Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

No one could have predicted…

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

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

“But what about the lurkers?”

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

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

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

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Reader Interactions

195Comments

  1. 1.

    bjacques

    As an ex-cat-owner, I’ve removed quite a few “mines” from the litter box and I have the certs to prove it. Laughing at pictures of cats that have slices of ham on their faces or tried to bake you cakes but ate them only shows up how little you care for cats. Frist. Also.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @bjacques: I was all set to LOL and even ROTF and LMAO, but your impassioned, thoughtful post made me reconsider my frivolous ways. Now I haz a sad, which should hold me for the rest of the day.

  5. 5.

    El Cid

    Via Sadly No!, “we learn of a new online game for faux-survivalist shut-ins based on the premise (or desperate fear/desire) that in 2011 Obama has suspended the Constitution and created the ‘North American Union’ with Mexico and Canada…”

    Hilarity ensues.

    Chaos ensues throughout the nation! The Second American Revolution is in full swing by February of 2011, with lists posted by patriots, county by county, naming dozens of government employees and the bounties that can be fetched by their capture. After 7 weeks of fighting in every state, and with the refusal of most United States military branches to obey orders to fire upon American citizens, Obama’s forces are slowly whittled away. The remnants of the Obama loyalists retreat to Virginia. After tens of thousands of their troops are killed, The International Service Union Empire (I.S.U.E.) has just 40,000 left, but still controls three full counties in the name of former President Barack Hussein Obama… Or so they think. The Congress of Rejected and Neglected Youth (C.O.R.N.Y.) controls three counties near Washington D.C., with reports of having at least 60,000 loyalists for Obama.

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    John, PROMISE us you will report back on any large influx of documents you may be receiving this morning from one Gass (Michael). If you fail to do this, I fear there are quite a few of us who are going to start asking pointed questions about whether Cole (John) and Gass (Michael) have ever been observed in close thread-proximity.

  7. 7.

    valdivia

    the ellipses were the most annoying part of the whole gass thread. but man were you people funny.

  8. 8.

    RedKitten

    It is freaking COLD here today, kids. I think it might be time to get the wood stove going.

    And this Gass character reminds me of Darrell, with his obsession about lying. It’s always nice to have a new chew toy, isn’t it?

  9. 9.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Today, you will likely see a video of Anita Dunn talking to a high school. When you see this video, see if her tongue looks like a frog’s tongue, collecting insects.

    You don’t mess with Glenn Beck.

  11. 11.

    asiangrrlMN

    @bjacques: WTF? Huh?

    Someone please tell me Gass got totally pwned last night. I just couldn’t deal with his smug pomposity and bailed early. Is it worth reading after comment 100?

    @RedKitten: What is cold, Krista? I want it. Send it my way.

  12. 12.

    El Cid

    “You don’t mess with Glenn Beck” for the same reasons you shouldn’t touch fresh animal defecation or rotting carcasses you encounter — they’re highly unpleasant, and effectively concentrate disease causing bacteria and parasites.

  13. 13.

    Nethead Jay

    WOW, the WaPo has topped itself in publishing wingnut idiocy. Get a load of this: An Unconstitutional Nobel. I feel like my brains are dribbling out my ears

    For fun, try looking up the authors, Ronald D. Rotunda and J. Peter Pham. Or just check the comments, it’s been done there.

  14. 14.

    Perry Como

    You don’t mess with Glenn Beck.

    Of course you don’t. Otherwise he might rape and murder you.

  15. 15.

    matoko_chan

    New entry for the BJLexicon–

    Ta-nehisi

    Keith Bardwell, Louisiana justice of the peace explaining why he refused to grant a marriage license to an interracial couple…
    “I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,”

    IANARIAAR
    I am not a racist–I am a republican

  16. 16.

    Walker

    @El Cid:

    For a party of people who claim to “support the troops”, they sure do spend a lot of time fantasizing about them committing treason.

  17. 17.

    Sly

    March 11, 2011 – Since before the Revolution, it was Andrew Breitbart, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly who led the way against the Marxists in I.S.U.E. and C.O.R.N.Y. Now in the final weeks of the Second American Revolution, Michelle Malkin has announced her candidacy for the Senate in the elections that are to take place 60 days after Obama is captured. Breitbart is still leading the Breitbart Brigade and is seeing heavy action against Obama’s minions and just last night he was instrumental in the defeat of Hamas and the Ameritroops in King George County.

    Submitted without comment.

  21. 21.

    Jean

    After the Balloon Boy/Michael Gass-is-a-Gas-Gas-Gas, none of the helicopters are laughing, that’s for sure.

  22. 22.

    matoko_chan

    Incertus….I think it is pretty horrible. Loving vs Virgina was what…42 freakin’ years ago??
    It is all of a piece with Larison’s membership in the League of the South.
    Who me, racist?
    I think being racist is like being black.
    It just takes one drop.

  23. 23.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Is it worth reading after comment 100?

    I promise the really good stuff starts after that point.

    The Helicopters Didn’t Make Jokes. Also.

  24. 24.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Re: Anita Dunn

    In has been previously established on Balloon Juice that Adolf Hitler was more ethical than Mother Theresa. This is because, although Adolf was a bad guy, killing an alleged 5-6 million Jews, Mother Theresa was a worse gal, treating people like unneuterable pets, and creating an unsustainable human biomass, that will starve this century.

    It is realistic to state that for every Jew Hitler killed, Mother Theresa and her nurturing self-therapy will result in the starvation of probably 200-500 people. German missile death is quick and humane. Starvation is slow and inhumane.

    Fungus grows in your throat, and after a certain point, you cannot eat, even in the presence of food. Then your body shuts down. This is a tough way to go. The ethical humanitarian feeds those in need, but insists on population controls. The equation for human biomass is:

    4.5 additional barrels of oil per year = 1.0 additional human being on earth.

    Now Consider Peak Oil. This equation necessarily reverses.

    Anita Dunn’s two heros are Mother Theresa (unethical) and Chairman Mao (mean). Chairman Mao only killed 12 for every 1 of Hitler’s Jews, so he is not as unethical as Mother Theresa. But these dead were brown people, so the modern Left does not care about them.

    Anita Dunn is married to Robert Bauer, Obama’s personal lawyer. Newsweek declared the two a Washington ‘power couple’ in 2008. Anita licks her lips like a frog, in my opinion. It does appear that, despite the color of her skin, Anita’s ancestors never operated in the proximity of gunpowder.

    Here is the shot she took at Glenn Beck. When Anita says ‘FOX News’, she really means ‘Glenn Beck’.

    Here is where it landed. This is a pathetic piece from the Washington Post, greasing the skids for Anita’s exit. I am reconsidering my willingness to become America’s Next Great Pundit.

    Anita Dunn will be re-assigned due to the film clip Glenn played yesterday. The probability of Glenn Beck becoming our interim President has now risen to 43%. The older lady bartender watching the clip stated, ‘that woman is so ugly’. Personally, I cannot get over Anita’s tongue. How does Robert Bauer manage it? He might have a standing order for Anita to keep her mouth shut at home.

  25. 25.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    The probability of Glenn Beck becoming our interim President has now risen to 43%.

    Hmmm. elections. constitution. order of presidential succession.

    Yeah, BoB, that’s some serious bullshit.

  26. 26.

    WyldPiratd

    asiangirllMN asks:

    Someone please tell me Gass got totally pwned last night. I just couldn’t deal with his smug pomposity and bailed early. Is it worth reading after comment 100?

    The “Gass thread” doesn’t even get warmed up at 100 and it’s spit-beverage on screen funny from 150 on. It’s a thread full of “win”. So funny, I couldn’t go back to sleep after laughing so hard reading it.

  27. 27.

    Thunderbird

    Good morning! Short-time reader, seldom commenter here. Found this place via GOS’s blogroll. Just finished reading the Gass thread. Now that was some high-quality work, folks! Thanks for the laughs!

  29. 29.

    Ash Can

    @El Cid: Wow, that’s an entire Alpine mountain range of right-wing fail, isn’t it? It’s so over-the-top it makes me wonder if a bunch of lefty nerds came up with it and put it on line to see how many RW wackos would bite.

    Geez. I shouldn’t look at stuff like that in the morning before I’ve had caffeine. It makes the inside of my head feel like an upended wastebasket.

  31. 31.

    Warren Terra

    I came here to leave a comment about the wankfest El Cid mentioned

    … but then I followed Nethead Jay‘s link.

    Oh. My. Cartwheeling. God. The stupidity and Obama hatred are so intense!

  33. 33.

    Thunderbird

    How about a Thunderdome match between Brick Oven Bill and Michael Gass, with the winner becoming the official village idiot?

  34. 34.

    geg6

    @asiangrrlMN:

    That thread might be one of the classics. I’m really bummed that I was too busy and then tired to catch it in progress. Michael Gass is fucking hilarious. Just gotta wonder what Cole’s inbox looks like today. Damn, folks. You guys were awesome.

  36. 36.

    Warren Terra

    BTW, in the WaPo OpEd Nethead Jay linked, the author, a law professor, claimed that if you’re given $1.4M and donate it to charity, you’ve gained a huge tax advantage. IANAL, but I think he’s wrong.

  39. 39.

    Comrade Jake

    @Nethead Jay:

    Holy crap that is piles of stupid. That article, suggesting the Nobel prize is unconstitutional, deserves to be severely and repeatedly ridiculed.

  41. 41.

    Punchy

    How is this not getting more national news? Holy Jeebus shooting meth. Never thought I’d see it in my lifetime, and I’m not young.

  43. 43.

    Third Eye Open

    @Brick Oven Bill: The question is rarely asked, is our B.O.B learning?

    You see, once the attention from merely being a contrarian misogynist has worn off, then we can observe that his happiness factor wanes. But with the new and improved model, with updated Hitler-apologetics circuitry, you will never be left without your own low-fidelity B.O.B, ever again.

    (Batteries and drool cup, not included)

  44. 44.

    smiley

    So, according to what I heard on Morning Joe, the lack of federal response to the Katrina disaster on the gulf coast is Obama’s fault because he only spent 3 1/2 hours in New Orleans yesterday.

  45. 45.

    wilfred

    Glenn Greenwald has an interesting post up about right wing lunatics:

    GOP House members call for investigation of Muslim political activity

    He quotes Rep. Sue Myrick:

    “Look at who runs all the convenience stores across the country”. . .” You know, and this can be misconstrued, but honest to goodness (husband) Ed and I for years, for 20 years, have been saying, ‘You know, look at who runs all the convenience stores across the country.’ Every little town you go into, you know?” . . .

    Muslims as pod people. I was going to pun endlessly about the Muslims submarining our heros but these people have reached the point of self-caricature.

  47. 47.

    The Other Steve

    How does DougJ get any sleep? First the Brick Oven Bill character and now this latest Michael Cass guy.

    He’s amazingly prolific.

  48. 48.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    I just read through part of the Michael Gass thread. With the prodigious use of ellipses he has got to be George Will. NO ONE uses ellipses more that George … until now, at least.
    @asiangrrlMN: It’s been a bit chilly here in northern NE the last few nights. We’ve had overnight lows in the high 20’s but it hasn’t really gotten cold yet. But we do have a chance for some snow tomorrow!

  50. 50.

    khead

    Re: ellipses

    I had to stop reading when the Shatner references started. My head hurts too bad to laugh that hard today.

  51. 51.

    Persia

    @Nethead Jay:

    It raises important legal questions for the second time in less than 10 months — questions not discussed, much less adequately addressed anywhere else.

    Wow. Wow.

    The comments are indeed gold.

  52. 52.

    BarbMcc

    I missed a kitty?

    A auto-didactorsaurus w/ 3800 Facebook ‘friends’ posted the NA Union Video with, “are people paying attention here?” I flame posted him & shouted out to his pals his ONLY product is premium BS. But still, too many young Angelenos at stake. We need good schools. Evolve out the simpletons. Can someone tell me why YouTube is CFR wingnut heaven? How come I was such a calm canvasser & now the willfully ignorant seem to have replicated? Is there an AA for those like me who still think, after walking the bigot belt campaigning, I can open a closed mind? Remedies? My kitties are temporary help only. I’m giving them high blood pressure. I’m a masochist. maybe. Is this an illusion? I teach kids to read but that is real time relief only. Turn off MSNBC? I read, I watch baseball and basketball (it’s LA).

    I swear to never Dear Abby again.

  54. 54.

    gwangung

    BTW, in the WaPo OpEd Nethead Jay linked, the author, a law professor, claimed that if you’re given $1.4M and donate it to charity, you’ve gained a huge tax advantage. IANAL, but I think he’s wrong.

    As a fundraiser for a major non-profit, let me say that I am GLAD I am not raising funds to support such a ninny and incompetent.

    Oy. He’s going to get a talking to from his dean, who WOULD know how fundraising works.

  55. 55.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    We’ve been on vacation for the last couple of weeks, and one of the rules was “no real-world news” (although I did sneak peeks at the BJ threads because I was in snark withdrawal). So we missed out on the freakout over Obama being awarded the Nobel, Balloon Boy, Rush Limbaugh as would-be NFL minority partner, and numerous other goings-on. If only we had known the real world was going to turn out to be every bit as entertaining as the Magic Kingdom…

  56. 56.

    Persia

    @wilfred: Personally, I find a good way to find out who’s running the local convenience store is to strike up a conversation with the person working there.

    Of course, I didn’t realize any man or woman with a skin tone darker than ‘pasty’ is probably a Muslim, either, so what do I know?

  57. 57.

    asiangrrlMN

    OK, you are all safe because I was laughing so hard, I was crying at the end of Gass Guy’s thread. You…are…all…dicks! I…have…certs! (He needed them with that bad gas he was spreading around).

    Man. That was awesome. I’m sorry I bailed on it.

  58. 58.

    GReynoldsCT00

    Jesus, can’t we keep B.O.B off of here until after noon, or something…

    John, pets please!!!

  60. 60.

    bjacques

    @MikeJ/38:

    You busted me. I did get my certs up front by the cash register. Cinnamon is my favorite.

    Anyway, I got out of litterbox de-mining when it got to the point of my jumping 3 feet into the air every time a cat farted. Now I raise dogs from eggs found in the wild. It’s a lot more restful, though none of them have hatched. So far. I remain optimistic.

  62. 62.

    DBrown

    @Warren Terra: The NPP is tax free so yes, that is one hell of a write off – no where as good as $1.4 million tax free dollars but very nice – if possible, he should average it over five years and have the grift that keeps giving!

  63. 63.

    Bob (Not B.o.B.)

    @El Cid:

    “we learn of a new online game for faux-survivalist shut-ins based on the premise (or desperate fear/desire) that in 2011 Obama has suspended the Constitution and created the ‘North American Union’ with Mexico and Canada…”

    On the plus side, if civil war breaks out all the right-wing “survivalists” will be unable to fight because they lost so much muscle mass from sitting in front of the computer playing games.

  65. 65.

    jibeaux

    Man, the Gass thread must’ve been either a “you had to be there” kind of moment or “you had to be there +4” kind of moment because to me it just looks like eleventy rounds of some troll threatening to send documents to you. Maybe I’m just missing its peculiar charm.

    I’m trying really hard to think of something else to say. Hrm. A new Asian lunch place opened up not far from my office, and can I just say that the marriage of baguettes and Vietnamese food is heavenly. I understand the left coast has these kind of places on every corner, but it’s a welcome novelty here.

  67. 67.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Punchy: It just made Yahoo’s front box thingy. I hope it gets even more media attention.

    @arguingwithsignposts: Yeah, I was in a bad space yesterday, and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to mock someone who declares himself a better person than I am because of his faux concern over a childish prank. Still, the rest of the thread would have cheered me up, so I should have stayed.

    “You want certs? You can’t HANDLE certs!”

    “You are all dicks!” That’s my fave.

    And, who was it that said, “We’re bloggers commenting. We don’t have hands!”? Was that you AWS? That was awesome.

  69. 69.

    Bob (Not B.o.B.)

    Anyone see “Falcon” barf on TV this morning?

    Maybe his parents sould keep him out of the limelight for a minute.

    Also, seems to me any parent who leaves their kid unattended with a homebuilt aircraft needs to be beaten senseless.

  70. 70.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Demo Woman:

    The Washington Post chose to print the oped piece.

    And people wonder why the MSM has a credibility problem. There’s an easy answer to that problem – quit printing bullshit (e.g., George Will, Ross Douthat, Charles Krauthammer, etc.)

  72. 72.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @asiangrrlMN:

    And, who was it that said, “We’re bloggers commenting. We don’t have hands!”? Was that you AWS? That was awesome.

    {bows} Yeah, there was so much to mock, I felt overwhelmed.

  76. 76.

    ChrisB

    Did anyone see what the president of Florida State said during the NCAA investigation into the school’s academic fraud scandal? According to The New York Times, the university president, T.K. Wetherell, who himself played football at FSU, apologized for the actions of a “rogue tutor” and an instructor while minimizing the culpability of the athletes under investigation, who were found to have received answers to test questions and allowed tutors to type and write their papers.

    “The student-athletes didn’t start off with the idea of this is how I am going to cheat,” Wetherell told the N.C.A.A.’s Committee on Infractions last October. “We don’t really believe they cheated. They got inappropriate help.”

    Quite worthy of Balloon-Juice commentary, in my opinion.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/sports/15ncaa.html

  78. 78.

    jibeaux

    @ChrisB:

    “Rogue tutor” just makes me think of Sarah Palin, which makes me think of the only possible way that an athlete with a tutor cheating for him would get a worse grade than he would on his own.

  79. 79.

    CalD

    I get really annoyed by the small cap’s font used for acronyms and figures (numbers) on this blog that don’t turn blue in link tags. Someone needs to tweak their style sheet.

  80. 80.

    Nethead Jay

    @Demo Woman: Indeed they did, and that’s the real awfulness here. As horrible as the OpEd itself is, to me it’s worse that someone looked at that and said, “Yes, that’s getting published”. Maybe even stupidhead Hiatt himself.

  82. 82.

    fuddmain

    @matoko_chan:

    Also, the dad called the press when this thing started. Denver Post:

    The story started with a phone call to Channel 9 shortly before 11:30 a.m.

    A panicked father reported that his homemade helium balloon was aloft with his son inside and asked the station to send a helicopter to track it.

  83. 83.

    Shell

    39 degrees here. We had snow in western NJ and sleet early this morning. How it bodes for the coming winter? Who knows. We could end up with a heat wave in January/
    My folk-way for predicting the winter? Squirrels. Fat, roly-poly squirrels in the autumn=hard winter. And they’re pretty skinny this year.

  85. 85.

    Tattoosydney

    @asiangrrlMN:

    1am Saturday. Weekend is here… woo!

    Reading recommendation – Zafon – The Angel’s Game – love, lust, loss, books and supernatural goings on, all against a backdrop of early 20th Century Barcelona. I’m hooked on this book, just like I was hooked on his first book, Shadow of the Wind.

    (Must… not… use… ellipsis…)

  86. 86.

    Shell

    Also, the dad called the press when this thing started

    That new video of the balloon taking off while the parents ran around grabbing at it , has to be the fakiest fake fake. The guy built the thing and he believed that it could carry off a six year old child.

    Supposedly after nearly a day of searching and panic that your child was hurt or worse, what’s the natural thing to do? Drag your whole family onto every morning talk show there is.

  90. 90.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    The probability of Glenn Beck becoming our interim President has now risen to 43%.

    And with that , all the excited Beckerheads rise up in anticipation of the Second Coming…

  91. 91.

    ellaesther

    @fuddmain: I’m trying to figure out why this thing pisses me off soooo much. I guess there are so many reasons, not least of which the exploitation of a child (your own!) for such ego-centric and dishonest ends.

    And then there’s all the public money that got spent on this, and personnel who weren’t available for any real emergency that might come up.

    But also, you know what? I was really, truly worried for this boy. As, I am sure, were many, many other people. Just sick to my stomach to think that he had been up there, alone, terrified, and then fallen, no doubt, to his death.

    Not for the first time, I am reduced to asking: What the fuck is wrong with people?

  92. 92.

    Cassidy

    The trouble is that a sportswriter from the Detroit Free Press apparently made up a phony quote out of whole cloth for race-baiting purposes, attributed it to Limbaugh, while the Left Wing Media used that to claim Limbaugh is a racist. Moreover, the head of the NFLPA—who served on Obama’s transition team, donated thousands of dollars to Obama, etc—suddenly decided that Limbaugh’s role as a minority partner in an ownership group warranted a strong protest.

    See how it looks an awful lot like Obama pulling strings to take Limbaugh out? Pair it with the new FCC chief seeking to silence conservative talk radio and you’ll get it. Sally Says so.

    Private business making a decision would be the NFL owners getting to vote. They didn’t. Political pressure from the Obamunist head of the NFLPA and Roger Goodell kept that from happening.

    My latest hobby is baiting the people on the FB Group created by that Jeff Vereya guy; someone posted a link to his website in the previous Rush/ NFL topic. This is the most recent response.

    Peak Wingnut?

  93. 93.

    jibeaux

    @ellaesther:

    If this situation is what it looks like, I predict/endorse social services involvement and possibly some foster care for that child and his siblings.

  94. 94.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Tattoosydney: This is the reason I fake-married you in the first place–your fabu taste in music. But…never…forget…Kylie! And, your cooking skills, of course. I added The Angel’s Game to my half.com wishlist, and I bought The Shadow of the Wind.

    @Skepticat: LOVE IT! I say, bring it. I can’t wait for more snow and sub-zero temps.

    @ChrisB: Yeah, right, it’s all the tutor’s fault. It reminds me of the U of M under Clem Haskins. Uh huh. The athletes were duped! Duped, I say!

  95. 95.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    See how it looks an awful lot like Obama pulling strings to take Limbaugh out?

    This is as good as the whole “Obama is trying to close Republican car dealerships nonsense…”

    No one needs to make up phony Limbaugh racist comments… the real ones would fill a phonebook. Good money sez Rush starts talking a civil rights lawsuit here against the NFL even though it was the group trying to buy the team that bounced him, and at least one Nutter congressperson will demand an investigation into Limbaughgate…

    No doubt about it… just further proof we’re approaching the End Times… the Rear End Times… and heads are being stuck as we speak…

  96. 96.

    ChrisB

    @jibeaux: Didn’t get to reply yesterday afternoon but that Duke Goats video was tremendous. It’s being circulated among my coterie of Duke haters as we speak.

  98. 98.

    Persia

    @ellaesther: So, so very much.

    I love how no one at the TV station thought to ask, “so, did you call the airport or any kind of emergency services? Or did you call us first?”

  102. 102.

    fuddmain

    @ellaesther: If this turns out to be a hoax, they wasted taxpayer money, endangered the lives of rescue workers, and preyed on people’s compassion and sympathy.

    As Christopher Moore would say, “That’s heinous fuckery most foul.”

  104. 104.

    Molly

    Yeah, you guys enjoy your peaceful weekend, if you plan to. I get to hear about the goddamn Texas A&M Aggie protests at Obama’s visit to their hallowed campus.

    I’ve told my kids they can be gay, straight, athiests, I don’t care, but if they decide to become Aggies, they’re disowned.

    I cannot stand those A&M fuckers.

    That is all.

  108. 108.

    Bob (Not B.o.B.)

    @Molly:

    I’ve told my kids they can be gay, straight, athiests, I don’t care, but if they decide to become Aggies, they’re disowned.

    That reminds me of a friend of mine.

    His parents told him he could marry a person of any color, of any religion and even any gender, but if he brought home a Republican, that would be unacceptable.

  109. 109.

    Demo Woman

    His parents told him he could marry a person of any color, of any religion and even any gender, but if he brought home a Republican, that would be unacceptable.
    Pretty good advice.

  110. 110.

    Tattoosydney

    @asiangrrlMN:

    The Shadow of the Wind

    I hope you like. I had the joy of picking it up in a shop in Barcelona, and reading it while wandering the same streets he was describing. It’s a real page turner – sucks you in, and before you know it you are two hundred pages in. Caveat – I haven’t re-read it since I was in Barcelona, so ymmv. On the evidence of the first few chapters of the new one, my memory of it is correct.

  112. 112.

    Corner Stone

    @jibeaux: FWIW – I didn’t find it to be very amusing either after the first couple bites of the apple.
    A lot of repetitive pile on to someone who was a spoof/spooftroll/deranged.

  114. 114.

    tc125231

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    Anita Dunn’s two heros are Mother Theresa (unethical) and Chairman Mao (mean).

    Pizza boy, sources! How do you know these are her heros? What is your source for stating that mother Theresa is unethical?

    You can call Jesus a pinko, that’s in the Gospels, but this other stuff needs to be bolstered by facts . Aren’t you the guy who claims to read history?

  115. 115.

    ChrisB

    @Crashman06: This whole Balloon Boy story had me wondering who my wife and I would be paired with if we went on Wife Swap. And then I realized that we’d probably be paired up with the Palins.

    @Demo Woman: It seems that it took only one thread for Michael Gass to become an internet tradition.

  119. 119.

    geg6

    The Most Wonderful Man Evah has invited me to lunch. He has made a yellow squash/leek soup and grilled ham and baby Swiss sammiches. You may now commence being suitably jealous.

  124. 124.

    Brick Oven Bill

    The answer to your question tc125231 is revealed within the comments section. Here again is the Anita Dunn video. Try to ignore her tongue. Just try. I swear that, to me, she looks like a person imitating a frog on a Saturday Night Live skit. If you need to, turn off your computer image and just listen to her words.

    The source for stating the Mother Theresa is unethical is the Liberal Arts, specifically mentioning Logic and Arithmetic. It comes down to an energy balance. Food today is in large part made of petroleum, converted to fertilizer, which is stored solar energy. As we burn through this petroleum in the coming decades, there will be less food. Then people starve, a very unpleasant way to die.

    Mother Theresa gained pleasure and fulfillment from assisting others, due to her female nature, which was to nurture. But her personal pleasure will result in misery for billions of others. In this manner, Mother Theresa was self-centered and greedy. It requires the application of Logic to come to this realization.

    Glenn Beck is on Goldman’s case Alan. He will make things better.

  128. 128.

    LD50

    @El Cid: Some people just spend their whole lives preparing for the end of the world or the collapse of civilization. Imagine how they’ll feel when they die from heart attacks at 62 and nothing like that has ever happened.

  130. 130.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Obama is Goldman Sachs TattooSydney. The deal is that Obama gets one-half of the Middle Classes’ stuff, and Goldman gets the other half. Say hi to Murray for me.

  131. 131.

    Chad N Freude

    @smiley: I don’t know how Mourning Joke presented it, but this was broadcast on KCRW last night. The first 30 seconds are a plug for an upcoming promotional event, then the discussion of Obama and New Orleans begins. Not quite what I would have expected, somewhat dispiriting.

  134. 134.

    handy

    @Alan:

    I think there’s time for the MUP to atone for his sins. I actually wonder if continually poor job numbers contributing to a Dem collapse in the midterms next year might force him to see the light a little in that regard. Of course, those are not scenarios any progressive should hope for, and they aren’t worth it if that is what it will take to make Obama cut ties with his Goldman buddies.

    But presidencies have been redefined in the past, specifically I’m thinking of FDR, who basically campaigned and won in 32 as a fiscal conservative but by 35 was cementing his New Deal legacy.

  135. 135.

    Chad N Freude

    @Tattoosydney: Another Barcelona addict? We should talk.

    The book was given to me by a friend because I talk enthusiastically, not to mention incessantly, about Barcelona.

  136. 136.

    Tattoosydney

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    Say hi to Murray for me.

    I am sure he will be thrilled to hear you are thinking of him, BOB – he loves the fact that the Wiggles have captured the “Insane wingnut pizza chef off his meds” market. Drilling for oil shale in his (sizeable) back yard starts next week.

  137. 137.

    LD50

    His parents told him he could marry a person of any color, of any religion and even any gender, but if he brought home a Republican, that would be unacceptable.

    That’s basically what I’d tell my daughter.

  138. 138.

    ellaesther

    @fuddmain: I actually frequently pose the question: “What is this fuckery?!”

    I will now add “That’s heinous fuckery, most foul,” to my list of go-to awesome things to say. Indeed, I’m likely to answer myself now and then:

    “What is this fuckery?! Why, it appears to be heinous fuckery most foul!”

  139. 139.

    Svensker

    @Skepticat:

    A nasty 34 with snow (!) turning ti rain north of Boston. I am soooo not ready for this.

    My hilltop in North Jersey has snow mixed with rain and a nasty wind. Dismal. Simply dismal. Although a great day to curl up on the couch with a mystery, a cuppa, and some great snacks.

    Also, I can’t believe you guys got into it with Mr. Michael “Dont Condense Me, Bro” Gass last night. Hilarious. John, if you aren’t Mr. Gass without the mustache, please link to the certs that are sent. Please.

    Also, too, vote for Bitsy. Link over there ——>

  140. 140.

    anonevent

    @LD50: Yes, but as they are dying, they will look back and relish the fact that from their armchairs they kept the world safe from Obama by playing a game.

  143. 143.

    Alan

    @Tattoosydney:

    Obama has been playing the investment banker’s game ever since Jim Cramer was plastered all over our tv screens claiming Obama was destroying wealth. Hell, Obama even went as far as calling a market bottom after Cramer’s prodding. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows what’s up. If Obama ever represented the little guy he certainly doesn’t anymore.

  146. 146.

    Brick Oven Bill

    All parts of a female’s body become more attractive when they are not overly skinny Chad. Remember Bruce Willis’ French girlfriend on Pulp Fiction, she wished she had a pot-belly? She was correct, but only to a BMI of 25.

    A Prediction from four days ago, regarding Goldman Sachs and President Obama. Breaking up is hard to do.

  150. 150.

    matoko_chan

    Sadly for BoBill, I kinda agree with anita….a half century of Big White Bwana feel-good xian missionariism consisting of infant mortality reduction coupled with pig-ignorant willful blindness to the necessity of birthcontrol education has resulted in triple digit population growth in Africa with half of the population under the age of 18.
    I wonder if those millions of unemployed and hungry young men are going to be suitably grateful……or possibly just a fertile recruitment demographic for islamic fundamentalists?

  151. 151.

    RedKitten

    @geg6:

    The Most Wonderful Man Evah has invited me to lunch. He has made a yellow squash/leek soup and grilled ham and baby Swiss sammiches. You may now commence being suitably jealous.

    Nice! That soup sounds rilly, rilly good. I may have to buy some squash this weekend.

    We just had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup last night, but the hubby surprised me by making up all of Sam’s bottles while I was showering, so that was a pleasant respite.

    Tonight? Salmon. :)

  152. 152.

    Warren Terra

    @DBrown, #62

    @Warren Terra: The NPP is tax free so yes, that is one hell of a write off – no where as good as $1.4 million tax free dollars but very nice – if possible, he should average it over five years and have the grift that keeps giving!

    This is a claim you see all over the place, which has always mystified me. Do people really think there’s a Nobel exception in the tax code? Why on earth would it be there, and why would people allow that one, but not a similar exemption for other exceptional prizes, such as the Fields Medal (only $15,000). In any case, this is unsurprisingly not the case

    Awards .. are taxable unless you immediately give the money to a charitable organization or a government entity, says Internal Revenue Service spokesman Jesse Weller.
    …
    if you laid hands on the money unexpectedly — for example, if someone shoved it at you as you stood dumbstruck — you still can avoid taxation if you reroute it at once, without spending, depositing or investing any of it.
    And, yes, the same rules go for Nobel Prizes

    Don’t believe a random columnist in the San Francisco Gate? I don’t blame you. Well, how about the IRS

    Pulitzer, Nobel, and similar prizes. If you were awarded a prize in recognition of accomplishments in religious, charitable, scientific, artistic, educational, literary, or civic fields, you generally must include the value of the prize in your income. However, you do not include this prize in your income if you meet all of the following requirements.
    1) You were selected without any action on your part to enter the contest or proceeding.
    2) You are not required to perform substantial future services as a condition for receiving the prize or award.
    3) The prize or award is transferred by the payer directly to a governmental unit or tax-exempt charitable organization as designated by you. The following conditions apply to the transfer.
    3a) You cannot use the prize or award before it is transferred.
    3b)You should provide the designation before the prize or award is presented to prevent a disqualifying use.

  153. 153.

    Tattoosydney

    @Chad N Freude:

    Another Barcelona addict? We should talk.

    Agh. Moderation hell – more than two links trips it. repeating post (seeing as the first one, and my sexy Kylie Minogue video post for Asiangrrl are still stuck in mod).

    I love Barcelona – I’d travel halfway across the world just to spend the day there – visiting Sagrada Familia, and eating at Espai Sucre.

    However, I am actually a Lisbon addict. No other city comes close for me. If you like Barcelona…

  154. 154.

    Chad N Freude

    @Brick Oven Bill: Then I assume you are suitably outraged by this.

    Note to all the other commenters who are not BOB (i.e., the probably but not certainly sane ones): The story and video clip are hilarious on so many levels it will take the Postmodernists years to deconstruct them.

  155. 155.

    Tattoosydney

    @Alan:

    If Obama ever represented the little guy he certainly doesn’t anymore.

    Obama has proven to be a lost cause.

    He’s too close to business, he doesn’t seem to have the same verve as when he was a candidate, he really needs to pull his finger out about gay marriage and Afghanistan and any number of other issues.

    However, in an alternate universe somewhere, President McCain just suffered a heart attack after launching nuclear missiles at Iran, leaving Scalia to swear in President Palin, whose first Executive Order declares polar bears to be eradicable vermin.

    In our universe, you have to put up with a man who is flawed, but fundamentally on your side on many issues, smart, innovative and 9 months into his term, and you want to write him off?

  156. 156.

    Chad N Freude

    @Warren Terra: Thank you for that — very informative. But Obama does not meet

    2) You are not required to perform substantial future services as a condition for receiving the prize or award.

    as he is required to bring about world peace.

  157. 157.

    Joshua

    Cheney was getting paychecks from Halliburton while he was Vice President, wasn’t he? So why the hell is a $1.4M Nobel prize making news?

  158. 158.

    IndieTarheel

    @me: @me:

    Yup, wrestling with pigs and all that.

    I’m not so sure I’d call it wrestling.Also, BoB needs to stick his head in that brick oven. And turn it up to 11.

  159. 159.

    Chad N Freude

    @Tattoosydney: I spend as much time as I can in Barcelona (well, actually three weeks in the past four years) and I’ve never been to Lisbon. However, based on your recommendation and that of someone I met on a flight to Spain, I’ve added it to my Must-See-Before-I-Die list.

  160. 160.

    Corner Stone

    @Alan:

    Obama has been playing the investment banker’s game ever since Jim Cramer was plastered all over our tv screens claiming Obama was destroying wealth.

    Who do you think funded his 2008 campaign?
    Top Contribs

  161. 161.

    Warren Terra

    @Warren Terra: Thank you for that—very informative. But Obama does not meet

    2) You are not required to perform substantial future services as a condition for receiving the prize or award.

    as he is required to bring about world peace.

    You know, I actually considered that. I guess that if Obama does feel obligated to bring about world peace, then in theory he gets punished for this belief with a hefty tax bill. Sucks to be him, I guess. On the other hand, I’m not sure the requirement that he bring about world peace is exactly codified.

  162. 162.

    Da Bomb

    What has the world come too?
    Clouds are going rouge, Helicopters aren’t funny or happy, and Limpballs wasn’t able to create his own mini plantation of field negros to trade away.

    What a sad state indeed!

  163. 163.

    ellaesther

    @Chad N Freude: Here’s the actual impressive part:

    Left to my own devices, I swear like a motherfucking sailor. I shit you not!

    But around children, not a word of it seeps out.

    THAT is some motherfucking control, right there! Damn straight!

  167. 167.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Tattoosydney: Yes. That’s the first thing that leaped to my mind when I saw this pic.

    @Warren Terra: Fuck you and your facts, man! They get in the way of a good rant.

    By the way, I just watched the second installation of Celebrity Jeopardy, and Michael McKean (comic actor) OWNED Soledad O’Brien (isn’t she supposed to be a Serious Journalist?). Kareem did well until the end of Double Jeopardy.

    Andy Richter kills Wolf Blitzer. Michael McKean slaughters Soledad O’Brien. No wonder we rather get our news from comedians rather than journalists.

  168. 168.

    Dom Phenom

    Wait, I don’t know if this has been covered, but is that ad for Sarah Palin’s new book (that shows up sometimes on the left hand side of the screen at this site) actually have her in a Burberry scarf?

    Real Merikans wear Burberry?

  172. 172.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Bob (Not B.o.B.): I did see that. Poor kid, tells the troof on LKL, gets pwned by his own parents, and is sickened on national teevee to hear them lying just to be popular.

  173. 173.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Brick Oven Bill: What should happen to women whose BMI is > or < 25, Bill? I’m sure I’m not the only female-type Juicer who would like to know what awaits those of us who fail to reach (or exceed) your own arbitrary standards of pulchritudinous perfection.

  175. 175.

    Tattoosydney

    @Alan:

    I’ll go along with you if Bible Spice wins the GOP nomination next time around.

    I’ll buy the popcorn.

    Look, I’m naive enough to think that Obama’s presidency might be a net win for decency, good laws, the restoration of the balance between President and Congress, liberty, pursuit happiness, all that crap, although I am sure there will be things he does I hate.

    I’m Australian. Our warmongering, wingnut lickspittle of a Prime Minister lost his seat and his party was thrown out of office at our last election. He was replaced by a grey, Labor Party automaton who annoys the hell out of me, who has continued many policies of the previous government I didn’t like, who has a (not so) vague god complex, who doesn’t support gay marriage, who is a bit shit on global warming and ties to business interests (some of that sound familiar?).

    However, he has also kept our economy (so far) on track, he apologised to our native peoples, he rolled back radical, conservative industrial relations laws, he put global warming firmly on the agenda, and raised pensions, behaved normally to our neighbours and even made some friends, and will soon pass laws limiting executive payouts in some cases – most of which didn’t happen in the first nine months.

    I just think Obama deserves a chance before you pronounce him a “lost cause”.

  177. 177.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Corner Stone:

    FWIW – I didn’t find it to be very amusing either after the first couple bites of the apple.
    A lot of repetitive pile on to someone who was a spoof/spooftroll/deranged.

    No wonder coming from spoof/spooftroll/deranged like yourself. Your two peas in a pod with Gass. And Obama’s campaign was partially funded be corps, just like every other candidates in the system we have. You failed to mention however, that Obama’s campaign was also financed by the most numbers of small donors in history.

    Since Hills ain’t runnin’ for presnit no more, what are you knucklehead purists going to do. Vote for Kucinich or Nader. You dead ender hillbots are the only lost cause we have in the dem party.

  178. 178.

    Cain

    Happy Diwali folks. yet another excuse to get drunk and eat. Morever, we were able to finally close on teh house we wanted today. A double whammy. Life is good.

    cain

  181. 181.

    Chad N Freude

    @SiubhanDuinne: Merci. But you used the language of our faux allies. Since they did not support our benevolent plan to bring peace and freedom to the Middle East, I would never use even one of their words in a comment.

  182. 182.

    Warren Terra

    editable posts are working!

    Which browser? They don’t work for me in Firefox.

    Edit works for me on my Windows computer with Google Chrome (it doesn’t work on my phone with Opera Mini).

    P.S. I actually tried posting this comment with the current version of Internet Explorer (which I keep around just in case it’s necessary but practically never use), as a test, and – as you can see in the form of this postscript – I was able to edit the comment with Internet Explorer.

  183. 183.

    Warren Terra

    As a further postscript to my #180:
    (1) I couldn’t edit the comment I’d posted with Internet Explorer with Google Chrome, although I could try to re-edit it with Internet Explorer

    (2) When I edit a comment in Google Chrome, I’m told that the changes are being saved, and then I’m told that they’ve successfully been saved. In Internet Explorer, I was just told that they were being saved for a long, long time, and then I checked in Chrome and say that my changes to the comment had been posted. Advantage: Chrome.

  184. 184.

    Chad N Freude

    @Warren Terra: @Warren Terra: Thanks. Editing works for me in Chrome also. FireFox is my preferred browser — it has some incredibly useful add-ons — but I can muddle through BJ with Chrome. Again, thangyuveramuch, thangyuveramuch.

  187. 187.

    Corner Stone

    @General Winfield Stuck: What’s obvious is that the only thing that gets blood flowin’ to your teeny tiny little penis is Hatin’ on Hillz(tm).
    As to the rest of your irrelevant spew…*Yawn*…

  190. 190.

    freelancer

    @Joel:

    here’s the email I shot at a friend after reading S,N!:

    I had a feeling that wingnuts were bigger dorks than both Star Trek geeks and LARPers combined, especially given the wardrobe choices at the tebagger rallies. This game cements that feeling.

    It’s like WoWcrack for insane morons.

  192. 192.

    Anne Laurie

    Also, seems to me any parent who leaves their kid unattended with a homebuilt aircraft needs to be beaten senseless.

    During yesterday afternoon’s kerfuffle, I commented that Falcon’s older brothers should be interrogated immediately about their possible “contributions”. Since we don’t have cable, I was not then aware that Falcon’s daddy should have been included in the grilling, since the man’s “maturity age” seems to be “twelve”.

  194. 194.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Corner Stone:

    Facts are stubborn things peckerwood. And Yawn isn’t one. It’s all you have, ever. And I don’t hate Hillz, never have, not like you hate Obama, which is the spew that’s relevant now. It is why you’re here and always has been. Every thing else you say is but chattle in the wind.

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