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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

The revolution will be supervised.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

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

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

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

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

People are weird.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / And, As a Bonus, They are Also Corporate Bullies

And, As a Bonus, They are Also Corporate Bullies

by John Cole|  February 12, 201011:20 am| 116 Comments

This post is in: Media, Assholes, I Smell a Pulitzer!

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The assholery of the Politico knows no bounds:

As a part of its ongoing effort to retain exclusive brand licensing rights to a word that’s been a part of the English language since the early seventeenth century, Politico has ordered a British website called Tory Politico to stop using the word “politico,” because — who knows? Maybe you might accidentally end up at the latter site and become confused as to why your favorite Beltway press-release mill has suddenly become obsessed with Parliament and Gordon Brown and Torchwood or something?

Personally, if I ran the Tory Politico, I would change my name so as to not be accidentally confused with those hacks. I’d change it to something that invokes more professionalism, competence, and attention to detail.

Like, for example, the Tory Weekly World News.

Personally, I hope we can get a blog campaign going to stop linking the Politico until they stop this nonsense.

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Previous Post: « Death By Bipartisanship
Next Post: $3.47 billion spent. Did you get a pony? »

Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    Violet

    February 12, 2010 at 11:23 am

    The Tory Enquirer. At least when they break political stories they turn out to be true.

    Reminds me of the NFL trying to trademark “Who Dat.” New Orleans Saints fans have been saying that for decades. All of a sudden the NFL decided to try to trademark it. Talk about ticking off the fans!

  2. 2.

    par4

    February 12, 2010 at 11:28 am

    O/T re site issues, your blog is still loading slowly.

  3. 3.

    jwb

    February 12, 2010 at 11:29 am

    “Personally, I hope we can get a blog campaign going to stop linking the Politico until they stop this nonsense.”

    You should never have been linking to Politico in the first place. Just saying.

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    February 12, 2010 at 11:29 am

    One wonders how one could possible mistake Tory Politico for its Beltway namesake. A cursory examination of the site reveals it to have sections devoted to the latest British political news and the news from Parliament — but no dedicated section to providing former Vice President Dick Cheney with free tongue baths, so I’d say that they are probably in the clear, legally speaking

    Win.

    -dms

  5. 5.

    cat48

    February 12, 2010 at 11:31 am

    Yea I went there this morning and found out Obama and Pelosi are having a huge feud. I normally just read headlines but made a mistake of hitting the Bill Maher story they had and of course Mahr said O is EPIC FAIL. He will be emphasizing this when his show starts soon. I think I’ll skip him this yr–just not in the mood. I didnt read the feud story or anything else. Enough! Stay away from HuffPost also.

  6. 6.

    Norma Lampson

    February 12, 2010 at 11:31 am

    Well Politico must be related to WP, like Sally Quinn and Broder they are soooo special. I cannot stand them, and they are everwhere. Norma

  7. 7.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    February 12, 2010 at 11:33 am

    Yeah but since Politico is a house organ for our Tory party basically, people wouldn’t be that confused.

    I guess that’s the part that Politico doesn’t want to admit.

  8. 8.

    Frank Chow

    February 12, 2010 at 11:33 am

    Agreed.

    By the way I am suing anyone with the words “Asian-American” on their website as well as the words “Balloon Juice.” Sorry guys…you’ve been served.

  9. 9.

    Anton Sirius

    February 12, 2010 at 11:33 am

    @jwb:

    They only care about Drudge traffic anyway. No need to give them any more than that.

  10. 10.

    SpotWeld

    February 12, 2010 at 11:34 am

    In all fairness I was already kinda obcessed with Torchwood…

    And I have no rational explaination for it.

  11. 11.

    John Quixote

    February 12, 2010 at 11:34 am

    @cat48: Bill Maher is a douchebag. We all remember his Acadamy Award winning performance in Pizza Man.

  12. 12.

    dr. bloor

    February 12, 2010 at 11:35 am

    Personally, I hope we can get a blog campaign going to stop linking the Politico until they stop this nonsense.

    Those guys exist to draw eyeballs, and they’ll do/say anything up to smearing their own feces on the wall to accomplish that goal. There’s no reason to link to them under any circumstances.

  13. 13.

    cat48

    February 12, 2010 at 11:36 am

    @John Quixote:

    Agreed.

  14. 14.

    Violet

    February 12, 2010 at 11:37 am

    @dr. bloor:

    Those guys exist to draw eyeballs, and they’ll do/say anything up to smearing their own feces on the wall to accomplish that goal. There’s no reason to link to them under any circumstances.

    Agreed. I avoid them completely. Refuse to give them any hits.

  15. 15.

    Face

    February 12, 2010 at 11:40 am

    Yawn.

  16. 16.

    cat48

    February 12, 2010 at 11:40 am

    In good news today, WP poll–75% support gays in the military!

  17. 17.

    TR

    February 12, 2010 at 11:41 am

    @dr. bloor:

    Agreed. If you want them to go away, stop giving them any attention.

    The Simpsons had it right:

    To stop those monsters 1-2-3
    Here’s a fresh new way that’s trouble free
    It’s got Paul Anka’s guarantee…
    [Lisa]
    Guarantee void in Tennessee!
    [All]
    Just don’t look!
    Just don’t look!
    Just don’t look!
    Just don’t look!

  18. 18.

    Zifnab

    February 12, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Personally, I hope we can get a blog campaign going to stop linking the Politico until they stop this nonsense go out of business.

    Fix’d, because one’s going to happen right after the other.

  19. 19.

    John Quixote

    February 12, 2010 at 11:42 am

    @cat48:

    In good news today, WP poll—75% support gays in the military!

    I’ve seen other polls that give a smaller number (but still a majority) to allowing homosexuals to serve openly. Didn’t realize that there was a difference. You learn new things everyday.

  20. 20.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    February 12, 2010 at 11:44 am

    OT: I apologize for the last few days. Obviously I’ve let emotions and events get the better of me.

  21. 21.

    Meg

    February 12, 2010 at 11:47 am

    I have stopped reading Politico a year ago.
    Even sometimes I accidentally hit the link to them (you can’t be careful enough!), I wouldn’t read it and would leave it right away.
    Oh, the same with WaPo, and I am starting to be irritated by lots of Huffington Post’s headlines.

  22. 22.

    HRA

    February 12, 2010 at 11:49 am

    I stopped going to Politico some time ago and if I ever get the urge to go back, I am reminded of how they show up on Morning Joe almost every day giving Joe a fan base for his stupidities.

  23. 23.

    Remember November

    February 12, 2010 at 11:50 am

    This qualifies as a Dick Move.

  24. 24.

    Dave Fud

    February 12, 2010 at 11:52 am

    @Notorious P.A.T.: Good on you. It seemed sort of two sided emotionality ruled the day on that crazy thread, but only the participants can say, I suppose.

  25. 25.

    cat48

    February 12, 2010 at 11:55 am

    @John Quixote:

    Looked closer at poll: 83% for not serving openly, but that 75% is for serving openly. Dems, Women, and Independents more in favor than Repugs.

    Looks like 47% for gay marriage now. All and all, a favorable poll especially for folks in the military.

  26. 26.

    Joey Maloney

    February 12, 2010 at 11:57 am

    Instead of or in addition to delinking, I think we should all rename our blogs in solidarity – Balloon Juice Politico, Atrios Politico, TBogg Politico, Sadly, No Politico, etc., etc.

    …I was joking when I started typing this but upon reflection it might actually be a good idea. It would bury the real Politico in Google results and they’d probably crap an entire outhouse worth of bricks.

  27. 27.

    Zandar

    February 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    Zandar Versus The Stupid Politico is in.

    Intercourse Ben Smith with Dick Cheney’s robotic heart.

  28. 28.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 12, 2010 at 12:03 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    Those guys exist to draw eyeballs, and they’ll do/say anything up to smearing their own feces on the wall to accomplish that goal. There’s no reason to link to them under any circumstances.

    Agree. I never knowingly link to Politico (although I’ve been fooled into doing so a couple of time — AARGH! AARGH!)

    On the other hand, I’ve already visited the Tory-Politico site twice, and plan to continue to give it eyeballs as often as possible. We should all do this. A lot.

  29. 29.

    Woodbuster

    February 12, 2010 at 12:06 pm

    Welcome to my world. I no longer look at Politicrap nor HuffPo nor WaPo nor RCP, and will soon be able to count Kos and Sully in that list if they keep going the way they have lately. Before long, all I will have left is this place, Benen, TNC and All Recipes. Then what will I do? Work?

  30. 30.

    Geeno

    February 12, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    @John Quixote: Yeah 59% think homosexuals should be allowed to serve, but 70+% are okay with gays serving.
    You’d probably find the same kind of thing going on with just about any issue. No one ever accused the American populace of overweaning intellect.

  31. 31.

    mr. whipple

    February 12, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    Looked closer at poll: 83% for not serving openly, but that 75% is for serving openly. Dems, Women, and Independents more in favor than Repugs.

    ?

  32. 32.

    Zifnab

    February 12, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    @Notorious P.A.T.:

    OT: I apologize for the last few days. Obviously I’ve let emotions and events get the better of me.

    :-p Meh, it happens to the best of us.

  33. 33.

    YellowJournalism

    February 12, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    This is almost as bad as Trump trying to copyright “You’re fired!” and Spike Lee trying to sue Spike TV.

  34. 34.

    edmund dantes

    February 12, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    @Violet: The actual stance of the NFL was quite well grounded and important. They weren’t going after “Who Dat” by itself. They were out there tamping down anyone that used Who Dat in conjunction with New Orleans Saints or identifying trademarks they owned to sell shit.

    Some clumsy PR flack with a bad sense of vague words and a reporter that’s an idiot made it sound like they were going after Who Dat itself.

    P.S. I’m usually on the other side of this, but I hate seeing real stuff get lumped in with the fake stuff like Monster cable. If you want to see someone abuse trademark on a common English word. Go take a gander at Monster.

  35. 35.

    Morbo

    February 12, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    Next up: Target sues hundreds of firing ranges nationwide.

  36. 36.

    Nellcote

    February 12, 2010 at 12:21 pm

    @John Quixote:

    I’ve seen other polls that give a smaller number (but still a majority) to allowing homosexuals to serve openly. Didn’t realize that there was a difference. You learn new things everyday.

    The difference is in how you ask the question for some reason. Support for “gay men and lesbians serving” gets 70%+ vs “homosexuals serving” gets 55%+.

  37. 37.

    FlipYrWhig

    February 12, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    @Nellcote:

    Support for “gay men and lesbians serving” gets 70%+ vs “homosexuals serving” gets 55%+

    Putting “lesbians” in the question probably gets 15% additional support for anything. Call it the Howard Stern Factor.

  38. 38.

    FlipYrWhig

    February 12, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    Just to verify my theory, someone should test support for government-run health care for lesbians.

  39. 39.

    MikeJ

    February 12, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    You could probably get another point or two in the poll is you said “allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military like Israel does.”

  40. 40.

    mr. whipple

    February 12, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    “Welcome to my world. I no longer look at Politicrap nor HuffPo nor WaPo nor RCP, and will soon be able to count Kos and Sully in that list if they keep going the way they have lately.”

    Ditto on all of those, plus Americablog is right out. Keef is right out. TPM, rare. Rachel, rare. I stop at Kos once or twice a day to see the reason du jour why Obama is worse than Hitler, and Atrios’ place every so often foolishly hoping against hope the crazy abates. My universe is shrinking.

  41. 41.

    mds

    February 12, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    obsessed with Parliament and Gordon Brown and Torchwood

    Wait, the Tories are obsessed with those things? It just needs a little bit of alteration for this side of the Atlantic:

    obsessed with Congressional obstructionism and Barack Obama and watching gay men roughhousing

    and you’ve got the Republican Party. For the Conservatives, it’s like a funhouse mirror that makes your reflection stupider.

    In good news today, WP poll—75% support gays in the military!

    That’s great, because soon we might be able to correct the historical record for WWII vet Captain Jack Harkness.

  42. 42.

    Comrade Dread

    February 12, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    I think they should change their site name to:

    http://www.thepoliticothatisnotrunbyassholes.com

    But that’s just me.

  43. 43.

    Ash Can

    February 12, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    Here’s hoping Politico’s asinine case crashes and burns in court, and that the fuckers are soaked for astronomical legal expenses in the process.

  44. 44.

    FlipYrWhig

    February 12, 2010 at 12:34 pm

    @mr. whipple: AmericaBlog has always been the monkey house of the liberal blogs. Kos isn’t so bad if you stay out of the Breaking! Exclamatory Diaries! Section! The one I’ve been surprised to see degenerate so rapidly was Atrios. Then again, WHEEEEE! Shitpile. Someone should do something. Cramdown. Locomotives. Open Thread.

  45. 45.

    norbizness

    February 12, 2010 at 12:37 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: The only thing that expands one of his posts to above Twitter-limit usually has to do with local bus schedules.

  46. 46.

    John Quixote

    February 12, 2010 at 12:38 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: You know what keeps me away from the Great Blue Satan? Duncan’s post headings are just too damn long winded. He needs to keep it short and simple.

  47. 47.

    Josie

    February 12, 2010 at 12:38 pm

    My blog universe is shrinking also. I have cut out Politico, Huffington, Kos, Americablog. I have subbed this site, Booman and Al Giordano at the Field. I figure it’s better to go for quality over quantity.

  48. 48.

    SenyorDave

    February 12, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    I need advice. I got home delivery of the WaPo since I moved her 15 years ago. I canceled it a few months ago after they published the lying ad from Fox about they being the only ones to cover the Tea Parties. At that time, they offered me a deal where I ended up paying about 75 cents a week for 6 months. A few months later I canceled that deal out of disgust. The last two months I am getting it for free, not sure why since they did stop delivery for a period after cancellation.

    My question is should I say anything, or just let it continue? Today’s Post has columns by the following:

    Charles Krauthammer
    Michael Gerson
    William Kristol
    Mike Mukasey

    Naturally each column rakes Obama over the coals for something.

    Because of the snow I didn’t read SOF (senile old fart) Broder’s column about the Alaskan idiot, but any column about her that is all positive is a sign that said columnist should be dropped from the paper (you would think that he might want to mention that she is such a serious candidate that she thinks declaring war on Iran would be a good “polotical move” – of course, she doesn’t know that the Congress declares war).

  49. 49.

    El Cid

    February 12, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    I would like to think that this would be embraced by the Democratic leadership. I said, would like to.

    Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who rarely gets into battles he thinks he can’t win, said on Friday that he’ll push to include a windfall bonus tax as an amendment to the upcoming jobs bill.
    …
    Webb’s proposal, which is joined by California Democrat Barbara Boxer, would exempt the first $400,000 of bonuses — the amount of the president’s salary, Webb notes. Any bonus money above the president’s paycheck would be taxed at 50 percent.
    …
    Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has also proposed a tax on bailed-out bankers, though his would only exempt the first $25,000. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) has a similar proposal in the House, which also passed windfall tax legislation in March that the Senate could build on.
    …
    The tax would only apply to bankers at institutions that received more than $5 billion in bailout funds and would only apply to the year 2009.
    …
    “The Financial Times, a paper dedicated to the free market, editorialized in favor of this position at the end of last year,” said Webb in a statement. “We believe this is a fair and reasonable approach. It offers equity and a level of fairness to the American taxpayers who bailed these companies out.”

    On the other hand, key Democrats could choose to rush out and reassure bankers in a bipartisan manner that this is hasty and politically untenable.

  50. 50.

    Jason Bylinowski of Politico

    February 12, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    @Joey Maloney: I can get behind that. Will do on my blog too.

  51. 51.

    mr. whipple

    February 12, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: You forgot gypsy shit.

    Bah, back to work.

  52. 52.

    El Cid

    February 12, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    @El Cid: Crap. Last blockquote my dour commentary, not original text.

  53. 53.

    MaximusNYC

    February 12, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    OT: Yglesias tweeted earlier today that there were only 11 signatures on the “Draft Harold Ford” online petition.

    Since then, a few more have appeared, but, well… let’s just say this petition is turning out to be a real opportunity for creative expression:

    http://www.draftford.org/signatures

    I’m sure y’all can come up with some more good names to add.

  54. 54.

    Church Lady

    February 12, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: You discount “gay” being such a happy word. Surely worth a few points, too.

  55. 55.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    February 12, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    @John Quixote:

    Don Imus was his babysitter. E’nuff said. Sometimes I think Maher flips a coin to pick whatever side he is going to take on any issue, he really doesn’t come across as all that engaging. More like he is trying to make something funny from what is on hand and he usually comes up short.

    He hits on something good once in a while but that is about it.

  56. 56.

    Tonal Crow

    February 12, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    Politico: the Charmin of commentary sites.

  57. 57.

    Libby

    February 12, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    @Meg: I’m with Meg. I stopped even reading Politico for the most part and avoided linking to them for well over a year. Same for Kaplan Test Prep Daily, with the exception of Ezra and Greg Sargent.

    I’ve also avoided HuffPo to some extent, but more because it takes forever to load on my old puter with all the damn scripts on their page. I’m not one of the people who are offended that they’ve gone all cheesecake. They still have some fine writers who are breaking hard news. Admit I wait for someone to link though. That site has always been too busy for me, even when it first started.

    Anyway, I’m for any reason for the big bloggers to stop linking to Politico. Even if they’re only mocking them, it’s still drives traffic and that’s all they care about.

  58. 58.

    Malron

    February 12, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    How’s this for a bit of insanity? The Teabaggers declare war on Captain America.

    Issue 602 of the comic features Captain America investigating a right-wing anti-government militia group called “the Watchdogs”. Hoping to infiltrate the group, Captain America and his African-American sidekick The Falcon observe an anti-tax protest from a rooftop. The protestors depicted are all white and carry signs adorned with slogans almost identical to those seen today in Tea Party rallies like “tea bag libs before they tea bag you” and “stop the socialists.” The Falcon mentions that the gathering appears to be “some kind of anti-tax protest” and notes that “this whole ‘hate the government’ vibe isn’t limited to the Watchdogs.” He then tells Captain America that he doesn’t think their plan will work because “I don’t exactly see a black man from Harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry white folks.” Captain America then explains that his plan entails sending The Falcon in among the group posing as an IRS agent under the thinking that a black government official will most certainly spark their anger.

    Now, most sane human beings would immediately conclude that the analogy was spot on and worthy of depicting in a comic book series known for taking on fascism. But, alas, Marvel has been bought out by Disney so you know what happens next:

    The clear implicit attack on the Tea Party Movement was first noticed by Publius’ Forum’s Warner Todd Huston. When a minor uproar ensued, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada spoke to Comic Book Resources and defended the issue while apologizing for the panel that seemed to tie real-life Tea Party protesters to the fictional group depicted in the book. Saying that he could “absolutely see how some people are upset about this,” Quesada said that there was “zero discussion to include a group that looked like a Tea Party demonstration,” adding, “There was no thought that it represented a particular group.” Quesada then went on to say that Marvel would “apologize for and own up to” a series of “stupid mistakes” that led to them “accidentally identifying” one of the members of the protest group “as being a part of the Tea Party instead of a generic protest group.” He explained that they were on deadline to get the issue to the printer for publication, and in the course of sending it off it was noticed that the signs in the scene contained no words or phrases. He said the editor then asked the letterer to “fudge in some quick signs” and that in the “rush to get the book out of the door,” the letterer “looked on the net and started pulling slogans” from signs captured in photographs at Tea Party protests in order to make them appear “believable.”

    Now you know why I fucking hate everything that the Mouse puts his grubby hands on….

  59. 59.

    JK

    February 12, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Politico should change its name to Steaming Pile of Excrement to more accurately reflect its content.

    Kudos to Lawrence O’Donnell for his smackdown of former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/12/lawrence-odonnell-rages-o_n_459907.html

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 12, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    @SenyorDave:

    I guess the answer depends on if you have a bird with a cage that needs lining or a puppy that requires paper training. If not, I think I know the answer.

  61. 61.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    February 12, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Last time I read Politico was some time back during the primary war. The place flat out sucks and the commentary isn’t any better.

    I’ll let that be one of the places John reads so I don’t have to.

  62. 62.

    Quaker in a Basement

    February 12, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    How about they change the name to something like:

    “Not The Politico. No, Really.”
    “I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Politico.”
    “We’re Very Glad We’re Not the Politco, Thanks.”

  63. 63.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    February 12, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    That or it is useful in a pinch as bathroom material (if you don’t mind smearing newsprint on your ass).

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 12, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    @YellowJournalism:

    O/T speaking of Trump, the local paper is reporting that Midtown Trump Towers (Atlanta) is in foreclosure.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 12, 2010 at 1:10 pm

    @DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal): I spent my formative summers on a farm with an outhouse and learned to appreciate the Sears-Roebuck catalogue. The pages weren’t as absorbent as newsprint, but OTOH the ink didn’t rub off (as far as I know, that is — never actually looked).

  66. 66.

    vhh

    February 12, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    In British Commonwealth countries like the UK and Australia, doctors have long been referred to in informal speech as medicos and politicians as politicos.

    You can’t up suddenly decide to own a word that is wide usage. The wankers at Politico are vying with other right wing wack jobs in the ignorance stakes—for example, the Investor”s Business Daily (kind of a lower brow WSJ) distinguished itself (NOT) last yr by saying that Stephen Hawking is lucky he is American–he would not have been able to survive decades with ALS in a medical insurance system like that of the UK. Hawking issued a press release saying that he was indeed lucky to be British—the National Health Service deserved credit for keeping him alive and functioning.

  67. 67.

    Darkmoth

    February 12, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    I, for one, am grateful that Politico lights the path to permanent Democratic majorities:

    Step 1) Make a political blog called “The Republican”

    Step 2) Hire lawyers to keep my trademark from being used in partisan campaign materials. Like ballots.

  68. 68.

    kay

    February 12, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    @Josie:

    My favorite thing about Daily Kos is how the weekly poll they pay for and print is consistently in direct conflict with their diarists.

    Either that poll is bullshit, or the Kos diarists don’t read any content but their own post. I can’t get my head around what is discrediting who, and most importantly, why.

  69. 69.

    Sly

    February 12, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    @DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal):

    Sometimes I think Maher flips a coin to pick whatever side he is going to take on any issue, he really doesn’t come across as all that engaging.

    That’s because Mahar goes with a gut reaction du jour to any political issue he comes across. With him it’s always very simple, very neat, and completely shallow. Possibly because he is also completely shallow. Funny, for the most part, with some good quips, but not someone I would turn to for anything remotely resembling cogent thought.

    The man got bowled over on economic theory by Ron Paul, for godsakes. Nuff said.

  70. 70.

    Michael

    February 12, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    OT, but FDL tool Cenk goes full teabag, and the natives are less than happy with him.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/12/836484/-Its-Time-for-a-Progressive-Revolution

  71. 71.

    Josie

    February 12, 2010 at 1:31 pm

    Kay – The poll is Research 2000 and should be pretty accurate. The diarists (some of them) are full of shit, and the people who comment are getting worse all the time. They remind me of people who comment at The Hill and Politico – yuk! I guess, when a site grows as big as Kos has, you are going to lose some quality and class. There is a lesson there for all bloggers – stay small and ride herd on the people who comment or lose your unique spot in the universe.

  72. 72.

    MikeJ

    February 12, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    @SenyorDave:

    My question is should I say anything, or just let it continue?

    They keep promising us that their going to go out of business soon. You’re just helping them on their way.

    There’s really two ways to look at it. 1) It makes a strong statement that you don’t want their rag even when they give it to you for free. On the other side 2) Where I live the cost of garbage collection is offset by the amount that you recycle. If that’s the case for you, they’re reducing your garbage collection bill even if you don’t read it.

  73. 73.

    kay

    February 12, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    @Josie:

    I have to admit, I don’t read the comments. It’s shallow, but I don’t like the format. Reading those long, zipping strings is too hard.
    I should have given up when they excommunicated bonddad. I liked him. He was earnest and well-informed :)
    They accused him of all kinds of things. HE HATES THE POOR!

    Did you know that? HE DOES!!!

  74. 74.

    Jay S

    February 12, 2010 at 1:40 pm

    @Darkmoth:
    If you forced Republicans to use a different party name, they might win more elections. I seem to recall (I can’t find a link though) that some candidates were using GOP and avoiding Republican here in the last major election.

    Kind of like Xe.

  75. 75.

    Remember November

    February 12, 2010 at 1:40 pm

    Bob Cesca is already stuffing it back in their faces.

    http://www.bobcesca.com/

  76. 76.

    Sly

    February 12, 2010 at 1:41 pm

    @Michael:

    Misquoting a poll to support your argument will do that.

    Cenk: New numbers from a CBS News-New York Times poll indicate that only 8% of Americans want their representative in Congress re-elected.

    Actual Poll: Just 8 percent of Americans want the members of Congress re-elected, according to a CBS News-New York Times poll taken nine months before roughly one-third of the Senate and the entire House face voters.

    Everyone hates Representatives except their own. That’s been the standard for decades.

  77. 77.

    JK

    February 12, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    @Sly:

    Jon Stewart got bowled over by John McCain in 2000. Bill Maher and Jon Stewart are very funny guys, but they’re obviously not the smartest political analysts.

  78. 78.

    Darkmoth

    February 12, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    @Jay S:

    Hmm, good point. Didn’t Scott Brown run as an “Independent” (R)?

  79. 79.

    MikeJ

    February 12, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    @Jay S:

    I seem to recall (I can’t find a link though) that some candidates were using GOP and avoiding Republican here in the last major election.

    2008 Washington Gov race, Dino Rossi (Prefers G.O.P. Party). The republicans lower on the ticket had (Prefers Republican Party).

  80. 80.

    Allan

    February 12, 2010 at 1:56 pm

    Zandar has joined in solidarity.

    John, can we haz Politico Juice please?

  81. 81.

    Mike G

    February 12, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    Jon Stewart got bowled over by John McCain in 2000. Bill Maher and Jon Stewart are very funny guys, but they’re obviously not the smartest political analysts.

    I’ll give them a pass since that was back in the Dark Ages before blogging went mainstream.
    I think we underestimate what an impact it has had that people who seek to be well-informed now have many sources of political information that aren’t large, corporate-controlled mainsteam media outlets.
    I was a voracious reader of news magazines (The Economist, Time, Newsweek, etc.) in the pre-internet days, but looking back I can really see how the variety of viewpoints on blogs has made me much better-informed now.

  82. 82.

    Oscar Leroy

    February 12, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    I hope we can get a blog campaign going to stop linking the Politico until they stop this nonsense.

    Maybe our time would be better spent campaigning to get Congress to pass cap-and-trade, or to get Obama to make more recess appointments?

  83. 83.

    Oscar Leroy

    February 12, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    @MaximusNYC:

    Yglesias tweeted earlier today that there were only 11 signatures on the “Draft Harold Ford” online petition.

    LOL

  84. 84.

    Allan

    February 12, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    @Oscar Leroy: Do Seymour Butts and Ivana Laya count as signatures?

  85. 85.

    Will

    February 12, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    I’m waiting for Tory Balloon Juice. Just imagine the post Question Time rants!

  86. 86.

    Paul in KY

    February 12, 2010 at 2:09 pm

    I hope they tell Politico to fuck off (in a polite manner, comment delivered in crisp upper-class English by a prim young lady).

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 12, 2010 at 2:13 pm

    @MikeJ:

    2008 Washington Gov race, Dino Rossi (Prefers G.O.P. Party).

    So that would be the Grand Old Party Party?

  88. 88.

    eemom

    February 12, 2010 at 2:16 pm

    Will not link to the twat, but Lady Jane’s latest delusion of grandeur is on display over at Lake Batshit for all her drooling groupies to ecstasize over. She’s explaining how HER most awesomest activist skills are like, SO much better at getting shit done that that lame-ass copycat OFA.

    I’d like to see her and Sarah Palin claw it out sometime. They’re two sides of the same twisted coin.

  89. 89.

    MagicPanda

    February 12, 2010 at 2:19 pm

    I’m afraid I have to side with Politico on this one. This is just the way the law works.

    There are different rules for different kinds of intellectual property. With patents and copyright, a company can choose to selectively enforce. In other words, a company is not required to sue a company for violating their patent or copyright.

    For trademarks, a company must enforce their trademarks. If a company repeatedly chooses not to enforce a trademark and allows its use by competitors or the general public without enforcement, it loses rights over the trademark.

    The law sucks, but given what the law says, Politico is compelled to defend its trademark, or else it effectively loses its trademark.

  90. 90.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 12, 2010 at 2:19 pm

    @Frank Chow: Oh really? I think I just may have to add Asian American into my blog name then. Never say I back away from a challenge.

    This is bullshit. Politico was a word before they usurped it, anyway. Fuck them. I never read ’em, anyway. I used to like Cenk, but he went off the deep end. I took a look at the diary linked, and firebaggery it is. By the way. I like both tea and fire. Do I really have to give them both up? And, I no longer read HuffPo, which I devoured during the campaign. I pretty much stick to WaMo, TNC, and TBogg for the basset hounds.

  91. 91.

    licensed to kill time

    February 12, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    @MaximusNYC:

    OT: Yglesias tweeted earlier today that there were only 11 signatures on the “Draft Harold Ford” online petition.
    __
    Since then, a few more have appeared, but, well… let’s just say this petition is turning out to be a real opportunity for creative expression:
    __
    I’m sure y’all can come up with some more good names to add.

    “Bug” R. Ahf
    Buster Hyman
    Seymour (Rusty) Spitchcock

  92. 92.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 12, 2010 at 2:40 pm

    If The Politico woulda just named themselves The Republicano everything would be simpler and make more sense.

  93. 93.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 12, 2010 at 2:42 pm

    @licensed to kill time:

    Erasmus B. Dragon (h/t the Car Talk guys)

  94. 94.

    licensed to kill time

    February 12, 2010 at 2:47 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: also the law firm Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

    I love Click n’ Clack, the Tappett Brothers :)

  95. 95.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    February 12, 2010 at 2:54 pm

    @Woodbuster:

    Before long, all I will have left is this place, Benen, TNC and All Recipes. Then what will I do? Work?

    You need to find blogs and forums devoted to other topics. Being a code monkey, I hang out in places where arguments over whether pointer declarations should be written as “int *p;” vs. “int* p;” never get old.

  96. 96.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    Doesn’t matter if you refuse to link or not, since I’ve been boycotting that establishment for quite a few months now.

    Didn’t take me long to see what they were about and I have said so in these very pages.

    Glad to see you’re catching on, John!

  97. 97.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 3:01 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I used to like Cenk, but he went off the deep end

    Yes, yes he did!

    What’s up with that, is it a Cenk~> Wes Clark ~> Hillary didn’t win thing?

  98. 98.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    February 12, 2010 at 3:02 pm

    @Grumpy Code Monkey: Oh for crap’s sake…anyone know how to escape asterisks?

  99. 99.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 3:05 pm

    @MagicPanda:

    If they made up the word, yeah! But, not so much the reality of the situation.

    MicroSoft I can see. Apple Computers I can see, Politico (the website) – just a word with a .com after it.

  100. 100.

    MagicPanda

    February 12, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    @Little Dreamer: For better or worse, you can get trademarks for words that are not made up. (e.g., Apple)

    “Politico” is a fairly unique word. It’s not like they’re trying to trademark the word “Politics”.

    Politico is evil for all sorts of reasons. I just think that in this case, they’re doing what the law compels them to do.

  101. 101.

    eemom

    February 12, 2010 at 3:18 pm

    @MagicPanda:

    you’re absolutely right about the TM law.

  102. 102.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 12, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    @MagicPanda: But as someone commented, politico has been used across the pond to describe a politician for ages. Fuck the TM laws, then.

    @Little Dreamer: I have no idea. He was funny and enthusiastic, but fairly rational during the campaign. Then, afterwards, he slowly slid into the crazy. Sore winner.

  103. 103.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    @MagicPanda:

    Funny MP, Apple was a record company before it was a computer company. Perhaps someone should take THAT lawsuit to court?

    po⋅lit⋅i⋅co

      /pəˈlɪtɪˌkoʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [puh-lit-i-koh] Show IPA
    –noun, plural -cos.
    a politician.
    Use politico in a Sentence
    See images of politico
    Search politico on the Web
    Origin:
    1620–30
    ; < It or Sp

  104. 104.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Wow, that DK diary by Cenk has some interesting comments. Not many happy kossacks on that one. Thanks for the tip, I’ve been hoping people were going to catch onto him soon.

  105. 105.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    @MagicPanda:

    Moreover MP, Apple is not “Apple” it is Apple Computer, Inc, and Apple Electronics – they do not command ownership of all use of the word Apple. They have a website at apple.com because they chose it before anyone else did, pure and simple.

    The word Politico has been in use for centuries, and Politico cannot stop others from using it. That would be like one company in Florida claiming that all other companies with the word SunState in any part of their name are in TM violation. That’s simply CRAZY TALK!

  106. 106.

    carlos the dwarf

    February 12, 2010 at 4:08 pm

    @Michael:

    Geez, what happened to Cenk? I remember loving his show back in the day. Was I that stupid, or has he gotten crazier?

  107. 107.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    February 12, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    @MagicPanda:

    you can get trademarks for words that are not made up. (e.g., Apple)

    Yes, but you own the mark, not the word. Two different things.

    a trademark, properly called, indicates source or serves as a badge of origin

    Ford(tm) for example, is the Blue Oval, often referred to as the logo of the company. They don’t own the name Ford, or the word “ford.”

  108. 108.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 4:17 pm

    @DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio:

    Yes, but you own the mark, not the word. Two different things.

    Exactly, thank you honey! ;)

  109. 109.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 4:18 pm

    @carlos the dwarf:

    He became a Hillbot!

  110. 110.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    February 12, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    @Little Dreamer:

    Any time, darlin(tm).

  111. 111.

    Little Dreamer

    February 12, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    @DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio:

    Hmm, what all does that cover? ;)

    I told you that you were smarter than me. (gotcha!)

  112. 112.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    February 12, 2010 at 4:54 pm

    @Little Dreamer:

    There is no way I am smarter than you. Sure, I can balance a fork and spoon on a toothpick on the edge of a water glass, but ……. that’s just gypsy stuff.

  113. 113.

    MagicPanda

    February 12, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    @DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio (and others): Apple had a long legal battle with Apple records that prevented Apple from adding sound functionality to their computers for quite a while. It was eventually resolved, although I don’t remember the details.

    Politico is not claiming blanket ownership of the word in all contexts. They are protecting their TM from another website that is calling itself “Tory Politico”.

    This is not that different than if, for example, a magazine decided to call itself “Canadian Cosmopolitan”. Cosmopolitan is a word, but I would imagine that the original “Cosmopolitan” has it trademarked.

    I’m not saying that the laws are good laws. I’m saying that Politico only has two choices: (1) defend the trademark or (2) lose the trademark. It’s not like patent law or copyright law where they can selectively enforce. Given the laws as they stand, Politico pretty much has to do this.

  114. 114.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    February 12, 2010 at 11:40 pm

    @MagicPanda:

    So, TimesOnline will be suing New York Times?

    Northwest Indiana Times? The Times of Trenton? Gainesville Times? Shreveport Times? Beaver CountyTimes? Pawtucket Times? The Times Irish Pub? Smithfield Times? Times-Picayune? Albany Times-Union? Port Huron Times-Herald? Los Angeles Times? Times West Virginian? Forest Lake Times? Burlington Times? The Times of Central Asia? Spencer Times-Record? Florence Alabama Times Daily? Times Leader? Times Standard? Times-Gazette? Times-Tribute? Times-Dispatch?

    Florida Times-Union? Times-Sentinel?

  115. 115.

    Tax Analyst

    February 13, 2010 at 12:52 am

    @licensed to kill time:

    OT: Yglesias tweeted earlier today that there were only 11 signatures on the “Draft Harold Ford” online petition.

    Since then, a few more have appeared, but, well… let’s just say this petition is turning out to be a real opportunity for creative expression:

    I’m sure y’all can come up with some more good names to add.

    “Bug” R. Ahf
    Buster Hyman
    Seymour (Rusty) Spitchcock

    Dick Hertz
    Mike Hunt
    Peter Small
    R.U. Cyrius

  116. 116.

    Little Dreamer

    February 13, 2010 at 8:25 am

    @MagicPanda:

    A word is NOT a trademark, you missed his point entirely.

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