Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

You cannot shame the shameless.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

Let’s finish the job.

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

“woke” is the new caravan.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

You are here: Home / Politics / Media / A Thing of Beauty

A Thing of Beauty

by | 270 Comments

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This Chris Matthews quote is a Palinesque work of art:

MATTHEWS: And I think we have got to get serious about catching terrorists, not just catching weapons. I‘m waiting for the terrorist who knows kung fu or something that gets on an airplane without a weapon. God knows what that is going to be like.

Hey, Gerald, happy new year, even under this circumstance.

Yes, Gerald. I hope you and your loved ones have a Happy New Year, even though we live under the grave threat of KUNG FU FIGHTING TERRORISTS!

Reader Interactions

270Comments

  1. 1.

    liberty60

    Glennzilla captured it with his comment about how they are in love with the melodrama of terrorism; I would add that terror sells newspapers and draws ratings; complex wonkery doesn’t.

  3. 3.

    Dreggas

    We just need to put ninjas on planes and maybe some pirates for good measure but they may go after the ninjas.

  4. 4.

    GambitRF

    Let’s hope they don’t have access to those training programs from The Matrix. Who knows what Lawrence Fishburne might have taught them by now.

  7. 7.

    rob!

    Just put some motherfucking snakes on the motherfucking planes, and they’ll take care of the motherfucking ninja terrorists.

  11. 11.

    valdivia

    @stevie314159:

    see great minds think alike! I too could not believe Cole did not link (though I think my link is a pretty bad video, though the song is the same)

  15. 15.

    joe from Lowell

    We just need to put ninjas on planes and maybe some pirates for good measure but they may go after the ninjas.

    Oh, come on! A ninja would totally kick a pirate’s ass.

  16. 16.

    KCinDC

    I really do wonder what is going through his head. Does he actually believe that kung fu can bring down a plane, or what?

    Besides, David Carradine is dead.

  17. 17.

    Zifnab

    God dammit, Mathews. The first rule of Terrorist Fight Club is that you do not talk about Terrorist Fight Club!

  24. 24.

    GregB

    Watching Matthews and Mrs. Greenspin tripping down 9/11 memory lane earlier this week was vomit inducing.

    This is the closest these asswipes will ever get to being at war…..They long for the days of Glenn Miller and Roosevelt and Hitler but all they have is Lady GaGa, Bush in a flightsuit and Dick Cheney whispering into their fearful ears.

    -G

  26. 26.

    Ruemara

    Oh, Chris Matthews. Will you never get the respect you deserve for calling out the dangers of unarmed terrorists with mad ninja skills? Dammit Go Nagai is like a freaking prophet!

  28. 28.

    Cyrus

    And remember, as if that quote wasn’t scary enough, Chris Matthews is one of the good pundits.

    @KCinDC:

    I really do wonder what is going through his head. Does he actually believe that kung fu can bring down a plane, or what?

    Kick in the armored cockpit door, manually kill or incapacitate the pilots, and take control of the plane that way, presumably.

  30. 30.

    Sad_Dem

    Just last week on a nonstop from Pittsburgh to LAX I had to subdue a determined group of muslim kung fu fighters who were intent on hogging all the pillows and magazines. Let me tell you, those cats were fast as lightning. Fortunately, they had this weird habit of taking turns, one by one, to fight me, and, as was covered in a brief montage, I’d spent a few months brushing up my grab-beard-crack-skull skills.

  31. 31.

    Dave

    Forget kung fu terrorists. I’m more worried about dogs with bees in their mouth so when they bark they shoot bees at me. Because if we’re going to worry about bullshit things, let’s at least go all-out Homer-style when we do it.

  33. 33.

    Violet

    Tweety provides Lite Punditainment – food for the halfway-paying-attention political masses. Just don’t look too closely. You don’t really want to know.

  34. 34.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    Dang, April 1st comes faster and faster every year as I get older. It seems like only yesterday it was Dec 30th.

  35. 35.

    kid bitzer

    “I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive.”

    no wonder tweetie loved loved loved george bush. that and his manliness.

  36. 36.

    Tom

    What a f’ing stupid article by Politico.

    Diverse Reaction to Limbaugh

    They basically scoured the Web and found people who wished Limbaugh well and people who were not so kind.

    Thing is, with the Internet, you can find a diverse reaction to ANYTHING.

  37. 37.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Sad_Dem:

    Fortunately, they had this weird habit of taking turns, one by one, to fight me, and, as was covered in a brief montage

    Hey, at least you weren’t flying out of Mumbai. Then a big Bollywood dance number would have broken out, and you know how crowded those aisles can be back in coach.

  39. 39.

    Keith

    I‘m waiting for the terrorist who knows kung fu or something that gets on an airplane without a weapon. God knows what that is going to be like

    Here’s a tip I picked up when I was about 13 – DON’T ATTACK HIM ONE AT A TIME!

  40. 40.

    Cat Lady

    Sometimes the last fifteen minutes of his show, he gets so loopy that I am convinced he has low blood sugar IQ.

    Fix’t.

  43. 43.

    Brachiator

    I‘m waiting for the terrorist who knows kung fu or something that gets on an airplane without a weapon.

    Isn’t this the plot of the upcoming Karate Kid remake, with Will Smith’s kid in the Ralph Macchio role?

    Man, there are some serious drugs going around in the Village.

  46. 46.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Brachiator:

    Man, there are some serious drugs going around in the Village.

    I think they are all jockeying to get mocked by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. That’s the only rational explanation.

    ETA: Am I the only person who notices that really mockable events always, always, ALWAYS occur when TDS/TCR are on vacation?

  49. 49.

    MikeJ

    @Tom: I thought that line about wanting his doctors to fail was pretty funny, but that’s as close as the article came to demonstrating that anyone wished him ill.

    I was also amused by Ruffini wanting to make a list of all of those who said mean things about Rush so “their presence will be known.”

  50. 50.

    Violet

    @Tom:

    Thing is, with the Internet, you can find a diverse reaction to ANYTHING.

    Imagine that! Different opinions, all in one Internet! Crazy stuff!

    Next on Politico…Humans use tools! Sky varies in color! Mountains are tall!

  52. 52.

    KCinDC

    I think the idea is that the kung fu terrorist knows how to hit the exact pressure point that will shatter the entire plane. Can’t D&D monks do that? Or am I thinking of Champions?

  53. 53.

    Dreggas

    @joe from Lowell:

    Yeah but then everyone would be worried the ninjas were really the kung-fu muslim terrorists and take out the ninjas leaving the kung-fu muslim terrorists to continue with their nefarious plots.

  54. 54.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    I want to say something clever or snarky in response to this, but all that comes to mind is “what the fuck?!!”

  56. 56.

    licensed to kill time

    Jeebus, it’s like the Theater of the Absurd every day.

    Also, how long until Obama gets blamed for Rush? Both in Hawaii, secret ninjas!

  57. 57.

    Shell

    Or, my god, what if one of them sneaks on a bag of potato chips? Careful, they’re ruffled!! Those babies can have some sharp edges.

    Just heard Limbaugh was stricken while vacationing in Hawaii. What the hell was he doing in that foreign-sounding place, so far from the heartland?

  58. 58.

    Zam

    What about psychic terrorists? What if they discover the ways of the force? I think it’s time we reopen some of the old “research” programs from the cold war, we cannot let the terrorists be the first to get their hands on mind control technology.

  65. 65.

    Tom Hilton

    I would add that terror sells newspapers and draws ratings; complex wonkery doesn’t.

    Exactly. But at the risk of re-igniting certain acrimonious policy debates, I’ll just point out that lefties too are not wholly immune to the lures of melodrama over complex wonkery. It’s kind of a human trait.

  67. 67.

    Hob

    With all the space there is for moving your limbs in a plane, that kung fu terrorist has a pretty good chance of hurting at least two people! Plus himself.

  68. 68.

    MBunge

    I wonder if the generalized limp-wristedness that produces comments like Tweety’s isn’t the result of…

    1. Middle-aged white guys like Tweety ducking out on Vietnam, and…

    2. The all-volunteer military producing a lot of male intellectuals who’ve never gotten any closer to physical combat than playing (or watching) sports.

    Mike

  71. 71.

    MBunge

    “I think the idea is that the kung fu terrorist knows how to hit the exact pressure point that will shatter the entire plane.”

    You’re thinking of Karnak of The Inhumans. I’m sure the banning of Terrigen Mist on any flight is soon to come.

    Mike

  72. 72.

    licensed to kill time

    @MikeJ:

    Also, how long until Obama gets blamed for Rush? Both in Hawaii, secret ninjas!

    Pelosi is there too.

    Curiouser and curiouser….liberal ninja conspiracy, Pelosi in a catsuit….

  74. 74.

    jeffreyw

    What if the guys that stare at goats don’t really need to see the goats? What if they can just squeeze their eyes shut and imagine staring at goats? Now just take that one wee bit farther, and I’m sure we can all easily imagine that, those guys can stare at pilots in the cockpits while their eyes are closed. I must sent an email right away to the TSA to warn them that passengers with their eyes closed could easily be terrorists planning to kill the flight crew.
    And please, no damn goat fucking jokes, this is a serious threat to airline safety here.

  75. 75.

    Ash Can

    @gwangung:

    Or worse…feng sui ninja assasins.

    I tremble at the thought of one of them bringing down a whole damn 747 simply by placing a vase in seat 15G and hanging a rice paper decoration from the middle of the cabin cieling. Why isn’t Janet Napolitano doing anything about that, huh??

  79. 79.

    Hob

    MBunge, isn’t #2 pretty much a constant throughout history in any country that has a middle class? Was there ever a time in the U.S. when military service was so common as to make a difference that way, except for WW2?

  80. 80.

    Tom

    @MikeJ

    I was also amused by Ruffini wanting to make a list of all of those who said mean things about Rush so “their presence will be known.”

    “Someone should build a Twitter list” might be my new go-to quote for mock outrage.

  81. 81.

    Corner Stone

    @Sad_Dem: We need a montage!
    Sure a lot of things happing at once,
    Remind everyone what’s going on (what’s going on)
    And when every shot you show a little improvement
    Just show it all or it will take to long
    That’s called a montage (montage)
    Ooh we want montage (montage)

  82. 82.

    demkat620

    @MikeJ: Yeah that will be when he gets back to his show.

    I bet anything he will blame the Democrats and Obama for his heart attack. Sad thing is alot of his listeners will believe him.

  84. 84.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Tom Hilton

    But at the risk of re-igniting certain acrimonious policy debates, I’ll just point out that lefties too are not wholly immune to the lures of melodrama over complex wonkery.

    Yeah… but at least we’re genuinely funny.

    Have you ever tried to sit all the way thru An American Carol?

  86. 86.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @gnomedad:

    Is General Zod on the no-fly list?

    Flash Gordon is on it, but not Ming the Merciless. Go figure.

    Tweety caught Malaria from a trip to Africa in 2002. Hasn’t been the same since. I was an avid fan and watcher, and it seemed to change him, at least to my perception.

  87. 87.

    Ed Drone

    @MikeJ:

    I was also amused by Ruffini wanting to make a list of all of those who said mean things about Rush so “their presence will be known.”

    Ooohhh! Where do I volunteer? Hmmm? Oh, tell me please!

    You know, if and when Rush dies, I, for one, will not volunteer to piss on his grave. After the army, I told myself I’d never stand in that long a line again!

    Ed

  88. 88.

    Corner Stone

    @GambitRF:

    Chow-Yun Fat

    You’ve got to watch out for CYF, he’ll get you in trouble. I talked the girl I was dating into going to the movies to see The Replacement Killers (for some damn reason), and told her, “Hey! It’s got Chow-Yun Fat in it! How could you ever go wrong watching something with a guy named Chow-Yun Fat in it?”
    Well, the next year he did that damned Anna and the King (King and I remake) and she was like, “Welp, guess what show we’re going to this weekend?”
    So, IOW, that dude F’ed me right up the A and I hope he does get put on a No-Fly List. Unless it’s a flight straight to Hell, then I’d clear him for that flight.

  90. 90.

    kid bitzer

    @86–

    “Flash Gordon is on it, but not Ming the Merciless. Go figure.”

    you wanna know why?

    political correctness is why!

  91. 91.

    Cain

    I think we need to worry about teenaged girls who could potentially go into an airplane bathroom and say “candyman! candyman! candyman!” I mean who knows what could happen then!

    cain

  93. 93.

    chuck

    Is it impolitic of me to suggest that maybe Tweety is just raging drunk on the show more often than not?

  94. 94.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Cat Lady

    Commenter Martin won the internets last night by uncovering the whole plot already, here and here.

    Hey… Martin may have connected the dots, but I broke that story first… unless Martin’s getting blamed for something…

    Then he can take ALL the credit…

  96. 96.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @licensed to kill time:

    Curiouser and curiouser….liberal ninja conspiracy, Pelosi in a catsuit….

    And as someone pointed out last night…

    Rush in a wetsuit… actually, two of them…

  98. 98.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @Tom:

    If, heaven forbid, anything happens to Limbo, whaddya think the chances are the nutters will be shrieking about what a third-world hole that Hawaii place is. If only he’d had you know, white man medicine.

    See “Hawaii, foreign” thread.

  100. 100.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @MikeJ:

    I was also amused by Ruffini wanting to make a list of all of those who said mean things about Rush so “their presence will be known.”

    I’m pretty sure he could just start with the two open threads from last night.

  101. 101.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @MBunge:

    The all-volunteer military producing a lot of male intellectuals who’ve never gotten any closer to physical combat than playing (or watching) sports.

    Indeed… but let us not forget:

    They also serve who cower in private and whine…

    I think Milton said that… no, no, not John, Berle…

  102. 102.

    Cris

    @General Winfield Stuck: Flash Gordon is on it, but not Ming the Merciless.

    I don’t know if the 1980 film is FG canon, but in that, Ming killed the pilots from outside the plane; Flash was the one who illegally entered the cockpit afterwards. So the guy’s got a history, the TSA is just executing due diligence.

  104. 104.

    Martin

    Well, I don’t think that Tweety has to worry about kung-fu or ninja terrorists.

    What I’m really worried about are the terrorists that can control magnetic fields or take the form of any other individual. If those guys get on a plane, we are so fucked.

  106. 106.

    Dreggas

    @Zuzu’s Petals:

    Nah, they’ll claim he was put on the Obama death list and since Obama is also in Hawaii it’s his fault. They’ll say rush was faking it just to go to the hospital where Obama was “supposedly” born in order to try and find the real birth certificates but was stopped by the black panthers and given a poison pill that made it look like he had a heart attack. Curiously the pill looked like a viagra pill.

  107. 107.

    ajr22

    Why must tweety always have Ron Christie (one of the biggest assholes to ever grace this fine planet) on. Yetsrerday before he signed off Mathews said “well at least your not a complete flack.” No he is just 95 % flack. He ranks pretty high on my list of most hated tv pundits.

  108. 108.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Tom Hilton

    I haven’t tried to sit any of the way through An American Carol.

    Sir… you have reaffirmed my faith in the essential decency of some human beings…

  109. 109.

    MBunge

    “Was there ever a time in the U.S. when military service was so common as to make a difference that way, except for WW2?”

    I’m not sure there was ever a time before in U.S. history when such a huge portion of the male generation skipped out on the war of their youth as happened in Vietnam. I don’t believe there was a similar level of draft avoidance during Korea, for example.

    Yeah, folks with means have always been more likely to duck out on military service than the lower classes. However, I think that rich man’s sons who bailed on the Revolution, the Civil War, WWI, etc. had to live with certain limitations in public life. I might be wrong, but I’d bet there were few examples in previous eras of guys who had, for example, deliberately avoided serving in the Spanish-American War as young men but went on to become middle-aged, loud and aggressive proponents of getting involved in WWI.

    Vietnam and the all-volunteer military has now created two or three generations of men who not only didn’t serve in time of war, but never seriously thought about it or felt they should.

    Mike

  110. 110.

    tamied

    Excuse me, I think everyone is missing the obvious solution to the Rush heart failure.

    Which former cheerleader/vp candidate was seen visiting the exotic Hawaii (a strange occurance in itself) just prior to Rush being stricken? She would just love to take over the airwaves if there somehow was an opening, don’t cha know?

  113. 113.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @Dreggas:

    Well in Tom Coburns nightmares the teenage girls come out of those bathrooms as lesbians!

    No doubt, packing pink guns to boot…

  115. 115.

    marjo

    I do not wish Limbaugh dead. However, a tunnel, a bright light and a little chat with Jesus might help.

  116. 116.

    Sad_Dem

    @Corner Stone:
    9/11 times a hundred? Jesus, that’s…
    Yes, 91,100.

    Basically, all the worst parts of the bible.

  117. 117.

    burnspbesq

    I guess that in addition to the regular air marshals, we will need a couple of P12s from Psi Corps in order to prevent any rogue telepaths messing with the heads of the cockpit crew. But I still don’t trust Bester any farther than I can throw him.

  118. 118.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @slag:

    I gotta admit that Chris Matthews is a little bit frightening. But he does have expert timing.

    And a disturbing ‘thing’ for older men…

  119. 119.

    mcd410x

    Speaking of Kung Fu, where do we stand on the Fox-trying-to-charge-for-over-the-air-programming war?

  120. 120.

    Cain

    I think Bruce Banner definitely should be on the no-fly list. I mean goddam, I know how angry I get when I’m on the plane with the shitty service and having to pay for food and drinks. Imagine

    “What do you mean I have to pay for this scotch?! Rrrrrrraaaaaaaaaagghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

    “Goddam! Someone took their shoes and it smells like teriayki!!Rarrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaghhhh!!!!”

    cain

  121. 121.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    licensed to kill time

    And little blue pills? Hmm? HMMM?

    Hey… I limit MY intake strictly to the LARGE blue pills, or at the very least the little red ones…

  122. 122.

    Dreggas

    @mcd410x:

    I am all for Time Warner sticking to it’s guns over these price increases. However it will suck not being able to watch Friday Night Smackdown.

  124. 124.

    Joey Maloney

    @Shell:

    Just heard Limbaugh was stricken while vacationing in Hawaii. What the hell was he doing in that foreign-sounding place, so far from the heartland?

    Looking for cute little brown-skinned boys to be his special friends, of course. Hawaii might sound foreign, but you still don’t have to go through customs on the way back. That didn’t work out that well for the Rushster last time.

  128. 128.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Cain:

    “Goddam! Someone took their shoes and it smells like teriayki”

    Dammit, you’re killing me here, with laughter. Bastard!

  130. 130.

    BeccaM

    The day these bozos realize it’s possible to hurt others without anything other than one’s body or ordinary objects is the day they start handcuffing everybody to their seats, including little old ladies and five year old kids.

  131. 131.

    parksideq

    The TSA, effective immediately, will start a new initiative, dubbed “Operation Killa Beez”, which mandates that all domestic flights carry a member of the Wu-Tang Clan to protect passengers’ necks from the Kung-Fu terror threat.

    This innovative counterterrorism measure would be, in the words of the RZA, “nothin’ to fuck with”.

  134. 134.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @mcd410x:

    Speaking of Kung Fu, where do we stand on the Fox-trying-to-charge-for-over-the-air-programming war?

    I think it means Rupert’s desperate for new sources of cash…

    Good for him… couldn’t be happening to a more deserving person.

    I guess all those pornodollars aren’t enough…

  136. 136.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    :slag@

    Which is a little surprising since Fred Thompson is not nearly as fast as lightning.

    It’s that irresistable combination of Old Spice coupled w/ Older Man…

  138. 138.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Dreggas: I remember about a year ago, Time Warner got into a similar spat with my local NBC affiliate, and we lost it for a few months. Then I recall a later near-miss with Viacom (or I think it was Viacom, might’ve been someone else).

    So in most cases, I’d be tempted to say that Time Warner just loves playing chicken, and passes the bag of shit on to the customers. But then again, this being Fox, I wouldn’t be too terribly surprised if Rupert Murdoch was feeling a little too high and mighty on this one.

  140. 140.

    Midnight Marauder

    @MattR:

    Then how about some ill tempered sea bass?

    How about we just avoid the sea all together and tame some of those crazy pterodactyls from Avatar?

  142. 142.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @Makewi:

    When one takes into account that it’s a Rasmussen poll…

    … I’ll have to not take it too seriously.

    Seeing as the fool has already spilled his guts to the authorities, I’m not sure what torturing would accomplish, other than inducing a pleasant tingling sensation in some folks’ body parts…

  144. 144.

    MattR

    @Midnight Marauder:

    How about we just avoid the sea all together and get tame some of those crazy pterodactyls from Avatar?

    Well, I have not seen Avatar yet so I don’t know, but I have seen Austin Powers and The Deep Blue Sea.

  145. 145.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    @Demo Woman:

    Is the show 24 that popular?

    Well, according to sitting SCOTUS member and guiding light of the right Antonin Scalia, Jack Bauer did save Los Angeles from a terrorist attack…

    ***eyes roll…***

  147. 147.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Demo Woman: Murdoch is currently in the process of constructing towers across the nation that will broadcast white noise to interfere with your Fox broadcasts.

    Unless you pay a fee, of course.

  148. 148.

    gbear

    @Ed Drone:

    Thank you. I hope you’ll be here all week. I just tipped my waitress.

    @licensed to kill time:

    Hmm, if Rush was on those little blue pills, they couldn’t give him nitro when he went into the hospital. It’s a fatal combination.

    (Ummm…I know this because I’m carrying nitro. They make sure you know about it when you get the prescription).

  149. 149.

    bemused

    @John Cole:
    I’ve had that same thought several times. Loopy is the perfect description.
    Listening to him is guaranteed to make me feel exhausted & headachy in no time.

  150. 150.

    Martin

    @Makewi:

    I think 58% of Americans are assholes. Actually, that’s down from my usual estimation, so maybe things are getting better.

  152. 152.

    sergei yustinkovitch

    kid bitzer @ 35: And that was in 2002, not too long after “terrorist killers” had annihilated 3,000 of Bush’s fellow Americans (and others) while he snored his way through summer vacation and his Attorney General was crotch-sniffing hookers in New Orleans. Yes, our grieving president, teaching us new ways to plumb the personal depths of our hatred and disgust that such a malformation as George W. Bush could make it into the highest ranks of power and influence in the motherfucking world.

  153. 153.

    Makewi

    @The Republic of Stupidity:

    Well ignoring the problem you have with the source, I think the point might be to find out specific details about what might be coming.

    @Sentient Puddle:

    So you are pro blocking of opposing opinion? Personally, I think the best answer to ‘unpopular’ speech would be more speech.

    @Demo Woman:

    Yes, it is. I also think the American people have a fair amount of a hankering for Vengeance in them shortly after an episode like this. I’m guessing, of course.

  154. 154.

    Stefan

    What a f’ing stupid article by Politico. Diverse Reaction to Limbaugh. They basically scoured the Web and found people who wished Limbaugh well and people who were not so kind.

    But then, you have to also remember the fact that Limbaugh being on vacation in Hawaii, it’s much different than being in Texas. Hawaii to many Americans seems like a foreign place. And I think those images, the optics, hurt Rush Limbaugh very badly….

  155. 155.

    Makewi

    @Zuzu’s Petals:

    Try again:

    4* Should waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques be used to gain information from the suspected bomber?
    …
    58% Yes
    30% No
    12% Not sure

  156. 156.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Zuzu’s Petals

    Gee, regular ol’ interrogation techniques sound downright sissy in comparison.

    I wonder how people would have answered if the question was “Should we torture his sorry azzzzz?”

    I also loved Question 2… I have no doubt countries all over the planet will gladly let us elbow our way in and take over their airports for our sake…

    Saaaaaaaaay… wasn’t the Bush Admin all for some group from Dubai taking over and running American ports a few years back?

  157. 157.

    Martin

    In this case they describe waterboarding merely as an “aggressive interrogation technique.”

    Wow, they didn’t even use the previously misleading ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’. I’m guessing most people think that ‘aggressive interrogation’ is when Lenny Briscoe gets all in your face and Lt. Van Buren needs to come in and break things up.

  159. 159.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Makewi

    Well ignoring the problem you have with the source, I think the point might be to find out specific details about what might be coming.

    Quite frankly, you presumptuous git, you, and I, don’t know what they’ve already gotten out of the man.

    For you to stomp around demanding he be waterboarded, for security’s sake, is simply fatuous and embarrassing.

  160. 160.

    gbear

    @Makewi:

    So you are pro blocking of opposing opinion?

    I think we’re mostly pro not seeing some obscenely rich egomainiac asshole extort more money from cable viewers.

  161. 161.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Makewi:

    So you are pro blocking of opposing opinion?

    No, but I’m pro-blocking of stupid shit 24 puts into people’s heads.

    Personally, I think the best answer to ‘unpopular’ speech would be more speech.

    You’d think, wouldn’t you? And yet a significant number of Americans still believe the health care bill includes death panels.

    I don’t really give a rat’s ass how popular speech is. I’m more interested in whether or not said speech is blatantly false or misleading.

  163. 163.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    I also think the American people have a fair amount of a hankering for Vengeance in them shortly after an episode like this.

    And this makes it okay?

    ***eyes roll…***

    But… but… I thought the point of ‘enhanced interrogation tactics’ was to get information, and not satisfy the bloodlust of the low-information voters out there.

  164. 164.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @Martin:

    Well as Frank Luntz says, the key to survey polling is to “ask a question in the way that you get the right answer.”

  165. 165.

    Makewi

    @Zuzu’s Petals:

    No, it is specifically mentioned by name and then it is followed by “and other aggressive interrogation techniques”.

    Saying, I went to the store to get ham and other various food stuffs does not mean that the other various food stuffs were meat or porcine based. You are simply reading that statement in a very narrowly defined way in order to see it how you want to.

  167. 167.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Saying, I went to the store to get ham and other various food stuffs does not mean that the other various food stuffs were meat or porcine based.

    This is just silly…

  168. 168.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @Makewi:

    Please make note of the use of the word “other.” And then look up its meaning.

    Really, are you beyond embarrassment?

  169. 169.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    I see the baby is throwing a tantrum. Honesty not high on your list of traits is it champ?

    You’re embarrassing yourself and don’t even realize it.

  170. 170.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Makewi: Think you got that backwards. The specific is compared to the set in the polling question. Which means that in your analogy, the ham is implied to be a various food stuff. Which it is.

  172. 172.

    licensed to kill time

    @gbear:

    Hmm, if Rush was on those little blue pills, they couldn’t give him nitro when he went into the hospital. It’s a fatal combination.
    __
    (Ummm…I know this because I’m carrying nitro. They make sure you know about it when you get the prescription).

    I know about this from watching all those medical shows where guys are embarrassed to admit they take boner pills until House tells them they’ll DIE if they get the nitro.

    Wonder if Rush had an embarrassing dilemma? Heh.

  173. 173.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    Really, are you beyond embarrassment?

    Clearly… yes.

    Has probably driven out the entrance of a parking lot, right over the automatic tire shredder, consequences be damned, just to prove he can do it.

  174. 174.

    eemom

    I’ve been gone a few hours……..any news? Like, from Hawaii? Any really BAD news?? Such as would leave a big fat empty HOLE in the hearts of many radio listeners? Go on, I can take it……

  176. 176.

    Makewi

    @Sentient Puddle:

    Does the health care bill contain provisions that allow a group (or panel if you wish) that have decision making power regarding American health care?

    I’ll ignore for the moment the idea that you would set yourself up as the decider of what is to be considered true. We tried that once by the way, under Adams. It’s considered one of the low points in American history.

  177. 177.

    bemused

    I wonder how many Rush fans who have Parkinson’s Disease or have loved ones with Parkinson’s have seen the video of Rush mocking Michael J Fox, even imitating Michael’s involuntary shaking. I don’t know how anyone can say they love Rush after that shameful episode.

  178. 178.

    GregB

    The same dildos that are champing at the bit for torture were the same idiotic rubes who were suckered into the Iraq war on lies and innuendo.

    Notice that these scumbags aren’t for torturing Catholic priests who might know of the whereabouts of child rapists.

    Because most Catholic priests look like them.

    You can bet that the optics of that young looking black man is not lost on a lot of African-Americans.

    Pat Buchanan and his monstrous ilk are the descendents of those Americans who were spitting on little black girls on their way to school during the civil rights struggles.

    -G

  179. 179.

    cyntax

    I went to the store to get ham and other various food stuffs…

    This indicates the ham is a food stuff. But if you’d said “I’m going to the store for ham and other dairy products” that might be a more accurate analogy.

    An alternate, and many on this thread would argue more realistic, wording would be: should the bomber be tortured?

  180. 180.

    Martin

    You are simply reading that statement in a very narrowly defined way in order to see it how you want to.

    It’s a survey to elicit an opinion. That’s the whole point, you jackass. Some people will read ‘other’ as a cop pounding his fist on the table, and other people will read ‘other’ as a taser to the genitals. This is a feature of Rasmussen surveys, something you very clearly fail to grasp.

  181. 181.

    Demo Woman

    @Darryl: Good Point. If the question read Should water boarding and other forms of torture be used maybe 48% would have responded no.
    Al Gore was just on the Rachel Ray show. I bet he’s looking forward to the start of a new decade.

  182. 182.

    gbear

    @Makewi:

    It’s considered one of the low points in American history.

    I’m assuming you’re an expert on this due to your close personal relationship with low points in American history. You might say that you were there. Your arguments were, at any rate.

  183. 183.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Makewi: Wow, you really had to go to the outer bounds of semantic parsing in order to come up with that justification for it being true.

    It unfortunately leads you to the conclusion that said panels currently (and, after the bill goes into effect, will) reside within the hands of private insurers.

    I think a certain McArdle saying is appropriate here.

  186. 186.

    Demo Woman

    @eemom: The big fat oaf’s departure would help the republicans imo. When congressman have to kiss his feet, it’s embarrassing and they look weak.

  187. 187.

    Makewi

    @Zuzu’s Petals:

    You are the one assuming that people are being tricked into answering a particular way, but I’m the one who should be embarrassed? I’ll make sure to make a note of that.

    I’ll also make note of the fact that you’d rather argue the meaning of the word “is” then discuss the results of the poll.

  192. 192.

    Jennifer

    I@Makewi@Makewi:

    I’m curious how the denizens of this land react to the report that apparently 58% of their fellow citizens (assumption!) Favor Waterboarding of Plane Terrorist To Get Information

    Geez, the man has already lost his balls, have you no decency,
    Makewi?

  194. 194.

    Makewi

    I see. This discussion is apparently too difficult for many of you. So I give up.

    In fact, I’ll depart this site. Have a Happy New Year.

  195. 195.

    licensed to kill time

    Jeebus, folks – you all know Makewank just wants to stir shit up. It’s like a Mission to Stir, Shit Up! version eleventy billion.

    “If you choose to accept this mission, her shit will self-destruct in 10 seconds…..”

    Don’t play.

  197. 197.

    kay

    @Makewi:

    Torture is unlawful, Makewi. So it doesn’t really matter if Scott Rasmussen, conservative pollster, conducts interviews where he offers it an option. It’s against the law. It’s not on the menu of options.

    What is he polling next?

    “When you make procure goods and services do you prefer to use, 1. cash, 2. a credit card, or 3. a ski mask and a gun?”

    While number 3 may poll better, and many people have actually used that method, it’s still illegal.

    I can’t believe our moral leaders, conservatives, are promoting illegality in such a cavalier manner.

    What part of “against the law” do you guys not understand? When do you think you might get it?

  199. 199.

    Demo Woman

    @kay:

    What part of “against the law” do you guys not understand? When do you think you might get it?

    Yeah, that will happen.

  200. 200.

    Stefan

    Does the health care bill contain provisions that allow a group (or panel if you wish) that have decision making power regarding American health care?

    Yes, it does. These groups are called private for-profit insurance companies.

  202. 202.

    Demo Woman

    Many bj’ers are from over seas. I know that R-Jud celebrates New Years in under four hours anyone else around who’s already celebrating?

  204. 204.

    liberty60

    @Tom Hilton:

    I would add that terror sells newspapers and draws ratings; complex wonkery doesn’t

    Exactly. But at the risk of re-igniting certain acrimonious policy debates, I’ll just point out that lefties too are not wholly immune to the lures of melodrama over complex wonkery. It’s kind of a human trait

    I mis-spent my youth and early adulthood by arguing with liberals, as a Reagan conservative; lets just say “I am aware of all pre-Internet traditions” of excitable drama-mongering on both left and right.

    Who do ya think invented the “die-in”? Its just that good looking college kids pulled it off with much more panache when protesting Nicaraguan contras, than the Teabaggers do today.

  205. 205.

    Joey Maloney

    @Sentient Puddle:

    Murdoch is currently in the process of constructing towers across the nation that will broadcast white noise to interfere with your Fox broadcasts.

    Think anyone will notice?

  206. 206.

    kay

    @Demo Woman:

    “When the victim of a crime, do you prefer 1. the perpetrator be imprisoned, 2. victim’s assistance-financial reimbursement, or 3. your relatives seek vengeance in any way they deem appropriate?”

    They’re just completely unmoored from the rules here. I mean, really.

    Depending on the circumstances, and the public mood, they’ll go any which way.

    “Well, hell, it polls okay!”

  207. 207.

    Stefan

    I thought according to Bush we shouldn’t pay attention to polls. I thought the only poll that counted was the one taken in November 2008. But now they’re OK again?

    So confused…..

  209. 209.

    Joey Maloney

    @GregB:

    Pat Buchanan and his monstrous ilk are the descendents of those Americans who were spitting on little black girls on their way to school during the civil rights struggles.

    “Descendents” my pasty white ass. Pat’s not that young. And I understand in his memoir he boasts about when he was a kid using his fists to keep invaders out of his neighborhood. Hmm, D.C. in the 1950s, I wonder what kind of “invader” an Irish Catholic kid would be going after…?

  210. 210.

    danimal

    OT. Maybe progressives can learn from conservatives about the costs of refusing to compromise.

    Sometimes it’s better to look at things through the eyes of our competitors (in this case, sane conservatives like Bruce Bartlett). Look at the estate tax mess from a conservative point of view; their inability to compromise has them totally screwed come 2011. The purity police on the right have hamstrung rational conservatives severely. They couldn’t take a good deal because they are afraid of the teaparty loons. I don’t feel sorry for conservatives, but I do fear that progressives can stymie our own agenda based on “all or nothing” thinking.

  211. 211.

    Demo Woman

    @kay: Can we say hypocrites. Unfortunately the news media died in this country many years ago. Dan Rather was the last reporter who did not fear the corporations and he got canned.

  215. 215.

    The Moar You Know

    In fact, I’ll depart this site.

    @Makewi: See you soon under another screen name. You love the abuse too much to leave.

  217. 217.

    lonelypedestrian

    The Daily News had a headline about Obama needing to get a grip in a crisis. It is a good thing that some news organizations are staying focused on the issue of unemployment during this recession.

    Oh, well…nevermind.

  219. 219.

    Seanly

    Here’s to wishing that all the kindness, empathy and compassion which Rush showed to his fellow humans is revisited upon him during his recovery. May his doctors treat him with the care and regard that he showed for his opponents.

  220. 220.

    maus

    @Makewi: “I see. This discussion is apparently too difficult for many of you. So I give up.

    In fact, I’ll depart this site. Have a Happy New Year.”

    Vomiting forth a logical fallacy isn’t a “discussion”, get lost.

  221. 221.

    elmo

    @Cris:

    Oh, now you’ve done it. I have the mother of all earworms now.

    Flash! Aaahhaaaaa! He’ll save every one of us!

  224. 224.

    Cain

    @Dreggas:

    Well in Tom Coburns nightmares the teenage girls come out of those bathrooms as lesbians!

    God help us all… I think Tom would stay and watch. Heh.

    cain

  226. 226.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Jules: Here’s the part(s) that gets my head twisted…

    The document, which was not classified, was posted by numerous bloggers.

    and

    Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said in a statement that security directives “are not for public disclosure.”

    So why the fuck isn’t the document classified?!

  227. 227.

    ellaesther

    I have had so little to add to conversations lately, that all I can do is sit here and nod my head.

    That is one of the stupidest things ever said, running a very close second to the classic “all Islamic terrorists are Muslim” from just the other day.

    But I want you to know: I am nodding my head most vigorously! And I thank you, John Cole, for being so damn funny.

  229. 229.

    Redshirt

    The only way to really defeat any ninjas or telepathic assassins is to knock them out. So I propose at the beginning of the flight the masks drop down, and everyone breathes in copious amounts of sleepytime gas. When you wake up, Vegas, baby!

  230. 230.

    postmodernprimate

    MATTHEWS: And I think we have got to get serious about catching terrorists, not just catching weapons. I‘m waiting for the terrorist who knows kung fu or something that gets on an airplane without a weapon. God knows what that is going to be like.

    Years of trenchant analysis like this is what’s earned him the moral authority to summarily dismiss the specific policy concerns of progressives on health care reform by calling them “a bunch of stupid poopy-heads” on national tv.

  231. 231.

    danimal

    @Mnemosyne:

    Makewi departs this site the same way James Brown used to depart the stage.

    So does the proprietor of the site. I always look forward to a string of great posts once I read the obligatory “there’s a game on/dog to walk/family visit so I won’t be posting much” message.

  232. 232.

    Tomlinson

    I think that his *outrage* about the lack of a train from DC to NYC – from the same interview, IIRC – is another classic.

    Truly a most excellent piece of work by the esteemed Tweety.

  235. 235.

    liberty60

    OK, I just skimmed a couple Wingnut sites-
    and discovered they have a loathing and contempt for TSA that is equal only to the ACLU. Deriding it as incompetent, mendacious, and any other words that are leftover from Buckley’s days at National Review.

    So when do you think Wingnuttia is going to make the connection between the All-Too-Powerful, Never-Can-Be-Trusted-Gummit_Barakacies like the EPA, TSA, Homeland Security and…..wait for it…..

    The Pentagon/CIA/NSA?

    I notice how Malkin, in contrast to her usual screeching, is offering criticism of the CIA in muted, nuanced tones.

    I suspect that they, like dogs listening to their owner’s voice from a gramophone, know that something isn’t right- there is something not quite right, something they can’t quite put their finger on….

    “If government agencies can’t be trusted with power….and the Pentagon and the CIA are government agencies….and we want to give them all the power to do anything they want, without ever offering criticism…..”

    At which point, like the dog, they begin barking and growling, wanting to bite and rip something to shreds.

    Cry havoc, and let slip Dick Cheney….

  237. 237.

    KG

    My one thought on Rush: I wonder if this great defender of the free market used a private ambulance to take him to a private hospital where they ran his credit or got a deed on one of his homes before performing any work. I don’t know if it’s hanging around here or just thinking on it more, but despite my libertarian leanings I’m moving more towards something resembling single payer.

    About Matthews, all I can say is this: in the last decade we’ve had Sept 11th and then two guys try and blow up two planes. That’s three incidents out of how many hundreds of thousands of flights? I remember the aftermath of Sept 11th, I remember the worries that baseball games and stadiums would be blown up. That you wouldn’t be safe going to the movies or dinner, that sleeper cells were everywhere. It didn’t happen and it’s not going to happen (at least not on a regular basis) can we stop acting so fucking stupid now?

  239. 239.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @kay:

    I think it’s also interesting that they polled people as to whether the attempted underpants attack should be “investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act or by civilian authorities as a criminal act?” As if the two were mutually exclusive.

    I wonder if they polled people about the fact that Richard Reid was convicted and sentenced in a civilian CRIMINAL court.

  244. 244.

    Corner Stone

    @Cain:

    God help us all… I think Tom would stay and watch. Heh.

    Not saying I’d know nothin’ bout nothin’ but I’m pretty sure there’s a multi-billion dollar per year industry built on this very thing.

  245. 245.

    Comrade Jake

    Sully is now insisting that “every single person in the chain of command who failed to connect the dots is fired.”

    Because, you know, that’s how the Brits would do it.

  246. 246.

    gwangung

    Sully is now insisting that “every single person in the chain of command who failed to connect the dots is fired.”

    That’s deeply, deeply stupid.

    It’s not even clear that there were dots to connect.

  247. 247.

    KCinDC

    Have our hosts abandoned us for the evening and gone off to their drunken revelry? How long will this thread be by the time someone wakes up and starts a new open thread?

  249. 249.

    danimal

    @gwangung: Ya know, even if there are dots to connect, and multiple screwups by several officials, there are still ways to discipline and rectify the situation that don’t involve firing .

    Scapegoating is such a simplistic way to pretend to deal with situations.

  250. 250.

    Cain

    I think they are ignoring the most scary terrorists of all. Islamic Poltergeists. I mean.. we know how scary and terrorizing poltergeists are, but MAN.. you combine that with Jihad? OH.. MY.. JEHOVAH! We are talking an explosive mix here folks. Motherfucking jihadist poltergeists on the motherfucking plane!

    cain

  252. 252.

    Tomlinson

    @liberty60:

    So when do you think Wingnuttia is going to make the connection between the All-Too-Powerful, Never-Can-Be-Trusted-Gummit_Barakacies like the EPA, TSA, Homeland Security and…..wait for it…..
    The Pentagon/CIA/NSA?

    I keep waiting for that myself.

    Government = Bad, incompetent leech on society

    Military = Best thing ever, heart of America

    Wait…what? You have two HUGE bureaucracies. Surely the are comparable? Is the difference the guns? But the TSA is armed?

  253. 253.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Comrade Jake:

    Sully is now insisting that “every single person in the chain of command who failed to connect the dots is fired.”
     
    Because, you know, that’s how the Brits would do it.

    You mean sort of like during WW2 when Churchill royally fucked up the British response to the German invasion of Norway and was rewarded by becoming Prime Minister?

  256. 256.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @danimal:
    This. There’s no telling how many years of intelligence experience Sully’s willing to throw away on his vendetta. And where are they going to find intelligence officers to fill all those positions on short notice? Oh, yeah, we’ll just pull them out of this here “Intelligence Agent” warehouse where we keep our backup supply!

  257. 257.

    Comrade Jake

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Yeah. I love Sully but every once in awhile he ventures way out there in crazy wingnut base land. This would seem to be one of those times.

    On occasion part of me wonders if he’s simply trying to maintain his bona fides with the last five conservatives who still read his blog.

  260. 260.

    BR

    @ajr22:

    The Sanchez interview with Ensign was pretty good, and while it was great to see someone at CNN do their job for once, it was hardly an ambush as TPM calls it, and moreover, Sanchez was just doing his job.

    It seems that the bar has gotten so low in so-called mainstream journalism that when someone like Sanchez simply asks basic questions of an public figure and doesn’t take talking points as an acceptable answer it’s shocking. Shouldn’t we expect this from all interviews all the time? It seems that only Jon Stewart and, to an extent, Rachel Maddow do this on a regular basis. The rest, including Sanchez most of the time, accept what they’re told without question in a way that most folks don’t even do in normal conversation.

    I’m not British, but I think everyone in this country needs to see a bit of Jeremy Paxman’s interviews on the BBC to see how real news interviews should be done. Consider:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCo7qbzEX3c

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuqNWG9sbuE

  261. 261.

    Corner Stone

    @KCinDC:

    Have our hosts abandoned us for the evening and gone off to their drunken revelry? How long will this thread be by the time someone wakes up and starts a new open thread

    Cole’s either passed out in his la-z-boy with one one hand in his drawers Al Bundy style…or Tunch decided to start the new decade fresh and clean after all.

  262. 262.

    AhabTRuler

    @stevie314159: Boy, that song sucks!

    Y’know, that’s really interesting, ’cause we can come from different ethnic groups, or races, or creeds, or backgrounds and stuff…

    we might not, any of us, have anything in common except one thing: That song suuuuucks!

    So if you didn’t buy it, and I know that I didn’t buy it…

    …who the fuck bought it?

  264. 264.

    Bilejones

    Time to start profiling: Anyone in pajamas doesn’t get on the plane.

    Now, go get shitfaced and happy new year.

  266. 266.

    Anne Laurie

    @Ash Can:

    People always have a hankering for vengeance. That’s why we have laws.

    If there ever is a BJ tee-shirt, I want this quote on the back!

  267. 267.

    Hart Williams

    “Land of the free and home of the brave”?

    Either we stop pissing ourselves with irrationally exuberant pusillanimity, else we need to emend that National anthem.

    Don’t want the rest of the world laughing any harder at our wimpiness than they are already.

    Good fucking grief, people. It’s ALWAYS been scary. Where is it written that we have some Ghod given right to be safe in our Snuggies™ and won’t ever have to pull the covers over our heads about things that go bump in the night.

    Terrorism only works if the target is terrorized. Otherwise, it’s some dork trying to set his underwear on fire.

    Jeebus.

  268. 268.

    Hart Williams

    “Land of the free and home of the brave”?

    Either we stop pissing ourselves with irrationally exuberant pusillanimity, else we need to emend that National anthem.

    Don’t want the rest of the world laughing any harder at our wimpiness than they are already.

    Good fucking grief, people. It’s ALWAYS been scary. Where is it written that we have some Ghod given right to be safe in our Snuggies™ and won’t ever have to pull the covers over our heads about things that go bump in the night?

    Terrorism only works if the target is terrorized. Otherwise, it’s some dork trying to set his underwear on fire.

    Jeebus.

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