I was going to talk about this D-Day piece in which the #dickwhisperer gets a glimpse of the real world, but I looked outside this morning and really, SNOW AND ICE PELLETS?
Make it stop.
Open Thread
by John Cole| 41 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
cleek
63 and rainy here in central NC. perfect running weather.
Ailuridae
It was sleety here last night. Difference is we pay for our own snow removal
General Stuck
Maybe McCain will stop by Milbank’s bridge for a little Sparrow barbecue.
General Stuck
Oh, and Go Kentucky Cats! beat them Vols!!
Damien
If I were a better man I’d feel guilty for wishing this would happen to every DC pundit. I’m not a better man.
Milbank has learned a lesson some of us have known all along, that for all their ‘access’ most pundits are barely one step above the rest of us rubes. They’ve just been convinced by their status as courtesans and stenographers that they were more. They never were, and it takes events like this to get it through their thick skulls.
piratedan
wanna give a shout out to a worthy GOS piece that shines a light on just how complicated the illegal immigration issue is here in Arizona. It’s not just logistics, its also cultural with a POV that is often neglected here in the discussion. It was recently rescued by the Baja Arizona Kossacks to illustrate that there’s more to this than putting up a wall.
dailykos.com/story/2011/03/06/953043/-Up-Against-the-Wall-in-Arizona
PurpleGirl
Winter isn’t over (in NY) until in snows on Easter in April. Easter is April 24th this year.
Sorry to be such a pessimist, John, but that’s the saying; at least for NY.
JPL
The entire Milbank piece is worth a read. Make sure you read the comments because many folks appear to be on the side of Citi.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I stood outside with the hound at midnight last night and enjoyed the mild 50 degree weather. 13 1/2 hours later we’re about to head out to shovel the freshly fallen 6+ inches of snow. Bollocks!
Jamey
I’ve neither a brand-name MBA like DW’s wife, nor a CV that includes a stint at WSJ, but I still managed to read the mortgage documents to root out any “heads we win/tails you lose” situations–and then I did the same with my refi. All it took was a couple of hours, followed up by a one-hour review by my lawyer to explain a few clauses I flagged with post-its.
Milbank must be very lazy, very simple, or colossally overconfident in his own abilities.
Either answer would explain a lot about some of what he’s done in the pages of WaPo and elsewhere.
Dave C
It was almost 80 degrees here in San Diego yesterday. It’s gonna be about 70 here today.
paradox
I was possibly going to use this today in connection with better news on Frank Rich but let it go. My take was precisely as Damien’s as the dick whisperer writes his wife has a MBA and he was a Wall Street Journal reporter.
Oh boo fucking hoo, white boy with money, the next time you get fucked over leave your goddamn DC pedigrees of bullshit out of it and I’ll be a lot more sympathetic.
I am sympathetic some, motherfucker, no citizen should go through this. Nobody gives a shit who you are or where your wife got her MBA, is that fucking clear? The little people care about the truth, stick to it and you’ll get some respect.
Professor
Rush Limburgh is a STEER. He is neither a MAN nor a WOMAN. He cannot SIRE a child so what is his reason for living? Just to piss off LIBERALS! Now if you understand literature, you would understand what this means!
Jay in Oregon
Some deep thoughts for a Sunday:
reddit.com/comments/fy6yz/51_hours_left_to_live/
Nellcote
I wonder if Citibank will suddenly clear up the discrepencys since #dickwhisperer has gone public.
Mike E
@cleek: Temps hovering around 60F for this week. When’s the Spring Freeze gonna hit, you reckon? I’m pulling for when the Bradford Pear trees bloom.
BGinCHI
The difference between monopoly capital and theft is….
Oh, forget it.
We’ve known all this for a long time, the only difference now is that there is less enforcement than ever. This is why libertarians are the pernicious force inside recent conservative “policies.” That the free market has massive costs is something even a fucking criminal like Alan Greenspan should be able to understand.
Are there no guillotines?
liberal
@paradox:
I only skimmed the excerpts here at Balloon J., but my impression was he was saying “we have the background skills to deal better with this shit, and we’re still having massive problems, so ordinary folks are really getting screwed.” Which is a pretty reasonable thing to say.
Ailuridae
@Jamey:
I don’t really agree. In some sense yes I agree that every refi candidate or consumer in general should read their contract in their entirety. And, no, there is no doubt that with the Milbanks wealth, education and resources that they ever should have been in this situation. At the same time, people should have to be honest and clear at the time of refinancing.
In contrast I just bought myself a new CPU. I asked the return policy and was given how much the restocking fee was, how long I could return it for and a list of reasons (not exhaustive but close) why they wouldn’t take the processor back. Shouldn’t that be, at minimum, a standard we hold banks to when financing homes.
@BGinCHI:
Beers soon?
Ailuridae
@liberal:
That’s my take too. This isn’t BJ’s finest hour.
trollhattan
I see TBogg’s providing lyrics to “Galt!: the Musical” and it contains a BJ link for good measure. Full o’ tasty win.
tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/03/06/john-galts-lonesome-libertarian-lament/
Ailuridae
@Jay in Oregon:
Block quote failed you there. For a second it read as if you were the author
freelancer
I get back to Omaha on Tuesday Night, in the middle of 8″ of snow. Feckin’ awesome.
BGinCHI
@Ailuridae: Hey A., that sounds good. Have some time week after next (in the 20s of March). Let me know if that works.
HBuellA
Aww you all should come to Buffalo -rained all day yesterday , melted the dirty snow and turned to snow at 1 am today to make it a white landscape again -about 4 inches of it so far.
Snow in May did happen here once.
JPL
@Ailuridae: I agree. I wasn’t surprised to see negative comments at the Washington Post but not necessarily here. I thought Milbank’s article was frightening in the way customers are treated by the larger institutes.
TheMightyTrowel
It was sunny and breezy and high 50s here in moist Olde England. I spent the day weeding my herb beds (the chives, thyme, lemon balm and oregano are doing beautifully; but I am worrying about my sage and chamomile), fighting an ivy infestation off my quince tree and hanging lots of sheets and towels out to soak up the fresh air. I love days like this.
Svensker
Four inches of snow on top of an inch of ice made getting the car out this morning really fun.
On the other hand, Lilies of the Field is on TV and that’s the sunniest, happiest movie ever. Old German nuns and Sidney Poitier singing together — amen!
Yutsano
@freelancer: You miss it and you know it. :)
As always, flirting with rain here. And all week. At least it makes determining what to wear rather easy.
Morbo
Oh look, Mon-Thur all expected to have above freezing highs, yippee skippee.
Jamey
@Ailuridae:
These documents aren’t clearly written, and laws should be strengthened to protect buyers–agreed. That said, these are contracts binding lenders with buyers for possibly decades–tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake. The documents are not indecipherable, there are resources available, and professionals who can clarify issues above readers’ comprehension-I know, because I sought them out.
Milbanks’s, by his own ass-hatted admission, reads at several levels above my paygrade. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least that he figured that “maybe the little people can’t read these things, but that I, Dana Milbanks, can.” But now, only after Milbanks got fucked, did he decide that this might actually be a problem–and that the gubbmint should do something.
Saying that the laws need to create more uniform and transparent reporting, while also saying that Milbanks is a lazy douche are NOT exclusive quantites, IMO. It IS possible to read and understand a contract; however it should be easy enough that anybody can do it.
Joel
Arrested Development just randomly shuffled into my iTunes mix. I forgot how much I liked them.
R-Jud
@TheMightyTrowel:
It only hit 40 in the Midlands, but it was still a great day for running and gardening. My chamomile is horribly scorched after the heavy snow; same with my rosemary. They may have to be replaced, alas.
HBuellA
Read the NYT editorial this am and I am sure my bp rose.
Cuomo is now targeting the state workers. Well – considerig he’s hanging on Christie’s coat tails -then it’s not a complete surprise.
Sorry I do not have the linky to the NYT. It’s available at memeorandum.com.
4jkb4ia
Indiana State-Missouri State 1-point affair with 25 seconds to go.
/annoying on purpose
RSA
@JPL:
Me too. Millbank strongly implied (aside from his highlighted miscue) that at least some the mistakes in Citibank’s favor were reversed when he questioned them. I think that if this were only a matter of his own incompetence, that wouldn’t have happened.
Tom M
Milbank et ux. with an MBA couldn’t figure out that having the servicer handle an escrow account is scam point numero uno. I learned from my first mortgage decades ago to never, ever let them handle the taxes or insurance. Ever. It’s the one place they can increase your monthly payment substantially.
Plus, it’s a cash flow issue. It’s the same thing as paying too much in taxes and then feeling good about a refund.
Suckers. They’re everywhere.
Bedrock principle: it’s a house, not an investment. If you can’t afford to live there today, don’t.
WaterGirl
@Tom M: Can you say more about that? Can they really increase your monthly payment beyond what the property taxes and insurance costs are? Or is it that they are providing the insurance, so they can charge you more than it would cost if you were to get it elsewhere? I am asking because my sister is trying to get out of debt and I am wondering if that might be one more place to make a change that would put them in a better situation.
piratedan
well anytime someone from inside the beltway can find common cause to the plight of the remainder of us folks that have firing synapses, I’ll count that as a good thing. Kind of like when Sullivan remembers that he’s not anointed. Sure it doesn’t happen often, but we should be encouraging when they find a bread crumb of compassion, shouldn’t we?
cleek
@Mike E:
they’re blooming right now!
as my allergies can confirm.
Paul in KY
@General Stuck: Great win, General! Really enjoyed wrecking Steve Pearl’s Senior Day (not to mention the rest of them).
On to the tournaments!