Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s finish the job.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

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

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

I really should read my own blog.

In my day, never was longer.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

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

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Previous Site Maintenance / Open Thread

Reader Interactions

53Comments

  1. 1.

    amorphous

    Let’s not go dragging innocent pumpkins into this despicable display of Arabo-Communistic Terrorism.

    Smash it.

  2. 2.

    raff

    Excellent! However, I await the Republican outrage that you carved an elaborate ‘O’ into that innocent pumpkin’s face.

  3. 3.

    raff

    Btw, when you callously ‘mutilated’ that poor, hapless pumpkin (who is obviously a McCain supporter), did you use a "dull knife" or did you use, let’s say, your fingernail?

    …just curious.

  4. 4.

    Darcy

    Here is a url to find great patterns. I wish I had the skill to do scrape-away, because the Rolling Stone portrait pumkin is win. I’ll probably just go with Ooobama :)

  7. 7.

    Michael D.

    That’s where I got this pattern. My partner is doing another one as we speak (he’s a McCain supporter, but fortunately cannot vote because he is Indonesian!)

    He figures Obama is scary enough to put on a pumpkin. He is incorrigible.

  8. 8.

    bhagamu

    Let this be a lesson to all Pumpkins eligible to use ATM machines – either equip a John McCain sticker or else.

  9. 9.

    Comrade The Other Steve

    Here is a url to find great patterns. I wish I had the skill to do scrape-away, because the Rolling Stone portrait pumkin is win. I’ll probably just go with Ooobama :)

    Get yourself a set of Linoleum cutting tools.

    It’s actually really easy. Just takes some patience, and you want to work with a light in the pumpkin so you can see your work as you go.

  11. 11.

    J.

    I am with raff and waiting for that emotionally troubled McCain-supporting pumpkin to go on Fox claiming some Obama supporter wielding a knife did this to him.

  12. 12.

    amorphous

    Someone please tell me they also just watched Young Tucker Bounds on Faux saying that Obama’s advertising advantage was good for John McCain because "people will resent Obama taking over their airwaves and will respect John McCain’s restraint " in the campaign.

    What’s the next step beyond self-parody? I hope it’s not the fabric of existence turning inside-out.

  13. 13.

    thomas

    Michelle Malkin thinks your pumpkin-carving story is a little fishy, so she’s reserving comment, for now.

  14. 14.

    Atanarjuat

    It seems your conversion is complete, Mr. Cole. I can just imagine Nobama saying the following to you, in a deep, sibilant voice:

    "You were weak when I found you. Now your hatred has become your strength. At last, the Dark Side is your ally. Rise, my apprentice."

    ‘Tis a shameful thing to behold.

    Country First.

  16. 16.

    Thoughtcrime

    The stage lights have malfunctioned at McCain’s Ohio rally going on right now. He is now literally giving a speech in the dark. The CNN reporter mentioned something about a power SURGE and how the McCaine campaign must hope this isn’t a sign about the last two weeks. Cue up Dandy Don.

    Oh, and Joe the Electrician is obviously for Obama.

  18. 18.

    gbear

    @raff:

    Revolution is in the air, as the Swiss Government’s Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology concludes that plants have rights, and we have to treat them appropriately. A majority of the panel concluded that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive."

  20. 20.

    gbear

    Uh oh. BBC is reporting that US helicopters dropped troops inside Syria for a strike on a building that was under construction.

    Because leaving the new president with only two wars just seemed so lame. 01/20/08 cannot come fast enough.

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    McCain ‘guarantees’ Election Day victory in close race

    “I guarantee you that two weeks from now, you will see this has been a very close race, and I believe that I’m going to win it,” McCain told interim "Meet" moderator Tom Brokaw. “We’re going to do well in this campaign, my friend. We’re going to win it, and it’s going to be tight, and we’re going to be up late.”

    Presented without comment.

  22. 22.

    binzinerator

    David Frum:

    There are many ways to lose a presidential election. John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him.

    Heh. Maybe when McCain realized he was not going to win he began his alternate plan — payback for the trashing the party of Bush gave him in 2000.

    Of course Frum does not recognize that what McCain has done — insist on personality over issues, espouse the same policy BS the GOP has been pushing for years, and using Rovian tactics to smear opponents — is in every way what the GOP has been doing for years. It’s same old Bushism, the same stupid and mean and divisive tactics based on demonizing the ‘other’, the same dirtbaggery that have been the core of the Republican party SOP since Nixon.

    And Frum notes :

    You have to go back to the Watergate era to see numbers quite so horrible for the GOP.

    The fucking moron. It’s right under his nose and he still can’t see it — or won’t. People are now beginning to understand the same ugly truth about the GOP that they did back then. Nothing has really changed about the GOP, just people’s willingness and ability to see it and their base for what they really are.

    The entire Republican party is responsible for taking the Republican party down. Of course this GOP fucktard won’t see it. Lying and pretending and scapegoating and denial are other signature traits of the Republican core.

    Read the article. There is zero indication of any self-reflection, of any realization of the problems he catalogs were self-inflicted. He zeros in on the the dangers and temptations the coming one-party rule will face while blithely ignoring his own party’s spectacular failures of integrity when it had political hegemony and was faced with those same temptations.

    Unchecked, this angry new wing of the Democratic Party will seek to stifle opposition by changing the rules of the political game.

    There is zero admission of responsibility for creating their own problems. These people have shit in the double bed of this nation’s political discourse, and they have shit in the collective bed of the nation’s future, have wiped their asses on the promise of America — and now the fucker calls the people who had to sleep in it and now clean it up angry? Fuck yeah you fucking moron. We’re angry because the bed is all of ours not just yours. We both sleep here, remember? We’re angry because assholes like you, David Frum, fucking shit in our bed.

    I am so glad these fucking tools are so clueless. It will be hopefully a long time before they can come up with a new effective ploy to bullshit, frighten and smear their way back from the wilderness.

  25. 25.

    kommrade jakevich

    @Thoughtcrime: WHOOP WHOOOOP! Calling all members of the 101st fRightened Keyboardist Brigade! Please deploy to your mothers’ basements to determine name, age, gender, sexual preference, party affiliation, birthplace, current residence and type of kitchen counters of the people working the lights, the people who own the company, and their friends, families and pets unto the fifth generation!

  26. 26.

    Jon H

    Great photo of Obama over at TNR.

    (Obama, standing by his campaign SUV, gives a terrorist fist bump to a smiling little tow-headed boy. Obama is holding the infamous socialist rag the Wall Street Journal.)

    The comment thread has some funny posts too.

  27. 27.

    Laura W

    @Jon H: That is my fave photo of the day.
    (After the photo of my Sadie Kitty in John’s post of this morn, of course.)

  28. 28.

    Comrade Jake

    @Delia:

    My favorite quote from the movie Wall Street, which seems somehow appropriate these days:

    Lou Mannheim: Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.

    I think more than a few conservatives would be wise to watch that movie again.

  29. 29.

    Comrade Jake

    @TenguPhule:

    McCain ‘guarantees’ Election Day victory in close race

    I assume that’s the same interview where he forget the name of one of the former Sec. States who’d endorsed him?

  30. 30.

    Bill H

    Okay, McCain was in Denver two days ago and drew an "enthusiastic" crowd of 4500 peeples. Obama was there today and drew a crowd (attitude unspecified) of 100,000. McCain guarantees that he is going to win the election. It is all so clear to me now. How could I have missed it?

  32. 32.

    Dennis - SGMM

    I assume that’s the same interview where he forget the name of one of the former Sec. States who’d endorsed him?

    McCain’s appearance on "Meet the Press" did little to advance his cause and much to bolster the idea that he’s senile.
    Transcript available here.

    Did you know that Palin needed the $150,000 makeover because "Look, she lives a frugal life. She and her family are not wealthy." Lakefront house, airplane? I’d like to be frugal like that. But, my friends, it’s okay because McCain says, "She is a role model to millions and millions and millions of Americans." A month and a half ago millions and millions of Americans would have asked "Sarah who?" but now she’s our role model also.

  33. 33.

    Jon H

    Obama should really try to hold a big-ish rally in Phoenix. I have to think that people leaning Obama would be reassured if they saw a ton of other Arizonans turn out to support him.

    Holding another in Colorado is nice, but he already filled a stadium there.

  34. 34.

    Georgette Orwell

    Bill H, Diebold voting machines can’t go to rallies, so you didn’t get a chance to see most of McC’s supporters.

  35. 35.

    dewberry

    Am just loving watching the internal warfare in the McCain-Palin camp…today? Neiman-Marcus gate. Palin spoke extensively about how those. were. not. her. clothes.

    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/26/palin-and-hasselbeck-blast-ridiculous-wardrobe-story/#more-26552

    A senior adviser to John McCain told CNN’s Dana Bash that the comments about her wardrobe "were not the remarks we sent to her plane this morning."

    She’s not going to listen to a thing they say for the next 10 days. Frankenstein, meet your monster.

  37. 37.

    dewberry

    A Balloon Juice Haiku

    My insightful words
    posted fresh from my keyboard
    lost in the ether.

    Seriously, I am wondering where my posts go? I hope they send a postcard from whereever the Intertubes have sent them.

    ed: And of course, this post shows up.

  38. 38.

    Brian J

    So tonight, my aunt and uncle, both of whom are pretty staunch conservatives, come in to see me, and both they and my friend that I work with who was talking to them, also a staunch conservative, illustrated the difference between some on the left and some on the right. Out of all the "interesting" topics discussed, Obama’s relationship with Rev. Wright stood out the most. They called him dishonest and/or unaware and ignorant about what Wright said and said most of the usual stuff that we here people on the right say. I don’t remember the details of Obama’s side of the story, but even so, I don’t think it’s particularly relevant because (a) I don’t really know if Obama knew what he was saying and (b) even if he did know, it doesn’t mean he agrees with what Wright was saying. And if people who think this topic is a deal breaker of sorts for Obama don’t believe that he thinks what Wright thinks, then what do they care? Perhaps I’m seeing this through my Dirty Liberal Lenses, but if he’s expected to disassociate himself with people who say terrible things like that, everyone else should be, too. I feel like we’d end up in an impossible situation, where nobody would meet such "qualifications."

    I know this is old, old stuff, but I felt like seeing what others thought, so that’s why I typed it out.

  39. 39.

    Brian J

    Obama should really try to hold a big-ish rally in Phoenix. I have to think that people leaning Obama would be reassured if they saw a ton of other Arizonans turn out to support him.

    Eh, I am not sure that’s a good idea. Knowing our side’s ability to screw things up, my guess is, he’d be portrayed as a jerk, McCain would win in a squeaker, and I’d have to be institutionalized.

    I think he should hold two massive rallies in West Virginia and Georgia. I’m talking the sort of shit that holds up traffic and looks like he’s throwing out sackfuls of money. Or perhaps something in North Carolina or Indiana. But not in Arizona, unless it’s clear by the end of the week he’s going to win by a minimum of ten points overall.

  40. 40.

    Comrade Darkness

    I know this is old, old stuff, but I felt like seeing what others thought, so that’s why I typed it out.

    I think we should hold everyone who listens to a pastor responsible for every last single word that pastor says. I think that’s a wonderful idea. Soon enough there would be no pastors. Sounds like heaven.

  41. 41.

    Delia

    @Brian J:

    Well, perhaps your friends and relations would like to spend a little time talking about Miss Sarah’s witch-hunting pastor. According to that article I cited up-thread a ways, the witch hunters in Kenya who are associated with the movement of which she is a part recently burned a teacher in a village as a witch. Now, the Moose Queen won’t talk about her witch hunting pastor at all, while Obama talked about Rev. Wright quite a bit, and Bill Clinton had a working relationship with him as well. So until we hear more about this "spiritual warfare" and "Christian Nationalism" which comes from this wacko church of Sarah’s, I’m not too interested conservatives droning on about whatever talking points they picked up from Fox Noise.

  42. 42.

    Matt McIrvin

    I think he should hold two massive rallies in West Virginia and Georgia. I’m talking the sort of shit that holds up traffic and looks like he’s throwing out sackfuls of money. Or perhaps something in North Carolina or Indiana

    WV and Georgia, in all honesty, are probably not going to go to Obama unless it’s such a landslide that Arizona is in reach. NC and Indiana are very, very real possibilities, maybe even probable wins. So I vote for NC and Indiana. Mind you, he’s already been pushing hard there.

  43. 43.

    No Blood for Hubris

    Umm, actually, Palin has not just one witch-hunting pastor, but two.

    Palin was part of witch-hunter #2’s prayer-warrior cadre.

    I’m not making this up.

    I don’t have to.

    I never have to.

    ; )

    Alas.

  44. 44.

    tavella

    Drinking a Sidecar. Not bad; I didn’t have cognac so I made it with Calvados, triple sec and a Meyer lemon.

    Of course, it’s 41 year old Calvados, so some may consider it a sin to use in a mixed drink…

  46. 46.

    cain

    Ross Douthat has a reallly awesome post about Rush Limbaugh and how he’s setting it up to blame moderate republicans for the failure.

    Rush is doing a great job of clouding the minds of many listeners with bullshit that doesn’t reflect reality. As long as they don’t recognize reality they are going to fail because they don’t know up from down. We want Rush to keep doing this. Because as long as they don’t know what the real problem is they are going to keep going right till they fix the problem! :-) They’ll be well into the minority party and Rush should finally lose some ratings.

    Here is the post

    cain

  47. 47.

    Rick Taylor

    When Katie Couric asks Palin what news sources she reads, it’s shameful gotcha journalism. When Barbara West spews right wing talking points on Acorn and asks why Obama isn’t a Marxist, it’s the media finally doing their job. These people are beyond parody. Via Whiskey Fire.

  48. 48.

    Comrade Jake

    @cain:

    Thanks for that link buddy. Douthat’s pretty good.

    I sincerely hope the GOP moves further to the right in response to this election. Run Sarah, run!

  49. 49.

    Rick Taylor

    From Paul Krugman’s latest:

    It was good news when Mr. Paulson finally agreed to funnel capital into the banking system in return for partial ownership. But last week Joe Nocera of The Times pointed out a key weakness in the U.S. Treasury’s bank rescue plan: it contains no safeguards against the possibility that banks will simply sit on the money. “Unlike the British government, which is mandating lending requirements in return for capital injections, our government seems afraid to do anything except plead.” And sure enough, the banks seem to be hoarding the cash.

    There’s also bizarre stuff going on with regard to the mortgage market. I thought that the whole point of the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the lending agencies, was to remove fears about their solvency and thereby lower mortgage rates. But top officials have made a point of denying that Fannie and Freddie debt is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government — and as a result, markets are still treating the agencies’ debt as a risky asset, driving mortgage rates up at a time when they should be going down.

    What’s happening, I suspect, is that the Bush administration’s anti-government ideology still stands in the way of effective action. Events have forced Mr. Paulson into a partial nationalization of the financial system — but he refuses to use the power that comes with ownership.

  50. 50.

    Rick Taylor

    McCain ‘guarantees’ Election Day victory in close race

    The way I read it, he only guaranteed a very close race. He characterized his victory as a "belief." Nonetheless, I think both parts seem questionable now.

  51. 51.

    btchakir

    This will be the most interesting week of the election as far as I’m concerned. It is the week that the candidates have to sum up all the issues and charges they have raised for months in order to firm up the support they have generated with voters.

    Of course there have been, as the news said last night, about 7,000,000 early voters so far – everyone in my household included – and the reports of an Obama lead (based mostly on post-voting surveys, I guess) could have some influence on those who make up their minds at the last minute. There are always those who merely want to vote with a winner.

    This will be the week of outrageous e-mail, at least from one side. Politifact.com has already awarded a "pants on fire" designation to a new one claiming Obama is preparing to re-design the American flag "to better offer our enemies hope and love." The fact that there are people who might believe this crap is as scary as the fact that there is a campaign (or its unmentioned support groups) that would put it out.

    The Financial Times, surprise surprise, has been added to the Obama endorsements after a long campaign coverage of seeming mostly pro-McCain. I guess this is the reason:

    Mr Obama fought a much better campaign. Campaigning is not the same as governing, and the presidency should not be a prize for giving the best speeches, devising the best television advertisements, shaking the most hands and kissing the most babies.

    Nonetheless, a campaign is a test of leadership. Mr Obama ran his superbly; Mr McCain’s has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect.

    The focus of both campaigns early in the week appears to be Pennsylvania and Ohio. The basic thinking is that if McCain loses these he loses everything. Expect some pretty heavy mud-slinging here.

    Under The LobsterScope

  53. 53.

    kommrade jakevich

    Nonetheless, a campaign is a test of leadership. Mr Obama ran his superbly; Mr McCain’s has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect.

    Yep. If he wins this will be the standard future presidential campaigns – at least Democratic candidates – will have to meet. Every time some poor schlub screws up everyone will tut-tut and say "Obama would’ve never done that."

    Meanwhile, over at Camp McClusterfuck they’re setting a bar so low all Republican candidates will have to do is not crap their pants in front of the cameras.

    This morning I was thinking about the fact that McCain has had since March to get his campaign rolling. MARCH. Obama wasn’t a lock until AUGUST. (OK, maybe you could say he was a cert as early as June, but still).

    I really wonder if – no, make that I strongly suspect Camp McCain thought that because they’d either be running against HITLERY CLINTON or a black dude with a funny name that they didn’t need to exert themselves. But I’m probably attributing far more foresight to those lazy assholes than they’ll ever possess, even if you stuck a crystal ball in their crainums.

    Heh. They’re probably sitting around at RNC HQ moaning "We should have nominated Alan Keyes!"

Comments are closed.