Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

No one could have predicted…

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

You are here: Home / BIG BRASS BALLS

BIG BRASS BALLS

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No one could have predicted this would happen. John Yoo and John Bolton, in the NY Times, discuss the need to limit executive authority.

Up next, David Addington and Dick Cheney write in the Washington Post on the need to reject Unitary Executive theory.

I knew these wankers would do this, I just didn’t expect it immediately and so brazenly. The balls on these people.

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  3. 3.

    cleek

    I’m ever upper class high society
    God’s gift to ballroom notoriety
    And I always fill my ballrooms
    The event is never small
    The social pages say I got the biggest balls of all

    Bon Scott didn’t die. he just went crazy and grew a molestache.

  5. 5.

    Svensker

    The balls on these people.

    See, if we’d only crushed their balls when they were children — as they themselves suggested! — we wouldn’t have this problem.

  6. 6.

    Zifnab

    I really do love how conservatives get incredibly conservative the moment they leave power. And they do it on the most foolish issues.

    America needs to maintain its sovereignty and autonomy, not to subordinate its policies, foreign or domestic, to international control. On a broad variety of issues — many of which sound more like domestic rather than foreign policy — the re-emergence of the benignly labeled “global governance” movement is well under way in the Obama transition.

    Black Helicopters! UN Troops invading Kansas and Alabama! Dey gonna take ur gunz, ur monies, and yur women-folk!

    I’ll give Yoo and Bolton points. After years of advising that the United States tell the rest of the world to piss off, they’re at least holding to consistency. They get to paint Obama and Clinton as appeasers to third-world dictators and charity cases while upholding the "US doesn’t need anybody cause we’re always right" mentality. And they get to do it by demanding that Senate Republicans receive increased filibuster power to hang over the President’s head at every opportunity.

    Given McConnell’s trigger-happy filibuster Senate, there’s really no question what the GOP would even do with such a power. Really, Yoo and Bolton just re-raise the question people have been asking since Dems captured the Legislature in ’06. What do you do with a minority party dead set on pissing on everything in sight without regard for national, party, or even personal well-being? The fact that Yoo and Bolton are asking for additional powers explicitly to abuse them seems to tell me the GOP has no intention of changing course over the next few years. So what do you do with these national power brokers?

  7. 7.

    Jen R

    Big as the wheels on tractors
    Big as the golden arches
    Big as the Golden Gate Bridge
    Big as the state of Kansas
    Big as Mars and Jupiter
    Big as the swing on Tiger Woods
    Tiger Woods
    Tiger Woods

    I am posting Dan Bern lyrics in lieu of going on a rampage. I’m sure you all understand.

  8. 8.

    jibeaux

    They can also help strike the proper balance between the legislative and executive branches that so many have called for in recent years.

    OMFG.

    What’s next, Vladimir Putin’s op-ed proposing that the Medvedev regime should really start pursuing those democratic and free speech reforms that so many have called for in recent years?

  9. 9.

    Interrobang

    Holy effing crap! Hold on to your persistence of memory, folks, because they’re going to be claiming they were for this all along. Me, I felt the universe as we know it lurch 90 degrees upleft. I heard my dictionary change, and it’s at home, and I’m at work. When I go home and look up the word "chutzpah" now, I’m going to see Yoo and Bolton’s pictures (yeuccch)…

  11. 11.

    ed

    I knew these wankers would do this, I just didn’t expect it immediately and so brazenly. The balls on these people.

    Oh, come on. When was the last time you said to yourself, "No way, they’d never do…in a million years…" did they go out and do just that?

  12. 12.

    Sister Machine Gun of Mild Harmony

    Maybe they were REALLY saying that the executive branch should be more limited in its abilities to persecute war criminals.

  15. 15.

    bootlegger

    How about the unmitigated gall to claim that such treaties-by-majority-or-fiat were o-tay if it was about markets and economics, i.e. making the fat cats plumper. But when it comes to the environment? Oh nos, not that! Fuckin’ bastards.

  16. 16.

    Not My Fault

    OK. Yeah. These guys are epic assholes, and the balls that it took for them to write this is (are?) amazing even after the last eight years.

    That said, limits on executive authority would be a good thing. Signing statements would be a good place to start. Those things are pure totalitarianism.

    If Obama could refrain from crossing his fingers when signing legislation, and explicitly void all existing signing statements, while all three branches work out a set of rules to make signing statements an impeachable (capital?) offense, then our we would be a bit more like a democratic republic.

  18. 18.

    carpeicthus

    I would really love it if Obama imprisoned Yoo for the rest of his life without charges. For the irony, if nothing else.

  19. 19.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    I knew these wankers would do this, I just didn’t expect it immediately and so brazenly.

    Me neither – I expected the inauguration to happen first.

  21. 21.

    Face

    I fully expect Bush’s pardon for Yoo, in the "Reason for Pardon" line, will state "Cuz he wroted some stuff".

    The pardons will be extensive, yet halirious.

  23. 23.

    Reverend Dennis

    How about this:

    [Republican Senator] McConnell warned that hasty action could cost Democrats the bipartisan support that Obama, Reid and other party leaders have said they are seeking. "This is an enormous bill. It could be close to a $1 trillion spending bill. Do we want to do it with essentially no hearings, no input, for example, in the Senate from Republican senators who represent half of the American population? I don’t think that’s a good idea," he said on ABC’s "This Week."

    This from a member of the crowd that enabled Bush’s ruinous spending without cavil every step of the way. And the delusional little bastard thinks that anyone still believes in Republican bi-partisanship or that Republican Senators represent half the country.

  25. 25.

    Napoleon

    @Reverend Dennis:

    When I heard that what really stood out is the "we represent 50% of America" BS. They have 41 seats, and they tend to be from smaller states then the Dems represent. If they hit 40% of America I would be amazed.

  27. 27.

    Tsulagi

    Yeah, that’s pretty rich coming from those two twits who spent the past eight years thumping their man-breasts “I’m saying that when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal!”

    That quote is from Nixon, a binging DFH ACLUer compared to these retarded asswipes.

    I see from the opinion piece both Bolton and Yoo are now warehoused at the American Enterprise Institute “think” tank. What is that, an Idiots in Waiting repository?

  29. 29.

    Scott

    I think it frustrates me more that the NYT publishes this stuff from Bolten and Yoo and then doesn’t bother to remind its readers that they believed exactly the opposite when the Republicans were in charge.

    Ohhh, but doing that would involve the Times standing up to the GOP, and we can’t have that, it’s just not done in polite society…

  31. 31.

    Montysano

    @Reverend Dennis: Rev. Dennis beat me to it, re: that onerous troll Mitch McConnell.

    "This is an enormous bill. It could be close to a $1 trillion spending bill. Do we want to do it with essentially no hearings, no input?

    Well, it worked so well these last 8 years, why change now?

    Oh, think of the balls we’ll have!

    You’re too young to be thinkin’ them thoughts, Beulah Balls–er–Beulah Bell!

    /Firesign Theatre

  32. 32.

    SGEW

    More upcoming columns from outgoing Bush Administration figures:

    – "War By Other Means: How Increased Diplomacy Can Replace Armed Intervention" by Donald Rumsfeld

    – "Supporting The Wall Of Separation Between Church And State" by John Ashcroft

    – "Questioning Your Boss: Why Vigorous Dissent Is An Essential Management Tool" by David Addington

    – "Torture Is Always Wrong" by John Yoo

    – "Barack Obama’s Excellent Vacation: How Our President-Elect Spends Too Much Time Off, and Not Enough Time On" by George W. Bush

    – "Ten Easy Tips To Improve Your Memory" by Alberto Gonzales

    – "Dirty Politics Equals Dirty Governance: Why Political Campaigns Should Embrace The Golden Rule" by Karl Rove

    – "I Love Everyone" by Dick Cheney

  33. 33.

    Tsulagi

    @Dreggas:
    LOL! I saw that yesterday on RedState. I’m telling ya, there is no bottom in that rabbit hole of comically stupid that Erick has been falling down for months.

    I’m just hoping they release videos of the patriots in RedState BCT exercises. Zero doubt they’d make those side straddle hop challenged Iraqis look like Delta.

  34. 34.

    The Moar You Know

    I read it. I think my brain is now bleeding. These people are fucking unbelievable. It’s not that I didn’t expect this, but even still, when confronted with such brazen…fuck, I don’t even have a word for what this is. Goddamn shitcock. I pride myself on being a reasonable and peaceful person, but if there was such a thing as a just God, He would set their testicles on fire with WP for this.

  36. 36.

    Reverend Dennis

    I think it frustrates me more that the NYT publishes this stuff from Bolten and Yoo and then doesn’t bother to remind its readers that they believed exactly the opposite when the Republicans were in charge.

    The media in general doesn’t seem to have much interest in challenging the lies from Bushco. This from "Face the Nation" yesterday:

    "The original intelligence was wrong, no question about it," Cheney said on the show. "But there were parts of it that were right. It wasn’t 100 percent wrong. It was correct in saying he had the technology. It was correct in saying he still had the people who knew how to build weapons of mass destruction. I think it was also correct in the assessment that once sanctions came off, he would go back to doing what he had been doing before.

    Bob Shieffer uttered not a peep of disagreement. No mention of the intelligence that was right and ignored, no mention of the conclusions of Hans Blix and the UN weapons inspectors. The new meme is that Bushco was misled by bad intelligence – not that they had lover’s nuts for a war with Iraq. Shieffer, WaPo, et al, will let these monkeys get away with lying and dissembling now because they willingly did so in the past. No sense embarrassing oneself by dredging up what a shitty job you did in the first place.

  37. 37.

    Ash Can

    These two assholes can go fuck themselves with Garden Weasels. Having said that, I’d prefer to see this shit, which we all agree was/is inevitable, appear in public sooner, when the criminality of the Bush train wreck is still fresh in people’s memories, rather than later.

    What would be worst of all is if this shit goes unchallenged. What Scott describes above would be great, and IMO not out of the question. IIRC, it’s not uncommon for op-ed rebuttals to be published on subsequent days. In any event, I’ll be watching closely for some equally public pushback against these two shitheels.

  38. 38.

    gnomedad

    … and in his memoirs, W’s ghost-writer will discuss the importance of accurate intelligence, sufficient troop strength for an occupation, and a clear exit strategy.

  39. 39.

    Zifnab

    @Tsulagi:

    I see from the opinion piece both Bolton and Yoo are now warehoused at the American Enterprise Institute “think” tank. What is that, an Idiots in Waiting repository?

    Think of it like the UAW jobs bank, but for conservative intellectuals. Really, I’m just waiting for some Senator (preferably Corker, for irony value) to propose we engage in an intellectual bailout to shore up these bankrupt idea factories.

  41. 41.

    Stooleo

    New York Times Op-Ed schedule for the month of January:

    Hired Guns (The Dangers of Political Litmus Tests and Loyalty Oaths for new Hires at the Department of Justice). by Alberto Gonzales

    Can’t We all Just Get Along? (The Obama Administration Better Pay Heed to International Treaties and Reject Unilateralism). by Richard Cheney

    How to Become a Better Listener (To be an Effective President, One Must Listen to Conflicting View Points). by George W. Bush.

  42. 42.

    Zifnab

    @gnomedad:

    … and in his memoirs, W’s ghost-writer will discuss the importance of accurate intelligence, sufficient troop strength for an occupation, and a clear exit strategy.

    Memoirs nothing. These were the fundamental platforms of the Bush ’00 run for President. Maybe you’ve forgotten, but we’d become engaged in a massive endless quagmire in Kosovo and then-Governor GW was making the case against invasion purely on ideological grounds.

    The next 8 years are going to only get more hilarious as we bookend Bush-era policy with Obama and Clinton.

  43. 43.

    Ash Can

    @SGEW: I’m waiting for Alberto Gonzales to publish an op-ed bemoaning the politicization of the DoJ.

    (ETA: h/t to Stooleo, who clearly beat me to it.)

  44. 44.

    PaulW

    If Yoo is still working as a professor in U.C., I think it’s high time the faculty vote him out because he is so damn inconsistent in promoting legal theory. Well, that and his being a goddamn war criminal.

    I’d love to see these guys anywhere outside of the United States after January 21st.

  46. 46.

    Jay B.

    Hey, I was against excessive executive power before the people who supported it last month turned against it. Can I haz riting job for Times now?

  47. 47.

    Jen R

    @Jay B.:

    Hey, I was against excessive executive power before the people who supported it last month turned against it.

    That’s because you hate America. No job for you!

  48. 48.

    Shinobi

    LIGHTNING BOLT!

    How do you think they deal with that cognitive dissonance? I would love to peek into their minds and see just how much they have to delude themselves. It makes MY brain hurt, theirs must be in agony.

  49. 49.

    p.a.

    One of the things keeping me going is the fervent hope there is more payback than just losing elections awaiting these fucks in the future.
    serenity now…serenity now…

  50. 50.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    @Shinobi:

    It makes MY brain hurt, theirs must be in agony.

    Sadly, no. Their conscience is clear, they sleep the sleep of the innocent newborn. They’re not engaging in politics; they’re practicing a religion.

  51. 51.

    Paul L.

    Looks like the Democrats also have BIG BRASS BALLS.
    Pelosi Seeks House Minority ‘Bill of Rights’

    Pelosi’s document, which she vows to honor if Democrats regain the majority, says: "Too often, incivility and the heavy hand of the majority" have silenced Democrats and choked off "thoughtful debate.

    Nancy Pelosi: Back to the good old days

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation.

  52. 52.

    Redhand

    These guys are epic assholes, and the balls that it took for them to write this is (are?) amazing even after the last eight years.

    Especially Yoo, I mean, Holy God, Mr. POTUS-has-unitary-executive-power-to-torture himself.

    Does this moon-faced schmuck have any sense of decency, not to mention irony, at all? Does he honestly think anybody gives a sh*t about his "legal opinions" on presidential power after the damage he’s already done?

    It’s enough to make you heave, literally.

  54. 54.

    Shinobi

    @Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    They’re not engaging in politics; they’re practicing a religion.

    I don’t know, I think religion’s rules generally stay the same. Politics is where you get to change the rules when you’re a big loser. (Or Winner)

    But you can justify it to yourself by saying the other side would do the same thing.

  55. 55.

    Karen

    First off, I don’t think any of them will even see time in a court of law, much less jail time. Before BushCo is done, they will all have their pardons for whatever little reason that pea brain can conjure up. Plus, everyone else is too set on "moving forward", which can guarantee that history will repeat itself.

    As for Yoo & Bolton coming out like they are: They are worried they’ll be tarred with the BushCo scum, so are busy trying to clean themselves off. There will be more. It will be more rediculous.

    John, pet Tunch & calm down.

  56. 56.

    Zifnab

    Looks like the Democrats also have BIG BRASS BALLS.

    Uh… those rules didn’t pass, Paul. They were flatly ignored by then-acting Speaker Hastert. Republicans were proclaiming "permanent majority" right up through 2005.

    And calling out the "Bend Over For Bush" Congressional Dems of ’02 – ’08 for having "Big Brass Balls" is a joke. We fucking WISH they had said balls. Dems haven’t shown any serious balls in the last thirty years. Pelosi’s "Sternly Worded Letter" kindly requesting then-Majority Republicans to pay attention to them is a case-in-point.

  58. 58.

    Tony J

    How do you think they deal with that cognitive dissonance? I would love to peek into their minds and see just how much they have to delude themselves. It makes MY brain hurt, theirs must be in agony.

    All they’re saying is that since gutless liberals have been beating their weedy chests for years demanding that limits should be put on the authority of the President, it would be plain old hypocrisy and partisan politics for them to to oppose conservative suggestions for limiting the authority of the President just because he happens to be a Democrat.

    In other words, they’re not rejecting the positions they’ve held over the last eight years, far from it. They’re just saying that because Democrats opposed these positions when they put power into the hands of a Republican president, they shouldn’t adopt those positions themselves now that they’ve got that power in their own hands.

    Shorter – If it’s bad for a Republican president to reject limits on his power, it’s bad for a Democrat president to do the same.

    At least, that’s how it looks to me via my Wingnut Lens of Rhetorical Spin. When I take it off the whole piece makes my brain hurt too.

  59. 59.

    jonas

    Why this letter was not signed from their jail cell in the Hague is the most disturbing thing about it. On another level, however, it just goes to show how all their ideological posturing over the past 8 years was just that — political posturing. They do not, and never had, the courage of their convictions. The War on Terror, the Unitary Executive — all that — was by and large an attempt to aggrandize the political fortunes of the Republican Party. As soon as the political winds change, well, those positions can bend to accommodate a minority status and attack a Democratic president. All in a day’s work for these craven bastards.

    Also, be on the lookout this week for Hugh Hewitt, RedState, Instaputz and the others to rail against court-ordered ends to election recounts, scream about how "every vote should be counted," and all the other stuff that they asserted was liberal whining back when Bush’s election, and not Al Franken’s, was at stake. Idiots.

  60. 60.

    Jay B.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation.

    I can only hope this is true. It would be the first evidence in 3 years that Democrats have any balls at all.

    Also: Suck it up douchebag. If you were "Democrats should have some say" in the glory days of Klepto rule (2002 – 2006), then I apologize. However, if you were a typical Republican, I have less than no sympathy.

    Finally: Democrats represent an overwhelming majority of voters, it’s way past fucking time they started acting like it.

  61. 61.

    The Moar You Know

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation.

    @Paul L.: Don’t like it? Next time do a better job winning elections, fucktard.

    Get back to work, Paul. Those black strippers won’t rape themselves, they need your help.

  62. 62.

    Joe Buck

    Just wait until they explain the great power of the important office of the ex-presidency. Ex-presidents must have unlimited power to keep their secrets from current presidents, and must have total control of any papers they generated, because otherwise Bad Things will happen. Also, current presidents must follow all rules set up by ex-presidents, forever and ever, so that everyone can count on consistent policies.

    The key is that we live in a center-right country, therefore leftists like Obama must be prevented at all costs from doing anything. If Republicans have to make up arguments to achieve this, the op-ed pages will be happy to oblige them in getting the word out.

  63. 63.

    nick

    Definition of Chutzpah:

    A boy kills his father and mother. When brought before a judge for his crime, he throws himself upon the mercy of the court as an orphan.

  65. 65.

    Arun

    What irked me was that these two shared the page with Kristol in the physical paper. Except for a slim Krugman column, 80% of the NYT Op-Ed page looked like a right-wing warmonger gangbang.

    I don’t know why these people are received in civilized society, much less given such a platform.

  66. 66.

    MikeL

    On the subject of Big Brass Balls – guess who’s giving away personal info, after complaining about others doing it? Michelle Malkin of course. Name, account number, transit info, the works.

  67. 67.

    Dan

    Inexplicable. There’s still two weeks left. I was expecting this op-ed to appear on the 20th.

  68. 68.

    Kirk

    About that rules re-write… as I understand it, the rule is one the Republicans got added when they lost the majority. It wasn’t (again allegedly) available for the Democrats when they were in the minority.

    Simply stated, it allows a minority to bottle legislation for long periods of time by forcing it to be returned to the original committee for reconsideration. The loophole is going to be closed by requiring a majority to approve the return for reconsideration.

    So the whining is because the loophole created by Republicans for Republicans is being closed. Pardon me if I’m not impressed.

  69. 69.

    Gus

    PaulL, did you really just link to Michelle Malkin’s site and think that anyone here wouldn’t laugh at you?

  72. 72.

    Sue

    I’m sorry, but I did see this coming: as soon as a Democrat was elected President, Republican support for unlimited executive authority because one of theirs wouldn’t be wielding it. It’s not shock that they’re doing this, it would be a shock if they had not. It’s hypocritical and intellectually dishonest, but still you had to see it coming.

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