Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Bark louder, little dog.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

This really is a full service blog.

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

In after Baud. Damn.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

The words do not have to be perfect.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Legends In Our Own Minds

Legends In Our Own Minds

by | 176 Comments

This post is in: 

Skippy made me laugh:

we like reading balloon juice on a regualr basis. we do think, however, that they are militantly superior in their own minds to almost everybody else, left and right, in blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase. this sometimes makes reading that blog a less than pleasant experience.

I wish I could mount a vigorous defense, but he’s, umm, maybe kinda on to something. “Militantly superior in their own minds” has been added to the rotating banner.

Reader Interactions

176Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    we like reading balloon juice on a regular basis. we do think, however, that they are militantly superior in their own minds to almost everybody else, left and right,

    Yeah…All I can add is so what, someone has to be superior!

  2. 2.

    MikeJ

    Yes, because people love to hang a place where they feel like saying, “we have the dumbest commenters on the internet! When ever I need a stupid take on a situation, I head to [my favorite blog here]!”

    If we didn’t like it here, we’d be somewhere else. Somewhere we would then declare teh greatest place evar.

  4. 4.

    LikeableInMyOwnWay

    Yeah, I’ve observed that the idea of being superior to everyone else is really rare in the blog world.

  5. 5.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    skippy is a grade a firebagger, PUMA and Republican troll bent on the destruction of Obama. I will shun him now.

  7. 7.

    me

    however, balloon juice sees fdl as childish anarchists w/nothing to contribute to the national discourse.

    Really. I for one see fdl as “militantly superior in their own minds to almost everybody else”. If he wants to see a real superiority complex, he should read The Agitator.

  8. 8.

    Cat Lady

    I prefer being militantly superior in my own mind to being shallow, uninformed and lacking identity thank yew very much. Also.

  11. 11.

    Midnight Marauder

    otherwhere, and on a lesser scale, balloon juice, the militant centrists of blogtopia and yes, we coined that phrase, seems to be eating itself.

    Militant centrists? In no way is that an accurate description of this site. That is just not a real thing.

    personally, we take the road that leads to “everybody’s got their own opinion, and if we all listen hard enough, we might actually learn something from each other.”

    Ahh, now we’ve reached the crux of the matter. No, you cannot always learn something from someone. Some people are fucking ignorant know-nothings who are entirely detached from reality. All there is to learn in moments like that is the fact that whomever you are conversing with has no idea what the fuck they are talking about.

    I’m sorry if believing not everyone has something positive to contribute makes this blog “militantly superior.” Or maybe people around here just do not suffer fools gladly.

    Yeah, I am going to go with that option.

  12. 12.

    General Stuck

    We, or I, live by the golden rule of blogging politics.

    Do unto others first, what they would do unto you.

    The view is better on top.

    Probly condescending, probly superiority, militant centrism – nope. That is a myth.

  18. 18.

    jl

    But what about all the whining? They didn’t say anything about all the whining and complaining?

    I always thought of BJ as the unstable bipolar lush of blogtopia,

    That characterization does not apply to all the pets featured on BJ, which would be a depraved slander if applied to them.

    But why didn’t they notice all the moaning and whining?

    Edit; as for centrist, what the heck is that supposed to mean? The BJ nexus of thought is similar to what centrists political world? They need to explain that. They think BJ sees eye to eye with corrupt crumbums like Senators Lincoln and Conrad? Or Lieberman? What are the talking about?

  20. 20.

    Bob Loblaw

    @Midnight Marauder:

    I’m sorry if believing not everyone has something positive to contribute makes this blog “militantly superior.”

    This seems to be out of step with the Kain e-drama. I thought the lesson we all learned was that we should be tolerant of different ideological perspectives and inclusive and considerate in this here blogspace…assuming that said viewpoints are from friends of Cole. If not, they can probably hit the Four Loko and go fuck themselves. I don’t know, it would be interesting to find out.

  21. 21.

    Nick

    however, balloon juice sees fdl as childish anarchists w/nothing to contribute to the national discourse.

    and?

  23. 23.

    Citizen Alan

    @Midnight Marauder:

    Amen. Personally, I think being militantly superior in my own mind is a rational response to being surrounded by people who are militantly inferior in any area pertaining to the mind.

  25. 25.

    BombIranForChrist

    I am not sure why I read this blog. I don’t think the insights here are far superior to any other site. They’re cool, but not groundbreaking. I guess I just like a place where I can see cool pets and say “motherfucker” in the comments without being banned. Oh, and there’s something about the phrase “fee fees” that makes me cackle with delight. I’m like a two year old laughing at farts whenever someone says it.

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    @jl:

    I always thought of BJ as the unstable bipolar lush of blogtopia,

    There’s something to that. If one is going to point to distinctive features, I am not aware of any other blog that has a code for how many drinks the poster has had before posting.

  28. 28.

    BGinCHI

    Funniest part of this is that skippy’s link is to the “let’s settle some shit” post of John’s, which we all took (see comments) in large part as not only an expected reaction but as what we love about this place.

    In other words, far from there being some kind of “meltdown” (which sounds like a delicious fight involving fondue), it’s the kind of argumentative substance that this blog trades in.

    Viva la BJ eating itself!

  31. 31.

    Bob Loblaw

    @Nick:

    …and that would discount the useful contributions of Dayen and occasionally emptywheel, I’d assume. That site does engage in what is known as “journalism” now and again, in between the Hamsher narcissism fests.

    I’d have expected a hotshot media man like yourself to respect that, assuming you actually do work at that alleged Brooklyn hipster rag that has its finger on the pulse of Wall Street, the Democratic Party, and the Right Wing Jewish Conspiracy you’re so fond of telling us about…

  32. 32.

    General Stuck

    My army of unicorns hasn’t been paid for months

    They are getting restless, and many have deserted

    faithless beasts.

  33. 33.

    The Dangerman

    Not only militantly superior in our own minds, but the Guys are hung like moose and some MIGHT do porn (Harold and Kumar reference).

  34. 34.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    This is what I like about John. I completely agreed with the comment, but then so do you, and you just come out and say so.

    @Shawn in ShowMe:

    The difference IMO is that this place carves itself such a tiny little island sometimes, it just makes me wonder if it’s going to become so small that it has four people on it.

    FDL is completely clear about their position, no doubt about it, is an echo chamber to some degree, check, all of that is true. They share these sentiments however with a certain amount of people, many of whom don’t read FDL at all.

    Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying that FDL is a majority Democratic position, or any of the other straw men I can just hear rustling here ready to be tossed and destroyed, skeet-like. I’m just saying that a lot of people I talk to when I visit the States feel the same way people at FDL do– and none of them read FDL or know what it is. This is the SF Bay Area, so there’s that, but that’s another discussion.

    Here on the other hand, well John is a Republican who became a Democrat… and pretty much immediately decided that every other Democrat was doin it wrong, dammit. Or at least it seems so sometimes. And then the others here who outdo John, with the most amazing attacks daily directed at A) “The Left” B) “Progressives” C) The Right B) The Wingnuts/Far Right C) Libertarians D) Republicans E) Democrats D) Blue Dogs E) Those idiots at [name some other site] F) Those idiots at [name people at this site] …

    Etcetera ad hilarium.

    I just wonder if it’s going to finally become such strict criteria that it shrinks to four people with General Stuck yelling at the other three, until it finally *pops* out of existence with only Tunch’s scowl remaining, hovering in the air for a moment, then vanishing as well.

  35. 35.

    jl

    Cole trolled for more Tunch is fat jokes (which seem to have gone out of fashion) last night. I guess he misses them. But I see that has pooped out already.

    Here, I have one. Tunch is so fat that he…

    No, slipped my mind already. Couldn’t have been very good.

    +0

    Everyone remember that Balloon Juice came in tenth out ten in a traffic comparison of ten preselected blogs in minor Forbes human interest warmed over trends piece.

    So, STUFF THAT, you other minor not important blogs.

    Hahhahahaha! We RULE!

  36. 36.

    eemom

    he uses the royal “we” and WE’ve got a problem with superiority? Fuck that shit.

    Furthermore, I see no reason to apologize for being militantly superior to the simpy-wimpy namby-pamby commentariats at most other blogs. As the bunny says, “deal with it.”

  38. 38.

    different church-lady

    My read on this is that other people take BJ far more seriously than we do.

    And John, I’d have to say that’s quite an accomplishment!

  40. 40.

    Libby

    I’ve been lurking/occassionally commenting here since John was a rabid Republican who supported the “war.” Yeah the place has changed over the years. Everything changes.

    All I’m going to say is it seems there’s some people here now who could really use one of these, stat.

  43. 43.

    alwhite

    Actually I read & enjoy Skippy as well as fdl, GOS and many others. But I comment more here than all of them put together and I really don’t know why. This community seems to be more ‘lively’ and interesting. Not smarter, not more ‘right’ but really more interesting.

    With the exception of ED there is nobody here I don’t get a kick out of even when I disagree with their posts. I have often wondered why that is but I think a good bit of it is dumb luck. Like Woodstock, it happened at exactly the right time & place. Attempts to recreate it have all been a disaster. I assume it will pass someday so I enjoy it while it lasts.

  44. 44.

    JD Rhoades

    If there’s one thing I despise more than anything else in the wreckage of our national discourse, it’s the abandonment of any actual criticism or debate in favor of some variation of “yew think yer purty smart, don’t yew?”

    It’s the same anti-intellectual, know-nothing bullshit that drives charges of “elitism” or “narcissism” against anyone who actually has three brain cells that are still firing.

    Coincidentally, “Idiocracy” is on the next room as I type this.

  46. 46.

    pragmatism

    @Alex S.:
    first they came for the sensitive glibertarians, and i didn’t speak up because it was funny to me.

    then they came for the firebaggers, and i didn’t speak up because i do not want to be associated with grover norquist. ever.

    then they came for the pumas but i didn’t speak up because its a waste of time to re-litigate that issue.

    then they came for the pet pictures and you’re dog damned right i spoke up. without tunch and co., there is no point.

  47. 47.

    General Stuck

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    I just wonder if it’s going to finally become such strict criteria that it shrinks to four people with General Stuck yelling at the other three, until it finally pops out of existence with only Tunch’s scowl remaining, hovering in the air for a moment, then vanishing as well.

    LOL, my powers are awesome. I could make you vanish pilgrim, but I kind of like your pre pubescent charm and permanent angst.

  48. 48.

    Carrie

    I would just like to say that I think that I’m pretty hot shit since I started driving a couple of weeks ago.
    Tomorrow morning I will try smoking while driving.

    Just thought I’d throw that out there….you know,
    navel gazing.

  49. 49.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Maude: True. That’s probably what gives me a skewed reading, having no pets or ability to cook I just read the yelling parts so it seems like all there is. Do people yell a lot in the recipe and pet threads? Or, you know, bark?

  54. 54.

    JMC_in_the_ATL

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I would be quite interested to see a poll of the age range of the readers here. My gut says that the plurality of readers are Gen X, based on the level of total disrespect for any sort of -ism and completely jaded world view.

    I’m going to cop to being right in the middle of Gen X. I was born in 1971, a gay nerdy kid in a low-income Moral Majority (that is neither) household in a center-right town. Growing up poor, different, and too-smart-for-your-own-good causes premature jading. I would come home from school every day and try to reconcile Newsweek and Time to the reality of watching Iran-Contra hearings, the reality of what I knew was happening with AIDS to the establishment silence, etc. And yet somehow I still found enough generosity of spirit in day to day life to not completely lose it.

    So, yeah, there you go. This blog is only place online that manages the find the sense of jaded optimism that’s informed my life.

  55. 55.

    General Stuck

    @tbogg:

    I would suggest ending every post with…”but I could be wrong”.

    I’ve tried this squishy leavening, but it causes my armpit hair to fall out.

  56. 56.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @General Stuck: Yikes, er, too much information, my man. But I’m glad to give you a chuckle.

    By “angst” you mean in the sense that you think I’m anxious about what happens at, or to, this blog?

    Okay now that’s funny ;)

  58. 58.

    licensed to kill time

    A little more Life of BrianJohn Cole:

    John: No, no. Please, please please listen. I’ve got one or two things to say.
    The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!
    John: Look, you’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody! You’ve got to think for yourselves! You’re all individuals!
    The Crowd: Yes! We’re all individuals!
    John: You’re all different!
    The Crowd: Yes! We’re all different!
    Man in crowd: I’m not…
    Man in crowd: Shhh!
    John: You’ve all got to work it out for yourselves.
    The Crowd: Yes! We’ve got to work it out for ourselves!
    John: Exactly!
    The Crowd: Tell us more!
    John: No! That’s the point! Don’t let anyone tell you what to do! Otherwise – Ow! Ow!

    ….but I could be wrong :)

    P.S. This is a snark because I love this place

  59. 59.

    Maude

    @Bill E Pilgrim:
    This blog goes through phases. I do know what you mean about the fights. I have seen those type of fights on other sites that have nothing to do with politics.
    I think the difference here is that the commenters later back each other up on points they agree upon.
    I don’t think it is shrinking like Atrios. BJ has more front pagers and there will be more points of view. That is, as soon as everyone gets used to the changes the new front pagers bring to the blog.

    @JD Rhoades:
    That kind of goes along with the schoolyard; I’m gonna tell!

  62. 62.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @JMC_in_the_ATL: Interesting. I’d be curious to know also. From little tidbits I’ve seen I would have guessed more boomers.

    But so my point here being, do you think that Gen X contains no, or few “progressives” then? Because otherwise it would be odd for a blog appealing so broadly to Gen Xers to be yelling about how horrible progressives are all the time.

  65. 65.

    General Stuck

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    By “angst” you mean in the sense that you think I’m anxious about what happens at, or to, this blog?

    Nah, I doubt you care about a blog. Defending the honor of fake progressives is your mission du jour.

  67. 67.

    pragmatism

    @BGinCHI:
    fortunately for me, i’m so elitist that they can come after me–but they’ll never get me. take that, people with whom i disagree. no disrespect to tunch or anything, too.

  69. 69.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @Bill E Pilgrim

    The difference IMO is that this place carves itself such a tiny little island sometimes, it just makes me wonder if it’s going to become so small that it has four people on it.)

    Impossible. DougJ has at least five aliases.

  70. 70.

    Cacti

    I enjoy balloon juice because it has my favorite ingredients. Cynicism with a side of pragmatism and a light sprinkling of idealism as a garnish.

  72. 72.

    JPL

    @JMC_in_the_ATL: Just a guess but since I’m a long time reader, I’ll add my two cents but I could be wrong
    IMO.. 20% older than 59
    20% younger than 29
    the rest in between

  73. 73.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Maude:

    This blog goes through phases. I do know what you mean about the fights.

    I wasn’t really writing about fights, I was really talking about the amusing thing that the other blog said, the sort of purity-purge complaining here about so many other categories of people that you end up wondering who would be left. Not that I meant that the blog was shrinking in a literal or serious way, as at least one other seems not to have grasped.

  75. 75.

    p.a.

    Why should we waste our beautiful, militantly superior in our own mind minds on something like that?

    but let us at least try, in the spirit of the holidays, only to be humbly superior in our own minds. or moderately superior. or meekly. temperately superior?

  78. 78.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @General Stuck: So, you will have that sense of humor actually installed at some point, right?

    Really it looked fabulous on you in the fitting room. No, it definitely does not make your butt look big.

  79. 79.

    BGinCHI

    So, the Pope says it’s ok now for male prostitutes to use condoms. Wow, I’m fucking blown away by the modern up-to-dateness of his holiness’s largesse to that community who has been waiting feverishly for his support.

    We also find out this tidbit from his upcoming book:

    “In the book, Benedict also offers insights into his private life, saying he enjoys watching TV at home in the evenings with his secretaries and the four women who take care of his apartment, preferring the evening news and an Italian TV show from decades ago “Don Camillo and Peppone” about a parish priest and his bumbling assistant.” (via TPM)

    I’m going straight to hell for the way I imagine that scene.

  82. 82.

    something fabulous

    @JMC_in_the_ATL: I seem to remember a thread (last year some time?), I think in response to some boomer-bashing or other, where people just spontaneously started outing their ages. I was surprised at the # of folks in their late-60s and up. IIRC, the winner was a dude 80+ in NYC…

    So yeah, completely unscientifically I agree with [eta: JPL@ 71!] that there’s more bookend aged folks than you might think, and the average (or do I mean mean? So bad with the math!) just ends up being folks around your/my/JCs age.

  84. 84.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    I remember the show “Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.” Boy did it suck.

    What does this new li’l marsupial have against capital letters?

  88. 88.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    What I get from Skippy is that they’re not too fond of someone standing just outside going “Oh, no, Brain, that won’t work.”

  89. 89.

    ChrisB

    “militantly superior in their own minds”

    Put that on a T-shirt too so I can help rescue more pets.

  92. 92.

    J.W. Hamner

    I’m sort of frightened of the specter of a “militarily inferior in their own minds” kind of blog. Perhaps the saddest and most emo place on earth?

  94. 94.

    BGinCHI

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I’m not aware that the dispensation was given to named individuals.

    I think he’s just ginning up media attention for the release of his “pope on a rope” soap for the holidays.

  95. 95.

    Redshift

    1961. Apparently that’s technically part of the baby boom, but culturally it’s not. All the supposed cultural touchstones of the Boomers I saw in movies later, not things I actually experienced growing up.

    I’m not Gen X, either. All my life, I’ve been that in-between group that (mercifully) doesn’t get generational stereotypes defined for it by the media.

  98. 98.

    shortstop

    @tbogg: Or “What am I missing?” (which is an admirable admission of non-omnipotence when used in moderation, but eye roll-inducing when used in every other post as K. Drum does [or at least used to–I gave up on him] do). Or “What an odd person!” or “Here’s hoping so-and-so stops doing so-and-so soon!” as S. Benen formulaically wraps up too many posts to count.

  100. 100.

    Linda Featheringill

    Skippy is cute. And, yes we are “militantly superior in their own minds”.

    And your point would be?

    There are a number of bloggers [all male] who don’t understand the ED thing. Let me put it this way:

    Imagine a young girl who finally gives in to some guy in what she thought was a relationship between the two of them, grounded in respect and loyalty. And then she discovers that he and his buddies are talking about her, giggling, and saying that she is dumb and emotional and in need of monitoring/criticising/controlling. How would she feel? The guy could have said all of these things to her and they might have fought about it but he would not have betrayed her.

    Betrayal, lack of loyalty, lack of respect is what ED is guilty of.

    Edited in a desperate attempt to get the grammar right.

  101. 101.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @jl:

    Everyone remember that Balloon Juice came in tenth out ten in a traffic comparison of ten preselected blogs in minor Forbes human interest warmed over trends piece

    Kidding aside, I do think that it’s potentially a winning formula. It’s entirely possible that there are a great many people whose only shared characteristic is that they each think that every other person else on the planet is a complete idiot.

    And they all come together here. Sniff.

  104. 104.

    BGinCHI

    Also from the pope:

    “He said he always wears his white cassock, never a sweater, and wears an old Junghans watch that was left to him by his sister when she died. When he prays, he said, he prays to the Lord as well as the saints and considers himself good friends with Sts. Augustine, Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas.”

    He’s like a regular guy, except for palin’ around with saints.

    And wtf, no female saints? Maybe that’s just how he rolls.

  105. 105.

    JPL

    @ChrisB: I don’t know if Laura or John’s around but definitely put it on a T-Shirt with Tunch’s picture.
    How superior is that!!

  106. 106.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I always describe this place as a bunch of people who want good things to happen to good people as long as we don’t have to interact with other people.

  107. 107.

    shortstop

    @BGinCHI: He wears a cassock while watching the evening news and “Don Camillo and Peppone”?

    Wait, never mind. Of course he does.

  109. 109.

    Maody

    I think Tom Levenson really pushed BJ *superior* to a whole new height. And. Also, too I agree, art, with a capital A. Some of us are really old which is nicely and factually superior. I might be wrong though.

    And, also too, I can purport that my cat is as fat as Tunch but shaped more like a toaster and a different color scheme, a superior color scheme – black and white.

  110. 110.

    BGinCHI

    @shortstop: Why does he have to say he “never wears a sweater”?

    I’ve certainly known some Catholic girls who could wear a sweater.

    I refer you to Frank Zappa’s teachings on this subject.

  116. 116.

    JAHILL10

    BJ regulars are a hearty bunch so I suspect it would take more than one flame war to send this joint into meltdown.
    During the 2008 election I was a blog fiend and I was sent here by an Andrew Sullivan reference and never left (and later dropped Sullivan entirely). I don’t always agree with everyone here and those who really annoy me, I just skip their posts.

    But the thing I like about this site most of all is that there is a open intellectual environment here where factoids are given the respect they deserve and emo BS is called for what it is loud and clear. I LURVE it when some one demands links to back up another poster’s assertions or in the absence thereof tells them to STFU. That’s the closest thing to real reportage we get these days, unfortunately. No one at BJ is above this general rule, not even our host, and so if that makes me militantly superior in my own mind for enjoying that type of environment, so be it. The whole of the “blogtopia” needs more of the same. Otherwise, is it just a useless echo chamber where people go to hear other people tell them exactly what they what to hear.

  119. 119.

    John - A Motley Moose

    If the people on this blog really thought they were superior there would be a post with more than 100 comments about some other blog calling them ‘militantly superior in their own minds’. Oh, wait…

  120. 120.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    @tbagg:
    .
    .

    I would suggest ending every post with…”but I could be wrong”.

    Why the change from “Grow.the.fuck.up.”, stuntprick, and why don’t you follow your own advice?
    .
    .

  121. 121.

    licensed to kill time

    .
    .
    .
    I think ppl who
    .
    .
    .
    stretch out their asshattery
    .
    .
    .
    with periods
    .
    .
    .
    should be ignored
    .
    .
    .
    on general principle
    .
    .
    .
    kthxbai

  122. 122.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    I suspect that this post will drive others like skippy batty as well. We, including John, get worked up over a lot of things, but call us something and we’ll collectively shrug and even agree a little. This may be the only site that practices “sticks and stones.” Ever notice how infuriating those types of people can be.

  123. 123.

    Andy K

    @Redshift:

    1961. Apparently that’s technically part of the baby boom, but culturally it’s not.

    No technically about it. You’re a boomer.

    You can split boomers into three sub-generations: Early, peak and late. The early boomers were born from ’46 to ’54, and they were active participants in a lot of the touchstone cultural movements: They were in the Peanut Gallery of the Howdy Doody Show; they watched the ’58 NFL Championship game; participated in civil rights demonstrations; went to San Francisco during the Summer of Love, Chicago in ’68 and Woodstock in ’69; they fought in Vietnam.

    The middle group runs from ’54-’59, old enough to remember most of those events, too young to participate. The last draft was held in December of ’72, so most of them (well, the young men who could have been drafted prior) didn’t fight in Vietnam. This is the peak of the boom. They all had the vote at 18, and most of them could drink legally at that age. Some of them joined their high school/junior high chapters of SDS/WU. Some of them helped levitate the Pentagon. Some of them became Disco Stu. Some of them were in the early punk rock bands. Some of them snow their kids with tales of being at Woodstock, even if they’d have only been 12 at the time.

    Then there’s your group. Some of you remember Dealey Plaza. Most of you remember Apollo 11. You didn’t have a chance to see the Beatles in concert. There weren’t as many kids in the schools built for your older brothers and sisters.

    And then ’65 rolled around and birth rates dipped below pre-WWII levels. That’s when I was born. I got to watch the reruns of the shows that you watched in the first run, and I remember- though I’m rare in my generation- Apollo 11, Watergate and POW bracelets.

  124. 124.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @John – A Motley Moose: FWIW, skippy is a looooooong time Balloon Juice commenter. Even so, I hope he shows up with an apologetic non-apology about what he really meant and asks us to decide whether he stays or goes. That would be pure fucking gold.

  128. 128.

    Linda Featheringill

    @Maody:

    [#109]

    Yeah, Levenson is cool, isn’t he?

    Love the art. Still have your offering on my desktop. :-)

    I also am old. I am old enough that when people tell me I shouldn’t feel a certain way or that I shouldn’t think a certain way or that I should not expect as much from the people I interact with . . .

    I feel like telling them to go and study up on the sex lives of snails.

    [getting to know yourself is a very loooooong process, don’t screw up the progress you’ve made just to please somebody]

  130. 130.

    Citizen_X

    @JD Rhoades:

    If there’s one thing I despise more than anything else in the wreckage of our national discourse, it’s the abandonment of any actual criticism or debate in favor of some variation of “yew think yer purty smart, don’t yew?”

    A-fucking-men, Bubba. It’s what said to anyone who a) shows any sort of confidence in their argument, or b) betrays the slightest pride in their intellectual prowess. In other words, anyone human who comes up with a decent argument. It’s a way of saying “smug” for the perennially aggrieved and bitter; it’s a coward’s way of saying they’ve got jackshit for response.

    Here, from Our Sarah (sorry) is an excellent example. She defines “elitist” as “anyone who thinks they’re better than anyone else.” It’s so perfectly vague and mind-read-y that it can be applied to pretty much anyone you don’t like.

    But here’s my question: we expect businesspeople to be confident in their business acumen, we accept professional athletes that are confident in their athletic skills. Indeed, you probably cannot succeed at these endeavors without such confidence. Why, then, is it horrible elitism to have confidence in one’s intellectual abilities?

    In other words, goddam right we’re militantly superior. Even more so after we’ve had a few.

  131. 131.

    Andy K

    @Linda Featheringill:

    skippy’s just swell. He comments all over the prog-o-sphere, and if he disagrees or chastises, he always does so in the nicest way. I respect the hell out of him.

    I think that your comparison between the wronged girlfriend and the ED kerfuffle is off, in that ED’s detractors don’t giggle about him behind his back. They tend to do a full-on Nelson Muntz right in his face.

  134. 134.

    eemom

    @licensed to kill time:

    thank you, thank you! I’ve been trying to come up with exactly the right pithy diss for that stink-bug-stupid troll, and you have done it for me.

    @MoeLarryAndJesus:

    I even remember the stupid little song: “Skippy, skippy, skippy the bush kangarooooo…..” It was on teevee Friday afternoons as I recollect.

    1962. Also too. And I agree with Redshift — I’ve never bought the “boomer” thing either. Our generation has zero in common with those born post-WII.

  135. 135.

    Linda Featheringill

    @Andy K:

    I think that your comparison between the wronged girlfriend and the ED kerfuffle is off, in that ED’s detractors don’t giggle about him behind his back. They tend to do a full-on Nelson Muntz right in his face

    I did not mean that ED was the girl.

  137. 137.

    Anne Laurie

    @pragmatism:

    first they came for the sensitive glibertarians, and i didn’t speak up because it was funny to me.
    __
    then they came for the firebaggers, and i didn’t speak up because i do not want to be associated with grover norquist. ever.
    __
    then they came for the pumas but i didn’t speak up because its a waste of time to re-litigate that issue.
    __
    then they came for the pet pictures and you’re dog damned right i spoke up. without tunch and co., there is no point.

    WIN!

  138. 138.

    Josie

    @Andy K: I think Linda meant that E.D.’s post on the other blog about Balloon Juice was like the boyfriend talking behind the girl’s back. But I could be wrong.

    Edit: Oops , she was too quick for me.

  139. 139.

    El Tiburon

    however, balloon juice sees fdl as childish anarchists w/nothing to contribute to the national discourse. that attitude on bj’s part is not only extreme and unproductive, but condescending

    .
    See? I told all of you poopy faces to grow up.

  140. 140.

    Calming Influence

    I loved reading skippy until 3:37 pm today, when he said something negative about Balloon Juice (even though he did mention that he liked reading my comments).

    Now I see him only as a flea-bitten hat-wearing over-sized Australian rodent with stupidly big ears.

    (Helpful note to skippy: if you have to cut holes in your hat to accommodate your ears, you should just put a bag over your head.)

  142. 142.

    skippy

    thx for the front page link, john. i’m also proud to have contributed a phrase to the rotating banner.

    many of you may know i am a semi-regular poster here and i read bj daily. i read fdl not as often (mostly david dayen’s stuff), and the great orange satan not at all (kos and i have a history, not pleasant, which led to the annual blogroll amnesty day).

    i am taken aback by what i see in lefty blogtopia (and yes, i coined that phrase) to be a decent over the years from civility into school yard bickering.

    tho of course balloon juice is not alone in this. to be frank, i’ve stopped spending my online time on political blogs so much, and am now reading a lot of webcomics, which seems to be just as entertaining and slightly more productive.

    i only mentioned the recent ed kain vs. the world fracas because i noticed the timing (2 days after) w/the peter daou suing huffington ordeal, both being a mere couple of weeks after the election.

    is there a connection? is the left turning on itself because of defeatist feelings after a media-hoopla’d “trouncing” at the polls? or is it just natural sniping into a churning equilibrium, a pendulum swinging back and we’re all complaining about it by yelling at each other?

    i don’t know. to each their own, and we all must travel our own roads. i will continue to read bj and others on a daily basis. i personally find dougj’s writing to be superior to ed kain’s, but i don’t vote ed off. i just don’t read his posts.

    (i will point out that it was ed himself who put himself up for a vote off the island. imo he brought this whole magilla on his own head.)

    finally, i will remind eemom @ 36 that the “we” i use is the editorial “we” and not royal.

    so fuck that shit.

  143. 143.

    xian

    @JAHILL10 you nailed it for me. This community educates each other, and ideas evolve here. That’s rare. I also think it helped pass healthcare.

    I was born in ’64, cusp of the baby bust, and was at first called too old for Gen X but they moved the goalposts at some point.

    Came here via The Poorman and really miss The Editors there.

  144. 144.

    xian

    @JAHILL10 you nailed it for me. This community educates each other, and ideas evolve here. That’s rare. I also think it helped pass healthcare.

    I was born in ’64, cusp of the baby bust, and was at first called too old for Gen X but they moved the goalposts at some point.

    Came here via The Poorman and really miss The Editors there.

  147. 147.

    TooManyJens

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    FWIW, skippy is a looooooong time Balloon Juice commenter.

    And yet he still thinks this place is centrist, which strikes me as weird. Maybe it’s because I’ve only been around for 2-3 years, but I don’t think of this place as centrist at all. Not with the way people like David Broder and Joe Lieberman and the twin presidents from Maine are held in such contempt. It’s militantly pragmatic, is what it is, but it’s pragmatic in the service of leftish goals.

  150. 150.

    skippy

    @TooManyJens: i am not using the cw definition of centrist. in reality there is no way joe liberman and david broder, warmongers both, are centrist. the overton window has moved, and i know, i’ve performed w/rick overton many times!

  152. 152.

    And Another Thing...

    @skippy: Shorter Skippy: Oooooh, you guys are so mean and lefties are sooooo mean, and I’d really rather be reading comics. But I will deign to drop by occasionally and offer some DEEP insight into post-election politics.

    don’t.effing.bother

  153. 153.

    TooManyJens

    @skippy: I wish I could agree that warmongers aren’t centrist, but in this country? I don’t know. There are a hell of a lot of people in this country who think America is great not because of its ideals, but because we can kick anybody else’s ass.

    Still, I don’t think this blog is actually more centrist in ideology than a place like FDL. Like Stuck said, the shitfits between the two have all been over process — whether getting incremental progress is worthwhile, or whether you should reject the incremental progress because it’s not enough all at once.

  154. 154.

    FreeAtLast

    The only way I see a regular BJ reader describing BJ as centrist is if he is averaging over time, starting the day BJ was launched.

    Speaking of time and averages, I belong to the Baby Boomer Vanguard – 1947. Do I win this thread?

  155. 155.

    TooManyJens

    @FreeAtLast:

    The only way I see a regular BJ reader describing BJ as centrist is if he is averaging over time, starting the day BJ was launched.

    Heh. It is centrist in a larger sense, because U.S. politics is skewed way to the right relative to most of the developed world. But certainly in the context in which it actually exists, it’s to the left.

    (No, I’m not saying this is a center-right nation, but our politics and government are center-right and represent most of us rather badly.)

  156. 156.

    And Another Thing...

    @FreeAtLast: Both of my parents were in the Navy. They were mustered out in Dec ’45 and I was born in Sept ’46. The War is over now let’s get on with living!

  158. 158.

    eemom

    finally, i will remind eemom @ 36 that the “we” i use is the editorial “we” and not royal.

    no less pompous ass-ish, though.

    That’s a skinny skin ya got there, skippy.

  161. 161.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Redshift:

    Same here, 1959, four days before the end of the year and four days from having to register for Selective Service…lol! I’m not a boomer or a GenX’er, just somewhere stuck in the nether between them.

    OT: For those who like playing Left4Dead, I think they need a new Boomer in the next version. Have it cruising around in a Hoveround that has an oxygen tank strapped to the back of it. Make it so it barfs on you, then runs you over, stops on top of you and detonates. To take it out you have to hit the oxygen tank from a safe distance.

    Zombie Boomers in exploding Hoverounds? Let me at ’em!

  162. 162.

    Mike Kay (Hippie Hunter)

    @skippy:

    peter daou suing huffington ordeal

    hahahahahhahahahhahhah

    that’s funny. I didn’t know that.

    Poor Peter, he’s suffering from a major case of PTSD from the 2008 primary. He’s turned into a hybrid of Captain Queeq and Christopher Walken’s character from “The Deer Hunter’.

  163. 163.

    Christin

    Sometimes when I read balloon-j I suddenly have to pee. I’m all like what? So then I go pee. Then I come back and forget what i was reading or wanted to say.

  164. 164.

    parsimon

    @JAHILL10:

    I LURVE it when some one demands links to back up another poster’s assertions or in the absence thereof tells them to STFU

    That actually happens at other blogs as well. Making Light, Crooked Timber, unfogged, Obsidian Wings, and many others.

    Of course those blogs are also accused at times of having a superior attitude, or of being insufferable.

  170. 170.

    Midnight Marauder

    @skippy:

    @TooManyJens: i am not using the cw definition of centrist.

    Right. You are just using a definition of “centrist” that in no way reflects reality.

    in reality there is no way joe liberman and david broder, warmongers both, are centrist.

    Sure, we know that. But the rest of the country believes them to be “centrists.” So, we acknowledge them accordingly and deconstruct their comments in such manner.

    It’s really not that hard to admit you were entirely off base in your analysis.

    Really.

    +9

  172. 172.

    Porlock Junior

    Ahem. I really don’t believe I’m the only one around here who’s too old to be a Boomer. (2 months after Pearl Harbor, for the record.) Where are all the others? Must have gone to bed early. So I’ll have to stand in for all the outliers.

    And that’s one reason we Juicers are so militantly superior: the large ratio of outliers to outright liars.

    War Babies, by the way: We do have a name, but nobody knows it because the Boomers overshadow all else.

    Natheless, it’s annoying to see all the rants in blogs — not so much in this one — against the nasty greedy Boomers. You kids are all right, for my money.

    Speaking of outliers, why are there no contenders for youngest one here? I’d be really curious to know who’d get that prize.

  173. 173.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    @skippy:

    You’re mostly new to me, skippy, and you’re still a champion of the new hip illiteracy as far as I can tell. Keep carving out that legacy if you must.

  174. 174.

    matoko_chan

    @skippy: nah. its the Iron Law of Genetic Tendency. Half the population is smart enough to argue among themselves (liberals) and the other half of the population(conservatives) has to be told what to do by stealth elites that farm their votes by race-baiting, IQ-baiting, and exploiting populist ressentiment.
    Its genetic tendency, and Salam-Douthat stratification on cognitive ability.
    We aren’t eating our own….we are simply far enough up the bell curve to have the substrate to argue with each other.

  175. 175.

    shortstop

    @skippy:

    lefty blogtopia (and yes, i coined that phrase)

    Is this self-deprecating humor, or do you think this phrase displays such stunning cleverness that you need to keep claiming authorship? Perhaps there is an internet tradition here of which I remain unaware.

    @TooManyJens:

    It’s militantly pragmatic, is what it is, but it’s pragmatic in the service of leftish goals.

    Nicely put.

  176. 176.

    asiangrrlMN

    @TooManyJens: I agree with you. I find that the ideology of most commenters here is more or less in the same ballpark–it’s how to reach the end goals that is constantly being bickered over (and yes, it gets tiring after awhile). The thing is, even with the in-fight threads, there is usually well-written commentary from many different points of view. Yes, there is snark and sarcasm and such, but it’s pretty even-handed (and usually very funny). Commenters here call bullshit on EVERYONE–even the front-pagers. I appreciate that.

    I hate all the lazy shit that is being tossed around these days on both sites. I hate lazy thinking in general. I find people who are purely-ideological to be lazy thinkers in general because they don’t want to have to do the hard work of actually governing.

    P.S. The animals, too. Can’t get enough of them.

Comments are closed.