Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

We still have time to mess this up!

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

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

Nothing worth doing is easy.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

Bark louder, little dog.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

This blog will pay for itself.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

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Reader Interactions

103Comments

  2. 2.

    meh

    For those of you that don’t know…

    from wiki:
    In some forms, it is the belief that some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their magical eye. The most common form, however, attributes the cause to envy, with the envious person casting the evil eye doing so unintentionally. Also the effects on victims vary. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye can cause disease, wasting away, and even death. In most cultures, the primary victims are thought to be babies and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon by strangers or by childless women. The late UC Berkeley professor of folklore Alan Dundes has explored the beliefs of many cultures and found a commonality — that the evil caused by the gaze is specifically connected to symptoms of drying, desiccation, withering, and dehydration, that its cure is related to moistness, and that the immunity from the evil eye that fish have in some cultures is related to the fact that they are always wet.[1] His essay “Wet and Dry: The Evil Eye” is a standard text on the subject.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    He really does drive them insane, doesn’t he?

    With luck, by 2012 all conservative pundits will be driven so far around the bend that they’ll be unable to even speak English, and will be reduced to grunting and throwing their own droppings. Glen Beck is the canary in the coal mine here.

    -dms

  4. 4.

    Col. Klink

    I believe His Eminence, the Supreme Sultan Hussein of the Sublime Porte on the Potomac, has proven his mystical power to drive wingnuts totally off the deep end with a mere glance.

  5. 5.

    Warren Terra

    I actually clicked through to read the story. It’s almost inconceivably thin on substance, but at the end the author promises that the story is “developing …”, so I guess that’s all right then.

  7. 7.

    Keith

    How the hell does this stay as the #1 headline all day long? And he isn’t even pretending its news by linking to Breitbart; it’s just one of his Drudge “flash” pages. WTF?

  8. 8.

    mcc

    What’s really interesting to me here is this huge multi-panel display, and in the upper left corner by it that leeetle tiny:

    MINN. SUPREME COURT: AL FRANKEN TO SENATE…
    SENATE DEMS TO PAWLENTY: CERTIFY HIM…

    Drudge knows his priorities.

  9. 9.

    Ash

    I don’t even understand what the fuck this is about? Pictures of him looking at people? HUH?

  12. 12.

    Josh E.

    Uh oh, a baleful eye! Jack Cashill was right!

    Or maybe it’s the “stink eye” Obama picked up in exotic unAmerican Hawaii.

  13. 13.

    Death By Mosquito Truck

    I can actually do the evil eye and you can ask my kids, you do NOT want to be on the receiving end of it.

  14. 14.

    jenniebee

    Not only does he have the “evil eye” but there are dolls in the White House that are rumored to be used for “voodoo.” Sasha refers to one of them as “Ken” – which Ken? Story developing…

  15. 15.

    jenniebee

    @Josh E.:

    Or maybe it’s the “stink eye” Obama picked up in exotic unAmerican Hawaii.

    That’s not the stink eye, his face is just like that. It’s just his face.

    And we didn’t want to go to prom with him anyway.

    /Juno

  16. 16.

    Col. Klink

    I just figured out what’s inside the Kaaba stone. It’s the birth certificate!

    Call Fox, I want my own show!

  17. 17.

    Punchy

    Operation Positive Force

    What the hell was this? Granada?

    Sounds like a bunch of protons running around, or a Star Wars prequel.

  18. 18.

    JenJen

    Wait…


    BEWARE THE OBAMA ‘EVIL EYE’
    Tue Jun 30 2009 07:43:56 ET

    As the summer begins, White House watchers have spotted a new look by President Obama: The Evil Eye!

    Staffers have joked about the menacing glance, which comes when the president meets with world leaders who are not aligned with his progressive view.

    White House photographers have captured the “evil eye” in recent weeks, during sessions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Colombia’s Alvaro Uribev.

    Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi got hit with the commander’s malocchio last week in the Oval office.

    And at least one White House reporter has been on the receiving end of the daggers during a press conference.

    Developing…

    Now, forgive me if I am a little rusty on my DrudgeSpeak, but that makes it sound as though, that isn’t Matt’s writing; this is an excerpt from a “piece” that might appear in the mainstream media tonight or tomorrow. If so, that’s going to be telling. Anyone have a Wednesday column due? Anyone?

  20. 20.

    anonevent

    @Death By Mosquito Truck: That’s a dad thing for sure. My wife keeps yelling at the kids to do what they’re told, but all it takes is a look from me. Annoys the hell out of her.

    Makes me wonder what dinner time is like at the White House.

  21. 21.

    Davis X. Machina

    …and will be reduced to grunting and throwing their own droppings

    When it comes to campaign strategy who needs Sun Tzu when you’ve got fling poo?

  25. 25.

    slag

    I have to say, I’m loving that Drudge put this up. Any time Chris Cillizza, Jake Tapper, or Mark Halperin wants to publicly slobber all over Drudge, I will, in the comments of their sites (or on Twitter), link to this very page for all to see. Over and over and over again.

    Assholes.

  28. 28.

    Punchy

    @John Cole: Boots and Coots-type stuff, eh? Got it. Why such the cheeseball moniker know I will not.

    Couldn’t one also refer to a staredown from the O as “getting the brown eye”? See, same thing, MUCH funnier.

  29. 29.

    Colette

    @anonevent:

    That’s a dad thing for sure.

    Nah, I think it depends on the parents – it seems to alternate genders and generations in my family (my grandfather, my mother, and my brother all have the stink-eye down pat). I have, however, developed a Mom Look that quells 6-year-old boys instantly, even when they’re not my own. It’s my husband who has to resort to yelling.

    I suspect Sasha’s alleged sassiness and Obama’s Look are interrelated phenomena.

  30. 30.

    jake 4 that 1

    Pasty idiots all a-quiver because they think a brown dude is looking at them funny is not news.

    The only thing developing is that stain in Drudge’s pants.

  31. 31.

    SenyorDave

    How long before the mainstream wingnuts (I know it seems like a contradiction in terms, but you have to separate the obnoxious ones form the truly lunatic fringe – kind of like the difference between Bill O’Reilly and Glen Beck) start to make some watermelon and fried chicken remarks.

  32. 32.

    Betsy

    The “evil eye” has very specific connotations in the Muslim world.

    Also, common in Mexico. This will validate them – they knew he was an illegal, they just got the country wrong. And now he’s doubly dangerous – not just a secret muslim, but a mexican too! (Since they all know there’s no such thing as a Mexican who’s here *legitimately,* no matter what the Librul Media says.)

  33. 33.

    Xanthippas

    So Muslims will get this and the rest of us will be like “Huh?”

    BTW, the Cherokee also are not keen on the evil eye. So I guess this will drop Obama’s stock in the drudge following Cherokee community.

  34. 34.

    Davis X. Machina

    “Beware the Obama Evil Eye”

    If true, upon the successful completion of his second term, Pres. Obama can then go and teach middle school, where it’s the only thing that really works. That, and pepper spray, which for some reason the school board frowns on

  35. 35.

    MNPundit

    TPM LOVES to show pictures of the evil eye on their front page. Almost everytime they put an Obama picture up, he’s giving someone the evil eye.

    Also who the fuck cares if it has specific meaning in Muslim culture? It has a negative meaning in ANY culture.

  36. 36.

    Svensker

    The Arabs aren’t the only ones who have the Evil Eye. The Greeks do, too, as do most of the eastern Mediterranean countries. I have Puerto Rican friends who believe in it, as well.

    So it’s not necessarily a Muslim dog whistle. But then, it’s Drudge.

  37. 37.

    Da Bomb

    @Ash: I am with you on that. I was just thinking to myself, they are criticizing Obama looking at various people. WTF?

    But then I realize that is suppose to pass as journalism. And they wonder why our national newspapers and other forms of journalism are heading straight down the toilet.

  44. 44.

    Cat Lady

    Wingnuts apparently study Obama like the ancients searched the skies. Bush was so easy to get – he was just a flat out moran and as subtle as a turd. Dick “dick” Cheney was puppeteering from his bunker, so there was nothing to puzzle about, which lulled the wingnuts to sleep for 8 years, aroused occasionally for reflexive full arm salutes. Now, Obama’s every word is parsed, every image is scrutinized, every glance is laden with meaning, and they don’t understand that Obama has turned each one of them into a self parodying Rohrschach test for our unending amusement. The most ardent sufferer of Bush Derangement Syndrome came nowhere near to being this hysterical.

    Obama-fu is strong in this one.

  47. 47.

    r€nato

    Obama’s evil eye turned me into a newt!

    …I got better…

    (JD beat me to it…)

  48. 48.

    Adrienne

    @anonevent:

    That’s a dad thing for sure. My wife keeps yelling at the kids to do what they’re told, but all it takes is a look from me. Annoys the hell out of her.

    Nah it’s not a dad thing. My mother gave THE best evil eye – ever. I swear all it took was one look from that woman to instill the fear usually reserved for the wrath of God.

    EDIT: I don’t have children but I’ve tried my luck at the evil eye on my nieces. I gots it. My sister? Not so much. It drives her nuts :-)

  50. 50.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Adrienne: It’s a cat thing. Trust me.

    And yes, this Drudge thing is basically “Keep your eyes down, boy! Don’t you be lookin at me!”.

  51. 51.

    shelley matheis

    He really does drive them insane, doesn’t he

    Well, according to Limbaugh, it’s Obama’s fault that Gov. Sanford went AWOL to meet his online lover.
    Uh, but new reports, from Sanford himself, say he’s met with her many times before.
    Ooops/

  52. 52.

    oh really

    For some reason I clicked on the Drudge link. During my extremely brief visit, I saw the link to Rasmussen’s latest “Presidential Approval Index.”

    Leave it to Rasmussen to come up with an “index” that is specifically designed to make Obama look as unpopular as possible.

    Apparently, Americans who merely approve of the job Obama is doing don’t count. Only those who strongly approve. The same for disapproval. Of course we know that most Wingers are going to strongly disapprove of Obama no matter what he does — it’s not like Republicans are skilled at nuance.

    Of course, even Rasmussen has the number of people who approve of Obama’s job performance exceeding the number who disapprove by 8% (by far the lowest of the major pollsters), but only those who “strongly approve” are worth counting. Hence, the “Presidential Approval Index.” I’d be curious to see their questions: “Even though Barrack Hussein Obama is an avowed Muslim terrorist who wants to rape your daughter, do you approve of his job performance?”

    I’m going out on a limb here and speculating that if Obama’s numbers shifted and the number of strong disapprovals went way down, while the number of mild disapprovals went way up, Rasmussen would discovered the “Improved Presidential Approval Index” in which strong disapprovals and approvals would be discarded. Jeebus, don’t they even think it’s important to pretend anymore?

    I’d love to see Rasmussen’s “White Supremacist’s Presidential Approval Index” — it would be sooooo informative. I suppose a close approximation could be achieved by simply looking at nothing but Republicans.

    Things have really gone to hell, when even the pollsters are faking it.

  53. 53.

    Dr. Squid

    If he really wants to give the evil eye, he should go Full Metal Dio and use the horns as well.

  54. 54.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @shelley matheis: The evil eye gives you retroactive powers.

    I heard that he caused the recession also by looking at it.

    It’s like some giant game of Wingnut Dungeons and Dragons.

  55. 55.

    Punchy

    And if, of course, he instead smiles at the foreign heads of state, Drudge excoriates him for not looking serious and giving them the evil eye they deserve……

  56. 56.

    ruemara

    My evil eye works on cats, kids, co-workers, bosses and guild members through my frickin’ avatar. Me and Presidente Hussein could blow things up if we had a stare off. Just look at who you’d like to quell as if drawing, quartering and deboning them would be a pleasant afternoon.

  57. 57.

    maya

    Looks are telling. One of the biggest reasons I never trusted GWB from the beginning was because of that furtive side to side glance he would always give whenever he was up at a podium giving some speech. With those close set beady little eyes he looked like a kid about to boost some candy on aisle 9 at WalMart.

  58. 58.

    DanSmoot'sGhost

    The evil eye article just means one thing. Obama is beating his adversaries on every front.

    Also, Drudge just likes to fuck with people.

    Meh.

  59. 59.

    jl

    Well, if their desperation drives them to make damn fools of themselves to 70% of the population, I say:

    Be my guest.
    Need any construction paper and paste?
    Would you like to know how to add blingee to a pic?
    Want an extra siren with that?
    How can I help?

    Lemme see:
    Looks like brutal Sanford meltdown that will make Clinton look like “innocent life” in comparison,
    Coleman and Pawlenty try to win poor political sportsmanship championship,
    Ensign’s ensign waving too much, with moneyscandal and payoffs attached,
    The GOP twitter revolution gets Hoekstra’d,
    GOP humor revealed to be racist jokes that were lame in the 1920s,
    Palin turning into an endless well of awful.

    I like it.

  61. 61.

    RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)

    Would not be surprised if Michelle Obama has also mastered that particular art form.

    I bet she’s also perfected the raised-eyebrow look that says, “You better think twice before you do what you’re thinking of doing, my friend.”

    I’ve got to learn how to do those particular expressions — I’d much rather be able to resort to the evil eye rather than the yelling. Or is it one of those things that you either have or you don’t, like the ability to roll your tongue?

  62. 62.

    RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)

    One of the biggest reasons I never trusted GWB from the beginning was because of that furtive side to side glance he would always give whenever he was up at a podium giving some speech. With those close set beady little eyes he looked like a kid about to boost some candy on aisle 9 at WalMart.

    Very, very astute. That’s EXACTLY what he looked like, but I could never put my finger on it before.

  63. 63.

    jl

    @RedKitten (formerly Krista – the Canadian one): Yeah… Michelle… I’m in wuv. Everyone will have some kind of crush on Michelle by the time this is over. Add that to the evil-eye voodoo curse mojo whatever.

    BTW: I agree. Obama is to slapped fly, as cheating Obama would be to righteously pissed off Michelle. Probably wouldn’t be a video clip, which is unfortunate.

  64. 64.

    Tsulagi

    The “evil eye” has very specific connotations in the Muslim world.

    Yeah. Is Drudge trying to say Obama is gay? There’s a story in the Qur’an about The Evil Eye.

    Long ago two Muslim dudes, Sahl and Amir, were out in the heat when Sahl decided to ghusl (ritual bathing). Watching, Amir had a gay moment while eyeing Sahl’s light skin and tan lines essentially saying “Holy shit you’re hot like a virgin!” Always thinking of virgins, aren’t they?

    Anyway, evil eyed, Sahl face plants. Mohammed (the Prophet one) shows up and after finding Amir asks “WTF were you doing coveting this guy’s body?” In lieu of Hail Marys, Mohammed told Amir to do wudu. Sahl recovered then he and Mohammed walked off leaving Amir behind. I’m thinking maybe someone else needed to wudu later.

    Virgins and gays, they’ll be the death of us.

  65. 65.

    drillfork

    I actually see this as progress for wingnuttia. I mean, one of them must have taken the time to research and learn some small thing about the Muslim world…

  66. 66.

    TenguPhule

    Why is Drudge even taken seriously anymore?

    This not only jumps the shark, it makes the shark get up and line dance in the john with Larry Craig.

  67. 67.

    jl

    Jump into the shark?

    Maybe GOP are going after Greek-Americans next for their demographic salvation?

    Lotta Greeks in my neighborhood growing up. And the older ones are way into evil-eye superstition. Not sure about the younger generation.

  68. 68.

    Zifnab

    @TenguPhule:

    Why is Drudge even taken seriously anymore?

    Why is the Daily Show doing some of the most in-depth and legitimate coverage of Iran, while the Colbert Report seems to be the only news organization still interested in Iraq?

    We live in interesting times. Interesting stupid times.

  73. 73.

    Ked

    What?

    What?!

    I mean, HUH?!?

    I mean… oh, never mind, I’ll get back to you when my head stops exploding.

    A record-setting 2.5 wingularity masses.

    Can someone send the men in white coats over Drudge’s way? Quicklike, before he collages again?

  74. 74.

    Maus

    I can’t wait for the inevitable WorldNetDaily article where they take his “powers” seriously.

  75. 75.

    A Mom Anon

    The evil demon debbil eye is an italian thing too,if memory serves.

    I love that the Obamas make them so crazy stoopid. All that’s left now is the gooey creamy crazy nougat center of the whole wingnut candy bar.

  76. 76.

    shelley matheis

    “Beware the Obama Evil Eye”

    Beware the jubjub bird and shun, the Frumioius Bandersnatch!

  79. 79.

    steve s

    Yeah. Is Drudge trying to say Obama is gay? There’s a story in the Qur’an about The Evil Eye.
    Long ago two Muslim dudes, Sahl and Amir, were out in the heat when Sahl decided to ghusl (ritual bathing). Watching, Amir had a gay moment while eyeing Sahl’s light skin and tan lines essentially saying “Holy shit you’re hot like a virgin!” Always thinking of virgins, aren’t they?
    Anyway, evil eyed, Sahl face plants. Mohammed (the Prophet one) shows up and after finding Amir asks “WTF were you doing coveting this guy’s body?” In lieu of Hail Marys, Mohammed told Amir to do wudu. Sahl recovered then he and Mohammed walked off leaving Amir behind. I’m thinking maybe someone else needed to wudu later.
    Virgins and gays, they’ll be the death of us.

    Dude! We’re supposed to be seekrit muslims. Yer givin’ it away.

  81. 81.

    Redshirt

    This just gets better and better.

    I Hoekstra, but for reals:

    JL Iran Supme Lead shown as fony so 2 Drudge by I story

  82. 82.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Josh Hueco: Vanity Fair just did a lengthy article on her, so that’s probably why.

    To me, that’s not an evil eye, that’s a come-hither look, but you know, evil is a big turn on for me. <== sarcasm.

    Michelle Obama wouldn’t even have to say a word. I bet she could out-stare the prez. Heh. I think this is the tipping point (for me) because all I can do is laugh madly. I don’t get the least bit upset. It’s like the last time I saw Limbaugh on Keith’s show. Rush was sweating like a pig, plucking feverishly at his shirt and sputtering his nonsense. I busted out laughing, and I haven’t stopped.

  83. 83.

    Joe Max

    I have, however, developed a Mom Look that quells 6-year-old boys instantly, even when they’re not my own. It’s my husband who has to resort to yelling.

    Same situation here. My wife has the gaze that, if looks could maim, the victims would leave in a basket.

    Me, I’m the good cop…

  84. 84.

    SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta

    @David: Eeeww. Couldn’t view the photo but made the mistake of reading the comments. Don’t go there.

  87. 87.

    gwangung

    Michelle Obama is a formidable women. Compared to her, Rush and the rest of the wingnuts have got to be a piece of cake…

  88. 88.

    anonevent

    @Adrienne: And to everyone else, I stand corrected. Around my friends, it’s the dad’s who have the stare. A lot of reason seems to be that we don’t get angry over everything, but when we do, the kids know to watch out. The mom’s around here fuss over everything.

  90. 90.

    Bill Arnold

    never trusted GWB from the beginning was because of that furtive side to side glance he would always give whenever he was up at a podium giving some speech.

    It took him years to learn how to use the teleprompter.

  93. 93.

    KaffeeMeister

    President Obama should just admit that he’s the son of Cthulu, and that his birth certificate is non-existent. That should throw some of those bible thumpers for a loop. It would also do a bit of improving the reputation of Cthulu.

  94. 94.

    KaffeeMeister

    President Obama should just admit that he’s the son of Cthulu, and that his birth certificate is non-existent.
    That should throw some of those bible thumpers for a loop. It would also do a bit of improving of the reputation of Cthulu.

  95. 95.

    Porlock Hussein Junior

    @Tsulagi, #64:
    Thanks for the story; but isn’t that the Haditha rather than the Koran? (I exercise the privilege of the ancient in spelling it as it was spelled for the first 50-some years that I saw the word.) It’s the collected sayings of the Prophet rather than the actual Scripture, and officially less official, I think, though still official enough for a lot to be based on it — including the prohbition on alcohol, according to what I’ve read.

  97. 97.

    va

    Obama’s a closet Italian? An agent of Berlusconi? …You’d think the wingnuts would be OK with that.

  98. 98.

    Wile E. Quixote

    And since dread Cthulhu was mentioned I have to post these.

    Who Will Be Eaten First? in which Jack T. Chick warns us about the coming of the elder gods.

    Galactus is Coming! in which Stan Lee and Jack T. Chick collaborate on a tract to warn about the coming of Galactus and how he can be propitiated by purchasing Marvel comics.

    You may now go back to your regularly scheduled thread in which we discussed how President Obama is not only a seekrit Muslim soshulist but is also a seekrit Muslim soshulist with the Evil Eye™!

    P.S. Do not taunt Happy Fun Evil Eye.

  100. 100.

    over_educated

    I’m sure they are just upset that nowadays a black man has the gall to look white people directly in the face. It’s shocking.

  101. 101.

    Xenos

    @Svensker: It is really a mediterranean thing. There are some analogues in African witchcraft beliefs, too, where jealous people are thought to cause (quite unintentionally) illness and injury to the people and things they covet.

    My wife has it. She claims she once caused a nice sports car, cruising through the Greek countryside, to stall out. Once she had gone through the ritual spitting and praying to remove the bad juju the car started right up and cruised away.

  102. 102.

    Marie Devine

    Proverbs 26:28 “A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

    Proverbs 14:15 “The simple believe every word: but the prudent man looks well to his going.”

    Proverbs 17:4 “A wicked doer gives heed to false lips; and a liar gives ear to a naughty tongue.”

    Proverbs 29:27 “An unjust man is an abomination to the just; and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”

    Proverbs 17:15 “He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.”

    Proverbs 29:16 “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases: but the righteous shall see their fall.”

  103. 103.

    Marie Devine

    Proverbs 26:28 “A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

    Proverbs 14:15 “The simple believe every word: but the prudent man looks well to his going.”

    Proverbs 17:4 “A wicked doer gives heed to false lips; and a liar gives ear to a naughty tongue.”

    Proverbs 29:27 “An unjust man is an abomination to the just; and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”

    Proverbs 17:15 “He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.”

    Proverbs 29:16 “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases: but the righteous shall see their fall.”

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