Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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

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

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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

I really should read my own blog.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

This really is a full service blog.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / TGIF

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  3. 3.

    Drive By Wisdom

    Perfectly understandable, considering the Truth Mutilator tells us we are all being held hostage by the evil insurance companies.

  6. 6.

    Ash Can

    You have every right in the world to blow your stack at dumbfuckedness. It ain’t over till it’s over, though.

  9. 9.

    Stephen1947

    I’ve cut back on my blog-reading last cupla weeks because I don’t want to know all the details of the seditious lies the Publicans are pushing. It’s a way to avoid despair, which always hovers when thinking about the state of the nation. But you stimulated a great thread with lots of folks offering encouragement and examples to keep on keepin’ on. Not a bad days work.

  11. 11.

    Violet

    Had the radio on in the car this afternoon to check the traffic. Caught the first few minutes of Hannity’s show. He was carrying water for Sarah Palin like you wouldn’t believe. Going on about how smart she was with her death panel Facebook post and how now they’ve “removed the death panels from the bill” so that proves she was right all along. And it’s a huge win for their side. He must have repeated himself about how brilliant Palin is ten times. And the elimination of the death panels being a massive win.

    Honestly, I don’t think I live on the same planet as these guys, let alone in the same country. Do they live in some other place called Factfree?

  13. 13.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    Don’t worry about it, John. When you get as screechingly Chicken Littlish as Brad does from time to time at Sadly, No!, we’ll have an intervention.

  15. 15.

    Jody

    You were. It’s an emotional roller coaster. I for one completely understand. Thanks just for blogging and being a (mostly) sane voice in the din.

  16. 16.

    beltane

    The birthers/deathers/screamers made me so disgusted with wingnuttia that I felt compelled to drive down to the food coop (NOT Whole Foods) and buy an assortment of Thai curry pastes. I may even have to watch “Up in Smoke” later.

    It was reassuring to go out and see bumper stickers saying “Health Care Is a Human Right”. Maybe if we all gained a lot of weight and started shrieking incoherently, the media would give our side air time.

  18. 18.

    MBSS

    don’t be sad. just don’t vote for republicans or democrats, or give them your hard earned money.

    vote green.

  19. 19.

    jacy

    S’okay, the last couple of weeks could make Mary Poppins emo.

    Seeing batshit crazy people scream endlessly like three-olds raised by wolves and then get their way is depressing.

    I think all sane people, i.e. not current republicans, should take to carrying around a battered copy of “The Bridges of Madison County,” bookmarked to exactly the same page. Watching the wingnuts try to find out the meaning of the secret signal so they can uncover the elaborate plot to destroy our American way of life will be amusing, especially if the mental contortions cause them to finally spontaneously combust.

  20. 20.

    gbear

    Honestly, I don’t think I live on the same planet as these guys, let alone in the same country. Do they live in some other place called Factfree?

    They live in a community called Gated.

    John, try to be more Eno. But only his early solo stuff and not like U2.

  21. 21.

    asiangrrlMN

    Test. This is a test.

    This is my comment: It’s ok, Cole. We all get that way from time to time. Thank you for creating a new thread, though. Foaming-at-the-mouth crazy lady was getting on my last nerve.

  23. 23.

    Obama Death Panel Chairman (formerly glocksman)

    The crazy commenters on my local paper’s site used to drive *me* nuts.
    Until I realized that they were indeed batshit crazy and totally resistant to factual information due to the Reality Distortion Field™ they emanate, that is.

    Once I realized that, it was only a short step to outright mockery and suggesting that they use the Heavy-Duty Reynolds hat liner as it is more effective at blocking the Obama Orbital Mind Control Lasers than the generic foil.

    Aside from the comic relief, the side effect is to make the more earnest conspiracy whackjobs even more earnest in presenting their ‘evidence’ that Palin was right.

    Somehow they never learned the lesson of hiding the crazy until you’ve already made a true believer out of a mark.

  24. 24.

    jrg

    “Going on about how smart she was with her death panel Facebook post and how now they’ve “removed the death panels from the bill” so that proves she was right all along.”

    It’s astonishing that the Dems backed down from a freaking facebook post from the woman that they beat in an election last year. Spineless. Totally spineless.

    It’s also astoninshing to me that so many Americans are stupid enough to believe that “death panels” were part of the bill. How f*cking stupid do you have to be to believe that?

  25. 25.

    SpotWeld

    You, emo?
    Not so much.

    Glenn Beck (I just realized) Totally emo.
    I mean, jotting dark poetry and whining about how no one loves him, emo.

  27. 27.

    Robin G.

    Perhaps a hair. But it’s been a rough month.

    I’m getting myself through this by remembering all the times I said, “That’s it, he’s toast” during Obama’s campaign last year.

  28. 28.

    MBSS

    i’m calling out all democrats. do you realize you party is just as full of shit as republicans? no excuses, they have the votes, but not the will. why is that?

    government capture by corporations, and they are just as much in love with executive power and war as the pubes.

  29. 29.

    Leelee for Obama

    It is a common problem among the Progressive. Hope some of the thread helped a bit. I am ever grateful to Will Rogers for saying he didn’t belong to any organized political party, he was a Democrat. It helps to keep perspective. Change is the hardest thing to accomplish on an individual basis. We’re trying to change an entire Country. 300 some million people. Think of it as teaspoons and oceans and realize how much we really have accomplished. The arc of history really does bend to justice. We all have to jump high enough to grab the end and pull.

  30. 30.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    A touch?

    And I am now officially brain dead until I can have a few beers and some top shelf tequila. I just read all 1015 pages of HR 3200. It’s the health reform bill from Rep Dingell. Now its time to euthanize myself. Or is that anesthetize?

    It’s a decent bill. And the teabaggers will be quite happy to know that we won’t be giving any of their tax dollars to people who’ve entered the country illegally.

    TPMCafe blogger markg8 has a pretty good summary of what the bill. I think there are 2 additional bills in the House and 2 others in the Senate. So HR 3200 is by no means the final product but it is a good jumping off point for discussion.

  32. 32.

    cyntax

    @vacuumslayer:
    Only if you were wearing guyliner and skinny jeans while you wrote it.

    Ye gawds, please Cole don’t get a bunch of bad tatoos, start drinking PBR, and riding a fixed gear.

  34. 34.

    EthylEster

    I have gotten the message below at least 3 times in the last day when I try to access this blog. On some level it is amusing. But it makes me wonder: how hard is it to keep a website running properly? And are we there yet or is it still under (re)construction?
    ===============================

    Not Found

    Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.

  35. 35.

    Leelee for Obama

    @MBSS: MBSS-I wish that I could tell you that Greens have a chance here, but they don’t. They are better suited to the Parliamentary system, which I happen to think is a good one. But, it ain’t what we have, so I ride the Donkey and poke him with a stick when he balks.

  36. 36.

    Comrade Mary

    if you weren’t wearing makeup as suggested by Glowpinkstah (who is FABulous), you weren’t emo at all.

    “The eye shadow I’m gonna use is called BLACK DARKNESS. So tough.”

    “If you don’t look dead, then you don’t have enough on.”

    Plus, after watching the first few minutes of Hardball, I want to fuck Lawrence O’Donnell into shivering, weeping submission. I’m prepared to fight Laura or any one else for the honour. That is all.

  37. 37.

    liberal

    OT, NB: I got the dreaded “MySQL has gone away” or whatever error the first time I tried to connect a few minutes ago.

  39. 39.

    MattF

    Signal-to-noise ratio is just too low to really get a grip on what’s happening, leaves the impression that there’s no signal. Emo fills the vacuum. I do wonder how wingers manage to be angry all the time.

  41. 41.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    My plan for the weekend: beer, tequila, fresh tomatoes, corn on the cob. Repeat as necessary.

  43. 43.

    harlana pepper

    Goodness, Larry O’Donnell has been spanking little republican morans over health care with their own wooden spoon. “Would you repeal Medicare, congressman, just answer me that?! It’s a totally government-run program! If you are against socialized medicine, would you have voted against Medicare, just yes or no?!” congressperson and/or intellectually challenged citizen. (holds up eyeglass)

  44. 44.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Comrade Mary:

    Plus, after watching the first few minutes of Hardball, I want to fuck Lawrence O’Donnell into shivering, weeping submission.

    Twas a thing of beauty, On HB just now.
    I doubt I could make it work that way. But I get yer drift Comrade. Do you have a newsletter?

  45. 45.

    geg6

    OMG, Lawrence O’Donnell is the most fucking AWESOME media critter EVER. I didn’t think I could love him more, but calling a congressional wingnut a liar to his face? YEEHAW! The guy has monster cojones.

  47. 47.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I’d get the apostrophe if it was at the beginning (as in between = ‘tween), but this apostrophe is at the end – tween’. Am I missing something?

    @Comrade Mary:

    Plus, after watching the first few minutes of Hardball, I want to fuck Lawrence O’Donnell into shivering, weeping submission. I’m prepared to fight Laura or any one else for the honour. That is all.

    Um, anything I could say here would sound sexist or perverted, so … i’ll shut up now. :D

  48. 48.

    MBSS

    @ Leelee

    i understand, but doesn’t that put you in the terrible position of “where else are you gonna go, to the republicans?”

    then you are forced to accept, with gratitude, whatever crumbs of incrementalism that the dems throw at you.

    FISA, War, Torture, Bailouts, even healthcare. where are the fundamental differences?

    hell, mccain could have been elected and pulled a nixon, and offered something similar to obama, and would have been heralded as a compassionate conservative. that was not out of the realm of possibility. and that scares the shit out of me.

    if the margin of difference between the “most liberal” dem in the senate, and the furthest right in the senate are this close of fundamental issues, why don’t we just elect one strong-arm, fascist leader and be done with it all. we look at iran and tsk tsk, but how is our system any different? we have the illusion of choice?

  49. 49.

    jl

    Not that there is anything wrong with that. Further dilution of climate bill is bad news. So, on the topic of useless Democrats in the face of several long term crises, Cole should feel free to go emo periodically, I think it is a good thing.

    I was emo for a few days, too. For, I am a death panelist. Or at least, I suddenly realized that I was one of the people the wingnuts were afraid of. Yes, part of my job is to run the numbers that go into those sinister effectiveness estimates.

    Dooood, talk about poor uninformed misled fools who are being manipulated into cutting their own throats, those teabaggers take the cake.

    Do they not realize that private insurers currently have death panels that make such decisions every day? Often misusing those effectiveness numbers as an excuse to put people down by cutting them off from care? Do the oldsters among them not realize that their Medicare will break the bank if nothing is done, and that much more drastic actions and cuts will forced on them?

    I will give an example. Lots of reimbursement decisions are based on average cost of care. Give a manager some average cost of care estimates, with rather pain-in-the ass-to-calculate standard error and deviation estimates, with a page of notes and provisos. I will tell you what happens next, the manager uses the top line summaries as an excuse to start harassing any case that is not coming in under the average cost estimate. Absurd, but that is what happens. I glad I am no longer totally dependent on doing work for those weasels anymore.

    The real villains are the GOP and corporate ringleaders who will have the blood of dead sick people on their hands if they totally mess this up.

    And the cowardly and equally corrupt Democrats who sit on their useless asses.

  50. 50.

    MikeJ

    then you are forced to accept, with gratitude, whatever crumbs of incrementalism

    I’ve got no problem with incrementalism. Yes, it would be more satisfying to change everything at once but 1) it ain’t gonna happen and 2) moving incrementally makes it easier to do the right thing without screwing it up.

    I’d like it better if we were moving faster, but at least we are moving in the right direction.

  52. 52.

    Da Bomb

    @asiangrrlMN: Okay, I being nosy, who is the foaming-at- mouth crazy lady?

    It’s okay to be emo sometimes, just don’t become the fanning church lady.

  53. 53.

    General Winfield Stuck

    if the margin of difference between the “most liberal” dem in the senate, and the furthest right in the senate are this close of fundamental issues, why don’t we just elect one strong-arm, fascist leader and be done with it all. we look at iran and tsk tsk, but how is our system any different? we have the illusion of choice?

    You need to lay off the hard stuff dude.

  54. 54.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @jl:

    Do they not realize that private insurers currently have death panels that make such decisions every day?

    Nah, I’m pretty sure all those things are handled by Health Faeries.

  56. 56.

    Leelee for Obama

    @MBSS: Nope. Under Democrats, we got Social Security, NLRB, Unemployment Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, the Lily Ledbetter Law, proof that government policy can lift ppl out of poverty and a budget surplus with huge economic growth.

    Nixon did the EPA, under duress.

    Ike did the highways, really for National Security.

    Lincoln saved the Union and Emancipated the Slaves.

    And by today’s standards, they were Democrats, not Republicans. I’d rather be in he tent, pissing out.

  57. 57.

    MikeJ

    I wonder if Herr Cole could add a picture of a goggie or kitty T’ing G It’s F. It would push the video down the page and we wouldn’t have to look at it.

  61. 61.

    MBSS

    say for the sake of argument that the national journal is right, and obama is the most liberal and jim demint in the furthest right.

    how do these two compare on issues i care about?

    FISA.

    War.

    Civil Liberties.

    Health Care.

    Corporate and Gov’t Collusion.

    is there really enough of a difference for me to care either way who is president?

  63. 63.

    MazeDancer

    Not at all too emo. At most, you were realistically fed-up.

    The movie The Player was also OTT to some. To others it was pulled back docudrama.

    It’s a heart-sickening time on the news right now. Ultimate emo is a fair response. If I hadn’t given up watching all TV news but a bit of PBS (and remote ready to FF it) and you were reflecting my state of being when I was, you would have been not emo enough.

  64. 64.

    Punchy

    Can someone besides Woods win a freakin white hockey ball tournament?

    And how about fantasy baseball stud D-Lee today? 7 RBIs and he didnt even play past the 6th! Maybe if I win my league this year I’ll donate some scratch to Cole he can ditch the Forked-Dog ad that’s JUST FUCKING KILLING me.

  65. 65.

    JK

    Who the hell is the secret author of Sarah Palin’s Facebook posts? When will the MSM unravel this mystery?

    Back to back entries with multiple footnotes. There’s no fucking way that Sarah Palin is the actual author of these posts.

    Palin didn’t suddenly go from being dumber than a horse’s ass to being a goddamn policy wonk on healthcare.

  67. 67.

    MBSS

    Leelee i concede your point on the historical differences, but i’m talking about how the parties are constituted today. remember, clinton changed the dems and the lure of corporate money was irresistible.

    hell, it was jimmy carter that started with the neoliberalism economics, but i’m talking about after the clinton, 3rd way age.

  70. 70.

    peach flavored shampoo

    @Punchy: What’s it say for this site that John cant seem to get advertisers of bread or Hondas or even pet food. Instead he’s pimping arm-vagina Pam, shish-kabob dauschand, and some chick with enormous chest flesh.

    I guess they really do try and fit the ad to the actual blog content. Cant wait to see the ad for the company selling kitten skulls.

  72. 72.

    Betsy

    @MBSS:
    Glad to know you don’t care about minimum wage, family leave, reproductive justice, the environment, or the social safety net.

    And also, on health care at any rate (which you included in your list), there is a helluva big difference. You don’t have to like the system. You don’t have to identify as Democrat. You can critique the hell out of Dems’ corporate ties and I will cheer you on. But to pretend there’s no difference between the parties is to be willfully blind to history and current reality.

  73. 73.

    JK

    Rachel Maddow will be on Meet the Press this weekend along with Dick Armey.

    Maybe she’ll be able to change a few minds given her strong grasp of the healthcare issue.

  74. 74.

    ellaesther

    Idk. After all the shit of the past eight years, spending the past seven months watching the Democrats be all messy while the Republicans keep just being assholes — indeed, upping the asshole ante, at least in terms of rhetoric — it has been a real challenge for me to maintain any sense of realistic hope for the future. I still cling to mine, but it’s not always easy, and I sometimes feel the fool.

    I blogged about it (on a bad, bad day), and then Balloon Juice commenter ThatLeftTurnInABQ reminded me that “screaming lunatics are more or less a permanent fixture in American politics. If today is any different it is probably that the internet and cable news have given non-mainstream opinion a bigger megaphone than back in the day” — which in turn enabled me to remember that we have still managed to advance, as a nation, in spite of the screaming lunatics. Not at the speed at which I would like to advance, not at the speed that the people who are suffering because of the screaming lunatics deserve to advance, but we have advanced. We are, today, a more perfect union.

    And it’s Friday, and tomorrow morning I get on a train with my lovely family to get our Lincoln on in Springfield, IL, and the sky out my window is a gorgeous blue and honestly, some days I just need a break from the heartbreak….

  76. 76.

    MBSS

    @ betsy

    i do care about those things, but those arguments are getting weaker and weaker. look at the health bill. single payer watered down to public option watered down to co-ops and obama seems to be fine with that.

    the areas of agreement seem to outweigh the areas of disagreement. and the main thing they agree about is neoliberalism. that’s the key. as long as both parties funnel money from all of us to the 1 percent, then everything is kosher. do you thing the big wigs really care when we peons froth over abortion? it’s the follow the money game. and the money leads to the same place, D or R.

  78. 78.

    John O

    I thought you were spot on.

    The lunatics own the asylum. It’s dead, dead, dead…but if Obama manages to pull a public option out of his hat on this one I’ll be laughing at myself for underestimating him once more.

  80. 80.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    @JK:

    Rachel Maddow will be on Meet the Press this weekend along with Dick Armey. Maybe she’ll be able to change a few minds given her strong grasp of the healthcare issue.

    Or maybe David Gregory will insist that they just dance instead.

  81. 81.

    Elizabelle

    Semper Fi.

    An exceptional Marine, former journalist and former Senate staffer has been killed in action in Afghanistan.

    Bill Cahir was 40 years old, on his 3rd tour in 5 years of Marine reserve duty. And a first time father to be.

    Did not know of him in life, but how good to know there are still people like him serving this wonderful, beleaguered country.

    RIP Sgt. Cahir. He talked his way into the Marines, at age 34, because he wanted to make a difference after September 11. He ran for Congress from Pennsylvania’s 5th district last year.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081401234_pf.html

  82. 82.

    MBSS

    does anyone doubt that nader or mckinney or kucinich would have delivered single payer, or at least fought hard for it, like we all want?

    throw bernie sanders in there too.

  83. 83.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    @ellaesther:

    indeed, upping the asshole ante

    We live in the Age of the Asshole. Look at “reality” teevee. Nice people are chumps and losers.

  84. 84.

    ellaesther

    @JK: Really?! I will have to set my DVR to record that, to watch upon my return from Springfield. Wow. That may well be epic! (Fingers crossed, fingers crossed!)

  86. 86.

    Violet

    @jl:

    Do they not realize that private insurers currently have death panels that make such decisions every day?

    No, they do not.

    Older Americans have never dealt with managed care. They had indemnity plans and then they retired and now they’ve got Medicare. They don’t understand the world of suck that is managed care. They’ve never lived it. They haven’t had claim after claim denied. They haven’t navigated the black hole of an insurance company phone system. They simply have no idea.

    They think, don’t you just pay your doctor and walk out the door, and then the insurance company reimburses you all your money? Isn’t that how it works? Or, don’t you just show them your Medicare card and pay nothing because you’re on Medicare? The system is working great! What’s the problem?

    So, no, they have no idea that the health insurance companies have actual death panels that decide if you live, die, or go bankrupt trying not to die. They have no idea at all.

  87. 87.

    steve s

    “August 14th, 2009 at 5:25 pm Reply to this comment
    arguingwithsignposts
    Just curious about that ad on the right side. What is the apostrophe for in “Tween’”?”

    It’s to tell you the writer has poor English.

  88. 88.

    JGabriel

    MattF:

    I do wonder how wingers manage to be angry all the time.

    It’s a genetic condition. They don’t really have a choice.

    .

  89. 89.

    MikeJ

    does anyone doubt that nader or mckinney or kucinich would have delivered single payer,

    Yes, I doubt it. Ain’t no way any of them could get anything passed. Period.

    or at least fought hard for it, like we all want?

    BFD. Screaming without getting anything done is exactly what the right has now. I’d rather move slowly in the right direction than make no progress, or even worse, move backwards.

  90. 90.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    “I was a touch emo in the Brawndo thread this morning, no?”

    It was called for. Our country, today, is ruled by stupid people.

    People may quote me if they want.

  92. 92.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    “Sarah Palin: Thanks But No Thanks On That Death Panel

    As ThinkProgress reports today, Sarah Palin was for end-of-life counseling before she was against it.

    As governor, Palin declared April 16, 2008, “Healthcare Decisions Day,” signing a proclamation to “encourage medical professionals and lawyers to volunteer their time and efforts to … increase the number of Alaska’s citizens with advance directives.”

    An advance directive can be a living will, which describes the medical treatments you do or do not want at the end of life, or a power of attorney, which designates someone to make those decisions for you.

    Palin has been railing against a provision in the House health care bill which would reimburse doctors for counseling patients about such advance directives. She says that provision really calls for a “death panel,” where government bureaucrats would decide who could get life-extending care based on their usefulness to society. ”

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/2009/08/sarah-palin-thanks-but-no-thanks-on-that-death-panel.php?ref=fpa

    She’s brilliant! Brilliant, I say!

  94. 94.

    MBSS

    @ mikej

    incrementalism is a defensible position, i suppose.

    but i would argue that single payer would be extremely easy to pass, if it were presented properly.

    my argument would look like this:

    not only is it the most humane option, it is the most cost effective, and you could institute it gently by gradually by lowering the medicare age.

    also, many americans want it, and when it is explained cogently, many of the rest will too.

  95. 95.

    Morbo

    @GregB: Oh fuck, they used “liberal” and “Hamas” in the same sentence. Talk about Jonah Goldberg bait.

    What a week. Looking forward to two days of disc golf at one of the best courses in existence with beer in between.

  97. 97.

    ellaesther

    @GregB:

    ““The group seeks a Palestinian legal system based purely on the sharia – Islamic law – and accuses Hamas of being too liberal. The group is said to have threatened to burn down internet cafes and to demand greater modesty on Gaza beaches.”

    I’ve said it for years, and apparently I’ll have to keep saying it: Every single fucking time that we Israelis have rejected some Palestinian group as being too radical to negotiate with, a more radical group has come along to replace it.

    We didn’t want to talk with the local leadership in the 1970s — indeed, deported them! — and then we were handed the PLO. We didn’t want to talk to the PLO until they’d been cut off at the knees in the early 1990s, but by then, Hamas was on the rise. We rejected the Arafat-led and then Abbas-led Palestinian Authority as not being a “partner for peace,” and by giving them almost nothing in negotiation, discredited the negotiations, and handed Hamas their 2006 victory on a silver platter (Israeli-centric pun intended). And now that we’ve backed them into a corner to make sure they, too, fail their people spectacularly, you’ve got this happening.

    The Palestinian people were never, historically, a particularly religiously observant people, and this sort of shit would NEVER have washed two decades ago. When Hamas won its (narrow, by the way) victory in the 2006 legislative elections, a whopping 75% of Palestinians said they wanted to see negotiations with Israel, and only 1% (!) said they wanted to see a theocracy established. Now, who can tell?

    (Full-disclosure: I’m American-Israeli, living in America, my husband and having given up in the face of the Israeli response to the second intifada…).

  99. 99.

    ronin122

    Emo? Naw, just means you’re a true Democrat now. Congratulations! Well…you can still be emo independently of that, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Either way, it seems that being a dirty effin’ liberal means our days are quite bipolar, and as a bipolar not sure what gets me down more, my moods or my politics (as of late it’s definitely the latter)

  100. 100.

    Leelee for Obama

    @MBSS: Obama is more liberal than Clinton by miles. He was left with piles of pucky to deal with and will realign as the term proceeds. These things he’s doing MUST be done early, and then he can prosecute and overturn and all the things we need to do to restore the Constitution. But it would be to no avail to do that now, seriously, because nothing else would happen. And no blow-job, lying about a blow-job would be needed. I shit you not, Son. I have seen this BS and I am willing to wait for some important stuff for the sake of other important stuff. A true return to Constitutional norms in a country with no economy is useless.

  104. 104.

    GregB

    Ella,

    Divide and conquer is an age old military strategy.

    If you have been following news in Lebanon, that tactic may be about over in that country. Hezbollah just held their “victory” rally celebrating the 2006 summer war.

    Prime Minister Suleiman sent representatives to the rally as did U.S. backed Hariri .

    Suleiman was recently quoted as saying that the government needs to unify in the face of possible Israeli aggression. They have mobilized their military due to a recent Israeli build-up on the Is/Leb border.

    Israel may find themselves dealing with a Lebanon that is united against them instead of a nation of factions fighting amongst themselves if war breaks out again.

    Nethanyau had better have better military strategists than Bush had.

  105. 105.

    Demo Woman

    Obama’s town hall lifted my spirits. He can explain the issues and needs to continue to do so. Since I went antenna only, a week ago, I can tell you network news is the same as cable. NBC and CBS carried the how are you going to pay for it question from the NRA member. NBC showed 5% of Obama’s response which was tax the wealthy, making it sound like the wealthy would foot the whole bill. CBS didn’t even show the answer.
    Now I am back to where I was this morning, we’re screwed.

  106. 106.

    GregB

    Do to a reported military build-up near the disputed Shaba farms region of Lebanon/Syria.

    -G

  110. 110.

    jacy

    @MBSS:

    I know that your heart’s in the right place, and I can see the position that you’re arguing from, even though I really don’t agree with you.

    But when you say “i would argue that single payer would be extremely easy to pass, if it were presented properly” I have to ask where I can buy tickets to the dreamworld you live in, because I’d like to visit.

    Hey, I want single payer and think it’s the best option, but if you can show me any scenario — even one involving a magic pony ridden by Batman — that get’s single payer even the distant forseable future, I’ll eat my metaphorical hat.

    And as for the great green hopes: Nader and McKinney are both a more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic — not to mention raging egotists — and while I really like Kucinich, he would be crushed like a bug.

  112. 112.

    ellaesther

    @GregB: My breath, she is not being held…. How my fellow Israelis elected that man again is entirely, and utterly, beyond me.

    And let’s not forget that Hizbollah was established in the wake of the 1982 Israeli invasion, to fight the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.

    In 2000, we withdrew from Lebanon without talks, just like we withdrew without talks from Gaza in 2005. How’d that work out for us?

  113. 113.

    gbear

    @The Grand Panjandrum:

    HR 3200 is by no means the final product but it is a good jumping off point for discussion.

    Ahem… I’d recommend not using the terms ‘HR 3200’ and ‘jumping off point’ in the same sentence. Someone might get the wrong idea. It could happen…

  114. 114.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Demo Woman:

    Haven’t seen it yet. But I hope at some point people quit whining that he isn’t selling his initiative and letting the wingnuts have their way. They are blowing their wad on outrageous lies that calm articulate explanation from the Bully Pulpit can and will dispel with some time. And we are not that close to a final bill to vote on. That won’t happen till all the hoops have been jumped thru, likely Oct. of Nov. at the earliest.

  115. 115.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    “incrementalism is a defensible position, i suppose.”

    Increments are easier to implement. They are easier to remove, too.

  116. 116.

    MBSS

    @ jacy

    nice imagery. lol

    we will have single payer in 10 years. i predict a watered down bill will pass this year, and a few short years later the system will come close destroying us all. we will then demand single payer. it will pass quickly and with little dissent at that point. so jump on my unicorn with me. we will see this in our lifetimes.

    nader is fully lucid. did you listen to him on NPR today? he spoke with amy goodman. he referenced whole foods, waxman bailing on single payer, and made an admirable defense of single payer. the problem with nader is he never builds from the bottom up. he just jumps out there with his national platform.

    mckinney is often mocked but she is great. she called for the impeachment of bush and introduced legislation. what did nancy pelosi say? “impeachment is off the table.”
    yes she also introduced the 2Pac legislation which would release those files instead of wait until the freedom of information act does in years later. she is roundly roasted for that. but the idea that she is off the reservation is wrong. she is not afraid to fight for what is right.

  118. 118.

    MBSS

    don’t drink PBR jenjen. that’s for those darn hipsters.

    drink scotch, like me and john cole.

  119. 119.

    CynDee

    “Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.”

    This is the best Not Found message ever written. Love it.

  122. 122.

    JenJen

    @MBSS:

    don’t drink PBR jenjen. that’s for those darn hipsters. Drink scotch, like me and john cole.

    Oh heavens, I would never allow PBR to cross my lips. I was making fun of our host’s momentary Emo ways. ;-)

    Scotch is dandy, but I just grilled and finished a delicious burger, accompanied by the most perfect ear of grilled-in-the-husk Ohio silver queen corn a summer could offer. Now I’m sipping on Maker’s Mark and kickin’ back.

    Life is good.

  124. 124.

    Ash Can

    @Leelee for Obama: “…the Parliamentary system, which I happen to think is a good one. But, it ain’t what we have, so I ride the Donkey and poke him with a stick when he balks.”

    Damned if that doesn’t encapsulate my own partisan outlook right there. Kudos.

    @Comrade Mary: “I want to fuck Lawrence O’Donnell into shivering, weeping submission.”

    I knew there was something I liked about y’all.

    @Punchy: “And how about fantasy baseball stud D-Lee today?”

    After getting swept by the Phillies, and not exactly playing the best ball in the world before that, I think the Cubs worked out an issue or three today. (And BTW, looks like forked-god is gone, thank dog…uh, I’m sorry, I’ll read that again…)

    @Elizabelle: “He talked his way into the Marines, at age 34, because he wanted to make a difference after September 11.”

    Great story. Sort of a reverse Audie Murphy, eh?

  125. 125.

    geg6

    I find it endearing that some people think single payer would EVER easily be sold regardless of the logic of the argument or that Nader or McKinney are not insane egotists or that Kucinich could ever win a national election. But I do not find it in any way to be a realistic point of view. I get the impulse as I once had similar a high-minded outlook. But I’m much too old and jaded to be that blindly idealistic. But I will say that I find it heartening that there still are people out there who are after the Clenis Murder Syndicate years and the long national nightmare of W World.

Comments are closed.