Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Giving up is unforgivable.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

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

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179Comments

  3. 3.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Going to watch the two hour season opener of House on Hulu.

    The weather is perfecto here, hi was around 85 sunny with some clouds and it will cool into the 50’s about bedtime. The fall is the best season here in the sw desert, Something akin to paradise.

  4. 4.

    freelancer

    Good choice,

    I finished S3 last night. Gonna hafta rewatch the last couple episodes, was too busy playing with my new iTouch and not really paying attention.

    ——

    I posted this in the the last thread as OT, but gobsmacked that this isn’t Python:

    Newsmax via MediaMatters:

    Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a “family intervention,” with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

    Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.

    Military intervention is what Obama’s exponentially accelerating agenda for “fundamental change” toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama’s radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible.

  5. 5.

    slag

    On the bright side, Obama wants kids to spend more time in school: http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11224090. If school now is anything like it was when I was a kid, it would probably be better to make the time already spent in school more useful. But if you can’t improve quality, might as well increase quantity. I actually think it’s a good idea. But will it happen?

  7. 7.

    General Winfield Stuck

    A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama’s radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible.

    You just made Baby Jeebus gurgle with delight.

    When General Malkin takes the helm, we will all be sitting high on the Hog.

    Rome demands it.

  8. 8.

    JK

    FUCK ANDY WILLIAMS

    I was never a die hard fan of his music, but it’s sad to see another celebrity whose work I enjoyed, like Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger, go full wingnut after Obama’s election victory.

    Andy Williams, the veteran pop singer, has accused Barack Obama of “following Marxist theory” and “wanting the country to fail”.
    h/t http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/6241196/Andy-Williams-accuses-Barack-Obama-of-following-Marxist-theory.html

  10. 10.

    schrodinger's cat

    But what about his Tunchness, there hasn’t been a Tunch sighting for way too long, we miss him.

  12. 12.

    General Winfield Stuck

    This might make you feel better, but in all seriousness, who’s Andy Williams?

    Such young pups. Ever heard Mooned River?

  15. 15.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Weather is perfect here too, high 70s low 80s dipping into the 50s (could even be the high 40s) overnight. Just in time for my mum to come and visit. She arrives on Friday at 1am at the Amtrak station in Fayetteville after a week long trip on the QE2 from Southampton to New York and then the train from NY to here. I am so looking forward to seeing her (and of course the suitcase full of food she is bringing with her!). Sigh, there is nothing better than a mum visit. I can pretty much handle anything when my mum is around to hug. The fallout from the step-daughter thing will be a lot easier to handle. On the downside I can prepare for a couple of lectures a) I am still smoking when I promised that I would have quit by the time she got here b) one of my cats is pregnant (hey it is my ONLY unfixed female and the whole money thing got in the way) c) I am still too thin (but then according to her I have been too thin since I was 14 years of age so it is all good). Ooops make that three lectures.

  19. 19.

    Mark S.

    @freelancer:

    Damn it! I was just about to post about that.

    Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars

    Is this what wingnuts jack off to?

  20. 20.

    Penfold

    K, let me flaunt my n00bness by asking this: how do you link to another comment? I mean, I see that it refers to an anchor just like any other intrapage HTML link, but I’m not sure how you would determine the anchor ID, since it bears no apparent relation to the comment number. I’m sure there’s some WordPress-specific and/or XHTML method/shortcut for this that I’m totally ignorant.

  24. 24.

    JK

    @freelancer: @General Winfield Stuck:

    Andy Williams was close friends with Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, campaigning for Kennedy ’68 for President. Williams was present at the Ambassador Hotel when RFK was assassinated in June 1968. Williams solemnly sang “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at RFK’s funeral, by request of widow Ethel.
    h/t Wikipedia

  28. 28.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Penfold.

    Currently, some of us can’t, Prolly a FF issue/ But when it works just click the time/date stamp in upper right corner of comment box.

  31. 31.

    freelancer

    @demkat620:

    I just don’t get how proposing healthcare for all is radical but taking the nation to war on a lie is not.

    It’s all about the Macho Bullshit Swagger.

    War and bloodlust is uniquely Merkin, going to the doctor is for pinko liberal pussies.

  33. 33.

    JK

    Richard Cohen is ticked off at Obama

    Sooner or later it is going to occur to Barack Obama that he is the president of the United States. As of yet, though, he does not act that way, appearing promiscuously on television and granting interviews like the presidential candidate he no longer is. The election has been held, but the campaign goes on and on. The candidate has yet to become commander in chief.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/28/AR2009092802484.html

    This is very dickish even by Cohen’s standards.

  34. 34.

    A-Ron

    Thought of one for the lexicon that I haven’t seen in a while:
    He-Man Woman Hater’s Club – mocking term used to categorize male television and print pundits who often discuss female politicians in a juvenile and sexist manner, e.g. Chris Matthews.

    Brick Oven Bill can be an honorary member.

  35. 35.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @JK:

    He was an ordinary republican in those days. Or someone with some sense. Now he’s just like all the other dumbass wingnuts. This is what the GOP has come to, jingoistic clowns with not a single decent idea betwixt their ears.

  37. 37.

    Penfold

    Military intervention is what Obama’s exponentially accelerating agenda for “fundamental change” toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama’s radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible.

    I know reality is place these people don’t like to visit, but given that Obama is center-right, really, on economic issues…what are they so afraid of? This is sort of like the right-wing rage against Clinton who happily moved the Dems into the arms of big business. Shouldn’t they be quietly and perversely happy? Shouldn’t it be the left, or say civil libertarians on either side of the spectrum, freaking out?

    I know these are silly questions in the contemporary political realm, but…still.

  38. 38.

    slag

    @JK: The last trip to the video store, we considered renting Midnight Cowboy but instead vowed never to see it again because Jon Voight is such an ass. Does that help?

  39. 39.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    PS) Ed Schultz is the bees knees, I think he has now replaced everyone else in the liberal news media as my hero. He expresses the outrage that I feel on a daily basis and does it so much better than me. I can almost hear him saying “WTF!” in between sentences.

  40. 40.

    Shell

    hrough an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders

    Sure.

    And who is gonna be the Generalissimo? Oh, you mean it’s going to be a panel of officers all working smoothly and seamlessy together.

    Sure.

    And forgive me I’m wrong. Isn’t the US already a nation?

  46. 46.

    Mark S.

    @JK:

    My favorite part of the Cohen column:

    Obama is our version of a Supreme Leader

    No, Richard, the president is nothing like a Supreme Leader. If you weren’t such an idiot, you might be thankful for that fact.

  48. 48.

    KCinDC

    I really thought this post was a joke (I’m not familiar with the blog) for the first paragraph or two. I mean, seriously:

    One thing that journalists don’t seem to get about ACORN is that it is a strange, complex creature with tentacles that reach into the highest levels of the United States government, the Democratic Party, corporate America, the labor movement, the nonprofit world, the media, foreign governments, and academia.

  50. 50.

    RedKitten

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    The fallout from the step-daughter thing will be a lot easier to handle. On the downside I can prepare for a couple of lectures a) I am still smoking when I promised that I would have quit by the time she got here b) one of my cats is pregnant (hey it is my ONLY unfixed female and the whole money thing got in the way) c) I am still too thin (but then according to her I have been too thin since I was 14 years of age so it is all good).

    Yeah, the maternal visit tends to be both good and bad. Mine is awesome about helping me around the house while she’s here, and we get along really well. But there are always quirks that make me shake my head, like her habit of putting any and all leftover food in the fridge, no matter how tiny the quantity. After she leaves, I tend to find at least 2 dozen tiny bowls and plates crowding my fridge, with such things as: one half-slice of tomato, a tablespoon of sautéed onions, a pat of butter, maybe a few tablespoons of ketchup (when setting the table, Mom would never, ever be so uncouth as to just put the damn ketchup bottle on the table — oh no, it has to be in a little bowl with a spoon.)

    If I was tired or stressed out, that stuff would bug me, but as it is, it just makes me shake my head and laugh, because she’s not going to ever change.

  51. 51.

    JK

    @slag:

    I respect your decision, but I will continue to separate art from the artist until my dying day.

    The Midnight Cowboy is one of my favorite movies from 1960’s. I wouldn’t deprive myself of seeing it or Deliverance, even though Voight has gone over to the dark side. I’ll still watch Cheers, even though I know that John Ratzenberger is a wingnut and I’ll still watch Roman Polanski’s movies even though he raped a teenager.

  52. 52.

    Martin

    And forgive me I’m wrong. Isn’t the US already a nation?

    You’re foolin’ yourself. We’re livin’ in a dictatorship! We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. Listen, strange birth certificates lyin’ on websites distributin’ electoral votes is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcicial Acorn ceremony!

  54. 54.

    Andre

    I very nearly had to write “brb tsunami” in the last thread. Here in Auckland, we’re all still waiting for the very real possibility of a tsunami washing away half the city, and today we almost experienced it.

    Sounds like Samoa’s taken some pretty major damage.

  55. 55.

    smiley

    Moon River is actually a real place in SE Georgia. Johnny Mercer, who wrote the song, was from Savannah. And, who gives a shit about what Andy Williams thinks? I mean, really?

  56. 56.

    Penfold

    And forgive me I’m wrong. Isn’t the US already a nation?

    Sure, but that never stops us from doing a little nation-buildin’!

  58. 58.

    RedKitten

    When does Season 2 of Chuck come out on DVD?

    I’m delighted that you enjoy Chuck — it’s definitely a show that I make a point of watching.

    Mind you, they could air an hour just of Adam Baldwin scowling, and I’d make a point of watching.

  59. 59.

    blahblahblah

    After watching the clusterfu*k that was the finance committee today, I think it’s time for liberals like me to meet some teabaggers. I don’t think we’ll ever see eye to eye on policy, but they’re right about the corruption. Liberals just can’t seem to accept that at times we must form coalitions with groups we disagree on some issues with. But the greater issue is not health care, military spending, use of public funds to support private banking interests, etc etc etc…

    NO. The greater interest here is that both political parties do not represent citizens any longer. Officials simply do not honor their oaths to office. They take bribes. They create laws that – somehow – allow bribery. And then they try to claim that it’s normal. It’s NOT.

    Between the progressives and the teabaggers we could take down BOTH political parties. And then it will be time to pass a few constitutional amendments. Might be nice to try a few of these assholes too.

  60. 60.

    Trinity

    I haven’t been commenting/lurking much lately Juicers. Work has been a bitch but also because I have been applying to rescue these two little daddies:

    http://s896.photobucket.com/albums/ac169/Trinity0627/

    I am so excited! They are 9-year-old Devon Rex brothers and hopefully they will be coming home with us in a couple of weeks once we are approved by the board of the rescue organization. Wish us luck! I need kittehs!!!

    Also, too…name suggestions are welcomed. :)

  61. 61.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @KCinDC:

    Of course. It used to be the world drug cartel, ChiCom spyrings,and murder Inc, running the show under Kingpin Clinton. Now it’s the stealth muslim darkie ACORNers, and their evil mastermind Mickey Mouse pulling the levers of gubbermint. Just a different set of boogymen is all for the right wing traveling Circus.

  62. 62.

    demkat620

    @Andre: Glad you’re okay.

    It does indeed look like our Samoan friends caught the worst of it. God help them. And I hope we Americans are ready to help.

  63. 63.

    asiangrrlMN

    @demkat620: This is Andy Griffith. He’s the cool old Andy. Matlock!

    The weather is fifty, and I am in my fleece socks. I hate wearing clothes, but I will willingly don more layers if that means cold and snow. Oh, and two cats on my laps, as they are now.

    Happy sigh.

    Now, all I need is a picture of Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunch!

  64. 64.

    JK

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    ordinary republican

    Someone should mount an exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution devoted to the ordinary republican. They could have displays devoted to Dwight Eisenhower, Jacob Javits, Mark Hatfield, John Chafee, Lowell Weicker, William Cohen, Warren Rudman, Jim Leach, and Millicent Fenwick

  65. 65.

    smiley

    @Penfold: I for one would like to see a bit of a “how to” section added to the FAQ. BTW, I’m really good at asking other people to do more work,. It’s part of my charm.

  69. 69.

    asiangrrlMN

    @demkat620: @Andre: Glad you’re ok. I hope the Samoan BJers (and other Samoans, too) are as well.

    @Trinity: Cute! Glad you went for rescue babies. Frick and Frack? I got nothing.

    @blahblahblah: No. I have no wish to do anything with the teabaggers. The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy, so to speak. Besides, the teabaggers aren’t for any kind of fiscal responsibility. They just don’t like the black man being in charge.

  71. 71.

    Wilson Heath

    Can Dan Riehl sniff out child predators because they can smell their own? “One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers.” Wouldn’t it take a sick mind of a sexual predator to see something sexual in taking away Sparkman’s power by stripping him and binding him? I have no idea whether Riehl has been a serial sodomizer of preschoolers, but from the reporting I’ve seen, neither does anyone else. Right now we don’t know. I’m simply speculating on one possible alternative, however impolite.

  72. 72.

    asiangrrlMN

    Damn moderation and damn me for my mistake:

    @Andre: Glad you’re ok. I hope the Samoan BJers (and other Samoans, too) are as well.

    @Trinity: Cute! Glad you went for rescue babies. Frick and Frack? I got nothing.

    @blahblahblah: No. I have no wish to do anything with the teabaggers. The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy, so to speak. Besides, the teabaggers aren’t for any kind of fiscal responsibility. They just don’t like the black man being in charge.

  77. 77.

    RedKitten

    Thanks for that link. It’s important that we don’t confuse the bad Andy (Williams) with the good Andy (Griffith).

    Or the ugly Andy (Dick).

  79. 79.

    gbear

    @slag:

    From what I remember, Jon Voight basically plays a dipshit in Midnight Cowboy, so it’s OK. Rent it for Dustin Hoffman’s performance.

  82. 82.

    JK

    Last night Ben JB wrote,

    I’m reading a bunch of 19th-century American periodicals, all high-class Brahmin stuff—the Atlantic, the North American Review, Harper’s Monthly

    Does anyone know of a free website where I can read old back issues of these magazines as well as McClure’s and Collier’s?

  84. 84.

    Brachiator

    @freelancer:

    Oh. That guy. Erm. Yeah, Fuck Him.

    Andy Williams’ life has had a strange trajectory:

    Williams was close friends with Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, campaigning for Kennedy ’68 for President. Williams was present at the Ambassador Hotel when RFK was assassinated in June 1968. Williams solemnly sang “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at RFK’s funeral, by request of widow Ethel. By August 1969, over a year after Bobby Kennedy’s death, Andy and Claudine named their newborn son ‘Bobby’ Williams. The Williams’ friendship with Ethel Kennedy has endured, with Andy even serving as escort to Ethel, during events in the 1970s. Although Williams was a friend of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy’s, he said he is a lifelong Republican….

  85. 85.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Trinity: Bwahahahaha. Yes! I love it. Or, Moon and Bat.

    @General Winfield Stuck: That is the epitome of meltingly-cute. And, Cole never posts Tunch pictures when I ask, which only causes me to ask (demand) even more frequently. It’s a vicious cycle he and I have going on.

    @JK: That’s right. Andy Griffith is OK by me.

    RedKitten, snicker. Yes, Andy Dick is certainly the ugly.

  90. 90.

    Colette

    There’s no such thing as “earthquake weather,” but apparently it’s tsunami weather here, too. Of course, a few 10- to 30-inch waves aren’t going to do nearly the damage here as the big ones did to the poor folks in Samoa. Mother Nature is a bitch sometimes.

  91. 91.

    slag

    @JK: Yeah. I just have a thing against giving my money to assholes. Which is why I’m on the fast track to becoming one of those old people who only shops at thrift stores and bakery outlets and re-reads the same 96 books over and over again. Until one of the clerks is asshole to me, at which time I’ll just stop buying clothes and baked good altogether. Only 40 more years.

  92. 92.

    Midnight Marauder

    @blahblahblah:

    After watching the clusterfu*k that was the finance committee today, I think it’s time for liberals like me to meet some teabaggers. I don’t think we’ll ever see eye to eye on policy, …

    And this is where your pipe dream should have ended. The biggest mistake that you make in the rest of what you write is that said individuals are motivated by something noble like policy or doing good for your fellow citizen. You ascribe to them the values of intellectual honesty, deceny, logic, critical thinking, and rationality, of which they deserve none a million times over.

    but they’re right about the corruption. Liberals just can’t seem to accept that at times we must form coalitions with groups we disagree on some issues with. But the greater issue is not health care, military spending, use of public funds to support private banking interests, etc etc etc

    I think “liberals” are very much so able to form coalitions with other groups they disagree on. Please see the Blue Dog Coalition for the biggest example. More importantly, you’ll note that the big tent for the Democratic Party continues to get bigger, while the tent for the Republican Party continues to be a bunch of carboard boxes stacked together in front of City Hall in CrazyTown.

    NO. The greater interest here is that both political parties do not represent citizens any longer. Officials simply do not honor their oaths to office. They take bribes. They create laws that – somehow – allow bribery. And then they try to claim that it’s normal. It’s NOT.

    No problem with this.

    Between the progressives and the teabaggers we could take down BOTH political parties. And then it will be time to pass a few constitutional amendments. Might be nice to try a few of these assholes too.

    Seriously, this is hands-down the most delusional post I’ve seen on this site in a very long time. What could possibly make you think that teabaggers (you remember how crazy they are, right? With all the Hitler/Commie rhetoric, right?) and progressives liberals anyone who is sane and logical would ever be able to come together?

    That is like trying to mix oil and water, and then setting the entire building on fire.

  94. 94.

    JK

    @Brachiator:

    Frank Sinatra, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan, and Yves Montand all moved from left to right. Someone somewhere has probably written a book or article on the subject.

  96. 96.

    Violet

    @RedKitten:

    Mind you, they could air an hour just of Adam Baldwin scowling, and I’d make a point of watching.

    Oh, gawd, yes. Love him and his various assortment of scowls. I crack up every time.

    I’m so glad the show is coming back, yet completely worried they won’t be at the Buy More. I love the Buy More crew and scenes – that’s what makes the show. No idea how they’ll make it work without it.

  98. 98.

    Polly

    About Keith Olbermann’s absence (someone here asked last night.) Schuster announced that he’s filling in for KO tonight.

    His father has been very ill for more than two weeks, hospitalized.
    Olbermann mentioned something abt this three weeks ago.

    My guess is that this family problem is the reason for KO’s being off so much.

  100. 100.

    jl

    Just trying to help here. In my professioal capacity as an annoying anonymous commeter, my judgment is that pix of Lily The Dog and Tuch The Cat will be just the thing to make things perfect.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    @JK:

    RE: I’m reading a bunch of 19th-century American periodicals, all high-class Brahmin stuff—the Atlantic, the North American Review, Harper’s Monthly

    Does anyone know of a free website where I can read old back issues of these magazines as well as McClure’s and Collier’s?

    Harper’s Magazine has an excellent web site.

    You have to subscribe to the magazine to get full access to their archives, going back to 1859. But it’s only $16.97.

    http://www.harpers.org/archive

    However, Harpers Weekly Civil War Archives are available for free here, and are amazing (great graphic reproductions as well)

    http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war-1865.htm

  102. 102.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @RedKitten:

    HA! THe first thing I do when my mum leaves is go through my fridge and freezer and remove and discard the single cooked baby carrot in the ziploc bag, the lonely yorkshire pudding that will never get eaten. A teeny tiny portion of stuffing from a chicken dinner which she apparently thought would be used, perhaps, one day, for something, and the two spoonfuls of gravy from said dinner now in a margarine carton at the back of the fridge. Perhaps your mum is like mine, a child of the depression and throwing away food was an absolute crime. I keep trying to tell her that giving it to the dogs isn’t “throwing it away” per se, it gets eaten, it just doesn’t get eaten by humans. Glad to hear your mum is just like mine!

  103. 103.

    Midnight Marauder

    I know it’s from Politico, but this is still nice to see.

    Generals: Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney are scaremongering

    “We take a setback every time somebody, whether it’s the vice president or his daughter comes out and says the things that they say….We have to get out there again and just keep pounding,” said retired Gen. David Maddox, a former Army commander-in-chief for Europe.

    “Can you imagine getting a terrorist from Guantanamo convicted and put in a federal penitentiary in your town?” Maddox asked. “Have you ever checked who the hell’s in there already? Have any of them gotten out? The person who we’re putting in is probably a heck of lot less dangerous than most of them who are already in there.”

  104. 104.

    MikeJ

    Does anyone know of a free website where I can read old back issues of these magazines as well as McClure’s and Collier’s?

    Not those, but Time has olde timey issues up.

  106. 106.

    Nellcote

    * Does American Samoa have access to FEMA help?

    * Andy Williams launched the Osmonds on America. also, too.

  108. 108.

    arguingwithsignposts

    I’m just wondering if someone wrote a smackdown of Cohen (really, a pundit dissing the president for being on TV too much? WTF?) and the other idiotic pundits who spew their filth on the op-ed page of the formerly credible WaPo, they would make it far in the Reality TV America’s Next Great Pundit sweepstakes?

  110. 110.

    demkat620

    It’s 8:45 pm on a Tuesday night and I have to watch a video about my company’s health plan.
    FML.

  111. 111.

    JK

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    A pundit dissing the president for being on TV too much?

    Unfortunately, this is an extremely popular complaint among the pundits. George Will has been complaining about this for weeks. Peggy Noonan complained about it when Obama appeared on 4 of 5 Sunday shows last week. A few weeks ago, David Brooks joked to Jim Lehrer that Obama would be co-hosting the NewsHour. Even David Fucking Gergen has bought into this stupid meme and told Scott Simon on Weekend Edition that Obama was doing too many interviews with the media.

  112. 112.

    Anne Laurie

    @A-Ron:

    Thought of one for the lexicon that I haven’t seen in a while: He-Man Woman Hater’s Club

    … which is very appropriate, because Chris Matthews would fit in perfectly as Spanky, with Jake Tapper as Alfalfa. I would add this to the Lexicon immediately, except I still don’t have access ! ! !.

    Sigh.

    @General Winfield Stuck: With a little judicious photoshopping, Libby’s kawaii dream-shot could make a mint as a greeting card…

  113. 113.

    Brachiator

    @slag:

    On the bright side, Obama wants kids to spend more time in school…. If school now is anything like it was when I was a kid, it would probably be better to make the time already spent in school more useful. But if you can’t improve quality, might as well increase quantity. I actually think it’s a good idea. But will it happen?

    God, I hope not, at least not if teaching doesn’t become better and more productive. Increasing quantity of school time without improving quality only makes kids resent education, and probably increases the proportion of anti-intellectual wingnuts.

  116. 116.

    Anne Laurie

    @JK:

    Frank Sinatra, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan, and Yves Montand all moved from left to right. Someone somewhere has probably written a book or article on the subject.

    Check the medical section for information on hardening of the arteries leading to dementia.

  117. 117.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @JK:

    Even David Fucking Gergen has bought into this stupid meme and told Scott Simon on Weekend Edition that Obama was doing too many interviews with the media.

    Are these people too dense to remember when the entire media was bitching that GWB wasn’t doing enough press conferences?

  118. 118.

    Chuck Butcher

    a high of lower 50s here today. This will go on for the next few days with rain mixed in, which is unfortunate. I have a 350 mile trip to Vancouver, WA to make Wed and return Fri to have tires and service to the Harley. It has been in the 80s and clear for weeks, now this.

    I really do not want to trailer the bike for several reasons. I’ll make a decision on Wed.

  119. 119.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder:

    Not surprisingly, Chris Matthews spent a segment of Hardball tonight drooling over Sarah Palin and Liz Cheney. He wanted his guests to tell him if they could be the saviors of the Republican Party.

    I’m dreading the release of Sarah Palin’s book. It’s going to get more publicity than any other non fiction book published in decades.

  120. 120.

    JK

    @Anne Laurie:

    LOL.

    Is there any website in particular that you visit to browse 19th century periodicals like the Atlantic and Harper’s? I only ask because you provided a detailed response to a commenter who wrote about them last night.

  121. 121.

    Anne Laurie

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I keep trying to tell her that giving it to the dogs isn’t “throwing it away” per se, it gets eaten, it just doesn’t get eaten by humans.

    * Snrf! * Yup, one advantage of living with dogs is that you don’t have to feel guilty about throwing away “perfectly good food” because somebody will be glad to dispose of half a cold baked potato, three spoonsful of rice from last weekend’s Chinese takeaway, or any fatty/gristly bits from the potroast. Of course the trade-off is having to replace or reconfigure all your trashcans, because used kleenex, plastic bread wrappers, and things too disgusting to think about also qualify as “perfectly good food” to our helpful canine companions…

  122. 122.

    RedKitten

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Nope, my mom wasn’t raised during the Depression — but it does sound like she was separated at birth from your mother. That’s too damn funny.

    I shouldn’t make fun of her, though. She just called me 5 minutes ago to tell me that she put “a little something” in my bank account to help me out while I’m on maternity leave. Bless.

  123. 123.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Brachiator:

    Actually my husband’s students refuse to go home, he has to throw them out after the school day, they hang around in his band room jamming, take lessons from him, chat and get better at their craft. He literally has to throw them out of the classroom so he can go to the lake house and chill. During the summer they know what days he will be at school and they all show up, once one of them get the word that “Mr. Nick” is going to be at school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during summer it is like normal school days, everyone shows up and everyone wants to learn. What is up with that? It is a brilliant teacher is what is up with that. (okay I am ever so slightly biased, ever so slightly)

  124. 124.

    JK

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    I think it’s a case of pundits using a kitchen sink strategy. Don’t just attack Obama on substance, attack him on style as well. Soon they’ll be attacking Obama’s taste in neckties.

  126. 126.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Anne Laurie:

    Check the medical section for information on hardening of the arteries leading to dementia.

    I suspect hardening of the head got them long before the arteries did.

  127. 127.

    RedKitten

    @Anne Laurie:

    Of course the trade-off is having to replace or reconfigure all your trashcans, because used kleenex, plastic bread wrappers, and things too disgusting to think about also qualify as “perfectly good food” to our helpful canine companions…

    True. I will never forget the day that I forgot to close the door to the utility room (where we kept our garbage), only to go in later to discover that Dreyfus had unearthed a chicken carcass and had gleefully hauled it all over the room, with the proudest look on his face. Since he’s passed, I can’t get over how much food now goes into the composter instead of into his gullet.

  129. 129.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Anne Laurie:

    LOL – including the paper towels that you have just strained the cooking oil through after cleaning out the deep fat fryer, the plastic wrapping from some cooked ham, cat barf wrapped in a paper towel, a totally scraped clean margarine carton, (ditto a sour cream carton), and an empty potato chip bag. It never fails to amaze me what dogs consider “food”.

  130. 130.

    Brachiator

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    RE: Andy Williams launched the Osmonds on America. also, too.

    Hey don’t even go there, the Osmonds are my entire teenage years, and I currently have a DVD of Donny’s latest concert.

    Andy Williams saw a bit of his own musical history in the young Osmonds:

    Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Don and Dick formed a quartet, the Williams Brothers, in the late 1930s, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati. Williams graduated from Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. The Williams Brothers appeared with Bing Crosby on the hit record “Swinging on a Star” (1944).

  132. 132.

    Anne Laurie

    @JK: I wish I could help, but most of my periodical browsing took place on paper, first in the Bronx branches of the NYPL when I was growing up & then in the 15 years I spent working in a large midwestern university library (not as a librarian).

  134. 134.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @RedKitten:

    Yeah – and I am pretty sure that the cat that is not fixed will soon be as a result of my mum saying “get her in the vets, I will pay for it” at the end of her visit. Mums are wonderful like that.

  136. 136.

    Anne Laurie

    @RedKitten:

    I will never forget the day that I forgot to close the door to the utility room (where we kept our garbage), only to go in later to discover that Dreyfus had unearthed a chicken carcass and had gleefully hauled it all over the room, with the proudest look on his face.

    Ha, that’s nothing. Friends of mine were throwing a lovely buffet party when their Irish setter proudly paraded into the living room carrying the shredded remnants of a used sanitary napkin. It turns out there is no discrete method of wrestling something like that away from an athletic dog who doesn’t want to give it up, no matter how politely the rest of us tried to ignore the ensuing chase / capture / banishment!

  137. 137.

    Something Fabulous

    @Trinity: I think you should go for Scottish names! Sim, meaning “listener,” and Brodey for the littler one, because it means “second son”!

  138. 138.

    Jay C

    They could have displays devoted to Dwight Eisenhower, Jacob Javits, Mark Hatfield, John Chafee, Lowell Weicker, William Cohen, Warren Rudman, Jim Leach, and Millicent Fenwick

    That’s the problem right there in nutshell: “ordinary Republicans” can only be found in a museum….

  140. 140.

    JK

    @Anne Laurie:

    Thanks for the clarification. When I read your comments last night, I mistakenly got the impression that you had browsed the contents of these magazines on some website from your home computer.

  142. 142.

    Brachiator

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Actually my husband’s students refuse to go home, he has to throw them out after the school day, they hang around in his band room jamming, take lessons from him, chat and get better at their craft. He literally has to throw them out of the classroom so he can go to the lake house and chill.

    A good teacher is worth his weight in gold. A crappy teacher sucks the very life out of his or her students.

    And here in Southern California, it is almost impossible to fire an incompetent teacher, a pyrrhic victory of the teachers union over the bad old days when principals could almost arbitrarily fire teachers. About the only time a teacher can be fired outright is if he or she is convicted of a crime.

    On the other hand, a woman I commute with is a second grade teacher. She promised her students any reasonable reward they wanted if they did well on a particular assignment.

    What did they choose? They just wanted to have lunch with her.

  143. 143.

    C Nelson Reilly

    Andy Williams also has The Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri. If you like the baby Jesus and corn pone, Branson’s the place to be (though one of the big acts there is the Baldknobbers, which I don’t even want to guess what that means)

  144. 144.

    Origuy

    @Nellcote: Yes, FEMA and the Coast Guard are gearing up. From the SF Chronicle:

    Rear Adm. Manson Brown, Coast Guard commander for the Pacific region, said the Coast Guard is in the early stages of assessing what resources to send to American Samoa. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Titchen said a C-130 was being dispatched Wednesday to deliver aid, asssess damage and take the governor back home. A New Zealand air force P3 Orion maritime search airplane also was being sent. 
    One of the runways at Pago Pago (Pan-go, pan-go) International Airport was being cleared of widespread debris for emergency use, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in Los Angeles. 

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was deploying teams to American Samoa to provide support and assess damage. 

  145. 145.

    Origuy

    Blockquote fail; I put nonbreaking space elements between paragraphs, but it only worked between the first two.

  149. 149.

    Midnight Marauder

    @JK:

    Not surprisingly, Chris Matthews spent a segment of Hardball tonight drooling over Sarah Palin and Liz Cheney. He wanted his guests to tell him if they could be the saviors of the Republican Party.

    I’m dreading the release of Sarah Palin’s book. It’s going to get more publicity than any other non fiction book published in decades.

    These people really can’t give up the horse race mentality to save their lives, can they? To think that Sarah “Quitta from Wasilla” Palin and Liz Cheney (who I come to abhor more and more each day) could somehow save the mortally wounded beast that is the Republican Party; I mean, to ask that to another (assumed) sane person as a serious question. That is an affront to the very idea of rational discourse.

    One day, the Village will burn, and I, for one, will not weep.

  152. 152.

    Brachiator

    @Midnight Marauder:

    These people really can’t give up the horse race mentality to save their lives, can they? To think that Sarah “Quitta from Wasilla” Palin and Liz Cheney (who I come to abhor more and more each day) could somehow save the mortally wounded beast that is the Republican Party; I mean, to ask that to another (assumed) sane person as a serious question. That is an affront to the very idea of rational discourse.
    …
    One day, the Village will burn, and I, for one, will not weep.

    I doubt that many people outside the Village even know who Liz Cheney is. I’ll bet that a few think that she is the gay Cheney daughter.

    Cheney has not held elective office, and for the bulk of her public service career, she has been the bag man (or person) for shadowy government agencies, probably working indirectly for her father.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Cheney

    In 2002, Cheney was appointed to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, a pre-existing vacant post with an “economic portfolio,” which is a mandate to promote investment in the region….In that position, she was given control of the Middle East Partnership Initiative, designed to “foster increased democracy and economic progress in a troubled region.” The program spent $29 million in 2002, increased to $129 million in the following year. Cheney’s task was to channel money to pre-screened groups, some of which were not identified publicly for fear of retaliations from extant governments they sought to undermine. For the budget year 2004, the project sought $145 million.

    Palin will charm as long as she is outside of government. However, unless she gets appointed Senator from Alaska, I don’t think she has a serious chance at national office. But she will keep hard core Republicans hopped up until the GOP settles on a serious presidential candidate.

  154. 154.

    JK

    @Brachiator:

    I don’t think she [Palin] has a serious chance at national office.

    I bet if you could talk to David Gregory, Chris Matthews, George Stephanopolous, Bob Schieffer, John King, Wolf Blitzer, or Anderson Cooper in private, they’d all tell you that Palin doesn’t stand a chance in hell of getting the Republican nomination in 2012. Of course, they’d all run over their grandmother in a nanosecond to get Palin on their respective shows to shamelessly hawk her stupid book.

    We’ve reached the point where political journalism has fused with celebrity journalism. It doesn’t matter that Palin can’t elected, the only thing that matters is that her tv appearances do wonders for the Nielsen ratings for the program lucky enough to land an interview with her.

  155. 155.

    Midnight Marauder

    @JK: @Brachiator:

    Palin will charm as long as she is outside of government. However, unless she gets appointed Senator from Alaska, I don’t think she has a serious chance at national office. But she will keep hard core Republicans hopped up until the GOP settles on a serious presidential candidate.

    This quote that I just read on HuffPo seemed like the perfect response to how laughable the entire thing really is:

    In perhaps an example of how Palin’s star outshines all others in the GOP right now, the panel never really got around to discussing Cheney.

  157. 157.

    Midnight Marauder

    After watching that video of Robert Gibbs destroying that silly question today about Michael Steel criticizing the President for the whole Olympics thing, I move that “Maybe it’s Madrid?” somehow be incorporated into the Lexicon for how easily and brutally Republican fauxrage can be ridiculed for those smart enough to think for themselves.

    Clearly, this is not a prominent trait amongst members of The Village.

  158. 158.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I’d like to take those fucking starbursts and ram them all the way down Rich Lowry’s goddamn throat.

    If you found the Chris Hedges’ column interesting, I strongly recommend that you read Politics and the English Language by George Orwell.

  159. 159.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: I would like to see that, please.

    I started to read the Orwell essay. Very well written. I cannot comprehend it right now. Have bookmarked it. Will read it in full later and report back.

  160. 160.

    Steeplejack

    Just finished watching The Forgotten from the DVR. Low-grade Bruckheimer. I had hopes because of Christian Slater, but, sadly, no.

  161. 161.

    Brachiator

    @JK:

    We’ve reached the point where political journalism has fused with celebrity journalism. It doesn’t matter that Palin can’t elected, the only thing that matters is that her tv appearances do wonders for the Nielsen ratings for the program lucky enough to land an interview with her.

    It’s been that way for a while, but no one will admit it. One of the reasons that John McCain is always invited back to pundit shows is not because he has any special expertise or even is the official voice of the GOP, but because he is a recognizable brand name, a proven ratings get, and is always good for a repeatable sound bite.

  162. 162.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder:

    I also found it interesting that they didn’t get around to discussing Liz Cheney. In the case of Chris Matthews, I think he like Rich Starbursts Lowry is totally infatuated with Palin. I think a lot of heterosexual men are infatuated with her. From a previous thread, I think Brachiator disagreed with my emphasis on Palin’s sex appeal accounting for much of her popularity. Obviously, her unscripted personality is also an asset among wingnuts.

    I still can’t escape the feeling that if Palin was not considered very sexy by the MSM and wingnuts, her political career would have taken a very different turn.

  163. 163.

    Midnight Marauder

    @JK:

    I still can’t escape the feeling that if Palin was not considered very sexy by the MSM and wingnuts, her political career would have taken a very different turn.

    You’re right. It would have been on the next train to Nowheresville.

  165. 165.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: I agree with you, JK. If it weren’t for all the starbursting going on, she would have been a one-trick pony. Her main appeal is her sex appeal with the men. For women, I suppose they can delude themselves into believing she is just like them. I dunno.

    JK, deal!

  166. 166.

    Brachiator

    @JK:

    I still can’t escape the feeling that if Palin was not considered very sexy by the MSM and wingnuts, her political career would have taken a very different turn.

    I think you are wrong here. Palin is admired by a lot of women, even women who would not necessarily vote for her.

    That she is just a MILF is a myth obviously kept alive by the starbursts gang, but this is not the sole source of her appeal.

    But elements of the media are even more crude. Palin is telegenic and knows how to play to the camera. As long as she looks good, or can be made up to look good, news and entertainment shows will try to get her.

    One irony here is that even though McCain picked her, and later put out hints that he had buyer’s remorse, the media would far prefer to get Palin in front of the camera than the dried-out, pulled-back Cindy McCain.

    The deeper irony is that the media is still hot for Palin even though her people keep her from reporters and anything remotely resembling a substantive interview.

    And if you want to see some serious whoring: I would pay good money to see some of the internal memos and media offers to Palin to get her on camera when she starts pushing her memoirs.

  167. 167.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Brachiator: @JK:

    More fuel for the fire:
    Sarah Palin took the name of her memoir from this (unflattering) Slate article.

    Sarah Palin’s anticipated first memoir, Going Rogue, will be available Nov. 17, with a first printing of 1.5 million copies. The inspiration behind the unique title? Slate’s John Dickerson first used the phrase in an Oct. 20, 2008, article questioning whether the former Alaska governor was purposely disagreeing with the presidential candidate.

    There is no end to this woman’s stupidity.

  168. 168.

    JK

    @Midnight Marauder:
    @Brachiator:

    Palin’s stupidity takes my breath away. Obviously, she intends to wear the phrase Going Rogue as a badge of honor. The Daily Show had a great segment on this Going Rogue phrase during the campaign.

    Palin’s stupidity is only equaled by that of the MSM. She continually bashes them for being BIASED LIBERALS, yet they still keep beating down a path to her door.

    As for the interviews, my guess is she does her first tv interview with Sean Hannity. As for ABC, CBS, and NBC, I don’t know which she’ll do first. I envision a lengthy list of demands that tv networks will have to agree to beforehand, such as no follow-up questions, no questions about Bristol and Levi, etc.

  170. 170.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    50 degrees is cold?! Wimpy wimpy wimpy. It’s been 50 in the evenings here all damned summer. The wife and I are heading out on the motorcycle for a few days to see a comedy act at a casino, sleep in some trees and a few other things we have planned. It’s our delayed Valentine’s Day gift and anniversary gift (23rd, this past Sunday). We earned it. :)

    Inland weather is supposed to be in the high 30’s at night and high 60’s during the day, the coast will be low 50’s at night and upper 60’s/low 70’s during the day. Sounds like some nice fall riding as long as the weather holds up!

  172. 172.

    Jay in Oregon

    Gah, dammit.

    She asked me to stay out of the bedroom that she is sleeping in during the day. But she says that I moved some stuff since then, and I can’t say for sure when I did but I know it was before that request.

    I don’t believe I broke my promise to my wife, but she thinks I did. And trust is a shaky thing for her right now.

    One step forward, two steps back.

  173. 173.

    Brachiator

    @JK:

    Midnight Marauder — Sarah Palin took the name of her memoir from this (unflattering) Slate article.

    Actually, this is pretty smart. The origin is irrelevant. Oooh, Slate Magazine was dissing Palin. How many of her supporters give a rat’s ass about Slate or have ever linked to it?

    The book title sounds “mavericky” and also riffs on “Going Galt.”

    And for all I know, there might even bee a few wingnut geeks who go all “Wow. Palin is just like Rogue from the X-Men.”

    Also, anyone who thinks that Palin came up with the title to her memoirs clearly is smoking something.

    Palin’s stupidity takes my breath away.

    One of the biggest blind spots of liberals and progressives is that they continually confuse stupidity and weakness. I had a number of huge arguments with friends who kept harping on how dumb Bush was, how he was little more than Cheney’s butt-boy. Somehow this let them ignore the plain fact that Bush got to be president, twice, and that the presumably smarter Democrats rolled over for the Republicans during the Bush Administration. Hell, some Democrats are rolling over for the Republicans even though Obama is president.

    As for ABC, CBS, and NBC, I don’t know which she’ll do first. I envision a lengthy list of demands that tv networks will have to agree to beforehand, such as no follow-up questions, no questions about Bristol and Levi, etc.

    Demands?

    When Palin spoke in Asia, the press were not allowed to ask questions. This did not stop them from kissing her ass.

    And people seem to forget how David Gregory and other pundit show anchors and producers promised South Carolina Governor Sanford a friendly forum if he agreed to appear on their shows.

    By the way, I predict that one of Palin’s first appearances will be on The View. Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck is tight with Palin.

  174. 174.

    JGabriel

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Ok, sorry, you have to click the actual arrow now and not time stamp.

    That’s the way it’s always been. At least for me, anyway.

    The date stamp gives you a link that works outside the thread if you right click on it and choose “Copy Link Location” (Firefox); the little arrow gives you an internal thread link and autopastes it into the comment box.

    .

  176. 176.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @JGabriel:

    It very likely has been that way for me too. Yesterday was wrong way day for me, on about everything. Today will be different, me hopes.

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