• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

We still have time to mess this up!

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

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

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

… gradually, and then suddenly.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / If Halperin and Politico say you’re losing, you’re winning

If Halperin and Politico say you’re losing, you’re winning

by DougJ|  February 23, 201110:07 pm| 137 Comments

This post is in: DC Press Corpse, Our Failed Media Experiment, The Dirty F-ing Hippies Were Right

FacebookTweetEmail

I’ve heard comparisons between Scott Walker’s union-busting and W’s efforts to privatize Social Security. I don’t think it’s such a perfect analogy, since Bush never went all in on Social Security privatization the way Walker has with union-busting. Also too, the Village never got behind Bush’s plans, partly because they were pitched as a way to increase retirees’ benefits (through the magic of the stock market) rather than a way to cut them.

The right comparison is the Terri Schiavo debacle. Here’s Mark Halperin in March 2005:

Despite some public opposition to Congress’s action (see below) the Republican leadership seems to have succeeded in framing the discourse around a moral question: if Congress can do something to prevent a woman’s death, shouldn’t it?

[…..]

Once again, clearing away the personal part, the Republicans are on the offensive and the Democrats are on the defensive. That’s a Notable fact.

Here’s Ben Smith a few days ago:

Hostility to public-sector workers, including teachers, is at an all-time high amid a recession and a new national mania for curbing the tide of fiscal red ink. Walker appears to have a firm legislative majority on his side.

Here are some polls (amazingly, this first one is quoted in the same article where Halperin talks about how great the issues is for Republicans):

“The public, by 63-28 percent, supports the removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube, and by a 25-point margin opposes a law mandating federal review of her case.”

The nation at large overwhelmingly opposes banning collective bargaining rights for public employees (61% – 33%).

You spend enough time talking to Cokie Roberts and Joe Klein about what Real Murkins think, you forget that people want a living wage and to live their lives out with dignity, and pretty soon you’re talking about the popularity of measures that poll just a few points above the crazification factor.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « How to get them to take your call.
Next Post: Early Morning Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

137Comments

  1. 1.

    Martin

    February 23, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    Fuck dignity. I want to be able to crush some working class losers skull under the heel of my Ferrigamos.

  2. 2.

    Phil Perspective

    February 23, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    Doug:
    I despise her too but it’s Cokie Roberts, not Robert.

  3. 3.

    Sockpuppet

    February 23, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    You guys just love seeing your words in print. Today has been an epic.

  4. 4.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 23, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    At least 60% of Americans are rational on every issue. I wonder if it’s the same 60% every time?

  5. 5.

    NoFortunateSon

    February 23, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    The apparent disconnect between the Village and America is so large, I’m having a difficult time trying to accept it as reality.

    Let’s hope I’m just slow.

  6. 6.

    PurpleGirl

    February 23, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    Just what the fuck would Cokie know about real Americans or Joe Klein for that matter. Two more more pundits/villagers who need to spend major time without an income of any sort whatsoever.

  7. 7.

    Alex S.

    February 23, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    @Sockpuppet:

    It seems you love seeing their words, too!

  8. 8.

    bago

    February 23, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    If only Walker had used his bully pulpit.

  9. 9.

    shirt

    February 23, 2011 at 10:18 pm

    Blink
    Blink

  10. 10.

    Doug Hill

    February 23, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    @Phil Perspective:

    Thanks, I fixed it.

  11. 11.

    NoFortunateSon

    February 23, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    Also, what is a ‘Murkin’? It’s not in the lexicon. I know what a ‘merkin’ is, unfortunately, but I suspect this is not the same thing.

  12. 12.

    jrg

    February 23, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    I miss the ’90s, when the beltway media was only telling me what I, as an ‘murican, think about inconsequential bullshit, like blowjobs.

  13. 13.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 23, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Yes. Fits almost neatly into the batshitcrazy 27% theory (with 13% leeway).

  14. 14.

    slag

    February 23, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    @NoFortunateSon: American. ish.

  15. 15.

    Cat Lady

    February 23, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    The corollary is truer also too – if Mark “this is great news for John McCain” Halperin says you’re winning, you’re definitely, definitely losing. Big.

  16. 16.

    jwb

    February 23, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    @NoFortunateSon: Murkin as in Real Murkin(R), or proud to be Murkin.

  17. 17.

    freelancer

    February 23, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    Mark Halperin is a douche.

    Doug should stop reading Politico, even if he’s just measuring the direction of the wind.

    These are Notable Facts.

  18. 18.

    kdaug

    February 23, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    A serious question here: Will Sarah Palin’s ultimate legacy to the nation be to add the grammatically indefensible phrase “Also, too” to our national dialog and discourse?

    Discuss.

  19. 19.

    jwb

    February 23, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    @Cat Lady: I’m never certain, however, until Bill Always Wrong Kristol weighs in. He’s the master at reverse prognosis of any political situation.

  20. 20.

    slag

    February 23, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    Your “here are some polls” link is self-referential.

  21. 21.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    February 23, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    @Martin:

    Fuck dignity. I want to be able to crush some working class losers skulls under the wheels of my Ferrigamos Ferrari.

    Fix’t dat fer ya. No charge!

    In media and winger land, right is good, left is evil, up is green, down is milk, money is theirs, fact is fiction and fiction is fact.

    Lying is news. Why? Because it’s profitable and in our country there is always someone willing to do something for a buck.

    Like our presstitutes.

  22. 22.

    Tom Q

    February 23, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    In line with this: I was watching CNN this afternoon, and 1) the reporter out in WI characterized the conversation between Walker and Faux-Coke as “joking” and 2) Glorya Borger spoke about nothing but the fact that Walker was “sticking to his guns”. Also, as far as I could tell, ABC World News didn’t even have a WI report for the first time in several days.

    It’s their DC reality, and they’re going to cling to it till the peasants put their heads on pikes.

  23. 23.

    Stillwater

    February 23, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    Hostility to public-sector workers, including teachers, is at an all-time high amid a recession and a new national mania for curbing the tide of fiscal red ink.

    Here’s one thing to remember about the way the media portrays GOP policy positions in relation to the conservative electorate: most of the time (or frequently enough), conservatives don’t support GOP policies. Nobody likes GOP policies. They garner votes, and enact unpopular legislation, because of a shared hatred of liberals.

  24. 24.

    Sockpuppet

    February 23, 2011 at 10:30 pm

    @Alex S.:

    All 634,296 of them. And counting. You never know, the night is still young.

  25. 25.

    KG

    February 23, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: It may actually be, which is why wedge issues are so useful in politics (especially if you’re in the minority)… distract the voters with other less important issues, play up the differences on these less important issues, and make them seem more important than they are… or go nasty and turn off voters, thereby lowering turnout and focusing on base voting (this was the Rove playbook, and it was pretty stupid, because 50%+1 is fine for winning elections but terrible for governing in any sort of effective way).

  26. 26.

    freelancer

    February 23, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    @Sockpuppet:

    “Wah! This blog blogs too much!”

    What a fucking bizarre objection.

  27. 27.

    KG

    February 23, 2011 at 10:35 pm

    @KG: actually, on second thought, I’d say it’s the same group +/-5% or so.

  28. 28.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    February 23, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    Gotta give Shep Smith on Faux a bit of credit for pointing out that this move to kill unions started with the Koch brothers and that it would kill three of the top ten political donors, all unions who support Democrats. He also mentions that the other seven top political donors all give to Republicans, saying that if the unions are killed then it would be “over” for the Democrats.

    He even says that he isn’t taking sides, that he is only “reporting the news”.

    I don’t know how long Faux is going to keep that squirrel around if he keeps finding nuts once in a while like he does…lol

  29. 29.

    Sockpuppet

    February 23, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    @freelancer:

    It is taking itself very self-importantly at the moment. Always a warning sign. You can’t have a bender without a proportional comedown.

    After the Wisconsin mess shakes out, this blog might just run three days of nothing but cat pictures.

  30. 30.

    Suffern ACE

    February 23, 2011 at 10:46 pm

    @Stillwater: Yep. And for all that living through their policies enacted cause they don’t like people like me, I’m not even a DFH. Why I bother to cut my hair, work in accounting, stay away from pot and free love is beyond me. Darn Lutheran upbringing…

  31. 31.

    Jager

    February 23, 2011 at 10:49 pm

    Is it just me or is there something wrong with Walker’s eyes?

    I haven’t seen weird eyes like that since my college apartment mate smoked an entire grocery bag of cheap Mexican pot over a long weekend!

  32. 32.

    JordanRules

    February 23, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    @Sockpuppet: We won’t really know if it’s self-importance or brillant focus ’till that cat count is done though will we??

    Hail Mary

  33. 33.

    MikeJ

    February 23, 2011 at 10:52 pm

    @kdaug:

    Will Sarah Palin’s ultimate legacy to the nation be to add the grammatically indefensible phrase “Also, too” to our national dialog and discourse?

    It’s the best she can hope for.

  34. 34.

    Cacti

    February 23, 2011 at 10:52 pm

    The disconnect on display between the Villagers and everyone else reminds me of the 2008 Presidential Debates.

    All of the flash polls had the viewers saying Obama cleaned grampy’s clock.

    In the Village, on the other hand, it was always a draw if not a slight win for grampy.

  35. 35.

    Elia

    February 23, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    I know it’s immature and also kind of vapid but, honestly, this kind of shit gets on my nerves on a daily basis way more than Tea Baggers Tea Bagging or any of the other claptrap we get from the right. There’s just something so frustrating about it. Makes you wanna go Danton on all their asses.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne

    February 23, 2011 at 10:56 pm

    I was listening to NPR on the drive home and I was surprised to hear them on the unions’ side in Wisconsin. I guess they figured out that it’s their listeners who are camped out in the Madison capitol building right now. They even pointed out that the anti-union TV commercials that have started running in Wisconsin are paid for by — wait for it — the Koch brothers through their front organization.

  37. 37.

    jl

    February 23, 2011 at 11:01 pm

    Not totally off topic, but here something I have been looking for: an analysis of the reasons for, and extent of, the awful pension crisis.

    Economist Dean Baker and the CEPR provide!

    The two most important bottom lines from the report

    Most of the pension shortfall using the current methodology is attributable to the plunge in the stock market in the years 2007-2009.

    The size of the projected state and local government shortfalls measured as a share of future gross state products appear manageable.

    The first item is something I suspected, but I could find no research on it until now. Strangely enough, I have not heard this aspect of the pension crisis discussed by our decadent corporate media pundit class.

    Link below. There is a pdf report with numbers at the link.

    The Origins and Severity of the Public Pension Crisis
    February 2011, Dean Baker

    http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-origins-and-severity-of-the-public-pension-crisis

    Found via Brad DeLong’s blog
    http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2011/02/dean-baker-the-origins-and-severity-of-the-public-pension-crisis.html

  38. 38.

    Suffern ACE

    February 23, 2011 at 11:01 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Well, they are about to get their budget cut for being in the thralls of politically correct muslim extremists. So perhaps they decided it was in their interest to tell listeners what was going on for a change rather than loafing and muddling up issues, like they have done so often in past.

  39. 39.

    slag

    February 23, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    @kdaug: Well, she also helps democrats win elections. Also, too.

  40. 40.

    janeform

    February 23, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    Mnemosyne @36: That NPR report was balanced out by stenography on GOP fiscal austerity that included a classic he-said she-said on whether a US government default will destabilize the economy. Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!

  41. 41.

    Vince CA

    February 23, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    Kind of off/on topic, how should I pronounce “Koch”? Is it like “caulk” or “kotch” or maybe “Coke”? Since I haven’t watched television is many, many years and my radio is limited to children’s music, I don’t know how to say their names out loud, to curse them, tell my wife what’s happening, etc. (And please don’t suggest that I watch a video clip. I have bad enough heartburn right now as it is.)

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 23, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    @freelancer: “Too many notes.”

  43. 43.

    Nutella

    February 23, 2011 at 11:19 pm

    @Vince CA:

    I believe these Kochs pronounce it Coke.

  44. 44.

    freelancer

    February 23, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    @Vince CA:

    “Coke”

  45. 45.

    geg6

    February 23, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    OT, but there’s been a very big Marcellus Shale explosion here in Western PA. In Avella, Washington County for any Pittsburgh area BJers. Several workers critically injured and at least a dozen other injured. Huge flames. And Gov. Corbett in the pocket of the drilling companies. Company claims there will be no environmental dangers as a result of the blast. (Yes, I’m rolling my eyes). They are showing the company statement superimposed over film of a huge fire burning behind a bunch of lovely Avella homes with horrified residents giving those flames a thousand yard stare.

  46. 46.

    JGabriel

    February 23, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    Given Walker’s performance so far, does anyone think the Koch Bros. picked Walker to lead on this because of his stupidity? Like they’re thinking, if Walker can pull this off, then we’ll have no problems getting the other Republican governors on board?

    I’m beginning to think that having GOP policy originate with their stupidest members is a featurenotabug, in that it exposes the most expendable members on the front line first.

    .

  47. 47.

    MGB

    February 23, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    Or one could use the German pronounciation, like I use, and just seems fitting for some reason. “Ko” would sound like “coke” while the ‘ch’ would be a hard, kind of phlegmmy sound.

  48. 48.

    Josh

    February 23, 2011 at 11:26 pm

    Just remember that the Buffalo Beast headline was “Koch Whore” and you’ll remember how to pronounce it.

  49. 49.

    JGabriel

    February 23, 2011 at 11:30 pm

    geg6:

    Company claims there will be no environmental dangers as a result of the blast.

    Because explosions aren’t “environmental damage”, they’re just God’s way of sayin’ “Boo!”

    They are showing the company statement superimposed over film of a huge fire burning behind a bunch of lovely Avella homes with horrified residents giving those flames a thousand yard stare.

    I really hope those stares are a longer than a thousand yards, because a thousands yards is way to close to be to a gas explosion.

    .

  50. 50.

    bk

    February 23, 2011 at 11:31 pm

    @kdaug:

    Reminds me of a line from a Firesign Theatre album (can’t remember which one) – “From the Department of Redundancy Department”.

  51. 51.

    Comrade Luke

    February 23, 2011 at 11:31 pm

    You know, for all the fear around the Koch brothers, most of it is due to their money than their competence. After reading their profile in the New Yorker, what I took away from it was that they’ve been working on their dream since the early 80s, and they’ve been losing pretty consistently the whole time.

    I hope that streak continues.

  52. 52.

    MikeJ

    February 23, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    Describe what Marcellus Shale looks like!

    What?

    Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!

  53. 53.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 23, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    @geg6: Oh, crap! Not again.

  54. 54.

    Suffern ACE

    February 23, 2011 at 11:37 pm

    The odd thing about the Koch Brothers in Wisconsin is that if they didn’t own this party, Pete Peterson would. I don’t ever want to take the eye off of that guy either. The TEA party is the Koch vision for America…I think Pete and his “public social insurance must be destroyed” is the owner of village CW. Look at who showed up to his commission and how everyone who does inside job journalism just wants Obama to adopt it to demonstrate leadership. Never cut slack to the billionaires and their public missions. Sometimes I think the Koch’s are clowns in comparison to some of our other oligarchs.

  55. 55.

    Mark S.

    February 23, 2011 at 11:37 pm

    @geg6:

    WTF? That’s the third one I’ve heard about in the last two weeks. Are explosions that fucking common?

    Also, too, has Nick been around here to tell us that the Republicans are kicking our asses and to make the same fucking bully pulpit joke he’s make 8,745 times?

  56. 56.

    jl

    February 23, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    If some deluded trolls came here and accused this here miserable lefty blog of being chaotic and disorganized, and the posters and commenters of being insufferable logorrhoeimaniacs, would anyone care, would anyone even notice?

  57. 57.

    Arundel

    February 23, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    My nerves are fracked and frayed by all of this. SO so encouraged by the resistance to this incredibly hostile assault on America, the middle class, by the Tea Party governers across states. Just saying that the Village makes my blood boil especially right now: this is a stick-up, this is a hostage situation, and Christ if they aren’t willing collaborators. The divide has never been so naked and apparent, between the shit they’re talking and the reality on the ground in WI.

    We really do have a state media in an almost Soviet style, the mainstream media are in their own fucking paid-for world. They have their groupthink and mantra, and there is no room for dissent. Even at this most egregious hijacking of basic rights in Wisconsin. Please, please let the popular protest continue and escalate, so that Village fvckos can be forced to report what a naked power-grab and assault on working people it really is. Because we’re all next. If we’re not there already.

    Go, Wisconsin, go!

  58. 58.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 23, 2011 at 11:41 pm

    @MikeJ: What?

    FYWP.

  59. 59.

    Mark S.

    February 23, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    And speaking of Cokie, I love Cokie’s Law by Digby:

    At this point, it doesn’t much matter whether she said it or not because it’s become part of the culture. I was at the beauty parlor yesterday and this was all anyone was talking about.

  60. 60.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    February 23, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    Homo ReaLAMEricanus is a strange beast according to those who study his habits. He does not think, question, eat, get ill or grow old. His sole desires are to work (for wages if he can get them, but if not, no big deal) and protect the rich from tax hikes.

  61. 61.

    JGabriel

    February 23, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    @Comrade Luke:

    … they’ve been working on their dream since the early 80s, and they’ve been losing pretty consistently the whole time.

    Since the 80’s, the top 1% have tripled their share of the nation’s income from 8% to 24%, union membership is massively down, Republicans have been in charge of at least one branch of Congress 14 of the last 16 years, in charge of the presidency 20 of the past 30 years, and appointed a 5-4 majority of the Justices on the Supreme Court, with concomitant deregulation and tax cutting across the board, and crashed the economy just in time to hand off the cleanup to a Democratic president.

    Whether that was due to, or in spite of, the Koch Bros. efforts, I’ve gotta think it still looks like mostly “WINS!” from their point of view.

    .

  62. 62.

    Suffern ACE

    February 23, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    @jl: Meh, you lost me at the logohemorrhoids. If the worst that can be said about us is that we’re disorganized and self-important, we’re not doing so badly. There are worse character flaws. I’ve dated folks whom I wished had flaws so limited.

  63. 63.

    Three-nineteen

    February 23, 2011 at 11:47 pm

    OT, but I finally got onto the New Zealand Red Cross website to make an earthquake relief donation (I just cannot donate to the Salvation Army). I’ve been trying all day and just now was able to complete the credit card transaction. So if anyone wants to make a donation, now would be a good time.

  64. 64.

    ppcli

    February 23, 2011 at 11:48 pm

    @jl: Unlikely – the trolls around here are never that perceptive or accurate.

  65. 65.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 23, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    @Suffern ACE:

    logohemorrhoids

    Sounds painful.

  66. 66.

    jl

    February 23, 2011 at 11:52 pm

    @ppcli: Sorry I mentioned it, I guess I came close to feeding. Just noticed some trolls trying this new tactic over the last few days. But I cannot imagine a tactic that would be, one would think, so obviously and patently futile and useless at a blog like this.

  67. 67.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 23, 2011 at 11:57 pm

    @jl: Speaking of trolls, was m_c given a time out?

  68. 68.

    geg6

    February 23, 2011 at 11:58 pm

    @Mark S.:

    They didn’t used to be. Probably because they (the drilling companies) first went after large landowners like the state and municipal governments and very, very rural communities, mostly in the PA oil fields in Titusville and Oil City and such. They tried real hard to get the city of Pittsburgh and the city school district to let them drill on their land but were mostly rebuffed. So the currect strategy is huge media buys encouraging average citizens to pick a personal drilling company (like you do a mobile carrier or your car insurance) and they will take care of you in your old age or something very, very vague but self-evidently good for you and yours. Thus, more drilling and more explosions and more deaths and third degree burns over 80% of workers bodies. And let’s not even mention groundwater and wells and rivers and creeks. Nothing to see there.

  69. 69.

    Tom Q

    February 24, 2011 at 12:09 am

    @bk: I believe it’s Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers — a ready source of many usable quotes.

  70. 70.

    Elia

    February 24, 2011 at 12:09 am

    Always thought it was Kawchh.

    Coke is so much less villainous.

    At least I’ve still got Krauthammer.

  71. 71.

    Sly

    February 24, 2011 at 12:10 am

    D.C. is probably the most insular and provincial city in the United States (and that’s saying something… to a very large extent, Americans have been defined by their insularity and provincialism). In that same regard, D.C. is also the most conservative city in the United States.

    But because D.C. is where Federal policy is set, its local culture has a profound impact on the rest of the nation. So its chattering class, as a defense mechanism, must believe that it speaks for the interests of the nation when the reality is it, and established local media in general, speak for those who have large reserves of local social and cultural capital. In the case of D.C., it is the culture of the corporate lobbyist.

    Upton Sinclair’s statement regarding a person’s beliefs depending on their salary is perennial. To gain advancement, you must speak for the interests of those who hold social and cultural capital, whether in a school district, a city, or a capital. You simply don’t piss off the “important people.”

    And it’s more like “natural” selection than a planned conspiracy. When those who tow the line gain advancement and those who challenge it are sidelined (or, at best, ignored), then, like the morphology of finches on the Galapagos Islands, the characteristics of the media culture will shift.

  72. 72.

    Michael

    February 24, 2011 at 12:12 am

    @Comrade Luke:

    You know, for all the fear around the Koch brothers, most of it is due to their money than their competence. After reading their profile in the New Yorker, what I took away from it was that they’ve been working on their dream since the early 80s, and they’ve been losing pretty consistently the whole time.

    The fuckers (along with their entire extended family) still deserve a machete party, or at least to be Dexterized.

  73. 73.

    Sly

    February 24, 2011 at 12:14 am

    @Sly: Auto-Moderated and I didn’t even use the s-word? FYWP.

  74. 74.

    Suffern ACE

    February 24, 2011 at 12:17 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Not so bad. You just have to write about your insights on preparation H for about a hour or so and it’s cured.

  75. 75.

    Martin

    February 24, 2011 at 12:19 am

    @geg6: Shhh. The invisible hand is working. Don’t disturb it with your tales of human suffering, please.

  76. 76.

    RalfW

    February 24, 2011 at 12:22 am

    @Arundel:

    We really do have a state media in an almost Soviet style, the mainstream media are in their own fucking paid-for world.

    Thank FSM we have the postmodern equivalent of samizdat: Blogs!

  77. 77.

    piratedan

    February 24, 2011 at 12:35 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: @28 he’s actually a couple days behind Rachel Maddow, who was making these very same points last friday on her show indicating that on the left, it’s the unions and that’s it. They have no corporate PAC money flowing in or nefarious front organizations shilling for them that come close to matching what the Republicans have arrayed on their side of the campaign donation ledger. Essentially TRMS was stating that if Walker wins his crusade, that it makes it extremely difficult for the union to stay viable as it would have to recertify each year until such legislation passes otherwise.

  78. 78.

    Sly

    February 24, 2011 at 12:36 am

    @Sly: I figured it out. Old post @71 can be deleted.
    …

    D.C. is probably the most insular and provincial city in the United States (and that’s saying something… to a very large extent, Americans have been defined by their insularity and provincial-ism). In that same regard, D.C. is also the most conservative city in the United States.

    But because D.C. is where Federal policy is set, its local culture has a profound impact on the rest of the nation. So its chattering class, as a defense mechanism, must believe that it speaks for the interests of the nation when the reality is it, and established local media in general, speak for those who have large reserves of local social and cultural capital. In the case of D.C., it is the culture of the corporate lobbyist.

    Upton Sinclair’s statement regarding a person’s beliefs depending on their salary is perennial. To gain advancement, you must speak for the interests of those who hold social and cultural capital, whether in a school district, a city, or a state/national capital. You simply don’t piss off the “important people.”

    And it’s more like “natural” selection than a planned conspiracy. When those who tow the line gain advancement and those who challenge it are sidelined (or, at best, ignored), then, like the morphology of finches on the Galapagos Islands, the characteristics of the media culture will shift.

  79. 79.

    Sly

    February 24, 2011 at 12:44 am

    Oh, and the Villagers never went in on Social Security Privatization because it was billed as increasing benefits. They didn’t go in on it because it presented the opportunity to talk about a potential fight. And potential fights generate more “buzz” than anything else, and will be focused on more than anything else in a given topic.

    Especially when the focus reinforces dominant thinking. Social Security is the Third Rail of politics! Oh no! What’s gonna happen now? We’ll have Democratic Strategist A and Republican Consultant B on next to shout at each other, so stay tuned after this important advertisement for Oppenheimer Funds.

  80. 80.

    Comrade Kevin

    February 24, 2011 at 12:46 am

    If you want a picture of the Republicans’ plans, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.

  81. 81.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 12:51 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: The man needs immunity, stat. He’s gonna get shunned pretty soon. Let’s trade…Lenny Davis for him.

  82. 82.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 12:53 am

    @Comrade Kevin:

    You need to modify at least one more aspect of the quote for it to be truly inspired. I’d suggest the boot in question be gilded.

  83. 83.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 12:55 am

    @Comrade Kevin: I want to laugh, albeit bitterly, but I can’t because it’s too painfully true.

    FYWP I can’t edit my goddamn post!

  84. 84.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    February 24, 2011 at 1:01 am

    If it turns out that team R has overplayed its hand and alienated right leaning union workers (and what kind of idiots are they?), so much the better. Republican hubris is a delicious meal with a sweet dessert.

    But I do find it depressing to think of middle class people who ONLY vote their self interest. I know they’re out there, and hell maybe the majority of the US electorate is like that, but it still bums me out.

  85. 85.

    Stan

    February 24, 2011 at 1:04 am

    Overall good points, but this is surely hyperbole:

    Also too, the Village never got behind Bush’s plans, partly because they were pitched as a way to increase retirees’ benefits (through the magic of the stock market) rather than a way to cut them.

  86. 86.

    Comrade Kevin

    February 24, 2011 at 1:06 am

    @freelancer: yes, that would be an improvement.

  87. 87.

    Mark S.

    February 24, 2011 at 1:10 am

    Hindtrocket:

    The most extraordinary story in the news these days is the all-out assault that the Left is mounting against Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Enterprises. A day doesn’t go buy–hardly an hour goes by–without some new attack being launched against these two lonely libertarians.

    Most extraordinary story? But really, two lonely libertarians? Is there any better proof that libertarians can’t get laid? These guys are fucking billionaires and they have to get blowjobs from Radley Balko and Nick Gillespie.

  88. 88.

    Comrade Kevin

    February 24, 2011 at 1:16 am

    @Mark S.: Leave Fonzie alone, he has a real edgy leather jacket.

  89. 89.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 1:16 am

    @Mark S.:

    These guys are fucking billionaires and yet they have choose to get blowjobs from Radley Balko and Nick Gillespie.

    FTFY

  90. 90.

    Comrade Mary

    February 24, 2011 at 1:16 am

    Jon Stewart not only handled Wisconsin better tonight (and was funnier than he was on Monday, although that may be because he’s less sick and today’s material was priceless), but he was also really effective and persistent in his questioning of Rumsfeld. So he gets cheers from me for that. I’ll have to look for the full interview on the web tomorrow.

  91. 91.

    Martin

    February 24, 2011 at 1:18 am

    @Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel): They haven’t overplayed. Their opponent isn’t the Dems – it’s the moderate Republicans. This is a fight for ownership of the GOP – the teabaggers vs the old guard. They’re dragging the GOP to the right kicking and screaming and anyone who isn’t on board is going to get their ass primaried next year – even if that means handing elections to the Dems. The GOP is seeking a new equilibrium point.

  92. 92.

    Sly

    February 24, 2011 at 1:19 am

    @freelancer:

    I’d suggest the boot in question be gilded.

    I think, in that case, the boot would be stomping on a scrotum and not a face. I’ve heard that’s the preferred kink in certain conservative circles.

  93. 93.

    MikeJ

    February 24, 2011 at 1:19 am

    @Mark S.: I would argue that the most extraordinary story of the day is that the phrase “Aspergers Syndrome by Proxy” made it into print.

  94. 94.

    joel hanes

    February 24, 2011 at 1:27 am

    Student : Yeah, what do you think, Porgy?

    Porgy: Well, I don’t think we oughta jump to any conclusions or take any…

    Student 2: Hey, Porgy! Hey, Porgy! Principal Poop’s on the radio. Turn the car radio. Poop’s on.

    Porgy: OK, well, gather round kids and stay on camera. We’ll all listen together.

    Principal Poop: All of us want to know… just as much as I want to know: who’s responsible ?

    Bottles: Communist Martyrs High School, that’s who’s res…

    Porgy: Shhh, Shhh

    Principal Poop: and until we do I must make my dirty cl… duty clean… clear, and announce the suspendering of the upcoming graduating exercises.

    Porgy: Oh no!

    Principal Poop: which can not… and will… which aren’t taking place.

    Porgy: I’m never gonna get out of here!

    Principal Poop: But don’t worry! Don’t worry! Your food, housing, insecurity will be guaranteed by the Department of Redundancy Department, and the Natural Guard.

    Mudhead: Hey, there gonna surround us!

    Principal Poop: And remember: trust-breakers will be persecuted. So please: stay where you are. Don’t move, and don’t panic! Don’t take off your shoes. JOBS is on
    the way.

    Porgy: Golly!

    Principal Poop: Thank you!

  95. 95.

    themann1086

    February 24, 2011 at 1:31 am

    @geg6: Nobody coulda predicted…

    Also too, if we tax the drilling companies we’ll be hurting business and Pennsylvanians.

  96. 96.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    February 24, 2011 at 1:32 am

    @Martin: I would like that to be true.

    Not all old guard Republicans can be complete idiots, right? I wonder what they plan to do if, okay, when the crazy takes over and starts tanking elections. O’Donnell, Angle, those two harridans in CA. How much failure will they endure? And what choice do they have?

  97. 97.

    Turgidson

    February 24, 2011 at 1:54 am

    @Sockpuppet:

    What would be wrong with that?

  98. 98.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 1:54 am

    Wow, after a record day of posting, it’s quiet out there. Too quiet…

  99. 99.

    Cain

    February 24, 2011 at 1:58 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    I was listening to NPR on the drive home and I was surprised to hear them on the unions’ side in Wisconsin. I guess they figured out that it’s their listeners who are camped out in the Madison capitol building right now. They even pointed out that the anti-union TV commercials that have started running in Wisconsin are paid for by—wait for it—the Koch brothers through their front organization.

    NPR has a bit of a problem, because of right wingers trying to cut funding they have to rely more on subscribers and a lot of us are center to left of center and we are the only ones who will probably give them money. So they better be on our side.

    cain

  100. 100.

    Mark S.

    February 24, 2011 at 1:58 am

    @freelancer:

    I probably scared everybody off with my Nick Gillespie slash fiction.

  101. 101.

    ThatPirateGuy

    February 24, 2011 at 2:03 am

    I wish I never had to hear McMegan on NPR. The idiots have fox news and AM radio stay off my NPR.

  102. 102.

    Comrade Mary

    February 24, 2011 at 2:17 am

    @Mark S.: You know what? I’m just going to take you at your word that you wrote some and I won’t go looking for it. #shudder#

  103. 103.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 2:21 am

    @Mark S.: The brain bleach quantities need restocking, so everyone made a quick run to the 7-11.

  104. 104.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 2:24 am

    @Yutsano:

    What’s a 7-11?

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 2:34 am

    @freelancer: Sort of like an A&P, but with nastier interiors and horrifically jacked-up mark-ups.

  106. 106.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 2:38 am

    @Yutsano:

    No, I know. I just wanted to make you feel old. What’s an A & P?

  107. 107.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 2:41 am

    @freelancer: Okay now you’re just being obstinate young’un. You. Lawn. Off. Naow.

  108. 108.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 2:48 am

    @Yutsano:

    Rest easy, elder. I’m in the street. Egging your house. That’s all.

  109. 109.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 2:48 am

    @Yutsano: Hi, hon! How you be? I saw the pic of Lexie you posted yesterday. She is sooooo cute!

    And, I don’t know what an A&P is. I do know what a 7-11 ‘coz I’m just like it.

  110. 110.

    Calouste

    February 24, 2011 at 2:50 am

    @KG:

    It may actually be, which is why wedge issues are so useful in politics a two party system.

    Wedge issues work a lot less well when the voters actually have some choice.

  111. 111.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 2:51 am

    @freelancer: When I can find my bifocals, my teeth, and my cane, I’m coming after you!

    And seriously, fuck you WordPress for not letting me edit my goddamn post.

  112. 112.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 2:51 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    See my link. Updike wrote a story about the store in ’61. Yeah, um my dad was two years old when that was published. Just to give you an idear.

  113. 113.

    Calouste

    February 24, 2011 at 2:52 am

    @Sly:

    You’re talking the Village, not about the actual DC. The actual DC votes about 90% Dem.

  114. 114.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 2:52 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Snow falls from my sky and may dump up to a foot. Should that occur they might shut my work down. I haz a major happy about that. Add on to that I’ll most likely be out of work next week, and I’m seriously considering partying.

  115. 115.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 2:54 am

    @Yutsano:

    How’s your voice, J? You got that back?

  116. 116.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 2:56 am

    @Yutsano: SNOW! Right on.

    @freelancer: Get off my damn lawn. Kids these days.

  117. 117.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 2:58 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    “Kids”, that cracks me up. I’ve been an uncle for 6 years and my last two girlfriends have been divorcées, yet I’m a kid. Sheesh, folks. I’m speechless.

  118. 118.

    MikeJ

    February 24, 2011 at 2:59 am

    @Yutsano: They said there would be a foot today too. It snowed. Then it stopped and we had blue skies. Then it snowed. Then blue skies. Back and forth every half hour all day.

    There’s probably 1/8″ on my deck. Which falls well within what the ever so helpful tv weatherdudes called for. They predicted anywhere from a trace to 8 inches.

  119. 119.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 2:59 am

    @freelancer: Voice is back about 90%. I got through work with no major hang-ups so it seems to be sticking with me right now. But no telling what tomorrow will bring.

    @asiangrrlMN: I just checked the weather. They say one to two inches but they said that last time and it just dumped like mad. So I’m thinking we’re gonna get buried again. Plus it’ll all freeze, which here is a much worse proposition.

  120. 120.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 3:03 am

    @MikeJ: I’m thinking they don’t know what the duck is gonna happen tonight and tomorrow, so they’re just hedging. I got about half an inch on my back porch in Northgate. And it goes from light dust to dumps in about a minute.

    Oh and FYWP for not allowing edit.

  121. 121.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 3:05 am

    @Yutsano: We MAY get light snow this weekend. Supposed to cool down a bit, too.

    @freelancer: What? Type bigger. I can’t read what you wrote.

  122. 122.

    Peter

    February 24, 2011 at 3:07 am

    Completely OT, but is it just me or is HuffPo completely losing its shit tonight? It’s sent me four seperate notifications for the same Chris Weigent post.

  123. 123.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 3:12 am

    @Peter: What do you mean “tonight”? Hasn’t that been SOP for awhile now?

  124. 124.

    Peter

    February 24, 2011 at 3:13 am

    @Yutsano: This is my first time getting this, and frankly I don’t actually go to HuffPo anymore so I wouldn’t know about any onsite glitches.

  125. 125.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 3:21 am

    @Peter:

    Really? I don’t subscribe to Huffpo email updates, but I just visited their frontpage and it’s all “Shutdown” is imminent. It better fucking NOT be. Just for the havoc it will wreak on our economy alone, but I have a vested interest as well, I confess. I’m supposed to fly on March 4th. How is that going to occur with no TSA and no FAA employees reporting to work?!

    And Ariana keeps pushing liberal outrage as her sales model, but she has no moral quandaries rubbing elbows with dire enemies of progressives like Darrell Issa. When I initially saw the photo of them hanging out in Vegas, I thought nothing of it. But learning that Issa is the richest member of Congress at damned near a half a billion dollars, that infuriated me.

    All the shit that Kerry got for being a “ketchup heiress” in 2004 and McCain got for being married to beer money, there is a point to be raised there, but when we get our media from people who marry rich and then hobnob with their supposed enemies, because they too are superrich, is just absolutely disgusting. The day we resurrect the guillotine in this country, there’s a special ergonomic, comfy as all hell model that’s to be set aside for a soulless, rich as fuck “liberal” opportunist like Ariana Huffington.

  126. 126.

    freelancer

    February 24, 2011 at 3:27 am

    @freelancer:

    And Megan McCardle, though in the interim, we’ll spend our time dulling the blade for hers so that it’s a tenth as sharp as everybody else’s.

  127. 127.

    Yutsano

    February 24, 2011 at 3:27 am

    @freelancer: Remember one very important thing about Ariana Huffington: she was a willing beard until it became inconvenient for her. That tells you more about her than anything.

  128. 128.

    Xenos

    February 24, 2011 at 4:05 am

    @Yutsano: Huffington lost. Arianna has no time for losers, even after marrying them and having children with them and cleaning out their bank accounts.

  129. 129.

    David

    February 24, 2011 at 4:43 am

    I remember Cokie chuckling throughout her story about how families were giving up a Saturday night treat of going out to eat in order to send $25 to the Obama campaign.

    That’s coming from a political pundit.

  130. 130.

    Comrade Kevin

    February 24, 2011 at 5:05 am

    If any of you all are in the LA area, there’s the Southern California Linux Expo, at the LAX Hilton. I’ll be there, and will have my special Tunch T-shirt on on Saturday, so you’ll recognize my own fatness.

  131. 131.

    Sly

    February 24, 2011 at 5:36 am

    @Calouste:

    You’re talking the Village, not about the actual DC. The actual DC votes about 90% Dem

    And what influence does “actual D.C.” have on actual policy?

    Hell, “actual D.C.” exists in perfect accordance with conservative ideology. The mob may have their elections, but at the end of the day its a Congressional committee made up overwhelmingly by people who don’t live in the district who get to decide what happens. All laws passed by the city council must be approved by Congress. They have no voting member of the House or Senate, and are limited by Constitutional amendment to three electoral votes no matter their actual population.

    It’s a lobbyists city. The people who live there don’t count, and they know it.

  132. 132.

    cynickal

    February 24, 2011 at 6:42 am

    @Calouste: They still work. See Britain, Ireland, Israel.

  133. 133.

    agrippa

    February 24, 2011 at 8:08 am

    @KG:

    KG, now what self respecting Republican wants to do something as stupid as governing ?
    Ony nerds wants to govern.

  134. 134.

    Corner Stone

    February 24, 2011 at 9:38 am

    @freelancer:

    “Kids”, that cracks me up. I’ve been an uncle for 6 years and my last two girlfriends have been divorcées, yet I’m a kid. Sheesh, folks. I’m speechless.

    Neither of these two criteria speak to how you may or may not be a “kid”.

  135. 135.

    Corner Stone

    February 24, 2011 at 9:40 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I do know what a 7-11 ‘coz I’m just like it.

    You have “nastier interiors and horrifically jacked-up mark-ups” ?

  136. 136.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 24, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    @Corner Stone: Come, on CS! I threw a softball right out there. You swung and missed!

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    February 26, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    @asiangrrlMN: You’re goods are cheap yet over priced? You’re open late? You’ll accept any business at those hours?
    I’m just not sure where you’re going here.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Image by ? (6/17/25)

Recent Comments

  • Kayla Rudbek on Blowed Up (Open Thread) (Jun 17, 2025 @ 9:17pm)
  • Baud on Open Thread: Tim Walz Is A Good Leader & A Good Man (Jun 17, 2025 @ 9:17pm)
  • Jeffro on Open Thread: Tim Walz Is A Good Leader & A Good Man (Jun 17, 2025 @ 9:16pm)
  • dc on Open Thread: Tim Walz Is A Good Leader & A Good Man (Jun 17, 2025 @ 9:16pm)
  • Hoodie on Open Thread: Tim Walz Is A Good Leader & A Good Man (Jun 17, 2025 @ 9:15pm)

Personality Crisis Podcast (Cole, DougJ, mistermix)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!