The only thing the media enjoys talking about more than lunatics is themselves:
Fuck you, New York Times, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you to death.
Yeah. This is all the crazy person’s fault for being a crazy bigot. It has nothing to do with the editorial choices of you serious journalists, who spend every day covering the rambling idiocies of teahadists and frothing lunatics. I wonder what Sarah Palin has to say about this on her facebook account? Is this good news or bad news for Obama? Let’s make sure we have lots of coverage at Glenn Beck’s DC rally! Let’s make sure we get the opinion of Atlas Jugs on the Park 51 community center!
And now we will have several days of Howie Kurtz and company wondering what their role in things were. Because, you know, Don King always feels guilty after promoting a fight.
Fuck these assholes. I’m seriously convinced that the last words uttered before the Republic will explode will be “for a different viewpoint on whether this armageddon device could actually destroy the whole continent…”
John +I have no damned clue but for the first time in two weeks my shoulder, knees, and fingers don’t hurt but I can still spell and I’m not listening to Little Feat yet, so I’m guessing four or five.
mr. whipple
Can’t die soon enough.
Just Some Fuckhead
I think someone needs a hug.
CJ
As a young adult, I get excited for the future.
And then, I read things like this.
Violet
I love it when you get angry. So refreshing.
Please keep saying this sort of thing. The media is so ridiculous. Pointing it out is the only way we have a chance of getting something better.
Nikita
Oh God. I need a cigarette after reading this post.
ericblair
I, for one, am so glad that I can wake up every morning and have a newspaper run by a bunch of billionaire right wing drooling lunatics tell me what a handful of middle class redneck right wing drooling lunatics plan to burn, stomp on, or yell at. Because the other 299,999,500 of us are just sitting around in our underwear pulling lint out of our navels and doing nothing of import.
kommrade reproductive vigor
So much awesome, topped by this:
Don’t ever change Cole.
driftglass
What are their names?
What are the names of their bosses?
What are their work email addresses?
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@kommrade reproductive vigor: Bingo!! And Violet too.
Martin
Speaking of the media (or rather, where to get news that the media sucks at covering), anyone know of an active liveblog on the Boulder fires? Sounds like things may go from bad to worse tonight.
PanAmerican
Today I heard CNN’s Ed Henry pontificate that “sources” inside the WH have already conceded the election and even if the Democrats do hold on to their majorities it will be the same as a losing them.
mr. whipple
@PanAmerican: Well, that makes sense.
BruceFromOhio
From the NYT article:
Local paper, local staff, local story. No big deal. Who gives a flying yip if Pastor Mustache wants to exercise his First Amendment right to be a hateful shit-for-brains? It’s when it gets seized upon as fodder for the Bread & Circuses crowd that it escalates.
Context counts in the real world, and Mighty Media Machine only counts dollars and eyeballs. If frothing madmen eating fried pets drove page views, ratings and ad revenue, that’s what you’d see every day instead of this fucking stupid bullshit.
RareSanity
You can’t bring me down tonight, Cole!
Football season has started, Brett Farve is throwing interceptions and I can look forward to my beloved Falcons kicking the shit outta the Stillers this weekend.
All is right with the world.
P.S.
Thank you, Ben “no means yes” Roethlisberger, for giving us the gift of Dennis Dixon on opening day!
KG
just flipped over to the Daily Show now that the Saints have wrapped up the game. Meghan McCain is actually pretty funny, and kind of cute. I love the line, “being told you’re hurting the campaign because you dress like a stripper when there is a pregnant teenager there kinda hurts your self confidence.”
Also, how do you people not in the Pacific time zone live like this? (I’m visiting Houston from So Cal) I’m use to having so much more time for stuff.
beltane
Narcissism is an ugly thing. Can someone pull the plug on the media? Please.
Corner Stone
@RareSanity: That. Is hard core.
Jean
@PanAmerican: What? How is keeping something the same as losing it?
Corner Stone
@KG: You should have said so. I would have taken you to Centerfold’s off Richmond.
I would have been my usual nom de thong John Cole. You could’ve picked DougJ, Tim F. or Anne Laurie.
Up to you.
jrg
I plan to bitch about John Cole bitching about the media bitching about Koran burning… Or maybe I’ll just go shove steel wool in my sinuses and rub Texas Pete on my pecker. I have not decided yet.
BruceFromOhio
@KG:
Well, Megs dear, that’s difference between packaging and product.
Corner Stone
@KG: On another note, there is nothing better than being in the Central Time Zone.
Baseball games at 7pm, college WAC football games at 9pm.
Life is good my friend.
Corner Stone
@BruceFromOhio: Hmmm….
RareSanity
@Corner Stone:
Bwaahaaahaaa….Ben didn’t see it coming…
The “incident” happened in Georgia, the Steelers open against the Falcons…it’s as clear as Obama being a Muslim.
KG
@Corner Stone: I still like the Pacific Time Zone. I get early national baseball games at 5 and local games at 7, college football starts at 9 am and goes until Hawaii starts at about 7 or 8. And still time to go out afterwards.
celticdragonchick
I would point out that even if the US media refused to say much of anything about it…Al Jazeera and other Middle East outlets were making it an around-the-clock story overseas. The AP stated they would refuse to carry any picture or even a description of the burning…but the video taken by the congregation would still be posted to the web for the whole world to see.
Sorry, but the situation was getting dire enough (with the Secretary General of NATO, President of Iraq and others getting involved) that there was no way actually ignore the story.
Corner Stone
@KG: That’s fine for a single person I guess.
But us anchor loving single parents like the idea of going to sleep to a west coast game.
Reminds me of my teddy bear.
John Cole
@KG: I think Meghan McCain is hot. I don’t care what anyone else says. The people who call her fat need to be choked out with a strap-on.
And I don’t even like blondes. She’s in over her head and given media exposure she doesn’t deserve, but she’s not a hater, says what she thinks (even if it is stupid and shallow from time to time), and doesn’t strike me as a bad person.
Violet
@celticdragonchick:
But if our national media had ignored the idiot pastor, then the international media probably wouldn’t have got wind of it to be outraged and get involved. Fred Phelps burns Korans but he doesn’t get the media play, hence no international outrage.
KG
@Corner Stone: fully understandable. and yeah, I tend to forget where people live and all that jazz, thanks for the offer, maybe next time.
Just Some Fuckhead
@BruceFromOhio: lmfao
Comrade Kevin
OT, but there has been a huge natural gas explosion in the Bay Area, in San Bruno. Looks like more than 20 homes destroyed already.There’s live streaming coverage on the major TV stations…
TVL
@John Cole:
Well she is fat, when you compare her to Ann Coulter.
Comrade Kevin
@TVL: Well, so is a hockey stick.
Ogami Itto
It wouldn’t be so bad if there was some sort of disclaimer before each news segemnt which said something to the effect of “Look, we’re not gonna bullshit y’all, this isn’t really news it’s a freak show. We apologize for being whores. And now Sarah Palin’s latest
twattweat.”cbear
I’ve never met Texas Pete, but that sounds a little extreme, jrg. You might want to consider rubbing your pecker on Texas Pete first—then work your way up from there.
Just a thought.
wasabi gasp
Can’t wait for the YouTube of this post as interpreted by Phil Davison.
sfinny
I’m just so sick of all of this hate. NYC dealt with all of this, good and bad, and we are still working out what happened to people rounded up post 9/11 through the courts.
But having a lunatic like Pam Geller incite this whole anti-cultural center fire, just makes me sick. Do I join the anti-anti-cultural center demonstration? Does that just add fire to fire? I just can’t get past the fact that these guys have access to the media, I don’t.
What sign to I hold that will convey the right message? Will we get TV time? Good lord this just drives me crazy. I just keep thinking that we shouldn’t have to do this. Normality will arrive if we just wait. But it doesn’t seem to be happening.
deborah cunningham
Saw a clip of Hillary Clinton’s comment to the media regarding the Saturday K’uran burning…to the effect ‘I don’t suppose you’d choose not to cover it…’
You got it Hillary. All media, go check out the fires in CO and the flood victims in Pakistan.
Just Some Fuckhead
cbear!
RareSanity
@John Cole:
Get no argument from me on that…she seems strangely sane, also, too.
yet another jeff
To paraphrase Reagan “We’re the media, and we’re here to naval gaze.”
yet another jeff, returning, +7
Martin
@Comrade Kevin: Yeah, I’m watching that too – what a strange event. Worried about family in Boulder. They’ve evacuated and not sure how to get in touch with them now. GOS used to be great for that kind of stuff, but I guess they’re too busy being insane these days.
I thought Maddow had a nice approach on the Koran story. Basically, nobody would give a shit about this nutbag story if it wasn’t for so many other elements leading into this suggesting that it was much more of a mainstream attitude. She contrasted the Phelps nutbags having burned Korans in 2008 and how it wasn’t a news story then because it was so obviously the act of lunatics, but today it no longer seems so crazy.
I hadn’t seen the Newt video clip that she showed, but holy fuck was that out there.
JITC
Seen in my prayer book during morning Rosh Hashanah services today, a lose translation of the Hebrew:
“When will redemption come?
When we master the violence that fills our world.
When we look upon others as we would have them look upon us.
When we grant to every person the rights we claim for ourselves.”
JenJen
But, John. Football!! Let the crisp, cool air, and the healing tonic of the gridiron soothe you.
Not even politics could get me down right now.
Nick
Like I said…an arsonist blaming the fire for burning down the house.
izzatxeaux
a line from that stuck with me from the film Broadcast News –
AARON
Yeah, let’s never forget. We’re
the real story. Not them
Restrung
drink more, live longer. Is that a good thing?
Corner Stone
@Nick: What have The Jews done to you now Nick?
Nick
@Corner Stone: Corner please, for the 100000th time, grown ups are talking.
BGinCHI
Why don’t the journos just interview each other? It’s kind of like freshman comp: Gibbs should just put the reporters in groups to ask each other questions.
It’s what the View and Fox &
AssholesFriends do anyway, so why fight it?Sure, you could report, but why not just keep it inside the endless loop of coverage? It’s not like reality TV ever covers any reality anyway. Sillies.
Nick
@BGinCHI:
Ironic you should say that, see Larry King Live tonight.
Violet
@RareSanity:
Meghan McCain is hot and strangely sane because she’s not really a Republican. She only plays one because her Dad was their nominee for President and she can’t really leave the party without causing a huge family drama.
BGinCHI
@Nick:
When Stuart Smalley looked in the mirror and we watched, it was 11th level chess in the media satire game.
“David Gregory, you’re good enough, and smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like you.”
Please, can’t we have more satire on the TV machine?
BGinCHI
@Violet: “and she can’t really leave the party without causing a huge family drama.”
HAHAHAHAHA.
Because, you know, Cindy McCain keeps it real. No drama between John and his wife, or, as he calls her, “you cunt.”
Violet
@BGinCHI:
I probably should have said “media drama.” Because even if the McCain family didn’t care what Meghan did politically, the media would play it like they did. Drama=ratings.
Plus, Meghan gets a lot more attention for being a young, female Republican than she ever would as a Democrat. So that could be another reason she stays. She’s not dumb.
She’s still not a Republican, no matter what she says. She doesn’t agree with hardly anything they stand for, say or do.
Redshift
@sfinny: I dunno, maybe your time would be better spent conveying tolerant attitudes to people you encounter. But if another counter-protest does happen and you want to participate, here’s my sign suggestion:
Nick
By the way, has anyone else notice an entire neighborhood blowing up randomly in California wasn’t enough to get the media to stop talking about this crap?
Hell, the only network covering the fire is the fucking Weather Channel
BGinCHI
@Nick:
If they blew themselves up and it made people scared, then of course you’d get coverage.
Look, Andrea Mitchell has arm workouts to do and she can’t fucking cover everything.
RareSanity
@Violet:
I saw her on Rachel Maddow last night, and you’re right, there is absolutely nothing about her that says Republican.
Restrung
there’s nothing wrong with Meghan McCain that a couple hundred million dollars can’t fix. What? that suddenly sounds familiar.
eta: hey, I like her. seriously.
freelancer (itouch)
@John Cole:
Agreed, though people in over their head and generally backwards have a difficult time even having a conversation with Maddow.
suzanne
Is this site still fucked for everyone else? I can’t view it on my laptop with Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, but it loads up on my iPhone without an issue. Why? WHY?!?!
Suzanne + -1 and pissed about it
EJ
So how long do you think we’re going to have to hear about this idiot? The press religiously (no pun intended) covered Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist for what, four, five years? before it finally dawned on them that he was just some lone nutter with no real constituency beyond his own family?
Is this asshole and his 50-strong “congregation” really going to be front page news every time he opens his mouth until 2015?
hamletta
The last (three) words on “Dr.” Terry Jones: Sunday! Sunday! SUNDAY!
Odie Hugh Manatee
Meghan McCain is not a Republican. I listened to the interview and she is too sane to be a Repub. I think she claims to be a Repub because Daddy is one. If the Repubs were smart they would embrace her but as we all know…
She isn’t a hater, that’s for sure. She may not be the brightest bulb in the box but then she isn’t trying to portray herself as such. She seems genuinely nice and while she isn’t my type she isn’t ugly either.
Cain
@John Cole:
I’ll give old man McCain that..he raised a gal who thinks for herself. I think she’s pretty cute, and I think a lot of what she says is funny. So count me in as a person who likes her as a person.
A lot of people get hung up on labels.. they shouldn’t.
cain
Awktalk
Exactly.
When the old man keels over she’ll be a declared Dem. She’s already a RINO.
Mnemosyne
@Nick:
It was on the local news here, but “here” is Los Angeles so big news in San Francisco is big news here as well.
But, yes, you’d think that a goddamned residential neighborhood exploding in a ball of flame would attract a slight bit of attention away from Korangate.
This isn’t your usual California wildfire, folks. This is in a densely populated area. Imagine if a gas leak in Queens blew up into a giant fucking fireball and took out the surrounding five blocks.
Oh, but the media should keep talking about Terry fucking Jones and his hard-on for Koran burning. That’s fucking important.
ETA: Story from the San Francisco Chronicle
Sarah T
Atlas Jugs ? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! HA !
Mark S.
suzanne @63 (for some reason your reply button doesn’t work)
What finally worked for me was to disconnect from the Internet and then reconnect. Getting a new IP address was the ticket.
Comrade Mary
suzanne, to add to what Mark S. just said, it isn’t YOUR IP address that needed refreshing, it’s that the site got a new one after all the recent FYWP. Restating the modem flushes your local DNS cache (which thinks that balloon-juice.com goes to Old IP Address) and lets it figure out from step one that Aha! Now balloon-juice.com goes to New IP Address.
Your iPhone isn’t caching the old IP address, which is why it works and your browsers (connected to your modem) don’t.
You may also need to restart your router if you’re using a router.
maus
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
She regurgitates her dad’s and her parties’ dumbfuck ideas. She’s a Republican.
Alwhite
Not to get all contrairian on you but – that asshole was already news in most of the world. He had already gotten attention in predominantly Muslim countries. So if the whore media here had ignored him the only people that would have been ignorant of him would be Americans. He had already done the damage before he was a blip on our radar screens.
That said the amount of attention they have given him here is ridiculous.
Michael
@Cain:
Totally tappable.
kay
Obama called it a “stunt”, which it is, and that’s exactly how it should have been treated.
They could have covered the reaction in the rest of the world without making the preacher a celebrity, and giving him such a huge forum.
This is the best thing that has ever happened to this clown, and he’s now holding the idiot media hostage because they’re waiting for his decision on whether or not to go forward.
The comparison to Sarah Palin is apt. Media aren’t agonizing on the ethics of whether to promote these people, if that were true we wouldn’t be treated to Sarah Palin’s moronic outbursts on a daily basis. She holds no public office and refuses to speak to press, yet they follow her around like whipped dogs. She’s gotten millions of dollars worth of free advertising, and it’s all going into the Palin Family coffers.
They’re deliberately and carefully making a business decision, and “stupid and loud” must make them money. We’re just the suckers along for the ride.
bjacques
For what it’s worth, the BBC last night played their own round of “has the media gone too far?” Admittedly, there’s some basis for this. Andy Coulson, formerly an editor at News Of The World who resigned over journalists hacking the phones of celebrities, went to work for current Prime Minister David Cameron a few months later. A police investigation is pretty much stalled. News of the World is part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Group, and it’s all expected to blow over.
Nobody’s gonna get on Murdoch’s bad side by turning over too many rocks. Expect some whining and some law being passed making it easier to go after bloggers or leakers who don’t have anyone to protect them.
keestadoll
“Fuck these assholes. I’m seriously convinced that the last words uttered before the Republic will explode will be “for a different viewpoint on whether this armageddon device could actually destroy the whole continent…”
NEED BIGGER FONT FOR MY LOLOLOLOLOLOL. Cole speaks da trute!
300baud
@Alwhite:
When you say the Koran-burner was already news outside the US, wasn’t that all triggered by the initial substantial US news coverage? I know Al Jazeera’s strong on foreign bureaus, but I’m having a hard time believing they have one in Hogtown, FL.
RalfW
Ahhhhhhgh. Jake Tapper just tried to pin this on Obama having Gates call the FL idiot, during Obama’s presser right now.
Though Obama is handling it pretty well, pivoting to the way this is fucking up things in AfPak.
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
Why do you post your best stuff when I’m not reading the internet? Now I’m twelve hours behind on this.
BruceFromOhio
Bah