Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The words do not have to be perfect.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

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

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

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

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

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Petty moves from a petty man.

You are here: Home / They build Niketowns at the sites of all their conquests

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74Comments

  3. 3.

    Zifnab

    The YMMA is really a McYMMA and the American people are under assault by the crase commercialization of faith which belittles us all.

    Please disregard the 53% / 31% Support / Oppose numbers for people who actually live in Manhattan. They’ve clearly already fallen under the Imam’s terrible infomercial effect. Instead, look at this other poll I pulled out of my ass.

  4. 4.

    Steve

    It’s funny how they wave around that 70% number like some kind of immunity totem, as if never in history has 70% of the American public been on the bigoted side of an issue.

  6. 6.

    The Dangerman

    Wouldn’t “70% of Americans” claiming to be the “real victims of a climate of hate” be an anti-Muslim backlash by definition?

  7. 7.

    morzer

    Niketown is a play on the Greek Nikopolis i.e. Victory Town (Nike + polis) which is a fairly common name for cities set up by conquerors in the Hellenistic period.

  9. 9.

    some other guy

    Jonah Goldberg wrote a book comparing Whole Foods shoppers to Hitler– and not metaphorically, but literally! It demonstrates just how feckless our media is that he’s treated as someone whose opinions are even worth commenting upon, let alone paid for.

  10. 10.

    Amir_Khalid

    @DougJ:

    What the hell does this even mean?

    is a strange question to ask about something written by Jonah Goldberg. It assumes that his words are actually meant to be meaningful.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    70% is 6% percent less than thought the invasion of Iraq was a swell idea.

  13. 13.

    soonergrunt

    Well, there’s all sorts of ads for Nike products on the sidebar. Maybe that’s what this was about? Jonah is getting kickbacks from a shoe manufacturer that exploits Indonesians, who are primarily Muslim?

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    Meanwhile, this kind of thing will pass by with nary a comment (Northern Ireland priest’s role in bombing covered up, probe finds)

    The British government and the Roman Catholic Church conspired to cover up the suspected involvement of a local priest in a deadly triple bombing in Northern Ireland in 1972 that killed nine people, a new investigation into the attack found Tuesday.
    __
    Despite strong evidence that Father James Chesney had a hand in the explosions that ripped through the village of Claudy in July 1972, police decided not to go after the priest but instead asked officials in London to work with church leaders in having him removed from the area. Chesney moved across the border and was later assigned to a parish in Ireland.
    __
    The decision to remove him quietly rather than pursue him legally may have sprung from the British ruling establishment’s fears that the arrest of a clergyman could spark an all-out civil war between the province’s Catholics and Protestants. The year 1972 was one of the bloodiest of the Troubles, with more than 500 people killed on both sides of the sectarian divide.

  15. 15.

    HY

    Maybe it’s just a local thing, but in Portland, OR, “Niketown” is a big Nike store. Downtown. Called “Niketown”. A monument to commercialism and sports. So what are Americans not supposed to like? Kind of seems like it would be something these folks would like to see at Ground Zero. I’m just confuseded now.

  20. 20.

    Gen. Jrod and his Howling Army

    70%, eh? Isn’t this just about the same as the percentage of people who were convinced Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11?

    Maybe we’ve found another figure like the 27% Crazification Factor. Call it the Gullible Mark Factor: 70% of the country will be convinced by any sustained mass media bullshit campaign.

  21. 21.

    Zandar

    Interestingly enough, 70% is just about the real unemployment + underemployment figures for African-American teenagers these days.

    Yet another time where 70% is bad.

  23. 23.

    Cacti

    The idea that opposing Cordoba House isn’t mostly about bigotry should have been laid to rest when the video surfaced of a random, brown-skinned pedestrian nearly getting mobbed for wearing an Under Armour skull cap.

  24. 24.

    Bill Arnold

    From the internets:

    More multimedia advertorial than sportswear store, NIKETOWN is surprisingly low-key and attractive, with five floors of shoes and athletic wear displayed in Lucite and polished-metal surroundings. “Museum” cases display Sneakers of the Rich and Famous, and you’re assailed by images of celebrity pitchmen and women. No sales or bargains here — plan on paying top dollar for the high-style athletic wear. Somebody’s gotta pay for this place!

    (from Frommers)
    Not very useful for deciphering “Islamic Niketown”, granted.

  25. 25.

    mellowjohn

    it means that the doughy pantload is one stupid sonofabitch? (and i mean that literally as well as figuratively!)

  27. 27.

    James E. Powell

    What he means is that white people, and primarily the slave owners, were the real victims of slavery.

    Let’s not forget that a good chunk of that 70% do not know anything about the community center. Calling it the “Ground Zero Mosque” is close to a lie. Calling it “Islamic Niketown” is a deliberate distortion. Something probably close to 95% of Americans have no information that was not produced for them by right-wingers.

  28. 28.

    gnomedad

    Here’s a thought:

    Um, no, not really.

    Or, to paraphrase the Hitchhiker’s Guide, this must be some strange use of the word “thought” I’m not familiar with.

  29. 29.

    cleek

    i hovered over the link, i saw “goldberg” in it and i knew there was no way there could be anything but idiocy on the other side.

    LINK DECLINED

  30. 30.

    Frank

    I guess by the some reasoning, the white Southerners who discriminated against African-Americans were the real victims.

    It is hard to believe that we are actually living in 2010 and so many people are behaving in such a childish/hateful manner.

  32. 32.

    GambitRF

    @morzer:

    Wait, so does that mean regular Niketowns are like monuments to Michael Jordan’s victory over white people or something?

  34. 34.

    jl

    It means that some people have become raving insane.

    from the OED
    raving, adj.
    1. a. Delirious, frenzied; raging.

    extract from the Examples:

    1752 H. FIELDING Amelia IV. XI. vi. 171 When I came home, I say, I found the poor Man in a raving delirious Fit.

    1836 DICKENS Pickwick Papers (1837) xi. 112 A settled gloom, which..finally terminated in raving madness.

    1994 J. KELMAN How Late it Was 132 A raving fucking loonie man that’s what ye end up.

  35. 35.

    GambitRF

    @Cacti:

    Hey, there were those Under Armor commercials a few years back with the football team yelling “WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!” Obviously, they were referring to the Cordoba House.

  37. 37.

    chopper

    i’m just waiting for the inevitable comparisons to sauron’s tower in mordor or some shit. big, unblinking islamic eye of fire etc etc.

  38. 38.

    General Stuck

    Well, since Martin said it was okay.

    Another general seems to be getting too big for his britches. And calls out Obama for his end date to the Afghan ground war.

    “In some ways, we think right now it’s probably giving our enemy sustenance,” he said, according to published reports. “In fact, we’ve intercepted communications that say, ‘Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.’”

    “sustenance” sounds awfully close to accusing the presnit of providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

    Echoing other US military leaders, Conway suggested a major troop withdrawal remained a long way off, despite Obama’s timeline.

    Time for Obama to get some new generals. Arrogant putzes.

  39. 39.

    Cacti

    I wonder how many seconds it would take Jonah to scream antisemitism if Hutton Gibson gave a speech on how Germans were the real victims of Kristallnacht.

  40. 40.

    Comrade Mary

    Gotta make a move to a
    Town that’s right for me
    Town to keep me movin’
    Keep me groovin’ with some energy

    Well, I talk about it
    Talk about it
    Talk about it
    Talk about it
    Talk about, Talk about
    Talk about movin

    Gotta move on
    Gotta move on
    Gotta move on

    Won’t you take me to
    Niketown

  41. 41.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    Islamic Niketown two blocks from ground zero

    So it would be okay to have it at Times Square? If my map of Manhattan is correct then the Muslim Exclusion Zone extends three or four miles.

  42. 42.

    Gen. Jrod and his Howling Army

    @cleek: It’s an article that rips into Jonah like a mama bear protecting her cubs. Click freely.

  43. 43.

    Brachiator

    What the hell does this even mean?
    __
    Here’s a thought: The 70% of Americans who oppose what amounts to an Islamic Niketown two blocks from ground zero are the real victims of a climate of hate, and anti-Muslim backlash is mostly a myth.

    Maybe we should have an American Idol style vote on the Bill of Rights.

    “America has voted and one of the 10 Amendments is going home tonight. Second Amendment, you’re safe. America continues to cling to its guns. First Amendment. Sorry. An overwhelming 70% of the people who voted just didn’t like your inclusion of Muslim Americans.”

  44. 44.

    jl

    I do think the tactic of editing the FBI crime statistics by adding the 3000 WTC victims in as 3000 hate crimes committed by Muslims in the United States in 2001 has a kind of sick genius to it.

    Dishonest and dumb as rocks, but audacious.

    Added bonus is that it is numbers, so it must be right, Right?

  45. 45.

    beltane

    Silly wingnuts, the Niketown will be in the proposed Freedom Tower. If 70% of Americans want to keep crass commercialization out of lower Manhattan, the only proper response is to point and laugh.

  47. 47.

    Catsy

    @cleek:

    i hovered over the link, i saw “goldberg” in it and i knew there was no way there could be anything but idiocy on the other side.
    __
    LINK DECLINED

    Listen to the cleek. He is a wise man who knows of what he speaks.

    The YMMA is really a McYMMA and the American people are under assault by the crase commercialization of faith which belittles us all.

    To be fair, I don’t think most of the anti-Islam crowd are capable of distinguishing a YMCA from a YMMA, but YMMV.

  48. 48.

    beltane

    @GambitRF: Yes, that’s it. Jonah Goldberg can’t jump. Nike reminds him of all those times he was last to be picked to play kickball.

  49. 49.

    Bill Arnold

    Here’s an image of Niketown
    There is a visual similarity to the proposed Cordoba House, especially for those people that have trouble distinguishing between different colors and shapes.

  50. 50.

    Nutella

    Did you know that there is a YMCA only two blocks from the site of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City? Surely that is grossly insensitive to the families of the victims of the Christian bombers who leveled that building in 1995?

    Because all US Christians are at fault for everything Timothy McVeigh did, the YMCA must go. The Tea Baggers and Jonah need to get down to OKC right now to picket that site.

  52. 52.

    jl

    @Bill Arnold: The Niketown front in the picture is dominated by what looks like an Islamic arch, especially to people who cannot distinguish shapes. More evidence of sinister plot.

  56. 56.

    Tsulagi

    are the real victims

    Was wondering when they were going to get to that.

    They never pass up an opportunity to cry and wallow in victimhood no matter how idiotic the claim. Then the tards will ride that Victimhood horse to victory, or beat it to death in the attempt. Teacons leading the way.

  57. 57.

    Mark S.

    Per Jonah, not only are white people the real victims, those muslins should be kissing our asses:

    It’s an odd argument given that Americans have shed a lot of blood for Muslims over the last three decades: to end the slaughter of Muslims in the Balkans, to feed Somalis and to liberate Kuwaitis, Iraqis and Afghans.

    Lousy ingrates.

  58. 58.

    Chad N Freude

    I was going to write something really snarky and sarcastic, but this is just too depressing. (It’s interesting that he uses “mostly” as a qualifier. I’d really like to see him elaborate on the relative proportions of myth and reality.)

  59. 59.

    Chad N Freude

    @Mark S.: Did we shed blood for Sunni Muslims or Shiite Muslims? Did we shed Sunni blood for Shiites or Shiite blood for Sunnis? And what about the Uighurs? It’s all so confusing.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mark S.:

    to feed Somalis and to liberate Kuwaitis, Iraqis and Afghans.

    Yeah, Somalia’s a paradise, and Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan are thriving democracies. What a window into the Pantload’s stupid.

  61. 61.

    beltane

    @Mark S.: Aside from being an idiot, Jonah Goldberg is also an asshole. There are few things so repellent as a pampered mama’s boy who is so flippant about the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Whenever some nitwit asks “But why do they hate us?” they should be shown a picture of Goldberg along with that quote.

  62. 62.

    MikeJ

    @soonergrunt:

    Maybe that’s what this was about? Jonah is getting kickbacks from a shoe manufacturer that exploits Indonesians, who are primarily Muslim?

    What kind of shoes was the shoe bomber wearing? Is Goldberg profiting from terrorism? Some might say he’s making light of a potential tragedy.

  63. 63.

    Mark S.

    What amazes me about conservatives is how hook, line, and sinker they accept American propaganda about our foreign policy. They imagine themselves to be hard headed realists but they believe America invades these other countries because we just want their people to be happy. They honestly believed our troops would be greeted with flowers because they honestly believe the rest of the world sees America like they do.

    On the other hand, when they hate somebody, they cannot fathom the enemy might act the least bit rationally. If Iran gets the bomb, it will immediately try to nuke anyone within range of their missiles, even if it means inviting certain destruction on themselves.

    These people (basically the neocons) are unbelievably stupid yet they are the ones who are considered Very Serious People and always get airtime in the media no matter how many times they are wrong.

  64. 64.

    Annie

    Listened to religious wingnut radio on the way home from class tonight. Almost had to pull off the road. The anti-Muslim rhetoric was astounding — all Muslims are terrorists, the ground zero mosque is a symbol of Muslim conquering and taking over the US, we will all be under Sharia law soon, the President loves Muslims and hates Christians and Jews, etc., etc., etc….Caller after caller explained how frighten they are. Will women have to be covered?

    That people believe this crap is not just sickening, but it truly demonstrates how adept the right is in controlling the narrative — and, the only narrative they love to control is making ignorant people believe that specific groups — blacks, Muslims, progressive/socialist/Marxists — are trashing the constitution and taking over the country. All led by our Muslim, socialist, Marxist President.

  66. 66.

    Mark S.

    @Annie:

    You got thrown in moderation for soshalism.

    As for talk radio, I listened to Rush a bit last week and he spent the entire time insinuating that Obama is a Muslim. The right has decided the way to win this November is not by the shitty economy and certainly not by offering any solutions, but by full on racism. It’s sickening.

  67. 67.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mark S.:

    The right has decided the way to win this November is not by the shitty economy and certainly not by offering any solutions, but by full on racism. It’s sickening.

    Since all they got is their hammers, everything looks like a nail. If only they’d stop hitting each other in the heads with their little hammers of rhetoric, maybe their collective IQ wouldn’t keep sagging downward.

  69. 69.

    Xanthippas

    Well, I certainly do hate these motherfuckers, though I wouldn’t call them victims of it being as they really don’t give a shit how effete liberals feel about them.

  71. 71.

    El Cid

    It’s a great thing that our billion dollar media carefully sifts through the most valuable intellectual prospects of our society and bring us such insightful philosophes as Jonah Goldberg.

  74. 74.

    Upside Down Alyx

    The thing that gets me about this entire debate is not the fact that there is such a large opposition amongst “average” Americans versus the “mosque at ground zero”, it is the fact that there is a select few individuals allowing this issue to become perverted. The mosque is 1200 feet away from ground zero and is supposed to be built next to a Burlington Coat Factory.

    I suppose mosques and Walmarts are two things New York oppose.

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