Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

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

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

This fight is for everything.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / David Brooks Giving A Seminar At The Aspen Institute / Hurt his eyes open

Hurt his eyes open

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Mitch Daniels says it’s all over now for the anti-labor bill in Indiana:

Gov. Mitch Daniels signaled this afternoon that Republicans should drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures.

If the Village says we’re losing, then we’re winning.

Update. Florida: another one bites the dust.

Reader Interactions

71Comments

  1. 1.

    Southern Beale

    Well, as I said downthread, Daniels is thinking of his presidential aspirations, not anything else. Someone like Walker who is a far-right ideologue with no presidential aspirations is going to hold on like a pit bull.

    Daniels is thinking of himself of course, but hey we’ll take it.

  3. 3.

    BGinCHI

    Until David Gregory tells us what Chris Christie thinks, we’re just going to have to withhold judgment on this matter.

  7. 7.

    singfoom

    Here’s to hoping that Walker continues his assault on working families. Let it drag out for weeks. Each day shows us how the Republicans care only about the wealthy and are willing to balance the budget on the backs of normal hardworking Americans.

    (Not that anyone here has done this)
    And for all those idiots who think teachers are overpaid and lazy, how about you work every night after work to grade and spend your summers coming up with a syllabus.

    Uggh, the tyranny of low expectations has become an Auto Dafe (sp?) of Economic Hairshirting. So many people on other boards seem to think since the private sector is fucking the rest of us, that the public sector should fuck public employees.

    Obviously a collection of ideas that leads to a bright new tomorrow of 1890. Maybe I should invest in poorhouses.

  8. 8.

    KG

    @Southern Beale: I’ll bet dollars to donuts that Walker has presidential aspirations… I tend to believe just about anyone who wins a race for governor (assuming eligibility, ahem, Arnold) has presidential aspirations (hell, I’ll bet those not eligible still have the aspirations and think if they do a good enough job, someone will propose a constitutional amendment for them). I’ll even bet that Walker thinks he could win because he thinks he is righteous and that the other righteous Americans would agree with him.

    Yes, I do believe that all politicians are that delusional.

  11. 11.

    Spaghetti Lee

    Man, it would hurt me to know that an honest-to-god crook cared more about the working class than I did. But then again, I’m not as shameless as Scott Walker. He said earlier if the Wis 14 don’t return, he’d have to start firing people. Yeah, that’ll help your image!

  12. 12.

    TooManyJens

    Mitch Daniels also thinks “the most powerful special interest in America today are the government unions. They’re the leading financial contributors. They have the biggest PACs.”

  13. 13.

    Zifnab

    I fully expect to see this bill resurrected the moment those Democrats step a foot into the Capital. And if not… it’s a long two years. The GOP can wait.

  16. 16.

    ppcli

    “Mitch Daniels says it’s all over now for the anti-labor bill in Indiana:”

    As I read the article, Daniels isn’t saying “it’s all over”, he’s saying “keep your powder dry”. Now isn’t the right time, but they’ll be waiting for some moment when the political winds are right.

    Jeez, it’s been over 65 years since the Taft-Hartley act. A long time for people to bide their time to deliver the coup de grace. The John Birch right is nothing if not patient.

    Prepare for five years of saturation coverage union bashing on Fox News, Rush, GOP talking points, Koch-supported think-tank reports, etc. It’s like trying to resist the borg.

  17. 17.

    Dennis SGMM

    @KG:
    It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that every eligible Republican governor has presidential aspirations. All you have to do is get elected governor and then out-asshole all of the other assholes.

  18. 18.

    Bulworth

    @MikeJ: Obama’s union brotherhood Code Pink thugs are trying take over the state and ram their health care reform down our throats and why don’t teachers work for free if they love our kids so much except cops and firefighters who voted for me can still collectively bargain because they’re real muricans.

  21. 21.

    Morbo

    Michigan’s new Republican governor: so far not dumb enough to promote right to work. (Although he has sent mixed messages, and the lege might go for it)

  23. 23.

    Ash Can

    Mitch Daniels says it’s all over now for the anti-labor bill in Indiana

    Uh-oh. There goes all that lovely Koch money for his campaign war chest.

  25. 25.

    martha

    MikeJ and Bella: I will be in the middle of a yoga class, so I will, unfortunately, be missing it. But I will be hoping against all hope that Walker will continue to be Walker and not budge one tiny inch…I hope he isolates himself further and steps further out on that ledge.

    Yes, I know my state. He can demonize the unions, but when you can’t even tell Morning Joe that you’re asking everyone to sacrifice (heck, he didn’t even make something up), you’re screwed with the great fair middle that exists in the midwest.

  30. 30.

    Another Commenter at Balloon Juice (fka Bella Q)

    @TheMightyTrowel: I knew I was gonna get “pinked,” but no, just store branded mediterranean sea salt, to go with the store branded unsalted butter, ’cause I’m a public sector bargain shopper.

  31. 31.

    El Cid

    When tough guy right wingers go after their loudly proclaimed liberal-destroying policies, and they get beat, it is not good for the martial-value fetishists on the right.

    They don’t mind politicians being right wing freaks and nearly or entirely fascist; but they do object to those who get beaten and have to walk back publicly.

  32. 32.

    freelancer

    @Dennis SGMM:

    You got my hopes up, I thought you were hinting at new production starting up, and broadcast of new episodes…

    “When you can’t run, you crawl. And when you can’t crawl, when you can’t do that, you find someone to carry you.”

  33. 33.

    beltane

    Although Markos Moulitsas claims that street protests are ineffective, the fact remains that there is nothing as terrifying to the powerful as the sound of an angry mob outside their window. The sane bullies fold in the face of popular discontent, the insane bullies dig in until their careers are folded for them.

  36. 36.

    Dennis SGMM

    @freelancer:
    Yeah. Maybe the return will build some momentum for new production. Fingers crossed.

    Quick question: we had “Beverley Hills Cop” I through III, “Rush Hour 4” is in pre-production. Why only one “Serenity”?

  37. 37.

    Face

    that Republicans should drop

    “should” =! will or must or promises to

    All posturing. Watch what happens the minute these guys on the lam cross back into Terre Haute or Gary. Badda bing! the shit’s back on the table. Passed in minutes, likely.

  38. 38.

    Elia

    @Wannabe Speechwriter: Wow. I’ve been exposed to a fair amount of pro-Rhee stuff, so thanks for this. I always thought she had the air of a politician, but I’ve got to admit my disappointment that she seems so thoroughly full-of-it.

    @Mattminus, I think she gets a little too angry, but at the same time I think Stewart’s done more than enough to bring this kind of criticism on himself. For the past 4 years or so he’s more than once tip-toed over the Just A Comedian line; and every time someone starts holding him to the standards of a pundit, he uses the I’m Just A Comedian card. The “debate” with O’Reilly was the last straw for me. I used to be an enormous fan, but — and I never thought I’d say this — I’m really fucking sick of him. He’s fast-becoming what he used to lampoon.

  40. 40.

    Elia

    @beltane: He does? I thought everyone understood that there’s still no better way to get what you want than throwing a tantrum with as many people as possible…I mean, how could anyone think otherwise after the Tea Party Summer of 2009?

  41. 41.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    @beltane:

    Markos Moulitsas claims that street protests are ineffective

    No, no, he’s right.

    BUT. Street Protests + Sit-ins + Savvy media work + a strong central message + broad participation can be highly successful. And that’s what’s happening in WI.

  42. 42.

    MikeJ

    @Dennis SGMM:

    Quick question: we had “Beverley Hills Cop” I through III, “Rush Hour 4” is in pre-production. Why only one “Serenity”?

    Beverly Hills Cop had a budget of $15M and grossed over $300M. BHC 2 cost $20M and still grossed $300M.

    Rush Hour cost $33M and grossed $255M.

    Serenity had a budget of $39M and grossed $25M domestically + $13M overseas.

  44. 44.

    Poopyman

    @Mattminus: My thought precisely. Stop trying to hang more meaning on what he does on the Comedy Channel, fer Pete’s sake.

    ETA: Don’t look at the next post!

  45. 45.

    Guster

    @beltane: I was thinking about that. I tend to be leery of street protests, too, but it seems what you need is

    a) street protests sufficiently threatening so
    b) the army/cops start killing people, until
    c) the army/cops to refuse to kill any more people.

  47. 47.

    Lolis

    @beltane:

    I think what happened in Madison went way beyond a regular street protest. Thousands camped out and never left and it just kept getting bigger. That is much different than an isolated march against war, for example. Factor in, the immediacy of the issue and Madison goes way beyond the normal street protest. They have certainly inspired a nation too.

  51. 51.

    beltane

    @Lolis: But it involved actual protest. I don’t consider the classic anti-war “protest” with the paper mache puppets and the free-speech zones to be protest as much as street theater. A real protest involves resisting authority in some way. Protests should be about conflict and action. During the heath care town halls, if every teabagger had been outnumbered 10:1 things might have gone differently.

  52. 52.

    MikeJ

    @gnomedad: In comments to blog posts at
    Crooked timber:

    __
    I was originally appalled to find the movie Serenity in the also-rans, but upon reflection it appeared pretty obvious why this movie would appeal to the conservative mind set. The notion of a rural, culturally oppressed minority on the losing side of a civil war goes straight to the roots of the modern conservative victim-hood. An all-powerful government engaging in disastrous experiments with human minds and society is another conservative bogeyman. My appreciation of the movie and the original Firefly series is, nonetheless, enriched.

    Big Hollywood:

    I’d like to put in a word for Serenity — one of the most libertarian movies I’ve ever seen, plus it’s got some great quotes.
    __
    About the government: “People don’t like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don’t run, don’t walk. We’re in their homes and in their heads and we haven’t the right. We’re meddlesome.”
    __
    Damn straight.

  57. 57.

    RalfW

    I’m please to say that Governor Dayton of Minnesota has made himself clear — by attending and speaking at today’s Solidarity with Wisconsin rally.

    He made it clear to about 1,000 ralliers that he would veto any legislation that looked even a bit like Walker’s. So there’s one in the “safe for the moment” column.

  58. 58.

    dollared

    I do want to say “Thanks and don’t let up” to all the BJ team, front page, commenters and lurkers, for your attention to the Wisconsin thing. It’s not over, but it has been a helluva wakeup call and the people woke up. As a native Cheesehead who can has to walk past the kooks at Joe McCarthy’s grave (always fresh flowers!) to reach my dad’s and grandparents’ gravestones, I can tell you that this war goes back to 1900 at least, and this has been one helluva moment in the war.

    Forward…….

  59. 59.

    dollared

    @KG: Of course he has presidential aspirations. That’s why he dropped out of college and his father in law set him up in business – so he could be a rags-to-riches self made man story….

  61. 61.

    El Cid

    @beltane:

    I don’t consider the classic anti-war “protest” with the paper mache puppets and the free-speech zones to be protest as much as street theater.

    I must be ancient if I remember when I first saw that giant paper mache puppets were being used at a protest / march. It was bizarre to me, and I guess the use of “classic” is there as so many people knew that as the protest norm.

    I was going to write a long anecdotes about some younger people I knew who I met with at a large protest and they were making a giant puppet of, apparently, an Indian as might be seen on Bugs Bunny (Indian Joe), and I couldn’t tell what in the hell it was supposed to symbolize nor whether it might be really tacky looking to any actual Native American person passing by, and he couldn’t really explain the exact purpose of it except that it was now the thing people would do, and the younger people (high school and very early college) really got excited and creative and into it.

    And then I did a quick Google search on protests and paper mache puppets, and, lo and behold, there are tons of articles and scholarly / intellectual reflections on the topic. The more literal symbols (i.e., parodies of politicians, generic fat cat rich, so on) do what they normally do, and the very abstract ones really do seem to be about creativity and are largely focused on bringing the groups doing them together and letting out creativity.

    I have always felt perplexed and still am kind of dismissive of puppet theater as a protest fixture, but, hell, the ones I’d been to before then had gotten pretty stale and uninspired too, and I too thought we needed to do something way different (I had my ideas) because that stuff wasn’t working.

  62. 62.

    AxelFoley

    @Dennis SGMM:

    Quick question: we had “Beverley Hills Cop” I through III, “Rush Hour 4” is in pre-production. Why only one “Serenity”?

    Um, what’s wrong with Beverly Hills Cop? Hmm, hmm, hmm?

  63. 63.

    Brian S

    Don’t get excited about Rick Scott’s statement. He said that, but in the meantime he’s trying to get the UFF, which is the university faculty union, decertified. And Florida is already pretty much a right to get fired for no cause state as it is, so there’s no reason for Scott to act other than he did.

  64. 64.

    Corner Stone

    @MikeJ:

    Beverly Hills Cop had a budget of $15M and grossed over $300M. BHC 2 cost $20M and still grossed $300M.
    __
    Rush Hour cost $33M and grossed $255M.
    __
    Serenity had a budget of $39M and grossed $25M domestically + $13M overseas.

    So what you’re saying is they should have had either Eddie Murphy or Chris Tucker be the deadly government assassin dude.

  66. 66.

    gbear

    @MikeJ:

    Only an hour until Walker shits on the phrase “fireside chat.” Wonder what he’ll say.

    I hope he had to say. ‘Hey, my fucking pants are on fire!”

  67. 67.

    Third Eye Open

    @Brian S: Do you have any articles about this, I would love to rabble-rouse some of the more staid associate profs up here in Tally.

    BTW: the link to your WP-page is messed-up, Brian.

  68. 68.

    dollared

    @Omnes Omnibus: You betcha! And Appleton isn’t a union town, but it is decent and German. And we think everybody on our street works pretty hard, and we think our teachers do their best. And 90% of us really, really don’t like people who grandstand and kick sand on people. I’m sure Walker carried Appleton, and he’s now earned a solid majority for recall. Please, let him drag this out a few more days before he buckles. It will guarantee him a recall.

    Oh yean, one more thing: Greta Van Susteren’s dad was a drunk.

  69. 69.

    Death Panel Truck

    Hurt His Eyes Open

    That’s no lie
    Tables turn and now his turn to cry
    Because he used to love that bill
    But it’s all over now

  70. 70.

    Michael Roberts

    Mitch is already getting pretty unpopular here – last year (two years ago?) one of the Indy news stations followed up on his loud claims that he’d created jobs. Turns out he was claiming new jobs from plants that never even got built – every time he got some big corporation to say they were considering adding five jobs (say) he’d count that in his total as a done deal.

    Even my dad – who is as Republican as the day is long – has nothing good to say about Mitch. Personally, I loathed him right from the get-go, but I’m a long-haired liberal, so what do I know?

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