Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In my day, never was longer.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

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

This fight is for everything.

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

No one could have predicted…

Tick tock motherfuckers!

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

T R E 4 5 O N

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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

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

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

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

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

You can’t love your country only when you win.

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241Comments

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    I think this was my favorite CQ Midday Update ever:

    The House is not in session.

    The Senate convenes for a pro forma session.

    The President won the Nobel Peace Prize.

    …..

    It probably does feel like he’s going it alone, given the quality of our public servants.

    John: hope you feel better soon.

  6. 6.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Sorry to hear that John. No fun bein’ sick and all. Let the blogging be and take it easy. Maybe DougJ can treat us to some more intellectual exercises..

  8. 8.

    dmsilev

    Reaction of the day to the Nobel goes to the US State Department:

    Certainly from our standpoint, this gives us a sense of momentum — when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes.

    (via TPM)

    -dms

  9. 9.

    mai naem

    Has Chris Van Hollen gotten smart and decided that using Alan Grayson for his mouth is a good thing. Oh, and why is the lighting on Grayson so awful in his Countdown appearance.

  10. 10.

    gocart mozart

    Grayson on the House floor said today that “I want to inform my Democratic friends that Olympia Snowe was not elected President of the United States.”

    And also,
    Tonight on Rachel Maddow, Barbara Boxer called Rush Limbaugh’s Peace Prize comment “very wimpy” and to paraphrase the rest, “Anyone can throw a punch or in Rush’s case, send other men and women to throw a punch for you, but it takes a real leader to look an enemy in the eye and talk to them.”

    I’m sorry, wrong blog. I thought this was firedoglake.

  12. 12.

    Brian J

    Aside from some off and on sinus/winter allergy issues, I never really get sick. (Maybe I’m technically sick, but I never really feel down enough to go to the doctor, so I never know for sure. I never take days off and don’t really take medication to get over anything, so I say I’m never sick.) Good genes, or just an increasingly health lifestyle, or something else…who knows? Whatever the case, I’m usually doing well.

    I’m wondering if I am about to be sick for the first time in about six years. For the past few days, it seems like my chest is closing up, to the point of me thinking I was going to chest problems earlier today. I bought some Vick’s yesterday just to be sure. I like it better than other stuff, because I feel like it helps you get over stuff naturally without relying on medication as much. That, and being bundle up in bed and drinking lots of tea and orange juice, seems to work.

  16. 16.

    madmommy

    I hate the Yankees with the heat of a thousand suns. And that it has been A-Rod, of all people, to stick the knife in. The man couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat for his entire post-season career. Now, suddenly, he’s Mr. Clutch??

    I blame Kate Hudson.

  17. 17.

    freelancer

    Look on the bright side. Invest in a tad more Vicks and Roger Ailes will give you your own show.

    In all seriousness, hope you feel better soon.

  21. 21.

    JK

    The Corner has kind of let me down today.

    David Brooks on the NewsHour

    Well, my first reaction was, he should have won all the prizes, because he has given speeches about peace, but also he’s given economic speeches. He wrote a book. That’s literature. He has biological elements within his body. He could win that prize. He could have swept the whole prizes… The idea that he would win it with five Norwegian lefties, to me, it is something of a joke. And I do think it will hurt him. The last thing he needs now is to be treated as the global messiah… I personally think it would have been certainly dramatic and maybe the right thing to do to turn it down, to say, listen… He could say, “Listen, I don’t deserve it.” He already said that. “I some day hope to deserve it. But this is not something that I have merited yet. And I’m a humble person. I’m aware of who I am and what I have achieved so far. And, so far, I don’t think I earned this.”… Do I see Ahmadinejad saying, oh, well, he won the Nobel, that’s another matter, or the Taliban?

    Ron Chusid at liberalvaluesblog

    So what if we agree with the Taliban on this award. Stopping Obama’s agenda is a goal we both share.

    Donald Douglas at American Power blog

    Well, it’s not taking long. It certainly didn’t escape the Nobel Commmittee that President Obama hasn’t actually achieved anything. So, what better way to facilitate further capitulation to the terrorists than by emoldening the Islamist/socialist alliance to bring pressure on the administration?… It’s not the Republicans who have joined the Taliban, it’s the neo-communist left.

    Bruce Kesler at Maggie’s Farm

    President Obama’s preparation for and delivery of an acceptance speech may distract him from doing more to weaken the US and allies and reward foes, thus furthering peace… The Nobel Prize will fit in nicely with the new White House décor alongside the Obama chosen faux painting

    Daniel W. Drezner at Foreign Policy

    If you’re wondering why it took me a few hours before choosing to blog about Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Price award…. well, it took me that long to stop laughing. Honestly, I’m not laughing at Obama. I’m laughing at the morons on the Norwegian Nobel Committee who made this decision to cheapen an already devalued prize.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @mai naem

    Not just the lighting, but the Bright! Blue! Suit! I adore Grayson and really shouldn’t even notice what he wears, but seriously, did his aged grandmother pick that out in the belief he was 7 years old?

    But when I closed my eyes, it was a great interview.

  23. 23.

    donovong

    Wasn’t it this time last year that the horrible scourge of the east was foisted on us – the infamous neti-pot?

  24. 24.

    Demo Woman

    Sorry about all the bitching about wanting an open thread. Get well soon.
    In honor of Steve Gilliard, fuck the fucking yankees.

  26. 26.

    JK

    More bitter wingnuts

    William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection

    “Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. For what? Peace in Afghanistan? Peace in Iraq? Peace in the Middle East? Nope. How about peace in Chicago, Honduras, Detroit, or somewhere? Nope. What a joke. Was Chris Matthews on the committee? What an embarrassment to the Nobel Peace Prize legacy. How about waiting until Obama actually did something, then give him the prize? But then again, we elected Obama before he accomplished anything, so who are we to criticize.”

    Justin Raimondo at Antiwar.com

    “As a reward for all your strenuous efforts on behalf of keeping the world a place that is less safe, less stable, and less worth living in than at any time since the outbreak of World War II, you are bestowed with – yes, that’s right, the Nobel Peace Prize. This, however, isn’t just any Nobel Peace Prize – oh no It’s a Bizarro Peace Prize – the natural result of us having slipped through a crack in the space-time continuum, and landed in a world where up is down, right is left, and war is peace – Bizarro World.”

    American Girl in Italy at No Quarter

    “The Nobel Committee awarded Obama the Nobel Peace Prize to encourage his initiatives in calling for world peace and cooperation… Other candidates for consideration include:
    Miss Teen South Carolina – For her desire to provide the US Americans, South Africans and The Iraq with maps. Coca Cola – For their desire to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony. And to buy the world a Coke. Rodney King – For his plea that we all just get along. The New Jersey Obama Kids – Because they are just mmm mmm mmmmmm good. Miss World 2008 Russia – Because she wants to help people. ABBA – Because they had a dream.”

    Jed Babbin at Human Events

    “The Nobel committee has placed Obama in the same category as Al Gore, Jimmy Carter and the late terrorist Yassir Arafat. We could not agree more. Nobel prizes are won for achievement, supposedly, in the arts, sciences and diplomacy. But the only diplomacy the committee rewards is that which weakens and demeans America…. Congratulations, Mr. President. You stand on the shoulders of three who have done much to harm America and reduce its influence and standing in the world. Their trio is now a quartet.”

  27. 27.

    The Dangerman

    @Halffasthero:

    How bad a call was that “foul ball” in left?

    How bad was it? He’s now having all his bank records analyzed and his nickname will be Donaghy. Missing a ball fair by a fucking foot is beyond ridiculous (I’m not sure it tipped the glove; doesn’t matter anyway).

  29. 29.

    General Winfield Stuck

    I am happy to report that Stuck’s Jiffy Diet I wrote about a month or so ago has been a rousing success, when all else failed. I have lost 15 pounds in 5 weeks and hope to drop to my playing weight of 180 pounds in another month or so, and stave off the type 2 Diabetes that is, or hopefully was borderline.

    Maybe then I’ll market it for gazillions and get a Nobel, with any luck.

  30. 30.

    Svensker

    @Brian J:

    For the past few days, it seems like my chest is closing up, to the point of me thinking I was going to chest problems earlier today.

    In an asthmatic way or in a fluid-in-the-lungs kind of way? If it doesn’t clear up quickly, get it checked. If it’s undiagnosed and untreated asthma, that can get very serious. And if it’s fluid, it could turn to pneumonia quickly without you knowing it.

    But for sufferers from cold-in-the-chest, an old wives tale that I tried on my son last winter who had an unstoppable cough that wasn’t responding to anything, including prescriptions — rub Vicks into the soles of your feet, a thick layer, put on socks and go to sleep. For some reason, it absolutely worked for us. (Don’t try with small children — too much camphor can be toxic.)

  31. 31.

    madmommy

    Mom would slather the Vicks-Vapo-Rub on our chests and feet at the first sign of a sniffle. I hated the smell of that stuff so much I’d run hide in the bathroom if I felt the urge to sneeze.

    Hope you’re feeling better soon. I’m sure Lily is being quite attentive. Tunch is just making sure you can function enough to keep the food bowl full.

  33. 33.

    JK

    @Cat Lady:

    Fuck the fucking Yankees.

    Amen to that.

    Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the Borg. The Yankees are a heartless, soulless collective just like the fucking Borg.

  34. 34.

    Cat Lady

    @JK:

    Like someone else said somewhere else, rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the house in blackjack.

  37. 37.

    Ash Can

    I’d hate the Yankees too if Joe Girardi weren’t managing them. I’ve liked him ever since he was a Cub. Plus, I have to hand it to the Yankees fans. The Yankees are in the playoffs so often it’s boring, yet the fans are anything but bored. From the very first game of the postseason, they show up and make serious noise. I recall some years ago when the Cubs were in the divisional playoffs against the Braves and there were reports in the local news that Cubs fans traveling to Atlanta were having no problem buying tickets because the spoiled-rotten Braves fans weren’t bothering to go to the early-round games. I wanted to go down to Atlanta myself and give everyone there a boot up the jacksy.

  38. 38.

    WereBear

    Mr. WereBear has been battling the awful cough… wish I knew the Vicks/feet trick at the time, since it’s almost abated now.

    But I love the cat’s reaction to come up to touch noses, and then look at us so sadly… why? Why?

    Why did you put on cat repellent?

  39. 39.

    Cat Lady

    @Cat Lady:

    The Borg put my other comment about the fucking Yankees in moderation, which just makes me want to say again fuck the fucking Yankees and fuck the Borg. Also, too.

  45. 45.

    JK

    @Ash Can:

    I have to hand it to the Yankees fans

    Have you ever listened to WFAN or read the message board on the NY Yankees website?

    The diehard Yankee fans are the greediest, most obnoxious, and repulsive sports fans in America.

  48. 48.

    JK

    A Politico, titled “Roman Polanski backers Gave $34K to Barack Obama, DNC,” reported that Hollywood types urging Polanski’s release shelled out that amount to the DNC and to Obama’s presidential campaign. It took a beating in the blogosphere for concocting a link between Polanski and Dems that seemed almost comically tenuous.

    “We will look for the political angle in virtually any story,” responded top Politico editor Jim VandeHei. “This short blog item was done for the Click page — where we run a lot of entertainment and personality items. It was quick item based on FEC data alone.”

    h/t http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/democratic-national-committee/dnc-rips-politico-story-tying-polanski-to-obama-silly-amateur-hour

  50. 50.

    eemom

    maybe this has been said here already today, but I’m personally thrilled that the DNC has finally grown a pair and gone on the offensive with the “republicans are siding with the terrorists” meme in response to the entirely predictable rethug reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Over at Salon, ya got Greenwald and Koppelman clutching their purity pearls and fainting about our side employing the very tactics that we deplored in the Bush administration. WTF?? It is also being demanded on a daily basis by they and their ilk that the Democrats act MORE like the rethuglicans and ram their righteous agenda down all opposing throats. I hate to use that tired old “circular firing squad” cliche, but really, let’s wake the fuck up already.

  51. 51.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @freelancer (itouch):

    This shit can make you ill if not decompressed on a regular basis. The whole time Bush was presnit, or at least from the Iraq invasion, I was a boiling kettle of rage much of the time with permanent obscene high blood pressure. Sometimes, I go back in the archives and it’s scary some of the rants I typed out, though I wasn’t the only one. This stuff now is mind numbingly bizzare, but easy compared to that, at least for me. But still can get out of hand if taken too serious.

    Good advice JK coming from freelancer.

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    Steep in the hizzle! What’s going on, peeps?

    Just got home from the part-time gig.

    –Steep +¼

  54. 54.

    Brian J

    In an asthmatic way or in a fluid-in-the-lungs kind of way? If it doesn’t clear up quickly, get it checked. If it’s undiagnosed and untreated asthma, that can get very serious. And if it’s fluid, it could turn to pneumonia quickly without you knowing it.

    Probably more the former, as I’m guessing the latter would feel like running five miles on a bitterly cold day. If it persists a few days, I’ll certainly get it checked out, but then again, I still haven’t been to the doctor after people on this board recommended I get tested for diabetes, so perhaps I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep.

    Like one of my bosses said, it’s probably just gas or something minor. I mean, life can kick me in the pants, but after losing so much weight and thus probably ending up healthier, would I really start to have massive heart problems? Not even I am that unlucky.

  55. 55.

    Corner Stone

    @Keith G:

    Feel better, John. Chicken Tortilla Soup with a touch more serrano will clear you up.

    Sick or not, and I don’t care what they complain of, process a little serrano with a little onion and use it as a base for chicken noodle/chicken tortilla – and it’s the straight balls yo.

    First, get a couple serranos and/or jalapenos. Put them in a microwave safe bowl and cover with water. Turn the microwave on for 1 minute per each pepper involved (four total peppers = 4 minutes high cook)
    Take the peppers, quarter an onion and place in a handy dandy 1 cup processor. Blend together til you get diced bits. Use as a base with a little butter or EVOO as sautee.
    If you have fresh avocadoes to slice at the very end – damn.
    Totally wreck your shit and make you want to live again.

  58. 58.

    Annie

    Take care of yourself — and of course Lily and Tunch, too. We don’t want to hear that Lily and Tunch are also coughing and hacking….Be well…We need you!

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    @Cole at top:

    I’m busy huffing the sweet menthol fumes from a Vicks vaporizer as I hack and cough up whatever I have now.

    Neti pot, bro’, neti pot. I don’t even have one; I just snuffle the warm saline water out of an old coffee cup. But I do it every day, not just when I feel something coming on. And I think it works. I interact with the filthy public and handle their dirty money on an almost daily basis, and I can’t remember the last time I had a cold or anything similar. Plus, as someone who has a long history of sinus problems (and lung-related ones), my breathing has never been clearer. I think it affects your whole pulmonary system.

  61. 61.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack:

    —Steep +¼

    WTF?!
    BoB came incorrect the other day claiming +.5
    Now you’re trying a big swingin dick with + 1/4?
    What has the world come to?

  63. 63.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    However, I am currently in discussions with my landlord to get a small dog as they have loosened up some on 4 legged pets. I would love to get a little Westie pup, but they cost several hundred bucks, and besides, there are always a number of Death Row doggies that deserve a chance at a happy life.

  64. 64.

    Polish the Guillotines

    Christ, what is it with parents these days? We’ve got a friend of my 8-year-old son over tonight. Here’s what he won’t eat:

    – Fruit (!?)
    – Vegetables (except carrots)
    – Bread (!? So, I guess I’m not making pancakes for b’fast.)
    – Cheese (except yellow and white cheese sticks)

    Will eat:

    – Chicken nuggets
    – Carrots (see above)

    So my wife cooks chicken strips (damn quite tasty) and carrots. The kid tears the coating off the chicken strips (it’s not like the stuff he’s used to) and won’t eat the carrots (they’re not like the ones his mom gets).

    WTF?

    Kid X’s mother acts as though this is okay. Again, I ask, WTF?

    We must be doing something right, cause Junior Guillotine has a pretty sophisticated palate and will out-eat his friends most of the time (don’t worry, he’s cut like Bruce Lee, and about as active — that is, active like Bruce before he died).

    Stunned, I am.

  65. 65.

    Fulcanelli

    You spend an awful lot of time with creatures that lick themselves to clean their bodies John, hopefully this behavior hasn’t rubbed off. Hope you recover quickly.

    Alan Grayson does rock the House but he does need a wardrobe consultant. Damn.

    Hey Stuck, what’s that jiffy diet again?

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    I’m not sure why everyone here keeps praising a scumbag like Michael Vick as some kind of restorative guru or something.
    I’m not letting that creep any where near my chest!
    Well…

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    Sure it’s not just some nasty ass allergies? Something really awe-inspiring came through Greater Houston Metro last week.
    Had everyone with drainage and congestion.

  76. 76.

    asiangrrlMN

    Fuck the Yankees slowly over a barrel filled with mutant piranhas. Tie cement blocks to their ankles and toss them all off the Brooklyn Bridge. May they all find they have an incurable disease that leaves them with permanent jock itch.

    Oh, and Joe Nathan? I am SO not putting out for you any longer!

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    @srv: I like Grayson just fine, and am getting a hell of a lot of kick outta his rhetoric. But I’m holding onto a little reserve to see where he goes next.

  78. 78.

    JK

    Great news for Tim Russert fans

    The canonization of TV newsman Tim Russert, which began a year ago when he died from a heart attack at 58, will be completed next month when the Newseum, in Washington, D.C., finishes making a shrine of his NBC News office. According to an Associated Press report, NBC News has donated the furniture from Russert’s Washington office.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2231910

  80. 80.

    Brian J

    Sure it’s not just some nasty ass allergies? Something really awe-inspiring came through Greater Houston Metro last week.

    What’s the difference between allergies and being sick? As I said, I never really go to the doctor, because there doesn’t seem to be a need to, so perhaps my self-diagnosis of getting allergies is wrong. But perhaps my chest is seizing up because of allergies, not because I’m getting sick.

  82. 82.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Cat Lady: I hate these kinds of games the most because they get my hopes up, only to dash them away with one swing of the bat.

    Damn. I might need a shot of Maker’s Mark to ease the pain.

  83. 83.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Oh, and Joe Nathan?

    I’m a big Joe Nathan fan and I can’t get on his case. The Yankees are just fucking relentless. I won’t blame Nathan after the Twins have been eliminated. Unfortunately, this is the Yankees’ year.

  84. 84.

    Fulcanelli

    @asiangrrlMN: Obviously you’ve never had jock itch… (I hope?) Trust me, permanent jock itch would be a punishment that could be topped only by repeated viewings of this at high volume.

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    @Brian J: Well, I’m not a Dr. but I describe it like this –
    I had my sinuses shut down, drainage at night, phlegm coughed up in the mornings and general shortness of breath.
    I did not have – fever, achy bones or joints, lethargy, fatigue or other items associated with the flu.

    I’m like you I guess in that I don’t get sick. If you strike out headaches, I haven’t been sick since I was pre-pubescent. Never get taken out with the flu, never get knocked down with the bug dejour, etc.
    I’ve felt “bad” at times but it never stopped me from getting up, putting clothes on and going to do what I had to to get paid. And no, I don’t mean infecting others.
    I can’t tell you the last time I had a fever or a hacky cough, or sneezes, etc.

  86. 86.

    madmommy

    @JK:

    Nooooo! I refuse to believe that! If the Twins can’t get the job done, then it’s up to the Red Sox. If it get to the World Series, though, I don’t know that any NL team could do the job. Much as I hate to admit that.

  88. 88.

    freelancer (itouch)

    Watching the Grayson video, I’m reminded of 2 things:
    1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a5i-WZiomw

    2- Obama is the show in the democratic party. There aren’t really undercards and Biden isn’t going to run in 2016. It’s never too early to position yourself for the primary. Who would succeed Obama in ’16? I know he was introduced in ’04, but I think his rise is a once in a lifetime thing.

  89. 89.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: He fucking sucked tonight. Seriously. I am blaming him for this game.

    @Fulcanelli: I just assumed it would really suck to have jock itch. And that video? Pure torture. May the Yankees have to listen to that repeatedly from now until Sunday.

    Fuck the Yankees.

  90. 90.

    JK

    @madmommy:

    NOBODY hates the NY Yankees more than I do.

    But realistically speaking, Ralph Nader has a better chance of getting elected president than any team has of beating the Yankees right now.

  92. 92.

    mai naem

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    I think Grayson wears those casual shirts, not dress shirts. I think that’s why they always seem to have bright colors. Also, he had a patriotic red/white/blue thing going. The tie looked like the American flag. But, yes, he needs that annoying couple on TLC who do those makeovers. Is that show even on anymore?
    Watching McLaughlin because I am a masochist and Monica “Nixon Bimbo” Crowley is jumping the shark as far as Obama Nobel criticism. There is just so much hate in their scrunched up faces. I hope I didn’t act like this during the Bush era. Idiot is still going on about tax cuts being the solution to everything because we all know how well that worked out in the last 8 yrs.

  93. 93.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    He fucking sucked tonight.

    I know how you feel. I experienced a similar reaction when Tim Wakefield gave up that home run to Aaron Fucking Boone.

  94. 94.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @asiangrrlMN:

    May they all find they have an incurable disease that leaves them with permanent jock itch.

    I have to go with Fulcanelli on this one. Permanent jock itch is nothing to sneeze at. Scratch that analogy. I had it all thru high school and then some. Plays hell with the love life.

  97. 97.

    Brian J

    @Corner Stone:

    That makes sense.

    @freelancer (itouch):

    I don’t know if Grayson is going to try to run. My guess is, he was fed up and let it out on the House floor, or he was asked by some higher ups to make a big stink and say what people like Obama and Pelosi really think.

    Who will succeed Obama? It’s definitely not clear and should make 2016 interesting for a variety of reasons. The real question in my mind is whether Biden steps down for 2012 (not likely, I think) or in 2014/2015, with a successor picked by Obama himself. If that were to occur, you’d have to have a really loyal congress, and if it does happen, my guess is, he’ll pick a woman.

  98. 98.

    Comrade Kevin

    As an A’s fan, I find it very uncomfortable to actually be wanting the Angels to win a game. It’s disturbing, really. Wanting to see the Twins get rid of the Yankees is easy.

  99. 99.

    Ash

    @mai naem:

    But, yes, he needs that annoying couple on TLC who do those makeovers. Is that show even on anymore?

    Stacey and Clinton from What Not to Wear are not a couple, nor are they annoying. They are my heroes. Shut your mouth.

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    Hey, when I wrote that I had just gotten home, fired up the Steepletronic 2000 computer, refreshed all my Balloon Juice pages and jumped. I was just getting started.

    –Steep now +2. Better?

  102. 102.

    mai naem

    @freelancer (itouch): I hope he picks Brian Schweitzer who would seal the deal with the Mountain West but he’s supposedly very close to Tim Kaine who was one of the first pols to endorse him. Doesn’t seem like Kaine’s going to be able to deliver VA this year.

  103. 103.

    Cat Lady

    @Brian J:

    If Hillary doesn’t run for governor of NY, then it will be her, and she’ll win, and she’ll totally have earned it. For all the sturmandrang around Obama, Hillary is quietly working the world while Obama takes the heat. I despised her during the campaign, but she’s going to be a shining star come 2016. It will really be her time, this time.

  104. 104.

    madmommy

    @Ash:

    I keep hinting to my friends that I really need Stacy and Clinton to revamp my sad-sack mommy wardrobe. Sadly, they haven’t yet taken the hint.

    Did you know Stacy wears toe-socks under all those awesomely fierce boots she wears on the show?

  106. 106.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Hopefully, this is the new Democrat/

    WASHINGTON – Show me some civility, Republicans cried Friday after a Missouri congressman speaking on the House floor was caught on microphone apparently cussing out a fellow Missourian. Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., had just finished addressing his Republican colleague Todd Akin Thursday.

    Skelton then turned to the side and muttered “stick it up your ass.”

    More of this please.

  109. 109.

    Steeplejack

    @Polish the Guillotines:

    I advocate taking the hard line: “This is what we’re eating. You don’t like it, fine. It’s your choice. But you might get pretty hungry before morning. Just sayin’.”

  117. 117.

    robertdsc

    @Ash:
    As further proof of my anti-American bias, I also said recently that Obama was on track to be worse than Bush. Well, after that little thing he won today, you can toss that concept out the window, lol.

    Get well soon, John. May Tunchy and Lily goodness speed your recovery.

  118. 118.

    Polish the Guillotines

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, we’re generally inclined that way. I think moving forward we’re gonna be a hell of a lot less accommodating to finicky eaters and we’ll warn the parents.

    It truly blows my mind how many of my son’s friends only know food as something you order from a car or throw into a microwave.

    Someday, Junior G will understand how lucky he is.

  122. 122.

    Polish the Guillotines

    @freelancer (itouch): Ah! Makes sense now. I recognize the names.

    I was more of a Joel fan, though. One of the best things I ever saw was Joel, Crow, etc. hawking the Rat Pack chess set.

    Joel: “The Rat Pack was the drinking man’s Camelot.”

    Win.

  123. 123.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    May he have an incurable case of jock itch as well. How’s that for civil, Lanny?

    Please add Glenn Reynolds, Glenn Beck, Byron York, Rich Lowry, and George Will to your jock itch wish list.

  124. 124.

    mai naem

    @Ash:
    I think Tyra(based on one single one I saw) does better makeovers than Stacy and Clinton and she’s not as annoying. Also too, Stacy and Clinton are Canadians aren’t they? I mean, shit, can’t we at least do makeover shows in this country. Seriously, I think sometimes Stacy and Clinton’s end product looks worse than it did in the beginning.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Well, I’m glad I made you laugh. I’m extremely pissed because my part-time-gig schedule this week was fiendishly designed by somebody to make it so that I missed the maximum number of playoff games. I’ve got the Red Sox-Angels game going in the background right now.

    Since my Braves couldn’t achieve closure on their awesome late-season run, I don’t really have a pooch in this hunt. I’m with you and JK, though–I hate the Yankees. Rooting for them is like rooting for gravity, as someone once said. I don’t get it.

    I’ll probably go with my usual underdog sympathies, combined with attraction for any team that really mans up and overachieves.

    Oh, and I guess I would like to see the eventual N.L. winner beat the A.L. team in the World Series–especially if the latter is the Yankees.

  128. 128.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Tattoosydney: Muthafuckin’ NOT happy! How about you?

    @Comrade Kevin: Ooooh, that’s gonna be fun. Just what the Twins can look forward to next year in the Hennepin County Taxpayers’ (outdoor, no retractable roof) Stadium!

    (working on) +1

    And, to make myself feel better. I’m watching this.

  129. 129.

    Steeplejack

    @Polish the Guillotines:

    Yeah, agree with you on all that.

    Plus my eyes were opened by a couple of years teaching swimming at a big swim center. I was amazed at the procession of parents who came to me with all these special “needs” and “requirements” for their spawn. Ninety-eight percent of it was complete “spoil the kid” bullshit. Or the kids wrapping the parents around their fingers with power games. Ugh.

  132. 132.

    Corner Stone

    @Keith G: I’m enjoying the 20 degree drop over 45 minutes.
    I like brisk.

    As for recipe, that’s just the base. Get started with that and it’s hard to go wrong from there.
    I could continue but I think freestyle is good for everyone.

  133. 133.

    Ash

    @mai naem: No, I don’t know about Stacy, but Clinton was born in Panama City (he probably knew President McCain) and lived in New York and went to Boston College and got a masters in journalism from Northwestern.

    How he ended up doing a makeover show on TLC, I have no idea. But I love him. SO SHUT UP!

  141. 141.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Jay in Oregon: As in control as it ever is. Have a good night!

    @Steeplejack: Yes again with that video. How else am I gonna cleanse my mind of the debacle that was the Twins tonight except with the aid of the comely Mr. Rickman? It’s not my fault the lead singer is the spitting image of your ex.

    JK, ew, no thank you (especially not when they have incurable jock itch). I do have some standards!

  142. 142.

    Polish the Guillotines

    @Steeplejack:

    Ninety-eight percent of it was complete “spoil the kid” bullshit. Or the kids wrapping the parents around their fingers with power games. Ugh.

    Dead nuts on.

    Our son’s friends who are the most obnoxious, picky, or rude, have parents who don’t seem to grasp that they’re the adults in the relationship.

  143. 143.

    The Dangerman

    @Comrade Kevin:

    More likely: Snowman on the scoreboard (an 8 if you aren’t a golfer) or snowman on the field. As a 3rd generation Southern Californian, can I just say the only way I go to a game like that is if I can start a bonfire close by…

  144. 144.

    Anne Laurie

    Rule of snot thumb: If your phlegm is clear, it’s an allergy. If it’s cloudy or yellow, it’s a cold. If it turns greenish or blood-streaked, go see a doctor ASAP.

    Fluids and plenty of garlic will help either way. Thus the old Chicken Soup Remedy, although I prefer hot & sour soup with extra garlic…

    Sorry for picking on you earlier, John — hope you feel better soon!

  145. 145.

    JK

    @Steeplejack:

    Rooting for them is like rooting for gravity, as someone once said.

    Pete Hamill: “Rooting for the NY Yankees is like rooting for US Steel”

  147. 147.

    Comrade Kevin

    @Anne Laurie:

    Rule of snot thumb: If your phlegm is clear, it’s an allergy. If it’s cloudy or yellow, it’s a cold. If it turns greenish or blood-streaked, go see a doctor ASAP.

    If you have insurance!

    /rimshot

  148. 148.

    IndyLib

    @mai naem:
    I haven’t watched What Not to Wear for a few years but I always thought they did pretty well. I actually incorporated an essential lesson from the show – I no longer wear tapered jeans, so there’s that.

  150. 150.

    Mnemosyne

    I have the flu — a mild flu, but it still sucks. The only upside so far is that the kitten has decided that we can share the couch, so she’ll curl up on my legs and go to sleep if I stretch out.

  154. 154.

    Corner Stone

    @Anne Laurie:

    If your phlegm is clear, it’s an allergy. If it’s cloudy or yellow, it’s a cold. If it turns greenish or blood-streaked, go see a doctor ASAP.

    What’s wrong with pea-soup green? Why do you hate America?

  155. 155.

    The Dangerman

    @Anne Laurie:

    Two thumbs up on Hot&Sour; I doubled the strength today to clear up my slight cold. So far, so good (along with megadosing on the Vitamin C; Pauling won the Nobel twice, IIRC, so I gotta run with it).

  157. 157.

    TenguPhule

    Please add Glenn Reynolds, Glenn Beck, Byron York, Rich Lowry, and George Will to your jock itch wish list.

    I’d rather they all be incapable of suffering jock itch, ever.

  158. 158.

    mai naem

    @Ash:
    I am no Alan Grayson. I apologize. I get it. Stacey and Clinton are to you what St. Ronnie is to wingnuts. I will never criticize Stacey and Clinton on BJ again in deference to you.

  159. 159.

    harpmick

    @JK:
    Are you sure George Will’s anatomically correct? I’ve always kind of thought of him as having doll parts.

  160. 160.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Steeplejack: JK linked to that before. That is teh haaaaawtness. However, if I’m going to imagine, I might as well imagine something a bit more…sultry….

    If I ever have the privilege of meeting Alan Rickman, I hope I can comport myself with decorum.

  164. 164.

    Tattoosydney

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Muthafuckin’ NOT happy! How about you?

    Ooooh. Heavens. Why are you not happy?

    I am well. Coldish here – the last burst of winter. Dog at feet, heater on. Roasted potatoes in salt and paprika and coffee steak prepared to cook. Life could be worse.

  166. 166.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @General Winfield Stuck

    I am happy to report that Stuck’s Jiffy Diet I wrote about a month or so ago has been a rousing success, when all else failed. I have lost 15 pounds in 5 weeks and hope to drop to my playing weight of 180 pounds in another month or so, and stave off the type 2 Diabetes that is, or hopefully was borderline.
    Maybe then I’ll market it for gazillions and get a Nobel, with any luck.

    Tell me more about your Stuck’s Jiffy Diet. Seriously, I could stand to lose a few pounds.

  171. 171.

    Tattoosydney

    @asiangrrlMN:

    My Twins (baseball) lost an agonizing game tonight in the playoffs.

    Ah. A cultural reference that does not translate. Baseball is inexplicable to most Australians. Of course, our national sports involve hot men in small shorts hitting each other while trying to get a ball though two (or four) sticks, so what do we know? For what it’s worth, you have my sympathy.

  172. 172.

    Halffasthero

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Oh, and I’m impatiently waiting for SNOW!

    I agreed with you right up until then (Twins, et al). I can wait, patiently.

    October is the best month of the year in MN.

  173. 173.

    Jason Bylinowski

    Evening, people.

    Sorry to hear about your flu, John Cole. Got a bit of the flu myself. Guess we shouldn’t have been sitting in that tree together.

    But I thank my lucky stars I got to stay out of work today as I successfully avoided all the craziness that surely erupted from the Nobel news today. Sickness can indeed be a blessing.

    @General Winfield Stuck: Is that a real diet? I’ve probably missed something upthread, but it sounds awesome to me and choose to believe it is real. Personally I’ve been struggling but getting slow progress on my own diet: six weeks in, ten pounds (give or take) down. Of course now that I’m sick, that’s out the window. That diet can take a flying fuck on a rolling donut while I’m sick. Yeah I said it.

  176. 176.

    JK

    @Tattoosydney:

    Baseball is inexplicable to most Australians

    Australian Graham Lloyd had a few good seasons in Major League Baseball. I wish baseball had the same global appeal as soccer, but MLB has done a miserable job marketing the game.

  178. 178.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    Ok. But the price is eleventy hundred pesos, but there is an introductory price of $19.99. Just kidding.

    This is how it goes, For breakfast, big bowl of Quick Oats, or Slow Oats, with sweetener or a little sugar. Mix with half a can of Crushed Pineapple. I ordinarily hate Oats, but the Pineapple makes it highly delicious. And a soy protein shake with skim milk.

    No lunch, but snack of raisins and unsalted roasted peanuts.

    No real dinner, but a chunk of French Bread if too hungry. A cup of fairly strong coffee to ease the hunger pains.

    Then an hour or so before bedtime, another snack of sorts. Maybe a PJ sandwich, or like tonight a small chunk of pork steak, with fresh veggies, like sliced tomato and cutup green bulb onions.

    Eating three meals a day is a cultural habit that is also a mental habit, and that is all it is. Once you train your stomach and brain to resist this habit, the need for formal lunch and dinner starts to go away and hunger pains lessen.

    But I have to eat a little something to not go to bed hungry, which makes it hard to sleep. Really, now, it is taking little and less will power to not eat a regular dinner or lunch.

  179. 179.

    Martin

    This is what we’re eating. You don’t like it, fine. It’s your choice. But you might get pretty hungry before morning. Just sayin’

    That’s the only way, but with some attention paid to allergies and the like. One thing more parents need to be aware of is ‘oral allergy syndrome’. More than a few picky eaters are that way because they suffer from this. They aren’t allergic to what they are eating, but to something else around them – trees, hayfever, etc. but it manifests itself when eating. Usually that results in certain foods, oftentimes fruits and vegetables making their mouth itch, but they don’t usually complain about itching, just that they don’t like it.

    Something that really helps the pickiness is to let the kids get involved in the cooking. Not only are they more likely to eat the stuff they make, even if it includes things that they usually reject, but they become a lot more adventurous about the kinds of things they eat and they become a lot less covetous of food because there’s no immediacy to it – it takes time to make things.

    My son (11) now makes macaroni and cheese (Alton Brown’s recipe) each week for an after school snack, meatloaf, stuff like that. He loves it. Would much rather eat stuff he makes than fast food.

  180. 180.

    Tattoosydney

    I don’t know how often the families of deceased US soldiers get interviewed on national television. It certainly doesn’t happen much on Australian TV, which is not entirely explained (I suspect) by the fact that we have only suffered eleven deaths in Afghanistan. This interview, therefore, on our national broadcaster in prime time, seems particularly heart wrenching. Part of a series…

  181. 181.

    Steeplejack

    @Martin:

    Good points.

    My experience from swimming was that if you took the focus off the kid and let them be sort of an observer/participant in a group thing–like “This is how we’re doing this; let’s roll!”–they were less prone to the diva behavior that seemed to naturally crop up when you put the focus on them as an individual. “Are you going to be okay with this, Jimmy?” That was like handing them a loaded gun–practically inviting them to play up to the diva ego-trip thing.

  182. 182.

    Martin

    I don’t know how often the families of deceased US soldiers get interviewed on national television.

    As a rule, never. The families may reach out to the media, but I don’t think the media ever normally reaches out to the families. Just how things are done here.

    The best known from Iraq/Afghanistan, that I can think of, is Pat Tillman’s parents. Talk about tragic to the family – Bush just stretched that pain out about as far as possible.

  183. 183.

    Corner Stone

    This is what we’re eating. You don’t like it, fine. It’s your choice. But you might get pretty hungry before morning. Just sayin’

    I just disagree with this. My 5 yr old is a vegetarian. For whatever reason he won’t eat meat of any kind. Should I starve him out to force this behavior? Just because that’s “easier” for me? Or cheaper?
    What do I care if he prefers peanut butter, or cheese, or waffles, or all fruits, etc? As long as he eats what he asks for, why should I care that we enjoy different items?
    He’s 95% in height and 85% in weight. Why should he have to eat beef fajitas just cuz I enjoy them?
    I think parents can go the opposite direction as well. Instead of letting a child run the joint, some parents get hung up on being “the parent”.

  186. 186.

    Martin

    @Steeplejack: We have a fuckton of first generation Chinese families here and the cultural attitude toward male children is pretty interesting. Kids are pushed very hard (particularly boys) but are also treated like princes.

    I’ve run across the end state of that at work and have found that hiring those Chinese boys in their early 20s is a real crapshoot. Some of them had to work hard (really hard) all the way through school and are hard workers, but they often had a lot of say in what they worked at – so they are picky and somewhat entitled, and they’re so used to being doted on that as soon as the supervision stops, they stop. It takes some adjusting to.

    I don’t mean to stereotype, but it’s a rather pervasive cultural trend and one that I’ve run into a lot as a supervisor over the years.

  187. 187.

    Calouste

    @Tattoosydney:

    Australian Rules Footbal (definition): A way of beating the shit out of your opponent whilst distracting the umpire’s attention by kicking a ball around.

  191. 191.

    Martin

    The only place the Red Sox are going is to the golf course.

    Sure looking that way. Angels are playing well. Not looking forward to them facing the Yankees, though. Fucking hate the Yankees… Twins need to step it up.

  193. 193.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m not a food Nazi. I make a distinction between letting kids eat what they genuinely want vs. letting them play power games.

    If your five-year-old is a genuine vegetarian, of course I wouldn’t force him or her to eat meat. “Should I starve him out to force this behavior? Just because that’s ‘easier’ for me? Or cheaper?” I didn’t say that.

    But it seemed to me that in the Guillotines case it was more a question of bullshit power games, i.e., the kid “wouldn’t eat cheese” but would eat yellow and white cheese sticks. Didn’t like vegetables, but would eat carrots. Except he didn’t like the way the Guillotines prepared them.

    That’s not a case of “we enjoy different items,” that’s the kid playing games. Or, if it is really a case of “enjoying different items,” it’s parsing it a bit too fine for my taste–especially coming from an eight-year-old on a one-time visit.

    “Why should he have to eat beef fajitas just cuz I enjoy them?”

    Jebus, where did I say anything like that?! The guest kid allegedly likes chicken and likes carrots. The Guillotines made a good-faith effort to accommodate him by cooking chicken strips and carrots (and by taking the trouble to find out what he likes). I assume that if the kid were a vegetarian they would have happily accommodated that. But the kid acted like a douche, and they shouldn’t have to accomodate that.

    The big thing I have learned about kids is that they are people, and, like people, some of them are great, some of them are douchebags, and most are somewhere in the middle. If you treat them like real people–with some allowances for their age and lack of experience–you get along much better than if you go into some weird, special “dealing with children” mode where all the normal rules of human interaction are thrown out the window. That’s how you end up with über-douchey kids, because the main lesson they seem to learn is that the normal rules don’t apply to them.

  195. 195.

    Steeplejack

    @Martin:

    I have seen a good bit of this in the software development field, though it’s certainly not exclusive to one ethnic group. A lot of the yoots seem to have the idea that they should be able to work (only) on what they want to work on, not necessarily what they’re getting paid to work on. Sort of the end state of the “little genius” school of child-rearing.

    I constantly check myself for signs of incipient Abe Simpson syndrome (though probably not enough), but I still think a lot of it is not me being a cranky geezer but the way the yoots have come up. Especially in the software field: it’s easy to get started with minimal equipment and capital outlay, it’s an easy field in which to be self-taught (at least initially), and it’s easy to be a magpie and flit around here to there picking up shiny objects. But sometimes that leads to problems on the job, because they often don’t have the stamina or discipline (yet) to see a tough, icky job through to the end, especially if it’s not “sexy.”

  196. 196.

    JK

    @Martin:

    Fucking hate the Yankees

    Any real baseball fan should hate them. I honestly have no confidence in any team knocking them off right now.

  197. 197.

    JasonF

    As someone in the Bronx, I will happily and cheerfully root for the Yankees without the slightest bit of shame or regret. As someone raised in the D.C. area, I will happily and cheerfully root against the Minnesota Twins, whose existence meant I had to spend my formative years treking to Baltimore for major league baseball (not that I don’t love the Os almost as much as I love the Yankees).

  198. 198.

    Martin

    Living in NY makes being a Yankee hater a little bit harder.

    No it doesn’t. Just go to a few games when the Yankees are playing poorly – it’s like being in a fucking zoo. Yankees fans (particularly in NY) are the wingnuts of the sports world. You really can only experience that living in NY.

    Unfortunately, the Mets aren’t the backwater team they once were. They were charming back when victories were few and far between. They (and their fans) are getting douchy with success.

  200. 200.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Tattoosydney: Hon, that would be comporting myself with decorum. I just don’t want to embarrass myself by jumping his bones on the spot. Thanks for the links of The Whitlams. First link didn’t work for me, but the second did. Great song. Got the first link to work. It’s good, too, but I like the second one better.

    @Halffasthero: Snow, snow, snow. I lurve snow.

    Oh, and FUCK THE YANKEES!

  201. 201.

    burnspbesq

    @JK:

    Bite thy tongue, sir. There is one, and only one, team in the AL that has a winning record over the last five seasons against the hated Yanquis. It is not the Red Sox. it is the Angels.

    This is the year of the Freeway Series.

  202. 202.

    JK

    @freelancer (itouch):

    I don’t know anything about Omaha, but would like to check it out some time.

    Bummer that you’re stuck with this horrible Ben Nelson.

    Martin,

    I get my fill of Yankee fans by listening to WFAN.

    JasonF,

    The Yankees have the biggest payroll and they bought the top 3 free agents during the off season. There’s no sense of accomplishment for them to win the World Series. They spend every other team into the ground.

  205. 205.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: True fucking that. Ron Darling and Yippy-Skippy kept prattling on and on about how much pressure the Yankees are under to win a World Series and how much of a burden it is and how they are just regular guys like everyone else.

    I’m sorry, but if you pay more for your top two players than the baseball owner of my team pays for his entire fucking team, you damn well better beat them handily.

    Oh, and asiangrrlMN OUT!

  206. 206.

    JK

    @burnspbesq:

    Nothing would thrill me more than seeing the Yankees get beaten, especially after listening to that smug fucking asshole Richard Neer boasting that the World Series title is in the bag.

    Godspeed to the Angels.

    My heart is for Anybody but the Yankees but my head says the Yankees are unbeatable right now.

  208. 208.

    burnspbesq

    @JK:

    smug fucking asshole Richard Neer

    Careful, there, bucko, that’s my adolescence you’re slagging now. I grew up listening to WNEW-FM.

  209. 209.

    burnspbesq

    I am so not looking forward to the US having to play in Honduras tonight. I am seriously afraid that there will be a horrible incident.

  212. 212.

    tc125231

    @JK: Ha. David Brooks accepts work commenting as if he was an honest man, instead of a bought and paid apologist.

    I sure as hell wish he would turn THAT down.

  214. 214.

    tc125231

    @Steeplejack: Actually, I am not particularly impressed by a broad cross section of the older members of this field.

    So yes, you may be a cranky old man. And believe me sonny, I wrote the book on that.

  216. 216.

    Martin

    I honestly have no confidence in any team knocking them off right now.

    I don’t either. I don’t begrudge their skill – they really have some awesome players, always have thanks to the bankroll. We’ll see what happens.

  219. 219.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: Why do I imagine you swooning throught the entire movie of “Dogma”? Not to mention late Harry Potter fandom due to a particular portrayal of Severus Snape (which incidentally is spot-on).

    BTW I’m officially declaring this post season null and void. I used to have a massive crush in Girardi (and wanted him to come to the M’s after we fired our worthless manager although all in all I’m pretty happy with Wakamatsu) but as soon as he put on pinstripes he now makes me ill. Fortunately Yankee managerdom is never a long-term career goal, so he’ll be in charge somewhere else soon enough.

    Now let’s see if WP eats this comment as well.

  220. 220.

    Martin

    Freeway series would be great fun. We need a pick-me-up in this now truly fucked-up state. (I got my first salary reduced paycheck a week ago and I’m still pissed).

  221. 221.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: I can go with this. But if and ONLY if the Angels revert back to their original intended God-given name: the Anaheim Angels (which BTW my brother and I still call them by to this day) otherwise I’d just as soon the Yankees complete their purchase and we move on to 2010.

  222. 222.

    Martin

    If baseball could adopt a salary cap, it would be much better for the game and for Yankee haters.

    I agree. It’d be better for the fans as well. The Angels games have gotten too expensive for me to take the family to. The cheapest I can get the family in for is about $60. Seats where the kids can see the play would set me back closer to $120. At Yankee Stadium, double that.

    It’s not excess demand. When we do go (thanks to our season ticket friends) the place is surprisingly empty, even in a winning season.

  223. 223.

    Martin

    But if and ONLY if the Angels revert back to their original intended God-given name

    There’s another name they go by? I don’t recognize any such thing. I once heard someone (surely in jest) refer to them as the LA Angels, but given that most days LA is a solid hour away, it only evoked a laugh. By the same rights, we could have the Philadelphia Mets, or the Cuba Marlins. Nobody would be so stupid as to propose such things.

  224. 224.

    Blue Raven

    But if and ONLY if the Angels revert back to their original intended God-given name

    What, the California Angels? But what kind of movie title is THAT for The Mouse to wield?

  225. 225.

    Martin

    California Angels is acceptable, but for a state that has 5 MLB teams, it’s a bit… overstated.

    Anaheim has about 50% more people than Cleveland, so I think they’re deserving of being named for the city where they are located.

  226. 226.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: It’s funny, I’ve been to Los Angeles (well actually flew into Long Beach but that’s a whole other tale) and never once, in all my driving around, in the various outlying towns, did I come across a sign that said Welcome to Anaheim. And yet, I KNEW there had to be an Angels Stadium somewhere about. I mean, it’s right there in the NAME! (I could keep up this snark all night.)

  227. 227.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: Wasn’t their original name kind of a rub in the salt to the Dodgers being not native to the Golden State? Or am I overthinking things again?

  228. 228.

    Martin

    No, they started in LA as the LA Angels and started out in what is now Dodger Stadium. They moved to Anaheim soon after the Dodgers moved to LA and changed their name to the California Angels. There really wasn’t all that much going on in OC back then. Disney changed the name to Anaheim for obvious reasons when they bought them, but when they sold them the new owner wanted to change again to LA Angels, but they are required by the city to have ‘Anaheim’ in the name – something about the city helping pay for improvements around the stadium when Disney owned them, so the team has this fucked up Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim name.

  229. 229.

    MNPundit

    H1N1? Perhaps you should call a doctor. Not for your sake, but so your friends/family/pets don’t die.

  230. 230.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    One bad call and the Yankee haters are out in force. Ha fucking ha! The Twins went on to load the bases with NO OUTS and they STILL didn’t score. They left 17 men on base during the game. You can’t win a major league baseball game with your hands around your throat.

  231. 231.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: It’s why I used a generic block quote at the top and did not use the “Reply” with the @ symbol. (even though I know that was a statement made by a specific person at one point, I saw it quoted a few times by others too)
    Because I wasn’t arguing against one person or one argument but rather staking out a rhetorical position against a mindset I see prevelant here in TX and then mentioned again here on the blogoid.
    Of course I’m against allowing children to play power games, and unfortunately food is one of the easiest categories for them to get at you since all parents (to some degree) are a little paranoid about how their children are eating.
    The main thrust of my statement was I don’t care what my child prefers (or refuses), as long as he eats what he asks for and there’s a way for me to provide a balance of sorts.
    I understood the main thrust of your piece was against the uberdouchy, and I agree with it.
    I generally try to tag someone when I’m making a specific argument against their point. Don’t always do that but it’s my habit to poke someone in the ribs when I have something to say to them.
    Mmmmm….ribbbsssss….

  232. 232.

    Brachiator

    The main thrust of my statement was I don’t care what my child prefers (or refuses), as long as he eats what he asks for and there’s a way for me to provide a balance of sorts.

    I agree with Corner Stone big time on this, and will go further.

    When I was a kid I was a terrible eater (almost nothing but hamburgers and bacon and eggs). My concerned parents took the advice of our family doctor: He’s healthy, leave him alone.

    When I stayed with other relatives, some would make me sit until I finished what they had cooked. Rarely worked. I sometimes spit the food out.

    Many parents are stupid on this. Sorry, that’s the way it is.

    Children are not “just people,” too. They are young, and discovering their preferences and habits. And sometimes they make mistakes. If you went to a restaurant, ordered something and decided you didn’t like it or it didn’t taste right, you wouldn’t eat it. Why shouldn’t your kids have that right also?

    My ex-wife and I liked to eat out alot, especially on weekends. We resolved that eating should be a pleasant experience for everyone, including our son. So he could order whatever he wanted, and if he ordered the wrong thing, he was allowed one substitution, and we would eat or carry out the other. He could eat until he was full. Otherwise, the only rule was that he could not misbehave.

    As he learned to read (sparked by reading the sports section at Sunday brunches cause the kid had favorite teams), he had big fun ordering for himself, charming waiters and waitresses. And as an adult, he has an eclectic attitude toward food, and his cousins are amazed that he will try things that they are afraid of.

    Mission accomplished.

  233. 233.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: I love Dogma, except for the part where Alan Rickman proves that angels have no genitalia. Shudder.

    Speaking of angels, it’s the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California USA for me!

    As for kids and eating–I think there is a balance in there somewhere. My niece is a picky eater. When she comes over, I try to have foods on hand that she would eat. Her parents will send along food she will eat. However, if she is not in the mood to eat them, I would not rush out to the store to buy her something she felt like eating. I would give her a wide variety of choices, and if she didn’t want any of them, I would say, all right then. I would not force her to eat anything, and I certainly do not believe in cleaning up one’s plate, but I also don’t believe that anyone will die if that person can’t eat exactly what s/he wants at any given moment.*

    *Excepting allergies, of course.

  234. 234.

    burnspbesq

    @Yutsano:

    But if and ONLY if the Angels revert back to their original intended God-given name: the Anaheim Angels (which BTW my brother and I still call them by to this day)

    This, repeatedly. Arte Moreno is a fantastic owner, but he has one huge blind spot.

  235. 235.

    Steeplejack

    @tc125231:

    My criticism of the yoots certainly wasn’t meant to rule out the massive criticisms that could be made of their elders.

  236. 236.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    The main thrust of my statement was I don’t care what my child prefers (or refuses), as long as he eats what he asks for and there’s a way for me to provide a balance of sorts.

    I agree completely with that. My lengthy response was more to flesh out my own position, since I guess I came across as too much of a hard-ass in my original pithy post.

  237. 237.

    Brachiator

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I would not rush out to the store to buy her something she felt like eating. I would give her a wide variety of choices, and if she didn’t want any of them, I would say, all right then. I would not force her to eat anything, and I certainly do not believe in cleaning up one’s plate, but I also don’t believe that anyone will die if that person can’t eat exactly what s/he wants at any given moment.*

    With young children, I tend to be indulgent about food issues. I think that a happy table is good for the digestion.

    With pre-teens and teens, I might be less indulgent. I wouldn’t rush out to get preferred food, but I might try to work it in if I reasonably could. Pre-teens often use this kind of thing as a test of love because of their own insecurities about themselves. It’s silly, but you’re supposed to be silly as a pre-teen.

    And sometimes teens use this as a ruse to find a way to eat something crappy that their parents don’t want them to have access to. Or they just want to indulge a sense of independence, even if they spite themselves. Then I take them to one of my favorite eateries, where I enjoy myself while they drink water (I won’t leave them to mope at home).

    Speaking of angels, it’s the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California USA for me!

    I wouldn’t mind a freeway series, Dodgers v Angels. But then again, I am out here in Southern California.

  239. 239.

    Corner Stone

    @Brachiator:

    Children are not “just people,” too. They are young, and discovering their preferences and habits.

    Yeah. We’re specifically talking about food here in this context, but the larger issue previously alluded to is “control”. (or manners, or behavior, or whatever makes you comfortable as a description)
    And as a parent, it’s a trap I have to consciously walk myself out of sometimes.
    I think we all do our best, as we can.

    Other psychobabble available upon request.

  240. 240.

    Brachiator

    @Corner Stone:

    Yeah. We’re specifically talking about food here in this context, but the larger issue previously alluded to is “control”. (or manners, or behavior, or whatever makes you comfortable as a description) And as a parent, it’s a trap I have to consciously walk myself out of sometimes. I think we all do our best, as we can.

    Yep. But the best parents that I have observed and have learned from don’t treat their kids like miniature adults, who are as supposedly rational as they are.

    Quick example. I have observed people take their kids out to eat. As the adults continue to talk and socialize, the kids understandably get bored and start squirming, especially if they don’t have anything interesting to do or to engage their attention.

    The worst parents get upset and insist that their kids behave. But the kids are behaving. They are behaving like kids with a kid’s attention span.

    Smarter parents might bring a small toy or game that might distract the children. Even smarter parents might either call it a night or move to some other location where the kids can play, stretch out or otherwise be kids.

    But to expect that young kids conform to Adult Standard Time is nuts, and unfair to the kids.

    Sometimes “control” means being a magician and using misdirection and other indirect methods to help kids.

  241. 241.

    Polish the Guillotines

    Wow. I had no idea my post last night would spur this dialog.

    I think what it comes down to for me is, rather than “control” I believe it’s about our job as parents to help our kids understand “boundaries.” My experience with many of my son’s friends leads me to conclude many parents just don’t have good boundaries themselves and when the parents lack reasonable boundaries, the kids follow in their footsteps.

    In the case of our guest last night, he’s generally a good kid, but doesn’t know how to say please or thank you and is clearly used to being waited on. That’s not his fault. That’s his parents not doing such a great job teaching good manners — which are ultimately about respecting other people’s boundaries.

    As for the picky eating — we try to be accommodating and if we knew, for example, that he was a vegetarian we’d make the effort. My wife always asks the other parents what food preferences the kids have. But in this case, it appears to be so specific (probably down to brand name frozen chicken nuggets and brand name frozen carrots swimming in butter sauce), that it rapidly surpasses reasonable expectations.

    Is my kid perfect? Nope. Because the wife and I aren’t. But we do our level best to teach him that he needs to respect other people’s boundaries. For example, if the wife and I are having a conversation, he’ll inevitably bound into the room, step between us, and start talking. He’s eight, after all. We tell him he’s interrupting and to wait for a pause in the conversation, then say “Excuse me.” Again, eight years old, so lather, rinse repeat. But he learns, and it shows.

    I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been in the same situation with other parents whose kids interrupt, but the parents instantly turn 100% of their attention to the kid. Lesson passed along to the kid: Nobody else matters but you.

    At any rate, I’m beginning to think the best way for us to handle the picky eaters is to ask their parents to supply us with their kids’ favorite foods if they’re overly specific. I don’t mind taking an extra five minutes to nuke some chicken nuggets, but I resent tossing half-eaten food that I paid for and prepared into the trash, especially in this economy.

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