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You are here: Home / Pick the Winner!

Pick the Winner!

by John Cole|  January 4, 20109:44 am| 62 Comments

This post is in: Clown Shoes

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Who will be the first wingnut to accuse Obama of retreating since the US embassy was closed in Yemen?

My default guess for this sort of thing would be Andy McCarthy, but we have not heard from Peter Wehner recently.

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Previous Post: « Stiffening the Spines of the Bobbleheads
Next Post: Analyze Glenn Reynolds’ body language »

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    Face

    January 4, 2010 at 9:48 am

    How about your old buddy, Rockin’ Dan Rhiel?

  2. 2.

    brantl

    January 4, 2010 at 9:50 am

    Be fair, John; they’re all Wehners now.

  3. 3.

    joe from Lowell

    January 4, 2010 at 9:50 am

    I get the Erickson square.

  4. 4.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 4, 2010 at 9:51 am

    If Obama had left it open, then the question would be “Why doesn’t Obambi take tewwism serious?”, or, “Why is Obama putting diplomats lives at wisk?”

    Different day, same picked poison.

  5. 5.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 9:52 am

    @General Winfield Stuck: You wascally wabbit!

    MM1. She of the granite counter tops.

  6. 6.

    Dork

    January 4, 2010 at 9:54 am

    So one bozo from Nigeria, by way of Yemen, cosmically fails to light his junk on fire, and now suddenly the country of Yemen is, like, the Soviet Union^2 multiplied by North Korea and divided by GOP “yea” house votes?

    Did Yemen get nukes overnight, or are they still trying to pick sand out of their mashed taters?

  7. 7.

    IndieTarheel

    January 4, 2010 at 9:56 am

    One of the Cheeneys. We haven’t heard from them in about 30 seconds or so.

  8. 8.

    TR

    January 4, 2010 at 9:57 am

    I’m not sure I’d use the term “winner” to apply to any of these people.

  9. 9.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 9:59 am

    @IndieTarheel: Ooh ooh! I think I want to change my answer to Dick Cheney Jr.

  10. 10.

    amk

    January 4, 2010 at 10:00 am

    France seems to have joined UK & US in the stampede. Be prepared for unbearable rw noise in the coming days.

  11. 11.

    Alex S.

    January 4, 2010 at 10:06 am

    the Fox News guy who looks like the architect from Matrix Reloaded.

  12. 12.

    PeakVT

    January 4, 2010 at 10:10 am

    I’ll put my wager on the Pantload.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    January 4, 2010 at 10:11 am

    Darth and Darth Jr. have already been taken, so I’m going to go with Rudy.

    -dms

  14. 14.

    Zandar

    January 4, 2010 at 10:12 am

    I’m gonna take a swing at the third tier Wingers wanting some press and go with Gateway Drug Pundit.

    Susan “Wake Up America” Duclos will at some point as well, but she won’t be first.

  15. 15.

    Michael

    January 4, 2010 at 10:12 am

    Deb Schlussel and Michelle Malkin will tag team it – they’ll call it “retreat” while screaming bloody murder over why it was even there in the first place.

  16. 16.

    Col. Klink

    January 4, 2010 at 10:15 am

    And who would be the first to blame him were the U.S. embassy actually bombed and U.S. personnel killed while he had actionable intelligence and chose to keep the embassy open?

    The great thing about Wingnuts is that whatever Obama does, it is always going to be horribly wrong.

    This may (may) have been true about W. to a certain extent as well, but I always got the feeling that even if Bush publicly executed small children his base would have his back so long as the were swarthy foreign looking kids. The same certainly cannot be said about Obama.

  17. 17.

    jeffreyw

    January 4, 2010 at 10:17 am

    Strange game. The only way to win is not to play.

  18. 18.

    Max

    January 4, 2010 at 10:18 am

    The nation isn’t totally lost…

    The entire staff of that Alabama rep that switched from D to R, resigned en masse.

    Their statement here.

    Good on them!

  19. 19.

    Ted the Slacker

    January 4, 2010 at 10:18 am

    Must be short odds on Pam Geller.

  20. 20.

    John PM

    January 4, 2010 at 10:19 am

    Along these same lines, will the “winner” of this contest say something to the effect that Reagan never would have closed a US Embassy or withdrawn US troops from a foreign country, in the process completely forgetting Beruit?

    I will actually pick “no one,” because embassies are for p_ssies and should be replaced by military bases.

  21. 21.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 10:22 am

    @Max: Fuck yeah! That got me stoked, Max. Thanks for the link.

  22. 22.

    cat48

    January 4, 2010 at 10:24 am

    Bill Kristol won on Fox News Sunday already I think:

    And I would add one last thing. Closing the embassy in Yemen last night — I mean, I don’t — you know, no one wants State Department officials to be put at risk and all that, but that is a sign of weakness.

    Closing the embassy? We can’t protect our own embassy in Yemen, a place we have Special Operations forces, a place we say we’re working with the government on the front lines of the war on terror, and there’s a terror threat and we close the embassy? That’s a victory for Al Qaida. This last week has been a victory for Al Qaida in that region, I’m afraid. WILLIAMS: I disagree. I don’t think that there was any smoking gun. I think what Mr. Brennan was talking about was a specific failure that you could backtrack and say, “Here is the moment when there was such derogatory information that would have led you inescapably to say we definitely want to crack down on this individual

  23. 23.

    Zandar

    January 4, 2010 at 10:25 am

    I would have gone with Col. Mustard, but he’s too busy having a mancrush on Scott Brown winning Teddy Kennedy’s seat.

  24. 24.

    PeakVT

    January 4, 2010 at 10:27 am

    @Max: Good for them, though I couldn’t help but laugh at the phrase “In a sternly worded statement…”

  25. 25.

    Leelee for Obama

    January 4, 2010 at 10:30 am

    @jeffreyw: Best line EVAH! FTW! Funny how I still love that film, especially the scientist thinking nature should start over with the Bees! Thought of that a lot with all the talk about Colony Collapse.

  26. 26.

    SGEW

    January 4, 2010 at 10:32 am

    My quote for the day, from this very interesting NYT Magazine article (worth a read!):

    It is moments like these when [Deputy National Security Advisor John] Brennan’s disaffection from the last administration becomes evident. “I much prefer talking with someone who is interested in understanding the situation and responding to it appropriately,” Brennan told me.

    All I wanted for the new year was a president who could understand the situation and respond to it appropriately. Hooray!

  27. 27.

    jeffreyw

    January 4, 2010 at 10:33 am

    @PeakVT: LOL, I can imagine it if it was written by the Deadwood character.

    In a sternly worded statement, Griffith Chief of Staff Sharon Wheeler announced the exit of herself, along with legislative director Megan Swearingen,

  28. 28.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 4, 2010 at 10:33 am

    @cat48:

    It’s temporary, and the US closing is not the only western country closing. This is routine during times when intel of imminent attacks is present. Usually, a skeleton crew of senior diplomats stays on however.

  29. 29.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 10:39 am

    @General Winfield Stuck: I think the quote was from Kristol, though I had to read the comment twice to make sure.

  30. 30.

    Mike Kay

    January 4, 2010 at 10:41 am

    Mitten will say, “I want to double the size of the embassy!”

    Hamsher will say, “this is all Rahm’s fault!”

  31. 31.

    General Winfield Stuck

    January 4, 2010 at 10:42 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I misread Cat48’s comment on which was a Kristol quote, and which not. My bad.

  32. 32.

    Comrade javafascist

    January 4, 2010 at 10:42 am

    @PeakVT: Doughbob Loadpants would’ve been my choice to but apparently he’s on a deadline and very busy. hoocoodanode?

    I’m going with Hoekstra.

  33. 33.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 10:45 am

    @General Winfield Stuck: Me, too, the first time around.

    And, can someone give me the origin of hoocoodanode?

  34. 34.

    aimai

    January 4, 2010 at 10:46 am

    I’m not surprised that closing the embassy is seen as a sign of weakness, but its a serious misreading of who gets hurt when an embassy is attacked. When an embassy is open its a magnet for travellers from your own country needing help, but its also a magnet for locals/indigenes looking for visas and help coming to the US. When the embassy is targeted, those people are targeted too. I have a friend whose husband, a Kenyan national, was killed in the Kenyan bombing–he was inside getting his passport and she was waiting for him in the car. He was blown to bits standing in line. If you thought the embassy was a serious target you’d have to shut down all those services which bring the public inside the embassy *out of concern for their safety* as much as out of concern for your own staff.

    aimai

  35. 35.

    r€nato

    January 4, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Stay classy, conservatives

    (Obama hung in effigy in Plains, GA)

  36. 36.

    Jim

    January 4, 2010 at 10:47 am

    can we ask whoever it is to point to Yemen on an unmarked map?

  37. 37.

    cat48

    January 4, 2010 at 10:52 am

    The embassy in Yemen was attacked in Sept 2008 and 18 people were killed. That is a lot of people to lose to show how tough you are. Let us send Kristol over & he can run it alone until it is safe for others to return. Such a brave man. Heck take the entire staff of the Weekly Standard & Fox News. They are all really tough.

  38. 38.

    machine

    January 4, 2010 at 10:53 am

    My money is on Bachmann-Turner Diaries Overdrive.

  39. 39.

    GregB

    January 4, 2010 at 10:54 am

    Meanwhile in Uganda, the fruits of the American evangelical agenda are ripening quite well.

    From the NYT:

    “Human rights advocates in Uganda say the visit by the three Americans helped set in motion what could be a very dangerous cycle. Gay Ugandans already describe a world of beatings, blackmail, death threats like “Die Sodomite!” scrawled on their homes, constant harassment and even so-called correctional rape.”

    I wonder when this technique will migrate to the US?

    -G

  40. 40.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 10:54 am

    @cat48: Agreed. In general, I think anyone advocating war or bombing the whomever should be drafted to fight in whatever capacity. Or, we reinstall the draft. If we must fight, then everyone should have to sacrifice (roughly) equally.

  41. 41.

    Bill H

    January 4, 2010 at 10:57 am

    @r€nato:
    They would have to get classy, first.

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    January 4, 2010 at 10:58 am

    KRAUTHAMMER

  43. 43.

    bkny

    January 4, 2010 at 10:59 am

    Gov tom keane on msnbc earlier this a.m. …not joe scar’s show

  44. 44.

    Joey Maloney

    January 4, 2010 at 11:00 am

    OT, but did anyone have the intestinal fortitude to watch the Malkin (n., archaic. 1. a cat. 2. a mop made of rags. 3. a low-class or uncultured woman. 4. a prostitute.) 3-hour torturethon on BookTV yesterday? Did she get any tough questioning from the audience? Like about her countertops?

  45. 45.

    MikeJ

    January 4, 2010 at 11:08 am

    @Joey Maloney: I had more pleasant things to do, like giving the cat a brazilian.

    [No cats were actually waxed in the making of this post.]

  46. 46.

    J Price Vincenz

    January 4, 2010 at 11:09 am

    DougJ,

    I tried posting this last night a couple of times but it never showed up: Did you see that Deborah Howell got hit by a car and died?

    JPV

  47. 47.

    Ash Can

    January 4, 2010 at 11:15 am

    @asiangrrlMN: The trouble with a draft is that none of the people who really should serve actually would serve. Think of how many of today’s big-talking Republicans dodged the draft one way or another back in the day. It would be Vietnam all over again, with everyone except the assholes responsible for the war actually fighting it.

  48. 48.

    danimal

    January 4, 2010 at 11:17 am

    Since Limbaugh is probably out of the public eye for a bit, I’ll take Beck, with a tear in his eye, weeping for the fallen superpower.

  49. 49.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    January 4, 2010 at 11:19 am

    @danimal:

    Since Limbaugh is probably out of the public eye for a bit, I’ll take Beck, with a tear in his eye, weeping for the fallen superpower.

    Do you mean Beck weeping for Limbaugh, his spiritual ‘father figure’?

    ***Shudders at the thought of ANYONE seeing Rush as a father figure…***

    Oh… you meant Beck weeping for the US of A…

  50. 50.

    Maude

    January 4, 2010 at 11:48 am

    @MikeJ: WIN!
    OT Could John not blog when he has a cold? I am stuffy and miserable this a.m. and it’s not my fault.

  51. 51.

    Violet

    January 4, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    @Ash Can:
    If they re-instituted the draft, they should take away all reasons you can get out of it, except for a very small number of actual medical problems – and they’d have to be big problems, like dying of cancer.

    Small kids at home? Single parent? College student? Flat feet or eyesight problems? Here’s your uniform – no getting out of it.

  52. 52.

    kay

    January 4, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    “Yemeni government forces killed two suspected Qaeda militants on Monday and wounded others in a firefight 25 miles north of the capital, Yemeni officials said, tying the militants to the continuing threats directed against the United States and British Embassies here.
    Those embassies remained closed on Monday for a second day, and the French, German and Japanese embassies also closed. ”

    Oh, it was probably prudent.

    If it was a dumb idea, it’s certainly catching on, anyway.

  53. 53.

    tootiredoftheright

    January 4, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    @GregB:

    Isn’t that correctional rape involving supposedly straight men raping the gay men? Aren’t these the same guys that repeat the dogma from US conservatives that a guy being raped by a guy turns the rape victim gay? Wouldn’t the rapist be turned gay and the gay guy being raped remain gay?

  54. 54.

    Sly

    January 4, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    @tootiredoftheright:

    Correctional rape refers to the rape of a lesbian, typically by groups of men who often kill her afterwards. Watch the video here if you’re in the mood for a few hours of scalding-hot rage.

  55. 55.

    licensed to kill time

    January 4, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    What, no Facebook pearl of word salad post from Palin yet? I’m breathless with anticipation!

    I’ll take Palin for $200, John.

  56. 56.

    Ash Can

    January 4, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    @Violet: Oh, to be sure; I just don’t see that happening in this country. The pols in both parties would make damned sure they and their kids had loopholes so they could stay out of harm’s way. And frankly, as a parent myself, I can’t honestly blame them. What I do blame them for is starting shit and then telling other people and their kids to go do all the heavy lifting for them. That’s where they and basic human decency part ways.

  57. 57.

    Tax Analyst

    January 4, 2010 at 4:04 pm

    @ #18 Max –

    But you should see the comments following the piece. Ugh!

  58. 58.

    calipygian

    January 4, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    Bill Kristol did on Fox News Sunday but it got lost in Brit Hume’s affirmation of Christian Talibanism.

  59. 59.

    Bob Cesca

    January 4, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    We have a winner! Someone called “haystack” at Red State:

    Today’s entry in the “Epic Fail Diaries of Barack Obama” leads us to consider Al Qaeda in Yemen. The Al Qaeda he is sending 30,000 American troops to fight against in Afghanistan is the very same Al Qaeda he promises to inflict justice on in Detroit and ALSO just happens to be the Al Qaeda he means to tuck tail and run from in Yemen.

    Bonus points for the use of “tuck tail.”

    http://www.redstate.com/haystack/2010/01/04/barack-obama-a-president-that-wasnt/

  60. 60.

    asiangrrlMN

    January 4, 2010 at 6:45 pm

    @Ash Can: Damn it, you are right. Bah.

  61. 61.

    Monkeyfister

    January 4, 2010 at 6:56 pm

    The Winner is Bill Kristol!

    http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/torture-lover-bill-kristol-claims-embassy

    –mf

  62. 62.

    tootiredoftheright

    January 4, 2010 at 7:34 pm

    @Sly:

    From what I have read the Afgan men do it to other men and it also occurs in Iraq. The men that do the raping aren’t considered homosexual.

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