Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

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

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

You cannot shame the shameless.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Everybody saw this coming.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Republicans in disarray!

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

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Reader Interactions

41Comments

  1. 1.

    TheFountainHead

    Bernie Sanders doesn’t count, he’s not recognized by the National Journal as a Senator, because Bernie Sanders is a COMMIE, and the National Journal don’t recognize no damn COMMIES!!

    Edit: That’s the scariest cat ever. Cute Factor: -543

  2. 2.

    Incertus

    They could throw us all for a loop and actually choose a liberal Senator–Barbara Boxer, Tom Harkin, Teddy Kennedy, who knows? They’ll have to try to regain some credibility for 2016, after all. Or maybe they’ll try to game the conservatives–only question is whether they want the frontrunner to be the most conservative or the most moderate.

    And as far as Democrats who deserve credit go, a big thanks to Howard Dean, who’s stepping down as head of the DNC. Obama took his philosophy of the 50-state strategy and made it work.

  3. 3.

    David

    Credibility is overrated as a concept in the GOP. Facts have a liberal bias, and there is no point in trying to work within a liberal framework.

  6. 6.

    les

    National Journal’s job is to proclaim and "demonstrate" that whichever Dem senator is running an important race is the most liberal. Like all wingnut publications, reality will not interfere with the performance of their duties.

  7. 7.

    Blue Neponset

    John, are you planning on getting WoLK for WOW later this week? I stopped playing about six months ago but I think I will renew my subscription and check it out. With Obama in the WH our nation’s collective nerd quotient just went up. LINK WoLK will help me get ahead of the curve again.

  8. 8.

    ibid

    Bernie Sanders wasn’t a Senator in 2004. And regardless of the reliability of the NJ ratings, Obama clearly demonstrated that he is more of a leftist than Sanders because he said we should spread the wealth. Even a crazy socialist like Sanders wouldn’t propose returning tax rates on the wealthy to pre-Bush levels.

    I predict that they won’t bother naming a most liberal senator in 2012 since none of them will be the Democratic nominee. Instead, after a thorough statistical analysis, it will be determined that Obama has been the most liberal president ever.

  9. 9.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    Is that a cat or a gremlin?

    Answer to the most liberal question: whoever gets Obama’s seat, naturally.

  11. 11.

    JGabriel

    The Fountainhead:

    That’s the scariest cat ever.

    That’s a cat? It looks like El Nigra Diablo, The Little Black Chihuahua from Hell.

    John Cole:

    Seriously, how does that magazine have any credibility after calling Kerry and Obama more liberal than Bernie Sanders?

    Good point, bad example. Sanders is a socialist/independent, and doesn’t technically count as a democrat, although, of course, he caucuses with them

    Still, there’s a surfeit of Senators more liberal than Obama or Kennedy from which to choose. Some who to mind just off the top of my head, in no particular order, are: Boxer, Lautenberg, Whitehouse, Kohl, Feingold, etc. There’s probably another ten – fifteen senators more liberal than either of those guys.

    .

  12. 12.

    Comrade Stuck

    Sarah Serendipity thru the Looking Glass.

    "You know, I have — faith is a very big part of my life. And putting my life in my creator’s hands — this is what I always do," Palin said. "I’m like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is," she added. "Even if it’s cracked up a little bit, maybe I’ll plow right on through that and maybe prematurely plow through it, but don’t let me miss an open door.

  14. 14.

    Punchy

    What’s going on at Sadly, No? Hacked/sacked/whacked? Been giving me the "too busy" signal for about an hour….

  16. 16.

    JGabriel

    Incertus:

    … a big thanks to Howard Dean, who’s stepping down as head of the DNC. Obama took his philosophy of the 50-state strategy and made it work.

    Not to be picky, just wanted to make sure that we also gave Dean thanks and credit for making the 50-state strategy work, himself, back in 2006.

    Seemed a little churlish not to make note of that, while giving Obama credit.

    .

  18. 18.

    Joe Max

    I never could understand McCain pushing trope. "Most liberal senator?" Sez who? There’s Boxer, Saunders, Kennedy, even that liberal traitor Feingold, you know, that human scum who co-authored the McCain-Feingold act… oh, um, never mind…

  19. 19.

    Dennis - SGMM

    @ibid:
    So the coincidence of the highest marginal tax rates on the wealthy with the greatest periods of American prosperity are accidental?

  20. 20.

    Objective Scrutator

    "Who will the National Journal choose as the most liberal Senator ever in 2012 now that there will be a Democratic incumbent? "

    Harry Reid. Harry will be a useful puppet for the most liberal Communist President ever, Barack Obama.

    BTW, that cat scares me. If we lived in more moral times, that cat would have to receive regular exorcisms. Just looking at it, I bet it can do things on the level of this cat.

    UPDATE: "There’s Boxer"

    Oh yeah, she’s that Senator that writes horse sex scenes, right? That should automatically make her the most liberal senator.

  21. 21.

    Joe Max

    Not to be picky, just wanted to make sure that we also gave Dean thanks and credit for making the 50-state strategy work, himself, back in 2006.

    Not to be picky, but the DCC/DNC was hardly supportive of that idea back in 2004.

    Now we’ve seen what it takes to make the 50-State strategy really work, and that is organization on the ground. Obama had it, not because of the Democratic Party, but in spite of it.

  23. 23.

    AkaDad

    The ugly is strong in that "kitty".

    If Obama is a successful President, then he’s clearly the most Liberal President ever.

  25. 25.

    jagorev

    National Journal isn’t always a bad magazine, but they have lost serious credibility in my eyes with their nakedly partisan attempts to define Kerry and Obama as "most liberal". I suspect it sells a few extra copies and gives them free pr after all the wingnuts repeat the line on teevee, but at what cost? The Democrats could nominate Sam Brownback in 2016 and National Journal would still call him "the most liberal member of the Senate".

  26. 26.

    AnotherBruce

    When they accuse someone of being "the most liberal" we should shrug our shoulders and congratulate whoever it is they are applying that label to. Liberalism is a very practical political philosophy. It’s not an ideology like conservatism. There is nothing wrong with being called a liberal and politicians should embrace it.

  27. 27.

    Incertus

    @JGabriel: As I remember, the claim by the many mindless talking heads wasn’t that Obama was the most liberal Democratic Senator, it was that he was the most liberal Senator period, which includes Bernie Sanders.

  28. 28.

    Ken Solomon

    Of course Obama is more liberal than Sanders. That’s like saying that on a scale from blue to red, purple is more purple than red is.

  30. 30.

    Objective Scrutator

    "The Democrats could nominate Sam Brownback in 2016 and National Journal would still call him "the most liberal member of the Senate"."

    On immigration, you could actually make a point that he’s the most liberal senator.

  34. 34.

    Gus

    Rexes are not particularly cute, but I understand that they make up for their ugliness with charming personalities. I once had a customer who had one, and he couldn’t stop talking about how smart and fun his cat was.

  35. 35.

    anonocrat

    @Joe Max: That’s true, but Dean was a Vermont Governor and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2004. He became DNC chair after the election. The 50 state strategy is rightly attributed to him, and to his campaign manager, Joe Trippi.

  38. 38.

    greynoldsct00

    I don’t think the kitty is scary at all; looks rather laid back to me. I had a friend who had a Rex and he was as sweet as he could be…

  39. 39.

    ilsita

    Yeah, I think the cat looks like a cool customer. I told my son that when his rats kick that we will get a kitty, and now I’m smitten with the rex — I’ve never seen one before. My (6yo) son tells me that he’s going to name his new cat "Skull Rudy."

  41. 41.

    John

    I must be far too into my cats, because this is as excited as I’ve been all week so far.

    That’s my boy, The Sheriff, and he’s a 5-year-old Cornish Rex. And yes, he unfortunately bears a striking resemblance to me. But his personality makes up for it.

    PS: The picture was taken with a regular point and shoot. I have no idea why the depth of field is so small.

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