Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Consistently wrong since 2002

No Justins, No Peace

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61Comments

  3. 3.

    Brian S (formerly Incertus)

    I’m reading with three other poets tonight at 6:00 at the Fort Lauderdale Books & Books in what is sure to be a complete disaster, since we have done only the barest of planning. I’m not even sure if the bookstore has been able to get copies of my book yet, and I’m out so I can’t even bring them to sell on consignment. Still, there are bars nearby for afterward.

  4. 4.

    Violet

    Speaking of Fox, just saw over at GOS that Glenn Beck’s radio show is off the air in Madison. Ah, timing. That’s on top of NYC and Philly. It seems like his radio show is losing steam. Can his TV show be far behind?

  9. 9.

    Superluminar

    I wonder if Beck will put up a map of the US with all the cities where he’s been cancelled having sad faces over them? That would be awesome. Also, New York getting taken over by New Zealand, too.

    @Brian S
    do you have a link where we could order copies of your book. I know you provided one some time ago, but I’d quite like to read some new poetry and i’ve got some spare cash to redistribute right now so why not?

  10. 10.

    gene108

    @Violet: Murdoch doesn’t care if he makes money on Beck. He won’t pull someone, who he thinks is making a point, simply because of low ratings.

    The New York Post and New York Daily News are money losers for him, but he keeps them afloat.

    Most right-wing media outlets lose money, but their billionaire backers didn’t start them up to make money; they started them up to push their agenda. As long as their agenda’s being pushed, I don’t see why Beck or any other right-winger would get pulled.

    Surprised WPHT in Philly dumped Beck. Hopefully, they’ll dump Limbaugh and stick to local right-wing nuts.

  11. 11.

    Brian S (formerly Incertus)

    @Superluminar: do you have a link where we could order copies of your book. I know you provided one some time ago, but I’d quite like to read some new poetry and i’ve got some spare cash to redistribute right now so why not?

    Ask and ye shall receive. It might be a few days before I can ship to you because I’m waiting on more copies from my press, but you get a signed copy this way and I cover shipping. You can also order it from Amazon, but the cost is the same. Thanks!

  16. 16.

    jwb

    @Eric S.: I read that earlier this morning and can’t say I understand the action, since my understanding is that the senators are all out of state.

  17. 17.

    me

    @Dork:

    The team also targeted Admiral Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

    Even up the chain of command. What does the UCMJ say about that?

  18. 18.

    soonergrunt

    Via MSNBC:
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41753749/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/
    Report: Army targeted senators with psyops
    General sought to manipulate VIPs in order to elicit more funding, troops, according to Rolling Stone article:

    The U.S. army reportedly deployed a specialized “psychological operations” team to help convince American legislators to boost funding and troop numbers for the war in Afghanistan.
    …
    The operation was ordered by three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, Rolling Stone Magazine reported in a story published late on Wednesday.

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-general-army-deploys-psy-ops-on-u-s-senators-20110223?page=1

    I don’t know anything more about this than what the articles say. I don’t see any reason to disbelieve the articles. If the President has any reason to believe that this information is true, he should relieve LTG Caldwell and his senior staff. He shouldn’t accept a resignation, he should relieve him of his command, and recommend to the Senate that Caldwell be retired as a two star instead of a three star. Whether or not he can be court-martialed can be worked out later. Given the way the UCMJ works, it might not be possible to convene a court-martial since every member of the court would have to be a three star or four star general.

  21. 21.

    soonergrunt

    @me: There would extreme difficulty in convening a Court-Martial, since the panel of members would have to be composed of officers of equal or higher rank.
    These are very busy men and women, and they all know each other. I don’t know how you could convene a panel under those circumstances.
    As I said at 18, the President can simply relieve Caldwell of his command, and retire him at the next lower rank, since the Senate must confirm all officers over the grade of O-6 for either advancement or retirement.

  22. 22.

    LGRooney

    I saw that and thought FoxDevil. What the hell FoxDevil is, I don’t know. Company? Facebook name? Etc.?

  24. 24.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Dork:
    @soonergrunt:

    In the civilian world, they’re called lobbyists. For government employees, they’re called union representatives.

    But this guy needs to be resigned for going around the President.

  25. 25.

    Superluminar

    @Brian S
    ok, thanks will order soon (probably thru Amazon as I live in the UK so will pay shipping myself)

  28. 28.

    Southern Beale

    @soonergrunt:

    I read that story this morning. Shocking. The story didn’t go into details about exactly WHAT psy-ops mechanisms were used on the visiting senators and dignitaries. And you know, enquiring minds want to know …

  29. 29.

    Eric S.

    @jwb:

    I read that earlier this morning and can’t say I understand the action, since my understanding is that the senators are all out of state.

    As I understand it they are all down here in Chicago with me. Well, not literally with me but somewhere in the city. One of the Senators was on the local NPR station vowing not to return.

    If I have the story straight the troopers don’t have the power to arrest the Senators to compel their return even if they were in Wisconsin. I’m not exactly sure what Walker thinks he will accomplish other than harassment of the Senators’ families. Then again, that may be exactly what he’s going for. I can only speculate.

  30. 30.

    keestadoll

    Hi everyone and good morning. I’ve gotta tell you all I’ve been suffering from some a fair amount of anxiety the last couple of weeks. Actually, it really began in earnest when the protests erupted in Egypt. There is an atmosphere of upheaval everywhere in the world right now, and with state legislators across our country dealing with busted budgets and what to do about them, (their differing ideas on what’s to be done notwithstanding) and a House of Representatives that would love nothing better than to shove Bibles up all our asses while ordering us to like it, I’m looking at a world condition that is really in the throes of a massive head cold. Yesterday, in the midst of my panic, I spoke with a close friend who very wisely set me on a positive mental course. It’s quite simple. All these upheavals, shifts in power, all this shake, rattle, and rolling is fucking fantastic and VERY needed. We rot in complacency, and it’s only when some swift and titanic change of events makes us really wake up and see what has always been there.

    The alarm clock has been going off for a long time. Hopefully we will now truly embrace and fight for what we’ve taken for granted and throw out what we only grumbled about in frustration.

  31. 31.

    jwb

    @Eric S.: It made me wonder if there were rumors of senators sneaking back into the state. Otherwise it just seems like intimidation, keystone cops edition.

  34. 34.

    Poopyman

    Something that everyone here can probably agree with:

    Professors ask Congress for an ethics code for Supreme Court
    __
    By R. Jeffrey Smith
    Wednesday, February 23, 2011; 10:40 PM
    __
    A group of more than a hundred law professors from across the country has asked Congress to extend an ethical code of conduct to the Supreme Court – for the first time – and clarify when individual justices should step away from specific legal cases.

    The rest here.

    We’ve probably needed one in the past. Wonder if this’ll go anywhere. With Reps controlling the house I doubt it’d getanywhere, but worth a shot, IMO.

  38. 38.

    Suffern ACE

    @Poopyman: They would probably write it so that Thomas could still rule but Sotomayor could not rule on anything that involved her former employer.

  39. 39.

    Poopyman

    @keestadoll: Exactly. it’s gonna hurt some people, as in fact it already has. If we get away with paying $10 for a gallon of gas I think we’ll be lucky, but better to face the coming uncertainty than try to run from it. You can’t. And by expecting shifts both major and minor, you’re mentally more prepared to deal with them.

    Not a physic/iatrist/ologist, but them’s my $.02.

    And welcome to the fight.

  41. 41.

    Southern Beale

    @geg6:

    I’m trying to decide if we’ve always had this many stupid people in this country or if it’s a new thing or what.

    I’m really about at the end of my rope. Today I read that Nebraska is working on one of those “killing an abortion provider is justifiable homicide” bills. Like the one that was so controversial in South Dakota. Tennessee wants to make eating halal meat an act of treason punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

    I want to know who slipped the crack into the nation’s water supply. When did we all go insane? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? And how do I get the hell out of here?

    I really can’t take any more of this. Who let the crazy people out of the asylum and elected them to political office?

  42. 42.

    Southern Beale

    @bk:

    Clarifying … I thought you were referencing the Breitbart blog post, not the Dems seeking sanctuary in Illinois.

    No, those Dems are not stupid. Illinois gets my hearty thanks for serving as safe haven.

  44. 44.

    Eric S.

    @Southern Beale: It is also true that Indiana Dems are in Illinois. Apparently they are in downstate Champaign-Urbana. A news report I heard earlier this week had Mitch Daniels saying that the Dems had a legitimate right to leave the state to deny a quorum.

  48. 48.

    Dan B

    That’s a fun license plate. I’d much rather see that in the parking lot instead of the fleet of Rascal Flatts tour buses and trailers clogging the parking lot outside my office this morning.

  51. 51.

    Punchy

    @Southern Beale: I dont understand this, as the Dems are guarenteed to lose the vote. I think the Assembly is the House, and Dem Senators are the ones on the lam. Ergo, nothing’s changed.

  52. 52.

    jwb

    @Punchy: The Dems had been clogging things up in the Assembly as well—though they didn’t have the numbers there to prevent a vote coming up eventually, so this “deal” just means they can take the vote.

  53. 53.

    Royston Vasey

    Chch Earthquake – Beached As, Bro! (YouTube link)

    Tony in NZ

    Police have named two babies who died in the Christchurch earthquake.

    They are nine-month-old Jayden Harris and five-month-old Baxter Gowland, both from Christchurch.

    Police also named Jaime Robert McDowell Gilbert, 22, who was running for his life from the Iconic Bar on Manchester St where he worked when he became trapped under rubble, and Joseph Tehau Pohio, 40.

    The death toll from the Christchurch earthquake has risen to 98, Canterbury District Commander Dave Cliff says.

    Another 226 people have been reported missing by loved ones and police hold grave concerns for their safety, he says. The majority of the 98 confirmed deceased are expected to be included within the 226 missing.

    Mr Cliff said today, 23 bodies were recovered from the devastated CTV building, bringing the total number of victims from the building to 47.

    Twenty Chinese students at the English language school in the CTV building are reporting missing.

  57. 57.

    Royston Vasey

    Re-posted from overnight thread:-

    Want to see some sick websites?

    Blaming the ChCh Quake…on the ghey!

    An Act of God, Christchurch, Sodom and Gomorrah.
    An earthquake is defined as “an Act of God”. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by an Act of God. Kiwi women are infamously promiscuous.
    http://thebattlefieldoflove.blogspot.com/2011/02/act-of-god-christchurch-sodom-and.html

    Love that last line. These people are seriously fecked in the head.

    Tony in NZ

  60. 60.

    soonergrunt

    @Southern Beale: Well, most psyops stuff I’ve seen is more about they way a message is crafted than anything else.
    I mean to say that the truth was probably shown in a light that leads the target towards the intended conclusion, and not that the target had LSD put in his water, but I suppose anything’s possible.

  61. 61.

    Royston Vasey

    ChCh UPDATE: 103 confirmed dead
    No new rescues overnight

    2 Britons in dead, 20 Chinese students

    Power back to 75% of city
    Mains Water still patchy, but up to 50%

    Tony in NZ

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