Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The revolution will be supervised.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

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

Optimism opens the door to great things.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

Everybody saw this coming.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

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

Their freedom requires your slavery.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

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

We still have time to mess this up!

I really should read my own blog.

In my day, never was longer.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

You are here: Home / Let’s Party Like It’s 1997

Let’s Party Like It’s 1997

by | 172 Comments

This post is in: 

The balls on these people:

worsethantorture

To refresh:

Investigating known links to the past administration and torture- beyond the pale.

Investigating known wrongdoing within the Justice department regarding firings- partisan politics.

Investigating Monica Goodling and that entire sorry crew- unseemly.

Creating a special prosecutor to ogle Bill Clinton’s penis and another one to fish for some possible wrongdoing somewhere in a connection to Obama that doesn’t exist- YOUR PATRIOTIC GOD DAMNED DUTY. WOLVERINES!

Reader Interactions

172Comments

  1. 1.

    Crashman06

    John and DougJ,

    How do you do it? How do you swim through this cesspool of nonsense day after day? I mean, I appreciate the service you’re providing for us, but even the filtered wingnuttia we get on this website is making me question my sanity. How do you two keep on going?

  3. 3.

    Captain Goto

    James Taranto is a ….

    … OK, ladies, I won’t say it. But it begins with a “c” and has four letters.
    And I can’t think of another word that fits that pompous little douchebag quite so well. Even “douchebag.”

  4. 4.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @ Crashman06

    Good question. Swimming through liquid shit all day takes a special kind of intestinal fortitude

    @ Captain Goto

    Maybe you’re allowed to say it in scottish:
    James Taranto is a doss cahnt

  5. 5.

    Zifnab

    @Crashman06: Dude. That’s the god damn WSJ. I have friends who swear by it.

    I mean, if he was posting shit from Malkinland, then I’d fear for his soul.

  6. 6.

    shep

    You left out: Investigating the people who exposed a secret, CIA anti-weapons-of-mass-destruction-proliferation unit for political purposes – too political.

  7. 7.

    Ed Marshall

    You gotta read that fucking thing! Is that a joke? Are they that fucking stupid, or are they pretending and hoping everyone else is? Whose idea was it to go ask ACORN to set up a prostitution ring? They got a smart ass answer because it’s ridiculous! What did they think was going to happen?

  11. 11.

    Makewi

    Sure John, except the connection does exist and you need to replace investigating torture and the justice department firings with re-investigating. I’m not going over Clinton again. You’re a big boy so you should know better.

    I would commend you on your attempt to foster an increase in real hate in the world, if I thought it was commendable.

    Do you even remember when you were objective? I guess it’s a trade off. Popular or objective.

    In any case, I suppose it’s necessary to remind you that the GOP has no power right now. None. So anything that happens now is the wholly owned responsibility of the Democratic party. You won it, you own it.

  13. 13.

    SenyorDave

    This is from the column:

    This column does not care for special prosecutors, but the case for appointing one would seem to be stronger here than usual.

    And I assume these same shitbags went apopletic over the Iran-Contra special prosecutor Iran-Contra, where we sold weapons to our enemy to circumvent the Constitution. You know, the same Constitution that the Reagan administration used like toilet paper.

    The WSJ editorial page is beyond a joke.

  14. 14.

    Da Bomb

    I wonder what Sarah Palin thinks about ACORN and Obama. I expect to read some genuine frontier gibberish n her facebook page.

    Ooopsy, I forgot she has ghost writer for her Facebook page, because that blithering idiot can’t write in complete sentences.

    Wink-Wink. Also.

    Starbursts!!

  15. 15.

    CT

    OT, but found this little gem in the GQ article from the Bush speechwriter, Matt Latimer. After detailing the utter confusion in the WH about the bailout plan-the one THEY proposed, btw, and describing Bush flailing through a practice speech-finally throwing his hands up and saying “Why did I sign on to this proposal if I don’t understand what it does?”, Latimer really sticks in the knife and gives it a twist:

    The president was clearly frustrated with what was going on, but there was little he could do at this late hour. He went up to take a nap, saying he was beat. He looked it. I’d never seen him more exhausted. His hair was out of place and shaggy. His face looked drained and pale.

    Even more distressing, he was wearing Crocs.

    I find that hilarious, and I don’t know why.

  17. 17.

    eric

    So his position is that HOLDER should have obama investigated. And that he can create a groundswell of political pressure for it? Really? Really? I. Want. A. Pony.

  20. 20.

    Da Bomb

    @Makewi: HAHAHAHAHA!!!

    BWAHAHAHA!! Oh I am laughing so hard, that there are tears streaming down my face, lil’ wingnut!

    You have managed to turn a black person blue. I can’t breathe, oh lawdy-lawdy.

    **dead**

  21. 21.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    So now your channeling Phil, another of our hapless trolls. But I’m glad you reminded us that wingnuts have no power. This cannot be said and appreciated enough.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    Psst. You missed an important little word at the top of that article. Here, I’ll highlight it for you:

    Opinion

    I’m sure you feel pretty silly now that you’ve found out that the article you’ve been running around claiming as a piece of investigative journalism is actually just one person’s opinion.

  27. 27.

    calipygian

    Even when the GOP WAS in power, they had absolutely ZERO ability to control the runaway spending and tax cutting that doubled the federal debt when Kommander Kodpiece spent eight years driving the country into a ditch.

    So, out of power, the GOP has no power. In power, the GOP has no self control.

    Now go fuck off.

  28. 28.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh sweetness, whatever helps you hold on to your illusions. Here’s a hint, opinion pieces can contain actual facts, things like direct quotes and links to other news pieces. Oh what do you know, the one I link does. Imagine that.

  29. 29.

    OniHanzo

    Shorter Makewi: We have held back on our guilty-by-being-black ploy for too long now. YOU have driven us this measure! YOUUUU! We are only a leaf upon the truthy wind!

  31. 31.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @ Comrade Dread

    Better yet, you (and me) need an electric thumb.

    @ Makewi

    So ummm…. are democrats responsible for teabagger racism and insanity? If HCR fails, I’ll grant you that. Also, “objective” probably doesn’t mean what you think it means

  32. 32.

    Funkhauser

    Pfhew… just avoided the bait to avoid getting into a fight with the troll @Makewi:

    Shoo troll shoo!

    Thank goodness.

    Look, Jim Taranto is a partisan. He fights against one team and for the other team. Shame and consistency would only get in the way.

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    There’s another important little factoid in that article that you missed. Here, I’ll highlight that one for you as well:

    October 10, 2008

    Yep, that sure is a fresh, breaking story. So fresh that the link inside it has expired and takes you to a 404 Not Found page.

    What would we do without your comedy stylings, Makewi?

  34. 34.

    Makewi

    @OniHanzo:

    Roughly 12% of the country buys the idea of criticism of Obama and/or his policy positions being centered on race, in fact the WH this morning distanced itself from crazy Jimmy’s similar comments.

    So welcome to the fringe, try to clean up after yourself because there is no maid service.

  36. 36.

    The Bearded Blogger

    Maybe wingnuts will begin to understand the fundamental interconnectedness and interdependence of the universe… Obama is connected to acorn, and soros, and stalin… and these things in turn are connected to others… and these to others in a cosmic web of life in which every being is worthy and radiates divinity…

  37. 37.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Creating a special prosecutor to ogle Bill Clinton’s penis and another one to fish for some possible wrongdoing somewhere in a connection to Obama that doesn’t exist

    And I would note that when they were sniffing the trail of Clinton’s p enis, (ewww!, I know) strangely his poll numbers went up to around 60 percent approval.

    The public is sick of this shit, when it reaches Defcon 4, and we see a likewise improvement in Obama’s poll numbers in the past week.

    So keep chumning the waters with crazy wingnuts, please.

  38. 38.

    kay

    The Wall Street Journal always leads the charge on witch hunts of Democratic Presidents.
    I haven’t been reading the editorials, but I figured they’d be out front.
    I think we should appoint Yoo.

  39. 39.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    I see, so is it your contention that the Obama campaign was best buds with ACORN during that time (the election) but then went their separate ways? The real problem is that ACORN has always been a criminal syndicate, and now even the Democrats are going to be forced to cut ties. 83-7 and the shoes keep dropping.

  40. 40.

    cleek

    Saul Alinisky…

    i still don’t who the fuck Saul Alinisky is or why i should have any particular feelings about him one way or the other.

    the fucking whingenuts had better stop speaking in tongues if they want to expand past the 28% mark.

  43. 43.

    Makewi

    @kay:

    Best to ignore it then. I’m sure it will all go away. It’s not like scandals are the bread and butter of a large section of the MSM or anything.

  46. 46.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @The Bearded Blogger:

    Maybe wingnuts will begin to understand the fundamental interconnectedness and interdependence of the universe… Obama is connected to acorn, and soros, and stalin… and these things in turn are connected to others… and these to others in a cosmic web of life in which every being is worthy and radiates divinity…

    You know, I seem to recall some people on the left having similar thoughts about Karl Rove, that he had some kind of evil weather machine or something. Except he did have his hand in everything. Projection is all the right wing has.

  48. 48.

    JK

    @Kirk Spencer:

    The wingnuts are in full batshit crazy mode right now and are completely unable to wrap their minds around the fact that Karl Rove was once a Domestic Policy Czar. These people are sickos.

  49. 49.

    Robertdsc-iphone

    Ya know, I have to wonder about something. The word I’ve read about not investigating torture is that the GOP shitbags will go to war & stop the government from functioning. How does this differ from what they’re doing now? They’re putting holds on appointee, voting no en masse against almost all legislation, and are bucking progress at every turn. So why NOT investigate? We’re not gonna get anything out of them anyways, and their blanket obstruction will further decimate the ranks come election time. If only the Dems would fight back for once.

  50. 50.

    Leelee for Obama

    @CT: Made me think of the Mafia Don who feigned insanity to stay out of the slam. Bathrobe and slippers to court and all that.

  52. 52.

    GregB

    Leelee,

    That was Vincent “Vinny the Chin” Gigante. His mobsters never used to say his name, they’d just point to their own chin when referencing him.

    He kept up the bathrobe schtick for years.

    -G

  54. 54.

    Zifnab

    I don’t know. The Dems absolutely loved this during the Clinton Era. Is it time for Barak Obama’s Sista Soldja moment? Do we get a continuing resolution from Congress stating its intense disapproval a la MoveOn.org? Perhaps a stirring rebuke from Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh over incivility?

  56. 56.

    gocart mozart

    Sort of OT but does anyone else think that its great that Obama can have all these Czars and communist in the same administration without them trying to kill each other. Team of Rivals, Fuck Yeah! The man’s a diplomatic genius. After this, solving the Palestinian/Israeli conflict should be a cakewalk.

  57. 57.

    slag

    Obama worked for Acorn and Acorn worked for Obama. That doesn’t mean the president is implicated in any wrongdoing, but it suggests at least that the worse things get for Acorn, the more embarrassing it is for him. If the Justice Department fails to prosecute, it invariably would raise suspicions of political favoritism. This column does not care for special prosecutors, but the case for appointing one would seem to be stronger here than usual.

    My favorite paragraph ever. The president isn’t implicated in any wrongdoing, so clearly, the case for hiring a special prosecutor is unusually strong.

    I can’t imagine why John Cole doesn’t agree with that logic. Obviously, he’s not at all objective.

  58. 58.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @ arguingwithsignposts

    You know, I think part of the Bush regime strategy was to do things so outrageous that those who denounced them would seem crazy.

    It is brilliant in its evilness, or vice versa

  60. 60.

    jwb

    @Libertini: Seriously, just completely ignore Makewi. Neither serious nor funny, he’s simply here to waste everyone’s time with his only real talent—derailing threads. Don’t even bother trying to laugh at him.

  61. 61.

    burnspbesq

    Umm, wait a sec.

    Special prosecutor?

    Am I misremebering? Didn’t a Republican-controlled Congress let the special prosecutor statute expire?

  62. 62.

    slag

    @mcc: They’re a poverty-fighting organization that gets a tiny amount of money from the feds but that can’t be bothered to clean their house every once in a while. So, naturally, they serve as the quintessential wingnut symbol for everything that’s wrong in America.

  63. 63.

    OniHanzo

    @Makewi:

    I wonder what the percentage is of Americans who buy into right wing Obama-scandal-of-the-week hokum. The irony of this “Okay… but THIS ONE has merit” bullshit is that you pitiful bastards have been predicting the final nail in Obama’s coffin–High five!— since his candidacy. Birth certs and Rev Wright and William Ayers and the fact he smokes, et cetera, et cetera ad nauseum. With absolutely nothing to show for it and no power to even try.

    How do you wake up every morning, with a litany of defeats hung around your necks like boat anchors, and gather the vim to headbutt the same wall again and again? Is it faith? As I’m genuinely curious.

  65. 65.

    Dismayed Liberal

    I think the Democrats are fighting the Republicans tooth and nail, but the contest is not what it seems. The Democrats are trying to destroy the Republican Party as their #1 priority, with delivering on their agenda as #2. I think the D’s in Congress feel that the agenda can wait until the R’s are small enough to “drown in a bathtub” to borrow a phrase. They are now watering down their agenda to co-opt the financiers of the R’s, as they feel that their top 2 priorities are mutually exclusive. Once the R’s are dead and their corpse is merged with the Blue Dogs, while the centrist and progressive Dems remain the Democrats. This would be a seismic shift in the political landscape rather than the swinging pendulum we normally see.

    My big problem with this approach is that I’m not so sure that America itself will fare much better than the R’s if the Democrats are unwilling to right the ship of state before dealing the R’s a death blow.

  66. 66.

    Dismayed Liberal

    Sorry about one of my non-sensical sentence fragments – commenting from my Blackberry. I can haz edit function?

  67. 67.

    LD50

    In any case, I suppose it’s necessary to remind you that the GOP has no power right now. None. So anything that happens now is the wholly owned responsibility of the Democratic party. You won it, you own it.

    Well, I suppose that’s a refreshing change from the wingnuts who deny that Obama’s really president.

  68. 68.

    LD50

    In any case, I suppose it’s necessary to remind you that the GOP has no power right now. None.

    So that’s why everyone seems to agree that Obama needs at least 60 votes in Senate to get health care through, while Republican presidents need only 51?

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    I see, so is it your contention that the Obama campaign was best buds with ACORN during that time (the election) but then went their separate ways?

    One word: Whitewater.

  71. 71.

    Comrade Dread

    Obama worked for Acorn and Acorn worked for Obama. That doesn’t mean the president is implicated in any wrongdoing, but it suggests at least that he’s wearing a purple suit and hat and carrying his awesome pimp cane with which he keeps his hoes in line. Plus he’s a Kenyan, you know. And a communist.

  72. 72.

    LD50

    Obama worked for Acorn and Acorn worked for Obama.

    Therefore Obama IS Acorn??

    That doesn’t mean the president is implicated in any wrongdoing,

    I.e., we don’t have anything that’ll hold up in court.

    but it suggests at least that the worse things get for Acorn, the more embarrassing it is for him. If the Justice Department fails to prosecute, it invariably would raise suspicions of political favoritism,

    which is a very bad thing when the president isn’t a Republican,

    This column does not care for special prosecutors,

    …when there’s a Republican in the White House,

    but the case for appointing one would seem to be stronger here than usual.

    …since the president is a Demmycrat.

  75. 75.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh, you don’t think Whitewater affected the Clinton presidency? Don’t kid yourself.

    The best course of action is the one that the Senate is following, cut off ACORN from federal funding and from involvement in federal projects. If Obama helps in that, he should be fine. But if he drags his feet or doesn’t seem to be interested in this corrupt organization this will become a problem for him.

    @OniHanzo:

    This is the new politics. Same as the old politics. The opposition keeps throwing things until one sticks. Then they throw some more.

  77. 77.

    LD50

    Oh, you don’t think Whitewater affected the Clinton presidency? Don’t kid yourself.

    Yeah, his poll numbers plummeted, he didn’t get re-elected, and he got kicked out of office. Oh wait, none of that actually happened.

    Well, the wingnuts got to spend a billion dollars in taxpayer money, gave the talk radio hosts something to talk about for several years. I guess that’s an ‘accomplishment’.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    Oh, you don’t think Whitewater affected the Clinton presidency? Don’t kid yourself.

    In other words, you’re admitting that the entire ACORN thing is a completely bogus “scandal” that’s being ginned up by the right wing to try and bag themselves another Democratic president.

    So much for your righteous indignation.

  79. 79.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    Oh, you don’t think Whitewater affected the Clinton presidency? Don’t kid yourself.

    It made him more popular moron. This isn’t a zero sum game you knuckleheads play. There is public judgment for both sides and is why Obama’s poll numbers are rising and the republicans are in the shitter stuck to the toilet bowl sides.

    But you wank on.

    *seen your similar comment LD50, but will offer mine anyways.

  80. 80.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    No, Acorn could be a real problem for Obama if he doesn’t handle it well. Apart from any elected official, what do you think of Acorn?

  81. 81.

    LD50

    No, Acorn could be a real problem for Obama if he doesn’t handle it well.

    Yeah, and if only McCain had mentioned Reverend Wright more last October, he’d be president now.

  82. 82.

    Makewi

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    BS. The Dems numbers under Bush were pathetic, worse than Bush. You need to learn that the only numbers that count are those of the people in power. Throw the bums out is an American tradition.

    So the downward trend of Obama’s numbers should be seen as problematic for those who actually understand these things. In your case, I understand it’s more important to try to coin disgusting phrases having to do, yet again, with fecal matter.

    Seriously man, you are obsessed with the crap.

  83. 83.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    Apart from any elected official, what do you think of Acorn?

    Well I think they’ve done a lot of good work over the years, but have not managed themselves well and end up doing some stupid shit that gives wingnuts ammo to attack them and dems. And for the record, the problem the goopers have with ACORN has nothing to do with alleged corruption. It is solely due to their success in registering a lot of dem voters over the years. Notwithstanding the nonsense of some of their employees submitting fake registrations to up their quota -pay. Noting that no case of actual VOTER fraud has been documented.

  84. 84.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    There are lots and lots of non-profits that receive federal funds. If I send a hidden camera in to any random local facilities, what am I going to find?

    A lot of them are conservative outfits, and most of the conservative outfits are religious, under the Faith Based initiative Grants.

    Billions go out the door to faith-based initiative non-profit groups. I’ve been in favor of an audit for a long, long time.

    So, this is probably a good thing, as long as we insure there’s equal rigorous scrutiny of conservative taxpayer funded non-profits. I say we should get going and do a thorough audit, really across the board.

  85. 85.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    I’ m not the one trolling horseshit on a dem blog. It has been demonstrated ad nauseum that you are so thoroughly full of shit, but you keep coming back for more. There is something pathological about that, unless your being directed to do so by some wingnut group. Which is it Makewi? Are you a masochist or wingnut soldier, albeit a comically bad one.

  86. 86.

    kay

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Just for the record, and I’m sure you know this, when you take a voter registration form, you cannot make an independent determination that the information is fraudulent. You are mandated to return the form to the Board of elections, even if it says “Mickey Mouse”.

    That’s to guard against the person collecting the form disposing of valid voter registration forms, based, say, on partisan considerations.

    Has to go to the Bd of elections. They, and only they, can invalidate it.

  87. 87.

    Makewi

    @kay:

    Perhaps you should try to find that corruption in other organizations. Meanwhile the shoes keep dropping on Acorn. In any case, it’s not like the Democratic held Senate is disagreeing with me on this. Or the census. Or John Stewart for that matter. I recommend throwing them under the bus, post haste. But then, the beauty of it is that the only thing I ever have to do to get you people to disagree with my position is to take one.

    Despite GWS assertion about no actual voter fraud, there has in fact been actual documented voter fraud. The only reason you guys are even going to bat for them is because they tend to be good for Democrats. So you are pro tax evading child prostitution rings so long as it helps your political ambitions. You should be so proud.

  88. 88.

    steve s

    friend of mine said recently, “Blackwater goes around the world murdering people. ACORN tells some sleazeballs how to get money, and _ACORN_ is the worst thing ever? Seriously?”

  92. 92.

    kay

    @steve s:

    I think only non-profits get scrutiny.

    Still, there’s enough conservative federally funded non-profits to keep an audit team busy for a long, long, time.

    I look forward to bipartisan support for a thorough look at all federally funded non-profits. I personally would begin with the abstinence programs, just because there’s been some indications of cronyism there.

  94. 94.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    I think it’s just a matter of time before liberal activists head out with a camera to one of those Bush-initiated Faith based shops. If there’s rule-breaking……

    But, like I said, I’ve wanted an audit for years. I have no earthly idea what they’re doing with all that money, and there are a lot of them.

    Leiberman’s wife runs one, actually. You have my permission to start there.

  95. 95.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @kay:

    Whatever, my point is that Mickey Mouse has never been caught actually voting. Except maybe Mccain voting for himself. also, you betch’s :)

  97. 97.

    kay

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    I know. The actual mechanics of voting are boring, and conservatives can’t be bothered, so they yell and scream a lot. If you walk them through the process from registration to vote-casting they sometimes get it.

    I was an election judge, which is a glorified poll worker, for a long time, so I learned a lot of the nuts and bolts. It’s not nearly as dramatic as FOX portrays it.

  98. 98.

    Makewi

    @LD50:

    Yes, sure. It affected his ability to govern, and it affected the way he tried to govern. He was unable to accomplish some of what he wanted to because he was busy dealing the effects of it. The Ledger

  99. 99.

    Svensker

    What is the Republican hysteria about ACORN? They’re always talking about it on FOX and my ‘tard cousins are always yakking about it, too. Why this fixation? They really think they’re going to bring down Big O with ACORN?

    But then I don’t get the Soros thing or the Alinsky thing, either. These people definitely live on a different planet.

  101. 101.

    Makewi

    @kay:

    Here’s a boring mechanical issue for you. The FEC only has so many resources to verify who are the real registered voters, so the fraud does have an impact.

  102. 102.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    It’s billions, Makewi. Admittedly, the faith based initiative grant idea was Al Gores, not Bush’s, but Bush took it to a whole new level.

    If we’re going after secular non-profits, I insist we look at federally funded religious non-profits, because that’s where the real money is.

  103. 103.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Svensker:

    They register democrats to vote. that’s it.

    And most of those registered to vote are the poor and disenfranchised in our society, and we know what the GOP thinks about these people.

  104. 104.

    LD50

    @Makewi: Don’t think I’m not impressed with the 15-year-old musings from some pundit, but can YOU actually list anything that Clinton was stopped by doing by Whitewater?

    If it was something after the date of that article, it’d make it look more like you actually know what you’re talking about.

    What is the Republican hysteria about ACORN? They’re always talking about it on FOX and my ‘tard cousins are always yakking about it, too. Why this fixation? They really think they’re going to bring down Big O with ACORN?

    Republicans like scandals that can be summed up with single, short words. The whole Negro angle must appeal to them, too.

    Either that, or they’re obediently obsessing on what Rush tells them to obsess on.

  105. 105.

    Makewi

    @kay:

    Again, I have zero problem with it. If someone is using tax payer funds in a way they are not supposed to, it should be exposed. Let the chips fall where they may.

  106. 106.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    @jwb: Agreed. I echo the support for Cleek’s Pie Filter, which has made this already awesome comments section, even moreso.
    Given how implementing it has also kept my blood pressure down, I’m sure my Doctor would approve, as well.

    So this is me, doing my part to keep Health Costs down. I’m sure Conservatives everywhere would approve of my taking such responsibility for my life and health, and not depending on others.

  107. 107.

    LD50

    And most of those registered to vote are the poor and disenfranchised in our society, and we know what the GOP thinks about these people.

    But… think of all the cartoon characters who were illegitimately allowed to vote!

  108. 108.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    So do the many ways the GOP has employed to suppress voting in dem districts over the decades. Not the least of which is drumming up phony investigations by US Attorney;s as you recall. The trouble phony registrations cause from ACORN is a pittance in comparison.

  109. 109.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    That isn’t who verifies voter registrations. Local Boards of Elections do, because they have the database.

    Election law is state law. Just repeat that over and over, because that’s the most important single thing you should know, if you’re actually interested in this.

    There are two big federal statutes that preempt, but neither of those have to do with verification.

    Look to your Secretary of State and state statutes, and then go to Help America Vote Act and. lastly, the Voting Rights Act. It’s going to be different in each of the fifty states. I know my own state, Ohio, and, weirdly, Georgia, but that’s a long story.

    I know a fair amount about election law, although I was a volunteer, essentially, so I’ll go head to head on this if you want, but it’s dull.

  110. 110.

    Blue Raven

    Dear Rethugs,

    While great oaks from little acorns grow, you have to give the acorn at least 20 years before it’s big enough to use for a lynching. Also, the acorn needs to have a connection with something more nurturing than your collectively undermedicated minds.

  111. 111.

    cleek

    @JK:

    well, yeah. of course. and i’m sure there are books and magazine articles and all kinds of other things i could read, if i wanted to know about him. and i don’t. and i’ll bet most people don’t know or care who he was either.

    and that’s the point: the whingenuts apparently think they’re saying something stinging and profound by invoking his name every chance they get. but outside of historically-minded partisans, nobody knows who he is. so by invoking the name of this obscure lefty from 40 years ago, they end up coming across like some 4th rate Dennis Miller routine. and that ain’t gonna attract anyone who isn’t already a fan.

  112. 112.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    If you are implicated in voter fraud in Ohio, it goes to the county prosecutor, and then to the common pleas judge. The referral would come from the county board of elections, and those board members are bipartisan, even-steven, by statute.
    That’s because election law is state law.
    FOX was like a central clearinghouse of misinformation on Ohio process during the last election. It was incredible, the amount of pure bullshit they served up.

  113. 113.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @kay:

    Glad you pointed that out.

    And with respect to ACORN in particular, it’s also worth pointing out that they were in the habit of segregating out questionable forms and flagging them for election workers.

  114. 114.

    tripletee

    @Makewi:

    I understand it’s more important to try to coin disgusting phrases having to do, yet again, with fecal matter.
    Seriously man, you are obsessed with the crap.

    I propose a compromise: the General will refrain from comments referencing fecal matter, and you’ll stop writing posts that are the prose equivalent of stepping in dogshit. Win-win!

  115. 115.

    Anne Laurie

    @Captain Goto:

    James Taranto is a ….

    Arsehole. No matter how nutritious the stuff that went in the other end, all you’ll get from JT is shite. The more facts, the more you cram, the more and ranker shite he leaks out. And he is not, unlike a healthy quent (OE), self-cleaning. Ewwboy, is he not self-cleaning.

  116. 116.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @kay:

    I was a volunteer (out of state) poll-watcher in Columbus during the 2008 election.

    It was amazing how much information the pollworkers had to absorb in implementing the new and confusing voting requirements…and I can only assume it was that way all the way up the line.

    So my hat is off to you for performing such an important public service.

  117. 117.

    General Winfield Stuck

    And yes, I plan to break the record for using the word “shit” in a single thread. It’s a shitty job but somebody has to do it.

  119. 119.

    Makewi

    @kay:

    Yes, my mistake. Doesn’t really change the underlying fact of what I was saying though does it? No. Election boards are limited by the resources they have available to them, and every resource they have to waste on fraud is one they don’t have for something else. Are you trying to say that fraud in registering of election workers is no biggie?

  121. 121.

    Anne Laurie

    @kay:

    A lot of them are conservative outfits, and most of the conservative outfits are religious, under the Faith Based initiative Grants.
    …
    Billions go out the door to faith-based initiative non-profit groups. I’ve been in favor of an audit for a long, long time.
    …
    So, this is probably a good thing, as long as we insure there’s equal rigorous scrutiny of conservative taxpayer funded non-profits. I say we should get going and do a thorough audit, really across the board.

    Seconded, and if there’s a daily vote, I’ll bookmark it right next to Little Bitsy’s! I believe there’s a couple of under-the-MVI-radar state investigations being done of the most egregious Jeebus-humper tax-dollar-grabbers, but given the track record of the Republican Party under the Cheney Regency, a thorough audit of every “faith based” grant going back to 2001 seems essential to the future health of social services nationwide. And it’ll probably be self-funding, at that, since I have no doubt prosecutors could recover enough stolen funds to cover their expenses.

  122. 122.

    someguy

    So Makewi, let’s just assume for the sake of argument we concede that ACORN is corrupt, that their offices in several cities did agree to help setup brothels with underaged illegal alien hookers (I’m betting the tapes are a setup and a fake, but I’ll concede for the purpose of arguing with you) and that they packed a couple ballot boxes here and there – say, Florida, Ohio and Missouri (I think that’s where the Repukes have ginned up some bogus investigations).

    Even assuming all that is true… what are you guys going to do about it? Nothing. That’s what. You’re throwing haymakers at the wind, pal. Elections have consequences. As that great folk philosopher, Triple H once said so eloquently… Suck it! Losing blows, don’t it? Better get used to it.

  123. 123.

    Makewi

    @Zuzu’s Petals:

    So they say. They also seem to have a habit of providing information about how to get out of paying for taxes for illegal alien child prostitution rings, something that is no big deal to you guys, and on that one we don’t need anyone’s word because it’s on tape. Again, and again, and again.

  124. 124.

    Makewi

    @someguy:

    I don’t have to do a thing about it. The Senate is covering it. So is the Census, and Obama has already started taking the first steps towards distancing himself. Eventually, Nancy P will have to go along.

    It’s enough to me that the corrupt child sex trade shielder stop receiving tax payer funds. Others will try to hang this around Obama’s neck. To varying degrees of success. I don’t really care about that.

  125. 125.

    Anne Laurie

    @Svensker:

    What is the Republican hysteria about ACORN? They’re always talking about it on FOX and my ‘tard cousins are always yakking about it, too. Why this fixation? They really think they’re going to bring down Big O with ACORN?

    Of course you already know the answer: ACORN helps poor people, some of them women & gheys, many of them insufficiently white, and some of them even immigrants — all the usual Republican boogeymonsters. You let an organization like ACORN help ‘the coloreds’ to vote, or run after-school programs for the children of poor non-English-speaking parents, and 40 years later there’s an African-American man in the White House and a ‘wise Latina’ on the Supreme Court! The horror, the horror, eleventy-one!

  127. 127.

    Makewi

    @someguy:

    Suck it! Losing blows, don’t it? Better get used to it.

    Ah, this is what real leadership looks like. It’s a shame the people are already tiring of it, because lord knows “suck it, we won” is all I ever really expected from the folks who spent the last 8 years saying “suck it, we lost”.

  128. 128.

    JK

    @cleek:

    If you take some time to view these links, I think you’d discover that Saul Alinsky is a very impressive guy.

    I agree with your larger point however. Many Americans are historical illiterates, so tossing the name Saul Alinsky around probably isn’t very helpful to their cause.

    On the other hand, maybe invoking Alinsky’s name is a way to throw red meat to anti-semites.

  129. 129.

    Makewi

    @Anne Laurie:

    I’ll see you your “helps poor people and minorities” and raise you a helps to shield child sex slavery rings. I guess its ok to be a criminal conspiracy as long as you can claim to help some group.

  130. 130.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    Ah, this is what real leadership looks like.

    Don’t you just love it when they start pontificating grand ideals.

    It’s wingnut code for “we’ve fallen down and can’t get up”

  132. 132.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    @JK: I have Rules for Revolutionaries sitting on the to-read pile. Given that one of the most accurate and level-headed commentators on the last election, Al Gordiano of The Field, is a known Alinsky fan, I want to know in detail what’s up with Alinsky’s methods and ideas.

  133. 133.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    No, Acorn could be a real problem for Obama if he doesn’t handle it well.

    If you actually thought there was something criminal going on, you wouldn’t be blathering about how Obama should “handle it.” You’ve admitted that you don’t think anything criminal happened on Obama’s part, but you want it investigated anyway because if you can generate enough smoke, you might get to have Ken Starr make his triumphant return to the national stage and waste another $50 million of taxpayer money.

    You already got one president impeached over a blowjob. What’s this one going to be, not properly separating his recyclables?

  135. 135.

    Citizen_X

    @Makewi: Are you ready to share with us the wonderful accomplishments of the Whitewater investigation?

    @LD50:
    Yes, sure. It affected his ability to govern, and it affected the way he tried to govern. He was unable to accomplish some of what he wanted to because he was busy dealing the effects of it.

    So, you’re admitting that your main interest is sabotage? Good to know.

  138. 138.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    I want ACORN investigated, not Obama and not by a supposedly independent group of partisan hacks.

    @Citizen_X:

    There is no need to admit any such thing, because only a retarded marmoset could come to the conclusion that I wanted to see anything sabotaged based on what I have said here. I will mark you down willing to overlook helping people force illegal alien girls into a life of prostitution if it helps your political cause.

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    They also seem to have a habit of providing information about how to get out of paying for taxes for illegal alien child prostitution rings, something that is no big deal to you guys, and on that one we don’t need anyone’s word because it’s on tape.

    I love how a couple of conservatives dressing up in Halloween costumes and telling outlandish stories to ACORN employees is proof — PROOF I tell you! — that ACORN employees have actually done those things.

    That woman in the San Bernardino office who told your Borat wanna-bes that she murdered her ex-husband? Yeah, not so much. And yet you ate it up with a spoon and e-mailed all your buddies to tell them that ACORN is covering up for murderers, didn’t you?

  140. 140.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    Seriously, is there some sort of reward you guys give yourself for fully believing the impeached for a bj crap? You know what, take it up with the ABA.

  141. 141.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    I want ACORN investigated, not Obama and not by a supposedly independent group of partisan hacks.

    Yes, that’s why you linked to an article calling for an independent prosecutor to investigate Obama’s ties to ACORN — because you have no interest in having Obama investigated.

    You really need to at least keep track of your own arguments in a single thread.

  143. 143.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    It changes the underlying facts a lot that you believed up until 5 minutes ago that the federal elections commission was the entity that investigated and prosecuted voter fraud.
    You don’t know what you’re talking about on voter fraud, Makewi.
    Just admit it.
    You have to do a 50 state survey on voter fraud investigations and prosecutions to weigh in credibly on any lack of prosecutions, and it’s clear you didn’t do that, because you thought the FEC was the governing entity.
    You should stop playing amateur prosecutor. You’re not very good at it. It’s a lot of work, and it’s dull and fact-intensive.
    Stop convicting people prior to charges, or trials. You don’t know enough to do that. People who know what they’re talking about don’t even do that.

  144. 144.

    LD50

    Seriously, is there some sort of reward you guys give yourself for fully believing the impeached for a bj crap?

    So, the reason was, what, Ken Starr needed the money?

  145. 145.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    Seriously, is there some sort of reward you guys give yourself for fully believing the impeached for a bj crap? You know what, take it up with the ABA.

    Oh, right, it was “perjury.” In a civil case that was eventually dismissed with prejudice by the judge hearing it because she decided the plaintiff was lying. A charge of which Clinton was, in fact, found not guilty during the impeachment.

    Why, you guys always treat perjury like a life-and-death offense, which is why you protested Bush commuting Scooter Libby’s sentence after Libby was convicted of perjury, right? That’s why Limbaugh and Coulter and Malkin and all the rest immediately condemned Libby and refused to support him, because he was found guilty of the horrible crime of perjury.

    It’s almost like you had a head injury and don’t realize that 8 years have passed since Bill Clinton was president. Maybe you should get checked out by a doctor.

  146. 146.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’d suggest you straighten out your priorities where not defending criminal organizations who help shield child prostitution rings would trump politics, but I suspect that is exactly where your priorities lay.

    You can believe what you want, because you sure as hell are going to read into everything.

  148. 148.

    burnspbesq

    @Makewi:

    What actual child slavery ring has ACORN ever helped? Are you suggesting that the people in those bullshit hidden-camera videos were not just play-acting to score bullshit political points? And if so, are they not shown by their own video to be guilty of conspiracy to commit numerous felonies? Do you not have a duty to find them and make a citizen’s arrest?

  149. 149.

    LD50

    I want ACORN investigated, not Obama and not by a supposedly independent group of partisan hacks.

    So you wouldn’t want Starr, then?

  150. 150.

    Makewi

    @Mnemosyne:

    Seriously, the ABA can help you out. And if you have a problem with Clinton in this conversation, you should take it up with the site host, since he brought it up.

    You crazy.

  151. 151.

    Mnemosyne

    @Makewi:

    I’d suggest you straighten out your priorities where not defending criminal organizations who help shield child prostitution rings would trump politics, but I suspect that is exactly where your priorities lay.

    And murderers! Don’t forget murderers. Just because that woman at ACORN in San Bernardino said she was deliberately messing with them and the police investigated and discovered that every one of her exes is alive and well, that doesn’t mean that she didn’t kill her ex. And since she couldn’t possibly have been lying to them, that means that no one at any other ACORN office could have lied and IT’S ALL TRUE!

    Keep the dream alive!

  153. 153.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    I’m more than “suggesting” that voter fraud isn’t a big law enforcement issue. I have actual on the ground experience with that.
    There’s data, Makewi. We record convictions and prosecutions.
    You dodged that, by doing that shitty thing that conservatives are so fond of, when they don’t have the actual goods.
    You announced it went undiscovered. Out of your ass.
    In other words, you don’t have the data, but you’re damn sure there’s lots and lots of voter fraud.
    WTF, Makewi? In what fantasy world is this acceptable?
    I suggest you read the judges opinion on that ridiculous birther you idiots promoted. He tells her to go back to grade school civics and learn about our the burden of proof.
    It’s on you, the accuser. I don’t have to disprove your accusations of voter fraud. That isn’t how this works.

  157. 157.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Makewi:

    Hell yea! Not like he lied to start a war, or tortured Because he could.

    But I agree Clinton could have been impeached for being dumb enough to let you idiots start with any of the nonsense.

  158. 158.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Makewi:

    HEY, MAKEWI. IMMA LET YOU FINISH BEING A TOOL AND ALL THAT, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT BOB IS ONE OF THE BEST TROLLS OF ALL TIME!

  159. 159.

    kay

    @Zuzu’s Petals:

    We had ACORN registering here. They did a poor job, because they pay the people who do the registrations, so there’s an incentive to turn in bullshit registrations. IMO, they are not a well-run outfit. They do stupid things.
    All voter registrations go to the Bd of elections, and they verify using a county (and then sometimes match with state-wide) database.
    Ultimately, of course, Mickey Mouse isn’t showing up and signing the poll book, and voting, because Mickey Mouse is a cartoon.
    At the voting station, there are tables of poll workers. Half are Democrats, and half are Republicans, and each station has a “poll judge”. They’re appointed using an elaborate system that is based on percentage of vote per precinct in the last governor’s race.
    We’re not just winging voting process. It’s elaborate.

  160. 160.

    Fencedude

    @Makewi:

    Yes, sure. It affected his ability to govern, and it affected the way he tried to govern. He was unable to accomplish some of what he wanted to because he was busy dealing the effects of it. The Ledger

    THE LAKELAND FUCKING LEDGER!?

    Good god are you a moron.

  161. 161.

    Mnemosyne

    @kay:

    Ultimately, of course, Mickey Mouse isn’t showing up and signing the poll book, and voting, because Mickey Mouse is a cartoon.

    Well, that depends on what kind of sense of humor the guy’s parents had, though the cartoon won’t have proper ID with him. Which is another reason organizations don’t get to throw out registrations just because they think the name might be fake.

  162. 162.

    kay

    @Mnemosyne:

    Hah! I have an unusual first name, because my father reads too many novels. I use a nickname.

    The judge-table at the polling place is amusing. It’s polite, but tense, in a partisan way.

    The Democrats are access, and the Republicans are fraud, so it’s a good tension. Push-pull. It’s essentially a wash.

  163. 163.

    mclaren

    YES!

    Whitewater Part Deux.

    It had to happen.

    Soon, an FBI task force will be assigned to investigate President Obama’s shoe sizes. “We have reason to believe there may be a podiatry-related conspiracy,” the Republican minority leader announced today…

  167. 167.

    slippy

    @Makewi: I’m very sorry about your luck, but all conservatives are birthers until proven otherwise. It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

    It’s your stupid party. You own everything all conservatives say. By your own logic.

    Not that I suspect being hung by your own rope means a thing to you. You’ll bip along cheerfully pretending you didn’t just totally contradict yourself.

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