I haven’t been keeping up with the various “Mad Men” blogs since I missed a few episodes and just now caught up (I hate reading the discussions before I have seen the show). What’s going to happen tonight? I’m worried about Roger.
If you’re not interested in “Mad Men”, you can discuss this New Yorker article about how Glenn Beck is bringing John Bircherism to a wider audience. I’m not sure how seriously to take any of it, because it’s by Sean Ayers Wright Willentz and it has one of my least favorite fables, the story of how William F. Buckley cleaned up the Republican party (I’m not even saying it’s not true, but I don’t like facile recitations of the myth/historical happening).
Update. In order to show my support for Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price-Holloway-Campbell, I am drinking Canadian whiskey tonight. Are there any decent ones? I drink Forty Creek right now, but it’s only so so.
Update update. Are Don’s sportscoats as psychedelic on your tv screen as I mine? It is so true what they say about solids on tv.
schrodinger's cat
Don’t much care about Mad Men prefer crazy cats instead, we can has Tunch plz, Kthxbai.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
i wonder if conrad hilton comes back into the picture now that lucky strike is gone…
asiangrrlMN
TUNCHIE!
Holy shit. I’m watching the Giants/Phillies game. Buck and McCarver were talking to the hitting coach of Philly when the SF hitter hit a home run. I waited for Buck to comment, and he started asking the Phillies coach a question. It was at least three seconds if not five before he noticed there was a home run! I mean, I know he prefers football, but really!
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@asiangrrlMN:
Those two are both morons.
Uloborus
Okay. Since it belongs here and not on the thread below, Paul debated Conway at UofL tonight from 7 to 8pm EST. I watched the whole thing. Conway filleted him. I will quote what I feel was the most important summary I made:
‘…Paul’s BEST moment was being heavily on the defensive and whining that he was being treated badly. Being on the defensive is not usually considered a good thing.
Conway was always on the attack, had numbers, quotes, references, moral pleas, and I personally thought his best line was ‘As attorney general of Kentucky I’m always amused to get a lecture in constitutional law from a self-certified opthalmologist.’
Paul also spent the entire time playing to his hardcore Tea Jerker base. Debates are supposed to be about convincing moderates, not defending your ability to get the vote of your most loyal supporters. Which is what the Aqua Buddha thing is about, isn’t it? ‘
asiangrrlMN
@DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.: I know they are. But, they are getting paid big monies to be such fuck-ups! The could at least watch the goddamn game.
I hate them both so much.
ETA: Thanks for the new open thread, DougJ.
@Uloborus: Not if you’re a member of the GOP, apparently.
Spaghetti Lee
@Uloborus:
Could I see this on CSPAN.com or something?
gbear
Willentz was on the radio with Terry Gross last week. I found the segment to be a helpful I/2 hour lesson for dummies like me who aren’t familiar with the history of the birchers.
Cat Lady
I LOVE this season. I also love the fact that the other lovers of Mad Men I know hated this season they think, but when I talk to them about what happened, then they’re all like yeah, it was pretty great. There are things that I think I missed that they didn’t show, but they happened in my memory! This season went so fast – but what doesn’t? Sally Draper – Mark. my. words. Some smart screenwriters will be able to hang some stories on that character.
BTW if any Mad Men lover doesn’t read Alan Sepinwall’s analysis on Mondays, do. He gets it.
Spaghetti Lee
I suspect that if Bircherism was as socially acceptable in 1960 as Teabaggery is now, Buckley would have welcomed them with open arms.
Uloborus
@Spaghetti Lee:
Damn if I know. I watched it live on local TV. I hope you guys can find it somewhere. It was pretty cool. Conway’s much favored tactic is to bring up Rand Paul’s many insane positions (like a $2000 medicare deductible or eliminating the Department of Education) and lay out just how really horrible that would be. He also connected the dots and explained how the specific events Paul referred to that he wants to overturn are things like passing Social Security.
gbear
CSpan has the debate.
I stole the link from burnspbesq in the previous thread.
Corner Stone
Whuh?? What?
It’s less expensive than Crown, less sweet, and opens up in a lovely way if you let it.
Goes great with a mild cigar on a cool breezy night on the back porch too.
For the money, you aren’t going to get anything more consistently better.
My God man, what do you want?
Ellie
@Cat Lady: There are lots of recaps and such around the webs, but I agree, Sepinwall is the best I’ve found. I also like Mo Ryan and of course, Wolcott for the more gimlet eyed view.
JCT
@DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.: You’re being too kind re: those imbeciles. No sound for us when they’re in the booth.
Nellcote
Lex Luthor Bailout starring Jon Hamm
debit
Well. I got a hit on my post on Craigslist for our little house guest. Not the owner, but someone who says they’ve seen the cat listed before. So now I think we change the vet visit to a general exam and scan for a chip. Any ideas where else to post, animal peeps? If his owner is really looking for him, I’d like to get him home.
kdaug
@Corner Stone: If you weren’t so drunk on Canadian whiskey all the time, you wouldn’t be losing your cats because you would have built a giant concrete invisible fence covered with nanotech lubricants that would would blockade cat claws (and tastes icky to dogs).
Oh. Wrong thread?
Uloborus
@kdaug:
I’m not sure. That DID sound an awful lot like one of the things Conway said to Paul. I really loved that debate.
NobodySpecial
@asiangrrlMN: If there’s only one small bit of justice for the Cubs not being in the playoffs, it’s the small knowledge that those two don’t get to talk about them on national TV. Buck and McCarver are the Teatards of baseball announcing.
phillygirl
Sean Wilentz has spent the last three years being pissed off that Obama proved more appealing to American Democrats than his beloved Billary, who not only would have revived magical bipartisanship but might have repealed Glass-Steagall again for good measure. So I don’t read anything he says.
Steeplejack
@NobodySpecial:
McCarver, although never my favorite, used to be somewhat insightful. I think Joe Buck makes him stupider. And I hate it when Buck pretentiously turns on his “dramatic moment” voice. Ugh.
The Colts-Redskins game is pretty good. I have been switching between baseball and football.
Mark S.
I was surprised Oklahoma was #1 in the first BCS doohickey. I don’t really think Boise St. is as fucked as everybody is saying. I could easily see them being the only unbeaten team at the end of the season and ranked 1 in the polls. How low could the computers put them if that happened?
QDC
I’m shocked and saddened by the relish with which Conway has thrown American Aqua Buddhists under the bus. Are they not part of the tapestry of this nation?
JAHILL10
@JCT: Ditto. I always watch the game, whatever it is with the mute button on or risk an anger stroke when those two are announcing. We call them “Joe F**k Anyone Who Is Not the Yankees” and Captain Obvious.
Sly
To whatever extent that people like Buckley and Goldwater (not to mention Javits, Rockefeller, and a host of liberal/moderate Republicans) were able to purge the party of Birchers, they were only able to do so because of the public backlash against Robert Welch for accusing Eisenhower of being a communist and disloyal.
Eisenhower lost some of his popularity following the 1960 election, but the vast majority of people in the country still respected him. Welch circulated a private letter in 58 that called Eisenhower a communist, and these accusations were publicly printed in his 1962 book. Though he took incredible pains to say that these were his opinions and not reflective of JBS, no one gave a shit. You don’t fuck with Ike and still get to play in the game. Joe McCarthy could have told him that.
Mark S.
@Uloborus:
Did Paul really say he wouldn’t shake Conway’s hand because Conway attacked his religion? Did Conway actually do that? What religion is Paul anyway?
Cat Lady
Peggy Olson.
That is all.
Nellcote
@Cat Lady:
She played Zoey Bartlett on The West Wing!
themann1086
@JAHILL10 (and everyone else on Buck n’ McCarver): yeah, Phillies fans are just sick to death of those two. Although frankly, the TBS coverage of the NLCS last year was worse.
ETA: JIMMY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuLb0Tnr3Ls hahaha
NobodySpecial
@Mark S.: Understand the objective of the computers is solely to make sure non-Six schools do not become national champions. Therefore, I have no doubt that the computers will get jiggered this year if Oklahoma and company prove human.
kommrade reproductive vigor
So our choices are:
1. Mad Men.
2. A mad man.
3. Booze.
Got it.
freelancer
@Nellcote:
Elisabeth Moss is a beautiful and fantastic actress. She, to my chagrin, is also a Scientologist.
Mark S.
@Mark S.:
Oh, okay.
JAHILL10
@themann1086: TBS has been much better this year, I think. Adding John Smoltz to the lineup helped a lot. Low key and smart, not headache inducing. I guess that’s all you can ask for these days. Personally, I think they should clone Bob Ucker for all playoff game coverage.
JD Rhoades
Aqua Buddha is the Bill Ayers of this election.
Sly
For those interested, the entire Conway/Paul debate is up on YouTube.
Corner Stone
@kdaug: Newsletter? You haz one?
fasteddie9318
@JD Rhoades:
Aqua Buddha is the Jew of Liberal Fascism.
@Mark S.:
He’s Aqua Buddhist, duh. Also too, fundie Christian if that makes the teatards happy, also.
Southern Beale
Don Draper has gone comepletely batshit insane. I won’t say any more, in deference to people in other time zones.
themann1086
@JAHILL10: That’s good to hear. The team doing the Phils-Reds series didn’t exactly impress me. Glad to hear that the ALCS is receiving competent coverage.
Spaghetti Lee
@Sly:
A YouTube video without any comments is like a newly washed car. You can admire it for a little, but you know it’s going to be covered in bird shit within hours.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Wow. Anyone watching the football game? If that hit on Addai was legal, the NFL has a bigger problem than I thought. Hits to the head are perfectly legal on running plays? That’s insane.
College hockey has made any blow to the head an automatic five minute major and game misconduct this year. I approve. Then again, I have my season tickets to a no check league, and I like it.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Southern Beale:
I’m worried that if I write “and don’t let us sweat like Dr. Joyce Brothers” in the post, that will be too much of a spoiler.
Cat Lady
I knew it about Joan!
Matthew Weiner is all about the women. Great season.
freelancer
@Southern Beale:
Thank you. I won’t get to see it til tomorrow night.
rob!
I personally volunteer to go back in time, enlist in the Army, fly to Vietnam, and frag Joan’s husband.
Cat Lady
@rob!:
Win.
pjcamp
Sorry, Canadians just don’t get whiskey. Which is surprising given how many of them hail from Scotland.
However, if you’re of a mind to do a mashup of Sunday shows, you can drink Canadian Club, the bootleg of choice in Boardwalk Empire.
Loneoak
I for one look forward to the revival of the John Birks Society.
Ellie
@Southern Beale: No kidding. WTF?
burnspbesq
@Spaghetti Lee:
Yes. I put the link in a comment about 120 comments into the last thread.
Nicole
Aww… Peggy/Joan bonding moment (not spoilery, I promise).
freelancer
Damn. Almost every game today is ending in a squeaker.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Nicole:
I loved that. I hate that Joan is with that doctor asshole. Bums me out.
burnspbesq
@Loneoak:
As in John Birks Gillespie?
Cat Lady
Mad Men shows how the women are evolving, and the men are mostly static and clueless. Is our Don learning? Are any of the men learning? If they are, it’s because Peggy and Joan are dragging them kicking and screaming, and it’s all definitely lost on Harry and perhaps Roger. Betty better start getting her shit together too. Things have definitely changed. Also.
asiangrrlMN
@NobodySpecial: Agreed. Still. I will do the job for half the monies, and I will wear a tight-fitting shirt whilst doing so. Really. I could do a better job than many of the announcers/pundits/whatever in sports and/or politics.
@JCT: The thing is, I need to hear the crowd noise. I would really love a mute button that only mutes the announcers.
@debit: Keep him. It sounds suspicious to me.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Cat Lady:
Uh, Ken.
Cat Lady
@DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.:
Yeah. What the hell happened to him? He was a pimp in the first two seasons.
ellie
That was a great episode! Yes, Don has lost his mind. I had a feeling about Joan. Love Peggy.
forked tongue
I don’t know enough about Sean Wilentz to asses his cred, but I’ve been reading Rick Perlstein’s book about Barry Goldwater, and haven’t seen any real differences in their accounts. It does seem a matter of record that Buckley decided to give the Birchers the old heave ho–slightly out of principle but mostly because he feared what they could do to the nascent conservative brand. Does Wilentz really say different?
burnspbesq
Any recommendations for recent movies to rent and put on the iPad for a 12-hour flight at the end of the week?
I’m in a dilemma about “The Ghost Writer.” I enjoyed the book, and there are decent actors in the two leading roles, but I hate the thought of putting money in the pocket of Roman Polanski.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
Wow. Bangladesh swept New Zealand in a ODI series, winning all four matches that were played. Have they arrived? Is New Zealand in trouble? Was it just a fluke? Lots of questions.
Like, why doesn’t the FYWP spell checker not recognize the world “Zealand?”
Cat Lady
@burnspbesq:
Have you seen The Wire?
freelancer
@burnspbesq:
I really enjoyed Edward Norton’s latest movie, “Leaves of Grass“.
JoePo
I just discovered that the 27 year old numbnuts running for Lt. Governor in Illinois is a kid I went to grade school with who has accomplished exactly nothing without his dad’s interference. His father has ruined my small hometown with a strangle hold on real estate that has made it a nice main street surrounded by a shitload of sprawl and half-filled stripmalls. Basically he’s the bad guy from Roadhouse. The kid’s running with a nominee for governor who thinks the free market has the same powers as a magical fucking unicorn that shits out pages of The Fountainhead.
The Democrat is a feckless ninny, and the Green candidate actually has awesome views, yet I have to vote for the ninny so that we don’t end the moratorium on the death penalty, fuck over all the teachers for laughs, drastically cut the minimum wage, hunt gays for sport, etc.
Oh, and I’m glad Don chose what’s her face, because she’s like the exact opposite of Betty. I wonder what Mark Lisanti’s finger-bang threat level meter read during that last scene between Don and Betty.
JoePo
@burnspbesq: If you haven’t seen it, The Men Who Stare At Goats is reliably funny, though it starts to take its premise a little too seriously.
The Ghost Writer – fine performances, but just once I’d like a conspiracy to be almost painfully mundane. Just to throw a curveball.
MikeJ
@JoePo:
Have you read the blog posts it’s based on?
valdivia
I was out at a New Pornograhper’s concert here in DC so I missed the last episode and will not read the thread above me. I know, how lame am I? :)
@asiangrrlMN:
will now only pack sweaters and no coats for my MN trip tomorrow. If I freeze can I sue you?
JoePo
@MikeJ: No, but I understand it’s loosely based on a true story. Maybe a better word is that it took on an earnestness that kind of screwed up the tone.
Suck It Up!
WTF Don? Karma will be a bitch next season.
That secretary’s teeth really creeps me out.
Mark
Anybody notice how they re-used the Drive-In from Pulp Fiction on Mad Men tonight?
Prometheus Shrugged
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Probably a fluke on Bangladesh’s home turf, though New Zealand has always been capable of some spectacular top order collapses, regardless of opponent. Still, Bangladesh is one of the venues of the next world cup, so this series should give them some confidence. (I’m a big fan of Sri Lanka cricket, and I hope they don’t blow it next year, when they will be one of the favorites on their home soil.)
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Mark:
It’s like a wax museum with a pulse.
rikyrah
anyone see the finale of Rubicon?
left me ‘ eh’.
wanted a payoff. didn’t have to be Will victorious, but I wanted a payoff.
rikyrah
ot- The President and First Lady did a rally TOGETHER, attended by 30k PLUS in a swing state..
and NOT ONE NETWORK CARRIED IT ?
uh huh
valdivia
@rikyrah:
but but: were there any starbursts?? ;)
The MSM couldn’t care less cause it ain’t controversial. F them.
Mark
@DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.: Think it’s a set or an actual location? I can’t find any info on the internets
Edit: It was apparently Holly’s in Pulp Fiction, which was torn down fifteen years ago. Just similar-looking crappy walls.
asiangrrlMN
@valdivia: Light coat! Light coat! Since you are not a native, you might need it.
valdivia
@asiangrrlMN:
:D
actually, because I am a neurotic tropical girl I am bringing a coat anyway. Wasn’t going to sue you anyway…
Just no snow yet right?
Brachiator
@Sly:
As a related aside, The Los Angeles Times was a powerful force on the West Coast and had previously supported Richard Nixon. Some Chandler family members, notably Philip Chandler, brother of Times publisher Norman Chandler, was a Bircher. Norman, his wife Dorothy, and son Otis, who became the next publisher, fought off the extremist connections in order to make the Times a more mainstream and respectable paper. Times reporters even wrote some of the best stories exposing the Birchers for the bigots they were.
And notably, they stopped supporting Nixon, which was one of the reasons behind his bitter “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore” outburst when he lost the California gubernatorial election in 1962 (even though the far right had also strongly opposed him).
The Birchers never do well when exposed to the light. This might be why the neo-Birchers are doing so well in our current Fox News/cowardly mainstream media environment.
FlipYrWhig
I don’t understand the dynamic with the creepy neighbor kid. But this was the first season I ever watched, so I have struggled the whole time. “Who is that?” “He works for them too?” “Is everyone _supposed_ to think Pete is a weasel, or is it just me?”
asiangrrlMN
@valdivia: Whew! I am glad you know yourself well enough to ignore assholes (me) on the internet.
Hm. Checking wunderground.com, I see that there the lows are in the low forties. You should be safe unless we get a sudden freeze.
@Allan: Oh, good grief. I read the headline and closed the link. The stoopid, it burns.
Allan
Meanwhile, up in Alaska, Joe Miller has settled on a novel approach to avoiding tough questions from the press.
Zuzu's Petals
Good God, Don Draper is out of his mind.
I’m embarrassed for him.
Allan
@rikyrah: It was only the largest crowd Obama has addressed since the inauguration, so it wasn’t newsworthy. Plus, he said mean things about Republicans, and everyone knows that’s against the Constitution.
freelancer (itouch)
@Allan:
Isn’t that technically (and legally) grounds for kidnapping charges?
Allan
@freelancer (itouch): The phrase I’m hearing tossed around is “false imprisonment.” But I won’t know for sure until Supreme Court Justice Sarah Palin issues a ruling on Facebook.
John - A Motley Moose
@forked tongue: I’ve been doing a lot of research on this subject with the intention to write up my findings. This article pretty much repeats what I’ve discovered so far, although I think it is a bit easy on Reagan.
Here’s a good article by Kevin Drum in Mother Jones – http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/history-of-the-tea-party
and another one from dkos – http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/22/22113/8606
and here’s something from Scott Johnson on Powerline of all places calling out the Birchers – http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/02/025642.php
One thing I learned from the New Yorker article was that Teddy Roosevelt coined the term ‘lunatic fringe’. I looked up the quote. It was from his 1913 autobiography – “Among the wise and high-minded people who in self-respecting and genuine fashion strive earnestly for peace, there are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it — the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements.”
valdivia
@asiangrrlMN:
lol. I am just a totally over the top packer. I take my clothes on vacation no matter the weather or the purpose of the trip.
Really hoping no snow, though.
MikeJ
@Allan: It would interesting to see what would be said if the Secret Service treated a Fox News reporter the same way.
morzer
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
4-0 isn’t a fluke in any sport. The truth is that New Zealand had a bright period about 10 years ago under Stephen Fleming and are now sliding back into being a small country where rugby union is the big game and cricket doesn’t attract more than a modicum of the available sporting talent. Bangladesh have improved in the last couple of years, and their own day game has always been better than their performance in Test matches. What Bangladesh need is fast bowlers and a couple of disciplined batsmen who can build an innings. Unfortunately, their pitches tend to be slow and reward spin, so fast bowlers aren’t likely to appear.
Yutsano
@valdivia: You can leave a suitcase dear. It’ll be okay I promise. If worst comes to worst take an empty charge card, then just purchase whatever you need. Then you haz stuff AND a souvenir!
@freelancer (itouch): Too bad Bible Spice shot her wad burning bridges with Alaska law enforcement. Otherwise that reporter would be jailed for life without setting foot in a courtroom. I wonder how this will play out up there.
morzer
@Allan:
Is it legal to cuff someone like that? I mean, do security guards have the right to do this?
Joseph Nobles
In order to get more bang for their buck, Al Qaeda is reportedly ending training for armed terrorist attacks in order to chase GOP candidates and ask them hard-hitting questions about their past. Jeez Louise…
ETA: I mean, seriously, these people are running for a national office! Answer the dang questions, already!
valdivia
@Yutsano:
Ha! but I need my pretty things. (and in this case all my warm things). It’s just 2 days but I want to make sure I don’t freeze my tropical behind.
For anyone into the New Pornorgaphers I highly recommend their live show. Totally rocking. Gotta love Neko Case.
asiangrrlMN
@valdivia: I hear you. I’ve gotten better at it since, as Yutsano points out, one can buy nearly everything one needs, but I still like to pack for the range of weather that is supposed to occur wherever I am going.
ETA: We have lots of sweaters and things here. We’re kinda geared for winter.
freelancer (itouch)
@Yutsano:
They were championing the cause of “freedom” donchaknow?
MattR
@valdivia:
This is always a good strategy. Unless you’re going to a nudist camp of course.
@morzer: I would imagine that they do have the right to cuff people in order to maintain control if need be. I’m sure there are limits to when/why they can do it and I am sure that any investigation will find that there is not sufficient evidence that these guards overstepped their bounds.
From the Alaska Dispatch website:
John - A Motley Moose
Will more than 2 links in one comment put it in moderation? That’s the only thing I can imagine would have put my last comment in moderation. Unless it is the phrase ‘lunatic fringe’. Guess we’ll find out if this one posts right away.
Guess it wasn’t ‘lunatic fringe’. It must be because I’ve got 3 links in it.
valdivia
@asiangrrlMN:
and it isn’t like I don’t need an excuse for shopping right?
I’ve been to that Mecca, called The Mall of America in previous visit.
asiangrrlMN
@John – A Motley Moose: You can have three links if you don’t ‘reply to’ anyone. Two if you reply to one person. One if you reply to two. FYWP.
@valdivia: Yes. Though, I would rather poke my eyes out with my rusty pitchfork than go to the Mall, it is the holy grail for avid shoppers.
Yutsano
@freelancer (itouch): And remember: feedom ain’t free.
@valdivia: I’m a notorious overpacker as well, so I understand the sentiment. Airline fees have gotten me better at economizing my absolute essentials, plus my packing skills have just gotten to mad skillz level. Whatever packs down well should go in first, then you can add on top. And remember: it’s only two days.
valdivia
@MattR:
seems you have been well trained by a female :)
ETA: @Yutsano:
yeah I am all packed and it’s under the weight limit so I’m all set. I still manage to take too much stuff but I think i just have to embrace my overpacking girly girlness.
Bob Loblaw
@Allan:
You don’t need to lie to express your outrage. He’s done commencement addresses that were twice that number. Michigan, for sure, as I recall. I bet you don’t remember much of what it was he said there, do you?
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN:
This made me giggle, if only because I literally live just on the other side of the freeway from a mall. And other than dining at a really good steakhouse there, I’ve never been to it. That was hella good stuff too, a grape-serrano salad dressing. Unusual but indescribably delicious.
@valdivia: If the total gross weight of the suitcases is less than your body weight you’re golden.
morzer
@Bob Loblaw:
You can of course provide links to support your claims?
MattR
@valdivia: I think my joke went over like a lead balloon.
But I am definintely an overpacker. You should have seen the amount of crap I brought with me for my three week stay at the Jersey shore.
John - A Motley Moose
@asiangrrlMN: Good to know. About the links, not the rusty pitchfork.
valdivia
ok crew. off to get some shut eye, early flight. next time I write I will be in the same state as @asiangrrlMN
valdivia
@MattR:
no no I got it. It was funny.
Jersey Shore? Were you visiting Snooki?
@asiangrrlMN:
yeah Mall of America is my idea of the 9th circle of hell.
@Yutsano:
umm. definitely below that.
Anne Laurie
@rikyrah:
__
Well, the late news shows were pleased to report it proved how desperate the Democrat Party was, that Michelle was being sent hither’n’yon to every pissant “swing” state, trailing Whats-His-Name and his Presidency of Doom behind her popularity-skirts. This was the ‘Big Three’, not Faux News, thankyewverymuch. Tone was very much “Voters, shmoters, we HAVE our narrative and that’s what we’re sticking with.” My fondest dream, at the moment, is that us recalcitrant voters will so fail to fulfill The Narrative that at least one bobblehead will actually lose it on-air and start screaming obscenities, or commit seppuku. If David Gregory climbs over the table and tries to choke Karl Rove, the last six months of political teeveeage would actually have been worth it, in my opinion.
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie:
Only if it’s put to a public vote. But I think it would be all kinds of awesome to watch Wolf Blitzer disembowel himself.
Comrade Kevin
@morzer: Read his law blog.
Bob Loblaw
@morzer:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/president-barack-obamas-commencement-address-a-great-memory-for-u-m-graduates/
YellowJournalism
@valdivia: Pfft! Mall of America is NOTHING. Try West Edmonton Mall on Christmas Eve. With a toddler. Then you will know hell.
Brick Oven Bill
Yutsano is incorrect. The deliciousness of grape-cerrano salad dressing can in fact be described. Behold:
It sucks.
This is why you do not see grape-cerrano salad dressing in stores like you do French salad dressing, or Italian salad dressing, or Ranch salad dressing.
Yutsano
@YellowJournalism: Is there some kind of shopping masochism contest going on here and I didn’t get the memo?
freelancer (itouch)
@Comrade Kevin:
It’s a mouthful.
Uloborus
@Anne Laurie:
Yes. That WOULD provide a feeling that everything had a purpose and a meaning.
morzer
@Comrade Kevin:
How, pray tell? And in any case, he makes a claim here, so let him substantiate it here.
freelancer (itouch)
@freelancer (itouch):
Also, am I the only AD fan here who really digs the new Hurwitz show Running Wilde? It’s smart and ridiculously silly in all the right places.
Yutsano
@Brick Oven Bill: Are you STILL bitter because I spurned you?
Comrade Kevin
@morzer: Sorry, it’s a joke based on his handle, from the show “Arrested Development”.
Anyway, Loblaw’s claim that the other person is lying is, well, dubious at best. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer from today (scroll down).
If he wants to be an ass about this, he should take it up with the White House.
Uloborus
Thank goodness. Morzer, watch yer hyphens ya crazy galoot!
MattR
@valdivia: Heh. Glad it was not a wasted effort. And no Snooki for me though I did see plenty of “as seen on MTV” signs (mostly on bars).
And boy do I hate the mall they built near my parents house. There really is no reason for something that large. Among other things I don’t need Home Depot or BJ’s Wholesalers or Target to be in my mall.
freelancer (itouch)
@Yutsano:
He’s bitter that you’re not a stereotypical lesbian that he can mock. C’est la vie.
Brick Oven Bill
Yes.
Yutsano
@freelancer (itouch): Heh. I’m sorry, I don’t have the right plumbing to be a lesbyterian. I think they’re awesome though.
freelancer (itouch)
@Brick Oven Bill:
I concur. [Why didn’t you concur?!]
freelancer (itouch)
@Yutsano:
Between Maddow, Portia de Rossi, Teagan and Sara, and my favorite cousin, this hetero white male has reached the conclusion that girls that really like girls fucking rock. The only thing I’m crestfallen about is when I continually encounter the leisha Haley style woman; petite cute girl with a gorgeous face and a pixie haircut. Such inadvertent teases. Dammit.
Bob Loblaw
@Comrade Kevin:
Perhaps I should. It certainly appears we’ve found the liars in this situation. Unless those Ann Arbor motherfuckers don’t know how to count. Or we’re using Fox News math.
Comrade Kevin
@Bob Loblaw:
Or you are looking too hard for things to complain about.
Martin
@MattR:
Somebody seriously named a store that?
Jager
@Anne Laurie:
Did any of the “village” mention Fiorina had McCain with her in San Diego yesterday and they drew 200 or how Carly and Meg didn’t campaign with Palin when she was here?
YellowJournalism
@Yutsano: Men whip out the penis, while women whip out the shopping stories? (“I once found 60 dollar bra on sale for 99 cents” is the “I once caught a fish this big”, don’t you know?) Stereotypical, I know, but I have to defend the title of craziest shopping for our mall here.
My husband used to work at an electronics store. He often covered the Boxing Day morning shift. I bet he has far more masochistic shopping stories than any of us has ever experienced.
MattR
@Martin: You should check out their website, bjs.com (I hope that doesn’t break Word Press). They are a Costco competitor in the Northeast.
morzer
@Bob Loblaw:
I see one estimate, which hardly proves your point.
Yutsano
@freelancer (itouch): Such is life. I get teased pretty much every damn day though, so I totally understand what you’re going through.
@YellowJournalism: Yikes. Working retail on Boxing Day is probably its own little circle of Hell. I hope he never got stuck in Returns. That would be enough to make one suicidal.
Bob Loblaw
@morzer:
Wow, you and Kevin just can’t stand being wrong. And on such an irrelevant topic. Why does it bother you that the White House would falsely puff its chest (and its desired narrative) on crowd sizes? Politicians have been doing that since the dawn of time. All I know is that there is an objective, measurable reality, and unless you can prove that the events of all of five months ago didn’t actually happen, then the line that today was the largest crowd since the Inauguration isn’t, you know, true.
Here’s a picture of the Michigan commencement on the White House website:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/03/because-i-believe-you
And here’s the NY Times and the >80,000 stat:
nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/politics/02obama.html
(Stupid wordpress and its link filter)
Mnemosyne
I have to admit, I find it funny that Bob Loblaw is going to the mat to totally prove that a college graduation ceremony and a political rally are exactly the same thing so therefore anyone who says a crowd of 30K is a large crowd is a LIAR!
I know he’s not actually that dumb, so it’s got to be ODS at work.
Mnemosyne
BTW, Bob, it’s a heckuva lot easier to gather a crowd of 80K when people have three months to plan to attend the event. It’s not as easy as you think to get 30K people at one location on short notice.
mslarry
@Mark:
yup it’s called Pan’s.. little known fact, it’s across the street from the first Magic Johnson’s starbucks.
AND SOME QUES. FOR THE REST OF YOU WHO WATCHED THE EPISODE
WTF is Don thinking? Without spoiling anything was Betty flirting with Don? And lastly, i’ve gotta ask cause it was freakin’ me out, the actress who plays Megan those teeth are fake, oui? Didn’t recall them being so… prominent when she first came on the scene or perhaps I just missed it? weird…
mslarry
whoops may stand to be corrected on the “pulp fiction” diner locale — someone upthread has different info… oh well… i’m wrong several times an hour, why should this time of night be any different?
Mnemosyne
@mslarry:
SPOILER, so don’t say I didn’t warn you
WTF is Don thinking?
He’s thinking, “Look, someone who can take care of my kids for me. And I like to fuck her, too!” Remember, Faye was totally uncomfortable with Sally, but Megan was the one who comforted her after she ran away to Don’s office.
About halfway through the California scenes, I thought, “She’s deliberately auditioning to be these kids’ stepmom.” And I was right. Now Don doesn’t have to go out and find a replacement for Carla and pay her a salary.
Bob Loblaw
@Mnemosyne:
Yes, I just hate Obama so much I can’t stand it.
Or maybe, just maybe, I simply care about accuracy in reporting from time to time. Because when you’re off by almost 50,000 people, that’s kind of a bad miss.
Zuzu's Petals
@Mnemosyne:
I thought it was more than that. He was checking her out from the time she sat at that desk.
I think it’s tied in with his feelings about who Anna was in his life and the loss of that one all-accepting, nonjudgmental presence. Remember how he said “I feel like I can be the me I want to be around you” or somesuch. Anna nostalgia.
Oh, and she’d make a great stepmom for his kids. Though it’s Betty, not Don, who has to find a replacement for Carla. I hope Carla got that recommendation letter…it sort of bugs me that we may never know.
Comrade Kevin
@Bob Loblaw:What the fuck are you talking about? You claimed that Allan was “lying” in order to “express” his “outrage”. I demonstrated that Allan was not “lying”, that perhaps he got his claim from a source, and I’m the one who can’t stand being wrong?
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Your handle is unusually apt, in that you are at least as much of a dumb fuck as the character who inspired it.
Zuzu's Petals
@Bob Loblaw:
When I see the actual press release I’ll blame the White House for “falsely puffing its chest.” ‘Cause – to paraphrase you – it wouldn’t be the first time the press got the wording or the context wrong. Would it?
Bob Loblaw
@Comrade Kevin:
I don’t care who first started saying it was the largest crowd. I don’t care if they’re misinformed or willfully full of shit. It wasn’t the largest crowd. That’s all I’m saying. It wasn’t the largest crowd.
It was a large crowd. It wasn’t the largest. What’s so hard about this?
Comrade Kevin
@Bob Loblaw: When you admit that your accusation that the original poster, Allan, was “lying”, was bullshit, I’ll be satisfied.
What’s so hard about that, asshole?
Zuzu's Petals
@mslarry:
They’re pretty prominent in real life, looks like.
Bob Loblaw
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Fair enough. I’ve finally managed to find somebody acting in good faith!
I was just going off of this quote from the Plains Dealer that Comrade Kevin linked:
Which is the exact same language used in the University of Michigan story, which directly contradicts said quote. If it’s the reporter’s fault, then it’s on them for being wrong.
Zuzu's Petals
@Bob Loblaw:
Oh I dunno, I think Comrade Kevin was acting in good faith in calling you on your claim that Allan was lying to express his “outrage.”
Bob Loblaw
@Comrade Kevin:
The best that can be said is he was factually inaccurate. Which doesn’t comment on motive in any way, so sure, I’d be happy to retract the original statement and leave it at that.
mslarry
@Zuzu’s Petals:
wow, thanks for the link. yup, they’re prominent. good for her. she’s a good actress no matter and not everyone can be January Jones or Christina Hendricks perfect.
mslarry
@Mnemosyne:
burnspbesq
@morzer:
NZ made it to the World Cup and the world championships in men’s basketball this year, so it’s probably more accurate to say that cricket is the one blemish on an otherwise pretty good situation.
burnspbesq
@MattR:
I don’t know whether it still exists, but there used to be an online retailer called Pen Island. Put that in your browser and see what it looks like. :-)
someguy
I think the birthers and Obama-is-a-Muslim crowd are probably a better comparison for the Birchers. But hey, if you want to call the Teatardist Jihad a pack of Birchers, that’s fine. Politics doesn’t have to be true or accurate to work effectively. It just has to work. I suspect that labeling them Birchers will have as much traction with the public as labeling John Ashcroft a Palmer would have had in 2002. You’re expecting the public to get a fairly subtle historical reference when frankly, for most members of the public, it’s a stretch for them to remember to breath and not shit their pants when they walk.
John PM
I knew as soon as I saw the ring what Don was going to do. I think that Faye would have been a good match for Don also, but not as good a fit for the kids. I was hoping that Don would have more sense than to follow Roger’s lead, but oh well.
I think this past season was great. I think the women will play an even more prominent role next year.
The only way that Jon Hamm will win an Emmy is if Brian Cranston meets with an unfortunate accident.
Rick Persltein
DougJ, I went from accepting the story of WFB’s wise and noble purge of the Birchers at face value, to treating it as self-interested historical revisionism, back to considering it relatively true as rendered–after seeing how right-wing media became qualitatively more unhinged at EXACTLY the moment WFB died. WFB was the only person besides “Ronoldus Magmus” Rush Limbaugh revered–he always called him “Mr. Buckley” on the air–and I can only imagine Buckley made discreet phone calls over the years to Rush telling him to rein it in when he started getting too nutty. I’m back to believing that WFB actually did exert a disciplining influence on far-right nuttiness within the broader conservative firmament.
In this video (parts 1 and 2) I state the “self-interested historical revisionism” phase in my intellectual evolution on the question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua7IX0V0Gio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HfkDrYCxvI&feature=related
morzer
@burnspbesq:
I hate to break this to you, but it is virtually impossible for them not to make it to the world cup in cricket. The Test nations basically have their slots set aside, while the Associates have to qualify. You can argue that this is unfair, but the organizers do it this way to maximize revenue, which means keeping the “bigger” cricket nations and their TV audiences happy.
The fact is that New Zealand is a very small nation that produces a considerable quality of sporting talent per head of population. Equally, the cream of that talent goes to the All Blacks, and has done for as long as anyone can remember. I am not knocking New Zealand, but the bottom line is that international cricket, as New Zealand players themselves have said, is not going to get the bulk of the sporting talent out there.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
@Rick Persltein:
Thanks, I bumped this up to the front page.
Prometheus Shrugged
@morzer: New Zealand might have a more sustained presence in the T20 format, where one or two key players can make all the difference. It will be interesting to see if they can make it out of the first round of the world cup next year. RIght now it’s Vettori and no one else, so it doesn’t look promising.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I only go to the MegaMall when someone from out of town wants to go.
@valdivia: Check in and give us your impressions and what you’re actually doing (if you’re at liberty to tell).
@John – A Motley Moose: Yes. I just tossed that in for extra value.
Zuzu's Petals
@mslarry:
Not to nitpick, but Peggy doesn’t really know his Dick Whitman secret. Pete does though, and so far no romantic relationship.