Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No one could have predicted…

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Republicans in disarray!

Infrastructure week. at last.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

I was promised a recession.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

People are complicated. Love is not.

T R E 4 5 O N

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

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

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

You are here: Home / Politics / Hand Jive

Hand Jive

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This cracked me up:

gibbslist

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs took a swipe at Sarah Palin Tuesday, mimicking the former vice presidential candidate’s decision to use her hand as a notepad at the National Tea Party Convention last week.

At the daily press briefing, Gibb showed his left hand with writing on it, which apparently was his grocery list to purchase ahead of the expected snowstorm.

On a scale of one to awesome, I give it an 11, but Sullivan is pissed:

Really: this stunt is pathetic, demeaning and stupid – a disgrace to his office.

After Ari Fleischer, Dana Perino, and McClellan (who spent the last year informing everyone that he is as disgusted with himself as we were with him), I’m really not sure how you disgrace that office.

Again, I’m rocking the emotional maturity of a nine year old after a six pack of Dr. Pepper and three sticks of cotton candy, but I think what Gibbs did was awesome. These guys have been running around screaming Obama is a socialist and weak on terror and pals around with terrorists for two years now- a little joke at their expense is no big deal, in my book.

Aside from that, I’ve noticed Sullivan just doesn’t like Gibbs all that much, so it is personal now.

Reader Interactions

245Comments

  2. 2.

    Midnight Marauder

    Really: this stunt is pathetic, demeaning and stupid – a disgrace to his office.

    Aaaaaannnnnddddd this is when I remember that Andrew Sullivan is kind of a major toolbag.

    Edit: Well, this and whenever he quotes Douthat or McMegan. Just gross all-around.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    You’d think that anyone mocking Palin would meet with Sullivan’s approval, but I guess not. Maybe Gibbs should have prompted reporters to investigate Palin’s pregnancy or something.

    -dms

  4. 4.

    Tres Chouette

    What does Sully have against Gibbs? Does he give a reason or is this another one of his irrational fixations (like Sarah Palin)?

    TBH I would have thought that he would’ve LOL’d hard over something like this, given his strong dislike for the woman.

    EDIT: he’s obviously feeling pretty wingnutty today. Anyone see this post?
    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/02/the-choices-we-face.html

    And I quote…

    “Douthat challenges liberals:

    ‘A liberal version of the Ryan roadmap could be written pretty easily. But it wouldn’t look like the current Democratic legislation, and it certainly wouldn’t claim to balance the budget just by finding efficiencies throughout the existing health-care system. It would propose tax hikes, and significant ones — enough to take the government’s share of G.D.P. to 25 percent, 30 percent, or beyond.

    In the end, this the choice we’re facing: Tax increases, spending cuts, or some combination thereof. To the consternation of some of his more risk-averse colleagues, Ryan has offered up a serious small-government approach, painful cuts and all. His liberal critics should take up his challenge, and tell us just how high they’re willing to see taxes rise instead.’

    A-fucking-men. This is a two-way street, guys. And the Dems and libs need to own up to their own fantasies and cowardice as well.”

    Endquote. You’d think the guy would have had enough sense knocked into his head by the last couple years of economic shenanigans alone not to fall for this tish, but hey. You can take the man out of the party…

  6. 6.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I particularly like the way Gibbs mocks “hope” and “change”.

    (Or is that Soup and Cabbage?)

  7. 7.

    matoko_chan

    Nah….Sully is wrong this time. I actually think we might see him change his mind on this.
    It isn’t a cheap stunt….it is tit-for-tat.
    Obama is a gamer, but he plays tit-for-tat with proxies….and tit-for-tat is unbeatable.

    Notice he rarely addresses Palin’s cheap tricks directly….he treats her as the unserious bad joke she is.
    Like when she challenged him to a foot race.
    Crickets.
    Like when she offered her help post-election.
    Crickets.
    That has got to be righteously pissing her off.

  10. 10.

    ulee

    Gibbs called Palin out as a grifter. Sully too is a grifter so despite his hatred for Palin he is confused.

  13. 13.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Gibbs is just covering his ass in case he’s next in line for the prog guillotine cause Obama missed his pony quota this month. Laughter is the best defense, and you get extra points from the grim peasantry when it’s directed at Sarah Moose. The natives love that tangy wingnut flavored fresh meat. He bought himself another week, at least.

  14. 14.

    Nick

    soooooo, the White House fights back and they get criticized.

    Which is exactly why I liked the White House strategy of staying above the fray…once they get down and dirty, they get criticized for it. Either way, they look bad. It’s a double-edged sword.

  15. 15.

    OniHanzo

    When did Sully become the understudy of Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage?

    Try to find a sense of humor on Ebay or something, Sully. It’ll add years to your life.

  19. 19.

    teabagger

    Sullivan is one of the least cynical and most earnest bloggers out there. Maybe he’s a bit over the top on this, but that does not make him a toolbag. And actually, instead of trying to poke fun of Palin, he’s actually going after her much more seriously. I’m not sure where I stand on her – she’s a despicable person, but I can’t decide whether she’s worth worrying about (a la Sullivan), or such a farce that even our stupid electorate will figure it out eventually.

  20. 20.

    OniHanzo

    @Nick:

    Perhaps. Given enough space and audience, Republicans’ll punch themselves out ala Ed Norton in Fight Club. It’s like a fucking law or something.

    But it’s so much more fun beating them to it.

  22. 22.

    Midnight Marauder

    @OniHanzo:

    Try to find a sense of humor on Ebay or something, Sully. It’ll add years to your life.

    BUT HE’S A SOUTH PARK FAN! DIDN’T YOU SEE ALL THOSE HILARIOUS CLIPS OF CARTMAN AND KENNY HE POSTS?!

  23. 23.

    ajr22

    This makes me happy, cause it shows that Obama and crew laugh at Palin behind the scenes. I’m pretty sure Rahm put him up to it.

  25. 25.

    Mike Kay

    @rikyrah:

    ot for you – check out Tweety’s show today with Halperin and Kornbluth on Palin.

    For those of us at work, fill us in.

  26. 26.

    Comrade Jake

    When did so many conservatives lose any and all sense of humor?

    OK, forget I asked that.

  27. 27.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Smudge reax to Sully’s pearl-clutching.

    After Ari Fleischer, Dana Perino, and McClellan (who spent the last year informing everyone that he is as disgusted with himself as we were with him), I’m really not sure how you disgrace that office.

    Can I get a THIS! BTW, since when was press secretary an “office”? i don’t remember any senate hearings or approval from that august body to hire a press secretary.

    Sullivan, sometimes it’s better to just STFU.

  29. 29.

    Ailuridae

    Disgrace to the office of White House Press Secretary? How can a thinking person even type that? Andrew is just whining to whine.

  31. 31.

    demo woman

    According to the Fox News folks, it’s kinda folksy when you write on your hand. Gibbs should be part of the crowd now.

  35. 35.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    And once again I ask “who gives a fuck what Sully thinks about anything“?

    Other than that, I’m with ya. It’s the usual IOKIYAR.

  36. 36.

    Mike Kay

    @teabagger:

    And actually, instead of trying to poke fun of Palin, he’s actually going after her much more seriously.

    You couldn’t be more wrong. There is no more lethal weapon than mockery.

  37. 37.

    Catsy

    Sullivan is a grand master of unearned sanctimonious preening.

    I thought what Gibbs did was fucking hilarious. And I would place real money on a bet that this joke was blessed by Obama.

    Honestly, elected Democrats need to do /more/ blatant mockery of imbeciles like Palin. When people are laughing at you, not with you, it’s sort of hard to maintain any kind of credibility in politics, and the GOP right now is a bumper crop of low-hanging fail fruit.

  38. 38.

    demo woman

    A simple question, why does spell check think kinda is acceptable but President Obama is not?

  39. 39.

    teabagger

    @Mike Kay

    *You couldn’t be more wrong. There is no more lethal weapon than mockery.*

    Yeah, sure… if we were all still in high school.

    But no president was ever mocked more than George Bush, and it sure stopped him from destroying the country. Good thing we mocked him so much rather than say, standing up to his wars and abhorrent policies.

  40. 40.

    Comrade Jake

    I assume most of you caught Colbert the other night, when he stated that Palin was “fucking retarded …. satire!”

    Hilarious.

  41. 41.

    liberty60

    Good snark on this over at Hufpo- from the comments:
    What did Palin write on her other hand?
    “See other hand”

  43. 43.

    Craig

    It’s not like this came out of nowhere. Her entire speech was about how much Obama sucks. Why the hell shouldn’t the Administration have some fun with this dumb bitch?

  49. 49.

    teabagger

    Sullivan was wrong to be so over the top about “disgracing” a non-existent office. But the broader point is that mocking is really satisfying for a minute, but that kind of quick gratification is not how this war is going to be won.

  51. 51.

    liberty60

    @teabagger:

    “Yeah, sure… if we were all in high school.”

    Liberals like to imagine that a well crafted debating point will carry the day; and it will, IF WE WERE IN COLLEGE DEBATING 101.

    There is plenty of room in politics for lowbrow mockery and snark; it DID have a hand in bringing Bush down from grace.
    Conservatives won using both Wm. F. Buckley, and Pat Buchanan.
    Progressives have Buckley types in spades, but not enough Buchanans.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    @teabagger:

    Sullivan is one of the least cynical and most earnest bloggers out there.

    That’s why many of us haven’t forgiven him for his “fifth column” remarks. He can’t even pass it off as a joke. He genuinely thought that people on the left wanted more terrorist attacks against their fellow Americans and would actively assist al-Qaeda.

    “Earnest” doesn’t mean anything when you’re earnestly an idiot.

  53. 53.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @teabagger:

    Sullivan was wrong to be so over the top about “disgracing” a non-existent office. But the broader point is that mocking is really satisfying for a minute, but that kind of quick gratification is not how this war is going to be won.

    Oh, I don’t know. I say we use every tool in the toolbox.

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    @teabagger:

    But the broader point is that mocking is really satisfying for a minute, but that kind of quick gratification is not how this war is going to be won.

    Wars aren’t won with a single big gesture. They’re won through a long slog where a lot of little moments finally add up to a victory. Holding back until you can land one huge blow is pretty much a guarantee that you will lose that war.

  59. 59.

    Ash

    I love Gibbs. He’s smarmy and sarcastic (which are necessary traits to have if you’re going to deal with the WHPC every damn day and not drink yourself to death) and though he tries a bit too hard sometimes, it’s better than having Perino on my teevee.

  60. 60.

    teabagger

    @liberty60

    Well-crafted debate and mockery are not the only two options. Enacting sound policy, calling out lies and cynical pandering can also be done. Mocking Palin’s intelligence is just going to alienate people who don’t already think she’s an idiot and gains them nothing.

    And how did mockery bring down GWB? He served two full terms and was only brought down by the disaster in Iraq and the economy.

  62. 62.

    slag

    @Comrade Jake: Caught it on a lark.

    I never before thought that watching somebody call a person a “f*$%ing retard” would make me laugh.

    Yet another reminder that I need to put watching the Comedy Central guys on my daily to-do list.

  63. 63.

    Midnight Marauder

    @teabagger:

    Sullivan is one of the least cynical and most earnest bloggers out there. Maybe he’s a bit over the top on this, but that does not make him a toolbag. And actually, instead of trying to poke fun of Palin, he’s actually going after her much more seriously. I’m not sure where I stand on her – she’s a despicable person, but I can’t decide whether she’s worth worrying about (a la Sullivan), or such a farce that even our stupid electorate will figure it out eventually.

    Listen, I like Sullivan (in small degrees and doses), but stunts like this–which are a feature in Sully’s World, not a bug–do him no favors, regardless of his fantastic writing on the Bush Co. torture regime and the Green Uprising in Iran.

    Exhibit A: This
    Exhibit B: Demanding Janet Napolitano be fired for…something
    Exhibit C: Acknowledging Ross Douthat as “intelligent” in a public forum

    All first-ballot reasons to be classified as a “toolbag.”

  64. 64.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @teabagger:

    Well-crafted debate and mockery are not the only two options. Enacting sound policy, calling out lies and cynical pandering can also be done. Mocking Palin’s intelligence is just going to alienate people who don’t already think she’s an idiot and gains them nothing.

    And we should take advice from someone who goes by the handle “teabagger” why?

    The only people who don’t think she’s an idiot won’t vote for Obama if he was the second coming of Jeebus.

  65. 65.

    geg6

    Mockery is THE best weapon anyone can use against bullies and if Palin and the teabaggers aren’t flat out bullies, I don’t know who is. Good on Gibbs and Obama. About time these people get the type of respect they deserve. Sully can kiss my skeery XX chromosomed ass. That was an awesome thing. More please.

  66. 66.

    OniHanzo

    @teabagger:

    Mocking Palin’s intelligence is just going to alienate people who don’t already think she’s an idiot and gains them nothing.

    Jesus, Palin concern trolling? And it’s like what… 6:30? I haven’t even started drinking. At least give a guy a head start.

  68. 68.

    J.W. Hamner

    I can maybe see the point that making fun of Palin is a bad move because you’re conferring respect by engaging her… even to point out what an idiot she is… but I’m so goddamned scared of the prospects of President Sarah Palin 2012 that laughter is the only thing that lets me sleep at night. Go Gibbs!

  70. 70.

    Ash

    @teabagger:

    Mocking Palin’s intelligence is just going to alienate people who don’t already think she’s an idiot and gains them nothing.

    Durrrrrrr, anyone in the world who STILL, at this point in time, doesn’t believe that she’s a giant fucking idiot, deserves all the alienation they can get.

  71. 71.

    Comrade Jake

    About half the press corps laughed, and the other half groaned. I’ve got Tapper pegged as one of the groaners.

  72. 72.

    teabagger

    @ Mnemosyne, @arguing with signposts

    Well, you and I just disagree about the effectiveness of Gibbs’ joke. It makes some people laugh, but it’s at best a zero, and probably a net negative.

    Why is he even giving her that respect by referring to her? She’s not an elected official. Plus, making fun of her for being stupid plays into her hands. “The common folk apparently aren’t as smart as Obama and the elites, etc.” Same way Bush got elected.

    I’d rather he (only if asked) said she was a cynical opportunist. That would be strong. Mockery is typically weak – when you don’t have the sack to say something directly.

  73. 73.

    Midnight Marauder

    @teabagger:

    Sullivan was wrong to be so over the top about “disgracing” a non-existent office. But the broader point is that mocking is really satisfying for a minute, but that kind of quick gratification is not how this war is going to be won.

    Right. Because when Joe Biden ridiculed Rudy Giuliani as only being about “a noun, a verb, and 9/11,” Rudy’s credibility as a legitimate political figure went through the roof.

  74. 74.

    matoko_chan

    @teabagger: lawl….we mock her because its hilarious, and also, too how grieviously butthurt her defenders get is just icing.

    Bring back Tina Fey!
    I can just imagine the Palin/handjob/retarded/satire jokes that SNL will make into comedy gold.
    Palin is an imbecile, lol.

  75. 75.

    BombIranForChrist

    Man, Sully just can’t help feeding that stereotype of gay men as hysterical queens.

  77. 77.

    OniHanzo

    @teabagger:

    Mockery is typically weak – when you don’t have the sack to say something directly.

    How does this bullshit theory work in the face of the Tina Fey quotient and the 2008 election? I’m just curious.

  78. 78.

    NickM

    I’m not sure where I stand on her – she’s a despicable person, but I can’t decide whether she’s worth worrying about (a la Sullivan), or such a farce that even our stupid electorate will figure it out eventually.

    I’m very worried, but I tend to do that. Still, I’m sometimes worried about things that ultimately come to pass, which in Palin’s case worries me.

  80. 80.

    demo woman

    You all are just being condescending!!!!!! Sarah even used that word to describe you liberals.

  81. 81.

    matoko_chan

    @teabagger:

    I’d rather he (only if asked) said she was a cynical opportunist.

    Obama NEVER engages her.
    She is invisible as far as he is concerned.
    Palin offers Obama her help in post election speech.
    crickets.
    Palin challenges Obama to foot race after runners world shoot.
    crickets.
    He just lets his proxies mock her brutally….like Gibbs, Stewart, and Steven Colbert.
    :)

  82. 82.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @teabagger:

    Well, you and I just disagree about the effectiveness of Gibbs’ joke. It makes some people laugh, but it’s at best a zero, and probably a net negative.

    Honestly, it’s probably a net nuthin’ because there are three years before the next presidential election. Yawn. It’s nothing for Sully to blow up over, and you’ve already wasted too much time on the Intertrons whinging about it.

    I don’t see how this damages Obama in any way. The news cycles flow too fast for that. Bush didn’t lose an election because Ari Fleischer was a huge dick, or because McClelland lied with a straight face. I fail to see how Gibbs doing a riff on a f**king retard like Palin is going to swing any votes one way or another.

  85. 85.

    Martin

    @freelancer: If Dan Choi has been called up, then DADT is no longer being enforced in any manner. There’s no way the brass would sign off on Choi, given how publicly he came out, and finalize discharge orders on any other gay soldier.

  86. 86.

    Napoleon

    Mockery is one of the strongest weapons that can be deployed against the Republicans. It can not be deployed enough.

    Oh and just caught Tweety talking about Palin. Awesome.

  89. 89.

    Ash

    @demo woman: She would never use the word “condescending.”

    1) It’s not folksy enough
    2) if she wanted to convey the same feeling, she would use a word like “supercilious,” as she likes to dive into a thesaurus every now and again just to make sure she doesn’t come off like a complete moron.

  91. 91.

    Mike in NC

    And how did mockery bring down GWB? He served two full terms and was only brought down by the disaster in Iraq and the economy.

    Well, those really didn’t bring him down, to the True Believers. He was term-limited and couldn’t complete the gutting of the economy for his cronies and more wars for “Freedom’s on the March”.

    >Sullivan is one of the least cynical and most earnest bloggers out there. That’s why many of us haven’t forgiven him for his “fifth column” remarks. He genuinely thought that people on the left wanted more terrorist attacks against their fellow Americans and would actively assist al-Qaeda.<

    The fucker has never fully apologized for that shit. Meanwhile he continues his love/hate relationship with Palin. Hates her message but still throws out the “know fear” crap about how unstoppable she now is. Go take another six week paid vacation in P-town, for Christ’s sakes.

  93. 93.

    Trinity

    Gibbs is awesome sauce.

    Sully is a jackass. I haven’t clicked to his site ever since he dipped his toe in the birther pool. I trust his judgement as much as I trust Goldman Sachs.

  96. 96.

    scav

    If the entire election of 2010 is crucially dependent upon a single well-deserved giggle at a daily press briefing, the country will be in damned good shape is all I can say.

  97. 97.

    LuciaMia

    Hmm,
    Milk
    Eggs
    Hope
    Change.

    What, no Rock salt?

    How about a bottle of rum, for those hot toddies when you’re nearly dead from shoveling?

  99. 99.

    slag

    @demo woman: Am I the only one who found that whole “condescending” meme pretty convenient so shortly after Obama handed House Republicans their collective asses?

    I still haven’t figured out why a slimy paper like the WaPo hired Ezra and Greg Sargent. It bothers me.

  100. 100.

    OC

    It’s a humorous joke about a functional idiot. BFD. Sullivan might have enjoyed the joke if Gibbs wrote something about Trig’s “mysterious” birth on his hand.

  101. 101.

    Gwangung

    Hmmmmm….like what she did was that dignified in the first place. Arguably letting that go without mockery lowers the discourse.

  102. 102.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Napoleon: I think jenjen was referring to the reader and those like her. Not Kurtz that posted it. That’s how I took it.

  104. 104.

    geg6

    Tweety is on a fuckin’ roll over Palin and the teabaggers tonight. He seems just completely freaked by them. So when will it dawn on him that this is what the GOP has always been deep in its mean, shriveled, deeply stupid, venal, cowardly, fantasist, racist, misogynist heart?

  105. 105.

    demo woman

    @slag: When you have to search out the author to submit an oped piece, I would say that’s pretty convenient. If one accuses me of being condescending at this point, I might just respond with “what are you fucking retarded“.

  106. 106.

    matoko_chan

    @teabagger: draft SNL storyboard for 2012 Presidential Debate Skit.
    Open with candidates behind podium.
    Pan to Palin, played by Tina Fey.
    As the moderator asks Palin the first question, a fan of twelve Shiva arms opens behind Palin and she begins frantically searching the palms for an answer to the question.
    Obama leans over courteously and asks…..may I give you a hand?

    lololllolollolllol!!

  108. 108.

    arguingwithsignposts

    I’m sorry, but I have to link back to this, because it is comment gold:

    Dear John Boehner and Eric Cantor,
    __
    I know you’re a little bit upset about the sudden loss of your delicious milkshake from a week or so ago. You’re feeling a bit trapped, because this is a no-win situation for you.

  111. 111.

    Napoleon

    @mr. whipple:

    In sum and substance that she is a complete idiot. TPM as a little outtake. It was a segment with Mark Helpern (sp?) and Ann Kornblut (sp?).

  113. 113.

    demo woman

    Let’s not forget that the Republican party mocked Kerry’s service by wearing band aids with a purple heart drawn on it.
    Gibb’s stunt does not rise to that level.

  115. 115.

    Tonal Crow

    It’s funny, and a good sign that Obama is beginning to understand the need for good rhetoric. However, it’s far, far, far (far!) more important to get out the right message about the GOPers who are actually in power. Let’s see what he does if they fail to show for his healthcare summit.

  117. 117.

    Keith G

    @teabagger:

    @OniHanzo:

    I acknowledge your commitment to high ideals. You know that voters are sincere in their beliefs and will be swayed by the logic of the best argument they hear. I just do not know which freekin galaxy you have dropped in from, because that is not the way American voters roll. They ate up the insincere, mouthy swagger of a failed business man turned Texas Governor. Our voters eat irreverent humor up. If the West Wing doesn’t go over the top, they will do alright. Plus, there is something to be said for giving your side something to laugh about in troubled times.

  118. 118.

    Deschanel

    I honestly think Sullivan’s in a foul mood about that 4,700 word hit-job Leon Wieselter did on him, unfairly (to me) smearing him as an anti-Semite. He’s under pressure to come up with a measured response proportionate to the attack. Maybe lashing out at Gibbs was some release. (Which is better than that TMI post about being “drained’ after marathon lovemaking. Gawd.)

    It’s interesting, Sully gets grim and governessy at a mild laugh, but also laughs at the dumbest things. ( Like, I know a lot of people enjoy South Park, but he cackles with glee and sees deep meaning in it. Like a ten year old. He’s a very odd duck. )

  119. 119.

    Mike in NC

    Tweety is on a fuckin’ roll over Palin and the teabaggers tonight. He seems just completely freaked by them. So when will it dawn on him that this is what the GOP has always been deep in its mean, shriveled, deeply stupid, venal, cowardly, fantasist, racist, misogynist heart?

    Um, never. Tweety and his wife Kathleen (TV news anchor at one of the DC channels) both pull down 6 or 7 figure salaries. So they’re part of the problem, not the solution.

  122. 122.

    slag

    @demo woman:

    If one accuses me of being condescending at this point, I might just respond with “what are you fucking retarded“.

    I support this decision. Just make sure you speak slowly. And by all means, enunciate. I understand one of the symptoms of Republicanism is a diminished ability to comprehend and process information.

  123. 123.

    Mike in NC

    White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs took a swipe at Sarah Palin Tuesday, mimicking the former vice presidential candidate’s decision to use her hand as a notepad at the National Tea Party Convention last week.

    You know who else cribbed notes on his hand? Hitler! But he wrote them on the back, not the palm, which is how the infamous Nazi salute same about; he was just trying to read them when he stuck his arm out. Fun fact!

  126. 126.

    The Populist

    It’s childish, sure, but it sure beats having a press sec who:

    1) Tells me to watch what I say (Fleischer)
    2) Spars with reporters to sell an obvious bogus line (Snow)
    3) Calls out news orgs and personalities and threatens credentials (Perino)
    4) Outright lies to get people to stop pestering him (McClellan)

    Yes, I don’t love Gibbs but heck if that wasn’t funny.

  128. 128.

    The Populist

    @Joshua Norton:

    Until Sister Sarah calls out Rush Limbaugh’s retard comments as hate (fact, it was hatred not fucking satire) she has zero right to whine about this.

  129. 129.

    HRA

    To me, what Gibbs and Colbert did was a hell of lot subtle compared to what she has done in the past and did this past weekend. I truly enjoy paybacks in this manner. More, please!

  130. 130.

    Ailuridae

    @Mike in NC:

    So everyone who pulls down big money is part of the problem?
    I think Matthews is part of the problem fwiw but making that kind of money doesn’t make one necessarily part of the problem.

    And Matthews has to make more than a million a year.

  131. 131.

    ericvsthem

    @Napoleon:

    Mockery is one of the strongest weapons that can be deployed against the Republicans. It can not be deployed enough.

    Exactly right. A lot of folks were making that same point during the 2008 campaign. And now some of those same people are concern trolling. For fuck sake, Gibbs was mocking a quitter and grifter from Alaska that holds no elected office, not the turtle-headed Senate minority leader.

  133. 133.

    ksmiami

    Rich, smart people fear Palin too. This beast, this undignified, petty bitch is just waiting for the chance to get back at the elites for some pretend swipe… Believe me, even the Buffets and Tweetys have a great deal to fear from her ilk. If she runs, the GOP is over, if she wins, the USA is over.

  134. 134.

    J.W. Hamner

    The Hardball thing is pretty amazing… I’m agog that Halperin is (basically) calling her an idiot. I know he wrote a gossip book that laid all that out, but I figured he wouldn’t be willing to stake such a public anti-Palin position.

  135. 135.

    Bill H

    @teabagger:
    Sullivan hasn’t had an original thought in at least six months. His posts consist of a blockquote of what somebody else said with a one-line addition of why he quoted it amounting to “what he said.”

  136. 136.

    cat48

    @Dreggas:

    SC again, why?? I guess we picked the wrong state out of SC, AL, or TX to transfer to w/the company. It causes me to be in a perpetual state of embarrassment. Can’t wait to move back to IL. Picked SC to be close to ocean.

    OTOH, I like Gibbes. He’s very folksy and funny at times.

  137. 137.

    Don

    Amusing, and I guess I’ll get called a concern troll for it, but it still seems to me like beating her up for something that pretty much everyone has done once in their life (even if it was when they were 10) just plays into her whole woe-is-me evil-media shtick.

  139. 139.

    John O

    Right, John!

    Thanks again for articulating what I thought about Sully’s post so nicely. It was weird; Gibbs is widely regarded as one of the more upfront, fun, honest PS’s to come along in some time. Generally, about as far as I get in articulation is WTF?

    But when Sullivan gets personal…

  141. 141.

    Quaker in a Basement

    The guy who spent 2008 playing peeking up Sarah Palin’s amateur gynecologist hoohoo?

    Yr Wlcm!

  142. 142.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Don:

    Amusing, and I guess I’ll get called a concern troll for it, but it still seems to me like beating her up for something that pretty much everyone has done once in their life (even if it was when they were 10) just plays into her whole woe-is-me evil-media shtick.

    Not everyone has been a former half-term governor, a Vice Presidential candidate, and a (albeit insane) frontrunner for the next upcoming presidential election. Check that weak shit at the door, man.

  143. 143.

    mr. whipple

    Mockery is one of the strongest weapons that can be deployed against the Republicans. It can not be deployed enough.

    Exactly. Remember when the McCain campaign did their stupid ‘tire gage’ stunt?

    The next day my wife and I are watching Obama on the stump, mocking them. He says, “it’s like they are proud to be ignorant.” Tore the fucking place down. Tore.it.down.

  144. 144.

    John O

    @Mike in NC:

    Disagree. His apology and admission are as far as I’ve seen anyone go.

    He’s all right for a gay Catholic, all things considered. Automatically a mess, but at least you know where and why, unlike most of us.

  145. 145.

    liberty60

    @OniHanzo:

    @liberty60:

    It brought John Adams down, fer chrissakes.

    Yet another reminder that our national politics has ALWAYS included rough and tumble thumb-in-the-eye stuff; It wasn’t just a bunch of gentlemen in frock coats standing around politely debating over sherry.

    Teabagger, I get what you are saying, that we need MORE than snark; but ridicule did help make GWB into the national laughingstock; if we only had attacked him with nothing more than earnest, footnoted and sourced arguments, they would be carving his face on Mt. Rushmore by now.

    (the mere thought of which makes me want to fall down on the ground and do a Charleton Heston “You did it! You really did it! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!”)

  146. 146.

    John O

    Oh, and I do NOT discount Sully’s fear, as unlikely as I see it, of Palin’s potential to be the GOP nominee, which if you back off a little should tell you it’s too late.

    It’d be a seminal moment, that’s for sure.

    The fact that anyone even cares, much less broadcasts, what she has to say is already a very large red flag.

  147. 147.

    John O

    @liberty60:

    Ridicule as a political tool is wildly underrated. You see it in Stewart and Colbert, and you see a more sanitized version in Franken and Grayson. They’re all OK by me.

    It is great politics, but the Dems are too full of themselves to get it.

  148. 148.

    JD Rhoades

    @slag:

    Am I the only one who found that whole “condescending” meme pretty convenient so shortly after Obama handed House Republicans their collective asses?

    Much of what passes for political philosophy in Wingnuttia can be summed up as as a sneering “Yew Thank Yer Purty Smart, Doncha, Mister Smart Person?”

  151. 151.

    Ben JB

    I don’t think Gibbs’s joke goes far enough–a list of groceries is completely normal, even if writing it on your hand is a little unusual.

    It’s not like she had a cheat sheet for the GDP, or something that one could easily forget–she had a cheat sheet for her most firmly held principles!

    Gibbs’s hand-writing (heh) should’ve said “My name is Robert Gibbs. Remember to breathe.”

  152. 152.

    kay

    @Don:

    Gibbs always came off as combative to me. His body language and demeanor. I don’t know if it’s politically smart, or any of that. I don’t really have an opinion on it.
    I think he’s a really aggressive person, and an absolute unapologetic partisan. I think it’s what he is.
    You’ll remember he also went after Cheney with sarcasm, fairly effectively, although there were gasps there, too. Jake Tapper objected, that time, right?
    Palin’s a bully, like Cheney, so maybe Gibbs handles that end.
    I’m sure she’ll claim she’s a victim, but when doesn’t she?

  153. 153.

    gwangung

    Amusing, and I guess I’ll get called a concern troll for it, but it still seems to me like beating her up for something that pretty much everyone has done once in their life (even if it was when they were 10) just plays into her whole woe-is-me evil-media shtick.

    Um, dude, not everyone has, even once in their lives, stood up in front of a major gathering and did what she did. Only half-assed twits do what she did. I expect leaders to be better than half-assed twits.

  155. 155.

    chopper

    @Don:

    what, everyone has written notes on their hand for a Q&A session at a political convention that had widespread media coverage?

    man, i’ve really missed out.

  156. 156.

    John O

    @kay:

    A “great gulf fixed,” and/or Venus-Mars stuff, Kay. You don’t bow to bullies. It’s sort of part of a guy-code violation, unless you don’t mind being picked on the rest of your life.

  157. 157.

    SIA

    @rikyrah: I don’t have the link, but in another segment with Mark “Reasonable Republican” McKinnon & Richard Wolff, he called Palin & W “hermit crabs”. (BTW McKinnon defended Palin and called the writing on her hand “charming”).

    Tweety’s a lot like Sully – when they’re right, they are very right, but when they’re wrong, they’re horrid.

  159. 159.

    Onihanzo

    @Don:
    Amusing, and I guess I’ll get called a concern troll for it, but it still seems to me like beating her up for something that pretty much everyone has done once in their life (even if it was when they were 10) just plays into her whole woe-is-me evil-media shtick.

    Here’s where I find it mockworthy.

    Giving a speech? Absolutely, use notecards, teleprompters, scribbles on your hand or fucking puppets to plow through the material you have to present.

    But using a 10 year old’s idea of crib notes for a sit-down Q&A? Not only does it make you look woefully unprepared but it casts aspersions that even the QUESTIONS weren’t meant to surprise her. She couldn’t even riff from the seat of her own opinion on shit she’s been advocating for years? She had to know beforehand AND write it down?

    That is what’s rip-roaring hysterical to me. And worthy of more derision than she’ll ever reap from this.

  161. 161.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @liberty60:

    __

    Conservatives won using both Wm. F. Buckley, and Pat Buchanan.
    Progressives have Buckley types in spades, but not enough Buchanans.

    1. The word “Progressive” should be retired right along side of “Overfuckington Window.” I’m a liberal, goddamn it. Have been since I was old enough to understand the word, will be until I die.

    2. Have you even been to the damned GoS or to FDL lately? There’s enough craziness there to leave Buchanan in the dirt when it comes to crazy.

  162. 162.

    Woodbuster

    I think it was fucking hilarious, and I am declaring Gibbs and Colbert my Heroes for the Week, based solely on their antics the last two days. On top of the SNL skit with Rahmbo apologizing, I have lots of funnies to keep me going this week – and I need them.

    Sully is just going through a pearl-clutching moment that he will regret come sunup.

  163. 163.

    kay

    @John O:

    This isn’t an insult to southerners, so don’t take it wrong, but there is a certain type of aggressive southern man that I became familiar with when I lived and worked in the south.
    The accent is a little disarming, and they smile a lot, so you think they’re mild-mannered, and then they stick the knife in.
    That’s what Gibbs brings to mind, for me.
    I don’t have a problem with him, but I’m always a little…surprised.

  164. 164.

    chopper

    @Onihanzo:

    she knew the questions beforehand, and still had to write notes on her hand.

    more importantly, the notes were such GOP boilerplate as ‘tax cuts’. since when does a republican need help remembering fucking tax cuts?

    as i’ve said, it’s like dracula having ‘drink blood’ written on his hand. insane.

  165. 165.

    geg6

    John O @156: Dude, that’s not just a guy thing. Girls get bullied too. In fact, I’d argue that girl bullies are more terrifying creatures than any boy bully. The only way to deflate them is through ridicule and mockery, especially as they are tub thumpingly dumb, just like Caribou Barbie.

  168. 168.

    darryl

    “concern troll” “Concern troll” “concern troll”.

    What, o what did we do for the thousands of years of human history before that idiotic term was coined?

  170. 170.

    slag

    @demo woman: Interesting. My favorite part was when he offhandedly mentioned “W” at the end of that segment. I remember back when that very flight-suited W pushed all of Matthews’ manly buttons. Now, he’s comparing him to “empty vessel” Palin? Is it possible that our Villagers can be taught?

  171. 171.

    Milton

    Palin’s hand job just shows all of us what kind of dullard we are up against. WOW and some call her a leader….please.

  172. 172.

    The Populist

    @gwangung:

    Amen…why do we excuse this from our leaders? She is supposedly a leader but she acts like she’s “one of us.” I don’t want to elect people I can have a fucking beer with.

    Why don’t people get this? It’s not cute, her speaking style is not folksy, it’s all a fucking put on. It’s a calculated lie to allow her to make money and grab some power.

    Anybody who excuses her hand-writing notes is giving her too much lead. It’s time to demand more from people like her. Too bad the people who love her think she “represents” them.

    Argh…

  173. 173.

    The Populist

    @chopper:

    Supposedly the retard (there I said it) skipped her prepared text for the usual ramblings and red meat infused declarative statements.

    I want to ask one question to her fans…forget the teleprompter argument. Do you really want to support somebody who has to write the “core values” she stands for on her hand? When I debate somebody I don’t need notes to remind myself to question the patriot act and quote the constitution.

    Shit, she is a retard since most special needs kids I’ve seen write all kinds of shit on their hands.

  175. 175.

    Svensker

    @chopper:

    as i’ve said, it’s like dracula having ‘drink blood’ written on his hand. insane.

    Win. (And already stolen.)

  176. 176.

    The Populist

    @JD Rhoades:

    God forbid we have hope for change in this country. This clown mocks the idea of it but if her stupid party brethren would put country first, maybe we could get change many on the right and left COULD believe in.

    Too much to ask I guess.

    Oh, hopey changey? Is she fucking serious (guess so)? I don’t understand who thinks that kind of thing is “charming.”

    It’s grating, insulting and condescending. They call Obama those things yet Palin is the worst offender.

  178. 178.

    Chuck Butcher

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Gibbs is just covering his ass in case he’s next in line for the prog guillotine cause Obama missed his pony quota this month.

    Since senility seems have struck your persona maybe some plain talk and typing slowly will get through to you.

    Now that you’ve dismissed the “progs” you get to own the wankers. You may not be able to count Senators with a (D) since you run out of fingers and toes early, but the large majority of those Senators would apply the “prog” label to themselves. That means that your shit attitude entitles you to LIEberman, Nelson, Landrieu, and the other fucks that tubed this thing and you get the same bunch over on the House side. You may squeal about abortion language but those nut cases are your’s. You want to play at being a Reagan Democrat, knock yourself the fuck out – but expect to get called for it.

    Now that you’ve shit canned a large part of the Democratic Party, you get the left overs and those are the people that wrecked the HCR bus. From the Left to the Progressives, in both the House and Senate they ate one shit sandwich after another and still passed the two craptistic bills and now you’re back on your bashing bus again. If you want to call Hamsher a stupid twit I’ll be glad to throw exclamation points on that – hanging her on an entire large portion of a political Party is plain stupid. I’d be damned embarrassed to be hung with that half-stepping label “progressive” instead of Left.

    You’re surprised that a large chunk of the Democratic House doesn’t trust the Senate? There’s a real simple reason – your guys are fucking liars.

  179. 179.

    Onihanzo

    @slag:

    Honestly I don’t think Matthews has a dog in any of these fights. He’s not suffering financially as a result of his opinion and thus he’ll bark at or snuggle with whatever viewpoint he believes will keep the paychecks rolling.

    Capacity for understanding something in a new way doesn’t interest them. Prime conditions for bloviations and accolades, loud affirmation of what they believe they already know… THAT, on the other hand, interests them very much.

    Bread and circuses and all that.

  180. 180.

    asiangrrlMN

    I haven’t read all the comments yet, but I would just like to say that I thought it was fucking hilarious and that Andrew Sullivan can DIAF (I did manage to read Tres Chouette’s excerpt from Sully, and it was garbage). Palin should be laughed at and mocked and scorn. If the Republicans are going to act like clowns, then let’s start treating them as such.

  181. 181.

    Elie

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Shut your fucking mouth — you are as much of a progressive as a shit hole is a flower petal.

    You have nothing to say. You are the enemy by your own choosing, hanging around to knee cap those who want to actually get something done. By your own comments, you disavowed “liberalism” and policy to help people without health care coverage of any kind. You admitted to it.
    You have nothing to offer in a conversation about getting a progressive agenda accomplished – Get lost. You are a fake and a lousy liar pretending to be a humanist. You care nothing about anything except your own self centered, egoistic musings.

    Go play in your own poop.

  182. 182.

    MoZeu

    Of course it’s funny. But it’s also stupid. Everything and anything that gives Sarah Palin any attention is just by definition a bad idea. Anything that gives her grist to promote the idea that there is some kind of war between her and the White House is a bad idea. Sarah Palin is such a joke that even making fun of her is giving her far too much credit.

    Sully’s response is priggish, but I still think it was a sophomoric and foolish stunt.

  183. 183.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    @slag:

    I remember back when that very flight-suited W pushed all of Matthews’ manly buttons. Now, he’s comparing him to “empty vessel” Palin?

    It was our empty vessel of a president with the well-stuffed codpiece and two sizes too small flight suit that got Tweety all hot and bothered that day.

    Remember him drooling over “the onions”  on Bush?

    /wretch

    Gibbs mocking Palin for crap like this is just fine by me. Half of the press corpse may have been groaning at the joke but they are the ones who are doing their best to make the ongoing joke we call Sarah Palin into someone who should be listened to. I am sure that they weren’t thrilled at essentially being told that if that kind of shit is what turns their cranks and makes news then Gibbs was more than willing to make fun of it (and them).

    The Republicans set a shrill tone with the bullshit that they try to drive home to the voters, a ceaseless assault on Democrats with an endless stream of bullshit, and IMO this shot back at them is long overdue. Death by a thousand cuts of stupid is just what they need.

    Keep cutting.

  184. 184.

    bayville

    Boy that Gibbs is a riot in a Gregory/Rove break dancin’ way.

    Now back to ICarly for more yucks.

  186. 186.

    JGabriel

    @MoZeu:

    Everything and anything that gives Sarah Palin any attention is just by definition a bad idea.

    Are you sure? I’m thinking anything that reinforces the idea of Sarah Palin as the face of the GOP seems like a good move.

    .

  187. 187.

    J.W. Hamner

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Did General Winfield Stuck get promoted? I didn’t realize we gave internet commentators absolute control of the Democratic Party. As a certified Obot, I tend to agree with the guy more than not, but you seem to be making this more personal that it needs to be.

  189. 189.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    @J.W. Hamner:

    … but you seem to be making this more personal that it needs to be.

    Naah, we beat the shit out of each other here on a regular basis but afterwards it’s all hugs, kisses, unity and unicorns farting perfumed sunshine.

    Really.

  190. 190.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    @myiq2xu:

    Hey there myiq2xu GoatBoy! While your arrival is akin to dropping a turd in a Ming vase, welcome back! How’s the pursuit of that angry PUMA cougar tail going? You still running around in your clownface and big rubber shoes?

    Hang around for a while GoatBoy, maybe reading some intelligent thoughts here will rub off on ya. I know, slim chance of that but as the idiots like to say, hopey changey is what we do best!

  191. 191.

    Chuck Butcher

    @DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal):

    unicorns farting perfumed sunshine.

    Nah, Elie is a liar of the first water and cannot make a single quote of me doing as she claims. I can quote her from yesterday freaking that somebody didn’t accept differing arguments. Getting laid might improve Elie, but then…somebody’d have to do it.

    As for promoting the General, I didn’t attribute his view to anybody other than himself. Anybody pleased to join that does so of their own volition.

  193. 193.

    Make7

    @Tres Chouette: Sad that Sullivan is quoting Douthat when that excerpt is so far from reality.

    A liberal version of the Ryan roadmap could be written pretty easily. But it wouldn’t look like the current Democratic legislation, and it certainly wouldn’t claim to balance the budget just by finding efficiencies throughout the existing health-care system. It would propose tax hikes, and significant ones — enough to take the government’s share of G.D.P. to 25 percent, 30 percent, or beyond.

    In the end, this the choice we’re facing: Tax increases, spending cuts, or some combination thereof. To the consternation of some of his more risk-averse colleagues, Ryan has offered up a serious small-government approach, painful cuts and all. His liberal critics should take up his challenge, and tell us just how high they’re willing to see taxes rise instead.

    In 1993 the government raised taxes and the government’s share of GDP went from over 20.5% down to around 18% by the end of Clinton’s term. Of course, Bush 43 cut taxes and the government’s share of GDP increased to 19.5% to 20%.

    I think this Republican fantasy that cutting taxes is always a solution is based more on how appealing it sounds to potential voters than on what effect it may or may not have on government income and spending.

    The amount of government spending as a percentage of GDP probably has much more to do with the overall state of the economy, and less to do with a minimal changes in taxes and/or budget cuts.

  194. 194.

    Make7

    Forgot to add: FYWP

    The paragraph following the blockquote was also supposed to be included in that quote.

  196. 196.

    Chuck Butcher

    @SIA:

    Where ya been?

    pretty much avoiding horseshit like the Corporal was spreading and asswipes like Elie and avoiding the MSM on politics. I swore off politics, but like any good addict – relapsed hard.

    It’s winter, money is tight and distractions are few so I “slipped.” I’ve been “lurking” for amusement’s sake since I am no longer in the business of “officially” helping candidates or policies.

  197. 197.

    Elie

    @Chuck Butcher:

    No –I could care less what you say about me — I regret that I did not save your comments. My bad. But you reveal yourself without my intervention.

    You are still a big mouthed fake

  198. 198.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Now that you’ve shit canned a large part of the Democratic Party

    Okay you deranged motherfucker, first off you are not only sick but wrong. YOU dude and your tag team of morons on the internet are not the large of anything but empty heads and empty threats. People have treated your whiny ass here with much more respect than you deserve. Post after post of woe is me, i”m gonna quit quit quit cause I didn’t get my way, and peeps here bein mean to me.

    All for what, some idiotic aversion to one provision in a health care bill that smarter people than you and I have time and again shoved back down your smart mouth as bullshit lies.

    So you don’t like a mandate, well boo fucking hoo, go over to Reason Mag to find your soulmates shit for brains, I am sick of your whiny ass shit for months now. The gloves are off now pal, you have used up all your good will with me. Now die in a fucking fire or get some pro help for yourself. My needling progs is largely in fun and gest, and they needle back and I do not whine like a brat who got his cookies stolt and is now mad at the world.

  199. 199.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    @Chuck Butcher:

    I look at it like this; it’s the internet and everyone can say whatever they want about anyone else out there. If I am in an online argument about something, anyone can say whatever the fuck they want about me on the internet and I couldn’t care less about it. It just don’t matter one whit to me what some anonymous, disembodied voice on the internet is saying about me.

    I notice that we have these flareups here and yet when discussing other topics, most of those involved put that aside and have a civil discussion. I preferred the old line describing this place, Hot air and ill-informed banter .

    Heh, indeed.

  202. 202.

    RadioOne

    I thought the funniest part was when the entire Washington press corp started groaning when Gibbs revealed his hand.

  203. 203.

    Chuck Butcher

    @Elie:

    You stupid twit, I said you were not doing what you claimed to be doing – nothing about fuck the citizenry. And for your uniformed self, I put 4000 miles and thousands of my own dollars into this issue in goddam spring 2006 before it was on this blog’s fucking radar. In order to do that I had to know what ailed health care and what direction would mean something to reform that addressed actual health.

    I also never claimed that the entire Senate bill was crap, but your selective reading and memory are what they are.

    I addressed the Gen, not you, and I’m sure if he wanted help with that he’d have picked much better than you have to offer. Have your hysterical fainting spells, I’m sure somebody will offer you a couch.

  205. 205.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Shut up you asswipe, Elie has more sense than you do any day of the week. What little you knew about local politics, you flushed down the toilet and became a quitter like Sarah Palin, and you never knew much of anything about national politics.

  207. 207.

    Comrade Kevin

    I think Oregon’s 2nd congressional district really dodged a bullet in 2006, even if a Republican did get re-elected.

  208. 208.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Chuck Butcher:
    I. don’t. care. and my guess is nobody else does either. Now what is your real problem Butcher, or are just gonna keep projecting it through politics on this blog? I think you need to talk to someone who can help. You been thru a lot of personal stuff dude in recent times, your choice.

  209. 209.

    Sanka

    President Obama, January 2009:

    We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.

    Just words? Just speeches?

    You lie, Mr. President. You lie.

  211. 211.

    Chuck Butcher

    @SIA:

    politics slip, right bro?

    Absolutely, that’s all.

    So, Sgt – you’ve got the votes and they’ve passed it, right? I know fuck all? OK, like I said, knock yourself out. As for your “jest” you’ve ridden this hobby horse bloody for a long time now.

    You picked the noun “prog” not me, asshole, and I made it clear I didn’t mean Left and that’s another set of numbers.

  213. 213.

    Comrade Darkness

    The republicans have been getting away with this lame schtick for thirty years. They get 1% of their own 24/7 schtick back at them and they go full crybaby about how unfair it all is. If they elevate clowns to the leadership of their party they should be laughed at.

    Note: if you are getting condescension from a lot of people in your daily life, maybe the problem isn’t with everyone else.

  214. 214.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Just Some Fuckhead: well looky here, the posse of one has arrived. youze two gonna set some stuck right I guess. Here it is. If you all think the party has been stolt, then join a new one, or make one from scratch. I don’t care what you do, but puhleassse stop your incessant whining. And Butcher, I use the P word abbreviated progressive for one simple reason, I am too lazy to type it out all the time. And I am too lazy to spell out every time that I don’t consider many who call themselves progressives as being that.

    I call my self an Obot and joke about plastic unicorns. Folks call me a Obama cultist, a LIEberman democrat, a Cole minion, and a whole host of other stuff I laugh at, and at myself. I do not take this shit personal, even with flame wars, it gets nasty, but for chrissakes, it’s about politics, about the phoniest human endeaver ever created. People get passionate and angry because the stakes are high, and I do to sometimes. But then I forget it, and go on about my business as a false persona on the internet. Jeebus lighten up, because Cole is not going to change his viewpoint and neither am I. But I am just another commenter on this blog who happens to see it mostly like Cole does, as do many others here. So if you all can’t abide that, I guess you can go on hammering me with your disappointment with the basic viewpoint of BJ, I can take it, as well as dish it out. But why would you want to do that is my question. There are oodles of other left side blogs who agree with your viewpoint, and I will never change what I see as stupid politics from many progs, and will continue to poke them when they come here with accusations and no facts. Oh well, to each his own. Carry on.

  216. 216.

    West of the Cascades

    OOOh, de widdle wepubwicans! Can’t dems take a widdle jokie? Pooo wepubwicans! Maybe dey pwefew satire?

    An’ poo widdle andwew suwwivan can’t take a jokie-poo eiver. Awww, poo uptight conservative twit.

  217. 217.

    Chuck Butcher

    @SIA:
    My friend, I’ve taken a hell of a beating over 22 years and maintained because nothing I can think of would be improved by regressing there. I suppose that’s partly due to getting that far down first.

    Stuck mostly amuses me, the drivel about progressives would be immaterial from him and others here; if it weren’t echoed well up the chain. Rahm gets to be a lightning rod because his disdain for other than the DLC POV is well known, as well as his interjections into CD primaries. Most of the shit about Rahm is silly bacause he has a BOSS and the Exe branch doesn’t RUN Congress. WH failures exist and I hope they work that out, but the HCR failures spread a lot farther than any one group.

    I do not like massive mandated subsidization of private industry with no stake in or electoral responsibility to the public with little to no competition. I don’t like that in the process of that, this is essentially blowing up a flat without even bothering to get a jack to fix it. Some people will get something, a lot won’t and in awhile we’re screwed again and we’ve rigged the game even worse. I am afraid that an actual fix will be impossible thanks to this go around. You can guess who’ll suffer most.

  218. 218.

    Cain

    @Sanka:

    You lie, Mr. President. You lie.

    Fuck you, you shit eating, goat fucker. I swear, you’re kind really pisses me off.

    Man, nothing like a server downtime to really get you mad.

    cain

  219. 219.

    Elie

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Listen…I must be crazy.

    I apologize — seriously.

    This is not what I believe in doing to anyone — no matter what I believe they represent. As it turns out, it doesnt matter what you believe or say — it matters how I treat you and others and I have to keep my cool and my perspective.

    Again. My apologies.

  221. 221.

    Elie

    @Chuck Butcher:

    ;-)

    I dont want to lose the ability to talk and understand anyone here…too much of that already all over… I dont know when this got out of hand, but enough and its good to see you feel the same way..

    I am sure we will have heated discussions and disagree in the future — but I dont want this kind of shit coming from me…its toxic.

    thanks for being willing to start again from a clean slate

  222. 222.

    Chuck Butcher

    Look, Elie; I know that you don’t really like the Senate bill but that you are willing to settle. I understand and to a certain extent sympathize with that view because some people will do better with it.

    Unintended consequences is the part that bothers the hell out of me. I do not drink for very good reasons (or any drugs either) and prohibition had something at its base. Not good results, then to repair it alcohol was let back in, but drugs not. Look at today. Nobody set out to do real harm in any of those scenarios. I’m not drawing congruence between the issues, I’m talking about how good intentions can bite really badly.

    Is this MY Party? Well, yes and no. I’ve maintained my registration from day one and given them a lot of work, time, and money. At the same time, I’ve expected not much back from my ideological POV, at most to have some effect or possibly slow the slide rightward. I want more than most of them have given, but that was a given from the beginning. I’ll keep the registration because Primaries are really important – beyond that, I don’t know anymore.

  223. 223.

    teabagger

    @liberty60

    My point isn’t that we should simply outdebate the repubs, or that Gibbs was mean – it’s that mocking is lame-ass bullshit that does nothing but bring 10 minutes of satisfaction to the people who already know Palin is a dumb sociopath.

    Instead of Gibbs slinging this timid weak shit, how about when asked about Sarah Palin, he says – “She’s a clueless political hack who quit on the Alaskans who elected her – and now she’s spewing outright lies about the President. The teaparty movement – which was born of legitimate grievances – should see through her cynical manipulations soon enough.” Or something like that.

    Mocking her in this instance isn’t the end of the world – it’s a very minor, timid thing that will be forgotten, so Sully did overreact. But he’s right to imply that it’s weak and stupid. Man the fuck up and say what you mean, otherwise ignore her.

    Contrary to @geg6, mockery is not the best weapon against bullies – unless you want to get your ass kicked. The best weapon is beating the living shit out of them and exposing them for the frauds that they are. To use a poker analogy, you either fold, or be prepared to play the pot aggressively. Gibbs’ weak ass ploy was like a post-oak bluff. Easily crushed with a raise. If she’s going to say shit, either ignore her, or come over the top and crush her. This half-assed mocking of her is so weak, it’s embarrassing.

    I think that’s what Sully meant to say, but he screwed it up by making it about the dignity of a non-existent office. It’s about being a total pussy in taking on Palin – giving her the attention, but not crushing her like she deserves. It’s beneath Gibbs and by extension Obama. Not because it’s petty and mean, but because it’s weak and not nearly forceful enough.

  224. 224.

    Elie

    @Chuck Butcher:

    I just think we have really tough times ahead for anyone who cares at all about doing the right thing for ourselves and our country. I had no idea things would get this bad, but here we are and it is important that we soon learn to work together — those of us basically on the same side. There is too much at stake and only one or two times to get it right before we are in some long term recovery scenario. May happen anyway, but I am for trying to figure out how all us relatively progressive/democratic/whatever chickens can cluck in similar way to get the things we need done… if we can and if luck is on our side.

    Good night and good conversations to come

  226. 226.

    Mum

    @teabagger:

    “Why is he even giving her that respect by referring to her? She’s not an elected official.”

    You think he was “giving her . . . respect” by mocking her? And what does being “an elected official” have to do with anything? She’s obviously continuing to put herself into the political arena, and is fodder for any criticism or commentary or, yes, mocking and satire. After all, we know that she thoroughly approves of the use of any language or tactic when it comes to “satire.”

    And how does “making fun of her for being stupid” play into her hands. Do you honestly believe that that is her goal? To be the object of ridicule and scorn? And Bush didn’t get elected because anyone disparaged the intelligence of the “common folk,” whoever they are. He was appointed the first time by the Supreme Court and the machinations of the electoral process, especially in Ohio, may well have had something to do with his second “election.”

    And to devote even a scintilla of time to actually discussing Palin at a press conference would be giving her more attention than she deserves. Who among the press corps doesn’t know (even if they refuse to publicly admit it) that she is a “cynical opportunist,” among other things? Why waste time and energy on her stupidity and cupidity?

  227. 227.

    Mum

    @demo woman:

    “You all are just being condescending Sarah even used that word to describe you liberals.”

    I’ve got news for you. Sarah Palin is taking those of you who buy her populist crap for a long long ride on a short short bus. (And, no, I’m not making fun of the mentally-challenged.) “Condescension” doesn’t even come close to the contempt that Palin has for facts and reason and judgment. She’s like the people who sport the “my kid can beat up your honor student” bumper stickers. She is the mascot for mediocrity, and proud of it.

  230. 230.

    matoko_chan

    @teabagger: lol, mockery is the very best weapon against bullies.

    “I can see Russia from my house.”

    And she’s not just a bullie, she’a white girl bullie.
    She knows Obama can’t hit back, cuz it looks like a high IQ black man beatin up on a dimwitted white woman.
    So Gibbs can hit back.
    So can a buncha other white men, like Steven Colbert, John Stewart, Lorne Michaels and John Cole…..and high IQ white grrls like me.
    She a grifter……she can’t run and everyone knows it. She can’t survive a televised presidential debate with follow-on questions.
    She is performing a head-fake to squeeze the marks for cash is all.
    There’s one born every minute.

  232. 232.

    Mum

    @gwangung:

    You’re so right. Since when do we not expect someone who purports to be of “presidential timber” to be better than average?

  233. 233.

    Mum

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    I’m with you. I’m a liberal and proud of it.

    I also agree about FDL, but I honestly can’t figure out what GoS is. Can you clue me in? It may be the hours of shoveling snow that are getting to me, but I’ve checked my blogroll and can’t find anything that jibes.

  234. 234.

    matoko_chan

    @teabagger:

    I’d rather he (only if asked) said she was a cynical opportunist.

    Problem is the teabaggers don’t have the substrate to understand “cynical opportunist”. It is far better to pay it back in their own native tongue….and Palin isn’t Caribou Barbie……she is Stepford Barbie.
    She is basically Angry Old White Guy’s dream fuck-dolly.
    Big boobs, small brains, good breeder, evangelical pre-trib christian who spouts cloaking faux fiscal conservatism….. and currently….. fertile…..she has to fake-run now, because by 2016 she is going to be post-menopausal, and she’ll lose a lot of her charm for the Angry Old White Guys.

    That would be a great SNL skit too…..pull the string on Talking Stepford Barbie.
    “I can see Russia from my house!”
    “Drill Baby drill!”
    “What is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?”
    “Obama wants the terrorists to win!”
    “Tax cuts!”
    “I can see the Rapture from my house!”
    “Dead fish don’t swim upstream!”

    anyone else want to play along?

  235. 235.

    kay

    @Mum:

    I don’t object to him being a partisan. It’s just a fact.

    I think this was about Gibbs jeering at the press. They did devote a ridiculous amount of attention to the 600 people at the tea party convention, so I agree with him.

    Ultimately, though, I’d rather he use his wit and confrontational personality selling policy and the President rather than indulging in press-baiting.

    The only time he’s at all engaged is when he’s angry, and he’s never angry about anything that actually matters. Being tough is great, but ultimately it’s a waste of time and energy if it doesn’t get you where you want to go.

    He should be selling the jobs bill, IMO.

  236. 236.

    Mum

    @MoZeu:

    I would hardly elevate Gibbs’ mockery to the level of promoting a “war” between the White House and Palin. Perhaps Palin and her tribe would like that to be the case, and I’m sure that they will play it that way, but anyone with functioning synapses knows it for what it is. Palin herself is little more than a “sophomoric and foolish stunt” being played on the teabaggers and their hangers-on. We really can’t ignore the elephant in the room that her continued presence in the public eye represents, and in this case humor and satire and scorn are probably our best offense.

  240. 240.

    gstued

    …why is it that the right wing nut jobs can take all the negative shots they feel like at Obama and his administration, but when the White House decides to clear the air with the truth…it’s suddenly off limits? And they call Obama ‘thin-skinned’…

  241. 241.

    tinat

    Yeah, apparently Faux and fools this morning showing the RNC Valentines, available to all online, that take wicked shots at the President, Speaker and other Democrats is just cutesy, but a list on the hand is War :roll:
    Whatever…
    Damn I am getting sick of using that term, LOL. When will the impotant Dems wake up and just start really handing it back to repubs and screw Andrew Sullivam and his vapors!

  242. 242.

    Comrade Darkness

    Looking at this again this morning, I think the crossed out item should be “white bread”.

  243. 243.

    eve

    Gibbs didn’t just poke fun at Palin. His joke included making fun of the WH with the hope and change bit.

    It was a joke on all concerned. Greatness.

  245. 245.

    CPinHI

    Maybe this was all brilliant 11-dimensional chess! There is something buried in that press briefing that the WH didn’t want attention on, so they had Gibbs make fun of Palin…knowing it was all anyone would talk about. LOL

    Seriously though, it was just a joke. Republicans need to thicken up their skin, cultivate a little ability to laugh at themselves. It is hilarious that Sarah Palin felt the need to remind herself she was for tax cuts, and that energy is important!

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