Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

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

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

This fight is for everything.

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

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

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

T R E 4 5 O N

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Bark louder, little dog.

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

Optimism opens the door to great things.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

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

Second rate reporter says what?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

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Reader Interactions

143Comments

  3. 3.

    JenJen

    GMTA!

    Seen Drudge today? He, Malkin, et al are really whipped and frothy about the 2012 Games! Gotta say, it’s the first time I can remember an element of a political party openly rooting against a United States city hosting the Olympics.

    It really does boggle the mind. Just when I think they can’t surprise me anymore, they do!

  4. 4.

    KG

    and the commies hosted a few times – Moscow and Beijing in the summer, probably a shit ton more in the winter. At least Carter had the decency to tell the Russians to fuck off on their bullshit games (I’m honestly surprised some of the wingnuts don’t praise Carter more for this)

  7. 7.

    The Saff

    I don’t follow the Olympics any more but I hope the IOC awards the summer ’16 games to Chicago. And if Obama wants to voice his support for his home city, I say more power to him. Gibbs said yesterday it’ll take all of 5 hours out of his schedule on Friday.

    Has the right always been this predictable in their fauxrage?

  8. 8.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    All you libtards laugh now – you won’t be laughing so hard when they start rounding up real hard-working Americans into the FEMA camps under the guise of “security” for the Olympic Games. The tree of the international spirit of cooperation expressed through athletic competition must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.

    /wingnut

  9. 9.

    beltane

    Please, someone, make it stop. The end result of constantly comparing Obama to Hitler will not be to make Obama look bad, but to somewhat rehabilitate Hitler in the eyes of those who are not very aware of history. I can’t even laugh at these people any more.

  10. 10.

    The Saff

    @Punchy: Right. 1984 Los Angeles Games. That was a major Yankee Doodle Fest. That’s the last time I really followed the Olympic Games. Of course, I was a young high school girl at the time and liked watching the yummy U.S. men’s gymnastics team.

  17. 17.

    freelancer

    @JenJen:

    Seen Drudge today? He, Malkin, et al are really whipped and frothy about the 2012 Games! Gotta say, it’s the first time I can remember an element of a political party openly rooting against a United States city hosting the Olympics.

    My parents and I had this discussion on a trip to visit my baby brother at Family Week at ISU. Mom asked what ACORN was. I explained it succinctly, and my dad said something like “Wow, that’s pretty much the opposite of what Kim said.” (My mom’s sister, who’s a frothing teabagger.)
    My immediate response was “Well, Kim probably things they’re some kind of secret Nazi SS civilian corps created to confiscate guns and give your tax money to lazy N-bombs.”

    My dad just started chuckling. He gets down on “liberals”, because of their pearl-clutching past, but I asked him how his sister-in-laws puke funnel generated ideas stood up against his critical thinking filter. He just smirked, like yeah she’s fuckin’ dumb.

  18. 18.

    scav

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Actually, some of us will be laughing even harder, having been told over and again that we’re not real ‘mercans by those that self-describe (-medicate?) as such. The only thing that would be funnier is if they loudly declare that As Big Government ™ Can’t Do Anything Properly Ever We Will Self-Organize, and begin to herd themselves tidily into the free-market abbatoirs under their own steam, all tea-stained flags flying!

  19. 19.

    JK

    Jules Crittenden disses Michelle Obama

    In the Obama 2016 Olympic bid! Michelle, via Reuters, “gloves are off!” via CNN, “It’s a battle — we’re going to win — take no prisoners!” I guess that means all opposing bidders are about to learn they’re partisan racist hater naysayers who offer no alternative.

    You go, Michelle. It’s the Chicago way, from the cops to the crims, and even the community organizers … though those wienies use proxies and deny everything. Speaking of which, too bad her husband won’t bring that fighting spirit to other international contests.

    But someone needs to tell Michelle the pugilistic rhetoric might be a poor choice for selling Chicago.

    http://www.julescrittenden.com/2009/09/29/its-gloves-off

  20. 20.

    kay

    This post made me laugh. Every once in a while, they’re just funny. Not near often enough to justify the horribleness, but occasionally.

  22. 22.

    Peter J

    No wonder republicans are against Olympic Games in Chicago in 2016. That’s the year Obama will pass on the torch to the next democratic president. I wonder what a successful Olympics will do to the approval ratings for the democrats?

  23. 23.

    Penfold

    Both my mayor and my president are Nazis? This is really disappointing. Oh, wait, he’s not my president, he’s “your” president. And I’m seceding. And stuff. Imma go find my ouija board and consult Saint Ronnie for advice.

    @Zifnab:

    1) As a newcomer, I feel the need to mention that your username is an excellent choice.

    2) Re: The olympic park bombing…Richard Jewell came up on the Daily Show the other night when Blago was on. Clearly, he is also a Nazi, and part of the Vast Left Wing/”Fascist” Conspiracy.

  25. 25.

    JK

    Tom Maguire mocks Michelle Obama and Rahm Emmanuel in connection with Olympics bid

    Michelle Obama is going to Copenhagen to pitch Chicago as the 2016 Olympic host. One wonders whether she could make the pitch with somewhat less violent imagery – let’s see, “it’s a battle”, she will “take no prisoners”, and the “gloves are off”.

    That’s just great – she’s obviously been listening to too much sports talk radio, but maybe we could send her to Kabul next. And fingers crossed that the IOC delegates don’t focus on this no prisoners, gloves off teen-beating story from Chicago.

    NO, MAYBE THAT IS NOT SUCH A GREAT IDEA EITHER: Is Rahm Emmanuel in Copenhagen? He could tell the IOC mf’ers to vote for f’ing Chi-town or he would twist their f’ing &%@ up into their @#&%. That might help make Michelle seem temperate by comparison.

    http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2009/09/first-lady-militant.html

  28. 28.

    El Tiburon

    Does that mean the Tea Baggers are Tommy Smith and John Carlos?

    It’s getting so confusing to know what’s what anymore.

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    @MikeJ:

    I wonder what Multiple Choice Mitt has to say about it this week.

    Well, as of last night he thought that Obama was doing the right thing. If past behavior is any guide, that means that he’ll be frothing mad about the trip by this afternoon, tomorrow morning at the latest.

    -dms

  30. 30.

    Ash

    No, seriously, I’d like all these little bitches to come to Chicago (one of my most favorite cities in the world) so they can say this crap to the face of an actual Chicagoan.

  34. 34.

    slag

    @dmsilev: What is Mitt Romney now? Does he have a job or anything? Same with Newt? And Sarah? Are they just out there as representatives of our high unemployment rate or what?

  39. 39.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder:

    Jules Crittenden is a Boston Herald editor who has reported on politics, crime, science, maritime matters, foreign affairs and conflict in the United States, Asia, the Balkans and the Middle East. He’s also taken some cheap shots at John Cole in the past.

  40. 40.

    Helmut

    Hitler… and Communist China, thereby proving that liberals can be both Nazi fascists and communists at the same time, unlike some liberals with their reason, coherence, and consistency fetish might have it.

  41. 41.

    licensed to kill time

    Maybe this has been pasted already, but – more “Obama is Hitler” rhetoric:

    At the How To Take Back America Conference last weekend, conservative speaker Kitty Werthmann led a workshop called “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists.”During her session, Werthmann went through a litany of examples of how President Obama is like Adolf Hitler. She noted that Hitler, who acted “like an American politician,” was “elected in a 100% Christian nation.” Although she failed to once mention Antisemitism or militarism, Werthmann explained how universal healthcare, an Equal Rights Amendment, and increased taxes were telltale signs of Nazism. Werthmann also warned the audience:;
    ;
    If we had our guns, we would have fought a bloody battle. So, keep your guns, and buy more guns, and buy ammunition. […] Take back America. Don’t let them take the country into Socialism. And I refer again, Hitler’s party was National Socialism. […] And that’s what we are having here right now, which is bordering on Marxism

    linky here

    This “get yr guns n’ ammo” stuff is just goddamn irresponsible, inflammatory and reprehensible. Hey wait – is that a new definition of the GOP? (GIIR, for short.)

  43. 43.

    licensed to kill time

    obviously, second para should be in blockquote. when I tried to edit, WP said “sorry, you do not have permission to edit” ?! WTF? I needz permissions?

  44. 44.

    Ash Can

    Actually, as I said in another recent thread, I’m not all that enthusiastic about the idea of the Olympics coming to Chicago because I’m concerned that they won’t come anywhere close to paying for themselves, and we city-dwellers will get stuck with the bill. So in this respect I disagree with Barack and Michelle. But it’s their freakin’ job to try to persuade the IOC to choose an American city for the games, for crying out loud, so I certainly don’t fault them for trying. Also, I like the idea of the Olympics, if not the potential practical ramifications. So if Chicago does win the bid, I’ll just cross my fingers and hope for the best, and hope that the bills get paid and that the inevitable hanky-panky is minimized when the construction, concession, etc. contracts are handed out by the city.

  47. 47.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    OT: Baucus, Lincoln, Nelson, Carper, Baucus (all Dem’s) VOTE: No on Rockefeller amdt for Public Option that would be much like Medicare. Amdt failed. This Senate Finance Comm vote. Next up Shumer amdt to ad Public Option plan similar to what government workers currently get.

  48. 48.

    Zifnab

    @JK:

    You go, Michelle. It’s the Chicago way, from the cops to the crims, and even the community organizers … though those wienies use proxies and deny everything. Speaking of which, too bad her husband won’t bring that fighting spirit to other international contests.

    You see, the difference between folks in Chicago and folks in bumblefuck Crittendenland is that folks in Chicago have balls. I know this might be an alien concept to a grown man named Jules.

  49. 49.

    Midnight Marauder

    @JK:

    Jules Crittenden is a Boston Herald editor who has reported on politics, crime, science, maritime matters, foreign affairs and conflict in the United States, Asia, the Balkans and the Middle East. He’s also taken some cheap shots at John Cole in the past.

    Oh, I’m sorry! The correct answer was “A fucking moron.” We were looking for “A fucking moron.”

    Also, “incompetent, unfunny fucktard” would have been acceptable. Also.

  52. 52.

    Midnight Marauder

    @The Grand Panjandrum:

    OT: Baucus, Lincoln, Nelson, Carper, Baucus (all Dem’s) VOTE: No on Rockefeller amdt for Public Option that would be much like Medicare. Amdt failed. This Senate Finance Comm vote. Next up Shumer amdt to ad Public Option plan similar to what government workers currently get.

    And there was also this delightful moment from earlier during the proceedings.

    First Grassley praised Medicare as part of the country’s “social fabric,” but then predicted all kinds of frightening consequences from the public option amendment that Schumer and Senator Rockefeller are proposing today.

    In response, an incredulous Schumer asked Grassley how he could predict the “horrors of a government run plan” while being “supportive of Medicare.”

    “So you don’t wan’t Medicare,” Schumer rejoined.

    “I told you that Medicare is part of the social fabric of America,” Grassley retorted.

  53. 53.

    Keith

    Anyone looking for a good laugh should read John Feehery (yes, THE John Feehery) over on Politico where he claims: “Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the current House speaker, has taken a unique approach to managing the House over the past nine months. She has insisted on ideological purity as a way to keep her political base engaged.”
    In all fairness to Feehery, he actually worked for Dennis Hastert and not the whip/MajLeader, Tom Delay.

  54. 54.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Do I understand correctly that these people are rooting against Americans getting jobs helping in these Olympics? They’d rather ship those jobs overseas?

    There are obviously financial issues with the olympics (the ’84 Olympics were the one that really kicked up the spending by host cities), but there will be thousands of people who will gain income from their presence, not to mention the impact on the economy from travel and construction projects.

    So the GOP, as usual, is rooting for America to fail.

  57. 57.

    Ash

    @MikeJ: Rio is really only safe during Carnival because then everyone is too drunk to fuck things up.

    Well, ok, I guess the same could be said of Chicago and St. Patrick’s day.

  58. 58.

    Marked Hoosier

    If Obama were to come out and say he fully supports breathing, how many wingnuts would die from holding their breath? I wonder…

  59. 59.

    Ash Can

    The Freepers were joking that he’s gonna be on the Kenyan Bowling team.

    Is Rahm Emmanuel in Copenhagen? He could tell the IOC mf’ers to vote for f’ing Chi-town or he would twist their f’ing &%@ up into their @#&%. That might help make Michelle seem temperate by comparison.

    Those two gems cracked my shit right up.

    As for Jules Crittenden, based on his periodic snide hit-and-runs here, I always thought he was just another RW keyboard jockey batting out a little blog with a readership of five or six give or take a sibling or two. The fact that he’s evidently actually been paid at some point to do journalistic type work and maybe even get bylines for it amazes me. WTF should he care about John Cole if he supposedly has better things to do? I guess the answer to that is self-evident, isn’t it?

  60. 60.

    Nellcote

    Chuckles Todd just compared righties bitching about the Prez. going to Copenhagen to lefties complaining about Bush in Crawford. pathetic.

  63. 63.

    MikeJ

    Rio is really only safe during Carnival because then everyone is too drunk to fuck things up.

    I’ve never been during Carnival and I’ve never felt unsafe. Of course I’ve never felt unsafe in Chicago either.

    I also know that trying to use the existence of gangs in Chicago and the threat of violence to boost Rio is one of the funniest arguments that could be made.

  64. 64.

    Ash

    @Nellcote: Well, I can kind of see how they can be compared. Instead of cutting down trees for no reason to relax like Dubya did, Obama will just be able to smoke a bowl and lounge around in some awesomely appointed basement bar.

  66. 66.

    Ash Can

    “I told you that Medicare is part of the social fabric of America Shut up, that’s why,” Grassley retorted.

    Uh, yeah, Chuck.

  69. 69.

    Zifnab

    @JenJen: Depressing but not surprising. I wonder if Schumer can get more votes, or if we’re seeing a Fifth Column emerge in the Dem ranks.

  70. 70.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Ash Can:

    But it’s their freakin’ job to try to persuade the IOC to choose an American city for the games, for crying out loud, so I certainly don’t fault them for trying.

    I think most people here can imagine the Greek Chorus of WATB that we would hear from the right if Obama didn’t pull out all the stops to land the bid for Chicago the heartland of America and one of those other un-American cities got the bid instead. It would be like the Battle of the Marne in 1914, only with Whaaaambulances instead of taxi cabs.

  72. 72.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    @TuiMel: Thanks. That is what I meant to type. I really loved the Baucus speech at the end: he loves the public option, but has to vote against it since it has no chance of passing. I’m sure the GOP appreciates the assist.

  73. 73.

    jwb

    @JenJen: I can’t say that I really understand how this works, but ultimately does it really matter whether Finance votes out a public option? It’s all subject to amendment again on the floor, isn’t it? And then there is the house and conference on top of that. Am I wrong in thinking that today’s votes are mostly for show (and making Grassley look ridiculous)?

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    You know who else hosted an Olympics? Hitler. Just saying…

    I’m sure that Obama is preparing to snub white athletes, because Glen Beck said so, shut up!

    arguingwithsignposts — There are obviously financial issues with the olympics (the ‘84 Olympics were the one that really kicked up the spending by host cities)

    The 1984 Summer Olympics made money and were city-friendly.

    While Montreal organizers ran up a substantial debt eight years earlier by constructing many new, overly ambitiously designed venues, the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee relied heavily on the use of area venues that were already in existence. The Olympic Velodrome and the Olympic Swim Stadium, funded largely by the 7-Eleven and McDonald’s corporations respectively, were the only two new venues constructed specifically for the L.A. Games. The resulting low construction costs, coupled with a heavy reliance on private corporate funding, allowed the Games to generate a profit of more than $200 million, making them by far the most financially successful in history.

    Some people fled the city, thinking the Olympics would bring massive traffic snarls, but the city planners temporarily made some streets one-way, used mass transit effectively, and made the experience fun for everyone.

    And I had a great time at a number of events, including diving and track and field, thankyouverymuch.

    Subsequent host cities ignored the lessons of Los Angeles 84 and have run up deficits.

  76. 76.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder:

    Oh, I’m sorry! The correct answer was “A fucking moron.” We were looking for “A fucking moron.”

    Do I now receive a home version of Balloon Juice along with some nice parting gifts?

  77. 77.

    MikeJ

    Do I now receive a home version of Balloon Juice along with some nice parting gifts?

    BoB will be over to deliver it in person.

  79. 79.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    “Obama is consorting with terrorists.”

    No, he is palling around with terrorists. Real Americans don’t use fancy shmancy words like that.

  80. 80.

    Penfold

    @Ash Can

    Actually, as I said in another recent thread, I’m not all that enthusiastic about the idea of the Olympics coming to Chicago because I’m concerned that they won’t come anywhere close to paying for themselves, and we city-dwellers will get stuck with the bill.

    Yeah, this. I’m deeply ambivalent about the Olympics coming here, even though it is a Nazi/Commie plot which, like all Democrats, I would obviously be in favor of. And like traffic’s not bad enough already? Then there’s also the small possibility that I might actually be at the U of C in the Olympic year…yikes.

    On the other hand, the stuff they did to clean up the West Loop/Greektown before the 96 DNC convention did have some positive effects. Maybe the Olympics will have a positive effect on the neighborhood without displacing too many people.
    …
    Yeah, I’m not holding my breath either.

  81. 81.

    licensed to kill time

    @JK:

    BoB will be over to deliver it in person.

    JK, lock your doors, close your curtains, and remain very very quiet.

  82. 82.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Max Baucus will vote against Schumer amendment because it won’t have 60 votes.

    Big douchebag or biggest douchebag in the senate?

  83. 83.

    LoveMonkey

    Just one thing to keep in mind as we go forward from here, with respect to the crazies, and their crazy shit:

    We.outnumber.them.

  84. 84.

    JK

    @MikeJ:

    BoB will be over to deliver it in person.

    I just hope he remembers to bring along the 3 large pizzas with extra tomato sauce, the calzone, the garlic knots, and the buffalo wings. He’s already late, so he can forget about the tip.

  86. 86.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @The Saff:

    Has the right always been this predictable in their fauxrage?

    Yes and no.

    Wingnuts:outrage :: shark:swimming, but the thing that can be sort of unpredictable is what they choose to get outraged about. Sure, there’s obvious stuff, but remember when Malkin freaked the fuck out over Rachel Ray’s scarf in the Dunkin’ Donuts ad? I can honestly say I didn’t see that one coming.

  88. 88.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder: @Ash Can:

    Of course, had Obama not made this side trip to Copenhagen to lobby for the Olympic Games to be awarded to Chicago, Jules Crittenden, Byron “pocket protector” York, Glenn “insta asshole” Reynolds, Michelle Malcontent, and every wingnut douchebag would be citing this as further evidence that Obama is a Muslim, anarchist syndicalist, socialist summer camp, argula eating, dijon spreading America hater

  89. 89.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    Rockefeller amdt failed. Baucus, Conrad, Lincoln voted against. It went down 13-10. No R votes for.

    Max Baucus is the ultimate concern troll. He loves the public option but has to vote against it because it has no chance of getting 60 votes on the floor. Sheesh.

  90. 90.

    Midnight Marauder

    @JK:

    Do I now receive a home version of Balloon Juice along with some nice parting gifts?

    Indeed. Tunch should be delivering to you a first of its kind, limited edition, leatherbound version of the fantastic new Balloon Juice Lexicon!

  91. 91.

    kay

    Have conservatives always hated Chicago?
    I didn’t know that. I knew they hated New York City, and it goes without saying they hate San Francisco, but have they always hated Chicago, in that “it’s not American enough” way?
    I thought it was exempt because it’s in the midwest.
    I need a “Heartland Map”, I think. Not a map of the United States, but a map of ‘Merica.

  94. 94.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Ash Can:

    And in other cracked-out politician news, WTF is with Arizona? Are they putting meth in the water supply? This is some fucked-up shit, yo.

    And now, look and laugh as he tries to walk it back:

    A Franks spokeswoman clarified that he was referring only to the president’s position on abortion.

    Bethany Haley said the congressman was referring to “unborn humanity” and should have clarified his statement. She also said that Franks meant to say that Obama’s abortion-related policies have no place in government, rather than that Obama has no place in government.

    “He was just referring to the way President Obama has set himself up as the most pro-abortion president in America’s history,” Haley said.

  96. 96.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @kay:

    I need a “Heartland Map”, I think. Not a map of the United States, but a map of ‘Merica.

    Good idea. There’s gotta be one out there that’s like a version of this classic.

  97. 97.

    licensed to kill time

    @kay:

    It’s a part of the “Obama is a Chicago-style thug politician” meme, but you knew that. I like your idea of a Real ‘Merica map.

    (Wonder if Al Franken could sketch that one? Probably calls for another Beck session on the chalkboard…)

  98. 98.

    ellaesther

    Did y’all see Doonesbury on Sunday? Please, you must!

    Also, check out what Rep. Trent Franks said about our democratically elected President! “Has no place in any station of government and we need to realize that he is an enemy of humanity.”

    What is this fuckery?!

  101. 101.

    Ash Can

    @kay: Let’s see…too far north, check. Too many Democrats, check. Not enough Evangelicals Real Christians, check. Too many of, ahem, those people in city government, check. The Obamas’ home town, check, double check, and triple check.

    I bet they never realized just how much they hated Chicago until Obama was elected.

  103. 103.

    licensed to kill time

    @kay:

    It’s all part of the “obama is a Chicago-style thug politician” meme, but you knew that.

    I like your idea of a Real ‘Merica map. Wonder if Al Franken can sketch one? Probably calls for another Beck session with his chalkboard.

  104. 104.

    Middlewest

    @kay:

    They sure as hell hate Minneapolis, but it’s our fault because we elected a Muslim to congress (and Al Franken).

  106. 106.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder: @ellaesther:

    I guess Obama won’t be inviting Trent Franks back to the White House to watch any more Super Bowls.

    When I look at Trent Franks, I’m reminded of Sgt. Hartman’s astute observation from Full Metal Jacket
    “I didn’t know they piled shit that high”

  107. 107.

    camchuck

    Baucus’ no 60 votes line is bullshit. A lame attempt to not be so much of a bad guy to the majority of citizens (and presumably constituents) who support a public option.

    He didn’t vote for it simply because he is more beholden to insurance companies than his constituents.

  108. 108.

    licensed to kill time

    @licensed to kill time:

    Ok, I wrote a comment, tried to edit it, it spewed gibberish across the site again , deleted it, now it shows up “awaiting moderation”, reposted, now two comments show up. I am afraid to use the edit and delete buttons!!!

    ACK! ACK!

  109. 109.

    kay

    @licensed to kill time:

    Right. And Bush was a Texas-style thug politician. What’s their point? Chicago’s are scarier?
    Good. Let’s hope so.
    I don’t know about the wisdom of alienating and insulting every population center north of the Mason Dixon.
    I guess if they want to “oppose” a huge midwestern city, the city where the whole college educated younger segment of Ohio move the moment they can scrape together first and last month’s rent, it’s their call, but I think I would not wage war on Chicago.

  110. 110.

    catclub

    El Tiburon said:
    “Does that mean the Tea Baggers are Tommy Smith and John Carlos?

    It’s getting so confusing to know what’s what anymore.”

    So can we expect some teabagger Olympians to give a white power
    salute (in order to stick it to the man)? And the only white power salute _I_ know about is the Nazi one.

    It really does boggle the mind that we elected a black man president of
    this country.

  111. 111.

    Penfold

    @Kay

    I don’t really think so.

    1) It is in The Heartland, I guess, though this is really complicated in its own way…though, I grew up here and I didn’t realize how much it wasn’t really like the rest of even the industrial Midwest until I started spending more time in the rest of it.

    2.) Even though Chicago has always been solidly Democratic, it hasn’t always been extremely liberal (see Daley I. Also Stevenson, Adlai, Failure of)

    3.) The paper of record (the Trib) is a solid Republican party organ.

    However…

    As the suburbs and the rest of Illinois has trended bluer, and the city proper has become much more overtly liberal in it’s Democratic ways (it’s no longer just the “Lakefront Liberals” of old battling the bungalow-belt, socially conservative, white ethnic New Deal Democrats…pretty much all the Dems are liberals now), I think it has started to transform into a Republican bogeyman. Indeed, Cook County was the “bluest” county in the 04 election, surpassing even any of the constituent counties of NYC. I never looked at the data from 08 comparatively, but Obama, needless to say, did quite well here.

    And Daley II is very, VERY business friendly, but he (or at least his policies) are socially very liberal. “Boystown” in East Lakeview was, IIRC, the first gay neighborhood to get sort of official recognition/sanction by a city government, complete with giant rainbow phallic-like cement towers.

    Then, of course, its biggest sin: Obama is (mostly) from here.

    Anyway, it’s no Manhattan or San Francisco, but it may be working its way onto the list of Top Hateable Places.

  112. 112.

    licensed to kill time

    @kay:

    Kay, if they have a point, I have failed to identify it beyond “Be afraid! Be very afraid!!” Funny, that’s what the Cheney Regency was all about, too. Maybe they just can’t turn the wheel, it’s stuck on Over The Cliff, Into The Ditch.

    Well, good, I hope they end up there. In Galt Gulch.

  113. 113.

    kay

    @Middlewest:

    They do dislike you, I forgot about you, but they still hold out hope of Minnesota converts, so they’re not insulting and demeaning your city directly.
    This is a bizarre and completely unprovoked character attack on a major US city. I don’t care, particularly, but if I were a Republican I might.

  115. 115.

    MikeJ

    Ok, I wrote a comment, tried to edit it, it spewed gibberish across the site again , deleted it, now it shows up “awaiting moderation”, reposted, now two comments show up. I am afraid to use the edit and delete buttons

    In researching what could be causing the edit problems I’ve come to the conclusion that nobody with any reasonable amount of traffic must use this plugin. The coding is really amateur hour (originally it did four db lookups per hit/per comment, but I think he’s brought that number down a bit.)

    But yeah, I’ve seen that bug where your comment winds up entirely html encoded (ie, all spaces replaces with 32s, etc). When I reloaded the page it came back fine.

  116. 116.

    JK

    @kay:

    Sarah Palin would be more than happy to provide you with a map of Real ‘Merica.

    Biggest fear that Republicans have about Chicago hosting the Olympic Games:

    Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and Tony Rezko will carry the Olympic torch on its final leg.

  118. 118.

    licensed to kill time

    @MikeJ:

    Hmm, maybe I should relax and reload :) It’s freaky, though – it sprays bolded percentage signs and numbers all the way to the right margin and then I worry that it will screw up the rest of the comments, as I have seen happen on occasion. Well, until it gets fixed I guess I’ll just be careful not to need to edit, HA!

  121. 121.

    Middlewest

    @Kay:

    You’re absolutely right, but I have great hope that after Pawlenty fizzles out we can join with Chicago and become the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Great Lakes.

  122. 122.

    kay

    @Penfold:

    Thanks for your political analysis. I like an amateur take better than pro. I noticed during the primary that no national political reporter had the first clue about Chicago. They talked about it like it was Siberia, huge, cold, and unknowable. “How will we ever find out about that Barack Obama? He’s from…..Chicago!”

    I go to Chicago fairly frequently, and I’ve always liked the place. I can’t imagine developing some huge, resentful loathing regarding that particular city, but I guess if there are LIEbrils roaming around, voting and such, it’s per se horrible and scary.

  123. 123.

    trollhattan

    I guess this means the vast well of good will extended to Chicago by Republicans since they beat the shit out of all those hippies in ’68 has finally gone dry.

    Have to admit, forty years was a good run.

    “No Olympics for you, twelve years!”

    /soupnazi

  124. 124.

    Polish the Guillotines

    Well, no open thread, so I’ll go OT: Both public option amendments in the Senate Finance committee just got shot down.

    No surprise, I’m sure, but the road to the public option just got a lot harder.

  125. 125.

    Anne Laurie

    @Middlewest:

    They sure as hell hate Minneapolis, but it’s our fault because we elected a Muslim to congress (and Al Franken).

    Also, you Minneapolitans hate good God-fearing Repub congressmen with wide stances, according to Larry Craig.

  127. 127.

    arguingwithsignposts

    OT, but NYT says no p.o. in any senate bill:

    Aides to the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, say that he will not include a provision for the public option when he combines the measures coming out of the finance and health committees.

    I hate these people. Literally hate them.

  128. 128.

    vanya

    Conservatives really do hate big cities on general principle. In Utah Salt Lake City is viewed with suspicion by the more upright denizens around Provo or Logan. I was amused to learn that Dallas is considered a liberal homosexual sinhole by people in Fort Worth.

  129. 129.

    kay

    @vanya:

    I’m mildly curious about that as a political strategy. They thought everyone would grow up, move to cities, then get older, move to suburbs, and then time would stop, and there would be no new younger people?
    They pictured sort of enormous ghost towns surrounded by right-leaning exurbs? Why would there be an exurb unless it’s to surround a city? This might be a chicken-egg thing.

  130. 130.

    Penfold

    @kay

    Yeah, I have a fondness for the place, too :) I’m glad my analysis was at somewhat helpful. BTW, that’s funny what you said about the national political coverage (and true) especially since Chicago has such a long and storied connection to DC politics and ballot box stuffing, and whatnot. But then, we’re in Flyover Country ZOMG, so I guess Chuck Todd couldn’t find us.

    Also, re: what you asked Vanya…

    I think that’s a lot like what they pictured, actually. And in a lot of medium-sized cities in the US, this is kind of what’s been happening. Think about Detroit (once a large industrial city), where most the wealth in concentrated in the mid-range suburbs and exurbs, and the city is deeply impoverished, serving mostly as a water-delivery system to the suburban infrastructure. The population of the city proper continues to dwindle, while the core of economic activities has moved to the “West Side” suburbs (the wealthier north and northwest suburbs) and the corridor extending out to Ann Arbor.

    And the same could be said of a lot of other US cities. Even the large and/or fashionable/relevant/whatever ones that have avoided this fate have other demographic problems. Chicago and New York, for instance, have aging inner-ring suburbs that are demographically doomed, with vital urban cores and exurbs sandwiching them. In Chicagoland in particular, because the flat and open geography, this is almost literal; the whole inner semi-circle surrounding the city is largely older and poorer than the exurbs or large swaths of the city (excepting Evanston and Oak Park, of course)

    There’s a fair amount of literature out their documenting these trends, but I don’t have time to dig up any links, sadly.

    Oh, and I should add though, that Detroit/Michigan proves that stratey doesn’t necessarily work. The wealthier burbs have long been Republican-leaning, but that hasn’t saved them from Michigan going Democratic the last 3 elections.

  132. 132.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @vanya:

    Conservatives really do hate big cities on general principle.

    Hmmm…I thought I was just seeing a particular brand of crazy, but I guess I’m not the only one.

    And to be clear, what I’m talking about is not “conservatives hate cities because they tend to vote liberal,” but conservatives hating cities for the simple fact that they are cities. My favorite wingnut, Mark Noonan, has harped on this many times, with this being a representative quote:

    crowding us into overgrown cities and shackling us to lathes/cubicles is liberal “advancement”…just as women giving up domination of the household in return for being mindless cogs in a corporate machine is the liberal ideal of “womens liberation”.

    Yeah.

    Mark Noonan, by the way, lives in Las Vegas.

  133. 133.

    kay

    @Penfold:

    I don’t think I would have written cities off, even at their nadir, had I been a political professional. It’s an old, old way to organize a community. I would be loathe to be that arrogant, and assume all people would adopt and like the exurb model, forever. Fuel prices alone could change that, fast.
    I think it probably swings back and forth, and cities are declared “dead” and then a whole new generation says “oh, look, I won’t need a car here! This is GREAT!”.

  134. 134.

    Penfold

    @kay

    Oh, yeah, I totally agree. I wasn’t trying to say it was a GOOD idea or one that would necesarily succeed, and I think it’s past its prime of the Nixon/Reagan/Backlash/Sileny Majority years. And, well, arrogance and the Republican party really go hand-in-hand, so…

    There’s no question that history of urban America has been cyclical, too.

    But I think the sad sort of subtext to all this is that same forces were pushing the destruction of cities through legal and economic means and politically profiting off that destruction, and then going once more through the cycle. Shorter Republicans: “The more suburbs we have the more oil and cars and cheap balloon frame houses we can sell, and the more people will vote for us/more of the same!”

    Well, thankfully, changing demographics and oil prices, and economic conditions have finally helped put the brakes on that somewhat.

    Anyway, just my $.02

  135. 135.

    kay

    @Penfold:

    You’re right about Chuck Todd, incidentally. I was following the primary closely, and the whole Rezko thing kept coming up. There was this rank stupidity: “how will we ever find out anything about Tony Rezko if we don’t ask Obama?”.

    The Chicago papers were doing a play by play of that trial, along with extensive Obama background, I’m reading it in the middle of nowhere in Ohio, and Chuck Todd can’t find it?

    Rezko remained a mystery, they could not “vet” Obama!

    I’m still perplexed. None of them can read a Chicago paper?

  136. 136.

    Penfold

    @kay

    One word, many syllables: hahahahaha.

    Putting aside my amateur sociology for a moment, I’m just going to say…I don’t get it. I know the Village types live their own very insular world, but … come on. There are two things here, I think.

    One is that Chicago isn’t, I don’t know, Peoria. Granted I wasn’t alive then, but it doesn’t appear from reading historical accounts that anyone was this confused about Chicago in the 50s when Stevenson was running for president, or when the machine was making sure JFK carried Illinois.

    Two is … the *#&$*#&$ internet. Peoria shouldn’t be a mystery to them, much less Chicago.

    Sigh.

    The really bad thing is that it was back during the campaign when Todd’s reporting was, in very much relative terms, “good”. At least he wasn’t defending torture then (I don’t think)

  137. 137.

    Brachiator

    @JK:

    Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and Tony Rezko will carry the Olympic torch on its final leg.

    And the Olympic mascot: Whitey, the Mystery Hate Tape!

  138. 138.

    General Winfield Stuck

    I’m tired of all the wingnut Obama is Hitler routine. I wish they would switch off to the Obama is Witch Doctor meme, as it is much easier and funner to spoof, and Godwin could use the rest. Also,

  140. 140.

    Adnihilo

    Calling Obama a fascist is as absurd as claiming Bush a Humanist. The term fascism is the “most misused, and over-used word of our times”.

    US Military Dictionary definition of fascism:

    n. 1. an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.

    2. (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice. The term fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Benito Mussolini in Italy (1922-43), and the regime of the Nazis in Germany were also Fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.

    Political Dictionary definition of fascism:

    A right-wing nationalist ideology or movement with a totalitarian and hierarchical structure that is fundamentally opposed to democracy and liberalism.

    History Dictionary definition of fascism:

    A system of government that flourished in Europe from the 1920s to the end of World War II. Germany under Adolf Hitler, Italy under Mussolini, and Spain under Franco were all fascist states. As a rule, fascist governments are dominated by a dictator, who usually possesses a magnetic personality, wears a showy uniform, and rallies his followers by mass parades; appeals to strident nationalism; and promotes suspicion or hatred of both foreigners and “impure” people within his own nation, such as the Jews in Germany. Although both communism and fascism are forms of totalitarianism, fascism does not demand state ownership of the means of production, nor is fascism committed to the achievement of economic equality. In theory, communism opposes the identification of government with a single charismatic leader (the “cult of personality”), which is the cornerstone of fascism. Whereas communists are considered left-wing, fascists are usually described as right-wing.

    # Today, the term fascist is used loosely to refer to military dictatorships, as well as governments or individuals that profess racism and that act in an arbitrary, high-handed manner.

    All of the above is From Answers.com Reference Encyclopedia

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