Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

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

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

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

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

Come on, man.

The words do not have to be perfect.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Democrats are back in array!

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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Reader Interactions

93Comments

  1. 1.

    kerFuFFler

    Loughner’s incoherent political thoughts may not fall tidily into either extreme right or extreme left categories. The fact remains that the right wing has been promoting the idea that political differences should be resolved through violence rather than discourse and the democratic process. So yes, I hold them partly responsible for this tragedy.

  3. 3.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    I am puzzled by the matoko_chan hostility. Does no one find, as I do, that she serves nicely as a holy-fool/Loki figure in the comments?

    Or is she the sacrificial clown that everyone agrees to beat up on thus cementing bonds within the group?

  4. 4.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @kerFuFFler:

    The fact remains that the right wing has been promoting the idea that political differences should be resolved through violence rather than discourse and the democratic process.

    Yes, this. I don’t understand why they are running from this. They should own it. They don’t have to share the political views of the shooter to be able to say, “Yes, this is what we’ve been agitating for..”

  7. 7.

    Joseph Nobles

    @kerFuFFler: I wouldn’t say they are promoting the idea that political differences [em]should[/em] be settled through violence. But several are keeping the option on the table (Angle’s “Second Amendment” talk), and a shocking amount are happy to validate and capitalize those impulses to gain more political power.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    There was a time when matoko_chan’s posts had a kind of quirky charm. But that soon became full-blown batshit wacky. Now I find her merely tiresome, and try to scroll past without letting too much cow drool get on me.

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    random football thought.

    if the Bears win and the Packers beat the Falcons, then it’s entirely possible that the NFC championship could be Bears vs. Packers.

  11. 11.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    @freelancer (itouch):

    And you channel her style better than none other, as I recall.

    All the same, I think she provides a nice tonal counterpoint to the orderly, paragraphic and logocentric style most use on this site and in the kind of political discourse most of us consume.

  12. 12.

    HRA

    I only know I am getting a headache from the stupid out there defending Palin’s idiocy.
    Back to work.

  13. 13.

    joe from Lowell

    Me? I won my fantasy football league.

    You didn’t, did you? Of course you didn’t.

    This is because I am smart, while you…you scuttle around hunched over, pawing at your groin and putting unfamiliar things in your mouth, trying to communicate through a series of grunts and hand gestures.

    And that’s pretty much all there is to say about that.

  14. 14.

    jeff

    There have been some posts here lately that actually frightened me–not from that woman specifically, though. I think some of the language here is so far beyond what can be used with fellow human beings as to be diagnostic of madness or drug/alcohol induced insanity.

  15. 15.

    Mark S.

    @rikyrah:

    if the Bears win and the Packers beat the Falcons, then it’s entirely possible that the NFC championship could will be Bears vs. Packers.

  17. 17.

    sukabi

    here’s a rundown of the last week in wacko-land:

    Authorities discovered Ashley Turton, former chief of staff to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), dead in a burnt-out car Monday. Turton’s husband was Dan Turton, the White House liaison to the House of Representatives.

    She was employed as a lobbyist for Progress Energy at the time of her death.
    …..
    The death of Turton and mass attacks on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 18 others in Arizona came soon after incendiary devices were discovered in DC and Maryland postal facilities last week.

    On Thursday, packages addressed to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and his secretary of transportation flashed, smoked and caused minor injuries.

    A similar incendiary device addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ignited in a DC postal facility Friday.

    Another little-noticed killing of a former government official may also be getting more attention now. In late December, 51-year-old Christopher Smith was found dead of a gunshot wound inside of a vehicle in Phoenix.

  18. 18.

    Politically Lost

    Just got an email forwarded by a Glibertarian workmate/friend. It was the handing of the Gavel from Pelosi to Boehner (pronounced Bainer not boner) when Boehner became the speaker of the house.

    As she handed him the Gavel somebody photoshopped or added that Boehner then took the over-sized Gavel and smashed her in the head with it.

    I used to think that kind of thing was just juvenile stupidity.

    Now, not so much.

  23. 23.

    kerFuFFler

    The@Joseph Nobles:
    The conservative rabble are promoting violence as a way of getting rid of people who disagree with them, or candidates that they don’t approve of. Conservative leaders are being a little more coy, winking at this rabble while talking about second amendment remedies, secession and tyranny.

  24. 24.

    Joseph Nobles

    Also, Glenn Beck told Sarah Palin to be very careful because an assassination attempt on her could bring the Republic down. Injecting Palin as a victim both now and potentially into the Giffords massacre is officially one of the scummiest things Beck has ever done.

  25. 25.

    Ash Can

    @Just Some Fuckhead: They’re running from it because they’ve been caught. “Hey, it’s not our fault that someone did what we’ve been saying they should do.” They’re used to not having to face any adverse consequences of their actions. Now that something has burned to the ground and they’re left standing nearby holding their precious and well-used box of matches — and people are pointing out that they are, in fact, holding those matches — they’re in full-out denial.

  26. 26.

    rb

    @jeff:

    I think some of the language here is so far beyond what can be used with fellow human beings as to be diagnostic of madness or drug/alcohol induced insanity.

    Geez, don’t hurt your back swinging that hyperbole around. There are other, safer blogs, you know.

  28. 28.

    rickstersherpa

    Since this is an open thread, I wanted to briefly go back to the topic that was dominating the Netroots again before the tragic events of Saturday, addition of Daley and Sperling to Obama’s team. But no, I don’t thing there is anything unfair Sarah Paling getting beat up about all her irresponsible “target,” “reload,” and “death panel” remarks coming back to haunt for an event that she is not responsible for. Rather I think it is Karma.

    I do want post Dean Baker’s explanation for the real problems that Gene Sperling and Bill Daley present, and it is not because they worked for banks.

    The Progressive Case Against Obama’s New Team
    Dean Baker
    Truthout.org, January 10, 2011

    See article on original website

    Most reports on the selection of William Daley as President Obama’s new chief of staff and Gene Sperling as the head of his National Economic Council included a few lines of criticism from progressives who were unhappy with these picks. Since there was not much space for the argument, these lines probably left many readers wondering why progressives don’t like William Daley and Gene Sperling.

    To remove this sense of wonder, I will spell out the progressive case against the new team. (I get to do it because this is my column.)

    Both Daley and Sperling were major actors in the Clinton Administration. At the center of the Clinton Administration’s economic policy was the idea that reducing the budget deficit was the key to boosting the economy. He held the view that if the deficit fell then the private sector could be counted on to provide the demand to fill the gap created by less demand from the public sector.

    While the private sector did fill the gap in the late 90s, it did so from growth that was driven by a stock bubble. The stock bubble primarily fueled consumption, which hit a record high as a share of GDP. It also led to somewhat higher investment; although much of this was in hare-brained Internet start-ups of little or no value.

    The stock bubble burst over the years 2000-2002. The resulting recession featured what was at the time the longest period without job growth in the post-World War II era.

    Three other features of Clinton-era policy made the recovery from this recession more difficult. First, Robert Rubin’s high dollar policy led to a massive trade deficit. An over-valued dollar provides a huge subsidy to imports and effectively imposes a tariff on exports.

    Banks like Citigroup (where Rubin took a top post after leaving the Clinton Administration) may like a high dollar because it makes them more powerful in an international context; however it is about the worst imaginable policy from the standpoint of manufacturing workers. The high dollar is the main factor behind the loss of 6 million manufacturing jobs over the last 13 years. The basic story is simple: It is very hard to compete when your currency gives your competitors a 30 percent cost advantage.

    A second part of the story were the NAFTA-type trade deals that further depressed the wages of manufacturing workers by deliberately placing them in direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world. The predicted and actual result of placing manufacturing workers in competition, while leaving highly paid professionals like doctors and lawyers largely protected, is an upward redistribution of income.

    This is bad to those who want to see the gains from growth broadly shared and also from the standpoint of sustaining high levels of demand. These trade deals transfer money from those most likely to spend it to people higher up the income ladder who are likely to save a larger share of their income.

    The Clinton economic agenda was also about setting Wall Street loose, even as the huge banks maintained their “too big to fail” training wheels. This meant that they could take enormous risks with creditors knowing that the government will come to the rescue if necessary.

    It was this growth path that laid the seeds for the economic wreckage that engulfed the country when the housing bubble finally burst in 2007. To be sure, the Bush Administration left these policies in place and ignored all the warning signs, even as the dangers grew ever larger. For this it deserves at least an equal share of the blame. But, there is little reason to believe the Clintonites would have changed course before disaster hit had they been at the helm.

    This is the small matter that leads progressives to be unhappy with the renewed dominance of the Clinton economic team. If progressives had devised policies that caused 25 million people to be unemployed or underemployed, cost the economy $4 trillion in lost output, and caused millions of people to lose their homes, they, and their children, and their grandchildren would be exiled from policy circles for the next century. However for the Clinton crew, it’s just a matter of putting on a “pro-growth” hat and going back to work.

    This is not just a matter of demanding atonement for past errors of calamitous proportions. There is the concrete issue of how the Obama Administration is going to address the problem of near double-digit unemployment.

    Working with a Republican Congress is not going to make things easy, but Obama could take the position that he has the job plan to put people back to work and the Republican Congress is trying to block him. Or, he could take the position that times are tough and we (meaning not people like the policymakers) will just have to tough it out.

    Unfortunately, the new Obama team seems likely to follow the second route. This will mean that tens of millions of people across the country will experience economic hardship because the people designing economic policy can’t shoot straight. But hey, why should this get anyone upset?

    ——————————————————————————–
    Dean Baker is the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy. He also has a blog, “Beat the Press,” where he discusses the media’s coverage of economic issues. ”

    rickstersherpa again: My biggest worry about Sperling and Daley, along with Tim Geithner is that they will once again try to implement a “strong dollar policy,” and that they won’t try to reduce the trade weighted value of the dollar by at least another 20%, and probably 30% against the Yuan/reminbi.

    See also: http://seekingalpha.com/article/245662-gene-sperling-doesn-t-seem-to-understand-trade

  29. 29.

    Joseph Nobles

    @kerFuFFler: It was the word “should” that I disagree with you on. If I had coded the italics command correctly, perhaps that would have been more clear.

  33. 33.

    beltane

    With regards to the Tuscon shooter and mental illness vs. politics, I just want to say that it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation. Years ago, I worked at the pro se section at the federal court in Manhattan, where the majority of plaintiffs were clearly paranoid, mentally ill individuals (one of our “clients” was the LI Railroad shooter). It was very apparent that almost all of the white paranoid schizophrenics were drawn to right-wing political theories and conspiracies. One of our favorites, a man who was barred entry to the building because he threatened some of the judges, actually became a Steve Forbes delegate to the RNC in 1992. Anthony Martin used to be thought mentally ill, but is now a fixture on Fox News and elsewhere on the right-wing media circuit.

    I don’t know if there is something that attracts paranoid people to conservatism or if the right-wing deliberately cultivates this, but there is an observable connection. Whatever the answer, it is a terrifying phenomenon.

  34. 34.

    joe from Lowell

    @Joseph Nobles:

    I wouldn’t say they are promoting the idea that political differences [em]should[/em] be settled through violence. But several are keeping the option on the table (Angle’s “Second Amendment” talk), and a shocking amount are happy to validate and capitalize those impulses to gain more political power.

    What they are doing is characterizing their opponents as the sort of people who deserve to have violence committed against them, who are doing things that are bad enough to make violence an appropriate response.

    They are doing this for peaceful, democratic, political reasons – to get people to the polls, and to get a leg up in the message wars over policy disputes – and most people are happy to take them that way, but it’s a reckless game.

  35. 35.

    MikeJ

    I just can’t wait for tonight’s Daily Show where Jon Stewart will tell us how mean people are more politicizing assassination.

  36. 36.

    Mark S.

    I hate violence. I hate war.

    Funny, I’ve never heard Sarah make any criticism of any war, or offer any suggestions that would foster peace. She mostly just fetishizes the troops.

    Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence.

    This coming from the c#nt who came up with “death panels.” Eat a bag of dicks, Sarah.

  37. 37.

    Matt

    I just got an e-mail from Blue America with the subject line “Not Too Late to Stop Rahm Emanuel.” Which was confusing to me because I live in Pennsylvania and what the fuck do I care about Rahm Emanuel running for mayor of Chicago? Christ, these people don’t know when to give it up.

    I still like Blue America, though.

  39. 39.

    kdaug

    @Mark S.: I’ll dig through it.

    I gotta say that I’ve never seen a 500+ post thread on this site before.

    And though impressive, if I wasn’t following it from the beginning, I look at that and think “Eh… no”.

    ~150 posts on a new thread is doable. ~200-250 if I’m really interested in the topic.

    500+ plus? That’s a bit much to commit to.

  42. 42.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt: Heh. I got the same one and almost commented on it. I assume it was a fund-raiser for a candidate of greater purity (didn’t bother to open it), but the fact that it was “Stop RAHM!” and not “Help Whomever” says a lot, and it’s not good.

  43. 43.

    Froley

    Dick Winters (WWII veteran who became well-known because of the Band of Brothers book and HBO miniseries) passed away last week. Seemed like a really good and humble man. Rest in Peace.

  45. 45.

    beltane

    @joe from Lowell:

    They are doing this for peaceful, democratic, political reasons – to get people to the polls

    I have to disagree with this. They are saying this to empower their supporters. They are saying that elections are meaningless technicalities that they will permit only so long as it serves their purposes. If an election does not go their way, they have the God-given right to murder all those who they disagree with (who are not RealAmericans,anyway).

    There is no 2nd Amendment remedy. They have the right to own guns, they do not have the right to to use those guns to make the laws they want.

  48. 48.

    Martin

    @beltane:

    They have the right to own guns, they do not have the right to to use those guns to make the laws they want.

    The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

    Jefferson said that. He was like Jesus. Why do you hate Jesus?

  51. 51.

    eric

    @kdaug: well, type the words: Greenwald, Obama and primary in the same sentence and get the abacus ready. It has happened.

  53. 53.

    Glyph_2112

    Don’t know if anyone mentioned this, but on Wednesday here in Chandler AZ we had a shootout at a mall. I have a bad feeling that this could lead more Arizonans to be packing weapons in day to day travels. Heck, a few years ago we had a shootout on the freeway because someone cut someone else off.

    The question I would ask is, if a bystander was armed at the Giffords event and started firing back, at what point does anyone know who the bad guy is. I mean a police officer comes on the scene and 2 people are shooting it out, does he just look for the black cowboy hat?

  54. 54.

    soonergrunt

    @SiubhanDuinne: Listen Cudlip, you either read the batshit, or you get the pie filter!

    It’s that simple. Either way, her posts won’t make any sense in relation to whatever topic is up, but at least they’ll be consistent and fun to read.

  57. 57.

    JCT

    @Martin: Apparently the call-ins to AZ morning rush hate radio shows were a real circus of name-calling, so I’m sure tons. I sent him an attaboy on their web site, figured they could use a break from the invective.

  61. 61.

    joe from Lowell

    @beltane:

    They are saying that elections are meaningless technicalities that they will permit only so long as it serves their purposes. If an election does not go their way, they have the God-given right to murder all those who they disagree with (who are not RealAmericans,anyway).

    They’re saying this, but do you think someone like Sarah Palin or Jan Brewer actually means it? Do you think there is anyone in the United States Congress who would support a coup?

    Or do you think it’s more likely that they’re using this language to whip up supporters to vote for them, donate their money, and otherwise be (legitimately) politically active, while also giving a shout-out to gun-owning “Real ‘Muricans?”

    It’s a cynical ploy, but they’re playing with fire.

  62. 62.

    Roger Moore

    @Martin:

    Jefferson said that. He was like Jesus.

    Yes, he is like Jesus in that he was writing a long time ago and doesn’t have our experience of all the things that have happened since.

    I know you’re being snarky, but I hate the fetishization of the Founding Fathers. Even if you assume they were all unmatched geniuses- which they certainly weren’t- they were trying something really new and previously untried. We now have 200+ years of practice putting their Constitution to use, plus evidence from dozens of other countries that have tried with varying success to make elected government work. We should treat that as extra experience that makes us more competent to understand the problems of today, not as a bunch of vandals wrecking the perfect structure they made.

  63. 63.

    soonergrunt

    @Mark S.:
    I have to take issue with you calling Sarah Palin a ‘cunt.’
    Really, dude, do we have to go there just because she is a woman?

    Don’t call Sarah Palin a cunt. Cunts don’t deserve that.

  64. 64.

    eemom

    @eric:

    I believe the longest thread I’ve ever seen, between 900-1000 comments, was the one where Greenwald showed up to call us all Obots when some folks did a little research that disclosed Mr. Transparency was a little less than transparent about his financial diddlings with Jane Hamsher and their Accountability (heh) Now PAC.

    (and now with any luck at all, THIS thread will erupt into a rerun flame war of that entire argument…..)

  67. 67.

    Martin

    @Glyph_2112: Shit, we have freeway traffic shootings every couple months or so here still. I think last August three people died in three separate traffic related shootings. It barely even warrants a notice on the news any more, and if Lindsay Lohan is getting out of rehab – forgetaboutit – you’ll never hear about it.

  68. 68.

    soonergrunt

    @eemom:

    (and now with any luck at all, THIS thread will erupt into a rerun flame war of that entire argument…..)

    Stirring the pot, are we?

  69. 69.

    beltane

    @joe from Lowell: I think people like Sarah Palin and Jan Brewer will support whatever it takes to gain more power (and money). If there was a coup, they would fully support it if it looked likely to succeed as would almost all Republicans in Congress. Studying fascist movements, it is striking how the opportunists and hangers-on always outnumber the true believers. I am far from confident that today’s Republicans wouldn’t carry on their wink-and-nod game even after events far more bloody than Saturday’s.

  70. 70.

    Roger Moore

    @Glyph_2112:

    I mean a police officer comes on the scene and 2 people are shooting it out, does he just look for the black cowboy hat?

    No, of course not. He just looks for the brown skin. Barring that, he just kills them all and lets God sort them out.

  71. 71.

    Amir_Khalid

    I was listening earlier to one of my favorite albums, by a member of the E Street Band — the woefully under-appreciated Rumble Doll by Patti Scialfa. Classic girl-group rock in sound and subject matter, but more adult.

    She’s a fine singer and an absolutely terrific songwriter, right up there with Bruce himself. (Much of Rumble Doll was written around the time of his first marriage, which makes it the second album on that topic after his own Tunnel of Love.) I also highly recommend her second album 23rd Street Lullaby. But I hate Sony Music Malaysia, who didn’t bother bringing in her third, Play It As It Lays.

  73. 73.

    Roger Moore

    @Martin:

    Shit, we have freeway traffic shootings every couple months or so here still.

    I liked Mike Royko’s explanation for that. He said that people tend to get shot where they spend the most time. People in Chicago get shot in bars, Angelinos get shot on freeways.

  74. 74.

    eemom

    @soonergrunt:

    actually, it was kind of a preemptive strike against the swarms of Glennzians that shall swoop in with great anger and furious vengeance if we taketh the name of the Righteous Man in vain. Or something.

  75. 75.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @joe from Lowell: And that’s the big thing: They were hoping to get all of the honey and not get anyone stung. (I just felt like throwing in another metaphor.) It’s not their fault the bees are angry.

  77. 77.

    Calouste

    @Roger Moore:

    __

    Yes, he is like Jesus in that he was writing a long time ago and doesn’t have our experience of all the things that have happened since.
    __
    I know you’re being snarky, but I hate the fetishization of the Founding Fathers. Even if you assume they were all unmatched geniuses- which they certainly weren’t- they were trying something really new and previously untried. We now have 200+ years of practice putting their Constitution to use, plus evidence from dozens of other countries that have tried with varying success to make elected government work. We should treat that as extra experience that makes us more competent to understand the problems of today, not as a bunch of vandals wrecking the perfect structure they made.

    Nah, Jefferson was one of the apostles. George Washington was Jesus. And the Constitution is the Bible. That pretty much how the American hagiography of the revolution works.

  78. 78.

    Ross Hershberger

    Anyone remember a Terry Gilliam film from 20 years ago, The Fisher King?
    Jeff Bridges is a shock jock who tells his listeners that yuppies are scum that should be wiped out. Then somebody does it and he goes off the rails.

    Apologies if anyone already mentioned this in the context of Arizona but I just this moment remembered a scene from it when I accidentally set my shirt sleeve on fire.

  79. 79.

    Glyph_2112

    I am thinking the Right’s solution will to have even less gun control. I mean if we just had access to an m-50 or rocket launcher, the guy would have thought twice, right?

  81. 81.

    Cris

    @jeff: I think some of the language here is so far beyond what can be used with fellow human beings as to be diagnostic of madness or drug/alcohol induced insanity.

    Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! Ia! Ia!

  82. 82.

    PurpleGirl

    @Politically Lost: Sorry but Boehner is pronounced boner. The “oe” sound in German is an “O” sound, it doesn’t become an “a”.

    ETA: He may not like it, his family may not like it, but thems the breaks. Cope with it. It’s boner.

  85. 85.

    PurpleGirl

    @Morbo: Daniel Hernandez had basic nursing training in high school. He’d make a damn fine ER nurse. He knew what to do, did it and stayed calm. Damn fine guy.

  86. 86.

    Sasha

    At the risk of sounding utterly cold-hearted and cynical, the Arizona tragedy is a potential godsend for the establishment GOP.

    If you were an anti-Palin Republican and wanted to completely push her out of credible consideration, can you think of a better way to marginalize her more effectively than this incident almost certainly will? (Especially since it will require virtually no effort on the part of the GOP.)

    I rather suspect that the RNC Chairman nominees would probably now have a different answer regarding Sarah Palin’s electability.

  87. 87.

    General Stuck

    @eemom:
    @soonergrunt:

    Fuck them.

    Double fuck em, it’s only the libtard blogs. Don’t mean nothin”, except better watch your grammar when mentioning the unmentionable ones. Use the wrong term, and that’s it.

    I got no more time for haters, wherever they be.

  88. 88.

    PurpleGirl

    @Glyph_2112: That’s why most cops don’t want people to carry guns and get involved in gun fights. They don’t/won’t/can’t then know who the perpetrator is when they get to the scene.

  89. 89.

    eemom

    @PurpleGirl:

    As I understand it the current version was shortened from the original Neinboener, which loosely translates to “limp dick,” or No Boner as discreetly modified by those of us sensitive to the niceties of proper political discourse.

  91. 91.

    General Stuck

    I’m getting ready to buy a laptop and close down home internet. The local library is a really comfy place that has wireless wifi, so as to limit or control my internet addiction, which is thankfully politics and not porn. Gonna also volunteer for however I can help my great senator Bingaman, who is from the small town I live in, I’m pretty sure. Gonna volunteer for OFA also too, for the coming election, and spend less time acting like a fool on blogs, for really no productive reason, other than to argue with other idiots like myself.

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