So did anything important happen today in the realm of politics? Or was it just more hand-wringing about the Obama speech? I simply can’t stomach the thought of checking memeorandum.
Open Thread
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics
So did anything important happen today in the realm of politics? Or was it just more hand-wringing about the Obama speech? I simply can’t stomach the thought of checking memeorandum.
Comments are closed.
Midnight Marauder
I’m confused. I thought the hand-wringing was important…
CT Voter
Wise choice.
MoDo’s Daddy Eastwood hangup is on full display.
mr. whipple
The senate failed to pass an unemployment extension.
Idiots.
EconWatcher
Well, maybe not significant. But I was interested to read that Bill O’Reilly decided to make a fool of Palin last night by asking her what her solution was for the BP disaster.
http://www.newshounds.us/2010/06/16/oreilly_demolishes_palin_by_asking_for_her_solution_to_the_bp_oil_disaster.php#more
Remember, there was a tipping point when the mainstream derision of W finally reached the wingnuts, many of whom then claimed they’d never really supported him. I keep thinking we may eventually reach that tipping point with Palin. I mean, at some point even they have to see the comedy. O’Reilly going after her does not bode well for her future.
middlewest
I’m feeling the same way about the DailyKos. Are they still demanding Obama suspend the constitution? I’m not sure I even care anymore.
Tom Hilton
Sharron Angle’s supporters are threatening the candidate for the wingnut party Angle was in before she sold out and became a Republican. Good times!
Just Some Fuckhead
Someone clever needs to buy three domain names and point them to Balloon Juice:
GoddamnYouGreenwald.com
GoddamnYouHamsher.com
GoddamnYouMarkos.com
Emma
Well, this is from Reuters:
Under the agreement, BP committed to pay $20 billion into an independently managed fund over four years, suspend dividend payments for the rest of the year and pay $100 million to workers idled by the six-month moratorium on deep-sea drilling that the Obama administration imposed after the spill.
Pretty good day’s work there, Mr. President.
mr. whipple
@Emma:
Yes, but did he emote?
eemom
You didn’t like my suggestion of All New Doggie, All the Time posts? : (
trollhattan
@Tom Hilton:
Digby has a whole lot more on Angle, would-be Reid upgrade.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/right-angle-nevada-has-produced-wingnut.html
Whew, they’d have been better off with chicken gal. She, at least, has pageant experience Republicans crave (insert Brawndo ref. here).
MikeJ
@Emma: Where’s my goddamned pony?
Comrade Dread
@EconWatcher:
Maybe he’s tired of the idiot.
I wish more journalists and pundits would ask that question.
“Right, so we know you hate the opposition party and think they’re full of s***, but what would you, specifically, do to fix the problem?”
Emma
Mr. whipple: Only in private: Nice company you’ve got there. It would be too bad if it went bankrupt on you. Have I mentioned I’m going to start adding up all the unemployment we’re going to be paying in the Gulf and sending you the bill?
BP folded with a whimper.
The Grand Panjandrum
So what is all this banjo music and pig noises I keep hearing over here at Balloon Juice?
Evolved Deep Southerner
The guy who called Nimrata Haley a “raghead” said he was proud to be called a redneck and slammed the “hypocrites” in the South Carolina GOP.
I’m sure there’s a better link somewhere, but here’s one for starters.
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12654875
Chat Noir
@Emma: And the $20B is not a cap, per the President:
Per Benen.
Brachiator
Happy Bloomsday to any Joyceans out there (Bloomsday all over)
Sometimes you gotta take a little break from politics. Yes I will Yes.
Chat Noir
@EconWatcher: It doesn’t matter if you read the transcript or listen to her on video. She makes no sense whatsoever. Word salad indeed. She is beyond stupid.
Evolved Deep Southerner
Yep.
Sentient Puddle
Well, the $20 billion escrow fund was sort of important. But uninteresting because it means people can’t bitch as much.
Otherwise, I think the comments in MMonides’ thread a few posts back provide ample evidence for the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.
robertdsc
Whenever I see her name or any pictures of her, I think of the nickname someone here gave her: Nikki “sexytime” Haley.
She’s not bad looking, either. /shallow
John, how is Tunch doing?
lamh32
I’m not big on the “Iron Lady” Maggie Thatcher, but I’m with the Brits, if Maggie was in her right mind, she would die rather than even look at Sarah Palin.
What the hell does Palin think she’s doing? And I would love to see Palin try to take on the European press/tabloids, from what I’ve seen, the press over there ain’t as in awe of pols as the US press.
Palin’s Next Prop?
eco2geek
Last night, my wife asked me, “What do they think Obama’s supposed to do, swim down there with a wrench and stop the oil leak by himself?”
Well, obviously.
(Re: those “found dog” posters – they’ll be certain to be more effective if, at the very end, after the description of the dog, where you found her, etc. etc., you wrote, “Tasted like chicken.”)
Tom Hilton
@Evolved Deep Southerner: As opposed to the void the party currently has…between its ears?
Brachiator
LA Times article on free science fiction for iPad and Kindle
GambitRF
Don’t forget Orrin Hatch’s crusade against unemployed potheads
Elisabeth
@Emma:
I believe it was TPM that had an official White House photo of the meeting up earlier. In it were Sec. Solis and AG Holder among others. Seems like they wanted to make sure labor issues were covered and everything was legal. Nice to see the necessary folks were involved.
Mike Kay
@Just Some Fuckhead: did anyone here say that today?
If I didn’t say anything about Glenn of jane.
Mike Kay
@Mike Kay: should read, “even I didn’t say anything about glenn or jane.”
Sheila
@middlewest: That’s what happens to a site when it becomes ego-bound.
jwb
@Just Some Fuckhead: You forgot: goddamnyoufuckhead.com
Sheila
@Brachiator: Introibe ad altere dei (sp.?)
Mike Kay
@eco2geek:
She obviously must be a corportist shill who works for the DLC.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
It’s relevant because of the snot-green scrotum-tightening Gulf of Mexico.
Elisabeth
@lamh32:
I hope Palin gets excoriated by the press on both sides of the pond for this. There’s almost no way any photo from this photo op will look appropriate to any sane person.
Tom Hilton
@Mike Kay: Now that he brings them up, though, there’s no reason to hold back.
lamh32
Last week, a friend and I were talking about how Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” video is such a rip-off of Madonna’s videos…well, someone on youtube obviously agrees.
This is how you throw a classic beat down without throwing a fist.
Check out this mash-up of classic Madonna videos with Gaga’s videos, and you see even more seemingly blatant rip-offs.
Madonna :She’s Not Me
D-Chance.
The world is crazy… just looking at the “latest items” from Memeo:
Churchill’s cigar is being photoshopped out of existence.
Now that we’ve found a new trillion $ resource to exploit, maybe Afghanistan isn’t such a bad idea.
New Rules for Credit Agencies dropped by congress.
Robert Reich calls Obama “vapid“.
The oil spill that was leaking 5,000 gallons per day is now leaking 60,000 gallons…
… and the well casing may be deteriorating to the point that the whole thing just blows.
Other than all that, it’s a wonderful life for all.
beltane
@middlewest: They’ve calmed down there quite a bit. Once the usual crowd of shit-stirrers stirred their shit sanity prevailed. That’s why I make it a point to scream at people over there every once and a while.
I was told that Jane Hamsher has declared war on the Sierra Club because they are in a “green veal pen”. Seriously.
Mike Kay
@beltane: has whatzhername ever won a “war”?
lamh32
@lamh32:
A sample of the lyrics to Madonnna’s She’s Not Me:
she started dressing like me and talking like me
It freaked me out
She started calling you up in the middle of the night
What’s that about?
he’s not me
She doesn’t have my name
She’ll never have what I have
It won’t be the same
It won’t be the same
She started dyeing her hair and
Wearing the same perfume as me
She started reading my books
And stealing my looks and lingerie
She is licking her lips
And she’s batting her eyes
She’s not me
She’s got legs up to there
And such beautiful hair
She’s not me
f someone wants to pimp your style
And hang with you a little while
And make off with all the things you like
You’re gonna have to watch it
She’s not me
She doesn’t have my name
She’ll never have what I have
It won’t be the same
It won’t be the same
ruemara
@beltane:
I’m almost scared to ask. What, prithee, is a “green veal pen”?
WereBear
@Evolved Deep Southerner: Oh, man, I’m still laughing at that one.
Whoo, doggies. Well, yeah, it’s true (more helpless laughter)
jwb
@lamh32: Not sure what the big deal is since it’s been clear almost from the start that Lady Gaga was created to be a younger model Madonna Redux. Am I supposed to be offended or something?
Joseph Nobles
A nice story about Obama connecting last night from one of Sully’s readers.
Litlebritdifrnt
@lamh32:
I could not agree with you more, while I was no fan of her politics (except her stance during the Falklands War when I was serving in the Navy) I admire her immensely as a strong and powerful person who rose from humble beginnings and made history (remind anyone of anyone?). She would be absolutely and utterly horrified at the very thought of Palin, remember she has to be told on a regular basis that her husband has died, and each time she goes through the initial stages of grief as if it is the first time she has heard it. IT IS ABSOLUTELY ELDER ABUSE for Palin to use this national treasure as a fucking photo op prop. I hope upon hope that Maggie’s carers tell Palin to fuck the hell off.
Mike Kay
@Litlebritdifrnt: I’m surprised she didn’t break into Reagan’s house and take a photo before he kicked off in 2004.
arguingwithsignposts
Don’t feel bad, JC. I *never* check memeorandum. Sanity is too precious for that.
In news that fits in an OT: bought the new(er) Hyundai Sonata yesterday. Signing the lease on the new apt. tomorrow. Traveling to Iowa this weekend. Colleague said today, “wow, it’s like you’re getting a whole new life!” Heh.
Also moved the bed in the current apt. away from the wall next to the window so I’d have some more room to move when making up the bed. This has caused quite a bit of confusion for Lady Smudge, who can’t jump up onto the sill from her usual spot. So I moved a hamper to the other end of the sill so she can climb on from there. She’s still figuring this out. Also, new “self-cleaning” litter box for her.
SiubhanDuinne
@Evolved Deep Southerner:
Yep. Also too:
“Dawn to dust.” Snorfle.
lamh32
@jwb:
Naw, it’s not about being offended.
I’m just one who feels that not enough younger artist, and young people in general, are aware of the vast experiences and influences of older artist/”past their prime” artists have on new artist.
It bothers me to no end, that a young artist like the Jonas Bros can cover “Superstititious” by Stevie Wonder, and some young girl is listening to the Jonas version and missing out on the genius that is Stevie.
I just think that these artist need to be acknowldeged.
I just did not really notice how much Gaga actually used of Madonna-like material.
That’s all.
jwb
@Mike Kay: Surely, she could just pay someone to photoshop her into a picture with Ronnie Raygun and write a touching little story of their encounter for her to memorize. She’s pathological enough, I’m sure she’d soon come to believe the story was even true.
TuiMel
@Elisabeth:
I know I should not think this, but I am wondering who could play Maggie Thatcher to Tina Fey’s Palin. There’s (satire) gold in that thar outrage, because I think Margaret Thatcher’s contempt (what else would she feel if in possession of her faculties?) for Palin would crush Hillary’s.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Obama gets the notoriously incorrigible BP to pony up 20 fucking billion dollars and no cap on future payments and the firebaggers turn up the butthurt even more. It’s almost like they are disappointed when good stuff happens. Or so it seems to this humble Obot.
middlewest
I found some great news: Michele Bachman has bravely come out against the BP fund because it’s obviously a soshoolist plot to redistribute BP’s well-deserved wealth. This is such a winning argument; I hope the republican party follows her lead!
Chat Noir
@Joseph Nobles: Thank you for linking that. I read Dowd’s column a few minutes before; what a tool. I have no idea where the pundits are getting this notion that Obama doesn’t care. Every time I see him speak, I believe he cares immensely.
burnspbesq
@Sheila:
Wait, what? Were you an altar boy?
arguingwithsignposts
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Wow, I agree with Andrew Sullivan about something. It is instructive that when Saint Ronnie began to suffer from advanced Alzheimer’s Disease, the family shut the public out. We don’t have photos of Reagan in his decline, and I respect them for that.
I just wish there were some way the country could find to send Palin back to the back country hick life she had before McCain descended into dementia in the 2008 presidential election.
tkogrumpy
@Evolved Deep Southerner: And be sure and wipe yourself afterwards.
Mike Kay
@ruemara: it’s her way of calling someone a sheep. So to her bernie sanders and al franken are sheep/veal because they weren’t “strong” enough to filibuster HCR. here, a green veal/sheep would be an environmentalist sheep, I’m guessing on cap and trade or the gulf or something.
Litlebritdifrnt
@TuiMel:
Stephen Fry comes to mind.
Chat Noir
@arguingwithsignposts: She is such a beauty. She looks like she has some Oriental breeds in her lineage. Love your pix and the captions (you and jeffreyw and John Cole all have the best picture captions).
Congrats on the new car and digs!
MikeJ
@lamh32:
They were already missing out on Stevie. Having someone they like cover songs will introduce them to new/old stuff.
I’m all for it! Bring on the covers! Bring on the rip offs! If genius doesn’t inspire copies, it’s probably not genius.
YellowJournalism
@lamh32:
Which is exactly why people freak out when classic films are remade. It’s great when it comes out right, but sometimes it just comes out so wrong.
The only upside is that sometimes those young ones seek out the source material and discover true genius. Worst case scenario is Jessica Simpson singing Nancy Sinatra. (WORST FUCKING SONG COVER EVER! Yes, that includes William Hung singing anything.)
What’s really funny is that Madonna was accused quite often of copying Marilyn Monroe’s style, sexual titillation, and penchant for pushing boundaries. I hate to invoke the TV sitcom Full House, but there’s a scene where the family goes to see Uncle Jesse perform as Elvis. When a Marilyn look-a-like performs, the oldest daughter DJ says something along the lines of, “Hey, they have a Madonna impersonator here!”
(And I credit that scene and the Madonna video for introducing me to Marilyn Monroe films.)
burnspbesq
@arguingwithsignposts:
Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s beginning in 1981. He forgot about the Constitution the whole time he was President.
Mike Kay
@arguingwithsignposts: Love Lady Smudge!
Mark S.
I learned some things over at memeorandum:
1. BP may not be providing protective suits to their workers, but they are providing hookers.
2. For anyone who cares, Debbie Schlussel is still batshit insane.
Elisabeth
@TuiMel:
Can Betty White do a British accent?
Chat Noir
@middlewest:
Benen had a post about the GOP treading lightly with regards to the oil disaster in the Gulf.
Mnemosyne
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Once my grandmother got to that point, we started telling her that my grandfather had gone on a hunting trip when she asked. Honestly, at that point it’s just causing the person unnecessary pain to constantly make them relive that moment over and over again for no reason. Even Maggie Thatcher, for whom I have zero respect.
mr. whipple
“It bothers me to no end, that a young artist like the Jonas Bros can cover “Superstititious” by Stevie Wonder, and some young girl is listening to the Jonas version and missing out on the genius that is Stevie.”
Artists borrowing, paying homage to, or otherwise ripping off has been going on forever. The only thing bad about ripping of Madonna is that it makes me more likely to encounter it in the future, and I worked hard enough to avoid it the first time around.
Litlebritdifrnt
@arguingwithsignposts:
I have said all along that I have long been a republicrat. When I was in the Navy in the UK during Maggie’s tenure I admired her for a great deal of things. I hated her for a great deal of things also, but I never, ever doubted her strength, her intelligence, and her absolute will. There was a funny story of a cabinet meeting (that was famously parodied by Spitting Image at the time) they were all ordering lunch, she ordered something or other the waiter then said “what about the vegetables” she responded “they will have what I’m having” The very thought that she would be used as a photo prob for Palin makes me feel almost physically ill. She is a historic figure, she cannot be replaced, and the thought that this vapid, airheaded, pair of tits on long legs would be presented to a woman who would not wipe her shoes on Palin makes me want to cry. I hope to the FSM that this does not happen.
Martin
Yeah, today was a $20B escrow account for victims and Carville said that Obama was doing it right with the plan to recover the Gulf. Good day for the country, day for the firebaggers.
YellowJournalism
@Mnemosyne: We lost my grandmother right before Christmas. She was starting the slide into dementia, and basically started talking about my grandfather as if he hadn’t been dead for two years, among other sad things. Hearing that about Thatcher honestly brings tears to my eyes, and I feel for her family. If Palin does go through with this, she can go straight to hell right after.
jeffreyw
Mrs J found something to do with that sackful of zucchini.
tkogrumpy
@jwb: She doesn’t have to. They were all over Europe in the ’80’s.
jwb
@lamh32: oh, sorry. The first time I saw Lady Gaga, I wasn’t really paying attention and mistook the image for Madonna, so I was already primed. Then I heard the music and within two seconds it was clear her sound was modeled on Madonna as well. And since then LG has been following the Madonna playbook on image construction pretty closely. On the other hand, I’m not at all troubled by that, particularly since neither Madonna nor LG makes a play for authenticity. My only question is whether LG has Madonna’s virtuosity and tolerance for risk in remaking her image in continually fresh ways. Madonna missed more than occasionally, but overall I always found her a net plus. Musically, I think she also shared with Fred Astaire the ability to make quite a lot of a rather mediocre instrument, even if she, unlike Astaire, had quite a lot of production help. (That’s not meant as a knock on her, btw, because she rarely sought to conceal the production help but rather incorporated it as part of her style.)
South of I-10
Leaving work, I got stuck in the elevator with the old, bitter, angry PUMA who works in my office. I got to listen to 10 floors worth of how much Obama sucks and the oil spill is somehow his fault. I am currently at my parents, and my Mom is so chockful of wingnutty goodness tonight, that even my Dad is rolling his eyes. I am now considering going home and drinking heavily.
Violet
OT – Check out this amazing building in NYC that has been boarded up since the 1940’s: 5 Beekman Street.
(H/T Gawker)
jwb
@Violet: Very cool!
ruemara
@Violet:
amazing. love those cast iron dragons. It makes me so very homesick. AND THOSE WOOD FLOORS! What is it with new yorkers and the love of wood floors? Oh yeah, that’s why.
Martin
Here’s some details on the escrow:
Doctor Science
We’re packing and moving and packing and throwing stuff out and moving. It’s a local move, into a smaller, cheaper place in a walkable community while staying in the school district, but OMG I HATE MOVING.
The only good part is that now there is Freecycle, so it’s easier to get over the emotional hump of getting rid of stuff. So far I’ve ‘cycled: a deep freezer; 2 children’s bookcases (going to an elementary school, no less); 4 filing cabinets; an exercise bike; National Geographics; magazine racks.
omg i hate moving.
WereBear
@Brachiator: Thanks! Now kindled.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Martin: Great news, but amazing that a big oil company would agree to such terms. Sounds like BP in all their past orneryness is chastened and humbled by their negligence.
Violet
@jwb: @ruemara:
Yeah, it’s really cool, isn’t it? Can you believe it’s just been hiding in plain site for almost seventy years? Crazy!
The dragons are amazing. And That atrium? And the towers? And the views? Wow! I really hope they can turn it into a hotel, like the write-up says, and save it. What a gem.
kay
@Martin:
This is funny:
arguingwithsignposts
Hey, Obama got them to forgo dividend payments for the rest of the year *and* the escrow fund. W00t!
tkogrumpy
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: My impression is that there is much criminal culpability still yet to bubble up to the surface, which gives the government a pretty big hammer.
kay
@Martin:
Maybe it was in the works, but they couldn’t reach agreement in time for the speech? They couldn’t have gotten that far in a 4 hour negotiating session.
That would explain that horrible speech, anyway. Someone threw it together it in 20 minutes? “Just mix these random phrases together, quickly!”
Martin
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: I’m certain that the conditions for doing this was to avoid an immediate, permanent ban from doing business in US territory by the EPA. That was always Obama’s big stick, and BP was already pretty close to that point prior to the Deepwater Horizon.
US drilling/refining/sales is 40% of BPs revenues. This is a cheap compared to losing that. The $5B deposit this year is less than their planned dividend (though their other related costs will push them over that number). It’s not a death sentence for BP, but it’s going to be reasonably painful – and the shareholders are taking it all on the chin on this one. If they’re smart, they’ll kick some ass in the next shareholder meeting.
What I like about this solution is that it nominally forces all parties to do what all parties are supposed to do. We’ll see if that holds up in the details, but this is a good government/free market resolution without the government having to overreach.
I’d like to see this married to a floating drilling moratorium where rigs can be individually restarted once they can demonstrate the ability to repair a catastrophic blowout on a rig under those conditions (depth of water, etc.) and they have a viable plan and the equipment and training to handle containment. This would be done case-by-case. The industry can either pull together and make this happen faster, or go it alone and get their rigs back running one-by-one. If it takes them 10 years to demonstrate, oh well. Among other things, it *should* translate that moratorium into jobs and work for the region.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
Violet – when DH and I stayed in Charleston for Christmas one year we stayed in the former Citadel, which is now a hotel, I chose it because it is right in downtown and within walking distance of everything but the building is just stunning, and it really gives a feel of how it was when it was the Citadel. I absolutely adored our stay there.
http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/CHSESES-Embassy-Suites-Charleston-Historic-Charleston-South-Carolina/index.do
WereBear
That’s pretty sick. What kind of care is she getting? It’s cruelty.
The proper thing to do is tell the afflicted the passed on is out getting milk or something.
I painstakingly explained this to each one of my husband’s relatives, about his grandfather, and they finally got it.
Sheesh.
bemused
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
Yes, amazing. I just keep wondering what the catch is.
I would love to stop being so cynical about everything but I am cynical that we will ever be able to take anything at face value ever again.
tkogrumpy
@Martin: Superb!
Mike Kay
@kay: see – this is what we’re talking about, Obama listens to the self described rednecks but not tthe bloggers who put him in office!
tkogrumpy
@Violet: This building is a treasure. I wish I could look at it strictly as art, unfortunately as an energy conscious builder I also see a heating and cooling nightmare. That said still worth saving.
SiubhanDuinne
You guys see this??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM&feature=player_embedded
Too funny.
Too true.
stuckinred
@Mike Kay: quit your bitchin
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Martin: Yea, I keep forgetting how much these oil companies are worth, but still, 20 bill is a nice chump of change. And this well was troubled from the start with well control issues, and if the testimony of one of guys on the ground is to be believed, it should have been stopped when rubber chunks of the vital O ring in the BOP came back up with drilling mud before they transitioned it to a production well. Sounds like criminal negligence to me. I don’t know enough about the deep water oil drilling business to know for certain what measures need to occur for existing rigs, but certainly for new ones and those with past problems a companion relief well seems to be the least to be required.
kay
@Mike Kay:
I’m all for it. Whatever he does, people should say “that was my idea!”
I am curious about the speech, though. They should release a timeline. I would be interested in that. Obama looked rattled to me, and negotiations start and stop. Did he think he had a deal and then find out it was falling apart? Is that why he appeared to be reading something that he was completely unfamiliar with, and didn’t much care for?
He’s a solid writer. Was he like “what IS this piece of crap they handed me?”
Comrade Mary
@Litlebritdifrnt:
The 80s me never thought I’d feel such empathy and pity for Thatcher one day. That is just horrid.
Jules
Lots of hang wringing and pout-i-tude….
I wrote this on my blog about an hour ago:
I’ve had it.
I’m going to make an apple pie.
I’m done with any news source/pundit/columnist that is shrill.
No more Olberman or Matthews.
No more Huffington Post.
Daily Kos is off my radar.
I’m just sick of the whiny nit picking or the over the top freak outs.
(My God the man said “small people”…Jesus people English is a second language to him.)
I think I’m going to limit myself to the evening news, Balloon Juice and Wonkette.
That’s really all I can handle.
The pie is in the oven now.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Mike Kay: Who fucking cares what you say, assclown?
Just Some Fuckhead
@jwb: Yeah, because an anonymous commenter calling himself a fuckhead is all that.
MikeJ
@Jules: To be fair about the “small people” comment, even the BBC freaked out about it. It’s not limited to the manic progressives.
KDP
There’s this
And howsabout a requirement that oil rigs for oceanic drilling must be registered from a country that requires a full inspections? I heard somewhere that if the Deep Water had been registered from Europe or US, it would have undergone 2 weeks of inspection before commissioning. From Marshall Islands, 4-6 hours….
Mike Kay
@Just Some Fuckhead: well, obviously you do, because you responded to my comment.
but keep raising strawmen for the three stooges, they need you loser sympathy.
lamh32
Okay,
I’m the least girly grily on the outside, out of all my siblings, but put me in front of a romantic movie and I can’t resist.
Here I sit about to watch “Sabrina” the version with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear, for the 3rd time since it’s been shown on HBO. What make this so sad is that I actually own the movie (both version; i.e. the original with Bogart & Audrey, and this one), so I can watch it anytime I want.
And yet, I’m still sitting here watching as I type.
I really just like this movie. It the reason why I find Greg Kinnear cute (I liked him when he hosted Talk Soup), and it probably the first time since Indiana Jones, that I like Harrison Ford as a romantic lead and not just an action star.
I can’t honestly say which I love better, the original or the remake. They both have a place in my sad little romantic heart.
Ahhhhh
lamh32
@lamh32:
Ahhhh… ladies try not to sigh at the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQv3u_aj5m4
Mike Kay
@kay: I said this before, I didn’t see the speech, but I saw a 7 minute segment on Nightline, and they loved it and they used numerous clips/sound bites which were great. I was left wondering, what was everyone talking about, the clips were/are impressive. And you know speech writers do this, they know a speech will be turned into sound bites so they insert sound bites that may not work in the flow of an entire speech but will be picked out as a phrases for 24 news cycle.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Mike Kay: Dude, my ten year old using wikipedia could do what you do here. And he’d get his possessives right too.
MikeJ
@Just Some Fuckhead: One liner in perl.
kay
@Mike Kay:
It wasn’t the speech so much. It was Obama. He looked rattled and mildly annoyed and distracted, and that bothered me.
It was weird. He was hitting the wrong words. Just a disjointed mess.
I keep saying this, and I’m convincing no one, but there is something amiss in his media team or PR team or whatever those people are called in a White House. They’re defensive and reacting, all the time. If they’re exhausted or bitter or whatever, fine, understandable, I don’t think they get the credit they should in that White House, but get some new people who aren’t all burned out and resentful, and firing out of a bunker.
Mike Kay
@Just Some Fuckhead: Replying to me again — see I’m under your skin.
Heh!
Emma
Kay, maybe you’re not convincing anyone because the rest of us don’t see it. It’s not a slam or anything it’s just that… I just don’t see it. He looked serious and like he was trying to walk a fine line between speaking normally and sounding like a college professor, but that was it for me.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@kay: You might want to consider this wasn’t really a speech. It was an address from the Oval Office. These historically have been made for solemn occasions, such as Bush announcing the Iraq war had begun. What I saw was Obama trying to, but not doing a particularly good job at doing the solemn thing, sort of in between the animation allowed for actual speeches with a live audience. The hand movements seemed a little awkward, and dare I say it, seemed like him wanting to show emo and having the wrong venue for that. Didn’t bother me a bit, because I focused on what he actually said. I suspect he has been stung personally with the criticism from the left, right and the press, that he is being to too cool and not showing Clinton like schmaltzy feel yer pain shit.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Mike Kay: If that’s your benchmark for success yer working too hard. Just post ads for sh0es and erect1le dysfunction drugs.
frankdawg
so . . . do you think BP still feels $500,000 for an acoustic automatic shutoff is a lot of money? $20B would buy 40,000 of them. Shell says they use them on every under water well.
jwb
@Just Some Fuckhead: Seemed like you were trolling to be given shit, and I simply obliged.
Mike Kay
@Just Some Fuckhead: and yet that would beat your emo groveling over the three stooges.
actually, reading a lectue on substance from a loser groupie named fuckhead is hilarious.
Keep drinking the hippie bath water, fuckhead.
Heh!
matoko_chan
Someone relly, relly needs to break it to Allahpundit that Christie is a loozer candidate.
pssssst, AllahP!!
Christie can’t be elected president….he is F.. A.. T fat.
relly, relly fat.
Mike Kay
@jwb: shhh, he’s a victim. They’re all victims. you hurt po’ little self pitying fuckhead’s fee fees.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Okay. Enough foreplay, time to rock and roll.
Just Some Fuckhead
@jwb: Oh, I’ve been given shit by anonymous commenter jwb. Yawn.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Mike Kay: You need to hang around a little longer before you get to decide who is what. Yer just the latest “Look at me!” assclown here.
Kristine
@arguingwithsignposts:
Smudge is a beauty.
Original Lee
@Elisabeth: Oh please please please please! I shiver with anticipation.
jwb
@Just Some Fuckhead: I make no claim about the quality of the shit. You really are pathetically desperate. It’s kind of endearing, in a sad puppy sort of way.
Just Some Fuckhead
@jwb: Yeah, I know. It’s the cross I have to bear.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@jwb: I think the quality of the shit you give is about as good as anyone else’s on this blog. And there is some grade A shit to be found here. I wouldn’t know about that personally though. :-)
kay
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
I’ll consider nothing, Stuck, so forget it :)
I don’t care that much about the speech (which sucked). I wanted the money. If he gets a lot of that, I’m fine with him.
BP cares about the money too, so we have that in common.
jwb
@Just Some Fuckhead: I’m actually more or less in agreement with Greenwald and Stewart on the civil liberties stuff and am delighted whenever anyone pushes the issue. I’m a little surprised the front pagers haven’t brought this up, unless I missed it. My problem is that I’m not sure how you effectively pressure the issue since however horrible Obama is on civil liberties (and there is no doubting that he has been pathetic on the issue), we can be pretty sure that the Goopers would be far worse, so I just can’t see any way to get leverage.
Mike Kay
@Just Some Fuckhead: yeah, I didn’t think you had anything. what a bore.
Mike Kay
Next!
Hob
Not to interrupt the flamewars, but has anyone been reading the closing arguments in the federal case over California’s gay marriage ban? Emptywheel and “The Seminal” at Firedoglake have been putting up miles of transcripts, and it’s a hell of a read, especially today. The judge has been basically forcing the extremely inarticulate defense team to articulate pretty much every anti-gay-marriage argument they ever made or ever could make; and the judge has then very clearly and deliberately reduced all of those arguments to little piles of ash. To say he appears unsympathetic to Prop 8 is putting it mildly.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Hob:
Endless foreplay, no action. Kinda like high school dating in the 60’s.
Paula
Now Greenwald is linking to fake news on the teevee? Interesting.
jwb
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: forgot to add: /rimshot
Texas Dem
Obama’s speech looks a hell of lot better now that BP has agreed to cough up 20 billion (and don’t forget about the additional 100 million “voluntary” contribution for laid-off oil workers). But why didn’t the WH wait another day so they could put that in the speech?
arguingwithsignposts
@tkogrumpy:
I realize I’m late to this, but this building could also have great potential to be a green model for NY buildings. Install some solar panels on the roof, good insulation, some other green energy saving things (I’m being deliberately vague here because I don’t have a clue what these things could be), and it could be an example for the city.
That said, I’m curious how much asbestos abatement they’ll have to do to restore that place.
@kay:
Part of this is because Obama is lousy at the 24-hour news cycle. He plays long ball. And his team has to react to a bunch of numbnuts like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann and the right wing puke funnel, who *do* play the 24-hour news cycle and get the WH Press Corpse to ask questions about their idiot pronouncements.
It’s hard not to be in reactive mode when the crazy is coming from a different place every day.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Texas Dem: Guessing, I would say he wanted the speech bouncing around the media to give BP something to think about. It didn’t help Obama politically to do it this way, at least not directly. But it may have softened up the battlefield with BP, which indirectly would be politically beneficial. And it worked.
People forget this dude is black and got himself elected presnit of this country, of all things. That’s why all the armchair experts are annoying to me, most of the time.
jwb
@arguingwithsignposts: “Part of this is because Obama is lousy at the 24-hour news cycle. He plays long ball.”
I agree. He’s only lousy at the 24-hour news cycle because, for better or worse, he clearly doesn’t think it’s a priority. There were periods during the campaign where he did care, and he almost always controlled the cycle during those periods. He also won a number of cycles by seeming to lose them: the one that comes most to mind is the “lipstick on a pig” comment, which even at the time I thought was calculated rather than offhand and over time I think proved to be very much a net positive for the campaign.
Mike Kay
@Paula: tell us more, it’s unlike glenn to make a mistake.
SiubhanDuinne
It’s interesting about the address last night. I watched it live, and while it was very far from being a bad speech, I didn’t think it was going to shake the rats from the rafters. Obama looked tired and stressed, and I felt sorry for him.
Then today I heard extended excerpts on the radio, and it was a completely different experience. The words were the same, but his voice was energised and persuasive.
For the first time, I really *get* what people mean when they say Nixon won the 1960 debates if they heard them on radio, but JFK won if they watched them on TV.
Mike Kay
@jwb: during the early part the primaries (2007 thur super tuesday), I would say Hillary won the vast majority of the news cycles, yet to no avail. I can see the obama camp saying, she’s winning the Halperin cycle but we’re winning the primaries, so why bother with them.
Mike Kay
@Hob: not to get excited, but it’s only round one of a three round match.
jwb
@Mike Kay: I agree. Again, my point was simply that Obama was fully capable of winning a news cycle when he felt he needed to. But mostly he didn’t feel he needed to worry about it, that worrying about it was a distraction, and so didn’t bother. I think he’s taken that same attitude to the WH, and it’s likewise been generally effective, though without the campaign apparatus I’ll say that it can sometimes be difficult to decide if he has a strategic plan. I admit that I don’t always have a clear sense of what his larger goals are and where his priorities are, and I sometimes find that frustrating, but I’m willing to let it play out through the midterms before I evaluate how effective I think he’s been. Lord knows, he’s had more than enough challenges in the not quite 18 months he’s been in office. (Yes, it’s hard to believe that he’s been in office less than 18 months.)
Mnemosyne
@Texas Dem:
Some people suspect that it was supposed to be in last night’s speech, but negotiations broke down at the last minute and they had to rush out with something else since the time was already booked.
I have no idea if that was the case, but it does sound plausible.
Mike Kay
@jwb: I am just an obot, but achieving HCR, a goal set by T.R. a hundred years ago, student loan reform, FinReg reform, a nuclear arms reduction, pulling out of Iraq, staving off a 2nd great depression, ending DADT, and lastly setting up cap and trade will fill volumes by future dispassionate historians. and he’s only been in office 1 year and 5 months.
AxelFoley
Wow, according to some at DKos, fake President Maddow > real President Obama: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/16/867873/-Fake-President-Maddow-NAILS-it.-
Dumb shit like this is why I’ve never registered there.
Nick
@jwb:
You can’t until you change popular opinion of it. As long as the American people are willing to give up freedoms, leaders will do it. The end.
AxelFoley
@TuiMel:
Since she’s in high demand these days, I’d say Betty White could do it.
AxelFoley
@Elisabeth:
Dammit, shoulda known someone would beat me to it.
Brian J
@lamh32:
I’ve always thought they sounded very similar, and when that first song came out, I never caught the name of it until it was out for a couple of weeks. I just assumed it was a Madonna song.
CaseyL
@Violet:
What an amazing building! I’m amazed and delighted that the owners understand what a treasure it is, and are intent on restoring it to its former glory rather than ripping out all that beautiful iron work in the name of “modernization.”
Not sure how structurally sound the place is, or I’d love to see some of my favorite TV shows film some scenes in it…
jwb
@Mike Kay: I know. It’s incredible to tally up what’s actually been accomplished; but I think one reason it seems a surprise is because he’s not overt about strategy so a lot of these things come in under the radar (which is the main reason they can get done at all). At the same time, we’ll have to wait for the election in November and perhaps again in 2012 to see how effective it has turned out as a long-term political strategy.
jwb
@Nick: But how does an average Joe Schmoe like me substantively affect public opinion on an issue like this?
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@jwb: The BDS lingers in prog quarters. They seem to want smirking demands from a liberal commander guy, or something.
jwb
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: To some extent, but I’m an Obot, and I often feel I’m not certain what the strategy is. That said, I figure we elected Obama president, so I’ll trust he knows what he’s doing in terms of strategy (and he’ll pay the steepest price if he miscalculates). If we are looking at this in terms of the long game, then we have to see how well the strategy works for getting the agenda through the congress in the next session and whether it serves to get him re-elected. But we’ll really only be able to evaluate the strategy in retrospect.
Nick
@jwb:
Well, for example, with torture, it helps to consistently point out that torturing a suspect means we won’t be able to put them on trial, and thus they can go free.
Now that’s the argument I’ve gotten the best response from, but even then you’ll get a lot of “We shouldn’t even put them on trial, we should just kill them”
The one thing that doesn’t work is trying to appeal to moral high ground. People just don’t seem to care. Two wrongs make a right when it comes to stuff like torture or suspending civil rights. People’s lives mean more to them than their country, which is why you don’t see support for a draft or a rush to join the military. My aunt from Europe was here once and was mortified by those Army commercials where the kid was begging his parents to let him join the military. She couldn’t understand how a parent wouldn’t feel anything but sheer pride at the thought of their child serving in the military, especially in a country as nationalist and hawkish as America.
The truth is there are just a lot of Americans who are just plain savages. We need to learn to accept that.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne:
I find it pretty easy to imagine three possibilities:
1. Obama’s people figured they could get two days of flattering headlines by doing the speech first, then announcing the fund. But a lot of people decided they didn’t like the speech, so it didn’t quite play out that way.
2. After some back and forth, BP said, fine, we’ll do a fund, but we don’t want to look like we got bullied into it, so we want to be involved in making ourselves look very concerned and caring. Let us be there for the media. Then I take it that didn’t go so well either (although, honestly, I didn’t understand why “small people” was supposed to be such a wacky gaffe).
3. Obama said, “I’m all set to do a prime time address ripping you bastards a new one with diamond-tipped saws. If you don’t want that to happen, you might want to get out in front of this with a dramatic face-saving gesture.” GOTO 2.
bago
Madonna is over 50, Gaga isn’t half that. Which one do you want to see in playboy?
Paula
@Mike Kay:
Well, it’s not anything like that. It’s just … he’s linking Jon Stewart on his fucking blog. Since when does intrepid reporter GG rely on Jon Stewart to back up his points?
matoko_chan
@jwb: strategy.
–parry huit with a little kabuki to misdirect the media and the GOP and the teabaggers, while getting cap-n-trade ready to pass in the lameduck congress after the midterms.
if the republican tsunami fails to materialize, then hes got plenty time to work on cap n trade, and the spill at his back to give him momentum.
he’s at least 5 moves ahead of the conservatives in the gamespace.
keestadoll
Hello and good morning.
You have to understand that I was raised to believe that free unfettered markets check and balance themselves, and that the “natural” law of supply and demand somehow incorporated righteousness as a necessity in those who wanted to participate in such a system. Over time, and with lots of reading and yes, even “rebellious” thinking on my part, I have come to understand that players in a market, once they get big enough (ie: corporations), don’t have to abide by any moral standard whatsoever beyond those they set for themselves.
So when I read the rants of people like this , I have to wonder: (a) how naive are you Congressman So-and-So? (b) how much more dumbed-down can the American electorate get? and (c) what corporation in modern history ever did anything outside of insuring its own survival by any means necessary including “doing” what a national government said it wants?
The current administration and its detractors seem to be under the delusion that the US government has the power to tell BP to do anything. They set the table, they cooked the food, and they and only they have the power to serve dessert.
Meanwhile, BP CEO Tony Hayward giggles over his Earl Grey…
keestadoll
Hello and good morning.
You have to understand that I was raised to believe that free unfettered markets check and balance themselves, and that the “natural” law of supply and demand somehow incorporated righteousness as a necessity in those who wanted to participate in such a system. Over time, and with lots of reading and yes, even “rebellious” thinking on my part, I have come to understand that players in a market, once they get big enough (ie: corporations), don’t have to abide by any moral standard whatsoever beyond those they set for themselves.
So when I read the rants of people like this, I have to wonder: (a) how naive are you Congressman So-and-So? (b) how much more dumbed-down can the American electorate get? and (c) what corporation in modern history ever did anything outside of insuring its own survival by any means necessary including “doing” what a national government said it wants?
The current administration and its detractors seem to be under the delusion that the US government has the power to tell BP to do anything. They set the table, they cooked the food, and they and only they have the power to serve dessert.
Meanwhile, BP CEO Tony Hayward giggles over his Earl Grey…
Emma
Keestadoll: They don’t believe anything they’re saying. It’s just another way of throwing mud at the black guy and seeing what sticks.
And, look again, the US government did tell BP what to do and they bloody well did it. And if you think Tony Hayward is giggling…. wait until the next stockholder’s meeting.
matoko_chan
@jwb: more…
this ironing is delicious. the GOP throws a hissy fit about Obama not doing anything/not doing enough, but then when he acts they are going to hate that even worse.
GOP Epic Fail on blocking energy legislation.
retards.
matoko_chan
@keestadoll: Dr. Pournelle–