And, no doubt, from pro-American portions of the country:
Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, ATF officials said today.
In court records unsealed today, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.
Scumbags.
*** Update ***
Ok. The “plot” included dressing in white tuxedos and tophats with guns blazing. I have added the required “clown shoes” tag to this post.
Tymannosourus
Personally, I think they should have let the dumbtards try to rob a gunstore.
DougJ
I hope that Sarah Palin tones down her rhetoric after this. But I don’t think she will.
DragonScholar
Sounds more like two losers, but even losers can cause a lot of death and destruction. We’ll probably see more cases like this in the case of an Obama victory as people like these two lash out.
Far Left American Hater Incertus
The reporting on this is limited right now, so it will be interesting to see whether this turns out to be a real plot or more of a Liberty City Seven plot, where the idea came from the guy who was sent to infiltrate the group. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the former–in fact, I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of these stories in the last couple of months.
Jeff
Look for less and less public access to Obama and idiot Republicans complaining about it.
jake 4 that 1
And this is why we don’t even joke about killing presidents. Ever.
Though I suspect they’ll eventually be charged with possession of Meth and that’s it. Does anyone know why 102?
Comrade Stuck
This is turning out to be a bad day at Blackrock for wingnuts. I guess we’re getting our Oktober surprisee from the deep well of right wing douchebaggery. I can remember back a few years when Stephen’s plan to open ANWAR for drilling was thwarted and he went ballistic on the Senate Floor, threatening reprisals for his colleagues, ending with.
He didn’t follow up until a jury did several years later. Good riddance to the human pustule.
And It will be interesting to find out the party registrations from the shithead skinheads with their assassination plot. Provided they can read and write.
Notorious P.A.T.
Remember, both parties are the same, so no doubt we’ll soon be hearing about a plot to assasinate McCain and kill 100 old white guys.
/stupid
Crusty Dem
This is why we all need the T-shirt:
"Kill Obama and we will burn your shit down"
Maybe in all caps.. Sorry, no linkee..
J.D. Rhoades
Lest we forget, this is the same ATF whose agents John McCain’s good friend G. Gordon Liddy advocated shooting in the head:
"Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they’re going to be wearing bulletproof vests. … Head shots! Head shots! Kill the sons of bitches!"
G. Gordon Liddy
"It’s always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."
John McCain on G. Gordon Liddy’s show.
Punchy
This is like those idjits down in LibCity FLA who pretended they were ghosts and could fly up to the Sears tower in invisible jets and poop radioactive polonium until the building dissolved away, or some such stoopit shit.
Funny….neither this story nor Sen. Stevens is being covered by FoxNews at all. surprise.
jake 4 that 1
I’d be shocked if they’re Repubs. Seriously, not even the Moose-Stepping Maverickess provides their RDA of H8. If they’re regisitered they’ll be independents or undeclared.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@Crusty Dem: "Kill Obama and we will burn your shit down" Maybe in all caps.. Sorry, no linkee..
I gotcher linkee, not for shirts but for where the idea came from: toward the end of this absolute must-read classic.
DonnaInMichigan
As I said in my last post here..
These are the types that McCain/Palin are "preaching" to, this is THEIR base.
Dungheap
@jake 4 that 1:
Why 102?
88 and 14 apparently have some special significance among the skinheads.
D-Chance.
From TheSmokingGun:
In separate interviews with investigators, the men said that they planned to speed their vehicle toward Obama while "shooting at him from the windows." Apparently befitting the historic assault, Cowart and Schlesselman "stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt.
Yes. We should all be terrified. These men are obviously dangerous.
John Cole
@DonnaInMichigan: That is not fair. These people are not the Republican base. What is fair, however, is that the loose and careless rhetoric from Palin and the RNC and elsewhere may create the impression that this is an appropriate route to follow among the more unhinged in our society.
But even that is a slippery slope as far as blame goes.
gopher2b
these are the ones dumb enough to get caught. thanks McCain and Palin for giving these types of people the moral freedom to talk with each other about their paranoias.
Cris v.3.1
Jake is right. As far as the lunatic white supremacist fringe is concerned, the Republican party is too infiltrated with mixed-blood race traitors to deserve their support.
A lot of them like Ron Paul, but I’m not sure Ron Paul is too happy about that.
DonnaInMichigan
So now can we say, Palin palls around with convicted FELONS?
After all, up until she became the nominee, she supported Stevens……..stated she was even going to vote for him.
Oh well, 1 down , 2 to go.
Next up, Governor Sarah Palin and the First Dude….
I wonder when the Personnel Board is going to release their findings? Hopefully it’s this week.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
OMG! The Residents are now neo-Nazis?
SDM
DRUDGE SIREN!!!!!
oh, wait…
Polish the Guillotines
According to the AP they were going to kill 88 people and decapitate 14. The numbers 88 and 14 have some symbolic meaning to the Skinheads/neo-Nazis/Dumbfuck Assholes.
Delia
These people are loonies, and their entire plot wouldn’t have gotten far. But it might have gotten somewhere. And remember, Lee Harvey Oswald was a loony, too. And whatever or whoever was giving him aid and comfort, it wasn’t one of the major political parties in his own country, and it wasn’t out in the open.
Polish the Guillotines
@Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse:
Big time win for the Residents reference. Seriously.
Personal Designation
Mebbe that 8 year old who shot himself in the head with an uzi will be implicated in a plot to assassinate a demo hopeful. While Sarah Palin shoots herself in the foot, mebbe lawmakers can pass a law about partisan base support.
slag
Damn liberal fascists!
qwerty42
I kinda believe this. This is not even wingnuttery. This is what the voices in their heads told them to do. These are the kind of guys whose neighbors will say either "well, kinda quiet, but seemed ok". Or the neighbors might say "HFS, that boy was nuts. and mean. I thought he’d end up dead or in jail".
Perry Como
88 in black letter looks like SS. Not sure about the 14.
linda
cowards.
DougJ
That is not fair. These people are not the Republican base. What is fair, however, is that the loose and careless rhetoric from Palin and the RNC and elsewhere may create the impression that this is an appropriate route to follow among the more unhinged in our society.
But even that is a slippery slope as far as blame goes.
I don’t think it’s that slippery a slope. I agree it’s not fair to blame McCain or the Republican base, though.
Cris v.3.1
That’s weird enough that I’m almost tempted to find out why. But stepping into the White Supremacy corner of the internet is one of the most repulsive things you can do with your browser, so I’ll wait ’til David Neiwert publishes his piece on this.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Crap. Missed the editing deadline. So once again into the breach …
OMG! The Residents are now neo-Nazis?
Cris v.3.1
You kids may not believe this, but when I was a boy, MTV would actually play Residents videos.
Nerd
14/88: Common white supremacist code. 14 stands for the "14 words" slogan coined by David Lane, who is serving a 190-year sentence for his part in the assassination of a Jewish talk show host: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." 88 means "Heil Hitler," as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@Perry Como: 88 stands for "Heil Hitler," as "H" is the eighth letter in the alphabet.
Dunno about the 14.
Dave
H is the eighth letter. Hence 88 stands for Heil Hitler. Don’t know about 14, or why I even know the first part.
Mrs. Peel
I’m afraid this type of story will continue if Obama gets elected. There’s plenty of confederate loving, lone wolves out there there who will go full-tilt John Wilkes Booth bonkers if a "n*****" gets elected.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
Nerd wins the footrace.
And gives a more complete answer too.
I am full of fail.
LA Confidential Pantload
H is the eighth letter of the alphabet; "88" is neo-Nazi shorthand for "Heil Hitler." Dunno about the 14 – don’t they have some saying they quote of The 14 Words or The 17 Words or some such shit?
Polish the Guillotines
Here’s at least one take on 14/88 from Urban Dictionary. (I was curious too.)
LA Confidential Pantload
Damn. Late to the party again.
Mrs. Peel
Well, it sure as hell isn’t Obama’s base doing it.
libarbarian
Color me unimpressed.
Kill Obama? Sounds more like 2 Nazis who wanted to pull a new racially-motivated Columbine rather than a serious plot to kill Obama.
Now – given that Columbine was pulled off by two teenagers I think it should be taken seriously as a plot on a school but I see little about it that makes me take it seriously as a threat against Obama.
Right now I’d bet that
At best – it was just a moronic fantasy (the assassination, that is – they may well have been serious about killing black schoolkids) that the police are hyping because it makes them look good.
At worst – a police frameup where they had them for the school plot and decided to frame them for wanting to assassinate Obama as well.
tammanycall
The idea that these puny assholes would not only plan to assasinate the next president of the United States, but that they would choose to include innocent high school kids as additional vicitims of their planned hate crime, is alarming. I hope they rot in jail for the rest of their lives.
The GOP, their punditclass, and their talkradio buddies better recognize that this kind of PR is bad for their image. The more they act like this, the less seriously we have to take them. They’re becoming the political wing of the KKK.
Comrade Stuck
This a reasonable conclusion, until you start to follow the link trail of the Alaska Independence Party and it’s affiliations, with among others, the Paleocons, having a subtle, but certain attitude of white supremacy.. I do not suggest that these vile and stupid characters are part of the base of the GOP, I will say they are a fringe of the fringe RW. Distant cousins, but cousins all the same. The GOP has outwardly tried to paint Obama as being connected with the corresponding left fringe of the fringe WeatherMen, and turnabout is fair play in my book. Though I know some believe that pointing this out is just not becoming of good polite liberals.
Perry Como
I guess even neo-nazi scumbags can’t agree about the 88 thing. I knew a guy that had 88 tattooed on his knuckles in black letter and he said it stood for SS. Yeah, he was a tool.
Cris v.3.1
Okay, as long as we’re talking about fucked-up numerology, what does 3-7-77 mean? (There are numerous guesses.)
ann sand
I live in Tennessee, and just want to say there are many REAL Americans here – not the type who attack and destroy everything not like them (like this cesspool inhabitants).
Lots of good stuff going on here; incredible turnout at the early voting, heavily favored for Obama in west Tennessee/Memphis. Even in rural middle Tennessee, vote is splitting 50/50.
The ground game here by the Obama camp is incredible, and this isn’t even a swing state.
Yesterday some idiot stole my Obama sign for the 3rd time, so i just went online and donated to the campaign in their honor, and put another sign out.
Drove a 70 year old lady to vote for Obama today.
…a 59 year old white Democrat for Obama in Memphis, TN
Martin
Maybe there’s hope after all.
Not bad for Indiana.
Zifnab
This is like when Hitler said he was going to kill a million Jews and one clown, and one of his generals asked "Why are you killing a clown?" to which Hitler responds – "See, no one cares about the Jews."
Dungheap
The Smoking Gun has what appears to be the criminal complaint.
They sure as shit aren’t the brightest bulbs. Their alleged plot to assassinate Obama seemingly was to drive at him really fast with guns balazing donning white tuxedos and top hats.
Seriously.
Delia
I ventured into the white supremacist corner of the internets after the OK City bombing; skimmed through an online version of the Turner Diaries and some David Duke rants. It takes years to get your head properly rinsed out after an adventure like that. I don’t plan on ever going back.
tigrismus
Third Reich and Roll
Polish the Guillotines
Wow. Pets, neti pots, Sidecars, and the Residents.
This is the most eclectic commentariat on the tubes.
Punchy
@Martin: That is a big deal. If what is normally thought to be a Cesspool State (by Illinoisians), if these peeps are too pissed off to diss a Scary Negro, O may just pull off the biggest upset in the nation (in my opinion) and take Indiana.
Stay angry, Indy.
Notorious P.A.T.
Yeah, right, as if those people can count that high.
Tsulagi
No shit. If the brains from these two formed a V12, I donât think they had spark to a single cylinder let alone any fire.
Notorious P.A.T.
Were they both going to be shooting, or would one be steering and the other shooting?
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Thanks, tigrismus! But we should be fair and note that The Residents were comfortable in the Heartland as well as the Homeland.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
Did these two dumbshits really expect people to sit still and not try to stop them while they killed 102 people?
Jay in Oregon
According to the article, they planned a suicide attack.
âThey said that would be their last, final act â that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama,â Cavanaugh said. âThey didnât believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying.â
There have been other instances of white supremacists trying to spark a "race war", either by providing inspiration to other white supremacists or provoking American-Americans to violent action that they could "defend" against.
Notorious P.A.T.
It’s a well-known fact, among those who monitor such whackos, that membership in hate groups like neo-Nazis, the KKK, etc. increases when Democrats are in charge. The whackos feel that that means they aren’t welcome in mainstream society so they join fring groups as a way of expression. By the same token, membership in such groups dips when Republicans run the government.
jake 4 that 1
Thanks for the 411 on 102. I suppose if I’d grown up in RealAmerica(R) I’d know these things. It wasn’t until I was in college that I learned that the multi-cultural "skins" in my neck of the woods were just making a fashion statement.
TheHatOnMyCat
One week left. Go Barack.
Jay in Oregon
And let me just say that my sympathies go out to the students and families of the unnamed school these assholes were planning to attack.
Everyone in the area knows which school these guys were talking about, even if the complaint doesn’t say.
Notorious P.A.T.
Here’s an article published just a few months ago:
Link to article
Draw your own conclusions.
libarbarian
I think need a Balloon-Juice Conspiracy-Off where we compete to both mock the conspiracy theories and try and predict which ones will come out in the future.
Maybe even challenge other blogs to see whose readers are the best?
Sample:
The REAL Barack Hussein Obama died in shortly after birth in a Hawaiian hospital. He had been conceived as part of the the master plan, conceived by the CONMINTERN and carried out by the Weather Underground, to destroy America from within. Rather than abort the plan and face the anger of his Comintern masters, Bill Ayers traveled to Kenya where he got his hands on an Arab child who was flown back and substituted for Barack Hussein Obama.
This explains both his problematic birth-certificate, connection to Bill Ayers, Socialism, Arab heritage, Grandmothers alleged memory of Kenyan birth, etc.
Plus, I like the idea of a Bene-Gesserit-esque plan for breeding a communist Kwisatch Haderach.
4tehlulz
>Yes. We should all be terrified. These men are obviously dangerous.
So true. Next thing you know, we’ll find out that these losers just wanted to impress some chick.
Atanarjuat
If these two fools had been overwrought "kill Whitey!" homeboys who’d plotted to assassinate John McCain, I suspect that Mr. Cole would have dedicated this post to collect funds for their legal defense.
Excuse me for interjecting some food for thought — please carry on with your anti-conservative guilt-by-association echo chamber, lefties.
Country First.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
All Residents fandom aside, this does scare me. Not because these nitwits probably couldn’t have caused any real damage to anyone, but because they hated that much, because someone a little smarter and better organized could succeed to some degree, and because the freaking media is going apeshit over this. Way to present Obama as a risky choice, guys.
Notorious P.A.T.
June 22, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama’s historic victory in the Democratic primaries, celebrated in America and across much of the world as a symbol of racial progress and cultural unity, has also sparked an increase in racist and white supremacist activity, mainly on the Internet, according to leaders of hate groups and the organizations that track them.
Neo-Nazi, skinhead and segregationist groups have reported gains in numbers of visitors to their Web sites and in membership since the senator from Illinois secured the Democratic nomination June 3.
Link
Cris v.3.1
Atanarjuat is outraged about this hypothetical situation!
tammanycall
I blame the base. They’re the ones going to the rallies, doing this. Did any of these people hatch a plot? Not as far as I know. Did Palin or McCain? Probably not.
But have they consistently behaved in a way to stoke this sort of action? Yes.
Has McCain ignored the warnings of those he supposedly respects, recklessly endangering the welfare of not only Sen. Obama, but Sen. Obama’s supporters, and quite possibly random African-Americans who happen to cross paths with conservanuts like Ashley Todd or these far more dangerous fuckers? Yes.
Has the "base" of the Republican party succeeded in scaring itself shitless of probably the most normal, down-to-earth, level-headed person who has ever run for president in my lifetime, for nebulous reasons they can’t quite explain, but which all pretty much come down to "he’s black and I’m not that’s weird"? YES.
When people act like fools, you have to call them on it. The Republicans have been acting like goddam fools, and I am sick of being understanding. And I think it’s insulting that we haven’t challenged them more on their unacceptable, bigoted behavior. Are we saying that African-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Arab-Americans — should just "take it" when McCain-Palin crowds are acting this way? Because that sucks.
steelhead
@Cris v.3.1:
Google the date and go to wikipedia.
Zifnab
@Notorious P.A.T.: Yes, Pat, but that’s only because the Administration is handing them nice government jobs. Seriously, some of the biggest assholes and racists have taken root in the civil rights division of the Bush Admin. And with a full blown war on and recruitment standards at all time lows, you know the skin heads have been turning out to join military outfits that normally wouldn’t touch them with ten foot polls.
They feel more accepted because they are more accepted.
Cris v.3.1
@steelhead:
It’s not a date. At least, none of the prevailing theories suggest a date.
I just think it’s weird that a symbol of the Vigilantes is on the official seal of the MT Highway Patrol.
MeDrewNotYou
I learned about the 88/14 thing from a show on the History Channel. They have a couple of really good documentaries on neo-Nazis in the US and about the history of the KKK (They’ve been on a couple times in the last week, not sure if it was on History or History International, though).
One of the things that was striking about both shows was some of the organizations that hate groups. There was a Jewish war veterans group that shows up to nearly every neo-Nazi rally and get in their faces; they certainly qualify as ‘bad-ass.’ The Southern Poverty Law Center, though, has probably done more work fighting these groups than nearly any other in the US. If you’re of the mind to help out, the SPLC accepts donations, and I’m sure you’ll get a warm fuzzy feeling from stuff like suing the KKK and making them turn over their property to elderly black women.
Soylent Green
Unfortunately, on that ill-fated day, their neighborhood tux shop, which serves the local high school prom market, would have been all out of white tuxedos. So they would have to do the job instead in those baby-blue satin ones with the red cummerbunds and pink puffy shirts.
libarbarian
@ Jay in Oregon
Sounds like what I thought: The real plot was to pull a Columbine. The part about "assassinating Obama" was just fantasy.
JL
@ann sand: According to the Atlanta Paper people are taking desparate mesures around here in order to keep their signs. They have been known to smear the sign with roofing tar.
jake 4 that 1
@Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse: They’ll have to be a little smarter than the S.S., not a little smarter than some toothless meth gobbling rejects.
Sherrell
So these f*ckheads we’re going to shoot innocent high schools students most of whom probably can’t vote?!?
I expected this election to get ugly but the ashley todd’s and top hat douchebags of the world just took it to another level.
Atanarjuat
@Cris v.3.1 – In the spirit of "a picture is worth a thousand words," I present to you a graphic that best expresses my response to your martini glass-swirling snark.
Country First.
John PM
On another upbeat note, someone at a Palin speech calls Obama a n—–. I saw the You Tube via Andrew Sullivan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9T0FI2axbU
OniHanzo
Thanks ZZ Top. Just… yeah.. fucking thanks.
Dennis - SGMM
Had those nitwits been intent on shooting white kids and attempting to assassinate McCain I’m certain that McCain/Palin would have in no way attempted to make political hay of it.
Cris v.3.1
. * swirls martini glass *
Jeff
Wow, comments on the FoxNews version of the story make Atanarjuat seem reasonable. I cannot wait for this election to be over.
Punchy
How does one fit/sit in a car with a tophat on?
binzinerator
May create, John? There’s nothing ‘may’ about it. That ugly and hate-inspiring talk is designed to stoke these kinds of freaks and crazies, and McCain and Palin and Schmidt and everybody who’s been paying attention ever since Goldwater and George Herbert Walker Bush railed against the crazy infesting their party damn well knows it.
There is nothing, nothing like the crazy that now lurks at the far edge of the Right, both in terms of numbers and virulence.
Remember the guy who took his shotgun and went looking for liberals at that church? Did you already forget the Ashley Todd’s hoax and how McCain and a number of widely viewed or watched media sources tried to incite this exact kind of violence in these exact kinds of people?
John, people just like these guys are a part of the Republican base. Yes they are not all the base, but these kind of people have now formed an integral and significant part of it. If these people were cancer in the GOP, they would be a growth with tendrils deep throughout the lower functions of brain of the patient. It is inoperable and is now bound up with the life of the patient.
The violent racists were welcomed decades ago. Did you not see David Duke in the 80’s going Republican? What kind of kindred spirits do you think he brought into the party with him? There is a relationship between Klan, white supremacist, neo-nazi and skinhead — and yes, the Republican base.
phobos
I blame the country club Republicans. And The Residents.
Cris v.3.1
Like so.
Blue Raven
@OniHanzo:
No, I don’t think ZZ Top videos had a thing to do with that decision. Think about it. How else are you going to imitate KKK robes when you’re a basement-dwelling virgin with an overly inflated ego and don’t want to risk Mom finding the bedsheets before your cunning plan unfolds?
Besides, the modern skinhead would never listen to something as slow and melodic as ZZ Top.
Not My Fault
@Punchy:
That’s the image that came to my mind too.
Damn. Our plot was foolproof. Who could have guessed that as we leaned out of the speeding car to take out history altering shots, the wind would have knocked off our top hats and spoiled the whole effect.
Obama was never in danger from these clowns, but it a very good thing that they got picked up before they worked up the nerve to go shooting at the local high school.
OniHanzo
And not at all random or new. Anyone else remember this from last Halloween?
Blockquote fuxxor.
dobrojutro
Atanarjuat – Why would anyone bother to assassinate the guy about to lose very hard?
Martin
What’s most interesting about that video is Palin’s reaction. It doesn’t suggest that she was okay with the comment, rather, it shows that she can’t go off script.
Honda Element will do it. I’m just shy of 6′ and I could wear a tophat in mine easily.
OniHanzo
@Blue Raven: Do you genuinely think I would blame ZZ Top? I mean.. c’mon. Everybody knows where their political loyalty lies.
Cris v.3.1
Because they’re pissed at him for NOT TALKING ABOUT AYERS ENOUGH
binzinerator
"Once is Happenstance. Twice is Coincidence. The third time is Enemy action." — Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger
Ann Sand, this is another, very low level manifestation of what the skinheads were doing because it comes from the same underlying source: It’s a lashing out at what Obama represents, and you better believe it has something to do with race.
If skinheads intent on a racially motivated killing spree could be considered akin to the Hoover Dam breaking, then the sign theft is akin to a gentle trickle from a small crack. But it all comes from the same reservior.
They’d burn a cross on your lawn if they thought they get away with it. For now, they have to settle with merely removing the symbols of that which they hate.
I Am Joe
Dear John (and fellow travelers),
In light of Obama’s recent comments brought to light by a regular citizen (and shockingly NOT the "mainstream" media) and now brought to the public by Drudge, it is too early to predict a winner in the election. I believe liberals don’t realize how turned off most Americans are by socialism and Marxism. However, it is increasingly clear that Senator Obama could win the election. Should that transpire, I have some news for you brought you to by the tens of millions of us who will NOT be voting for him or for socialism:
Obama is not and will not be our President. He’s YOUR President. I have no respect for someone who’s been vetted less thoroughly in 18 months by a cheerleading media than a plumber (yes a plumber) was in 2 days by that very same media. I have no respect for someone who couldn’t pass a background check to work for the federal government (because of his ties to far-left radicals) but could be elected President. And I MOST DEFINITELY have no respect for someone who thinks it’s "tragic" that the Supreme Court hasn’t interpreted the Constitution as having more "positive rights" (as opposed to negative rights) to redistribute wealth in the name of "economic justice". Those are not American values. Those are alien values. Those are all values of YOUR President, not mine.
The Founding Fathers were very clear – the Constitution exists to protect your rights from the state, so that the state cannot take them away. It doesn’t exist to determine what rights the state can give you (or take away from you).
While you might gloat and say you don’t really care what we tax-paying conservatives or libertarians think, the fact of the matter is that Obama needs us more than we need him (which is not at all).
Why? Simple really. We are the non-victims of society that you DON’T hear the media talk about it or fawn over. You don’t hear about us because there’s not much of a story for the media to talk about with us. We follow the rules, raise our kids, pay our taxes, donate to charities, volunteer at our local church or synagogue, actually read the terms of our mortgage and don’t look to Washington for bailouts or seeking victimhood. You see, WE are the ones who make America work. You and your increasingly bankrupt – (literally) – media enablers may have convinced enough uneducated people to vote for "change", but you can’t force us to do things we don’t want to do.
So if socialism it is, then I’m done. Count me out. My only decision will be whether to revert from working more and paying more taxes to working less (and paying less taxes) or going full monty and becoming a parasite myself like many of the Obama voters. You see, I didn’t bust my ass earning a graduate degree while working full time so I could have my money "redistributed" to some liberal douchebag’s "gender studies" program or some liberal idiot who couldn’t read their mortgage because they went to a public school and have a 5th grade reading comprehension.
So again, why does this matter to you? Because I’m the one who pays a lot of the taxes that YOUR President (not mine) wants to use to "redistribute" wealth. I’m not going to play along in your little scheme. And there are TENS OF MILLIONS like me.
Try spreading the wealth around when the people who create the wealth decide they’ve had enough. The federal government (already 500 billion in debt this year) is going to be heading towards bankruptcy before Obama reaches year 2 but they’ll be no one to pay for YOUR President’s socialist policies. I certainly won’t. In fact, I’ll be doing my little bit to ensure it. I don’t work for Washington and I don’t work for you.
If you elect a Socialist, you’ll get the historical consequences of socialism – failure. And I’ll be playing my part to ensure it does. Blowback is a bitch.
Sincerely,
Joe the Plumber and the rest of America’s WORKING class
Cris v.3.1
Race plays a part in the high emotion of this election year, but I suspect emotions would run high regardless. You’d see the same shenanigans if Clinton were the nominee, and while you’d better believe it has something to do with sexism, it would have a lot more to do with the fact that the Republican tribe is facing a humiliating defeat.
Obama represents the failure of the GOP triumphalists. That’s sufficient to get them performing petty acts of minor vandalism. It doesn’t mean they’re cross-burners.
Martin
More real Americans!
Now, I’m not a gun person, but I know that adults have trouble keeping short automatic weapons from traveling up and catching them in the head. I also know how strong an 8 year old is (not very). Even with a certified instructor, that was flat-out stupid. Give the kid a Wal-Mart .22 if he wants to shoot pumpkins.
Personal Designation
Signs being removed is about as funny as municipal workers (including cops) on duty putting them up while on the clock. I wish I had invented signs, then I could tax everyone for speech and posting on the internet.
As for burning crosses, I would issue heavily taxed burning permits but oppose the burning of any religious symbols that have an eternal culpability clause in them, due to the fact it might cause civil unrest. I wouldn’t want people to think they had a make believe government dontcha know. And if those signs were made of hemp, the death penalty!
Bey
@I Am Joe: * yawn *
râŹnato
…says the guy who thinks that Obama is a terrorist-sympathizer because he was in the same room as a former Weather Underground radical.
I adore our pet troll.
kay
I have a Republican acquaintance who wanted to visit our local Obama shop. I’m actually fairly proud of it: it’s a positive place, and people work hard.
I took him in, he was interested, he chatted with the assembled Democrats. They lobbied him (a little) but generally let him alone on his anti-Obama recitation. "Taxes! "Liberal!" Just stock GOP stuff.
We went for coffee after and he was impressed. But, "concerned". He gravely informed me that the volunteers were "very, very" dedicated and if McPa were to win, it will be Obama’s "duty" to "bring them all in, over to McCain-Palin".
He sees Obama as having the "duty", not McCain, even if McCain wins. Ya know, for the good of the country.
I think that’s probably our last chat over coffee. This divide is BROAD and DEEP.
Tom Ames
I should think it would be fairly obvious that ‘3-7-77’ refers to the Condemnations at the University of Paris by Bishop Tempier of the teachings of Aristotle.
Note that:
sounds a lot like the intended message sent by the Vigilance Committees:
Conundrum solved. You’re welcome.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@I Am Joe: …it is too early to predict a winner in the election.
Well, actually it isn’t. Too early to declare one, sure.
That’s a pretty impressive copy-paste screed there, Joe! Piefilter!
râŹnato
shorter Joe: waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
come on back here when you have some entertaining Obama conspiracy theories to share. We’re always up for enjoying a good laugh and some schadenfreude at a wingnut’s expense.
ImJohnGalt
Yeah, it’s like that time that Canada got an F from the teacher.
Or the time we flunked Gym.
So, when you get to pocket more money because Obama’s tax plan will save you more than McCain’s, feel free to spend it on a better "Graduate Degree".
Tom Ames
Noting, of course that:
1. the Condemnations took place on 3-7-77 (that is, March 7, 1277), and
2. the Vigilance Committees actually very rarely would ‘sting’ their victim up from a tree, preferring instead to ‘string’ him up.
(Damn you, non-functional edit function!)
jake 4 that 1
@I Am Joe’s Vas Deferens: Socialism, fap, fap, fap. Taxes, fap, fap, fap. Americans, fap, fap, fap.
Zifnab
@kay:
Well, it would definitely be for the best if – for national unity’s sake – Obama were to discourage the rioting and looting and white lady raping that would surely follow his defeat. Fortunately, you can inform your dear friend that ACORN has so heavily rigged the vote by letting colored people cast ballots that this election is in the bag. Furthermore, it would be worth reminding him that after Obama seizes control of the Unitary Executive Branch, McCain has a duty to lead the last true conservatives who prove themselves to be his people out into the desert where they will wander for 40 years until at last they find the promised land with its warm milk and sweet sweet honey.
Tom Ames
Joe the Plumber:
1. It’s true: I donât really care what you conservatives or libertarians think. Your kind has spent the last 8 years fucking things up nicely, now it’s time to let someone else bail the country out;
2. Your threat to not pay taxes would have more teeth if you weren’t already known as a tax cheat;
3. "Graduate Program": yeah, right. Like anyone believes that.
JL
@kay: Yup. Personal Responsibility is a thing that hard nose repubs preach but know little about.
Comrade Stuck
@I Am Joe:
Sure is a windy troll, but finally he reached the salient point in his scree. Yes, blowback is a bitch, so dear Comrade Joe, drop your drawers and assume the position, your about to receive teh change you can believe in. And when it’s over, don’t fret too much, the swelling will go down before you know it.
Rick Taylor
Traitor. Bush has been my President for seven years now, and this has been my country, even as I’ve been horrified to see the path he’s brought us on. It’s been painful being an American as we’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars, thousands of American lives, and resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of refugees all to protect us from what turned out to be the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. It’s made me sick to my stomach watching as we’ve turned our backs on Habeas Corpus and begun openly debating the merits of simulated drowning. Yet through it all, much as I’ve wished otherwise, Bush has been my President, and I would never dream of denying it. Why is it so many conservatives feel so free to call us Benedict Arnolds, yet their the one who feel no loyalty to the country unless elections go just the way they want them to? If you don’t like elections, maybe you ought to move to some country where they don’t have them.
P.S.
I figure the post I’m replying to is spoof, but plenty of conservatives really were saying Clinton was not their President, and probably will about Obama if he wins.
libarbarian
@I Am Joe
No, John Galt, please don’t go on strike.
I mean, seriously, ripping your rant off Ayn Rand? Really?
Really?
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@Tom Ames: 3. "Graduate Program": yeah, right. Like anyone believes that.
Um, it’s actually sort of plausible. Graduate students in Engineering can be exactly this kind of dick.
4tehlulz
Shorter Joe the Plumber" BAWWWWW!
Rick Taylor
Well, in general the looser in a Presidential election does have some duty to unite the country behind the winner. It’s important which ever side wins, we all respect Democracy and at the very least have a peaceful change-over of power (which doesn’t mean we don’t continue to fight via persuasion and the ballot box). Gore did something similar, making it clear he respected the supreme court’s decision in 2000.
One of the questions on my mind is whether McCain will do the same assuming he looses, setting an example as the leader of the party by making it clear he respects the results of the election and the office of the Presidency. I assume he will, dropping the talk of we don’t know this man and returning to the themes he’s a good man whom he disagrees with, it’s what just about every candidate does and should do at that point. On the other hand, given the way things have been going, I’m uncertain and will be watching.
Josh Hueco
Shorter Joe the Plumper: It’s hard out here for a douche.
Tymannosourus
@ Tom Ames,
I am Joe is probably enrolled in one of many of the Regents University graduate programs, like:
convenient patriotism, studies on straw man attacks, misplaced blame directed at gay folks, or maybe even Cowboy diplomacy.
Comrade Stuck
@Rick Taylor:
Unfortunately, this is all we have to work with right now, till the real deal returns if Obama wins and they come around bawling their heads off as to why Obama hasn’t cured cancer, the Wall Street mess and Limbaugh’s ass pimple. It should start about 20 seconds after Barrack takes the pledge, though some won’t wait that long and will start the minute the race is called.
TheHatOnMyCat
Good grief, can we get a spooftroll who doesn’t do his reveal right out of the gate?
Fellow travelers? Goodchrist, did you flunk out of the Joseph McCarthy Institute of Trolling?
Is there no talent out there any more?
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@Rick Taylor: Gore did something similar, making it clear he respected the supreme courtâs decision in 2000.
Then Bushco pooed all over it by being terrible winners. "The adults are in charge! They stole the Ws from all the keyboards!one!1"
I’m curious to see how McCain handles losing. Honestly, it could go either way, but I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see him throw a major wobbler.
Comrade Jake
@I Am Joe:
What fucking planet do you live on? This is piles of stupid.
Josh Hueco
Let’s see–ignorant, resentful white guy with a midget complex? Yep, he’s a Texan!
Joshua
I Am Joe’s unhinged ranting is hilarious. Two things, though:
1. I went on 2 sites and saw "Obama couldn’t get security clearance" postings from 2 wingnuts. A quick Googling showed me this is something wingnuts have been talking about for months, but I guess its the End so they are gonna throw everything out there. Wrong, as usual.
2. Since when is raising taxes from 35% to 39.6% on the richest Americans equal to Socialism? 39.6% is not even close to the highest tax bracket in America’s history, and if I remember correctly the times when it was the highest were some of the most prosperous and successful times in our nation’s history, especially for the middle class. And 39.6% was the rate under Bill Clinton, who left office with approval ratings so high Bush couldn’t dream of them. If "I Am Joe" would like to explain to me how a 39.6% bracket for people making over $250,000 is "Socialism" then I am all ears, I need a good laugh.
3. I Am Joe reverts to the "silent majority" bullshit… sorry dude we’ve heard that before, with Nixon mainly.
Why do you think our debt is so high, dude? Because we have a fucking President that wants to do all this bullshit but didn’t want to raise taxes to pay for it. Quite frankly, tax and spend is much better than borrow and spend a lot, problem is your guys are the latter.
Tymannosourus
@Comrade Jake:
For some reason, people like Joe think that because sexual escapades haven’t turned up, the "cheerleader" media must not have done any investigating.
libarbarian
@Rick Taylor
Dude, in all fairness, I knew plenty of liberals who said things like "Bush isn’t MY President" and I’m NOT talking about "radicals". Of course, it was said completely unseriously – meaning that they didn’t follow through with any sort of actions. They just bitched and moaned and voted like most people do.
Likewise, the VAST majority of conservatives will say it unseriously. Yeah, I think the potential for violence is greater among that population than among the anti-Bushites.
=====================================
Seriously, have any of you ever reflected on the relative lack of unrest compared to the 60s?
Bob In Pacifica
Comrade Mary, as you know, The Residents had an album, "Reich and Roll" way back when.
Back in the early 1980s I was their mailman. They had a little building in the Western Addition of San Francisco, and I saw them all the time because they were getting orders for their stuff by registered mail from all over the world. The first few times they were a little skittish, but they came to be quite friendly. I eventually got some good swag from them, including a great MX-80 Sound single from their Ralph Records label, "Someday You’ll Be King". Gave me buttons and records and showed me their recording studio, which was on premises.
It was a strange carrier route. It had a lot of fancy upscale places like the Hayes Street Grill, went past the prostitutes lined up under the freeway and through the projects like Banneker Way. Prairie Prince from the Tubes lived a couple of blocks over.
neil
Hey Joe
You are going to lose.
Take it like a man, and like an American, and not like a sanctimonious, my way or the highway, Diva pussy.
If you hate what happens over the next four years, work to change it and elect somebody you believe in.
That’s what the Obama folks are doing this time, and that’s what Conservatives did when Reagan got elected.
That’s the system here.
If you don’t like it – well that makes you a traitor.
Don’t be a jerk. Lose with dignity, and fight another day.
Or, you know, move to Zimbabwe – though I think you’d be better off here.
Rick Taylor
Good point.
Polish the Guillotines
I’m a fan of the Commercial Album. 40 one minute songs. Brilliant.
Comrade Jake
@Tymannosourus:
I suspect it has more to do with the nonsense that Obama’s connection with Ayers hasn’t been investigated. Or that he wasn’t actually born in Hawaii. Or *insert wingnut theory #2451*
These people truly do take pride in being ignorant.
Conservatively Liberal
Douche. Gee, that was easy.
Atanarjuat
dobrojutro said:
That’s some potent Jonestown Juice you’re chug-a-lugging there, dobrojutro. Do you actually think all these pie-in-the-sky polls are an actual reflection of how people will vote on November 4th?
In the words of the fallen comedic icon, Dave Chapelle,
"Bradley Effect, bitches!"
News flash: people lie all the time to make themselves look
somehow more "egalitarian" to pollsters. The Republican brand may be suffering somewhat at the moment, but true patriots know in their hearts that having a wealth-redistributing socialist in charge of our country would be the absolute antithesis of what defines America and all the values she stands for. When the lever is pulled, touchscreen touched, or ballot otherwise filled out, the moral compass that’s guided America through war and prosperity will triumph, and Americans will overwhelmingly vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.
And you know this to be true.
Country First.
Will Hunting
Libarbarian – the lack of unrest is easy to explain: cable TV, religion, cheap and plentiful fast food and cheap gasoline keep 99.999 pct of the population in line.
I Am Joe
"Change you can believe in" amounts to nothing without the consent of the WORKING class. I’ll be working less (and enjoying more leisure time), in addition to donating as much money as possible to charity (and avoid paying even more taxes) because I don’t support YOUR President.
Take your Socialism You Can Believe In and Shove It Up Your Ass. At some point, if the masters provoke, the workers will rebel. Call us John Galt, or Jane Galt or Joe the Plumber – I don’t really give a hoot. If YOUR President is elected, consider this a rebellion among the "Joes" out there. There are tens of millions of us in this country. The grassroots Joes of this country have a shitload of power, especially since we have the internet at our disposal now. If the WORKING class wants to collectively work less and bankrupt the federal government, we can do so. Particularly with all the wealth YOUR President intends to redistribute.
Well I have some news. There won’t be any wealth to redistribute because we won’t create it only to see it "redistributed" to some dumb fuck liberals. I don’t work for you and I certainly don’t work for YOUR President.
Blowback is a bitch.
I Am Joe
Excuse me but how would you know if I was a tax cheat exactly, given as you’ve never met me. In fact, I happen to pay a LOT of taxes, and do not wish to pay a LOT more to some President I don’t recognize as my own.
So I guess I should correct myself, I USED to pay a lot of taxes.
Blowback is a bitch.
Sincerely,
Joe
Shygetz
@I Am Joe:
The only people with a graduate degree who are part of the "working class" are absolute failures who either got a worthless degree or can’t hold down a job in the real world. So, Joe, did you get a worthless degree, are you lazy, or are you a liar?
Choose one or more.
mclaren
Oh yes they are. These people are the entire Republican base now. People who plot to dress up in white tuxedos and top hats while firing machine guns at high school children and the President of the United States are all that is left of the Republican base.
These people are the kooks cheering themselves hoarse at Ann Coulter’s AIPAC speeches and clapping their hands raw at Sarah Palin Rallies. These people are the remaining audience for Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. These are the people who keep Michelle Malkin on the air and provide the readership numbers to keep David Brooks writing columns.
You know what kind of people inhabit the Republican base now? These kinds of people:
From that bottomless chum bucket of psychosis and paranoid delusions, the "Protein Wisdom" blog, authored by the illustrious sh*t-for-brains Jeff Goldstein.
People who plot to dress up in white tuxedos and top hats while machine-gunning government officials are the mild reasonable end of the Republican base. The rest of the Republican base are much more wacked out and far more dangerous.
When Coulter and Limbaugh and Malkin eventually get around to publicly calling for the assassination of Obama (and they will, it’s only a matter of time), will somebody please, at long last, arrest these assholes? And charge them with threatening the life of the president of the United States, which happens to be a felony?
Comrade Jake
@I Am Joe:
You should change your Name here to "I Am Asshole". It would be more precise.
Conservatively Liberal
Pretty funny thing just happened at Red(Neck)State, they had a post by "The Directors" of RedState that was titled "RedState Endorses Mark Begich, Democrat For Senate, and Ethan Berkowitz, Democrat for House At Large in Alaska". Seems the natives were getting restless and they changed the name of the post to "Don’t Vote For Ted Stevens For Senate or Don Young for House At Large in Alaska".
The URL ends with ". . . /oct/27/redstate-endorses-mark-begich-democrat-for-s/".
I have been cruising the wingnut sites and watching the brewing storm. The TheoCons are screaming that the unbelievers need to be tossed with the test being whether or not they support Palin, that if McCain loses it is because he sabotaged Palin since he is a RINO, and that they need to go further to the right because that is what the people really want.
In other words, MORE COWBELL! ! !
If Obama wins, I am going to be popping lots of popcorn and watching the Uncivil War that is going to erupt between the right and the extreme right. The Republican party made the serious mistake of courting the religious nuts and racists to beat the Democrats, and now the crazies want to take over the party and purge it of any moderates.
For some reason they can’t grasp the fact that they (the TheoCons) can’t win a national election by themselves. That they are a small part of our country and that hating everyone who disagrees with them is not a winning strategy. The best strategy for winning national elections is by being inclusive, like Obama is doing, not exclusive like the TheoCons want.
Low-information voters? Nope, just stupid idiots who travel through life wearing blinders like some draft horse. Tunnel vision.
I Am Joe
Hey what do you know, it’s a landslide for McCain – in the US Military. I had no idea – this whole time I thought the military hated Republicans now because they had sent them to die in Iraq. Isn’t this worth bringing up as a counterpoint by the media? Hmm…it’s almost as if….the media is cheerleading for one candidate. Oh wait…
Now do you think all of these brave patriots who have read the US Constitution from top to bottom and have sworn to defend and protect it are ALL going to continue to serve under an alien Presidency that believes the Supreme Court has incorrectly interpreted the US Constitution because it hasn’t gone far enough to "redistribute the wealth"? I mean, do you REALLY believe that liberals?
Blowback is a bitch.
Sincerely,
Joe
Shygetz
@I Am Joe:
The person whose nickname you have assumed is a tax cheat, dumbass.
A) You don’t pay taxes to the President, you pay them to your government–contrary to recent Republican propoganda, the Presidency is not a dictatorship, and the President is NOT the state.
B) If you don’t accept the authority of the legally elected President of the USA, then feel free to leave, you unpatriotic bastard. This is a democracy, not a Joe-ocracy, and if you don’t like democracy then GTFO.
mad the swine
The white tuxedos and top hats are almost certainly a homage to A Clockwork Orange.
boonagain
Aren’t trolls supposed to be just a little bit amusing?
…and this working class rich guy with a graduate degree persona is just , well,… weird.
burnspbesq
@JL:
I have a 125 lb. Great Pyrenees that will be chained to my No on 8 lawn sign over the weekend when the soccer families invade my neighborhood (live across the street from a school with huge athletic complex).
I Am Joe
Enjoy the popcorn. It’s the last of my tax subsidy dollars that you’ll be seeing. I, and millions of other Joes, will be doing our very best to bankrupt YOUR President’s socialist federal government by working less and donating more to charity. We’re already 500 billion in the hole this year. Don’t think we could go just a little bit further, especially with the trillions YOUR President is proposing? I have some news – Yes We Can.
Blowback is a bitch.
Sincerely,
Joe
Will Hunting
Jake – "I am Sam" would work for him as well.
Comrade Jake
@I Am Moron:
Were you born a complete fucking idiot, or did you work at it your whole life? Either way it worked out fine, because you’re an idiot tonight.
râŹnato
I Am Joe = Ataturanjat or whatever he calls himself
if there’s one thing sadder than a troll, it’s a sock puppet troll
I Am Joe
NO you dumb, fucking, publicly educated, liberal fuck. This is a REPUBLIC, not a democracy. I suggest you look up the difference. There is a reason the Founders established a Republic and not a democracy in this nation. You socialists are trying to undermine that. Democracy is just two wolves and a lamb fighting over what’s for dinner. In a Republic, the lamb has individual rights. And guns.
And if YOUR President is elected on November 4th, the lambs don’t have to play along. I, and millions of other Joes don’t have to continue paying taxes to a socialist government that believes the Constitution should be interpreted to include the "redistribution of wealth".
Consider it a tax strike. The WORKING class is done paying the bills. We’re ALL "victims" now. And since we won’t be paying the bills, who is going to pay for YOUR President’s socialism?
Blowback is a bitch.
Sincerely,
Joe
El Cid
I haven’t laughed in weeks so hard as I did reading those two nitwits’ arrest file on the Smoking Gun.
When they described their clever plan to drive a car at full speed toward Obama (somewhere), leaning out the windows in their white tuxedoes and top hats and shooting rifles, this after having failed to burgle the one house they aimed to burgle in the first place, and then shooting a church window out for no reason, did the interviewing officer giggle? At all?
TenguPhule
If by landslide you are referring to the sharp *drop* in military support and fundraising for the GOP, you would be correct.
Atanarjuat
râŹnato said:
And sadder still are delusional misanthropes who baldly state "facts" out of whole cloth without the benefit of proof.
If Mr. Cole is reading this, please, I’d very appreciative if you could inform your conspiracy-minded readership here just how many aliases I’m "operating under" with an identical IP, or even the same IP block.
By the way, râŹnato, I may not agree with everything "I Am Joe" has commented on so far, but the one thing we do have in common is the audacity to not conform to the leftist groupthink that most of you here appear to exhibit. And of course, being called a "troll" for refusing to assimilate into the Barack-Borg Collective.
Country First.
burnspbesq
@I Am Joe:
Obama’s income tax plan will cost me about $20K/yr.
His plan to put the estate tax back to where it was before the Bushies started fucking around with it will cost my siblings and me somewhere around $2 million if my parents die when the actuarial tables predict they will.
And I’m voting for him.
Why?
Because he has a clue.
Clues are wonderful things. You should get one someday.
Comrade Jake
@Atanarjuat:
It’s kind of hard to blame them. All of you asshole/trolls/spoofs pretty much look the same to the rest of us. I don’t care what IP address you have, you’re still full of shit.
Tsulagi
Yes.
This has been another edition of simple answers for simple minds.
Comrade Stuck
@I Am Joe:
Uh, the only thing that poll shows is those who read Army Times prefer Mccain,’
Please Joe, go back and read your copy of "Trolling For Idiots" and get back to us. We are so starved for decent trollery, you wouldn’t believe/
dobrojutro
@I Am Joe:
1) Why do blue states pay most of the taxes?
2) The military supporting a republican merits as much coverage as the earth revolving – newspapers would cover it if it didn’t happen.
Personal Designation
Great Pyrenees should be banned or. . . made mandatory in every classroom of every college and university handing out worthless degrees. I haven’t made up my mind yet. There’s something about a mal petit seizure mumbling a litany and certainly a pique involved where curled up in the fist genitals are concerned.
comrade wingnuts to iraq
I read that Joe the Plumber, "Real America" guy.
What a moran.
He left out a word though…
"The Constitution was created to protect you from a DEMOCRATIC (and especially a black guy) state."
Let the great forgetting commence!
BUSH WAS NEVER PRESIDENT!
Tymannosourus
@I Am Joe:
As an Iraq vet, let me school you and the rest of the chickenhawk young republicans who never bothered to enlist on why the military tends to vote republican in EVERY election (not just this one).
First, a quibble, we don’t read the U.S. constitution before we enlist, we just swear to defend it (which might tell you something about my tendency to not know what I’m getting myself into). I had to actually go to law school before I read that sucker top to bottom.
Second, military members always steer right because, demographically speaking, we are disproportionately composed of lower class whites that generally come from militrary families which (surprise) have always voted republican. I have always been a democrat, and on my guard weekends, I usually get an earful of whatever showed up on Drudge that morning.
A third reason the military leans right is because that is where Republicans have staked their claim with military spending. When the republican agenda has pushed defense spending to the extent that it has, it is obviously going to get some traction with the troops. So in the exact same way that teachers are disproportionately liberal, so it is with the troops.
It isn’t because we have an inside look at how the country should be run, and it isn’t because we are great decision makers, it’s because that’s where our bread is usually buttered, and thats how most of were raised, politically speaking. But if I have to keep hearing people like you and the rest of the able bodied populus who didn’t enlist invoke our names and the names of our fallen for the purpose of pushing your right wing wedge issues and bullshit doctrines for the next 4 years, I’m going to open my fuc%ing veins.
I Am Joe
Good for you, would you like a cookie? It’s clear from your statement that you were born into wealth and thus haven’t earned it yourself. Those of us (the Joes) who have played by the rules and earned our wealth and worked hard to achieve it do not wish to pay higher taxes to subsidize YOUR President’s base: non-working college students and poor African Americans. Is it a wonder that YOUR President’s base does not pay taxes but appears to be reliant on people like me to pay taxes for THEM?
It appears that "Change You Can Believe In" relies on the Joes of the world to set it in motion.
Here’s the thing: What if we don’t do as we’re told and don’t play along? I don’t have to continue working hard to pay taxes for things I don’t support. I would much rather give it to charity than to YOUR President. And so do millions of other Joes. I hate to spoil your little party should YOUR President get coronated, but don’t expect me to fund your little venture and take it like a good sport. I simply am not going to.
So when I say blowback is a bitch, I really do mean that from the bottom of my WORKING class (ie people who WORK and pay taxes for a living) heart.
And by the way, with the Congress at single digit approval ratings and the possible Presidency both in your hands, YOU OWN ALL THE UPCOMING FAILURES. Enjoy.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for Obama.
Sincerely,
Joe
comrade wingnuts to iraq
Joe,
America called and says you can keep your whargl.
Troll on my friend!
El Cid
I fully support Republicans sticking 100% to the Reaganite script about how the problem is taxes and we got to get gubmit off our backs, etc.
I want you guys to keep doing that until you’re left with maybe 6 or 7 Congress members at best.
I want you to keep on until your losses are so sad that your broken-hearted enthusiasts start local branches for Reaganite re-enactments, where one Saturday a month you all get dressed up as enthusiastic Reaganites to lead one last charge against the Cadillac-driving welfare mothers.
I say this because it’s nicer than the truth, which is that I want you miserable, worthless nation-destroying bastards out of our god-d*** country, which we now have to rebuild because of the last 30 years of you f***tards.
gbear
I think McCain will feel like a free man if he doesn’t win. He’ll be publicly gracious to Obama and promise to work with him, but he’d better not say it in front of a crowd of Palin freaks or he’ll get chased out of the building with pitchforks and torches.
PS: The trolls really suck shit here this evening. Sincerely.
burnspbesq
@I Am Joe:
Yes, a cookie would be lovely. Oatmeal raisin, if you’ve got ’em.
Sense check, my friend. If you choose to migrate down the positively sloped part of your personal Laffer Curve, that’s fine with me. But recall that slackers get fired, and recall further that Republicans have gutted the social safety net. There will be no handouts for you. Certainly not from those of us who busted our asses in high school to get into good colleges, and busted our asses in college to get into good law schools, and busted our asses in law school to get good jobs, and continue to bust our asses to make better lives for our kids (as every generation of my family has done since my ancestors stepped off the coffin ships in 1848). And lest you forget, there are about 20 guys in Mexico, and another six or seven in El Salvador, who are perfectly willing to do your job better for less money. Globalization is a two-way street.
Karma is a bitch, and you’re on her list. Enjoy.
P.S. Born into money? Umm, not hardly. My dad was the first person on either side of the family to go to college. He was smart, and he busted his ass, and he worked for a company that rewarded achievement. That’s the way America worked before your lot got its hands on the levers of power.
Comrade Stuck
Well, in that case, I guess we’ll just have to get a bigger meaner IRS, and build some more Federal Prisons for the Scoflaws. It could be part of Obama’s public works projects, and think of the good paying jobs you’ll be creating Joe. On second thought, it might be cheaper to put you slackers to work building your own jails. A good conservative like yourself should be up for a little work camp fun, you know to pay back society for your felonies. Save the taxpayer a dime and help pay down the giant debt George Bush has left us with. See, win/win all around .
kommrade jakevich
I know we’ve got a pie filter but there really needs to be something more for lazy assholes who copy and paste entire screeds into blogs.
Seriously, this should be the trolls’ shining hour and all I see is crap that was tired 3 years ago.
Josh Hueco
I am Joe
http://thepmi.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/john_galt.jpg
Jess
Yet another reason to videotape interrogations…and post them on YouTube!
Joe, have you checked that supposed quote from Obama to see if that’s what he actually said? Or did you just mindlessly go along with the groupthink you’re projecting on others? Before you continue your silly rant and humiliate yourself even more, why don’t you do a bit of research first. Go on–we’ll wait.
jcricket
Dave Neiwert has spent the better part of a decade discussing how the far right is both more vicious and more tied to the Republican party than the "far left" and Democrats.
The Republican party actively courts these people, and while they are not "representative" of the Republican base, they are a vital part of the coalition Republicans put together. From the Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh’s themselves, to the people that harbor them, to the Coulters, Savages and Liddys of the world who encourage them. The right is infested with these nuts, and until they rid themselves of dependence on these people electorally, they will reap the whirlwind.
cain
@I Am Joe:
Ahhh.. fresh meat! Welcome, welcome! Take it easy on him, we want to make it last.
Listen, I’ve been phone banking for Obama, and I’ve heard all kinds of hard times people are going through. People who vote for Obama are having a hard time, and you’re sweeping generalizations about what these voters are (I guess that means more than half the country according to the polls, maybe you should move to some island) I have 74 year old grandmothers still working because their healthcare is in danger. 81 year old grandmother who is working to help support her grandson in college. That’s some awesome ass stories that I’m privleged to hear from the people I call.
So kindly, fuck off… As for your graduate studies, you obviously haven’t learned any critical thinking which you were supposed to do. I suggest you go back and get an economics degree and maybe a degree in critical thinking as well. It’s obvious that you wasted your money you haven’t learned a damn thing.
cain
phobos
@I Am Joe:
Careful, man, thereâs a beverage here.
If you’re not a spoof, I’m guessing Rush and Hannity really whipped you guys into a frenzy today.
If you are, this is veering off into unfunny tastelessness.
Tymannosourus
Goddammit, I expended all that energy arguing with some troller.
Comrade Darkness
They’d, of course, be driving classic Volkswagen Beetles. The People’s car of the FĂŒhrer. They have stunning headroom inside.
Really, my roommate had a 72. You could take a fully assembled bicycle and simply slip it into the back seat.
boonagain
When I saw Obama in Indianapolis last Thursday, the most remarkable thing, to me, was how he kept the message positive and how the thrust of everything he said was all about unifying the Country.
Looks like he’s got his work cut out for him.
jenniebee
Jesus Fucking Christ has everybody seen this Biden interview?
It is now necessary, for the sake of equivalence and balance and the rest of the horseshit the media is supposed to be all about for Palin to be interviewed by a reporter from Mother Jones. And the interviewer should have some quotes picked out of Mein Kampf and ask her to explain how she’s not advocating Nazism if she wants America to defeat its enemies. And if you think I’m exaggerating here, click the link.
What blows my mind about this election is how disconnected the right wing hysteria is from the reality of Obama/Biden. Their line about them being the most liberal Senators/Candidates/liberal-liberal-liberals in American history is just plain hyperbolic; Obama is, if anything, too conservative for the DLC, and that’s saying something. The economic measures Obama’s advocating have a history of producing middle class wealth; anybody want to start a pool on which crazy first suggests that middle class wallets are only being fattened… for the slaughter to come!!!1!
Comrade Darkness
I remember the day I said this. It was the day Bush had local republican committee security kick the citizens with democratic bumperstickers on their cars out of a town hall meeting. HE decided he wasn’t the president of anyone who disagreed with him. It didn’t require any action on my part, just acknowledgment. It was a relief, frankly.
necros
Their plan sounds nuts, but then… Didja hear about that guy who thought killing the president would make a young lesbian movie actress fall in love with him? His plan almost worked.
You can’t spell assassin without two asses.
I Am Joe
Careful there. Without us in the country paying taxes to fund your liberal programs, your plan for socialism is just that, a plan. And as always, socialism will lead to equality – equality of poverty as fewer and fewer people pay the taxes and more and more of the serfs suck on the government tit until there’s no one left to pay the taxes anymore.
Hmm, you probably don’t realize (public education and all) but you sound awfully like a Reaganite there. You see, that’s the way America USED to work. Apparently, now you can fuck up all you like because Mr. Change You Can Believe In will be more than happy to load you up with welfare payments left and right. Oh, you don’t actually pay taxes? No problem! Here’s some more welfare payments…woops…I mean "tax cuts" for you!
Socialists are always Stalinists at heart, so your comments come as no surprise. Problem is comrade, socialism never’s worked anywhere it’s been tried. Venezuela can’t even keep their lights on, and they’re rich in natural energy resources. Welcome to the road to serfdom.
Actually, my degree IS in economics which is why I recognize work disincentives when I see them. Your sob stories about grandmothers are great and all, but there comes a point when people refuse to work more when over 60 percent of any wealth they accumulate goes to welfare payments (as it would under an Obama presidency). Here’s Gregory Mankiw of Harvard to dumb it down for you.
The very people you’ll intend to help you will instead hurt on our road to serfdom. But he’s YOUR President, not mine, and you will own all of his failures. Think it’s bad now? Believe me, it can get much worse than this.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Well since Joe won’t be paying taxes, I guess that also means he intends to stay in his home until January 20, 2012 (or 2016 if we should re-elect a Dem) so as not to use the roads and infrastructure he won’t be paying for?
Thought not.
Jay C
@I Am Shmoe:
Btw, just in the interest of research, you might want to check out this piece at TNR about the political/ideological composition of the US military – you might be surprised to find that it’s far from the right-wing/Republican monolith you suppose it to be.
In short: the officer corps is about 2-1 Rep/Dem: the other ranks self-identify as about 30% "conservative", 25% "liberal", 45% "moderate"/don’t care. IOW, nearly the same as the general electorate. And the troops tend to vote Dem/Rep at just about the same percentages in elections as the civilians at home.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Bush isn’t and has never been my president, but America is still my country and I still paid my taxes.
binzinerator
@Cris v.3.1
Yeah that too. But for GOP triumphalists there’s more.
Those GOP triumphalists are the same religious fundamentalists who have been noted by authoritarian researchers for their strikingly intense bigotry. Bob Altemeyer notes, "Authoritarian followers dislike so many kinds of people I call them ‘equal opportunity bigots’". "Most social prejudice is linked to authortarianism; it’s found in one kind of authoritarian [social dominators], or its counterpart [high RWAs]." And he notes, "High RWAs, we know, tend to strongly be religous fundamentalists."
Altemeyer continues: "[W]hen it comes to racial and ethnic minorities, right-wing authoritarians will still aggress–overtly or sneakily, physically or verbally–but such attacks are less clearly supported by religious and civic authorities than they used to be. So their prejudice in these cases has dropped some."
You can call it a prank but the context and repetition make it more than that. They are going after the stand-in because they can’t act with impungity against the people who are represented by the sign.
As I said, once, yeah a prank, twice perhaps a coincidence, three times there’s a meaning there. There’s a message.
So yeah I’m sure some of it is bitterness and anger because they aren’t going to get their way. But authortarians, and fundies in particular, are bigots. That’s just what fundamentalist right wing authortarians do. Jesus Chist on a pogostick, they’ve got years of research on this kind of people. These are the kinds of people who love a good cross burning.
Onihanzo
My favorite part of Joe’s "I’m gonna take my toys and go home" screed, next to his comical rant about…
Hahahaha right. Top to bottom. No other political group has navigated itself by the light of the Constitution quite like neocons and Bush lovers have.
**Palin wink**
But I digress… my favorite part is the idea that somehow, miraculously, he and the lot he’s allied himself with… have done a fucking thing to improve, contribute or secure this country lo these 8 years. Instead of dividing it, undermining it and rendering it all but completely lost in the modern age.
Please, Joe. I beg of you. Do even less. Good plan. Solid. I wholeheartedly endorse this strategy.
Josh Hueco
Again, when dealing with a Randian/Heinleinian fucktard, sarcasm and ridicule are the best weapons.
I Am Joe
Don’t worry, the millions of Joes around the country will indeed do less. And when the federal government is bleeding red ink and can no longer pay for it’s interest on the debt, let alone for a massive "universal" health care plan, don’t bother asking us to step up. And we all know Obama’s base (non-working college students and poor, uneducated African Americans) are not paying any taxes. He’s YOUR President, not ours.
I pledge allegiance to the Republic and to the Constitution, not alien powers that believe that pieces of paper are "living, breathing documents" that should be reinterpreted for "redistributive means".
You need the Joes more than the Joes need you. The Joes are the ones that made this country great.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Fixed to clarify what you really meant.
Onihanzo
@I am Joe:
You’ll forgive me if I mock your crystal ball, won’t you? As I know it’s worked out so well for ye conservatives thus far, it’d be a shame not to trust it now.
Best troll since myiq.
Josh Hueco
I’m going to try this approach next time I ask for a raise…pay me more or else I’ll quit and the ginormous amount of tax revenues and consumer spending I contribute will disappear and you will all die, die dieeee!!!!….bwahahahahaha!!!
Shorter Joe: Mom!!! I told you not to open the door!
Conservatively Liberal
I don’t know if this "Joe" is a real Joe, but my first name is Joseph and I am a real Joe (though I go by my middle name…lol). I run my own small business, pay my taxes and I will continue to do so after voting for Obama. If his support is "non-working college students and poor, uneducated African Americans" and he wins, that must mean that there are a lot of "non-working college students and poor, uneducated African Americans" out there, right?
No we don’t, and any more discussion with you is a waste of time. Speak for yourself because you don’t speak for this Joe and you never will.
binzinerator
@I am Joe the Plumbob
Dude, you and your party own all the last eight years of failures.
How is Bush’s socialist take-over of our financial industry workin’ out for ya? I hear your man with the reverse Midas touch is considering government ownership of GE, GM and Chrysler, more insurance companies, and now even regional banks. Guess nationalizing major banks, brokerage firms and AIG just wasn’t socialist enough.
And listen my gradauate-degreed and shit-fingered friend, lemme school ya on all you need to know about plumbing:
1. Shit flows downhill
2. Don’t chew your fingernails
Didn’t need no elitist fancy-pants edjumacation for that.
Will Hunting
"Joe" is clearly a spoof. His use of the PC term African Americans is a dead giveaway.
I loved the part about "non-working" college students (read: dirty fucking hippies) and poor black people being Obama’s base. He rolled the right-wing whine machine’s two most shiftless demographics into to one neat package to describe the core of Obama’s support. Well played.
Despite being a spoof, he is the best troll since noiq indeed!
Will Hunting
This absolutely killed me. From an interview between Charles Barkley and Campbell Brown today.
Brown: So are you going to run for governor?
Barkley: I plan on it in 2014.
Brown: You are serious.
Barkley: I am, I can’t screw up Alabama.
Brown: There is no place to go but up in your view?
Barkley: We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren’t going anywhere.
mannemalon
I Am Joe is brilliant.
Stop working so that he can fall below the 250K threshold, so he can not lose the 3% increase he’d get on the income above 250K.
Brilliant plan man. I’m sure you make 250K+, and that there are millions of other savants out there like you making over 250K who want to follow that master strategy.
The question isn’t whether this is actually a real issue. It’s obviously not. It’s whether you’re a GOP tool doing what GOP tools do, or whether you’re just some fuckhead fucking around.
I Am Joe
No, his support would obviously go beyond this base. But the reality is that Obama is a blank slate and the average sample of his supporters are fucking morons. Hyperbole?
Does this sound like a well informed electorate?
Apparently Sarah Palin is now Obama’s running mate. Who knew?
How bout these people?
"He’s accomplished because he’s black!"
What about this group?
He’s a great "oratator!"
The above are literally AVERAGE Obama supporters. They are random samples of Obama supporters that were interviewed and subsequently revealed how dumb they are.
You liberals must be proud to have produced a public education system that produces such fine citizens.
Frankly, I have no interest in subsidizing people this stupid. And there are tens of millions of other Joes like me.
Tattoosydney
Are people still feeding you, I am Sam?
Spoof troll is VERY concerned.
Why don’t you and your ten million friends go off and subsidize yourselves?
Comrade Glocksman
I realize ‘I Am Asshole’ is trolling, but let this blue collar worker from the Heartland* respond.
I’m a 41 year old forklift driver and union member.
I supported Reagan back in high school and considered myself a conservative Republican up until 2005 or so.
That year, the fucking crazy from the theocons and the fiscal insanity from the ‘tax cuts at all costs’ corporate cons became too much to ignore.
I support Obama not so much because I’m in love with his plans, but because I see him as sane and willing to set ideology aside when considering what’s best for America.
As for the not so subtle threats against us Obama supporters coming from the even more unhinged radical right, consider this: a lot of us are ‘bitter reformed rednecks’ who not only own guns, but are legally licensed to carry them and have probably much more practice at hitting the target than the assholes who would threaten us with violence do.
As for your tax bullshit, it’s already well known that red states are a net drain on revenues while blue states contribute more than they get back.
So I guess if you’re a red stater, you’re a welfare bum.
*southwestern Indiana is as ‘heartland’ as it gets for a Republican.
Lesley
Sarah Palin would call these loons "real Americans." Not out loud before an election though. She’s not quite that dumb.
Tom Ames
The grassroots Joes just got their moms to hook-up the AT&T broadband?
When did this development happen?
Tom Ames
The Grassroots Joes(R) are the backbone of this country, and we will not be denied the deference due us. We, the Joes, require that our contributions be valued over those of everyone else.
We Joes are very smart. We are NOT AT ALL the adolescent wankers that our cut-and-paste jobs suggest.
Because we are not going to get our way next Tuesday, we warn all of you fellow travelers that we will rage, RAGE, until you pay attention to us. This is because, as everyone knows, significant and lasting political change only happen as the result of comment activity on random blogs.
However, don’t expect to hear anything from us on Wednesday November 5.
El Cid
Ha, ha, the Reaganites just can’t stand to watch the great, vast majority of Americans, the big majority, even the white working classes, reject their infantile bullsh*t.
Ha, ha, keep up your whining until you have no politicians left. Blubber into your soup about how only you are for freedom and what not. Ha ha ha.
Conservatively Liberal
I heard a rumor that after November 5th the remnants of the Republican party are going to adopt the song Lunatic Fringe as their national party theme.
Lunatic Fringe
I know you’re out there
You’re in hiding
And you hold your meetings
We can hear you coming
We know what you’re after
We’re wise to you this time
We won’t let you kill the laughter
Lunatic Fringe
In the twilight’s last gleaming
This is open season
But you won’t get too far
We know you’ve got to blame someone
For your own confusion
But we’re on guard this time
Against your final solution
We can hear you coming
(We can hear you coming)
No you’re not going to win this time
We can hear the footsteps
(We can hear the footsteps)
Way out along the walkway
Lunatic Fringe
We know you’re out there
But in these new dark ages
There will still be light
An eye for an eye
Well, before you go under
Can you feel the resistance
Can you feel the…thunder
Great choice!
Person of Choler
Here’s your big chance for pushing gun control, hate speech regulation )get rid of right wing talk radio because Rush Limbaugh fomented this), and internet content regulation (because the would be assassins communicated via internet).
It is a Reichstag fire that you didn’t have to set yourselves.
Dennis - SGMM
@Person of Choler:
Isn’t it ironic that your fine Republicans have provided the tools for spying on every last one of us should laws like those be passed?
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Onihanzo:
That’s a pretty low bar.
hmm
I’d not be so quick to dismiss these guys as harmless because their plans were wacky. Previous spree shooters held equally grandiose and absurd ideas – the Columbine shooters had an action thriller plot involving stealing a jet. That was never going to happen, but they still slaughtered a lot of people.
The reality is these were nuts AND hate group followers who owned guns and were planning to kill people. That’s what matters. Just ask the relatives of Ricky Birdsong.
I’m irritated by the media meme that well armed would-be murderers are somehow less of a serious threat than an unarmed bunch of semi-homeless guys in Miami talking smack about destroying the Sears Tower.
Tony J
You’ve really got to applaud the effort Joe le Spoof is putting in. Ever since Darrell graduated from John’s college class there’s been next to no quality faux-wingnut postings to chortle over, and though Myiq and the rest of the pro-Clinton dead-enders did their very best to bring the crazy during the Primaries, what we in the Mostly Lurking Community have missed most over the last year or so is a proper talking-points spouting drone with delusions of credibility to channel the GOP kool-aid straight to our door.
I particularly like the repetition of the "Obama calls for redistribution of wealth via the courts" meme the wingnutosphere has been trying to mainline over the last news cycle. It’s nice to see a good spoof in action, poking you in the nose with hard evidence that the McCain campaign has Epic Failed on such a vast scale that it’s reduced to manufacturing bogus outrage in order to keep the Base interested for another week.
As for the whole "I’m Joe, and so’s my wife" thing. I love it. That’s, like, artistic and everything, dude.
Slappy Stevens
If the trenchcoat mafia at Columbine was supposedy influenced by Marilyn Manson, do you think anyone will suspect that these guys were influenced by Tommy Tune?
Comrade Tax Analyst
Well, I hope when "I Am Joe" gets through not paying his income taxes he spends some of that money he didn’t pay in for some "Soap on a Rope", because his ass will eventually end up in a Federal Prison. Maybe his "bunky" will appreciate his "Anti-President Obama/Anti Tax" rap…but chances are the guy won’t give a flying fuck one way of the other and will just tell him to STFU and bend over a little more.
Joe, let me float you some "Virtual Vaseline" now…think you might just need it.
You know, there’s a guy who conducts his Anti-Tax Seminars over the phone from his cell in Leavenworth…Hey, maybe you and him can "hook up" while you’re in there…
Person of Choler
Dennis – SGMM
Congress (Democrats and Republicans) passed the laws that you mention. I think that the Democrats were happy prepare for (as you say) spying on every last one of us, and voted accordingly.