Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Everybody saw this coming.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

In my day, never was longer.

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

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

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

Infrastructure week. at last.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

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

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

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97Comments

  2. 2.

    R-Jud

    I have Glenn Gould performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations on my iTunes right now. Wonder what they’d sound like on banjos instead?

  4. 4.

    Ken J.

    Just for a lark, given this particular music reference, I’m going to suggest that you look for the monthly podcasts from Britain’s fRoots magazine, a one hour roundup of recent releases of world, roots and folk music. They upgraded the quality in 2009 to 192K so it actually sounds like music now. :-)

    http://www.frootsmag.com/radio

    At a site called Mondomix, there are archives back to December 2008; I hear iTunes goes back to spring 2008 but I have not verified that myself.

    The other thing what comes to mind, given the Ry Cooder/V.M.Bhatt reference, is the BBC Radio 3 programme "Late Junction." (Which would also play stuff by Bach and other baroque/early music composers, mixed in with the world/folk and experimental stuff.)

  6. 6.

    Brick Oven Bill

    I would like to follow-up on two items from yesterday evening’s open thread, and then I need to go;

    #1:

    Kirk Spencer said last night, regarding the President’s assertion that 90% of illegal guns come from the US, and my noting that one report put the number of ‘traced’ guns at 17%. The 5114 out of 29,000 2007-2008 figure comes from the ATF, and is the basis of the 17% number.

    Kirk Spencer correctly notes that the actual number is higher because a certain percentage of those 24,000 guns that were not able to be traced probably did come from US sources, but this percentage is not likely high maybe one or two thousand additional guns.

    But the President is blaming the 17%, or 25%, (he claims 90%) on the American population. In reality though, the great majority of those 17%, or 25%, (he claims 90%) came to the drug cartels by way of the Mexican police, or Mexican military, or Central American militaries. These weapons originated by government transfers, not irresponsible actions of the American population. The real number from American population is probably around 5%.

    The Administration should clear up the record regarding this manner, as it calls into question the President’s integrity. He is either mistaken or deceptive on an important issue, at a time when it is important for Americans to have trust in their leadership.

  7. 7.

    Brick Oven Bill

    #2

    I would also like to clear the record with TattooSydney regarding my Australian friend who did the wiring. Do not feel bad TattooSydney, as I did not really expect for you to know the identity of the friend I met on the train who is a welder, a diver, and who smokes full-flavor cigarettes. I fully understand that Australia is a big country that contains tens of thousands of people.

    Even in the case that we cannot locate this individual, I am still willing to trade Diane Feinstein now for an Australian to be named at a later date.

  8. 8.

    dmv

    Tabula Rasa by Arvo Pärt is a better bet.

    Of course, anything by Pärt is likely to be a good bet, generally.

  9. 9.

    Tattoosydney

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    I fully understand that Australia is a big country that contains tens of thousands of people.

    No really – there’s just me, Steve Irwin’s widow, the Wiggles and some fat guy called Bruce down here. Which one do you want for Diane?

  10. 10.

    Thankovsky

    Bela Fleck is unbelievably awesome. He played in my town (Napa, CA) last month, but the tickets sold out too quickly. And it was right before my birthday… :(

  14. 14.

    eastriver

    I followed the link to Amazon, but there wasn’t an option to listen to tracks.

    So no chance to mock you. Damn.

    How will I spend my afternoon?

  20. 20.

    freelancer

    At work, Listening to Blood Red Summer(this is a crap Youtube version, I’m listening to the master), Coheed and Cambria, live at Neverender.

    The 24 minute version of Final Cut is reason enough to pick it up. (Well, I picked up the $14 DVD of all four nights. I don’t know if $100 would have been justifiable)

  24. 24.

    Ken J.

    NP: BBC Radio Scotland’s "Global Gathering," which at the moment is promoting (tracks + interview) the new Peatbog Faeries live album. Sort of a Scottish folk jam band thingie sorta kinda.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    The real number from American population is probably around 5%.

    The Zen of Bob: I claim Obama is making up numbers and then proceed to make up numbers of my own!

  30. 30.

    Punchy

    Currently listening to Ice Cube’s Lethal Injection. Is there a better melodious gansta song than Ghetto Bird?

    The man can RHYME like a muthafucker.

  31. 31.

    JK

    @JosieJ: The pathetic thing about George Will’s column on blue jeans is that he’s simply piggybacking on a similar op-ed that appeared a few days earlier in the Wall Street Journal.

    Will jumped the shark with his global warming column and now he’s making himself more and more irrelevant.

  32. 32.

    Laura W

    @Tattoosydney: You are on a roll, Dude! The Irwin widow/Bindy material made my day. Isn’t it like 4am there? Will you need my dingo to recharge your batteries later this evening?

  35. 35.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Brick Oven Bill:
    Occam’s Razor seems to have dulled down a bit in your argument.

    In many places in America, guns are laughably easy to obtain.Border checks going into Mexico are largely non-existent. You can sell guns for a lot of money in Mexico.
    Sure, the cartels could obtain guns from Adnan Khashoggi, Uzbekistan or Somali pirates but, why should they do so for anything less than RPG’s or crew-served weapons when there are plenty of people just across the border who are willing to bring the guns to them?

  37. 37.

    smiley

    In an effort to rationalize the use of dietary manipulation on detainees, Bush administration officials turned to Slim Fast and Jenny Craig.
    In a footnote to a May 10, 2005, memorandum from the Office of Legal Council, the Bush attorney general’s office argued that restricting the caloric intake of terrorist suspects to 1000 calories a day was medically safe because people in the United States were dieting along those lines voluntarily.

    Given that normal calorie intake for adults is 2000-2500 calories, I find it appalling that the US used starvation as an "interrogation technique."

  38. 38.

    JK

    Did anyone see Tom DeLay on Hardball last night defending Rick Perry’s secession comments?

    It looks like every Republican politician has jumped onboard Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train.

    Prediction Question
    On what date will Al Franken finally be sworn in as Minnesota’s next senator?

  43. 43.

    Tattoosydney

    @Laura W:

    Pathologically attached to my every breath and movement.

    Hmmm. I have NO idea what that’s like. [Looks down at dog which is apparently trying to merge with his legs while chasing bunnies in its sleep.]

  44. 44.

    Origuy

    @Tattoosydney: There was an article in National Geographic recently about the drought in the Murray River watershed. Norman, Oklahoma is definitely a sister city to Adelaide.

  45. 45.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @smiley:
    I always go to an attorney for advice regarding diet and health. If these guys could diagnose Terry Schiavo via a video clip then they’re clearly qualified to judge the safe minimum caloric intake for a detainee.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    On what date will Al Franken finally be sworn in as Minnesota’s next senator?

    When hell freezes over.

    Or Coleman drops dead.

    Whichever comes first.

  47. 47.

    Scruffy McSnufflepuss

    Jazzmatazz is good shit, John. Thanks to you, I’m currently listening to "Watch the Closing Doors" in my head.

  48. 48.

    Comrade Jake

    From the second of Greenwald’s update today:

    In comments, JKP1000 has good advice: the next time you’re pulled over by a police officer for speeding, quote Barack Obama: "This is a time for reflection, not retribution." See if that works. If not, move to: "It’s time to focus on the future, not look to the past." Criminal defense attorneys should try that on juries and judges, too.

    Yes, because we all know that the weight of the circumstances are comparable, AMIRITE? This kind of asshattery reminds me of the stories righties were shuttling around during the election about giving waitress tips to the homeless in a scheme to "spread the wealth around."

  50. 50.

    Comrade Jake

    @Paul L.:

    I didn’t think gunnuts were stupid because of that. No, there are plenty of other reasons to find someone who wants to hunt deer with an AK-47 as cognitively challenged.

  53. 53.

    TenguPhule

    So much for the progressive talking point that Obama supports the Second Amendment and Gunnuts are stupid to buy guns because Obama will not be banning any guns.
    President Obama renews his support for the ‘Assault Gun Ban’

    Yes, Paul L, because reinstating an expired weapons ban is *totally* the same thing as repealing the second amendment and banning all guns.

    People really need those AK-47s to hunt deer.

  54. 54.

    JenJen

    Bela Fleck is incredible. You have good taste, John.

    In other news, check out the awesome line-up for this year’s National Review Cruise:

    Karl Rove, Michael Novak, John Bolton, Dick Morris, George Gilder, Tony Blankley, Cal Thomas, Pete du Pont, Jonah Goldberg, John Hillen, Christina Hoff Sommers, Sally Satel, Rich Lowry, Kathryn Lopez, Kate O’Beirne, Jay Nordlinger, Ramesh Ponnuru, Jason Steorts, and John O’Sullivan

    That sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it? Where are the pirates when you need ’em? ;-)

  55. 55.

    TenguPhule

    It is shocking that there is a class of citizen in the USA that isn’t allowed access to high powered military grade weapons.

    Let’s start arming the deer, geese, ducks and moose.

  56. 56.

    Comrade Kevin

    @Comrade Jake:

    Yes, because we all know that the weight of the circumstances are comparable, AMIRITE?

    Of course they’re different. What the Bush Administration did was far, far worse, yet they’re the ones getting away with it.

  58. 58.

    smiley

    @JK:

    And so a pair of Paul Blarts detained him, carted him away from the premises, and ultimately let him go.

    I saw Ziegler’s clip at Tbogg’s this morning. Apparently the maroon who wrote that article you linked to is unaware that universities large and small have real police departments. They were incredibly professional, patient, and easy on him (probably because they knew they were being filmed).

  59. 59.

    Krista

    So much for the progressive talking point that Obama supports the Second Amendment and Gunnuts are stupid to buy guns because Obama will not be banning any guns.

    I would love for someone to explain to me why some people are so damn intent on hanging on to guns which were expressly designed for the purpose of killing another human being. I’m not anti-gun. My grandfather hunted, my husband hunts, I’m surrounded by hunters, and would much rather eat game that lived freely and was killed cleanly, than eat factory-farmed meat from animals that never saw the sun. But you hunt with a proper hunting rifle — the hunters in my family would no sooner hunt with an assault rifle than they would hunt with grenades or land mines.

    I would definitely worry about the mindset about anybody who spazzes out about assault rifles being made illegal, and I would seriously question the honesty of anybody who says that the only reason they want an assault rifle is to hunt game. If you only want to hunt game, then why are you not using the proper tool for the job? It’s like buying a machete, and insisting you’re only going to use it to cut up your pancakes in the morning.

  60. 60.

    Paul L.

    @TenguPhule:
    Comrade Jake/TenguPhule
    Where in the Second Amendment is the word hunting?
    Must be a bitter pill to see the NRA proven right about Obama.

    BTW, you can could buy a semi-automatic AK-47 during the so called Assault weapons ban. The dealers just removed the Pistol grip, and Bayonet lug.

  61. 61.

    Comrade Jake

    @Comrade Kevin:

    Of course they’re different. What the Bush Administration did was far, far worse, yet they’re the ones getting away with it.

    What we’re talking about here is not the Bush Administration, but the way Obama is handling their war crimes. And last I checked, Obama hasn’t let them off the hook just yet.

  62. 62.

    Colette

    @JosieJ #13:

    George Will says "Denim reflects ‘our most nostalgic and destructive agrarian longings.’"

    Denim. Huh. And here all along I thought it was ag subsidies.

    On a completely unrelated note, how come my cat and my guinea pig don’t recognize each other as predator/prey? The silly piggy keeps trying to nibble on Spot’s tail, and Spot just freaks out and scoots away.

  63. 63.

    Krista

    In other news, check out the awesome line-up for this year’s National Review Cruise: Karl Rove, Michael Novak, John Bolton, Dick Morris, George Gilder, Tony Blankley, Cal Thomas, Pete du Pont, Jonah Goldberg, John Hillen, Christina Hoff Sommers, Sally Satel, Rich Lowry, Kathryn Lopez, Kate O’Beirne, Jay Nordlinger, Ramesh Ponnuru, Jason Steorts, and John O’Sullivan

    I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I wished for a marine disaster to befall that ship, as tempting as it is (namely because there would be innocent crew members aboard), so I’ll just content myself with hoping that the aforementioned line-up comes down with the worst case of seasickness known to mankind.

  64. 64.

    Paul L.

    @smiley:

    They were incredibly professional, patient, and easy on him (probably because they knew they were being filmed).

    Looked like the progressive textbook definition of torture to me.
    Twisting his arms and squeezing the handcuffs into his wrists.
    If the CIA did that at Gitmo, progressives would call for ICC war crimes trials.

  65. 65.

    Dennis-SGMM

    It is shocking that there is a class of citizen in the USA that isn’t allowed access to high powered military grade weapons.

    How insensitive of you. Many’s the night there have been tears on my pillow over no longer being able to take deer with a 105mm howitzer.
    Edit: that ’05 Gun works great on straw men too, PaulL.

  66. 66.

    anonevent

    @Krista: Paul L needs his AK-47 because deer from the future have left their children behind, who will rise up and enslave humans unless he can eliminate them first. "Take that you damn dirty doe."

  67. 67.

    Krista

    Where in the Second Amendment is the word hunting?

    So then why, when asked why they want an AK-47, do pretty much all of these guys respond that it’s for hunting? They’re obviously not just collecting them for display purposes, or they’d consent to having the barrels plugged, no? And to go to all of the trouble of buying an AK-47 solely for target practice? Nobody’s going to buy that one.

    Besides, the Second Amendment gives the right to the people to keep and bear Arms. It doesn’t say which Arms the people have the right to bear. I think that we can safely assume that assault rifles were not around in 1791. Nor were atomic bombs. Are you going to include those in your Second Amendment rights? What about biological weapons? By jove, shouldn’t you have the right to keep anthrax in your basement?

  69. 69.

    cleek

    I would love for someone to explain to me why some people are so damn intent on hanging on to guns which were expressly designed for the purpose of killing another human being.

    whole bunch of reasons: some people really love all things military; there’s a rebel quality to having a gun like that; there’s the macho thing; there’s the collector thing; there’s the impress-your-buddies thing. maybe you like the way it looks, works, feels, etc. down at the shooting range.

    and functionally, there’s really much difference between an "assault weapon" and a typical semi-auto deer rifle. an AK47, for example, isn’t exceptionally powerful (it’s exceptionally cheap and durable though). bullets come out the end, just like any other gun – and you can easily get a more powerful gun at any hunting store.

    conservatives like to call the A.W. ban the "ban on ugly guns", and there’s a lot of truth in that.

    i’m anything but a gun nut (haven’t shot one since i was 17). but personally, i think it’s a silly law.

  70. 70.

    anonevent

    @Paul L.: Possibly, because there is no need to do that kind of stuff (I wanted to all caps that, but decided to calm down). It’s useless and counterproductive.

  71. 71.

    cleek

    make that :and functionally, there’s really not much difference between

    (i was forbidden from editing my comment)

  72. 72.

    South of I-10

    My iPod seems confused today. Shuffle is all over the place! Anyway, this is what is currently playing.

    Hannah sends a reminder to stop and smell the roses every once in a while.

  73. 73.

    JosieJ

    @Colette:

    George Will says "Denim reflects ‘our most nostalgic and destructive agrarian longings.’"

    Hmm, and here I thought it was those who looked back with nostalgia on the "gallant South," built on slave labor and the sweat of the many for the benefit of the few, that reflected "our most nostalgic and destructive agrarian longings."

    (Note that I am not tarring all Southerners with that particular brush!)

  75. 75.

    Bhall35

    This might be old news now, but seeing as I somehow got the link wrong in an earlier thread (looks like the Register Star doesn’t have any kind of permalink for this), let’s try that again. Coleman’s not the only sore loser:

    http://tinyurl.com/cpopda

    As for Itunes, shuffle just landed on Fred Jones, Pt2, by Ben Folds.

  76. 76.

    chopper

    tabula rasa!
    tabula rasa!
    tabula rasa!
    headcleaner!
    dieses steht in Flammen, jenes ist
    zusammengestürzt
    heftiger und dichter Aschenregen
    aufgelöst in Rauch und Nebel!

  77. 77.

    asiangrrlMN

    @smiley: And given that 1200 calories a day is the minimum an average woman who does absolutely no exercise needs a day, it’s even more appalling.

  78. 78.

    asiangrrlMN

    I don’t wear jeans because it’s too damn hard to find a pair that fits me properly. If women’s clothing were like labeled like men’s, maybe I wouldn’t have to try on twenty different pairs before giving up in disgust!

    P.S. George Will? Shouldn’t he be in a home already?

  81. 81.

    South of I-10

    @Krista: Have you ordered any jeans from there? I love jeans, but I hate buying them – always something wrong. Last time I bought one of the brands recommended by Zafu and those worked out pretty well.

  82. 82.

    Krista

    I haven’t tried it, but I have a 32" inseam, so finding jeans has always been pretty easy for me. But I’ve read good things about it. I’m just perusing it now, and it’s really neat — you can add in maternity panels, fancy pockets, different coloured stitching, all kinds of cool stuff! After the baby arrives and I’m back down to my fighting weight, I might order a pair anyway, just to see.

  83. 83.

    R-Jud

    @Krista:
    That link rocks. This 5’11" lady (28" x 34") tips her virtual hat to you. I will give their service a whirl in May, after this last bit of postbaby muffintop is gone.

  84. 84.

    anonymous

    Q: what’s the best thing about being a Princeton alum?
    A: voting against George Will for graduate alumni trustee.

  86. 86.

    asiangrrlMN

    Krista and South I-10, thanks for the links. If I ever get over my deeply-ingrained horror of trying to find jeans that fit, I will give ’em a whirl.

  87. 87.

    Krista

    This 5’11" lady (28" x 34") tips her virtual hat to you. I will give their service a whirl in May, after this last bit of postbaby muffintop is gone.

    You’re tall and slender…damn, and I was starting to like you, too. ;)

    J/K, I also referred a friend of mine to that site. She’s 6’2", with a 36" inseam, but has hips, so men’s jeans just don’t work.

  88. 88.

    TenguPhule

    Where in the Second Amendment is the word hunting?

    Where in the second amendment is the sentence assault rifles are okay? Shall we boil semantics down to saying that the right to keep and bear arms means we don’t chop your limbs off at the shoulder?

  89. 89.

    TenguPhule

    conservatives like to call the A.W. ban the "ban on ugly guns", and there’s a lot of truth in that.

    It’s a ban on guns designed specially to kill lots of people effectively.

    Guns not used for hunting, sport or self defense.

    These are guns used by people to attack others.

  90. 90.

    R-Jud

    @Krista: You can like me again: I have shoulders like a linebacker (I am thrilled that this site you flagged up does shirts, too). And as I mentioned, there is some serious muffin-toppage going on right now. You’d expect it, almost seven weeks after having a baby, but it’s still depressing to see in the mirror.

    Also: I suggest you take steps to strengthen your back muscles now. After your baby arrives, your stomach muscles suddenly become wet noodles hanging off you for about three weeks, and your back has to do extra work. I praise the FSM daily that I did my deadlifts all the way to week 38.

  91. 91.

    Cris

    @TenguPhule: It’s a ban on guns designed specially to kill lots of people effectively.

    Guns not used for hunting, sport or self defense.

    "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…"
    Not about hunting. Not about sport. Arguably about self-defense, but not personal self-defense.

  94. 94.

    Blue Raven

    @TenguPhule:

    It’s a ban on guns designed specially to kill lots of people effectively.

    And a LOT of guns that are capable of doing just that were not affected by that ban. It really did come down to cosmetics. I have two SKS rifles in my possession. Wooden stock, so they are legal. If I swapped the stock for a pistol grip, I’d have an assault rifle. Same gun. Same caliber. I could kill exactly as many people with the manufacturer’s stock as I could with a pistol grip. It’s a cosmetic law to put a band-aid on an issue that the BATF needs the right kind of teeth to deal with in different ways.

    And I could easily hunt deer with a SKS in either configuration, too, by the by. 7.62×39 is a good, tapered round with a clean entry hole and good distance. And both guns passed accuracy tests in the factory at the highest grade, too. I can also hunt rabbits with a handgun, so if "but will the gun hunt" is your criterion, handgun bans are stupid, too.

  95. 95.

    Navigator

    If you like Bela Fleck, check out "Uncommon Ritual".
    On iTunes, preview "Sliding Down" for the general feel.

    Recorded in a private school chapel for the sound quality.

  96. 96.

    Tbone

    Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol 2, is also a must have, if you’re a Bela fan. Or a bluegrass fan, for that matter. Killer album.

    Definaly on my desert island list.

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