Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans in disarray!

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

The willow is too close to the house.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Motown is Joe-Town!

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

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

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Nikki Haley, who can’t acknowledge ‘slavery’, is a pathetic shill.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

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85Comments

  8. 8.

    taylormattd

    The “rationale” is the same as the “rationale” for giving that absolute moron, loser, quitter Sarah Palin non-stop airtime.

  9. 9.

    daveNYC

    The CBS web site had a story up about how a group of U of D students couldn’t decide who won the debate.

    We’re doomed.

  10. 10.

    Southern Beale

    Yeah, quite a few of us have been thunderstruck by all of the attention. I wrote about it this morning, and a big “ignoring them doesn’t make them go away” dispute arose. Eric Boehlert was tweeting how conservatives asking why all the media attention just didn’t want the light of day on their nutball candidate. Well excuse me for asking but since when does any national cable news network give a crap about a senate debate when one candidate is 19 points in the lead?

    It’s the fucking NEWS MEDIA creating a nutball star and “mainstreaming the crazy” once again.

    You know, CNN, just because bloggers are talking about something doesn’t mean you have to, too.

  13. 13.

    Martin

    We have a strong entertainment bias toward ‘point and laugh’. CNN can have a legitimate news event and still pull in the same kind of ratings that America’s Funniest Home Videos does. It’s win-win.

    But that’s all kinds of win for Democrats that they did that. Promoting an idiot as a viable candidate for the GOP will get some people’s attention.

  14. 14.

    Southern Beale

    @daveNYC:

    ABC News and CNN both had similar stories up. Give me a fucking break. I’m so OVER this shit. You know it’s perfectly okay for the news media to have an opinion every now and then. Christine O’Donnell IS NOT VIABLE. She’s a losing loser nutball wingnut fringe candidate! When you have to bend over backwards and do double backflips to try to appear “balanced” you are SERIOUSLY fucked up as a news organization.

    And no, giving James O’Keefe his own show on your network will NOT make you appear unbiased.

    Jesus Christ. I’m going on a news fast. The media is destroying this country.

  15. 15.

    adolphus

    The answer in this case is, of course, yes.

    On the other hand, I would like to see CNN or some other cable channel do stuff like this more often instead of the usual sensationalizing of mundane events with 3-D graphics and holograms. Instead of more blather, show some state or local debate C-Span style. Not all the time, but, referencing Jon Stewart last night, how many of their personalities do we really need to see get into that miner’s cage really?

    I know why they did this one. But more of this for tight or ineteresting local elections would be cool.

  16. 16.

    Lev

    The media loves itself some Christine O’Donnell. I think there are three basic reasons why:

    1. She’s an attractive woman, probably one of the most attractive in politics, though O’Donnell is barely in politics to speak of.
    2. She’s crazy, which appeals to a lot of men, who think that craziness will translate in terms of sex.
    3. She’s deeply religious, which also appeals to a lot of men, because they figure that repression will also translate in terms of sex.

    And she can form complete sentences. She’s basically a new-and-improved Palin, and this is pure media objectification of this woman. I feel a little sympathy for her, but considering her whole anti-masturbation crusade boiled down to, “Don’t use women in porn as sex objects, use us!” I can’t get too worked up over it.

    We all know the news media sucks, but this is yet a different way in which it sucks. Ron Johnson has said arguably crazier things and the media doesn’t give a shit about him.

  18. 18.

    Greenhouse Guy

    Dum da dum dum sells!!! Entertaining for the people that… aw fuck it… dum da dum dum sells!

  19. 19.

    Zam

    Should have broadcasted the Feingold Johnson debate on monday. It wasn’t on T.V even in Wisconsin but I listened on the radio. FUCKING HILARIOUS

  20. 20.

    Anya

    The corporate media is full of empty headed unserious intellectually lazy clowns. Idiots like O’Donnel, who cannot grasp the role of the legislators and the civilian control of the military, appeal to them. Also too, this @Pavlov’s Dog:

  21. 21.

    Dennis SGMM

    @Southern Beale:

    Jesus Christ. I’m going on a news fast. The media is destroying this country.

    I’ve been on one since late 2008. Although that means that I’ve never seen anything other than a few online clips from Maddow’s show it also means that my blood pressure stays where it should be and that I’ve read several more books than I otherwise might have.

  22. 22.

    gbear

    Steve Benen asked the same question earlier today and concluded that the reason it was broadcast is because lots of people love to watch cars crash.

    I think the media actually sees her as a very important person. They can easily overlook the fact that she’s completely unqualified and incredibly corrupt because she is, to them, the shiniest object in the universe. That is the only thing that matters to them.

  24. 24.

    Southern Beale

    @Dennis SGMM:

    I should go on a TV fast but then my husband would probably divorce me. But honestly, this explains why I watch “Top Chef” and “Project Runway” re-runs ad-nauseum. I really can’t deal with the “serious” discourse any longer.

  27. 27.

    Bulworth

    What was the rationale for CNN broadcasting the Delaware Senate debate to a national audience?

    To highlight the fact that one of its own CNNbots (Wolf Blitzer) was helping moderate a debate in an uncompetitive Senate race in a small state.

  29. 29.

    gizmo

    Commercially driven media are always going to be a problem. They don’t want to alienate any part of their constituency, so they serve us a steady diet of ‘he said – she said.’

  32. 32.

    Southern Beale

    …the reason it was broadcast is because lots of people love to watch cars crash. ….

    Bullshit. Bull fucking shit. Every headline was, “who won the debate? We want to know YOUR opinion!” and this from CNN: it was a feisty debate! And, Christine O’donnell … how’d she do? You tell US! We’re too clueless to know!

    Both sides got digs in! BOTH sides made points! BOTH sides stumbled! What do YOU think? Who do YOU think won? Tell us! Tell us more! We want to know because goddamn we can’t figure anything out for ourselves, we’re just mere feathers in the wind blowing this way and that with public opinion, why the mere ideas of right and wrong, of facts and fiction, of fucking standards, why that’s a completely foreign concept to us, we’re so non-partisan we’d even debate whether gravity exists!

    All of those “shadow donor group” everyone is so worried about! Meh. Dems do it too! It’s a “bipartisan affair”!

    AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  34. 34.

    dj spellchecka

    actually i got a call from one of the democratic campaign committees earlier today and their fundraising lead was tying o’donnell to palin and that’s what we need to stop, so send money…. she’s all sortsa catnip

  39. 39.

    Mark S.

    @BDeevDad:

    I don’t know what’s more pathetic from that story. This:

    Here’s one final bonus question: Will Wolf Blitzer ever get an interview with Christine O’Donnell? During the debate O’Donnell noted that the CNN anchor and debate co-host had been pestering her for a sit-down chat. So far, the stage at the University of Delaware is the closest Mr. Blitzer has come to this goal.

    Glass Houses, CS Monitor:

    Related stories

    * Christine O’Donnell: three ways she could turn things around tonight
    * Christine O’Donnell’s ‘not a witch’ ad: Can she regain control of her image?
    * Witchcraft? Rent money? Christine O’Donnell’s big problem: she’s behind.
    * Christine O’Donnell: Take our quiz

  40. 40.

    Tsulagi

    What was the rationale for CNN broadcasting the Delaware Senate debate to a national audience?

    Entertainment, and hoping to tape more of the ongoing O’Donnell trainwreck crashing down the tracks.

    You know, something like “Let me respond to Coons’ vicious attacks…No, I don’t spend ALL my time checking my masturbation urges while paying personal bills from campaign funds or drawing pretty pentagrams. And sure, some of my former neighbors have said I was a slut, but like witchraft that’s behind me now. You can get confirmation from the born-again Christian guy I live with who is on the campaign payroll that I’m a good girl. So there, also too.”

  41. 41.

    FlipYrWhig

    Christine O’Donnell is funny because of the sex stuff. Carl Paladino, also funny because of the sex stuff. Sharron Angle, not funny because no sex stuff. Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, Ron Johnson, just not funny. It’s the same principle that makes video clips of someone getting bopped in the groin hilarious. Gonads are funny. To cover other candidates, you don’t get to talk about gonads, and that’s totally a buzzkill.

  44. 44.

    Southern Beale

    I had coffee with a friend yesterday, someone very smart and savvy and connected whose opinion I really respect and he told me:

    “Americans, I hate to say it, are stupid. They will believe anything they see on TV.”

    And I actually DON’T agree with that, not completely, but I DO believe American opinion is easily manipulated, and right now we have several different forces all conspiring to manipulate public opinion in a certain direction. And we need to wake America up. People need to blow the cobwebs out of the national mind.

    How do we do this?

  45. 45.

    scarshapedstar

    “You’re just jealous ‘cuz you weren’t on Saturday Night Live!”

    The political quote of the year. I thank CNN for that.

  47. 47.

    stuckinred

    Delaware is a small state with what looks to be a very uncompetitive Senate race.

    Yea and that’s why both the President and Vice_President are going there. It’s in the bag and nobody cares. Get a fucking grip.

  49. 49.

    geg6

    @Southern Beale:

    this explains why I watch “Top Chef” and “Project Runway” re-runs ad-nauseum.

    I’m right there with you, darlin’. Can’t stand to watch cable news or, really, any national “news” programs any more. Not even Rachel, who said some really stupid shit a few times before I stopped watching (though less than most cable newsers) and had some of the stupidest people on earth on for commentary (yes, I’m looking at you, Hamsher).

    I watch local news and that’s it. And all I care about on that is the weather and sports.

  51. 51.

    Nied

    Honestly at this point I think it’s a good thing they’re running the debate. There really seems to be a disconnect for a lot of people that the Republicans just couldn’t actually be this stupid/crazy, and seeing people like O’Donnell helps fix that. The big one that stands out to me is how few people actually know repubs would just go back to the old Bush policies in the generic congressional polls, and on it’s face it makes sense. Who would be stupid and crazy enough to go back to that disaster?

    If I were king of the DNC right now I’d buy some national air time and just run a 30 second add of quotes from the crazier teabager candidates, interspersed with clips of the GOP congressional leadership talking about how they want to go back to Bush’s policies and just flash “THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICANS ACTUALLY BELIEVE” at the bottom of the screen South Park style.

  52. 52.

    Lev

    @FlipYrWhig: I laughed at Ron Johnson saying that global warming was caused by sunspots, but that was admittedly more of a weary, rueful laugh. Incidentally, how fucking bad must things be in Wisconsin for people there to turn to that guy? They couldn’t be worse than in California and the Whitman/Fiorina axis is gaining no truck here.

  55. 55.

    sacman701

    O’Donnell was just as physically attractive and mentally disturbed in 2006 when she got her head handed to her by Biden. She became a big story when she beat Castle and robbed her party of a Senate seat, but I agree that she’s only still getting attention because she makes good tv. Contrast that with Alvin Greene, who is equally ridiculous but makes bad tv.

    O’Donnell 2010 is basically Alan Keyes 2004, who was doomed from the beginning (and ended up losing by 43 points) but kept getting attention because he made good tv.

  57. 57.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Lev: Yeah, Sharron Angle thought that a high school football team shouldn’t wear black jerseys because it was satanic. Seriously. But that’s not gonad-related.

  58. 58.

    Southern Beale

    I am going to walk my wonderful dogs and then I’m going to a hockey game tonight and THEN I will watch Project Runway on the DVR and I will be happy and not care that my election has been stolen by corporations. I give up. So there.

  61. 61.

    Zifnab

    @Zam:

    Should have broadcasted the Feingold Johnson debate on monday. It wasn’t on T.V even in Wisconsin

    US Politics in a nutshell.

    Christine O’Donnell is behind in the polls. Give that girl tons of air time.

    Ron Johnson leading the pack? Bury it.

  62. 62.

    Emerald

    Because THEY ARE NOT A NEWS CHANNEL.

    They are a propaganda/infotainment channel that exists to make $$$ and to prop up the corporate message.

    Journalism isn’t actually dead, it’s just not on teevee. You can still find it in magazines and books, and sometimes even in newspapers or (gasp) on the intertubes.

    We’re noticing this crap more because most of us remember when there was real journalism and real news on teevee. But when Uncle Walter retired and the rest of the World War Two journalists died, we lost it. That really was the only time in American history when we had a dominant ethical, honest press, with those journalists who emerged from WW2.

    Before then it was all yellow journalism and hyper-partisan newspapers. Since then it’s been corporate/hyper-partisan propaganda and infotainment.

    Oh, and I wondered why the teevee news lavished so much time on the Chilean miners–Americans generally don’t care a thing about what’s happening in other countries. But a CNN bubblehead let it slip the other day. She said, this really is the just best reality TV!

    It was infotainment. That said, bravo to Chile and the miners. I am glad we got to see it. I just don’t kid myself about why we got to see it.

  63. 63.

    Dennis SGMM

    If the Democrats are serious about winning elections then it’s necessary for them to immediately start training Democratic spokesmodels to run in future elections. I can’t believe that governance will become much worse and it’ll be fun to see them on CSPAN wobbling around the floor of the House or Senate in stiletto heels.

  64. 64.

    retr2327

    I don’t really have a problem with CNN broadcasting it; people are interested, and there’s more “value added” in showing political debates than in wall-to-wall, 24-hr. coverage of the miner rescue (an amazing story, I grant you, but hour after hour? Really?). I stumbled on it on XM radio driving home, and got sucked in for a fair amount of time.

    My problem is with Wolf Blitzer, who’s a complete disaster as a moderator, and with the whole CNN “we’ll have to leave it there” approach in which people just blatantly lie and the news “personality” doesn’t know enough or doesn’t care to call them on it.

    As for O’Donnell being worse than Palin, I’d have to disagree. She’s a loon, but she hides it well, and does a much better job of speaking in sentences and paragraphs than Palin could ever dream of. Sure, there were awkward moments, gaffes, and wall-to-wall platitudes, but she probably came off better than most expected. OTOH, Coons is really good, and acquitted himself quite well.

  69. 69.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    Late to the party: They’re hoping Richard Lowery will see starbursts again.

  70. 70.

    Lev

    @Dennis SGMM: Is that really the takeaway here? Palin lost and O’Donnell is going to lose. Momentum is with Coons at the moment.

    What the Democrats really need is a vastly larger amount of partisan brawlers. They need telegenic, articulate, passionate people who can sell the party’s message with humor and style. At this point they have almost none. Al Franken, Barney Frank, Obama (sorta–he’s not really a brawler), and sometimes Weiner. They need more of them and less county recorder of deeds types, which seems to be the majority of Democrats in office. The GOP has nothing but brawlers, which is a problem for them, but we need more.

  71. 71.

    gbear

    @Southern Beale:

    “who won the debate? We want to know YOUR opinion!”

    Yea, but that’s the media’s self-justification of the debate. “How shiny was the object? Let us know!” followed by 1200 comments from people without lives.

  72. 72.

    Zifnab

    @Lev: California has had to put up with the endless GOP bullshit parade at the state level. California GOoPers are also a lot richer, louder, and more obnoxious.

    Johnson’s game is getting more truck in Wisconsin because the folks from Wisconsin aren’t used to this kind of wholesale purchase of a statewide office.

  74. 74.

    John Dillinger

    I’ve got no problem with CNN hosting debates involving candidates that refuse to do interviews on any network but Fox.

  75. 75.

    liberal

    @Emerald:

    But when Uncle Walter retired and the rest of the World War Two journalists died, we lost it.

    Let’s not exaggerate how good the good times were.

    IIRC, establishment pressmen like “Walter” turned against the Vietnam war around 1968 or so, particularly after Hue.

    On the other hand, our involvement in Indochina certainly predates 1954, because by the time the French gave up, we were funding something like 75% of their war effort; and IIRC one could make an argument it dates from 1946.

  77. 77.

    Emerald

    @liberal

    : IIRC, establishment pressmen like “Walter” turned against the Vietnam war around 1968 or so, particularly after Hue.

    (Sorry, I don’t know how to do blockquotes)

    But when Cronkite gave his opinion about Vietnam, he labeled it as "opinion." He left no doubt to his audience that his opinion was not the news.

    Yes, it was light-years better then than it is now. There was serious news on TV then.

    But it was the only time in American history.

  78. 78.

    Lev

    @Zifnab: I can see that. California Republicans are even worse than normal Republicans. Everything that’s bad about Republicans everywhere else is amplified by about 3-4x here. Not a year goes by where they don’t fuck with the budget because of the 2/3 rule. Good thing we’re likely to get rid of that this year.

  79. 79.

    Southern Beale

    @Ash Can:

    No, I’m in Nashville. Our team is the Predators — I will blow kisses to Steve Sullivan for you, he’s a former Blackhawk. And yes we kicked Blackhawk ass last night, but we are playing St. Louis tonight.

    :-)

    And NOW to walk the dogs …

  81. 81.

    Tim I

    They wanted to showcase Wolf Blitzer as the co-moderator.

    O’Donnell came off dumber than I expected. I think she really believes all that crazy shit that she spouted on the Bill Maher show.

  82. 82.

    ornery curmudgeon

    Well, I guess, if by ‘catnip’ you mean propaganda.

    This is playing both ends against the middle, with the top being the Lord Teevee and the bottom being your loud rightwinger bigot.

    But ‘cable catnip’ is cuter, making it sound like the programmers are just clueless, hapless fools, rather than wolfen wormtongues they are. So by all means, maintain the error in favor of the media … it’s more comfortable.

    The 1920’s never happened if you don’t know about it. Yes I realize I’m not making sense to many. Carry on.

  83. 83.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Christine O’Donnell is funny because of the sex stuff. Carl Paladino, also funny because of the sex stuff. Sharron Angle, not funny because no sex stuff. Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, Ron Johnson, just not funny. It’s the same principle that makes video clips of someone getting bopped in the groin hilarious. Gonads are funny. To cover other candidates, you don’t get to talk about gonads, and that’s totally a buzzkill

    So you’re saying that Rich Iott would have a chance of overcoming that Nazi thing if he let all of the voters in the district he’s running in kick him in the groin? And I wouldn’t be willing to donate to Joe Lieberman or Olympia Snowe for their 2012 campaigns, but I would be willing to kick each of them in the groin. And perhaps, just in case Alvin Greene is planning some huge, come from behind upset I should go to South Carolina and kick Jim DeMint in the groin, and while I’m there I’ll boost Lindsey Graham’s 2014 chances by kicking him in the groin too.

    That’s a lot of groin, I’d better take my spare leg into the shop and get it adjusted.

  84. 84.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @retr2327:

    My problem is with Wolf Blitzer, who’s a complete disaster as a moderator, and with the whole CNN “we’ll have to leave it there” approach in which people just blatantly lie and the news “personality” doesn’t know enough or doesn’t care to call them on it.

    My problem with Wolf Blitzer is that he’s such a wimpy little fucker. Seriously. You’d expect someone with a name like “Wolf Blitzer” to be a big strapping fellow, perhaps the German guy in Sgt. Fury’s Howlers who emigrated to America in the late 1930s so he could join the US Army and kick Nazi ass. Instead he’s this weedy little twat who grew a beard so he wouldn’t end up being on the front page of Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians.

    For no other reason than esthetics (although there is a certain amount of truth in advertising involved as well) Blitzer should be forced to change his name from “Wolf Blitzer” to “Dinky McFinkelshteyn”. Man, it just burns me that he has such a cool name. OK, it’s not as cool as “Dick Wolf”, which is like the coolest name ever, even if it does sound like a gay porn star who’s known for his insatiable appetite for fellatio. But it’s still damned cool. And you would have not one, not two, but three cool nicknames, “The Wolf”, “The Blitz”, or “Blitzer”. Do you think that anyone at CNN calls Wolf Blitzer Dinky McFinkelshteyn, “The Wolf” or “The Blitz”? Hell no, they probably call him “dickweed”, or “wankstain”. Do you think anyone says “Quiet. The Wolf is on the set?”. Hell no, it’s probably more like, “Hey dickweed, drag your ass out of the green room, you’re on in 5, and don’t fuck it up.”

    Seriously, if you’ve got a name like that you need to be able to carry it off and Blitzer McFinkelshteyn just can’t do it. The sergeant major of the ROTC detachment at the University of Washington when I was a cadet was a big guy who’d been in the army since the Korean War named “Blood”. Sergeant Major Bruce Blood. He was a seriously cool dude, and not just because he was a sergeant major. I also had a sergeant major in my national guard unit named John Wolfe, who was another big strapping guy (he could stand on the floor of an M-60 tank in the loader’s position, load the main gun and stick his head out to sense targets) and who was also very cool. Both of these guys could have been used to write a book called “How to be a Great NCO” which would consist of two pages, one a picture of SMAJ Blood and the other a picture of SMAJ Wolfe. They both had a lot going for them, I mean you don’t get to be a sergeant major just because you have a cool name, but it sure doesn’t hurt and if they had been wee little fuckers like Wolf Blitzer Dinky McFinkelshteyn it wouldn’t have mattered how good they were or how cool their name was.

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