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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Sometimes they don’t take the bait

Sometimes they don’t take the bait

by DougJ|  January 8, 200912:02 pm| 54 Comments

This post is in: Media

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Perry Bacon today during an online chat:

Rochester, N.Y.: BlagoGate, BurrisGate, CommerceGate, PanettaGate….is is too early to declare the Obama presidency a scandal-ridden failure?

Perry Bacon: In a word, yes. We’ve made a big deal of the Commerce flub for instance, but how many people,even in Washington, could name the current Commerce Secretary? (Carlos M. Gutierrez) Burris has been an interesting story, but if the governor or the lt. governor of Illinois end up getting someone in that seat who they appointed, it will be a liberal Democrat who will vote with Senate Democratic leadership most of time, just like Obama did before. These are all interesting stories, but the most important thing happening in Washington is the debate over spending $800 billion, a very large amount of money, to help the economy.

Oh, well.

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Reader Interactions

54Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    January 8, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    Can we *please* retire the FooGate construction? It’s well past its sell-by date.

    -dms

  2. 2.

    Dave

    January 8, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    Kudos to Bacon, but that is one of the most retarded questions ever asked. PanettaGate? WTF??
     
    I would love to know who sent that in. Undoubtedly someone who frequents Free Republic and has a "Drill Baby Drill" bumper sticker on their rusted-out Chevy pickup.

  3. 3.

    Evinfuilt

    January 8, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    "PanettaGate" sounds like some form of bacon, now I’m hungry.

  4. 4.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 12:08 pm

    I would love to know who sent that in. Undoubtedly someone who frequents Free Republic and has a "Drill Baby Drill" bumper sticker on their rusted-out Chevy pickup.

    Undoubtedly.

  5. 5.

    gypsy howell

    January 8, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    Some of these hardly qualify as "-gates" (PanettaGate? Did I miss something, because otherwise, since when does having a couple of Senators get their noses tweaked count as a "-gate?"), one of them ("BlagoGate") has nothing to do with Obama other than he’s from the same state, one of them ("BurrisGate") has only a tangential connection to him (the filling of his empty Senate seat, and the general douchebaggery of the Senate majority leader, which surely can’t be laid at Obama’s doorstep.)

    So, that leaves "CommerceGate", and uh… didn’t Obama pretty much cut that one off at the pass by having Richardson withdraw before he was even formally appointed?

    The move to define "scandal-ridden failure" downward has begun in earnest.

  6. 6.

    Dreggas

    January 8, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    @gypsy howell:

    For those suffering from ODS it’s almost like the "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon". Anything, no matter how loosely Obama may be connected with it, is fodder and thus a "gate". Someone shoots someone and the shooter lived on the same block as Obama, it’s Obama’s doing. Just like the "Obama death list" and the nut-jobs saying Bernie Mac’s death was caused by Obama (there were a few).

  7. 7.

    Garrigus Carraig

    January 8, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    Perry Bacon still has a long way to go after devoting an entire front page article to the Obama-is-a-Muslim internet smears. As Bradly No said at the time, "That entire paper needs to fire itself."

  8. 8.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    For those suffering from ODS it’s almost like the "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon". Anything, no matter how loosely Obama may be connected with it, is fodder and thus a "gate".

    These people really are nuts.

  9. 9.

    bedlam UK

    January 8, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    What is it with you Yanks and your ‘gates’ ?

    I understood that the Watergate name came from the Watergate Office Complex that was broken into? so why not use ‘panini-office’ or ‘blago-complex.
    Better still you could start on variations ; Commerce-sliding door, panini-fence, blago-doggydoor.

    That question is crap anyway. Them dems have been pretty damn disasterous, but that list is of either non-scandels or non-Obama related issues.

  10. 10.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    January 8, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    By this criteria, there were 7,863 "gates" during the Bush Administration. Give or take.

  11. 11.

    Dreggas

    January 8, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    @bedlam UK:

    Blago-complex sounds like a mental condition, kinda like megalomania mixed with narcissism and delusions of grandeur. That’s a keeper.

  12. 12.

    demimondian

    January 8, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    @DougJ: Absolutely. Hey, don’t you live in Rochester? Might you know the guy who posed the question?

  13. 13.

    BenA

    January 8, 2009 at 12:29 pm

    By this criteria, there were 7,863 "gates" during the Bush Administration. Give or take.

    I think you’re understimating. :-)

  14. 14.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    Not everyone here is aware of all internet traditions, demi.

  15. 15.

    Comrade Dread

    January 8, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    Attention political commentators, this is your last warning.

    Stop using the suffix ‘-gate’ to describe every single bloody political scandal or the Overused Cliche Police will, without a doubt, be dropping by your house, before you know, it to repeatedly slap you in the face until you die, and then they will continue to beat you fat dead hacks into the ground.

    That is all…

  16. 16.

    Dave S.

    January 8, 2009 at 12:48 pm

    Someone shoots someone and the shooter lived on the same block as Obama

    Shootergate! Shootergate! The MSM-in-the-tank is totally ignoring this!

    DougJ, would you really rather be in Rochester? Does it, in fact, got it?

  17. 17.

    Dave S.

    January 8, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Comrade Dread, that is a slap in the face to fat dead hacks everywhere.

  18. 18.

    Will Danz

    January 8, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    GOP BullshitGate.

  19. 19.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    DougJ, would you really rather be in Rochester? Does it, in fact, got it?

    I *do* live in Rochester. I’m not sure sure it’s "got it". In the winter, it definitely doesn’t, in the summer, it does, and in between I’m not sure.

  20. 20.

    Xanthippas

    January 8, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    To be fair, many wise commentators here at Balloon Juice are supremely interested in the economic stimulus package.

    What do you mean that doesn’t count?

  21. 21.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    January 8, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    Damn, the administration hasn’t even started yet and it has more gates than a microprocessor.

    [/hardware geek]

  22. 22.

    cleek

    January 8, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Rochester has it. or used to. until i left for sunny NC.

  23. 23.

    NonyNony

    January 8, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    @bedlam UK:

    I understood that the Watergate name came from the Watergate Office Complex that was broken into?

    I suspect this makes you more knowledgeable than many Americans, who probably think "gate" is just a suffix that means "scandal". And that for Nixon it was "Watergate" because he was involved in some kind of water scandal. After all, he did employ plumbers to do his dirty work, so it must have been some kind of plumbing-related shenanigans. Q.E.D.

    In fact, linguistically speaking we probably have already passed the point where the "-gate" suffix actually does mean "scandal" in American English. I wonder how long it will take before the dictionary folk recognize it as such?

  24. 24.

    Rick Taylor

    January 8, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    On the subject of the 800 billion dollars, we haven’t talked about it here, but I was disturbed when it was leaked that 40% of his stimulus plan will be geared towards cats. I say this as someone supportive of Obama, and who hasn’t been at all concerned over most of the sturm and drang over his appointments and who would serve during his inaugural. Assuming the economists I’m reading are correct, we are in deep trouble, it’s not at all certain the stimulas package will avert catastrophe, and it’s imperative every dollar spent be spent as effectively as possible. And while there is an argument to be made for some tax cuts, Krugman among others argue that this is high, as some money spent on tax cuts will be saved rather spent, making it an inefficient use of the money.

    What’s more disturbing the reported rationale for the tax cuts; to get Republican’s on board. Number one, if we’re really on the edge of financial armageddon, it’s appalling we may be undermining the effectiveness of the stimulus to satisfy these clowns. And number two, we all know that it won’t work; that compromising before the bargaining even begins will only encourage them to move the goal posts further, to demand the majority of the funds go to tax cuts, or the capital gains tax needs to be rescinded, or who knows what. These people are not arguing in good faith. This is bringing back all the things that worried me most about Obama in the primaries, his paeans to unity, his deriding of the old left, etc. I’m hoping there’s more than meets the eye here.

  25. 25.

    Laura W

    January 8, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    @Rick Taylor:

    40% of his stimulus plan will be geared towards cats

    Tunchgate.

  26. 26.

    Delia

    January 8, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    I can haz dem skandl? PLZ? PLZ? PLZ?

  27. 27.

    Dave S.

    January 8, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    DougJ, I grew up outside of Rochester and loved the Western NY winters as a kid; now I’m not so sure.

    Way back when, there was a PR campaign with the slogan "I’d Rather Be in Rochester – It’s Got It!" We always wondered what "it" was. On the other hand Rochester has it all over Syracuse, although perhaps that isn’t saying much.

    Sorry to hijack the thread. I will behave according to all Internet traditions from now on.

  28. 28.

    Jason

    January 8, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    I like the thoughtful hedge that starts the answer. Really he should’ve just written "In two words: yes, dumbass."

  29. 29.

    Ronnie P

    January 8, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    I’ve spent the last hour searching new sites to find out if a Leon Panetta scandal just broke. PanettaGate is what, the fact that some people don’t want him to be confirmed?

  30. 30.

    Delia

    January 8, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    @Laura W:

    40% of his stimulus plan will be geared towards cats

    If this is true, it is indeed a scandal and one Obama will not easily live down. He will quickly lose the dog and the dog-loving portion of the population over Tunchgate.

  31. 31.

    Laura W

    January 8, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    @Delia: Never underestimate the power of a pack of angry ferrets.

  32. 32.

    ImJohnGalt

    January 8, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    [Waves at DougJ from the other side of Lake Ontario]

  33. 33.

    miss_kiyyt

    January 8, 2009 at 2:02 pm



    Yeah. I don’t get the ‘-gate’ thing. Never have. ‘Watergate’ was not about water.

  34. 34.

    Andrew

    January 8, 2009 at 2:13 pm

    Apparently DougJ also lives in…

    Arlington, Va.: It will only get worse for Harry Reid when the recording of his phone call to Blago suggesting that only a white candidate would be electable is released.

    and

    Philadelphia, Pa.: What is the latest news in Pennsylvania politics? I understand I should go ahead and take down my Chris Mathhews for Senator sign from my front lawn?

  35. 35.

    John PM

    January 8, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    @Comrade Dread: #15

    Stop using the suffix ‘-gate’ to describe every single bloody political scandal or the Overused Cliche Police will, without a doubt, be dropping by your house, before you know, it to repeatedly slap you in the face until you die, and then they will continue to beat you fat dead hacks into the ground.

    Here, here!!! I have been saying that for years. As others have pointed out, the Watergate was a building. I guess if people would not use the suffix -gate to connote the existence of a scandal, they might have to actually explain why it is a scandal.

  36. 36.

    Scruffy McSnufflepuss

    January 8, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Oh, well, you can’t always get the fish to bite. Maybe next time, we can reel in a big one.

  37. 37.

    Cyrus

    January 8, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    You’re from Rochester, DougJ? Wow. Come to think of it, I might have read that once upon a time, but forgot about it.

    But anyway, the reason I’m surprised is that I went to UR. Small world.

  38. 38.

    Cyrus

    January 8, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    I’ve spent the last hour searching new sites to find out if a Leon Panetta scandal just broke. PanettaGate is what, the fact that some people don’t want him to be confirmed?

    I think the "scandal" is that Dianne Feinstein and maybe some other Senators supposedly weren’t told it would be Panetta before his name was leaked. She’s an obstreperous DINO, Lieberman without the fame, so if there’s anything more to it than her feeling left out, I don’t know what it is.

  39. 39.

    SixStringFanatic

    January 8, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    @Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
    So, can we call this one "DougJNeedsBetterBaitGate"?? No? Fine, I’ll see myself out, thanks.

  40. 40.

    R-Jud

    January 8, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    @Rick Taylor:

    40% of his stimulus plan will be geared towards cats

    CATGATE! Where is your Obamessiah now, libs!?

  41. 41.

    Smith

    January 8, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    Already the wingnuts are doing everything possible to try and taint the Obama presidency before it even begins. The next four (hopefully eight) years are going to drive them absolutely batty, moreso than during the Clinton years.

    I live in Rochester and the thought that this asshat (the question asker) lives in the same city makes me want to beat something. Although if judging by the letters to the editor in our local paper (The Democrat & Chronicle), this isn’t surprising. We have an awful lot of wingnuts who write LTE’s to the local paper – the worst LTE I ever saw was from someone who claimed that people who get welfare should be forced to get arm tattoos like the Jewish people did in the Holocaust so that they would be recognized and shunned on the streets. I shit you not – those were the person’s exact words entirely. I still can’t believe the D&C printed that letter. It haunts me to think I share a breathing space with some of these people.

  42. 42.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    We have an awful lot of wingnuts who write LTE’s to the local paper – the worst LTE I ever saw was from someone who claimed that people who get welfare should be forced to get arm tattoos like the Jewish people did in the Holocaust so that they would be recognized and shunned on the streets. I shit you not – those were the person’s exact words entirely. I still can’t believe the D&C printed that letter. It haunts me to think I share a breathing space with some of these people.

    Do you have a link for that? My friends at the blog RochesterTurning would have a field day with it.

  43. 43.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    You’re from Rochester, DougJ?

    Yup, that’s where I live now, for the past five years.

  44. 44.

    DougJ

    January 8, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    [Waves at DougJ from the other side of Lake Ontario]

    Toronto?

  45. 45.

    gypsy howell

    January 8, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    40% of his stimulus plan will be geared towards cats.

    That leaves 60% for dogs. I’m cool with that.

  46. 46.

    Mnemosyne

    January 8, 2009 at 3:09 pm

    On the subject of the 800 billion dollars, we haven’t talked about it here, but I was disturbed when it was leaked that 40% of his stimulus plan will be geared towards cats.

    As the owners of two cats, clearly my family will be getting twice as much of the stimulus as you lame-ass single cat owners. Which might, just barely, start to pay off the bills we had when Keaton decided a poisonous tiger lily looked really scrumptious.

    (He’s perfectly fine now, thanks, but NO LILIES in your house or garden. They are deadly to cats within 48 hours without prompt medical treatment, and they don’t look sick until it’s too late.)

  47. 47.

    demimondian

    January 8, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    @Andrew: Naw — DougJ comes from Rochester. I was just wondering if he might know which of the wingnut luminaries from up there asked that particular question.

    — demi "lived in Ithaca for seven years" mondian

  48. 48.

    gypsy howell

    January 8, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    That’s it — I’m getting another dog. My current dog could use some stimulus.

  49. 49.

    Paul

    January 8, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    Bill-o was HILARIOUS yesterday trying to get anyone who would listen to agree with him that "if there’s a terrorist attack on America, the Obama administration is DONE. It’s over."

  50. 50.

    Dr. Squid

    January 8, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Are there any IROCs still being driven in Crapchester, or has the constant flow of salt dropped after lake-effect snows rusted them out?

  51. 51.

    Ack, Sysadmin of Evil

    January 8, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    As someone who grew up in the Crapchester area, and managed to escape, I think Patterson Hood said it best:

    "I ain’t never goin’ back to Buttholeville"

  52. 52.

    slag

    January 8, 2009 at 6:07 pm

    Bummer. Well, it was a good try, DougJ. Try again in a couple of weeks, and I’m confident the answer will change. The very fact that he took your question seriously is a promising sign.

  53. 53.

    Smith

    January 9, 2009 at 12:14 am

    DougJ:

    The letter was from a few years ago. I’ll try and see if the D&C has it on their website. The only reason I still remember it so vividly was how much it shocked me plus the tone and content of the letter. The sadder thing is that I don’t think there were any rebuttal LTEs to the idiot’s letter.

  54. 54.

    DougJ

    January 9, 2009 at 12:41 am

    The letter was from a few years ago. I’ll try and see if the D&C has it on their website.

    Thanks.

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