Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Fight them, without becoming them!

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Innocent people do not delay justice.

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

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

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

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Let me file that under fuck it.

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

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

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Reader Interactions

202Comments

  2. 2.

    The Bearded Blogger

    HOW DEMOCRATS GAIN SEATS IN 2010, WIN IN 2012 AND BEYOND

    Step one is Barack Obama starts casually mentioning how he is in favor of commonsensical, death-preventing measures, like so:

    “The best thing I ever did was to quit smoking”

    “I guess a large helping of bacon once in a while is okay, but I certainly wouldn’t eat bacon every meal”

    “We liberals care for life, that is why we look both ways before crossing the street, wear seatbelts, and respect speed limits”

    The rest of the process is left to Beck, Rush and the teabaggers, may they rest in peace.

  4. 4.

    GregB

    If Bush had captured Bin Laden we would have returned to a pre 9/11 mentality.

    So this was the right decision and it was good for the country and good for John McCain.

    -G

  5. 5.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @Cat Lady:
    @JK:

    Qui bono? This was not a bug, but a feature. If OBL were swiftly killed or captured, the Iraq war would have been harder to sell.

  7. 7.

    r€nato

    Bush let Bin Laden escape at Tora Bora? That’s crazy talk from dirty fucking hippies. Next you’re going to tell me that 9/11 happened on Bush’s watch. Where do you libtards get this stuff, Daily Kos?

  10. 10.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Although limited to a review of military operations eight years old, the report could also be read as a cautionary note for those resisting an increased troop presence there now.

    What the fuck does that even mean?

  11. 11.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @r€nato: PLus Tora Bora is clearly a made up place-name. John Kerrie made it up cuz he knew he was gonna loose the erection cuz he was such a libral wuss!

  12. 12.

    JK

    GregB, Bearded Blogger, r€nato

    How much coverage will this Senate report receive from cable news vs the latest developments in the earth shaking stories of the Salahis and Tiger Woods?

  13. 13.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    Somebody dumped a 4-5 month old calico kitten with one eye at our place yesterday.

    I hope whoever did this dies a death similar to Lee Atwater’s, only starting like tomorrow.

    She has an appointment with the vet tomorow to check for the usual issues and to see if her missing eye’s socket needs closing up. Then, assuming all is well, it’s time to find her a home.

    I hate people, I really really do.

  17. 17.

    Cat Lady

    @JK:

    This is old news that’s in the past now, so it’s not “news”. Oh look over there, a sparkly thing!

  18. 18.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    @demkat620:

    Heh heh, we have 8 cats, an ancient 3-legged hound dog and are currently fostering 5 kittens. How could we not take care of her?

    She’s a doll, we’ll do right by her. It’s just been a long time since somebody dumped a cat here. It used to be routine here in Red, Rurl, East Bumblefuck Misery.

  19. 19.

    debit

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage: You are good people. Poor little kitty. I join you in your people hate.

    And I don’t know where you are, but if you can’t find anyone I would be happy to take her in. I’m in Minneapolis. Assuming she could stand living with three male cats.

  20. 20.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @Cat Lady: People don’t want to know whether a mass murdered was let go through crass incompetence or design, they want to know what is up with tiger woods, or further details about sarah’s new book!

  22. 22.

    2th&nayle

    @The Bearded Blogger: I don’t really think so. The t-baggerism is more about that the ‘darkie’ in the WH than it is about OBL or 9-11. My guess is, most of those tea-baggin’ assholes haven’t given OBL a second thought since Obama was nominated. Why go half way around the world to hate someone when there’s someone handier to hate right here at home! Shi-theads!

  23. 23.

    demkat620

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage: I know what you mean but last night I was in Philly(long story, minor car accident devolves into life flight to TJU Hosp) Everybody’s fine. Was only precautionary but,I don’t think I could live in a real city either. I like where I am, college town with about 20k.

    Not quite city, not quite rural. Just right. East Misery would be too quiet.

  24. 24.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    @debit:

    Thanks. Central Missouri. Cat transports are a real pain to arrange. We should be able to find her a home around here. Animals “missing parts” are actually far easier to adopt out to good homes than “normal” ones. If she were missing a leg, we’d probably have a line 12 deep of people wanting her. Strange but true.

    Ah, but could the three male cats stand living with her? :)

  26. 26.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @2th&nayle: Oh, of course tb’s are nuts that a nigra is their president. That’s the trigger… but after 9-11being paranoid, bigoted and tribalistic was hailed as patriotism, that mindset could probably cause you to go nuts, or teabags, if you kept it up a long time…

  28. 28.

    Leelee for Obama

    @2th&nayle: Well put! However, I really think the post-9/11 fear-mongering has caused some psychosis. While there have always been crazy folks here in the good-old US of A, there seem to be more who are willing to be seen outside family gatherings, or haven’t been hidden away by embarrasses family members. Some of them are in Congress.

  30. 30.

    RedKitten

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage:

    Somebody dumped a 4-5 month old calico kitten with one eye at our place yesterday.

    Poor little girlie. In a way, though, she’s a lucky little girlie. She obviously wouldn’t have made out very well, living with assholes who would do that.

    People around here do that as well, and it just sickens me. I’ve read a lot of James Herriott’s books, and I think the only time the usually phlegmatic vet appeared to be seriously, seriously pissed off was when he wrote about those cretins who will dump an animal by the side of the road.

  31. 31.

    PeakVT

    @arguingwithsignposts: Graham is appearing with Sanders on This Weak today. Why would he agree to appear with a commie if he wasn’t a commie himself?

    (Is anyone watching this? I’m surprised a network show would actually have Sanders on for more than 30 seconds.)

  32. 32.

    Brian J

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage:

    Assholes. If you really can’t handle an animal, drop it off at a shelter with a small donation as a last resort.

    I don’t know if you’ve ever thought of this, nor if it’s a good idea since I’m not sure what goes into raising a kitten, but have you ever considered trying out some retirement homes? From what I understand, a lot of people who live in such places like pets because they are good company. It’s worth a shot, I think, simply because the cost of caring for one would be spread out over a large group of people and since the cat would be around for a while if they accepted.

  35. 35.

    demkat620

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage: Really? You would think that would be the case but people’s heart strings get tugged for all kinds of reasons.
    Poor little thing. She is lucky to have found her way to you. I checked my local SPCA yesterday, I think I want a friend for my Jack, and they had very few animals. I was surprised.

  37. 37.

    2th&nayle

    @The Bearded Blogger: I agree with your point about the “patriotism” brand having been deliberately skewed, but I think that the bigotry, paranoia, and tribalism aspect has always been right there below the surface. Granted 8 years of Bush/Cheney didn’t help a damn thing, but I don’;t think they were the impetus. With Beck, Limbaugh, and Malkin’s help, they just fostered a pre-existing condition.

  38. 38.

    JK

    @PeakVT:

    I’m surprised a network show would actually have Sanders on for more than 30 seconds

    I thought they’d adopt the policy the BBC used to have for Gerry Adams – use an actor to read his words

  39. 39.

    Rey

    @the bearded blogger

    You make too much sense, don’t shave.

    Although I must say this Tiger Woods stuff is fascinating, it sounds like he got beat up by his wife. Geez……

  40. 40.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @2th&nayle: Of course, bigotry is common in all societies, at all times. But one of the greatest crimes of conservatism (and I include dudes like George Wallace here) has been the active legitimizing and fostering of hatred and bigotry, in such a way that many people who otherwise might have been decent are now consumed with hatred. Where there was a seed there is now a large ugly tree. If destroying a person’s limbs is a great sin, how greater is it to destroy a people’s soul?

  42. 42.

    JK

    @Napoleon:

    Many, many thanks for the Taibbi link. I’ll take him over that dummy Ana Marie Cox any day of the week.

    Cox on Taibbi: “Not a fan but I applaud his ability to make me look like a sober and judicious practitioner of journalism.”

  44. 44.

    Anya

    Is it me or is HuffPo getting worse? I don’t know but I think it is deteriorating by the day. Aside from the regular posts that consist of everything is Obama’s Katrina, what is there, other than the usual assortment of celebrity blogers, Mika Brzezinski pretending to be a feminist, bernard henri levy’s defense of a child rapist and the regular TMZ links.

  45. 45.

    kay

    @Napoleon:

    It reads like a conspiracy theory, Napoleon.

    Now it’s Robert Rubin? Anyone who ever worked for Robert Rubin, or worked at a bank or think tank connected to Robert Rubin, can’t set financial or monetary policy, because they’re hopelessly compromised? Just Robert Rubin’s tangential influence is enough?

    That’s a lot of people. It’s also the kind of reasoning the Bill Ayres obsessives on the Right rely on.

    Pelosi’s talking about a jobs bill while Obama is talking about the deficit, so this means the two are at loggerheads, with one wearing the black hat and one wearing the white hat ?

    Pelosi has wanted a jobs bill from day one, and now health care is off her plate for a month. She’s looking at a midterm election, so….jobs bill.

    I’m not sure this is an epic battle between good and evil. Looks like legislative v executive wrangling to me.

    But let’s obsess on Robert Rubin. It’ll be a welcome break from blaming everything under the sun on Tim Geithner.

  46. 46.

    JK

    @geg6:

    Of all the moronic words to come out of Ana Marie Cox’s mouth, seeing her diss Matt Taibbi took the cake. She couldn’t match his level of insight in a million years. She’s a buffoon who failed upwards like many of her fellow tools in the MSM.

  47. 47.

    Napoleon

    @kay:

    Ignore Ruben and just look at what Obama’s administration has done, which the article does (that is look at their actions, they do not ignore who it is pulling the trigger on Obama’s behalf). Obama has time and time again stuck a knife in the back of the working and middle class with what they have been doing when it comes to financial bailout and regulation all while codling Wall Street (and from the article B. Frank has as well).

    By the way there is nothing in the Taibbi article, other then where he injects his opinion, that I have not read in the MSM or respected parts of the partisan press (like The American Prospect, read their piece on Maria Cantwell).

  48. 48.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    She’s a buffoon who failed upwards like many of her fellow tools in the MSM.

    The fact that she’s gotten to where she is convinced me that the Beltway Media Machine was irretrievably broken. She’s lazy, not at all intelligent and is a blight on what passes for political coverage in this country.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    @Cat Lady:

    Cat Lady linked to story on Oscar the Cat, who could predict impending deaths at nursing home in Providence, RI.

    This being the internet, Oscar himself was rumored to have been killed, a dented bedpan lying nearby.

    Apparently not true. (Allegedly a prank by “Bob, some drood.”)

    But if America ever turns to death panels, now only imaginary, Oscar is your kitteh. This cat — and others trained like him — could save us the big bucks.

  50. 50.

    Leelee for Obama

    Oddly, there’s an article on HuffPo that explains why blaming Geithner for everything is wrong. How that got past Arianna, I’ll never know. It’s pretty good, I’m still reading it. For the most part, I’ve been saying the same things, so it makes sense I’d like it.

    As to how people can just hurt and dump animals-when the news is filled with family killings, teens burning their peers, little kids raped and murdered, and people fighting giving health care to their fellow citizens, I’d find it remarkable if people weren’t assholes with animals. It’s usually where the psychotics start. What scares me is that so many have moved on to their fellow humans.

  52. 52.

    Zach

    Coming up on This Week, a discussion with “author and member of the council on foreign relations” Dan Senor. Dude’s primary employment is his hedge fund and he’s most known for his disastrous work with the coalition provisional authority in Iraq.

  53. 53.

    kay

    Napoleon:

    I’m not going to ignore Rubin. The whole premise of the clip you posted is that any tangential connection to Robert Rubin leads inexorably to Obama and Pelosi engaging in good v evil battle.

    Come on. He takes three steps to tie one person to Rubin. “Once worked at a bank connected to Rubin”. Clearly a crook. Yup.

    “Here’s the Senator who was at the meeting when the think tank I disagree with was founded”. The smoking gun!

    This is Bill Ayres stuff. It’s all guilt by association.

    He sets out the premise then finds the “proof”. Pelosi and midwest Democrats are working on a jobs bill. Obama is convening some deficit reduction task force. That’s what’s happening. Getting from there to working in concert with Karl Rove to screw the middle class is more than a stretch. It’s ridiculous.

  54. 54.

    Elizabelle

    RE Ana Marie Cox and our professional “journalists” —

    I think too many are cynical, tribal, and strangely incurious.

    Lazy would do it too. Sadly, laziness fits right in with tight budgets.

  55. 55.

    2th&nayle

    @2th&nayle: I appreciate your insights here Beard, but to my way of thinking, ultimately, there is only one person responsible for the welfare of ones soul. If one is drawn to an idealogy of hatred and bigotry by rhetoric or propaganda, then it seems to me, it is a personal responsibity to ask yourself the question, “Why am I comfortable with this kind of darkness in my life?” Granted, most wingnuts I’m in contact with are not generally known for their introspection. But still. Considering the fact that most of these winger’s call themselves following one Christian sect or another, and can still rationalize this hatefulness, doesn’t give me much hope of being able to lead them out of the wilderness, so to speak.

  57. 57.

    Zach

    Also, David Gregory on MTP asked Rick Warren whether he’s focusing on supporting health care for everyone as much as he’s opposing abortion. Warren gave some boilerplate about how he’s “whole life” and not just “pro life” … you’d think that’d lead to a follow-up about what Warren thinks about sermons against the current health care reform bills (with opposition not just rooted in abortion) in evangelical churches he’s affiliated with across America. Of course not.

    Similarly, GS on This Week interviewed McCain during the campaign. He asked if McCain supported an Arizona ballot measure banning affirmative action in any way by any state organization. He said yes. This was a huge shift for McCain, who has traditionally endorsed affirmative action along the lines practiced by the American military (which would be absolutely illegal under this amendment). GS didn’t blink and just went to the next question.

  58. 58.

    JK

    @Zach:

    The roundtable discussions on these Sunday shows are as much on the level as a game of three card monty

    Take this morning’s This Week 3 Republicans (George Will, Dan Senor, Matthew Dowd), 1 liberal (Paul Krugman), and 1 allegedly neutral journalist (Cokie Roberts) – In what fucking universe is this a balanced panel?

  59. 59.

    MikeJ

    @JK: No, no, count again. Anybody who works for the media, including George Will, is obviously some sort of Bolshevik. Therefore, it’s the poor little put upon republicans who get to be the victims again.

  60. 60.

    Anya

    @JK: Thanks for the suggestions. I am an obsessive blog reader, so I check out most of these but it just surprises me how bad HuffPo is.

    @Elizabelle: What surprises me about Ana Marie Cox is that Rachel Maddow seems to like her style, I don’t get it. She is unserious and her humor is juvenile. I have never heard her say anything of substance, even in Rachel’s show. On top of that, she is one of those “journalists” who are infatuated with McCain.

  62. 62.

    JK

    @Zach:

    How did you like that nice cheap shot Dan Senor got in at the very end saying Obama’s staff isn’t too blame for the Salahis’ gate crashing but the incident is an example of incompetence which sort of reflects poorly on the White House.

  63. 63.

    jeffreyw

    A, the smell of turkey pot pie in the oven…
    Smells like Victory!
    Victory! over the t-day leftovers!

  64. 64.

    Cat Lady

    @JK:

    Unlike the Bush WH I guess, which brings us back to the subject that kicked off this thread. But, I guess they had to “leave it there”.

    Sigh.

  67. 67.

    PeakVT

    HuffPo’s approach seems to be publish as much as possible and hope that people will spend hours clicking around the site trying the few gems that are buried in the manure. But I’m pretty impatient, so I don’t bother with any of the sites that have adopted a magazine-style front page – HuffPo, TPM, and FDL, plus older sites like Salon or Slate. Too much noise. Teaser blogs drive me nuts as well.

    /get off my lawn

  69. 69.

    calipygian

    John Miller, from the perch of his Wingnut Welfare gig, tells starving people in a Bush economy that destroyed millions of jobs to get a job.

    He obviously either is a moron with serious reading comprehension problems or has serious empathy deficiency because the article makes clear that it’s not just the unemployed that are suffering.

    With most of his co-workers laid off, Greg Dawson, a third-generation electrician in rural Martinsville,

    considers himself lucky to still have a job

    . He works the night shift for a contracting firm, installing freezer lights in a chain of grocery stores. But when his overtime income vanished and his expenses went up,

    Mr. Dawson started skimping on meals to feed his wife and five children

    .

    John Miller – another wingnut wefare asshole who doesn’t get it until it happens to him (C.F. Nancy Reagan and stem cells). And when it happens to him, I hope his whole fucking family starves because he is too fucking stupid/proud to apply for food stamps.

  71. 71.

    Anya

    @kay: I agree with Kay on this one. Taibbi clearly has his vilians and all he has to do is connect the dots, so that every mess leads to them. This reduces set of complicated facts into simple dichotomy of good and evil.

  72. 72.

    JK

    Impt Reminder for BJ Readers in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC – Mark Your Calendars

    On display through Dec. 31, 2010
    “Inside Tim Russert’s Office: If It’s Sunday, It’s ‘Meet the Press'”

    This exhibit recreates Russert’s NBC Washington office much as it looked when he died of a heart attack in June 2008 while preparing for his next show.

    h/t http://www.newseum.org/exhibits_th/russert/index.htm

  73. 73.

    Zach

    @JK: I’ve given up looking for a balanced panel on TW, but I’d expect a remotely honest introduction.

    One thing I’ll say in Dan Senor’s favor is that he has amazing facial expressions that make him look like an expert on everything. It’s exactly the opposite of Paul Krugman.

    I’m fairly certain that Cokie Roberts actually knows nothing. Dems are trying hard to pass health care so that they can start on a jobs bill? Why didn’t they start w/ a jobs bill then?

    Good to see George Will reduced to the “but but but these numbers are big!” argument. Countdown until a million dollars since jesus was born…

  74. 74.

    Cat Lady

    @jeffreyw:

    For further confirmation, check out the reader comments in any of the Irish newspapers today about the pedophile priest report. The citizenry there is in total despair about having let the state give the Church so much control over civil institutions. They’re questioning their very identity, and the language is something you’d hear from a long time hostage or former cult member finally thinking clearly. If there are any Catholics left in Ireland 5 years from now, I’ll be shocked.

  75. 75.

    Zach

    Paul Krugman was just so tempted to call out George Will on his retarded “no warming in a decade” article. I’m 95% sure that Will didn’t even understand his point that all anyone’s saying is that 1998 was very hot… I think Will just prints whatever the Petroleum Institute writes for him.

  76. 76.

    Punchy

    I’m (still) obsessed with the idea that Tiger Woods can tell the police when he’ll good and talk to them, instead of the other way around. Going on Day 3, and they’ve just given the cops the Hiesman pose each time. Since I’ve never been in this sitchy before, maybe that’s normal. But common sense says it cannot be.

    Just how does this not make the Orlando police look impotent and spineless?

  77. 77.

    calipygian

    @JK:

    This exhibit recreates Russert’s NBC Washington office much as it looked when he died of a heart attack in June 2008 while preparing for his next show.

    This is almost worth going to, if only to mock and heckle so much that the police come and have to escort me out.

    Perhaps a solemn recitation of Timmeh’s Greatest Hits which made him the self-important blow hard that was an instrumental part of the destruction of a free press in America that he was.

  78. 78.

    AhabTRuler

    @MikeJ: I hear ya, but it isn’t as if the Swiss have changed at any recent time. Have been, are, & will continue to be a patriarchal and xenophobic society.

    The Swiss: they never liked you and they won’t start now!

  80. 80.

    JK

    @Anya:

    Thanks for the suggestions. I am an obsessive blog reader

    Me too, so I know what you mean. I would have included more links but then my post would have been in moderation until the Sun went Nova.

    What surprises me about Ana Marie Cox

    Is that she ever got hired by anybody in the first place. If you like Rachel Maddow, you should check out Democracy Now with Amy Goodman and GritTV with Laura Flanders

  82. 82.

    AhabTRuler

    And I have a hard time taking the Taibbi article at face value given the inclusion of the Faux-news-esque propaganda photo of the cruel & heartless(TM) Obama laughing at the misery of the American people, as he and his cronies slip their knives into the backs of the Reichsheer American people.

  83. 83.

    Zach

    @me: To be fair, you could say the same thing about Paul Krugman. Which is why he doesn’t comment on the science but rather just points out that it’s a noisy data series and you can say anything you want if you cherry pick your endpoints. George Will wrote an entire article based on the premise that looking at 2 data points and ignoring everything in between is interesting (not only that; restating the exact same point twice and pretending he said something new). Scientists wrote some emails about how troubling it is that his bullshit is persuasive and how difficult it is to refute said bullshit and this is a scandal.

    Also, George Will thinks the thousands of global warming phonies around the world are engaged in a get-rich-quick conspiracy. Jesus.

  85. 85.

    Comrade Jake

    @Napoleon:

    Taibbi has a must read in the newest Rolling Stone on how the Obama admin. is selling out everyone but Wall Street

    Yawn me a fucking river. I’m so tired of this variety of nonsense.

  87. 87.

    JK

    Whatever mistakes Matt Taibbi makes in his latest article, he’s still better on his worst day than Ana Marie Cox is on her best day.

  88. 88.

    Corner Stone

    @The Bearded Blogger:

    Of course, bigotry is common in all societies, at all times. But one of the greatest crimes of conservatism (and I include dudes like George Wallace here) has been the active legitimizing and fostering of hatred and bigotry, in such a way that many people who otherwise might have been decent are now consumed with hatred. Where there was a seed there is now a large ugly tree. If destroying a person’s limbs is a great sin, how greater is it to destroy a people’s soul?

    But this is an inevitable outcome of the espousal of a conservative ideology or mindset.
    There is no other endpoint if you believe the things conservatives claim to believe.

  89. 89.

    AhabTRuler

    @JK: I general I think of the Newseum as a joke, although I haven’t been since they reöpened.

    What possible historical value does Christiane Amanpour’s laptop computer have?

  90. 90.

    MikeJ

    The Swiss: they never liked you and they won’t start now!

    Ain’t that the truth. Remember the poster with the white sheep kicking the black sheep off of the swiss flag «pour plus de sécurité»?

  91. 91.

    smiley

    @Punchy: Punchy, I think this is in a way like the Skip Gates situation. I think the Woods are within their rights to not talk to the police if no crime is alleged to have occurred. Whatever happened only concerns Tiger, his wife, and his car insurance company. It’s not good PR, though, to stonewall the police.

  92. 92.

    calipygian

    @Punchy:

    I’m (still) obsessed with the idea that Tiger Woods can tell the police when he’ll good and talk to them, instead of the other way around.

    It’s reminicent of the classic Chappelle Show sketch, where the lawyer committing white collar crime gets his door kicked in by the cops while the crack dealer gets to “plead the fif” in front of congress.

    Whenever I see sketches like that, I always think “You are SO almost there!”, since it’s clear that race only has some to do with it and income class is the definite criterion for whether or not you get respek from the cops.

  93. 93.

    Something Fabulous

    The other thing about Dan Senor is that he is MARRIED TO CAMPBELL BROWN. Do they disclose this, ever, when he makes the news rounds? I don’t see how you can whatever-the-journalistic-equivalent-to-“recuse”-is people from ever giving their opinions simply because of their choice of marriage partners, but it seems like, the more this is happening, there OUGHT to finally be a formal rule about it, that every time the person in the government is introduced on a news show, or a media person opines about the government, under their name on the screen is, “Married to/Parent of X__.”

    So likely to happen, right.

  94. 94.

    Anya

    @Punchy: I actually think this would not have been an issue, if Tiger was not a famous golfer. I had a similar accident, minus a partner beating the crap out of you ( I was avoiding a neighbors’ cat). The police did not even do a follow up. So I am not sure why do they need to do anything here. I am guessing he is not pressing any charges against his wife, so why waste police resources?

    Stories like these make me appreciate the fact that I do not have a t.v.

  95. 95.

    Leelee for Obama

    @smiley: I think it’s a case of everybody there knowing something embarrassing for their most famous resident has happened. He’s gonna pay all the bills, no one else was hurt, and if he and his wife don’t want to tell everyone they had a fight that got out of hand, then no one is gonna force them to do it. The PR fallout is not good, but Tiger Woods has always had a squeaky clean reputation, so this is relly new territory for him.

    Full disclosure, I’m a major fan, and I hope they let this go. If he was stupid enough to think he could screw around on his wife when his face is so well known, then he’s not as smart as I would expect. If that’s not what happened, then all this pearl-clutching is just making things worse.

  96. 96.

    JK

    @AhabTRuler:

    I haven’t visited the Newseum, but from what I’ve read about it, the place sounds like a joke.

    The write-up for Tim Russert’s office exhibit on the Newseum website could have been written by the staff of the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. It’s fucking hilarious and I’m still laughing.

    For me, the Newseum would have some credibilty if they created an exhibit for Nellie Bly, Ida Tarbell, George Seldes, I.F. Stone, George Polk, Pacifica Radio, or PM.

  97. 97.

    Comrade Mary

    What what what? The last I heard, Tiger was in a fender bender, and now his betrayed wife is chasing him with a golf club? Wow. I really have to start watching TMZ again.

  99. 99.

    Corner Stone

    @calipygian:

    since it’s clear that race only has some to do with it and income class is the definite criterion for whether or not you get respek from the cops.

    If you have the level of income required then it’s very possible you have contributed to the right person’s campaign, donate to the Sherriff’s pet cause, or his wife’s, or maybe have children who go to school with some VIP with pull at the Mayor’s office. So, respek is warranted if you enjoy a paycheck.

    One, two, three, four..FIF!

  103. 103.

    JK

    @AhabTRuler:

    What possible historical value does Christiane Amanpour’s laptop computer have?

    Coming soon to the Newseum
    Larry King’s suspenders, Keith Olbermann’s crumpled pieces of paper, John King’s magic board, and Chris Matthews’ post-it notes

  104. 104.

    jeffreyw

    @JK: Don’t forget Jon Stewart’s artwork that he dashes off before giving his intro. Fuckin gold mine there, I’m tellin ya.

  106. 106.

    Zach

    Tiger Woods needs to give his agent & lawyers & associated crew a fucking huge Christmas bonus. Despite this incident oozing with tabloid potential, they managed to (1) get his whole neighborhood to shut up, (2) have the implausible story about his wife “saving” him with a 9 iron lead the news for half a day, (3) convince Tiger and his wife to be on the same page, and (4) minimize leaks from the police.

    Damage control at its absolute finest. When you consider the possibility for 15 minutes of fame and that Florida is the epicenter of people who find that shit appealing, keeping a lid on it to this extent is remarkable. Regardless of what details come out, as long as the two principles shut up a majority of people will think that Tiger’s wife saved him.

    I think Tiger needs to drop his wife and upgrade to her hopefully less crazy identical twin.

  107. 107.

    TaosJohn

    106 comments on a freaking open thread in just an hour or two… John, if you aren’t making a handsome living from this site, you’re getting bad advice.

  108. 108.

    Anya

    Best take, so far of the Salahi fiasco.

    Arab culture, by the way, has treated wedding crashing and uninvited visits as the norm. In fact, it would have been shameful not to try to attend a friend’s party.

    Plus, this is also cool because I love when something reminds Obama what a political liability our people are. From Tony Rezko to Rashid Khalidi to Major Hasan to the Iraqi resistance and to the Palestinian people — Arabs have been nothing but a sore in the side of a President still accused of being Muslim. Tareq Salahi can be added to the list. I think that’s awesome because it’s not like the man’s doing anything for us anyways.

    As an aside: I still think Arab-American activists need to think about our power to hurt politicians by association. We should negotiate with presidential candidates so that we get concessions for backing their opponents. Our negative influence on electoral campaigns is power, too.

  110. 110.

    Corner Stone

    @Zach: It was 3:00 in the morning. Who in the neighborhood would’ve really seen anything? And they live on an estate so not real potential for the local busybody to hear them spatting while taking the trash out.
    And TW’s worth a billion+, if not right now then over the next decade. Hell yeah his wife’s going to get on board whatever story needs to be told. Supposing there is, in fact, a story at all.

  111. 111.

    JK

    @jeffreyw:

    A long time ago, I used to have a lot of respect for journalism as a profession and would have welcomed the idea of a museum devoted it.

    If the Tim Russert Office exhibit isn’t one of the greatest examples of epic fail in modern memory, I don’t know what is. Just typing “Tim Russert Office exhibit” feels like the set up for a punchline. WTF was the Newseum thinking when they dreamed up this ridiculous fucking idea for an exhibit?

  112. 112.

    JenJen

    @Something Fabulous: Gawd how I loathe that Dan Senor assknob. Watched him and Dowd on “This Week” today and couldn’t stop thinking, “Why are Bushie apparatchiks on my teevee every Sunday? Shouldn’t they be down in some hole somewhere, licking their wounds and hiding their shame?”

    ETA: Hey!! The Edit Button came back! Yeeeehaw!

  113. 113.

    Ash

    Why are you guys dissing the Newseum? Sure it has some stupid “artifacts” as all museums do. But it’s tons of fun, I spent half a day just wandering around there.

  114. 114.

    JenJen

    Atrios highlights a looming crisis that seems to have skipped the attention of our Awesome Liberal Media while they wank away over Tiger and the Salahis:

    For workers who are laid off or downsized between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009, the COBRA subsidy pays 65 percent of their job-based health insurance premiums for nine months.

    That subsidy, however, expires Monday for Hall and untold thousands of others who began receiving it in March, when it first became available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

    After reading that, and today’s NYT piece on the dead-as-a-doornail economy here in Ohio, I’m not feeling so great today.

  115. 115.

    Anya

    Best take, so far of the Salahi fiasco: http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/11/tarek-salahi-coolest-arab-of-the-moment.html

    Plus, this is also cool because I love when something reminds Obama what a political liability our people are. From Tony Rezko to Rashid Khalidi to Major Hasan to the Iraqi resistance and to the Palestinian people — Arabs have been nothing but a sore in the side of a President still accused of being Muslim. Tareq Salahi can be added to the list. I think that’s awesome because it’s not like the man’s doing anything for us anyways.

    As an aside: I still think Arab-American activists need to think about our power to hurt politicians by association. We should negotiate with presidential candidates so that we get concessions for backing their opponents. Our negative influence on electoral campaigns is power, too.

  119. 119.

    Ash

    @Anya: Obama hasn’t done enough for Muslims? Say what? It’s pretty sad that some Palestinian organization thinks it’s cool to put some starfucking reality tv wannabes up on a pedestal, non?

  120. 120.

    kay

    @Napoleon:

    I responded to your post but couldn’t find the arrow.

    I’m involved in this elaborate office equipment barter-trade thing that was supposed to be my Great Idea and easy, but now involves 7 people – all incredibly confused, so I can’t continue this discussion.

    I’ve been thinking about Geithner, because I watched his testimony.

    We can fight about it at some other time :)

  121. 121.

    JK

    @Ash:

    Why are you guys dissing the Newseum? Sure it has some stupid “artifacts” as all museums do.

    If I’m giving the Newseum short shrift, I apologize but
    I defy any Balloon Juice reader to go the Newseum website read the description of the Tim Russert Office Exhibit, watch the accompanying video, and not fall on the floor laughing uncontrollably.

  124. 124.

    Anya

    @Ash: I think he is being sarcastic in that post but the sad part about Obama is that every fanatic accuses him to be an agent of the other religious group they hate. Jews and Christian fanatics think he is Muslim and Arabs and Muslim fanatics are always accusing him of being a poppet controlled by the Jews.

  125. 125.

    smiley

    @Anya:

    I really need to learn how to use the blockquote. The whole thing in my last post is a blockquote.
    The easiest was to deal with multiple-paragraph blockquotes is to remove the line between paragraphs. You can usually still tell where one paragraph ends and the next begins.

  128. 128.

    JenJen

    @JK: Awww jeebus. Pammy even threw in a bonus “Jew-hating media” sentence!

    Ahhh, I see they’ve also dug up a photo of the Salahis backstage with Senator Obama and (gasp!!) the Black Eyed Peas.

    @Anya:

    Blockquoting tip! Insert three periods between the paragraphs like so:
    …
    See? It works.

  131. 131.

    smiley

    @JK: Jeebus, there’s nothing to that post other than an opportunity to bash Arabs, guilt Obama by association, and use a “cute”, derogatory headline:

    Amateur Hour at Oblunder’s House

  132. 132.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @JK:

    I honestly don’t get the pearl-clutching over this party crasher bit. And Pam Geller can go fuck a goat with that “Oblunder” crap.

    I’m sure we could dig up sleazy criminal types who went to GWB’s state dinners with invitations.

  133. 133.

    debit

    You know what’s funny? Having a cold and being dehydrated, so your lips are chapped. You look for lip balm, find some in a purse you never use anymore buried in the back of the closet. You then realize you need to go to the grocery store. You wonder at the strange looks you’re getting while shopping and think to your self, “Is getting 10 grapefruit really that unusual? Or maybe they’re wondering where I got the very last pack of Rosemary?” But you shrug and go on about your business. And then when you get home, you catch your reflection in the mirror and realize your lip balm was tainted with color. Not just any color, but a deep, bruised magenta color and that with your pale skin you look like Elvira, Mistress of the Night but wearing a Vikings sweatshirt instead of an evening gown. That’s funny.

  134. 134.

    asiangrrlMN

    Gah. Damn. It. I take one night off….

    Don’t care about Tiger. Don’t care about the gate-crashers. Don’t care about, well, pretty much anything right now.

    @jeffreyw: Man. You’ve got me drooling. Seriously. Do a food pr0n book. With a cheesecake centerfold.

    P.S. WTF? I got my editing button back? Wa-hooo! Google Chrome, bitchez!

  135. 135.

    Anya

    @JenJen: I was wondering when they will link the whole thing to terrorism and then link it back to Obama. What these morons forget is that any social climber media whore can get their pictures taken with any politician and if they have money, they can attend enough fundraisers that they will eventually meet someone important.

    Thanks guys for the tips on achieving proper b-quote.

  136. 136.

    Zach

    @Corner Stone:

    And they live on an estate so not real potential for the local busybody to hear them spatting while taking the trash out.

    I feel like an idiot for looking this up, but his neighborhood isn’t like you might expect w/ winding driveways leading to sprawling, gated estates or something – http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7142131 – I bet more people noticed the sirens lighting up their neighborhood than would here in Baltimore.

    And, yeah, depending on how his affairs are arranged I think his wife might’ve had second thoughts here. See also: Kobe Bryant’s wife and the giant ring she was sporting at the tearful stand-by-your-man press conference.

    Also, looking up “woods accident scene photos” and see how ridiculous the back window rescue story is.

  138. 138.

    JK

    @JenJen: @Anya:

    The sad thing about the Salahi case is that their ethnicity will be dragged thru the mud. I don’t care if they were Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, Iroquois, Icelandic, Belgian, or Druids. If it’s proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court, that they gate crashed the White House State Dinner, then they are narcisistic, celebrity obsessed, motherfucking assholes who deserve to rot in jail for 6 months.

  140. 140.

    srv

    Ah, yes, let’s rage about Tora Bora to provide cover for another Presidential fiasco about to happen.

    “The picture in Afghanistan is much more positive than we often give it credit for,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during a visit to Kabul this month.

    You can’t make this shit up. It’s like she’s getting briefed by Rumsfeld and Rove and hasn’t had a chat with her own Ambassador.

    At least progressives can move on and have protests scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Serious Dems will sigh heavily and can be counted on to regurgitate the “finish the job” meme.

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack

    @JenJen:

    Blockquoting tip! Insert three periods between the paragraphs [. . .].

    Only if you enjoy seeing three periods between each paragraph.

    On the other hand, if you put two underscore characters on the blank lines between paragraphs, the blockquote works fine.

  142. 142.

    JenJen

    @Steeplejack:

    This is a blockquote test, per Steeplejack, who says if you put two underscore characters on the blank lines between the paragraphs, you’re good to go.
    __
    So let’s see if that worked…

    ETA: Hey!! Not too shabby! Thanks, Steeps!

  143. 143.

    AhabTRuler

    @Persia:

    Why would you do that? They’re so pretty. Just on an aesthetic basis it’s pure bullshit.

    It’s a continuity of culture thing. When it comes to conservatism, the Swiss make the French and the Germans look like pikers.
    I’ve posted it before, but it is worth remembering that women in the Helvetic Confederation only got the vote nationally in the 70’s (the last canton to give women vote in cantonial elections did so in the 80’s. Citizenship is inherited through the father only, and naturalization is difficult, especially if you is dark.
    Voting is mandatory, and the entire political system is built around stability & consensus. Incrementalism is seen as outrageously hurried and radical.
    The populace is highly militarized, with universal conscription and a vast network of underground civil defense structures that can contain the population in a major emergency. This tendency is mitigated by the cultural and political hostility to foreign adventurism; the Swiss Guard at the Vatican is the only remnant (by statute) of the CH’s previously mercenary tendencies.
    Lovely country, charming people, very clean and tidy; even the Crack dealers are polite and somewhat reserved. Nice place to visit, wouldn’t wanna live there.

  144. 144.

    JK

    CBS Sunday Morning

    Speaking of CBS Sunday Morning, did anyone like the cover story on Second City? I thought it was very good, but I wish it could have been longer.

  145. 145.

    licensed to kill time

    @JenJen:
    Also if you put two underscores directly above your blockquote, it won’t bold:
    __

    Like this.
    __
    also, wtf happened last night? Sat night thread got bunged into italics and…
    __
    Edit button is back! Color me stunned!

  146. 146.

    JK

    @AhabTRuler:

    The Swiss

    “In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

    h/t The Third Man

  148. 148.

    JenJen

    @JK: I worry that you’re right, but at the same time, what’s the shelf life on this thing? I mean, there is a lot of heavy shit going down next week. Will we really still be talking about these camera-f-ers?

    Yeah, probably. And also too, shame on Bravo for encouraging these idiots.

    @licensed to kill time: Another awesome trick! Thing is, I can never seem to remember them (she wrote, as she packed a bowl). ;-)

  149. 149.

    Mike G

    I wonder what advice the GOP politicians would have for people like John Brodniak whose health conditions make them both uninsurable and unable to work. Suicide maybe?

    Tax cuts. Deficits, global warming, tooth decay, giant meteors heading for the earth — the answer is always tax cuts.

  150. 150.

    charles johnson

    There was no security threat here (unless you believe wingnut republicans). They were just a couple of dumb pranksters. Give them a swift kick in the ass out the door. Maybe it’s because I live in a Zero Tolerance county where an Advil can get you expelled, but I’m tired of overcriminalizing shit. Just tell them to get lost and don’t waste $100,000 of taxpayer money punishing a little cheeky behavior.

  151. 151.

    JK

    @JenJen:

    Shame on Bravo

    Years before I had cable tv, I remember browsing the listings of the cable channels in the newspaper, out of curiosity, to see what it was that I was missing. Bravo, A&E, and TLC used to have quality programming. They used to lean much more in the direction of PBS. Now it’s just reality show after stupid fucking reality show.

  152. 152.

    kay

    @JenJen:

    Boy. That link you posted is a real masterpiece of misdirection, so I think they’re going to milk this for all it’s worth, if that propoganda piece is any indication.
    They got the date wrong. The original source (on Politico) has that picture taken in 2005, not 2008, which is amusing only because it was (apparently) a Rock The Vote event where McCain was also in attendance.
    I predict the conspiracy theory will live on long after any investigation.
    This is why I hate, hate, hate guilt by association. That some members of the left have adopted it re: the financial crisis makes me want to bash my head against a wall. It is the single easiest way to both come to the wrong conclusion, and “prove” a predetermined premise.
    You’d think we’d know this by now. The Right love it. It must suck.
    If you start with the premise that Obama is a secret radical, every one of thousands of grip and grin standard issue politician photos can be used to “prove” that theory.

  153. 153.

    JenJen

    @JK: I remember when Bravo first showed up, and watching this amazing performance by Richard Harris in “Camelot” on Broadway. I thought it was such a godsend as an entertainment option.

    Now, it is indeed just a reality show network. Have you ever seen the “Real Housewives” franchise? It’s one of those things that after watching, you feel so much better about your own life choices, so it could be worse, but I say Bravo and its parent, NBC, need to go to the principal’s office and explain what in the hell all of that was about. I’m sincerely interested in whether the presence of a TV camera and/or producer provided influence in slipping them into the dinner.

  154. 154.

    Steeplejack

    @JenJen:

    Bonus point: If you start your blockquote just below the last line of your normal text–no blank line in between them–the blockquote will come out non-bold. Nirvana. (H/T Monkeyboy)

  155. 155.

    JenJen

    @kay: I really don’t think the photo with the Black Eyed Peas means a damned thing, though. So what? Obama likes the Black Eyed Peas, the Black Eyed Peas like Democrats and Obama (hell, they played at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and Will.i.am made a pretty iconic song out of his pro-Obama stance), and the Salahis like cameras and rubbing elbows with famous people, like Obama and the Black Eyed Peas.

    I was just laughing at first, but am I missing some coming right-wing hissy fit over this? I’ll probably laugh then, too.

  156. 156.

    JK

    @JenJen:

    Rest assured that the ususal gang of idiots, Joe Scarborough, Chris “Foaming at the Mouth” Matthews, Campbell Brown, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and the Rogue’s Gallery of Stupid at Fox News Channel will slice and dice the Salahi story from a million different angles and try to cite it as an example of Obama’s incompetence the way Dan Senor did this morning.

  157. 157.

    JenJen

    @JK: And that’s where I get pissed off. That NYT story this morning about food stamp usage in the six counties surrounding mine increasing 50% in the past year. Millions of unemployed are about to lose their COBRA reimbursements as mandated by the stim last winter. The President is about to send more troops into Afghanistan. Copenhagen looms.

    And instead, they’re going to be talking about how two hopeful reality-show contestants crashed a State Dinner and that makes Obama Howdy-Doody, or something. Grrrrrr.

  158. 158.

    JK

    @JenJen:

    I forget who it was, Bravo or A&E, but one of them used to air The South Bank Show. They’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel with this wall to wall reality show nonsense. With all the money these channels are making from reality shows, they ought to be able to create new channels to show the kinds of arts and culture programming they aired years ago.

  159. 159.

    licensed to kill time

    @JK:
    If you haven’t read his books, you should. The TV series was excellent and captured Herriot’s sensibility well. His humanity is overwhelming in the books, and leave you with a real feeling of hope about humankind (and that’s a hard thing to do.) Plus the animal stories are guaranteed to bring a tear to the hardest of hearts, but in a really good way. HIGHLY recommended!

  160. 160.

    kay

    @JenJen:

    I was just laughing at first, but am I missing some coming right-wing hissy fit over this? I’ll probably laugh then, too.

    I think it’s just tailor-made for so many political smear objectives it makes my head spin.
    They won’t decide on one, either, and they won’t have to, because they don’t have to make any sense or be consistent, they’re conspiracy theorists! All evidence leads to the predetermined conclusion, and if it doesn’t, they just omit the inconvenient parts.
    Celebrity, secret Muslim radical, weak on The Terror, amateur hour, just take your pick, or go with any combination!
    I read the original “smoking gun” post and it was a big bunch of nothing. But, the picture has now been cropped, and the date changed, to make it look as if Obama is all but alone with these two, as Prez-elect. To add one more layer of confusion, (unsurprisingly) the polo org that these two crooks started puts false captions beneath pictures on their website, to increase the star value.
    You know, we both agree yesterday that the internet may act as a sort of truth outlet, but the reverse is also true.
    It may also be used to deliberately spin and mislead.

  161. 161.

    JK

    @licensed to kill time:

    The Herriot books are on my reading list. The tv series assembled a truly first rate cast. I’d sure as hell love to see this series airing on Bravo or A&E right now instead of the trash they’re currently airing.

  163. 163.

    Comrade Mary

    Yay! Still no edit button in FF 3.5 (no big deal, as John has said it’s on the to-do list for the revamp), but at least BQs work.

    How about nested?

    One

    One-A

  164. 164.

    JK

    @JenJen:

    Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Campbell Brown, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Hannity, Beck, and O’Reilly are whores who deserve a special place in Hell for the crimes they have committed against journalism and for the sin of dumbing down our culture to death.

  165. 165.

    kay

    @JenJen:

    This is sort of amusing, too. This ridiculous couple apparently made two campaign donations in the course of their “political activism” career. One was to George Allen, and the other was to a Dem House (VA) member.
    CNN checked records.
    Ah, the irony. George Allen supporters crash the India state dinner.
    Obama didn’t even get a donation out of this headache.

  166. 166.

    JenJen

    @kay: Yeah, and maybe it’s just me, because I don’t think this is a big deal. I think it’s a momentary thing the right will seize until something else comes up. Remember, it’s been a constant barrage, a kitchen sink, if you will, of one thing after the other since the Inauguration, and I think this is just another one of those things.

    It’s not because of stuff like this that the President is losing support, though. At least that’s what I think.

    @Comrade Mary: Showoff! How did you do that?

  167. 167.

    JK

    @Comrade Mary:

    Don’t mind me, I’m just practicing blockquotes.

    Comrade Mary,

    Which web browser are you using? Love your screen name by the way. It feels very cool to type “comrade”.

  168. 168.

    kay

    @JenJen:

    I read your posts and trust your judgment on political narrative, so I’ll take your word for it.
    I think the President is losing support because he hasn’t bothered to explain the rationale for the decisions he’s made. I also think he owes a real duty to the young people who voted for him and volunteered for him, not so much “the Left” but more the “formerly unengaged” and he hasn’t bothered to reach out to them, which is just flat-out stupid.
    I talk to the real young former volunteers here, not at all ideologues but just newly politically engaged, and they’re buried in student loans and they can’t find work, and they don’t know why the whole health care discussion has centered around the needs and wants of retirees. I explain the political realities of retiree ass-kissing in the US, but that’s not good enough.
    I’m angry at him for not speaking directly to them. They deserve an explanation, and they’re not that familiar with the incredible convoluted process and trade-offs that are (sadly) real-world, and completely disheartening and infuriating, to me, and I’ve been watching for twenty years. Understandably, they don’t get it. They’re new at it.

  169. 169.

    JK

    @kay:

    One was to George Allen

    I’m sure those words will never make over the air on Fox News. I’m sure Chris Numb Nuts Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and Pitchfork Pat Buchannan will use some bullshit, convoluted, batshit insane, pretzel logic to assert that the gate crashing incident proves Obama is soft on crime and soft on terrorism.

  170. 170.

    JenJen

    @kay: I don’t think he’s been doing a good job at making the case before the American people, either. And seeing as how speaking is what he really excels at, it’s baffling to me that he hasn’t done more of this. When he was, the right hit him hard and I really think they got spooked by the “overexposed” label, because I can’t think of any other reason why they’ve backed off and taken a bit of a back seat the last few months.

    Regarding his loss in support, it was to be expected mainly because the country is a mess, and it’s going to be a long way back, and Americans aren’t patient people. I don’t think he’d have any difficulty getting support back; politics is a comparative exercise, and with no ideas coming from the opposition, there’s a vacuum the President can fill. I don’t know what their plan is, but I do think they need to get on it.

    And as far as losing support from his supporters? Steve Benen is a must-read.

  171. 171.

    licensed to kill time

    @JK: The BBC does an amazing job. One of my all-time favorite BBC shows was The Singing Detective, if you ever get a chance to watch that series, do it. You just don’t see stuff like that on American TV.

  172. 172.

    JK

    @kay: @JenJen:

    What about the fact that millions of Americans are just flat out infantile, expect instant gratification, and believed that Obama simply had to wave a magic wand and their problems would be solved.

    I also agree that Obama has a done bad job of communicating his message. On an unrelated note, I wish he’d kept Greg Craig as WH counsel. Craig was smart, experienced, and there was no excuse for Obama to let him get treated in such a shabby, unprofessional manner.

  173. 173.

    gnomedad

    @JK:

    Love your screen name by the way. It feels very cool to type “comrade”.

    There was a period when a lot of us were signing as “comrade” whatever. I forget exactly why, but it was current events-related. Prolly merits a Lexicon entry.

    BTW, Caribou Barbie’s visage in the left column is getting really irritating. I’d almost rather have Pammy back. (Not asking you to do anything, John, just sayin’.)

  174. 174.

    JK

    @licensed to kill time:

    Never seen The Singing Detective but have heard good things about it and want to check it out. Would also like to check out A Bit of Fry and Laurie which has also received critical praise.

  175. 175.

    kay

    @JenJen:

    I don’t get it either. It bothers me, because it comes off as arrogant. “I shouldn’t have to explain”. Hell, yes, he has to explain, constantly, and over and over. It’s part of accountability, and it’s also good politics.
    No one is going to sift through all the reams of material and try to discern why they made the decisions they made on the banks, or health care, or any of it. 90% of his job is explaining. He’s not even offering the argument, and I think people perceive that as disrespectful. I do. I like to get the pitch, and then reject or accept. I can disagree after hearing it from the principle actor then, instead of guessing at intent, or motive.

  176. 176.

    Comrade Mary

    @JenJen: I just make sure I nest the opening and closing blockquotes appropriately, like little Russian dolls tucked inside each other.

    Let me test some code here, then I’ll show you what works.

    This is the less than angle bracket: <
    This is the greater than angle bracket: >

  177. 177.

    JK

    @gnomedad:

    “Comrade” just has a very nice ring to it. I wasn’t aware that its use was tied to some news story. I’m curious to know what story it was.

    Caribou Barbie’s visage in the left column is getting really irritating

    I hear you on this one. I could live with Palin’s face on this site if it were an animated gif in which a pie was landing directly on her face.

  178. 178.

    Comrade Mary

    @JenJen: Here’s how I did it. I’m using [ instead of the angle bracket/less than sign and ] instead of the greater than sign because my usual HTML codes aren’t working here.

    [blockquote]main stuff.[blockquote]Nested stuff.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

    The nested stuff has to have BQ tags opening and closing immediately around it, while the main blockquote opens and closes surrounding everything else. Nested stuff appears bold, but I can live with that.

    Let me try something more complicated, with text, a nested item, more text, and another nested item.

    Text 1.

    Nested item 1

    Text 2.

    Nested item 2

  179. 179.

    kay

    @JK:

    On an unrelated note, I wish he’d kept Greg Craig as WH counsel. Craig was smart, experienced, and there was no excuse for Obama to let him get treated in such a shabby, unprofessional manner.

    I actually disagree with that. If there’s one thing Obama can do, it’s pick his own lawyer. He can run through as many as he needs as far as I’m concerned.
    I suspect Craig understands that relationship completely, and if he doesn’t, he’s forgotten who works for whom. The client picks the lawyer, and getting fired is just part of the deal.

  181. 181.

    Comrade Mary

    JK, the Comrade stuff came back to something John posted when he was disgusted with the right and the media (I know — so unlike him!). He signed himself off as Comrade John, and a few of us followed suit.

    Now for my next trick: multiple lines of text inside a blockquote, then nested elements inside it, also with multiple lines. This could get ugly, kids.

    Text1a. This follows a blockquote tag IMMEDIATELY after my own text, in order to avoid bolding.
    __
    This is Text 1b, following two underscore characters on the line after Text 1a.

    Nested Text 1a. This arrives after its own opening BQ tag.
    __
    Another line, Nested Text 1b, following a blank line with two underscores. Right after me is the closing BQ tag for this nested item.

    Text2a. This is on its own line after closing the previous nest.
    __
    This is Text 2b, following two underscore characters on the line after Text 2a. This parent BQ gets closed right after this.

  182. 182.

    Anya

    Everyone’s gone officially mad. Here is a quote from a post by Jill of Jack and Jil of Politics

    I don’t care if the Salahis know some of the right people. I don’t care if they enjoy delusions of grandeur soon to be financed by reality TV. I don’t care how desperate (housewives) they are. I do care who they really are — what are Tareq Salahi’s real connections re: Palestinian organizations, haven’t they been seen in court an awful lot before?

    Here is another mind numbing argument, (I’ve never thought I would read in a progressive blog) from rikyara:

    I hate to do this, but I must…let’s bring up ’24’ once again. Let’s remember the season where the helper to the Arab terrorist, was the upper-middle class, all-American, blond, blue-eyed White girl. She provided cover for the Arab.
    ….
    Yeah, I watch a lot of tv, but come on, this is the oldest trick in the book.
    ……
    bait-and-switch.

  183. 183.

    Comrade Mary

    Whee! Code for my previous post follows here for all the gearheads. Replace the square brackets with angle brackets.
    [blockquote]Text1a. This follows a blockquote tag IMMEDIATELY after my own text, in order to avoid bolding.
    __
    This is Text 1b, following two underscore characters on the line after Text 1a.
    [blockquote]Nested Text 1a. This arrives after its own opening BQ tag.
    __
    Another line, Nested Text 1b, following a blank line with two underscores. Right after me is the closing BQ tag for this nested item.[/blockquote]
    Text2a. This is on its own line after closing the previous nest.
    __
    This is Text 2b, following two underscore characters on the line after Text 2a. This parent BQ gets closed right after this.
    [/blockquote]

  184. 184.

    Comrade Mary

    Note that what appears as empty lines in the previous code scrap are actually lines with two underscore characters: __

  188. 188.

    Anya

    @JK: speaking of crime fictions, I am running out of books to read, any recommendations, I am open for fiction and non fiction, as long as it is not fantasy or sci-fi.

  190. 190.

    JK

    @Comrade Mary:

    Comrade,

    Many thanks for that explanation.

    Now for my next trick

    For your next trick, may I hear your balalaika ringing out?

    h/t Some Liverpool band

    Can you then pull laughter from the skies?

    h/t ELP

    For all the gearheads

    When do you begin your discussion of Perl and Ruby on Rails?

  191. 191.

    licensed to kill time

    @Comrade Mary:

    I think Steeplejack gives a h/t to Monkeyboy. I remember a late night thread that had several people working it out. The underscore thing is way cool, and the important thing to remember is blockquote hates empty lines.

    Why does blockquote hate empty lines, why? Does it hate our freedoms, too?

  192. 192.

    JK

    @Anya:

    Books to read

    My favorite novel – Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
    The Quiet American by Graham Greene
    Walden by Henry David Thoreau
    Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
    Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone
    In Dubious Battle; Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
    The Sun Also Rises; A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway
    The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

    You may find interesting titles at these sites
    http://www.listsofbests.com/lists/home/books
    http://litlists.blogspot.com

  193. 193.

    Anya

    @JK:

    This is weird but I’ve read them all, except:

    Walden by Henry David Thoreau
    Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
    Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone

    Maybe that is where I will begin. Darkness at Noon sounds intriguing, and I am going on the title alone.

  194. 194.

    Nellcote

    Dan Senor and Campbell Brown were married during Hurricane Katrina. It’s why so much of the WH staff was missing from DC.

  195. 195.

    JK

    @Anya:

    There are lots of lists of best books out there. You should check those out as well as the 2 links I included in my previous post.

  196. 196.

    bago

    The more I think about it the more I like the idea of a highly progressive war tax. Using capatalistic logic, high wage earners earn what they do because of the merits of their decision making capabilities. Wisdom for wealth. So, logically, it seems only fair to make high wage earners exceptional stake holders in the costs of a terribly important venture involving the life and death of thousands of people. Obviously, we want to bring their well compensated judgement into the decision making process. What better way to do that than to make the result of their decision contingent upon their own willingness to put their money where their mouth is? I mean, that’s why they make the big bucks, right?

    I propose that all planned military expenditures for offshore activities be paid for with a fund that is supplimented with money taken from a “war tax”, whose rate is determined via an equation that determines the range of taxable incomes, starting at welfare rates and ending with the highest earner in the country. Apply an exponential curve to it, so that the more you make the more you are invested in determining the wisdom of your outlays, resulting in the final surtax rate being equivalent to what the top end rate was in world war 2, or possibly under Eisenhower.
    This would lead to some great rhetoric. Are you not as patriotic as the americans from “the greatest generation?”, “are you not willing to sacrifice for your country?”, “You’re only giving money. Our troops are giving their lives!”.
    etc.

  197. 197.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @arguingwithsignposts

    Shorter South Carolina GOP:

    We’re driving this car into the ditch whether Lindsay Graham wants to or not!

    If President Obama had the political acumen that everyone gives him credit for, that is to say, if he really were playing 11 dimensional chess, he’d be going out of his way to say as many nice things about Lindsay Graham as he possibly could. Not out of any expectation that this would cause Graham to change any of his votes, we’ve seen how well that worked out with that shitweasel Joe Lieberman, but because it would drive South Carolina Republicans even more batshit than they are and they’d be giving Lindsay even more grief than he’s getting right now. Sure, Lindsay doesn’t come up for election until 2014, but why not make his life miserable until then?

    This would also be a valuable tactic for any Republican senators coming up for election in 2010 or Republicans in close districts. Say really incredibly nice things about them and spread rumors that they’re considering switching parties and watch the base (Should we get a new name for the Republican base, say “Rep Qaeda”?) go batshit and do to them what they did to Dede Scozzafava in NY23.

    Unfortunately Obama is no Lyndon Johnson, pity that.

  198. 198.

    Wile E. Quixote

    Darn, blockquote still doesn’t work properly if you have an empty line in it. Comrade Mary, how did you get that to work? Is it somehow browser/platform dependent? I’m coming into BJ with Firefox 3.5.5 from MacOS X.

    Thanks,

    Comrade Wile E. Quixote

  200. 200.

    Corner Stone

    @srv:

    It’s like she’s getting briefed by Rumsfeld and Rove and hasn’t had a chat with her own Ambassador.

    Or the more absolutely true answer is that she’s saying exactly what the Administration needs her to say.

  202. 202.

    Elie

    I just finished (at last) Douglas Brinkley’s book on Katrina (The Great Deluge). How sad and unexamined that whole thing is — STILL! We had a hole blown into our whole sense of “can do”, of America being a nation of problem solvers and people who care…the ghastly antics of so called leaders… still for the most part not discussed and learned from…

    I have to say, the last few days I took some time off from the blogs and felt the better for it…. come back to ongoing demands for Obama to solve the unsolvable, smoothly and with no negative consequences to anyone…

    Maybe folks are right.

    Maybe we actually can solve our terrible economic dilemma — no jobs and jobs that are not coming back, by decree from one person. Maybe we can solve or “win” Afghanistan with an un-nuanced, bimodal position of more troops or pulling out…surely this is not a shade of gray?

    My heart just hurts so much when I read the papers, listen to tv or read some of the blogs…

    Its so beyond Obama or any leadership to solve what ails us. And the truth is that way after he is gone, we have so much to do and so much pain ahead.

    We need to get ready to work, not to keep trying to find someone to blame for why its not all “fixed” yet. There is no fix for some of this — just enduring to live on…

    Sure, I understand, we are struggling with that reality and its going to take a while to accept. And we will have a lot of false prophets screaming their solutions for some time…

    I am reminded of the stories of the Great Dust Bowl in the 30’s… how people suffered without relief and without understanding for years…babies dying in cribs from pneumonia cause by dirt in the air, complete and catastrophic collapse of regional economies reliant on farming land that literally, was in the sky blowing around instead of being ploughed on the ground.

    No help was sent, no one cared until the dirt blew into Washington DC itself.

    That is what it will take now. It wont be pain banged out on key boards, but brought home more viscerally.

    Until then, the rich and elite will cream what is left from those who still have anything. We will waste our time blaming O and others instead of getting our own grassroots thing going where we live and where we know what is what.

    We will not get the change we want and need from the top down, no matter how good the man or the scheme. Our system is just too f—-ed up to just vote in a fix. We have to do it from below and hopefully, we can help them fix some of it above.

    Sitting on our butts wagging our fingers to “get it done” while we eat our teevee dinners aint gonna happen…

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