Why can’t we just be happy with the stuff we have?
    This is the failing of capitalism. Discuss.

  67. 67.

    tammanycall

    What a crybaby. And going by pure demos — assuming the audience of CBS evening news is the same group that normally watches CBS — it may NOT be worth the Obama campaign’s time to talk to this runt, instead of say, ABC news. CBS has the oldest, most conservative viewing audience, hence all the serial cop shows (CSI, etc.).
    Fox is for boys, baseball, and American Idol.
    ABC is the LadyNetwork.
    NBC is where elitists watch Lexus ads and "The Office".

    Not surprisingly, I saw an Obama ad on ABC tonight, right before "Private Practice" — the "Grey’s Anatomy" spinoff.

    That probably cost a ton of money.

  68. 68.

    LiberalTarian

    Yeah, well the consumer market is going to be interesting for the next two years. No need to hire clerks if people aren’t buying, and how many people in the workforce work retail? Walmart and Target can’t hire everybody. It’ll be interesting.

  69. 69.

    ImJohnGalt

    It is amazing that the airplane provided by Anheiser Busch money that can probably afford 20 naked stewardesses and a full janitorial crew can somehow manage to stay clean while the campaign that is trying to minimize the money it’s spending on non-getting-elected stuff can’t.

    I mean, that’s unbelievable.

  70. 70.

    Martin

    Obama is setting McCain up:

    I am surprised that, you know, we’ve been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn’t willing to say it to my face. But I guess we’ve got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.

    Calling him a ‘coward’ is what will set him off. Go Obama, go!

  71. 71.

    Conservatively Liberal

    hmm. I suspect you are disagreeing with me just to be argumentative, setting up strawmen to knock down?

    The nightly TET offensive has started once again and he is doing his usual mooing, cud chewing and methane production.

    It seems that we are getting old bulls and goatfuckers lately. Boring.

    Calling him a ‘coward’ is what will set him off. Go Obama, go!

    I saw that and laughed. Obama is pushing the red button and he is going to keep hitting it until McCain explodes and/or the race is over.

    Gobama!

  72. 72.

    Polish the Guillotines

    Well, one thing’s for sure: The music’s gonna to suck pretty bad on the Hate Talk Express after all the good bands tell McCain to shove it.

  73. 73.

    OriGuy

    Next you’ll buy burying silver coins in your back yard.

    I worked with a Mormon guy who did that, only it was gold. He had the stockpile of food in the garage and all. When he got laid off and needed the money, he found out that his teenage son had dug up the coins already.

  74. 74.

    Brian J

    Why? Seriously, once you have what you need why buy more? Must it all be about "growth"? What is wrong with deflation?
    Do you really need a new car or a new flat screen tv or a new computer or a new washer/drier or a new sofa? What’s wrong with the shit you have and are comfortable with?
    This is were "grow or die capitalism" fails.

    Isn’t that how, um, people make money and thus gain wealth?

    I don’t think anybody would advocate spending money you don’t have, particularly at a time like this. But if you have money and are in an overall healthy economic state, why not spend money on something you want?

    I know I bring her up a lot, but I think Suze Orman’s "Can I Afford It?" segment is fantastic. Even when it’s obvious that she thinks what people want to buy is stupid, she only sees if people can afford it. She doesn’t dictate what people should do, only if it makes sense for them financially to do it. It seems like a decent standard to abide by.

  75. 75.

    JGabriel

    Dean Reynolds at CBS:

    The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time.

    Like some sort of ghetto apartment.

    Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean…

    You know, like white people do.

    Jesus Fucking Christ, what an utter asshole.

    .

  76. 76.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    The nightly TET offensive has started once again and he is doing his usual mooing, cud chewing and methane production.

    Easily trolled much?
    Here is my advice to you, son, go hang out on usenet for a couple of years before trying to flame again. Cuz you suck at it.

    After reading a couple of days worth of your sloppy posts, I got you pegged, –

    1. You are in your early 20s, recently graduated or working on a useful BA in English Lit or Business Management.
    2. You have your own place, and even tho you have roommates and your parents name is on the lease, you are insanely proud of yourself for finally moving out.
    3. The car you drive was given to you by your parents and they still pay the insurance.
    4. Your job, delivering pizza (or something equally wonderful) is unfufilling to you.
    5. You are overweight, but not obese by american standards.
    6. You have had sex, but only with a fat chick who had the temerity to offer advice on sorting your back-acne problem.
    7.You spend all your free time reading and commenting on incendiary political blogs because it makes you feel like an informed, important member of the net-roots.
    8. You and your sock-puppets brag about your community service in negro colleges because you desperately need the online love and respect you can’t get in meat-space.
    9. Early-onset male-pattern-baldness pisses you off, especially when the late night infomercial cremes and lotions don’t work.
    10. heh.

  77. 77.

    cyd

    What is wrong with deflation?

    It leads to this charming thing called a deflationary spiral, where prices get lower and lower and unemployment higher and higher. It’s bad news, and not supposed to happen to modern economies.

  78. 78.

    Calouste

    Whine whine. Make the fuckers ride the SouthWest shuttle Greyhound bus from LA to San Francisco. They’ll swear they’re in one of they’ve discovered a new level below the 9 circles of Hell. With peanuts.

    People who think a busride is hell are going to be in for a bit of a nasty surprise in the afterlife.

  79. 79.

    Martin

    After reading a couple of days worth of your sloppy posts, I got you pegged, –

    Oooh! Me next! Me next!

  80. 80.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    Isn’t that how, um, people make money and thus gain wealth?
    I don’t think anybody would advocate spending money you don’t have, particularly at a time like this. But if you have money and are in an overall healthy economic state, why not spend money on something you want?

    Of course, if you’ve seen the commercials, thats what you need to do, right? MY question is, do you really need to spend? Why not just save your money?

    I know I bring her up a lot, but I think Suze Orman’s "Can I Afford It?" segment is fantastic. Even when it’s obvious that she thinks what people want to buy is stupid, she only sees if people can afford it. She doesn’t dictate what people should do, only if it makes sense for them financially to do it. It seems like a decent standard to abide by.

    I am so sorry , never heard of Suze Orman. Probably some american television person convincing you to buy more? I’ll go look her up and get back to you.

  81. 81.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    Is there something that you’ve been dreaming of doing or owning but you aren’t sure if you can afford it? Suze wants to hear from you.

    The more unique the better! Whether it’s skydiving lessons, swimming with sharks, a $150k yacht or even The “Lost in Space Robot” (a recent request) there’s no item too big, small or unusual for Suze. Remember, she’s not going to judge, just look at your numbers and give you her stamp of approval..or denial!

    http://www.suzeorman.com

    I see.

  82. 82.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    I worked with a Mormon guy who did that, only it was gold. He had the stockpile of food in the garage and all. When he got laid off and needed the money, he found out that his teenage son had dug up the coins already.

    Heh, teenagers.

  83. 83.

    Brian J

    Of course, if you’ve seen the commercials, thats what you need to do, right? MY question is, do you really need to spend? Why not just save your money?

    Saving is an important part of life, but so is consumption. The compromise is buying what you can afford, should you want it, after you’ve taken care of your other responsibilities.

    There’s definitely a difference "needs" and "wants." Nobody denies that, but don’t try to muddle the issue so as to make "wants" into some sort of vice. Some are pretty damn stupid to me, but who the fuck am I to decide what others should do? Who gives a shit what the hell other people buy, as long as they can afford it? It’s not going to make a lot of difference in my life.

    As for Suze Orman, take a look at her site.

  84. 84.

    bago

    Why can’t we just be happy with the stuff we have?
    This is the failing of capitalism.

    Stuff breaks.

  85. 85.

    Tattoosydney

    Thomas Edward Theadore says:

    hmm. I suspect you are disagreeing with me just to be argumentative, setting up strawmen to knock down?

    I suspect you don’t exist and are simply sent to try us, you cranky old curmudgeon you. Which character are you channeling tonight – Mae West? WC Fields? Cranky McSame?

  86. 86.

    TenguPhule

    What is wrong with deflation?

    A lot.

    People hoard money.

    The flow of money dries up.

    Business dies.

  87. 87.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    Saving is an important part of life, but so is consumption.

    BrianJ this is where we are going to disagree, maybe.
    My definition of "consumption" is the groceries i need to eat every day, the train ticket i need to get to work every day.

    The US is entering a depression where consumption was key. Compare to Japan’s decade of depression. The Japanese weathered it because they saved. The basic American citizen is deep in debt, the basic Japanese citizen has money in the mattress.

    Think about it, if you are comfortable, you got a pad and a sofa and a tv and a car.. do you need more? When Suze Orman reminds you that you could HELOC your house for a hot tub, do you really need that hot tub?

    Its the greed thing.

  90. 90.

    JGabriel

    Tom Ames:

    Somehow, somehow, the McCain campaign has figured out how to get the stench of national political reporter out of their upholstery.

    It’s called prevention. All press drinks are fortified with Lactase and Beano before serving.

    .

  92. 92.

    Tattoosydney

    Dude, if you got to hide behind socks, fuck off.

    If you are suggesting that I am a sock puppet (and not that I am in some way attempting to conceal myself behind the Clintons’ cat), I would refer you to the web site link under my name, where you can see a photo of me and some of my art work, and to my previous posts where I have been quite up front about who I am, where I live and who I like to fuck.

    I exist. I don’t believe the same can be said about you, Mary.

  94. 94.

    BethanyAnne

    means he thinks you are a sockpuppet, created to agree with someone else, not a real person with an opinion

  95. 95.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    If you are suggesting that I am a sock puppet (and not that I am in some way attempting to conceal myself behind the Clintons’ cat), I would refer you to the web site link under my name, where you can see a photo of me and some of my art work, and to my previous posts where I have been quite up front about who I am, where I live and who I like to fuck.
    I exist. I don’t believe the same can be said about you, Mary.

    Whatever.
    See #76.
    Don’t be so easily trolled.

  97. 97.

    Tattoosydney

    If "don’t be so easily trolled" = "don’t respond to anything that Thomas Edward Theadore says on Balloon Juice ever again", then I am happy to oblige.

  98. 98.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    "don’t be so easily trolled" = "don’t respond to anything that Thomas Edward Theadore says on Balloon Juice ever again", then I am happy to oblige.

    Sweet. You and "Conservatively Liberal" can hold each other in fear of the TRUTH.

  99. 99.

    Thomas Edward Theadore

    Ever tried to buy gifts for your grandparents?
    They have everything they need.
    Best you could do is ,"Hey, I’ll make dinner and hang out with you."

    There comes a point when you don’t need stuff.

    ===edit===
    say, what was this thread about?

  100. 100.

    Conservatively Liberal

    1. You are in your early 20s, recently graduated or working on a useful BA in English Lit or Business Management.
    2. You have your own place, and even tho you have roommates and your parents name is on the lease, you are insanely proud of yourself for finally moving out.
    3. The car you drive was given to you by your parents and they still pay the insurance.
    4. Your job, delivering pizza (or something equally wonderful) is unfufilling to you.
    5. You are overweight, but not obese by american standards.
    6. You have had sex, but only with a fat chick who had the temerity to offer advice on sorting your back-acne problem.
    7.You spend all your free time reading and commenting on incendiary political blogs because it makes you feel like an informed, important member of the net-roots.
    8. You and your sock-puppets brag about your community service in negro colleges because you desperately need the online love and respect you can’t get in meat-space.
    9. Early-onset male-pattern-baldness pisses you off, especially when the late night infomercial cremes and lotions don’t work.
    10. heh.

    I guess I have some time to burn so I might as well poke the troll.

    1: Double that age and add almost another decade, no college grad but two years at a CC in the early 80’s and one year at another CC two years ago (all on computer systems and networking). Finished the last year I did with a 3.72 GPA, becoming a Phi Theta Kappa (Alpha Kappa Omicron Chapter) and making the President’s List, the Dean’s List, the Honor Roll and the National Honor Roll. Not bad for an old dude.

    2: With a wife and two kids, we left our parents a hell of a long time ago.

    3: The Olds, the Mustang and the motorcycle are all ours, paid for in full and all insured by my wife and I.

    4: Owning and operating my computer business is very fulfilling and rewarding, and has been for the last two years now.

    5: At just over six foot tall and 170 pounds? I have posted a link (in another post here) to a picture of myself and my wife (and our motorcycle!), go look it up if you are bored.

    6: My sex life is none of your business, so you can just zip your pants back up right now.

    7: I read lots of blogs and comment at two, TPM and here. Why? Because I like the commentary of most of the people here, they are interesting to read and talk with. Plus John runs a great blog. I did belong to Kos but I couldn’t stand posting there because of the PC police, so I left and haven’t posted there in over two years. I don’t need to belong anywhere because I am happy wherever I am.

    8: Letting your inner racist out for a stroll?

    9: I’ve been thin up top for over twenty years and I have never used hair tonics or anything of the sort (futile really). I can live with it because I have had long hair since 1979 and have been wearing my hair to my waist since 1976 except for a brief stint in the late 80’s when I cut it off to make sure that my boss understood that I was serious about quitting if I did not get what they owed me. I got it, plus a good bit more. Seems that good certified marine electricians are hard to come by and losing one during prototype season was not something they wanted to try. Especially since I had designed the HVAC/DC, cabin heating/cooling and hydraulic systems for the prototype yachts. Smart boss, just a little slow.

    10: You amuse yourself? Isn’t that special.

    My turn!

    You are living in the tool shed that is next to the trailer your mom won in her divorce from your father after she found out that he was molesting goats. You are 44 and you have only had sex with Betty; you take a pen and write "Betty" in your palm and then start fwopping away for a 30 second burst of enjoyment. You went to school but dropped out in the second grade after being teased because your mom was tired of your whining about the kids on the regular bus beating you up so she made you take the short bus. The rest of your education consisted of Atari, Nintendo and Playstation sessions that last all night (to this very day). You eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in your shed. At 4pm, 12am and 6am, every day.

    Your keyboard and mouse are a bright orange color that matches your fingers, palms, face and penis, you have an acne problem involving your whole body, you have a polyp (on your lip), you have Athletes Foot that has spread to your ass crack and you are wider than you are tall. You are collecting SSI because you permanently disabled yourself while cleaning the toilets at the one and only job you ever held, McDonalds. You have always wanted a bike but your mom won’t let you graduate from your Big Wheel until you stop falling off of it.

    I guess I can leave it at that for now Tommy Boy.

  101. 101.

    Conservatively Liberal

    I guess TET will have to wait to read my response as the BJ Mod Gawd snapped it up.

    Must mean that it is a good answer, eh? ;)

  103. 103.

    Marshall

    The Greenspan article mentioned by NonyNony had this little tid-bit :

    The problem is not that the contracts failed, he says. Rather, the people using them got greedy.

    Any financial innovation that breaks under greed is not suitable for implementation.

    Greenspan is a political hack, in the tank for the Republicans, and a lot of the damage we are seeing now was done to keep things looking good economically for W in the 2002/2004 elections. If there is any justice, to be Greenspanned will enter the lexicon in the same way that Hoovervilles did.

  104. 104.

    Rick Taylor

    Greenspan is a political hack, in the tank for the Republicans,. . .

    Yup! Greenspan taught me you never never trust Republicans, not even the sober ‘reasonable’ ones in Democratic administrations. I will never forget how he persuaded us to be responsible about social security, increasing a regressive tax, and to be responsible and reduce the deficit, and then turned around and gave the Republicans cover to take the surpluses generated by our responsibility and throw them all away on tax cuts to the rich. Never again.

    In the future when the beltway is bemoaning the lack of Democrats willing to be responsible and bipartisan, well this is why.

  105. 105.

    kay

    Hmmm. BRUTAL. Early baggage calls and a firm deadline for submitting work.

    Meanwhile, at the McCain-Palin rally, a cameraman is subject to vile racial slurs hurled in his direction by the attendees.

    While the rest of the brave and noble press corps, the cameraman’s coworkers, stand around like potted plants hoping for a glimpse of Governor Palin as she’s rushed to the plane.

    Not one of them had that guy’s back. They stood there, silent.

  106. 106.

    Rick Taylor

    From Margaret Carlson’s book on the Bush Gore race:

    That makes food on the plane crucial. Like the army, the press travels on its stomach and in this regard, Gore was no match for Bush. Gore wanted the snaks to be environmentally and nutritionally correct, but somehow granola bars ended up giving way to Fruit Roll-Ups and the sandwiches came wrapped and looked long past their sell-by date. On a lucky day, someone would remember to buy supermarket doughnuts, By Contrast, a typical day of food on Air Bush . . . consisted of five meals with access to a sixth, if you count grazing at a cocktail buffet. Breakfast one was French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and fruit, followed by a midmorning breakfast of spinach-and-tomato omelets. Lunch one was grilled chicken and beef with mashed potatoes, and lunch two was mushrooms stuffed with crab, shrimp kebabs, and pizza. There were Dove Bars and designer water on demand, and a bathroom stocked like Martha Stewar’s guest suite. Dinner at seven (traveling with Bush was like being a retiree in Boca Raton, the early bird special followed by bed at nine) featured lobster ravioli, grilled vegetables, and fruit cobbler with ice cream.

  110. 110.

    nitpicker

    Please note that this whiner ends his column by all but threatening anti-Obama articles when he writes what "goes around comes around."

  111. 111.

    James Hare

    The best part is the implied threat at the end:
    "what goes around comes around"

    So the petulant press corps is going to have a tantrum at Obama if he wins. What children.

  112. 112.

    SamFromUtah

    So the petulant press corps is going to have a tantrum at Obama if he wins.

    I reckon they’re planning on getting started long before that. In fact, this article shows it’s starting already.

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