Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I was promised a recession.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

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

This fight is for everything.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

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

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Consistently wrong since 2002

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

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59Comments

  1. 1.

    ruemara

    As a black woman, I am skipping it. Only thing worse than official “black” stuff is official “black intelligentsia” stuff. Rather talk about cartoons, wow, HCR, hippie punching, how adorable is rachel maddow and what should I do with this giant head of califlower.

    Post Tunch Pics.

  3. 3.

    Dr. Morpheus

    Hey John,

    Ya know I can’t access the front page of Balloon Juice still?

    Adding “index.html” brings up a blank page and using “index.pl” will bring up the front page where your Gibb’s “Hand Jive” post is the latest post.

    I have to go through Google (who can somehow still access your front page) and click the article links.

    FWP

    And I blame Rahm.

  4. 4.

    slag

    Now, Larry Wilmore will have to explain to Jon Stewart about how, every time he knows someone is going to come out and criticize the President, he will sit there with his fingers crossed saying, “Please don’t be black; please don’t be black”.

  5. 5.

    ppcli

    As a member of the professor-american community, I am disappointed in my brother Michael Eric Dyson for being such a gasbag.

  8. 8.

    ruemara

    au gratin? Hmmmm, I was thinking more of a curry… with pork meatballs. gobi aloo. Don’t look at me that way.

  9. 9.

    Da Bomb

    The piece is complete idiocy at its best. And the sad part is that this article will be used to fuel to never-ending bashing of Obama.

    I think they pulled this article out from behind the file cabinet and blew the dust off of it to publish.

    Now it can be said that coloreds don’t like him either…see he is the failure.

    Now it’s time for another cup of coffee.

  10. 10.

    flavored coffee lover

    Say it loud, we’re still proud. Last time I checked, the US voted for president, not perfection. *sigh* Cleanup after 20 years of republicanism is like following after the police horses in a parade. The crap never stops!

  13. 13.

    General Winfield Stuck

    I am sick of politics, I am sick of peoples opinions on every damn thing under the sun. I don’t care what some idjit at the New York (excuse me) Times thinks about race and Obama, or the neverending stream of deep thinking from people I wouldn’t ask directions to the outhouse from. The news media and the internet is a fucking wasteland of ego and inanity that only rarely can one find a nugget of knowledge worth learning.

    It is nearly all the last brayings of an empire in unredeemable decline slowly sinking into the river of no return. We can kick and scream and maybe delay going under for awhile, but the Nihilists have us by the balls and the greener pastures they claim is really Rush Limbaughs scorched earth over his leaky septic tank.

    It’s dystopia day at the stuck compound. If you want me, I’ll be watching Bullwinkle to figure out what to do next. :-)

  14. 14.

    cat48

    I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think Stohlberg cares for Obama that much. I have read several biting columns by her–never anything positive. The other political writers at the Times normally vascillate between good and bad articles, but not her. He’s everybody’s president and we need to let Obama be Obama. She missed Professor Cornel West, Rep. Conyers, and Tavis Smiley who are avid critics at all times. All manicprogressives I assume.

  15. 15.

    JMY

    As an African-American, it pains me to read and hear some of the petty and small things that black academia complains about. He wasn’t voted to be president of the United States of Black America. He wasn’t voted to enhance our interests, but all Americans interests. Who cares about the State of The Union not talking about race? He needed to talk about health care and the economy – that’s it. Nothing more. I was pissed that after his historic speech at the convention, Tavis Smiley (who I really dislike) and Cornell West had the audacity to complain about him not mention race or Dr. King – which he did, just didn’t say his name – when his speech wasn’t suppose to be about race, but rather state his case for why he is the better presidential candidate. Just like I’m ignoring the Firebaggers of the liberal world, I’m ignoring the black academics of the world who just have to criticize Obama because he’s not doing anything in regard to race – all the shit this man has to do to help this country and we want to bitch about him not addressing race? Smiley, West, Dyson (whom I like) – they can kiss my ass with that.

  16. 16.

    Darkmoth

    Yeah, I’m trying to figure out what Obama “leading on race issues” would look like. I mean, he went as far as saying some cops “acted stupidly”, and he was branded the next coming of Malcom X. What exactly does Dyson want?

    You know, there are days when I look forward to having someone I really dislike in the Oval Office. Being predisposed against said occupant is the only way to be comfortable with the bizarre god-king-sacrifice cult we have built around the Presidency.

  17. 17.

    Brachiator

    You know, I didn’t even flinch when I read this NYT piece yesterday, but these titles to blog posts at Post Bourgie and TNC, respectively, signal I may have missed something

    This is little more than another version of the gas that you get from progressives who whine that since they are Obama’s “base,” he has a special obligation to immediately implement their agenda. Dyson and his ilk, like Jesse Jackson to some degree (and Ralph Nader in another progressive corner) have been rendered obsolete by Obama’s election. What, exactly the point, of seeking the opinion of an unelected black “leader” when the president of the United States is a black man?

  18. 18.

    blackwaterdog

    You see, Obama was NOT elected president of the United States. He was elected president of progressives, president of Independents, president of blacks and/or of minorities. Only not the presdient of the United States.

    That is also why he’s being disrespected – by the media, by congress and by so many bloggers from THE LEFT – more than any presdient maybe ever. They all think they own him.

    This country elected a stunningly talented man – But i’m more and more convinced that it was a fluke. This country is way too stupid to be govern by someone like Obama.

  26. 26.

    El Cid

    Believe it or not, an on topic article.

    Obama Meets With Black Leaders To Discuss Unemployment
    …
    WASHINGTON — Prominent African-American leaders pressed President Barack Obama on Wednesday to pursue an economic agenda that includes targeted help for blacks, whose unemployment rate is much higher than the national average and nearly twice that of whites.
    …
    The three men who met privately with Obama for about an hour said they pushed for aid in urban and rural areas with large numbers of hurting minorities. It is the same message they hope to deliver to lawmakers of both parties as Congress considers new jobs legislation.
    …
    “We do not seek any special kind of edict … from the president because he’s African-American,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization. “We expect to be included in the process.”…
    …
    On a day of treacherous weather, Obama kept his scheduled meeting with Sharpton; Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP; Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. Dorothy Height, chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women, could not make it to the White House because of punishing snow and winds that largely shut down Washington.
    …
    Jealous said the focus of the talk was on place, not race, meaning the regions populated by blacks and other groups that have been hit disproportionately hard by the recession.
    …
    “What’s clear is that we have a president who gets it,” Jealous said. He accused some Republican lawmakers and governors of obstructing Obama on initiatives like stimulus spending and a push to overhaul health insurance. Those efforts would help minorities, he said.

  27. 27.

    Da Bomb

    @El Cid: The interesting part about that article is figuring out who wasn’t invited to that meeting?

    Hmmm, maybe Dyson, Jackson, Smiley, and West weren’t.

    It’s sad that Al Sharpton of all people actually makes sense in regards to the President being President of the United States and not just black america.

    @JMY: I have been wanting them to kiss my ass for a long time, especially Smiley since he was involved with Wells Fargo and those bad mortgage loans targeted at minorities.

  31. 31.

    El Cid

    In addition, I have tuned in for several years for the “State of the Black Union” meeting, organized by Tavis Smiley, and somehow I missed the 2009 version from February (of 2009).

    And apparently it was the last one, too. No matter if Smiley himself did piss off a lot of his own backers with Hillary support in the elections. But then, he had done it for 10 years, and it wasn’t an easy thing to do, and he also noted that black media (including bloggers and talk radio) had greatly exploded in those same 10 years.

    It was a god-damned spirit-lifter in the Bush Jr. years. A bunch of spirited black and multicultural speakers from many backgrounds, work histories, and generations addressing an overwhelmingly African American crowd? Worthy. Worthy. And though generally most speakers had certain viewpoints in common, they got into it, too.

    I’m just a few minutes into Randall Robinson’s address. Many of the videos are also floating around YouTube.

    You can watch the entire morning, call-in, and afternoon sessions via C-Span.

    If you want to see early and critical addresses by a range of African American community speakers, including the potential and then-current role of Barack Obama, without typically too much cheap posturing, tune in.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Morbo:

    There are a lot of times when Bill Nighy is my favourite actor. His face is fascinating; I could look at it all day. Thanks for the Robin Hood tax link.

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Here is a {{{{BIG HUG}}}} for you, General.

  33. 33.

    LuciaMia

    Re: the giant cauliflower. Au Gratin and cream of-soup all great.

    Also think of a middle-eastern stir fry. Partly cooked florets sauteed in olive oil with plumped golden raisins, capers and a bit of saffron and touch of cinnamon.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    lord, I love that post title from Post Bourgie.

    Rev. Al had something to say about that article yesterday on his radio show:

    “We got KNEEGROWS, who buckdanced for Bill Clinton AND his wife,
    and even called him the ‘First Black President’,
    and ‘ WE’ (him and Prof. Ogletree) are getting called out for working with the first ACTUAL Black President?
    ……………….
    I think Uncle Remus is alive and well. …..

    Yeah, I said it….not Ogletree.”

    – Rev. Al Sharpton on the criticism he and Prof. Ogletree are getting from ‘some’ in their defense of the President on today’s radio show.

    folks call the President’s critics in my part of the blogosphere – the Soul Patrol….LOL

    or the “vague, unspecified, gotta-be-seen-cos-I ain’t-in-the-posse criticism from the psedo Dashiki wearing, oomgawa, black power brigade”– BWA HA HA HA HA

    there’s a whole group of them, being led by Mr. Tavis ‘ I can publish a book called ACCOUNTABLITY, but am willingly going into business with a pedophile’ Smiley.

  35. 35.

    Elie

    @ruemara:

    Cauliflower is just one of the veggies I have trouble getting next to. The best thing for me has always been the old cheese cream sauce ala au gratin with bread crumbs.

    What blew it out of the water for me for good though was when I had it just about two to three weeks straight as a potato substitute during one of my South Beach diet gigs. Concept: boil it then mash it like a potato and add margarine. I still gag thinking of it. (sorry)

    Its really good for you though…I like your idea of curry — a strong flavor to make it taste NOT like cauliflower…

  40. 40.

    demo woman

    Moosewood Restaurant has a wonderful recipe for Cauliflower Pie. It’s always been a hit with my family and unfortunately the site keeps eating my post when I try to link to it.
    Tomorrow the NYTimes will run an article on how his cousins the Cheneys aren’t to happy with the President decisions. They will title it the Rising Ire of the Clan.

  41. 41.

    El Cid

    @Da Bomb: I don’t know how much I’d read into that. Jackson has been stepping away a bit from prominent intervention. Dyson is mainly a self-promoting speaker, as is the slightly more humble West, but as far as I’ve seen, they’re not really representative of larger organizations of people in the African American community. Smiley, maybe, due to the Hillary and back-and-forth argument, maybe, but, again, since he’s more focused on being a radio host, still not a person to represent jobs situations.

    If there were a meeting discussion African Americans in academics, then I would not be surprised to see Dyson and West there, but it wouldn’t be a requirement — this is a country with many more astoundingly accomplished black academics than those two. If he had been still alive and well, I’m pretty sure John Hope Franklin would have attended.

  44. 44.

    El Cid

    You people should definitely be watching that 1st (morning) session of the 2009 State of the Black Union linked above. You should hear Maxine Waters discussing the banking system, and Jesse Jackson talking about the Southern politician fake opposition to the stimulus (remember, this was late February 2009).

    Jesse joked about the ‘resolve’ of Southern preening right wingers: ‘George Wallace always stood in the doorway, but he never stood there very long.’

  45. 45.

    Malron

    Hmmmmm.

    Michael Eric Dyson, a Georgetown University sociologist and longtime supporter of Mr. Obama….

    Bullshit. Dyson’s support for Obama goes as far as “I voted for Obama, but where’s my unicorn?” crowd. Him, Tavis Smiley and Cornell West have been a tag team of haters since Obama pissed off Smiley by choosing to send his wife to Smiley’s “State of the Black Union” charade in 2008. Apparently Mr. Obama was too preoccupied with his primary race against the wife of the first black president .

    And this guy? Really?

    But he rejected the idea that he should pay special attention to them — an argument that Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a black author and political analyst, called “disingenuous at best, and an insult at worst.”

    Hutchinson has been knee-capping Obama since the day he declared his candidacy.

    Both Dyson and Hutchinson are employing the well-worn tactic of claiming to be Obama supporters because they know the media will gladly grant them a paragraph or two worth of space to concern troll him to death.

  46. 46.

    Mike

    why weren’t these guys screaming when the first black president used the race card with so called welfare reform?

  47. 47.

    Nellcote

    I’m most dissappointed in Dyson of all the aforementioned. Tavis Smiley’s next project is a biography of R. Kelly for cripes sakes. I’m not sure this is a top priority for the black community.

  49. 49.

    Malron

    After reading Bourgie further I see he has the situation well in hand. I would like to point out that I’m probably not the only person in the black community that sees Steele, Dyson, Hutchinson, Smiley, etc as pretty much all in the same mold: self-absorbed hucksters who’d shiv a brother in a second if it brought them headlines and dollar signs.

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: Actually the trick is to not do all cauliflower, but half and half with potato. Plus cook it in a flavored liquid like chicken stock but not too much. That should get the worst of the background taste out of the caulifower.

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    Malron:

    But he rejected the idea that he should pay special attention to them — an argument that Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a black author and political analyst, called “disingenuous at best, and an insult at worst.”

    Hutchinson has been knee-capping Obama since the day he declared his candidacy.

    You speak the truth.

    You wanna know how I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hutchinson was shady?

    He couldn’t write anything positive about Obama after the win in IOWA.

    I was like, DAMN, mofo, he just won the IOWA CAUCUS, and you can’t find anything positive to say?

    From that moment on, never trusted anything he wrote with regards to Obama.

    That moment was also my last Black nerve with Tavis. He couldn’t say anything positive about Obama and IOWA either.

  57. 57.

    Tax Analyst

    @blackwaterdog:

    This country elected a stunningly talented man – But i’m more and more convinced that it was a fluke. This country is way too stupid to be govern by someone like Obama.

    This. Yeah.

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