Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

So very ready.

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

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

It’s possible to be a liberal firebrand without crapping on the party.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

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

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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Archives for 2009

Please Stop Being So Damned Stupid

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If you want to point to a gaffe, look at this:

A spokesman for Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said Wednesday night that Franks believes the border should be closed right now except in critical cases or situations involving emergency personnel.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said all options should be considered to end the crisis involving swine flu, “including closing the border if it would prevent further transmission of the deadly virus.”

In a twitter message early Wednesday, McCain wrote “I said to Napolitano, ‘We need to be prepared to close the border with Mexico if the swine flu outbreak escalates further.’”

Yeah. That makes sense:

The alarm level, raised to 4 from 3, is at its highest since the warning system was adopted in 2005, and the virus has been confirmed in the U.K., Mexico, the U.S., Canada and Spain. The emphasis for health officials worldwide should be treating patients and strengthening preparations for outbreaks, said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security and environment. The Geneva-based WHO isn’t recommending travel restrictions.

How come the Mexican Olympic swim team never wins any gold medals, what with their ability to swim to the UK and Spain in several days while suffering from the flu? Republicans are just completely lost when the solution to any problem is not “cut taxes” or “commence bombing.”

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Nobody Tell Joe Biden How Twitter Works

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I really don’t see how this is terrible advice:

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car “at this point” because swine flu virus can spread “in confined places.” A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off.

“I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show.. “It’s not that it’s going to Mexico. It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. …

“So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it’s a different thing.”

I understand they are trying to calm the public and tamp down the hysteria, and that Joe’s message is at odds with the big O’s statements, but I’m not sure that what he said is all that silly or stupid. If I were in a subway car and people were hacking and wheezing, I sure as hell would GTFO and find a new way to travel in the short term.

Title of this post stolen shamelessly from the comments.

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Exit stage right

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Predictably enough, the Spector defection has given rise to a lot of speculating about the future of the Republican party. Getting down to brass tacks, Steve Benen finds yet another poll indicating that the percentage of Americans who call themselves Republicans is at a historic low.

Also predictably, Adam Nagourney lets the Meet the Press wing of the party have the last word in the debate over what to do next. In fairness, Huckleberry Hound makes a lot of sense when he says:

Do you really believe that we lost 18-to-34-year-olds by 19 percent, or we lost Hispanic voters, because we are not conservative enough? No. This is a ridiculous line of thought.

That’s the real bottom line. Unless the Republican finds a way to clone Lou Dobbs on a mass scale, and quickly, there just won’t be enough cranky white bastards to build a coalition around. Of course, that’s not really relevant to a party that doesn’t think it’s becoming less popular, just that their audience is being more selective. Meghan McCain can talk all she wants to about loosening up on social issues, but here’s the stark reality (from Ben Smith and Jon Martin):

The party will be shaped most clearly, however, when its presidential hopefuls begin their early state pilgrimages after the 2010 midterms. And they’re unlikely to emerge convinced that courting gay and Hispanic voters, in particular, is politically saleable within their parties.

“John McCain found out the hard way that being where he was not an asset,” Reed recalled of last year’s presidential primary, noting that the eventual nominee either shifted or downplayed some of his unpopular stances, including on immigration.

A presidential candidate’s arrival in an Iowa or South Carolina, Reed noted with a chuckle, offers “what I like to refer to as ‘a dramatically clarifying experience.’”

Expect to see a lot of hot air from “wise moderates” like Lindsay Graham and Olympia Snowe as the Republican party exits stage right. It’s Ralph Reed’s party, they’re just living in it.

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Cliff May Declares That America Tortured The Crap Out Of People

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Paraphrasing Cliff May on Jon Stewart, sincerely and not in the satirical ‘shorter’ style:

The so-called “torture memos” are actually anti-torture documents. They accomplish this because they establish a bright, shining line that we must not, under any circumstances, cross.

Emptywheel captured this key point from Stephen Bradbury’s 2005 memo.

…where authorized, it may be used for two “sessions” per day of up to two hours. During a session, water may be applied up to six times for ten seconds or longer (but never more than 40 seconds). In a 24-hour period, a detainee may be subjected to up to twelve minutes of water appliaction. See id. at 42. Additionally, the waterboard may be used on as many as five days during a 30-day approval period.

Needless to say, waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times in one month broke even the insane guidelines of Stephen Bradbury’s memo. Id est, even according to Cliff f*cking May America went too far.

What ever. I am so sick of these people. My uncle declared the other day that we should not prosecute torture because it would “tear the country apart”, and he was confident that America would never torture again. If prosecuting torture would ‘tear the country apart’, that pretty much takes for granted that a lot of people think that America should use torture.

Thus, the next time someone to the crazyward of Obama wins office torture will come right back. Every country always faces one existential threat or another. The only meager chance we have is if future George W. dumbasses think that the next guy might prosecute them for it.

Anyhow, here’s the vid.

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Artists In Our Midst

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It occurred to me that besides Laura W. (whose ads are prominently on display) and August J. Pollak, there are a number of artists who frequent this website. Let’s have a roll call, and put your links to your wares in the comments. The best way to support the arts is not more funding for the NEA, but for buying art that you like.

Let’s help our own.

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