Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

He really is that stupid.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

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

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

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

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

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

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

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Reader Interactions

50Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    You realize what this means? Palin Quitting Syndrome (PQS) is a transmissible disease. We need an urgent research program to find a cure and/or a vaccine ASAP.

    -dms

  2. 2.

    cleek

    Palin’s quittitude is contagious.

    if we let her in the White House, will the US itself decide to pack it in, come 2014 ? let’s not find out !

  3. 3.

    dr. bloor

    @dmsilev:

    You realize what this means? Palin Quitting Syndrome (PQS) is a transmissible disease. We need an urgent research program to find a cure and/or a vaccine ASAP.

    I’d rather we figure out a way to have the Cheney family invite her to dinner.

  4. 4.

    Joshua Norton

    Gad. Her first guest was Queen Victoria announcing her engagement to Prince Albert – it’s probably time to take the old 401k for a spin around the block.

  5. 5.

    Phoebe

    I blame Palin too, but in a different way. She just finished that interview and decided “Nothing is worth this. Fuggit. I’m going to get a family and spend time with it. This sucks.”

  6. 6.

    dr. bloor

    As for Oprah herself, it’s hard not to imagine her sitting there during the interview with Her Starburstiness thinking to herself, “My God, I’m jumping the fucking shark.”

  10. 10.

    beltane

    @cleek: Would it take that long? I’d give this country no more than three weeks with Palin as president. It is also debatable as to whether or not the rest of the world would survive this.

  14. 14.

    Violet

    I heard something last week discussing whether or not she would quit. Apparently her Oprah Network has been trying to get her to move her show over there for several years. They’ve got some kind of leverage now that they didn’t have before – can’t remember what it is. So if she doesn’t move now, it’ll be financially detrimental to her, or they’ll shut down her O Network, or something. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to remember the details.

    The people discussing this mentioned Howard Stern’s jump to satellite radio and how that was supposed to be a big deal and save satellite radio. And how no one talks about Howard Stern anymore. So they weren’t convinced it would be a good move for Oprah.

  15. 15.

    Randy P

    @Violet:

    OK, that makes more sense. In fact, I heard a discussion of this possible move a week or so ago. Possibly on NPR’s “Marketplace”. I also remember them saying that Oprah’s show is basically the entire revenue stream for ABC.

    They mentioned the Howard Stern thing, so something must have changed to convince Oprah that it makes good business sense to jump to a cable outlet. Even her own cable outlet.

  16. 16.

    Keith G

    Never watched her show, more a matter of timing than choice. I was more of a Phil Donahue fan anyway and was sort of piffed at Oprah for causing him to have to go all weird.

  17. 17.

    Violet

    @Randy P:

    They mentioned the Howard Stern thing, so something must have changed to convince Oprah that it makes good business sense to jump to a cable outlet. Even her own cable outlet.

    What I remember of the discussion is that whoever owns her Oprah Network has the leverage this time to push her to move. It’s kind of a now-or-never leverage. I wasn’t paying much attention, really, so I can’t remember who owns her network and what the leverage is, but I remember the “now or never” comment.

    There were two people discussing it – one thought she would move, the other didn’t. The person who thought she would thought it would happen because of this now-or-never leverage.

  18. 18.

    Lev

    This has nothing to do with anything, but I never cease to find it hilarious when I hop over to Balloon Juice and the first thing I see is a NewsMax banner advertising Bible Spice’s book.

  19. 19.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    How long till she gets a job in the Administration?

    I’m half serious. Or runs for governor of California? She’s a helluva lot more successful then Fiorina ever was.

  20. 20.

    garbo

    Countdown til wingnuts credit her decision to “fear” that she will not be able to compete with Sarah! the new daytime talk phenomenon in 5, 4, 3, 2…

  21. 21.

    cmorenc

    @Violet

    What I remember of the discussion is that whoever owns her Oprah Network has the leverage this time to push her to move. It’s kind of a now-or-never leverage.

    QUERY: How exactly does one effectively get leverage over someone worth over $2 Billion dollars net worth, with a huge chunk of that NOT leveraged into the fate of the Oprah Network? Seems to me she could tell most of the rest of the world to get lost, leave me alone to go skiing or to Europe or Caribbean beaches the rest of my life, if that’s what she wanted to do.

  23. 23.

    Steph

    @Keith G

    Me too. I was bugged when Oprah appeared on the scene and suddenly Phil was doing shows on lesbian nuns, just to get someone to notice him again. Phil can be an ass, but I like him.

    I started boycotting Oprah when she had Nicole Kidman on, just after TC left her, and was very somber and sympathetic. Then ONE WEEK later, TC was on, and Oprah was gushing about his “relationship” with Penelope Cruz, how in love they were, blah blah. Made me sick to my stomach.

    But I still want an Oprah makeover.

  25. 25.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Violet:

    What I remember of the discussion is that whoever owns her Oprah Network has the leverage this time to push her to move. It’s kind of a now-or-never leverage. I wasn’t paying much attention, really, so I can’t remember who owns her network and what the leverage is, but I remember the “now or never” comment.

    That would be Discovery Communications and its chief, David Zaslav. The leverage is as explained here:

    One of the biggest questions in the TV biz has been when, and even if, Oprah Winfrey would give up her daytime syndicated talk show to focus on OWN, her long delayed Oprah Winfrey Network in 70 million homes that was supposed to launch in place of the Discovery Health Channel as a joint venture between Winfrey and Discovery Communications.

    They say that Discovery Communications chief David Zaslav has demanded that Oprah “move it or lose it” — move her talk show to OWN, or risk losing the Oprah Winfrey Network altogether. I’ve learned that in coming days Winfrey and Discovery will issue a press release announcing OWN’s on-air launch for the start of 2011. And, in several weeks, Oprah will tell the public that she’s ending her syndicated Chicago-based daytime talk show when her current deal runs out and moving it to OWN headquarters in Los Angeles probably as soon as mid-2011.

    Hardest hit by the news will be CBS Television Distribution which syndicates the show, Also hit will be ABC’s owned-and-operated stations which make up Oprah’s core station group, and also Sony TV execs who’d been hoping Oprah would deliver any extension of her daytime talker into their hands based on the success they’ve had this season syndicating Dr Oz, Harpo’s latest daytime talk show star). “Les Moonves, Bob Iger, and Sony will flip out,” one of my insiders says about Oprah’s news. “The only winner is David Zaslav.”

  26. 26.

    Jay in Oregon

    My only problem is that now 20% of #acornfacts on Twitter consist of ACORN being responsible for Oprah pulling the plug on her show.

  28. 28.

    cmorenc

    @Gwangung
    But I’m not sure I’d love an Oprah that would accept nomination as a Repub. At least without such an enormous politico-ideological-attitudinal remodeling that it would bear as much resemblance to its former self as LeBron James does to PeeWee Herman.

  29. 29.

    Violet

    @cmorenc:
    Yeah, no kidding. And I think the people who were discussing her contract issues mentioned that. I really can’t remember anything about it, except that whoever is funding her network wanted her to move her show there and if she didn’t do it now, it wouldn’t be an option later. Seems like she could tell them to get lost and fund all of it herself, but I don’t know anything more about it.

  30. 30.

    Violet

    @Midnight Marauder:
    Thank you! Yeah, that’s pretty much what I remember these folks talking about, but in much greater detail. Sounds like she has to go if she wants to keep the network.

    I remember them talking about whether or not she’d move to Los Angeles. She’s been in Chicago for so long, it is hard to imagine her moving there.

  31. 31.

    Mayken

    @Violet: Meh, she already owns a house in Santa Barbara and is there a great deal of the year so not sure it’s such a big move for her. For the staff of the show it might not be so nice. Wonder if she’ll find a way to bring ’em with. Living out here is not cheap, but the weather is fine!

  33. 33.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Violet:

    Thank you! Yeah, that’s pretty much what I remember these folks talking about, but in much greater detail. Sounds like she has to go if she wants to keep the network.
    __
    I remember them talking about whether or not she’d move to Los Angeles. She’s been in Chicago for so long, it is hard to imagine her moving there.

    No worries; happy to help. But yeah, the Chicago-to-LA move is one of the big obstacles she has to deal with in moving the show to her network. It’s even more problematic since the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has experienced some pretty heavy turnover at the top–including 3 of the top (female) executives leaving in the past 7 months. Basically, they’re currently in the process of seeing which personnel she can, and will, move out to LA from her own little mini-city in Chicago. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Oprah plays this the next few months. I’ve seen a few comparisons to Howard Stern going over to satellite, but in my opinion, this is far more critical and important as an event that will shape the future of the broadcast industry, both immediately and in the long run.

  36. 36.

    Halffasthero

    Apparently she has had enough and is call it quits in 2011. I’m betting she signs with the Jets and the Vikings before really quitting.

    Taking shots at the Favre, eh?

    I see how it is….

  37. 37.

    Anne Laurie

    @Cat Lady:

    This was breaking news in Boston. Just in time for 2012… We, and Oprah, are all Mayans now!

    I’m waiting for the rumor that she’s looking to replace Biden in 2012. Hey, it could happen! — and Oprah’s at least as ‘qualified’ as, say, Pawlenty or Thune or Bachman or some of the other second-tier Republitards being touted.

  39. 39.

    gwangung

    @cmorenc: Oh, it would HAVE to be a structural remodel of the Republican Party. And while I’m pretty sure Oprah is more conservative than a lot of people think (particularly on the economic end), any party that accepted her would have to accept some pretty progressive ideas.

  41. 41.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Oprah is the False Prophet. She has already annointed The AntiChrist in her Worldwide Church so her part has been done in the End Times passion play my wingnut friends and family subject me to on Faceborg.

  47. 47.

    D-Chance.

    Sign with the Jets and Vikings? Hell, she could BUY the Jets and Vikings.

    And still have enough money to take half of the rest of the NFL, if she wished.

  48. 48.

    Mike G

    Meh, she already owns a house in Santa Barbara and is there a great deal of the year so not sure it’s such a big move for her.

    Her private jet is at the Santa Barbara airport almost every weekend. She’s probably tired of the commute.

  49. 49.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    I meant that she’d run as a Dem. She’d probably overwhelm Governor Moonbeam in the primary.

    And if she ended up against Fiorina in the general, well, any comparison between the two women would show how one pretty much created what she owns from scratch and runs it very well while the other is the living embodiment of the Peter Principle.

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