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You are here: Home / Give it just about a month or two

Give it just about a month or two

by DougJ|  April 8, 20119:58 am| 110 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment, The Decadent Left In Its Enclaves On The Coasts

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I just want to nip this one in the bud. Andrew Sullivan replied to John’s many posts criticizing him by describing “John Cole’s unhinged rants against the rich”. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth engaging Andrew Sullivan on this topic, since he is an innumerate, Tory drama queen who hates hard numbers and loves the idea of “sacrifice”. Nobody’s perfect.

The good news is that he didn’t take Conor Friedersdorf to the Beast with him (young Conor has his own Atlantic blog now) and that without Daily Dish’s contractually obligated links, the traffic for McMegan et al. should dry up. I think we can expect a few of these blogs to be jettisoned within a few months.

Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today. They don’t deserve to be taken seriously on this topic .

Update. I forgot the expression “drama queen” might have a gay connotation. I associate the expression with John McCain and Brett Favre, so this just didn’t register with me til now. Apologies to anyone I might have offended.

Update. Just when I think I’m out….

But even with this splurge of tax-and-spend-and-gut-defense, they only manage to get revenues 3 percent higher as a percentage of GDP than Ryan’s, as Megan notes.

Makes no sense. First off, 22.3 – 18.3 is 4 not three and secondly 3 percent (let alone 4) of GDP is a lot of scratch, as Megan of all people should have learned by now.

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Reader Interactions

110Comments

  1. 1.

    cleek

    April 8, 2011 at 10:01 am

    so… if we shouldn’t talk about the stuff you just talked about, what should we talk about on this thread?

    i’m so confused.

    i need clarity!

  2. 2.

    david mizner

    April 8, 2011 at 10:02 am

    Agreed on the awfulness of Andrew Sullivan, but “drama queen”? Really?

  3. 3.

    dr. bloor

    April 8, 2011 at 10:02 am

    Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today. They don’t deserve to be taken seriously on this topic .

    Neither does Sullivan. And yet…

  4. 4.

    Emma

    April 8, 2011 at 10:02 am

    On ANY topic. Period.

  5. 5.

    shortstop

    April 8, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today.

    I’m up for continuing my unblemished record of never talking about it. I totally get the staring/trainwreck phenom, ’cause I’m prey to it myself, but I’ve never had the urge to gawk at this particular accident.

    In other news, it rained all night in Chicago and the grass is decidedly greener today. Yay, grass. Woke up to see both the Decorah adult eagles feeding the eaglets with fresh fish. Watching them makes me very, very happy.

  6. 6.

    beltane

    April 8, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Andrew Sullivan is just a silly, silly man who needs to learn that life is not a Merchant-Ivory production.

  7. 7.

    "Serious" Superluminar

    April 8, 2011 at 10:06 am

    Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today. They don’t deserve to be taken seriously on this topic .

    If only someone had said this 48 hours ago.

  8. 8.

    Wormtown

    April 8, 2011 at 10:07 am

    I’ll say one good thing about Sullivan’s blog – it’s how I found balloon-juice. I generally read him when I agree with him on the topic; otherwise try to ignore. But, I come here at least once a day. Those beagles just cannot compete with Tunch!

  9. 9.

    PurpleGirl

    April 8, 2011 at 10:08 am

    It’s overcast but still bright in NYC. And chilly too. But that’s better than rain (or snow).

  10. 10.

    Amir_Khalid

    April 8, 2011 at 10:08 am

    @david mizner: Not the kindest phrase, to be sure, but it does fit the man …

  11. 11.

    "Serious" Superluminar

    April 8, 2011 at 10:08 am

    FYWP. A reverse blockquote?!

  12. 12.

    Captain Howdy

    April 8, 2011 at 10:08 am

    How about Bobo? Can we talk about Bobo? Bobo says the Ryan plan is “bold” and “great” and courageous and so on, and also too that it has started a serious conversation. Change we can believe in!

    You’re right; it’s good not to talk about Sully.

  13. 13.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    April 8, 2011 at 10:09 am

    @david mizner: Oh he’s totally a drama queen. Just in that slightly understated British way that they do everything. My Brit grandfather, known as the Colonel*, lived with us at the end of his life and the beginning of mine, so I know whereof I speak.

    *He was a Lt. Colonel in the US Army and designed the 4.2 mortar. While he took citizenship here. he never lost the accent or the love of titles. I was over 30 before I eve heard my father call him “my father” instead of “the colonel,” and it only happened once.

    /end of random family trivia ramble

  14. 14.

    LGRooney

    April 8, 2011 at 10:09 am

    an innumerate, Tory drama queen

    I call bullshit! He is firmly in the camp of “I got mine now fuck off!” He wants to be among the select at the top of the hill and the only way to guarantee that is to constantly stamp your boot in the face of the aspirants or their advocates.

  15. 15.

    Donald G

    April 8, 2011 at 10:09 am

    Spoken like a true recipient of the economic largesse of their masters. For the rest of us who didn’t have wealthy sugar daddies lookin’ after them and bendng the rules for their benefit, there’s no such thing as an “unhinged rant against the rich”. All rants against the rich are automatically hinged. :)

  16. 16.

    RosiesDad

    April 8, 2011 at 10:11 am

    But even with this splurge of tax-and-spend-and-gut-defense, they only manage to get revenues 3 percent higher as a percentage of GDP than Ryan’s

    3 percent of $14 trillion is $420 billion which is hardly insignificant. Of course, it is significant that higher taxes on rich fuckers will be contributing to this increase.

  17. 17.

    James Hare

    April 8, 2011 at 10:12 am

    The tone in this article is regrettable, but I haven’t found a better description of the Progressive Caucus’ budget plan. I don’t find anything objectionable in it (unlike the author of the piece): http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/04/what-liberal-deficit-reduction-would-look-0#ixzz1It0u3qSC

  18. 18.

    Bulworth

    April 8, 2011 at 10:13 am

    Tunch’s dad’s unhinged rants against the producers rich are Very Unserious indeed. If only he would propose a budget that guts handouts to the caddie driving, hammock sleeping set then we could take him seriously.

  19. 19.

    Dan

    April 8, 2011 at 10:15 am

    I like Sullivan, and am usually a fan, but on this one I gotta side with John. I’m just perplexed by Sully’s position on this one.

  20. 20.

    david mizner

    April 8, 2011 at 10:16 am

    @Amir_Khalid:

    It certainly could fit, but — and perhaps I’ve spent too much time at Daily Kos, which can resemble a freshperson college orientation in terms of sensitivity to language — calling a gay man a “drama queen” doesn’t sit well with me.

  21. 21.

    Paul W.

    April 8, 2011 at 10:17 am

    Sullivan is great at turning on and off his ability to take new inputs. Clearly the off switch is on when it comes to the budget, because Republicans can do no wrong and Obama’s budget will never be “serious” enough.

  22. 22.

    Failure, Inc.

    April 8, 2011 at 10:17 am

    Agreed on the awfulness of Andrew Sullivan, but “drama queen”? Really?

    @david mizner: In this case I think it is completely appropriate.

    Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today. They don’t deserve to be taken seriously on this ANY topic.

    Fixed that for you. It’s easy to forget that when somebody agrees with you on a subject of great importance, that they may still be a barking lunatic on all other subjects of great importance.

  23. 23.

    eemom

    April 8, 2011 at 10:18 am

    aaaaand, the nightmare continues.

    Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today.

    DougJ. You are so CUTE.

  24. 24.

    John Cole

    April 8, 2011 at 10:18 am

    When was I ranting (hinged or unhinged) about the rich?

  25. 25.

    Uloborus

    April 8, 2011 at 10:19 am

    @RosiesDad:
    …holy crud. 3% of GDP? That’s huge! That is ‘3% of the fucking DEATH STAR’ huge. Way to find the biggest number they could possibly think of to compare in the hopes of making something big look small.

  26. 26.

    Poopyman

    April 8, 2011 at 10:20 am

    @cleek: Actually, Doug should have disallowed comments on this thread, in “honor” of Sully.

  27. 27.

    "Serious" Superluminar

    April 8, 2011 at 10:22 am

    @david mizner
    Really? I’ve seen drama queen used without reference to either gender or sexuality. I think it’s one of those things where you really have to be looking for offence in order to take it. Of course, YMMV…

  28. 28.

    Norwonk

    April 8, 2011 at 10:24 am

    Anyway, let’s not talk about Daily Dish anymore today.

    Never let this go. Never ever. To paraphrase Tom Waits, this “budget plan” should be hung on a nail that is driven through every conservative’s forehead.

  29. 29.

    inthewoods

    April 8, 2011 at 10:24 am

    How seriously can we take this loser? He can’t even have comments on his blog because he knows he’d be ripped to shreds.

  30. 30.

    Tim F.

    April 8, 2011 at 10:25 am

    Yours came up while I was writing mine. Apologies.

  31. 31.

    Poopyman

    April 8, 2011 at 10:25 am

    @John Cole:

    When was I ranting (hinged or unhinged) about the rich?

    Never. But that doesn’t stop some people from making the leap of logic that you are attacking people that must be defended. Why he feels that the rich need defended on this or any other topic is beyond me. The rich can defend themselves, or pay someone to do it for them. Sayyyyyy ……

  32. 32.

    Uloborus

    April 8, 2011 at 10:25 am

    @John Cole:
    Well, you are, let’s say, very passionate when you’re in a bad mood. But the truth is that this is just very obvious evasion. Rather than debate you on the merits of the admittedly emotional subject – Paul Ryan’s plan is shitty and thinking it’s ‘serious’ is idiotic – he goes straight for the ad hominem ‘shrill’ tactic so that he can dismiss you and pretend there are no glaring weaknesses in his position.

  33. 33.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    April 8, 2011 at 10:25 am

    @david mizner:

    If I can call a straight person a drama queen then calling a gay person one is just fine with me, specially since he is a drama queen. Being gay has nothing to do with being a drama queen.

    I left the GoS exactly because of the ‘touchy-feely’ types who object to stupid shit like this. Nothing like derailing a good discussion because some asshat is outraged because they twisted some innocuous statement into a personal insult.

    That mosh pit of stupid over there is a total fucking waste of time. Randy Andy may be a drama queen but the GoS is chock full of them.

  34. 34.

    Captain Howdy

    April 8, 2011 at 10:26 am

    @JC

    Sullivan periodically trots out a pet theory of his that THE LEFT, deep down down in places they don’t talk about at parties, hates the rich and resents people with money. It goes back years with him, but I don’t remember ever seeing him cite a single coherent example of it. The ass-ertion is enough.

    In a way it’s a kind of straw-man argument: if he can imagine that his ideological enemies have nefarious motives, then he doesn’t have to address their actual arguments.

  35. 35.

    Bob

    April 8, 2011 at 10:28 am

    Andddd he just linked to Megan.
    Andrew’s innumeracy is only aided by her.

    Of course he ignored Bartlett on this subject; his usual go-to guy for right wing economics.

    I said in an earlier thread, if anyone wants to fisk him and go through all his logical fallacies on the subject already, they can. It’d discredit him to a lot more people. He’s already gone through half a dozen logical fallacies off the top of my head.

  36. 36.

    mclaren

    April 8, 2011 at 10:29 am

    “John Cole’s unhinged rants against the rich…”

    LOL.

  37. 37.

    david mizner

    April 8, 2011 at 10:30 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    Fair enough. I didn’t, and don’t, feel very strongly about it. Anyway, this is my first visit to BJ in a while, and the 2 newest posts about both pegged to Sully posts.

  38. 38.

    Sputnik

    April 8, 2011 at 10:33 am

    The man who is obsessed with the state of Sarah Palin’s uterus is calling someone else unhinged? Glass houses, Sully. Glass houses.

  39. 39.

    Mike in NC

    April 8, 2011 at 10:35 am

    “John Cole’s unhinged rants against the rich”.

    All you needed to know, eh?

  40. 40.

    Donald G

    April 8, 2011 at 10:35 am

    @Captain Howdy:

    Sullivan periodically trots out a pet theory of his that THE LEFT, deep down down in places they don’t talk about at parties, hates the rich and resents people with money. It goes back years with him, but I don’t remember ever seeing him cite a single coherent example of it. The ass-ertion is enough.

    In the early eighties, there was this poster of a smug young man posing with a martini in front of a mansion alongside an expensive car (with a 1976 Bicentennial Virginia license plate) captioned “Poverty sucks.”

    If some certain former Atlantic blogger had been an American student at a certain conservative Catholic university (with a fairly sizable closeted gay population), he so would’ve had this poster tacked to his dormroom wall. :)

  41. 41.

    dbwhite

    April 8, 2011 at 10:36 am

    @RosiesDad:
    Also too, from the article he quotes:

    Overall, taxes would rise to 22.3 percent of the economy, compared with 18.3 percent under the Ryan proposal.

    22.3 – 18.3 = NOT THREE. But “the math” demands draconian spending cuts! The MATH!

  42. 42.

    geg6

    April 8, 2011 at 10:37 am

    @John Cole:

    You didn’t. Just like the way he characterized your sarcasm as your actual plan to deal with the deficit is completely and utterly false. He’s lying about you, Cole, and if I were you I’d kick his ass (rhetorically speaking) but good.

  43. 43.

    arguingwithsignposts

    April 8, 2011 at 10:39 am

    I don’t get why anyone reads sully on a regular basis. he’s not really that good of a writer, fwiw. That said, I’m glad there’s been a full-on rage here over his slobbering endorsement of Paul Ryan’s Unicorn Pony Coloring Book. However, some attention should be paid to BoBo’s complicity in pushing the “serious” meme.

  44. 44.

    Poopyman

    April 8, 2011 at 10:39 am

    Well, Sully is on “Real Time with Bill Maher” tonight. Maybe drop a note to the show to alert Maher about his determined obtuseness on the subject? I’m certain he’ll spin this, and Maher needs to be prepared to counter.

    You can submit questions for the “Overtime” section here, but it needs to be addressed a lot earlier. I wish there was a way to email Eliot Spitzer (the obvious other panelist to counter him).

    (Actually, both “Sullys” will be on the show, although I doubt Capt. Sullenberger will be on the panel.)

  45. 45.

    Raya

    April 8, 2011 at 10:40 am

    The good news is that he didn’t take Conor Friedersdorf to the Beast with him

    Uh, what? Based on that sort-of recommendation I clicked on the link and read a couple of Friedersdorf’s articles. As far as I can see he’s a somewhat sexist (in that great way where he truly believes he is respecting women by talking up what a fusser him mom is and refusing to take a position on reproductive rights), “libertarian” airhead. Hardly an improvement on Sully, who while equally deluded was at least amusing (and a little more thoughtful about gender issues to boot). Why the implied endorsement of this junior douchebag?

  46. 46.

    BGK

    April 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    Not to give this topic an offwards shove, but since we’re hingedly ranting against the rich and their new-found fetish for sacrifice by the Small People, can someone explain the popularity of Suze Orman? I mean, tips on reducing debt and achieving financial independence is great and all, but she seems to value savings and parsimony as an end, not a means. In a not-political forum I frequent, I can’t get away from unsolicited tips from this woman’s acolytes. Is she appealing to this country’s inherent puritanism?

    It’s also droll to say the least to be lectured on stinginess as a virtue by someone with a private jet.

  47. 47.

    chopper

    April 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    Bobo says the Ryan plan is “bold” and “great” and courageous and so on, and also too that it has started a serious conversation.

    oh, it’s a serious conversation alright. mostly about whether or not ryan needs to be medicated.

  48. 48.

    Elia Isquire

    April 8, 2011 at 10:44 am

    I really do hope youre right about McMegan’s days being numbered but I figure at this point there’s not a ton left she could do to discredit herself or the Atlantic…I mean, could she really be garnering that much traffic already? I guess if you factor in all the people who go there to find something to hate her for, then perhaps…

  49. 49.

    david

    April 8, 2011 at 10:44 am

    @dr. bloor:

    Given Andrew’s general behavior on a multitude of issues, I don’t think he should ever be taken seriously. I agree with him on many things – torture/DADT etc – but his general mode of jumping around on impulsive beliefs – Iraq/Trig/Paul Ryan – is just evidence that he lacks the seriousness of an actual public intellectual. His ramblings on philosophy nonwithstanding, the man doesn’t appear to have a coherent political philosophy – he has impulses to a variety of sometimes contradictory beliefs. That’s why I long ago abandoned the dish, even though he links to many good blogs and he sometimes provides a refreshing rant. He’s just too inconsistent to be taken seriously on anything, even if you agree with him. There’s no “there” there.

  50. 50.

    kindness

    April 8, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Mocking Sully is good but could we do without the links to them that drive up their traffic? Honestly, & I will paraphrase a certain republican idiot, I’d like to shrink the size of their traffic signature until one could drown them in a bath tub.

    McMegan….yea, she’s useless to me since they 86’d my posting priveliges on her posts. Guess she just doesn’t like to be told she’s an ignorant liar.

  51. 51.

    Blue Neponset

    April 8, 2011 at 10:45 am

    @John Cole: Didn’t you write a long screed about how people who buy a Tundra Mammoth are just a bunch of attention seeking assholes who really need to figure out that checking your mail while on a ginormous mount might, just might affect those of us who are aren’t attention seeking assholes and dismount before we approach a mailbox?

    Was that you or the voices in my head?

  52. 52.

    Donald G

    April 8, 2011 at 10:46 am

    @dbwhite:

    22.3 – 18.3 = NOT THREE. But “the math” demands draconian spending cuts! The MATH!

    Or a return to Eisenhower level tax rates on those making over $200,000 per annum for a few years. And make it illegal to outsource your workforce and offshore your money. (If you try that, all your money gets expropriated.) That’ll solve the deficit problem real quick, and the middle class and the poor and suffering won’t be the ones required to shoulder the burden. :)

  53. 53.

    sixers

    April 8, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @david mizner: It’s never been more accurate. Let’s change the back round color of our blog like that means shit!

  54. 54.

    Chad N Freude

    April 8, 2011 at 10:51 am

    @John Cole: You expressed opposition to extending the Bush tax cuts.

    What is with this blog’s obsession with Sullivan? Is it because of his enormous influence over the US populace? His enormous importance in the media? His enormous ego? His enormous girth? Why are so much time, so many keystrokes, and so much bandwidth spent here on Sullivan? Can we shift some of that emphasis to subjects of significance?

  55. 55.

    Poopyman

    April 8, 2011 at 10:52 am

    @BGK: To be fair, her motto is “People first, then money, then things”, so I wouldn’t characterize it as parsimony as an end. To me, her show is all about financial voyeurism; you get to peer into OPM (“How am I Doing?”, “Can I afford It?”, and the usual leadoff segment with one financially troubled person/couple.) I must say, though, that the past couple of years have really rocked her view of the financial world, and she projects deep mistrust of financial institutions. In that, I think she’s alone in the land of TV finance shows.

    Mrs. P lurrrves her, and apparently I’m as much a financial voyeur as the next guy. I find her highly irritating most of the time, though, especially when she goes all Dr. Phil on her call–ins.

  56. 56.

    Comrade DougJ

    April 8, 2011 at 10:56 am

    @david mizner:

    Yeah, I just realized that. As someone that has mostly used the expression to describe Brett Favre, it didn’t register with me that it had a gay connotation til just now.

  57. 57.

    Jeff Darcy

    April 8, 2011 at 10:58 am

    The last three words of this post (“on this topic”) were unnecessary.

  58. 58.

    Hermione Granger-Weasley

    April 8, 2011 at 11:00 am

    @John Cole:

    When was I ranting (hinged or unhinged) about the rich?

    you used CAPS, dude.
    Maybe you will get a Malkin.

  59. 59.

    Bob

    April 8, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Speaking as a gay man, Sullivan is being a drama queen even by gay definitions of it.

  60. 60.

    Elia Isquire

    April 8, 2011 at 11:03 am

    @Chad N Freude: I think it’s because he can be good on certain issues — even very good (torture) — and so we’re experiencing a narcissism of small differences thing. I’m as guilty as anyone.

  61. 61.

    Poopyman

    April 8, 2011 at 11:04 am

    @Hermione Granger-Weasley: To be clear, you were ranting. You always rant. Your ranting is what keeps most of us coming back. Just never about the rich being rich. About being assholes, sure. But never for being rich.

  62. 62.

    Susan of Texas

    April 8, 2011 at 11:12 am

    I can’t figure out if we should keep covering McArdle or let her die a lonely death. What if I’m raising her hit counts by criticizing her? The dilemma!

  63. 63.

    Alexandra

    April 8, 2011 at 11:14 am

    All this brouhaha means more Sully-poutrage linkage to Balloon Juice, lifting John and all front pagers up. Love it, love this blog.

  64. 64.

    nancydarling

    April 8, 2011 at 11:16 am

    @Wormtown: A Sully link is what led me to BJ also. I used to think Andrew had an interesting mind. Not so much any more. I might click on him every 3 or 4 weeks now and I’m almost always disappointed.

  65. 65.

    Paul in KY

    April 8, 2011 at 11:21 am

    @John Cole: I think you need to rant more about them.

  66. 66.

    dbwhite

    April 8, 2011 at 11:23 am

    @nancydarling: Ditto. What with his constant peddling in tropes, his tabloidesque fanboyism/antipathy for various political figures, and his lack of policy knowledge forcing him to outsource to *shudder* McMegan.

  67. 67.

    Paul in KY

    April 8, 2011 at 11:23 am

    @Captain Howdy: I hate rich people who whine about paying their taxes & how hard it is to be rich.

    Maybe now that’s about all of them. Sure seems that way sometimes.

  68. 68.

    dbwhite

    April 8, 2011 at 11:25 am

    @dbwhite: Hooray, I made the front page (I think). Maybe I should comment more often.

  69. 69.

    RosiesDad

    April 8, 2011 at 11:27 am

    @dbwhite: I think math is irrelevant when you are making an ideological point.

  70. 70.

    dbwhite

    April 8, 2011 at 11:27 am

    @Susan of Texas: Oh God, until I found your blog and Fire Megan McArdle I was afraid I was oh-so-alone in this great big world in finding her abominable. Please keep doing God’s work.

  71. 71.

    mclaren

    April 8, 2011 at 11:28 am

    @BGK:

    …can someone explain the popularity of Suze Orman? I mean, tips on reducing debt and achieving financial independence is great and all, but she seems to value savings and parsimony as an end, not a means.

    Buddhists have found that reducing your desire for the unnecessary things is the path to happiness, and brain scans confirm that belief.

    Americans fill their lives with worthless consumer products they don’t need. Get rid of ’em. You’ll be happier.

  72. 72.

    RosiesDad

    April 8, 2011 at 11:30 am

    @dbwhite: and 4% of $14 trillion is $560 billion, in case anyone is counting.

  73. 73.

    arguingwithsignposts

    April 8, 2011 at 11:30 am

    @Susan of Texas: I don’t read her directly. Your blog posts are the only exposure to her calculator I get most of the time.

  74. 74.

    Dan

    April 8, 2011 at 11:34 am

    Now, I know this a touchy subject, and I will try to be as delicate as possible here, but part of my shock at Sullivan stems from the fact that he has been very public about his experience with HIV. The world, and particularly the US has made great strides in treating HIV, to the point where if you can afford health insurance, you can live with HIV. Sullivan has made no secret of the fact that he has HIV but it hasn’t come up so far in his discussion of medicare. Does Sullivan think Ryan’s plan will cover his health insurance when he retires? Does he think that people with HIV will be able to buy insurance for $15k when HIV drugs cost far more than that (not to mention the cost of hospital visits for related illnesses). Under the current system he and anyone else who has HIV won’t have to worry about losing the ability to purchase HIV medication when they retire. Ryan would leave them to fend for themselves.

  75. 75.

    Dan

    April 8, 2011 at 11:34 am

    Now, I know this a touchy subject, and I will try to be as delicate as possible here, but part of my shock at Sullivan stems from the fact that he has been very public about his experience with HIV. The world, and particularly the US has made great strides in treating HIV, to the point where if you can afford health insurance, you can live with HIV. Sullivan has made no secret of the fact that he has HIV but it hasn’t come up so far in his discussion of medicare. Does Sullivan think Ryan’s plan will cover his health insurance when he retires? Does he think that people with HIV will be able to buy insurance for $15k when HIV drugs cost far more than that (not to mention the cost of hospital visits for related illnesses). Under the current system he and anyone else who has HIV won’t have to worry about losing the ability to purchase HIV medication when they retire. Ryan would leave them to fend for themselves.

  76. 76.

    Tractarian

    April 8, 2011 at 11:39 am

    John, your “rant against the rich” was simply your (facetiously) advocating that their tax rate goes up to Clinton-era levels.

    To Sullivan and many other villagers (not to mention right-wingers), suggesting that people contribute more if they have a greater ability to pay is equivalent to making a moral judgment about those people. You hear that in his rhetoric: to restore 90s-level tax rates is to “punish the successful.” To advocate progressive tax rates is to “rant against the rich.”

    Of course, there is no ranting going on here. There’s nothing immoral about being rich. There is something immoral, however, about reaping the benefits of living and doing business in a modern industrialized state and refusing to pay your fair share for it.

  77. 77.

    Bob

    April 8, 2011 at 11:40 am

    [email protected]Susan of Texas:

    No, keep up the good fight. Every time she makes a math mistake, it needs to be pointed out immediately lest her cancer be linked around the rest of the Internet as truth. Temporarily giving her more hits isn’t really a problem so long as most people stop taking her seriously.

    @dbwhite:
    She’s probably the only blogger I’ve seen that had a cottage industry of other blogs bashing her inability to write coherently and do basic math correctly. Those blogs, Delong, Krugman, Dan Savage, BJers, and various others have taken to mocking her the last few years.

  78. 78.

    tomjones

    April 8, 2011 at 11:41 am

    @david mizner: lol @ “freshperson.”

  79. 79.

    Midnight Marauder

    April 8, 2011 at 11:41 am

    There is a pretty big sea of idiots and clowns out there right now fluffing the GOP/Ryan plan.

    Maybe we should invest in a bigger net.

  80. 80.

    Dr. Morpheus

    April 8, 2011 at 11:41 am

    @Donald G:

    Or a return to Eisenhower level tax rates on those making over $200,000 per annum for a few years. And make it illegal to outsource your workforce and offshore your money. (If you try that, all your money gets expropriated.) That’ll solve the deficit problem real quick, and the middle class and the poor and suffering won’t be the ones required to shoulder the burden. :)

    But then the rich won’t be able to golden shower us with jobs and all and I never got a job from a poor person and also too!

  81. 81.

    Bob Loblaw

    April 8, 2011 at 11:45 am

    So this is still going, huh?

    I would ask why Andrew Sullivan is worthy of so much attention (devotion?), but frankly I don’t care. He may be the most read political blogger in the country, but that’s just like the USA Today being America’s most read newspaper.

  82. 82.

    cleek

    April 8, 2011 at 11:48 am

    @Tractarian:

    There is something immoral, however, about reaping the benefits of living and doing business in a modern industrialized state and refusing to pay your fair share for it.

    i’m not sure many people disagree with this. the real disagreement is in the definition of “fair”.

  83. 83.

    Yevgraf (fka Michael)

    April 8, 2011 at 11:51 am

    @david mizner:

    You’re still a drama queen.

    Fucking tool. Hated seeing your manic progressive act at Kos, despise you even more here.

  84. 84.

    Yevgraf (fka Michael)

    April 8, 2011 at 11:54 am

    @david mizner:

    calling a gay man a “drama queen” doesn’t sit well with me.

    Whimpering asshole.

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    April 8, 2011 at 11:54 am

    Sully linked and heh-indeedy’d McMegan? From the Beast?

    This answers the chronic question re. whether he cited her because he had to, or because he wanted to.

    Buh-bye Andrew, no more page hits from me, that’s one crazytown bridge too far to take you seriously any longer. (I know, I know, this rates twelve “no duhs.”)

  86. 86.

    chopper

    April 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    @david mizner:

    you sound concerned.

  87. 87.

    The Other Chuck

    April 8, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    Look, “drama queen” might be insensitive, but claiming Sully represents gay men is too. Fact is, every time I hear him speak, he really does come off as a snooty mincing queen, and I don’t know any non-queens who appreciate that stereotype.

  88. 88.

    Nora Carrington

    April 8, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    @Poopyman: I think Orman is important because she has no patience with women going all soft in the head expecting someone [male] else to figure out their money. Even women with serious incomes and serious money tend to go go-ey about money. For women with less — like me — that can have disastrous consequences. It’s generational, to an extent, but women have gotten hard headed about career advancement, orgasm, slut-shaming, housework and childcare long before they’ve gotten serious about money.

  89. 89.

    Catsy

    April 8, 2011 at 12:18 pm

    I forgot the expression “drama queen” might have a gay connotation.

    What the fuck? I hope this was anti-PC snark. I’ve used “drama queen” for many, many years to describe people–of any gender or orientation–who fit the description. The phrase has nothing to do with “queening” or gays, and everything to do with someone who generates drama by blowing everything out of proportion.

    You have to go down to the fourth entry on Urban Dictionary to find a definition that even references gender (and those have largely been voted down), and not a single one on the first page even mentions orientation.

  90. 90.

    Judas Escargot

    April 8, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    @Norwonk:

    this “budget plan” should be hung on a nail that is driven through every conservative’s forehead.

    Never could stand that dog.

  91. 91.

    les

    April 8, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    @Raya:

    I think the point is more that, unattached to Sully, nobody will read young Conor. We can at least hope.

  92. 92.

    Catsy

    April 8, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    @david mizner:

    It certainly could fit, but—and perhaps I’ve spent too much time at Daily Kos, which can resemble a freshperson college orientation in terms of sensitivity to language—calling a gay man a “drama queen” doesn’t sit well with me.

    I’ll make this simple.

    Yes, you’ve spent too much time at Daily Kos. The place has an annoyingly-high population of people who’ve made it their mission in life to police the language usage of others–and most of these self-appointed police are completely fucking ignorant about language. The definition of “drama queen” hasn’t had anything to do with gay men for more than 40 years.

  93. 93.

    jayjaybear

    April 8, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    @Blue Neponset:

    Didn’t you write a long screed about how people who buy a Tundra Mammoth are just a bunch of attention seeking assholes who really need to figure out that checking your mail while on a ginormous mount might, just might affect those of us who are aren’t attention seeking assholes and dismount before we approach a mailbox?

    Was that you or the voices in my head?

    The Lord provideth Baby Spice for a reason.

  94. 94.

    jayjaybear

    April 8, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    @Norwonk:

    this “budget plan” should be hung on a nail that is driven through every conservative’s forehead

    Can we just do the nail? Preferably a 60d.

  95. 95.

    Judas Escargot

    April 8, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    @Uloborus:

    he goes straight for the ad hominem ‘shrill’ tactic so that he can dismiss you and pretend there are no glaring weaknesses in his position.

    This. Same way he treats Krugman (when he treats him at all), so JC should be flattered by the backhanded dismissal.

    BTW, shooting nasty comments across the ether is pretty rich behavior coming from someone too chickenshit to enable comments on their own blog.

  96. 96.

    Joel

    April 8, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    if Andrew Sullivan is Brett Favre, who is John Madden?

  97. 97.

    Pliny

    April 8, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    Meghan McArdle? LEARN?

  98. 98.

    arguingwithsignposts

    April 8, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    @Judas Escargot:
    I find it interesting that sully treats Krugman so dismissively. it’s telling. The man has a nobel prize, a column in a top-flight newspaper, and tenure at a prestigious university, and it’s not enough for sully, who has a blog, and admires mcarglebargle.

  99. 99.

    kc

    April 8, 2011 at 12:47 pm

    I don’t think it’s worth engaging Andrew Sullivan on this topic, since he is an innumerate, Tory drama queen who hates hard numbers and loves the idea of “sacrifice”.

    Yeah, for other people.

  100. 100.

    Joel

    April 8, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    @david mizner: The etymology isn’t completely clear, but I’ve always interpreted “drama queen” as the english variant of the italian “prima donna”, given that opera is a form of drama.

  101. 101.

    trollhattan

    April 8, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    @Joel:

    Yup, although to not be ageist I also deploy “drama princess” for the youngin’s, beginning with my own daughter. One cannot (or at least should not) have two queens in one house, and the spouse has that staked out already.

    Also, too, is there anything more exhausting than working in an office heavily populated by DQs of both sexes?

  102. 102.

    Gregory

    April 8, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    Notice how proposing to put military spending on the table at all amounts, in Sully’s world, to “gutting defense.”

    Riiiiight.

  103. 103.

    ScottF

    April 8, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    22.3 is not 4% higher than 18.3, either. It’s almost 22% higher.

    I mean, this is third grade math. Jeez.

  104. 104.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    April 8, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    I have a friend who says “drama llama.” I like that.

    Or maybe she’s saying drama lama. Hmm…

  105. 105.

    Sirkowski

    April 8, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Drama Queen is the least of things I can think about Andrew Sullivan.

  106. 106.

    Sputnik

    April 8, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    @Hermione Granger-Weasley: Nah, he is a shoe-in for a Moore Award this year.

  107. 107.

    cckids

    April 8, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Also, too, is there anything more exhausting than working in an office heavily populated by DQs of both sexes?

    On an ongoing basis, no. For a short time, tho, try being the leader of a Girl Scout troop of teenagers. Many teenage girls are drama queens, by definition. In a group/pod/festival of DQ’s, they are unstoppable & migraine-inducing.

  108. 108.

    Robert Waldmann

    April 8, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    I think another relevant point (probably made upthread sorry) is that Ryan gets to his revenue number with a magic asterix. He says that some tax deductions will be eliminated so revenues will be equal to 19% of GDP, but he doesn’t describe those tax deductions. Look I can get revenues to 110% of GDP by noting that we’ll get the money in some way which doesn’t bother anyone in particular, since I haven’t said what it is.

    Ryan’s revenue number is pure flim flam. Sullivan can pretend he takes it seriously, but by doing so he leaves us only with the choices betwee lying, innumerate and both (I vote for innumerate).

  109. 109.

    Mary

    April 8, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    Doug J

    If it makes you feel any better, Sullivan has called himself a drama queen within the last few weeks, I believe in one of his posts about his “real-time” thinking and blogging or perhaps in a Palin post about his Trig obsession.

    Ordinarily, I would find it and link to it, but I have decided that I am going to boycott Sullivan, just like I boycott Hamsher.

    Also, drama-queen or not, he needs to apologize to John Cole for his repeated lies about Mr. Cole today, which were remarkably trashy, thin-skinned behavior.

    What he wrote today is very possibly actionable, if one were so inclined, not that I believe that Mr. Cole is. Courtney Love just paid over $400,000 for lying about someone in a tweet and, of course, the I/P bloggers and activists are suing and threatening to sue each other all the time for libel and defamation. But Mr. Cole is definitely due a public apology for the lies told about him today. If one is not forthcoming, it will just confirm that Andrew Sullivan is pure trash.

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